100618 - LA Weekend Edition

OCTOBER 6-9, 2018 Volume 28 - No. 79 • 4 Sections – 30 Pages

‘Red tagged’ schools urge AFP to prove accusations

by AJPRESS SEVERAL universities in Metro Manila on Thursday, October 4, dared the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to prove its accusations that their institutions are breeding grounds for the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the New People’s Army (NPA). and recruits for a destabilization plot against President Rodrigo Duterte.

Joseph Noel Estrada, legal counsel for Philippine Association of Private Schools, Colleges and Universities (PAASCU) and the Coordinating Council of Pri-

DATELINE

vate Educational Associations of the Philippines (COCOPEA), said that the release of the list without any solid proof or evidence is irresponsible and reckless.

The military claimed that the CPP is trying to incite students to rebel against the government through the film showing activities that depict the dark years of martial law during the Marcos dictatorship.

“It should be rectified immediately. It puts all students in these colleges and universities at risk because they are now perceived as possible communists or rebels,” Estrada said as reported by

USA

The Philippine Star.

Estrada, who is also employee of Emilio Aguinaldo College (EAC), said that the college vehemently denies the allegations of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) that it is being used by the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) for recruitment of students.

“EAC and its students have no record of participation in any partisan political activity and, in fact, are known to be more involved in outreach and community programs because of its medical and allied health courses,” the state-

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PAST AND PRESENT. President Rodrigo Duterte engages in a discussion with former President Fidel Ramos during a meeting at the Malacañan Palace on Thursday, October 4. Joining the President is Secretary Christopher Lawrence ‘Bong’ Go of the Office of the Special Assistant to the President.

Malacañang photo by King Rodriguez

Not off the hook: Ombudsman to probe Mocha Uson

by AJPRESS

FROM THE AJPRESS NEWS TEAM ACROSS AMERICA

EVEN after leaving her post on Wednesday, October 3, former assistant secretary of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Esther Margaux “Mocha” Uson will still face an investigation being conducted by the Office of the Ombudsman.

Ombudsman Samuel Martires Ex-wife of Fil-Am shortstop opens up ordered Uson and her boss, to MLB investigators, speaks publicly PCOO Secretary Martin Andanar, for the first time since divorce filing After announcing her resignation, an unrepentant Assistant Communication to respond to complaints regardSecretary Mocha Uson vows to go after her detractors and threatens to ing the videos she posted on her ON Wednesday, October 3, the Major “bring the fight’’ to Congress.

Inquirer.net photo by Lyn Rillon controversial Facebook page, League Baseball league suspended Chicago Cubs shortstop Addison Russell for 40 games for violating the league’s policy on domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse after Russell’s ex-wife opened up to investigators regarding alleged domestic abuse by Russell.

Melisa Reidy-Russell, who filed for divorce from Russell (who is half-Filipino on his MANILA — The country’s mother’s side) in June 2017, wrote an emo- economic managers assured the tionally-charged blog post last month that de- public that they working to temtailed years of physical and emotional abuse per the rise in the prices of comat the hands of her ex-husband. modities despite the 6.7 percent u PAGE A5 inflation in September.

The Philippine Statistics Authority announced that the country’s headline inflation went up by 0.3 percentage points from the 6.4 percent in August.

“We remain committed to our goal of ensuring price stability, along with our overarching aim of translating sustained broad- Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez and based economic growth to com- NEDA Director General Ernesto Pernia lead the country’s economic team.

EVANGELIST Apollo Quiboloy, leader Philstar.com photos u PAGE A2 of the sect Kingdom of Jesus Christ Name Above Every Name, stands accused of sexual harassment before a Hawaii court, according to a report.

Honolulu-based Hawaii News Now reported on October 2 that Kristina Angeles, a former member of the church, has accused Quiboloy of running a “child sex ring.”

Angeles reportedly went to Hawaii in 2014 on a religious visa to work for Quiboloy’s Kingdom of Jesus Christ Church in Waipahu town in Honolulu. among foreigners, with 70 percent of surby RAE ANN VARONA Angeles herself is facing trial in Hawaii veyed foreigners saying they have no conAJPress and has been accused by of sexual assault fidence in Trump — a higher percentage of by a female member of the church. The acWITH the second year anniversary of low confidence than reported for Chinese cusation against Quiboloy was discussed in President Donald Trump’s election ap- President Xi Jinping (56 percent), and Rusa memorandum penned by Deputy Public proaching, recently released polls are in- sian President Vladimir Putin (62 percent).

Defender Grant Giventer dated March 19, dicating that the U.S. president’s foreign On the other hand, German Chancellor 2018. policies may not be too popular among Angela Merkel and French President EmGiventer was quoted as telling prosecu- both Americans and foreigners. manuel Macron received more positive tors in the memo: “If this matter goes to trial, A new 25-nation Pew Research Center opinions with a lower 31 percent reporting I’m confident that once the jury learns of the survey released on Monday, October 1 “no confidence” in Merkel, and 34 percent u PAGE A3 found that Trump’s image remains poor u PAGE A5

Cubs’ Addison Russell suspended 40 games for domestic abuse allegations

“Mocha Uson Blog.”

“We issued an order requiring her and Andanar to file comments,” Martires said as reported

by The Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Martires guaranteed that Uson’s resignation would have no effect on the pending criminal and administrative proceedings. He added that should Uson be found guilty of committing a series offense punishable by dismissal, she could be perpetually banned from public office.

Ombudsman tracks down Uson’s offenses Reporters also obtained a letter

dated September 28 addressed to Uson that invoked Section 26 of the Ombudsman Act of 1989.

In the letter, Uson was given ten days to submit her written explanation in connection with a complaint filed on Sept. 20 by representatives of the Philippine Federation of the Deaf.

The advocates for the deaf had accused Uson and her bloggerfriend Drew Olivar of violating the Magna Carta for Disabled Persons, the Cybercrime Prevention Act and the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public

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PH economic managers working on Duterte raises possibility price stability amid rising inflation of having ‘stage 3’ cancer

Evangelist Quiboloy accused in Hawaii court of running ‘child sex ring’ — report

Trump sees low international ratings, especially among key allies Majority of Americans not convinced by “America first” approach

by RALPH

VILLANUEVA ManilaTimes.net

AFTER denials from the Palace, President Rodrigo Duterte himself admitted that he had gone to the hospital for tests, and raised the possibility that he has “stage 3” cancer.

In remarks during dinner with members of the Philippine Military Academy Alumni Association on Thursday, October 4, Duterte said he stayed for an hour at Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan on Wednesday, so his doctors could “take samples” from him.

Duterte said he did not know the state of his health, but would not seek treatment anymore if diagnosed by doctors with stage 3 cancer.

“I did not look after myself, I did not stop drinking [alcohol].

That is why, I am regretting it.

It always comes late. So, it got worse, I do not know where I am now physically, but I have to wait,” the President said.

“But, I’ll tell you this. If it’s cancer, it’s cancer. It it’s third stage, no more treatment. I will no longer prolong my agony in the office,” he added.

Cabinet meet, Pagcor event skipped Duterte said his hospital visit came three weeks after he underwent endoscopy and colonoscopy, procedures used to

examine a person’s digestive tract and the large intestine and rectum, respectively.

“I was about to have a Cabinet meeting yesterday (Wednesday), but a reading of my… somebody advised my doctor to repeat and get some samples there, both here again. So, I stayed there for one hour at Cardinal Santos,” Duterte said.

Duterte had admitted to suffering from Barett’s esophagus, which means his normal esophageal cells, or tissue lining the esophagus, are replaced by abnormal cells.

Rumors that Duterte was rushed to the hospital flew on Wednesday, when he missed a Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. event set at 4 p.m. in the Palace on Wednesday.

Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, in a message shared to reporters, said the President underwent colonoscopy, adding that Duterte submitted to the procedure every year.

Palace denial Earlier on Thursday, Palace officials denied talk that the President went to the hospital.

Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said that as far as he knew, Duterte took the day off and stayed in his residence the whole day on Wednesday.

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From the Front Page

‘Red tagged’ schools urged AFP...

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ment read.

“Absent any proof or factual basis, the statement made by the AFP should be rectified immediately. Such statement undermines the safety and security of the students of EAC as they are now looked upon as possible communists or rebels,” it added.

Other tagged universities also stood by their resolve and issued several statements against the AFP’s red list.

De La Salle University (DLSU) president Armin Luistro said it was obvious that the universities were just showing films about martial law in time with the commemoration of its declaration last

September 21.

“There is nothing wrong in a university setting where many ideologies are discussed. Connecting that with an actual plot to overthrow the government is an entirely different matter,” he said in an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel the same day.

“It’s a created fear. They’re creating a scenario that’s not even there by talking about the supposed ‘Red October’ plot.

And to me, that’s the scary part.

If your official intelligence group talks about that scenario, I think they have a modus that’s out of the usual,” he added.

Far Eastern University (FEU) also said that its administration is in no way “promoting or condoning any on-campus movement to destabilize the government.”

University of Santo Tomas (UST) secretary general Jesus Miranda, in a report by student publication The Varsitarian, said that the “AFP should first provide proof before dragging the university into its claims.”

“Maybe they are just stereotyping or because we are a Catholic university and there is a perception that we are against the present government. Is that why we are being tagged?” he said.

University of the Philippines (UP) vice president for public affairs Jose Dalisay Jr. earlier declined to comment on the matter, saying university officials have yet to see the report of the military on which the allegations were based. However, student regent Ivy Taroma warned that the list could endanger students in the universities.

University of Makati president Tomas Lopez said that its management has no knowledge of any student activity linked to the AFP claims.

“While we protect the rights of our students to free speech and assembly, we also strongly adhere to the principles of democracy as enshrined in our Constitution,” he said.

“Our student development efforts are centered on providing them programs that will strengthen their employability and readiness for work after graduation. As a local academic institution, we do not participate in any partisan political initiatives, but rather,

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HIGHER OIL PRICES. An attendant fills up a container with fuel at a station on Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City on Tuesday, October 2. Oil firms on Tuesday hiked prices of diesel by P1.35 per liter, gasoline by P1 per liter, and kerosene by P1.10 per liter.

ManilaTimes.net photo by Ruy Martinea

Duterte raises possibility of having...

PAGE A1 t was tired from his trips to CatSpecial Assistant to the Presi- arman and Tacloban upon their dent Christopher Lawrence return to Manila late Tuesday.

“Bong” Go said the President “There is no truth [to the

rumor]that he was admitted.

That is not true, 100 percent.

I will bet my life, that is not true,” Go said. n

PH economic managers working on...

PAGE A1 t fortable lives for everyone,” the Department of Finance, National Economic and Development Authority, and the Department of Budget and Management said in a joint statement.

The economic team noted that the latest inflation rate is slightly lower that the median market expectation of 6.8 percent but within the range of the 6.3 to 7.1 percent forecast of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

The onslaught of Typhoon Ompong mainly contributed to the increase in food prices as it disrupted supply in the Ilocos, Cagayan and Cordillera regions.

The typhoon’s damage to agriculture, including facilities and infrastructure, have reached P26.8 billion.

“This has kept the price of the country’s staple grain elevated despite the arrival of some imported rice and the improvement in the rice stocks of the National Food Authority,” the statement read.

The economic team, on the other hand, considered the moderation of non-food inflation from 4.1 percent in August to 4 percent in September and the slowing down of inflation in the National Capital Region (6.3 percent) as positive developments.

“These clear signs of easing boost our confidence that inflation will taper off by year-end and go back to our target range by early next year,” they said.

The Philippines’ economic managers have also proposed to reduce the country’s overall energy demand as global fuel prices continue to increase.

These initiatives include the Department of Energy’s e-Power Mo program, the Department of Transportation’s public untility vehicles modernization program and other renewable energy initiatives.

“Moreover, many public utility drivers will benefit from DoE’s continued and expanding partnership with various oil companies to provide fuel discounts,”

the statement read.

The DOF, NEDA and DBM also reiterated its call for the passage of Republic Act 8178 or the Agricultural Tarification Act, which would bring down the price of rice.

The proposed measure has been approved at the House of Representatives in its third and final reading. It is now up to the Senate for passage.

“This is among the medium to long-term reforms to address inflation, besides the immediate to short-term measures we have proposed,” the economic team said.

They also called on the public to remain on guard against profiteers and report those who take advantage of the rising prices of goods.

“Despite risks and uncertainties in the global economy, the Philippines’ macroeconomic fundamentals remain robust and resilient enough to weather external shocks,” they said. (Patricia Lourdes Viray/Philstar.com)

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Pentagon: China a ‘growing risk’ to US defense industry

by AJPRESS

ACCORDING to a new Pentagon-led report seeking to mend weaknesses in core U.S. industries vital to national security, China represents a “significant and growing risk” to the supply of materials essential to the U.S. military.

The nearly 150-page report concluded that there are nearly 300 vulnerabilities that could affect critical materials and components essential to the U.S. military, as reported by Reuters on Tuesday, October 2.

A series of recommendations to strengthen American industry, including by expanding direct investment in sectors deemed critical was included in the analysis.

China was given heavy emphaHISTORIC WIN FOR WORKING MOTHERS. Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros, author and principal sponsor of the historic Expanded Maternity Leave Law passed in the Senate, on Wednesday signed the bicameral conference committee report of the measure that provides 105 to sis in the report, singled out for 120 days of maternity leave for all working mothers. The bill is in compliance with the International Labor Organization (ILO) standards. its domination in the global supThe last time that the number of paid maternity leave was increased in the country was in 1992 or 26 years ago. The proposed measure is ply of rare earth minerals critischeduled for ratification by Congress.

Senate photo cal in U.S. military applications.

China’s global profile in the supply of certain kinds of electronics as well as chemicals used in U.S.

‘Red tagged’ schools urged AFP...

PAGE A2 t we focus on efforts to strengthen the value of citizenship in young Filipinos so they can become productive members of our society,” he added.

According to the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), showing of films about martial law should not be deemed subversive. CHR spokesperson Jacqueline de Guia noted that the AFP could be in violation of the student’s rights.

“The commission is alarmed by the release of the AFP of the list of universities allegedly involved in CPP recruitment,” De

Guia said.

“This blanket act of red-tagging endangers students and the youth and it may give the AFP a license to arbitrarily infringe on the freedom of expression, the right to petition the government, as well as to assembly,” she added.

Military sets talks with schools The AFP and the Philippine National Police (PNP) said that they would seek a dialogue with top officials of colleges and universities regarding the allegation.

Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr. said

the AFP would hold talks with the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd), while PNP Chief Oscar Albayalde said they would help straighten facts.

“We are not going to condemn but we want to help them in teaching what is right and what really is happening. It’s all part of the education and to know the whole picture because it is dangerous if they don’t get that from their teachers and schools who are considered as second parents,” he said as reported by the Manila Times. ■

munitions was noted, as well.

“A key finding of this report is that China represents a significant and growing risk to the supply of materials and technologies deemed strategic and critical to the U.S. national security,” the report read.

The report could magnify trade tensions with China as its relations with the U.S. relations are already fraught to begin with over issues such as bitter trade war between the world’s two largest economies adding to tensions over cyber spying, self-ruled Taiwan and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea. The report can bolster the Trump administration’s “Buy American” initiative, which aims to help drum up billions of dollars more in arms sales for U.S. manufacturers and create more jobs.

Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday accused China of efforts to undermine President Donald Trump ahead of the November 6 congressional elec-

tions. He claimed that Beijing was “meddling in America’s democracy.”

His comments echoed Trump’s sentiments at the United Nations last month — that China “ has been attempting to interfere in our upcoming 2018 election.”

Chinese officials ultimately rejected the charge.

The report also examined shortcomings that contribute to weakness in the American defense industry. It noted the roller-coaster U.S. defense budgets that make it difficult for companies to predict government demand as well as the weaknesses in U.S. science and technology education.

“Although its findings are not likely to move markets, they present an alarming picture of U.S. industrial decay driven by both domestic and foreign factors,” Defense consultant Loren Thompson, who has close ties to Boeing Co and other companies, wrote. ■

Evangelist Quiboloy accused in Hawaii...

PAGE A1 t brutality and rape perpetrated against Ms. Angeles and other unwilling minors by Pastor Quiboloy, the complainant and other...witnesses will have their credibility eviscerated.”

But the news agency reported that the church’s local attorney Michael Green dismissed the accusation against Quiboloy as

a mere diversion.

The Hawaii court website showed that the trial against Angeles will continue on October 15.

Last February, the same news agency also reported that federal agents found $350,000 in cash and gun parts on the private plane where Quiboloy was boarded, prompting authorities

to briefly detain the pastor.

President Rodrigo Duterte and Quiboloy have been friends for more than 30 years.

The two met when Duterte was still a city prosecutor and Quiboloy was still establishing his congregation with 15 members in Barrio Agdao in Davao City. (Kristine Joy Patag/Philstar.com)

Not off the hook: Ombudsman to probe...

PAGE A1 t Officials and Employees.

Reports of the duo’s participation in the controversial federalism jingle video purportedly as part of the government’s campaign for federalism information dissemination were also cited in the Ombudsman’s letter.

The Office of the Ombudsman, then under Conchita Carpio Morales, also accused Uson of “deliberately using misleading statements” and of showing “incompetence” in several social

media posts attacking opposition figures such as Vice President Leni Robredo and Senators Bam Aquino, Risa Hontiveros and Antonio Trillanes IV. Uson to Robredo: Eyeliner to eyeliner On Thursday, October 4 Uson lashed out on Vice President Leni Robredo anew for saying that she was still liable for allegedly spreading lies. The former assistant secretary said that it was Robredo who was full of lies and scandals.

“Who is really telling a lie?

Even your position as Vice President is a big lie,” Uson said.

She lambasted Robredo’s previous video message, which was presented at the 60th UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs meeting in 2017, regarding extrajudicial killings in the country. She even claimed that Robredo’s video endangered the lives of overseas Filipino workers.

“The fight is even now. I have nothing to hide. I have no fear.

Let’s face each other, eye to eye, eyeliner to eyeliner,” she said. ■

Evangelist Apollo Quiboloy

Philstar.com photo

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ICC receives more info on Duterte gov’t violations San Francisco’s “comfort women” statue have already been publicized, according to him.

Gascon told ANC, “We are COMMISSION on Human Rights (CHR) chairman Chito aware that there are other conGascon on Thursday, October fidential communications that 4 said that more “confidential have already been submitted, communications” containing in- both from the Philippines – from formation on the alleged human non-government organizations rights violations by President and other victims’ groups – as Rodrigo Duterte’s administra- well as other internationally subtion have been sent to the Inter- mitted communications.”

“These are under what’s national Criminal Court (ICC).

There are at least four other called confidential procedures,” communications filed before he added.

One of the communications, the ICC in addition to those that

by AJPress

he said, tackled alleged violations against women and children, but declined to divulge any more information about it.

In April 2017, lawyer Jude Sabio filed a communication to the ICC seeking the prosecution of Duterte over the government’s deadly campaign against illegal drugs, as noted by Philstar. Opposition Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV filed a supplemental communication along with Magdalo party-list Rep. Gary Alejano.

ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda last February said she would initiate a preliminary examination on the matter. This led to the Duterte administration withdrawing the country’s signature to the agreement that created the ICC. A second communication was filed in August by relatives of those killed in the war on drugs.

Gascon made a clarification that the communications are not the actual complaints that will be filed with the international court.

He said the communications as well as as other sources of communication that the ICC collects “will constitute the body of facts or information that will prompt them to investigate further.”

“While we have not submitted a communication ourselves, we made a public statement that we are ready to cooperate with the ICC. We are now working with individual victims,” he added.

He urged the government for its cooperation with the ongoing preliminary examination.

He gave out a warning that the international community is taking note of public statements made by Philippine officials as well.

“All these statements are facts that cannot be denied or set aside as being jokes. The fact that the President said ‘my only sin is EJK (extrajudicial killing)’ at the very least is an acknowledgement that the killings are occurring,” Gascon said.

“He already mentioned ninja cops so there is an acknowledgement that there are police officers who have crossed the line.

The next question of course is, has any of these police officers have been held to account?” he asked.

According to him, it is in the best interest of the country that it does all it can to prevent the killings from happening and respect human rights. n

sparks outrage among Japanese officials Controversial monument features a Filipina comfort woman; the Japanese city of Osaka rescinds sister cityhood from San Francisco

by Klarize

Medenilla AJPress

LAST year, the City of San Francisco erected a monument that depicts young women from Korea, China and the Philippines holding hands as a separate statue of a Korean activist, Kim Hak-sun, looks up at them.

The “Column of Strength” memorial commemorates the hundreds of thousands of women and girls --- euphemized as “comfort women” --- who Japanese soldiers detained and raped from 1931 to 1945 during World War II. These sexually-enslaved victims and survivors came from 11 countries, and a majority of them came from China, Korea, the Philippines and other east and southeast Asian nations.

Since it was first unveiled in Downtown San Francisco on Sept. 22, 2017, officials from the Japanese government were not too pleased, and this week, the mayor of Osaka, Japan --- Hirofumi Yoshimura --- announced he is ending the “sister city” relationship with San Francisco.

On Tuesday, Oct. 2, Yoshimura penned a letter to Mayor

London Breed of San Francisco saying that the inscriptions on the monument represent “uncertain and one-sided claims as historical facts” and claimed that the toll of women who were enslaved was not based on fact.

Breed responded in a statement released Thursday, Oct. 4 saying that “one mayor cannot unilaterally end a relationship that exists between the people of our two cities,” and that the monument will not be taken down.

“The San Francisco Comfort Women Memorial is a symbol of the struggle faced by all women who have been, and are currently, forced to endure the horrors of enslavement and sex trafficking,” Breed wrote. “These victims deserve our respect and this memorial reminds us all of events and lessons we must never forget.”

Japan’s official view on World War II comfort women has changed over the decades. In 1993, it formally recognized that the Imperial Japanese Army forced women from neighboring Asian countries to work in brothels for the army’s soldiers.

The “Column of Strength” memorial was erected and funded through an alliance of immigrant women’s groups called the Comfort Women Justice Coalition. Several years ago, the coalition and 11 human rights groups launched a grassroots campaign for the memorial which was approved by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 2015.

In November 2017, the late Mayor Ed Lee of San Francisco signed a resolution to formally designate the statue as a city monument, a move that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan called “not only deeply regrettable, but it also opposes the views of the Japanese government.”

Despite both Abe’s and Yoshimura’s condemnation of the statue, there are no motions to have it removed.

Retired Superior Court Judge and chairwoman of the Comfort Women Justice Coalition Lillian Sing responded to Yoshimura’s threat to break ties with the city, saying, “He wants to remove the memorial because he is afraid of the truth. Removing it does not eradicate history.” n

ILLEGAL DRUGS WORTH MILLIONS SEIZED. Bureau of Customs (BOC) Commissioner Isidro Lapeña (center) presents to the media the PHP14million worth of shabu placed behind the frame of a religious image, some PHP1.496 million worth of Valium and Mogadon party drugs, and cannabis oil/marijuana, held at the Bureau of Customs at the NAIA in Pasay City on Thursday, October 4. Also in photo are Port of NAIA District Collector Carmelita Talusan (right) and PDEA Intelligence Analyst Gerald Javier.

PNA photo by Avito C. Dalan

forex cargo 1/2h

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NaFFAA kicks off Filipino American History Month 2018 in the nation’s capital

GANDHI STAMPS. First Secretary Mahendra Singh Patiyal, of the Indian Embassy in Manila, shows the commemorative postage stamps of icon activist Mahatma Gandhi during the celebration of Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary on Tuesday, October 2 at the Panorama Tower, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City.

PNA photo by Gil Calinga

Pacquiao-Broner in the works?

MannY Pacquiao may end up tangling with former four-division champion adrien Broner in his next fight planned for either in December or January next year. sources close to Pacquiao said his team has already prepared a contract to be presented to Broner, who is being managed by the influential but reclusive al haymon. this comes amid reports claiming Pacquiao has held talks with the camp of haymon, who

is also an adviser to Floyd Mayweather Jr. no venue has been specified for Pacquiao versus Broner, although the Us is a strong candidate following the Filipino icon’s previous declaration that he plans to return to boxing’s biggest market for his next fight.

Broner, 29, has held titles at junior lightweight (130 pounds), lightweight (135), light welterweight (140) and welterweight (147). he sports a record of 333-1, with 24 knockouts.

the Cincinnati, ohio-based fighter, nicknamed “the Problem,” last fought in april this year, a majority draw against previous Pacquiao victim Jessie Vargas. if a deal is reached, Pacquiao will put the WBa “regular” welterweight championship on the line. the fighting senator won the strap from Lucas Matthysse, whom he stopped in the seventh round in their showdown in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last July. (Philstar.com)

Cubs’ Addison Russell suspended 40...

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this week, she spoke with EsPn and said that league investigators reached out to her last year in response to a sincedeleted instagram post suggesting Russell was unfaithful and abusive. she said she wasn’t ready to speak then, but after her september blog post is ready to speak publicly.

“Last year when the MLB contacted me, i wasn’t ready,” Reidy-Russell, 24, told EsPn this week. “i didn’t know what was the right thing to do. i didn’t even believe in myself enough to think i should do that. i just left my husband and all this blew up.” on Wednesday, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred announced that the league had completed the investigation and concluded that Russell violated league policy “and should be subject to discipline in the form of an unpaid suspension that will cover 40 games.”

Chicago Cubs President of Baseball operations theo Epstein gave a news conference on Wednesday condemned domestic violence and when asked if Russell will return to the team next season Epstein answered, “i don’t know. With all of our words and actions going forward, whether we know it or not, we’re sending messages to our fans.”

“Domestic violence is everyone’s problem,” Epstein added.

“Because of that, we all have an obligation to be part of the solution as well. Discipline, in a case like this, is part of the solution

going forward.” der the league’s domestic vioRussell, 24, initially denied his lence policy. n ex-wife’s allegations, but in a statement released on Wednesday, he said that he has “gained better understanding” of the situation. “i have concluded it’s the best interest of my family to accept MLB’s proposed resolution of this matter,” Russell said through his lawyers “i wish my ex-wife well and hope we can live in peace for the benefit of our child.

Reidy-Russell, with whom Russell has a 3-year-old son, alleges that the Cubs shortstop has been unfaithful to her. on the instagram photo posted June 2017, a user, who is reportedly a close friend to Reidy-Russell, claimed that Russell “hit” his wife. on sept. 19, 2018, Reidy-Russell published a blog post titled, “you no longer have a secret, you have a story” which details her emotional and psychological distress allegedly brought on by physical, emotional and verbal abuse and infidelity on Russell’s part. “the way i was treated and the way he made me feel about myself, tore me down to nothing,” Reidy-Russell, a licensed cosmetologist from Bay Minette, alabama, wrote. “no matter who you are or what you’re going through, you should not be afraid or ashamed to speak out about any type of abuse regardless [of] who it will offend.”

Less than 12 hours after the blog post was published, the MLB announced that Russell had been put on paid leave un-

Trump sees low international...

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saying so for Macron. such opinions have reflected upon the U.s’ global image which the nonpartisan fact tank said, “plummeted following the election of President Donald trump, amid widespread opposition to his administration’s policies and a widely shared lack of confidence in his leadership.”

“Ratings for the United states are much lower than during Barack obama’s presidency,” said Pew Research. the survey further found that a large majority (70 percent) of the international community believes that the U.s. does not take into account the interests of other countries when it comes to making foreign policy decisions. More foreigners (37 percent) also believe that the U.s. is doing less than it used to in helping address major global problems. only 14 percent said the U.s. was doing more in helping, while 34 percent said it was doing about the same.

Found to be most frustrated with the U.s. under trump’s administration included some of the nation’s closest allies and partners including germany and France. neighboring countries Canada and Mexico also shared critical views. trump got his lowest ratings from Mexico, where only six percent expressed confidence in his leadership.

But countries having the most favorable views of the U.s. were israel and the Philippines, both of which had 83 percent of people surveyed giving the U.s. positive ratings, followed by south Korea with 80 percent.

Views at home Following the Pew Research report, the Chicago Council on global affairs came out with an-

other survey on tuesday, october 2, exploring american opinions on trump and the U.s.

What it found was that a majority of americans were not in favor with trump’s “america First” approach. it said, the trump administration’s “bold attempts to reshape U.s. foreign policy have not convinced many americans.”

“While the trump administration has taken action along this path — unilaterally withdrawing from the Paris and iran agreements, pulling the United states out from the trans-Pacific Partnership (tPP) trade agreement, and questioning the value of long-time alliances like nato — the majority of the american public has not followed this lead,” said the Chicago Council. according to the 2018 Chicago Council survey, 70 percent of americans reported wanting the U.s. to play an “active part” in world affairs. “this is the largest recorded majority than at any point since 1974, except for 2002, when the Council conducted its first survey after the september 911 attacks,” said the Chicago Council. an increase was also seen among americans who believe the U.s. should participate in the iran Deal and the Paris agreement. on americans’ opinions on how the U.s. should be perceived by the international community, the survey found the 39 percent believe that the U.s. is currently more feared than admired, and 73 percent think that admiration of the U.s. is more important than fear when it comes to achieving U.s. foreign policy goals. More than half (57 percent) of surveyed americans believe that the U.s. is losing allies. n

Washington, DC – to kick off Filipino american history Month (FahM) 2018, the national Federation of Filipino american associations (naFFaa) hosted its second annual Federation Forum at aaRP’s headquarters in the nation’s capital on Monday, october 1. the Federation Forum brought together leaders from regional and national Filipino american organizations for an opportunity to network and collaborate with each other on ways in which their organizations can better serve Filipino american populations across the country.

“We relish every opportunity to bring together this diverse cross-section of organizations, who, while having different missions and constituencies, all align in one unified goal: advocating for the best interests of the Filipino american community,” said naFFaa national Chairman Brendan Flores. “this year, we hope to build on the momentum of last year’s inaugural forum, and continue this spirit of solidarity, partnership, and empowerment that lies at the heart of naFFaa’s mission.” this year, the following fourteen regional and national organizations were represented at the forum: • association of Philippine Physicians in america (aPPa)

• Federation of Philippine american Chambers of Commerce (FPaCC) • Filipino american national historical society (Fanhs) • Filipino intercollegiate networking Dialogue (FinD) • Filipino Veterans Recognition and Education Project (FilVetREP) • Filipino Young Leaders Program (FYLPRo) • Filipino Young Professionals (FYP) • national Filipino american Lawyers association (nFaLa) • Philippine american Foundation for Charities (PaFC) • Philippine Folk arts society, inc. (PFasi) • Philippine humanitarian Coalition (PhC) • Philippine nurses association of america (Pnaa) • Pilipino american Unity for Progress, inc. (UniPro) • the PUso Foundation on october 2, naFFaa hosted a reception in celebration of FahM at the Michelin-rated Kaliwa restaurant in Washington, DC. the reception was intended to celebrate the distinct history, rich culture, and indelible contributions of Filipino americans throughout the United states. “not only are we proud to be celebrating Filipino american history Month in the nation’s capital, but we are thrilled to be doing so at Kaliwa, a beautiful and exciting new addition to the region’s booming Fili-

pino food scene,” said naFFaa Executive Director Jason tengco. “the expansion of Filipino culture and cuisine here and across the U.s. represents enormous progress in terms of Filipino visibility that is long overdue.” this year’s reception convened 150 prominent Filipino american leaders and allies from across the nation, including Congressman Bobby scott, Maryland Delegate Kris Valderrama, and Brunswick Mayor Ron Falconi. Dignitaries from the Philippine Embassy, media representatives, as well as community, business, and youth leaders were also in attendance. David Do, Executive Director of the DC Mayor’s office on asian and Pacific islander affairs, presented a proclamation from Mayor Muriel Bowser recognizing FahM and the Filipino american national historical society (Fanhs) for first starting the month. “there is no better day than today to recognize the history and progress of Filipino americans, a community that is over four million strong,” added naFFaa national Chairman Brendan Flores. “this is more than just a celebratory event, it is our opportunity to gather in our nation’s capital to reflect on how far we have come as a community, while renewing our commitment to advocate, engage, and empower.” n

Dateline USa

A OctOber 6-9, 2018 • LA WeeKeND ASIAN JOUrNAL

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US trains PH soldiers on social media monitoring Cayetano: China, US need ‘heartto-heart’ talk on South China Sea PhiliPPine Army personnel recently underwent training on monitoring social media to counter misinformation by violent extremist organizations. information operations specialists with the U.S. Army special operations command gave the training to the army’s new social media monitoring cell last week.

The monitoring cell, activated

in July 23, is part of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ campaign to strengthen information operations capability. The program has support from the U.S. embassy.

“This social media cell is another example of the combined U.S.-Philippine effort to counter violent extremism and mitigate threats to regional stability,” Capt. Robert Barnes of the U.S.

Army said.

The U.S. embassy’s indo-Pacific Command Augmentation Team and non-governmental organization Spirit of America work with the Philippine Army on social media research, analysis and countering violent extremism, the embassy said in a release.

‘Digital and informational battlefields’ Col. Romeo Brawner, commanding officer of the army’s Civil Military Operations, said the AFP wil develop more stateof-the-art communication technologies in the future.

“This generation saw the birth of the information age, and future wars will be fought on digital and informational battlefields,” Brawner said.

U.S. troops were among the first to assist the Philippines when iSiS-inspired terrorists laid siege to Marawi City last year.

Then presidential spokesperson ernesto Abella said the U.S. provided “technical assistance” in the campaign against the Maute group in Marawi but Col. Romeo S. Brawner, Commanding Officer of the Philippine Army’s Civil Military Operations no American soldier was directly (CMO) Regiment, speaks to members of the US Indo-Pacific Augmentation Team. involved in the battle. (Patricia Photo courtesy of the U.S. Embassy in Manila Lourdes Viray/Philstar.com)

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TwO of the world’s powers need to sit down for a “heart-toheart” discussion to settle their differences on the South China Sea issue, the Philippines’ top diplomat said on Friday, October 5.

This comment comes after a confrontation between American and Chinese warships in the Spratly islands, where Beijing has built artificial islands and installed military facilities.

“So that’s our point,in the west Philippine Sea, South China Sea, needs a heart-to-heart talk between regional and non-regional players and between the two superpowers,” Cayetano said, referring to the US and China.

Cayetano reiterated President Rodrigo Duterte’s policy that the Philippines wants to be “friends to everyone” but washington and Beijing have their own rivalry.

“China has a different stand on the South China Sea, the US has a different stand, and the Philippines has a different stand. But the dynamics of the superpowers are different from that of the middle powers and countries who use soft power,” the secretary said.

The Association of Southeast Asian nations (ASeAn) is working on handling the matter as

DFA Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano

a bloc by working on a legally binding Code of Conduct on the South China Sea. Cayetano noted that about 40 percent of ASeAn memberstates have overlapping claims while the remaining countries are non-claimants. “we will continue to see these irritants and arguments and it will continue until the U.S. and China sit down and regional players sit down,” he said. earlier this week, American warship USS Decatur sailed within 12 nautical miles of Gaven and Johnson Reefs in the South China Sea. The U.S. guided-missile de-

Inquirer.net photo

stroyer was conducting a freedom of navigation operation in the area, challenging Beijing’s territorial claims in the area.

China responded to this by sending its own warship within yards of the American destroyer.

According to U.S. navy Commander nate Christenses, US Pacific Fleet spokesman, a Chinese luyang destroyer approaced USS Decatur in “an unsafe and unprofessional maneuver in the vicinity of Gaven Reef in the South China Sea” and conducted a series of “increasingly aggressive maneuvers, and warned the Decatur to depart the area.” n

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Dateline PhiliPPines

TRAIN law burdens majority of Filipino families, say study by aJPress A RECENT study conducted by the IBON Foundation concluded on Thursday, October 4, that the first package of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law burdens the poorest 17.2 million Filipinos nationwide.

The said non-stock and nonprofit organization found out that 76 percent or three out of four Filipino families are struggling to bear oil and other consumption taxes without the benefit of receiving compensatory personal income tax cuts “The poor and middle class, even those few with gains from personal income tax cuts, will suffer cuts in their standard of living unlike the rich who will easily be able to maintain their lifestyles,” IBON Foundation said as reported by CNN Philippines.

This goes against the claim of the Department of Finance (DOF) stating that the tax reform is not “anti-poor.” The

country’s finance department claimed that the top 10 percent of richest households consume as much fuel as the poorest 80 percent combined which is at about 51 percent.

The DOF added that based on the Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES) 2015, the top 1 percent uses oil equivalent to the bottom 50 percent of all households in the entire country.

IBON Foundation criticized the logic of the said argument, labeling it as “insensitive” to the actual income of a Filipino family.

The study reported that the poorest 80 percent has a monthly income ranging from P1,441 to around P29,600.

As such, around 18.1 million families would belong to the country’s poor. While 2.1 million would belong to the lower middle class.

IBON reported that the “richest 10 percent” would include middle-class families earning between P44,000 and P100,000, which means they are part of

the group which consumes 51 percent of the total fuel consumption.

The research group added the “TRAIN-driven” inflation affected the purchasing power of the poorest 90 percent of Filipinos by P1,622 to P9,250. The said foundation then suggested that taxation should be directed towards the country’s richest.

“Hundreds of billions of pesos can be raised by increasing taxes just on the richest 570,000 or 2.5 (percent) of super-rich Filipino families without burdening the poor. This will also entail lifting taxes on sensitive products such as oil, which will genuinely benefit the majority,” it explained.

In order to lessen the harm that TRAIN law is causing, several lawmakers have looked into the cancellation of some provisions in the tax reform program especially those on fuel and oil. However, President Rodrigo Duterte does not want to stop TRAIN as he does not believe that the tax reform law is responsible for the price surges. n

Comelec sets schedule for 2019 midterm polls by aJPress THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) has released its calendar of activities and listed prohibited acts for the 2019 midterm elections on May 13.

Comelec Resolution No. 10429 sets the election period from January 13 to June 12, 2019.

However, the filing of certificates of candidacy (COC) and nominations for party-list representatives will run from October 11 to 12 and October 15 to 17 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The campaign period for senatorial candidates and party-list groups will be from February 12 to May 11, with campaigning banned on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.

Campaign period for candidates for the House of Representatives and local positions

meanwhile will be from March 30 to May 11.

Candidates are prohibited from campaigning on May 12 and May 13, election day. A liquor ban will also take effect on May 12 and election day, while a gun ban will be in effect all throughout the election period.

Substitution of an official candidate of political and coalition parties who died or was disqualified is allowed from Nov. 30 until mid-day of May 13, as long as the one replaced and the new candidate have the same surnames.

Counting and consolidation of votes are set immediately after the election. Proclamation of winning senators, congressmen, regional and provincial bets meanwhile are expected to take place between May 17 to 19.

The last day of the filing

of candidates’ statements of contributions and expenses (SOCE) — whether they won or not — will be on June 12.

Comelec said it is not inclined to extend the voters’ registration period due to legal restraints.

Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said yesterday, “The request for extension faces serious challenge in light of this recent Supreme Court (SC) decision, precisely on this matter.”

Jimenez also noted that extending the voters’ registration period has been ruled out by the SC in December 2015.

“The SC placed the registration process within the context of election preparations and concluded that the Comelec has sufficient authority to set the deadline, in view of the need to accomplish its mandate,” he explained. n

LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL • OctObER 6-9, 2018

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A8 OCTOBER 6-9, 2018 • LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL

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OPINION

FEATURES

Age of criminal responsibility

THE street children are all over Metro Manila, with video footage showing them jumping on vehicles as they beg for alms, snatching the cash boxes of jeepney drivers. Even around Manila’s Rizal Park, the traffic islands of Roxas Boulevard now teem with the street children, with their mothers fanning themselves on the grass, right under the noses of traffic cops. The children scratch the cars of motorists who refuse to have their windshields wiped with the kids’ dirty rags and filthy water.

Vandalism and petty thievery are the least of the offenses committed by children, who are immune from criminal prosecution as long as they are no older than 15. Republic Act 9344, the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006, saw to this. Older children up to age 18 may be prosecuted for criminal offenses, but only if they are deemed to have acted with discernment.

The law was quickly exploited by crime gangs, which employed minors as drug couriers, jueteng bet collectors, lookouts and messengers. Terrorist and rebel groups use children in their supply networks. Some children are even turned into armed fighters.

Now Senate President Vicente Sotto III has filed a bill seeking to amend RA 9344 and lower the age of criminal responsibility to 13. The bill is sure to get the support of President Duterte, who has been calling for such an amendment amid

his crackdown on the illegal drug trade. With presidential backing, Sotto’s bill will likely be passed.

Alongside the amendment, the government must intensify social interventions to keep children off the streets and save them from a life of crime. The country’s juvenile rehabilitation and detention facilities are even more inadequate than the local jails that are now overflowing with inmates apprehended under Oplan Tokhang or for violating city ordinances.

Modern penology has the twin aims of punishment and rehabilitation. Recidivists and so-called hardened criminals are subjected to rehabilitation or correction efforts. Criminal behavior even among children cannot be tolerated. But after appropriate punishment, everyone deserves a second chance, and child offenders deserve it even more. Any amendment of the law on juvenile justice must take this into account. (Philstar.com)

Editorial

Philstar.com photo

2,400+ law professors, retired SC judge to senators: No to Kavanaugh in the Supreme Court

The Fil-Am Perspective GEL SANTOS-RELOS HISTORIC final Senate vote to confirm President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court Justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh is happening today, Saturday, October 6.

This follows a less than a week of supplemental FBI investigation that has been deemed as limited in scope and depth, at the direction of the White House. This has been a process rushed by the Senate Republican leadership which has urgently wanted to confirm Trump’s chosen one at the expense of really finding out the truth not only in the sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh, but also the truth about his character and fitness for the lifetime position of Justice of the Supreme Court.

The accuser Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and the accused, Brett Kavanaugh were not even called by the FBI, neither were so many people who have come forward to give their testimony that will corroborate Ford’s testimony during

the September 27 hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Many of Kavanaugh’s former classmates and friends from high school and College also contacted the FBI to dispute Kavanaugh’s testimony under oath, but they too were never called by the FBI. Protests erupted in many cities across the nation against and for Kavanaugh’s nomination. The dissenting rallies had women who were rape survivors and their supporters, calling the defense of Kavanaugh as yet again another glaring proof of how women who are sexually abused are not really heard, taken seriously and are even vilified in America, especially by powerful men in Washington, including President Trump himself.

The protesters argue Kavanaugh is NOT the right man for the job, and confirming him would just perpetuate the injustice inflicted upon the marginalized people of this nation.

The case against Kavanaugh’s confirmation was also made by more than 2,400 law professors across the country, who signed

an Op-Ed in the New York Times on October 3, and presented as a letter to the Senators on October 4: “Judicial temperament is one of the most important qualities of a judge. As the Congressional Research Service explains, a judge requires “a personality that is even-handed, unbiased, impartial, courteous yet firm, and dedicated to a process, not a result.”

The concern for judicial temperament dates back to our founding; in Federalist 78, titled “Judges as Guardians of the Constitution,” Alexander Hamilton expressed the need for “the integrity and moderation of the judiciary.”

We are law professors who teach, research and write about the judicial institutions of this country. Many of us appear in state and federal court, and our work means that we will continue to do so, including before the United States Supreme Court.

We regret that we feel compelled to write to you, our Senators, to provide our views that at the Senate hearings on Sept. 27, Judge Brett Kavanaugh displayed a

lack of judicial temperament that would be disqualifying for any court, and certainly for elevation to the highest court of this land.

The question at issue was of course painful for anyone. But Judge Kavanaugh exhibited a lack of commitment to judicious inquiry. Instead of being open to the necessary search for accuracy, Judge Kavanaugh was repeatedly aggressive with questioners. Even in his prepared remarks, Judge Kavanaugh described the hearing as partisan, referring to it as “a calculated and orchestrated political hit,” rather than acknowledging the need for the Senate, faced with new information, to try to understand what had transpired.

Instead of trying to sort out with reason and care the allegations that were raised, Judge Kavanaugh responded in an intemperate, inflammatory and partial manner, as he interrupted and, at times, was discourteous to senators.

As you know, under two statutes governing bias and recusal, judges must step aside if they

are at risk of being perceived as or of being unfair. As Congress has previously put it, a judge or justice “shall disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned.” These statutes are part of a myriad of legal commitments to the impartiality of the judiciary, which is the cornerstone of the courts.

We have differing views about the other qualifications of Judge Kavanaugh. But we are united, as professors of law and scholars of judicial institutions, in believing that he did not display the impartiality and judicial temperament requisite to sit on the highest court of our land.”

Retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, a life long Republican appointed by President Gerard Ford, also revealed that he started out believing that Kavanaugh deserved to be confirmed, however, he said Kavanaugh’s “performance during the hearings caused me to change my mind.”

As Reuters reported, Stevens cited commentary by Harvard

University law professor Laurence Tribe and others suggesting Kavanaugh had raised doubts about his political impartiality when he asserted that sexual misconduct accusations he faced stemmed from an “orchestrated political hit” funded by left-wing groups seeking “revenge on behalf of the Clintons.”

Stevens said after watching the September 27 hearing, he has come to believe that Kavanaugh “demonstrated a potential bias involving enough potential litigants before the (high) court that he would not be able to perform his full responsibilities.”

“I think there’s merit in that criticism, and that the senators should really pay attention to it for the good of the court.”

Will and should Kavanaugh be confirmed? ***

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

Rick Rocamora’s moral courage and visual voice of witnessing human wrongs to human rights

Rhizomes

PROSY ABARQUEZDELACRUZ, J.D. “Every life is a wonderful story worthy of being told. Every life is a work of art, and if it does not seem so, perhaps it is only necessary to illuminate the reason that contains it. The secret is never to lose faith, to have confidence in God’s plan for us, revealed in the signs with which He shows us the way.

If you learn to listen, you will find that each life speaks to us of love.

Because love is everything, the

engine of the world. Love is the secret energy behind every note I sing and never forget that there’s no such happenstance. There’s an illusion, lawless and arrogant men invented, so that they could sacrifice the truth of our world to the laws of reason.” – Andrea Bocelli WHILE in Los Angeles, Rick Rocamora granted exclusive interview to the Asian Journal, after his book launch of Blood, Sweat, Hope and Quiapo at Echo Park Library in Feb. 2017, sponsored

by Sigma Rho Fraternity. We sat down for a few hours recalling all his projects and where he draws his inspiration.

When I read Bocelli’s quotes, Dan Amosin, who wrote a powerful essay in Rocamora’s book about Quiapo and Rodallie Mosende came to mind, a man who rose from poverty, eating one meal a day to now whose assets are worth millions. He was born with seven siblings to parents who were public school teachers.

“I am not bragging, I could not afford then to buy shoes and I would just change the soles,” he said. He rented a bed space in Santa Cruz and bought a kilo or two of liver in Central Market, which he would then cut into little pieces to become his only meal for the day.

He was getting the support to go to college from his parents.

After taking a written exam, along with 5,000 applicants, he and 120 students got into the UP College of Law, which tested his equanimity and intelligence.

There, he joined Sigma Rho and when his classmates would say, “Let’s eat,” he would then say, “I Photos by Rick Rocamora already did,” as he did not have

the money to buy lunch.

One of his fraternity brothers learned of his plight and gave him a job as a consultant to RA 1530, a legislation that was being authored. He transferred to the evening class and worked during the day. He finished his law degree and got employed in a corporate legal department and became the manager of a big corporation. He is now a practicing lawyer in the greater Los Angeles area.

Amosin’s story remains an inspiration to Rocamora’s documentary projects.

Rocamora’s migration to the U.S. after Martial Law was declared was unplanned. Because his wife was an American citizen, he was able to get an immigrant visa quickly. As a successful pharmaceuticals sales representative in the Philippines, he was able to get a job in the same field when he arrived in the U.S. He worked for a New Jersey based company for a year and then was hired by a company that was eventually acquired by Dow Chemical. For 18 years of privileged corporate life in sales and later as the Regional

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OpiniOn & Features

Rick Rocamora’s moral courage and visual...

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Manager, he remained unhappy because the job did not quite give him the fulfillment in life in spite of the corporate travel perks.

After another company merger, he took a buyout and pursued a career in photojournalism and documentary photography. With passion and purpose, he worked on stories about H1B workers in Silicon Valley, driving while black and brown, and U.S. surveillance of activists through the years for American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). He travelled and made pictures in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Cuba and South Africa which were later published and exhibited. He spent 18 years documenting the lives of Filipino WWII veterans while waiting for equity. In 2009, he published Filipino World War II Soldiers: America’s Second Class Veterans. His photos are also part of a permanent exhibit in San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Perhaps, it is to open our eyes to love human beings as deeply as we can and to aspire for a world that includes them, believing that everyone is entitled to have everything they need in life to thrive and to be healthy. Rocamora’s works capture these universal principles and sometimes, he is fortunate enough to have his eyes become the conduit of human rights and common good.

Common good displaced and called to action St. John XXIII said, “Of its very nature, civil authority exists, not to confine its people within the boundaries of their nation, but rather to protect, above all else, the common good of the entire family.”

In Rocamora’s personal long term project on conditions of Philippine Detention Centers, he spent six years visiting jails and detentions centers, documenting the plight of Pilipino prisoners and their conditions of “bursting at the seams.”

It was on exhibit at the Ayala Museum from March 10 until April 2018, with support from the Integrated Bar of the Philippines. “We would like to share with you the good news that the Ayala Museum was awarded Soft Power Destination of the Year - Best Activation by the the Leading Cultural Destination Awards (LCDA) in London for the exhibition Bursting at the Seams! The jury found that it best exemplified the power of a cultural organization to influence and empower their community. The

Photos by Rick Rocamora

LCDA was organized five years ago by London-based philanthropist Florian Wupperfeld and is considered “the Oscars of museums,” Rocamora posted on his Facebook page.

Esquire Magazine’s Audrey Carpio on March 12, 2018 described this as: “The situation was already bad in 2011, but it has become exponentially worse with the current administration’s war on drugs.”

One image moved me to tears as a father cuddles and hugs his newborn, while his partner sleeps on the floor inside the prison.

“And so what started out as a project for the Supreme Court has evolved into a long-term project that advocates for wide-ranging solutions, which require financial appropriation, structural improvement of facilities and integration of various stakeholders into a single agency. This means that beyond building more and better infrastructure, the jails and penitentiaries all throughout the Philippines—which are currently overseen either by the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, the Bureau of Corrections, and by local government units—all need to be integrated under one body to standardize management pro-

tocols. Judges and lawyers, too, have their role to play in ensuring justice is served expeditiously,” Carpio continued.

Another photo of about 24+ men sitting and resting on bunk beds while others in hammocks, occupying every inch of space in that crowded room was compelling. In a Quezon City detention center, Rocamora took a photo of Muslim prisoners praying during Jummah or Friday prayers.

After 9/11, he initiated a project documenting Muslim Americans in various occupations and ways of living, “My goal is to provide Muslim Americans a visual voice through documentary photography. My work will define the community and what they represent in U.S. society and to counteract hate speech, discrimination, profiling and defiling of their sacred spaces. I try to find the stories that says they are one of us.”

“There are 3.3 million Muslims from 77 countries in the world, 30 percent are whites and the rest are from Asia and the Middle East.

Without faces, we cannot understand these statistics,” he added.

He recently had an exhibit “Identities of Minority Muslims

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LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL • OctObER 6-9, 2018

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A10 OctOber 6-9, 2018 • LA WeeKeND ASIAN JOUrNAL

Dateline PhiliPPines

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

House approves P3.7-trillion 2019 national budget MANILA — The House of Representatives on Wednesday, October 3, approved the proposed P3.757-trillion 2019 national budget on second reading.

The approval came at 9:45 p.m. and capped three weeks of plenary debates. Among the last agencies whose funding was scrutinized was the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO).

The PCOO was cleared only after its controversial assistant secretary for social media, Mo-

cha Uson, announced her resignation in the Senate. She has consistently refused to appear before the House.

The approved budget for next year includes the P52 billion in alleged pork barrel funds the House earlier realigned from appropriations of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

Majority Leader Rolando Andaya Jr. presented the realignments as amendments coming from the committee on appro-

priations.

For changes to be proposed by individual members, the House created a “small committee” to receive them. The panel includes Andaya and Minority Leader Danilo Suarez.

“We are appropriating trillions of taxpayers’ money and yet many government agencies are not fully utilizing their appropriations. There is still P1.3 trillion in unspent funds,” Suarez said.

The realigned P52 billion in DPWH funds came from areas where influential lawmakers and administration officials reportedly “parked” their pork barrel funds.

Of that huge amount, P31 billion was returned to the DPWH but for different programs: P10 billion for access roads to tourist destinations; another P10 billion for access roads to trade industries, economic zones and livelihood centers; and P10.8 billion for roads to ease traffic in congested areas throughout the country.

The remaining P21 billion was reallocated as additional money for the Department of Education, which received P3 billion more; Department of Agriculture, P5 billion; state colleges and universities, P1.2 billion; Department of Health, P3 billion for health workers and another P3 billion for health facilities; and P5 billion for the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

Andaya said programs and projects to be funded out of the realigned appropriations would be detailed in the budget.

He said even with the changes, the proposed 2019 national budget still largely supports President Duterte’s spending priorities.

Earlier, Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo vowed to have her chamber approve the outlay before Congress goes on its monthlong Halloween recess on Oct. 13, Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said.

He told reporters that tackling the budget until the wee hours “is a decision to be able to comply with our legislative calendar that we have set together.”

“We wanted to pass the budget bill before we go off on recess so we can pass it to the Senate and they can finish it on time for signing before the end of the year,” she said.

Arroyo said she is used to working until the early morning hours.

Suarez thanked his colleagues for working overtime to approve the budget. (Philstar.com)

ANTI-GRAFT CRUSADE. Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) officer in charge Eduardo Año administers the oath to members of the newly launched ‘Bantay Korapsyon’ from local governments, government agencies, and various groups of non-government organizations during the group’s launch on Wednesday, October 3.

ManilaTimes.net photo by Ruy Martinez

84% of Filipinos satisfied with democracy in PH – SWS

by Daphne

Galvez Inquirer.net

IN the September 2018 poll released Thursday night, 84 percent of Filipinos found democracy in the country to be satisfactory.

This is an increase of six points from the 78 percent recorded last March.

The survey also found out that 59 percent of Filipinos who may be called “committed democrats,” said “democracy is always preferable to any other kind of government.” This is a one-point decrease from last March’s 70

percent.

However, 20 percent of Filipinos said that “under some circumstances, an authoritarian government can be preferable to a democratic one”. They can be called as “conditional authoritarians.”

Meanwhile, 19 percent of Filipinos are “indifferent,” saying, “it does not matter whether we have a democratic or a non-democratic regime.”

Results showed that satisfaction was highest among “committed democrats” at 88 percent, 80 percent at “conditional au-

thoritarians”, and those “indifferent” at 74 percent.

SWS said satisfaction with democracy had peaks of 70 percent (September 1992), 70 percent (July 1998), 68 percent (June 2010) and the record-high of 86 percent (September 2016).

An 80 percent satisfaction was recorded in June 2013, which was achieved after the May 2013 elections.

The survey was conducted with 1,500 adults from 18 years old and above nationwide as respondents. The survey was conducted from September 15-23. n

Army chief to be named DSWD secretary by alexis

RomeRo Philstar.com

MANILA — President Duterte is set to appoint retiring Philippine Army chief Lt. Gen. Rolando Bautista as the next social welfare secretary.

Duterte announced that Bautista would become the next social welfare chief during a dinner with alumni of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) at Malacañang last night.

“Announce ko naman, the next DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development) secretary… si Rolly pala, Rolly Bautista (I am announcing that Rolly Bautista is the next DSWD secretary),” the President said.

Duterte previously said he would designate Bautista as the next administrator of the National Food Authority. Bautista was supposed

Duterte previously said he would designate Bautista as the next administrator of the National Food Authority. Bautista was supposed to replace Jason Aquino, who resigned as the state grains agency was being criticized over NFA rice shortages and higher rice prices.

Philstar.com photo KJ Rosales

to replace Jason Aquino, who resigned as the state grains agency was being criticized over NFA rice shortages and higher rice prices.

Duterte did not say who would become the next NFA chief.

Bautista is a member of PMA

Class ‘85. He will retire from the military service on Oct. 15.

He was the chief of the Presidential Security Group before he took over as commander of the Philippine Army in October last year. n

Rick Rocamora’s moral courage and visual...

PAGE A9 t

in the U.S. and Japan” at the Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia of The University of Tokyo, Japan from September 29 to October 3, 2018.

From WWII soldiers to collecting cans for a living After the passage of the Immigration Act of 1990, Rocamora documented The living conditions of the new immigrants after their arrival.Travel agents, luring them to come to the U.S. so they can purchase airline tickets, assured them that they will not encounter housing problems since they are veterans. Many ended up sleeping in homeless shelters on their first night in America. Some were asked to sign a power of attorney so they can be represented for possible monetary claims from the U.S. government.

The story of 10 Filipino veterans brought to the U.S. by Catalino Dazo was published as a series in the San Francisco Examiner. The story highlights their living conditions and their life with Dazo. One of the veterans, Magdaleno Duenas was fed with dog food and tied on a bed post. Others were allegedly used as free labor by Dazo for his other businesses.

With the help of Atty. Lou Tancinco and other Filipino lawyers, and the Contra Costa Sheriff’s office, these veterans were rescued from Dazo. In a civil case, Dazo was found guilty of abuse and was required to compensate the veterans monetarily.

The civil complaint and an investigative story that ran in SF Examiner brought forth a movement and the Veterans Equity Center was founded to assist Filipino Veterans for their needs, including a free legal clinic every Friday given

by Lou Tancinco, Esq. Rocamora’s photos of these blatant human wrongs got seared in our collective memories, as the sufferings of America’s Second Class Veterans. These photos were exhibited at the Canon House Office Building, at the House of Representatives in the Philippines and are now a part of a permanent collection in the SF Museum of Modern Art. The Rescission Act of 1946 only entitled them to receive 50 cents to a dollar that other veterans were receiving as compensation for their sufferings during the war. New York Times’ Marvin Howe in 1990 described it “Under the law, Filipino veterans were denied all benefits except compensation for service-connected dis-

ability or death, paid at a reduced rate.” Yet this 1946 law included the other veterans who fought alongside America in WW II. The Filipino veterans were finally awarded the Congressional Gold Medal (the highest form of recognition from U.S. Congress) in 2017. In 2009, a one-time equity payment to the surviving veterans was inserted in the special budget allocation, that was championed by Sen. Dan Inouye, and signed by Pres. Barack Obama. It granted $15,000 to U.S. citizens and $9,000 to non-citizens, based on proof of verifiable military service.

At the time of Rocamora’s book launch in 2009, only three of the book’s subjects were still alive and it was his wish to “give them a tribute, to their contributions to this country [America], and also to remember the injustice they suffered while waiting for equity.”

Nurturing an irrepressible artistic spirit Rocamora was commissioned

by UNHCR to take photos during Typhoon Haiyan, a cyclone that devastated not his home province, yes not his home province, yet he was thrusted in harm’s way in Leyte.

He captured the destruction of howling 145 mph winds resulting in 6,300 deaths in 2013.

Without power and transportation, he spent a month travelling on foot, and when available, used tricycles and took photos to document hope, teamwork, sacrifices, even while he was surrounded by a tsunami of dead bodies, mangled limbs, floating bodies, apocalyptic uprooting of homes from their foundations, flying roofing sheets pried open like sardine can tops.

With his irrepressible artistic spirit, he was able to capture hope in his photos. Like a boy who was holding a basketball or a flag that flew amidst the rubble or even signs of rosaries or a cross, surrounded by destruction. It is the hopeful eyes of Rocamora that allow us to see beyond the tragedy to hope for a new tomorrow.

How did you survive, I asked?

“Skyflakes and water,” he said, without a tinge of self-pity. “I slept on a piece of cardboard inside a building. There, I met a South African family living in Indonesia who came to help in Cebu and found their way to Leyte. They gave me a bag of beef jerky.”

He was once described as the person who would not hold any-

thing back in pursuit of his artistic endeavors or to invite generosity to his chosen subjects. For example, Rodalie Mosende, a homeless girl, who with grit and determination transcended her life of living, studying, and doing homework in the streets of Quiapo to what she has become now, with a college degree, working, not living in the streets anymore and with her own family to raise. When Mosende graduated, a fellow Lyceum graduate, Pres. Rodrigo Duterte was the commencement speaker.

Your work seems to be well-exhibited, I said, and to which he responded, “If you have good work, it will find its way to exhibition walls. I seek it from time to time, as I am always thinking of the subjects, it is about reaching a target audience, it is always about them, not me. The documentary exhibit is providing a visual voice to your subjects.”

In his travels, he learned to speak Zulu, Chinese, Spanish, Vietnamese and Korean, saying “Thank you and I am fat,” in all these languages.

As a young boy in Nueva Ecija, he cultivated deep interest in politics by attending political rallies.

In high school, he read the daily newspapers in the barber shop near his home to be on top of current events. He studied political science in UP Diliman.

His guiding principles on photography embody the common good. “To be able to give a visual voice to your subjects, you have to feel their pain, anger and anxiety in order to make images that reflects who they are. It is not about us but always about them,” he said.

His photos dignify thousands of lives and uplift them to be in parity with the viewer and to be considered as part of humanity. *** Prosy Abarquez-Delacruz, J.D. writes a weekly column for Asian Journal, called “Rhizomes.”

She has been writing for AJ Press for 10 years.

She also contributes to Balikbayan Magazine.

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

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

Revilla to run for Senate seat in 2019 polls

by Pathricia

aNN Inquirer.net

roxas

DETAINED former Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. will seek a Senate seat in the 2019 midterm elections.

Former Leyte 1st District representative and Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (CMD) president Atty. Martin Romualdez made the announcement in a statement on Friday, October 5.

“I am pleased and honored to officially announce the candidacy for the Senate of Sen. Bong Revilla Jr., our party chairman,” Romualdez said.

“This decision was reached after a series of consultations with his family, close friends, constituents and political leaders,” he added.

Dateline PhiliPPines

LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL • OctObER 6-9, 2018

A11

Romualdez said their party will also support the senatorial candidates to be endorsed by Hugpong ng Pagbabago regional party of presidential daughter and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio.

Revilla is currently detained at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center in Camp Crame for plunder and graft charges over his involvement in the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel scam.

He was implicated along with former Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Juan Ponce Enrile.

Despite this, House Deputy Speaker Prospero Pichay Jr. earlier expressed confidence that Revilla, their party’s “best bet,” would win in the 2019 senatorial race. n

I Finally Witnessed the Holy Fire-Offering Great Dharma that is Talked about in Buddhist History

by NaNgqioNg Former Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr.

Inquirer.net photo

Court junks de Lima’s appeal

by Neil

servallos ManilaTimes.net

THE Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 206 has denied Sen. Leila de Lima’s appeal to scrap the order allowing 13 national penitentiary inmates to testify in her drug cases.

The court said the senator submitted her reply 5 minutes late.

In an order dated October 1 but released only on Wednesday, October 3, Branch 206 Judge Lorna Navarro-Domingo said de Lima’s reply to the September 24 order was filed beyond office hours.

Allowed to testify as government witnesses were inmates Nonilo Arile, Jojo Baligad, Herbert Colanggo, Engelberto Durano, Rodolfo Magleo, Vicente Sy, Hans Tan, Froilan Trestiza, Peter Co, Noel Martinez, Joel Capones, German Agojo and Jaime Patcho.

Filibon Tacardon, de Lima’s legal counsel, questioned the decision, saying it was issued

at 2 p.m.

“The judge said the court’s working hours are until 4:30 p.m. only, but just the same they accepted it (reply) at 4:35 p.m.

Although they admitted that they accepted the Reply at 4:35 p.m., yet as of 2 p.m. they already have an order,” Tacardon told reporters.

In her reply, the senator argued that the law do not allow criminals convicted of crimes involving moral turpitude to testify as state witnesses.

Under Republic Act 6981, criminal convicts previously convicted of crimes involving moral turpitude, such as murder and drug trading, are disqualified from becoming state witnesses.

De Lima is facing charges of conspiring to trade drugs inside the National Bilibid Prison to allegedly raise funds for her 2016 senatorial bid with former Bureau of Corrections chief Jesus Bucayu.

The next hearing was set on October 16. n

Under heavy security, Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima leaves the Quezon City Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 34 courtroom after the Prosecution failed to present its witness on Thursday, October 4. The hearing has been rescheduled for November 7.

Senate photo

Court defers ruling anew on Trillanes arrest, to study coup case ‘a little more’ THE Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 148 deferred ruling anew on the issuance of an arrest warrant against Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV as “sensitive” considerations on the coup d’etat case needed further review.

Judge Andres Soriano said he had to study the case a “little” more and that he did not want to force himself into a resolution without proper review and disposition after a 9-hour hearing on the presentation of evidence by Trillanes’ lawyers and Department of Justice (DoJ) prosecutors on Friday, October 5.

Soriano gave Trillanes’ camp

Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV

until Tuesday to file its Formal Offer of Exhibits. The prosecution was given until Wednesday to file their comment on the offer.

Upon resolution of the offer, the matter before the court shall “be considered for consideration.”

President Rodrigo Duterte revoked Trillanes’ amnesty, which then president Benigno Aquino III granted in 2011.

Trillanes, then a Navy Lieutenant, was involved in attempts to oust former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2003 and 2006. (Neil Jayson Servallos/ManilaTimes.net)

Philstar.com photo

NuosaNg

ON September 19, 2018, one of tremendously holy virtue conducted a “Holy FireOffering Dharma Assembly” that was officially held at the Holy Miracles Temple in the United States. The dharma assembly took place at the Grand Hall of the Buddhas and the courtyard right outside the hall. It was a complete success.

The attendees of this dharma assembly, which is extremely rare and almost impossible to come by, attended under two types of karmic conditions.

Under the first type of condition, there were direct attendees who are persons of holy virtue, eminent monastics, abbots of Buddhist temples, and leaders of Buddhist organizations. Their attendance was determined by a Yu-Zun, Wang Zha Shang-Zun, Mozhi Jiao-Zun, or Dharma King Gar Tongstan. Under the second type of condition, there were attendees whose attendance accorded with karmic conditions.

They encountered the occasion by happenstance and hence attended the dharma assembly.

Fire-offering dharma is a great dharma in Buddhism. In Tibetan Buddhism, fire-offering is especially of significant importance. In places such as Tibet and India, even common people are almost all highly familiar with this well-known great dharma that eliminates disasters, staves off hardships, removes hindrances and increases good fortune. This Buddha-dharma is also known as the “Holy Fire-Offering Homa Dharma.”

However, the authentic “Holy Fire-Offering Homa Dharma” is hardly performed even once in a hundred years. What people often attended were just regular fire-offering dharma assemblies.

The empowerment produced from “Holy Fire-Offering Homa Dharma” and that produced from a regular fire-offering is as different as heaven and earth, as different as one step versus ten thousand miles.

When Wang Zha Shang-Zun and two great holy virtuous ones spoke about what they personally experienced, they said that in the last 100 years, the famous Master Pabongka, also known as the Great Sun Tathagata, and Kangsa Rinpoche, also known as the Great Moon Tathagata, had both performed this dharma.

A great holy virtuous person of Gold Button Grade 2 said, “I have learned this dharma but have not succeeded in the practice of it. It appears that I am still lacking in dharma powers and abilities and that I still have to make efforts.

In the last several decades, I have yet to see any great holy virtuous person, great dharma king, or great dharma master successfully practice a holy fire-offering dharma. If a holy fire-offering is not successfully performed, it can only have the effect of a regular fire-offering.”

What are the differences between a successful practice and an unsuccessful practice?

First, people claim that the regular fire-offering dharma from the Tibetan tradition and the fire-offerings from the lineage of Eastern esoteric Buddhism (woodpile grand dharma assemblies) are so extraordinary.

After looking into it, it turns out that the fire in these dharmas are lit by people. How could such empowerment be remotely compared to the empowerment from a fire ignited by Buddhas or holy deities? A holy fireoffering is different. It requires beseeching nine Tathagatas, Vajra Maternal Buddha, Prajna

Maternal Buddha, and the holy assembly of dharma-protectors to personally arrive at the firemandala. It is an authentic holy fire-offering only when the Vajra Maternal Buddha arrives in the sky and personally lights the fire.

During this holy fire-offering dharma assembly, good and faithful Buddhists sat on both sides of the Grand Hall of the Buddhas. With watchful eyes, they personally witnessed in close proximity the whole process of that dharma assembly.

The fire-offering mandala involves the use of numerous different dharma instruments.

A cauldron was newly made for the fire-offering mandala just in time for the dharma assembly.

It was a clean cauldron made of pure copper, with no electrical or ignition device inside. A flat table and all the dharma instruments, including the fire cauldron, were wiped thoroughly clean from top to bottom by more than ten volunteers on site. The fire cauldron was placed on that flat table. Pieces of sandalwood were put inside the cauldron. The table was then moved closer to the door of the Grand Hall.

The one of tremendously holy virtue who conducted the dharma performed the rituals in accordance with the dharma.

The dharma seat of the one of tremendously holy virtue was about fifty meters away from the fire cauldron. Bodi Wentu Ru-Zun, a person of holy virtue at the level of Gold Button Grade 1, served as the “Fire-Ignition Guardian.”

He soaked the fire stick with butter oil, then walked toward the fire cauldron. With each step he took, he chanted one mantra character. He originally intended to light the fire, but when he was about six meters away from the cauldron, he suddenly changed his mind. He stood still, looked up and said loudly, “This Holy Fire-Mandala Homa Dharma is being performed by the Namo One of Tremendously Holy Virtue. Would Vajra Maternal Buddha please ignite the fire. If Vajra Maternal Buddha does not ignite the fire, I, disciple Bodi Wentu, will ignite the fire.” He then made a deep bow. Standing at a place a distance away, the one of tremendously holy virtue then said loudly, “Would Vajra Maternal Buddha please ignite the homa fire to eliminate hindrances for living beings and increase their good fortune!” As soon as those words were spoken, Vajra Maternal Buddha suddenly appeared in the sky. I saw Vajra Maternal Buddha flick her finger sending forth a flash of light.

The fire inside the cauldron then ignited. Initially, there was no trace of fire inside the cauldron; then, suddenly, the cauldron was ablaze with raging fire.

Bodi Wentu was so taken aback that he quickly moved away. He then immediately turned around and began to prostrate. When everyone there saw from close proximity the sudden ignition of the flames, they instantly knelt on the ground and kowtowed.

Everyone was extremely excited.

Subsequently, in accordance with the rituals, the attendees began to pray and burn homaofferings.

A Buddhist disciple took the initiative to place the vajra demon-subduing bowl, which is used in a holy fire-offering, upside down on a small flat table. According to the meaning of the dharma, demons and evil karma from everyone attending the fire-offering are collected and subdued inside the bowl.

The demons tried in vain to escape from the bowl, using all

of their strength to shake the bowl. At this critical moment, a sound of “Hong” was heard!

Vajra Maternal Buddha launched a flash of lightning, turning all the malicious demons and black karma inside the bowl into pulverized powder. The souls of the demons were brought to a Buddha-land by Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to be edified under rigorous discipline.

All these times, the one of tremendously holy virtue remained at a distance and did not come close to any dharma instruments or dharma tables.

Subsequently, the great dharma of “Secretly Sending a Petition to a Bodhisattva” was performed.

All attendees on site heard the inverted vajra demon-subduing bowl that they were viewing, with its opening completely sealed by the flat surface of the table, emit a loud sound of “Hong.” A flame resembling lightning swirled around the edge of bowl, then vanished. Thereafter, attendees of the assembly turned the bowl over and saw that there was nothing either under or inside the bowl. The “petition” secretly sent to the Bodhisattva had already been taken away. Under the watchful eyes of the assembly, the petition simply disappeared without a trace. The dharma of “Secretly Sending a Petition to a Bodhisattva” was successfully performed! Meanwhile, the burned demonic corpses emitted an extremely foul odor, much worse than any kind of stinky odor in the world. All those who sniffed the bowl found the foul odor so unbearable that their facial expressions looked distorted. The true state of the holy fire-offering dharma had been performed to perfection.

According to my understanding, the holy fire-offering dharma had not been successfully performed in more than eighty years. Everyone talked about it in theory, but Buddhas and Bodhisattvas did not appear.

Regardless of who performed the dharma, there was not one holy homa dharma assembly that manifested the true state of the dharma like this one. That is to say, within the territory of Tibet, India, and other countries in the world, such a magnificent fire-offering dharma assembly did happen more than eighty years ago. Now is the second time it has happened, enabling us to personally witness and experience right then and there the supreme magnificence of the true dharma of the Tathagatas.

During this holy fire-offering dharma assembly, there were manifestations of unprecedented holy states and boundless mighty power. What is more magnificent is that the smoke from the fireoffering mandala rose up inside the grand hall, densely spreading over all of the top of the hall, yet the smoke detectors on the ceiling did not sound any alarm. That was so miraculous. Normally, when one is halfway through smoking a cigarette inside that grand hall, the alarm would sound, and water would sprinkle down. The power demonstrated by the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in that holy dharma assembly was so marvelous and subtle.

Such were the extremely wonderful holy miracles from the holy homa fire-offering. The good and faithful Buddhists attendees were very moved. Even the wellknown Mozhi Jiao-Zun lost his calm. He was so excited that his facial expression looked twisted.

Everyone did their utmost to present offerings to the one of tremendously holy virtue, but the one of tremendously holy virtue did not accept even one cent,

and simply told everyone to keep their offerings.

In this world, the Holy Miracles Temple has now established an authentic inner-tantric mandala because everyone on site personally witnessed the “Secretly Sending a Petition to a Bodhisattva.” However, the one of tremendously holy virtue said, “It would be best if you yourselves found one of greatly holy virtue to perform ‘Lifting the Three Vajra Phurbas.’ In this way, a real object can be placed there for worship to demonstrate that an inner-tantric mandala has truly been established.”

I personally attended that assembly in which the great dharma of the real holy fireoffering was performed. It made me deeply feel that what a great holy virtuous person said is correct: “A regular fire-offering in comparison to a holy fire-offering is like one hair in comparison to the hairs of nine oxen. It is just like child’s play.” No wonder a Jiao-Zun said, “The merit from a holy fire-offering in which Vajra Maternal Buddha appears in the sky to ignite the fire is several thousand times greater than the merit from a regular fire-offering in which a person ignites the fire.”

The fire cauldron, offering tables, and related dharma instruments used in that holy fire-offering will all be placed for worship at the Holy Miracles Temple.

At this point, I would also like to mention a very important matter.

On September 19th after the holy fire-offering dharma assembly was successfully completed, the Namo one of tremendously holy virtue announced right then and there in the Grand Hall of the Buddhas: “Today’s great dharma assembly has already been conducted. Dharma King Gar Tongstan has been waiting for this dharma assembly. This is the last dharma assembly from which he receives empowerment.”

In an announcement issued by the World Buddhism Association Headquarters just a few days ago, Dharma King Gar Tongstan said that once a last dharma assembly is conducted, he would pass away as soon as possible in a state of liberation. Two dharma masters urged him to stay for the sake of propagating dharma to save living beings. The Dharma King said, “With the Buddha Master living in the world, my level of realization would not be of much use! Life is a dream.

Sooner or later, one has to leave.

When causes and conditions come together, there is illusory existence. With the ending of those conditions, such existence breaks down. That’s it. I won’t stay!” He also said, “I have control over my birth and death. I can leave at whatever time I want to leave. My situation is different from that of Zhao Yusheng, a person of holy virtue, who relied on Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to receive him at a set time.”

Dharma King Gar Tongstan truly fulfilled his words regarding his control over his own birth and death. On September 20th, the day after the dharma assembly, he took a bath, put on his dharma robe, and laid out stationary before his dharma seat. He wrote a farewell letter to H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III in which he stated that he will “pass away in a state of liberation before the ink dries.” Having stated that in writing, once he put down his brush, he indeed instantly passed away in a state of liberation. Only someone who has attained freedom from birth and death can have such a state of accomplishment! n

A12 OctOber 6-9, 2018 • LA WeeKeND ASIAN JOUrNAL

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SHOWBIZ&STYLE

B

Journal Vincent Rodriguez III and how Crazy Ex-Girlfriend changed his life

by MoMar

G. Visaya

AJPress

IT’S a great time to be a Filipino-American (or Canadian) actor on network television these days.

There’s Nico Santos who plays the role of Mateo Liwanag on Superstore; Conrad Ricamora is Oliver on How to Get Away with Murder; Manny Jacinto plays Jason Mendoza on The Good Place and Vince Rodriguez III on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.

Santos was last seen in Crazy Rich Asians where he portrayed the role of Oliver. Jacinto on the other hand will be seen in the film Bad Times at the El Royale starring Chris Hemsworth. It was also announced last week that Jacinto will be joining the cast of Top Gun: Maverick starring Tom Cruise.

Actor Vincent Rodriguez III, who lived in New York for 14 years, is now growing roots in Los Angeles, where he recently bought a house. He moved to Hollywood after the first season of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, a show that has changed his life.

Rodriguez, who plays the role of Josh Chan, a Filipino American, returns to TV screens this fall for the show’s final season.

We chatted with Rodriguez prior to his talk at PH Time is Now, a day-long networking and mentoring event at the Harvard Club of New York City last June that gathered Filipino-American industry and thought leaders who shared their personal stories of learning, growth and success in hopes of aiding the next generation reach great heights in their personal and professional lives.

“This came out of the blue and I thought it is a cool opportunity to reach out to the Filipino community and get to know people of similar interests,” he shared. “If

Vince Rodriguez and Ali Ewoldt Photo by Nicole Espina/HTimeIsNow

James Reid and Nadine Lustre Rodriguez was one of the guests at the networking and mentoring event PH Time is Now in New York City Photos by Nicole Espina/#PHTimeIsNow

that were me 14 years ago when I came to New York, that would have been a huge deal.”

The actor is happy for the simple fact that “this is happening now [and it] is a great thing.” He is enjoying the fact that in his own little way now, he is able to help enrich young people’s lives.

Some of the attendees got the opportunity to meet, engage and collaborate with fellow innovators and changemakers led by Rodriguez.

Whether it is about mentoring or just simply sharing his experiences in both Broadway and Hollywood, Vince is hoping that younger kids out there get inspired to pursue their own dreams.

“It takes a lot of hard work but it’s not just about pursuing it, it also means listening to your environment and understanding what the standards are within your field,” he explained. “You can meet a lot of ambitious people in LA or New York but there is a savvy that it requires as well.”

By savvy, he just means understanding the business you’re in, how it functions and how you can best serve it.

“Chasing after the prize, people forget that these other people are living their lives and trying to do their jobs,” he said. “Don’t be blinded by the pursuit and don’t forget to smell the roses.”

And as he fired up those tips to the young ones, he empha-

sized the importance, the need for balance. It is a big lesson that he has learned through the years, as valuable and as necessary as hard work.

“You have to balance it with your personal life so you can get on a stronger, better path,” he said.

Vince was with Conrad Ricamora on the predominantly Filipino American cast of Here Lies Love at the Public Theater.

He was Ricamora’s understudy in the musical. It was while doing the show that Ricamora got the call that he was being booked to be a recurring character on ABC’s How to Get Away with Murder.

“I was so happy for him,” PAGE B2

Photo from Instagram/@james

Nadine Lustre gives James Reid a sweet message for #NationalBoyfriendsDay

by Deni rose M. afiniDaD-BernarDo Philstar.com

ON October 4, National Boyfriends Day, Kapamilya star James Reid showed his full support for the launch of his girlfriend Nadine Lustre as the first Filipino ambassador of an international footwear brand.

For this, new Skechers endorser Nadine has something to say to her on-and-off-screen

partner.

“I just want to tell you na I’m really, really thankful and I feel so blessed to have a boyfriend like you na very supportive and won’t stop pushing me until I get things right and until I lose doubts and fears from myself,” she said in a Philstar.com video for James.

“Happy National Boyfriends Day!” she finished with a laugh.

EntErtainmEnt

B OCTOBER 6-9, 2018 • LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL

ABS-CBN names new ‘Darna’ director

Manila Luzon joins the Comedy Comedy Festival lineup LOS ANGELES, CA - FilipinoAmerican drag superstar Manila Luzon from “RuPaul’s Drag Race” Season 3 will join this year’s Comedy Comedy Festival.

The Fourth Annual The Comedy Comedy Festival: A Comedy Festival will take place October 1214, 2018 at the Aratani Theatre and Japanese American Cultural & Community Center (JACCC) campus in Little Tokyo. Co-produced by Disoriented Comedy and JACCC, in partnership with Asian AF, the 3-day event brings together the best of young, Asian-American comedic talent from Hollywood, digital media, and live performance.

“America is not ready for us!

We have hilarious and exciting voices.” states writer, comedian, and Festival co-organizer Jenny Yang. “No one is waiting for Hollywood to catch up anymore.

We have been building our community, strengthening our craft and creating our own platforms.

This comedy festival is not just a festival. It’s a movement.”

This year’s festival performers also Jenny Yang (E!’s “Busy Tonight”), Jake Choi (ABC’s “Single Parents”), Sherry Cola (TNT’s “Claws”), Aparna Nancherla (Comedy Central’s “Corporate, Late Night with Seth Meyers”), Lilan Bowden (Disney’s “Andie Mack”), singer-songwriter Megan Lee, and more. Events include stand up,

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

by Deni Rose M. AfiniDAD-BeRnARDo Philstar.com

ON Friday, October 5, a day after releasing a statement confirming director Erik Matti’s departure from filming “Darna,” ABS-CBN and Star Cinema have announced that award-winning filmmaker Jerrold Tarog is the film’s new director, still with Liza Soberano in the lead role.

“Jerrold, who successfully helmed the critically-acclaimed hits ‘Heneral Luna’ and ‘Goyo: A n g B a t a n g H e n e ra l , ’ h a s warmly accepted the project and will soon commence working on the film,” Kane Errol Choa, ABS-CBN’s Head for Integrated Corporate Communications, said in the statement Manila Luzon Photo from Instagram/@manilaluzon released to Philstar.com.

“ABS-CBN and Star Cinema sketch and improvised com- Programs at JACCC. Since 2012, Disoriented Com- are grateful to Artikulo Uno edy, storytelling, and musical edy has produced over 50 sold- Productions for graciously alcomedy.

“We are excited to welcome out shows around the country. lowing Jerrold to do the project. this vibrant, peer-curated Festi- Disoriented Comedy and The val to the Aratani Theatre and the Comedy Comedy Festival’s auJACCC Campus. At a time when diences are young, smart and we need to laugh, it’s a great socially-aware Asian American opportunity to hear the diverse professionals and college stuvoices of our larger Asian Ameri- dents. For the third consecutive can, South Asian and Southeast year, Disoriented Comedy is Asian American community and co-producing this event with it’s intersectional diversity. Cuz the JACCC, the preeminent let’s be real, there are so many presenter of Japanese, Japanese things to laugh at and laugh American, and Asian American about right now!” shares Alison performing and visual arts naDe La Cruz, Vice President of tionally.

Cebuana lass is ‘The Clash’ ultimate champ

by BoT

GloRioso Philstar.com

AFTER 13 weeks of vocal training, personality development and grueling rounds of vocal competition, Golden Cañedo was named the first ultimate champ of GMA 7’s “The Clash”.

The announcement was made during the show’s finale round aired live last Sept. 30.

Tagged as Ang Golden Voice ng Cebu, the 16-year-old belter bested four other clashers namely, Josh Adornado, Jong Daliday, Mirriam Manalo and Ang Golden Voice ng Cebu Golden Cañedo bags Garrett Bolden. an exclusive contract with GMA 7, a brand-new During the first round car, a house and lot from BRIA Homes and of the singing showdown, each P1M. Plus, she and the four other finalists will gave their best performance headline 7,” the latest Kapuso Sunday AJ Ads“Studio 117_Layout 1 9/8/18 2:02 PM Page 1 for the judges, composed of variety show.

GMA photo

Lani Misalucha, Ai-Ai delas Alas and Christian Bautista, to determine the Top 2 for the Ultimate Final Clash. Mirriam was first to sing on stage with “Climb Every Mountain,” Golden came next with the George Canseco composition “Ngayon,” then followed by Jong with his emotional rendition of Labyrinth’s “Jealous.” Garrett, on the other hand, made John Legend’s “All of Me” his contest piece while Josh hit the right notes of “How Am I Supposed to Live Without You.” Golden and Jong emerged as the Top 2 clashers with the latter proceeding to give his cool version of “Roses” by The Chainsmokers for the final showdown.

But Golden sang her heart out PAGE B5

age gracefully

Chia Seeds Inspire New Southwestern Fettuccine Recipe

BY GRACE O

The ancient Aztecs of Mexico began eating unsprouted chia seeds over 500 years ago. In the Mayan language, “chia” means “strength.” The tiny seeds come in white or black varieties and are native to Mexico and Guatemala.

Today, Mexicans drink chia frescas: chia seeds stirred into water or fruit juice. When soaked in liquid for an hour or so, chia seeds grow to many times their normal size and develop a jelly-like coating. It’s this ability to absorb liquid that makes chia seeds a filling snack.

Chia seeds are healty, too. They are also great to add to rice and pasta dishes (see my Chia Fettuccine recipe below).

I had read that chia seeds were nutritionally similar to flax seeds in that they were high in fiber, high in omega-3

oils, and good at lowering cholesterol, but I had put off experimenting with them until a friend of mine gave me a good reason to look more closely at these tiny seeds.

In my cookbook, The AGE BEAUTIFULLY Cookbook, I created a delicious new recipe for fettuccine with chia seeds. I think you’ll love it!

Chia Fettuccine with Southwestern Pork and Vegetables Pasta infused with ground chia seeds is a bit chewier than traditional pasta but packs an extra nutritional punch. Pork, chiles, and Southwestern spices perfectly complement the taste and texture of this nutritionally dense fettuccine, but I have provided substitutions for ingredients that may be more available or familiar.1 lb. sliced pork loin 1 tsp. salt or salt substitute 1 tsp. minced garlic ¼ tsp. black pepper ½ tsp. dry mustard ½ tsp. ground cumin ¼ tsp. chili powder 1 tsp. piment d’Espelette (or regular paprika or crushed red peppers) 4 Tbs. olive oil, divided in half ½ cup chopped red onion 1 cup chopped red bell pepper ¼ cup sliced jalapeños 1 cup chopped pasilla chile (or 4 oz. canned green chiles or 15 oz. canned corn) 1½ cups fresh corn kernels 1 package (10 oz.) BonaChia Fettuccine (or regular pasta or brown rice)

Garnish ¼ cup chopped scallions 2-4 Tbs. black or white chia seeds 4 Tbs. Parmesan cheese (optional)

1. Mix the pork and the spices until evenly incorporated.

2. In a cast-iron or heavy-bottomed pan, cook the meat in 2 Tbs. of the oil over medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring often.

3. Add the vegetables and remaining oil to the pan. Cook another 5 minutes.

4. Cook the pasta according to package directions. Toss with the meat and vegetables.

5. Garnish with the chopped scallions, Parmesan cheese (if using), and chia seeds.

© 2018 by FoodTrients.com

Serves 4

GRACE O is the creator of FoodTrients®, a unique program for optimizing wellness and longevity. She is the author of two award-winning cookbooks — The Age Gracefully Cookbook and The Age Beautifully Cookbook, which recently won Gourmand’s ‘Best in the World’ Award for Innovation. She is a fusion chef with a mission to deliver delicious recipes built on a foundation of anti-aging science and her 20 years in the healthcare industry.

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

Director Jerrold Tarog with his lead actor Paulo Avelino.

We welcome Jerrold’s fresh take, innovative ideas, and signature directorial style to make Darna’s return to the big screen a rare cinematic experience for moviegoers.”

In an Instagram post on October 4, Matti explained that

Photo from Facebook/“Goyo”

“things didn’t work out ideally” between him and the network, which is why he resigned from the project.

Nonetheless, he wished Star Cinema, ABS-CBN and the next director all the best for the movie.

The eldest among the Revilla brothers, Bryan was last seen on the big screen in 2007’s ‘Resiklo.’

Bryan Revilla returns to his roots

by TessA

MAuRicio-ARRiolA ManilaTimes.net

BACK in September, The Manila Times Entertainment had profiled two of three Revilla brothers out to continue their patriarchs’ legacy in show business. Readers have met Jolo Revilla (“Cavite Vice Governor leads brothers in keeping Revilla legacy alive, September 9, 2018) and Luigi Revilla (“Truly his father’s son,” September 25), which leaves the third lead star of “Tres” for a closer look.

Bryan Revilla is the oldest among the new generation of Revilla actors whose last big

screen outing was “Resiklo” in 2007 with dad Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., and therefore the most hesitant of the three to take up acting again.

“I’m a very shy person and even awkward at times so I had no plans of going back to showbiz,” said the son of the action star with ‘80s leading lady Lani Mercado. “But when my dad talked to me, I realized na bitbit ko ang pangalang Revilla and I need to do my share in keeping the name alive in showbiz where everything began for the family.”

Thankfully, as he started shooting his episode Virgo, the

graduate of Diplomatic Affairs with a Minor in Foreign Service, realized he enjoys being in front of the camera today as much as he did before.

“Siguro nga mahirap kalimutan at tuluyang iwanan ang isang hanapbuhay na kinagisnan mo at alam mong mahal ng iyong pamilya,” he acknowledged.

Asked whether he plans to do more movies after Tres, Bryan replied, “I’ve gotten used to my life outside showbiz—helping my mom take care of the family with our dad still away, and actively participating in church activities.

I’m content with those responsibilities, but we’ll see.”

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Features

LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL • OCTOBER 6-9, 2018

B

New neighborhoods now open at park place in Ontario ONTARIO, CA – Make your way to Park Place, a new collection of homes that have it all in Ontario Ranch! Surrounded by acres of parks and modern amenities, Park Place introduces a fresh take on comfortable and convenient living in Ontario with seven all-new neighborhoods.

With up to 3,086 square feet, up to five bedrooms and openconcept floor plans available, the spacious home designs at Park Place provide extra room to spread out and enjoy daily life. And every home at Park Place comes with ultra-highspeed fiber-optic broadband at gigabit speeds, allowing you to stream, download and upload “ABANDONED” PETITION SUCCESSFULLY REOPENED 10 YEARS LATER BY ATTY. MICHAEL J. GURFINKEL. Elsinore (left) was petitioned by from multiple devices without his father back in 2001. However, when his younger sister, Elvie (center), checked the petition status online in 2005, she found out slowing down. Come by today it was denied due to “abandonment.” USCIS had sent a notice to petitioner’s old residence requesting additional documents, but the to visit these exciting new neighpetitioner never received the notice because he had moved, and therefore did not respond. Their first lawyer’s motion to reopen was borhoods, tour the 19 model denied for being untimely, so their mother, an avid viewer of “Citizen Pinoy,” suggested they retain leading U.S. immigration attorney homes available and discover the Michael J. Gurfinkel. Watch this success story on an encore episode of “Citizen Pinoy” – on Sunday at 6:15 pm (PST) on TFC. amenities. Plus, Willowmore by (Advertising Supplement) KB Home is coming soon! This is your chance to see everything Park Place has to offer.

Built with you in mind, Willowmore by KB Home has the details and features you’re lookby Ronnie CaRRasCo iii ing for. Featuring Spanish, CotManilaTimes.net tage and American traditional architectural styles, three spaCHRISTMAS will definitely be cious floor plans boast from merrily white for at least three 2,280 to 2,467 square feet, three celebrity pairs who will tie the to four bedrooms and two-andknot before the year ends. one-half baths in addition to Iza Calzado will exchange I beautiful interior appointments. do’s with her British fiancé Ben When you live at Willowmore, Wintle amid a rustic yet claslife is picture-perfect. sic wedding in an undisclosed Park Place proudly presents beach. seven new home collections: “But they’d rather not anChristian Bautista with fiancée Kat Rammani Camden by CalAtlantic Homes nounce the date,” someone close – A Lennar Company, Coventry to the actress told Vignettes.

by Christopher Homes, MeadowAlso announced without a ood by Taylor Morrison, Seville date and venue, balladeer and

by The New Home Company, “The Clash” judge Christian St. James by TRI Pointe Homes, Bautista’s wedding to girlfriend Stonewater by Woodside Homes Kat Ramnani. and Willowmore by KB Home.

Finally, Lotlot de Leon hopes Extending from approximately to see her marriage work this time 1,800 to 3,086 square feet, this with her Lebanese husband-to-be dynamic range of residential Fadi El Soury. The couple have designs offers three to five bedmarked December 17 as their rooms and two-and-one-half to altar date, which has daughter four baths plus spacious two- or (by Ramon Christopher) Janine three-car garages, making them Gutierrez’s nod of approval. ideal for growing or multigenThere must be a special reaManilaTimes.net photos erational families. Prices begin son why most showbiz celebrity Iza Calzado and husband-to-be Ben Wintle couples eye December as their tials one after another: Wen- quez and stylist Alyanna Martinez in the low $400,000s.

Besides lightning-fast interdell Ramos and Kukai Guevarra married their respective partners altar date. net speeds that are 100 times Dubbed “the royal wedding,” (December 9), Max Collins and in December as well.

“Ayaw kasi nilang malamig faster than today’s average Dingdong Dantes and Marian Pancho Magno (December 11), Rivera wed on December 30, and Ai Ai de las Alas and Gerald ang Pasko nila,” an “in-demand” broadband connection, Park showbiz wedding godmother Place offers many other top-tier Sibayan (December 12).

2014. amenities. All residents enjoy Early on, singer Karel Mar- reasoned out in jest.

The year 2017 also saw nup-

Showbiz weddings in December

The Parkhouse, a world-class 14,500-square-foot central community clubhouse that features a resort-caliber swimming pool, fully equipped fitness and business centers, Wi-Fi, multiple game rooms, a library and a state-of-the-art movie theater with club seating. And a masterfully appointed catering kitchen and adjoining multipurpose room are ideal for hosting special celebrations in style. Three acres of beautiful grounds surround The Parkhouse and are home to tennis courts, a creative play area and a dog park. Picnics with friends, family and neighbors are a delight at Celebration Park North and Celebration Park South, where kids and adults alike enjoy outdoor play, relaxation and socializing.

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Park Place is located within the greater community of Ontario Ranch, which will span over 8,000 acres and is planned to offer modern amenities and abundant recreation, includ-

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Directions to Park Place: If traveling on the 15 freeway, exit on Limonite Avenue and head west. Proceed on Limonite Avenue for approximately 2.5 miles and turn right at Archibald Avenue. Travel approximately 0.5 miles and turn right at Merrill Avenue. Continue for approximately 0.25 miles and The Parkhouse sales center will be on the left.

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Park Place at Ontario Ranch reflects the vision and experience of Lewis Community Developers and Stratham Communities. Park Place is a true collaborative effort between award-winning homebuilders CalAtlantic Homes – A Lennar Company, Christopher Homes, Taylor Morrison, The New Home Company, TRI Pointe Homes, KB Home and Woodside Homes. We understand the wants and needs of today’s families because we have families of our own. We designed and built a community that we would live in.

(Advertising Supplement)

FEATURES

B4 OCTOBER 6-9, 2018 • LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL

MOONLIGHTING

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Leading ladies share personal credos

by MYLAH DE

LEON

THE year-round oasis is timeless in the Fil-Am community, motivated by independent women that pursue common goals and interests, with their paths frequently intersecting, overlapping — socializing with many of the same well-educated people — their careers almost every instance. Some precede over their husbands, marriage and children, not only by their hard earned victories, but also by their losses and defeats.

They have connection, courage, vision, intelligence and ambition, that affords them an abundance of social radiance and unquestionable worth. Some have emerged from shadows and lights.

That is the human drama that revolves around community events. This emergence contributed in advancing the role of women in their ability to overcome challenges of the new world.

Their invitations are cherished, and among the many of soirees none surpassed in terms of impact or poignancy, when these women rolled their sleeves, away from the lights of the cameras, toiled in silence for the other person, in their philanthropic feats. Call it a gentle salute, if not audacious profile of some these exemplary women of the changing times we have accustomed to seeing at glittering and glamorized gatherings that have been so much part of the Fil-Am community’s familiar mode of life. Among these great achievers some still think whether they are saving lives, building schools, elevating the arts, easing pain or suffering feeding the and helping the downtrodden.

Here are the individuals who try to make a little difference.

They are celebrating their lives with in exhaustible achievements, and here are their credos: Dr. Erlinda Grey - “The essence of generosity, is not just one’s capacity or willingness to give away something to someone. Giving is about the joys that the heart finds in doing the act, but the joys that the heart finds in doing the act, doesn’t have to be reciprocated, giving is itself the reward.”

Vina Nacionales - “Start each morning with an attitude of grati-

Rose Marie Mejia

Trini Foliente Minda Chin

BB Maharlika

Zeny Sabocor

Cora Aragon Soriano

Perla Santos

Rosaliegem Caratao

Vina Nacionales

John Lapuz, film director

birthday too.

Giving his all to #PangMMK, he said, “Anything that we do for the first time is always a challenge.

JOHN “Sweet” Lapus has taken It’s a good thing I prepared for a huge leap in his showbiz career this [with the classes]and I have a and is now taking on the director’s good production behind me. chair. Quietly, he studied under “On my first shooting day, I was Carlitos Siguion-Reyna’s film dicalm. I was not like other directors recting course under the auspices who’d shout or throw invectives if of the Cinemalaya Foundation, I was stressed or something went upon the recommendation of wrong on the set. It probably ABS-CBN. helped that I am now more maWhile it was never in his plans tured when I tried directing.” to work toward becoming a di- The comedian took a film directing course under Carlitos Siguion-Reyna.

GMA photo Sweet describes #PangMMK rector, neither did he expect he as a dark comedy where he will would go into script writing, until Eye. His script didn’t make it to the “make viewers laugh from the again—surprisingly—director Don Cuaresma also recommended Original 9 finalists, and since it heart and not just from their him to Ricky Lee’s Batch 19 was his first attempt at his new- mouths.” found talents, he wasn’t disapHe added that #PangMMK is Scriptwriting Workshop. a continuation of a “Maalaala Mo So within a year, Sweet finished pointed.

But yet again, a surprise was Kaya” Episode 20 many years ago. both courses and is making his directorial and scriptwriting debut waiting for Sweet when one of the Titled “Origami,” it was directed via the Cinema One Originals 2018 entries backed out and his movie by Ruel Bayani, where Sweet was was next in line. one of the writers. entry “#PangMMK.” “Ako yung pumasok! Parang “It’s about a family who was left “It was last October when I wrote the script of this movie. That Miss Puerto Rico lang noong na- by their father. After 20 years, the was the time I didn’t have money dethrone si Miss Russia,” laughed estranged father returns opening up old wounds. Joel Torre, Cherry and I wasn’t doing anything. I read the comedian.

He admitted he cried when Pie Picache and Nikki Valdez reon Facebook a call for entries to Cinema One so I told myself that everything became official with prise their roles from TV for this I’ll give it a try,” he told Roving Cinema One, all in time for his movie.”

by RICKY

CALDERON ManilaTimes.net

Cecile Ramos

Dr. Erlinda Grey

tude, no matter the circumstances, can splash joys the rest of the day.”

Perda (Mother of Pearl) Santos - “I believe in social justices, I believe in peace on earth, goodwill towards men through scarcely to attain in this side of paradise.”

Cecile Ramos - “We all have a secret strength — we have HOPE. Forgetting all the pain and failures of the pact – and strive toward what is ahead. And if ever make a judgement – be it on the side of mercy.”

Zeny Sabocor - “Tolerance, good temper and sympathy, is all that matter in a world that can be full of violence and cruelty. I believe in personal relationships, that is reliable as possible…a matter of the heart that says so.”

Minda Chin - “The only faith that is both concrete and comprehensive in life is its abundance and progress but men do not live by bread alone, the spirit needs nourishment too.”

Rosaliegem Caratao - “I would not ask for the world of power, I need and ask only for the supreme gift of friends that I have in full measure.”

BB Maharlika - This social media queen dubbed, wonderful, marvelous, extra special, unique, first rate exceptional, outrageous, surprising and, above all, humble. “Very often, some criticism can be dangerous, it kills spontaneity. I do not know hatred, nor even envy, but I do know limitless pride.”

Her words are filled with polite understatements, the tranquility of the mind who doesn’t believe in miracles.

Trini Foliente - “For me, a good life lived, is a happy life, but what I mean is, if you’re happy. You will be good. Men does the best it can, I don’t hold people’s fault against them, but ask for tolerance for each other.” *** E-mail Mylah at moonlightingmdl@aol.com

Health@Heart PHILIP S. CHUA, MD, FACS, FPCS WHILE on an Iberian Peninsula Cruise with my wife, Farida, and 21 other medical colleagues and friends last August 30, we met a friendly Filipino coffee server by the name of Jaime, a Visayan, on board the Royal Caribbean’s Celebrity Eclipse. He relayed to us his humorous encounter with a female passenger from the same region aboard a previous cruise.

Jaime said the woman was talking to a companion in English with a heavy Visayan accent. Eager to meet a fellow “kababayan,” he asked if she was from the Philippines. She looked at him with arrogance and disdain, to his surprise and embarrassment, and replied with a firm “No, I only leeve in Tiksas!,” (meaning Texas). Jaime moved away laughing inside and wondering why she, who obviously looked like an Asian, unmistakably a Filipina, was ashamed of her heritage.

She had opted to re-label her DNA “made in Ameereeka,” and consciously considered herself a Caucasian, when she could not even pronounce the words “live” and “Texas” properly.

Our group of 23 cracked up and started asking each other every day which “dick” (deck) their cabin or the theater was on and asking Jaime for “coopee” every morning we were at the Ocean View Café main dining hall on the 14th “dick” for breakfast.

While the jest was made only in fun, with no malicious intent whatsoever, since some of the members of our group were from the Visayas, and I, a Tagalog, spent 13 years of my professional life as a proud “adopted son” of Cebu, the sad incident related

by Jaime is unfortunately not an isolated case.

Since Farida and I left the Philippines for Chicago on December 31, 1962 for her pediatric training and my cardiac surgery residency (also in Chicago) and fellowship in Houston, Texas; we have known and heard of several similar sad instances, even among some of our fellow Fil-Am physicians, who were embarrassed to say they were of Filipino heritage.

In the 50s and 60s, immigrant Filipinos were mostly laborers and farm workers. These honorable kababayans of ours who left their families in the Philippines and sacrificed themselves to be able to support them, had suf-

Proud to be a Filipino fered a lot from discrimination and abuse. Thereafter and to this date, millions of Filipinos in the United States are either physicians or nurses, or well-trained professionals in various fields of education, business, engineering, science, technology, etc. Societal impression, perception, regard, and treatment of Filipinos in America have all been positively impacted and have changed in our favor.

There is really nothing wrong with having an accent. Practically all of us and every nationality have several dialects and different accents. That is natural, normal and to be expected. The tragedy in that “humorous” incident was the woman’s obvious lack of patriotism and pride in the Philippines; and the denial of her national origin.

Today, when Americans meet Filipinos, they almost always presume they are physicians or nurses, etc. The reputation of the Filipinos abroad has evolved in a wonderful way. People in the United States and other major countries not only respect but like Filipinos, especially by foreigners who had been to the Philippines.

We, as a people, have made a good impression and reputation for ourselves around the globe, especially in America.

People in the United States openly admire Filipinos and I usually hear them say “Filipinos are good people.” Of course, countless millions of Americans have been patients of Fil-Am doctors and nurses and other healthcare workers over the past six to seven decades. It is my own observation that Filipino doctors and especially our nurses have excellent bedside manner to the gratification of their patients. Americans consider them well educated, talented, amiable, compassionate, patient, and hardworking.

Naturally, as with any other nationalities, there are some rotten apples among us. But these are the minority exceptions.

Since there are more than 10.2 million of Filipinos working overseas (more than 4 million in the U.S. alone, the second largest group of immigrants) out of the 106,876,588 total population of the Philippines (based on a 2018 report), an article was quoted as saying, “If the Filipinos around the world all left for home, cruise lines, hospitals, nursing homes, casinos, etc., would suffer greatly or be paralyzed.”

As a Fil-Am, who looks at the mirror every morning (excellent for curing identity crisis), I never

forget that I have Chinese blood in me. And no matter how much I have mastered the English language, I am still and will always be a Filipino, who just happens to be also a U.S. citizen. I go to bed at night without any delusion of waking up in the morning and finding a Caucasian looking back at me in the mirror. I am content, secure, and grateful for what the Lord has blessed me with, including this non-Hollywood “tsinoy” face of mine. Nothing today, not even plastic surgery, can change our DNA. I do not wish to alter, revise or remodel God’s creation in me. I do not want any of my ten grandchildren not to recognize me or to ask me “What happened to your face lolo?” Or worse, “We want your old ugly face back, lolo.”

While I am among those who are terribly frustrated and greatly saddened by the pervasive political graft and corruption in the Philippines and the massive poverty, I am still proud of our heritage and all that is good in our people and our native land.

This is the inspiration that has prompted our Las Vegas medical group (which includes most of the individuals with us on the cruise and other missionaries from various States) to do annual medical missions in Kamay ni Hesus in Lucban, Quezon, and in Alaminos, Laguna, January-February of each year.

I enjoin all Filipinos all over the world with this clarion call, those within the reach of my voice today, and those within the reach of yours tomorrow, to accept with pride and respect the honorable part of our culture and tradition, to pass them on to the future generation, and to never be ashamed of our roots, no matter how modest they could have been.

After all, if we seriously think about it, we really have every reason to be proud as Filipinos anywhere we are, in the Philippines or abroad, regardless of our accent.

Even if we are not from“Tiksas.” *** Philip S. Chua, MD, FACS, FPCS, Cardiac Surgeon Emeritus in Northwest Indiana and chairman of cardiac surgery from 1997 to 2010 at Cebu Doctors University Hospital, where he holds the title of Physician Emeritus in Surgery, is based in Las Vegas, Nevada.

He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, the Philippine College of Surgeons, and the Denton A. Cooley Cardiovascular Surgical Society. He is the chairman of the Filipino United Network – USA, a 501(c)(3) humanitarian foundation in the United States.

For more data, visit philipSchua.com; Email: scalpelpen@gmail.com

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Vincent Rodriguez III...

PAGE B2 Vince said, adding that his colleague worked so hard to be where he is right now.

Being in New York for 14 years, Vince was well aware of how it was in terms of casting Asian Americans, particularly Filipino Americans on theater, film and television. “I am now seeing more diversity than I’ve ever seen. Nico Santos on Superstore is doing a fantastic job playing his character, he is so funny they gave him an emotional arc to his character,� he cited.

Vince feels very vastly different than where he was just six years ago and where he was when he first got to New York. “The fact that I can see that change and it is a dramatic change, gives me so much hope,� he said.

Vince toiled and worked a lot in New York but he felt he didn’t really get a whole lot of recognition for the jobs he did. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend became a highlight of his career. “Through time and hard work and balance, it all came together and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend came up and now I have this platform and I feel the responsibility to use that platform to acknowledge where I was and where I am now and I’m not going to stop and I’m gonna keep going,� Vince mused.

Fourth (and final) season The actor waxed a little poetic when asked about the show’s upcoming final season.

They were on the eight-city Crazy Ex live tour, specifically on a flight from Seattle to Chicago, when they were told that the show was renewed for a final season. “We were on a plane, seated

on the same row. We took off, Rachel was passed out, she was sitting next to me. She wakes up from her nap, I’m about to take a nap and she logs online and I saw her reaction.

She had prompted us and told us we’d probably find out that day. It was a huge moment. She looked at me and said, ‘Vinnie, get your camera out’, and she announced it and I captured it. It was special to share that.

Knowing that it is the final season, it is sad, but it is also great to know that we are going to wrap up these characters and their story arcs,� he shared.

Vince said he felt special that the show highlighted a Filipino thanksgiving (with a hefty dose of dinuguan and other Filipino dishes) in Season 1. Lea Salonga also appeared in the show’s first season finale.

Rene Gube, a Filipino American actor, writer and comedian is the show’s supervising producer and writer. He also has a recurring role in the show as Father Brah. “In my career, I’ve always been cognizant of the fact that I am Filipino but I never wanted to use it‌I didn’t want it to make it the forefront, I didn’t want it to be the pivotal thing. Don’t get me wrong, this is showbusiness, not showplay,â€? he said.

Prior to Crazy Ex, Vince did a lot of shows where he was a part of an ensemble, and the only Asian guy sometimes.

He said he wanted people to see that he is onstage because you never know who is in the audience and who you get to inspire because of that, and also because before he made it on that stage, he was once a part of that audience before.

How his life changed

Cebuana lass is...

PAGE B2 in “Ikaw Ang Pangarap,� hitting all the high notes with ease.

Small wonder, her victory came with much anticipation. “I am so happy and thankful to all who supported me to reach the finals and to be ‘The Clash’ champion,� said the tearful teener in the vernacular after the show. She also appreciated how many people have been noticing her close resemblance to Sarah Geronimo who is one of her singing idols. “Mas na-cha-challenge po ako na pagbutihan dahil nakikita nila akong the next Sarah Geronimo.�

As the grand champion, Golden won a brand-new car, an exclusive contract with GMA 7, a house and lot from BRIA Homes and P1M. When asked what she would do with the cash prize, Golden said she will finance the operation of her nine-year-old cousin to correct an imperforate anus. “Kaya po nag-pursige din akong manalo para po maipa-opera s’ya dahil malaki na s’ya at tinutukso.�

Her kind heart also knows how

to keep a promise. Golden shared that before the announcement of the winner, she and Jong had an agreement that whoever wins will give balato (money given away by the winner). “We even made a pinkie swear so I’ll give him P50,000 as our agreed amount.�

Meanwhile, the four other finalists also went home with a cash prize of P100,000 each and will join Golden in the latest Kapuso Sunday variety show “Studio 7.�

Also present in the finals night were the finalists booted out earlier on the show. They were Melbelline Caluag, Danielle Ozaraga, Mika Gorospe, Esterlina Olmedo, Lyra Micolob and Kyryll Ugdiman and Anthony Rosaldo. Esterlina was hailed as the Most Loved Clasher for being a favorite on social media and in mall shows.

T h e n e w s e a s o n of “The Clash� will take place next year and rounds of auditions are now being held nationwide to find the next set of clashers.

Those who auditioned before but failed to make it are welcome to try their luck again.

Vince was in the middle of a Here Lies Love performance, getting ready to go on for the funeral procession scene, when he received the call that would change his life. “I was in a black trench coat and I was in the bathroom backstage,� he said excitedly, remembering the scene vividly.

He was a partial swing, which means in the big group numbers, he was an extra body and an extra voice. “Then I saw a missed call on my phone. It was a very loud show and once I was backstage, I called the number back. It was from a 310 area code and it was Rachel Bloom herself calling,� he shared.

They told him that he got the part. “It was a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions. I cried,� he said. “No one knew that I was crying for a completely different reason that time. It was a big moment for sure!�

Then came my last question for this interview: How would you sum up the past three years?

He paused, then laughed. He thought for a while. “That might be the toughest question I’ve ever been asked,� he said, shaking his head. “I’d say it feels like being born again and getting to start over in both good ways and bad. It is very exciting because it gave me more confidence and hope that I can achieve my dreams and at the same time I can also inspire others to achieve theirs.�

Rodriguez responds to a question from the audience at the PH Time is Now inaugural event in New York City.

Rodriguez is thankful to Crazy Ex-Girlfriend for opening doors and for giving him an experience of a lifetime. The show’s final season began last week.

AJPress photos by Momar G. Visaya

Rodriguez also shared on his IG account the first selfie he took with Crazy Ex Girlfriend co star and executive producer Rachel Bloom. He wrote: Feeling nostalgic w/ @racheldoesstuff and thought I’d share this selfie I took of us on my first day of shooting the pilot for #crazyexgirlfr iend (NYC street scene that we filmed in DTLA) That magical day sparked a journey that I will forever hold in my heart for the rest of my life.

Rodriguez made a congratulatory post for fellow actor Darren Criss when the latter won Best Actor in the recently concluded Emmy Awards for his riveting performance in The Assassination of Gianni Versace. Rodriguez wrote: One of these people won an #emmy tonight and it wasn’t me or @msleasalonga đ&#x;˜Šđ&#x;˜Šđ&#x;˜Š đ&#x;˜Šđ&#x;˜Šđ&#x;˜Šđ&#x;˜Šđ&#x;˜Šđ&#x;˜Šđ&#x;˜Šs to @darrencriss my fellow #Filipino Bro from San Francisco. Photo from IG/vrodrigueziii

Crazy Ex Girlfriend became the first network TV show with a Filipino family. Here, Rodriquez posted: #tbt to the 1st selfie I ever took w/ the #ChanFamBam @cw_crazyxgf@thecw #crazyexgirlfriend #Season1 #FilipinoThanksgiving FUN FACT: That episode was the 1st time a Filipino family was presented on Network TV.

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COMMUNITY

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JOURNAL

Your Immigration Solution ATTY. DEVIN CONNOLLY IN recent weeks and months Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has carried out targeted raids nationwide as part of their efforts to deport undocumented immigrants. These raids have resulted in the breakup of families, individuals losing their jobs, and countless people scared to leave their homes and lead their normal lives. In addition, new policies of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) have made it easier for applications for immigration benefits to be denied. For all of these reasons, retaining an immigration attorney has never been more important.

Given the incredible importance placed on being granted permanent resident status (green card) or U.S. citizenship, it is surprising how many people attempt to achieve their immigration goals without the assistance of an experienced attorney that specializes in immigration law. It is true that some do succeed, but many others fail.

And this failure may lead to their ultimate nightmare – being deported.

A person that is presently living in the United States must file their request for immigration benefits with the USCIS. This process is far more complex than merely completing simple forms. First, the forms are not always easy to understand. Many of the forms contain complicated questions that require a person to understand terms and language which have a precise meaning unique to immigration law. This meaning may differ from what many people expect it to be. Thus, a person may deprive themselves of lawfully residing in the United States simply because they did not understand the question they were being asked.

An applicant must also carefully review their eligibility for the requested benefit before submitting any application to the USCIS. This assessment re-

The importance of an immigration attorney

quires a review of many things, including dates of entries and exits from the U.S., type of visa (if any) held at entry to the U.S., the immigration status and history of the applicant and their family members, etc. The failure to make this assessment before submitting the application may lead to something much worse than a denial – it may lead to being deported, perhaps within a matter of hours.

After eligibility is established, the applicant must submit a welldocumented request for an immigration benefit. The submission of required documents is now more important than ever,

“A decision on the application will frequently be made based off statements made by the applicant during their interview.� because the USCIS may automatically deny the request if the required documents are not submitted. This is different from in the past, where the USCIS would give an applicant the opportunity to correct their mistake before denying the request.

It is clear that an assessment of eligibility is important, as are properly completed forms and sufficient supporting documents, but perhaps the most important reason to retain an experienced immigration attorney is to be adequately represented at your personal interview before a USCIS officer. A decision on the application will frequently be made based off statements made by the applicant during their interview.

These interviews can be stressful, nerve-wracking experiences, but the aspiring immigrant needs to do everything possible to ensure their personal interview is successful. That is not always easy though. It may be the applicant’s first time attending a personal interview for an immi-

gration benefit with the USCIS, and they are likely to be questioned by an experienced USCIS officer who has conducted many of these types of interviews. In addition, the USCIS officer may aggressively question the applicant, they may pressure them to answer questions to which they do not know the answers, and they may also allow the applicant to make statements that are harmful to their case. Saying the wrong thing during an interview can make it significantly more difficult to ever lawfully reside in the U.S. And while the applicant may later realize they misspoke or that they did not actually understand the questions they were being asked, it may too late to fix the problems created. The application may already be denied and the Department of Homeland Security may have already begun the process of deporting them to their native country. As you can see, the personal interview is extremely important.

In conclusion, it is always advisable for immigrants to retain the services of an experienced and knowledgeable attorney who is dedicated solely to the practice of immigration law. Hiring the right attorney may be the difference between obtaining a green card and being deported. It is therefore one of the most significant decisions that a person will make in their lifetime. *** REEVES IMMIGRATION LAW GROUP is one of the oldest, largest and most experienced immigration fi rms in the United States with ofďŹ ces in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Manila and China.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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What to do when you are audited FIRST, you get a notice called a “contact letter” by mail - postal mail. The IRS does not reach out to taxpayers via email or phone; if that happens, you are probably being scammed. IRS will ask you to bring specific documents via Information Document Request (IDR).

Here’s a list of what to do: • Respond promptly.

• Attach appropriate documentation.

• If the audit was triggered by a minor error, send a written explanation with documentation.

• If the error was triggered by a W-2 from your employer, ask their bookkeeper to correct the error with Form W-2C, file with the IRS, and give you copy.

• If the error is triggered by a wrong 1099-MISC, ask the payer to correct it by filing a new 1099MISC with box checked for “corrected.”

• You can call the IRS all you want, send all the letters that you write, but your case will not be solved until IRS receives a copy of corrected W-2 or 1099. Take it from me after dealing with this stuff for 40 years.

The Prophetic Voice ReveRend Rodel G. BAlAGtAs THE Gospel this Sunday (Mark 10:2-16) begins with the Pharisees asking Jesus if it is lawful for a husband to divorce his wife.

Jesus responded by reminding them of the sacredness and indissoluble union of marriage as written in the Book of Genesis: “But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate.”

This Gospel passage implies that even during the biblical times, the commitment to keep a marriage was not easy. “Moses permitted a husband to write a bill of divorce and dismiss her,” the Pharisees told Jesus, intending to test him. To this remark, Jesus retorted, “Because of the hardness of your hearts he wrote

• This is when you see how devoted your tax preparer is.

• Most preparers will help and serve you, but some will string you along with promises but no result.

• I defended several audit cases victoR sy, where communication with precPA, mBA parer was the problem, not with IRS. How to substantiate questioned • Lastly, 80% of audits are correspondence audits where IRS items: • Send documentation that is rel- merely asks for documentation. evant to the issue at hand. *** • Be selective of records that are pertinent to the issue.

Victor Santos Sy graduated Cum Laude • Do not flood the Service with from UE with a BBA and from Indiana State unrelated junk.

University with an MBA. Vic worked with • For example, if IRS requests SyCip, Gorres, Velayo (SGV - Andersen acknowledgment letter from a Consulting) and Ernst & Young before recipient donee, send that item establishing Sy Accountancy Corporation only - a thank you letter (but not in Pasadena, California. a pile of purchase receipts that *** they don’t ask for).

• Do not try to distract them from He has 50 years of experience in their busy work. It may not end defending taxpayers audited by the IRS, well if they find new issues with FTB, EDD, BOE and other governmental irrelevant documents that you agencies. He is publishing a book on his send. expertise - “HOW TO AVOID OR SURVIVE Friendly Reminders: IRS AUDITS.” Our readers may inquire • Do not ignore audit notice. It about the book or email tax questions at will bother you. You’ll have to vicsy@live.com. deal with it anyway.

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The joy of marriage and family this commandment.” Then he reminded them of the commandment: “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.

Why did Jesus emphasize permanence and fidelity in marriage? And why is it that the Church holds this teaching adamantly? The following scene in the Gospel gives us a clue. As the disciples became disturbed at seeing people bringing children to Jesus, the Lord urged them: “Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it. Then he embraced them and blessed them, placing his hands on them.”

Keeping a marriage in our society is not just for the sake of the husband and wife; it’s also for the sake of the children born out their marriage. Marriage is an openness to life—the life of these children. It’s participating in God’s creative acts, “to be fertile and multiply, fill the earth

and subdue it.” (Genesis 1:28) It’s a vocation to build a family, to raise children and educate them to become loving, caring, God-fearing, and contributing members of the society and the church.

Raising children starts with a healthy, happy, and faith-filled home, where parents can nurture their offspring with love and affection and educate them by their examples of selfless and sacrificial love. It’s a challenging responsibility to fulfill, but it gives parents joy, meaning, and purpose in life.

We’ve seen and experienced this joy of raising a family. It’s more than a responsibility; it’s a blessing, a gift from God, and a real source of joy! As Pope Francis wrote at the beginning of his post-synodal apostolic exhortation, Amoris Laetitia—The Joy of Love: “The joy of love experienced by families is also the joy of the Church.”

This joy comes from seeing children and grandchildren happy, healthy, and successful.

It also emanates from not feeling alone in this world and from having people around us who care

u PAGE C3

4 ways to get out of debt: Which one is right for you?

Minding Your Finances Atty. RAymond BulAon ARE you overwhelmed with too much debt and don’t know how you can get out? Do you spend at lot of time worrying about your finances and don’t know how you can make it through another month? Are creditors calling you and harassing you for payment?

When people are going through financial difficulty and are unable to pay their bills, their first reaction is often to ignore their debts and avoid contact with creditors.

They think that by doing this, somehow the creditors will simply give up and go away. Bad news: This rarely works.

Then one day they get a summons delivered to their home or work and that’s when they start to panic after learning that they’ve been sued. The next step of course is a wage garnishment, a bank account levy, a lien against their real property or any combination of the above. That’s when they rush to see a bankruptcy attorney to find out what can be done to protect themselves.

Painful consequences can result from non-action. But I do understand that sometimes,

people just get so overwhelmed with their problems that they are paralyzed by fear.

The fear of the unknown, the fear of making changes in their lives or sometimes or perhaps the fear of making those difficult decisions that they’ve been avoiding to make. I know because I see it all the time. But the reality of it is that if there are dreadful consequences to not facing your debt problems, you will either face them now or later, it’s just a matter of time.

So how do you start to tackle the problem when it seems so enormous that you almost feel like giving up before you even start? How do you get out of debt if you are currently feeling trapped in your situation with no way out?

There basically only 4 ways to get out of debt if you’re on the verge of insolvency: (1) increase income so you can start paying larger amounts on your debts to hopefully avoid filing bankruptcy, (2) reduce expenses so that you can increase your disposable income and have more money available for debt repayment, (3) Convert assets you don’t need into cash and use the money to negotiate with creditors, and (4)

File bankruptcy to wipe out debts or consolidate your bills (This requires filing either a Chapter 7 or a Chapter 13).

If you’re feeling paralyzed by debt and can’t think clearly at the moment, you need a good attorney who can properly evaluate your situation and recommend possible solutions. The first thing you need to do when you don’t know what to do is to realize that sometimes, you cannot do it on your own.

There is nothing wrong with getting legal help. The sooner you get help, the sooner you would be able to protect your home, your job, your car, your bank account and other assets.

For more information and to schedule a free consultation, please call Toll-Free 1-866-4777772. We have offices in Glendale, Cerritos and Valencia *** None of the information herein is intended to give legal advice for any specific situation. Atty. Ray Bulaon has successfully helped thousands of clients in getting out of debt. For a free attorney evaluation of your situation, please call Ray Bulaon Law Offices at TOLL FREE 1 (866) 477-7772.

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Is real estate property purchased prior to marriage considered community property in a divorce? has further declined by $9,200 GENERALLY, in California, up to the date of separation. The property acquired by a spouse Barrister’s ratio at which community funds prior to marriage is considered paid down the mortgage ($9,200) separate property under fam- Corner during the marriage to the origiily code section 770 while those nal purchase price ($38,300) acquired after marriage are considered community assets under amounts to 24.02%. This perfamily code section 760. How do Atty. Kenneth centage of the property appreyou characterize real property uRsuA Reyes ciation during the marriage of purchased prior to marriage but $117,500 ($28,223.50) plus the with the mortgage principal paid The community property com- reduction in mortgage balance down using community income ponent would then consist of the during the marriage ($9,200) or funds during the marriage? reduction in the mortgage loan would constitute the community The community in this situation principal during the marriage component of the real property. acquires a pro tanto interest in plus the portion of appreciation The rest was the husband’s sepathe ratio that the payments on the during the marriage applying the rate property. The husband in purchase price made with com- ratio discussed above. that case was awarded his sepamunity funds bear to the total In the Marriage of Madsen, the rate property component of the payments on the purchase price real property was purchased by real property plus one half of the and any appreciation should be the husband for $38,300 prior community property component. apportioned accordingly. Mar- to the marriage. The original The Madsen apportionment riage of Moore (1980) 28 method is also applicaC3d 366, 371, 373, 168 ble to situations where a CR 662, 664, 665. Other community real property expenses associated with is later transmuted into the property are not conone spouse’s separate sidered in the calculation property through execusuch as mortgage intertion of a quit claim by est, taxes, and insurance. the other spouse but is In essence, the real propsubsequently paid using erty would accumulate community funds. Marboth a separate property riage of Broderick (1989) and a community proper209 CA3d 489, 257 CR ty component by the date 397. of separation. The appropriate mortgage was $30,000.

By Since California case law alremedy in this situation where the time the husband got mar- lows the creation of a community separate property is subsequent- ried, the house was now worth interest in real property acquired ly paid with community funds is $65,000 while the mortgage has prior to marriage, one has to con“apportionment.” gone down by $7,000. Both the sider vehicles to protect themThe process of apportioning appreciation of $26,700 and the selves if you own property and between the separate and com- mortgage reduction of $7,000 you are contemplating of getting munity property component is would be separate property since married. There are several ways laid out in the Marriage of Mad- it occurred prior to marriage. of avoiding the creation of a comsen. In that case, the court deter- Marriage of Madsen (1982) 130 munity interest on your separate mined the ratio or percentage in CA3d 426, 181 CR 910. real property. One, you can sign which the mortgage loan princiDuring the marriage un- a prenuptial agreement. Two, pal was reduced during the mar- til the time of trial, the prop- the parties can execute a postriage and applied that percent- erty has appreciated another nuptial agreement if the parties age to the appreciation of the real $117,500 (property now valued are already married. Three, the property during the marriage. at $182,500) while the mortgage u PAGE C4

“Other expenses associated with the property are not considered in the calculation such as mortgage interest, taxes and insurance.”

Preventing abandonment of your green card due to travel abroad A GREEN card holder can travel outside the US and return with some limitations. If a green card holder is outside the US for an extended period of time, he may be considered to have abandoned his permanent resident status. Brief travel (such as for a vacation) normally will not affect permanent resident status. However, abandonment of permanent resident status is a potential issue for green card holders who have to leave the US for an extended period of time (over 1 year) for one reason or another, such as to finish studies or work abroad. In such situations, how can a person be prevented from losing his green card?

If a person plans to be outside the US for an extended period of time (over 1 year), an application for a reentry permit must be filed. A reentry permit establishes that one did not intend to abandon his green card, and it allows one to apply for admission to the US after being outside the US for up to 2 years without having to obtain a returning resident visa. Reentry permits are normally valid for 2 years from the date of issuance. A permanent resident can re-apply for subsequent reentry permits for 2 year increments As aforementioned, if one is outside the US for an extended period of time without a reentry permit, he may be considered to have abandoned his green card. If a person who

Legal Advice Atty. dARRicK tAn has been outside the US for more than 1 year attempts to re-enter the US, he may be referred to an Immigration Judge to determine whether he has abandoned his permanent resident status.

An application for reentry permit should be filed at least 60 days prior to the contemplated extended trip outside the US. While a person does not have to be present in the US at the time his reentry permit application is approved, it is important to file it with sufficient time prior to the trip to allow time to receive the biometrics notice after the application is filed, and have biometrics taken. An applicant must provide his biometrics while in the US. If an applicant leaves the US before biometrics are taken, the USCIS may deny the application.

What if a permanent resident has already left the US and either has 1) been outside the US for over 1 year or 2) been outside the US for over 2 years with an expired reentry permit? The Department of State on its website advises to apply for a Returning Resident Visa. To qualify for a Returning Resident Visa, you must show a valid reason why your stay abroad was extended,

and that the reason for the extended stay was beyond your control or for which you were not responsible. Another (perhaps better) option would be to re-enter the US--if US customs denies admission due to abandonment of your green card, you will have an opportunity to argue that you did not abandon permanent resident status, here in the US before an Immigration Judge.

Obtaining a green card often is a difficult process. For some, it takes many years. It is accordingly important to take all steps necessary to maintain permanent resident status once attained. If you plan to be away from the US for an extended period of time, or have been away from the US for an extended period of time without a reentry permit, or a reentry permit that has expired, it is recommended that you consult with an experienced attorney. *** Darrick V. Tan, Esq. is admitted to practice law in California and Nevada. Mr. Tan is a graduate of UCLA and Southwestern University School of Law. He is a member of the Consumers Attorney Association of Los Angeles and is a former member of the Board of Governors of the Philipp ine American Bar Association. *** LAW OFFICES OF DARRICK V. TAN, 3580 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 900, Los Angeles, CA 90010. Tel: (323) 639-0277.

Email: info@dtanlaw.com.

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

Recent updates to California’s sexual harassment laws – are your rights affected?

THE area of sexual harassment litigation involves complex rules that are continually evolving. Last month, California lawmakers signed some laws designed to close several loopholes in California’s sexual harassment laws. Some of the more important common-sense changes include the following: A single incident of harassing conduct is sufficient to create a triable issue regarding the existence of a hostile work environment if it has unreasonably interfered with the employee’s work performance or created an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment. California rejects the “one free grope” standard created by the 9th Circuit federal court in 2000.

The existence of a hostile work environment depends upon the totality of the circumstances. A discriminatory remark, even if not made directly in the context of an employment decision, or uttered by a non-decision-maker, may be relevant, circumstantial evidence of discrimination.

This rejects the “stray remarks doctrine” previously upheld by courts.

In determining whether or not a hostile environment existed, courts are directed to only consider the nature of the workplace when engaging in or witnessing prurient conduct and commentary is integral to the performance of job duties. It is irrelevant that a particular occupation may have been characterized by a greater frequency of sexually related commentary or conduct in the past.

The employee need not prove

Protecting Employee & Consumer Rights ATTY. C. JOE SAYAS, JR. that his or her tangible productivity has declined as a result of the harassment. It is enough to prove that a reasonable person subjected to the discriminatory conduct would find the harassment altered working conditions as to make it more difficult to do the job.

Prohibits the release-of-claims and non-disparagement agreements that are often slipped into contracts workers sign when accepting a job offer, or receiving a promotion, raise, or bonus. In many cases, workers unknowingly sign away their rights to bring harassment or discrimination claims to court or to speak out about sexual harassment and other workplace violations.

The requirement that the employee must prove an inability to easily terminate the relationship in order to claim harassment is eliminated.

A contract or settlement agreement that purports to waive a party’s right to testify in an administrative, legislative, or judicial proceeding concerning alleged criminal conduct or sexual harassment is now void and unenforceable.

Prohibits any provision in a settlement agreement that prevents the disclosure of factual information relating to certain

claims of sexual assault, sexual harassment, or harassment or discrimination based on sex, that are filed in a civil or administrative action. Allows a provision that shields the identity of the claimant and all facts that could lead to the discovery of his or her identity, including pleadings filed in court, to be included in a settlement agreement upon the request of the claimant. However, this provision does not apply if a government agency or public official is a party to the settlement agreement.

Employers with 5 or more employees, including temporary or seasonal employees, are required to provide at least 2 hours of sexual harassment training to all supervisory employees, and at least one hour of sexual harassment training to all nonsupervisory employees, by January 1, 2020, and once every 2 years thereafter. *** The Law Offices of C. Joe Sayas, Jr. welcomes inquiries about this topic.

All inquiries are confidential and at nocost. You can contact the office at (818) 291-0088 or visit www.joesayaslaw.com or our Facebook page Joe Sayas Law. [C. Joe Sayas, Jr., Esq. is an experienced trial attorney who has successfully recovered wages and other monetary damages for thousands of employees and consumers. He was named Top Labor & Employment Attorney in California by the Daily Journal, consistently selected as Super Lawyer by the Los Angeles Magazine, and is the recipient of PABA’s Community Champion Award for 2016.]

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People and Events

FASGI presents FAIR – FASGI Artists Impressions & Reflections FASGI is pleased to announce FAIR – FASGI Artists Impressions & Reflections – an art exhibit to be held from October 9, 2018 to November 9, 2018 at the FASGI Bayanihan Center. FAIR is presented as part of FASGI’s Arts Incubator Program.

Please come to the exhibit opening: FAIR – FASGI Artists Impressions & Reflections Tuesday, October 9, 2018 - 6:00 – 9:00 p.m.

FASGI Bayanihan Center 135 N. Park View St., Los Angeles, CA 90026 FAIR will showcase five internationally-acclaimed artists who will unveil new and original artworks. The artists are (in alphabetical order): · RAFAEL MANIAGO – leader of FASGI’s Arts Incubator Program, has been hailed as the contemporary Amorsolo by fellow artists. He is an expert at realism, impressionism, abstractionism, surrealism, photorealism, and plen-aire artworks that are highly in demand and sold at American art galleries. Maestro Maniago has won hundreds of awards in open shows and competitions all over the world. · CESAR DEVERA – a graduate of the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, Philippines, where he taught advertising design subjects from 1979 to 1983, Cesar Devera migrated to the US in 1983. Cesar has worked in industrial/graphics/web design and film animation for companies that include Warner Bros. and various newspapers in Southern California. He was awarded “Excellence in Painting” by Mayor Eric Garcetti, “Artist of the Year” by the City of Anaheim for three years (2015-2017), and “Best of Show” by the City of Cypress. · JOHNNY OTILANO – a visual artist, singer and songwriter who first came to America in 1989, Johnny will feature his day-today impressions and reflections

at FASGI as an Artist-in-Residence.

Johnny’s style, developed with influences from masters and contemporary artists, is eclectic and deep. His trademark often includes “The Eye,” a tribute to his father who lost his right eye while working as an overseas worker in Saudi Arabia. Johnny will be hailed as one of the “Top 60 Masters of 2019” by Art Tour International, a highly acclaimed art organization based in New York City. He will be awarded in April 2019 at the New York Museum of Art and Design. · MAT RELOX - a multi-talented artist who has been recognized for his murals, paintings, singing and poetry. Mat is an accomplished painter who uses different media in tandem with various techniques to produce artworks that promote peace, beauty of nature, respect for culture, and tribute to God. Among his most notable artworks are renditions depicting the indigenous traditions and rich culture of the Mangyans, a tribal group prevalent in Mindoro, the island where he grew up in the Philippines. Mat’s works embodies his optimism and vision of a united world. · TIINZ TARUC – a rising star in the Filipino and American art world, Tiinz is a gifted impressionist and portraitist who daringly paints with bold strokes and bright colors. Tiinz’ artworks portray her courage to face life’s adversities with optimism and positivity, which is not surprising given her lineage (she is the granddaughter of activist leader Luis Taruc, founder of the Hukbalahap movement). Her unique blend of colors defies her colorblindness and other sight limitations. Her trademark includes koi fish, dynamic circles, flowers, and her homage to the Blessed Mother. In addition to various awards received in the past, Tiinz consecutively won top major

awards in 2018 - a “First Place” and two “Best of Show” from the Cypress Art Association, Lakewood Art Association, and Anaheim Art Association.

FASGI’s Arts Incubator Program was created in 2016 to promote and uplift Filipino and Filipino American arts and culture.

The program’s mission is to: (1) help Filipino American artists to be properly recognized and given economic opportunities for advancement; (2) enable Filipino Americans to get in touch with their culture; and (3) to educate mainstream America on Philippine/American art . Our program currently includes a permanent gallery, special exhibits, portraiture, parol-making, and an artist-in-residence program.

Art workshops, instruction, and live projects are currently being planned for commencement in 2019.

About FASGI The Filipino American Service Group, Inc. (FASGI) is a 501(c)(3) neighborhood-based direct service provider incorporated in 1981. We provide a variety of services for the residents of Los Angeles through programs that include mental health outreach and education, naturalization application assistance, immigration referral, culinary arts, arts incubation, business promotion, and other community and social services. For over three decades, FASGI has helped thousands of individuals through its various programs. FASGI is located in the heart of Historic Filipinotown.

Yey Coronel Executive Director Filipino American Service Group, Inc. FASGI Bayanihan Center: 135 N. Park View St. Los Angeles, CA 90026 (213) 908-5050 (213) 908-5878 (213) 908-5293 Website: www.fasgi.org Email: yeyc@fasgi.org

LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL • OCTOBER 6-9, 2018

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Client with good income seeks Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 relief for $84K credit cards

CLIENT is 58. He is not divorced but separated for 20 years. His income is good. He nets about $7K to $8K a month.

He lives by himself and does not even own a car. He goes carpooling with a relative to go to work.

His rent is $800 a month. So, he doesn’t really have too much monthly expenses of necessities for himself, except his food expense is about $1K a month with 3 meals a day; spends at least $30 a day for breakfast, lunch and dinner eating out. His problem is $84K of credit cards.

He needs $2,800 a month for minimum credit card payments.

He appears to be able to afford making that payment because his disposable income, based on net income of $7K to $8K and actual monthly necessities, excluding credit card debt payment of $2,800 is about $3,000.

In other words, every month, he has $3,000 available to pay $2,800 of credit card debt, which he has been paying for 15 years.

He therefore has paid $504,000 in the last 15 years for minimum monthly credit card payments but still owes the same $84K of credit cards! Well, half a million dollars is a fortune by most standards, unless you’re a billionaire who can afford to pay half a million dollars for 3 or 4 Ferraris without flinching. I’m sure that many people would rather have half a million dollars sitting in their retirement account, instead of $84K of credit cards! But $84K of credit cards is what client still has even after paying $504,000 to master card and visa in the last 15 years. If he had wiped out

Debt Relief

ATTY. LAWRENCE YANG these credit cards in 2001, client probably would have about $1M of equities in his portfolio by now.

But instead of being a millionaire at 58, he has a lot of problems. He lives by himself, has chronic back pain and has received a lawsuit from one of the credit card companies. Now, where is his $3K monthly disposable income going into? Because I can see clearly that based on his current income and expense, he is able to float out $3K of disposable income every month. So I ask him if he has relatives who don’t live with him that he sends money to. His face lighted up as he informs me that he sends about $1K to his son abroad, and $1K each to his brother and sister who also live abroad. His son has just started college abroad and client pays for all his college tuition and living expenses abroad. He sends $2K abroad, which is split 50/50 between his brother and sister who have their own families abroad. Apparently, both his brother and sister do not make enough to make ends meet so client takes care of both of them. His remits to his son, brother and sister more than $3K a month. This eats up all of his current monthly disposable income. It’s either he pays

$2,800 a month to credit cards, or sends $3K a month to his son, brother and sister who need the money to survive. It’s not a hard choice to make.

It appears that client was making a lot more than $7K to $8K a month before when he was younger. When he was younger he was making a net of $120K a year, or $10K a month. But his back has been giving him problems starting last year when he could not work at all because of chronic back pain. In his line of work, he has to do a lot of physical work, which has taken a toll on his back. He was on disability for the last 12 months until August he has been off disability.

But when I saw him today, he was still contorting and grimacing due to back pain.

I’ve had back pain too and believe me, as you get older, it does not take too much physical activity to trigger back pain. I used to be able to do my gardening for 3 or 4 hours straight without any back problem. But nowadays, the most I can garden is one hour straight. If I do more than one hour of gardening, my back begins to act up and the pain from the pelvis starts to rear its ugly head. So, I have no doubt that since client has gone back to physical work, I don’t really know how long he can continue working with that kind of back pain.

Faced with the foregoing circumstances, what client needs is bankruptcy relief to get rid of $84K of credit cards. But will client qualify for Chapter 7 relief

u PAGE C4

The joy of marriage and family PAGE C2 t for us deeply. It flows from having the support of one’s spouse in fulfilling this challenging but awesome responsibility.

One’s ability to keep family does not merely come from human strengths and genius. Most importantly, it derives from our faith in God and the graces He gives us. It comes from building a spiritual home where children can experience God’s love and his presence and come to know Jesus. It develops from our deep faith in God and from maintaining a prayerful family. As the Fr. Patrick Peyton said, “The family that prays together stays to-

gether.”

In Amoris Laetitia, Pope Francis affirms the joy of marriage and family with these words: “Few human joys are as deep and thrilling as those experienced by two people who love another and have achieved something as the result of a great, shared effort.”

(130) May all married people see the joy of their vocation! May those of us called to single life support them with our love and prayers!

(An correction from my article last weekend article: Msgr.

James J. Loughnane, P.A. was appointed as Episcopal Vicar for San Gabriel Pastoral Region, not

San Pedro Pastoral Region. He succeeded Bishop Gabino Zavala, not Bishop Oscar Solis.) *** From a Filipino immigrant family, Reverend Rodel G. Balagtas was ordained to the priesthood from St. John’s Seminary in 1991. He served as Associate Pastor at St. Augustine, Culver City (1991-1993); St. Martha, Valinda (1993-1999); and St. Joseph the Worker, Canoga Park (19912001). In 2001, he served as Administrator Pro Tem of St. John Neumann in Santa Maria, CA, until his appointment as pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary, Los Angeles, in 2002, which lasted 12 years. His term as Associate Director of Pastoral Field Education at St. John’s Seminary began in July 2014.

C4 OCTOBER 6-9, 2018 • LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL

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

Is real estate property purchased... PUPAA-USA, Inc. installation of officers,

PAGE C2 t

parties can execute a transmutation agreement with a waiver of any family code section 2640 reimbursement claim. If your divorce case involves complex issues of asset distribution, it is best to retain the representation of competent counsel. *** Please note that this article is not legal advice and is not intended as legal advice. The article is intended

to provide only general, non-specific legal information. This article is not intended to cover all the issues related to the topic discussed. The specific facts that apply to your matter may make the outcome different than would be anticipated by you. This article does create any attorney client relationship between you and the Law Offices of Kenneth U. Reyes, P.C. This article is not a solicitation.

*** Attorney Kenneth Ursua Reyes is a

Certified Family Law Specialist. He was President of the Philippine American Bar Association. He is a member of both the Family law section and Immigration law section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association. He has extensive CPA experience prior to law practice. LAW OFFICES OF KENNETH REYES, P.C. is located at 3699 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 747, Los Angeles, CA, 90010. Tel. (213) 388-1611 or e-mail kureyeslaw@gmail.com or visit our website at Kenreyeslaw.com.

membership night and dinner dance set

(Advertising Supplement)

Client with good income seeks...

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where all of the $84K will just be wiped out without a single payment from client, or is his case really a Chapter 13? Well, this could be a nail biter just like the 2016 presidential elections. I was for Hillary, who, according to all the polls and pundits in the last 12 months was a sure winner, but in the end, she lost. Well, it must be God’s will for Trump to be our president. God’s ways are truly mysterious and unfathomable by us mere mortals. I’m really concerned for all the 11M immigrants who appear now have no path to be legalized under Trump. Let’s wait and see what happens. Let’s pray that our God, the one and only true God, the God of Moses and Is-

rael, my God as well, will speak to Trump and guide him on the immigration matter. I am praying for a miracle on this matter for God’s greater glory.

If we file this as a Chapter 7, there could be objections from the US trustee on the $2K that he sends to his brother and sister since he is not really required by law to make these payments. In other words, Chapter 13 would be a safer bet. Maybe the court will accept a $400 a month plan payment for 60 months. This means he pays $24K out of the $84K credit cards, and the court discharges $64K. That’s a 30% payment. It’s not too bad. But let’s see, I still have to crunch out the means test to see what is possible and not. This remains

Calendar of Events across

to be seen but certainly he needs bankruptcy relief and will go for it. He doesn’t want a 25% garnishment of his wages from the lawsuit he just received. Can’t blame him, nobody wants to lose 25% of one’s gross wages to a garnishment.

“This God is our God for ever and ever; He will be our guide even to the end.” Psalm 48:14 *** Lawrence Bautista Yang specializes in bankruptcy, business, real estate and civil litigation and has successfully represented more than five thousand clients in California. Please call Angie, Barbara or Jess at (626) 284-1142 for an appointment at 1000 S. Fremont Ave, Mailstop 58, Building A-1 Suite 1125, Alhambra, CA 91803.

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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 O C TO B E R 6

Asian Small Business Expo in Montebello, CA The Asian Small Business Expo is the only business-to-business expo that engages the Asian business community and brings this growing economic force into the mainstream to connect and utilize your company and its services.Don’t miss the opportunity on Saturday, October 6 to connect with small businesses, market your organization and tap into a network of entrepreneurs, service providers, financial organizations, franchises and governmental and legislative representatives. This year’s theme is “Growing your business online: Standing out in the digital world,” featuring 40+ exhibitors and workshops. It will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Quiet Cannon (901 Via San Clemente, Montebello, CA 90640). Visit https://www. eventbrite.com/e/annual-asian-small-business-expo-free-event-tickets-45785739379 to register for free. Walk-ins are also welcome.

City of Carson kicks off 9th annual Fil-Am History Month festivities On Saturday, October 6 the City of Carson will have the kick-off ceremonies for its 9th Annual Filipino American History Month festivities. The day starts at 8:00 a.m. by the Dr. Jose P. Rizal Monument outside the Carson Community Center on 801 E. Carson St. in Carson, California. This will be followed by a wreath-laying ceremony, and a program from 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. that highlights their leadership awards in three categories: Community Leadership, Youth Achievement, and Heroism. Headliners for the program are singers Fe de los Reyes and Miguel Vera. Other performers are the CSU Long Beach Filipino American Coalition, Shane Selloria, Jason Farol, Kindreds of Carson, and former “Fil-Ams Got Talent” champions Charishma Marquez, Shekinah Austria, and Therese Masangcay. Keynote speaker is Asian Pacific Studies Professor Dr. Mary Talusan-Lacanlale. Consul General Adelio Angelito Cruz and Councilmember Elito Santarina will also grace the kick-off. For more information, please call (310) 952-1743.

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Serenata Filipina Ver. 2 at LA’s Ford Amphitheater “Serenata Filipina Ver. 2” is the only Filipino music concert at the famed Ford Theatres’ Summer Season. Features female OPM stalwarts: jazz diva Louie Reyes, vocal powerhouse Annie Nepomuceno, hitmaker Odette Quesada and many more, backed by a live band. Part of the proceeds benefits Philippine Patrons of the Arts USA, and other community partners.

Grounds open for picnicking at 4:30 p.m., show is at 6:30pm. Tickets are $100 VIP, $70, $55, $40 and $35 for students. Buy online at www.fordtheatres.org or by calling the box office at (323) 461-3673.

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Daly City hosts Fil-Am History Month celebration Daly City celebrates Filipino-American History Month via Kasayahan sa Daly City at the Marchbank Park (2001 Junipero Serra Blvd., Daly City, CA 94014) from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. There will be food trucks, a family fun zone, arts and crafts, a jump house, a beer garden, several vendor booths, a bubble machine, and entertainment from homegrown talent. Parking is free at the DC Station Garage on 2001 Junipero Serra Boulevard, and Marchbank Park is accessible on the second floor. This is a free event, and everyone is invited.Entertainment throughout the day will be provided by Melvinsings! Maddie B, Kariktan Dance Company, American Center of Philippine Arts, Rudy Kalma, Mike Dayao, Guji, and more. Headliners to perform at the TFC Hour are “Queen of Freestyle” Jocelyn Enriquez and rapper and spoken word artist Ruby Ibarra. For more information about this event, call (650) 991-8001 or go to their Facebook events pagehttps://www.facebook.com/events/264867907630476/.

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Special Celebration in honor of our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima On Saturday, October 20, 2018, 5 p.m. at Cathedral of our Lady of the Angels at 555 West Temple Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012. With main celebrant: Auxiliary Bishop Alexander Salazar. All the faithful of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles are cordially invited to join us in October, the month of the Rosary, to pray for peace and conversion in honor of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima. Please share this announcement with your parish, families and schools. Together we can bring peace to our world. Together in prayer, we make a difference. All are welcome!

For more information, please call 323-578-8411 or 818-421-6534.

Fil-Am Association of SCV,Inc. 35th Anniversary Gala The Siena College QC alumni will be holding its 35th Anniversary Gala. A black tie and hollywood glamour dinner and dance $60.00 (prepaid) on Saturday, October 20, 2018, 5p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Grand Ballroom 24500 Town Center Drive, Valencia, CA 91355. For details and purchase of tickets, please call: Mul (661) 253-1825, Zeny (661) 284-0181, Myra (424) 350-1056, Zony (661) 312-3422, Nic (661) 312-9077, Linda (661) 904-1365 and Emie (661) 877-2699.

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

THE Polytechnic University of the Philippines Alumni Association-USA, Inc., a 501(c)3 Nonprofit Organization, will hold its Installation of Officers and Board Members on Saturday, November 10, 2018, 5:00 PM, at the Pacific Community Center, the address is 501 S. Pacific Avenue, Glendale, CA 91204. This will be a dinner and dance and membership night, holiday celebration. The net proceeds from this fund raising event will go to PUPAA Scholarship Fund.

This is a great opportunity to get together with former class-

mates, colleagues, friends, families and supporters. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn and get inspired of what PUPAA, USA Inc. has done and contributed to our Alma Mater and what it can offer for you !

The Officers and Board Members to be installed are: Chairman of the Board, Dr. Oscar Jornacion, Vice Chairman of the Board, Dr. Henry Divina; President, Monette Santillan-Rivera; Executive Vice President, Vee Cristobal; Vice PresidentJob Placement, Honeylette Deleon; Vice President-Finance,

Jun Mapoy; Vice President-Public Relations, Rosemarie Mejia; Vice Presidents-Membership, Evangeline Codilla and Sandra Dollano; Vice President-Ways and Means, Aimee Sarmiento; Secretary, Marissa Palanca; Treasurer and Accountant, Dr. Gerry Fernando; Auditor, Linda Santos; and Assistant Public Relations Officers, Connie Acosta and Virginia Herbito. For other related questions, please contact Monette Santillan-Rivera at 818-970-8317, Sandra Dollano at 213-570-3179 and Vangie Codilla at 818-468-3386. ■

Art talk by Christine Morla at Pinta*Dos Philippine Art Gallery SAN PEDRO, CA --- The current ongoing show at Pinta*Dos Gallery is Contemporary Filipino and Filipino American Artists Encounter Textile which presents works by Filipino American artists Cirilo Domini and Christine Morla, and Manila’s Aze Ong, all of whom have been conceptually, spiritually or formally inspired to use textiles as a starting point of inquiry. On October 20, 2018, artist Christine Morla will talk about her art and how her Philippine cultural heritage has influenced her work. Scheduled at 3:00pm - 5:00pm, the Art Talk will also include Conversations with one of the curators of the current art exhibit, Joseph Santarromana. Pinta*Dos Gallery is located at 479 W Sixth Street, Suite 107 at the Historic Arts District of San Pedro, CA. The event is free and open to the public but RSVP is requested. Call 310-5149139 or email Linda Nietes-Little: info@pintadosgallery.com for more details. Pinta*Dos Gallery is open on Thursday and Friday, from 3:00pm - 6:00pm or by appointment.

Christine Morla is an interdisciplinary artist and arts educator working in painting and installation. She received her MFA from Claremont Graduate University in 2000 and BA from Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles in 1998. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally at Art Frankfurt in Germany, Rimjaus Gallery in Mexico City, The Armory Show in New York, Torrance Art Museum, 18th Street Arts Center in Santa Monica, CA and the Carnegie Museum in Oxnard among others. Based in Oxnard, the artist is an Associate Professor at Oxnard College and Director of the McNish Gallery.

Talking about her current artworks on display, she says: “In my paintings, I draw on visual codes of landscape as a means of exploring the various cultural signifiers that have influenced my personal history as a firstgeneration Filipino American.

Each piece consists of hundreds of two-dimensional paper that are adhered to a wood panel creating

a larger image. The paintings are built by first collecting multi-colored food, produce, and snack packaging. This serves a a material palette. The found papers are then cut into thin strips and meticulously woven together into geometric and floral shapes. The focus of using cast-off elements is to offer an elevated or renewed life to materials that are otherwise thought of as detritus. This also operates as a foil in counteracting the corporate mentality by using unconventional materials.

Cultural influences combine to make a vibrant patchwork of colors that recall both natural and digital enviroments. While painting has its own direction, and each part of each painting has its own raison d’etre, cumulatively, a choreographed abstraction is realized where the whole becomes much greater than its parts.”

Joseph Santarromana is a Los Angeles-based artist working in installation, video and photography. He received his BFA from Otis College of Art in Video and an MFA from Cal/Arts. He has taught photography, video, and computer graphics at UC Irvine, USC, UCLA, Cal State Fullerton, Otis College of Art, UC Riverside, and Bard College in New York.

His work has been exhibited at

the Los Angeles Contemporary Museum of Art (LACMA) in collaboration with artist Sandra De La Loza, ARS Electronica in Wein Austria, Baguio City International Art Festival in Baguio City, Philippines, and Post Gallery in Los Angeles. Santarromana has organized video art screenings at the DUMBO Film Festival in Brooklyn, NY and the Brewery Projects in Los Angeles.

His recent work includes a series of video portraits titled “The Rememberers,” which address his creative process and biography and is titled after a poem by his uncle, Filipino poet Carlos Angeles.

The Art Talk is part of the gallery’s offering in support of the Third Saturday Art Walk in San Pedro. The City of San Pedro has a large artist colony and the city boasts of about forty-four working artists’ studios and private art galleries, most of them being located on Sixth and Seventh Streets. The art walks are also being held on the First Thursdays of the month.

Come and visit during the San Pedro Art Walks when Pinta*Dos Gallery is open from 3:00pm 8:00pm on First Thursdays, and from 2:00pm - 5:00pm during the Third Saturdays Art Walks. ■

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US, China investors buy into I broke the law, but the officer exercised “prosecutorial discretion” PLDT’s voyager for $175 million

RECENTLY, I had to cross a boulevard. There were two lanes going in each direction with a center island. The crosswalk was halfway down the block, about 200 yards away. So, I decided to jaywalk and cross the boulevard where I stood.

I crossed the first two lanes and got to the center island, waiting for the traffic to clear, so I could cross the rest of the boulevard when a patrol car came by.

He stopped to let me pass, but the patrol car lit up like a Christmas tree with white, red, and blue lights flashing for my benefit. I was about to get a ticket for jaywalking.

The officer got out of the patrol car and explained the dangers of jaywalking on a busy thoroughfare, such as I could get run over, or if a car stopped for me, they could get rear-ended.

He concluded by saying, “I’m not going to ruin your day by giving you a ticket, and I’m certainly not going to waste my time giving out tickets for jaywalking when there are more serious crimes out there. But I want you to take to heart what I just told you.” Naturally, I was grateful that I was not given a ticket.

The point of this encounter is the officer exercised “prosecutorial discretion.” And I wish DHS would take a lesson from this police officer. I admit I broke the law by jaywalking, and the officer had every right to give me a ticket. But the officer decided the violation was not so serious as to take up (or waste) his time,

Immigration Corner ATTY. MICHAEL GURFINKEL, ESQ when there are more serious crimes out there.

That is the essence of “prosecutorial discretion,” where although someone may have broken the law, their violation is not so serious that the government should waste time, money, and resources “enforcing the law.”

The same policy used to be true in immigration. Certainly, everyone who is out of status has violated the law, but DHS would exercise prosecutorial discretion and not go after the mere status violators, who pose no threat to society. Instead, they were concentrating their efforts on removing the felons, rapists, murderers, terrorists, etc.

Unfortunately, the current administration views jaywalkers and felons in the same light: they broke the law and DHS must enforce the law. The government practices “zero-tolerance,” and is refusing to exercise any prosecutorial discretion. USCIS started a policy of putting people in deportation if USCIS denied any immigration benefit, such as an extension of status or a denial of adjustment of status on a minor technicality. Court rooms, as well as detention facilities,

are overflowing because DHS is not exercising prosecutorial discretion, but instead is going after everybody. It may take years before a person can finally have their day in court.

If everyone is a “priority” for removal, then DHS is wasting valuable resources by treating jaywalkers the same as terrorists. Instead, like the police officer who lectured me, they should start exercising prosecutorial discretion and focus on the serious immigration violators and criminals, and not waste their time effectively going after jaywalkers. *** Michael J. Gurfinkel has been an attorney for over 35 years and is licensed, and an active member of the State Bar of California and New York. All immigration services are provided by, or under the supervision of, an active member of the State Bar of California. Each case is different. The information contained herein including testimonials, “Success Stories,” endorsements and re-enactments) is of a general nature, and is not intended to apply to any particular case, and does not constitute a prediction, warranty, guarantee or legal advice regarding the outcome of your legal matter. No attorney-client relationship is, or shall be, established with any reader.

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: (866)—GURFINKEL Four offices to serve you: LOS ANGELES · SAN FRANCISCO · NEW YORK · PHILIPPINES (Advertising Supplement)

Business Quote of the Week “Leadership and culture aren’t about being the boss or being in control; they are about creating shared visions and goals, and then inspiring, empowering and influencing others to achieve more than they ever thought possible.”

—Gary Brooks, CMO of Urjanet

by RICHMOND

MERCURIO Philstar.com

TELCO giant PLDT Inc. has inked agreements with investors led by global investment firm KKR and China’s c to separately acquire up to $175 million worth of newly issued shares in its digital innovations arm Voyager Innovations Inc. PLDT will remain as the majority shareholder of Voyager, while the new investors will have substantial minority stake in the country’s leading digital technology company.

Closing of the transaction is expected within the fourth quarter, PLDT announced Wednesday, October 4.

“Having global powerhouses such as KKR and Tencent as investors in Voyager Innovations demonstrates not only their confidence in the company’s ability to execute its vision, but also their confidence in the Philippine technology industry as a whole,” PLDT president and chief executive officer Manuel V. Pangilinan said.

PLDT said the agreements

fresh capital from the new investors, PLDT said Voyager Innovations would have greater access to mobile payments and the internet as a whole.

“This is a watershed moment not only for Voyager Innovations but also for the Philippines. With this investment by KKR and Tencent, we will trigger an inflection point in digital adoption and financial inclusion in the country,” Voyager Innovations president and chief executive officer Orlando Vea said.

KKR’s investment in Voyager Innovations is being funded from KKR Asian Fund III. Manuel V. Pangilinan, PLDT president and chief The investment is KKR’s first executive.

File photo by Philstar.com private equity investment in the contain provisions for Voyager Philippines and is part of the Innovations to issue additional firm’s strategy to invest in highshares to other investors which, if growth markets that the firm bethis were to occur, would reduce lieves can benefit from a rapid PLDT’s ownership to less than increase in technology adoption.

50 percent while still remaining Other investments KKR has as the largest shareholder. made in the technology and The new external funding in fintech sectors include Go-Jek Voyager Innovations marks the (Indonesia’s leading on-demand largest investment to date in a mobile platform for ride hailPhilippine technology company. ing, food delivery, and mobile With the global expertise and PAGE D2

Palace: No surprise with ADB’s cut in PH growth forecast

by MAYVELIN

U. CARABALLO Manilatimes.net

BANK executives remain optimistic about the Philippine economy but most expect growth, at best, to only hit the bottom end of the government’s target.

“Majority (76.3 percent of respondents) of bank executives expect the economy to grow by 5 to 7 percent in the next two years across the banks surveyed,” the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said on Wednesday, October 4, citing the results of its maiden Banking Sector Outlook Survey.

The government is targeting

7.0-8.0 percent gross domestic product (GDP) for this year up to 2022. Growth as of the first half of 2018 remained below this at 6.3 percent.

“The forecast economic growth is expected to further improve the respondent banks’ asset quality, liquidity, solvency, and profitability,” BSP said of the executives’ outlook.

It said that 66.7 percent of the respondents expected the banking system to remain stable, with the remaining 33.3 percent even more optimistic as they forecast the sector to strengthen in the next two years.

The positive outlook was at-

tributed to the country’s strong macroeconomic fundamentals, adequate banking liquidity and rising capital buffers, and an industry risk assessment upgrade

by S&P Global Ratings.

In upgrading the banking system’s credit rating, the central bank noted that S&P had pointed to the sector’s “improved credit fundamentals, in particular, the establishment of credit bureaus and improvement in the underwriting practices of the consumer loans segment.”

The industry survey, meanwhile, also revealed that banks’ products and services were foPAGE D2

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Europe may renew business deal with PH

by EirEEn JairEE

GomEz

Manilatimes.net

THE European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) is looking at extending the European Union business partnership with the Philippines to help widen the country’s business opportunities, it’s top official said on Tuesday.

At the sidelines of the 2018 Sustainable Agriculture Forum in Manila, ECCP executive director Florian Gottein said the European chamber would be proposing a two-year extension of the EU-Philippines Business Network (EPBN) program, which is set to expire in December this year.

“We’re looking at extending it.

We hope that we also see more projects being realized here in the next couple of years,” Gottein said in an interview.

The five-year EPBN project, cofunded by the EU and implemented by a consortium of ECCP, aims to provide a support framework for European firms, particularly SMEs, interested in exporting to or investing in the Philippines.

Gottein said the ECCP is targeting to increase European exports and investments in the Philippines and the Southeast Asian region “to set up shop here, to invest here, to produce here and to team up with local partners.”

To do this, he said the EPBN adopts a threefold approach of

outreach, support services and advocates for a level playing field for EU SMEs, which enables the network to provide a strong support system at every stage of market access to the Philippine market for interested businesses.

Data from the EPBN showed that the EU initiative to seize business opportunities in the Philippines has a total cost of 4,375,000 euros or P274.75 million.

Agricultural aid Much is needed to be improved in the Philippine agriculture sector to make the country a top player in the European market, according to Gottein.

These include improving the country’s farm mechanization level and making the sector be technology-driven to boost food productivity, he added.

Gotten emphasized that ECCP’s initiative to open the huge European market to Filipino exporters has been strengthened in the previous years. “[We’ve been discussing] about what Europe can do to help the Filipino farmers to step up basically on improving their yields, new technologies, mechanization, through innovative procedures,” he said.

“We are helping local farmers by buying their products and also training them, spreading out all over the country, establishing buying stations to cut out the middlemen so that at the end of the day

Filipno farmers have higher price for their produces and products,” Gotten added.

The executive director said ECCP is collaborating with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to help Filipino exporters “step up and meet the quality European target and standards” through touring around the country to inform exporters what items they can export to Europe.

Gottein believes the Philippines can export to Europe more than 6,000 products at zero tariff which will make a “huge competitive advantage” compared to other countries in the Asean region.

He said Philippine exports to Europe have increased by more than 30 percent from late 2016 until late 2017, making the Europe now the second largest export market for Philippine companies.

To expand this growth, Gottein said the ECCP will continue collaborating with the Philippine government, particularly the Department of Agriculture and DTI, to help farmers increase their yield and provide exporters markets for their products. “[On the EU-Philippine Business Summit on October 18] we will hand over all these recommendations based on our experiences and observations to the Philippine government so that we can fully, together develop the economy in the right direction,” he said. n

Palace: No surprise with ADB’s cut...

PAGE D1 cused on corporate and retail banking. Banks were also positioning to take advantage of financial technology to grow their businesses.

The majority, or 78.1 percent of the respondents, said their respective banks were finding it difficult to comply with mandatory lending to the agri-agra and micro, small and medium enterprises sectors.

Also, 37.3 percent said they were finding it hard to comply with the BSP’s anti-money laundering requirements and regulations.

“In the same manner, the respondents also view credit risk management and other areas of risk management as most challenging in terms of compliance with BSP’s existing rules and File photo by Manilatimes.net regulations,” the central bank sal/commercial and thrift banks banks in terms of total loan portsaid.

The survey covered all univer- and the top 20 rural/cooperative folio. n

BSP eases dollar hedging rules amid persistent peso weakness

by Daxim

m. Lucas

Inquirer.net

BANK regulators have finalized the relaxed rules for its a dollar hedging facility meant to encourage more financial institutions to use it and consequently ease the selling pressure on the peso.

In a press statement, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said on Wednesday, October 4, that its Monetary Board approved the implementing guidelines of the Currency Risk Protection Program (CRPP) facility under Circular No. 1014.

The implementing guidelines set the mechanics, pricing, and requirements of the CRPP facility, and the availment process has been rationalized to facilitate access.

“The documentation needed to support an application to avail of the facility has been simplified in line with the BSP’s efforts to liberalize the foreign exchange market,” regulators said, adding that documents need no longer be submitted to the BSP “but shall be made available to the BSP during on-site examination or off-site verification, if necessary.”

The CRPP is a non-deliverable dollar-to-peso forward contract between the BSP and the bank.

In this contract, only the net difference between the contracted forward rate and the spot rate shall be settled in pesos upon maturity of the contract.

File photo by Inquirer.net

This hedging scheme was created in the wake of the 1997 East Asian financial crisis, but was used extensively during the country’s political and economic difficulties during the Estrada administration in 2000.

The BSP reactivated the CRPP last month amid heavy selling pressures on the peso, which pushed the local currency to its lowest level in 13 years.

Meanwhile, daily reporting requirement on executed and pre-terminated CRPP contracts has also been dispensed with.

Instead, universal and commercial banks shall be required to submit to the BSP notarized certification and deed of undertaking stating that the bank’s CRPP transactions are in compliance with the regulation.

Amind these relaxed rules, however, the central bank noted that corresponding sanctions have been prescribed to promote adherence to the CRPP guidelines and prevent abuse by banks who may be tempted to engage in speculative trading against the peso.

The BSP also stressed that banks are expected to conduct the necessary client suitability assessment procedures, discuss the product information, and disclose the risks and costs associated with the non-deliverable foreign exchange forward transaction and the CRPP facility with their clients.

“The enhanced CRPP facility is an avenue for bank clients to hedge their eligible foreign currency obligations,” it said. n

US, China investors buy into PLDT’s...

PAGE D1 payments), Suishou Technology (one of China’s largest personal finance management platforms) and First Data (global payment technology and services solutions provider with a presence in 118 countries).

“We are excited about Voyager Innovations and to further invest behind online payments leaders in emerging markets. Voyager Innovations provides critical digital and financial services to millions of Filipinos looking to join the digital economy for work and play. We look forward to leveraging our industry expertise and resources to help enhance the company’s mission of financial inclusion and accelerate its growth at a time when the digital

economy is more important than ever,” said Terence Lee, director of KKR’s Southeast Asia team.

“Voyager Innovations connects the growing smartphone population in the Philippines to online payments and financial services. Tencent is glad to support Voyager Innovations and to advance financial inclusion,” Tencent chief strategy officer James Mitchell said.

Tencent is a leading provider of internet services in China and has been identified earlier as among the foreign investor partners in Voyager.

PLDT said investment in Voyager Innovations is not subject to the compulsory merger notification regime under the Philippine Competition Act and its Imple-

menting Rules and Regulations.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas likewise confirmed that it interposes no objection to the investment, it said.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch is acting as financial advisor to Voyager Innovations.

Latham & Watkins and Picazo Buyco Tan Fider & Santos are acting as legal counsel to PLDT and Voyager Innovations. Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, and Sycip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan are acting as legal counsel to KKR and Tencent.

Voyager is behind products and services which seek to promote digital access, customer engagement, digital commerce and digital financial services, such as PayMaya and Lendr.n

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Food processors push for sugar imports

by Louise

Maureen Philstar.com

siMeon

THE competitiveness of the domestic food processing industry may be threatened if the government will not allow the special importation of 100,000 metric tons of sugar following the high prices of the local commodity.

The Philippine Food Processors and Exporters Confederation (Philfoodex) is urgingthe Sugar Regulatory Administration to allow the special importation of 100,000 metric tons of sugar amid soaring prices of the commodity.

In an interview with The STAR, Philfoodex president Bobby Amores said the competitiveness of the domestic food processing industry could be threatened if

the government would not allow the special importation of sugar.

Philfoodex made this request even as the SRA earlier this week issued guidelines on the importation of 150,000 MT for end-users of sugar or sugar-using industries provided they are SRA-registered international sugar traders.

“The worst case scenario is that domestic processors will never be competitive anymore,” Philfoodex president Bobby Amores told The STAR on the sidelines of Agrilink 2018.

“Traders and importers will continuously import the same products containing the same ingredient of sugar from ASEAN at preferential tariff rates. If the manufacturing sector slows down, employment problems may crop up,” he said.

Amores said the industry wants a separate and exclusive importation of 100,000 MT equivalent to two million bags for the processing industry.

“The sugar industry has already made a pronouncement that sugar production will decline by five to seven percent.

Then all the more reason that importation should be allowed in order to make domestic processors competitive and not to the detriment of sugar farmers,” Amores said.

Sugar prices in ASEAN neighbors particularly Thailand and Vietnam range from P25 to P28 per kilogram,.

Imported sugar from neighbouring countries is currently priced at $390 per MT which means that the landed price should be about P26 per kilo. n

Business group prods gov’t to address high power cost

by LoueLLa

DesiDerio Philstar.com

THE government should focus in making power rates in the country competitive and address inefficient transport and telco services to attract more foreign direct investments (FDI) and achieve inclusive economic growth, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) said.

In a press conference Wednesday, October 3, PCCI president Alegria Sibal-Limjoco said the country has scored low in competitiveness rankings due to barriers in business which include the high costs of power.

The country’s largest business group emphasized that having competitively-priced electricity is necessary in attracting more FDIs to the country.

“To effectively compete for FDIs, promote the growth of our own industries and MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) and maximize the gains of regional integration, high priority should be given toward a policy that addresses a competitively-priced energy and electric power,” PCCI said.

As Southeast Asia is being considered by firms as a location for doing business, the Philippines is competing for investments in heavy industries,

manufacturing and technology against countries like Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam which have power rates lower by about P4 to P7 per kilowatt-hour.

Neighboring countries have been attracting more FDIs compared to the Philippines which attracted $6.7 billion worth of FDIs from 2013 to 2017.

In the same period, Indonesia had an average of $19.2 billion worth of FDIs, while Malaysia had $10 billion, Thailand had $8.24 billion and Vietnam got $11.3 billion.

PCCI said with neighboring countries subsidizing power rates, the Philippines may have to consider providing subsidy as an investment which could produce major returns.

The subsidy may be in the form of tax incentives and removal of pass-through charges and burdensome tariffs such as value-added tax on franchise tax, the generation rate adjustment mechanism, feed-in-tariff and others in universal charge which the government can shoulder using the Malampaya funds.

The PCCI said the government should also stop or defer anything in the pipeline which may result in power rate increase, including the scheduled hike on tax on coal under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and

DOE backs power franchise review, favors solar application

by Danessa

rivera Philstar.com

THE Department of Energy (DOE) sees the need to review the franchise of power distributors as part of efforts to speed up the country’s electrification.

Power distributors are granted a franchise to power up their areas and if they are not able to deliver what is required of their franchise, then maybe it should be given to other entities which can do it, said Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi.

“We cannot let Filipinos wait forever. There are efficient and inefficient cooperatives. Are we going to allow Filipinos to suffer because of inefficient cooperatives? I don’t think that is right,” he said.

The energy chief said this is not an attack on electric cooperatives but a reminder to do their job and energize their respective franchise areas.

“I am not against cooperatives.

I am against poor performance, there are good coops, good performers, but for those that are not performing, wake up and do your job because people cannot wait in the dark,” Cusi said.

When asked about the controversial Solar Para Sa Bayan Corp., Cusi called the company a “positive disruptive development.”

Solar Para Sa Bayan has applied for a franchise to more ef-

ficiently extend its services to other parts of the Philippines that want alternative choices for electric service with an aim to help DOE achieve its goal of 100 percent electrification and affordable, reliable electricity for all Filipinos by 2022.

However, last week, the House of Representatives shelved plenary action on House Bill 8179 which seeks to grant Solar Para Sa Bayan with a nationwide franchise.

“I want this to make this clear.

The Solar Para sa Bayan [franchise] is a positive disruptive activity. But on the legality of the franchise, how they are going to make it legal, I will leave it to the legislative. I will focus on the executive side, and I want all areas to be energized and implement-

ed in accordance to what the law says,” he added.

Meanwhile, Congress should set a baseline on the total electrification of the country as more and more households are added.

Congress has the discretion to review the franchise of ECs but it should determine a baseline to meet the electrification of the whole country, National Electrification Administration (NEA) administrator Edgardo Masongsong said.

This is in reaction to the plan of the Joint Congressional Power Commission (JCPC) to review the franchises of all distribution utilities (DUs), particularly of ailing electric cooperatives (ECs), to determine whether there is need to revamp the existing operators of the franchise areas.n

Fuel tax suspension to cost govt P40B – DoF

by MayveLin

CarabaLLo Manilatimes.net

In a press conference Wednesday, October 3, PCCI president Alegria Sibal-Limjoco said the country has scored low in competitiveness rankings due to barriers in business which include the high costs of power.

File photo by Philstar.com

Inclusion law, as well as avoid or reject proposed measures that could further hike power rates.

In addition to the high power costs, Limjoco said the other barriers to business in the country are high logistics costs, as well as inefficient transport and telco services.

“How to move forward in addressing these issues will be PAGE D4

THE government could lose as much as P40 billion in gross revenues if the government heeds calls for the suspension of the higher fuel excise tax next year, a senior Finance department official warned.

“For sure, the fuel tax revenue next year is minus P40 billion [if the tax hike is shelved],” Finance Undersecretary Karl Kendrick Chua told reporters in an interview.

The Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law, implemented at the start of the year, calls for higher fuel taxes next year. Substantial pump price increases since the law took effect have lead to calls

from various sectors to suspend the adjustment.

The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) on Thursday, October 4, backed calls for the suspension, saying higher fuel prices would exacerbate above-target inflation.

“We go for that (a suspension) because the next [tax]increase in fuel is high,” PCCI president Alegria Limjoco said at the sidelines of a press conference for the upcoming Philippine Business Conference (PBC).

The Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) earlier advised the government to delay fuel tax increases.

ECOP said that while it would be difficult and unproductive to reverse Train 1 and delay the implementation of TRAIN 2, the

government can consider suspending any further automatic increase in taxes on petroleum products in the coming years.

As of Thursday, Dubai crude oil price hit $83.92 per barrel.

Since the TRAIN implementation in January, domestic prices of diesel, gasoline and kerosene rose to P12.50, P12.80, and P11.35 per liter based on oil prices announcements of oil firms every week.

Under the TRAIN law, taxes on diesel are scheduled to go up to P4.50 per liter next year from P2.50 per liter this year. Meanwhile, taxes on gasoline will rise to P9 per liter in 2019 from P7 per liter this year.

Chua said the worst-case scenario would depends on the duPAGE D4

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EMPLOYMENT

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Customs, BIR expect to hit ’18 collection goals New neighborhoods now open

by Lawrence

agcaoLiLi Philstar.com

THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is ready to manage growing pains brought about by rising inflation, worsening current account deficit, and weak peso, according to its assistant governor Restituto Cruz.

In his keynote speech at the 13th Philippine Forum organized

by The Asset, Cruz said the key developments that warrant deeper circumspection include inflation upswings in recent months, widening current account deficit, and the depreciation of the peso in the past two years.

“These three major developments can be seen as growing pains or the adjustments that the domestic economy has to endure as it moves to a higher plane of growth. Should potential risks emanating from these outcomes materialize, the Philippines has ample policy space to respond,” Cruz said.

He said investing in infrastructure, under the government’s massive infrastructure build up would pave the way for a more inclusive, durable and sustainable economic growth path.

The Philippines has registered an uninterrupted output expansion for 78 consecutive quarters since 1999 amid a challenging global environment.

“We have also witnessed a

structural transformation in the economy as demonstrated by the increasing contribution of investments and manufacturing to economic growth. The emergence of the manufacturing sector as a pillar of economic growth is a welcome change as it could facilitate industrial development and generate more job opportunities for the country’s young population,” he said.

The country’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth eased to a three-year low of six percent in the second quarter from 6.6 percent in the first quarter, bringing the average to 6.3 percent in the first half.

“The Philippine economy in recent years has been experiencing both a growth spurt and growing pains. In recent months, as the economy faces a challenging environment, some question the economy’s ability to sustain its momentum of robust performance,” Cruz said.

He said inflation upswings in recent months are driven largely by supply-side factors such as higher global oil prices, food supply disruptions, and higher excise taxes under Republic Act 10963 or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law. “In times like these, the BSP exercises more prudence to ensure that appropriate policy responses to address inflationary

at Park Place in Ontario, CA

File photo by Philstar.com

pressures are pursued, in coordination with other government entities,” he said.

Likewise, Cruz said running a current account deficit is not necessarily a cause for concern as significant rise in imports over the past three years was driven mainly by increased demand for capital goods as the economy continues to accelerate.

He added the Philippine has reliable sources of foreign exchange, ample level of gross international reserves, and low external indebtedness to finance the widening current account deficit.

Likewise, the BSP official said the weakening of the peso could be traced to the rising demand for foreign exchange traceable to the surge in imports in support of the growing economy, debt repayments and prepayments, and outwards investments. n

Business group prods gov’t...

PAGE D3 discussed during the Philippine Business Conference with policy makers from public and private sector as resource speakers,” she said.

PCCI chairman emeritus Francis Chua said the PCCI would

be coming up with a resolution which would identify the problems faced by businesses and provide proposed solutions to be given to the government during the Philippine Business Conference.

Organized by the PCCI, the

PAGE D3 ration of the suspension, adding that discussions on how to properly reinstate or resume the measure are ongoing.

He also stressed that economic managers had yet to review if there is really a need to suspend the implementation of higher excise tax rate of fuel next year.

“So well see if its averaging $80 per barrel for the next three months. We will have to review the assumptions,” Chua said.

He was referring a provision in

the law that said suspension on higher fuel excise tax rates only takes effect when the average Dubai crude oil price based on Mean of Platts Singapore for three months preceding the scheduled increase reaches or exceeds $80 per barrel.

Meanwhile, Limjoco said they already informed the Department of Finance (DOF) about the PCCI’s request.

“What DOF Undersecretary Karl Chua said is that the suspension would be difficult. The

44th Philippine Business Conference and Expo to be held on Oct. 18 to 19 at the Manila Hotel is expected gather business executives from all over the country, as well as from counterparts in the U.S., Japan, Turkey and Sri Lanka. n

Fuel tax suspension to cost...

FOR RENT

recommendation was it would be better if they give subsidy to those in need.

“But we will still discuss it during the PBC. We now have a position paper and we will still push it to be suspended during the PBC.” Aside from ECOP and PCCI, the Energy department also earlier urged Congress to “consider” amending the TRAIN which would facilitate the suspension of higher taxes on fuel. (With a report from Anna Leah E. Gonzales) n

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SERVICES

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(Advertising Supplement)

D OCTOBER 6-9, 2018 • LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL

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