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Why give Robredo six months when I can give DATELINE USA Bulosan Center for Filipino her the ‘remaining days of my term?’ – Duterte FROM THE AJPRESS NEWS TEAM ACROSS AMERICA

Studies gets $1-M state allocation for research

THE year-old Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies at the University of California, Davis will be receiving $1 million in state funding to go towards expanding research on Filipino American communities.

Announcing the funding on Thursday, October 24 was Assemblyman Rob Bonta (D-Alameda), who was born in Quezon City, Philippines and became the first Fil-Am to ever be elected to the California Legislature.

“This is a time for celebration,” said Bonta, who championed the funding. “I hope this is just a down payment for ongoing funding.”

The Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies (BCFS) is the first of its kind not only in the University of California (UC) system, but in the nation.

It’s named after Fil-Am labor activist, migrant worker, and author Carlos Bulosan who is best known for his 1946 book “America Is in the Heart.”

“This allocation provides a crucial early boost to a center focused on an area that deserves more study,” said Robyn Rodriguez, director of the Bulosan Center and chair of Asian American studies. “It gives the center, the first of its kind at a major research center, a very

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days” of his term.

“Bakit ko bigyan si Leni ng six months? Eh ‘di bigay ko lahat ng remaining days of my term MANILA — President Rodrigo Duterte is kung gusto niya (Why give Leny six months? I willing to give his law enforcement power to can give her the remaining days of my term if Vice President Leni Robredo for the “remaining she wishes so),” Duterte told reporters in Davao

by NESTOR

CORRALES Inquirer.net

City after visiting the tomb of his parents.

Duterte on Monday, October 28, said he was offering Robredo to be his drug czar and give her “full powers” to run the government’s war on drugs for six months.

Filipino farmer’s cacao beans among top 20 in the world MANILA— A Filipino farmer’s cacao beans have been recognized among the top 20 in the world on Wednesday, October 30.

In August, Jose Saguban, a cocoa farmer from Davao, was chosen as one of the producers of the Top 50 best cocoa bean samples in the world at the prestigious 2019 International Cocoa Awards.

On Thursday, October 31, Saguban also won the main award for the Top 20 best cacao beans in the world at the same competition, which was held at Salon Du Chocolat 2019, in Paris, France.

Saguban is a farming partner of award-winning local chocolate brand Auro Chocolate.

“We won top 20 best cacao beans in the world for the most prestigious Cacao of Excellence

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REMEMBERING THE DEPARTED. President Rodrigo Duterte visits the graves of his parents at the Roman Catholic Cemetery in Davao City on Thursday, October 31. The president is set to fly to Bangkok on Friday, November 1, All Saints’ Day, to attend the 35th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit.

Malacañang photo by Arman Baylon

Poll protest will be tougher for Robredo Powerful earthquake hammers Cotabato, other parts of Mindanao anew after change in PET composition

by KRISTINE JOY

Philstar.com

by DAPHNE

GALVEZ Inquirer.net

PATAG

MANILA — It may be more difficult for Vice President Leni Robredo to defend her electoral win in the poll protest filed by former Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. with changes in the Presidential Electoral Tribunal’s composition, retired Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio said.

Carpio is one of the two justices who held that Marcos’ election protest should be junked after he failed to make out his case in his chosen three pilot provinces, but they were outvoted Former Senator Bongbong Marcos

Philstar.com photo

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MANILA – A powerful earthquake pounded Tulunan, Cotabato and other parts of Mindanao anew on Thursday morning, October 31, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said.

In its updated earthquake bulletin, Phivolcs said the magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck 28 kilometers northeast

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The 6.5-quake damaged a mid-rise condominium in Davao City.

Inquirer.net photo

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From the Front Page

Why give Robredo six months...

PAGE 1 In reaction, Robredo said Duterte won’t pass the government’s drug war to her if it wasn’t a failure.

Asked why he would pass the power to lead the antinarcotics to Robredo, he said “Siya yung madaldal, eh (She’s the one who talks a lot).”

“Baka may alam siyang mas mabuting… If she knows a better method of dealing with the problem, then baka may alam talaga (Maybe she had a better idea….she might know something),” he said.

“If you criticize, you must

have the answer. If you question, you must have the answer. ‘Wag ka magdala ng problema sa akin (Don’t give me problems),” he added.

Duterte went on and dared his critics to offer suggestions to improve the government’s war on drugs. “‘Presidente, ganito ganito ganito ganito.’ Tanong kita, ‘Oh, sige. Ano ang mabuting gawin natin?’ Ayan ang tanong ko sa kanya ngayon.

Eh, madaldal ka doon. Nagdadaldal ka sa labas (‘Mr. President, you do this, you do that’…I’ll ask you: ‘OK, go ahead.’ ‘What’s the best thing

we should do’. That will be my question to her. She’s so talkative),” he said.

But if Robredo is just politicking, Duterte said he would tell Filipinos not to vote for her.

“But ang hindi ko malaman kung namumulitika ka. Pero kung namulitika, alam mo sabihin sa Pilipino? Putang ina. ‘Wag kayo magboto diyan kay Leni. Kawawa kayo (I don’t know if you’re just playing politics. But if that’s your mo- Robyn Rodriguez, director of the center and chair of Asian American studies, and Assemblyman Rob Bonta engage with students tive, do you know what I would as they celebrate a $1 million gift to the Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies, UC Davis, Thursday. tell to the Filipino people?

Photo by Gregory Urquiaga/UC Davis Don’t vote for Leni. You’ll be sorry),” he said. n

Powerful earthquake hammers Cotabato...

PAGE 1

of Tulunan at 9:11 a.m.

A hotel in Kidapawan City sustained heavy damaged and nearly collapsed due to the latest earthquake.

Damaged buildings were likewise reported in Davao City and other parts of Mindanao.

The latest earthquake was

recorded at Intensity VII in Tulunan, Cotabato; Kidapawan City; Sta. Cruz, Matanao, Bansalan and Magsaysay in Davao del Sur; and Intensity VI in Tampakan, South Cotabato.

The earthquake was tectonic in origin and had a depth of 6 km.

Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies gets...

PAGE 1 strong start in better researching the second-largest AmeriPhivolcs warned of possible can group in the nation.” aftershocks and damage to The allocation announceinfrastructure. ment comes as Fil-Ams across The strong temblor is the the U.S. celebrate October latest in a series of earth- as Filipino American History quakes that rocked Cotabato Month. With a population of and nearby province and left 3.5 million, the Fil-Am comat least seven people dead and munity is among the largest caused significant damage to AAPI groups in the nation. property. n The large majority of Fil-Ams live in California, mainly in the Los Angeles region (500,000), the San Francisco Bay Area (300,000), and in greater Sacramento (75,000).

Roughly 1,800 students at UC Davis are of Filipino descent, according to the university.

“The Filipino American community is one of the oldest immigrant groups in California, but our community’s place in California history and U.S. history more broadly — from leading the farmworker movement to fighting during World War II — is not widely known

or taught,” said Rodriguez.

“As one of the largest and fastest-growing Asian American communities, Filipino Americans’ contemporary issues will require deeper investigation and understanding.

We are excited to lead efforts to expand the field of Filipino studies,” Rodriguez added.

The BCFS launched last October 2018 with the goal of continuing Bulosan’s legacy through education, advancing research, and promoting advocacy for both contemporary and historical issues faced by Filipinos both in the U.S. and abroad.

Among the center’s programs is the Welga! Filipino American Digital Archive, an online archive that serves as the center’s informational repository, and is free for researchers.

The archive was established in 2014 and currently has collections primarily on Filipino American labor history, but will expand to include research material

on other aspects of the Fil-Am experience such as immigration, culture, neighborhoods and historic buildings, the workforce, and veterans.

Other planned projects mentioned at the center’s opening last year included an oral history project called “Preserving California’s Historic Filipino American Sites,” which will conduct interviews to record and preserve the movements, successes, and experiences of those who have worked to preserve and promote their Fil-Am communities.

Since its launch, the center has raised $30,000 in private donations.

“The aim of the center is to uplift the voices of the most marginalized in the Filipino community in the United States and diaspora,” said Rodriguez. “Its programs are driven by close collaboration with community-based organizations.” (Rae Ann Varona / AJPress)

Filipino farmer’s cacao beans...

PAGE 1 Award — The first time for the Philippines!” the chocolate company announced.

Now on its tenth year, Cocoa of Excellence Programme is the entry-point for cocoa-producers to participate in the global competition International Cocoa Awards.

This competition recognizes the work of cocoa farmers and celebrates the diversity of cocoa flavors.

This year, the Cocoa of Excellence Technical committee received 223 samples from 55 coco-producing countries. The samples were transformed into liquor during the evaluation.

Saguban was trained by chocolate expert and Auro

Chocolate’s cocoa manager Louie Cena.

Cena also closely worked with the other members of the Paquibato Tree Developers Cooperative . He taught them fermentation protocols and helped them prepare the data and samples for submission sponsored by Auro and entered for the competition.

“When we found out he made it to the Top 50, we were already ecstatic so we decided to bring him to Paris to receive his award in person. but WOW! Little did we know he would make it to the Top 20 best cacao beans in the world, we have no words!” Auro wrote in a social media post.

“Thank you to Mang Jose for his hard work, dedication

Jose Saguban, a farmer from Davao, produces among the top cocoa beans in the world.

Photo from Facebook/Auro Chocolate

and motivation to keep getting better! What a great moment for the Philippines and Filipino farmers!” it added. (Rosette Adel/Philstar.com)

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Dateline USa

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PH among world’s worst Pacquiao challenges Mayweather impunity offenders — report in a video with Jack Ma

by AJPress UNITED States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she has called on the Philippine government to investigate the attempted murder of a Chinese-American human rights and environmental defender who was shot in Lagawe, Ifugao in August.

Brandon Lee, an American volunteer of the Baguio City-based Cordillera Human Rights Alliance was shot in front of his house on August 6.

“Grateful that Brandon Lee has returned home to San Francisco for refuge and care after being brutally shot in the Philippines, where he was fighting for environmental and indigenous peoples’

rights,” Pelosi said on her Twitter account.

She added: “I have encouraged the Philippine government to investigate this disturbing crime.”

Lee, a California native, is back in his home city. He and his mother Louise arrived in San Francisco on a medical transport last Saturday, according to social media posts of Mar Gordon and Matty Haney, district supervisors of San Francisco City and County.

“It took a movement—here in the Bay Area and U.S.wide, in the Philippines and internationally to bring him back to safety,” Haney wrote on Facebook.

Lee, also a paralegal volunteer of the Ifugao Peasant Movement and a contributor

to online paper Northern Dispatch was among the activists tagged by the military as alleged supporters of the New People’s Army in 2015.

“Weeks and days before this incident, the 54th [Infantry Battalion, Philippine Army] frequented the Ifugao Peasant Movement office as well as the residences of Brandon and other officers of the Justice and Peace Advocates of Ifugao conversing with them, gathering data, and intimidating them,” CHRA said in a report on the shooting by reogional weekly Northern Dispatch.

The Philippines was the deadliest country for environmental and land activists in 2018, with at least 30 recorded deaths, according to watchdog Global Witness. n

JunioR Bantamweight title Battle

Jerwin Ancajas set to defend IBF belt against Mexico’s Jonathan Rodriguez

by AJPress JERWIN “Pretty Boy” Ancajas, the 115-pound fighting pride of the Philippines, is all set for the eighth defense of his IBF junior bantamweight world title this time against Mexican contender Jonathan Rodriguez.

This big boxing event will happen this Saturday, November 2 at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California. Ancajas-Rodriguez will be televised live on ESPN and ESPN Deportes (Spanish) starting at 10:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. PT. “I am looking forward to this fight because Rodriguez brings the Mexican style to his fights, and Mexican and Filipinos make the best fights,” Ancajas said. “I want to thank Top Rank, Senator Manny Pacquiao and my manager, Joven Jimenez, for their continued support. It is going to be a war, and to my Filipino fans, I look forward to putting on a show for you in Carson.”

The 27-year-old Ancajas (31-1-1, 21 KOs) is one of boxing’s longest-reigning and most active champions, as only two current world champions (Deontay Wilder and Wanheng Menayothin) have more title defenses.

“I plan on taking full advantage of this opportunity,” Rodriguez said. “Ancajas is a

by AJPress

REIGNING World Boxing Association (WBA) super welterweight champion Sen. Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao challenged Floyd Mayweather Jr. for a rematch in an Instagram video alongside China’s richest man, Jack Ma. In the video, Pacquiao and Ma were seen hitting the pads.

“Floyd Mayweather if you want a real fight, fight me. If you want an exhibition, my guy, my friend Jack Ma will take care of you. The real Manny team,” Pacquiao said.

“Yeah, I’m ready anytime, anyplace. Manny team is ready,” Ma responded.

“Yes, that’s right,” the senator said before ending the video clip.

The video was also shared on Pacquiao’s official Twitter and Facebook page.

This is the second time Pacquiao met Ma, who is the 21st Him or me? Sen. Emmanuel ‘Manny’ Pacquiao poses with China’s wealthiest man, Jack Ma. The senator and his wife Jinkee (not in photo) visited the Chinese billionaire to thank him wealthiest man in the world for his pledge of donation to Pacquiao’s foundation. The couple was also accompanied by with a networth of over $38 Chinese actor and producer Jet Li. Photo from Instagram/@mannypacquiao billion, in Hangzhou, China.

Meanwhile, a reliable shared that negotiations for Pacquiao and Mayweather source inside Pacquiao’s camp a possible rematch between were indeed ongoing. n

Poll protest will be tougher for Robredo...

Jerwin “Pretty Boy” Ancajas, the 115-pound fighting pride of the Philippines, is all set for the eighth defense of his IBF junior bantamweight world title this time against Mexican contender Jonathan Rodriguez.

Inquirer.net photos

great champion, but my time is now. It is time for a new face at 115 pounds.”

The dynamic Filipino southpaw won the title in September 2016 and defended his belt three times apiece in 2017 and 2018. He last fought May 4 in Stockton, California, knocking out Ryuichi Funai in six rounds.

This will be Ancajas’ fourth consecutive bout in California, but the first time he’s showcased his skills in Southern California.

Rodriguez (21-1, 15 KOs) is considered as a dangerous foe because has won five in a row since a split decision defeat spoiled his unbeaten

record. He is coming off a career-best win June 7 in Zihuatanejo, Mexico, when he knocked out former two-time world title challenger Felipe Orucuta in the 10th round.

Promoted by Top Rank, in association with Zanfer Promotions and Peltz Boxing, tickets for this world championship event are priced at $125, $85, $65 and $30 (not including applicable fees).

Tickets can be purchased by visiting AXS.com, charge by phone at 888-9-AXS-TIX (888-929-7849) and in person at the Dignity Health Sports Park Box Office (Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. PT to 6 p.m. PT). n

PAGE 1 by 11 other justices.

The retired justice told ANC’s “Headstart” on Thursday, October 31, that for Robredo, it would be “more difficult,” noting that it would be one less vote for the vice president but he assured that the Supreme Court, sitting as PET, is aware of the significance of this case.

“I think the court will also consider the implications of all of these if you allow a protestant [to go] outside of the pilot provinces because that will prolong the election contest and that will change the rules,” Carpio explained.

President Rodrigo Duterte is also set to appoint three more justices, to replace Carpio and retired Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin. The president will also fill the associate justice seat of Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta.

He added that the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal and the Senate Electoral Tribunal also follow the same set of rules: Consider the three pilot provinces in the case and decide on whether it will be dismissed or not.

“Now, if we allow other precincts to be considered, that will be a departure and we have to consider the rami-

fications of that,” the retired justice also said.

Carpio dissent In his dissenting opinion, Carpio insisted that Rule 65 of the PET expressly states that “the number of pilot provinces must ‘not be more than three.’”

Marcos is asking the court to proceed with this third cause of action that is determining whether there is electoral fraud in three provinces in Mindanao.

“The Tribunal will be violating its own Rules if it allows a revision and recount of ballots in other provinces in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, beyond the maximum three provinces chosen by protestant,” he warned.

“The last thing that this Tribunal should do is to change its rules in midstream to accommodate a party who has failed to comply with what Rule 65 of the 2010 PET Rules expressly requires,” Carpio stressed.

Carpio said he is proud of the last vote he cast before retiring. He was joined in the dissent by Associate Justice Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa, who initially was the memberin-charge of the case.

Change in member-in-

charge no material effect Reports quoting unnamed sources from the SC said that the poll protest has been raffled off to Associate Justice Marvic Leonen.

Carpio assured that a new member-in-charge of the case “would not be material,” unless the tribunal proceeds with the third cause of action.

“Initially it will have no effect because the first issue will be whether the court will allow three more provinces to be considered,” the retired justice said.

“If the court will allow 3 more provinces to be considered then that will be material for the ponente because the ponente will be in charge of revision and recount of the 3 more provinces,” he explained.

Leonen is one of the 11 justices that voted to allow Marcos and Robredo to comment on the release of the initial recount report and on the move to proceed with Marcos’ third cause of action.

He later explained that his vote was for due process. “You do not want a court to condemn without hearing, no matter what the consequences are, you do not want to condemn,” he said. n

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OPINION

FEATURES

On a roll ARE government lawyers so incompetent, or is justice being undermined by mind-boggling wealth? Just within this year, the Marcoses have won three major cases, setting back efforts to recover billions of dollars in assets amassed during the 20-year regime of dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

The latest victory was handed to the Marcoses by the Sandiganbayan’s Fourth Division, with Associate Justice Alex Quiroz penning the decision and Justices Reynaldo Cruz and Maria Theresa Mendoza-Arcega concurring. The three ruled that most of the documentary evidence submitted by state lawyers were not part of public record but “mere unauthenticated photocopies.”

The ruling courtesy of the Fourth Division brings to 22 the number of civil forfeiture cases against the Marcoses and their cronies that have been dismissed. Nineteen wealth-related cases remain pending.

The wholesale dismissal can be confusing when juxtaposed with established evidence that massive wealth has been accumulated illegally during the Marcos years. The Swiss government has turned over to the Philippines $680 million in assets, after determination of their illegal nature,

5

which were deposited in Swiss banks by Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos, signing as William Saunders and Jane Ryan for the accounts. Prime pieces of real property in the United States have been seized and forfeited in favor of the government. A law has been passed, providing reparation for human rights victims of the Marcos dictatorship, to be taken from recovered stolen assets including the Swiss accounts.

In the vaults of the central bank, Imelda Marcos’ eye-popping collection of expensive jewelry worthy of royalty is being readied for auction.

The government is still trying to recover priceless paintings by the masters from the former first lady.

There’s so much corpus delicti lying around, but how come no one has been convicted and sent to prison for illegally amassing such wealth in a country where about 30 percent of the population lives in poverty?

It’s not just the judiciary that seems to have a soft spot for the Marcoses. A former official of the Presidential Commission on Good Government lamented this year that even the Anti-Money Laundering Council failed to act on a PCGG

Editorial

In demanding delicadeza, accountability, justice from public officials, there’s NO gray area: Either you call them out OR you enable them leged abuses of power while The Fil-Am in office.”

Perspective “In a letter explaining the decision, Speaker Nancy Pelosi told House Democrats that she wanted to push back on claims by Trump and ReGEL SANTOS-RELOS publican lawmakers that the BREAKING NEWS: PBS impeachment inquiry is not reported, “The U.S. House of valid without a floor vote.

Representatives plans to hold Sen. Lindsey Graham, a key a formal vote Thursday, Octo- Trump ally, introduced a resober 31, on the impeachment lution last week condemning inquiry against President the inquiry as ‘illegitimate’.”

“While Pelosi said Monday Donald Trump over his al-

that the Trump administration ‘made up’ the argument that the impeachment inquiry is illegitimate, she said she wanted to take the vote to ‘eliminate any doubt.’”

“This week, we will bring a resolution to the Floor that affirms the ongoing, existing investigation that is currently being conducted by our committees as part of this impeachment inquiry, including all requests for documents, PAGE 10

Philstar.com photo

request to go after Marcos’ heirs for possible money laundering.

At the rate the wheels of justice are turning in the Marcoses’ favor, one day history may be rewritten to declare that the king’s ransom accu-

mulated by a president of this country, classified as low-income in his time, was handed to his family as a gift by the people themselves.

And every judicial court will uphold the historical revision. (Philstar.com)

Digong to visit US?

Commentary

REYNALDO ARCILLA SHORTLY after his visit to Russia, the subject of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte aka Digong visiting the United States came up.

It was as though someone had been prompted to ask Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo about it.

It was a reasonable question though, considering that Digong has already visited Russia twice, although the first one had to be aborted be-

cause of the Marawi crisis. He has also been to China four or five times.

Panelo’s reply was that a visit to the U.S. was still “unsure” because Digong dislikes cold weather and long flights.

That may be so but we know that there are other more significant reasons why Digong is averse to visiting the U.S. In my view, a visit to the U.S. may not be advisable at this time for two reasons: 1) President Trump is very much preoccupied with the impeachment process against him, the crisis concerning Syria, Turkey, Iran and the Kurds, the trade negotiations

with China, not to mention his bid for reelection; and 2) the prevailing hostility toward Digong (and Trump) of the U.S. mainstream media, some members of the U.S. Congress and human rights organizations in the U.S. I think Trump would not really want a visit from Digong at this time as it could exacerbate his present problems.

Also, in light of the recent report that his telephone call in April 2017 congratulating Digong for an “unbelievable job on the drug problem” left many in the White House “genuinely horrified.” One PAGE 10

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

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Dateline PhiliPPines

Locsin says China is not threatening war by aJPress

EARLY BIRDS. Passengers arrive earlier at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Thursday, October 31 due to the expected influx of passengers for the observance of All Saints and Souls Day. Family members take advantage of the long weekend to remember their departed loved ones and reunite with their families in the provinces.

PNA Photo by Avito C. Dalan

Congress asked to probe missing papers in Marcos wealth cases

by Patricia

Denise Inquirer.net

chiu

MAniLA — Where are the documents that would prove the Marcos family’s ill-gotten wealth?

Former Commission on Human rights chair etta rosales on Tuesday called on Congress to investigate why the documents needed in the multimillion-peso forfeiture cases against the Marcoses have gone missing, leading

to the Sandiganbayan’s dismissal of three civil suits in three months for “insufficient evidence.”

“Maybe Congress, led by somebody like [Albay first district rep.] edcel Lagman should investigate why the documents are missing,” said rosales, referring to the Presidential Commission on good government’s (PCgg) inability to produce the original documents as required by the “best evidence” rule of court.

The agency submitted only photocopies of the documents in three forfeiture cases against the Marcoses and their associates, leading to the cases’ dismissal.

Quoting former PCgg chair Haydee Yorac, rosales said some individuals had removed the original documents, with one even caught in the act. She did not identify the individual, however.

“This is a betrayal of public trust,” rosales said. n

other nCDs. Based on the findings of the Philippine nCD investment Case, the country’s economy incurs P756.5 billion annually due to nCDs. The figure includes the direct costs of nCDs associated with treatment but also the indirect “hidden” costs arising from reduced productivity in the workplace and premature death of the workforce.

Health officials said the “hidden” costs of nCDs are nine times higher than the direct costs.

Aside from the possibility of exacting higher taxes, Duque said the DoH is also looking into the possibility of coming out with “low-salt to no-salt” policy in food manufacturing.

Salt consumption in the Philippines is double the World Health organization (WHo)’s recommended level.

United nations interagency Task Force on nCDs external relations officer Alexey Ku-

likov said the WHo’s recommended level is five grams of salt per day. The Philippines’ daily salt consumption is 11 grams per day.

Kulikov said other agencies are working to reduce salt consumption globally by reformulating contents of food products.

“They can do it gradually so it doesn’t damage the market share of these producers,” he said.

“There are many approaches to cut on salt and it is quite important that there is a dialogue between the government... private sector, specifically the producers,” he added.

Meanwhile, WHo country representative rabindra Abeyasinghe said excessive salt consumption is related directly to hypertension and cardiovascular problems, thus the need for countries to come out with measures to reduce salt intake among Filipinos. n

DOH eyes ‘sin tax’ on salt to curb diseases

by Mayen JayMalin Philstar.com

MAniLA — After tobacco and sugar, the government may soon impose higher taxes on salt.

To curb the high incidence of non-communicable diseases (nCDs), which is costing the country some P756 billion annually, the Department of Health (DoH) is considering increasing the levy on salty products.

“As we have seen the positive effects on increasing taxes on sin products, the same strategy might work also for excessive consumption of salt and we did the same thing for taxing sweetened beverages,” Health Secretary Francisco Duque iii said.

Duque noted that the high consumption of salt has already impacted the health of Filipinos as indicated by the rising incidence of end-stage renal failure, hypertension and

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. on Monday, october 28, said China is not threatening to go to war with the Philippines over resources in the South China Sea. His statement came after British journalist Bill Hayton questioned his tweet saying that China does not need the Philippines’ oil and gas reserves in the contested waters.

“China doesn’t need our oil and gas. We do. And China is the only one offering to help develop it. A Filipino discovered humongous oil and gas just offshore Beijing. it’s rolling in minerals,” Locsin said in a tweet. in response, Hayton said: “The only one? Shell and Chevron are already doing it. PrC is threatening war to prevent the Philippines developing its own resources.”

Locsin replied on Tuesday morning, october 29, pointing out that the Malampaya natural gas field, operated

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. Philstar.com photo

by Shell Philippines exploration with partners Chevron Malampaya and Philippine national oil Company-exploration Corporation, is running out.

“Shell and Chevron’s Malampaya is running out. no it is not threatening war; we’re almost there,” he tweeted.

According to Locsin, China does not see a problem in conducting joint exploration with the Philippines in areas

in the South China Sea. “in undisputed areas, China sees no problem doing it explicitly under Philippine law; in disputed areas under my (memorandum of understanding) on oil & gas which spares either from conceding sovereign claims,” he said.

Locsin also noted in a separate tweet that the Malampaya gas field had “long antedated the Arbitral Award” that invalidated Beijing’s nine-dash line claim over the South China Sea. in May 2017, President rodrigo Duterte said that Chinese President Xi Jinping gave a threat of war should the Philippines invoke the July 2016 arbitral award.

Duterte, for his part, told Xi that the West Philippine Sea “is ours and we intend to drill oil there.” “i said it is ours and i will drill the oil. And i tell them do not do it because it is ours.

But i have the arbitral ruling.

But they said that if you force the issue, we will go to war,” he said. n

November 1-7, 2019 • NeW YorK AND NeW JerSeY ASIAN JoUrNAL

Dateline PhiliPPines

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De Lima to Duterte: Declare you’re unfit for job

by CeCille

Suerte Philstar.com

Felipe

MANILA — Sen. Leila de Lima has challenged President Duterte to abide by the Constitution and formally inform Congress that he can no longer officially discharge his duties as president, notably in resolving the illegal drug problem in the country.

De Lima, chief critic of the administration’s war on drugs, made the remark after Duterte dared Vice President Leni Robredo to take over the government’s anti-narcotics campaign for six months and prove that she is “better” than him.

“I throw back Duterte’s challenge at him. Follow the Constitution. Transmit to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives your written declaration that you are unable to discharge the powers and duties of your office, and let VP Robredo take over,” she said.

Sen. Leila De Lima

Earlier, Duterte lashed out at Robredo for her recent call on government to re-assess the administration’s all-out campaign against the illegal drug trade and offered to put her in charge of law enforcement for six months. He offered Robredo full power over all anti-illegal drug activities.

“Duterte must first relinquish his post entirely to VP Robredo, who will then be acting president throughout the

Philstar.com photo by Michael Varcas

overacting phase of Duterte’s spoiled brat persona, and not only take over law enforcement functions,” said De Lima.

She pointed out that Duterte has again resorted to attacking Robredo because he cannot admit that he miserably failed the millions of Filipino people who believed in his fake promise to rid the country of illegal drugs in six months. n

1.5-M drug suspects accounted for – PNP

by Darwin

peSCo ManilaTimes.net

ABOUT 1.5 million drug suspects have been accounted for in the first three years of President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said on Wednesday, October 30.

PNP spokesman Brig. Gen. Bernard Banac confirmed to The Manila Times that the drug users surrendered voluntarily to the PNP. Banac’s statement came after Lt. Gen. Archie Gamboa, PNP officer in charge, described the war on drugs as

“sucessful.”

Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, PNP chief of directorial staff, said the drug war should continue as Filipinos now felt “safer,” citing the 60-percent drop in crimes nationwide.

“It is because of the campaign against illegal drugs.

It really caused the improvement on peace and order in the country and the safety of the people,” said Eleazar in a television interview on Wednesday.

Based on PNP data from July 2016 to July 2019, 6,600 drug suspects were killed in anti-illegal drug oper-

ations and 256, 227 had been arrested.

In Metro Manila, 1,896 drug suspects were killed from 2016 to 2019.

Of the total, 474 were users, while 1,422 were pushers.

The report also showed that 1,414 of the cases were armed encounters between police and the drug suspects.

Of the 44,550 anti-illegal drug operations, 90,883 drug personalities were arrested.

Under Oplan Tokhang, 235,754 drug suspects surrendered to police and 626,719 houses were visited. n

No reopening of Maguindanao massacre trial

by JanviC

Mateo Philstar.com

Lombard By The Bay is a joint venture development project between Premier Asia Pacific Real Estate and Development Corp. and Omnicor Industrial Estate & Realty Center, Inc.

MANILA — The Quezon City court handling the multiple murder cases filed in connection with the 2009 Maguindanao massacre will not reopen the decade-long trial as requested by the lawyer of primary suspect Andal Ampatuan Jr. Regional Trial Court Branch 221 Judge Jocelyn SolisReyes, in a five-page order released on Monday, denied the motion to reopen the trial filed by lawyer Paul Laguatan in behalf of his client Ampatuan.

She noted the testimony of suspect-turned-state witness

Sukarno Badal, who denied the claim of Ampatuan that he would recant his testimony.

“With the denial made by prosecution witness Sukarno Badal of his intention to recant his previous testimony given on several dates, it is crystal clear that the ground relied on by the accusedmovant’s for the reopening of trial has no leg to stand on,” read the ruling.

“Thus, the motion must perforce fail,” it added.

With the denial of the motion, the 90-day period that Solis-Reyes has to rule on the case will proceed.

She submitted the case for decision last Aug. 22,

giving her until Nov. 20 – or three days before the 10th anniversary of the massacre – to hand down the verdict on Ampatuan and some 100 suspects who have been arrested in connection with the incident.

The camp of Ampatuan tried to defer the proceedings, first with a request that he be given three months to find a new lawyer after the withdrawal of the firm of Raymond Fortun from the case in August.

When it was denied by the judge, his new lawyer Laguatan asked for an extension to file the defense memorandum and, later on, the motion to reopen the trial. n

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November 1-7, 2019 • NeW YorK AND NeW JerSeY ASIAN JoUrNAL

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Revilla bill requires disclosure Digong to visit... of fees on OFW remittances

by Franco Luna Philstar.com

MANILA — Sen. Ramon Bong Revilla Jr. on Wednesday, October 30, filed a bill that would require remittance agents and companies to fully disclose the fees charged when OFWs send money through their services.

“The OFWs’ total remittances made from April to September last year amounted to a total of P235.9 billion based on the records of the Philippine Statistics Authority,” Revilla cited in a press release.

PSA records show that 52.8% of OFWs sent their remittances through banks, while the remaining 45% course remittance money through transfer services.

The other 2% opted for agencies or local offices to handle the transmissions for them.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas also reported on October 15 that remittances

sent home by OFWs went up by 4.2% to $2.87 billion in August from its $2.76 billion from just a year before.

I f p a s s e d , re m i t t a n c e agents and companies will be required to be conform to the standards of the BSP, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Department of Trade and Industry and the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

All such services are also expected to adhere to the real time exchange rates stipulated in the Reference Exchange Rate Bulletin of the BSP, who subject on local senders a flat rate transaction.

The bill also penalizes “price gouging, or the exorbitant charging of fees for the transactions” with imprisonment of from six to ten years and a fine ranging from P200,000 to P1 million.

For Revilla, the bill declares that protecting citizens from deceptive, unfair and unconscionable acts of re-

mittance agents and money transfer companies is a matter of state policy.

“These OFWs dedicate all their labor and sacrifices for the betterment of their families. Their salaries, wages or earnings that they send home are products of love and hard work,” he said.

“Recognizing the valuable contribution of our OFWs in our economy, this measure seeks to protect the hard earned money of our OFWs,” Revilla said.

Revilla has managed to return to the Senate after his acquittal by the Sandiganbayan in December 2018 after four years of detention in the Philippine National Police Custodial Center.

He had been charged over allegedly funnelling P517 million in his Priority Development Assistance Fund allocations into faux NGOs. The court said the prosecution failed to prove his guilt beyond reasonable doubt. n

In demanding delicadeza, accountability...

PAGE 5

subpoenas for records and testimony, and any other investigative steps previously taken or to be taken as part of this investigation,” Pelosi said in the letter.

MEANWHILE in Japan, BBC News reports: “Japan’s new Minister of Trade Isshu Sugawara quits after gifting melons, oranges, roe and royal jelly to constituents.

“He is also said to have offered “condolence money” of 20,000 Japanese yen ($185; £145) to the family of a supporter. It is customary in Japan to give money as a condolence to grieving families - what is known as ‘incense money.’”

“Japan’s election law bans politicians from sending donations to voters in their home constituency.”

Despite any defense he can use, the public official resigned just the same, after being accused of violating election law.

MEANWHILE in the Philippines, politicians who give away dole outs, free goodies, cash gift, abuloy sa patay, pera sa binyag, regalo sa kasal while campaigning — they usually win in elections.

In fact, many voters expect this kind of generosity from politicians and are deemed to be signs of their being propeople and compassionate.

YET, voters openly say they abhor politicians corruption, bribery, yet expect to continue to get these freebies from the elected officials who, through their salaries only, will not be able to sustain this handing out gifts and money to their constituents.

But many people don’t seem to care however these public officials are able to get the funds to give away.

What matters to them is that they get them. If the politician they voted for in the past do not deliver on this expectation, many of them lose their luster and popularity among many voters and get voted out in favor of new more generous political candidates. For political survival, politicians justify and rationalize corruption. And therefore, the pattern of corruption continues to be perpetuated.

If we do not call out public officials for their transgressions against the Constitution, against the rule of law, against moral decency, against the attack on the truth and our democracy, then we are in effect enabling them.

If we pride ourselves of being “apolitical” , and would not speak up nor speak out and just leave it up to more politically engaged people the task of making our lead-

ers accountable, then our silence is also complicity. This silence means we side with the aggressor, we condone the abuser.

If we refuse to call out the public official we elected because we hate the “other side” of the political aisle more, or because we think it is being more patriotic to give our 100 percent loyalty to the candidate we voted for despite the transgressions, then we ourselves are attacking the Constitution, the rule of law, our values and moral compass.

Mga kababayan, the choice is ours to make. There is NO gray area here. It s either we call out our public officials for their lack of delicadeza, abuse of power, corruption, attacks to the truth and our democracy, OR, we enable, empower them more to continue committing their transgressions.

WE DESERVE THE GOVERNMENT THAT WE GET.. *** Gel Santos Relos has been in news, talk, public service and educational broadcasting since 1989 with ABS-CBN and is now serving the Filipino audience using different platforms, including digital broadcasting, and print, and is working on a new public service program for the community. You may contact her through email at gelrelos@icloud.com, or send her a message via Facebook at Facebook.com/Gel.Santos.Relos.

PAGE 5 may expect those people to violently object to a Digong visit.

It is no secret that several members of Digong’s Cabinet and some in his coterie of friends, advisers and businessmen would only be too happy to see him go to the U.S. to please their U.S. masters.

In any case, above all other considerations, we, the Filipino people, would not want our President to be insulted and vilified while he is in a foreign land upon the invitation of its head of state, period!

Digong should heed doctors’ advice I truly felt so bad and sad for Digong when I saw him in a photo grimacing in what must have been excruciating pain in front of his daughter Sara, and another photo showing him sitting down with his head bowed and propped up on his cane.

The pain was caused by the motorcycle spill he had at the Malacañang grounds a few days before.

Many of us who have experienced some kind of intense physical pain in the course of our lives can readily sympathize with what he was going through.

Only his must have been worse. He is 74 years old — old by any standard, physically that is. And with all the problems of the country borne on his already slightly stooped shoulder.

At his age, it is also likely he had not fully recovered at the time from the jet lag he got from his trip to Russia the week before.

It was, therefore, quite a relief when Sen. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go said that Digong had consulted doctors after going to the wake of the late former senator Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel Jr. “Sabi ng mga doktor niya, mga expert ito, ang mga neurosurgeon niya before pa, ay wala daw pong dapat ikabahala. Purely muscle spasms,” Go said.

“Binigyan lang po siya ng gamot, pain reliever…at kailangan po magpahinga ang Pangulo. He was advised to rest, rest, rest, kailangan talaga,” he added.

Digong should heed the doctors’ advice. He still has a plateful of things to do in the remaining two-and-a-half years of his term. That is just around the corner.

Digong’s Man Friday Speaking of Go, people are quite aware that Digong has not really “released” him from

President Rodrigo Duterte with House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano Malacañang photo

being his special assistant after his election as a senator.

It does appear that wherever Digong is, so is Go. To the detriment of his duties as a senator? Perhaps.

But, if at all, no one can fault him for that. From where I sit, I think he has become like a putative son to the President.

Their very long association and Go’s work ethic did that.

The President obviously feels at ease and comfortable with Go around, as he has proven himself to be an efficient and reliable Man Friday.

I quite appreciate their relationship. I was once in a somewhat similar situation with one of my former bosses.

Locsin on plastics For once, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro “Tweeterboy” Locsin Jr. made a sensible suggestion in his usual acerbic manner — criminalize the sale and use of plastics in the country.

“Just criminalize the production, sale, use and very possession of plastics. Period.

The Philippines is the No. 3 plastics polluter. Enough talk.

Just do it… No discretion on the part of government officials who take bribes like they breathe in and out,” he tweeted.

Let us hope someone in Congress will pick up his suggestion.

Reminders This segment is intended to remind the Duterte administration of some of its yet unfulfilled promises and matters that need attention and/or follow-up action. More importantly, the people are entitled to know what’s being done

about them.

1. Digong’s promise to rid the country of foreign troops.

This, of course, necessitates abrogating the untested and unproven worth to us after seven decades of the Mutual Defense Treaty with the U.S., along with the lopsided and constitutionally infirm Visiting Forces Agreement and the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement.

2. Reciprocal visa arrangements with the U.S. What is the Department of Foreign Affairs doing about this? Our embassy in Washington? No less than President Digong has said he wanted this done more than three years ago.

Has he changed his mind? If not, Locsin should be directed to start things moving.

Needless to say, such reciprocal arrangements should also be pursued with all other countries.

I know that certain offices in the government, the Department of Tourism for one, and some members of the private sector resist such a move for the cockeyed reason that it will lessen the number of tourists coming here.

That’s pure hogwash! As long as we get our act together and make the country attractive to foreigners, they, including Americans, will come with or without visa fees.

Incidentally, now that a modified visa upon arrival will continue to be given to Chinese nationals, we should ask China to extend the same privilege to our travelers, that is, if no such arrangement yet exists. (ManilaTimes.net)

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NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY ASIAN JOURNAL • NOVEMBER 1-7, 2019

COMMUNITY JOURNAL

11

ONE GLOBAL ACADEMY STEM ARTICLE SERIES

Strategic and Transformative Entrepreneurial Management

One Global Academy JONATHAN OBOZA PETALVER FRAUD WAIVER DENIAL TURNED AROUND TO APPROVAL WITH NO FRAUD WAIVER REQUIRED, ON THIS SUNDAY’S “CITIZEN PINOY!” Wilma entered the U.S. on a C-1 “transit” visa, on her way to work in Guantanamo, Cuba. She remained in the U.S., married a U.S. citizen, and filed for adjustment of status. A “consultant” gave her hope and said he would take care of Wilma’s papers.

Unfortunately, the consultant altered Wilma’s documents and put down false information (that she entered on a visitor’s visa), to cover up that she actually entered on a C-1 transit visa. Her case ended up being denied because of fraud! Wilma then consulted with the Law Offices of Michael Gurfinkel, who took over the case, and filed an appeal with the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) in Washington, DC. Atty. Gurfinkel convinced them that Wilma committed no fraud, and was eligible for a green card, despite her entry on a transit visa. Watch how Atty. Gurfinkel’s determination won the day for Wilma, when her name was cleared, and she got her green card with no fraud waiver required, on an encore episode of “Citizen Pinoy – on Sunday at 6:15 p.m. (PST) on TFC. (Advertising Supplement)

Immigration Corner ATTY. MICHAEL GURFINKEL, ESQ

November 2019 priority dates The Priority dates for the Philippines are as follows: FAMILY CATEGORY: First Preference

EACH month, the Visa Office of the State Department publishes, in the Visa Bulletin, the priority dates for that particular month, for the various family and employment based categories.

A priority date is a person’s “place in line” for a visa, meaning immigrant visas (or green cards) would be available for persons whose priority date is earlier than the cut-off date listed below. If your priority date was “current,” but later retrogressed (or “moved backwards” and became unavailable) before your immigrant visa was issued (or before you adjusted status in the U.S.), you would have to wait until it becomes current again.

Beginning in October 2015, the format of the Visa Bulletin changed, in that a new column was added, called the “Application Filing Date.” If a person’s priority date is earlier than the Application Filing Date, they can already file for adjustment of status and work authorization (provided they are otherwise eligible and USCIS indicates on its website it will use the Ap-

Unmarried sons and daughters of US citizens (over 21 years of age)

Application Filing Date

Visa Issuance Date

March 15, 2009

September 15, 2008

(2A) Spouse and Second Preference minor children (below September 01, 21 years old) of green 2019 card holders

Current

(2B) Unmarried sons and daughters (21 April 01, 2009 years old or older) of green card holders

October 01, 2008

Third Preference

Married sons and daughters of US Citizens

December 01, 1998

June 01, 1998

Fourth Preference

Brothers and sisters of US Citizens

March 01, 1999

September 01, 1998

Application Filing Date

Visa Issuance Date

LABOR CERTIFICATION:

Second Preference

Advanced Degree (Masters)

Current

Current

Third Preference

Professional/ Skilled Workers

Current

February 01, 2018

Other Workers

Non-Skilled Workers

Current

February 01, 2018

plication Filing Date for that month). This could allow people to obtain work authorization much sooner than before, where they had to wait for the priority date to be current (in the Visa Issuance or Final Action Date column) in order to both file for adjustment and be eli-

gible for a green card. *** Michael J. Gurfinkel has been an attorney for over 35 years and is licensed, and an active member of the State Bars of California and New York. All immigration services are provided by, or under the supervision of, an active member PAGE 12

AN Introduction This series of articles called STEM (Strategic and Transformative Entrepreneurial Management) will serve as a guide for you, whether you are employed, self-employed, unemployed, starting a business, already in business and planning to have one. Reading this will give you a keen understanding of what is an MBA in Entrepreneurship, Yes! A

Masters in Business Administration.

Before we continue, maybe you are asking me, “Is it important to have a degree in MBA?” Yes, if you plan to teach in a structured Academy, as it is the minimum requirement. However, if your interest is starting a business or venturing to any start up business, it is better to understand it from a point of view of someone who has fully attended an MBA or what we call The Graduate School.

Technically, some universities offer MBA and ME (Masters in Entrepreneurship) separately. It can run from a year and a half to as long as 5 years, depending

on the rules on residency.

Having said that, just imagine the time and the money you need, not to mention the number of sleepless hours for you to do research, group work and presentation.

In these articles, what I’m going to share with you are the 7 most relevant MBA theories and decision-making tools that you need to understand as a Micro Entrepreneur or as a Corporate Entrepreneur. I have included “personal experiences and testimonies” of 7 successful Filipino CEOs and company presidents who made it to where they are now attesting to the tools presented.

At the end of the day, busiPAGE 12

12

NOVEMBER 1-7, 2019 • NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY ASIAN JOURNAL

Immigrant Living: 101 and Beyond Monette AdevA MAglAyA THIS is one of my favorites since I constantly have to remind myself about the wisdom of logging off and living in real time. So here goes — Once more with feeling ……

I am doubling down and taking my own piece of advice. Unless absolutely necessary, I intend to be logged off for longer periods of time. How else can I SAVOR THE MOMENT except by living real life in real time with as fewer hours as possible spent on the internet?

Plus my eyes are getting fried with too much screen time and I am bent out of shape.

Communication has become efficient, almost done by rote, and sometimes borders on the cold and impersonal. I still don’t enjoy being part of a global network to be used for someone’s nefarious purpose.

I REFUSE TO BE A PRODUCT TRADED ON WALL STREET. Yes, I am kicking and screaming. There’s a stubborn part of me that rebels and chafes at becoming part of a statistic.

I resent being used for the purpose of advancing some corporate, progressive, manipulative, globalist, evil agenda.

There are giant companies who really don’t produce anything of real value.

These are companies who mine data, yours and mine, from social networking sites. They store this gigantic hoard of public information in mega databases.

These are then sold to interested parties as valuable psychographic information.

Companies package, repackage and sell personal information with the sole purpose of manipulating the mass behavior of citizens in a free society.

It stinks to high heaven when the powers that be use information for social engineering and political purposes. We don’t have journalists seeking truth. We have “narrative engineers” spin doctoring, hoaxing and scamming entire populations. Information has become gold nuggets. He who controls information has POWER. In the hands of evil manipulators, information has become a tool that can be used by network owners

Log off and enjoy your hot chocolate “The happiest people don’t have the best of everything…

They just make the best of everything that they have.”

—Author Unknown to enrich themselves. They can skew election results to grab and stay in power and ensure the flow of money into their bank accounts.

With blatant, unlawful NSA snooping on anything electronic by any citizen these days, can the Gestapo thought police be far behind?

I doubt if my opinions on a twitter account holds any gravitas to twitterverse users. Saying something by tweeting on anything can and will be held against you. A screen grab of your comment makes it permanent. Why give anyone any ammo? The number of users following you is supposed to be an indication of your fan base. Few things on the net, particularly regarding the ego, are real, however.

I heard some enterprising company lets you claim thousands of fake twitter followers who purportedly follow your tweets. That goes for a fee, of course.

The internet has become the de facto hothouse for growing gigantic egos.

We’ve all become easy targets for privacy intruders. Nothing seems sacred or private anymore. There’s more than enough out there in the public records to fill a dossier on anyone with an SSN or a pulse. We are living in the throes of the Information Age and the currencies being traded are bits and bytes of information. It’s like living in glass houses these days. There’s too much naked transparency.

As an ordinary, private individual, I am downright resentful. Celebrity is now a curse rather than a blessing.

Witness the public meltdown of Hollywood celebrities whose lives more often than not, serve as cautionary tales. Because obscurity is becoming rare these days, it has become all the more precious. The lesser known you are, the better for you in many instances.

No wonder our sense of mystery and awe at anything in this life is fast eroding. I regard social networking with a bit of trepidation and suspicion. And frankly,

who’s got the time? I am probably one of a vanishing breed, always itching to get out of the virtual world and into the real world of doing things in private, without fanfare: creating, fixing, cooking, gardening, making memories and connecting personally and laughing until my sides are nearly split.

By choice, I would prefer to be offline and often unwired on the weekends. My personal motto: LOG OFF AND LIVE. There’s so much living yet to do: so many recipes to try, seeds to plant, topiaries to shape, weeds to pull, walls and blank canvasses to paint, places to see, photos to shoot, plays to watch, games to play, puzzles to solve and mysteries to unravel, books to read, people to meet, goals to achieve, skills to learn and courses to take, stuff to give away, stories to write, naps to take and a thousand and one more things to feel, see, touch, taste, hear and soak in before the end game.

With all that’s in the past, life still feels like a tabula rasa —lots of living to do, so little time. BIG SIGH …

I am picking and choosing from the constant flow of messages in my inbox, only this one below. Some of these forwarded messages are for laughs, others inform while some can make you think harder or even move you to take action. Pet peeves are those that are pure drivel and chain emails with a punitive clause, like a curse of bad luck, if you fail to forward. For malevolent messages and all the rest of the junk from scammers promising riches, simplify your cyberlife and hit DELETE. DO NOT ENGAGE. Better yet, mark them as SPAM. Sometimes a golden nugget comes through that deserves to be amplified. So simple, it hits you right between the eyes. I searched for the author’s name but like many other pieces flung by anonymous, creative beings in Cyberville, authorship is largely unknown and unclaimed. To the originator of this metaphor then,

http://www.asianjournal.com • (212) 655-5426

Gab discharged from hospital, thanks dad Gary and mom Angeli

By Cha Lino Inquirer.net

GAB Valenciano got discharged from the hospital last Tuesday, Oct. 29, after a six-day confinement. “Mr. Pure Energy” Gary Valenciano’s son updated his followers of his state after his hospitalization, which he posted about on Instagram, Oct. 25.

“Alive to fight another day, alive in every single way,” Gab said in his post, Tuesday. He can be seen lying down with a smile on his face and a thumbs up.

“Here’s a thumbs up to all those fighting these invisible wars on a daily basis, and to those who support our PAGE 13

Gab Valenciano with parents Gary and Angeli Photo from Instagram/@gabvalenciano

November 2019 priority dates...

PAGE 11 of the State Bar of California.

Each case is different and results may depend on the facts of the particular case. The information and opinions contained herein (including testimonials, “Success Stories”, endorsements and reenactments) are of a general nature, and are not intended to

apply to any particular case, and do not constitute a prediction, warranty, guarantee or legal advice regarding the outcome of your legal matter. No attorneyclient relationship is, or shall be, established with any reader.

WEBSITE: www.gurfinkel.com Follow us on Facebook.com/ GurfinkelLaw and Twitter @

GurfinkelLaw Call Toll free to schedule a consultation for anywhere in the US: 1-866-487-3465 (866) – GURFINKEL Four offices to serve you: LOS ANGELES ∙ SAN FRANCISCO ∙ NEW YORK ∙ PHILIPPINES (Advertising Supplement)

Strategic and Transformative...

PAGE 11 ness is about making the most “profitable” decisions for your organization. And the most profitable decision will always be the one that will sustain your growth and give you that competitive ad-

vantage.

May you enjoy your reading these STEM articles and we hope and pray you will make a decision to start your entrepreneurial journey!

God bless and keep on transforming lives through

education!

whoever you are and wherever you may be, please accept a profound THANK YOU, from the rest of us.

Here it is.

The hot chocolate story A group of graduates, well established in their careers, were talking at a reunion and decided to go visit their old university professor, now retired. During their visit, the conversation turned to complaints about stress in their work and lives. Offering his guests hot chocolate, the professor went into the kitchen and returned with a large pot of hot chocolate and an assortment of cups-porcelain, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite -- telling them to help themselves to

the hot chocolate.

When they all had a cup of hot chocolate in hand, the professor said: ‘Notice that all the nice looking; expensive cups were taken, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. The cup that you’re drinking from adds nothing to the quality of the hot chocolate. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was hot chocolate, not the cup; but you consciously went for the best cups... And then you began eyeing each other’s cups.

Now consider this: Life is

the hot chocolate; your job, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life. The cup you have does not define, nor change the quality of life you have.

Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the hot chocolate we have. The happiest people don’t have the best of everything… They just make the best of everything that they have.

Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly.

But first, LOG OFF. *** Nota Bene: Monette Adeva Maglaya is SVP of Asian Journal Publications, Inc. To send comments, e-mail monette. maglaya@asianjournalinc.com.

*** Jonathan Oboza Petalver is the Founder and CEO of Petalver Management Consultancy Services. He is also the President and Dean of One Global Academy U.S.A. (Advertising Supplement)

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James says no to working with Julia Sanya denies relationship with Kapamilya actor

By Cha Lino Inquirer.net

JAMES Reid cannot see a future team-up with actress Julia Barretto. When asked if he was willing to work with her on future projects in an interview yesterday, Oct. 29, the actor said no.

Reid clarified on “Tonight with Boy Abunda” that he had “no problem” with Barretto, but he did state that there was “too much noise when it comes to fans and stuff.”

The actor and record producer was playing a game called “Games Reid (yes) or Games over Reid (no)”, where Abunda would flash photos of the actresses Reid could potentially work with.

Reid had to respond with a yes or no, and then provide an explanation.

The list of potential leading ladies included Yassi Pressman, Janella Salvador, Liza Soberano, Kathryn Bernardo and Julia Barretto.

The actor said “Games Reid” to majority of the actresses, citing that if he were to work with Janella Salvador, he hoped the collaboration

EMPLOYMENT

By Jan MiLo Severo Philstar.com

ACTRESS Sanya Lopez is the new calendar girl of liquor brand Ginebra San Miguel and she can be seen in four different sexy Year 2020 calendars.

In an interview with the media during the launch, Sanya said she was shocked PAGE 15

James Reid

would involve some music.

The actor appeared uncomfortable when asked about Barretto. “Do I have to explain?” he even asked.

When he said “Games over”, Abunda supplemented Reid’s response with, “Para walang gulo (So there’s no conflict).”

“Yeah,” Reid agreed, “Let’s make life easy.”

Nadine Lustre, James Reid and Julia Barretto have worked together in the past.

In 2015, they starred in the movie “Para sa Hopeless

Photo from Instagram/@james

Romantic”, with Iñigo Pascual as Barretto’s love team partner. Reid and Barretto were speculated to be seeing each other around the time.

The two were allegedly seen together having coffee, as per a Philippine Entertainment Portal report on July 7, 2015. They were also supposedly spotted having dinner at a restaurant by a fan, the news site reported in November 2015. Reid denied his involvement on both accounts.

EMPLOYMENT

Gab Lagman Photo from Instagram/@gablagman

Sanya Lopez Photo from Instagram/@sanyalopez

Gab discharged from hospital...

PAGE 12 cause,” Gab said. “We are all subject to mental vulnerability, no exemptions.”

Gab also talked about the importance of understanding people who are experiencing mental health problems.

“To understand mental health you must try to understand people on a different level, which is close to impossible as we are all made differently,” he said.

On an earlier post, Oct. 25,

Gab can be seen lying in a hospital bed with his parents Gary Valenciano and Angeli Pangilinan. He thanked them for being present while he was suffering from mental health-related concerns. He called them his “pillars of peace, love and strength.”

“I know it’s not easy having a son with my condition, but one call and you both are there,” Gab said.

Gab has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder about two years ago, said his

SERVICES

brother Paolo in an interview with Philippine Entertainment Portal earlier this month. Gab himself admitted in a televised interview with Christine Jacob via CNN Philippines recently that he indeed has the condition, aside from clinical depression. He is a vocal mental health advocate and encourages people with the same concerns to see mental health specialists, to break the stigma on seeking professional help.

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people events arts culture entertainment

Filipino actors play key roles in ‘Hadestown,’ ‘Soft Power’ & The Flea’s ‘The Sandalwood Box’

I

by MOMAR

G. VISAYA /AJPress

F you’re in New York City this weekend and wondering what to do and where to go, and if you have a spare evening, may we suggest any of these three shows: a Broadway musical, an off-Broadway show and an off-off-Broadway one, all of them with a Filipino or Filipino American as lead or principal cast members.

Kay Trinidad is one of The Fates in the Tony Award-winning musical Hadestown

Dorothea Gloria AJPress Photo by Momar G. Visaya

At the Walter Kerr Theater on 48th Street is the Tony Award winner for Best Musical this year, Hadestown. It stars this generation’s Miss Saigon, Eva Noblezada, who nabbed her second Tony nod with her powerful performance as Eurydice opposite Reeve Carney’s Orpheus. Kay Trinidad also plays a key role as one of The Fates and is part of an amazing trio, which steals some of the scenes.

Last June at the Radio City Music Hall, Hadestown, with book, music and lyrics by Anais Mitchell won eight Tony Awards out of 14 nominations, including Best Musical and Best Director for Rachel Chavkin.

Blocks down along Astor Place is the New York premiere Soft Power at The Public Theater. There’s a number of Filipinos in the cast led by Conrad Ricamora, Billy Bustamante, Jaygee Macapugay,

Conrad Ricamora and the company of Soft Power, with play and lyrics by David Henry Hwang, music and additional lyrics by Jeanine Tesori, choreography by Sam Pinkleton, and direction by Leigh Silverman, running at The Public Theater.

Photo by Joan Marcus

Geena Quintos, Jon Hoche and Trevor Salter. Behind the scenes, Tony Award winner Clint Ramos did the scenic design.

With play and lyrics by Tony Award winner David Henry Hwang and music and ad-

Dorothea Gloria plays the lead role of Marsha Gates in The Fleas’ The Sandalwood Box’ Photo by Marina McClure

Conrad Ricamora and Kendyl Ito in Soft Power, with play and lyrics by David Henry Hwang, music and additional lyrics by Jeanine Tesori, choreography by Sam Pinkleton, and direction by Leigh Silverman, running at The Public Theater.

Photo by Joan Marcus

Alyse Alan Louis and Conrad Ricamora in Soft Power, with play and lyrics by David Henry Hwang, music and additional lyrics by Jeanine Tesori, choreography by Sam Pinkleton, and direction by Leigh Silverman, running at The Public Theater.

Photo by Joan Marcus

ditional lyrics by Tony Award winner Jeanine Tesori, this groundbreaking new musicalwithin-a-play, just announced its second extension. Now, fans have a chance to see it until November 17.

Ricamora and Macapugay at one point played Ninoy Aquino and Imelda Marcos in Here Lies Love, also originated at The Public Theater a few years ago. Ricamora is still seen in the ABC series How to Get Away with Murder while Macapugay was last seen in Paulo Tirol’s On This Side of the World.

“It feels like a full circle. We have such good memories at The Public, and with Soft Power now, we are hoping to create more,” she shared after seeing us at the lobby during the show’s opening week.

Soft Power is one of the most exciting theatrical collaborations in recent memory, and it creatively shows an exploration of America’s current place in the world, told

through an East-West musical from China’s point of view, in which a theater producer from Shanghai forges a powerful bond with Hillary Clinton.

Further downtown in Tribeca is The Flea Theater, which is about to wrap up a play festival that aims to honor Mac Wellman, a three-time Obie Award winning playwright and one of The Flea Theater’s original co-founders along with actress Sigourney Weaver.

Filipina actress Dorothea Gloria leads Wellman’s “The Sandalwood Box,” a short, bizarre play about, among others, the value of human life.

Gloria is on her fourth year in New York and she just graduated from the Stella Adler Conservatory last April.

“The Flea is an experimental theater, and our play is a play with a lot of music, singing and dancing. It’s hard to categorize it into just a straight play or musical,” Gloria told us when we met her in Bryant PAGE 15

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Regine: Not just a singer Boy’s age is ‘classified info’ who does movies

By Ronnie CaRRasCo iii ManilaTimes.net

By RiCky CaldeRon ManilaTimes.net

WOULD you believe that Regine Velasquez-Alcasid nearly backed out of the movie “Yours Truly Shirley,” an entry to the 15th Cinema One Originals which runs from November 1 to 17?

While she liked the script and was convinced by newbie filmmaker Nigel Santos to accept the project, the Songbird somehow got cold feet and felt that she might not be able to do justice to the role.

Although she had several blockbuster movies in the past with Robin Padilla and Aga Muhlach, Regine still doesn’t consider herself an actress. She says she is more of a singer who wants to do movies.

But when she talked to her sister Cacai, who is also her manager, she advised her to go for it.

“I guess I am afraid of her,” Regine said with a laugh.

Filming for “Yours Truly

Shirley” went on smoothly. It was a fun set and the scenes being shot were just light and breezy. And since it is a feel-good movie where she plays a fangirl, acting became easier for Regine.

In the film, she plays a widow who thinks that a pop star (played by Rayt Carreon) is the reincarnation of her husband.

“It is a story about moving on. What will you do if your husband dies and you were left alone? How do you cope with the loneliness and sadness? Even if the movie’s treatment is comedy, it’s [actually] a sad movie,” said Regine.

The movie is Regine’s first under Cinema One Originals and for the stars and directors who are also part of the festival, the singer’s participation is a high point of the event. Most of them are fans of Regine.

“It’s a big honor for me to join this festival plus of course, I am aware that I have a lot of fans from the

Regine Velasquez Photo from Instagram/@reginevalcasid

LGBT community and it makes me feel good,” she added.

Winning the festival Best Actress is farthest from her mind. After she saw the trailer of “Tia Madre,” an entry which has Cherie Gil in the title role, Regine said Cherie should win the award.

The Songbird is excited to attend the premiere night of “Yours Truly Shirley” on November 10 at Trinoma Cinema.

Filipino actors play key...

PAGE 14 Park.

She moved to Los Angeles after graduating from Adler to see what could be in store for her out there, but the offer to do this show happened. She had to think hard, she was torn because she also wanted to do television as well.

“I think I enjoy theater more and I feel that this is the easier way in,” she said. That is why she packed her bags once more and returned to New York last August.

Gloria plays the lead role of Marsha Gates who loses her voice because of an existential crisis, realizing how life for her is uncontrollable.

“Like every day, we live our lives and every day we plan accordingly but all in all, you can’t really plan your own life because the world or life in general is something uncontrollable and unexpected,” she quipped.

“I guess the message of the show is to live your life to the fullest and know that each life, each day is precious so it is better not to think so much ahead an be present at each and every single day,” she added.

Playing Marsha Gates has been such a journey for her.

She was challenged from the first time she read the script.

“Ang hirap naman nito, hindi ko maintindihan,” she said laughing. “It’s about metaphysics, existential crisis. It is very allegorical, like you cant things literally because meron siyang deeper meaning na kailangan talagang pag isipan.”

Delineating her character, Dorothea realized and found out she and Marsha Gates have a lot of things in common, including that particular feeling of floundering through the universe.

The Sandalwood Box is Dorothea’s first off Broadway show and she is excited to show her acting chops, something that she developed even as a young kid back in the Philippines.

She is greatly influenced by her mentor for eight years at Assumption, Ana Valdes Lim who is a Juilliard alumna. Dorothea was part of her college’s acting program, as well as Philippine Educational Theater Association’s youth arm, mixing what she calls the classical type of acting and the guerilla type of putting up shows mixed with a dash of activism.

“I brought that here in New York, particularly here at The Flea. They wanted someone who is trained, the voice and the body, and I owe that part to my classical training; and they also wanted the energy,

passion and fire, which I owe to what I got at PETA,” she explained.

The Flea has its resident pool of about 80 actors and the audition process for the shows was “super intimidating”, according to Dorothea. They were given three days to memorize three pages of script.

“I didn’t think that I would get it,” she admitted, saying that she already had her mind set in moving to Los Angeles.

She was actually already in LA when she received their call offering her the role.

“I was in a point of transition then and I took that call as the universe telling me to come back to New York,” she said.

So after living in California for three months, she packed her bags once more and moved back to the Big Apple.

Since the show opened, she has been getting varied feedbacks and reaction from the audience, some of whom found the material weird and others felt blown away, anxious or shocked.

“The nature of the play is not really story telling, it’s more of an experience for its audience.

Whenever I invite people, I tell them that when you come, you won’t get a story but you will have an experience,” she shared.

TUESDAY, October 29 exactly marks the birthday of Boy Abunda, hailed as the Asia’s King of Talk no less.

For many years, Kuya Boy — as I address him — won’t be here around which time when his close friends in the biz eagerly expect him to throw parties more lavish than his outfits. He prefers taking time off with longtime partner Pagcor executive Bong Quintana — who is now in New York — in some foreign land.

Kuya Boy isn’t actually a party animal despite projecting a gregarious image and possessing such an impeccable savoir faire he’s known for.

Let me just clear that this piece may sound a bit of sycophant pandering, but definitely it is not meant to poke “pang-ookray” (showbiz term for funny ridicule) at one of the very few showbiz characters whom I’ve treated with utmost respect if reverence.

Rather this is about our friendship that has transcended work boundaries without having to spend as much time together as regular buddies would, or burning telephone lines in lieu of face-to-face encounters.

It was in 1995 when Kuya Boy and I finally had a chance to work together. He was host of “Startalk” while I was one of its writers.

Although I had known him before that as the moving force behind Backroom, Inc., it was in “Startalk” where I became more accepting of and more adjusted to some of his forgivable quirks.

Age when asked seems to be a big deal for Kuya Boy

Boy Abunda

as it does for most women.

I remember having chanced upon a celebrities’ profiles boxed section in a glossy magazine published many years ago.

“Classified info” is what was stated corresponding his age.

On the contrary, says he, “It’s not the age, it’s the mileage.”

The ability to do multitasking must have propelled Kuya Boy to achieve that mileage. Understandably a busy person who wants a lot of productive things accomplished in one fell swoop, this anecdote reveals just that.

Back when radio talk programs hadn’t become televised as they are popularly now, once on his “The Boy Abunda Radio Show”

ABS-CBN photo

on DZAR Angel Radyo, he came to the booth with a pedicurist in tow. While having his toenails done, a totally impervious Kuya Boy simply went on with his board work.

Without hinting at the simultaneous business, he announced: “This is what I love about radio!”

Not because he wasn’t seen by his daily listeners did Kuya Boy have a convenient excuse not to come in dressed to the nines. Lasting for more than a year, that radio experience was nothing less than a runway for Kuya Boy who donned his expensive signature getup which he proudly does to this day.

To Mr. Eugenio “Boy” Abunda, happy nth birthday!

Sanya denies relationship...

PAGE 13 to know that she was chosen to be on the calendar of the popular liquor brand and she felt pressured because Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach is this year’s calendar girl. “‘Di ako makapaniwala eh kasi si Pia Wurtzbach ‘yong bago ako, so ang taas ng expectation,” Sanya said.

When asked which actor she wants to have a one-onone drinking session with, Sanya said she wants to do it with Kapamilya actor

Coco Martin.

“Actor na gusto kong maka-one on one sa inuman? Si Coco Martin. Feeling ko kasi malakas siya eh.

Probinsyano siya ‘di ba?

Probinsyana ko eh,” she said.

Sanya also denied that she and former “Halik” actor Gab Lagman have been in a relationship in the past. She said she still has not experienced having a boyfriend.

Gab recently said that he and Sanya have mutually agreed to part ways because

of work.

“Naging maging okay kami na kaibigan. Pumupunta siya sa bahay, nagdadala siya ng flowers, pero hanggang do’n lang po talaga eh. Siguro dahil po tutok talaga ko sa trabaho ngayon. Pero hindi ko naman inaalis na nag-eentertain po talaga ko. Yes, hindi talaga naging kami. If sa kanya feeling niya, hayaan nalang natin siya. It’s his life eh. Pero sa akin hindi po talaga naging kami,” Sanya stressed.

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