111221 - Northern California Edition

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NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

Volume 20 - No. 45 • 14 Pages

T H E F I L I P I N O A M E R I CA N C O M MU N I T Y N E WS PA P E R

Volume 18 - No. 17 • 2 Sections – 16 Pages

1799 Old Bayshore Hwy, Suite 136, Burlingame, CA 94010 • Tel: (650) 689-5160 • Fax: (650) 239-9253 • www.asianjournal.com

DATELINE

USA

FROM THE AJPRESS NEWS TEAM ACROSS AMERICA

US State Department, Philippine envoys address domestic workers’ rights WASHINGTON, D.C. – A recent virtual forum for Filipino domestic workers employed by various embassies, as well as members of the diplomatic corps, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, addressed questions and concerns about domestic workers employment contracts. The webinar, hosted by Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO-WDC), covered concerns of interest to domestic workers employed under special work visa programs, specifically the A3 and G5 visa programs. This developed as the Philippine Embassy, through POLO-WDC, received at least three requests for assistance and intervention from Filipino domestic workers regarding their salaries and complaints against abusive employers. U.S. State Department Assistant Chief of Protocol for Diplomatic Affairs Nan Kelley explained the rights and responsibilities of domestic workers under these visa programs.

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Voting rights is the civil rights issue of our time IT’S the “civil rights issue of our time,” voting rights advocates say, but three different proposals to strengthen and create nationwide standards on voting are all stalled in Congress. “Democracy is facing challenges unlike any we have seen in modern time,” said Wade Henderson, CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, at a press briefing hosted by Ethnic Media Services and LCCR on Nov. 5. Already this year, in 19 states, legislators have passed 33 laws that will make it harder to vote. In all, 425 new voting rules have been proposed in 49 states. Generally, where it’s been challenging to vote, the new laws have made it harder, Henderson noted. In Florida and Georgia, for example, giving water or snacks to people waiting in lines to vote is now a crime.

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N O V E MBE R 1 2 - 1 8 , 2 0 2 1

Also published in LOS ANGELES, ORANGE COUNTY/INLAND EMPIRE, SAN DIEGO, LAS VEGAS, NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY

Palace: PH travel restriction on foreign tourists being studied by RITCHEL

MENDIOLA AJPress

THE Philippines’ reopening to international tourists is currently being studied by the national government, according to Malacañang. Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque on

Tuesday, November 9, pointed out that the country only closed its borders to foreign tourists, never to arriving Filipinos from other countries. “Hindi po natin kahit kailan pinigilan ang pag-uwi ng mga kapwa Pilipino natin, iyan po ang standing order ng ating Presidente… Ang hindi lang po natin pinapayagan ngayon ay iyong mga dayuhang mga

turista na makapasok (Never did we ban the return home of our fellow Filipinos, that is the standing order of the President… What we are not allowing is the entry of foreign tourists),” he said. However, the spokesman assured that the possibility of allowing foreign tourists in the country

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UC Berkeley’s Pilipinx community stages protests against Doe Library exhibit by JOSEPH

L. PERALTA

AJPress

UC Berkeley Filipino American students and faculty, along with members of the school’s student government leaders and other community supporters, held a protest action on Thursday, October 28 to rally against an exhibit in the campus’ Doe Library. The small exhibit in question was part of the South/ Southeast Asia Library 50th Anniversary Exhibit that featured the Philippines. The display, according to a release from the group, “featured the careers and writings of school administrators David Prescott Barrows, Alfred Louis Kroeber and other campus stakeholders justifying the colonization of the Philippines and the inferiority of communities in the Philippines.” The noontime press conference and protest action featured short speeches from graduate student representative Alex Mabanta, who is also a PhD student at the UC Berkeley School of Law; UC Berkeley advising PROTEST. Keynote speaker Emil De Guzman told students that honoring those that came before you is very important as he unfurled a poster of the manongs of Agbayani Village. “These guys were my greatest professors. These were the guys who taught me humanity. faculty members Karen Llagas, Joi Barrios and Cynthia I-Hotel tenants taught me humanity, generosity, kindness…they taught me humility,” he said. AJPress photos by Joseph L. Peralta u PAGE 4

CDC recommends COVID-19 Duterte urges Comelec to give 2022 candidates space to campaign amid pandemic vaccines for children 5 to 11 by DANIZA

FERNANDEZ Inquirer.net

MANILA — President Rodrigo Duterte urged the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Tuesday, November 8 to provide candidates inf the 2022 elections a space where they could campaign safely, citing that there were Filipinos still unvaccinated against COVID-19. “I’d like to remind the Comelec that you must give the candidates really the space and

whatever modality is there because there can never be an election without a campaign,” Duterte said in his taped weekly address, “Talk to the People.” Duterte likewise said that there were candidates who did not have the machinery for a television campaign and were limited to in-person campaigning. “Some candidates cannot afford the expense of TV exposure,” he said. Duterte said that the Comelec must address

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Sara Duterte withdraws reelection bid by RITCHEL

MENDIOLA AJPress

Pre-campaign billboards showing support for potential Duterte-allied candidates flank major thoroughfare EDSA as seen on Monday, November 8. Philstar.com photo by Boy Santos

DAVAO City Mayor Sara Duterte has officially withdrawn her bid for reelection just days ahead of the deadline for the substitution of candidates for the 2022 elections. In a post on her official Facebook page, the mayor announced that she will be replaced by her brother, Davao City vice mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte, in the mayoralty race. “Ngayong hapon wini-withdraw ko ang aking kandidatura sa pagka-Mayor ng Davao City. Si VM Baste ang papalit sa akin. Ito lamang po muna sa ngayon.

Maraming salamat po (This afternoon, I’m withdrawing my candidacy for mayor of Davao City. Vice Mayor Baste will substitute for me. This is all for now. Thank you very much),” Duterte said on Tuesday, November 9. Earlier that day, Sebastian also withdrew his certificate of candidacy (COC) for reelection as Davao City’s vice mayor. According to him, Atty. Melchor Quitain Jr. will replace him in the vice mayoralty race. “I have filed my withdrawal as vice mayor candidate of Davao City. I hereby nominate Atty. Melchor Quitain Jr. as my substitute,” said Sebastian. u PAGE 2

by AJPRESS

CHILDREN as young as 5 years old in the United States can now get the COVID-19 vaccine as the country further expands its vaccination campaign. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday, November 2, endorsed its advisory committee’s recommendation to administer the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to children ages 5 to 11. “We know millions of parents are eager to get their children vaccinated and with this decision, we now have recommended that about 28 million children receive a COVID-19 vaccine,” CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said. “As a mom, I encourage parents with questions to talk to their pediatrician, school nurse or local pharmacist to learn more about the vaccine and the importance of getting their children vaccinated,” she added. At the outset of the meeting, Walensky noted that the pandemic has had a profound social, mental health and educational impact on children. “There are children in the second grade who have never experienced a normal school

year,” she said. “Pediatric vaccination has the power to help us change all of that.” Earlier that day, the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) unanimously voted in favor of the child-sized doses of vaccine for the younger kids. The Pfizer vaccine will be administered to children in two low doses, three weeks apart, using a smaller needle. For his part, U.S. President Joe Biden called the decision “a turning point” in the fight against COVID-19. “It will allow parents to end months of anxious worrying about their kids, and reduce the extent to which children spread the virus to others. It is a major step forward for our nation in our fight to defeat the virus,” he said in a statement. “Over the last several weeks, my Administration has been working hard to be prepared for this moment: we are ready to act. We have already secured enough vaccine supply for every child in America,” he added. Likewise, the American Academy of Pediatrics welcomed the CDC’s decision.

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