112118 - Southern California Midweek Edition

November 21-23, 2018 Volume 28 - No. 92 • 3 Sections - 20 Pages

House resolution seeks 6-month extension of martial law in Mindanao A RESOLUTION at the House of Representatives was filed seeking to extend martial law in Mindanao until June 2019 because of “sporadic incidents of violence” in the region.

Iligan Rep. Frederick Siao introduced House Resolution 2302 to maintain peace and order in Mindanao, especially with the forthcoming midterm elections in May 2019.

“It is urgently imperative that

government authority must ensure peace, orderly, and honest May 2019 elections in Mindanao, including and especially in the Bangsamoro Autonomous region and adjacent regions, to secure the integrity of the ballots and safety of voters and election personnel, as well as to ensure that duly elected officials are properly installed in their respective offices,” Siao said.

DATELINE USA FROM THE AJPRESS NEWS TEAM ACROSS AMERICA

Democrat Gil Cisneros is the apparent winner in the tight race in California’s 39th Congressional District.

2018 midterm election results: Democrats take over Orange County

Democrats flip 4 House seats in the county, taking over all 7 congressional districts ELEVEN days after the polls closed in California, Democrats in Orange County can finally rejoice in the slogan they’ve been chanting throughout the election: orange is the new blue.

For decades, Orange County has been a reliable Republican stronghold and has habitually sent conservative representatives to local, state and federal offices. But this past week, Democratic candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives won out, drastically changing the political landscape of the county home to

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Fil-Am Gina Oritz Jones concedes in close House race AFTER a tight race, Gina Ortiz Jones, Filipina-American congressional candidate for Texas’ 23rd congressional district, conceded on Monday, November 19 to Republican incumbent Will Hurd.

Nearly two weeks after Election Day, Ortiz Jones hoped to flip the seat blue, but trailed behind two-time incumbent Hurd by 1,150 votes out of the 209,000 cast.

“I remain committed to serving my community and country, and I wish Will Hurd the courage to fight for TX-23 in the way in

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The lawmaker referred to an ambush, which led to the death of five agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) last October in Kapai, Lanao del Sur. Siao also cited initial reports from intelligence services of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) of the presence of Islamic State- BACK HOME. President Rodrigo Duterte arrives in Davao City on Sunday, November 18 after participating in the 33rd Association of Southeast

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Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit and Related Summits in Singapore and the 2018 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Meeting in the Independent State of Papua New Guinea.

Malacañang photo by Ace Morandante

Imelda Marcos returns to House after bail

DAYS after posting P150,000 bail after she was convicted of graft, Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda Marcos was among the “early birds” in the session at the House of Representatives on Monday, November 19.

The widow of former president Ferdinand Marcos entered the plenary hall at 2:40 p.m. and talked to a few of her colleagues.

Clad in a fuchsia outfit, the former first lady seemed to be in a healthy and cheerful disposition but refused to take questions from the media.

The former first lady was sentenced in each of her seven graft cases to six years and a month up to 11 years in prison with perpetual disqualiFormer first lady Imelda Marcos takes the witness stand during a hearing at the graft fication to hold public office. court in Manila on Friday, November 16.

The Sandiganbayan found Mrs. Marcos guilty of graft for for participating in the management of several Swiss foundations while she was a member of the interim Batasang Pambansa and as minister of the then Ministry of Human Settlements from 1968 to 1986.

The Sandiganbayan has yet to decide whether Mrs. Marcos would be allowed to file a post-conviction bond.

‘Mockery of justice system’ Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo on Saturday, November 18 expressed her dismay at the “mockery of the justice system,” as well as the “measly” P150,000 bail posted by former first lady and Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda

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ManilaTimes.net photo

House ratifies proposed 105-day paid maternity leave after being recalled

by PATHRICIA

ANN Inquirer.net

ROXAS

THE House of Representatives on Monday, November 19, ratified the 105-day paid maternity leave for female workers in the government and private sectors regardless of the type of childbirth.

The ratification happened during the lower chamber’s afternoon session. This development came after the bicameral conference committee (bicam) — tasked to reconcile House Bill No. 4113 and Senate Bill No. 1305 — reconsidered their ap-

proval of the measure last November 13.

The panel removed the tax exemption and appropriations provisions of the bill which the Department of Finance and Department of Budget and Management earlier rejected.

The bicam version of the bill states that seven days of the 105 days maternity leave could be allocated for paternal leave, while an additional 15 days of paid Former Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II leave may be availed by solo mothers.

Once enacted into law, availing maternity benefits would also apply to every in-

Inquirer.net photo

Roxas thanks Duterte Maguindanao massacre decision out soon for 2019 endorsement u PAGE A2

SENATORIAL aspirant Manuel “Mar” Roxas II thanked Presiby TETCH TORRES-TUPAS dent Rodrigo Duterte for endorsInquirer.net ing his candidacy in the 2019 AFTER nine years of waiting, midterm elections.

“Hindi ko alam kung ano ang relatives of the 58 people — 32 of them journalists — who met nasa isip niya. Ang akin lang is a gruesome death in Maguin- kung paborable ‘yung sinabi danao on Nov. 23, 2009, will niya, maraming salamat (I did soon hear the verdict on those not know what was on his mind. accused of perpetrating the If he is in favor of me, I thank him),” said Roxas, former lomassacre.

“Per information from our cal government secretary under prosecution panel, the case then president Benigno Aquino against [Datu Andal] Unsay III. Roxas, who placed second to [Ampatuan Jr.] is now submitted for decision upon ruling of Duterte in the 2016 presidential the court on his formal offer elections, said he expressed his of exhibits,” Acting Prosecutor thanks even when a lot of people General Richard Anthony Fadul- criticized him for it.

Roxas, who was also Translon told reporters on Monday, portation and Communications November 19.

Last Nov. 5, Ampatuan Jr. secretary, received a lot of flak This photo, taken on Dec. 18, 2009, shows Andal Ampatuan Jr., a principal accused in the 2009 massacre of 58 people in Maguindanao province, being submitted his formal offer of for allegedly mismanaging rearrested.

Inquirer.net photo u PAGE A2 habilitation efforts in Leyte after

super typhoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan) struck the province in 2013.

On November 9, Duterte urged the public to vote for Roxas to see if he could address the ongoing problem of illegal drugs in the country.

“Tatakbo siguro ‘yan si Roxas uli e. Sige why don’t you try para makita ninyo (I think Roxas will run again. Why don’t you try him and see for yourself)? You can only measure a man’s stamina for doing a particular activity for his fellowmen,” Duterte said during his visit to Boracay.

Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo also welcomed the president’s endorsement of her former running mate who is part of the eight-man senatorial lineup of the Liberal Party-led Oposisyon Koalisyon. (Glee Jalea/ManilaTimes.net)

A November 21-23, 2018 • SoCal ASIAN JoUrNAL

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From the Front Page

Maguindanao massacre decision...

PAGE A1 evidence to wrap up the trial that started in January 2010.

Fadullon, chief of the DOJ’s prosecutorial arm, said RTC Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes was expected to now set the promulgation of the case where she would decide whether to convict or acquit Ampatuan.

“The court has yet to set the

date of promulgation, which will cover Unsay and all other accused — except those who were belatedly arrested,” he added.

The massacre — which caught the world’s attention for having the most number of journalists killed in a single incident — will mark its ninth anniversary on Friday, November 23.

DOJ Secretary Menardo Guevarra earlier said they were expecting the RTC to decide on the case in the first quarter next year, expressing confidence that the prosecution had presented strong evidence to establish the guilt of Ampatuan and other principal accused.

There are a total of 197 accused in the massacre.

Out of the 197 accused, 103 are currently undergoing trial for multiple murders, including prime suspect Andal Ampatuan Jr. Also facing the same charges are his brothers Zaldy Ampatuan and Datu Sajid Islam Ampatuan. The latter was allowed, however, by the court to post bail in January 2015.

Another accused, former Maguindanao Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr. died in detention last July 17, 2015.

The trial court has already heard a total of 273 witnesses — 166 for the prosecution and 107 for the defense. It also also managed to resolve all the 15 sets of formal offers of evidence in connection with the bail applications of 70 accused.

The prosecution panel in this case is composed of 10 public prosecutors and eight private prosecutors, as against the 23 defense lawyers and law firms.

The transcripts of stenographic notes have reached 59 volumes, while the records of the cases are 129 volumes thick, plus 10 volumes of prosecution’s evidence. n

BOOSTING PH-KOREA TIES. Hundreds of students wave the Philippine and Korean flags during the Korean Culture Caravan held at the Pasay City National Science High School on Friday, November 16. The caravan aims to boost cultural exchange between Filipinos and Koreans.

PNA photo by Joey O. Razon

House resolution seeks 6-month...

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linked bomb experts positioned in some areas of Mindanao “plotting to generate widespread panic and terror among the populace.”

In a joint session in December 2017, the Senate and the House of Representatives granted Pres-

ident Rodrigo Duterte’s request to extend martial law and suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus until December 2018.

Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate warned on Monday, November 19, that “floating the possibility of further extending

martial law in Mindanao can be exploited to ensure the victory of administration allies in next year’s midterm elections.”

If the House resolution is approved, another extension will take place from January 1 to June 30, 2019 in Mindanao. (Glee Jalea/ManilaTimes.net)

Fil-Am Gina Oritz Jones concedes in close...

PAGE A1 which our district deserves,” Ortiz Jones said in a statement on Monday.

She attempted to make history by becoming the first Filipina-American to be elected to Congress, as well as the first first openly gay, first Iraq War veteran and first woman House PAGE A1 representative from Texas’ 23rd stance of pregnancy or without district, which runs along the limit. state’s border with Mexico.

The harmonized proposed “I would be honored to be the measures likewise grants an first but it is important that I am option to extend the leave to an not going to be the last because additional 30 days without pay. I am only here because of the The current law only allows a opportunity my community, my 60-day paid maternity leave for country afforded for me. This normal childbirth and 78 days is very much about protecting for cesarean delivery. those opportunities for others The Senate ratified the re- that are just as talented, just as considered bicam report on the hungry and need a little bit of proposed measure last Novem- help,” Ortiz Jones told the Asian ber 14. The bill will then be sent Journal in an interview leading to President Rodrigo Duterte up to the midterm election. for signature and enactment Last week, the veteran had into law. n filed a court motion to have a

House ratifies proposed 105...

Filipina-American congressional candidate for Texas’ 23rd congressional district Gina Ortiz Jones conceded to Republican incumbent Will Hurd.

deadline to make provisional ballots official but was denied by a judge.

As the Asian Journal previously reported, Ortiz Jones attended orientation for new House members last week despite ballots still being counted. Her campaign said she was invited by the Committee on House Administration,

which allows candidates in undeclared races to participate in new member events.

Following her concession, Hurd said, ”I want to thank my opponent and her supporters for engaging in the democratic process.” He added that “whether you voted for me or not, I will need your help.” (AJPress)

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DATELINE USA

2018 midterm election results: Democrats take over...

PAGE A1 more than 3.1 million, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Though the election results have yet to be certified by California’s Secretary of State, enough votes have been counted by the Orange County Registrar of Voters to declare the winners. This marks the first time since 1940 that Democrats hold all seven House seats in Orange County.

Of those seven seats, Democrats were able to flip four which were previously held by Republicans.

On the evening of Saturday, Nov. 17, the Associated Press called the contentious between Democrat Gil Cisneros and Republican Young Kim by a hair’s breadth in the 39th District, which stretches from Hacienda Heights and Chino Hills to parts of Anaheim Hills and Fullerton.

Cisneros, a Latino-American U.S. Navy veteran, is a first-time candidate and ran on a platform on universal health care, improving public education and immigration reform as well as transforming the ethnically-diverse district long-held by one of Congress’ most conservative members.

“One thing that we know is that Ed Royce has kind of forgotten about this district for a long time.

He hasn’t done a town hall in seven years, he hasn’t really taken care of his constituents,” Cisneros told the Asian Journal at a campaign event 10 days before the election.

“People want change. They want someone who’s going to represent that people of the 39th and that they get the constituent services they haven’t had in a long time and someone who is going to hold the president accountable and who is going to fight for education, health care, immigration reform and common sense gun legislation, and I believe I’m the one to do it.”

A $266-million lottery jackpot winner in 2010, Cisneros has established scholarships via a foundation under him and his wife to expand educational opportunities to young Latino students; he did not receive any corporate funding or money from political action committees (PACs) but garnered endorsements from the Democratic Party, former President Barack Obama and California Governorelect Gavin Newsom.

Kim, a Korean-American former California State assemblymember, had the power of the district’s fiercely conservative incumbent Ed Royce (who had represented the district for 25 years) behind her campaign and had led the race for much of the campaign.

Former California Assemblymember Young Kim sought the seat for the state’s 39th congressional district. The Republican would have been the first Korean-American woman in Congress.

Cisneros’ come-from-behind is a reflection of two crucial shifts: the overall partisan flip in the county, and the ideological transformation happening within the Democratic Party which is slowly favoring progressive, grassroots candidates that promise to combat the proposals of the Trump administration.

The day before Cisneros was declared the winner in the 39th, the AP reported that Democrat Katie Porter pulled an upset win over Republican incumbent Mimi Walters in the 45th, a district which comprises of the county’s most affluent and conservative cities like Irvine, Tustin, Mission Viejo and Laguna Hills.

Porter — an Irvine-based Consumer Protection Attorney and professor of law at the University of California Irvine — is the first Democrat to win a House seat for the 45th district since the district’s inception in 1983. Throughout the contentious race, Porter advocated for overturning the House tax bill passed by Republicans last year and pushed for universal health care.

“We ran a campaign that was about listening to people, that was about listening to their concerns,” Porter said. “Some of those concerns included things the president is doing, things that Rep. Mimi Walters supported.”

Cisneros’ and Porter’s wins were the last two seats in Orange County to confirm a “blue wave” in Orange County.

In the 48th District (one of the most conservative districts in the county), Harley Rouda, a real es-

tate executive and former Republican, defeated Republican incumbent Dana Rohrabacher, a staunch Trumpian conservative who has expressed pro-Russia views.

In the district that is centered around Huntington Beach, Rouda won 53.2 percent of the vote while his opponent garnered 46.8 percent of the vote, a shocking outcome given that Rohrabacher has represented the district for nearly three decades.

Just south of Rohrabacher’s district is the 49th District which voted for Democrat Mike Levin over the Republican opponent Diane Harkey; the 49th stretches from southern portions of Orange County all the way down to northern San Diego County; this district has been held by Republican Darrell Issa who announced his retirement earlier this year.

Though it’s surprising to many that the county overwhelmingly flipped blue this election, but because of the 2016 election results, the possibility of a countywide blue wave in House races did not stretch the imagination.

In 2016, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton won six of these seven Republican-helmed districts, which was especially shocking given that Orange County hasn’t voted for a Democratic presidential nominee since 1936 when it voted for Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Political pundits and experts posited that the reason for the drastic partisan shift correlates to the demographic changes happening throughout the county, especially the growing ethnic diversity.

“The cataclysmic losses in Orange County are the manifestation of changing demographics that have been in motion for a couple decades,” Rob Stutzman, a Republican strategist and campaign consultant said on CNN, who noted that there is “good evidence” that Republicans lost in these districts due to the “Trump effect,” i.e. the proliferation of controversial altright rhetoric and proposals which have sparked national outrage among people of all political leanings.

Though the Republican Party has dealt a huge blow this election, Stutzman expressed hope that the county known as “Reagan Country” could vote red in future elections, noting, “The ‘Orange Curtain’ has fallen, but Republicans will still compete in Orange County for the next few election cycles. They’ll be more likely to succeed without Trump on the ballot.” (Klarize Medenilla/AJPress)

SoCal ASIAN JOURNAL • NOVEMBER 21-23, 2018

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FBI sued for records on 1981 Seattle murders pinned on Marcos regime

SEATTLE — A Seattle lawyer and a documentary filmmaker sued the FBI on Friday, Nov. 9 for allegedly withholding documents to help cover up the sensational 1981 murders of Filipino American cannery-union leaders who were also militant critics of Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle by attorney Michael Withey, author of newly published “Summary Execution: The Seattle Assassinations of Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes” (WildBlue Press 2018), and Sharon Maeda, who is working on a film about the murders.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle, asks for the release of more than a thousand pages of FBI documents, including ones previously requested through the Freedom of Information Act but denied, in relation to its role in the fatal shootings of Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes in the Pioneer Square headquarters of the ILWU Cannery Workers Local 37 on June 1, 1981.

Withey and Maeda specifi-

Silme Domingo (left) and Gene Viernes, Seattle labor leaders and anti-Marcos militants murdered In 1981.

Contributed photos

cally want to know why FBI informant LeVane Forsythe, now deceased, tried to derail the murder trial by testifying for the criminal defendants by saying he was present near the murder scene and saw someone else

other than the defendants leaving the scene.

Withey said he later discovered through his own research of more than three decades and FBI records that Forsythe was PAGE A4

San Francisco puts money in Filipino heritage district

by WILFRED

GALILA Inquirer.net

SAN FRANCISCO – Since its establishment on April 12, 2016, SOMA Pilipinas has been on a steady path of creating the Filipino cultural heritage district in the South of Market.

To begin activating the area and jumpstart the district’s economic activity, SOMA Pilipinas together with Kultivate Labs, anon-profit business accelerator that aims to create a thriving commercial ecosystem for businesses in the district, launched UNDISCOVERED SF, a seasonal and monthly creative night market on April 18, 2017 using a $125,000 grant from the city and an additional $41,000 raised from a crowd funding campaign.

The night market proved to be a runaway success, generating $250,000 of economic activity and drawing 35,000 people to the district.

With the huge economic potential of SOMA Pilipinas validated, San Francisco again re-

cently gave its support through the Mayor’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD) and the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development (OHCD) with a total investment of $316,250 for the district’s continuing economic development.

The funding will allow SOMA Pilipinas tomove forward with plans to start a merchant association, a pop-up to permanent retail incubator program, more events, and to conduct neighborhood marketing.

Expanded opportunities “Investments like these ex-

pand opportunities for local emerging entrepreneurs, celebrate the rich cultural history and experience of the Filipino community, and create local attractions to bring people to this neighborhood,” says OEWD Director Joaquín Torres.

“Through food and art, we are supporting the vitality of the Filipino cultural district and nurturing a diverse generation of new small businesses in San Francisco,” Torres added.

Separately, the National Endowment for the Arts issued a $100,000 grant to be used to PAGE A4

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FBI sued for records on 1981 Seattle murders...

ALMOST CHRISTMAS. Shoppers buy Christmas décor and trinkets at a shop in La Loma, Quezon City as preparations for the most awaited holiday heat up.

ManilaTimes.net photo by Roger Rañada

Imelda Marcos returns to House after...

PAGE A1 Marcos for her temporary freedom from the custody of the Sandiganbayan.

“The P150,000 bail was too measly compared with the enormity of what was stolen. Secondly, those are just loose change to her,” Robredo said in a chance interview with reporters during her visit to a mental health facility in San Remigio, Cebu.

“I was a lawyer for the poor.

Somehow, I can see that for a P10,000 bail, a client would even mortgage some of their properties or borrow money from others just to come up with that amount,” she added.

The vice president said Marcos’ alibi on the day of her conviction

was “the biggest insult” to Filipinos.

“In fact, the biggest insult to us was when she partied on the day of her conviction. But she reasoned that she was sick. It’s a mockery of the justice system,” Robredo added.

The so-called Makabayan bloc in the House of Representatives has expressed dismay with a Sandiganbayan decision granting former first lady and now Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda Marcos temporary freedom after she posted P150,000 bail.

“Very double standard! Very shameful of the high magistrates of the Sandiganbayan bowing down to the high and mighty Marcoses for the whole world to see.

Very disappointing!” Anakpawis Rep. Ariel Casilao said in a statement on Friday, November 16.

Bayan Muna Chairman and former congressman Neri Colmenares echoed Casilao, pointing out the stark contrast of the justice system between the poor and those in power.

Gabriela Rep. Emmi de Jesus described the verdict as “abhorrent” and “beyond mockery of justice” in the country.

Kabataan Rep. Sarah Elago said the decision of the anti-graft Sandiganbayan was “an insult to the Martial Law victims, their families, and Filipinos who have long been deprived of justice since the Marcos regime.” (Glee Jalea/ManilaTimes.net)

PAGE A2 an FBI informant with a specific identification number. He said one of the lingering questions is how Forsythe happened to be at the scene of the murders, whether it was tied to work for the FBI, and whether bureau operatives had prior knowledge of the planned assault.

The FBI in 1973-1982, the complaint said, was conducting a “foreign counter-intelligence operation” against the Union of Democratic Filipinos (KDP), the anti-Marcos organization led by Domingo and Viernes in Seattle.

Domingo’s name and activities are referred to at least eight times in this investigation.

The FBI refused to make a statement, telling the Seattle Times that it does not comment on ongoing litigation.

Domingo and Viernes, both 29, militant critics of the Marcos government, were pushing for reforms in the union, which sent Filipino workers to Alaska’s fish canneries. They also successfully lobbied for the International Longshore and Warehouse Union’s support for the then-largely underground trade union movement in the Philippines. Viernes had returned from a visit with labor activists in the Philippines shortly before his murder.

Two defendants, Jimmy Ramil and Ben Guloy, members of a Filipino gang that ran gambling operations in the canneries, were convicted of the murders.

Later, the union local’s president Tony Baruso, a town mate of Ferdinand Marcos, was also convicted as principal conspira-

Lawyer-author Michael Withey and filmmaker Sharon Maeda sued the FBI on Nov. 9.

tor, and died in prison.

During Ramil and Guloy’s trial, FBI informant Forsythe appeared as a surprise witness in their defense. However, Forsythe was discredited when his link to the notorious hoax “Mormon will” of billionaire Howard Hughes was exposed.

After the criminal trial, the celebrated Domingo v. Marcos civil suit went to trial in Nov. 1989, and a federal court jury found former Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos liable for the murders and awarded $15.1 million in damages to the estates of the slain men.

Federal Court Judge Barbara Rothstein found two Marcos allies liable for the murders, stating that they participated in a civil conspiracy initiated by Marcos against the anti-Marcos

forces in the U.S. by paying for and/or providing the murder weapon for the murders.

At the trial the plaintiffs proved that the murders were paid for out of an intelligence slush fund set up by Marcos with allies in San Francisco to pay for “special security projects.” It is the first and only time a foreign head of state has been held liable for the murders of U.S. citizens on U.S. soil.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Seattle on Oct. 30 wrote to the Department of Justice, in support of Withey and Maeda’s efforts: “Mr. Withey hopes to use these documents to further understand the FBI’s connection with the Domingo and Viernes case so that he might provide closure for the families of the victims.”

(Inquirer.net)

San Francisco puts money in...

PAGE A3 identify and design place-making opportunities in the district.

On October 2018, SOMA Pilipinas pole banners with images of prominent members of the community went up around the district as the initial result of the arts grant.

UNDISCOVERED SF, returning as a holiday pop-up for the winter season on December 1 at Colorbloq, an event space in SOMA opening to the public for the first time, also received an additional $30,000 grant from The San Francisco Foundation this month.

Bounded by Market Street to the north, Brannan Street to the south, 11th Street to the west, and 2nd Street to the east, SOMA Pilipinas is a testament to over a century of Filipino history and presence in the South of Market.

According to Kultivate Labs executive director and economic development chairman of SOMA Pilipinas, Desi Danganan, UNDISCOVERED SF was the first step in their economic development plans “to aggregate our emerging entrepreneurs in one place and identify winning concepts to invest in to accelerate their growth in the cultural district. Unlike the old ways of nepotism that have plagued our mother country, we allow the market to decide who we should invest in and not because you’re somebody cousin or brother-inlaw.”

Business accelerator The second step in the economic development plan is a business accelerator program known as SOMA Economic and Entrepreneurial Development (SEED) by Kultivate Labs in partnership with the Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center.

SEED was launched in September 2018 and six food or retail businesses were selected among 17 applicants from an “online call for applications for SOMA Pilipinas based businesses.”

“We narrowed them down to 10 possible candidates that we interviewed and whittled down to the final six,” says Danganan.

“It was tough to get down to the final six, but the most important criterion was could we help them with the resources available to us and could our impact be measured.”

The final six businesses are two Filipino pop-up restaurants, Pinoy Heritage and Alchemy Kitchen;The Sarap Shop, a Filipino food truck and catering business; Arkipelago Books, one of only two Filipino specialty bookstores in the country and a neighborhood institution for 20 years; Mestiza Taqueria; and Covo, a co-working space.

With the success of UNDISCOVERED, OCHD “has given us a modest $35,000 to test our next step—investing directly in the success of our businesses.”

Danganan says that they are working with each business to map out growth and determine business elements that are lacking and generate the necessary steps to make it happen.

“You could be an extremely successful food truck with sales over a $100,000 a month, but in the rush to generate revenue that food truck never setup proper accounting to track their

expenses to ensure they are truly profitable,” says Danganan.

“What SEED will do is actually create your accounting system, managing it for a few months, then teach you to run it properly.”

SEED benefits The first batch of entrepreneurs in the SEED program is unanimous about the benefits that it will bring to their business as well as to the district.

“We love the program!” says The Sarap Shop co-founder and CEO, Kristen Brillantes. “Developing this cultural district is tough work and it’s important that it’s filled with representation from local Filipino business owners.”

“It encourages Filipino/Fil-Am entrepreneurs to not only own and operate their businesses within the district, but to be a part of our great community.

Without community, there is no growth,” says Alchemy Kitchen chef and owner, Ronnie Taylor.

“We are so thrilled to be a part of it! It’s really refreshing to see an accelerator that supports non-tech companies,” says Covo CEO, Rebecca Pan. “It’s rare, but there are so many companies like mine that can really use the boost this program provides.

They are seeing to benefit the most from the marketing and public relations (PR) components of the program.

“With San Francisco being over saturated with restaurants and being a pop-up restaurant, Marketing and PR is absolutely needed to succeed,” says acclaimed chef and Pinoy Heritage owner Francis Ang. “With Renaissance and Kultivate Labs’ assistance, I’d like to create awareness that there is a new wave of Filipino owned establishments here in San Francisco,” says Taylor.

“We will be leveraging the marketing and PR components the most, to launch a new program here at Covo,” says Pan “This program will help entrepreneurs maintain momentum and build resilience.”

More exposure It is their hope that the program will generate more exposure needed to grow their business and to eventually gain the stability to thrive in a district that they represent and belong to.

“We hope the program will help us sell out our weekly popups and eventually help us gain a brick and mortar in the near future,” says Ang. “My intention for this program is not only to gain exposure to the general public through our food and story, but to also prove SOMA Pilipinas can ‘kultivate’ sustainable Filipino owned food and beverage institutions,” says Taylor.

The first SEED batch of entrepreneurs and the success of the program are extremely crucial to the long-term plans of Danganan and his team.

“We want to develop measurable results for our incubated companies. We want to turn our $35,000 into $70,000 in revenue or cost savings for our six companies so we can continue to do this program and offer it to more businesses so we can accomplish our long-term vision of populating SOMA Pilipinas with a variety of vibrant and resilient Filipino owned companies.” n

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SoCal ASIAN JOURNAL • NOvembeR 21-23, 2018

A

Dateline PhiliPPines

AFP monitoring South China Sea activities

by EvElyn

Macairan

and JaiME laudE Philstar.com

HISTORIC VISIT. Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) chairman Al-Hajj Murad Ebrahim poses for a group photo with Armed Forces Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr. and other AFP and MILF officials during a visit to Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City on Monday, November 19.

PNA photo by Joey O. Razon

MILF chairman makes historic visit to Camp Aguinaldo by roEl

ParEño Philstar.com

MANILA — Moro Islamic Liberation Front Chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim was nostalgic and expressed happiness at setting his foot in Camp Aguinaldo, the headquarters of the Armed Forces of the Philippines that for decades was the rebel group’s fierce adversary.

Ebrahim arrived at the headquarters of Camp Aguinaldo with Bangsamoro Transiiton Commission Chairman Ghazali Jaafar and other ranking MILF leaders on the invitation of Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr., Armed Forces chief of staff.

The visit, Galvez said, was a gesture of reciprocity. The AFP chief had visited the MILF’s Camp Darapanan in Sultan Kudarat last month, where he was honored as the first military chief welcomed to the group’s main camp.

Ebrahim and his party were led by Galvez to the Balangiga Hall in the main headquarters, where he was given different mementos and tokens as a gesture of the AFP’s gratitude for the visit.

The MILF chairman and members of the BTC later sat in a closed-door conference with Galvez and other ranking military officials.

“Well, it’s both happiness and sentiment. As what I have said, I never thought I will be walking around this camp,” Ebrahim told

media right after a press briefing with Galvez.

The MILF chairman also visited Malacañan Palace in 2014 when he witnessed the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, the peace deal between the government and the MILF. ‘Now, we are here’ Ebrahim admitted that during the height of their revolution, their focus was to destroy the camps of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. “But now, we are here.”

He said his sentiment against the military started in 1969, when he was 19 years old.

Ebrahim was a student at Mindanao State University and later transferred to Notre Dame College, both in Central Mindanao.

He said that what led him and others to join the revolution was the series of massacres at the time.

“We felt there was a genocidal campaign against the Moro people. So we were forced to organize ourselves to defend,” Ebrahim said.

He said that they had generally been on defensive mode until the attacks against the Moro people worsened after martial law was declared in 1972.

“So many Moros were killed, so we organized already a liberation organization – thus the birth of the Moro National Liberation Front,” Ebrahim said.

The MILF split from the MNLF

in 1977.

‘Final stage of Moro struggle’ The MILF chairman said that walking towards the Philippine military’s headquarters and shaking hands with its commanders and officers made him think about the pending plebiscite on the Bangsamoro Organic Law, the law that will imlplement the 2014 peace deal by creating a new region to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

“I thought this is a signal from Allah that it’s already the final stage of our struggle,” Ebrahim said.

“I do not remember anyone in the MILF hierarchy—except for Ghadzali Jaafar, who visited last July as chairman of BTC—who has been to Aguinaldo,” Ebrahim said.

Galvez said Ebrahim’s visit was his way of reciprocating his visit to Darapan, where arrival honors stretched five kilometers.

“That was the longest foyer honors that I have received from any camp,” Galvez said.

He said the visits done by the AFP and MILF leadership manifest their strongest cooperation towards justice and lasting peace for the Bangsamoro region.

Galvez assured Ebrahim that, while the AFP will soon change leadership when he retires, it will continue to support the peace process with the MILF. “I will always said that for the PAGE A7

MANILA — The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is not blind to alarming developments in the West Philippine Sea where China has set up several military installations and restricted movement of Filipino fishermen.

AFP spokesman Brig. Gen. Edgard Arevalo made the clarification amid insinuations the military was doing nothing in the face of China’s new construction activities — like installing weather stations — on seven man-made islands within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.

Arevalo said some field reports reaching the office of AFP chief Gen. Carlito Galvez are deliberately withheld from the public.

“There are reports reaching the chief of staff and other heads agencies and departments, only that some of these reports did

not reach the spokesman and the AFP Public Information Office,” Arevalo said over the weekend.

He said the military was discriminate in making statements so as not to further stir tensions in the region.

The Task Force for the West Philippine Sea headed by National Security Adviser (NSA) Secretary Hermogenes Esperon Jr., Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Department of National Defense (DND) and AFP have all declined to issue any statement on China’s reported establishment of weather stations.

Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. had said he would ask Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana about the matter but taunted the media to do the verification themselves.

China itself has issued a statement confirming its establishment of weather stations on occupied islands.

The AFP, however, has made it clear that any civilian trip to certain areas in the West Philippine needs to be cleared with the military.

“You can always seek permission because we need to provide you with appropriate security.

We need to provide you too with appropriate information,” Arevalo said. He also pointed out that the DFA is not the proper agency that grants non-military trips to critical areas in the West Philippine Sea. In a related development, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said it would establish a hotline with the Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) to improve their coordination especially in search and rescue (SAR) operations as well as anti-drug trafficking and piracy in the West Philippine Sea. “The two agencies agreed to put up a hotline of communication mechanism which will provide real time 24/7 commuPAGE A7

A6 NOVEMBER 21-23, 2018 • SoCal ASIAN JOURNAL

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OPINION

Return of the bells

FEATURES

AFTER more than a century, it looks like the Bells of Balangiga are finally headed back to the Philippines. This week a symbolic handover was done in the U.S. state of Wyoming, where two of the bells are displayed as spoils of a brutal war. A third bell is in South Korea.

All three are expected to be back in Eastern Samar’s Balangiga town by next month.

The bells were taken during America’s foray into colonial rule.

When the United States supplanted Spain as the new foreign ruler of the Philippines, freedom fighters resisted in Samar and several other provinces. A vicious guerrilla attack on U.S. troops that was heralded by the tolling of the church bells of Balangiga prompted U.S. General Jacob Smith to order Samar turned into “a howling wilderness.”

Much has changed since then in bilateral relations. Even as a segment of the Philippine population continued fighting for full independence from the U.S., other Filipinos embraced the so-called 50 years of Hollywood, learning English and the ways of Western democracy, and enjoying corned beef and Coca-Cola.

The two sides fought as allies during World War II, going through the same ordeal. Even when the Philippines gained full political independence af-

ter the war, the two allies remained bound by a mutual defense treaty and shared values on democracy and human rights. Millions of Filipinos now live in the United States, with most members of the younger generations born there.

The Balangiga bells, however, remained a sore point in the alliance. Previous administrations had tried to recover the bells, but were rebuffed by U.S. war veterans’ groups and their families especially in Wyoming, home state of most of the American forces killed in Balangiga.

While the deaths of 48 U.S. soldiers were tragic and unfortunate, citizens of the world’s bastion of democracy would understand that the Filipino guerrillas were fighting for freedom. Filipinos were also killed during the attack and in the “howling wilderness.” sad, ugly chapter in the two countries’ relations.

Returning the bells would bring closure to that Filipinos eagerly wait for the bells to toll again,

Editorial

Philstar.com photo

this time in friendship, in the church of Balangiga.

(Philstar.com)

As the Republican leadership refuses to protect the Mueller probe, Senate Democrats sue President Trump for defying the Constitution in appointing Whitaker

The Fil-Am Perspective GEL SANTOS-RELOS POST-MIDTERM elections, President Donald Trump finally forced Attorney General (AG) Jeff Sessions to resign, and at the heart of this was Sessions’s recusing himself from the Russia probe because of conflict of interest.

Trump had repeatedly lashed out at Sessions, saying had he known Sessions would do so, he wouldn’t have appointed him for this top Justice Department post.

The president then appointed Matthew Whitaker, the chief of staff of Sessions, to be acting AG. This appointment bypassed the line of succession statute which mandates that should there be a vacancy, the Deputy Attorney General should replace the AG, and that official is Rod Rosenstein.

Rosenstein became the acting AG, overseeing the Russia probe when Sessions recused himself, and was instrumental in appointing Special Counsel Robert Mueller to head the investigation in the alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia to interfere and influence the 2016 presidential election.

Trump has been undermining the Russia probe, calling it a “witch hunt”, and has now picked Whitaker to be acting AG who will now oversee the Mueller probe, instead of Rosenstein.

The problem with Whitaker is

that he has made public statements in the past discrediting the Mueller probe, and has expressed that the DOJ should limit the scope of the probe and slash its budget to cripple the full investigation wherever the facts and evidence take it.

Republican and Democratic senators filed a motion to protect Mueller from being fired, yet Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to subject the motion to a vote.

Now, a group of Senate Democrats filed a lawsuit that seeks a court order preventing Whitaker from continuing to serve as the acting attorney general.

This complaint joins other legal challenges and is the first that squarely addresses Whitaker’s appointment.

The lawsuit filed by U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal, Sheldon Whitehouse and Mazie Hirono — all members of the Senate Judiciary Committee — contend that Whitaker was ineligible to step in as the interim attorney general because his past role as a Sessions aide did not require Senate confirmation.

Senator Blumenthal tweeted on Monday, November 19, “Americans prize checks and balances.

Trump’s dictatorial appointment of Whitaker denies Senators from completing our constitutional obligation to scrutinize the nomination of our top law enforcement official. We are left with no choice but to seek recourse through the

courts.”

The Senate Democrats sue Trump to challenge the constitutionality of Trump’s appointment of Whitaker as the acting AG on November 7.

According to the complaint, “the Constitution’s Appointments Clause requires that the Senate confirm high-level federal government officials, including the Attorney General, before they exercise the duties of the office”.

As the National Law Journal reported, “The lawsuit highlighted Whitaker’s past involvement as an adviser to a company that shut down after being accused by the Federal Trade Commission of bilking consumers out of $26 million.

Critics also contend Whitaker is predisposed, based on media appearances and written comments, to curtail Special Counsel Robert Mueller III’s ongoing investigation of Donald Trump’s campaign ties to Russia.”

The DOJ defended the appointment of Whitaker in a statement: “President Trump’s designation of Matt Whitaker as Acting Attorney General of the United States is lawful and comports with the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, the Appointments Clause of the U.S. Constitution, Supreme Court precedent, past Department of Justice opinions, and actions of U.S. Presidents, both Republican and Democrat. There are over 160 instances in American history in which non-Senate confirmed persons performed, on a tempo-

rary basis, the duties of a Senateconfirmed position. To suggest otherwise is to ignore centuries of practice and precedent.”

In a Fox News interview, Trump denied any knowledge of Whitaker’s previous statements against the Mueller probe, despite such statements had been made public online, on print, and on television. In the same interview, Trump said that having known now, it would not change anything. “No collusion,” the president insisted.

The Senate Democrats pointed out in their complaint: “The stakes are too high to allow the president to install an unconfirmed lackey to lead the Department of Justice — a lackey whose stated purpose, apparently, is undermining a major investigation into the president.”

“Donald Trump cannot subvert the Constitution to protect himself and evade accountability.”

Trump’s attack on the credibility of Mueller and Rosenstein escalates, even when these two men are registered Republicans and have earned the respect of the Republicans, Democrats and Independents for their impeccable integrity.

Trump also continues to attack the Mueller probe, and will not sit down for a face-to-face interview with Special Counsel Robert Mueller, contrary to his earlier statements that he would fully cooperate because he is innocent and has nothing to hide.

His attacks against the investigation and the people overseeing the investigation negate his claim of innocence. What is he so angry about and afraid of?

Maybe it is because the Mueller probe, which calls a “witch hunt” has now indicted or gotten guilty pleas from 32 people and three companies — composed of four former Trump advisers, 26 Russian nationals, three Russian companies, one California man, and one London-based lawyer.

As reported by Vox: - Six of these people have pleaded guilty. Four of these are ex-Trump aides who struck plea deals with Mueller — Manafort and Gates were charged with a series of offenses related to their past work for Ukrainian politicians and their finances. Papadopoulos and Flynn both admitted making false statements with investigators to hide their contacts with Russians.

- The probe has also filed two major indictments of Russian nationals and a few Russian companies for crimes related to alleged interference with the 2016 election: the troll farm indictment, and the email hacking indictment.

- Konstantin Kilimnik, a longtime Manafort associate, has been charged with obstruction of justice.

- Michael Cohen and Sam Patten struck plea deals after Mueller referred their investigations

elsewhere.

- If you also count investigations that Mueller originated but then referred elsewhere in the Justice Department, you can add plea deals from two more people to the list.

- Other reported focuses of Mueller’s investigation — such as potential obstruction of justice by the Trump administration — have also not resulted in any indictments yet.

The Vox rightly pointed out, “It’s a sprawling set of allegations, encompassing both election interference charges against overseas Russians, and various other crimes by American Trump advisers. However, Mueller hasn’t yet alleged any crimes directly connecting the two — that is, alleging that Trump advisers conspired with Russian officials to impact the election. He is continuing to investigate that.”

Mueller has seen evidence nobody has seen. He knows the big picture. He puts all the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle together. His independent investigation needs to be completed without interference. The American people need to know the truth. And that is what Trump is so afraid of. *** Gel Santos Relos is the anchor of TFC’s “Balitang America.” Views and opinions expressed by the author in this column are solely those of the author and not of Asian Journal and ABS-CBN-TFC. For comments, go to www.TheFilAmPerspective.com, https://www.facebook. com/Gel.Santos.Relos

Leave the 89-year-old grandmother in peace

Commentary

RIGOBERTO TIGLAO THERE is something perverse, uncivilized and sadistic in the hysterical shrieks of the Yellows and the Reds demanding the immediate incarceration of an 89year old grandmother, Imelda Marcos.

These screams to lynch Imelda have nothing to do with justice.

Those who demand that Imelda be immediately thrown in jail are those who have never been in prison, and do not have the slightest idea of the mental and physical torture of incarceration.

Or they have never cared for or lived with a mother or a grandmother in her 80s to witness how an elderly person’s body and mind deteriorates each day, and her memories fade so fast that she becomes somebody so totally separated from her past.

For chrissakes, Imelda will be 90 by July next year, eight years more than the 72 years average life span of Filipino women. Has she committed a crime so horrible that she should be barred

from spending her twilight years in peace?

Why are people like Red Representative Neri Colmenares and the Communist Party itself (in an official statement) gloating that a near-octogenarian suffer in jail for an alleged crime, and not even a heinous one, committed four decades ago?

The glee over Imelda’s conviction is a psychotic bloodlust that is the result of the total success of the Yellows and the Reds in demonizing the Marcos couple. After all, the Metropolitan Manila and Cebu uprising called EDSA I would not have succeeded, and its Yellow victors could not have held on to power, if Marcos had not been painted—with the help of the best Washington-based PR firms and the U.S. deep state—as both a brutal, ruthless dictator and a colossal thief.

Yellow fiction Marcos and his wife of course weren’t saints that they didn’t accumulate their own huge retirement stash and secretly acquired substantial shares of the companies—such as PLDT, Benguet Corp., United Laboratories, and Manila Bulletin— that were

owned oligarchs they crushed or who became their allies. But in varying degrees and modus operandi, all Philippine presidents—except perhaps Ramon Magsaysay—also did so.

But the claim they plundered the nation’s coffers or committed horrific human rights violations on a mass scale has been a Yellow fiction. They did have major, incontrovertible contributions that advanced the welfare of Filipinos. As a nation, we need a balanced objective assessment of our past, or we will not learn from it.

The Communist Party has been at the head of the lynch mob against the Marcoses since its legitimacy has been almost totally based on its propaganda that has been an immense lie: That it led Filipinos to fight a ruthless fascist. It is struggling to maintain that narrative, claiming that all succeeding administrations have been simply versions of the Marcos “fascist dictatorship.”

I am biased for Imelda for very personal reasons, although I have never met her in person.

I became so only in 2004. That was when my heart arteries be-

came so blocked that I had to have a heart bypass surgery. I owe my life to my cardiac surgeon Chuck Chuachiaco, my cardiologist Lito Atabug who very quickly diagnosed that I was on the brink of a heart attack, and to an old friend Rho Clemente who, because her husband owned the hospital, had me jump the queues at the clinics and laboratories.

But I also indirectly owe my life to Imelda. The hospital where I had my surgery was the Philippine Heart Center. While I was diagnosed in a very reputable private hospital where my cardiologist was based, he insisted I have my open-heart surgery at the Heart Center, which he said is a world-class institution for that kind of operation.

The Heart Center was totally Imelda’s pet project. It wouldn’t exist if she had not pushed for its establishment in 1974 and asked the country’s elites to help finance it. It was then called the Philippine Heart Center for Asia, which wasn’t at all a misnomer as it was the first such center for heart diseases, at least in Southeast Asia.

It was Imelda’s prestige that

got world-class heart specialists like Christiaan Barnard (who performed the world’s first human-to-human heart transplant), Denton Cooley (the first implantation of a total artificial heart), as well as cardiac surgery pioneers Donald Effler and Charles Bailey to be consultants at the center. They passed on their skills and insight at the Heart Center to Filipino doctors who became the core of the country’s now world-class generation of cardiologists and cardiac surgeons. (Ninoy Aquino spurned the Filipino cardiologists at the Center, claiming they would kill him while he was under the knife under Marcos’ orders and demanded in 1980 that he have his heart surgery in a Texas hospital. It was Imelda who lobbied her husband that he be permitted to do so.)

I’m sure that if my father’s doctors had asked him to be brought to the Heart Center, he would not have died in 1977 of the heart disease I would later have. By that year, heart bypass surgery had become routine at the center, but not done in other hospitals because the procedure required then sophisticated and

expensive equipment such as the heart-lung machine.

How many Filipinos with heart disease has the Heart Center served? Using a low estimate of 10,000 in- and outpatients annually served: half a million Filipinos. How many Filipinos like me whose lives were saved through open heart surgeries? With 3,000 such surgeries every year (or about 10 daily): 129,000. How much was the cost of the center’s medical services for heart diseases that were given free, officially or de facto, to the lower classes? Using the Commission on Audit’s figure: P1 billion.

In sharp contrast, the Communist Party and its NPA that direct Colmenares, who has been livid that Imelda hasn’t jailed, have killed by one estimate over 100,000 soldiers, policemen and civilians in its 50 years trying to violently overthrow our democratic system.

With heart disease becoming the leading cause of mortality in the Philippines, we owe Imelda big-time. Visit the Heart Center, it’s become so crowded, as it remains the hospital of preference PAGE A7

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Dateline PhiliPPines

SoCal ASIAN JOURNAL • NOvembeR 21-23, 2018

PH, China to sign multiple agreements Leave the 89-year-old grandmother...

by Ralph

VillanueVa

ManilaTimes.net

CHINESE President Xi Jinping’S visit to Manila will lead to the signing of several agreements between Manila and Beijing, one of President Rodrigo Duterte’s economic managers said on Sunday, November 18.

In a press briefing at the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said multiple deals would be signed during Xi’s visit to the Philippines this week.

“There are many agreements to be signed. They are presently being reviewed by the different departments and being coordinated by [Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro] Locsin [Jr] and these agreements will be signed or the notes will be exchanged in the presence of both presidents,” Dominguez said.

These agreements include projects that China will finance like the Kaliwa Dam and the railway projects from Manila to Bicol, Clark to Subic and the Mindanao Railway System.

He added that his department will also sign an agreement with Bank of China.

Dominguez said a joint oil ex-

Xi Jinping meets Duterte during the Belt and Road Forum (BRF) for International Cooperation at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on May 15, 2017.

ManilaTimes.net photo

ploration agreement may also be signed.

“That is being considered and Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi is leading the effort in this area,” he said.

Dominguez said the country is “preparing very hard for this historic meeting.”

“His visit is quite significant because it is a return visit to the state visit of the President two years ago where President Duterte very wisely turned the policy of foreign policy of the Philippines towards ASEAN and

Asia particularly to China,” he said.

“These face-to-face meetings are so important because they promote understanding and goodwill between the leaders but also show a good example to their citizens that the Philippines and China should cooperate more closely and cooperation comes from understanding each other, each other’s positions very well,” he added.

Duterte has kept a cordial relationship with China since taking his oath as president. n

20 presidential appointees at Customs resign ABOUT 20 presidential appointees at the Bureau of Customs (BoC) tendered their courtesy resignations, a spokesman for the agency said on Monday, November 19.

Lawyer Erastus Sandino Austria, also Port of Manila collector, said Commissioner Rey Guer-

rero did not name names as “a courtesy to these individuals.”

Austria said the 20 current presidential appointees in the BoC were now subject to the evaluation of the appointing authority.

Among the presidential appointees at the BoC are the

commissioners and deputy commissioners, the director of the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS), director of the Enforcement and Security Service (ESS) and a number of district collectors, among others. (William Depasupil/ManilaTimes.net)

MILF chairman makes historic visit to...

PAGE A5 rest of my life I will always dedicate my services for the peaceful resolution of our place, particularly the Bangsamoro,” Galvez, who has said he will campaign for the ratification of the BOL when he retires, said.

Galvez was commander of the 6th Infantry Division and later of the Western Mindanao Command before being appointed AFP chief of staff in April.

He was chairman of the government panel of the Coordinating Committee on the Cessation

of Hostilities and helped “negotiate a ceasefire, separate the two contending forces, assist in the evacuation of casualties, assess the situation of internally displaced persons, and help stabilize the situation” after the Mamasapano clash in 2015. n

AFP monitoring South China Sea...

PAGE A5 nication using radio and video conference. The system seeks to facilitate coordination in search and rescue, piracy, drug trafficking and environmental protection,” PCG commandant Admiral

Elson Hermogino said.

With a hotline with Chinese coast guard, PCG spokesperson Captain Armand Balilo said: “We can talk via video conference and this could also be replicated in the districts.”

“The West Philippine Sea is vast so it is good that there would be more Coast Guard units that would be monitoring the area,” Balilo said. “We would be able to calibrate our responses and avoid miscalculation. n

PAGE A6 of cardiac surgeons and doctors around the country. It is practically the only hospital where the poor with heart diseases go to: at 4 a.m., there is already a queue for its free medical consultation.

Communist cadre Colmenares should pray hard to whatever god he believes in that he doesn’t contract a heart disease or he’ll have to endure being treated at Imelda’s “edifice.”

If only for her role in establishing the Heart Center, Imelda should be left alone in peace, and dignity.

But not only the Heart Center.

Besides that hospital, the Philippines has three other specialty hospitals, all government operated, all renowned in their respective fields: the Lung Center of the Philippines, the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI), and the Philippine Children’s Medical Center. (NKTI has been performing 300 kidney transplants each year, and its 43 dialysis machines serve the poor daily from 4 a.m. to 11 p.m.)

Guess what? All of these were Imelda’s projects. The first hospital Imelda actually lobbied her husband to build, in 1969, is one

of the health department’s biggest tertiary hospital today, the East Avenue Medical Center.

Why such unimaginative name for a huge hospital?

Months after she grabbed power, President Cory Aquino ordered to change the name of every hospital in the country that would remind people that these were built during Marcos’ watch. So, under her Memorandum Order No. 48 issued in 1986, the name “Bagong Lipunan Hospital” was changed to refer simply to its location in East Avenue. Mariano Marcos Medical Center was changed to Batac General Hospital; Marcos Maternity and Children’s Hospital to Northern Ilocos Norte District Hospital; and Doña Josefa E. Marcos General Hospital to Lasam District Hospital. The names of five other state-owned hospitals in the provinces with a “Marcos” or “Romualdez” in its name were similarly changed.

In the three decades since the Marcoses fell from power, has there been any hospital of any kind built by succeeding administrations? None.

Corazon Aquino died of colorectal cancer, a disease that

A

has become the country’s number one cancer. It is preventable with early diagnosis through colonoscopy. The procedure though, costing P10,000, is beyond the reach of the masses.

President Aquino III had absolute discretion from 2011 to 2012 over P175 billion in funds under the so-called “Disbursement Acceleration Program” he invented. But it didn’t even cross his mind to establish a Philippine Center for Cancer that would provide free colonoscopy, endoscopy and other cancer-treatment services to the masses, to honor his mother.

The Yellow Cult, indeed, has managed to cast a spell on our nation that Imelda’s contributions to the country have been nearly totally forgotten. What kind of sorry nation have we become?

In subsequent installments of these series, I will show that the Sandiganbayan decision itself is so terribly flawed, and that contrary to what the Yellow commentators have been spewing out, it doesn’t at all conclude that Imelda stole “$200 million” from the nation. (ManilaTimes. net)

A November 21-23, 2018 • SoCal ASIAN JoUrNAL

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SoCal ASIAN JOURNAL • NOVEMBER 21-23, 2018

B

Philippine growth to recover amid headwinds

by Mayvelin

U. Caraballo Manilatimes.net

INCREASED foreign direct investments (FDI) and sustained government infrastructure spending will allow the Philippine economy to ride out current headwinds, the country’s Finance chief said.

In a recent speech, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III tagged elevated inflation, a strong U.S. dollar and higher global oil prices as the biggest hurdles facing the economy.

Still, he claimed that the Philippines remained among the strongest economies in Asia.

“We are poised to recover our growth momentum, aided

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III Manila times.net file photo

by investments in modernizing our infrastructure and strong inflows of foreign direct investments,” Dominguez said.

Philippine economic growth eased to 6.1 percent in the third quarter, the lowest in three

u PAGE B3

New law gives Bangko Sentral control over payment systems

by Catherine

talavera Philstar.com

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has signed into law a bill allowing the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to regulate all payment systems in the country to increase efficiency and lessen risks in the financial system.

Republic Act (RA) 11127 or “The National Payment Systems Act” was signed by the President on October 30 but only released to the media on Thursday, November 11.

The law primarily seeks to organize, manage and regulate all matters affecting payment instructions to promote “safe, secured, efficient and reliable operation of payment systems in order to control system risk and provide an environment conducive to the sustainable growth of the economy.”

The BSP was mandated to oversee payment systems and exercise supervisory and regulatory powers for the purpose of

ensuring the financial system’s stability and effectiveness.

The central bank was also given the power to designate any payment system as “posing or has the potential to pose a systemic risk”.

The law defines “payment systems” as “the set of payment instruments, whether tangible or intangible that enables a person to transfer funds.”

“The designation of a payment system by the Bangko Sentral shall be effective until revoked,” RA 11127 states.

“Should the Bangko Sentral designate a payment system, it shall require the participants of the designated payment system to comply, within a reasonable period, with the provisions of the Act and its implementing rules and regulations,” it adds.

The law also allows the BSP to own and operate payment systems as may be deemed necessary by its policymaking Monetary Board. n

Philippines expects exports of buko to United States soon Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said the US market would soon be open for buko from the Philippines as relayed by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Undersecretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Ted McKinney during their meeting Wednesday, November 14.

Philstar .com file photo

by Catherine

talavera Philstar.com

IN a potential boost to the country’s coconut industry, green coconut or buko and other fibers are likely to be exported soon to the U.S. Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said the U.S. market would soon be open for buko from the Philippines as relayed by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Undersecretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Ted McKinney during their meeting Wednesday, November 14.

“Undersecretary McKinney said that there

are just a few more quarantine protocols which need to be completed before Filipino coconut farmers could start shipping green coconuts or buko to the U.S.,” Piñol said.

Piñol said green coconuts from the Philippines could be sold in Filipino and Asian grocery stores across America starting 2019.

He said buko is a high value product which has carved a niche in the health-conscious U.S. market.

“The Philippine coconut industry, however, failed to catch up with the demand of the market and focused mainly on the production of copra which is processed to produce

oil,” Piñol said.

He said supply in the market is currently monopolized by Thailand because of their aggressive marketing efforts and market-oriented agriculture.

Thailand has also been able to export other high value products to the U.S. such as coconut water, coconut syrup, among others.

Piñol said the Philippines is the second biggest producer of coconuts with a total of 3.5 million hectares planted and a production of 15 million metric tons, while Thailand is currently ninth – producing only one million metric tons from only 216,000 hectares.

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ADB sees ‘Build’ program boosting PH corporate bond market by ben

o. de vera Inquirer.net

THE Manila-based multilateral lender Asian Development Bank (ADB) is bullish about prospects in the domestic corporate bond market as real estate firms participate in the Duterte administration’s ambitious “Build, Build, Build” program.

In a statement Monday, November 19, the ADB welcomed financing company AEON Credit Service (Philippines) Inc.’s P1-billion bond issuance, which was issued under the Asean+3 Multi-Currency Bond Issuance

Framework (AMBIF) and guaranteed by the Credit Guarantee and Investment Facility (CGIF).

AEON Philippines’ bond issuance was offered in two tranches maturing in 2021 and 2023, with the money raised to be used “to provide tricycle loans and personal loans, as well as financial services for the purchase of consumer products such as home appliances, furniture, electronics, and other consumer products, focusing particularly on the unbanked population and those with limited access to financial services,” the ADB said.

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Inquirer.net file photo

B NOVEMBER 21-23, 2018 • SoCal ASIAN JOURNAL

Business news

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Delinquent tax debt could mean Immigrant Living: 101 revocation of your passport and Beyond IN February 2018, the IRS started certification of individuals with delinquent tax debt to the State Department.

How will the IRS certification impact you?

• Upon receipt of certification. The State Department will either deny application or revoke current passport or both.

• You are overseas. Limited validity passport for direct return to the US maybe issued by the State Department if you are overseas.

• Serious delinquent tax debt. IRS tax debt of more than $51,000 inclusive of penalties plus interest for which all administrative remedies under IRC § 6320 has been exhausted, and federal tax lien and levy notices have already been issued. Liabilities limited under Title 26 of the United States Code.

• Tax debt not considered serious. A tax debt is not con-

passport application.

• Be aware of Notice CP What’s 508C. You will receive notice CP New 508C upon certification of IRS to the State Department of serious tax debt, by mail.

• Certification reversal CP Arlene Al-os, 508R. The State Department will CPA, MBA be notified within 30-days by the IRS to reverse previous certifisidered serious if there is: a) in- cation of serious tax debt once stallment agreement; b) offer in assessed tax debt is no longer compromise; c) timely collection serious in 3. above, no longer due process hearing related to enforceable, and or due to errothe levy; d) innocent spouse re- neous certification.

• Certified debt no longer selief under IRC § 6015 has been requested and collection is sus- riously delinquent. The certified pended; e) under settlement debt previously delinquent is no agreement with Justice Depart- longer delinquent when: 1) there is timely request for collection ment.

• 90-day hold of applica- due process; 2) has been sustion. You will be given 90-days pended due request of innocent to resolve and enter into pay- spouse relief under IRS § 6015; ment options with IRS to resolve 3) the IRS accepts the installcertification issues by the State ment agreement or offer an in Department and will hold your compromise. application prior to denial of u PAGE B5

Monette AdevA MAglAyA LONG ago, on a visit to my father’s grave site on Father’s day, my husband, daughter and I trudged along several tombstones of husbands and wives who lived in the 1850’s and died just before the mid-1900’s buried side by side on a quiet, lush, manicured patch of Forest Lawn Glendale.

My daughter noted the pattern in the headstones of a generation ago. I commented that it is getting harder to find such longevity of devotion these days among younger married couples of the current generation.

Call this the Age of Distraction.

Perhaps it is because the young ones are engaged in far too many distractions and mired in too much self-absorption living in a popular culture that fosters selflove and to a point, extreme nar-

Two magical words (First of 2 parts)

“...And I think about those people who mean so much to me And for so many years have made me so very happy And I count the times I have forgotten to say “THANK YOU” And how much I love them.”

–”Sometimes”, Richard & Karen Carpenter cissism. It has become a struggle for many couples just to stay together.

One might argue that the generations before us didn’t have the same challenges that we are having. True. It may have been a far simpler time compared to the complexities we are all faced with. And yet they leave behind lessons of love that result in devotion and fidelity. Surely, we can learn a lot about nurturing human relations from those who have gone before us.

This I have learned from an older generation at an early age.

Of all the powerful words in the English language, the words “Thank you” are like magic wands in helping transform human relationships, marriage in

particular, happier. Not perfect … just happier.

You don’t even have to say the words. You can acknowledge anything good done for you by your partner by a sweet gesture, a nod, a smile, a touch or anything else that works for you that says “thank you.”

In short, don’t take your partner for granted. Whether you’ve been together 50 days or 50 years, those words never get old.

If you want that most powerful emotion called love to live on, treat your partner like a gardener takes care of a plant. Most plants cannot survive without water, light, soil and other optimum conditions kept at a consistent

the region).

At present, the ADB noted that “the size of the Philippines’ bond market is relative small as compared to other markets in the region, while the number of companies accessing the bond market is also limited.”

But moving forward, “the local currency bond market has a potential to expand to support fundraising activities of real sector, and finance infrastructure projects of the government, particularly projects under the ‘Build, Build, Build’ program, which the government is expected to spend between P8-9 trillion from 20172022,” the ADB said.

Under “Build, Build, Build,” the government plans to rollout 75 “game-changing” projects, with about half targeted to be finished within President Duterte’s term, alongside spending a total of over P8 trillion on hard and modern infrastructure until 2022 to usher in “the golden age of infrastructure.”

According to the ADB, “we are hoping to have more bond issuances under the AMBIF framework and guaranteed by CGIF.” “As part of the Asian Bond Markets Initiative (ABMI), the ADB and the CGIF work closely together to support local currency bond market development in the

region, particularly in emerging and frontier markets,” it added.

In 2003, the governments of Asean, China, Japan and South Korea launched the Abmi “to boost the development of local currency bond markets,” the ADB noted.

“The Abmi aims to address the double mismatch problem, [in effect], too much reliance on shortterm foreign currency funding, by promoting local currency bonds. This was an important lesson from the Asian currency crisis in 1997-1998,” according to the ADB. The CGIF was established by the ABMI, with the ADB serving as the initiative’s secretariat.

“One of the key initiatives of the ABMI and the CGIF is to support local currency bond market development in the region, particularly in emerging and frontier markets. The role of the CGIF is very important in building trust and creating investors’ confidence, especially in markets where bond market is just starting and number of investors is limited. As markets develop, issuers will be able to raise funds in local currency across the region to expand their operations, paving the way for more integrated financial markets in Asean+3,” the ADB said. n

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Seven things you should not do when ADB sees ‘Build’ program boosting... served with divorce papers by your spouse PAGE B1 t

FOR most people, being served with divorce papers by your spouse is probably one of the biggest surprises in your life.

The spouse in the receiving end of the divorce sometimes are not offered any explanation for the divorce petition by their spouse.

You may start getting upset about how this can happen to you and start doing things that are going to be seriously detrimental to your divorce case later on in the proceeding. Here are seven things you should not do.

Do not confront your spouse and commit domestic violence Many spouse feel very angry and upset upon receiving the divorce papers. You may start blaming your spouse and attacking your spouse. You may even yell, threaten, scream, or even physically assault your spouse.

This type of confrontation is called “domestic violence.” You may be arrested criminally if your spouse calls law enforcement.

Your spouse may also file a domestic violence restraining order against you. Either one would compromise your ability to seek custody of your children, child support, and spousal support. It would also affect your credibility

Barrister’s Corner Atty. Kenneth UrsUA reyes as a witness for future proceedings. In addition if you do this in front of the children, this may be looked at as domestic violence and abuse against the children.

The incident may be reported to Child Protective Services for investigation.

Do not run to the bank and empty out all your bank accounts or sell assets except for funds necessary retain legal representation in the divorce.

If you have assets, do not run and empty out your bank accounts with the goal of securing it from your spouse. The divorce petition and summons includes certain automatic temporary restraining orders (ATROS) which prohibits transferring and encumbering assets. You will be in violation of the ATROS if you do this. Your spouse may also make a claim for breach of fidu-

ciary duty against you. However there are certain exceptions to withdrawing funds such as funds necessary for your living expenses and funds you need to retain an attorney.

Do not cut off your spouse from any insurance policies One of the ATROS prohibits you from removing your spouse from health insurance coverage and other insurance policy. It would be a violation of ATROS to do so. You need to maintain your spouse on all existing insurance until the divorce is finalized or the status of marriage is dissolved in a bifurcated trial.

Do not take off with your child and move out of state or out of the country If the child has been living in this state, California Court has jurisdiction over your child even if you leave California after being served the divorce. Your spouse can get an order from the California court to return the child to California and get sole physical custody of your child. This can be enforced through law enforcement in other states. In addition, this would also be an ATROS violation. Such a move would seri-

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AEON Philippines is a subsidiary of AEON Group of Companies via Japan-based bank holding firm AEON Financial Service Co. Ltd. “We hope that this pilot bond will pave the way for similar bond issues going forward. Vibrant local currency bond markets provide valuable alternative sources of funding for companies while borrowing in local rather than foreign currencies strengthens the overall stability of the domestic financial sector,” ADB chief economist Yasuyuki Sawada said.

“We welcome the first CGIFguaranteed Ambif bond in the Philippines. The issuance not only supports the development of the Philippine bond market but also Asean’s efforts toward financial integration,” Commissioner Ephyro Luis B. Amatong of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was quoted by the ADB as saying.

According to the ADB, AEON Philippines’ bond sale was the third CGIF-guaranteed issuance in the country, following those by AP Renewables (the first climate project bond in Asia) as well as ASA Philippines Foundation (the first guarantee support for a local currency microfinance bond in

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Answering the common questions about bankruptcy

Debt Relief

ATTY. LAWRENCE YANG 1. IS there a constitutional right to file for bankruptcy?

Yes, there is. The United States Constitution adopted 250 years ago provides for the creation of bankruptcy courts and the power to administer them. Our founding fathers believed that people should be given a chance to have a fresh start in life to become productive again without accumulated debt. Before the adoption of the Constitution, we followed the concept of having debtor jails similar to the practice in England. Debtors who could not pay their debts were jailed until they paid their debts.

Thus, if you lived in before the adoption of the constitution and defaulted on your credit card debt, you would end up in jail, just like a criminal.

However, with the adoption of the United States Constitution on September 17, 1787 at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, forging a new government for the United States, debtors who can’t pay their debts do not have to go to prison. Instead, they can start life anew without accumulated debt, making them productive again, while being able to keep most if not all of their assets. Our founding fathers believed that allowing debtors to get rid of debt would be beneficial to society.

2. How many kinds of bankruptcies are there? Chapter 7 of the bankruptcy code gives debtors a new start by discharging the most accumulated debt.

Chapter 13 of the bankruptcy code gives debtors a financial reorganization by allowing partial payment of accumulated debt.

Chapter 13 is sometimes called the “wage earner reorganization plan” because the payment plan is funded by the debtor’s regular wages or business income.

There is also Chapter 11 and Chapter 12. There is also the urban legend of Chapter 20. This is doing Chapter 13 after Chapter 7 in certain circumstances.

3. Can you keep your assets if you file for bankruptcy? Yes, debtors are able to keep most if not all of their assets while getting rid of their debt by claiming “exemptions”.

“Exemptions” keeps an asset out of the bankruptcy estate and out of the jurisdiction of the bankruptcy trustee. For example, the homestead exemption in CA under 704.730 of the CA code of civil procedure is $75,000, $100,000, and $175,000 of home equity depending on applicable circumstances of the debtor. So, if you are a senior at 65, and your house which has a current fair market

PAGE B2 t

BUSINESS NEWS

value of $600,000 has a mortgage balance of $425,000, your homestead equity of $175,000 us fully exempt. You get to keep your house in Chapter 7. For instance, you owe $100,000 of credit cards. You can file Chapter 7 to get rid of the $100,000 of credit cards while you “exempt “ your house, i.e. you keep your house even as you get rid of your $100,000 of credit cards.

You also keep your retirement account of $200,000 by exempting it. Let’s say your 401k is $350,000, can you still exempt it? Sure you can. Even if you had a 401K or IRA or any kind of ERISA qualified retirement account like 403 or whatever of $1M, you can exempt the entire $1M, exempt your $600,000 house, while discharging your $100,000 of credit cards.

4. Is there a minimum debt required for Chapter 7? No. There is no minimum debt required. Owing $1,000 or $1 billion, it doesn’t make any difference. So, you can owe $1 billion of credit cards and other debts and have these wiped out, while you keep your $1-M of 401K? Absolutely.

5. How often can you file for Chapter 7? Every eight years.

6. Can you keep your cars in bankruptcy? Absolutely.

Let’s say you have a car loan of $25,000 on your 2013 Tesla-S, and a lease on your 2017 M-Benz c-300, and you want to keep both of them even as you file for Chapter 7 to discharge $50,000 of credit cards and other debts.

You have to continue the monthly payments on the Tesla and the M-Benz as before bankruptcy filing. You don’t get the cars for free. Most of the time, you can just continue payments. Sometimes, the creditor will require that you sign a “reaffirmation” agreement. This means that you recognize that the car loan or car lease survives the bankruptcy.

If you don’t want to keep the car, you can surrender the car and you will not owe the voluntary return deficiency. For example, you return the Tesla. Creditor sells the Tesla for $15,000.

Without the bankruptcy, you will still owe Elon Musk, $10,000 of return deficiency. With the bankruptcy, you owe Musk zero.

7. How fast can you rebuild credit after bankruptcy? Pretty fast. Right after bankruptcy, you can walk into a Toyota car dealer and buy a new car. However, the interest on the car loan will be higher. You might end up with 10 percent instead of 4 percent with good credit. And, there are creditors who specialize in providing credit cards to people who have just finished bankrupt-

cy. After two years, you can get a mortgage loan to buy a house but your interest will be higher.

After two years, your credit score will be about 600 to 620.

After three to five years, your credit score will be about 650 to 700, depending on how you handle new credit. Between six to seven years, your credit score will be about 730 to 750. On the 10th year from filing bankruptcy, there is no more record of your bankruptcy filing in any credit report. You’re back to over 800 or perfect credit.

8. Are income taxes dischargeable in bankruptcy? Yes, they are provided you meet qualifying factors. For instance, the tax owed must be at least 3 years old. An assessment must have been made at least 260 days ago and there is no fraud involved.

For instance, you owe the IRS $300,000 of income taxes for 2014. Chapter 7 will discharge the $300,000 and you won’t owe the IRS anymore provided all qualifying factors for discharge are met.

9. Who are famous now successful individuals who have filed for Chapter 7? Walt Disney filed Chapter 7 twice. Now Disney business is global and worth many billions of dollars.

Disney has theme parks in China, Japan, France, etc. Milton Hershey filed for Chapter 7. Now Hershey chocolates is probably the biggest global chocolate business that exists worth many billions of $.

10. Will you be the next Walt Disney or Milton Hershey if you file for bankruptcy? Who knows, maybe? But surely, if you don’t get rid of your accumulated debt now, you won’t ever become productive again.

You will remain a debt slave forever. As you know, being a slave will get you nowhere in life because slaves can’t do much for themselves. Slaves work for their masters.

Whatever you become, debt slave, free man, or wildly successful entrepreneur, that’s really up to you. Decide and choose a productive life again or remain a debt slave until you die.

If you need debt relief, call to set an appointment. I will analyze your case personally. You won’t regret it. *** 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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partner. Likewise, a smooth talking, slick Pepe Le Pew character with washboard abs would smell more like Brad’s sweaty armpit and would have no chance with a woman who already has a man at home she can canoodle with.

What is good for the gander is good for the goose. There may be scores of women out there right now who feel neglected by their spouses. Maybe there’s another woman or man waiting in the wings. But more often than not during this Age of Distraction, the disaffection is rooted in self-absorption. And there lies the problem. Women need, want and crave appreciation just as much as men, if not more.

Self-love takes many forms — whether it is playing video games or social networking on FB or some such platform on the internet for hours on end; binge drinking; gambling; watching or playing golf or any other sport; vain, self-obsession as a health nut or on becoming an Adonis body-building hunk or going to the deep end of things, deviant sex and pornography. Excessive time spent on these obsessions is time stolen from nurturing the love relationship. Watch out for these modern-day distractions and addictions that are just too many to list. Okay, let’s call a spade a spade. These are sins.

Admit them if you have them and break the bonds with firm resolve. If you want true love and happiness, strive for balance and moderation.

In all cases of neglect, love is left to wither and die. Women who feel neglected, if driven to their limits, may throw all caution

to the wind and look for love from the first opportunistic guy that comes along ready to engage in mild flirtation, an occasional dalliance or a full blown affair and gives them the attention and validation they crave. Such women can make disastrous, life-changing decisions that cause not only personal damage but also leave behind in the wake of a messy split, massive psychological, irreversible damage to children and other people involved in the couple’s orbit.

Say “thank you” and mean it. Don’t just do it out of habit.

Cut off the cellphone “umbilical cord” and make eye contact.

Open your eyes and see the good in your partner. Wisdom, as they say, is knowing what to overlook.

Rein in that critical sharp tongue.

The tongue is a small yet powerful muscle that can lash out, slash and burn a relationship forever.

The effect is amplified a million times when you write it down or use the web to vent your fury.

When you document your anger on paper and more frequently these days online, you have entered “scorched earth” territory.

There is little chance of ever going back.

(To be continued in next week’s issue…) *** Nota Bene: Monette Adeva Maglaya is SVP of Asian Journal Publications, Inc. To send comments, e-mail monette.maglaya@ asianjournalinc.com. To read past articles, click on the link Online: http://issuu.com/ asianjournaldigitaledition” http://issuu. com/asianjournaldigitaledition or you can do searches in the least invasive search engine duckduckgo or bing or yahoo even before agenda-driven google.

Two magical words

basis. The human heart is like that. It grows strong and beautiful with constant, devoted care.

Saying “thank you” to your partner in life as often as you can, simply means you appreciate him or her. You are validating his worth as a person. Perhaps, being appreciated and shown respect is next on the list of the most basic needs of a human being after the needs of food, clothing and shelter are met.

The words may not come naturally to you and your partner may be stunned at first but go ahead.

Give it a try and say “thank you.”

Say ‘em like you mean ‘em. Look for the small gestures such as giving you a cup of coffee, opening your car door, doing housework, cleaning your car or filling up your gas tank. Just don’t take what he does for you as a given.

Or how about taking the initiative yourself? If you do it long enough and often enough, he might mirror your behavior. What goes around comes around.

If he brings home the paycheck that pays for your family life, then treat him like a king. Often, the goodhearted partner will treat you like his queen. There are exceptions, of course. It is only the jerks and the jackasses who abuse their positions of strength.

That holds true for both sexes.

If there is constant, sincere appreciation shifting back and forth between partners, you are, in effect, cementing a foundation for a relationship that would be tough to crack even if a threat to your marriage, like a pretty, young vixen with mile-long legs comes along making a play for your

Philippines growth to recover...

PAGE B1 t

years. Despite this, the National Economic and Development Authority said the country was still one of the fastest-growing economies in Asia, next to Vietnam’s 7.0 percent and China’s 6.5 percent.

Based on latest Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas data, net FDI inflows slumped to their lowest level in five months in August at $752 mil-

lion. Nevertheless, it brought the year-to-date tally to $7.422 billion, 31 percent higher compared to the same period last year.

The government, meanwhile, has reported that infrastructure and capital spending totaled P337.6 billion in the first eight months of the year, 11.9 percent higher year on year.

The Duterte administration’s ambitious “Build Build Build”

infrastructure program aims to boost economic growth, which economic managers recently revised to a lower 6.5-6.9 percent this year from 7.0-8.0 percent previously.

“We are ready to grow. Be assured that, regardless of shortterm challenges, this administration is determined to push through with its strategy for economic growth,” Dominguez said. ■

SoCal ASIAN JOURNAL • NOVEMBER 21-23, 2018

Calendar of Events across

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 N OV E M B E R 2 1 - D EC E M B E R 1 2

JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles features Sou Fujimoto: Futures of the Future exhibition JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles is pleased to announce the upcoming SOU FUJIMOTO: FUTURES OF THE FUTURE exhibition, taking place Oct. 27 - Dec. 12, 2018 at JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles, located at Hollywood & Highland. Named the Wall Street Journal’s Architecture Innovator of The Year in 2014, Fujimoto has designed public and private buildings around the world since establishing his atelier in 2000. This exhibition is a showcase of over 100 models and large-scale photographs of past and current projects by the celebrated Japanese architect. Fujimoto addresses many opposite concepts, including the recurring theme the “primitive future.” This apparent contradiction refers to the primordial, intuitive moments that reconnect us with our own humanity, and open us up to new possibilities. His designs often feature juxtapositions of outside and inside, nature and urbanity, objects and spaces, public and private. And, his work considers the macro and micro: when does an object become a space? Exhibition dates from Oct. 27 to Dec. 12 are from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily, except Sunday 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. (Closed Thanksgiving Day 11/22). JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles is located at 6801 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90028 (inside Hollywood & Highland).

Admission is free. For more information, please call (800) 516-0565 or visit https://www.japanhouse.jp/losangeles/events/.

N OV E M B E R 2 1 - D EC E M B E R 1 5

Art exhibit inspired by Filipino food movement in Santa Ana, CA In “Super Sarap” — from November 3 to December 15 at Gallery 6/67 — three artists Mik Gaspay, Jeanne Jalandoni, and O.M. France Viana revisit commonplace objects and food within Filipino cooking. Through sculpture and photography, the artists elicit personal and collective memories and offer cultural connections that go beyond the Philippine diaspora.

The exhibition title, “Super Sarap,” fuses both English and Tagalog together, to hold multiple meanings. It can convey something that is extremely delicious, an expression of excitement and affirmation. Artists in “Super Sarap” play with these definitions and mutate symbols, making them both strange and familiar, challenging the expectations of cultural norms. It is guest curated by Patricia Cariño Valdez, an independent curator based in Oakland, CA. In addition to the exhibit, there will be two art and culinary events: an intimate four-course gourmet dinner prepared by acclaimed Orange County Chefs, Ross Pangilinan of Mix Mix Kitchen Bar on November 15 and Chef Ryan Garlitos of Irenia Restaurant on December 9 combined with an exhibition walk-through. The opening reception for Super Sarap will be on Saturday, November 3 from 6 to 9 p.m. Gallery 6/67 is located at 404 West 4th St., Suite K (2nd floor), Santa Ana, CA 92701. Gallery visits are by appointment. For more information about the exhibit and related events, visit https://www.gallery667.com.

N OV E M B E R 24

Quarter Madness at Holy Name of Mary Parish in San Dimas, CA Quarter Madness is a fundraiser on Saturday, November 24 that is full of fun and excitement. It will be held from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Holy Name of Mary Parish at 724 E. Bonita Avenue, San Dimas, CA 91773. Those who attend may find themselves raising bidding paddles for items that they may want to get. There are several vendors with a variety of items to bid for. Vendors will put up items and if you are interested on these items, you make a bid using quarters only. There will be many items for yourself and/or for your friends.

Come and celebrate with us this day as we raise funds for the poorest of the poor in Bagong Silang, Philippines. Your support will provide livelihood tools, and feeding programs. FCHNM projects include winter shelter and faith formation programs. Ticket donation: $20 includes lunch, dessert, bidding paddle. The event is sponsored by Bagong Silang Mission/ Philippines and Filipino Catholics of Holy Name of Mary Parish. For contact information, please contact Nora Prescott at (909) 525-2124.

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Healing Mass with Rev. Fr. Corsie Legaspi in La Puente, CA Come experience the healing power led by Rev. Fr. Corsie Legaspi on Friday, November 30 at 7 p.m. It will be held at St. Martha Catholic Church (444 N. Azusa Ave., La Puente, CA 91744). Contact Rainier Valenzuela at (626) 964-4313 for more information.

D EC E M B E R 1

NAFFAA hosts civic leadership forum in Carson, CA The National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA) will have a civic leadership forum on Saturday, December 1 in Carson, CA from 1 to 5 p.m. It is a free event focused on civic leadership and empowerment within the Filipino-American community. Following the forum will be a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. It will be held at the Carson Community Center on 801 E. Carson St. Carson, CA 90745. To RSVP, visit naffaa.org/events.

“Pasko Na Naman” in Glendale, CA The Federation of Filipino Rosary Groups will sponsor a fundraiser entitled: “Pasko Na Naman 3” on Saturday, December 1, 2018 at Incarnation Community Center (214 Fairview Avenue, Glendale, CA 91208) starting at 3:30 p.m. The presentation’s theme is: Tapestry of Music and Dance which will show a variety of music and dances in the Philippines especially at Christmas time. The show is filled with talented artists who give to the community with generous hearts. Bre Harris and Matt San Jose will portray the role of friends who happened to have shared a common denominator about life in the Philippines; depicted through choral singing and folk dancing. The performers are: Malaya Filipino American Dance Arts, Holy Family Adult Choir under the direction of Tom Makiling and the Spirit of God Community under the direction of Ralph Santiago. “Ninangs” and “ Ninongs “ will also be presented.

Pasko na Naman presentation is on its third year. This show will bring nostalgia especially to those who miss their families at Christmas time. Benefactors of proceeds include but are not limited to: Channel of Charity feeding and scholarship programs, FFRG faith formation events and projects. Come one! Come all! Feel the scents and sights of Filipino Christmas.

The audience will also enjoy “merienda cena” at intermission. Ticket donation is $20.00 per person. For souvenir ad and ticket information, contact Tess Domingo at (909) 855-2208 or Carol Evangelista at (909) 969-3316.

D EC E M B E R 2

UPAA-NJ biennial general assembly, election & holiday party in Iselin, NJ UPAA-NJ will hold its biennial General Assembly / Election / Holiday Party on Sunday, December 2, 2018 from 12:00 – 5:00 p.m. at the Renaissance Woodbridge Hotel at 515 US Highway 1 South in Iselin, NJ. The organization will honor distinguished alumni, induct a new set of officers and Board of Trustees and feature local UP alumni talents who will provide entertainment, lead line dancing and render DJ services for an afternoon of dancing. Come and learn more about future UPAA-NJ projects and initiatives. Meet old friends, make new ones. For tickets and more information, please contact any of the following: Daisy Macadaeg (201) 446-7767, keanemac@yahoo.com, Lani Benedicto: (201) 745-6829, benedicto78@yahoo.com, Minnie Corpuz-Castillo: (551) 587-2815, mcorpuzcastillo@gmail.com, Johnny Ferrer: (201) 323-1303, juancferrer09@yahoo.com.

D EC E M B E R 3

Healing Mass with Rev. Fr. Corsie Legaspi in Los Angeles Come experience the healing power led by Rev. Fr. Corsie Legaspi on Monday, December 3 at 7 p.m. It will be held at St. Bernard Church (2500 W. Ave 33, Los Angeles, CA 90065).

Contact Puri Narvaez at (818) 543-1831 for more information.

D EC E M B E R 4

Healing Mass with Rev. Fr. Corsie Legaspi in Montebello, CA Come experience the healing power led by Rev. Fr. Corsie Legaspi on Tuesday, December 4 at 7 p.m. It will be held at Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal (820 N. Garfield Ave., Montebello, CA 90640). Contact Frenz Rivera (626) 338-7898 for more information.

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

B3

B4 NOVEMBER 21-23, 2018 • SoCal ASIAN JOURNAL

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

Seven things you should not do when...

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ously undermine your claim for custody of the children.

Do not use your child as a messenger to communicate with your spouse Divorce process is a very difficult process for the children.

Children often blame themselves for the divorce of their parents.

Children sometimes manifest this through their academic performance during the divorce process. Do not involve the children in your divorce case. Using the children to communicate messages to your spouse puts them in a difficult and very stressful situation. This will also affect your claim for custody of your children if you regularly involve your children in your attempt to communicate with your spouse.

In addition, you should not say disparaging remarks about the other parent to your children.

Do not stalk your spouse in social medias such as facebook or tweeter.

Your spouse probably stopped informing you as to what is going on in his/her life at this point.

You may be curious if your spouse hooked up with a third party or an old flamer. You may

EMPLOYMENT

be curious what your spouse are telling your friends and family.

Do not stalk your spouse in social media such as facebook. Do not hack into your spouse’s e-mail.

This is a crime. Your spouse can also file a domestic violence restraining order against you for stalking. Most of the evidence obtained illegally is not admissible in court anyways. If you have been unfriended by your spouse, let it be.

Do not quit your job voluntarily If you think you can dodge child support and spousal support by quitting your job voluntarily, it is not going to happen.

Your spouse’s lawyer will argue that there was no legitimate reason for you to leave your employment and may seek the court to impute income on you.

Your spouse may seek vocational evaluation for purposes of determining your earning capacity. In addition, the amount of income you will lose by quitting is substantially more than the money you will owe in child or spousal support. Even if you are successful in dodging the support orders by quitting your job, your spouse can modify them back up

the moment you go back to the work force.

If you have been served with divorce papers and are unsure how to react, seek professional help before you dig yourself deeper in the hole. *** 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.

(Advertising Supplement)

EMPLOYMENT

People and Events Duarte Annual Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast Nov. 21 at City of Hope Cooper Auditorium Pastor Michael Lee to deliver keynote

DUARTE, CA - Duarte will kick off the holiday season at the 33rd annual Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast. The event will be held Wednesday, Nov. 21 from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. at the City of Hope Cooper Auditorium, 1500 E. Duarte Road and feature Discipleship Pastor at Fellowship Monrovia and adjunct professor at APU, Michael Lee. The event also launches the 15th annual Holiday of Promise” project to collect food, personal items and gift donations to be distributed by the Duarte Community Service Council and Foothill Unity Center to needy families the week before Christmas. The project is sponsored by Duarte’s Promise – The Alliance for Youth, Duarte Church and Clergy Association, and numerous area businesses. Gift donations can be dropped off from November to mid December at various locations including Duarte City Hall, Chamber of Com-

Photo courtesy of www.accessduarte.com

merce and Public Safety Offices.

The breakfast is co-sponsored

by Burrtec Waste Industries, City of Duarte, Duarte Church and Clergy Association, City of Hope, Cabrera’s of Duarte, the Duarte Kiwanis Club, and the Duarte Woman’s Club.

A limited amount of tickets

will also be available at the door.

Tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for children/seniors or $80 per table. For more information on the event, call Duarte City Hall, (626) 357-7931, ext. 267 or purchase tickets on line by going to http:// www.accessduarte.com/howdoi/ pay/event_tickets.htm. ■

FOR RENT

INSURANCE/SERVICES

B NOVEMBER 21-23, 2018 • SoCal ASIAN JOURNAL

Philippines expects exports of buko...

PAGE B1 t

In the same meeting, the USDA official also presented a prototype of housing block materials made out of coconut fibers and dirty plastic, Piñol said.

This serves as a potential for the Philippine coconut industry to supply a product, other than copra, the main product produced

by Filipino farmers.

“This will be a major shift for the Filipino coconut farmers which is aimed at weaning them from their reliance on copra production alone for their income and introducing other high value products from which they could

generate greater income,” Piñol said.

The agriculture chief said the Philippine Coconut Authority earlier developed hollow blocks made out of coconut fiber and is currently working on the development of other roofing materials.

He added that the country’s coconut industry is also working on the development of other products such as coconut sugar, coconut syrup, coconut milk, dessicated coconut, coconut chips, virgin coconut oil and coco coir production for the growing greenhouse farming industry in the U.S., Europe, Japan and South Korea.n

Delinquent tax debt...

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• IRC § 7345 failed or error in certification and notification.

You cannot sue the State Department for erroneous notification.

You may file a suit in the U.S. Tax Court and have the court determine if the certification is erroneous and order the IRS to notify the State Department of the erroneous certification. The court does not have authority to release a lien, levy, or award for damages.

• Passport application is denied. You will be notified in writing by the State Department if your passport application is denied or revoked.

• You owe taxes and cannot pay in full. Apply for installment agreement or offer in compromise if you qualify, to reverse the certification and for issuance of passport.

• Disagreement with the tax amount. Call the number provided on notice CP 508C: 1-866519-4965; for international callers: 1-267-941-1004. For proof of payment, mail to the address on the notice. *** Disclaimer: Any accounting, business or tax advice contained in this communication is neither intended as a thorough, in-depth analysis of specific issues, nor a substitute for a formal opinion, nor is it sufficient to avoid taxrelated penalties.

*** Al-os & Associates Accountancy Corporation provides accounting and tax services to individuals, corporations, LLCs and business entities. The Firm has a niche in defending taxpayers audited by the IRS and other governmental agencies.

(Advertising Supplement)

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

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

SoCal ASIAN JOURNAL • NOVEMBER 21-23, 2018

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cover story The Asian Jour nal MDWK MAGAZINE - November 21, 2018

Chef Jessie: Championing Filipino cuisine by

Ritchel Mendiola / AJPress

YOU can tell a lot about a chef not only through the dishes they prepare, but also through the experiences they accumulated. For instance, Chef Jessie Sincioco was the first ever Filipina pastry chef.

She was handpicked to cook for His Holiness Pope Francis during the Pontiff’s visit to the Philippines in 2015, and lately assigned to lead the preparation of the Gala dinner for the heads of state and delegates of the ASEAN Summit 2017.

But it’s not only the awards—and she has countless of them—or the menu of impressive dishes that are striking. When Balikbayan Magazine met with Chef Jessie one afternoon at her restaurant in the Rockwell Club, she was all warm smiles and friendly greetings as she welcomed us in.

Dressed in her immaculate white uniform, she never once lost her smile during her photoshoot for the magazine, or even after, when she sat down and shared her cooking journey, her Papal experience, and exciting developments about her restaurant.

Where her heart belongs Chef Jessie’s pursuit of culinary excellence both in the hot and cold section of the kitchen is unwavering as it is unparalleled.

“There was a saying that if you are a pastry chef, you can never be good in the hot kitchen,” she said. “But I somehow proved that wrong by being a good pastry chef and, at the same time, a good chef in the hot section.”

Chef Jessie loves cooking everything—but more than that, she loves a good challenge. “Nowadays, we’re doing a lot of catering and my clients always tell me to cook anything,” she laughed, sharing the various menu she had to prepare in her line of work, including but not limited to: Moroccan, Spanish, Singaporean, African, and Guatemalan cuisine. “I enjoyed doing all that. I really love working with food.”

But when asked if she has to choose between cooking and baking, she immediately answered the latter, sharing how baking was the one that brought her into the kitchen.

Basking in the muted afternoon light, Chef Jessie recounted her childhood days when she would leave the kitchen as soon as she smelled onions and garlic being sautéed. “The smell clings to your skin and clothes—it’s just not pleasant.” But everything changed when she started working with cakes, cream, and chocolate. “Everything smelled good!”

According to Chef Jessie, baking and cooking are like heaven and Earth. From the way her eyes sparkled and her voice warmed with fondness, it’s no-brainer that baking is truly her heaven.

A blessed experience Chef Jessie has come a long way since winning the grand prize in the baking

category of The Great Maya Cookfest in 1983 that basically launched her culinary career.

In 2015, she was chosen by the papal visit committee to put together and prepare a four-day menu exclusively for Pope Francis and 12 other papal guests. “The idea of cooking for the Holy Father never came into my mind—not even in my wildest dreams,” Chef Jessie gushed. “It’s really something I wasn’t expecting, that’s why when I was told I was the one, I was jumping with joy! I felt blessed and I was also glad that it happened when I felt I was ready.”

Chef Jessie spoke of the Pope with open awe, describing his presence as magnetic and simply majestic. One anecdote she’ll never forget was when she served roast beef as the main meal for the pontiff. “I ordered the best slab of beef I could get. I told our supplier I don’t care how much it was, just give me the best slab of beef and it has to be chilled—never frozen,” she related. “When the slab was delivered, I thought of roasting the beef. I thought of slow roasting it so the outside will be seared and seasoned and when I bring it to the nunciature, I’ll just slice and cook the steak to their doneness.

I had one waiter with me and I had him ask how the guests like their steak. When he came back to tell me their answers, he said the Pope wanted his steak alive!”

Clasping her hands, Chef Jessie continued, “When he said that, I couldn’t help but shout yes! Because my decision to slow roast the slab was right—so when the Pope cut the center, it’s alive but the outside is cooked and safe to eat.”

It was one of the moments in Chef Jessie’s life where she felt like everything fell into place. “It’s like knowing you’re guided and this is exactly what you should be doing without anybody telling you,” she said.

“When they were about to go to Luneta, they were already aboard the Popemobile,” she recounted. “It was drizzling, so I said my goodbyes from the entrance where there was some cover. When they passed by, Cardinal Chito saw me and pointed me to Pope Francis. The Pontiff held out his hands and profusely thanked me—I was overwhelmed!” When Chef Jessie asked if he liked the steak, Pope Francis gestured with his hands and said, “Yes, it was so tender. It was so delicious.

Like the cow, moo!”

As a chef and a devout Catholic, Chef Jessie considers this experience as the highlight of her career; after all, nothing beats the experience of cooking for the Pope, the representative of Jesus.

“In the Philippines, I can definitely say I am the Papal chef,” she concluded proudly.

Giving back Everything in Chef Jessie’s life is super providential.

Chef Jessie Rockwell Club delivers a fine dining experience.

AJPress photos by Godwin Gasacao

Chef Jessie Sincioco at her Rockwell Club location.

Blessings upon blessing keep coming her way, so she thought of a way to give back.

“I don’t like people to forget about the historical moment of the Pope’s stay in the country. To help people remember, we will be offering all the menus that we served during the papal visit every year, from January 15—the day he set foot in the Philippines—until February 15,” she said. 100 percent of the proceeds will go to Tulay ng Kabataan, the orphanage the pontiff visited across the Manila Cathedral.

Towering success In 2009, Chef Jessie established JCS Gastronomie Inc. Today, as president and CEO of the company, she is actively running three restaurants: Chef Jessie Rockwell Club, Top of The Citi by Chef Jessie, and the newly opened Chef Jessie Grill at The Grove

by Rockwell.

These restaurants all serve stellar and sumptuous culinary dishes that cater to the upscale market, but that’s where the similarities end. According to Chef Jessie, each of her restaurants have different personalities, different highlights that set them apart from each other.

On top of the world Located in the heart of the Makati Business District, Top of The Citi by Chef Jessie serves high-end international and asian cuisines.

“It’s more of a corporate outlet,” Chef Jessie said, explaining that being on the 34th floor of a skyline of a tall building made it somehow conducive for corporate functions. “But people also find it romantic. It gets full every Valentine’s Day.” Top of The Citi offers a 360 degree view of the metro, and a dining area that can fit 120 people, with seven function rooms for 10 to 100 guests. “We’ve done a few weddings, birthday parties,

and seminars there,” she said.

Famous for the Sea Bass with Goose Liver, Angus Beef Tenderloin, and Lamb Chop with Adobo Sauce, this executive fine dining restaurant’s menu is rife with dishes as spectacular as the view around you.

The baby in the family “Chef Jessie Grill is our baby,” Chef Jessie smiled. Located at the Grove by Rockwell along C5, right across Tiendesitas, this restaurant opened its doors on September 8, 2016.

“It’s our smallest outlet, seating only 50 people,” she said. Still, Chef Jessie Grill is a must-visit place for people seeking a relaxing and cozy dining experience, and the taste of home cooked food.

At a glance, you might shrug it off as a normal restaurant, simple without the flair and aesthetics of Chef Jessie’s two other fine dining restaurants, but once you take a bite of their delicious offerings, you’ll immediately know this is on par with the likes of Chef Jessie Rockwell Club and Top of The Citi.

This outlet’s casual but rustic approach to dining is already a hit, amassing a loyal following hungry for everything sizzling. Its popular dishes include the Special Chicken Adobo, the BBQ Pork Spareribs, and Green Tea Cheesecake.

Chef Jessie Grill is a testament to Chef Jessie’s versatility when it comes to cooking—there’s just that certain Chef Jessie magic in her dishes that everyone can enjoy in any kind of setting.

Elegance at its finest “Chef Jessie Rockwell Club is the most elegant,” Chef Jessie said. “It’s a place where people would come in beautiful dresses and nice suits. It’s a place for entertaining business clients. But it’s also a place where people can relax and come in their most

A preview of menu items based on international cuisine influences.

The Filipina chef runs three restaurants: Chef Jessie Rockwell Club, Top of The Citi by Chef Jessie, and the most recently opened Chef Jessie Grill at The Grove by Rockwell.

comfortable outfit if they want to.”

“This is also our outlet where people bring their guests because—according to them—if they come here, they get what they expect.

So when they have important guests they want to impress, they bring them here,” she added.

Despite its rustic flourishes, the restaurant exudes elegance with its high ceilings and great windows that let in natural light. The flooring is a mix of wood and tiles, the chairs are wooden, and everywhere you look is a feast for the eyes—oil paintings in gilded frames, fresh flowers in vases, and the outside view of the pool and garden.

It’s homey but still radiating class; luxurious but grounded, much like Chef Jessie herself—despite achievements and awards, she’s still very much humble and downto-Earth.

Chef Jessie Rockwell Club never fails to deliver international cuisine at its finest. The menu is teeming with elegant dishes as fine as the setting itself and the restaurant’s loyal customers have earmarked the Pasta a la Jessie and Pan Fried Goose Liver Salad as staunch favorites.

New and exciting changes Chef Jessie Rockwell Club is set for renovation this April. When asked about her decision to have the restaurant renovated, Chef Jessie laughed. “It looks dated already! The chairs are more than 20 years old.” And while the chairs may look old, they carry a history in them that will never be replaced. Countless of dignitaries have sat on them—the President of the Philippines, starting from Joseph Estrada up to PNoy, among others.

“The new look will have a tinge of something Filipino.

The new design will make the place become part of the garden, like an extension; it will compliment the view outside,” Chef Jessie divulged. “There will also be new chairs, and a new bar. We want the bar

to entice people to drink and enjoy wine.”

Apart from the setting, there will also be changes in the curated menu line-up and its menu cover.

“I painted the design for the menu cover myself,” Chef Jessie shared. “I designed it with something people can identify with Filipinos. It’s a tree that when you see, you’ll immediately associate with us.”

The menu, like everything else, will have a Filipino touch.

“I’m a classic chef so I cannot stay away from that,” Chef Jessie explained. “I will still keep a lot from the present menu since they all have followings, but I will add more dishes and make sure the presentations are different.”

Chef Jessie’s excitement for her restaurant’s new developments was palpable— there’s a spark in her eyes that was hard to miss, urging everyone to look forward to Chef Jessie Rockwell Club’s new look. And if there’s one thing we know for sure, it’s that when it comes to Chef Jessie, expectations are sure to be exceeded.

For more information on Chef Jessie and her restaurants, visit www.chefjessie. com.

(This feature originally appeared in Balikbayan Magazine)

Some products on display at Chef Jessie Rockwell Club.

entertainment Fil-Am brings girl power to Guns N’ Roses The Asian Jour nal MDWK MAGAZINE - November 21, 2018

you really, really have to be strong and deal with not being settled like constantly traveling all the time.”

MELISSA Reese is being On “coming home” and celebrated in rock circles as the performing for Filipinos: first and only female member of “The hospitality, the culture, the iconic American rock band a really beautiful sort of hapGuns N’ Roses (GnR). And she’s piness. I really get where my half-Filipina. mom’s sunshine comes from.

The 28-year-old classicallyThat vibe — I never knew that trained musician joined the band before. But it’s really cool. Real in 2016 as a keyboardist while talk: I have no sleep, but it’s also playing the synthesizer, subfine. Everything has just been so bass and back-up vocals. She’s pleasant. It’s awesome! I shall now traveling the world with return.

GnR who recently came to the “It’s funny because one of Philippines for the first time for the executives at Gibson Guitars the Manila stop of the group’s texted me, is your DNA buzzing? ongoing Not in This Lifetime…

You know, I feel like, if anything, Tour. The reunion concert of Melissa Reese I’m learning and going, this the band behind such hits as Photos from Facebook/ Guns N’ Roses should be something I should Sweet Child O’ Mine, Patience know about, identify with and be and November Rain has brought sister during STAR’s interview proud of. together classic line-up memwith Melissa a day before the “I’m not trying to be a d***, bers Axl Rose, Slash and Duff sold-out GnR concert at the but I pay people for assistance McKagan.

Philippine Arena.

Melissa has “more than one Here is The STAR’s exclusive and stuff but everybody here job,” also composing and scorinterview with the Seattle, Wash- sincerely cares, I’m like, why? But you really do (care). The whole ing music for videogames, com- ington-born Melissa: other thing — that my mom is mercials, films and music videos On how Melissa got to be a sunshiny thing. That’s what such as Taylor Swift’s Bad Blood part of Guns N’ Roses: other people, friends of mine, and the Eminem-produced “I got a call. That’s exactly movie Bodied. And did we say what happened. I met Axl before some band members who met my mom (who loves to bring Melissa is half-Filipina? and my composing partner the GnR lumpia) love about her.

If she’s become a source of Bryan ‘Brain’ Mantia was the It could be the most horrible #PinoyPride for Pinoy fans of drummer before. They knew situation and she’s like (laughs) GnR, it’s because she’s proud of me as a producer and heard happy.” to be Pinoy as well. She credits about my poetry work. I knew On where she got her musiher Filipino side for her passion a lot of people in their camp. It cal genes: in music. just came up as an idea: what “From my lola. My mom’s Her attitude towards work is about her? I thought it was a also credited to her Pinoy DNA, joke. (They lost their keyboardist mother from Camalig, Albay.

She sang to us religious songs. said her older sister Stepharight before the reunion hapHeart of Jesus. There was a song nie Reese, who accompanied pened.) That’s how the music that focused on the Sorrowful Melissa on her second visit to industry works in general. For Mystery. I loved her voice. Even their mom’s home country (her producing or composing gigs, our mom’s dad, my lolo, he’s first was when she was 12). film and all that, you say yes to Stephanie is already a familiar everything but it’s not necessar- almost like hip-hop today, he does three notes. Not so much face in the entertainment scene ily a real question. Literally, nine melody, but he did what he because the singer-actress (she times out of 10, it means nothcould musically. I find it comfortwas Kim in a German production ing. But then, it wasn’t a joke. ing.” of Miss Saigon) has been here to “Axl also put in a call to On her family’s reaction to do charity concerts. my composing partner, ‘Do I her being part of GnR: “It was our (Filipina) mom have your blessing on this? I’m “I forced (Stephanie) to keep who said, it doesn’t matter if going to take your composing it a secret. They didn’t know at you’re the best because there partner away, all of these stuff, first because our dad would tell are so many talented people and can she pull it off?’ Of course, everybody. Like the band is rethere are always better people he vouched for me. But behind ally tightlipped on the press and but just work the hardest. the scenes, he was, ‘Dude, it’s about saying certain things for Because if you’re the hardest gonna be heavy and you should worker, you will never be afraid. be prepared. It’s a really intense obvious reasons. And everybody is always trying to infiltrate and And I think that’s also (Melissa’s) thing. You’re you and you’re Filipino culture,” said the proud used to being in a studio.’ So, Continued on Page 4

by Nathalie

tomada Philstar.com

entertainment The Asian Jour nal MDWK MAGAZINE - November 21, 2018

Enzo Pineda ready for mature roles

by Ricky

caldeRon

ManilaTimes.net

ABS-CBN actor Enzo Pineda is sporting a new look with a shaven head, and a mustache and beard. Though a far cry from cute, well-groomed and matinee-idol-image he brought to the GMA Network talent search, “Starstruck,” some years ago, this scruffier look fits him to a T. Asked about it, Enzo told Roving Eye his transformation is a requirement of his upcoming solo movie under BG Productions International. Titled “Hipnotismo,” it is a horror flick directed by Joey Romero from a script of Eric Ramos with Beauty Gonzales as his leading lady.

“For the longest time, I only had one look – the matinee idol type. I want to look different

Enzo Pineda sporting a new look because he can be ‘both naughty and nice.’

ManilaTimes.net photo

naman this time,” said Enzo, adding, “this is the real me.”

Moreover, he believes it gives the impression that he is ready for more mature roles, and that he be “both naughty and nice.”

“I can do anything and I can play anything pero hindi ko nilalaro ang puso,” teased the big screen’s next lead actor, who also admitted he is loveless at the moment.

“I had a [non-showbiz] girlfriend for four years… but we remain friends,” he opened up. “Nasa position lang kami ng buhay na hindi kami magkatugma.”

Concentrating on his career, Enzo is grateful for this big movie break from BG Films, especially since horror is a genre he has never done before.

Looking back on his journey to headlining a movie, he ended, “I have encountered many challenges and transitions in my career but these made me a better person. And I’d like to thank people who continually believe in my talent.”

Fil-Am brings girl power...

From Page 3 get info about these people because they’re these musical icons or gods basically… Nobody was supposed to know that I was part of a surprise, that they are getting back together and there’s this new girl.

“I tasked Steph to not say anything and just bring (my parents) to Vegas for a big show.

Because I used to do these little things for them, I pay for them to go on these little vacations, it wasn’t weird for them to be sent to Vegas. It happened Steph was with them and took care of them. They thought it was business as usual. And when it was revealed… (I was) in the band, dad was like, wait a minute, what’s going on? He didn’t know anything! It was in an arena with 40,000 seats. He was like what are we doing? My mom was just jumping up and down. She’s just super happy. Our parents have met (GnR) a lot of times.”

On her first-ever show with GnR: “It was in L.A., a surprise show. It was on April Fools’ Day (2016). People were like anticipating it being a thing. I was pretty freaked out in my mind but also just getting into the

work mode and telling myself to keep it together. So, I was doing my thing and the whole place was packed and heavy.

Axl broke his foot on the second song and powered through and finished the show like a badass.

No one knew a reunion was happening. The whole top-tier of the rows (was) the who’s who of Hollywood. Then, there was paparazzi running after you. I really had to hide out. It was a pretty heavy situation. There were people in that show who had been to every single show for the last three years. And they cry, they freak out, they’re like the same since that Day 1. They just love the music and the band so much. That first show was just so crazy!”

On being the first and only female in the band: “I think it’s awesome. I feel that there are two sides to that coin. Sometimes, it’s a little heavy being the only chick but obviously, you also have the opportunity to be yes, girl power!

You know what I mean? And I think that’s the most important thing to take away from it, for both the fans and for me. It is to be like, I’m repping for chicks, you know, and for young people

around the world. That you can work as hard as you can and get to like a level like this for your own thing. This is possible!

Break the glass ceiling!”

On performing with the rock legends: “Not to be repetitious, but they’re iconic. It just feels like larger than life. It doesn’t feel real sometimes. At this point, too, there is so much happening on stage musically and little things going on between band members, you’re so into the music, you forget you’re before 100,000 people.

“I remember in Peru, the tickets were expensive, people saved up to watch us. That was also a touching thing how much these people who really have nothing saved all their money to come to the show. My tech, the dude that helps me set up everything, said, check that out, Blue, they call me that. There’s this huge sea of people and you can see this mountain, they look like stars, thousands of lights, and he said, those are the people who can’t afford.

But you can see their cellphone lights, and they’re trying to hear the music from the mountain, and it was so touching. God!”

Dingdong and Dennis duke it out in ‘Cain at Abel’

by Tesa

MauRicio-aRRiola ManilaTimes.net

NOT that they explicitly mentioned the name Coco Martin, nor his ABS-CBN program’s title, “FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano,” but GMA Network’s biggest male stars were unable to escape addressing the fact that they are indeed, going head to head with the reigning champ of the prime time ratings game.

They obviously didn’t want to touch on the subject because it effectively steals the thunder from what should be the day’s big news: That Dingdong Dantes and Dennis Trillo — two of this generation’s most important actors — have teamed up to headline an action-packed drama series for the very first time via “Cain at Abel.”

All the same, the majority of questions that met them at the show’s grand media launch practically alluded to one thing.

“How do you feel being pitted with Probinsyano?” “Do you think Cain at Abel can finally topple Cardo?” “Are you ready for battle?”

Ever dignified and diplomatic, GMA Prime Time King Dingdong replied, “Wala naman po kami dito para makipagkompitensya kanino man kasi naniniwala ako na ang mga manonood may sari-sarili at ibaibang gusto at iba’t ibang panlasa. And para doon na magugustuhan ang Cain at Abel, I can guarantee, gagawin namin ang lahat para maibigay sa kanila yung gusto nilang programa.”

Giving a peek into the obvious plot of sibling rivalry from the Biblical title, he added, “I think it’s important to say that in as much as maraming action dito, the action is just incidental because the real core of the story is what I believe na dapat aabangan dito. It’s why I accepted the role besides the fact On what she has learned from GnR: “What do you not learn from these people? They are a gem, they keep their bodies in check, they work on themselves.

Of course, they’re GnR. There’s also a need to preserve that attitude, still this iconic thing being looked up to. In music these days, I feel like a lot has been missing, I don’t want to

Dennis Trillo and Dingdong Dantes

GMA photo

that I’ll finally get to work with Dennis.”

Similarly, his versatile co-star put in, “Bukod sa makakatrabaho ko si Dingdong Dantes, yung project mismo ang naging exciting para sa akin dahil ngayon lang ako ulit gagawa ng action-drama on TV.” And possibly in bid to prove that neither he nor Dingdong considered the project as GMA’s answer to ABS-CBN’s seemingly unbeatable Probinsyano, Dennis declared, “To be honest, nung umpisa po, hindi naman namin alam kung saang timeslot kami ilalagay. That’s why ang mindset namin is to come up with a show na kahit saang timeslot pa kami ilagay, kahit ano pang itapat na show, eh tatayo at lalaban pa rin siya.”

Rounding it up, Dong effectively ended the issue by saying, “Kaya mas gusto po namin na sa quality kami nakafocus in doing Cain at Abel at hindi sa kung ano mang bagay.

Kasi yon naman ang trabaho namin — gampanan ang role and hindi mag-monitor ng mga ratings.”

According to the production notes from GMA’s creative team, Cain at Abel is an action-family drama about two

brothers, Daniel (Dingdong) and Miguel (Dennis), who grew up in two very different worlds.

As children, they were separated by fate—Daniel was raised comfortably in the city by his father, while Miguel was taken by his mother who later changed his name to Elias.

They relocated to a poor fishing village where they struggled to make ends meet.

Years later, Daniel and Elias are drawn together by mutual affections: the father who tore them apart, the mother they yearn for, and the woman they both love.

Besides Dingdong and Dennis, a smoking hot cast has been assembled to bring this story to life, starting off with their respective leading ladies, Solenn Heusaff and Sanya Lopez. Leading the veteran stars on the other hand are Eddie Gutierrez, Chanda Romero and Dina Bonnevie, along with Ronnie Henares, Tommy Abuel, Bing Pimentel, Marc Abaya and Boy 2 Quizon, among others.

Helmed by GMA favorites Don Michael Perez and Mark Reyes, it was revealed at the launch that former “Probinsyano” director Toto Natividad is also part of the project.

say marginalized, but I’d like to say homogenized because everybody is able to do it which is a great thing to do, YouTube, Soundcloud and all the musical stuff. Everybody is a legend in their own line. But this thing is one of the things that still exist where for people, they’re still up there. This hope, this nostalgia.

I can look up to this greatness and be like whoa, dude, I need

to get my act together and work that hard to be that rad. To have that look, that vibe, I mean it doesn’t just happen anymore, you know what I mean?

“I think what I learn is to also just how to carry that with grace because they really do and to be hardworking, to have healthy boundaries. And just be really good people, be smart and really normal underneath it all.”

The Asian Jour nal MDWK MAGAZINE - November 21, 2018

The Asian Jour nal MDWK MAGAZINE - November 21, 2018