112622 - Los Angeles Weekend Edition

She was born Cecilia Suyat in 1928 in Pu’unene, Maui, Hawaii, to parents who immigrated from the Philippines in 1910. Her father, Juan, owned a print shop. Her mother was Honorata Goso.

Cecilia moved to New York City at age 20 and worked as a stenographer for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) from 1948-1955. She also took night classes at Columbia University.

She was born Cecilia Suyat in 1928 in Pu’unene, Maui, Hawaii, to parents who immigrated from the Philippines in 1910. Her father, Juan, owned a print shop. Her mother was Honorata Goso.

In one of her first assignments she picketed the notorious movie The Birth of a Nation, which glorified the Ku Klux Klan. She would become a court stenographer and the private secretary of Dr. Gloster B. Current, the head of

A COMMON virus with flu-like symptoms is infecting very young children in large numbers, leading to a spike in the number of emergency room visits and hospitalizations in recent weeks.

Respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, was first identified in 1956; there is no vaccine although clinical trials are underway with pregnant women, said Dr. Priya Soni, a Pediatric Infectious Disease Specialist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

“There is no treatment or therapeutic antiviral for RSV virus,” Soni added, speaking at a national Ethnic Media News briefing last week.  Babies are getting ill because they have smaller airways and they’re not able to clear secretions like older adults.

“For us, our virus can be just a mild cold but in babies they can get bronchiolitis and other complications,” she said.

To make matters worse, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is reporting large

World

Philippines has one of the widest wealth gaps in East Asia

by FRANCO LUNA Philstar.com

Filipino former decathlete sentenced to 17 years in jail for cannabis-related scam

by AJPRESS

MANILA

“should

“We are not against normal interaction between the U.S. and the Philippines, but their interaction should not be damaging to other countries’ interests,” China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said in a press briefing on Tuesday, November 22.

Harris on Tuesday visited Palawan, the province closest to the Spratly Islands in the hotly contested South China Sea.

In a speech, she said that “international rules and norms” must be upheld and the 2016 landmark ruling that invalidated China’s sweeping nine dash line claims over the South China Sea must be respected.

Beijing does not recognize the decision of the Permanent Court of Arbitration.

“Our view has always been that exchanges and cooperation between any set

 PAGE A3

by FRANCO JOSE C. BAROÑA ManilaTimes.net

EFFECTIVE December 1, several Philippine Airlines (PAL) international flights will be transferred from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 2 to Terminal 1 due to congestion, the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) announced on Friday, November 25.

PAL flights that will be affected by the transfer are those coming from and going to the United States, Canada and the Middle East, MIAA Senior Assistant General Manager Bryan Co said during the Laging Handa public briefing.

The flights include those

to and from Dammam, Doha, Dubai, Riyadh, Toronto, Vancouver, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Honolulu and Guam.

The reason for the transfer, said Co, was to "balance the capacity of the airport terminals."

"Currently, NAIA Terminal 2 is quite congested due to the number of Philippine Airlines flights and Terminal 1 still has the capacity to accommodate additional flights," Co said. "This is also so that we can improve the experience of our passengers at NAIA," he added.

Co pointed out that based on their assessment, the utilization

At the sentencing hearing, Fischer noted that Bunevacz had “preyed on individuals who believed he was their friend” and that the “seriousness of [his] conduct cannot be captured in mere dollars and cents.”

Fischer

by GABRIEL PABICO LALU Inquirer.net

MANILA

this regard. Now, having said that, the Mutual Defense Treaty has also proven to be inutile because twice we have lost islands, and the United States did not come to our rescue,” Roque said.

“I

no longer in existence — should also be reexamined in

“We lost Mischief Reef. We lost Panatag Shoal. And yet despite the fact that it is very clearly stated that when there is an armed attack on any of our territories, the U.S. should come to our assistance, the United States failed to do so. So if the Mutual Defense Treaty has proven inutile in protecting the integrity of our territory, what is the point of the Mutual Defense Treaty?” he said.

Cecilia Suyat Marshall, Fil-Am wife of civil rights icon Justice Thurgood Marshall, dies at 94

— Despite steady progress for three decades, the Philippines still struggles to close one of the widest wealth gaps in East Asia, with the country ranking 15th out of 65 countries in terms of

inequality, the World Bank found in a study released on Thursday, November 24.  In a report entitled “Overcoming Poverty and Inequality in the Philippines: Past, Present, and Prospects for the Future," the Washington-based lender noted that while the Philippines has made strides in poverty reduction, it still has among the

highest inequality rates in East Asia.  With an income Gini coefficient — a standard measure of income inequality from 0 to 1, with 0 representing total income equality — of 42.3 percent in 2018, the Philippines had one of the highest rates of income inequality in East Asia.

— The Mutual Defense Treaty between the United States and the Philippines is “inutile” and should be reexamined, former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in a video uploaded on Tuesday, November 22 on the YouTube channel of the Integrated Development Studies Institute (IDSI).

think the Mutual Defense Treaty — because the conditions by which we adopted the Mutual Defense Treaty are

Chinese construction on an

— China said interactions between the Philippines and the United States

not be damaging” to the interests of other nations following the visit of U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris to the country.

CECILIA “Cissy” Marshall, the Filipino American wife of the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice and civil rights hero Thurgood Marshall, and a civil rights activist herself, died on Tuesday, Nov. 22 at age 94.

A FORMER decathlete who also competed with the Philippines national team was sentenced to 210 months in federal prison for fraudulently raising more than $45 million from investors who were told their funds would be used to finance companies marketing cannabis vape pens.

On Monday, Nov. 21, David Joseph Bunevacz, 53, of Calabasas, California, was sentenced to 17 1/2 years by United States District Judge Dale S. Fischer, who also ordered him to pay $35,267,851 in restitution, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.

also found that Bunevacz continued to perpetrate his scheme even while serving probation

World Bank: Philippines has one of...

PAGE A1

Poverty fell from 49.2 percent in 1985 to 16.7 percent in 2018 due to the expansion of jobs outside agriculture, the World Bank said. But by 2018, the middle class had expanded to nearly 12 million people and the economically secure population had risen to 44 million.

Today, the top one percent of earners together capture 17 percent of national income, World Bank found, with only 14 percent being shared by the bottom 50 percent.

“The Philippines aims to become a middle-class society free of poverty by 2040, but we know from global experience that no country has managed to make this transition while maintaining high levels of inequality,” said Ndiamé Diop, World Bank Country Director for Brunei, Malaysia, Philippines, and Thailand.

“Inequality of opportunity and low mobility across generations wastes human potential and slowdown innovation, which is crucial for building a competitive and prosperous economy that will in turn improve the well-being and quality of life of all Filipinos," Diop also said in a press release.

The World Bank also said that while the gap between top and bottom earners in the Philippines has narrowed, it is still higher than in many of the country's regional peers. Among East Asia Pacific countries whose data are available for 2014–19, only in Thailand is income inequality greater than in the Philippines.

Based on data from the World Inequality Database from 1980 to 2019, only Thailand's top one percent had a greater share of the national income, though the Philippines notably ranked higher than China, Malaysia, and Indonesia in that metric heading into 2020.

In terms of consumption inequality, the Philippines performs better globally, ranking 30th out of 72 countries. But it is still higher than East Asia Pacific countries except Laos.

COVID-19 hampered earlier progress At the virtual launch of the report, Nadia Belhaj Hassine Belghith, Senior Economist with the East Asia Poverty Global Practice covering Thailand and the Philippines who led the study, said the Philippines actually achieved three decades of sustained decline in poverty and a decade of reduction in

inequality starting from 1985, when poverty fell by two-thirds.  In that period, the gradual shift of workers to more productive sectors with higher reliance on wage income was identified as among the drivers in the reduction of poverty at the time, Belghith said.

However, unequal opportunities, slow access to tertiary education among lowincome households, inequality in returns to college education, and social norms putting the heavier burden of childcare on women has slowed down the narrowing of inequality in the Philippines, particularly amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The World Bank also found that construction, accommodation and transport were the sectors most affected by job losses at the onset of the pandemic, and households who tend to concentrate in those sectors saw the largest decline in income in the first half of 2020.

"Despite the strong recovery of growth and the labor market, the COVID-19 pandemic has partly reversed decades-long gains in reducing poverty and inequality in the Philippines. It halted economic growth momentum in  PAGE A4

SPARKLING LIGHTS. Visitors take pictures of the Christmas lights at the premises of the Quezon City Hall on Thursday night, Nov. 24. The city government kicked off this year’s Christmas celebration with the lighting of the Christmas tree on its grounds on November 23. PNA photo by Robert Oswald P. Alfiler

MDT is ‘inutile’: No US aid when PH islands...

island at Mischief Reef in the West Philippine Sea started as early as the mid-1990s.

Panatag Shoal was the scene of a standoff in 2012 when Benigno Aquino III was president, the predecessor of Rodrigo Duterte, for whom Roque served as spokesperson.

Roque, a lawyer specializing in international law and human rights, said the treaty, which was signed in 1951 and ratified in 1952, should be reviewed to determine if it would still benefit the Philippines.

He also pointed out that the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), which the U.S. and the Philippines signed in 2014, would expire in 2023.

“And therefore, we need now a vigorous national debate on whether or not we should in fact renew the EDCA,” Roque said.

Activists and some questioned the constitutionality of the EDCA, which allows U.S. troops to use Philippine bases. In 2016, the Supreme Court ruled with finality to reaffirm the constitutionality of the agreement.

But in the IDSI video uploaded on Tuesday, Roque insisted that he had always believed the EDCA to be unconstitutional.

So he urged President

Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to scrap the agreement, Roque said it was implemented without being duly concurred in by the Philippine Congress and without a referendum to determine if Filipinos agreed with it.

He said, however, that scrapping both EDCA and the MDT would place the Marcos presidency in jeopardy.

“The President already has had personal knowledge of what the United States can do. They [the Marcos family] were spirited away from the Philippines in 1986 under the pretense that they were going to be brought to Ilocos. The Americans can remove the president if he will move to remove EDCA and the MDT at the same time,” Roque said.

Roque was referring to the ouster of Marcos’ father, Ferdinand Marcos Sr., in the February 1086 People Power Revolt. Over the years, the Marcoses have insisted that they did not want to leave the country. They said their instruction to the U.S. Air Force pilot was to take them to Paoay, Ilocos Norte. The pilot instead brought them to Hawaii.

“So my humble suggestion is, to ensure that the Americans will not view the president as antagonistic to American

interests, for now, let us keep the MDT. I think the Americans would accept if we were to terminate EDCA but retain MDT,” Roque said.

He also warned that if the Philippines would allow the U.S. to store weapons in its territory and if these were to be used in confrontations against China, then the Philippines becomes a hard target for Chinese retaliation.

“Unless it is our national interest to engage in war with China just because the Americans want to ensure their hegemony in the area, there is no utility to have the EDCA beyond 2023,” Roque said.

Roque spoke about these issues just as U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris was visiting the Philippines to reaffirm ties and express support for the country’s security problems.

Many view Harris’ visit — which included a trip to Palawan, the province nearest to the West Philippine Sea — as an indication the U.S. intends to defend the Philippines, its long-time ally, from Chinese incursion.

During Harris’ visit, there were discussions about putting more EDCA sites in the country, possibly including two in Palawan. 

China: US-PH interactions ‘shouldn’t be...

of countries should be conducive to the mutual understanding and trust among regional countries and the peace and stability in the region,” Zhao said.

“It should not target or hurt other countries’ interests,” he

added.

Harris also met with fishers in a coastal village whose residents bear the brunt of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. She is the highestranking U.S. official to ever visit Palawan.

In a meeting with President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. on Monday, November 21, Harris reaffirmed Washington’s “unwavering commitment” to its mutual defense treaty with the Philippines. (Gaea Katreena Cabico/Philstar.com)

Several PAL ights to move to NAIA...

PAGE A1

of Terminal 1 is very low because international travel has not yet fully returned.

He noted that other travel markets abroad are still restricted such as China, including Macao and Hong Kong, and other Northeast Asian destinations such as South Korea and Japan, which are just now opening.

The NAIA Terminal 1 can accommodate around 11,000 to 13,000 passengers daily while Terminal 2 can accommodate

roughly 30,000.

"If we are able to balance the capacity, both terminals will be able to accommodate 20,000 passengers per day," said Co.

"With the transfer, Terminal 2 will lose significant congestion especially during peak hours for long-haul flights, particularly during nighttime when most passengers are departing and during daytime, when passengers are usually arriving," he added.

During the peak season, from mid-December to early January

the following year, MIAA expects a 13- to 15-percent increase in passengers from the current 100,000 recorded daily departures and arrivals for both domestic and international travelers, Co said.

He added that all available personnel will be on deck to support the anticipated holiday passenger influx.

All domestic flights and the rest of PAL's international routes will continue to operate at the NAIA Terminal 2, the MIAA official said. 

Treating long COVID is rife with guesswork

by BLAKE FARMER, NASHVILLE PUBLIC RADIO Kaiser Health News

MEDICAL equipment is still strewn around the house of Rick Lucas, 62, nearly two years after he came home from the hospital. He picks up a spirometer, a device that measures lung capacity, and takes a deep breath — though not as deep as he’d like.

Still, Lucas has come a long way for someone who spent more than three months on a ventilator because of covid-19.

“I’m almost normal now,” he said. “I was thrilled when I could walk to the mailbox. Now we’re walking all over town.”

Dozens of major medical centers have established specialized covid clinics around the country. A crowdsourced project counted more than 400. But there’s no standard protocol for treating long covid. And experts are casting a wide net for treatments, with few ready for formal clinical trials.

It’s not clear just how many people have suffered from symptoms of long covid. Estimates vary widely from study to study — often because the definition of long covid itself varies. But the more conservative estimates still count millions of people with this condition. For some, the lingering symptoms are worse than the initial bout of covid. Others, like Lucas, were on death’s door and experienced a roller-coaster recovery, much worse than expected, even after a long hospitalization.

Symptoms vary widely. Lucas had brain fog, fatigue, and depression. He’d start getting his energy back, then go try light yardwork and end up in the hospital with pneumonia.

It wasn’t clear which ailments stemmed from being on a ventilator so long and which signaled the mysterious condition called long covid.

“I was wanting to go to work four months after I got home,” Rick said over the laughter of his wife and primary caregiver, Cinde.

“I said, ‘You know what, just get up and go. You can’t drive. You can’t walk. But go in for an interview. Let’s see how that works,’” Cinde recalled.

Rick did start working earlier this year, taking short-term assignments in his old field as a nursing home administrator. But he’s still on partial disability.

Why has Rick mostly recovered while so many haven’t shaken the symptoms, even years later?

“There is absolutely nothing anywhere that’s clear about long covid,” said Dr. Steven Deeks, an infectious disease specialist at the University of California-San Francisco. “We have a guess at how frequently it happens. But right now, everyone’s in a datafree zone.”

Researchers like Deeks are trying to establish the condition’s underlying causes. Some of the theories include inflammation, autoimmunity, so-called microclots, and bits of the virus left in the body. Deeks said institutions need more money to create regional centers of excellence to bring together physicians from various specialties to treat patients and research therapies.

Patients say they are desperate and willing to try anything to feel normal again. And often they post personal anecdotes online.

“I’m following this stuff on social media, looking for a home run,” Deeks said.

The National Institutes of Health promises big advances soon through the RECOVER Initiative, involving thousands of patients and hundreds of researchers.

“Given the widespread and diverse impact the virus has on the human body, it is unlikely that there will be one cure, one treatment,” Dr. Gary Gibbons, director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, told NPR. “It is important that we help find solutions for everyone. This is why there will be multiple clinical trials over the coming months.”

Meanwhile, tension is building in the medical community over what appears to be a grabbag approach in treating long covid ahead of big clinical trials. Some clinicians hesitate to try therapies before they’re supported by research.

Dr. Kristin Englund, who oversees more than 2,000 long covid patients at the Cleveland Clinic, said a bunch of onepatient experiments could muddy the waters for research. She said she encouraged her team to stick with “evidencebased medicine.”

“I’d rather not be just kind of one-off trying things with people, because we really do need to get more data and evidence-based

data,” she said. “We need to try to put things in some sort of a protocol moving forward.”

It’s not that she lacks urgency. Englund experienced her own long covid symptoms. She felt terrible for months after getting sick in 2020, “literally taking naps on the floor of my office in the afternoon,” she said.

More than anything, she said, these long covid clinics need to validate patients’ experiences with their illness and give them hope. She tries to stick with proven therapies.

For example, some patients with long covid develop POTS — a syndrome that causes them to get dizzy and their heart to race when they stand up. Englund knows how to treat those symptoms. With other patients, it’s not as straightforward. Her long covid clinic focuses on diet, sleep, meditation, and slowly increasing activity.

But other doctors are willing to throw all sorts of treatments at the wall to see what might stick. At the Lucas house in Tennessee, the kitchen counter can barely contain the pill bottles of supplements and prescriptions. One is a drug for memory. “We discovered his memory was worse [after taking it],” Cinde said.

Other treatments, however, seemed to have helped. Cinde asked their doctor about her husband possibly taking testosterone to boost his energy, and, after doing research, the doctor agreed to give it a shot.

“People like myself are getting a little bit out over my skis, looking for things that I can try,” said Dr. Stephen Heyman, a pulmonologist who treats Rick Lucas at the long covid clinic at Ascension Saint Thomas in Nashville.

He’s trying medications seen as promising in treating addiction and combinations of drugs used for cholesterol and blood clots. And he has considered becoming a bit of a guinea pig himself.

Heyman has been up and down with his own long covid. At one point, he thought he was past the memory lapses and breathing trouble, then he caught the virus a second time and feels more fatigued than ever.

“I don’t think I can wait for somebody to tell me what I need to do,” he said. “I’m going  PAGE A5

O cials alarmed by surge of pediatric...

numbers of flu cases across the country, especially in Georgia and Florida. RSV could spike later.

“We hope that everything doesn’t coincide at the same time as RSV surging, but we are seeing an uptick in flu cases as well,” Soni said.

The journal Lancet Respiratory Medicine published a study in November estimating that 1 in 50 children under age 5 around the world die from RSV. It is the second leading cause of death after malaria and kills between 100,000 and 200,000 babies under the age of one every year.

Dr. Mina Hakim usually sees more RSV patients in January or February. He is a pediatrics specialist at South Central Family Health Center in Los Angeles. “It’s very unusual to see it this early,” he said. He worries what will happen in the next few months

“This is coming to a point where it’s overwhelming our ERs and our ICUs, and our hospitals,” he said.

Whites, Hispanics, and Native Americans have a higher risk of infection, according to the CDC. But Hakim said the highest risk population is children less than six months old.

Hakim noted the general overall hospitalizations rate year to year for RSV is about 13 per 100,000, or 0.3%. “For children less than six months of age, the hospitalization rate can be up to 2 percent. So there’s more than a 100-fold difference there in the hospitalization rate,” Hakim

said.

RSV spreads like the flu—from tiny droplets that are inhaled, unwashed hands, or from hard surfaces where the virus can live up to six hours. But why is RSV surging now?

Dr. Manisha Newaskar, Clinical Assistant Professor of Pulmonary Medicine at Stanford Medicine Children’s Health, said most babies catch RSV before they are two years old and get over it but precautions taken during the COVID pandemic kept babies from being exposed to it.

“We were taking utmost precautions, right? We were wearing masks, we were washing hands, we were not sending our kids to school if they were having even a sniffle. So that’s what was causing fewer cases and now that things have opened up, the world has gone back to its normal pace,” Dr.  Newaskar said.

“The most common symptom is a stuffy nose and babies breath thru their nose and that makes them struggle.”

Babies may have a fever and Tylenol can help reduce it. But what lands them in the ER is difficulty breathing from swollen airways. RSV babies fuss, don’t eat, and get dehydrated.

Newaskar said that if an infant is less than six months old with cough, congestion, or fever, parents need to keep a close eye on the baby’s symptoms and see a pediatrician if they get worse. There is a diagnostic test that can determine if the baby has the flu, RSV, or COVID. The flu comes on quickly, RSV in stages, and all three viruses have similar

symptoms.

RSV is a virus and antibiotics won’t help. What does is suctioning mucus from the nose with a bulb and using a humidifier to keep airways moist.

Newaskar noted that doctors give the Synagis vaccine to preemies and other high-risk infants to prevent severe RSV disease.

“Studies have found that kids who are exposed to smoking at early stages are more likely to be in the hospital due to RSV, as are babies who have not been breastfed, Hakim noted.

“Three months of breastfeeding can decrease your risk for severe bronchitis from RSV.”

Hakim, 90% of whose patients are below the poverty line, added that working mothers stop breastfeeding because the realities of life make them return to work sooner than other populations.

Doctors advise the same prevention measures people use to avoid COVID.

Newaskar said that good basic hygiene like covering your cough and frequent hand washing can keep babies from getting sick.

“If your child is sick, don’t go to school, right?…even if they are having mild symptoms, it’s best to keep them home to prevent the virus from going around in the school,” she urged.

If you’re planning to travel over the holidays, make sure you’re up to date on our COVID boosters and get a flu shot. “So at least you have protected yourself against two major viruses,” she said. (Peter White/Ethnic Media Services)

World Bank: Philippines has one of...

2020, and unemployment shot up in industries that require in-person work. In 2021, the national poverty rate rose to 18.1 percent despite government assistance," the report reads.  "Recovery in the Philippines is uneven across the income distribution and the poorest who suffered the most from COVID have yet to fully recover their incomes. With food prices going up, many families coped by reducing their consumption, including eating less. These coping strategies can have serious consequences on the health and nutrition of children in these vulnerable households."

World Bank urges policies for workers, education, rural dev't To solve this, the World Bank recommended both the government and private sector look into policies supporting employment and workers. The bank also suggested raising education quality and improving access, as well as boosting rural development, strengthening social protection to reduce inequality, and increasing Filipinos' chances for

improving their well-being.

Moving forward, the report highlighted three key themes to reduce inequality: healing the pandemic’s scars and building resilience; setting the stage for a vibrant and inclusive recovery; and promoting greater equality of opportunity.

It also noted that the expansion of secondary education, mobility to better-paying jobs, access to basic services, and government social assistance have started to reduce inequality since the mid2000s.

"Promoting greater equality of opportunity entails increasing access to quality health care, increasing equality of opportunity in education, and improving access to quality housing, among others. Equality of opportunity needs to target the lagging regions and other people disadvantaged in accessing these because of the circumstances of their birth," the report said.

Social aid amid pandemic recovery pushed At the same time, the World Bank said healing the COVID-19 pandemic’s scars will require promoting greater vaccine booster uptake, overcoming the

learning loss due to COVID-19, strengthening social assistance, implementing unemployment insurance programs for the informal sector, and taming inflation.

Beyond entering the new normal, decreasing inequality post-pandemic also entails the reskilling of workers, promoting entrepreneurship, increasing the participation of women in the labor force, and raising the productivity of agriculture, said the World Bank.

"Inequality starts even before birth and is perpetuated over the life cycle. It starts with maternal nutrition and health during pregnancy. Differences continue into childhood, where disparities in access to health care, proper nutrition, safe drinking water, sanitation, and quality education determine the extent to which a child’s human capital develops," Belghith said.

“Inequality shapes outcomes later in life, such as employment opportunities and income, which in turn influence how much support adult Filipinos are able to provide for their children to help maximize their potential," she added. 

Cecilia Suyat Marshall, Fil-Am wife of civil rights...

counsel for the historic Brown v. Board of Education decision abolishing racial segregation in public schools.

Marshall’s wife of 25 years, Vivian Burey, who was in poor health, died in 1955. Although Cecilia was admittedly hesitant at first out of concern that a mixed marriage would invite undue controversy, she and Marshall married soon after.

Marshall became the first Black justice in Supreme Court history.

Although he retired in 1991 and died in 1993, Cecilia continued to attend oral arguments and court socials. She also served on the board of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the Supreme Court Historical Society, according to a CNN report.

Justice Elena Kagan, who was a law clerk for Justice Marshall during the 1987-88 session, said in a statement on Tuesday, “Every clerk to Justice Marshall received a sort of bonus: the steadfast friendship and support of his wife Cissy. She was a marvelous

woman, and we all loved and admired her.”

Cecilia and Thurgood Marshall are survived by two sons, John W. Marshall, a former Virginia Secretary of Public Safety and former U.S. Marshals Service Director, and Thurgood Marshall Jr., as well as four grandchildren and three great grandchildren. (Inquirer.net)

Treating long COVID is rife...

to have to use my expertise to try and find out why I don’t feel well.”

This story is from a reporting partnership that includes WPLN, NPR, and KHN.

KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a national newsroom that produces

in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation.

Filipino former decathlete sentenced to 17 years...

for a state court conviction, concluding, “Not even a criminal conviction and the threat of jail convinced [Bunevacz] to become a law-abiding citizen.”

Bunevacz pleaded guilty on July 18 to one count of securities fraud and one count of wire fraud. He has been in federal custody since his arrest in this case on April 5.

Going back to 2010, Bunevacz created various business entities, with names such as CB Holding Group Corp. and Caesarbrutus LLC, that he claimed were involved in the cannabis industry and the sale of vape pens containing cannabis products such as CBD oil and THC.

Bunevacz falsely told at least one investor he had a longstanding relationship with a Chinese manufacturer of disposable vape pens and he obtained “raw pesticide-free oil” that was sent to a “lab that infuses the flavors into the oil with our proprietary custom process that renders the vape flavoring smooth and discrete,” according to court documents.

Bunevacz also provided investors with forged documents –such as bank statements, invoices and purchase orders – to support his claims of the businesses’ success and the need for investor funds.

Instead of using the funds to finance business operations – and while some of his victims were suffering severe financial hardship – Bunevacz misappropriated the vast majority of the funds to pay for his own opulent lifestyle, including a luxurious house in Calabasas, Las Vegas trips, jewelry, designer handbags, a lavish birthday party for his daughter, and horses.

To create the false appearance that his companies were engaged in legitimate business activities, Bunevacz registered various shell companies, including several with names similar or identical to those of legitimate cannabis businesses. To conceal his control of these

shell companies and the bank accounts associated with them, Bunevacz listed other individuals, including his stepdaughter, as the corporate officers of the shell companies.

Bunevacz’s blog touts his success as a former decathlete who competed for the Philippines, and his wife and daughter appeared in a reality television show. Despite Bunevacz’s promotion of his background, Bunevacz took efforts to conceal negative information from investors, such as his 2017 felony conviction for the unlawful sale of securities, according to an affidavit submitted in support of a criminal complaint in this case.

After one investor uncovered a lawsuit against Bunevacz, Bunevacz emailed a counterfeit version of the settlement agreement to falsely make it appear that he had been paid $325,000 as part of a settlement. In reality, it was Bunevacz who had agreed to pay $325,000 to settle the claim.

Operating through his cannabis companies, Bunevacz raised approximately $45,227,266 from more than 100 victim-investors, according to the government’s filing. Judge Fischer found that Bunevacz caused losses of approximately $35,267,851.

“The sense of violation, the assault on personal dignity, and the lasting trauma [Bunevacz] has caused are very much reminiscent of the harm typically associated with violent crimes,” prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum. “And, with well over a hundred victims, [Bunevacz] caused these harms at a scale rarely seen.”

The FBI, IRS Criminal Investigation, and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department investigated this matter. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission provided substantial assistance. Assistant United States Attorney Alexander B. Schwab of the Major Frauds Section prosecuted this case. 

She was born Cecilia Suyat in 1928 in Pu’unene, Maui, Hawaii, to parents who immigrated from the Philippines in 1910. Her father, Juan, owned a print shop. Her mother was Honorata Goso. Inquirer.net photo

the NAACP, from 1948 to 1955. In the NAACP, she met Thurgood Marshall who led the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and was chief

DATELINE PHILIPPINES

‘Pinoys no longer receptive to COVID-19 jabs’

by EMMANUEL TUPAS Philstar.com

MANILA — Unlike in the past when Filipinos waited in line for hours to get their COVID jabs, many are no longer interested to get vaccinated these days, the head of the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP) said on Wednesday, November 23.

ULAP president and Quirino Gov. Dakila Carlo Cua lamented that despite the efforts of local government units (LGUs), people are no longer receptive to getting vaccinated against COVID.

Cua said local officials have resorted to giving incentives, such as raffling off rice and giving food packs, to lure the public to get vaccinated.

“ Marami tayong mga kababayan na hindi na masyadong nangangamba sa COVID at hindi na rin masyadong interesado sa mga bakuna ,” Cua said.

Senators expressed hope that lessons were learned to improve vaccination in the country to avoid wastage.

Cua said it seems people are no longer afraid to catch COVID, which has killed 64,500 people in the country in the past two years. Despite the challenges, he said LGUs continue to encourage the public to get their COVID vaccines.

Cua said local chief executives are now targeting students and the immunocompromised in their vaccination drive.

‘Sterling’ response

Meanwhile, President Marcos praised LGU executives for their “sterling” response at the height of the COVID pandemic.

Pope sacks Tagle, leadership of Caritas International

by ROBERTZON RAMIREZ Philstar.com

POPE Francis sacked on Tuesday, November 22 the entire leadership of Vaticanbased Catholic charity network Caritas Internationalis, including its president Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, and appointed a temporary administrator after outside experts highlighted management and procedural “deficiencies.”

The surprise move, announced in a Vatican statement, removes the existing leadership of the organization, a federation of 162 Catholic relief, development and social organizations operating across 200 countries.

According to a decree issued by Francis, Tagle will remain working with the CI assisting newly appointed temporary administrator Pier Francesco Pinelli, a former renewable energy executive and Bain consultant trained by the Jesuits.

Among Pinelli’s jobs will be leading preparations for the next general assembly of all Caritas’ member organizations planned for May 2023, when a president, general secretary and treasurer will be elected.

The removal of CI’s entire leadership follows a review of the “workplace environment” of Caritas Internationalis by a panel of independent experts commissioned by the Vatican’s dicastery for promoting integral human development (DPIHD).

“No evidence emerged of financial mismanagement or sexual impropriety, but other important themes and areas for urgent attention emerged from the panel’s work,” the DPIHD said in a statement.

“Real deficiencies were noted in management and procedures, seriously prejudicing team-spirit and staff morale.”

The DPIHD declared there would be “no impact on the functioning of member organizations and the services of charity and solidarity they provide around the world.”

“On the contrary, it will serve to strengthen such service,” it said.

In a formal decree, Francis noted Caritas’ role in helping him in his “ministry toward the poorest and most needy,” but said its regulatory framework needed reviewing.

Caritas Internationalis had an income of more than five million euros ($5.13 million) in 2020, according to its annual report, almost half from membership fees and donations from member organizations, and the rest are contributions from external donors.

The Vatican said “financial matters have been well-handled and fundraising goals regularly achieved” but the aim now was to “improve its management norms and procedures.”

Tagle defends Pope Meanwhile, Tagle, former Manila archbishop, has defended

Francis’ decision to cut short his term as president of Caritas Internationalis.

In an article posted on the Vatican News, Tagle said the pope’s decision was a result of a “careful and independent study” and does not concern cases of sexual abuse or mismanagement of money, contrary to some reports.

He added that the decision was meant to be “a call to walk humbly with God” and “a process of discernment.”

“We have our temporary administrator. This news might be a bit disturbing or confusing to some of you. But rest assured that this decision of the Holy Father came after a careful and independent study of the working environment of the Secretariat and the governance exercised by responsible persons and bodies,” Tagle said.

Tagle made the remarks during the plenary meeting of Caritas Internationalis at the Villa Aurelia in Rome.

Tagle, prefect for the Congregation of the Evangelization of Peoples, was elected president of Caritas Internationalis in 2015 to serve until 2019.

He was reelected for the second and last term in 2019, which is supposed to last until May 2023.

Under the rules, Caritas presidents are entitled for two terms with four years each term. 

He said the slow uptake resulted in vaccines expiring in storage.

During last week’s Senate deliberations on the proposed budget of the Department of Health, it was revealed that about P15.6 billion worth of COVID vaccines or 31.3 million doses were either wasted or not used.

Speaking during the 2022 Galing Pook Awards at Malacañang on Tuesday night, Novemner 22, the President said LGU officials took care of their constituents when there was still no vaccine against COVID and prioritized high-risk persons in the vaccination drive.

“The LGUs really did a sterling job and saved many, many lives,” the President said.

Marcos said everyone benefited from the active response and prompt delivery of services of LGUs. 

Pope Francis (R) thanks Philippine Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle after he addressed a message during a mass to mark 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines, on March 14, 2021 at St. Peter's Basilica in The Vatican.

Philstar.com file photo

Land of inequality

THE yawning income gap in the country has been evident for a long time; the rich keep getting richer and the poor, poorer. A World Bank study released on Thursday, November 24 validated this observation, as it stressed that reducing inequality is critical to becoming a middle-class society free of poverty.

While poverty has been reduced from 49.2 percent in 1985 to 16.7 percent in 2018, the World Bank study showed that the Philippines has one of the highest rates of income inequality in East Asia. “The top one percent of earners together capture 17 percent of national income, with only 14 percent shared by the bottom 50 percent,” the World Bank reported.

Editorial

The COVID pandemic aggravated the problem. Unemployment surged and economic growth was derailed. The World Bank said the pandemic partly reversed gains achieved over several decades in cutting poverty and narrowing inequality. It noted that the poor have yet to fully recover from the economic burdens arising from the pandemic, and now spiraling food prices are aggravating hunger.

“The report says that inequality starts even before birth and is perpetuated over the life cycle. It starts with maternal nutrition and health during pregnancy. Differences continue into childhood, where disparities in access to health care, proper nutrition, safe drinking water, sanitation, and quality education determine the extent to which

a child’s human capital develops,” the World Bank declared.

To reduce inequality, the World Bank is calling for policies that boost employment and rural development, improve access to and quality of education as well as strengthen social protection.

Last year as the pandemic continued to rage, the World Bank noted that the national poverty rate surged to 18.1 percent despite government ayuda or cash dole-outs and other forms of assistance. Scars from the pandemic can be healed, the WB said, by pushing greater vaccine booster uptake, overcoming the learning loss after two years of remote learning, taming inflation, and strengthening social assistance and unemployment insurance programs for the informal sector.

For a vibrant recovery from the pandemic, the World Bank highlights the importance of reskilling of workers, encouraging entrepreneurship, increasing women’s participation in the workforce as well as boosting agricultural productivity.

Equal opportunities must also be promoted, the World Bank said, through heightened access to

quality health care, education and housing, with special emphasis on reaching underdeveloped regions and “people disadvantaged… because of the circumstances of their birth.”

Many of these suggestions have been discussed by various administrations over the years, but this

is a society where the tiny elite thrives on the status quo that keeps the majority undereducated and impoverished or borderline poor. Whether a new administration headed by a member of the elite will make a difference remains to be seen. (Philstar.com)

IS the Philippines bidding goodbye to the “It’s More Fun in the Philippines” tourism slogan? And soon?

Over the past few months, we’ve read reports from different news outlets that the Department of Tourism is reportedly planning a rebranding of the catchy slogan “It’s More Fun in the Philippines” which has been the country’s tourism campaign for a decade.

In today’s competitive tourism industry, a country has to stand out to draw the attention and interests of tourists. A country needs to be distinctive and unique. Thus, branding is perceived as a major factor in gaining attention and motivation for the tourists to visit the place. Effective marketing slogans have been proven to drive tourism growth.

Using this new tourism marketing tool, many countries

AMERICAN media coverage of U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris’ visit to the Philipxpines highlighted her political plans. At Puerto Princesa, Harris declared she would run with Joe Biden if he decides to seek reelection.

Harris’ political plans are, of course, “newsy” for the U.S. media market. The rest of what she said during her visit was standard and predictable. A stream of U.S. officials have been consistently assuring us that America will abide by its commitments to our mutual defense treaty in the event of any attack on our territory.

Nearly buried in the coverage of this diplomatic event is Harris’ specification that the treaty provisions cover aggression against Philippine vessels in the high seas. This is significant. Heretofore, it was assumed that the defense treaty covered only aggression on “metropolitan” Philippines. Now it is clear that our defense treaty includes the increasing number of naval assets we have deployed to counter China’s force buildup in the contested area.

The specification covering our naval vessels must have been the handiwork of quiet negotiations by our diplomats. We have, after all, given the green light

have been very successful with their campaign slogans that they do not even consider changing or rebranding – and for good reasons. Not only some tourism slogans reflective of the country’s identity, but they are also timeless and have a great recall value.

For example, India’s “incredible India” was officially branded and promoted since 2002 and remains the country’s official tourism slogan. Meanwhile, from 1999 to the present, the slogan “Malaysia, truly Asia’ has been used as an official theme of Malaysia’s tourism promotions worldwide.

Before the worldwide pandemic in 2020, India saw 10.93 million foreign tourist arrivals in 2019, while a total of 26,100,784 international tourists visited Malaysia in the same year.

How has the Philippines fared with its tourism slogan? Data from the Department of Tourism showed that the through its successful tourism campaign of “It’s More Fun in the Philippines”, arrivals of foreign visitors peaked at 8,260,913 in 2019.

The “It’s More Fun in the Philippine” slogan was launched in January 2012, after Ramon R., Jimenez Jr. assumed the post of Tourism Secretary. Within weeks of its launching, it was dubbed the third smartest marketing campaign in the world by global annual ranker of marketing campaigns Warc 100. That year, the Philippines drew in 4.27 million visitors – a record high for the country.

As a former tourism officer at PDOT-Los Angeles, I am all for actively promoting tourism in the Philippines. And now, as the current president and chairman of the Philippines Association of Travel Agencies of Los Angeles and Suburbs (PATA), with an active membership of several hundred travel agents and representatives, experience has taught me that tourism is a big business. Today, the tourist market is rapidly changing and becoming even more competitive. Understandably nations and individual cities are constantly battling for their share of the huge tourism market to sustain the

economic viability of attractions that bring in tourists and travelers – whether they are pristine beaches, ancient monuments, or natural wonders. To attract more tourists, destinations, strive and outdo one another in trying to be different through destination branding.

Unless the DOT data are wrong, the fact is that the Philippines’ “It’s More Fun in the Philippines” tourism slogan is a very successful brand, which has attracted more foreign tourists to the country since its launching than any of the many short-lived, costly, and overly-hyped campaigns that the Department of Tourism has tried in the past, namely: “Philippines: Where Asia Wears a Smile,” “Fiesta Islands Philippines,” “Rediscovery Philippines,” “Consider the Philippines,” “WOW Philippines,” and “Pilipinas Kay Ganda.”

Now, reports have it that current Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco is considering replacing the highly successful “It’s More Fun in the Philippines”

slogan with a new theme anchored on making the Filipino brand more “distinct”.

The new tourism chef reportedly said that the new branding campaign will “take into consideration the change in circumstances, citing that amid the COVID-19 pandemic, people are now in search for substantial and immersive experiences anchored on cultural experience.”

It is worth noting that tourism is a big spender, too. Specifically, changing slogans is costly and complicated. Countries and destination cities generally spend considerable amount of money to adopt a catchy tourism slogan that sticks to the consciousness of the public; thus, launching new campaign can be very expensive. And that is why those with successful branding do not change their slogans at the drop of a hat.

Given the current situation of the country – contending with inflation, coping with the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the

economy, rising unemployment and underemployment, poverty, among many others – is spending millions, or probably billions, of pesos on changing a catchy tourism slogan that has been proven to be successful and effective in drawing tourists to the country the right move? We should also better off noting that it’s not only a catchy slogan that attract travelers to a destination. There are other factors to consider, including: amenities and accommodation, infrastructure, accessibility, safety, activities, and the environment.

If the “It’s More Fun in the Philippines” slogan that captures the “fun factor” of visiting the Philippines and reflects the qualities that set the country apart from other countries does not reflect the Philippines’ “distinctiveness”, then what will? * * *

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Asian Journal, its management, editorial board and staff.

Is DOT’s “It’s More Fun in the Philippines” tourism slogan on the way out? Assurance

to upgrade of military facilities identified for use by U.S. forces in the framework of “enhanced defense cooperation.”

The number of Philippine military facilities to be used for the forward deployment of U.S. supplies have been increased. The U.S. needs these facilities to add credence to their defense posture in this part of the world. We need heightened cooperation with the U.S. to beef up our own capacity to push back against what some perceive to be Beijing’s more assertive presence in the South China Sea.

Harris’ visit to Puerto Princesa was not due to her curiosity about how our fishermen dry their catch. It is a strategically charged appearance. Palawan province is closest to the disputed reefs. The fictional municipality of Kalayaan, covering the reefs we have occupied and claim as territory, is part of Palawan province.

Her visit to Palawan is a message to Beijing as loud as the regular patrols of U.S. warships up and down that strip from the contested reefs to the Taiwan Strait to the Korean peninsula. The U.S. is telling Beijing it is prepared to undertake military action against any aggressive move Beijing might be contemplating.

Washington has not minced its words. The U.S. considers China the strongest strategic threat far into the long term, overshadowing Russia. The Americans want to prevent China from establishing

an unchallenged sphere of influence in this part of the world – or from achieving parity with the U.S. in the long run.

For this reason, the U.S. has been limiting China’s technological access to their markets and shifting investments to reconstitute supply chains away from dependence on Chinese manufacturing. This is a confrontation that will span decades.

No doubt, Filipinos distrustful of China welcome the reaffirmation of U.S. commitment to the mutual defense treaty. This alliance beefs up our defense, given our military inferiority.

America’s overarching strategy of containing China’s sphere of influence, however, magnifies the military aspect of the South China Sea issues and displaces other approaches that might allow us to build more lasting intra-regional institutions for cooperation. Militaristic posturing, after all, does not resolve the China Sea issues.

Multilayered

My own appreciation of the South China Sea concerns was vastly enriched the past few days reading Sass Rogando Sassot’s A Lighthouse before a Troubled Sea: Essays on the South China Sea Conflict. The book was launched just on Saturday, November 19 at the Pandesal Forum.

Sassot, educated in Hong Kong, the Netherlands and the U.S., is probably the most sophisticated and lucid analyst

of the South China Sea issues. With exceptional analytical discipline, she sorts out the history, the cultural accretions, the nation-state imperatives, the overlay of international law and the possibilities for relieving the tensions in the contested sea.

Her collection of essays dismantle the more widely circulated interpretations of the issues emanating from the usual coterie of self-appointed legal experts and shallow pundits who dominated our public’s consideration of the issues and options for too long. She pointed out the errors and the disinformation they have been peddling all these years and offers a possibility for building new mechanisms for littoral countries to manage by ourselves the sea we share.

The usual pundits, she points

out in her essays, have either taken a narrow legalistic appreciation of the issues or basically indulged in jingoism. They drew flawed historical comparisons that privileged confrontation over cooperation. The interpretations of the issues they proffer make it appear that military confrontation is the only end point in this tangle.

Sassot is happy that Duterte rather than Roxas won in the 2016 contest. Had Roxas won, he would have continued with the confrontational inclination of the Noynoy Aquino administration. That would not only led us down a futile path, it might have escalated the situation in the South China Sea.

By contrast, the Duterte administration pursued an approach that enhanced cooperation and won us concessions. Critics simplistically

dismiss the Duterte approach as “pro-China.” That is inaccurate. Duterte’s approach enabled shared history and culture to come into play. It opened the possibility for bilateral mechanisms to evolve towards a lasting solution to the contending claims.

Philippine foreign policy, at the onset, preferred that no nation exercise territoriality over the contested reefs. But we violated our own policy by being the first to occupy Pagasa and build a garrison there.

Anyone who seeks a complete understanding of the contested sea should read this book. (Philstar.com)

* * *

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Asian Journal, its management, editorial board and staff.

ANDY TECSON

DING

ManilaTimes.net photo

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris with residents in Tagburos fishing village in Palawan. Photo courtesy of the Office of Vice President Kamala Harris

Public transportation, mobility readiness in Manila among world’s worst

by Beatrice Pinlac Inquirer.net

MANILA – Public transportation and urban mobility readiness in the Philippine capital are among the worst in the world,  according to a report by think tank Oliver Wyman Forum and the University of California, Berkeley.

Among the 60 global cities examined in the 2022 Urban Mobility Readiness Index, Manila ranked 58th in urban mobility readiness, 56th in public transit systems, and 48th in sustainable mobility.

The cities were evaluated based on their readiness for future mobility disruptors, taking into consideration how public transport systems are being managed and used, and what efforts are being exerted to build more sustainable mobility ecosystems.

The think tank took cognizance of the several modes of transportation available for commuters in Manila, including jeepneys and metro lines.

The report further noted that active mobility in the streets of Manila is boosted through “permissive transit rules on bikes, as well as significant cycling infrastructure.”

“Despite these multimodal strengths, Manila’s public transit system has room for improvement in speed, wait times, station density, and affordability,” it pointed out.

Also highlighted in the report were the challenges faced by road transport in Manila, particularly the “poor quality of roads in the metropolitan area and the limited regional connectivity provided by the national road network.”

“Manila is congested and polluted, but a low level of car ownership should help prevent these problems from worsening,” it said.

Manila, the only “lagging city” in the Asia Pacific region in terms of public transit systems, only bested Johannesburg, Riyadh, Nairobi, and Jeddah. Meanwhile, its regional neighbors were deemed “leading cities” with Hong Kong ranking first, Singapore placing fourth, and Tokyo at seventh.

“The potential domino effect of a desolate public transit system is staggering: economic fallout from poor revenue and lost jobs to operate it, increased congestion associated with more private travel, likely more road fatalities, and worse noise, light, and air pollution,” the

report said.

Manila fared better in the sustainable mobility category, which measures how well cities are making the transition to net-zero mobility.

At the 48th spot, Manila was neither lagging nor leading in its pursuit of a greener and a more sustainable mobility ecosystem.

But the city sank third to the last in the ranking of the cities’ mobility readiness, only ahead of Nairobi and Lagos.

“Cities that tackle future mobility challenges, particularly as it relates to public transit, will be better prepared for future disruptions with resilient and sustainable economies,” the report argued.

The report estimated that for every $1 billion invested in public transport, 50,000 jobs could be created – yielding $5 in returns for every $1 invested.

“But inflation, social unrest, climate change, and other disruptions all pose a risk that urban mobility will fall off the priority list for governments. An increased commitment from the private sector is crucial to supplement the cost of new solutions and equitably raise the quality of life among all communities,” the report pointed out. g

OVERLOADED. Passengers hang on the steel bars over the estribo (footboard) of a passenger jeepney (right) speeding along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City. Despite the strict ban on people hanging on the stirrup of jeepneys and buses by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, there are still passengers who violate the policy just to get home early. PNA photo by Ben Briones

Makabayan bloc, scientists oppose US-PH civil nuclear deal

by GAEA KATREENA CABICO Philstar.com

MANILA — Lawmakers from the Makabayan bloc and scientists raised opposition to negotiations for a civil nuclear energy cooperation agreement between the United States and the Philippines, saying it poses threats to host communities and the environment.

Reps. France Castro (ACT Teachers Party-list), Arlene Brosas (Gabriela Women’s Party Party-list) and Raoul Manuel (Kabataan Party-list) filed a resolution urging the House of Representatives to investigate the civil nuclear cooperation deal, also known as the “123 agreement.”

They said that Filipinos may be used as “guinea pigs” for testing nuclear technologies.

“Given the high threats posed to the health and safety of Filipinos and our environment by experimental nuclear technology, it is therefore urgent that Congress and the Filipino people are clued in on the proposed terms and conditions

and other details of the said 123 Agreement,” the resolution of the Makabayan bloc read.

The “123 agreement” — announced during the visit of U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris to the Philippines — aims to support collaboration on zero-emission energy and nonproliferation priorities. Once in force, the agreement allows the U.S. to export nuclear equipment and material to the Philippines to help the country achieve energy security and transition to clean energy, according to a senior U.S. official.

The Advocates of Science and Technology for the People (AGHAM) Secretary General Jona Yang said the talks will put the Philippines in a dangerous situation “as we will be held hostage by the U.S. in adopting nuclear technology in our energy security.”

“And with the said agreement, the U.S. will now have an upper hand and dominance on the current landscape of our energy industry,” Yang added.

While advocates of nuclear energy argued that it is a reliable

source of electricity, Yang however stressed that the country will be dependent on imported nuclear technology for plants to function.

“Again, we are being held hostage by the whims and wants of those in power to impose a technology that in the end will not benefit the majority of Filipinos,” she said.

During his first State of the Nation Address, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. said it is time to re-examine the country’s strategy toward building nuclear power plants.

On the campaign trail, he said the government should look into reviving the 621-megawatt Bataan Nuclear Power Plant — a venture by his despot father and namesake which was mothballed because of safety concerns.

Groups such as the Center for Energy, Ecology and Development and Greenpeace Philippines stress that nuclear energy will not only pose dangers to host communities, but also impede the country’s genuine transition to clean energy. 

Remulla uncovers more scams at NBP

JUSTICE Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla on Tuesday, November 22 said the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City needs to be closed down because everyone there wants to steal from it.

In an interview, Remulla said even the electricity at the NBP, the national penitentiary, is being "stolen" by jail guards.

Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo, according to him, provided this information in an email sent to him recently.

Remulla said illegal electrical connections or "jumpers" were discovered running from the NBP's medium security prison going to at least 200 houses located outside the prison compound.

These illegal connections were believed to have been installed by the jail guards.

When he learned about these jumpers, the Justice secretary ordered suspended Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Director Gerald Bantag to cut them off.

"They have jumpers there that I had Director Gerald Bantag cut off. They were depriving the BuCor of electricity by making it pass to the back to the 200 houses that were constructed there," he added.

Remulla said the jumpers "weakened" the electricity inside the NBP.

He noted that all these houses had air-conditioners.

Remulla revealed that BuCor personnel live in some of the 200 houses while the rest are being rented out.

"The culture of entitlement at the NBP is really bad," he said.

Remulla further bared that some BuCor personnel have claimed tracts of land at the national penitentiary as their own.

"Much of the NBP land is being used for residential squatting. If we don't stop it, the land there will be depleted," he pointed out.

He said the penitentiary had an initial land area of 700 hectares, now there are only 244 hectares.

"Through the years when the term of a [Philippine] president ends, tracts of land are awarded to individuals, so the land is used up. The land is always being claimed for personal use. There is really abuse there," Remulla also noted.

He said this is the reason why he is pushing for the closure of the NBP.

"Let's just use it for government offices," Remulla added.

What is needed, he said, are regional prisons — maximum, medium and minimum ones in each region of the Philippines.

The Justice chief added that this way, persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) can be visited by their relatives.

"Because what happens when we have a central prison, being an archipelago, it is a very big trip for the family to visit the incarcerated," he said.

The "real plan" on the regionalization of jails as discussed by both Houses of Congress before was not passed into law, according to Remulla.

"The trend now is to make small jails on a regional basis so that there is a correction and rehabilitation function and our prison system is still familybased," he said.

"Because they (the families) are really the support group. The best coping mechanism of a PDL is the family, there is no other best coping mechanism other than that," Remulla added.

Meanwhile, he said the camp of Bantag may be granted an extension in the filing of a counter-affidavit should they ask for it in Wednesday's preliminary investigation of the killing of Percival "Percy Lapid" Mabasa and the alleged middleman, Cristito Villamor Palana.

Bantag's counsel, lawyer Rocky Balisong, personally went to the Department of Justice (DoJ) on Monday to get a copy of the subpoena.

Remulla said he sees no problem if Bantag asks for an extension in the filing of his counter-affidavit.

"No problem, the case will push through based on merits of the case. That will be up to the prosecutors, but I think usually they grant these motions," he added.

Remulla said it is not necessary for Bantag to attend since the latter has an option to issue a special power of attorney to his lawyers to represent him during the preliminary probe.

Aside from Bantag, another respondent in the double-murder case is BuCor deputy security officer Ricardo Zulueta.

Remulla said authorities are still verifying Zulueta's whereabouts, but added his absence will not affect the case.

"The case can stand independently whether Zulueta surrenders. Rumors that he is dead already are there, I was informed a few days ago about it, but the case will still stand as it is, so let it be," he added.

"A conspiracy is a conspiracy, and the act of one is the act of all, so that's where this premise will lie in this case," Remulla said.

But in the event that Bantag would not give himself up, the Justice chief also said it would be a different story because he would be marked as a fugitive from justice.

"Magiging wanted siya (He will become a wanted person). Flight is an indication of guilt, The more guilty he will appear if he doesn't show up," he added.

According to the Justice secretary, Zulueta can be described as Bantag's right hand man from way back when the embattled suspended BuCor chief was warden of the Caloocan City jail.

The panel of prosecutors had set the hearing on Wednesday, November 23.

The second hearing will be on December 5 starting at 1 p.m.

The cases filed against Bantag and Zulueta and several others would be consolidated with the murder charges previously filed against self-confessed gunman Joel Escorial and three other accomplices.

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and Philippine National Police (PNP) filed two cases of murder against Bantag and several others that were linked to the double-murder case.

On November 7, the NBI and the PNP filed murder complaints before the DoJ against Bantag, Zulueta and several other PDLs who were linked to the case.

Bantag has denied any connection to the killing of Lapid.

For the killing of Lapid, charged were Bantag, Zulueta, as principals by inducement, while PDLs Denver Batungbakal Mayores, Alvin Cornista Labra, Aldrin Miscosa Galicia and Alfie Penaredonda were charged as principals by indispensable cooperation.

For the death of Palana, charged were Bantag and Zulueta as principals by inducement, while Labra, Galicia, Mario Germones Alvarez and Joseph Medel Georfo were charged as principals by indispensable cooperation. 

A WREATH FOR RIZAL. Vietnamese National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue (right), Vietnam’s fourth highest official, and his delegation visit the monument of Dr. Jose Rizal in Manila for a wreath-laying ceremony on Thursday, Nov. 24. The delegation arrived in the Philippines earlier this week to hold meetings with ranking Philippine officials. PNA photo by Avito C. Dalan

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Client gets his green card even after aging out and

Child Status Protection Act became law, on an encore episode success story on ‘Citizen Pinoy’ this Sunday

TWENTY-FIVE years ago, San Diego area’s “King of Lechon” was denied his green card because he aged-out before his case was approved.

The family was heartbroken, but leading U.S. Immigration Attorney Michael J.

Gurfinkel was persistent to the point of filing a lawsuit against the INS for failing to expedite Michael’s case.

Although the Federal Court denied the case, Atty. Gurfinkel knows when he is right, and he PAGE B2

Liza’s bonding with Blackpink’s Lisa, Jennie goes viral amid ‘laos’ claims

By Jan Milo Severo Philstar.com

ACTRESS Liza Soberano became viral recently amid “laos” claims when photos of her “fangirling” with Blackpink members Jennie and Lisa at the backstage of the Korean all-girl group’s concert in Los Angeles trended online.

In her Instagram account last Monday, November 21 Liza posted a photo of her with Jennie.

“I’m the happiest girl @jennierubyjane,” Liza captioned the post.

Liza’s record label Careless Music, meanwhile, posted a photo of Liza, Destiny Rogers and Lisa.

“Careless queens with the one & only @ lalalalisa_m,” the record label captioned the post.

Liza also filled her Instagram story videos of Blackpink in concert.

A known Blink, Liza has been vocal for her love and support for the Korean all-girl group.

It can be recalled that veteran showbiz columnist Cristy Fermin commented on Liza’s alleged dimming light in a recent episode of her “Showbiz Now Na” show together with Rommel Chika and Morly Alinio. According to Cristy and Rommel, Liza’s showbiz career seemed to be going downhill

Isko tapped to play Ninoy Aquino in Darryl Yap movie

By Dana Cruz Inquirer.net

ACTOR-POLITICIAN

Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso has been chosen to play late former senator Ninoy Aquino in the upcoming movie “Martyr or Murderer,” director Darryl Yap confirmed. Moreno, who ran for president

in the May 9 elections, can be seen holding the script for the movie as Yap confirmed his casting via his Facebook page on Friday, Nov. 18.

“Isko Moreno as Ninoy Aquino. The Filipino is worth dying… INSIDE,” Yap stated.

“Martyr or Murderer” is the sequel to Yap’s much-criticized “Maid in Malacañang,” which

depicts the last 72 hours of the Marcos family in the Palace amid the tumult of the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution. Former chairman of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) Andy Baustista did not appear to approve of Moreno’s casting, as he described it as a “Trojan [horse]” on his Twitter

LEADING U.S. IMMIGRATION ATTORNEY MICHAEL J. GURFINKEL (RIGHT) SUES THE INS, AND WINS GREEN CARD FOR CLIENT, ON AN ENCORE EPISODE SUCCESS STORY OF CITIZEN PINOY THIS SUNDAY! Michael (left) aged out before his green card was approved. Unfortunately, the INS did not expedite the case despite the Law Offices of Michael J. Gurfinkel repeatedly urging them to do so since they were trying to beat the clock before Michael’s 21st birthday. Atty. Gurfinkel filed a lawsuit against the INS and appealed the case to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled in their favor. Michael was able to get his green card even though he already aged out. And this was before the Child Status Protection Act became law. Watch this success story on an encore episode of “Citizen Pinoy”on Sunday, November 27 at 6:30 PM PT (9:30 PM ET) through select Cable/Satellite providers, right after TV Patrol Linggo. (Advertising Supplement)

before the

Liza Soberano with Blackpink member Jennie Photo from Instagram/@lizasoberano

True Light Legal Service Group: Providing a personalized touch to every case

SEARCHING for a law firm for your immigration, business or personal injury case?

Look no further than True Light Legal Service Group, a leading law firm that specializes in those practice areas.

Priding itself on maintaining high successful rates on every case, True Light Legal Service Group believes in establishing good rapport and relationships with its clients.

Established in 2007 with founder LDA Sean Sohn and Attorney Yoshiyuki Taki, the Los Angeles branch of Taki Law Offices was transformed into True Light Legal Service Group in 2020, expanding its focus from immigration to personal injury and business transactions.

With immigration cases, in particular, the firm has 16 years of experience in the immigration field and has provided numerous services on behalf of the clients over the years. Services included, but are not limited to, family-based green card petitions, employment-based green card petitions, non-immigrant visas and U.S. citizenship, among others. With the expertise in the field, the firm’s immigration specialists will provide each and every one of you with the utmost service in laying a good foundation of your immigrant life here in the U.S.

What makes True Light Legal Service Group stand out from other law firms, its attorneys say it’s their goal to be “approachable and ready to

Minding Your Finances

WHEN debts spiral out of control, bankruptcy can become an invaluable financial recovery tool in getting you back on the right track. While it’s not for everyone, close to a million people every year find it to be their only hope of getting a fresh financial start.

Debt problems can be the result of unemployment, reduction in income, disability, divorce, or in some cases, poor financial decisions. A financial crisis can happen to anyone at any time. No one is exempt. Bankruptcy is a fact of life. Without it, people with serious debt problems will remain stuck where they are, unable to move on with their lives. Living with stress every day caused by the burden of debt is a horrible way

serve any clients that need professional advice.”

“One of our ways of doing that is providing reasonable prices yet professional services. As we have seen many customers having difficult times during the pandemic, we were thinking about adjusting our professional service fees so that more people would be able to get assisted with their immigration issues and lead a stable life in America,” according to the law firm.

No matter how complicated the case — which oftentimes get rejected by other law firms or don’t receive adequate service — True Light Legal Service Group endeavors to bring each client’s situation ideal and customized solutions.

In addition to its Los Angeles office, True Light Legal Service Group opened an office branch in Las Vegas.

“Our mission is to truly lighten the way to the exact destination of our clients. We maintain 99.8% of success rates in all of our cases, and trust and empathy have been our top priorities,” the law firm said.

True Light Legal Service Group is located at 3435 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 1035, Los Angeles, CA 90010 and 8020 W. Sahara Ave. Suite 140, Las Vegas, NV 89117. For more information, please call (213) 487-0080 (Los Angeles) or (702) 277-6944 (Las Vegas), email ask@tllsg.com or visit tllsg.com.

(Advertising Supplement)

Can bankruptcy fix your debt problems?

to live. Bankruptcy can offer hope when the future looks bleak.

Because of eligibility requirements for the type of relief being sought, some people will qualify for Chapter 7 to completely wipe out their debts. Others may have no choice but to file Chapter 13 and pay their creditors over a 3–5-year period. Much of it depends on your income and your assets. You also need to take into consideration your purpose in seeking debt relief.

Chapter 7 is not possible for those who have received a discharge of debts under Chapter 7 within the last eight years or Chapter 13 within the last six years. You may also not be able to file if you were denied a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy within the previous 180 days by

court order. Your eligibility for Chapter 7 bankruptcy may also be in serious jeopardy if the court believes you are guilty of defrauding your creditors. Among other actions, this can include transferring assets to friends or relatives to hide them from creditors or the bankruptcy court, as well as purchasing luxury items with the knowledge that you couldn’t possibly make the required payments.

Chapter 13 can be the most effective way to consolidate all your debts into one low monthly payment that you can afford. In a lot of cases, most debts are only paid a small percentage of the actual amount owed, resulting in significant reduction- a reduction of 50% or more is not unusual.

With reduced debt payments

Client gets his green card even after aging...

appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and won. INS was ordered to issue Michael’s green card despite his aging out.

Watch this success story on a encore episode of “Citizen Pinoy” on Sunday, November 27 at 6:30 PM PT (9:30 PM ET) through select Cable/ Satellite providers, right after TV Patrol Linggo. Citizen Pinoy is also available on iWantTFC. Viewers may download the free app. (Advertising Supplement)

Isko tapped to play Ninoy...

page on Saturday, Nov. 19.

“Martyr or Murderer” is expected to be released by February 2023, in time for the anniversary of the EDSA People Power Revolution, according to Yap. Its prequel “Maid in Malacañang,” was called out by various groups, including director Joel Lamangan who expressed disgust at the movie and called on fellow artists not to join those who “help cover up the truth.” Critics and martial law survivors also considered the movie an attempt to contradict historical facts about the Marcos family. g

Fundraiser brings the best of Fil-Am artists in Los Angeles

Raises funds for Eyes of a Mother

THIS holiday season, Mic Diaz Presents in cooperation with Winners Insurance & Financial Services brings to you a SING & DANCE HOLIDAY PARTY with some of the best local Filpino-American artists such as Spotlight Awards Best Female Vocalist of 2022 Jane Provido, Manny Pacquiao’s former leading lady Sandra Amor, the Rising Comeback Singer Armand Mandia and R&B sensation Honore on Saturday, December 17 at Kusina Filipina in Eagle Rock, Los Angeles, California.

Come party with us this December 17 and help mothers in need. This fun-filled event seeks to raise funds for Eyes of a Mother, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization in the business of bringing improved health, hope and dignity to underserved families through the procurement, fulfillment and distribution of baby hygiene products and service the needs of families and children in Sylmar and neighboring cities.

This event is filled with amazing performers, dancing, raffles and a silent auction. There will

be an opportunity for you and your company to speak in front of the audience about your business and products. At this concert, we expect a 100-guest attendance from the Los Angeles and Southern California community who are OPM enthusiasts, who are energetic, lively and like the latest craze and some nostalgia as well. They are Filipino-Americans and members of other ethnic groups who are in their 20s to 60s, most of whom are in the healthcare, medical, real estate, legal, accounting and insurance fields.

Be part of this fun, engaging and fulfilling event, and support our underserved families artist community while getting the word out about your business! We look forward to you supporting this holiday celebration. We INVITE YOU to kindly support our efforts by attending our event that is brought to you by Avanti Home Doctors, Inc., Winners Insurance & Financial Services, Bankers Life, InfoWeb USA and Atomy. g

Atty. Michael J. Gurfinkel (right) with his client, Michael.

Isko Moreno

Photo from Facebook/Darryl Yap

Atty. RAymond BulAon

SEAFOOD CITY FPFC

Pastor’s Notes

reverend rodel G. BAlAGtAS

HERE we are at the start of the Advent season! So naturally, as we celebrate this season, we think of Christmas.

The Church, however, reminds us not to focus our minds yet on the celebration of Christmas, particularly its material aspects, but on the four weeks of spiritual preparation.

Advent is a period of waiting, reflecting, musing, and deepening our thoughts on how we can live meaningfully, joyfully, faithfully, and generously. Therefore, we need to observe it as a heightened time of grace by which we can find peace, wholeness, and joy.

And so, it should involve beautiful moments of prayer, silence, attentiveness, presence, and patience. To achieve this, we must be intentional about curving time for prayer, study, and meditation and use various ways, even resources from social media.

Social media like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube have postings that help us reflect on the meaning and value of life.

Take, for example, this posting on Facebook by The Meaning of Life: “One day, we all will depart on a journey free of cost.

Stay awake!

Don’t worry about the reservation; it is confirmed.

The flight is always on time. Our good deeds will be our luggage.

Humanity will be our passport.

Love will be our visa.

Make sure we do our best to travel to heaven in business class.”

Another social media posting is on Steve Jobs’s last words before he died from pancreatic cancer:

“At this moment, lying on my bed and recalling my life, I realize that all the recognition and wealth that I took so much pride in have paled and become meaningless in the face of my death.

You can employ someone to drive the car for you, make money for you, but you cannot have someone bear your sickness for you. Material things lost can be found or replaced. But there is one thing that can never be found when it’s lost—Life. Whichever stage in life you’re in right now, with time, you will face the day when the curtain falls.

Treasure love for your family, love for your spouse, love for your friends. Treat yourself well and cherish others.

As we grow older, and hopefully wiser, we realize that a $3000 or a $30 watch both tell the same time. You will realize that your true inner happiness does not come from the material things of this world. Whether you fly first class or economy, if the

plane goes down—you go down with it.

Don’t educate your children to be rich. Educate them to be happy.

Eat your food as your medicine, otherwise, you have to eat medicine as your food.

The One who loves you will never leave you for another because, even if there are 100 reasons to give up, he or she will find a reason to hold on.

There is a big difference between a human being and being human. Only a few really understand it. You are loved when you are born. You will be loved when you die. In between, you have to manage.

The six best doctors in the world are sunlight, rest, exercise, diet, self-confidence, and friends. Maintain them in all stages and enjoy a healthy life.”

Let’s heed Advent’s call for more meaningful prayers, reflections, and human encounters. In this way, we can prepare for Christmas and Christ’s Second Coming and our personal departures from this world to eternal life with God.

* * *

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Asian Journal, its management, editorial board and staff.

* * *

Fr. Rodel “Odey” Balagtas is the pastor of Incarnation Church in Glendale, California.

Vice Ganda to Vhong Navarro...

PAGE B2

KAPAMILYA host Vice Ganda assured detained co-host Vhong Navarro that his “It’s Showtime” family will support and never for get him.

In last Saturday’s (November 19) episode of the noontime show, Vice said they will always pray for him.  “Vhong, hinding-hindi ka namin

nakakalimutan. Araw-araw, naaa lala ka namin. At araw-araw, nag dadasal kami para sa iyo. Arawaraw, isa ka sa mga hiling na ibinibigay at ibinubulong namin sa Diyos,” Vice said.

Kasama ka namin dito at excit ed na makasama ka naming muli dahil alam naming makakasama ka namin. Mahal na mahal ka namin, Vhong Navarro. Ang tagumpay ng

‘Showtime’ noon, ngayon, na ma giging tagumpay niya pa sa kinab ukasan, ay kasama ka, Vhong Na varro,” he added.

Anne Curtis added: “We love you, Vhong.”

Vhong has been transferred to the custody of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) in Taguig City Jail on Sun day, November 21.

In a statement released to the media, National Bureau of In vestigation (NBI) said that Na varro was transferred to Camp Bagong Diwa at 4 p.m. “after completing all the required health protocols.”

Vhong had been held in NBI Detention Center since Septem ber. He is facing cases of rape and acts of lasciviousness. (By Jan Milo Severo/Philstar.com)

Employers cannot use immigration status to avoid following employment laws

Protecting Employee & Consumer Rights

Atty. C. Joe SAyAS, Jr

Q: I WORKED as a caregiver in a nursing home. I complained to my manager that the owner’s husband was sexually harassing me, but she told me I was overreacting and told me I should be thankful I have a job. When I complained again after the owner’s husband touched me inappropriately, the manager called me a troublemaker and fired me.

I think what they did was wrong, and I want justice. But I’m afraid to take them to court because I’m still in the process of fixing my immigration papers. If I sue them for unlawfully firing me, can they use my immigration status against me in court?

A: As you suspected, you may indeed have a claim for unlawful retaliation under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”). FEHA protects California employees against retaliation for an employee’s reasonable and good faith act of opposing a practice forbidden by law, such as sexual harassment.

You may also have claims for the hostile work environment created by the sexual harassment you suffered, as well as your employer’s failure to prevent the sexual harassment. These are types of discrimination based on

gender that are unlawful under FEHA.

As to immigration status, California has a strong public policy that the protections of employment laws extend to all employees, whether documented or not. Under California Labor Code § 1171.5(a), where an employee alleges that her employer violated California employment laws, the employer is prohibited from inquiring into the employee’s immigration status without showing by clear and convincing evidence that the information is necessary to comply with federal immigration laws.

A recent case provides an example of the protections.

In a recent case, an employee of a landscaping company, Jose Manuel, alleged that he was wrongfully terminated after he had hurt his back on the job. The employer sought information on his immigration status, arguing that this was relevant to their defense that Mr. Manuel had actually abandoned his job because he was afraid the federal government was questioning his authorization to work in the United States.

The Court of Appeal ruled that inquiries into Mr. Manuel’s immigration status was improper. The appellate court explained that not allowing unauthorized workers to obtain state remedies for unlawful discharge, like lost wages, “would effectively immunize

employers that, in violation of fundamental state policy, discriminate against their workers on grounds such as disability or race, retaliate against workers who seek compensation for disabling workplace injuries, or fail to pay the wages that state law requires.”

The Labor Code prevents California employers from using immigration as a shield to avoid responsibility for violating California’s employment laws. Undocumented employees have employment rights, and there are ways to enforce their valid claims under wage and discrimination laws.

* * * The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Asian Journal, its management, editorial board and staff.

* * * The Law Offices of C. Joe Sayas, Jr. welcomes inquiries about this topic. All inquiries are confidential and at no-cost. You can contact the office at (818) 291-0088 or visit www.joesayaslaw.com. [For more than 25 years, C. Joe Sayas, Jr., Esq. successfully recovered wages and other monetary damages for thousands of employees and consumers. He was named Top Labor & Employment Attorney in California by the Daily Journal, selected as Super Lawyer by the Los Angeles Magazine for 11 years, and is a past Presidential Awardee for Outstanding Filipino Overseas.]

(Advertising Supplement)

Liza’s bonding with Blackpink’s Lisa...

when she parted ways with former manager Ogie Diaz.

Ako ang pakiramdam ko sakanya, nawala ang kinang niya. I’m sorry sa mga taga Liza, ako, gusto ko si Liza pero hindi ko na siya masyadong napapagka-kitakita ng merong ginagawa kundi mga post post na lang,” said Rommel.

Ramdam ko ngayon, kasi nagsusulat ako e, alam ko ang galaw ng mga dyaryo, ng TV, ng radyo. Nawala si Liza Soberano. Napapabalita lang siya nung una, nung umalis siya sa kandili ni Ogie Diaz dahil suntok sa buwan yung gagawin niyang pag pasok sa Hollywood. Suntok sa buwan ng gagawin

nila ni James Reid na pag pasok sa Hollywood… Pero sa tingin ko, parang matatagalan,” Fermin claimed.

“Sana inalam muna niya ang tamang daan papasok duon bago siya bumitiw dito… Yung Liza Soberano bigla bigla, biglang nawala… Ngayon ramdam ko na umaandap andap yung kandila… Nanduon na tayo masaya siya ang tinatanong natin, kwestiyon natin, karera… Dapat inisip niya saan ba siya nagsimula… Sana sana hawakan natin yung pag asa na makapasok parin siya sa Hollywood pero habang tumatagal palamlam na ng palamlam ang kandila ng kanyang karera.” g

Vice Ganda

Photo from Instagram/@praybeytbenjamin

How will your 401k retirement plan be divided in a divorce case?

FOR most families, their 401K retirement plan from work is the second largest asset an average family holds (second only to their family residence). How is this treated in a divorce proceeding in California which is a community property state? It depends on how it is characterized whether separate property, community property, or part separate and part community.

If all your contribution to your 401k plan made prior to the marriage or after separation, then your 401k plan will be characterized as your separate property. In a divorce, your separate property 401k plan will not be divided and will be awarded 100% to you.

On the other hand if all your contribution to your 401k plan was made during the marriage, then the retirement plan will be characterized as community property. Marriage is the period from date of marriage to date of separation. This means your 401k retirement plan will be

divided 50/50 between you and your spouse. Since 401k retirement plan is subject to ERISA, a QDRO is necessary to divide the plan. A QDRO is a Qualified Domestic Relations Order prepared by your attorney filing with the Court subject to the retirement plan administrator’s approval. Once the QDRO is approved by the plan and signed by the Court, the QDRO is sent back to the plan which implements the division of the 401k plan. Half

plan occurred partly before marriage and partly during marriage. In that situation, an apportionment would have to be made between separate property and community property. Your spouse will be entitled to half the community interest in your 401k plan. The community portion of the 401k plan gets to share in its pro-rata share of investment gains and income of the 401k plan and not just the original contributions. As stated previously, the non-

there will be no need to divide your 401k plan with a QDRO. The divorce judgment would simply award the entire plan to you with a corresponding asset awarded to your spouse.

* * * 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, APLC  This article is not a solicitation.

There’s a right time to file for bankruptcy

Debt Relief

pay a portion of what they owe even if they qualify for Chapter 7discharge and do not have to pay anything. Frankly, I don’t have any idea except possibly they have a psychological block about filing for bankruptcy as if it’s not a good thing.

HOW do I know that there’s a right time for you to file for bankruptcy and I am 100% sure of this? Well, I refer you to the Bible Ecclesiastes 3:1-8:

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

A time to be born and a time to die;

A time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;

If they want to pay a portion of the debt that they owe, then I guide them into Chapter 13 where they pay a portion of their debt over five years, or three years if the trustee does not argue lack of good faith in proposing a three-year plan. In reality, no trustee will forego this argument unless debtor has cancer or some other debilitating illness that prevents debtor from having a normal life.

of the community interest in the 401k plan will be transferred to a new account set up under the non-employee spouses’ name.

This division of the 401k plan is not a taxable event and will not have any tax consequence since the non-employee spouses’ portion will simply be transferred to another tax deferred account under the non-employee spouse’s name.

It gets more challenging when the contributions to your 401k

employee spouse’s half of the community interest in the plan will be divided via a QDRO.

If your divorce case is resolved by settlement rather than trial, it is also possible to negotiate that your entire 401k retirement plan be awarded 100% to in exchange for either a cash buy out to your spouse or offering your spouse other assets in exchange for your spouse’s half of the community interest in the 401k plan. In that scenario,

* * * 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 is a graduate of Southwestern University Law School in Los Angeles and California State University, San Bernardino School of Business Administration. He has extensive CPA experience prior to law practice. LAW OFFICES OF KENNETH REYES, APC. is located at 3699 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 747, Los Angeles, CA, 90010. Tel. (213) 388-1611 or e-mail kenneth@kenreyeslaw.com or visit our website at Kenreyeslaw.com. (Advertising Supplement)

A time to kill and a time to heal;

A time to break down and a time to build up;

A time to weep, and a time to laugh;

A time to mourn and a time to dance;

A time to throw away stones and a time to gather stones together;

A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to seek and a time to lose;

A time to keep, and a time to throw away;

A time to tear, and a time to sew;

A time to keep silence and a time to speak;

A time to love and a time to hate;

A time for war and a time for peace”

So, there is a right time to file for bankruptcy too if you need relief from accumulated debt.

In 30 years of representing debtors in bankruptcy, I know that some clients just cannot decide when they should get bankruptcy relief and if they should file for it.

Probably, this group of clients represents about 2% of all of my clients. Since I have handled over 5,000 debtors in the past, 2% is about 100 clients who are indecisive. Some of them will say that they still want to

As I have said many times before, even Walt Disney filed for Chapter 7 twice before his Disney business became a global success, and Milton Hershey of the chocolate empire that makes among others ‘Reese’s pieces,’ Hershey’s chocolates and other very well know candies, also filed for Chapter 7. These very successful business people decided at some point in their lives that it was time for them to file for bankruptcy because they had too much accumulated debt.

If you have too much debt and need relief, please set an appointment to see me. I will analyze your case personally.

* * *

Disclaimer: None of the foregoing is considered legal advice for anyone. Each case is different.  There is no absolutely no attorney client relationship established by reading this article.

* * *

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) 2841142 for an appointment at 20274 Carrey Road, Walnut, CA 91789 or 1000 S. Fremont Ave., Mailstop 58, Building A-10 South Suite 10042, Alhambra, CA 91803.

(Advertising Supplement)

Can bankruptcy fix your debt problems...

Atty. LAwrence yAng

“If all your contribution to your 401k plan made prior to the marriage or after separation, then your 401k plan will be characterized as your separate property. In a divorce, your separate property 401k plan will not be divided and will be awarded 100% to you.”

Pahrump guided tours to start soon

A GUIDED tour to the points of interest in the town of Pahrump will start soon, according to local newspaper the Pahrump Valley-Times

With the October 26 ribbon-cutting behind them, Cheers! Nevada will focus on offering speciallycurated tours to those wanting to take in what Pahrump has to offer. Per the article, the company may start with their guided tours on Thanksgiving weekend.

According to owner Stefanie Kai Brant, the guided tours, have been created to highlight the town’s unique and diverse businesses – including wineries, eateries and more – with the help of the Pahrump Valley Chamber of Commerce, the Southwest Central Regional Economic Development Authority and local business owners. She added that it was important that the community was on board with the plans, as providing quality tours is of utmost importance to them.

Although the tours will showcase the various wines, meads, ciders and beers from Pahrump’s local artisans, Brant is careful not to make it look like a purely alcoholic-driven spectacle. Instead, she wants it to be a fun, educational and allinclusive experience for each of the passengers. To that end, videos in the tour vans will present information about each destination as the tour goes along. Brant also wants to make sure that the tours will showcase the artisans’ passion in making their products and the quality of the products they come up with.

Among the points of interest in Pahrump that may be included in the Pahrump Town Tour

A great component of the guided tours is that that the company behind it is giving back to the community a part of what it earns to develop and enhance after-school programs for the youth.

Said Brant in the article: “The biggest motivation behind this tour company is community. We see a need for after-school programs. We want to give at least 10 percent of everything that comes in for youth art programs with the goal that other businesses will join as well to start supporting that.”

The announcement comes in the heels of a longtime event that drew thousands of people to Petrack Park in Pahrump for three days of family fun.

The 9th Annual Balloon Festival this year was organized by the Dubin family, in partnership with Doug Campbell of Balloons Over Pahrump. They took over from the Pahrump Valley Chamber of Commerce, the previous organizer, ensuring that people would not miss out on a local tradition that has been embraced by the community.

The event also honored the men and women who have served in the military as the event’s first day took place on Veteran’s Day (November 11), with a Veterans Day Sunrise Service and a special balloon honoring prisoners of war and those missing in action flying the American flag above the park.

This is another case of community members coming together to showcase what’s special about the town of Pahrump. From food vendors, to artisans, to featured games/tournaments, and other local vendors, the balloon festival attendees – young and old – were entertained.

Indeed, the town of Pahrump has improved noticeably since its humble beginnings. Originally inhabited by the Southern Pauite, settlers eventually came to live in the area by the late 19th century.

Initially the town had mostly large ranch-style holdings where livestock were raised and crops like alfalfa and cotton were grown.

Today’s Pahrump has seen its share of development. In addition to various wineries and establishments, it also has local hotel-casinos.

It also features Spring Mountain Motor Sports Ranch which features the longest road course in North America (6.1 miles) and has nearby Spring Mountain Estates, luxury trackside homesites where homeowners have full access to all the amenities offered at Spring Mountain Motor Resort and Country Club.

Another often-visited and highly-regarded jewel in Pahrump is the Mountain Falls Golf Club, which features an 18-hole layout co-designed by Nicklaus Design Group and Cal Olson Design. There are also homesites available in Mountain Falls. I hosted the late Philippine President Fidel Ramos, who was an avid golfer, in one of his trips to Nevada, and he was profuse in his compliments about the place.

Pahrump is located just 62 miles west of Las Vegas, and it is an easy drive for those who want the taste of big city life and entertainment of Sin City (Las Vegas) but who want the peace and quiet of living in a developing town, away from bustling traffic and big city headaches.

The town has many parks for avid walkers/ joggers, off-road trails for trail bikes, ATVs and motorcycles, bird-watching and hiking for those who prefer to commune with nature, and other recreational clubs that offer a host of activities.

I have seen its development through the years, and its proximity to Las Vegas makes it an ideal choice for those who are priced out of the Las Vegas market. With real estate prices in the state still higher than it was from a year ago, or even a decade or two ago, it may be an opportune time to look for your piece of real estate heaven – whether you’re looking for a new home, a vacation place, or looking for an investment property.

Some of my clients have begun reaping the benefits of their investments, as they have turned their properties into rentals or Airbnb.

I have decades of experience helping clients look

for the right piece of property for their budgets. My team and I will work hard to look for the best real estate opportunities in Pahrump and other areas so you can achieve that American dream.

My company, Precious Properties, is a fullservice company that has served its clientele since 1992. You can reach me at 775-513-8447, 805-5592476 and 702-538-4948 for more information, or send me an email at fely@precious-properties.com or fely.precious@gmail.com. We have investors who buy houses in California and Nevada for cash and quick escrow in as short as 7 days. (Advertising Supplement)

One of two gas stations (Coyote Corner) in Pahrump that will open soon.

Realtor Fely Quitevis-Bateman was recently in Egypt where she visited the world-famous pyramids, one of the ancient wonders of the world.

Guided tours will soon start in Pahrump that will feature the town’s local wineries, eateries and more. The tours will showcase the products made by local artistans and is projected to be fun, educational and all-inclusive for all tour participants. Photo above shows the Sanders Family Winery in Pahrump, NV. Screengrab from internet/www.sanderswinery.com

A second Circle K gas station will open in town on Homestead Road.

Realtor Fely Quitevis-Bateman helps those who need business financing, including loans for small businesses. For more information, call (702) 538-4948, or send email to fely@ precious-properties.com or fely.precious@gmail.com.

By REALTOR FELY QUITEVIS-BATEMAN include Coffinwood, Death Valley Marketplace and Chicken Ranch.