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Volume 19 - No. 51 • 14 Pages
T H E F I L I P I N O A M E R I CA N C O M M U N I T Y N E WS PA P E R
Volume 18 - No. 17 • 2 Sections – 16 Pages
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DATELINE Supreme Court rejects Trump challenge excluding undocumented immigrants from Census FROM THE AJPRESS NEWS TEAM ACROSS AMERICA
THE U.S. Supreme Court has dismissed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s plan to exclude undocumented immigrants from the calculations used to allocate seats in the House of Representatives. “At present, this case is riddled with contingencies and speculation that impede judicial review,” the court said in an unsigned 7-page opinion. The Supreme Court added that the challenge from New York state was premature. “Consistent with our determination that standing has not been shown and that the case is not ripe, we express no view on the merits of the constitutional and related statutory claims presented. We hold only that they are not suitable for adjudication at this time,” the court continued. u PAGE A4
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Also published in LOS ANGELES, ORANGE COUNTY/INLAND EMPIRE, SAN DIEGO, LAS VEGAS, NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY
US approves Moderna vaccine by RITCHEL
MENDIOLA AJPress
THE United States has authorized a second vaccine against the coronavirus for emergency use, with shipments starting to arrive this week. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday, December 18, granted an emergency use authorization (EUA) to Moderna Inc’s COVID-19 vaccine a day after the agency’s advisory panel endorsed it as safe and effective. “With the availability of two vaccines now for the
prevention of COVID-19, the FDA has taken another crucial step in the fight against this global pandemic that is causing vast numbers of hospitalizations and deaths in the United States each day,” FDA Commissioner Stephen M. Hahn, M.D. said in a statement. Moderna’s vaccine has a 94.5% efficacy rate, occurring at least 14 days after the second dose. It is authorized to be distributed in the U.S. for use in individuals 18 years of age and older, following Pfizer’s vaccine, which began its national rollout last week. Both pharmaceutical firms utilize the new mes-
by AJPRESS
RUSH HOUR. Commuters wait for public utility vehicles along Quirino Highway, Fairview, Quezon City on Monday, December 21. Public transport has been allowed to operate at a limited capacity as restrictions were eased under the general community quarantine. PNA photo by Oliver Marquez
GOING into the holiday week, California is still hitting record COVID-19 numbers, signaling that restrictions could remain in place into the new year. Governor Gavin Newsom on Monday, December 21 said that the state is inclined to extend the regional stay-at-home order for more than the three-week period. But he did not offer what that extension would look like. “Based upon all the data, and based upon all these trend lines, it’s very likely that we will extend the stayat-home order,” Newsom, who is quarantining after another staff member tested positive for COVID-19, said. This comes as four out the five regions, or 98% of the state, are under the order, which was triggered by the Intensive Care Unit capacities dropping below 15% and has implemented shutdown requirements for most businesses except for retail stores and essential services. Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley
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DFA sees spike in COVID-19 infections IATF allows foreigners to re-enter PH among Filipinos around the globe by RITCHEL
MENDIOLA AJPress
by RITCHEL
MENDIOLA
AJPress
The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is observing another spike in COVID-19 infections among overseas Filipinos as 198 more individuals have contracted the virus. The new infections reported on Monday, December 18 brought the official tally to 12,816 — 3,654 of whom are currently unu PAGE A3 dergoing treatment.
THE Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) has approved the re-entry of foreigners who left the Philippines on December 17 and onwards, Malacañang announced Friday, December 18. “The IATF, in its 89th meeting, also allowed the re-entry to the Philippines of foreign nationals with valid and existing visas u PAGE A3 under Section 9(e) and 9(g) of Commonwealth Act No. 613, as amended, who are already in the country and will be leaving the country starting December 17, 2020,” said Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque. Under Section 9 (g) of the Comend you right now?)” Nuezca is heard say- monwealth Act 613 or the Philiping in the middle of a heated exchange in pine Immigration Act of 1940, the video. He then pulled out a pistol and it says that foreign visa holders shot them both in the head. are those “lawfully admitted into Speaking at a press briefing on Mon- the Philippines for permanent day afternoon, December 21, Roque said that President Rodrigo Duterte—who has historically defended and even cleared police execs facing controversies—would not protect the policeman who killed two people in Tarlac. He was, however, careful to point out that the officer was not on duty. “That policeman should be punished...No ifs, no buts. [But] that massacre has nothing to do with police duty. He must be held accountable. By and large, our police are very disciplined,” he said. “We condemn what happened in Tarlac. That is not a servicerelated double murder ... That policeman u PAGE A2
The agency also recorded 107 new recoveries, which raises the official number of recovered and discharged patients to 8,234. Likewise, the death toll rose by 63 to a total of 928 fatalities. “Today, the DFA reports spikes in the total numbers of confirmed COVID-19-related statistics among Filipinos abroad, with 189 new cases, 107 new recoveries, and 63 new fatalities recorded among those in Asia and the Pacific, and Europe,” the DFA said.
‘Isolated incident’: Despite Tarlac killings, no policy changes in PNP ahead by FRANCO LUNA Philstar.com
Police SMSgt. Jonel Nuezca
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Stay-at-home order ‘very likely’ to be extended for certain California regions
FTC’s ‘Operation Income Illusion’ targets get-rich-quick scams IN the midst of the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, criminals are brazenly floating “getrich-quick” schemes to fleece unsuspecting people seeking financial security for themselves and their families. Speaking at a mid-December ethnic media conference call, the Federal Trade Commission issued urgent warnings that people need to be on their guard to avoid being robbed. Kati Daffan and Rhonda Perkins, two lawyers in the FTC’s Division of Marketing Practices, spotlighted a variety of scams promoted in advertisements online or in TV, radio and newspapers and even within religious communities. In a year’s time, Daffan said, there was a 70% increase in this kind of crime. “In the first nine months of 2020 alone,” she said, “people reported losing at least $50 million.” And those victims are just the ones who came forward. Most people don’t, Daffan said, so “it’s a tiny fraction of what’s going on in the marketplace.” To combat the scams, the FTC has
senger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) technology for their vaccines. “Through the FDA’s open and transparent scientific review process, two COVID-19 vaccines have been authorized in an expedited timeframe while adhering to the rigorous standards for safety, effectiveness, and manufacturing quality needed to support emergency use authorization that the American people have come to expect from the FDA,” said Hahn. “These standards and our review process, which
MANILA — Reforms in the Philippine National Police’s policy surrounding firearms are unnecessary for now, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque claimed, as the recent murders of a mother and her son are an “isolated incident” that the government has vowed to address. This comes in the wake of the grisly killings in Paniqui, Tarlac over the weekend, a video of which has since gone viral on social media showing Police SMSgt. Jonel Nuezca shooting 52-year-old Sonya Gregorio and her son Frank Anthony Gregorio—both unarmed—at point-blank range during an argument. “Putangina, gusto mo tapusin na kita ngayon? (Son of a bitch, do you want me to
residence, who is returning from a temporary visit abroad to an unrelinquished residence in the Philippines.” Foreigners are allowed reentry provided that they have valid and existing visas on the date of arrival, a pre-booked quarantine facility, and pre-booked COVID19 testing at a laboratory operating at the airport. They must also be subjected to the maximum capacity of inbound passengers at the port and date of entry. “The foregoing is without prejudice to immigration laws, rules and regulations,” the IATF said. “The Commissioner of Immigration shall have the exclusive prerogative to decide on waiver or recall of exclusion orders for the above foreign nationals, including other foreign nationals who have entered the Philippines by virtue of Inter-Agency Task
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