122519 - Southern California Midweek Edition

December 25-27, 2019 Volume 29 - No. 101 • 2 Sections - 16 Pages

DATELINE USA FROM THE AJPRESS NEWS TEAM ACROSS AMERICA

PH gov’t, Reds declare holiday ceasefire

by JULIE

M. AURELIO & KARLOS MANLUPIG Inquirer.net

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday night, December 22, ordered a “unilateral and reciprocal ceasefire” after the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) directed all fighting forces of its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA), to stand down once the government declared a truce for the holiday season.

Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo announced the government’s ceasefire declaration, which will take effect from midnight on Monday until 11:59 p.m. on Jan. 7.

The president, Panelo said, also ordered the Department of National Defense (DND), the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) “to issue an official declaration” to all armed units and agents for them to observe the truce.

Panelo said Duterte also ordered the reconstitution of the government’s peace negotiating panel, with Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea among its members.

Peace talks With the ceasefire declaration and the reconstitution of the peace panel, Panelo said the admin-

istration looked forward to a resumption of negotiations with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), the umbrella organization of the local communist movement.

Earlier on Sunday, the CPP directed all NPA units to halt offensives against state security forces once the government declared a ceasefire for the Christmas and New Year holidays.

The rebels’ ceasefire will also take effect on midnight Monday and end at 11:59 p.m. on Jan. 7. On Saturday, December 21, government and rebel negotiators meeting in Utrecht, the Netherlands, recommended the declaration of a holiday truce as a

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Palace sees ‘injustice’ in massacre acquittals Sheila Lirio Marcelo founded Care.com in 2007.

Pinay-founded Care.com acquired for $500-M PINAY-founded Care.com, the world’s largest online marketplace for finding and managing family care, will be acquired by American-holding company IAC, both companies announced on Friday, December 20.

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2020 US budget includes ban on people behind ‘wrongful imprisonment’ of De Lima

by CATHERINE

VALENTE ManilaTimes.net

DESPITE the resolution of the decade-old Maguindanao massacre case, Malacañang still sees “injustice” in the acquittal of some 56 people who were charged and held for the mass killing but were acquitted when the court handed down its verdict on Thursday, December 19.

Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo, who once served as defense counsel of Andal Ampatuan Jr. in the massacre case, blamed the decade-long detention of the 56 who the court found to be innocent on the “serious flaws in our justice system,” which need to be corrected.

“While the rule of law has prevailed following yesterday’s promulgation by the trial court on the case of the Maguindanao massacre, the Palace notes that there are serious flaws in our justice system long existing and must be rectified, if we are to be fealty to the rule of law and due process as enshrined in our Constitution,” he said in a statement.

Panelo, who also serves as Duterte’s top legal counsel, stressed that while prosecutors should be commended

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UNITED STATES President Donald Trump on Sunday, December 22, approved the U.S. 2020 budget bill, including a provision that bars those involved in the “wrongful imprisonment” of opposition Sen. Leila De Lima from entering the United States.

The provision, which touches on Financial Management and Budget Transparency, includes a clause on Prohibition on Entry that reads: The Secretary of State shall apply subsection (c) to foreign government officials about whom the Secretary has credible information (sic.) have been involved in the wrongful imprisonment of: [...] Senator Leila De Lima who was arrested in the Philippines in 2017.

Included in the provision are bans on officials

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VOYAGE. Balangay boats Raya Siyagu and Raya Kolambu arrive in Butuan City in time for the 500-day countdown to the nationwide Quincentennila Celebrations on April 27, 2021. The event marks Lapu-Lapu’s victory in the Battle of Mactan against the Spanish fleet of Ferdinand Magellan and the first circumnavigation of the world by Magellan and Juan Sebastian Elcano.

PNA photo

De Lima twits DOJ chief for downplaying US Senate reso on her release in massacre acquittals by

DARRYL JOHN ESGUERRA Inquirer.net

Senator Leila De Lima

DETAINED opposition Senator Leila De Lima on Saturday, December 21, slammed Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra for branding as “trash and non-existent” a U.S. Senate panel resolution urging the Philippine government to drop the charges against her.

“That is easy to say for someone Inquirer.net photo

not in prison, and who is responsible for the continuation of injustice that is my incarceration based on fabricated charges,” De Lima, who is facing drug-related charges, said in a statement.

De Lima, a former justice secretary herself, refuted Guevarra who claimed that U.S. Senate Res. 142 violates Philippine laws.

“No, it does not,” she stressed.

Amid Angkas issue, Recto says unemployment ‘saddest, meanest Christmas gift ever’

‘Heartless...even Scrooge will not dare think of’

by NEIL IRWIN

MERCADO Inquirer.net

THE “saddest and meanest Christmas gift ever.”

This is how Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto described the looming loss of livelihood of around 17,000 bikers of ride-hailing firm Angkas following the decision of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to impose a 10,000-biker limit to transport network companies (TNC).

“Christmas is the season of giving, not of taking away; of RIDERS RILED UP Thousands of Angkas riders protest the capping of driver slots by the Land Transportation and Regulatory Board on Sunday, December 22, at the People Power Monument spreading cheer, and not sowalong EDSA in Quezon City.

ManilaTimes.net photo by Ruy Martinez ing unhappiness,” Recto said

in a statement.

“But for 17,000 Angkas drivers and their families, they got the saddest and meanest Christmas gift ever: their livelihood being taken away,” he added.

Further, Recto said that the “gift of unemployment is the most heartless of all, the worst Christmas bonus, one that even Scrooge will not even dare think of.”

The senator lamented that while many government agencies celebrate the holiday with goodwill, “one agency, however, decided to celebrate a joyous season with the mass firing

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“It is merely like any domestic or international call for my release.

“It just so happened that in the case of the U.S. Senate, the call is backed up with serious potential sanctions that will hurt my persecutors, including Guevarra himself. Hence, it has the punch that Guevarra and other in the Duterte officialdom fear.”

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Duterte, Robredo ratings surge

by JANVIC

MATEO Philstar.com

THE approval and trust ratings of President Rodrigo Duterte and Vice President Leni Robredo have increased in the recent survey conducted by Pulse Asia.

The survey, conducted from December 3 to 8 with the results released Saturday, December 21, showed the number of people who approve of the president’s performance increasing from 78 percent in September to 87 percent this month.

Those who were undecided decreased from 14 percent to eight percent, while those who disapprove of Duterte’s performance decreased from eight percent to five percent.

The number of people who trust Duterte also increased from 74 percent to 83 percent, while those who were undecided decreased from 18 percent to 10

percent.

Those who distrust the president decreased from nine percent to six percent.

Meanwhile, the number of people who approve of the performance of the vice president increased from 50 percent in September to 58 percent this month.

Those who were undecided of her performance decreased from 28 percent to 21 percent, while her disapproval rating decreased from 22 percent to 20 percent.

Robredo’s trust rating also surged from 46 percent to 53 percent, while those who were undecided dropped from 29 percent to 22 percent.

Meanwhile, the number of people who distrust the vice president fell from 25 percent to 20 percent.

The approval and trust ratings of Senate President Vicente Sot-

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A December 25-27, 2019 • Socal ASIAN JOUrNAL

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From the Front Page

Palace sees ‘injustice’ in massacre...

PAGE A1 for their efforts of closing the case, there was still injustice for those who ended up in jail but were eventually acquitted.

“An analysis of the court’s judgment shows that 10 years of what could have been productive lives of 56 acquitted accused have been wasted in incarceration and, necessarily, their families have since

become dysfunctional, with their wives and their children bearing the brunt of the stigma and the humiliation that come with it, scarring them for the rest of their lives,” he said.

“This is an injustice that can not be countenanced nor continue.

It must not find print ever again in the pages of our history as a nation,” the Palace spokesman

added.

Panelo noted that a major cause of the “aberration” was the filing of charges before the court against any accused, even when the evidence presented before the investigating public prosecutor “cannot sustain a conviction of an accused of a crime to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.”

“The hasty and heedless filing of an information is due either to the faulty appreciation of evidence by — or the fear of — the investigating prosecutor to be subjected to an administrative sanction or get a reprisal from the complainant if the case is dismissed at the preliminary investigation stage,” he said.

“The resultant tragedy is the deprivation of the liberty of the persons adjudged as innocent by the court, as what happened yesterday. It is not an isolated case, there are hundreds of similar pending cases obtaining in other courts,” Panelo added.

The spokesman, however, stressed that the Philippine justice system should remain impartial “without regard to the social and political status of those haled before the mighty and unforgiving arm of the law, uninfluenced by the torrent of adverse people’s judgment.”

“The government, forever unaffected and unmoved by the infectious winds of public opinion, must pursue and protect this ideal,” he said.

The Palace official added that the promulgation and the tedious process should serve as a lesson to everyone so no lives would be put to waste.

“Aside from throwing away productive years of those accused who were pronounced not guilty, government resources, including man-hours and effort, have gone to waste,” Panelo said.

“This is one lesson we must all learn lest we repeat the same grievous error at the cost of liberty and honor of the innocents,” he added.

On Thursday, Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes found 43 accused in the massacre, including several members of the Ampatuan clan, guilty of 57 counts of murder.

But the judge also absolved the 56 accused of criminal liability over the massacre, citing a lack PAGE A4

MMFF2019. The float of “Mindanao” at the Metro Manila Film Festival’s Parade of Stars at the Lakeshore in Taguig City on Sunday, December 22. The film, directed by multi-awarded director Brillante Mendoza, stars Judy Ann Santos and Allen Dizon. PNA photo by Avito C. Dalan

PH gov’t, Reds declare holiday...

PAGE A1 confidence-building measure for the resumption of peace talks.

The two panels announced their recommendations through a joint statement signed by Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III and Hernani Braganza for the government, Luis Jalandoni and Fidel Agcaoili for the NDFP, and Kristina Lie Revheim for Norway,

which is brokering peace negotiations between the Philippine government and the communist rebels.

“The ceasefire [orders] are intended to generate a positive environment conducive to the holding of informal talks preparatory to the formal meeting to resume the peace negotiations,” the parties said in the statement.

“These shall be measures of goodwill and confidence building during the traditional celebrations of Christmas and New Year holidays,” they said.

Last week, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said they would not recommend a ceasefire with the NPA for the holiday season. n

De Lima twits DOJ chief for downplaying US...

PAGE A1 The U.S. Senate resolution, which was recently approved by the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, called on the Philippine government to “drop all charges” against De Lima and Rappler CEO Maria Ressa, and allow the opposition senator to fully discharge her legislative mandate.

It also called on U.S. President Donald Trump to “impose sanctions” against security forces and officials responsible for De Lima’s arrest, which include revoking their U.S. visas and freezing their assets.

De Lima, a staunch critic of President Duterte, has been in detention at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center since Feb. 24, 2017 on charges

that she was involved in the illegal drug trade.

She has denied the charges, saying they were fabricated in retaliation for her fierce criticism of Duterte’s brutal war on drugs and monitoring of his human rights record since the time she headed the Commission on Human Rights in 2008.

Meanwhile, Ressa and Rappler, known for its critical reportage on the Duterte administration, are facing several cases including libel and tax-related charges.

De Lima also assailed Guevarra for allegedly discarding the rule of law when he allowed convicts to stand as state witnesses against her.

“Sec. Guevarra, hindi lang ang US S. Res 142 ang ibina-

sura mo. Ang pinaka-una mong ibinasura ay ang pananaig ng batas at hustisya sa Pilipinas, mula noong nagsuot ka na ng mga tapalodo sa mata para hindi mo mapansin ang kahindik-hindik na paglapastangan sa batas na ginagawa ni Duterte (Sec. Guevarra, you didn’t just discard US S. Res 142. The first thing you junked is the rule of law and justice in the Philippines, ever since you covered your eyes so that you would not notice Duterte’s grave defamation of law).

“May oras din na matatapos ang rehimeng ito. At pagdating ng panahon na iyon, kayo ang ibabasura ng kasaysayan (This regime will eventually end too.

And when that time comes, history will discard you).” n

Amid Angkas issue, Recto says unemployment ‘saddest...

PAGE A1 of thousands of breadwinners.”

“It is an act of cruelty that goes against the season’s spirit of compassion. More so because the victims did nothing to deserve that unkindness,” Recto said.

The senator said that the LTFRB can open up the motorcycle taxi service to other competitors in the interest of competition.

“But this should not be at the

expense of firing those already in the business, those who have invested their life savings in motorcycles, those who have logged good safety records, those who have cultivated sukis who rely on them for their daily ride,” he said.

“On the contrary — Angkas drivers stepped in to help Metro Manila’s stranded and ride-less commuters, by bringing them to their offices and returning them

to their homes safe and sound,” he added.

The three operators were given a maximum of 39,000 registered bikers — 10,000 bikers for each of the three TNCs for Metro Manila and 3,000 bikers per TNC for Metro Cebu.

Bikers of Angkas gathered at the Edsa Kalayaan Shrine in Quezon City on Sunday, December 22, to protest the said decision. n

Duterte, Robredo ratings...

PAGE A1

to III also increased based on the recent survey.

The number of people who approve of Sotto’s performance increased from 72 percent in September to 84 percent this month, while those who were undecided dropped from 21 percent to 11 percent.

Those who disapproved of his performance dropped from seven percent to five percent.

Sotto’s trust rating increased from 66 percent to 78 percent, while those who were undecided decreased from 27 percent to 17 percent.

Those who distrust him also fell from seven percent to five percent.

House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano also enjoyed an increase in his approval rating, from 64 percent in September to 80 percent this month.

Those who were undecided dropped from 30 percent to 14 percent, while his disapproval rating stayed at six percent.

Meanwhile, Cayetano’s trust rating increased from 62 percent to 76 percent, with those undecided falling from 29 percent to 18 percent.

The number of those who distrust him fell from nine percent to six percent.

Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta, who became the top magistrate in October, was not covered by the survey.

The survey had 1,200 respondents and an error margin of +/- 2.8 percent at the 95 percent confidence level.

Communications Secretary Martin Andanar claimed that no propaganda from the political opposition could bring President Duterte down, as Malacañang welcomed the latest finding of Pulse Asia that gave the Chief Executive a high approval rating.

Vice President Leni Robredo with President Rodrigo Duterte

Andanar and presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo described the survey as unprecedented, since no president other than Duterte received a consistent high approval rating since he assumed office in 2016.

Despite the relentless attacks and criticisms from the opposition and critics, Andanar said the administration “will continue to strive to provide better services to all the Filipinos, for us to achieve overall development and success.”

“We will continue to undertake necessary government programs, reforms and actions in support of our goals as we aim for a better Philippines,” Andanar vowed.

Panelo said the figures of the survey graphically show how the Filipino people are united

Inquirer.net photo

in cementing their support for the president and in agreement with the government programs geared toward uplifting the social and economic condition of the masses of our people.

“This latest approval rating is a clear repudiation of the fabricated tale and the false narratives of the haters of the President, including the foreign entities that have joined the fray with blinders on their eyes,” he said.

Panelo assured the public that Duterte, with the entire executive department, will continue to work, “unmindful of the laurels he is reaping in terms of the people’s acceptance, until his last day in office to serve and protect the interest and welfare of the Filipino people.” (With reports from Christina Mendez/Philstar. com)

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A

Pinay-founded Care.com acquired for...

PRECISION. The contingent of the Philippine Navy performs multiple ripples wave during the “First Presidential Silent Drill Competition” at the Luneta Grand Stand Manila. ROTC Summit Silent Drillers from seven service academies participated in the competition where the PMA Silent Drill Team was adjudged as winner.

PNA photo by Oliver Marquez

Trump admin takes historic steps to lower prescription drug prices ON Wednesday, December 18, President Trump, along with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that, if finalized, would allow for the importation of certain prescription drugs from Canada.

In addition, the administration is announcing the availability of a new draft guidance for industry that describes procedures drug manufacturers can follow to facilitate importation of prescription drugs, including biological products, that are FDAapproved, manufactured abroad, authorized for sale in any foreign country, and originally intended for sale in that foreign country.

The NPRM issued is the first step in implementing a provision of federal law that would allow for the importation of certain prescription drugs from Canada under specific conditions that ensure the importation poses no additional risk to the public’s health and safety while achieving a significant reduction in the cost of covered products to the American consumer. The draft guidance issued today describes procedures for a drug manufacturer to submit documentation that demonstrates that the product offered for import from any foreign country is, in fact,

an FDA-approved drug product, including that it is manufactured in accordance with the FDA-approved application.

“Today’s announcement outlines two pathways for the safe importation of certain prescription drugs to help provide safe, effective, more affordable drugs to American patients,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar. “These are historic actions by HHS and the FDA, and they represent the bold nature of President Trump’s agenda for lowering drug costs.

The President has recognized the opportunity to lower costs for American patients through safe importation, and we at HHS and FDA are delivering on that possibility through a safe, commonsense approach.”

The NPRM would allow states and certain other non-federal government entities to submit importation program proposals to the FDA for review and authorization. An importation program could be co-sponsored by a pharmacist, a wholesaler, or another state or non-federal governmental entity. Referred to as Section 804 Importation Programs, these programs would be authorized by the FDA to manage the importation of certain prescription drugs that are approved in Canada and also meet the conditions in an FDA-ap-

proved drug application. Eligible prescription drugs would have to be relabeled with the required U.S. labeling prior to importation and undergo testing for authenticity, degradation, and to ensure that the drugs meet established specifications and standards.

Notably, these programs would also have to demonstrate significant cost reductions to the American consumer.

“The FDA continues to assess and act on multiple opportunities to promote competition that can, in turn, help reduce drug prices and improve access to medicines for Americans,” said Assistant Secretary for Health Brett Giroir. “The proposed rule and draft guidance include procedures intended to protect the public’s health and safety. We look forward to receiving public comment on these draft policies, and we will take timely comments into account as we work to finalize the rule and guidance.

Our ultimate goal is to provide a robust program that clearly lays out procedures to import drugs that could provide lower prices while also maintaining the high quality Americans expect.”

Of note, the draft guidance describes procedures drug manufacturers could follow to obtain an additional National Drug Code (NDC) for certain FDA-approved

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PAGE A1 The two companies have entered into a definitive agreement in which IAC will acquire Care.com — founded by Filipina American Sheila Lirio Marcelo — for $15.00 per share in an allcash transaction representing approximately $500 million of enterprise value.

Founded by Marcelo in 2007, Waltham, Massachusetts-based Care.com helps individuals find babysitters, housekeepers, tutors and caregivers for seniors and pets. The idea came about after Marcelo experienced trouble finding childcare help for her first child as well as for her father when he had a heart attack while caring for her second child. The website became a public company in January 2014, and has several offices in cites like Berlin, San Francisco, and Austin.

As part of the agreement, Care. com will replace Marcelo, its longtime founder, chairwoman and CEO, with Tim Allen, an executive at IAC. Marcelo had said earlier this year that she intended to leave the role soon.

“Since our founding 13 years ago, we’ve delivered on our mis-

sion to help millions of people find affordable, high-quality care and caregivers find meaningful work,” Marcelo said in a statement.

With more than 1.5 million successful matches made since its inception and 374,000 paying families as of Q3 2019, Care.com is the leading global platform for matching families with caregivers in the rapidly growing but highly fragmented market for family care, sized in excess of $300 billion in the U.S. alone.

“Family care is exciting new territory for us — and an accelerating market as demand for both child and senior care intensifies worldwide,” said IAC CEO Joey Levin in a statement.

“The Care.com team has built a trusted brand and marketplace for families all over the world.

We like marketplace businesses and this is one in a category we

think has incredible potential.”

Marcelo added, “Now, we’re bringing together the world’s largest marketplace for care with the leader in scaling and growing marketplace businesses. We are excited to work with Tim and IAC’s leadership and believe this transaction will deliver value to all our stakeholders.”

With this acquisition, New York-based IAC — which owns several internet-based brands offering travel, dating and home services, such as Expedia, Ask. com, Match.com, OkCupid and Vimeo, across 100 countries — will gain a foothold in a market new to the company and will invest to accelerate Care.com’s growth across its core categories (child and senior care) with the opportunity to further extend its platform into adjacent areas, such as pet and home care. (AJPress)

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Boeing pitch to PH military: Get Apache, stop being ‘pushed around’ in West PH Sea

by Frances

Mangosing

Inquirer.net

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte poses for a selfie with Manila City Mayor Francisco Domagoso, Senator Christopher “Bong” Go and Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año during the closing ceremony of the National Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) Summit and the 1st Presidential Silent Drill Competition at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila.

Malacañang photo by Rey Baniquet

2020 US budget includes ban on people behind...

PAGE A1 from the Governments of Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, all for imprisoning American diplomats and nationals, as well as those involved in the detention of Mustafa Kassem, “an American citizen imprisoned by the Government of Egypt and whose health is failing.”

U.S. Senator Dick Durbin announced in late September that the Senate appropriations committee had approved the measure. “We must free Leila now,” he tweeted.

At a press briefing on Monday afternoon, December 23, presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the Palace is not bothered by the provision.

“It cannot be a wrongful detention,” he also said, referring to De Lima being in police custody over drug charges that she says are po-

litically motivated.

De Lima, an outspoken Duterte critic, had tried to investigate the existence of the alleged “Davao Death Squad” when she was Commission on Human Rights commissioner and later when she was Justice secretary during the presidency of Benigno Aquino III. In an earlier statement, Panelo also called the move “a brazen attempt to intrude into our country’s domestic legal processes.”

The U.S. State Department, as of this writing, has not yet released a list of officials barred from entering the United States.

De Lima names ‘persecutors’ in October dispatch In an October dispatch from Crame, the 60-year-old De Lima named those she said were involved in her detention.

“My persecution started with a daily public media demolition by none other than Duterte, using all his powers as president. This was followed by a vicious social media campaign conducted by DDS Trolls, led by Duterte sycophants Mocha Uson, Sass Rogando Sasot, and RJ Nieto,” she said.

“Then came the House investigation where criminal convicts were induced to testify against me in exchange for prison privileges and immunity, if not presidential pardon, as led by former Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, former [Jusitce] Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre, Solicitor General Jose Calida, [Public Attorney’s Office] Chief Persida Acosta, Sandra Cam, Dante Jimenez, Congressmen Rey Umali and Rudy Fariñas.” (Franco Luna/Philstar.com)

Trump admin takes historic steps to lower...

PAGE A3 prescription drugs, including biological products, that were originally manufactured, and intended to be marketed, in a foreign country. The use of an additional NDC would allow greater flexibility for drug companies to offer these products at a lower price than what their current distribution contracts require.

The draft guidance also rec-

ommends that the drug manufacturer include a statement on the product’s label and in the prescribing information to assist pharmacists to accurately identify, dispense and bill for these products. Prescription drugs, including biological products, imported under the pathway described in the draft guidance could be available to patients in a variety of settings, including

hospitals, health care providers’ offices, or licensed U.S. pharmacies, and would include the FDA-approved labeling (including prescribing information).

Comments on the NPRM are being accepted for 75 days after publication in the Federal Register and comments on the draft guidance are being accepted for 60 days after publication in the Federal Register. n

AMERICAN aircraft manufacturer Boeing, reeling from its biggest crisis over its 737 Max planes, is making a pitch for some of its most advanced military aircraft to the Philippine government.

David Brostrom, marketing and sales director for vertical lift of Boeing Indo-Pacific, said at a media roundtable on Wednesday (Dec. 18) that it was offering to the Philippine military two of its most reliable and high-tech helicopters—the Apache AH-64E and Chinook CH-47F. The two choppers, he said, are known for their capability and interoperability advantages.

“The biggest advantage — who would not want this?” said Brostrom.

“Its interoperability with all your partners, not just with the United States, look at all the people flying it in Asia. Why wouldn’t you want to have this capability to help your own people?” he said.

Boeing boasts of the Apache AH-64E as the most advanced, multi-mission attack helicopter of the U.S. military and at least 15 other armed forces in the world.

The Apache, a daunting piece of military hardware, has a maximum cruise speed of over 284 kilometers per hour and can be armed with 16 Hellfire missiles, 30 mm auto cannon and 2.75 inch rockets.

As an added pitch, Brostrom said the Apache would be ideal for maritime operations in the West Philippine Sea, where the Philippines is disputing territory with China, a military power in Asia.

The Apache also features manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T) technology which allows pilot control of unmanned features of the helicopter system.

“It’s time for the Philippines to have something like this especially with what’s going on in the

region — your internal threats down south and your external threats in the West Philippine Sea,” said Brostrom.

He said if China “knew the Philippines had Apache, they’d be less likely to push you around.”

“It’s a deterrent. If you start buying this high-end stuff your enemies are gonna be thinking twice of doing something,” said Brostrom.

Another significant feature of the Apache, he said, is its Link 16 capability — the standard communications system used by the U.S., NATO and coalition forces for transmitting and exchanging real time tactical data. The Philippine military also uses this.

“For the Apache…the Link 16 and other sensors enable you to link in to the U.S. government Link 16 architecture. That’s what you want, you wanna fight as a team,” he said.

“When they come in, you just share information immediately.

If you have just an airplane with guns, that’s all it is,” the Boeing sales executive said.

“The guy will be out there flying blind because war is different now. War is fought at huge distances and intelligence,” he went on.

Brostrom said the Philippine Air Force had already inquired the costs of six to 16 units of Apache in a request sent last October to Boeing.

The average flyaway cost for one Apache unit is pegged at $32 million.

Boeing is also eager to corner a new market for its legacy heavylift helicopter, the Chinook CG47F. Its capabilities are hard to match, Brostrom said.

“There may be cheaper ones, there’s a lot cheaper planes out there but they’re not the best,” he said.

The Chinook is the workhorse aircraft of the U.S. and other military forces around the world. It costs around $50 million per.

Brostrom said the humanitarian relief and disaster response mission capability of this aircraft and its ability to land on mountainous terrain are a perfect fit for the Philippines, which is often hit by disasters and calamities.

“You don’t have to worry about the runway,” he said of Chinook landing needs.

“The PAF doesn’t have a capability like this, you still have to clear the runway. You can get into an area and there’s no need to worry about clearing the runway, just land,” he said.

The Chinook may also be used for cargo and troop transport, special operations and assault operations.

It has a cruise speed of 290 kph and service ceiling of 20,000 feet.

It can carry a payload of up to 11,973 kg or nearly two tons.

While Boeing is confident of its products, Brostrom acknowledged that there are other factors in buying defense hardware like international relations and politics.

“It’s just not simple but as far as the Philippines go, we think this is a perfect fit,” he said.

President Rodrigo Duterte had said previously that his administration would no longer procure defense equipment from its traditional ally United States because of U.S. threats to impose sanctions on countries buying military equipment from China and Russia.

Responding to reports that the Philippine Air Force (PAF) was buying MI-17 helicopters from Russia, Brostrom said the Russian aircraft was a different type as these are medium-lift.

Brostrom also said the PAF had inquired about the possible purchase of Harpoon air-launched anti-ship missiles.

“We know they are interested,” he said.

The potential sale of the aircraft would be conducted through a Foreign Military Sales route. n

CHP offers advice to help keep motorists off the ‘naughty list’ SACRAMENTO — To help keep motorists safe during this busy travel season, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) is giving the gift of traffic safety tips. During the hustle and bustle of the holidays, leave the dashing to the reindeer and take your time to ensure you arrive safely at your destination.

Another way to stay safe on the road during a time that may include increased celebrations is to designate a non-drinking driver.

Unfortunately, more than 1,000 drivers did not heed this advice prior to the Christmas Day Maximum Enforcement Period (MEP) in 2018, resulting in 1,166 arrests

by CHP officers for driving under the influence.

“Our goal at the CHP is for everyone to get home safe. When a person chooses to drink and drive, it not only puts their safety at risk, but it endangers the life of everyone on the road with them,” said CHP Commissioner Warren Stanley. “We encourage the public to help us save lives and remove these dangerous drivers from the roadway by reporting them to 91-1.”

According to data from the CHP’s Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System, at least 16 people were killed and nearly 350 others were injured in collisions involving impaired drivers in California throughout the 102-hour holiday enforcement period last

year.

This year’s Christmas MEP begins at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, December 24, and concludes at 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, December 25. During that time, all available officers will be on the road for enhanced enforcement and to assist any drivers who need help.

Whether your holiday travel includes destinations near or far, it will likely mean increased traffic on the roadways. It is important to practice safe driving habits, including getting plenty of rest, avoiding distractions, and always buckling up.

The mission of the CHP is to provide the highest level of Safety, Service, and Security. n

PAGE 2 of evidence, while 15 people were given six- to 10-year prison terms as accomplices.

Among the acquitted by the court were two of the main suspects, Datu Sajid Ampatuan and Datu Akmad “Tato” Ampatuan.

Both of them were present at meetings on the plot to kill thenMaguindanao governor aspirant Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu and whoever files his certificate of candidacy, but the court held that their mere presence is not enough to convict them.

The court said Datu Sajid did not say anything that would embolden and influence his brothers to carry out the plan, while Datu Akmad did not follow through with the plan as he attended a medical mission on the day of the killings.

The court also said that 33 policemen and 22 others — including two Ampatuans, Jonathan and Jimmy — were “totally innocent” of involvement in the massacre, as they had no prior knowledge of the murder plot and were not present at the scene of the crime.

All of the accused were acquitted of murder in connection with the death of Reynaldo Momay, a photojournalist for Tacurong City-based publication Midland Review, whose body was never found. This could have been the 58th murder charge.

All the Maguindanao massacre convicts were immediately transferred to New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City after the promulgation to start serving their prison terms.

They were brought to the maximum security compound instead of bringing them ro Reception Diagnostic Center, which usually receives the inmates.

‘No special treatment’ As of Saturday, December 21, Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) spokesman Gabriel Chaclag said that the NBP was now under normal security but Maguindanao massacre convicts were under observation.

“They are well-monitored and well-observed [and no special treatment],” Chaclag said, adding that they had processed the

inmates.

He said the convicts were photographed and fingerprinted, underwent physical and psychological evaluation as part of the regular process of newly arrived prisoners. “[They are] placed in a facility na hindi sila kaagad-agad nakakapag-communicate at nakikihalubilo sa mga inmates (where they can’t communicate with other inmates),” Chaclag added.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), for its part, said that it was committed to give all resources to track hiding Maguindanao massacre suspects.

“Where the AFP’s help is needed, in the interest of peace and order to protect our people and secure the state, we will commit all available resources to locate and arrest fugitives from justice,” AFP spokesman Edgard Arevalo said in a statement on Saturday.

Arevalo added that the AFP supports the Philippine National Police (PNP) in law enforcement operations as in the previous cases.

“The manhunt for the remaining suspects in the Maguindanao Massacre who are still at large is no different,” he said.

On Friday, December 20, the PNP said it would coordinate with the AFP and other law enforcement groups to arrest 80 suspects still at large.

“Yes definitely kailangan natin lahat ng tulong ng government agencies and AFP na maraming pwersa na nakatalaga sa Mindanao (Yes, definitely, we need help from government agencies and AFP that has many force deployed in Mindanao),” PNP spokesman Bernard Banac told the reporters in a press briefing.

Banac stressed that there was no shoot to kill order was directed to all policemen and no bounty has been imposed.

He, however, said policemen would retaliate when a fugitive resisted violently.

Banac urged the fugitives to surrender peacefully to prevent armed encounters.

Meanwhile, Vice President Maria Leonor Robredo said the ver-

dict in the Maguindanao massacre case was a reminder to public officials to not abuse power.

She added that the conviction of the Ampatuan clan gave “hope” to Filipinos that justice could be served in the country.

“Pero sa paniniwala ko kasi, lubos na mahalaga iyong verdict na iyon dahil paalala din sa amin na mga public officials na huwag naming aabusuhin iyong kapangyarihan na binibigay sa amin, dahil kahit tumagal iyong panahon, talagang kailangang pagbayaran iyong lahat na kasalanan (But in my belief, the verdict is very important because it is also a reminder to us public officials to not abuse the power given to us, because even after a long time, every wrongdoing really has to be paid for),” Robredo said in an interview on Friday.

“So, iyon. Malaki iyong implications n’ung verdict. Kahit papaano — sampung taon iyong dumaan — kahit papaano iyong mga nawalan, nakaramdam naman ng katarungan sa pagkawala ng kanilang mga mahal sa buhay (So, there. The implications of the verdict are huge. Somehow — 10 years passed — somehow those who lost someone felt justice regarding the loss of their loved ones),” she added.

On Nov. 23, 2009, a total of 58 people were massacred while on their way to file the certificate of candidacy of Esmael Mangudadatu in the town of Ampatuan, Maguindanao. Mangudadatu is a political rival of the Ampatuan family.

The victims were buried in a shallow mass grave, which authorities later found with backhoes still in the area.

Ampatuan Sr. allegedly led the attack carried out by other family members alarmed by Mangudadatu’s challenge to their decadesold hold on power in the area.

The Maguindanao massacre is one of the world’s worst election-related incidents of violence and among the deadliest attacks on journalists. (With reports from Jan Arcilla, Reina C. Tolentino and Darwin Pesco/ ManilaTimes.net)

Palace sees ‘injustice’ in massacre...

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SoCal ASIAN JOURNAL • DeCembeR 25-27, 2019

Dateline PhiliPPines

A

Duterte wishes good life, peace for Filipinos by

DivinA Joy DelA Cruz ManilaTimes.net

FOR Christmas, President Rodrigo Duterte is wishing for lasting peace and comfortable lives for the people, according to his spokesman Salvador Panelo.

“Ang wish list ni presidente ever since ay bigyan ng kapayapaan, lasting peace ang ating bayan. ‘Yung mga kumukontra sa estado ay sumali na sa agos ng pag-akyat ng ating lipunan sa mataas na antas ng prominence (The president’s wish list ever since is to give our country peace, lasting peace. The critics should join the state in the flow of our society to a higher level toward prominence),” Panelo said in an interview over radio DZIQ on

Sunday, December 22.

“Pangalawa, gusto niya na magkaroon ng kumportableng buhay ang bawat Pilipino. ‘Yun ang palaging wish ng presidente taun-taon (Second, he wants every Filipino to have a comfortable life. That is the president’s constant wish, yearly),” he added.

Panelo earlier said the president would have a “simple” Christmas celebration with his loved ones in his hometown in Davao City.

He added that the president would be having the usual Noche Buena (Christmas Eve meal) with his family and grandchildren.

Last year, Duterte visited young cancer patients, a tradition he has observed since he was mayor of Davao City.

When asked about the president’s plans for his remaining three years in office, Panelo said Duterte would pursue his campaign against drugs and corruption.

“Kung ano ‘yung sinimulan ni Pangulong Duterte sa kanyang presidency, ay itutuloy niya ‘yun.

Gaya ng paulit-ulit niyang sinasabi, hindi siya titigil hanggang sa huling araw ng kanyang pamunuan, ang pakikipagdigman sa droga dito sa ating bayan (Whatever President Duterte has started in his presidency, he will INSPECTION. DPWH Secretary Mark Villar (2nd left) at the final inspection of the 10-km section of the Cavite Laguna Express (CALAX) between SLEX continue that. Like what he al- Mamplasan Interchange and Sta. Rosa City in Laguna on Saturday, December 21. Partially open since Nov. 30, 2019, the expressway section has PNA photo by Avito C. Dalan ways says, he will not cease until benefited thousands of daily commuters who are able to bypass the traffic-choked Mamplasan to Sta. Rosa road. his last day in leadership his war against drugs in this country),” he added. n

5-minute travel time between Makati and Edsa will happen before 2022 - Palace

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte’s earlier promise of a five-minute travel time between Makati and Edsa would be fulfilled under his watch, Malacañang assured the public on Sunday, December 22.

In an interview with radio dzIQ, Duterte’s spokesman Salvador Panelo said the President’s pledge may not materialize this year because of “conditions” that were not met.

Panelo did not elaborate on the supposed conditions that were set to address the perennial traffic problems in Metro Manila, specifically along Edsa, the region’s busiest highway.

“Well, alam mo ‘yung pangako, depende sa mga factor o kalakaran na magbibigay prutas doon sa kanyang pangako (Well, you know, the promise depends on the factors and trends that will give fruition to his promise),” the Palace official said.

“Kung hindi natupad ‘yung mga kalakaran na yun kasi those conditions are not present, hindi pa magaganap ‘yun (If those trends were not met because those conditions are not present, the promise would not yet be fulfilled),” he added.

An average of 405,882 vehicles ply Edsa every day, as of August 2019, the Metro Manila Development Authority earlier reported.

Waze’s September 2019 data revealed that it took 4.9 minutes to

Holding the day’s issue of The Philippine Star, presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo sits on the entry steps of a jeepney in Cubao, Quezon City as he took on the ‘commute challenge’ last. October 12.

Philstar.com photo by Michael Varcas

drive one kilometer in Manila, the Philippine capital.

In June this year, Duterte vowed to secure a five-minute travel time between Cubao, Quezon City and Makati for commuters and drivers by yearend.

Panelo said failure to fulfill Duterte’s promise does not mean it was not attainable under the current administration.

“Hindi ibig sabihin na hindi maganap ngayong taon, hindi magaganap hanggang sa matapos ang kanyang termino (It doesn’t mean that if it did not happen this year, it would not happen until his term ends),” he said.

“Hangga’t may buhay ay may pag-asa (As long as there is life, there is hope),” Panelo added, when quizzed if Duterte can still deliver on his promise.

Sympathizing with commuters over crippling traffic jams in Metro Manila, Duterte on December 10 ordered concerned state agencies, including the Department of Transportation, to introduce innovations to ease traffic congestion in Metro Manila, the country’s premier region.

The Duterte government’s ambitious “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure program is seen as a solution to address the traffic congestion in Metro Manila.

Around 38 of the 100 flagship infrastructure projects are targeted to be completed by the end of President Duterte’s term in 2022, Vivencio Dizon, Bases Conversion and Development Authority president and chief executive officer, said last November 13.

(PNA)

Supreme Court junks Revilla petition on PDAF scam

by JomAr

CAnlAs ManilaTimes.net

THE Supreme Court (SC) has dismissed the petition of Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. in connection with the pending incidents in the plunder case, which he was acquitted by the Sandiganbayan.

Revilla was charged with plunder and graft by the Office of the Ombudsman in 2014, along with businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles, Revilla’s former chief of staff Richard Cambe, Napoles’ employees Ronald John Lim and John Raymund de Asis, and Budget Undersecretary Mario Relampagos for their alleged involvement in the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or “pork barrel” scam.

The high tribunal has already affirmed the recommendation of the Sandiganbayan for the attachment of the senator’s “monies and properties,” saying there was clearly a prima facie foundation seizing the assets.

The Supreme Court based

it ruling on testimonies that Cambe received in Revilla’s behalf P103 million in return for the senator’s endorsement of Napoles-controlled nongovernmental organizations as recipients of Revilla’s pork barrel.

The senator was acquitted of plunder by the Sandiganbayan, but his graft case is still being tried.

In a resolution of the Supreme Court’s First Division, dated November 19, but released just recently, the court dismissed his petition as being “moot and academic.”

The petition is in relation with Revilla’s motions, which were denied by the Sandiganbayan’s First Division.

It includes Revilla’s plea to set aside the Sandiganbayan rulings involving an order dated Dec. 7, 2017 denying his motion for leave to file a demurrer to evidence, a resolution dated Feb. 23, 2017 denying his motion to quash his plunder case, and a resolution dated Nov. 9, 2017

in which the Sandiganbayan admitted the prosecution’s formal offer of evidence.

The acquittal of Revilla of plunder on Dec. 7, 2018 renders the pending motions ineffective, the high court ruled.

“To recall, the instant petition stemmed from Sandiganbayan’s denial of procedural incidents in the main case for plunder.

As the main case has already been resolved in the petitioner’s favor, which can no longer be appealed, this case no longer presents any justifiable issue which the Court can rule upon,” it stated.

Because the main case has been decided, “the instant petition, which involves issues that are merely incidents thereof, has become moot and academic,” it pointed out.

The Supreme Court argued that the “judgment of acquittal is final, unappealable and immediately executory upon its promulgation and, as such, is no longer subject to appeal.” n

MWSS assures it won’t allow spike in water rates

THE Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) assured consumers that the agency would not allow the doubling in water rates amid issues surrounding the concession agreements.

Patrick Lester Ty, head of the MWSS Regulatory Office, said the office will not allow such a spike in water rates to happen and that it will not allow current issues surrounding the concession to affect

water and sewerage services to consumers.

Ty was reacting to speculations of a 100-percent rise in water rates once the concession agreement with Manila Water Co. Inc. and Maynilad Water Services Inc. lapses in 2022.

Early this month, Manila Water and Maynilad announced they were deferring the rate hike, which was supposed to take ef-

by Artemio

DumlAo Philstar.com

fect in January 2020 and that they would cooperate with the government in reviewing provisions of respective contracts, which President Rodrigo Duterte had labeled as onerous.

Duterte ordered the two concessionaires’ contracts reviewed, saying they had provisions that were inimical to the government.

(Jordeene B. Lagare/ManilaTimes.net)

A6 DECEMBER 25-27, 2019 • SoCal ASIAN JOURNAL

OPINION

A step backward

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FEATURES

SINCE 2016, the release to mass media of the official asset statement of President Duterte has been largely routine. The president has often said he hates corruption and has nothing to hide. The relatively fuss-free release of his annual statement of assets, liabilities and net worth or SALN is one proof of this.

So the inevitable question this year is what has changed, as Ombudsman Samuel Martires holds on to the SALN of the president. Martires had told reporters who had asked for Duterte’s 2018 SALN to go to Malacañang instead, ostensibly because the Office of the Ombudsman was still finalizing the rules on such releases.

Malacañang, responding to requests from media organizations, in turn pointed them to the ombudsman, with the Palace spokesman saying the rules required the president merely to file rather than release the SALN. For the past three decades until the time of Martires’ predecessor, Conchita Carpio-Morales, the public and the media have never had a problem in obtaining the SALN of the president of the republic.

Duterte never had any problems with the yearend disclosure of his SALN. It is ironic that this is happening under a Presi-

dent who professes transparency and whose Executive Order No. 2 mandated freedom of information in all offices of the executive branch.

Malacañang said the president had filed his 2018 SALN on time, beating the deadline on April 30.

Despite the reasons cited by Martires, the lack of clear-cut rules on the release of SALNs did not stop Vice President Leni Robredo from releasing her 2018 asset statement to the public. Martires must be carrying over to the Office of the Ombudsman the secrecy in the Supreme Court, where problems with asset declarations have contributed to the ouster of two chief justices.

Members of the SC and Congress have always been the most resistant to the release of their SALNs to the public. Lawmakers — with all their bodyguards paid for by taxpayers, and the top accountants that made Imelda Marcos, when she was still a congresswom-

Editorial

Philstar.com photo

an, appear to be the poorest member of the House of Representatives — claim the SALN release could expose them to security threats.

When it comes to transparency in assets, the public perception is that those who have nothing to hide

have nothing to fear. The ombudsman should even set the example – by releasing his own SALN to the public. Martires’ actions constitute a step backward in efforts to promote transparency and good governance. (Philstar.com)

Under Pete Buttigieg, America will be a place of welcome

Commentary WEST SACRAMENTO MAYOR CHRISTOPHER CABALDON THAT a young Irish-German woman from a small Iowa town was asked to become director of the Filipino Community House of Chicago as World War II raged encapsulates the rich story of America’s immigrants welcoming America’s next immigrants.

The Asian-American immigration experience has been as rich as America itself. I know, because this is my own family’s story.

Leona couldn’t have imagined the unexpected journey that America would take her on as she made her way from West Liberty, Iowa, to Davenport, the big city down the highway. She earned her wages playing piano at the five-and-dime store, when a young Filipino student from the local chiropractic college started coming in to sing with her. The unlikely singing couple got married, and soon my grandmother was born.

The Great Depression meant few had the money for elective spinal manipulation, so the family moved to Chicago to start another new life. Leona took over management of the Filipino Community House and the Manila Café. There her daughter—my grandmother—met a young man who had immigrated from the Philippines, which was a U.S. territory. He joined the Army and they got married, and my father was born at Fort Ord at the height of WWII. After discharge, the family moved to Stockton, California, home to the largest Filipino population outside of the Philippines. There, they might work the fields during harvest and then operate the local soda fountain and pool hall in the city’s Little Manila district. They faced hatred, ignorance, and discrimination—“No Filipinos Allowed” signs littered Stockton—but the fight for justice and the networks of belonging gave them the chance to achieve America’s promise.

The Asian American immigra-

tion experience isn’t just about borders and Ellis Island. It is about the “welcomes” we have received, the homes that we’ve made, the struggles we’ve won, in every single part of this wondrous country. It is about Davenport, Stockton, Chicago, Plano, Virginia Beach, Reno, and every corner of the land.

That’s why I’m excited about Pete Buttigieg as the next President of the United States. Pete is the son of an immigrant and the mayor of a city that has been shaped and enriched by generations of immigrants, he is deeply committed to making America a place of welcome. He knows how central our story is to the story of America, in part because it rhymes with his own.

Last June, I joined a bipartisan delegation visiting detention facilities in Tornillo, Texas, to voice the anguish and outrage of our communities. When Pete is president, he will end the ugly immigration policies of this administration and protect our southern border as well as those who arrive there with smart

and humane border management. And he will take immediate steps to reunify families who have been ripped apart by this administration’s callousness.

Pete will modernize our immigration system so it boosts our economy, protects our communities, and promotes our values. To ensure that immigrants like my grandparents can bring their talents to our communities, Pete will create a new employment-based visa system that will adjust to the changing needs of our economy. He will expand the number of immigrant doctors who can come here and create a “Community Renewal” visa so that areas experiencing population decline can attract the immigrants that will help them grow. He’ll push for work authorization for H-4 visa holders, the overwhelming majority of whom are South Asian women.

Pete will also ensure that families are not waiting years, or even decades, in a visa backlog by increasing resources and the number of alloted family-based visas available each year. He will

fight to eliminate discriminatory annual per-country caps. After a month in which our nation accepted zero refugees for the first time, we will reaffirm our commitment to resettling refugees and address new challenges like climate change that are contributing to global migration.

Above all, Pete is committed to ensuring that every new American knows that they are a part of this country. For the 11 million undocumented people who call this country home, including residents of my own city, Pete will create a path to citizenship so they can fully participate in our democracy. He’ll also restore and extend temporary protections such as DACA and TPS. He’ll make it easy and affordable to become a naturalized citizen and create a new Office of New Americans to support immigrants and refugees in participating fully in their communities.

The “No Filipinos Allowed” signs are gone from Stockton now, replaced by “Lange Luntao for School Board” signs. My

grandparents’ Little Manila, and the entire city, now has a Filipino school board president. He’s supporting Pete Buttigieg, too.

Belonging to this country has been the dream that drew generations across oceans and deserts. Under Pete Buttigieg, America will be that place once more. *** West Sacramento Mayor Christopher Cabaldon was the founding co-chair of the Asian Pacific Islander Caucus of the League of California Cities. He served as national president of Asian and Pacific Americans in Higher Education, founding chair of the Asian Pacific Youth Leadership Project, Sacramento-Yolo chair for the National Association of Filipino American Associations, treasurer of the National Filipino American Youth Association, and president of the Asian Pacific Legislative Staff Caucus. A Leadership Academy Fellow with the Asian American Institute for Congressional Studies, he has been honored as executive of the year by the Filipino American Chamber of Commerce, with the president’s award from the Asian Pacific State Employees Association, and for outstanding historical contribution by the Filipino American National Historical Society.

Never before such a foreign-controlled media empire

Commentary

RIGOBERTO TIGLAO HOW has the Indonesian Anthoni Salim been able to defy the constitutional ban on foreign ownership in media? Through an entity under the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) which he controls as its biggest single stockholder, through several intermediate corporate layers.

As in his takeover of Meralco**, Salim did not use his own funds brought in from Indonesia or Hong Kong, but local capital to establish his media empire.

He used the pension funds of PLDT, called the Beneficial Trust Fund (BTF). One of the biggest such private pension funds in the country, the BTF had grown over the decades in order to pay for the PLDT staff’s retirement pensions and other benefits, as agreed upon in so many collective bargaining agreements with its unions and as part of the company’s incentive scheme for its employees.

In its 2012 annual report, PLDT reported that BTF had invested — when exactly it wasn’t disclosed — a huge P14.5 billion in a firm called MediaQuest. That accounted for 80 percent of the pension fund’s P18.4 billion assets, a total reversal of its portfolio mix before, for instance in 2005, when 60 percent of its assets were in blue chip companies (including shares in PLDT itself) and 23 percent in risk-free, fixed income securities.

It is strange though that PLDT’s annual reports before 2012 had not reported that its BTF had such huge investments in MediaQuest, a largely unknown unlisted

firm. PLDT in fact hadn’t even reported the distribution of BTF’s investments in unlisted firms and listed companies.

Appointing power PLDT’s management, whose members Salim is the ultimate appointing power of since he is the firm’s biggest controlling stockholder, controls the pension trust fund for its 20,000 employees. PLDT management in turn appoints three of the five members of its board of trustees, two of whom are from the PLDT’s board of directors and one is “a senior member of the executive staff of PLDT.” The remaining two are not with the company, whose identities have not been publicly disclosed by PLDT. When BTF money was first used to invest in media companies, the fund’s chairman then was Albert del Rosario, Salim’s long-time associate who helped him start his operations in the Philippines in the early 1980s and who was a key figure in Salim’s takeover of PLDT in 1998.

MediaQuest, funded by BTF, is Salim’s holding company for his media empire, under which are: Hastings Holdings, the investment firm for his newspapers, the two broadcast media corporations (ABC and Nation Broadcasting), and Satventure, which through an intermediary firm MediaScape, owns Cignal TV (see Fig. 8.1).

BTF’s funds, however, were not enough to fund the huge requirements of Salim’s media enterprises, even as its exposure in MediaQuest already made up 80 percent of its assets.

MediaQuest’s investments in fact weren’t generating profits in the tight, competitive media market, so PLDT had to report huge

actuarial losses on these: P6.8 billion, P11 billion, and P5.1 billion for 2012, 2013 and 2014 respectively. As a result, the value of the pension plan’s assets — which determines its capability to meet pension payments — was drastically reduced to P6 billion, or one-fourth of its P24 billion value in 2011. Salim could no longer raise funds from his employees’ BTF to fund his media empire.

Astonishing Indeed, it is astonishing why PLDT employees haven’t protested the loss in their pension fund’s value, and the risky industry — in the overcrowded and highly competitive media — in which much of its fund has been invested in.

PLDT itself couldn’t put even a single centavo in media enterprises, since being 56 to 76 percent foreign-owned, a portion of it would have been classified as foreign money in a media firm, in violation of the Constitution.

So, instead of directly using PLDT funds, Salim cloaked these by providing Cignal TV with a huge amount of funds through purchases by its subsidiary ePLDT of Philippine Depository Receipts (PDRs) that its mother firm MediaQuest issued.

PDRs are a recent invention of a few of the country’s tycoons to go around the constitutional ban or limit on foreign investment in restricted industries. Each PDR represents a share in a restricted company, and when bought by a foreign entity, it gives the buyer the right to all of the dividends due the shares of stock acquired.

The foreigner therefore does not technically own a share, but created is the legal fiction of compliance with the constitutional restrictions, even if the foreigner

has the right to all the income generated by that share.

Why would an investor hold a PDR if such paper does not make him an owner of the company it represents, but entitled only to its dividends, which likely won’t be given by a new media company?

The answer is obvious in the case of PLDT’s subsidiary ePLDT, which bought MediaQuest’s PDRs. It does not need to have any control of MediaQuest since its mother firm, PLDT, already controls this media entity.

MediaQuest From 2012 to September 2013, PLDT subsidiary ePLDT invested P9.6 billion in MediaQuest’s PDRs, which was then used to fund Cignal TV, the direct-tohome satellite television service.

The massive infusion of funds explains why Cignal TV has in just four years become the largest in the industry.

In March 2013 and then March 2014, ePLDT bought another P2.45 billion MediaQuest PDRs, in order to fund its subsidiary Hastings Holdings, the holding company for PLDT’s newspaper investments. This was used to partly pay the P4 billion that the Belmonte family asked for its Philippine Star shares.

PLDT took another tack in funding its TV5 network, especially since the broadcast company was in dire need of more money since it hadn’t been able to get a significant share of the advertising market from the two networks, ABS-CBN and GMA7.

PLDT and its subsidiary, Smart Communications, gave advanced payments for its advertising placements, which it committed to total P868 million in 2013 and a further P758 million in 2014.

It is not clear how much the to-

tal placements amounted to although these could have reached P1 billion annually from 2010 to 2014 — a credible figure given PLDT and Smart’s P8 billion annual advertising budget.

PLDT actually entered into a contract with TV5 for these advertising placements starting in 2010 for a five-year term. The contract has been renewed for another five years, to continue up to 2021.

Advertising PLDT’s advertising-money support for TV5 has worried the broadcast media industry, as it is obviously the template for channeling not only PLDT funds to finance Salim’s media outfits but also those of his other firms, such as Meralco.

With advertising funds limited in the country, Salim’s competitors in the media industry could be hit badly, even driven to the ground if the Indonesian tycoon decides for two years to devote the entire amount of advertising funds of PLDT, Smart, and Meralco to TV5 and its newspaper, the Philippine Star.

By having the BTF as investor in the media empire, Salim isn’t risking his or his conglomerate’s funds in companies in the media sector, but the employees’ pension money. More importantly, by having BTF as the stockholder in his media firms, Salim calculates that he is skirting the constitutional ban on foreign investments in local media enterprises, since BTF is technically a Filipino entity as its beneficiaries are Filipinos who constitute the overwhelming majority of PLDT’s staff.

The reality though is that the controlling entity of media enterprises in the Philippines is a

foreigner, the Indonesian Salim.

He can rely on the executives he appoints in PLDT, in BTF, and in his main media holding firm MediaQuest to follow his orders.

The top executive in MediaQuest is Espinosa, his chief counsel in the Philippines and a director in First Pacific itself.

It is astonishing how the Philippine ruling elite pretends that Salim isn’t in control of one of the biggest multi-media conglomerates in the country today, in violation of the Constitution.

Powerful Salim’s media enterprises, combined with his telecom industries, make up a powerful political and opinion-forming force, which is the reason framers of our Constitution totally banned foreigners from these sectors.

Salim in fact now has in place a perfect machine for controlling a population’s views and ways of thinking. He has a content generator made up of his news enterprises in print, broadcast, and the Internet. In addition, he has a content disseminator consisting of his cellphone firms Smart Communications, the biggest in the country (with Sun as a cheaper brand) and his direct-to-home satellite television service Cignal TV and his cable news network.

Never in our post-war history has there been a foreigner with such a media empire, and in all forms of media. *As explained in my column last Friday, this is the second part of an abridged version of the chapter ““Salim’s Media Empire: Ultimate transgression of RP sovereignty” in my 2016 book Colossal Deception: How Foreigners Control Our Telecom Sector.

(ManilaTimes.net)

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

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Business news

Unemployment rate in PH eases in 2019 PH economic growth to remain strong in coming decade, says think tank

by Czeriza

ValenCia Philstar.com

UNEMPLOYMENT eased in 2019 as more Filipinos joined the workforce, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported.

Preliminary results of the 2019 Annual Estimates of Labor Force Survey showed that based on the average of the four LFS rounds — January, April, July and October — the country’s labor force population — Filipinos aged 15 years and above — rose to 72.931 million in 2019 from 71.339 million in 2018.

The Labor Force participation rate rose to 61.3 percent of the total working age population in 2019 from 60.9 percent in 2018.

This is equivalent to around 44.7 million economically active Filipinos whether employed or looking for work.

More Filipinos had work during the year, as indicated by the rise in the employment rate to 94.9 percent in 2019 from 94.7 percent in 2018. This translated to 42.4 million employed Filipinos.

More than half of Filipino workers are employed in the services sector while workers in the agriculture sector make up a little under a quarter.

The unemployment rate, pertaining to the proportion of the working age population actively

l. luCas

Inquirer.net

BUSiNESSES are less optimistic about the first quarter of 2020 compared to the current quarter — part of the annual sentiment cycle — but their outlook is expected to improve for the rest of the year, according to the latest survey of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

At the same time, the central bank’s quarterly poll showed that Filipino consumers exhibited a more resilient attitude, with the bulk of individuals expecting to maintain their current level of optimism going into the new year.

Consumer outlook for the next 12 months was less optimistic as the confidence index decreased to 26.4 percent from the third quarter of 2019’s survey result of 29.8 percent for the next 12 months.

cash remittances from Filipinos living and working overseas, but the so-called fourth industrial revolution may wipe out jobs human beings perform.

“Advances in robot technology and artificial intelligence have stoked global fears that many jobs may disappear, and two studies claim that half of jobs in the Philippines are at high risk for automation,” said the World Bank report, “Systemic Country Diagnosis of the Philippines: Realizing the Filipino Dream for 2040.”

“However, the decline of ‘middle-skill’ jobs seen in the developed world is not happening in the Philippines, and the country’s low wage level will slow the rate at which technology substitutes for labor,” the WB report added, though.

“Policies to boost the country’s digital infrastructure and worker skills can make technology more job enabling than job replacing,” WB added. it said “global heating threatens to devastate the economy over the long term in the absence of efforts to adapt.”

“The Philippines’ very high exposure to natural hazards poses a principal threat to economic growth and inclusion,” it added.

“Natural disasters generate large costs for the economy, which are borne disproportionately by the poor and vulnerable,” WB said. n

THE government’s nine-month revenue take from the first package of tax reform more than doubled the figure posted a year earlier and exceeded the Department of Finance’s (DoF) target for the period. in a statement on Sunday, December 22, Finance Undersecretary Karl Kendrick Chua announced that combined collections from the Bureaus of internal Revenue (BiR) and of Customs (BoC) from the Tax Reform for Acceleration and inclusion (TRAiN) Law reached P91.3 billion in the first nine months of 2019.

This was 107-percent higher than the actual TRAiN revenues in January-September 2018, he added, but did not disclose the actual figure a year earlier.

Total revenues for the nine months to September were said to have surpassed the government’s P77.3-billion estimate for the period by P14.1 billion, or 18.2 percent. in terms of its share to the fullyear estimate, the revenue haul is about 80.8 percent of the projected P113.1 billion tax collections this year, Chua continued.

“This means we are now closer to completing the 2019 estimates, compared to where we were last year when we were trying to reach the 2018 estimates. This is definitely welcome news, especially for the infrastructure and human development objectives of TRAiN,” he said.

Chua explained that major gains during the first three quarters of

2019 came from personal income tax (PiT), imported petroleum excise tax, sweetened beverage (SB) excise tax, tobacco excise tax and the documentary stamp tax (DST), whose total take showed an increase of P42.4 billion.

Actual losses from lowering PiT were reported to have reached P79.2 billion, lower from the original estimate of P96.4 billion. With this, the government saved P17.2 billion from PiT losses.

Shortfalls, however, were seen in the collected excise taxes from automobiles and locally refined petroleum products, with their combined take short of the estimate by P25.2 billion. However, this is lower than the gain from other tax types. (Mayvelin Caraballo/ManilaTimes.net)

O. De Vera Inquirer.net

Preliminary results of the 2019 Annual Estimates of Labor Force Survey showed that based on the average of the four LFS rounds – January, April, July and October – the country’s labor force population – Filipinos aged 15 years and above – rose to 72.931 million in 2019 from 71.339 million in 2018.

Philstar.com file photo

looking for work, fell to 5.1 percent in 2019 from 5.3 in 2018.

This meant 2.3 million Filipinos of working age had no work this year.

The underemployment rate, meanwhile, pertaining to the proportion of workers who were looking for more hours of work, fell to 14 percent in 2019 from 16.4 percent in 2018.

Around half of those who are considered to be underemployed, those working for less than 40 hours in a week, are engaged in the services sector while a third are in the agriculture sector.

Among the regions, the following regions had the highest

levels of unemployment in 2019 were: Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), CALABARZON, and NCR. Among the unemployed, 75.9 percent belonged to the age group 15 to 34 years old. Those in the youth group aged 15 to 24 years old made up 44.8 percent of the unemployed.

By gender, there were more unemployed males in 2019 (62 percent) than females (37.7 percent).

By educational attainment, a quarter of those who are unemployed were college graduates whole a quarter completed junior high school. n

in a statement, the BSP said this was due to fears of increase in prices, stagnant wage or incomes, unemployment and increase in household expenses.

For the first quarter of 2020, the positive business outlook weakened as the next quarter’s confidence index declined to 40.3 percent from the previous quarter’s 56.1 percent.

Respondents’ less favorable outlook for the first quarter of 2020 was “due mainly to expectations of lower consumer demand after the holiday and harvest seasons; a decline in sales and orders; stiffer competition; and other factors like rising prices, concerns over the African Swine Flu epidemic and fishing ban period.”

Business outlook on the country’s economy was more positive for the next 12 months, as the

confidence index inched up to 59.6 percent from 58.6 percent in the previous quarter.

The more optimistic outlook of the respondents for the next 12 months was attributed to expectations of sound macroeconomic fundamentals; an increase in consumer demand; higher government spending on infrastructure; development of new product lines or models and marketing and business strategies; business expansion; incoming new projects, clients and prospective customers.

Consumer outlook on economic condition of the country and family financial situation was less favorable over the net 12 months, while family income remained broadly steady compared to the previous quarters’ survey results. n

Initial muted optimism of PH firms, consumers seen improving for rest of 2020

by Daxim

The Philippine economy will remain among the strongest across the globe in the coming decade partly due to its demographic sweet spot and educated workforce, according to the Economist intelligence Unit (EiU). in a Dec. 19 report, Simon Baptist, EiU global chief economist and managing director for Asia, said in the next decade “the world will have to get used to a slowing China.” “i expect that growth will be roughly half as fast in the 2020s as it was in the 2010s,” Baptist said in his report titled “The Next Decade.”

Baptist predicted that in the 2020s the fastest growing economies would be in Africa, except for Nigeria, and South and Southeast Asia “with Bangladesh, Kenya and the Philippines all looking at a strong decade.”

Responding to the inquirer’s query, Baptist said on a social media post that the following augured well for the Philippines’ sustained strong economic growth: urbanization reducing natural-disaster exposure; political stability; English skills; trade openness and population growth. in the report, Baptist said that in the 2020s, ageing populations will be a global concern.

“On the one hand, this will mean

near-zero growth for the economies whose populations are ageing and declining the fastest, like Japan, italy and Portugal,” his report said.

“But it will increasingly cause difficulties—such as strengthening currencies and aged-care needs—in emerging markets like Chile, Russia and Thailand,” Baptist said. in contrast, the Philippines has a relatively young population.

Last week, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez iii pointed out that “the Philippines is poised to reach what has been coined as the ‘demographic sweet spot.’”

“As the populations of some of the more mature economies in Asia begin to age, we are looking forward to the entry of millions of young Filipinos into the workforce,” said Dominguez.

“We must invest in them and ensure that they are globally competitive,” Dominguez added.

Baptist, however, said two developments pose risks to robust Philippine growth: automation in the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector and climate change. in a report last November, the World Bank warned that while “technology has given the country a thriving BPO sector… technology may also take it away, as some tasks become increasingly automated.”

The BPO industry is the country’s biggest dollar earner after

by Ben

9-month tax take from TRAIN surges

A December 25-27, 2019 • Socal ASIAN JOUrNAL

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cover story The Asian Jour nal MDWK MAGAZINE - December 25, 2019

Resolutions 101: Goals for the New Year by

AJPress

AS we come to the end of 2019, we mindfully look back and quickly retrace the things we could have done differently. These are not regrets, but more of possibilities (and maybe opportunities) that might have helped us grow, or made our lives a little better.

Then we look ahead to the coming year — full of hope, and yes, goals and resolutions that we intend to achieve. It doesn’t matter if there were one or two (or more) that were on the list before, “Try and try until you succeed” will always be the motto.

Lose weight. Eat healthier.

Be nicer. Work towards a better career. The list is long, but as the months go on, the journey to achieving goals is longer. Having a resolution is exciting, but keeping it is not that easy. A lot of people are not ready to make a serious commitment in order to succeed. Yes, there is hope, but no strategy and as they say, hope is not a plan.

Asian Journal asked a number of people what their New Year resolutions are and how they intend to achieve them: Adrian Danganan. 26.

Nursing student and food blogger. Covina, CA. Aside from the usual “be healthier” and “be more organized,” I really want to not commit to things I cannot do — short term and long term — in 2020. Not being able to fulfill promises has proven problematic the last few years, and the start of a new decade seems as good a time as any to really work on this.

I plan on saying “no” more often and making less excuses.

Dr. Bernadette EscalonaCooper, 66. Professional artist and Chairman of Stateregistered art organization, Sunnyvale, CA Promote inclusiveness,

encourage community engagement and open innovation through the arts in order to minimize, if not eradicate, cultural isolation.

I intend to achieve these goals through creative collaborations. It is when we work together in a joint intellectual and creative effort that we strengthen the importance of every culture in the community.

Showing the fusion of ideas from different cultures in art exhibitions becomes a relevant and powerful statement that creates discussions about lessons learned from different experiences and culture.

People then will understand the existence of different cultures, recognize and respect “ways of being” and dispel negative and personal biases and cultural isolation.

Anna Allado, 43. Caregiver, San Francisco, CA To appreciate life more.

I’ve had three good friends and a really nice cousin who passed away in 2019 (including four pets). Life can be taken away unexpectedly. Live life with less fear and more faith and gratitude.

Also, complete an online computer course I bought on sale for $12. I need the right discipline and commitment because this is like learning a new language. I’ve already set up my study area and browsed the course outline. Hope to finish it in less than six months.

Edwin Josue. Real estate broker, New York City If you ask me here are some — still save money for

Anna Allado, a caregiver from San Francisco, aims to live life with less fear and more gratitude.

Adrian Daganan is a graduate of Cal Poly Pomona and has become a vibrant figure in the LA foodie community through his foodie Instagram account @ eatwithadrian.

retirement. Do the 10,000 steps to remain healthy, exercise more and healthy food/living. Live life to the fullest and spend more time with family and friends.

I plan to achieve those through daily meditation and mindfulness, which I’ve been practicing over 30 years, positive attitude makes you young and free!

10,000 steps daily is a wish and good for me being a real estate broker as I walk and show apartments in the city. A real estate broker is always on the move.

Louise Bejer, 38. Lawyer, New York City New Year’s resolutions: to love a little deeper, to live a little freer, and to laugh a little harder.

And I plan to do that by (1) focusing on the person I’m with and not be too fearful of rejection, and to be more expressive both in words and touch of my feelings; (2) not care too much about what people will think or say; and, (3) focusing on the moment.

Aira Mae Guerrero, a young entrepreneur aims to building a stronger relationship with her clients.

Aira Mae Guerrero, 23.

Content specialist, Pasay City, Philippines My goal for 2020 is to become a full-time entrepreneur. It’s scary, but I’m preparing myself in terms of building and making my team stronger, taking care of my relationship with my clients, and managing my time.

John Christopher Amodo, 23. Senior content specialist, Antipolo, Philippines My goal for 2020 is to take on more risks and gather experience from different fields I am passionate about that I feel would be essential in the next 10 years.

In order to achieve these goals, I will review my meticulous records of my journeys and weigh which discipline works and which doesn’t; what drives me to my full potential and what doesn’t. They say dreams don’t work unless you do, but I will aim to better differentiate working smart from working hard, so as to pave way for the career growth that I am looking for.

Elaine Dela Cruz, 23. Mar-

John Christopher Amodo wants to take on more risks to find what he really passionate about.

Elaine Dela Cruz from Makati City, Philippines, wants to save more and invest in a new business this 2020.

keting officer, Makati City, Philippines For 2020, I want to save more and invest. As much as possible I will avoid unneces-

Dr. Bernadette Escalona Cooper, a professional artist and Chairman of a non-profit, wants to promote inclusiveness in New York City real estate broker Edwin Josue wants to live live to the fullest by keeping the community through the arts to minimize cultural isolation. healthy.

sary expenses and focus more on investing for the business that I want to open. 2020 will all be about growth and a start to secure my future.

New York City lawyer Louise Bejer’s resolutions include to love a little deeper.

Vice Ganda: People just want to have a good laugh

by PAblo

A. TArimAn Philstar.com

THE last seven years of Vice Ganda’s life is a consistent success story.

He remains the soughtafter, live-wire host of TV programs from “It’s Showtime” to “Gandang Gabi Vice” and without his presence, those shows would be exercises in boredom.

This Christmas, Vice reasserts his presence in the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) with an entry called “The Mall, The Merrier.”

By now, he is sure about his audience.

“My movie is not really for those who enjoy shopping at the mall,” he says. “I am thinking of the small people who have no means to live it up and are basically content with watching teleseryes after a hard day’s work. When they go to the cinemas on Christmas Day, I like them to enjoy that break with a movie that will make them laugh and forget how life can become so unfair at times. I believe I was able to connect with this audience and you’d be surprised they are

the ones who contributed to my films landing on the super blockbuster list.”

In the past, he admitted, his offering is the kind of entertainment that small people ask of him. “They don’t want profundities and life’s cruel turns on Christmas Day. They just want to have a good laugh before going back to the hard grind. This is what they want and why change it? After all, I do this only once a year.”

To be clear about it, Vice no longer likes being addressed as “Sir.” Used to be known as the Political Science undergraduate of FEU by the name of Jose Marie Borja Viceral who used to live in the periphery of Jose Abad Santos St. in Manuguit, Tondo, Vice has evolved with a gender Vice is more comfortable with. It is the gender of choice although not born as such.

Now, Vice is a person of means (no single quote there) who is also in love.

Joining a presscon for his latest MMFF entry, Vice opens up about what he enjoyed in his latest movie brainchild

and how it is loving and living within the periphery of the man he loves.

“Doing a film is like bonding with new and old friends alike,” he said. “You are all tied to a new journey together and surprise of surprise, you discover you are not in this project just for the money but for the camaraderie that develops on the way to conceptualizing and wrapping up the project. You discover a need to reconnect and from what you find out, you enjoy the human factor that binds you to each other. You can say we were sad when it was time to go back to our private lives after giving everything to this movie.”

The other members of the cast are unanimous about Vice as the ideal “ate” figure you can run to for your urgent concerns.

Dimples “Daniela” Romana has known all along Vice is friend to all. “He likes talking about his project and making every one of us understand that we have a different audience and a different take for coming up with this movie. He likes sharing tips, likes com-

paring commitments not just to people but also with your work. Where Vice is now with the success he is reaping, his advice becomes indispensable to all of us. A good ‘ate’ or ‘kuya’ to everyone.”

Like it or not, you see the prime of Vice Ganda in this presscon and the mellowing of the TV host when some controversial topics crop up.

Vice refuses to be dragged once more into L’Affaire Quiboloy with whom the comedian had a catty exchange online. He invokes the spirit of Christmas when he says he prefers to be at peace with everyone in this important month of Christendom.

He looks lovingly at his love, Ion Perez, who is in the movie as well.

How does being in love affect him as he barges through his hectic showbiz schedule?

“It works in many ways,” he says. “It is nice to begin your day with a smile knowing someone really cares for you.

That’s the reason I no longer want to hide him somewhere outside of my showbiz life. He is as much a part of me as he

Vice Ganda and Anne Curtis in “The Mall The Merrier.” The comedian knows his audience and is comfortable with it.

Photo courtesy of Star Cinema

is part of my work. I love him and I like to believe the feeling is mutual.”

Vice is literally on top of the world and enjoying every minute of it.

Casa Luisa, a Fil-Am’s getaway in Joshua Tree, CA

features

3

The Asian Jour nal MDWK MAGAZINE - December 25, 2019

ABOUT two hours outside of Los Angeles’ congestion and bustle is Joshua Tree, a nature getaway welcoming to any type of visitor, whether the adventure seeker, mindful meditator, or family in need of a digital detox.

In preserving the small town, undeveloped ambiance of Joshua Tree, you won’t find big hotel chains so renting an Airbnb has become an option for guests in recent years.

One of the newer Airbnb options is Casa Luisa, a one-story home that can accommodate up to 10 guests with ample space for lounging and partaking in activities, such as BBQing, swimming and hot-tubbing, starting a camp fire, or clear stargazing.

Casa Luisa comes from the vision of Joel Oconer, a Filipino doctor prior to migrating to the U.S in 2000, who is currently based in Los Angeles. He finds short term rental entrepreneurship both enjoyable and rewarding as a part time job while working full time in the Medical Research Field as a Clinical Research Associate. He is part of a team in Gene Therapy study currently and Mental Health. He chanced upon this property as an investment and passion project. Named after his mother and their special mother-son bond, Oconer spent a year renovating and creating the space as his own before opening it up to Airbnb renters in May of 2019.

Since May, Casa Luisa has been enjoyed and raved about, receiving a 4.98 star rating, as of this writing with the top three comments from 50 guests who mentioned “Sparkling Clean”,

“Amazing Amenities” and Outstanding Hospitality.” Oconer is also rated as a ‘Superhost,’ meaning he has provided guests with superior attentiveness and maintains his standing that is assessed every three months with rigorous standards.

From the time of booking to check out, Oconer is responsive and accessible to answer any questions about the property or to provide recommendations for meals and activities, as this writer experienced during a recent trip in early December.

Upon entering the property — located near the main highway going into Joshua Tree, but far enough to have some quiet — guests come through a secure front yard that contains a plant garden, fire pit, hot tub, swimming pool, and a covered sitting/dining area. The overall decor of the front yard is reflecCasa Luisa’s cabana by the pool area Photos courtesy of Joel Oconer tive of Oconer’s craftsmanship and knack of going to flea markets. The entire fire pit area, for example, is adorned with metal and wood fixtures, from birdhouses to lanterns, that Oconer designed and made himself or with the help of artisans. By the pool, he constructed a cabana lounge made of Capiz shells native to the Philippines (and from his hometown Samal, Bataan) and a custom-made bamboo bench that reminds him a lot of the time he spent in the ricefields when he was young.

On the west side of the house, there’s another gated patio with more dining space, a BBQ grill and a ping pong table (his favorite sport that he played The firepit and seating area at Casa Luisa’s front yard space. The decor was designed and refurbished by with his brothers growing up) Oconer. for further enjoyment.

Inside the house, guests Continued on Page 4

Casa Luisa’s living room, perfect for hanging out and relaxing after a long day’s hike

Casa Luisa’s indoor dining room by the kitchen.

There are also outdoor dining patio areas for more guests.

Casa Luisa’s master bedroom

Things to do while staying at Casa Luisa

Joshua Tree National Park A trip to Joshua Tree must include a visit to the National Park. As a guest of Casa Luisa, Oconer lends a park pass good for one vehicle.

One factoid going in is that the ‘Joshua Trees’ — which are abundant in the park and around town — are actually not trees, but plants also known as yucca brevifolia. As the story goes, the species got their name in the 19th century when Mormon travelers thought the plants looked like Joshua, a Biblical figure who had his hands to the sky in prayer, hence the name today.

This past October was the 25th anniversary of Joshua Tree National Monument being elevated to national park status in Oct. 1994. All 790,636 acres of the area had been designated as a national monument in 1936 under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Park staff maintain 93 miles of paved roads and 106 miles of unpaved roads, nine campgrounds with 523 campsites and two horsecamps, and 10 picnic areas with 38 picnic sites. There are 32 trailheads and 191 miles of hiking trails throughout the park.

Some “must-sees” include Intersection Rock and Old Woman Rock in the Hidden Valley area; Skull Rock; and Arch Rock along Pinto Basin Road. As you’ll truly be out in the desert, cellphone reception may be spotty, so planning your destination and route before you enter is crucial.

This may sound intimidating, however, the park has trails for any duration or fitness level, ranging from easy to advanced, or any purpose, whether you want to get that “Insta-worthy” shot or admire the flora and

fauna. Besides hiking, nature photography, catching the colorful sunset and stargazing are equally popular recreations to do inside the park.

‘Downtown’ Joshua Tree Casa Luisa is conveniently located less than a five-minute drive (or about a 15-minute walk) to the town’s main thoroughfare. Though, don’t expect a shopping strip with big retail stores or fast food restaurants, as again, it’s about supporting local and preserving the town’s quaintness. Along Twentynine Palms Highway, you can find local market Joshua Tree Health Foods to stock up on necessary provisions for your stay; art galleries featuring local and visiting artists; antique and bookstores; cafés that use local ingredients or serve up traditional comfort food classics. On Saturdays, you can stop at the certified Farmers Market to pick up local ingredients for a meal back at Casa Luisa. Other notable stops include Joshua Tree Saloon, open for every meal of the day and late enough for live music, karaoke and a night on the town, and Pappy & Harriet’s, which is a bit farther from the main town.

A stop at the outlets and casino Most Filipinos love outlet shopping and testing out their luck at the casino so it’s a must to include the nearby CabazonOutlets and Morongo Casino, which are accessible along the I-10 as pit stops on the way back to LA. They can also be part of a day trip while saying in Joshua Tree, as they are only less than an hour drive. The more touristy Palm Springs is another nearby destination from Joshua Tree about 45 min to an hour away. (Christina M. Oriel/AJPress)

Joshua National Tree is a popular stargazing spot for photography enthusiasts Photo courtesy of Lian Law/National Park Service

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entertainment

Sylvia Sanchez looks forward to producing

The Asian Jour nal MDWK MAGAZINE -December 25, 2019

AWARD winning dramatic actress Sylvia Sanchez ends 2019 anew with a hit teleserye on ABS-CBN, “Pamilya Ko,” and is looking forward to a more exciting New Year.

Giving a hint of what’s to come in 2020, Sanchez signed up with ALV Talent Circuit, Arnold Vegafria’s talent management outfit, in what both actress and agent describe as a “partnership” to explore potential movie projects, not only as an artist but a producer as well.

“Ever since Tita Angge [Cornelia Lee, her original manager who highly respected in the industry] passed on, I’ve always been looking for someone to work with who will treat me like she did — like family. So above all else in this Richard Gomez graduated with a Doctorate in Public Administration at the Cebu Technological University. Photo from Instagram/@richardgomezinstagram partnership, I expect to be with a family in ALV. Trust and loyalty are important to me, and I’m confident that this new venture will point me in that direction.”

As the lead stars of “Pamilya Ko,” Sanchez continues to earn critical acclaim for her as a local chief executive,” he His wife, Lucy Torres acby Ryan aRcadio dramatic mettle, which has added. companied him to the event, Inquirer.net made her one of the Kapamilya Gomez is currently the and even gave a speech at the network’s first-call actresses.

RICHARD Gomez gradumayor of Ormoc City in Leyte. said university.

Given the chance, however, ated with a doctorate in Meanwhile, Torres is the “My thesis was on Modelshe would love to dabble in public administration from the incumbent representative of ing the Intertwining Constructs more comic roles. “My first TV Cebu Technological Univerthe fourth district of the said of Green Information Technolexposure was actually comedy, sity recently, proving that it is province. ogy Adoption Diversity which when I worked with Rene Renever too late to pursue further I defended not only before The mayor’s educational quiestas in Bhoy (1989-1991),” education. achievement comes months the panel of professors and she recalled.

The actor-politician posted after his daughter Juliana also The Dean but also with other photos and clips from the graduated last June. Juliana graduating students present,” graduation ceremony last earned her high school diploGomez said.

Friday, Dec. 20 on his Instagram ma from the Everest Academy “This was a very enrichpage, moments after receiving Manila in Bonifacio Global City, ing course and experience for by cHa lino his degree.

Taguig. me especially in my capacity

Richard earns doctoral degree in public administration

As movie producer, the veteran actress hints two forthcoming indie films set to roll next year.

ManilaTimes.net photo

Again, she is also optimistic about working behind the scenes as a movie producer and hints at two forthcoming indie films set to roll next year. “I’ve got a movie in mind

where I’ll be joining the cast, and another one that will spotlight the really good anchors we have on TV and the movies today. It will be their time to shine.” (ManilaTimes.net)

Anne to take a break from ‘It’s Showtime’ Inquirer.net

Rodjun, Dianne Cruz tie the knot

by KatRina

HallaRe Inquirer.net

Newlyweds Rodjun Cruz and Diane Medina Photo from Instagram/@rodjuncruz

SHOWBIZ celebrities and real-life couple Rodjun Cruz and Dianne Medina officially tied the knot on Saturday, December 21.

They were married at the Manila Cathedral, and were joined by family and friends, as well as other fellow celebrities.

On Instagram, actor Joross Gamboa shared a photo of the groom with other guests, including Matteo Guidicelli, Alden Richards and Rodjun’s brother

Rayver.

Fellow Kapuso actor Kristoffer Martin shared via Instagram Stories the moment when Rodjun and Dianne officially became husband and wife.

Rodjun and Dianne have been together since they were in their late teens, and worked together in some teleseryes while they were still talents of ABS-CBN. The now Kapuso actor popped the question to Dianne in 2017, on his 30th birthday.

ACTRESS Anne Curtis announced that she is about to take her maternity break from the noontime show “It’s Showtime” after the episode on Monday, December 23.

The soon-to-be mother will be missing from the TV show for a few months in anticipation of her child’s birth. Curtis got emotional when she said the news on her Instagram Story on Monday, December 23.

“It’s going to be a very bittersweet episode,” Curtis said.

She also gave her warmest regards to her Twitter followers and she acknowledged people’s well-wishes on her pregnancy.

“Naiiyak na ako na ewan (I feel like crying, I don’t know),” Curtis said. “But I know you guys understand why and are all happy for this new chapter in my life.”

Curtis and her husband, chef and vlogger Erwan Heus-

Anne Curtis to take a break from hosting the noontime show “It’s Showtime”.

Photo from Instagram/@annecurtissmith

saff, announced that they are expecting a baby girl during their baby shower last week.

The couple dressed in allwhite while they beamed at each other. Pink-colored smoke also surrounded the couple.

“Mini Me,” Curtis said on In-

Casa Luisa’s heated pool and hot tub

stagram last Thursday, Dec. 19.

Curtis is expecting to deliver her child in March 2020.

Meanwhile, the actress is also set to appear in the 2019 Metro Manila Film Festival movie “The Mall, The Merrier” with Vice Ganda.

Photos courtesy of Joel Oconer

Casa Luisa, a Fil-Am’s getaway in...

full bathrooms. The house can also fit three rollaway beds, a are immediately greeted by the blow-up queen mattress and a futon upon request. living room, kitchen and dining This level of hospitality area as the main entertainment — as many Filipinos are keen to spaces. Casa Luisa has been share and are known for — is designed by Oconer to be a an essential part of the experiSmart Home, where guests will ence Oconer wants to create at be pampered by technology Casa Luisa. It’s also a humbling from the very high speed Mesh story of the ‘American Dream,’ Wifi to Alexa voice controlled as Oconer is quick to share his assisting for music, lighting and migration story of coming to general questions. There’s a 55-inch flat screen TV equipped the U.S. with just $200 in his with Apple TV and Chromecast, pocket.

“I see my mom as the epitperfect for turning on a movie ome of warm Filipino hospitalwhile cooking or hanging out.

The kitchen is equipped with the ity to all, of giving importance to family, the value of helping necessary appliances as well as others (the ‘Bayanihan’ spirit) dishes and silverware so guests working together as a commudon’t have to worry about havnity to achieve a common goal ing to bring those.

Down the hallway, you’ll find and that this house is built on that value along with love and three spacious bedrooms to harmony,” Oconer shared. The serve as the guests’ (for up to six) resting places, as well as two Casa Luisa logo, as with the othFrom Page 3

er rope decor in the house, is also reflective of this, he added.

The fortunate thing about being in Southern California is that any time of year, Joshua Tree is an open destination — from moderate temperatures and blooms in the spring to desert climate in the summer to crisp, colder air in the fall and winter.

Be it a family reunion or spiritual quest, Casa Luisa is a fitting accommodation no matter the purpose of the trip.

From Los Angeles, take I-10 east to Calif. 62 (Twentynine Palms Hwy.) to Twentynine Palms (about 140 miles total).

Casa Luisa in Joshua Tree, California can be booked on at http://www.casaluisajoshuatree.com. Rates range from $150-300 a night depending on season. Good for up to 10 (Advertising Supplement) guests.

Immigrant Living: 101 and Beyond Monette AdevA MAglAyA A circle is perhaps the perfect geometric structure there is.

Although some would claim the triangle or a square to be better structures because of their stable nature, the circle and all its derivatives — the orb, the sphere, the globe and every structure on earth and in the universe with a core, circumference and radii emanating from the core — can teach and even help us to understand much about nature, about ourselves and human life and its cycles and seasons, from the most profound to the most mundane levels.

From the micro to the macro levels, every creative urge on every level, in the intellectual and the physical realms, begins as a thought and if tenaciously pursued and fleshed out by one’s strength of will, proceeds from concept to completion as a circle. even in the mundane reality of living an ordinary life from day to day, circles and cycles mark the patterns of our lives, from sunrise to sunset. Note nature’s seasons and cycles of birth and death, of sleep and wakefulness, of ebb and flow, of the waxing and waning of the moon and of the quarter million year rotation of the solar system around the core of our home galaxy, the Milky Way and in the grandest of levels, the movement of a nearly infinite number of galaxies in the universe, the edge of which only the creator knows.

On the minutest level, the astounding movement of electrons around a nucleus and the wondrous flow of the human bloodstream to and from the heart are cyclical.

As science has found out, blockages, either man-made or natural to the flow or movement in the processes existing in nature at all levels, can create anomalies, abnormalities and mutations, resulting in pain and illnesses in the human body and

EMPLOYMENT

Like riding a bicycle: Circles, cycles and movement “Life is like riding a bicycle.

To keep your balance, you must keep moving.”

—Albert Eistein if uncorrected, result in diseases, debilitation and ultimately, death.

This presents a strong argument for regular exercise and consistent movement in our daily lives at any age. Movement pumps the blood flow in the neurons of our brain and in the capillaries in our extremities to and from the heart. The action in turn, strengthens the muscles of the heart and maintains blood pressure at healthy levels.

Nature moves in cycles.

While the earth’s atmospheric cloak adheres to the surface because of the gravitational pull of the earth’s mass, the hydrologic cycle will continue to maintain our seas and give us rain to sustain all planetary life — that is, for the time being —unless something unforeseen and catastrophic, like a rogue asteroid with the earth’s name on it as its target, upsets and upends this delicate and rare homeostatic balance. if and when that happens, as scientists theorized is the reason dinosaurs were wiped out 65 million years ago, it would be a complete cycle. it would be ADiOS to human life as we know it. Fortunately, such occurrences happen in geologic time, in millions of years.

The prophets of doom heralding climate change, backed by some pseudo scientists) include themes of global cooling or global warming (take your pick). For a number of years, they have been trying to scare the living daylights of present day earth inhabitants with stark doomsday scenarios.

Someone claimed with arrogant certainty a few years back that because of global warming the polar ice caps would be completely gone by

entertainment 5

The Asian Jour nal MDWK MAGAZINE - December 25, 2019

Debt Relief

Atty. lAwrence yAng

Most debtors prefer to have a chapter 7 wipe out of debt. This is called a fresh start now. The seas will rise and cities without debt. Most debtors along the coast will be plunged who qualify for chapter 7 debt in chaos. relief get to keep everything Guess what? The ice caps they own but are able to get rid are still there and the fairly of all of their debt, thus, they recent occurrence of a polar start life again without debt vortex which brought one of the but keep all their assets. They most severe and bitter winter are able to keep their assets by seasons in memory belie such “exempting” their assets under claims. ccP 704 or 703.

The fact remains there is let’s compare the following no predicting the weather or two cases to appreciate the diffor that matter, the end of the ference between chapter 7 and world with absolute certainty chapter 13 of the bankruptcy and infallibility. climate is part code. of science that is still evolving. client no. 1 is 58 years There is nothing settled about old and separated from her it. We can track its patterns and husband who lives out of the draw some educated guesses country. They owned and operso we can prepare for catastrophic disturbances to mitigate destruction. The world is a sphere and there is still so much about our planet that needs to be discovered.

Who knows when the next Krakatoa or Vesuvius will erupt and spit out so much sulfur to envelop the world for years that temperatures drop significantly because sunlight is blocked. it has happened before with Mount Pinatubo and other volcanoes along the ring of Fire through the centuries. The only thing certain is that volcanic eruptions will happen again. We just don’t know when.

Who knows when the Big One for california will happen? it is not a matter of if but when.

That is a given. The last big one in San Francisco was over a hundred years ago and scientists say california is due for the next big one.

Who knows when the next Katrina will come and wreak havoc? Who knows the direct path tornadoes will take? All we know is that there are things that humans can predict with some degree of accuracy but Continued on Page 6

EMPLOYMENT

Clients seek to discharge $100K and $30K credit cards Both qualify for different chapters of bankruptcy code

ated a business 10 years ago.

The business failed and her husband decided to go back to his home country. The wife decided she wanted to stay here, so they are, in fact, separated and live apart. The wife makes about $30,000 a year and does not own a house. She doesn’t know what her husband is doing in his home country. For purposes of bankruptcy, the client is de facto separated from her husband, so we don’t care what her husband does in his home country.

His income, if any, is not a factor in the calculation of client’s household income. in other words, even if the sepa-

PSYCHIC

FOR RENT

SERVICES

rated husband has become a millionaire in his home country, his income is irrelevant in the determination of client’s ability to qualify for chapter 7 debt relief here in Southern california. The client, completely on her own here, has to make do with her income of $30,000 a year. it’s only her income that is relevant in the means test calculation.

The client has $100,000 of credit card debt, most of which were used to operate their business that failed 10 years ago. Believe it or not, for the last 10 years, the client has been making minimum Continued on Page 7

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community

The Asian Jour nal MDWK MAGAZINE - December 25, 2019

Like riding a bicycle: Circles, cycles...

From Page 5 on the whole, there are things that are random and beyond the realms of prediction.

One thing that is becoming clear is that nature has become part of a global political agenda. I consider such thought manipulations suspect. When

nature is being used by groups to advance dubious political motives so that laws can be enacted that will essentially line the pockets of certain economic interests and thus ensure political power, it is time to tune out of the madness and see it for what it is. We need to main-

Tax & Stock Tips VICTOR SY,

Crowd favorite gadgets at last year’s CES in Las Vegas

Alexa and Google Assistant powered TVs and cars to Wi& ROGER ORIEL tain equilibrium in the face of Fi routers. JBL has an 8-inch untruths.

CES (Consumer Electronics touch display and speaker that When it comes to nature, Show) gives us a glimpse of the responds with a human-like what will be, will be. Its cycles next mega trend in consumer voice. are dictated by something much technology. Each January, tech 3. TV: more powerful than any human giants from around the world Most prominent was Sammind can conjure. Earth’s 23.5 gather to show off their latest sung’s modular “The Wall” – a degree tilt which dictates earth’s inventions in Las Vegas. Here’s huge 146-inch TV. Its MicroLED seasons as it spins like a wobbly a list of our favorites at the tech television contains self-emitting top along its orbit around the show earlier this year. micrometer scale LEDs that sun, which in turn orbits the cen1. Virtual reality: eliminate the need for color ter of the Milky Way readjusts Virtual reality progress has filters or backlight. It produces and is tweaked according to suffered from annoying cables. deep black tones and infinite some cosmic cycle.

Lenovo’s Mirage Solo solves contrast. Its modular design In a way, the life of our living, this issue with a self-contained gives you the ability to create breathing planet is reflective of VR headset. It doesn’t need a differently sized screens. LG human life from birth to death. phone, PC, or video game con- displayed a “rollable” TV conThe human story is cyclical. sole. Google’s Daydream platcept. Then there were Sony’s Every civilization goes through form allows you to download X900F, Dolby Vision and HDR periods of beginnings, progress, games over Wi-Fi to internal 10, and big gaming displays full flowering, decay, stagnation storage or microSD card. Price like Nvidia’s Display standard. and ultimately, death. Planet has come down to about $400 4. Vobot Halo Light earth will die too along with the even with this upgrade.

Vobot Halo Light is a bedsun, one day, the human race 2. Alexa and Google Asside lamp that greets you in the and all living carbon-based crea- sistant: morning and gives you a news tures will be gone by then.

Voice-enabled Amazon report with weather for the day.

As a historical footnote, there are clear indications the Barrister’s American story, as a result of its increasing divisiveness and Corner seismic shifts in its values and national psyche, has has gone through a protracted period ATTY. KENNETH of decay and stagnation phase U RSUA REYES of its cycle. For three decades, Court regarding child custody, America may have lost its way child support, management GENERALLY, you must as it drifted away from its core and control of community busihave resided in California for Christian values made manifest nesses and property. at least six months in order through its decadent culture.

The solution for this type of to file a divorce in this case.

This may have played out problem is filing nullity or legal Under Family Code Section already. By God’s grace and mir- 2320, a judgment of marriage separation petition rather than acle for millions who bent down a divorce and amending the dissolution (divorce) may not their knees and prayed fervently petition later on to convert it be entered unless one of the and asked for divine intervention, spouses has been a “resident” to a divorce once the residency a new beginning is sprouting. requirement has been met by of California for six months The promise of resurgence one of the parties. Millar v. and of the county where the to new life and an era of hope Millar. Unlike a divorce, there proceeding is filed for three and worthwhile accomplishmonths immediately preceding is no residency requirement to ments is dawning. filing an Annulment or a legal the filing of the petition. This GOD’S BLESSINGS OF separation. poses a problem for divorcing PEACE, HEALTH AND PROSThe advantage of this stratcouples that has not resided in PERITY BE WITH US ALL IN California for at least 6 months. egy is you would immediately 2020 AND FAR INTO THE Couples that moved to Califor- have access to the courts and FUTURE! can ask the court for immedinia from other states or other HAPPY, NEW 2020 TO ONE countries are faced with this ate temporary orders needed AND ALL!!! to maintain the status quo or problem because they cannot *** preserve the marital assets. If get divorced until they satisfy Nota Bene: Monette Adeva Maglaya is the residency requirements. domestic violence is involved SVP of Asian Journal Publications, Inc. Even a bigger problem is when in the case, the domestic vioTo send comments, e-mail monette. they need immediate tempolence issue can be heard in the maglaya@asianjournalinc.com same court room by the same rary orders from the California

CPA, MBA (RETIRED)

5. Ar4x Security Camera Amaryllo introduced a security camera that not only records footage and alerts you to motion but also identifies people, cars, or pets from a distance. It recognizes your family and alerts you of intruders.

What We’d like to See at Next Year’s 2020 CES: We’d like to see Vobot instruct Moley to cook breakfast while she greets and delivers the day’s news report. What a life. We’d love to see the Aflac duck waddle and quack around exhibit areas while Aibo yelps through the crowds, perhaps watch #R2DoubleD and #TripleCPU. Look it up. *** He retired after 50 years of defending taxpayers audited by the IRS, EDD, BOE and other governmental agencies. He published a book on “How to Avoid or Survive IRS Audits.” Readers may email tax questions to vicsy@live.com.

Getting month residency requirement to file a divorce in California judge that would be hearing the divorce case. In addition, service on the legal separation petition (to be amended later to a divorce) will also start the clock on the six-month “waiting period” for finality of a judgment terminating marital status, optimizing the timeframe within which the parties will be legally restored to “single” status. As far as the county where to file the legal separation or nullity, venue is proper in the county where either party resided at the time the petition was filed pursuant to CCP 395(a).

Once the parties have satisfied the residency requirements, the Petition may be amended from legal separation to Dissolution without permission from the Court as long as notice is provided the opposing party under Marriage Continued on Page 7

MUSIC AND MORE! GANAP DONATION $25 COMMUNITY AUDITORIUM CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY OF THE VALLEY

11455 BURBANK BLVD

NORTH HOLLYWOOD, CA 91601 (BURBANK BLVD. CORNER LANKERSHIM)

PHILIPPINE PATRONS OF THE ARTS USA

2019 CSVLY. All Rights Reserved. Scientology is a trademark and service mark owned by Religious Technology Center and is used with its permission. Created in the USA.

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The Asian Jour nal MDWK MAGAZINE - December 25, 2019

FilAm Arts presents GANAP Singers in North Hollywood Show on January 4 benefits of the Festival of Philippine Arts and Culture

GET ready for retro dance music debauchery this coming New Year’s Eve, December 31, 2019! Modern Classic Records presents Makati Nights NYE - 80s, Early/Late 90s, happening at the 18 Social Penthouse, Hotel Indigo Los Angeles Downtown. This New Year’s Eve, Makati Nights will be headlined by its resident DJs, Josh Evangelista formerly of Venezia Bar, Cary Carreon, formerly of Hard Rock Cafe Makati, plus guest DJs. All of them will be providing killer

retro sets for the evening that will guarantee you flashback fun while welcoming the year 2020!

Makati Nights is a roving 70s, 80s, 90s, and 2000s nightlife event based in Los Angeles.

Hosted by veteran Manila and Los Angeles DJ, producer, and remixer Josh Evangelista (https://www.facebook. com/joshevangelistamusic), Makati Nights pays tribute to the glorious Makati nightlife of the past by reconstructing its nightclub atmosphere at some of Los Angeles’ chic and mod-

ern nightclub venues. On each event, Makati Nights feature the best DJs that have played at Philippine nightclubs, DJs from notable mobile DJ groups of the 90s, as well as DJs visiting from the Philippines. These original Makati selectors will dish out some of the best dance music hits from each era for us to experience the authentic manila club vibe.

For the latest updates, please check the Facebook page at http://www.facebook. com/makatinights.

Clients seek to discharge $100K...

exactly 20 years ago. Then, he and wife were able to discharge payments on the $100,000 at $20,000 of credit cards and an the required $3,000 a month. I uninsured car accident liability guess, she used to make more of $40,000. They got the fresh than $30,000 a year before, start then, and now he has because he now only makes racked up another $30,000 of $2,500 a month, which is less credit card debt, while wife than $3,000 a month. has her own credit cards too.

But in the last 10 years, Client recently lost his job and she has paid $360,000 to keep his unemployment benefits are $100,000 of credit cards curabout to expire. rent. Today, she still owes the Certainly, he wants a Chapvery same $100,000! Yes, it’s ter 7 discharge of his $30,000 sad but true and not at all fair of cards. However, he owns but nevertheless, that’s the real- with his wife as joint tenants, ity of what happened. their house worth $500,000 If she had filed for Chapter on which they owe a total 7 ten years ago and wiped of $300,000. So, they have out the $100,000 in 2008, she equity of $200,000. But since would probably have $700,000 he is only 52, their homestead in her wealth portfolio now, exemption is only $100,000, growing at the rate of between leaving non-exempt equity 6% to 10% a year. of $100,000. This means that But she took her own sweet if he does a Chapter 7, the time, perhaps she was afraid to trustee will sell their house for file for Chapter 7 10 years ago, $500,000, give him $100,000 or even five years ago, and now for his exempt equity, and use suffers the consequence of that the rest to pay off his $30,000 wrong decision. Now, she still credit cards, and if there is any owes the very same $100,000 money left, the balance will also but had paid $360,000 to keep be given to him. that $100,000 current in the last Chapter 7 is not advisable 10 years. Now, that’s not being in this case, as client will lose smart is it? No, that’s being his house for $30,000 of credit pretty dumb. Because if client cards. This makes no sense. did actually get Chapter 7 relief Why lose over your family’s and wipe out the $100,000 10 head for the sake of credit years ago, the consequence of card debt? Makes no sense that smart decision, would be whatsoever. Client needs to file that she would have at least Chapter 13 to protect his house $700,000 now, and that’s a from eventual judgment liens smart move. from the $30,000 credit cards.

Of course, it’s not too late Judgment lien creditors can to get Chapter 7 relief now. force the sale of the house in Better late than never with order to get paid. Unbelievable a Chapter 7 wipe out of the but true! A judgment creditor $100,000 now and to have a for $5,000 with a lien on your fresh start now at the age of 58, house can force the sale of he instead of having a fresh start at house to satisfy the judgment the age of 48. Further, if she did as a last resort. have the fresh start in 2008, her Chapter 13 will protect credit score would be perfect client’s house from judgments now over 800, and there would occurring in the future from be no fact of filing Chapter 7 the $30,000 of credit cards. in her credit report. It’s like it The Chapter 13 plan will allow never happened. No wonder him to pay the $30,000 at the Pres. Trump thinks bankruptcy rate of $500 a month. On the law is heaven sent. His own 60th month, the court will give businesses filed for bankruptcy, him an order of discharge. At 4 Chapter 11’s, in the nineties that time, he will owe credit wiping out more than a billion $ cards zero. Using Chapter 13 of unsecured debt. to handle his $30,000 credit The client now qualifies for cards entails no risk of losing and is eligible for Chapter 7 un- his house because Chapter 13 der the means test and all her trustee have no power to sell assets are exempt so she gets debtor houses, unlike Chapter to keep all her assets includ7 trustees who are hungry for ing her retirement account of houses with non-exempt equity. $50,000 and her fully paid MB If you need debt relief, set 300 2013, while wiping out the an appointment to see me. I entire $100,000. So she goes will analyze your case personfor it 10 years late because as ally. we said earlier, better late than *** never.

Lawrence Bautista Yang specializes in Client no. 2 is 52 and marBankruptcy, Business, Real Estate and ried. I did his join Chapter 7 Civil Litigation and has successfully From Page 5

Getting month residency...

From Page 6 of Dick. The Petitioner would also be in a safer position if the intent to amend from legal separation/nullity to a divorce is stated in the initial Petition. *** Please note that this article is not legal advice and is not intended as legal advice.

The article is intended to provide only general, non-specific legal information.

This article is not intended to cover all the issues related to the topic discussed.

The specific facts that apply to your matter may make the outcome different than would be anticipated by you. This article does create any attorney client relationship between you and the Law Offices of Kenneth U. Reyes, P.C. This article is not a solicitation.

*** Attorney Kenneth Ursua Reyes is a Certified Family Law Specialist. He was President of the Philippine American Bar Association. He is a member of both the Family law section and Immigration law section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association. He 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, P.C. 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)

represented more than five thousand clients in California. Please call Angie, Barbara or Jess at (626) 284-1142 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)

A STORY of hope accompanies the GANAP Singers as it embarks on its “Lingkod” Tour.

The singers are the choir of the GANAP Performing Arts Foundation, based in Quezon City.

Each singer is a scholar, who benefits from the musical and artistic activities of the program that enables them to raise funds for school.

On Saturday, January 4 at 5 p.m., they will stage Music and More! with the GANAP Singers at the Community Auditorium of the Church of Scientology of the Valley. The repertoire is an entertaining mix of English pop, Filipino Hits which they perform with choreography. The concert is presented by FilAm Arts in cooperation with Philippine Patrons of the Arts USA. Awarded this 2019 as a Manuel L. Quezon Gawad Parangal awardee for Most Outstanding Institution (Culture and the Arts), GANAP Performing Arts Association, Inc. (GANAP) is on its Goodwill International Concert Tour to the United States, with concerts in Vallejo City CA, Union City CA, Brentwood CA, San Francisco CA, North Hollywood, CA and Las Vegas NV until January 12, 2020.

The 13-member choir, led by

their Artistic Director, Dr. Alexis Jan “Agoy” Patacsil, arrived at the San Francisco International Airport on December 18, 2019 and was warmly welcomed by the Filipino Community of Solano County, Inc. Its members are from different backgrounds, mostly belonging to low-income families and socio-economic scholars of the Quezon City Local Government. Patacsil said, “The primary purpose of this goodwill concert tour is to serve, or ‘lingkod’ in Filipino language, using performing arts. We also like to convey that poverty can never be a hindrance to a noble act of helping others despite the lack

of material things…”

Proceeds shall benefit the relaunch of FilAm Arts Festival of Philippine Arts and Culture in September 2020 as well as the improvement of the Erehwon Center for the Arts facilities in Quezon City, and the continuous training and education of the GANAP scholars.

The suggested donation is $25 at the door or at https://ganap.eventbrite.com. Concert venue address is 11455 Burbank Blvd, North Hollywood, CA 91601. For more information, email info@musicartsevents. com or text or call Music Arts Events at (818) 538-4033.

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The Asian Jour nal MDWK MAGAZINE - December 25, 2019