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Ex-Davao Death Squad leader: Pres. Duterte ordered killings Philippine Senate to reopen investigation next week by Dana
SioSon AJPress
AS promised during President Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, the Department of homeland Security (DhS) announced on Tuesday, February 21 plans to conduct a wide crackdown on undocumented immigrants in the United States. DhS Secretary John Kelly issued two memoranda to go forth with the president’s widely criticized executive orders which include strengthening security at the U.S.-Mexico border, removing a policy that released people caught at the border on bail that they attend deportation hearings and detaining any undocumented immigrant convicted of any criminal activity, among other directives. “It implements new policies designed to stem illegal immigration and facilitate the detection, apprehension, detention, and removal of aliens who have no lawful basis to enter or remain in the United States,” Kelly wrote in one memorandum. The new, stricter immigration policies are
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US Navy begins ‘routine’ patrols in the South China Sea
A UNITED States aircraft carrier strike group began patrolling the contested areas in the South China Sea over the weekend. The U.S. Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 1 — which is part of the U.S. Navy — launched its first routine operations in the contested waters on Saturday, February 18. It deployed aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, along with guidedmissile destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyer, and aircraft from Carrier Air Wing 2. Beijing previously said it is respected the freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea. however, it “firmly opposes any country’s attempt to undermine China’s sovereignty and security in the name of the freedom of navigation and overflight.” “We also urge the US to refrain from challenging China’s sovereignty and security and to respect regional countries’ efforts to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea,” Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Geng Shuang said. Based on a ‘nine-dash-line,’ China has claimed sovereignty on almost all of the South China Sea, resulting in territorial conflicts with its neighboring countries including the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, and Vietnam.
REVELATION. Retired SPO3 Arturo Lascañas flank by (left) Atty. Arno Sanidad and Atty. Jose Diokno (right) appears before the media and admitted the existence of the Davao Death Squad at a press conference at the Senate on Monday, February 20. He supported the earlier claims of confessed gunman Edgar Matobato that the President had organized the notorious vigilante group to kill petty criminals when he was the mayor of Davao City. Inquirer.net photo by Grig Montegrande
WhILE mayor of Davao City, President Rodrigo Duterte ordered a “death squad” to carry out killings or other criminal acts in exchange for money, a former policeman revealed this week. Alleged Davao Death Squad (DDS) leader and retired SPO3 Arturo Lascañas confessed on Monday, February 20 that Duterte personally directed the group to perform killings, usually of drug dealers and criminals, during his 22 years as the city’s mayor. “Totoo po ang Davao Death Squad (DDS is real),” Lascañas said during a press conference organized by Senator Antonio Trillanes IV and the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG). This revelation contradicts the former death squad leader’s testimony during a Senate probe on the extrajudicial killings last year in which he dismissed the existence of the DDS, saying the claims were mere “media hype.” his denial came after self-confessed hitman Edgar Matobato testified last October that Duterte directed the group to carry out the killings in Davao City. Matobato pointed out that Lascañas was the supposed “team leader” of the death squad, which
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Yasay eyes dialogue De Lima files motion before court, with US Sec. of seeks dismissal of drug cases State Rex Tillerson by Dana
SioSon AJPress
by Dana
SioSon AJPress
PhILIPPINE Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. is seeking a dialogue with United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson as part of Manila’s efforts to build a “closer relationship” with Washington. During the conclusion of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foreign Ministers Retreat on Tuesday, February 21, Yasay said he “personally would like to see through a possibility of a dialogue” with Tillerson. “I hope that this can be done as soon as possible,” he added. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte had been distancing the country from the United States under former President Barack Obama for the latter’s alleged ‘hypocrisy’ and criticisms of the intensified campaign
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SENATOR Leila De Lima on Monday, February 20, asked the courts to dismiss the three cases filed against her by the Department of Justice (DOJ) in relation to the alleged drug proliferation inside the National Bilibid Prison (NBP). According to Ferdie Maglalang, De Lima’s chief media officer, the senator has filed motions before the courts in Muntinlupa City to quash, hold in abeyance the issuance of a warrant of arrest against her, and for judicial determination of probable cause. De Lima insisted that it is the Office of the Ombudsman, not the Regional Trial Court (RTC), that has jurisdiction over the cases against her. She said the cases filed by the DOJ were “procedurally wrong based on existing laws and jurisprudence.” “Sinadya nila mapunta ‘yan sa court para makakuha agad ng (They purposely filed it on the
Senator Leila De Lima
court so they could easily get an) arrest warrant. It’s quite a stretch na non-bailable,” De Lima said in a television interview. The DOJ on Friday, February 17 filed three com-
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Duterte spent P277-M for foreign trips last year Philippine Supreme Court by Catherine
S. Valente ManilaTimes.net
President Rodrigo Duterte
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte’s foreign trips last year cost tax payers around P277 million. Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said the money allocated for the President’s trips included airfare. “The President made a total of seven foreign trips, visiting a total of 12 countries since he took office,” Abella told reporters. “These visits incurred a total of about 277 million in expenses, which included airfare, charter lease and others,” he added.
Among the countries the President visited were Laos, Indonesia, Vietnam, Brunei, China, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Peru, New Zealand, Cambodia, and Singapore. The Palace official said Duterte’s visit to neighboring countries aims to enhance diplomatic relations and boost the economy. he cited the President’s visit to China that resulted in the signing of over 20 agreements, yielding investment commitments valued at $4 billion and projected to generate more than 100,000 jobs. “Included in the agreements were a 50 million Renminbi grant for the
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affirms Napoles indictment over pork barrel scam by AJPress
ThE Philippine Supreme Court (SC) upheld the charges filed against businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles and two others in relation to the supposed anomalous distribution of the multi-million Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) from 2004 to 2010. The high court also dismissed
the petitions filed by Napoles and co-accused John Raymund De Asis and National Agri-Business Corporation (NABCOR) President Alan A. Javellana to junk the cases filed against them. The respondents are facing charges for malversation of public funds, corruption of public of-
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From the Front Page
Ex-Davao Death Squad leader: Pres. Duterte… PAGE A1 t
the latter then denied. However, on Monday, Lascañas admitted that he was one of the “founders” of the group, adding that the members of the squad were paid from P20,000 to P100,000 by Duterte, depending on their targets. “I was one of those who started it,” he said, as reported by CNN. “We implemented the personal instructions of (thenMayor) Duterte to us. All of the killings we did in Davao city, whether we buried or threw them out to sea.” He claimed that Duterte hired him to assassinate radio broadcaster Jun Pala, who was a known critic of the then-mayor, through SPO4 Sonny Buenaventura in 2003. Pala’s murder has yet to be solved, according to various reports. Lascañas went on to reveal that the former mayor commanded the squad to bomb Davao mosques in 1993 to retaliate the bombing of San Pedro Cathedral.
Around 1,400 killings have been supposedly linked to the death squad based on data from human rights groups. ‘Political drama’ Malacañang, meanwhile, dismissed Lascañas’ recent statement as “political drama.” In a statement on Monday, Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said the press conference was another attempt to “destroy the president and to topple his administration.” Andanar suggested that the “character assassination” against the president is nothing but “vicious politics orchestrated by sectors affected by the reforms initiated by the Duterte administration.” He also pointed out that the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), the Office of the Ombudsman, and the Senate Committee on Justice, had already cleared the president of the allegations surrounding the extrajudicial killings.
“Bringing change is not an easy task. The Duterte administration has disturbed and disrupted the establishment. However, we remain undistracted in delivering goods and services to serve the people, not just the interest of the few,” Andanar added. In various instances, Duterte has denied his leadership role in the extrajudicial killings and the existence of the death squad as mayor. Since taking office last June, over 7,700 individuals have been killed in relation to the administration’s campaign against illegal drugs — 2,500 of which were from police operations. New Senate inquiry While the former policeman was warned of possible perjury cases for retracting a previous testimony under oath, Senator Richard Gordon said that the cop’s allegations can also be used as grounds for impeachment cases against Duterte. “Well yeah. Betrayal of pub-
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PARTY COOPERATION. Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, President of the ruling Partido Demokratiko Pilipino - Lakas ng Bayan (PDP Laban), on Monday, February 20, signed a Memorandum of Understanding on party cooperation with Chinese Minister Song Tao, Minister of the International Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, in Malacañang. The event was witnessed by President Rodrigo Duterte, chairman of PDP Laban and Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jianhua. Senate photo by Ariel Cagadas
De Lima files motion before court…
PAGE A1 t
plaints against De Lima at the Office the Clerk of Court of the Muntinlupa City RTC for supposedly violating the Republic Act No. 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002. The complaints were raffled to the Muntinlupa RTC branches 204, under Judge Juantina Guerrero; 205, under Judge Amelia Fabros Corpuz; and 206, Judge Patria Manalastas de Leon. Following the filing of complaints, De Lima said that she is prepared to be a “political prisoner,” claiming that the charges against her were supposedly “politically motivated” by the present administration. The former justice secretary - who is vocal critic of President
Rodrigo Duterte -- accused him of masterminding the drug charges filed against her last week as an example to scare the critics of the present administration. “Maitim ang pakay ng rehimeng Duterte: ang gamitin akong halimbawa para takutin ang kanilang kritiko (The Duterte regime has a dark plan: to use me as an example to scare its critics),” she said. ‘Unfit to lead’ She then called the Cabinet officials anew to declare Duterte “unfit” to lead the country, labeling him as the “the number one criminal in the Philippines, if not the world.” However, according to Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre, the RTC has the “original and exclusive jurisdiction over the three
cases” against De Lima. “Trading in illegal drugs has no connection with the performance of her duties as secretary of justice,” Aguirre added. He also denied De Lima’s accusations that the criminal charges against her are politically motivated. “Cases filed against Senator De Lima are all criminal in nature. Some of these cases involved illegal drugs. They are not politically motivated,” Aguirre said in the statement. He further went to say, “It is wrong for Senator de Lima to refer to herself as a political prisoner. Drug cases do not involve one’s political beliefs. It involves one’s choice to be involved in illegal drugs.” n
Yasay eyes dialogue with US Sec. of State…
PAGE A1 t
against illegal drugs. Some analysts, on the other hand, expect warmer relations between the two countries given the new administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, who took office last January. “It will be very important for us as I’m sure it will be important for the United States, in our desire to forge closer ties and closer relationships,” Yasay said. During the press briefing, Yasay also disclosed that ASEAN foreign ministers discussed Trump’s new policies during the retreat. “The ministers had expressed their views on what they see is an evolving, still evolving policy, of the United States under the presidency of Donald Trump,” said Yasay, who chaired the event.
DFA Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr.
He also related that the ministers are “hopeful” that the new policies under the Trump administration “will be positive for everyone and will contribute toward peace and progress in the region.”
Earlier in December, Duterte extended Trump an invitation to attend the ASEAN summit later this year. The 2017 summit, chaired by the Philippines, will be held in November in Clark, Pampanga. n
Duterte spent P277-M for foreign… PAGE A1 t
provision of drug rehabilitation facilities and another 50 million Renminbi million grant for the supply of law enforcement-related equipment,” Abella said. He noted that the visit to Japan produced investment commitments estimated at $1.85 billion and will generate about 250,000 jobs in the next few years.
“There were also about five government-to-government agreements signed, including the exchange of note and agreements up to $184 million. Moreover, 15 pipeline loans were acquired by several national agencies during the visit in Japan, which includes the construction of a subway from North Avenue to Taguig and a high-speed railway from
Manila to Clark,” he said. “These official trips are part of the President’s obligation to maintain and strengthen diplomatic ties with neighboring countries and has clinched numerous economic investments and commitments amounting to billions of dollars — to billions of pesos and generate thousands of jobs in the following years,” Abella added. n
Philippine Supreme Court affirms Napoles… PAGE A1 t
ficials, and violation of the AntiGraft Law, for the alleged misuse of over P25-million PDAF, also referred to as pork barrel, of former Agusan del Sur Representative Rodolfo Plaza. “The court upheld the Ombudsman’s determination of probable cause and reiterated its deference to the Ombudsman performance of said duty,” SC spokesperson Theodore Te said in a press briefing on Tuesday, February 21. The SC ruled that it has found no abuse of discretion when Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales filed criminal charges at the Sandiganbayan. The high court also dismissed
Janet Napoles
the claims of Napoles and De Asis that they should not be charged with graft since they were not government officials. “Petitioners’ contentions that the absence of the elements of the crimes they were charged with is a matter of defense to be
ventilated at the trial as these are evidentiary matters requiring a full-blown and not during [the] preliminary investigation,” the high court said. Last week, Solicitor General Jose Calida recommended the acquittal of Napoles, claiming that the Regional Trial Court wrongly convicted her guilty of detaining her cousin and principal scam whistleblower, Benhur Luy. Calida, however, clarified that the Office of the Solicitor General’s move in Napoles’ serious illegal detention case will have no implications for her PDAF cases. In 2013, the Supreme Court declared the PDAF, a discretionary fund for lawmakers, unconstitutional. n
US Navy begins ‘routine’ patrols in the South… PAGE A1 t
China has also reportedly built artificial islands along the disputed waters for military purposes. Last month, the United States, under the new administration of President Donald Trump, vowed to prevent China from claiming ‘international territories’ along the contested waters in the sea. The U.S. also said that China should be denied access to the islands it has built along the disputed maritime areas. The Chinese government,
however, called on the U.S. to stop meddling in the Asian territorial affairs since the latter is ‘not a party’ to the South China Sea disputes. According to the Philippine Department of Foreign affairs (DFA), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is fast-tracking the framework of the Code of Conduct (COC), which aims to address tensions in the South China Sea. “I think officials of both sides are working very hard to be able to meet this deadline…I think all
ASEAN member-states would like to see the early conclusion of the negotiation of actual code of conduct which I think will be useful for managing the region and in regulating the future behavior of the parties concerned in the South China Sea region,” Philippine Foreign Affairs Spokesman Charles Jose said in a press briefing on Sunday. The COC framework — which Jose said is a “legally binding document” — is expected to be completed this year. (Dana Sioson / AJPress)
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Health law’s 10 essential benefits: A look at what’s at risk in GOP overhaul by Michelle
Andrews Kaiser Health News
AS Republicans look at ways to replace or repair the health law, many suggest shrinking the list of services insurers are required to offer in individual and small group plans would reduce costs and increase flexibility. That option came to the forefront last week when Seema Verma, who is slated to run the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in the Trump administration, noted at her confirmation hearing that coverage for maternity services should be optional in those health plans. Maternity coverage is a popular target and one often mentioned by health law critics, but other items also could be watered down or eliminated. There are some big hurdles, however. The health law requires that insurers who sell policies for individuals and small businesses cover at a minimum 10 “essential health benefits,” including hospitalization, prescription drugs and emergency care, in addition to maternity services. The law also requires that the scope of the services offered be equal to those typically provided in employer coverage. “It has to look like a typical employer plan, and those are still pretty generous,” said Timothy Jost, an emeritus professor at Washington and Lee University Law School in Virginia who is an expert on the health law. Since the 10 required benefits are spelled out in the Affordable Care Act, it would require a change in the law to eliminate entire categories or to water them down to such an extent that they’re less generous than typical employer coverage. And since Republicans likely cannot garner 60 votes in the Senate, they will be limited in changes that they can make to the ACA. Still, policy experts say there’s room to “skinny up” the requirements in some areas by changing the regulations that federal officials wrote to implement the law. Habilitative services The law requires that plans cover “rehabilitative and ha-
bilitative services and devices.” Many employer plans don’t include habilitative services, which help people with developmental disabilities such as cerebral palsy or autism maintain, learn or improve their functional skills. Federal officials issued a regulation that defined habilitative services and directed plans to set separate limits for the number of covered visits for rehabilitative and habilitative services. Those rules could be changed. “There is real room for weakening the requirements” for habilitative services, said Dania Palanker, an assistant research professor at Georgetown University’s Center on Health Insurance Reforms who has reviewed the essential health benefits coverage requirements. Oral and vision care for kids Pediatric oral and vision care requirements, another essential health benefit that’s not particularly common in employer plans, could also be weakened, said Caroline Pearson, a senior vice president at Avalere Health, a consulting firm. Mental health and substance use disorder services The health law requires all individual and small group plans cover mental health and substance use disorder services. In the regulations the administration said that means those services have to be provided at “parity” with medical and surgical services, meaning plans can’t be more restrictive with one type of coverage than the other regarding cost sharing, treatment and care management. “They could back off of parity,” Palanker said. Prescription drugs Prescription drug coverage could be tinkered with as well. The rules currently require that plans cover at least one drug in every drug class, a standard that isn’t particularly robust to start with, said Katie Keith, a health policy consultant and adjunct professor at Georgetown Law School. That standard could be relaxed further, she said, and the list of required covered drugs could shrink. Preventive and wellness
services and chronic disease management Republicans have discussed trimming or eliminating some of the preventive services that are required to be offered without cost sharing. Among those requirements is providing birth control without charging women anything out of pocket. But, Palanker said, “if they just wanted to omit them, I expect that would end up in court.” Pregnancy, maternity and newborn care Before the health law passed, just 12 percent of health policies available to a 30-year-old woman on the individual market offered maternity benefits, according to research by the National Women’s Law Center. Those that did often charged extra for the coverage and required a waiting period of a year or more. The essential health benefits package plugged that hole very cleanly, said Adam Sonfield, a senior policy manager at the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health research and advocacy organization. “Having it in the law makes it more difficult to either exclude it entirely or charge an arm and a leg for it,” Sonfield said. Maternity coverage is often offered as an example of a benefit that should be optional, as Verma advocated. If you’re a man or too old to get pregnant, why should you have to pay for that coverage? That a la carte approach is not the way insurance should work, some experts argue. Women don’t need prostate cancer screening, they counter, but they pay for the coverage anyway. “We buy insurance for uncertainty, and to spread the costs of care across a broad population so that when something comes up that person has adequate coverage to meet their needs,” said Linda Blumberg, a senior fellow at the Health Policy Center at the Urban Institute. This article was reprinted with permission from Kaiser Health News, a nonprofit health newsroom that is an editorially independent part of the Kaiser Family Foundation.
WETLANDS EXHIBIT. Sen. Cynthia Villar was joined by Senators Nancy Binay and Loren Legarda in opening the exhibit ‘Wetland Wonders of the Philippines’ at the Senate. The exhibit showcases the seven sites in the country declared as Wetlands of International Importance by the Ramsar Convention and stresses the importance to protect and conserve the wetlands in the survival of marine resources and in disaster risk prevention. The ribbon-cutting ceremony was also attended by Department of Environment and Natural Resources National Capital Region Dir. Lourdes Wagan and Las Pinas-Paranaque Critical Habitat and Eco-Tourism Area Focal Leader Rey Aguinaldo. Senate photo
Bonta authors human trafficking curriculum bill Legislation would create age-appropriate prevention instruction for students CALIFORNIA Assemblymember Rob Bonta (D-Oakland) has introduced legislation that will require classroom curriculum to educate children regarding the growing dangers posed by human trafficking. AB 1227 will help identify and prevent cases of human trafficking through age-appropriate classroom education. “Human trafficking is one of the fastest growing crimes in California and the nation,” said Bonta in a statement on Tuesday, February 21. “Exploiters prey on vulnerable children regardless of age, race, gender, economics or religion. Our bill will provide vital information to arm students and instructors with the tools to combat this horrific plague.” AB 1227, which is joint-authored by Assemblymember Evan Low (D-San Francisco), will
require public schools to offer an age-appropriate curriculum that will comply with state standards and provide a holistic view of the problem. Bonta said the legislation will “address the vital aspect of prevention by educating our young people to identify the dangers and avoid becoming exploited in the first place.” The assemblymember partnered with the PROTECT Coalition which has been a leader in educating students on the issues associated with human trafficking. Ashlie M. Bryant, co-founder and president of the 3Strands Global Foundation — which is a member of the PROTECT Coalition — said, the legislation will “reduce the vulnerability of all children in California to human trafficking.” Developed by three anti-hu-
man trafficking organizations — 3Strands Global, Love Never Fails and Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives — the PROTECT program has partnered with the Office of the California Attorney General and the California Department of Education to provide a scalable and systematic prevention education program. In 2014, 75 percent of California’s human trafficking cases were related to sex trafficking. The issue hits home for Bonta who represents Oakland, a city that has consistently ranked as a hot spot for human trafficking. “Human trafficking is modern-day slavery and it must be stopped. This is a top priority for me. I have consistently fought to protect survivors and punish the exploiters and buyers who are destroying young lives,” Bonta said. n
Ex-Davao Death Squad leader: Pres. Duterte… PAGE A2 t
lic trust yan e, kung totoo (if it’s true),” Gordon told Inquirer. “[Because] it goes into character e. It goes into betrayal of public trust.” The Senate Public Order Committee, which is chaired by Senator Panfilo Lacson, is expected to conduct a new hearing to investigate the alleged existence of the DDS starting next week. Lacson, however, clarified that the new Senate inquiry would not be a reopening of the previous
hearings conducted by the Committee on Justice and Human Rights. Instead, it will be based on the new revelations brought forth by the former policeman. Meanwhile, responding to Andanar’s comments, the CHR denied the claims that it has cleared Duterte of his alleged involvement in the DDS and extrajudicial killings. “It is clear from the quoted portions of the resolution that deaths have occurred in significant numbers and no investigations were
conducted by the local government. Deaths continued to occur with impunity during the term of the former mayor,” the commission said, citing a 2012 resolution that calls the Ombudsman to investigate Duterte’s supposed connection to the group. The Office of the Ombudsman earlier rejected the complaint but the case was reopened following Matobato’s testimonies last year. The CHR said Lascañas’ revelations would be considered in its on-going probe. n
“Not my President’s Day” Rally. Thousands of Americans across the country marked President Day on Monday, February 20 by holding rallies against President Donald Trump. In New York — along with dozens of other cities like Los Angeles and Chicago — hundreds of anti-Trump demonstrators trooped to Columbus Circle, in front of the Trump International Tower and Hotel. AJPress photo by Momar G. Visaya
Trump administration to move forward with…
PAGE A1 t
a remarkable departure from former President Barack Obama’s immigration policies which were far more lenient and focussed more on assimilating the undocumented community into the American economic system. Previously, under Obama, only those convicted of serious crimes were automatically detained. Moreover, the “expedited removals” of those who have only been in the country for 14 days was only implemented within 100 miles of the border. Under Trump, that will now include those that had been in the country for two years and located anywhere in the U.S. The documented released on Tuesday also detailed that the
DHS is planning to expand U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) by hiring 10,000 new immigration agents and creating more detention facilities across the nation. The motions would also reintroduce a Customs and Border Protection program that will draft local law enforcement officers to assist in the identifying and removal of suspected criminals who are undocumented. DHS officials told reporters that none of the orders will affect the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which has provided more than 750,000 DREAMers — undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children — protection from deportation, work authori-
zation and driver’s licenses. However, Washington may see a battle with so-called sanctuary cities, which have directed their police forces to not help the federal government in the crackdown on undocumented immigrants. Los Angeles — in which approximately one in 10 residents are undocumented immigrants, according to 2013 USC study — declared itself a sanctuary city shortly after Trump was elected. The LAPD, along with the California State University and University of California school systems, have vowed not to assist in the identification and detention of unauthorized immigrants. “We have built relationships
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LA MIDWEEK ASIAN JOURNAL • FEBRUARY 22-24, 2017
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Dateline PhiliPPines
Robredo: EDSA revolution deserves ‘more dignified’ anniversary rites by DANA
SioSoN AJPress
WIRED. Artist Carlito Romanillo, 53, shows his handmade miniature cars made of aluminium wires in his workshop on Oroquieta Street in Santa Cruz, Manila. The miniatures sell for P2,000 to P30,000 each. ManilaTimes.net photo by Russell Palma
CHED stops field trips after fatal bus accident by Neil
A. Alcober ManilaTimes.net
THE Commission on Higher Education (CHED) has imposed a moratorium on field trips and educational tours in all private and public colleges and universities following the bus accident in Tanay, Rizal province that killed more than a dozen students. During the en banc meeting on Tuesday, CHED officials agreed to impose a moratorium in all higher education institutions. Commissioner Prospero De Vera called for the moratorium while the accident is being investigated. Initial police investigation said the students from Bestlink College of the Philippines in Novaliches, Quezon City) were on their way to an educational tour as part of their National Service Training Program in a resort in Tanay when the bus they were riding lost control and rammed into an electric post near Magnetic Hill at Peligrino Farm in Sitio Bayukan, Barangay Sampaloc. “While it is true that field trips are essential to give students the opportunity to see and explore new things, enhance their learning experience in a natural setting, and provide for interest-driven and hands on training, the safety of the students on field trips must be ensured at all times by school authorities,” de Vera said. He noted that the conduct of educational tours and field trips among higher education institutions is governed by CHED Memorandum Order (CMO) No. 17, Series of 2012. “Educational tours and field trips are regulated under CHED Memorandum Order No. 17 which requires: 1) the education tour/field is essential to enhance the curriculum of the course; 2) prior consultation with students are made when there are additional costs involved; 3) the information is included in the Student Handbook and discussed during the student orientation; and 4) risk assessment procedures are discussed with parents,” he said. The tragedy, de Vera said, will serve as a “reminder that we must be very strict in regulating the use of public transportation for school sponsored trips. We must also determine if higher education institutions comply
FINAL JOURNEY. Local residents crowd around the wreckage of the Panda Coach Tours and Transport bus that lost its brakes and rammed into an electric post at Barangay Sampaloc in Tanay Rizal. At least 13 students of Bestlink College of the Philippines were killed in the accident on Monday morning, Feb. 20. The students were on their way to a camping activity. ManilaTimes.net photo by Mike De Juan
with requirements of safety and whether current policies adequately protect students.” The commission has directed Bestlink to submit an incident report on the matter. CHED Chairperson Patricia Licuanan said that while schools were allowed to conduct field trips and education tours as part of curriculum enhancement, school officials should ensure the safety of their students. “The security and safety of students should be of utmost importance to higher education institutions in the conduct of educational tours or field trips,” she said in a statement. “CHED will study if its prescribed policies and guidelines were met,” she added. Licuanan said the commission will create a fact-finding team to investigate the Tanay incident and determine if Bestlink committed violations and what sanctions should be imposed on the school. CHED said it will release Wednesday a memorandum mandating all higher education institutions to temporarily stop the conduct of school field trips and education tours. Probe sought On Tuesday, House deputy minority leader Rep. Luis Campos Jr. said authorities should launch a criminal investigation into the bus accident that claimed the lives of 14 students. “We in Congress want answers. Schools are supposed to provide effective guardianship
of their students, and guarantee their safety at all times during academic outings,” Campos said. “We are definitely counting on higher education and transport regulators, as well as Camp Crame, to ascertain probable culpabilities, and if warranted, to take the appropriate actions against those who may be held liable for negligence,” he added. The Makati lawmaker said the parties responsible for the loss of young lives face felony and administrative charges, without prejudice to the prerogative of the victims’ families to take civil action. “Our hearts go out to the families of the victims, and our thoughts and prayers are with them,” Campos said. The students, mostly 18 to 19 years old, were on their way to a National Service Training Program when their rented bus slammed into an electric post on a curved road in Barangay Sampaloc, Tanay. It was the worst school excursion tragedy since the Aug. 19, 2014 drowning of seven students of Batangas State University (BSU) at the Biak-na-Bato National Park in San Miguel, Bulacan. The Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board suspended the operations of Panda Coach Tourist and Transport Inc., owner of the rented bus involved in the Tanay disaster. Apart from the 15 fatalities, 44 other students were injured and are being treated in hospitals. n
Trump administration to move forward with…
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by effective law enforcement that doesn’t focus on where a person was born or the color of their skin. And we don’t intend to change that,” LAPD Chief Charlie Beck told reporters in November. LA Mayor Eric Garcetti has also been adamant about the city’s stance in refusing to assist in the crackdown with respect to the federal government’s policies. “Immigration is the responsibility of our federal government. We’ve been very clear it’s not the responsibility of LAPD,” Garcetti told reporters in January. “We participate all the time with our federal immigration authorities A Trump supporter holds a “Build a Wall” sign, referencing the president’s promise to and we will continue to do so. build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico border in an effort to prevent undocumented We just require, as the courts immigration. have decided, that there be a warrant.” In response to the hundreds of counties and cities that have declared themselves sanctuary cities, the White House has warned them to abide by the law or face consequences. Washington has threatened to withdraw federal funds from Los Angeles, but Garcetti warned that such a move would be detrimental to the nation’s economy. “It would be a folly for any administration to take away funds to protect America’s port or take away vouchers that help veterans who have fought for our country Kathy Robinson waves her “Not My President” placard beside Trump supporter Tim, who did off the street,” Garcetti said at not give his last name. He was among the Trump supporters — most of whom were wearing a news conference in January. the red “Make America Great Again” caps — who showed up at the rally in New York. (Klarize Medenilla/AJ Press) AJPress photos by Momar G. Visaya
FOR Philippine Vice President Leni Robredo, the upcoming 31st commemoration of the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution on Saturday, February 25 deserves more than just a simple and quiet celebration. “This anniversary is an event that to me deserves a more dignified treatment than a ‘quiet celebration’ in the guise of moving on,” Robredo said during a speech before Ateneo de Manila University students on Tuesday, Feb. 21. Robredo made the statement days after Malacañang revealed that the present administration would be holding a low-key commemoration of the event. Last week, Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella announced that this year’s theme for the celebration will shift from “just celebrating the past” to “moving the nation forward.” “It’s time to move on from just celebrating the past, remembering the past, and to move on to the whole aspect of nation-building to give it a more positive outlook, and give it a more positive understanding,” Abella said. But Robredo, for her part, believes that the country should instead preserve the lessons learned from the historical event to avoid committing similar mistakes in the future. “I believe that the truth of our past will ensure clarity of direction in our future. Moving on and forgetting may leave us in danger of making the same mistakes all over again,” the vice president said. Responding to Robredo’s comments, Malacañang affirmed that a simpler commemoration does not indicate that the government is giving “less significance” to the 31st anniversary of the event. “The theme for this year’s celebration is, ‘A Day of Reflection,’ and that’s precisely the reason why there’s no pomp in this year’s anniversary celebration,” said Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Menardo Guevarra. In 1986, the non-violent and bloodless revolution ended the regime of late and former President Ferdinand Marcos as the country’s dictator, who was re-
placed by former President Corazon Aquino of the Liberal Party. “Just like any young lady who’s celebrating her 18th birthday, we normally celebrate it with pomp. But when she celebrates her 19th birthday, that doesn’t mean that if there’s no celebration similar
to her debut that her birthday is given any less significance,” Guevarra explained. This year, Malacañang will hold the People Power anniversary rites on Friday – instead of Saturday, February 25 – inside Camp Aguinaldo. n
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AS Filipinos commemorate the 31st anniversary of the EDSA (People Power) revolution this year, they are not called to dramatize the wrongdoings of the past. Instead, they should do so with a critical understanding of the aspirations and the historical realities that made this movement the catalyst for a democracy that most Filipinos enjoy today. Malacañang is marking its first EDSA anniversary under President Rodrigo Duterte this weekend. It earlier announced that this year’s commemoration will be simple, quiet and focused on moving forward — three months after Duterte allowed the burial of former Pres. Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (Heroes’ Cemetery). “It’s time to move on from just celebrating the past, remembering the past, and to move on to the whole aspect of nation building to give it a more positive outlook and give it a more positive understanding,” Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said. “The whole nation is evolving. We can’t get stuck in the past.” The 1986 EDSA revolution is not just a mere political event in Philippine history. It will be forever remembered—and taught in schools—as the pivotal moment when Filipinos dared to challenge and determine their own destiny despite hostility and dictatorship.
It seems like a lifetime ago when former Pres. Marcos declared martial law in the Philippines on Sept. 21, 1972. Forty-five years have passed, but the wretched moments of the martial law era have continued to linger on, especially for the people who had to endure it. It was on February 25, 1986, that Filipinos to finally refuse to submit to oppression and degradation. They were not aiming for utopia, they fought for a society in which liberty and justice are treated as complementary. Hundreds of thousands of Filipinos joined the nationwide protest that brought People Power revolution to life. In this historic uprising, the voice of the people resonated through the country and has been forever etched in the pantheon of Philippine democracy. The People Power revolution continues to this day, as a reminder to Filipinos of how supporting a common stand can turn them to a formidable moral power. The People Power revolution ignited the people’s longing for genuine democracy. It is empowered by the will of the people. It gives the citizenry the power to overturn the culture of corruption, unethical conduct, and self-serving
Editorial
Philstar.com photo
antics of politics. While the EDSA revolution is just a story of the past, it serves as a reminder for all generations to come: that as ordinary citizens, we are still capable of inciting change in our day-to-day existence. Each of us should remain vigilant in
guarding the democracy that Filipinos before us have worked so hard for. We are called to embody the values that sparked this political movement, to celebrate the ideals of democracy, and to pursue happiness and freedom for every Filipino. (AJPress)
Trump’s new guidelines and executive orders: Nail-biter week for the undocumented THIS may be one of the most unsettling weeks for kababayans who are living and working in the United States without legal status as the Trump administration unveiled new guidelines to be implemented by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). These provisions make good on Pres. Donald Trump’s campaign promise to deport the almost 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States. Trump is also to expected to sign a new executive order this week, in lieu of the executive order that had been frozen by the federal court and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. As the Washington Post first reported, the new guidelines signed by DHS Secretary John Kelly is expected to “aggressively detain and deport illegal immigrants inside the United States and at the border.” USA Today reports that new guidelines call for the hiring of thousands of additional enforcement agents and increasing the number of immigration judges, expanding the pool of immigrants prioritized for removal, enlisting local law enforcement to help with arrests and speeding up deportation hearings. They also propose prosecuting parents
and family members in the U.S. who pay smugglers to bring over The Fil-Am unaccompanied minors. Whereas former President Perspective Barack Obama focused his administration’s deportations exclusively on hardened criminals and those with terrorist ties, Gel SantoS-ReloS the Trump administration’s deportation efforts dramatically expand the scope of enforcement operations, giving ICE agents the power to determine the operational definition of the word “criminal record” or “crime” committed by those in the U.S. without legal status. This means that ICE agents have the prerogative to include an apprehension for a reason like a DUI or just being in the country illegally as reasons enough to deport the undocumented. According to the Washington Post, the new guidelines would now allow authorities to seek expedited deportation proceedings. Currently, this procedure is limited to undocumented immigrants who have been in the country for two weeks or less.
The new order will be expanded to cover anyone who has been in the country for up to two years. The Post further stated that under the new guidelines, Mexican immigrants who are apprehended at the border would now be ordered to immediately return back home, pending the outcomes of their deportation hearings. They would no longer be detained in the U.S., an effort that would reportedly save detention space and other resources. The guidelines also aim to stop the pouring in of the growing wave of 155,000 unaccompanied minors who have come from Mexico and Central America over the past three years. Under the new guidelines, their parents in the United States could be prosecuted if they are found to have paid smugglers to bring the children across the border. The new guidelines also give the go signal for Trump’s promised border wall to begin construction, mandating the U.S. Customs and Border Protection to “immediately begin planning, design, construction and maintenance of a wall, including
the attendant lighting, technology (including sensors), as well as patrol and access roads.” Funding for the wall’s construction and maintenance, however, would still need approval by Congress. While the new guidelines failed to make good Trump’s campaign promise to overturn the Obama administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) that has provided work permits to more than 750,000 immigrants who came to the country illegally as children, the Trump administration clarified that these DACA recipients would be spared for now, temporarily. IF YOU THINK these guidelines and Trump’s soon to be released new executive order on immigration could make you and your family vulnerable, then you better consult a reputable immigration attorney to know your rights and options as provided for by law. *** Gel Santos Relos is the anchor of TFC’s “Balitang America.” Views and opinions expressed by the author in this column are solely those of the author and not of Asian Journal and ABS-CBN-TFC. For comments, go to www.TheFil-AmPerspective.com, https://www.facebook.com/Gel. Santos.Relos
Pinoys in America THE Trump administration’s drive to Demand flush out and deport so called illegal im- and Supply migrants has started to spark fear among Filipinos, according to a report from Los Angeles by ABS-CBN Boo ChanCo News reporter Steve Angeles. While no Filipino has so far been picked up in raids by US immigration officials, volunteers working at the Pilipino Workers Center — which advocates for undocumented Filipinos — told Angeles the fear is real in the Filipino community. It does not help that President Duterte has said he would not “lift a finger” to help Filipinos in America who would be affected. Filipino community leaders told the ABS-CBN reporter they felt bad about President Duterte’s position. They contrasted it with Mexico’s more sympathetic reaction to help their citizens who find themselves in trouble with US immigration. Filipino “green card” holders or legal immigrants, as well as Filipinos with tourist or other visas, should not have problems at US airports. The controversial Trump order stopped by the courts does not include the Philippines among the seven countries covered by the travel ban. There are, however, those who think it is only a matter of time before Filipinos start getting closer scrutiny. The increased activity of ISIS affiliated groups in the south, including much publicized kidnapping and beheading of Western victims, is giving our country unwanted international notoriety. According to an analysis by CNN, more than 2.73 million non-immigrant and immigrant visas were issued by the US State Department to citizens of coun-
tries that were either labeled “terrorist safe havens” (the category of the Philippines), “state sponsors of terror,” “nations where terror networks are based and operate” or “countries with active terror cells.” Of the 2.73 million visas issued, more than 235,000 were issued to Filipinos, the second highest number among those on the list. These people are on top of the 3.4 million Filipino immigrants already living in the US in 2013, according to the 2010 US census. Many of us consider America a second home. Many Filipinos have relatives there. Cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco on the West Coast, New York on the East Coast and Chicago in the MidWest can make us feel like we never left home. Indeed, Manila does not seem so far away on the other side of the vast Pacific Ocean because stateside Pinoys can follow the latest Senate hearings aired live on The Filipino Channel or TFC. They can also watch a somewhat sanitized version of TV Patrol, minus most of the gory police stories. The Pinoy community is so large that ABS-CBN has a newscast specially designed for them, Balitang America. It is easy for a Filipino in America to forget he is in a foreign land. Everything we miss from the home country can be bought in Asian or Filipino stores, including the dried fish or “tuyo.” One of my US-born grandsons loves his “stinky fish” for breakfast on weekends. We also brought adobo, Jollibee and Gerry’s Grill there. We assimilate well. Indeed, many Filipinos forget their US citizenship papers do not change the color of their skin. A blue passport does not change
the shape of their nose. Yet, many start acting and thinking like they have become white Americans and look down on their fellow Pinoys, Hispanics and African Americans. In many cases, our kababayans brought bad habits with them to the US. “Crab” mentality, for instance, is alive and well among US Pinoys. Our lack of unity is evident in many of our Filipino-American communities. I have been told that many Filipino associations break up because two or more people feel they should be its president. Filipino associations along regional lines are also prevalent. Ted Laguatan, a veteran Filipino lawyer in San Francisco, describes the appalling situation of how “some Filipinos, who are legally here — are so willing to denounce and demonize out of status fellow Filipinos who work so hard and send regular remittances to their families in the Philippines. These hateful selfish types are the kind who sometimes even report to ICE out of status Filipinos. Shades of the hooded ‘makapilis’ during the Japanese times in WW II.” Ted continues: “…some Filipinos and others in the first immigrant group who acquired their immigrant visas relatively easily expect everybody else to come to the United States like them. They express so much antipathy for those who are here illegally. “They support harsh immigration laws and policies and even wish out of status fellow Filipinos and undocumented others to be deported. They demonize undocumented immigrants falsely, accusing them of taking jobs from US citizens or receiving welfare funds (which is not true as the undocumented are not qualified for these funds). They show no compassion for their fellow human beings. “Filipinos who are in unlawful status
often work hard at different jobs and are able to provide food, shelter, health care and education to their families back in the Philippines with their regular remittances. They also contribute so much to the Philippine economy. They deserve much respect, admiration and support.” I share the view of Ted that the Philippine government should be more committed to helping them. While many Philippine embassy and consulate personnel are well meaning, they cannot provide the needed competent expert legal advice on immigration matters. We ought to take the stance of the Mexicans who retain expert counsel to help their citizens. After all, the T-N-Ts are part of the Filipino diaspora or overseas Pinoys who send home much needed foreign exchange for their families that benefit the country’s economy as well. We constantly laugh at the T-N-Ts, forgetting they are kababayans who brave the unknown to give their families a better life they can’t get by staying home. They are modern day heroes to their families and to the nation. The hands-off attitude of President Duterte is unfortunate. Just because they are in the US rather than in the Middle East, they are also overseas Pinoys who help boost our economy and deserve the nation’s gratitude and help. American-based Pinoys account for a third of OFW remittances. The statement of the Department of Labor urging the T-N-Ts to just go home and they will receive assistance
from the government is nothing but a press release. Of course the T-N-Ts know government cannot deliver on the promise. That’s why they became T-NTs to begin with. For as long as our economy is unable to address our high level of unemployment and underemployment, our people will seek greener pastures wherever they can find it. Helping them is not necessarily condoning their illegal act. As Filipinos, they have the right to seek the assistance of their government if they get into trouble. It is also in the Philippine culture to help kababayans in need. Post Valentine joke A cockroach’s last words to a man who wanted to kill it: “Go ahead and kill me, you coward. You’re just jealous because I can scare your wife and you cannot!!!” *** Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is bchanco@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @boochanco
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Court upholds JV Ejercito acquittal by Ma.
reina leanne tolentino ManilaTimes.net
THE Sandiganbayan’s Fifth Division stood pat on its ruling acquitting Sen. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito and five others in a graft case in connection with the alleged anomalous purchase of high-powered firearms worth P2.1 million in 2008 when he was San Juan city mayor. In December last year, the court granted Ejercito’s demurrer to evidence and thus acquitted him along with City Administrator Ranulfo Dacalos who formerly led the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) and former BAC members Rosalinda Marasigan, Romualdo de los Santos, Lorenza Ching, and Danilo Mercado. “The grant of a demurrer to evidence in a criminal case is a dismissal of the case on the merits and
Senator JV Ejercito
is equivalent to the acquittal of the accused,” the court said in a fivepage resolution promulgated on Monday as it denied the prosecution’s motion for reconsideration. “Considering that the demurrers to evidence of the accused were granted after the prosecution had rested its case, the accused are entitled to invoke
their constitutional right against double jeopardy. Entertaining the present motion for reconsideration would violate such right,” the court added. The Office of the Ombudsman filed the case last year, alleging that the firearms were procured and paid for without public bidding. But in its December 22, 2016 resolution, the Sandiganbayan said that HK Tactical Defense System, Inc. was not given any advantage “because it was not the exclusive distributor of Daewoo guns and there is no evidence that these accused manipulated the elimination of other Daewoo suppliers.” It also found no evidence that Ejercito pre-selected the brand because he only approved an ordinance which did away with the specific branding. n
DILG: Drug-free homes to get stickers by CeCille
Suerte Philstar.com
Felipe
MANILA, Philippines - The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) will adopt a new method to combat illegal drugs in communities with the use of stickers to identify drugfree homes. DILG Secretary Ismael Sueno said members of peace and order councils, which include the Philippine National Police (PNP) and practically all sectors of society in the barangay, would be tapped to conduct the anti-illegal drug campaign. The councils would look into all the households in their locality to determine which are drug-free and post stickers on each house. This way the council members will know which households they still have to work on to get them drug-free. Last month, President Duterte stripped removed from the PNP and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) the responsibility of conducting anti-illegal drug operations amid the controversy over the death of Korean Jee Ickjoo, who was killed inside a vehicle parked inside Camp Crame, Quezon City. Witnesses have linked policemen and NBI agents to the crime. Investigators said the policesuspects were hired to kill Jee but suspects later demanded ransom
WALK FOR LIFE. Catholic faithful join a march against summary killings and the death penalty bill at Rizal Park in Manila on Saturday, Feb. 18. Among the participants was embattled Sen. Leila de Lima, a vocal opponent of the government’s drug war who faces drug trafficking cases that she claims were manufactured to silence her and other critics. ManilaTimes.net photo by Russell Palma
Gina Lopez: Solons offered P50-M to dump me by erika
Sauler Inquirer.net
DILG Secretary Ismael Sueno said members of peace and order councils, which include the Philippine National Police (PNP) and practically all sectors of society in the barangay, would be tapped to conduct the anti-illegal drug campaign. File photo
of P5 million from his wife. There were reports that some policemen were using the antidrug Oplan Tokhang in extortion scams by threatening to link their victims to the illegal drug trade if they will not give them money. Sueno said the DILG is also coordinating with governors and mayors and other local government officials for the project. ‘Drug resistant’ Meanwhile, Sen. Vicente Sotto III hopes citizens would resist illegal drugs and create a “drugresistant” Philippines. Sotto attended a meeting on the anti-illegal drug campaign with Pampanga mayors, chiefs of police and 505 barangay chair-
men held at Kingsborough International Convention Center in San Fernando over the weekend. “The day we stop buying is the day they stop selling. If there is no one to use drugs, there will be no one to sell. Thus, I wish for a drug resistant Pampanga,” Sotto said. He also lauded the efforts of Gov. Lilia Pineda and other Pampanga officials in promoting awareness against illegal drugs. Earlier, Pineda tapped the 5,050 barangay officials, bantay bayan members, barangay health workers and community workers to help in the province’s fight against illegal drugs in their respective communities. (With Ric Sapnu)
ENVIRONMENT Secretary Gina Lopez alleged on Tuesday, February 21 that congressmen were offered P50 million to vote against her confirmation after she ordered the closure of 23 mines and the scrapping of 75 mining contracts affecting watershed areas. Lopez did not say who was specifically bribing which congressmen, or divulge the source of her information. But she said: “I know it might affect my confirmation of appointment because I know that mining funds political campaigns.” Let the dice fall Lopez was a guest at a gathSecretary Gina Lopez ering by members of the Rotary Club of Makati, where she ing. showed photos of the watersheds In an interview with reportand river basins near the mining ers, Lopez claimed she spoke to sites. President Duterte on Monday “I was told every congressman and that he backed her closure was offered P50 million if they order. voted against me. Well, people Supply chain talk. Let the dice fall where it In reaction to an export group’s may,” Lopez said. “I don’t know concern that the crackdown what’s going to happen, so I would hurt the supply chain of might as well do what I have to raw materials, Lopez said irredo. Politics is so messy.” sponsible mining also killed the Lopez is scheduled to go be- supply chain. fore the Commission on Appoint“They’re talking about the ment’s committee on environ- supply chain of their gold. What ment and natural resources on about the supply chain of bioMarch 1 for a confirmation hear- diversity, of agriculture, eco-
Inquirer.net photo / Lyn Rillon
tourism, they also have supply chains,” Lopez said. “Which supply chain can give the greatest economic benefit, one based on saving and nurturing our resources or the extractive industries that 95 percent go out of the local economy?” she said. “If you adversely affect water supply, that’s bad for the economy. Water is life. The law does not make the watershed a watershed. If a place functions as a watershed and it supplies water to a community, then don’t mine there,” she said. n
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LA MIDWEEK ASIAN JOURNAL • FEBRUARY 22-24, 2017
BUSINESSJ& COMMUNITY ournal
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Alibaba owner invests in Globe unit by LoueLLa
desideRio Philstar.com
MANILA, Philippines - Ant Financial Services Group, the financial technology company controlled by Alibaba’s Jack Ma, is making a strategic investment to get a 45-percent stake in Globe Fintech Innovations Inc. (Mynt), a unit of Globe Telecom Inc., to help accelerate financial inclusion in the Philippines. In a statement, Globe said Ant and Ayala Corp. have signed definitive documents to enter into an investment via subscription to new shares in Mynt. Mynt, which is a whollyowned subsidiary of Globe Capital Venture Holdings (GCVHI) under Globe and Ayala Corp., operates GCash and Fuse Lending. GCash is a micro-payment service which allows individuals to transform their mobile phone into a wallet to purchase prepaid load and other goods, pay bills, send money, make donations, as well as shop online. Fuse Lending, meanwhile, offers personal and business
Jack Ma
loans to unbanked and underserved Filipinos through the use of mobile technology, alternative data, and innovative credit scoring methods. Asked how much worth of investment would be made by Ant in Mynt, Yoly Crisanto, senior vice president for corporate affairs at Globe, declined to disclose the amount, but said in a text message “it represents only 10 percent of total equity of Globe.” After the investment is made, she said “Ant and GCVHI will have 45 percent holdings each, (while) the rest is Ayala.” The fresh capital infusion is expected to help Mynt become
DOT sees 6.5-M tourism workforce by 2022 by Raadee
s. sausa The Manila Times
leaders and tourism industry stakeholders during the World Tourism Forum—Global Meeting in Istanbul, Turkey on February 16 to 18. “About 6.5 million workers will fuel the tourism sector by the end of President Rodrigo Duterte administration in 2022,” Teo said. She announced that the DoT has just
THE Department of Tourism (DOT) expects about 6.5 million workers will fuel the tourism sector by 2022, the DoT secretary said. Tourism Secretary Wanda Teo disclosed DoT’s projections as she addressed global
completed its National Tourism Development Plan (NTDP), which will serve as the roadmap of the department through 2022. “Poor people in dire need of jobs and income to support their families are the focus of DoT’s inclusive and sustainable program under the NTDP, which aims to create employment and livelihood,” Teo said.
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Philippines seen as upper middleASEAN labor execs income economy by 2022 commit protection u PAGE B2
to migrant workers by edith
RegaLado Philtstar.com
bodia, Indonesia and Malaysia gathered here to further discuss the details on how to implement the ASEAN Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers which was declared in the ASEAN meet in Cebu City 10 years ago. “What we have decided to submit to the ASEAN Committee on the Implementation of the ASEAN Declaration on
DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Key labor officials from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) renewed their commitment to protect and promote the right of migrant workers in the area. Labor ministers from the Philippines, Singapore, Brunei Darussalam, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Cam-
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linkages. Philexport president Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr. said these initiaMANILA, Philippines - The tives are key for supporting Philippine Exporters Confedera- growth, as the country is one of tion Inc. (Philexport) is pushing the fastest-growing economies for key reforms which it sees es- in Asia, accelerating even faster sential in transforming the Phil- than China, Vietnam, Indonesia ippines into an upper middle-in- and Malaysia. He said such reforms are also come economy by 2022. Among the reforms include consistent with the Philippine the implementation of the com- Export Development Plan 2015prehensive tax reform program, 2017 which outlines the strateincreasing investments in infra- gies towards a more robust exstructure, easing restrictions on port industry. “With all these going for us, foreign investments, reducing the cost of doing business, and the vision of transforming the strengthening agro-industrial Philippines into an upper midby Richmond
meRcuRio Philstar.com
dle-income economy by 2022 and close to becoming high-income by 2040 should be within reach,” the Philexport official said. Projections from major local and multilateral international institutions on the country’s growth this year confirm the government’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth target of between 6.5 percent and 7.5 percent. Philippine GDP last year acPhil-expat president Sergio Ortiz-Luis celerated to 6.8 percent, its growth, noting the gradual pickstrongest in three years. “Exports is likewise expect- up in global growth and comed to contribute to this overall modity prices,” Ortiz-Luis said. n
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B FEBRUARY 22-24, 2017 • LA MIDWEEK ASIAN JOURNAL
Business news
PH to remain attractive to US BPO firms – Megaworld by Kristyn
niKa M. The Manila Times
Lazo
THE Philippines will still attract US business process outsourcing (BPO) firms despite US President Donald Trump’s protectionist stance because BPO firms locating here and the US leader’s rhetoric are not necessarily contradictory to each other, a property sector executive said. Jericho Go, senior vice president of Megaworld Corp., said the Philippines will still see a large presence of US BPO firms because international BPO firms see their Philippine operations as “complementing” their whole business while allowing them large savings and value for money ventures due to the quality workers they get here. “Trump bringing back jobs to the US, it’s not contradictory to us. When Trump listed the industries where they wanted jobs to go back to them, BPO is not one of them… We don’t
steal their jobs; we complement them. We say: ‘If you don’t want to do certain types of jobs, let us do it’,” Go told reporters Friday last week. Megaworld is a leading developer of office towers in the country with about 99 percent occupancy rate in its office buildings, mostly from the BPO sector. Go said that like the US, the Philippines also wants to bring back its workers to the country by offering them quality jobs such as the ones offered by BPO firms. He said American BPO firms that up offices in the country are able to save as much as “80 percent” of costs compared to putting up operations in the US, given the disparity in wages of American and Filipino workers. He said an average BPO worker in the US gets paid $1,500 to $2,000 monthly, which compares to the P15,000 starting pay of a Filipino BPO agent that equates to about only $300 per month.
Even if the savings derived from the cheaper labor cost here is reduced, depending on how much the Trump administration taxes US firms locating outside the US, American firms opening BPO offices still stand to make substantial cost savings, according to Go. Property developer Megaworld specializes in office space development but also has residential, malls, industrial estates and township developments. From 2015 to 2019, the company has programmed P285.8 billion for capital expenditures. Megaworld is owned and operated by businessman Andrew Tan under umbrella holding firm Alliance Global Group Inc. (AGI), which holds Tan’s various businesses in spirits and brandy making (Emperador Inc.), McDonald’s local franchise (Golden Arches Development Corp.) and resorts and casino operations (Resorts World Manila operator Travellers International Hotel Group Inc.).n
http://www.asianjournal.com • (818) 502-0651 • (213) 250-9797
ABS-CBN files $8-M lawsuit vs drama site by LoueLLa
DesiDerio Philstar.com
MANILA, Philippines - ABSCBN Corp. has filed a lawsuit against drama site kissasian. com in the US for infringement of trademarks and registered copyrights of the media and entertainment firm’s 27 television shows and movies, with damages amounting to over $8 million. In a statement yesterday, ABSCBN said it filed the case before the US Federal District Court as the website was carrying television shows and movies including “Be My Lady,” “Born for You,” “Dolce Amore,” “You’re Still the One,” “Etiquette for Mistresses,” and “Ex with Benefits,” without permission. The filing of a lawsuit against the drama site is in line with ABS-CBN’s intention to beef up efforts in fighting piracy. “We are stepping up our anti-
piracy enforcement in 2017. These pirate sites often victimize our fans when they access these sites and are later attacked by malware which steals their financial and personal data,” Elisha Lawrence, ABS-CBN’s assistant vice president of Global
Anti-Piracy said. Apart from filing a lawsuit against kissasian.com, ABS-CBN was also awarded this week, an amended default judgment of nearly $11 million against 11 online streaming websites regularly showing pirated versions of the media and entertainment firm’s programs. US District Judge William Dimitrouleas, in his amended default judgment, ordered the defendants to pay at least $1 million each in statutory damages to ABS-CBN. Those ordered to pay statutory damages include Freepinoychannel.com, Pnoytambayantv.com, Lambingan.to, Pinoynetwork.to Tambaytayo. com and Pinoymovie.to. The company had requested at least $2 million in statutory damages per counterfeit trademark used, as well as triple the defendants’ profits from the alleged infringement. n
Alibaba owner invests in Globe... PAGE A1 t
a world-class online and offline payment provider, as well as scale up its mobile wallet services and expand digital financial services. The deal, which is Ant’s first investment in the Philippines, shows the company’s confidence in Mynt and its management team to upgrade digital financial services in the region. Through the partnership, Ant will share with Mynt its knowhow in using technology to provide access to financial services by individuals. “A world-leading digital financial services provider has decided to partner with us. We are confident that having a strategic
partner for Mynt will help fulfill our mission of providing financial services in a non-traditional manner that will benefit the majority of our population who are unbanked. With this partnership, we are set to democratize financial services in the Philippines,” Globe president and CEO Ernest Cu said. For his part, Ant CEO Eric Jing said the company, which is based in China, is committed to build a technology-based ecosystem with partners, including Mynt. “We look forward to working with Mynt’s innovative management team to provide simple, secure, low-cost and accessible digital financial services to unserved and underserved
individuals and small and micro enterprises in the Philippines, thus helping individuals to live a better life and helping SMEs to grow and create more jobs,” he said. Ayala chairman and CEO Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala said the partnership is a great platform to redefine the country’s financial services space amidst a robust consumer market and an increasingly digital environment. “With the combined strengths of Ayala, Globe, and Ant Financial, we believe we can help more Filipinos gain access to safer, more convenient, and extensive payment and lending platforms,” he said. n
DOT sees 6.5-M tourism... PAGE A1 t
Conversely, the master plan targets to double the number of inbound visitors to 12 million and triple inbound expenditure to $20 billion by the year 2022. “As Tourism Ministers, we have the responsibility not only to promote our destinations but make sure communities benefit
and harness their potentials as entrepreneurs,” Teo said. The Tourism chief urged the delegates to share and exchange consumer insights, information and knowledge to allow the development of diversified tourism activities and tour packages. Among the community-based tourism initiatives undertaken
A UNQUE REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT
AT MONTEMARIA ESTATES, BATANGAS CITY, PHILIPPINES
WINDING ITS WAY SOON
A PROJECT OF
by the DoT include the provision of technical assistance to small and micro local ventures, training of local tour guides and development of tour programs. The tourism industry in the Philippines accounts for 8.2 percent of the country’s gross domestic product valued at P24 billion and employs over five million people. n
Community Journal
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LA MIDWEEK ASIAN JOURNAL • FEBRUARY 22-24, 2017
B
Using Chapter 13 Calendar of Events across America to stop foreclosure
Debt Relief Atty. lAwrence yAng CLIENT is 61. Her husband is 60. In my book, they are young seniors. They bought their house in 2006 just before the crash of the housing market. They used a zero down 10 years interest only mortgage for the first 10 years. Thereafter, they have to start paying interest and principal. They paid $2,400 a month for the purchase date up to early last year, which is interest only. As you well know, interest rates have been very low for the last 10 years. The Feds have been keeping rates at rock bottom so as not to derail the slow but steady improvement in the performance of our economy. With the expiration of the 10 years, mortgage payments doubled to $4,400. It appears that they have $250K of equity in the house. Since they could not pay $4,400, they asked the bank for a loan modification last year. Bank placed them on a 3-month trial period that they complied with. However, nothing happened after the trial period. Bank started to send them statements demanding $4,400 after the trial period ended. Clients received the recorded notice of default last October. Foreclosure sale is now scheduled for February 15. Their arrears on the mortgage is $60K. A third party continues helping them to get the loan modification but they have now decided to try to sell the house. But one week is not enough time to sell the house. If the house is foreclosed next week, the auction
Senior needs Chapter 13 to stop sale of $1.0M house by judgment lien of $30K
sale may wipe out more than half or all of their equity if there are no serious buyers that show up for the auction sale. If no serious buyers show up, then bank will bid the balance of the loan for the house and that will wipe out the entire $250K of equity. The house is worth $800K while the balance of the mortgage owed to bank is $550K leaving equity of $250K. But if there are no buyers at auction, bank will bid $550K, the balance of the mortgage then debtors get nothing. If a serious buyer shows up and bids $700K,
“
the Chapter 13 case. The court protects the house by preventing the foreclosure while the court gives them permission to sell the house. Third, it makes their loan modification request stronger because the filing of the bankruptcy proves financial hardship, which is a sine quo non-element of a loan modification request. If they decide not to sell the house if the LM is approved, or for some reason, they are now able to afford to pay interest and principal as well as the plan payment, then they can just stay on the 13 for five years. But of course, a serious buyer for $800K would do the trick because clients walk away with at least $200K of equity. They can use the cash to buy a more affordable house with a smaller mortgage payment. Next client is 66. He owns a house with a small mortgage balance of $140K. His house is now worth $1.0M. So he has over $850K of equity. The problem is that his divorce 15 years ago “wiped him out”. I don’t really know what that exactly means. I surmise that the divorce judgment required him to pay alimony and to buy out his ex wife’s 50 percent share in the house. As some famous actor said, two divorces wiped him out. Each divorce felt like his heart was being ripped through his wallet. I can’t remember his name right
Don’t wait until the last minute. Credit card debt must be wiped out now by Chapter 7 or 13. Otherwise, these debts will become lawsuits that become judgment liens that will put your house at risk. If you wipe them out now, they are wiped out, nipped at the bud.
Immigrant Living: 101 and Beyond
then bank gets paid $550K, and clients realize an amount over the balance owed to bank or equity of $150K. The higher the purchase price, the higher the equity realized by clients. It is certainly to their advantage to prevent the foreclosure, so they can have enough time to get a serious buyer for the right price. Clients decide to get Chapter 13 relief. What will Chapter 13 do for them? First, it will immediately stop the foreclosure next week, so it creates time for them to sell the house for the right price. Second, if they can find the right buyer, a motion seeking court permission to sell the house can be filed in
”
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Hail to the ordinary
Monette AdevA MAglAyA
“… but some sage once pointed out quite rightly that absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.”
The world we live in is conditioned to emulate extremes. We delight in the most beautiful, the tallest, the largest, the richest, the brightest, the fastest and anything else you can think of, as well as pay attention to extremes at the opposite end of the spectrum: the ugliest, the shortest, the smallest, the poorest, the darkest, the slowest. You get the idea. We’re conditioned to pay no mind to the ordinary, the middle ground, the average run-ofthe-mill, the shades of gray, the humdrum of everyday life or the predictably dull and boring. The heroes and heroines made immortal in books and movies were extraordinary characters. We do not particularly care for bland characters who live lives of quiet desperation. We want to live vicariously through the lives of characters who are defiantly shaking their fists at the gods and beating all odds. We are tempted to look at movie stars, fat cats and other luminaries who dare defy conventions basking in the public limelight pursued by TMZ cameras as people worthy of awe and respect. And if you let it, a tiny tinge of envy gnaws at our souls when you see their images commanding megabucks. They appear as titans walking among ants. Granted a select few of them deserve the attention we give them but most can be reduced to fodder for the gristmill of entertainment.
The truth is, those who deserve our awe and respect are the ones who orbit our daily life. Perhaps we need to look at another firmament to gain a genuine and lifelong perspective of celebrating what is ordinary, of celebrating you and I and everyone of us, mere mortals cut from the average cloth, who have to get up every single day to slay our dragons with our rusty sword and trusty steed, that is, after we’ve gulped down our java and said our prayers. Look to the stars in the true celestial firmament, to gain a soul-searing appreciation and even love and respect for our tiny place in the universe. Nature is a great teacher. A layman’s appreciation of astronomy and cosmology teaches us that there is every reason to celebrate the ordinary. Our own sun is an ordinary, average, ho-hum star shining steadily in the suburbs of the center of the Milky Way (what Sagan termed as the boondocks, from the Tagalog word “bundok” meaning mountain but extended to mean far from the core). In the hierarchy of stars, our own sun is a lowly commoner and it is located a third of the way from the center where a black hole exists, according to educated guesses by scientists. This black hole is sucking in, like the drain in your kitchen sink, all the brightest stars within its vicinity. The biggest, brightest stars in our galaxy are energy guzzlers and therefore, have short
Barrister’s Corner
4 ways filing for divorce can benefit your immigration case
Atty. Kenneth UrsUA reyes Couples get divorced for various reasons. California is a no fault state. The reasons why a couple is getting divorced are often irrelevant to the issues of the family law case. Divorce is often a difficult and negative experience for most families. However, getting divorce may have some unintended benefits in the immigration law arena. Four situations in which filing for divorce can be beneficial to your immigration case are as follows: 1. Married Sons and Daughters of US Citizens If you were petitioned for legal permanent residence by your US Citizen parent as a married son or daughter 21 years old or over, you are classified in immigration law under family sponsored third preference (F3) which usually carries a long wait time. The wait time for Filipinos for example is currently 22 years. The
priority date is normally the date the petition was initially filed by your US Citizen parents. If you get divorced, you revert back to single status and your category automatically becomes reclassified to first preference (F1) where the waiting time is substantially shorter. For example, for Filipinos the wait time under F1 category is 10 years shorter than F3 category. This means if your parents filed your immigration petition 12 years ago, then you can adjust to a green card now instead of waiting another 10 years. 2. Married Sons and Daughters of Legal Permanent Residents If your parents are legal permanent residents, getting divorced will convert you back single status making you eligible to be petitioned by your legal permanent resident parents under the family based second preference (F2b) category if you are 21 years old or older or under the family based second preference A (F2a)
lives, about half the life span of our solar system, and thus cannot support planets that need a longer span of time to support the existence and development of thinking, feeling beings such as our home planet. Our sun, according to scientists, is approaching middle age and has enough fire in its belly to support life for another 4 to 5 billion years before it goes into its death throes and gets recycled back as dust and gas to repeat the process of giving birth to a new star, possibly with one special planet supporting intelligent life all over again. The universe is the ultimate recycling bin after all. This is probably what it means by the phrase “world without end.” Consider that the Milky Way is only one ordinary spiral galaxy out of billions of others in a universe that according to evidence gathered by Edwin Hubble in the 1920’s is still expanding with billions of galaxies moving away from each other at a furious pace. To simplify the imagery, perhaps we may be given license to view the universe in its near incomprehensible vastness, as a single mega structure in infinite space. The entire cosmos could be one unit composed of galaxies as its building blocks like cells and molecules of a human body but with gravity and plasma collectively emitted by the energy of countless stars, functioning as its
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if you are under 21 years of age. For those who married after they were petitioned by their LPR parents (F2A and F2B), the petition is automatically revoked under operation of law the moment you get married and cannot be reclaimed by a divorce. In theory, it can be argued that filing a subsequent petition after your divorce under the same category inherits the previous petition’s priority date under 9 FAM 42.43 N10 and 8 CFR 204.2(h), Part 205. However, success of such argument is not clear since the old petition was automatically revoked the moment you married. The best thing that can be done in this situation is to have your LPR parent repetition you as an F2A or F2b even if you are unable to reclaim the previous petition’s priority date. 3. Conditional Legal Permanent Residents in failed Marriages For those who obtained their legal permanent residence status through marriage based petition
ADVERTISE YOUR EVENTS! PRE-EVENT AND POST-EVENT GO DEEPER. GO WIDER. LET THE WORLD KNOW. CALL ASIAN JOURNAL: (818) 502-0651 DISPLAY AD SIZES AT SPECIAL RATES FOR NON-PROFIT GROUPS F E B R UA RY 25
Anniversary of People Power Revolution remembered in Los Angeles, CA Join members of the Filipino-American community in Los Angeles on Saturday, February 25 for the 31st anniversary of the People Power Revolution in the Philippines, which led to the fall of Ferdinand Marcos’s presidency. The event will be held at the Pilipino Workers Center (PWC) at 153 Glendale Blvd., Los Angeles, CA from 4 to 7 p.m. To RSVP, please call (213) 318-9065 or (657) 215-1212. Sponsored by individuals who were active in the antimartial law movement (1972-1986), as well as organizations including the following: Pilipino Workers Center (PWC), Filipino American Human Rights Alliance-Los Angeles (FAHRA-LA), AF3IRM, Kabataang maka-Bayan(KmB) Pro People Youth, Justice For Filipino American Veterans (JFAV) and the Knights of Rizal- Historic Filipinotown Chapter.
MARCH 6
Talk and book signing with Susan Quimpo, author of “Subversive Lives” in Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey Come see Susan Quimpo, one of the authors of “Subversive Lives” on Monday, March 6 at the Free Public Library of Hasbrouck Heights from 6 to 8 p.m. “Subversive Lives” is a memoir by eight siblings (plus one by marriage) who dedicated themselves to the anti-Marcos resistance in the Philippines. Quimpo will talk about her personal experience during the Marcos years. Books will be available for sale. A book signing will follow after the talk. The Free Public Library of Hasbrouck Heights is located at 320 Boulevard, Hasbrouck Heights, NJ 07604.
MARCH 9
Talk and book signing with Susan Quimpo, author of “Subversive Lives” in New York Come see Susan Quimpo, one of the authors of “Subversive Lives” on Thursday, March 9 at the 67th Street New York Public Library from 5:30 to 6:45 p.m. “Subversive Lives” is a memoir by eight siblings (plus one by marriage) who dedicated themselves to the anti-Marcos resistance in the Philippines. Quimpo will talk about her personal experience during the Marcos years. A book signing will follow after the talk. The New York Public Library is located at 328 E 67th St. (between 1st and 2nd Ave.), New York, NY 10065.
M A R C H 9 -1 8
CAAMFEST35 in San Francisco & Oakland Come to the 35th anniversary of CAAMFest from March 9-19 and immerse yourself in expansive and diverse programs celebrating the best in Asian American film, music and food. The Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) is a non-profit organization dedicated to presenting stories that convey the richness and diversity of Asian American experiences to the broadest audience possible. The annual CAAMFest is the nation’s largest showcase for new Asian American and Asian films. It presents approximately 125 works in San Francisco and Oakland over the course of 11 days. Tickets can be purchased online or in person. For more information, please visit http://caamfest.com.
MARCH 11
CSFLU to hold dinner-dance in Brea, CA The City of San Fernando La Union Association (CSFLU) will hold its annual dinnerdance at the Embassy Suites in Brea, CA on March 11. Music will be provided by Willie Manacsa & The Midnight Motion Band. For more information, please call Vangie So, president of the association at (626) 485-3110.
MARCH 18
FASO’s “Swing the Night Away” in Glendale, CA Swing the night away with Filipino American Symphony Orchestra (FASO) on Saturday, March 18 at the Glendale Hilton! Bring your dancing shoes for an evening of swing, twostep, rumba, cha-cha, tango and waltz! Dance Instructors will be available on the floor. You can feel free to sit back, relax and enjoy the music! No host cocktails at 6:00 p.m, with dinner at 7:00 p.m. Tickets (dinner included) are $125. You can also contact Arlene Ferrolino (213) 248-9850, Bob Shroder (818) 395-8936 or JL Garcia (310) 936-2988 for tickets and sponsorship opportunities information. FASO is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. Proceeds will be used to sustain the orchestra, and to fund its education and outreach programs. More information is available on the FASO website at http://www.fasofoundation. org.
M A R C H 25
National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA) Region 10 Empowerment Conference in San Diego, CA National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA) Region 10 Empowerment Conference in San Diego, CA You are cordially invited to the “RISE UP” Regional Empowerment Conference of National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA), sponsored by AARP Real Possibilities on Saturday, March 25. Registration is $40 per person, which can be done online or at the door. The conference will be held at Clarion Hotel National City, 700 National City Blvd., National City, CA 91950. To register online, please visit http://www.NaFFAASDEmpowermentconference.eventbrite.com. Golf tournament for a cause in Escondido, CA St. Joseph College (Olongapo City)’s High School Class of 1987 will be holding a golf tournament for a cause at the Vineyard at Escondido Golf Club on Saturday, March 25. It is $109/person to register, which includes rounds of golf and a BBQ buffet. Registration is at 11:30 a.m., with shotgun at 1 p.m. and dinner and prizes at 6:30 p.m. For more information, please contact Gemma Gutierrez Hornilla at (949) 861-1732 or Miguel Uson at (760) 715-8216. The Vineyard at Escondido Golf Club is located at 925 San Pasqual Rd., Escondido, CA 92025.
APRIL 20
CAUSE’s annual gala in Los Angeles , CA Join Center for Asian Americans United for Self Empowerment (CAUSE) for its annual gala on Thursday, April 20. It will be held at LA Hotel’s California Ballroom at 333 S. Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, CA 90071. The event begins at 5 p.m. with a VIP reception. For more information and sponsorship opportunities, please contact kim@causeusa.org or visit www.causeusa.org.
If you have an upcoming event and would like us to post it, please email us the details at info@asianjournalinc.com or calendar@asianjournalinc.com by their US Citizen spouse of less than 2 years marriage, the legal permanent residence status conferred is usually a “conditional legal permanent residence” valid only for 2 years. The couple would need to sign and file a joint petition to remove this condition prior to the expiration of the 2 years or the conditional legal permanent resident spouse would fall out of status. The problem arises when the marriage is in trouble. Often it becomes difficult to obtain the cooperation of the US Citizen spouse specially when the couple
has separated. US Citizen spouse often refuse to sign the I-751 for or appear at the I-751 interview if one is set by the USCIS. Filing for divorce would terminate the marriage and allow you to file a “waiver” of the joint petition to remove the conditional LPR status based on entering into the marriage in good faith. Terminating the marriage by filing a divorce is a requirement in order to file the “waiver.” It is important to time this correctly as soon as the marriage starts falling apart because by terminating the marriage early on, you might be
able to file the waiver before the expiration of your 2 year conditional LPR thus allowing you to extend your LPR status in 1 year increments until a final decision is made in your case. 4. Married Aliens in Non-Immigrant Visas and those without Status For those who enter the US as a non-immigrant and are separated from their spouse but still married, filing a divorce would open up opportunities in case they meet a new significant other who is a US Citizen
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B FEBRUARY 22-24, 2017 • LA MIDWEEK ASIAN JOURNAL
What’s New Arlene Al-os, CPA, MBA Two major requirements under the Surface Transportation and Veterans Health Care Choice Improvement Act of 2015: 1. The estate executor or others required to file an estate tax return Form 706 after July 31, 2015, should provide Form 8971 and Schedule A to the IRS to report the final estate tax value of the property distributed or to be distributed from the estate. A copy of the Schedule A should also be provided to the beneficiary who receives or is to receive property from the estate. An executor or others who files an estate tax return only in order to make an election regarding the generation-skipping transfer tax or portability of the deceased spousal unused exclusion or DSUE could not be required to provide statements. 2. The beneficiary should use a basis consistent with the final estate tax value of the property as initial basis in that property. The calculated basis should be consistent with the final estate tax value such as reported value followed with allowed adjustments. This reporting consistency requirement pertains to property in the decedent’s gross estate and resulted in to an increased estate tax liability.
Community Journal
Death of a taxpayer (part 1) Other factors you may want to consider: 1. Regardless whether the estate value exceeds the statutory limit and the taxpayer died after 2010, make an election on portability feature on Form 706 by filing timely to pass the unused estate tax exemption to the surviving spouse. Most taxpayers with small estate do not want to pay the additional cost of processing Form 706. No one knows what holds in the future i.e. receipt of sizable inheritance, Congress decision to reduce the estate tax exemption, etc. TAX TIP: File Form 706 anyway for the portability election features irrespective of the size of the estate. 2. Form 8971 may not be required to be filed if Filing of Form 706 is merely to preserve the decedent’s spouse unused exclusion for the surviving spouse. 3. In general, beneficiaries should treat estate items the same way as they are treated on the estate’s return when reported on beneficiaries’ personal returns. 4. Tax duties of an estate administrator are: 1) File income tax returns for the decedent Form 1040 for the year of death and for prior years for which a return was not filed and income was above the filing requirement; 2) File income tax returns for the estate Form 1041. An estate is required to file an income tax return under its own employer identification number or EIN if assets of the
estate generate more than $600 in annual income; and 3) file an estate tax return Form 706 for transfer of assets from decedent to heirs and beneficiaries. 5. Filing status is not automatic joint on the final return of the taxpayer who was married at the time of death. The estate executor other than the surviving spouse and the surviving spouse should agree to the joint filing. 6. The executor can revoke the joint return election within one year from when the original return is due or it’s extended due date. 7. If the surviving spouse remarries during the decedent’s year of death, a joint return should not be filed under Reg.1.6013-1(d) (5). In the next issue we will discuss other filing requirements like transfer certificate for U.S. Citizens and Non-U.S. citizens. Disclaimer: Any accounting, business or tax advice contained in this communication is not intended as a thorough, in-depth analysis of specific issues, or a substitute for a formal opinion, nor is it sufficient to avoid tax-related penalties. *** Sy Al-os Accountancy Corporation provides accounting and tax services to individuals, corporations, LLCs and business entities. The Firm has a niche in defending taxpayers audited by the IRS and other governmental agencies. The firm celebrates its 38th anniversary in 2015. (Advertising Supplement)
4 ways filing for divorce can benefit your...
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and who can petition them as an immediate relative. This is usually the fastest of process in obtaining legal permanent residence. In countries such as the Philippines where there is no divorce, many people come to the US to start a new life after they have been separated from their old spouse (often still married to them). Even if the alien over stays their status as a visitor, the alien can still adjust to that of a legal permanent residence if petitioned by a US Citizen spouse. If the alien was never inspected, the alien can still adjust to legal permanent residence if they are grandfathered under INA 245(i) and there are no special restrictions on their status. To be grandfathered under INA 245(i), the alien must have been a beneficiary of a legal permanent resi-
dence petition filed no later than April 30, 2001. Finally, a common concern of divorcing immigrants is “What happens if my spouse refuses to sign the divorce papers?” The truth is you do not need your spouse’s signature to obtain a divorce in California. You only need to provide your spouse notice that you filed a divorce by personally serving your spouse the divorce petition and summons. In countries that are members of the Hague Convention, special procedures need to be followed to effect service. So yes it is possible to divorce your spouse even if your spouse is in a country that does not recognize divorce among its citizens such as the Philippines. For some immigrants, filing for divorce opens up opportunities
in this land of milk and honey. *** Attorney Kenneth Ursua Reyes is a Certified Family Law Specialist. He was President of the Philippine American Bar Association. He is a member of both the Family law section and Immigration law section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association. He has extensive CPA experience prior to law practice. LAW OFFICES OF KENNETH REYES, P.C. is located at 3699 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 747, Los Angeles, CA, 90010. Tel. (213) 388-1611 or e-mail kureyeslaw@gmail.com or visit our website at Kenreyeslaw.com. *** 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 (Advertising Supplement) is not a solicitation.
http://www.asianjournal.com • (818) 502-0651 • (213) 250-9797
ASEAN labor execs commit... PAGE A1 t
the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers as an output brings us closer to the fulfillment of the dream that we have sown in Cebu 10 years ago. A decade after signing the declaration, we hope to bring it closer into full circle here in Davao and also fulfill the April 2017 Leaders Summit deadline for the development of the instrument to implement it,” said Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, in his opening statement yesterday for the ASEAN Labor Senior Officials Retreat held at the Marco Polo Davao Hotel. Bello stressed the progress that the ASEAN labor officials have scaled since the retreat started Sunday, indicates that they must now aim for an implementing instrument that is meaningful to the everyday lives of ASEAN migrant workers and one that can be claimed as morally-binding. “Fellow ministers, we must now be of a mindset to complete our task to implement the Decla-
ration. Out of mutual respect, we always agree by consensus. And once a consensus is reached, we ethically bind ourselves to implement an agreed set of commitments,” Bello said. Bello likewise said he received word that yesterday, through a show of good will and a very open yet frank discussion, they have achieved a breakthrough on the principle issues of the instrument. “We have gained a significant stride on how to move the process forward to be able to meet the April 2017 deadline,” he further said, adding, “I am very pleased to note the level of commitment that our senior labor officials demonstrated in yesterday’s retreat as well as the support that the ASEAN Secretariat and each member state’s respective technical teams have exerted.” The mechanism by which the Declaration of the ACMW shall be implemented is expected to be submitted to the ASEAN Leaders Summit by this coming April. “Our workers, in their indi-
vidual roles as active agents in an ever-growing economic, socio-cultural and political community, give ASEAN integration a human face. They bring meaning to what we seek for as a peopleoriented and people-centered region. They give value to all the efforts that we exert in our official mandates as ministers of labor,” Bello added. Bello stressed that as individual countries, what is important is that they are coming up together with something that has great potentials: a meaningful guide, an instrument of change that is a product of our consensus and years of consultation. “This will be a living document which will be continuously improved in future meetings,” Bello added. Bello likewise said that on the part of the Philippines, they wish to assure all of the participating labor officials of the country’s highest regard in the roles that they have assumed to bring this instrument closer to its realization. n
Using Chapter 13 to stop... PAGE B3 t now but the description of the financial agony that client went through with his divorce is appropriate. Oh, yeah, it was Robin Williams who said this. His first divorce wiped out half his assets and the second divorce wiped out the other half of his assets. Client has social security of $1,400 and makes $2,600 driving UBER full time. A judgment creditor had a judgment lien of $15K on the house 15 years ago. That lien has now ballooned
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to $34K. And judgment creditor has just filed a motion to sell client’s house to pay the lien. Is this even possible that the enforcement of a judgment lien can result in the involuntary sale of the debtor’s house? Sadly, it is true. The CA code of civil procedure allows the judgment creditor, by motion, to request court permission to force the sale of the house to satisfy the lien! Surprised? As POTUS Trump will tweet “NOT NICE AND NOT FAIR!!” “ THAT JUDGMENT LIEN CREDITOR IS
Hail to the...
cosmic lifeblood holding everything together. Whew! The cosmos, according to evidence so far gathered by probes and the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), is so inconceivably vast with more stars than there are grains of sand on earth, it strains the limits of human imagination. It is more than likely, there are other forms of intelligent life in places where there is water, complete with soul and spirit, following the laws of nature and teeming in wild abundance in the cosmos. We may never have any evidence of what
sounds like science fiction, but some sage once pointed out quite rightly that absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. Yet for all this awesome grandeur, consider the glorious ordinariness of the earth in the celestial heavens. It’s like Goldilocks gravitating to the porridge in the middle. Neither too hot nor too cold, earth is the only place in the solar system with a slim ecosphere that allows life to not only survive, but to thrive with astonishing tenacity, as long as the sun shines steadily while it faithfully orbits the center of the
A TERRORIST AND MUST NOT BE GIVEN A VISA!” Well, the only way to stop the forced sale of the house is to file a Chapter 13. Even a missile from Iran will not stop a foreclosure but a Chapter 13 stops it dead on its track. Yes, a Chapter 13 is more powerful than a missile from Iran. In a Chapter 13, client will be allowed to pay the $34,000 over 60 months without interest, that’s about $570 a month. I am wondering why client waited until the last minute to take care of this problem that it.n Milky Way every quarter of a million years. The earth’s size, its tilt, its distance from the sun, its companion moon, the presence of water in various states all conspire to make it and its inhabitants the crowning glory of creation as far as human life is concerned. Our blue marbled dot is a place so wonderfully made that of all the eight orbs of different sizes and makes, revolving around that ordinary star we call the sun, it is the only one uniquely qualified to sustain life, as we know it, in our tiny neck of the cosmic woods. Value the ordinary. Value your life. The sun, the earth and the stars at night remind us daily. n
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LA MIDWEEK ASIAN JOURNAL • FEBRUARY 22-24, 2017
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People and Events
FIRST® LEGO® League at Suzanne MiddleSchool in Walnut, CA The FIRST® LEGO® League (FLL) made its way to Suzanne Middle School in the city of Walnut and has successfully launched eight FLL teams this school year! FIRST® LEGO® League is part of the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) organization. It is an international robotics program (in partnership with LEGO) that introduces elementary and middle school students to the real Suzanne Middle School Robotics Club 2016-2017 world of engineering challenges. Each FLL team designs, builds, and programs a robot using LEGO MINDSTORMS® to complete tasks on a table-top playing field. They also get to research a real-world problem such as food safety, recycling, energy, etc., and learn to apply their knowledge in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) to develop a solution to the problem through experiments and an invention. The team presents their solution to judges, subject-matter experts, and people who will Team RoboHeroes inspiring others at the LA County Sanitation District’s Earth Day celebration with Congresswoman Grace Napolitano of California’s 32nd district. benefit from their innovation.
EMPLOYMENT
EMPLOYMENT
Teams RoboHeroes & Wolf Corp. at the LA Regional Championship in La Cañada
Each team gets to participate in tournaments where they demonstrate their accomplishments and have the opportunity to meet other FLL teams. For the 20162017 FLL season, of the 376 teams in the Los Angeles Region, only 92 teams advanced to the Los Angeles Regional Championship held at La Cañada High School during the weekend of December 10-11, 2016. The inaugural season of the Suzanne Middle School Robotics Club is indeed a successful one! Six of Suzanne’s eight FLL teams advanced to the Los Angeles Regional Championship and two teams went home with victory! Congratulations to Team
RoboHeroes, who won the Core Values Inspiration Award, and to Team Wolf Corp, who won the Project Research Award. Team RoboHeroes’ members are Matthew Carreon, Nathan Fong, Collin Lee, Spencer Lee, Codey Ma, Marcus Robles, Roman Robles, Ethan Tungpalan, Sarah Wang, and Ronnie Zhang. Team Wolf Corp’s members are Alina Chang, Nathan Chang, Brian Feng, Conor Fox, Christian Langarica, Gordon Lau, Nathan Tan, Katherine Viala, Jason Wang, and Kawin Watkins. All team members always practice gracious professionalism and have adopted the FLL’s Core Values, which emphasize discovery, teamwork, and good sportsmanship! These teams are not only robot builders. They participate in community outreach events where they inspire, mentor and share their experiences with others. They also participate in various volunteer opportunities to help their school and their community. They have volunteered at events like the Special Olym-
EMPLOYMENT
FOR RENT
pics World Games, Earth Day Festival, beach clean-up, Green Festival Expo, LA County Fair, Walnut Family Festival, No Kill LA Pet Adoption, Guide Dogs of America graduation, and many more. Shout-out and also best wishes to Team RoboHeroes who has also been invited to represent the Los Angeles Region at an International Championship Tournament - The Mountain State Invitational, managed and sponsored by NASA, to be held in West Virginia this July. Team RoboHeroes is currently embarking on various fundraising efforts to raise funds for their trip to the International Championship Tournament in West Virginia. If you wish to help, you may contact Ms. Vicky Silcock (Club Adviser) @ vsilcock@wvusd.k12. ca.us or (909) 594-1657 or you can send a check (tax deductible) payable to Suzanne Middle School ASB with memo Robotics Club-West Virginia trip at 525 Suzanne Road, Walnut, CA 91789-1938. n
B FEBRUARY 22-24, 2017 • LA MIDWEEK ASIAN JOURNAL
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The Asian Journal
MDWK
Wednesday, February 22, 2017
AJPress photo by Ding Carreon
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cover story The Asian Jour nal MDWK MAGAZINE - February 22, 2017
Jordan Clarkson on embracing basketball and his Filipino roots by MoMar G. Visaya / AJPress
I
N just his third season with the National Basketball Association (NBA), Los Angeles Lakers guard Jordan Clarkson has already made a name for himself as a viable asset for the franchise. The 24-year-old belongs to a crop of Filipino Americans who have broken the glass ceiling in the U.S. in fields such as arts, sports, fashion, technology and business. In the NBA, he is considered as the third one with Filipino blood, alongside Nate Robinson — who is one-eighth Filipino — and Raymond Townsend, who played his last game in 1982. During a meet and greet with Filipino-American fans in New York earlier this month, Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, who was attending several meetings in the U.S., said that the sport of basketball and the LA Lakers in the NBA have a huge following among Filipinos. He referred to Clarkson as a Fil-Am ambassador of basketball among younger Filipinos and fellow Fil-Ams. He also recognized Jordan’s father, Mike Clarkson, for his effort to bring Jordan closer to the Filipino community. “Thank you for the support. I’m just gonna say thank you because I don’t know what else to say. Salamat po,” Clarkson said in front of the crowd. The fans rewarded his short speech with a loud applause. Late last year, the Brooklyn Nets hosted its first Filipino Heritage Night at the Barclays Center. The Nets had a game versus the visiting Los Angeles Lakers. Fans came in droves to see not just the Nets but the Lakers as well, particularly Clarkson. The hoopster’s management team saw the impact that the player had on Filipino fans during that day that they asked its event organizer, community leader Mark Anthony Agbuya if a similar event can be done. Agbuya built a team and coordinated with the Philippine
Consulate General’s office to come up with the meet and greet that eventually coincided with the launching of Clarkson’s fan club in New York. At the press briefing before the community event, Clarkson, his dad Mike and college coach Tim Fuller responded to questions from the Fil-Am media. Jordan revealed a few fun facts about his personal life, his favorite food (chicken adobo and sisig), his love of the game, how much hard work it is to be an NBA player, his love for the Philippines, his appreciation to his fans and his deep passion for the sport. The soft-spoken point guard said he feels very honored for all the support his Filipino fans have been giving him since he joined the Lakers organization as a 22year-old rookie back in August 2014. He was drafted in the second round by the Washington Wizards and eventually he was traded to the Lakers. Prior to joining the Lakers, Clarkson played basketball at Tulsa University for two seasons before transferring to the University of Missouri. In his rookie year, Clarkson averaged 11.9 points, 3.2 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 0.86 steals and 0.20 blocks in 59 games. He was also the first-ever Lakers player to be named the Kia NBA Western Conference Rookie of the Month, an award he received in April for games he played in March this year. “Playing with the Lakers is a blessing and I feel very honored for the support [I’ve been receiv-
ing]. It shows how much love and support there is and I will do my best to represent,” he said. Dreams to play in the PH one of his goals is to join the Philippine national team. Asked if it will ever become a reality, Clarkson said that they have been talking with the proper authorities. “It is really good if everything works out with FIBA. My team is working with them as well,” he shared. “I have been involved with the team, practicing with them. There’s an opportunity to do that and I want to do it. It’s just everything has to be worked out.” To say that basketball is a popular sport in the Philippines would be an understatement. That is why Clarkson has become the embodiment of pride in the community. And as Sen. Cayetano said, back in the Philippines, especially in the ‘80s, Filipino fans were either one or the other. “Either Boston Celtics ka or Los Angeles Lakers. Toyota or Crispa. Marcos o Aquino,” he said, the audience applauding in agreement. Since joining the Lakers organization, Clarkson has been working extra hard to prove his worth and the team’s fans from across the globe have seen how prepared he is in every game, physically and mentally. Despite the adulations, there would always be criticisms and put-downs but Clarkson is not someone who would be bothered by those. He is focused on his game. “Just work hard, you’re always going to be doubted,” he shared. “Just do what they say you can’t do and
prove everybody wrong.” And when asked what playing with legends has contributed to his well-being, he said that more than the advice given to him, it is the work ethic that he hopes to emulate from the sport’s legends, like former teammate Kobe Bryant. “Be professional, no matter what is going on in your life or no matter what is it you are doing,” he said. “Wake up, go to work, put your heart in it. Even during practice, put everything on the line.” Looking back, Jordan said he realized he could be an inspiration to young Filipinos when he was able to visit the country for the first time. “After my rookie year in the league when we first went to the Philippines and to see the impact I had in the country, I didn’t really know how much impact I had over there. Seeing that was my turning point in getting me want to come back,” he shared. He has not been back recently but he looks forward to making another trip when his schedule permits him
AJPress photos by Ding Carreon
to do so. From Manila to Pampanga to the shores of Boracay, Clarkson could very well be a tourism ambassador as well. “We were there for a while so we went to a lot of places. I’ve been to Boracay. It’s beautiful out there. Although I’m not a big vacation guy, I’d definitely go out there for vacation,” he said. Filipino heritage Clarkson proudly declared that he got his work ethic from his mom and his lola, strong women both who faced adversity and succeeded. “My grandma, my mom, they work hard, and that’s what I got, I work hard. I feel like I’m always the under-
Jordan Clarkson with members of Team Clarkson, his dad Mike (left) and college coach Tim Fuller. AJPress photo by Momar G. Visaya
dog, and so as Filipinos, we fight, that’s what it is,” he said. His mom Annette Davis and dad Mike met in the military. “We were in the Air Force together at technical training school and we were friends and family ever since then,” Clarkson’s dad said, responding to questions on how they met. The couple divorced when Clarkson was small. Like his son, Mike Clarkson is thankful that Filipinos have embraced Jordan and that an entire country is supporting him. “Jordan has an entire country that supports him, that in itself is humbling,” the basketball player’s father said. “In turn, he understands the responsibility that goes along with it and that’s important… he’s gonna excel at whatever he does, but he’s gonna make sure the Filipino community is proud of what he does.” Before the end of the press conference, the 24-year-old Lakers guard fielded one of the last few questions, another one that was Filipino-related. “I’m not the happiest guy all the time but seeing the Filipinos, everybody is always happy and smiling,” he said, initially with a serious face but trying to stifle a smile. “It’s probably the best thing I could take in all of that, probably the only time you see me with a big smile on my face.”
Fil-Am chef gets James Beard Award nod for Bad Saint By MoMar
G. Visaya
AJPress
ToM Cunanan, the chef behind Bad Saint, the 24-seat Filipino restaurant in Washington, DC, has been nominated for a James Beard Award, one of the most coveted honors in the restaurant industry. The James Beard Foundation announced the semifinalists for its annual awards last week. Cunanan is one of nine DC-
Ukoy
based chefs nominated for Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic. Cunanan co-owns the restaurant with Genevieve Villamora and Nick Pimentel and collectively, they came up with the menu that captivated both diners and food critics alike. Bad Saint, named after St. Malo, Louisiana, where the first Filipinos settled in the United States, is the trio’s passion project.
AJPress photo by Momar G. Visaya
Bon Appetit declared Bad Saint as the number two Best New Restaurant in the United States for 2016. Atlanta’s Staplehouse was number one. “I felt super surprised,” Cunanan told the Asian Journal. “I woke up the next day and got all these crazy texts from friends and co-workers saying ‘Congratulations!’” He said he didn’t know what the congratulatory messages were for so he asked them. “They showed me the JBF link and I was super stunned to see my name for Best Chef: Mid Atlantic,” Cunanan shared. The nomination is a validation of the trio’s hard work in coming up with a restaurant that offers a carefully curated and evolving menu. “It pretty much says that I’m on the right track with my career and I am showcasing Filipino food the best way I can and people are finally appreci-
ating it,” he added. The finalists for the restaurant and chef awards, as chosen by judges, committee members and previous winners, will be announced March 15. The winners will be revealed May 1. Classic dishes In an eventual Bon Appetit feature, Cunanan, Villamora and Pimentel talked about how they came up with the dishes they serve, particularly the five that have become bestsellers and instant classics - ukoy (shredded sweet potato and carrot fritters), sinigang (pork, vegetable and tamarind stew), ensaladang palapa (coconutvegetable slaw), adobong dilaw (yellow chicken adobo) and black rice bilo-bilo. on the adobong dilaw, Cunanan said, “I wanted a new way to do adobo. Classically, it’s made with just vinegar, soy sauce, bay, black pepper, and a lot of garlic. But in the south of the country, closer to Malaysia,
Chef Tom Cunanan with partners Genevieve Villamora and Nick Pimentel are behind the success of Bad Saint, a 24-seater Filipino restaurant in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of Washington, DC. Photo courtesy of Tom Cunanan’s Instagram account
they use a lot of turmeric and coconut milk, which seemed cool. We grill our chicken first, which gives the whole thing an underlying smokiness. It’s about building all these small layers. You get the salty, the sour, the sweet.” The complexity of the flavors in the dishes at Bad Saint has made the restaurant one of the most sought-after restau-
rants in Washington, DC. “The food that Tom Cunanan and his cooks prepare under columns of wok smoke is richly compelling no matter how many prior run-ins you’ve had with Filipino food,” wrote Pete Wells, the New York Times food critic. And as he reviewed each of the dishes he tried, he came up Continued on Page 3
features 3 FilAm ARTS to host traditional dance workshop, ‘Pangalay’ on March 4 Philippines’ popular meals on The Asian Jour nal MDWK MAGAZINE - February 22, 2017
lOS AnGElES – The Association for the Advancement of Filipino Arts and Culture (FilAm ARTS) announced the first of its traditional arts series, “Pangalay: Movement and Sounds of the Sulu zones”, a traditional dance workshop. Peter de Guzman, Resident Artistic Director of Malaya Filipino American Dance Arts, and Bernard Ellorin from the Pakaraguian Kulintang Ensemble will facilitate the workshop. “Pangalay” is an ancient traditional dance from Sulu, Philippines characterized by strong technique and meditative concentration, giving it the richest movement
vocabulary of all Philippines dances. The workshop aims to be an introduction to both movements as participants will learn about the history, context and artistic relevance of the dance. The musical component of the workshop will focus on the tagunggu gong ensemble music of the Sama, Bajau and Tausug ethnic groups from the Sulu Archipelago, Philippines, showing a general overview of the interconnectedness of tagunggu music and the igal/pangalay performing arts genres. Participants will have a deeper understanding of the melodic and rhythmic pat-
terns found in their traditional repertoire. The workshop will take place on Saturday, March 4 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Search to involve Pilipino Americans (SiPA) Youth and Community Center. Admission is free and light snacks will be provided. This workshop is made possible through the support of the Alliance for California Traditional Arts (ACTA). More information about the workshop can be found on the workshop’s Facebook event page: https:// www.facebook.com/ events/387476641624654/.
Fil-Am chef gets James Beard Award... From Page 2
with words to describe them, and did so using superlatives. Wells called the squid adobo “astonishing, its sauce deepened and darkened by squid ink and given a slow, lingering burn by long peppers” and the oxtails and bok choi stewed in peanut sauce with an intense undercurrent of shrimp and anchovies as “amazing whether this is your first encounter with kare-kare or your hundredth”. “i love bitter melon, but even the skeptics i’d brought with me were won over by Bad Saint’s stir-fry, in which the vegetable’s aggressive tendencies are offset by fermented black beans, softened by eggs and sweetened by a topcoat of fried shallots,” Wells said of this ampalaya con carne dish.
Line outside of Bad Saint
Clams
Pancit Palabok
Cunanan’s pancit canton was “startlingly good” and Wells praised his arroz caldo for its “homey simplicity”. The food critic also acknowledged the chef’s use of local ingredients such as kale for a traditional Filipino dish such as laing.
“in the Philippines, laing would be made by stewing dried taro leaves in coconut milk. At Bad Saint, the leaves are kale, braised to a velvety tenderness and swaddled in Chesapeake crab meat,” Wells wrote. “This laing is so luxuriously flavorful, i can’t get it out of my head, and i don’t want to.” Overall, Wells was happy with the experience and called the food from the wok to the plate as “relentlessly delicious”. And as a clincher, he wrote, “Because the cuisine of the Philippines is so closely tied to home cooking, it’s been hard to imagine what a three-star Filipino restaurant would look like. now i know that it looks like Bad Saint.”
AJPress photo by Momar G. Visaya
a hot plate now in Glendale
Sizzlin’ Steak’s popular hot plates have been wowing diners in the Philippines for years, and now they’re finally sizzling their way to the USA. The go-to for Hot, Fast and Affordable meals has been serving up savory goodness in 15 locations all over the Philippines. Sizzlin’ Steak also operates two branches in Vietnam and is set to expand its network there within the next two years. now its sizzling plates are ready to satisfy cravings in Glendale, California. At the 3rd floor of Glendale Galleria Mall, hungry workday warriors can get their fill of Sizzlin Steak’s meals at affordable prices. Meat lovers can go for the best-sellers, the Sizzlin’ Beef and the Ribeye Steak. There are also lighter and leaner meals like the Salmon Steak or the Tofu Steak flavored with SS Teriyaki Sauce. it doesn’t have to be all beef. Whatever you’re feeling like eating for the day, there is something for you on the menu. it’s a total flavor adventure, and a dining experience you can totally make your own because you can even create your own combination from the meat, rice, and sauce options. Choose whether to have your meal with pepper rice, kimchi rice, or the
newest offering, the garlic rice. Whatever you order, enjoy it with your choice of Sizzlin’ Steak’s special sauces, including Asian flavors like the teriyaki sauce, steak sauce and barbecue sauce. “We’re thrilled about opening our first store in Glendale,” says Bill Rodgers, director of international at Sizzlin’ Steak. “We’re known for great products and speedy service, and we’re happy to give customers around the Glendale area the Sizzlin’ Steak experience.”
Another great thing about Sizzlin’ Steak is that all ingredients are fresh and the dishes come with mixed vegetables for a balanced and satisfying meal. And because all the meals are served on a sizzling plate, you can be sure that the food stays hot up to the last bite. Don’t worry, it won’t burn your tongue. The options don’t just end at big meals. You can munch on the nacho Chili Cheese as your appetizer. To finish off your meal on a sweet note, order the Sizzlin’ Smores, with graham crackers to dip in the gooey toasted marshmallow and chocolate. Or order the Brownie á la mode, a dark chocolate brownie in a decadent chocolate ganache sauce served with vanilla ice cream and walnuts. A flavorful meal sizzling on a plate, wouldn’t you want to get a load of that? Drop by Sizzlin’ Steak Glendale for a quick, filling meal. Sizzlin’ Steak is located at the 3rd floor of Glendale Galleria Mall, by the Bloomingdale’s wing (3213 Glendale Galleria, Glendale, CA 91210). like the Facebook page: Sizzlin’ Steak USA, and share your meal using the hashtag #chooseyoursteak. (Advertising Supplement)
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entertainment
Sunshine Dizon chooses to channel her energy wisely
The Asian Jour nal MDWK MAGAZINE - February 22, 2017
A tale of two Richards by Deni
Rose BeRnaRDo Philstar.com
Filipinos might have celebrated Valentine’s Day last February 14. But for the Chinese, Valentine’s Day does not happen until the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, which falls on August 28 this year.
For the Filipino-Chinese community, who include singers Richard Yap and Richard poon, Chinese Valentine’s Day is the most romantic celebration of the year, where the main participants are singles looking for their soulmates. Wishes for happiness, wealth, longevity and a good
Richard Yap and Poon
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partner are done on this day. According to Yap and poon, Filipino-Chinese weddings are a big market for the entertainment industry in the philippines that are often overlooked. A lot of Filipino-Chinese couples get married each year and yet there are very few singers that can sing Chinese love songs, said poon. Thus, from a cook in their family restaurant, poon followed his sister’s advice to join her in becoming a Chinese wedding singer since they virtually have no competition in this niche market in the philippines. Recently, poon also collaborated with his namesake, Yap, to provide novelty in addressing the entertainment needs of their community. From their team-up, Yap realized how big the Chinese community is in the philippines. After Yap and poon’s concert last year, their first collaboration album “The Chinito Crooners” got sold out after the concert. “some artists, they need a plus one because they find it difficult with the pitch,” said poon. “But Richard (Yap) is different.” According to poon, his dad is a good critic when it comes to singers. After the concert, his dad told him that Yap does not only sing well but can even carry a tune with strength. Yap also possesses a strong charisma on stage. Yap in reality was so nervous during the concert. “i was stressed so much…There were high expectations. Thankfully, i managed to have pulled it off.” Continued on Page 5
ğ įōíľ ÀðıÃæµįPçį ʼn æIJįıÀ ØÃĉÃæîÂ ß ğÃqPç qíß߼æÃıŎįĤÀíĽØ ÕæíŊįPdíĽIJĕ If you have an upcoming event and would like us to post it, email us the details (title, description, time & date, location, etc.) at info@asianjournalinc.com. And for consideration in our print calendar, please send submissions at least three weeks before the date of the event. To be included in our online calendar/ e-newsletter, please allow at least two to three weeks' notice. The Asian Journal would be delighted to list your event in our Calendar of Events.
by nathalie
tomaDa Philstar.com
is in fight mode, as she seeks custody of her child being kept away JusT a coincidence. That’s from her by her husband, airline how sunshine Dizon responds to pilot Jerome Fuentabella (Gabby comments that her reel life seems Concepcion) who is now living to mirror what’s going on in her with the other woman Georgia real life. Ferrer (Ryza Cenon). sunshine is the lead star of in real life, sunshine has bethe GMA 7 afternoon drama “ika- come less “combative,” dropping 6 na utos” (taking after the sixth her charges (one for the Anti-VioCommandment: “Thou shall not lence Against Women and Their commit adultery”). it’s another Children Act of 2004, and the take on the favorite teleserye and other for concubinage) against movie theme — marital infidelity husband Timothy Tan, who had — a subject that viewers naturally also issued a public apology in think sunshine knows only too December. well. “it was a very hard and painful “As they say, they thought it decision that i had to make, dropwas patterned after (what happing the cases against my expened to me). But no, it’s not. husband but more than anything it’s similar in a way in that it’s the else i’m a mother. i still have two same situation, but it’s totally kids who need their father. i had different from what happened to to make that choice for them,” me,” the 33-year-old Kapuso star explained the mother of two, told The Star. ages five and four. sunshine’s shocking separasunshine, however, added, tion from her husband of six that “my fight doesn’t end there. years, which stemmed from i’m still planning other things. i cheating allegations, played out just don’t want to talk about it.” in the news and tabloids last year. nevertheless, the drama acWith her ika-6 na utos role as the tress was surprised by the amount betrayed wife Emma Fuentabella, of messages she received via there’s really no escaping the social media about her situation. comparisons. “(i received) a lot. i get perin the series, her character has sonal messages telling me that already shed her martyr self and they love watching the show, or
Sunshine Dizon
saying that they’ve gone through similar situations, or their parents went through similar situations, and then they also tell me, they look up to me.” sunshine continued, “sometimes, it’s heartbreaking also to read their stories. There are so many women who are suffering silently. parang they look up Continued on Page 5
Miss Universe can’t wait to come back to Manila by mJ
maRfoRi ManilaTimes.net
BARElY a month in new York City, newly crowned Miss universe iris Mittinaere is homesick— not of France but of Manila. “i miss Manila, i miss the mangoes, i miss the people! i miss the fans—you guys are the best!” she told ManilaTimes.net in a web conversation. Asked how she is doing adjusting to life in the Big Apple where the Miss universe organization is based, the beauty queen said she is in constant communication with our very own Miss universe 2015 pia Wurtzbach and is excited to see her again to ask for tips and advice.” “i have pia’s contact and we always talk. she will be here in a couple of months and i cannot wait for that. i have many, many questions to ask her.” Meanwhile, iris will have her
Miss Universe Iris Mittinaere
homecoming in paris in March, and also hopes to have one in Manila sometime soon. if her schedule becomes too tight, she nevertheless promised to make sure to come visit the philippines again before her reign ends. Getting more personal, iris shared one of the biggest adjustments she has to make is learning to cope with her a long-distance
relationship with her boyfriend, Matthieu Declercq, who is based in France. “it’s different but we always Viber and skype, he will always visit me.” indeed, Matthieu flew to new York for Valentine’s Day to visit his Miss universe. “it was so romantic. We had a long stroll and a romantic dinner,” iris shared. she is glad the rumor that Miss France 2015 Camille Cerf is more than just her best friend has been put to rest. But on the flip side, she is sad how the public is still not open to lGBT relationships. “Camille laughed about it. she has a boyfriend; i have a boyfriend. But what is sad is that what if we really were together? i do not see the problem in that.” We wish you the best iris and au revoir!
The dilemma of giving life or denying it Moonlighting by Mylah de
leon
This is about the one who cannot speak, whose drop of life is only a cluster of cells that has scarcely begun. The one who is silent and without opinion who can’t even help the woman who has helped conceive it. The one whose only existence began by chance — perhaps by a mistake or a moment of carelessness. in legends, i have read that males invented to explain life. it was said that the first human creature was a man called Adam. Eve arrived later, to give him pleasure and of course, trouble: but it wasn’t sinning that was born when she carelessly picked up an apple. What was born that day was a splendid virtue called
disobedience, for which she and the rest of the women will bear children in that indescribable pain during child birth. To be a mother is not a trade. it is not even a duty. it is only one right among many, and what an effort it will be to convince others of this fact. how can a man understand a woman who is expecting a child, when he can’t get pregnant? is this an advantage, a limitation, or even a privilege? There is something glorious about enclosing another life in one’s own body, in knowing yourself to be two, instead of one. invaded by a sense of triumph, nothing bothers you. Neither the pain you’ll have to face, the work you’ll have to sacrifice, the freedom you’ll have to give up — deprived of fun, a slim waistline, sleep, and the frustration wondering when those stretch marks will ever go away. And the terrible question is:
what if that child did not want to be born? What if someday it were to cry out its reproach, “Who asked you to bring me into this world? Why did you bring me into it?” in a world when moments of joy are the parentheses for which you pay a cruel price. is there a way to know if it wouldn’t be better if you throw that one away? some women ask themselves, why should they bring that child into this huge and ruthless world that could be sad and ugly? Just so it will be hungry, cold, betrayed and humiliated, to be slaughtered by war or disease? Rejecting the hope that hunger will be satisfied, cold will be warmed, it could be a world of innocence and gaiety if they devote a life with a magnificent effort to eliminate war and peace? These are thoughts that strike fear in every woman’s heart. The first time i saw the photograph of the four-week-old
features 5
The Asian Jour nal MDWK MAGAZINE - February 22, 2017
embryo of my first daughter, all my fears went away as quickly as they had come. she looked like a mysterious flower — a transparent orchid. One could make out, perhaps a kind of head, with two protuberances that would become the brain, lower down a cavity that would become a mouth. At four weeks, it was almost invisible. My doctor explained she was about an eighth of an inch, but she was growing a suggestion of life, with something resembling a spinal column, a nervous system, a stomach, a liver, intestines, lungs. The heart was already present and it was big in proportions -- nine times bigger than mine, it pumps blood and beats regularly from the 24th day on. how can anyone throw that away? What do i care if i’ll be walking around in a swollen belly for months deprived of
fun, a slim waistline, and sleep, frustrating over the stretches that won’t go away? i accept that children interrupt; they interrupt career, journey, vacation, appointments, games, erotic attachments, telephone calls, self-development, education, meditation and other enlightened, useful and joyous pursuits including the challenges of splendid or horrible possibilities. A pregnancy is not a punishment inflicted by nature to make you pay for the thrill of a moment. in the darkness that enfolds the multiple breathing cells, who is not even aware of its existence, who could be thrown away or butchered and would not have known, who won’t have a way of knowing whether i’ve done it wrong or a favor bringing it out on this world? in accordance with the only
arrogance that is legitimate, every mother takes the responsibility of choice. You will be born, that is an arrogance no mother can resist. To carry that child, whether that child likes it or not, it has no opinion. “so why did you bring me into this world, why?” The answer: because i was wrong to think i could impose a choice on that unborn child. it happened because the magic of maternity could happen, therefore it had to happen. i don’t have a choice but obedience — that child whose first encounter with the world is a desperate wail, when everything will make it cry, hungry or angry. i will wait when that first smile comes. it will be given to me, because i did the right thing: i obeyed!! ***
com.
E-mail Mylah at moonlightingmdl@aol.
Sunshine Dizon chooses to channel her energy wisely Erich, Daniel together on stage in sweet song number From Page 4
to me, in some ways like, ‘she fought for something.’ i actually don’t understand it, why i’m being put in that kind of pedestal, if you might say. But if my story helps them in any way, if it gives them hope, then i’m OK with that.” Amidst all the upheavals in her personal life, sunshine considers her career as her saving grace. “it keeps me focused, it keeps me busy. Work has really been my salvation, especially with all the crazy things happening in my life. “it’s good that i’m able to focus my energy on doing something good. i’ve always loved my craft so, you know, just do good
A tale of two... From Page 4
While he has done a lot of shows with Poon, it was their first major concert wherein they had to belt out 12 songs each, unlike then when he only had to render three to four. When he forgets a line from a song, he makes the audience sing it for him. Yap began singing in high
and be better at it,” she said, adding that she has always been drawn to challenging, unconventional projects, never mind if the storyline might be a little too close to home. “it’s work for me, a job that i have to do. i just do my best to separate my real life from work.” When asked where she draws her strength to weather through her marital storms, sunshine said, “some people would say, hey you’re so strong. honestly, i have my bad days… You know, it’s just a matter of deciding on what to do each day. For example, today, i’m feeling depressed, so what will i do tomorrow? Will i just sleep
the whole day, or do nothing but cry? “Why would i waste what’s left of my life, when it’s already there, you can’t do anything about it, it’s broken, you can’t piece it back together. so, instead of dwelling on it, and feeling sad and depressed, i just choose to be positive about it, and just push through with my life. “i’m no robot that doesn’t feel anything, but i just choose to channel my energy wisely... i acknowledge that yes, it’s painful, yes it’s bad, yes it’s ugly, but you know, i still have a choice to make it beautiful. That’s what i try to do every time.”
school as a tenor. he used to listen to “Bohemian Rhapsody” a lot. he was influenced by The Carpenters, Kenny Rogers, Barry Manilow and their mellow songs. Becoming a singer, he said, “just adds to your marketability as an actor, so you can sing in promos or mall shows.” But albums are hard to sell, so he barely earns from them. Besides acting and singing, he has to take
care of his business. in time for Valentine’s this year, they launched their second album, “Richard x Richard,” a compilation of their favorite old love songs. According to Poon, it is always easy to work with Yap as their songs complement each other. similarly, for Yap, it is always a pleasure to work with the other Richard.
iT seems like all’s na may kinalaman sa well that ends well kanilang hiwalayan. Nagfor former lovers ing maayos ang usapan Erich Gonzales and nilang dalawa. Walang Daniel Matsunaga as kinalaman ang pera o the Kapamilya stars third party sa kanilang were seen performing paghihiwalay,” the together on stage in a agency said last Thurssweet song number. day, Feb. 16. in a video posted “Pakiusap nina Erich by talent agency star at Daniel na huwag idamMagic on instagram, ay ang kanilang pamilya the love team dubbed sa issue. hiling rin ng “DanRich” performed dalawa ang pag-unawa Justin Bieber’s “Love at pagkakataong maayos Yourself” and John ng pribado ang kanilang Former lovers, Erich Gonzales and Daniel Matsunaga, were all-smiles in a Legend’s “All of Me” relasyon. Maraming salselfie posted by handler, Love Capulong. before a crowd in amat po,” it added. pearance after their controversial Cache Creek Casino Resort in DanRich were together for breakup. California. two years before they split. howBefore flying to California During the song number, ever, early this month, rumors of for a series of shows, star Magic Daniel and Erich were comforttheir breakup sprung online after released a statement that the able staring at each other. They fans noticed Erich deleted their former couple met behind closed couple photos. ended the performance by givdoors to patch things up and dising each other a side hug. Daniel addressed the fans missed the third party or money The Japanese Brazilian saying they were going through model turned actor, on the other issue speculations. They were “personal things” and asked for hand, wrapped the performance also all smiles in a selfie posted their love and support. however, by handler Love Capulong. by giving Erich a peck on her when Erich broke her silence, “Nagharap kahapon sina forehead drawing loud cheers she denied they were in speakfrom the audience present in the Erich Gonzales at Daniel Mating terms and clarified that there sunaga sa star Magic office show. was no third party involved. This was their first public ap- para pagusapan ang mga issues (Rosette Adel/Philstar.com)
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The Asian Jour nal MDWK MAGAZINE - February 22, 2017
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