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Volume 27 - No. 49 • 2 Sections – 16 Pages

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Duterte claims he ‘personally’ killed drug suspects

by Dana

SioSon AJPress

PhIlIPPINe President Rodrigo Duterte said he had ‘personally’ killed drug suspects when he was still the mayor of Davao City.

Duterte made the confession during his speech at Wallace Business forum in malacañang on monday night, December 12, to set an example for police.

“I know it because—I am not trying to pull my own chair—in Davao I used to do it personally. Just to show to the [policemen] that if I can do it, why can’t you?” Duterte said.

Before winning the presidency last may,

DATELINE

71-year-old Duterte served as mayor of Davao city for seven terms (22 years).

“And I’d go around Davao with a motorcycle, with a big bike around and I would just patrol the streets and looking for trouble also. I was really looking for an encounter so I could kill,” he added.

Records from the Philippine National Police (PNP) show that around 6,000 people have been killed in relation to the government’s intensified campaign against illegal drugs from July 1 to December 12—with 2,000 killed during legitimate police operations while the remaining 4,000 were killed in extrajudicial or vigilante-style killings,

most reportedly conducted by unknown suspects.

Duterte’s bloody crackdown on illegal drugs has earned him condemnation from different local and international rights groups. The president, however, remarked that the allegations of human rights violations thrown at him would not stop him from continuing the campaign.

“If I am afraid [and] stop because of the human rights … sorry, I am not about to do that,” he stressed.

“You [want to] arrest me? Oust me? Go Police and jail operatives gather inmates during a surprise search inside the Metro Manila ahead,” he added, challenging his critics.

District Jail (MMDJ) at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City.

PAGE A2 Inquirer.net photo by Marianne Bermudez

PH ends support for US patrols in the South China Sea

USA

fROm The AJPRess NEWS TEAM AcroSS AMEricA

American Red Cross reps urge Filipinos to prepare for disasters hOme fires claim 2,500 lives and make up the vast majority of the roughly 70,000 emergencies the American Red Cross responds to each year in the United states.

They happen about twice daily in the greater los Angeles region.

In light of the frequency at which fires wreak havoc, the los Angeles chapter of the American Red Cross (ARC-lA) is encouraging residents of historic filipinotown and surrounding communities to volunteer in efforts to promote fire safety.

They have also been offering free smoke alarm installations throughout the city.

Residents of Pico-Union and Westlake neighborhoods, including parts of historic filipinotown, can now sign up for a free smoke alarm installation provided by the ARC-lA on saturday, february 11 next year.

The ARC-lA has installed 8,000 new smoke alarms this year, but many buildings

by Eric

ROYAL WELCOME. Pres. Rodrigo Duterte is welcomed by King Norodom Sihamoni at Cambodia’s Royal Palace on Wednesday, Dec. 14. The Philippine President was given arrival honors, and the two leaders trooped the line together. Philippine flags flew alongside the Cambodian flag at the palace gardens.

Malacañang photo by Ace Morandante

anthony LicaS AJPress

OffICIAls in manila said on monday, December 12, that they will prohibit the launch of U.s. patrols from the Philippines intended to contest Beijing’s claims to sovereignty in the south China sea.

American forces conducting exercises asserting freedom of navigation in the region had been allowed to stage their operations from military bases in the Philippines by the prior administration of former President Benigno Aquino III. In line with efforts to strengthen the Philippines’ ties with China, representatives of the Duterte administration have set out to end that arrangement.

Philippine Defense secretary Delfin lorenzana foreshadowed the country’s decision during a press conference on Thursday, December 8. he told reporters that the Philippines would likely scale back its support for American freePAGE A2

Palace hits the Robredo, Liberal Party to discuss New York Times national issues in January meeting for being one-sided Millionaires, CEOs & military personnel in drug war piece PAGE A3

by Dana

SioSon AJPress

comprise Trump’s appointees so far

A mONTh after his historic election, president-elect Donald Trump wasted no time in selecting the individuals to run his administration. many of them include his millionaire and CeO peers — of which donated a collective $11.6 million to his campaign — with several military generals and a handful of career politicians.

Reince Priebus, Chief of Staff The Republican National Committee (RNC) chairman was one of the first chosen in the White house staff and may prove to bridge the gap between Trump and the Republicans in Congress -- many of whom refused to support Trump during the campaign. house speaker sen.

Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) recommended the well-respected Republican leader, who clashed with Trump during the election race. he lambasted Trump after the infamous 2005 tape of Trump was release in which the reality star bragged about using his celebrity to force himself on women.

“No woman should ever be described in these terms or talked about in this manner. ever,” Priebus had said after PAGE A3

by Dana

SioSon AJPress

mAlACAÑANG on monday, December 12, slammed the New York Times for allegedly being ‘one-sided’ in its recent report about the administration’s campaign against illegal drugs and the supposed spate of extrajudicial killings in the Philippines.

In a statement, Presidential Communications secretary martin Andanar called on foreign media to maintain impartiality when reporting the Philippine government’s intensified campaign against narcotics.

PAGE A2

The liberal Party (lP), including former President Benigno Aquino III, is slated to have a meeting next year to discuss and arrive at a party stand regarding different national issues.

According to Vice President leni Robredo, the meeting, which has been arranged by interim lP President and senator francis Pangilinan, will be held in January 2017.

“Nag-usap na kami (lP leaders) kasi iyong dating timetable, march pa magpapatawag ng meeting kaya lang sinuggest natin na agahan (our previous timetable sets the meeting in March but we suggested that we PAGE A4 Former Pres. Benigno Aquino III and current Vice Pres. Leni Robredo

Philstar.com photo

Balikbayan boxes to be tax-free starting Christmas

by Dana

SioSon AJPress

sTARTING Christmas Day, December 25, balikbayan boxes from qualified filipinos abroad containing personal goods with a value below P150,000 will be exempted from tax.

The Bureau of Customs (BOC) and the Department of finance (DOf) have signed the Customs Administrative Order (CAO) 05-2016, Beginning this Christmas, December 25, qualified Filipinos abroad will no which serves as the implementing longer have to pay taxes when they send balikbayan boxes containing rules and regulations (IRR) of the personal effects and household goods valued at not more than P150,000.

Customs modernization and Tariff

ğPæ į/ĉ æÃæµ

Inquirer.net photo

Act (CmTA) or the Republic Act No 10863, covering the law on tax-free balikbayan boxes.

Under the CmTA, the previous P10,000 ($200) tax ceiling was raised to P150,000 ($3,060), allowing filipinos abroad to send up to three P150,000-worth of tax-free balikbayan boxes containing personal goods every year.

The guidelines state that filipinos abroad who can avail tax-free balikbayan boxes include the following: holders of valid passports issued by the Department of foreign Affairs

(DfA) and certified by Department of labor and employment (DOle) or Philippine Overseas employment Administration (POeA) for overseas employment purposes regardless of profession; and non-resident filipinos who have established permanent residency abroad but retained their filipino citizenship.

Also qualified were resident filipino citizens who temporarily stay abroad, which may include holders of student visa, investors’ visa, tourist visa, and similar visas which alPAGE A4

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december 15-21, 2016 • LAS VeGAS ASIAN JOUrNAL

From The FronT Page

Duterte claims he ‘personally’ killed...

PAGE A1 Following Duterte’s remarks that he had killed drug suspects before, Amnesty International, an international human rights group, said the Philippine president’s claim “takes the meaning of ‘state-sanctioned’ violence to a whole new level.� “The climate of impunity in the Philippines has intensified even further since President Duterte began his brutal crackdown on suspected drug users and dealers in July, with a wave of unlawful killings claiming more than 5,000 lives across the country,� Rafendi Djamin, Amnesty International’s Director for South East Asia and the Pacific, said in a statement

released on Wednesday, December 14.

Djamin urged Duterte to fulfill his obligations as the country’s president by “ordering investigations into these killings and bringing those responsible to justice, not claiming a part in them.�

He also urged the authorities to stop pursuing a “bloody path they have set out on, and fulfill their duty to protect all people by ending incitement to violence.�

Meanwhile, according to Philippine Senator Richard Gordon, the president is opening himself to impeachment if his claim of killing people is really true. “When he says that, he’s opening himself up, di ba (isn’t it)?

Sya ang nagsabi e (He’s the one who said it). So [what’s the] legal way, e di mag impeach kayo, mag impeach kung sino man ang may gusto (impeach him if you want) because I’m sure he knows how to defend that,� Gordon said.

The senator, however, pointed out that a person cannot just immediately file an impeachment case against Duterte because of his claims, noting that the issue must first be investigated. “If the killing was done in self-defense, there is no liability.

If he killed someone, then he is liable...The president is prone to making exaggerated statements.

I think that is part of his strategy but I think he said this for a reason,� Gordon added. n

PH ends support for US patrols in the...

PAGE A1 dom of navigation patrols “to avoid any provocative actions that can escalate tensions in the South China Sea.�

The government’s announcement on Monday may conflict with the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) signed by representatives of the U.S. and the Philippines in 2014.

The document grants U.S. forces access to certain Philippine military bases and was recently affirmed as constitutional by the latter country’s Supreme Court in July.

Since taking office at the end of June this year, Duterte has pushed to mend ties with Beijing which had soured due to disputes over fishing rights at Scarborough Shoal.

Efforts to expand the Philippines’ relationship with China

were spurred partly by tensions that grew out of U.S. opposition to the Duterte administration’s crackdown on the country’s illegal drug trade.

President-elect Donald Trump had offered a clean slate to his Filipino counterpart and expressed support for Duterte’s war on crime during a direct phone call on Friday, December 2. Despite that conversation, officials in Beijing have said that the Philippines’ pivot to China will continue, according to Bloomberg and other sources.

American forces will, however, be allowed to land, refuel, and resupply in the Philippines on their way back from those missions. Lorenzana told reporters on Monday that the U.S. could still launch exercises from Guam or Japan.

The Duterte administration’s decision might have threat-

ened to cancel joint exercises between the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the American military. However, the exercises could still take place if they were repurposed into humanitarian and emergency relief training, Lt. Gen. Stephen Lanza, commander of the U.S. Army I Corps, told Voice of America.

Despite a reduction in support from what has traditionally been one of the United States’ closest allies, American officials say they are likely to remain committed to promoting freedom of navigation in the South China Sea. “You know, we will fly, we will sail anywhere within international waters and we will continue that,� State Department spokesperson Elizabeth Trudeau told reporters during a press briefing on Thursday, December 8. n

MISS UNIVERSE BEAUTIES VISIT RIZAL PARK. Miss Universe Indonesia Kezia Roslin Cikita Warouw takes a selfie with other candidates of the Miss Universe pageant in front of the Rizal monument on Monday, Dec. 12. The candidates toured Manila after visiting Siargao.

ManilaTimes.net photo by Bob Dungo

Palace hits the New York Times for being...

PAGE A1 “We ask the foreign media to present both sides of the story when reporting on the Philippine war on drugs,� Andanar said.

The statement comes following a New York Times article entitled “They are slaughtering us like animals,� published last December 7. The article — which covers 57 murder victims at 41 sites over the span of 35 days — also includes graphic images depicting some of the incidents.

In the piece, writer Daniel Berehulak reported that about 2,000 people “had been slain at the hands of the police alone� since President Rodrigo Duterte launched his “bloody and cha-

otic� crackdown on drugs.

Berehukak added that vigilantes seem to be “taking seriously Mr. Duterte’s call to ‘slaughter them all.’�

According to Andanar, the article “depicts the Philippines as the Wild, Wild West in this part of the world. This is farthest from the truth.� “If the reporter had bothered to check the facts of the 3,000 deaths under investigation by the Philippine National Police, only 1,080 are drug-related. The rest are murder and homicide cases perpetrated by gunmen which the Philippine National Police (PNP) is now investigating, the results of which will

be made public in due time,�

Andanar noted, insisting that Duterte has not given any direct order for police to kill drug dealers and users on mere suspicion.

Instead, police officers “neutralize those who violently resist arrest� and have the right to defend themselves, the spokesman said.

Meanwhile, in his speech during The Outstanding Filipino Awards for 2016 at MalacaĂąang, the president responded to the international criticism. “I am not a killer. I do not relish or enjoy a Filipino sprawled there with all the blood,â€? he said. n

American Red Cross reps urge Filipinos to...

PAGE A1 still have faulty units, according to the organization’s Regional Disaster Program Manager, Jeanne Woo. “We dealt with multiple fatalities over the Thanksgiving weekend,� she told the Asian Journal on Tuesday, December 6. “There are very positive and easy steps that we can take to make sure that doesn’t happen to our families and loved ones,� she added following a disaster preparedness presentation put on by the nonprofit and hosted by the Philippine Consulate in Los Angeles.

On Tuesday, ARC-LA representatives and volunteers said Angelenos need to stay vigilant of the potential hazards around them and outlined strategies for surviving fires and other catastrophes. They encouraged residents to develop and practice emergency plans for a variety of NEW PH NAVY FRIGATE. People waves miniature flags as they welcome the arrival of BRP Andres Bonifacio at Pier 13 in South Harbor, Manila. possible emergencies.

BRP Andres Bonifacio is a naval warship pledged by US President Barrack Obama to the Philippines during his visit to the country in 2015. In line In addition, Woo said poorly with efforts to strengthen the Philippines’ ties with China, representatives of the Duterte administration have set out to end an arrangement that allows U.S. patrols in the South China Sea. Inquirer.net photo by Marianne Bermudez placed alarms have a tendency to

go off when they shouldn’t and become a nuisance. As a consequence, some homeowners significantly increase the likelihood of a serious fire by removing the batteries from improperly mounted units, or neglect to replace them when they run out of power.

The ARC-LA hopes to properly outfit 400 homes in the Pico-Union and Westlake areas during next February’s round of free installations. Funding for the program comes from a combination of donations, grants, and the ARC-LA budget.

The organization is looking for volunteers willing to assist with installations and help reduce the likelihood of fires. They need no advanced knowledge to participate and will receive training at the event.

A smaller percentage of the ARC-LA’s volunteers come out of Pico-Union and Westlake neighborhoods, compared to other parts of the city, according to Woo. “This is a great opportunity

to reach into the Filipino community,� she said on Tuesday. “We could use more volunteers from within the community who will respond to localized disasters.�

Woo said that people from the immediate vicinity of a disaster are especially effective at coordinating relief efforts. In addition to reduced transit times, emergency responders from within the community face fewer language barriers than those from further away. They also tend to possess a deeper understanding of their neighborhood’s specific needs and challenges.

More information for those interested in taking part of any of the ARC-LA’s community events or volunteering on a more regular basis can find more information on its website. There, individuals can also set up an appointment for a smoke alarm installation and learn how to better prepare themselves for a wide variety of potential disasters. (Eric Anthony Licas / AJPress)

Millionaires, CEOs & military personnel comprise Trump’s...

PAGE A1 the tape was leaked.

However, Priebus graciously accepted Trump’s nomination and has stated that his main goal was to groom the administration to become more congenial and less associated with Trump’s controversial rhetoric. “[Trump] said, ‘We’re going to calm the waters. We’re going to bring people together. We’re not going to brag,’� Priebus said on Fox News following the election results.

Stephen Bannon, White House Chief Strategist and Senior Counselor One of the more controversial picks, Bannon, the former head of so-called alt-right news outlet Breitbart News, had been one

of Trump’s most-trusted advisers during the campaign. Since being selected as the chief strategist and senior counselor to the president-elect, critics have lambasted Bannon as a “white nationalist� for his news outlet’s alleged “racist� and “anti-Semitic� slant.

Responding to the criticism of his appointment from organizations, such as the Anti-Defamation League as well as some Republican strategists, he said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter: “Darkness is good. Dick Cheney. Darth Vader. Satan. That’s the power. It only helps us when they [presumably, liberals] get it wrong.

When they’re blind to who we are and what we’re doing.�

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.),

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Attorney General Another controversial appointment, Sessions was responsible for helping Trump craft the strict immigration plan that has been a cornerstone of the campaign. He was also among the first senators to endorse Trump back in February.

The seasoned senator is well-respected among his Republican colleagues but is not a favorite among Democrats in Washington. In the 1980s, then President Ronald Reagan nominated Sessions for federal district judge only to be blocked by the Democrat-led Senate after being accused of saying racial slurs toward an African-American colleague.

Gov. Nikki Haley, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations (UN) Considered one of the rising stars in the Republican Party, Trump’s nomination of the South Carolina governor came to the surprise of many. Previously considered for the Vice President ticket, Haley — the daughter of Indian immigrants — is one of the first women of color picked by Trump, who received flak for previously only picking older, white men.

Haley, 44, had sparred with Trump during the race, criticizing his rhetoric and his refusal to condemn hate groups like the Ku Klux Klan. In response, Trump picked on Haley, calling her “weak� on immigration. Despite their rocky history, Haley expressed a “sense of duty� and accepted Trump’s offer. “When the President believes you have a major contribution to make to the welfare of our nation, and to our nation’s standing in the world, that is a calling that is important to

heed,� Haley said in a statement on Wednesday, November 23. “The second is a satisfaction with all that we have achieved in our state in the last six years and the knowledge that we are on a very strong footing.�

Trump’s Cabinet picks so far Wilbur Ross, Jr., Secretary of Commerce Committing to Trump promise to save jobs in coal, Ross, a 79-year-old billionaire, has built his fortune on restructuring the steel and coal industries.

Although the coal industry is seeing strong competition from renewable energy companies, Ross’s commitment to saving jobs in coal strikes a chord with much of Middle America where most of those jobs are located.

As an opponent of free trade agreements, Ross has echoed much of Trump’s stances on the economy which likely aided in his nomination as commerce secretary. However, the relationship between the two dates back to the 1990s when Ross aided Trump in the latter’s failing Taj Mahal casino.

James Mattis, Secretary of Defense Retired former commander of the U.S. Central Command Gen. Mattis played a critical role in the Marines when he led a division into Baghdad in 2003 during the invasion of Iraq. Much like the president-elect, Mattis — whose nickname is “Mad Dog — is known for his crass language and openly expressed enjoying the brutal nature of war. Mattis is also known for his undeniable understanding of military strategy, a characteristic that piqued Trump’s interest.

PAGE A3

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LAS VEGAS ASIAN JOURNAL • dEcEmbER 15-21, 2016

A

US senator’s bill targets China aggression in South China Sea

by Camille

Diola Philstar.com

FLORIDA lawmaker Marco Rubio introduced at the United States Senate a proposed bill seeking to sanction Chinese individuals and entities that participate in “illegitimate operations” in the South China Sea and East China Sea. In a statement earlier this month, Rubio said the security of US allies in the western Pacific “cannot be endangered by Beijing’s ongoing flagrant violations of international norms in its pursuit of dominance in the South China Sea and East China Sea.” “China’s aggressive actions in the South China Sea are illegitimate and threaten the region’s security and American PAROL-MAKING WINNERS. Sen. Cynthia A. Villar hands a trophy to Bryan Flores who won tne first prize in the parol making contest during commerce, with reverberations the 11th Parol Festival in Las Pinas City. Flores also got P20,000 cash prize while Alicia Bencio (in red shirt) and a representative of Emeterio that can be felt here at home, Cabasal Jr. (in white blouse) also got P15,000 and P10,000, for the second and third place. The Parol Festival is an annual competition of giant parols made by Las Pineros. Also in the photo are DPWH Sec. Mark Villar and Diwa Partylist Rep. Emmeline Aglipay-Villar and their including Florida’s ports and daughter.

Senate photo throughout our state’s shipping and cargo economy,” Rubio, a

Millionaires, CEOs & military personnel comprise...

PAGE A2 Trump announced the appointment to a cheering rally in North Carolina on Tuesday, December 6, saying that Mattis was “one of the most effective generals that we’ve had in many, many decades.”

Betsy DeVos, Secretary of Education The billionaire former Republican Party chairwoman in Michigan has been a leader in the movement to drastically change the education landscape. Spending millions to push create programs and laws, DeVos — who has had no experience in the public school domain — successfully expanded the use public funds to pay for private/religious school tuition by way of vouchers and other like program in several states.

After her nomination, her pro-voucher and pro-school choice agenda may play a key role in her new post, which coincides with Trump’s vow to divert funds away from the public education system, which he has described as “a governmentrun monopoly.”

Tom Price, Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS)

Another one of Trump’s promises on the campaign trail was an end to President Barack Obama’s landmark health care laws, the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. With his appointment of Price — an orthopedic surgeon from Atlanta — as his HHS secretary, Trump may have a perfect solution to that promise.

A strong critic of Obamacare, Price has offered a detailed health care plan to challenge and replace Obamacare since 2009 as Obamacare was being written. His suggested legislations — called the Empowering Patients First Act — would repeal Obamacare and offer “ageadjusted tax credits” for individual and group health plans, according to a report from The New York Times. This year, House Republicans have adopted several ideas from his plan in their issued “Better Way” agenda.

Gen. John F. Kelly, Secretary of Homeland Security A retired four-star general, Gen. Kelly will be responsible for overseeing immigration under the Trump administration.

As Southern Command chief, Kelly — in addition to commanding the Marines in Iraq

— organized and managed U.S. military operations in South and Central America, including the border.

Kelly’s son, Robert, was killed in combat in Afghanistan, which made him the highest-ranking officer in the military to lose a child during the conflicts in Iraq or Afghanistan. Critics also say this very quality was pivotal in Trump’s nomination following the backlash he received for criticizing the Khan family, a Muslim-American family who lost their son during the Iraq War. Like Trump, Kelly possesses strict concerns on the U.S./ Mexico border, including drug trafficking.

Ben Carson, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Although former Republican presidential nominee Ben Carson previously expressed disinterest in serving in Trump’s administration, Trump nominated the retired neurosurgeon to head the HUD department.

Carson does not have experience in government, bureaucracy or housing policy, however, Trump has no doubt that Carson harbors the qualities necessary to uplifting cities and

towns across the U.S. “Ben Carson has a brilliant mind and is passionate about strengthening communities and families within those communities,” Trump said in a statement on Monday, December 5. “We have talked at length about my urban renewal agenda and our message for economic revival, very much including our inner cities.”

Elaine Chao, Secretary of Transportation One of the first women of color that Trump has nominated in his administration, Elaine Chao’s appointment as transportation secretary is crucial to those who call for more AsianAmerican and female representation in Washington. Chao previously served on former President George W. Bush’s Cabinet as the Secretary of Labor; in his administration, she was the only official to serve all eight years.

Before that, she had been the deputy secretary of transportation from 1989-1991 during former President George H.W. Bush’s administration.

A solid figure in the Republican establishment, Chao is married to Senate Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) and has campaigned for him.

Republican senator, said.

He said the US should take concrete steps through his proposed South China Sea and East China Sea Sanctions Act to hold violations of international norms accountable as the world depends on freedom of navigation and overlight in the disputed waterway.

“Consistent with international law, China should not be allowed to interfere in any way with the free use of the waters and airspace in the South China Sea and East China Sea by civilian and military ships and aircraft of all countries,” Rubio said.

The Philippines, a close US ally, has long been embroiled in a row with China and some of its neighbors over overlapping territorial and maritime claims. In June, an arbitral tribunal under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea favored the Philippines in its decision and dismissed China’s nine-dash

line claim.

Rubio’s bill, once a law, will require the US president to impose sanctions and prohibit visas for Chinese who contribute to construction or development projects or threaten peace and stability in the South China Sea. The act also imposes sanctions on foreign financial institutions that knowingly conduct transactions with sanctioned individuals if China “takes certains” actions such as declaring an air defense identification zone on Scarborough Shoal, which the Philippines calls Panatag Shoal.

The legislation also seeks to prohibit the publication of documents portraying the South China and East China Seas as part of China.

Even foreign countries that openly support China’s claims will receive only restricted assistance from the US once the bill is passed. n

Steven Mnuchin, Secretary of Treasury During the election race, the entrepreneur, Wall Street investor and former executive of Goldman Sachs — one of the banks that needed a government bailout during the 2008 recession— served as Trump’s campaign national finance chair. After 17 years of rising to the top of Goldman Sachs, Mnuchin left to begin his own hedge fund and also finances large, blockbuster films in Hollywood on the side.

Scott Pruitt, Head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) When Trump nominated Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt as the new head of the EPA, those that support climate change initiatives were outraged. Pruitt, who has close ties to the fossil fuel industry, has been a key player in challenging President Obama’s climate change policies.

The appointment of the socalled “climate change denier” — whose stances coincide with Trump’s — outraged those who have been fighting for climate change initiatives in Congress, including former Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

“Trump’s nominee to lead

EPA, Scott Pruitt, is a climate denier who’s worked closely with the fossil fuel industry.

That’s sad and dangerous,” Sanders tweeted on Wednesday, December 7 after the announcement.

Linda McMahon, Head of the Small Business Administration (SBA) McMahon — co-founder and former CEO of the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and a close friend of Trump — donated a total of $7.5 million to super-PACs that supported Trump’s campaign in August and September. In 2010 and 2012, McMahon ran for but failed to win the Republican Senate seat in Connecticut.

Trump cited the WWE’s upward mobility from a “13-person operation to a publicly traded global enterprise” for McMahon’s nomination.

“Linda is going to be a phenomenal leader and champion for small businesses and unleash America’s entrepreneurial spirit all across the country,” Trump said in a statement on Friday, December 9.

Appointments for the Cabinet secretaries of State, the Interior, Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Labor, and Energy are still pending, as of this writing.

(Klarize Medenilla/AJPress)

A

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Robredo, Liberal Party to discuss national...

PAGE A1 conduct the meeting earlier),” Robredo disclosed on Wednesday, December 14, in an open forum with students at the 5th General Trias Youth Leaders’ Summit in Cavite.

She said the LP will discuss various national issues, including pending measures on the reimposition of the death penalty, the age of criminal liability, and amendments to the sin tax law.

“Sinu-suggest nila na gusto nila mag-meet at magkaroon ng

dating ginagawa na may isang policy body para naiintidihan ng mg miyembro… Iyon ang sinasabi nila na mas mabuti sana bago ito pinag-uusapan sa Kongreso para alam na rin namin ang direksyon.

(They suggested that we meet so we can create a policy body so that the members can understand the issues… That’s why they are saying we should discuss this before these are deliberated in Congress, so we have direction),” the vice president added.

She also made a distinction

Sen. Franklin Drilon said that they expect Vice President Leni to lead the Liberal Party, and the Liberal Party to be the voice of the opposition.

regarding the difference between the “voice of opposition” and “leader of opposition.”

Robredo, who holds the highest position in government among the members of the LP, previously announced that she is ready to become the “unifying voice” of the opposition after President Rodrigo Duterte earlier ordered her to “desist” attending from all cabinet meetings, prompting her to resign from her post as the housing secretary.

“Iyong boses ng oposisyon hindi iyan partisan. Oposisyon sa mga specific na polisiya ng gobyerno.

Nag-tratranscend ito ng mga political parties (Being the voice of the opposition is nonpartisan because the opposition is specific to the policies of government. That transcends political parties),” the vice president explained.

Robredo noted that she wanted to help the administration to succeed by unifying the voices dissenting against some policies of the government that “we believe are threatening our democratic institutions.”

“Kapag sinabi mo kasi na opposition leader ka parang lahat na lang ng gawin ng administrasyon kontra ka. Parang hindi naman iyon tama. Parang hindi na natin binibigyan ng pagkakataon ang administrasyon na mag-succeed.

(Because if you say ‘opposition leader,’ it seems like you will protest everything the administration does. That doesn’t seem right because it’s like we are not giving the administration the chance to succeed),” Robredo added. n

RED CROSS GETS NEW AMBULANCE. Senator Richard Gordon, Philippine Red Cross Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, shows to his fellow Senators Juan Miguel Zubiri and Manny Paquiao the new ambulance that was turned over and donated by Rafael Simpao Jr, Chairman of Security Bank Foundation Inc. Senate photo by Joseph Vidal

Pacquiao could fight as late as June 2017, says Arum

by Dino

Maragay Philstar.com

TOP Rank Inc. chief Bob Arum said Manny Pacquiao’s ring return could stretch to June next year.

Speaking recently to boxingscene.com’s Keith Idec, Arum also said that Pacquiao plans to fight two times in 2017, like he’s done in the past few years.

“Manny’s next fight could be as late as June. He’s gonna fight twice a year, so if he fights in June and fights in November, that’s OK. And I wanna get away from the cards that are on pay-per-view that shouldn’t be on pay-per-view,” said the veteran promoter.

Pacquiao typically holds his first fight of the year in April – or March at the earliest and May the latest.

But as an incumbent Philippine

senator, he promised to make sure his fights will not coincide with Senate sessions.

No opponent has yet been named, but undefeated WBC and WBO super lightweight champion Terence Crawford is in the mix for Pacquiao.

The 29-year-old Crawford boosted his case after he stopped John Molina Jr. over the weekend to retain his titles. He afterwards called Pacquiao out, but said he isn’t desperate for a showdown with the Filipino icon.

But there’s one fight that Arum and Pacquiao will prioritize if ever it becomes a clear option – a rematch with Floyd Mayweather Jr. The retired Mayweather, however, has kept mum about returning to boxing. But the undefeated

American stirred talks about another clash with Pacquiao when he showed up at ringside at the latter’s fight with Jessie Vargas in Las Vegas last month.

Arum, for his part, isn’t pinning too much hope on Mayweather returning “I’m not holding my breath.

But obviously, if Floyd decides to come back and wants to fight Manny, that’s the fight we would work on. But there’s no indication that that’s the case,” the Top Rank boss added.

Arum also said in the same report that he will fly to the Philippines in January next year to sit down with Pacquiao and finalize things.

For now, it is still waiting time for Pacquiao and his fans. n

Balikbayan boxes to be tax-free starting... requirements: supporting documents composing of a photocopy low them to establish temporary of a page of his Philippine or foreign passport with his personal stay outside the Philippines.

“We value the importance of information, and an invoice, each balikbayan box. It symbol- receipt or equivalent document izes the hardship of our OFWs, covering the goods in the balikand the love of Filipinos abroad bayan box; and a filled up, signed for their families here in the and submitted information sheet, country,” BOC Commissioner which will be issued by BOC and will serve as the packing list.

Nicanor Faeldon said.

The international forwarder To avail tax-free balikbayan boxes, qualified Filipinos abroad or consolidator should submit must also met the following the documents through a secure PAGE A1

electronic format to a Philippine forwarder or deconsolidator.

The local forwarder or deconsolidator should then transmit to the Bureau the documents through a secure electronic format before the arrival of the balikbayan boxes in the Philippines and within the prescribed period.

Last May 31, former President Benigno Aquino III signed the CMTA, a month before his term ended. n

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D ateline PhiliPPines New US envoy meets Mayor Sara Duterte,

A

pays tribute to Davao blast victims

by Rosette

Adel

Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio.

It was the first place Kim visited MANILA — New United States outside Manila, 13 days after his Ambassador to the Philippines arrival in the country.

Sung Kim on Wednesday, Dec. 14 Duterte-Carpio said she is visited Davao City and met with happy that the ambassador chose presidential daughter Davao City to visit Davao City.

Philstar.com

Kim also paid tribute to the victims of the night market blast in Davao City last September 2.

“My meeting with him, albeit very brief, was cordial and was an opportunity for us to renew our friendly relationship and ties with the United States government and the American people,” DuterteCarpio said in a statement.

“We are also very grateful for his expression of support for our fight against terrorism as he commiserated with the families, the survivors, and the victims of the grisly September 2 bombing in Davao,” she added.

For his part, Kim said he was pleased to meet Duterte-Carpio.

“Pleasure meeting Mayor Inday Sara Duterte today. Wishing all the best for her, her family, and Immigration Deputy Commissioners Al Argosino and Michael Robles present to media P30 million, part of the P50 million given them by Jack Lam to secure the freedom of hundreds of arrested Chinese found illegally working in Pampanga. ManilaTimes.net photo by Boby Dungo Jr. all Davaoeños!” he said.

Aside from meeting DuterteCarpio and paying tribute to the Davao explosion victims, Kim met with Mindanao business leadby WilliAm depAsupil judicial process, cuts the lengthy added that they kept the money ers and visited the Davao Public ManilaTimes process of filing a criminal case to as evidence against Lam and his Safety and Security Command THE Volunteers Against Crime ensure immediate resolution of a cohorts.

Center. He shared his activities and Corruption (VACC) urged complaint or legal action.

“We don’t look at this as bribe on his Twitter account.

President Rodrigo Duterte to “Snappy legal action, cutting money, we look at this as evidence apply quick justice to two Immi- corners from the slow processes of corruption,” Agrosino said. gration officials who on Tuesday, would prevent other crimes to be He explained that they did not Dec. 13 admitted having received committed. Let us not give corrupt have Sombero arrested so as not that the law will not or cannot be P50 million from Chinese online officials the opportunity to cir- to blow up their operation since gambling operator Jack Lam. cumvent the law by more bribes, they were still collecting evidence enforced against them.

The P50 million given to Associ- more payoffs and who knows, to against Lam. “The inference is not only “That’s why it reached this there is safety in numbers, but ate Commissioners Al C. Argosino hide evidence or eliminate incrimthat this brings some kind of col- and Michael B. Robles was alleg- inating people permanently by point that we are being accused of lective immunity from legal pro- edly in exchange for the release resorting to extra judicial killings? receiving bribe money from Lam,” of 600 illegal Chinese arrested Instead, let’s do it right legally but Agrosino said. cess – it does not,” he added.

The two officials accused retired The second heresy, he quoted, for working without permit at the swiftly through the Extra Judicial police general Charles Calima, the is when one feels sufficiently Fontana Hotel and Leisure Park in Process,” Jimenez said.

He suggested that EJP will ex- acting BI intelligence chief, of strong about a particular case Clark, Pampanga.

The transaction took place pedite the legal process from conspiring with Sombero in setthat one thinks or claims superiority to the laws and is, there- on November 27 at the City of the Department of Justice which ting them up.

Dreams Hotel and Casino in Pa- investigates to determine probable Agrosino presented only P30 fore, absolved. cause to the Office of the Ombuds- million during the news briefing.

“This is arrogant nonsense say City.

“These two commissioners man and quickly to the Office of the He said Sombero took P2 miland deserves to be treated as were practically caught flatfooted Court Administrator where the case lion while Calima pocketed P18 such,” Marcos said.

The third heresy is when the in the act of receiving bribes. We can be raffled off before a marathon million. have video footages, witnesses, hearing can be conducted.

The two officials on Monday, law can be obeyed selectively.

“That’s EJP, fast on the draw Dec. 12 filed corruption of public When groups, the former “dirty” money in bags. What senator said, would pick and more do we need as evidence?” against corruptors in govern- officials charges against Sombero, Calima, Lam and his two chose which to obey and which VACC founding chairman Dante ment,” Jimenez said.

Framed up? interpreters. to break, “liberty itself is im- Jimenez said.

“Let’s skip the judicial red tapes Based on the CCTV footage, Agrosino and Robles had filed periled.”

“The law must be obeyed as a and all the delaying tactics and the money was handed to the two a 30-day leave of absence. go right to prosecuting them. We Immigration officials by retired However, Justice Secretary whole,” Marcos stressed.

Vitaliano Aguirre 2nd said he has He pointed out that their de- have a case here, clearly there’s a police general Wally Sombero.

In a news conference on Tues- recommended to President Rotractors and what they do actually payoff. So then, let’s do the EJP,” day, the two officials claimed drigo Duterte the duo’s dismissal mirror the three political heresies he added.

He explained that EJP, or extra that they were framed up. They from the service. mentioned by Thatcher.

BI officials admit receiving P50-M

New United States Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim on Wednesday, Dec. 14 visited Davao City and met with presidential daughter Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio.

Bongbong to detractors: You cannot escape history by peRseus

echeminAdA Philstar.com

MANILA – Former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has refuted allegations that President Duterte revised history when he ordered the burial of the late strongman at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Taguig city last month.

Speaking before delegates of the Philippine Constitution Association in Manila Golf Club last Thursday, Marcos argued that the burial was not historical revisionism since as a former president, his father and namesake was supposed to make history.

“It’s up to others to record that history,” he said. “Sometimes there is disparity between the history that is made and the history that is written. I believe that from there we can see where the revision comes in.”

He admitted there were times that he and his sister – Ilocos

Gov. Imee Marcos – get weary of the contentions when history and martial law and all the other historical baggage that his late father actually put on them is being talked about.

“But don’t get me wrong. I am happy to carry any historical baggage that my father actually did and put on us. But those inventions that our detractors would like to add to redefine that baggage I will not accept,” the former lawmaker added.

Although wanting to set aside history and focus instead on the country’s development, he admitted that no one can escape this as “history will find you.”

In the same forum, Marcos mentioned the “political heresies” surrounding the burial issue, quoting former prime minister Margaret Thatcher.

He said the first heresy is when a determined minority, along with enough adjuncts to bully or intimidate others, thinks

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OpiniOn

Features

He said, she said

“I WILL continue to fight against things I do not believe in. If being an opposition leader entails that, then I will be an opposition leader,” Vice Pres. Leni Robredo told the media after she resigned from Pres.

Rodrigo Duterte’s Cabinet last week.

Robredo quit being the chairperson of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) after being ordered—via a text message—to desist from attending all cabinet meetings. She alleged that there’s a plot to eventually remove her from vice presidency.

“We had hoped this day would not come. I had been warned of a plot to steal the Vice Presidency.

I have chosen to ignore this and focus on the job at hand. But the events of recent days indicate that this plot is now being set into motion,” Robredo said in her resignation letter.

Malacañang officials said that the “separation” was caused by irreconcilable differences, as there are certain policies that the two leaders disagree on.

Robredo has been a staunch critic of Duterte’s ongoing drug war and has lamented the rising number of casualties. She insists that the rule of law must prevail and urged the public to remain vigilant.

“It’s not about deciding who dies or who lives. It’s also about making sure that when the fighting dies down, what’s left is a community that trusts more than fears,” she said in August.

The government’s bloody campaign against il-

legal drugs has left more than 3,600 suspects dead, including more than 1,300 killed in gun battles with authorities—an average of 36 killings a day since he took office on June 30.

This brutal crackdown on drugs has also led to killings on the streets and violations of human rights, including the right to life and to due process.

Another divisive issue that might have pulled the trigger on this short-lived partnership was the controversial decision of Duterte to allow the burial of former Pres. Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (Heroes’ Cemetery).

Robredo is the highest ranking leader of the Liberal Party and a known ally of former Pres. Benigno Aquino III. She also defeated the late president’s son, former Sen. Bongbong Marcos, in the vice presidential race.

Cabinet Secretary Leoncio “Jun” Evasco Jr, who related the president’s order to Robredo, denied that the decision to cut her loose was connected to Duterte’s close ties with the Marcoses.

On Thursday, Dec. 8, Duterte assured Robredo that there are no plots to steal the vice presidency from her.

“I will assure Leni and the rest of the Bicol region that you will have her until the very end of her

Editorial

ManilaTimes.net photo

term,” Duterte told reporters. “There is no such thing as removing of a vice president,” he added.

Duterte has also accused the “Yellows,” or allies of the previous Aquino administration led by the Liberal Party, of plotting to oust him.

This political divide led by the country’s top leaders is set to continue well into 2022 if they both

finish their terms. This is not democracy at work because it brings heightened uncertainty and increased tensions.

Instead of inspiring intelligent opinion on the country’s current issues, the continuous disagreement causes national bickering and it is deeply unsettling. (AJPress)

Warning to DREAMers: Do not leave the US when Trump becomes president AS most kababayans in the United States are joyfully preparing for Christmas, there are Filipinos who are weighed down by feelings of uncertainty as President-elect Donald Trump’s oath taking comes near.

These are Filipinos who are living and working in the United States without the required immigration papers, while some have benefitted from President Barack Obama’s DREAM Act — deportation relief measures that protect these young people brought to the United States as kids and have considered America their home.

However, President-elect Trump has vowed to rescind Obama’s executive orders on immigration which may put many of these kababayans at risk of being deported once Trump becomes President on January 20, 2017. These may include those

Street Talk GReG B. MacaBenta MY father-in-law, Jose Nobleza, Sr., and my eldest brother, Wilfredo, did not live long enough to see this happen, but 99-year old Celestino Almeda of Gaithersburg, Maryland still walks the corridors of power in Washington DC, eagerly waiting for President Barack Obama to sign into law, S. 1555, The Filipino Veterans of World War II Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2015.

Almeda is one of only 18,000 surviving veterans, out of 260,000 young Filipinos who answered the call to arms of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt upon the invasion of the Philippines by Japanese Imperial Forces.

Both the living and the dead will finally be accorded America’s highest civilian honor for their courage, heroism and sacrifices, by the same U.S. Congress that passed the grossly unjust Rescission Act of 1946 that specifically denied veterans’ benefits to Filipinos who had fought under the American flag in World War II. The Congressional Gold Medal Act was finally passed by the U.S. House of Representatives last November 30. It had been earlier passed by the U.S. Senate by unanimous consent. Signing it into law may be one of the last official acts of the Obama presidency.

Filipino and Filipino-American veterans will soon be part of the same roster of heroes headed in March 1776 by the first Congressional Gold Medal recipient, George Washington – a roster that includes America’s most honored men and women, including revolutionary hero, John Paul Jones, Major Generals Andrew Jackson and Ulysses S. Grant, Gen. Douglas MacArthur,

who may have been granted advanced parole so they may be The Fil-Am able to leave the U.S. to visit their families back in the Philippines Perspective and be able to come back to the United States.

However, immigrant rights advocates, lawyers and universities have warned these undocument- Gel SantoS-ReloS ed immigrants, particularly the beneficiaries of the DREAM Act, against traveling.

They say it is best for them not to leave the U.S., or if they have to and have the advanced parole documents, it would be in their best interests to come back to America BEFORE Trump takes oath as president.

Immigration is a privilege and not a right, and

therefore, if the new president chooses to issue an executive order barring these undocumented immigrants from coming back to the U.S., even if they have the advanced parole documents, then they may not be able to enter the country again unless immigration laws and guidelines change.

DREAMers as many fear he would, but he would instead focus on prioritizing the removal of undocumented immigrants with serious criminal convictions.

This segues to a very important reminder to kababayans in America who may have already been granted their green card/permanent resident

status. Atty. Lou Tancinco said it may be wise for them to apply for citizenship NOW because having a green card does not protect you from deportation if you are involved and become convicted of a serious crime. There are benefits and protections accorded to naturalized citizens which green card holders do not enjoy.

So what are you waiting for? If you are already eligible to naturalize, give yourself and your family this Christmas gift: apply for U.S. citizenship now! *** Gel Santos Relos is the anchor of TFC’s “Balitang America.” Views and opinions expressed by the author in this column are 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

US Congressional Gold Medal DOJ: They’re turning De Lima into a martyr Shooting for Filipino WWII veterans Straight Gen. John J. Pershing, Rev. Martin Luther King, Thomas Edison, Charles Lindberg and, among military units, the Navajo Code Talkers, the Tuskegee Airmen, and the Japanese-American Nisei infantry men and intelligence officers who fought in the European theater in spite of the incarceration of ethnic Japanese in America at the outbreak of World War II. The roster also includes South Africa’s Nelson Mandela, the United Kingdom’s Sir Winston Churchill, the Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa. Presidents Ronald Reagan and Harry S. Truman, athletes Jesse Owens and Jackie Robinson, Hollywood icons, Walt Disney, Frank Sinatra and John Wayne, and astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, Jr., Michael Collins and John Glenn, Jr. to mention the personalities most familiar to Pinoys.

The Congressional Gold Medal will be minted by the U.S. Treasury, to the tune of approximately $33,000, and put on permanent public display at the Smithsonian in Washington DC, along with all the other medals. Replicas will be made available to veterans and their living relatives in ceremonies being planned in the U.S. and in the Philippines.

To cover the cost of the replicas and thus make them available for free to the recipients, a fund-raising effort will be mounted by the same FilAms that President Rodrigo Duterte dismissed as being inconsequential (“They do not count!”), on one of his foot-inmouth moments.

Indeed, it is a rarified pantheon on which our Filipino veterans will be placed. But reaching that apex required tremendous audacity and unrelenting efforts by

Fil-Ams, led by Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba (U.S. Army, retired), chairman of the Filipino Veterans Recognition and Education Project (FilVetREP).

Taguba is the same general who exposed U.S. atrocities in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq at great risk to his military career.

Despite being lionized by the U.S. Congress and American media, Taguba was eased out of the service by Pentagon quarters.

According to Bing Cardenas Branigin, Washington DC-based Fil-Am community leader and former staffer of the late Minister Greg Cendaña’s Malacañang press office, Taguba had been involved in securing approval for the Congressional Gold Medal of the Japanese-American Nisei units. Branigin assisted Taguba in the distribution of medals to the aging recipients. And it occurred to them that Filipino World War II veterans deserved the same honor.

In 2003, Taguba, retired Maj. Gen. Delfin Lorenzana (then head of the Office of Veterans Affairs at the Philippine embassy in Washington DC and now Secretary of National Defense under Duterte), NaFFAA co-founder Jon Melegrito, Marie Blanco and Jude Saunders met at the Dubliner Irish Pub in the nation’s capital to discuss the idea of national recognition for the Filipino veterans, All they had to start with was a firm belief in their cause. Recalled Ben de Guzman, FilVetREP’s Outreach Director, there was an outpouring of support for the cause which soon became a national campaign.

“A coalition of national advocacy groups serving Filipino Americans, Asian Americans/PaPAGE A7

I FULLY concur with the proposal of former Senator Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel Jr. in urging the Duterte administration to assert our claim on the disputed territory of Sabah in North Borneo and to include this proposal to the proposed amendments in the 1987 Constitution now that we are in full preparations for that monumental shift from our present unitary form of government and into hopefully a Parliamentary/Federal form of government.

No less than Pres. Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte said that Federalism would help the many issues surrounding the Muslim question. However, what Pres.

Duterte perhaps doesn’t realize is that in Cebu and many parts of the Visayas, we too want this shift into a Parliamentary/Federal form of government simply because too many projects are not given to us in the Visayas and Mindanao. Too much Anti-Federalism, like Christian and Solita Monsod have been spreading their negative comments against Federalism, they just don’t know that they have become very unpopular here in the South!

Let me cite to you a very clear example why we need Federalism in Metro Cebu. In the six years of the reign of Pres. Benigno Aquino III, the route from Cebu City via Mandaue City all the way to the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MICA) and all the way to the fabulous resorts in Lapu-Lapu City that give Cebu its Tourism industry was already traffic congested. Yet in all those six years under the incompetent rule of Pres. Aquino, not one flyover was constructed to ease the congestion along the way. Despite countless columns giving the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) our suggestions to solve this problem, they only constructed a P36 million island separator, which we do not need!

In Cebu City, 16 years ago when

BoBit S. avila I was head of the Cebu City Traffic Management & Operations (CITOM), we already predicted that Escario St. would be heavily congested in the coming years. Back then we proposed to construct a parallel road to Escario St. emanating from V. Rama in Guadalupe, passing through the Guadalupe River and the Lahug Creeks and ending in the University of the Philippines (UP-Lahug) or if we had the extra money, we can bring this road all the way to Rosales Ave. and connect to the North Reclamation Area. If only they have P200 million a year sana tapos na.

During the 2010 Presidential campaign, I briefed Presidential bet Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro Jr. about this and he said, “If I win, you will be on top of that project. Alas he didn’t win, but the Cebuanos who voted for Pres.

Aquino were not listened to by his DPWH. Worse, the National Economic and Development Board (NEDA) did not give this project any priority even if the Regional Development Council (RDC-7) prioritized this project. Ten years ago, Escario St. suffered traffic congestion and until today, the political leaders whom we voted into office have no damn idea on how to solve this traffic mess. How many more years do we Cebuanos have to suffer?

This is why we in Cebu do not only want this shift to Federalism; we demand to have this before Pres. Duterte exits from the Presidency. Anti-Federalists say that we don’t need Federalism, but to fix our unitary form of governance.

Well it has taken over 71 years and

I don’t see anyone fixing anything!

The big fix is our shift to a Parliamentary/Federal government. * * * I was greatly disappointed that the Department of Justice (DoJ) under my good friend DoJ Sec. Vitaliano Aquirre gave embattled Sen. Leila De Lima their nod to allow her to travel to the United States and onward to Germany to speak before the Annual Conference on Cultural Diplomacy. Why in heavens did they allow this to happen to one of the biggest fish working for the Philippine government so high in the top officialdom that we have caught since former Pres. Joseph “Erap” Estrada was convicted?

If she is not stopped, Sen. De Lima will certainly seek asylum in those countries (preferably Germany where we do not have an extradition treaty) and use her asylum to launch more attacks (a lot of them are the same lies she peddled during those Congressional hearings) and believe me, she would have a ready audience from her friends in the Human Rights community where she has a good rapport. Then they will turn her into another martyr in the mold of the late Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. Mind you, it is easy to seek asylum abroad especially when one is hostile to the current government.

VACC founding chairman Dante Jimenez condemned this move saying, “VACC condemns allowing de Lima to leave because of various complaints under investigation like illegal drug trading in violation of [the Dangerous Drugs Act and for snubbing various hearings of House of Representatives and the Department of Justice” The DoJ should treat Sen. De Lima exactly the same way she treated so harshly former Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo with trump up charges that did not stick at all!

(Philstar.com)

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

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Duterte: I avoided ‘awkward situation’ with Obama

by Catherine

Valente Manilatimes.net

President rodrigo duterte admitted that he intentionally skipped the Asia-Pacific economic Cooperation (APeC) Leaders’ Meeting and other key events in Lima, Peru because he wanted to avoid an “awkward situation” with outgoing Us President Barack Obama. speaking before members of the Wallace Business Forum in Malacañang on Monday night, the President said having a bum stomach was just an excuse for his absence in major events at his first APeC meeting. “there was this awful criticism about me. that i was not there. i IMEE MARCOS AT MALACANANG. President Rodrigo Roa Duterte with Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos inside Malacanang Palace during asked [Foreign Affairs secretary the 2016 The Outstanding Filipinos (TOFIL) Awards on Saturday, December 12. Gov. Marcos is chair of the board of judges for this years Perfecto] Yasay [Jr.] to stand in awards.

Inquirer.net photo by Joan Bondoc for me. i was there. i attended the meetings actually. do not believe those idiots there outside. But you know, Obama was there. And because we had an exchange of PAGE A6 representatives of the Philippines and surrender congressional

US Congressional Gold Medal for Filipino...

cific islanders, veterans service organizations, and countless local organizations and advocates at the local level took part in this national campaign. their engagement with their senators and representatives in the last 17 months was instrumental in moving the CGM legislation forward,” de Guzman said. “Without grassroots support, it would have been difficult to mount the kind of campaign needed to bring us to this historic moment, which we celebrate with pride today.”

When the U.s. House of representatives finally approved the bill, taguba exulted: “today is truly a great day, a significant seminal period in American history – second only to the liberation

of the Japanese imperial Forces on August 15, 1945. now we can tell our veterans with pride in our hearts that this grateful nation has, at last, granted them recognition for the selfless sacrifice they endured in war, and restored their dignity and honor in service to their nation.” the Filipino Veterans of WWii Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2015 was introduced in June 2015 in the senate by U.s. sen.

Mazie Hirono (d-Hi), with U.s. sen. dean Heller (r-nev.) as lead co-sponsor, and in the House by U.s. rep. tulsi Gabbard (d-Hi2), with U.s. rep. Joseph Heck (r-nev.-3) as lead co-sponsor.

All over the U.s., Fil-Am community leaders called on their

to support the bill, while other ethnic groups did their own due diligence. the efforts paid off. there was some apprehension with the electoral victory of donald trump that the bill would not get the needed support before the adjournment of the current Congress. But last minute efforts by the proponents resulted in 312 cosponsors in the House, complementing the prior senate approval.

One final act is needed to complete this impressive story.

A stroke of the pen by President Obama and Filipinos and Filipino-American fighting men will have an indelible place in American history. (gregmacabenta@ hotmail.com)

by elizaBeth MarCelo Philstar.com

PH, Russia to work faster on enhancing defense engagement

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On Monday, dec. 12, he told reporters not to believe the earlier excuse. “i did not have a bum stomach. do not believe it. that was just an excuse but really i avoided it. i would not know how to react if he [Obama] would just push my hand [away] because we had a very hot exchange of words.” duterte also previously admitted that he intentionally skipped the Association of southeast Asian nations (AseAn)-Us summit in Laos last september as a “matter of principle.”

Aside from skipping the AseanUs summit, he was also unable to attend the AseAn-United nations summit and the Asean-india summit. the White House earlier called out possible human rights violations in duterte’s violent drug war. duterte responded by lashing out at Obama, telling him to “go to hell” and called him a “son of bitch.”

Morales: All ‘pork’ cases resolved by 2017

MAniLA – the Office of the Ombudsman is aiming to resolve by the end of 2017 all pending complaints filed against former and incumbent lawmakers implicated in the multibillion-peso pork barrel scam.

“We’re trying to wipe out all our cases involving PdAF by end of next year. that’s our target for all the PdAF cases pending before the Office of the Ombudsman,” Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales said.

Morales was referring to the Priority development Assistance Fund or pork barrel fund allocated to lawmakers.

At the forum, she dared her critics to file impeachment charges against her if they think she is remiss in her duties or showed bias as an ombudsman. “if they wish to impeach me, go on baby, you can do that,” Morales immediate implementation, indefense cooperation.

by Pia lee-Brago this visit is a first for a Philip- cluding exchange of high-level said. she said they are taking their Philstar.com pine defense official since the visits, military education and time in fact-finding investigation MAniLA – the Philippines and establishment of diplomatic training, intelligence exchange and evidence gathering to ensure russia have agreed to speed up relations with Moscow 40 years in the field of counterterrorism the conviction of erring public ofwork on a legal framework and ago. it also comes on the heels of and capacity-building in demin- ficials.

“We don’t file cases just for the plan of action outlining concrete the successful meeting between ing and military medicine, among heck of filing. We have to be very cooperative activities aimed at President duterte and russian others.

Antonov invited Lorenzana to exhaustive in the evidence that we enhancing their defense engage- President Vladimir Putin in Lima, participate in major events to gather, so that in court we cannot ment, the department of Foreign Peru last nov. 19. during his visit, Lorenzana and be organized by the Ministry of say that we filed it just to cater to Affairs (dFA) said. defense secretary delfin Antonov committed to fast-track defense next year – the Moscow public expectation,” she said when Lorenzana visited Moscow and work on building Philippines- Conference on international se- asked to comment on the recent curity (MCis), international Army dismissal of high-profile cases met with russian deputy defense russia defense engagement. the defenseT:5.69” officials exchanged Games and Military-technical filed by the ombudsman with the Minister Anatoly Antonov on dec. sandiganbayan.

5 to discuss Philippines-russia views on possible activities for Forum “Army 2017.”

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words, i was just trying to avoid an awkward situation,” he said. duterte said he feared that Obama would not accept his “gesture of handshake or his getting out of the way to avoid him.”

“You can tell it by just looking at the body language of people.

You would know. And because i did not want to create a scene, an awkward situation, i just stayed on the sidelines. that’s the truth. i was avoiding an awkward situation especially an international awkward behavior,” the president added. to avoid Obama, duterte missed several important events including the gala dinner hosted by Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kucynzski, the Leaders’ retreat and the traditional “family photo” of APeC leaders. in all these events, he was represented by Yasay. duterte himself earlier confirmed the bum stomach excuse given by his spokesmen.

Most noteworthy of these were the plunder and graft cases filed against former president and incumbent Pampanga rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in connection with the alleged misuse of Philippine Charity sweepstakes Office (PCsO) funds and the nBn-Zte broadband deal, respectively.

On Monday, dec. 12, the sandiganbayan dismissed the plunder case filed against former agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn “Jocjoc” Bolante over the P723-million fertilizer scam “for lack of probable cause.”

“We go to court with the belief that there is probable cause. the time the case is filed in court, our investigators had already beefed up evidence through preliminary investigation. We tried our best to build our case, but it is still up to the court to decide. Unfortunately, natatalo yung iba, nanalo din naman kami sa iba (unfortunately we lose in some cases, but we also win some),” Morales said.

Although none of the lawmakers charged before the sandiganbayan in connection with the pork barrel scam has been convicted so far, Morales said the supreme Court dismissal of former senator ramon “Bong” revilla’s motion to junk the plunder case against him is an encouraging development and shows the case is strong. it was in June 2014 when the ombudsman filed the first batch of PdAF cases before the sandiganbayan.

the cases included that of revilla and former senators Jinggoy estrada and Juan Ponce enrile, as well as alleged scam mastermind Janet Lim-napoles. revilla, estrada and napoles remain in detention after the sandiganbayan denied their motions for bail. enrile was granted bail by the sC in August 2015 on humanitarian grounds. the ombudsman filed PdAF cases against more than a dozen former and incumbent congressmen in 2015 and early this year, including against former Customs commissioner and incumbent Muntinlupa rep. ruffy Biazon.

Plunder cases involving the pork barrel scam were also filed against former Masbate governor rizalina seachon-Lanete and former Association of Philippine electric Cooperatives (APeC) party-list representative edgar Valdez in February 2015.

Lanete and Valdez were granted bail by the sandiganbayan early this year.

Among the PdAF cases pending before the ombudsman are those against sens. Gregorio Honasan and Joel Villanueva.

Morales said the ombudsman aims to release before the end of this year the result of its investigation on the P900-million Malampaya fund scam.

Morales said the public could expect the filing of cases in court as soon as the result of the investigation is out.

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JOURNAL FOOD, GLORIOUS FOOD: Maligayang Pasko: The noche buena spread

Filipino Christmas traditions

By KLARIZE

MEDENILLA AJPRESS

THE Philippines touts the longest Christmas celebration of any other country in the world.

As early as September, Filipinos begin the holiday festivities by partaking in the many customs and traditions unique to the global Filipino community.

Christmas traditions comprise both native customs and the West, which comes from Spanish colonization. Filipinos have adopted Santa Claus, Christmas trees, carols and cards as well as other Western holiday fixtures while still keeping true to native Filipino traditions.

Philippine holiday décor Although Americanization of the holidays has found its way to Philippine culture, like Christmas trees, tinsel, reindeer and even snow, Filipinos still keep true to their heritage by decorating their homes with traditional ornamentation.

The parol — which comes from the Spanish word farol, meaning “lantern” or “lamp” — is one of the most notable adornments seen on Filipino homes and buildings.

These extrava- gant, colorful star-shaped lanterns con-

note the Star of Bethlehem that helped the Three Kings navigate their way to the manger of the baby Jesus Christ.

The decoration was originally designed and crafted by artist Francisco Estanislao in 1908. He used bamboo strips as the skeleton of the design and overlaid it with papél de japón, or Japanese paper. A candle would be placed in the middle for the star’s famous illumination. Famously, before electricity was available, Filipinos who lived in the provincial areas would use a paról to illuminate their paths on the way to Simbang Gabi.

Another popular mainstay of the traditional Filipino Christmas is the belén, which is a nativity scene depicting the Birth of Christ in Bethlehem. The expansive installation often includes a threewalled barn house with the infant Christ in the manger flanked by the Virgin Mary, Joseph and the Three Kinds, the shepherds and stable animals. The scene is often surmounted by an angel or a star.

Belén is almost always seen at churches, but Filipinos often implement them in their homes, schools and office buildings. Belén can be minimalistic, but the ones that garner the most public view

are more extravagant with folks adorning them with Christmas lights, painted backdrops or even paról.

Simbang Gabi Filipino Catholics around the world often partake in the “Simbang Gabi” (night Mass) celebration, a devotional nine-day novena of Mass from December 16-24 to celebrate the coming of Christmas and to honor the Blessed Virgin Mary. Masses begin as early as 3 a.m., but in some parishes, masses are held the previous evening. The last day of the service on Christmas Eve is called Misa de Gallo, Spanish for “Rooster’s Mass.”

Simbang Gabi began as a tradition in 1669 in the early days of Spanish colonialism in the Philippines. As Christmas approached, novenas were often held in the evenings, but priests noticed the fatigue on the faces of those who had been working in the fields all day. To compromise, clergymen across the country began holding Simbang Gabi in the early dawn before folks headed out to work in the fields.

Today, Filipino parishes hold Simbang Gabi either early in the morning or later in the evening.

Some local parishes hold partial novenas while many are hosting full services per the 9-day tradition.

THERE is no doubt that Christmas is one of the Filipinos’ favorite holidays. Aside from having the longest holiday season (starting in September until January), Christmas is the time for parties, gift-giving, and of course, a multitude of culinary delights.

On Christmas Eve, the last Mass of Simbang Gabi is attended; and then noche buena — a family feast — takes place after midnight. Noche buena (“good night” or “holy night” in Spanish) is a Filipino custom adopted from Spain and Mexico. It is not your typical meal, as it is very much like an open house celebration where everybody who drops by is invited to partake in what is served on the table.

Food is in abundance, often served buffet style. Among the noche buena staples include favorite Filipino dishes such as lechon (roasted whole pig), pancit, barbecue, rice, adobo and native rice cakes (kakanin — biko, sapin-sapin, bibingka, puto bumbong, or cassava cake). However, Western influence has brought in spaghetti or fruitcake, and a fusion of Filipino with international dishes.

Here are some of the noche buena spread favorites: • Hamon/hamonado - Ham, (from the Spanish jamon). Pork marinated in pineapple juice, sugar, salt and spices; then baked.

• Keso de bola - Literally, a ball of Edam cheese (a semihard cheese from Netherlands), usually with a red paraffin wax covering.

• Bibingka - Flat cake cooked in banana leaves with salted egg, kesong puti, served with butter and grated coconut.

• Lechon - Roasted pig, pork belly, chicken, fish — it means anything that’s roasted over coals.

But in Filipino households, it is always the lechong baboy (pig) that rules over the table.

• Leche flan - The Filipino version of a creme brulee — but

better. A mixture of egg yolks, condensed milk, fresh milk and sugar; this sweet concoction is steamed and topped with caramelized sugar.

• Macaroni salad - Although every Filipino has their own version, this dish starts with the same ingredients — pasta, mayonnaise and chicken. Others add carrots, celery, cheese and sometimes pineapple.

• Spaghetti - Filipino-style, that is. Made with tomato sauce and paste, ground beef or pork,

cheese and a little sugar to sweeten the taste, the spaghetti is a Filipino staple in parties and for noche buena.

There is no doubt that Filipinos love to celebrate occasions and holidays with food. However, this brings the Filipino value of being family-oriented. Though the noche buena’s central focus may seem to be on the feast being served, the real reason for getting together is partaking the food over laughter, storytelling and love.

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How to cook ginataang bilo-bilo A Filipino sweet soup snack perfect for chilly winter nights Contributed by SARAHLYNN Filipino Kitchen

BEYOND the brown sugar and coconut milk, my aunt said, any available fruit or vegetable may be used for the Filipino ginataan recipe below, like taro root (gabi), corn (mais), even mongo beans or guava (this last one she said was especially good). The important things are that, like the work of a farm, everyone pitches in — peeling, chopping, dough-ball rolling — to make the dish a sweet success and that the ingredients are local, seasonally available, excess crops.

Eating seasonally and locally makes sense, right? In much of the world, this is the only way to eat. In fact, in America, we are used to eating out-of-season, far away and/or foreign.

When I was growing up in the northwestern suburbs of Chicago, my family was one of a few Filipino families there. For a large part of my childhood, we would drive into the city to Chinatown to stock up on Asian groceries. For Thanksgiving and other holidays, my ninang made

PABLO

lumpia and pancit canton, and little girl me tried to assist her. Of course we had turkey with stuffing and gravy or honey-cured hams, too, but holidays wouldn’t feel special if there wasn’t Filipino food at the table.

Far from home and surrounded by the unfamiliar, the migrant clings tightly to what she knows best: music, holiday traditions and food. Migrants bring their “stinky” fish sauces and other spices. They pick up from the butcher for free bags full of what would be thrown away and turn it into culinary creations like fish head sinigang or kare-kare with oxtail. They seek out the markets of other, older, more established migrant groups – Chinese, Indian, Mexican – to find ingredients for a taste closer to their own.

Though ginataan calls for seasonal and local, I’m grateful that my family flew in the face of those practicalities / limitations in our little part of America, holiday after holiday, meal after

meal.

In the spirit of the cold, Christmas-y season, I’d like to share one of my favorite Filipino lateevening snacks: ginataan bilobilo, or coconut milk and rice flour balls – a sweet, hot dessert-y soup perfect for when the mercury dips low.

My aunt reminds me that this dish is actually a snack, or merienda. Though sweet, ginataan is too heavy to serve as a dessert at the end of a meal.

Merienda, I should note, is a very important part of agricultural life in the Philippines.

Life on a farm, day into day and months into seasons, is a dance. It has a rhythm.

In the couple of hours after lunch, it’s much, much too hot for the workers, the kids, the farmers to do strenuous physical activity in the sun. You look to do some activity that’s still necessary to make the farm run but doesn’t require a lot. Maybe you’d take a short siesta (nap).

PAGE B3

Recipes for the holidays from Chef Eric Pascual

THOUGH born and raised in the Bay Area, Chef Eric Pascual spent a good amount of his childhood in Hawaii. His passion for cooking started at a young age when he was introduced to cooking by his grandparents and parents.

Chef Eric’s family told him that he share his grandfather’s passion for cooking, who would prepare meals for large groups of people using ingredients sourced from his

backyard. To this day, he can still see his lolo’s passion for cooking and food through the bountiful 50-foot mango tree that he planted in his aunt’s backyard in Hawaii nearly 40 years ago.

Growing up in a household with two working parents, he had to learn independence at a young age and it began with cooking.

When his mom wasn’t working she was showing Chef Eric around

the kitchen. Something that began as a responsibility soon turned into a curiosity, slowly turned into a hobby, and is now one of his passions.

Through the meals he has hosted, he has been able to portray my style of cooking, which is a blend of his travels, upbringing, experiences, and Filipino culture. Follow him at http://eatsbye.com and Instagram/Twitter @eats_by_e

Cassava Cake by Chef Eric Pascual INGREDIENTS: • 3 ½ cups of frozen grated cassava or fresh cassava if available • 1 ½ cup evaporated milk (or ¾ cup of whole milk and ¼ cup half and half ) • 2 eggs • ½ cup cane sugar • ½ cup condensed milk

• 1 can coconut milk (13.5 oz.)

• pinch of salt • ½ cup melted butter (save 1 tbsp to grease bottom of pan) • ½ cup of unsweetened toasted coconut TOPPING • 4 egg yolks • ¾ cup of whole milk and

COOKING PROCESS: 1. In a bowl combine the egg yolks, condensed milk, and evaporated milk and stir well.

Set aside.

2. Using the melted butter or margarine, grease bottom and all sides of a 13” x 9” baking pan.

2. In a large bowl, combine sugar, grated cassava, coconut milk, and condensed milk. Stir well and pour mixture into greased baking pan. Bake in a 350 F oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until a toothpick

inserted in the middle comes out clean.

3. Remove from oven and let cake settle for 5 minutes.

4. Pour custard topping mixture over surface of cake.

Return back to oven and reduce temperature to 325 F and continue to bake until top sets and lightly browns (Approximately 20-25 minutes).

5. Allow to cool for at least 45 minutes for the cake to settle and then slice into serving pieces.

For the Flan/Custard Topping 1. In a bowl, combine egg yolks, sweetened condensed milk, and milk. Stir well.

2. Pour over surface of cake and return to oven to bake until set.

3. Top with toasted coconut

why ORGANIC? Organic products meet stringent standards Healthier for you & kids Organic food tastes better Organic farming respects natural resources Avoids pesticides & are artificial-fertilizer-free Non-GMO, no synthetic pesticides, no growth-promoting antibiotics There are many, many more reasons to go Organic. But in short: You’ll leave the world a better place than when you found it

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How to cook ginataang bilo-bilo A grand welcome for Miss U

PAGE B2

Bring the goats out to the field.

Thrush some rice. Make feed for the pigs. Dress some tobacco leaves. Or maybe you could take on a few of those things. After a few hours of low-key activity, you need merienda before the hard work begins in earnest again at 3 o’clock. Enter ginataan.

IngredIents Milk and meat from two coconuts (gata). This is the critical ingredient.

Brown sugar. The second of two critical ingredients.

Six plantains or cooking bananas, peeled (saba) Ten pieces of jackfruit, pitted (langka) Grated cassava root (kamoteng kahoy), two medium-sized pieces Glutinous rice flour (malagkit), two cups, and water for bilo-bilo.

Yep, literally, that’s ball-ball.

One medium sweet potato, peeled (kamote) Three small purple yam, peeled (ube). If you add this, obviously, your ginataan will have a tingle of violet.

Two notes on ingredients.

One: Where available and possible, fresh ingredients are best.

Most of these ingredients may be available in canned or frozen form in non-tropical climes where there are communities of Asians or Filipinos nearby. Substitute canned or frozen counterparts if you need to and don’t feel any shame about it.

Two: I’ve added suggested amounts of each ingredient but suit the proportions to your taste.

If you like more cassava root like I do, add more of those. If you’re on a low-sugar diet, put less.

InstructIons 1. Open the coconuts carefully and set aside the milk. Scrape the meat from the husk into strips. Or you can just buy fresh scraped coconut meat and fresh coconut milk if you don’t have the tools (we did). Squeeze the remaining milk from the coconut flesh with your bare hands or with a cheese cloth. Simmer the coconut milk in a large pot with brown sugar.

Make sure the brown sugar is fully dissolved.

The brown sugar pictured is unrefined, wrapped in a leaf and formed in a coconut shape called panutsa (also known by panotcha or panotsa, which are also the words for peanut brittle). It was so tasty, I think, owing to its smoky molasses

by Iza IglesIas ManilaTimes.net

Photo courtesy of Sarahlynn Pablo/Filipino Kitchen

quality. I was lucky enough to have shared some with my cousin in the Netherlands in the ginataan she made. She used about a third of this half-dome of sugar. If you’re not lucky enough to get this awesome sugar, granular brown sugar works just fine, too.

2. Now, the remaining ingredients – plantains, jackfruit, cassava, rice flour balls, sweet potato, purple yam – need to be cut or formed at approximately the same size, I’d say half-inch to one inch pieces, so each spoonful has a few small bits of awesome.

All the kids are going into the coconut milk pool later.

3. Glutinous rice flour bilobilo. Put a cup of the flour in a bowl, add water slowly, a spoonful at a time, stirring slowly. What you want to form from the flour and water is a paste that holds its own. You can tell when it’s “done” when the paste will come up off the bottom of the bowl cleanly when you scrape it with a spoon. After you get the paste to this point, let it rest for a few minutes on the counter. This paste is called galapong, the sticky rice flour dough that is the basis for an infinite number of kakanin, rice-based desserts like bibingka.

Get a plate and sprinkle it with rice flour. Pick up a little divet of that flour with your fingers and rub it around your palms.

Snip off a bit of the dough paste, and form it into a ball by rolling between your floured palms. Set the little ball on the floured plate.

Repeat.

4. Cassava root. If using fresh cassava, cut a narrow, diagonal line the length of the root. This will help you shave off the root’s bark. Grate the root, though at

FOllOWING the arrival of several candidates from around the world, organizers of the upcoming Miss Universe pageant in Manila held its official kick off event at Conrad Hotel’s S Maison Mall at the Mall of Asia Complex in Pasay City.

A total of 10 beauties graced the welcome party, namely Miss USA Deshauna Barber, Miss Japan Sari Nakazawa, Miss Australia Caris Tiivel, Miss New Zealand Tania Pauline Dawson, Miss Korea Jenny Kim, Miss Thailand Chalita Suansane, Miss Malaysia Kiran Jassal, Miss Vietnam Dang Thi le Hang, Miss Indonesia Kezia Warouw, and Miss Myanmar Htet Htet Htun. Miss China li Zhenying was unable to attend the grand kick-off but is expected to join the rest of the candidates in their weeklong promotional activities around the Philippines.

Playing host for the evening were Department of Toursim Secretary Wanda Teo, and Miss Universe Philippines Maxine Medina, along with Miss Universe Organization President Paula Shugart will be joining the other girls for a week to enjoy adventurous places and activities in Siargao, Intramuros, and Oslob, Cebu.

Said Shugart in her opening address, “This is a dream come true, not just for Pia [Alonzo Wurtzbach, the reigning Filipina Miss Universe], but it’s a dream come true for me too. We only have 11 [candidates]in this kickoff [event]but imagine next month when we’re going to have over 90 contestants from all over the world, who are going to see the Philippines and this incredible hospitality. From January 30th,

everyone is going to know the Philippines and I’m so proud to be part for it.”

In response, Wurtzbach said she is extremely happy that the most-watched pageant around the world will take place in her home country, especially since she will be turning over her crown.

“I’m just really grateful that the pageant is finally happening here.

It just started with an idea, and I asked Paula if it was OK for me to say in my next interviews and hometown visits that we would like to host the next Miss Universe pageant here. And now, here we are! Thank you to everyone who made this possible. It’s not only a dream for the Miss Universe Organization but also a dream of mine to bring back the competition here, and to show the world how beautiful the Philippines is,” enthused the reigning queen.

2-time host The Philippines played host to the Miss Universe pageant twice—the first in 1974 at the Folk Arts Theater Manila, which was also the first time the competition was held in Asia. And like Wurtzbach, the reigning Miss Universe back then was the Philippines’ Margie Moran who crowned her successor Amparo Muñoz of Spain. The second Philippine staging of the pageant was in 1994 at the Plenary Hall of the Philippine International Convention Center, where Sushmita Sen of India was crowned Miss Universe by Dayanara Torres of Puerto Rico, a first time win for the seventh largest nation in the world.

Proper walk “It would be great if I could have a proper walk in no less than my country of course,” the third Miss Universe from the

Since the weekend, Wurtzbach has been active in social media, posting photos of the promotional activities of Miss Universe in Manila such as this one with Miss USA Deshauna Barber.

Philippines also said. It will be rethe core of the root is a very membered that she was robbed of stringy and tough core. Don’t her Miss Universe moment when include that. The core left will American host Steve Harvey misbe about as wide as your pinky takenly announced Miss Colombia finger. Squeeze out the water Ariadna Gutiérrez as the winner in from the grated cassava root December 2014. with your bare hands or with a “I’m not quite ready to give up cheese cloth. my sash yet; I think I’m attached to Form the grated root into balls. already,” she added joking. “But I Add a little of the glutinous rice wish all the candidates good luck flour to help it stick together. and I’m very excited for what’s These cassava truffles – if I may in store for them. Because this coin this phrase – are really is just the beginning—it’s only delicate.

December so we will definitely Pictured here is frozen, packkeep the momentum going until aged cassava. Defrost and treat it pageant night.” the same as the fresh root.

Hosted by Miss Universe 2011 4. Now that the sugar’s all 3rd Runner-up Shamcey Supsup dissolved in the coconut milk, and GMA Network actor Benjamin layer your cut-up ingredients Alves, Saturday night’s gathering inside, with the heavier, denser also saw the team of lCS Group ingredients going in first: sweet chairman and former Ilocos Sur potato, purple yam, jackfruit, governor luis “Chavit” Singson, glutinous rice balls and cassava who is bank rolling the entire root truffles. Once you’ve layered event. everything inside, DON’T STIR The 65th Miss Universe coroTHE POT. The cassava’s really nation night will be held on Janudelicate (just reminding you!) ary 30, 2017 at the Mall of Asia and, with all that starch, stirring Arena. too much will make the ginataan too thick. Just let everything get warm, and come up to a simmer.

Get a hot bowl and a spoon and go to town. Sweet, stickto-your-ribs, warming taste of home. *** Sarahlynn Pablo is the co-founder of Filipino Kitchen, a food media and events group whose mission is to connect Filipinos across the diaspora with their culture and history by celebrating our cuisine. With fellow co-founder, Natalia Roxas, they produce the annual Kultura Festival in October. Pablo, 38, lives in and loves Chicago. For more stories and recipes, please visit http://filipino.

Reigning Miss Universe, the Philippines’ Pia Wurtzbach is queen of the court at the pageant kick off. kitchen.

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Catriona Gray is top pick at Miss World

by Arlo

Custodio ManilaTimes.net

Singing “i Believe” at the Miss World 2016 Talent semifinals, the Philippines’ Catriona gray has advanced to the finals of the category where joins the candidates from Poland, Hungary, Latvia, Mongolia, Chile, Croatia, Malta, Ukraine and Canada. The winner for Best in Talent will be done via online voting on Mobstar, and she will automatically have a spot at the Top 20.

Meanwhile, leading pageant-related community forum Missosology now ranks gray as the top pick to win the crown on Sunday, December 18. The coronation night will be held at The Theater At MgM national Harbor in Washington, DC. Back tracking a bit, gray did not figure as strong choice of the world-renowned organization as a pre-arrival favorite, but after the candidates’ introductory videos about themselves were uploaded, she quickly made it to the Top 5 Hot Picks.

As she sang her talent audition piece, “Moon River,”

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Ginataang Alimasag at Hipon

by Chef Eric Pascual InGrEdIEnts: • Meat from 2 large Dungeness crab (approximately 1 lb. of meat) • ½ lb. shrimp (shells removed) • 1 cup green jackfruit, chopped (fresh or 1 can large, seeds removed)

• 3 tbsp bagoong (shrimp paste) • 2 tbsp patis/fish sauce • 5 garlic cloves, minced • 1 onion, minced • 1 1/2 tbsp grated ginger • 3 tbsp cooking oil • 5 cups coconut cream

• 1 tsp ground black pepper • 1 stalk of green onions, thinly sliced (for garnish) • 3 birdseye or thai chili, thinly sliced • 2 tbsp. fried onions (for garnish)

CookInG ProCEss: PreParing the crab 1. i suggest using live/fresh crab.

2. Steam or boil crabs in a large pot at 7 minutes/pound, lid on but not completely covered to allow a bit of venting.

3. rinse and cool crabs.

4. remove the carapace/top shell 5. remove gills 6. remove crab meat and set aside

PreParing the ginataan 1. in a large pot, sauté the garlic, onion, and ginger until the garlic is slightly browned and onions are transparent.

2. add the jackfruit, birdseye chili, ground black pepper, and bagoong 3. add the coconut cream then bring to a boil 4. add the fish sauce, reduce heat to a simmer and cook until the coconut milk’s

texture starts to thicken (approximately 25-30 minutes) 5. add the shrimp and stir occasionally for 3 minutes.

6. add the cooked crab meat and simmer for an additional 3 minutes.

7. if needed, add additional fish sauce and/or black pepper to taste 8. remove from heat and serve over rice. garnish with sliced birdseye chili, green onions, and fried onions.

PAGE B5 Miss World Philippines 2015 Catriona Gray

Ogie Alcasid is now a ‘Kapamilya’

In his first ‘It’s Showtime’ appearance, Ogie Alcasid shared a duet with host Vice Ganda.

SingeR-songwriter Ogie Alcasid has joined ABS-CBn via “it’s Showtime’s” popular “Tawag ng Tanghalan” segment. After rumors circulated for sometime that he was leaving TV5, his appearance on the noontime show as one of the judges of the singing contest on Saturday confirmed that while it is uncertain whether he is an exclusive artist of the Kapamilya network, he will be very visible on ABS-CBn. effectively, Alcasid is now also in competition with his wife Regine Velasquez mother studio gMA network, where they met and fell in love before he jumped ship to TV5.

Alcasid posted a photo on instagram on Saturday, Dec. 10, saying he had fun singing with “it’s Showtime” host Vice ganda, “Just sang with @praybeytbenjamin ang saya! @itsshowtimeofficial_ig #tnt.”

The post garnered 1,343 likes, and the reaction from netizens was unanimously positive, with some saying they wish his wife would follow suit.

User iamjc23 said, “Welcome to Kapamilya Sir Ogie. Sana next si Ms. @reginevalcasid naman

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lilipat!”

Jaya (@jayasoul), who transferred to ABS-CBn in July, also expressed her thoughts. “Congrats Pare @ogiealcasid sayang wala ako dyan to witness your performance. See you next week. god be praised.”

There were even those who wished his pal Janno gibbs will also make the big move.

As of press time, The Manila

Times has yet to hear from ABSCBn on whether Alcasid signed an exclusive contract with the network. in the meantime, corporate communications released the following statement via email, detailing the singer-songwriter’s duties for the show.

“Like the other hurados (judges), [Alcasid] will evaluate the performances of hopefuls from contestants from Luzon, Visayas,

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Mindanao and Metro Manila. in his first appearance in the competition, Ogie made the audience laugh with his light jokes as he was giving his commentary as a hurado.”

On Saturday, during the “Pinoy Boyband Superstar: The grand Reveal,” Alcasid was also named as one of the judges of Your Face Sounds Familiar: Kids to premier in 2017. (ManilaTimes.net)

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Your Immigration Solution ATTY. NANCY MILLER A VERY wise person once said that we look back in order to go forward. Here at RMZD, as we approach the end of 2016, we look back to some of our achievements to inspire us in the coming year.

Being able to help our clients out of difficult situations reinforces in each of us why we became lawyers in general and immigration lawyers in particular. If we have not already done so, perhaps next year we will be able to help you. The names of our clients have been changed to protect their privacy.

About a year ago, Mr. Roads’ family was frantic when they reached out to us. He was seeking asylum because of the persecution he had experienced in his home country. However, he was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and was mere hours away from being deported. His travel documents had already been completed by his home country and the flight plan was confirmed. Thanks to our quick action and the strength of our arguments, RMZD was able to halt Mr. Roads’ deportation. His flight plans were cancelled and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers reexamined the case. Shortly thereafter, RMZD secured Mr. Roads’ release from detention and united him with his family here in the United States.

We continue to fight for his cause and look forward to winning his asylum case.

We are especially proud of having been granted a humanitarian reinstatement request.

Andrea and Bob have been living

Health@Heart PHILIP S. CHUA, MD, FACS, FPCS IN this day and age of health consciousness and the appreciation of the value and role of weight on longevity, interest in weight control and dieting is greater than ever, especially during holiday seasons. This leads to the question as to what controls our appetite.

What triggers hunger and satiety?

The urge to eat (hungry or not) is, to a large extent, controlled by hormones in our body. And these hormones fluctuate depending on how much sleep we get, what types of food we eat and how much calories we take in, and on how much physical activities we indulge in daily. Scientific researchers are focusing on four specific substances they call “fat hormones,” which our own endocrine glands in the body produce. There are hormones that make one eat and there are also hormones that signal the brain to tell the person to stop eating.

These substances control hunger and satiety.

Which is the “hunger hormone”?

The hunger hormone is Ghrelin, which is secreted by our guts (stomach and intestines). When its level goes up, we feel hungry and have the urge to eat. The level of Ghrelin goes up when we get less sleep or not enough sleep.

This is the reason why those who are trying to lose weight should get adequate amount (about eight hours) of sleep. An imbalance meal and stress also elevate the Ghrelin level. Food deprivation obviously increases the Ghrelin level, hence it is better to keep the level of this hormone on an even keel and not fluctuate too much by eating regularly (or even more than three times a day) but at a controlled total calorie ceiling, to maintain health and body weight.

So, starving oneself is not a good way to lose weight, since this will lead to a Ghrelin “boomerang” in the latter part of the day.

Which is the “satiety hormone”?

The opposite or counter-hormone, which is called Leptin, signals the brain when to stop eating.

It controls the appetite. This “sati-

As we look back Calendar of Events across

in the San Francisco Bay Area for over a decade. They came to the United States to visit family, but overstayed their visas to care for Andrea’s elderly mother, who suffers from several medical problems. Andrea’s U.S. citizen father had previously filed an immediate relative petition for his daughter, but sadly passed away before the priority date became current.

Because immigration law specifically states that an approved petition is revoked when the petitioner dies, Andrea and Bob and their families were convinced that they had lost their chance to be able to live lawfully in the United States. They thought they would talk to a lawyer to see if there was any way they could achieve their dream. Thankfully, they came to us.

With the assistance of our office, however, they were able to utilize an exception to the rule.

We concurrently filed for reinstatement of the approved petition and their respective adjustment applications at the end of August 2016. Andrea’s 100-year old lawful permanent resident mother acted as the substitute sponsor for their affidavits of support. The arguments for reinstatement were successful, and Andrea and Bob received their work authorizations and the reinstated approved petition just in time for the holidays.

Andrea and Bob are eagerly waiting for an adjustment interview to be scheduled by the local office.

They are confident that by next year at this time, they will be lawful permanent residents and will be on their way to ultimately becoming citizens of this great country.

Rudy walked into our office one sunny day and asked if he was eligible to apply for his green card.

He said that his mother was a U.S.

citizen and that she filed a petition for him, but he was afraid that he was not eligible since he had entered the U.S. with a Filipino passport with an assumed name. We immediately informed Rudy that he was indeed eligible to apply for his green card, but that he would need a waiver of his fraudulent entry to the U.S. Unfortunately, Rudy’s mother passed away while his application for a green card was pending. Rudy was terrified that his application would automatically be denied because his mother was his petitioner and sole qualifying relative for the waiver.

However, despite his mother’s death, we are proud to say that Rudy still received his green card shortly after his mother’s death.

We were able to show the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service that Rudy remained eligible for his green card because of his residence in the U.S., his mother’s poor health before her passing and her reliance on Rudy. It was a long and stressful process for Rudy but it had a joyous ending.

He is no longer afraid of hearing that dreadful knock on the door and he looks forward to being able to apply for US citizenship.

Next week, more stories that made us glad we were able to help! *** Reeves, Miller, Zhang & Diza Law Corporation’s offices are located in Pasadena, Irvine, San Francisco, Las Vegas and Makati City.

Telephone: (800) 795-8009 E-mail: immigration@rreeves.com Website: www.rreeves.com. *** The analysis and suggestions offered in this column do not create a lawyer-client relationship and are not a substitute for the personalized representation that is essential to every case.

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Appetite regulators ety hormone” is produced by fat cells in the body. When a person loses weight, the leptin level in the blood stream also goes down.

As a result, there is a “rebound” weight gain. The best strategy for losing and maintaining a desired weight level is to lose in a slow and steady pace, about one to two pounds a week, and not more. In this manner, there will still be an effective level of leptin in the body to control the urge to eat.

What’s the effect of imbalance meals?

A high carbohydrate diet (rice, bread, sugar, pop drinks, ice cream, and other sweets) leads to a faster metabolism of these food items that have high glycemic indices and floods the bloodstream with a high glucose level. This is why those who eat a lot of these food items (rice is a great culprit!) are feared to have a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Personally, much as I loved rice (a three-meal rice addict), I had decided to give it up following all the convincing scientific evidence today of its link to diabetes.

Could this be the reason why the incidence of diabetes is very high among Asians, especially among Filipinos? The research on this is still in progress.

How about emotional stress?

When one is high on stress and low on energy, the body tries to compensate by producing more cortisol hormone. This substance mobilizes the blood sugar transformation (glycogen into glucose) and increases the blood sugar level to provide energy. But it makes the person hungry. And so the person eats more. The connection between cortisol level and obesity is not a settled question yet. Physical stress, like regimented physical exercises daily, is another story. This has a positive effect on our body in more ways than one. While it also raises the cortisol level and increases blood sugar, exercise burns calories and also helps put our body hormones in good balance. As a matter of fact, those who do daily exercises have a lower risk of developing heart attack, stroke, diabetes, and cancer.

What is Obestatin?

This is a hormone recently identified by researchers at Stanford. This substance has been shown to slow down the digestive process. While the studies on Obestatin are still ongoing, it

is postulated that this hormone, like the first three above, could be held in check by adequate sleep, balanced diet, physical exercise and minimizing stress.

Are appetite suppressants safe?

Most appetite control pills, juices, solutions and powders on the market are not physiological, and are unnatural ways to suppress (by force) the appetite for weight control. While they are readily available and very popular, they have potential adverse side effects on the heart, liver, kidneys and brain in the long haul. Some serious complications, and even deaths, have been reported from the use of these diet substances. Since greater calorie intake than output causes an increase in body weight, the safest, most natural, strategy is to eat less and burn more calories with physical exercises, making the output of calories (energy) greater than the intake of calories (food). The use of appetite suppressants could be dangerous. Consult with your physician before using any of them.

The main objective of this column is to educate and inspire people, especially parents, whose way of life inevitably impacts the health of their children, to live a healthy lifestyle to prevent illnesses and disabilities, and achieve a happier and more productive life for themselves and for their offspring. My articles are general medical information for the public and are not intended to be applicable to or appropriate for anyone.

The data, statistics, and personal commentaries presented here are not a substitute for, or inferred to be superior to, the professional opinion and recommendation of your physician, who knows your total condition well and who is your best ally when it comes to your health. *** Philip S. Chua, MD, FACS, FPCS, Cardiac Surgeon Emeritus in Northwest Indiana and chairman of cardiac surgery from 1997 to 2010 at Cebu Doctors University Hospital, where he holds the title of Physician Emeritus in Surgery, is based in Las Vegas, Nevada. He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, the Philippine College of Surgeons, and the Denton A. Cooley Cardiovascular Surgical Society. He is the chairman of the Filipino United Network – USA, a 501(c)(3) humanitarian foundation in the United States. Email: scalpelpen@ gmail.com

Catriona Gray is top pick at...

PAGE B2 pageant aficionados around the world couldn’t help but praise her beautiful singing voice.

The Filipino-Australian beauty queen of course holds a Masters Certificate in Music Theory from the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.

Trailing her are Misses Hungary, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Mongolia, Russia, Dominican Republic, Ukraine, South Africa, India, Chile, Canada, Ecuador, Japan and USA. Over the weekend, the Philippine bet bolstered her candidacy

LAS VEGAS ASIAN JOURNAL • DECEMBER 15-21, 2016

even more when her “Beauty With A Purpose” (BWAP) project was selected as one of Top 24 videos for special viewing.

The lass from Albay submitted her Paradiso Project, whose goal is to build a school for children in Tondo’s garbage sites. She explained her project features a learning program that develops children’s critical thinking skills, calling the pre-school program, Child Care Plus.

Other projects selected for viewing were those of Misses Australia, Belgium, Hungary, Chile, China, Colombia, Cote

D’Ivoire, Dominican Republic, Fiji, Guadeloupe, Indonesia, Ireland, Mongolia, Nepal, Nigeria, Panama, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, United States and Venezuela.

Gray is asking for “bayanihan” [community endeavor]from her countrymen for the People’s Choice Award, the winner of which will automatically make it to Top 10. Voting is again done online via downloading the official Miss World App [available on Apple app store and Google play].

B5

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Simbang Gabi at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles Our Lady of the Angels Pastoral Region of the Filipino Ministry of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles will once again host the Annual Simbang Gabi Advent (night mass) on Thursday, December 15. It is the 14th anniversary of the liturgical celebration of the Philippine tradition of culture, faith, and preparation for the birth of Jesus Christ. Our theme this year is “JESUS, MAKE US GENEROUS DISPENSERS OF YOUR DIVINE MERCY” translated in Tagalog, “HESUS, GAWIN MO KAMING MASAGANANG DALUYAN NG IYONG BANAL NA AWA.” Ministers from parishes of the Pastoral Regions of Santa Barbara, San Fernando, San Gabriel, San Pedro and Our Lady of the Angels together with Dignitaries, Civic, Business and Non-profit organizations will march with their banner and parol (lantern), a symbol of the Star of Bethlehem. Most Reverend Archbishop Jose H. Gomez, D.D will be the main celebrant. Other Concelebrants will be the Bishops and Priests of the Archdiocese. Over 3,000 individuals are expected to attend. The celebration will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels at 555 W. Temple Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012.

Parking is available at the cathedral for $8 or at adjacent lots. For more information, please email Lem Amit at filipinoministryola@gmail.com or (323) 793-5141.

D EC E M B E R 1 6 -1 7

Simbang Gabi at Christ the King Roman Catholic Church in Los Angeles Christ the King Roman Catholic Church will have Simbang Gabi on Friday, December 16 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, December 17 at 5 p.m. The church is located at 624 N. Rossmore Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90004. For more information, please call (323) 465-7605.

D EC E M B E R 1 7

SIPA’s 2nd annual toy drive & distribution in Los Angeles The Search to Involve Pilipino Americans (SIPA) will have its second annual toy drive and distribution in Los Angeles on Saturday, December 17. The toy drive will be from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m.; please bring in an unwrapped toy for children between the ages of 0-15 years old or make a $25 donation to SIPA. From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. there will be a toy distribution by the Purist Group, SCPASA & special celebrity guests. Activities include free kids haircuts by celebrity barber JayR Mallari and holiday music by DJ Icy Ice. Light food and drink will be provided. The event is free and open to the public. SIPA is located at 3200 W. Temple Street, Los Angeles, CA 90026.

Alpha Phi Omega (Philippines) Alumni of Greater Los Angeles’ anniversary celebration Alpha Phi Omega (Philippines) Alumni of Greater Los Angeles (APOGLA) will have its 36th anniversary celebration with the theme “Christmas in the Inland Empire” on Saturday, December 17. Registration and no-host cocktails will take place between 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. while buffet dinner will start at 7 p.m. During the event, the organization’s new officers will be inducted. The event will be held at the Double Tree by Hilton on 222 N. Vineyard Ave., Ontario, California 91764. To RSVP, please contact Bro. Rocky Marte at rsmarte@ sbcglobal.net or at (626) 482-3410.

D EC E M B E R 1 7-1 8

Consular outreach mission in Miami, Florida The Philippine Embassy in Washington, D.C., in cooperation with the Philippine Nurses Association of America, Inc. - Central Florida Chapter, the Filipino-American Association of Pensacola, Inc., and the Philippine Honorary Consulate in Miami, is pleased to announce that it will conduct a consular outreach mission in Pensacola on Saturday and Sunday, October 17 and 18 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Services offered include: Philippine passport applications; legalization of documents (acknowledgment, authentication, etc.); and receipt of reports of birth, marriage and death. No applications for dual citizenship will be accepted at this time, as oaths of allegiance must be administered by the Philippine Consul General or Consul. For an appointment, please email consular@philippineusa.org and copy furnish honcon.miami@gmail.com. The Philippine Honorary Consulate in Miami is located at 12/F 1200 Brickell Ave., Miami, Florida 33131.

D EC E M B E R 1 8 -1 9

Cathedral Chapel of St. Vibiana Parish in Los Angeles hosts Simbang Gabi oin the community on Sunday, December 18 at 5 p.m. and Monday, December 19 at 7 p.m. for Simbang Gabi celebrations. The church is located at 923 S. La Brea Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90036. For more information, please call (323) 930-5676.

D EC E M B E R 2 0 -2 1

Simbang Gabi at St. Basil’s Church in Los Angeles St. Basil’s Church is hosting Simbang Gabi at on both Tuesday, December 20 and Wednesday, December 21. The church is located at 637 S. Kingsley Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90005. For more information, please call (213) 381-6191.

D EC E M B E R 22-23

Simbang Gabi at St. Brendan Church in Los Angeles Everyone is invited to Simbang Gabi at St. Brendan Church in Los Angeles at 7 p.m. on both Thursday, December 22 and Friday, December 23. The church is located at 310 S. Van Ness Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90020. For more information, please call (323) 936-4656.

D EC E M B E R 3 1

Grand Park + The Music Center in Los Angeles host New Year’s Eve celebration Los Angeles will put its mark on New Year’s Eve celebrations around the world as Angelenos join together with friends and family to share their hopes, dreams and resolutions for 2017 at the fourth annual Grand Park + The Music Center’s N.Y.E.L.A. The West Coast’s flagship New Year’s celebration will feature three stages with live music, DJs and dancing throughout the night; large scale inflatable art; and 3D digital video mapping on City Hall along with an integrated light show to count down to the new year in true L.A. style. The free family-friendly event, which attracts thousands from all over Southern California and beyond, reinforces Downtown Los Angeles as a destination for a grand-scale New Year’s Eve experience. Grand Park + The Music Center’s N.Y.E.L.A. takes place from 8:00 p.m. on December 31, 2016 to 1:00 a.m. on New Year’s Day, and will cover 90 acres from The Music Center Plaza to City Hall (Hope Street to Spring Street) and from Temple Street to 2nd Street. More than 50,000 people are expected to attend. For more information about Grand Park + The Music Center’s N.Y.E.L.A., visit grandparkla.org/nyela or musiccenter. org/nyela.

JA N UA RY 28 , 2 0 1 7

Historic Filipinotown Scavenger Hunt Explore the cultural gems of HiFi (Historic Filipinotown) by joining the 2nd HiFi Scavenger Hunt Fundraiser on Saturday, January 28 from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m! Meet Filipino-specific challenges (from a Balut eating contest to dancing Tinikling to a hip hop beat!). You may find yourself meeting a little-known community hero, tasting a Filipino food challenge or receiving your very own Filipino nickname! You will be having a blast while building your bayanihan spirit by asking your friends and family and even your Facebook fans to donate money to sponsor your Team to take this challenge. You and your team choose your own fundraising goal! Funds raised by this event will go to the programs and services of 2 HiFi community organizations, Pilipino Workers Center (PWC) and Filipino American Service Group, Inc. (FASGI) to provide vital services to families, workers and seniors in our community. Services include free or low-cost citizenship application assistance, human trafficking survivor support, civic engagement, wage theft claims assistance, cultural programs and more! Have fun, Discover Historic Filipinotown win prizes and support your community while doing it! Go to www.pwcsc.org/HiddenHiFi to sign up now. PWC is located at 153 Glendale Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90026.

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

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B DECEMBER 15-21, 2016 • LAS VEGAS ASIAN JOURNAL

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Get the best price for your Fall in love with these fall makeup trends valuables at Nevada Coin Mart With tons of places to choose from to bring your old jewelry, there’s only one place in Las Vegas that will pay the best amount for these valuables.

At Nevada Coin Mart, customers can rest assured that they will be properly compensated for the precious stones and metals they bring in.

Neil Sackmary, the owner of the store, is a graduate gemologist from the Gemological institute of America (GiA) with more than 20 years of experience in buying these items.

“When it comes to myself, this is my passion. this is what i went to school for,” Sackmary said.

GiA is the world’s foremost authority on diamonds, colored stones and pearls. it was established in 1931 and strives to protect the jewelry and gem buying public by setting quality standards worldwide. As a certified GiA specialist, Sackmary points out that simply because a business that purchases these stones has been around for decades, that does not make it an expert source. this is a particularly important fact for members of the Asian American community to note. “in the Asian community, people don’t buy cheap stones. they always spend really good money and when they do, they want to sell them for good money and they want someone who’s an expert. You don’t want to take it to someone who says they’re in the business for 35 years. that does not make them an expert,” Sackmary said.

Nevada Coin Mart purchases

By Monet

Neil Sackmary

a wide variety of items, including coins, bullion, diamonds, jewelry, gold, silver and watches, at premium prices. At the shop, Sackmary has the latest technology, including a $9,000 diamond microscope and $30,000 X-ray spectrometer, which allows him to thoroughly examine how much the metals and stones customers bring in are worth.

“Most people want to rip off customers because they don’t care. they look at them and say, ‘Well, if i can, i’ll take advantage. i’m never going to see you again’,” Sackmary said. that’s not what happens at Nevada Coin Mart. in one instance, Sackmary paid a customer $1,510 for two rings that were quoted for $150 at a competitor store. it’s because of its transparency and fairness to those who walk into Nevada Coin Mart that about 70 percent of its clients are repeat customers who come back for the value they receive for their items. the business takes it a step further by providing security guards who are former police of-

ficers and 47 cameras to monitor the entire building. Visitors can also request to have a guard walk them in and out of the building free of charge.

Sackmary and his wife have been in the business of buying jewelry and other metals for many years and have been online selling costume jewelry for about 15 years. they are also present every day the shop is open, which is located on the corner of Jones Boulevard and Flamingo Road. in addition to putting their customers’ interests first, the Sackmarys are active community members who have participated in charity event Operation FirehEAt and are founding sponsors for the Anthem Women’s Club.

Nevada Coin Mart was established in 1971 and is licensed by Clark County to legally purchase jewelry from the general public.

Nevada Coin Mart 4065 S Jones Blvd.

Las Vegas, NV 89103 Phone: (702) 776-7061 hours: Monday through Sunday, 9am to 5 pm Advertising Supplement

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Lu

SOME weeks ago we welcomed the fall season with an article on hairstyles. today, we tackle another one of my fortes—and a soughtafter subject for women—the latest makeup trends. i can describe this season’s makeup peg in two words: fresh and minimal. With that image in mind, i invite you to experience “Valentine’s in October” and fall in love with these autumn-inspired makeup styles.

Go easy on the eyes Whoever said that sexy smoky eye is so 90 degrees ago must learn how to carry the classic eye-do with just a teeny bit of flaw. Allow me to elaborate before i give the impression that carelessly applied shadow is a thing – please…never been, never will be. What i meant by a little flaw is how you would do your smoky eye look at home. You know, the kind that gives off an ultra diffused shadow that looks intense while feeling soft. Makeup artist Pat McGrath created this look at Diane von Furstenberg by using a black and brown liner. You can also use gray shadows with just a hint of sparkle to keep it soft enough for daytime.

A bronze shadow is another equally striking-yet-with-an-easy feel. You can maybe give your metallic shadows a break this season by using bronze shadows instead of the classic gold or silver. this type of hue warms up your face and gives you a good reason to put a natural-looking lip color.

Paint outside the lines it’s this time of the year when you feel a bit more adventurous. it shows on your outfit and your hair, and well, your eye makeup better match that mood. As they say, the eyes are the windows of the soul. And your carefree soul needs an audience! One article

Immigrant Living: 101 and Beyond Monette AdevA MAglAyA JOShUA hurried outside the inn to the courtyard. A stranger summoned him for help. he had a mule tethered to a post. A badly beaten, wounded man who looked half-dead was splayed helplessly face down across the girth of the pack animal.

“What happened?” Joshua asked. the stranger replied, “i came across this man on a deserted part of the roadway to Jericho. he was stripped naked, unconscious and bloodied all over. he was still alive, but barely. i couldn’t just leave him.” he paused and pleaded with Joshua, the innkeeper, “Can you help us?”

Joshua sprang to action, “Let’s bring him inside quickly. i can have Luke look him over.” they carried the man inside and laid him in a bed in one of the rooms. Joshua quickly fetched the man he called Luke. he was a physician who spent much of his time writing. they hurried to the wounded man’s room. With his deft hands, Luke diagnosed the injured man’s condition and briskly gave instructions to Joshua to prepare warm water, oil, ointment and strips of clothing to bind the man’s wounds. the man’s breathing was shallow. he opened his swollen eyes slightly seemingly regaining consciousness. the man moaned asking where he was. then he drifted out once more.

Luke felt his pulse. it was weak but steady. they ministered to him as best as they could. the man drifted in and out of consciousness but the bleeding had stopped. Seeing that there was no more they can do for the man at the moment, the three men left the room. “i am Micah from Samaria,” the man said. “i am Joshua,” the innkeeper replied, “and this is Luke.” Luke gazing at the two men with kind knowing eyes, nodded, acknowledging them both as he went back to his writing.

Micah stayed with the injured man through the night, lying down on a cot on one side of the room for short naps in-between while Luke checked in on the man’s condition from time to time during the night. Joshua made sure there is food for Micah and enough oil for the lamp that burned faintly in one corner of the room. it looked like the man was going to make it. he said a prayer of thankfulness.

Micah was up early. he had pressing business to attend to. he looked in on the wounded

writes, “ tweak the classic cat eye by opting for a more straight across swipe of black kohl like we saw at Oscar de la Renta. this is a more modern way to wear liner that elongates and lifts the eye and adds intrigue to the face.” Add more spice to your usual winged liner, by scribbling some double-winged lines. seventeen.com suggests, “Use a soft kohl pencil to trace your lower waterline, then smudge it out with a makeup sponge for an extremely edgy and perfectly un-perfect vibe.”

Tip of the lashes Close your eyes and think: silver, water droplets, rhinestones.

Now open your eyes and give your volumizing mascara, falsies and lash add-ons a much-needed upgrade. it’s time those lashes shine as bright as your eyes!

Silver sparkles on the tip of the lashes give your eyelashes a water droplet effect. A bit of gold layers on the lashes will make it look like it has rhinestones tips. Bring on the prettiest lashes by layering, lengthening, or volumizing your top and bottom lashes.

Rush that blush Now is the perfect time to embrace your “just stepped out of the gym” look. Or for some people; “i just went on a brisk, wintry walk.” this is the season for flushed cheeks and naturally rosy blush. You had a good run with your sculpting tools, it’s time to give them a break. Grab your

warm peach blush powder and head out the door. that’s all you need. Now, fly.

Lips like berry Let’s talk about that lip color, shall we? this season, i am delighted to see a sea of lip colors that remind of the 90’s. that almost black but not quite is making a comeback and i LOVE it!

From ripe berry to plum black to oxblood red, they are undeniably luscious. it may sound scary but i dare you to rock a dark lipstick this fall! Nude is out. Let’s make way for the plums, magentas and berries.

Fall Season isn’t just about tucking away your tank tops and covering up with cozy sweaters and cool scarves. it is also “wearing” the best look of the season.

Although the weather isn’t as cool as we usually expect it to be around this time, it is best to plan your ensemble ahead – and stock up on the latest makeup finds.. ***

Monet Lu is a Marikina-born, awardwinning celebrity beauty stylist with his own chain of Monet Salon salons across Southern California and Las Vegas, Nevada. Ultimately, Monet is known as an all-around artiste who produces sold-out fashion and awards shows as well as unforgettable marketing campaigns. Monet is also the founder of the revolutionary all-natural beauty products such as Enlighten, your solution to discoloration . To contact Monet, please visit www.monetsalon.com or email him at monetsalon@aol.com

A new twist on an old tale — Micah of Samaria “… He opened his swollen eyes slightly seemingly regaining consciousness.

The man moaned asking where he was.

Then he drifted out once more. …” man. he set aside two silver coins for the man’s care. Micah made a mental note to stop by the inn on his way back. he wanted to cover any other cost.

Sometime during the day, the wounded man opened his eyes and saw he was in a strange room. his body ached all over and his head was spinning. he was hungry and thirsty and was about to call out when Joshua entered the room. “how are you feeling?” Joshua asked him. he had a tray of warm food and a flask of wine with him. the man groaned in reply.

Joshua placed the tray of food beside the man. he had great difficulty eating and swallowing but he must have been truly famished. he cleaned up what was on the tray.

Joshua asked as he sat down on a chair, “ So tell me. What happened?” the man answered, “A band of four robbers sprang up on me while i was traveling on a deserted road on my way to Jericho. they beat me up so badly and left me for dead. they took all i had, even my clothing.” the man continued, “hours had passed when i saw someone, coming up the road. he was garbed like a priest. i shouted for help and he saw me. Alas, he went on the other side of the road and hurried along. No one else came for hours. My heart was sinking. And then, in what seemed to be forever, a Levite came by and saw me but he too could not be bothered and went to the other side of the road and went on his way.” he paused for a while and said, “i was losing hope. i asked God for mercy to send someone, anyone to help me. the sun was going down and it will soon be cold and dark when i saw someone coming up the road. he was riding in a mule. i managed yet again to shout for help. this time, the man stopped, got off his animal and quickly hurried to where i lay bleeding. i must have passed out since that was the last time i remembered anything.”

Joshua told him, “the man who brought you here saved you just in time. God heard your prayer. A physician has been treating you.” Joshua looked at him squarely and added, “the man who saved you is named

Micah, a Samaritan. he was up all night looking after you. ” Samuel’s swollen eyes grew wide. Joshua noted the man seemed stunned at knowing who had saved him. “i’m the innkeeper. i’m Joshua. What is yours?” he asked him.

“Sam … Samuel from Jerusalem,” the man stammered.

Joshua nodded, stood up and took the tray away. “Well, rest and feel better,” he told him in a quiet voice, headed for the door and left the room.

Joshua thought to himself as he went about his day. in the many years he had been an innkeeper, he knew Jews and Samaritans took great pains to avoid one other. they were like oil and water. they just did not mix. Jews considered Samaritans as half-breeds, inferior in every way, since they had married pagans and had included pagan rituals in their worship. in the Jewish tradition, they were outcasts, tolerated but not welcome.

Joshua guessed Samaritans probably felt just as resentful toward Jews. they probably regarded Jews as high-handed, arrogant stiffs, rigidly set and unbending in their ways and traditions. So deep was the resentment between them that Samaritans and Jews did not even talk to each other. But now somehow Joshua knew it did not have to be so. he knew and felt better about this bit of wisdom about who true neighbors are. he refused the two silver coins Micah was giving him. Joshua felt good doing his bit for the wounded man.

Joshua went about his day with a lighter heart. he felt sure God made him an innkeeper to meet people on the crossroads.

Since that glorious night long ago when he witnessed something rare, precious and mysterious in a childbirth at the stable at the back of the inn that only a few men had ever seen, stories have been unfolding right before his eyes.

People and their stories have been opening up his heart and enriching his soul. Joshua often regaled his wife and children with these stories at the dinner table. he thought that maybe one PAGE B7

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Paul Jake Castillo & Kaye Abad Beauty queens Bea Santiago, MJ swap ‘I do’s’ in quiet wedding Lastimosa discover secret to a ‘Happy Life’ by riCky lo Philstar.com

THE groom is Chinese (from a family that runs a business in Cebu City, including rubbing alcohol) and the bride is pure Filipino. Did any “cultural difference” pose a hindrance to the marriage solemnized at the San Pedro Calungsod Chapel in Cebu last Friday, Dec. 9?

“No such problem,” somebody close to the groom’s family told Funfare.

Radiant in a Francis Libiran gown, Kaye Abad (make-up by Denise Go and couple’s hair styled

by Jing Monis) was suppressing quiet tears while walking down the aisle; while Paul Jake Castillo, dapper in an Inno Sotto suit, was flashing a big smile as he calmly (at least, that was how he appeared to be) waited for his bride near the altar.

“Paul Jake’s mother is a Filipina,” added the Castillo family friend, “and besides, Paul Jake grew up in both Chinese and Filipino customs and traditions.”

That is, unlike in strict Chinese families, the parents usually practice the Chinese tradition of introducing their children to the children of another Chinese family — they call it kai siao (meaning introduction) after which the courtship would start.

Paul Jake and Kaye had been

going steady for two years before he proposed to her on her birthday last May. Unlike showbiz couples, they were low-key, opting to keep their romance under control and allowing the media only a little peep into it. In fact, until their wedding last Friday, Paul Jake and Kaye were mum on details about what may be touted as The Wedding of the Year-end.

The event was a mixed of “a few tears and a lot of laughter,” a celebration which was possible only if the guests were composed of, according to the Funfare source, “everybody who knew everybody.” The wedding was kept so quiet, confined to the bride and groom’s family members and close friends, that it was almost a “secret.”

The brief “crying scene” on the aisle was replaced by scenes of fun and laughter during the reception at the Radisson Blu Hotel. Paul Jake didn’t walk into the venue, instead he danced along the way while his friends cheered him right on from both sides of the red carpet.

During their first dance as husband and wife, Kaye refused to let go of the bag she was holding, joking that it contained Paul Jake’s “wealth,” resisting the effort of the guests to take it away from her as laughter filled the ballroom.

“They are the happiest couple I’ve ever seen,” noted Jason Abalos, one of the star guests (also including John Prats and his wife Isabel Oli and his sister Camille Prats.)

Kaye danced first with her father and then with Paul Jake’s father, before she danced again with Paul Jake.

A guest said that when Paul Jake kissed Kaye after they exchanged “I do’s,” he did it with so intensely and so passionately that it was as if he didn’t want to let go of Kaye.

“It was the longest after kiss I’ve ever witnessed,” said the guest.

Will Paul Jake let Kaye continue working as soon as they settle down to start their own family?

“Oh yes,” Paul Jake told Funfare two weeks before the wedding. “That’s the thing she loves to do, so why will I stop her?”

Asked to clear a rumor that Kaye must be “expecting” (thus the “hasty,” quiet wedding), Paul Jake said, “Not true. We will start having a baby after the wedding.”

As they did with their wedding, Mr. and Mrs. Paul Jake Castillo are mum on where their honeymoon will be.

Yesterday, the couple’s families were at the Bohol Beach Club to enjoy quiet time together.

by Christina

alpad ManilaTimes.net

AS an archipelago with 7,107 islands, it is no wonder that the Philippines is in abundance of travel programs that showcase the country’s beauty.

As such, each one tries to be unique in concept—whether in showing the most visited sites, revealing best-kept secrets, or giving tips on how to explore like a local.

But rarely are there shows that capture the Philippines’ beauty while taking time to check in on locals, and more so respond to their needs. That is, until the idea of “Happy Life” came along, the newest travel show that combines sightseeing with philanthropy.

Directed by Eric Quizon, this weekly program airs Sunday mornings on GMA News TV, beginning with a travelogue, which smoothly transitions into a feature on a less privileged but hard working dweller of the featured destination.

The heart of the program ensues when the hosts reward the village pride with prizes to make their lives better. For example, on the show’s first episode, Happy Life chose a farmer and senior from Visayas who had tirelessly tilled the soil for his children and grandchildren no matter how difficult it became with age. His reward for his devotion to family? A fully furnished brand new house and lot that is a stone’s throw away from the farmland.

“This is why we are so proud to be part of the show,” chorused beauty queen hosts Bea Rose Santiago and MJ Lastimosa.

The pair of stunners held a press conference together with

Bea Santiago (second from left) with her ‘Happy Life’ co-hosts (from left) Anthea Murfet, Guilia Zahar and Sophie Rankin

Host MJ Lastimosa with the interviewee who changed her outlook in life

Quizon and the show’s producer former Ilocos Sur Governor Chavit Singson, and became emotional talking about their experiences.

“The show changed me not just as person or a Filipino, it changed my overall outlook of life. With Mr. Singson as a model, I realized that no matter how big or powerful or rich you are, you have to help people. You have to share to people and show them that you can,” Santiago, 2013 Miss International, volunteered.

“My heart for doing charitable works started when I joined beauty pageants. Then when I won I had this dream of traveling, so when Direk Erik offered me to be part of the show—which would allow me to travel around and help people—I said yes without batting an eyelash,” Miss Universe-Philippines Lastimosa related.

Besides fulfillment, the show

also made Lastimosa grateful for being blessed, perhaps not with a luxurious life, but definitely a more comfortable one than what she has seen throughout the country.

“I think what’s really nice is that we are showing the different sides of places, the good and the bad. Not all travel shows are just about the beautiful scenery and the food. This is showing the real life. I was teary eyed when we met a pedicab driver who lost his hands but continues to work for his family. The experience made me humble because sometimes I complain about life, wanting more work, more expensive items and yet there are these simple people,” she related.

Finally, according to Quizon, the show’s ultimate aim is to inspire other viewers to “pay it forward” whether in their own communities or even through donations to the program.

A new twist on an old tale...

Paul Jake Castillo and Kaye Abad exchanged “I do’s”

PAGE B6 day when the time is ripe, he could share these stories with as many others who cared to listen.

These stories are just too good to keep to one’s self. Maybe he can tell Luke who can then write about these stories to pass them on to many generations.

Samuel, the wounded man, was in deep thought too. He felt sure the priest and the Levite who had both passed him by were going to help him in his hour of need. They were sup-

posedly men of God. Samuel was a man of some means and had given generously to the temple’s coffers. He even sat with these men in places of honor. Like them, he grew up bound by tradition and despised Samaritans.

And yet, here he is, still alive by an unexpected grace. Here he still is because of a surprising deed of kindness from a man whose tribe people thought, including himself, were good for nothing. He closed his eyes and

felt deep shame and remorse.

Samuel knew he could never repay the kindness this Samaritan man Micah had given him. Yet, Samuel now knows in his heart he can look at Samaritans and perhaps, even other groups who worshiped the same God, with fresh eyes and treat them like his own. *** Nota Bene: Monette Adeva Maglaya is SVP of Asian Journal Publications, Inc. To send comments, e-mail monette.maglaya@ asianjournalinc.com

B8 DECEMBER 15-21, 2016 • LAS VEGAS ASIAN JOURNAL

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