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Volume 26 - No. 40 • 2 Sections – 16 Pages

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DATELINE

O c t O be r 8 - 1 4 , 2 0 1 5

Binay, Poe, Roxas bare poll platforms

USA

from the AJPress NEWS TEAM AcroSS AMEricA

Homeland Security to create parole program for Filipino WWII vets

by

Christine O. AvendAñO, LeiLA B. sALAverriA, MArLOn rAMOs Inquirer.net

the Department of homeland security (Dhs) is gearing up to implement a program that allows certain family members of filipino and filipino-American World War II veterans to receive parole to come to the United states.

Vice Pres. Jejomar Binay following President Barack obama’s executive actions on immigration announced last November, a White house report recommended a few ways that federal agencies can “modernize and streamline” the immigration system.

PAGE A4

Sen. Grace Poe

the three candidates in the may 2016 presidential election —a former human rights lawyer, a former movie censors chief, and a former investment banker—have outlined in soaring language their hopes for a nation struggling to rise from poverty in the digital age. Presented here, in alphabetical order, are the candidates and their platforms.

Jejomar Binay Jejomar Binay, 72, Vice President of the republic of the Philippines, former mayor

Former DILG Sec. Mar Roxas

of makati City and human rights lawyer during the martial law years, envisions a propoor and probusiness administration should he succeed President Aquino in 2016.

In speeches even before he resigned from the Aquino Cabinet in June, Binay vowed his presidency would emulate the kind of governance he had led as mayor of makati City for over two decades: “A government anchored on integrity, PAGE A2

Las Vegas mom pleads guilty to husband’s murder

by ChristinA

Clinton criticizes Obama admin’s deportation policies

M. OrieL

AJPress

IN an interview with the spanish network telemundo, Democratic White house contender hillary Clinton accused the obama administration of breaking up families through an “aggressive” deportation policy, calling current immigration policies too “harsh.” her comments echoed long-running complaints of the immigration advocates, who argue that President obama’s immigration programs are “overly harsh,” said Michelle Paet the Wall street Journal.

Photo courtesy of Las Vegas PAGE A3 Metropolitan Police Department

A LAs VeGAs mother of four pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder and first-degree murder with use of a deadly weapon on thursday, oct. 1, after admitting that she ordered to have her husband killed in order to collect his life insurance. michelle Antwanette Paet, 33, sobbed in court, as she revealed that she and her then-boyfriend, michael rudolph rodriguez, planned to murder Nathan Paet, who was a Us Air force service member and Iraq War veteran from Guam.

PAGE A2

Manny Pacquiao to run for Philippine Senate

by ALLysOn

esCOBAr

AJPress

mANNY Pacquiao is set on proving he’s more than just a king in the boxing ring. the 36-year-old Philippine boxing hero announced his plans to run for the Philippine senate on monday, october 5.

“Yes, I’m going to run for a senate post this coming 2016 election,” said the fighter, who was elected congressman in 2010, representing the sarangani province in mindanao. “But as to which party, that’s still to be determined.”

Manny Pacquiao announced his plans to run the 8-division world boxing for the Philippine Senate on Monday, October 5.

AJPress photo by Robert Macabagdal pro announced his bid for sen-

ate during his state of the District Address to constituents at the provincial gym in Alabel, capital of sarangani, the Philippine star reported.

“In the coming days, I will be embracing new levels of responsibility. I will be confronting tough challenges,” said Pacquiao. “my second term as your congressmen will soon be over, but I will continue to be of service to you and to our fellow filipinos.”

Pacquiao is in the “magic 12” of recent senatorial preference surveys, according to rappler. the latest Pulse Asia survey on PAGE A4

VICE PRESIDENTIAL ASPIRANTS. Sen. Bongbong Marcos (inset) announced on Monday, Oct. 5 that he has decided to run for vice president in the 2016 elections. Also on Monday, Camarines Sur Rep. Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo accepted the Liberal Party’s offer to run with administration standard-bearer Manuel “Mar” Roxas II. Inquirer. net, Malacañang photos

Bongbong Marcos, Leni Robredo announce bid for PH vice president

by Agnes

COnstAnte AJPress

ferDINAND “Bongbong” marcos, Jr., the son of late former president ferdinand marcos, and Camarines sur rep. Leni robredo, have joined the pool of Philippine vice presidential contenders for the 2016 presidential election. marcos, Jr., on monday, oct.

5, declared his bid for the position without attaching himself

PH tells China: No country can claim an entire sea by

PiA Lee-BrAgO Philstar.com

mANILA—No matter how big or powerful a country is, it can never justify staking claim over an entire sea or use force to assert such claim, foreign Affairs secretary Albert del rosario said in an address before the United Nations General Assembly in response to China’s insistence that the West Philippine sea is theirs. “the world cannot allow a country, no matter how powerful, to claim an entire sea as its own nor should it allow coercion to be an acceptable dispute settlement mechanism,” Del rosario told the 70th UN General Assembly last oct. 2. he also asked China to join the

deliberations on the case filed by manila with the hague-based UN arbitral tribunal contesting Beijing’s massive claim in the West Philippine sea.

“With the growing support from the international community in peacefully resolving disputes in the south China sea, including through arbitration, the Philippines believes that the final outcome of this arbitration process would pave the way for a settlement of the maritime disputes,” Del rosario said. he said manila hopes to finally see Beijing’s actions match its declarations so there would be real easing of tensions in the West Philippine and south China PAGE A3

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to a presidential candidate. robredo, on monday, formally accepted the offer to run alongside Liberal Party presidential contender mar roxas. the announcement of the two new bids brings the total of vice presidential candidates to six. other candidates for the post include sens. francis escudero, Antonio tillanes IV, Alan Peter Cayetano and Gregorio “Gringo” honasan.

robredo is the only female candidate and contender from the house of representatives.

Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos marcos, in a statement announcing his bid, said he believes elected officials have an obligation to their people to help change the country’s history by eliminating “the politics of personality,” which he credits as a PAGE A2

A

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Binay, Poe, Roxas bare poll...

PAGE A1 justice, compassion and competence; rewarding the initiatives of private businesses, while guaranteeing inclusive and lasting benefits for all the citizens, and care for the poor and the underprivileged.�

Outlining the vision of his party, the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA), Binay said he wanted to have a country “that every Filipino can speak of with pride, respected in the family of nations, maintaining peaceful and mutually beneficial relations with all, while upholding and protecting national interests.�

UNA has outlined 11 missions under a Binay presidency: A determined effort to curb corruption in government, competence in governance and compassion for the poor.

Private enterprise must be encouraged and supported, but the benefits of economic growth must be shared by the entire citizenry.

Foreign direct investments are desirable in order to strengthen and grow the Philippine economy, but any amendments to the Constitution must give priority to our national interests.

Small businesses must be aided in accessing capital and provided guidance.

Adequate education must be provided as a right to make our citizens competitive with the rest of the world; It is the primary duty of government personnel to render efficient, competent and courteous service to the citizenry.

Patronage and nepotism breed incompetence and corruption.

Transparency is key to trustworthy governance.

The executive, legislative and judicial branches of government should remain coequal.

Human rights, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and freedom of religion must never be curtailed.

We must establish an enlightened foreign policy based on peaceful and friendly international relations, and the observance of al-

liances and international treaties.

Binay said his basic policy of governance was “anchored on competence, inclusiveness and compassion.� “Competence refers to competent and efficient management of the bureaucracy, utilization and development of available resources, and delivery of services to the citizenry,� he said.

Grace Poe Leading the voter preference surveys is Grace Poe, 47, former chair of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board, and adopted daughter of the late movie action king Fernando Poe Jr., who lost the alleged fraudmarred presidential election in 2004 to Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

In presenting her vision for the country, Poe anchored this on the idea of unity and inclusiveness, which she said was inspired by her father’s dream for the country.

According to Poe, her program is centered on “a simple principle and belief: that no Filipino and no region should be left behind.� “We will rise and progress together as one nation,� she said in her speech announcing her run for the presidency last month.

She said she was inspired by her father’s dream to help the poor and the oppressed, and to build a prosperous and just society.

Her goal, she said, is to bring about reforms to achieve inclusive growth, global competitiveness, and transparent government.

There should be preferential bias for the poor and the vulnerable, she added.

To make these concrete, Poe presented her position on 20 key issues, including priority on infrastructure development for which the annual budget would be increased to 7 percent of GDP. The government would also help the private sector formulate an industrialization and IT plan, so that there would be more ‘made in the Philippines’ products. This would create more jobs, she said.

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She planned to maximize digital technology for education, expand the scholarship programs and strengthen the “study now, pay later� program. College students would receive assistance in finding internships and jobs so they could get experience before graduating.

Poe said she would strive to give farmers their own land, boost irrigation and push for mechanization. She would look for a program to make fishing, farming and livestock propagation profitable for the farmers and the youth.

The fight against corruption would continue, and those responsible would be held accountable, whether friend or foe, she said.

She would push for a freedom of information law.

Tax rates would be brought down, but the people should see to it that they are paying the correct taxes.

Wages and benefits of workers would be examined to ensure they are fair, she said.

Poe also said she would look for ways to lower power costs and resolve the frequent brownouts in Mindanao. She would see to the development of renewable energy.

Overseas Filipino workers would receive the proper attention. The government would give them the necessary legal support and reduce the fees they pay and the red tape they face in processing their papers.

The eradication of drugs and crime is a personal crusade for Poe. She would ensure the police had the required discipline and skills to immediately deal with crime, she said.

Peace with all groups is a goal.

It is time that the Moros are given equal opportunities and genuine assistance, she said.

She said she would not be blind to the conditions of the vulnerable sectors, such as persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples, urban poor, women, youth and children, the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) sector and PAGE A4

Bongbong Marcos, Leni Robredo announce...

PAGE A1 large reason the Philippines has become a corrupt state where the wealth divide continually widens. “I have decided to put my political fortune in the hands of the Filipino people. I humbly ask them to judge whether or not I am worthy of their trust to be vice-president on the strength of my performance as a public servant in the last 26 years,� he said.

While there have been talks of Marcos pairing up with Vice President Jejomar Binay, he said they were “mere speculations.�

Binay was a human rights attorney who battled the dictatorship of Marcos’ late father, former President Ferdinand Marcos. The vice president was also an ally of former President Corazon Aquino, Marcos’ rival. “Any team-up with the Vice President must be rooted on a shared vision for our country, a common platform of government as well as political perspectives,�

Marcos said.

The vice presidential candidate did not address allegations of mass corruption and rights violations against his late father, The Associated Press reported.

Every year, the Philippines still marks the anniversary of when the Marcos regime was overthrown in 1986 as a victory of democracy.

Leni Robredo Robredo, the widow of former Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo, was initially hesitant about ac-

cepting Roxas’ offer, particularly given her three daughters’ opposition to her running for the position. However, she said she decided to move forward with it because she was certain it is what her husband would have wanted, Inquirer reported. “I am not Jesse. But when he died, it was clear to us, his family, that he was hoping that we too will have to sacrifice to the best of our abilities, similar to his sacrifices, to contribute to our nation,� she told Inquirer.

As the sole female running for vice president, the Carminas Sur representative is likely to receive little criticism from her male rivals, Majority floor leader Neptali Gonzales II said in a press conference. “It’s going to be a problem for the men in next year’s elections. In our culture, women are usually spared from criticism by men,� Gonzales said in Filipino, according to Inquirer.

Gonzales also called Robredo “a breath of fresh air� for the Liberal Party. “Nakikita ko sa kaniya yung manner that she speaks, sincere at makikita mo ang kaniyang intelligence (I can see in the manner that she speaks that she is sincere, and you can see her intelligence),� Gonzales said, according to Inquirer.

Binay without a running mate With the new announcements and as the 2016 election edges closer, Binay remains the only presidential candidate without a running mate.

The selection committee of the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) announced Tuesday, Oct. 6, that it is formally requesting for Sen. Gringo Honasan to become Binay’s running mate in 2016, Philstar reported.

Honasan rejected a potential partnership with Binay in late September, but his party mates said he would probably change his mind for the UNA, where he serves as vice president, Rappler reported. “Senator Honasan is very easy to talk to because he is a party member,� UNA Secretary-General JV Bautista previously told Rappler. “It just takes some negotiation. In the case of Senator Bongbong, it’s more complicated because he is a member of the Nacionalista Party.�

Binay had previously considered Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada, Sen. Grace Poe and Roxas as possible running mates, but each of them rejected offers to join him.

In August, Binay indicated Marcos was his preferred partner, despite contradictions that would exist given their political histories.

Should a Binay-Honasan partnership emerge, it would also contain its own set of discrepancies. Both politicians participated in support of the EDSA People Power Revolution that ousted former president Ferdinand Marcos in 1986, but Honasan led two unsuccessful coups against Aquino; Binay defended Aquino from those attempts.

Las Vegas mom pleads guilty to husband’s...

PAGE A1

By pleading guilty, she avoids the death penalty. Her sentencing is scheduled for December 14, according to The Associated Press.

She could either face life in prison without parole or the possibility of release after 21 years.

Prosecutor Frank Coumou told the jury that Rodriguez waited outside the Paet residence on Dec.

1, 2010, and was signaled by a text message that Nathan Paet was getting ready to leave for work at Nellis Air Force Base.

One of the messages Michelle Paet sent read, “He’s rushing to get out the door. Lol.�

Nathan Paet was shot five times in the back by Rodriguez and reportedly collapsed in front of his wife and their four children, before being pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.

According to police, neighbors saw a black Cadillac leave the Paet residence. Afterward, other witnesses reported that they saw Rodriguez at Jessica Ashley and Corry Hawkins’ apartment, where he allegedly burned his clothes in their fireplace. Ashley and Hawkins are considered co-defendants and are still awaiting trial, The Associated Press said.

Rodriguez, 36, who was found guilty of murder, conspiracy, burglary and weapon possession on Sept. 25, is expected to be sentenced separately and will face life in prison without parole. He has agreed to the life sentence and to waive future appeals to avoid the death sentence. Arrest records show that Rodriguez had previously been convicted of attempted forgery charges in 2007 and 2008.

Michelle Paet and Rodriguez met each other while working at a telemarketing company in

Las Vegas. The two reportedly planned the murder two months before and were going to be together after.

Michelle Paet revealed that the murder plot was conspired to collect $650,000 in life insurance — $400,000 from the military and $250,000 from her husband’s insurance policy.

In court on Thursday, she tearfully apologized to her slain husband’s relatives. “I’m sorry. I love you guys. I love my kids,� she said.

Nathan Paet’s mother, Carmelita Paet, said that she accepted Michelle’s apology and did not want the death penalty. “We did not want that because Guam doesn’t have it,� Carmenita Paet said, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal “It’s never been an option back home, so we’re not used to that idea. And honestly right now, I feel that killing another person would not bring my son back. It’s not going to do anybody any good. It just breaks my heart, really, to think of killing another person. It doesn’t matter what they’ve done. I can’t handle that idea.�

A source told the Asian Journal that Michelle Paet is of Filipino descent, and had met Nathan Paet in Guam. The two were high school sweethearts and were married in 2006.

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Dateline USa

LAS VEGAS ASIAN JOURNAL • OctObER 8-14, 2015

PH tells China: No country can claim... Gov. Brown signs historic

PAGE A1 Sea. In reply to Del Rosario, the Chinese delegation said that while China wanted peaceful settlement in accordance with international law, it reiterated its preference for direct negotiations and consultations.

China emphasized that its claim of sovereignty over the South China Sea and West Philippine Sea is based on historical and legal foundations.

“Given that the South China Sea is an international waterway, the stronger the reason to settle any disputes thereof at an international level, under international law, including arbitration under Annex VII of UNCLOS,” the DFA said, referring to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. “We cannot, moreover, accept China’s illegal actions on its ar-

tificial islands as fait accompli,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Navy and the navies of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore began on Monday, Oct. 5 a US-led joint naval exercise in the West Philippine Sea, including in areas near Panatag Shoal off Zambales.

The Southeast Asia Cooperation and Training (SEACAT) kicked off in the area within the operational jurisdiction of the Naval Forces NorthWest (NFNW).

“Exercise SEACAT is a scenario-driving tracking exercise which focuses on real time information exchange between navy units involved, coordinated monitoring and close observation on our respective maritime territories, tracking suspicious vessels and eventual conduct of

right-to-die bill for California by

In November 2014, President Obama ordered to prioritize the deportation of people with serious criminal convictions, gang members, and those who have crossed the border recently. The action all but directed that most other undocumented immigrants could continue living in the US without fear of removal.

Obama promised to push for immigration reform early in his presidency, but the legislative battle did not begin in earnest until 2013, after he began his second term. Later, the Senate took up and passed a comprehensive bill, but not before deportation figures were climbing every year under Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the US border security budget surged. Many considered the president’s actions a way to show Republicans that he was serious about enforcement, so they would approve a plan that included a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, according to Huffington Post.

“I think we’ve learned that the Republicans, at least the current crop, are just not acting in good faith,” Clinton said Monday.

Clinton also said that she would continue to deport violent people and felons, but said too many “upright, productive people with a minor offense had been hauled in and deported. And I’ve met their wives and their children--and I just don’t believe in that.”

To her supporters, Clinton said she would order these changes within her first 100 days in office

Agnes ContstAnte AJPress

“The world cannot allow a country, no matter how powerful, to claim an entire sea as its own nor should it allow coercion to be an acceptable dispute settlement mechanism,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario told the 70th UN General Assembly last Oct. 2.

visit, board, search and seizure (VBSS),” Navy spokesman Commander Lued Lincuna said.

Clinton criticizes Obama admin’s deportation...

PAGE A1 “The deportation laws were interpreted and enforced, you know, very aggressively during the last six and a half years, which I think his administration did in part to try to get Republicans to support comprehensive immigration reform,” Clinton said Monday, Oct. 5 to Telemundo News’s Maria Celeste Arrarás. “It was part of a strategy. I think that strategy is no longer workable.”

“So therefore, I think, we have to go back to being a much less harsh and aggressive enforcer,” she added.

Beforehand, Clinton has faithfully defended the president, arguing that the deportations that occurred on his watch were not a matter of choice, but were all that he could do within the law, said CBS News.

The comments also contradicted a remark Clinton made in 2014 with CNN: “I also think that we have to understand the difficulty that President Obama finds himself in because there are laws that impose certain obligations on him.”

The number of deportations under the Obama administration in the past 12 months has been at a record low for the first time since 2006, The Associated Press reported on Tuesday, Oct. 6. Though more than 2.4 million immigrants have been deported since he took office in 2009, they have declined by 84,000 between 2014 and 2015 -- marking the largest year-overyear decline since 2012.

A

by directing her Department of Homeland Security to “take a hard look about how we change the way the laws are applied.”

Over the past few months, the former secretary of state has worked hard to win the hearts of her Hispanic voters--an important constituency in the Democratic Party.

She also repeated her promise to expand upon Obama’s DREAM Act, as well as his earlier attempt to grant temporary relief for eligible undocumented immigrants, and issue work permits to some four million who have been in the US for at least five years and have naturalized or LPR (legal permanent residents) children. Obama’s policies--in the form of executive actions--are now being challenged in court.

“I want to do more on an individual basis by putting more resources, more personnel into the system to try to help as many people as possible get a different status,” Clinton told Arrarás, adding that she would consider additional people for deportation relief who are not currently covered.

She also repeated that she would keep fighting to get approval in Congress for an immigration bill that was already tried by Obama.

“In the meantime, I’m not gonna be breaking up families,” she said. “I think everybody is entitled to a second chance. I don’t want to see families disrupted, families deported. I want to see comprehensive immigration reform.” (Allyson Escobar/AJPress)

CALIFORNIA Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday, Oct. 5, signed landmark legislation that allows physicians to prescribe lethal doses of drugs to terminally ill patients wishing to end their lives.

His signature comes about three weeks after the measure cleared the state Legislature and will make California the fifth state where aid in dying is legal.

In a signing statement, Brown, a lifelong Catholic and former Jesuit seminarian, said he carefully weighed the viewpoints of those opposed to and in favor of the right-to-die bill. Among positions he considered were those of two of his former doctors, former classmates, friends, a Catholic bishop and Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Brown also read letters from the family of Brittany Maynard, a 29-year-old Californian who was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer and moved to Oregon last year to legally end her life.

“In the end, I was left to reflect on what I would want in the face of my own death,” Brown wrote.

“I do not know what I would do if I were dying in prolonged and excruciating pain. I am certain, however, that it would be a comfort to be able to consider the options afforded by this bill.

And I wouldn’t deny that right to others.”

California’s End of Life Option Act is modeled after Oregon’s Death With Dignity Act, which was enacted in 1997. It requires that two doctors approve patients’ requests to die, that patients submit several written requests, that patients are physically capable of taking the medication, and that there are two witnesses present, one of whom is not a family member.

The act is scheduled to go into effect next year.

The act ends 23 years of efforts aimed at legalizing aid in dying in California. Similar measures introduced in 2005, 2006 and 2007 failed in the Legislature. It also follows attempts from at least 24 states that introduced such legislation this year, though the measures stalled elsewhere, according to The Associated Press.

Other states that allow doctors to prescribe patients life-ending drugs are Oregon, Montana, Ver-

mont and Washington.

Advocates react Proponents of the legislation rejoiced upon learning of the news. The Los Angeles Times reported that the action brought tears of joy to former LAPD Detective Christy O’Donnell, who testified in favor of the new law and was diagnosed with a few months left to live due to lung cancer.

“I’m overjoyed for all the terminally ill people in California, who can now relax knowing they finally have the choice of aid in dying as one of their end-of-life options,” said O’Donnell, mentioning she does not think she will live to see the day the law is implemented. “No more worrying that they will suffer great physical and emotional pain at the end of their life when they have already suffered painfully for so long as a result of their terminal illnesses.”

For other advocates of ABX215, the governor’s signature was a victory that came too late.

“I’m sorry it’s taken so long,” Deb Reuter-Zsarko, whose wife Michelle died earlier this year after a six-year battle with vulvar cancer, told the Asian Journal.

She also recounted waking up one morning to a pool of blood, and how having the choice the new law provides would have been helpful earlier on. ““People need a choice. She never had a choice in any of this.... [This law] is the right thing to do. And ultimately it comes down to the fact that it’s an option...There’s no one forcing you to do anything,” Reuter-Zsarko said.

Compassion & Choices, a group that advocated for the new law, told the Times it hopes other states will follow in California’s footsteps.

“This is the biggest victory for the death-with-dignity movement since Oregon passed the nation’s first law two decades ago,” Barbara Coombs Lee, the group’s president, told the publication. “This victory is hugely significant in both substance and scope. Enactment of this law in California means we are providing this option to more than one in 10 Americans.

Opponents cite moral and religious reasons Lawmakers who opposed the

act included Republicans for moral reasons and Democrats who cited religious views and experiences where family members were given months to live but survived for years, the Times reported.

Tim Rosales, a spokesman for a group called Californians Against Assisted Suicide, spoke against the governor’s decision.

“This is a dark day for California and the Brown legacy,” Rosales said in a statement. “As someone of wealth and access to the world’s best medical care and doctors, the Governor’s background is very different than that of millions of Californians living in healthcare poverty without that same access – these are the people and families potentially hurt by giving doctors the power to prescribe lethal overdoses of patients.”

Religious groups, including the Catholic Church and disability rights advocates, also opposed the bill, contending it legalizes premature suicide and puts terminally ill patients at risk for coerced death, the Christian Science Monitor reported.

“Today the State of California is making it legal for a doctor to write prescriptions for the express purpose of killing another human being,” Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez said in a statement issued Monday. “This is a new path for the State and we have no idea where it will lead.”

“How does the State plan to prevent lethal prescriptions to commit suicide from becoming the only ‘option’ available for the poor?

“We should not say to future generations that we responded to human pain and suffering by making it easier for those who suffer to kill themselves. We are a better people than that,” he said.

Before the measure passed, the Church addressed Catholic lawmakers and urged Brown to veto it, according to the AP. “Pope Francis invites all of us to create our good society by seeing through the eyes of those who are on the margins, those in need economically, physically, psychologically and socially,” the California Catholic Conference said in a statement after it cleared the state Legislature. “We ask the governor to veto this bill.”

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Manny Pacquiao to run for Philippine Senate

PAGE A1

next year’s elections determines who is being re-elected in leadership and returning to office.

Pacquiao is one of four firsttime senatorial contenders.

According to the preference survey, 12 senators will be finishing their terms in 2016, to fill the “Magic 12.”

Pacquiao got 39.6 percent of the vote, and ranked 7th-11th, showing generally positive ratings.

He is reportedly under pres-

sure from political advisors and allies to break free from the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) of Vice President Jejomar Binay, whom he has been publicly loyal to. He was present when the UNA proclaimed Binay as its presidential candidate.

Pacquiao is head of the People’s Champ Movement, a local political party that aligned with Manny Villar’s Nacionalista Party during the elections in 2010.

He is a political rival of the An-

toninos, who ruled General Santos City for 26 years, Rappler reported.

Pacquiao ran and lost to Darlene Antonino-Custodio for the 1st District of South Cotabato, covering several towns in South Cotabato and General Santos City.

In 2010, he moved to Sarangani, where he ran and won for the lone congressional seat, and ran again unopposed three years later.

After winning eight world championships in different weight divisions, Pacquiao lost the most expensive fight in boxing history (with a record 4.4 million pay-per-view buys) by unanimous decision to his American rival, Floyd Mayweather Jr., in the May 2nd “Fight of the Century.”

Controversy arose when Pacquiao later reported a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder, for which he underwent surgery.

He is not expected to be able to fight until next year.

Pacquiao has been harshly criticized for his performance, or lack thereof, in the House of Representatives, said Agence France-Presse. The congressman has been listed among the legislators with the most absences from meetings and events.

On social media, the reaction to Pacquiao’s bid was largely negative.

“Pacman, you’re my idol. But in the boxing ring. Not in Congress. Sorry,” one fan posted on Twitter.

“You can’t even go to sessions in Congress. Now you want to go to Senate? What are you going to do there?” said another Twitter user.

“PH government is indeed a circus,” one tweet read.

Pacquiao’s wife Jinkee is not seeing re-election as vice governor of Sarangani, but his brother Rogelio (Roel) Pacquiao is slated run for the congressional seat that Manny will vacate next year.

His promoter, Bob Arum, said in September that he expects the boxer to get back in the ring once more before he retires to focus on his political career.

“I believe he’ll take one more fight, then run for the Senate in the Philippines,” Arum told the Los Angeles Times. “He could fight twice more, I guess, but it sets up better for him to fight, then run.”

Reid Meets With Chinese PResident Xi JinPing. nevada senator harry Reid met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the Us Capitol on Friday, sept. 25. Also in the meeting were senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, speaker of the house John Boehner, house democratic Leader nancy Pelosi and United states Ambassador to China Max Baucus.

Survey: Out-of-network ATM fees hit record $4.52 per transaction by

Agnes ContstAnte AJPress

The average out-of-network ATM fee is now about the cost of a six-inch Subway sandwich or grande mocha cappuccino at Starbucks.

In the last five years, the cost of withdrawing cash a local ATM has jumped 21 percent to a record $4.52 per transaction, according to a survey from data provider Bankrate Inc. Atlanta and New York top the list of cities with the highest average ATM fees, at $5.15 and $5.03, respectively, per transaction.

The spike comes in part because of more stringent regulations that came after the financial crisis, as well as pressure from consumer advocates to reduce certain fees, including overdraft and credit card charges, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Along with higher fees, however, has come a drop in the number of people obtaining money from ATMs, according to a survey by consulting firm Oliver Wyman. Individuals pulling cash

from these machines has dropped 41 percent in the last 10 years.

Furthermore, the survey found that in the last decade, individuals have decreased their monthly ATM withdrawals from 3.4 times per month to two.

As a result of the reduced frequency of use, ATM owners and banks have had to raise fees to cover their costs.

“Someone has to pay to maintain these ATM networks, and so that burden is falling on the noncustomers,” said Greg McBride, senior financial analyst at Bankrate, according to the Journal.

Consumers have turned to other methods of obtaining cash for free, including going to their own banks, and opting for cash back when making purchases at supermarkets or drugstores.

In a consumer survey conducted by consulting firm Mercator Advisory Group, nearly 75 percent of 3,000 participants said they would take whatever measures they can to avert ATM surcharges.

“I can see no reason to pay a fee unless there’s some emergency,” retired computer programmer and Wells Fargo customer Steve Cohen told the Journal.

In the same survey, 29 percent of participants said they have never paid an ATM fee, and 26 percent indicated they were willing to pay a fee to use an ATM in a convenient location.

Alongside higher ATM surcharges, overdraft fees have also been on the rise. Since 2010, the average fee has spiked 9 percent to a record $33.07. Residents of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Atlanta, Georgia are subject to the highest charges, at $34.79 and $34.57, respectively.

“A lot of those consumers with routine overdrafts rely on it, it’s a form of credit for them,” McBride said, according to Q13 FOX. “It’s easier for them to pay a $33 overdraft fee [than] to have their mortgage payment not clear.”

Cities averaging the lowest in ATM surcharges are Cincinnati ($3.86) and San Francisco ($3.85).

Binay, Poe, Roxas bare poll...

PAGE A2 senior citizens.

People should be able to rely on expanded benefits through PhilHealth, because families should not be driven to bankruptcy by illness.

The Philippines would protect its territory through peaceful means and according to international law. The Philippine Coast Guard and the Armed Forces would be beefed up so that they would not be intimidated by other countries.

Arts, culture, and sports would also receive proper government attention, so that the country’s skilled and talented citizens would be recognized at home and not just abroad, according to Poe. There should be a separate Emergency Management Department that will focus on national preparedness, climate change and geomapping, she said.

More attention would also be given to the tourism industry to boost job creation. Additional infrastructure, including airports, would be built, she said.

Children, who represent the country’s future, would receive more government assistance through proper nutrition, Poe said. There should be a standard lunch program in all public schools, she added.

According to Poe, her dream is to have each and every Filipino live a complete and productive life, and one with dignity.

She outlined three strategies to achieve her goals. The first

is to fight poverty and push for inclusive growth. The second is to have an open government, one that is free from corruption and respects human rights. The third is to push for a culture that would pave the way for the country’s global competitiveness.

Mar Roxas The Aquino administration’s standard-bearer is Mar Roxas, 58, son of the late Sen. Gerardo Roxas and grandson of the fifth President of the Philippines Manuel A. Roxas. He had served as secretary of trade and the interior, and was a former investment banker in New York.

Continuity will be the cornerstone of the Liberal Party (LP) standard-bearer’s campaign, banking on the purported gains of the Aquino administration’s centerpiece governance agenda of “daang matuwid” (straight path).

Anchored on President Aquino’s popularity, Roxas and the LP-led coalition would present a platform of uninterrupted institutional reforms to curb corruption and ensure inclusive economic growth to woo voters in next year’s general elections.

“Our platform of principles is a platform of dynamic continuity; one premised on maintaining the gains and momentum of (the President’s) term and bringing it to the next level in a comprehensive and inclusive manner,” Roxas told the Inquirer.

“It is one that is arrived at through a process of deliberation

and consensus,” he added.

Roxas said the LP and its coalition partners would make public their comprehensive governance principles and platform after the official filing of their candidacies.

In his speech after the President formally endorsed him on July 31, Roxas said, “We just need a government which cares for the welfare of the people and which remains faithful to its mandate … a government which quickly and readily respond to our needs; professional and not transactional.”

He said what the Filipinos needed was a government that would be able to put in place the appropriate system in attaining the nation’s goals of economic prosperity and stability.

“This has been started by the straight path. (The President) allowed us to imagine again what the Filipino is capable of,” he said. “We are a serious people who are serious with our dreams, who have just had a taste of what serious, selfless leadership can achieve.”

He said that the straight path advocacy was the embodiment of the dreams of every Filipino.

“As what the President said, it is worth fighting for. It is worth sacrificing for and dying for if need be,” he said. “The straight path transcends me and [the President]; it is a Filipino ideal that has been there long before we were born and will remain long after we are gone.”

Homeland Security to create parole program...

PAGE A1

A July 2015 report entitled “Modernizing and Streamlining Our Legal Immigration System for the 21st century” stated that certain family members can be eligible to come to the United States to provide support and care for aging Filipino veterans who are US citizens or lawful permanent residents.

“Parole, as provided for under the Immigration and Nationality Act, gives DHS discretion, on a case-by-case basis, to permit individuals to come to the United States for a temporary period of time based upon urgent humanitarian reasons or for significant public benefit,” the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said in a statement on Friday, Oct. 2.

However, the parole does not grant the family member any permanent right to remain in the United States.

Estimates indicate that as many as 26,000 Filipino veterans (of the over 260,000 Filipino sol-

diers who fought) are US citizens, after long being excluded from a law that granted citizenship to foreign soldiers serving in the US forces. Some of the veterans have petitioned family members from the Philippines to join them in the United States; however, wait times can last years, often times exceeding 20 years, due to statutory visa caps.

With the population of veterans rapidly aging—the White House estimates around 6,000 veterans are still alive in the US today—having family members by their sides would provide them with the necessary support and care.

The United States has set up similar parole programs, such as the Cuban Family Reunification Parole Program and the Haitian Family Reunification Parole Program. Under those parole programs, the beneficiaries are allowed to come to the US and be eligible to apply for work authorization while waiting to apply for lawful permanent resident

status.

Though the roll out date of the policy affecting Filipino veterans and their families is yet to be announced, the USCIS and State Department will provide the application process, and will be separate from the general familybased immigration system.

In the meantime, the USCIS is developing criteria and an application process for this parole program, and will announce them in the coming months.

The agency warns, however, that individuals cannot currently apply and any application received before the program is implemented risks being denied. “[The] USCIS is not yet accepting applications for parole under this program and individuals should not submit parole requests under this program at this time. People should avoid scams -- anyone claiming that applications can be filed now should not be trusted,” Shin Inoyue, a USCIS spokesperson told the Asian Journal in a statement.

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A

D ateline PhiliPPines Duterte, Honasan still playing coy on plans Drilon: Estrada, Revilla still allowed to run in 2016 polls

by ChRistine

o. AvendAño

by Rosette

Inquirer.net

A WEEK before the start of the filing of certificates of candidacy, Sen. Gregorio “Gringo’’ Honasan II and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte are still playing coy about their plans to run for higher office.

Honasan is touted as the running mate of Vice President Jejomar Binay but has declined to say so, while Duterte is being awaited by Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano to be his running mate.

Cayetano declared last week that he would seek the vice presidency.

“I’ve always been a good soldier,’’ said Honasan Monday, Oct. 5 as he entrusted to the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) whether he would be Binay’s running mate.

Honasan happens to be UNA’s second top man.

“It’s possible but it will be a party decision,’’ the senator told reporters of his teaming up with Binay.

But a source privy to party matters on Binay’s running mate said the Binay-Honasan tandem was indeed happening, after talks between a team-up between Binay and Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong’’ Marcos Jr. fizzled out.

Up in the air As the search for Binay’s running mate is almost over, the possible tandem between Duterte and Cayetano remains up in the air.

Cayetano told reporters he was waiting for Duterte to make a final decision, but he sounded optimistic that the feisty Davao City mayor would eventually relent to the clamor of the people.

Only Binay remains the declared presidential aspirant without a running mate, as Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo made official on Monday her team-up with Liberal Party standard-bearer Mar Roxas.

Last month, Sen. Grace Poe announced her presidential run and her running mate, Sen. Francis Escudero.

The source said Honasan would abide by the party decision and he was just consulting his family.

Sen. Gregorio “Gringo’’ Honasan II and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte

Bi-Hon Honasan said two weeks ago he was not inclined to run for Vice President in a tandem he called BiHon (Binay-Honasan), but Binay insisted that the senator remained on his list of possible running mates.

Speaking to reporters in the Senate, Honasan said, “I will subordinate myself to the decision of the party which I’m helping organize.’’

Asked for his reaction should the party chose him as Binay’s partner, the senator said: “What choice will I have?’’

He said he had been consulting his family on such a “major decision.’’

“If my family and friends cannot be behind me 100 percent, I cannot be 100-percent behind anybody, including the Vice President and that’s not his decision to make,’’ Honasan said.

He reiterated he did not consider running for Vice President in 2016 and did “not present myself’’ as one. The expected entry of Honasan in the vice presidential race will bring to three the number of senators vying for the same position—as this will also include Escudero and Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV. Trillanes, reacting to the possibility that he will be running against Honasan, said he believed it would be a “fair competition,’’ noting that the former was his “upper classman’’ and is a “friend.’’

Trillanes used to be a Navy officer and a member of Magdalo, a group of young military officers who attempted to dislodge the administration of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, meanwhile, said he had yet to talk to Honasan but added the senator, who used to be his protégé, was qualified for the job.

“But the problem there is, does he want to run? I do not know.

Second, do you have the resources to undergo that kind of political adventure? Running is easy,’’ Enrile told reporters.

Asked whether he was inclined to support Binay since like Honasan he was a member of UNA, Enrile said: “I have my own choice but I will keep it to myself.’’

The expected Binay-Honasan tandem may prompt Sen. Vicente Sotto to drop his support for Escudero. Sotto has declared support for Poe and Escudero when their tandem was announced.

Sotto said his inclination was to support Honasan if the latter does run, as they were close friends.

“I will have to talk to Senators Poe and Escudero,’’ Sotto said.

Cayetano, meanwhile, said he was awaiting the final decision of Duterte whom he noted had said the other day he would consider again running for President, “giving a glimmer of hope to his supporters.’’

Lower income tax bill not yet dead – lawmaker

by PAolo

And

RoMeRo ChRistinA Mendez Philstar.com

MANILA—The proposal to reduce individual and corporate income taxes is still alive in the House of Representatives despite the lack of support from Malacañang and the Department of Finance (DOF), the principal author of the measure said.

Marikina City Rep. Romero Quimbo, chairman of the House committee on ways and means, sought to clarify reports that the chamber had shelved the reform bill adjusting individual and corporate income taxation tiers that remained unchanged since 1997 despite inflation.

“We’re just waiting for a real, genuine and credible response from the DOF, their input before we approve the bill in the committee,” Quimbo said in a telephone interview. “There’s still time to pass this.”

House leaders earlier said the plenary could not act on the proposal since the committee has yet to endorse it.

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. had said he did not want “electiondriven” reforms but a tax measure that was comprehensive.

Quimbo explained that the tax reform effort in the House was in three stages, and Belmonte was totally supportive of the immediate passage of the pending measure, which is the first stage.

He said during their meeting in Malacañang with Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara, author of the Senate version, that President Aquino instructed Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima to give an official position to Congress.

He said the figures used by the House panel were taken from the DOF, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), and other agencies.

“If the DOF decides to dribble the issue, then we’ll be forced to pass the bill in the committee,” Quimbo said, adding Purisima has two weeks to make his response.

He said the bill has long been known to the DOF and the BIR, which were asked by the panel sometime ago to give their inputs.

The House is expected to pass the proposed P3.002-trillion national budget for 2016 on Friday and go on a break for the filing of certificates of candidacy for next year’s elections.

Quimbo said the chamber could vote on the measure on second reading when it resumes session on Nov. 3.

Another leader of the chamber said while the bill has the full support of members of the House, Malacañang is exerting pressure not to pass it and not make it an election issue.

Under the bill, those earning P180,000 and below a year would be exempt from paying taxes, while

Adel

Philstar.com

those who earn from P180,000 to P500,000 would pay nine percent.

Individuals whose yearly income is from P500,000 to P10 million would pay 17 percent, while those with more than P10 million annual income will have to pay 30 percent.

At present, those earning P500,000 and above are treated the same and are taxed at 30 percent.

“There should be higher tax compliance for professionals and entrepreneurs. We can’t sleep on this. The income tax rates are stuck in 1997 levels. That means that whether you are earning P500,000 or P50 million annually, you pay the same tax rate of 30 percent,” Quimbo said.

Because of the stagnant rates, he lamented that a soldier currently pays 15 to 20 percent income tax

when he or she should only pay five percent, while a new teacher who earns P20,000 has to pay as much as 20 percent income tax.

“This is simply not right because the purchasing power of P20,000 now is not the same as before. You won’t be able to buy much with that.

Those being hit are high school principals and mid-level managers,” he said.

Sen. Francis Escudero scored anew the Aquino administration for its pragmatic stance on lowering the income taxes of fixed income workers when it has underspent about P623 billion since 2011.

Escudero noted that the P30 billion, projected by the DOF as losses arising from the proposed income tax rate reduction, is definitely way below the unspent funds floating in government coffers.

MANILA—Senate President Franklin Drilon on Wednesday, Oct. 7 said detained Sens. Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. can still run in the 2016 national elections.

Drilon said that according to the Constitution, the two detained senators are still allowed to run in the upcoming polls until they are declared guilty by the court.

“Pwede po, dahilan sa hindi pa naman sila disqualified, hindi pa sila convicted. They are presumed innocent hanggang po magkaroon ng judgment sa husgado. Yaan po ay nasa ating Saligang Batas,” Drilon said in a radio interview.

The two senators are currently detained at the Philippine National Custodial Center in Camp Crame for plunder charges related to the pork barrel scam. They are hoping to be released from deten-

Although currently detained, Sens. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. and Jinggoy Estrada are still allowed to run for the 2016 polls.

Philstar.com photos

tion and be allowed to post bail after Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile was allowed to post bail.

Last Thursday, Oct. 1, Revilla revealed his initial plan to run for president. He already expressed intention to run last May. However, due to his current case, he

said he is now more focused on clearing his name.

Justice Secretary Leila De Lima also mentioned that Revilla may be allowed to run last June. However, she said the senator must consider his reputation which may affect national interest.

BOC plans advance clearing of OFWs’ balikbayan boxes by evelyn

MACAiRAn Philstar.com

MANILA—The Bureau of Customs (BOC) wants to clear in advance the packages sent by legitimate overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), doing away with the process of physically examining the balikbayan boxes starting next week.

The catch is the OFW must be legitimate and registered with the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) to avail of the “pre-cleared” program, said Customs Deputy Commissioner Arturo Lachica.

If the OWWA is able to submit the list of legitimate OFWs, the program can be implemented starting next week, he added.

“We would probably be able to secure the list by next week.

It would have to be uploaded to our system, so the names would automatically (appear). The list would let us know who are the legitimate OFWs,” Lachica said, referring to Filipinos working abroad through legitimate manpower channels.

The Philippine Statistics Authority said there are about 2.3 million OFWs in mid-2014.

Lachica said that once the system is put in place, the balikbayan boxes should be cleared even before these arrive on Philippine soil and should no longer need physical inspection.

“The presumption is that it

(balikbayan box) is already ok,” he added.

To fine-tune the program, the BOC, he said, is also looking into the cases of non-OWWA members and the possibility that the system will be abused.

A

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OctOber 8-14, 2015 • LAS VeGAS ASIAN JOUrNAL

OpiniOn

Royal rumble

Features

TURNING out to be an even more exciting race than the presidency in next year’s elections is the competition for the second most powerful seat in the country between some of the biggest names in Philippine politics.

The vice president’s responsibilities are akin to that of the president’s. This highly coveted position, according to the Office of the Vice President, is guided by objectives such as the pursuit of political stability and economic goals of the country. The vice president is also responsible for the promotion of foreign investments, international trade and diplomatic relations, peace and order, safety and welfare in coordination with law enforcement agencies. And much like the president, the vice president is expected to protect the interest of national constituency.

Among those who have already confirmed their bid to be next vice president are Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero, Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV and Camarines Sur Representative Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo. Senator Gregorio Honasan II is expected to join the roster to run alongside Vice President Jejomar Binay, who is gunning for presidency, under the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA).

Leading the pack is Sen. Escudero, who could be a runaway vice presidential winner if the election was held today. Based on the latest Pulse Asia survey, he topped the list for the most preferred candidates for vice president and would win 23 percent of the votes. In his announcement last Sept. 17, Escudero said that he and running

mate Sen. Grace Poe will establish a “Gobyernong may Puso (Government with a Heart)” that will raise the bar of public service by removing “slow and inefficient” people in the government. He added that by using the national budget as a framework, their administration would prepare a platform for every department to address problems of all sectors.

Sen. Marcos declared his bid earlier this week and said he leaves it up to the Filipino people to judge whether he deserves another shot at another position. “I believe that elected officials have an obligation to our people to help change the course of our nation’s history by banishing the politics of personality, which to me is one of the primary causes why our country today has become a soft state where the rich become richer, the poor become poorer, graft and corruption is endemic, the drug menace pervades, injustice is the norm and government incompetence is accepted,” Marcos said. He is currently courting Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte to be his running mate.

Sen. Cayetano, who is also courting Mayor Duterte to be his running mate, has formally announced his bid for vice presidency.Duterte earlier lauded Cayetano for his “good grasp of practical solutions” for the country’s problems on poverty, poor infrastructure, and lack of inclusive economic growth. While they have yet to formalize a partnership, Cayetano “continues to pray for a president

Editorial

Inquirer.net photo

who will take on the challenge of creating genuine change in the lives of Filipino families.”

Running under the Magdalo Group, Sen. Trillanes said his decision to run as vice president is a big challenge to widen the scope of his service to the Filipino people. While he expects his bid to be a long shot, Trillanes believes that his mission to uplift the nation, fix the government and help the Filipino people will help him win the race.

After her earlier reluctance to seek a higher position, Rep. Robredo finally accepted the administration’s offer to be the vice president of Manuel “Mar” Roxas II under the Liberal Party. While she vowed to continue the achievements of President

Benigno Aquino III’s “Tuwid na Daan (Straight Path)” policy, the unassuming congresswoman said her platform will focus on the poor and disenfranchised. “I offer myself fully especially to those who wear slippers, who are downtrodden and those who are neglected by society,” Robredo said.

Based on this preview, it is clear that the campaign season leading to next year’s elections will be a grueling journey for both candidates and voters. Although by adopting popular platforms to gain more popularity and votes, seem to be an easy route, even the most accurate polls cannot predict how the race will pan out. For these contenders, the test has just begun. (AJPress)

Who is your VP pick: Robredo, Escudero, Cayetano, Marcos, Trillanes or Honasan?

THERE may only be three candidates who have officially declared that they are seeking the highest office in the Philippines, but as of press time, it may be (at least) a six-way fight for the position of vice president for the May 2016 Philippine Elections.

The Liberal Party has found a co-pilot for Sec. Mar Roxas in his quest to stir the Philippine government toward “Daang Matuwid”: Cong. Leni Robredo. The reluctant widow of the much beloved DILG Sec. Jesse Robredo has finally embraced her new calling, after getting the blessings of her daughters who were opposed to her running for higher office.

The Robredos’ eldest daughter Aika posted a quote on social media that somehow encapsulates why the family decided to heed the calling for Leni to run for VP: “‘It’s impt, Dumbledore said, to fight & fight again, & keep fighting. For only then can evil be kept at bay, though never quite eradicated.’”

Sen. Chiz Escudero, long time friend of presidential polls frontrunner Sen. Grace Poe, has been on board with Poe from the beginning and the two are running as Independents while seeking the

I HAD a chance to watch the movie Heneral Luna with Street my wife and family Talk members and I was truly impressed with the crowd that it pulled. The lines at SM BF on Sukat Road GreG B. MacaBenta were long and we couldn’t get seats for the mid-afternoon screening. We had to buy tickets for the next screening three hours later and had to kill time waiting for it. We also had to make do with seats so close to the screen, it was practically like watching a show on a big screen TV with our faces a few inches from the set.

But I enjoyed every minute of the movie, the discomfort was well worth it.

In fact, I enjoyed it so much, I wouldn’t mind watching it again, although I would prefer better seating.

I found the film very entertaining.

It reminded me of the dozens of films I wrote for Jun Aristorenas, Tony Ferrer and Ramon Revilla decades ago. I realize, that sounds almost blasphemous, talking about Heneral Luna in the same breath as Harabas, Agent X-44 and Nardong Putik. I don’t mean any disrespect. It’s just that, as an old hand in movie making, I couldn’t help noting how the makers of Luna applied familiar cinematic touches that my late director friend, Tony Santos, referred to as “Approved kwela.”

Considering how the audience loved the irreverent depiction of familiar historical figures and the overdose of invectives spit out by the Luna character I’m not surprised that Donald Trump is leading in the GOP presidential derby and Davao’s Mayor Rodrigo Duterte has endeared himself to many Filipino

support of other parties.

As of press time, VP Jejomar The Fil-Am Binay – who is running under the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) Perspective – is still in a quandary over who will be his running mate, after failing to get the “matamis na OO” from Sen. Grace Poe and Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Gel SantoS-ReloS Marcos Jr. Though it has been much publicized that the Binay-Marcos tandem has been shaping up, the Marcos camp reportedly decided that it would be to their candidate’s best political interest to abandon such option because of Binay’s diminishing approval and trust rating in recent polls, following corruption allegations against him and his family.

As of press time, the UNA camp has reportedly been wooing Sen. Gringo Honasan to be his running mate.

Sen. Bongbong Marcos has decided to run on his own without a president, although he has reportedly been seeking to be in tandem with Rodrigo Duterte, if the popular Davao City Mayor decides

to join the race to Malacanang.

Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano is another VP candidate who has been waiting to run with Duterte, having announced his own VP bid in Davao City, with Duterte “almost” endorsing Cayetano when in effect he said Cayetano could beat all other VP bets.

Finally, there is Sen. Antonio Trillanes, another VP-wannabe running without a president.

This VP race that is getting to be more crowded than the presidential race is something absurd for us Fil-Ams who vote here in the United States.

Here in America, the presidential and the vice presidential candidates of each party run and campaign together as a “team”. A vote for one is the vote for the other.

When a tandem wins, the president and the VP work together to fulfill their campaign promises to the people, guided by their collective ideological and philosophical rationale in their quest for public office.

In contrast, candidates for president and vice

Heneral Luna, the movie

voters looking for someone to elevate to the presidency. The present generation has become so jaded that one needs to use the shock tactics of Trump and Duterte or Tony Santos’ approved kwela techniques to gain attention Heneral Luna does that with dialogues and scenes intended to elicit spontaneous laughter or jolt the moviegoers in their seats (“Puñeta” has the same recall potential as Ramon Revilla’s “Bwakang ina” in Nardong Putik). And then, there’s the sequence where Luna dragged a Kawit Katipunero captain before his troops by the poor fellow’s balls.

The audience loved that. I did too. Who cares about authenticity? And to rub it in, the officer was earlier shown in bed with a woman – as in, “How could he do that while fellow Katipuneros were being slaughtered?Ummmm. Buti nga!

Having said that, I would like to caution the serious students of motion picture art or of history to lower their expectations of the film because they could be in for some disappointment.

I would suggest that, whatever their filmic or academic background, they should just go watchHeneral Luna for its entertainment value. I guarantee that they will enjoy it as I did.

I also hope that the producers don’t feel too discouraged if they don’t win any awards at the Oscars where, I understand, they plan to enter the film.

But, I’m hoping I’m wrong. Maybe it will gain some critical acclaim for the novelty of a movie where Americans are presented as the bad guys.

I feel like an odd man out writing like this about a piece of creative work that

a lot of people I know have been heaping with glowing praise. And let me tell you, these are folks who don’t normally watch Filipino movies and who have genuinely good tastes.

Like me, I’m sure they were prepared to take a positive attitude towards a film that had enjoyed a lot of good reviews in social media (pretty much like perceiving Grace Poe as the great possibility for the Philippine presidency and Leni Robredo for the vice-presidency because of all the positive press).

Unlike them, however, I can’t watch a movie without subsequently asking myself if it was really well-made or if I enjoyed it because I wanted a no-brainer to relax with. To be frank, I regard Heneral Luna as a no-brainer – but, in that context, it is a thoroughly enjoyable and well-made one, especially with the costumes and production design. .

From a more serious perspective, the character of Antonio Luna could have used more in-depth development. There was an attempt to do that by means of soliloquys (a-la Hamlet’s “To be or not to be”) as well as in the sequence where Luna’s mother asked him to close his eyes and recall his blissful childhood with his brother Juan. I can almost see the director and the screenplay writers discussing the need for such a scene “in order to depict the complex character of the hero and soften his harsh, explosive persona.”

But that technique reminded me more of the dream sequences that oldtime Tagalog movie makers employed to provide relief from too muchbakbakan and patayan.

There was an opportunity for the writers to have portrayed with more depth Los Indios Bravos in Europe - Jose Rizal and the Luna brothers

president in the Philippines may run together or as independents. The emerging winners for the two top posts of the executive branch of government may come from two opposing parties. Ergo, history has proven time and time again how this set up has caused the president and the VP to work against each other and not together in performing their duties for the country.

I wonder when this will ever change. I hope the Philippine Constitution will be amended so that the president and VP may really work together for the Filipino people; to make this happen, the election laws should mandate that a vote for the president means a vote for the vice president counterpart.

In the meantime, who are you inclined to vote for the position of vice president: Leni Robredo, Chiz Escudero, Alan Peter Cayetano, Bongbong Marcos, Antonio Trillanes or Gringo Honasan? *** 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

among them - as a background for the Filipino intelligentsia’s incipient struggle for freedom. This could have been a better setting to explain the motivations behind Antonio Luna’s characterization. But then, even Vivencio Jose, the author of the book, The Rise and Fall of Antonio Luna, on which the movie was based, apparently failed to do that, too.

According to a scholarly review of the book, “its failure to situate Luna within the organized nationalist activity of Filipino activists in Europe makes Luna’s activities during this period seem rather unconnected and gives little idea of the progressive evolution of his thought.”

This probably left the screenplay writers with no other option but to depict Luna’s mercurial character and military genius in the most obvious manner - like commandeering a train and riding straight into the enemy lines on horseback.

Having said that, it makes me wonder why Emilio Aguinaldo was shown as such an impotent figurehead caught in the midst of the wrangling and the screaming of Philippine history’s most prominent personalities. Was this also the way Aguinaldo was depicted in Jose’s book? I wonder.

One can hardly believe that this was the same revolutionary leader who declared Philippine independence in Kawit, Cavite on June 12, 1898. I’m no big fan of DOTC Secretary Joseph Emilio Aguinaldo Abaya, but I can appreciate his discomfort with the cinematic treatment of his great grandfather’s role in Philippine history.

Come to think of it, I’m wondering what prompted the producers to make Heneral Luna. Was it intended as an art film (what movie scribes refer to as “pang-award)? Or did they produce

it for its box-office potential because of the way the source material overturned the cookie-cutter versions of Philippine history and exposed our heroes as having feet of clay? If it was for the last reason, they have apparently succeeded.

The movie is a bona fide box-office hit.

The opening titles did acknowledge that the producers had blended historical facts with cinematic fiction. About that aspect, historian Ambeth Ocampo had this to say in his newspaper column: “Everyone who comes out of Heneral Luna blames Aguinaldo—an oversimplification because history is more complex than our textbooks make it out to be. History is not about memorizing ‘facts’ or reacting emotionally, but being critical of facts and narratives. Aguinaldo is a soft target in a complex story where there are other villains. Some of the villains are not people but flaws in human nature and Philippine society.”

Oversimplification may be the best way to describe Heneral Luna as a portrayal of history and of historical figures. Even the way the dialogue was delivered by such characters as Gen. Arthur MacArthur and by John Arcilla’s Luna was much like a zarzuela - like hitting you on the head with a hammer, in a case you didn’t get the point.

And in the scene where Luna was killed, the director really went all out to squeeze it for all its gory potentials.

Steve Reeves as Superman couldn’t have remained standing that long from all the bullets pumped into Luna at close range, not to mention being hacked with bolos.

Eventually Luna died, of course. And this was where you could almost hear someone in the audience moan, “Sayang, namatay ang bida.” (gregmacabenta@hotmail.com)

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LAS VEGAS ASIAN JOURNAL • OctObER 8-14, 2015

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Palace ready to answer lump sum case in SC

ORIGAMI LANTERNS. Lucky Chinatown set a new world record for the largest display of origami lanterns. The dragon shaped display consisted of 19,999 origami lanterns. This was larger than the record set earlier this year by Hong Kong for the largest display of origami horses, which had 11,817 horses.

Inquirer.net photo

Lawyer, former senator Joker Arroyo dies at 88

“You have to know when to stop,” he told The Star in an interview prior to the end of his term in MANILA—Former senator Joker 2013. He said he was not running Arroyo succumbed late Monday, for public position after his Senate Oct. 5 to heart attack at a still undis- stint.

Unknown to many, he was the closed hospital abroad, according to highly reliable sources of The only other senator who did not use his P200-million annual Priority deStar. He was 88.

Arroyo represented the first dis- velopment Assistance Fund or pork trict of Makati City for nine years in barrel allocation, saving taxpayers the 9th, 10th and 11th Congresses, P2.4 billion over his 12-year stint from 1992 to 2001. He served as in the Senate.

Like Arroyo, former senator senator from 2001 to 2013.

He was known to be the most Panfilo Lacson did not touch his frugal member of Congress, earn- pork barrel.

As a congressman, Arroyo was a As a congressman and a senator, Joker Arroyo ing him the moniker “Scrooge of had no bodyguards. He did not enjoy the Congress.” He had only three staff critic of then Speaker Manuel Villar trappings and perks of power. members: a driver, a secretary and Jr. But the two became close friends when they became senators. a legislative assistant. prosecutor for the impeachment He was one of the congressmen trial in december 2000.

As a congressman and a senator, he had no bodyguards. He did who signed the endorsement of Arroyo was born in Naga, Camanot enjoy the trappings and perks impeachment of President Joseph rines Sur on Jan. 5, 1927. He had Estrada and was made the lead been married twice. of power.

by Delon PorCAllA Philstar.com

UN chief nominates COA commissioner to head UN internal oversight office

by ChristinA M. oriel AJPress

UNITEd Nations Security-General Ban Ki-moon told the General Assembly on Monday, Oct. 5 that he intends to appoint Commission on Audit (COA) Commissioner Heidi Mendoza as the undersecretarygeneral of the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS).

Once the General Assembly gives it formal approval, Mendoza will serve under a five-year nonrenewable term, the UN said in a statement.

The OIOS is the internal oversight body of the UN, which assists “the Secretary-General in fulfilling his oversight responsibilities in respect of the resources and staff of the Organization through internal audit, monitoring, inspection, evaluation and investigation services.”

Mendoza has been with the COA since 2011 and is the chairperson of the audit committee on public sector auditing standards board.

As a certified public accountant, Mendoza has over 20 years of service in government, special-

AJPress

THE Philippines on Thursday, Oct. 1, conditionally pledged to slash its carbon emissions by 70 percent by 2030, contingent on assistance it receives from the international community.

In the Intended Nationally determined Contribution (INdC) it submitted Thursday to the United Nations (UN), the Philippines said it would also commit to adaptation measures to help citizens prepare for the repercussions of climate change, including droughts and typhoons.

“These initial commitments are anchored on our policy declaration under the Climate Change Law of 2009, as amended in 2012, that the state shall cooperate with the global community in the resolution of climate change issues,” said Climate Change Commission (CCC) Secretary Lucille Sering said in a statement.

Carbon reductions will occur in the energy, forestry, industry transport and waste sectors, all of which are the country’s largest sources of carbon emissions. The agricultural sector was excluded from the list despite the fact it is the second largest source of carbon emissions. Reductions will occur while the country maintains a “business as usual scenario” from 2000 to 2030.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino III, chair of the CCC, approved the country’s plans, which are slated for implementation after 2020, spokesman Herminio Coloma said in a statement.

“As a country highly vulnerable

propriations.

Philconsa asked the SC to declare all three provisions as unconstitutional.

Lacierda said the lump sums in the 2015 national budget such as the contingency funds are necessary.

“Those who questioned, for instance, contingency fund, until such time that they can define to us how much it will cost per typhoon and how many typhoons will be coming in a given year in our country, it will always have to be a fund that will be parked in a place where it

will answer all the concerns for disaster,” he said.

“So, talagang of necessity, magkakaroon ka talaga ng ganung mga pondo at sinasabi naman ni Secretary Butch Abad iyon. Hindi naman natin ikinakailala na meron, for instance, ‘yung contingency fund lalo na,” Lacierda added.

Earlier, Abad washed his hands of the lump sums in the 2015 national budget, claiming that lawmakers are to blame for the allocation.

“The 2015 budget is an act of Congress. We are just implementing it,” he said. (Philstar.com)

Cut your entourage, Comelec tells bets THE COMMISSION on Elections (Comelec) will limit the number of companions who can accompany the candidates when they file their certificates of candidacy (COCs) next week.

According to Comelec Chair Andres Bautista, the rule is that the candidates must each bring only three companions when they file their COCs from October 12 to 16.

As for the candidates’ other companions, particularly their supporters, he said the poll agency would set up a video wall outside the Palacio del Gobernador for them.

“The supporters do not need to go inside because they will be able to see the proceedings through the monitors that we will be putting up,” Bautista said during a briefing.

Asked whether the poll body could effectively enforce the rule, Bautista admitted that it would be “a challenge.”

He hoped that the Comelec could curb the enthusiasm of the politicians’ supporters, who usually came in droves when they filed their COCs. (Inquirer.net) Southern Nevada Regional Housing Authority 340 North 11th Street Las Vegas, Nevada 89101 Phone (702) 922-6060

Southern Nevada Regional Housing Authority

Notice of Public Comment Period and Public Hearing Commission on Audit Commissioner Heidi Mendoza also serves as the external auditor for the Food and Agriculture Organization, World Health Organization and International Labour Organization.

izing in audit, investigation, fraud examination, anti-corruption and integrity advocacy. She is also the external auditor for the Food and Agriculture Organization, World Health Organization and International Labor Organization.

Before the COA, Mendoza worked

with the Asian development Bank and was also a member of the board of advisers of the Ateneo de Manila University School of Government, GMA News reported.

She will replace Canadian Carman L. Lapointe whose term ended in September.

PH vows to cut carbon emissions by 70% in 2030

by Agnes ConstAnte

MANILA—Malacañang said Wednesday, Oct. 7 that it is ready to answer before the Supreme Court (SC) allegations of lump sum and discretionary funds in the 2015 national budget.

“We will not hesitate to respond,” Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said in a press briefing.

“We are in good sound legal footing. What (Budget Secretary) Butch Abad said publicly in media, we will defend before the courts.”

On Tuesday, Oct. 6, the SC required the Palace and Congress to comment on the petition for temporary restraining order (TRO) on certain provisions of the 2015 General Appropriations Act (GAA) and special purpose funds (SPF) filed by the Philippine Constitution Association (Philconsa) last week.

In its 30-page petition, Philconsa asked the SC to issue a TRO on the implementation of Sections 65, 70 and 73 of the 2015 GAA as well as on special provisions for SPF. Section 65 of the GAA provides for lump sum appropriations while Section 70 defines savings as portions or balances of any unreleased appropriations in the GAA that were not obligated. Section 73, meanwhile, contains the rules on the realignment of allotment classes and reprioritization of items of ap-

to climate and disaster risks, mitigation measures as presented in the INdC will be pursued in line with sustainable development and a low-emission development that promotes inclusive growth,” the Philippine government’s six-page INdC submission stated.

In setting its 70 percent reduction goal, the CCC considered the country’s average population growth of 1.85 percent, its historical gross domestic product rates from 2010 to 2014 and a projected yearly average of 6.5 percent for 2015 to 2010, Inquirer reported.

“These reductions in emissions are conditional and will be pursued if sufficient financial resources, technology development and transfer, and capacity building will be made available to the Philippines after the Paris climate talks in december,” Coloma said, according to InterAksyon.

Among crucial aspects highlighted in the Philippines’ INdC was for the country to build its resilience and strengthen its “adaptive capacity,” which is the priority.

“Our INdC is based on our philosophy of undertaking mitigation as a function of adaptation, therefore, we will still prioritize adaptation measures,” Sering said, according to Philstar.

Measures set for implementation to achieve the reduction goal include climate monitoring and observation, and a climate/disaster risk and vulnerability assessment process, Inquirer reported.

“Technical inputs and assistance are critical for certain sectors such as grid efficiency improvement, standard development for energy

and water efficiency, cost-effective renewable energy, and alternative or high-efficiency technology for conventional power generation, among others,” the INdC document stated.

A 2009 UN summit in Copenhagen set a target of limiting global temperature rises to a maximum of two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. While the goal is still expected to result in increasing droughts and disasters, scientists consider it manageable, according to InterAksyon.

Experts say this is an achievable aim if wealthier nations work toward peaking their carbon emissions by 2020, while developing countries do the same by 2030.

The Climate Reality Project says the Philippines’ reduction target is a “significant development” for the country, Rappler reported.

“Having less than 1 [percent] of the total global carbon emission, this is not only a gargantuan challenge for the government but for all sectors to cooperate and take action,” said the group’s country manager Rodne Galicha, according to Rappler.

Since Super Typhoon Yolanda struck the Philippines in 2013, the Philippines has been the epitome of countries prone to the effects of climate change, Inquirer reported.

The Philippines ranked fifth under the Climate Risk Index of Germanwatch in the period between 1994 to 2014.

More than 130 nations have submitted INdCs to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, Sering said.

As required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Notice is hereby given that the Southern Nevada Regional Housing Authority (SNRHA) will hold a Public Hearing to solicit comments on the proposed revisions to the SNRHA’ Annual Agency Plan & Five Year Plan for FY2016 through FY2020, including HUD approval of conversion of assistance under the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) Program for Vera Johnson Manor B, Biegger Estates and Rose Gardens Properties.

The Public Hearing will be held at: Howard Cannon Center Commission Chambers 340 North 11th Street Las Vegas, NV 89101 Wednesday, November 18, 2015 at 5:30 pm The Plan will be available on Monday, October 5, 2015, at all Public +RXVLQJ &RPPXQLW\ 2I¿FHV DV ZHOO DV LQ WKH PDLQ OREE\ DUHD RI 615+$ $GPLQLVWUDWLYH 2I¿FHV ORFDWHG DW Howard Cannon Center at 340 North 11th Street, Las Vegas, NV 89101.

W. F. Cotrell Admin Building at 5390 E. Flamingo Rd, Las Vegas, NV. 89122 Housing Programs at 380 North Maryland Pkwy, Las Vegas, NV. 89101 The Plan will be also available on our website at www.snvrha.org, Welcome Page, scroll down to Agency Plans section click on “click here for all Agency Plans” and scroll down to the pdf icon for this plan.

If you wish to comment on the proposed revisions to this Plan, require additional information, and/or need special accommodations, please call 702-922-7006.

Written comments will be accepted from Monday, October 5, 2015 through Wednesday, November 18, 2015 at 5:30pm at the above address.

PUB: October 4, 2015

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Fil-Am community gears up for Filipino-American History Month festivities

By AJPress

THE Filipino-American communities in the United States gather together twice a year to celebrate history and heritage – first in June to commemorate Philippine independence and again in October to celebrate Filipino American History Month.

History books taught us that the Philippines declared independence from Spain in June 12, 1898 but not a lot of people know why the Fil-Am communities celebrate history month every October.

Well, this is due to the first recorded presence of Filipinos in the United States. It was October 18, 1587 when the “Luzones Indios” came ashore from the Spanish galleon Nuestra Senora de Esperanza and landed at what is now

The Delano Grape Strike of 1965

Morro Bay, California.

The late Dr. Fred Cordova, who along with his wife Dorothy founded Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS), first introduced October as Filipino American History Month in 1992 with a resolution from the FANHS National Board of Trustees.

“The Cordovas wanted to commemorate Filipino-American history and they wanted the contributions of the Filipino-American community to the United States be highlighted,” said Dr. Kevin Nadal, FANHS National Trustee.

“Somewhere, people started mistaking it as Heritage Month and people started to make it about the Philippines – which is great, but the month is really meant to be about Filipino American history.”

Celebrating Filipino American History Month In November of 2009, both the United States House of Representatives and Senate passed laws – House Resolution 780 and Senate Resolution 298, respectively — officially recognizing October as Filipino American History Month in the United States.

The White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (WHIAAPI) and the White House Office of Public Engagement (OPE) hosted a Celebration of Filipino American History Month (FAHM) on Friday, Oct. 2 at the White House.

The three-hour event, which was streamed live, featured discussions from administration officials and prominent FilipinoAmerican leaders and performances by distinguished FilipinoAmerican artists.

“Events like these show the power and resolve of the Filipino,” Jason Tengco, deputy director of the WHIAAPI said, kicking off the celebration.

Photo courtesy of Gail Prado

It was the first time the occasion was celebrated in the White House, let alone recognized by a US president.

In a letter that was read aloud at the celebration, President Barack Obama recognized the “struggles and victories of the many Filipino Americans who have helped shape our Nation.”

Among them: the Filipinos who fought in World War II and the farm workers in Delano.

“Generations of Filipino Americans have lent their unique voices to the vibrant diversity of origins, cultures, and communities that make America what it is. Their legacy speaks to the extraordinary spirit of common purpose — of unity forged through the ideals that bind us together as one people — that has always been central to our Nation,” the letter continued.

FANHS announced that the theme of this year’s celebration would be “1965: Tipping Point for the Filipino American Community” to commemorate the 50th

This year, the community is also commemorating a couple of significant milestones in the Filipino American history – the 50th anniversary of the immigration Act of 1965 and the 50th anniversary of the grape strike in Delano, California.

The immigration and Naturalization Act (iNA) of 1965 was signed

by President Lynden B. Johnson on October 3, 1965. it dramatically changed the demographic landscape of America. The law abolished the National Origins Quota system; made family-based immigration the basis for Us immigration policy; and established a preference system for people with special occupational skills to become permanent residents.

The Philippines, after Mexico, has been the largest beneficiary of the liberalized immigration law. According to Us Census and homeland security sources: in 2008 there were in the Us approximately 1.7 million foreign born Filipinos; and approximately 1.4 million native born Filipinos, most who were the children or grandchildren of one or both parents who arrived after 1965.

50 years ago today, elderly Filipino men working in grape fields in Delano, California decided to go on strike to fight for better wages and working conditions. That courageous decision would have effects far beyond the grape fields. in New York, the 50th anniversary of the Delano Grape strike of 1965 will be celebrated with a conference that will be held on October 24 at the san Damiano hall of the Church of st. Francis of Assisi in midtown Manhattan. The conference aims to celebrate the 1965 strike as a victory of the migrant workers’ solidarity. This was when agricultural workers from various cultural and ethnic backgrounds were waging their own battle in the farmlands of California and about the same time when the Civil Rights Movement was sweeping through America. in 1965, grape workers in Delano – mostly Filipinos and Mexicans – joined forces and went on strike to demand better wages and better working conditions. After five years, grape growers agreed to sign union contracts, granting workers better pay, benefits, and protections.

Al Rojas and Roger Gadiano, two veterans of the strike, will be the main speakers of the conference. Dr. Albert Bacdayan, former chairman of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Kentucky has done an extensive research on the strike and will give an overview of this historic event.

Current leaders of various migrant workers’ groups will also speak out and provide an overview of the plight of migrant workers today. anniversary of three momentous events, the organization’s national president Mel Orpilla said.

In 1965, the Immigration and Nationality Act was passed and Filipino farm workers (Larry Itliong, Philip Vera Cruz and many more manongs) lead the Delano Grape Strike. Additionally, at that time, Filipino American men were

either enlisting in the military or fighting in the Vietnam War. The highest-ranking Filipino American in the Obama administration, Nani Coloretti, delivered a keynote speech in which she spoke of how her family came to Maui from the Philippines to work with sugar cane workers.

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Features

B october 8-14, 2015 • LAS VeGAS ASIAN JoUrNAL

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Fil-Am’s book recounts cross-racial civil rights era alliance WASHINGTON, D.C. — In the civil rights and antiwar movements in the ‘60s and ‘70s a political alliance among several ethnic groups emerged in Seattle, Washington, to fight for equal rights. This alliance and friendship was best exemplified by the relationship among four activists of different backgrounds: “Uncle Bob” Santos, a Filipino American; Bernie Whitebear, an American Indian; Larry Gossett, an African American; and Roberto Maestas, a Mexican American.

A new book by Bob Santos and co-author Gary Iwamoto entitled Gang of Four, the collective nickname of the four civil rights leaders, tells their story of decades of working together to protect affordable housing, ensure that elderly and low-income families were provided with social services and to help improve life in Seattle as a whole.

Gang of Four reads both like a biography and a tale told by your grandparents. It begins with narrating the early childhood of the four men, who all have common origin stories of struggling with racial perceptions. At a young age, they observed being treated differently because of how they looked.

The book tells of how they met and supported each other throughout the years.

During a book talk and signing in Washington, D.C., in late September, Santos reflected on his time as a Gang of Four member.

“We were all fighting for the same pot of money … We had goals and knew we had to fight for resources,” Santos says. The group realized they were working for similar goals and shouldn’t have to compete for the funds.

They began attending public hearings for program funding as

a unified group to show that all minority communities mattered and shouldn’t be pitted against each other.

The Gang of Four, also known as the “Four Amigos,” became prominent on the political scene, and over time everyone, even politicians, wanted their endorsement due to their influence.

The book illustrates the energy and passion of the Gang of Four in their efforts to make positive changes in their communities.

“I never looked at negative side of issues; (I) just thought of ways to get even,” Santos says. “The government (functionaries sometimes) don’t do their homework. You have to get even to make sure they take care of the community.”

Santos’ memories that have remained vivid even later in life include his time serving as northwest regional director for the Department of Housing and Urban Development between 1994 and 2001. During his time, he helped use a federal building as a homeless shelter.

He added that his work in Seattle can be used as a model for activism and cross-racial coalition building; but youth today, of course, have different issues.

Some of the problems youth face with coalition building, Santos says, is they don’t necessarily have common goals and it can be difficult to get older folks to understand their concerns.

“We’re getting a lot more interest from young Asian Americans who think we gloss over issues important to young people,” he said, adding that older generations should take more time to listen to youth.

Uncle Bob urges youth to network, go outside of their comfort zone and meet new people. It’s also important to understand the diversity of the civil rights movement and working together across racial

FOR the first time ever in her nine years as Governor of Batangas, Vilma Santos received a title unlike other: a queen.

Honoring the female chief executive—who is also a veteran actress in the showbiz industry—is the Muslim community of Batangas led by His Highness Sultan Paramount Faizal Coyo-

gan Benaning Bansao.

Held at Lima Park Hotel in Lipa City the awarding ceremony was also attended by over 3,000 Muslim brothers and leaders from the Royal Houses of Sultanate of Batangas, as well as Brunei and Malaysia.

In accepting the prestigious honor, Santos, who wore a royal blue Muslim costume, said,

by Mary

TablanTe Inquirer.net

BOOK TALK. Bob Santos (center) talks about his book Gang of Four with Asian American authors Gordon Chin (left) and Deepa Iyer (right) in Washington, D.C. Inquirer.net photos by Mary Tablante The Filharmonic at the White House for the Celebration of Filipino American History Month

Fil-Am community gears up for...

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Bob Santos signs a copy of his book Gang of Four on September 29, in Washington, D.C.

lines. “Young people have to know the history of our role in the civil rights movement,” he says.

Today, Santos has 19 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren, but he’s known to all of them as Uncle Bob. Santos and Larry Gossett are the surviving Gang of Four members, making this book even more significant in preserving the friends’ stories.

Gang of Four is available from Chin Music Press. According to its website, Chin Music Press is offering free shipping in the U.S. for this title for a limited time. All the books shipped through its store will be signed by Bob Santos.

Call her ‘Queen Vilma’

Gov. Vilma Santos of Batangas in a blue Muslim attire

Photo from The Filharmonic’s Twitter

“Malaking karangalan para sa akin dahil kasama ko ang mga kapatid ang Muslim para matupad ang maayos na programa sa Batangas mula pa ng Mayor ako [It is such an honor for me to be with my Muslim brothers so I can properly fulfill my programs for Batangas which I began since I became a mayor].”

“Salamat kay Sultan Paramount Faizal Coyogan Cocoy Bansao,” Santos also exclaimed in her speech. “Muli, sa pangalan ng mga Batangeño at sa Mayor ng Lipa. Maraming salamat po sa karangalan [Again, in the name of my fellow Batangeño and the Mayor of Lipa, thank you for this honor]!”

Besides relishing in her newest political achievement, the governor also took the chance to talk about her personal life.

She proudly shared her in-depth interview about her sons Luis Manzano and Ryan Christian, who appeared at the cover of Yes! magazine’s October together.

(ManilaTimes.net)

“I’m really happy to take the time to celebrate my roots,” Coloretti said. “Those who forget where they come from will never reach their destination.”

Last year, she was nominated

by Obama and confirmed by the Senate as deputy security of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, a position that requires her to work to end homelessness, secure access to quality, affordable housing and improving businesses within communities.

Coloretti noted that Obama has appointed twice as many Asian Americans to leadership positions than any other administration and has made advances that benefit the lives of Filipino Americans, such as immigration programs, the Affordable Care Act and recognizing the valor of Filipino nationals who fought in WWII and the Vietnam War. Leon Rodriguez, director of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), estimated that 7,000 Filipino Americans have benefited from the Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. However, close to 26,000 are still eligible to take advantage of the opportunity.

Fil-Am trailblazers During a panel session, Billy Dec, a member of the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, stressed the importance of “celebrating now, the future and how we got here.”

Among the panelists were White House Executive Chef Cristeta Comerford, Apl.de.ap of the Black Eyed Peas, singer Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura, transgender model and advocate Geena Rocero, comedian Jo Koy and Pixar animator and “Inside Out” co-director Ronnie del Carmen.

“As the first female minority executive chef of the White House, it’s not only a great challenge for me, but also an opportunity to share my roots, and to share everyone else’s roots, because I have to be inclusive to everyone,” said Comerford, who started working in the White House in 2005.

Though she couldn’t disclose

Photos courtesy of Filipino American National Historical Society (www.fanhs-national.org)

what type of food she cooks the president, she said Obama is open to different cuisines and “loves being surprised.”

For Apl.de.ap, Geena Rocero, Cassie and Jo Koy, the Filipino American community’s willingness to encourage and publicly support one another is powerful and goes a long way, especially since there are only a handful of successful Fil-Ams in their respective fields.

“As a community we need to collaborate, reach out, and not be ashamed to represent our culture,” Apl said.

“When I first started doing standup, I told the story of my mom. People identify with that, those characteristics [and] my mom does that to me too…[In] telling relatable stories during standup, people identify with them,” Jo Koy added.

Del Carmen shared that it’s been a long journey from being in the Philippines to working with top Disney executives. With a childhood dream to become an animator, which wasn’t supported by his father, del Carmen grew up hiding his drawings and asking his parents if they could go to Disneyland.

Today, del Carmen’s illustrious resume includes, being codirector of “Inside Out” and an animator on movies like, “Finding Nemo”, “Wall-E” and “Up”. He is also part of “PixNoys,” a group of Filipinos who work at Pixar.

As for Filipino representation in a Disney/Pixar movie, del Carmen said, “a story about a Filipino American or a transgender character... I don’t think we’re that far behind.”

Community events Various states, counties and cities in the US have since followed suit and have established proclamations and resolutions declaring observance of Filipino American History Month in their regions.

Throughout the month of October, communities here in Los Angeles and beyond, will be hosting various events.

Fifty years ago, predominately Filipino farm workers in Delano — led by Itliong, Philip Vera Cruz, Benjamin Gines and Pete Velasco — organized a strike, by walking off grape farms and demanding fair wages.

This year also marks the first time “Larry Itliong Day” will be commemorated statewide, following Gov. Jerry Brown’s signing of AB7 into law. AB7 called for celebrations for the labor organizer, including encouraging public schools to teach about Itliong’s life and contributions to California.

Last weekend, the SouthBay LA Filipino American Chamber of Commerce held its fifth annual Carson Fil-Am Month celebration.

On Sunday, Oct. 25, Search to Involve Pilipino Americans (SIPA), along with councilmember Mitch O’ Farrell of LA’s 13th district and various community partners, will have a FAHM and “Larry Itliong Day” celebration. The activities include a film screening of Marissa Aroy’s “The Delano Manongs: Forgotten Heroes of the United Farm Workers,” a community roundtable and Q&A with Aroy and cultural performances from LA artists.

National heritage is described as “anything of national significance which is handed down and preserved through generations, especially architecture, landscapes, documents and other artifacts.”

This month, Filipino-Americans are encouraged to experience and appreciate their national heritage with a sense of pride and a sense of belongingness. It is the time to have a full appreciation of our roots so we could grow to our full potential. (Momar G. Visaya, Christina M. Oriel, Allyson Escobar and Agnes Constante contributed to this report)

Features

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LAS VEGAS ASIAN JOURNAL • OctObER 8-14, 2015

Fly in style with China Southern Airlines China Southern airlines Company Limited is an airline headquartered in Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China. China Southern is proud to be the third largest airline in the world by traffic volume and ranks no.1 in asia measured by passenger volume and fleet size.

From its main hub at Guangzhou Baiyun international airport, China Southern has an extensive network worldwide and flies to 193 destinations in 41 countries and regions every day.

China Southern has transported over 100+ million passengers in (L-R) Eliza Chung of GTT International, Manny Illagan of PH Department of Tourism, Flora Wang 2014. China Southern airlines Director of China Southern, & Jun Wang Sales Executive of China Southern.

AJPress photos by Robert Macabagdal also has the highest safety record among all competitors and made the San Francisco route a airline alliance, China Southern keep a safety record of more than daily service. We also increased our airlines’ -- in cooperation with 14 million flying hours by 2015. flight frequencies from four flights 19 other SkyTeam members -China Southern also has the most weekly to 10 flights weekly between provides passengers with over advanced aircrafts including wide- new York and Guangzhou. as for 16,000 flights to over 1,000 desbody aircrafts a380, B787 Dream- our Los angeles Route, we added tinations daily. China Southern liner, and B777-300ER. four weekly flights on top of our airlines offers many codeshare in June 2015, China Southern daily service with the newest Boe- flights from north american increased flight frequencies for ing 777-300ER. in the future, we cities, such as Las Vegas, Los three north america gateways: will continue to improve our service angeles, San Francisco and JFK, SFO and LaX. now, China and work steadily to adopt interna- new York for our travelers to fly Southern is offering 70 weekly tionalization strategy with the aid directly to China and beyond. flights between north america of our hub Guangzhou, linking up Connecting flights from China to and China. in June, we launched domestic and international route to Manila are also available. Please the first direct flight between San become a big network carrier. visit http://www.csair.com/en/ for Francisco and Guangzhou and as a member of the SkyTeam more information.

China Southern Airlines and PH Department of Tourism presentation

Eliza Chung

Kapampangan film wins Best World Film award

by Justine

Dizon Inquirer.net

anGELES CiTY—a film about a young man and his discovery of the Kapampangan language through a local poet received the Best World Film award at the harlem international Film Festival 2015 in new York last month.

The locally produced fulllength film, “ari: My Life with a King,” tells the story of a boy named Jaypee, portrayed by Ronwaldo Martin (actor Coco Martin’s younger brother), and an older man named Conrado, played by Kapampangan poet Francisco Guinto.

Jaypee, who does not know how to speak Kapampangan, met Conrado, the “King of Poets” in Pampanga, leading the young man to discover his native language. according to the film’s writer, Robby Tantingco, who heads the Center for Kapampangan Studies at holy angel University (haU), the film aims to promote the use

of the Kapampangan language among the youth.

“We wanted to produce a film that will showcase the advocacy of the university, and that is the promotion and preservation of local culture,” he said.

King of poets Tantingco said the practice of Pampanga poets in selecting or electing “kings” since the 1920s served as his inspiration to write “My Life with a King.” “i find this very strange and interesting at the same time. They elect among themselves the king of poets in the province,” he said.

“My Life with a King” is the first full-length feature film produced by haU. Tantingco said haU and the people behind the film were ecstatic about the international recognition that it received. he said the award was an appreciation of regional filmmaking in the country, specifically in Pampanga.

Carlo Encisco Catu, a senior student at haU and an independent filmmaker, directed “My

Life with a King,” while students, alumni, university officials and employees formed the production team.

The film also features Cecille Yumul and real-life Kapampangan Poeta Laureado (poets) Policarpio Batac, Eufrocina de la Peña, and Felix Garcia in the cast.

One of the producers is haU alumnus Ferdinand Lapuz, who produced also the internationally acclaimed films of Brillante Ma. Mendoza and other filmmakers.

Bigger impact Tantingco said people behind the film initially wanted to do a short film, but Lapuz encouraged them to make a full-length movie, saying it would have a bigger impact. haU had set aside about P1 million for the production of “My Life with a King,” which Tantingco described as small. “We got good discounts from professionals who helped us in the film.

Other crew members were also volunteers,” he said.

Photos courtesy of China Southern Airlines

Flora Wang

Manny Ilagan

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B october 8-14, 2015 • LAS VeGAS ASIAN JoUrNAL

Fil-Am cinematographer behind ‘Straight Outta Compton’ DON’T look now, but a Filipino-American contributed to the enormous critical and commercial success of Universal Pictures’ “Straight Outta Compton,” which traces the rise of influential (and notorious) rap group N.W.A. The film’s Director of Photography is none other than Oscar-nominated Fil-Am cinematographer Matthew Libatique, himself a life-long fan of hip-hop music.

Libatique describes to ICG (International Cinematographers Guild) Magazine, how he got involved with the film. “I was watching TV in a New York hotel room when I saw Ice Cube on “Queen Latifah” [the talk show], and she asked what he was doing next. When Cube said a film called “Straight Outta Compton,” I literally jumped up and grabbed the phone.

For the first time in my career, I called my agent and said I really want that project.”

Fortunately for Libatique, he and “Compton” director, F. Gary Gray, shared the same agency.

They met on Oscar day, 2014, to discuss the film, and eventually sealed the deal.

“I remember telling Gary [in that first meeting] how I read a lot of comic books as a kid, and my favorites were always the origin stories—the ones that showed how Batman or Superman or the Green Lantern became who they

are. That’s what `Straight Outta Compton’ is—an origin story about people who ultimately become larger than life in the eyes of pop culture.”

Continues Libatique, “I know for me it’s one of the most passionate of projects I’ve ever done, because this music spoke to me like nothing else really has. And what was important, from my perspective as a cinematographer, was to get it absolutely right: to show who these Matthew Libatique superheroes were and where they off and running.

Most recently, Libatique and came from.”

Libatique has forged a unique Aronofsky worked together on career over the past two decades. Noah, their sixth collaboration. he began with the goal of becom- Libatique was nominated for an ing a music-video cinematogra- American Society of Cinematographer because he was drawn to phers (ASC) Award and an Acadthe potential of electronic image emy Award for Black Swan, also manipulation, but soon he was cre- directed by Aronofsky. Black Swan ating bold, innovative imagery for was shot in Super 16, which is longer forms. Libatique has a long- rare for an Oscar nominee in the standing professional relationship cinematography category. For his with director Darren Aronofsky, work on “Black Swan,” Libatique for whom the cinematographer also received BAFTA, Critics Choice scored an early breakthrough with and the Independent Spirit Award Pi, a disturbing portrait shot in nominations, to name a few.

Libatique has ongoing collaboblack-and-white 16mm. Libatique pushed the film emulsion to its rations with several directors, limits and beyond to portray an including Spike Lee, for whom unstable, deteriorating mind ob- he photographed “Miracle at St. sessed with numbers. Pi won the Anna,” “She hate Me” and “Inside Directing Award at the Sundance Man,” Joel Schumacher, on “TiFilm Festival, and Libatique was gerland” and “Phone Booth” and honored with an Independent Spirit Jon Favreau, on “Iron Man,” “Iron Award nomination for his work; Man 2” and “Cowboys & Aliens.”

Libatique’s feature-film career was (ManilaTimes.net)

EMPLOYMENT

Billy Crawford

players enabling their teammates to correctly name a song that they hum without lyrics—while “singing” like birds or goats or pigs.

Most difficult game The most difficult game requires contestants to identify the titles of two songs, usually one local and one foreign, that sound confoundingly alike! We ended up admiring, not just the players who got the titles right, but also the show’s staffers for so adroitly combining otherwise unrelated

Grand opening of the brand new 99 Ranch Market Las Vegas store

The much anticipated brand new 99 Ranch Market Las Vegas store located on S. Maryland Pkwy and e. Twain Ave., is opening its doors this week. The Clark County community will finally get to experience the grand opening event on Saturday, October 10th. The festivities will begin at 9:00am with a ribbon cutting ceremony to include Congresswoman Dina Titus, Vice Chairman Jonson Chen of 99 Ranch Market and more city leaders.

The grand opening ceremony will also have a heart pounding lion dance, live music and more festivities.

99 Ranch Market is excited to be opening a brand new store in Las Vegas at the edge of The Boulevard Mall. The establishment is even more proud to be a part of an area that is getting revitalized and will soon be bustling with businesses and locals. As a part of the new Clark County, this 99 Ranch Market location provides an estimated 150 jobs to the community. For 99 Ranch Market, nothing gives them more joy than creating an establishment in a new community to share the excitement for the beloved brand and quality Asian foods at reasonable prices to customers old and new.

Customer’s health is top of mind for 99 Ranch Market. exsongs to form witty “duo-med- pect a wide selection of fresh produce, freshly caught seafood leys.”

The winning team was made up and beautiful cuts of meat at the new Las Vegas Maryland of singers Karla estrada, Nyoy Volante, Melai Cantiveros store. While shopping for health and edgar Allan Guzman won by a wide margin over the competing group of comedians. In future, therefore, players should make it a point to be musically savvy—or suffer the consequences.

With this new show, Billy Crawford has emerged as one of the busiest TV program hosts around, with the daily “Its Showtime” and weekly “Your Face Sounds Familiar” also on his work schedule.

What makes him so in-demand?

Like another popular host, Luis Manzano, he looks good, talks fast, makes sense and is savvy enough to keep a game or variety show perky and exciting.

Unlike other “hosts” who rely completely on scripted spiels written by somebody else, they can ad-lib to save their performing Daniel Matsunaga tells Erich Gonzales: “Gagawin lives—and do so with winking wit, ko ang lahat para masaya ang buhay natin.”

Philstar.com photo by Jonathan Asuncion to boot! (Inquirer.net)

food essentials, customers can expect a modern store with an interior design that provides customers well-lit groceries, spacious aisles and a comfortable shopping experience. every section of the market will offer customers high quality essential products. Products range from ethnic groceries reminding you the taste of your hometown, to freshly picked fruits and crisp vegetables. On top of enjoying product variety, the new Las Vegas Maryland store will be able to satisfy customer’s cravings for tantalizing Asian cuisine.

Customers will get to enjoy prepared foods ranging from Chinese to Taiwanese dishes.

The store even has Ihaw Ihaw, the spot for customers to fulfill their Filipino taste buds. Customers will find that stopping by 99 Ranch Market is not only for picking up Asian essentials but for diverse international selections making this market their one-stop shop. Quality foods, superior interior design, spacious shopping area, convenient store layout and great prices are values that will make this 99 Ranch Market a huge success.

The sweet highlight of this grand opening is the all new BF Bakery &Café. Known for beautifully decorated sponge cakes and freshly baked euro-Asian breads all handcrafted by bakery experts everyday. You will enjoy the delightful scent of baked good and experience a whole new bakery experience in the new Las Vegas

EMPLOYMENT

PSYCHIC

‘Celebrity Playtime’s’ unique viewing proposition NeW TV shows are launched practically every week these days, but many of them look and feel that they don’t have the unique viewing proposition to take them to the end of their first season. An exception to that desultory rule appears to be “Celebrity Playtime.”

The new game show, hosted

by Billy Crawford, pits two teams of four starlets or stars apiece against each other in challenging, time-based contests that tests various skills.

For instance, an “alternative spelling bee” has two opponents sequentially but alternatingly providing the letters to a long Filipino word with a confusingly repetitious use of vowels, thus making it really difficult for the players to keep from making mistakes—and losing!

The “mental calisthenics” involved are truly challenging, so viewers end up being impressed with the celebs who do manage to pull them off.

Another test of weird performing and communication skills has

http://www.asianjournal.com • (702) 792-6678

(Advertising Supplement)

Daniel Matsunaga on proposing to Erich Gonzales: Maybe soon MANILA—Is Daniel Matsunaga planning to propose to erich Gonzales in the near future?

During their appearance on ABS-CBN’s noontime show “ASAP” on Sunday, Oct. 4, the model-actor told the 25-yearold actress: “Alam mo, mahal na mahal kita. Gagawin ko ang lahat para masaya ang buhay natin.”

Asked by program co-host Piolo Pascual if he’s already proposing, Daniel said: “hindi pa, hindi pa. But maybe soon.”

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Maryland store.

Visit 99 Ranch Market Las Vegas Maryland store for special grand opening promotions: • First 100 customers on 10/10 receives a free coupon and a tote bag • On grand opening day 10/10, customers that show they “Like” 99 Ranch Market on Facebook or “Follow” 99 Ranch Market on Instagram, receive a free surprise gift* • On grand opening weekend 10/10-10/11, customers that make a purchase* of: • $20 or more, receive one pack of shrimp crackers or spicy green peas snaps $40 or more, receive an iceshaver $80 or more, receive a Sunvoi jasmine rice (5 lb) for free *While supplies last **Some restrictions may apply, promotion valid based on the inventory. For more information, please inquire with the store.

99 Ranch Market (Las Vegas Maryland) store info Business hours: Monday to Sunday, 9am-10pm Store address: 3768 S. Maryland Parkway, Suite #650, Las Vegas, NV 89119 Store phone number: 702866-8899 For more information, please contact 99 Ranch Market’s customer service hotline 1-800-600TAWA(8292) or visit 99 Ranch Market website:www.99ranch. com

The two admitting being in a relationship earlier this year.

Daniel was rumored to have proposed to erich during their vacation in Paris in June.

“I’ve been waiting for this relationship for three years.

I’m not the kind of guy who would go into a relationship for fun” he said in an interview with Philstar.com last July. “So, right now, I’m very, very happy.

That’s what I can say to you. In God time’s. There’s always a perfect timing for everything.”

(Philstar.com)

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Your Immigration Solution Atty. RobeRt Reeves GReGoRy J. boult NANcy e. MilleR Applying for naturalization (citizenship) is the final step in the immigration process for many immigrants. While the general requirements to establish eligibility for naturalization appear straightforward, they often are not. Many naturalization applicants are surprised when their applications are denied. The immigration laws and regulations which control eligibility for naturalization are littered with traps and pitfalls which the unsuspecting applicant may not recognize until it is too late.

All applicants for naturalization must establish that they are persons of good moral character during a prescribed period of time prior to submitting their applications (one, three or five years, depending on what grounds one is applying under). While the immigration laws itemize specific acts which preclude an applicant from establishing good moral character, this list is not exclusive – there are many other acts which may hinder or prevent a good moral character finding. in addition, while good moral character must be established for a prescribed period of time prior to submitting an application, acts outside of the prescribed period can be considered in determining an applicant’s good moral character.

Many acts that one might not think of as evidencing bad moral character may nevertheless be considered in making a good moral character determination.

One such act is the willful failure to pay support for dependents. For instance, it is extremely difficult to establish good moral character when one is not complying with a child support order. Even the failure to support a dependent without an underlying court order can prove problematic. Another act, which is often a surprise to many applicants, is engaging in an extramarital affair which tended to destroy an existing marriage. This issue often arises when an applicant had a child outside of a prior marriage. Other acts which may result in the delay or the denial of an application for naturalization include the submission of fraudulent

Health@Heart PhiliP s. chuA, MD, FAcs, FPcs SpEAKing before the United nations general Assembly, pope Francis challenged the international organization to bring peace and environmental justice, placing blame on “a selfish and boundless thirst for power and material prosperity.” At the same time, the pope endorsed the efforts of the United nations to reach a global compact to fight poverty and climate change.

As the head of the Holy See, pope Francis invoked the principle of international law and equality among nations and endorsed the concept of “rights of the environment,” to save the earth’s forest and seas, and humanity as a whole, by addressing climate change now. He said “any harm to the environment is harm to humanity” and that the global poor are among victims of environmental destruction.

Destroying our planet Our planet is at imminent grave risk of being irreparably destroyed if global warming (more appropriately termed climate change), as pope Francis alluded to, continues unabated. like the multitudes of problems threatening the world, this major one is caused by its intelligent inhabitant, man himself, and his careless and irresponsible behavior in the last two hundred some years.

Human beings are not new to self-abuse, self-destruction, and irreverence to their environment, in spite of their education, culture, and massive data in this age of exploding informational technology and mind-boggling advances in science and medicine.

Humanity’s self-abuse and rape of its only hospitable environment are almost certain to doom the world people live in, unless they listen to Mother nature and promptly start to take a wise proactive strategy in dealing with the present ecologic dilemma. Humans cannot afford to lose this one -- their only sanctuary in the galaxy. And what’s happening is scary.

Historically, the earth’s climate has gone through various changes, from the ice age to prolonged periods of heat waves. The factors involved include the alteration in the

Features

LAS VEGAS ASIAN JOURNAL • OctObER 8-14, 2015

Am I eligible to naturalize? Calendar of Events across Avoiding the pitfalls to becoming a US citizen All applicants for naturalization must establish that they are persons of good moral character during a prescribed period of time prior to submitting their applications (one, three or five years, depending on what grounds one is applying under). or improperly prepared income tax returns. Tax returns often come under scrutiny because individuals file under the incorrect category, claim ineligible dependents, or fail to report all of their earnings. in some instances, even the receipt of public assistance can cause the delay or denial of an application for naturalization.

Criminal convictions are often an issue in establishing an applicant’s good moral character. While a disqualifying criminal conviction in the prescribed period of good moral character will automatically render an individual ineligible for naturalization, a disqualifying criminal offense outside of the prescribed period can cause an application for naturalization to be denied. The government is afforded broad discretion to examine otherwise non-disqualifying criminal convictions outside the prescribed period to determine if the underlying facts warrant a favorable finding of good moral character. Therefore, as a result, an analysis of good moral character extends far beyond the prescribed period. These issues may not result in an automatic denial but they must be adequately explained.

Other pitfalls and traps also lurk for the unsuspecting applicant. One common example is the Selective Service requirement which directs all male citizens and lawful permanent residents of the United States who are between the ages of eighteen and twenty-six to register with the government.

Unfortunately, many lawful permanent residents fail to register. As a result, many of these individuals are compelled to wait until five years after they turn twenty-six before they are eligible to apply for naturalization. Others may face the daunting, although not impossible, task of legally justifying their failure to register.

While certain acts may automatically disqualify an individual from eligibility for naturalization, the government’s very broad discretion spans many acts which most applicants never realize could negatively affect their applications. in order to insure that no unnecessary delays, or a denial, are encountered, each prospective applicant should obtain a clear and thorough understanding of not only the process of applying for naturalization, but also the potential pitfalls and traps which must be avoided to insure the timely success of their application. An experienced and knowledgeable immigration attorney will advise an individual of his or her eligibility for naturalization, identify the prospective pitfalls and traps in the applicant’s case, and determine how to effectively overcome these negative aspects of the case. Of course, the experienced attorney also represents the applicant through all stages of the naturalization process to ensure that his or her legal rights are protected and preserved.

While the general requirements to establish eligibility for naturalization may appear straightforward, prospective applicants must be aware that ‘the devil is in the detail.’ *** Atty. Reeves has represented clients in numerous landmark immigration cases that have set new policies regarding INS action and immigrants’ rights. His 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.

(Advertising Supplement)

Pope Francis on ecology Earth’s orbit, the degree of energy from the sun, and volcanic eruptions. The latter part of the 18th century ushered in the human factor: the industrial revolution which has contributed to more massive environmental pollution.

The human factor includes the carcinogenic fumes from cigarettes; carbon monoxide/ dioxide from engine emissions; chemical contamination from the household agents (soaps, bleaches, tile and toilet cleaners, etc.) we use daily; factories polluting our atmosphere and dumping of toxic waste products into the our rivers and lakes; deforestation and destruction of our greeneries; invasion of the original habitats of animals; disturbing the natural order of things; and the environmental insults that urbanization brings with it.

These changes in the natural landscape have affected the health and atmosphere of our planet, causing its “body” to have a temperature that is rising like a fever from an “infection,” and at an alarmingly faster rate than what it should be. All of this is because of what we -- its intelligent inhabitants -- have done to the one and only “life-sustaining home” we know in the galaxy.

The burning of fossil fuels, such as coals and oil, and deforestation over the past two centuries have led to the “greenhouse effect,” where the toxic gasses in the atmosphere have significantly increased to the point of trapping heat, causing the earth’s temperature to climb more rapidly than ever before in its history.

The resultant man-induced depletion of the ozone layer (nature’s protective “umbrella” shielding us from the harmful variety of sun rays) is likewise a great health hazard, a most plausible contributing factor in the alarmingly increasing rate of the various cancers killing people in the world today.

Although greenhouse gasses, at safe levels, are essential for life as we know it to keep our planet comfortably warm, abnormally high levels are far too dangerous for our planet. presently, man’s abuse of his environment has adversely affected many aspects of our lives: our means of subsistence, agriculture, aquaculture, among others.

Data from the national Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration and nASA “show that the earth’s average surface

temperature has increased by about 1.2 to 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit since 1900…the warmest global average temperatures on record have all occurred within the past 15 years, with the warmest two years being 1998 and 2005.” This indisputably means the human factor has caused this dreadful and scary phenomenon. indeed, as guests on this planet we call home, we have not been eco-conscious and environmentally-friendly enough to Mother Earth. This has resulted in the gradual deterioration of our ecosystem, as pope Francis pointed out.

What are the signs of a widespread and long-term trend toward global warming? The manifestations include unusually warmer weather and heat waves; glaciers melting; Arctic and Antarctic warming; oceans warming; rising sea levels; and coastal flooding. Aren’t the various volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, typhoons, hurricanes, and evident weather changes not enough hints for us? if man does not do anything about this climate change soon, the resultant impact of this global warming, according to experts, will lead to the following “harbingers”: diseases spreading more easily, spring arriving earlier, coral reef bleaching occurring, plant and animal range shifts and population changes taking place, downpours, heavy snow falls, giant tidal waves and flooding, droughts and fires.

While government initiatives by nations all around the globe are vital to the remedial solution, our individual and concerted community behavioral modifications and proactive lifestyle changes could immensely help and positively impact on how much longer we can keep planet Earth a safe place to live in. The ball is in our court, as pope Francis hinted. indeed, humanity’s fate -- our tomorrow -- is in our hands. *** 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

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LA Builder Lions Club 25th Anniversary The Los Angeles Builder Lions Club will celebrate their 25th Anniversary and Annual Outstanding Parents Night on October 10, 2015 at the Almansor Court banquet hall (700 S Almansor St, Alhambra, CA 91801). Music will be provided by The Midnight Motion Band.

For further questions, please call Lion Bill Menor (323) 465-0613, Lion Yoli Ramo (213) 3051332, chairpersons or Lion Tita James, co-chair at (818) 203-2325.

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Legionarios del Trabajo in America Triennial Convention The Legionarios del Trabajo in America, Inc. will hold its 18th Triennial Convention, October 15-18, 2015, at the Clarion Inn and Suites in Stockton, CA (4219 Waterloo Rd, Stockton, CA 95215). For more information, please contact Cora Gines at (209) 957-0217 / (209) 4065438, or Elena Gabriel at (209) 598-1436.

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CANA in Galilee Couples Retreat The CANA Marriage Renewal Movement will have their 59th couples retreat at the Holiday Inn & Suites, Fullerton, CA (2932 Nutwood Ave Fullerton, CA 92831) on Oct. 16-18. It is a 3-day experience designed to revitalize the interpersonal growth of the couple towards each other and God. Through a particular method of communication and dialogue, they discover their “coupleness” and couple power in a new way. The retreat starts on Friday evening with registration and orientation at 6 pm, and ends with the celebration of Eucharist on Sunday evening. We request a donation of $300 per couple to cover hotel accommodations, meals and snacks. No one is refused the opportunity to attend the retreat because of lack of funds, but prior arrangements must be made. Registration is still open, please contact Alain or Cecile Graziani (818 421-6505), email cnagraziani@charter.net, or St Lorenzo Ruiz Parish Office (909) 595-9545.

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UNITED LAB-USA 32nd Anniversary The UNITED LAB-USA will celebrate their 32nd Anniversary on Saturday, October 17, 2015 at Royal Garden in Cerritos. The association is headed by Rey Guieb, President. Music will be provided by The Midnight Motion Band. For other questions, please call Felix Belen, outgoing president at (626) 839-0736.

UERMMMC - Medical Alumni Association Inaugural Ball The University of the East Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center - Medical Alumni Association of Southern California (UERMMMC - MAASC ), a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation which participates in many humanitarian projects and medical missions to barangays in the Philippines, will hold its Inaugural Ball and Dinner=Dance on October 17, 2015 at the Manhattan Beach Marriott (1400 Parkview Avenue; Manhattan Beach, CA 90266). Proceeds from the event will benefit underserved areas and families in Lucena, Quezon and District 2 of Pampanga (Lubao, Sasmuan, Guagua, Floridablanca) who are in need of medical and surgical care. The theme of the Inaugural Ball will be “A Black and White Event.” The evening starts at 6:00pm. Tickets are $90 per person and are tax deductible; VIP packages ranging from $500 and up are also available. For more information, please call Dr. Teri Pastor at 310-707-8480, Gloria Legaspi at 951-496-0536 and Lucy Babaran at 818-395-9348. We thank our guests and sponsors for their generous support!

O c tO b E R 24

Mandacal 26th Anniversary Dinner-Dance MANDACAL (Mandaluyong Civic Group of Southern California) would like to invite you to attend its 26th Anniversary Dinner Dance on Saturday, October 24, 2015 at the Embassy Suites Glendale (800 North Central Ave. Glendale, CA 91203). The event is a sit down dinner with live music by the Hill Tops Band #1, providing your favorite dance music from 5pm until midnight. There will be raffle prizes and many fabulous door prizes to be given away. Come enjoy a night of great food, excellent music, and pure fun with your family and friends! Tickets are $55 each. For tickets and information, please call: Becky 818-572-3261, Espee 626-3833621, or Julie 858-337-9224.

Bohol Children Bamboo Ensemble in Concert Presented by Bible Christian Fellowship Church, the one-of-a-kind Bohol Children Bamboo Ensemble, hailing from Alicia, in Bohol province, will perform at various locations during their first-ever tour in the US. 23 young performers from Katipunan Elementary School and the Bohol community will perform using traditional bamboo instruments, including a ukulele, drums, flutes, and bass. There will also be special guests, inspiring music, and traditional dances of the Philippines. For many of these young performers, it is their first time to visit the US, and they are eager to share their talents with the community. The show on Saturday, Oct. 24 will take place at Rosemont Elementary School Auditorium (421 Rosemont Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90026) at 6:30pm; on Saturday, Nov. 7 at Bible Christian Fellowship Church (456 Rosemont Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90026) at 6:30pm; and on Saturday, Nov. 14 at Search to Involve Pilipino Americans (SIPA - 3200 W Temple St, Los Angeles, CA 90026) at 6:30pm. Light refreshments will be served. Ticket prices vary from $10, $25, and $50. For tickets and more information, please call 213-249-6672.

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Paco Catholic High School Class of 1964 Reunion sa Amerika” at the Gold Coast Casino & Hotel (4000 Flamingo Rd. Las Vegas, NV 89103) in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 25-27, 2015. Reminisce with your schoolmates from 50+ years ago and re-live memorable high school days! Reconnect with your old friends and make some new ones! This is the first reunion gathering in the US since our 50th grand reunion. For more information, please contact: Dan Hidalgo - danielh616@hotmail.com; tel. (914) 3100864 / (914) 740-7028. Ester Tadeo Celestino - cesarucelestino@yahoo.com; tel. (201) 4330727/ (551) 574-8511. Minda Cuario Cameron - meandatwo@aol.com; tel. (813) 633-5642. Ed Bondoc - bondoced@yahoo.com; tel. (415) 342-9877. Gertrudes “Nette” Descallar Collyer - mycolly@roadrunner.com; tel. (818) 767-8175.

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Calapan Central High School Reunion Please save the date for the 60th anniversary year of Calapan Central School in Oriental Mindoro.

Where: Oakland, CA When: November 1-3, 2015.

Contact: Luz Yu (luz_yu@yahoo.com)

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FPAC 24 - “Balik tanaw, Pananaw bukas” Save the date! The 24th Annual Festival of Philippine Arts & Culture (FPAC) will be celebrated on Saturday, November 7, 2015 at El Pueblo de Los Angeles (125 Paseo De La Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90012). and will feature contemporary and traditional Filipino food, music, dance, crafts and culture. FPAC is the longest-running Filipino cultural celebration in Southern California. This year’s theme for the City of Los Angeles’ Filipino American Event is “Balik tanaw, Pananaw bukas” a Tagalog phrase meaning “looking backward, looking forward, and celebrates the rich experiences of being Filipino American. As a community we honor the culture paved by our ancestors, and move forward with a grateful understanding of our Filipino American history. This is the spirit that keeps FPAC going. Please check www.filmarts.org for more event updates. For Sponsorship Inquiries please contact us at 213-380-3722; or info@ filamarts.org. For exhibitor (food and business) information, contact John Swing at jswing@ esipa.org. #FPAC24

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

B october 8-14, 2015 • LAS VeGAS ASIAN JoUrNAL

Immigrant Living: 101 and Beyond Monette AdevA MAglAyA (Part 2 of 3)

VIGAN has pedigree. And tons of character. It was founded 438 years ago in 1572, a half century after Magellan first stumbled onto our shores and made the fatal mistake of messing with the feisty Lapulapu. But I digress and apologize for sounding flippant about history.

Vigan’s name is derived from “bigaa”, a tuberous root plant related to the edible “gabi” with big, bright green fronds common to the place. Vigan is the third Spanish city to be built in the Philippines, after the first one in Cebu and the second, in what is now Manila. Once in Vigan, you can take a calesa just for the experience but a hale and hearty visitor equal to the task, can do a walkabout in comfy sandals, shorts and T-shirt, an anahaw fan, a bottle of water, a camera, a cellphone and a wide-brimmed hat. Nearly all the points of interest, are within walking distance of each other: the St. Paul’s Metropolitan Cathedral; Plaza Salcedo; the Burgos House—the best by far in the region—which was also called the Ayala Museum at one point for the family’s role in its preservation; the Archbishop’s Palace; the Crisologo Museum; Plaza Burgos, Syquia Mansion among others.

But the core of a visit to Vigan must be focused on the Kamestizoan district, also known as Heritage Village, along Calle Crisologo where one will find the few remaining ancestral houses on a street showing the classic lines of Spanish architecture. On the street level are shops and persuasive sellers peddling souvenirs, local crafts and antiques.

Of the goods available, the cotton Ilocano blankets locally woven in simple plaid patterns and in varying thread counts and quality deserve some attention. They are not as collectible as the hand-made, colorful Amish quilts that command top dollar but these are blankets that are meant to be used to give one a warm, fuzzy feeling, not unlike Linus’ security blanket, on a hot summer’s day or blustery winter’s night. These pure organic cotton blankets woven the

EntErtainmEnt

Bagnet and Vigan empanada, anyone?

Car Care

by Excel

“Lay out all your clothes and all your money.

Then take half the clothes and twice the money.”

by

— Susan Butler Anderson

old fashioned way is breathable fabric that loses its form and sheen when washed but sure feels wonderful on the skin after repeated uses. Perhaps only India and other cotton-growing countries have something similar. Burnay pottery in natural or stained earth tone colors has primitive appeal and is perfect for homes and gardens but quite cumbersome to lug around if you’re traveling light. Leave them for the locals instead.

Find delight in Ilocano cuisine. Like the people in the region, there is nothing bland or tentative about it. It either grabs that part of the brain that controls your taste buds or not at all.

A trip to Vigan is not complete without tasting its famous langgonisa, tiny bite-sized pork links with distinctive vinegar, garlicky taste that puts the kielbasa in the dust.

Then there is delicious bagnet, Ilocano chicharon, deep fried pork meat, best eaten with garlic rice, big red tomatoes with pure Sukang Iloko as dipping sauce while other food fanciers use freshly cooked bagnet crushed and sprinkled generously on top of any pancit recipe “to kick it up a notch”, as Emeril would say; chichacorn for snacking, tastes very much like the commercial Boy Bawang brand; crunchy empanada—Vigan style—is not the regular empanada you know and scrumptious okoy prepared fresh and deep fried in black woks in the many tiny food stalls in Plaza Burgos is something you have to check out while sitting on the park benches as you chow down on your order.

You pretend to be oblivious of the townspeople openly gazing at you with wide-eyed curiosity while you fumble in your purse for some chump change, feeling guilty about panhandlers with babies in their arms asking for money or food.

Counterbalance all that cholesterol by dipping everything dripping in fat that you put in your mouth in genuine Sukang Iloko much like Drano’s action to clogged plumbing. Or chase

Ged GelleGo

Don’t top off. Don’t bother topping off when filling your car’s gas tank. Any additional gas is just going to slop around or seep out. Why waste your money paying for gas your car won’t use? Stop pumping at the first indication that your tank is full when the automatic nozzle clicks off. tighten up that gas cap. Gas will evaporate from your car’s gas tank if it has an escape.

Loose, missing or damaged gas caps cause 147 million gallons of gas to evaporate each year, according to the Car Care Council. So be sure to tighten up that gas cap each time you fuel up your car.

Go for the shade. The hot summer sun that makes the inside of your car feel like a sauna also zaps fuel from your gas tank.

“If you let your car bake in the sun there’s going to be a greater amount of evaporative emissions that take place than if you park in the shade,” says Jim Kliesch, research associate at the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy and vehicle analyst for GreenerCars.com.

So park your car in the shade of a building or tree whenever possible. And buy a good windshield shade. A windshield shade blocks sunlight and helps to keep heat out of the inside of your car.

Use your garage for your car. Got a garage? Clear it out and make room for your car.

Parking in your garage will help

it down with jasmine or green tea as the Chinese do after a 10-course lauriat banquet. For added measure, be sure to sweat out all those nasty cloggers with aerobics exercise. If not, eat in moderation following the RULE OF PALM, which the dietary experts say, is to eat only what you can fit in the palm of one hand.

Sigh …

You can dine alfresco on a moonlit night at Café Leona.

The café is named after Leona Florentino, the creative dame who lived centuries ahead of her time. She has the distinction of being a noted poetess, the product of an educated, illustrious family headed by Isabelo delos Reyes, with a verifiable claim to being a distant relative of Jose Rizal. Her statue with a sprig of laurel on her head and garbed in native “saya” sits pensively in front of Max’s Restaurant.

The famous fried chicken restaurant which has gone global following the hordes of Filipinos who have left the country for greener pastures, is housed in a modern, stylized version of a Vigan House right down to the capiz windows—a deliberate effort to blend in with the Vigan character— but more than likely, in compliance with a mandated city ordinance. For those leery of leaving the tech world for protracted periods of time, it is comforting to know that Max’s Vigan is a wi-fi zone, combining the best of the old and new worlds.

Of course, you can find the omnipresent MacDonald’s, Jollibee’s, Greenwich Pizza and a few well-known restaurant chain branches that jockey for position and market share in Vigan. Many visitors with less

By Monet Lu than adventurous taste buds and a hankering for what’s safe and familiar, can simply go to these “I’ve known a couple of great restaurants for predictable, afmen in my community. I’ve seen fordable fastfood fare and come how they passionately worked out happy. (To be continued) towards making this world a *** better place. I admire them, but Nota Bene: Monette Adeva Maglaya is most of all; I share in their vision.

SVP of Asian Journal Publications, Inc. To I was blessed to have worked send comments, e-mail monette.maglaya@ with – and became good friends asianjournalinc.com with one of these great men.

And with reverence, I introduce to you, my wonderful friend and 2015 Beautiful Life Celebration’s Most Distinguished Fashion Designer.” – Mr. Mul Tayoba Everybody knows Mul Tayoba as a man of great talent: He is an accomplished Couture Designer, was a Licensed Civil Engineer and a Development Planning Officer in the Philippines. But not most people know how goodnatured this man is. Today, I want this piece to highlight how much moral sense this man possesses – even as great as his fashion sense.

I’ve known Mul for more than a decade. We share a very complementary working relationship.

He designs gowns and evening dresses, while I take care of the hair and makeup. We share a similar taste in style and fashion, which also makes our friendship “mutually beneficial.” But more than the professional input he gives to my business – and vise versa, it is Mul’s high moral sense and love for his Kababayans that make him a great man.

Currently, Mul leads several humanitarian organizations here and in the Philippines.

He is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of TLC International and supported various non- profit organizations through Fashion Shows where he presented his elegant collections with “Engineered Design to Perfection.” He was an active member of the Board of Directors of Negrenses of America, Inc. in 1996 and was the President of his hometown non-profit organization, Townsfolk of La Castellana – USA from 2000 to 2004. Under his leadership and with unparalleled devotion to his humanitarian vision, the organization was able to raise funds that helped implement various programs and infrastructure projects in his homeland. Mul was also the President of Fil-Am Association of SCV in 2010 and a Board of Trustee in 2013 where he initiated programs and projects that are geared towards the Senior community.

He is actively involved in his Parish Church, the Filipino Ministry’s activities and events in Santa Clarita and a member of the Planning Committee for Archdiocese of Los Angeles Simbang Gabi 2015.

When I asked him to tell me what inspires him to do all these, he humbly said that he wants to give back to the community because he knew how it feels to start from nothing. As one who also came from poverty, he wants

http://www.asianjournal.com • (702) 792-6678

10 car care tips to save gas your car stay warm in winter and cool in summer, and you won’t have to depend as much on your gas-guzzling air-conditioning or defroster when you drive.

Pump up your tires. Don’t get caught driving on underinflated tires. Underinflated tires wear down more quickly and they also lower your car’s gas mileage.

“Tires that have low pressure offer more resistance so the engine is going to work harder to keep the car at 60,” says Brian Moody, road test editor at Edmunds.com.

Your car’s gas mileage may plummet by as much as 15 percent. Driving on underinflated tires may also reduce the life of your tires by 15 percent or more.

Check your tire pressure once a month. Buy a digital gauge and keep it in your glove box. Compare the pressure in your tires with the recommended pressure listed in your owner’s manual and on the placard in your car door. Then inflate your tires as needed. Be sure to check tire pressure when your tires are cold. A good time is early in the morning after your car’s been idle overnight.

Keep your engine in tune.

Fixing a car that is out of tune or has failed an emissions test can boost gas mileage by about 4 percent. So be sure to give your car regular tune-ups. You’ll also want to watch out for worn spark plugs. A misfiring spark plug can reduce a car’s fuel efficiency by as much as 30 percent.

Replace air filters. Keep a close eye on your engine’s air filter. When the engine air filter clogs with dirt, dust and bugs, it causes your engine to work harder and your car becomes

less fuel-efficient. Replacing a clogged air filter could improve your gas mileage by as much as 10 percent and save you 15 cents a gallon. It’s a good idea to have your engine air filter checked at each oil change. The Car Care Council recommends changing your car’s air and oil filters every three months or 3,000 miles or as specified in your owner’s manual.

Use the right oil. You can improve your car’s gas mileage by 1 percent to 2 percent by using the manufacturer’s recommended grade of motor oil. Opt for motor oil with the words “energy conserving” on the API performance label. This oil contains frictionreducing additives.

Don’t skimp on maintenance.

Be serious about auto care. Your car’s performance depends on it.

“Always follow the manufacturer-recommended maintenance,” Moody says. “The car’s designed to run a certain way.

If you neglect it, it won’t be as efficient.”

If you have any concerns regarding your car, please contact Ged Gallego at excelautolv@ gmail.com or visit EXCEL AUTO SERVICE @ 5120 S. Decatur Blvd. #105 Lv Nv 89118. Excel Auto Service has been of service since 2009 and is Filipino owned.

Excel Auto Service provides FREE Diagnostic. Call for inquiry 702.2217272 *** This column is shared monthly by Ged Gallego, owner of Excel Auto Service, to help educate readers on how to care for their vehicles. If you have any questions or concerns about your car, please email Ged Gallego at gedgallego@yahoo.com, visit at www.excelauto.biz or call 702221-7272.

Mul Tayoba: A man with great fashion and moral sense

to share his blessings by dedicating his time, money and services to the underprivileged. And this is where he feels most fulfilled and rewarded for his work.

As previously mentioned, Mul graduated with a degree in Civil Engineering and was a Development Planning Officer in Bacolod City, Philippines before he emigrated to US in 1991.

He switched careers when he discovered his passion for Design. He said it was probably because of his mother’s influence as a seamstress. He started a corporate medical uniforms and sports wear business, which was highly successful, and later branched out. He decided to further his skills to allow him to build a brand, so he enrolled in Computer Aided Design in Fashion at the California Design College and graduated Magna Cum Laude in 2002. He was chosen to design a Fashion Icon inspired by the Film of Greta Garbo for Kelly Preston at Fashion Show Gala.

Mul’s creations are contemporary and elegant and were known for its versatility. He was honored as Philippine Image Fashion Designer, April 2005 in Los Angeles. He also received an award for his Haute Couture Designs for the Fashion Show in June, 2009, a Beautiful Life Celebration with Ruffa Gutierrez at CBS Studio. He was a featured Fashion Designer in the Annual Rescues On The Runway Fashion

Show and Miss Santa Clarita Valley Scholarship Program in 2009 to 2011.

Now, Mul owns Mul Tayoba Couture and specializes in custom Prom Outfit, Debutante, Evening Wear, Quincianera, Formal Outfit for all occasions and Wedding Ensembles.

Aside from his high fashion and moral sense, Mul is a great husband to Rose Gecosala, and a loving father to his three successful children: Mikko, who is now a Civil Engineer, Myla, a Bioengineer and Miky, who is graduating in Music and Media Communication.

I could go on and on about how great of a man Mul Tayoba is but like the proverbial rule, “seeing is believing,” I suggest you get to know him and his heart – and you will be inspired.

To Mul Tayoba: Congratulations on your Beautiful Life Award. I will see you very soon. *** 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

PeoPle and events

(702) 792-6678 • http://www.asianjournal.com

Alden Richards on #AlDub, Yaya Dub & flying planes

by Wilson lee

Flores

Philstar.com

GROWING up, I wanted to be a pilot but my mom wanted me to be an actor.’

Unlike before when I’m often interviewed by media about economics, business, writing, baking and politics, I was recently interviwed by GMA network on the pop culture of Philippine love teams in showbiz, especially on the phenomenal AlDub — actor Alden Richards and the Philippine’s “Dubsmash queen” actress Maine Mendoza, nicknamed “Yaya Dub.” Alden is also now the No. 1 music artist in iTunes Philippines.

On Sept. 26, this love team broke the world record for the highest number of tweets in Twitter for an event in one day, the hashtag #ALDubEBforLOVE had 25.6 million tweets in 24 hours.

This surpassed the global tweet records of America’s Super Bowl XLIX of 25.1 million tweets and the Video Music Awards of 21.4 million tweets, despite the US having the highest number of Twitter users by a huge margin.

Before his AlDub fame, Alden started by joining male modelling pageants and reality TV shows, then he became a talent of GMA 7.

I first met him in 2014 with his then Carmela TV drama series co-star Marian Rivera, but I had to rush to a business meeting after interviewing Marian and missed talking to the new actor Alden. Marian then described Alden: “Alam naman nating lahat na dedicated, magaling na artista, at mabait (We all know that he’s dedicated, a good actor and a nice guy).”

Despite his now super hectic daily schedule as TV star, commercial endorser, singer and now shooting a movie for the 2015 Metro Manila Film Festival, Alden Richards recently agreed to give me this exclusive interview: Philstar.com: Why do you think your AlDub love team is so popular?

Alden Richards: I think it is popular because of a lot of things — it’s the first “Kalyeserye” on Philippine TV, it has a unique concept and it imparts great Filipino values to its audiences like respect for elders and respect for women.

To what do you attribute its success?

Marami pong tao ang part nito eh (In the success of the Kalyeserye, a lot of people are part of this), from the staff to our bosses at Eat Bulaga and GMA, and also to the Aldub Nation who’ve been

supporting us since day one.

How has the AlDub fame changed your life?

The effect of AlDub on my life — well, it’s been life-changing.

When I have mall shows in Manila or out of town iba ang recognition ng mga tao sa akin, sobrang lakas, sobrang warm (the recognition people give me, it’s so strong and very warm), it is unexplainable. I know that ang daming mga ibang artista sashowbiz (there are many artists in showbiz) but for them to spend their free time to watch me perform, it’s so overwhelming, nakakataba ng puso (it overwhelms my heart).

Being part of Kalyeserye is a blessing to us, members of Eat Bulaga, and to GMA as a whole. I like to think of it as us being able to touch other people’s lives, yes there is kilig, there is comedy but there are lessons we can bring home and think about and share with our neighbors. It’s not only my life that has changed but also other people’s lives because of Kalyeserye.

Why do you like Yaya Dub? She seems like a very fun person.

What is your health or physical fitness regimen in terms of exercise, sports, sleep, diet?

I wake up at 4 a.m. to work out. I work out with a trainer. I do circuit training. On the days that I can’t do this, I do a seven-minute workout at home using an app on my phone. I also try to get eight hours of sleep.

I try to eat in moderation, I cut down on carbs, fat, and I eat more veggies. I don’t have any vices. I don’t smoke and I only drink very moderately during social functions.

When I have the time, I like to go mountain climbing, trekking and biking. I also like extreme sports like bungee jumping.

Your original dream was to be a pilot, why? Do you still hope to someday fly a plane or own your own plane?

I have always been fascinated by pilots and planes. Growing up, I wanted to be a pilot but my mom wanted me to be an actor. Now I am enjoying what I do and I see myself in the showbiz industry for a long time.

What are your hobbies? How do you relax when you have the time?

I love to spend time with my family, I really miss mountain climbing.

I’ve been to Mt. Batulao and Pico de Loro. Mountain climbing is my stress-reliever.

Favorite kinds of music, books, movies, or favorite titles you

LAS VEGAS ASIAN JOURNAL • OctObER 8-14, 2015

B

Rachelle Ann a true West End star

by BaBy

a. Gil

Philstar.com

Aldern Richards

remember?

One of my favorite movies is 50 First Dates. I just find it so romantic that a guy would do that every day for the girl he loves. My favorite singer is Ed Sheeran, and now I really like the songs from ourKalyeserye like God Gave Me You. I also listen to Josh Groban.

How many years have you been a model and joining pageants and TV realty contests before? What have you learned about joining contests and about losing too?

What I’ve learned about joining contests is that if it’s your time, it is your time. Perhaps it wasn’t God’s will for me to enter showbiz before through the reality show route.

I auditioned for Alakdana, the soap with Louise delos Reyes. The projects came one after the other.

My advice to people who want to become an artista would be: just keep on trying, work hard, and improve yourself. Your big break will come. Enjoy the journey, that’s what makes the destination all the more sweet.

What was the saddest or most difficult crisis in your life? How did you recover?

When my mother died, I had to be strong for my family and support my family. I recovered by praying, working hard, focusing on my studies, and just trusting God so much more. I am living my mom’s dream by being in showbiz. I never knew that I would enjoy it as much as I do now, it’s such a blessing to be able to live out your mom’s dream for you and have so much fun and fulfillment too.

What is your message for Yaya Dub, and your wish for both of you in the future?

I hope to get to know you more!

It’s great working with you every day!

ANGELES CITY — A film about a young man and his discovery of the Kapampangan language through a local poet received the Best World Film award at the Harlem International Film Festival 2015 in New York last month.

The locally produced full-length film, “Ari: My Life with a King,” tells the story of a boy named Jaypee, portrayed by Ronwaldo Martin (actor Coco Martin’s younger brother), and an older man named Conrado, played by Kapampangan poet Francisco Guinto.

Jaypee, who does not know how to speak Kapampangan, met Conrado, the “King of Poets” in Pampanga, leading the young man to discover his native language.

According to the film’s writer, Robby Tantingco, who heads the Center for Kapampangan Studies at Holy Angel University (HAU), the film aims to promote the use of the Kapampangan language among the youth.

“We wanted to produce a film that will showcase the advocacy of the university, and that is the promotion and preservation of local culture,” he said.

King of poets Tantingco said the practice of Pampanga poets in selecting or electing “kings” since the 1920s served as his inspiration to write “My Life with a King.” “I find this very strange and interesting at the same time. They elect among themselves the king of poets in the province,” he said.

“My Life with a King” is the first full-length feature film produced

Rachelle Ann Go is Fantine in the West End run of “Les Miserablés.”

by HAU. Tantingco said HAU and the people behind the film were ecstatic about the international recognition that it received. He said the award was an appreciation of regional filmmaking in the country, specifically in Pampanga.

Carlo Encisco Catu, a senior student at HAU and an independent filmmaker, directed “My Life with a King,” while students, alumni, university officials and employees formed the production team.

The film also features Cecille Yumul and real-life Kapampangan Poeta Laureado (poets) Policarpio Batac, Eufrocina de la Peña, and Felix Garcia in the cast.

One of the producers is HAU

alumnus Ferdinand Lapuz, who produced also the internationally acclaimed films of Brillante Ma. Mendoza and other filmmakers.

Bigger impact Tantingco said people behind the film initially wanted to do a short film, but Lapuz encouraged them to make a full-length movie, saying it would have a bigger impact.

HAU had set aside about P1 million for the production of “My Life with a King,” which Tantingco described as small. “We got good discounts from professionals who helped us in the film. Other crew members were also volunteers,” he said.

‘Felix Manalo’ premiere bags 2 Guinness World Records

Dennis Trillo as Felix Manalo

THE world premiere of the biopic “Felix Manalo” has broken two new world records on Sunday, Oct. 4.

Felix Manalo now holds the Guinness World Records for “Largest Attendance For A Film Screening” and “Largest Attendance For A Film Premiere” as 42,624 people attended the premiere.

Guinness World Records representatives Marco Frigatti and Victoria Tweedey confirmed that the Iglesia ni Cristo was able to secure the world records.

The record for “Largest Attendance For A Film Screening” was previously held by Stars and Stripes Honor Flight (USA) for the world premiere of “Honor Flight” in 2012 which had 28,442attendees.

Meanwhile, the record for “Largest Attendance For A Film Premiere” was previously held by “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” where 10,000 people attended its premiere at the O2 Arena in London in 2008.

The film, which has Dennis Trillo and Bella Padilla as its lead actors, will be shown on October 7 in theaters. (Inquirer.net)

B october 8-14, 2015 • LAS VeGAS ASIAN JoUrNAL

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