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Volume 14 - No. 42 • 3 Sections – 24 Pages

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DATELINE

USA

by Bernice

camille V. ManilaTimes.net

Automatic voter registration in California approved

Bauzon

the Philippines on tuesday, oct. 13 welcomed Washington’s plan to send ships near China’s man-made but disputed islands in the West Philippine sea (south China sea), noting that it is within the concept of international law.

In a statement, the Department of foreign Affairs (DfA) said it is the “paramount concern” of all nations “to safeguard freedom of navigation and overflight in the south China sea.”

“If the Us decides to send naval vessels within 12 nautical miles of the reclaimed low-tide elevation features in affirmation of this objective, this would

Set of bills to change voting processes, improve turnout

WIth record-low turnouts in one of the most populous states in the nation, California is making it even easier for people to become active registered voters.

Governor Jerry Brown signed a measure on saturday, oct. 10 that would eventually allow Californians to be automatically registered to PAGE A3

be consistent with international law and a rules-based order for the region,” the department added. sources at the Us Defense department last week revealed that Washington is likely to send at least one ship to the disputed areas where China has built lighthouses and airstrips for military and civilian use. this move, sources said, was to defy Beijing’s claim in a region where $5 trillion worth of trade passes by annually.

China has built military structures on two reefs–fiery Cross and Johnson south. these reefs are being claimed in part by the Philippines.

PAGE A2

This handout photo taken on March 17, 2015 by satellite imagery provider DigitalGlobe shows a satellite image of vessels purportedly dredging sand at Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands in the disputed South China Sea. Inquirer.net photo

Sanders, Clinton take the lead in first Democratic presidential debate

Las Vegas mom pleads guilty to husband’s murder

Photo courtesy of Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department

Also published in LOS ANGELES, ORANGE COUNTY/INLAND EMPIRE, LAS VEGAS, NEw YORk/NEw JERSEY

PH welcomes US ships in disputed sea

from the AJPress NEWS TEAM AcroSS AMEricA

Michelle Paet

o c t o be r 1 6 - 2 2 , 2 0 1 5

by christina

m. oriel

AJPress

LAs VeGAs—Democratic presidential hopefuls took to the stage for the first debate on tuesday, oct. 15 at the Wynn hotel. the two-hour debate, which was aired and moderated by CNN and sponsored by facebook, featured five candidates: hillary Clinton, former secretary of state, senator and first lady; Bernie sanders, Us senator from Vermont; former maryland Gov. martin o’malley; Jim Webb, former Us senator from Virginia; and Lincoln Chafee, former governor and former Us senator from rhode Island.

CNN host Anderson Cooper served as the moderator, while Dana Bash, Democratic presidential hopefuls Jim Webb, former US senator from Virgina; Bernie Sanders, US senator from Vermont; Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state, senator and first lady; former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley; and Lincoln Chafee, a former governor and former US senator from Rhode Island chief political correspondent for the PAGE A2 took the stage for the CNN/Facebook debate on Tuesday, Oct. 15 at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas.

AJPress photo by Robert Macabagdal

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 PAGE A3

Securing our place in history Former Filipino car dealer pleads guilty to fraud in decades-old case through education by aGnes

constante AJPress

Significant contributions of Filipinos in WWII remain obscure in US history by cecilia

Gaerlan, executiVe Director Bataan Legacy Historical Society

the road to history is long and winding and requires vigilance and utmost will. filipinos have been part of the fabric of the United states even before the 1700s with the first recorded settlement in Louisiana. since then, filipinos have made significant contributions in the labor movement, during World War II (in the Us and the Philippines) and in the civil rights movement. But why

is it that our place in the history of the United states remains obscure? there are approximately 3.4 million filipinos in the Us as of the 2010 census, making it the second largest Asian population in the country and the largest in California. While we are making some strides in the local level in California, we have yet to have representation in the Us ConPAGE A2

A PhILIPPINe native who operated a large car dealership in Glendora, California before fleeing the United states nearly 30 years ago pleaded guilty monday, oct. 5, to federal charges for bank fraud and lying to banks, according to the Us Attorney’s office. eminiano “Jun” reodica Jr., 71, entered his plea a day before he was scheduled to go to trial in Los Angeles, City News service

reported, admitting to defrauding banks out of nearly $50 million in the 1980s. At the time, reodica was president of Grand Wilshire Group of Companies, which included Grand Chevrolet, then the country’s third-largest car dealership. he further admitted to engaging in schemes to defraud banks and making false statements to at least five banks from 1984 to 1988, according to a release from the Us Attorney’s office. Among these

banks include first Central Bank, first Los Angeles Bank, Imperial savings, manilabank and Union Bank. specifically, reodica admitted to simultaneously promising the same car contract as collateral to two different banks.

Press reports in the 1980s told the story of how reodica initially worked as a busboy at restaurants in Los Angeles and then went on to own one of America’s largest dealerships.

PAGE A2 Eminiano ‘Jun’ Reodica Jr.

Binay camp cries ‘harassment’ from DILG, Makati Police by aries Joseph

Inquirer.net

heGina

the camp of suspended makati City mayor Jejomar erwin “Junjun” Binay slammed the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and

the makati City Police for allegedly harassing them.

In a statement, Binay’s spokesperson Joey salgado said that at 8:30am on Wednesday, oct. 14 a convoy composed of PAGE A4

Mrs. Donna Ray, Bataan Legacy Historical Society Board Member (BLHS) Robert Hansen, Bataan Death March survivor PFC David Tejada and VA Admiral Charles Ray during the opening of the BLHS exhibit at the San Francisco Public Library.

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october 16-22, 2015 • NorcAL ASIAN JoUrNAL

http://www.asianjournal.com • (650) 616-4150

From the Front Page

PH welcomes US ships...

PAGE A1 Manila has wholeheartedly accepted Washington’s plan to send ships to the region as it depends also on a decades-old treaty–the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty–between the Philippines and the United States for military “back-up” in case disputes with China end in armed conflict.

“Failure to challenge false claims of sovereignty would undermine this order and lead China to the false conclusion

that its claims are accepted as a fait accompli,” the DFA statement said.

A report of the US Defense department said China has reclaimed more land in the disputed sea in the past two years than other claimants combined in the past 40 years.

Beijing claims 90 percent of the West Philippine Sea, including islands and waters near the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei Darussalam.

Former Filipino car dealer pleads...

PAGE A1 However, when investigations into the business began as it was collapsing in 1988, Reodica fled to the Philippines.

A 1994 indictment filed against Reodica stated that lenders who approved substantial lines of credit to his dealership were allegedly impressed with his high-risk customers’ ability to make on-time monthly payments on their auto loans.

Afterward, it was found that Reodica hid from banks that customers were delinquent on their auto loan payments, that his employees allegedly made payments for delinquent customers, that he repossessed and resold cars without informing banks, and that he erased negative information on customers’ credit reports, according to a 2014 Asian Journal report.

The fraudulent scheme further involved employees who were instructed to forge customer signatures on car contracts. The forged contracts would then be promised

to a second bank.

Reodica also admitted he directed his employees to take loans for cars they weren’t actually buying, as a means of bringing more money into the dealership. The 1994 indictment claimed that those cars would be sold to dealership customers; the dealership would then make payments on the employee loans and include the fraudulent sales in their reports to persuade investors to continue financing the operation, according to court documents.

In a September 1988 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Imperial Savings lawyer Victor Vilaplana called Reodica’s scheme “one of the most elaborate and well-conceived scams imaginable.”

A number of investors in Reodica’s scam, including Imperial Savings, suffered financially after Grand Chevrolet filed for bankruptcy in 1988. Filipino professionals, many of whom were doctors, were among those who invested in PAGE A3

Sanders, Clinton take the lead...

PAGE A1 network, and CNN en Español reporter Juan Carlos Lopez asked additional questions.

15.3 million people tuned in on Tuesday night, making it the highest-rated Democratic debate in history, the network said.

Clinton and Sanders, who have been leading in the polls, got the most speaking time. The three other candidates remained on the sidelines with minimal opportunities to make themselves stand out, which was crucial as this platform was their introduction to American voters.

The progression of the night shifted in favor for Clinton — whose email controversy has overshadowed her campaign and has been a point of attack for Republicans — as she worked to regain trust from Democrats by highlighting her competency after nearly a quarter century in politics and defending her history of flip-flopping on issues like immigration, same-sex marriage and trade deals.

The first question addressed that inconsistency, to which Clinton said, “Well, actually, I have been very consistent. Over the course of my entire life, I have always fought for the same values and principles, but, like most human beings — including those of us who run for office — I do absorb new information. I do look at what’s happening in the world.”

Her political leaning, whether she was a progressive or moderate, was also under question.

“I’m a progressive. But I’m a progressive who likes to get things done,” she responded.

“And I know how to find common ground, and I know how to stand my ground, and I have proved that in every position that I’ve had, even dealing with Republicans who never had a good word to say about me, honestly.”

When asked whether she wanted to respond to her use of a private email account while secretary of state, she firmly said “no.”

Even Sanders, Clinton’s closest opponent, came to her defense by saying Americans “are sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails,” which led to agreement from Clinton and a handshake, as the crowd cheered.

In the two hours, a range of issues was discussed, from immigration, free education, gun control and national security.

On immigration, Sanders was asked to explain why he rejected Pres. Bush’s immigration overhaul in 2007 to which he responded that he has voiced concerns over guest-worker programs because of the working conditions and because temporary foreign workers do not help reduce US unemployment.

“I voted against that piece of legislation because it had guestworker provisions in it which the Southern Poverty Law Center talked about being semi-slavery.

Guest workers are coming in, they’re working under terrible conditions, but if they stand up for their rights, they’re thrown out of the country,” Sanders said.

“My view right now -- and always has been -- is that when you have 11 million undocumented people in this country, we need comprehensive immigration reform, we

Securing our place in history...

PAGE A1 gress or Senate.

Bataan Legacy Historical Society (BLHS) was conceived and created to address the lack or even absence of information about the Filipino defenders of WW II. Most textbooks only mention American defenders, but seven-eighths of the main line of resistance in the Bataan Peninsula were manned

by Filipinos.

After President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared war against the Empire of Japan after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the ravages of war did not reach the continental United States. In-

stead, the war was fought in the Philippines, its colony from 1898 to 1946, where thousands of Filipino and American soldiers died and a million civilians perished.

But this seminal part of US history is not yet taught in high schools in the nation.

In 2011, the California Legislature passed AB199, which “encourages for the inclusion of the role of Filipinos during World War II in the social sciences curriculum for Grades 7-12 in California.” One would think that the Filipinos will finally find their place in American history but unfortunately the legis-

need a path toward citizenship, we need to take people out of the shadows.”

In response to rising college costs and student loans, Sanders proposed “free” public college tuition, while Clinton said students should work 10 hours a week to earn their tuition at public institutions.

With the number of shootings in the United States, the candidates took on the issue of gun control, largely clashing over how to go about it.

Clinton criticized Sanders for not being tough enough on guns and even voting against legislation that mandated background checks. She, O’Malley and Chafee directly went after the National Rifle Association (NRA) in their responses and pressed massive gun controls, while Webb defended the 2nd Amendment.

Another moment of disagreement between Clinton and Sanders came when Sanders lashed out against the “casino capitalist process” and “Wall Street’s greed,” to which Clinton said being anti-capitalist would go against the system that built America’s middle class. “…When I think about capitalism, I think about all the small businesses that were started because we have the opportunity and the freedom in our country for people to do that and to make a good living for themselves and their families…[W]e would be making a grave mistake to turn our backs on what built the greatest middle class in the history,” she said.

The candidates were also asked to name the “greatest national security threat to the United States”;

responses included the situation in the Middle East, nuclear weapons, climate change and the US’ relationship with China.

Though there were not as many dynamic moments or bickering between candidates as seen during the past two Republican debates, the discussion provided more substance on top issues.

“On this stage you didn’t hear anyone denigrate women,” O’Malley said in his closing statement. “You didn’t hear anyone make racist comments about new American immigrants. You didn’t hear anyone speak ill of another American because of their religious belief. What you heard instead on this stage tonight was an honest search for the answers that will move our country forward…”

The next Democratic debate is scheduled for Nov. 14 at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.

Though the list of participants is yet to be disclosed, the five candidates who appeared in Las Vegas will likely be included.

Post-debate reactions After the debate, a CNN/Facebook poll showed that 81 percent of online voters thought Sanders was the winner, while 13 percent were in favor of Clinton. Scores for O’Malley, Webb and Chafee were below 3 percent.

Despite claims from Sanders’ camp that he dominated the stage, Clinton supporters praised her performance and asserted that she is the clear frontrunner in this race. “[Clinton] did really well. She showed herself to be a leader for this country…[and] laid the groundwork for winning,” Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.) said in the PAGE A3

lation has not yet been implemented. While the bill had the intention of giving credit to the Filipino soldiers of WW II, the tenuous verbiage in the bill (“encourages” instead of “requires”) is probably one of the main reasons why it has never been implemented.

Last year, BLHS initiated a petition to the California Department of Education through change.org to implement this legislation by including it in the social sciences curriculum for Grades 7-12. It so happened that the social sciences curriculum was in the process of being revised by the Instructional Quality Commission (IQC), an advisory body to the California State Board of Education (SBE)

on matters related to curriculum, instructional materials, and content standards in accordance with Education Code Section 33530-33540. The IQC received many emails and letters of support for the implementation of AB199.

In November, 2014, the IQC proposed a two-line edit to the curriculum framework to include the following: “Students should also study the contributions and sacrifices of the Filipinos and FilipinoAmericans who fought for the defense and liberation of the Philippines, including events such as the Bataan Death March and the liberation of Manila.”

Last week, the History-Social Science Subject Matter Committee of the IQC had an open meeting to discuss edits to the draft curriculum framework for the History-Social Sciences Curriculum.

This time, the IQC proposed a one-page edit describing the Bataan Death March and World War II in the Philippines. While the Department of Education clearly intends to implement AB199, the process of revising the curriculum framework is a long, arduous process involving ten steps. Last week’s meeting was only Step 6 and the proposed curriculum framework has yet to be approved by the entire Instructional Quality Commission in November and will be submitted to the State Board of Education for final approval sometime in May, 2016. The last time the History-Social Sciences curriculum was revised was in 2005.

The topic of civil rights movement in California and the role of the Mexican-Americans were brought up during the October 9 meeting. But there is no mention of the seminal role of the Filipinos in the proposed curriculum for the civil rights movement. Filipino students at San Francisco State University took part in an unprecedented strike that demanded the establishment of the first Ethnic Studies Department in the country. Members of the PhilippinePAGE A4

(650) 616-4150 • http://www.asianjournal.com

From the Front Page

Automatic voter registration...

PAGE A1 vote when they go to the DMV to obtain or renew their driver’s license.

Assembly Bill 1461, which also includes an option to opt out of registering, was introduced in response to the dismal 42 percent voter turnout in last year’s statewide election in November, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The bill, along with 13 others the governor signed, will “help improve elections and expand voter rights and access in California,” Brown’s office said in a statement.

According to California Secretary of State Alex Padilla, around 6.6 million Californians who are eligible to register to vote are not registered. Padilla supported the legislation as a way to increase voter participation.

“The new Motor Voter Act will make our democracy stronger by removing a key barrier to voting for millions of California citizens,” Padilla said on Saturday.

“Citizens should not be required to opt in to their fundamental right to vote. We do not have to opt in to other rights, such as free speech or due process.”

The new registration process will not be offered until the state completes work on a new voter registration database called VoteCal, which is expected to debut around June 2016, at the

start of the presidential primary election. VoteCal would automatically register applicants when they visit a DMV office to get a new license or renew an expiring one, unless they decide to opt out.

The data collected by the DMV will be provided to the Secretary of State’s office, which would verify a CA resident’s legal eligibility to vote before registering them. Drivers also have the option to cancel their voter registration any time.

Currently, driver’s license applications ask people if they want to register to vote. If interested, people are supposed to be given a paper registration form to fill out. Voting rights activists, however, say that does not always happen.

“It’s removing the first barrier to voting, which is registration,” said Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego), who authored the bill. “It’s going to lead to millions more Californians being registered to vote, which means more people we can talk to.”

CalPRIG Executive Director Emily Rusch agreed that the voter registration bill was muchneeded medicine for an ailing, sometimes ineffective system.

“A well-functioning democracy depends on the participation of its citizens,” said Rusch, noting that the registration gap

Las Vegas mom pleads guilty...

PAGE A1

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.

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 codefendants 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

is most severe among younger people. According to data, only 52 percent of eligible youth voters (between ages 18-24) were registered to vote before the last election.

AB 1461 also follows a move made by Oregon earlier this year to adopt the nation’s first automatic voter registration law, said The Associated Press.

Over the weekend, Brown also signed a bill (SB 439) that permits county elections officials to offer conditional voter registration and provisional voting at satellite offices during the 14 days right before Election Day in November. The measure would make voting more convenient, according to Sen. Benjamin Allen (D-Santa Monica), who authored the bill.

The measure cannot be implemented until VoteCal database is operational, but is expected to make voting more convenient.

Another new law Brown signed will allow voters who use vote-by-mail ballots to drop them off before Election Day in secure boxes located throughout the community, such as in shopping malls, libraries, and other public locations. These secure drop-off locations would make it easier to cast ballots, officials say.

The measure by Sen. Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills) will require the Secretary of State to develop PAGE A4

descent, and had met Nathan Paet in Guam. The two were high face life in prison without parole. school sweethearts and were He has agreed to the life sentence married in 2006. (Christina M. and to waive future appeals to Oriel/AJPress) 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

NORCAL ASIAN JOURNAL • OCtObeR 16-22, 2015

Sanders, Clinton take the lead...

PAGE A2 post-debate spin room, adding that Clinton demonstrated how she differs from President Barack Obama, yet how she will continue on from what he was accomplished.

“I thought when she said ‘I’m a progressive who could get things done,’ that kind of summed it up and it was the best combination of ‘I’m right there on the issues that people care about but I know how to make it happen,’ added Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nev.).

She noted that much of the focus on Tuesday was on domestic policy, but has no doubt that foreign policy — an area Clinton has expertise in — will be brought up in later debates.

“I think all of the candidates sounded so much better than the Republicans. There is general consensus that we need to have comprehensive immigration reform.

Senator Clinton laid out a plan for expanding DACA and DAPA and making sure the children here are able to go to school, get a job and obtain their potential. So, I’m very pleased that they are making this a priority,” Titus said.

Titus, who represents Nevada’s 1st District, which has a large concentration of Asian residents, particularly Filipinos and Chinese, said she will continue mobilizing voters leading up to the election.

“Education for children in the Asian community is very important — they want their children to get ahead and I respect that. A number of Asians in my district own small businesses so they want to be sure that the economy is moving forward and that the tax structure benefits them,” she said.

A rally for Clinton was scheduled on Wednesday afternoon, Oct. 14, at Springs Preserve in Las Vegas, before she continues on the campaign trail.

In Southern California, a coalition of Filipinos is gearing up to launch Filipinos for Hillary next week. “…I know [Clinton] will be the best advocate in the Oval Office for the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community. Her campaign is the only campaign that has reached out to the community and is actively engaging with us and for this I will make sure she wins in 2016,” said Melissa Ramoso, immediate past state chair of the Filipino American Democratic Caucus for the California Democratic Party who is spearheading efforts for Filipinos for Hillary.

Ramoso, who watched the debate with her socially conservative parents, said that it’s important for AAPIs to recognize Clinton’s track record of listening to and fighting for the community.

Despite the rally of support for Democratic contenders, Republicans have reacted to what was discussed on Tuesday.

“Tonight’s Democrat debate proves once again that the Democrats are only interested in promoting an out-of-touch liberal agenda and not providing longterm solutions to everyday issues facing Filipino Americans. Republicans will continue working toward earning the trust of voters across the country – something Hillary Clinton and the Democrats have failed to do,” Ninio Fetalvo, APA Press Secretary for the Republican National Committee

A

(RNC), said.

RNC chairman Reince Priebus said in a statement that the debate was predictable and showed the “weak caliber of Clinton’s competition.”

“Clinton’s record of hypocrisy and flip-flops on everything from Wall Street, trade, immigration, and foreign policy was on full display. Her unwillingness to fully explain the circumstances surrounding her secret email server, and the ongoing FBI investigation into it, further damages her credibility,” he said. “Judging from tonight, it’s clear why the Democrat National Committee limited the number of debates – their bench of candidates for the most powerful office in the world is laughable at best. Clinton needed to shine and she came up short.”

Real estate mogul and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who live tweeted the “boring” debate, wrote that, “there is no STAR on the stage tonight!” “[Clinton] got through it fine. It was a very kind debate, very gentle. She came out the winner,” Trump later told ABC, adding that Sanders missed his chance to attack Clinton.

There is no word yet on whether Vice President Joe Biden will enter the Democratic race, though he is expected to announce his decision sometime this week. Even with Clinton’s strong performance on Tuesday, supporters are still pushing for the vice president to run.

When asked to comment to about the debate, Biden briefly told reporters in Washington, “I thought every one of those folks last night…I thought they all did well.”

A

october 16-22, 2015 • NorcAL ASIAN JoUrNAL

Dateline USa

http://www.asianjournal.com • (650) 616-4150

Gov. Brown signs bill aimed at eliminating gender wage gap Binay camp cries ‘harassment’...

CALIFORNIA Governor Jerry Brown made a landmark decision toward closing the longstanding wage gap between men and women by signing one of the toughest pay equity laws in the nation on Tuesday, Oct. 6, The California Fair Pay Act, first introduced and authored by Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson (DSanta Barbara), was the response to a report by the US Census Bureau and Equal Rights Advocates, which found that women in California working full time made an average of 84 cents for every dollar earned by men in 2013.

“The inequities that have plagued our state and have burdened women forever are slowly being resolved with this kind of bill,” Brown said at a ceremony at the Rosie the Riveter National Historical Park in Richmond, California.

The measure will also give employees more grounds for challenging perceived discrimination and injustice, the Los Angeles Times reported. It prohibits employees from facing retaliation for discussing their pay rates, and allows them to challenge pay disparities at work.

“Today is a momentous day for California, and it is long overdue.

Equal pay isn’t just the right thing for women, it’s the right thing for

our economy and for California,” said Sen. Jackson at the event.

“Courts have interpreted current law to mean that male and female workers must hold exactly the same jobs to require equal pay…Now they’re going to have to value the work equally.”

Gov. Brown’s office also said in a statement that the bill was “among the strongest in the nation,” receiving bipartisan support, according to Reuters. “[This measure] is a very important milestone,” he said, adding it will help California in “reaching toward greater equity.”

Employers sued by workers would have to show that wage differences are “due to factors other than sex,” such as merit or seniority; that they are job-related and reasonable; and that they are not due to discrimination.

Workers who believe they have been discriminated against said Tuesday that the new law would help bolster future labor cases.

Employers will now be “accountable to pay women fairly,” said Aileen Rizo, a math consultant for the Fresno County Office of Education, who is suing the agency for allegedly paying her male colleague $12,000 more a year for the same work.

The California Chamber of Commerce initially opposed the

Former Filipino car dealer pleads...

PAGE A2 Reodica’s business. Some families also had to file for bankruptcy, according to a 2014 Asian Journal report.

In 1992, Reodica became an Australian citizen under the name Roberto Abrian Coscolluela, Jr., according to court documents. He

lived in Australia for two decades where he defrauded customers, posing as an accountant, real estate agent and insurance agent in Cairns and Brisbane. Court records and sources from Brisbane allege that Reodica, as Coscolleula, defrauded several members of the Filipino-Australian community.

Securing our place in history...

PAGE A2 American Collegiate Endeavor (PACE) organized effectively in getting high school students to apply for college through the Equal Opportunity Program. They also fought for the rights of the “Manongs” as well as other issues concerning the Filipino American community. These are great contributions that have enriched the fabric of California but unless we work together in getting these included in California’s history, no one will know about them except the Fil-Am community.

During last week’s meeting, there were around 20 speakers

from the American Hindu community during the public address.

They are working on the inclusion of Hinduism in the curriculum section for World Religion.

Perhaps we should take a lesson from this. Unless we invest time, money and resources to ensure that our own history is learned by students before the university level, we cannot be seen as a viable force in the community. Aside from working on getting Fil-Ams in strategic elected positions, in the local, state and hopefully in the national levels, we should ensure that our contribution to the history of California and the

bill, but last week the business group said it ultimately changed its mind because “the legislation created a fair balance for workers and employers.”

Republican lawmakers and national women’s rights leaders said the legislation was “a model for other states and for Congress,” where similar efforts have been stalled by Republican opposition.

Businesses said they expected more lawsuits once the new rules take effect on January 1.

Equal Rights Advocates pointed out that wage disparities were particularly stark for Latina and African-American women.

Women of color and mothers “continue to lose precious income to a pervasive, gender-based wage gap,” said Jennifer Reisch, legal director of Equal Rights Advocates.

It is also said that about 1.75 homes in California are headed by women, and the wage gap between the sexes costs families in the state roughly $39 billion in a year.

“The win here is undeniable.

We think of 2015 as the year of fair pay,” said Equal Rights Advocates Executive Director Noreen Farrell.

The bill was also part of a package of reforms that has been pushed by California’s Legislative Women’s Caucus, which also

aimed to make workplace scheduling more accommodating to families, and to increase federal aid to infants and children. The bills have not yet passed.

The Obama administration has also made gender pay discrimination a priority in its agenda. In 2009, the White House signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, and took some executive actions on the issue last year.

California already has laws that ban employers from paying women less than men for the same jobs. The new California Fair Pay Act will broaden this prohibition, by saying bosses cannot pay their employees less than those of the opposite sex for “substantially similar work,” even if their titles are different or they have different job sites.

The new law is the strongest in the US, according to the National Partnership for Women & Families, a Washington-based nonprofit advocacy group focused on fairness in the workplace.

Commented Hollywood actress Patricia Arquette, who publically called for gender wage equality in her Academy Awards acceptance speech, “This [law] is a critical step toward ensuring that women in California are seen and valued as equals.” (Allyson Escobar/AJPress)

Authorities arrested Reodica at Los Angeles International Airport in November 2012, during a layover on a flight to Canada. Traveling under his Australian alias, Reodica was requested by airport security to complete a fingerprint scan, which revealed his identity.

“The guilty pleas by this defendant should be a warning to all fugitives facing charges in federal

court that the United States Department of Justice and the United States Attorney’s Office have a very long memory,” said United States Attorney Eileen M. Decker of the Central District of California.

Reodica will be sentenced in February 2016. He faces up to 79 years in federal prison and a $6.5 million fine or two times the loss that resulted in his offenses. n

US is embedded in the curriculum for high school levels. This has a wide and long-term impact on how society perceives the FilAms. But this will not be possible if we do not present a united front behind these issues.

We should also collaborate with other groups, including mainstream ones, so that they can learn about our contributions to history.

In trying to get AB199 implemented, BLHS has collaborated with other groups with similar goals. It has presented the stories not just of Filipinos, but of Americans who fought in the Philippines during WWII as well as other Allied forces that helped during the liberation.

It opened a 4-month exhibition on WWII in the Philippines on Sep-

tember 12 at the San Francisco Main Library in collaboration with Memorare Manila 1945, the Philippine Consulate General of San Francisco and the San Francisco Public Library. A conference on the same topic will take place on October 24 at Koret Auditorium at the San Francisco Main Library featuring speakers from different perspectives.

Let us hope that the legacy of our Filipino ancestors will bind the Filipino community not just in the US but also in the Philippines. We have a proud and illustrious history that is worth fighting for. Let us act now!

(For more information about the Exhibition and Conference, please visit www.bataanlegacy.org)

PAGE A1 DILG cars and patrol cars of the Makati Police showed up at the Binays’ residence in San Antonio Village to serve the Ombudsman’s order sacking the mayor from office.

Salgado said that the community was roused by the arrival of the convoy “Over-acting naman ang DILG. Malinaw na harassment ang ginawa nila,” Salgado said.

(The DILG was ‘over-acting.’

What they did was clearly harassment.)

He said that its act of serving the Ombudsman’s order would have traumatized the children of the embattled mayor.

“Mabuti na lang at pumasok na sa eskwela ang mga anak ni Mayor Junjun kung hindi ay baka na-traumatize sila na makitang pinaikutan ng mga [patrol] cars ang bahay nila,” he said.

(Thankfully, Mayor Junjun’s children had already gone to school, otherwise, they would have been traumatized by the sight of their home being surrounded by [patrol] cars.)

Unfazed by the incident, Salgado said that the alleged

harassment will not deter Vice President Jejomar Binay from running for president.

“Halatang-halata na gusto nilang sindakin si Mayor Binay at iparating ang mensahe na ang administrasyon ang kalaban ng pamilya Binay. Nagkakamali sila kung akala nila ay mahahadlangan nila ang determinasyong maglingkod ni VP Binay at ng kanyang pamilya,” he said.

(It is very obvious that they intend to daunt Mayor Binay and that they are delivering the message that the administration is an enemy of the Binay family.

They are mistaken if they think that they can get in the way of the determination of VP Binay and his family to serve.)

Last October 9, the Ombudsman ordered the dismissal of Junjun Binay and other city officials over the controversial Makati City Hall Building 2.

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales said Binay will be dismissed for grave misconduct and dishonesty, as there were “irregularities in the services and contract for the construction in several phases of the parking building.”

Automatic voter registration...

PAGE A3 guidelines for the use of drop-off boxes, including security measures, by Jan. 1, 2017. Pavley noted a big problem with voting in Los Angeles County, which has 10 million active voting residents and only one drop-off location.

“This may have contributed to the fact that only 38 percent of voters in LA County used [voteby-mail]…nearly 20 percent lower than any other county in the state,” Pavley said.

AB 363, another bill that was signed, will speed up election returns by allowing county elections officials to begin counting votes before the close of the polls on Election Day. Other new rules require the state to pick up the tab for election recounts, rather than requiring candidates to pay for them.

The new Motor Voter Act for automatic registrations will take effect on Jan. 1.

Asian Americans Advancing Justice in Los Angeles applauded the new program meant to bolster voter turnout for the upcoming primary.

“We are grateful the leaders

in the state are taking an active role in improving our democracy, particularly at a time when some states are making it more difficult to register to vote,” said Stewart Kwoh, executive director of Advancing Justice - LA, in a statement. “Despite an increase of Asian American registered voters statewide, only 59 percent of those eligible are registered to vote. We hope the new Motor Voter Program increases this number.”

Advancing Justice - LA also expressed its disappointment in Brown’s vetoing of AB 182, a bill co-sponsored by the legal and civil rights organization.

This measure would have made it unlawful for local jurisdictions to draw districts in a way that dilutes votes from California’s vibrant communities of color.

“Just as it is important to get people involved in the democratic process, it is equally important that the votes they cast are meaningful,” said Deanna Kitamura, supervising attorney for Advancing Justice - LA’s Democracy Project. (Allyson Escobar/AJPress)

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A

Palace: High number of presidential Miriam Santiago: PH will be much hopefuls shows dynamic democracy better if I become president by louis

Bacani Philstar.com

dates—who aspire to run for president next year.

“The high number of presidential aspirants attest to the dynamism of our democracy and reflects the desire of well-meaning Filipinos to actively participate

in the electoral process,” Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said in a press briefMAnILA—Malacañang sees ing. nothing wrong with the high “Come election time, we exnumber of individuals—includpect our bosses to exercise sound ing possible nuisance candijudgment in their selection of future leaders of the country,” he added.

Coloma said besides the age and citizenship requirements, the Constitution does not impose other restrictions on presidential hopefuls.

“Kaya sino naman tayo para humadlang sa pagnanais ng mga indibidwal na ialay ang sarili nila sa paglilingkod,” he said.

As of Wednesday, Oct. 14, close to 60 people have filed their certificates of candicacy for president.

Coloma said the Commission on elections is expected to weed out the nuisance candidates.

“Sila ang nangangasiwa sa proseso ng pag-alam kung ang mga naghain ng certificate of Perennial presidential candidate Elly Pamatong, left, and Congressman Augusto Syjuco pose candidacy ay dapat na ituring na for the media shortly after filing their certificates of candidacy for next year’s presidential nuisance candidates ayon sa deelections Monday, Oct. 12 in Manila.

ManilaTimes.net photo pinisyon sa batas,” he said.

by Yuji

Vincent Gonzales Inquirer.net

Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago on Tuesday, Oct 13 said the Philippines will be a “much better country” if she will become president in the “near future.”

“If I become president some time in the very near future, this country will be much better than it was before. Today, this country suffers from the malaise of plunder. Plunder is when you look at a person and the person looks at you and you feel like eating each other up. It’s like cancer,” said Santiago, who is currently on medical leave at the Senate for battling Stage 4 lung cancer.

“The one thing bad about cancer is it tends to eat up its neighbor,” she added.

Santiago said she will try “to make this country better” through her faith and with the help of fellow Filipinos.

“So we will try to make this country better simply by trust-

Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago

ing in the Lord, trusting in yourself—trusting that you yourself may lead in God’s great heaven where we know He loves,” the senator added.

Santiago made the statement during the meet-and-greet and book signing event for “Stupid is Forevermore,” the sequel to her best-selling collection of witty pick-up lines, jokes and anecdotes Stupid is Forever.

In a Facebook post last week,

Inquirer.net photo

Santiago hinted through a quote graphics that she may vie for the presidency in next year’s polls: “I am not going to be coy. Society leaders have urged me to seek the presidency. I can rise to the occasion.”

She also uploaded in her Facebook account a video clip of her speech during her 1992 presidential run, where she lost to former president Fidel V. Ramos in a hotly contested race.

Lim wants jogging, Erap eyes boxing as fitness test Bongbong Marcos believes by jose

Rodel clapano Philstar.com

MAnILA—Former Manila mayor Alfredo Lim, 85, challenged his rivals, led by 78-year-old Mayor Joseph estrada, to go jogging with him to prove they remain healthy and can still lead the city government.

Lim issued the challenge as he filed his certificate of candidacy (COC) with the Commission on elections office in Arroceros, Manila.

“I walked from the monuments of (former President) Cory (Aquino) and ninoy (Aquino). Let’s fight by jogging. That is the trouble when people are concentrated on throwing mud at others,” Lim told reporters.

The monuments are at the intersection of P. Burgos street and Roxas Boulevard.

Lim, who is running under the banner of the Liberal Party (LP), said he decided to run again for mayor of Manila because he can-

Former Manila mayor Alfredo Lim

not stomach seeing the city government being handled by “plunderer and a liar.”

He belied allegations that he left the city government bankrupt, saying that while Manila had debts, the money he left with the city treasurer’s office, deposited in the Land Bank of the Philippines and the Development Bank of the Philippines, was P770 million.

“What bankruptcy he is talking

about? A plunderer is the brother of a liar,” Lim said in Filipino, adding that he has been in public service for 54 years and has never been charged with stealing money from the government. estrada was convicted of plunder and pardoned shortly afterward by then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Lim vowed to return the programs to provide free hospitalization and medicine as well as free college education for residents, all of which he said he instituted.

He also criticized estrada’s policy of having private firms rehabilitate and run public markets, saying that a public market rehabilitated by a private firm cannot impose low rates because the firm is concerned over profits.

Lim also said real estate taxes, which he kept to a minimal level, were increased by 300 percent when he left city hall.

Fund-raising fight estrada, on the other hand, said

Lim’s challenge to go jogging is “too light” and “for the oldies.”

He challenged Lim to a fundraising boxing or mixed martial arts fight “with or without gloves” as he shadow-boxed in front of reporters during a press conference. estrada also junked suggestions for him to have a debate with Lim, saying he had already defeated his rival in a debate in 2013.

He insisted that based on a Commission on Audit report, Lim left the city bankrupt in 2013 with P3.5 billion unremitted to the Bureau of Internal Revenue, P800 million in unpaid power bills and over P600 million in unpaid water bills.

As for his plunder conviction, estrada said the Catholic Church and the late former President Corazon Aquino vindicated him when they publicly apologized to him.

He wished Lim “good luck” and that he was being “kind to old men.”

in numerology, too

Senator Bongbong Marcos with his wife Iza Araneta files COC for Vice President at the Comelec on Tuesday, Oct. 13.

Inquirer.net photo by Marianne Bermudez by tina

G. santos Inquirer.net

JUST like his father, the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, the namesake son is a believer in the magic of numerology.

That was why, after declaring martial law on Sept. 23, 1972, the elder Marcos backdated his Proclamation no. 1081 to Sept. 21, be-

cause it is divisible by 7, regarded as an auspicious day.

Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. believes that the no. 7 will still bring luck in his bid to run for the vice presidency in 2016.

“I was told that I was the seventh person to file certificate of candidacy [for Vice President]. I guess PAGE A7

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NORCAL ASIAN JOURNAL • OCtObeR 16-22, 2015

Arroyo camp to file bail petition anew

by Ric

Sapnu Philstar.com

SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga—The camp of former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is set to file another petition for bail before the Sandiganbayan after the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found her continued detention arbitrary and illegal under international law.

Lorenzo Gadon, lawyer for Arroyo, said they are planning to file a new petition for bail before the anti-graft court based on the recommendation of the UN body.

In its opinion released on Oct. 2, the five-member UN body urged the Philippine government to reconsider Arroyo’s bail

Former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo

plea “in accordance with the relevant international human rights standards and to accord the former president with an enforce-

able right to compensation for her continued detention.”

The gist of the UN working group’s opinion was relayed to Gadon by international human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin Clooney by e-mail on Oct. 7.

Clooney had filed a human rights violation case against the Philippine government before the UN on behalf of Arroyo.

“The Philippine government will lose face if we will not abide by the internationally accepted principles of law,” Gadon said.

Arroyo’s camp maintained that the former leader should be granted bail while on trial for plunder for alleged misuse of intelligence funds of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.

Arroyo is under hospital arrest at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City.

Aquino administration’s satisfaction rating improves - SWS survey by neStoR

coRRaleS Inquirer.net

ThE net satisfaction rating of the administration of President Benigno Aquino III improved by six percentage points during the third quarter of 2015, according to the results of the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey.

The “good” +37 net satisfaction rating of the Aquino administration was an improvement from its second quarter net rating of +31.

The survey, conducted from Sept. 2-5 among 1,200 respondents, showed that 59 percent expressed satisfaction with the Aquino administration’s performance, while 22 percent were dissatisfied and 18 percent were undecided on the issue.

The administration got a “good” public satisfaction rating on providing enough supply of electricity, helping the poor, foreign relations, promoting the welfare of overseas Filipino workers, and promoting human rights.

The survey, however, showed that the Aquino administration got a “bad” or -47 public satisfaction on the issue of resolving the Maguindanao case.

Meanwhile, the administration’s public satisfaction rating remained “moderate” with +24 from +18 in June 2015 while the satisfaction rating in Luzon im-

LP SLATE. Liberal Party (LP) chairman President Benigno S. Aquino III raises the hands of the administration senate slate for the 2016 national elections during the Koalisyon ng Daang Matuwid: Ang Pagpapakilala at the Balay Expo Centro Building in EDSA corner McArthur Avenue, Araneta Center, Cubao, Quezon City on Monday, Oct. 12. The 12 senatorial bets includes COOP NATCCO party-list Representative Cresente Paez; Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) director and former Akbayan party-list Representative Ana Theresia “Risa” Hontiveros-Baraquel; former Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) Director General Emmanuel “Joel” Villanueva; former Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla; Senator Ralph Recto; Senate President Franklin Drilon; former Senator and former food security czar Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan; former Justice Secretary Leila de Lima; Interior and Local Government Assistant Secretary for Muslim Affairs and Special Concerns Nariman Ambolodto; Senator Teofisto “TG” Guingona III; and Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) general manger and chief operating officer Mark Lapid. Also in photo are LP Presidential Candidate former DILG Secretary Manuel Roxas II; LP Vice Presidential Candidate Camarines Sur 3rd District Representative Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo; and LP vice chairman and House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte, Jr. Malacañang photo

Bongbong Marcos believes...

PAGE A5 the lucky 7 for us Marcoses is still here. I think it’s a good omen,” Marcos told reporters shortly after he filed his COC for Vice President at the Comelec main office in Intramuros, Manila.

Accompanied by his wife Liza proved from “moderate” +29 to service and integrity—one that pursues widespread reform and his mother Imelda, Marcos “good” +44.

In Visayas, the satisfaction and ensures that the benefits rating stayed at “good” with +34 of progress reach all Filipinos, from +43 while Mindanao re- regardless of their location, profession, or status in life. This is mained with a +34 good.

On Tuesday, Malacanang wel- what we call inclusive growth. comed the results of the SWS This is what we call daang matuwid,” presidential spokesperson survey.

“These positive results re- Edwin Lacierda said in a stateaffirm our platform rooted in ment.

was mobbed by members of the media, supporters and employees of government offices in Intramuros.

“Thank you for taking interest.

Even in filing my COC you are already here. I hope this is a good sign,” Marcos said.

Tension rose at the poll agency

as Marcos and his wife were being led to the area where the media could ask him questions.

Members of the media, supporters and government employees all went into a frenzy, wanting to take photos or videos of Marcos.

Because of the chaos, Marcos was immediately whisked away from the press and did not grant an interview.

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OpiniOn

Features

Defensive

MILITARY superpower China is not afraid to flex its muscles as it once again asserted sovereignty over its reclaimed islands in the South China Sea. It warned any country against taking “risky and provocative action” by attempting to come within 12 nautical miles of the islands.

“We ask relevant parties to speak and act discreetly, respect China’s sovereignty and security interests, and do not make any provocative moves,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Hua Chunying said.

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent this stern warning following a planned deployment of US Navy ships in territorial waters claimed by China.

Earlier, the US Pacific Command (USPACOM) presented the White House and Pentagon leaders the option to conduct a freedom of navigation exercises off of the disputed territory. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said that the US would, “fly, sail, and operate wherever international law allows, as US forces do all over the world.”

The Philippines welcomed this development and echoed the clamor for freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea. Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) spokesperson Charles Jose said that if the US “decides to send naval vessels within 12 nautical miles of the reclaimed low-tide elevation features in affirmation of this objective, this would be consistent with international law and a rules-based order for

the region.”

China and the Philippines have competing claims to some parts of the South China Sea. China claims the largest swathe of the strategic water, which is believed to have significant oil and gas deposits. It has continuously rejected other nations’ claim (including Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei) on the strategic waters.

Citing peaceful resolution on the jurisdiction over the disputed waters, the Philippines has pleaded its case to the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (ITLOS). It is now awaiting results of the preliminary hearings over the Philippine claim.

The ITLOS is an intergovernmental organization created through the directive of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea and established by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), signed at Montego Bay, Jamaica, on Dec. 10, 1982.

Ironically, China is a signatory of the UN charter, which is governed by the rules and principles of general international law. Under the UNCLOS, all parties have agreed to “due regard for the sovereignty of all States, a legal order for the seas and

Editorial

Inquirer.net photo

oceans which will facilitate international communication, and will promote the peaceful uses of the seas and oceans, the equitable and efficient utilization of their resources, the conservation of their living resources, and the study, protection and preservation of the marine environment.”

To ensure the general peace and to obviate the recourse to force, all parties involved should be

reminded of their adherence to international law.

In international conflicts such as the South China Sea dispute, multilateralism should be the detente before affected parties turn to belligerent forces.

The principles representing international law are simple, they are based upon universally accepted values and moral standards to achieve global peace and order. (AJPress)

Kababayans react to law allowing physician-assisted suicide for terminally ill patients CALIFORNIA has joined Oregon, Washington, Montana and Vermont when Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill into law that legalizes assisted suicide for terminally ill patients. Beginning January 1, doctors can prescribe medication to end a patient’s life if two doctors agree the person has only six months to live and is mentally competent to make such decision.

Supporters of the bill said the measure would help end-stage cancer and other patients to die with less pain and suffering, allowing people who are terminally ill to die with dignity and greater comfort. Those who oppose the law contend that unscrupulous caregivers or relatives could pressure vulnerable patients to take their own lives.

As a compromise with lawmakers who were worried about unintended consequences, such as the targeting of the poor, elderly and disabled, the law will expire after 10 years unless extended.

Our kababayans around the world have mixed reactions about this law and here are some of their comments: Ramon Yadao from Manila stated: “Yes. My life. My terms.”

Rowena Orejana from New Zealand said NO, sharing the following reasons from the website NZCatholic.com, articulated by Dr. Peter Saunders, the campaign director of the United Kingdom-based Care Not Killing Alliance.

“In the UK, there are four reasons

Commentary

RigobeRto tiglao PRESIDENTIAL candidate Manuel A. Roxas II spent P257 million on television ads from Aug. 15 to Sept. 15 to push up his ratings in the presidential preference polls undertaken by PulseAsia from Sept. 8 to 14, and by the Social Weather Stations from Sept. 2 to 5 as well.

Given the basic flaw of such polls as practiced in this country, the massive spending for ads in a month’s time—P9 million a day—raised Roxas 2nd’s ratings to 20 percent from the poll body’s survey in June, when only 10 percent of the respondents said they would vote for him in 2016.

The Roxas camp, I was told, has also put up billboards worth P100 million mostly outside Metro Manila to increase his name-recall.

(Never mind, of course, that this practice is illegal before the official campaign period starts. “Just don’t say in the ad, ‘Vote for me’,” an election lawyer I asked explained.)

The TV networks supplied Roxas’ advertising costs, although

The third reawhy politicians are son, he said, is against the bill.

The Fil-Am when there is The first is public good palliative safety. ‘If you change the Perspective care, requests for law, you inevitably end assisted deaths up putting pressure on are rare.

The vulnerable people to end fourth is the fact their lives out of fear of that opposition being either a financial or Gel SantoS-ReloS comes from a lot emotional burden upon others. And so it’s been all about pro- of different groups. Dr. Saunders said tecting the vulnerable people, particu- legalising physician-assisted suicide is larly those who are elderly depressed, not a slippery slope but more of a ‘mission creep’ or an ‘incremental extenor who are disabled or sick,’ he said.

The second is that the status quo is sion’. ‘Sympathetic doctors will try to okay. He said the law is clearly defined widen it. If you think about their main and in cases where there are justifi- arguments, choice and compassion, able causes, few end up in jail. ‘The those could apply to a wide range of best laws are those that give clear-cut people.’

He said people will put a value on boundaries. We say, you must not travel above 100km/h on the highway. We human life, whether or not it is still don’t say it’s 100km/h unless you’ve financially or emotionally viable. ‘It’s got a sick child or you’re late for a re- the relative costs of chemotherapy, palally important appointment,’ he said. liative care and lethal drugs. Is that a ‘It’s clear. Then, we deal with cases of temptation that we want to put in front those, after proper investigation, that of our legislators?” he asked.”

Leandro Quinatana from Hawthorne, have [a] legitimate excuse.’

He said there are limits to personal California intimated: “If living with exfreedom. ‘We are not entitled to the treme, unendurable pain, an individual freedoms which undermine the reason- should have the legal option to end his able freedoms of others. Changing the life in a civilized and dignified manlaw for a small group of determined ner.”

Teta Limcangco from Manila tweetpeople actually removes legal protection from a much wider group of vul- ed: “This is a tough question but at nerable people who then become prey the end of the day... it still boils down to those with an interest in their deaths,’ to one’s conscience. IMHO… I doubt if that bill will pass here coy. RHbill he stressed.

nga, pahirapan pa.”

Alvinture8 from Manila also tweeted: “I prefer natural death, I still believe in miracles.”

Amber Khan, a doctor from New Jersey, wrote: “I do believe in life and I believe in God. I don’t believe in taking over the role of God. The multi-billion dollar Pharmaceutical Pain Industry can make [the] end of life comfortable, till it is the end of life! Every life will come to its natural end. Would I ever want to suffer? No!!! But will I kill myself or put that burden on another person? ABSOLUTELY NOT! As a doctor, over the years I have learned that people have a very different threshold for pain, suffering, or even patience.

Please be mindful and ask yourselves that once euthanasia is legalized, who will determine that it is ok to end a person’s life, when pain and its perception is so subjective! When every doctor has a different threshold for dealing with patients who are suffering? Do you want me to kill you because you are taking too much of my time, my emotions, and my endurance? And then, remember, that the Hippocratic Oath, that we as doctors, take to heart, and what drives us to take care of every life, regardless of anything, including our own safety i.e. driving in a blizzard with unpaved roads or regardless of the fact that we will never be paid because you

don’t have insurance, will mean nothing!

So Dear advocates of euthanasia, kill yourselves! Deal with the consequences. Or let your loved ones live with that burden! Do not make your doctor your scape goats! Or seek an expert field of amazing Pain Management Doctors.

Your Insurance covers it. YES! It is your life. It is on your terms!

Extreme pain? You want to end your life in a dignified manner by asking a doctor to drown you with Morphine?

Where is the dignity there? So please, before you all start with the right to die because you can’t take it, or you can’t let your family suffer, think about the implications, the manipulation by family members when a patient can’t speak for themselves, or even the convenience of a doctor who now will be given the power not to just save lives, but takes lives! Talk about the God Complex!!!!! And keep in mind, once euthanasia is legalized, you won’t ever be able to trust your doctor. One of the last breeds of humans, still living and fighting every day for their patients at the expense of everything and everyone in their lives. “ *** 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

Roxas II spends P257 million on TV ads to boost ratings instead of the actual billings, they used the advertising firm Nielsen’s rate cards, which contained the networks’ advertising rates, and for each time slot.

Roxas’ camp initially wanted the PulseAsia polls to be undertaken in August, right after President Aquino announced on July 31 that his DILG Secretary would be their party’s candidate for President in the 2016 elections.

The survey, however, was delayed for technical reasons. The polling firm in its report, though, still referred to Aquino’s “official endorsement” as one of the “key developments that took place in the weeks immediately prior to and during the conduct of the interviews for the survey.”

Roxas 2nd’s strategy was to conceal the impact of the massive TV ads. Instead, it portrayed the doubling of his ratings—from 10 percent in June to 20 percent in September—as a result of Aquino’s “endorsement” power.

Aquino’s cousin, Rafael Lopa, had been president of PulseAsia—that was just a few years back, during which he studied the intricacies and nuances of polling in the Philippines, including how to use it for propaganda. While neither Lopa nor any of Aquino’s relatives still remained with Pul-

seAsia at the time of the September poll, it is believed that the Liberal Party or some financial supporter has been commissioning most of the firm’s surveys.

TV ads crucial The reason why TV ads are crucial in presidential surveys is the fact that TV news now has become the main source of information for 50 to 70 percent of respondents, according to surveys I have seen.

Only 30 percent of respondents report that their main source of information is “family and friends.”

Radio news accounts for 28 percent, while newspapers (mostly tabloids, and only one of them) 10 percent. Other surveys even report that only 5 percent of respondents say that they get their information on national issues and politics from newspapers.

Despite all the hype on social media, it reaches barely 4 percent of voters, which is not surprising since most Filipinos are poor and don’t own PCs. “Talo ka na kaagad, if you don’t have TV ads,” Richard Gordon, who ran in the 2010 presidential elections said. “We had no choice but to have TV ads, but then we didn’t have the money to sustain that,” he explained.

It is indisputable even among

pollsters in the US that a survey’s timing is crucial in the kind of response interviewers receive from their sample. The Aquino camp, in collaboration with PulseAsia, has been adept in using this technique.

For example, in its bid to trigger a coup in 2007, PulseAsia all of a sudden came up with a survey that posed the question: “Who do you think has been the country’s most corrupt President?” President Arroyo came out as the most corrupt in that survey, with President Joseph Estrada, who was convicted of plunder, coming in third, after Marcos.

Of course she would, given that weeks and days before the survey, newspapers’ front-pages had banner headlines on allegations of corruption against Arroyo and her family – although not a single one of those allegations had been proven after seven years, so that today some other names than hers come to the fore when questions about corruption are raised.

What respondent at that time would bother to jog his memory to remember Estrada’s graft money from jueteng and the tobacco excise tax?

Who asked and paid for the survey? “I did,” said Senator Sergio Osmeña III at that time, one of the

most vocal allies of Aquino. “Any problem with that?” the haughty senator said with an ear-to-ear grin.

Roxas’ face appeared in the ads for a month, and for a few minutes on primetime TV. That would somehow stick in viewers’ minds.

After that, a PulseAsia interviewer approaches a respondent and asks “Quick, quick, who would you vote for if elections were held today, and you’ve got to choose or you’d appear stupid?” Naturally, the respondents will choose the name of the first image that comes to their mind.

Note that PulseAsia and SWS have never asked a critical question that would change poll results very radically, as numerous critiques of opinion polling all over the world have pointed out.

This is the question: Have you decided which candidate to vote for as President in the May 2016 election? Responsible and professional pollsters abroad would not force respondents to choose a candidate if he replied first that he hadn’t made his choice. More on that in my future columns.

It’s “quick, quick” because PulseAsia and its rival SWS often ask a respondent (would you believe?)

150 to 200 questions—“rider questions” they call these—for

each of their survey “runs.”

These often include such market-research questions as the kind of toothpaste or deodorant a respondent uses, since a particular survey may involve dozens of “riders,” each with his own set of questions, for which they paid the pollster P50,000 to P1 million, for a sample of 1,200 respondents.

(Why can’t PulseAsia and SWS, which claim to be champions of democracy, be transparent and tell us how many questions they ask, and what are these for every survey they undertake, and how much income they get for these?)

I wonder if PulseAsia and SWS ask before the who-will-you-votefor question: Do you believe the allegations of corruption against Binay being investigated in the Senate?

We wouldn’t know whether such questions were asked unless these pollsters make public their actual survey questionnaire, but they have never done so.

This, dear reader, is what our purportedly noble exercise in democracy has come to. Toward May next year, the amount of TV ads a candidate can pay for could determine who would be in charge of the fate of 100 million Filipinos for the next six years.

PAGE A10

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

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NORCAL ASIAN JOURNAL • OCtObeR 16-22, 2015

A

A10 october 16-22, 2015 • NorcAL ASIAN JoUrNAL

Dateline PhiliPPines

De Lima: No whitewash in 2nd Mamasapano report

by Edu

Punay Philstar.com

MANILA—There was no cover-up in the fact-finding probe of the Department of Justice (DOJ) in the case of nine of the 44 police Special Action Force (SAF) commandos slain in the Mamasapano clash last January.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said this in response to criticisms on the second part of the Mamasapano investigation report released last week where no charges were filed.

In contrast was the case of the 35 SAF men where 90 members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and private armed groups were charged with direct assault Justice Secretary Leila de Lima explained that the team of DOJ prosecutors and National Bureau of Investigation agents failed to establish the identities of the killers of the commandos from with murder.

De Lima said the insinua- the 84th SAF company in Barangay Pidsandawan last Jan. 25.

In the 120-page report, probDe Lima explained that the tion made by critics, including former SAF director Getulio team of DOJ prosecutors and ers concluded that a crime was Napeñas, that there could be National Bureau of Investiga- indeed committed as the death a whitewash in the probe was tion agents failed to establish of the nine SAF members was the identities of the killers of the the result of a series of deliber“very unfair and unfounded.”

“I suggest that Napeñas and commandos from the 84th SAF ate acts by armed individuals the other critics read first the company in Barangay Pidsan- with whom the 84th Seaborne engaged in a brief firefight in the full text, albeit reducted, of the dawan last Jan. 25.

“We can only do so much. We course of the assault on the hut second report before passing judgment,” she said in a text cannot invent our findings,” she of international terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan. added. message.

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MILF, MNLF sign ‘unified declaration’ for approval of Bangsamoro Basic Law

by John

unson Philstar.com

MAGUINDANAO—The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) on Tuesday, Oct. 13 signed a “unified declaration” calling for the approval the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) as an embodiment of each other’s separate peace pacts with Malacañang.

The two-page declaration was signed in Sultan Kudarat town in Maguindanao by the figurehead of the MILF, Al-Haj Murad Ebrahim, and former Cotabato City Mayor Muslimin Sema, chairman of the largest of three factions in the MNLF. The crafting of the declaration, where both groups warned of rejection of a “diluted BBL,” was witnessed by representatives from various civil society organizations and officials of the Malaysian-led International Monitoring Team (IMT).

The draft BBL is still pending in Congress, mired by controversies and constitutionality issues. Senate has its own version of the bill, but stripped of most of what are for the MILF important provisions needed to address the decadesold Moro rebellion in Southern Mindanao.

Murad and Sema acknowledged extensively in separate messages the presence in the event of the representatives of IMT, which is comprised of soldiers from Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and Libya and nonuniformed conflict-resolution experts from Norway, Japan and the European Union.

The IMT has been helping enforce the government-MILF interim non-aggression pact since the late 2003.

Murad and Sema had both said enacting the draft BBL into law, based on its original draft, is a fulfillment of the Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro between Malacañang and the MILF and the September 2, 1996 government-MNLF final truce.

They also both stated in their unified declaration that only a BBL patterned from the draft submitted to Congress by the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC) can address the nagging decadesold Mindanao Moro issue.

The BTC, chaired by the MILF’s chief negotiator, Muhaquer Iqbal, is comprised of seven representatives each from the rebel group and the government.

Sema’s group, the largest from among three factions in the MNLF, is not hostile to the MILF. Sema said they will readily recognize and honor the BBL if passed into law according to its original draft as proposed by the MILF-led BTC, The founder of the MNLF, Nur Misuari, who also leads another faction in the group, is rabidly opposed to President Benigno Aquino III’s diplomatic dealings with the MILF. The MNLF-MILF unified declaration also stated that both groups are to reject any BBL which is not a prototype of the proposed measure the BTC drafted.

The proposed BBL is the enabling measure for the replacement of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM)

Roxas II spends P257 million...

PAGE A8 And that’s why Aquino and Roxas, who have spent the past five years making sure that by hook or by crook they have the campaign funds, are confident they’ll still win, despite the utter mess they’ve done to the country.

Why Duterte begged off I wouldn’t be surprised if exwould-be presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte had heard of Roxas 2nd’s P257 million splurging on a TV ad campaign for just a month, and decided it’s useless for him to run.

Ignoring the reports that he

was ill, Duterte likely refused to run because—despite all the prodding from his fans, who even held a demonstration in Manila to show him their support—the rich businessmen egging him on to run hadn’t really put their money where their mouths were.

Other than the Dominguez and Alcantara clans of Davao, there hasn’t been a report of a tycoon taking action to support his bid.

And both the Dominguezes and Alcantaras aren’t exactly the type to put up front “real” contributions in the scale of say P100 or P200 million.

Yes, that’s the kind of money

with a more politically and administratively empowered Bangsamoro political entity.

The declaration also called on Mindanao’s Moro communities to continue supporting the Mindanao peace process and the efforts of President Aquino and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to put diplomatic closure to the decades-old secessionist uprising in the country’s south.

The OIC, a bloc of more than 50 Muslim states, including petroleum-exporting countries in the Middle East and North Africa, helped broker the now 19-year government-MNLF peace agreement.

Sema and Murad had told reporters, after the signing of the unified declaration, the government should consider as dividend of the peace process their respective groups’ having opted for self-rule under the Philippine flag instead of secession from the country as originally demanded.

The event, held at the MILF’s Camp Darapanan in west of Sultan Kudarat town, was witnessed by about a thousand field commanders of the rebel group and MNLF community leaders from across Mindanao.

Also present in the ceremonial signing of the unified declaration were MNLF representatives from the Basilan-Sulu-Tawi-Tawi area, among them former ARMM Assemblyman Hatimil Hassan and Muslimin Jakilan, who is incumbent regional labor secretary of the autonomous region, both ethnic Yakans from the island province of Basilan. our elite give to the candidates they bet on, with probably half of that going to the likely runner-up, and maybe even a third to a basement dweller. That’s why if you look back: those who ran for the presidency and vice presidency and lost, didn’t brood in melancholy, but often transferred to a more posh village or bought a Manhattan apartment.

I was told that yes, some businessmen were donating to Duterte’s campaign chest, but gave only ‘loose change,’ that is, in the scheme of things, a million pesos here, maybe 2 million there. Duterte was waiting till the last minute to get pledges of the real kind. But nothing came. (ManilaTimes.net)

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NORCAL ASIAN JOURNAL • OCTOBER 16-22, 2015

CJ

Journal

Your Immigration Solution Atty. RobeRt Reeves ben LovemAn And nAncy miLLeR TWO recent developments in the world of ‘extreme hardship’ waivers will allow many more applicants to apply and should result in a higher proportion approval for well-prepared applications.

First, USCIS recently announced that the provisional waiver process will be made available to all persons who have an immigrant visa available regardless of the petitioner’s status. This proposal significantly expands eligibility to apply for the provisional waiver which was previously limited to beneficiaries of immediate relative visa petitions, essentially spousal or parental-child petitions (not including adult children) from US citizens. Under the new regulation all persons with an approved petition and available visa, regardless of visa category will be eligible to participate in the provisional waiver program if otherwise eligible. Of course, obtaining a provisional waiver still requires establishing extreme hardship to a US citizen or lawful permanent resident spouse or parent.

The second change involves how USCIS will judge ‘extreme hardship’ and is seen by many experts as a sign that USCIS may be relaxing the ‘extreme hardship’ standard. On October 7, 2015 USCIS disseminated a draft policy memorandum which, if made effective, will significantly impact the way the agency makes decisions on applications for ‘extreme hardship’ waivers.

The new policy would impact all types of waiver application including waivers for unlawful presence-including provisional waivers which were discussed above-, for misrepresentation and for criminal convictions.

This new policy should be of particular interest to persons who have filed for waivers in the past and had their applications denied or to persons who have not filed waiver applications because they

USCIS issues proposed guidance on ‘extreme hardship’ and expansion of the provisional waiver program were worried that they would not be able to establish the required level of ‘extreme’ hardship. Of course, it will also be beneficial to all new waiver applicants going forward. Before turning to the particulars of the proposed new policy it will be useful to have a little background on the ‘extreme’ hardship waiver and when it is required.

To be eligible for permanent residency in the United States a person must be admissible under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). The INA lays out multiple potential grounds that will make a person inadmissible.

Some of these grounds include having made a material misrepresentation (like lying about one’s marital status, or using an altered visa or passport to enter the country), having been unlawfully present in the United States for over six-months and then departing the country, and certain criminal convictions. However, these and other grounds of inadmissibility can sometimes be waived.

Most such waivers require a showing“extreme hardship” to qualifying relativesincluding US citizen or Lawful permanent resident family members.

The challenge in extreme hardship waiver cases is establishing that the hardship to a qualifying relative rises to the level of ‘extreme.’ USCIS has long recognized that some hardship will result if a family member is not allowed to stay in the US with their loved ones or if US citizen or lawful permanent relatives must relocate to a foreign country to be close to their spouse, parent or child. This being the case USCIS has said that ‘extreme hardship’ is hardship that rises above and beyond the level of hardship which is typically to be expected under either scenario.

Importantly, the new policy provides direct guidance to USCIS officers about factors which would ‘strongly suggest; and support a finding of ‘extreme

hardship’. Some of these factors are hardships which experienced attorneys have raised with USCIS for years but which USCIS previously did not recognize as justifying a finding of ‘extreme hardship’. Some of the factors identified include substantial displacement of care of applicant’s children, Travel Warnings against travel to country of residence, active military duty of qualifying relative, medical disability, and prior grant of asylum or refugee status.

Extreme hardship can still be established absent one of these factors and, crucially, the mere presence of one of these factors may not be sufficient in and of itself. As always obtaining approval of an ‘extreme hardship’ waiver will come down to carefully and thoroughly documenting all issues relevant to hardships in any particular case. Often, even when applicants have strong equities in their case they have their waivers denied because of a failure to present their cases effectively to USCIS. This is why quality representation can be the key to obtaining a waiver.

In coming weeks we will provide additional information from this new proposed policy on ‘extreme hardship’ determinations.

If you or a loved one believe you have inadmissibility issues, you should consult a knowledgeable and experienced immigration lawyer. ***

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.

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It’s only in the past few years that early de-

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gathering of members from various Filipino American Chamber organizations and business communities in the USA and the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) expect to enhance and strengthen the organization’s volunteer work in “Bridging Trans-Pacific Commerce in a Changing World”, which is also the conference’s theme. Federation 2015’s partner

Loida Nicolas Lewis, AARP Member Chair and CEO of TLC Beatrice, LLC Philanthropist

Dahil sa Health and Wellness resources ng AARP, si Loida at iba pang katulad niya are now able to have as much fun in the ballroom as they did in the boardroom.

Loida has enjoyed a long career as a successful businesswoman, and she remains just as active today. Bilang miyembro ng halos 20 na taon, she keeps current with AARP publications on health, diet, exercise at iba pang activities that help her enjoy life and live it to the fullest.

Not surprisingly, her boundless energy and generous contributions para sa Filipino community have made her a role model for many. Para kay Loida, walang hanggan ang mga posibilidad and the best is yet to come. AARP offers members a wealth of resources na siguradong makapagbibigay ng saya, sigla at importanteng impormasyon para rin sa inyo. To learn more, visit aarp.org/aapi or call 1-866-805-1986 today.

Caregiving • Health & Wellness • Fraud Prevention • Volunteer • Life Reimagined

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2015 FPACC Bi-National Business Conference: Bridging trans-Pacific commerce in a changing world

This could be my best move yet.

AARP is a non-profit organization committed to enhancing your life at 50-plus by providing trusted and useful resources to help you stay active, engaged and vibrant.

tection and intervention programs for psychotic disorders have been set up around the world.

The early results from these programs show that people at high risk for psychosis can be identified and successfully treated to prevent the illness from getting worse, and improve a person’s social, school and work life.

The road to recovery begins with PREP San Mateo County’s new Prevention and Recovery in Early Psychosis (PREP) program offers a unique personal treatment plan and services to help each person experiencing early symptoms of psychosis to get their life back on track.

PREP offers services and support for youth and young adults, ages 14-35, to reduce and control symptoms of psychosis and restore some of the mental abilities damaged by the disease – all provided in the community wherever someone needs them.

While there is no known cure for psychosis, through early diagnosis and effective treatment, PREP’s 5-year mission is to treat most cases of psychosis into remission, allowing these individuals, and their families, to live a fulfilling life.

Medication and therapy can each have positive results in treating early psychosis – but doing them together has been shown to be much more effective. PREP aims to treat people with lower doses of medications while decreasing hospitalizations. The road to recovery begins with PREP. Do any of these early warning signs explain what you or someone you love, has been feeling?

Do you often feel that: • you can hear or see things that others don’t?

• you can’t trust anyone?

• your food may be poisoned?

• someone is watching you?

• people or places you know seem different?

and collaborator is FPACC Foundation Inc. while the co-hosts are the Las Vegas Filipino American Chamber of Commerce and the Filipino American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Nevada.

Federation 2015 promises an exciting, engaging, and timely general program with moderated business-to-business (B2B) interactions and transactions,

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OCTOBER 16-22, 2015 • NORCAL ASIAN JOURNAL

The CTV Files Atty. Dennis ChuA, esq.

THE spouse of a US citizen will be granted permanent resident status after the US citizen files a petition for the spouse. If the spouses have not yet been married for at least two years at the time the petition was filed, the spouse shall be only granted conditional resident status by the USCIS. The conditional resident spouse shall enjoy all the benefits and privileges of a permanent resident. They can work and travel without further authorization from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services. The only difference is that the conditional resident spouse’s status will expire two years from the time permanent resident status was granted. This rule was enacted to give the US Citizenship and Immigration Services another opportunity to look into whether or not the relationship between the spouses is a bona fide one.

Prior to the expiration of the conditional status, both the US

Community Journal

http://www.asianjournal.com • (650) 616-4150

Separated before conditional Don’t miss quick move-in opportunities at Maplewood

by William Lyon Homes available for a limited time only resident status expires citizen spouse and the conditional resident spouse must file another application to have the conditions on residence removed.

If the conditional resident status fails to file the petition to remove the conditions on residence, the permanent resident status will be terminated and in some cases, removal proceedings may be instituted against the conditional resident spouse whose status has already been terminated.

Things may not work out between the spouses before the expiration of the conditional status such that the spouses may have already been living separately. The law requires the both spouses must file (unless the US citizen spouse is deceased) the petition to remove the conditions on residence jointly, unless the following can be shown by the conditional resident spouse: (1) the conditional resident spouse entered the marriage in good faith but the marriage was terminated by divorce; or (2) the conditional resident spouse entered

the marriage in good faith but the conditional resident spouse was battered or subject to extreme cruelty by the US citizen spouse.

What then happens to a conditional resident spouse whose marriage has not yet been terminated by divorce and was not battered by the US citizen spouse?

Since the conditional resident spouse’s marriage has not yet been terminated by divorce, can the conditional resident spouse file the petition without the US citizen spouse signing the joint petition?

Based on a USCIS memorandum, USCIS will allow the conditional resident spouse to file the petition even without the submission of the required judgment showing that the marriage has been terminated. The USCIS will however later issue a Request for Evidence giving the conditional resident spouse around 87 days to submit the divorce decree.

Should the conditional resident spouse fail to submit the divorce decree

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TRACY, CA – The Pick and Pack Savings Event by William Lyon Homes features savings on quick move-in homes at Maplewood in Tracy for a limited time only. Buyers should visit soon to learn how they can pick their favorite way to save big on design studio credit, closing costs or additional appliances when they purchase a new single-family home at Maplewood. Residences include Homesite 13, with approximately 3,092 square feet, four bedrooms plus a bonus room and three baths. A spacious Residence Three design, this home also has more than $30,000 in builder-included upgrades. Visit www.LyonHomesMaplewood. com to learn more.

“This opportunity ends soon so buyers should act quickly,” said Kathy Floyd, Director of Sales for William Lyon Homes. “Stop by and find out how you can movein to your new home before the holidays.”

Additional neighborhoods participating in this event include Cielo at Palmilla in Brentwood, Oak Crest at Hidden Glen in Antioch and Victory at Vista Del Mar in Pittsburg. Learn more at www.lyonhomes.com/northerncalifornia.

Maplewood’s residences span approximately 2,878 to 3,324 square feet with four to six bedrooms, three to four baths and two-car attached garages. Prices start from the $500,000s and homeowners benefit from no Mello Roos and no HOA fees.

The Altamont Corridor Express ‘ACE’ Train is within walking distance and residents have easy access to the “H” Train commuter station, I-580, I-205 and I-5. Offering easy access to local schools, Maplewood is also

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across the street from a park with a tot-lot, playground and halfcourt basketball.

Throughout October 2015, brokers will receive a 4% referral fee per closing. Brokers must bring client on first visit to register for broker referral fee. Buyers cannot be registered online prior to first visit. Broker referral fee to be paid at the close of escrow.

It matters who your builder is and William Lyon Homes is a company built upon a legacy of pride and integrity. A team of visionaries who are passionate about homebuilding and committed to providing a high quality homebuying and homeownership experience, William Lyon Homes has earned a solid track record for outstanding construction and customer service since 1956. The company continues to expand its well-respected brand beyond California, Arizona and Nevada and into other market areas across the Western region with the acquisition of Polygon Northwest Homes, its newest division in Washington and Or-

Mind your…

• you have a special ability or super powers?

• your thinking is unusual or frightening?

Do you have difficulty concentrating, have less energy, are nervous or short tempered, are more sensitive to sounds or light, or have a strong desire to be left alone?

If you, or someone you love, can say yes to several of these questions, PREP may be the right answer.

The first step to recovery is

to call and set up a time to talk with an early psychosis therapist about what’s happening to you, or your loved one.

Referral line (650) 504-3374.

You can also take the PREP Screening Survey. It’s free and confidential. If the screening shows that it’s a good idea to seek help, the next step is to speak with a clinician who will talk to you about the symptoms you or your loved one are experiencing.

If after an assessment, treatment is recommended, you will

egon, and its Village Homes division in Colorado. William Lyon Homes’ shares are publicly traded on NYSE under the symbol WLH. For updated information and to learn more, visit www. lyonhomes.com.

To visit Maplewood, travel east on I-205, exit 11th Street and turn left at Crossroads Drive, then left on Solomon Lane. The Sales Gallery is on the right and is open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information, please call 209.221.8946 or visit www.LyonHomesMaplewood.com.

Prices, plans and product information subject to change. *All homes subject to prior sale.

Buyers must purchase between September 12, 2015 and October 31, 2015 and close escrow

by December 18, 2015 to qualify.

Homes that do not already have flooring are subject to added price if upgrade is selected by buyer. Prices and availability of homes subject to change without notice. See sales counselors for details.

CalBRE License #00982816.

(Advertising Supplement)

already be in the right place to start receiving treatment, and we are here to support you or someone you love through the entire process.

To learn more about San Mateo County’s new PREP program, visit www.prepwellness.org/san_ mateo.html.

PREP is located at 1108 South El Camino Real in San Mateo.

Psychosis is a treatable disease, and caught early, it’s possible to prevent or delay a disabling psychotic illness. The sooner you know what’s happening, the better chance you have to recover. n

Community Journal

(650) 616-4150 • http://www.asianjournal.com

Immigration Corner Atty. MichAel Gurfinkel, eSQ

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The November 2015 priority dates The Priority dates for the Philippines are as follows:

EACH month, the Visa Office of the State Department publishes, in the Visa Bulletin, the priority dates for that particular month, for the various family and employment based categories. A priority date is a person’s “place in line” for a visa, meaning immigrant visas (or green cards) would be available for persons whose priority date is earlier than the cut-off date listed below. If your priority date was “current,” but later retrogressed (or “moved backwards” and became unavailable) before your immigrant visa was issued (or before you adjusted status in the U.S.), you would have to wait until it becomes current again.

Beginning in October 2015, the format of the Visa Bulletin changed, in that a new column was added, called the “Application Filing Date.” If a person’s priority date is earlier than the Application Filing Date, they can already file for adjustment of status and work authorization (provided they are otherwise eligible), even though the Visa Issuance Date (which is the old “priority dates” from previous Visa Bulletins) is not yet current. This allows people to obtain work authorization much sooner than before, where they had to wait for the priority date to be current in order to both file for adjustment and be eligible for a green card. *** Michael J. Gurfinkel is licensed, and an active member of the State Bar of California

FAMILY CATEGORY:

Application Filing Date

Visa Issuance Date

September 1, 2005

June 1, 2002

First Preference

Unmarried sons and daughters of US citizens (over 21 years of age)

Second Preference

(2A) Spouse and minor children (below March 1, 2015 21 years old) of green card holder

May 15, 2014

(2B) Unmarried sons and daughters (21 years old or older) of green card holder

May 1, 2005

November 1, 2004

Third Preference

Married sons and daughters of US Citizens.

August 1, 1995

October 8, 1993

Fourth Preference

Brothers and sisters of US Citizens.

January 1, 1993

June 15, 1992

Visa Issuance Date

LABOR CERTIFICATION: Third Preference

Professional/ Skilled Workers

Other Workers

Non-Skilled Workers

and New York. All immigration services are provided by, or under the supervision of, an active member of the State Bar of California.

Each case is different. The information contained herein including testimonials, “Success Stories,” endorsements and reenactments) is of a general nature, and is not intended to apply to any particular case, and does not constitute a prediction, warranty, guarantee or legal advice regarding the

January 1, 2010

June 15, 2007

January 1, 2010

June 15, 2007

their random acts to the contest website found at www.aarp.org/ caregiverkindness. In March, AARP will select 12 winners who have made a meaningful difference in the lives of family caregivers. The winners will share a $10,000 prize.

24 Hours inside a caregiver’s world The October issue of AARP The Magazine is taking readers inside the hearts and homes of caregivers across the country.

Through pictures, videos and compelling stories, readers will learn about ordinary people caring for spouses, friends, children, and parents. Some of the families featured live with the people they care for and one caregiver has to board a plane frequently to care for her mom.

Overall, the face of caregiving is changing. While most caregivers are women, 40 percent of caregivers are men. Surprisingly, 1 in 4 caregivers is a Millennial (between the ages of 18 and 34) and 60 percent of caregivers provide care for an adult while working outside of the home, requiring them to balance caregiving and work responsibilities.

Virtual Family Caregiving Fair To help caregivers like the ones featured in AARP The Magazine, AARP is hosting a Virtual Family Caregiving Fair that will take place on Thursday, November 19, 2015 from 12pm – 4pm EST. From the comfort of a home or office, a caregiver can register and join the free fair online at aarp.org/familycarefair. During the virtual fair, a caregiver can tour the exhibit hall with over 15 booths showcasing various caregiving resources and programs, enter a “mix and mingle” lounge to connect with experts and other caregivers through online chats, visit a virtual auditorium to view scheduled and on-demand

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presentations and videos, and explore a library with additional resources for caregivers.

For more information about how AARP is supporting National Family Caregivers Month and for more caregiving resources, visit the AARP Caregiving Resource Center at http://www.aarp.org/ caregiving.

About AARP AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, with a membership of nearly 38 million, that helps people turn their goals and dreams into real possibilities, strengthens communities and fights for the issues that matter most to families such as healthcare, employment and income security, retirement planning, affordable utilities and protection from financial abuse. We advocate for individuals in the marketplace by selecting products and services of high quality and value to carry the AARP name as well as help our members obtain discounts on a wide range of products, travel, and services. A trusted source for lifestyle tips, news and educational information, AARP produces AARP The Magazine, the world’s largest circulation magazine; AARP Bulletin; www.aarp.org; AARP TV & Radio; AARP Books; and AARP en Español, a Spanish-language website addressing the interests and needs of Hispanics. AARP does not endorse candidates for public office or make contributions to political campaigns or candidates. The AARP Foundation is an affiliated charity that provides security, protection, and empowerment to older persons in need with support from thousands of volunteers, donors, and sponsors. AARP has staffed offices in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands. Learn more at www.aarp.org.

(Advertising Supplement)

2015 FPACC Bi-National Business Conference…

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tional topics of interest, highlightidea exchanges, networking, and ed by a formal evening gala event. memorandums of understand- FPACC’s biennial election of its ofing interwoven throughout the 2- ficers and board members will also 1/2 days’ activities. The program take place during the conference. opens with the “Women’s Entre- The Sunday morning session is preneurial Summit” on Friday, scheduled to showcase the memowhich also includes home-based randums of understanding among entrepreneurs, a trade show ex- the conference’s bi-national and hibit that is open to the public for domestic business stakeholders two days, and an evening welcome and present the incoming board of reception. The Saturday morning directors’ strategic plans. program is dedicated to US-based Monte Carlo Hotel & Casino is business and economic matters located at 3770 Las Vegas Boulewhile the afternoon session is fo- vard South, Las Vegas, Nevada. cused on Philippine and interna- Registration and hotel booking

information are found at http:// FPACC.net and http://fpachamber.com/FED_2015__Bi-National.html. Register online at http:// tinyurl.com/federation2015. As of press time, the “early bird” discounts for registration ends on August 30, 2015. Sponsorships, including media sponsorships, and advertising opportunities are also available at FEDERATION2015@FPACC.net.

For more information, contact Marie Cunning, FPACC President, at Marie.Cunning@FPACC. net or (602) 573-6936. n

Separated before conditional resident…

within the time period given by the USCIS, the petition to remove conditions on residence will be denied by the USCIS. The conditional resident spouse will however have another opportunity to present the divorce decree before an immigration judge should removal proceedings be instituted against the conditional resident spouse. If

the marriage between the conditional resident spouse and US citizen spouse can no longer be salvaged, the conditional spouse might have to file a divorce petition right away to have the conditional resident status removed in a timely manner.

***

Atty. Dennis E. Chua is a partner in The Law Firm of Chua Tinsay and Vega (CTV), a full service law firm with offices in San Francisco, San

Can son’s ‘secret marriage’ affect mother’s petition for him as ‘single?’

Get the answer to this question on ‘Citizen Pinoy: Your Tanong, My Sagot’

· SAN FRANCISCO · NEW YORK · PHILIPPINES

Show kindness to 40 million caregivers during National Family Caregivers month in November WASHINGTON, DC—November is National Family Caregivers Month and AARP is launching a national campaign to bring awareness to the important role that family caregivers play in the lives of their loved ones. AARP’s Random Acts of Kindness for Caregivers contest will begin on October 15 with the goal of encouraging people to recognize and reward caregivers – many of whom spend 18 hours per week providing care like bathing, dressing, preparing meals, administering medications, driving to doctor visits or paying bills – in small but meaningful ways.

“Caregiving may be one of the greatest expressions of love and it’s woven into the lives of one in six adults,” says AARP Family and Caregiving Expert Amy Goyer, author of the new book Juggling Life, Work and Caregiving.

“A staggering 40 million family caregivers provide support for loved ones and, as a caregiver myself, I know that the smallest acts of kindness – like holding a door for someone pushing a wheelchair, surprising them with flowers, or even taking a caregiver’s dog for a walk – can be memorable moments in the life of a caregiver.”

Kindness contest to help family caregivers More than half of caregivers say they feel overwhelmed by the amount of care their family member needs. Through the Random Acts of Kindness for Caregivers contest, AARP hopes that by encouraging people to show family caregivers small signs of support, it might encourage overwhelmed caregivers, free them up to have more time with loved ones they care for, or even give them personal time to relax and rejuvenate.

Those sharing simple acts of kindness are encouraged to submit stories and a photo of

CAN A LONELY WIFE STILL PETITION HER HUSBAND EVEN IF SHE IS UNEMPLOYED? THIS QUESTION AND MORE WILL BE ANSWERED THIS SUNDAY ON “CITIZEN PINOY!” Leading US immigration attorney Michael J. Gurfinkel replies to this question from Jovelle (left). Also, get answers to questions like: Can my mother have a second chance, after being banned from the US for 10 years for overstaying? Can my brother immigrate as “single” since he has been separated from his wife for over 25 years? Get the answers to these questions and more, on a brand new episode of the information-packed, award-winning public service program — “Citizen Pinoy,” this Sunday, October 18 at 6:15pm PST/EST (9:15pm EST thru select Cable/Satellite providers).

THIS Sunday, leading US immigration attorney Michael J. Gurfinoutcome of your legal matter. No attorney- kel continues to answer questions client relationship is, or shall be, established from Kapamilya, one-on-one and with any reader. face-to-face, at his Law Offices in WEBSITE: www.gurfinkel.com Glendale, California.

Call Toll free to schedule a consultation Can my mom qualify for a for anywhere in the US: “waiver” and re-enter the US af(866)—GURFINKEL ter she was banned for 10 years Four offices to serve you: LOS ANGELES for overstaying as a tourist?

AARP launches National Caregiving Awareness Campaign

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NORCAL ASIAN JOURNAL • OCTOBER 16-22, 2015

Diego and Manila. The information presented in this article is for general information only and is not, nor intended to be, formal legal advice nor the formation of an attorney-client relationship. Call or e-mail CTV for an inperson or phone consultation to discuss your particular situation and/or how their services may be retained at (415) 495-8088; (619) 955-6277; Dchua@ctvattys.com. The CTV Attorneys will be at Max’s Restaurant in Vallejo on October 19, 2009 from 5pm to 7pm to hold (Advertising Supplement) a FREE legal clinic.

If I petition my mother, can her 14-year-old adopted daughter be included in the petition?

Can a wife petition her husband even if she’s unemployed and not able to provide financial support?

Watch an all-new edition of your information-packed, awardwinning public service program

Calendar of Events across

on television – Citizen Pinoy: Your Tanong, My Sagot–on Sunday, October 18 at 6:15 pm PST/ EST (9:15 pm EST thru select Cable/Satellite providers).

Also, for latest immigration news and updates, please “like” and “share” our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/gurfinkellaw.

(Advertising Supplement)

America

ADVERTISE YOUR EVENTS! PRE-EVENT AND POST-EVENT GO DEEPER. GO WIDER. LET THE WORLD KNOW. CALL ASIAN JOURNAL: (818) 502-0651 DISPLAY AD SIZES AT SPECIAL RATES FOR NON-PROFIT GROUPS O C TO B E R 1 5 -1 8

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.

O C TO B E R 1 6 -1 8

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.

O C TO B E R 1 7

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!

FACCOC 21st Annual GALA Join the Filipino-American Chamber of Commerce of Orange County on Saturday, October 17th for an evening of casino games, recognition of local business owners, inspiring presentations, and entertainment at the 21st Annual GALA, “Monte Carlo Night,” at the Wyndham Hotel (12021 Harbor Blvd, Garden Grove, CA 92840). Registration and networking starts at 5pm. There will be cocktails and classic casino games such as blackjack, craps, roulette, and wheel of fortune available to guests from 5:30 to 7pm. Arrive early to take advantage of casino-style games and the photobooth (provided by OC fotobooth) before our main program and dinner starts. For RSVP tickets, sponsorships and vendor tables information, please visit www.faccoc.org.

O C TO B E R 1 8

FilAm Art Alive! Comes to San Diego FilAm Art Alive! is proud to announce the first annual San Diego event bringing together amazing local Filipino-American artists, entertainment, food vendors, and more surprises.

FilAm Art Alive! will be on Sunday, October 18, 2015 at Sushi On A Roll (1620 National Ave. San Diego, CA 92113) restaurant from 2-6pm. The Art Miles Murals Project in partnership with Philippine Art Miles is thrilled to join the festivities with the magnificent “Fishes of the Ocean” mural, a 250-foot section from the 6-mile longest mural visiting from the Philippines.

The mural is presented by On The Spot Artist Association, headed by Rolando De Leon of Quezon City. “Fishes Of The Ocean” is a part of UNESCO’s 70th Anniversary celebration. This FREE event will feature interactive art of various mediums, food vendors, live entertainment, folklore and dancing, and much more! For further information and questions about FilAm Art Alive!, please contact: filamartalive@gmail.com, or Laarni Thornton at 619.781.2727. Visit our Facebook for more details: www.facebook.com/FilAmArtAlive.

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

CJ

Community Journal

OCTOBER 16-22, 2015 • NORCAL ASIAN JOURNAL

Immigrant Living: 101 and Beyond Monette AdevA MAglAyA (Conclusion of 3 parts)

VIGAN has plenty of other points of interest to offer. Go see Chavit Singson’s “Baluarte” or “fortress” —it’s name emblazoned on a rise for all to see. As of this writing, Chavit has a collection of exotic animals which include about nine tigers and a lion, ostriches, deer, a yellow snake, ducks, a stable full of miniature horses and on the softer, gentler side, a butterly garden of over 500 varieties. It’s open to the public and there are still no entrance fees at this time.

All you need do is to tip the guides generously for the time and trouble it takes to bring you around. Be warned that not everyone is given the privilege of touring the innards of his private house. It’s a selective process and largely the luck of the draw.

The grapevine tells me that occasionally, the man who is seen frequently with Manny Pacquio, if he is in the mood, conducts the tour himself. I suppose that depending on the timing, the volume of the crowds and how you come across to the guide on the day you visit, you may be given the chance to explore Chavit’s Baluarte, which is appropriately named. It sits atop a strategic high point of Vigan real estate, that can give advance warning of the approach of enemies from the ground and air, in times of war while affording a magnificent nearly 180 degree view of the horizon where the sky and the South China Sea merge and meet seamlessly in deep shades of shimmering blue during quiet times.

Chavit’s older house sits on a bluff and can be accessed by stairs carved in stone from the reception area where Aries, our guide, gave us a comprehensive tour of Baluarte and its features. There’s a lot of thought that went into this house and it shows. Chavit Singson is the colorful, controversial self-proclaimed “Tiger of Ilocos” and two color photo cut-outs of Chavit cuddling with two of his pet tigers meant to greet visitors to his enclave make sure you remember that image of power, strength and wile clearly. You somehow wait and listen for the movie soundtrack of Rocky’s

EMPLOYMENT

Begone to Vigan!

Chavit’s ‘Baluarte’

‘Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.

So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor.

Catch the tradewinds in your sails.

Explore. Dream. Discover.’

— Mark Twain

“Eye of the Tiger” to play off the sound system dramatically to complete the presentation. There’s nothing of the sort though. For the moment, you forget the controversy he was embroiled in, the “Jueteng gate” that helped topple one Philippine presidency years ago as you explore his lair, or come to think of it, perhaps this is just one among others. After all, a really smart tiger in a jungle full of foes, must have two strongholds at least, one public and another one, far beyond probing eyes.

Baluarte was still a work in progress about 5 years ago. The concrete, multi-storied turretlike, round, glass-walled structure — a Viganesque version of the Tower of Babel under construction at the time, standing on its toes to kiss the skies, is now complete and is part of the attraction for curious tourists.

But the older house itself is interesting, holding insights to the owner’s personality, eccentricities, taste and preferences.

Its size is unimposing and its proportions just right using the principles of classic bilateral symmetry and wide open spaces. It’s glass walls allow as much light as it can take. The principles of feng shui is practiced here, or so it seems. It uses huge mahjong tiles as décor on its wrap-around glass walls while climate controlled air conditioning keeps the temperature just comfortable. A life size stuffed toy tiger sits draped atop the grand piano.

A multi-gallon aquarium of exotic fish blends unobtrusively, quietly with the surroundings while a stand of black-faced computers line one side. A stack of books on a side table by the sofa on a surprisingly wide range of classical subjects give an insight to the man’s intellectual pursuits. Or it can all be for show, depending on your persuasion and perception of the

man himself. The tiger is a wily creature after all that can size up its quarry with quick accuracy.

There is a sparkling pool, waterfall and a gazebo. The water supply and plumbing system must be top grade or all that green sweep of the land would turn to brown crud in the oppressive tropical heat, not to mention the stink that would reek from the animal droppings, if water were scarce. Everything is neat and clean and odor-free.

Credit the man for his intelligence and thorough planning.

Manicured, velvet green lawns and trim grounds on the basin below where well-fed animals are kept by a bevy of trained keepers, attendants and groundskeepers attest to that.

A chapel stands just before the approach to the house and grounds itself. You can’t help noting a rich man’s toy— a bright yellow 2-man submarine gathering dust like a fish out of water— splayed hopelessly just beside the cooped up South American alpaca probably wondering what the heck he is doing in Vigan instead of grazing an Andean mountainside. Ostriches strut about chasing a flock of ducks on the grounds.

A “tiger” such as this one with the financial clout and strong and loyal political base can always hold his own jostling and moving with the powers-that-be while surrounding himself with a coterie of armed bodyguards for self-preservation. It takes serious money to build, maintain and preserve a place such as Baluarte. To his credit, he shares the place for the public to enjoy as well. Altruism? Perhaps. Ego massage? You decide.

Begone to Vigan. With its old and new facets, it is well worth the trip. * **

http://www.asianjournal.com • (650) 616-4150

Diverse consumers overwhelmingly optimistic about financial future Wells Fargo survey affirms African American, Asian and Hispanic communities more hopeful about finances, managing credit than general population

SAN FRANCISCO – Diverse consumers feel optimistic about the current US economic outlook, according to the third “How American Buys and Borrows” survey by Wells Fargo & Company and Ipsos. Eighty-eight percent of diverse consumers surveyed report having a positive outlook compared to 79 percent of the general population - a seven percent increase from last year for diverse consumers. This is the second wave of data Wells Fargo has released as part of its annual support of the American Bankers Association’s Get Smart About Credit campaign.

When asked about personal finances, on average 60 percent of African American, Asian and Hispanic consumers said they expect their financial situation to be “somewhat” or “much” better a year from now, compared to 48 percent of the general population. The survey, fielded in June 2015, measured attitudes and behaviors about finances and managing credit of more than 1,000 African American, Asian and Hispanic consumers.

“Our vision of helping customers succeed financially means making sure our customers know where to go for the information and resources they need to take charge of their credit. That’s why we support

Get Smart About Credit month to ensure we’re highlighting the tools and resources they need to make informed credit choices,” said Shelley Freeman, head of Wells Fargo’s Consumer Credit Solutions group. “With optimism high, it’s especially important that we continue to offer our diverse customers access to the information and resources they need.”

Survey results – diverse communities more hopeful than general population When looking at diverse communities, the findings unveiled that, similar to the general population, diverse consumers believe that when used wisely, loans and credit can help individuals reach their financial goals. However, diverse communities vary in how proud they are about their own credit scores. Among the general population, 51 percent of consumers report feeling proud of their credit score, compared to 59 percent of Asians, 34 percent of African Americans and 48 percent of Hispanics who report the same.

Though diverse consumers are optimistic, their confidence levels are lower. Fifty-one percent of Asians, 46 percent of African Americans and 53 percent of Hispanics compared report feeling they may not know enough

about making good borrowing decisions compared to 58 percent of the general population.

10 Tips to get Smarter about credit Good credit helps with more than borrowing. It can factor into everything from renting an apartment and getting a cell phone, to landing a job. Lenders, landlords, utility providers, and employers can all review credit reports when making decisions.

Here are 10 tips to help manage credit: • Monitor your credit regularly • Know your credit limits • Know that good scores = good rates • Don’t make late payments • Know your debt-to-income ratio • Start with a college or secured credit card • Pay down highest interest rates first • Live within your means • Pay more than the minimum • Set up account and autopay alerts For more information about ways to establish or improve credit – or better manage debt – consumers can visit Wells Fargo’s Smarter Credit Center online at and our free financial education program, Hands on Banking.

(Advertising Supplement)

2015 South San Francisco Farmers’ Market open through Oct. 24

THE South San Francisco Farmers’ Market season opened last May 2nd at Orange Memorial Park and continues every Saturday from 10am – 2pm, until October 24. A variety of activities for all ages and interests are featured each Saturday.

This week at your Farmers’ Market, South San Francisco Parks and Recreation will have an informational table. Stop by the South San Francisco Farmers’ and enjoy some of the great produce and try some of Country Grill’s Rotisserie Chicken and more!! There will also be free CalFresh screening and enrollment this weekend.

Also check out the South Nota Bene: Monette Adeva Maglaya is San Francisco Farmers’ Market SVP of Asian Journal Publications, Inc. To video highlighting everything send comments, e-mail monette.maglaya@ the market has to offer on Youasianjournalinc.com Tube.

Lastly, don’t forget to Share Facebook video post for a free basket of strawberries on Facebook.

Additional information on special events throughout the season will be available on the City of South San Francisco’s website and on the Pacific Coast Farmers’ Market Association website. We hope to see Satur-

FOR SALE

PERSONAL

Former PVB employees 2016 Grand Reunion FORMER employees of Philippine Veterans Bank will hold their Grand Reunion on February 21, 2016 at the Marco Polo Hotel in Ortigas, Manila.

We are trying to reach out to all members residing all over the world to disseminate information about the upcoming event. For more details about the reunion,

PSYCHIC

FOSTER HOMECARE

day!

For more information on South San Francisco Farmers’ Market please visit the City’s Farmers’ Market facebook page or visit the South San Francisco City website.

Or Pacific Coast Farmer’s Market Associates at www.pcfma. com. You can also find PCFMA on Facebook. n

please contact the following members through their Facebook accounts: Southern California – Aurora Carillo Northern California – Angie Virola Philippines – Lourdes Barbero Ramos and Lyn Lagpitanghap We look to forward to see you all!

(650) 616-4150 • http://www.asianjournal.com

NORCAL ASIAN JOURNAL • OCTOBER 16-22, 2015

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OCTOBER 16-22, 2015 • NORCAL ASIAN JOURNAL

http://www.asianjournal.com • (650) 616-4150

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Friday, October 16, 2015

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The Asian Jour nal SF MAGAZINE - October 16, 2015

8th San FranciSco Fil-am Jazz FeStival

Celebrating the Fil-Am heritage in jazz music Honoring legendary jazz musician Lazaro “Lloyd” Pementil

by Malou liwanag-Bledsoe/AJPress

There’s a saying that goes, “Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything.”

I couldn’t agree more.

But with jazz music, something magical happens. It is a genre that is difficult to define, with its heavy use of improvisation, polyrhythms, syncopation and the swung note; with aspects of many other genres of music. When it touched parts of the world, it meshed with local cultures, giving rise to many distinctive styles.

In the United states, jazz has grown into different styles from New Orleans in the early 1910s, to the Kansas City jazz in the 1930s, Gypsy jazz, Bebop and Cool jazz in the 1940s, to free jazz to the 1950s. A lot more styles came out after those eras, and the genre grew into others like Latin jazz and Afro-Cuban jazz.

Through the years, jazz musicians who were put into the spotlight were notably African-Americans, like Louis Armstrong and JJ Johnson.

What the public didn’t know that Filipinos were playing it as well. here in Northern Califor-

Pementil with author Robert Danziger

Pementil (far left) with his band

Lazaro Lloyd Pementil

nia, the annual san Francisco Filipino-American Jazz Festival (sFFAJF) is on its eighth year, and the event lives in its mission of “presenting, preserv-

ing, celebrating contributions of Filipino-Americans and all artists to jazz, latin, jazz, blues, r&B, soul and world music.”

“Over the past eight years we have consistently presented world-class artists at the best venues in the sF/Bay Area... venues which have traditionally excluded our people of color due to racism or some other reason that has nothing to do with artistry and quality of the music they create,” wrote Myrna Zialcita, Founder and Director of sFFAJF. “By sheer necessity and by thinking ‘outside the box’ we have managed to open doors by executing ‘firsts’ in the genre.”

These firsts include presenting sFFAJF in 2008 as a nonprofit organization, as well as introducing Fil-Am artists at a Christmas program at Fort Mason’s Officer’s Club.

Another was the presentation of Afro Filipino King of Latin soul, Joe Bataan, who was publicly billed for the first time as an “Afro Filipino” artist during the 2011 sFFAJF in Yoshi’s in san Francisco.

“Pinoy jazz in the United states started in stockton -- a major railroad hub at the time -- that brought jazz musicians from across the country and

from LA and san Francisco,” said Carlos Zialcita, sFFAJF’s Founder and executive Director. “Pinoy musicians got a chance to see them and be inspired to play the music and join a profession that would take them away from working in the agricultural industry, even if only part time.”

Citing that Pinoy jazz scholars richie Quirino (son of former national historial, the late Carlos Quirino) and Theo Gonzalves both attested to stockton as its origin, he also noted that the “Pinoy Jazz Triangle” was san Francisco, Vallejo and stockton.

Celebrating the life and music of Fil-Am jazz artist Lazaro “Lloyd” Pementil This year’s celebration will highlight the life and music of Lazaro “Lloyld” Pementil, a Filipino who left the Philippines at the age of 17 to work in the sugarcane plantations in hawaii. From hawaii he came to the mainland, worked as a busboy and eventually settled in salinas as a field laborer. sFFAJF will honoring Pementil with a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award, which will be accepted by one of his daughters.

Continued on Page SF4

Celebrate the 8th Annual san Francisco Fil-Am Jazz Festival October 24, 6pm, I-Hotel Manilatown Center 868 Kearny Street, San Francisco

Performances by: Mon David recognized as one of the most respected singers in the Philippines, as well as a remarkable songwriter and musician. he was the drummer and vocal coach of the country’s most enduring pop icons – the Apo hiking society for seven years until he decided to pursue a solo career. In 2006, David won the London International Jazz Vocal Competition, besting 106 other contestants from 27 countries. he was soon signed by the UKbased Candid label to record My One and Only Love. Mon shares with the whole world his unique aristry and his philosophy that music that comes from the heart can indeed heal, build, inspire and unite.

Evelyn & Miguel Juteau Miguel is a music composer and guitarist of French-spanish descent, he started his musical career in France, performing in the pop, flamenco, and Latin jazz genres. After recording a couple of his own compositions in his early 20s, he moved to Granada, spain to study flamenco guitar. he later fell in love with Brazilian music, a passion he has nurtured ever since. Vocalist, composer, and arranger evelyn Juteau, started her singing career in her native Cebu, working with many leading jazz bands and performing with Miguel in Barcelona and Paris. In 1998, the couple exchanged marriage vows in France and started performing as a duo in Paris and later, in Manila in hotels. The following

Evelyn & Miguel Juteau

Mon David

year, Miguel and evelyn formed the Aquarela band, which means “watercolor” in Portuguese. The group quickly defined itself as the most genuine representative of Brazilian music in the local entertainment scene. In 2007 Miguel and evelyn, with Aquarela, released their first album, Bossa Nova Affair, distributed by Universal records. Changes is Aquarela’s second album featuring mostly original compositions from Miguel and evelyn. This highly talented and entertaining couple are now based in the san Francisco Bay Area and are looking forward to continuing their passion in music. They are the winner of the Best World Bossa Award at the 22nd AWIT Awards in 2009 for Usahay by Juanito Angos and were also nominated the same year for their original Tagalog composition, Boracay with lyrics by Mon David.

Tickets are at $40 (general) and $35 (seniors). For tickets: www.brownpapertickets.com and/or www.sFPinoyJazzFest. com.

features SF3 The Asian Jour nal SF MAGAZINE – October 16, 2015

Ms. Olivia Quido-Co: ‘Beauty’ in the Life of a Beauty Expert San FranciSco

By Monet

Lu

AS many would say, “Beauty comes in many forms.” From someone coming from the aesthetics department, I know this by heart. It is the very core of my project, “The Beautiful Life Celebration,”which celebrates the beauty in life. Whether it is through one’s beautiful career, passion and even womanhood.

Today, it is my honor to tell the story of our 2015 Beautiful Life Celebration’s Woman of the Year, Ms. Olivia Quido.

My earliest recollection of Olivia Quido-Co (most commonly known to her clients and friends as “Ms. O”) is when I met her in 2003 at a convention in LA. She was in her booth when I approached her and asked if I can feature her in one of my shows. She was still starting out as an esthetician.

Back then, she was just renting out a small space for her skincare business. Now, they have successfully branched out into two outlets, one in Cerritos and the other in Eagle Rock—talk about hard work and determination. Yet, aside from Ms. O’s impressive work ethics, she has passion and an

astounding faith that “can move mountains.” When she told me about her plans, I instantly believed with all my heart that this woman is going to make it.

I know when a person is dead serious and determined to fulfill her passion.

One important quality that stands out in Ms. O is her faith in Christ. She is a born-again Christian who lives out her faith and strives to “do the will of God.” She says that her life verses include: Malachi 3:10, “Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test… if I will not open the windows of heaven for

you…” Another one is Matthew 6:33, “But seek first the Kingdom of God… and all these things will be added to you.”

Olivia and her family goes to Shepherd of the Hills for Sunday Service. I love that I can always come to her for advice. She has the wisest words to calm my fears and worries. When I was going through a lot in my life, she was there for me. She is, for me, a living testimony of what a Woman of God is like.

Before her success in the skin care business she started out as a regular employee.

After finishing her course in Cosmetology (with focus on Continued on Page SF4

Myx TV GM Miguel Santos makes list of CableFax’s ‘Most Influential Minorities in Cable’

LOS ANGELES—For the second year in a row, Miguel Santos, general manager of Myx TV, the only Englishlanguage multicultural Asian American entertainment network in the US, has been named among CableFax The Magazine’s prestigious “The Most Influential Minorities in Cable”. Santos is the only executive from all Asian and Asian American networks operating in the United States who is included in the list.

CableFax: The Magazine is published four times a year, written with the same zest and vigor readers have come to expect from CableFAX Daily.

The Magazine serves to honor and recognize leaders and leading programs in the cable industry. Readers can see who the top performers are in the marketplace and keep up with the latest strategies and programs that drive revenue and keep the market moving forward.

According to the write-up: “Santos oversees the Asian American network’s (Myx TV) strategy, programming, production, marketing, ad sales and business development, with the goal of elevating the narratives of one of the most underrepresented minority groups in media. With Santos at the helm, the net launched on Time Warner Cable in southern California last November. He also upped the net’s digital offerings

and launched four new original programs. Santos defines diversity as ‘something beyond physical manifestation of race or gender - it’s about everything that makes us human such as our beliefs, personalities, and experiences.’”

Santos evolved Myx TV, a channel owned and operated

by ABS-CBN International - a subsidiary of the world’s largest Filipino multimedia conglomerate, ABS-CBN Corporation - from a linear, music-based channel into the award-winning, multi-platform entertainment network that it is today. To complement the cable channel, which is available through providers such as Comcast, Time Warner, Cox, Bright House and DIRECTV, Santos has expanded distribution to include the AVOD app on Roku, Samsung Smart TV and Blu Ray, Sony Bravia and Blu-Ray. With its diverse programming line-up, Myx TV has transitioned from its early start within the Asian-American youth community into a prolific, mainstream media brand. The network successfully launched several new original series, including the docu-series, “I’m Asian American and...;” the cooking competition, “Eat Your Words” and the costume-design competition, “Call to Cosplay.” New for the 2015 slate is the “I’m Asian American and…” spinoff, “The Doll Life” and original YouTube programming,

Miguel Santos, general manager of Myx TV

including: “Buddha Smash,” “Snaxxx” and “The Alternative.”

In addition to its unique blend of original content and domestic/international acquisitions, under Santos’ vision, Myx TV also produces concerts and music videos for independent music artists. Santos has helped the network become one of the first American cable networks to air Korean pop (K-Pop) music videos in the US. Santos has also lead Myx TV in various philanthropic endeavors, helping the network join the ranks of highly prestigious entertainment companies to become an official partner of Got Your 6, a nonprofit campaign working with Hollywood to empower veterans and foster understanding between military and civilian communities.

Philippines enters ‘Heneral Luna’ in Oscars

MANILA—Historical action biopic Heneral Luna has been officially selected as the Philippines’ entry to the 88th Academy Awards.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said Heneral Luna has completed all the requirements to qualify for the Oscar foreign film category.

Heneral Luna, which stars John Arcilla, tells the story of Antonio Luna, a patriotic general who led the Philippine Revolutionary Army during the

Philippine-American war.

The film opens with the hostilities between US colonizers and Filipinos and culminates in the brutal assassination of Luna on June 5, 1899 – an era in which Luna served as the supreme chief of the army under the first Philippine republic.

A total of 81 countries have submitted their official entries for the foreign language film Oscar race.

Paraguay is the only first timer, with its entry Cloudy Times by

director Arami Ullon.

Nominations for the 88th Academy Awards will be announced on Jan. 14 at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, and the hardware handed out Feb. 29 at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood.

Last year, Polish film Ida won the Oscar best foreign language film award. Among the notable entries for the 2016 foreign language Oscar are Spain’s Flowers, Sweden’s A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence, Poland’s 11 Minutes, Switzerland’s Iraqi Odyssey, Taiwan’s The Assassin, Uruguay’s A Moonless Night, Afghanistan’s Utopia, Canada’s Felix and Meira, Czech Republic’s Home Care, Colombia’s Embrace of the Serpent, China’s Go Away Mr. Tumor and Argentina’s The Clan.

The Academy picks nominees for the foreign language Oscar from submissions from individual countries, which can only put forward one candidate each year. (Philstar.com)

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celebrityworld

The Asian Jour nal SF MAGAZINE - October 16, 2015

celebrity world

By Ferdie Villar

THERE is no doubt that being in the entertainment industry has its advantages.

A star’s popularity makes him or her a household name, and name recall is one of the ways of winning an election.

A lot of artists have successfully ventured into politics like former President and now Manila Mayor Joseph “Erap” Estrada, Manila Vice Mayor Isko Moreno, Leyte Representative Lucy Torres-Gomez, former Senator Ramon Revilla Jr. and his son, Sen. Bong Revilla, and former Rizal Vice Governor Jestoni Alarcon to name a few.

Next year’s elections is no different as a number of stars have filed their Certificate of Candidacy (COC) last

Bangui, Ilocos Norte Mayor Diosdado I. Garvida will be the guest speaker during the 3rd year anniversary of the Sons & Daughters of Bangui International on October 24 to be held at Crowne Plaza Hotel in Burlingame.

Tuesday, October 13. Among them are: • Edu Manzano, running for senator, independent candidate - Aside from serving as Vice Mayor of Makati City from 1998 to 2001, the actor/ TV host also became the Optical Media Board Chairman (OMB) from 2004 to 2009.

• Ronnie Rickettes, running as representative of Muntinlupa, United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) - Action star Ronnie is also currently the OMB Chairman since 2009.

• Vandolph Quizon, for councilor in Paranaque - A newbie in politics, the son of the late Comedy King Dolphy and actress Alma Moreno said that he is ready to face this new step in his life.

• The former Viva Hot Babes member Andrea del Rosario, for vice mayor in Calatagan, Batangas.

• Actor and singer Lance Raymundo is running as councilor for San Juan City, along with former comedian Inday Garutay.

According to the Commission of Elections (COMELEC), the filing of COCs will be open until Friday, October 16, for those running in the 2016 elections, from President down to Local Government posts. We will see who else from showbiz will try to meet the deadline. *** Our heartfelt sympathy goes out to the family of singer, actress and comedi-

Showbiz personalities running in the 2016 Philippine elections

Actor/TV host Edu Manzano is one of the celebrities who filed their candidacy for next year’s Philippine elections. Edu, who also served as vice mayor in Makati City before, is running for senator.

Current Optical Media Board Chairman and action star Ronnie Ricketts is running as representative in Muntinlupa for next year’s elections.

Vandolph Quizon, son of the late Comedy King Dolphy with actress Alma Moreno, is running for councilor in Paranaque City.

Former beauty queen and fashion model Marilen Bernardo is now connected with pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson where she can utilize her molecular, cellular and developmental biology degree.

Asia’s Queen of Songs Pilita Corrales is shown with Antioch community leaders Mercedes Johnson, Vangie Perez and Angela Julao after her successful show held last Friday, October 9, at the Creative Arts Theatre in Pittsburg.

entered show business after winning a singing contest in the noontime show Student enne, Elizabeth Ramsey, who Thank you Jesus,” Jaya wrote. Canteen in 1958.

Ramsey’s last appearance passed away last October 8 at Born in December 3, 1931, was on ABS-CBN’s hit celebthe age of 83. Her daughter, Ramsey has been regarded rity competition, Your Face Soul Diva Jaya, confirmed her as the Philippines’ Queen Sounds Familiar on May 10. mother’s death in a Facebook of Rock and Roll, and the The total performer that she post.

Original Queen of Comedy, was, she delighted the audi“Mama Beth is now with with her trademark Visayan our Lord...83 years has been accent and raspy voice. She ence with her electric version full. Love and laughter, she has given not just our family but the whole nation.

Thank you for your love and prayers and I rejoice because From Page SF2 singing along with Gene Autry she passe[d] in her sleep. In whenever they heard him sing Pementil’s story is included peace. In God’s loving arms. on the radio.’” in the book and film, The Bye mama, until we meet In fact, Danziger wrote that Sounds of the Filipino American again. I love you forever.

Riley remembers her parents Experience - the Bradenburg loved singing along with Gene 300 Project written by Robert Autry -- one his biggest hits Danziger, which was shown at then was the song You Are the Filipino American ExperiMy Sunshine -- and how the ence exhibit at the National memory still gives her a warm Steinbeck Center in 2012. feeling just thinking about it.

Danziger writes about “Lloyd Pementil was a farm Pementil’s daughter, Mrs. worker who would work a Burnette Riley, during her talk 12-hour shift, then come back about her father. from the labor camp, take a “She (Riley) mentioned long shower, and come out that her father hired out as a wearing a three-piece suit, musician when he was not dofedora and two-tone shoes. ing labor in the fields around Salinas. The short-handed hoe He would gather the children was his instrument in the fields. and play music for them until Once home, he would play gui- bedtime. Then he would take his own beloved children and tar, violin, double bass, ukulele sing them to sleep, playing You or mandolin -- anything with strings on it. Lloyd and his wife Are My Sunshine.”

Adding that Pementil was Edna (Janke) Pementil ‘loved’ Singer/comedienne Elizabeth Ramsey, also known as the Philippines’ Queen of Rock and Roll, passed away last October 8 at the age of 83.

of Tina Turner’s Proud Mary.

“Ang inaasahan ko ngayong gabi ay ang bayad ko,” she jokingly quipped that sent the audience into laughter. “Biruin mo mag-guest ka pa eh 83 ka na. Pag 83 ka na humihingal ka na eh.”

In August, Ramsey was reportedly hospitalized after suffering from a stroke.

Celebrating the Fil-Am heritage...

Mila J. Claro from Sacramento and Gloria P. Sebastian from Honolulu, Hawaii are among the candidates for Mrs. Bangui International 2016 to be presented during the 3rd year anniversary of the Sons & Daughters of Bangui International on October 24 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Burlingame.

Maj. Gen. Tony Taguba calls attention to family caregiving during Filipino American History Month

AARP Community Ambassador (Ret.) Maj. Gen. Tony Taguba at the Filipino American History Month Celebration at the Asian Art Museum on October 4 in San Francisco.

AARP Community Ambassador (Ret.) Maj. Gen. Tony Taguba addresses the audience at the opening ceremony of the Filipino American History Month Celebration at the Asian Art Museum on October 4 in San Francisco.

The opening ceremony of the Filipino American History Month Celebration at the Asian Art Museum on October 4 in San Francisco. Photo credit by Jon Rendell

SAN FRANCISCO—AARP was proud to sponsor the Filipino American History Month Celebration last Sunday at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco for the second consecutive year. More than 2,800 attendees celebrated the Bay Area’s vibrant Filipino American community.

AARP Community Ambassador (Ret.) Major General Tony Taguba was the keynote speaker at the opening ceremony and called attention to the challenges of family caregiving.

After his elderly parents became ill, Gen. Taguba and his siblings were ill-prepared to care for them. Faced with tough decisions about their declining health and dwindling finances, they managed

self-taught, he and his fourpiece band learned songs by going to cafes and places with juke boxes, using their own money to feed the machines with nickels until they learned a particular song.

“He didn’t have the resources of an Albert Einstein, or the voice of Martin Luther King, but in doing everything you can to make this world a better place, he was every bit their equal,” Danziger wrote.

Pementil passed away in 2012 in Salinas at the age of 103. *Many thanks to Carlos Zialcita, Myrna Zialcita and Robert Danziger. **All photos of Lazaro “Lloyd” Pementil (cover and inside) courtesy of Mrs. Burnette Riley and Robert Danziger, Bradenburg 300 Project.

Ms. Olivia Quido-Co...

From Page SF3 skincare) she worked at a spa in to care for them the best Monterey Park. After realizing they could. To help others, that her meager income just Gen. Taguba became an won’t cut it, she decided to AARP Community Ambassaopen up her own business. She dor to advocate for caregivrented a small room inside Lody ers and their families.

Styling Center in Artesia. The “It’s a topic we don’t owner, Lody Garcia maybe saw openly discuss, but famwhat I see in Ms. O, that she ily caregiving is a national became one of the people who public health issue that afhelped Ms. O build her brand fects 44 million households and network. Lody stands as in the country,” said Gen. Ms. O’s second mom.

Taguba. “Families must have Right now, Ms. O owns the difficult, but necessary and operates O Skin Care+Spa conversation about the needs (Medical Spa). It is a complete of family members and start medical service facility that planning how to cope with specializes on a wide a range of day-to-day decisions required skin treatment, from facials to to care for loved ones.”

3D eyebrow sculpting and stem Visit aarp.org/caregiving to cell rejuvenation, among others. find resources, connect with She also has TV beauty segexperts and other caregivers, ment in “Adobo Nation” called, and get more information.

“Beauty by Ms. O.” It is fea*Advertising Supplement tured every Sunday at 6:45pm

through Kapamilya TFC. When I asked Olivia to talk about the beautiful life she lives, she said, “Everyday is a day to give thanks to the Lord for the beautiful life he has given me through the years. I have nothing else to ask Him because I honestly believe that He has blessed me with everything – and even more. I love being able to help others look beautiful, but most importantly, I love the opportunity to show God’s love and share His Word to my clients. As Matthew 4:19 says, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.’ – This is what I long to do for the rest of my life. A life of worship to God is for me is the most beautiful life anyone could live” Olivia is married to her equally talented husband, Jason Co, whom she considers an “engineer trapped in a financial

advisor’s body.” She says her husband handles and operates their spa machines. He is very supportive and a great father to their three beautiful children namely, Faith (6), Timothy (4), and twins, Toby and Julia, who are turning 1 this October 23.

To my friend who knows a lot about Beauty, thank you for showing us what real beauty is like. *** 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

The Asian Jour nal SF MAGAZINE - October 16, 2015

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