The Filipino Press: January 5-11, 2024

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PBBM declares Jan. 9 holiday in Manila for Traslacion

MANILA -- President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has declared January 9 as a special non-working day in the City of Manila given the Feast of the Black Nazarene.

Under Proclamation 434 inked

by Marcos on Thursday, Jan. 9 is declared a holiday to allow devotees to take part in the activities related to the Feast of the Black Nazarene.

“On 09 January 2024, Tuesday, the City of Manila will mark the celebration of the Feast of the Black Nazarene,” the proclamation read.

“It is but fitting and proper that the people of the City of Manila be given full opportunity to participate in the occasion and enjoy the celebration,” it added.

Organizers of the 2024 Feast of the Black Nazarene Traslacion (transfer) announced last December that the same route used during the 2020 grand procession would be followed.

The procession will start from the Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park and up to the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene or Quiapo Church along Quezon Boulevard.

It would mark the first time the Traslacion will return to its old format after the celebration was suspended from 2021 to 2023 because of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.

Last year, a “Walk of Faith” was held at the Quiapo Church without the Traslacion and lured 1.2 million devotees over two days.

PBBM wishes Filipinos Happy New Year, vows more infra in 2024

BLESSING OF BLACK NAZARENE REPLICAS. Devotees line up replicas of the Black Nazarene along Carriedo Street in Quiapo, Manila on Wednesday (Jan. 3, 2024) for the blessing of the images. The devotees came from various parts of Manila and neighboring provinces, such as Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna, and Cavite. (MNS photo) President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and the First Family greeted everyone a prosperous 2024 as he looked forward “to build better and more” this year, looking back at the significant milestones in 2023. “(A)s friends and family gather,

our family joins yours in welcoming a peaceful and prosperous New Year,” President Marcos said in his New Year’s message.

“We look back to the past year pleased with what we have done.

We look forward to the new year

Fighting Car Scams with the CARS Rule

By Selen Ozturk/EMS The risk of getting scammed when buying a car — the highest purchase many consumers make short of a house — can be as stressful as the risk of a pile-up commute.

The risk of getting scammed when buying a car — the highest purchase many consumers make short of a house — can be as stressful as the risk of a pile-up commute.

At a Friday, December 15 briefing hosted by Ethnic Media Services and the Federal Trade Commission, FTC officials explained how the agency’s Combating Auto Retail Scams (CARS) Rule, requiring transparency from car dealers, will protect buyers from auto scams.

What is CARS and who’s affected?

Malini Mithal, associate director of the FTC Division of Financial Practices said the CARS Rule,

announced by the FTC last week, combats two main scams that car buyers experience: bait-and-switch tactics, “where dealers advertise a low price to bring you to the lot, but after you spend hours there you learn that the car is way more expensive than what was advertised,” and junk fees, which are charges hidden by long, complicated auto contracts.

CARS — taking effect July 30, 2024 — will save car buyers facing these tactics an estimated $3.4 billion and 72 million hours a year, she explained. “The rule especially helps honest car dealers who will be able to compete on a level playing field; they won’t have to worry about losing business to a competitor pretending to have a lower price to lure consumers onto their lot, but then charging much more once the consumer gets there.”

The CARS Rule makes this happen four ways, Mithal continued: first, dealers can’t lie about key information See CAR SCAM on 9

with the pledge to build better and more. We have set high hopes for the days ahead and we know that these can only be achieved with hard work.”

President Marcos said the “hard-fought” gains of 2023 have

prepared the Filipino people and the country for whatever difficulties that 2024 brings.

The President said the administration has built 33 additional specialty centers, over 2,000 classrooms and seven

additional cold chain facilities.

President Marcos also stressed the administration was able to facilitate investments in renewable energy through the award of renewable energy contracts with a total potential capacity of around 121,000 megawatts.

He added the administration also completed eight water supply projects with 147 additional water projects being implemented for 2024.

The President also reiterated the administration’s commitment to ensure efficient and fast services to the Filipino people.

“We will continue to purge government of rules that slow the delivery of public services because when projects get delayed, progress is denied our people. And this commitment to efficiency and service will extend to documents and licenses because service delayed is also service denied,” Marcos said.

President Marcos also said the administration will continue providing assistance to all Filipinos through various government programs such as Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/ Displaced Workers (TUPAD), Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS), Medical Assistance for Indigent Patients (MAIP) and others that they can use not only as safety nets, but also as permanent solutions.

The President said these programs serve as government See PBBM on 12

Three Different Accidents in San Diego: Why Your Personal Injury Attorney Needs to be Able to Litigate SAN DIEGO, CA -- The attorney handling your injury claims can make all the difference as to the overall outcome of your case. Atty. Morris Chichyan is the founder of Chichyan Law APC, a law office dedicated to serving personal injury victims.

Atty.

Chichyan is licensed to practice law in the states of Nevada and California and has recovered millions of dollars for clients all throughout the state of California.

Atty. Chichyan handles claims in pre-litigation (before a lawsuit is filed) and in litigation (after a lawsuit is filed). Litigation is the process that takes place after a lawsuit is filed.

Litigation can include written discovery (questions and answers), depositions, examinations by the insurance company’s doctor or doctors, and other significant events in a case leading up to a trial.

Most cases resolve before any trial takes place. However, not all claims resolve for proper value before a lawsuit is filed, your attorney needs to be prepared to litigate a case and potentially take a case to trial. Generally, an injury victim can be entitled to past medical bills, the need for future medical care, past lost income, lost earning capacity (the ability to earn income in the future), and pain and suffering. Insurance companies are known to hold out on properly compensating a personal injury victim until they have a reason to do so. Here are three actual examples of cases that had to be litigated, before the insurance company properly compensated the injured party:

Atty. Morris Chichyan with one of his satisfied clients. (courtesy photo) (1) On January 15, 2023, a passenger was being driven home on the Interstate-805, after birthday celebrations, when another driver rear-ended them and forced them into the hilly freeway embankment.

Not only was that vehicle totaled, but the passenger also suffered injuries. That passenger sought immediate medical care and needed continuous care to recover from her injuries. In response to a prelitigation demand, the insurance company only offered $12,000.00 and refused to pay a dollar more.

This amount barely covered her medical bills and ignored how her life had been impacted as a result of being pushed off the 805 and into an embankment. This case had to be filed. After a lawsuit was formally filed, and litigation was initiated, the responsible insurance company paid $30,000.00, which was the applicable policy limit (the maximum amount available from

the insurance company). This case settled in June of 2023, only six months after the collision. Only after a lawsuit was filed, was the passenger able to walk away with a settlement for the maximum insurance amount available.

(2) On September 7, 2022, a driver came to complete stop on Rancho Penasquitos Boulevard in San Diego, California. He was suddenly, and forcefully, rearended by another driver. While the physical damage to his car was minimal, the impact was great. At the moment of impact, the driver suffered whiplash and required chiropractic, orthopedic, and neurological care. In response to a demand for the policy limits, the insurance company for the responsible driver offered $14,939 and argued that the impact was “minor.” The applicable policy See CHICHYAN on

7

2 • January 5, 2024 - January 11, 2024

Filipino Press

RESOLVE TO HAVE YOUR BEST YEAR YET!

By FRANCINE maigue

HAPPY NEW YEAR, MY PAMPERED FRIENDS! People love new beginnings, revel ing in the fact that we have all been blessed with another year to live, grow, enjoy, share, and discover so much more about this world and our place in it.

Some promises are hard to keep.

Such is the case with most New Year’s resolutions. How about resolving to take the pressure off oneself and simply commit to doing something each day to give one's life and the lives of those around an extra positive boost.

Each week for the coming month, I will share with you 73 ideas for easy-to-keep resolutions. 73 ideas x 5 weeks = 365 opportunities to make life that much sweeter each day for the coming year. Some activities may pan out to become regular habits.

Others may make just one day extra special.

You get to pick what you want to accomplish and when you want to accomplish it. Just one positive change a day can give you a welldeserved sense of fulfillment. After all, that’s what pampering yourself is all about!

I hope you display these lists and join me as I enjoy crossing off these simple resolutions one day at a time.

Cheers to 2024—our BEST YEAR YET! 1. Read books to children.

2. Have conversations with the elderly.

3. Send yourself a card.

4. Spend at least $5 less everyday (You’ll save almost $2,000 by the end of the year!)

5. Eat more fresh produce.

6. Find out the definition of a word, and use it in an email or conversation.

7. Take walks somewhere beautiful.

8. Clean out your “miscellaneous” drawer.

9. When asked, tactfully give someone your honest opinion.

10. Grow your own fresh herbs.

(Basil is particularly rewarding.)

11. Get up one hour earlier.

12. Enjoy a candlelit dinner.

13. Backup your computer files onto an external hard drive.

14. Compliment (not criticize) others.

15. Shred junk mail as soon as you’ve read it.

16. Give a gift that you made yourself.

17. Chat with your pastor/priest.

18. Be the first to volunteer for something, and follow through.

19. Take the stairs instead of the elevator.

20. Frame photos of special people, places, and moments.

21. Write thank you cards.

22. Host or attend a reunion.

23. Donate things that do not fit.

24. Let yourself cry… then pick yourself up again.

25. Finish something early.

26. Scan important documents.

27. Pray or mediate when you wake and before you sleep.

28. Visit a farmer’s market.

29. Make something you can wear.

30. Call someone instead of texting them.

31. Swap a soap opera or reality TV show for a quality news program.

32. Enjoy a family tradition.

33. Update your resume.

34. Leave encouraging post-it notes for people.

35. Cook a busy person dinner.

36. Daydream.

37. Complete simple exercises like lunges or leg lifts whenever you have to wait for something.

38. Forgive yourself more easily.

39. Pay off and cut up one credit card.

40. Sell something on eBay. 41. Offer to babysit.

42. Write a handwritten letter.

43. Ask someone how their day was…and really listen when they respond.

44. Put items that are crowding your garage or guest room in storage.

45. Buy fresh flowers.

46. Learn a joke, and

tell it to someone.

47. Vacuum your car.

48. Recycle both paper and plastic.

49. Make and pass out sandwiches to folks on the street.

50. Read an autobiography.

51. Take a class on ANYTHING. 52. Watch a live show or concert.

53. Write your will.

54. Find out what your name means.

55. Invite friends over to play board games.

56. Visit a museum.

57. Take on a leadership role.

58. Hold someone’s hand.

59. Respond to/file/delete emails as soon as you receive them.

60. Sing in the shower.

61. Enjoy a spontaneous (and yet safe) adventure.

62. Repair, donate, or toss an old pair of shoes before buying a new pair.

63. Throw away petty receipts.

64. Smile at a stranger.

65. Keep a family video diary.

66. Learn and attempt a family recipe.

67. Wait five minutes before helping yourself to second servings of food.

(You probably won’t want “seconds” by then…)

68. Educate yourself on candidates & policies, and VOTE. 69. Indulge in a local STAYcation.

70. Listen to classical music.

71. While brushing your teeth, think of something you like about yourself.

72. Agree to disagree with someone.

73. Ask the right people for help when you feel overwhelmed.

Resolutions are all about building better habits that positively affect our quality of life. Let’s be disciplined but also patient with ourselves, my pampered friends. What value does our life’s work hold if we don’t stop to enjoy simple pleasures from time to time?

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Filipino Press

Recycle Your Christmas Tree into the Landscape

By Melinda Myers Don’t drag that Christmas tree to the curb to be hauled away by the trash collectors. Give it a second, even third life, in your landscape. No live Christmas tree? Don’t worry.

I’m sure your friends and neighbors will share theirs.

Move your locally grown Christmas tree outdoors after the holidays. Avoid trees imported from other states that may host invasive insects that can infest your landscape and nearby Christmas tree farms. Your local municipality or Department of Natural Resources has more information on any threats and disposal recommendations for your area.

Use your cut Christmas tree to protect evergreens in your landscape from winter winds and sun. They make excellent windbreaks while shading sensitive plants in your landscape. Strategically place your discarded tree on the windward side of rhododendron, boxwood, and

other broadleaf evergreens to reduce problems with winter burn. Place it on the south side of these plants to shade them from the drying winter sun.

Or remove the branches and use them as winter mulch over bulbs and perennials. Layer the boughs over the plants and soil to keep the soil

consistently cold. This reduces the risk of early sprouting and winter damage that can occur during winter thaws.

Or set the tree in the landscape for a bit of added greenery. Secure it in a snow pile or use stakes and guy wires in milder climates where the soil is not frozen. The birds will

ift. y!

G ect Toda f r e s A P icket tT Ge

Experience the Mystique and Beauty of China Before Communism “Exquisitely beautiful. An extraordinary experience for us and the children.”

—Cate Blanchett, Academy Award-winning Actress

“ I’ve reviewed about 4,000 shows.

None can compare to what I saw tonight.”

—Richard Connema, Broadway critic

“Magnificent. Very enlightening, absolutely beautiful. I highly recommend it to anyone.”

—Tony Robbins, world-renowned author & speaker

THROUGHOUT HISTORY, artists looked to the divine for inspiration. Art was meant to uplift, bringing joy to those who created and experienced it. Shen Yun Performing Arts, a nonprofit organization based in New York, pays homage to this tradition, weaving the wisdom and virtues of Chinese civilization onto the stage, revealing a China untainted by communist rule. Shen Yun cannot be seen in China today.

Shen Yun means “the beauty of divine beings dancing.” Be prepared to traverse time and space and be mesmerized by the action, humor, and beauty of five millennia.

It’s an experience that will uplift your spirit and touch your heart.

SEE IT AT LEAST ONCE IN YOUR LIFETIME! JAN 16–18 (Tue-Thu)

JAN 19–21 (Fri-Sun)

1/16 Tue 7:30pm, 1/17 Wed 7:30pm, 1/18 Thu 2pm

1/19 Fri 7:30pm, 1/20 Sat 2pm & 7:30pm, 1/21 Sun 2pm

California Center for the Arts, Escondido

San Diego Civic Theatre

A Perfect Holiday Gift! Get Tickets Today at Shen Yun’s Official Site ShenYun.com/SD or call 1.888.973.7469 Ticket Price $85–$205. Group tickets available.

enjoy the added shelter and you will enjoy watching these visitors to your landscape.

Then consider adding a bit of food for your feathered visitors.

Decorate the trees with fruits, berries, and seeds the birds can enjoy. Stringing cranberries and popcorn is a fun family activity and makes an attractive outdoor garland.

Slices of oranges on colorful yarn and homemade bird ornaments can complete the adornments.

Sweep up the fallen needles that were under your tree indoors and use them as mulch in the garden. Place them directly on the soil or atop the snow. As the snow melts, the needles will be right where they belong. And don’t worry, they will not make the soil too acidic. In fact, as they break down, they add organic matter to the soil.

As spring arrives, consider chipping and shredding your tree into mulch for trees and shrubs or pathways in the landscape. No chipper? You and your neighbors may want to rent a chipper to shred these and other prunings for use as mulch in your landscapes.

And, if this is not possible, check for recycling resources in your community. Many municipalities have special pickups for Christmas trees. These are chipped, shredded, and made available for citizens to use in their landscapes.

January 5, 2024 - January 11, 2024 • 3 Lake communities often sink the discarded trees to the bottom of lakes and ponds to provide habitat for the fish. Another great way to give your tree a second life.

And once you discover the value of this free resource you may find yourself collecting a few more from the neighborhood. However, your family may ask that you wait until dark to drag your evergreen treasures back home.

Melinda Myers has written more than 20 gardening books, including the recently released Midwest Gardener’s Handbook, 2nd Edition and Small Space Gardening. She hosts The Great Courses “How to Grow Anything” instant video and DVD series and the nationally

syndicated Melinda’s Garden Moment radio program. Myers is a columnist and contributing editor for Birds & Blooms magazine. Myers’ website is www.MelindaMyers.com.

4 • January 5, 2024 - January 11, 2024

Filipino Press

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DBM: 2024 budget’s unprogrammed funds just ‘standby appropriations’ MANILA -- The unprogrammed funds in the PHP5.768-trillion national budget for 2024 are merely “standby funds,” the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said on Wednesday.

“We write to shed light on concerns regarding the unprogrammed appropriations of the fiscal year (FY) 2024 national budget,” the DBM said.

“Allow us to emphasize that unprogrammed appropriations are standby appropriations, outside the approved government fiscal program, which serve as an important tool for the government to address unforeseen expenditures and prioritize essential programs and projects,” it added.

The statement was issued after Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III bared his plan to file a petition before the Supreme Court to address the alleged “unconstitutional” PHP450 billion increase in unprogrammed funds under the 2024 national budget.

Pimentel questioned the Congress’ move to hike the unprogrammed funds under the 2024 budget from the proposed PHP281.9 billion to PHP731.4 billion after the bicameral conference.

The DBM said the unprogrammed funds are not included in next year’s budget “by appropriation source," given that these are “standby appropriations that are also proposed for legislation and to be authorized by Congress."

“Unprogrammed appropriations of the FY (fiscal year) 2024 budget are not automatically allocated, and can only be released if several funding conditions are met, such as when the government, through the Bureau of Treasury, is able to collect excess revenue in the total tax revenues or any of the identified non-tax revenue sources from its revenue target, or new revenue from new tax or non-tax sources, or should foreign or approved financial loans/grants proceeds are realized,” it said.

“Should there be new or excess revenues that may trigger the availability of the unprogrammed funds, government agencies are required to submit the necessary documentary requirements before access to the standby funds is given. Such conditions ensure that spending stays within allowable limits,” the DBM added.

The DBM also noted that pursuant to the constitutional provision under Section 29 (1), Article VI, "No money shall be paid out of the Treasury except in pursuance of an appropriation made by law."

“It is therefore clear that the deliberation and approval of the limits of any appropriations is within the purview of the legislature.

Rest assured that regardless of any petition or challenge, the DBM shall work within our approved fiscal program,” it said.

In December last year, DBM Secretary Amenah Pangandaman clarified that the unprogrammed funds are distinct from the approved fiscal program and have built-in safeguards to prevent unconstitutional spending.

Pangandaman also stressed that the unprogrammed funds for 2024 would help the government address unforeseen expenditures

and prioritize essential programs and projects.

DBM releases P550M for expansion of NKTI’s outpatient facility The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has released around PHP550 million for the expansion of the outpatient services of the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI).

In a statement Wednesday, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman has approved the issuance of Special Allotment Release Orders (SAROs) amounting to PHPP550 million to cover the funding requirements for the NKTI’s Out-Patient Department (OPD) Building.

“The funds will be used for the construction and expansion of NKTI’s OPD Building, which is designed to be a one-stop shop for the hospital’s social services, including diagnostic and surgical facilities,” she said.

“Specializing in the treatment and prevention of kidney and allied diseases, the NKTI amplifies its capabilities through the construction of the proposed 8-storey OPD Building,” she added.

The facility will provide areas for the expansion of the hospital’s outpatient services with a total cost of PHP1.331 billion.

Pangandaman said the release of funds is part of the Marcos administration’s commitment to improve the country’s healthcare facilities.

“Ang palagi pong sinasabi ng ating mahal na Pangulong Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. (President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. always says), no Filipino should be deprived of quality health care. That’s why we continuously give high regard to our health care facilities, more importantly, our specialty hospitals like NKTI,” she said.

The NKTI is the center for the referral of kidney patients from various regional hospitals in the country and is recognized as the lead agency in voluntary blood services. In its 33-year existence and operations, the Institute’s medical achievements and milestones are comparable to any specialty hospital in the world.

The NKTI, formerly known as the National Kidney Foundation of the Philippines (NKFP), serves as the center for referral of kidney patients from various regional hospitals in the country and is recognized as the lead agency in voluntary blood services.

Located along East Avenue in Quezon City, the NKTI is a twostory structure with three buildings (Main, Annex and Dialysis Center) connected.

The Main Building houses most of the Cost Centers and the Administrative offices, while the Annex Building encloses the recently opened Marcos Wing and the Radiology Department, Center for Special Services and the Emergency Department.

The Out-Patient Department, Hemodialysis and CAPD centers, HOPE office, Medical Records office and the clinics of all its Medical Specialists can be found in the Dialysis Center.

OTC: Livelihood, upskilling programs available for drivers affected by PUVMP consolidation deadline

The government will provide livelihood and skills development programs for public utility vehicles (PUV) drivers, whose operators will not consolidate individual franchises under cooperatives or corporations, an official of the Office of Transportation Cooperatives (OTC) assured on Wednesday.

OTC chairman Jesus Ferdinand “Andy” Ortega said government agencies including the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) have their respective allotted fund for such programs.

“Mayroon pong pondong pumasok sa DOLE at saka sa TESDA po kasi ‘yung mga affected po, hindi na sumama either operator, drivers or even ‘yung mga parte ng negosyo ng transportasyon, pwede po silang mag-avail sa DOLE wherein they will be given a certain amount.

Parang puhunan po in terms of goods to do other businesses,” Ortega said in an interview.

“Sa TESDA naman po, pwede silang mag-enroll ng certain courses para sila to have another kind of profession. There are help from DOLE and TESDA sa mga affected po,” he added.

Ortega also said the government will continue to find solutions for those drivers who wish to join other operators who participated in the mandatory franchise consolidation.

“Ang ating objective po ngayon is mabigyan, tumuloy yung trabaho ng mga jeepney drivers from their previous operators na hindi na po nag-consolidate, para lumipat sila.

Tuloy ang trabaho pero this time, iba na po ‘yun. Sila ay magiging miyembro ng cooperative para mabigyan po sila ng trabaho,” he said.

The required franchise consolidation is one of the components in the government’s PUV modernization program (PUVMP) which lapsed on December 31, 2023.

Unconsolidated commuter jeepneys are still allowed to operate on selected routes until January 21, 2024.

Jeepney operators who fail to consolidate will be given due process, says OTC exec Jeepney operators who failed to consolidate in December last year will be given due process, according to an official of the Office of Transport Cooperative (OTC) of the Department of Transportation (DOTr).

“Yung ginagawa po ngayon, ‘yung pagpapasada ng mga drivers, ng mga operators na hindi nagconsolidate–this is a process po dahil bibigyan po (ng) due process po ‘yung ating mga kasamahan,” OTC chairman Jesus Ortega said in an interview.

Ortega said that the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) will release a memorandum that would identify which routes with certain jeepney consolidation rate will continue its operations.

He added that those who operate in routes with less than 60 percent consolidation will still be allowed to ply their routes.

“Dahil ‘pag lumabas na po See DBM on

6

BACK TO SCHOOL. Parents and guardians help learners of the Elementary School cross the Batasan Road in Quezon City on Wednesday (Jan. 3, 2024). The students trooped back to school after emerging from their Christmas and New Year's holiday break. (MNS photo)

WINGED FRIENDS. A toddler admires chicks and birds of different colors being sold near Rizal Park in Manila on Monday (Jan. 1, 2023). Thousands of families greeted 2024 by staying overnight in the park. (MNS photo)

CHED directs SUCs, LUCs to handle K-12 transition program MANILA -- The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) on Wednesday called on board members of public universities and colleges to discuss issues concerning the transition of senior high school students currently enrolled in their institutions.

This was after the CHED confirmed the discontinuation of the senior high school program in state universities and colleges (SUCs), and local universities and colleges (LUCs) nationwide.

In a Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon interview, CHED chairperson J. Prospero de Vera III said the Commission is not mandated to decide on the admission policies of SUCs and LUCs. “Under Republic Act 8292 – admission, retention, graduation of students is the exclusive jurisdiction of the board of regents of individual state universities and colleges. So, itong isyung ito ay isyu na dapat pag-usapan ng kanilang board (So, this issue is an issue which must be discussed by the board),” he said.

The CHED, through the commission en banc, can only take action when the SUCs and LUCs encounter problems and they decide to request help from the Commission, he added.

“But we cannot do that now because the board of regents of state universities have not discussed the matter, at least itong mga mayroong pang-senior high (those that still offer senior high [program]),” de Vera said.

“It has to be acted upon first by the board of regents, and if there is a concern, then that is the time that we will bring it to the attention of the Department of Education (DepEd),” he added.

He noted senior high school classes had already closed two to three years ago in state universities.

Meanwhile, SUCs and LUCs with current Grade 11 and 12 students were advised to allow the students to complete the program.

Admission of new or incoming Grade 11 students is the main concern regarding the transition, said de Vera.

When the K-12 Law was passed in 2016, the lack of qualified teachers and rooms for senior high students were the main problems in basic education while public universities had extra classrooms and teachers since there were no incoming freshman students.

The CHED and the DepEd had an agreement that public universities could offer senior high school programs during the transition period and the students paid through the voucher program.

Since the transition period is over, there is no longer a legal basis for the agreement between the CHED and the DepEd. Only public universities offering teacher education degrees with a laboratory school can continue to offer the senior high school program.

“Ito’y ngayon lang namin talaga tinutukan dahil bagama’t natapos na ang K-12 transition program noong 2021, panahon ito ng Covid kaya hindi tinutukang maigi ito dahil nagta-transition tayo papunta sa new normal (We’re focusing on this just now even though the K-12 transition program already ended in 2021, it was the coronavirus disease 2019 season and we were still transitioning then to new normal),” de Vera said.

Meanwhile, the DepEd is confident that all SHS learners who

will leave SUCs and LUCs will be accommodated by basic education institutions.

This, after the Commission on Higher Education confirmed its decision to discontinue SHS programs among SUCs and LUCs. DepEd spokesperson Undersecretary Michael Poa told reporters in a Viber message on Wednesday that based on their database, around 17,700 Grade 11 learners, who are non-voucher recipients, are enrolled in SUCs and LUCs across the country this school year. "Nonetheless, based on the reports of our Regional Directors, our public schools will be able to accommodate those that may be displaced. May mga regions rin po na wala ng SHS learners sa mga (There are also regions which have no more SHS learners in) SUCs and LUCs so no one will be displaced in these regions," Poa said.

He also assured that no SHS Voucher Program recipient will be affected by the order, considering that for the current school year 2023-2024, there are no more Grade 11 Voucher recipients in SUCs and LUCs. "The voucher application system no longer accepted Grade 11 applicants in schools tagged as SUCs and LUCs. However, nagbigay pa rin po tayo ng vouchers sa Grade 12 learners in SUCs and LUCs para po makatapos sila (we still give vouchers for Grade 12 learners in SUCs and LUCs so they can finish)," he said.

Poa noted that those who will be displaced can either enroll in public schools or "if they would prefer to do so, they may also enroll in private schools and avail of the voucher program."

Senators agree with CHED ordering SUCs and LUCs to stop their senior high school programs.

In a Zoom interview on Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III said that given that a sufficient amount of time already passed for the transition to K-12 program, it is just right that SUCs and LUCs should cease accepting SHS students.

"Ang mandato kasi ng SUCs natin and the LUCs would be higher education na - post senior high. In the first place, kaya sila nagkaroon ng ganyang programa para walang maapektohan nung transition natin sa K-12 (The mandate of our SUCs and LUCs would be already higher education -- post senior high. In the first place, they had the progam so no one will be affected by our transition to K-12)," Pimentel told reporters.

In an earlier statement, Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva pointed out that the move to discontinue the offering SHS programs in SUCs and LUCs is in line with the mandate of our Higher Education Institutions (HEIs).

"While they were allowed to provide SHS during the transition period, we agree that it is not the role of HEIs to offer basic education, except for those with laboratory schools," Villanueva said in a statement.

However, both senators called out the DepEd to make sure that the order would not cause difficulties among SHS learners. (MNS) BFAR to provide diversification of livelihood for fisherfolk in 2024 The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) is set to provide fisherfolk with different sources of livelihood this year as the

implementation of the Philippine Fisheries and Coastal Resiliency Project is in full swing.

The project, which cost PHP11 billion, was approved and launched last year. It was approved by the Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank on May 30, 2023.

“Magpapatayo po tayo ng mga infrastructures katulad ng mga cold storage facilities and, of course, iyong mga may climate resilient technology (We will build infrastructures like cold storage facilities and, of course, those with climate resilient technology),” BFAR Fisherfolk Coordination Unit Head Nazario Briguera said in a Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon interview on Wednesday.

“Pakikinabangan po ito ng mahigit sa isang milyon na mga mangingisda sa (this will be beneficial to more than one million fisherfolks in) 24 provinces and 11 regions.”

Briguerra added that BFAR is centered on the Fisheries Life Development Project which is divided into capture fisheries, aquaculture, and post-harvest.

For capture fisheries, he reported that the national government was able to provide modern equipment — 22 units of 62-footer fishing boats — for municipal fisherfolk last year.

“Ang isang unit po nito ay puwedeng sumakay ang 30 na fisherfolk, na mga municipal fisherfolk. So, ang layunin po natin ay mas mabigyan natin ng kakayahan ang ating mga maliliit na mangingisda na makapalaot sa mas malayo at mas makahuli ng mas maraming isda,” he said. Meantime, the country’s aquaculture is focused on the provision of food security, Briguerra said, even as he reported that 293 million fingerlings were produced last year.

This shows the increased sufficiency level of sperms or fingerlings for fish farmers which results in continued fisheries production, he said.

Last year, 22 fully operational, community-based hatcheries were built.

These facilities provide fish farmers enough access to fingerlings for bigger opportunities to increase fisheries production.

Currently, there are two million registered fisherfolks in the country.

On the average, a municipal fisherfolk earns PHP10,000 to PHP15,000 per month.

Briguera said this monthly income is subject to change depending on the season and situation of the seas.

MRT-3 served around 357K passengers a day in 2023 -- DOTr The Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) saw a record number of more than 129 million riders in 2023, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) said Wednesday.

In a statement, the DOTr said the MRT-3 had 129,030,158 passengers in 2023.

This is up by 30 percent from the 98,330,683 riders it had in 2022.

Average daily ridership also went up to 357,198 from the previous year’s 273,141.

The MRT registered the highest single-day ridership on August 22, with a total of 450,298 passengers.

August also the highest number of passengers at 11,618,005.

The DOTr also said 220,706 passengers benefitted from MRT-3's free ride programs in 2023.

The minimum MRT fare is expected go up to around P16 from P13 in the first quarter of 2024. (MNS)

www.thefilipinopress.com

Filipino Press

January 5, 2024 - January 11, 2024 • 5

SHAPING A MASTERPIECE: THESE DAYS ARE EXTRAORDINARY TIMES BUT I SAY THAT THE AMERICAN DREAM IS VERY MUCH ALIVE AND WELL AS WE WELCOME NEW YEAR 2024 INTO THE FOLD “Everything can be taken from a man but…the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”

- Victor Emil Frankl, 1905 -1997 Austrian psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor SAN DIEGO, CA -- Happy New Year Everyone!

Words of wisdom and inspiration to remember from Peyton Conway March - a U.S. Army officer, who as Chief of Staff reorganized and streamlined the War Department in order that the United States could make an important contribution to the Allied military effort in World War I – and to start off the new year: “There is a wonderful mythical law of nature that the three things we crave most in life – happiness, freedom, and peace of mind – are always attained by giving them to someone else.”

And here’s a question to contemplate for 2024: If you have the freedom to do anything, learn everything, live anywhere, and love anyone, what excuse could you possibly have to be unhappy with your life?

Good jobs are disappearing.

Incomes are plummeting.

Inequality is rampant. Health is deteriorating, and our quality-oflife pales in comparison to the good old days. Or so we’re told.

But the fact is, the American free-enterprise system continues to deliver prosperity, equality, and an improved standard of living across virtually all segments of the population. As American writer Samuel Langhorne Clemens better known by the pen name Mark Twain once said, “It isn’t what we don’t know that kills us, it’s everything we know that ain’t so.”

Some would like us to believe that the American Dream has turned into a nightmare and the best opportunities are behind us.

But few people realize that many of these depressing reports are selected with only one goal in mind: to produce headlines. The media ignore an overwhelming mountain of facts proving that in many ways life in the United States is good and getting better.

Distorted and ill-informed views of reality fed to us by the media can significantly alter our decisions about how we direct our lives.

When we allow negative bias from some of the news media to distort our perception of reality, we trade our rose-tinted glasses for dark eye patches, which block our ability to see the abundance and opportunities available to us. And when we fail

to appreciate the gifts we have, we typically be unsuccessful to put them to good use.

I would like to dispel the myth that the quality of life in the United States is deteriorating. I say that across virtually every major segment of America, living standards have never been better.

Freedom is foremost!

In even the most remote corners of the globe, if one hears the phrase, “The Land of Opportunity,” only one of the world’s 192 countries comes to mind: the United States of America. It’s one of the few nations where freedom and opportunity are largely blind to race, gender, bloodline, social status, and circumstance – and where the only limitation on a person’s ability to succeed is his or her capacity to dream and cultivate the courage to set out after those airy hopes.

It is important not to overlook the fact that most of us did not earn our freedom. Liberty is our birthright, a gift from our forefathers for which a tremendous price was paid. Since the founding of this country, nearly 1.2 million men and women have sacrificed their lives in wars so that we might have the right to live as we wish and opportunity to make something special with our lives.

Looking at America in a global context gives us even more perspective on just how fortunate we truly are. According to political scientist R.J. Rummel of the University of Hawaii, wars worldwide during the twentieth century cost about 38 million lives, while government-sponsored persecutions took another 170 million. From our school days we may remember stories of the Holocaust, Stalinist purges, Mao’s murderous rampage, or Cambodia’s killing fields. But we never really stop to think that the innocent people killed during those tragic times were no more deserving to die than we are to live.

Their only misfortune was being born in a land where dictatorship ruled, and our only advantage was being born in a land where freedom reigns.

After observing the fruits of a free, democratic, capitalistic system, the rest of the world is finally starting to catch on. As a result of American leadership in protecting the rights of innocent civilians against Nazism, communism, and fascism, more than 60 percent of the world’s population today is beginning to enjoy the fruits of democracy.

Anyone doubting the allure of America need only look at the numbers. In just the past one

Jesse T. Reyes

Filipino Potpourri

hundred years the United States has welcome close to fifty million immigrants. That’s fifty million people who left behind their families, their friends, and their possessions to seek a better life.

What could be more telling than the fact that people risk their lives every day to come here, not for a handout, but for an opportunity.

In testimony, and for example, a group of Cubans sailed toward America in a 1951 Chevy flatbed truck outfitted with pontoons made from fifty-five-gallon drums and a propeller attached to the drive shaft.

It’s heartening to see the lengths to which such people will go – and disheartening to see how many Americans squander their gifts and their right to make something of themselves.

As Americans, I do believe that we have not only a right, but also an obligation to succeed and live a happy life.

Jobs and opportunities galore!

We’ve all seen the depressing headlines: Losing Jobs to China, Americans Still Can’t Find Jobs, and Things Are Looking Up… Unless You Want a Job. It’s enough to throw anyone – not just the unemployed – into a state of panic.

Downsizing, layoffs, and “jobless recovery” get our attention. But in trying to boost their ratings and their profits, the news media give us only half the story. When you take a closer look at the numbers, you will see a much more encouraging picture.

Statistics indicate that in 1980, roughly 100 million jobs supported the U.S. economy. Fast-forward to the year 2000. Even after the layoffs and downsizing, the U.S. economy had about 130 million jobs. So, every job we “lost” was replaced – and in addition, the economy added 30 percent, or 30 million jobs. Why don’t the headlines give us this little tidbit?

Our first inclination may

be to interpret job losses as a failure of either the system, the administration in Washington, or possibly even ourselves. The fact is the capitalistic system cannot offer employment guarantees to anyone.

Job losses hurt all those involved.

But when we understand that for every job that is lost, 1.3 new and typically better jobs are created, we begin to appreciate the opportunities available. According to the U.S. Census Bureau estimates, some 32,000 different job titles exist in more than 2,300 industries. If you want a job badly enough and are willing to work hard enough, there will always be a job for you.

So, what does all this mean? It means that we shouldn’t buy into all the doom-and-gloom headlines about the United States losing jobs. It means there are more jobs and thus more potential to create prosperity and happiness than ever before. It means that the only thing holding most people back from achieving their dreams is their lack of desire to go after it.

Equality for more women and minorities!

Yes…without a doubt, women and minorities were late being granted their share of opportunities.

But for the most part, progress over the past few decades has closed the gap on equality. Between 1972 and 1997 the number of female-owned businesses surged from 1 million to over 8.5 million.

In 1916, Jeannette Rankin became the first woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

In 1950 there were ten women in the House, and today there are more than sixty-five. And in the corporate arena, nearly 90 percent of Fortune 500 companies have women on their boards of directors.

Despite the great strides that have been made, most minorities and women aren’t doing well as white males. Income inequality is a sad fact that will take some time

to correct. Yet progress is being made. According to a recent study by the U.S. Census Bureau, in 1967 the average black woman earned 79 percent of what a white woman earned; today the ratio is up to 95 percent. Black men are a bit further behind in terms of income parity, but the gap has shrunk by 21 percent during the same time.

Does inequality exist?

Of course, it does. Frankly, income inequality is always going to exist in a free enterprise system because our capabilities, our motivations, our skills, and our desires vary greatly. Some of us are driven to improve our lot in life, and some of us aren’t. Communism and socialism both sought to artificially impose equality and both failed.

We must keep in mind that it is not income inequality that makes this country great; it is opportunity.

Regardless of your color or gender, if you are driven to succeed, this country offers every opportunity to do so. For some, gender or color will always be an obstacle because they choose to make it an issue.

Franklin Chang-Diaz (an American mechanical engineer, physicist and former NASA astronaut with Costa Rican heritage), Madam C.J. Walker (an African-American entrepreneur, philanthropist and political/social activist who is recorded as the first female self-made millionaire in America), Amy Tan (an American author of Chinese heritage, best known for the novel The Joy Luck Club, which was adapted into a 1993 film), and Oprah Gail Winfrey (also simply known joyously as Oprah is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author and media proprietor) have all proven that despite prejudice, despite inequalities, despite society’s attempt to keep some people down, if you are committed, believe in yourself, and have faith, anything is possible.

Truly, these are extraordinary times! We have more opportunities, more possibilities, and more freedom today than at any other time in the history of the planet.

During the last fifty years we have made more progress toward improving the living conditions

for all of humanity than during the previous ten thousand years!

These are extraordinary times, indeed.

The opportunities to succeed in this adopted country of ours are truly endless. When we learn to control our focus, adjust our attitudes, and open our minds, we begin to sense the opportunities all around us.

We’ve all been given a mound of clay. True, some mounds may be a bit bigger than others, but we all have a chance to take what we’re given and create something spectacular. However, some of us sit back and refuse to get our hands dirty. Some want to wait for the perfect time of when the kiln has reached the perfect temperature, which may be never. Some wait for someone else to come along and shape their clay. The best of us, though, will jump at the chance to create our life’s masterpiece.

I say become who you were born to be…We all have the given gift…

Have you discovered yours?

If so, go for it this new year 2024!

Mabuhay!!

And may God bless us all!

ARE YOU LOOKING FOR A JOB? Looking for workers?

Looking for Renters or Room for Rent?

Check our classifieds.

Opportunity awaits you weekly!

Keep us Posted.

Is a U.S.-China War Looming on the Horizon?

Russia just rained missiles all over Ukraine. Japan was hit with a 7.5 earthquake. North Korea tested more ballistic missiles and mouthed belligerent threats towards the United States. Iran’s proxy, the Yemeni Houthis keeps harassing oil tankers in the Red Sea despite displaying American flags. Iran moves a warship to the Red Sea after the U.S. Navy sank Houthi boats. Israel continues pounding Hamas and has expanded attacks on Syrian targets. Chinese president Xi Jinping’s New Year address said China’s reunification with Taiwan is “inevitable.” American forces in Syria and Iraq under attack over Israel support.

Meanwhile, China’s Coast Guard vessels keep on harassing Philippine resupply missions to its troops at the Second Thomas Shoal viewing such missions as “provocations and harassment.” A Chinese spokesman even made an audacious claim of the Philippines humanitarian missions as a “ploy to create an incident.” The spokesman also warned the U.S. to stop meddling in the South China

Sea issue.

China’s rhetoric has accelerated after President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. announced a possible tripartite security pact with Japan and the United States. This is on top of evolving U.S. troops presence in the newly added nine military authorized under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA). The recently signed 2024 National Defense Authorization Act contains billions of dollars for the Pacific Deterrence Initiative (PDI) which will invest funds for constructing airfields, ports and other infrastructure in the IndoPacific theatre including Camp Johnson in Northern Philippines.

Viewed in totality, a clearer picture emerges. The United States is preoccupied militarily in many places, Japan is focused on the aftermath of a deadly earthquake that has caused enormous damage to Japan’s infrastructure, and the Philippines has upped the tempo of possible incidents with the Chinese at the South China Sea. The upcoming presidential elections

in Taiwan on January 13 is closely watched where the ruling party, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), a U.S. ally is poised to win the contest in a plurality of votes over the Kuomintang candidate supported by China.

Clearly, Taiwan or the Philippines could provide the spark that could ignite a possible world war. If an armed conflict does come, what would it be like? Well, for starters China would do well to learn from Imperial Japan when it attacked Pearl Harbor while America was busy prosecuting the war in Europe.

Perhaps the biggest lesson from it was America’s willingness to use nuclear weapons – the atomic bomb.

China is greatly disadvantaged in the nuclear balance of power with Washington. The question is, who would go nuclear first?

If the Cold War between the former Soviet Union and the United States serves as a basis, then mutually agreed destruction (MAD) is probably not going to happen.

Nobody wins such a war. The next possible scenario is invading Taiwan through conventional means. China could overwhelm Taiwan’s defenses but with the United States Navy being deployed at Taiwan Straits before the election to ensure the success of such democratic exercise, it will respond. China will have second thoughts about a protracted war with the United States. China’s

current economy is in bad shape and starting such a war could be economically devastating.

The next possible scenario is the DPP loses the presidential election to the Chinese backed Kuomintang, then it’s iron curtains for Taiwan following the Hongkong formula.

Will there be a peaceful transfer of power knowing that Kuomintang (KMT) presidential candidate parrots President Xi’s call for unification. This is clearly the best and inexpensive route for China because it has already tested the world’s lack of resolve in the case of Hongkong where China’s iron fist is on display with the continuing crackdown on dissent.

The latest poll shows the DPP candidate slightly ahead, but social media disinformation is slowly transforming the polling numbers.

If the trend continues, the outcome could be headed to a stalemate and a recount can be performed at the request of either candidate Taiwan’s Constitutional Court ruled in November 2023. At this point, anything can happen that can escalate into an uncontrollable outcome like a military confrontation.

Taiwan’s election can be overshadowed by an outside event like a military confrontation that the Chinese warned the Philippines and Japan about at the South China Sea. A Chinese induced military escalation at the South China Sea early in 2024

can catch the Philippines and the U.S. flat footed because the Northern Philippine bases are not significantly up to it and American naval forces are probably near Taiwan to be able to preempt such development. The U.S. military presence in the country is thin to be able to simultaneously defend any Chinese attack.

Even if China can quickly overwhelm and occupy Taiwan, the conventional battle doesn’t really end there. Rather, it will just be the beginning of a long-protracted war much like in World War II because there will be other actors that will join the fray. Will Russia abandon Ukraine and form an axis with China versus a Western coalition?

Will South Korea join the coalition knowing North Korea will cross the DMZ at short notice. Thus, the IndoPacific theatre is ripe for the picking.

It is just a matter of discerning the right moment.

The confluence of events points to a high degree of possibility for conflict. Whether it begins in the Korean Peninsula, Taiwan Strait, South China Sea, or the Sea of Japan; one thing is certain that it will not be short-lived or confined to a narrow area. Any of these sources of potential armed conflict will mean a direct confrontation between two super and regional powers. India is a wild card with a long history of cross border conflict with China. India is a member of the Quad (Quadrilateral

Security Dialogue) that includes Australia, Japan, and the United States.

If war breaks out in the IndoPacific region, there is no telling if the Arab League will rise to the occasion in defense of the Palestine cause and begin their own military campaign against Israel.

Iran, although not a member of the league, has been urging Arab nations to unite against Israel. The Arab League has long opposed the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine in 1947 but have involved themselves in cross-border wars with other Arab countries as proxies of bigger powers particularly the United States and Russia.

China has supplied Hamas with weapons. China and Saudi Arabia are strategic allies and so is the United Arab Emirates. China has decades of cooperation agreements with Iran. Egypt’s ironclad support of the One China principle is solid. As a matter of fact, China’s Silk Road has weaved through many Arab countries and brought not only economic stability but military weaponry. China who has openly supported the Palestinian Liberation Organization stands to gain in a conflict arising out of the Middle East. The United States preoccupation in the Indo-Pacific and Ukraine (along with NATO) can leave Israel vulnerable from a major regional conflict.

6 • January 5, 2024 - January 11, 2024

Filipino Press

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This Space is for SALE

Are you looking to sell your products or market your services to the Filipino Community?

DBM This space is Continued from p­­­­­age 4 reserved for you.. ‘yung memo from LTFRB, ‘yung Call for special mga operators po sa lugar na more than 60 percent, hindi na po sila rate and pwede bumiyahe and then ‘yun po namang mga less than 60 percent, learn about papayagan pa po silang bumiyahe at a certain period po,” he said. our effective Ortega also said that consolidated jeepney operators will marketing be given special permits by LTFRB to operate in the affected routes. program He said that it was the operations who set the consolidation deadline, Call /text: including their decision whether to continue their transportation 619-755-0755. business or venture into another business. ****** “Yung consolidation na dineadline po natin, this basically Looking for is a decision po ng mga operators po natin. Sila po ‘yung may hawak Testimonials ? ng prangkisa, sila ‘yung magdedecide, itutuloy pa ba nila o Check at www. hindi or baka mamaya, they’ll go into another business na lang,” thefilipinopress. Ortega said. Ortega disclosed that his office is now focusing on how com to provide immediate assistance to affected jeepney drivers.

We are here to NTF-ELCAC to Reds: Surrender, start new lives in 2024 serve you!

The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) on Wednesday

info@thefilipinopress.com called on all remaining New People's Army (NPA) rebels to surrender and start new lives for the new year.

"The peace process will not deter the NTF-ELCAC from implementing its mandated tasks to liberate all communities affected by local communist armed conflict," it added in a post on its Facebook page.

It also urged these rebels to immediately renounce violence, lay down their arms and surrender peacefully to become law-abiding citizens who can do their part in nation building.

The NTF-ELCAC said it will further intensify efforts in bringing the government closer to the "geographically-isolated and disadvantaged areas" by bringing in the Barangay Development Program, Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program, and sustainable livelihood projects to former rebels who peacefully surrendered, among others.

"The NTF-ELCAC will also continue to innovate our approaches to Local Peace Engagement in the pursuit of genuine peace in the localities," it added.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Dec. 31, 2023 announced that it successfully dismantled eight NPA guerrilla

fronts, aside from weakening 14 others in 2023.

"As of December, there are no more active CTG (communist terrorist group) guerrilla fronts," AFP public affairs office chief Col. Xerxes Trinidad said.

He said continued focused military operations by the AFP also resulted in the neutralization of 67 high-value individuals who belong to communist and local terrorist groups.

"Among the top leaders neutralized are Dionisio Macabalo, also known as alias Muling/Kardo, who was the Secretary of the North Central Mindanao Regional Committee, and Farahudin Pumbaya Pangalian, also known as alias Abu Zacharia, who was the Amir of (Daulah Islamiyah) DI-Philippines and overall Amir Islamic State-East Asia," Trinidad noted.

In 2023, the AFP successfully neutralized 1,399 members of communist and local terrorist groups and seized 1,751 firearms through capture, confiscation, recovery, or surrender.

The military said these accomplishments have significantly reduced the capability of these groups to carry out violent attacks against government security forces and local communities. (MNS)

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January 5, 2024 - January 11, 2024 • 7

Help Wanted / For Rent / For Sale

BBB Pacific Southwest warns to watch out for phony personalized products on social media CHICHYAN Continued from p­­­­­age

SAN DIEGO, CA -- A personalized item might seem perfect to use those holiday gift cards; however, look out for misleading ads on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok promoting customized gifts. BBB Scam Tracker has gotten numerous reports from people whose purchases were far different from what they thought – if they arrived.

How the scam works While scrolling through social media, an ad comes up for the cutest personalized product. It could be a clothing item with a loved one's name on it, a keychain with a favorite pet’s face, or a paint-by-numbers kit made from a provided photograph.

Whatever the case, you click the link to the company’s website. Everything looks legitimate, so you purchase with great anticipation.

However, when the order arrives (if it arrives at all), it’s not the expected or imagined quality. The personalization might contain errors, or the product may differ completely

from the website's description.

The contact for customer service doesn't respond, or if you speak with someone via phone or email, they assure you they will fix the issue— but never do. Ultimately, you are left with an undesirable product or no way to get your money back.

One shopper reported this experience buying a custom hoodie online: “After 5 days, I hadn't received a shipping notification and got curious. Returning to the site, I used their tracking option, but there was no result. I called the phone number on the site, which connected to a garage door company.”

How to avoid social media ad scams Research the company before making a purchase. Before entering any personal information into a website, research the company thoroughly. Examine the website.

Poor quality images, images found See BBB on 8

1

for the responsible driver was $50,000.00 per person. After the insurance company recognized the case was entering litigation, they paid out the applicable policy limit of January 23, 2023 - a little over four months after the accident.

Again, the responsible insurance company only paid out when they had to.

(3) In September of 2022, our client was driving his wife home when he was rear-ended on Mira Mesa Boulevard. The insurance company for the responsible driver claimed the driver made a “sudden lane change” and caused the collision. In other words, the insurance company denied liability . . . for a rear-end accident. Only after a lawsuit was filed, and litigation began, did the insurance company accept liability (fault) and pay out their applicable policy limit.

These three examples are ordinary in the world of personal

injury claims. Insurance companies do not have to compensate personal injury victims until an attorney can fight the good fight, usually through litigation, and have the plaintiff (personal injury victim) properly compensated. Atty. Chichyan has successfully handled claims, both in and out of litigation, involving those injured in bicycle accidents, car accidents, trucking accidents, pedestrian accidents, motorcycle accidents, wrongful death, and slip/ trip and fall.

Atty. Chichyan has recovered millions of dollars for injury victims and many of his results occur during litigation. While no prior result can guarantee a similar result, as nothing is guaranteed, it is important to recognize that being able to litigate, and litigating a case, as seen above, led to desirable results. If you or a loved one were recently injured, you may have a claim for damages. Please feel free to call Chichyan Law APC at 858-269-5785 for a courtesy consultation. You may also e-mail Atty. Chichyan directly at morris@ chichyanlaw.com.

8 • January 5, 2024 - January 11, 2024

Filipino Press

Spiritual Life Honoring God with our body Last Sunday, our Bible Study focused on 1 Corinthians 6:19: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own, you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.”

If everyone know and believe that their bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, then there will be less sickness, less immorality, and less violence in our society. We will be more mindful of our behavior and the actions we take in taking care of ourselves and our relationships.

We will be living a healthy lifestyle to prevent the many debilitating diseases that affects us – diabetes, heart disease, stroke, cancer , to name a few. We will be living a healthier and happier life and definitely, the Holy Spirit will find our body a beautiful dwelling place.

My field of study at the University of the Philippines was on physical education and health education. Then I moved on to pursue public health and health education. Hence, I spent more than fifty years, “promoting health, preventing disease, and prolonging life through organized community efforts.” I had a very fulfilling career, having worked at various levels in the government, in the academe, and in the church. My work always made me conscious of my health, defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the “state of physical, mental,

Aurora S. Cudal-Rivera

My Personal Testimony

emotional, and social well-being, and not only the absence of disease or infirmity.”

Praise God for giving me the opportunity to work in the field of public health. I have helped people assume responsibility for their own health through relevant educational approaches and counseling techniques. I’ve opened the doors for the less fortunate to access health and social services.

I’ve encouraged people to stop smoking, to eat nutritious foods and to modify their negative life style and high risk behaviors.

I could not forget the time when as the Senior Health Education Adviser of the Philippines’ Department of Health, I wrote on behalf of the Secretary of Health a policy statement which made it imperative for government doctors to modify their smoking habits. Doctors should not smoke while attending to their patients.

Then, I partnered with the Manila Sanitarium (a Seventh Day Adventist medical institution) in developing a Smoking Cessation

Program for health workers.

When I was the President of the Board of Women’s Work of the Philippines Central Conference of the United Methodist Church, I also spearheaded what I dubbed as “Alternative Nutrition Program”, espousing a healthy vegetarian diet, with the help of Dr. Rudy Imperio, a classmate at the Institute of Public Health’s doctoral program.

These experiences strengthened my will to pursue a healthy life style conscious of the fact that my body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. I will soon be an octogenarian. I am still up and about, still doing volunteer work, still actively engaged in planning and organizing community events.

My primary physician said that I am in good health as shown by the results of my annual medical check-up.

Thank you, God for allowing me to start a meaningful year and for reminding me that my body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which I received from you.

Know that I am God Be still and know that I am God. (Psalm 46:10a) Sometimes we hear a verse so often we stop paying attention.

This was true for me for Psalm 46:10. I have this verse on my bulletin board and I see it every day, yet way too often I am not still. In fact, I am anything but that.

At a church conference, a friend shared with me a more meaningful way to read any way-too-familiar verse. She encouraged me to dissect it.

Breaking down the verse renewed its meaning for me. Be still and know that I AM . . . Even though I know He is God, do I let Him be God over my life? Do I put Him on the back burner until I need His presence? When Moses asked Him what His name was, God replied, "I AM." Jesus told the Pharisees that before there was Abraham, I AM. He is forever present, be it two thousand years ago or two thousand years from now.

Be still and know . . . know not just with my brain but with every fiber of my being. To know is to be certain, without a shadow of a doubt or an ounce of hesitancy.

We say, "I know for a fact . . ." when we are adamant about something. Do I know God?

BBB

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on other websites, and spelling and grammatical errors are all red flags.

A real business should have valid contact information (i.e., a working phone number and customer service email address). If the business has a physical address, research it on Google or Apple Maps. Look to see if they have a profile on BBB.org.

Look up reviews on other websites. Read as many reviews as possible from websites besides the company selling the product.

Keep a close eye out for customer complaints. Search the business name in a trusted search engine along with the word “scam” to see if others have reported the business as a fake.

Pay with a credit card. Ideally, use a credit card instead of a debit card since it’s easier to dispute fraudulent

Danny Hernaez

From Whom All Blessings Flow How can I know Him better? The answer is simple - by spending time with Him. That requires that sometimes I don't do all the talking in my prayer life, but I stop and listen. And to listen, I must...

Be still. . . How very easy, and yet very difficult. To be still is also for me to be peacefully silent. Silence is hard to achieve in today's world. We are surrounded by noise. Being still requires effort, a conscious act of not being distracted. But, this is where you can find God. Be - that is all God requires of us. We just need to be what we were created to be - to praise and serve the Lord our God with our hearts souls and minds. Our merciful God accepts us as we are, with all our short comings and all our faults. Through the eyes of His Son, sees us as pure, blameless and made worthy when we come into His presence and

ask for forgiveness. We don't need to be perfect. We only need to be willing to "be".

Jesus didn't come as a king, but as a helpless infant (Luke 2).

Although he was perfectly God and perfectly human at the same time (John 1:14), he lived his life as a humble laborer. After he began his ministry, he demonstrated humble service to others in the miracles he performed, as well as in his instruction to his disciples.

When the time came for him to die, he submitted to his Father's divine will (Mark 14:36). And now, seated in power at the right hand of God, he intercedes on our behalf (Acts 5:29-32).

As the perfect model for godly leadership, Jesus set the perfect example of humility. Ask God to help you follow Jesus' example as you seek to demonstrate the kind of humility that will cause others to see Jesus in you. <(((><

charges with a credit card, and there is a better chance of getting a refund.

For more information Read more about a tracking code trick that scammers use to dupe online shoppers and how to identify social media ad scams. See BBB's tips for smart shopping online to avoid purchasing from shady companies.

If you’ve been the victim of a scam, share your experience at BBB Scam Tracker.

Value BBB encourages businesses to operate with integrity, and helps consumers make wise marketplace decisions. Our innovative approach to business growth provides the tools that companies and entrepreneurs need to build better businesses.

Become BBB Accredited and join our mission to create a community of trust. Published with permission from Better Business Bureau.

About the Better Business Bureau

Serving the Pacific Southwest.

Better Business Bureau has empowered people to find businesses, brands, and charities they can trust for more than 110 years. In 2022, people turned to BBB more than 250 million times for BBB Business Profiles on more than 5.3 million businesses and Charity Reports on about 12,000 charities, all available for free at BBB.org. The International Association of Better Business Bureaus is the umbrella organization for the local, independent BBBs in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Incorporated locally in 1938, BBB Serving the Pacific Southwest serves Greater Arizona and Southern California, providing critical tools to ignite success including mentorship, online products, coworking and access to capital. Our objective expertise educates the community on ethical behavior in the marketplace and how businesses can build trust.

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Greetings in the Lord!

The celebration of the nativity of Jesus continues and one of the very important elements of this mystery of the incarnation of the second person of the Blessed Trinity is his manifestation to the world through certain events in history.

His becoming human was revealed in nature through mysterious natural phenomena, such as the shining of a bright star, as well as divine mysterious appearance of angels who announced the event to lowly shepherds in the field in Bethlehem.

These phenomena, both natural and supernatural were recognized by the shepherds but also by wise men whose astronomical wisdom led them to conclude that a person of greatness was born. They went, seeking for the infant and their search was guided by the star. This is the story of the magi whose place in history and the events that led the world to know the birth of the child Jesus who turned out to be the Savior of the world.

In contrast to the perception of the lowly shepherds and the foreign wisemen, the bible tells us how the Jewish people, who longed for their savior, found themselves ignorant in their religious experience. Their expectation was for somebody who was to bring salvation and liberation to them from the political,

Fr. Agustin T. Opalalic economic and cultural enslavement they were in at that period in history. They expected a Messiah, but never believed this to happen in a place like a lowly stable where actually the baby Jesus was born.

Their expectations were far from the reality as it unfolded. This expectation was common among the highly place members of the Jewish society, beginning with the royalty, wise pharisees and Sadducees as well as the lowly priests and also the common people.

The feast that we are celebrating today has been handed down in the tradition of the liturgy of the church for ages, but the focus then was the existence of the three wise men, or three kings, who came from the east, bringing their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, to the new born Jesus. The liturgy then put

significant emphasis on the gifts to the newborn savior, but not to the act of bringing into the fore the purpose of his coming. Today’s liturgy shirts the purpose of the feast on the universality of the message that Jesus brings. His epiphany opens the horizons that is unlimited to all people of good will, and stresses on the attitude and outlook of the beholders of the revelation. The lowly shepherds and the wisemen are concrete models of such attitude: openness and wisdom. Only the open, meek and humble, such as the shepherds can receive the message of the Gospel with joy and jubilation.

Only the wise and courageous can understand the message of salvation brought by the newly born savior whose birth is meant for all.

In a world that is so divided for political, economic, religious and other factors that keep humanity suffering, the manifestation of Jesus and his message would lead us to realize, with a glimmer of hope, for the intervention of the God in our lives. Our desire for such intervention should be fulfilled with sacrifice and prayers that could be more fruitful if done not only individually but especially through our community. Once again my greetings for a “Peaceful and happy New Year!”

ENDURING FRIENDSHIP Ni Salvador S. Idos

A few days ago, I delivered a rather unusual eulogy. Beside me were two coffins belonging to a couple who passed away simultaneously, one after the other.

As a couple, Prince and Cristy were our best friends. It is a matter of shared values. In them, Sally and I saw a lifestyle very much like ours. It was a marital relationship forged by strong commitment and fidelity to each other, a life which seeks fulfillment in service to others.

Both Sally and Cristy are women with a gentle soul, both highly accomplished yet very humble.

Prince and I share a lot in common.

I am an ardent follower of boxing, Prince at one time was a professional boxer! At home, I own a billard table, Prince was actually a champion in billard competitions! I like the keen sense of humor of Prince and his laughter comes from the depths of his soul! Ours was a friendship filled with so much laughter and Joy. Our friendship with the Dumarans started on a professional level. Dr. Dumaran, whom we fondly called Cristy, was a fellow pioneer in the highly successful Filipino Language Program in San Diego. She was the first President of the Council for Teaching Filipino Language and Culture (CTFLC). Sally was her Vice President. Cristy together with Sally wrote the CSET Filipino.

Passing the test is a requirement for one to teach Filipino in California.

Both are multi-awarded educators.

One time we shared our experience as

Filipino educators at an International conference held in Hungary.

After retirement, we found more time to spend with each other and our friendship became much stronger. Sally and I would often visit them in their apartment where we brought home grilled pompano, and guavas and calamansi taken from our backyard. They enjoyed listening to my poems (tula) and we often prayed together. There was a deep spirituality which binds us in our friendship.

Four years ago, Cristy was taken to the Hospital/Skilled Nursing Facility where she stayed until she passed away a few days ago. Those were very difficult years for my friend, Prince especially because he had his own health issues too. He goes through dialysis three times a week. One time I asked him what he had for dinner, he said, “Chippy”. It broke my heart. I brought him food as much as I could oftentimes taking along Sally with me because I could no longer leave her alone at home.

He missed his beloved Cristy, terribly and so just giving him a call means a lot to him as an antidote to his loneliness. A number of times, I took Sally and Prince to eat out for lunch/ brunch. Despite our limitations, we had a good time. A few days after he passed away, I received a wrapped gift from Prince. In the accompanying card, it says “To Ador who is closer than a brother- “ The key to it all is for us to embrace our suffering with Love. If we remain focused on the

Lord and not on the Load, God will grant us the grace of His Joy and His Peace, Peace that only He can give.

In all humility, I thank God that I think I have become a better version of myself because of our friendship with the Dumarans. I have always believed that one of our main concerns in life is to build beautiful memories with people whose lives we touch, so that long after we are no longer in the scene, those memories will continue to linger. I miss my friends, terribly. I am consoled however with the thought that they have led a beautiful life. We are in this world, but we are not for this world.

In my eulogy, I made a final request to Prince and Cristy. I said, “Please say Hello to Jesus for us.”

Salvador S. Idos

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CAR SCAM

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like costs, financing terms, add ons and rebates; second, dealers must tell consumers the total price of the car (e.g. the full price of a 10-year contract, not just the first few monthly payments); third, dealers can’t charge junk fees that don’t benefit the consumer (e.g. a second warranty with no coverage, or oil change add-ons incompatible with an electric car); and fourth, “Dealers can only charge for things if consumers know what the charge is for and agree to pay for it — so no more hidden costs in contracts.”

The rule also requires dealers advertising a car in a certain language, like Spanish, to clearly disclose any added costs in that same language “so buyers know what they’re agreeing to,” said Jamie Brooks, an attorney with the FTC’s Division of Financial Practices.

Why bait-and-switch?

The CARS Rule focuses so much on bait-and-switch tactics because of how many actions the FTC has brought against it, “where dealers advertise one price to get consumers in the door, but then charge consumers much more after they’ve invested time on the lot,” said Brooks.

Most of this deceptive advertising involves misrepresenting a car’s full price, its monthly payment, or the dealership’s affiliation with government programs, she added.

For example, in 2014 the FTC sued Casino Auto Sales of La Puente, California for advertising an $18,000 down vehicle while burying an extra $5,000 down payment in fine print specifically targeting Spanish consumers. In 2020, the agency sued dealer ad agency Traffic Jam Events of Kenner, Louisiana for mailers which supposedly directed consumers to a COVID stimulus relief program site, the address of which was really a car lot. These tactics not only harm car buyers but dealers themselves “who have to beat the bogus prices of dishonest competitors,” Brooks explained. “When a dealership advertises low prices, people end up selecting that dealership over others under false pretenses.”

Junk fees, add-ons Many of these pretenses also involve “junk fees” for hidden addons — “like extended warranties, car or asset protection, or coatings that are supposed to protect the car” — which can easily cause unknowing buyers thousands of dollars, said Sanya Shahrasbi, an attorney with the FTC’s Division of Financial Practices.

“In the past two years alone,” she continued, “dealers have substantially increased prices for these add ons, even though such products and services largely are not constrained by supply.”

A 2022 FTC lawsuit against multistate dealer Napleton, the thirteenth-largest dealership group in the country, found

that 83% or 16,848 of the dealer’s customers were charged for add-ons that they didn’t agree to; for instance, “one consumer paid for a $2,000 service contract that the dealer said was free.”

This Napleton action found not only that buyers were being charged for addons they didn’t agree to, but also that these buyers were disproportionately Black and Latino, added Mithal. A 2023 action against Wisconsin-based dealer group Rhinelander Auto Center found analogous targeting of local Native American consumers.

Much of the vulnerability of these racial and ethnic groups owes to language access obstructed by lengthy contracts hiding fees; many Napleton buyers, for example, found themselves with paperwork requiring more than 12 signatures across over 60 pages.

Regardless, Mithal continued, the CARS Rule “prohibits conduct which is already illegal, and if a dealer’s lying to you about the price of a car, they’re already violating the FTC, you’re within your rights to report them.”

How, then, will the CARS Rule help stop scams that are already illegal?

Because it underscores the money, said Mithal, “and people stand up when they are on the hook for a lot of money … It’s easier to get money back to you when scamming dealers see that they’re exposed through this rule, and honest dealers see the law is on their side.”

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A newspaper should inform, educate, entertain and provide viewpoints that could give us the means to make intelligent decisions for ourselves and others.” — Ernie Flores Jr., founding editor and publisher Mailing Address: 600 E. 8th St. Ste. 3, NationaI City, CA 91950 • E-mail: filpress@aol.com Office: 600 E. 8th St. Ste. 3, National City, CA 91950 • Telephone: (619) 434-1720 • Fax: (619) 399-5311 Website: www.thefilipinopress.com • E-mail: filpressads@aol.com for ads • E-mail: filpress@aol.com for editorial

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Columnists AURORA S. CUDAL Danny hernaez francine maigue GREG B. MACABENTA JESSE T. REYES al villamora Photographer Zeny PLY Circulation Rudy Avenido

The Filipino Press is published every Saturday. We welcome news, features, editorials, opinions and photos. Please e-mail them to: editor@ filipinopress.com. Photos must be accompanied by self-addressed, postage-paid envelope to be returned. We reserve the right to edit materials. Views and opinions by our writers, contributors does not necessarily reflect those of the publisher, management and staff of the Filipino Press. © 2011 Filipino Press

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Angelica Panganiban ties the knot with Gregg Homan on New Year's Eve their daughter baby Bean.

The couple first revealed their engagement in a vlog uploaded in 2022, several weeks after Bean was born.

Panganiban and Homan first met in 2018 through the actress' friend, Cherry Pie Picache. At the time, Panganiban was taping a TV series in Subic, where Homan resides.

They officially became a couple in 2020, and Homan proposed to Panganiban on October 8, 2022.

Their engagement occurred while

MANILA -- Actress Angelica Panganiban on New Year's Eve tied the knot with her businessman fiancé Gregg Homan.

"123123 - Patuloy na mananalig at maniniwala sa pag-ibig. Sa kabila ng lahat. Ang pagmamahal pa rin ang kakapitan," the 37-yearold actress shared on Instagram.

"Maligayang bagong taon - Mrs Angelica Panganiban Homan," she continued.

Panganiban did not reveal the venue of her wedding but she did upload snaps with friends Bela Padilla, and Kim Chiu at Los Angeles a day before.

The post included photos from their wedding, including a photo of

Panganiban was pregnant with their first child.

In a previous vlog, the couple shared their plans to get married in early 2024. There were hints that they may get married on May 20, 2024, as the numbers "5" and "20" have significant meanings in their relationship -- Panganiban accepted Homan's proposal at 5:20 p.m.

But as it turned out, they exchanged "I do's" before the new year unfolded (MNS)

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PBBM

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support to Filipino skilled and talented workers that will serve as ladders to fulfilling their dreams.

“This is the reason why we continue to give support to our farmers, from seedlings to fertilizers to fuel, because their sweat alone should not nurture the crops they grow in feeding the nation,” Marcos said.

Before concluding his message, President Marcos shared the government’s “New Year’s Resolution,” which is to continue providing quality service to the Filipino people which is the key to uplifting the lives of everyone in the year to come.

“Let us not forget that great things are always possible – so long as we keep the faith in each other, in our nation, and in God. And as long as values that bind us keep us united in our collective pursuit of shared progress, we will succeed,” the President said.

The President thanked the

Filipino people for their trust and confidence in the administration and the government.

Commitment to safeguarding PH Meanwhile, National Security Adviser (NSA) Eduardo Año affirmed the agency’s commitment to safeguard the nation against various threats.

"The challenges of the past year have strengthened our resolve, and as your NSA, I assure you that we are dedicated to safeguarding our beloved nation," he added in a statement posted on the National Security Council (NSC) Facebook page on Monday.

Año, who is also the NSC chair, also called on Filipinos to unite in facing uncertainties and challenges.

"In 2024, let us come together in the face of uncertainties. As we look ahead, I am confident that with the dedication to duty of our uniformed and security forces and the vigilance of our citizens, we will continue to build a nation that is safe, stable, and secure," he added.

Filipino Press Taiwan donates 1,000 MT of rice to PH Taiwan donated 1,000 metric tons (MT) of milled rice to serve as additional supply to the relief and pro-poor programs of the Department of Social and Welfare Development.

Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in the Philippines Representative Wallace Chow turned over the donation to Manila Economic and Cultural Office Chairman Silvestre Bello III in a ceremony in Makati on Thursday.

Chow recognized that the Philippines is among the most vulnerable countries that bears the brunt of climate change.

“The issues on food security and food safety have never failed to take center stage of attention, especially when it involves humanitarian concerns caused by natural disasters, or escalating violent conflicts happening around the world,” he said.

Chow said TECO will donate 2,000 metric tons of rice in total, making this the first batch. (MNS)

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