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San Diego’s No. 1 Source of News & Information for the Filipino Community • An Award-Winning Newspaper Since 1986 October 13, 2023 - October 19, 2023
www.thefilipinopress.com • (619) 434-1720
GILAS PILIPINAS WINS FIRST MEN’S BASKETBALL GOLD SINCE 1962
By Jesse T. Reyes SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Justine Brownlee was the Gilas Pilipinas’ hero once more on Friday night (October 6) as our beloved old homeland – the Philippines – clinched its first Asian Games men’s basketball gold medal since 1962 (Oh, heck…I remember I was still in high school then; I was a sophomore at Villamor High School in my historic hometown of Sta. Ana in old Manila. This win is truly a goldstar achievement for the current crop of Filipino basketball players, if I must say. The Philippines rules supreme again in Asian basketball! Congratulations!!) Through the win, the Philippines nabbed its fifth gold medal since the last one in Jakarta, Indonesia, courtesy of a squad led by the late FIBA Hall of Famer Carlos Loyzaga (I was a fan of him in 1962). Indeed, the Nationals’ last podium win – a bronze medal – was back in 1998, when its current coach also called the shots. “I know every Filipino is proud to be called one today. Congratulations, Gilas Pilipinas, WORTH A THOUSAND GOLD: on this incredible feat,” President Ferdinand “BongBong” Marcos, Jr Team Coach Cone and Gilas Pilipinas hailed for 'monumental' Asian Games 2023 triumph in men's basketball. The Philippines nabbed said in a Twitter post. “Your hard its fifth gold medal since the last one in Jakarta, Indonesia, courtesy of a squad led by the late FIBA Hall of Famer Carlos Loyzaga. (More story inside page 5) work continues to elevate Filipino a stellar tournament during which perhaps – Jordan reduced to firing athleticism and sportsmanship to the and five assists as the Philippines 10 rebounds. The triumph also ends the Gilas’ he was the star for the Philippines in attempts from three-point range global arena.” reversed their earlier group stage and going just 3-for-21 on field goal Brownlee top-scored with 20 defeat against Jordan to win the 19th run of missing out on a medal dating nearly every game. It had begun as a low-quality attempts in the first quarter. But the points and also led the Gilas with Asian Games Hangzhou gold by a back to 1998, when the team took 38 minutes 25 seconds on court 70-60 scoreline. He also picked up bronze. For Brownlee, it cupped affair – an omen for the game, shooting improved in the second, the
South Bay Leaders and Community Celebrate Sweetwater Park Groundbreaking CHULA VISTA, CA -- The Port of San Diego and the City of Chula Vista along with other project partners, South Bay stakeholders, and community members today celebrated the start of construction on Sweetwater Park. The Port and City held a groundbreaking celebration at the project site near E Street and Bay Boulevard adjacent to the Living Coast Discovery Center and Sun Outdoors San Diego Bay RV resort. When finished, Sweetwater Park will be the first new park space completed as part of the Chula Vista Bayfront redevelopment, and the Port’s 23rd park along San Diego Bay. Sweetwater Park is envisioned as a natural-habitat oriented recreational open space to showcase the unique natural wildlife assets of San Diego Bay, encouraging passive recreation activities to complement the adjacent Sweetwater Marsh National Wildlife Refuge. The 21-acre park was designed with community input and will be enjoyed by residents and visitors for decades to come.
“Sweetwater Park will be one of most unique parks along San Diego Bay as it’s inspired by both nature and history,” said Chairman Rafael Castellanos, Port of San Diego Board of Port Commissioners. “With community input, each of the elements were designed to honor the area’s wildlife and habitat. There are also elements honoring the Kumeyaay People’s ancestral lands both in the public art and educational signage. It will truly be a space for the community to feel proud of.” “Sweetwater Park is one of the first substantial steps to building Chula Vista’s Bayfront,” said Chula Vista Mayor John McCann. “The park will allow individuals to experience the bay and the environment around it. We want this to be the people’s Bayfront, where residents in the City and the region can enjoy Chula Vista’s Bayfront.” “Through the pandemic, we were reminded that recreational spaces are essential for social,
Pictured from left to right: State Senator Steve Padilla, San Diego County Chairwoman Nora Vargas, Chula Vista Mayor John McCann, Port Commissioner Ann Moore, Port Chairman Rafael Castellanos, Assemblymember David Alvarez
mental, and emotional wellbeing,” said Chairwoman Nora Vargas, San Diego County Board of Supervisors. “Investing in Sweetwater Park helps San Diego County achieve its goal to provide spaces where community members can be physically active and thrive.” “We wanted to create a space for residents and regional visitors to enjoy for generations to come. Sweetwater Park delivers on that and it’s thanks to engagement and input from the community and our partnership with the City of Chula Vista,” said Commissioner Ann Moore, Chula Vista’s appointee to the Board of Port Commissioners. “Sweetwater Park will connect us all to some of the best nature has to offer along San Diego Bay, allowing us all to experience and appreciate it, while also protecting our precious wildlife habitat and coastal resources.” Sweetwater Park is being built just north of the Gaylord Pacific Resort and Convention Center where construction is currently underway. It is anticipated to open in late 2024. Features will include: Meadows and specialty gardens with native plants, shrubs, and groundcover. Some of these native plants serve as ecological buffers and mitigation areas to protect sensitive wildlife habitats, particularly at the Sweetwater Marsh National Wildlife Refuge Mounded grasslands Nature playgrounds Various seating and picnic areas Pedestrian walkways and bicycle paths, some paved and others See SOUTH BAY on 5
Jordanians scoring with four of their nine attempts from outside the threepoint line, even taking the lead just before half-time before Brownlee ensured the Gilas would go into the half level at 31-31. The partisan local crowd at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium took to supporting the Jordanian, audibly jeering the Philippines’ free throw attempts. But the Gilas showed they were unmoved, Brownlee sinking three free throws after drawing a foul as he was lining up a shot from outside the arc. Both teams continued to trade the lead early in the third, and in the vein of the first quarter continued to try their luck from downtown, with the Gilas Pilipinas having more success in that regard with the Jordanians. Finally, the Gilas managed to go on a 14-4 scoring run, pulling away from 37-37 to lead at the third interval a clear 10 points. However, there was no escaping the fact that it was a low-quality, tense, and nervy contest. The closest Jordan would get from there was within six points despite the crowd’s vocal backing. The Gilas defense held strong picking up boards on Jordanian misses, and ensuring the opponents never had a clear shot at the basket. As the clock wound down, every basket, every defensive play, was cheered loudly on the See JESSE REYES on 5
Why Ageism Prevails and How to Stop It Age isn’t everything when it comes to human health and ability, yet it often dominates conversations about these to the detriment of older adults. Age isn’t everything when it comes to human health and ability, yet it often dominates conversations about these to the detriment of older adults. In a Friday, Oct. 6 EMS briefing, aging experts discussed why ageism — discrimination on the basis of older age — prevails in the way we view older adults, and how to overcome it. Talking about age How we talk about aging determines much of how we experience it, said Dr. Louise Aronson, a geriatrics professor at UC San Francisco. “We were about the same age as a species for a really long time, and though now we’re a whole lot older, some things haven’t changed. Old age still ends in death.” As far back as 10,000 B.C. until as recently as 1820 A.D., the global life expectancy was 20 to 30 years; in 2019, it was over 73. The COVID-19 pandemic “showed us how age matters,” she added, as older adults had disproportionately greater risks and fatalities. U.S. adults 65 and over made up over 75% of COVID-related deaths as of September 2023, according to the CDC. The health system’s very definition of older adults as anyone 65 or older, however, prevents practitioners from meeting these adults’ individual needs. For example, “We give vaccines based on people’s biology and social behaviors, so there are 17 subcategories for children, three for adults between the ages of 19 and 64,” Aronson said. “But everybody aged 65 and up is lumped into a single category, even though a child would instantly see the physical and assume the differences between a 64 year old and 104 year old. This distinction is not based on
scientific evidence about our lives.” Nevertheless, “age isn’t everything,” Aronson said. Ethnic differences also compounded these risks, with Black Americans aged 75 to 84 having a nearly 900-fold difference, Latinos well over a 500-fold difference, Native Americans a 200-fold difference, and AAPI a 150-fold difference over nonHispanic whites in the first six months of the pandemic. This way of viewing age in terms of vulnerability to death has particular implications for ageism in the U.S., where life expectancy has declined to 76.4 years — the shortest in two decades. However, life expectancy, too, is disproportionately divided among racial and economic lines. Even before the pandemic, for example, 56 of the 500 largest U.S. cities had life expectancy gaps up to 30 years between neighborhoods a few miles apart. “That isn’t about biology,” said Aronson. “That’s about social choices, and where we put our money, our values and our priorities … I would like to see a world in which you may
be “over the hill,” but the entire range of the hill has value … ‘anti-aging’ terminology is not helpful. The only way not to age is to die.” The need to address ageism Cheryl Brown, Chair of the Executive Committee for the California Commission on Aging (CCOA), said that behavioral health, caregiver training, and housing access are key to addressing ageism. Such policies prioritizing equity for older adults are key given that by 2030, California will be home to 10.8 million older adults — comprising one-quarter of the state’s population, and nearly twice as many as in 2010. The trend is similar nationwide: by 2030, U.S. adults 65 and over are projected to increase by nearly 18 million from 2020, comprising one in every five Americans and outnumbering children for the first time. Brown urged efforts in other states and nationwide similar to the California Master Plan for Aging, a 10-year blueprint developed by CCOA See AGEISM on
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