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DATELINEUSAfrom the AJPress NEWS TEAM AcroSS AMEricA

June 18-21, 2016

Volume 26 - No. 49 • 4 Sections – 34 Pages

Surrounded with security personnel, President-elect Rodrigo Duterte leaves the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City on Wednesday, June 15 after meeting his incoming Cabinet members for the first time outside Davao City. Inquirer.net photo by Richard Reyes

mANILA — the inauguration of President-elect rodrigo Duterte and Vice President-elect Leni ro-bredo on June 30 will be the first in recent history where the two highest elected officials will be sworn in to office separately.

special circumstances aside – such as when then vice president Gloria macapagal-Arroyo took her oath alone at eDsA shrine on Jan. 20, 2001 – the president and the vice president always took their oaths at the same venue.

Arroyo’s first vice president, teofisto Guingona Jr., took his oath following the congressional confirmation of his selection on feb. 9, 2001.

on feb. 25, 1986, following the snap elections called by dictator ferdinand marcos sr., his chal-lenger, former President Cora-zon Aquino, took her oath with Vice President salvador Laurel at Club filipino.

on the same day, marcos – who also claimed victory in the said

election – took his oath at the rizal Ceremonial hall in malacañang without his vice president Arturo tolentino.

reports cited conflicting reports for the latter’s absence.

It was Aquino and Laurel who served the full six-year term as marcos fled from the Palace dur-ing the 1986 People Power revo-lution.

Aquino’s successor, fidel ra-mos, took his oath of office with

Duterte, Robredo to be inaugurated separately

DAVAo CItY — President-elect rodrigo Duterte has reminded his incoming Cabinet members to ensure that his adminis-tration would not be tainted with corruption or they would be answer-able to him for their misdeeds.

Duterte gave the reminder during a three-hour meeting with his designated officials at the Philippine International Conven-tion Center (PICC) in Pasay City on Wednesday night, June 15, incoming Agriculture secretary emmanuel Piñol said.

“We were told by the president that there should be no corruption, make sure there is no corruption. (he said) nobody from my family will interfere with your work, I’m giving you a free hand on the people you choose,” Piñol told re-porters here on thursday, June 16.

“But you are answerable to me for your mis-deeds and for the people you have chosen,” he quoted Duterte as saying.

“We are accountable for every misstep we make. It was a very clear statement,” Piñol add-ed.

It remains unclear what Duterte would do in the event his officials are found to be involved in corruption. Piñol, however, believes that Duterte

Corruption not allowed in incoming Cabinet

BAsKetBALL superstar Kobe Bryant is set to visit the Philip-pines this June, two months after playing his last game in the NBA.

the NBA great will be in ma-nila on June 25 to 26 for the mamba mentality tour, where he will also personally train promising young filipino players through the Kobe Academy.

According to a statement from Nike, aspirants are invited to join the Kobe Academy Pre-Camp

KOBE IN MANILA. Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers is escorted as he walks around an area to endorse products during his visit at a mall in Pasay City, three years ago.

Kobe Bryant set to return to Manila two months after retirementfrom June 22-24 to qualify for the Kobe Academy. to be a part of the mamba mentality tour, details are available at http://go.nike.com/0kfpcr.

Aside from the camp, there will be a fan showcase dubbed the “mamba mentality Night” at smart Araneta Coliseum. No final schedule has been an-nounced.

Bryant, who suited up for the Los Angeles Lakers for the last time in April, has been to the country several times since his first visit in 1998. n

mANILA — Labor recruiters expect more filipino nurses to seek employ-ment abroad after President Aquino vetoed a bill that would have increased the salary of local nurses.

recruitment officials said the junk-ing of the consolidated bill that seeks a monthly basic pay of P26,000 for health workers would only force more nurses to work abroad.

“Demand for filipino nurses in the United Kingdom is rising as more UK-based hospitals and care homes have hired over 1,000 filipino nurses in the past 16 months with a minimum pay ranging from P80,000 to P110,000,”

recruitment leaders said.the Philippine overseas employ-

ment Administration (PoeA) has re-ported an increasing trend in the de-ployment of local nurses for the past years, from 15,655 in 2012 to 16,444 in 2013 and 19,815 in 2014.

A group of nurses rejected the claim of Aquino that the approval of the pro-posed measure would undermine the existing government salary structure and cause wage distortion not only among health workers but also among other professionals in the government service.

OFW benefitsmeanwhile, newly elected ofW par-

ty-list group rep. John Bertiz III urged

More Filipino nurses seen working overseas

the Philippines is the fastest-growing market for smartphones in the Association of southeast Asian Nations (AseAN), accord-ing to a new report from market research company International Data Corporation (IDC).

the report indicated that about 3.5 million smartphones were

Philippines: ‘fastest-growing’ smartphone nation in Southeast Asia

by Klarize MedenillaAJPress

shipped to the country during the first quarter of 2016.

Local vendors comprise more than half of the smartphone mar-ket, like popular local retailer myPhone, which lead the local vendors’ sector. however, the lo-cal sector’s share of the market dropped 4 percent in 2015 while sales from global vendors have increased by 4 percent in 2015

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E m m a n u e l P i ñ o l , i n co m i n g agriculture sectrary

by alexis roMeroPhilstar.com

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by Mayen JayMalinPhilstar.com

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by Celest Flores-ColinaInquirer.net

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BeNefICIArIes of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) immigration policy can still follow a path to citizenship by enlisting in the Us armed services.

A single vote prevented the house of rep-resentatives from passing an amendment to the annual defense spending bill that would have barred undocumented immigrants from enlisting in the military. house rep. Paul Go-sar (r-Ariz.), who proposed the amendment, said he was attempting to close a “backdoor amnesty policy.”

the military Accessions Vital to the Nation-

DACA recipients can still enlist in military to expedite citizenship

Rep. John Bertiz

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Los ANGeLes — housing was a major concern among attendees at a public forum on senior citizens’ issues hosted by the Na-tional Asian Pacific Center on Aging (NAPCA) on thursday, June 16 at the Celebration Cha-pel of the YNot Church.

NAPCA partnered with the White house Initiative for Asian Americans and Pacific Is-landers (WhIAAPI) for the community listen-ing session, which included a panel of rep-resentatives from several local organizations and federal agencies who shared programs and services directed toward the needs, chal-lenges and barriers of older Asian Ameri-

Housing a top issue among AAPI seniors in LA

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Duterte, advisors, communist groups initiate peace talks

PresIDeNt-elect rodrigo Duterte and rebel communist leaders will reinitiate for-mal peace talks in July in hopes of ending a decades-long insurgency, according to a joint statement signed in oslo, Norway on Wednesday, June 15.

the development is the result of informal talks between Duterte and his advisors, and officials from the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the National Demo-

by eriC anthony liCasAJPress

JUNE 18-21, 2016 • LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL http://www.asianjournal.com • (818) 502-0651 • (213) 250-9797A�

From the Front Page

PERILOUS RIDE. Students ride a banca to reach their school in Malabon City (Metro Manila) on the first day of school on Monday, June 13. City residents are used to riding boats because the streets are constantly flooded. ManilaTimes.net photo by Rene DIlan

then-Vice President Joseph Es-trada at the Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park on June 30, 1992.

Estrada, meanwhile, took his oath with Vice President Arroyo at Barasoain Church in Malolos, Bulacan in honor of the centen-nial of Philippine Independence on June 30, 1998.

After winning her second term

in 2004, Arroyo took her oath with Vice President Noli De Cas-tro in Cebu, also on June 30.

Outgoing President Aquino took his oath with Vice Presi-dent Jejomar Binay also at Quirino Grandstand on June 30, 2010.

Binay congratulates RobredoOutgoing Vice President Je-

jomar Binay has extended his

congratulations to his successor, Vice President-elect Leni Ro-bredo.

In a letter dated May 31, a copy of which was posted by Robredo’s daughter Aika on her Twitter account on Thursday, June 16, Binay said he has in-structed his chief of staff to co-ordinate with her team to discuss the transition at the Office of the Vice President (OVP).

“I look forward to personally meeting you. For the past six years, and despite its modest budget, the OVP has extended assistance to thousands of poor and marginalized Filipinos, in-cluding our brothers and sisters working abroad,” Binay said in the letter.

“I am confident that with you as the next vice president, the OVP will continue to be an instrument for social justice,” he added.

Robredo’s daughter thanked the outgoing Vice President for the support in the transition.

“Thank you very much for be-

Duterte, Robredo to be inaugurated…

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would not hesitate to remove those who are guilty of wrong-doing.

Corruption not allowed in incoming…“The president would relieve

the entire department and city hall if one commits a wrongdo-ing. I think that’s still the same

mindset,” the incoming agricul-ture chief said. “Nobody is indis-pensable. There are no (sacred) cows.”

Piñol said Duterte was serious but in a light mood when he pre-sided over the meeting.

“We are upbeat. We are happy. The president was very happy,” he said.

Last month, Duterte vowed to be harsh when it comes to cor-ruption and has outlined bold measures to address the prob-lem.

He is planning to reshuffle per-sonnel at the Bureau of Internal Revenue, Bureau of Customs and Land Transportation Office, agencies that he described as the “most corrupt.”

The tough-talking Duterte will also prohibit military and police officers from bringing along with them their staff in their next as-signments to prevent payoffs.

He has also warned judges against issuing temporary re-straining orders for a fee, a prac-tice that he said had delayed im-portant government projects.

While he was criticized for naming his classmates to key posts and for supposedly “re-cycling” officials from previous administrations, Duterte said his administration would be filled with “men of integrity and hon-esty.”

Other issuesPiñol said the meeting also

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PALACE TOUR. President Benigno Aquino III receives (from left) incoming executive assistant Christopher “Bong” Go, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea and secretary to the Cabinet Leoncio Evasco Jr. in his office. The three members of the Duterte Cabinet were given a tour of the Palace. With them was Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. Contributed photo by Bong Go

president-elect Rodrigo Duterte to rescind an order integrating the P550 airport terminal fee in the airline tickets for international passengers, including overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

“We appeal to incoming presi-dent Duterte and his transporta-tion secretary Arthur Tugade to immediately revoke MIAA-MC No. 8 that reduces the exemp-tions granted by law to our fellow OFWs,” he said.

He noted that existing laws exempt OFWs from paying travel

tax, documentary stamp and air-port terminal fee.

MIAA allows OFWs to refund integrated terminal fee upon showing of the Overseas Employ-ment Certificate (OEC) issued by the POEA.

But he said many OFWs were unable to refund the pay-ment since the new regulation was enforced last February.

“We hope that the next (MIAA) general manager would put into serious review and possibly re-scind MC No. 8 because it bla-tantly disregards the exemptions

granted by a law for our OFWs,” he pointed out.

Betiz stressed that a mere cir-cular could not supersede, much less amend, a law that has been in existence for the past 20 years.

Jobs at homeAquino is proud of what his

six-year administration has done in turning the economy around so that Filipinos don’t have to leave their families to work abroad.

“We are glad that this country is able to afford you that digni-fied living whereas previously it

More Filipino nurses seen working…

Philippines: ‘fastest-growing’…compared to the previous year, according to the IDC report.

Affordable, low-end smart-phones are a significant factor because it opened up the market to Filipinos who otherwise would not have access to smartphones, according to Mobile World Live. Budget phones that are priced at PHP3,500 ($75) are becoming more popular among Filipinos.

Popular smartphone retailers like Samsung and Asus have also been tackling the sub-PHP6,000 ($129) sector, IDC Philippine market analyst Jerome Domin-guez said in an interview with Rappler.

In the last three years, overall smartphone usage among Filipi-

nos in the Philippines more than doubled according to a report from statistics portal Statista. Currently, about 30 percent of all Filipinos are smartphone users and that is projected to increase.

Dominguez said that this up-surge in smartphone demand will further innovate the smartphone market in the Philippines.

“As the Philippines smart-phone market matures and shifts from being an acquisition game to a replacement one, consumers are expected to demand more from a smartphone in terms of specs and performance,” said Dominguez.

While the Philippines may be enjoying a more smartphone-savvy market, the IDC said that

network connectivity problems may ensue due to the increas-ing smartphone-using populace. Moreover, consumer demand for smartphones with higher memory capacity will increase; the IDC report found that smart-phones with less than one GB of random access memory (RAM) dropped from 44 percent to 38 percent.

Because mobile Internet is still “among the most expensive” in Southeast Asia, telecommunica-tions companies should work on innovating and expanding their capabilities to serve budding smartphone markets, according to IDC Philippines Country Head Jubert Albert in an interview with Rappler. n

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RELEASE THEM. Students hold a rally in front of the Department of Justice (DOJ) building in Manila to urge President-elect Rodrigo Duterte to release political prisoners. ManilaTImes.net photo by Russell Palma

ing so gracious, @VPJojoBinay! Your team has been very helpful and accommodating,” she said in the tweet.

On Thursday, June 16, Robre-do was the main guest at the De-partment of Education’s “Kariton Klasrum” culminating activity where she thanked outgoing Ed-ucation Secretary Armin Luistro and outgoing Social Welfare Sec-retary Corazon Soliman for their commitment and dedication to serve the youth.

Binay and Robredo’s transition teams met last week to discuss the smooth turnover of the func-tions of the OVP.

A meeting between the two will also be set up prior to the inauguration of new government officials on June 30.

Binay ran an unsuccessful campaign for president under the opposition United Nationalist Alliance (UNA).

Robredo, meanwhile, was the running mate of administration bet Manuel Roxas II, who also lost the race.

During the transition meeting, OVP chief of staff Benjamin Mar-tinez said Robredo would inherit the bulk of the P500-million bud-get of the office for 2016.

Robredo’s chief of staff Boy-et Dy expressed gratitude to the Binay camp for giving them the financial flexibility to pur-sue the programs that the new vice president would want to pursue.

“She wants to use it as a plat-form to engage as many stake-holders as possible around anti-poverty programs, pushing for her key advocacy of women’s empowerment, making sure that development is not just in the urban areas but also in our prov-inces and regions and making sure that we win the fight against hunger,” he said.

VP loser better treated by Duterte

Meanwhile, defeated Vice Presidential bet Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is allegedly receiving better treatment from Duterte than the vice president-elect, re-elected Ifugao Rep. Teodoro Ba-guilat Jr. said on Thursday.

He said Marcos, unlike Ro-bredo, has already met with the incoming president in Davao City to discuss his concerns on the burial of his father and possibly serving in the Duterte adminis-tration in the future.

In the case of Robredo, he said she is getting snubbed by Duterte despite the latter’s call for unity and healing.

“Previous vice presidents served in the Cabinet. In the case of Leni, there is no offer of a Cabinet post. To add insult to in-jury, the incoming president has announced that he wants an in-auguration that is separate from that of Leni. It’s as if they still consider us in the Liberal Party as political enemies. The trust is not there,” he said.

Baguilat suggested that Ro-

bredo should no longer expect any Cabinet post from Duterte and that she should instead lead the opposition.

“Our candidate for president lost to Mayor Duterte, so we should expect to be in the oppo-sition,” he said.

Duterte said offering the vice president-elect a Cabinet job has not crossed his mind.

Besides, it might hurt Marcos, who is his friend, he said.

It might also hurt his support-ers in Ilocos Norte, where he won, he said.

Duterte lamented that he “lost miserably” in Bicol, Robredo’s region.

On another issue, Baguilat said he is disappointed by the failure of Roxas and the Liberal Party to file their respective statements of contributions and expenses on time.

“I hope that we will not be affected,” he said, referring to speculations that such failure could prevent LP winners from assuming office.

But he said he is not ready to agree to rumors that some LP insiders were trying to sabotage Robredo.

Marcos has announced that he would file an election protest against the vice president-elect with the Supreme Court sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tri-bunal on June 28. He lost by a slim margin of 263,473 votes. (By Jess Diaz and Paolo Romero / Philstar.com)

Duterte, Robredo to be inaugurated…PAGE A2 t

touched on the K-12 program, traffic problem, budget matters and food security.

He said incoming Education Secretary Leonor Briones in-formed the president that it is too late to shift gears on K-12 because of the law that institu-tionalized it.

“She (Briones) is open to im-provement and modification but is steadfast in her position that there is no way we can amend

that because of the law,” Piñol said.

Piñol reported to Duterte his consultations with farmers af-fected by the El Niño phenom-enon.

He said he is eyeing a cash-for-work program for farmers and fishermen to earn additional income. The work may include preparing roads, cleaning bodies of water and planting mangroves, among other tasks.

Piñol said he is also working closely with seed growers to in-crease rice production to prepare for La Niña, which is expected to hit the country in November.

“We are talking to seed grow-ers. We want to know how many seeds are available. By October, we have to harvest them. The planting should be done in July so we can have enough rice,” he said.

He added that incoming transportation secretary Arthur Tugade reported on the traffic problem in Metro Manila and proposed cracking down on unregistered or “colorum” ve-hicles.

As to the proposal to grant Duterte emergency powers to address traffic woes, Piñol said the matter “was referred to the legal minds.”

Incoming budget secretary Benjamin Diokno, meanwhile, informed Duterte that about P1.7 trillion remains unspent in this year’s budget.

Incoming Finance Secretary

Carlos Dominguez discussed his proposed meeting with the busi-ness sector from June 20 to 21 here. Duterte is expected to at-tend the second day of the meet-ing.

‘Meet-and-greet’The first Cabinet meeting pre-

sided over by Duterte in Metro Manila on Wednesday, June 15 was an informal affair that involved a “meet-and-greet” among top government execu-tives who would steer the country in the next six years, said incom-ing presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella.

“This evening was a simple meet and greet,” Abella said. “It was an informal meeting with the Cabinet. There was an introduc-tion of the new Cabinet members and the new appointees.”

He and incoming Presidential Communications and Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar faced the media fol-lowing the almost five-hour late night meeting.

Duterte, who flew from Davao City on Wednesday to visit the wake of Bataan vice governor-elect Enrique Garcia Jr., arrived past 6 p.m. at PICC using a he-licopter.

The meeting, which also in-cluded dinner, supposedly start-ed around 7 p.m. and ended more than four hours later.

Around 28 people were in the room, including almost all of the designated Cabinet members,

Corruption not allowed in incoming…PAGE A2 t

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was always abroad where there was that promise. And this is just the stepping stone,” he told young cadet engineers from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

Public Works Secretary Rog-elio Singson on Friday, June 17 brought 125 young civil engi-neers to Malacañang as part of the reform program in the agen-cy to hire new workers and weed out corruption.

Aquino called on the young public civil servants, who have been given plantilla positions in the DPWH, to continue working for the common good, where they have been trained by Sing-son’s leadership standards for the department long ridiculed for its countless anomalies.

“There will be even better and better opportunities down the line. And I am sure no good

deed will ever go unrewarded,” he said. “We improve our de-mocracy. We make it valuable to everybody then we move on, advancing step-by-step.

“The more we are commit-ted, the further the steps we can take,” Aquino stressed. “So, again, you have taken a very, very good first step. We have to make sure that the system works for everybody, that everybody has a stake in the system.”

In 2015, he took note of the number of OFWs who have de-cided to come home instead of working in other countries.

“I am really so pleased about the decrease in the number of OFWs. There is a study that says at least about 400,000 of our countrymen have come back home and have found meaning-ful jobs,” Aquino disclosed to journalists last December. (With Delon Porcalla)

More Filipino nurses seen…PAGE A3 t

incoming presidential chief legal counsel Salvador Panelo told The Star on Thursday.

Panelo said not in attendance were incoming foreign affairs secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. who is in the United States, and in-coming presidential peace ad-viser Jesus Dureza and incoming labor secretary Silvestre Bello III who are in Norway for the pre-liminary talks with the Commu-nist Party of the Philippines.

Jose David Lapuz, who was ru-

mored to have been appointed to the Commission on Higher Edu-cation, was also not present.

Among those who attended were newly designated health secretary Paulyn Ubial, trade secretary Ramon Lopez and tour-ism secretary Wanda Tulfo-Teo.

“(The Cabinet members were) very transparent with one anoth-er, very encouraging. The presi-dent is very informal but direct to the point,” Panelo said.

Policy talksWhile no discussions on spe-

Corruption not allowed in incoming…cific policies were discussed, Abella said the meeting involved a free-flowing exchange of ideas among Cabinet secretaries to make sure that the incoming government is well coordinated.

“The whole meeting was basi-cally just about… hearing from the various secretaries so that the incoming administration will be able to be more system-atic and more coordinated and the departments will not act as silos,” he added. (With Janvic Mateo)

PAGE A4 tcratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP). Duterte will not take of-fice until June 30, so the recently concluded meetings in Oslo can-not yield binding commitments from the Philippine government.

Participants of the planned negotiations intend to broker amnesty and a ceasefire in a do-mestic conflict that has claimed 40,000 lives to date, according to sources for Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal. A delegation of Filipino leftists, including CPP founder Jose Maria Sison, and a chief negotiator for the NDFP, Luis Jalandoni, will meet with Duterte and his advisors in the third week of July, according to ABS-CBN news.

Both sides had extended ges-tures of goodwill ahead of infor-mal exploratory negotiations in June. Shortly after winning the presidency, Duterte announced that Sison, who was one of the President-elect’s professors at Manilla University before living

in exile in the Netherlands, would be welcome to return to the Phil-ippines, according to Inquirer.

Rebel groups have released several policemen from their cus-tody, and Duterte said he would include leftist (though not neces-sarily CPP or NDFP members) in his administration’s cabinet, according to the WSJ. Appoint-ments would be in the depart-ments of Labor, Environment, Agrarian Reform, and Social Wel-fare, according to Bloomberg.

In May, the incoming president had promised to free communist political prisoners if CPP and NDFP representatives agreed to convene for peace talks. Prior negotiations between rebels and the Filipino government ended when the administration of out-going president Benigno Aquino III refused to meet demands for the unconditional release of com-munists, according to the Philip-pine Star.

The NDFP had claimed that rebels charged with criminal of-

fenses were acting as peace con-sultants, and therefore immune to prosecution. However, gov-ernment officials from the prior administration said it would be impossible to verify the identity of communists and isolate them from non-political prisoners.

There were about 3,200 soldiers in the armed body of the CPP, the New People’s Army (NPA), ac-cording to the Philippine Star. In February, clashes between rebels and the Filipino military left three dead and seven injured. n

Duterte, advisors, communist groups…

AIR TRAINING. A United States (US) Navy aircraft arrived at Clark Air Base in Pampanga on Wednesday, June 15 for the training with FA-50 aircraft pilots of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). The newly arrived EA-18G Growler aircraft is part of the first temporary detachment of the US Navy, according to a report from the US Pacific Fleet. The Growler aircraft will also perform routine operations to enhance regional maritime domain awareness and assure that there is access to air and maritime domains in accordance with international law. The detachment consists of four aircraft and 120 personnel assigned to the expeditionary squadron based at the Naval Air Station in Whidbey Island, Washington. US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class John Philip Wagner, Jr.

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can and Pacific Islander (AAPI) adults.

An array of issues was intro-duced -- including health care and benefits, financial security and employment -- but afford-able housing for senior citizens was the most talked-about issue among the attendees.

Vicki Cimmarusti, a NAPCA member, asked Tracy Badua, housing program specialist from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) whether the department is ini-tiating the construction of more affordable housing. A critical concern was that most afford-able housing for seniors, most of which are provided by HUD’s Housing Choice Voucher Pro-gram, also known as Section 8, are located in “unsafe areas” fre-quented by vandals, according to Cimmarusti.

“One week a whole bunch of taggers come up and tag the place, and then the next week

landlords try to clean it up, but the taggers come back the next week and do it again,” said Cimmarus-ti. “It’s really bad and something to look into because you have to walk through a cesspool to get to the nearest [public transit]. It re-ally is uncomfortable.”

More attendees chimed in by adding that some of these areas in which food stores, pharmacies and public transportation are not easily accessible. A group of care-givers urged that HUD should be more active in setting up housing in safer, more desirable areas as well as constructing larger units, many of which were described as “cramped.”

“Most of the houses are put into the low-income areas, and the more affluent areas don’t want low-income housing in [their neighborhoods],” said Gary Phillips, a caregiver. “Why can’t there be more low-income housing [more affluent] neigh-borhoods rather than those of undesirability?”

Badua answered that insti-tuting more housing on a city-wide level is best to be handled by local forces. Although HUD provides funding for state and city level agencies, the way in which those agencies allocate the funding is dependent on zoning laws and laws and is-sues specific to each state or city, said Badua.

While still on the subject of housing, Cimmarusti also probed about a “loop-hole” in the hous-ing system wherein certain neighborhoods and building managers can avoid installing Section 8 housing by paying a fee to the department and suggested that the department “tighten up the rule” regarding the voidance of low-income housing.

Badua, once again, said that the department remains vigilant to all housing concerns and as-sured that the vouchers are safe and reliable, and any issue of malfeasance are to be investi-

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al Interest (MAVNI) program offers US legal residents an ex-pedited naturalization process. In 2014, the Pentagon expand-ed the MAVNI program to allow DACA beneficiaries to pursue those benefits, according to the Associated Press. Rep. Ru-ben Gallego (D-Ariz.) told the AP that a compromise recently approved by the House Armed Services Committee clarifies the Secretary of Defense’s au-thority to allow any immigrant to enlist.

Gosar said the expedited citi-zenship program was not intend-ed “to be utilized for the benefit of illegal immigrants.” He went on to criticize President Barack Obama, whom the congressman believes “relentlessly amended immigration law by executive fiat and executive edict.”

Opponents of Gosar’s amend-ment say it was an extension of the anti-immigrant rhetoric es-poused by the presumptive Re-publican presidential nominee, and would deprive the military of willing soldiers. A similar bill proposed by Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), which sought to prevent the Pentagon from spending money to recruit DACA benefi-ciaries, also failed a vote in the House.

“Your patriotism is more im-portant than your papers,” said Gallego in opposition to the im-migration amendments.

So far, 141 DACA immigrants have enlisted in the military and taken part in the MAVNI pro-gram, according to sources for the AP. More than 100,000 ser-vice members have become nat-uralized citizens since 2002, ac-cording to data from the United

States Citizenship and Immigra-tion Services (USCIS).

Asian American and Pacific Is-landers (AAPIs) represent 5.4 or all active service members. Filipi-nos have fought alongside Amer-ican troops since as far back as the battle of New Orleans during the war of 1812.

Following the defeat of Gosar and King’s proposals, the House proceeded to pass the $575.5 bil-lion spending bill with a 282-138 vote.

However, the president said he would veto it if it reached his desk due to provisions related to Guantanamo Bay, according to the AP. Language in the bill bans relocating prisoners from the no-torious detention center in Cuba to the US, and prevents spending on construction or modification of a US-based replacement. (Eric Anthony Licas / AJPress)

DACA recipients can still enlist in military…PAGE A1 t

gated.After the event, Cimmarusti

said that the government should initiate more action to establish more affordable housing for older people in “better neigh-borhoods.” She thinks that there needs to be collaboration among “federal, state, county and city level” officials to launch more low-income housing for seniors.

She said that her old neigh-borhood, Westlake North near 4th Street and Union Street, is colloquially known as the “Third World Country” because of the poor, unsafe living conditions, which are particularly dangerous to senior citizens.

“We’ve all worked hard our whole lives, and we just want to live in safety,” Cimmarusti added.

Other federal agencies that were represented at the panel were the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Social Security Admin-

istration (SSA) and U.S. Secu-rity and Exchange Commission (SEC). The Wage and Hour Divi-sion and the Employee Benefits Security Administration of the U.S. Department of Labor were also present.

Local agencies and organiza-tions included the City of LA’s Department of Aging, Bet Tze-dek Legal Services, LA County Community and Senior Services and the Center for Health Care Rights, which shared their pro-grams such as telephone hot-lines for low-income seniors, le-gal assistance as well as helping seniors navigate through health care systems like MediCal.

All panelists mentioned that their respective organizations offered extensive translation ser-vices for non-English speaking elders.

Language barriers often pre-vented English-impaired elders, especially AAPI elders, from re-ceiving the services they need, said David Cohen, chair of NAP-

CA’s board of directors.The session’s focus was com-

batting challenges that older people, caregivers and families face when dealing with elder care, but Wesley Lum, president of NAPCA, also made sure to highlight the positives about old age. To the audience, he fielded the question, “What’s the best thing about growing older?”

Attendees noted that having more freedom, spending time more time with family and being able to learn from the younger generation are positives of aging.

Filipino senior citizen Romeo Bejo, 75, proudly stated that the best thing about aging is being able to shed wisdom to younger people.

“When we age, we become wiser,” Bejo said. “The experi-ences that we have consumed over the past years can be re-lated and transmitted to the next generation. Getting older means getting wiser!” (By Klarize Mede-nilla / AJPress)

Housing a top issue among AAPI…PAGE A5 t

THE Los Angeles City Council approved settlement fees for two cases involving homeless people, together totaling $950,000, ac-cording to a Los Angeles Times report.

Deliberated in a closed meet-ing, lawmakers agreed to a pay-out of $822,000 in a case in which homeless people collectively sued the city for seizing and de-stroying their property, the Times reported. In April, U.S. District Court Judge S. James Otero ruled that the city needed to reform its handling of homeless individuals’ personal property, citing that the existing protocol was unconsti-tutional and violated protections against unreasonable searches and seizures.

Moreover, Otero said that the city must give proper notice be-

Homeless rights prevail in LA City Councilby Klarize Medenilla

AJPressfore going forth with searches and confiscation.

“The city, in many instances, ap-pears to be confiscating all prop-erty, without differentiating the types of property at issue or giv-ing homeless people a meaningful opportunity to separate essential medication or medical equipment from their other property,” Otero said in his ruling in April.

The second case resulted in a settlement of $125,000 regard-ing an arrest made during a 2011 protest of the city’s monthly Skid Row walks in which city and lo-cal business leaders examine the 50-block neighborhood. The city council ruled that the arrest of Pete White, LA Community Ac-tion Network organizer and ac-tivist, was a “mistake.”

White, along with other activ-ists, protested the Skid Row walk practice because they saw it “a vehicle for ejecting poor and

homeless residents and hasten-ing gentrification,” according to the Times article.

According a 2015 report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, LA has the highest amount of home-less people in the country with a homeless population of more than 12,000. Consequently, LA is no stranger legal battles over is-sues of homelessness.

Last year, the city approved a payout of $1.1 million in attorney fees in a case that sought to re-form ordinances that prohibited homeless people from sleeping in their cars on city streets and lots, according to another LA Times report from last year.

Two years ago, civil rights at-torneys prevailed in a case that challenged police sweeps of over-night homeless encampments on Skid Row – that case resulted in $725,000 in attorney fees. n

WASHINGTON, D.C. — “It is worth noting that Philippine soci-ety has always been blessed with strong and powerful women who shape the course of our history. Filipinas are active in diverse fields, pouring their talents, skill, and passion into many areas of human endeavor. It is therefore no wonder that the Philippine Suffrage Movement in the early 1900s was composed mainly of Filipinas who were able to carve an identity, and a mission, that were separate from those of the influential men in their lives.”

Thus remarked Minister Pat-rick Chuasoto, Deputy Chief of Mission of the Philippine Em-bassy, as he formally opened the exhibit “The Washington Home of the Philippine Suffrage Move-ment” on June 16 at the Embas-sy’s Romulo Hall.

“The Washington Home of the Philippine Suffrage Move-ment” stems from the research of husband-and-wife team Erwin Tiongson and Titchie Carandang-Tiongson, who also spearheaded the ongoing project Philippines on the Potomac or POPDC. It was an initiative of Madam Ma-

US First Lady Florence Harding received a group of women from the Philippines led by Sofia de Veyra, wife of the Philippine Resident Commissioner at the South Lawn of the White House on 19 June 1922. These women are the wives and daughters of the delegation which came to Washington to lay before President Harding the plea for Philippine Independence.

Washington exhibit honors Filipino suffragists

ria Victoria Cuisia, wife of Philip-pine Ambassador to the United States Jose L. Cuisia, Jr. Another remarkable Filipina, Monique Bascon, lent her artistic talent as exhibit designer.

The exhibit focuses on the lives of Mercedes Tiongson San-diko, Clemencia Lopez, Sofia de Veyra, Pura Villanueva Kalaw, Aurora Quezon, Ines Villa Gon-zalez and Pilar Hidalgo Lim, who pursued their advocacy for the

extension of suffrage to Filipino women during their stay in the United States in the early part of the 20th century.

“The exhibit celebrates a group of extraordinary women and their ties to Washington. And coming so soon after the last Philippine elections, this ex-hibit, we hope, serves to remind us that suffrage rights have been hard won through the struggles of many people who came be-fore us. And by coincidence, that photo of the women from the Philippines at the White House, around which the exhibit is orga-nized, was taken almost exactly 94 years ago today,” explained Erwin and Titchie Tiongson.

“The exhibit draws materi-als from our Philippines on the Potomac Project. Discovering all these fascinating women and their ties to our adopted DC home has been a deeply reward-ing experience. And the process of discovery has been made so much easier thanks to the gen-erosity of so many people who shared memorabilia, photos, and family stories,” the Tiongson couple added.

The Embassy is hosting the week-long exhibit in line with its Gender and Development (GAD) program and the commemora-tion of the 70th anniversary of Philippines-US diplomatic rela-tions.

“We must remember that while uPAGE A7

ACESS. The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) will construct more bridges to connect peasant enclaves separated from municipal markets by rivers that are non-traversable during the rainy days. Engineer Don Loong, ARMM’s public works secretary, on Wednesday, June 15 said with durable bridges, farmers in the region’s five provinces will have an “all time access” to trading centers where they can sell their farm products straight from their fields. Philstar.com photo by John Unson

7/19/16

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MANILA — The Philippines and the United States (US) re-cently led the launch of the “Global Guidelines to Protect Mi-grants in Countries Experiencing Conflict or Natural Disaster.”

The project, initiated by the two countries, was under the Migrants in Countries in Crisis (MICIC), ac-cording to a statement from the US Department of State.

diplomatic relations between our two countries turn only 70 years old this year, the ties that bind our nations have existed for over a century. Moving forward entails being open to outside partnerships and at the same time harnessing the cooperation of your own people to be united in pursuit of common goals. The Philippine Suffrage Movement had its own allies and support-ers here at the US capital and we similarly honor their role in the Movement’s eventual success,”

the Deputy Chief of Mission em-phasized.

The Movement triumphed as the right of suffrage was ex-tended to Filipino women on 30 April 1937. Almost eight months later, on December 14, 1937, the Philippines held the first general election in which Filipino women were allowed to vote and run for public office.

“It truly takes a village to put together an exhibit. We are grate-ful to the Philippine Embassy, the Public Diplomacy Office, the Gender and Development Pro-

Washington exhibit honors Filipino suffragistsUS, PH launch guidelines to protect migrantsThe Philippines and the US

recognized that no country is im-mune to conflict or natural disas-ter which led to the conception of the guidelines.

The publication of the guide-lines was a result of two years of consultations with governments across the world and among pri-vate sector employees, civil soci-ety, diaspora and migrant orga-

nizations.The guidelines seek to promote

saving lives and calls in migrants to get assistance in emergencies without discrimination. They also promote fostering respect for hu-man rights of migrants regard-less of their immigration status.

Earlier this week, the Phil-ippines and the US formally launched the guidelines at the United Nations headquarters in New York. The guidelines will also be launched in Geneva, Swit-zerland on June 28. (By Patricia Lourdes Viray / Philstar.com)

gram and of course, Mrs. Cuisia, for the wonderful opportunity to share our discoveries with the Filipino- American community,” the Tiongsons concluded.

Ms. Mitzi Pickard, President of the Philippine Arts, Letters and Media Council (PALM), served as master of ceremonies at the exhibit launch.

Members of the public may view the “The Washington Home of the Philippine Suffrage Movement” at the Romulo Hall until 12:00 p.m. of Thursday, June 23, excluding Saturday and Sunday. n

PAGE A6 t

thiS Week in RevieW US

IN a live-stream Thursday night, June 16, Democratic presi-dential hopeful Bernie Sanders did not concede his campaign, but pledged to worked with Hillary Clinton “to make certain that [his supporters’] voices are heard.” In his speech, Sanders en-couraged young people to become involved in government and spoke about income inequality, Wall Street, climate change, health care and college tuition. Sanders won 22 states, but re-ceived a bigger than expected defeat in California. Clinton’s vic-tory in California allowed her to collect 2,383 delegates, enough to secure her the presumptive Democratic nomination. Where Sanders goes from here is not clear, but has said in the past that he will stay in the race until the Democratic National Convention, which is next month in Philadelphia.

Sanders winds down campaign, does not concede

MANY across the nation were eager to help after the attack on Pulse night club in Orlando, Florida last Sunday, June 12. An official GoFundMe account has since reached $5 million, making it the largest, fastest- growing campaign in the website’s history. But now the question of who should receive the money arises. Over 100 victims of past mass killings have signed a petition to give the money directly to the families of those affected, but some fear the money will be distributed to organizations looking to profit. Additionally, over 100 fake GoFundMe campaigns have emerged, which are currently being investigated, according to Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Orlando massacre sparks donation controversy

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AS promised in his campaign, president-elect Rodrigo Duterte has begun mobilizing congressional support for the restoration of capital punishment. With his “super majority” in place in the House of Repre-sentatives and his new allies also in control in the Senate, any public opposition to the plan is likely to be set aside and the death penalty may soon be back, with the only question to be settled being the mode of execution.

Back to capital punishment

Nations approve state-spon-sored executions not just to elimi-nate threats to society but also as a crime deterrent. Predominantly Catholic Philippines abolished capital punishment, but the landslide victory of Duterte is just the latest indication of public support for extrajudicial meth-ods of law enforcement.

This support can be attributed mainly to the weakness, corruption and inefficiency of the criminal justice system. This weakness will not be corrected by bringing back the death pen-alty. Restoring capital punishment must be backed by structural changes to strengthen the rule of law.

Law enforcement agencies must be purged of corruption and given more resources and skills training so that crimes are solved and impunity does not prevail. The same must be done with the prosecution service.

The judiciary must clean up its act. This is beyond the jurisdiction of the executive, but it is possible to inspire better performance from the judiciary by improving compensation for judges, for example,

and improving courtroom and prosecution facilities. The vetting process for magistrates must be as depoliticized as possible; the

current system of appointments in the judiciary is easily and routinely undermined by politicians and religious groups.

A database can be set up to monitor the prog-ress of court cases so that judges with the slowest adjudication rates or with the most number of tem-porary restraining orders can be easily identified. Such measures lack the shock value of state ex-ecutions, but it takes more than a fear of a double hanging to deter criminality.

In case capital punishment is restored, improv-ing the efficiency of the judiciary is also crucial to avoid any miscarriage of justice that would send an innocent person to the gallows. There are valid observations that in the final years before capital punishment was abolished, only poor convicts who could not afford good legal advice were the ones executed. The judiciary has long cried out for re-forms; this becomes more urgent with the planned revival of the death penalty. (Philstar.com)

Guest Editorial

[Editor’s note: This column has been updated and re-published in light of the recent shooting in Orlando, Florida on June 12, 2016]

“IN watching the coverage of the murders that have taken place in Connecticut, the same argu-ments prevail from the last shootings we have witnessed: ‘the guy who did this was mentally de-ranged, mentally ill, evil’; this time the news re-ported the shooter had a mother who was ‘ridged’. All give reasons for what happened; but, the end result makes the mentally disabled community take the brunt of an act by someone they never met, while at the same time, blaming a woman for her son’s violence. The answers/reasons for such acts are recycled and regurgitated…’guns are to blame — we need new legislation to ban weapons’ while gun proponents will say ‘guns don’t kill peo-ple, people do’. The debate will begin again and nothing will really happen, as there is no way to empirically ‘prove’ what causes someone to mur-der in a rampage. I have had some intense conver-sations of late with loved ones and based on these, what I intuitively know, have experienced, and un-derstand, I come to the conclusion that we need to shift, to create a new language and to come up with a new paradigm about rampage murder because nothing explains what we are witness-ing anymore. The way we currently think of the murders in Connecticut - ‘a gunman with mental illness does this horrible thing because he is evil’ is linear thinking. What if we thought of mental illness as being part of a list of characteristics that might contribute towards someone moving towards being violent, and realizing that mental illness is not necessarily the main cause of his vio-lence?,” — Jamie Marie Watson, 2012.

What if Jamie Watson’s thoughts on mental illness were part of a process of disassembling oneself? A fractured sense of self, enabled by the current American culture? A deconstruction away from one’s true gifts, precious talents and a God-given sublime self? A dying process to one’s hu-manity in America?

BBC News reports that America has 300 million guns in private hands, apart from the police and the military, enough to arm every man, woman and child in America. About 10 out of 100,000 people in America die from gun-inflicted wounds.

As of September 2015, 33,636 firearm deaths were reported, according to the Centers for Dis-ease Control and Prevention. For suicides, it was a higher number at 41,149 making it 13 out of 100,000 in the population; 21,175 of those were

using firearms.The Guardian reported 1,052

shootings in 1,066 days and called it, America’s gun crisis, from December 2012 to Dec. 2, 2015.

On Dec. 2, 2015, 14 perished at a Christmas party in San Ber-nardino, California and 17 in-jured at the hands of a Muslim married couple. It was just days before the third anniversary of the massacre at Sandy Hook Ele-mentary School in Newtown, Connecticut, when 20 children and six adults were killed by a white gunman in Dec. 2012.

President Barack Obama called it an unparal-leled pattern that exists nowhere else in the world. That statement is bolstered by the FBI, which has reported an increasing pattern of mass shootings since 2000.

Most recently, the United States experienced yet another attack on June 12, 2016, which is re-garded as the worst mass shooting in the coun-try’s history. That Sunday morning, the 29-year-old gunman — who had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State — opened fire at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, leaving 49 people dead and 53 wounded.

President Obama, again, had to address the na-tion.

“We are also going to have to have to make sure that we think about the risks we are willing to take by being so lax in how we make very powerful fire-arms available to people in this country. And this is something that obviously I’ve talked about for a very long time,” he said the day after the shooting occurred.

He and Vice President Joe Biden also traveled to Orlando on Thursday, July 16. This marked the president’s 10th visit to the scene of a mass shoot-ing.

“Today, once again, as has been true too many times before, I held and hugged grieving family members and friends and they asked why does this keep happening. They pleaded that we do more to stop the carnage,” Obama said in his re-marks. “They don’t care about the politics. Neither do I. Neither does Joe.”

Mother Jones has deconstructed the mass mur-ders of 30 years, describing a mass murder, in-volving four or more. The author, Mark Follman, describes that seven occurred in 2012 alone, dur-ing the height of the election campaign between

President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. These massacres occurred in usually safe places: schools, universities, shopping malls and theaters, totaling to 62 in the last 30 years in the US. Yet, the shooters viewed these safe places, as their center stage theaters to perform on and vent out their accumulated tsunami of

negative emotions.While we are not psychotherapists, nor policy

makers, we are activists involved in four decades of organizing folks towards positive outcomes of whole spiritual selves and community empower-ment, we believe we can advance our own view of multiple factors towards a ‘death process of an inner humanity in America.’

Dying to oneselfIn Asian American, African-American, Latino,

Hawaiian and Native American cultures, this con-cept is celebrated as a selfless attitude of dying to one’s needs and to one’s self-centeredness, en-abling one to care for the larger part of the com-munity and family.

But taken to the extremes, one’s inability to focus on one’s inner needs is a recipe for build-ing inner resentment, anger and bitterness. When that occurs, coupled with a death in the family, it translates to deep-seated rage that makes one mistakenly believe that one is alone to navigate the world and easily sets one up to explode, while externally manifesting their inner destruction and rage using drugs, alcohol, domestic violence to-ward their families, and a violence to the spirit to others, through emotional abuse, shunning, exclu-sion, and verbal abuse.

This dying to oneself is a disconnection from one’s humanity, no different from what we saw in Connecticut, easily enhanced by a process of homeschooling, making an autistic child unavail-able for social interaction.

I have a cousin with an autistic daughter, Evan. Evan is so smart that she looks at a piano and eas-ily makes music. She likes watching animated movies. By channeling Evan’s autistic mind, which gets super-charged by any environment, her par-ents found a school that could channel her to be productive with other children. When she comes home from school, she immediately puts on her headphones and dances. She is normalized by her parents (whose jobs allow them to be at home to supervise her after school) through inclusion,

which exposed her to positive and productive ac-tivities like creating music, not using guns.

Access to weaponsGuns are easier to buy than cars. Cars are leased

and bought with proof of driving literacy (driver’s education, passing a practical exam and proof of insurance), while guns require only a license iden-tifying who will own the weapon, not training, lit-eracy nor insurance.

Yet, guns are weapons that irrevocably destroy beasts, animals and persons, and now innocent first graders, under seven years old, just barely starting with their lives.

In America, 300 million guns are in the hands of roughly 1 in 4 Americans; some own multiple guns and even have cabinets full of rifles and various guns, used for target practice and hunting desert cottontails and quails.

If the US now requires those who have guns to undergo weapons training to understand the irre-vocable harm that their actions may cause, includ-ing a steep price for each bullet to raise revenues for safe gun usage (say $100 per bullet) and a li-ability insurance in the millions, would that lead gun owners to safely use their rifles and hand-guns?

Would a better framework perhaps be a ban on civilian access to handguns and assault weapons, similar to England and Australia? When the ban was passed on handguns and ammunition, mass murders stopped in Great Britain and Australia. In Great Britain, 30 folks died last year, while in America, 200 folks die each week — equivalent to a Boeing plane crash every week. One television channel reported that 10,000 Americans die each year.

Assuming we succeed in banning handguns and rifles, what else can we remove in the death fac-tory of inhumanity in America?

Self-control, self-restraint, and self-regulationIn Hawaii, social harmony is a valued practice.

It is called the ‘Aloha Spirit.’ But aloha is more than social harmony, it is fueled by a deeper care and concern for another. In the Philippines and amongst Filipinos all over the world, it is called “Bayanihan,” where a Filipino will go out of his or her way to connect to another in need. You see how they save others during typhoons to their own self-detriment. In South Africa, it is called, “ubun-tu”, I am because you are.

Amongst the Catholics, it is celebrating the God in you, the divine, sublime self, as Fr. Camilo Pa-

Away from guns to a national culture of finding grace and peace within

Prosy AbArquez-DelAcruz, J.D.

Rhizomes

PRESIDENT-elect Rody Duterte made a perfect decision in choosing to appoint Professor Emeritus Leonor Magtolis-Briones Secretary of Educa-tion once he becomes our President. That important day, which will mark the beginning of an administration that, we pray, will succeed in fulfilling its prom-ise to make government more efficient, effective, honest and responsive to the urgent and true needs of our people than what we have now, is only 14 days away.

Dr. Magtolis-Briones is professor emeritus at the University of the Phil-ippines’ National College of Public Administration and Governance, Lead

Convenor of Social Watch Philippines (the most incisive observer of public governance in our country which, often under her byline, publishes its find-ings). She has been a columnist of The Manila Times.

She is also the chair of the Board of Trustees of Silliman University and the chairman designate of the Board of Re-gents of the Universidad de Manila.

She is a person who takes her belief in God seriously, a rare trait among government officials.

She has held important national gov-ernment positions. She has been secre-tary to the Commission on Audit, vice president for Finance and Administra-

tion at the University of the Philippines, treasurer of the Republic of the Philip-pines and concurrently presidential ad-viser on social development.

She never applied for these positions. She was invited on the basis of her track record and her sterling reputation.

Even in becoming president of the Freedom from Debt Coalition (which includes some of the most patriotic Fili-pinos who know in-depth the financial condition of our country and of the gov-ernment) and lead convenor of Social Watch Philippines, she was invited by the founders and movers of these au-thoritative and vigilant civil society or-ganizations.

The same is true of her forthcoming appointment as Secretary of Educa-tion. Though a native Bisayan speaker like President-elect Duterte, Dr. Leonor Magtolis-Briones and Mayor Duterte had not even met each other when the offer was made.

Some critics of Sec. Armin Luistro, and the government’s resolve to con-tinue the implementation of the K-to-12 system of basic education, have ob-jected to the appointment of Professor Emeritus Briones. They do so because she does not share their position against K-to-12. In fact, she has repeatedly sug-gested that Bro. Armin Luistro should be retained by the Duterte government

as Secretary of Education, “so he can shepherd the ongoing implementation of K-to-12 to its successful conclusion.” Indeed, that “process has been going on for the past four years.”

This fact—that K-to-12 has been in place for four years—those opposed to K-to-12 seem not to know, or purposely ig-nore, when they speak and write against “the introduction” of K-to-12 because it lays more burdens on poor parents.

In another part of today’s OpEd Sec-tion, we publish part of Prof. Magtolis-Briones’ statement about her incoming appointment to DepEd. That essay also offers an illumination on the whole mat-ter of K-to-12. (Manilatimes.net)

An eminent choice for DepEd SecretaryuPAGE A9

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canza made me aware of after Simbang Gabi.I watched this assemblage of priests one morn-

ing discussing their week’s schedule of masses, readily giving up one’s ease and convenience, in favor of easing the responsibilities of another. It is looking after the other and his needs for self-care, “go ahead and go sleep, I see you yawning.” The other responds, “No, I still have to make the announcements at 11 am.” “It is okay, I will do it for you.”

Watch how they make room for one another, easing the workload of their duties, sharing them-selves to connect to the humanity of one another.

That is a solid relationship of give and take — “Go, I will take care of the family for you, while you make a living for us.”

It seems to reveal what Adam Lanza’s (the San-dy Hook shooter) mother did for him: dedicating her life to homeschooling and taking care of him, until she died from his hands, after being unable to deflect him from his fractured sense of self as he disconnected 27 others from their human lives on earth.

America has to build a new culture of progres-sive humanizing of one’s inner-self — one that harvests the best humanizing practices of multi-

culturally-empowered communities, who have been practicing them for many generations.

America must now take the aloha spirit amongst Hawaiians and Native Americans in Hawaii, the Bay-anihan amongst Filipinos and the ubuntu amongst Africans, and nationalize these humane practices as America’s cultural, psychological and social prac-tices, anchored in empathy and humanity. While we’re at it, emulate the Aloha practices, shown to us by our First Family, steeped in Grace towards their own family and families all over America.

Grace must now be Americanized and Grace must now be an American brand to be exported to the rest of the world, not wars!

* * *Prosy Abarquez-Delacruz, J.D. writes a weekly column for Asian Journal, called “Rhizomes.” She has been writing for AJ Press for 9 years now. She contributes to Balikbayan Magazine. Her training and experiences are in science, food technology, law and community volunteerism for 4 decades. She holds a B.S. degree from the University of the Philippines, a law degree from Whittier College School of Law in California and a certificate on 21st Century Leadership from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. She has been a participant in NVM Writing Workshops taught by Prof. Peter Bacho for 4 years and Prof. Russell Leong. She has travelled to France, Holland, Belgium, Japan, Mexico and 22 national parks in the US, in pursuit of her love for arts.

Away from guns to a national…PAGE A8 t

IT’S final.The Office of the Ombuds-

man on Thursday, June 16 said sacked Philippine National Po-lice Director General Alan Puri-sima and former Special Ac-tion Force (SAF) chief Director Getulio Napeñas would stand trial in the Sandiganbayan for their roles in the deaths of 44 police commandos in the hands of Moro rebels in Mamasapano, Maguindanao province, last year.

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales thumbed down the sep-arate appeals filed by Purisima and Napeñas seeking to set aside the antigraft body’s earlier reso-lution that recommended their indictment for graft.

“[The former] police officers’ motions for reconsideration de-serve scant consideration,” the Ombudsman said in a statement.

Usurpation of authorityMorales also approved the fil-

ing of a separate case for usur-pation of authority against Puri-sima—a longtime aide and close friend of President Aquino—and Napeñas as spelled out under Ar-ticle 177 of the Marcos-era edict Revised Penal Code.

For the second time, the Om-

Former PNP SAF Chief Supt. Getulio Napenas and former PNP chief Alan Purisima. Inquirer file photo by Raffy Lerma

Purisima, Napeñas to stand trial over SAF 44 fiasco

budsman imposed a lifetime ban on Purisima from serving in the government after he was found guilty of grave misconduct, gross neglect of duty and conduct prej-udicial to the best interest of the service.

According to the Ombudsman, Purisima’s role in carrying out the counterterrorism mission, called Oplan Exodus, to capture notorious Malaysian bomb ex-pert Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Mar-wan, “amounted to usurpation of

official functions.”It noted that he was already

serving his suspension for six months over the questionable P100-million courier service contract with Werfast Documen-tation Agency Inc. when the op-eration was conducted on Jan. 25, 2015.

In addition, the Ombudsman said that the then PNP officer in charge, Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina, issued a “cease

uPAGE A10

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TOYCON 2016. Collectors, gamers and cosplayers converge at the 15th ToyCon held at the SMX Convention Center, in Pasay City, featuring TV and movie stars, a Voltes V exhibit, souvenir booths, an artist gallery, a gaming library, and a photo op and autograph booth among others. ManilaTimes.net photo by Lorezno Antonio Mendoza

and desist” order in December 2014 against Purisima.

Breach of command chain“Purisima’s active participa-

tion and supervision of Oplan Exodus… violated the PNP chain of command,” the Ombudsman said.

Like Purisima, Napeñas was also slapped with permanent dis-qualification from public office and cancellation of retirement benefits and civil service eligibil-ity.

Purisima, who was dismissed from the PNP in June last year in connection with the Werfast deal, and Napeñas, who bowed out of the service the following month, were also ordered to pay a fine amounting to their salary for one year.

The Ombudsman said the for-mer SAF chief’s “constant re-porting and official dealings with Purisima, notwithstanding the latter’s suspension, and sans the knowledge and approval of… Es-pina, made him liable as a cohort of Purisima in usurping official functions.”

“Napeñas’ plea of leniency on account of his 37 years of merito-rious service in the government cannot be countenanced by this office considering that the pen-alty of dismissal from the service is an indivisible penalty,” the an-

tigraft body ruled.Aquino’s roleThe Ombudsman investigation

of the Mamasapano debacle did not cover the role of President Aquino in the police counterter-rorism operation.

Sen. Sonny Angara on Thurs-day, June 16 said the Senate in-vestigation of the tragedy found President Aquino politically re-sponsible, but this did not mean it considered him criminally li-able.

“What the Senate found was political responsibility and ac-countability resided in the Presi-dent. This is not necessarily the same as saying he is legally li-able,” Angara said in a text mes-sage to the Inquirer.

Angara was responding to the question whether Mr. Aquino could be charged after the end of his term, given that the Senate investigation led by Sen. Grace Poe found him ultimately respon-sible for the police mission.

Oplan ExodusPurisima and Napeñas briefed

Mr. Aquino twice in Malacañang about Oplan Exodus, which they had kept a secret from Espina and the military.

The mission was to get Mar-wan, for whose capture dead or alive the US government had of-fered a bounty of $5 million.

A secondary target of the mis-

sion was Basit Usman, a Filipino aide of Marwan on whose head the US government had put a price of $3 million.

Two SAF units—the 84th Spe-cial Action Company (SAC) and the 55th SAC—were sent into Mamasapano to get Marwan and Usman.

The 84th SAC was the strike force and it successfully pen-etrated the village where Mar-wan’s hut was located. The PNP investigation said the comman-dos killed Marwan and cut off his right index finger for DNA test-ing, but got into a gun battle with Usman and other bodyguards of the Malaysian terrorist on their way out of the village.

The 55th SAC, the blocking force, failed to come to the as-sistance of the 84th SAC, as it had lost its way and got into a gun battle with Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) fighters, Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters rebels and armed resi-dents of Mamasapano.

Of the 36 members of the 55th SAC, only one survived the day-long gun battle. The 38-strong 84th SAC lost nine men.

The MILF lost 17 fighters in the exchange of fire with the police commandos, and three civilians were killed in the crossfire. (With a report from Leila B. Salaverria / Inquirer.net)

Purisima, Napeñas to stand trial…PAGE A9 t

MANILA — Lawyer Salva-dor Panelo has confirmed that he is no longer the incoming presi-dential spokesperson of Presi-dent-elect Rodrigo Duterte as he is now assigned as the chief presidential legal counsel.

“I have just been named chief presidential legal counsel. Actu-ally, that has been my position all along and my being presidential spokesman was temporary as he announced and explained to the Cabinet tonight,” Panelo said in a statement to media on Thurs-

OUTGOING President Benig-no Aquino III has congratulated his successor, President-elect Rodrigo Duterte, offering him assistance in any manner even after the end of his term on June 30 so the new government would not have to “reinvent the wheel” during the transition.

It was the first time that Aquino and Duterte spoke on the phone since the tough-talking Davao City mayor won the presidency by a landslide in the May 9 gen-eral elections.

In an interview with mem-bers of the Malacañang Press Corps during a farewell lunch at a restaurant in Manila, Aquino described his conversation with Duterte as “pleasant.”

“I reiterated the offer to be of assistance, in any and every manner that they need it. And, more or less, it was a pleasant conversation, that’s how it end-ed,” he said, adding, Duterte did not reject his offer of help.

“Parang natuwa naman siya [Duterte]. Hindi naman tinang-gihan at parang pinasalamatan yung alok natin. Sabi ko ano ba matutulong namin sa inyo, sa transition at sa pagkatapos para hindi na kailangan yung parang reinvent the wheel. (It seemed he was happy with the offer. He did not turn it down. I asked him what help we could give in the transition and beyond so that he won’t have to reinvent the wheel),” he added, without elab-orating further.

The phone conversation took place when the President-elect’s

EACH police station in Manila has to kill at least five drug lords a week starting July 1, the day President-elect Rodrigo Duterte assumes office, a strategy that will solve drug addiction in the city, a police source said.

Manila has 11 police stations and drug addiction is rampant in many of its districts.

“It is a difficult task but we have to deliver,” a high-ranking police officer told The Manila Times.

Asked why it is difficult to comply with the quota, he said many top drug personalities have already left the city and what are left are the small-time poor push-ers.

“Police, just to comply with

THE Catholic Bishops’ Confer-ence of the Philippines (CBCP) has called for Filipinos around the world to stand in solidarity with the LGBT community in the aftermath of the June 12 shoot-ing in Orlando, Florida.

The shooting had occurred in prominent gay club Pulse, and the perpetrator had expressed anti-gay sentiments before the attack, according to media re-ports.

In response to the attack, the CBCP released a statement on Wednesday, June 15 in which it labeled the attack as a “hate crime” against the LGBT com-munity.

“Bearing in the depth of his or her soul the image of the Creator, no human person should ever be the object of disgust,” the bishops said in the statement, which was penned by Socrates B. Villegas, archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan and president of the CBCP.

Because many Filipinos adhere to strict Christian beliefs – which include the condemnation of the gay community – the bishops note that despite the disapproval of an individual’s lifestyle and/or identity, cruelty and exclusion are unjustified.

“This is a project on which we, in the Philippines, must seriously embark for many are still forced to the peripheries because the

PH Catholic bishops encourage support of LGBT community

by Klarize MedenillaAJPress

norms of ‘decent society’ for-bid association with them,” the statement added, noting Pope Francis’ warnings that this be-havior does not represent core Christian values.

Since the shooting occurred during the Roman Catholic Church’s observance of the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy, the bishops emphasized the world’s need for mercy after claiming “many” young people’s lives, adding that “it is far more important to be merciful” than to be “right.”

Moreover, the bishops empha-sized tolerance toward people with differing lifestyles and en-courage a “dialogue” rather than acting in violence, which should never be a course of action.

The bishops also encourage

schools, youth leaders and gov-ernment officials to encourage people, particularly youths, to take a stand against bullying and harassment and not “outcast” LGBT individuals.

“We call on all Christians to show the world that our fidelity to Christ and our citizenship to his kingdom are of far more im-portance than whatever else may keep us in disagreement,” the bishops said.

The Vatican released a state-ment on June 13 that said that the pontiff reacted in “horror” upon learning about the Orlando shooting and offered prayer to the victims and their families. The statement also described the attack as a part of a “new mani-festation of homicidal folly and senseless hatred.” n

It’s open season on drug lords in Manilaby JaiMe r. PilaPil

ManilaTiames.net

the directive, might just kill any pushers or even users,” the source said.

However, another informant told The Times that there are still big-time drug lords in Manila, particularly the Binondo area where shabu and other illegal drugs are allegedly being manu-factured.

A check with the top most wanted persons in Manila showed that only one — Bernabe Dungo, alias Tikboy — is currently being hunted by the police for viola-tion of R.A. 9165 or the Compre-hensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002. Dungo, who operates in the Santa Cruz district, is facing charges before the regional trial court of Manila branch 53.

The 11 Manila police stations are found in Moriones, Central Market Santa Cruz, Sampaloc,

Ermita, Santa Ana, Jose Abad Santos, Santa Mesa, Malate, Pan-dacan, and Meisic.

The Times tried to confirm from Manila Police District Di-rector, Chief Supt. Rolando Nana if there was indeed a directive on the “kill 5 quota.”

“No new directives yet from Crame, our operation is continu-ous,” he said in a text message.

Meanwhile, two pushers were killed Wednesday, June 15 alleg-edly for failure to remit their col-lections.

They were identified as Gerry Damano and Francis Roque, both of Tondo. Their cases are still un-der investigation.

Many believe that the aggres-sive crackdown on illegal drugs was meant to impress Duterte who vowed to drastically solve drug addiction in the country. n

Abella replaces Panelo as incoming presidential spokesperson

by rosette adelPhilstar.com

day, June 16.Replacing Panelo is an educator

and former pastor, Ernesto “Er-nie” Abella, initially named as the deputy presidential spokesperson.

Abella and incoming Presiden-tial Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar on Wednesday evening also confirmed the assignment changes.

“Mr. Panelo will be his (Duterte) chief legal counsel,” Abella said in a Facebook live interview by The STAR reporter Robertzon Ramirez. “As of this evening, I imagine,” he added when asked if Panelo is no longer the official

presidential spokesperson.Andanar explained that he will

serve as PCOO secretary while Abela will be the spokesperson.

He added that the reason why Duterte said Panelo was only a “temporary” presidential spokes-person was because the incom-ing president plans to tap Abella as his spokesman.

“Well apparently it’s been the plan since day one,” Andanar said.

Abella faced the media for the first time on Monday. He said he seeks to “act as a conduit be-tween himself and the people through the media.” n

Aquino offers Duterte help ‘in any way’ post handover

by Catherine s. ValenteManilaTimes.net

transition team visited Malaca-ñang on Thursday.

Among those who met with him and Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa were incoming Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, executive assistant Christopher “Bong” Go and in-coming secretary to the Cabinet Leoncio Evasco Jr.

“Members of his staff went to the Executive Secretary [on Thursday]. The Executive Sec-retary brought them to me. We shared some of our experiences in the past six years [with] them,” Aquino said.

“We went through Malaca-ñang to show them the physical layout and then we proceeded to Malacañang Park, showed them Bahay Pangarap and the vari-ous facilities within Malacañang Park and that’s where they got in touch with President-elect Duterte,” he added.

It was on the day after Duterte met with his Cabinet appointees

in Manila for the first time since his proclamation.

Without the mayor, the Duterte group visited Malacañang for a largely undisclosed agenda.

But Aquino said both transi-tion teams discussed prepara-tions for Duterte’s inauguration at Malacañang’s Rizal Hall on June 30.

“I don’t know if I can speak [about] the preparations. I think his spokespeople have been talk-ing about their preparations,” he added.

It would be the first presiden-tial inauguration in the Palace since the late President Carlos P. Garcia’s 1957 oath-taking.

Garcia was vice president to President Ramon Magsay-say and took over as president when Magsaysay died in a plane crash.

The country’s presidents usu-ally take their oath at the Quiri-no Grandstand at Luneta (Rizal Park) in Manila. n

President-elect Rodrigo Duterte and President Benigno Aquino III

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NWS160205200_Happy Father's Day_FP_FIL_AJ_output.indd 1 6/10/16 10:41 PM

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She has received “negative comments” on her account after

her recent trip in Amsterdam

SHOWBIZ&STYLEJournal

PAGE B4

GAry Valenciano is one excited and happy grandpa.

His eldest son Paolo is expect-ing a child with wife Samantha Godinez.

“I’m looking forward to it. It’s the chapter of my life that I look for-ward to it,” said Gary about being a grandfather, in an interview with the group of press on Thursday, June 16 at the launch of Cebu Pa-cific and UNICEF’s partnership.

The singer-actor, who wants to be called “Papi” by his grandchild, said he’s happy that this happened in a time in his life when “I’m still young enough to run around with my grandchild.”

He even changed a bit the ar-rangement of their home, so it’ll be safe for the child to play around.

Mr. Pure Energy also thinks that through his grandchild, he’ll be able to “practice on that child what I wasn’t able to practice with my sons.”

He became a father at the age of 19, a time when he’s still occupied with the things he wanted to do with his life, Gary said.

“There were a lot of things I wanted to do,” he said. “There are things like sitting down, talking more to the child, more meaningful moments with the child.”

Now that he sees how excited his son Paolo is about being a dad, Gary would rather not give him some advice now about father-hood.

“I think we will cross the bridge when we get there,” he explained. “Kasi there might be challenges that he will face that I have never faced. So I’ll just have to remember everything that I’ve learned as a young dad.”

Gary will soon work on an al-bum, inspired by his works with UNICEF as its national ambas-sador. He also invited UNICEF celebrity advocate for children, Anne Curtis to participate in the said album.

Gary Valenciano excitedto become a grandpa

by Joyce JimenezPhilstar.com

Gary Valenciano is excited to be a grandpa to his first grandchild with son Paolo Valenciano. Philstar.com photo

Mariel Rodriguez rushed to hospital due to pregnancy worries

Mariel Rodriguez rushed herself to the hospital after feeling pain around her abdomen.


MArIEl rodriguez rushed herself to the hospital after feel-ing pain around her abdomen.

Mariel is now on the second trimester of her pregnancy.

“I rushed myself at the hos-pital thinking something was wrong because it was a feeling I have not felt before,” she re-lated in her Facebook post on Wednesday, June 15. “I thought it could be gas, UTI or worse contractions.”

However, she was told that “it was the baby’s movements I was feeling!!!!” and felt relieved after hearing the heartbeat of her baby.

The Kapamilya host said that she got “paranoid” after read-ing negative comments on her Instagram account.

JUNE 18-21, 2016 • LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL http://www.asianjournal.com • (213) 250-9797B�

Traveling on an air-line you haven’t been on before is an adventure

in itself. During an overseas flight that

spans more than 10 hours, you desire that level of comfort where you can extend your limbs and catch some sleep. in the hours you find yourself awake staring at the in-flight map and wondering ‘are we there yet?’, you seek options for entertainment, whether it’s onboard Wi-Fi or a wide selection of Tv shows and movies. On top of these amenities, a budget-friendly price tag for the ticket and no extra or exorbitant charges for check-in luggage are always ma-jor considerations.

For the modern day traveler, such requests aren’t that far reaching and it was a trip aboard eva air that brought these ele-ments together.

recently, i boarded eva air’s flight to Taipei out of los angeles international airport (laX). after a stopover in Taipei, i would then proceed to Cebu to experience the airline’s newly launched daily service from los angeles.

For the next 13 hours, a seat in the elite Class section of the aircraft — a happy medium be-tween economy and business class — was my resting place where i could extend my legs and fully recline. When i settled in, an amenity kit, slippers, pillow and blanket were provided, mak-ing me feel at ease even before takeoff.

in front of me was a personal interactive entertainment system that housed Tv shows, movies, and video games, complete with a power socket and USB port on the side, just in case any of my electronics needed charging mid-flight. There was on-board Wi-Fi, which was surprisingly fast, so icould catch up on my e-mails.

The flight attendants would periodically check in to see how passengers were faring and would deliver meals to our seats, even if we missed the scheduled ser-vice. Passengers in this section can choose either a Western or Chinese meal, which is served on chinaware and doesn’t seem like you are eating that stereotypically underwhelming and unappetizing airplane food.

Surely, these are all small but important details that assuage the length of air travel.

TRAVEL DIARIES:

24 hours in Taipeialong with the tour group i par-

ticipated in, we landed at Taipei’s Taoyuan international airport at 5 am prepared for the full schedule ahead. Personally, i emerged from the plane well-rested and produc-tive because i used the travel time to sleep and write, which is rare for me because my usual experi-ences on other long-haul flights have meant either not getting enough sleep or work done.

For those going on to Cebu, eva’s flight departs Taipei at 7:10 am, so there is not that much downtime in between the arriv-ing flight from la. The airport has a few kiosks and eateries that open early in the morning in case travelers want to grab a bite or refreshment.

However, our tour group de-cided to stay another day to get a sampling of Taipei. This was my second time in Taipei, and i was excited to revisit a few monuments and destinations that the city has to offer and see the progress over the past two years.

The Taiwan Tourism Board organizes free half-day city tours — either in the morning (from 8 am to 1 pm) or afternoon (from 1:30 pm to 6:30 pm) — for those who have a 7 to 24-hour layover. Once travelers land at the airport, they can register for one of the tour slots at the Tourist Service Center located in the airport’s ar-rival lobby. For a minimal fee, lug-gage can be stored at the airport baggage service counter before boarding the tour bus.

at 8 am, we loaded onto our bus and began the journey outside of the airport with a local guide named leslie, who would educate and entertain us with Taiwanese culture and history throughout the day.

Our first stop was Shou Xin Fang Creativity Wagashi and Cultural Center in the city’s Da’an District. it’s a famous confection-ary that produces and sells Tai-wanese desserts, like pineapple cake and various flavors of mochi and mooncakes, to name a few. Most of us were still adjusting to the sunlight and time difference, so being interactive and using our hands to make red bean mochi was a good way to start off the day. We got to take our flower-shaped creations with us — perfect for an afternoon snack in between tour stops. next, we walked around

the facility and saw bakery items being made and sampled products at the store. For those thinking of souvenirs, you can’t go wrong with the pineapple cake and strawberry and chocolate mochi.

next, we trekked to the Zushi Temple, a Taoist temple in the Sanxia district. as leslie ex-plained, this temple dates back to the late-1700s and has been restored after it was in ruins from World War ii. Today, it is an artistic place of worship, made of carved stone with bronze columns and statues of gods, lions, and dragons, which bear stories of their own. (Have your tour guide explain the various worshipping rituals and gods.) even if you don’t practice Taoism, the temple is a must-visit destination. i spent an hour inside admiring the intricate details at every corner and observ-ing individuals praying or lighting up incense.

Since we had more time to wander around before lunch, we walked through the Old Street of the district, which featured red brick hallways and Baroque-style architecture from the Japanese occupation of the country. The tour-ist-friendly shops offer items such as handicrafts,

croissants shaped like a ‘bull horn’ and fresh fruits. if you are curious, taste one of the bull horn croissants, either plain or with fill-ing, to see what the hype is about. it is not flaky like the traditional French pastry, but rather crunchy on the outside with a soft center.

at lunch, we were treated to a multi-course meal at Dian Shui Lou (not part of the free tour), a fine-dining Chinese/Shanghai-nese restaurant that is considered one of Taiwan’s best. The table was adorned with plates of fresh fish, fried rice, pan-fried noodles, vegetables, and xiao long bao, thin-skinned soup dumplings stuffed with meat and crab. eating this type of dumpling involves a routine (though there is not only one way to follow): gently use chopsticks to pick one up at the top, dip it into a black vinegar and ginger concoction, place it on the spoon, and then poke a small hole t o release

the

steam before silently slurping up the broth and chewing the meat. a trip to the country is definitely not complete without eating these dumplings, which are perhaps the most recognized symbol of Tai-wanese cuisine. at the end of the meal, we had steamed buns filled with egg custard to give us that appropriate amount of sweetness to cleanse the palate.

With full stomachs, we began the afternoon tour at the Zhong-zheng District, where the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall is lo-cated. The national monument was erected in honor of Chiang Kai-shek, president of the repub-lic of China from 1928 to 1975. Before going up the white stairs (which has 89 steps to represent the leader’s age when he passed away, as leslie encouraged us to count one by one), we basked in the grandiose structure from afar. The blue octagonal roof and four white walls symbolize the lucky number 8. To the sides of the monument sit a lush park, the national Theater, and national

Concert Hall. every hour from 9 am to

4 pm is the Changing of the guards Ceremony, an exhibition of utmost discipline and synchro-nization. We caught the 3 pm ceremony and for those 15 minutes, visi-tors swarmed into the hall. it was completely si-lent inside, except for the sounds the guards made

when twirling their guns or stomping their shoes. Our sightseeing excursion

ended at the Longshan Temple,a place of worship dedicated to guanyin, the bodhisattva of mercy. By the time we got there, clouds of smoke emitted from incense holders in the main and back halls as worshippers chanted and placed food offerings and flowers on the tables. Over 100 gods and goddesses are located inside; among them is Yue lao(translated to “Old Man Under the Moon”), also known as the god of matchmaking. leslie directed us to that god so we could wit-ness young people, particularly women, praying to him.

at the end of our daylong tour, we checked into Shangri-La’s Far Eastern Plaza Hotel, a sanctuary nestled in the middle of Taipei’s business district. When i entered my room, i was greeted by classi-cal music, an introductory letter, a bowl of fruits, and a tray of delec-table sweets that said “Welcome to Taipei” — all testaments to the five-star hotel’s hospitality.

The room itself, which the hotel describes as a modern version of historical Song dynasty décor, had a spacious mirrored hallway, walk-in closet, bathroom with glass shower and bathtub, queen-sized bed and sitting area by the window.

That night, it was an internal conflict between lounging around the luxurious room or using up the limited hours i had left in the city.

if you’re curious to walk around the hotel, climb up to the 43rd floor and you’ll find a rooftop swimming pool and a panoramic view of the city, a marvelous glimpse to catch especially when the sun is setting.

For food and drinks, the ho-tel offers nine restaurants and bars, ranging from Cantonese to Japanese to italian offerings. The tour group had dinner at Shang Palace located on the 6th floor of the hotel. The indulgent, creative eight-course meal con-sisted of black fungus marinated with sweetened black vinegar, chilled sliced abalone with spicy sauce, shrimp and crab roe; double-boiled chicken soup with matsutake mushroom and conch; braised sea cucumber with bam-boo and mushrooms; steamed crab pinchers in kaoliang wine; braised bird’s nest with shrimp, milk, ham and white egg; fried rice with scallops and crab; herb-al jelly served with honey sauce; and a fresh fruit platter.

if you have one night in Taipei to spare, do not miss a visit to Tai-pei 101 — the tallest skyscraper in the city where you can ride a fast elevator to the top and admire a sweeping view of the metropolis — or one of the night markets (i.e. guangzhou night Market near longshan Temple) to try street food and exotic delicacies.

Our sightseeing itinerary over the past 24 hours was merely a teaser of what Taipei has to offer. i’ll be back to explore more of Taiwan’s destinations and write about them.

The next morning, i headed to Cebu via eva air, ready to begin the next leg of my travels.

EVA Air’s flight to Cebu & more sights from the southern Philip-pine city to be continued in the next issue…

AcknowledgementsA special thank you to EVA

Air, Taiwan Tourism Board and Shangri-La’s Far Eastern Plaza Hotel in Taipei, Taiwan. More details on EVA’s inflight hospi-tality, services and schedule are available at www.evaair.com. To learn more about Taiwan Tourism Board’s half-day tour, please visit http://eng.taiwan.net.tw/tour/in-dex.htm. Information regarding Shangri-La’s Far Eastern Plaza Hotel can be found at http://www.shangri-la.com/taipei/fareastern-plazashangrila/.

by Christina M. OrielAJPress

Exploring Taipei

(213) 250-9797 • http://www.asianjournal.com LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL • JUNE 18-21, 2016 B�Features

PROVISIONAL WAIVER FOR CREWMEN DISPELS FEAR IN GOING BACK TO MANILA FOR VISA PROCESSING – ON AN ENCORE EPISODE OF “CITIZEN PINOY”! Cindy was a crewman who jumped ship and had been a TNT for more than 10 years. After seeing a “Citizen Pinoy” episode about another crewman who also jumped ship, Cindy and US citizen husband, Tom decided to consult with leading US immigration attorney Michael J. Gurfinkel about her chances of legalizing. Through Atty. Gurfinkel’s help, Cindy’s Provisional Waiver was approved. She went back to the Philippines, was processed for her immigrant visa at the US Embassy in Manila, and returned to the US less than a month later as a legal permanent resident. Watch an encore episode on Provisional Waivers, which could benefit: (a) crewmen without 245(i): (b) those who entered the US without inspection(EWI) without 245(i); or (c) K-1 fiancees who did not marry their US petitioner, on “Citizen Pinoy” – this Sunday, June 19 at 6:15 pm (PST) on TFC.

A cAppellA sextet The Fil-harmonic and the all-male vocal ensemble The Harana Men’s chorus join together for a night of singing under the stars on Sunday, July 24.

The Filharmonic broke onto the scene with their groundbreak-ing performance of Bruno Mars’ “Treasure” on NBc’s The Sing Off. Their flawless choreography and urbanesque beatboxing style was then featured in the movie pitch perfect 2, in which they played the a cappella group Manila envy. Joining The Filharmonic in an evening exploring the versatil-ity of the human voice and vocal harmony are The Harana Men’s chorus, who will also perform Original pilipino Music.

The Harana Men’s chorus is a well-known performing group in the Filipino American community, mainly for their authentic inter-pretation of harana, (traditional moonlight serenades performed by a suitor outside a young maid-en’s window).

The The Fil-Am collective Mu-

sic Show will also feature guest vocalists Sharon Rose Orosco, cecile Rojas-Azaret and Annie Nepomuceno.

In celebration of its 25th year, Asian Journal is a proud media sponsor of “The Fil-Am collec-tive Music Show,“ along with TFc The Filipino channel, KcSI-lA18, The law Offices of chris Navarro, Mosquera Multimedia, and Tee Signature. The concert will benefit the Scholarship Fund of the University of the philippines Alumni Association of Greater los Angeles and philippine patrons of the Arts USA.

Tickets prices start at $28; Reserved Seating. Tickets are available at FordTheatres.org or 323 461-3673 (for non-visual media 323-GO-1-FORD). To learn about discounts for groups of 10 or more, please visit FordThe-atres.org.

The Ford TheatresFollowing extensive renova-

tions to this historic facility, the Ford Theatres have reopened for the 2016 Summer Season.

The Filharmonic and Harana Men’s Chorus part of Ford Theatres reopening season

‘The Fil-Am Collective Music Show’ takes place on July 24The Ford is located just off the 101 Hollywood Freeway at 2580 cahuenga Blvd. east, Hollywood, cA 90068, between Hollywood and Universal Studios in the ca-huenga pass. The grounds open two hours before show time for picnicking. The Ford offers a num-ber of dining options: a variety of food and beverages is available on site. patrons are also welcome to bring their own food and drink. The Ford is disabled accessible. portable wireless listening devices are available upon request.

parking at the Ford is stacked and costs $5-$10 per vehicle for evening performances. New offsite parking location: a FRee shuttle services the parking struc-ture located at 1710 N.

cherokee Avenue in Holly-wood. parking is $10 for Ford patrons. Shuttle departures begin two hours before show time and reservations are required. Metro riders: a FRee shuttle picks up from the Universal city/Studio city Metro Station (3913 lank-ershim Blvd, Studio city 91604). The shuttle, which cycles every 20 minutes, stops in the “kiss and ride” area.

This event is part of the Ford Theatres 2016 Summer Season, a multidisciplinary arts series pre-sented by the los Angeles county Arts commission in cooperation with los Angeles county arts organizations. A complete season schedule, directions to the amphi-theatre and parking information can be found at FordTheatres.org.

(Advertising Supplement)

The Filharmonic Photo by Rick Gavino

Harana Men’s Chorus Photo by Hydee Abrahan

JUNE 18-21, 2016 • LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL http://www.asianjournal.com • (213) 250-9797B� Features

G. TönGi

The Global Kababayan

Programming of Kababayan Today, June 20-24, 2016

By Monet Lu

Moonlighting

by Mylah de leon

their fathers, I thought of how little I really know about my own father.

You see, my first knowledge of the world came to me through my senses were directed by my mother. She was the first one I saw, the first thing I felt, the first person I depended for security the day I was born.

But my father, he was my first love, and long after interests and attachments may have faded and changed, I still retain the vivid

The late Carlos Borromeo Ocampo Domingo, whose father and whose father’s father were sacrosanct Guardians of the Law.

Honor thy father

MY father is the kind of man I’ve always dreamed of: kind to the weak, fierce to the arrogant, generous to those who loved him, ruthless to those who will order him around.

Today as a whole nation of sons and daughters pause to remember

impression of that first love. In fact, that first love may have dictated the dimensions of the other loves I’ve come to know.

He was a guardian of the law who advocated respect for the laws of God and men, yet when I found myself (which was often) in conflict with the world, the lawyer in him will oppose the world to defend my own.

Corollary to this if he should happen to be guilty of an error in judgment his confusion is caused by love, as philosophers have taught us, maybe blind. He was, nevertheless, almost the only dependable source of sympathy and refuge.

When I was very young, my father was the handsomest man in the world, a safe harbor in time of storms. Through my years of growing (if at all, I did grow up), whenever trouble might come, I realized the ability to solve the problems of the present and faced the future unafraid because I have known the tender security of a father’s love.

He taught me that a man who professes his love to you wouldn’t promise the moon — but will show you the moon. Then, I didn’t notice the difference. Only years later in my adult life was when I realized what he meant. What people called love between a man and a woman is just a season, and if at its flowering, this season is a feast of greenery and sweet blossoms at its waning, it is only a heap of rotting leaves.

He did not point a shotgun at anyone who frightened me. He wasn’t a poet and didn’t know how to say lofty, lyrical and beautiful things the way my mother quot-ed poetic splendor. Instead, he echoed the profound and the bold epics of Homer. To “experience”

Monday, June 20 - Attorney Rhoda Yabes Alvarez from Hawaii gives advice on gives advice on immigration and family law.

Young author and writer Titus Bonifacio comes to the show.

Tuesday, June 21 - Joanna Conception tells us details about the upcoming Filipino Migrant Center’s (FMC) 6th year anniver-sary celebration.

We feature the work of Wed-lock Studios as we celebrate Bride Month this June.

Wednesday, June 22 - Mid-

week News Updates from the Asian Journal and Mia Mcleod of McLeod and Associates gives real estate advice.

Know History Know Self fea-tures ancient Filipino notions of time.

Charmaine Clamor tells us about the details for the Asian Jazz festival happenning this weekend!

Thursday, June 23 - Every wedding needs a wedding singer, and we are featuring a Kababayan that does just that! Get to know our kababayan Juan Paulo!

Friday, June 24 - Our Friday show is full of sponsors that al-

low us to run our program daily! Let’s support them! Get to know more about EVA Air, Pechanga Resort & Casino and Calayan Surgicentre.

*** Giselle “G” Töngi is the host and producer

of Kababayan Today, a daily talk show that features relevant topics for Filipino’s living in America. Her aim is to bridge not only the cultural gap between America & the Philippines but to help with the generational gap between our own people. She is married with two children and is based in Southern California and makes frequent trips in the Pacific Rim to Hawaii and Manila to feature fellow kababayans who are empowering the FilAm community.

PAGE B7

to visit her husband Robin Pa-dilla, who is there for a spiritual journey.

Mariel said she would no longer listen and respond to un-solicited advice from others.

Mariel Rodriguez rushed to hospital due to...

IT would have been like any other Sunday morning on June 12 -- one where I wake up knowing that life is good and that everything is exactly how it should be. Only, it wasn’t.

Because that morning, evil took over and life will never be the same again.

I say this with a broken and grieving heart, and I say it think-ing about the bereaved families of victims of the worst mass shooting in American history. This pain will be in my heart forever.

That Saturday night at the Pulse nightclub was supposed to be a special night for Latinos in Orlando, Florida. It was their Latino-themed night. I heard Puerto Rican drag queen Kenya Michaels was set to be one of the guests (former Ru Paul’s Drag Race contestant Yara Sofia later reported that Michaels made it out safely).

I’ve never been to this club but I know how exciting a themed night is, especially the ones dedicated to Latinos, whose culture resembles mine. I am sure there were a lot of dancing and fun times. Surrounded by families and friends in a place where they ‘believed’ they are free of judging eyes and hatred. I bet they felt safe just being themselves, but they didn’t know.

They didn’t know that was their last dance.

Officials confirmed that 49 people were dead and 53 wounded after gunman wielding an assault-type rifle and a handgun opened fire inside Pulse. I was shocked beyond belief. How could this hap-pen? How can such evil exist?

Days passed and it became evident that I am just one out of thousands of people asking the same questions. Then there were stories of survivors painfully recall-ing that fateful night. They describe every horrifying detail that, I can just assume, would haunt them for eternity.

“I look over, and he shoots the girl next to me. And I’m just there laying down and I’m thinking ‘I’m next, I’m dead.’ So I don’t know how, but by the glory of God, he shoots toward my head but it hits my hand, and then he shoots me again and it hits the side of my hip. I had no reaction. I was just prepared to just stay there laying down so he won’t know that I’m alive,” Angel Colon, one of the survivors told the press.

One last dance: My deepest sympathies to the victims of Orlando massacre

Officials and public figures from across the world have expressed condemnation and shock over the tragedy. The outpouring of sympa-thies from all over the world was reassuring. Outside Los Angeles’ City Hall on Monday evening, June 13, Lady Gaga stood in solidarity alongside the grieving LGBT com-munity she has long supported, delivering a tearful speech:

“We mourn the tragic loss of these innocent, beautiful people. Let’s all today pledge an allegiance of love to them and to their families who are suffering so deeply. They are sons and daughters. They were fathers and mothers. They are all our brothers and our sisters. But tonight I will not allow my anger and outrage over this attack to overshadow our need to honor those who are grieving truly for their lost ones; lost members of the LGBT community,” Gaga said, then read aloud the names of each victim.

Nick Jonas was also one of the thousands to pay his respects to the Orlando, Florida shooting at a vigil in NYC on Monday, June 13. The singer opened up about attending and speaking at the tribute during a radio interview with Elvis Duran.

He said, “I am so humbled, and I think more than anything I just want to speak from the heart and say that I woke up yesterday to the news and like all of you, my heart broke.”

The vigil was held at the historic Stonewall Inn, a bar that helped launch the gay civil rights move-ment in 1969. Supporters flooded the streets and held rainbow flags in solidarity with the LGBT com-munity.

Numerous reports and specula-tions kept pouring in regarding the motive of the suspect but I have but one thing to say: whether it is a ter-rorist attack or a hate crime against the LGBT community, I hope that we all remember that countless lives have been lost and ruined. This is not the time to categorize people. They are humans just like everybody else and they deserve justice and respect that they have long been fighting for. I hope the government will do everything in their power to do the right thing. I feel sorry for their families and friends. I can only wish that they will find peace through all of this.

To the families and friends of the victims, I sincerely send my deepest sympathies.

***Monet Lu is a Marikina-born, award-winning

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

PAGE B1 “I’m not going to let com-ments affect me anymore. I am sensitive, hormonal and paranoid as it is what I need from people...their prayers not unsolicited advice,” she said.

Mariel also told everyone that

“I won’t do anything that would harm my baby.”

At the end of the post, she said she won’t be in the noon-time show “It’s Showtime” for a while to have enough rest. (Philstar.com)

The victims of the Orlando massacre

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Bhindi Jewelers celebrates grand re-opening in Artesia

17,000 sq. ft. store hosts impressive selection of jewelry and luxury timepieces

Bhindi Jewelers hosted their four day grand re-opening at their flagship location in Artesia, California this weekend.

After one year of comprehensive renovations to expand the store from 7000 sq. ft. to 17,000 sq. ft., Bhindi now hosts a greater selection of their already impressive collection of fine diamond and gold jewelry, along with an accumulating repertoire of luxury timepieces.

The multi-million-dollar showroom was de-signed by Sat Garg, founder and creative director of Santa Monica based architecture and design firm Akar Studios. Garg designed the previous flagship Bhindi store and is currently overseeing the $300 million Terminal 2 LAX renovation.

The time and investment poured into this endeavor reflects the Bhindi commitment to quality and attention to detail. The new show-room is designed to complement their exquisite collections, as well as cater to their discerning clientele while creating a destination shopping experience in the process.

The first floor is dedicated to diamond jewelry and luxury timepieces. The redesigned show-room is home to in-shop boutiques for Rolex, Cartier, Panerai, iWC, hublot and Tag heuer, alongside counter collections of nomos, Tudor and Chanel. in addition to housing over 400 Ro-lex timepieces, the Rolex shop-in-shop contains two private viewing rooms exclusively for their Rolex customers.

Bhindi also unveiled a brand new, specialty bridal room that displays its signature bridal jewelry collection and hundreds of engagement rings. The Bhindi bridal room was designed to make the engagement ring and wedding jew-elry selection process special, memorable, and personalized for every bride and groom. Bhindi carries in its inventory a selection of .5 carat to 5 carat GiA certified diamonds and the diamonds are presented by a GiA graduate gemologist. Bhindi takes pride in educating its customers about diamonds through a highly interactive process in which each potential diamond is ex-amined by the customer under the guidance of the GiA gemologist.

driven by their commitment to deliver the highest quality product possible, Bhindi selected the Switzerland-based Obrist interior AG to build the entire Rolex and diamond jewelry showroom. Obrist, founded in 1895, has established itself as one of the finest builders in the world; its resume includes boutiques for Tiffany and Mikimoto. in order to ensure exceptional quality, the entire Rolex and diamond departments were built in Switzerland and transported to California for installation by a team of expert carpenters based in Lucerne, Switzerland.

The second floor displays Bhindi’s dazzling and extensive 22k gold and antique collection. The renovation enabled Bhindi to expand the breadth of their already impressive, market-

leading selection by 150%. Bhindi Jewelers is extremely proud to announce the addition of two ViP viewing rooms dedicated to its gold clients. The private viewing rooms will allow Bhindi customers to sit, relax and allow the jewelry to be brought to them for a private and customized shopping experience.

Bhindi offers over 50,000 items in its collec-tion and has revolutionized the market in Little india by introducing luxury couture collections to a diverse clientele. in the newly-renovated showroom, Bhindi Jewelers clients can be assured of an experience that reflects their exquisite jew-elry. The sales consultants are highly trained and their insight reflects their experience, enabling a tailored experience for their diverse clientele. The completion of their latest showroom marks yet another step towards the company’s goal of

maintaining the highest standards of excellence in order to continue being a leading presence in the industry.


In celebration of the 118th Philippine Independence Day, the Filipino-American community in Southern California has hosted several events. On Saturday, June 4, the fourth annual Kalayaan parade around Los Angeles’ Historic Filipinotown was held, featuring over 30 vehicles and floats and hundreds of participants. On Saturday, June 1 1 , The Phi l ippine Independence Day Foundation, Inc. (PIDF), in conjunction with the City of Carson, GMA Life TV, GMA Pinoy TV, and GMA News TV, led the celebration of the Philippine Independence Day at Carson Veterans Park. Thousands of people attended the non-stop, day-long event, which was attended by Miss World 2013 Megan Young and jam-packed with entertainment and activities that featured the rich, beautiful, and spirited Filipino heritage. AJPress photos by Andy Tecson

(213) 250-9797 • http://www.asianjournal.com LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL • JUNE 18-21, 2016 B�Features

The number one Asian-Ameri-can supermarket chain, hMart (www.hmart.com) announces its Grand Opening at hMart Tor-rance, CA on Wednesday, June 22nd, 2016. On the opening day, hMart is giving out free gifts (with over $30 purchase) and free Nail Clipper Set for new hMart Smart Card members as a Customer Ap-preciation event. Also many items will be on special sales prices.

Carrying over from hMart’s previous success in Diamond Bar, Irvine, Norwalk, Garden Grove, Buena Park, San Diego and LA Downtown, hMart Torrance is the 8th hMart store to be opened in California. hMart provides fresh products at reasonable prices with exceptional service and shopping experience. hMart Torrance will play a central role on creating “One-Stop Shopping” atmosphere. hMart introduces diverse spaces including food courts so that customers can not only grocery shop but also can experience variety of cultures and amusements.

hMart Torrance store address is: 4340 Pacific Coast hwy., Tor-rance, CA 90505; Phone number is 310-974-6880.


HMart Torrance Grand Opening on June 22

Honor thy fatherthe best in human thought and be-havior, their capabilities and foibles through the mirthful satires of Aris-tophanes, the poignant gripping dramas of Sophocles, euripides and Aeschylus. The all-encom-passing philosophies of Plato and

PAGE B4 Aristotle, the keen histories and self-criticism of herodotus. he believed and inculcated in me, that the Greeks said it first, and said it well.

In my studies of Philosophy and Journalism at UST’s Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, my in-

troduction to Socrates was how father established the nature of pure virtue, the desire for beautiful things and the ability to provide them without being chopped into fragments such as temperance, jus-tice and piety. In the eyes of every father the child in us remain.

The world may one day know you as a self confident adult, a civic leader or a man of destiny, but no

matter how you change, no matter what time does to your face and soul; your father carries forever within his heart a clear picture of you as you were. When at one day old, lying in this arms, as you were at four — playing in the carefree sunshine of your childhood.

One sad Sunday, my father left me.

he died.

WhO doesn’t love long, sum-mer days filled with pool time, backyard barbecues and nature hikes? At Dignity health– Glen-dale Memorial hospital and health Center, we want you to enjoy these moments with your family without the added worry of accidents and injuries.

Dr. Brigeli Westerband, M.D., Glendale Memorial’s emergency Medicine Division Chair shares, “By taking note of a few simple precautions, we can keep our loved ones safe and healthy. Wherever your summer adven-tures take you, we’ve got you covered.”

This summer, we’ve got you coveredIn the Pool: Remember to

wear sunscreen and sunglasses with both UVA and UVB protec-tion. Apply sunscreen with SPF 15 or higher at least 30 minutes before diving in and reapply after you swim.

At the Barbeque: Review grill safety to avoid harmful burns. Prevent foodborne illnesses by washing your hands before preparing or serving any food, keeping raw meat away from other food and utensils, and cooking food at the correct temperature to eliminate any harmful bacteria.

On a hike: Try hiking before 10 a.m. or after 4 p.m. when the sun’s rays are less strong. Don’t forget to wear long sleeves to protect skin from poison ivy/oak and use insect repellant to pre-vent harmful bug bites.

And no matter what, drink plenty of water to prevent de-hydration and heat stroke. Want to learn more from our professionals? For a free re-ferral to a Glendale Memorial hospital-affiliated physician, call our Doctor Finder service at (818)502-2378.


ALDeN Richards and Maine Mendoza record the song for their upcoming film.

On Wednesday, June 15, the GMA corporate communication team posted on their Instagram account a photo of the two while recording the song.

According to reports, Maine

Alden, Maine record theme song for upcoming film


was the one who wrote the lyr-ics of the song, while Vic Sotto worked on the melody.

It was this week also when they both posted a teaser of their film, which reports said will be in cin-emas on July 16, the anniversary of their “accidental” love team.

Their film was shot in Italy, under the helming of Mike Tu-viera.

LIzA Soberano and enrique Gil don’t want to label their re-lationship, despite seeing each other as special.

“We’re getting there,” re-plied Liza when asked about her relationship status with enrique, in an interview aired in “TV Patrol” on Wednesday, June 15.

The Kapamilya actor added,

“Totoo lang po ang nararamda-man namin, ‘yon lang.”

Many of their fans got giddy after they both posted a sweet photo together, with a caption pertaining to “forever.”

Liza, enrique and the other cast of the primetime series “Dolce Amore” are in a world tour this month. (Joyce Ji-menez/Philstar.com)

Liza Soberano on real score with Enrique Gil: We’re getting there

Dr. Brigeli Westerband, M.D., Glendale Memorial’s Emergency Medicine Division Chair

Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza join forces not only for their film, but also for its theme song!

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COMMUNITYJ o u r n a l

A NEW policy issued by US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will allow fam-ily-members of Filipino WWII Veterans to come to the US now and remain here while they wait for their family-based petitions to become current. Starting June 8, 2016, eligible individuals under this policy are able to request parole into the United States on a case-by-case basis to join their families here. The Filipino World War II Veterans Parole (FWVP) policy allows certain beneficia-ries of WWII veterans’ family-based immigrant visa petitions to be “paroled” into the US before a visa is available in their category to wait out their time with their veteran family memberhere in-stead of outside the US.

This policy is intended to rec-ognize the “extraordinary contri-bution and sacrifices of Filipino veterans” who fought for our country during World War II and to enable these veterans to re-unite with their family in their old age.This policy would be an in-valuable benefit for eligible indi-viduals, as it allowsfamily mem-bers tobypass the extremely long wait time that typically accom-panies many family-sponsored petitions. Some family members, for example, have been waiting for over two decades for a visa to become available. This policy would provide, at the very least, the ability for veterans and their faraway family members to be to-gether in the US sooner.

Of the 260,000 Filipino enlisted soldiers, an estimated 26,000 be-came US citizens. In turn, these veterans petitioned their fam-ily members to immigrate over to the US Currently, between 2,000 to 6,000 Filipino-Ameri-can veterans remain living today in the United States, many with family members still outside the US waiting for a visa to become available for them. The new FWVP policy aims to remedy this

AngelA K. HoAnd nAncy Miller

Your ImmigrationSolution

Filipino WWII Vets’ family members may be able to come to US now

wait period and assist beneficia-ries in reuniting with their fami-lies. USCIS will have discretion to approve parole requests for such relatives so that they may wait in the US until they are able to move forward with their per-manent resident applications.

The benefit, in the govern-ment’s eyes, is twofold. In addi-tion to honoring the sacrifice of Filipino WWII veterans by pro-viding a faster means to family reunification in the US, this pol-icy will also provide a significant public benefit in the form of sub-stantive familial relief. Paroled family members will be able to provide their aging veterans and their spouses with much-needed substantive support—physical, financial, emotional—intheir twi-light years.

So, who is eligible under the Filipino WWII Veteran Parole Policy?

In order to qualify for FWVP parole, individuals must first be beneficiaries of an approved fam-ily-based immigrant visa petition whose qualifying relationship ex-isted on or before May 9, 2016. Second, the petitioning relative must be residing in the US If the petitioner is deceased, then they must have been residing in the United States at the time of death. Third, the petitioning relative must be either a Filipino WWII veteran or the surviving spouse of the veteran, with the Department of Defense recogniz-ing the veteran’s military service.

USCIS can verify this information with government records, but in cases where this information is not available, beneficiaries will have the burden of proving eligi-bility. If the family member has inadmissibility issues, such as criminal history, misrepresenta-tions or prior deportation orders, it may be more difficult to obtain parole.

If the Filipino veteran is still living, the individuals eligible for parole consideration include all family-sponsored prefer-ences, including brothers and sisters. If the Filipino veteran is deceased and the surviving spouse is the petitioner, parole consideration can only be given to the biological children of the surviving spouse and the Fili-pino veteran. If the petitioning relative is deceased, eligible individuals can also attempt to seek parole on their own behalf by seeking reinstatement of the family petition for humanitarian reasons. These would include qualifying children and brothers and sisters of the deceased Fili-pino WWII veteran.

This FWVP policy has been implemented by USCIS for the public benefit of Filipino WWII veterans. However, this policy is not a permanent benefit; it is set to expire five (5) years after June 8, 2016. Therefore, time is of the essence. Applications should be submitted as soon as possible. Once parole is granted, indi-

uPAGE C4

JUNE 18-21, 2016 • LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL http://www.asianjournal.com • (818) 502-0651 • (213) 250-9797C� Community Journal

Atty. RAymond BulAon

Minding Your Finances

VictoR Sy, cPA, mBA

Tax Tips

• YOU may claim exemptions for yourself, your spouse and your dependents.

• Dependents must have a So-cial Security number (TIN is not good enough).

• Exemption amount is $4,000 for 2015 for each exemption.

• Exemptions reduce your taxable income and your income tax.

• It could also produce credits such as child care credit, earned income credit, child tax credit, additional child tax credit and other credits.

• Some of these credits are re-fundable (meaning that you can get a refund even if your tax is zero).

• True, your spouse may be dependent on you, but do not

10 tips on dependents and exemptionsclaim him/her as your depen-dent even if he/she does not have not any income. The ratio-nale: you file a joint return with him/her as your spouse, not as dependent.

• If you are claimed as a de-pendent by another such as your parents, do not claim your exemption again as this will re-sult in a duplication of deduc-tion. It invites a notice from the IRS. Yes, they will catch it. IRS computers are programmed to identify duplication of exemp-tions for the same Social Secu-rity Number. Guaranteed.

• You may not claim a mar-ried person as your dependent if he/she files a joint return with spouse.

• Your dependent must be a US citizen, US resident alien, or US national or resident of Canada or Mexico for some part

of the year. Note: A US national is an individual who, although not a US citizen, owes his/her allegiance to the United States. US nationals include American Samoans and Northern Mariana Islanders who chose to become US nationals instead of US citi-zens.

* * *Victor Santos Sy graduated Cum Laude from UE with a BBA and from Indiana State University with an MBA. Vic worked with SyCip, Gorres, Velayo (SGV - Andersen Consulting) and Ernst & Young before establishing Sy Accountancy Corporation in Pasadena, California.

* * *He has 50 years of experience in defending taxpayers audited by the IRS, FTB, EDD, BOE and other governmental agencies. He is publishing a book on his expertise - “HOW TO AVOID OR SURVIVE IRS AUDITS.” Our readers may inquire about the book or email tax questions at [email protected]. (Advertising Supplement)

ARE you being harassed by your creditors day and night due to unpaid bills? If you are, you know that this is a pretty unpleasant experience. You may feel scared, angry or embar-rassed about your situation. The prospect of debt relief through bankruptcy may sound appeal-ing to you but you are not quite sure if this is really the way to go. Perhaps you have heard good things and bad things about bankruptcy and you need to learn more about it before making a decision.

But just how can you tell when it’s time to make that move and declare bankruptcy? Of course, situations vary and whether or not bankruptcy is your best al-ternative will depend on the facts and circumstances of your case. But generally, the answer has to do with your ability to pay, which means that you need to consider your income, expenses, your assets and the amount of your debt. You also need to look at the types of debt you have. For example, if you are dealing with nothing but IRS taxes and they type of taxes

Is bankruptcy my only option to get out of debt?

you have cannot be wiped out in bankruptcy, you may have other options in solving your tax problems besides filing for bankruptcy.

Generally speaking, how-ever, here are a few questions you should be asking yourself to help you assess whether it’s time for you to consider filing for bankruptcy: (1) Are you strug-gling to pay even the minimum payments on your credit cards? (2) Have you started borrowing money just to be able to cover your basic living expenses such as rent or mortgage, food, gas, etc? (3) Have you lost track of how much you owe? (4) Are bill collectors calling you because you have accounts in collection? (5) Have creditors taken legal action against you such as filing a lawsuit, obtained a judgment and threatening to garnish your wages or levy your bank ac-count?

If you said “yes” to any or most of the above, you could be in a financial danger zone and you need to take action as soon as possible before your financial problems get worse. It may be time to face your financial real-ity instead of pretending that everything is “OK”. Perhaps

you’ve been ignoring your pile of bills and the collection calls. But you’re only going to be able to do this for so long. Sooner or later, you need to face your creditors and do something to change your situation.

I believe that bankruptcy should be a last resort and that you need to exhaust all debt re-lief options before resorting to it. But I also believe that a lot of people put off the decision to file bankruptcy for too long that they needlessly suffer in debt when they could have acted sooner to rebuild their finances and their life.

Since 1997, I have helped thousands of clients get out of debt. Let me help you determine if bankruptcy is right for your situation. Call Toll-Free at 1-866-477-7772 to schedule a free office consultation. We have of-fices in Glendale, Cerritos and Valencia.

* * *None of the information herein is in-

tended to give legal advice for any specific situation. Atty. Ray Bulaon has success-fully helped thousands of clients in getting out of debt. For a free attorney evaluation of your situation, please call Ray Bulaon Law Offices at TOLL FREE 1 (866) 477-7772. (Advertising Supplement)

818-408-6717

(818) 502-0651 • (213) 250-9797 • http://www.asianjournal.com LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL • JUNE 18-21, 2016 C�Community Journal

Atty. Kenneth UrsUA reyes

Barrister’s Corner

Atty. C. Joe sAyAs, Jr.

Protecting Employee & Consumer Rights

FOR about 19 years, Maria Montoya worked as a police of-ficer with the Los Angeles Po-lice Department. In November 2011, while on vacation, she suffered a back injury. On Nov. 28, 2011, she sent her employer her doctor’s note, stating that she needed to be on leave for a few weeks to recover. A few days later, the Detective Com-manding Officer (DCO) called Montoya to find out where she was. Montoya thought the DCO was upset. The DCO had not been notified that Montoya was on a doctor-ordered disability leave.

On Jan. 17, 2012, Montoya was cleared to return to work with light duty restrictions. On Jan. 18, 2012, the DCO told Montoya that she was be-ing moved to the Burglary and Theft section from the Sex and Juvenile Crimes section, which she had supervised since 2009. Montoya complained to the union and the Area Command-ing Officer about the move. On Jan. 19, 2012, Montoya was brought to the hospital for an apparent heart attack, later diagnosed as a severe panic attack. Montoya claimed this was a result of stress from the DCO’s actions. Montoya also claimed that the DCO made incorrect statements in Mon-toya’s paperwork, which de-layed Montoya’s workers com-pensation benefits. On Jan. 26, 2012, Montoya made a formal complaint against the DCO to internal affairs, which launched an investigation.

Montoya then had to undergo a psychiatric evaluation and on Feb. 13, 2012, was deemed to

Being singled out - is it discrimination or retaliation?

Why non-discriminatory conduct can still be illegal retaliation

be temporarily completely dis-abled because of stress and was placed on 60-day leave. The next week, she was stripped of her peace officer powers. Her badge and weapon were taken from her. Montoya sued the City of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Police Department, al-leging disability discrimination and retaliation for reporting the DCO to internal affairs.

The employer countered that it had nondiscriminatory and nonretaliatory reasons for moving Montoya and for taking her off-duty. The transfer was necessary to address a crime trend, and without change in Montoya’s pay or benefit. Addi-tionally, Montoya’s badge and weapon were taken away be-cause a psychiatrist determined that Montoya was psychiatrical-ly temporarily totally disabled.

After trial, the jury decided that although the employer is not liable for disability discrimi-nation, it is liable for retaliation. The jury then awarded Montoya $2,101,969.00 in loss of wages, emotional distress, and future economic loss.

Why did the employee win on retaliation but not on disability discrimination?

Disability discrimination ex-ists if an employee is fired, demoted or disciplined based on the employee’s disability or medical condition. In Montoya’s case, the jury was not con-vinced that enough evidence was shown to indicate that the employer was targeting Mon-toya because of her disability. In other words, the jury believed that Montoya was assigned to a different crime section because

she was needed in that section – a legitimate reason.

However, the jury concluded that Montoya suffered retalia-tion. Retaliation exists where an employee engaged in a “pro-tected activity” and was then “punished” for that activity by a firing, a demotion, a repri-mand, etc. A “protected activ-ity” includes an employee’s act of opposing a practice which is forbidden by law (e.g. disabil-ity discrimination). It is enough that the employee “reasonably” and in “good faith” believes the practice to be unlawful, even if the conduct turns out to be law-ful after all.

In the case of Montoya, her “protected activity” was her report to internal affairs that the DCO was discriminating against her because of her dis-ability. The jury believed that by subjecting her to a psychiatric evaluation and then stripping her of her badge and weapon, the employer engaged in retal-iatory conduct against her, even though a discriminatory intent could not be shown.

* * *The Law Offices of C. Joe Sayas, Jr. welcomes inquiries about this topic. All inquiries are confidential and at no-cost. You can contact the office at (818) 291-0088 or visit www.joesayaslaw.com.

* * *C. Joe Sayas, Jr., Esq. is an experienced

trial attorney who has successfully ob-tained significant recoveries for thousands of employees and consumers. He is named Top Labor & Employment Attorney in Cali-fornia by the Daily Journal, consistently se-lected as Super Lawyer by the Los Angeles Magazine, and is a member of the Million Dollar-Advocates Forum.


FAMILY Code 760 provides that all property acquired by the spouse during the marriage is community property. That means each spouse has a half interest on any assets that are ac-quired during the marriage, with certain exceptions, since it is generally characterized as com-munity property. On the same to-ken, Family Code 771(a) provides that earnings and accumulations of a spouse while living “separate and apart” from the other spouse, are the separate property of the spouse. How about the situa-tion where the couple continues to live together due to economic reasons like roommates. Is a cou-ple living “separate and apart” under family code 771(a) when they continue to live together in the same home even though they no longer live their lives like mar-ried couple?

The California Supreme Court, in a recent case In re Marriage of Da-vis, 61 Cal 4th 4th 846 (2015), held that the phrase “living separate and apart” in the California family code refers to a situation in which spouses are living in separate residences and at least one of them has the sub-jective intent to end the marital relationship, abrogating In re Marriage of Johnson, 134 Cal. App.3d. 148. Prior to this deci-sion, the date of “separation” oc-curs only when the parties have come to a parting of the ways with no present intent to resume their marriage and their conduct evidences a complete and final break in the marital relationship. The Court would consider all of the relevant evidence regard-ing whether the parties’ conduct evidences a complete and final break in the marital relationship. Living in separate residences, al-though a factor to be considered, was not required for a separa-tion.

In re Marriage of Davis in-volved husband and wife mar-ried in 1993. The couple had 2 children. Couple stopped hav-ing sexual relationship in 1999. Wife moved to another bedroom in the house either in 2001 or 2004. Husband and wife at-

tended children’s activities but used separate cars. On June 1, 2006 wife announced she was “through” with the marriage. Wife believed couple were acting simply as roommates after 2006. Wife increased her earnings af-ter this date while husband left his job. Parties continued to live in the marital home and went on vacation together. Wife filed for divorce in 2008. Wife moves out of the marital residence on July1, 2011. Wife alleges date of sepa-ration of June 1, 2006. Husband alleges a date of separation of July 1, 2011. The trial court and the court of appeal found June1, 2006 as the date of separation. The California Supreme Court reversed the decision holding that living in separate residences “is an indispensable threshold requirement for a finding that

spouses are “living separate and apart” for purposes of section 771(a). The interpretation aligns with the common understanding of the words, the statutory his-tory of the provision, and legiti-mate public policy concerns.

The In re Marriage of Davis de-cision now requires the parties to be living in separate residences as a prerequisite to a separation. In IRMO Davis, the California Supreme Court looked into the plain meaning of the statute, the legislative intent and history of the statute, and the case law in interpreting the term “sepa-rate and apart.” The California Supreme Court looked into the wording and legislative intent of family code 771(a) by tracing it back to a 145 year old prede-cessor statute enacted in 1870 “An Act to Protect the Rights of Married Women in Certain Cases.” Section 4 of the 1870 act provided a procedure for a wife who was “living separate and apart” from her husband to sell her real property without joining with her husband by stating in a declaration ”her own place of

residence that is “separate and apart from her husband” which strongly suggests that the statute was directed at a situation where the spouses had physically sepa-rated and the wife in fact had her own residence. The Supreme Court also relied on the holding in the Norviel case which held that living apart physically is an indispensable threshold require-ment to separation, whether or not it is sufficient, by itself to es-tablish separation. Although the Davis case has adopted a bright line test in determining date of separation, it also acknowledge that there may be “exceptional circumstances” when a couple is under one roof but still separated. This was noted in footnote 7 in Davis and the concurring opinion written by Justice Liu and joined by Justice Werdergar. Davis has

listed facts that do not qualify as exceptional circumstances. The date of sep-aration is one of the most liti-gated issues in a divorce case since it directly

affects the characterization and division of community property. This case changes that analysis and may create problems in its practical application to the reali-ties of contemporary families.

* * *Attorney Kenneth Ursua Reyes is a Certified Family Law Specialist. He was President of the Philippine American Bar Association. He is a member of both the Family law section and Immigration law section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association. He has extensive CPA experience prior to law practice. LAW OFFICES OF KENNETH REYES, P.C. is located at 3699 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 747, Los Angeles, CA, 90010. Tel. (213) 388-1611 or e-mail [email protected] or visit our website at Kenreyeslaw.com.

* * *Please note that this article is not legal advice and is not intended as legal advice. The article is intended to provide only general, non-specific legal information. This article is not intended to cover all the issues related to the topic discussed. The specific facts that apply to your matter may make the outcome different than would be anticipated by you. This article does create any attorney client relationship between you and the Law Offices of Kenneth U. Reyes, P.C. This article is not a solicitation. (Advertising Supplement)

Do you need to be living in separate residences to be considered ‘Separated’ from your Spouse under the California family law?

UNDER the Filipino World War II Veterans Parole (FWVP) policy beginning June 8, 2016, USCIS will allow certain beneficiaries of approved family-based immigrant visa petitions to request a grant of parole so that they may come to the U.S. as they wait for their priority date to become current. The policy recognizes the contributions of Filipino veterans who served in World War II, and al-lows relatives of such elderly Filipino veterans and their spouses to come to the U.S. to provide care and support for them.

USCIS will consider requests for FWVP parole submit-ted for certain relatives who are the beneficiaries of ap-proved family-based immigrant visa petitions filed by Fili-pino veterans or their surviving spouses. If the request for parole is approved, the beneficiary and his/her imme-diate family would be allowed to come to the U.S. and live in the U.S. while waiting for their priority date to become current, at which point they would be allowed to adjust to permanent resident status.

Those who may request parole under FWVP are per-sons 1) who are the beneficiaries of an approved I-130 Petition (including spouse and children); 2) whose peti-tioning relative is residing in the U.S. (or if deceased, was residing in the U.S. at the time of death); 3) who are wait-ing for their priority date to become current under the Department of State’s visa bulletin; and 4) whose petitioning relatives have established they are either Filipino World War II Veterans or are the surviving spouse.

Under FWVP, the Filipino World War II veteran must have served in World War II as a mem-ber of the Philippine Army, a recognized guerilla unit, the Philippines Scouts, or within any other component of the U.S. Armed Forces of the Far East (USAFFE). USCIS will review gov-ernment records to verify the Filipino World War II veteran’s military service. The petitioner who requested parole for his relative beneficiary under FWVP will be provided an opportunity to establish the World War II service if it cannot be found in government records.

When the petitioning relative in the U.S. is the Filipino World War II veteran, individuals who obtain parole under FWVP include beneficiaries under any family-sponsored preference category. When the petitioning relative in the U.S. is the surviving spouse of a Filipino World War II veteran, only individuals who are the child, son, or daughter of the surviving spouse who is also the child, son, or daughter of the Filipino World War II veteran can seek parole under FWVP.

In cases where the petitioning relative is deceased, a beneficiary may seek parole under FWVP but first must seek humanitarian reinstatement of the approved I-130 filed on the bene-ficiary’s behalf. Once the I-130 is reinstated, the beneficiary may seek parole under FWVP.

It is important to note that the above requirements are preliminary requirements for eligi-bility under FWVP. The grant of parole by USCIS under FWVP is made on a discretionary, case-by-case basis. In addition, following the first 4 years of FWVP’s implementation, USCIS will evaluate whether FWVP should be phased out at the end of 5 years. It is accordingly recommended that you promptly seek the advice and assistance of an experienced attorney, who can confirm eligibility and present facts in support of the favorable exercise of discretion by USCIS in granting the parole request.

* * *Darrick V. Tan, Esq. is admitted to practice law in California and Nevada. Mr. Tan is

a graduate of UCLA and Southwestern University School of Law. He is a member of the Consumers Attorney Association of Los Angeles and is a former member of the Board of Governors of the Philipp ine American Bar Association. LAW OFFICES OF DARRICK V. TAN, 3580 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 900, Los Angeles, CA 90010. Tel: (323) 639-0277. Email: [email protected]. (Advertising Supplement)

New USCIS policy allows relatives of Filipino WW II vets to come to US

reverendrodel G. BAlAGtAs

To Live With Faith

“THUS says the Lord: I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jeru-salem a spirit of grace and peti-tion…” Zechariah 12:10

Have you ever prayed hard to God, asking him to listen to your petition? Have you asked people to pray for you? I’m sure that you made these requests many times in your life. In times of desperation, we cling to our faith, and we ask people to inter-cede to God for us.

Prayer is an act of humility: a recognition of our limitations as human beings and an acknowl-edgment of the power that God

Prayer as an act of surrendercan do for us. Hence, it is an act of faith.

When Jesus presented to his disciples the question, “Who do people say that I am?” he was testing their faith to see if they believed in his power to save humanity through his cross and resurrection. He wanted to see if people could seriously turn to him as the Christ, the Anointed One.

Prayer then is a way of disci-pleship. It’s an emptying of our-selves so that God can have pow-er over us. It’s a total submission of all our concerns, worries and fears to God, which, if we think honestly, is a difficult thing to do. For we are weak—we can’t let go of our anxieties and our tendency to control our lives.

We have to learn to let go as Christ admonished his disciples: “If anyone wishes to come after

me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” (Mark 16:24)

We must adhere to these words in every moment of prayer. Jesus promises that those who take up this cross daily—of praying hum-bly in an act of surrender—will find peace and freedom.

Meditation and contemplation are forms of prayer that would help us exercise this act of sub-mission to God. Every morning or any time of the day we should spend a few quiet moments with God to meditate and contemplate on his healing graces.

God’s innermost desire is to liberate us from all anxieties. But he’s asking us to do our part in allowing him to have power

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“ The California Supreme Court looked into the wording and legislative intent of family code 771(a) by tracing it back to a 145 year old predecessor statute enacted in 1870 ‘An Act to Protect the Rights of Married Women in Certain Cases.’”

JUNE 18-21, 2016 • LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL http://www.asianjournal.com • (818) 502-0651 • (213) 250-9797C� Community Journal

People and Events

Atty. LAwrence yAng

Debt Relief

CLIENT is 50. This is his finan-cial picture: He has been working as a truck driver for a furniture company for 15 years. Before that, he worked in the warehouse of that company for 5 years. He is married with a 10-year-old son and a 7-year-old daughter. His wife is a licensed vocational nurse who has gross income of $4,800 a month. They rent a sin-gle-family house for $1,800, and pay $520 a month on new E350 Mercedes Benz car lease. Last year, he decided to stop work-ing as a truck driver to become a business owner. The business opportunity presented itself by way of a turnkey franchise. It’s a retail outlet that provides a ser-vice to the public. Client also has credit card debt of $100K.

From experience, I know that there has to be some connection between the business and credit card debt. I asked him if he used the credit cards for the business. He said affirmatively that he was required to put a down payment of $50K on the business. What happened was that client used credit cards to pay the $50K down payment? How he was able to do this, escapes me. Ap-parently, the franchisor operated another company whose purpose is to use buyer’s credit cards to fund the $50K down payment. That’s another story altogether. That’s like going to a car dealer and using ten credit cards to pay for a $50K car. I know there’s some finessing going on because 20 years ago, I offered to use one credit card with a $20K credit line to make a $10K down payment on a car, and the dealer told me that they could only used a max of $2,500 using the card. So this tells me that if you can use credit cards to pay for a $50K car or to make a down payment of $50K to buy a franchise, there has to be a

Business owner seeks to discharge $100k credit cards used to buy business

Clinton beats trump to become first woman president of America

lot of back door finessing going on to actually get money from all the credit cards to total a $50K payment. Let’s just put it mildly as a “grey” area.

In any event, $50K was trans-ferred from client’s credit cards to the franchisor pursuant to a purchase agreement between cli-ent, buyer, and franchisor, seller. The total purchase price of the business was $100K. How was client going to pay for the other $50K? It was financed by a prom-issory note where client agreed to pay $2.5K a month until $50K was paid in full, interest at 12% p.a. Thinking that he had just ac-quired a very profitable business, client believed that he would have no problem paying himself a sal-ary of $3K, the rent of another $3K, and the monthly payment to the franchisor of $2.5K, plus the $1.5K minimum monthly pay-ments to keep the $50K credit cards current, until the business would be able to rake in profits by the truckloads to pay off the $50K of credit cards.

Eager to become a business ty-coon, client opened his store at 7 a.m. and closed it at 7 p.m., seven days a week. In the first month, his gross receipts were a grand total of $3K. In the second month, his gross receipts were $2K. And on the third month, his gross re-ceipts were $4K. After 12 months of hard work, his business was losing an average of $4 to $5K a month. He kept the business afloat by using credit cards to fi-nance the monthly losses. So at the end of 12 months, he owed a total of $100K. But all good things come to an end. He has maxed out his credit cards and there’s nowhere else to borrow money. So now the credit card dogs are

viduals can apply for entry at the port of entry (including airports and land borders) to the United States. Department of State con-sular officers will interview all applicants to determine whether a favorable grant of discretion is appropriate.Individuals must continue to seek re-parole upon parole expiration.

Anyone whose Filipino WWII veteran family member filed a petition for them before May 9, 2016 should consult an experi-enced and knowledgeable im-migration attorney to see if they or their family member qualifies under this very exciting new and temporary policy.

***Reeves Miller Zhang & Diza is one of the oldest, largest and most experienced immigration firms in the United States with offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas and Manila. For more Information please call (800) 795-8009 or visit www.rreeves.com.Telephone: (800) 795-8009 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.rreeves.com.

***The analysis and suggestions offered in this column do not create a lawyer-client relationship and are not a substitute for the personalized representation that is essential to every case. (Advertising Supplement)

Filipino WWI…

Prayer as an act of…

Filipino Community of Bakersfield & Vicinity Scholarship Awards Luncheon. Standing from left to right: President Jun Rivera, Carlos Naz, Jr., Carla Mae Naz, Keanu Quiton, Gera Mica Hasta, Luke Harmuth, Committee Chairwoman Merlyn Quintos. Seating from left to right: Allyanna Demafeliz, Clarice Eve Poblete, Abigael Rubio Esteban. Not in photo: Joshua Sison, Sarah Mortel.

Lauren Miel Anor-Lagdamen celebrated her 4th birthday on June 16, 2016, with proud parents, Rommel and Anabelle Lagdamen.

over us.May we exercise the habit of

surrendering to God every day of our lives!

* * *From a Filipino immigrant family, Reverend Rodel G. Balagtas was ordained to the priesthood from St. John’s Seminary in 1991. He served as Associate Pastor at St.

Augustine, Culver City (1991-1993); St. Martha, Valinda (1993-1999); and St. Joseph the Worker, Canoga Park (1999-2001). In 2001, he served as Administrator Pro Tem of St. John Neumann in Santa Maria, CA, until his appointment as pastor of ImmAaculate Heart of Mary, Los Angeles, in 2002, which lasted 12 years. His term as Associate Director of Pastoral Field Education at St. John’s Seminary began in July 2014.

barking at the door. They want their pound of flesh. Client then realizes how foolish he was in buying this stupid franchise.

Considering all these circum-stances, does client qualify for Chapter 7 relief? Of course, he does. His intent was to pay ev-ery single cent of his credit cards from the truckload of profits from the business. Instead, he got truckload of losses. Blame that on his lack of experience in business, not on malice afore-thought.

Why will Hillary beat Trump? Yes, because Americans by and large, are inclusive. And by and large, Americans are a just and fair people. Americans are made up of different ethnicities from all over the world; who believe in life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That’s why America can have a black president for two terms despite the fact that America’s majority is not black. In America, we can talk freely about our ideas, which may dif-fer from each other. I can say don’t vote for Trump because this man is a demagogue. In-deed, if he becomes president of our great nation, a civil war between different American ethnicities could ensue. This is not far fetched when it is the prospective president Trump himself who incites these feel-ings of hate towards others who look different. That is so fifties and sixties and has no place in America of the 21st century.

Even Pope Francis said that Trump was not Christian in spir-it. Even though the Pope did not claim infallibility when he said that, that was a very big negative against Trump. I’m voting for Hillary, she’s my president.

“We wait in hope for the Lord; He is our help and our shield.” — Psalm 33:20

* * *Lawrence Bautista Yang specializes in bankruptcy, business, real estate and civil litigation and has successfully represented more than five thousand clients in California. Please call Angie, Barbara or Jess at (626) 284-1142 for an appointment at 1000 S. Fremont Ave, Mailstop 58, Building A-1 Suite 1125, Alhambra, CA 91803. (Advertising Supplement)

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&MARKETPLACESHOWROOM

“Embrace what you don’t know, especially in the beginning, because what you don’t know can become your greatest asset. It ensures that you

will absolutely be doing things different from everybody else.”

- Sara Blakely, founder of SPANX

Business Quote of the Week

PH economy to remain ‘best performer’ in Asia, says HSBC

More Filipinos gaining access to financial services, says BSP

Amid forecast slowdown in succeeding quarters

PAGE D2

Atty. MichAelGurfinkel, eSQ

ImmigrationCorner

FAMILY based petitions and some employment-based peti-tions (where a relative owns a 5% interest in the petitioning company) require the petitioner to submit an affidavit of support (Form I – 864) in order for the beneficiary to adjust status or obtain an immigrant visa.

The petitioner must be do-miciled (or living) in the US to submit the affidavit of support. If the petitioner is living outside the US (such as an elderly US citizen parent now retired to the Philippines), he cannot submit an affidavit of support, and the beneficiary will not be able to obtain a green card.

In some cases, the petitioner may have passed away after the petition was approved. In those cases, the beneficiary must seek humanitarian reinstatement. If the beneficiary was in the US when the petitioner passed away, he can rely on the “Sur-vivor Law” (Section 204(l)) in lieu of the more difficult and burdensome humanitarian rein-

Avoiding an affidavit of support (Form I – 864)by working 40 quarters (10 years)statement.

However, the beneficiary would still be required to sub-mit an affidavit of support by a “substitute sponsor”, who are certain US citizens or lawful permanent resident relatives, at least 18 years of age, and do-miciled in the US. The substi-tute sponsors include spouse, parent, mother-in-law, father-in-law, brother or sister, child, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, sister-in-law, brother-in-law, grandparent, grandchild, or le-gal guardian. (A legal guardian is a court-appointed represen-tative, where the beneficiary is a minor or mentally incompe-tent).

But what happens if a peti-tioner dies, and the beneficiary has none of the above relatives who can act as a substitute sponsor? In that case, the ben-eficiary may not be able to seek humanitarian reinstatement or benefit from the Survivor Law, since there is no qualified sub-stitute sponsor who can submit an affidavit of support.

There is another provision

of the affidavit of support law that provides that an affida-vit of support is not required if, at the time the beneficiary seeks permanent residence, the beneficiary can show he or she has already worked, or can be credited with, 40 qualifying quarters of earnings, based on certified earnings records from the Social Security Administra-tion. In other words, if a person has worked for at least 40 quar-ters (10 years), he or she may not be required to submit an affidavit of support by a substi-tute sponsor. (A person could also get credited with quarters earned by his/her parent when he/she is under 18, and by his/her spouse during the marriage (but only if still married to the same spouse or if the spouse is deceased).

If you are under petition, and you have issues/problems relating to the affidavit of sup-port (i.e. your petitioner is not earning enough, the petitioner has died, you cannot locate a substitute sponsor, etc.), but you already have 40 qualifying

quarters of earnings/coverage, you may not need an affidavit of support. If this applies to you, consult with an attorney, who can evaluate your situa-tion, especially if the lack of an affidavit of support is the last hurdle to your obtaining a green card.

* * *Michael J. Gurfinkel is licensed, and an

active member of the State Bar of California and New York. All immigration services are provided by, or under the supervision of, an active member of the State Bar of California. Each case is different. The information contained herein including testimonials, “Success Stories,” endorsements and re-enactments) is of a general nature, and is not intended to apply to any particular case, and does not constitute a prediction, warranty, guarantee or legal advice regarding the outcome of your legal matter. No attorney-client relationship is, or shall be, established with any reader.

WEBSITE: www.gurfinkel.comCall Toll free to schedule a consultation

for anywhere in the US: (866)—GURFINKELFour offices to serve you: LOS ANGELES

· SAN FRANCISCO · NEW YORK · PHILIPPINES (Advertising Supplement)

Duterte economic team to present 10-point agenda before bizmenTeam commits to continue sound economic

policies of previous administrationsby Ben de Vera

Inquirer.net

THE economic team of Presi-dent-elect Rodrigo Duterte will flesh out before businessmen details of their 10-point socioeco-nomic agenda in the next six years, the topmost of which was a com-mitment to keep the sound fiscal, monetary and trade policies put in place by previous administrations.

In a statement Wednesday, June 15 the transition team of in-coming Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez announced that Duterte’s economic development team will meet with more than 300 business leaders in Davao City on June 20 to 21 at a consultative workshop called “Sulong Pilipinas: Hakbang Tungo sa Kaunlaran.” The workshop was co-organized by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Mindanao Business Council.

At the two-day consultative meeting, Dominguez will present the proposed 10-point economic agenda aimed at addressing the challenges to inclusive growth; while incoming Socioeconomic Planning Secretary as well as Na-

tional Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Director-General Ernesto M. Pernia will talk about the country’s current economic health. The “21st century-style town hall meeting” will be mod-erated by incoming Department of Finance spokesperson Paola Alvarez.

Duterte himself is expected to grace the dialogue, as he was scheduled to give a response on the recommendations to be generated

by Lawrence agcaoiLi Philstar.com

MANILA—Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp. (HSBC) expects the Philippines to post a slower growth in the coming quarters.

“While the pace of growth will likely slow in the coming quarters after the election boost subsides and the base effect turns less sup-portive, the Philippine economy should nonetheless remain a regional outperformer given the domestically-driven nature of growth,” HSBC economist Joseph Incalcaterra said.

HSBC sees the economy ex-

panding 5.9 percent this year be-fore slowing down to 5.8 percent next year.

The country’s GDP growth accelerated to 6.9 percent in the first quarter from the revised 6.5 percent in the fourth quarter due to election-related spending.

Incalcaterra said the growth was primarily driven by invest-ment and private consumption on the back of sustained government infrastructure spending, election campaign activity, and strong remittances growth.

Economic managers penciled a GDP growth of between 6.8 and 7.8 percent this year.

MANILA—The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) sees more Fili-pinos having access to financial services after President Benigno Aquino III issued an order push-ing greater financial inclusion in the country.

The central bank said in a state-ment President Aquino signed EO 208 establishing the Financial Inclusion Steering Committee (FISC) that would serve as the governing body that provides strategic direction, guidance and oversight in the implementation of the National Strategy for Financial Inclusion (NSFI).

The FISC is tasked to align various financial inclusion related policies and programs and at the same time ensure effective moni-toring of the progress of these initiatives.

It would also collaborate with public and private sector stake-holders on various agenda that fall under the NSFI areas of policy and regulation, financial educa-tion, consumer protection, data


and measurement, and financial inclusion advocacy.

“With the effective implemen-tation of the NSFI through the oversight of the FISC, it is hoped that more people will benefit from having access to financial services and contribute to broad-based growth,” the BSP said.

Despite the sustained econom-ic growth in the country, the BSP said access to financial services remains a challenge.

Latest data showed about 68 percent of adults who save keep their savings at home while 72 percent of those who borrow do so from informal sources. Further-more, only 30.5 percent of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have bank loans or formal lines of credit.

The BSP said around 12 per-cent of the 1,634 municipalities spread over the Philippine archi-pelago still have no access to a bank or other types of financial service providers.

Only one percent of the 2.5 billion retail payment transac-tions processed in the country per month is thru digital means.

Incoming PH Finance Sec. Carlos G. Dominguez

HSBC economist Joseph Incalcaterra

june 18-21, 2016 • LA WeeKenD ASIAn jOuRnAL http://www.asianjournal.com • (818) 502-0651 • (213) 250-9797D� Marketplace

PAGE D1

Remittances rise to $2.21 B in AprilMANILA—Cash remittances

from Filipinos abroad climbed 4.1 percent in April amid the sus-tained demand for skilled Filipino workers, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported.

BSP Governor Amando Tet-angco Jr. said money sent home by overseas Filipinos amounted to $2.21 billion in April, $87 million higher from $2.13 billion in the same month last year.

“The sustained demand for


overseas Filipino workers con-tinued to provide support to the growth of remittance inflows,” Tetangco said.

The BSP has revised the remit-tance figures for March. Instead of a 1.5 percent growth, cash remit-tances contracted 1.2 percent to $2.36 billion instead of $2.42 bil-lion in March from $2.39 billion in the same month last year.

For the first four months of the year, cash remittances grew 3.1 percent to $8.67 billion from $8.41 billion in the same period last year.

Tetangco reported remittances from land-based Filipino workers grew 3.8 percent to $6.8 billion from January to April, while those from sea-based workers rose 0.8 percent to $1.9 billion.

Data showed more than three-fourths of cash remittances came from the US, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Singa-pore, the United Kingdom, Japan, Qatar, Hong Kong, Kuwait, and Germany.

Preliminary data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) indicated that a total of 777,887 contracts were processed from January to

April this year.On the other hand, Tetangco

said personal remittances went up 3.8 percent to $2.44 bil-lion in April from $2.35 billion in the same month last year bringing the growth in the first four months of the year to three percent to $9.58 billion from $9.3 billion.

The BSP also revised the per-sonal remittance figures to a decline of 1.3 percent instead of a growth of 1.4 percent.

Personal remittance is com-puted as the sum of gross earn-ings of overseas Filipino workers with work contracts of less than one year, including all sea-based workers, less taxes, social contri-butions, and transportation and travel expenditures in their host countries.

Last year, cash remittances went up 4.6 percent to a record $25.77 billion from $24.63 billion in 2014.

For this year, remittances are expected to increase four percent on account of the steady deploy-ment of Filipino workers, greater diversification of country destina-tions, and shift to higher-skilled types of work.

BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said money sent home by overseas Filipinos amounted to $2.21 billion in April, $87 million higher from $2.13 billion in the same month last year.

Incoming NEDA chief favors lower limit on foreign ownership

by czeriza VaLencia Philstar.com

MANILA—Incoming socioeco-nomic planning secretary and Na-tional Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) director general Ernesto Pernia is intent on pushing for relaxation of restrictions on for-eign direct investments and attract more ventures in manufacturing and agriculture in the provinces.

Foreign business groups have been batting for the relaxation of foreign ownership cap of 40 percent, saying this is preventing the country’s foreign investment inflow from meeting its full po-tential. They argue that massive amounts of foreign investments is the best way to generate more jobs in the country.

“(To strengthen the manufac-turing industry we need to) lift constitutional restrictions on FDIs

and encourage investments in manufacturing and agriculture in the regions outside Metro Manila including Visayas and Mindanao,” Pernia said.

As investments in agriculture are in high on the priority list, Pernia said farmers should con-centrate on high-value crops as the new administration would be veering way from the policy of attaining self-sufficiency in rice production.

“The right policy is food secu-rity, not self-sufficiency because we do not have comparative advan-tage in growing rice. Thailand and Vietnam have such advantage so it’s cheaper to import from them,” he said.

The government has gone to great lengths to protect the livelihood of rice farmers from competition as the country seeks self-sufficiency in the staple, even

negotiating with the World Trade Organization (WTO) for the exten-sion until next year of the special tax treatment on rice.

Incoming socioeconomic planning secretary and National Economic and Development Authority director general Ernesto Pernia is intent on pushing for relaxation of restrictions on foreign direct investments and attract more ventures in manufacturing and agriculture in the provinces.

Duterte economic team to present...from the consultation.

First on the list of the 10-point socioeconomic agenda was to “continue and maintain current macroeconomic policies, including fiscal, monetary and trade poli-cies,” the draft conference agenda provided to reporters showed.

Also part of the socioeconomic roadmap were:

Instituting progressive tax re-form and more effective tax col-lection while indexing taxes to inflation, in line with the plan to submit to Congress a tax reform package by September;

Increasing competitiveness and the ease of doing business, draw-ing upon successful models used to attract business to local cities such as Davao, as well as pursuing the relaxation of the Constitutional restrictions on foreign ownership, except with regards land owner-ship, in order to attract foreign direct investments;

Accelerating annual infrastruc-ture spending to account for 5 per-cent of the gross domestic product, with public-private partnerships playing a key role;

Promoting rural and value chain development toward increasing agricultural and rural enterprise productivity and rural tourism;

Ensuring security of land tenure to encourage investments and ad-dress bottlenecks in land manage-ment and titling agencies;

Investing in human capital development, including health and education systems, as well as matching skills and training to meet the demands of businesses and the private sector;

Promoting science, technology and the creative arts to enhance innovation and creative capacity towards self-sustaining and inclu-sive development;

Improving social protection pro-grams, including the government’s conditional cash transfer program, in order to protect the poor against instability and economic shocks; and

Strengthening the implementa-tion of the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Law to enable, especially, poor couples to make informed choices on financial and family planning.

The Duterte administration’s 10-point agenda “emphasizes the need to maintain accelerated economic growth while ensuring that gains are broadly shared by the Filipino people,” the statement read.

It was also “anchored on the long-term Filipino 2040 vision and the next medium-term Philippine Development Planning (PDP) cycle, both led by Neda,” it added, referring to the AmBisyon Natin 2040 vision.

Launched in March, AmBisyon Natin 2040 was aimed at tripling Filipinos’ per capita income to about $11,000 in 25 years’ time such that the country would be-come a high-income country in 2040 by implementing “right” policies as well as efficiency and productivity improvements.

A survey conducted early this year in line with the AmBisyon Na-tin 2040 visioning exercise showed that the majority of Filipinos aspire for a “simple and comfortable life,” which Neda had said reflected middle-class lifestyle—earning enough, educating all children until college, owning a car, owning a medium-sized house, finding time to relax with family and friends, owning a business, and being able to travel around the country.

When the next administration officially takes over by midyear, they will shepherd the drafting of the next six-year PDP to suit their development and economic goals. The PDP for the 2017-2022 period is expected to be completed by yearend.

According to Dominguez’s transition team, the consultative meeting Sulong “is envisaged as a yearly event; the first of an annual series over the next six years, and perhaps beyond, in tandem with a civil society consultative confer-ence.”

PH targeted as luxury travel destinationby Louise Maureen siMeon

Philstar.com

MANILA—Aside from infra-structure and connectivity, the group said top agenda for incom-ing tourism secretary Wanda Corazon Teo should include the development of a national plan for sustainable and responsible tourism industry.

“This includes powers to regulate tourism activities se-verely impacting our natural resources, indigenous people and culture and ensure inclusive economic development in tourist attractions communities,” APTM spokesperson Edwin Villanueva said.

The APTM aims to join the ranks of other Asia-Pacific coun-tries that actively promote luxury tourism including India, Austra-

lia, China, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan, Vietnam, Sin-gapore and Indonesia.

The premium market seg-ment is said to be more inclined with art, design, entertainment, gadgets, fashion, food and local customs.

The Philippines is being tar-geted as the new luxury travel destination in Asia-Pacific as the region has become the latest hotspot for the premium tourism market.

According to executives from the luxury travel industry, there is increasing demand from social class A travellers as evidenced by the continued growth of luxury resorts and hotels in the country.

Although the Department of Tourism (DOT) has not seg-mented data between luxury

and budget travellers, the group expects total receipts to reach P7 billion and arrivals to 60,000 in the next three years from the high-yield luxury market.

Premium travellers spend over 50 percent more than average tourists and have the tendency to stay longer. The country’s top luxury markets include Germany, Canada and the UK.

“There is a need for interna-tional connectivity to the Philip-pines for inbound traffic of key tourism markets. Promoting in-bound traffic gathers more yield for the country’s economy,” Asia Premium Travel Mart (APTM) president Fe Abling-Yu said.

Yu noted that increase in mar-ket should be coupled with nec-essary infrastructure to provide better accessibility, safety and convenience to tourists.

Balesin’s colorful resort.

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Companies that neglect APA advancement risk losing out, according to new survey

NEW YORK—A significant number of Asian Pacific American (APA) and Asian employees believe that they are not part of strategic con-versations at their company and that APAs are not rewarded for their individual talents, ac-cording to a survey of more than 3,300 employ-ees at Fortune 500 and other large employers published today by Asia Society.

Ninety-seven percent of APA employees care about their company’s success and 94 percent would recommend their company to other APAs as a good place to work, according to the 2016 Asian Pacific Americans Corporate Survey. A significant number of respondents, however, feel that APAs are not rewarded for their indi-vidual talents. Roughly one in ten APA employ-ees believe recognition is based on stereotypes and the same number do not believe promotions are awarded based on performance and merit, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, religious beliefs, and cultural backgrounds.

The survey also finds that APAs are not fully brought into strategic conversations. Sixteen percent of respondents indicate their employer does not encourage the participation of APA employees in market and business develop-ment activities, and the same number say their employer does not provide opportunities for high-performing APA employees to gain profit and loss (P&L) experience. Lack of engagement of APA leaders also manifests itself in the ex-ecutive leadership ranks. Thirty-seven percent of companies report no representation of APA or Asian individuals at the C-Suite level.

When asked which drivers influence their overall satisfaction at work, the most frequent factors cited by APA employees are: 1) work-life balance; 2) company commitment to diversity; and 3) professional growth opportunities.

There is room for companies to better en-gage APA employees in that last category, the survey finds. Forty-one percent of respondents

say that sponsorship—formal or informal pro-grams in which a more senior or experienced professional takes an active role in the growth and development of a more junior employee—is not available at their company.

There also seems to be a disconnect between existing career development programs and what APA employees are looking for. Forty-five percent of respondents do not participate in mentorship. Additionally, of those respondents who said sponsorship is available at their com-pany, 80 percent do not participate in those activities.

The survey also provides a snapshot of today’s APA workforce. It finds that among APA employees at Fortune 500-level companies:

• 39 percent identify as East Asian; 38 per-cent South Asian; 17 percent Southeast Asian; 5 percent as being from Multiple Regions; 1 percent as Pacific Islanders

• 17 percent are aged 18-29; 32 percent are aged 30-39; 32 percent are aged 40-49; 17 percent are aged 50-69

• 59 percent have been with their current employer 5 or more years

• 72 percent were born abroad; 20 percent were the first generation in their family born in the U.S.

• 61 percent of those born abroad arrived in the U.S. at age 21 or older

The Asian Pacific Americans Corporate Survey is developed in close consultation with Asia Society’s Global Talent and Diversity Council, which is comprised of more than 20 diversity leaders from Fortune 500 companies. It includes direct responses from Diversity & Inclusion/HR departments as well as percep-tions and opinions from APA employees.

For more findings, including a “roadmap” with actionable recommendations for corporate executive leaders, managers, and APA employ-ees, read the full executive summary.

Rival conglomerates may start with $10-B airport project

Foreign investors keen about Clark Green City

by Kristyn niKa M. Lazo ManilaTimes.net

MORE than 20 investors from Japan and Europe have either pledged to invest, or expressed interest to invest, in the Clark Green City of the Base Conver-sion and Development Authority (BCDA).

Describing the investor re-sponse as “remarkable interest,” BCDA president and CEO Arnel Paciano Casanova said on Tues-day that among the potential investors are Mitsubishi, Hitachi, Mitsui, Sumitomo, Sojitz and other major Japanese companies. They are interested particularly in utilities, land development and infrastructure. They are also considering industrial estate in-vestments.

The industrial estate is identi-fied in the first phase of develop-ment covering some 288 hectares. “We are encouraging Japanese educational institutions and re-search institutes to set up shops in Clark to improve our technologi-cal capability,” Casanova said.

Investors from France and Germany are considering invest-

ing, given the large-scale projects in the city.

Some 20 Japanese companies have already visited the area for ocular inspection, while a French company is scheduled to visit this month.

About the industrial estates included in the plan, Casanova said: “It’s a strategic partnership because once we do industrial estate development in Clark, you create expansion growth area in Clark for Japanese manufacturing firms to also come in.”

Japanese companies, he noted, are looking for alternative sites of manufacturing facilities, and they look at the Philippines as “one of their priorities in investments.”

“The Japanese have been very, very optimistic about the Philip-pines. They don’t have much [issues]. They’re optimistic about Clark Green City. They look at the scale of the project, and it is some-thing that they’re really interested in. If they’re going to spend time and resources, they wanted it to be on a scale that would create value for them. Small contracts they’d rather leave to domestic players,” Casanova said.

BCDA had signed an agree-ment with the Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment Corp. or JOIN in February to form a joint venture company that will support and encourage Japanese firms to invest in Clark Green City. This joint venture is owned 55 percent by JOIN and 45 percent by BCDA.

BCDA is now considering craft-ing the necessary legal framework that would help foreign investors and businesses.

According to Casanova, the po-tential foreign investment can eas-ily be pegged at “billions of dollars” given the sizable scale of projects within the 9,450-hectare project area which will be fully developed in about 30-40 years.

Bank deposits grow to P9.4-T

MANILA—More Filipinos con-tinue to entrust their money in banks as deposits went up 10.8 percent in the first quarter amid the money laundering scandal that rocked the country’s financial system last February.

Data from the state-run Phil-ippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) showed bank deposits reached P9.39 trillion from Janu-ary to March, P916 billion higher versus the P8.48 trillion recorded in the same period last year.

PDIC said peso deposits in-creased 10.9 percent to P7.79 trillion from P7.03 trillion, while foreign currency deposits owned by residents grew 9.9 percent to P1.59 trillion from P1.45 trillion.

Statistics showed the number of peso and foreign currency deposit accounts increased 7.5 percent to 51.85 million in the first quarter from 48.23 million in the same quarter last year.


Earlier, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported the total resources of Philippine banks went up 10.1 percent to P12.52 trillion in the first quarter from a year-ago level of P11.37 million.

The total resources of big banks or universal and commer-cial banks increased 9.8 percent to P11.25 trillion from P10.24 billion, while that of mid-sized banks or thrift banks surged 16.7 percent to P1.05 trillion from P899.3 billion.

On the other hand, total assets of small banks or rural banks fell 9.7 percent to P213 billion in the first quarter from P236 billion in the same quarter of last year with the exit of more weak players in the industry.

Last year, total resources of the Philippine financial system increased 7.4 percent to P12.4 trillion from P11.5 trillion in 2014. As a percent of gross domestic product (GDP), the country’s banking resources stood at 93.4 percent.

RSA, MVP in talks forjoint infra ventures

TWO of the country’s stiffest corporate rivals are in talks to join forces to build crucial infra-structure for the country under the incoming Duterte administra-tion, beginning with a brand-new international gateway for the metropolis.

San Miguel Corp. and the group of businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan have entered into discussions for the $10-billion in-ternational airport project along the Cyberbay reclamation area that seeks to match world-glass gateways within the region, but this didn’t gain ground then.

San Miguel president Ramon S. Ang told reporters after the company’s stockholders meeting Tuesday that since the airport

by Doris DuMLao-abaDiLLaInquirer.net

Ramon S. Ang and Manny V. Pangilinan

project was a big undertaking, his group was willing to bring in partners.

Ang said he had spoken with Pangilinan and agreed to work together. He said they were now in “advanced” discussions for mutual cooperation for infra-structure projects, beginning with this airport project.

“Instead of us doing projects on our own, we decided to find areas of cooperation,” Ang said.

The cooperation with the group of Pangilinan—who heads Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. Ltd. which has 80 percent of its assets invested in the Philip-pines—could extend beyond the airport to other infrastructure projects like tollroads and even

Investment potential pegged at billions of dollars

PAGE D5

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Longo Toyota delivers world class experienceBeing the premiere

Toyota retailer in the na-tion, Longo Toyota aims to deliver a truly world-class experience to our guests on every transaction, ev-eryday.

it all starts with our friendly and welcoming staff, a clean and mod-ern environment, and a wide range of services to make your visit pleasant and convenient. Here are some of our key amenities at Longo Toyota:

Auto Club of Southern California (AAA)

in november 1999, Longo Toyota became the first automotive dealer-ship in the US to have the Auto Club on its prem-ises. For 14 long years, our Auto Club branch has served countless satisfied Longo customers with its wide array of services

Today, our on-site branch offers DMV servic-es, airline, car and hotel reservations, discounted movie and local attraction tickets, membership pro-cessing, OnBoard Teen Safe Driver Program, and more. Sign up at our Longo Toyota branch and get $13 off the origi-nal membership application price. Located in our new car showroom, our AAA branch is open Mondays thru Saturdays, from 11am to 7pm.

Verizon Wireless Premium RetailerLongo Lexus is the first car dealership in the

US to provide Verizon Wireless and Verizon Wireless neighborhood services on-site. Our Verizon branch offers the latest in telecommu-nications, mobile devices, accessories and ser-vices. We also offer complimentary cellphone charging stations for our customers. Our Ve-rizon retailer is located inside our parts retail center. Our Wireless Playground is open Mon-day-Friday, 7am-7pm; Saturday, 7am-5:30pm; and Sunday, 8-4pm. Please call (888) 623-2133 for more information.

Starbucks and SubwayWhile waiting for your car to come out of our

car-care service lines, you can enjoy a quick bite at Subway or a nice refreshing drink at Starbucks. We offer healthy dining options with Subway’s wide variety of sandwiches, salads, and wraps.

if you’re thirsty and you’re looking for that quick coffee fix, you can grab a refreshing Ha-zelnut Macchiato or a smooth Caramel Frappuc-cino at Starbucks. Offering only the finest cof-fee specialties, teas, juices, and assortment of pastries, there’s something for everybody at our on-site Starbucks branch.

Both our Subway and Starbucks branches are available for catering services.

Enterprise Rent-A-CarLongo Toyota also has two enterprise Rent-

A-Car offices on its prem-ises. One is located adja-cent to the Service Drive in the Pre-Owned Vehicle Showroom, and the other is in the Collision Repair Center. Customers are welcome to utilize the en-terprise rental services, re-gardless of whether or not they leave their vehicle in Longo for any car service.

Complimentary Vehicle Delivery Service

Longo Toyota also offer complimentary vehicle de-livery service. Our delivery service is available 6 days a week, Monday thru Sat-urday, anywhere within a 60-mile radius of Longo Toyota.

Longo Toyota Parts and Accessories Department

You can also shop at the Longo Toyota Parts and Accessories Department, which carries a wide se-lection of genuine Toyota parts and accessories for your vehicle. With thou-sands of parts and acces-sories in stock, we defi-nitely have whatever it is you’re looking for. Our

boutique also carries a selection of Ray-Ban and Oakley sunglasses, women’s and men’s apparel, and so much more.

Shuttle ServiceFor your convenience, Longo Toyota offers

complimentary shuttle service while your ve-hicles are being serviced. Our shuttles can take you to virtually anywhere within a 15-mile ra-dius of Longo Toyota – be it your home, work, the mall, or even the parlor! Anywhere!

An engaging stayWhile we understand that our customer’s

time is precious, we realize that many of them may need internet connectivity at all times. As such we are more than happy to provide FReeWiFi throughout our facility, and FRee use of our great business center. in our business cen-ter, we provide a quiet setting where our guests can work on our computers or on their own lap-tops.

We also provide free use of an iPad for Longo guests who are waiting for their vehicles. Our guest Check-in representative will be more than happy to arrange this for you.

if you decide to bring the kids to the dealer-ship, boredom will never be a problem. We also offer a variety of video games and DVDs just for kids so that they can also enjoy their visit to Longo Toyota.

For more information on our Longo Toyota guest Services, please log on to http://www.lon-gotoyota.com/dealership/amenities.htm.

Longo Toyota is located at 3534 north Peck Road, el Monte, CA 91731. Call (800) 617-4516 to set up your appointment.

Longo Lexus offers the ultimate conveniences in customer amenities

We all know that the process of buying a car is not just as sim-ple as buying a new pair of shoes at the mall. It is a long process that involves careful comparison between vehicle models, review-ing the car’s specifications with regards to the needs of the buy-er, and of course, the negotia-tions for the financing packages and promos.

As such, it is very important for Longo Lexus that its custom-ers are supremely comfortable and well-pampered if they are going to make that important decision of which Lexus they will drive home.

As a car dealership, there are many reasons why Longo Lexus has been an elite of Lexus dealer since 1992. One of those reasons includes the ultimate conve-niences that they offer in cus-tomer amenities. As one of the leading Lexus car dealerships, Longo Lexus provides not only pre-sales conveniences, but also noteworthy post-sales services.

Longo Lexus is known for the unique amenities that they offer to dealership customers.

One of those unique amenities include an on-site Auto Club of Southern California (AAA) cen-ter. The AAA branch offers DMV services, airline, car, and hotel reservations, discounted movie and local attraction tickets, AAA membership application process-ing, OnBoard Teen Safe Driver Program, auto and home insur-ance, and more. Sign up at our AAA branch in Longo, and you’ll receive a special $13 discount off the original membership price.

Aside from from the on-site AAA branch, Longo is also the first dealership in the US to of-fer Verizon Wireless and Verizon Wireless Neighborhood services on-site. Offering the latest tech-nologies in telecommunications, mobile accessories, and services, Longo’s on-site Verizon branch makes it even more convenient for customers to stay connected with the world. Our Verizon Wireless Premium Retailer is open from Monday to Friday, 7am-7pm; Saturday, from 7am to 5:30pm; and Sunday, from 8am to 4pm. Please call (888) 811-5201.

While waiting for your car to come out of our premium car-care service lines or while you’re going through our wide inven-tory of luxurious Lexus vehicles, you can enjoy a quick bite at Sub-

way or a nice re-freshing drink at Starbucks.

If you want to pamper your car, you can also shop at the Lon-go Lexus Parts Boutique, which carries a wide selection of gen-uine Lexus parts and accessories for your vehicle. With over 31,000 parts and acces-sories in stock, you’re sure to find what you’re looking for.

The after-sales services of a dealership is just as important as the pre-sales amenities. And it these after-sales services that make buying a vehicle at Longo Lexus a truly rewarding experience.

We offer complimentary loaner vehicles for your use while your car is in our service center. For inquiries, on our loaners, please call our coordinators at 1-800-597-0813.

For your convenience, we also offer complimentary shuttle ser-vice to take you to your office, home, or even the mall—basically anywhere within a 15-mile ra-dius—while your vehicle is being serviced.

If you don’t have time to make the drive to our dealership, our Longo Lexus Mobile Service Van and Truck can provide routine maintenance services, such as oil changes and tire rotations, right at your home or office. Appoint-ments can be made up to 6 months in advance.

Similarly, if your service require-ments need the car to be physi-cally present at our Longo service center, we offer complimentary flatbed truck pick-up and delivery of your vehicle to and from our dealership. Our Longo Lexus Mo-bile Service Van and Truck, and our complimentary flatbed truch pick-up and delivery service are exclusively for cars that are pur-chased from Longo Lexus, and are located within 60mile radius from Longo.

Please call 1-800-597-0813 to schedule your appointment.

Also, for every service appoint-ment, each vehicle receives a com-plimentary car wash in our Longo Lexus Car Spa.

For our clients who wish to use other cars, aside from those among our fleet of loaner Lexus cars, they can avail of the services of our enterprise Rent-A-Car offices.

With two branches on the Longo Premises, enterprise is ready to address all your car rental needs. Please call (800) 969-6519 for more information.

We understand that life’s daily grind requires our customers to be always on top of everything while keeping up with an on-the-go lifestyle. Which is they are more than welcome to work at our Longo Business Center where they can work on our com-puter terminals, free of charge. We also offer complimentary Wireless Internet Access (Wi-Fi) to our customers throughout the facility. This is particularly useful for our customers with mobile devices, laptops, and tablets.

While you wait for your car to come out of our service center, your kids can enjoy and have a good time at our Children Play Area, where we offer video games and other activities for the young ones.

Longo Lexus customers will also be offered complimentary use of our iPads while they are waiting for their vehicle.

For more information on our Longo Lexus Guest Services, please log on to www.longolex-us.com/GuestAmenities or call (626) 539-2956.

Longo Lexus is located at 3530 North Peck Road, el Monte, CA 91731.

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World’s favorite pickup truck records global sales of 18-M units

EMPLOYMENTEMPLOYMENTPUBLIC NOTICE

EMPLOYMENT

RSA, MVP in talks for joint infra...mass railway transits, Ang said.

On the proposed airport proj-ect, Ang said: “We will sit down and give him a presentation. We will decide from there what area of cooperation we can pursue like in Parañaque and Las Piñas.”

San Miguel is proposing a new airport to be built along Cyber-Bay Corp.’s disrupted waterfront reclamation project along the Manila-Cavite Coastal Road, cov-ering the cities of Parañaque and Las Piñas. The proposal was to

FiRST released in 1968, the legendary Toyota Hilux has been a dominant player in the global pick-up market for nearly 50 years.

To date, the world’s favorite pick-up has recorded cumulative global sales of over 18 million units.

Renowned for its Quality, Durability and Reliability (QDR), the unstoppable Hilux continues to amaze as it conquers the North Pole, icelandic volcanos and the Antarctic continent, and also achieves podium finishes in the Dakar Rally Raid.

Available in Single Cab, four-seat Extra Cab and five-seat

Double Cab body styles, the new, eighth-generation Hilux builds on this legendary reputation and invincible QDR, redefining tough-ness for business users with a new and stronger ladder chas-sis, a reinforced deck structure, enhanced 4×4 capabilities, and improved towing capacity.

At the same time, the new Hilux responds to a growth in pick-up leisure usage in recent years with a new, contempo-rary design, greater comfort, advanced equipment and im-proved safety, making it more stylish and stress-free to drive than ever.

Fulfilling user requirements

for both a durable business work-horse and a stylish, comfortable leisure 4×4, the new Hilux has been designed to offer all its customers significant improve-ments in six key areas namely: design; comfort; safety; QDR; commercial vehicle capabilities; and total cost of ownership.

Tougher, stronger and more capable off-road than ever be-fore, the all-new Toyota pick-up remains every inch a Hilux. Yet it also heralds a new era for the pick-up, with the style, comfort, safety and advanced technology to satisfy even the most discern-ing leisure users. (ManilaTimes.net)

make use of the 157 hectares of reclaimed land already finished by Cyberbay near the Entertain-ment City of Philippine Amuse-ment and Gaming Corp. How-ever, the entire project needs 1,600 hectares, thus requiring more reclamation based on the original master plan.

But Ang said it would be up to the new administration to deter-mine the most suitable location. He said San Miguel and Pang-ilinan would still work together—for instance, bid for a contract under the public-private partner-

ship (PPP) framework—wherever the government’s preferred site would be. However, he said Clark Freeport may be too far to be an alternative option.

Ang said it’s also possible for the new airport to be built in phases. The first phase could be worth $2 billion which would be good enough to accommodate 50 million passengers and become as good as the existing airport in Hong Kong.

The proposed airport will take about five years to build, he said.

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