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FROM THE AJPRESS NEWS TEAM AcroSS AMEricA
Non-profit offers US citizenship test materials in 9 languages, including Tagalog THE path to U.S. citizenship may be more difficult as the naturalization test now features an expanded version of the civics portion — but a free educational tool is helping applicants prepare with study materials in their native language. USAHello, a non-profit dedicated to providing an online center of information and education for refugees, immigrants, and asylum seekers, has released translations for the 2020 version of the U.S. citizenship test in nine languages on its website (usahello.org). The organization partnered with
550 East 8th St., Suite 6, National City, CA 91950 Tel: (818) 502-0651 • (619) 474-0588 • Email: info@asianjournalinc.com
US Senate fails to approve $2,000 stimulus checks Trump signs COVID-19 relief bill
by Klarize
Medenilla AJPress
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on Tuesday, Dec. 29 blocked the House bill that would have fulfilled President Donald
Trump’s request to increase the coronavirus relief stimulus checks from $600 to $2,000, noting that senators will soon “begin a process” to address the issue. Trump signed Congress’ long-awaited $900 billion COVID-19 relief bill on Sunday, Dec. 27 after
More than 2,900 health care workers died this year — and the gov’t barely kept track
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Metro Manila, 9 other areas to start 2021 under GCQ MANILA — Metro Manila and nine other areas will remain under general community quarantine (GCQ) as they welcome 2021. In a pre-recorded speech on Monday, President Rodrigo Duterte announced the extension of the GCQ in Metro Manila for the entire month of January. Areas also welcoming the new year under
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Duterte signs P4.5-T 2021 national budget MANILA — President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday, December 28 signed into law the P4.5-trillion national budget for 2021. The President signed the spending measure for next year in a ceremony in Malacañang attended by select members of the Senate and the House of Representatives as seen in a pre-recorded video aired over PTV. “Ladies and gentlemen, I stand before you today happy and proud to sign the 2021 General Appropriations Act,” Duterte
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Southern CA, San Joaquin Valley regions to remain under stay-at-home order
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MORE than 2,900 U.S. health care workers have died in the COVID-19 pandemic since March, a far higher number than that reported by the government, according to a new analysis by KHN and The Guardian. Fatalities from the coronavirus have skewed young, with the majority of victims under age 60 in the cases for which there is age data. People of color have been disproportionately affected, accounting for about 65% of deaths in cases in which there is race and ethnicity data. After conducting interviews with relatives and friends of around 300 victims, KHN and The Guardian learned that one-third of the fatalities involved concerns over inadequate personal protective equipment.
a lengthy back-and-forths between congressional Republicans and Democrats, as previously reported in the Asian Journal. That bill approved the heavily debated stimulus checks that would provide millions of Ameri-
by Joseph
l. peralta
AJPress
LEGAL FIRECRACKERS. Several authorized firecrackers like Sparklers, Luces, Fountain, Roman candle, Trompillo, among others, are on display for sale at the parking area of Central Mall, Salitran 2, City of Dasmarinas, Cavite on Tuesday, December 29. The total firecracker ban in the city is aimed at preventing revelry-related injuries among residents. PNA photo by Gil Calinga
THE Southern California and San Joaquin Valley regions will continue to operate under the state’s stay-at-home order into the new year as their ICU capacities are projected to remain under the threshold based on the regional plan implemented by the state. This development was announced in a virtual press conference by California Health & Human Services Agency Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly on Tuesday, December 29, 2020. The Southern California region includes San Diego, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Imperial, Inyo, San Bernardino and Mono counties. Upwards of 23 million people live in the region, which accounts for more than 58% of California’s total population. The region has a current case rate of 130.1 per 100,000
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PH expands travel ban to more countries over new COVID-19 variant
THE Philippines has expanded its travel ban to 19 more countries in an effort to address the threat of the new COVID-19 variant. In a memorandum signed by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, Malacañang said President Rodrigo Duterte has banned the entrance of all foreign passengers coming from the following countries: • Denmark • Ireland • Japan • Australia • Israel • The Netherlands • Hong Kong, SAR • Switzerland • France
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Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte
Where before it used to crawl with passengers at this time of the year, the departure area of Ninoy Aquino International Airport is all but empty in this photo taken three days before Christmas. The Philippines has extended its ban on flights from the United Kingdom to the middle of January next year to prevent the entry of the new COVID-19 virus variant. Inquirer.net photo by Lyn Rillon
LA County warns residents of potential COVID-19 vaccine scams by AJPress WITH the arrival of COVID-19 vaccines in Los Angeles County, officials are warning residents to be aware of individuals offering to administer the vaccine in exchange for money. “If someone offers to sell you a chance to get vaccinated before it is your turn,
it’s a scam,” the LA County Public Health Department said in a release. In the past few months into the pandemic, scammers have used robocalls, social media posts and emails to take advantage of the fear, anxiety and confusion around the coronavirus by offering cures and remedies or false testing kits. Currently, the COVID-19 vaccine is be-
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Malacañang photo by Alfred Frias
Duterte warns US: No vaccine, no VFA ‘pag hindi ako pumayag, aalis talaga sila. ‘Pag di sila nakadeliver maski minimum ng 20 PHILIPPINE President Ro- million vaccines, better get out drigo Duterte has warned that (The Visiting Forces Agreement he will terminate the Visiting will be ending. if i don’t extend Forces Agreement (VFA) if the it, they will really leave. if they United States fails to provide cannot deliver even a minimum the country with COVID-19 vac- of 20 million vaccines, better get out),” he said. cines. “No vaccine, no stay here,” In a meeting with the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Duterte added. Malacañang clarified the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases on Saturday, president’s remarks, however, December 26, the chief execu- saying that it was an exercise tive urged the country’s ally to in the Philippines’ independent deliver at least 20 million doses policy. “Wala pong masama dyan, of the vaccine. “‘Yung Visiting Forces Agree- hindi po ‘yan blackmail. ‘Yan po ment matatapos na. Ngayon u PAGE 4 by ritchel
Mendiola AJPress
JANUARY 1-7, 2021 • SAN DIEGO ASIAN JOURNAL
http://www.asianjournal.com • (818) 502-0651 • (619) 474-0588
From The FronT Page
More than 2,900 health care workers died...
NOISE MAKERS. Air horns are on display on the sidewalk along L. Sianghio Street, Barangay Kamuning, Quezon City on Tuesday, December 29. An air horn costs P60 each. PNA photo by Robert Oswald P. Alfiler
US Senate fails to approve $2,000 stimulus... PAGE 1 can taxpayers a $600 stimulus check and extend unemployment benefits for the jobless and independent workers. On Monday, Dec. 28 after the president signed the bill, the House immediately approved legislation that would have increased the stimulus checks to $2,000 in a vote that included nearly all Democrats and a few dozen Republicans. McConnell and other Senate Republicans — who have been wary of the cost of pandemic aid — now face mounting pressure from Democrats and Trump, both of whom argue that the increased stimulus checks would provide more relief to economically stricken families across the country.
“Unless Republicans have a death wish, and it is also the right thing to do, they must approve $2000 payments ASAP. $600 IS NOT ENOUGH!” Trump tweeted on Tuesday morning in response to McConnell’s decision to block the bill. As Senate Republicans fight to keep their majority ahead of a pair of key run-off elections in Georgia next week, McConnell brought back the Senate this week to override Trump’s veto of the annual National Defense Authorization Act and outlined three major conditions that Trump had when he signed the $900 billion relief bill: heftier stimulus checks, amending a bill that includes protections for Big Tech firms and unsubstantiated concerns over elec-
tion fraud. If the Senate ends up considering new legislation that would increase stimulus check payments, all 48 Democrats (and independents who caucus with them) are expected to vote for it, but they would need support from at least 12 of the Senate’s 52 Republicans. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is likely to issue the $600 payments as early as late this week; those who have bank information on file with the Treasury Department will likely receive direct deposits and others will receive checks in the mail. If Congress ends up approving legislation on the $2,000 stimulus payments, that will be an additional direct payment.n
PAGE 1 Many of the deaths — about 680 — occurred in New York and New Jersey, which were hit hard early in the pandemic. Significant numbers also died in Southern and Western states in the ensuing months. The findings are part of “Lost on the Frontline,” a nine-month data and investigative project by KHN and The Guardian to track every health care worker who dies of COVID-19. One of those lost, Vincent DeJesus, 39, told his brother Neil that he’d be in deep trouble if he spent much time with a COVID-positive patient while wearing the surgical mask provided to him by the Las Vegas hospital where he worked. DeJesus died on Aug. 15. Another fatality was Sue Williams-Ward, a 68-year-old home health aide who earned $13 an hour in Indianapolis, and bathed, dressed and fed clients without wearing any PPE, her husband said. She was intubated for six weeks before she died May 2. “Lost on the Frontline” is prompting new government action to explore the root cause of health care worker deaths and take steps to track them better. Officials at the Department of Health and Human Services recently asked the National Academy of Sciences for a “rapid expert consultation” on why so many health care workers are dying in the U.S., citing the count of fallen workers by The Guardian and KHN.
“The question is, where are they becoming infected?” asked Michael Osterholm, a member of President-elect Joe Biden’s COVID-19 advisory team and director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. “That is clearly a critical issue we need to answer and we don’t have that.” The Dec. 10 report by the national academies suggests a new federal tracking system and specially trained contact tracers who would take PPE policies and availability into consideration. Doing so would add critical knowledge that could inform generations to come and give meaning to the lives lost. “Those [health care workers] are people who walked into places of work every day because they cared about patients, putting food on the table for families, and every single one of those lives matter,” said Sue Anne Bell, a University of Michigan assistant professor of nursing and co-author of the national academies report. The recommendations come at a fraught moment for health care workers, as some are getting the COVID-19 vaccine while others are fighting for their lives amid the highest levels of infection the nation has seen. The toll continues to mount. In Indianapolis, for example, 41-year-old nurse practitioner Kindra Irons died Dec. 1. She saw seven or eight home health patients per week while wearing full PPE, including an N95 mask and a face shield, according to her husband, Marcus Irons. The virus destroyed her lungs so badly that six weeks on the most aggressive life support equipment, ECMO, couldn’t save her, he said. Marcus Irons said he is now struggling financially to support their two youngest children, ages 12 and 15. “Nobody should have to go through what we’re going through,” he said. In Massachusetts, 43-yearold Mike “Flynnie” Flynn oversaw transportation and laundry services at North Shore Medical Center, a hospital in Salem, Massachusetts. He and his wife were also raising young children, ages 8, 10 and 11. Flynn, who shone at father-
daughter dances, fell ill in late November and died Dec. 8. He had a heart attack at home on the couch, according to his father, Paul Flynn. A hospital spokesperson said he had full access to PPE and free testing on-site. Since the first months of the pandemic, more than 70 reporters at The Guardian and KHN have scrutinized numerous governmental and public data sources, interviewed the bereaved and spoken with health care experts to build a count. The total number includes fatalities identified by labor unions, obituaries and news outlets and in online postings by the bereaved, as well as by relatives of the deceased. The previous total announced by The Guardian and KHN was approximately 1,450 health care worker deaths. The new number reflects the inclusion of data reported by nursing homes and health facilities to the federal and state governments. These deaths include the facility names but not worker names. Reporters cross-checked each record to ensure fatalities did not appear in the database twice. The tally has been widely cited by other media as well as by members of Congress. Rep. Norma Torres (D-Calif.) referenced the data citing the need for a pending bill that would provide compensation to the families of health care workers who died or sustained long-term disabilities from COVID-19. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) mentioned the tally in a Senate Finance Committee hearing about the medical supply chain. “The fact is,” he said, “the shortages of PPE have put our doctors and nurses and caregivers in grave danger.” This story is part of “Lost on the Frontline,” an ongoing project from The Guardian and Kaiser Health News that aims to document the lives of health care workers in the U.S. who die from COVID-19, and to investigate why so many are victims of the disease. If you have a colleague or loved one we should include, please share their story. (by Christina Jewett, Robert Lewis, and Melissa Bailey/khn. org) n
Non-profit offers US citizenship... PAGE 1 Translators Without Borders to translate the civics test in Spanish, Arabic, French, Chinese, Hindi, Korean, Tagalog, Swahili, and Vietnamese. “For the citizenship test in particular, we have found that many people in preparing for the exam were focused solely on memorizing the English questions and corresponding answers,” Sarah Ivory, president of USAHello, told the Asian Journal in an email. “Time and time again we found that when people failed to pass the civics portion of their exam, it was because the phrasing was slightly different in the in-person interview and the memorization tools they had used were not triggered,” she added. The free translations aim to not just help future Americans study for and pass the exam, but to help them fully understand the content so they are answering the questions with the benefit of the larger context. “Rather than repeating memorized responses, people who learn in their first language may be more likely to comprehend the material,” Ivory explained. USAHello released the translated study materials based on the number of speakers of those languages inside the U.S. Of the nine offered languages, seven represent the top languages spoken in the country. Tagalog, a language spoken in the Philippines, ranked fourth, with 1.7 million speakers in the U.S. Spanish leads the ranking right after English with 41 million speakers. Other languages in the top seven are Chinese (3.5 million), Viet-
namese (1.5 million), Arabic (1.2 million), French (1.2 million), and Korean (1.1 million). USAHello said it is planning to add more languages soon. The naturalization test has two components: an English test, which has not changed, and an expanded version of the civics test. The English test allows the applicant to demonstrate an understanding of the language including the ability to read, write, and speak basic English. Meanwhile, the revised civic test assesses applicants’ knowledge of American history, government and civic values. An immigration officer will ask the applicant 20 questions from a list of 128 civics test questions. The applicant needs to answer at least 12 of the 20 questions correctly to pass the revised version. Previously, the civics test only asked the applicant up to 10 questions from the list of 100 civics test questions. The applicant needed to answer six questions correctly to pass the test. The revised civics test did not change the passing score, which remains at 60%. Applicants who apply for naturalization on or after December 1, 2020 will take the updated version of the test. USAHello also offers trustworthy and verified information about recent news and policy updates, such as changes to immigration programs like the Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals, as well as articles about understanding American laws and cultures, educational opportunities, and job preparedness. (Ritchel Mendiola / AJPress) n
Metro Manila, 9 other areas... PAGE 1 GCQ are four provinces — Davao del Norte, Batangas, Isabela, Lanao del Sur — and five cities — Santiago, Iloilo, Tacloban, Iligan, and Davao. The rest of the country will be under the more lenient modified GCQ. The announcement of quarantine classifications for January comes with the emergence of a new coronavirus strain from the United Kingdom.
Earlier, Duterte warned that stricter quarantine measures could be reimposed should the new strain spread across the country. Due to the new strain, which is said to be more infectious, several countries, including the Philippines, imposed a travel ban on the United Kingdom to prevent possible transmission. (by Krissy Aguilar/Inquirer.net)
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SAN DIEGO ASIAN JOURNAL • JANUARy 1-7, 2021
Southern CA, San Joaquin Valley...
LUCKY FRUITS. Round fruits, like oranges, melons, and apples, are on sale at the Kadiwa Public Market on Congressional Ave., Dasmariñas City, Cavite on Tuesday, December 29. Filipinos believe that having 12 kinds of round fruits during the traditional Media Noche will bring good luck to the family. PNA photo by Gil Calinga
Duterte signs P4.5-T 2021... PAGE 1 t said in the pre-taped speech. “This important piece of legislation attests to the importance of active and fruitful collaboration between the executive and the legislative branches of the government, especially this time when the health and welfare of the people are at stake. Among the salient provisions of the budget is the P72.5 billion allocated for the government’s vaccination program against COVID-19. Of this figure, P2.5 billion is lodged under the Department of Health (DOH) while the rest is under unprogrammed appro-
priations. “Let me stress that one of the most important items in the 2021 budget is the allocation of P72.5 billion for the purchase of storage, transportation, and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines,” Duterte noted. “Every centavo of this budget must be spent to ensure the nation’s recovery, resilience, and sustainability. Let me, therefore, serve an assurance to the Filipino people—this coming year, we intend to recover as one nation,” Duterte added. The education sector, which covers the Department of Education, state universities and colleges, the Commission on
Higher Education, and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, accounts for the largest bulk of the budget at P708 billion. The Department of Public Works and Highways received the second-highest allocation at P694 billion. The health sector came third with a P287 billion allocation. This funding covers the Department of Health, the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, specialty hospitals, the Philippine Institute Of Traditional And Alternative Health Care, and the Health Facilities Enhancement Program, and the COVID-19 vaccine. n
Duterte warns US: No vaccine... PAGE 1 t 11, 2020 sent a notice to Wash- America delivering kaagad. Hin‘yung ibig sabihin ng independi- ington that terminated the de- di nga nila ma-deliver agad sa yenteng panlabas na polisiya o fense agreement. kanilang lugar, dito pa (Do not independent foreign policy. HinIn June, the abrogation of the believe in that sh*t that America di po tayo sunud-sunuran. Hindi VFA was suspended “in light of will deliver immediately. They po tayo didiktahan ng kahit sino political and other developments can’t even deliver it right away (There is nothing wrong with in the region.” in their area, what more here)?” that, it’s not blackmailing. That’s Duterte admitted that he be- he said. what independent foreign policy came “a cynic” to the U.S., “Naging cynic ako sa kanila. means. We are not blind follow- stressing that if the country real- Kung ibigay, eh di ibigay (I’ve ers. We cannot be dictated by ly wants to help the Philippines, become a cynic to them. If anyone),” Presidential Spokes- it should show through deliver- they give it, then give it). If you person Harry Roque said. ing vaccines against COVID-19. want to help, you deliver (and) The Philippines on February stop talking. What we need is “Do not believe in4C__TRIM: that sh*t, nax 10.56” 20SDG16532_Winter Rates-Energy Tips__Asian Journal__RUN: 01_01_21__ 5.69”
ENERGY TIPS TO SHAKE WINTER’S CHILL.
PAGE 1 t individuals, with a 1.1 transmission rate. Based on current numbers provided by the state on Tuesday, intensive care unit (ICU) availability for each of the regions are as follows: Southern California, 0%; San Joaquin Valley, 0%; Bay Area, 10.4%; Greater Sacramento, 19.1%; and Northern California 27.9%. Projections done by the state’s team do not foresee both regions surpassing the threshold under the regional plan, which is set at 15% ICU capacity, according to Dr. Ghaly. Among the factors taken into account when making the state’s projections are current ICU capacity, current seven-day average case rate, current transmission rate (Reff) and current rate of ICU admission. Dr. Ghaly also mentioned that regions included within the stayat-home order will not necessarily stay there for an additional duration of three or four weeks as the projections are assessed daily by the state’s team of experts. As COVID-19 cases surge in the state, Dr. Ghaly revealed that California will continue to monitor the situation closely and has issued guidance to hospitals dealing with the influx of cases. Those guidelines are geared to make sure that hospitals are able to remain in conventional or contingent care for as long as possible; that hospitals in a region work together, along with their County partners, to support each other to remain in contingent care for as long as possible; that hospitals have prepared plans for crisis care which is rooted in equity, fairness and transparency, as a last resort; and that the public will have clear and transparent information about crisis care continuum and the hospitals’ approach to
crisis care during the surge. While Dr. Ghaly commended California hospitals for their handling of the surge of COVID cases by adapting their operations, he also acknowledged that many hospitals and staff are being stretched to provide the level of care expected for all Californians. That is why it is important that each facility has a crisis care plan, wherein medical professionals will have to make hard choices on allocation of resources, that can deal with such situations when the time comes. If a hospital or facility in any region enters crisis care, Dr. Ghaly said the state will do its best to ensure that it is in that level of care for the briefest period possible. In the interim, the state will do its best to prevent hospitals from entering crisis care. It will be the hospital, not the state, who will determine whether it enters crisis care based on the need for hospitalization and available resources. “Together we can stop this surge,” Dr. Ghaly said as he ended his presentation. “Much of what we’re dealing with is avoidable. Much of what we’re seeing can be stopped if we collectively make decisions to stop it. And those decisions are to wear our mask, to stay at home as much as we can at this critical time, and when we do go out to make sure that we keep physically distanced, we don’t mix with anybody outside of our household for the time being, and that we do as much as we can to keep our mask on.” Dr. Ghaly acknowledged that while some Californians have begun to experience fatigue from the constant messaging from state officials on protocols. “We are in this moment where it can really make a difference, that each of us has the power and the tool to save a life, get the transmission rate down, and
help somebody… and we want to continue to be about supporting and saving lives as much as we can as we go through this winter surge,” he said. He also advised people to celebrate New Year’s virtually and make the decision to protect themselves and their fellow Californians to help stop the surge. Meanwhile, California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday, December 28 announced that California has opted in to the federal COVID-19 Pharmacy Partnership, at no cost to the state or local government. Under the partnership, CVS and Walgreens will administer the Pfizer vaccine to residents and staff in long-term care facilities starting Monday. Both pharmacies will start vaccinations in nursing homes, which will take an estimated three to four weeks, and then move to vaccinate staff and residents in assisted living, residential care and other longterm care facilities. Approximately 499 nursing homes will be provided the vaccine by CVS, and 357 by Walgreens, according to the announcement. The program will see CVS and Walgreens pharmacy staff (pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and nurses) administer the vaccine by going directly to the care facilities. Pharmacy technicians are participating under a recent waiver by the Board of Pharmacy that requires appropriate supervision under California law and specialized training. “Vaccinating those most vulnerable among us is critical to fighting this virus,” said Newsom. “By leveraging CVS and Walgreens resources, we can effectively deploy vaccines to residents and staff at our longterm care facilities, which are at higher risk of COVID transmission – and do it at no cost to the state or local government.” n
the vaccine, not your verbose speeches,” he added. Pfizer applies for EUA in PH U.S. pharmaceutical company Pfizer Inc. has applied for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) of its COVID-19 vaccine in the Philippines, according to Malacañang. Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said that Philippine Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Director-General Rolando Domingo confirmed Pfizer submitted its application
on Dec. 23. “It will take FDA 21 days to evaluate and approve the EUA but vaccination would start as soon as stocks become available,” he explained Saturday. Domingo, for his part, said Pfizer will not have difficulties in obtaining the EUA for its COVID vaccine. “Pag nanggaling na sa (If it has already come from) stringent regulatory authority like the U.S. FDA and UK, there would be minimal requirement,”
he said. Meanwhile, Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. announced that U.S. drugmaker Moderna is “on board” and “accelerating” a huge shipment of COVID-19 vaccine to the country. “More good news from [Philippine Ambassador Jose Manuel “Babe” Romualdez]: Moderna on board and accelerating huge shipment. Everything’s falling back into place,” he said in a tweet. n
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JANUARY 1-7, 2021 • SAN DIEGO ASIAN JOURNAL
http://www.asianjournal.com • (818) 502-0651 • (619) 474-0588
Prop 19 major changes take effect in first trimester of 2021 SF Assessor-Recorder Carmen Chu advises property owners to take note of February, April deadlines
by Joseph
L. peraLta
AJPress
THE passage of Proposition 19 in last November’s elections by a vote of 51 to 49 percent will herald changes to the transfer of properties between family members, and seniors/severely disabled persons/victims of wildfire or natural disaster taking a favorable assessment on a home purchase. San Francisco Assessor-Recorder Carmen Chu in a Zoom conference call in mid-December issued a warning to Californians to take a look at their situation, read about the new law and determine their course of action as the first one of the two major changes made by Prop 19, which affects transfers of inherited property (from parent to child or from grandparent to grandchild), begins on February 16, 2021. “You want to get this done early,” Assessor-Record Chu told media present at the Zoom call. “You don’t want this done at the last minute.” According to Chu, since February 15 is a holiday, San Franciscans wishing to complete paperwork before the Feb. 16 deadline must file complete their paperwork at the soonest time possible to avoid any delays. She anticipates that there may be a lot of people filing paperwork with their office so she is advising SF residents to get a move on with the steps needed to complete any changes they need with regard to their properties. As the Assessor-Recorder office is still closed for physical visits, those wishing to secure forms or find information can go to https://sfassessor.org. Information about Prop 19 is available in the site; in-language translations can be found on the Prop 19 page in Chinese, Tagalog and Spanish. “We have put resources into a single, consolidated website that shows information on Prop 19.” Chu explained, as she showed call participants how site visitors can scroll down to see information, quick tables and a video on Prop 19. According to Chu, property owners can submit forms in
WORK IN PROGRESS. A Metro Rail Transit Line 7 (MRT-7) surveyor takes measurements at the construction site of the rail system along Quirino Highway near Regalado Avenue in Quezon City on Monday, December 28. The construction of the 22-kilometer MRT-7 from North Avenue, Quezon City to San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan with 14 stations is expected to be finished by 2022. PNA photo by Oliver Marquez
PH expands travel ban to more countries... SF Assessor-Recorder Carmen Chu
multiple ways – electronically (aside from property owner himself/herself, this can also be done through title companies, law offices or banks), via a drop-off box located at Grove Street near City Hall which is checked by their office three times a day, or by mailing documents to their office. Assessor-Recorder Chu added that while their office staff will try to record documents that come into their office before 4pm each day, it may become a challenge to do so if the volume of paperwork that comes into their office as the Feb. 16 date nears increases exponentially, especially if a lot of property owners want to transfer their properties to their children or grandchildren. Chu also added a caveat to those wishing to transfer their properties to family members: If you do transfer your property to a family member, then you don’t own it anymore. As such, Chu is advising people to look closely at their situation and make a decision, which may include consultations with family members, that best serves them. Chu also announced during the Zoom call that the SF Assessor-Recorder Office will hold one of its Digital Family Wealth Forum Series on Tuesday, January 5, 2021 entitled “Understanding the Benefits & Impacts of CA Prop 19” from 12 noon to 1 p.m. The online event is designed to
Photo from sfassessor.org
provide families with the necessary tools to understand the new law and help continue their family’s financial planning. This free online event, while offered by their office, can be attended by any Californian wishing more information on Prop 19. To register, click on https:// docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FA IpQLScewSij6viuh0iOvEqxKXljEJMYjtXr30vSCEcFFXZ17_G6_Q/ viewform. Those wishing more information can contact the SF Assessor-Recorder office at (415) 554-7434 or by sending an email to nicole.agbayani@sfgov.org. Another online event is planned for the Spring of 2021 which will tackle Prop 19 benefits for seniors, the severely disabled and victims of natural disasters. As for legal challenges to Prop 19, Chu said that she has not heard of any group or organization that has filed any court cases versus the new law. “The implementation of this law is very fast,” Chu said. “The first part is going into effect in February of 2021 so everyone will have to act fast. While there is still some information not available to us as state legislators and the State Board of Equalization go over the fine print of the law, I encourage everyone to read as much about it, attend the forum and file their paperwork early if they want to make changes.” n
PAGE 1 t • Germany • Iceland • Italy • Lebanon • Singapore • Sweden • South Korea • South Africa • Canada • Spain The order will take effect starting Wednesday, December 30, until Jan. 15. Those who are already in transit and will arrive before December 30, including returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), will be allowed to enter. However, they are required
to undergo a 14-day quarantine period regardless of their negative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test result. Duterte also approved the extension of the temporary suspension of flights from, and the prohibition of entry on all travelers coming from or transiting through, the United Kingdom until Jan. 15, 2021. Filipino citizens coming from the aforementioned countries will be allowed to enter provided they undergo an absolute facility-based 14-day quarantine despite a negative RT-PCR test result. “That was the decision of our
president. He was very firm in deciding that the restriction will only apply to other travelers from [the] UK and the 20 other countries. And he exempted our OFWs, because he said, I want our OFWs to go home to their families,” said Philippine Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III. Earlier this month, the UK detected a new COVID-19 variant called VUI 202012/01, which is believed to be more transmissible than other known variants. Countries like Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, Japan, and France later announced that they have confirmed cases of the new COVID-19 variant. (Ritchel Mendiola/AJPress) n
LA County warns residents of... PAGE 1 t ing offered to frontline health care workers and those who live in long-term care facilities. Essential workers who cannot work from home and are at high risk of contracting the virus, as well as older adults with medical conditions, are being eyed for the next rounds of distribution. “As more vaccine[s] [are] available, it will be offered to everyone. This will likely take months. Vaccine may not be offered to the general public until Spring/Summer 2021,” the health department said. The department added that the vaccine will be administered at no cost and regard-
DIVINE MERCY 1/2HFC
less of immigration status and whether they have health insurance. What the public should look out for is if someone offers to move you into an earlier group to get the vaccine for a fee; if they try to sell you a place on a COVID vaccine waiting list as there is no such list; or if someone on the street, online, social media or by door tries to sell a shot of the vaccine. “If someone says they can get you a special, low cost deal, or get you the vaccine under the table, it’s a scam,” the department added. Other tips shared include: being vigilant if the individuals asks for personal or finan-
cial information; seeing ads for fake vaccines or “miracle cures” using vitamins or other dietary supplements; and if anyone that “isn’t well known in your community (like a doctor, a health care clinic, a pharmacy, a County health program) offers you a vaccine – think twice and check with your doctor.” To report a possible COVID19 scam, LA County residents can contact the Department of Consumer and Business Affairs at dcba.lacounty.gov or (800) 593-8222, or can report suspicious claims about vaccines, testing or treatment products to the Federal Trade Commission at ftc.gov/complaint. n
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Dateline PhiliPPines
‘Who gave you the authority?: Duterte slams ICC anew by Alexis
RomeRo Philstar.com
Taguig Congressman Alan Peter Cayetano and newly-appointed House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco
ManilaTimes.net photos
House survives bitter speakership row by DivinA novA Joy DelA CRuz ManilaTimes.net
THE drawn-out, emotionally charged change of leadership ratcheted up the political tension in 2020 in the House of Representatives that was already struggling to adjust to the new realities brought about by the coronavirus pandemic. The dispute centered on the term-sharing deal arranged by President Rodrigo Duterte to smoothen the transition in the speakership. The President convinced the two contenders, Taguig-Pateros’ Alan Peter Cayetano and Marinduque’s Lord Allan Velasco, to be speaker by turns during the 18th Congress. Everyone seemed agreeable to the set-up. University of the Philippines Political Science Prof. Maria Ela Atienza saw it as a way to unite different political parties and factions into a “supermajority” that supports Duterte. Cayetano was Duterte’s running mate in the 2016 elections, while Velasco was the choice of the President’s party, Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), for speaker. The early months of the agreement went smoothly, with Cayetano assigning his allies to key House positions and Velasco content with staying in the background, patiently waiting his turn. But soon relations between
the two camps began to fray. There were heated debates between the supporters of Cayetano and Velasco. Cayetano began to complain about attempts to topple him even before his turn was up, while Velasco’s camp decried the “inequitable” district allocations in the national budget. Things came to a head in September, when Cayetano declared he would hang on to the post because the House needed a strong hand in coming up with an effective coronavirus response, something which he claimed Velasco was incapable of doing. On September 30, Cayetano offered to resign, but decided to stay on as speaker after the House voted to turn down his offer. The night before, Cayetano and Velasco met with the Duterte, assuring him they would abide by the term-sharing deal. Velasco blasted Cayetano’s “political maneuverings” and “theatrics,” insisting that the turnover must take place by October 14. The speakership row incensed Duterte, who saw it as a major obstruction in the swift passage of the 2021 national budget. As the dispute heated up, the House was forced to suspend session without passing the 2021 budget. But more politically significant, it prevented an October 14 transition.
The President finally put his foot down, calling Congress to a special session from October 13 to 16 specifically for the passage of the budget. Velasco seized the chance to go on the offensive. Assembling majority of the House membership at the Celebrity Sports Complex on October 12, his allies convened a session that voted to replace Cayetano with Velasco. Questions on the legality of Velasco’s election were put to rest the following day, when 186 congressmen attended a special session at the Batasang Pambansa to ratify Velasco’s speakership. Hours later, Cayetano announced his resignation in a Facebook post. The Velasco-led House hit the ground running, reopening deliberations for the 2021 budget and passing it on third and final reading on October 16. Velasco vowed to unite the House and restore its “integrity” and “sense of statesmanship” after what he called an “unnecessary turmoil.” He consolidated his hold on power, establishing a supermajority in the House which included Cayetano’s Nacionalista Party. By December 16, Velasco’s ascendancy was complete. He also named 32 deputy speakers, 10 more than Cayetano had appointed.
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MANILA — President Rodrigo Duterte has accused the International Criminal Court (ICC) of interfering in the Philippines’ internal matters almost two weeks after the tribunal’s prosecutor claimed there was “reasonable basis” to believe crimes against humanity were committed in the country because of the war on drugs. Duterte questioned ICC’s authority to prosecute him and claimed that the tribunal was peddling “nonsense.” “Maya ko na sagutin ‘yang ICC-ICC na ‘yan. Puro kabulastugan man rin ‘yang inyo (I will answer the ICC later. It’s all nonsense),” the president said during a televised address last Monday, December 28.
“In the first place, why are you interfering in the affairs of my country and other countries? And who gave you the authority? By what divine law gave you the authority... to prosecute me in a...foreign land tapos ang nakaupo puro kayo mga puti na u*** (and all the sitting judges are white fools)?” he added. Duterte reiterated that he is ready to land in jail because of his campaign against illegal drugs, which has left about 6,000 drug suspects dead, based on police data. “You must be crazy... We have the courts here functioning. And if the courts say that I should go to jail, I will go to jail. I have no problem with that... I did what I embarked to do. It was an election promise,” he said.
‘Pag ‘yan ang suwerte inabutan ko, so be it. Iyon na ‘yon (If that’s my fate, then so be it. That’s it).” Earlier this month, ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said the crimes against humanity linked to the Philippines’ antidrug campaign are murder, torture, and infliction of serious physical injury and mental harm. The ICC prosecutor may decide on whether to seek permission to begin a probe on the Philippie situation in the first half of 2021. Malacañang has claimed that the Philippines cannot be compelled to cooperate with the ICC since it has withdrawn from the Rome Statute, the treaty that created the tribunal. Duterte, whose strong stance on crime catapulted him to the
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JANUARY 1-7, 2021 • SAN DIEGO ASIAN JOURNAL
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OpiniOn
Christmas tragedy
Features Philstar.com photo
FOR a family in Taguig, it has been a horrifyingly tragic Christmas. It started on Christmas Eve, when 28-year-old mother of two Karina Siacunco was found dead at their home. Relatives disputed her husband Aiko’s claim that she had hanged herself. On Christmas Day, Aiko, wearing a bloodstained shirt, showed up at a police station in the city and said he had strangled to death his three-year-old daughter and oneyear-old son in their room. Aiko himself had reportedly tried to hang himself. Police rushed to his home, where they found the children’s bodies on a mattress. Police said Siacunco had been depressed and had been fighting with his wife, who worked at a call center, over his failure to find a job since lockdowns were imposed in mid-March to contain the spread of the coronavirus. The tragedy that befell the Siacuncos is an extreme manifestation of the mental distress that health professionals say has been on the rise as a result of the difficulties arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. For household breadwinners in particular, the loss of jobs or sources of livelihood can be deeply stressful and can put a strain on family relationships. The Department of Health, the University of the Philippines and private civic organizations
Editorial
have been operating hotlines to assist those who are suffering from mental distress and to dissuade people from committing suicide. The hotlines have recorded spikes in calls since the start of the COVID
lockdowns. Such mental health services, however, remain limited. Even in organizations that provide psychological counseling and require members to pass psychiatric exams, the services can be inadequate. This has been manifested in the coldblooded murder of a mother and her son in Paniqui, Tarlac on Dec. 20 by police M/Sgt. Jonel Nuezca during a heated altercation. The government has institutionalized the promotion of mental health, with the enactment of Republic Act 11036 in 2018. Yet limited resources and the lack of trained personnel have slowed down the rollout of mental health programs, and millions of Filipinos lack access to such services. This campaign also calls for support from local governments as well as the engagement of the
community and various sectors such as schools and spiritual counselors. The tragedy that befell the Siacuncos lends urgency to the need for a
more aggressive campaign to promote mental health together with physical wellness in this pandemic. (Philstar.com)
Honoring our heroes on the frontline in the fight against COVID-19: What happens when the doctor becomes the patient?
The Fil-Am Perspective Gel SantoS-ReloS THE doctors, nurses, and caregivers who are fighting on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic are our modern-day heroes. They work long hours and are exposed to the COVID19 virus on so many levels. What happens when these heroes get infected by the virus? What happens when the doctor becomes the patient? Let me share with you my interview with a colleague of my husband at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Redwood City, California. Dr. Eric Kwon is an Asian American urologist and is among the frontliners who have no choice but to continue serving and providing care to his patients despite the threat of COVID-19. In March, when the coronavirus was declared a pandemic, and just when the whole world was still learning more about this new virus, Dr. Kwon was infected by COVID-19. The doctor became the patient. Q: Tell me about how you found out you were infected by the coronavirus. Dr. Kwon: It was late March. We were learning how to put on and take off PPE, what to do in case someone had symptoms. And it was just it was actually very confusing. There was a
lot of change, a lot of information. A lot of uncertainty. And a lot of change, all at once. And then one Saturday morning, I woke up and I felt I felt a little sick. A little runny nose, a slight cough headache. But mostly I was tired. That was [an] overwhelming feeling that I had throughout the entire disease process. So, took some Tylenol took a nap, what I thought would be a nap and eight hours later, I woke up. And to my surprise, the entire day had passed. And, but I felt better. So I didn’t think much of it. So I went about my evening. The next day, Sunday, no problem, no symptoms. I thought, ‘Oh this must have been just a hard week at work, and I was just tired.’ You know sometimes when you’re really tired, you can feel sick. That Monday, I went to work. I was okay. That next Tuesday, I went to work, and around nine in the morning when our team huddled to talk about the day, I remember having a headache. And I said, ‘Oh, that’s funny, you know, I got a good night’s rest, took an Advil, got through my morning.’ And then right around noon, when we’re finished with the morning patients, my partner came over to me and said, ‘Hey let’s go get lunch.’ I remember
Back on track Babe’s Eye View BaBe Romualdez WITH clear instructions from President Duterte that anything that has to do with vaccine procurement begins and ends on COVID task force chief General Carlito Galvez’s desk, we can now all be assured that we are in good hands. Secretary Galvez can very well leverage his experience as a logistics expert to consolidate the diverse tasks needed to carry out the country’s national vaccine roadmap. We have already turned over all the information including delivery timelines provided by American pharmaceutical firms ready to supply our country with their vaccines – and the rest is now up for Secretary Galvez’s perusal. I spoke with him a few days ago and he said they are
looking at four or five suppliers of the vaccines assuring us of a supply of 60-70 million doses no later than the middle of next year. As soon as he instructs us, we will try to work on earlier deliveries from this end. The secretary has also issued an assurance that the country is “on track” and that we are still able to make up for the delays in the negotiations. “We are working on getting a fair share of the vaccines in the global market, given that 80% of the vaccines have already been procured by the manufacturers’ country of origin and countries now in the height of the ‘second wave,’” he said. The private sector is joining forces with the government to support the massive logistical requirements in the rollout of the vaccines as seen in the big turnout during the recent virtual Vaccine Logistics Summit. Coordination between the public and private sectors, including global agencies, was emphasized in the fight against the pandemic. As underscored by Philippine
putting on my white coat, and as I put my arms into the sleeves, I could feel it was like sandpaper. My body just ached and I felt a slight fever. ...My whole body was just very achy [and at] lunch, [I] didn’t think much of it...And I was thinking to myself, I wasn’t thinking I have coronavirus. I was just thinking: ‘Gosh, I hope I’m not getting sick with the flu.’ Because the very next day, Wednesday, was the start of spring break for my kids, and I was supposed to be off for two weeks. And the trip that we had planned was already canceled. So we were thinking, what else are we going to do, we’re going to, maybe, you know, do something local, you know, spend some time with the family. And then that night, I got home. And that’s when it really got serious with fevers, chills, more body aches, headache, joint pains, but really just feeling terribly tired. I just wanted to lay down, I could not get out of bed. And so that was the beginning of it. Q: How do you think you got infected? Dr. Kwon: The next morning I get up, I’m thinking I’m looking back [at] what happened. At that time, we were not wearing masks...So, we did not understand that this was an airborne
disease. So we were talking about six feet social distance. We were talking about hand washing and cleaning surfaces. But really, in hindsight, we now know that this is an airborne virus. So, if you’re indoors, even if you’re six feet apart — it doesn’t really matter. Masks can help. It’s not everything. But you really need to provide protection for your airway. So before I became sick, even though we knew this virus was raging, we did not even in the hospital, and in the clinic here at the Medical Center, we did not have a mask policy. In fact, we were worried about using up the limited supply of masks that we had. So we were very much in the mode of preserving masks and PPE rather than just making sure that everyone was using them everywhere. And of course, depending on the advisory coming from [the] CDC and the health officials. But the fact is we’re just learning more about this on COVID19... In my personal opinion, I think probably a lot of people would agree that the way we responded, our initial response to this virus was a complete public health failure. Q: How did this experience change you? Dr. Kwon: You know, I’m middle-aged. Before this hap-
pened. I considered myself to be young and healthy. Now, I know that I’m old. And I know that because I realized that I am no longer invincible. When you’re young, when you’re healthy, you don’t think that something bad like this can happen to you. And as a physician, maybe as health care workers, we might have this little voice in our head, that says, I’m one of the good guys. Right. So, in a moral universe where there’s maybe you believe in karma. If you do good, good will come to you, if you work hard, you will be rewarded. If you do the right thing. Maybe that will somehow protect you from being in harm’s way. All of those myths evaporated in a heartbeat — being young being healthy, never, ever hospitalized, don’t really go to the doctor ever, and wasn’t taking any medications. Occasionally, you know, go in for vaccination for work, get the flu vaccine once a year. But other than that, my interaction with the medical world actually as a patient was quite minimal. And so, I had this thinking that it would not affect me at all — what a mistake that was. And now on the other side of having gone through a relatively severe bout of COVID, being in the ICU for several days, being sick and
symptomatic for a couple of months. And now having some residual long haul symptoms that I’m still recovering from. Q: How was it like being a patient? What insights did you learn from this health crisis in your own life? Dr. Kwon: It’s been very humbling. And the thing that I think the way that I really changed is my perspective on the people, the people that we depend on that. They’re always there quietly doing their work. And they’re in the background...when you really need them. These are exceptional people that do the work every single day with hardly any recognition. They’re not getting awards. This is not Hollywood. These are real life, everyday heroes. And the people who are most impactful for me, who have been the most impactful have been the nurses. They are the ones that are literally on the frontlines putting themselves at risk, more, more than anybody else really and doing the hard work, providing the care. So, before all of this, of course, I am friends with the nurses and I know them, some of them personally, mostly in the operating room, where we have teams and we work together.
Disaster Resilience Foundation president Butch Meily, “Collaboration between the government and the private sector in the distribution of the COVID19 vaccines ensures the best use of trucks, airlines, hospitals and other resources in one of the most complex logistics exercises ever.” The whole world is hoping to recover from the ravages of the pandemic, although the case rate is still very high, especially here in the United States where over 18 million have been infected. More than one million Americans have been vaccinated starting with the frontliners, with more than 20 million doses set for distribution in the next few weeks. But as health experts have cautioned – foremost among them U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Dr. Anthony Fauci – people still need to be vigilant with the wearing of masks and the practice of social distancing. Based on past history and even during the time when no vaccines were available, wearing masks is an effective way to stop the spread of an infectious disease.
In the past few weeks, new strains of the novel coronavirus have been detected in South Africa and the United Kingdom. Initial reports indicate that the “UK variant” could be 70% more transmissible, although scientists say it does not seem to cause more severe illness. Experts are also confident that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines would still be effective as they can be tweaked to combat the new strains. It was quick on the part of President Duterte to suspend flights from the UK to ensure public health and safety. We have to accept the fact that developments like this will happen every now and then, which is why we have to continue to be vigilant, and people must maintain health and safety protocols for at least a year until the World Health Organization officially declares the pandemic over. As the saying goes, it’s not over till it’s over since it will take time for the immunization of at least 60% of the world’s population. Clearly, lessons can be learned from this pandemic – described as unprecedented because the virus behaved in a
manner that defied all expectations, as it would not manifest any symptoms for one person while it could be fatal for another. What is very clear is the need for a more accurate system of reporting and tracking to prevent the further spread of the virus. Definitely, all these lessons will help countries prepare better for any potential pandemic that could take place again. Billionaire Bill Gates’ foundation warned about a major pandemic 15 years ago. No doubt it’s been a really difficult year, with so many sectors having been affected, especially our overseas Filipino workers. But deployment is starting to slowly pick up, according to the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration. Several countries are also set to reopen their borders to foreign workers once their respective vaccine programs start to roll. The government has also put together a package of livelihood assistance programs for OFWs who have been displaced due to the pandemic, along with college scholarships provided for their children. In the meantime, Finance
Secretary Sonny Dominguez will be launching several virtual economic briefings to attract more companies that are relocating to Asia. Secretary Dominguez is confident that “the worst is over” and that the Philippines will be able to rebound strongly in 2021 given the “green shoots” that are coming up, among them our record-high gross international reserves that stood at $104 billion as of the end of October. The peso is also projected to strengthen even further in 2021 as the market “continues to focus on the Philippines’ strong macroeconomic fundamentals,” according to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas governor Ben Diokno. All of us will never forget 2020, but we are all certainly looking forward to 2021 – confident that we are “back on track for the health and wealth of our country.” ***
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The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Asian Journal, its management, editorial board and staff.
*** Email: babeseyeview@gmail.com
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BIKE TO WORK. Cyclists pedal on their way to work at the designated bicycle lane along Elliptical Road in Quezon City on Monday, December 28. Local government units have set up bicycle lanes as cycling has become an alternative mode of transport amid the COVID-19 health crisis. PNA photo by Joey O. Razon
House survives bitter speakership row... PAGE 5 t While many regard the appointments as a way to reward Velasco’s allies, Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, who was among the new deputy speakers, said it was “a move in the right direction,” ensuring equal representation of all regions and political parties. During Cayetano’s stint, Velasco’s allies were also stripped of sensitive posts. Among them were Oriental Mindoro First District Rep. Salvador Leachon, Velasco’s PDP-Laban partymate, who had been booted out as chairman of the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal, and 1-Pacman party-list Rep. Michael Romero, president of the Party-list Coalition that sup-
ported Velasco, who had been stripped of the deputy speaker post. As soon as Velasco assumed office, Leachon was elected as senior deputy speaker and Romero regained his deputy speaker post. Cayetano could not help but take a final swipe, accusing Velasco and his allies of prioritizing plans for the 2022 elections instead of ensuring funding for a coronavirus vaccine. Velasco believes the House is up to the challenge of passing key legislation amid the pandemic and the calamities that have struck the country. “Never has the mettle and resolve of government and our public servants been collectively
and consecutively tested in recent memory than it has been this year. Pero nandito pa rin tayo, lumalaban at nagtatrabaho (But we are still here, fighting and working). After all that we have been through, I could truly say, we are a Stronger House,” he said before Congress went into a Christmas break on December 16. Velasco reported that since he assumed office in October, the House has processed a total of 185 measures, with 7 Republic Acts and at least 20 more measures awaiting Duterte’s signature. The House has also approved 83 measures on third and final reading and 50 more measures on second reading, he said. n
Honoring our heroes on the frontline... PAGE 6 t But after being a patient and directly receiving that care that that human touch, literally. You know I was quarantined for a total of five weeks. And during that five weeks, the only people that ever touched me were nurses, and that warm hand on my arm was reassuring. The reassuring words, the medicine they brought, the ice packs that they put around me. When my body felt like it was on fire. Those are the people. They are my heroes, and I appreciate them way more than I ever did. Our mothers, our fathers in this war against the coronavirus...It’s really important to understand that, because there are only so many of them. Our nurses have gotten sick,
particularly in the spring, when PPE was in such short supply... You know nobody likes to admit this but the United States, our healthcare system, we just were not prepared for, for many reasons. Supply chain being one of them. We just didn’t have what we needed. Let’s just face the facts. So we were making do with what we have reusing and N-95 masks. We’re still reusing them. So, unfortunately, a lot has not changed. But at least we are. We’ve learned. But it’s not like we have a whole army of nurses that we can just call upon to fill in. We have a limited workforce. You know they’re working very hard, under extremely stressful situations. And we have to protect them.
We have to treat them as a valuable resource and a limited resource. And the way we do that is with our own behavior [and] to protect each other. HAPPY NEW YEAR! ***
The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Asian Journal, its management, editorial board and staff.
*** Gel Santos Relos has been in news, talk, public service and educational broadcasting since 1989 with ABS-CBN and is now serving the Filipino audience using different platforms, including digital broadcasting, and print, and is working on a new public service program for the community. You may contact her through email at gelrelos@icloud.com, or send her a message via Facebook at Facebook.com/Gel. Santos.Relos.
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Some Cabinet members, troops get vaccines ahead of FDA approval MANILA — A number of Cabinet members and soldiers have already been inoculated with coronavirus vaccines, government officials confirmed, despite an earlier statement that medical frontliners would be top priority and despite no vaccines being authorized for use yet. The confirmation was prompted by President Rodrigo Duterte’s comments that many people had already received vaccines from Chinese government-run Sinopharm. “I know some from the Cabinet and the Presidential Security Guards,â€? Interior Secretary Eduardo AĂąo said in mixed Filipino and English in an interview aired over dzMM TeleRadyo. “Until those people confirm it for themselves I cannot say their names.â€? In a separate statement on Monday afternoon, December 28, the Armed Forces of the Philippines confirmed that the soldiers who were vaccinated first belonged to the Presidential Security Group. This came
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after Maj. Gen. Edgard Arevalo, AFP spokesperson, initially stressed at the Laging Handa briefing that there is no vaccination happening within the military. Asked if the AFP would be willing to submit to an inquiry by the FDA, Arevalo said: “That’s a hypothetical question. Let’s find out what happened first.� The Palace earlier in December said that 1.76 million health workers are first on the list of priority beneficiaries for COVID19 vaccination. Uniformed personnel like the military are fifth priority in the government plan to vaccinate 24.7 million Filipinos against COVID-19. As reports of military personnel getting jabs of unauthorized COVID-19 vaccines circulated, the Department of Health maintained in a statement later Monday that all vaccines should undergo the evaluation and regulatory process of the country’s regulatory and expert bodies. “We also reiterate that the use of unregistered products poses
harm to a person’s health and safety. This is why only vaccines which have been approved and found to be safe should be administered,� it said. U.S. drugmaker Pfizer has applied for Emergency Use Authorization, which would make vaccines that have yet to be registered available for use. The FDA has not issued any authorizations for any COVID-19 vaccine. But Palace spokesman Harry Roque saw things differently, saying at a press briefing later Monday: “It’s not illegal to be vaccinated with an unregistered vaccine. What is prohibited is the distribution and sale.� “Let’s just accept that our military who guards our security is now safe from COVID when they can do their job. I don’t think [Duterte authorized the inoculation of soldiers.] It must have been the decision of the commanders and the soldiers,� he also said. (Franco Luna with a report from Gaea Katreena Cabico/Philstar.com) n
BARRIERS. Department of Public Works and Highway (DPWH) workers wash the concrete barriers near the bus carousel on Edsa in Quezon City on Tuesday, December 29. It is part of the government’s beautification and road safety program. PNA photo by Robert Oswald P. Alfiler
‘Who gave you the authority... PAGE 5 t presidency in 2016, said drug lords and kidnappers deserve to be burned alive. “The drug lords, even the kidnappers, the drug pushers,
LEGAL NOTICE CASE NUMBER: 37-2020-00040018-CU-PT-CTL
bring them to a place where not so many people will be scandalized. Pour gasoline on them and set them on fire. They deserve it,� he added. Critics claim that Duterte’s fi-
LEGAL NOTICE CASE NUMBER: 37-2020-00045200-CU-PTCTL
CASE NUMBER: 37-2020-00045668-CU-PT-CTL
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ery rhetoric has led to extrajudicial killings and other abuses but officials deny this, saying the president respects the rule of law and that he is just fond of “colorful language.� n
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SAN DIEGO ASIAN JOURNAL • JANUARy 1-7, 2021
Journal
Filipino traditions to welcome 2021 by Ritchel
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family bonds. 2. Having circles/round shapes everywhere Filipinos and Chinese alike believe the round shape is a symbol of prosperity, so it’s common to see circles during New Year’s Eve. More often than not, you’ll see 12 round fruits displayed on the dining table (one fruit per month for a prosperous year) or people wearing polka-dotted clothes. 3. Jumping when the clock strikes 12 The most popular tradition that Filipino adults and kids do as soon as the clock strikes January 1. Jumping as high as you can is believed to be a way to help you grow taller in the new year — there’s no scientific explanation to support this belief, but it’s fun and exhila-
rating to do anyway. 4. Opening doors and keeping all the lights on When the new year arrives, Filipinos would open all the doors in their houses to allow good energy and good fortune to come in, and turn on all the lights to welcome a brighter year. 5. Making loud noises to drive off evil spirits Firework displays are a common sight in every country when they welcome the new year, but in the Philippines, fireworks light up the sky because it is believed loud sounds would scare off evil spirits that bring bad luck. Aside from this, Filipinos usually play loud music in the open, and use horns or toy instruments to produce ear-piercing noises.
‘YAHOO YEAR IN REVIEW’
The Philippines’ top searches in 2020
BY any measure, 2020 has been one of the most momentous years of the past century. The past 50-odd weeks have kept netizens in the Philippines glued to their devices in search of information, ideas and opinions through a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic. From the eruption of the Taal Volcano, and the NBA, to local and Korean entertainment choices, there has been a flood of online activity this year as netizens sought out their passions online like never before. As the year draws to a close, “Yahoo’s Year in Review 2020” takes a look at the top happenings, people, and trends that captured the interest of the Philippines’ online community in 2020. Top newsmakers of 2020: Uncertainty, tragedy and politics headline search. Taal Volcano, one of the world’s most dangerous volcanoes, was the top searched news in the Philippines this year — its activity in January threatened the lives of nearly a million people across Calabarzon, Metro Manila and some parts of Central Luzon and Ilocos region. Late NBA superstar Kobe Bryant ranked second in the search list as basketball-obsessed Philippines reeled from news of his untimely passing. Local and international politics featured prominently, with the US Presidential Elections (3rd) and President Donald Trump (6th), as well as our own President Rodrigo Duterte (4th) and his additional authority to combat COVID-19 granted through the Bayanihan Act 2020 (5th), also known as the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, ranking high on users’ searches. The arrest and ongoing saga of businessman and popular internet personality Francis Leo Marcos (7th) for alleged violation of Optometry Law also kept users on the edge of their seats. Most searched celebrities: Ivana Alawi and Raffy Tulfo take tops spots. Filipino celebrities dominated the most searched female celebrities list this year, taking eight out of the 10 top spots. Catapulting into the top spot was Kapamilya actress Ivana Alawi whose wildly popular YouTube channel drove her meteoric rise to fame in just a year. Sarah Geronimo ranked second on the list as news of her surprise secret wedding sent users on a frantic hunt for details of the “AshMatt” nuptials. Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray’s (3rd) controversial breakup with her ex Clint Bondad was thrust back into the public light as alleged photos of them circulated on social media. There was no resisting the charm of South Korean oppas as they took up almost half of the spots in the most searched male celebrities list. Gaining international popularity with “Crash Landing on You,” 2020 was a shining year for Hyun Bin
According to Yahoo, Taal Volcano was the top searched news in the Philippines this year.
ja n ua ry 1 , 2 0 2 1
Plus, taking a look at the radical history of self-care
Mendiola / AJPress
bountiful — right in our own homes. Here are some of those traditions: 1. Eating media noche Filipinos love eating — but more than that, they love eating together with their families. New Year’s Eve gives them that opportunity to celebrate, complete with an impressive spread to welcome the incoming year. Roughly translated as “midnight,” Media Noche is a Filipino custom where family members, their relatives, and friends all gather together to eat and drink. The menu differs for every family but there will always be some food that remain a staple in every household, such as pancit (long noodles), which represent good health and long life; and sticky rice, which represents tighter
Self-care in 2021: resisting commercialized wellness and appreciating what you have
020 has been a turbulent year all around, offering no reprieve as it doled out concerning news and tragedies month after month, and changed everyday life as we knew it.
It’s no wonder then, that everyone is eager to say goodbye to this year and welcome 2021 with boundless hope that it will be better than the last. Countries like the United Kingdom and the United States have already begun their COVID19 vaccine campaigns, so the new year is looking a little less bleak. Just like with Christmas, we can’t celebrate the new year the way we used to. Restrictions are in place to keep the public from contracting COVID-19 and everyone is still encouraged to stay at home. Even without the usual fanfare, we Filipinos can still welcome 2021 by partaking in traditions that are supposed to help in making the new year better, happier, and more
ManilaTimes.net photo
by KlaRize
Medenilla / AJPress
IT could not be said enough: 2020 was awful. Nearly everybody could agree, and no matter what kind of silver-lining spin you try to put on it, it’s an immovable fact that this was a year marked by the ongoing coronavirus crisis which has threatened economic stability, political security and, most importantly, the health of millions of people across the globe. According to the World Health Organization, there have been nearly 80 million confirmed cases of the COVID19 virus globally as of Sunday, Dec. 27, 2020. Nearly 1.8 million people have passed away from complications over the virus. On a local level, the staggering numbers paint a much more dire situation, especially in Los Angeles County, in which hospitals continue to be swamped with COVID-19 patients and where a new stayat-home order may be on the horizon. All in all, the current climate doesn’t make conducive the prospect of optimism and safety. But no matter what the circumstances are in the outside world, there’s always room for self-care. Self-care isn’t a new phenomenon but it quickly became shorthand for mental health around 2016. Searching the #selfcare hashtag on Instagram yields more than 15 million posts that depict everything from a fresh manicure and a haircut to collections of luxury aromatherapy and
yoga poses on mountain tops. Google searches for the term doubled in 2016, and interestingly, the term was Googled twice as much in April and May of this year, signaling the pandemic as a catalyst for selfcare. But what does self-care actually entail? A concept so individualistic means that one person’s vision of self-care differs from the next, but popular conceptions — taking breaks from social media, adopting an exercise or diet routine, Marie Kondo-ing your closet — seek to provide universal balms to the burns of anxiety, depression and mental exhaustion. The popularity of self-care has devolved the phenomenon into a commodifiable concept; for $492 you can buy a vial of sandalwood essential oil. For about the same price, you can book a spot at The Silent Meditation Retreat in North Carolina (if you book by Dec. 31, the price is a special COVID-19 discount at the relatively equally astonishing price of $295). Online marketplaces like Gwyneth Paltrow’s wellness empire GOOP regularly hawk quirky, exorbitantly priced self-care products and services (like a $135 at-home coffee enema designed to detox your rectum and, allegedly, provide a caffeine boost). By 2018, the global health and wellness space became a $4.5 trillion industry, obscuring the point of self-care from an authentic mission to care for oneself to a muddy market-
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San Diego aSian Journal
Recipe Corner
Pancit Molo
Ivana Alawi and Raffy Tulfo are the most searched male and female celebrities. Photos from Instagram/@ivanaalawi, @raffytulfoinaction
(2nd) as he also clinched a commercial deal with telco Smart Communications. Other South Korean male celebrities who made the list were Lee Min-Ho (6th), Park Seo Joon (9th), and Ji Chang Wook (10th). Broadcast journalist and host Raffy Tulfo surged to the top of the list as he edged out even the best looking South Korean male celebrities to take the coveted top spot. Remembering the King of Philippine Movies Fernando Poe Jr., legislation filed in Congress to rename an avenue after him sparked interest, ranking him third on the search list. Subject of false reports of his death, Marcelito Pomoy (4th) whose outstanding solo performance of the classic duet “The Prayer” captivated millions of viewers on America’s Got Talent, and the Philippines’ favorite son, Manny Pacquiao (5th) rounded off the top half of the list. Most searched movies and TV shows: Local showbiz holds on, K-drama rises.
No surprises this year as local showbiz continued to be popular, even as the Korean wave continued making inroads into the Philippines. K-drama “Crash Landing on You” was the most searched in the list as stars of the series clinched commercial deals in the country — a couple even had photoshoots themed after the series. “The World of the Married,” another South Korean series, came in seventh as ABSCBN quickly clinched airing rights for the show with a Filipino-dubbed version. Rounding up the list was Oscar-winning South Korean film, “Parasite” (10th). Not to be beaten, local showbiz with a mix of local TV series, newscast, and variety shows were also popularly searched. Encantadia was second most searched, with TV Patrol (3rd), Wowowin (6th), and Ang Probinsyano (8th) proving time-tested favorites. While it dominated the list
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Broth Ingredients: • 1 whole chicken • Pork bones • Shrimp heads from ½ kilo shrimps, pounded, add water then strain • 3 liters water Procedure: Boil chicken, pork bones and strained shrimp head mixture. Remove scum. When chicken is cooked, remove from broth, let cool then shred meat and reserve for soup. Molo balls Ingredients: • 2.5lbs ground pork • 2 tbsp fermented beans (mashed) • 4 stalks chopped onion leaves • 2 tsps Pamana soy sauce • 1 tsp sugar • 3 pcs eggs (beaten lightly) • 1 pc egg (beaten lightly, mix with 1 tbsp flour) • Molo wrappers Procedure: Mix pork, mashed fermented beans, green onions or garlic chive “kutchay”, soy sauce, pepper, sugar and 3 eggs. Place about ½ teaspoon of the mixture into the center of the molo wrapper. Gather the corners together and twist.
Seal with the egg and flour mixture. Soup assembly Ingredients: • 1 tbsp crushed garlic • 2 tbsp butter or margarine (with 2 tbsp cooking oil) • 1 lb shrimps (peeled and boiled then cut into small pieces) • Shredded chicken • Salt to taste • Strained broth • Cooking oil • Kutsay leaves (chopped then fried until oil becomes green) • 1 tbsp garlic (chopped then fried) • Pamana ground pepper Procedure: Sauté garlic in oil and butter mixture until golden brown. Add in the boiled shrimps and shredded chicken. Add mixture to broth. Salt to taste. Boil. When soup is ready to be eaten, drop in molo balls to boiling broth mixture and then turn the heat off. Place in bowls and top with fried kutsay leaves and fried garlic. Sprinkle with ground pepper.
This recipe is provided courtesy of Seafood City. Visit their Facebook Page or http://www.seafoodcity.com for more recipes. If you have any recipes that you would like to share with Asian Journal readers, please send email to editor@asianjournalinc.com or info@asianjournalinc.com, and include a photo of your dish.
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JANUARY 1-7, 2021 • SAN DIEGO ASIAN JOURNAL
Health@Heart PhiliP S. Chua, MD, FaCS, FPCS THE other day, I received a startling video clip from a friend in Texas who forwarded it from his Messenger account, showing a nurse being interviewed after getting the antiCOVID-19 vaccine. The video showed she felt ill right there and then, and passed out. The video clip ended there. The printed message on the video said, “Nurse died after taking shot of COVID vaccine.” Tiffany Dover, a nurse at CHI Hospital in Chattanooga, Tennessee, who fainted after receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, was wildly circulated in the social media around the world as having died from the shot. News like this will obviously create fear and panic among people who are waiting to get the vaccine and may opt out of it. That would be a disaster. The public is already worried about the safety of the vaccines because they were developed rapidly (about 11 months rather than the old conventional way, which took years, even decades, to develop). COVID-19 data update Currently, worldwide, there are almost 81.3 million cases of COVID-19 and nearly 1.8 million deaths: U.S. – about 19.6 million, with about 342,000 deaths; the Philippines – around 471,000 cases and 9,200 deaths. A new strain (variant) with 20 mutations of SARS-CoV2 (COVID-19) virus, 70 percent more transmissible, is spreading in the United Kingdom and first detected on December 14, 2020. Other countries with this new strain include Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia. All passengers on flights from the UK to the U.S. are now required to have a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of their flight. It is not certain at this point that if this new strain is already in the U.S. An egregious act Whoever circulated the incomplete video and the resultant half-truth – fake news –must be censured. CHI Hospital confirmed Tiffany is alive
EntErtainmEnt
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Did the nurse die? Embracing self-love and weight gain: Celebrities who spoke out about body positivity
and well and back to work. Fake news – false information like this – instantly circulates throughout the world in this day and age of the internet and social media. The harm this person had done, obviously intentional, could kill countless people, especially those gullible, innocent and ignorant who would develop deathly fear of the vaccine and refuse to get it. The act, an abuse of our first amendment right by an apparent mentally deranged person, borders on criminality. It is a great disservice to humankind as a whole. If we cannot help end this ravaging pandemic, we must at least not endeavor to worsen it and kill more people around the globe. As recipients of fake news, we, on the other hand, have the responsibility not to disseminate them, without doing a due diligence first. All lives matter. All lives are valuable. We have more than enough deaths! Hurried vaccines? Scientifically, the impressive speed with which these antiCOVID-19 vaccines evolved was due to a newly discovered faster, more efficient, process (with mRNA) in vaccine manufacturing. There was no rush or shortcuts taken here. The same strict, rigid, intensive laboratory and 3-stage clinical, evidence-based, randomized studies and trials were followed, involving at least 80,000 subjects for the PfizerBioNTech and Moderna vaccines, and released for public use a week ago only after passing the stringent safety milestone of, and approval by, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA). With this new and improved process of vaccine production, future vaccines will also be developed faster. As we have stated in an earlier article, simply because vehicles today are manufactured a lot faster than those of 80 years, or even 50 years ago, does not mean our cars of today are less safe. As a matter of fact, with the amenities and smart features in vehicles today, they are a lot safer, more comfortable and a joy to drive. The faster speed of development is due to the more efficient, more precise way of manufacturing vehicles today. Of course, vaccines, medi-
cations and surgical procedures are not perfect, not 100 percent without risk or possible complications. Life is full of risk. We have all read about people crossing the streets, climbing ladders, biking, skiing, etc., who were killed. That is reality. The trick is not to abandon them, but to evaluate and take all precautions. Shot or no shot As far as the vaccines against the SARS-CoV2 virus of COVID-19, what we have to weigh is which one is less risky, less deadly to have. The scale definitely, scientifically, practically and wisely tips in favor of getting the vaccine. It’s a no-brainer. We must take advantage of what modern medicine has to offer to save our life and maintain good health. Those with history of allergies are observed at the place of vaccination for at least 15 minutes after the vaccine is given. All those facilities have anti-allergy medications, steroids, etc., in readiness, even for the more severe reactions. This is reassuring. In one clinical study of a quarter of a million people given the anti-COVID-19 vaccine, there were six who developed severe allergic reactions, a miniscule incidence of 0.000024 percent. Evidently, as the manufacturers announced, these vaccines are safe. More common side effects noted are pain in the area of the shot, fever, tiredness, and headache, which last for a day or two. The world, each country, would acquire herd immunity and stop this pandemic only when 75 percent of the(ir) population get the anti-COVID-19 two-shot vaccine. Post-vaccination behavior After getting the shot, all of us should behave as if we have not had it yet, continuing our frequent handwashing, limiting ourselves to essential travels, using facemask and doing social distancing. This is the safe demeanor post-vaccination because there are a lot we do not know about the clinical course of the vaccines. The vaccines are new, and the medical community and the public should (would) learn more about it: How long after the vaccination does
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By Kata
Dayanghirang Philstar.com
STARS are saying and standing by weight and self-love. Sandara Park, also known as Dara, recently shared a trivia that surprised everyone. During her guesting for the December 29 episode of “Problem Child in House,” Dara shared that she has found an unlikely way to gain weight. She started, “I’ve never been over 38 - 39 kg in my life. I’ve never been really into food. I don’t eat if I’m not feeling well, and I don’t eat if I’m busy. My lifelong wish was gaining weight. I’ve tried a lot of different things to try and gain weight.” The 2NE1 star was a guest of the show that tapped Super Junior’s Heechul as its current host. Dara then revealed that she recently gained “about 7 - 8 kg.” She attributed her weight gain by hanging out with her “Video Star” co-hosts Kim Sook and Park Na Rae.
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Sandara Park Photo from Instagram/@daraxxi
Jennylyn Mercado
Janella Salvador Photo from Instagram/@superjanella
Photo from Instagram/@mercadojenny
Self-care in 2021: Resisting commercialized... PAGE 10 t place rife with grifts and sham cures. The truth is that there isn’t (and, some would argue, shouldn’t be) a price tag on selfcare. And it wasn’t designed that way. The term self-care was first documented in the 1950s among the medical community to describe behavioral and attitudinal changes in institutionalized patients who needed to preserve physical independence through daily tasks like personal grooming or exercising. In the 1960s, academics began to look more closely at the concept of self-care, particularly in the context of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among first responders: hospital workers, social workers and firefighters who all became overworked during one of the most tumultuous times in American history. This included expanding the list of needs that affected folks required to establish boundaries between work and personal life — an explicit precursor to the plight of front line workers of the COVID-19 pandemic. But the concept of self-care took off in a big way in the 1970s at the cross section of the women’s liberation and civil rights movements. The Black Panther Party promoted it to the Black community as a way to maintain strength of character while experiencing repeated abuses of systemic racism. Notably, the Black Panther Party wanted to provide a channel of care at a time when the American medical system — which, at that time, lacked racial diversity — failed to diagnose illnesses rampant among the Black American community, like sickle-cell anemia and lead poisoning. Simultaneously, women’s clinics began popping up around the country as a way to escape a white, patriarchal medical system, a radical corrective to the “claiming [of] autonomy over the body as a political act against institutional, technocratic, very racist and sexist medicine,” Natalia Mehlman Petzrela, associate professor at the New School and author of many academic articles about the wellness industry, told Slate in 2016. There became a push to reexamine health care beyond just the physical and the socioeconomic factors that contribute to low mental health, according to Jennifer Nelson’s book “More Than Medicine: A History of the Feminist Women’s Health Movement”: women in poverty were constantly described as “vectors of disease,” hostility toward reproductive rights increased and racist attitudes and practices over who deserves the best medical care.
This era of self-care was built upon the idea that, at the heart of it, self-care relies on agency, awareness and nuance: understanding that there may be mental and emotional issues present and it is a valid and radical act to preserve physical, emotional and mental autonomy. As Audre Lorde wrote in “A Burst of Light” in 1988, “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.” So in a climate that is so charged by quarantine fatigue and rampant political division, what does self-care look like? The COVID-19 crisis has taken a huge toll on our lives, whether it’s putting front line family members at a daily risk or causing an economic plunge that threatens basic livelihoods. Given the cultural and political implications of self-care, and the current state of affairs, it makes sense that there is a hunger for meaningful introspection and ways to achieve peace of mind; if you’re willing to spend $500 for a silent retreat, essential oils or whatever newfangled wellness commodity the marketplace offers, then there truly is no expense spared when it comes to self-care. The new year often brings to the fore resolutions, ways to stimulate productivity and positive change and, in general, feel better mentally and emotionally. Losing weight, spending less time in front of a screen, learning a new language and decluttering are common long-term goals, but new year’s resolutions famously don’t last longer than a month. This idea of a new year’s resolution is usually based in self-care and rooted in the idea that we become newer, better versions of ourselves. But what that kind of rhetoric does is encourage a way of thinking that values productivity over mindfulness and ignores the fact that maybe what we need, we already have. That there isn’t a sweeping master plan toward self-care that involves major life decisions or purchases. Jenny Odell — a Filipina American artist and professor at Stanford — wrote in her best-selling book “How to do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy” that perhaps the secret to living a more fulfilled life is by “doing nothing.” What that means is resisting the persuasions of a cultural, political and media landscape that forces us to believe in a toxic view of upward mobility, that to remain in one place is to remain mentally stagnant. It’s the radical thought that there is plenty to learn from and build up what we already know how to do. “But beyond self-care and the ability to (really) listen, the
practice of doing nothing has something broader to offer us: an antidote to the rhetoric of growth,” Odell writes. “In the context of health and ecology, things that grow unchecked are often considered parasitic or cancerous. Yet we inhabit a culture that privileges novelty and growth over the cyclical and the regenerative. Our very idea of productivity is premised on the idea of producing something new, whereas we do not tend to see maintenance and care as productive in the same way.” As members of a culture that prioritizes optimization over maintenance, it makes sense that we generally don’t see what’s directly in front of us, our focus moving away from the attainable foreground to an ideal faraway place of perfection. Maybe what we need to do in the name of self-care and selfsatisfaction doesn’t truly thrive in the supposed utopias that modern technology and capital enterprise promise. Many of us, especially in the Filipino American community, have lost friends and family members to COVID-19 — possibly the most tragic, unconscionable loss in a year full of losses. Earlier this year, in a story about the Lakers championship win, the Asian Journal spoke with Annalynn Rosario, a graphic designer in Lake Forest who lost her father to COVID-19 in June. For that story, Rosario recounted what it was like to watch the Los Angeles Lakers win their 17th title without her father, who was a fervent Laker fan and with whom Rosario bonded over the Lakers. “There’s nothing like losing your parent. It happens all the time, and everyone can agree is sad and tragic, but experiencing it, especially if you were close to that parent like I was, was lifechanging, in good and bad ways believe it or not,” Rosario said in October. Rosario added that the loss of her father made her “really reevaluate what I value in life. If I knew that I was going to die tomorrow, what would my thought processes be? Would I be wishing that I made more money or went on more vacations? Would I be full of all these regrets?” She continued, “I don’t think it would be, and I don’t think that was what my dad thought either. I would be making a plan to spend time with my family, speak with my friends [and] play with my dog and listen to my favorite music because what I have and who I have in my life is more than enough. I don’t need anything else.” In other words, maybe selfcare, real self-care, lies in what we already have and not what we don’t.
The Philippines’ top searches... PAGE 10 t in 2019, the popularity of Hollywood waned in 2020 — only America”s Got Talent (4th) and Frozen 2 (5th) were featured in the list. #Covid19: Users searched for updates, symptoms, lockdowns and vaccine. As Covid-19 upended the lives of Filipinos and people around the world, “Coronavirus Update”, “Coronavirus Philippines” and “Covid-19 symptoms” became the top three pandemic search terms amongst users. “Covid 19 update worldwide”, “Covid-19
vaccine”, “Covid-19 tracker”, “Quarantine”, “Pandemic”, and “Lockdown” were hot on the heels of the top search terms, coming in from fourth to ninth place. Interestingly, Italy was a country of interest to users in the Philippines, due to its status as one of the largest European migration destinations for Filipinos. “Coronavirus Italy” (10th) made an appearance as one of the popular searches related to Coronavirus. Travel in style with AR filters: Until travel is possible again, users can satiate their wander-
lust while they look back into 2020 with the “Travel in Style” series of augmented reality (AR) filters. Three AR filters, created by Yahoo, will be available on Facebook and Instagram. From basking in the sun in stunning Santorini, to grooving on the streets of trendy Tokyo, to diving in the deep sea — the filters take users on a journey to travel in style as they look back into 2020. For the biggest moments online and other surprises from the year, click on Yahoo’s Year in Review 2020 on www. ph.yahoo.com/topics/ph-yir.
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SAN DIEGO ASIAN JOURNAL • JANUARy 1-7, 2021
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Investment coaching scams are trending California Debt and Investment Advisory Commission releases new interactive app
YOU’LL make a lot of money. I’m going to show you how to do it — and using my program, I guarantee you’ll be successful. If you see that in an ad, there’s likely a scammer behind it. Just last week, the FTC announced Operation Income Illusion, a nationwide effort to shut down income scams that used false promises like this to trick people into believing they would make a lot of money if they bought one of these programs. In each case, it turned out to be, well, an illusion. One of the cases announced is against RagingBull.com, an online operation that the FTC alleges took in at least $137 million. The people who paid believed the defendants’ promises about their so-called unique and proven techniques to make profits in the stock market. In ads, the defendants touted people’s ability to make money during the pandemic, and featured people who claimed to have been successful using their program. But the FTC says it was all smoke and mirrors. People didn’t make the returns advertised and many lost money instead. And those glowing testimonials? The FTC alleges the defendants admitted — in the fine print of the ads — that they don’t even verify if those testimonials are true. Before you pay for a program that promises to help you invest your money, consider these things: • Statistics and testimonials can be faked. Scammers want you to believe their program is always successful and low-risk. • Scammers exaggerate the press of time. They want you to feel pressured to commit now without doing research on the offer.
• No one can guarantee a specific amount of return on an investment. Scammers might claim that you can make thousands of dollars per day or per month for life, but no one can actually guarantee that an investment will be successful. Read more tips in the article Real Estate and Investment Scams (https://www.consumer. ftc.gov/articles/real-estate-andinvestment-scams). If you were a RagingBull.com client, make sure you bookmark this blog (https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/
Did the nurse die... PAGE 10 t protection (immunity) start, and at what level (about 52 percent after the first week? How about after the first day, second day, etc.?). During this first week of vaccination, can we still get the infection, and can we still transmit the virus to others? After the required second shot (21 days for the Pfizer-BioNTech and 28 days for the Moderna vaccine), how much protection do we get and when do we get the 95 percent the manufacturers reported, and for how long? Do we have to get the vaccine every year like the Flu vaccine? Anyway, hope is now here. In the meantime, let us rejoice that the vaccines are here – the silver lining, the light at the end of the tunnel – which hopefully symbolizes the beginning of the end of this COVID-19 pandemic within the next year. We are all in this together globally. Let love, compassion, and peace reign
as we usher in a healthier and more prosperous new year for the world. *** The main objective of this column is to educate and inspire people live a healthier lifestyle to prevent illnesses and disabilities and achieve a happier and more productive life. Any diagnosis, recommendation or treatment in our article are general medical information and not intended to be applicable or appropriate for anyone. This column is not a substitute for your physician, who knows your condition well and who is your best ally when it comes to your health. *** Philip S. Chua, MD, FACS, FPCS, a Cardiac Surgeon Emeritus based in Northwest Indiana and Las Vegas, Nevada, is an international medical lecturer/author, a Health Public Advocate, and Chairman of the Filipino United Network-USA, a 501(c)3 humanitarian and anti-graft foundation in the United States. Visit our websites: philipSchua.com and FUN8888.com; Email: scalpelpen@ gmail.com.
Embracing self-love... PAGE 10 t “They both love food very much. I eat with them often, and suddenly, I realized that I wasn’t putting my chopsticks down either,” she shared, adding that she now wears two sizes up. “Sook unnie was so happy that I started gaining weight and told me that I look really good,” Dara shared. Aside from her, two women also displayed their idea of selflove by calling out body-shaming. Janella Salvador posted on December 26 on Twitter: “Filipinos are the worst body shamers. Let me enjoy my Christmas pudding in peace. Happy holidays to you too,” she posted. “Can we discontinue this toxic Filipino trait na tuwing nagkikita ang hilig mag komento tungkol sa physical looks ng iba tulad ng - ‘Uy tumaba ka’. It’s not okay. First of all it’s rude, second it may trigger some people na may Ed. Maling-mali,” the lead star of the recently ended “Descendants of the Sun” Philip-
pine adaptation posted. Netizens gave their approval with the actress with 30,900 likes and 5,045 retweets. People started sharing their own stories of dreading to go home especially on holidays because they are faced with the seemingly normalized holiday greeting of “You’ve gained weight.” Twitter netizen @piecesofchi reacted on the actress’ post, “I stopped going to major family occasions because of this. My aunts’ favorite question is, ‘o ano, mahirap ka pa rin?’ Closely followed by, ‘magpapayat ka na. ok lang na pangit basta sexy.’ It’s easier to isolate myself from them than to pretend their words don’t hurt.” Jennylyn replied, “Bessie, your looks and status sa life don’t dictate your worth as a person... Don’t let how they treat you dictate how you live your life. You are worthy just as u are and u deserve to be happy. I feel so bad don’t know what to say.”
blog/2020/12/investment-coaching-scams-are-trending?utm_ source=govdelivery). We’ll update it when we have more information to share with you. You can also subscribe to get FTC consumer alerts at ftc.gov/ consumeralerts. And if you want to report a scam like this, please visit ReportFraud.ftc.gov. (Rosario Méndez/Attorney, Division of Consumer and Business Education)
SACRAMENTO – California State Treasurer Fiona Ma on December 22 announced the release of a new application (app) for the California Debt Financing Guide (Debt Guide). Until now, the Debt Guide has only been available as a static PDF document. The app was developed by the California Debt and Investment Advisory Commission (CDIAC), which Treasurer Ma chairs. The new app provides public finance information in an interactive way to help members of the public, policy makers, and the public finance community find information quickly. “The new interactive application responds to the needs of present-day finance officers, many of whom require quick answers to complex questions from an objective, balanced and easily accessible source,” said Treasurer Ma. The app is available at www. debtguide.treasurer.ca.gov. The Debt Guide is the 2020 update to CDIAC’s flagship resource, the California Debt Issuance Primer. Information in the Debt Guide are organized to respond to the problem-based challenges facing finance officers in local government. “This version of the Debt Guide enables users to easily search for public finance terms and concepts and then save their personal notes and bookmarks for future use,” said CDIAC Executive Director Robert Berry. California has more than 4,400 units of government, many of
which borrow to finance for infrastructure that the public depends on to promote commerce, enable essential services for citizens, and support California’s economy. As designed, the app enables users to create an account to highlight sections, save notes and bookmark sections for future use. In addition, the application can be accessed and viewed on any personal device. One highlight of the application is the Legal References appendix to the Debt Guide. “One of the most important aspects of the Debt Guide app is that it can be accessed on any device, a shortcut to the application can be saved to the home screen of your phone, tablet, or computer and easily accessed when needed,” says Berry. “The new Debt Guide application complements CDIAC’s vision to provide educational content in a form and environment adapted to the needs of California public finance community and how works gets done,” he added. CDIAC improves the practice of public finance in California by providing responsive and reliable information, education, and guidance to state and local public agencies and other public finance professionals. For more information, contact CDIAC at https:// www.treasurer.ca.gov/cdiac/index.asp. The California Debt and Investment Advisory Commission provides information, education and technical assistance on debt issuance and public fund investments to local public agencies and other
public finance professionals. In 1981, the California Debt Advisory Commission was established as the State’s clearinghouse for public debt issuance information and required it to assist state and local agencies with the monitoring, issuance and management of public debt. The Commission’s name was changed to the California Debt and Investment Advisory Commission (CDIAC) in 1996 and its mission was expanded to cover public investments. Fiona Ma is California’s 34th State Treasurer and is the first woman of color and the first woman Certified Public Accountant (CPA) elected to the position. The State Treasurer’s Office was created in the California Constitution in 1849. It provides financing for schools, roads, housing, recycling and waste management, hospitals, public facilities, and other crucial infrastructure projects that better the lives of residents. California is the world’s fifth-largest economy and Treasurer Ma is the state’s primary banker. Her office processes more than $2 trillion in transactions within a typical year. She provides transparency and oversight for the government’s investment portfolio and accounts, as well as for the state’s surplus funds. Treasurer Ma oversees an investment portfolio of about $103 billion, $32.2 billion of which are local government funds. She serves as agent of sale for all State bonds, and is trustee on outstanding debt of $93 billion. (CA State Treasurer’s Office Release)