MARCH 13-16, 2021 Volume 31 - No. 20 • 2 Sections – 18 Pages
Biden signs landmark COVID-19 relief bill, addresses ‘war footing’ approach to beating COVID-19 All American adults to be eligible for vaccines by May 1 by KLARIZE
MEDENILLA AJPress
HOURS after President Joe Biden signed his massive $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill on Thursday, March 11, he delivered his first primetime address unpacking the toll of the COVID-19 pandemic and declared what he called a “war footing” approach to beating the virus. Nearly one year ago, the
DATELINE
pandemic forced countries all over the world to a standstill, but the effect the pandemic had on the United States was particularly striking. Confusion and poor decision-making on all levels of government and bureaucracy led to millions losing their lives and even more suffering an enormous economic loss. “While it was different for everyone, we all lost something — a collective suffering, a collective sacrifice, a year filled with the
USA
FROM THE AJPRESS NEWS TEAM ACROSS AMERICA
Fil-Am Uber driver verbally harassed at LAX A FILIPINO American Uber driver was subjected to racist comments by a passenger at the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) earlier this week, according to a viral video. The incident comes in the midst of an uptick in racism and violent attacks against Asian American communities in the United States. The driver’s sister, Chelle Anne Alcala, shared the video of the incident on Facebook, which happened around 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 9, at the LAX-it pick-up location. “Stop Asian Hate!! This hit close to home, as it happened to my brother,” she wrote on Wednesday, March 10. “He is an Uber Driver, waited for his passengers for over 30 minutes at LAX and the father wanted to sit in the front seat. My brother told him that due to COVID, he couldn’t sit in the front seat.” As part of Uber’s safety measures to curb COVID-19, passengers must agree to sit in the back seat and open windows for ventilation. The ridehailing service also reduced the maximum sug-
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LA County to reopen indoor dining, gyms, movie theaters on March 15
A YEAR after the start of the coronavirus, Los Angeles County announced that indoor operations will resume anew for key sectors like restaurants, movie theaters and gyms starting Monday, March 15. This announce comes as the county moves into the state’s less restrictive red tier, meeting the threshold to reopen key sectors. Starting Monday, restaurants can welcome indoor dining with a maximum capacity of 25% or 100 people, whichever is fewer, 8 feet distancing between tables and one household per table with limit of six people. They can expand outdoor dining from one household to three households (up to six people) per table. Local school officials will decide when schools, including middle and high schools, can reopen fully for in-person instruction. u PAGE A4
loss of life and the loss of living for all of us,” the president said from the White House in his address to the American people. “The only way to get our lives back, to get our economy back on track, is to beat the virus,” Biden continued. “That’s why I’m using every power I have as president of the United States to put us on a war footing to get the job done.” Biden’s massive $1.9 trillion u PAGE A2
U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday, March 11 signed the American Rescue Plan into law, as Vice President Kamala Harris looks on, sending $1,400 stimulus checks for most Americans and vaccine aid, among other relief programs. White House photo
‘It’s un-American’: Biden denounces Duterte urged to run for VP in 2022 violent attacks against Asian Americans in first primetime address by RITCHEL
MENDIOLA AJPress
by CHRISTINA
M. ORIEL
AJPress
IN his first primetime address marking the one-year anniversary of the coronavirus pandemic, U.S. President Joe Biden condemned the “vicious” and “un-American” attacks on Asian Americans. Speaking to the nation from the White House on Thursday, March 11, Biden ac-
knowledged the divisiveness deepened during the pandemic, from refusals to wear masks to hate incidents and crimes against the Asian American community, which have soared since last spring according to various reports. “Too often, we have turned against one another. A mask, the easiest thing to do to save lives, sometimes, it divides us, states u PAGE A2
One year after schools closed, LA County prepares to reopen campuses to in-person learning
SUPPORTERS of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte are urging him to run for the secondhighest post in the country in the 2022 elections. Several members of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) partylist have signed a resolution urging Duterte to seek the vice presidency. “It is recognized by leaders and members that with President Duterte’s steadfast leadership and the strong public support for his agenda of change, the government will be able to expeditiously
and effectively deliver our people, our community, our economy, back to good health,” the members said in a March 8 resolution released on Thursday, March 11. They also committed to support a transition of leadership that will guarantee continuity of Duterte’s socioeconomic agenda. The members argued that the Duterte administration “has made great strides in its battle against the scourge of drugs, terrorism, insurgency, corruption, and poverty.” At least 20 members of the partylist signed the resolution, including Energy Secretary and u PAGE A3
LA County Supervisor Kathryn Barger and other officials discuss the reopening of elementary schools in the county by KLARIZE
MEDENILLA AJPress
AMONG the most contentious issues of the coronavirus pandemic, the push to reopen in-person K-12 classes and other educational institutions may have finally reached an agreement among school district officials,
teachers and parents. The Los Angeles Unified School District (LA Unified) — the second-largest school district in the nation, which serves more than 600,000 students — announced this week that it reached an agreement with the teach- President Rodrigo Duterte delivers his speech during the inauguration of the development ers’ union United Teachers of LA (UTLA) projects at Dumaguete (Sibulan) Airport in Sibulan, Negros Oriental on Thursday, March 11. Malacañang photo by Valerie Escalera u PAGE A4
Angelo Quinto’s 31st birthday marked with a vigil, heightened calls for police reform his death last December. “I should have told him that he was getting really old without a ON March 10, Angelo Quinto single doubt in my mind that he would have celebrated his 31st would live to see his face wrinkle birthday by playing games and and his hair turned gray,” Quinsinging karaoke with his parents to’s younger sister Bella Collins told the crowd. “But that’s not the and younger siblings. Instead, the Filipino American current scope of our reality.” The somber gathering — set in Navy veteran’s family held a candlelight vigil to honor his life on front of a mural of Quinto paintWednesday night at City Park in ed by Bay Area artist Franceska Gámez — featured his favorite Antioch, California. It marked another celebra- songs, poetry readings, lighted tion Quinto would not be able to candles, and speeches from spend with his loved ones after an elected officials, supporters, and encounter with police resulted in family members of victims who by CHRISTINA
M. ORIEL
AJPress
Family, friends and community members gathered at City Park in Antioch, California on Wednesday, March 10 on what would have been Angelo Quinto’s 31st birthday. Quinto, a Navy veteran who suffered a mental health crisis, died on December 26, 2020, three days after a police encounter, his family said. Photo courtesy of Filipino Advocates for Justice
experienced a similar fate in police custody. Hundreds more tuned in virtually as far as the Philippines, while relatives held another vigil down in Chino Hills. In addition to justice for Quinto’s death, they echoed calls for trained mental health response teams, officers to have body and dashboard cameras, and a ban on knee-to-neck restraints by police. “…[Angelo] was on his way to leading a good life. He hadn’t even really started, and for it to be taken away is hurtful to all of us, u PAGE A3