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MARC H 29-APRIL 4, 2019 Volume 12 - No. 23 • 16 Pages
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DATELINE Filipina granted asylum in Canada for sheltering Snowden in Hong Kong FROM THE AJPRESS NEWS TEAM ACROSS AMERICA
FILIPINA Vanessa Rodel and her sevenyear-old daughter Keana were granted asylum by the Canadian government for helping Edward Snowden hide in Hong Kong after he exposed the United States global surveillance programs. According to a non-profit organization For the Refugees, Rodel and her daughter arrived in Toronto on Monday, March 25, then traveled to Montreal on Tuesday, March 26, to settle there as private sector-sponsored refugees. “(Me) and Keana can have a real life, a real future in Canada. I’m so happy,” Rodel told Radio-Canada by phone before she boarded a plane to Toronto. Rodel, a Philippine national, was among those who helped Snowden while he was on the run from the U.S. authorities. She hid Snowden in her apartment in 2013. She was under pressure from Hong Kong authorities to the point that they faced a risk of deportation to the Philippines. For the Refugees reported that Rodel and her daughter were offered the asylum in January but it was kept strictly confidential so as
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US lawyer to aid PH victims of sexual abuse case vs American priest UNITED States-based lawyer McDonald Worley recently arrived in Biliran, Eastern Visayas to interview nine of the alleged victims of American priest Rev. Kenneth Hendricks, who is now detained in Quezon City jail over charges of sexual abuse. The Houston-based lawyer clarified that he was not involved with the criminal side of the case filed against the 77-year-old priest. Worley emphasized that he is after the civil aspect, which focuses on the compensation received by the alleged victims. “I have nothing to do with the criminal aspect of the case. I just handle the civil side. So it’s basically money that has to be paid to the victims,” Worley said as reported by The Philippine Daily Inquirer. “A fund to compensate sexual abuse victims by Hendricks is being set up by the U.S. Catholic Church. I am here to gather information and the jury will have to decide on the
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No birthday celebration for Duterte by RITCHEL
MENDIOLA AJPress
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday, March 26, said he would rather sleep than hold a party for his birthday, The Philippine leader celebrated his 74th birthday last Thursday, March 28. During the campaign rally of the Partido ng Demokratikong Pilipino-Laban ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) in Koronadal,
Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson
South Cotabato, he said, “Historically, ayaw ko talagang mag-celebrate ng birthday. Gusto ko sa bahay lang matulog ako (I don’t really want to celebrate my birthday. I just want to stay home and sleep). And if there’s somebody that is really welcome to me, ‘yung mga anak ko, pati ‘yung apo ko (that will be my children and my grandchildren).” According to The Philippine Star, Duterte has never thrown lavish par-
ties to celebrate his birthday, even when he was Davao City’s mayor. Usually, he makes himself unavailable every March 28 — which is why he has shunned any activity at Malacañang or anywhere in Luzon and the Visayas for his birthday this year. Aside from his children and grandchildren, the only people Duterte spends his natal day with are the cancer-stricken children at the House of Hope. He said he doesn’t mind if he
gets ignored by his former wife Elizabeth Zimmerman and his long-time partner Cielito Avanceña on his birthday. “Iyong mga asawa ko maski hindi nila ako pansinin OK lang. May galit man sila sa akin, so mag-inom na lang ako ng tubig pakalma (It would be OK if my wives will snub or get angry with me. I’ll just drink water to calm myself),” he said.
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Senate photo by Joseph Vidal
Senator likens PH to ‘wild, wild west’ by NATHALIE
ROBLES
AJPress
PHILIPPINE Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson on Wednesday, March 27, called for a stricter firearm regulation policy as he compared the country’s crime condition to that of the 19th century America’s “Wild, Wild West.” “Dapat sa 18th Congress, palagay ko, pagtuunan ng pansin [ang gun control] kasi talagang halos arawaraw na ‘pag nakakapanood ka ng news, parang wild,
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SPECIAL GUEST. President Rodrigo Duterte greets Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jianhua on the sidelines of the International Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee head Song Tao’s courtesy call on the president at Matina Enclaves in Davao City on Wednesday, March 27. Malacañang photo by Richard Madelo
Fil-Am who mailed explosives Dry spell brings farm to political officials, Trump critics pleads guilty losses to P2.8 billion by KARL
by RAE
Cesar Sayoc Jr., the suspect in the bombs mailed to various Democratic officials in October 2018, pled guilty this week. Photo courtesy of the Broward County Sheriff
OCAMPO Inquirer.net
ANN VARONA
AJPress
CESAR Altieri Sayoc Jr., the Filipino-American man from Southern Florida who was accused of mailing pipe bombs to numerous political figures and Trump critics last year, pleaded guilty on Thursday, March 21 in federal court in Manhattan. Sayoc, 57, was arrested and charged late October after he sent improvised explosive devices to 13 political targets and public figures including former President Barack
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Soccsksargen and Bicol. Officials have declared a state of MANILA — Damage to agri- calamity in the regions of Mimaculture caused by El Niño rose ropa, Zamboanga, Soccsksargen to P2.86 billion just more than a and the Bangsamoro Autonomous month after it struck the country, Region in Muslim Mindanao due the National Disaster Risk Reduc- to the worsening dry spell. tion and Management Council Other regions severely affected said on Wednesday, March 27. by El Niño are Calabarzon, WestThe council said rice and corn ern Visayas and Eastern Visayas. farmers incurred the bulk of the The weather phenomenon will losses. worsen next month, according to Hardest hit were the regions of u PAGE 2
‘I Am a Filipino’ among James Beard Foundation Book Award finalists by MOMAR
G. VISAYA
AJPress
THE proprietors and owners of the East Village restaurants Maharlika and Jeepney have just added another feather in their cap: James Beard Award finalists for their book “I Am a Filipino: And This is How We Cook,” published by Artisan Books. Filipina-American Nicole Ponseca and Miguel Trinidad are nominated for a James Beard Award under the international category, which are books with recipes focused on food or cooking traditions. They are up against Anissa Helou’s “Feast: Food of the Islamic World” and Austin Bush’s “The Food of Northern Thailand.” The James Beard Foundation announced the nominees for the 2019 James Beard
Awards during a press conference in Houston on Wednesday, March 27. Nominees were announced in nearly 60 categories of the Foundation’s various awards programs, including Restaurant and Chef, Restaurant Design, and Media. “I Am a Filipino”made it to the New Yorker’s “The Best Food Books of 2018” and described Filipino cooking “as among the brightest, sweetest, sourest, and funkiest of world cuisines; by comparison, almost any other food seems bland.” The review also called Ponseca and Trinidad’s book an “exuberant gastronomic manifesto” because of the way it was able to “weave together threads of Filipino history, culture, and diasporic traditions.” “It’s a brilliant cookbook that doubles as Miguel Trinidad and Nicole Ponseca, authors of “I am Filipino” and owners of Maharlika and
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Jeepney, have been nominated for a James Beard Award.
Photo courtesy of Nicole Ponseca
March 29-april 4, 2019 • NEW YOrK aND NEW JErSEY aSiaN JOUrNal
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From the Front Page
Senator likens PH to ‘wild, wild... PAGE 1 wild west na ang ating bansa (The 18th Congress should focus on gun control because when you watch the news every day, it seems that our country has become like the wild, wild west),� Lacson said as reported by ABSCBN News. The senator, who used to be a chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), said that people must change the mindset wherein firearms within the line of sight were considered acceptable. According to Lacson, alienating the notion of guns would reduce crimes committed using such. “Dati-rati tayo na nakakakita tayo ng baril sa labas, hindi natin pinapansin. Pero kung maiba ang mindset natin at makakita tayo ng baril, agad-agad na irereport kasi ang presumption natin, masamang-loob ito, palagay ko, mababawasan ang krimen sa paggamit ng baril (We have become used to seeing guns, we no longer pay attention. But if our mindset is different and we would report those carrying guns
because we presume them to be outlaws, then crimes using guns would be reduced),� he said. He proposed that “if we see someone in civilian attire and with a firearm, we should instinctively assume the person is up to no good, and report him or her to the nearest police station.� However, he considered the stand of the people who are concerned about their safety and security. He encouraged law enforcement officials to take that as a challenge to prove that they can indeed “serve and protect.� “Some gun owners’ groups have argued they have no choice but to bring their guns outside their houses because the police cannot protect them. This should be a challenge to the PNP, to show they can protect the public,� he said in an interview with dzMM. Lacson clarified that despite the fact that civilians could be armed provided that they have a license to carry, such liberty should still be monitored due to the danger it could pose to the civilian and the people
around him. “Firearms are for self-defense against intruders and should be kept at home. Once one brings it outside his house, chances are the owner’s mindset can change and he or she can use it for offense,� Lacson explained as reported by The Philippine Daily Inquirer. “Presently, when we see persons in civilian attire with firearms bulging from their pants, we just assume they are police or military personnel. It should be the other way around,� Lacson added. The senator cited the recent shooting incidents, including that of a policeman who was gunned down in EDSA on Tuesday, as well as fatal attacks on politicians, journalists, judges and lawyers. “We cannot allow a situation that allows mass shootings like in other countries. Neither can we afford the present situation where the country becomes the Wild, Wild West,� Lacson said as reported by the Manila Bulletin. n
Fil-Am who mailed explosives to political officials... PAGE 1
Obama, former Vice President Joe Biden, former CIA director John Brennan, Senator Kamala Harris, and Rep. Maxine Waters. Other targets included billionaire George Soros and actor Robert De Niro. Before the federal New York judge on Thursday, Sayoc pleaded guilty to a total of 65 felonies from four sets of charges including illegally mailing explosives with intent to kill or injure another, and using weapons of mass destruction. Sayoc admitted that he designed the devices “to look like pipe bombs� complete with explosive powder from fireworks, and a digital alarm clock with wires. “I knew these actions were wrong. I’m extremely sorry,� Sayoc told U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff, adding that he did not intend for the bombs to explode. Nevertheless, Sayoc said he was “aware of the risk that they would explode.� “For five days in October 2018, Cesar Sayoc rained ter-
ror across the country, sending high-ranking officials and former elected leaders explosive packages through the mail,� said Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman. “Thankfully no one was hurt by these dangerous devices, but his actions left an air of fear and divisiveness in their wake. Sayoc has taken responsibility for his crimes, and will soon be sentenced to significant time in prison.� Sayoc, who is slated to be sentenced on September 12, faces a possible sentence of life in prison, according to a statement by the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. Following the FBI’s announcement of his arrest in October, details emerged about Sayoc including that of prior run-ins with the law such as an arrest on a felony theft charge back in 1991, and on charges of domestic violence in 1994. He was also arrested on charges of making bomb threats in 2002, according to public records. Lenny Altieri, a cousin of
Sayoc’s mother Madeleine Altieri, told the New York Times last year that Sayoc had problems with his mother and as a result was raised by his grandparents. Altieri said that Sayoc’s father was from the Philippines. On his LinkedIn, Sayoc claimed that his grandfather, Col. Baltazar Zook Sayoc, “built all the hospitals in the Philippines,� and was a Philippine martial art Kali expert who helped fight the Communist Party in the Philippines. However, Sayoc Global, which has the trademark for Sayoc Kali, released a statement that Cesar Sayoc “has no affiliation with Sayoc Kali� and “was not a grandchild of Baltazar Zook Sayoc.� Sayoc was also revealed to be an ardent Trump supporter who often tweeted conspiracy theories and memes about liberal public figures. Upon his arrest, authorities impounded his van, which was covered in images and stickers of President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. (Rae Ann Varona/AJPress)
No birthday celebration... PAGE 1
Because of how financially constrained Duterte’s family was during his childhood, he grew up not doing anything extravagant for his birthday. “Parang nagtampo ako sa kahirapan namin na I took it against the time na hindi ako maka-celebrate ng birthday ko (It was like I was moping about our financial situation that I took it against the time that I could not celebrate my birthday),� he said. But even now, when life has started to become nicer to their family, the President still refuses to celebrate lavishly. “Corny nga but it’s a little bit weird na hindi talaga ako nagparty (that I don’t like parties). I do not like it. And the better that
it’s just left unsaid ‌ ’yan ang nakaugalian ko eh (that’s what I’ve been used to),â€? Duterte said. “It’s no longer the appropriate time for me. I’m 74‌â€? he added. Duterte also shared there is nothing more he could ask for from God, given his age and status in life. ‘Take a break’ Paolo Duterte, presidential son and former Davao City vice mayor, told Duterte to “take a break. We’ll take care of your detractors.â€? On a Facebook post that served as a birthday greeting, he said, “Happy birthday, Pa! Kahit gaano ka pa ka-busy sa trabaho, minsan wala ka ng tulog, pero naghahanap ka pa rin ng oras para sa amin. Maraming
salamat, Pa! Nandito lang kami para sumuporta sa iyo (Despite how busy you are with work, and sometimes don’t even sleep, you still manage to find the time for us. Thank you so much, Dad! We’re here to support you). “Pahinga ka rin paminsan minsan, hayaan mo muna ang mga taong nagkukunwaring brightbright dyan, si Inday na ang bahala sa kanila! Hehehe at yung mga baliw/buang dyan ako na ang bahala sa kanila! (Get some rest once in a while, let the people who pretend they are bright be, [Inday] will take care of it! And I’ll take care of the crazy ones),� he continued. Paolo also wished him good health so he can better serve the country and its countrymen. n
Dry spell brings farm losses... PAGE 1 the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa). Pagasa said 61 percent of the country would likely experience drought while 31 percent would likely experience a dry spell—leaving only 8 percent of the country not vulnerable to El NiĂąo. This means the country will have to brace for warmer weather and less chances of rainfall as the year progresses. Farmer leader Jhun Pascua of the National Movement for Food Sovereignty said some farmers in Mindanao were already forced to sell their livestock as grassy areas for grazing had disappeared. Crops planted in parched lands were left to wilt as farmers had no way of irrigating them. In Bulacan province, Raul Montemayor of the Federation of Free Farmers said rice growers could not shift to planting other crops even if they wanted to because they had no definite water sources to rely on. “There’s not enough government intervention, especially from the NIA (National Irrigation Administration). Farmers who only know how to plant rice have no other option but to wait [for the drought to end],â€? Montemayor said. Pilipina Bermudez, manager of the NIA Public Information Office, said the agency had the capacity
Cracks appear on the soil in rice lands due to lack of water in irrigation canals in Libon town in Albay province. Inquirer.net photo by Michael B. Jaucian
to help only 1.5 million farmers in irrigating their lands—or just 14 percent of the country’s total agriculture workforce. Asked whether the agency has the means to help areas that rely on rainwater for cultivating land, Bermudez said the NIA could only focus on areas where it had available irrigation systems. Of the 3.9 million hectares of rice farms in the country, 1.2 million ha benefit from communal irrigation systems while 2.7 million ha rely on rainwater, according to data from the Philippine Statistics
Authority. El NiĂąo “is not something we could prevent,â€? Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel PiĂąol said in an interview. He said all the agriculture department could do “is to pick up the pieces afterward and provide interventions.â€? PiĂąol has been pushing for the construction of solar-powered irrigation systems (SPIS) all over the country to ensure the availability of water all-year round. But with limited funding, it is proceeding at a snail’s pace. n
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Dateline USa
NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY ASIAN JOURNAL • MARch 29-ApRIL 4, 2019
Presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke to AAPIs in Las Vegas: ‘I’m listening’ by Christina
M. Oriel
AJPress
Senator and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders on Saturday, March 23 speaks to an estimated crowd of 15,000 in Downtown Los Angeles about his platform. Prior to the rally, he met with interfaith leaders at the Islamic Center of Southern California. AJPress photos by Klarize Medenilla
Thousands gather to rally for 2020 presidential candidate Bernie Sanders in DTLA
The 77-year-old senator fromVermont and mouthpiece for grassroots progressivism announced his second bid for presidency, stops by Los Angeles to rally supporters by Klarize
Medenilla AJPress
VERMONT Sen. Bernie Sanders is running for president in the 2020 general election, and this time he has a leg up. Where in 2016 he was the radical outsider, in 2020, Sanders is the veteran of the Democratic field of first-time candidates, and he has achieved name recognition and now stands as an A-List figure in Washington, giving him the added benefit of fixing what went wrong four years ago. An area of improvement that Sanders and his team have already been tackling is paying more early attention to voters in blue, delegate-rich states, namely California where the self-declared Democratic socialist held three rallies over the weekend: San Diego, San Francisco and Los Angeles. The Los Angeles rally, held on a cloudy afternoon on Saturday, March 23 in downtown LA’s Grand Park, an estimated crowd of 15,000 supporters gathered to rally for Sanders. At 77, he’s the oldest candidate, but his base is young. The largest demographic at the rally by far were young, college-aged voters, with a large chunk of those supporters being people of color and mem-
bers of the LGBT+ community. Touting similar platform issues — free public college tuition, reforming the criminal justice system and introducing more climate change initiatives — Sanders speaks to the growing faction of young, liberal Americans who believe in taxing the richest of the rich to provide a more even keel for individuals and families who have been cheated by the system. Sanders’ first presidential campaign was primarily colored by providing an alternative to the old guard of Establishment Democrats. This time around, it’s de facto mission statement is taking down President Donald Trump. “As president of the United States, I will not have kind words to say about authoritarian leaders around the world who espouse bigotry and hatred,” Sanders told the diverse crowd of supporters. “Together we will make the United States the leader of the world in the fight for democracy and human rights.” Sanders officially announced candidacy on February 21 with the message, “Not me. Us,” a signal to Sanders’ mission for inclusion and unity. “Like everyone in the United States Congress, I have an
Vermont Senator and 2020 presidential candidate Bernie Sanders on Saturday, March 23 made a stop in Los Angeles where he gave a speech at a rally in Grand Park.
‘I Am a Filipino’ among James... PAGE 1 an important work of cultural scholarship, or maybe an important work of cultural scholarship that doubles as a brilliant cookbook—from foundational recipes like pinakurat (a sweet-tart-hot condiment made with fruit, fish sauce, chiles, and vinegar) to a rainbow of adobo styles, meats, and methods,” Helen Rosner described further. Trinidad took to social media on Wednesday to express his happiness when James Beard Foundation released the list of the finalists. “HOLY SH#T! This is huge. I can’t stop smiling,” he posted on his Instagram account @chefmigsnyc. As the Asian Journal previously reported, three Fil-Am chefs have been nominated as well: Tom Cunanan of Bad Saint is up for Best Chef (mid-Atlantic) and Margarita Lorenzana Manzke is yet again up for Outstanding Pastry Chef, while Sheldon Simeon’s Lineage in Hawai’i was nominated for Best New Restaurant. The 2019 James Beard Awards celebrations begin in New York City on Friday, April 26, with the James Beard Media Awards. The exclusive event honors the nation’s top cookbook authors, culinary broadcast producers and hosts, and food journalists and will take place at Pier Sixty
at Chelsea Piers. There are 12 awards up for grabs with three finalists each for the Book Awards, 11 awards for the Broadcast Media Awards and 17 for the Journalism Awards. The events then move to Chicago, beginning with the Leadership Awards dinner on Sunday, May 5. The dinner, presented in association with Deloitte and hosted by Gail Simmons, will recognize honorees for their work in creating a more healthful, sustainable, and just food world. The James Beard Awards Gala will take place on Monday, May 6, 2019, at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, hosted by Jesse Tyler Ferguson. During the event, which is open to the public, awards for the Restaurant and Chef and Restaurant Design categories will be handed out, along with special achievement awards Humanitarian of the Year, Lifetime Achievement, Design Icon, and America’s Classics. Established in 1990, the James Beard Awards recognize culinary professionals for excellence and achievement in their fields and further the Foundation’s mission to celebrate, nurture, and honor chefs and other leaders making America’s food culture more delicious, diverse, and sustainable for everyone. n
enormous ego,” Sanders quips to the crowd. “So, it’s nice to hear you say my name over and over again in your chants. But let me be clear. This is not about me. It is about us. No one singular person, even the President of the United States, can ever do it alone.” Sanders promised that if he’s elected, he’ll work to enforce
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LAS VEGAS — There are 331 days until the Nevada caucuses on Feb. 22, 2020 and 586 days until the November presidential election. With Nevada as a swing state, Democratic presidential hopefuls are starting to campaign here, particularly in the Las Vegas area. In recent weeks, Senators Bernie Sanders (D-VT) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii), and former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julián Castro have made stops to meet with local leaders and community groups. The latest visit over the weekend came from former Congressman and Democratic candidate Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) who packed in five events in two days, including a meet-and-greet with Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) youth and select leaders like state Assemblywoman Rochelle Nguyen, Clark County Planning Commissioner Duy Nguyen, and One APIA Nevada chair Evan Louie on Sunday, March 24. AAPIs are estimated to account for 10 percent of Nevada’s electorate and have shown to be a key swing vote in major races in recent years. O’Rourke spoke on a range of topics, such as climate change, public education funding, student loan debt and gun control. He was met with several questions
Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) speaks at District One in Las Vegas’ Chinatown on Sunday, March 24. AJPress photo by Robert Macabagdal
from the audience, including one from a Filipino-American high school senior named Xavier, who asked how the candidate would ensure Fil-Am voices are heard given that they are the fastestgrowing minority in the state. “There’s a reason that in our first full day in the state of Nevada, running for the presidency on the 10th day of this campaign, I’m listening to you and taking your question,” O’Rourke said. “I would ask in the spirit of your question that you help me and guide us to make sure that we deliver for you, for others in the AAPI community, other Filipino Americans in Las Vegas and [those] who are in Nevada and are throughout this country. I have
no hope of understanding things from your perspective unless we first have that conversation. Tell me what our needs are.” O’Rourke started his speech by saying that his run for the presidency comes at a “defining moment.” “I come at a time of historic division and polarization and hyperpartisanship in this country,” O’Rourke told attendees gathered at District One in Chinatown. “I’m running in a way, not to divide or denigrate or demean anybody... I couldn’t care less...who you voted for last time for president, whether you can vote at all because of your age or criminal conviction or your immigration
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NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY ASIAN JOURNAL • MARch 29-ApRIL 4, 2019
Thousands gather to rally for 2020 presidential...
Presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke... PAGE 3 status. The fact that you are my fellow American and human being is all that counts and matters now at this moment.” On the student loan debt crisis — which hit $1.5 trillion last year — he suggested free community college and debt forgiveness in exchange for public service. “Student loan debt is the one kind of debt that you will never shake until you pay it off or until you’re in the grave. Literally, you’ll be paying that for the rest of your life until it’s settled,” he said.“I think the first step is to stop digging the hole to ensure that community college is free for all Americans — that we ease the transition into apprenticeships, working with a union, learning a trade or a skill for in demand, high wage, high value, unfilled jobs that we have all over this country today.” President Donald Trump earlier this month released a 10-point proposal to reform the Higher Education Act, which includes a limit to student loan borrowing and eliminating public service loan forgiveness and instead extend loan forgiveness to all students pursuing any career. “I want to make sure that if you have student loan debt right now, that we work with you to forgive that debt, you’re going to dedicate some part of your life to public service,” O’Rourke added. He called for investing in public educators which would “produce a return far and above the initial cost.” “It’s going to make us a stronger country and it’s going to make this a stronger democracy,” he said. “We’re making better educated, more informed decisions at the ballot box, more of our young people run for office and become our elected leaders.” With nearly 40,000 people who died from guns in the United States last year, O’Rourke said that legislators find “the political will to pass sensible gun legislation like universal background checks or ensuring that no weapon designed, engineered, and
Beto O’Rourke meets chef Khai Vu, owner of District One restaurant in Chinatown and Clark County Planning Commissioner Duy Nguyen. AJPress photos by Robert Macabagdal
sold in the United States military to kill people as great a number as humanly possible is sold into our communities.” He also suggested locker laws that keep children away from adults’ firearms and red flag laws “so that someone is a danger to themselves or someone else in their lives we ensure that we get them help to protect their loved ones and those in the community,” he said. He fielded several questions from the audience, including one about his loss to Texas Senator Ted Cruz last November. With the national attention on that race, O’Rourke seeks to build on that momentum in this presidential field. “Texas is a state that for so long has been written off or taken for granted — too red for Democrats to compete in and too red for Republicans to worry about,” he responded. “Though we did not win, we were able to overcome, transcend the barriers put in our place that ranked Texas 50th in voter turnout in the nation.” In addition to touching upon the various issues, O’Rourke said he brings a certain authenticity to the race. “You will not see me read prepared statements, you will not see me saying the best or the most tested or the wellwritten thing that perhaps some others might,” he said. “But you will see me speak from the heart, from my experience and the shared experience of those who
share their stories with me, their perspective, their lives to inform this campaign and the service we want to provide.” Earlier on Sunday, Beto drew crowds to Arandas Taquera and a local coffeehouse and met with the Mujeres Network. The night before, he was at a “house party” hosted by a supporter from Summerlin. Prior to Las Vegas, O’Rourke made visits to Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and South Carolina since announcing his candidacy on March 14. The former congressman, who served on the El Paso city council prior to that, joins a crowded Democratic field in the 2020 race to the White House in 2020, with Sanders, Gillibrand, Gabbard, Castro, California Senator Kamala Harris, New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, and South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg among the contenders. O’Rourke, Harris, Warren, Castro and Klobuchar are slated to appear at the National Forum on Wages and Working People in Las Vegas on Saturday, April 27 hosted by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the Center for American Progress Action Fund. “We will be back in Nevada many, many times over continuing the conversation, continuing to learn,” O’Rourke told supporters on Sunday. n
US lawyer to aid PH victims of sexual abuse case... PAGE 1 amount,” Worley earlier added as reported by the Philippine News Agency. Worley explained that the alleged victims were seven and 12 years old when the abused happened. He also narrated the confessions of the young victims who are now in their early 20s. “He would then lure them to his apartment where he would gradually progress from spending time with the boys to fondling them,” the American lawyer stated as reported by The Manila Standard. “It’s basically testimony as evidence. It’s all testimony. It’s really brave for them to say ‘hey, this happened to me’ and I will say something and do something about it so this will not happen again to somebody else,” Worley added. He said the Church could be held liable for the actions of Hendricks since they were aware of his misconduct but failed to put
a stop to it. “That’s part of the investigation. There is a system failure. They need to have policies and procedures in place so this will not happen. They know something is going on and they do nothing about it. They did not stop it,” Worley said. He also explained that there will be people who will not believe that a member — let alone a leader — of a religious organization would be capable of such abuse. “There will always be people who don’t believe something bad will be done by a religious person, or by persons in authority. You don’t think bad about them because it didn’t happen to you. But if 50 people said, ‘It happened to me,’ that’s another story,” the lawyer added. He also urged those victims who haven’t come forward to break their silence and report the crime committed against them. “I know, It’s very embarrassing
to come forward and say, ‘This happened to me.’ That’s why you should be brave to come forward and say, ‘This happened to me, too’” the lawyer said. “I would like them to come forward so this [sexual abuse] will stop. It’s hard and embarrassing, but if you keep quiet, this keeps going on because no one is saying it,” he added. Hendricks is charged with acts of lasciviousness and child abuse and would face federal cases in the United States for engaging in illicit sexual acts in the Philippines. He was also charged in his hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio with illegal sexual misconduct in a foreign place. He was arrested in St. Isidore the Worker Chapel in December 2018 by U.S. Homeland Security, Philippine Bureau of Immigration, and local police. He served as a missionary priest since 1988 in Naval, Biliran where he was accused of molesting altar boys. (Nathalie Robles/AJPress)
Filipina granted asylum in Canada for sheltering... PAGE 1 not to compromise their safety and security. Canadian lawyer Robert Tibbo, who served as Snowden and Rodel’s legal aid in Hong Kong applauded the asylum grant as he emphasized that “Canada did the right thing.” Snowden expressed his gratitude to the North American country for the generosity it offered to Rodel who once saved his life by providing him a shelter when he was in hiding. In a a Twitter post, he said that “Canada can save all of them.” “Thanks to all who, in Canada and across the world, made this possible. After so many years, the first of the families who helped me is free, and has a future. But the work is not over. With solidarity and compassion, Canada
can save all of them,” Snowden said. Snowden was a former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) employee and a U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) contractor. He leaked highly classified documents that revealed the global surveillance programs run by the NSA in cooperation with Australia, Britain and Canada. Snowden was charged in June 2013 in the United States with espionage and stealing state secrets. He now resides in Russia. The National Post reported that along with Rodel, there are five other people who helped Snowden and also requested asylum but remain in Hong Kong awaiting a response. When reporters asked Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
for a comment, he declined, stating that it would be inappropriate to do so in “a situation regarding a specific case.” However, Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland implicitly confirmed the report, telling reporters she had not personally intervened in the process. Tribbo urged the prime minister to approve the asylum grant for the other refugees. He noted: “what Trudeau needs to do now is step forward and grant the others refugee status and bring them to Canada.” Asked during a Washington visit whether the granting of asylum might harm U.S.-Canadian relations, Freeland told reporters that Ottawa based its decision on case-by-case considerations, not “geopolitical relations.” (Nathalie Robles/AJPress)
PAGE 3 campaign finance laws (Sanders is known for refusing corporate and PAC donations to his campaign), fighting income inequality, upholding undocumented immigrants’ rights and providing quality healthcare and holding Big Pharma accountable for the inflating price of medication. “The goal of healthcare is to provide quality care to all, not to have insurance companies make billions a year for our sickness. There are 30 million Americans with no health insurance and much more who are underinsured,” Sanders said, adding that he plans to work toward federally-funded single-payer health care. Second time’s a charm The news of Sanders’ opting for a second go at the presidency was a shock to a lot of Americans, many of whom have raised the question of Sanders’ age. Upon walking up to Grand Park for the rally on a breezy, overcast Saturday afternoon, it was clear it wasn’t going to be a meager turnout. The stage was held adjacent to the LA County Grand Jury building, yet the line for attendees stretched out two blocks on Temple in between Hill and Broadway. Overflow sections of the rally were imposed on the steps of City Hall and on the northern block of Grand Park near Grand Avenue, likely making this Sanders’ largest rally of his 2020 campaign. “It’s really a testament to how influential he is,” a Korean-American student named Jennifer Hong told the Asian Journal, gesturing to the colorful sea of supporters. “I mean, look at everyone who is here. It’s so varied and diverse. You don’t see this [in] other candidates’ bases.” 24-year-old Fil-Am Jennifer Jose voted for Sanders in 2016 and told the Asian Journal she was “thrilled” upon learning Sanders would be running again. Holding up a “Bernie 2016” sign with the “16” replaced with a “20”, Jose said, “It’s like a dream come true. When he lost in the primaries [in 2016], I was devastated. He was the first actual politician I believed in and I’m so happy it’s happening again.” In the United States, it’s become standard operating pro-
cedure to kick start a presidential campaign a year and a half before the actual election. The 2016 election period lasted a whopping 597 days. As this story is being written, there will be 588 days until Nov. 3, 2020 and the number of Democrats looking to unseat Trump — 17 confirmed so far — continues to grow. Among the more name brand candidates include Sanders’ colleagues in the Senate: Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Kamala Harris of California,
Cory Booker of New Jersey. Other notable names in the race include former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke of El Paso, Texas and U.S. Rep Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii. Although we’re just at the start of the election — as of press time, there are 587 days left until Election Day 2020 — early polls suggest that Sanders is comfortably in second place behind former VP Joe Biden, who hasn’t confirmed whether or not he will be running in 2020. n
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6
MARCH 29-APRIL 4, 2019 • NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY ASIAN JOURNAL
http://www.asianjournal.com • (212) 655-5426
OPINION
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Honesty issue needs thoughtful presentation, not caricature LEST Filipino voters are misled into thinking that honesty does not matter in our public service, let it be told that the issue has been raised, discussed and dismissed in the current election campaign. The give-and-take between opposing camps and candidates on the issue has not been enlightening. It is simply grotesque for anyone to assert that honesty does not matter in our public life, or that honesty does not or should not figure in the candidates’ qualifications for office or citizens’ evaluation of their worthiness. Stated simply, honesty is a fundamental requirement in our public service. The central premise is that public officials are obligated to render honest judgment, to work hard and efficiently, and to maximize the benefits of government to all citizens. We rightly associate the virtue of honesty with a person’s character. According to Francis Fukuyama, author of the book, Trust: The Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity, honesty is one of the social virtues vital to prosperity. Significantly, a source book and guide that we use from time to time at The Manila Times carries the title, Honest Government, An Ethics Guide to Public Service. Sure, honesty is often misused as a platitude. Yet, there is no way this splendid virtue is going to go out of fashion. It must be pointed out here that there is a criti-
cal difference between campaigning for public office and wielding the responsibilities of public office. The candidate and the officeholder have different responsibilities. Strictures on conduct that we reserve for actual officeholders in the public payroll are not normally applied in the case of candidates. There are clear ethical guidelines for both elected public officials and regular civil servants, according to the book Honest Government. That said, there are also some rules for candidates and campaigning, which the Commission on Elections is mandated to enforce. Campaign rules are totally different from the rules governing actual public service. Among these campaign rules are limits concerning spending and advertising. Honest Government has listed some useful guidelines for candidates. Current candidates in the coming elections will do well to bear them in mind. For instance, there is a rule of fairness in campaigning for public office. Unfair tactics are sometimes employed to blacken the image and reputation of rival candidates. Unfair campaign tactics are generally unacceptable. Honest Government provides a useful guideline on this: “Campaigning is unfair if it contains
Editorial
allegations that are untrue, defamatory, misleading to a reasonable person, or irrelevant to the legitimate qualifications for the office sought or to issues about which the electorate is legitimately concerned.” Finally, we relay to the reader a wise parting word from Honest Government: “Campaigning should not cloud the issues by raising questions about an opponent that are not
relevant to his or her qualifications or judgment.” There is a campaign version of the Golden Rule: “How would you feel if your opponent made a similar attack against you? If the answer is ‘terrible,’ then the attack is unfair.” Candidates will do better by meeting for debates that explore in-depth issues and test their thinking and problem-solving abilities rather than let them show off superficial skills. (ManilaTimes.net)
FACT CHECK: Special Counsel Robert Mueller did not exonerate Trump for obstruction of justice, his appointed attorney general did MAKE THE FULL MUELLER REPORT PUBLIC! Disclose all documents and evidence to the American people. This was what Congress voted on in a rare display of unanimous bipartisanship, 420-0, in the spirit of transparency and accountability to the American people. This has been what an overwhelming majority of American people are demanding as evidenced by all poll results. Now, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked the resolution that called for the Mueller report to be released publicly, a complete 180-degree turnaround. What ever happened to the 420-0 vote in Congress before the Special Counsel submitted his report to the Office of the Attorney General? Didn’t Trump claim that he directed the Republicans in Congress to vote ‘YES’ to making the Mueller report public because he has NOTHING to hide? Why the change of heart? What are the Republicans in Congress and President Trump and his cohorts hiding? What are they so afraid of? Could it be because they know, as explicitly written by Special Counsel Robert Mueller himself in the report submitted to the Department of Justice that Trump has NOT been exonerated — NOT cleared of the obstruction of justice allegation against him? FACT: It was Trump’s political appointee Attorney General William Barr who made the conclusion to exonerate Trump for obstruction of justice, and NOT Special Counsel Robert Mueller. It was Barr, who made public about his stand discred-
iting the obstruction of justice allegation against the president The Fil-Am BEFORE he was appointed to Perspective the position by Trump. Let us backtrack a little to look at the big picture. Mueller, a long-time Republican and highly esteemed for GEL SANTOS-RELOS his integrity and service to the country as a veteran and a law enforcement officer, was appointed by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey because of the Russia probe [Trump’s own confession]. Why the Deputy AG? Because Trump’s thenappointed Attorney General Jeff Sessions had to recuse himself out of delicadeza from anything related to the probe because of previous statements he made about the issue. This angered Trump so much and he kept saying up to the end when he fired Sessions, and replaced him with acting AG Matt Whitaker, that had he known Sessions would recuse himself, he would not have appointed him AG. Why was Trump mad? Because he expected his appointees to be loyal to him and to protect him, despite the DOJ and the AG being mandated by the Constitution to be an independent law enforcement branch of the government despite being under the executive department, and the Attorney General to be the attorney of the American people, and not of the president, nor of the Office of the President. Whittaker was appointed acting AG when Trump
fired Sessions, bypassing ranks of succession in the DOJ only because Whittaker publicly stated in writing and TV interviews that he thought a sitting president should NOT be indicted. Bingo! And this man had not disappointed Trump and acted exactly how Trump wanted him to do — to report to the president about everything Mueller, in contradiction to the independence the Office of the AG had to uphold. Fast forward to the present: Trump appointed Barr, who now cleared the president of the obstruction of justice allegation against him, fulfilling exactly the role Trump wanted him to play when he appointed him to be AG. The Mueller probe confirmed Russia’s assault on our democracy, and uncovered crimes committed by members of the Trump campaign, including ties and communications with Russia and other foreign agents - both reported, unreported, and lied about. However, the evidence gathered by the probe did not meet the “beyond reasonable doubt” requirement to prove members of the campaign knowingly coordinated with Russia in its interference in the 2016 election. BUT LET THE TRUTH BE TOLD - Mueller did NOT EXONERATE Trump in obstruction of justice. Trump NEVER sat down for an interview with the Special Counsel for fear he could perjure himself with all the web of lies he has created. But the evidence found by Mueller was sufficient enough
for him not to clear Trump of the crime of obstruction of justice - a sign that a further probe needs to be done, beyond the mandate given to him as Special Counsel. After all, that was how the Mueller probe started: concerns about Trump’s firing of then FBI Director James Comey, concerns about possible obstruction of justice. This ran parallel with the DOJ counter-intelligence probe of security threats of Russia interfering in our elections. Trump gloated and repeated more lies he was exonerated by Mueller. He was not. Yet instead of criticizing Russia for its assault in our democracy and instead of apologizing to the American people for defending and agreeing with Putin over our own intelligence community, Trump again chose to demonize the Democrats, the “deep state,” and all his political foes. Congress has to do its job in getting to the bottom of this issue. RELEASE THE FULL MUELLER REPORT. Make all evidence and documents public and make the American people find out the truth and decide. We, the people, paid for this probe. We deserve transparency. We deserve accountability from the government. We are obligated to fight for this democracy — the government of the people, by the people, for the people!! *** Gel Santos Relos is the anchor of TFC’s “Balitang America.” Views and opinions expressed by the author in this column are solely those of the author and not of Asian Journal and ABS-CBN-TFC. For comments, go to www.TheFil-AmPerspective.com, https://www.facebook.com/Gel. Santos.Relos
Senators who can say ‘no’ to Duterte
Newsstand
JOHN NERY WITH seven weeks before the 2019 midterm elections, opposition candidates continue to face daunting odds — but I wouldn’t go so far as to say, as a friend who took part in many campaigns before has said, that they are irrelevant. Recent history has proven yet again that many, if not most politicians, are loyal mainly to their own interests; they will change parties, or switch sides, if their self-interests are on the line. Note, for instance, that the Liberal Party won a large plurality (almost 42 percent) of the congressional seats in the 2016 elections; candidate Rodrigo Duterte had very short campaign coattails. Once the extent of his victory was clear, however, many newly elected or reelected politicians were overcome by,
shall we say, a sudden clarity of mind. In the country’s election casino, the first rule has always been to get a seat at the table. What the office-holder does after is up to him, or her. High stakes. If the administration wins a real supermajority in the Senate in the second half of President Duterte’s elected term, I am certain it will mean that Vice President Leni Robredo will be impeached on made-up charges; that the Constitution will be revised, and not through a constitutional convention but through the houses of Congress convening as a constituent assembly; that onerous treaties with China will be concurred in; and that Sen. Leila de Lima, already the target of dirty tactics, will be expelled from the Senate. By real supermajority, I mean a total of 16 senators will form a voting bloc that will consent to and concede every major demand of the President’s. We
have a supermajority in the 17th Congress, but in name only; the main reason the administration resorted at the last hour to the patently unconstitutional quo warranto proceeding against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno was the administration could not be sure it had at least 16 votes for impeachment. With the likes of Bong Go, Bato dela Rosa, Lito Lapid, Bong Revilla, Jinggoy Estrada, Francis Tolentino and Imee Marcos in the Senate, the administration will be enjoying the advantage of a new arithmetic. (Incidentally, a member of Congress can be expelled or suspended by a two-thirds vote of all the members. De Lima, who is detained under manifestly unjust circumstances, would not even be able to vote for herself, if a resolution for expulsion were to be put to the vote.) As it is, the prospects of the opposition candidates, includ-
ing Neri Colmenares and labor’s Leody de Guzman, remain forbidding. But all is not lost. Trillanes template. The first time Sen. Sonny Trillanes ran for office, he did so from his jail cell. His unlikely, late-breakout victory is the main source of hope for opposition candidates not surnamed Roxas or Aquino. In January 2007, four months before the elections, Trillanes was still well out of striking range. His awareness level was a relatively robust 46 percent in the Pulse Asia poll, but his voting preference rating was less than a tenth of that, at 4.2 percent. In a race with 12 seats at stake, he was running anywhere between 38th and 57th place. There was no Pulse Asia survey for February; in the March 2007 poll, Trillanes moved up significantly, to 23rd and 24th place, with a voting preference rate twice as high as the last: 9.9 percent.
In early April, his numbers improved even further: now ranking 20-22, he had 17.1 percent of prospective voters saying they would vote for him, almost double the number in March. Two weeks later, and about two weeks before the elections, Pulse Asia ran another survey. Trillanes was now in 16th to 20th place, with a voting preference rating of 22 percent. On election day, Pulse Asia’s exit poll showed that Trillanes, on the back of a 35.4 voting preference rating, had broken into the top 12, placing somewhere between 8th and 12th. The official results bore the surveys out; he won the 11th seat, with 11.2 million votes. Word of caution. To be sure, Trillanes was the beneficiary of an opposition wave. The president at the time, Gloria Arroyo, was facing a legitimacy crisis and was hobbled by dismal ratings; her disapproval ratings were higher than her approval
ratings. Eight of the 12 winning candidates for the Senate were opposition (although it took Koko Pimentel a few years to take his seat). Five of the first six winners were leaders of the opposition; only two represented Arroyo’s administration; two ran as independents. What works. Comparing the January 2019 and February 2019 Pulse Asia polls, we can see that there is some volatility in the Senate rankings. Most interesting is the drop in Imee Marcos’ vote-for number, from 41.2 percent to 36. This suggests to me that negative campaigning works. Pimentel dropped about 10, Jinggoy over 11 percentage points. Even Lapid and Revilla are down. The Senate candidates who can say No to President Duterte don’t only need to make themselves better known; they need to say No to other Senate candidates, too. (Inquirer.net)
The views expressed by our Op-Ed contributors are solely their own and do not necessarily reflect the predilection of the editorial board and staff of Asian Journal.
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NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY ASIAN JOURNAL • MARch 29-ApRIL 4, 2019
Dateline PhiliPPines
Aquino rebukes PH new loans from China by Ritchel
Mendiola AJPress
Former President Benigno Aquino III on Tuesday, march 26, gave out a warning to the government about the China-offered loans, saying the Philippines should have already learned from the past. This is after Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio said Beijing could seize oil and gas-rich Philippine assets in the South China Sea if the
Former President Benigno Aquino III
country pulls out on payment for a new $62 million loan. The government signed the loan agreement with China on April 10, 2018. “Hindi na tayo natuto sa Northrail. Hindi ba pwedeng maawa tayo sa sarili natin (We haven’t learned our lesson with Northrail [project]. Can’t we have pity on ourselves)?,� Aquino said during an ambush interview at an otso Diretso forum in Cebu City.
Inquirer.net photo
The Northrail project was launched under former president Gloria macapagal-Arroyo’s term with a $400-million Chinese state loan in 2004. The project was later canceled amid allegations about Arroyo’s aides taking kickbacks to get it started. Supposedly, the 80-kilometer (50-mile) North rail project would allow the Philippines’ main gateway to be moved out of congested central manila, as reported by ABS-CBN News. According to Aquino, who was campaigning for the candidates of otso Diretso in Cebu, the “solution� to issues such as controversial Chinese loans may be the opposition candidates. He said the otso Diretso, romy macalintal, Gary Alejano, erin Tanada, Pilo Hilbay, Samira Gutoc, mar roxas, Bam Aquino, and Chel Diokno, are a better alternative regardless of their unsatisfactory pre-election survey performance. “Kung di ka na happy, magbibigay tayo ng solusyon. Sa akin, ang otso Diretso, bahagi ng solusyon (If you are no longer happy, let’s find solutions. For me, otso Diretso offers just that),� Aquino said. n
Marcos asks SC to resolve election protest in 2019 by JoMaR
canlas ManilaTimes.net
THe camp of former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong� marcos Jr. on Tuesday, march 26, asked the Supreme Court (SC), sitting as Presidential electoral Tribunal, to investigate all concerned chairmen and members of the Board of election Inspectors who served in the provinces of the Autonomous region in muslim mindanao (Armm). marcos filed his consolidated reply with urgent motion to resolve his omnibus motion seeking a ruling from the electoral tribunal on his poll protest within the year. Three years have lapsed since the poll protest was filed. on Tuesday, the marcos camp marked the 1,000th day of the filing of the protest. marcos expressed optimism that he could still win the protest against Vice President maria le-
Former Senator Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. greets his supporters who gathered in front of the Supreme Court building on Monday night. ManilaTimes.net photo by Gerard Seguia
onor ‘leni’ robredo even with just three years or halfway the contested term. George erwin Garcia, lawyer for marcos, said they were hopeful that the electoral tribunal would be able to resolve the case within this year or before Chief Justice lucas Bersamin retires in october.
Garcia said whatever the ruling of the tribunal would be, they would respect it, but what they were asking is for it to expedite the case. “If the tribunal rules that [robredo] really won the race, then we have to accept. But if it decides that we really won, then PAGE 10
A group of fishermen from Subic town in Zambales province prepares their provisions for a trip to Panatag Shoal, a rich fishing ground in the West Philippine Sea that is being claimed by China. Inquirer.net photo by Allan Macatuno
Palace vows to protest Chinese mistreatment in Zambales if proven by nathalie
Robles
AJPress
mAlACAĂąANG on monday, march 25, vowed to protest any unjust actions of the Chinese Coast Guard if the complainants would present justifiable evidence to back their claim. Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo responded to a video released by senatorial candidate Neri Colmenares explaining how the Filipino fishermen were mistreated by the Chinese Coast Guard, despite the Philippines’ jurisdiction in the area. “They have to show proof that is being done now again because if it’s being done, certainly we will protest. We will not allow our countrymen to be subjected to that kind of harassment,â€? Panelo said as reported by The Philippine Star. The six-minute video showed that the fishermen from masinloc, Zambales would normally access the Scarborough or Panatag Shoal, a traditional fishing ground off the coast of Zambales. However, the Chinese Coast Guard would reportedly seize their catch and drive them away from the Shoal despite having the territorial authority over the area since called Bajo de masinloc. The palace spokesman said that such mistreatment is not condoned by the administration.
He continued that he was not aware of any reported abuse of Chinese nationals banishing Filipino fishermen in the country’s waters. Colmenares answered back at the administration’s stand on the said issue. In a radio interview with DZmm, he called out malacaĂąang’s failure to defend its countrymen against the harassment of the Chinese nationals. “Instead na depensahan o alamin kung totoo ang nangyari para madepensahan ang mangingisda, ang sasabihin pa, walang proof, hindi totoo iyon, wala namang report (Instead of defending or finding out the truth to protect our fishermen, they said there’s no proof, it’s not true, there’s no report),â€? Colmenares said as reported by ABS-CBN News. “Parang ang sini-serve nila ay ‘yung Chinese government, pinoproteksyunan kaysa sa sarili nating mga mangingisda (It seems that they’re serving, protecting the Chinese government instead of our own fishermen),â€? he added. The senatorial candidate emphasized that a person’s testimony could be considered legitimate proof to back up a certain claim. He also said that it is pointless for the fishermen to lie about their experiences since they would get nothing out of it. “Ang testimonya ng isang wit-
ness ay proof, ebidensya. Hindi ko alam kung anong ebidensya na nire-require nila (The testimony of a witness is considered as proof, evidence. I don’t know what kind of evidence it is that they’re requiring),� the senatorial candidate defended. “Bakit magsisinungaling ang mga mangingisda sa amin? Ano ang mahihita nila? mga ordinaryong tao sila, takot lang nilang magsinungaling (Why would the fishermen lie to us? What would they gain? They’re just ordinary people who are afraid to lie),� Colmenares added. Colmenares explained that the abuse endured by those fishermen should not be solely mentioned in passing. He urged the officials to come up with a solution to ensure that the fishermen’s lives and livelihood will be protected. “This is one more proof of the harassment and we are willing to share it with them. The issue here is no longer about anything else, it’s the issue of helping our fisherfolks be protected and their livelihoods be protected,� he said in an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel’s (ANC) “early edition.� However, masinloc Vice mayor Daddy enciso claimed that even the local government officials were not aware that such harassment exists among the fisherfolk. PAGE 10
60 COUNTRIES. OVER 100 CITIES WORLDWIDE. THAT’S INTERNATIONAL.
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March 29-april 4, 2019 • NEW YOrK aND NEW JErSEY aSiaN JOUrNal
Dateline PhiliPPines
http://www.asianjournal.com • (212) 655-5426
11 ‘big actresses’ on drug list – PNP by Roy
NARRA ManilaTimes.net
THE Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) on Wednesday, March 27, said 11 famous actresses were on the agency’s watchlist. PDEA Director General Aaron Aquino said the agency’s drug list included a total of 31 celebrities, mostly in their 20s to 30s. “[Our list has] big names. Of the 31, only three of them are old. All of them are young,” he said. He revealed that two of these celebrities were drug pushers, one a pusher of shabu and the other of party drug ecstasy. Aquino said there could be about 100 celebrities on the drugs
watchlist if all intelligence units from different agencies merged their lists. The Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Philippine National Police (PNP), National Bureau of Investigation, and various barangay (villages) have their own watchlists. “Imagine, 31 celebrities, and it is just on the PDEA watchlist. If we combine them all together, it can reach up to 100, probably,” the PDEA chief said in English and Filipino. Aquino, however, said they were still validating their own list containing names of those allegedly involved in drug activities. Levi Ortiz, PDEA Special Enforcement Service director, pre-
viously said the two celebrities pushing shabu and ecstasy were in contact with drug dealer Steve Pasion, who was killed in a buybust on March 11. Based on text messages uncovered by PDEA operatives, the two celebrities ordered 200 pieces of ecstasy from Pasion. He, however, added that they would not publicize the names of these 100 celebrities until they had fully validated the various lists. “It will go first through the validation process. We just can’t disclose the list to the public without even undergoing some process of validation. Again, it’s a long process and I just hope that time will come that we [would have] validated all of them, including [those in] the media [who are also engaged in drug activities],” Aquino said. SEIZED DRUGS. Officials of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and the Bureau of Customs inspect a shabu shipment worth more than P1.8 He added that they already billion seized in the Port of Manila. ManilaTimes.net photo by Dj Diosina have a raw list of people in the media who were also involved in drugs. Aquino said the PDEA, however, had yet to organize the media list. The government previously “Perhaps our critics should public policy. released a list of so-called narcoby Alex RomeRo Finance officials have said an have instead done their part to politicians and village officials alPhilstar.com contribute when they had every arbitration may take place if the legedly dealing in drugs. MANILA — Malacañang urged opportunity to do so, especially Philippines defaults on its loan It said the move was meant to guide voters on who to choose critics of the controversial loan when they were holding the reins with China. Panelo, Carpio exchange in midterm elections in May this deal for the Chico River pump of the government,” he added. irrigation project to set aside Panelo explained that only pleasantries ManilaTimes.net photo year. n “politics” as it decried what it when the Philippines fails to reDespite their opposing views described as “pointless” discus- pay its loan — a scenario that he on the Chico River loan, Panelo sions on the agreement. described as “improbable if not and Carpio exchanged pleasantThe $62-million project, which impossible” — would the oil and ries during a convention of lawis expected to provide water sup- gas in Recto Bank be used to set- yers Thursday in Iloilo City. ply to more than 8,000 hectares tle any outstanding balance. Panelo took a photo of him and of agricultural land, was placed “What that means is that there Carpio during the convention of on the spotlight after Supreme will be an extraction of gas and the Integrated Bar of the PhilipCourt Senior Associate Justice oil, a sale of the same and then pines, the official organization of Antonio Carpio raised the possi- a portion of the profit therefrom, all Philippine lawyers. bility of China seizing Philippine which will be in the form of mon“Exchanged pleasantries. We patrimonial assets if the loan is ey, will be used to pay and satisfy are fraternity brods in the Sigma not repaid. the balance,” the presidential Rho in UP Law. He is junior brod. Carpio said patrimonial assets, spokesman said. I was one of the senior brods who or those that are nor for public “Assuming we have defaulted initiated him but not physical,” use or public service or for the for just a small amount of the Panelo said. development of national wealth, loan, China cannot seize all the Carpio was quoted by reports include the gas reserves in Recto gas and oil there but only the as saying that he and the presiBank, an area off Palawan also equivalent of the unpaid loan. It dential spokesman met at breakknown as Reed Bank. cannot go beyond the outstand- fast because they were staying in Officials have denied that the ing balance,” he added. the same hotel. Chico River loan would force the “He (Panelo) is a fraternity Panelo said the criticism and Philippines to surrender its terri- discussions on the loan agree- brod, and we engage in the usual President Rodrigo Duterte chats with Moro National Liberation Front Founding Chairman Nur tory or natural resources to Chi- ment are “trivial, circuitous, and small talk, like what he said - how Misuari at a meeting at the Malacañang Palace on March 19. Malacañang photo na. They have also given assur- pointless” because the amount to invade China,” the Supreme ances that the Philippines would involved is “low” and the deal Court magistrate said. rectly. Kay Misuari naman (but and the Moro,” he added. not default on its loan. Panelo said Carpio’s remark has an inflexible annual interest Duterte’s statement came days with Misuari), we have to deal Presidential spokesman Sal- rate of 2 percent. about China was just a joke. with him again. And I hope that after he admitted that Misuari vador Panelo said farmers in “How to invade China is a He said economic managers we could find the space, the time, threatened to declare war against Cagayan and Kalinga who would have also ensured that there are joke, we both made it up to make and the issues that would be the government if the federalism benefit from the Chico River safeguards in case an arbitral the reporters who will ask us to more acceptable to everybody, measure is not passed in Con- project could not wait “’til king- award is made in favor of China. laugh. We just exchanged pleasto both the Lumads the Christian gress. n dom come.” The safeguards include allowing antries,” he said. “Let us set aside politics and Philippine courts to determine if Panelo previously called Cargive our farmers in northern Lu- there was partiality in the arbi- pio “unpatriotic” for raising the zon a better life which they truly tration proceedings, if there was possibility that China would seize deserve,” Panelo said in a state- fraud or collusion, or if enforcing the gas in Recto Bank if the Chico ment issued last Wednesday. the award would be contrary to Dam loan is not repaid. n
Palace tells critics of China-funded Chico River project to set aside politics
PDEA Director General Aaron Aquino
Duterte ‘in a hurry’ to strike a deal with Misuari by CAtheRiN
S. VAleNte ManilaTimes.net
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday, March 26, said he was “in a hurry” to forge a new peace agreement with Moro National Liberation Front Head Nur Misuari. In his speech during a campaign sortie in Koronadal City on Tuesday night, Duterte said that while the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) was “satisfactory” for Moro Islamic Liberation Front chief Al Hajj Murad Ebrahim, he has to deal with Misuari again. “Dito sa (here in) Mindanao, we were also grappling with so many fronts. I am dealing with the drug problem and, at the same time, I am in a hurry to strike a deal with Nur Misuari,” Duterte said. “The BOL is satisfactory according to Murad, as it is. So long as it is implemented cor-
Rappler’s Maria Ressa arrested at NAIA MANILA — Rappler chief executive Maria Ressa was arrested at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) on Friday, March 29. The arrest warrant was issued by Judge Acerey Pacheco of the Pasig Regional Trial Court Branch 265, as seen in a Facebook livestream of the news website Rappler. Prior to landing, Ressa said in a tweet that she will be posting bail: “Landing in a short while to face my latest arrest warrant and the 7th time I will post bail.” “#HoldTheLine we pledge to not just hold power to account but I will mark every violation of my rights under the PH Constition (like harassment cases to try to intimidate @rapplerdotcom!),” she added. In a separate tweet, Ressa said: “Seriously?!?! Imagine the tax pesos wasted. #HOLDTHELINE.” (Krissy Aguilar/Inquirer.net) Rappler chief executive Maria Ressa
Inquirer.net photo
Top posts in gov’t still dominated by men – CSC by miChAel
PuNoNgbAyAN Philstar.com
MANILA — Men continue to dominate the top- or third-level posts in government even as more women now occupy low- to mid-level positions. The Civil Service Commission (CSC), in celebration of women’s month, released the data to show how gender balance in the civil service still needs to be pursued. Commissioner Aileen Lizada said the Inventory of Government Human Resources or survey of government workers conducted in December 2017 showed that out of the 1,835,118 total government personnel in the country, at least 1,016,073 or almost 60 percent are women. Career employees comprise 89.8 percent of the total population or 1,647,891, while non-career employees are at 187,227 or 10.2 percent. The CSC explained that the career service is characterized by entrance based on merit and fitness determined as far as practicable by competitive examinations or based on highly technical qualifications, opportunity
for advancement and security of tenure. On sex classification, the survey showed that there are more female employees in the career service across all regions, representing 61.66 percent or 1,016,073 out of 1,647,891 career employees. In the non-career service, the number of male employees is slightly higher at 107,136 or 57.22 percent compared to 80,091 female employees or 42.78 percent. There are also more female employees occupying second level positions, which cover both professional/technical and executive/managerial posts. Survey results reveal that there are 842,868 or 65.91 percent females in second level positions compared to male counterparts at 435,899 or 34.09 percent. “These figures reflect the CSC’s recognition of the importance of women as contributors to nationbuilding. As the premier human resource institution of the Philippine government, CSC joins the nation in highlighting the critical role of women in our society, as well as in advancing their rights
and protection, especially in the workplace,” Lizada said. However, she noted the underrepresentation of women in thirdlevel positions, which include the positions of undersecretary, assistant secretary, bureau director and regional director. Lizada thus called for stricter compliance with Republic 9710 or the Magna Carta of Women, which mandates the adoption of special measures for the incremental increase of women in third-level positions in the civil service until a 50-50 gender balance is achieved. “The higher ranks in government are still male-dominated, with 57 percent males holding third-level positions,” Lizada pointed out. She underscored that as the CSC strives to bring gender balance to the bureaucracy, other sectors or levels in government should follow suit by providing a viable environment for working women, especially women executives, many of whom have already proven that they can be active drivers of positive changes and reforms in government. n
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NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY ASIAN JOURNAL • MARch 29-ApRIL 4, 2019
10
March 29-april 4, 2019 • NEW YOrK aND NEW JErSEY aSiaN JOUrNal
Dateline PhiliPPines
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Measles death toll continues to rise SolGen: Pullout from ICC has
Valley, 349 cases and two deaths; Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, Palawan), 987 cases and eight deaths; Bicol ReTHE number of measles casgion, 694 cases and six deaths; es continues to rise almost two Western Visayas, 1,371 cases months after the Department of and five deaths; Central Visayas, Health (DOH) declared an epi1,115 cases and 10 deaths; Eastdemic. ern Visayas, 1,023 cases and 24 DOH’s Epidemiology Bureau deaths; Zamboanga Peninsula, recorded 23,563 cases and 338 302 cases and one death; Northdeaths from Jan. 1 to March ern Mindanao, 1,159 cases and 10 21, 2019. For the same period deaths; Davao Region, 489 cases last year, there were only 5,006 and seven deaths; Soccsksargen (South Cotabato, Cotabato Province, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, General Santos), 478 cases and four deaths; Autonomous Region and Muslim Mindanao, 451 cases and four deaths; Cordillera Administrative Region, 367 cases and one death; and Caraga, 576 cases and two deaths. Bataan had no case of measles. Health Undersecretary Rolando Domingo said on Monday that the DOH had inoculated more than 3 million children in its intensified drive against measles. The DOH aims to immunize At the San Lazaro Hospital in Sta Cruz, Manila, about 95% of patients in the Pediatric Ward 3,783,985 children aged six to are mostly victims of the measles. ManilaTimes.net photo by Rene Dilan 59 months. n by Catherine
Modesto ManilaTimes.net
cases. Of the 23,563 cases, 78 percent were unvaccinated. Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) had the most number of cases with 4,838 and 98 deaths. Metro Manila came in second with 4,568 and 87 deaths, followed by Central Luzon with 3,761 and 57 deaths. Ilocos Region reported 1,035 cases and 12 deaths; Cagayan
VACC TO CATHOLIC BISHOPS:
‘Don’t meddle in death penalty debate’ by Catherine
Valente ManilaTimes.net
THE VOLUNTEERS Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) told Catholic bishops not to meddle with the issue of the reimposition of the death penalty, insisting that it was the job of Congress. This was after the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) claimed that the death penalty was not the solution to the problem of illegal drugs in the country. “Don’t meddle with the death penalty issue and let Congress do [its] job,â€? the VACC said in a statement. The CBCP on Monday urged the government to first look at other aspects of the criminal justice system before the reimposition of the death penalty for drug smugglers. “The penalty is the last stage in the criminal justice system‌ so why do they want to [first make changes]with the penalty?â€? Rudy Diamante, executive secretary of CBCP Episcopal Commission on Prison Pastoral Care, said in an
interview. “It (the death penalty) has never been effective and they know that‌They know very well deep in their hearts, it is not the solution. Killing has never been the solution,â€? he added. But the VACC insisted that the capital punishment was the best deterrent to heinous crimes. “You should remember that the VACC is primarily composed of surviving victims of heinous crimes and the immediate family members of victims murdered through heinous crimes. The VACC believes that since there is no clear substitute that would effectively give justice for the life or lives taken by these perpetrators of heinous crimes, then the re-imposition of the Death Penalty is the closest thing for getting justice for the victims of heinous crimes,â€? the VACC said. “The death penalty is not only for drug-related crimes but also for other heinous crimes,â€? the anti-crime group added. Citing information from local and international anti-illegal drug enforcers, the VACC said the Philippines was “now the
most active transshipment point of illegal drugs mainly due to the fact of the absence of the death penalty.� “To date, there are 56 countries in the world that have the Death Penalty in their justice and penal system,� it said. The VACC has been urging President Rodrigo Duterte to reinstate the death penalty, noting the “rampant killings� in the country. Lawmakers and Duterte see death penalty as a deterrent to crimes, but the Commission on Human Rights argues that capital punishment does not lower crime rates. A bill reinstating the death penalty has made it past the third and final reading at the House of Representatives. At the Senate, it has yet to be tackled at the committee level. The 1987 Constitution abolished the death penalty but allowed Congress to bring it back for heinous crimes. It was brought back under the administration of President Fidel Ramos and abolished again under President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. n
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no effect on PH judicial system by Christia
Marie Inquirer.net
raMos
MANILA — The Philippines’ exit from the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the International Criminal Court (ICC) does not affect the country’s judicial system, Solicitor General Jose Calida said on Monday, March 25. “The Philippine justice system functions independently with or without membership in the ICC. Hence, the withdrawal of the Philippines from the Rome Statute has no effect in our justice system,� Calida said. He argued that “the investigation and prosecution of drug-related deaths, incidents, and/or offenses are ongoing in the country.� Calida cited government data which showed that 49,034 drugrelated cases had been filed in court while 75,327 of such cases were pending in public prosecutor’s offices as of 2018. He also said that there are cases pending before the Supreme Court om alleged violations committed in connection with the government’s anti-illegal drugs campaign. “All these facts show that the government is not unwilling or unable to prosecute these crimes, despite what adminis-
tration critics say,� Calida said. “Our government institutions continue to function, investigate, and prosecute these cases despite membership or non-membership in the ICC,� he added. Calida also noted that the country’s laws “sufficiently provide remedies and protect the fundamental rights of Filipinos.� Republic Act 9851 or the Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide, and Other Crimes Against Humanity, according to Calida, “thoroughly encapsulates the purpose and intent of the Rome Statute.� This means that “all the relevant protections and guarantees under the Rome Statute are provided to the Filipino people through our domestic law,� he added. The Solicitor General explained that the Philippines cannot not be “coerced to submit to the jurisdiction of the ICC� as the country had “validly withdrawn from the Rome Statute pursuant to Article 127 thereof.� Under Article 127 of the Rome Statute, the withdrawal of the Philippines would become effective one year after the United Nations secretary-general received a written notice of the State party.
The Philippines submitted a written notification of withdrawal from the Statute with the UN Secretary-General in March 2018. “As a sovereign state, it is our prerogative to be a party to the Rome Statute or not,� Calida added. The Solicitor General further said that foreign aid coming in will not be affected following the country’s withdrawal from the international court. He noted that before the Philippines’ exit from the ICC, only two Southeast Asian countries like Cambodia and Timor-Leste had ratified the Rome Statute. “The fact that other Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries were not parties to the Rome Statute did not affect their foreign aid,� he said. He added that the country’s domestic laws “sufficiently afford protection.� “The Rome Statute is not the only instrument that provides remedies for the protection of human rights,� Calida said. “The Philippines remain a party to other human rights treaties, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR),� he added. n
Arroyo not backing anyone in Speaker race SHE has no horse in the race for the next leader of the House. Speaker Gloria MacapagalArroyo refused to be drawn into endorsing any of the two candidates who separately received the backing of President Rodrigo Duterte’s daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte. “I don’t want to comment on the next Congress because I am not going to be a part of it,� the former President told reporters in Bacolod City. Mayor Duterte, leader of the regional party Hugpong ng Pagbabago who helped orchestrate the coup staged by Arroyo last year against the previous Speaker, Pantaleon Alvarez, endorsed different congressional candidates as the next Speaker in two election campaign rallies last week. On March 19 in Tacloban City, she introduced former Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez as the next Speaker. But the next day, she gave a similar introduction to Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Jay Velasco in Tagbilaran City. President’s supporters The mayor later said she was supporting “all those who are supportive of the president.� Romualdez is president of Arroyo’s former party, LakasChristian Muslim Democrats, and the nephew of Rep. Imelda Marcos, widow of the late dic-
House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
tator Ferdinand Marcos. Velasco, on the other hand, is close to President Duterte and the rumored candidate of Arroyo’s current party, the ruling Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan. Other candidates have emerged in the speakership race, including former Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano, who is seeking the seat of Taguig-Pateros in the House, and Representatives Ronaldo Zamora of San Juan City, Lucy
Inquirer.net photo
Torres-Gomez of Leyte, Alex Advincula and Abraham Tolentino of Cavite, and Federico Sandoval II of Malabon City. Arroyo reiterated her previous denials that she was keen to accept a new post in the Duterte administration once her term was over. “I’m going to continue writing my memoirs. As to [what I’ll be doing] I’ve never given it much thought yet on what I’ll do to stay busy,� she said. (DJ Yap/Inquirer.net)
Marcos asks SC to resolve election protest... PAGE 7
they should also accept. We are in a democracy and whatever the outcome of this case will be should be accepted by both parties,� he added. Marcos asked the electoral tribunal to “grant the omnibus motion� and to act on its motion to conduct technical examination in precincts in Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao and Basilan. “It is most respectfully prayed of this honorable tribunal to direct the Voters’ Identification Division of the Comelec to conduct a technical examination on the signatures and or thumbprints appearing on the Voters’ Registration Records (VRR) and the Election Day Computerized Voters’ List with Voters’ Records (EDCVL) of the entire 2,756 protested clustered precincts of Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao and Basilan in connection with the May 9, 2016 national and local elections,� the document stated. Garcia said he believes that although the electoral tribunal has not yet finished the revision and
appreciation of votes in three pilot provinces in their protest — Camarines Sur, Iloilo and Negros Oriental — the case could still be resolved sooner once the tribunal shall proceed to the second part of the protest that sought technical examination of votes from the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur and Basilan. He asked the electoral tribunal to subpoena relevant documents in connection with the technical examination conducted in a separate election protest filed by ARMM gubernatorial candidate Sakur Tan against ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman. The former Sulu governor said 80 percent of the voters in the ARMM were “fake.� “The first cause of action on the pilot provinces is about the results of the counting of the machines, while the second action in the ARMM provinces involves voters who were unable to vote and pre-shading of ballots,� Garcia said. The first recount covers three pilot provinces — Camarines Sur, Iloilo and Negros Ori-
ental — covering a total of 5,418 clustered precincts. The tribunal shall now rule on whether to proceed with the recount in a total of 132,446 precincts in 39,221 clustered precincts covering 27 provinces and cities identified in Marcos’ protest. In his protest, Marcos assailed the election results in 39,221 clustered precincts — 36,465 of which he pays for the conduct of manual count and judicial revision, while the remaining 2,756 he prays for the annulment of election results. Based on Commission on Elections data, the 39,221 clustered precincts are composed of 132,446 precincts. Marcos, who lost to Robredo by 263,473 votes, accused her of “massive electoral fraud, anomalies and irregularities� such as pre-shading of ballots, pre-loaded Secure Digital cards, misreading of ballots, malfunctioning VCMs [vote counting machines], and an “abnormally high� unaccounted votes/undervotes for the position of Vice President. n
Palace vows to protest Chinese... PAGE 7
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He further noted that it must be a remote incident. “Wala po kaming napapansin na mga fisherman naming nagre-report sa munisipyo po. So far, remote incident po iyan na nangyayari. Normal naman po ang mga fisherman sa amin (We have not noticed any fisherman reporting to our town hall. So far, what happened was a remote incident. The situation of our fishermen is normal),� he said in a separate DZMM interview. The palace spokesperson and chief legal counsel said that the administration can only protest to China regarding the fishermen
issue despite the arbitral ruling that named the Philippines the country with the rightful claim in the area. “May magagawa ba tayo eh sila ang may control as of now. ‘Di ba meron silang pwersa doon. (What can we do when they are in control as of now. They have military forces there) We can only protest like any other country like Vietnam,� Panelo said in a press briefing. “Has any arbitral ruling by this international court been enforced previously? Kung meron may pag-asa tayo, kung wala sa ngayon wala tayong magagawa so pag-usapan muna natin sa negotiation (If there is, we have
hope. If there’s none all we can do is negotiate),� he added. Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio in July warned President Rodrigo Duterte to be careful with his remarks that could possibly waive the country’s rights to the area as ruled by the 2016 arbitral tribunal in Hague. “If the president says ‘I am setting aside the ruling,’ the doctrine is that that binds the country if it is accepted by China. That declaration is a declaration against the interest of the state and it will bind that state because the president is the representative under international law,� Carpio said. n
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NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY ASIAN JOURNAL • MARCH 29 - APRIL 4, 2019
COMMUNITY JOURNAL
Immigrant Living: 101 and Beyond MONETTE ADEVA MAGLAYA WHAT’S your game plan when you retire? The timing can be one of 3 ways: you yourself planned when it will happen; the government said it’s time you did; or circumstances beyond your control, like the onset of illness, finally put you out to pasture. Or are you one of those who have decided to keep on going and going simply doing what you do best beating the bushes, like the energizer bunny? There is tremendous life force in you that needs to be spent. You ignore your age and trust your instincts. You are powered by nothing but chutzpah and prayer, knowing deep down that you will simply wake up one day and decide this is as far as it goes. Enough is enough. Typically around your early sixties, retirement, as a stage of life, looms large staring at you in the face. If life is like driving on the freeway, it is supposedly a time when you begin to downshift your gears, getting off the fast lane as you move to the middle lane and gradually sidle to the farthest right lane to find your exit. You head home to the gentle comforts of home sweet home knowing you never have to get up so early starting tomorrow to do the same darn thing you’ve been doing for decades. Freedom at last!!! Breaking the shackles of the workaday world feels wonderful. There is now time to do the things that you have always wanted to do and maybe flesh out those dreams that have been percolating quietly in the back burner. Now you have the time, adequate resources and, most importantly, the blessing of all blessings, you are still in the pink of health. Thank God, hallelujah!!! You have run the course with time left over to savor being alive. You feel like doing cartwheels —that is—if your osteoporotic bones and stiff limbs will let you. Meh… Probably NOT! Ideally, you are ready for this stage of life. That is —if you have dotted your i’s and cross your t’s— as you render a full plate of life experiences, good
Health@Heart PHILIP S. CHUA, MD, FACS, FPCS MOST of the food products we eat today have healthier alternative items. If we are serious about staying healthy and maximizing our natural longevity, that option is open to us. All we have to do is to educate ourselves, which, today, is not hard to do, thanks to Dr. Google and the world wide web. Unlike Spanish Conquistador Juan Ponce de Leon’s quest for that elusive fountain of youth, which, unbeknownst to him was right under his nose, we, in this 21st century, equipped with evidence-based medical data, know that we have in our hands the knowledge and ability to live a healthy lifestyle to boost our immune system, minimize our risk for preventable diseases, and extend our life span to its full potential. Life expectancy in the US in the 1800 was about 35, in the 1900, around 47, and today, an average of 79.3. There are some food items in our own pantry at home which make our skin look older and our body aged faster. They are a group of food items with compounds called AGEs (Advance Glycation Endproducts) which have aging effect on our skin, our immune system, and body as a whole. Replacing food items with healthier options could help slow down aging. AGEs are bad compounds that result from proteins or fats in our system combining with sugars. Low carbohydrate meals, minimizing or, even better, eliminating rice from our diet is a healthy option. Many vegetables and some protein foods also contain some carbohydrates (sugar), so we do not have to add rice to our diet. The Mediterranean and the South Beach diets are basically offering a lot of vegetables, fruits, nuts,
The Bucket List Grazing in the Grass
Calendar of Events across
11th of a Series - (1st of 2 Parts)
“ … If life is like driving on the freeway, it is supposedly a time when you begin to downshift your gears, getting off the fast lane as you move to the middle lane and gradually sidle to the farthest right lane to find your exit.…” and bad, while trying to balance home life and work life for many years… Of course, you can always go into denial and think and act young but your contrarian body will probably beg to differ at times yanking you back to face the reality of having logged a lot of miles on your one and only body. Suddenly you have to deal with aches and pains in places you never thought existed. It doesn’t help that your doctor reads gobbledygook sets of numbers about your blood sugar levels, cholesterol levels, creatinin levels, blood pressure readings, A1C number, kidney and liver health and so forth. Your medical provider wants to submit you to mammogram and colonoscopy and all types of tests to find out if you are still of sound mind and sound body, purportedly so you can enjoy the rest of your remaining years. It’s something borrowed from the automotive industry: 100 K check, 200 K check to see if all your parts are still in working order and which parts need replacement. Okay, admittedly, these are not gobbledygook numbers but they indicate that this time around, you have no excuse to ignore the warning signs of your mortality. All it says is: SHAPE UP OR SHIP OUT. OR ELSE you can go to the wide blue yonder flat on your back sooner rather than later. SIGH… But there is a serious reason why you hem and haw to put off all these gamut of tests. What if they find something? Oy vey! You’ve run the full course of life only to deal with another daunting challenge. Also, you ascribe to the belief that what you don’t know won’t hurt you. Or so it seems. I have heard of sad stories
of people, who after just a few years of retirement, are diagnosed with aggressive stage 4 cancer or some form of serious illness and are left to deal with a very short lease on what is left of life. Of course, these stories are purely anecdotal and isolated but they do happen. You feel older and if you culled out the nuggets of wisdom from yours and other’s experiences, you’ve become even a little wiser perhaps. You have listened half-heartedly to those financial planners and even those persistent advance funeral planners who have been bugging you about the benefits of being prepared for the inevitable. You have taken pains to sock away a smidgen of moolah for a long time in your 401K or saved a few bucks by yourself and by your estimates (and provided you are sensible with a tight fixed income), you will remain fiscally viable, without having to rely on a government dole-out, even if the unthinkable happens. You plan to exit this world with your dignity intact. You hope that a smattering of beautiful memories, yours as well as of those you leave behind, are indelibly marked in a few hearts and minds for a generation or two — strong enough to move them to bring you flowers on your gravesite long after you’re gone. If your life were to be compressed to a 60-second video, you hope that the awful parts were edited out and landed on the cutting room floor permanently deleted. The saddest thing about a life is to be forgotten as though you never lived. To be continued next week… *** Nota Bene: Monette Adeva Maglaya is SVP of Asian Journal Publications, Inc. To send comments, e-mail monette. maglaya@asianjournalinc.com
Swap for health
sea food and low-carbs and less red meats. And then there is the keto diet of high in protein and negligible carbs. All these basically acknowledge the health hazard in sugars and red meat, especially processed meats (bacon, sausages, hot dogs, etc.), toxic items that induce oxidation and infl ammation, which also increase our risk for cancer. What are the healthier alternatives? 1. Sweet potato instead of rice - Rice, even the brown variety or basmati, has high glycemic index, causing our blood sugar level to spike fast, unlike vegetables, which take longer to bring the blood sugar up and therefore maintaining a healthier even keel. As such, eating rice leads to overweight or obesity in most people, and abstinence from it helps reduce weight. Rice is indeed the arch enemy of diabetes and obesity. Sweet potato has a lower glycemic index, even lower than regular potato and unhealthy french fries. Sweet potato also contains a lot of copper, which counteracts AGEs and helps in collagen production for our skin. 2. Honey or fruits – For sweetener, honey or fruits are better alternative to white sugar, brown sugar, or even raw sugar. Of course, the less sugar (carbs). Fruits, like berries, grapefruits, mangos, pomegranates, apples, mangosteen, avocados, etc., and quinoa, whole grains (barley, oats, rye, triticale and fl axseed), and nuts are healthy. Diabetics should always comply with their prescribed caloric intake. Drinking coffee black is healthier, sans cream and sugar. Sugars are sweet but a bitter enemy of our health. 3. Sprouted bread to white bread – Like rice, white bread and pastry made of wheat and white flour, cause infl ammatory reaction in the body. They also have high glycemic index, besides containing AGEs. Sprouted bread or those made with whole grains are more
anti-infl ammatory, rich in antioxidants, which help in flushing out AGEs. 4. Fish and chicken instead of red meat – Fish and chicken (especially chicken breast) is healthier than red meat. Processed meats of any kind (deli meats, bacon, hot dog, sausage, salami, etc.) contain additives and are unhealthy. Eating red meat regularly (more than twice a week), as we have written in the past, is associated with increased risk for colon and pancreatic cancers, etc., especially when grilled over high temperature. Red meat and rice are not essential food items. We can live healthier and even longer without them. 5. Dark chocolate instead of sugar-loaded candies – Chocolates, rich in antioxidant fl avonoids, especially the dark variety, which aid in counteracting the adverse effects of free radicals and AGEs, reduce the oxidative process that makes us age faster and develop diseases. 6. Filtered water instead of soft drinks – I have labelled all forms of soft drinks as “liquid candies” in my book on healthy lifestyle and disease prevention, “Let’s Stop “Killing” Our Children” (view at philipSchua.com and amazon.com). This beverage is toxic to adults and children alike. It increases the risk for metabolic syndrome, the precursor of diabetes, heart attack, stroke, and cancer. The safest beverage we have is water which has undergone 8stage reversed osmosis fi ltration, which removes harmful chemicals in water, and UV light treatment to eliminate bacteria and viruses. 7. Virgin olive oil instead of margarine, butter, or other veggie oils – For cooking, it is healthier to use olive oil, preferably the virgin variety, compared to using any vegetable, corn, or canola oil. Olive oil can withstand higher temperature unlike the others, but in either case, the use of very
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America
ADVERTISE YOUR EVENTS! PRE-EVENT AND POST EVENT GO DEEPER. GO WIDER. LET THE WORLD KNOW. CALL ASIAN JOURNAL: (818) 502-0651 DISPLAY AD SIZES AT SPECIAL RATES FOR NON-PROFIT GROUPS MARCH 30
Philippine Medical Society of Northern California installation of officers in Foster City, CA The Philippine Medical Society of Northern California will hold its 47th anniversary and installation of officers for 2019-2021 at the Crowne Plaza in Foster City, CA on Saturday, March 30. For sponsorship information, please contact Dr. Clementina Manio at drtina0427@gmail. com or visithttps://www.pmsnc.org/.
United Bicolandia Los Angeles induction in Montebello, CA United Bicolandia Los Angeles will hold its 45th Anniversary and Induction Ceremony at Quiet Cannon in Montebello, CA on Saturday, March 30. For tickets and sponsorship information, please contact Lanie Berrei at lanieberrei@hotmail.com or (818) 281-3169.
City of San Fernando, La Union Association-USA ball in Brea, CA The City of San Fernando, La Union Association-USA will hold its 29th Fiesta Ball — “A Reunion to Remember” — on Saturday, March 30 at the Embassy Suites (900 East Birch Street) in Brea, CA. It will be held from 6:30 p.m. to 12 midnight. For more details, you may contact ball chairman Noel Nabua at (949) 323-3873 / nsnabua@gmail.com; outgoing president Samuel Chee at (909) 662-7501 / samnlynnndchamp@yahoo.com; incoming president Vicky Neri at (562) 394-6293 / vickybneri@gmail.com; and director Vangie So at (626) 485-3110 / vangieso@aol.com.
APRIL 7
Ryan, Ryan! The Maestro and the Ryan Cayabyab Singers in Glendale, CA Recently proclaimed National Artist for Music Ryan Cayabyab’s works will be showcased on Sunday, April 7 at the John Wayne Performing Arts Center (1440 E Broadway, Glendale, CA 91205) at 6 p.m. by his multi-talented singing group, the Ryan Cayabyab Singers joined by some local artists like Mon David, Annie Nepomuceno, Louie Reyes and many more. Come and hear how his work that spans five decades has made an indelible impact on Filipino culture. Co-presented by Philippine Patrons of the Arts USA, a 501 (c) 3 organization that brings exemplary Filipino Artists to U.S. stages. For ticket information ($35-$125) visit www.philpatrons.org and to learn about other tour stops in Las Vegas (April 7), San Diego (April 12) and Seattle (April 14).
APRIL 13
2nd annual Filipino mental health well-being summit in LA The 2nd annual Filipino mental health well-being summit will take place from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, April 13 at The Center of Cathedral Plaza (555 West Temple Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012). In partnership with the LA County of Department of Mental Health, registration begins on March 11. This is a FREE event for all. Breakfast and lunch included with registration. Please email FilipinoWellBeing@Gmail.com or visithttps://www.facebook. com/FilipinoWellBeing for more updates.
A P R I L 22
West Ranch Music Masters Tournament in Valencia, CA West Ranch High School’s Instrumental Music Program is excited to announce their inaugural Golf Tournament fundraiser to be held on Monday, April 22 at The Oaks Club at Valencia, CA. Check-in and breakfast starts at 10 a.m. with a 12 p.m. shotgun start. The $125 per player fee includes: 18 holes of golf, use of golf cart, practice facilities, lunch and dinner. There will be an optional Mulligan and Magic Putt package for purchase. Additionally, a wide array of silent auction and raffle baskets will be available. The awards dinner will be served starting at 5pm and will feature students performing live jazz music. For those who wish to attend only the dinner and award festivities, the cost is $50. All proceeds go directly to support the West Ranch High School Music Program. To register for the tournament or for more information contact Jean Conway at westranchband@gmail.com or visitwestranchmusic.com. Deadline to register is on April 11.
A P R I L 25 -28
Philippine Nurses Association of America - North Central Regional Conference in Columbus, Ohio The Philippine Nurses Association - Central Ohio will hold a regional conference from April 25 to 28 at the Embassy Suites (2886 Airport Drive, Columbus, Ohio). For more information, please visit http://www.mypnaa.org/.
M AY 4
Kulintang festival in Oakland, CA As part of the as part of the celebrations of Asian American Heritage Month, Gongster’s Paradise — a kulintang party — will be held on Saturday, May 4 at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center where the father of Filipino-American Kulintang music, Danongan ‘Danny’ Kalanduyan was once an artists in residence. This year’s line up will feature a new generation of Maguindanaon Master Artists from Cotabato City, Traditional groups from all over the United States and Contemporary groups from all over the world including Toronto, Philippines, Seattle, Virginia, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Alongside non-stop kulintangan, Gongster’s Paradise will feature visual artists, vendors, and dancers to showcase movements related to kulintang music rooted from all over Mindanao. A feast will be served throughout the evening to be prepared and served by Chef Eric Pascual, rising star and owner of Eats By E and will be joined by collaborator and sponsor, Ramar Foods. It will be held from 4 to 9 p.m. at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center (388 9th St., Oakland, CA 94607).
M AY 1 7-1 9
Santa Maria Ilocos Sur 12th Global Reunion in Honolulu, Hawaii The Santa Maria Ilocos Sur Global Association (SMISGA) and the Santa Marians of Hawaii are sponsoring the Santa Maria Ilocos Sur 12th Global Reunion in Honolulu, Hawaii from May 17-19, 2019. The festivities will start with a meet and greet on May 17 at 5 p.m. at the Ala Moana Hotel Hibiscus Ballroom to be followed by a gala night on May 18 at 5 p.m. at the Dole Cannery Pomaikai Ballroom. A picnic is also scheduled at Ala Moana Beach Park’s Magic Island on Sunday, May 19 starting at 10 a.m. The ticket to attend all the events is $130.00 per person. Due to limited space, reservations must be made not later than March 31, 2019. Hats and t-shirts will also be on sale for $20. For further information, call Nena Empleo at (808) 384-0394, Carlito Soria at (808) 487-3370, Alex Pena at (702) 373-9522 or Orlino Baldonado at (865) 789-8324. Leave a message if there’s no answer. Additional information is also on SMISGA.com and Facebook @ SMISGA19FB. Proceeds from the events will be for various projects in Santa Maria Ilocos Sur and in Hawaii. Donations are tax deductible since SMISGA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization approved by the Internal Revenue Service.
If you have an upcoming event and would like us to post it, please email us the details at info@asianjournalinc.com or calendar@asianjournalinc.com high temperature higher than 300 is not healthy. Contrary to popular belief, coconut oil, which is good as cosmetic oil for the hair and skin, is not as healthy as virgin olive oil as food. 8. Brussel sprouts instead
of corn – Corn is starchy and induces infl ammatory reaction in the body, causing GI problems and obesity for some people. Occasional indulgence in corn is fi ne. Fructose induces collagen destruction. Brussel sprouts contain a lot of
Lipoic acid, which counteracts this fructose effect to maintain good collagen level in our skin. Not to mention the beneficial anti-oxidant, anti-infl ammatory effects of this vegetables plus the fi ber in them. They PAGE 13
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PEOPLE & EVENTS
MARCH 29 - APRIL 4, 2019 • NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY ASIAN JOURNAL
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Business News
Lower ’19 growth due to budget delay P500-M a day in fiscal stimulus lost due to impasse By DAXIM
L. LUCAS
Inquirer.net
BRACE for weaker economic growth this year, no thanks to the delayed national government budget, which just cleared a three-way impasse between the upper and lower chambers of Congress and the executive branch. Thus warned the head of the Duterte administration’s economic team who noted that the earliest that the fiscal stimulus could resume at full blast would be in the second half of 2019, after the end of the election spending ban. “It’s late. The election ban [comes into effect] two days from now,” Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III told reporters in Clark, Pampanga, on Wednesday. “How can you award the contracts now?” He pointed out that, despite the reported end of the impasse, it would take an additional two weeks before the national budget could come into force because of the law requiring a 15-day phase-in period for any law after it is published for the public’s consumption. Dominguez said that each day of delay in the passage of the national budget translated to P500 million less fiscal stimulus—money that was earmarked to be spent on the administration’s “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure program. The National Economic and Development Authority had earlier estimated that the growth in the Philippines’ gross domes-
Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat details how franchising and tourism can work hand in hand in further accelerating the country’s economic growth, during her keynote address at the opening of Franchise Asia Philippines 2019 International Franchise Conference at the SMX Convention Center, Pasay City on Wednesday, March 27. PNA photo by Gil Calinga
Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III
tic product—the total value of goods and services produced in the country during a given year—would rise by only 6.16.3 percent if the 2019 budget comes into force by April. This is substantially lower than the 7-8 percent the Development Budget Coordination Committee had set as an annual growth target from 2019 to 2022. “Negatively,” Dominguez replied when asked how the late budget approval would impact growth this year. “[The target] becomes less attainable. It’s like a balloon. If you put a little more weight on it, it won’t fly as high.” The approval of the 2019 national budget was stalled as early as last year when Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo became Speaker of the House after unseating Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez, with the former wanting to redo the spending bill that the latter had supported.
Inquirer.net photo
The fray was joined by the Senate, which had objections to the amount of discretionary spending or “pork” that the lower House members had, while Malacañang was pushing for the immediate passage of any form of budget as long as the previous year’s version would not be reenacted. “When time is lost, it’s lost,” Dominguez lamented. “No matter how much you want to catch up, you never really can.” The finance chief expressed dismay that the good weather over the last four months could not be maximized to fast-track infrastructure projects because government funding was unavailable. “You can try to catch up, but I don’t know by how much you can,” he said. “If it starts to rain heavily in June, you may have had a plan [to accelerate the construction of infrastructure projects], but what if the weather doesn’t cooperate?” ■
DOT seeks more private sector tieups By CATHERINE
TALAVERA Philstar.com
MANILA — The Department of Tourism (DOT) is seeking more partnerships with the private sector to promote and develop the country’s tourism products. On the sidelines of the Franchise Asia Philippines 2019 International Conference, Tourism Secretary Bernadette RomuloPuyat told The Star that more groups from the private sector have expressed interest in helping promote the Philippine tourism sector. “I was just talking to Tessie Sy-Coson. She wants SM to be part of the fun,” Puyat said. The tourism chief said the DOT has been receiving support from the private sector led by big companies such as Jollibee, Bench, Cebu Pacific and Globe, which have expressed interest in making commercials promoting the country. “All of them have been doing
commercials for free for love of country, just to promote the country, and they just want to be part of the fun,” Puyat said. “This is the first time the DOT has been getting all these commercials from the private sector for free, so we are very lucky,” Puyat said. In her keynote speech at the conference, Puyat extended her invitation to the private sector to further invest in the country’s tourism sector. “I’m inviting you to invest in developing our tourism products. We need all kinds of businesses, from accommodation to food and beverages, transport,” Puyat said. “Our strategy for attracting a bigger share of the economy is diversifying our wide array of tourism products focusing on nature-based, adventure, culture tourism, mice and others,” Puyat said. In 2017, the tourism sector contributed 12.2 percent to the Philippine economy at P1.9 tril-
Peso seen weakening to P53:$1 by yearend By MAYVELIN
U. CARABALLO ManilaTimes.net
MONETARY policy easing and continued imports growth could lead to the peso closing weaker against the dollar by yearend, ANZ Research said. “We expect the Philippine peso to weaken to 53 [to the dollar] by end 2019,” it said in a report on Wednesday. The research firm’s latest exchange rate forecast is a
EMPLOYMENT
downgrade from the previous P52:$1 outlook. In particular, ANZ Research warned that expectations of interest rate and reserve requirement ratio (RRR) cuts “will undermine the local currency.” “Policy easing is supportive for growth, but this also increases the risk of stoking inflation,” it noted. After five consecutive rate hikes in 2018 to address abovetarget inflation, the Bangko
Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) policymaking Monetary Board has since kept key interest rates unchanged and is widely expected to begin relaxing policy as early as May. “A more benign inflation outlook will allow the BSP to ease the overnight reverse repurchase rate (RRP) to counter recent tightening in monetary conditions while providing some support to growth,” ANZ Research said.
EMPLOYMENT
SERVICES
It expects a 25-basis points (bps) rate cut to be ordered during a May 9 policy meeting, to be followed by two more 25bps cuts that would bring the RRP to 4.00 percent by the end of 2019 from 4.75 percent. The research firm also said the BSP could quicken the pace of reducing banks’ RRR by as much as 400bps over the next four quarters. The RRR is the proportion of deposits that banks need to
keep with the Bangko Sentral against the sum they can loan out to borrowers. Currently at 18 percent following two cuts last year, it is still considered as one of the highest in the region. There is also a risk that import growth will stay strong and delay the correction in the country’s external imbalance, ANZ Research continued. “These ultimately will result in further Philippine peso
SERVICES
lion, exceeding the industry’s 2022 target of a 10-percent GDP contribution. “I hope to convince you to be partners in our thrust for sustainable tourism,” Puyat added. She earlier emphasized the importance of converging the private sector and other government agencies to help develop the tourism sector as well as boost tourism arrivals. Tourism Congress of the Philippines (TCP) president Jose Clemente III earlier told The Star that 2019 should be a great year for tourism ”if we continue the course we are on,” particularly referring to more solid partnerships between the private and public sectors. “Of course, corrections and adjustments need to be made as far as projections and plans are concerned, but we now have a solid partnership between government, through the DOT and the private sector that can further move Philippine tourism forward,” Clemente said. ■
weakness,” it added. Latest available data showed that imports were up 5.8 percent to $9.03 billion in January, resulting in a trade gap of $3.76 billion. A wider trade gap last year dragged the country’s current account deficit to an all-time high of $7.9 billion. The currency ended 2018 at P52.58 versus the greenback, down sharply from its 2017 close of P49.93:$1. It closed 17 centavos weaker at P52.61 to the dollar on Wednesday.
Community Journal
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DACA flight attendant: Small misunderstanding causes big problems
Immigration Corner Atty. MichAel Gurfinkel, eSQ RECENTLY, there were news reports from many media outlets about a Texas flight attendant enrolled in DACA who was told by a supervisor that it was safe for her to fly to Mexico and safely return to the U.S. Unfortunately, upon her return, she was detained by immigration officers and held in detention for over five weeks before being released and then put in deportation proceedings. Now, she faces a host of problems for what was described as a small misunderstanding. According to the news stories, this flight attendant entered the U.S. illegally over 25 years ago, when she was three years old. Eventually, she enrolled in the DACA program, which defers deportation proceedings against certain young people who entered the U.S. at an early age and allows them to obtain work authorization. She eventually married a U.S. citizen, got a job at an airline, and was assigned to international flights. She expressed concerns about traveling outside the U.S., but the airline assured her she would be fine, and it was safe for her to travel. However, upon her return from a trip to Mexico, she was detained and put in removal proceedings. Here are some of my observations about this case and potential issues/problems she will be facing: 1. DACA recipients cannot leave the U.S. (They used to be able to obtain “advance pa-
role,” which is permission to travel outside the U.S. and then return. However, the Trump administration stopped granting advance parole.) 2. By departing the U.S., her DACA protection was “automatically terminated.” 3. She also triggered Bill Clinton’s 10-year bar. (Bill Clinton signed a law in 1996 where, if anyone had been out of status for more than one year and departed the U.S., they are banned from coming back for 10 years. Therefore, she is subject to that 10-year bar. 4. If she had entered the U.S. without inspection (EWI), and was not “grandfathered” under section 245(i)‘, she would not be able to get a green card in the U.S., even if she is petitioned by her U.S. citizen husband (unless he has been in the military or on active duty). She would instead have to return to her home country, either on the basis of a provisional waiver, or if she triggered the 10-year bar, apply for the waiver in her home country. 5. It appears in the articles she has already been placed in removal proceedings (after having been held in detention for five weeks), and could face the possibility of being deported/removed. 6. The husband should already think about petitioning her and filing for a waiver of the 10-year bar, so she can return to her home country and obtain a visa. This goes to show the impor-
tance of consulting with, and obtaining advice and guidance from an attorney, rather than relying on friends, relatives, or even employers, who may not know the law, and give the wrong advice. In this case, she was told that she would have no problems in traveling outside the U.S. because she was a DACA recipient. That advice was wrong and now has created big problems for her. *** Michael J. Gurfinkel has been an attorney for over 35 years and is licensed, and an active member of the State Bars of California and New York. All immigration services are provided by, or under the supervision of, an active member of the State Bar of California. Each case is different and results may depend on the facts of the particular case. The information and opinions contained herein (including testimonials, “Success Stories”, endorsements and re-enactments) are of a general nature, and are not intended to apply to any particular case, and do not constitute a prediction, warranty, guarantee or legal advice regarding the outcome of your legal matter. No attorney-client relationship is, or shall be, established with any reader. WEBSITE: www.gurfinkel.com Follow us on Facebook.com/GurfinkelLaw and Twitter @GurfinkelLaw Call Toll free to schedule a consultation for anywhere in the US: 1-866-487-3465 (866) – GURFINKEL Four offices to serve you: LOS ANGELES ∙ SAN FRANCISCO ∙ NEW YORK ∙ PHILIPPINES (Advertising Supplement)
Swap for health...
PAGE 11 are good sources of Vitamin B1, B6, C and K, and folate, choline, manganese, potassium, phosphorus and omega-3 fatty acids too. 9. Carrots, celery, broccoli instead of hamburgers and sweets – For snacks, meats, sweets, desserts, cakes, are health-snatchers. The better alternatives are carrots, celery, broccoli, and veggies in general, for their anti-stress, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties that boost
our immune system, lowering our risk for cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, and cancer. Besides the quality of food items, quantity of our daily caloric intake is most essential to health and longevity. Pushing ourselves away from the table less than full and drinking a lot of water to fill the gap is a healthy and most rewarding discipline. At any rate, a full and happy life is worth all the effort we put into it. Juan Ponce never
found his miracle water of youth. He died in 1521, barely 61. That ephemeral fountain that eluded JP is what we today call healthy lifestyle. *** Philip S. Chua, MD, FACS, FPCS, a Cardiac Surgeon Emeritus based in Northwest Indiana and Las Vegas, Nevada, is an international medical lecturer/author, and Chairman of the Filipino United Network-USA, a 501(c)3 humanitarian foundation in the United States. Websites: FUN8888.com and philipSchua.com Email: scalpelpen@ gmail.com
NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY ASIAN JOURNAL • MARch 29 - ApRIL 4, 2019
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A CREWMAN WHO JUMPED SHIP WENT HOME TO THE PHILIPPINES ON AN APPROVED PROVISIONAL WAIVER, BUT WAS CHARGED WITH FRAUD FOR OVERSTAYING, AND COULD NO LONGER RETURN TO THE U.S. Jimmy entered the U.S. in 1999 and jumped ship. When the provisional waiver regulations came out, (which also included crewmen), Jimmy immediately applied for it in his desire to “do the right thing” and legalize his status. When USCIS approved his provisional waiver (thereby “forgiving” his overstay), Jimmy traveled back to the Philippines for his immigrant visa interview at the U.S. Embassy, thinking he would be back in the U.S. in a few weeks. However, the Embassy charged him with fraud by imposing a new “90-day rule” for his having overstayed almost 20 years ago. He found himself stuck in the Philippines while his wife lay in a coma in the U.S. Leading U.S. Immigration Attorney Michael J. Gurfinkel never abandoned Jimmy or his case, and kept fighting for him. Witness a heart-tugging and heart-wrenching homecoming and reunion on an encore episode of “Citizen Pinoy” – on Sunday at 6:15 p.m. (PST) on TFC. (Advertising Supplement)
29 -4-10, APRIL 4, 2019 NEW YORK AND JERSEY NEW JERSEY ASIAN JOURNAL JANUARY 2019 • NEW• YORK AND NEW ASIAN JOURNAL A14 14 MARCH
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people events arts culture entertainment
ALIENS OF MANILA: NEW YORK COLONY @ PINTÔ INTERNATIONAL
Aliens of Manila invade New York BY
M
MOMAR G. VISAYA / AJPRESS
ake this weekend a full Filipino weekend in the East Village with your families and friends starting with brunch and a round of drinks, then walk a couple of blocks away to Pintô International’s headquarters on 431 East 12th Street to see “Aliens of Manila: New York Colony,” which was recently unveiled as part of the organization’s new regularly programmed global exhibitions and event series. Pintô’s New York HQ is a few blocks away from Filipino restaurants Jeepney, Maharlika, and Ugly Kitchen on 1st Avenue and about a block from Mama Fina’s on Avenue A. That’s right, after feeding your stomachs with sumptuous Filipino cuisine, walk the calories off on your way to feeding your soul with art. Contemporary artist and designer Leeroy New stayed at Pintô for a two-week artist residency in February. During this time, he created an immersive, site-specific installation of psyche-
delic extraterrestrials responding to the structure of the space: a fifth-floor walk-up loft in Alphabet City. The Aliens of Manila is part of the gallery’s new quarterly exhibitions program and curated by Pintô International Co-Founder and Director Luca Parolari. “Leeroy New is a multi disciplinary artist who works between installation, sculpture and fashion. He has been working on Aliens of Manila for the past several years and he has taken it around the world but this is the first time that the show is done in New York,” Parolari told the Asian Journal. The final output is a warping, psychedelic sculpture constructed from food covers, flexible conduit, fiberglass strips, cable ties, and other materials that clings to the architecture of Pintô’s East Village loft. “The goal, the aim of this body of work is to shed light on a number of themes including immigration and struggle for integration in particular for overseas Filipino workers,” Parolari explained. “The nature of these aliens is that they’re struggling to fit in in a context that is alien to them.” The series speaks to the wider experience of cultural displacement but is profoundly informed by the artist’s own familial experience with the phenomenon of what he refers to as “OFW” — Overseas Filipino Workers. These Aliens of Manila made public appearances in
New York City throughout the week of the exhibition opening earlier this month. New also presented a series of wearable sculptures — an extension of his design projects in interdisciplinary design and architecture — for this ongoing Aliens of Manila project. The sculptures care made of familiar materials from recycling centers, surplus shops, dollar stores, and industrial market Luca Parolari, co-founder and director of Pinto International. AJPress Photo by Momar G. Visaya districts local to New York. The artist used sponges, fly swatters, sive arts community to join us been my unwavering vocation pines’ historic pilgrimage city of funnels, strainers, feather dusters, Antipolo outside of Manila. The in building a dialogue around to undertake the promotion and among others. and a platform for the contribusupport of contemporary Philipmuseum was founded in 2010 to “It is also about repurposing publicly exhibit the art collection pine art in my home of Manila. As tions of living Filipino artists,” Dr. materials which have been used of Filipino neurologist and patron Pintô builds its global constituen- Cuanang said. in other projects before and this “Aliens of Manila: New York cy, we are looking to New York’s of the arts, Dr. Joven Cuanang. is in line with the philosophy of Colony” runs until May 27. “For over three decades, it has uniquely cosmopolitan, progresmaking do with what you have, typical of many who are in the lower income situation,” Parolari explained. For the project, the artist, his friends, and local collaborators don the costumes in public as a kind of “material conduit” between the artist and the environment. This “staged displacement” creates a literal and visual duality between the native and the “alien.” Pintô International is the global foundation and the international arm of Pinto Art Museum in Antipolo, Rizal. It takes care of programming and exhibition of Philippine contemporary art in New York. The organization was born in 2017 and in collaboration with the Asian Cultural Council, came up with benefit shows. “We are quite literally opening our doors, our pinto, of our private homes for the public to enjoy contemporary art and culture, similar to what we did before at Boston Gallery and Pinto Art Museum in the Philippines,”he added. “We were founded on the principle that art plays a diplomatic role in bridging distinctive nationalities, worldviews, and communities.” The organization hopes to come up with quarterly shows Collective caption of the four photos - The aliens are made out of familiar and readily-accessible, mass-produced materials such as sponges, throughout the year, along with funnels, cable ties and fly swatters. Photos courtesy of Ethan Browning regular Pinto Sessions, which they envision to be a series of monthly receptions and special programs where they invite different speakers and performers for a multidisciplinary dialogue. They also hope to open doors for Filipino artists to showcase them for the New York market through exhibitions coinciding with international art fairs, biennials, and other global arts initiatives that would further foster its mission of cultural diplomacy. Pintô Art Museum is an exhibition space and contemporary museum located in the Philip-
Aliens of Manila: New York Colony is an ongoing immersive installation by artist and designer Leeroy New. The exhibition will run until the end of May; it is open to the public during the weekend from noon to 6:00 pm and by appointment during the weekdays. AJPress Photo by Momar G. Visaya
There are also wearables which some artists wore during the week of the launch. Some made it to a laundromat in Queens and others went to the New York Armory Show. Photos courtesy artist Leeroy New and Pintô International
Disney teen star Asher Angel gets his big break with Shazam By MOMAR
G. VISAYA
AJPress
DISNEY Channel teen star Asher Angel was at the Burbank airport en route to Utah when his management told him that he booked the role of Billy Batson for the film Shazam. “I was running and jumping around when I found out,” Angel told the Asian Journal in an interview in New York. “I don’t even know I was able to keep it a secret. I had to wait a couple of weeks before I could tell my best friends at home.” Known for his role as Jonah Beck in the Disney Channel series Andi Mack, Angel went right into
getting to know his character. His first step? He was in the middle of shooting the TV series then so he rushed to the comic book store and got the New 52 and started reading. “I didn’t know a lot about Shazam before. I think I may have heard about the comic book a long time ago,” he shared. “Reading the comics and the script were very helpful in preparing me for the role.” The 16 year old actor began his love affair with acting when he was barely five years old and in 2008, he appeared in the film Jolene which starred Jessica Chastain. After that, he began honing his acting and singing craft by joining
musicals and plays. When he was 12, he went to Los Angeles to do auditions. He won the part of Jonah for the Disney Channel show Andi Mack. Now, he is up for his big break with Shazam, appearing alongside Zachary Levi who plays his adult superhero alter ego. The film is directed by David Sandberg, who is famous for his horror background because of films like Lights Out and Annabelle: Creation. Asked what superhero abilities he wanted, he responded quickly. “To be able to fly. That would be so cool, to fly and go to different places, travel the world. Flight is one and I got to pick one more, super strength,” he said.
He then went on ranking Shazam’s superpowers: electricity manipulation, super speed, super strength before concluding that “flight and electricity manipulation, both are on top.” Growing up with a musical theater background, it is but natural for the young actor to entertain his ambition of appearing in a Broadway musical someday. “I’ve always wanted to do Pippin. I saw it in New York and I was in love with his character. I’m getting close to his age so maybe I could play it a couple of years if ever it goes back on Broadway,” he shared. ASHER ANGEL as Billy Batson in New Line Cinema’s action adventure “SHAZAM!,” a Warner Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures PAGE 15 Bros. Pictures release.
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NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY ASIAN JOURNAL • MARch 29 - ApRIL 4, 2019
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Fil-Am singer advances to next round of ‘The Voice’ By arlo
CuStodio ManilaTimes.net
Scene from “Yellow Rose” starring Princess Punzalan and Eva Noblezada.
ABS-CBN photo
Princess Punzalan’s comeback movie ‘Yellow Rose’ to open prestigious LA film fest By Jan
Milo Severo Philstar.com
ONE of the first two winners of ABS-CBN Cinematografo Originals, “Yellow Rose” starring Broadway icon and Tony award winner Lea Salonga and nominee Eva Noblezada, will have its grand world premiere by opening the prestigious 35th Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival (LAAPFF) on May 2. “Yellow Rose” tells the story of headstrong but talented Rose (Eva), a Filipina teen from a small Texas town, dreaming to leave and fighting to pursue her country music dreams while facing the threat of deportation. The film is written
and directed by FilipinoAmerican award-winning film documentary and commercial director Diane Paragas and co-written by another awardwinning writer Annie J. Howell. “Yellow Rose” also features a top-tier cast, including Tony Award-winning actress and Grammy nominee Lea Salonga, Tony Award nominee Eva Noblezada, country music star Dale Watson, Liam Booth, Gustavo Gomez (“The Walking Dead”), Libby Villari (“Boyhood”), and Princess Punzalan. “Yellow Rose” becomes the first film by a Filipina American director to be selected as Opening Night presentation at the LAAPFF. It is also the award-
winning director’s first attempt to do a full-length feature. The Cinematografo International Film Festival is an annual film exhibition series that aims to showcase emerging filmmaking talent from around the world, focusing on issues of representation and inclusivity. “Yellow Rose” screens on Opening Night at the Aratani Theatre at the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center (JACCC) in Little Tokyo, Downtown Los Angeles on May 2 (Thursday) at 7 p.m. The LAAPFF will present films in Little Tokyo, Downtown Los Angeles, and the L.A. Live Entertainment Center from May 2 to 10.
Pia Wurtzbach unveils her Madame Tussauds wax figure By Jan
Milo Severo Philstar.com
MANILA, Philippines — Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach on Thursday, March 28, led the unveiling of her own wax figure which would be exhibited in Madame Tussauds in Hong Kong. In a press conference held at EDSA Shangrila, Pia — the first Filipino to have a wax figure in the famed museum — quipped that she is forever immortalized. “I [will] never gonna get old na,” Pia said. “I’m so happy. As a beauty queen, I know my face and I know my angles. I can say na ako talaga siya. It’s me. It feels surreal.” Before heading to Hong Kong, the wax figure will be shown in the #PiaMAdeIconic Travel Festival on March 29 at the SM Mega Fashion Hall. “It looks so real and I can’t wait for everyone to see it in person. Mas ma-appreciate mo siya pag nakita mo siya sa personal. Naiiyak ako kanina noong ni-reveal. Parang winning moment uli. Sobrang happy ako,” she said. Pia’s wax figure wears a replica of the iconic Swarovskiembellished royal blue ball gown by Filipino designer Michael Cinco which she wore when she passed the crown in 2016. “This is the blue Michael Cinco gown that I wore when I passed my crown during the 2016 coronation night. Actually, the gown daw is heavier than the wax figure. I would like to thank Michael Cinco for being so generous na he really made another gown,” Pia said. For the wax figure’s pose and
Originally from Davao, Jej Vinson is taking the digital universe by storm – first, for getting four seats turn in the blind auditions of the 16th edition of ‘The Voice’ then in the Battle Rounds of the reality show on Monday, March 25. Photo from Instagram/@jejvinson
week. At the conclusion of the show, one contestant is named “The Voice” with the grand prize of a recording contract. Potential winner Clarkson said after Vinson’s audition that she was seeing the winner of the show’s 16the edition. In his post on Twitter of his interview on ABS-CBN News after he advanced from the blind auditions, the singer from Davao wrote: “Thank you so much to @ TVPatrol for featuring me! What an amazing feeling representing my homeland (followed by the flags of the Philippines and the U.S.)” For his background, Vinson revealed he has studied popular music performance at the University of Southern California (USC), “so part of that is learning theory and learning arranging [music]. Over the time, I kinda got obsessed in arranging and composing music. Something that I really like doing is sitting down in the piano, playing songs and turning songs into something like my own.” Vinson was born in Davao and
his family moved to the United States when he was 15. He did well academically, even getting a recognition from former President Barrack Obama. He got to sing for him and the first lady Michelle Obama when his group was invited to the White House. “I’ve struggled a little bit with self-confidence and stuff. I was a little bit insecure, maybe because of the fact that there is a stigma going around in LA that if you’re an Asian and you’re trying to pursue your dreams, it’s not going to happen for you because you’re a minority, especially if you’re an immigrant,” he said. “That kind of affected a little bit my insecurities but it gave me a little bit of hope knowing that Kelly and all the three other coaches, how much faith they have in me, especially Kelly. It’s a great affirmation that I am good enough to survive in this industry and I can also make it,” he added. Like most Filipino kids, he started singing at a young age, when he was just five. He had no plans of joining a talent show until a casting producer when he performed as a backup singer for a friend’s show in LA.
Georgina Wilson pregnant with second ‘adobo loving’ baby By Jan
Milo Severo Philstar.com
FILIPINA-British model Georgina Wilson is having her second baby with husband Arthur Burnand. On her Instagram account, Georgina posted photos of her maternity shoot announcing that she is six months pregnant. “Another adobo loving baby coming right up,” Georgina wrote. Georgina was referring to the favorite local cuisine of her Pia Wurtzbach strikes a pose with her wax figure which is wearing a replica of the iconic firstborn, 2-year-old Archie, who Swarovski-embellished royal blue ball gown by Filipino designer Michael Cinco. was recently seen in a viral video Philstar.com photo by Jan Milo Severo demanding for the Filipino dish. In another post, Georgina [is] gonna see her. You will be attire, Pia said Madame Tussauds joked that her husband said crowned as Miss Universe, diba?” personally chose them so that that she was supposed to buy she said. museum visitors can have a more maternity clothes instead of Pia’s wax figure will join interactive experience. some of the world’s biggest icons “Yung Madame Tussauds yung including Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, namili ng pose, gown at ‘nung Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Lady Gaga, moment. Actually wala rin akong Freddie Mercury, Michael Jackson maisip na better pose kasi very and The Beatles to name a few. interactive siya for everyone who
Disney teen star Asher Angel... PAGE 14 While still acting, Angel made sure that he doesn’t forget his other love, which is singing. He just recently released his single “Chemistry”. His love for singing and acting varies and changes according to time, he said. “It’s hard because doing acting and singing can be difficult, I can’t take a break from acting or music because then what would happen to the other. There has to be some kind of a balance so I can do both,” he said. “Like if I’m shooting in New York, maybe there’s a recording studio and if there’s a song I like, I could go and record it. I love them both, I can’t pick between them.” Angel acknowledges the fact that he has a lot of young fans, and for those who wish to follow his footsteps as a singer actor, he has this advice. “Start off doing musical
JUST like during the auditions, Fil-Am singer Jej Vinson impressed the judges and the audience during the Battle Round of “The Voice.” He went head-to-head with Beth Griffith-Manley for the song “Jealous” by Labrinth. Vinson, who chose Kelly Clarkson as his mentor after getting four-seat turn during the blind auditions for his rendition of “Passionfruit” by Drake, was chosen by the first winner of “American Idol” in 2002 as the one to advance for her team. Legend, who said that he wanted both Vinson and GriffithManley to be in his team, praised the Filipino singer and picked him for the round. The EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony winner) artist then took Griffith-Manley in a steal to seal her as new team member. “I’m so excited because you all did exactly what I asked you because you are so incredibly talented, that’s why not only the unison parts were so in sync, but what you all did in harmony, it is note-on-note on point. It’s insane how incredibly talented you both are,” Clarkson said. Levine told Vinson during the blind auditions, “You’re a better singer than all of us,” to which the Filipino singer quipped, “That’s not true!” Format Now on its 16th season, the show’s innovative format features five stages of competition starting with the Blind Auditions, where the judges choose a contestant mainly based on his voice. The Battle Rounds follow, where the mentor-judge pairs off two from his team then chooses the one to advance to the Knockouts. In the Knockout Rounds, the contestants are paired against a teammate once more, but each selects his own song to perform invidually while the competitor watches and waits. The mentor chooses who’s sent to the Playoffs. In the Live Playoff Rounds, the Top 24 contestants will compete to secure a spot in the Live Show, where each team has six artists. The Top 2 vote-earners from each team automatically advance. The mentor chooses the third member to get to the Live Shows, where the contestants with the lowest number of votes going home each
a trench coat. “Arthur to Me: ‘Darling, why do you need a snakeskin trench.... we live in the tropics! And aren’t you supposed to be buying maternity clothes??’ Hahaha @ arthurburnand,” she wrote. She also thanked her “superstar team” composed of BJ Pascual, Robbie Pinera and Styled By Suyen Manila for “making 6 months pregnant look much more glamorous than it feels.” Georgina and husband Arthur began dating in September 2015. They became engaged in October 2015 and later on got married in April 2016 in Winchester, England. Apart from modeling, Georgina was also a host and VJ of Channel V Philippines and “Asia’s Next Top Model Cycle 3.”
Georgina Wilson posted photos of her maternity shoot announcing that she is six months pregnant. Photo from Instagram/@ilovegeorgina
For Enrique Gil, no need for ‘LizQuen’ to follow love team breakup trend By Jan
Milo Severo Philstar.com
AS popular love teams in showbiz going separate ways, Kapamilya actor Enrique Gil said he and on- and off-screen partner do not need to follow suit. In an interview with the media at the contract-signing event for Greenwich pizza, Enrique said he is open to a project without Liza Soberano but the “LizQuen” love team must endure. “If other love teams going that separate ways, parang we really don’t need to follow. I mean ZACHARY LEVI as Shazam and JACK DYLAN GRAZER as Freddy Freeman in New Line Cinema’s the trend, it really depends on us. I’m open naman to work in solo action adventure “SHAZAM!,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures projects pero to work with other something, don’t listen. Just put in people and break the love team theater. I can name countless right now, I don’t think it’s good. people who started there like Tom the work and you can get there.” I don’t really feel it right now,” A New Line Cinema Cruise. I think it’s the best way,” Enrique said. presentation, “Shazam!” is set for he said. “If you want to entertain Enrique said that LizQuen fans release on April 5, 2019. It will be people, perform for an audience are still supportive and even looking and just keep moving from there.” distributed worldwide in 2D and 3D in theatres and IMAX by Warner forward to a new movie. “Follow your dreams and “It’s been two years since we’ve Bros. Pictures. when people say you can’t do
estimated P350 million earlier this year. Before it was released in cinemas, Enrique and Liza admitted they had been in a relationship for two years. During the Lie Detector Test segment of “Gandang Gabi Vice,” host Vice Ganda asked Enrique if he and Liza are already a couple. Enrique answered “Yes,” which drew cheers from the audience. Liza later admitted that she and Enrique have been in a relationship for more than two years and that they celebrate their anniversary in October. Enrique Gil and Liza Soberano Before the LizQuen success, Photo from Instagram/@enriquegil17 however, Enrique paired with other teen actresses in his earlier days at released a movie before ‘Alone the Kapamilya network. Together.’ You are asking kung “When I’m starting out sa [ABSpuwede maghiwalay muna kami CBN], I was like the boy next door na (Liza), parang hindi muna kasi fans kahit kanino i-pair. Na-pair ako kay are really craving for a movie since Kathryn, kay Julia Montes, kay Julia we did ‘Alone Together,’” he said. Barretto. Parang umiikot talaga ko sa Produced by Black Sheep and love team. Sanay ako to work with directed by Antoinette Jadaone, other people,” he said. “Alone/Together” earned an
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March 29 - april 4, 2019 • NEW YOrK aND NEW JErSEY aSiaN JOUrNal
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