April 1-3, 2020 Volume 30 - No. 24 • 2 Sections - 14 Pages
DATELINE USA FROM THE AJPRESS NEWS TEAM ACROSS AMERICA
Fil-Am journalists remember CBS’ Maria Mercader as a mentor, champion of newsroom diversity
Newsom unveils CA Health Corps to expand medical workforce MEDENILLA AJPress
CALIFORNIA Governor Gavin Newsom announced on Monday, March 31 a new program to increase the number of medical workers to address the quickly growing coronavirus outbreak. Through an executive order, Newsom called
FILIPINO American media professionals are paying tribute to veteran CBS News journalist and talent executive Maria Mercader who died over the weekend from the coronavirus. Born and raised in New York, Mercader President Rodrigo Duterte Filipina American Maria Mercader spent over 30 worked for over 30 years at CBS News years at CBS as as a journalist and talent executive. a producer and most recently was a director of talent strategy. The Filipina American journalist got her start at the network’s page program in 1987 and rose
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On Census Day, Fil-Ams are reminded to be counted
upon those in the broad medical community, including retired professionals, to join the statewide fight against the COVID-19 virus by joining the staff of the additional COVID-19 health care sites. “California’s health care workers are the heroes of this moment, serving on the front lines in the fight against this disease. To treat the number of patients with COVID-19, our state needs more
by KLARIZE
workers in the health care field to join the fight,” Newsom said in a statement released on Monday, which also happened to be National Doctors Day. According to Newsom, this urgent call is directed toward the 37,000 retired and part-time health care professionals. In addition to physicians (including medical
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Malacañang photo by Ace Morandante
Duterte announces P200-B aid for the ‘most affected’ Filipinos during pandemic by RITCHEL
MENDIOLA AJPress
P200 billion will be allocated to low-income households affected by the enhanced community quarantine enforced in Luzon, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte announced on Monday, March 30. The quarantine was implemented in mid-March to prevent the further spread of COVID-19 in the country, but has left a dent in the livelihoods of thousands of Filipino
WITH Census Day on April 1, community organizations are reminding Filipino Americans across the country to fill out their questionnaire. April 1, 2020 is significant because respondents will answer based on where they are living on this day. By now, households should have received an invitation with instructions on how to participate in the decennial count, which helps determine how the federal government distributes more than $675 billion in funds each year. Though the paper questionnaires are only available in English and Spanish, census invitations will include an insert in 12 languages, including Tagalog, inviting respondents to go online or by phone. Additional resources are available in 59 non-English languages, braille, and large print. This is the first cycle wherein respondents can go online (at my2020census.gov) to answer the questions, in addition to the phone or mail options. The census is intended to count people living in the United States, regardless of immigration or citizenship status. There is no citizenship question on the final questionnaire despite prior Former Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
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DISINFECTING BARANGAYS. Village workers roam around Barangay Sabang and nearby subdivisions in Dasmariñas, Cavite to sanitize the streets with a disinfectant Monday, March 30. Local government units have been ordered to step up measures to prevent the further spread of new coronavirus disease. PNA photo by Avito C. Dalan
Bongbong Marcos tests positive for coronavirus
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by RITCHEL
MENDIOLA AJPress
FORMER Philippine Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. tested positive for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), his spokesperson confirmed Tuesday, March 31. Victor Rodriguez, Marcos’ lawyer, wrote in a Facebook post that the former senator is “improving” following the test. “Gumaganda na ang kondisyong pangkalusugan ni dating Senator Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. makaraang ihayag sa resulta ng clinical test na isinagawa ng Research Institute for Tropical Medicine na siya’y positibo sa COVID-19 (The condition of former Senator Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr is improving after the test conducted by the [RITM] showed he is positive for
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Inquirer.net photo
ILL-FATED PLANE. A Lionair aircraft, a Westwind 1124A jet, on medical evacuation mission bound for Haneda, Japan burst into flames before taking off Sunday evening, March 29 along runway 24 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport at about 7:57 p.m. According to the Manila International Airport Authority, all eight people onboard perished in the accident. Photo courtesy NAIA Media Affairs
FROM HOLLYWOOD TO THE FRONT LINES Fil-Am medical professional collects supplies from TV shows for hospitals 8 dead as medevac plane by CHRISTINA
M. ORIEL
AJPress
AS hospitals across Southern California run low on supplies for front-liners fighting the coronavirus outbreak, a Filipina American medical professional is using her connections to TV shows for donations to fill those needs. Mel Oliver, a cardiovascular perfusionist and emergency medical technician in Los Angeles, has helped secure boxes of masks, gloves and other gear from Hollywood sets she’s conMel Oliver, a cardiovascular perfusionist and emergency medical technician in Los Angeles who sulted on, including HBO’s “Big consults on TV shows, has collected donations of masks and gloves for local hospitals. Little Lies” and NBC’s “This Is Contributed photos
Us.” In mid-March, Oliver received a call from the prop master for “This Is Us,” who was collecting equipment from the studio and asked if she could recommend a hospital that needed them the most. Inspired by the efforts of ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” to donate their supplies to local hospitals, she then reached out to other prop departments she’s worked with. It led her to a massive collection at Independent Studio Services (ISS), a prop supplier for TV and film productions. Her contact on “Big Little Lies” has
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crashes during takeoff at NAIA by RITCHEL
MENDIOLA AJPress
A MEDICAL evacuation plane caught on fire during takeoff on Sunday, March 29 at Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), killing all the eight people on board. The incident took place at the end of Runway 24 while the aircraft was taking off at around 8 p.m., according to the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA). The Philippine-registered Li-
onair Westwind was bound for Tokyo’s Haneda Airport in Japan, carrying eight people: a flight medic, nurse, doctor, three flight crew, and a Canadian patient and the patient’s American companion. “Immediately after the incident, the MIAA Fire and Rescue team were dispatched to the site to douse the flames with chemical foam,” the airport authority said, confirming that no passengers survived the accident. Airport authorities did not di-
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A april 1-3, 2020 • SoCal aSiaN JOUrNal
Duterte announces P200-B aid... PAGE A1
families. “We have allotted P200 billion for low-income households who are badly affected by the current crisis. Sila ang nasa informal sector (They are the ones in the informal sector) and those who live day to day on subsistence wages or no work no pay,” Duterte said in his televised public address late Monday night, hours past the 4 p.m.
tentative schedule his spokesperson announced in the afternoon. This is “the largest and widest social protection program” in the Philippines’ history, the president said. “Arrangements, beneficiary households will receive emergency support for their two months based on the regional minimum wage,” he explained. The president also urged the
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From the Front Page private sector to extend its help for the poor during the crisis. “To those who have more in life, I implore you to share in the cost of taking care of the less fortunate and keeping our society intact. They have also contributed to our prosperity in one way or the other, so let us support them in this crisis. Let it be said that in the hour of our country’s greatest need, we all look out for and help each other,” he said. Outside of Luzon, local government units in Visayas and Mindanao are distributing food packs and other essential non-food items. Farmers and fisherfolk were assured that assistance is coming as well as ensuring “food productivity, availability and sufficiency during the period of the pandemic.” “The government will provide a recovery package, especially to SMEs to help deal with the economic effects of this pandemic. My economic deal is already creating the guidelines for this as I speak,” Duterte said. Front-liners ‘lucky’ to die for the country Duterte, in his public address, expressed his gratitude towards the country’s front liners, addressing the healthcare workers that succumbed to COVID-19. “May mga doktor na, mga nurses, attendants, namatay. Sila ‘yung nasawi ang buhay para lang makatulong sa kapwa. Napakaswerte nila. Namatay sila para sa bayan. Iyon ang dapat ang rason na bakit tayo mamatay (There are doctors, nurses, attendants who have died. They are the ones who passed away helping others. They are so lucky. They died for the country. That should be the reason why we die),” he said. “It would be an honor to die for your country, I assure you,” the president added. Duterte signed the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act on March 24, granting him special powers to address the COVID-19 threat in the country. Under the law, he is required every Monday to submit a weekly report to Congress detailing what the government has done in the past week to fight the pandemic. Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III said he received Duterte’s report 12:40 a.m. of Tuesday, past the set day of submission. “Let’s cut them some slack. It’s just started,” he said. Sotto has yet to reveal the contents of Duterte’s report, as of press time. n
Newson unveils CA Health Corps to...
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residents) and nurses (RN, LVN, CNA and nursing students), the state is also looking for pharmacists, dentists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, behavioral and psychiatric professionals, respiratory therapists, paramedics, medical assistants, and emergency medical technicians. According to the website, those who sign up will be compensated with a salary and malpractice insurance and that locations will vary. Additionally, the executive order indicated that the state can temporarily waive some certification or licensing requirements to ensure ample turnout during the state emergency, California Labor Secretary Julie A. Su said in a statement. “Outreach to unemployed health care workers and under-employed foreign medical graduates will help build the workforce needed to fight the pandemic — and also create new opportunities and jobs for Californians struggling with unemployment,” Su wrote. Though the medical community like the California Medical Association praised the executive order, many are unsure of its actual impact on staffing is-
sues during the pandemic. Joanne Spetz, associate director of research at the Healthforce Center at UCSF, told CalMatters that the executive order itself left a lot of questions unanswered. “It’s opaque,” she said. “Most of us who have been watching this expected there to be more clarity today about what is going to be allowed. Until the agencies provide the specificity for the workforce it’s unclear what is going to be permitted. Workers are going to need that guidance from a practical standpoint.” Experts are hoping that more details will be released but given the urgency of the situation, those in medical academia like Spetz and Scott Casanover, vice president of governmental affairs for the private nursing school West Coast University, expressed skepticism over the logistics of the order. In order to graduate, nursing students are required to complete a set number of hours of hands-on clinical work with patients, but when the pandemic began and widespread isolation measures were issued, those hours were cut short. “I’m glad that the governor turned his attention to the issue
but he really didn’t make any decision in today’s order,” said Casanover. “He repeatedly says that every second counts, every minute counts, but here we have the governor kicking the can down the road to the state agencies.” Across the country, doctors, nurses, EMTs and other hospital and medical staff have been overworked and struggling with dwindling supplies and overexposure to COVID-19. So far, California has more than 6,000 known cases of the virus, but the number of actual cases is accepted to be higher due to the lack of testing available throughout the state and country. Moreover, about 1,432 people have been hospitalized, a steep increase from 746 on Thursday, March 27. As the state tries to import more ventilators and other medical supplies needed to treat coronavirus patients, Newsom doubled down on the stay-athome orders to stop the spread of the virus. “We’re in the middle of this,” Newsom said on Monday. “We believe very strongly that the stay at home order has helped advance our efforts are reducing the stress on the system.” n
Fil-Am medical professional collects supplies...
PAGE A1 also stepped up to sew reusable cloth masks. “All these people are coming together and it’s really nice to know they’re thinking of us. Sometimes as a health care worker, you don’t get to think about that stuff and…especially for the people who are on the front lines in the emergency room, they shouldn’t have to worry where their next mask is coming from,” Oliver told the Asian Journal. Though the pandemic is the current issue at hand, Oliver has been collecting excess and unused medical supplies, such as scrubs and gloves, from TV productions over the years. The donations are used for medical missions to underserved island communities under Isla Medical Foundation, which she helped start with two friends after taking a trip to Siargao, the surfing capital of the Philippines. “I’d go back to Siargao and each time, the locals would tell me about the issues they’re having with the health care system,” Oliver said. “I’d been doing medical missions for other organizations and in my head, I thought: ‘Why not do what I do for other countries for my own country?’ We wanted to give back to the community that gives so much to us whenever we’re there visiting. I’m thankful ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ would think of me every time they had extra stuff.” The Pinay’s foray into Hollywood started 10 years ago when she was still working at CedarsSinai Medical Center and someone from “Grey’s Anatomy” reached out to the hospital looking for a perfusionist to consult on an episode. “I took it and worked with them for that one episode,” Oliver said. “I thought it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and as the years passed, they’d ask me to come back for like two episodes a season, then it became five episodes. So basically, whenever they had a cardiac surgery scene, they’d have me come in and consult with them for the perfusion part.” Working with the medical drama rippled into referrals for other shows; the most recent ones include FOX’s “9-1-1” and Amazon’s “Goliath.” She’s also been a medical technical advisor since the first season of “This Is Us,” a drama following the Pearson family through the decades starring Milo Ventimiglia, Mandy Moore and Sterling Brown. She goes on set during the days of film-
Through her organization, Isla Medical Foundation, Oliver has received unused medical supplies from ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” over the years and has distributed them in Siargao, Philippines. Contributed photos
Oliver on set for a cardiac surgery scene on “Grey’s Anatomy.”
Oliver watches from behind-the-scenes during the filming of NBC’s “This Is Us.”
ing medical scenes, whether it’s a death or birth, and helps review scripts if needed. She also stepped in front of the camera as a nurse in one episode. “I moved to LA definitely not trying to get into the entertainment industry, but I’m lucky that I did because it’s super fun,” said Oliver, who’s originally from Ohio. “It’s a different challenge from cardiac surgery.” The Hollywood projects led to starting her own company, Reel Medical Consulting, which also rents out medical equipment and provides real health care professionals for on-camera scenes. The profits from the various gigs are then donated to medi-
cal charities, such as Mending Kids, CardioStart, Surfer’s Medical Association, and her own foundation. In the past week alone, Oliver helped organize and distribute car trunks full of resources to hospitals in the LA area and is continuing to seek more donations. She also called on those in the community with sewing skills to help make masks or spearhead their own collection drives. “Even if it’s just one or two masks, that’s one or two masks for someone. At my hospital right now, I’m allowed to wear one mask a day. If someone donates two masks, that’s two days worth for me and that goes a long way,” Oliver said. n
Residents of Siargao show off masks, gloves and other supplies collected by Isla Medical Foundation.
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Dateline USa
SoCal ASIAN JOURNAL • ApRIL 1-3, 2020
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Fil-Am journalists remember CBS’ Maria Mercader... DFA: Overseas Filipinos infected
PAGE A1 the ranks to the CBS News foreign and national desks, guiding in the production of the biggest stories, such as the death of Princess Diana, the 9/11 attacks and Pope Francis’ visit to the United States. In 2004, she won a Business Emmy for a “CBS Sunday Morning” segment on computer spam. She fought cancer and related illnesses for more than 20 years and had been on medical leave for an unrelated matter since the last week in February, according to the network. CBS News Asia correspondent Ramy Inocencio — who was the first American TV journalist assigned to Wuhan, China when the virus first broke out and has since covered its spread to other Asian countries — said Mercader’s passing is a reminder of the coronavirus’ personal impact. “Never would I have thought I would lose a friend half a world away when I first started reporting this. It’s just so important for everyone to remember coronavirus can affect us all. And it sadly does,” Inocencio wrote in an email to the Asian Journal. The CBS News correspondent, who considered Mercader a friend for over 12 years, remembered how she never made herself or her health battles the focus when she was around others. “Any normal person might have complained but she was strong… so strong. And sitting with her she always made it about ‘you…’ Yes, we talked about affairs of the heart along with career and Filipino food,” Inocencio said. “And she would make time for quality time — to talk about how you could rise, learn and be a better version of yourself.” Inocencio thanked Mercader for recruiting him to join CBS and in helping land his current role as the network’s Asia correspondent based in Beijing, becoming the
first Asian American in that capacity. “That was her power, her loyal advocacy and her love. That she’s now left us makes me feel I have to work that much harder to make her proud from heaven — and I know she’s watching me all the time now and with a good glass of wine in her hand,” he said. “She’ll be missed terribly but the outpouring of love for her around the world I see now is just a beautiful torrential testament to the love she poured into the world when she was with us.” Her legacy at the network garnered messages from colleagues like Dan Rather and Elaine Quijano as well as segments on “CBS This Morning,” the “CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell” and the “CBS Weekend News.” Aside from news production, Mercader devoted time to the mentorship and professional development of rising journalists of color and helped coordinate CBS News participation in the Asian American Journalists Association, the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association and the National Association of Black Journalists. She was a 2004 graduate of AAJA’s Executive Leadership Program in Chicago. Many FilAm journalists crossed paths with Mercader at the organization’s events and annual convention and became her friends and mentees. Multimedia journalist Chris Casquejo did not work directly with Mercader but has known her since 2004 through AAJA and other professional gatherings. “Maria was a fierce champion for diversity in newsrooms and very proud of her Filipino roots. I’m convinced that’s a big reason we connected on many levels: We were both Fil-Ams navigating our way through a demanding industry,” Casquejo wrote in an email to the Asian Journal.
Mercader with Ramy Inocencio, CBS News Asia correspondent
with COVID-19 soar to 368 by Frances
Mangosing Inquirer.net
Multimedia journalist Chris Casquejo (left) with Mercader and sports anchor CBS Sports’ Tommy Tran (right) at the AAJA convention in 2018.
He spoke of her “brutally honest yet encouraging” way of critiquing resume tapes for budding broadcast reporters, how she made others “the most important person in the room,” and that she reminded journalists not only to excel in their careers but also to have a work-life balance. But Casquejo’s favorite memory of Mercader was outside of reporting. “Each time we saw each other, she would point to her right cheek before even saying hello. I wasn’t allowed to talk until I did two things: kiss her on the cheek and answer this question, ‘Are you dating anyone?’ When I would inevitably answer ‘no,’ I could see her matchmaking mind start to work. Only after she grilled me about dating could we catch up about what was happening in our lives. But I didn’t mind. She just wanted me to be happy in my career and personal life. She was truly like a Filipina Ate to me,” Casquejo added. Will Chang, a former online editor and recruiter for the Associated Press, recalled how Mercader became a familiar face at job fairs and how she would try to find a way to bond with anyone she met. “Even I wasn’t exempt from her playfulness. When we got to know each other, we both bonded over being ‘secret Filipinos.’ Most people would look at our last names and would assume we were something else, so we both got a kick out of surprising new people with being Pinoy. She never met my wife, so she would tease me and say that she didn’t think I was married,” Chang wrote in an email to the Asian Journal. “But I also remember her kind-
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THE number of Filipinos abroad who have contracted COVID-19 has leaped to 368, including one new fatality, data issued Tuesday, March 31, by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) showed. According to the DFA data, the latest death of a Filipino overseas was recorded in America. The agency likewise clarified “some changes in the confirmed cases and deaths in the European and American regions. The reported death yesterday in the European region was that of a former Filipino (not a dual citizen), and therefore based on official documentation was not included in today’s tally.” The total number of deaths, however, would still be the same – nine – with the reported demise of a Filipino in the Americas, the DFA further
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Infographic courtesy of DFA
A april 1-3, 2020 • SoCal aSiaN JOUrNal
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Dateline PhiliPPines
DOH denounces violence vs health care workers by Ritchel
Mendiola AJPress
The Philippine Department of health (DOh) on Sunday, March 29, condemned the acts of harassment and discrimination against health care workers amid the COVID-19 crisis. In the past few weeks, incidents of some health care professionals being victimized and subjected to acts of violence have been reported across the country. The DOh, in particular, denounced an attack on a nurse in Sultan Kudarat in Mindanao’s Soccsksargen region. The front-liner’s face was reportedly doused with bleach by five individuals who ganged up on him. It added that there are reports of workers being refused access to public transportation and laundries. They are also being blocked and fined at check-
points, and even evicted from their homes. “We denounce the acts of physical assault, harassment, and discrimination committed against our fellow health care workers. These acts cannot be tolerated,” the department said in a statement. It added, “We are mobilizing our own personnel in efforts to ascertain more details and hold perpetrators of these attacks liable and reporting these incidents to the Inter-Agency Task Force on COVID-19 for proper investigation and resolution.” The agency also urged the Philippine National Police, the Department of Transportation, the Department of the Interior and Local Government and local governments to protect the country’s front-liners. “We appeal to the public to extend understanding and com-
passion to our health care workers. Our health care workers have responded to our country’s need with dedication, courage, and selflessness. This is not the time for us to turn our backs on them,” the DOh said. “It is not enough that we thank them. We need to protect them too,” it added. The DOh assured everyone that health care workers are taking extra precautions to ensure infection prevention and control. “health care workers who are PUIs (persons under investigation) and PUMs (persons under monitoring) are following protocol, taking steps to isolate themselves even from their loved ones,” the agency said. As of writing, there are a total of 1,546 COVID-19 cases in the Philippines, with 78 fatalities and 42 recoveries. n
CHECKPOINT. Personnel of the Philippine National Police (PNP) of Dasmariñas City strictly check persons roaming around and passing through the checkpoint near the boundary of Imus and Dasmariñas in Cavite to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on Monday, March 30. The Department of Health (DOH) has confirmed cases in Bacoor, Imus, and Dasmariñas City. PNA photo by Avito C. Dalan
Palace condemns NPA attack in Rizal Province DILG Secretary Año tests positive for COVID-19 by Ma.
Reina tolentino ManilaTimes.net
MALACAñANG condemned the armed attack by the New People’s Army (NPA) on government troops in Rizal province on Saturday. A soldier died and two other soldiers were wounded. An NPA fighter was also said to have been killed. “We strongly condemn in the strongest terms the NPA attack on our soldiers while the latter were doing community work in Barangay Puray, Rodriguez, Rizal in the face of a declaration of ceasefire on both sides and in the midst of an emergency health crisis,” Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo said in a statement. Armed Forces of the Philippines chief Felimon Santos Jr. said about 30 rebels fired at soldiers from the Army’s 2nd Infantry Division. “We were able to repel the attack, which turns out to be the NPA’s futile attempt to project relevance and power, among the many delusions of Jose Maria Sison,” Santos said in a statement, referring to Sison, the founder of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). “They (NPA) were planning to celebrate their
anniversary on March 29 with a bang.” The NPA celebrated its 51st anniversary on Sunday, March 29. Panelo said the incident “exposes the insincerity of the former in declaring a ceasefire as well as their blatant disregard of the welfare of the Filipino people they claim to fight for as their armed assault against the soldiers who were doing community work in connection with the government’s battle against Covid-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) have placed the civilians in imminent danger and disrupted the implementation of the enhanced community quarantine in that area.” President Rodrigo Duterte declared a unilateral ceasefire with the alliance of the CPP, NPA and National Democratic Front (NDF), saying the government must focus on containing the spread of Covid-19. The communists later declared their own ceasefire. The rebels have been waging what is considered as Asia’s longest-running communist insurgency. The NPA is the CPP’s armed wing while the NDF is the CPP’s political arm. “That we were able to repulse
the NPA’s perfidious armed offensive demonstrates the preparedness of our armed forces against the purveyors of hate and anarchy even as they perform their additional task of assisting in the implementation of the protocols and guidelines established by the government,” Panelo said. he warned the “enemies of the state that the constituted authorities are equipped and ready to repel any and all transgressions of law and crush any armed attack against our soldiers and civilians with ferocity and might.” Maj. Gen. Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos Jr., commander of the 2nd Infantry Division, said soldiers recovered the body of the dead rebel. Sison, in his message on the NPA’s anniversary, said the armed wing was “determined” to “build the revolutionary bases and accumulate armed political strength for advancing wave upon wave until cities become ripe for seizure.” he said the NPA has 14 regional operational commands and has been conducting a “fluid war of movement and maneuvers freely” in more than 80 percent of the country. n
by aJPress PhILIPPINe Department of Interior and Local Government Secretary eduardo Año announced on Tuesday, March 31 that he tested positive for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). “Today, March 31, I received the result from RITM (Research Institute for Tropical Medicine) informing me that I am positive for COVID-19,” he said in a statement. The DILG chief said he underwent self-quarantine on Thursday, March 26 after learning that four people he interacted with tested positive for the disease. The next day, he got tested and received his results on Tuesday. “I make this announcement to call the attention of all persons I had close contact with to go on self-quarantine and observe any symptoms, in accordance with DOh guidelines,” he said. Año assured that he will continue to do his work at his
Department of Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año
home. “I am doing fine and have no symptoms. I will continue my quarantine and work from home. The result of my test will not in any way dampen my spirit and energy to do my job,” he said, adding that the public should continue to stay at home and follow social distancing.
Año is one of the three top officials who were designated to implement the National Action Plan against COVID-19. Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana is also on self-quarantine. The Philippines now has a total of 2,084 confirmed COVID19 cases with 88 fatalities and 49 recoveries as of Tuesday. n
On Census Day, Fil-Ams are reminded to... PAGE A1 debate around it. It contains nine questions, such as the number of people who live in the household and demographic information, including their sex, names, dates of birth, and races. Families are reminded to also count children, especially babies, who are among the groups that risk being undercounted. By phone, the census can be completed every day from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. (eastern Standard Time) at (844) 330-2020 for english or (844) 478-2020 for Tagalog. Individuals who need more information or have concerns or questions about the census before they fill it out can call an inlanguage hotline through Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC at (844) 202-0274. It will be available in english and Tagalog, in addition to other Asian languages. The information collected is confidential and protected under federal law and cannot be shared with other government agencies, the U.S. Census Bureau said as all bureau staff take an oath to protect information collected. The data will be used for statistical purposes. “The information available will only be like the total numbers in one area, for example, of Filipinos. That’s important because if we aren’t counted in a neighborhood, they’re not going to give as much resources for the Filipino community. They might not give us resources in language, things like that,” Pilipino Workers Cen-
ter executive Director Aquilina Soriano Versoza previously told the Asian Journal. According to data retrieved from the 2018 American Community Survey, there are more than 4 million Filipinos in the United States. California is home to 1,651,933 Filipinos, making them the largest Asian and Pacific Islander (API) group in the Golden State. LA County alone has more than 400,000 Filipinos. The bureau does not gather any sensitive information, such as credit card or social security
numbers. With the current pandemic, the bureau said that it is suspending in-person field operations for an additional two weeks until April 15. Last week, it also announced extensions to the response period until August 14. For those who haven’t responded, census takers will begin following up with households who haven’t responded from May 7 to August 14; then takers will interview households in person that have not responded online, by phone, or by mail from May 28 to August 14. (AJPress)
DFA: Overseas Filipinos infected with...
Infographic courtesy of DFA
PAGE A3 clarified. Of the 368 COVID-19 positive Filipinos abroad, 242 have been undergoing treatment while 117 already managed to recover. According to DFA, there are 30 countries where Filipinos were confirmed to have COVID-19 infection. The World health Organization has declared COVID-19 a pandemic. Globally, the virus already infected more than 785,800 people and killed more than 37,800 as of March 31. On the other hand, over 165,655 people have recovered so far from the disease, which was caused by a coronavirus named SARS-CoV-2 that first emerged in China’s Wuhan City in hubei province in late 2019. In the Philippines, there are 2,084 people found positive for COVID-19 as of March 31. Of this, 88 have died while 49 have recovered. n
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Dateline PhiliPPines
27% of Filipinos frequently experience stress – SWS by Katrina
Hallare Inquirer.net
MANILA, — One of four or 27 percent of Filipinos said that they frequently experience stress in their daily lives, the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed on Tuesday, March 31. The latest survey also showed that 37 percent of Filipinos said that they sometimes suffer stress, while 34 percent said they rarely experience it. Two percent said that they never felt stress. This was relatively lower compared to results in March 2017, where 32 percent of Filipinos said they were frequently stressed. Women more stressed than men
Women were also seen as “more frequently” stressed at 35 percent, compared to men at 20 percent. Stress, by age group, was frequent among 35 to 44-year-olds at 36 percent. Meanwhile, the survey showed 25 percent of 45 to 54-year-old Filipinos live through stress frequently, and 24 percent each among 18 to 24year-olds, 25 to 34-year-olds and those 55 years old and above. The SWS survey also showed that stress was “more frequent” in urban areas at 31 percent, compared to 21 percent in rural areas. SWS also recorded that stress was “more frequent” in Metro Manila residents, with 35 percent, compared to the 28 per-
cent in both Balance Luzon and the Visayas, and the 18 percent in Mindanao. The survey was conducted Dec. 16 to 19, 2019, and used face-toface interviews of 1,200 adult respondents (300 each in Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao), with sampling error margins of ±3 percent for national percentages. During the survey, respondents were asked, “Gaano kadalas kang makaranas ng stress sa iyong araw-araw na buhay?” (How often do you experience stress in your daily life?) and would have show cards reading “Frequently,” “Sometimes,” “Rarely,” “Never,” in answering the question. n
Bongbong Marcos tests positive... PAGE A1 COVID-19),” Rodriguez wrote. Marcos received his test results on Saturday, March 28. Last week, he released a statement that confirmed he was self-quarantining. “A few days ago I was feeling a little under the weather and as a result went to get checked. We are still waiting for the results,” Marcos said. “Fortunately, I feel much better and am getting stronger by the day. I have no doubt in my mind that this is partly due to the excellent work of the nurses and doctors who helped me during this time,” he added.
The former senator started feeling unwell after he returned to the Philippines from Spain on March 13. He went to a hospital the next day after experiencing chest pains but went home since there were too many patients. Marcos stayed at home since then and only came out on March 22 as he was reportedly rushed to the emergency room for having difficulties in breathing. Then, he tested positive for COVID-19 and was advised to undergo self-quarantine. “Simula noong Marso 13, 2020 hanggang sa ngayon ay sinusunod ng dating senador ang health protocol sa mga PUI
(patients under investigation) at taimtim at tahimik niyang tinupad ang ipinaiiral na proseso ng gamutan, tulad ng safety mask at self-quarantine, at walang ingay na inilayo ang kanyang sarili maging sa kanyang pamilya (Since March 13, 2020 to today, the former senator has been following the health protocol that PUIs need to follow, including wearing a safety mask, undergoing self-quarantine, and isolating himself from his family),” Rodriguez noted. As of writing, there are a total of 2,084 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country, with 88 fatalities and 49 recoveries. n
8 dead as medevac plane crashes... PAGE A1 vulge the reason that prompted the medical evacuation. The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) revealed that the aircraft encountered a technical problem while rolling out for takeoff. “The medical evacuation flight, bound for Tokyo/Haneda in Japan reportedly encountered a technical problem while rolling for take-
off on Runway 06,” the CAAP said in its initial report. CAAP Deputy Director General Don Mendoza noted that the aircraft was airworthy and the pilots’ licenses were valid. He also said that the CAAP is considering barring Lionair’s fleet from taking off since this is the second fatal incident involving the company in nearly seven months. Last September 2019, a Lionair
plane crashed in Laguna, killing nine people aboard. “Right now the initial step we’re looking into is grounding the whole fleet,” Mendoza said. “It’s quite alarming but we’re looking into the records deeply... Definitely we will have a thorough investigation into this and then we will advise the operators (about) the actions and steps that will be taken,” he added. n
Fil-Am journalists remember CBS’ Maria Mercader...
PAGE A3 ness. She made time for me when I was going through some rough patches and always [lent] an ear when asked. That is the Maria I remember. I just wish I got to know her better.”
The AAJA asked individuals to donate to the American Ballet Theatre and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center to honor Mercader’s legacy as a patron of the arts. Mercader’s mother Gladys, who
predeceased her, was the pianist for the American Ballet Theatre. She is survived by her father, Manuel, who worked in finance, and brother, Manuel, an attorney in New York. (Christina M. Oriel/ AJPress)
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China docs to help PH fight COVID-19 by Bernadette
tamayo ManilaTimes.net
TALKS have begun to bring a medical team from China to the Philippines to help fight the coronavirus pandemic, Philippine Ambassador to China Jose Santiago Sta. Ro-mana said on Monday, March 30. Sta. Romana revealed the discussions for a Chinese medical team during the Laging Handa (Always Ready) briefing hosted by the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO). “Actually, this is part of the plan. [Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro] Locsin [Jr.] has already mentioned that there was a medical team being prepared,” Sta. Romana said in English and Filipino. Sta. Romana also said there was a “continuous airlift” of coronavirus-related supplies from China to the Philippines. There were medical supplies bought by the Filipino-Chinese, he said. Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the department had no problem with letting Chinese doctors into the country to help in the coronavirus response. “None Ma’am. That was why we need to clarify that because we were the ones who wrote it,” Vergeire, DoH spokesman, said. She said, “[W]e have this official document where we have officially communicated to our embassy here, asking if we could ask or request for experts from their country (China)because we wanted to learn from them and seek their advice on the measures we have adopted against Covid-19 (coronavirus disease 2019).” “We want them to share their expertise because we saw how their country has stemmed the increase in the number of cases and fatalities,” she said. Sen. Aquilino Martin “Koko” Pi-mentel III urged President Rodrigo Duterte to ask China to send doctors to help the Philippines fight Covid-19. The senator, the President’s partymate with the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban ) made the appeal on Sunday amid the shortage of frontliners needed to fight the pandemic. Pimentel aired his appeal to Duterte through a text message to mediamen, “Mr. President please ask for help from our good
Health workers attend to a woman for health consultation with plastic dividers as a precautionary measure to limit spread of COVID-19 at the Rosario Maclang Bautista General Hospital on Monday, March 30. ManilaTimes.net photo by Ruy Martinez
friend China.” “China is our friend. Let us humbly ask for help from our friend China,” said the president of the ruling PDP-Laban. “They can send us their experts in handling Covid-19 as a public health issue as well as some experienced doctors who have nursed people back to good health and also share some possible cure or remedy to the disease,” Pimentel said. Reacting to Pimentel’s appeal to the President, Locsin Jr. said on Twitter, “Jesus Christ Koko, I’m doing that already and the help has been coming.” Locsin also lauded the Manila branch of the Bank of China Limited for donating 500,000 disposable medical masks to the Department of Health (DoH). “Thank you, Mr. [Chinese] Ambassador [Huang Xilian], despite backbiters China’s generosity neither flags nor fails,” Locsin said on Twitter. Another senator, Ana Theresia “Risa” Hontiveros, is pressing for mass testing. “Urgency is needed for us to defeat the Covid-19 crisis. Mass testing will save lives,” Hontiveros said on Twitter. She said the following must be prioritized for mass testing: all who have Covid-19 symptoms; all frontliners, especially health workers; the elderly; and communities with recorded Covid-19 cases. n
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA REGIONAL RAIL AUTHORITY IFB NO. PO780R-20 COMMUNICATION AND SIGNAL CONDUIT MATERIALS The Southern California Regional Rail Authority (SCRRA) is seeking Bids for Communication and Signal Conduit Materials. The maximum dollar value for the contract will be for a total not-to-exceed amount of $1,000,000.00. Bid documents may be obtained via download by visiting SCRRA’s website at http://www. metrolinktrains.com/agency/ page/title/doing business. Vendors must register for no fee on the website in order to download the documents. The contract to be awarded will be funded in part by grants under the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transportation Administration and is subject to a DBE Participation Goal of 4%. For further information contact: Melissa Cousart, Contract and Compliance Administrator at 213.452.0207 or email Cousartm@scrra.net. 4/1/20 CNS-3356954# ASIAN JOURNAL (L.A.)
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OPINION
Ramping up COVID testing IN a tragic manifestation of how the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic is overwhelming the public health system, the assistant director of the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, Dr. Salvacion Rodriguez-Gatchalian, last Wednesday joined the ranks of frontliners who have fallen in the difficult battle. The RITM is the country’s lone testing center for COVID-19 infection. Health experts have stressed the importance of rapid, widespread testing to contain the spread of a potentially deadly affliction for which there is still no vaccine or cure. There was excitement over reports that the city government of Marikina was set to open
its own testing center, using the GenAmplify test kits developed by the University of the Philippines-Manila’s National Institutes of Health and Philippine Genome Center, to be mass-produced locally. Both the opening of the testing cenvter and rollout of the local test kit, however, are still waiting for an official green light. Other countries have fast-tracked approval processes for such critical items. While Philippine health officials have valid concerns over the need to ensure the accuracy and safety of the tests, the other side of the argument is that time is of the essence in containing this highly infectious disease.
Editorial
FEATURES
Gabor Kelen, director of emergency medicine at Johns Hopkins University in the United States, which now has the world’s highest number of COVID cases, has argued that easing regulatory hurdles for testing in this emergency outweighs the disadvantages, and governments do not have the luxury of aiming for a perfect testing environment. With COVID deaths surging in the U.S. and their hospitals overwhelmed, Kelen was quoted in a report as saying: “If we could have done contact tracing, we might have found a lot more cases quickly and shut down the hotspots.” Arguing for the speedy rollout of more testing kits, he said: “Some- than later, and if one test is good, thing is better than nothing, sooner is better two are better. So let’s get to it
Philstar.com photo
– perfect is the enemy of good.” (Philstar.com)
HUWAG MAGING PASAWAY: Prepare for the surge in coronavirus cases in the US in the next three weeks Experts warn of death toll could go up to 100,000-200,000
The Fil-Am Perspective
March 31, the United States reported more than 770 deaths, the most in one day. This has been the trend that started this week — the exponential growth in the GEL SANTOS-RELOS number of people infected by the virus, and those who did not THE CORONAVIRUS pandemic make it. the world is now fighting against As of Tuesday afternoon, more is personal to me. My husband is than 183,588 cases have been a surgeon and is part of the pool documented, and 3,780+ have of doctors called to assist in the care of coronavirus patients. My sister-in-law in Boston has just tested positive after taking care of her elderly patient who also tested positive. There are so many more people who have been unselfishly and courageously fighting this war, risking their own health, safety, and even their lives so we may live. They are the front-liners in this war zone, those who cannot stay home because they have a sacred vow and duty to fulfill. They are the doctors, nurses, other healthcare professionals, first responders, 9-1-1 operators, died in the U.S. dispatchers in the Department of Globally, there have been Emergency Management. They 850,500+ cases of people sufare the police, firemen, the phar- fering from coronavirus, while macy personnel, supermarket 41,600+ have perished. and farmers’ market personnel, Dr. Anthoiny Fauci, the leading and volunteers. expert in infectious diseases and They are the government of- member of the White House’s ficials who have been true and coronavirus task force, warned faithful to their oaths as public on CNN’s “State of the Union” servants. They have been on top that “based on modeling of the of this emergency, collaborat- current pace of the coronavirus’ ing with scientists and experts, spread in the U.S., ‘between and health officials in navigating 100,000 and 200,000’ people through this labyrinth in search of may die from COVID-19, the disways to slow down and stop the ease caused by the novel coronaoutbreak, find a possible cure and virus.” vaccine, provide health and supThis estimate of 100,000-toport to hardworking Americans 200,000 death figure is a middlewhose life and livelihood had of-the-road estimate, Dr. Fauci been disrupted by this crisis. said, much lower than the worstEXPECT A SURGE in the num- case scenario predictions. ber of coronavirus cases in the As NPR reported, public health United States in the next three experts explain that “because of weeks, experts warn, urgently undocumented chains of transcalling on government officials to mission in many parts of the prepare for the apex of the pan- country, the number of new corodemic. navirus cases in the U.S. is set to As of press time on Tuesday, keep surging as more and more
test results become known.” However, Dr. Fauci emphasized that the prediction is “such a moving target that you could so easily be wrong and mislead people.” The movement would then be contingent on how urgently the country moves — both the government and the people” to help “flatten the curve.”
spread of the coronavirus. “The ideal goal in fighting an epidemic or pandemic is to completely halt the spread. But merely slowing it—mitigation—is critical,” Harris was quoted by The New York Times. This is so consequential and critical to the survival of people already infected by the virus. ”If the coronavirus is passed on too
The chart above — shared by Drew Harris, a population health analyst at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia on Twitter — was based on another chart in a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) paper. As Health.com explains: The “flattening the curve” chart illustrates the wave of new coronavirus cases expected to hit. A high curve means the virus is spreading quickly; some people won’t get the medical care they need, and the number of deaths is likely to increase. A low curve means coronavirus is spreading slowly, which gives doctors the time and resources to treat more people (and hopefully save more lives). As Health.com reported, Harris drew a dotted line onto the chart, showing that the smoothness of the curve could be the difference between treating the disease and health care providers struggling to cope with the demand for help. It summarizes the importance of taking measures to try to slow the
Our COVID-19 economy
Demand and Supply BOO CHANCO LET us face the reality of our situation: the pace and quality of our lives now and in the foreseeable future will be dictated by the coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19. The virus respects no human title. The Crown Prince of England is infected and the British Prime Minister as well. Senators and Congressmen here and in the US are infected. A World War is raging and we can only see the enemy in a laboratory test. President Trump wants to declare America reopened for business by Easter. He wants people to pack their Churches in celebration of Easter, the most important holiday in Christianity. He wants businesses to start churning the economy again. But it is not his call. The virus will make that call. We can only react to the challenge the virus in hurling at us each day. The quality of our response will dictate how soon we
can get back to normal. Are we actively testing and isolating more cases? Are we getting more ventilators and building more overflow patient facilities? When can we expect a cure and a vaccine? This is why it is important we have leaders we can trust and have confidence in their ability to make the right decisions. I am not sure Health Secretary Duque still deserves our trust. Duque played politics with China and then the VIP tests. We had just three cases between Jan. 30 and March 4. Then the numbers increased. He wasted 35 days by not preparing more test and other facilities for the upsurge. It isn’t as if changing him is like changing horses in the middle of a war. The graphs show the war has barely started for us and we must flatten it. It isn’t as if we are lacking in leadership talent. There is former health secretary Manuel Dayrit who has experience managing our SARS response and also has WHO work exposure. There is Dr Gap Legaspi of UP-PGH, who keeps on impressing us with his
ability to get things done despite lack of resources. This is still primarily a health and not a military crisis. We need a credible medical professional in top level decision making. That’s not Duque. As we approach a month of total isolation for many countries, the question is often asked: Will our economies survive the virus? Will people revolt over the draconian measures before the virus kills them? It is bad for poor countries like ours. We have so many people living in extreme poverty even in the best of times. Now we must add those living hand-to-mouth who lost their daily wages. It is easy to demand that government provide our poor with enough money to cover basic needs for as long as the medical emergency exists. Our national treasury can probably afford such subsidy for a month or two. But what happens if the virus lingers for a year or more? The emergency power law recently passed by Congress provides for an emergency subsidy of P5,000 to P8,000 to 18 million
quickly and too many people become infected at one time, the resources available to fight it could quickly become overwhelmed. By staggering the number of COVID19 cases over a longer period of time, everyone who becomes infected can have better access to care”, Health.com explained. IGNORE the lies and misinformation being forced feed to us by President Donald Trump by his irresponsible use of the bully pulpit to raise his personal ratings and feed his delusional insatiable desire to hold on to power, at the expense of the safety and lives of the American people. As the New York Times reported, Trump’s very proven characteristics have made him unfit to lead the country especially in a global emergency of this magnitude: • profound need for personal praise • propensity to blame others • lack of human empathy • penchant for rewriting his-
tory • disregard for expertise • distortion of facts • impatience with scrutiny REMEMBER: We would have not been in this desperate situation had Trump not eliminated the White House National Security Council Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense, established by former President Barack Obama, to prepare the United States for future pandemics like COVID-19. This is consistent with Trump’s obsession to erase Obama’s legacy in America. We wouldn’t have been in this desperate situation had Trump not cut back on the funding for health institutions like the CDC. The CDC’s rationale: It works 24/7 to protect America from health, safety and security threats, both foreign and in the U.S. Whether diseases start at home or abroad, are chronic or acute, curable or preventable, human error or deliberate attack, the CDC fights disease and supports communities and citizens to do the same. The CDC increases the health security of our nation. As the nation’s health protection agency, it saves lives and protects people from health threats. To accomplish our mission, it conducts critical science and provides health information that protects our nation against expensive and dangerous health threats, and responds when these arise. WE WOULD HAVE NOT BEEN BEHIND in the war against the coronavirus had Trump heeded the classified warning of U.S. intelligence agencies in January and February about the global danger posed by the coronavirus. Instead, President Trump and his minions in the Republican Party and Fox News downplayed the threat and failed to take action that might have slowed the spread of the pathogen, according to U.S. officials familiar with
spy agency reporting, as reported by the Washington Post. All these because Trump did not want the growing “numbers” of the pandemic cases in the United States to affect his own “numbers” in economic terms he wants to brag about for his reelection bid. We would not have been behind had Trump and his team followed the National Security Council’s pandemic playbook. The 69-page document, finished in 2016, provided a step by step list of priorities. The Trump administration was briefed on the playbook’s existence in 2017, which was then ignored by the administration. We would not have been behind if instead of self-aggrandizing and self-promoting in his daily briefings, instead of fighting with governors and mayors and demanding “appreciation” from them, Trump should seriously and pragmatically listen to their inputs based on facts on the ground and carry out their suggestions to meet their needs and taking care of their states and citizens-- more testing kits, protective gears for the front liners, ventilators, hospital beds, etc. LISTEN instead to your governors and city mayors and COMPLY with their orders to exercise social distancing, work from home, shelter in place and stay at home OR face punishments like imprisonment and fines pursuant to the rule of law, just to protect us all. HUWAG MAGING PASAWAY! GOD BLESS US ALL. ***
low income households all over the country. The President has the power to realign whatever money there is in all government agencies, including GOCCs. But the big question is, how will the poor get hold of those funds? We don’t have a system to flow the money down without a large part of it being lost in the hands of corrupt officials. Things will get worse before it gets better. According to NEDA, without mitigating measures, they see a reduction in our real GDP growth to -0.6 to 4.3 percent this year. NEDA also warns that “if the ECQ is extended beyond one month, or if the spread of COVID-19 is unabated even after the ECQ, then even the low-end of the estimate is still too high.” That’s why some economists, like Toti Chikiamco, are saying a prolonged lockdown will cause not only an economic crisis, but also a social crisis, with food riots and other socially disruptive events. Because the Philippines has a young population with a median age of 23 versus Italy with a median age of 46, Toti thinks it should be possible to risk easing the lockdown by April 14.
By easing, that means allowing mass transport to operate and businesses to reopen, provided, regular disinfection is mandated for all mass transport, and social distancing where possible. Toti wants to adopt a riskbased approach to confront the epidemic – omnipresent temperature checking before entering workplaces, mandate wearing of masks for everybody, continuous public education on hand washing, social distancing; “Continue the bans on mass gatherings of more than five people; continue the quarantine of seniors who are the most vulnerable to the virus; build surge capacity of temporary hospitals and quarantine hotels for PUIs or Persons Under Investigation. It’s important for suspect cases to be removed from their families as they can spread the infection to their families as what happened in Wuhan; “Continue the ban on foreign visitors, or put all visitors under a 14-day quarantine. Let herd immunity build among our young population. Eventually, too, we have to do mass testing. Therefore, we have to reserve resources to buy cheap testing kits that are presently being developed by bio-
tech companies. “In other words, the Philippines can’t afford the 60, 90 or-120-day lockdowns being contemplated in the West. The cure may be worse than the disease… “Flattening the curve is really about matching our health capacity to the exponential increase in cases, and therefore, hopefully, more people will be saved. How many lives will be saved, versus how many lives also lost due to hunger and unemployment?” There is also a proposal to devalue the peso to P55 to $1 as an economic relief and stimulus package: it will put money in the pockets of OFWs, boost exports and BPOs, and protect importsubstituting local industries. China is reported to have quietly done that for the yuan. “With oil prices at historic lows and demand down, the inflationary aspect is muted.” So many things to do. So little time. Not enough data to act upon. And we have to fight this virus intelligently. Mistakes are too costly in terms of negative impact on lives as well as on the economy. *** Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is bchanco@ gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @ boochanco
Gel Santos Relos has been in news, talk, public service and educational broadcasting since 1989 with ABS-CBN and is now serving the Filipino audience using different platforms, including digital broadcasting, and print, and is working on a new public service program for the community. You may contact her through email at gelrelos@icloud.com, or send her a message via Facebook at Facebook.com/Gel. Santos.Relos.
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 cookbook features 100 classic Filipino recipes for beginners by
Christina M. Oriel / AJPress
LOOKING to unleash your inner chef and finally master some Filipino dishes during this stay-at-home period? There’s a new cookbook with the premise of “easy” savory and sweet recipes from pork sisig to ginataang bilo bilo (rice balls in sweet coconut milk). “The Easy Filipino Cookbook: 100 Classics Made Simple” — released on March 24 by Rockridge Press — comes from Roline Casper, a Pinay chef who owns Roline’s Uniquely Filipino in Vacaville, California. “It is meant for the second generation of Filipino Americans who want to learn how to make the dishes they grew up eating [and] people who don’t really know our food but are curious,” Casper told the Asian Journal in an interview ahead of the launch. “What inspired me was being able to share our culture through this love of food and eating.” Her title joins the library of Filipino cookbooks we’ve seen in the past two years, such as “The New Filipino Kitchen: Stories and Recipes from around the Globe,” “I am a Filipino And This is How We Cook,” and “The Filipino Instant Pot Cookbook: Classic and Modern Filipino Recipes for Your Electric Pressure Cooker,” to name a few. The cookbook reflects a
compilation of foods Casper grew up eating and learning to cook, as well as the memories of dishes served during family reunions and holidays. “Even though Filipino cooking draws on influences from across the globe, the heart of Filipino cooking is the family. Each family has its own food culture, traditions, and ways to prepare certain dishes. Food is usually prepared and cooked by the family matriarch, like the lola (grandmother), nanay (mother), or tita (aunt), and passed down through the generations. Each dish is a labor of love and a point of pride. Just like family, the food can be sweet, sour, salty, and, at times, bitter,” she writes in the introduction. As a child raised by a single working mother in the Philippines, Casper recalled in our interview that she would shadow her grandmother Rosa in the kitchen, primarily during the days preparing food in anticipation of relatives coming over. By her teenage years, her main goal was to one day open up a restaurant. When she migrated to California, she worked at various hotels in cities spanning from Sunnyvale to San Diego and gained experience in hospitality. Her husband’s job brought the family back to Northern California, where they settled in
Casper makes sisig during a recent cooking demonstration.
Casper’s oxtail kare kare from page 112 in the cookbook. Photography by Iain Bagwell with food styling by Torie Cox / Rockridge Press
Vacaville. Casper was presented with a business opportunity in 2003 to take over a small grocery store but she declined as she was raising two young children. Six years later — this time during the recession — the same offering came around, which she jumped at and has since turned it into a turo turo restaurant named Roline’s Uniquely Filipino. “A grocery store was challenging because that’s not what I really wanted. But the opportunity was there and I didn’t want to miss it so we put in our own money and took that risk,” she said. Eight years later in 2017, Casper fulfilled that aspiration of going to culinary school when she enrolled in a 14-month program at Napa Valley Cooking School. On top of running her business, she took classes five days a week, staged (unpaid internship) at Michelin-starred restaurant, SingleThread, and worked as an extern at Morimoto in Napa. “I did the opposite of business first before going to school. I came in with a drive to uplift our food and to learn how to properly present it. The training continues to help me a lot right now with the understanding of what ingredients go together,” she said. “Even though I knew
A kamayan dinner was held at Roline’s Uniquely Filipino during Vacaville Restaurant Week.
how to cook, you really need to have the credentials because it’s harder to be acknowledged if not.” She graduated valedictorian from the school and is a parttime instructor there. Last February, she led a three-hour class on lumpia making. “Though we’re a casual, turo turo restaurant, what I’ve learned in this business is to adapt to what is needed and to introduce changes every so often,” Casper said. Roline’s Uniquely Filipino began offering kamayan (communal feast) dinners by reservation and a halo halo bar with multiple flavors beyond its most popular form of shaved ice, evaporated milk, sweetened beans, jellies and ice cream. “For years, I had been thinking of doing something with the halo halo similar to the boba craze because nobody had stepped into that,” she said. The variations include chocolate chip cookie dough; banana cue (caramelized saba banana with housemade leche flan and toasted sweet rice); and champorado (Belgian dark chocolate & topped w/ our house-made chocolate shell & Himalayan Pink Salt). With Casper’s mark in the local Vacaville dining scene and the burgeoning Filipino food movement, a publisher reached out with the prospect of releasing her first cookbook. The process of putting it together, from writing and testing the 100 recipes to editing, took about a year. “Sometimes it felt like I didn’t sleep because I had to work, take care of the family, and do the book. It’s really a labor of love. Everything I cook and do is from the heart and that’s where home is for me,” she said, adding that it was a challenge for her to pare the recipes down for two to three servings as she was used to catering portions. Before diving into the recipes, “The Easy Filipino Cookbook” begins with an overview of the cuisine’s global influences, how the Philippines’ tropical climate defined the salty, savory and sour flavor profiles, and the variation of dishes depending on region and season. “The book is very easy for
Roline Casper holds up a copy of her new book, “The Easy Filipino Cookbook: 100 Classics Made Simple,” which was released on March 24. Photos courtesy of Roline’s Uniquely Filipino
At Roline’s Uniquely Filipino in Vacaville, California, Casper has a halo halo bar, with flavors ranging from banana cue to champorado.
people to follow. They’ll find dishes that are reminiscent of the Philippines and its many different regions so it’s like traveling without physically being there,” Casper said. A particular highlight of the cookbook is a chapter listing ingredients and tools to have on hand as well as common cooking techniques used. The recipes are organized by course, starting with pulutan (appetizers) like tokwa’t baboy (fried tofu and pig ears with sweet Chile sauce) or tuna kilawin; then come the rice and noodles, and vegetable, meats and seafood entrees before ending with snacks and desserts. Each entry is introduced with a brief paragraph explaining how it is typically served. While presented as close as possible to the traditional forms, Casper’s recipes leave room for adaptability depending on what ingredients are available locally to readers and improvisation if they don’t have access to a Filipino or specialty store. They are also labeled depending on dietary needs (e.g. gluten-free and nut-free) and time constraints — some can be made under 30 minutes or using an instant pot to speed up the process. Other dishes include a party-sized paella that serves 20;
Roline Casper’s Fresh Lumpia REPRINTED with permission from “The Easy Filipino Cookbook: 100 Classics Made Simple” (Rockridge Press, 2020) Dairy-free, vegetarian PREP TIME: 30 minutes COOK TIME: 20 minutes MAKES: 10 lumpia This version of lumpia is fresh, not fried. It is topped with its own special sauce and crushed peanuts. Loaded with vegetables and chickpeas, this is a filling meal and popular party food. If you can’t find lumpia wrappers, these are just as delicious rolled up in lettuce leaves. Romaine, butter, leafy, and baby gem varieties all work well. For the vegetables • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil • 1/2 onion, finely sliced • 3 garlic cloves, crushed • 1 carrot, julienned • 1/2 sweet potato, julienned • 2 cups green beans, thinly sliced Fresh lumpia on page 54 of “The Easy Filipino Cookbook.” • 1 cup cooked chickpeas Photography by Iain Bagwell with food styling by Torie Cox / Rockridge Press
• 1 green cabbage, thinly shredded • 1 tablespoon sugar • 2 pinches salt • Pinch freshly ground black pepper To make the vegetables 1. In a wok or large sauté pan, heat the oil over mediumhigh heat. Add the onion and garlic and sauté for about 3 to 5 minutes, or until softened. 2. Add the carrot and stirfry for about 3 minutes. Add the sweet potato and stir-fry for about 3 minutes. 3. Add the green beans and stir-fry for about 3 minutes. Add the chickpeas and stir-fry for about 3 minutes. 4. Add the shredded cabbage and stir-fry for about 3 minutes, until everything is crisp and tender. Taste test the vegetables. Season with sugar, salt, and pepper. 5. Remove the pan from the heat as soon as the vegetables are cooked, making sure not to overcook them. Transfer to a colander to drain and set aside
sweet Filipino spaghetti using banana ketchup for sweetness that is popular at birthday parties; laing (spicy taro leaves in coconut milk); chicken inasal as originated from the Bacolod province; embotido (steamed meat loaf) with ingredients depending on the occasion; ginataang alimango (crab in coconut sauce) that uses spinach instead of chile pepper leaves and squash blossoms; and biko (rice cake with coconut curds) for merienda that doesn’t involve a 24-hour soaking time for the sweet rice. The last section is devoted to “staples” that pair well with most Filipino meals, including banana ketchup, atchara (chutney of pickled green papaya, red bell peppers, carrots, onions and ginger) and tomato, onion and salted egg salad. It also ends with a list suggesting what to serve during holidays and other special gatherings. “I want readers to try something new, be adventurous with what they eat, and be openminded,” Casper said. “Our food is a blend of many cultures so I feel they will find something that’s familiar to them in all the dishes and create their own stories eating [them] with friends and family around the dining table.”
Fresh lumpia sauce This sweet, garlickly sauce is served drizzled over the top to cool. of the Fresh Lumpia. I think it’s For the lumpia rolls the perfect blend of savory and • 10 lumpia wrappers sweet, it’s super easy to make, • 5 leafy green lettuce and it tastes best when it’s leaves, cut in half lengthwise served warm. • 3 tablespoons peanut Ingredients butter • 2 cups plus 2 table• Fresh Lumpia Sauce spoons water, divided (page 149) • 1/2 cup sugar • 1 cup ground peanuts • 1 tablespoon soy sauce To make the lumpia rolls • 1 tablespoon minced 1. Separate the lumpia garlic sheets and arrange them on a • 1/2 teaspon salt large, clean work surface. Cover • 2 tablespoons cornstarch the wrappers with a damp cloth Directions to prevent drying as you work. 1. In a medium saucepan, 2. Place a wrapper diagoheat 2 cups of water, the sugar, nally in front of you with a letsoy sauce, garlic and salt over tuce leaf in the center. Spread medium heat. Boil for 3 minutes 1 to 2 teaspoons of peanut but- or until the sugar dissolves. ter on the lettuce, then place 2. In a small bowl, comabout 2 tablespoons of the bine the cornstarch and remainvegetables on the lettuce. ing 2 tablespoons of water and 3. Tuck in the sides of the mix well. wrapper and roll it up like a 3. Add the cornstarch burrito. Arrange on a platter slurry to the sauce and simmer and continue until all wrappers until the consistency is between and vegetables are used. honey and maple syrup. Taste 4. Pour the fresh lumpia and adjust the seasoning as desauce on top of the lumpia and sired. Transfer to a small serving garnish with ground peanuts. bowl.
entertainment Fil-Am director Dean Devlin’s ‘Almost Paradise’ is the first-ever American TV series shot in the Philippines ‘This pandemic has kept my family apart’: Fil-Am actor Nico Santos says stepdad died from coronavirus The Asian Jour nal MDWK MAGAZINE - April 1, 2020
by aJPRess
THE first-ever American TV series filmed entirely in the Philippines made its debut on Monday, March 30 on WGN America. “Almost Paradise” is an action-thriller show created, written and produced by award-winning Filipino American filmmaker Dean Devlin. Known for his work on “Independence Day,” “Godzilla, “Leverage,” and “The Librarians,” this is Devlin’s first project involving his Filipino roots. The series is centered around Alex Walker (Christian Kane, “The Librarians” and “Angel”), a former U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent who goes into early retirement and moves to a beach in the Philippines he remembers visiting years ago. Alex finds himself drawn into cases where he uses his skills as a longtime operative to put away the bad guys that cross his path. The idea came to Devlin during his honeymoon in Hawaii some 14 years ago when the local news had a story about residents capturing a drug dealer on their own. “It just got me thinking about island justice, island culture and island spirituality. I always said, ‘I really would like to write something about that,’” Devlin told the Asian Journal. “Over the years, I thought, ‘Why do it in Hawaii?’ I’m half Filipino and I’ve never done anything connected to my own culture so when the idea came to put this story in the Philippines then things started to accelerate quite quickly.” Beyond the “poverty porn” and other stereotypical notions people may have about the Philippines, Devlin didn’t want to make the storyline about the current political climate and the controversial drug war. “To be able to bring things from the culture — the looks, the costumes, the traditions — and put that seamlessly in a very American show…one of the goals here is not to say that Filipinos are the other. The goal is to say Filipinos are us and we’re all part of the same beautiful community,” he said. As for the challenges that came with filming in the country, Devlin joked, saying “The better question is what wasn’t the challenge?” His production company, Electric Entertainment, partnered with ABS-CBN and built a soundstage at Bigfoot Studios in Cebu. Thankfully, the production had finished and left the Philippines before the government
Immigrant Living: 101 and Beyond Monette AdevA MAglAyA THIS coronavirus crisis seems to come out of nowhere but it didn’t. Like any story, it has a beginning, a peak and an end. And hopefully, there are no sequels to this grim story. It seems the animal to human transmission of the hyped-up yet truly deadly virus may have happened to Patient Zero in November of 2019 in Wuhan in the Hubei province of China. Ground zero of the virus is a level 4 bio-weapons laboratory in the Wuhan University of Technology not far from a wet market where exotic and domesticated live animals were sold as human food fare. How exotic? Consider bats, snakes, rabbits, etcetera. Yes, you name it, they probably sell it. Initial reports indicate that a bio-chemistry chairman of Harvard University named Dr. Charles Lieber was arrested by federal agents towards the end of January 2020. His expertise was nanoscience. In December, there were 2 Chinese student assistants also arrested by federal agents. It is claimed Lieber was instrumental in setting up the Wuhan laboratory from the period 2011 to 2017. His secret involvement was unreported to Harvard or to the US government. He lied when confronted. He was paid $50,000 per month and hefty living expenses to share his expertise on nanoscience and biochemistry to China. He was part of China’s aggressive drive to recruit talents from around the world to advance their science and technology to further build their war machinery by stealing them from everywhere else. Yet the alarm bells weren’t sounded until the middle of
By Ritchel
Mendiola AJPress
FILIPINO American actor Nico Santos over the weekend announced that his stepfather has succumbed to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Santos paid tribute to his stepfather “Tito Sonny” on Saturday, March 28, a day after Christian Kane, Samantha Richelle and Arthur Acuña star in WGN America’s “Almost Paradise.” the latter lost his battle with the virus. “He was a kind, caring man. Friendly to a fault. He always greeted strangers walking past him with a chipper ‘Good Morning!’ and a big smile. He had a great laugh that filled the room with joy,” the actor said in the tribute, sharing a photo of his stepfather and mother. Santos shared that his mother “Tita” also contracted COVID-19, but hasn’t required hospitalization. “My mom is also fighting COVID-19. For the time being, Samantha Richelle makes her American TV debut she has not required hospitalization,” he said. Filipino American producer and filmmaker, Dean as Kai Mendoza. He also expressed his pain Photos courtesy of Electric Entertainment Devlin (“Independence Day,” “Godzilla”). and frustrations in dealing with tha reached it. This character stopped international flights the family’s loss during the really develops over the course because of the coronavirus pandemic. of the season and this is no easy outbreak. “The loss of my stepfather acting job,” Devlin said. “She’s “We literally wrapped is devastating but what has really the breakout actor on this gutted me is that this pandemproduction 18 hours before show.” they stopped the international ic has kept my family apart. Filmmakers Francis Dela flights. It was crazy. It felt like we We were unable to be with Torre, Hannah Espia, Dan Villewere on the top of that buildhim during his last days. I can’t gas and Irene Villamor directed ing in Saigon during the fall of hold my mother as she mourns several episodes; meanwhile, Vietnam trying to get the last her husband. I can’t hug my Pao Orendain served as director brother as he contemplates a helicopter out. But we finished of photography and Digo Ricio the season,” Devlin said. world without his father. I can’t as production designer. The 10-episode series, shot wipe away the tears from my “This is a very intense in the island of Cebu, features a nephews’ eyes as they wonder American way of doing a TV predominantly Filipino cast and why their Lolo Sonny isn’t here series…This crew was amazingly anymore,” he said. crew. Actors Samantha Richelle responsive because this was not and Arthur Acuña star as detecSantos ended his post by in their comfort zone at all. It’s tives Kai Mendoza and Ernesto requesting everyone to send not the way that they do shows Alamares, respectively. prayers for his mother. in the Philippines. They were all When Devlin and Kane took “Please continue to pray eager to learn [and]…they all a trip to Manila to scout local and send healing energy to kind of wanted to show what talent, Richelle auditioned for my mom. I hope all of you are they could do,” Devlin added. the role of Kai Mendoza upon staying safe and healthy. Rest With more Filipino faces on the recommendation of Dela In Peace Tito Sonny. I love an American network, Devlin Torre and blew them away. you,” he said. “In me preparing for the role sees it as a way to usher in more Santos was born in the Filipino representation. of Kai, I literally fell in love with Philippines and moved to “There’s been a wonderher…She’s such a ballsy characful explosion of diversity in ter, but yet also very sympathetic. It was just amazing to be able entertainment over the last few years. But the Asian community to delve into that,” Richelle told in general — and the Filipino the Asian Journal, adding that a community in specific — has week before filming began, she really been left behind that. We did combat training and learned wanted to be part of the energy how to shoot. “You’ll see in the show, every that’s correcting that and part of pushing us into the spotlight episode we pushed a little bit and saying, ‘Hey, take a look. I farther on [how] she can go think you’re gonna like what you as an actor and every time we see,’” he said. raised the expectations, Saman-
Cathartic pause during coronavirus isolation “THIS CRISIS however, like everything else in the course of human history, SHALL COME TO PASS.” January of 2020. By then, the virus from Patient Zero had spread to many parts of the world by infected carriers who travelled to other countries, particularly Milan in Italy where over 100,000 Chinese workers lived and worked in the factories and spread the contagion after the Chinese New Year celebration but not before causing thousands of death in Wuhan itself. The official numbers being touted by China regarding number of infections and deaths should be taken with a smidgen, nope, make that a mountain of hmmmmm. Fortunately for the US, travel from China was halted by President Trump by the end of January 2020 and then from Europe and the UK weeks later, bold moves that may have saved millions of coronavirus infections and death. Time will tell. For the time being, let the powers that be sort this out. The waters are muddy and a clearer picture will come out in due time. It seems however that war and the decimation of populations, as envisioned by globalists who want to control human population growth and consumption of the earth’s resources, foremost among whom is Bill Gates and his ilk, know that pandemics are an efficient, nearly bloodless way of achieving their elitist one world view. They will crash economies if they have to. They already have
more money than God. A few of these elitist globalists want to play God and get to decide just how many people the earth can and should sustain. This is the view where abortion is the norm and socialist healthcare death panels decide who gets to live or die among the elderly members of the population. The current case in point is Italian triage where the elderly is left to die in favor of the younger patients because of limited resources and exhausted medical personnel. Climate change is the globalist’s religion and planet earth is his god. The internet as a tool to gather information is like a sword. It is double-edged. You can use it for good or ill. It is rife with stories, information and disinformation and tons of propaganda. The global blame game is coming up. I hear grumblings as to who should be held to account for this pandemic. It is still early because the virus, scientists claim, has not peaked yet in many places. There will surely be hell to pay for all the destruction wrought, whether deliberate or accidental. Sifting through information or what passes for it these days needs an industrial strength filter and a good noggin just to sort through them. Forget the media. It cannot be trusted. Big media, owned just by 7 conglomerates all in alignment with a globalist agenda, have Continued on Page 4
“This is my stepdad Sonny and my mom Tita. My Tito Sonny passed away yesterday after losing his battle with COVID-19,” actor Nico Santos wrote on Instagram on Saturday.
Nico Santos
Gresham, Oregon with his family at 16. He played Oliver T’sien in the movie adaptation of Kevin Kwan’s “Crazy Rich Asians,” and is also starring in the NBC hit series “Superstore” as a sales associate
Photos courtesy of Nico Santos/Instagram
named Mateo Liwanag. As of writing, there are now more than 140,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States, with more than 2,000 fatalities and 4,000 recoveries.
entertainment Cathartic pause during...
The Asian Jour nal MDWK MAGAZINE - April 1, 2020
From Page 3 decidedly morphed as the enemy of the people, spinning lies, disinformation and propaganda to push its one world view agenda. VIEWER BEWARE! The antidote to lies, damned lies and statistics made to lie: Go direct to the source and figure it out yourself. Too
busy to do this? Read or listen to those who have a good grasp and understanding of history and current world events and more importantly, who have no agenda to push. THIS CRISIS however, like everything else in the course of human history, SHALL COME TO PASS.
On a different note, my sister Evelyn texted me this short message below. Consider it a wake-up call. Apparently written by an anonymous writer, it addresses why this thing may be happening. Perhaps, there IS a much bigger story behind why the world is on a cathartic pause. We are on a standstill and in uncharted territory waiting maybe for a reset, a confrontation, a war or even an earthshaking spiritual revival. God is renewing the face of the earth. In any case, I hope this goes viral and makes people think more deeply. In three short months, just like He did with the plagues of Egypt, God has taken away everything we worship. God said, “You want to worship athletes, I will shut down stadiums. You want to worship musicians, I will shut down civic centers. You want to worship actors, I will shut down theaters. You want to worship money, I will shut down the economy and collapse the stock market. You don’t want to go to church and worship ME, I will make it where you can’t go to church.� “If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.� Maybe we don’t need a vaccine. Maybe we need to take this time of isolation from the distractions of the world and have a personal revival where we focus on the only thing in the world that really matters – JESUS. Enjoy this forced sabbatical hiatus. It will be for only a short period of time and we will all be back to the rat race. SIGH. It may surprise you what amazing grace it is having precious time in your hands to do as you please, even perhaps, to find the time for a personal revival of our relationship with God. ***
Dimples: Envy, hatred not good for actors’ growth ACTRESS Dimples Romana shares her thoughts on “always being compared with� other actresses, especially those who also come from her home network, ABS-CBN. “We’re all friends,� she declares. “Be it for the big screen or television, we always want to work with each other, regardless of which group or
network we’re from. We always want to work with different people because collaboration equals growth.� She further says: “We all want to grow as people. I just wish we would get rid of hatred and envy in our hearts. I’m calling out to everyone: Sana ‘wag gano’n.� (Marinel Cruz/Inquirer.net)
Photo from Instagram/@dimplesromana
Gretchen Ho
Photos from Instagram/@gretchenho
Gretchen uses household items for quarantine workout routine By Cha Lino Inquirer.net
WHILE citizens are required to stay indoors to avoid the spread of COVID19, TV host and former volleyball athlete Gretchen Ho thought of a resourceful way to stay fit despite not having access to a gym and its equipment. Ho shared her workout routine to her fans using items they could grab at home, such as two bottles of cooking oil, a sack of rice and a plastic basin. The “Umagang Kay Ganda� host came up with eight exercises people can follow for cardio Nota Bene: Monette Adeva Maglaya is and for toning their legs, SVP of Asian Journal Publications, Inc. To arms and core, as seen on her send comments, e-mail monette.maglaya@ Instagram account on Monasianjournalinc.com day, March 30.
“Burning the #Covid19 FATS,� Ho said. “Workouts you can do from home.� Ho revealed that some people have been asking her for workout tips which inspired her to create the routine. The TV host advised that each workout should be repeated in three sets, for 12 to 15 repetitions each. The former Ateneo Lady Eagle carried a plastic basin filled with other washing material up and down the stairs for cardio. In replacement for dumbbells, Ho used two big bottles of cooking oil for biceps curls, and a small sack of rice for triceps extension. She also used a basketball for her core work routine. “Most important in staying healthy is staying disciplined!� she emphasized.
“Keep a schedule and show up to your workouts.� After President Rodrigo Duterte placed Metro Manila, and later on the entire Luzon, under a 30-day quarantine, Ho was one of the celebrities who suggested some ways to pass the time during this period. She asked her fans how they intend to “survive a quarantine� on social media, which garnered hilarious and inspirational responses. Other stars have also been sharing their workout routines on social media, such as actress and fitness enthusiast Solenn Heussaff. The new mom demonstrated her postpartum workout routine which targets the whole body and requires minimal to no equipment other than an exercise mat.
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Should I create a will and living trust in preparation for the COVID-19 pandemic? the assets of the estate. If it is necessary to post bond, the premium on the bond would have to be paid as well. There is also the cost of administering the estate such as selling some of the assets to satisfy the esAtty. Kenneth tate’s obligations and to divide UrsUA reyes the estate according to the will or the intestate line of succession if there is no will. The enTHE COVID-19 Pandemic tire process could take up years is a scary reality which affects specially if certain beneficiaries everyone globally and has shut and creditors file certain claims. down the global economy. The probate court file would be Individuals over 60 years old public record. and individual that are immune On the other hand if you compromised are more at risk have a living trust, your estate of having serious complications can avoid the entire court with this virus. Individuals are dying all over the world in expo- system and court supervision. In certain situations, the process nential numbers. Although we may also save you estate taxes cannot completely control how our bodies and immune system which may be substantial if your assets exceed a certain threshwould respond to this virus, we old. Basically, you and/or your can prepare our finances and spouse can be named as the estate in case the worst hapinitial trustee of the trust while pens to make sure our loved ones are properly provided for. you are alive. The trustee is the person who manages the Legally, there are several ways trust. This means you retain you can do this. control of all your assets the Create a Living Trust If you pass away with at least same way as if you never had a trust. For revocable trusts, you $166,250 in gross assets and can later on, at any time during you do not have a living trust your lifetime, revoke the entire (even if you have a will), your trust if you change your mind. beneficiaries would have to The assets held in your open up a probate case before living trust will be managed title to the assets can pass to by the trustee and distributed them. When I say gross asset, according to your directions I mean regardless of how much without court supervision and debt you owe on them. For involvement when you pass example if you own a house away. This can save your heirs valued at $350,000 at the time time and money. Since the trust of your death, it does not matter that your mortgage balance would not be under the direct is $300,000, a probate case has management of the probate court, your assets and their to be opened in order to pass title to that property. The same value and your beneficiaries’ is true with other types of assets identities would not become a public record. Your heirs and such as owning a business, a beneficiaries would still have professional practice, bonds, to be notified about the living equities, etc. This is a very low trust and advised, among other threshold to exceed specially things, of their right to obtain a in California where real estate prices, even after the economic copy of the trust. Having a trust is also crisis, remains in the upper beneficial in case you become end of the curve among the 50 incapacitated. The person you states. Commencing a probate case name as successor trustee can step up and manage the assets is expensive and a very slow process. Someone qualified will in your trust on your behalf. Power of Attorney have to file a Petition with the A power of attorney desprobate court to have someignates another individual the one appointed as executor or power to manage your financial administrator. The Petitioner’s affairs on your behalf. You can attorney gets paid a statutory limit this power and define what rate for attorney’s fees comthe scope of the power you are mencing with 4% of the gross estate. The probate referee will giving your attorney in fact. A power of attorney is also revohave to be paid for appraising
Barrister’s Corner
cable if you decide to cancel the power you have given this individual. By giving another person the power of attorney, you do not lose the power to manage your financial affairs. You can continue to make financial decisions on your own affairs. Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare A Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare allows your to designate specific individual to have the power to make healthcare decisions on your behalf incase you no longer have the capacity to make decisions for yourself due to health conditions. You can define the scope of your agent’s authority. This is also revocable if you change your mind in the future. Your agent will have the authority to access and review your medical records and sign any authorization on your behalf. This is helpful incase you are unable to make healthcare decisions for yourself. Last Will and Testament A Last Will and Testament allows your to designate how your assets will be distributed after you pass away. This allows you to customize how your estate will be divided and distributed. In the absence of a Will, you would pass away intestate and the probate court would simply follow the California intestate succession laws which are in the probate code.
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The Asian Jour nal MDWK MAGAZINE - April 1, 2020
Debt Relief
$2 trillion stimulus on the way to you
because there is virtually no restaurant business anymore. Pretty much, Los Angeles has ground to a halt. People do I MUST admit that the not want to expose them$2 trillion stimulus package selves to the risk of getting to counter the virus-induced the virus, so people are slowdown is noteworthy. In the next three weeks, 93% of mostly self-isolating and staying home, especially seniors. Americans will be receiving Even in bankruptcy court, $1,200 each, according to hearings are being postTreasury Secretary Mnuchin. poned. In hearings that have The Senate has just apnot been postponed, the proved this bill. President Donald Trump is all for it, and court requires that lawyers appear in court, not in perit goes to Congress for its adoption on Friday, hopefully. son, but telephonically. Some judges are wearing masks It’s a truly bipartisan bill of and rubber gloves. You can’t historic proportions. It also approach the clerk of the provides temporary loans to court to check in anymore, businesses to tide them over during this period of national you have to check-in at the podium in front of the micalamity. Further, those who crophone, which is at least a lose their jobs will be given hundred feet from the judge 100% plus a little more, for and the clerk. They don’t four or six months. And the Feds has given more liquidity, want to get exposed to the $500B more to avoid a credit virus either. Trying calling the Chapter 13 Trustee offices, crunch. they are closed. But debtors On the financial side, are still expected to pay their these steps are truly a big plan payments via TFS when help. However, if the virus is not contained in the next cou- they are due. So even the ple of months, it just won’t be court system is adapting to enough. The cause of our pre- the crisis by delaying heardicament now is the virus and ings and keeping minimum physical contact. But trithe fear of it. So, hopefully, als still require the physical God gives our president the *** appearance of parties and wisdom and character to do Please note that this article is not legal advice counsel. the right thing to contain the and is not intended as legal advice. The Credit card use will ininvisible enemy. We are all in article is intended to provide only general, crease exponentially during non-specific legal information. This article is this together. So let’s all act not intended to cover all the issues related to civilly towards each other and this crisis. People will have no choice because incomes the topic discussed. The specific facts that help one another. apply to your matter may make the outcome will go down despite the $2 What is the role of credit different than would be anticipated by you. cards and credit lines in all of trillion stimulus. Bills will still This article does create any attorney client this? People will start drawhave to be paid. Mortgages relationship between you and the Law Offices ing on credit cards and credit and rents still have to be of Kenneth U. Reyes, P.C. This article is not paid, even if the stimulus bill lines to cover any shortfall a solicitation. does require FHA mortgages in income. There’s nothing *** to allow a two or three-month Attorney Kenneth Ursua Reyes is a Certified surprising about this. It’s an Family Law Specialist. He was President of the emergency. Eventually, credit moratorium on mortgage payments without interest Philippine American Bar Association. He is a cards and credit lines will get member of both the Family law section and maxed out, the longer this or penalty. Foreclosures Immigration law section of the Los Angeles crisis lasts. I fully expect this and evictions will also have County Bar Association. He is a graduate of to happen. Lots of people are a couple of months of the Southwestern University Law School in Los losing their jobs. Unemploymoratorium. Angeles and California State University, San So now we will wait and ment applications hit 3.3 milBernardino School of Business Administration. see. Nobody knows what is He has extensive CPA experience prior to law lion this week. This is seven practice. LAW OFFICES OF KENNETH REYES, times the normal. Restaurants going to happen next. It most certainly appears that virus P.C. is located at 3699 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 747, employ many people. Social infections will rise exponenLos Angeles, CA, 90010. Tel. (213) 388-1611 or distancing requires that we e-mail kenneth@kenreyeslaw.com or visit our don’t go eat at restaurants. tially in the next few months, website at Kenreyeslaw.com while the president has set A lot of people working for (Advertising Supplement) restaurants will lose their jobs his own timeline of getting
Atty. LAwrence yAng
back America, or at least some parts of it, restarted and back to business. But NY now appears to be ground zero. It’s crazy over there. Half of the virus cases in America are in NY. But NY has their competent Governor Andrew Cuomo who knows what to do. Once you maxed out your credit cards and credit lines, and things have gone back to normal, it’s time to seriously consider filing Chapter 7 to wipe them out, or Chapter 13 to reorganize your financial situation. In the meantime, the fact is, we are just living one day at a time. We don’t know what tomorrow will bring; maybe more bad news, or some good news, but certainly more infections and more deaths. Well, kudos to our front line defenders, all our doctors and nurses who are giving all they have to fight the good fight, while potentially exposing themselves to the virus. Thank you for what you do! They really need effective protective gear. Testing, testing, testing; the faster the better. Several biotech companies are coming up with very fast testing methods. One is coming out this week that gives test results in 45 minutes — happy to hear this. Meanwhile, pharmaceutical companies are trying to come out with a vaccine soonest possible. But this too will pass. America will survive and come out stronger for it. In our God, we trust. If you need debt relief, please set an appointment. I will analyze your case personally.
*** Lawrence Bautista Yang specializes in Bankruptcy, Business, Real Estate and Civil Litigation, and has successfully represented more than five thousand clients in California. Please call Angie, Barbara or Jess at (626) 284-1142 for an appointment at 20274 Carrey Road, Walnut, CA 91789 or 1000 S. Fremont Ave., Mailstop 58, Building A-10 South Suite 10042, Alhambra, CA 91803. (Advertising Supplement)
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