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APRIL 22-28, 2022 Volume 15 - No.24 • 16 Pages

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PH Consulate suspends consular services DATELINE USA due to staff exposure to COVID-19 Civil rights org FROM THE AJPRESS NEWS TEAM ACROSS AMERICA

continues bystander intervention trainings amid hate surge

TO help put an end to the proliferation of anti-Asian hate and harassment, Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Los Angeles (Advancing Justice-LA) is offering free virtual bystander intervention trainings in the native Filipino language. Starting last fall, Advancing Justice-LA began offering trainings in Tagalog as well as other Asian languages. Jeanette Sayno, Advancing Justice-LA community

by MOMAR

G. VISAYA

AJPress

THE Philippine Consulate General in New York has suspended consular operations beginning Wednesday, April 20 because several consulate personnel has tested positive for COVID-19. The consulate has also postponed its consular outreach

mission scheduled on Saturday, April 23 in Bergenfield, New Jersey. “A number of us tested positive today for a very aggressive strain of COVID-19. The rest, who tested negative, are monitoring themselves because they were exposed to our positive colleagues while doing election duty in the past several days and nights. Some have been told to isolate after

exhibiting symptoms,” the consulate posted on Facebook. PCGNY officers and staff have been working overtime for the past eight days to make sure that election ballots that only arrived in New York last Monday, April 11 would reach registered overseas voters as soon as possible to allow them to exercise their right to vote.

 PAGE 4

WTTC Economic Impact Report reveals significant recovery of PH tourism amid COVID-19 pandemic

 PAGE 7

by MOMAR

G. VISAYA

AJPress

WTTC President and CEO Julia Simpson (left) on Wednesday, April 20 shared about the Council’s promising projections for tourism recovery in the Philippines enclosed in its latest Economic Impact Report (EIR) done in partnership with Oxford Economics. Simpson also recognized DOT Secretary Berna Romulo-Puyat (center) for her leadership and efforts to continue to steer the country’s tourism industry to recovery, which included the push for border reopening and lifting of restrictions to allow a seamless process for visitors. AJPress

THE World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) is bullish on the prospect of the Philippines’ tourism industry recovery, projecting a bright future and a rosy outlook in terms of economic growth and employment generation in the next 10 years. Citing the latest Economic Impact Report, WTTC President and Chief Executive Officer Julia Simpson revealed that the embattled travel and tourism industry in the country reached US$ 41 billion in 2021, climbing 129.5.% year on year.

 PAGE 4

Ditas Katague

Mask mandate lifted DILG takes offense at Fil-Am Ditas US State Department report Katague appointed to for US travelers on impunity of PH state forces by AJP US Census Bureau post RESS

THE U.S. Census Bureau announced the appointment of Ditas Katague as associate director of communications, responsible for leading internal and external communications activities of the nation’s largest statistical agency. This includes oversight of marketing, public affairs, congressional and intergovernmental affairs, partner engagement and media

 PAGE 4

THE United States government this week announced that it will not enforce the mask mandate on public transportation. The decision comes after a federal judge on Monday, April 18 ruled that the mandate, which was to minimize the spread of the

coronavirus, was unlawful. U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle ruled against the mandate after a lawsuit was filed in Tampa, Florida, arguing that health officials were overstepping with the mandate. “The agencies are reviewing the decision and assessing potential next steps,” the Biden

 PAGE 4

MANILA — The Department of the Interior and Local Government panned the U.S. State Department’s 2021 Country Report on Human Rights Practices released on the abuses by security forces in the Philippines, calling it “sweeping, rhetorical, and unfounded.” This comes after the U.S. Department of State said that it received “credible reports that

members of the security forces committed numerous abuses” in its 2021 Country Report on Human Rights Practices. The report pointed out — correctly, as even the national government’s own data will show — that drugrelated killings linked to President Rodrigo Duterte’s “war on drugs” continue in the Philippines.

 PAGE 2

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APRIL 22-28, 2022 • NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY ASIAN JOURNAL

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Attendance plummets at Los Angeles COVID vaccination events LOS ANGELES — Nurse Angel Ho-king sways her head to the sound of salsa music as she waits for people willing to roll up their sleeves to get a shot. Ho-king is part of a four-person crew staffing a COVID-19 vaccine table at a health fair in Rampart Village, a predominantly immigrant neighborhood about 10 minutes from Dodger Stadium. In three hours on a recent Saturday, Ho-king and Brenda Rodriguez, a medical assistant, vaccinated 16 people — far fewer than they had anticipated. Nearly everyone who showed up at the fair, organized by Saban Community Clinic, was an adult seeking a booster shot or a young child getting a first dose (children ages 5 to 11 became eligible for a vaccine late last year). As COVID infections have declined so too has interest in COVID vaccines — even though the shots are highly effective at preventing serious illness and death from the virus. In California’s most-

populous county, where more than 1.7 million people have not received even one dose, vaccination events have turned desolate. About 46,000 county residents got their first dose in March, a 79% decline from January, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. Those who remain unvaccinated are harder to convince, telling health care workers and vaccination coordinators that they don’t feel a sense of urgency. According to a January survey by the Public Policy Institute of California, about 1 in 10 California adults said they definitely won’t get vaccinated, which has remained consistent since January 2021, and 86% of unvaccinated adults said the omicron variant wasn’t enough to persuade them. Employers and businesses are dropping or rolling back vaccination mandates. And although proof of vaccination once offered perks like allowing people to go maskless indoors, face coverings are generally no

longer required in California. At a recent vaccination drive coordinated by an immigrant advocacy group in Palmdale, near Lancaster in northern LA County, only two people showed up over four hours, both for second doses. As of April 1, 25% of Palmdale residents ages 5 and up were unvaccinated, compared with 17% of county residents, according to county data. Jorge Perez, Salva Organization’s vaccine coordinator, spent a week promoting the event with his team, going door to door, visiting local businesses, and publicizing it on social media. At previous vaccine drives, “we got 42 people, then 20, then four,” said a disappointed Perez. “Now two.” Perez reduced the number of staffers at vaccination events from five to two in February as the numbers started to dwindle. Much work remains to be done to combat vaccine misinformation, especially given the spread of BA.2,

u PAGE 7

SAFETY PROTOCOL. Students line up to wash their hands before going inside the classroom at the entrance of the San Miguel Elementary School, Congressional Avenue, Barangay San Miguel II, City of Dasmarinas, Cavite on Tuesday, April 19. Limited face-to-face classes have been allowed now that COVID-19 cases are declining and several areas have been placed under Alert Level 1.

DILG takes offense at US... PAGE 1 In a statement issued Tuesday morning, April 20, the DILG called the report “a mere repetition of unsubstantiated accusations against Philippine security forces that were loosely picked up from the traditional and social media, paints a grim picture of the country’s peace and order situation that is so far removed from the realities on the ground.” He added that the report “belittles the hard work and sacrifice of the men and women of the PNP and the AFP who have been risking their lives to fulfill their sworn duty to fight criminality and illegal drugs.” “The operations of the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines down to the grassroots level have led to dramatic improvement of the general peace and security situation in the country since 2016,” he claimed. “We join the Department of National Defense in posing a challenge to the US Department of State to substantiate their accusations so that we can properly address them through our internal mechanisms and the courts. Nonetheless, we will continue to do our sworn duty without fear or favor to maintain peace and order in our country.” The claim that the report is “unsubstantiated” is false. A cursory check of the report shows that it cited the government’s own Commission on Human Rights, which said it had investigated 100 new complaints of alleged extrajudicial and politically motivated killings. The commission investigated 130 victims allegedly perpetrated by 39 police personnel, eight military personnel, five insurgents, three local government officials and 45 unidentified persons. The CHR also investigated 49 drug-related killings with 53 victims with suspected police or Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency involvement. It also pointed to the government’s own data that acknowledges over 6,200 killings in official anti-drug operations by state forces. Rights groups both here and abroad say the true death toll could be as high as 30,000. Gov’t on the defense once more Año’s statement comes a day after the PNP, an attached body of the DILG, also pushed back against the content of the US State Department report, which it said was “very sweeping.” “How come we already have 5,000 policemen that were already dismissed for various infractions? How come we see that the pride and morale of the police is high? How come they are delivering over the years?” Police Gen. Dionardo Carlos, PNP

Interior Secretary Eduardo Año

Philstar.com file photo

chief said in mixed Filipino and English. These echo the usual narratives employed by the administration in addressing killings over its so-called war on drugs. To recall, a supposed “independent human rights probe” led by the DILG went as far as claiming that extrajudicial killings did not exist in the first few months of the Duterte administration. Progress in cases of the government investigating itself has meanwhile been slow to nonexistent. The Commission on Human Rights has cast doubt on the government’s transparency in these probes, saying that investigations into thousands of other “drug war” cases are still pending, with only a handful of cases actually reaching the courts. President Rodrigo Duterte has lashed out against international bodies — including the United Nations — calling for an investigation into his flagship project. All the while, illegal drugs in the Philippines are cheaper than ever. In 2020, crystal methamphetamines or shabu was found to still be behind the most arrest and treatment admissions in the Philippines, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reported. “Local and international human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch described widespread impunity for killings. There were no prosecutions or convictions for extrajudicial killings in the year to October and three since the start of the drug war in 2016,” the US State Department said in its report. “Human rights groups continued to express concern about abuses committed by the national police and other security forces and noted little progress in reforms aimed at improving investigations and prosecutions of suspected human rights violations.” (Franco Luna with a report from Patricia Lourdes Viray/Philstar.com)

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NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY ASIAN JOURNAL • APRIL 22-28, 2022

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APRIL 22-28, 2022 • NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY ASIAN JOURNAL

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From the Front Page

Fil-Am Ditas Katague... PH Consulate suspends consular services due to... PAGE 1 relations, according to a release from the bureau. “Ditas Katague brings a wealth of knowledge, experience and leadership to the Census Bureau,” said Census Bureau Director Robert L. Santos. “I congratulate Ms. Katague on her appointment and look forward to working with her to help communicate the important work of the Census Bureau to the American people, government leaders and policymakers.” In a Linkedin post, Katague said she is “honored” to be appointed to her new position. “I am honored to serve our country and the Biden Administration as the Associate Director of Communications at U.S. Census Bureau! Looking forward to packing up and relocating to DC,” she wrote. Prior to joining the Census Bureau, Katague was director of the California Complete Count – Census 2020 Office, the outreach and communications campaign that worked to ensure a complete population count of historically undercounted Californians. This built on her experience leading the state’s decennial census outreach efforts in 2000 and 2010. In 2000, as chief deputy campaign director for the Governor’s 2000 Census California Complete Count campaign, she led a groundbreaking multilingual, multimedia outreach effort that resulted in a mail-in response return rate that outpaced the national rate. From 2012 to 2018, she served on the Census Bureau’s National Advisory Committee on Race, Ethnicities and Other Populations, including three years as its chair. An expert in multiethnic outreach and civic engagement, Katague also served as chief of staff to the California Public Utilities Commission, where she improved public participation and access to the energy and telecommunications utility rate and regulation process. Since 1998, Katague has served on the Sacramento Center Advisory Board for the Sol Price School of Public Policy, University of Southern California. She holds an MPA from USC and a BA from UC Berkeley. (AJPress)

Mask mandate... PAGE 1 administration official said, according to CNN. “In the meantime, today’s court decision means CDC’s public transportation masking order is not in effect at this time. Therefore, TSA will not enforce its Security Directives and Emergency Amendment requiring mask use on public transportation and transportation hubs at this time. CDC recommends that people continue to wear masks in indoor public transportation settings.” Previously U.S. health officials had planned to extend the mask mandate until May 3 to require individuals to wear face coverings on airplanes, trains and other methods of transportation, like taxis and ride-share vehicles, as the thread of COVID-19 persists. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that it will not enforce the 14-month-old mandate but will continue to recommend individuals wear masks. “As a result of a court order, effective immediately

and as of April 18, 2022, CDC’s January 29, 2021 Order requiring masks on public transportation conveyances and at transportation hubs is no longer in effect. Therefore, CDC will not enforce the Order. CDC continues to recommend that people wear masks in indoor public transportation settings at this time,” the CDC wrote on its website. Last January 2021, the agency released an order requiring that people aboard public transportation wear masks, regardless of vaccination status. Following Monday’s decision, major airlines, such as American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta Airlines, announced they would lift the restrictions. “We are relieved to see the U.S. mask mandate lift to facilitate global travel as COVID-19 has transitioned to an ordinary seasonal virus,” Delta said in a statement. Likewise, Amtrak, which operates the national train line, announced it would follow suit. g

PAGE 1 “We hope kababayan affected by the suspension of consular operations would understand why we have to do this. This is the first time the Consulate was hit hard by COVID-19 and the decision to suspend was with the intention to protect kababayan from possible exposure,” the advisory added. In a video message, Consul General Elmer G. Cato requested patience and understanding from the Filipino community, particularly those who were affected by the suspension of consular services. He assured the public, particularly those who are still waiting for their ballots to arrive in the mail, that the remaining personnel is focused on making sure that the remaining ballots are all sent out. “We have already delivered to the post office almost 60

percent of the almost 40,000 election packets that were sent to PCGNY,” the consul general said. The consulate also advised kababayan who visited the Philippine Center on Monday, April 18, and Tuesday, April 19 to check themselves for symptoms and take the necessary tests and precautions. Normal consular operations will resume on Monday, April 25, 2022. Despite Consul General Cato’s statement, some members of the community are still concerned about the delay in the sending of the election packets. Some FilAm groups have also called out the “widespread OAV mishandling on the part of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC), which according to R.A. 9189 should have transmitted ballots to embassies and consulates no later than 75-days before the

day of elections.” They have also called for an investigation of the COMELEC to ensure they are held accountable for the poor handling of overseas absentee voting. “They knew six years ago that there would be an election,” said Carolina de Leon of Malaya Movement New York. “They are wellpaid public officials in the COMELEC. They should have been preparing for this election.” De Leon added that the threat of disenfranchisement holds especially true for migrant, working Filipinos. “We know that many of our kababayan are working in domestic work and are live-in. If they’re living at their employers’ place for one week, two weeks, they might not get home in time to receive their ballots,” she said. “We sent a letter to bring to the attention

[of Ambassador Jose Romualdez] the disturbing problems regarding the Filipino Overseas Absentee Voting,” said Eric Lachica of U.S. Filipinos for Good Governance (USFGG). Among the problems he mentioned was the embassy’s last-minute press release dated April 8 notifying the public of an April 9 deadline to submit applications for poll watchers, news media, and local community observers, leaving the public with an “unreasonable twenty-fourhour application deadline.” “We are coming together to support Kontra Daya and the efforts to monitor fraud during this election,” said Nikki De Leon of the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns. “If you or anyone you know experience irregularities during the OAV period, please speak up. Your voice and experience will help to ensure a clean and honest election this 2022.” g

WTTC Economic Impact Report reveals... PAGE 1 In the opening press conference of the 21st WTTC Global Summit held at the Marriott Hotel, Simpson lauded the leadership of Secretary Berna RomuloPuyat for her continuous efforts to revitalize the tourism industry of the Philippines, which has been steadily recovering despite the ongoing global health concern. “Our expert analysis shows that the travel and tourism economy has turned a corner, and is firmly on the road to recovery. This growth was primarily built on domestic travels and very much pioneered and led by Secretary Bernadette,” Simpson said. According to said Economic Impact Report (EIR) for the Philippines, the sector supported 7.8 million jobs, representing a substantial 20.5% rise in 2020, compared with a global increase of 6.7%. “In the nearly two years where international travel was put on hold, the Philippines has been busy preparing for the day when our country would be open to the world. We have put in place guidelines that will ensure the safety of our guests, our tourism workforce, and our community,” Puyat shared. The Philippines has been open to visa-free countries since February 10 and all countries since April 1. Up until April 17, she said the country received about 270,000 foreign arrivals adding that the country has the least number of restrictions. “Ultimately, through this summit, we hope to raise awareness of the full economic and social impact of

Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Berna Romulo-Puyat (center) together with World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) President and CEO Julia Simpson (left) and WTTC Chair and President & CEO of Carnival Corporation Arnold Donald (right) welcome delegates of the 21st WTTC Global Summit during the opening press conference held Wednesday, April 20 at the Marriott Hotel. AJPress

travel and tourism. We also want to assure everyone, especially our foreign guests, that your safety and well-being is our priority,” the Tourism Secretary emphasized. Considered one of the most influential Travel & Tourism events worldwide, the WTTC Global Summit is an annual gathering of the entire spectrum of the industry, including airlines and airports, hotels and hospitality groups, tour operators and retail travel agents, online distributors, cruise lines, investment companies, insurance groups, and the technology industry. “Looking ahead, we forecast an average annual growth rate of 6.7% over the next 10 years, exceeding the expected country’s overall economy

average growth rate of just 5.6%,” Simpson said.“We also forecast employment will grow annually by an average of 3% over the next 10 years, generating 2.9 million new jobs, accounting for 21.5% of all jobs in the Philippines.” Before the pandemic, the Philippines Travel & Tourism sector’s contribution to GDP was 22.5% of the total economy (worth US$92.6 billion). However, due to damaging travel restrictions, it then plunged by 80.7% to a mere US$ 17.8 billion, dropping to just a 4.8% share towards the country’s GDP. But in 2021 this rose to US$ 41 billion, representing a 10.4% share of the nation’s total economy, which signals the recovery of the sector is well underway.g

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NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY ASIAN JOURNAL • APRIL 22-28, 2022

OPINION

FEATURES

Overcapacity

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SINCE Boracay was reopened to tourism in October 2018 following a six-month shutdown for rehabilitation, a carrying capacity has been imposed on the world-famous resort island. President Duterte had ordered the shutdown at the peak of the travel season in the summer of 2018 after finding out that the island’s sewage was being spewed into Boracay’s waters and overbuilding was destroying the top tourist destination. The carrying capacity has not been lifted, and was in fact further reduced in the past two years in line with COVID health safety protocols. So health officials were disheartened to see the capacity limit breached during the Holy Week. Pre-pandemic, the daily carrying capacity was set at 19,000. The Malay Tourism Office, however, reported to the Department of Tourism that Boracay visitors hit 21,252 on April 14, Maundy Thursday, and 22,519 on April 15, Good Friday. The DOT said the government of Malay town in Aklan would receive a warning from the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

The Malay government had previously drawn flak for the proliferation of fake COVID reverse transcriptionpolymerase chain reaction swab test results used by visitors to enter Boracay during the pandemic lockdowns. As the Omicrondriven surge last January eased, however, the government lifted effective Feb. 2 the requirement for a negative RT-PCR test result for entering Boracay and another popular travel destination, Puerto Galera in Oriental Mindoro, as long as the tourist is fully vaccinated. But the pre-pandemic carrying capacity for Boracay, meant to protect the island’s environment, has not been changed. The local government is supposed to enforce the capacity limit, which should not be a daunting task since visitors enter Boracay by boat and must be registered. If not curbed quickly, the capacity

Editorial

Philstar.com

breach may become the norm, and Boracay may soon return to what it was before its

rehabilitation, as described by the President: a cesspool. (Philstar.com)

In their own words: Why Filipinos are now switching to Leni and Kiko The Fil-Am Perspective GEL SANTOS-REAMID the troubling reports of some Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) receiving pre-shaded ballots in the mail electing Bongbong Marcos and Sara Duterte-Carpio, amid some overseas absentee

voters suddenly not finding their names in the roster of eligible voters even when they have already registered and voted in the past with good standing in the community… Amid the misogynist attack of presidential candidate Isko Moreno against the lone female candidate VP Leni Robredo, asking the VP who places second in (questionable) polls to withdraw from the race so that those trailing behind her would get the attention they

are craving for… Amid the P203-Billion unpaid estate tax by the Marcos family, represented by its administrator presidential candidate Bongbong Marcos whose campaign continues to spew lies and disinformation to discredit VP Leni Robredo and Sen. Kiko Pangilinan, resorting to peddling malicious fake sex videos targeting Robredo’s eldest daughter Aika... Indeed, the Lord has ways to reveal the true color of

presidential candidates, how they respond to crisis situations, how they are truly transparent and accountable to the Filipino people, and just how true of a public servants they are. Trending now on social media is the big switch of supporters — ordinary Filipino voters who now join honorable former government officials, retired military officers, members of the academe, businessmen and financial

analysts, professional groups of doctors, lawyers, teachers, nurses, artists, even the farmers, fishermen, nongovernment organization leaders fighting for the truth, justice, good governance, human rights, the rule of law, etc — in endorsing and campaigning for Leni Robredo and her only chosen trusted Vice Presidential candidate Kiko Pangilinan. Why the big switch? What did they find in Leni and Kiko that made them decide

to drop the candidate they formerly were supporting to give their all out vote of trust and confidence to Leni and Kiko? Here are some of their comments on social media in response to Papi Lucas on Twitter. “I’m thinking of switching to Leni just because I just don’t want BBM to win this race. For me he is incompetent and not a great leader. Naging sikat lang siya because of his father, PAGE 10

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. ADVERTISING AND ADVERTORIAL POLICIES ROGER LAGMAY ORIEL Publisher & Chairman of the Board

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APRIL 22-28, 2022 • NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY ASIAN JOURNAL

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Dateline PhiliPPines

PNP to look into poll sabotage claims by nEil Jayson

sErvallos Philstar.com

MANILA — The Philippine National Police will validate reports of an alleged plot to sabotage the May 9 elections as claimed by three presidential candidates during a press conference on Sunday, the top PNP official said on Tuesday, April 19. PNP chief Gen. Dionardo Carlos said that while they have not received such reports, they were continuously monitoring developments that might compromise peace and order during the elections. Sen. Panfilo Lacson and fellow candidates Manila Mayor Isko Moreno and former defense chief Norberto Gonzales made the claim during their joint press conference on Sunday, April 17. Lacson said the reports were not validated. “We’ll get the details from Senator Lacson so we can

PNP chief Gen. Dionardo Carlos said that while they have not received such reports, they were continuously monitoring developments that might compromise peace and order during the elections. Photo from pna.gov.ph

look into it. So far I have here Maj. Gen. Val de Leon. He’s monitoring the elections and so far we don’t have major reports of such sort. So we will get it from Sen. Ping,” Carlos told reporters. De Leon heads the Special Task ForceNational and Local Elections (STF-NLE). Carlos, who would be retiring on the eve of the May 9 elections, said he was

overseeing preparations being made by the PNP to ensure peaceful and orderly elections. “From our end, we don’t see anything that would hamper or derail the election up to May 9. When May 9 comes, I’m once again Mr. Carlos. So I always look at what the STF is preparing,” he said. The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), for its part, said investigating destabilization reports is a law enforcement function. “We will support the PNP should they need us. But they are the lead when it comes to law enforcement,” AFP spokesman, Col. Ramon Zagala told The STAR. On the alleged “destabilization” plot after the elections, President Duterte’s political party said the voice of the majority should be respected. Melvin Matibag, secretarygeneral of the Duterte-led PDP-Laban faction, said

another uprising similar to the EDSA Revolution should not be allowed to damage or destroy the country’s institutions. “The PDP-Laban position has always been to respect the voice of the people and the Constitution we all signed up for. The party believes in the Filipino voters. The voice of the majority should prevail. We cannot allow another EDSA to destroy and damage our institutions,” Matibag said in a statement. Gonzales, meanwhile, said in an interview with CNN Philippines that he wanted to lead a public rejection of votebuying culture. “I will write the Comelec formally,” Gonzales said. “We have to dislike this kind of practice, vote buying.” Gonzales cited a “concrete action” taken by the AFP when it set up checkpoints to stop the distribution of cash. “Maybe they should do it again,” Gonzales said. g

Pope Francis reappoints Davao archbishop as member of Vatican office by John

Eric MEndoza Inquirer.net

MANILA — Pope Francis has reappointed Davao Archbishop Romulo Valles as member of Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments (CDW), the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) news agency has reported. According to CBCP News, Valles received his appointment on March 29, but the Davao Archdiocese has only publicized the appointment on Sunday,

April 17. Valles’ reappointment was conveyed by the Vatican’s Secretariat of State to Archbishop Arthur Roche, prefect of the Vatican department, on Monday, March 18, according to CBCP. Valles said that “it is a joy to serve the Church in this manner” and to represent the Philippines in the dicastery. Pope Francis first named Valles and 26 other bishops to be members of CDW in October 2016. Valles was president of the CBCP from 2017 to 2021. g

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NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY ASIAN JOURNAL • APRIL 22-28, 2022

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Attendance plummets at Los Angeles COVID...

CASH REWARDS. Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency officials pose with confidential informants who show a total of P10,262,337 as cash rewards for providing information that led to 22 successful anti-drug operations during the awarding ceremony at the PDEA headquarters in Quezon City on Tuesday, April 19. The granting of financial incentives is under PDEA “Operation Private Eye”, a citizen based information collection program designed to encourage the active participation of private citizens to report illegal drug activities in their

PH recognized as ‘exemplary country’ for its high vaccination rate THE Philippines is being hailed globally for successfully accelerating vaccine deployment among residents despite hurdles in supply and vaccine hesitancy, vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said Monday night, April 18, citing a report from G20. “Maganda ring balita na iyong G20, ito po ‘yung big economies ng 20 countries, they acknowledged po that the Philippines is an example country in the acceleration of the vaccine deployment,” Galvez said in his report to President Rodrigo Roa Duterte during a meeting on government’s COVID-19 measures. “Na-cite po dito na despite the challenges that we had na napakababa po ng ating supply during the early stages, but we were able to accelerate itong vaccination po natin.” Galvez, who is also the National Task Force (NTF) COVID-19 chief implementer, said the international recognition brings great pride to the nation especially because the report was based on an evaluation by the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF). The report further praised the Philippines as a model country not only in reducing vaccine hesitancy, but also for effectively increasing the demand for COVID-19 vaccine, he said.

Foreign nations also lauded the Duterte administration’s risk communication and community engagement strategies. The vaccine czar then expressed his gratitude to the local government units (LGUs), the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) and media groups, as well as the private sector for collectively working with each other to achieve the desired goal of inoculating Filipinos against the deadly coronavirus disease. Galvez also encouraged the unvaccinated to get COVID-19 jab, noting that getting vaccinated is a conscious act of protecting not only one’s self but also one’s family and the entire country. “Huwag po natin sayangin ang ating magandang nangyayari po ngayon dahil kasi ang ano po natin is mapanatili na po natin na mababa ang ating mga cases at saka ang ating death level, at tuloy-tuloy po na magkaroon po tayo ng magandang ayuda sa ating ekonomiya,” he said. “Marami na po tayong nakuha na bakuna at talaga pong nagpakahirap po tayo doon at marami pong nagdonate na mababait na mga countries, huwag po natin sayangin ang ating mga pinaghirapan,” he added. (PNA)

PAGE 2 an omicron subvariant that is highly transmissible, said Dr. Richard Seidman, chief medical officer for L.A. Care, a public Medicaid insurance plan that serves county residents. The number of COVID cases and hospitalizations had been declining since February, but the county is again seeing a bump in cases, according to data released this week. People have various reasons for remaining unvaccinated, Seidman said. “For some, it’s distrust of the government or health care providers in general,” he said. “Some are more cautious and want to take a wait-and-see approach. Others simply don’t believe the science.” A study published April 11 by JAMA Internal Medicine shows just how entrenched views are. Many people who refused to get vaccinated early on said they were waiting for the shots to get

full approval from the FDA. But when the agency’s first full approval of a COVID vaccine came in August 2021, the study concluded, it did little to change people’s minds and “had little immediate impact on vaccination intentions.” In California, unvaccinated people were nearly 14 times as likely to die from COVID as people who had been fully vaccinated and received a booster dose, according to state data from March 7-13. Perez said people getting their first shots now are doing so mainly because they feel obligated — to meet a work requirement, for example, or enter places such as restaurants, bars, and gyms that require proof of vaccination. That was the case for Modesto Araizas, one of the two people who showed up at the Palmdale vaccine event. Despite contracting COVID twice, missing work, and having a hard time breathing, he didn’t get

vaccinated until he needed proof of vaccination to eat at his favorite seafood restaurant. “I haven’t been scared,” said Araizas, 46. “I take vitamins, eat healthy food, and I work out.” Until recently, the federal government reimbursed doctors, hospitals, and other providers for tests, treatments, and vaccines for uninsured people. But the Health Resources and Services Administration stopped accepting reimbursement claims for tests and treatments March 22, and for vaccinations April 5. Many uninsured people now will likely need to pay out-of-pocket for tests and other services. Perez is hoping people might become more open to vaccines if COVID tests become too expensive for them. No one will want to keep paying for tests when they can just get a shot, he reasoned.

Nurse Roxanna Segovia works at a pop-up vaccine and testing clinic in front of South LA Cafe in South Central LA. She recently spent 45 minutes trying to persuade a man who had visited the clinic regularly for free tests to get vaccinated. “He gave me all the reasons he has not been vaccinated, like his civil rights were being violated and Bible verses,” Segovia said. “His job requires it now, and he said he was losing money by missing work waiting for test results. If he continued this way, he wouldn’t be able to feed his family, but even so, he still wasn’t sure if he was making the right choice.” At the end of their conversation, he got the shot. (Heidi de Marco/Kaiser Health News) This story was produced by KHN, which publishes California Healthline, an editorially independent service of the California Health Care Foundation.

Civil rights org continues bystander intervention... PAGE 1 legal advocate, said these workshops are aimed at empowering everyone to build a world that is free of all types of harassment. “Our work focuses on turning the care we have for each other into simple, creative and effective action, and we really would like to reach Tagalog speakers and other Asian language speakers with these resources,” Sayno said, noting that training participants will be able to learn to intervene effectively as a bystander without compromising their safety. The 1-hour training covers the core concepts of the 5Ds (Distract, Delegate, Document, Delay, Direct), providing concrete tools for those who choose to intervene when they witness someone else being targeted by harassment. Advancing Justice-LA welcomes everyone to join their next free Tagalog training, which is scheduled to take place via Zoom on Thursday, April 21 at 6 p.m., Pacific time. To sign up, please visit https:// aaajla.zoom.us/webinar/register/ WN_5zVC7soWRhu4K3j-q2Oybg or call their Tagalog helpline at 855.300.2552. By spending just one hour on this training, participants will join the legions of people who have been trained since April 2020. Since the Advancing Justice affiliates in Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C., in collaboration with nonprofit partner Right to Be (formerly known as Hollaback!) launched their first training, they have trained over 150,000 people. Of

all people who reported witnessing harassment after completing the training, 75% reported intervening, a best practice in reducing trauma and de-escalating violence. Indeed, the bystander intervention training program itself was launched in direct response to the sharp increase in anti-Asian hate crimes and hate incidents since the pandemic began. The Advancing Justice national affiliation has been documenting these hate crimes and hate incidents since 2017 at www. standagainsthatred.org. Thousands of incidences have been logged there since early 2020, but the organization is certain that many more that go unreported. Some of the highest numbers of hate incidents happen in California. During the start of the pandemic in 2020, hate crimes against Asians jumped 107% in the Golden State. This bystander intervention training program is needed as Advancing Justice-LA continues to regularly receive calls on their Asian language hotlines and online reports, relating to hate incidents and harassment. According to Christina Yang, General Counsel and Pro Bono Director at Advancing Justice – LA, “It is essential for us to train directly in Asian languages and make bystander intervention trainings more accessible to broader audiences, especially those who are still under attack and scapegoated for the COVID-19 pandemic.” Sayno said the organization also encourages training participants to tell at least 10 of their friends and/or

families about the training program – whether English, Tagalog, Mandarin, Cantonese, Vietnamese, or Korean. More free training sessions are posted at https://advancingjustice-la. org/bystander-intervention-trainings Advancing Justice-LA is one of California’s largest legal and civil rights organization for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI). Founded in 1983 as the Asian Pacific Legal Center, Advancing Justice-LA serves more than 15,000 every year. Through direct services, impact litigation, policy advocacy, and more, Advancing Justice-LA focuses on the most vulnerable members of AAPI communities. Advancing Justice-LA is based in downtown Los Angeles, and also has staff located in Anaheim and Sacramento. Right to Be, meanwhile, is a nonprofit global organization formed to raise awareness about and combat to harassment, both online and inperson, through intervention trainings and grassroots initiatives. Advancing Justice-LA will offer these bystander intervention trainings as long as there is a need for them in the community, and as long as funding is available to continue the program. The trainings are free to the public, but donations are also welcomed in support of this program and to further expand awareness within Filipino and other AAPI communities. To donate, go to https://donate.advancingjusticela.org/give/345175/#!/donation/ checkout Any questions may be directed to Christina Yang at cyang@ advancingjustice-la.org. (Donnabelle Gatdula Arevalo/AJPress)

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APRIL 22-28, 2022 • NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY ASIAN JOURNAL

http://www.asianjournal.com • (212) 655-5426

Starfleet Innotech inks new partnership with health data analytics firm Project Fort STARFLEET Innotech, Inc. (OTC Pink: SFIO) (“SFIO” or “The “Company”) this week formalized a partnership with Project Fort to bring the health data analytics firm’s unique approach to proactive, data-driven community care to the wellness townships under SFIO’s Moraya brand. Founded in 2020, Project Fort is a Philippine-based tech startup that uses data gathering tools to synthesize and analyze community health information, based on global best practices in public health. In doing so, the company unlocks insights that are impossible to glean on an individual level, so they can be turned into strategies for sustainable, meaningful changes on a community level. “Our approach to community health, which is founded on public health practice and the healthy settings frameworks of the World Health Organization, recognizes wellbeing as a many-faceted equation that requires collaborations across the care continuum to champion,” said Erika Modina, Project Fort co-founder and CEO. “The traditional view of health stakeholders spanning patients, providers, and insurers fails to factor in the massively influential role that employers, school administrators, and local government units play in the daily health of our communities.” With an initial focus on the workplace health setting, Project Fort caters to a largely underserved market in the Philippines. According to an ILO study

published in 2021, roughly 745,000 people die annually due to poor working conditions. The study found this especially true in the Western Pacific and Southeast Asian regions. Long working hours, psychological stress, healthh a r m i n g behavior to deal with that stress, and resulting strokes and heart disease were all listed as contributing factors. In the Philippines, businesses lose at least $2 billion pesos due to poor employee health. This is in spite of companies already spending roughly $3 billion trying to take care of employees. “The takeaway here is that companies are spending their money on the wrong things because of a lack of proper insight into employee health,” Modina said. “Insights that can only be gleaned, given the right tools and expertise. We believe there’s a better, proactive way to care for our people.” Early in the pandemic, Project Fort played

a critical role for businesses looking to build more resilient health systems for their workforces. For Ever Gotesco, a Metro Manilabased mall operator, Project Fort’s daily surveillance tools flagged a possible outbreak early in July 2020. Utilizing data it had been gathering on the mall’s workforce since May that year, Project Fort’s health officer was able to deploy a targeted testing protocol, cutting the need to test all 3,000 tenants and direct employees down to about 30 specific individuals. In addition to cutting costs down by about 89%, this meant a speedy response that neutralized the outbreak before it even began. “Our main challenge as a startup is establishing touch points across different healthy settings to ensure we can deliver a truly whole-of-society approach to community care,” Modina said. “We began by focusing on the workplace setting, where

We made it possible to capture the annoxidant quality of our premium organic Arabica Coffee, the annbacterial propernes of NZ Manuka Honey, the diet-friendly Barley Grass, the energy boosnng Non-dairy MCT Creamer, and the natural sweetness of Stevia in a single pack! Our 5-in-1 instant coffee represents NZ’s finest ingredients in a cup! Oh yes, 99% sugar free too! So gorgeous!

we leveraged our data analytics to help businesses both save money and improve overall employee health. Our ultimate goal is to bring this same approach of proactive, data-driven care to the spaces communities work, live, and play in. This partnership with Moraya enables us to do exactly that.” As the flagship brand for SFIO’s real estate division, Moraya aims to establish itself as a global leader in wellness tourism. With an initial focus on the Philippines, Moraya actively explores new technologies in data and integrative medicine, marrying them with Filipinos’ world-class hospitality, and integrating them into the beautiful natural locales of the Philippines. Over the past few months, the company has announced a number of real estate development projects, largely waterfront townships in the Philippines. By 2024, SFIO aims to complete $300 million worth of these real estate projects. To lead Moraya, SFIO CEO Jeths Lacson says the group has brought in decades of experience across wellness tourism, integrative medicine, master planning, business development, and sales. Among these industry leaders is AG Architects, an SFIO subsidiary, which has led awardwinning green projects like Crowne Plaza in Changi Airport. The company also recently struck a partnership with Australia-based construction startup Luyten to bring their 3D concrete printing technologies to the PAGE 10

AN ASSET MANAGEMENT COMPANY

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NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY ASIAN JOURNAL • APRIL 22-28, 2022

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Gaming revenues up as industry officials see sustained momentum By rEalTor FEly QUiTEvis-BaTEMan

Realtor Fely Quitevis-Bateman walked along Las Vegas Blvd. recently to check on what’s new on the Strip. Behind her is the blue Drew Hotel which is slated to open in 2023 with a reported number of

The last commercial lot on the north side of the Strip was bought by the Siegel Group.

IT is a sign that brighter things are yet to come for Las Vegas, which is considered as the gaming and entertainment capital of the world. A recent news report said that commercial casinos made some $8.92 billion in revenues in January and February of 2022, paced by Nevada’s $2.192 billion. The Silver State’s revenues almost kept pace with the combined earnings of the next three states with the highest revenues on the list compiled by the American Gaming Association. Those three states are Pennsylvania

Realtor Fely Quitevis-Bateman (right) was finally able to get a photo at the worldfamous welcome sign to Las Vegas with one of her investors from Manila, Dr. Jane Paragas.

Las Vegas ranked as the No. 1 tourist destination in 2021, and that will continue to be true in the future.

($808 million), New Jersey ($755 million) and New York ($631.6 million). According to officials quoted in the article, the record start for 2022 means that there is a strong demand from people to travel and enjoy themselves after having been cooped up in their homes since the pandemic started about two years ago. Although it remains to be seen if Nevada’s casinos will eclipse their performance last year, it shows that “Americans are continuing to make gaming a first-choice entertainment option.” While non-gaming areas of resortcasinos have not fully recovered to their pre-pandemic levels per

Californians are the top migrants to Clark County, which is where the cities of Las Vegas and Pahrump are located in as shown in the photo above.

the report, the gaming revenues indicate that people in general have “a strong desire to return to a sense of normalcy after two difficult years, and people feel more comfortable traveling given the tremendous strides in fighting the virus.” Las Vegas – and Nevada as a state, for that matter – has always been one of the more iconic and popular travel destinations for Americans and for tourists from around the world. Aside from varied gaming options within the resortcasinos, visitors have ample things to do – shop, dine, swim, do some sightseeing, watch shows/concerts, and/or pamper themselves with an array of spa services.

Associations connected with the gaming and hospitality industries are happy with what they are seeing. For them, it feels as though there are many people who were fortunate enough to have saved some money during the pandemic and are ready to spend it on travel and experiences they missed out the last couple of years. Today’s existing resort-casinos and those under construction are well-equipped to keep Las Vegas visitors entertained as they all have key attractions and components that differentiate them from each other. It also helps that the executives from resort-casinos and local officials PAGE 10

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APRIL 22-28, 2022 • NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY ASIAN JOURNAL

In their own words: Why Filipinos...

PAGE 5 nevertheless Leni is our 2nd choice . So be it if the survey stand still We will Switch to Leni. At first I was hesitant to switch to her side but then again I realized something. Isa sa pinaka tumatak sakin is bukod tanging siya lang ang “ Walang Bahid ng Korapsyon, Transparent at honest”. Katangiang hindi ko nakita sa ibang kandidato. Enlighten me why Leni Please? Team Isko kase kami buong fam pero sa nakikita kong survey mukhang si leni lang ang may chance na lumaban for bbm.”— Papiii Lucass “Si VP Leni hindi pakitang tao ang pagtulong sa kapwa. Kahit noong wala pa sya sa politika ay matulungin na sya sa mga nasa laylayan. Kaya nung mapasok sya sa politika ay sinikap nya lalo ang makatulong sa pamamagitan ng mga programa nya tulad ng Angat Buhay program.” — Rina David “Sa conference nangyari nakita ko ang ugali ni Isko, yung walang galang sa babae. Di kasalanan ni VP Leni na yung mga supporters ni Isko ay lumipat kay VP Leni. May nakita mga dating supporters sa pag-uugali lately ni Isko. Ok si Isko sana pero hindi ito time.maaga pa. Nagulat ako bakit ganun na lang galit nya kay VP Leni. Bakit si VP Leni ang gusto nya umatras. Dahil ba sa Transparency Act na ipapatupad ni VP Leni? Sa nangyari conference pinakita ni Isko ang extreme desire niya to win over VP Leni. Wala sya sinabi tungkol kay BBM.” — Katrina Joaquin “700B ang nawawala sa kaban ng bayan kada taon dahil sa korupsyon. Imagine 700B na galing sa pinaghirapan ng taong bayan, na dapat sana napakinabangan natin. Pero binulsa lang ng mga ganid na buwaya. Papayag ka ba na nakawin lang ang pinaghirapang mong tax? Kaya kay Leni na tayo.” — Jaxpineda1 “Bakit si LENI? She has The Qualification: L- Love for God and country E- Excel on helping the needy with insufficient budget N- No record of corruption I - Intelligent as professional lawyer and economist” — Rommel Manalo “These are few of OVP’s proj (PPE procurement, locally made PPEs, Bayanihan E-Consulta, Test kits, food and care paCKages, shuttle service, relief operations, online community market, teacher training, etc.) just in the pandemic alone. Before pa tayo mag lockdown she already had a meeting with experts as part of her prep. Kaya nung nag lockdown, isa siya, if not the first, sa mga nakapagsend agad ng PPEs at nag provide ng shelter at transpo sa medical frontliners.” — Prongs05 “Being in govt service, nasa kanya talaga yung ina-advocate na data-based planning (na hindi puwede sa executives na tamad), proactive, & prudence & transparency in govt spending.” — @Joyjoyclar “Pinaka impt sa akin yung 3 yrs in a row na highest rating nakuha ng Office of the VP sa Commission on Audit. Ibig sabihin, walang nakitang corruption! Mahalaga sa akin yun kasi ayoko ng Presidenteng pasimpleng nagnanakaw” — @Tonettejadaone “At bilang auditor sa COA, binubusisi talaga namin ang agency. Financial, Compliance at Performance audit yon tapos 3 years in a row na Unqualified sila so it speaks Transparency!” — randomcuites22 “Even oppositions can’t find anything to use against her apart from lenlen, lugaw, babae, fake and spliced videos, accusations with no evidence. Isko pocketed money that he can use

to improve the conditions of his constituents. Even if you say that’s legal, delicadeza na lang.” — Baguio1973 “It’s the pandemic response of the OVP that really made me think she is fit for the job. So efficient and very much in tune with what the public needs. Also, walang corruption at all, since COA always gives her office a high rating.” — Nuelle Duterte (Niece of President Duterte) “Unahin na natin ang Angat Buhay Project niya. Limitadong budget, pero napakacomprehensibo ng sakop. Makikita mo naman po sa OVP reports lahat-lahat ng proyekto nila, pero eto po noong ang 1st yr plng nila.” — @MeasinmeMe “If I were to hire a President AND Vice President they should be someone na alam ang reyalidad ng ordinaryong pinoy - not limited to their cities but basically in tune sa eksena sa lahat ng areas ng bansa- not purong lip service lang.” — @ToniSpeakEasy “Mabilis umaksyon. Walang bahid ng korapsyon. Malinis ang track record. Walang mga kasong kinakaharap sa ibang bansa. Hindi political dynasty at napakahumble ng pamilya.” — @Nelson_0628 “Kasi mabuti syang tao. Legit yung bayanihan ekonsulta. Nagaattend pa sya ng debriefing ng volunteers pag may time sya. Ganun nya pahalagahan ang kapwa nya. Hindi mema lang yung mahal ko kayo. Totoo sya…” — @KEvangelista24 “Di pa siya pulitiko NGO worker na siya at nagserve as probono lawyer sa SALIGAN. At ang pagiging NGO worker niya nadala niya hanggang sa naging pulitiko siya. Pwede mong icheck ang angat buhay program niya at website niya https://lenirobredo.com Pwede ifact check yan.” — @BuddyReyes27 “1. Highest COA rating = all funds in OVP are liquidated down to the last centavo. 2. Proactive in the pandemic and disaster response. 3. Highly involved sa Marawi rehabilitation (pabahay, livelihood). 4. Livelihood programs sa mga mahihirap na communities.” — @MATom_MD “We need an economic expert amidst the pandemic, the rising gasoline prices, and the climate crisis (“Let the Earth Breathe”). Si Leni yan. Some of her platforms include the Public Employment Program, National Unemployment Insurance Program, etc.” — @Sivviee “Yung projects niya, pinagiisipan to address root causes hindi lang band aid solutions. And nagagawa niya to ng walang bahid ng korapsyon at supplemented ng donations from people who trust her. Walang kuryente sa Agutaya? Solar alternative naman. Walang iniiwan si VP.” — @altacctjustcoz “Walang masyadong mandato pero maraming nagawa ang kaniyang opisina. Sa mga bagyo o anumang sakuna siya ay laging handa, kahit limited budget. Pag siya mabigyan ng pagkakataon na maging Presidente mas marami pa siyang magagawa at hindi mababaon sa utang ang Pilipinas.” — @Diana_Nicole03 “VP Leni has spent most of her adult life working for the poor and the disadvantaged. With little or no pay. She’s a public servant at heart. Nasa puso ang pagtulong. Sana you can consider her on May 9. Thank you!” — @ ItIsRight “Hindi sya ang lesser evil, si VP Leni talaga ang good choice. Minsan lang dadaan sa life natin ang ganitong candidate. For the longest

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Gaming revenues up as industry...

PAGE 9 work in tandem to keep Las Vegas up front and center of people’s minds when it comes to vacation options or even for conventions, meetings and conferences. People may know Bellagio, Venetian, Palazzo, Wynn, Mandalay Bay, and MGM Resorts, but there are other new resort-casinos vying for people’s attention like Resorts World, Circa, The Fountainbleau (slated to open 2023), The LINQ, Cromwell, The Strat and a host of rebranded properties which have undergone major renovations and repairs. That is why prime real estate is hard to come by in Las Vegas these days. A recently completed deal that saw The Siegel Group acquire 10 acres just across the Strip from Resorts

World Las Vegas has many people thinking what kind of development the Las Vegasbased company will come up with for a piece of real estate it dubs as “the last great piece of land available on the north Strip.” It has taken years for The Siegel Group to find and snap up property on the Strip, and it did so with a price tag of $75 million. Since it did not work with a lender, it will have its own timeline as to how to develop the property. That said, its long-term options, according to a news report, include a casino-hotel, a condo tower, retail outlets and multi-family apartments. Of course, with construction and projects come jobs, and with that migration from other places in the U.S. Settling in and finding a place to

establish roots, or finding an investment property, will be an important decision that may affect your financial future. I can help you find that piece of real estate that will match your needs and your budget. Together, we can comb for the best opportunities available in Las Vegas and its neighboring cities/towns. My company, Precious Properties, is a fullservice company that has successfully helped its clientele find the best deals since 1992. You can reach me at 775-513-8447, 805-5592476 and 702-538-4948 for more information. We have investors who buy houses in California and Nevada for cash and quick escrow in as short as 7 days.

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Starfleet Innotech inks new partnership with health data... PAGE 8 Philippines. This latest partnership with Project Fort expands on the company’s investments in technology as a driving force for wellness. “Project Fort and Moraya will be codeveloping a community health dashboard for townships, a major step forward towards our ultimate goal of building data-driven, tech-enabled public health systems for cities,” said Modina. “We will be developing and operating a new version of Project Fort, catering to the wellness tourism townships being developed in Batangas and Palawan.” Within Moraya’s townships, Project Fort’s health dashboard will allow wellness teams to monitor the overall health of their communities, while also enabling residents and visitors to access community health services like fitness, mindfulness, and nutrition classes. As with all SFIO’s strategic partnerships, collaborative innovation plays a big role in Project Fort and Moraya’s shared roadmap. In building communities of the future, Project Fort is now in talks with NeuroSky, a health wearable developer based in Silicon Valley and fellow SFIO ecosystem player. The two tech companies are currently exploring

plans to build proprietary wearables under the Project Fort brand to augment its data gathering efforts. “Each of the platforms we build and partner with must first and foremost be integral to our businesses,” said Richard Prodigalidad, SFIO’s chief technology officer. “But we have longer term plans for these platforms as well – investing in subscription-based software services for other businesses, thereby turning our technology services into highly-lucrative revenue generators as well. As we plan to scale SFIO exponentially, we see technology products like Project Fort as precisely the vehicle to get us there.” Through SFIO’s global network, Project Fort expects to build pathways to new markets, such as New Zealand and the United States, where demand for these types of community care platforms is expected to bring in exponential growth. By utilizing its data analytics and public health expertise, Project Fort can help communities achieve greater savings and better health outcomes, all towards building healthier workplaces, townships, and cities for generations to come.

years, nasanay tayo na lagi corrupt namumuno, this time good at clean governance naman. with VP office received 3x highest COA rating.” — @GreatMidoriya “Marami nang sagot pero para saken, yung super empath nya. Di kase un napag-aaralan sa school or napepeke. Either may pake ka sa kapwa mo, or wala. Siya kase, ramdam talaga. Empaths know empaths after all. Kaya ramdam talaga na sincere sya. Di pabibo lang. At ang hottest take saken: alam kong wala siyang pagkakautangan ng loob except sa mga tao din. Etong people’s campaign ang biggest proof. The voters are investing on her and kiko. So kung may pagkakautangan sila ng loob, ang voters yun. Nasatin ang panalo. :)”

— @cheonsa232

(Advertising Supplement)

*** The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Asian Journal, its management, editorial board and staff. *** Gel Santos Relos has been in news, talk, public service and educational broadcasting since 1989. She was a news anchor, TV host and radio commentator and public service host for ABS- CBN and DZMM. She is now working on her advocacies independently, serving the Filipino audience using different media platforms. You may contact her through email at gelrelos@icloud.com, or send her a message via Facebook at Facebook.com/Gel.Santos.Relos. Also on Twitter, Instagram: Gel Santos Relosv

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NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY ASIAN JOURNAL • APRIL 22-28, 2022

COMMUNITY JOURNAL

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Lifetime ban for admitting drug use lifted this Sunday on Citizen Pinoy RONALD was petitioned as Joyce’s fiancé in 2006. While the K-1 petition was approved, his visa was denied after Ronald admitted to the doctors at St. Luke’s that he tried drugs many years ago. Because of that admission, he was banned for life. In 2008, Joyce and Ronald got married, hoping that this would get a positive result. However, the same policy was still in place and his visa was again refused. Fortunately, in 2011, leading U.S. Immigration Attorney Michael J. Gurfinkel was able to convince the U.S. Embassy in Manila to reverse their policy of a lifetime ban if the only “evidence” was the

person admitting drug use to St. Luke’s doctors. In 2015, Joyce consulted again with Atty. Gurfinkel, and he was able to clear Ronald’s name and the visa was issued. Finally, Ronald and Joyce were able to spend their first Christmas in the U.S. as a married couple. Watch this success story on a brand-new episode of “Citizen Pinoy” on Sunday, April 24 at 7:00 PM PT (10:00 PM ET thru select Cable/Satellite providers), right after TV Patrol Linggo. Citizen Pinoy is also available on iWantTFC. Viewers may download the app for free. (Advertising Supplement)

BANNED FOR LIFE NO MORE, THIS SUNDAY ON CITIZEN PINOY. Joyce (center) petitioned her fiancé, Ronald (left), in 2006. However, while the K-1 petition was approved in 2007, his visa was denied due to Ronald’s admitting to drug use to the doctors at St. Luke’s. He was then banned for life from entering the U.S. In 2011, leading U.S. Immigration Attorney Michael J. Gurfinkel (right) was able to convince the U.S. Embassy in Manila to change their policy, and they agreed they would not ban people for life if the only “evidence” is the person admitting drug use to the doctors at St. Luke’s. In 2016, MJG was able to clear Ronald’s name, and Ronald’s immigrant visa was issued. Watch this success story on an encore episode of “Citizen Pinoy” on Sunday, April 24 at 7:00 PM PT (10:00 PM ET) through select Cable/Satellite providers, right after TV Patrol Linggo. (Advertising Supplement

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APRIL 22-28, 2022 • NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY ASIAN JOURNAL

Health@Heart PhiliP S. Chua, MD, FaCS, MELATONIN worsens asthma New studies revealed that the popular sleep hormone, melatonin, worsens attacks among asthmatic patients. Melatonin is sold over the counter and is an ingredient in many sleep aid formulas. Many of these patients, who take a sleep aid that has melatonin as a component, have more severe episodes because melatonin constricts the airway passage making it harder for these persons to breathe. However, natural melatonin secreted by our own body does not affect cause any problems. Other sensitive individuals (nonasthmatic) could develop heart rhythm irregularity with melatonin. Among children with asthma, eating fatty fish like sardines and salmon at least two times a week has been shown to reduce asthma symptoms. An impressive lung function improvement was noted after six months of these children started eating fish. The high Omega-3 (antioxidant) content of the fish is an anti-inflammatory agent. Daily exercise also reduces asthmatic symptoms by more than 2.5 times compared to those who do not. Plant-based diet Abundant clinical studies have shown that plant-based diets, like the Mediterranean Diet, South Beach Diet, Vegetarian Diet, etc., are healthier compared to diets mainly on red meat. Pork is not white meat as marketed; it is also red meat. Chicken is white meat. Individuals on plant-based diets, which are loaded with polyphenols, and antioxidants that are anti-inflammatory, have a lower risk for metabolic and cardiovascular illnesses and cancers. Exception: Nightshades vegetables (eggplant, potato, pepper, tomato) aggravate arthritis. Oatmeal, nuts, and about 3-5 servings of fruits (diabetics should add these to their calorie count) are healthy. The burnt part of barbequed meats could increase the risk for cancers, like that of the pancreas. Stem cell Rx The building block, the foundation of every cell, tissue, and organ in the body is the stem cell. Stem cells

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Med-tip capsules are undifferentiated, with no “specific assigned task as yet.” This has been likened to a blank computer microchip that could be “programmed to perform any number of special tasks.” Subjected to proper conditions, stem cells will develop into specialized tissues and organs (heart, liver, kidneys, etc). Also, stem cells are “self-sustaining and can replicate themselves for long periods of time.” Scientists, working on mouse models, have discovered that stem cell therapy could SOMEDAY possibly help cure many common diseases that afflict man today. Some of these include stroke, spinal cord injury, heart diseases, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, osteoarthritis, retinal degeneration and blindness, rheumatoid arthritis, liver and kidney diseases, burns, type 1 diabetes, and muscular dystrophy. While the goal of stem cell research is unquestionably laudable, and its potential benefit to mankind tremendous, the controversy centers on its efficacy and safety today, as well as ethical, moral, religious, legal, and social ramifications. Basically, the grave concerns are (1) The hype and claims are too premature and untrue; (2) Where the stems cells will be harvested from (adult, fetus, or embryo); and (3) The possible misuse and abuse of this new technology. As I stated in my talk before the Rotary Club some time ago, this evolving science merits more randomized, doubleblind, and voluminous clinical studies in various medical centers around the world before it becomes a standard in medical care. It also requires a deep soulsearching introspection, and a serious, intense, and thoughtful deliberation to arrive at a morally, ethically, and medically sound stem cell treatment protocol that will also ensure the protection of the unborn, besides healing the sick, and at the same time preserving the dignity of humankind it seeks to serve. With its unique characteristics, stem cells can provide the cells to replace damaged or diseased tissues with new living cells that will regenerate into healthy, young, normally functioning tissues in the

treatment of conditions like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, etc. as stated above, where specific parts of the organs have been damaged and rendered “non-functioning” leading to the development of the disease. Organ donation is available today but the organ supply is very limited, and the procedure is expensive, arduous, and usually complicated by rejections of the transplanted organ(s). This is where stem cell therapy has a great advantage over. However, the last word is not in yet. Anyone or any clinic who claims otherwise and offers stem cell therapy for many other diseases is bordering on fraud. The only evidence-based clinical data showing stem-cell therapy is effective is in the management of blood dyscrasias, leukemia, and some lymphomas, with wonderful results. Sedentary death Inactivity is a major “disease” that kills millions upon millions around the world. It is a mindset, a bad habit, a lack of discipline. Sedentary lifestyle (lack of exercise) is worse than many individual maladies afflicting people today because it is a factor in most serious illnesses, like diabetes mellitus, heart attack, stroke, sexual dysfunction, osteoporosis, etc. As a matter of fact, science has shown that physical activities and regimented daily exercises lower the incidence, not only of those diseases listed above, but of depression and suicide, Alzheimer’s, and even cancer. An active lifestyle also slows down the aging process, keeps our skin looking young(er), tones our muscles, enables us to have better metabolism and weight control, fortifies our immune system against diseases and infections, and even improves our outlook in life. Indeed, daily physical exercise also protects our mind – our entire body and being. Professor Frank Booth, Ph.D, of the biomedical sciences at the University of Missouri-Columbia, coined the term Sedentary Death Syndrome (SeDS) to dramatize the reality that “exercising is a matter of life and death.” That’s how important and essential physical exercise is to the human organism. It is a dreadful fact but 70% of

Living to 100: Secrets to Apo Whang-Od’s long life By Deni

Rose M. AfiniDAD-BeRnARDo Philstar.com

BUSCALAN — Like Catholics who are openly commemorating the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ during Lent, death is not taboo among the Butbut tribe of Kalinga in northern Philippines. In fact, the grave of the tribe’s oldest “mambabatok” (hand-tapped tattoo artist) Apo Whang-Od is already open and ready for her coffin anytime. Her kin are likewise nonchalant in discussing death; even showing to visitors the graves of their ancestors just below their houses. (The tribespeople, however, are afraid of ghosts, even Apo Whang-Od is, a local tour guide quipped.) About 20 minutes uphill, near her other home in neighboring village Kanaan, the 105-year-old National Living Treasures Award (tantamount to National Artist) nominee has recently opened a small museum containing her many plaques, fan art and a giant resin statue that together with another one, cost P700,000, according to her caretaker and grandniece, Estella Palangdao. This museum is now Whang-Od’s favored resting place, said Palangdao, and no longer the first one below the comfort room of the mambabatok’s original home in the tattoo village. The mausoleum, however, has to wait. For now, Whang-Od is still a “living legend” to her 194,000 Facebook followers, and to at least 56,000 more from her other fan pages. Although she is arguably the country’s last mambabatok who knows the chants behind the tattoo symbols, she is not her tribe’s oldest inhabitant. That honor belongs to Apo Oop, who is now 109 years old. It is common for their tribe, said Estella, to surpass the 100-year-old mark. When someone from the tribe becomes a senior citizen, he or she is honored by giving his or her name as a nickname to one of the village’s children. The bestowing of the moniker to the child is also considered an honor for the youngster. That way, the tribesmen achieve a sense of immortality. Even at her age, Whang-Od can still do farming, take care of children, do household chores, feed her poultry, and even occasionally hike her way in and out of their village. That is Americans today do NOT exercise regularly. Other less health-conscious people around the world are obviously even worse. Just sitting around is a worldwide phenomenon. The World Health Organization last year reported that “about 2 million deaths annually worldwide are attributed to sedentary lifestyles.” One of Professor Booth’s subtitles is Dead Man Sitting. “Sitting kills more than 300,000 Americans annually…if SeDS were a real disease entity, that would make it the third leading cause of death in the United States, right after heart disease and cancer,”

Even at her age, 105-year-old Whang-Od can still farm, take care of children, do household chores, feed her poultry and even occasionally hike her way in and out of their village. That is on top of accepting and/or tattooing her three-dot signature on up to 60 visitors a day. What are her secrets to longevity and stamina? Philstar.com photo by Deni Rose M. Afinidad-Bernardo

on top of accepting and/or tattooing her threedot signature on up to 60 visitors a day. What are her secrets to such longevity and stamina? According to Estella, maybe Whang-Od’s lifestyle holds the key to her long life: 1. Mostly organic diet Although fruits are rare in the village, the villagers, mostly women, plant and eat their own rice. Estella shared that they never use chemicals in their rice fields – only chopped wild sunflowers as fertilizers. As vegetables, they rely mostly on grass and even exotic plants like Amorseco. They just sauté the Amorseco in little water, salt, and occasionally, chopped onions. They also harvest their own root crops and beans of all colors. “But nowadays, we give our poultry some feeds, so we might not live just as long,” Estella quipped in Tagalog. Most tribesmen, especially the younger generations, speak Tagalog and English. 2. Occasional meat Whang-Od and the other elders are mainly vegetarians, said Estella, but the legendary mambabatok also indulges in tasting meat once in a while. “Kapag nagluto ako ng fried chicken, kukurot lang s’ya,” Estella shared. Whang-Od, Estella said, usually likes pork PAGE 13

he stated. These inactivityrelated disorders affect nearly 75% of adults and children and are projected to cost the United States $1.5 trillion over the next ten years. *** The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Asian Journal, its management, editorial board and staff. *** The main objective of this column is to educate and inspire people live a healthier lifestyle to prevent illnesses and disabilities and achieve a happier and more productive life. Any diagnosis,

recommendation or treatment in our article are general medical information and not intended to be applicable or appropriate for anyone. This column is not a substitute for your physician, who knows your condition well and who is your best ally when it comes to your health. *** Philip S. Chua, MD, FACS, FPCS, a Cardiac Surgeon Emeritus based in Northwest Indiana and Las Vegas, Nevada, is an international medical lecturer/author, Health Advocate, newspaper columnist, and Chairman of the Filipino United Network-USA, a 501(c)3 humanitarian foundation in the United States. Websites: FUN8888.com, Today.SPSAtoday. com, and philipSchua.com; Email: scalpelpen@gmail.com.

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NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY ASIAN JOURNAL • APRIL 22-28, 2022

Living to 100: Secrets to Apo Whang-Od’s long...

PAGE 12 and seldom eats fish. When she is sick, she requests for a special kind of meat. Like in cooking vegetables and their other dishes, the tribesmen usually just cook their meat in little salt and water. 3. Fresh air and water; no vices Whang-Od grew up in a pollution-free mountain environment with fresh streams and river water. While Kalinga is very fertile with plants of all kinds, including prohibited ones that grow in the wild, Estella swore they never smoke or eat these plants. Some villagers, nevertheless, only use these as herbal medicines. Apo Whang-Od, herself, has no vice and was never seen even smoking the traditional bamboo Kalinga pipe during our visit there just last week. Many youngsters, however, are into Korean dramas and K-pop, so many locals also love soju (Korean alcoholic beverage), said the Leyte-born Lucy, who now resides in the village and operates the village’s

“five star” or most advanced homestay, GL’s Crib and Cafe, together with her husband Gilbert, one of Whang-Od’s grandnephews. 4. Mainly natural or herbal medicines Apart from her special meat diet that she only requests when she is sick, Whang-Od sometimes takes paracetamol when not feeling well, said Estella. 5. Exercise through manual labor Even as young children, the Butbut are trained to be hard workers, so they often sideline as porters or tourist guides. In between, they exchange hands on the field – women are in charge of planting the seedlings while men are tasked to harvest. Whang-Od, said Estella, actually spent most of her 100+ years as a field worker. Estella estimated that the mambabatok only retired from hard rice farming when she was about 80 years old and started gaining fame and constant foreign customers for her tattoos. The centenarian prefers tattooing over field work because the latter is so hard,

noted Estella, but WhangOd has remained agile and humble ever since and despite her fame and fortune. The 30-minute hike up and down the village, across streams and narrow rice paddies, indeed gives anyone a good cardio. 6. Staying calm and positive It is no secret that WhangOd once had the love of her life, Ang-Batang, who was among the headhunter warriors she tattooed as prizes for protecting their village or killing their enemies. But the two of them were forbidden to marry each other since AngBatang was deemed “impure” for being a headhunter, and according to their tradition, Whang-Od’s bloodline should not be impure because her descendants would inherit her tattooing talent. Like in a modern telenovela, Ang-Batang was consequently engaged to Whang-Od’s best friend -Hogkajon, but Ang-Batang died in a logging accident when Whang-Od was 25. Despite heartbreaks, Whang-Od has remained positive and calm; and

Not today: A graveyard marker in a local villager’s house (left); a Presbyterian church inside the village (right, top). The headhunters were Christianized by the Presbyterians and the Seventh Day Adventists, so it is now common to hear modern locals singing both Don Moen and Cocomelon; Apo Whang-Od’s village house (right, bottom). Beside it was her first grave located below a comfort room. Philstar.com photo by Deni Rose M. Afinidad-Bernardo

although she vowed to not marry and never had children, she still managed to have many warrior boyfriends after Ang-Batang! (According to some village “Marites,” Whang-Od reportedly even two-or-three-timed, but this is unconfimed.) In their culture, men and women of age can sleep in the same bed even if they are not yet married, although adultery is greatly frowned upon and not tolerated. 7. Simple joys When Whang-Od was still

starting as a mambabatok at 15 years old, a woman’s beauty in her tribe is measured by how many tattoos she had. But now, beauty has taken a different definition in their tribe. More than a generous donation, what makes Whang-Od smile her biggest is a tube of red lipstick. According to Estella, her grandaunt has countless red lipstick tubes and she sometimes gives away some to other women in their tribe.

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“Pero ako, gusto ko dark lipstick,” Estella laughed. While their village goes for no brand in particular, Estella said they usually like Maybelline New York. About the groping, just ask actor Paolo Ballesteros and others (even a woman that the centenarian has mistaken for a man!). 8. Dreaming on Even at her age, WhangOd has never stopped dreaming, said Estella. Recently, in fact, the mambabatok built herself, Estella and some other relatives new houses in Kanaan. She had a makeshift swimming pool built beside her museum as treat for the children. She also bought a new vehicle. For every feat, several cows and pigs were killed, according to their tradition, for feasts. So far, the mambabatok has trained about 90 of the tribesmen, mostly women, to be her apprentices, said Georgia, who was once Whang-Od’s youngest apprentice at 12 years old. Now, the youngest is nine PAGE 15

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APRIL 22-28, 2022 • NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY ASIAN JOURNAL

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N E W YO R K / N E W J E R S EY A P R I L 22 , 2 0 22

people events arts culture entertainment

Runway visionary Alexis Bong Monsanto opens LA Fashion Week with splendor by AJPRESS

O

NCE again, the fashion industry took center stage during LA Fashion Week. The season opened with a spectacular explosion of vibrant colors of Fall and Winter collection by runway visionary Alexis Bong Monsanto in Los Angeles’ historical landmark Japanese Garden of Yamashiro. It was no surprise that Monsanto displayed the style lines and drapery of a master couturier. The quality of his work is unequaled. Nevertheless, you have to prepare for the unexpected when it comes to Monsanto. This year, he took ready-to-wear dresses and sportswear and transformed them into a stunning and captivating work of art - creating a powerful statement about the power of change, progress, and evolution. A beautiful representation of transformation, growth, and advancement. Inspired by Jewels of Dream, Monsanto presented a mythical narrative on the fashion runway illustrating splendor, wonder, and enchantment by exploring the exciting elements of the wilderness. Monsanto combines his signature feminine sense of creativity with a timeless appeal by using the finest luxury fabrics and of myriad intensifying colors. His works is a trademark of sensuality, verve & sophistication. Throughout the event, the ambiance was lavish, elegant, and sensitive. The event was a celebration of both class and grace. Through his creations, he conveys powerful metaphors that everyone can embrace. It also featured Monsanto’s signature combination of feminine creative vision and timeless appeal as he uses the finest luxury fabrics as his canvas. From fabric manipulation by draping, Laser cut techniques, pleats & 3D fabric processing, the latest product development that the designer is pioneering. The Monsanto look is his signature sensuality, verve & sophistication. Sexy but not gauche, sophisticated but not eccentric, embellished but not flashy. “I embrace a style that is irreverent, unafraid, existential and provocative. With fashion I aspire to create challenges

Alexis Monsanto

Photo courtesy of the designer

for myself, while creating a whimsical world for my client. Ideally, they’ll tap into a form of expression that would otherwise seem unattainable. I am inspired by everything in my life, from the cold black objectivity of commerce to the warm subjective embrace of the muses,” said Monsanto. As his story unfolds on the runway, the journey is like a movie set. So Dramatic, so refreshing, so moving, and so provoking. From the choice of imagery, production design, music, and sound effects to the choice of adornment crafted by IXXIA Jewelries. Every detail is perfection. Everything is exquisite. The enchanting sounds intensify and emphasize every the gliding motion, every step and movement of the models and the dazzling jewels they wear. A whirl of sparkles, twirls, spins, and sways come together in harmony. The ambiance enhanced the mood of the night, each gemstones and their glint as the lights touches its surface is a total spectacle. The total performance gives everyone that sense of wonder and awe. All are captivated by the splendor. What a graceful show. Not to mention the gastronomic

Photos courtesy of Jaime Lim

four-course dining experience and food journey prepared by celebrity chef Valerie Castillo Archer. An excellent addition to an evening filled with enchantment and amusement. Her culinary creation was a splendid complement to the event. The show drew boldface guests including Dubai Based International designer Michael Cinco, Rapper RiYo, TV Creator Michael Kelley (ABC Revenge), Lana Parrilla (ABC Once Upon a Time, Why Women Kill), Grant Shaw (Dynasty,Melrose Place), Former supermodel Bessie Badilla, and performer Chris Chatman. Chatman’s performance created a perfect balance and added to the evening’s unforgettable experience. His live entertainment, gourmet fare, and visually stunning fashion show benefitted Project Angel Food, a nonprofit organization that prepares and delivers healthy meals to feed people impacted by serious illnesses. His philosophy to building his brand, he says, has been to listen to what his customers want. “It’s about making products that are attention-grabbing, unique and different but not overdone,” Monsanto said. 

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NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY ASIAN JOURNAL • APRIL 22-28, 2022

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Why Cebuana fashion designer Maja now engaged Mayeth Codoy is making waves in to non-showbiz BF Europe with her ‘Filipiniana’ creations By Anne

PAsAjol Inquirer.net

MAYETH Codoy, a Filipina fashion designer living in Norway, is one of the designers whose works will be showcased at Asia Pacific Fashion Week 2022 (APFW) – a global platform for emerging designers – in Los Angeles and Las Vegas on August 6 and 13, respectively. Mayeth is the founder of MYET, a line of fashionable and luxurious clothing produced almost completely of abaca (Manila hemp) and pinya (pineapple), textiles that are unique to the Philippines. Mayeth, who was born and raised in Cebu in the Philippines, began her inspiring journey at the age of 23 when she left her family to work as an au pair in Oslo. While in Oslo, Codoy pursued her big dream by studying fashion design at the Esmod International Fashion School in Oslo, which is a subsidiary of the prestigious Esmod Group in Paris. Mayeth’s Filipinianainspired works were notably featured on Esmod International’s official website last year. Her artistic pieces, such as the Maria Clara gown fashioned of pinya fiber, the same material used to produce the Philippine national costume ‘barong Tagalog,’ carry the cultural identity of traditional Filipino clothes. Mayeth graduated in 2020, and has since founded MYET, a small fashion company in Norway. “The reason for starting

Mayeth Codoy was invited to exhibit her ensembles made from Philippine fabrics at the Philippine Embassy in Oslo, Norway. Photo courtesy of Philippine Embassy

Creating clothes with asymmetrical cuts is a fashion style that appeals heavily to Mayeth Codoy, a Filipina fashion designer based in Norway, and worn by model Antilda Coroma. Photo by Lluis Calm Vidal

this brand is to create something unique made with natural fabrics, produced by farmers in my home country. This as I can identify with their daily struggles to provide for their family,” the designer said on her website www.myet.no. Mayeth sourced the materials for her garments from artisan villages in Aklan, a province in the Philippines famous for its stunning white beaches on the island of Boracay. “All products with this garment will be produced in the Philippines, creating even more jobs,” she said. Mayeth’s creations were featured in Paris Fashion Week in 2021, a testament to her brilliance, hard work, and unwavering resolve to achieve her goals. Mayeth’s designs are able to highlight the distinct beauty of the Philippine fibers pinya and abaca in such beautiful, modern creations that are appropriate for both special events and everyday wear. Mayeth’s trademark brand is slowly establishing itself in key European cities today. In 2022, she will debut her designs at APFW in Los Angeles, which is regarded as the world’s fifth fashion capital after Paris, London, Milan, and New York. Mayeth’s artistic vision is very inspiring, and APFW believes she exemplifies Philippine creativity and artistry. Mayeth’s aim and ambition to promote Philippine natural fibers to

French model Mamì Chula in a Mayeth Codoy asymmetrical dress made of fabrics sourced from pineapples (and pineapple-inspired mini bag, to boot) at the Paris Fashion Week 2021. Photo by Artur Rocha

International Pinay designer Mayeth Codoy utilizes the fibers sourced from banana and abaca plant in the Philippines. Designs worn by models Abigail Gyamfi and Jannike Skien. Photo by Joe Urrutia

Pinay designer Mayeth Codoy, who runs her own atelier in Oslo named MYET, also develops accessories including footwear, purses, hair accessories and hats as worn by models Abigail Gyamfi and Jannike Skien. Photo By Joe Urrutia

the European market is an expression of her love for her homeland. She makes Filipinos happy to call themselves Filipinos. Asia Pacific Fashion Week: A global platform The range of designs within the Filipino community is unlike any other. But what makes them extra special is the subtle nod they make to their culture. Indeed, these designers are drawing well-deserved attention to Filipino glam – and Asia Pacific Fashion Week will be their newest global platform to showcase the diversity of Filipinoinspired fashions. This inaugural edition of APFW is presented by the Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles, DTI Los Angeles office, Center

for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM) and The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. The Los Angeles leg of APFW enjoys the support of Asian Journal Publications, Inc. Trending Beverages Inc., Napa Valley Distribution Inc., Montemaria Cellars, House of Pacquiao Wine, Individual Health Care, Lombard by the Bay, MTS Law Firm, Premier Asia Pacific Real Estate & Development, and Tina Modeling. The Las Vegas edition is co-produced by InterEdx, a dba of Dynasty Exchange Ltd. LLC., headed by Dr. Lee Dedicatoria, in cooperation with Asia on Earth, Dynasty Ventures, Club Paradisia, World Edoption, Royal Blue Staffing and Lend with Love. (APFW Release)

MAJA Salvador is set to finally tie the knot with her non-showbiz boyfriend Rambo Nuñez after he popped the question in an intimate gathering. The actress showed herself raising a glass and wearing what appears to be a diamond engagement ring, via her Instagram page on Sunday, April 17. Salvador also got emotional while holding and hugging Nuñez who was on his knees. “My new beginning [Rambo Nuñez],” Salvador said. Salvador treated fans to more scenes from the engagement, as seen on her

Instagram Stories. Nuñez, for his part, showed himself and Salvador locked in an embrace while he held her hand, via his Instagram page, also yesterday. “The best part is yet to come my love [Maja Salvador],” Nuñez said. The newly engaged couple received congratulatory messages from Salvador’s fellow celebrities including Kim Chiu, Heart Evangelista and Liza Soberano. Salvador and Nuñez first dated in 2010 and broke up, but rekindled their romance in 2019. In the same year, the actress declared that she and Nuñez will not break up again. g

Living to 100... PAGE 13 and every apprentice is picked according to his or her knack for tattooing. 9. Passion over profit If there is one very remarkable trait among the Butbut, it is that they welcome tourists and visitors like their own family. They have encountered thousands of locals and foreigners for sure, but they treat everyone equally and accommodate each one like it’s their first. They would invite you to stay at their homes, eat with them at their tables, even carry your heavy luggage and children over the slippery rice paddies. Even though, of course, they are expecting you to pay them, you can see and feel from their kind of hospitality that it is natural to them and they are doing it because they genuinely care for you. We have never experienced being ripped off in their village. We were even served with more than what we paid for. Some repeat visitors even already had been called by locals with tribal monikers (although the villagers now have modern names). When Apo Whang-Od welcomed us in her house, her eyes were not beaming with dollar signs. She immediately looked at our sleepy baby and carried the toddler as if cradling her to sleep in her lap. Immediately, she was our grandma from the boondocks and not the inked superstar people defended from Nas Daily. She hugged us, stroked my daughters’ hair, as if we were relatives coming home. (About Nas Daily, the villagers and Whang-Od do not hold a grudge against him and dismissed what happened as a mere misunderstanding. They never spoke ill of him and would still welcome him should he visit.) Even Estella and the rest of the villagers exuded the same warmth. They never named their price. They spoke to us as friends and carried our children on their backs like their own. They even almost did not want to part ways. Our kids enjoyed playing with their kids and running after their turkeys and ducks (although of course, we warned them that if they accidentally killed any of those, we had to pay not only for the poultry’s price, but also for its next generations, according to Kalinga tribal laws). 10. Time to rest Like how superstars are treated by their managers, Estella and the villagers make sure that Whang-Od is not abused. To prevent her from being exploited by tourists, every tour batch is given a number and is asked to wait for their turn. Whang-Od also has scheduled break times and cannot be disturbed, even by the most die-hard fans, when she is eating, sleeping or doing anything she wants or must do – most especially when it is her time to watch her ultimate crush Coco Martin in “Ang Probinsyano”! g

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APRIL 22-28, 2022 • NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY ASIAN JOURNAL

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