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Volume 11 – Issue 29 • 16 Pages
MA Y 4 - 1 0 , 2 0 1 8
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DATELINE
USA
Palace: Duterte still trusts Cayetano by PIA LEE-BRAGO
FROM THE AJPRESS NEWS TEAM ACROSS AMERICA
Philstar.com
The City of Cerritos’ first Fil-Am mayor to serve position once again THE City of Cerritos, California swore in Mark E. Pulido as its mayor on Wednesday, April 25 — four years after he became the city’s first-ever Filipino American to serve the position. “What I love most about serving City of Cerritos Mayor Mark Cerritos is the opE. Pulido portunity presented Photo courtesy of Gloria Pulido each and every day to give back to my hometown for the many blessings that I have received,” Pulido told the Asian Journal.
Also published in LOS ANGELES, ORANGE COUNTY/INLAND EMPIRE, LAS VEGAS, NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano
Philstar.com photo
MANILA — Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano still enjoys the trust and confidence of President Duterte despite a call by career officers at the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) for his resignation due to what they called “gross incompetence” that led to the diplomatic row with Kuwait. Asked if Cayetano still had the backing of Duterte, presidential spokesman Harry Roque Jr. re-
plied, “Yes.” Roque, however, is leaving it up to Cayetano to answer the call of the career officers for the resignation of the foreign affairs secretary and his appointees. In a statement on Thursday, May 3, the DFA labeled a report of The Star about the call of career diplomats for Cayetano’s resignation as “malicious.” The career officers group pointed out that the President is the chief architect of Philippine foreign policy and engages in
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PH favored to host Miss Universe 2018 pageant in Boracay by RITCHEL
MENDIOLA AJPress
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American Boracay resort owner arrested PHILIPPINE Bureau of Immigration (BI) agents have arrested an American tourist for illegally operating a beach resort on Boracay island. BI Commissioner Jaime Morente on Monday identified the foreigner as 52-year-old Randall Lee Parker, who was apprehended on April 25, barely a day before Boracay was closed by the government. Parker was arrested by BI intelligence operatives inside The Artienda, the resort he was illegally operating at Boracay’s Station Two, Morente said. The BI chief disclosed that he ordered Parker’s arrest after a complaint was filed against him for running the resort “without the appropriate work permit or visa.” “He will undergo deportation proceed-
high stakes diplomacy, with the secretary of foreign affairs bridging the gap with the international community. “Having no vision on foreign policy, Cayetano and his top aides miscalculated Kuwaiti reaction to the controversial rescue missions of distressed Filipino housemaids. This blunder resulted in the expulsion of our Ambassador to Kuwait, Rene (Renato) Villa, who was declared persona non grata by the host government,” the of-
LAND DISTRIBUTION. President Rodrigo Duterte, in his speech during the Pamamahagi ng Titulo Handog ng Pangulo program at Liwasang Alfaro G. Aguirre in Mulanay, Quezon on Wednesday, May 2, declares that he is willing to hand down government-owned land that are deemed unused or unproductive to the farmers. The president, however, was quick to add that he needs the cooperation of congress for the reform of government-owned lands. Malacañang photos by Alfred Frias
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AN organizer of the 2016 Miss Universe in the Philippines shared that the Miss Universe Organization (MUO) has approached them again for a possible restaging of the beauty pageant’s 2018 edition in the country. Requesting to be anonymous as he is representing a private company that helped stage Miss Universe 2016 in the country, the organizer confirmed that the MUO asked their company to be ready in helping to restage the pageant, should the Philippine government give it the green light. Tourism Undersecretary Kat De Castro said that there is a good chance the country is hosting the pageant once again. “It’s just me and the Miss Universe Organization trying to iron out a few details,” she said. Tourism Secretary Wanda Corazon TulfoTeo said in April that President Rodrigo Duterte talked about restaging the Miss Universe pageant in Boracay — which was closed for rehabilitation last April 26 — to attract tourists back to the popular tourist
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PH ranks 2nd in Asia-Pacific in deaths due to household pollution DFA: Kuwaiti assurance of protection to PH workers may end diplomatic row
The Philippines has the third highest death rate in the region after China and Mongolia due to outdoor air pollution, says WHO. Inquirer.net photo
POLLUTION caused by traditional cooking fuel is killing people in the Philippines at higher rates than those in most other countries in the Asia-Pacific region, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The Philippines has earned the distinction of having the region’s second biggest number of deaths due to indoor air pollution, WHO said in a recent report. Data gathered by the world health agency showed that close to 84 deaths per 100,000 Filipinos were recorded in 2016 due
to indoor or household air pollution. This put the Philippines second only to Laos, where at least 85 deaths per 100,000 population were recorded. The Philippines also ranked third in the number of deaths at 45.3 per 100,000 due to outdoor air pollution. China recorded 81.5 deaths, and Mongolia, 48.8. “Air pollution is the most lethal environmental health threat in our region, and it affects people
by PATRICIA LOURDES Philstar.com
VIRAY
THE assurance of Kuwait to the Philippines that it would address the Filipino workers’ concerns could end the diplomatic row between the two countries, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said on Tuesday, May 1. “This gesture on the part of Kuwait, a country with which we have a shared history and strong u PAGE A2 people-to-people ties, will allow us to move forward and hurdle the challenges we face,” Cayetano said in a statement.
Duterte: China vowed to spare Scarborough from island-building
Kuwaiti Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Al-Jarallah said that his government was ready to work with Manila in addressing the concerns of Filipino workers in the Gulf state. Cayetano said the Philippines acknowledged Kuwait’s assurance to Manila of protecting the rights and promoting the welfare of 262,000 Filipinos working in the Gulf state where about 150,000 were household service workers. “This is a shared goal that should be pursued with willing-
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by NESTOR
CORRALES Inquirer.net
LAUNCH. The Philippine Consulate General in New York (PCG-NY), in partnership with the Philippine Department of Tourism New York, Philippine Airlines, and Tanduay Asian Rum launched the Filipino Restaurant Week 2018 (FRW 2018), on Thursday, 3 May 2018, at the Kalayaan Hall of the Philippine Center. AJPress Photo by Momar G. Visaya
CHINA has reassured President Rodrigo Duterte that Scarborough Shoal would be spared from Beijing’s militarization of the disputed South China Sea. Duterte said he had a recent meeting with Chinese officials, whom he did not identify. The president said he asked the officials to spare Scarborough shoal Presidential Adviser on Overseas Filipino Workers Abdullah Mamao meets with Kuwaiti Deputy
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Foreign Minister Khaled Al-Jarallah.
Philstar.com photo