New guidance directs supervised banks and credit unions to consider whether uncertainty over a borrower’s work authorization could affect income, repayment capacity and collateral recovery.
WASHINGTON — Federal banking regulators have instructed the institutions they supervise to account for immigration-related employment risks when evaluating loans, saying uncertainty over a borrower’s ability to work legally in the United States may affect income and repayment.
The guidance, issued July 13 by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the National Credit Union Administra-
Federal officials link Cyclospora outbreak to shredded iceberg lettuce
The current warning covers five states and does not include California. Health officials say washing may not remove the parasite completely, while cooking provides greater protection
Federal health officials have linked shredded iceberg lettuce from Mexico served at certain Taco Bell restaurants in five states to an outbreak of cyclosporiasis that has sickened at least 1,644 people.
The outbreak has resulted in 94 hospitalizations, with no deaths reported, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Pre-
Sara Duterte trial shifts to dispute over financial records
by AJPress
MANILA — Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial moved from scrutiny of National Bureau of Investigation records to a legal dispute over bank, tax and anti-money-laundering documents.
The Senate impeachment court completed three hearing days before adjourning until Monday, July 20, when senator-judges are scheduled to take up prosecution requests for records involving Duterte, her husband, lawyer Manases Carpio, and business entities identified in the motions.
Duterte has denied wrongdoing and described the case as politically motivated. The allegations remain
unproven and have not been adjudicated.
The week began with testimony from Jeremy Lotoc, NBI regional director for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and former chief of the bureau’s Cybercrime Division.
Lotoc discussed the investigation of Duterte’s Nov. 23, 2024, online news conference, when she said she had told an unnamed person to kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and then-House speaker Martin Romualdez if she were killed.
The defense maintains that the conditional statement did not establish an actionable threat or an actual plan. Lotoc said investigators considered the remarks serious based on their wording, delivery and context.
Eala welcomed home after historic Wimbledon run, rise to World
by AJPress
MANILA — Filipina tennis star Alex Eala returned home to national recognition following the most successful Grand Slam campaign of her career, receiving a Presidential Citation at Malacañang and later attending a homecoming reception hosted by longtime supporter Bank of the Philippine Islands after climbing to a career-high No. 28 in the Women’s Tennis Association rankings.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. welcomed
10 years after Philippines' arbitral win, 14 nations back award as 'final, binding'
MANILA — Fourteen governments marked the 10th anniversary of the 2016 South China Sea arbitral award by reaffirming it as "final, legally binding, and definitive" between the Philippines and China, while foreign envoys in Manila called for stronger defense and technical cooperation to help the country protect its maritime rights.
In a rare joint statement, the Philippines, United States, Australia, Canada, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, New Zealand, Romania, Slovenia and the United Kingdom said they remained committed to "a free and open Indo-Pacific that is peaceful, stable, and rules-based."
The governments said maritime
disputes must be resolved peacefully and in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
They also reaffirmed that there is no legal basis for China's expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea, including those based on "historic rights."
The countries opposed "any destabilizing or unilateral actions including by force or coercion" that threaten regional peace and stability. They also opposed the use of coast guard, military and maritime militia forces to "harass, obstruct, or intimidate lawful operations by other States at sea or in the air."
Calls for practical support
The statement came as foreign
That was the NBI’s assessment, not a finding by the impeachment court. Lotoc acknowledged that investigators had no validated information identifying the person Duterte said she had contacted.
The July 13 hearing also exposed errors and apparent inconsistencies in NBI documents. An affidavit incorrectly identified Duterte as justice secretary rather than education secretary. A subpoena addressed to ABS-CBN was dated Nov. 6, 2024, before the briefing under investigation; Lotoc said he believed the date was a typographical error.
The defense also questioned a form that appeared to have been received by the Justice Department beu PAGE 2
Fil-Am found guilty of wife’s murder 5 years after she vanished
Larry Millete is convicted of firstdegree murder of his wife, Maya, who disappeared without a trace
CHULA VISTA – Filipino American Larry Millete was convicted of first-degree murder Thursday for the killing of his wife, who vanished without a trace more than five years ago.
Following about six weeks of testimony, a Chula Vista jury deliberated for less than a day before convicting Millete, 44, of murdering his wife of 20 years, May “Maya” Millete, who has not been seen or heard from since Jan. 7, 2021.
A sentencing hearing was not set, as another unresolved assault weapon possession charge will be dealt with first. Millete will be back in court next month for a status conference.
25 years to life in prison He faces up to 25 years to life in state prison for May’s murder.
Deputy District Attorney Christy Bowles, who prosecuted the case, and May’s sister, Maricris Drouaillet, expressed gratitude for the jury’s verdict, but said their work would not be finished until May’s body was found.
“While today’s verdict is significant, May is still miss-
No. 28
the 21-year-old to Malacañang on July 13, commending her for becoming the first player representing the Philippines to reach the fourth round of the Wimbledon singles tournament and for giving Philippine tennis its strongest showing at the event.
During the ceremony, the President presented Eala with a Presidential Citation recognizing her achievements in international tennis and thanked her for bringing pride to the country through her performance.
The recognition came as the WTA released
Government to study implications of US campaign vs ICC
by Alexis RomeRo Philstar.com
MANILA — The Marcos administration will study the implications of the US campaign against the International Criminal Court (ICC), which is set to begin its trial on the crimes against humanity case of former president Rodrigo Duterte this year.
US State Secretary Marco Rubio unveiled last Monday what has been described as a “sweeping campaign” that aims to disable the ICC’s ability to “operate, target American servicemen or officials.”
Describing the ICC as a “threat to U.S. sovereignty,” Rubio said the campaign involves diplomatic calls to foreign nations highlighting the “abuses” of the interna
tional tribunal and urging them to withdraw from the court.
It also entails increased scrutiny of nations that refuse to reject the ICC’s authority while relying on American aid and diplomatic calls, urging other nations that are not party to the Rome Statute – the treaty that formed the court – to leverage their diplomatic networks to take similar actions alongside the US.
The Philippines, a traditional ally and treaty partner of the US, ceased to be a member of the ICC in 2019 following the Duterte administration’s decision to withdraw the country from the Rome Statute.
“Its effect on the implementation of our laws is being studied,”
Proposed amendments would permit short administrative freezes while retaining Court of Appeals oversight
by AJPress
MANILA — The Anti-Money Laundering Council is seeking authority to temporarily stop suspicious financial transactions and preserve property before obtaining a Court of Appeals order, a proposed change intended to prevent funds from being transferred or concealed while a court petition is prepared.
The request is part of a continuing effort in Congress to revise the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001 to strengthen responses to financial crimes involving digital assets, cross-border transfers and layered corporate arrangements.
Under current law, the AMLC generally must file a verified ex parte petition with the Court of Appeals in money-laundering cases. The court may issue a freeze order after finding probable cause that property is connected to unlawful activity or money laundering. The initial order takes effect for 20 days, and may last up to six months.
Pending bills would move
temporary step to the AMLC while preserving judicial review. The measures remain proposals and could change in Congress.
House Bill 8435, filed by Bataan Rep. Antonino Roman III, would authorize the AMLC to issue a transaction suspension order when there is reasonable suspicion that a transaction or fund is unusual, lacks a clear economic purpose, comes from an unknown or illegal source, or is related to unlawful activity or money laundering.
The order would apply only to the transaction or fund, not all accounts belonging to the person. It would last 15 working days unless extended to no more than 30 working days. It would lapse if the AMLC did not issue an administrative freeze order or petition the Court of Appeals.
An affected party could submit an explanation and supporting records within five working days after notice and seek revo-
From the Front Page
Alex Eala welcomed home after historic...
its latest rankings, placing Eala at a career-high World No. 28 with 1,666 ranking points. The move elevated her four places from her previous ranking and extended her record as the highest-ranked Filipino in WTA singles history.
Eala’s breakthrough at the All England Club marked another milestone in a season that has established her among the sport’s rising players. Seeded No. 29, she advanced to the fourth round after victories over Mexico’s Renata Zarazua and Australia’s Maya Joint before upsetting defending Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek in straight sets, 7-6(9), 6-2, on Centre Court.
Her run ended in the Round of 16 against Italy’s Jasmine Paolini, but the result represented the deepest Grand Slam singles finish by a player representing the Philippines.
Among the organizations welcoming Eala home was BPI, which has supported her professional career in recent years. The bank hosted a reception attended by BPI Chairman Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, President and Chief Executive Officer TG Limcaoco, ACMobility Chief Executive Officer Jaime Alfonso Zobel de Ayala and JG Summit Holdings President and Chief Executive Officer Lance Gokongwei.
Congratulating Eala during the gathering, Limcaoco praised both her Wimbledon results and the resilience she displayed throughout the tournament.
“On behalf of everyone at BPI, congratulations on your amazing and historic run at Wimbledon,” Limcaoco said. “What makes us proudest is not just how far you’ve come, but how you handle every match — with grit, grace and guts.”
Eala also spent time with BPI employees, discussing her Wimbledon experience and answering questions before meeting with members of the media.
Eala’s rise to No. 28 followed a series of strong results over the past two seasons, including her semifinal appearance at the 2025 Miami Open and her deepest Grand Slam run at Wimbledon. She is listed in the field for the Mubadala DC Open, part of the North American hard-court season leading to the U.S. Open. n
ABISO PARA SA HALALAN
IPINAPARATING RITO NG ABISO na magkakaroon ng Pangkalahatang Halalang Munisipal na gagawin sa Lungsod ng Buena Park sa Martes, Nobyembre 3, 2026, para sa mga sumusunod na opisyal:
Miyembro ng Konseho ng Lungsod ng Buena Park – Unang Distrito (1) (Buong Termino ng Apat na Taon)
Miyembro ng Konseho ng Lungsod ng Buena Park – Ikalawang Distrito (2) (Buong Termino ng Apat na Taon)
Miyembro ng Konseho ng Lungsod ng Buena Park – Ikalimang Distrito (5) (Buong Termino ng Apat na Taon)
Magsisimula ang panahon ng nominasyon para sa mga tungkuling ito sa Lunes, Hulyo 13, 2026, at magtatapos sa Huwebes, Agosto 6, 2026, nang 6:00 p.m.
Kung ang mga papeles ng nominasyon para sa isang kuwalipikadong nanunungkulang opisyal ng lungsod ay hindi naisumite bago ang Biyernes, Agosto 7, 2026, (ang ika-88 araw bago ang halalan), ang mga botante ay magkakaroon hanggang ika-83 no araw bago ang halalan, Miyerkules, Agosto 12, 2026, upang magnomina ng mga kandidato maliban sa taong/mga taong nanunungkulang opisyal sa ika-88 araw bago ang halalan, para sa halal nakatungkulan ng nanunungkulang iyon. Ang pagpapalawig na ito ay hindi nalalapat kung walang kasalukuyang opisyal ang kwalipikadong ihalal.
Kung walang sinuman o iisa lamang ang nominado para sa isang elective office, ang pagtatalaga sa nasabing posisyon ay maaaring gawin ayon sa itinatakda ng §10229 ng Elections Code ng Estado ng California. Ang mga presinto (mga vote center) ay magbubukas sa pagitan ng 7:00 a.m. at 8:00 p.m.
Adria M. Vicuña, MMC Clerk ng Lungsod, Opisyal ng Halalan/ Direktor ng Pamahalaan at Ugnayan sa Komunidad BAGONG ORAS NG CITY HALL
Lunes hanggang Huwebes, 7:00 a.m. hanggang 6:00 p.m., sarado tuwing Biyernes.
Sara Duterte trial shifts to...
PAGE 1
fore it was sworn. Lotoc said he had not handled the document, and the court has not ruled on the discrepancies’ evidentiary effect.
During cross-examination July 14, Presiding Officer Francis “Chiz” Escudero said Lotoc could testify that Duterte made the recorded statements but could not establish the truth of the matters she described because he lacked personal knowledge of any alleged arrangement.
Prosecutors withdrew Office of the Vice President chief of staff Zuleika Lopez and Belinda Bello, executive director of the House Legislative Security Bureau, as witnesses.
The prosecution said previously presented evidence had sufficiently established the briefing’s setting and authenticity and the existence of the order transferring Lopez.
No witness testified July 15.
House prosecutor Chel Diokno argued that the requested records could help evaluate an impeachment article alleging wealth not adequately explained by declared income and assets. He cited the 2012 impeachment trial of former chief justice Renato Corona.
Defense lawyer Michael Poa urged the court to deny the requests, describing them as an overly broad search for evidence and arguing that disclosure could violate due-process guarantees and confidentiality laws.
Republic Act No. 1405 generally protects bank deposits but expressly lists impeachment as an exception. Tax returns and AMLC materials are governed by sep-
arate confidentiality provisions, leaving the court to determine the requests’ relevance and specificity and the extent of its authority to compel disclosure.
After a caucus lasting more than an hour, the court deferred action until July 20. Each senator-judge will receive up to 10 minutes to question the lawyers before the court acts.
The court separately authorized subpoenas involving the allegation that Duterte misused P612.5 million in confidential funds — P500 million allocated to the Office of the Vice President and P112.5 million released to the Department of Education while she headed the agency.
Marivic Pareja, director of the House Legislative Archives and Museum Management Service, and former Land Bank branch managers Violeta Constantino and Nenita Camposano were ordered to testify. Land Bank President and Chief Executive Officer Lynette Ortiz was directed to produce records.
The subpoenas compel evidence for the court’s consideration. They do not establish that public funds were misused or that Duterte committed an impeachable offense.
Prosecutors also removed six witnesses from the article involving the alleged threats. NBI Director Melvin Matibag is scheduled to testify July 21 as the prosecution’s final witness. Witnesses connected with the confidential-funds allegation are scheduled to begin appearing July 22.
The July 15 session also includ-
ed concerns from senators Robin Padilla, Alan Peter Cayetano and Pia Cayetano about a separate NBI inquiry into alleged irregularities connected with the 2019 Southeast Asian Games.
On July 17, Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla said his office would review files involving previously dismissed allegations concerning SEA Games sports-facility projects. The NBI said it planned to subpoena officials who may have information relevant to the inquiry.
The impeachment court has made no finding that the inquiry was intended to pressure a senator-judge or influence the trial. There were no trial sessions July 16 or 17, but debate continued over the requested tax records. Impeachment court spokesperson Reginald Tongol said procedures used during the Corona trial could guide the Senate if it issues a subpoena. Former BIR Commissioner Kim Henares said presidential authorization would be needed before the bureau could release tax returns. Her assessment was legal commentary, not a court ruling.
The House prosecution maintained Friday that the impeachment court has constitutional authority to issue the subpoenas. The Palace said Marcos had not signed an authorization for the release of Duterte’s tax records.
The trial resumes Monday at 2 p.m. The court is scheduled to take up the subpoena requests, but any release of tax or AMLC records could require additional legal and procedural steps. (AJPress)
Government to study implications of US...
PAGE 1
Palace press officer Claire Castro said at a media briefing on Thursday, July 16.
Asked whether the Philippines would support the US stance on the ICC, Castro said: “For now, I cannot give any comment. Let us wait for the insights of our President.”
“I talked to (Foreign Affairs) Secretary Tess Lazaro and they have a message on this, but they will talk to the President first with regard to our possible stance on this,” she added.
Although the Philippines is no longer a member of the ICC, the Marcos administration surren-
dered Duterte to the court last year, a move that officials said was in line with the country’s commitment to the International Criminal Police Organization or Interpol.
Duterte was arrested on an ICC warrant on March 11, 2025 for crimes against humanity linked to his bloody drug war.
The former president is now detained in The Hague while awaiting trial, which is scheduled to begin in November.
Castro said pursuing justice for the alleged victims of the drug war is important, but officials would wait for Marcos’ pronouncement on the issue.
“Whatever will be the outcome
of the ICC case, the President thinks it will yield justice not just for the alleged victims but also the respondents or defendants or the accused,” she added. There have been calls for the Philippines to rejoin the ICC, but Castro said Marcos’ stance that the country is not yet returning to the court has not changed.
The current administration’s continued cooperation with the ICC could expose the Philippines to diplomatic, visa and possible economic repercussions, following recent U.S. moves against the international tribunal, Sen. Imee Marcos warned. (With reports from Mark Ernest Villeza)
10 years after Philippines' arbitral win...
PAGE 1
ambassadors in Manila used the anniversary to call for stronger defense, maritime and technical cooperation with the Philippines.
At a Stratbase Institute conference marking the award's 10th anniversary, representatives from more than 30 foreign missions attended what the think tank described as an unprecedented gathering of foreign missions.
Ambassadors from Australia, Canada, the European Union, France, Germany, India, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand and the United Kingdom stressed support for UNCLOS, which underpins the arbitral ruling.
They framed the award not only as a legal victory, but as a standard that must be defended through capability-building.
French Ambassador Marie Fontanel said defending international law requires more than statements of principle.
"Legal principles alone are not enough. Whenever rules are challenged, like when nations speak up, words must be backed by practical cooperation," Fontanel said, as quoted in a news release.
"Defending international law requires power. Power requires ships, aircraft, joint drills, agreements. It requires that like-minded partners can operate together quickly, credibly, lawfully," she added.
Australian Ambassador Marc Innes-Brown said Canberra looked forward to signing a new defense cooperation arrangement with Manila in 2026, building on Australia's 10-year, $160 million investment in maritime cooperation with Southeast Asian partners, including the Philippines.
He said Australia had doubled its bilateral maritime assistance to the Philippines through a new $18 million investment to strengthen maritime domain awareness, legal and policy development, operational capabilities, cyber resilience, professional education and law of the sea training.
Several envoys also pointed to new or pending defense arrangements that would make joint training and operations with the Philippines easier. Manila seeks to build a wider network of security partners beyond its treaty ally, the United States.
United Kingdom Ambassador Sara Hulton said London was in formal negotiations with Manila for its own status of visiting forces
agreement. She said the UK was pursuing joint military exercises and hoped to move from observer to participant in future drills.
"We were particularly pleased to be a part of Exercise Balikatan '26 as an observer nation, with aspirations to be a participating nation in the future, and are planning to participate in Exercise Sama-Sama '26 later this year, deepening our interoperability with the Philippines and our allies," Hulton said.
Citing Canada's recently signed visiting forces agreement with the Philippines, Canadian Ambassador David Hartman said Ottawa looked forward to co-chairing practical initiatives with ASEAN partners, including workshops on UNCLOS, climate security, cybersecurity and defense cooperation.
India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand also cited practical initiatives, such as disaster response exercises and maritime intelligence systems to ship transfers, offshore patrol vessels and local shipbuilding support.
Indian Ambassador Sri Harsh Kumar Jain said the Philippines had joined the Indian Navy's Information Fusion Center. He also said the first India-Philippines disaster management exercise would be held in Manila next month to strengthen preparedness and joint capabilities in disaster response, crisis management and resilience.
Manila and Tokyo are advancing discussions on the transfer of Abukuma-class vessels, Japanese Ambassador Endo Kazuya said.
Recent engagement between the two government also involve TC90 training aircraft as a demonstration of their "concrete resolve to build a future-oriented security partnership." Pointing to features of a partnership beyond defense, South Korean Ambassador Lee Sang-hwa said the two countries have shifted focus toward shipbuilding, including Korean-built offshore patrol vessels and support for local vessel construction at the HD Hyundai Subic Shipyard. Technology, data and deterrence The ambassadors stressed the need for greater maritime domain awareness as Chinese coast guard and maritime militia vessels continue to operate in parts of the West Philippine Sea, often leading to confrontations with Philippine vessels. New Zealand Ambassador Cath-
erine McIntosh said Wellington was using its Starboard Maritime Intelligence Program to help regional partners reduce the risk of miscalculation through better data.
European Union Ambassador Massimo Santoro highlighted the EU's IORIS platform, a real-time information-sharing tool for maritime authorities, and said "additional instruments" could soon translate shared objectives into more tangible support.
Stratbase Institute president Victor Andres "Dindo" Manhit said, meanwhile, the initiatives reinforce the findings of an institute-commissioned survey showing that 86% of Filipinos want the government to continue defending the West Philippine Sea with like-minded nations.
"As China's gray zone activity persists, and as the contest extends into cyber and information domains, defending the gains of the award requires modern, integrated, multi-domain defense posture," Manhit said.
"Every port call, every joint patrol, every diplomatic statement citing the award carries the same message. The defense of the West Philippine Sea is no longer the Philippines' burden to carry by itself," he added.
Award as legal anchor
The July 12, 2016 award invalidated China's sweeping claims in the South China Sea that exceeded maritime entitlements under UNCLOS.
The 14 governments described the ruling as a milestone and reaffirmed the importance of freedom of navigation and overflight, as well as other lawful uses of the sea. They also urged parties to abide by the award and settle disputes peacefully through dialogue and other lawful mechanisms consistent with international law.
German Ambassador Andreas Pfaffernoschke said stability in the West Philippine Sea is a "litmus test for the global rule of law."
"We are convinced that the strength of the law must always prevail over the law of the strong. Right makes might, not might makes right," Pfaffernoschke said.
"The 2016 Arbitral Award is final, and it is legally binding on all parties to the dispute. It is not a disputable opinion, it is an authoritative clarification of maritime entitlements," he added. (With reports from Ian Laqui and a report from Adrian Parungao) n
Photo from Philippines' Presidential Communications Office
AMLC seeks power to halt suspicious transactions...
cation under council rules.
The bill would also authorize a 20-day administrative freeze after the council finds probable cause that property is connected to unlawful activity. The order would have to state supporting facts and cover only assets for which probable cause had been established.
The AMLC would then have to seek a judicial freeze from the Court of Appeals. Under House Bill 8435, the court would set a summary hearing within five working days, notify the affected party and provide an opportunity to be heard. It could lift or modify the order or issue a judicial freeze lasting no more than six months.
Other pending measures contain similar proposals but differ on procedure. Senate Bill 1557, filed by Sen. Panfilo Lacson, would also authorize transaction suspensions while expanding the council’s supervisory, investigative and enforcement powers.
The proposed legislation would permit the freezing of other property of equivalent
value when the original assets could not be located after due diligence, had been destroyed or diminished, moved abroad, concealed, converted or mixed with other property in a way that made them difficult to identify. That provision would not transfer ownership to the government. A freeze temporarily restricts the movement or disposal of property; permanent forfeiture requires a separate judicial proceeding. House Bill 8435 would also allow reasonable withdrawals for family support, legal representation and medical needs.
The measures would update the institutions and professions covered by anti-money-laundering requirements. Changes include covering virtual asset service providers and online gambling operators, while clarifying the treatment of trust and company service providers and lawyers or accountants handling specified financial or business transactions. Information protected by legal privilege would remain outside ordinary reporting requirements.
Other provisions would
strengthen inspection and subpoena authority, expand administrative sanctions and require annual reports to Congress on transaction suspensions, administrative freezes, court action, forfeiture cases and penalties. Administrative decisions would remain reviewable by the Court of Appeals.
The legislative push follows the Financial Action Task Force’s removal of the Philippines in February 2025 from its gray list. FATF said the country had made significant progress but should continue working with the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering. Lawmakers have cited the Philippines’ next mutual evaluation, expected in 2027, as a reason to update the law.
Congress must decide whether the risk of assets disappearing justifies allowing an administrative agency to restrict access to property before a judge acts. The bills seek to address that concern through short time limits, stated evidentiary standards, opportunities to contest orders and continuing Court of Appeals review. n
Federal bank regulators tell lenders to weigh...
PAGE 1
tion, applies existing credit-risk standards to borrowers who are not legally authorized to work in the country. It does not impose a blanket lending ban or direct institutions to reject applicants solely because of immigration status. Instead, the agencies said lenders should determine whether uncertainty surrounding employment authorization could affect the stability of income, repayment capacity, collateral recovery or other relevant credit factors.
Lenders may examine whether employment income is current, verifiable, stable and likely to continue. Depending on the loan and the borrower’s circumstances, institutions may review pay stubs, W-2 forms, tax returns, employer verification, bank statements or evidence of continuing work authorization.
The agencies said repayment risk may increase if a borrower loses a job because of a lack or expiration of work authorization, cannot obtain lawful reemployment or is removed from the United States. Institu-
tions were advised to consider whether repayment would remain adequate during an interruption in employment or income.
For secured loans, regulators said institutions may encounter added difficulty contacting borrowers or locating and repossessing movable collateral, including automobiles. They also advised lenders to monitor concentrations of borrowers in industries, employers or regions that could be disproportionately affected by changes in immigration enforcement, employment-verification practices or labor availability.
The action follows a May 19 executive order by President Donald Trump directing federal financial regulators to address risks associated with extending credit or financial services to people who may be inadmissible to or removable from the United States and who lack legal authorization to work.
A n t e l o p e V a l l e y s .
we’re Hiring!
The CFPB said creditors relying on U.S.-based employment income may consider information bearing on a borrower’s continuing ability to earn that income when remaining in the country is necessary for the work. It also said federal credit regulations permit consideration of immigration status and related information needed to determine a creditor’s rights and remedies regarding repayment.
The interagency document reminds financial institutions of existing obligations rather than creating a new lending rule. Its practical effect will depend on how banks and credit unions incorporate work-authorization risk into underwriting, account management, loan classification and portfolio oversight. (AJPress)
The guidance also cites a June 8 statement from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on ability-to-repay requirements and immigration status. Under federal rules, creditors making covered home loans must make a reasonable, good-faith determination that a consumer can repay according to the loan’s terms. Credit card issuers must consider a consumer’s ability to make required minimum payments.
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Fil-Am found guilty of wife’s murder...
ing,” Bowles said. “We continue to hope that one day, she will be found so her family can lay her to rest with the dignity she deserves.”
Maya still missing
Drouaillet, who for years organized searches for her younger sister, said, “Justice will have been served today, but we still have my sister out there. We still have the second step to go through. We still have to bring my sister home, to bring her to her three children.”
Prosecutors allege Larry killed his wife in their home because she sought a divorce, then loaded her body into an SUV and disposed of her on Jan. 8, during a period of about 12 hours in which his whereabouts remain unknown.
Her body has never been found, but police and prosecutors say there is no evidence to suggest she was alive after that date. While Bowles conceded to jurors that she could not specifically say how May Millete died, she argued Larry was the only person with the means and motive to kill her.
‘Spell casters’ The prosecution’s case focused largely on what Bowles described as Larry’s possessive and controlling behavior, which allegedly included regularly tracking May’s whereabouts, controlling her finances and ultimately soliciting the assistance of “spell casters” he believed could magically influence May to give up her plans for divorce.
The requests to spell casters evolved over the months leading to May’s disappearance from seeking to make her fall in love with him again to making her obey him to causing her to become sick or incapacitated so she would be dependent on him.
Bowles argued those messages illustrated his capability to cause his wife physical harm and noted his spell requests abruptly ended following May’s disappearance.
The prosecutor also sought to dispel the notion that May voluntarily vanished, noting May’s plans for the coming year and her devotion to her three children.
Affair with co-worker
Defense attorney Liann Sabatini said in her closing arguments that Larry’s behavior was colored by May’s ongoing affair with a co-worker and that his conduct that was being classified as stalking was actually Larry conducting a “tragic investigation” in which he was trying to confirm whether May was cheating.
Sabatini argued Larry was being psychologically abused and “gaslit” by May, whom she said was denying the affair to family and friends while at the same time portraying Larry as “crazy” and “the villain” for suspecting it.
While she said jurors might not agree with how Larry handled the situation, Sabatini said, “There is no playbook for heartbreak.”
‘Well-planned’ Regarding the alleged murder, Sabatini told jurors they were being asked to speculate rather than rely on facts in a case that lacked a body, crime scene, murder weapon or eyewitnesses.
Bowles argued the lack of a body was even more compelling evidence that May’s disappearance was criminal and “so wellplanned that it is nothing other than premeditation.”
Though Bowles said she could not articulate the exact method of death, the presence of poison hemlock in the home has been referenced as a potential method. The contents of a vial found inside the Millete home following his arrest tested positive for coniine — a poisonous compound found in poison hemlock — and
Larry had searched numerous times for poison hemlock online, as well as other methods for killing or incapacitating someone.
Poison
But Sabatini dismissed the poison theory as “silly,” arguing there was no reason for Larry to keep the plant inside his home nearly a year after May’s disappearance if he was guilty and that it was more likely one of his children picked the plant, as poison hemlock is commonly found throughout San Diego County.
She also argued that Larry searched for the plant as a means to commit suicide due to his despair over his deteriorating marriage.
Surveillance footage captured May entering the family’s home at around 4:45 p.m. Jan. 7, but no video footage has captured her leaving.
According to trial testimony, her last known contact with anyone was in a text message with one of her sisters at around 8:15 p.m. Jan. 7, then her cell phone terminated all cellular connections at about 1:25 a.m. Jan. 8.
Larry — whose phone also terminated cell connections on the morning of Jan. 8 — allegedly left the family’s home in an SUV at about 6:45 a.m. and did not return until about 6 that evening.
San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan said in a statement released shortly after the verdict, “Finally, justice has been served for Maya and for everyone who has carried the weight of her absence for more than five years. Our hearts are with Maya’s family, friends and especially her three children, who have endured an unimaginable loss. Justice delayed can never erase years of grief, but today’s verdict affirms that no victim is forgotten and no family is abandoned in our pursuit of the truth.” (With CNS report)
Federal officials link Cyclospora outbreak...
1
vention and the Food and Drug Administration. Illnesses began between May 13 and July 13.
The CDC has advised consumers not to eat shredded iceberg lettuce served at Taco Bell locations in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia. Not every restaurant in those states received the affected supply. California is not included in the current warning. The FDA cautioned, however, that the lettuce may have been distributed beyond the five identified states and that additional restaurants, retailers or distribution channels could be identified.
The FDA said its traceback investigation converged on a single supplier of iceberg lettuce from Mexico used by restaurants where people reported eating before becoming ill. Federal agencies have not publicly named the supplier.
Taco Bell said it removed potentially affected lettuce from selected states and was eliminating lettuce from the identified supplier from its nationwide supply chain.
Taylor Fresh Foods said Friday that it was voluntarily removing all iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico from the U.S. market based on information provided by the FDA. The company said no Taylor Farms-branded salads or salad kits were associated with the outbreak and that its branded salad kits do not contain iceberg lettuce. Federal agencies did not identify the company in their public advisories.
The public-health finding concerns the lettuce supply. Michi-
LOS
LACMTA will receive Proposals for PS139177As-Needed Battery Supply and Install electronically via email to bids@metro.net. A virtual Pre-Proposal conference will be held on Thursday, July 23, 2026, 2:00 p.m., via Microsoft Teams. All Proposals must be submitted electronically via email to bids@ metro.net on or before 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time on Friday, August 14, 2026. Proposals received after the above date and time may be rejected and returned unopened. Each proposal must be sealed and marked Proposal No. PS139177. For a copy of the Proposal specification visit our Solicitation Page on our Vendor Portal at https://business.metro.net or for further information email Carolina Gyodakyan at gyodakyanc@metro.net.
7/18/26 CNS-4060233# ASIAN JOURNAL (L.A.)
gan health officials said the available evidence does not indicate that poor handling or preparation at an individual restaurant or restaurant chain caused the contamination.
The five-state outbreak represents only part of the broader increase in Cyclospora illnesses under investigation. The CDC is examining other clusters and cases that have not been connected to the lettuce involved in the current warning.
Michigan reported 5,002 cases as of July 17, including 102 patients who reported being hospitalized as of July 16. That total is not directly comparable with the federal outbreak count because state data may include both probable and confirmed cases that have not completed federal review.
Cyclospora cayetanensis is a microscopic parasite that infects the intestines after people consume contaminated food or water. Symptoms usually begin about a week after exposure but may appear within two days or after more than two weeks.
Frequent watery diarrhea is the most common symptom. Patients may also experience stomach cramps, bloating, nausea, fatigue, loss of appetite and weight loss. The illness may last a month or longer without treatment and can appear to improve before returning.
People who ate shredded iceberg lettuce at an affected restaurant and develop symptoms should contact a health-care provider. Routine stool tests do not always screen for Cyclospora, so patients may need to request spe-
LOS ANGELES COUNTY METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY (LACMTA) INVITATION FOR BID
LACMTA will receive Bids for OP137196(3) - Grease Interceptor Services via email to bids@metro.net. This project is open to Small Business Enterprises (SBE) and Disabled Veteran Business Enterprises (DVBE). All Bids must be submitted on forms furnished by LACMTA, and must be submitted electronically via email to bids@metro.net, on or before 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time on Friday, July 31, 2026; refer to the IFB document for bid opening information. Bids received after the above date and time may be rejected and returned to the bidder unopened. For a copy of the Proposal/Bid specification visit our Solicitation Page on our Vendor Portal at https://business. metro.net or for further information email Lance Duran at duranl@metro.net. 7/18/26 CNS-4060408# ASIAN JOURNAL (L.A.)
cific testing. The CDC identifies the prescription antibiotic trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole as the preferred treatment. A clinician should determine whether it is appropriate. People with diarrhea should also drink sufficient fluids to prevent dehydration.
At home, consumers should wash their hands with soap and water before and after preparing food. Fruits and vegetables should be rinsed thoroughly under clean running water before eating, cutting or cooking, including produce labeled prewashed.
Firm produce such as melons and cucumbers should be scrubbed with a clean produce brush. Damaged areas should be removed, and cut or peeled produce should be refrigerated within two hours.
Dish soap, detergent, bleach and household disinfectants should not be used on food.
Washing can reduce surface contamination but cannot guarantee that Cyclospora has been removed, particularly from the folds and crevices of leafy vegetables.
Cooking is the most reliable household safeguard. Health officials say heating produce to at least 158 degrees Fahrenheit, or 70 degrees Celsius, kills the parasite.
The FDA investigation remains open as officials test samples and examine whether lettuce from the implicated supply chain reached additional businesses.
Consumers are advised to follow federal and local health alerts as the scope of the distribution becomes clearer. (AJPress)
LOS ANGELES COUNTY METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION
AUTHORITY (LACMTA) INVITATION FOR BID
LACMTA will receive Bids/ Proposals for MA130013ROTORS. DISC BRAKES. FRONT AND REAR (MAN AND BUS. OEM) electronically via bids@metro.net. A Pre-Bid conference will not be held. All Bids must be submitted to LACMTA as per the IFB solicitation packet on or before 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time on Tuesday, August 11, 2026, at which time bids will be opened and publicly read. Bids received after the above date and time may be rejected and returned unopened. Each Bid must be sealed and marked Bid No. MA130013. For a copy of the Proposal/Bid specification visit our Solicitation Page on our Vendor Portal at https://business.metro.net or for further information email Marc Margoni at margonim@metro. net. 7/18/26 CNS-4059845# ASIAN JOURNAL (L.A.)
Notice of Class Action Settlement
Authorized by the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York — Notice of Class Action Settlement —
Si desea leer este aviso en español, llámenos o visite nuestro sitio web.
TO: All merchants in the U.S. who accepted Visa or Mastercard credit or debit cards at any time since December 18, 2020.
This notice (“Notice”) is authorized by the Court to inform you about an agreement to settle the equitable relief claims in a class action lawsuit, called In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation, No. 05-md-01720 (BMC)(JAM)(E.D.N.Y.). The lawsuit claims that Visa and Mastercard, separately, and together with certain banks, violated antitrust laws and caused merchants to pay excessive fees for accepting Visa and Mastercard credit and debit cards, including by adopting interchange rules and rates, and other network rules, which the lawsuit has claimed constituted unlawful price fixing, unreasonable restraints of trade, and monopolization.
The defendants say they did nothing wrong. They maintain that their business practices are legal, justified, and the result of independent competition, and have benefitted both merchants and consumers. The Court has not decided who is right because the parties agreed to a settlement, which was preliminarily approved by the Court on June 9, 2026.
A. What Merchants Will Get from the Settlement
During the lawsuit, the Court previously certified an Equitable Relief Class under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(2) and has now preliminarily approved a settlement of the Class claims (the “Rule 23(b)(2) Class Settlement” or “Settlement”). Under the Settlement, Visa and Mastercard have agreed to substantive changes to the Visa and Mastercard rules applicable to merchants who accept their cards as a form of payment.
The Class includes all persons, businesses, and entities that accept any Visa-Branded Cards and/or Mastercard-Branded Cards in the United States at any time during the period between December 18, 2020 and the date of preliminary settlement approval, or June 9, 2026. The Court has set November 16, 2026 as the date for a final approval and fairness hearing (the “Fairness Hearing”) in connection with the Settlement, after members of the Class have had the opportunity to evaluate the Settlement and exercise their rights, as set forth in the Notice. Further information regarding the Settlement and the Fairness Hearing will be posted on www.InterchangeEquitableReliefSettlement.com.
Under the Rule 23(b)(2) Class Settlement, Mastercard and Visa will modify certain rules to preserve, establish, or expand the circumstances in which merchants can, among other things, do the following:
• Decline acceptance of Visa- or Mastercard-Branded Commercial Credit Cards and/or Premium Consumer Credit Cards.
• Surcharge customers a fee for the use of any Visa or Mastercard-Branded Credit Cards, including based on the type of card used (e.g., a different surcharge for rewards and non-rewards cards).
• Offer discounts to customers who do not pay with Visa or Mastercard-Branded Credit Cards, or based on the financial institution that issued the Visa or Mastercard-Branded Credit Card.
• Decline acceptance of Visa or Mastercard-Branded Cards at all outlets that operate under the same trade name or banner, even if that merchant accepts those same cards at outlets that operate under a different trade name or banner.
• Engage in Pilot Programs whereby they accept Visa or Mastercard-Branded Credit Cards at some but not all outlets operating under the same trade name or banner for a limited duration or test out various acceptance, surcharging and discounting options at some but not all outlets operating under the same trade name or banner, including not accepting Commercial or Premium Consumer Credit Cards, for a limited duration.
• Accept some digital wallets at brick-and-mortar locations but decline others and enable some digital wallets for on-line transactions but not enable others, and “steer” among the cards within a digital wallet under the same rules that govern steering among traditional cards.
• Receive the benefit of credit interchange rate reductions: Visa and Mastercard will reduce published and negotiated Credit Card interchange rates for U.S. merchants.
• Receive the benefit of Credit Card interchange rate caps: The Settlement Agreement reduces and caps “Standard” Consumer Credit Card rates at a specified level and otherwise caps Credit Card interchange rates, such that neither Visa nor Mastercard will increase any of its published Credit Card interchange rates above the rates effective as of March 31, 2025 and each will reduce its network-wide average Credit Card interchange rate to or below the specified level.
• Form Merchant Buying Groups that meet certain criteria to negotiate with Visa and Mastercard.
• Receive access to a Merchant Education Program, established and administered under the Settlement Agreement, to help understand and maximize the benefits of the rule changes, including how to effectively “steer” in States that restrict surcharging.
B. Monetary Aspects of the Rule 23(b)(2) Class Settlement
There is no monetary payment to members of the Class in this Settlement. This Rule 23(b)(2) Class Settlement concerns only the Equitable Relief Claims set forth in the lawsuit. Claims for monetary damages arising out of the defendants’ alleged antitrust violations are the subject of a separate settlement for the Rule 23(b)(3) Class. For information concerning the separate Rule 23(b)(3) Cash Settlement Class, please visit the website: www.PaymentCardSettlement.com
The Settlement does provide for Visa and Mastercard to make certain payments into the Rule 23(b)(2) Class Settlement Escrow Account, which money will be used to pay:
• The cost of settlement administration and notice, as approved by the Court,
• The cost of Merchant Education Program expenses, as approved by the Court,
• The cost of an Independent Auditor who will ensure that Visa and Mastercard comply with the credit card interchange-rate reduction commitments, and
• Attorneys’ fees and expenses, including any named Class Representative service awards, as approved by the Court.
The money in this fund will be distributed only if the Court grants final approval of the Settlement, and the money for attorneys’ fees and expenses, and service awards to Class Representatives, will be distributed only if the Settlement has become final and all appeals are exhausted, and the Court approves the application for attorneys’ fees and expenses, and Class Representatives’ service awards. Attorneys’ fees and expenses, and service awards to the Class Representatives: For work done through final approval of the Settlement by the Court, as well as any work they will be required to do in the future, Class Counsel will ask the Court for attorneys’ fees and reimbursement of reasonable and necessary litigation expenses, and any service awards to the named Class Representatives that the Court may award, in an amount not to exceed $206,000,000. The Settlement Agreement requires Visa and Mastercard to pay these fees and expenses separately from the other Settlement financial obligations and they will not reduce any other benefits of the Settlement; members of the Class will not be required to pay any amount toward these fees and expenses.
C. Legal Rights and Options
Merchants who are included in this lawsuit have the legal right to Object to the Settlement. The deadline to object is: September 14, 2026. To learn how to object, visit: www.InterchangeEquitableReliefSettlement.com or call toll-free: 877-318-7713.
Note: You cannot elect to be excluded from the Rule 23(b)(2) Class Settlement. For more information about these rights and options, visit: www.InterchangeEquitableReliefSettlement.com or call toll-free: 877-318-7713.
D. If the Court Grants Final Approval of the Settlement
If the Court grants final approval to the Settlement, members of the Rule 23(b)(2) Class will be bound by the terms of the Settlement and will release all claims against all released parties listed in the Settlement Agreement. The Settlement will resolve and release any claims by payment card acceptors against Visa, Mastercard and other defendants that were or could have been alleged in the lawsuit, including any claims based on interchange or other fees, no-surcharge rules, no-discounting rules, honor-all-cards rules, and any other network rules. The Settlement will also resolve any payment card acceptor claims based upon the future effect of any Visa or Mastercard rules as they were or are in place on December 18, 2020 and up to the Settlement Final Date (as defined in the Settlement Agreement), the modified rules provided for in the Settlement, or any other rules substantially similar to those rules. The release will not bar claims involving certain specified standard commercial disputes arising in the ordinary course of business.
For more information on the release, see the Superseding and Amended Rule 23(b)(2) Class Settlement Agreement at: www.InterchangeEquitableReliefSettlement.com.
E. The Court Hearing About This Settlement
On November 16, 2026 at 11:00 am ET, the Court will hold a hearing to decide whether to approve the proposed Settlement, Class Counsel’s request for attorneys’ fees and expenses, and service awards for the named Class Representatives. The hearing will take place at:
United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
U.S. District Judge Brian M. Cogan 225 Cadman Plaza East Brooklyn, NY 11201
You do not have to attend the Court hearing or hire an attorney, though you may do either at your own expense. The Court appointed the law firms of Hilliard Shadowen LLP; Grant & Eisenhofer P.A.; Freed Kanner London & Millen LLC; and Nussbaum Law Group, P.C. to represent the Class (“Class Counsel”).
F. Questions?
For more information about this case (In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation, MDL 1720), you may: Call toll-free: 877-318-7713 Visit: www.InterchangeEquitableReliefSettlement.com Write to the Class Administrator: Interchange B2 Class Administrator, P.O. Box 6340, Portland, OR 97228-6340 or Email the Class Administrator: info@InterchangeEquitableReliefSettlement.com
OPiniOn
The Arbitral Ruling must shape policy, not just speeches
Ten years after an arbitral tribunal issued its decision in the South China Sea case brought by the Philippines, 14 governments reaffirmed that the award is final and legally binding between Manila and Beijing on the maritime questions it decided. The European Union issued a separate statement supporting the ruling. China again said it does not accept or recognize it.
The declarations were important. Yet the more useful question is not what governments said on July 12, but what the Philippines does during the rest of the year.
What does the arbitral ruling mean?
Editorial
The 2016 award was issued by a five-member tribunal constituted under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, or UNCLOS. The case began in 2013. The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague served as registry, but the UNCLOS tribunal decided the dispute.
The tribunal did not determine ownership of disputed islands, reefs or shoals. It neither drew a maritime boundary nor awarded the entire sea to the Philippines. Instead, it clarified the maritime rights countries may claim under UNCLOS and examined whether specified activities complied with the convention.
Its central finding was that China’s claims to historic rights within the relevant part of its ninedash line had no lawful effect where they exceeded the maritime entitlements allowed by UNCLOS.
babe’s
EARLIER this week, the Philip-
pine embassy in Washington commemorated the 10th anniversary of one of the most consequential legal milestones in Philippine history – the landmark Arbitral Award rendered under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Commemorating this important anniversary with us were fellow ambassadors in Washington, members of the diplomatic circle, senior US officials, scholars and friends from many countries.
The ruling was handed down by the Arbitral Tribunal on July 12, 2016 – and 10 years later, its importance has reached far beyond the West Philippine Sea, standing as a shining beacon for the rule of law and peaceful dispute settlement. Most significantly, it serves as enduring proof that international disputes can be resolved through law rather than force, through reason rather than intimidation.
As the late Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario stated when he faced the Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2015, the Philippines has “respected and implemented its rights and obli-
IN 2023 up to the first quarter (Q1) of 2024, we had the fastest-growing economy among our Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean)-6 peers, namely, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Now, our 2.8 percent gross domestic product (GDP) growth in Q1-2026 is the slowest. From being the most dynamic Southeast Asian economy only three years ago to the most sluggish now, the Philippine economy has reversed its fortunes yet again, in the familiar boom-and-bust cycle it has been persistently prone to, for nearly seven decades in the running. It was 35 years ago, in 1991, when we last grew the slowest among our Asean peers (other than in abnormal post-crisis rebounds).
It’s not just about GDP growth. We now also have the fastest price increases, with our 6.8 percent
The tribunal also found that none of the naturally formed hightide features in the Spratly Islands could generate a 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone. It determined that Mischief Reef and Second Thomas Shoal are low-tide elevations within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone and continental shelf. At Scarborough Shoal, it did not decide sovereignty, but recognized traditional fishing rights enjoyed by Filipino and other fishermen.
It further found that China had breached specified obligations under UNCLOS by interfering with Philippine sovereign rights, failing to prevent harmful harvesting and causing coral reef damage through land reclamation and construction.
China did not formally participate and continues to reject the award. Under UNCLOS, however, the decision is final and binding on the parties. Its practical value depends on diplomacy, national capacity and consistent policy.
For Filipinos, the sea is not abstract. It is food in public markets, income for coastal families and
Arbitral Award: A path to peace, not conflict
gations under the Convention in good faith.” The filing of the case in January 2013 was a message to the global community that the Philippines has chosen to take the path of law to protect its maritime territory in a peaceful manner.
Looking around the room during the commemorative occasion, I was reminded that it was not simply a Philippine event. It was an affirmation by the international community that respect for international law remains the cornerstone of peace and stability. Certainly, the gathering reflected a shared belief that rules – not power alone – must guide relations among nations. At a commemorative conference led by the Department of Foreign Affairs in Pasay City the other day, Secretary Tess Lazaro told guests that the gathering was “not merely to look back at a page in history” but to “look forward, bound by a fundamental, enduring truth: that the rule of law is, and must always remain, the ultimate guarantor of global peace.”
To be clear, the 2016 Arbitral Award was never about humiliating another country or declaring winners and losers. The ruling demonstrated that even the most difficult disputes can be brought before an impartial tribunal within
the framework of UNCLOS. It reinforced the principle that competing maritime claims and disagreements of member-states over the interpretation of maritime laws should be addressed peacefully through established legal mechanisms. That lesson has become even more relevant today. Around the world, vital waterways continue to be affected by geopolitical tensions. The war in the Middle East and the consequent situation in the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most vital maritime chokepoints, is a vivid example of this reality. Nearly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply passes through this narrow corridor. And whenever tensions rise, energy prices react instantaneously, shipping costs increase, inflation follows, causing global markets to become uncertain and unsettled. The consequences are felt not only in the Middle East but all across Asia, Europe and the Americas.
The same principle applies in the Indo-Pacific. Freedom of navigation and secure sea lanes are essential to global commerce. Every nation, whether large or small, ultimately benefits when maritime disputes are managed peacefully and in accordance with internau PAGE 7
From boom to bust, again
May inflation rate topping that of our Asean peers. We also have the worst unemployment rate at 5.3 percent as of Q1-2026. On all my three “PiTiK” yardsticks of economic health (for presyo, trabaho, and kita), we’re now the worst performer in the neighborhood. While it’s due to a combination of external and internal stresses, it’s more of the latter. We seem to be our own worst enemy, with much of our economic wounds being self-inflicted, hence could have possibly been avoided.
The detailed numbers tell the story. While the Iran War’s disruption of the world economy offers a ready explanation for our troubles, we were already moving downhill well before that. Price increases began speeding up (i.e., the inflation rate began climbing) late last year, driven by food prices that surged due to reduced supplies from typhoon-related crop damage and higher input costs. Domestic rice (palay) production indeed fell by 5.2 and 6.3 percent, respectively, in Q4 last year and Q1 this year.
work for crews, traders and vendors. When access becomes uncertain, the consequences reach the boat owner repaying a loan, the crew returning with a smaller catch and the family waiting for someone to come home safely.
The Philippines has taken meaningful steps.
The Maritime Zones Act and the Archipelagic Sea Lanes Act, enacted in 2024, strengthened the
SO instead of independence being the culmination of a period of national solidarity, in our case it was one that came as a kind of anticlimax. Nowhere else in our part of the world (not even in India, where the leaders of the independence movement spent the war years in jail) was national loyalty confused with loyalty to the colonial power—a dubious distinction, clear in its absurdity to the prewar political leadership but not to the broader public or the previously sidelined, who saw the war as an opportunity to supplant the monolithic political structure of the prewar years. The destruction of the country as the price of liberation, and the conditions imposed to secure rehabilitation, not only further soured public opinion, but also made the rhetoric surrounding independence seem hollow. Divided, discredited, and destitute, the political class could not and would not find ways to accommodate any challenges to it; all this meant that the first decade of independence was spent fighting a civil war in Central Luzon, and it wasn’t until the mid- to late
domestic legal framework under UNCLOS. Executive Order No. 57 reorganized maritime coordination under the National Maritime Council and assigned the National Maritime Center responsibilities for information-sharing, surveillance coordination and documentation. The government has also launched fuel, ice and at-sea purchasing u PAGE 7
’50s, and briefly, that national solidarity returned. Manuel Roxas and Ramon Magsaysay could likely have achieved the reunification of the prewar factions, but their deaths in both cases closed off the opportunity. Recent scholarship by Lisandro Claudio also suggests that the entire economic project of the period was anchored on the wrong assumptions—of having to prove to the old colonial masters that Filipinos could be thrifty and loyal to Washington’s policy formulations, which were skeptical of industrialization—when our neighbors did the exact opposite in defiance of the “experts,” with Park Chung-hee being a famous example. It hasn’t helped that since a premium is put on appearances, understanding that the substance is different isn’t acknowledged even by our fellow Filipinos. The democracy that had emerged prior to World War II would be more familiar to many of our neighbors then and now than to Filipinos today, who only look, if they look back, to surface similarities with the West. It had become ingrained enough that its instincts—to belong to a monolithic party with little independence from a coalition leader—have remained, even as these instincts repeatedly collide with a public conditioned into believing
its understanding of democracy is shared by the leaders it elects.
Hence what I have come to call the “Three Old” and the “Three New.” The Three Old are our political inheritance from the Long Republic from 1935 to 1973 and are a bandwagon democracy, a plebiscitary democracy, and a partyless democracy. A mandate is contested and earned by a coalition whose success is measured not just in votes but in the breadth of the coalition; a mandate is retained, and periodically refreshed, through a combination of actual elections (at the start, to choose an administration, and in midterms, to determine its continuing viability) and symbolic referenda, whether through public opinion or public rituals; and this is where the instincts of the political class dating to the colonial era are to belong to the majority regardless of who constitutes it. The Three New are the fruit of our having become a middle-class Republic in the 1950s, with the reentry of the Catholic Church into political life and its cultivation of civil society. These are that since 1987 (and foreshadowed in 1957), we have a minority presidency, an unchangeable Constitution, and the substitution of families and fandoms for political parties. We u PAGE 7
On the jobs front, after unemployment reached a historical record low of 3.1 percent in June and December of 2024, it rose again last year, especially in the second half, averaging 4.6 percent in Q4, then worsening further to 5.3 percent last quarter. What particularly worries me is that jobs in the agriculture, fisheries, and forestry sectors have continuously declined over the last two years and fell consistently and significantly in the last seven consecutive months. This continuing slide in the sector that is the very backbone of our economy must be arrested. Yet the quantity of jobs tells only half the story. The other disturbing development is in the quality of jobs: as of last year, over half (50.4 percent) of jobless Filipinos had actually gone to college, of which 38.2 percent were graduates (see “Our educated jobless,” No Free Lunch, 2/11/25). These figures remained high at 45 and 34 percent as of last April, respectively, with college-educated workers remaining the largest segment of u PAGE 7
TO look at a student activist standing on a university bench, megaphone in hand, is to look at the very engine of Philippine progress. Historically, our nation’s turning points have been written by the young, the idealistic and the impatient. But today, a quieter, more insidious battle is being fought over these very minds – one where the primary weapon is not the rifle, but the dictionary.
In contemporary national security vocabulary, “terror grooming” has emerged as the definitive term for how underground movements recruit the youth. To the state, it is a clinical diagnosis of manipulation. To progressive groups, it is a dangerous, weaponized label designed to muzzle dissent. But beyond the political crossfire lies a deeply sophisticated linguistic pipeline that systematically transforms youthful empathy into armed militancy.
But when we take into consideration the glossary of radicalization, the journey from a comfortable classroom in Manila to an armed encounter in the mountains of Luzon or Samar does not happen overnight. It begins with the deliberate hijacking of universally noble concepts. When recruiters call on students to “serve the people,” they tap into a profound, healthy desire to do good. It is a beautiful sentiment. But in the dictionary principles of the underground, “serving” is gradually and systematically redefined. It shifts from community feeding programs to “immersion” trips (exposure) and finally, to the “armed struggle.” This ancient art of verbal inversion – of hiding destructive intent behind a facade of virtue – recalls a sobering warning from Scripture: “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.” (Isaiah 5:20) The truth of the matter is, the linguistic translation for terms in the underground relatively translates to this: “armed strug-
gle” for violent rebellion, “tactical offensives” for deadly ambushes and worse, “martyrs of the people” to romanticize the PREVENTABLE loss of the lives of young people and turning the casualty into an occasion to further recruit the next batch of “martyrs.” By the time a young person realizes they are holding an automatic weapon in a lonely and isolated forest, the vocabulary of their daily life has already normalized it. They do not see themselves as lawbreakers; they have been taught to see themselves as the only legitimate arbiters of justice.
And what about the pain of the parents? I have heard one too many stories and it is heartbreaking. For parents, this is a slow-motion nightmare. It starts with small changes – sudden secrecy, a shifting vocabulary and a growing distance. Then comes the day the bedroom is left empty, and the phone calls stop. Parents are left to navigate a cruel, living grief. They do not
if their child is
Cielito F. Habito
The long view Manuel L. Quezon
Arbitral Award: A path to peace...
The Arbitral Award therefore offers a broader template. While each dispute has unique facts, the underlying principle is universal: dialogue, diplomacy and impartial legal processes provide a far better path than confrontation. The Philippines has consistently maintained that adherence to UNCLOS strengthens stability, encourages responsible conduct and reduces the danger of miscalculation.
As ASEAN chair, the Philippines is well positioned to champion these principles. ASEAN has long supported peaceful settlement of disputes and a rules-based regional order, and the Arbitral Award complements these aspirations by demonstrating that law can be an effective instrument for managing complex maritime issues.
Let’s not also forget the compelling economic dimension – investors seek stability, and businesses expand where the rule of law prevails. Manufacturers, insurers and shipping companies depend on open sea lanes. Every unnecessary confrontation therefore imposes
PAGE 6
additional costs that ultimately fall on ordinary citizens due to higher prices, disrupted supply chains and slower growth. As I have often said, economic security and national security are inseparable. The award is also a reminder to smaller and middle powers that international law gives every nation a voice. There may be great disparity between nations in terms of military strength or economic influence, but legal principles establish standards that apply equally to all.
Here in Washington, conversations after our embassy commemoration reflected quiet optimism. Many guests are of the opinion that while disagreements among nations are inevitable, conflict is not. They also expressed hope that the discipline of diplomacy and the authority of international law will continue to prevail over coercion.
History has shown us that wars are costly, but history also teaches that wise diplomacy can prevent conflict. The global community has every reason to support peaceful legal mechanisms that
reduce tensions before they escalate into crises. The Arbitral Award reminds us that justice and stability are mutually reinforcing, not mutually exclusive. The Strait of Hormuz offers a timely reminder of what is at stake. When strategic waterways become flashpoints, the entire world pays the price. When nations choose dialogue over confrontation, everyone benefits.
Ten years after the Arbitral Award, its greatest legacy is not merely what it resolved for the Philippines. Its greater contribution is the example it offers humanity – that even the most difficult disputes need not be settled by intimidation or conflict. The rule of law remains far less costly than the price of war, and peace still remains the strongest foundation for prosperity. (Philstar.com)
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.
Email: babeseyeview@gmail.com
From boom to bust, again...
our unemployed. These job market weaknesses have been with us well before external geopolitical pressures heightened with the Iran War.
But it’s on the incomes and production front, i.e., the GDP slowdown, where lies our biggest challenge. There are three key observations worth noting. First, while the flood control corruption scandal triggered the economy’s dramatic slowdown, public construction spending was already declining even before the scandal broke out. President Marcos brought the scandal out in the open with his State of the Nation Address in late July (in Q3), but government construction already fell by a hefty 8.2 percent even in Q2 last year. Then it plummeted to -25.9 percent in Q3, and an even deeper, to -35.8 percent in Q4.
Second, fixed capital formati-
PAGE 6
on, or overall fixed investments that create jobs, had already been slowing down consistently since 2021, after the country emerged from the pandemic recession. From a rebounding surge of 9.9 percent in 2021, it softened every year thereafter down to 6.3 percent by 2024, then barely grew at 0.8 percent last year, weighed down by the deep dive in government construction. This continued its steep drop (by 31.5 percent) into Q1-2026, and has now pulled overall fixed capital formation to actually fall, at -2.7 percent. This should worry us because investment spending, which builds future productive capacity, should ideally be driving our economy’s growth rather than one-off consumption, which has always prominently been our economy’s growth driver. But even this has also slowed down to only 3 percent from previous rates exceeding 5 percent.
The third observation is a ray of good news: our exports growth of 7.8 percent has defied both a global trade slowdown induced by the Trump tariffs and our overall economy’s drastic slowdown. Our export growth far outpaces the overall economy’s 2.8 percent growth, and is driven by goods exports (rather than services exports like business process outsourcing, which has slowed down). This signals world market opportunities for our production sectors, where much of our homework should now focus.
The bright side to it all is that we now have nowhere to go but up. (Inquirer.net) * * * 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 battle for the Filipino youth...
mare to experience the horror of every knock on the door or latenight phone call that can potentially carry a paralyzing dread of news about your child. The ultimate devastation arrives when a mother and father – who sacrificed everything to send their child to a prestigious university, dreaming of a bright professional future – receive that child back in a wooden casket, returned from a remote encounter they had no part in.
The hope, however, is in knowing that some members of Congress are now trying to do something about this problem.
HB 7204 introduced by Rep. Alexander Pimentel as “The Terror Grooming Prevention Act” is being proposed and hopefully, this will be implemented sooner rather than later in order to allow the government to intervene early, protect the youth and prevent them from being used in armed conflict.
But it is important to note that the first line of defense lies in the local officials. National legislation is only as strong as its local execution. The true, daily frontline of this battle is not found in the halls of Congress, but in our barangay halls and municipal offices. Local government officials have a binding,
ethical duty to act as the primary shield for their young constituents. Barangay captains, mayors and provincial leaders cannot afford to be passive observers. They are the ones who intimately know the families, the local disputes and the vulnerabilities of their communities.
For the administration, passing the Terror Grooming Prevention Act is framed as a duty of care – a way to stop handlers from exploiting minors before they end up in body bags. But the challenge for our legislators is to possess the maturity to hold two truths at once: we must fiercely protect our children from being manipulated into violent conflicts and we must just as fiercely protect their constitutional right to be angry, to protest and to demand a better country.
Our youth do not belong to the state nor do they belong to the underground. They belong to their futures, to their families and to a nation that desperately needs their brilliance alive – not immortalized on a revolutionary poster.
We must build a Philippines where a young person can cry out for justice and be met with a listening ear and a functional system, rather than a closed fist or a deceptive whisper from the
shadows.
* * * Email: cielito.habito@gmail.com PAGE 6
We must build a country where a young person’s fierce desire to change the world is met with a shovel to build, a book to teach and a safe path to lead. The most truly revolutionary act we can perform as a nation is to ensure that our children actually survive to inherit the very justice they so bravely seek.
We must build a Philippines where our children’s fierce passion to serve is met with open paths rather than quiet dangers, guiding them toward a future they can actively and safely build.
The truest victory we can offer our land is a home where every young dreamer is cherished, where the sacrifices of hardworking parents are honored, and their children’s brilliant dreams are allowed to safely bloom. Let us protect the sacred bond of the Filipino family, ensuring that the legacy we pass down is not a legacy of grief, but a legacy of shared promise, thriving communities and where every family dinner table remains complete. (Philstar.com)
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 Arbitral Ruling must shape policy...
assistance for participating fishermen. These measures matter, but they should be judged by results.
The first obligation is a sustained, professional civilian presence. Coast Guard and fisheries operations should not expand only after confrontations or anniversaries. Vessels require maintenance, fuel, trained crews, secure communications and predictable funding. Personnel need rules that protect life, preserve evidence and reduce miscalculation.
Restraint is not surrender. Professional seamanship and disciplined communication can defend Philippine rights more effectively than heated language unsupported by capability.
Fishing communities must be treated as citizens with economic and safety needs, not merely as symbols of national resolve.
Beyond fuel and ice, fishermen need weather information, communications, tracking, insurance, rescue capacity and stable markets. They should not carry national policy in small boats while decisions are made safely on land. Environmental protection deserves equal attention. Coral
reefs, spawning grounds and fish stocks are living resources, not merely evidence in a territorial argument. Defending jurisdiction while allowing the marine environment to deteriorate would leave future generations with a legal victory over depleted waters.
Documentation must be systematic and credible. Photographs and videos can explain incidents, but official disclosure should inform rather than inflame. Records should include verified coordinates, time stamps, vessel identification and secure preservation of original material.
International partnerships can provide vessels, radar, training and expertise. Such cooperation should strengthen Philippine capacity rather than substitute for it. Maritime policy must remain Philippine-led and guided by the country’s security and economic interests.
None of this requires hostility toward China. The dispute concerns maritime rights and official conduct, not Chinese people or Filipino Chinese communities. Diplomatic channels, crisis communications, fisheries discussions and ASEAN negotiations should remain open.
Forty and forty...
PAGE 6
continue to have vast expectations of presidents but deny them the foundation of their power, a majority mandate; we are increasingly disappointed with, and even despairing of the system achieving any lasting change, when we cannot even change the rules of the game despite the clear shortcomings of the system; and we are moving backward in terms of political organization when the times call for modernity and not a return to premodern ways of organizing.
The fruit of 1986 was the 1987 Constitution, which anchored itself on a threefold vision: to channel people power into reinvigorated institutions; to make accountability more accessible, in large part by limiting the executive’s prerogatives; and to institute an activist judiciary to uphold rights. The first failed, the second has created a gulf between the traditional expectations of responsibility, which cannot be fulfilled for lack of authority, and the last has made the first happen and continued to undermine the second (for example on rulings on budgetary processes making governance even more difficult).
Forty years, then, were spent seeing the collapse of a system unable to be itself, where we adopted a national attitude of victimhood to excuse ourselves from having to look too closely at ourselves. This was followed by 40 years of insisting on magical thinking to paper over the almost immediately exposed shortcomings of our experiment in a newly restored democracy. The republic at 80 is one where, at last, the period of decay and decline where so-
mething has to take its place, just as the 40 years from the ’30s to the ’70s led to a dictatorial experiment. We must ask ourselves what kind of experiment comes next, at the end of our current 40-year fall of the Fifth Republic. (Inquirer.net)
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A Pre-Proposal conference will be held as per the RFP. All Proposals must be submitted to LACMTA on or before 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time on Thursday, August 20, 2026. Proposals received after the above date and time may be rejected and returned unopened. Each proposal must be sealed and marked Proposal No. DR141705. For a copy of the Proposal/ Bid specification visit our Solicitation Page on our Vendor Portal at https://business.metro.net or for further information email Marc Margoni at margonim@metro.net. 7/18/26 CNS-4061632# ASIAN JOURNAL (L.A.)
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Dialogue is not the opposite of firmness. Philippine policy becomes more credible when it is stable, lawful and able to survive changes of administration. The award is not the property of one president or political faction. It is a legal asset of the Republic.
The government should publish a measurable annual account of implementation: capabilities added, missions completed, fishermen assisted, incidents documented, environmental assessments conducted and public funds spent. Sensitive operational details can remain protected, but performance should be open to scrutiny.
The Philippines does not have to choose between protecting its rights and maintaining a workable relationship with China. A mature policy should do both: uphold the law without bravado, sustain dialogue without erasing legitimate differences and translate a courtroom victory into safer waters, stronger institutions and greater security for Filipinos who depend on the sea.
That is the proper measure of the arbitral award after ten years, not how forcefully it is praised each July, but whether it shapes national policy every day. (AJPress)
World Bank lending program for Philippines intact despite UMIC upgrade
by louellA DesiDeRio Philstar.com
MANILA
— The country’s recent ascent to upper-middle income country (UMIC) status will not affect the World Bank’s lending program for the Philippines.
The multilateral lender said the income upgrade is also expected to encourage foreign investments into the Philippines.
“From the World Bank perspective, moving to upper-middle income country will not affect our program. Our lending will not change. Our program will remain the same,” World Bank division director for the Philippines Zafer Mustafaoglu said in an interview with “Money Talks” aired over One News yesterday.
Under its country partnership framework for the Philippines for 2025 to 2031, the World Bank aims to improve Filipinos’ quality of life by expanding opportunities and strengthening resilience.
The framework focuses on protection for the poor, educa-
tion, health, job creation, resilience, digital connectivity and encouraging private investment.
With the Philippines’ recent entry into the upper-middle income grouping, Mustafaoglu said the World Bank would be focusing on supporting the country’s reform measures.
‘Upper-middle income country status is a milestone, but it’s not the end. It is important to continue focusing on key reform areas, key bottlenecks to overcome and continue supporting the country,” he said.
He said that the World Bank would continue to support the Philippines in terms of infrastructure, addressing learning gaps, health, as well as digitalization.
He also said that the World Bank is focused on helping the Philippines mitigate the impact of the Middle East crisis, particularly on the poor.
While the upper-middle income status is expected to encourage foreign investments to
the country, he also said that creating a good business environment is important.
“When I look at the Philippines, opening a firm is still a challenge. It takes 75 days in the Philippines compared to one to three days in neighboring countries,” he said.
He said the opening of businesses is very important for job creation and for economic growth.
While Philippine economic growth slowed to 2.8 percent in the first quarter, the World Bank expects the economy to recover after this year.
Mustafaoglu said that the World Bank expects the economy to post an average growth of around 5.5 percent in 2027 and 2028.
Earlier, the World Bank said it expects the Philippine economy to grow by 3.7 percent this year, within the government’s revised 3.5 to 4.5 percent growth target for this year. The economy grew by 4.4 percent in 2025. n
Marcos expands cash aid to 7.5 million households amid high inflation
by AJPress
MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has expanded government cash assistance to an estimated 7.5 million households as rising food, fuel and transportation costs continue to pressure low-income families.
The assistance will be distributed under the Unified Package for Livelihood, Industry, Food and Transport, or UPLIFT, the government’s coordinated response to energy and economic disruptions linked to the conflict in the Middle East.
About 3.5 million beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, or 4Ps, and the Walang Gutom Program will receive a one-time additional payment of up to P2,000, Malacañang said.
Another 2.5 million poor and near-poor households identified through the government’s 2024 Community-Based Monitoring System will receive P2,000 a month from July through December. The same monthly assistance will be provided to about 1.5 million low-income workers and their families whose records have been verified by the Social Security System. Taken together, the three groups represent about 37.5 million Filipinos, based on the government’s estimate of five people per household.
Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said the Department of Budget and Management had released P12.375 billion for the expanded program. Officials did not provide a detailed funding breakdown or say whether the amount represented the full cost of the assistance or an initial release.
Payments are expected to be made through digital channels to speed distribution and reduce the need for beneficiaries to travel to government offices or designated payout centers.
Detailed guidelines covering payment dates, notification procedures, documentation and the handling of beneficiaries appearing in more than one government
database had not been publicly released at the time of the announcement.
The Community-Based Monitoring System gathers household-level information used by national and local governments to identify vulnerable communities and plan social-protection programs. The 2024 data collection included information on household income, employment, food security, transportation, financial access and participation in government assistance programs.
UPLIFT was authorized under Executive Order No. 110, which Marcos signed on March 24 after declaring a national energy emergency. The order established a government-wide response covering fuel and food supplies, public transportation, livelihoods and assistance for vulnerable sectors.
It also directed agencies to provide support to affected transport workers, farmers and fisherfolk, maintain essential services and act against hoarding, profiteering and other practices that could disrupt supplies or drive prices higher. The emergency declaration is effective for one year unless extended or lifted earlier by the president.
The expanded assistance comes as inflation remains elevated. The Philippine Statistics Authority reported that headline inflation eased to 6.4 percent in June from 6.8 percent in May but remained sharply higher than the 1.4 percent recorded in June 2025.
Food and nonalcoholic beverages, housing and utilities, and transportation were the largest contributors to the June inflation rate. Transport prices rose 12.8 percent from a year earlier, while the index covering housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels increased 8 percent.
The program relies primarily on existing government beneficiary and employment databases rather than a new application process. Its rollout will depend on how quickly agencies verify records, identify overlapping entries and provide clear instructions to qualified households. n
Philippines urged to diversify economic base as AI threatens BPOs
by RenAlyn RAmiRez Philstar.com
MANILA — The Philippines' next test may come from the industry that helped power its rise: call centers and business process outsourcing.
As artificial intelligence threatens to disrupt jobs in the sector, global management consulting firm Kearney said the country's new upper-middle-income status should push the government and businesses to build more engines of growth, from manufacturing to tourism, and invest in the infrastructure needed to support them.
Among the risks cited by Kearney Philippines country head Marco de la Rosa and Southeast Asia managing partner Varun Arora is AI's impact on call centers and the business process outsourcing industry, one of the country's major economic drivers.
In 2023, Kearney said up to 100,000 jobs in the Philippines could become obsolete because of AI, which it said was already affecting financial institutions and telecommunications.
While AI is feared to disrupt many industries globally, the Philippines has more at stake than most countries. The BPO sector has become of its largest sources of jobs and foreign exchange, generating $38 billion in revenue and employing 1.82 million workers in 2024. The industry has also helped absorb college-educated workers and anchor office demand in major urban areas. De la Rosa said such risk makes infrastructure investment more
urgent, especially if the Philippines needs to build up industries beyond BPOs.
"So, if we need to diversify away from contact centers and BPOs, and we need to look into other industries, be it manufacturing or tourism, all of those things require good, stable, strong and scalable infrastructure," De la Rosa said in a Philstar.com interview. Infrastructure is important on its own, but it becomes even more critical for a country trying to broaden where growth comes from.
Preparing for shocks Arora said governments and companies also need to prepare for more "black swan events," or unpredictable shocks with serious consequences, especially those tied to technology.
"What if these black swan events happen? Then what will we do? So let's say there is, and I'm not saying just Philippines, but let's say there is a massive cybersecurity incident which happens that can rattle an economy," Arora told Philstar.com in the same interview.
Arora said these uncertainties are unlikely to disappear soon, and foreign investors will increasingly look at whether markets have enough resilience and options to absorb disruption.
"The uncertainties created by AI and technology and the risk of job losses, as well as the risk of technology disruptions, cyberattack or technology breakdown or AI going wrong, those uncertainties are very high for companies right now," Arora said. n
ORAL ARGUMENTS. House of Representatives prosecutor and Akbayan Party-list Rep. Chel Diokno delivers his arguments before senatorjudges on Day 6 of Vice President Sara Z. Duterte's impeachment trial at the Senate in Pasay City on Wednesday, July 15, 2026. The impeachment court ordered the issuance of subpoenas to the prosecution's first set of witnesses on the confidential funds article while deferring its ruling on separate motions seeking subpoenas involving the Vice President’s related bank records, pending further questioning by senator-judges. PNA photo Avito Dalan/SPPA Pool
USCIS Signals Leaner Times for Green Card Adjustments
Barrister’s Corner
IN a newly released policy memorandum (PM-602-0199), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has sent a clear message to applicants that adjusting status within the United States is an "extraordinary relief" and an act of administrative grace, not an automatic right. The memorandum serves as a stark reminder that the standard mechanism for permanent immigration remains the overseas consular visa process. By reemphasizing the discretionary nature of Section 245(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), USCIS signals a more rigorous scrutiny of domestic green card applications particularly for individuals who have failed to maintain their nonimmigrant status or depart as originally expected.
The memorandum grounds its directive in decades of federal jurisprudence and Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) precedents, such as Matter of Blas, noting that adjustment of status was never intended to supersede regular consular visa issuance. The agency emphasizes that Congress designed a strict statutory framework that favors the orderly process of applying for immigrant visas from abroad. When nonimmigrants or parolees remain in the United States past their authorized periods to seek adjustment, USCIS views this as a subversion of Congressional intent. According to the memo, bypassing the consular process can be considered an adverse
Pastor’s Notes
reverend
rodel G. BAlAGtAs
factor that applicants may need to overcome by demonstrating "unusual or even outstanding equities".
The policy directive orders USCIS officers to take a holistic, case-by-case view of the "totality of the circumstances" when deciding whether an applicant merits a favorable exercise of discretion. Officers are explicitly directed to weigh several negative factors heavily:
•Immigration Violations: Any past or current violations of immigration laws or conditions of status.
•Failure to Depart: An applicant’s failure to leave the U.S. when their initial nonimmigrant admission or parole period expired, especially if they could have pursued a normal immigrant visa from abroad.
•Inconsistent Conduct: Actions taken after entry that contradict the stated purpose of their nonimmigrant visa or representations made to consular officers.
•Fraud or Misrepresentation: Any history of false testimony or fraud in dealings with government agencies.
The memorandum clarifies that maintaining a lawful nonimmigrant status that permits "dual intent" (such as an H-1B or L-1 visa) is not inherently inconsistent with applying for adjustment. However, the agency explicitly notes that maintaining dual intent status is not sufficient on its own to guarantee a favorable exercise of discretion.
To ensure these discretionary reviews are legally sound, USCIS is imposing stricter drafting requirements on its own officers. When an adjustment of status application is denied based on an unfavorable exercise of discretion, the written denial notice must now provide
a detailed, case-specific analysis. Adjudicators must explicitly outline both the positive and negative factors considered and clearly explain why the negative elements outweighed the positive equities. This memorandum sets the stage for a more demanding adjudication environment. USCIS has indicated that it intends to review various pathways and discrete applicant populations to identify specific categories that may warrant closer inspection.
The takeaway is clear, satisfying the basic statutory and regulatory eligibility requirements for a green card is no longer the finish line. Building a robust record that highlights positive equities such as deep family ties, strong moral character, and contributions to the community will be vital to securing an act of "administrative grace" in an increasingly stringent landscape.
Please note that this article is not legal advice and is not intended as legal advice. The article is intended to provide only general, non-specific legal information. This article is not intended to cover all the issues related to the topic discussed. The specific facts that apply to your matter may make the outcome different than would be anticipated by you. This article does create any attorney client relationship between you and the Law Offices of Kenneth U. Reyes, APC. This article is not a solicitation.
* * *
Attorney Kenneth Ursua Reyes was President of the Philippine American Bar Association. He is a member of both the Family law section and Immigration law section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association. He is a graduate of Southwestern University Law School in Los Angeles and California State University, San Bernardino School of Business Administration. He is a licensed Attorney and CPA in California. LAW OFFICES OF KENNETH REYES, APC. is located at 3699 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 747, Los Angeles, CA, 90010. Tel. (213) 388-1611 or e-mail kenneth@kenreyeslaw.com. Web: kenreyeslaw.com (Advertising Supplement)
The call to be a saint
WE are all called to be holy; we are called to be saints. It is God’s will for each of us. This is the Church’s desire for everyone, regardless of how much we may deny or refuse to accept it due to false humility or feelings of unworthiness. We might say, “Oh no, I’m just a humble parishioner; I don’t deserve that recognition. I’m a poor sinner.” Unknowingly, these thoughts may be instigated by the devil, who seeks to prevent our growth in holiness. He wants us to feel dirty and unworthy of God’s love and the saintly life. In the meditation book, My Other Self: Conversations With Christ on Living Your Faith* by Clarence J. Enzler, Jesus addresses the matter of sainthood: “My friend, the secret of happiness, both here on earth and in the hereafter, is to be as saintly as possible. A saint is a person who is happy—forever.
To be a saint is a goal that you can surely achieve. While being healthy, rich, and honored may be beyond your power, you can confidently expect to become a saint. Ask this
of me, and you shall receive it. Trust yourself to me without reserve; I assure you that it will be far easier for you to become a saint than not to become one. You desire happiness. Happiness lies in holiness.
Do not suppose that holiness consists of unremitting penance, hair shirts, bloody scourging, trances, and ecstasies, or long nights spent in motionless prayer. These are not essential to holiness. Holiness consists of but one thing: the union of your will with mine.
The one service you have in your power to offer me is to do my will. The act of love that most honors me is to make your will one with mine, to desire nothing except what I desire, to will all that I will.
It is not sacrifice, but love, that melts my heart. I shall show you how to be a saint. Do as I did; follow in my footsteps.”
I do not deny that life is filled with distractions, temptations, and sufferings that hinder our pursuit of sanctity. However, consider this perspective: even these challenges can serve as means to keep us holy. At times, God gives us trials and tribulations to draw us closer to Him and help us derive strength from Him.
It’s akin to what we hear in this Sunday’s Gospel, the Parable of the Weeds and the Wheat. A man sowed good seeds, but an enemy came at
night, while he and his household were asleep, and sowed weeds among the wheat. The next day, his servant reported what had happened, asking his master if he wanted them to pull out the weeds. The master replied, “No, if you pull up the weeds, you might uproot the wheat along with them. Let them grow together until harvest; then at harvest time, I will say to the harvesters, ‘First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning; but gather the wheat into my barn.’”
The message of this parable is that, often, God allows persecutions and suffering to occur in our lives to help us remain strong. Evil people may inflict pain and discouragement, but at the final judgment, they will be punished with eternal damnation if they do not repent. While they may make our lives difficult, they will ultimately suffer the consequences of their evil deeds.
Let’s focus on the work before us; let’s continue to embrace and surrender our lives to God’s will so that we may lead saintly lives. Amen.
With warm regards, Fr. Rodel G. Balagtas
* * * 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.
* * * Fr. Rodel “Odey” Balagtas is the pastor of Incarnation Church in Glendale, California
Health @Heart Killing us “softly”
PhiliP s. ChUA, Md, FACs, FPCs
THE silent killer of the 1970s, high blood pressure, is now replaced by Metabolic Syndrome, a cluster of three or more risk factors like abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, high triglycerides, abnormal lipids, and insulin resistance (pre-diabetes T2), which is actually a “pandemic” today, robbing us of our health and potential longevity.
“The syndrome feeds into the spread of diseases like type 2 diabetes, coronary diseases, stroke, and other disabilities. The total cost of the malady, including the cost of health care and loss of potential economic activity, is in trillions,” according to the US National Institute of Health.
Metabolic syndrome kills millions of people annually around the world by way of complications of type 2 diabetes, heart attack, stroke, and other metabolic illnesses. Metabolic Syndrome kills more people globally than all casualties from all wars in human history.
The expanding waistlines of Americans (and Filipinos) over the past several decades have been alarming, not only from the cosmetic/physical point of view but, more importantly, from their adverse impact on health and morbidity. and mortality.
The researchers from Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine at Florida Atlantic University, in an article posted in the Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology and Therapeutics, stated that “being overweight and obesity contribute to metabolic syndrome, which affects 1 in 3 adults and about 40 percent of adults aged 40 and older…that the risk factors are more than just the sum of their parts.” Obesity is indeed surpassing tobacco as the pre-eminent preventable cause of early morbidity and premature deaths in the United States and globally.
The rule of thumb is that optimizing health requires a waistline of less than 40 in men and less than 35 in women, along with a healthy lifestyle: diet (foremost!), then exercise, abstinence from tobacco and alcohol, and stress management.
The authors of the study explain “that the visceral fat component of abdominal obesity leads not only to insulin resistance but also to the release of non-esterified free fatty acids from adipose tissues or body fat…the lipids then accumulate in other sites such as the liver and muscles, further predisposing individuals to greater insulin resis-
tance and dyslipidemia, and adipose tissue may produce various adipokines that may separately impact insulin resistance and cardiovascular disease risk factors.”
Persons with metabolic syndrome are generally without symptoms and severely underdiagnosed and untreated, but have a 10-year risk of a first heart attack, according to the Framingham Risk score of 16 to 18 percent, which puts them in a higher risk category similar to those who already had a previous heart attack.
Various clinical studies have shown that even with a normal Body Mass Index (BMI), individuals with an expanding waistline from visceral fat could still have metabolic syndrome. Those who consume soft drinks of any kind, cola or uncola, diet or regular, caffeinated or not, have a higher risk for the development of metabolic syndrome, especially children. Indeed, soft drinks are toxic to our bodies, to our DNA
As I have highlighted in the book Let’s Stop “Killing” Our Children, a healthy lifestyle and disease prevention, to be fully effective, must start in the womb, and dieting and discipline must begin in the crib to protect the children’s DNA. This pre-emptive and proactive strategy at the cellular/molecular level would exempt them from having the so-called “expected and normal diseases of aging,” like arthritis, high blood pressure, diabetes T2, heart diseases, stroke, Alzheimer’s, and even cancer. Indeed, these are preventable.
The pandemic of obesity, which began in childhood, has been increasing over the past century (1 billion worldwide today). The current generation of children (1 in 10 are obese, 1 in 5 are overweight) and adolescents (who eat more calories and unhealthy foods and who exercise less) will reach middle age with higher morbidity and mortality from metabolic and cardiovascular diseases, stroke, and cancer, worse than their parents’.
While colon cancer rates have been going down among the elderly (55 and older) since the 1980s, they are increasing among those in their 20s and 30s. This was the recent alarming finding of a US cancer registry, which reviewed nearly half a million colorectal cancers diagnosed between 1974 and 2013, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute and in the March 1, 2017 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
The research shows that for colon cancer, a rate increase of 2.4 percent annually was noted for those in their 20s and 1.0 percent among those in their 30s. For rectal cancers, the yearly increase
was even higher, 3.2 percent. This report revealed an alarming retrogression in our battle against colorectal cancers: “that young adults' colorectal cancer risk is now similar to that of adults born around 1890.”
The investigators pointed out that high obesity rates over the past several decades “may play a role in this generation. Obesity increases the risk for all types of cancers and cardiovascular diseases, like high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, and diabetes. Diet and calories are major culprits. Our lifestyle, which includes what and how much food we eat, where we exercise or not, and all our self-indulgences/abuses, contributes a lot to our state of health. Metabolic syndrome, especially obesity, and red meat and processed meat consumption all increase the risk for cancer. Neglecting regular medical/ dental check-up and recommended tests also increases our health risk. Shedding off at least 5 pounds of our excess weight through disciplined caloric counting and walking exercise for about 20 minutes a day will reduce our risk for metabolic syndrome and cancer by more than 33 percent. This is a practical and wise strategy we can painlessly do, for free!
Glaringly obvious are the evidence-based roles and impact of diet (we are what we eat), exercise, tobacco, and alcohol on our individual health and longevity. To a great extent, our health and our life are in our hands, and what to do about them is our choice.
The
First Filipino American elected to public office in Glendale, CA
OATH OF OFFICE - HISTORY MADE TODAY as the first Filipino American elected to public office was sworn in as Board Member of the Glendale Unified School District (GUSD).
Pinoy Pride Dr. Aileen Dinkjian was installed as the newly elected Board Member of the Glendale Unified School District (GUSD), Area D. She is the first Filipino American elected into public office in the City of Glendale, CA. Born in East LA, and grew up in Chino, where she went to high school at Don Antonio Lugo. and was just an avid volunteer. Her first job was with the City of Chino. “My experience working for the City encouraged me to major in Political Science at Cal PolyPomona. Volunteering is pretty much the theme of my life.” said Dinkjian. Installing Officer was another Pinoy Pride, Assemblymember Jessica Caloza, first Filipino American elected to CA Assembly AD52. “This is my first time to do Installation also and I am truly happy and proud to be here” said Assemblymember Caloza. She presented the three Board members with Certificates of Recognition. The Glendale Unified School District (GUSD) is the third largest in Los Angeles County, serving 25,000 students from preschool through 12th grade and beyond. The district covers the city of Glendale, parts of La Cañada Flintridge, and the unincorporated communities of La Crescenta and Montrose. Both Dr. Dinkjian and Assemblymember Caloza are members of the dynamic group, Filipino American Business Association of Glendale and Greater LA County (FABAG-GLAC). Many attendees expressed Congratulations to Dr. Dinkjian and KUDOS to Assemblymember Caloza. FABAG Board and Members were present to show support for Dinkjian.
Congratulations were given to Greg Krikorian, who was elected (and returning) to GUSD after a
few years of absence and Kathleen Cross for her reelection. Thank you went to outgoing GUSD President Ingrid Gunnell and retiring Board Member Shant Sahakian. In attendance also were FABAG Board Members Ami Bautista, Carissa Totalca, Lucille Floresta, Rose Lim and Edith M. Fuentes.
“We are very happy to have personally witnessed today’s historical event. It was a very memorable and true Pinoy pride moment event” - Fuentes said.
PH Embassy Marks 10th Anniversary of South China Sea Arbitral Award
THE Philippine Embassy in Washington, D.C., marked the 10th anniversary of the 2016 South China Sea arbitral award with a flag-raising ceremony.
During the program, the embassy read a statement from National Security Adviser Eduardo Oban Jr., highlighting the ruling’s importance in affirming the Philippines’ sovereign rights and lawful maritime entitlements in the West Philippine Sea.
The July 12, 2016, decision was issued by an arbitral tribunal constituted under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The full award and related documents are available through the Permanent Court of Arbitration’s official website for public review, reference and research.
Governments Reaffirm Support for 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Award
THE Philippines and 13 partner governments marked the 10th anniversary of the 2016 South China Sea arbitral award by reaffirming support for a free, open, peaceful and rules-based Indo-Pacific grounded in international law.
In a joint statement issued July 12, the Philippines, Australia, Canada, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, New Zealand, Romania, Slovenia, the United Kingdom and the United States recalled the unanimous ruling issued by an arbitral tribunal constituted under Annex VII of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
The governments said maritime disputes must be resolved peacefully and in accordance with UNCLOS. They described the award as final, legally binding and definitive between China and the Philippines regarding the maritime entitlements and claims addressed by the tribunal. The statement reiterated the tribunal’s finding that China’s expansive South China Sea claims, including those based on “historic rights,” have no legal basis. It also emphasized freedom of navigation and overflight and other lawful uses of the sea.
The signatories opposed de-
stabilizing or unilateral actions, including force or coercion, that threaten regional peace and stability. They also rejected the use of coast guard, military or maritime militia forces to harass, obstruct or intimidate lawful operations by other states, warning that such conduct endangers personnel and fishermen.
The governments urged the parties to abide by the 2016 award, resolve disputes through dialogue and lawful mechanisms, and support
ASEAN’s vision of the South China Sea as a region of peace, stability, cooperation and prosperity sustained by lawful commerce.
California reaches major milestone in modernizing behavioral health care
More beds, more treatment, more accountability
SACRAMENTO — California has transitioned all 58 counties to the Behavioral Health Services Act as of July 2026, implementing Proposition 1, approved by voters in 2024.
The law replaces the Mental Health Services Act with a framework designed to improve accountability, coordination and outcomes. It directs counties to prioritize people with the greatest behavioral health needs, including those experiencing homelessness, veterans, children and youth at risk, people involved in the justice system, and those facing institutionalization.
The BHSA expands access to
Roundtable with U.S. Trade and Development Agency Head Tom Hardy
THOMAS “Tom” R. Hardy, acting head of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), recently held a roundtable with foreign press members in Washington, D.C., moderated by Zafar Hashemi.
Hardy leads USTDA’s efforts to advance high-quality infrastructure projects that strengthen U.S. national security, create export opportunities for American goods and services, and support U.S. jobs.
He outlined the agency’s “America First” approach to infrastructure development and foreign assistance in emerging markets.
“USTDA is foreign assistance with a purpose,” Hardy said. Its mission, he explained, is to support development in partner countries while advancing U.S. national security, strategic and trade interests.
USTDA’s early-stage project assistance helps partner countries implement major infrastructure projects while positioning American companies to supply trusted technologies and solutions.
Hardy said the Luzon Economic Corridor is driving USTDA’s current program in the Philippines.
“USTDA is financing the design for the Subic-Clark-Batangas Railway,” he said. The agency is also examining investments at Subic Bay and in port infrastructure upgrades.
He said these efforts support Philippine economic security while advancing U.S. national security and broader regional stability.
USTDA has worked closely with the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii to identify commercial infrastructure investments that could strengthen the Philippine economy. Possible projects include the energy and port sectors, with USTDA providing seed capital to attract private funding.
Hardy also cited digital-sector projects with PLDT on network expansion and with the Department of Information and Communications Technology and the
Philippine government on broadband coverage.
He said the Philippines is seeking trusted digital vendors and that USTDA supports American companies such as Cisco and Microsoft over Huawei, ZTE and other providers the U.S. government considers potential security risks.
He described the agency’s work in Subic Bay as an economic and national security priority in the region.
Eat Bulaga’s “Age Is Right” Staffer Earns Praise I got to know Rovi Bernardino Padilla through beauty queen Catherine Muguerza, who appeared on the TV5 noontime show Eat Bulaga in its “Age Is Right” segment.
When Catherine called me in May 2026, I was attending a film and theater workshop conducted by the PhilStagers in Manila. I could not leave to attend an afternoon taping at TV5. I informed Rovi, and he readily understood. Rovi contacted me again in July 2026. I have heard many good things about this Eat Bulaga staffer.
Jayson Tan thanked Rovi, writing that he was “the main reason why I was chosen to be a part of this show. Thank you so much for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
Others who thanked him included indie actor Benjie Belena; Ilonggo singer-songwriter Aleck Calata; Cebuano dancer-choreographer Abigail Abion Padilla; veteran radio talent Tina Loy; character actor and stuntman Charlie Panopio; TV host Zeyzey Bolima;
signboard maker Nelson Infante Pano; and beauty queen Angelica Mae Diez.
10th Anniversary of the Philippines’ Arbitral Victory in the West Philippine Sea
Members of fisherfolk communities joined supporters who gathered July 12 at the tomb of former President Benigno Simeon Aquino III to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Philippines’ landmark arbitral victory in the West Philippine Sea.
Those present included Kiko Aquino Dee, Lorenzo Tañada, Kim Henares, Dr. Patricia Licuanan, Teresita Deles, Volt Bohol, fisherfolk leader Restituto del Rosario, fishermen Rey Miranda and Tirso Atiga, Ramon Balang and Brainard “Jojo” Roxas.
Members of the Liberal Party of the Philippines, the August Twenty One Movement and the Ninoy and Cory Aquino Foundation also attended. They paid tribute to Aquino’s leadership in pursuing the arbitration administered by the Permanent Court of Arbitration and defending the country’s sovereign rights under international law.
The Mass was presided over by the Rev. Fr. Joseph Patrick Echevarria, SJ, who had been assigned to Loyola College of Culion in Palawan and lived among fishing communities affected by China’s activities in Philippine waters.
“Violet” Selected for International Tagore Film Awards
The short film “Violet” has been officially selected for the 2026 International Tagore Film Awards in Kolkata, India.
“We are grateful that our story continues to reach audiences beyond borders, sparking conversations on issues that matter and giving voice to stories that deserve to be heard,” said writer-director PX Ilano.
The film stars Elia Ilano, Ataska, Kian Co, Randy T. Dela Cruz, Malou Naredo Canzana and JJ Cillo. It was written and directed by Paulo Xavier Ilano, with Nelson Villamayor serving as editor and director of photography.
It was produced by Wereldwijd voor Kinderen, State of Youth Manila and KidsRights Foundation, an NGO accredited by the United Nations Economic and Social Council.
“Violet” is an official grantee of the International Children’s Peace Prize 2026 Project Theme Fund, whose theme is “Peace and Education.”
Boy Gozum Pays Tribute to His Parents Photographer and artist Rafael “Boy” Gozum recently paid tribute to his parents, Rafael Sr. and Marciana.
On July 24, he will hold a group exhibition featuring 80 artists in honor of his late father, former Mayor Rafael Gozum Sr., at the family mansion’s museum in Cabatuan, Isabela. For more information, email rafaelgozumjr22@gmail.com
* * * Email: rogelio.medina@asianjournalinc.com
mental health and substance use disorder treatment, permanent supportive housing, field-based outreach, prevention programs and workforce development.
“Today marks a historic turning point for California,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said. “Through the BHSA, we are fundamentally reshaping how Californians receive mental health and substance use services and supports.”
California Health and Human Services Secretary Kim Johnson said the framework coordinates prevention, treatment, recovery, housing and workforce investments. Under the BHSA, counties must integrate planning across behavioral health funding sources, maximize federal dollars and connect residents to existing health coverage. The law also establishes a statewide prevention program focused on reducing suicide, mental illness, substance use disorders and overdose. California has spent several years preparing for the transition. Through the Department of Health Care Services, the state has awarded $4.17 billion under the Proposition 1 Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program to more than 330 projects. Once completed, those projects are expected to add more than
6,900 residential treatment beds and 27,500 outpatient treatment slots.
DHCS also developed a county policy manual shaped by more than 2,660 public comments. All 58 counties and two eligible cities submitted draft integrated plans outlining how they will provide housing, crisis care, treatment, prevention and wraparound services.
The state has also launched a public county profile that consolidates behavioral health data, funding and service information. The California Department of Public Health completed a statewide prevention plan focused on suicide, self-harm, overdose and disparities, with added attention to children, youth and underserved communities.
The Department of Health Care Access and Information also developed a 2026-2030 workforce education and training plan covering licensed providers, peers, non-licensed workers, career pathways, recruitment and retention.
State officials said the transition is intended to strengthen crisis response, expand early intervention and create a more connected continuum of care, particularly for Californians with complex needs throughout the state.
USTDA Acting Head Tom Hardy
(From left) Kiko Aquino Dee, Rey Miranda, Resty del Rosario and Tirso Atiga.
Lorenzo Tañada (4th from right) and Volt Bohol (extreme right) with the members of ATOM.
Tom Hardy with the members of the foreign press and moderator Zafar Hashemi. Eat Bulaga’s Age Is Right staffer Rovi Bernardino Padilla.
Elia Ilano in VIOLET.
Supporters of former President Noynoy Aquino and ATOM members.
Photographer-artist Boy Gozum with photo of his late parents Marciana and Rafael Sr. in Cabatuan, Isabela.
Father Joseph Patrick Echevarria, SJ. (center).
LOS ANGELES
Bea Alonzo, Vincent Co wed in private Makati civil ceremony
by AJPress
MANILA — Actress Bea Alonzo and businessman Ferdinand Vincent Co were married
July 13 in a private civil ceremony at Makati City Hall, with Makati Mayor Nancy Binay officiating.
The marriage became public the following day after Binay shared a photograph with the couple and offered her congratulations. Alonzo confirmed the wedding on July 15, posting a series of black-and-white images from the ceremony with the one-word caption, “Home.”
The photographs showed the newlyweds signing documents, exchanging rings and posing beside a small cake marked “Just Married.” Alonzo wore a structured white ensemble and carried a bouquet of white flowers, while Co wore a white Barong Tagalog.
Alonzo later said she did her own makeup and that a close friend took the photographs.
The pared-down arrangements kept the ceremony largely outside public view.
Joey V. Garcia of GERA Law, Alonzo’s lawyer, said the wedding took place at about 7 p.m. He also confirmed that Alonzo and Co had signed a prenuptial agreement before the ceremony.
Garcia said the agreement was entered into freely and voluntarily and did not create any legal impediment to the marriage. Its terms remain private, and neither Alonzo nor Co has discussed them publicly.
The civil wedding followed months of public interest in the couple’s plans. In March, St. Peter the Apostle Parish in Manila published marriage banns bearing their legal names, formally signaling their intention to marry. The notice did not state when or where the ceremony would take place.
Alonzo publicly acknowledged her relationship with Co in August 2025, saying she was happy while making clear that
she wanted to keep much of her personal life private. The couple made only occasional public appearances and did not announce an engagement before the wedding.
Co, whose full name is Ferdinand Vincent P. Co, is president and a director of Puregold Price Club Inc., a publicly listed supermarket operator.
Alonzo is among the Philippines’ most established film and television actresses. Her credits include One More Chance, The Mistress and Four Sisters and a Wedding.
The couple has not announced whether the civil ceremony will be followed by religious rites or a larger reception.
Olivia Rodrigo sets new career milestone as ‘The Cure’ stays No. 1
by Gavin Martinez Inquirer.net
FILIPINO American sing-
er-songwriter Olivia Rodrigo adds another milestone to her growing list of chart achievements as “The Cure” continues its remarkable run on Billboard, while her latest album shows no signs of slowing down just weeks after its release. The track has secured a sixth consecutive week at No. 1 on Billboard’s Alternative Streaming Songs chart, making it the longest-running leader of her career on the ranking.
With the feat, “The Cure” overtakes the performance of her previous chart-topper, “Bad Idea Right?” giving her a new personal best on the streaming-focused tally.
The song’s momentum extends far beyond a single chart. “The Cure” continues to rank among the top 10 on nearly every Billboard list where it appears, including the Hot Rock & Alternative Songs, Hot Alternative Songs, Streaming
Songs and Billboard Global 200 charts. Rodrigo’s latest album, “You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love,” has also become a dominant force across Billboard’s streaming rankings. Eight songs from the project currently appear on the Alternative Streaming Songs chart, with five of them occupying spots inside the top 10. The record, which arrived just a month ago, has enjoyed
an impressive launch. It debuted at No. 1 upon release and has continued to post strong streaming gains in the weeks that followed. Every one of its 13 tracks also entered the Billboard Hot 100.
Rodrigo began introducing fans to the project before its release through the singles “Drop Dead” and “The Cure,” both of which helped build anticipation for her third studio album.
Singer Banig Roberto’s son joins ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’
by Gavin Martinez
NETFLIX’S “Avatar: The Last Airbender” introduced a new face to fans, with Filipino Taiwanese child actor Jordan Roberto Chien portraying Young Zuko in the series’ second season. He is the son of Filipina singer and International Star Search champion Josephine “Banig” Roberto. Chien makes his first appearance in Episode 2, “A Fight, Once Begun,” where viewers are taken back to the Fire Nation prince’s childhood.
His portrayal centers on one of the most defining moments in Zuko’s early life as he witnesses the painful separation from his mother, Ursa – an event that helps explain the emotional scars and inner conflict that shape the character’s story. Although the role marks Chien’s biggest acting project to date, the young performer is no stranger to the entertainment industry. Before joining the live-action adaptation, he had already appeared in campaigns for the Los Angeles Lakers, Disneyland and Mattel. For Chien, however, the journey to becoming Young Zuko
was every bit as memorable as appearing on screen. Reflecting on the experience through Instagram, the child actor described months of auditions, callbacks and anxious waiting before finally receiving the news that changed everything. “I can’t even begin to tell you how incredible this journey was for me to be able to play Young Zuko. From the very first audition, to the callbacks, to the director’s session and the nerve racking anticipation…but to finally receive the news that afternoon from my agent, it was hands-down one of the best days of my life.” His mother, Josephine Rober-
to, echoed that excitement in a social media post, saying their family’s involvement in the Avatar universe was something they never imagined would happen.
“My excitement level is beyond words right now!” she wrote, describing the project as an experience that “my whole family and me as a mom is something we will forever cherish.”
As a mother, she shared that watching from the sidelines and allowing him to thrive in his passion has been deeply rewarding, noting that while beginning a career at a young age is never easy, “when you love what you do, it becomes your playground!”
R’Bonney Gabriel defends sustainable design after ‘Project Runway’ setback
The former Miss Universe turns criticism into a lesson
by Gavin Martinez Inquirer.net
MISS Universe 2022 R’Bon-
ney Gabriel may have stumbled in the opening episode of Project Runway Season 22, but she says the experience only strengthened her commitment to the values that have long shaped her work as a designer.
Following the season premiere, the Filipino American beauty queen and fashion designer addressed viewers on Instagram after her upcycled denim creation landed her among the bottom contestants.
While judges felt the garment fell short as an introduction to her abilities, Gabriel explained that the piece represented far more than a fashion statement.
Rather than choosing the design simply for competition, Gabriel revealed it had been created for a sewing workshop she led in partnership with a charity organization that offered sewing classes to young people in San Francisco.
The garment became a symbol of the advocacy she has continued to champion even after winning Miss Universe.
“The design means so much to me because it represents how much I love teaching sewing workshops and how I love partnering with communities and just sharing my love for the arts. Teaching others ways to be creative is so important,” she said.
The dress was also crafted from recycled denim, reflecting another cause that has become
central to Gabriel’s identity as a fashion designer.
“That denim design is also made from upcycled denim, which I’m huge into recycling and upcycling. And I am a huge advocate for sustainable fashion,” she added.
‘Lessons learned’ Gabriel acknowledged that selecting the piece for the competition was not an easy decision. As she prepared to join “Project Runway,” she considered several designs from her portfolio before ultimately choosing the quilted denim dress she first created in 2018 during college. She shared that she also weighed other options, including a seashell-inspired look made from actual mussels sourced in the Philippines, believing it had strong commercial appeal.
Looking back, she admitted
she questioned whether she should have introduced herself to the judges with a more striking piece after hearing their critiques.
Although she said she felt embarrassed seeing her work receive negative feedback, the experience, she said, taught her an important lesson about trusting her creative decisions while remaining open to criticism.
“If I could do it over again, yeah. Knowing what I know now. But you know, we don’t get re-dos in life. Only lessons learned.”
Despite the outcome, Gabriel emphasized that she has no regrets about showcasing a garment rooted in community engagement and environmental responsibility. “But I stand behind my design decision. I don’t like to live with a lot of regrets in life. So it’s all just feedback for me at the end of the day.”
Photos from Instagram/@beaalonzo
Photos from oliviarodrigo/Instagram
Photos from rbonneynola/Instagram, R’Bonney Nola/Facebook
Inquirer.net
Photos from jordanrobertochien/Instagram
Pechanga Resort Casino Introduces Tier Matching to 21 Southern California Casinos
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The sound that made Manila sing
by Betti BernaBe
MANILA, Philippines — The members of HOTDOG never set out to create a movement — they simply wanted to make music they themselves would enjoy playing.
Nearly five decades later, that music has become part of the Filipino vocabulary.
Songs like Manila, Annie Batungbakal, Bongga Ka ‘Day, Ikaw ang Miss Universe ng Buhay Ko and Pers Lab have long outgrown the radio charts that first introduced them. Today, they serve as cultural shorthand that can transport generations of Filipinos back to moments of joy, youth, and everyday life.
For original members Jess Garcia, Ella del Rosario and Mon Toralba, however, those songs began much more simply: inside rehearsal rooms, recording studios and long conversations among friends who never imagined they were helping shape the future of Filipino music — or create what would later be known as Manila Sound.
Why HOTDOG?
Before the music came the name.
As fondly remembered by Ella del Rosario, the band’s first female vocalist, HOTDOG was always meant to be written in all caps, with no “s, just the way founding member and principal songwriter, the late Dennis Garcia, originally conceptualized.
The inspiration came after Dennis and his brother Rene re-
with the
Fox band in Hawaii during the early 1970s. But the expression itself wasn’t uniquely Hawaiian.
“Hot dog!” was already a widely used American slang exclamation throughout much of the 20th century, expressing excitement, delight, or celebration, like another way of saying “Awesome!”, “Cool!” or “Yippee!” whenever something exciting happened.
Dennis loved the expression and adopted it as the band’s name. He simply saw in it the same youthful energy he wanted the band to embody.
That spirit — playful spontaneous, and unmistakably contemporary — would eventually define both HOTDOG and the sound that forever changed Filipino popular music.
Before Manila Sound had a name Long before they became icons of Original Pilipino Music, the members of HOTDOG were simply students from some of Manila’s biggest schools.
Jess Garcia was an Atenean drummer. Ella del Rosario was an Assumptionista who laughs that she barely spoke Tagalog at the time. Mon Toralba had just entered De La Salle as part of its first co-educational batch when he joined the group at only 18 years old.
“We were just kids who wanted to have fun,” Ella recalled to The STAR.
That youthful perspective would become one of HOTDOG’s greatest strengths.
While much of Filipino popular music remained rooted in kundiman traditions or Western covers, the band began writing songs that sounded like the way Filipinos actually talked — playful Taglish, everyday humor and stories lifted straight from ordinary life.
“I didn’t even know what tagyawat or dumudungaw meant,” Ella laughed, recalling her first encounters with Dennis Garcia’s lyrics.
Yet that very mix of English and Filipino became revolutionary.
“When we sang in Taglish, we connected the gap,” she said. “It was like there was no divide anymore.”
The songs nobody wanted Ironically, HOTDOG’s breakthrough almost never happened. According to Mon Toralba, record companies initially had little interest in the band’s original compositions.
“No one wanted to take us,” he recalled. Their first recording, Ikaw ang Miss Universe ng Buhay Ko, struggled to find a label until Villar Records decided to take a chance on the group — a decision that would ultimately help change the course of Filipino popular music.
Once the song found its way onto radio however, everything changed. Television guestings became a regular fixture. Albums followed almost yearly. Concert invitations arrived from around the country and overseas. The band even starred in its own feature film, “Hotdog: Unang Kagat.”
“We never imagined people would embrace our original songs,” Mon said. Looking back, he spoke not with nostalgia, but gratitude.
More than a band Ask the former members what HOTDOG meant to them, and none of them begin by talking about fame.
“It was really all for fun,” said Jess, the band’s drummer. “We just enjoyed ourselves to the max.”
He fondly remembered the band’s spontaneity, where no two live performances were exactly alike. Songs evolved onstage, driven by improvisation and the chemistry between musicians.
Mon, however, sees HOTDOG’s legacy through a wider lens.
“We introduced Manila Sound,” he said.
“We weren’t the seed of OPM because OPM already existed. But we became one of its roots.”
Today, he believes those roots have branched into every corner of Filipino popular music — from rock and alternative to pop, indie and everything in between.
The creative force behind the songs Behind many of HOTDOG’s biggest hits were brothers Dennis and Rene Garcia, whose contrasting personalities became one of the band’s greatest creative strengths. Dennis, a copywriter by profession, was the quiet observer. Friends remember him as someone constantly searching for the perfect hook: a memorable phrase, a clever twist or an everyday conversation that could become a song.
“He was always looking for the hook,” Ella said. His advertising background sharpened his instinct for concise, conversational storytelling, giving HOTDOG lyrics that sounded witty, relatable and unmistakably Filipino.
For Mon, Dennis’s greatest gift wasn’t simply writing songs — it was encouraging others to discover they could write, too.
“He challenged me to create songs. He made me discover my own creativity.”
That encouragement eventually led Mon to compose Pers Lab, and later pursue successful careers in advertising and jingle writing. “I’ll always be indebted to him for opening me up to all that I can create.”
Rene, by contrast, was the band’s natural motivator.
“Maski minsan akala mo binobola ka na,” Jess laughed, “he always had a way of making you feel good.”
Together, the late great Garcia brothers created more than hit records.
They created an environment where creativity could flourish, which has led them to create more music, and even a movement and a genre of music such as Manila Sound. Why Manila Sound still matters
The members believe the music has endured because it captured something timeless.
“Our songs were light and happy,” Ella explained. “They connected everyone — from the bougie to the balut vendor.”
But more than catchy melodies, the songs became snapshots of Filipino life during the 1970s and 1980s.
It reflected what fashion, disco, teenage crushes, city life and everyday conversations were like during that time, owned the experience and defined it for the Filipino gaze. Rather than imitate Western music, HOTDOG localized pop music into something unmistakably Filipino.
Looking back, Jess believes part of the appeal came from the songs’ simplicity.
“The melodies were simple and the lyrics were simple, but they were relatable.”
Mon added another reason.
“If you’re the first,” he said, “you’ll always be remembered.”
Advice to the next generation When asked what today’s artists can learn from HOTDOG’s journey, none of the answers focused on fame.
Ella encouraged young performers to understand the soul behind Manila Sound. “Do your research,” she said. “Capture the mood and the magic.” Jess offered something even simpler. “Sing your Sing your heart out in the way you’re comfortable with. Be your own version of who you aspire to be!”
Mon’s advice is perhaps the most enduring. “Never think you’re the best. Be humble. You’ve got wings, so believe you can fly, but don’t clip them,” he said. And above all, he added, never forget to thank the people and the higher power that helped you get there.
Because if HOTDOG’s story proves anything, it’s that history isn’t always made by people trying to become legends. Sometimes, it’s simply made by friends who got together to have fun and accidentally gave a nation its soundtrack.
But more than catchy melodies, the HOTDOG songs became snapshots of Filipino life during the 1970s and 1980s. It reflected
The Philippine Star
Photo credit: Pechanga Resort Casino.
Angel Locsin questions Robin Padilla over silence on red-tagging after communist remark
by Jan Milo Severo Philstar.com
MANILA, Philippines
— Actress Angel Locsin has publicly called on Sen. Robin Padilla to wake up, expressing disappointment over what she described as the lawmaker's changing political positions while recalling their past friendship.
In a Facebook post addressed to Robin, whom she referred to as "Kuya," Angel recalled the stories he used to share about his younger years.
"Nung mga panahong magkasama tayo, madalas mong ikwento yung panahon na namundok ka at nag-armas para ipaglaban ang bayan. Sabi mo pa nga, dinadalaw ka ng ex mo sa bundok," she said She said Robin's remarks during the July 14 impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, in which he described himself as a communist, reminded her of the person she once knew and admired.
"Sa statement mo na to, kahit papaano, natuwa akong makita ulit yung dating Robin Padilla na nakilala ko. At least, honest ka ngayon, Kuya," she said.
Angel also questioned Robin's silence when she was subjected to red-tagging, saying he knew the accusations against her were untrue.
"Ang tanong ko lang, nasaan ka nung panahong nirered-tag ako kahit alam mong hindi totoo? Actually, kasama mo pa nga at kachikahan yung mga nangre-red-tag. Naghugas-kamay at pumikit sa katotohanan," Angel said. The actress likewise questioned the senator's priorities as a public official, saying many Filipinos had supported him because they expected him to champion the interests of the Muslim community.
"Isa sa mga pinakamalaking dahilan kung bakit ka binoto ng maraming Pilipino ay dahil inasahan nilang magiging matapang kang boses para sa mga kapatid nating Muslim. Pero bakit parang mas ipinaglalaban mo pa si Quiboloy? Naniniwala ka ba talaga na siya ang 'appointed son of God'?" she said. Angel also expressed disap-
pointment over Robin's stance on China, saying it was different from the patriotism she once admired in him.
"Isa ka sa pinaka-makabayang taong nakilala. Ikaw si Andres Bonifacio. Kaya nakakalungkot pag nakakabasa ako ng stand mo pagdating sa China. Hindi ito ang Robin Padilla na nakilala at hinangaan ko,” the actress said.
She went on to reflect on what she described as the similarities in their personal journeys, saying they both came from humble beginnings and owed their success to the Filipino people.
"Kahit paano, alam kong halos pareho tayong landas na dinaanan. Galing sa hirap, nagtrababo ng maaga, tinangkilik at nakapagpasaya ng mga tao. Ang utang na loob natin ay sa ating diyos at sa lahat ng Pilipino — hindi lamang sa isang tao," the actress said.
Angel concluded her message with a direct appeal to the senator. "Tama na, Kuya. Gising na. Hindi pa huli ang lahat," she said.
As of publication, Robin had not publicly responded to Angel's statement.
The two worked together in GMA's 2007 fantasy-adventure television series "Asian Treasures."
What happened before?
Angel has long been a target of red-tagging.
Former military officials re -
Heart Evangelista’s
PA
blasts Mimiyuuuh after ‘clean money’ remarks
by evanGeline valderraMa Inquirer.net
HEART Evangelista’s longtime personal assistant Resty Rosell came under fire on social media for calling out celebrity content creator Mimiyuuuh after the later made a remark about wanting to be a “nepo baby” who come from “clean money.”
Rosell left a comment on the Instagram page of Mimiyuuuh announcing her new vlog collaboration with fellow content artist Esnyr, apparently feeling that Evangelista was being alluded to in the vlog as someone whose wealth did not come from legitimate means.
In that vlog which was posted on Mimiyuuuh’s YouTube channel, she and Esnyr discussed how they could now afford to eat the pricey king crab before them when they used to only dream about it before they hit it big on the internet.
Mimiyuuuh said it is her dream to be the nepo baby of businesswoman-influencer
Small Laude, or anyone from the business industry, just not of politicians.
“Pero ayoko yung mga galing sa politicians. Gusto ko nepo baby na galing sa mga businesses,” she quipped.
Esnyr then said, “Nepo baby na clean money.”
Their conversation then switched to how the two content creators loved Anne Curtis’ beauty, with Mimiyuuuh saying she found the “It’s Showtime” host to be one of the nicest in the industry.
“Adding to Ms Anne Curtis,
isa sya sa pinakamabait din teh. Parang di mo mapi feel sa kanya yung ‘I can buy you,’ di sya ganung energy,” said Mimiyuuuh.
“We love you, Ms Anne. We only love Anne in this household, kasi sya talaga ang clean money girl.”
Esnyr seconded Mimiyuuuh saying Curtis’ wealth clearly came from her own hard work.
It appears to be in this context that Rosell found offensive for her principal Evangelista, despite that there was no mention of the latter in the vlog.
In a series of comments which have now been deleted, Rosell called out Mimiyuuuh.
“Anong pinaglalaban natin mi? Sikat kana, hindi mo need magpasikat,” she said in one of her posts, as reuploaded by a fan page.
“At galing pa talaga sa kanya? Eee ang galing ng mag shadeshade @mimiyuuuh (emoji) saan mo natutunan yan? Ingat, baka bigla ka tapikin,” Roselle further said in her reply to a comment.
Rosell further asked who Mimiyuuuh was working for, saying the latter could attend fashion week events, like Evangelista if she so desires since the influencer seemed to be earning well from her content.
Mimiyuuuh and Esnyr, have yet to comment on Rosell’s callout. Evangelista also have not released a statement on the matter.
Evangelista and Mimiyuuuh have previously collaborated in 2019. They have reportedly unfollowed each other on Instagram after the alleged shade.
Actor Joaquin Pedro Valdes lands role in West End revival of ‘Rent’
Joaquin Pedro Valdes will perform alongside ‘Stranger Things’ star Gaten Matarazzo
by Gavin Martinez Inquirer.net
FILIPINO theater actor Joaquin Pedro Valdes is adding another major international production to his growing resume after being cast in the upcoming West End revival of “Rent,” where he will perform alongside “Stranger Things” star Gaten Matarazzo.
Valdes has been tapped to play Benny in the new staging of Jonathan Larson’s groundbreaking musical, while Matarazzo will take on the lead role of filmmaker Mark.
The production confirmed the cast through a social media announcement on Wednesday, marking Valdes’ return to London’s renowned theater district.
peatedly accused the actress of having links to communist groups, while former National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTFELCAC) spokesperson Lorraine Badoy frequently singled her out over her humanitarian work and advocacies, especially during the Duterte administration.
The actress consistently denied the allegations and publicly defended herself against the accusations.
Badoy, who has been outspoken on social media in accusing personalities she claims have links to communist groups, has yet to comment on Robin's remarks.
For the Filipino performer, the revival represents more than just another role. Speaking in a video released after the announcement, Valdes shared that the musical’s message remains just as meaningful today as when it first premiered.
Valdes said the revival stays true to the musical’s enduring message while making it feel fresh for younger audiences.
“The themes of choosing love over fear, choosing community, choosing creation over war, it still resonates right now… he’s bringing it to new generation, so that younger people who have no idea what ‘Rent’ is, will watch them say, that feels so new, and that’s so exciting,” he said.
He also praised director Luke Sheppard’s vision for the production, saying the revival preserves the heart of the original while making it accessible to audiences discovering Rent for the first time.
The actor’s talent agency, BBA Management, celebrated the casting on social media, highlighting both Valdes’ return to the West End and the involvement of associate musical supervisor and musical director Katy Richardson.
“We are so thrilled that our amazing JOAQUIN PEDRO VALDES (@joaquin.pedro.valdes) will be joining the cast of RENT as Benny, returning to the West End. With the brilliant KATY RICHARDSON (@katyrrichardson) on the creative team as Associate Musical Supervisor and Musical Director.
This is going to be something special!” the agency wrote. Valdes joins an ensemble cast that includes Travis Ross as Roger, Bella Brown as Mimi, Billy Nevers as Collins, Lazy Violet as Maureen, Danielle Fiamanya as Joanne and Jeevan Braich as Angel. Widely regarded as one of musical theater’s defining works, “Rent” follows a group of young artists navigating friendship, love, ambition, and loss while living in New York City’s East Village during the height of the HIV/AIDS crisis. Its themes of hope, resistance and chosen family have continued to resonate with audiences around the world since its Broadway debut in 1996.
Joaquin Pedro Valdes | Photo from rentwestend/Instagram
Angel Locsin and Robin Padilla worked together in GMA's 2007 fantasy-adventure television series "Asian Treasures."
Mimiyuuuh (left) and Heart Evangelista. Combined images from Instagram/@ iamhearte, @mimiyuuuh
