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NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

T H E F I L I P I N O A M E R I CA N C O M M U N I T Y N E WS PA P E R

Volume 17 - No. 28 • 3 Sections – 20 Pages

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DATELINE

USA

FROM THE AJPRESS NEWS TEAM ACROSS AMERICA

Census could overlook millions of Californians in 2020 count, new report says Proposed citizenship question could affect overall count in certain geographic 2020 is shaping up to be one of the most crucial years in the history of American democracy. Coming up in the next year and a half, Americans will be participating in two important events: the presidential election and the census survey. There are more or less 40 million people — citizens and otherwise — living in California, a population that has grown twice in size since Gov. Jerry Brown first became governor in 1975. The federal census — the overall PAGE A2

Mendocino Complex fire in California is now the largest in modern state history CALIFORNIA fires have again been making ground, less than a year after a record breaking fire burnt through parts of Southern California’s coast. As of Tuesday morning, August 7, the Mendocino Complex Fire covered over 290,000 acres in Northern California’s Mendocino and Lake counties, making it the largest fire in California’s modern history. Made up of two neighboring fires being the Ranch Fire and River Fire which erupted less than two weeks ago, it has burned through an area nearly the size of Los Angeles, and almost 10 times the size of San Francisco. It overtook last year’s Thomas Fire which PAGE A2

by PATRICIA LOURDES Philstar.com

VIRAY

WHILE China and the Southeast Asian nations are moving forward with negotiations on the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, the United States stressed its position on the maritime dispute. Piper Campbell, chargé d’affaires ad interim at the U.S. Mission to ASEAN, stressed that Washington has always been watching the developments in the disputed waterway. “We think it’s extremely important that no coun-

try pressure other countries within structures like the Code of Conduct negotiations,” Campbell said in a teleconference Tuesday, August 7. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had the chance to relay Washington’s position on the disputed South China during the recently concluded East Asia Summit and Asean Regional Forum meetings in Singapore. In the meetings with ASEAN member states, China, Japan and Australia, the U.S. top diplomat insisted that concerns of third parties should be incorporated in the COC. In a draft code, Beijing suggested excluding

non-regional countries, including the U.S., from proposed joint militarye exercises and energy exploration in with Southeast Asian nations in the South China Sea. Campbell said that Pompeo had the opportunity to express Washington’s position that “any Code of Conduct needs to incorporate the concerns and the rights of third parties.” While the U.S. is pleased that China and the ASEAN member states are moving forward with negotiations on the COC, Washington stressed the importance of adherence to international law, in-

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Obama endorses Fil-Am TJ Cox for Congress Former president endorses first wave of candidates for midterms elections by RAE

ANN VARONA AJPress

A TOTAL of 81 candidates for federal and state offices got the thumbs-up from former President Barack Obama on Wednesday, August 1 in his first wave of endorsements focused on candidates across 14 different states. Among the first TJ Cox, candidate for California’s wave of endorsees 21st congressional district is Fil-Am congressional candidate TJ Cox who is running for the California’s 21st congressional district, which includes Central Valley areas of Fresno PAGE A3

AFP-PNP COMMAND CONFERENCE. President Rodrigo R. Duterte presides over the Joint Armed Forces of the Philippines-Philippine National Police (AFP-PNP) meeting at Malacañang Palace on Tuesday, August 7. Duterte urged the police to keep on doing good deeds and protect the Filipino people from threat of illegal drugs and criminality despite scalawags in uniform who are hampering their efficiency. Malacañang photo by Valerie Escalera

by AJPRESS HOUSE Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Tuesday, August 7, sought the urgent amendment of the 1987 Constitution as she called for the House of Representatives and the Senate to convene into a Constitutional Assembly (ConAss). In a report from The Manila Times, Arroyo filed House Resolution No. 2056 that pushes for the two chambers to convene but permits the House and the Senate to vote separately. PUSHING CHARTER CHANGE. Speaker Gloria Arroyo discusses a point before stopping the Committee “It appears from media reports on Constitutional Amendments from deliberating on proposals to amend the constitution. To her right is former senator Aquilino ‘Nene’ Pimentel, a member of the Consultative Committee that drafted the proposed federal constitution. ManilaTimes.net photo by Ruy Martinez

3 Filipino families affected in Italy road explosion

THE apartments of three Filipino families were affected when a fuel tanker exploded in a highway in Bologna, Italy, the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday, August 7. A total of 10 Filipinos, including two minors and two infants, were affected by the blast but were not injured. The apartment units of the Filipino families sustained major damage from the explosion, according to Consul General in Milan Irense Susan Natividad.

Also published in LOS ANGELES, ORANGE COUNTY/INLAND EMPIRE, LAS VEGAS, NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY

US: Third party concerns should be included in South China Sea code

Speaker Arroyo to hasten Cha-Cha

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AUGUST 10-16, 2018

According to Natividad, the doors and windows of the apartments of the three Filipino families were blown off. “There were no injuries reported among the family members who were evacuated by authorities and accommodated at a local hotel,” the DFA said. In its latest update, the DFA said that the Office of Civilian Protection in Bologna informed the Philippine Consulate General in Milan that no Filipinos were injured in the blast.

Italian police said one person has died in the incident while 60 to 70 people were injured, with serious burns, when a tanker truck carrying explosive materials was in a traffic accident. Italian news agency ANSA reported that the tanker was carrying liquefied petroleum gas. The explosion sent flames soaring into the air. (Patricia Lourdes Viray/ Philstar.com with Associated Press) ■

National ID system gets mixed reactions from citizens, sectors by AJPRESS THE national ID system garnered mixed reactions from the general public after President Rodrigo Duterte signed its implementation into law on Monday, August 6, in Malacanang. The law, otherwise known as the Republic Act of 11055 includes the establishment of the Philippine ID system (PhilSys), a centralized database that contains all the necessary and vital information of the residents in the country. It will also signify a unified and streamlined identification system for every citizen. Supporters of the said law praised the initiative stating that a national ID will expedite government processes and basic services and will also put an end to bureaucratic red tape. However, those in opposition expressed concern with the privacy issues it might entail. In a report from Inquirer, among those who support the law were Catholic leaders, law enforcers, and public officials while those who do not agree with the law’s provisions were human rights groups. Church leaders, law enforcers

and public officials pro-PhilSys Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) Episcopal Commission on the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People Head Bishop Ruperto Santos said that the law would benefit Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) and will protect them against bribery and red tape. Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesperson Col. Edgard Arevalo said that the law will inhibit criminal activities since falsification of identities would be more difficult. “We believe it will promote a peaceful and secure environment where terrorists, criminals, and

other unscrupulous individuals will have difficulty coping to pursue their evil designs and nefarious activities,” Arevalo said. The Philippine National Police (PNP) also lauded the implementation of the national ID system saying that its benefits offset its issues regarding privacy. In a report from the Philippine Star, Commission on Human Rights (CHR) spokesperson Jacqueline de Guia claimed that PhilSys is aligned with the government’s obligation to provide legal identification. Members of the House also applauded the said law. Surigao del PAGE A3

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From the Front Page

Mendocino Complex fire in California is now... PAGE A1 devastated parts of the Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, leaving over 282,000 acres burned. So far, 143 structures have been destroyed by the flames including 75 residences, and 68 other structures. Thousands of people have been evacuated, but no deaths have yet been reported. As of Tuesday morning, the Mendocino Complex Fire was only 34 percent contained. Officials initially hoped to have the fires out by mid-August, but on Tuesday said that containment looked more likely to happen early September. According to AccuWeather, heat and poor relatively humidity will continue to pose a challenge for firefighters. “Firefighters continue to battle the River and Ranch fires. Crews worked throughout the night to reinforce containment lines while the fire behavior remained extreme,” the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said Tuesday. Cal Fire added, “Weather conditions will continue to challenge

firefighters as hot, dry and windy conditions persist.” Stronger California fires High temperatures and prolonged drought have been fueling bigger and stronger fires in the state. Nine of the top 20 largest California wildfires have occured within the last decade, according to Cal Fire data. In Northern California’s Shasta County, the still burning Carr Fire moved through over 167,000 acres as of Tuesday, becoming the 12th largest recorded in California. Around 1,600 structures have been destroyed and seven deaths have been recorded — the seventh being a Pacific Gas & Electric worker who died on Saturday, August 4 while doing restoration work. The Trump administration in response, announced a disaster declaration that makes federal funds available to Shasta County residents. Philippine Consul General Henry Bensurto in San Francisco reported a week after it started that no Filipinos had been affected by

the fire which threatens the nearby city of Redding, home to a small community of about 227 Filipinos. Entering its third week, the Ferguson Fire killed two people, injured 11 others, and prompted indefinite closures at parts of Yosemite National Park and Yosemite Valley. In Southern California, the Holy Fire broke out in Orange County on Monday afternoon, August 6 and quickly burned through 4,000 acres in the Cleveland National Forest. It was two-percent contained as of Tuesday morning. President Donald Trump gave his thoughts on Twitter, pointing to California’s environmental laws and management of water resources as being a culprit behind the fires. “California wildfires are being magnified and made so much worse by the bad environmental laws which aren’t allowing massive amount of readily available water to be properly utilized. It is being diverted into the Pacific Ocean. Must also tree clear to stop PAGE A3

Census could overlook millions...

PAGE A1 count of all peoples living in the United States that’s taken every 10 years — will hopefully provide answers to the exact count. Each household is given a questionnaire in which residents must answer questions concerning the amount of people currently living in the household, race and ethnicity, gender, age, education, employment etc. But what was supposed to be a standard procedure has become a point of contention given the proposed changes by the Trump administration, including asking a question about citizenship, a question never before asked on any census, as previously reported by the Asian Journal. And, because of this proposed measure, politics researchers warn that millions of Californians may not be counted. A study from the nonpartisan group Public Policy Institute of California measured that a possible miscount in individual census tracts may occur in small regions in the state, drastically affecting the

overall population count. Any error in miscounting could result in decreased federal funding or a loss of a seat in Congress since states’ populations dictate its allotted number of congressional representatives. Researchers posited that as many as 45 percent of residents may not respond, largely due to fear that declaring non-citizenship status would open them up to government scrutiny. “Part of the reason there’s so much at stake for California is that so many Californians fall into groups that have been historically underrepresented,” Tess Thorman, a Public Policy Institute research associate for the study, told the Los Angeles Times. Earlier this year, the U.S. Dept. of Commerce (DOC) announced in an eight-page memo that it would “restore a question about citizenship” in the 2020 census questionnaire, which sparked outrage among lawmakers and organizations. “We know that adding that

question on citizenship status will cause participation in the upcoming census to plummet, and that vulnerable communities that are already hard to count will be most significantly impacted,” Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference Education Fund, said in a press call after the DOC’s announcement. And Gupta is right. In 2010, the census overlooked approximately one million young children, and about 400,000 were Latino, according to Arturo Vargas, executive director of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials. Additionally, the 2010 census also found the profound discovery that Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) — 90 percent of which are immigrants or children of immigrants — were the fastest-growing ethnic group, and had grown 46 percent since 2000. It’s figures like that that call for easing the census procedure PAGE A3

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Dateline USa

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Census could overlook millions... PAGE A2

BANGSAMORO ORGANIC LAW. President Rodrigo R. Duterte poses for a photo with the legislators and negotiators in the peace process with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), as well as top officials from the Armed Forces of the Philippines and Philippine National Police during the presentation of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) to the MILF at Malacañan Palace on Monday, August 6. Malacañang photo by Valerie Escalera

Obama endorses Fil-Am TJ Cox... PAGE A1 County, Kern County, Kings County, and Tulare County. “I’m proud to endorse such a wide and impressive array of Democratic candidates — leaders as diverse, patriotic, and big-hearted as the America they’re running to represent,” said Obama. “I’m confident that, together, they’ll strengthen this country we love by restoring opportunity, repairing our alliances and standing in the world, and upholding our fundamental commitment to justice, fairness, responsibility, and the rule of law,” he added. “But first, they need our votes.” Included in the list shared widely on Twitter are five gubernatorial candidates, 40 state legislative candidates, several candidates running for secretary of state and attorney general, plus a few others. While Obama gave endorsements for 22 House candidates, Rep. Jacky Rosen of Nevada’s race against GOP Sen. Dean Heller was the only Senate race endorsed in the list. California Sen. Dianne Feinstein got her endorsement from Obama back in May. Of the gubernatorial candidates, Obama’s endorsees are: Gavin Newsom in California, Jared Polls in Colorado, Stacey Abrams in Georgia, J.B. Pritzker in Illinois, and Richard Cordray in Ohio. Abrams is one of the 48 women endorsees — a group that makes up over half of the total candidates on the list. She would also become the first female African American governor in U.S. history, if elected. For congressional races, among the endorsees are Harley Rouda for CA-48, Josh Harder for CA-10, Katie Hill for CA-25, Katie Porter for CA-45, Mike Levin for CA-49, Ammar Campa-Najjar for CA-50, and Fil-Am TJ Cox for CA-21. Born in Walnut Creek, California to immigrant parents — his mother Perla De Castro from the Philippines, and half-Chinese father from China — Cox is among several congressional Filipino candidates who advanced to Califor-

nia’s general elections. Like the other endorsed candidates, Cox thanked Obama on Twitter, adding, “let’s take back #CA21 and #FlipTheHouse!” While Obama did hint possible endorsements after his “first wave” list, many were quick to notice names that were not included. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who took a big win over House Democratic Caucus Chairman Joe Crowley during New York’s Democratic primary, for instance, was absent from the list. So was Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke, who has increasingly been picking up gain against Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. November midterm elections less than 100 days away Most of the midterm elections will take place on November 6, and Obama’s endorsements come as Democrats hope to win control of both the House and the Senate which could ultimately give the party more power to investigate matters of the current administration. Currently, Republicans control the House with 33 governor seats compared to 16 held by Democrats. Democrats who would have to flip a net of 23 seats to win control. Of the 35 Senate seats up for grabs this election, 24 are currently held by Democrats, two by Democrat-leaning Independents, and nine by Republicans. There, Democrats would have to hold on to all of its seats plus the Independent seats, and gain two or three Republican seats. Six of those seats are in states where Trump won by large numbers during the 2016 presidential election. Obama, has kept a low profile since leaving the White House with the exception of private political events and fundraisers. His first major address since leaving the White House barely came in July of this year when he warned in his speech in South Africa of “strongman politics” which many understood to be partly directed at current President Donald Trump. Reuters reported that Obama

Mendocino Complex Fire... PAGE A2 fire spreading!” Trump tweeted without giving further detail on Sunday, August 5. Environmental advocates, including some politicians, on the other hand have put weight on climate change as being a leading factor. California Governor Jerry Brown said last week that the fires were evidence of climate change happening “in real time.” “[The] predictions that I see, the more serious predictions of warming and fires to occur later in the century, 2040 or 2050, they’re

now occurring in real time,” said Brown at a news conference in Sacramento last Wednesday, August 1. “You can expect that — unfortunately — to continue intensifying in California and throughout the Southwest. We are part of that process,” added Brown. A 2016 study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences cited human-caused climate change as a key driver for forest fire, saying it doubled the amount fires along western U.S. forests since 1984. (Rae Ann Varona/AJPress) n

Arroyo to hasten Cha Cha

PAGE A1 that the Senate has taken the position that the manner of voting in a constituent assembly that would propose amendments to, or revision of, the 1987 Constitution under Section 1, Paragraph 1 of Article XVII, must be done separately... the House of Representatives is taking the same position of the Senate thereon,” Arroyo said in the resolution. The Amendments and Revisions part in the Charter clearly states that any proposed changes must be done by either the Congress with three-fourths of its members or a constitutional convention. The Constitution did not mention whether the House and the Senate should have a joint or separate voting in proposing its amendments. Arroyo’s resolution trumped former House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez’ draft that proposes the two chambers to vote jointly. Such resolution would render the Senate votes insignificant because they only have 24 senators while the House has 297 representatives. The current administration discusses the possibility of establishing a federal government wherein regions/federal states will have authority over their own resources including generating their taxes. Under a federal government, 80

percent to 85 percent of the taxes will be remitted to the federal states while 20 percent to 15 percent will be issued to the national government through the Internal Revenue Allotment. Arroyo is adamant to let the constitutional assembly discuss the federal charter together. Senators’ sentiments on charter change Despite Arroyo’s push for a separate voting, some senators were not in favor of any attempts to revise the Constitution. Senator Panfilo Lacson voiced out his disapproval stating that any measure that calls for a constitutional amendment will be cremated in the Senate. Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon told the House to give up on creating a constitutional assembly noting that the proposals for a charter change are tainted by mistrust. He mentioned that this is due to Alvarez’ draft for joint voting and a no election scenario. Senate President Vicente Sotto III supported Arroyo’s resolution saying that it is in accordance with what the Senate pushes for. He even ensured that the Senate Committee on Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Codes will review the resolution once they acquire a copy of it. n

pledged to be active on the campaign road ahead, putting him squarely against Trump who also has already been actively campaigning. Among Trump’s most recent endorsees are Senate contender John James of Michigan , Troy Balderson for Ohio’s 12th Congressional District, and Congressman David Kustoff of Tennessee’s 8th District. According to a Pew Research Center survey in July, 31 percent of respondents said Obama had has done the best job as a U.S. president during his lifetime, compared to Trump who received 10 percent of respondents saying so. n

in order to get an accurate count of all peoples living in California, according to John C. Yang, president and executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice. The Public Policy Institute created an interactive map of the state that estimated the predicted rates of non-responses in each county. According to the map, the counties with the highest rate of predicted non-responses — including Fresno (32.7 percent), Kern (27.2 percent), Los Angeles (33.4 percent), San Bernardino (28.8 percent) and Imperial (43.3 percent) — are communities with among the largest shares of undocumented immigrants and people of color.

“For decades, census directors under both Democratic and Republican administrations abided by department policy and did not include a citizenship question,” California Secretary of State Alex Padilla said in a statement last week. “The Trump administration’s decision to include a citizenship question on the 2020 census completely disregards science and proven methodology.” Additionally, those areas with abundant populations of immigrant and people of color also tend to be those which are overcrowded and have housing that isn’t visible, like back units, trailers, mobile homes or garages that could be missed by surveyors. “In the 2020 census housing will be a major issue,” Thorman said. “There are a lot of people

with the housing crisis living in overcrowded rental housing. People in mobile homes tend to be undercounted.” The Public Policy Institute’s report found that many of these areas of high likelihoods of miscount belong in Democratic districts; only one of the congressional districts with people least likely to fill out a census questionnaire is headed by a Republican. Internet access has also become an issue in the bias associated with the census. The 2020 census is the first time that the Census Bureau hopes to count a majority of residents, but rural areas with poor internet service or households that don’t have access to it may miss out on the count. (Klarize Medenilla/AJPress)

National ID system gets mixed...

PAGE A1

Norte Rep. Ace Barbers, Negros Occidental Rep. Albee Benitez, Isabela Rep. Rodito Albano III, and Batangas Rep. Raneo Abu all positively noted that a national ID would ensure a more efficient transaction. Karapatan and CPU question possible privacy breach Karapatan, a human rights group, voiced their objection with the said law noting that PhilSys would be a wholesale violation of laws under the current administration. Another sector opposing PhilSys is the Computer Professionals Union (CPU), a non-government organization (NGO) composed of

information technology (IT) experts. In a press statement posted on their Facebook page, they amplified their concern with the ‘record history’ that specifies where the ID was used in both public and private transactions. “This will act as a virtual tracker for holders of the ID card, and a treasure trove for data-hungry individuals and entities such as data brokers, employers, landlords, credit agencies, mortgage brokers, direct mailers, civil litigants, hackers, and even the government.” CPU wrote. The organization also warned the public of the future danger it might result in, citing the previous issue involving Facebook-Cam-

bridge Analytica. “While the law repeatedly states that the National ID shall only be used as a proof of identity, it is not far-fetched that in the future such data will be used for purposes other than stated in the law - especially as data is becoming a very lucrative venture that earns billions for the private sector,” they added. In line with the CPU’s concern, National Privacy Commission (NPC) commissioner Raymund Liboro ensured the public that the NPC will work with the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) in addressing the privacy risks that come with the fusion of data and compilation of transaction histories. n

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California Gov. Brown announces federal approval of presidential major disaster declaration for Shasta County

BRIEFING FOR 2019 NATIONAL BUDGET. Senator Loren Legarda (middle), chair of the Senate Committee on Finance, along with other senators listen to the presentations made by the members of the Development Budget Coordination Committee in relation to the proposed 2019 national budget during a hearing on Tuesday, August 7. The 2019 national budget, the first cash-based budget of the government, is pegged at P3.757 trillion. In photo with Legarda are (from right to left) Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, along with Senators Risa Hontiveros, Cynthia Villar and Sherwin Gatchalian. Senate photo by Cesar Tomambo

US: Third party concerns should be... PAGE A1 of the Sea, as well as respecting other countries’ right to freedom of navigation and overflight. “We think it’s extremely important that no country pressure other countries within structures like the Code of Conduct negotiations,� Campbell said. “It’s important that all countries, regardless of their size,

have the opportunity to represent their national interests as well as the very clear international principles including the principles that are enshrined in UnCLOS,� she added. The Philippine government, on the other hand, finds “nothing objectionable� in China’s suggestion to exclude “outside countries� from proposed joint

maritime drills in a bid to push back the United States. “Of course, the United States is 10,000 miles away, so if the intention is to build stronger relations between military forces who are neighbors then the United States will really be out of place,� presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said last week. n

SACRAMEnTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. recently announced that the White House has approved California’s request for a Presidential Major Disaster Declaration submitted to President Donald Trump on Saturday, August 4, to help with the impacts of the wildfire in Shasta County. “This is part of a trend – a new normal – that we’ve got to deal with. We’re dealing with it humanly, financially and governmentally,� said Governor Brown during a media briefing at the Carr Fire Incident Command Post in Anderson, California. “These kinds of horrible situations bring people together, regardless of the lesser kind of ideologies and partisan considerations.� A Presidential Major Disaster Declaration helps people in the impacted counties through eligibility for programs and support, including housing assistance, food aid, unemployment assistance, counseling and medical services and legal services. The

declaration also includes public assistance to help state, tribal and local governments with ongoing emergency response and recovery costs, including repairs and replacement of disaster-damaged facilities and infrastructure such as roads, bridges and utilities. The declaration also includes hazard mitigation, which helps state and local governments reduce the risks and impacts of future disasters. There are 17 major fires currently burning across the state, causing extensive damage to residences and infrastructure. More than 14,000 firefighters from California and 17 other states are working the front lines of wildfires statewide. Governor Brown also met with local leaders and fire and emergency management officials at the Carr Fire Incident Command Post in Shasta County and officially requested the Presidential Major Disaster Declaration for Lake, Mendocino, napa and Shasta counties. FEMA is reviewing the requests

for Lake, Mendocino and napa counties on an expedited basis as preliminary damage assessments continue. The Mendocino Complex fire remains a dynamic and rapidly changing challenge for firefighters, with additional evacuation orders issued on Saturday and thousands of structures remaining threatened by the massive wildfire. Last week, Governor Brown declared a state of emergency in Shasta, Lake, Mendocino, napa, Riverside and Mariposa counties due to multiple fires and requested and secured federal aid to further support communities impacted by the Carr Fire. Earlier this week, Governor Brown joined the state’s top emergency management officials at the State Operations Center in Mather to provide an update on the ongoing fire fight. The State Operations Center is activated to its highest level to help local, state and federal emergency response officials address emergency management needs. n

Canepa: San Mateo County first to accept diesel free by ’33 challenge Board votes to join Bay Area Air Quality Management District’s challenge to reduce diesel emissions to ‘zero’ by the year 2033

REDWOOD CITy – On Tuesday, August 7, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution unanimously to accept the Bay Area Air Quality Management District’s challenge to public agencies to reduce diesel emissions to “zero� by 2033. The resolution was co-sponsored by supervisors David J. Canepa and Carole Groom. “We know that diesel emissions are dangerous to the public’s health and directly contribute to climate change,� Su-

pervisor David J. Canepa said. “I’m proud San Mateo County is the first in the Bay Area to embrace this challenge.� Canepa serves District 5 which includes the cities of Daly City, Colma, Brisbane, portions of South San Francisco and San Bruno and the unincorporated Broadmoor Village. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District, in affiliation with the Governor’s Global Climate Action Summit targeting climate change prevention

through reducing greenhouse gas emissions, will hold an event on Sept. 12, 2018, entitled, “United Against GHGs – Diesel Free by ’33.� Additionally, they will hold a Climate Tech Marketplace on Sept. 13, 2018, both taking place at the Bay Area Metro Center in San Francisco during which city and county elected officials and business leaders worldwide will be asked to sign a Statement of Purpose that commits them to going diesel free by the end of 2033. n

Court ruling: Trump can’t halt funding to Calif. sanctuary cities

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In another blow, a U.S. appeals court on Wednesday, Aug. 1 ruled that it is illegal for the Trump administration to retain federal funding from California’s “sanctuary� jurisdictions. Previously, President Donald Trump issued an executive order in which he threatened to withhold government funding to cities that identified as sanctuary cities, cities that have limited their cooperation with federal immigration agencies. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 ruling, concluded that the president doesn’t have the authority to issue that request. “Absent congressional authorization, the administration may not redistribute or withhold properly appropriated funds in order to effectuate its own policy goals,� Chief Judge Sidney Thomas and Judge Ronald Gould wrote in the court’s opinion. “By its plain terms, the executive order directs the agencies of the executive branch to withhold funds appropriated by Congress in order to further the administration’s policy objective of pun-

ishing cities and counties that adopt so-called ‘sanctuary’ policies,� added Thomas and Gould, both of whom were nominated by former President Bill Clinton. Though the Trump administration hasn’t indicated whether or not it will appeal the ruling, Devin O’Malley, a spokesperson for the Justice Department, deemed the Wednesday ruling a win for “criminal aliens who can continue to commit crimes knowing that the state’s leadership will protect them from federal immigration officers.� However, according to lawmakers, sanctuary laws do not protect criminals, but rather prohibits notifying federal agencies — such as the controversial Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — of an inmate’s release from county jail, or sharing any other information that could lead to the detention of certain undocumented immigrants. The exceptions to that are if the information is already made public, or the person in question has been convicted of any of the 800 offenses — including sexual assault, domestic violence, ar-

son and some nonviolent drug charges — detailed in a 2013 law, the Trust Act. The court’s Wednesday ruling is likely to be challenged by the Trump administration, legal analysts say, but by the off chance the administration doesn’t appeal, the case will return to the district court where a nationwide injunction could be implemented. Many California leaders celebrated the ruling, including San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera, who described the president’s executive order as a “power grab� that violates the Constitution. “San Francisco’s sanctuary policies make our city safer by encouraging anyone who has been a victim or witness to a crime to tell police,� Herrera said. “When a president overreaches and tries to assert authority he doesn’t have under the Constitution, there needs to be a check on that power grab. The courts did that today, which is exactly what the framers of the Constitution have in mind.� (Klarize Medenilla/AJPress) n

10-year-old Fil-Am swimmer beats Michael Phelps’ record held for 23 years

Clark Kent “Superman� Apuada sets new record at Far Western Championships by Rae

ann VaRona AJPress

A yOUnG 10-year-old Fil-Am from Salinas, California may very well be on his way to becoming a future Olympic swimmer for the United States. Clark Kent Apuada, rightly nicknamed “Superman,� swam the 100-meter butterfly event in 1:09:38 at the 2018 Speedo Long Course Far Western Championships in Moraga, California on Sunday, July 29. His time was 1.1 seconds faster than Michael Phelps’ 1:10:48 time that was set 23 years ago in 1995 — a big accomplishment in a sport where milliseconds are closely watched. On Twitter, Phelps — the most decorated Olympian ever — congratulated Apuada for “smashing that meet record� and encouraged Apuada to “#dreambig.� The U.S. Olympic Team’s official Twitter handle also gave Apuada a shout out, asking if the young swimmer could be a possible “Future Phelps.� Posted with the tweet was a side-byside photo of the two donning medals. Responding to the question, replies overwhelmingly seemed to say yes, with people also saying “records are meant to be broken.� Aside from his record break-

ing time, Apuada took first place in almost all of his 10-and-under events at the meet including the 50-meter fly, 50-meter free, 100-meter free, 100meter backstroke, and 50-meter backstroke. To the Asian Journal, Apuada’s parents Cynthia and Chris said they were elated and overjoyed upon hearing the announcement of his record breaking swim. “We prayed and thanked God the moment we saw he got his best time,� they told the Asian Journal on Messenger, adding that they have yet to have a full celebration. Clark Kent Apuada Photo from Facebook/ Salinas Aquatic Center MCAT Apuada’s parents said they began to notice his interest in swimming when he was just aware of. But the goal comes in six years old. Apuada himself addition to two other things. “It’s the coolest thing in the made a list of swim clubs in the area to join. His mother told world because that’s all he talkthe Huffington Post that Apuada ed about,� Rianda told CBS. “It wasn’t like, ‘I want to be would memorize the records set better than Michael Phelps’ or by other swimmers. “He’s the one who said, ‘Look, anything like that. His first goals Mom, Michael Phelps has a re- were, ‘I want to be a scientist, cord in the Far Western. I can an Olympic gold medalist for the beat that,’� his mother told the United States and I want to be a black belt.’ He’s on track for all Huffington Post. The young swimmer does three of those,� Rianda added. Phelps was only 15 when he have his eyes set on the Olympics, possibly Paris 2024, or joined the Olympics and has Los Angeles 2028 — a goal his garnered a total of 28 medals in coach Travis Rianda is fully his Olympic career. n

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DATELINE PHILIPPINES

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Cayetano open to ‘debate’ on West Philippine Sea by PATRICIA LOURDES Philstar.com

VIRAY

MANILA — While urging former President Benigno Aquino III to join public discussions on the West Philippine Sea dispute, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said that he is also open to discussions on the issue. Aquino and Cayetano have been engaged in a word war for the past week when the former challenged the latter to be transparent on his politics. “I’m also ready anytime, any place, if you would like a one-onone debate. If you’d like to bring (former Foreign Affairs) Secretary (Albert) Del Rosario or Sen. (Antonio) Trillanes, it shouldn’t even be a debate, it should be a discussion,” Cayetano said in a press briefing in Taguig City on Tuesday, August 7. Cayetano stressed that Aquino should also attend hearings and to testify on what really transpired during the 2012 Scarborough Shoal standoff.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano

The DFA chief, however, acknowledged that the Aquino administration also did “a lot of good things, even some great things.” “Having said that, his administration was not infallible. They did mistakes and rather than just keep saying the policy is wrong, it’s easy to say that our policy is wrong but you have to

Philstar.com photo

understand first — what was the take off point of the Duterte administration’s policy,” Cayetano said. He reiterated that the Philippines lost control over Scarborough Shoal under Aquino’s presidency and insisted that there were no complete records of what transpired during the PAGE A6

‘Very good’ rating for Duterte admin — SWS by HELEN

FLORES Philstar.com

MANILA — The Duterte administration’s net satisfaction rating remained “very good” in the second quarter of the year, according to the latest survey of the Social Weather Stations (SWS). The survey, conducted from June 27 to 30, showed that 72 percent of adult Filipinos were satisfied with the performance of the administration, against only 13 percent who said otherwise. This resulted in a net satisfaction score of +58, classified by the SWS as very good. It was similar to its very good +58 (69 percent satisfied, 11 percent dissatisfied) net satisfaction rating last March. The administration’s net satisfaction rating remained excellent in Mindanao, President Duterte’s home region. It went up by four points from +72 last March to +76 in June. It stayed very good in balance Luzon (areas in Luzon outside Mega Manila), also up by four points from +50 in March to +54 in June.

But it fell in Metro Manila by one grade from very good to good, +58 to +47. It stayed very good in the Visayas, hardly moving from +57 in March to +56 in June. Satisfaction with the government rose by one grade from very good to excellent in class ABC, higher by 25 points from +56 last March to +81 in June. It remained very good in class E, from +54 in March to +62 in June. It also stayed very good in class D, although it dropped by two points from +58 in March to +56 in June. The administration of Duterte obtained a very good net satisfaction rating on: building and maintenance of public works (+62), reconstructing the war-torn Marawi City (+55), promoting the welfare of overseas Filipino workers (+55), helping the poor (+54) and promoting women’s rights (+52). It was good on: protecting human rights (+48), transparency in government activities (+43), having clear policies (+40), fighting terrorism (+39), ensuring that no family will ever be hungry (+39),

foreign relations (+39), fighting crimes (+37), ensuring an efficient public transportation system (+36), fulfilling commitments in internal treaties (+33), deciding quickly (+33), reconciling with Muslim rebels (+31) and eradicating graft and corruption (+30). It received moderate scores on the following issues : reconciling with communist rebels (+27) and defending Philippine sovereignty in West Philippine Sea (WPS), +20. It garnered a neutral score on fighting inflation (+1). The administration’s net rating rose by two grades from moderate to very good on promoting women’s rights, up by 24 points from +28 in December 1995 to +52 last June. It rose by one grade from moderate to good on transparency in government activities, up by 20 points from +23 in September 2015 to +43 last June. It also improved by one grade from moderate to good on deciding quickly, up by 18 points from +15 in October 2015 to +33 last June. PAGE A6

COMFORTING VISIT. President Rodrigo Duterte consoles Mud Monda, whose parents Muid and Hadji Monda died in the car bomb explosion in Lamitan, Basilan onJuly 31, 2018. The Mondas, members of the Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit, were among the 10 blast fatalities. The President, accompanied by his special assistant Christopher “Bong” Go, promised Mud educational assistance and a monthly allowance. Malacañang photo

Economic managers warn of federalism rush’s fiscal risks by IAN

NICOLAS CIGARAL Philstar.com

MANILA — Two of the Philippines’ economic managers on Tuesday, August 7, warned against rushing into the planned shift to a federal form of government, which some say could have negative implications for the country’s public finances. In hundreds of hours of speeches, President Rodrigo Duterte has boldly declared the Philippines must overhaul the 1987 Constitution and shift to a federal system of government to address the country’s widening wealth gap and empower regional governments. Duterte last month approved the draft federal constitution crafted by a consultative committee or Con-Com. The charter reviewers, whom Duterte appointed, proposed that federated regions be given a share of not less than 50 percent of all national taxes. But in a recent television interview, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia stressed that while federalism could unlock economic benefits, it could also spell disaster for some regions not prepared for such a transition and “wreak havoc”

on the country’s balance sheet. At a Senate hearing, Pernia made it clear that his remarks were his “personal opinion.” “I spoke rather liberally as an academic... As I said, I do not object. I was just pointing out that the rush is not good. It’s not good to rush into this,” Pernia said. For his part, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III told senators that while the Duterte administration’s economic team has no official position yet regarding federalism, he agrees with Pernia on the potential fiscal risks of the proposed change in form of government. “If we don’t manage this correctly, this can end up to be a fiscal nightmare. So I think the legislature, in its wisdom, can sort those issues out,” Dominguez said. “I’m happy that it is being discussed now because the original draft, for me, from a fiscal point of view leaves much to be desired.” The finance chief then recalled his recent meeting with members of Con-Com where he highlighted his concerns on the draft federal charter from a fiscal point-of-view. “Number one, during a meeting with some members of the commission, I asked them, ‘who

is going to pay for the national debt? Who is going to pay for the military? Who is going to pay for the [Department of Foreign Affairs] and the central bank? I mean if it needs additional capital, who is going to put it up?’ And their response was, ‘the sharing with the local governments or the states will be after those expenses,’” he said. “But I said: ‘You know, when I read the draft, it doesn’t say so there. It just says 50 percent.’ So I said: ‘You know, that’s what you say but how come it’s not in the draft?’” he added. Last month, international debt watcher Moody’s Investors Service cautioned that federalism could present downside risks to the country’s institutional and fiscal profile. “The shift to federalism would also likely incur an expansion in the aggregate size of the government and, hence, public expenditure,” Moody’s said. “At the same time, there may be a gap between the national and local levels of government with respect to their ability to manage fiscal resources, posing a risk to the improved fiscal discipline that has characterized national government finances over the past decade,” it added.■

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Manila Archdiocese on Celdran’s case: We leave law’s implementation to gov’t MANILA — The Archdiocese of Manila on Tuesday, August 7 said they are leaving it to the government to implement the rule of law on the case of activist Carlos Celdran. In a statement, Fr. Roy Bellen, head of the Archdiocese of Manila Office of Communications, said: “The Church has always desired the good of persons and institutions, and we are not only institution with such desire.” “I am sure the government also works for the similar good. And we so leave to them the tasks that are properly theirs especially in implanting the law so as long as the rights and dignity of a person is respected,” Bellen added. The priest also clarified that while the Church informed authorities on the “Damaso” incident, the Archdiocese of Manila “did not pursue the case against Mr. Celdran.” The SC has recently upheld the guilty verdict against Celdran over the 2010 “Damaso” protest at the Manila Cathedral against the Catholic Church’s opposition to the Reproductive Health law. The SC stressed that following the Rules of Court, it is not a trier of facts and only “questions of law may be raised” before it. It added that it accords the highest degree of respect to a trial court’s finding of fact, “especially when the MeTC, the RTC and the CA have similar findings.” In 2015, Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle said

The case stemmed from Carlos Celdran’s protest in September 2010, when he dressed as Jose Rizal and held up a placard with the name “Damaso” before then-Papal Nuncio, Gaudencio Rosales, several bishops and attendees of the ecumenical service. Philstar.com photo by Miguel De Guzman

the Church has long forgiven Celdran. He added: “It was not the Church which filed the case against Celdran. As far as the Church is concerned, it is over.” “When they appealed to us for forgiveness, former Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales immediately after that said he is forgiven. It was the people of the Philippines vs. him. It’s a criminal case,” Tagle also said. The case stemmed from Celdran’s protest in September 2010, when he dressed as Jose Rizal before then-Papal Nuncio, Gaudencio Rosales, several

bishops and attendees of the ecumenical service. He held up a placard with the word “Damaso”—a reference to the villainous friar from Rizal’s novel, “Noli Me Tangere.” The Manila Metropolitan Trial Court (MeTC) Branch 4 found Celdran guilty of violating Article 133 of the Revised Penal Code or offending the religious feelings. Celdran elevated the case to the Manila Trial Court and Court of Appeals but he failed to get a favorable ruling. (Kristine Joy Patag with a report from Evelyn Macairan/Philstar.com) n

HAKAB NA! 2018. Hundreds of mothers simultaneously breastfeed their babies at the ‘Hakab Na! 2018’, held in observance of the National Breastfeeding Awareness Month at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City on Sunday, August 5. The event, organized by non-government organization ‘Breastfeeding Pinays’ in partnership with the Department of Health, aims to promote the importance of giving support to breastfeeding mothers, establish the Philippines as a breastfeeding nation and create a world record as it was held simultaneously in 40 registered locations across the country. PNA photo by Avito C. Dalan

Marcos wants Caguioa out of poll case by Jomar

Canlas Manilatimes

FORMER senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos wants Supreme Court Associate Justice Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa to inhibit himself from the election protest that he filed because of his alleged close ties with Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo. The SC, as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal, is hearing the

File photo by Manilatimes

poll protest filed by Marcos. Caguioa, as the designated ponente of Marcos’ election protest, is in charge of overseeing the progress and ultimate disposition of the case. In a 13-page Extremely Urgent Motion to Inhibit, Marcos said he recently discovered that Caguioa’s wife, Pier Angela “Gel” Caguioa, was not only an antiMarcos advocate but an ardent supporter of Robredo, having actively campaigned for her during the May 2016 elections. Robredo won the vice presidency with a lead of 263,473 votes over Marcos. In the official tally, Robredo obtained 14,418,817 votes while Marcos had 14,155,344. Marcos is contesting the election results in some 39,000 clustered precincts from 30 provinces and cities. He said that he decided to ask for the recusal of Caguioa shortly after seeing the online messages of Caguioa’s wife in her Viber group “AHS77/COLL81 COR,” which clearly depicted her resentment against him and his family. In one of her Viber messages,

Caguioa’s wife wrote. “If BBM [Bongbong Marcos] wins and if he wins because of the youth, it’ll be [the]failure of our generation. We were the main catalysts of Edsa 1 and yet we failed to impart its lessons upon the generation that followed us.” Marcos said that the series of Viber messages were posted on July 13, 2018 at 8:27 a.m. on the Facebook page of former Baguio City Councilor Tonyboy Tabora, who uploaded a video titled “The Conjugal Conspiracy.” The video garnered 8,800 shares and 312,000 views as of August 4, 2018. Marcos also pointed out that while he was aware of Justice Caguioa’s fraternal bond with Aquino, he tried to give Caguioa the benefit of the doubt. Caguioa and Aquino were classmates from grade school to college at the Ateneo De Manila University. However, after reading the “nasty” Viber messages of Caguioa’s wife, Marcos said he realized that Caguioa would be hard pressed to be impartial and render justice “with the cold neutrality expected from a judge.” n

Cayetano open to... PAGE A5 standoff with China in 2012. Cayetano, meanwhile, expressed his gratitude to Acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio and Rep. Gary Alejano (Magdalo Partylist) for their statements on the possible joint exploration with China in the West Philippine Sea. Carpio earlier told the government to make sure that the country’s sovereignty would not be compromised in the proposed 60-40 sharing scheme with Beijing. “As long as the joint development complies with the Philippine Constitution and there is no waiver of our sovereign rights under the arbitral ruling, I have no objection,” Carpio said. Alejano, on the other hand, warned that a joint exploration with Beijing would solidify its claim on the contested waterway. “Just because the Philippines will presumably take a larger share given the 60-40 scheme being proposed, does not guarantee that we are going to be on the winning end,” Alejano said. Cayetano assured Carpio and Alejano that any agreement with

Beijing would be in accordance with the Philippine Constitution. “We cannot come up with any agreement that is unconstitutional. That just cannot be done,” Cayetano said. He added that standard contracts in the oil and gas industry are 50-50 sharing scheme but the Philippines’ starting point would be the Malampaya project. The Duterte administration is seeking for a better agreement than Malampaya. Going back to Aquino, Cayetano clarified that he did not mean to disprespect the former president and urged him once again to answer his questions. “It’s a disservice to the Filipino people to just say, ‘Google it,’” Cayetano said. Cayetano blamed Aquino for starting their argument, claiming that it was the latter who first said in an interview that the DFA chief’s politics should be “transparent as his hairstyle.” Aquino, however, was only responding to Cayetano’s earlier question on Del Rosario’s transparency during the previous administration’s negotiations with China following the Scarborough Shoal standoff. n

‘Very good’ rating for... PAGE A5 Likewise, it rose from moderate to good on ensuring that no family will ever be hungry, up by 17 points from +22 last March to +39 in June. However, it fell by one grade from very good to good on fighting terrorism, down by 19 points from +58 last March to +39 in June. It also fell by one grade from very good to good on protecting human rights, down by six points from +54 last March 2018 to +48 in June. It also dropped from good to moderate on reconciling with communist rebels, down by 10

points from +37 last March 2018 to +27 in June. It also fell from good to moderate on defending Philippine sovereignty in the WPS, down by 14 points from +34 last March to +20 in June. It stayed good on eradicating graft and corruption, although down by 16 points from +46 last March to +30 in June. It also remained neutral on fighting inflation, although down by seven points from +6 last March to -1 in June. The SWS survey used face-toface interviews of 1,200 adults, 18 years old and above, nationwide. n

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BUSINESS NEwS

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Second quarter economic growth seen at 6.6% Parañaque projects to provide 10,000 jobs by Lawrence

agcaoiLi Philstar.com

THE research arm of Moody’s Investors Service and British banking giant HSBC said the Philippine economy may have grown by a slower 6.6 percent in the second quarter from 6.8 percent in the first quarter. In a report, Moody’s Analytics said the economy likely sustained its expansion in the second quarter on the back of robust remittances as well as higher consumer and government spending. “Consumer spending is healthy, thanks to steady inflows of overseas worker remittances and a firm labor market. Investment has been robust and is likely to remain strong, as the government boosts infrastructure development. External demand has remained solid,” Moody’s Analytics said. It said there is a need to closely monitor inflation that continue to exceed the two to four percent target set by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). “Although these factors likely supported a 6.6 percent GDP growth in the second quarter, rising price pressures need to

by Lisbet

K. esmaeL Manilatimes.net

In a report, Moody’s Analytics said the economy likely sustained its expansion in the second quarter on the back of robust remittances as well as higher consumer and government spending. File photo by Philstar.com

be watched,” Moody’s Analytics said. For its part, HSBC said the economic expansion in the second quarter may be slower due to weak exports and slower private consumption growth due to rising inflation. “Weak export growth alongside elevated capital goods and raw materials imports likely dragged headline growth. Meanwhile, higher inflation and taxes this year are also likely to continue to restrain private consumption in the second quarter,” HSBC said.

HSBC said the GDP growth is seen picking up in the second half and may average at 6.8 percent this year, slightly faster than last year’s 6.7 percent. The BSP sees inflation rising further to a range of 5.1 to 5.8 percent in July from 5.2 percent in June due to higher utility rates, oil price and fare hike, imposition of higher excise tax on tobacco products, and more expensive food prices particularly rice.The consumer price index averaged 4.3 percent in the first half, exceeding the two to four percent target set by the central bank. n

NAIA rehab pushed by richmond

mercurio Philstar.com

THE consortium of seven conglomerates which offered to rehabilitate the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) is raring to start the upgrade of the country’s main international gateway, and is urging the government to approve its proposal at the soonest possible time. NAIA Consortium spokesperson Jimbo Reverente said “time is of the essence” because every year’s delay would cost the country opportunity losses in terms of trade, investments, tourism and employment. He said only the grant of an original proponent status (OPS) is needed for the group’s private proposal to move forward. “We are ready to start construction right after we get the notice to proceed (NTP) and deliver the first phase of expanding NAIA’s capacity by 2020. We can

File photo by Philstar

make this hope and dream into a reality in just two years’ time from NTP issuance,” Reverente said. The Department of Transportation (DOTr) has recommended the grant of OPS to the NAIA Consortium composed of Aboitiz InfraCapital Inc., AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp., Alliance Global Group Inc., Asia’s Emerg-

ing Dragon Corp., Filinvest Development Corp., JG Summit Holdings Inc. and Metro Pacific Investments Corp. DOTr’s recommendation, however, is not yet final, as approval from the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA)’s board of directors is still required.

u PAGE A9

AROUND 10,000 direct and indirect jobs would be opened when the country’s biggest commercial complex and the fifth casino project inside the 100-hectare Entertainment City opens this year and in 2022, officials of the host city said. Parañaque Mayor Edwin Olivarez said the entry of Hong Kong-listed Landing International Development Ltd. which will build a $1.5-billion resort with a casino in the Philippine capital’s entertainment district is a “very positive development for the city in terms of job creation, revenue and tourism.” The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) recently issued a provisional gaming license to Landing International to build the $1.5 billion integrated resort, Nayon Landing. The facility will feature a casino, an indoor cultural theme

Parañaque Mayor Edwin Olivarez said the entry of Hong Kong-listed Landing International Development Ltd. which will build a $1.5-billion resort with a casino in the Philippine capital’s entertainment district is a “very positive development for the city in terms of job creation, revenue and tourism.” File photo by Philstar

park, a water park, Asia’s first and largest “indoor movie-based theme park,” a convention center, luxury hotels as well as retail and dining spaces, according to Landing International chairman Yang Zhihui. Landing also operates the Jeju Shinhwa World casino resort in Jeju, South Korea. The new addition will be the

fifth casino resort project in the Philippines’ downsized version of the Las Vegas Strip. A groundbreaking ceremony has been set for Aug. 7. Entertainment City, a 120hectare area of reclaimed land, currently houses three integrated resorts – Bloomberry’s Solaire Resort and Casino, Melco’s City PAGE A9

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FEATURES

OPINION

A national ID

BRUSHING aside privacy concerns, President Rodrigo Duterte has put in place the national identification system. In signing the new law, the president called for public support for a measure that he said would cut red tape and reduce corruption and fraudulent transactions. The new law is also seen to strengthen the campaign against criminality and terrorism. With the signing of the Philippine National Identification System Act, every Filipino must register for a physical national ID or PhilID and obtain a unique, randomly generated permanent ID number or Common Reference Number. Information contained in the PhilID will include biometrics. A history of transactions made by the ID holder, such as travels by air or water as well as claims made with government agencies, will also be recorded. This has raised concern among certain sectors over privacy intrusions and data breaches, but lawmakers have reassured the public that there are enough safeguards designed into the law. For others, the bigger concern is the efficient rollout of the IDs. With the PhilID, Filipinos need only a passport and driver’s license as separate government identification documents. There was a

long wait, however, for the release of driver’s license cards. This was a nuisance for those who needed to use the driver’s license as the government document in obtaining certain goods or services such as in buying international plane tickets or getting a security clearance. Biometrics were also taken for voter’s ID cards several years ago, many of which were never delivered. Authorities must also make sure that fears over data breaches and identity theft will prove unfounded. The new ID system, as the President stressed, is also a tool for fighting criminality and terrorism. But the system must be protected against breaches of its integrity. This is the first time that a national ID system is being implemented in this country. Those in charge of the rollout must see to it that any birth pains and glitches will be minimal. (Philstar.com)

Editorial

The Fil-Am Perspective GEL SANTOS-RELOS DID PRESIDENT Donald Trump just hand Special Counsel Robert Mueller an admission that indeed, his campaign sought to get Russia’s help to get dirt on Hillary Clinton in order to win the 2016 U.S. presidential election? On Sunday, August 5, Trump tweeted: “Fake News reporting, a complete fabrication, that I am concerned about the meeting my wonderful son, Donald, had in Trump Tower. This was a meeting to get information on an opponent, totally legal and done all the time in politics - and it went nowhere. I did not know about it!” This is after layers of lies he and his administration have fabricated on several contacts made with Russians that have evolved and contradicted each other. The particular private meeting President Trump tweeted about was arranged by Trump’s eldest son Donald Jr. with a Russian lawyer connected to the Kremlin on June 9, 2016 at Trump Tower in Manhattan — two weeks after the real estate mogul/reality star clinched the Republican nomination. Donald Jr. was excited and enticed to move forward after he

PeaceMaker FORMER SPEAKER JOSE C. DE VENECIA, JR. (Part 1 of 2)

WE had a three-week gruelling journey for an 81-year-old through Southeast Asia (Cambodia), South Asia (Nepal), and the Middle East (Iran and Qatar), with about two-hour stop-overs in airports in Bangkok, Doha, and Ho Chi Minh (formerly Saigon). We were joined on the last leg by wife, Gina (former President of the Congressional Women’s Association), to serve as international observers to monitor the Cambodian parliamentary elections and a visit with the seriously injured (from a car accident) former Premier-Prince Norodom Ranariddh of Cambodia, older half-brother of the current younger King Norodom Sihamoni, both sons of the legendary King, our late friend Norodom Sihanouk. The tentative Cambodian election results indicate a major win for Prime Minister Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP). Election observers from Asia, Latin America, and Europe, and a small number from the U.S. said the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) perhaps made the miscalculation of boycotting the elections when they could have perhaps

Philstar.com photo

‘Collusion’ alert: Did Trump just admit his campaign sought Russia’s help to win the 2016 US presidential election? was promised “dirt” on Hillary Clinton. Also in attendance among members of the Trump’s campaign were Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and his campaign chairman Paul Manafort. Their version of the truth evolved from the meeting never happened to the meeting was all about the Russian adoption program after the New York Times contacted the campaign with information about it. The statement released by Donald Jr. and Kushner, however, did not mention anything about discussions with reference to the campaign. In his statement as reported by the New York Times, Donald Trump Jr. said: “It was a short introductory meeting. I asked Jared and Paul to stop by. We primarily discussed a program about the adoption of Russian children that was active and popular with American families years ago and was since ended by the Russian government, but it was not a campaign issue at the time and there was no follow-up.” He added: “I was asked to attend the meeting by an acquaintance, but was not told the name of the person I would be meeting

with beforehand.” However, the “version of the truth” about the true objective of the meeting again evolved a few days later when The Times published emails between Donald Trump Jr. and Rob Goldstone, a British-born former tabloid reporter and entertainment publicist who helped arrange it. Mr. Goldstone said he had “something very interesting” — sensitive information that “is part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump.” The White House was then still holding on to the “adoption” “version of the truth” when President Trump surprised everyone with a revealing tweet on July 17, 2017, saying: “Most politicians would have gone to a meeting like the one Don jr attended in order to get info on an opponent. That’s politics!” Trump then intensified his attack against the media reporting on these exposes that made them change their narrative of what transpired during the meeting, and as the Mueller probe of the alleged collusion progressed to include indictments and guilty plea from Russian officials and some members of his campaign,

he started vilifying and undermining the Mueller investigation calling it a “witch hunt”. The president of the United States even chose to believe Russian President Vladimir Putin’s denial that Russia interfered in the 2016 U.S. elections by cyber attacks and continue to assail our democratic institutions and processes to continue creating discord and chaos in the country and in our relations with our allies — a fact that has been revealed by the U.S. intelligence agencies. He went on to change his narrative again to say there is no such crime as “collusion”, but claimed he did nothing wrong. However, he remained elusive in agreeing to sit down for an interview with Special Counsel Robert Mueller. As the Mueller probe gathers more evidence testimonies, including a claim by Trump’s former attorney/fixer Michael Cohen alleging that Trump knew about the meeting in Trump Tower, Trump intensified his rant on Twitter, claiming that Don Jr.’s meeting with the Russian in Trump Tower” was a meeting to get information on an opponent, totally legal and done all the time in politics - and it went nowhere.

I did not know about it!” Trump must either be ignorant of the law or ill-advised to state this claim, because what his son did was against the law, according to Title 52 Section 30121 of the U.S. Code which says,”It shall be unlawful for a foreign national, directly or indirectly, to make a contribution donation money or other thing of value in connection with a federal, state, or local election, or for a person to solicit, accept, or receive contribution or donation described above from a foreign national.” Analysts say, soliciting information like “hacked email” or dirt on an opponent from a foreign government— and an adversary at that like Russia, is a clear violation of the U.S. Code. It need not produce any results to be a crime — the mere attempt to do it is already a violation. Don Jr., with his email exchanges agreeing to meet with Russian lawyer who promises dirt on Clinton must then be in legal trouble. BUT he is not alone. What about President Trump? Mueller has reportedly been examining all his tweets and actions during the campaign and after he was elected president.

When did Trump find out about the meeting? Did he dictate the press statement lying about the true reason for the meeting? Did the “blocked call” Don Jr made as gathered by investigators a secret call made to Trump? Why did Trump announce he was giving a major speech that would reveal about the wrongdoings of Clinton just a few days before the meeting in Trump Tower? Why did he fire FBI Director James Comey? Why did he lash out at Attorney General Jeff Sessions when he recused himself from the Russia probe? Why did he tweet about Sessions having to STOP the Russia probe? Why couldn’t he stand up to Putin to defend the United States against Russia’s assault in our democracy? Why so many lies, misrepresentations, denials, falsehoods, and cover up? What is Trump hiding? *** Gel Santos Relos is the anchor of TFC’s “Balitang America.” Views and opinions expressed by the author in this column are solely those of the author and not of Asian Journal and ABS-CBN-TFC. For comments, go to www.TheFilAmPerspective.com, https://www.facebook. com/Gel.Santos.Relos

Victory in Cambodia polls and need for unity gov’t, 4 premiers unite in Nepal, middle class Filipinos in US achieved appreciable results as in the last elections in 2013. It is uncontested that the longserving Hun Sen is regarded as a strong leader, responsible for insuring the country’s stability, considering Cambodia’s recent history of a most violent civil war, Vietnamese occupation, and the bloody Khmer Rouge rule which killed more than 2-million Cambodian civilians. Among international observers who proposed economic diversification and more political inclusion in Cambodia were Nepal’s former Premier Madhav Nepal, former Minister Ek Nath Dhakal, former Iran Vice-President and Energy Minister Hassan Ghafoori Fard, former Minister, now in the Thai opposition and current Vice-Chairman of the Asia-Europe Political Forum, Dr. Nalinee Taveesin, Turkey civil society leader Ms. Gozde Dizdar, Indonesian former Parliament Speaker Agung Laksono, former Air Marshal Pieter Wattimena, Parliamentarian Yasril Ananta Baharuddin, and Indian ruling party official V.J. Jolly. Nonetheless, we in the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP), composed of more than 300 ruling, opposition, and independent

parties in Asia and officials of the Centrist Democrats International (CDI) based in Belgium, the latter, led by the eminent former Colombian President Andres Pastrana, could only hope that Premier Hun Sen, perhaps in the final term of his rule, could invite elements of the opposition, including those living abroad to come home and join a genuine Government of National Unity. This will further sustain and enlarge the credible economic and social growth of Cambodia, estimated by the Asian Development Bank at 7.1 percent, among the highest in Asia including the muscular performance in the construction, tourism, agriculture, and garments sectors and the further surprise diversification to electronics and auto parts. On our first three days in Kathmandu, Nepal, in the Himalayas, at the foothills of Mount Everest, the world’s highest mountain, we had the lucky fortune of conferring at the same time, with our old friends, Nepal’s current twotime Premier K.P. Oli, former Maoist-wing Premier Pushpa Kamal Dahal “Prachanda”, former Marxist-wing Premier Madhav Nepal and former Premier Jhala Nath Khanal, all of whom

at one time or another were serious rivals. We were with American Thomas Walsh, Chairman of the New York-based Universal Peace Federation (UPF), and a director of the Washington Times; Seoulbased Chong Sik Yong, head of UPF Asia, and former Nepal Minister of Peace and Reconstruction Ek Nath Dhakal, who is married to a Filipina, Blessie Dhakal of Zamboanga City. We were also joined by UPF Philippines Chair Julius Malicdem from San Carlos City, Pangasinan, and we were preparing the ground for a global Summit in Nepal on Nov. 21-23, 2018, hopefully to include parliamentarians and civil society leaders from Asia, Africa, Europe, North America, Latin America, and Australiasia. When it was our turn to speak, we pointed out that Nepal, with its 30-million people, perched between two of the world’s population giants, China and India, each with more than 1.3-billion people, had stolen a march on the Philippines: the Nepalis had actually already brought peace to their land by merging their two quarrelling Marxist and Maoist Communist parties into a single party, while holding the opposi-

tion Congress Party at bay; the latter, a close geographic political cousin of the old Gandhi and Nehru-ruled Indian Congress Party of India, and the parties made history and successfully converted Nepal today into a Federal state. These are also two strategic objectives of the Philippines under President Rodrigo Duterte but we assured the Nepalis that the Filipino people, the first to achieve independence in Asia after World War II, are not far behind and are enroute hopefully to achieving a final peace pact with the Communist New People’s Army, after the signing of two previous partial agreements, and if survey polls improve, in the coming months, a final achievement as well on a Federal system of government. It is a question really of President Duterte, Vice-President Leni Robredo, the Senate and the House, the heads of the main political parties, the business leaders, civil society, religious leaders, the Muslim-separatist and Communist groups, being invited and meeting together in a grand one-week to two-weeks of meetings at the Summit to endorse and create a people-supported Government of National

Unity. Difficult but certainly not impossible. We believe that now, sooner than later is the time to hold and conclude a Summit of great expectations as the next definitely combative presidential elections are still almost four years away. From Nepal, we moved on to Tehran via Muscat, capital of Oman, and joined our son Jose de Venecia III, and our assistant, former Congress technocrat Aldwin Requejo, for meetings with Iran’s former senior political and Muslim religious leaders: former Parliament Speaker and current senior Muslim religious leader Nategh Nouri; former Foreign Minister, former Ambassador to the United Nations, and current Chairman of the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations Khamal Karazi; former Deputy Speaker and current religious leader Abu Torabi Fard; Deputy Minister and President of the Organization for Investment, Economic and Technical Assistance of Iran Mohammad Khazaei; and Deputy Petroleum Minister for International Affairs and Trade Amir Hossein Zamaninia, who visited Manila with Fard years ago when we then headed the House of Representatives. (To be continued next week)

The views expressed by our Op-Ed contributors are solely their own and do not necessarily reflect the predilection of the editorial board and staff of Asian Journal.

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A9

Business instability might scare away investors – lawmaker by DARRYL

ESGUERRA Inquirer.net

MEDICAL-DENTAL MISSION. The Philippine-Chinese Charitable Association Inc., which owns and operates the Chinese General Hospital and Medical Center, conducts a medical and dental mission led by CGHMC Director Robert Yang (left) at Pamana Health Center, Barangay 598 in Sta. Mesa, Manila. PNA photo by Ben Briones

Parañaque projects to provide 10,000... PAGE A7 of Dreams Manila and Universal Entertainment’s Okada Manila. Malaysian developer Genting is also developing a resort, dubbed Westside City Resorts World. “This investment is an ideal opportunity for us to strategically expand Landing’s footprint into Southeast Asia, hence taking a major step toward Landing International’s aspiration to be a leading premium integrated resort operator in the region,” said Yang. “Nayon Landing will be able to leverage on the growing brand equity in Jeju Shinhwa World to attract more Koreans and tour-

ists in the region to visit the Philippines,” Yang added. For his part, Olivarez said they are now on track to meeting the city’s targeted revenue that could amount to more than P6 billion soon when Ayala Malls, the country’s largest commercial complex, opens this year and Nayon Landing, opening by 2022. City administrator Ding Soriano said the city government can also raise enough funds to finance infrastructure projects and their commitments on education, health, and other forms of social services without increasing its taxes. Soriano said the hotel and

casinos will not only generate income for the city and tourism revenues, but will likewise generate jobs for city residents, as the law stipulates that they comprise as least 40 percent of the workforce of new establishments. He added the city now has savings of P3.9 billion due to growing businesses in the gaming complex. City officials also expressed optimism that Parañaque will attract more investments in 2019 following a recent sisterhood agreement with the city of Haeundae in South Korea and the City of Carson in California, USA. ■

NAIA rehab pushed

PAGE A7 In a text message over the weekend, MIAA general manager Ed Monreal told The Star that the OPS has yet to be granted to the proposal of the NAIA Consortium. Monreal said there is also no target at the moment as to when the proposal would be given the OPS. The grant of OPS to the NAIA Consortium would give the group the right to match offers from other parties when a Swiss challenge is conducted for the project. The group initially offered to spend P350 billion for the NAIA’s upgrade for a concession period of 35 years under the proposal

submitted to the DOTr on Feb. 12. The proposal promises to have a NAIA capacity to match the 2020 projection of 47 million and then bring it up to 65 million by 2022. NAIA’s four terminals currently handle far more passengers than they were built for, having a capacity for 31 million passengers per year but handled 42 million last year. Reverente said the consortium can act quickly because it already has the design, the funds, the technical partner (Changi Airport), and the people to make NAIA what it should be. He said the consortium’s proposal also does not need any government guarantee, and since

it privately funded, the government can use instead its funds for other projects like building roads, bridges, schools, and offering other social services like free education. “The government and the private sector can work together on airport development for quick completion since the stringent rules of the procurement law does not apply to private proponents,” Reverente said. “We see a NAIA that has more space to make flying a pleasant and memorable experience, just like when we go through airports abroad, including the one in Singapore which Changi Airport operates,” he said. ■

DEPUTY Speaker Sharon Garin said foreign investors could veer away from the Philippines over any perceived “instability” in the business environment that could arise from the second package of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Act. “Magandang bill ito pero nakakatakot kung ikaw yung investor di ba? Ano bang manyayari? Baka next year iba na naman yung tax natin o baka next year wala na ‘yung (tax) incentives natin,” Garian said Sunday, August 5, in an interview over Radyo Inquirer. “Ang instability ng ating business environment is the biggest downfall nitong proposal ng DOF (Department of Finance),” she added.

Garin urged the DOF to fully explain the proposed law to avoid any misunderstanding. She noted that the “insecurity” of businessmen – more than the effect of the law – could affect the decision of foreigners to do business in the county. The House Committee on Ways and Means recently approved “in principle” the second package of tax reforms, which aims to rationalize fiscal incentives and lower corporate income taxes. A technical working group will be created to craft a substitute bill that would combine all of the inputs gathered after the hearings with the DOF officials, lawmakers and other stakeholders.

Garin added that she hoped the substitute bill would be passed as soon as possible to help lure foreign investors. “Sana maayos na natin sa Technical Working Group para hindi aatras yung mga (foreign) investors… It’s the insecurity of the business environment, more than the effect of the actual law,” she said. ■

Local tourism is growing with the majority of visitors coming from China, Santiago said. But Filipinos, especially tour guides, don’t know how to speak Chinese, he noted. Because of this, Santiago said the DoT should tap the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), which could come up with sufficient courses to teach Filipinos more foreign languages such as Russian and Korean. The Philippines ranked ninth on the top destinations for Chinese outbound tourists, accord-

ing to Chinese travel agency TravelChinaGuide. In February this year, the DOT recorded 256,880 arrivals of Chinese tourists in the Philippines, next to Koreans at 354,700 and by Americans at 193,985. Meanwhile, Santiago said they are asking the Tourism Promotions Board for more funding to push Bicol as one of the investment destinations in the country. “In the pipeline, we are asking the Tourism Promotions Board for some funding to promote our region,” Santiago said. ■

File photo by Inquirer.net

Language issue hampering PH tourist market by REICELENE JOY IGNACIO Manilatimes

FILIPINOS are missing opportunities in the growing tourism industry because they lack the skill to speak foreign languages especially Chinese, according to a Department of Tourism (DoT) official. The ability to speak the Chinese language is becoming a must for Filipinos so they can service the increasing number of Chinese tourists, said Benjamin F. Santiago, DoT Regional Office V director.

Grab secures $2 billion funding by RICHMOND

MERCURIO Philstar.com

GRAB Holdings Inc. has raised $2 billion from a slew of leading global financial institutions to fund expansion of its services in Southeast Asia. The company said global financial institutions OppenheimerFunds, Ping An Capital, Mirae Asset-Naver Asia Growth Fund, Cinda Sino-Rock Investment Management Company, AllStars Investment, Vulcan Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Macquarie Capital, and other investors have joined Toyota Motor Corp. in Grab’s current financing

round. “The investment by these leading global financial institutions reflect their belief in Grab’s longterm growth opportunity, and the company’s unique ability to unlock the region’s growth potential through Grab’s industrychanging O2O (online-to-offline) and transportation platform,” Grab said. Grab said it would use the funds raised to expand the range of O2O services it provides in Southeast Asia and grow into becoming the “everyday super app of choice” for millions in the region. The company intends to use

a significant portion of the proceeds, in particular, to continue investing in Indonesia. Grab provides access to safe and affordable transport, food and package delivery, mobile payments and financial services. It offers services in Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, and Cambodia. For its local unit, Grab Philippines, voluntary commitments are currently being finalized with the Philippine Competition Commission to address the anti-competition concerns raised by the antitrust authority regarding Grab’s acquisition of rival Uber.■

A10 AUGUST 10-16, 2018

• NORCAL ASIAN JOURNAL

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SF The Asian Jour nal SF MAGAZINE - August 10, 2018

Friday, August 10, 2018

SF

cover story The Asian Jour nal SF MAGAZINE - August 10, 2018

Manny Mogato & Mariel Padilla: Getting to Know the Filipino 2018 Pulitzer Prize Winners by

“It was a local news reporting class and I was writing about loout and I didn’t want to interrupt cal schools and board meetings the class so I waited until the and I remember thinking that my break to check it myself,” she writing could help people in the shared. community and that’s when I fell Padilla knew that the enquir- in love with journalism,” she said. er had won but she did not know That summer experience was if her name was attached to that Mariel’s first ever professional win at all until her boss there experience in a newsroom. The texted her with ‘Congratulations! amount of things she learned You’re a Pulitzer winner.’ That was so much, she said. was when she officially knew. “I learned how newsrooms Padilla worked at the Cincin- worked and how fast you have nati Inquirer as an intern last to go and write but the biggest summer. She was the breaking thing I found in that newsroom news intern so she did crime, was everyone’s dedication to the courts and breaking news. This people and the community and I project was a full newsroom efthink that watching some of the fort and there was one weekend senior reporters there and how during the summer where every they dealt with very sensitive single journalist in the newsroom issues was great to see in person went out and reported on the and that really helped me how to different angles of the opioid become a better journalist,” she crisis that is especially prevalent added. in Cincinnati. no one in the family works “I was told to go to the jails in the media. her dad is an engievery morning and look through neer while her mom is a statistithe arrest lists and check which cian. She has an older brother ones are related to the opioid in med school and a younger epidemic,” she recalled. brother in college studying math. She would then take pictures “When I told my parents of them and go back to the I wanted to do english, they office where she created a were not happy. It took a lot of database for all these informaconversations about why I want tion, which would then be shared to do what I love, which is readwith all the other journalists. The ing and writing and learning,” information she collated would she recalled. “They were kind end up being used in the writing of pushing me to think practiprocess. cally so I got another major in Mariel also did some incommunications so I have a fall terviews and shadowed other back and I can do PR or marjournalists as they went out in keting and I think that calmed the field. them down a little. They’ve been She got the internship while supportive but still nudging me she was still in college and there about how to make money.” were 7 to 10 up for that internnow, at 23 years old, she is ship. already a Pulitzer Prize winner. Patty newberry, her profes“I texted them while I was in sor and adviser and was one of class. They were the first people I the main reasons why she chose told. My dad was just so excited, journalism. Padilla was initially an he told me later that he stopped english major and didn’t think his meeting and told his coshe wanted to be in journalism workers about the news. They’re until she took newberry’s class in very proud,” she shared. her junior year. A few weeks after our

MoMar G. Visaya / AJPress

When Manuel Mogato won the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting earlier this year, he became the first Philippinebased journalist to do so after 75 years when Carlos P. Romulo won it way back in 1942. Mogato worked with his colleagues Clare Baldwin and Andrew R.C. Marshall and won the Pulitzer Prize (International Reporting) for their relentless reporting that exposed the brutal killing campaign behind Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs. Mariel Padilla is a graduate student of journalism from Columbia University who worked in the past summer at the Cincinnati Enquirer where she worked on the opioid crisis in Cincinnati. The staff won for a riveting and insightful narrative and video documenting seven days of greater Cincinnati’s heroin epidemic, revealing how the deadly addiction has ravaged families and communities. Both Filipinos (one a veteran, the other a newbie) won for their work on two disparate drug issues—one on the drug war in the Philippines and the other on the opioid crisis in an Ohio town. This year, their paths crossed and found themselves belonging to the elite group of Pulitzer Prize winners. The Pulitzer Prize is the highest and most prestigious award in journalism, literature and music composition. Her story She was taking notes while her professor was talking. One of her friends was on her laptop watching the announcements as they were coming and she texted Padilla during class asking ‘Did you just win a Pulitzer?’ She replied with ‘I don’t know’ and her friend replied back and said that the Enquirer just did. “I was silently freaking

interview, Padilla finished her 10-month program and became a member of the 2018 graduating class. Since she decided late in the game to get into journalism, she felt like she needed to do more school before she entered the workforce since she didn’t study it officially. “I knew I wanted to do it in new York, I’ve always loved new York. I applied to three new York schools and a Boston school and I got into Columbia,” she quipped. Just being around the amazing professors here, and the connections and events and mentorship. I am still in awe when a certain professor gets into a room because I know all the great work that they have done and that is amazing. Padilla recently accepted a six-month fellowship opportunity with Sheila Coronel for a project related to the Philippines. For her long-term plan, she said she has goals but nothing is set in stone. “I hope to keep pursuing journalism. I am in the data concentration here so I am trying to mix data and investigative skills with writing,” she explained. When she started the program last year, she was told to talk to someone about her interest in the data program. “They told me to talk with Sheila, she’s one of the deans. I walked in and I didn’t know who she was at all and halfway through our conversation, she asked, ‘Are you Filipina?’ and I said ‘Yeah’. She’s like, ‘Me too’ and I said ‘Cool’. We talked a little bit about her but I still had no idea about her and how big she was until I got home and I googled her,” she said, sounding embarrassed. Mogato’s way Last year, The New York Times won a Pulitzer for

Mariel T. Padilla

Manuel Mogato

Breaking news Photography for “They Are Slaughtering Us Like Animals.” This year, Reuters (including Mogato) won a Pulitzer for International Reporting for “Duterte’s War: Inside the Bloody Crackdown in the Philippines.” Mogato, Reuters’ Manilabased veteran correspondent, shared honors with Clare Baldwin and Andrew R.C. Marshall. The citation reads: “For relentless reporting that exposed the brutal killing campaign behind Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s War on Drugs. Mr. Stephen J. Adler, Reuters editor-in-Chief said of the winning entry, it ”demonstrated how the police in the President’s ‘drug war’ have killed with impunity and consistently shielded from prosecution.” The 55-year-old journalist has built relationships with the community, local police and the various organizations he worked with throughout the more than three decades he has spent in the field. Over empanadas and coffee at a Cuban restaurant in midtown Manhattan, Mogato told some members of the Filipino American Press Club of new York his own back story, starting back in 1983 when he joined the Metro Manila news Bureau of the KBL party which was then

busy preparing for the Interim Batasang Pambansa elections for the following year. he was then a newbie, a fresh mass communication graduate from the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila. After the elections, they were absorbed by People’s Journal where he worked the graveyard shift covering the police beat in the eastern Police District. he also worked as stringer and reporter with various agencies and publications such as Asahi Shimbun, Manila Times and Manila Chronicle. “Hindi pa nga nagsi-sink in eh,” Mogato said about his win, laughing heartily. The announcements were made at 3:00 pm in new York. It was 3:00 am in Manila and Mogato was sound asleep. he was awakened when his phone rang. “Ano kayang istorya? May lindol kaya? Tapos sabi sa akin ng editor ko, ‘I have good news for you. You won a Pulitzer Prize,” he shared. On the other end of the line, dead silence. Mogato said he froze and muttered an incredulous ‘Talaga?’ he wasn’t able to go back to sleep as the phone calls kept coming. his office told him last January that some of their works on Continued on Page SF6

Supreme Court decision may help immigrants with criminal convictions Your Immigration Solution Maridex e. abrahaM EARLIER this year the Supreme Court of the United States issued a landmark decision that may potentially help immigrants who have previously been convicted of certain crimes. In Sessions v. Dimaya, the Court held that part of the definition of “crime of violence” is unconstitutionally vague under the Due Process clause of the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution. This decision will potentially spare thousands of immigrants from deportation and allow many others to seek relief that they were previously told was not available. The case of Sessions v. Dimaya considered whether certain convictions would subject a person to being deported from the United States as an “aggravated felon.” Under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), a non-U.S. citizen convicted of an “aggravated felony” is deportable from the United States. And unfortu-

nately for them, they are also ineligible to apply for certain forms of relief in Immigration Court, such as Cancellation of Removal. Aggravated felonies can also render a non-U.S. citizen ineligible for waivers, discretionary relief, and even asylum. Furthermore, if a nonU.S. citizen is not maintaining valid immigration status in the U.S. and is convicted of an aggravated felony, Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) can order deportation without ever giving them the opportunity to appear before a judge. In short, the consequences of a conviction for an aggravated felony are severe. This case involved a Filipino named James Dimaya who had been ordered deported by an immigration judge. Mr. Dimaya was a lawful permanent resident of the U.S. (green card holder) who had been convicted of first-degree burglary in California. The question was whether Mr. Dimaya’s criminal conviction made him deportable to the Philippines as an aggravated felon. The INA sets forth twentyone different classes of crimes that constitute aggravated felonies. One of those classes is a “crime of violence” for which

the term of imprisonment is at least 1 year. The term “crime of violence” is defined in the federal criminal code (in part) as “any offense that is a felony and that, by its nature, involves a substantial risk that physical force against the person or property of another may be used in the course of committing the offense.” The immigration judge in Mr. Dimaya’s case ruled that his conviction of first-degree burglary was a crime of violence, and that Mr. Dimaya was therefore an aggravated felon. The case was appealed all the way up to the Supreme Court of the U.S. The Supreme Court accepted the case for review in order to resolve a conflict amongst the circuit courts regarding the constitutionality of the definition of “crime of violence.” The Court began by noting “the grave nature of deportation - a drastic measure often amounting to lifelong banishment or exile.” The Court then concluded that the definition of “crime of violence” is unconstitutionally vague. The Court reasoned that, when combining the definition requiring a fact-finder to imagine a hypothetical case and the definition not specifying what level of risk Continued on Page SF5

Reeves Miller Zhang & Diza is now Reeves Immigration Law Group

WE are pleased to announce that Reeves Miller Zhang & Diza has changed its name to Reeves Immigration Law Group. A new name was required due to the departure of one of the firm’s former partners, who has been appointed as an Immigration Judge with the Los Angeles Immigration Court. Despite the new name, nearly everything else will remain unchanged. Our goal will remain the same as it has been for nearly the past 40 years – providing superior legal services to the immigrant community as a result of our exclusive devotion

to U.S. Immigration and Nationality law. Reeves Immigration Law Group is led by the firm’s four partners: May Zhang, Flomy Diza, Devin Connolly, and Eric Welsh. All four of the partners are certified specialists in Immigration and Nationality Law by the State Bar of California, Board of Legal Specialization. In addition to the partners, we also have several highly qualified associate attorneys and a professional team of paralegals who welcome the opportunity to help others. Everyone at Reeves Immigra-

tion Law Group looks forward to the continued opportunity to assist individuals and businesses in accomplishing their immigration goals. Whether your case involves a visa, permanent resident status, U.S. citizenship, relief from deportation, etc., we can provide excellent legal representation. Contact us today for a confidential consultation! (Advertising supplement)

entertainment SF Alana de la Cruz spreads her ‘golden voice’ The Asian Jour nal SF MAGAZINE - August 10, 2018

By Monet

Lu

ALANA Nicole de la Cruz grew up in a small southern Illinois town across the river from St. Louis, MO. At the tender age of 2, Alana showed her love of music by singing and performing with a microphone in her hand around the house. The oldest of five children, she organized family performances by enlisting (sometimes against their will) her younger brothers and sister into musical productions for her parents. By the age of 6, Alana’s parents had indulged her love of music by enrolling her in both piano and dance classes. After one year of dance lessons, she performed

on a large stage with her dance classmates in a ballet recital, her first taste of performing before an audience. The exhilaration of the experience planted a seed in Alana’s heart that left her yearning for more. Her passion for singing grew even stronger, proving that singing was her natural, Godgiven talent. But there was a catch to Alana’s singing passion: Although she loved to sing, she kept it hidden from the public. As a teenager, a crippling shyness prevented her from performing solo in front of an audience. Consequently, she never received significant roles in high school musicals nor solo performances in the choir. She wanted to stay in the background, never having the courage to sing alone

publicly. Privately, Alana would SING! While in high school, she hid in her bedroom playing her “Miss Saigon” CDs over and over while singing along to Lea Salonga’s role as Kim. Her friends, who would accidentally hear her, encouraged Alana to sing a song from “Miss Saigon” for Continued on Page SF8

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celebrityworld The Asian Jour nal SF MAGAZINE - August 10, 2018

celebrity world

Beauty queen-actress Winwyn Marquez not ready to settle down

By Ferdie Villar ACTRESS and beauty queen WinWyn Marquez recently admitted that she is not ready to settle down in case her boyfriend, actor Mark Herras, will propose to her. “Hindi pa,” she said in an interview with Philippine Entertainment Portal (PEP) during the press conference for her newest movie, “Unli Life,” with Vhong Navarro. The movie is the official entry of Regal Entertainment Inc. at the Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino 2018. The actress explained that her career is her priority at the moment. “Ngayon lang ito, e,” she said. “Alam niyo yun lahat! Ngayong lang ‘to, surreal nga sa akin, e. Pag kausap ko si Mark, lagi kong sinasabi, ‘Totoo ba talaga yung nang-

yayaring ito?” Winwyn, however, is no stranger to fame, being the daughter of Alma Moreno and Joey Marquez, but she started her own mark in 2010 as part of the afternoon show, “Party Pilipinas.” Also, being the niece of Miss International 1979 Melanie Marquez, she entered the pageantry circuit via Binibining Pilipinas in 2015 where she got into the top 15. In 2017, she joined Miss World Philippines and was crowned first runner-up with the title of Reina Hispanoamericana Filipinas. Winwyn was crowned as Reina Hispanoamericana last year in Bolivia. At present, Winwyn has a flourishing showbiz career, as part of GMA 7’s roster of talents. This is why she believes

that as an actor, Mark will understand if he has to wait for marriage with her — for a little while. “Hindi pa naman siya nagpu-propose sa akin, pero sinabi ko naman sa kanya na ngayon pa lang talaga nag-i-start yung career ko. So, if he’s willing to wait, I have three years with GMA. Siyempre, gusto ko yun lang muna talaga ang gawin ko,” she said. “Understanding naman siya. Willing to wait naman siya...sana, willing to wait siya.” Winwyn also said that Mark is very supportive to everything she is doing. However, she does admit that theirs is somewhat a “long distance relationship” because sometimes they only see each other once a month. “Every weekend, parang long distance relationship nga, e. Paranaque-Commonwealth...Long distance relationship na yun para sa amin,” she said. Winwyn stays with her dad in Paranaque, while Mark lives in Commonwealth, Quezon City. Of course, Winwyn understands Mark’s plan to settle down since he’s not getting any younger. “Nasa edad na rin siya, he’s turning 32 years old this year. Ako naman 26 years old,” she shared. *** Is there a possibility of a reunion movie between Piolo Pascual and Judy Ann Santos? The hunky actor seems to hint that there is one. In an interview with Philstar during the thanksgiving of his teleserye, “Since I Found You,” the actor shared that director

Filipino-Canadian singer Darren Espanto will be performing at the Annual Pistahan Parade on August 11 and 12 at Yerba Buena Park in San Francisco.

Beauty queen-actress Winwyn Marquez admitted that she is not ready for marriage since her priority now is her career.

Beautiful actress Cheri Gil returns in the newest primetime teleserye on GMA Pinoy TV, “Onanay,” which had its premiere last Monday, August 6.

San Jose community leader and fashionable lady Susan Pacifico celebrated her birthday last July 26 at their residence. Shown in photo are (L-R) the celebrant, Elsa Simpson, Jett Navarro, Rachel Satorre and Clara Viray.

Actor Mark Herras, boyfriend of beauty queenactress Winwyn Marquez, recently said that he is looking to settle down soon. However, Winwyn has made it clear that her priority now is her career.

Handsome actor Piolo Pascual has hinted on the possibility of a reunion movie with former love team, actress Judy Ann Santos.

According to director Antoinette Jadaone, she is writing the script for the possible reunion movie between actress Judy Ann Santos and former love team Piolo Pascual.

Antoinette Jadaone is now writing the movie’s script. “Tagal na ‘yan. Naghihintay lang kami ni Tonette. Tsaka sana mangyari bago pa kami tumanda ni Juday. Matanda na nga kami ‘di pa nangyayari eh. Naghihintay lang kaming lahat. She wrote the script with Direk

Irene,” Piolo said. Direk Antoinette said that she has been a fan of Piolo and Judy Ann’s films. However, she admitted that she has not discussed the film with the actress. “Di ko pa siya nakakausap tungkol sa movie. Hindi pa siya

buo eh. Nasulat ko palang first 10 sequences. ‘Di pa buong script. ‘Pag buo na,” she said. Piolo and Juday starred together in blockbuster movies such as “Kahit Isang Saglit,” “Bakit ‘Di Totohanin,” “Till There Was You,” and “Don’t Give Up On Us.”

Immigrant Living: 101 and Beyond MONETTE ADEVA MAGLAYA CARE to dance? Most people have rhythm embedded in their DNA. Music moves them emotionally and physically. Music is a powerful gravity-defying force that can speak to the soul. Watch when people listen to an upbeat Michael Jackson tune or even a Strauss waltz piece and before long, they will transform any empty space into a dance floor, dancing by themselves, or even trip the light fantastic if they are lucky enough to be with someone who shares their love for music and dancing. Test yourself if you have rhythm in you. See if a few strains of any kind of music move you emotionally and get you busting a few moves yourself. Want to see real honest to goodness dancing? Check out the video on youtube titled “Old movie stars dance to Uptown Funk” sang by Bruno Mars. It is this wonderfully edited and seamlessly spliced YouTube video of the Hollywood stars of a past golden era, exhibiting real talent in dancing. I just love watching the mixing of dance talent and current modern beat. The video editor, whoever he or she may be, deserves praise. Kudos! Fred Astaire, in my opinion, is beyond compare. There will never be another Astaire on earth who can take to the dance floor and make it look so easy. Sigh … The music he danced to seemed welded into his bones. But such perfection in movement didn’t come without a price. He must have practiced until his bones and muscles at the end of each rehearsal day cried out for mercy. He must have burned out so much energy that accounted for his lean physique and lightness of feet. But we don’t’ have to be that great of a dancer to enjoy the music and move to its beat. Dancing is exhilarating. If you want real justification to ‘bust a move’ as they say, dancing is real good exercise and is fun!

The Bucket List

Let the music move you (10th of a series)

“… And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.” — Ascribed to Friedrich Nietzsche Exercise, as you probably know, is one of only 2 ways (laughter being the other one) that the body naturally produces endorphin — that feel-good, healthy hormone that is still by far, the best medicine for both body and spirit. We all have it in us and is absolutely free. So go ahead, even if you have two left feet, and tend to step on your partner’s feet when dancing. Shed your inhibitions and DANCE! Let the music move you. With dedicated repetition and practice, you might even surprise yourself one day with a dance routine. Cut back the time spent online. We fritter away much of our time browsing and imbibing toxic things from the internet that wear away and erode the joy of our souls during our time here on earth. Get off your backside and listen to music that resonates with your body as you cook, clean your car, clean out the garage or do other mind numbing chores. If all else fails, start humming as you work. My cousin, who has been a dentist for decades and is still active professionally in her early eighties, hums as she works on her patients’ mouths. She enjoys what she does and it shows. The music pours out of her. When her husband was alive, they would hit the dance floor at parties whenever they could. Music makes things easier as the arduous tasks get done. If you do mental work like writing or analysis that needs intense focus and you tend to get easily distracted, listen to soft, unobtrusive instrumental music so the words don’t get in the way. On hot summer nights when sleep is elusive and the air conditioning is busted, listen and fall asleep to the sounds of gentle rain on your smartphone. It’s hypnotic. This beats having to drink those dangerous sleep aids with horrid

side effects. Not all music soothes the soul though. Choose wisely. There is a smorgasbord of music to choose from and like anything else, our choices determine the outcome. It is no wonder that the younger generations who grew up listening to that so-called music genre of troubling, raspy, jagged sounds that focus on the seedy side of life such as blood, sex, violence, gang culture and others have strayed so far away from what is good. It was said that there were celestial strains of music by a host of angels floating above the stable in Bethlehem at the time Christ was born more than two thousand years ago. My wild guess is it may have been musical strains of Handel’s “Messiah.” Was there music in the Garden of Eden? Perhaps yes before sin came to be and Eden went dank and dark. And if you are living and trying to get to heaven, you may wonder if there is going to be music and dancing there as well? If lightness of being and freedom from the stranglehold of gravity and earthly concerns characterize life beyond death, the answer is probably a big resounding YES. So while alive and your body and limbs are functional, dance with sheer abandon as you let good music move you. It is purely speculative but I have a gut feeling there is going to be a lot of dancing on an immense celestial dance floor as you bust your heavenly moves on a conga line. Stand aside, Fred. You’ve got some serious competition up there. Next week: Another idea to consider for The Bucket List… *** Nota Bene: Monette Adeva Maglaya is SVP of Asian Journal Publications, Inc. To send comments, e-mail monette.maglaya@ asianjournalinc.com

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The Asian Jour nal SF MAGAZINE - August 10, 2018

Immigration Corner Atty. MichAel Gurfinkel, eSQ I HAVE previously written about provisional waivers, where certain people are not eligible to adjust status (be interviewed for a green card in the U.S.) and must depart the U.S. to be processed for an immigrant visa at the U.S. Embassy. These people could DREAMS OF A FAIRYTALE WEDDING ENDED UP IN A NIGHTMARE OF BATTERY AND ABUSE. Anne entered the U.S. on a fiancé (K-1) visa, hoping to build a include: beautiful, love-filled life with her U.S. citizen petitioner. But the marriage turned into a nightmare, when the husband became verbally and physically abu• K-1 fiancées who did not sive. Battered and abused, Anne reached out to leading immigration attorney Michael J. Gurfinkel. Watch as Anne was able to escape the chains of abuse, marry the petitioner, but instead through the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) self-petition that the Law Offices of Michael J. Gurfinkel filed and was able to get a green card for Anne on a married someone else; brand-new episode of “Citizen Pinoy” – on Sunday at 6:15 p.m. (PST) on TFC. (Advertising supplement) • Crewmen without the benefit of section 245(i), which means they were not petitioned before April 30, 2001; • People who are out of status, without the benefit of section 245(i), and are being petitioned by an employer or relative (other than a U.S. citizen spouse or 21-year-old child). If these people depart the Anne using the Violence ANNE was certain she had fast enough; or he would call U.S., they could be subject to Against Women Act (VAWA), her stupid for not knowing found her prince charming the 10-year bar. The provisional where a person who suffers how to operate the TV reafter her U.S. citizen petimote; or tell her a can of soup physical or mental cruelty can waiver allows them to apply for tioner filed a fiancé (K-1) visa “forgiveness” from the USCIS or self-petition and get a green should last her two meals; or to get her to the U.S. She waive the 10-year bar while they card. threaten to report her and had started looking online, are still in the U.S., and before Watch how Anne was have her deported. getting ideas for her dream they leave. With an approved able to escape her abusive Anne’s life was miserable, wedding. Then, suddenly, “chains,” regain her freedom, provisional waiver, there is the and she felt hopeless, until her fantasy wedding turned feeling of security they can she chanced upon leading im- and acquire her green card, into a nightmare, when her depart and return to the U.S. on a brand-new episode of fiancé-turned-husband started migration attorney Michael J. “Citizen Pinoy” –– on Sunday without being subject to the 10Gurfinkel and his wife, Millie, verbally and physically abusyear bar. 6:15 p.m. PST/EST (9:15 pm at the Philippine Consulate in ing her. However, there are reports EST thru select Cable/SatelHawaii. He would curse Anne and that some consulates have delite providers). The Law Offices of hit her for not being able to termined, after the fact, that the Michael J. Gurfinkel helped turn off the smoke detector (Advertising supplement) petitioner’s affidavit of support (Form I-864) is insufficient (even though it was already cleared and approved by the NVC), because perhaps the consul bedraconian consequences that able for a “crime of violence” From Page SF3 lieves the petitioner is not earnattend to an aggravated felony, made a crime a “violent felony,” conviction or who has been ing enough money, as reflected the alien must be convicted of there is “grave uncertainty” and deemed ineligible for relief on on the affidavit of support in a crime that leaves no doubt as that basis may be able to chala lack of predictable applicalenge that conclusion and avoid to the risk of violence involved tion. As such, the definition is options for relief. The laws are in its commission. Gut instinct deportation. The Dimaya devoid-for-vagueness and unconconstantly evolving, and doors alone is not sufficient. cision is a reminder that the stitutional. once closed can be opened Any non-U.S. citizen with a immigration laws have constituThe decision in Dimaya will again. Remember, your past tional limits, and an immigration criminal record should consult considerably limit the Governdoes not have to keep you from an experienced immigration judge cannot deport a person ment’s ability to deport certain pursuing your goals in the U.S. attorney to determine the simply because that judge non-U.S. citizens with criminal *** consequences of their convicbelieves that a particular crime convictions. Any non-U.S. citiREEVES IMMIGRATION LAW GROUP is one zen who has been found deport- seems “violent.” To trigger the tion as well as their potential

An abused bride self-petitions and finds redemption and freedom with the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)

Supreme Court decision may help...

‘Public charge’ refusal voids provisional waiver relation to poverty guidelines. The consul then “temporarily” refuses the person’s visa based on “public charge,” and effectively voids or cancels the provisional waiver. While the consuls provide the applicant the opportunity to cure the documentary deficiency demonstrating sufficient financial resources (or submitting a co-sponsor’s affidavit of support), and will “reopen” the case, they nevertheless immediately revoke the provisional waiver upon making the public charge finding, and will not “reinstate” the provisional waiver once additional evidence or documentation is presented and the public charge finding has been overcome. What this means is the previously approved provisional waiver is now canceled or void. As a result, the person is required to again apply for a waiver of the 10-year bar while abroad, even though the USCIS had already approved the provisional waiver on the very same grounds and facts. A new waiver could take months to process and unnecessarily increases USCIS’s workload by having them again process a waiver of a 10-year bar they had already approved. Rather than creating this unnecessary additional burden on both the applicant and USCIS, the State Department should take a logical and commonsense approach and treat this deficiency like USCIS does with a request for evidence. The consul should request the evidence, and if the applicant timely submits the evidence, approves the case and issues the visa. After

all, USCIS doesn’t deny cases when requesting additional evidence. Instead, the case is held in abeyance until the evidence is provided. Anyone pursuing a provisional waiver should make sure the affidavit of support fully meets all the legal requirements, and the petitioner submitting the affidavit of support is earning sufficient income, because a “temporary” refusal based on public charge could result in the need to file a brand-new regular waiver of the 10-year bar, while waiting abroad. *** Michael J. Gurfinkel has been an attorney for over 35 years and is licensed, and an active member of the State Bars of California and New York. All immigration services are provided by, or under the supervision of, an active member of the State Bar of California. Each case is different and results may depend on the facts of the particular case. The information and opinions contained herein (including testimonials, “Success Stories”, endorsements and re-enactments) are of a general nature, and are not intended to apply to any particular case, and do not constitute a prediction, warranty, guarantee or legal advice regarding the outcome of your legal matter. No attorney-client relationship is, or shall be, established with any reader. WEBSITE: www.gurfinkel.com Follow us on Facebook.com/GurfinkelLaw and Twitter @GurfinkelLaw Call Toll free to schedule a consultation for anywhere in the US: 1-866-487-3465 (866) – GURFINKEL Four offices to serve you: LOS ANGELES ∙ SAN FRANCISCO ∙ NEW YORK ∙ PHILIPPINES

of the oldest, largest and most experienced immigration fi rms in the United States with offi ces in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Manila and China. For more Information please call (800) 795- 8009 or visit www.rreeves.com. Telephone: (800) 795-8009 E-mail: immigration@rreeves.com

Website: www.rreeves.com. *** The analysis and suggestions offered in this column do not create a lawyer-client relationship and are not a substitute for the personalized representation that is essential to every case. (Advertising Supplement)

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entertainment

Nora Aunor: ‘Never take intrigues seriously’ by Bot

The Asian Jour nal SF MAGAZINE - August 10, 2018

Health@Heart

Genital herpes and tea What is genital herpes?

have oral herpes. About 30 to 50 percent of newly infected pregnant mothers transmit the HSV-2 to their newborns. What are the signs of GEnITAl Herpes is an herpes? infection caused by herpes The classical signs and simplex virus (HSV). Type 1 HSV causes oral herpes, involv- symptoms are: cluster of small vesicles (fluid-filled) blisters ing the lips and mouth. Oral that break, resulting in painherpes could manifest as cold ful sores that heal and crust sores or fever blisters. Type over a period of days. These 1 HSV can also cause genital herpes but most cases of geni- lesions may be found on the vagina, penis, vulva, scrotum, tal herpes are caused by type urethra, anus, thigh and but2 HSV. Oral herpes, which is very common, and which could tocks. Some of these sores may be mistaken for razor spread to just about anyone, burns, or pimples, jock itch, does not have the negative ingrown hair, vaginal yeast sexual implication like genital infection, or bug bites. Many herpes. There are many chilpeople with the infection do dren with oral herpes. not have symptoms or sores. If How does the infection they do, the symptoms disapspread? pear after the infection has set Kissing and oral sex in but may recur from time to transmit the type 1 virus. The type 2 virus is usually transmit- time. Some people may have only two “outbreaks” in their ted by vaginal and anal sex, lifetime, unless re-infected and can be spread from one with a new sexual contact. person’s genitals to another How can one reduce the individual’s mouth, causrisk or prevent infection? ing oral herpes. HSV-1 can 1. The use of condom likewise cause genital herpes. or “dental dam” during sex Since the virus can’ survive on non-living surface, one cannot is one way, so long as the “latex protective gear” covget the infection from a toilet seat or hot tub, etc. The infec- ers the area which sheds the tion is not life-threatening but virus. Those with sores on the genitals should avoid sex, and HSV infection makes it easier those with oral sores should for HIV to enter the individual’s body and which could lead not have oral sex. Even if there are no symptoms, HSV-2 to AIDS. infection is very contagious. Who gets infected? 2. Since those with a In the United States, history of sexually transmitroughly about 20 percent ted diseases (STD) are more of all people 12 and older likely to have genital herpes, have HSV-2 infection and 90 ask your partner, as delicately percent of these cases do no and as sensitively as possible, even know they have it. The if he/she has ever had STD. It infection is more common can be an awkward situation among women, because of but it is most important for the anatomy of their genitals. Twenty five percent of women the partners to be honest with one another. have the infection compared 3. Sexual history is imto 20 percent of men. Multiple portant because those with sex partners increase the risk of infection. As far as oral her- multiple partners are more likely to have the infection, pes is concerned, about 50 to 80 percent of adult Americans albeit without obvious sores

PhiliP S. Chua, MD, FaCS, FPCS

or symptoms. limiting the number of sexual partners is essential. 4. Do not have sex with a person who has sores on the genitals. 5. Abstain from receiving oral sex from someone with sores on the mouth. 6. Illicit drugs and/or alcohol impair judgment, so do not have sex while intoxicated. 7. To reduce STD sex therapists recommend mutual masturbation (avoiding genital-genital or oral-genital contact) for those who want a safer form of sexual intimacy, until the individual finds a life partner and live a clean, monogamous life. A comedian once said, “The difference between love and herpes is that herpes is forever.” While we do not totally agree with his characterization of love, HSV infection is indeed a life-long condition that does not have a cure. It comes and goes. It is best to avoid HSV. But not lUV. Slimming teas: A fraudulent claim What are slimming teas? Slimming teas was a term designed by unscrupulous manufacturers who claim that drinking them would lead to loss of weight. These teas are marketed as a diet aid for weight control, victimizing the public, all in the name of profit. How did this all start? The same unsupported claims have been around for centuries, where herbal teas were described to have properties that cause loss of weight thru their effect on the metabolism, appetite, and by directly dissolving fats. Chinese, Mongolian and Italians have long believed herbal teas were effective for weight control. African herbal

Glorioso

Philstar.com

WITHOUT a doubt, nora Aunor is one of the pillars of the entertainment industry. Her colorful experience as an actress is enough for the young stars to take to heart every piece of advice that she would gladly give. She, too, is willing to share how to handle detractors without creating a negative image. In this day and age, young stars are easy targets of social media bashing. “I think it’s a lot harder to deal with controversies during my time pero lumilipas din,” began nora after the formal launch of the cast of GMA’s latest drama series Onanay. “Pero ang mas marami ngayon yata ay ‘yung mga bashers.” nora added that it is important to be strong amid whatever challenge an actor has to face. “A lot of things can happen in our life but, of course, you cannot really compare what you are going through to that of the others. Kaya kailangan lang kayanin natin.” nora, who is also popularly called as Ate Guy, also knows that a lot of the young stars are going through depression and she only had this to say: “They have to be strong and never take intrigues seriously. Sa akin yata naranasan ko na lahat na (ng klaseng intriga). Pwedeng may matinding ikasira pero di dapat pansinin. They should instead focus on their work.” Another best thing to do, the veteran actress said, is to have faith in God.

“And one more thing, don’t forget the fans who believe in you, and of course, the press, dahil kung wala sila, wala din sigurong isang nora Aunor,” she added. Asked if she noticed some changes in the industry today, nora said that not much has changed except during media call. “Ngayon, inaasikaso talaga ng network ‘yung mga artista, pinapagawan ng damit at pinapaauyusan. Noong araw hindi; kanya-kanya.” What would she remind newcomers so they could stay long in the industry? “like what I always say, they should never forget to look back where they started and to always love their work. Ako nga walang pagmamahal sa trabaho pag nai-in love, hahaha!” Meanwhile, nora is happy to be back on GMA 7 two years after her last drama series little nanay that saw her in poignant scenes as a mother to Kris Bernal. This time, the Superstar is once again portraying a mother role to newcomer Jo Berry in Onanay. “I am thankful to GMA for giving me another opportunity to make a drama series with them. Okay itong aming bagong proyekto. If you loved little nanay, I am sure you will doubly like our new show that truly touches the heart.” In Onanay, nora is nelia, Onay’s supportive mother who will do anything for her child. The story revolves around Onay, a woman with Achondroplasia or a bone growth disorder, which impedes her

Nora Aunor (second from left) stars in the latest GMA 7 drama series Onanay with newcomer Jo Berry in the title role. It premiered on Monday, August 6, in the Kapuso Telebabad block. With co-stars (from left) Gardo Versoza, Mikee Quintos, Jo Berry and Kate Valdez. Photo by GMA

growth. Because of this, she is often the subject of ridicule but she chooses to remain positive in life. Onay gave birth to two daughters who are different from each other. Despite the tragedy and traumatizing events, Onay’s motherly love remains pure and unconditional. “If you saw me as a cool mom in little nanay, here you will see me fighting for my daughter who is often belittled by the people around her. The show is more serious.” Given her stature in the industry, is there anything nora wishes to do? “As an actress, there is nothing I could ask for because I’ve done so many movies that I can truly be proud of. Di man lahat pero meron na rin namang naipagmalaki natin sa ibang bansa. At dahil na din ito sa mga direktor na napunta sa akin. I’d also like to do an autobiography, naghahanap pa lang ako ng makakatulong sa akin.”

GMA Network welcomes Filipino-American leaders at the 12th Ambassadors’ Tour

GMA network, through its international arm GMA International, warmly welcomed Filipino-American leaders, balikbayans, and tourists during the kick-off of the 12th Ambassadors’ Tour 2018. The annual tour, which gives an opportunity for local government officials to showcase the Continued on Page SF8 beauty as well as the genuine warmth and hospitality of their constituents, was organized by the Philippine Embassy and the Philippine Consulate Generals in the U.S. During their welcome dinner in Quezon City, GMA presented world class Filipino talent as Asia’s Romantic Balladeer

Christian Bautista, Kapuso diva Maricris Garcia, and Kapuso actress Kris Bernal took the stage. Christian surely made the gathering more special and memorable for all the visiting Kapuso abroad as he serenaded them with during his performance. Maricris, in turn, showed her singing prowess as she belted out a popular movie soundtrack and an OPM song which hit close to home. Meanwhile, Kris’s upbeat musical numbers energized the crowd as they enjoy the rest of the evening. The participants also had the chance to take photos with the artists after the program and were given souvenirs from GMA’s international channels GMA Pinoy TV, GMA life TV, and GMA news TV International. Held last July 8 to 15, the 12th Ambassadors’ Tour 2018 was headed by the los Angeles Consulate Office under the leadership of Consul General Adelio Cruz. “I would like to extend my profound gratitude to GMA network and the men and women of GMA International for facilitating the participation of highly talented artists from GMA-7 during the 12th Ambassadors’ Tour, much to the enjoyment of its participants. Their performances were truly world class!” said Cruz. One of the tour participants, Eleanor Zara Dullas, expressed how she loved the Kapuso art-

ists’ performances. “The artists connected so well with the audience. Entertainment was awesome. We should have that kind of show on every Ambassadors tour. Fil-Ams miss these kinds of shows,” she said. The participants also visited some of the top tourist destinations in the country such as Carcar, Sibonga, and Argao in Cebu. They were also able to experience the loboc River cruise and visit the Tarsier Conservation Center, Baclayon Church, and Chocolate Hills in Bohol. With a total of 320 participants from north America, the tour was attended by several VIPs headed by Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel G. Romualdez along with public servants, student leaders, community leaders, influencers from different fields of expertise, as well as local Philippine public officials and business executives.

Manny Mogato & Mariel Padilla...

From Page SF2 Duterte’s drug war were submitted for consideration. He said he shrugged it off, knowing that the Pulitzer Prize was American centric. In 2003, he joined Reuters as a general assignment reporter. He has covered major political and security events in the country’s history, from the downfall of dictator Ferdinand Marcos in a near bloodless “People Power” uprising in 1986 to the ouster of the another leader, Joseph Estrada in 2001, to the meteoric rise of maverick southern mayor Rodrigo Duterte as president. He recalled one of the stories he remembered while he cultivated his relationship with his sources, including the military and police. It was 1985 and Marcos was still in power. It was a birthday party and they were having drinks with the police. He noticed a couple of men who were silent and were not talking. Around midnight, the police left with the two men.

“After 30 minutes, tumawag yung mga pulis sa radio, may encounter daw. So kami naman, pumunta to cover. May dalawang tao nakabulagta sa kalye. Yung kainuman namin kanina,” he shared. “Sabi sa akin, ‘Huwag ka nang maingay. Isulat mo na lang, mga holdaper.’” He also remembers going to Davao in 1986 to cover Alsa Masa issues. President Duterte was just a vice mayor then. Two years later, he ran for mayor and won. “To survive Davao, kailangan matapang ka. Kaya siya kinatakutan. Yung formula niya, maraming namamatay na addicts, petty criminals. He saw that it was a good formula to control the city kasi natakot sa kanya lahat. Yung formula nay un, in-apply niya nung naging presidente siya,” he shared. “From July 2016 to December 2017 3,900 people were killed, ito yung mga nanlaban, killed by the police. Then 2,000 plus yung vigilante killings. Ito yung drug war. Bumagal na dur-

ing the first four months of 2018, nasa 280 na lang, konti na,” Mogato added. One of their stories was entitled Dead on Arrival. It was about sending in bodies of victims to the hospitals with one caveat, most if not all are dead. The Reuters investigation revealed that according to witnesses and family members, the drug suspects were executed and their bodies were removed from the crime scene. “Yung mga duktor nagugulat na lang. Siyempre sa autopsy makikita nila yung mga bullet wounds. Ang lalapit binaril, sa ulo, sa puso. Isa mga classic case niyan si Kian delos Santos,” he said. “Yung bata, naka slump, hawak hawak yung baril sa kanang kamay. Sabi ng nanay niya, kaliwete yung anak. At yung baril, hawak hawak pa. Kung totoong nanlaban siya, pag nangka encounter, yung baril titilapon yan, hindi mo hawak.” “Parang suntok sa buwan. Hindi ko talaga inasahan na mananalo kami,” he said.

New policy memorandum: Unlawful presence for F, J, and M nonimmigrants The CTV Files Atty. LiLLi B. BAcuLi

accruing unlawful presence on the earliest of any of the following: • The day after DHS denied the request for the immigration benefit, if DHS made a formal finding that the individual violated his or her nonimmigrant status while adjudicating a request for another immigration benefit; • The day after their I-94 expired; or • The day after an immigration judge, or in certain cases, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), ordered them excluded, deported, or removed (whether or not the decision is appealed). Effective 08/09/2018: Change in policy regarding accrual of unlawful presence for F, J, and M status Beginning August 9, 2018, individuals in F, J, or M status who fail to maintain their status on or after August 9, 2018, will start accruing unlawful presence on the earliest of any of the following: • The day after they no longer pursue the course of study or the authorized activity, or the day after they engage in an unauthorized activity; • The day after completing the course of study or program,

including any authorized practical training plus any authorized grace period; • The day after the I-94 expires; or • The day after an immigration judge, or in certain cases, the BIA, orders them excluded, deported, or removed (whether or not the decision is appealed). It is important to be vigilant and understand how immigration policy changes may affect you or your loved ones. It is important to consult with a licensed, competent, and experienced immigration attorney who will be able to walk you through your and your family’s immigration questions. *** Atty. Lilli Berbano Baculi is an associate attorney with Chua Tinsay & Vega, A Professional Legal Corporation (CTV) a full service law firm with offices in San Francisco, San Diego, Sacramento and Philippines. The information presented in this article is for general information only and is not, nor intended to be, formal legal advice nor the formation of an attorney-client relationship. Call or e-mail CTV for an in-person or phone consultation to discuss your particular situation and/or how their services may be retained at (619) 955-6277; (415) 495-8088; (916) 449-3923; lbaculi@ctvattys.com; www.chuatinsayvega.com.

community SF ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ lead stars, director promote film in Bay Area The Asian Jour nal SF MAGAZINE - August 10, 2018

by Joseph

L. peraLta

AJPress

“CRAZY Rich Asians,” a movie based on the first in a trilogy of books written by best-selling author Kevin Kwan, is opening on August 15 in US movie theaters. Lead stars Constance Wu (of “Fresh Off The Boat” fame) and Henry Golding and director Jon Chu, who have been busy promoting the movie on a whirlwind media tour, recently sat down with the press at Chef Chu’s in Los Altos to talk about the film. “Crazy Rich Asians” centers on the story of Nick Young (played by Golding) and Rachel Chu (played by Wu), a young New York couple who are deeply in love. When Nick invites Rachel to join him for a wedding and meet his family in Singapore, where he is originally from, the unsuspecting Rachel is in for a surprise when she finds that her boyfriend is actually the heir apparent to a very large fortune of one of the (Advertising Supplement) richest families in the city-state. Conflicts arise when the freedom to choose who you love is juxtaposed with family duty and obligation, and it is up to Nick and Rachel to navigate their way through all the hoopla, amid the pomp, celebration, anxiety, and scheming that by Lhar santiago takes place within the confines ManilaTimes.net of the uber-wealthy. THERE’S no stopping Vic Talking to the media, direcSotto and Coco Martin in joining tor Chu revealed that they had forces to conquer the big screen always wanted Constance Wu with the 2018 Metro Manila Film to play the role of Rachel Chu. Festival entry “Jack Em Popoy.” That did not nearly happen as And definitely, the inclusion of she was busy shooting for her phenomenal star Maine Menshow, but she pleaded her case doza further adds to the super and the rest is history. celebrity draw of what is already “She made this amazing letbeing dubbed as this year’s ter of how she wanted to repre“biggest MMFF movie.” sent Asian, Asian female, all this All three headliners were stuff, and it moved us so much present at “Jack Em Popoy’s” that we said, ‘Yeah, we are gostory conference on July 28 at a Vic Sotto, Maine Mendoza and Coco Martin—MMFF’s dream team, here with the author. ing to stop production and just Continued on Page SF9 ManilaTimes.net photo wait for her.’ It was worth every USCIS recently announced a change in policy in how the agency calculates unlawful presence for F-1, J-1, and M-1 nonimmigrants and their dependents (F-2, J-2, and M-2 nonimmigrants). According to USCIS, these changes are “designed to reduce the number of nonimmigrants who overstay their periods of admission and clarify how USCIS implements the unlawful presence grounds of inadmissibility.” USCIS also stated that “over the years, DHS has also made significant progress in its ability to track the activities of F, J, and M nonimmigrants” according to the Federal Register Announcement issued last May. Current USCIS policy regarding accrual of unlawful presence for F, J, and M status Current policy – until the change in policy set for August 9, 2018 – states that individuals in F, J, and M status will start

Vic, Coco, Maine set to conquer the big screen

EMPLOYMENT

EMPLOYMENT

Henry Golding, Constance Wu and Bay Area native Jon Chu met the press to talk about their film, “Crazy Rich Asians,” which opens on August 15 in U.S. theaters. AJPress photo by Joseph L. Peralta

moment of that. And to have her as our spokesperson for this movie means everything. She’s giving a lot of inspiration to a lot of people, including us,” Chu related. The casting of Golding, meanwhile, was heaven-sent as they found him in the middle of Singapore, after having auditioned countless actors in places like Vancouver, Los Angeles, Shanghai, Beijing, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Malaysia to play the role of Nick Young. According to the film’s production notes, the actor cut short his honeymoon to do a face-to-face with Wu – the chemistry shown by the actors sealed the deal for the film’s director and producers. According to Golding, it has been amazing how much faith and support people put in him, especially since this is his first acting job. “This has literally changed my life. I made a hard right in terms of career path, and this will hopefully lead to bigger and better things,” the actor enthused. One thing that people may notice in the movie is how Asian masculinity is represented in the movie and this was a deliberate move on the part of the

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director. “Absolutely!” Chu said, when asked if he wanted to break the Asian male stereotype in having some of the film’s male stars take their shirts off. “When you have a hunk like this guy (points to Henry Golding), you show it off. If there’s one thing I learned from filmmaking, it’s that you show your goods. I think of my older brother who’s a really good-looking dude, has fantastic abs… when he sees the movie and Nick come out in the white suit, he teared up. I’ve never seen him do that before. [He told me] ‘You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting to see an Asian male seen in this light, to tell the world that we exist and we’re out there.’” The director, who said the movie changed him by making him go after his moxie and set up the movie, also talked about the ever-changing definition of what it means to be masculine, and how this film adds to the conversation. “There is now talk of representing Asians in this masculine way that we’ve never seen on film before. But we’re also going through this transition of what it means to be Continued on Page SF8

entertainment ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ lead stars... Alana de la Cruz spreads her ‘golden... SF8

The Asian Jour nal SF MAGAZINE - August 10, 2018

From Page SF3 the school, but her stage fright hindered her ability. After receiving a college music scholarship, Alana gained more confidence in her ability. With the encouragement of university music faculty, her courage and determination to sing blossomed. Alana pursued music/vocal performance as a minor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. New singing opportunities came to her while studying there. One of her most exciting opportunities included being invited to be an official U of I National Anthem singer for all sporting events. By 2004, Alana finally crushed all her fears after performing the National Anthem for her largest audience of 6,000 people during the University’s “Pack the Hall Orange” event. Following her college years, Alana had her share of personal trials and tribulations. Nevertheless, she was able to brush herself off by the grace of God and forge ahead towards what she always knew she was meant to do. For those who are curious as to what those exact trials were, she is currently working on writing a screenplay based on her life story. Endeavoring to turn her past pain into her passionate purpose, Alana also speaks for women’s conferences

using her testimony of triumph to help empower other women to discover their real value, have a healthy self-image, self-respect, self-worth and most importantly to recognize the unique brilliance that lies within all of us. To pursue her career as a performer and studio recording artist and driven to chase after her dreams even more than ever, Alana took a leap of faith to move from Illinois to Branson, MO. She got her first lead role Sandra in the “Nifty Fifties Show.” During that time, she pursued, with a lot of help and support from her parents, additional vocal training and won a soprano role in “Suor Angelica” with the prestigious New York Lyric Opera Theatre in New York City. More opportunities opened up in Branson, as Alana played the coveted role of Atina, Ariel’s sister, in the theatrical production of Disney’s “The Little Mermaid Musical.” That experience kindled a passion for working with children, leading her to start her own children’s entertainment company, “Alana’s Princess Parties.” She found a deep connection with the young children who are enchanted by her professional quality renditions of the songs they adore. Alana is now excited to bring her singing princess talent to the Los Angeles area.

Alana is a classically trained crossover/pop singer. Critics have described her as having a “golden voice” and being “a breath of fresh air.” She most recently performed for both the Miss Little Philippines 2018 and for Miss Philippines USA 2018, where she sang the beloved songs, “Time to Say Goodbye” & “The Prayer.” Alana’s popularity is ever growing in the Southern California area, and she looks forward to performing or speaking at an event for you in the near future! *** Monet Lu is a Marikina-born, award-winning celebrity beauty stylist with his own chain of Monet Salon salons across Southern California and Las Vegas, Nevada. Ultimately, Monet is known as an all-around artiste who produces sold-out fashion and awards shows as well as unforgettable marketing campaigns. Monet is also the founder of the revolutionary allnatural beauty products such as Enlighten, your solution to discoloration . To contact Monet, please visit www.monetsalon.com or email him at monetsalon@aol.com

Genital herpes and tea...

From Page SF6 teas are advertised similarly, with the added claim that they reduce water retention and “cleanse the system of toxins.” Like some Chinese teas, these African teas have senna leaves in them, which have some purging effects. Those who also cut down on food (calories), while drinking tea, lose weight. It’s not the tea; it’s the calories. Are these teas effective as a diet aid? The claims that herbal teas or teas in general cause loss

of weight, and therefore, effective as diet aids, are false. There is no scientific basis to show that these teas contain any ingredient that would significantly curve or suppress the appetite, or cause so much increase in metabolism to lead to weight loss. If one drinks teas only as a way to lose weight (without reducing the amount of food they eat), the only thing the person will lose is money, not weight. The pocket would be lighter. However, if one drinks tea often daily, without sugar

or cream in it, and drinks it as an alternative (as a substitute, NOT in addition) to high calorie snack, or, if one drinks tea for breakfast and lunch, instead of eating those meals (which some people do to control weight), obviously this will lead to less calorie intake and therefore cause weight loss. This same good effect could also be achieved by eating apples, or other fruits for breakfast, and raw vegetables for lunch, and have a moderate dinner. This is the healthier way to diet. To this, of course,

From Page SF7 masculine… we’ve always had this one-sided perception of what it means to be masculine, be a man and that’s not true anymore. We’re redefining what it is and I think that’s really important to understand too,” Chu said. For Golding, abs talk aside, he thinks that all the characters in the movie have their own story to tell even if the story revolves around Nick and Rachel. “You don’t have to be a leading man to be noticed. Jimmy Yang just revels in all his glory with his shirt off because he owns that space… to have that confidence is what Asians have been lacking in this form of media for a long, long time. And that goes down to the storytellers, the writers, and the actors,” he added. Although the film delves into a question of family sacrifice versus individual happiness, Chu says the film shows making a choice of one over the other is not set in stone. “I think the whole point is you don’t have to make one specific choice. Rachel’s character shows that you can sacrifice for your family and pursue your own happiness all at the same time. When immigrants came here from other places [they came] with whatever was in their bags. Us, as a new generation, we have our own bags now. We’re gonna look forward to our own kids – what are the

lessons, what are the traditions we’re gonna pass on. I think it’s okay to question culture and traditions… I think respect it and question it at the same time because now we’re making our own identity as Asian Americans here. We’re all in this together,” Chu explained. “What I love about this movie is the movement Jon is starting. Movies, art and culture describe the culture, they don’t rank it. What I love about what Jon has done is describing the many types of culture present, but it never puts a judgment on what type is better. The characters may have put judgments on each other but through the process of getting to know each other, they begin to understand each other’s values, that we can all speak from the heart. And I think that’s sort of the journey the movie takes,” Wu said, while adding that working with Chu was a bonus as the director handled everything with love and grace. Asked about plans for continuing the Nick and Rachel saga by adapting Kwan’s other books into movies, the film’s director said he would like the journey to continue, but it will depend on how well the movie does in the box office. “I would love to. I think there’s a lot more story to tell and explore, but that’s up to the audience. If they go out and demand, then we will make it. So it’s up to them. If anybody

wants more, show up on that theater on opening weekend,” Chu stated, to which Wu heartily agreed. Golding, Wu and Chu all declared that what they ultimately would like to see is for people to have fun and enjoy the movie, especially since it features an all-Asian cast. The last time that happened, according to Chu, was with “Joy Luck Club” about 25 years ago. “I just want people to have fun and also to see an Asian couple lead a Hollywood studio movie. I think it’s not because we can’t and it’s not because there’s not the talent, but sometimes you have to see it to know that there is the possibility. And so I am really excited to share that with the world,” Wu, who counts Oprah Windrey as a role model, said. For his part, Chu said, “It’s been fun to travel around the country and hear the people’s reactions to us, people crying and telling us what it means to them… that means everything. I knew how personal it meant to me. I did not know how it would translate to the audience as much as it has.” “Crazy Rich Asians” also stars Michelle Yeoh, Lisa Lu, Gemma Chan, Awkwafina, Ken Jeong, Sonoya Mizuno, Chris Pang, Jimmy O. Yang, Ronny Chieng, Remi Hii and Nico Santos. Philippine Queen of All Media Kris Aquino makes a cameo appearance in the movie.

one has to also do daily regimented exercise routine to be healthier. So does drinking tea alone not control weight? Most definitely, not. If you are overweight and continue to eat the same amount of calories, drinking teas, herbal or not, even a gallon a day, will not lead to weight loss. In order to control weight properly and safely, the calories must be reduced and physical exercise (calorie loss) increased. Does cutting down on rice lead to weight loss? Yes, cutting down on carbohydrates, like rice, bread,

cakes, ice cream, sweets can lead to weight loss fast, because these are sugars that have high glycemic index, and easily add pounds to the body. Totally eliminating rice 3 meals a day, for instance, will dramatically cause weight reduction, provided the rest of the (total) foods ingested daily do not exceed 1000 calories. Tough? Yes, but this is the safer and lesser expensive way to control weight and be healthier compared to spending your hard earned money for appetite suppressant drugs, or the so-called miracle diet pills or potions that are actually very dangerous. Eat

proteins instead of carbs. *** Philip S. Chua, MD, FACS, FPCS, Cardiac Surgeon Emeritus in Northwest Indianwa and chairman of cardiac surgery from 1997 to 2010 at Cebu Doctors University Hospital, where he holds the title of Physician Emeritus in Surgery, is based in Las Vegas, Nevada. He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, the Philippine College of Surgeons, and the Denton A. Cooley Cardiovascular Surgical Society. He is the chairman of the Filipino United Network – USA, a 501(c)(3) humanitarian foundation in the United States. For more data, visit philipSchua.com; comments questions: scalpelpen@gmail.com.

Calendar of Events across

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UBSCI to celebrate 30th Anniversary The United Batanguenos of Southern California will celebrate its 30th Anniversary & Coronation Night at the DoubleTree Hotel-Whittier (7320 Greenleaf Ave. Whittier, CA) on Sunday, August 12. Music will be provided by The Midnight Motion Band. For other related questions please call Mylee Moncada (818) 322-9429; Cely Anuran (805) 630-3377; Rose Pascua (323) 382-1124 or Romy Elepano at (323) 498-9333.

AU G U ST 1 7

Philippine Chamber Singers-Los Angeles’ “Hibang sa Awit” at Walt Disney Concert Hall in LA Philippine Chamber Singers-Los Angeles (PCS-LA) invites you to a concert celebrating Original Pilipino Music, better known as OPM, at The Music Center’s Walt Disney Concert Hall on Friday, August 17 at 8 p.m. in “Hibang sa Awit” (Mad About Songs). “Hibang sa Awit” highlights the new modern classic Filipino music and the kundiman created by some of the most respected Filipino composers including Ryan Cayabyab, Willy Cruz, George Canseco, Ruben Federizon, and Robert Delgado to name a few. Very special friends including award winning jazz singer, Mon David; esteemed inspirational singer, Edward Granadosin; and a local/community gem, the Immaculate Heart of Mary Children’s Choir; will join PCS-LA as they infuse various musical styles into a treat for the whole family to hear. Tickets available at the box office or at www.musiccenter.org.

AU G U ST 1 8

LA County’s Center for Financial Empowerment hosts financial seminar The County of Los Angeles Center for Financial Empowerment (CFE), housed within the Department of Consumer and Business Affairs, is proud to celebrate the launch of BankOn Los Angeles County, a program designed to connect residents to safe and affordable financial products, regardless of their immigration status. In honor of the launch, the CFE will host Summer Saturdays, a free event series that will connect Los Angeles County residents to checking accounts and financial empowerment resources. The public is invited to attend the free events at the following CFE community partner locations: Saturday, August 18, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Barrio Action Youth and Family Center (4927 Huntington Dr. #200, Los Angeles, CA 90032). The CFE and BankOn financial institution partners will help consumers understand the benefits of banking and start the process of opening a checking account. Attendees can also learn about credit, how to save for college and get first-time home buying tips at financial education workshops while enjoying free ice cream!

If you have an upcoming event and would like us to post it, please email us the details at info@asianjournalinc.com or calendar@asianjournalinc.com

Vic, Coco, Maine set to...

From Page SF7 five-star hotel in Quezon City. Besides Vic, Maine and Coco, the movie further boasts of big-named actors in comedy and beyond like Jose Manalo, Wally Bayola, Paolo Ballesteros, Tirso Cruz III, Cherry Pie Picache, Ronaldo Valdez, Mark Lapid and child stars Ryza Mae Dizon and Baeby Baste. “Jack Em Popoy� is a threeway production among Coco’s CCM Creative Productions, Vic’s M-Zet Productions and APT Entertainment under the helm of Mike Tuviera. As brilliant an idea it is to bring two of the annual MMFF’s favorite actors together, this collaboration did not happen overnight. Story goes that there had been feelers from both camps of Vic and Coco for the two big stars to make a movie together but nothing materialized. “Parating hindi natutuloy kasi magka-iba kami ng network,� Vic gave the most obvious explanation. “But this time, everything has fallen into place. We both have the blessings of our networks kaya nagpapasalamat ako.� For his part, Coco enthused he had long wanted to do a movie with Vic. It was, as he put

it, always been his dream. In fact, it was Coco who thought of the concept for the movie, which prompted him to find a way to reach out to the veteran comedian. The first person he approached was Vic’s good friend and APT Entertainment big boss, Tony Tuviera. “I talked to Mr. T,� Coco recalled, referring to the seasoned producer who is also behind “Eat Bulaga.� “Hindi ko po kasi alam kung paano ko makakausap si Bossing [Vic]. I told him I have a concept for the two of us and then nagpalitan po kami ng kanyakanyang kwento kung paano pagagandahin ‘yung pelikula. Then he told me he’d present it to Bossing kung magugustuhan. After that, three started meetings started for the collaboration.� The movie’s complete title is “Jack em Popoy: Pulis Credibles,� and it revolves around the lives of two policemen. Coco is Jack and Popoy is Vic, while Maine is the latter’s daughter Emilie who is an aspiring policewoman. “Mga ‘pulis credibles’ kami,� Vic continued, quoting the tagline. “Most of the time, di’ba, medyo unpleasant yung

nababalitaan natin tungkol sa pulis. This time, we want to salute them and show people that they’re on our side.� Maine, as Emilie, has taken it upon herself to look after her dad and idol. “I am a very caring daughter to my dad. So parang ako, lagi kong susubukan na gawin ang best ko para maprotektahan ang father ko and so he won’t be put in danger.� For this role Maine had to undergo training on gun handling and firing lessons, which she immensely enjoyed. “That was the first time that I held a gun and I found firing very exciting. At first nagulat ako when I fired the gun. I didn’t know na may bala pala. Hindi sinabi sa akin. Unang putok, muntik na yata akong bumaligtad! But I’m proud to say na malapit ang tama ko sa target,� she beamed. The three lead stars promised they will give moviegoers their money’s worth come December. “We’re giving them a good story and scenes that are sometimes funny, sometimes touching and sometimes actionpacked. They leave the movie theater smiling because they will be entertained and satisfied with the movie.�

Sam Milby on his recent breakup: No bitterness by Iza IglesIas ManilaTimes.net

IT was on July 4, five days after “Pride March� was marked around the world, when model, TV host and blogger Mari Jasmine publicly admitted on Instagram that she is in a relationship with independent film director Samantha Lee. Lee directed Jasmine Curtis and Louise de los Reyes in the 2016 movie “Baka Bukas,� about a lesbian falling in love with her best friend. Back to the Instagram post. The upload showed Mari Jasmine happily holding hands with Lee, with parts of her lengthy caption reading, “Pride is about celebrating love, equality,

and owning your truth. So here’s mine: in the little time I’ve spent on this earth, I’ve had the privilege of being in love with both men and women‌ My dream is to live in a world where I feel safe walking down the street holding my girlfriend’s hand.â€? Not long after, Sam Milby found himself at the hot seat of his upcoming prime time series on ABS-CBN titled, “Halik,â€? because—for those who remember—he and Mari Jasmine were a couple since 2016, until the Filipino-American actor publicly announced they had broken up in March. With no way of refusing a reaction, the ever good-natured actor simply said, “Well, I don’t

really want to say too much. I knew a while before but noong kami, no signs. Wala. I didn’t know she was open for that kind of relationship; I didn’t have any idea.â€? Pressed for a bit more on the issue, he admitted, “But I was surprised. I didn’t expect‌ There were no signs so I was surprised lang noong nalaman ko‌And I don’t know‌ It’s not my story to tell. From my understanding, this is her first time to experience a relationship with a woman.â€? Most importantly, he clarified, “But walang overlapping. Hindi yung parang siya (Lee) yung third party kaya nag-break kami, it’s not like that. We broke up and then she started dating. So wala

people & events SF UPAI 50th Pangasinan Day and Miss Pangasinan Coronation on Aug. 11 The Asian Jour nal SF MAGAZINE - August 10, 2018

ALL roads lead to the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Foster City, California for the Miss Pangasinan Coronation Banquet and Ball, the main highlight of the United Pangasinanes of America, Incorporated (UPAI) 50th Golden Annual Pangasinan Day Celebration, Saturday August 11. Candidates from the towns of Agno, Angeline Noguera; Alcala, Ericka Burwell and Tayug, Aubrey Gaceta, are vying for the coveted title of Miss Pangasinan 2018-20, in this the final phase of the talent and beauty pageant. Executive Chairman and Past President Fred A. Almeron echoed that a standing room only audience is expected, with friends and family members of the candidates and active members of the organization attending.

Milby with ‘Halik’ co-stars and directors (second from left) Yen Santos, Cathy Camarillo and Carlo Artillaga, Yam Concepcion and Jericho Rosales

namang ganun.� In interviews during the course of their relationship, Milby openly expressed he wanted to settle down soon and hopes to do so with Mari Jasmine. With fate turning a different direction, Milby’s take on marriage now is this, “For me, I don’t think anybody can really have plans, kasi ako my ideal age would be 35 para mag-asawa. I’m 34. So I mean kung sa plan ko na gusto ko, it would be next year na but obviously, sa ngayon hindi mangyayari yun.� Assuring fans worried about him that he is OK, the actor added, “But at the same time, am I in a good place? Am I happy? Am I blessed? Yes. I’m

blessed with these projects, I am blessed to work with these amazing people, and I think, swerte din ako that I am a guy. What I mean is when you’re a guy, wala naman time limit. My dad was 49 nung pinanganak ako. Basta gusto ko lang na habang bata pa, I can have kids.� He also made it a point to say that despite everything that happened, he and Mari Jasmine are still friends. “We’re okay. We’re friends, and at this point, if that’s where she’s happy then I am happy for her. No bitterness in that sense kasi wala naman overlapping like I said.� Is he happy on the other hand with Angelica Panganiban? He and the actress have lately

been spotted being very sweet together, even in their social media posts. “We like to joke. Pag nagkikita kami nagjo-joke kami na parang may something kami at sweet kami, but we’re just friends,� he said laughing. “And pwedeng sabihin na the best foundation for a relationship yun. But sa ngayon, we’re not thinking of that na parang ‘baka naman pwede tayo.’ We’re just really enjoying being friends.� Finally getting through the grilling, Milby said his priority for the time being is to focus on work and in strengthening his faith. “I am not dating anyone now, and honestly, I am in a good place. For me, what’s really important is my faith and my beliefs, and these are what I’m working on. I go to an amazing church and I’m building my relationship with God. I don’t want sound too spiritual but that’s what I want to do right now. I feel that you put God first and everything follows after.� Career-wise, Milby is excited to return to prime time on ABSCBN beginning August 13 with Jericho Rosales, Yen Santos and Yam Concepcion on “Halik.�

Pilgrimage to Some of ITALY’s Highlights and Miracles of the Eucharist 6SLULWXDO 'LUHFWRU 5(9 -2(/ %8*$6 ĹĄ 1RYHPEHU WR 1RYHPEHU 'D\ Ĺ&#x; 1RY 0RQ Ĺ&#x; 86$ 520( 'D\ Ĺ&#x; 1RY 7XHV Ĺ&#x; 5RPH Upon our arrival in Rome, our Tour Escort will welcome us to Italy. Rome is the heart, home and the spiritual capital of over one billion Catholics all over the world. After a short panoramic orientation of this Eternal City to us Roman Catholics, we will have our dinner and overnight rest at this great ancient City. DINNER AND OVERNIGHT IN ROME (BB,D) 'D\ Ĺ&#x; 1RY :HG Ĺ&#x; 5RPH 3DSDO $XGLHQFH 5RPH This morning before we continue with our tour, we will have a Papal Audience. Then after, we will visit the famous Coliseum and see the Forum, the Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon, one of the best preserved ancient monuments in the world. Celebrate the Holy Eucharist at St Peter Basilica St Joseph Chapel .Short stop in Trevi Fountain, before heading to our Hotel. DINNER AND OVERNIGHT IN ROME (BB,D)

'D\ Ĺ&#x; 1RY 7KXUV Ĺ&#x; 5RPH %DVLOLFDV We will visit the Vatican Museum this morning and the Sistine Chapel to admire the awesome masterpieces of Michaelangelo, and even ancient Greek and Roman artists. the largest church in Roman Catholicism, St. Peter’s Basilica. Holy Eucharist at ST Mary Major, Followed by visit of the Basilica. We continue to visit the rest of the major Basilicas within the walls of Rome, and St. John Lateran, St Paul Outside the Wall. We will also pray at the Scala Santa or the Holy Stairs. St. Helena transported the steps from Jerusalem; the same steps that Christ ascended to receive Pilate’s unjust condemnation. DINNER AND OVERNIGHT IN ROME (BB,D) 'D\ Ĺ&#x; 1RY )UL Ĺ&#x; 5RPH 6DQ *LRYDQQL 5RWRQGR 2018 is the 100th Anniversary of the stigmatization of St Pio. Church Will have Monthly Pastoral Program of Activities for the whole year. San Giovanni Rotondo, the home of St Padre Pio of Pietrelcina from 28 July, 1916 until his death on 23 September, 1968. Enjoy the drive going to San Giovanni, after we check in our Hotel. vWe visit the Shrines of St Padre Pio of Pietralcina as well as the places associated with him, such as the Shrine of Our Lady of Grace that contains his tomb. Here, we spend some time meditating, see his room, his confessional box and the cruciďŹ x that gave him his supernatural Crucifying stigmata, Celebrate Holy Eucharist (Hotel Gran Paradiso) DINNER AND OVERNIGHT IN San Giovanni Rotondo (BB,D) 'D\ Ĺ&#x; 1RY 6DW Ĺ&#x; 6$1 *,29$11, 52721'2 This Morning we visit the new and Modern Basilica of St Padre Pio, See his uncorrupt body. Celebrate Holy Eucharist Spend some time meditating in this awesome Basilica. DINNER AND OVERNIGHT IN SAN GIOVANNI ROTONDO (Hotel Gran Paradiso)

'D\ Ĺ&#x; 1RY 6XQ Ĺ&#x; 6DQ *LRYDQQL 5RWRQGR /DQFLDQR /RUHWR MASS AND BREAKFAST. We arrive at Lanciano, famous for the Miracle of the Eucharist. Near the Piazza Plebiscito, the Miracle is inside the Sanctuary of the Eucharistic Miracle. The miracle took place during the 8th century when a Basiline monk doubted the Real Presence of our Lord in the Eucharist. He found himself holding the host that had changed into Real Flesh and the Wine on the altar had changed into Real Blood. We continue our pilgrimage to the great Marian shrine of Loreto to see the famous sacred home of the most Holy Family, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Since 1294 the holy home has been located inside the Basilica of Loreto. Celebrate Holy Eucharist in Lanciano. DINNER AND OVERNIGHT IN Assisi. 'D\ Ĺ&#x; 1RY 0RQ Ĺ&#x; /RUHWR $VVLVL Today we explore the hilltop birthplace of St Francis of Assisi. In the Crypt of St Francis Basilica lies the tomb of one of the most humble and beloved Saints of all times, St. Francis of Assisi, Holy Eucharist at the Crypt of St. Francis See the Basilica of St Clare, with her incorrupt body, and the little Church of St. Damiano and its CruciďŹ x from which Jesus spoke to Francis about his mission in 1206: “Go, Francis, and rebuild my house, which as you see is falling into ruin.â€? We visit the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels, located in the lower plains of Assisi, and the place where the miracle of the Eucharist of Assisi took place in 1240. The small Church of the Porziuncola is inside the Basilica itself. Pope Honorius III granted a plenary indulgence for those entering this humble Church on August 1st and 2nd every year, with Confession, reception of the Eucharist and no attachment to venial sins. (BB,D) 'D\ Ĺ&#x; 1RY 7XHV Ĺ&#x; $VVLVL 6LHQD )ORUHQFH We will spend half day in Siena. Begin in the old town center with a visit to the Basilica of San Domenico. Built in the 13th century, it is a treasure chest of the Renaissance art and dedicated to St Catherine of Siena. You will learn about the city’s history while admiring it’s cathedrals, Museum, and libraries .Also you will admire the famous piazza del Campo, one of Europe’s great medieval squares. Continue to Florence. (BB,D) We start with a guided walking tour of Florence, this fascinating city with its Piazza, the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, Giotto’s Bell Tower, the Baptistery of St. John the Baptist. Rest of the day free (BB,D) 'D\ Ĺ&#x; 1RY :HG Ĺ&#x; )ORUHQFH 5RPH Leave Florence around 2PM Arrived Rome almost dinner time (BB.D) 'D\ Ĺ&#x; 1RY 7KXUV Ĺ&#x; 5RPH 86$ End of our wonderful Pilgrimage

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The Asian Jour nal SF MAGAZINE - August 10, 2018