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O C TO BER 4 -10, 2019 Volume 12 - No. 49 • 16 Pages 133-30 32nd Ave., Flushing, NY 11354 • 2500 Plaza S. Harborside Financial Center, Jersey City, NJ 07311 • Tel. (212) 655-5426 • Fax: (818) 502-0858
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PH files another protest vs China by BERNADETTE
TAMAYO ManilaTimes.net
Militants burn images of the Chinese flag in Rizal Park on June 18. ManilaTimes.net photo by DJ Diosina
USA
DATELINE Young Fil-Am professionals chosen for PH immersion program FROM THE AJPRESS NEWS TEAM ACROSS AMERICA
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Filipino Young Leaders Program (FYLPRO), a joint initiative of the Philippine Embassy under the leadership of Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez, Consulates General in the United States, and the Ayala Foundation, Inc. (AFI), is pleased to announce the 2019 FYLPRO Delegates. Due to an overwhelming response in highquality applicants this year, the traditional number of ten delegates has been increased to fifteen (15) to reflect the growth of the FilipinoAmerican population and the expansion of the FYLPRO program. The 2019 FYLPRO Delegates (in alphabetical order) are: 1. Sergio Alcubilla (Honolulu, Hawaii) 2. Krystle Canare (Arlington, Virginia) 3. Frederick Docdocil (Carson, California) 4. Everett Icao (Chicago, Illinois) 5. Eileen Igcasenza (Barrigada, Guam) 6. Joyce King (Frederick, Maryland) 7. Bernadette Lim (Berkeley, California) 8. Antonio Moya (Los Angeles, California) 9. Rizza Palmares O’Connor (Vidalia, Georgia) 10. Elle Ramel (Chicago, Illinois)
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FOREIGN Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. on Wednesday, October 2, ordered the filing of diplomatic protest against China over the presence of Chinese vessels near Ayungin Shoal (Second Thomas Shoal) in the West Philippine Sea. Locsin instructed the concerned Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) official to file the diplomatic protest on his
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Duterte: Too early to react to proposed US entry ban on officials in De Lima detention by ALEXIS
ROMERO Philstar.com
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte thinks it is premature to react to a proposal by two American senators to bar Philippine officials involved in the detention of his fierce critic Sen. Leila De Lima from entering the United States. Duterte noted that the proposal by Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy and Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin is not yet an act of state because it has yet to secure the nod of the entire American Senate.
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Palace: We are against any intrusion into the sovereign affairs of our land by RITCHEL
MENDIOLA
AJPress
MALACAÑANG on Thursday, September 26, dismissed Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio’s warning that China would reclaim Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal, maintaining that President Rodrigo Duterte wouldn’t permit any assault on Philippine sovereignty. According to Carpio, China would push for the signing of a code of conduct for South China Sea claimants after reclaiming the shoal
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WHEN IN RUSSIA. President Rodrigo Duterte receives a token from Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev following their successful bilateral meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office in Moscow on Tuesday, October 2. Ties between the Philippines and Russia are expected to be even closer following Duterte’s trip to Moscow and Sochi this week. Duterte said since his first visit in 2017, the Philippines and Russia have expanded cooperation in various areas including trade and investment, defense and security, energy, and science and technology, among others. Malacañang photo by Robinson Niñal
200 Filipino nurses in NYC win human trafficking suit NEW YORK CITY – A United States federal judge has ruled that the owners of the Sentosa group of nursing homes violated the country’s anti-trafficking law by using threats of serious harm against more than 200 nurses from the Philippines. U.S. District Judge Nina Gershon found that the nursing homes’ owners Benjamin Landa and Bent Philipson are personally liable for violations of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. The lawsuit was brought by Rose Ann Paguirigan in March 2017 on behalf of more than 200 nurses who were recruited in the Philippines to work at Sentosa nursing homes in New York. Paguirigan presented evidence that the Filipino nurses were not paid the prevailing wages promised in their employment contracts and that they were required to work in unsafe conditions with inad-
Lawyers John Howley and Leandro Lachica, who represented the Filipino nurses in the lawsuit discuss the judgment of United States District Judge Nina Gershon, who recently ruled that the owners of a couple of New York nursing home companies violated human trafficking laws by using financial threats to coerce more than 200 overworked and underpaid Filipino nurses to stay on the job. AJPress Photo by Momar G. Visaya
equate staffing. Paguirigan also presented evidence that the nursing homes and their recruiters used threats of serious harm to keep the nurses from leaving. The Trafficking Victims Protection Act prohibits the
use of threats of serious harm or abuse of legal process to obtain the labor or services of a person. Serious harm is defined as “any harm, whether physical or nonphysical, including
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From the Front Page
200 Filipino nurses in NYC win human...
PAGE 1 psychological, financial or reputational harm, that is sufficiently serious, under all the surrounding circumstances, to compel a reasonable person of the same background and in the same circumstances to perform or to continue performing labor or services in order to avoid incurring that harm.” Judge Gershon found that the nursing homes and their recruiters violated the antitrafficking statute by threatening to enforce a $25,000 contract termination penalty against Filipino nurses who wanted to stop working, by filing baseless professional disciplinary complaints against nurses who did stop working, and by asking the Suffolk County District Attorney to obtain indictments for “endangering the welfare of patients” against 10 nurses who stopped working – indictments that were found to be unconstitutional. Considering all the surrounding circumstances, the judge found that a reason-
able person from the same background as the Filipino nurses would feel compelled to continue working because of these threats. In her decision, Judge Gershon wrote: “The nurses in this lawsuit were all recent arrivals from the Philippines. They were not paid the prevailing wage and a base salary, despite the terms of their contracts... Critically, if [plaintiff] or any other nurse wanted to stop working for the defendants during the first year of the contract, he or she would have to pay the employer $25,000 pursuant to the liquidated damages provision. This provision constitutes a threat of sufficiently serious financial harm to compel a reasonable person of the same background and in the same circumstances to perform or to continue performing labor or services in order to avoid incurring that harm.” Judge Gershon ruled that all of the defendants – including the individual own-
ers of the Sentosa nursing homes – are personally liable for damages to the more than 200 nurses caused by violations of the anti-trafficking statute. She also enjoined the defendants from attempting or threatening to enforce the contract termination penalty. “Today, our clients won justice,” Manhattan lawyer John Howley, who represented Paguirigan and the class of more than 200 Filipinos nurses, told The STAR. “Next stop is calculating damages, including the nurses’ legal expenses and attorneys’ fees, which will be determined in a separate proceeding.” Howley’s partner in the case is Manhattan-based Filipino American lawyer Leandro Lachica, a former consul at the Philippine consulate general in New York City. The case is Paguirigan v. Prompt Nursing Employment Agency LLC, et al., 17 Civ. 1302 (E.D.N.Y. Sept. 24, 2019). (Edmund Silvestre/ Philstar.com)
PORK CHALLENGE. Agriculture Secretary William Dar (3rd from left), Manila Mayor Franciso “Isko Moreno” Domagoso (3rd from right), and SINAG Chairman Rosendo So (2nd from right), partake in the boodle fight held at the Manila City Hall on Monday, September 30. The Department of Agriculture (DA), Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG), and the City of Manila conducted the “pork challenge” to show the public that pork in the Philippines is safe to eat. Joining them are hog raisers from different regions. PNA photo by Ben Briones
PH files another protest... PAGE 1 behalf since he is in Russia to accompany President Rodrigo Duterte. “I’m in Moscow. Do I have to fly home to file the goddamned diplomatic protest myself?” Locsin said on Twitter. “That’s the military speaking. Not some friggin’ civilian media outlet. File now,” Locsin added. Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff Gen. Noel Clement has confirmed the unannounced entry of Chinese vessels near the Ayungin Shoal. “The mere presence there if there is no request for passage prior to that will have to be reported,” Clement said in a chance interview at the Senate on Tuesday. “Whether it is a violation or not will be up to our Department of Foreign Affairs,” he added.
On Wednesday, fisherfolk group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) urged the DFA to file a diplomatic protest over the presence of Chinese Coast Guard ships spotted at 4 to 5 nautical miles from the shoal. “The presence of Chinese ships in our marine territory has been tolerated by the Duterte administration akin to normalizing it at the aim of making the public immune or accustomed to, when it is a serious violation of our national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Pamalakaya National Chairman and former Anakpawis Rep. Fernando Hicap said in a statement. Pamalakaya urged the DFA to be transparent with the diplomatic protests it filed. “According to Mr. Locsin, many diplomatic protests were
filed but they remained shady or concealed from the public eye and the fact that the recipient country never responded positively, this raises questions on the nature and legitimacy of these protests,” Hicap said. “Diplomatic protest seems to lose its bearing courtesy of the President Duterte’s continued tolerance of Chinese incursions, especially when his supposed end game venue, during his several visits to China, he simply swallowed Chinese President Xi Jinping’s outright dismissal of the arbitration ruling favoring the Philippines,” he added. The group urged the government to pursue serious protests by pushing for multilateral venues with claimant countries, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and United Nations and seek international support. n
Palace: We are against any intrusion into...
PAGE 1
because such code would stop the building of anything in the area, thereby legitimizing whatever they built there. He added that the Chinese would be emboldened to take on the reclamation due to Duterte’s admission that he could not stop them from building structures in the shoal. Panelo, for his part, said Carpio is very fond of engaging in speculations. He also stressed the administration would continue opposing any intrusion into the country’s sovereign affairs. “Definitely, just like what
the president said, I will not allow during my incumbency any assault on our sovereignty. That arbitral ruling is final, binding and not subject to appeal. That’s what he said,” Panelo said. “Anything that will go against the arbitral ruling would be of course objectionable for us, I think that’s a given. Because we are against any intrusion into the sovereign affairs of the land,” he added. In 2016, a United Nationsbacked arbitral tribunal based in Hague voided China’s claim to sovereignty over most of
the South China Sea as well as upheld the Philippines’ sovereign rights over its 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone. The tribunal also ruled that while Panatag Shoal is within the Philippine EEZ, Filipino and Chinese fishermen from their respective countries had traditional fishing rights in the area. When asked if the Philippines can stop China from proceeding with a reclamation, Panelo responded: “We can always try.” “We will — the usual, we have to file a diplomatic protest,” he added. n
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Dateline USa
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Filipinos divided on views of China — US poll SIMILAR to several countries across the globe, Filipinos have mixed opinions on China, according to a survey by Washington-based Pew Research Center. The poll released earlier this week found that 54% of Filipinos have unfavorable views of China while 42% have a favorable opinion of Beijing. China experienced an 11point drop on its favorable marking in the Philippines, which was at 53% in 2018. Beijing received unfavorable views from most of its Asia-Pacific neighbors, such as Japan Census Bureau LA Regional Office Director Julie Lam; Census Bureau Assistant Division Chief for Content Jennifer Kim; Asian Pacific Islander Small Business Program Executive Director Ron Fong; and TDW+CO founder Tim Wang speak on a panel moderated by TDW+Co Managing Director Ed Chang during a Asian American and Pacific Islander media census event in South Pasadena, California. AJPress photo by Christina M. Oriel
Barriers to answering 2020 Census within AAPI community addressed by Christina
M. Oriel
AJPress
“EASY, safe and important.” Those are three words officials want the public to remember ahead of the 2020 Census, after various groups raised concerns about confidentiality and accessibility to the questionnaire at a recent event for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) media in South Pasadena, California. “Your answers are protected by law...and will not be used against you by law enforcement agencies like [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] (ICE) and the FBI,” Julie Lam, Los Angeles regional director for the U.S. Census Bureau, said. Under Title 13, Census Bureau employees take an oath to protect the information and offenders will be penalized, Lam added. The census, which is done every 10 years, will become available in March 2020 when households will be able to respond to the questionnaire online, over the phone or by mail — three available options intended to increase participation. Some of the questions include how many individuals live at a particular address, whether the home is rented or owned, and age, sex and race/ ethnicity of each resident. AAPIs are the least familiar with the census and are the least likely to report their intention to fill it out, according to a Census Bureau study released earlier this January.
The analysis also found that there are five main barriers that might prevent people from participating: concerns about data privacy and confidentiality; fear of repercussions; distrust in government; lack of efficacy; and belief that there is no personal benefit. To capture the AAPI population, the Bureau will be launching “an integrated communications campaign,” Lam said, that consists of advertising in five Asian languages, partnerships and trusted influencers. In August, the Bureau released the Census tagline and logo in 12 languages, including Tagalog: “Bigyang hugis ang inyong kinabukasan. MAGSIMULA DITO (Shape your future. START HERE).” “The Asian taglines were not intended to simple, direct translations, but instead, developed with careful consideration in a uniquely and culturally way to speak directly to our respective Asian audiences,” said Tim Wang, founder of Asian American audience partner TDW+Co. Ivy Dulao, a Tagalog spokesperson for the 2020 Census in Los Angeles, highlighted what’s at stake for the Filipino American community. “The biggest challenge that I expect from the Filipino community...is really not understanding the importance of the census,” Dulao said. The results from the census help determine the number of seats each state gets in Congress, as well as how over $675 billion in federal
funds will be distributed for services like infrastructure and educational grants, for example. “Census data will tell us who we are and what we need,” Lam said. Dulao added that in the coming months, building partnerships with key partners, such as schools, churches and non-profits, is a priority as these are voices in the community who can encourage Filipino Americans to fill out the census. In past rounds, language barriers have hindered various groups from participating, however, the 2020 form will be available in five Asian languages, including Tagalog, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese. Language guides are also accessible in a total of 59 non-English languages. Dulao said that in addition to Tagalog, Ilocano is a language option as well. “That’s why we are also building partnerships with other organizations who have the capacity to speak other languages as well in the community,” she said. Another way community members can get involved with the census is through flexible job opportunities, such as census takers. The goal is to count everyone once and in the right place. Field takers will start visiting residents from midMay to August if they haven’t responded through any of the three options. The official counts are scheduled to be delivered to the president by December. n
(85%), South Korea (63%) and Australia (57%). Pew noted that fewer countries in North America, parts of western Europe and AsiaPacific view China favorably compared with last year. In the Philippines, the percentage of people with favorable opinions of Beijing dropped from 63% in 2002 to 42% in 2019. Asia-Pacific countries, including Australia, Indonesia, South Korea and Japan also recorded declining favorable views of China.” “Opinion of China has also
fallen across the region over the course of Pew Research Center’s polling and is now hovering at or near historic lows in each of the countries surveyed,” the report read. Canada and the United States recorded the highest unfavorable opinion of China in Pew’s polling history with 67% and 60%, respectively. This is amid China’s ensuing trade tensions with both Canada and the U.S. In western Europe, opinion of China is on balance or negative. Greece recorded 51% positive view of Beijing while
Young Fil-Am professionals chosen for PH... PAGE 1 11. Timothy Simba-Medel (Bryant, Arkansas) 12. Philjay Solar (Boston, Massachusetts) 13. Leezel Tanglao (New York, New York) 14. Earl Valencia (San Francisco, California) 15. Kevin Zagala (Redwood City, California) The 15 leaders have carried out inspiring work in their communities driven by their passions for the Filipino culture and the advancement of Philippine interests and advocacies in the United States. They now join a prestigious network of 85 young, Filipino-American leaders across the nation to collaborate, exchange ideas, and continue to inspire a wave of diplomatic innovation. The 2019 FYLPRO delegates will be traveling in a week-long immersion trip to Manila, Philippines this November and be provided with the opportunity
to interact with Philippine Government officials and leaders in the fields of business, arts and culture, and civil society. “This year we saw applications more than double and we were thoroughly impressed by the breadth and quality of applicants. On behalf of FYLPRO, I am excited to welcome our fifteen 2019 delegates who stood out amongst a competitive group for their accomplishments and potential,” said FYLPRO President JR Calanoc. “We’re excited to see how together we can continue to advance the Philippines and Filipino people,” he added. “We are deeply impressed with the number and quality of applications received this year and the selected delegates all represent the dynamism, passion to serve and contribute, and leadership prevalent among the next generation of Filipino-Americans,” said Ambassador Romualdez.
“All of us at the Philippine Embassy and Consulates General take great pride in the current and previous batches of FYLPRO delegates. We are also proud of our continuing collaboration with the Ayala Foundation, Inc., Department of Foreign Affairs, and FYLPRO non-profit alumni organization in designing a transformative and impactful immersion program,” the Ambassador added. Established in 2012 by the Philippine Embassy in the United States in cooperation with the Ayala Foundation Inc. (AFI), FYLPRO annually identifies outstanding young professionals in the Filipino communities across the United States and provide them invaluable community, business, and government insights and access to a distinguished network captains of industry and government. For more information, please visit www.fylpro.org. n
members of a committee. And if that committee will report the resolution to the plenary and the plenary would adopt or join them, and that would be the act of Congress,” the president said. “I cannot help them in their ignorance. So if they decide to report it out of the committee to the plenary for adoption... it is now ripe, it becomes a matter now between two states, then that is the time maybe the State Department or Trump and I will have to talk. And I will talk,” he added. Leahy and Durbin have filed an amendment in the 2020 State and Foreign Operations appropriations bill to deny Filipino officials involved in De Lima’s imprisonment entry to the U.S. They described the imprisonment of De Lima, who is facing drug-related charges, as “wrongful” and
OPINION
Get full immunization THE Philippines was officially declared polio-free in 2000, seven years after the last case was recorded. Viruses, however, can be unpredictable and may mutate. As with the flu and dengue, there can be several virus strains that may require different vaccines, or several vaccine doses. In the case of the Philippines, health experts say the two recent confirmed cases of polio were vaccine-derived. This means the virus was excreted by the antibodies of polio-vaccinated individuals and picked up by the patients, possibly through unhygienic practices. Those with weakened immune systems or living in environments with poor sanitation are the most vulnerable to infection. The country representative of the World Health Organization has also warned that up to 60 percent of Filipino children immunized against polio did not complete the vaccination regimen and therefore could be vulnerable to the type 2 virus that is supposed to have been eradicated globally, but which has now re-emerged
5
FEATURES
in the Philippines. Filipino children have been immunized mainly against polio virus types 1 and 3 and failed to complete the regimen of three oral doses plus one injectable for protection against type 2, according to the WHO’s Rabindra Abeyasinghe. He said it is the injectable vaccine that provides protection against all three virus types. Thanks to disinformation and wrong information disseminated mostly in cyberspace, vaccination is in fact down worldwide, reversing decades of successes in fighting debilitating and deadly diseases. Complacency over the declared eradication of certain diseases may also be making people believe there is no longer a need for vaccinations. Abeyasinghe estimates that about 95 percent of children in the Philippines need complete immunization from polio. Unlike the vaccine against dengue, there is no controversy surrounding the polio vaccine, so it should be easier for the Department of Health munized. Local governments and education ofto persuade parents to have their children im- ficials must cooperate in the renewed campaign
Editorial
The Fil-Am Perspective GEL SANTOS-RELOS
The beginning of the end: Trump impeachment hearing could begin this week
Commentary
RIGOBERTO TIGLAO
Philstar.com photo
to prevent the resurgence of a killer disease. (Philstar.com)
PhD thesis details Ninoy Aquino’s collaboration with Communist Party/NPA
entitled Crisis of Revolutionary on the insurgency as well as THE Yellows’ martyr Be- Leadership: Martial Law and interviewing participants in NO ONE is above the law. nigno ‘Ninoy’ Aquino, Jr. was the Communist Parties of the the “revolutionary struggle” Not even the president of the (or at least those willing to be crucial in the founding and Philippines, 1957-1974. United States. The impeachThe 800-page thesis is re- interviewed). His native flugrowth of the Communist Party ment hearing that may lead of the Philippines and the New plete with encyclopedic in- ency in Tagalog (he spoke the to the ouster of Donald J. People’s Army (CPP-NPA). formation not just on the old language since he was five, he Trump will begin as early as Aquino, until his arrest when pro-Soviet Partido Komunista says in his CV) enabled him to this week, according to the martial was declared in 1972, ng Pilipinas (PKP) and Jose read the mountain of papers in chairman of the House Insupported the CPP-NPA as Ma. Sison’s pro-China Com- the so-called Radical Papers at telligence Committee Chair, one of his weapons to topple munist Party of the Philippines the UP library, an archive of all Rep. Adam Schiff. his arch-enemy Ferdinand (CPP). Scalice reveals surpris- materials on the revolutionary While this may sound like ing details on political figures struggle. Marcos. déjà vu of the very same isThis is among the many ex- of that era that would shock the Hacienda Luisita sues of abuse of power and plosive conclusions and details Yellows and the Reds. On the thesis’ page 378, allowing foreign government Scalice appears to have spent Scalice shows how crucial of a 2017 PhD dissertation by to interfere in the presidenJoseph Scalice at the Univer- years on his thesis, poring over Aquino’s role was in the foundaccused officials of the Duterte tial election to benefit Trump sity of California, Berkeley, nearly every written material administration of abusing the in the Mueller investigation, PAGE 8 justice system for political retThe 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. ribution. Last week, the U.S. SenADVERTISING AND ADVERTORIAL POLICIES ate’s appropriations commitAsian Journal Publications, Inc. (“AJPI”) reserves the right to refuse to publish, in its sole and absolute tee approved the amendment discretion, any advertising and advertorial material submitted for publication by client. 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Duterte: Too early to react to proposed US entry...
PAGE 1 “I have the best adjective for that pero at this time...Hilaw pa ‘yan eh (It’s still raw). When it becomes ripe, then I will say my piece,” the president told reporters at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 2 before departing for Russia Tuesday, October 1. “I do not deal individually with the congressman or senators there. It’s not yet ripe. It is not an act of state. It does not carry the mandate of the entire Senate. So if there is one or two or three who says that these things exist in the Philippines, let them,” he added. Duterte, who previously lambasted the U.S. for supposedly meddling in Philippine affairs, said he would talk to U.S. President Donald Trump once the American Congress approves the Leahy-Durbin amendment. “These are the voices of
NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY ASIAN JOURNAL • OCTOBER 4-10, 2019
the new allegations and findings may be more consequential. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has now joined the more progressive members of the Democrat-led leadership of the House of Representatives in launching an impeachment inquiry, a precursor to the filing of Articles of Impeachment of the 45th President of the United States. The Constitution mandates that it is the obligation of the House of Representatives to investigate and pass Articles of Impeachment against a
sitting president if, based on evidence, he is deemed to be unfit of and/or has abused the power accorded to the Office of the President. Bad news for Trump: the Democrats have the numbers to impeach him. The Constitution has accorded the power to hold impeachment trials and convict a sitting president to the Senate. Worse for Trump, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for the first time said Monday, Sept. 30 that the Senate would have PAGE 8
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NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY ASIAN JOURNAL • OctObER 4-10, 2019
Dateline PhiliPPines
Chief Justice Bersamin: No definite voting yet on Marcos poll protest
FREE RIDE. A bus provided by the Quezon City government offers free ride to commuters between Welcome Rotonda and Fairview in response to the nationwide transport strike by various groups on Monday, September 30. The transport holiday was held to oppose the government’s implementation of the public utility vehicle (PUV) modernization program, which is expected to roll out in 2020. PNA photo by Jess M. Escaros Jr.
22 suspects face murder, frustrated murder raps for Espino ambush by Yolanda
Sotelo Inquirer.net
SAN CARLOS CITY, Pangasinan — A regional task force has filed two counts of murder and four counts of frustrated murder cases against 22 suspects in the ambush of former Pangasinan Gov. Amado Espino Jr. here on Sept. 11. The cases were filed on Tuesday in the city prosecutor’s office based on “sufficient forensic examination and other pieces of evidence,” Police Brig. Gen. Joel Orduña, Ilocos regional police director, said at a press briefing here. Tagged in the ambush were Albert Palisoc, alias Alvin Pascaran; Armando Frias, alias Jong; Benjie Resultan; Joey Ferrer; Ronnie de los Santos; Gerry Pascua, alias Kagawad Guapo; Sherwin Diaz; Teofilo
Ferrer, alias Pong; a certain Russel, alias Sel; Jewel Castro; John Paul Regalado; Alfred Pascaran; and 10 unidentified suspects. Espino and his security aides were on a two-car convoy when gunmen opened fire at them at 4 p.m. on Sept. 11. Espino was wounded and his escort, Police Master Sergeant Richard Esguerra, and driver, Agapito Cuizo, were killed. Two other aides were wounded while the driver of his backup vehicle was unhurt. Hired guns Orduña, who heads the task force, said except for Castro and Regalado, the suspects are known members of a gun-forhire syndicate. Police said Castro and Regalado were the owners of two vehicles, a Ford Everest and a Hyundai Elantra, that
were reportedly used by the suspects. The Ford Everest was found abandoned at Barangay Pasima in nearby Malasiqui town while the Hyundai Elantra was recovered in Barangay Cobol here. Found inside the two cars were two M14 rifles and a customized M16 rifle, a hand grenade and bullets, jackets and bonnets. According to investigators, Castro and Regalado failed to justify why their vehicles were used in the attack. Gunman identified Palisoc, who has a warrant of arrest for another murder case, was one of the gunmen in the ambush, Orduña said. The task force obtained evidence that included closedcircuit television footage in PAGE 10
US cancels visa of Manila ‘drug queen’ by Ritchel
Mendiola AJPress
THE Department of Justice on Wednesday, October 2, said the United States has cancelled the visa of alleged drug queen Guia Gomez-Castro. “Upon the request of the Department of Justice (DOJ), the U.S. visa granted to alleged drug queen Guia Castro has been cancelled,” said Justice Undersecretary and DOJ Spokesperson Markk Perete. Earlier, National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) director Maj. Gen. Guillermo
Eleazar said Castro left the Philippines last September 21 on a flight to Bangkok, Thailand and then flew to Taiwan and then to the U.S. on September 25. “The BI [Bureau of Immigration] is now working with U.S. immigration authorities to effect her deportation to the Philippines,” Perete added. Castro, named as the drug queen of Sampaloc, Manila, is accused of buying and distributing illegal drugs from “ninja cops,” or officers who recycle confiscated drugs. According to the police, she
was in cahoots with 16 police officers in recycling drugs. The former captain of Barangay 484, Zone 48, warrants of arrest in 2002 for violation of the Republic Act 6425 or the selling, delivery, and distribution of illegal drugs, and in 2003 and 2011 for issuing bouncing checks — all of which were issued by the Quezon City Regional Trial Court. On Monday, September 30, Manila City Mayor Isko Moreno asked the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) to bring Castro back to the Philippines. n
MANILA — Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin denied that the Supreme Court has voted on the poll protest of former Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. against Vice President Leni Robredo. “There is no definite voting yet or anything that happened in that particular case [Marcos poll protest],” Bersamin told reporters at the sidelines of the National Summit on the Dangerous Drugs Law on Thursday. The chief justice was asked to comment on an opinion piece on The STAR that said that the SC, sitting as Presidential Electoral Tribunal, voted 8-6 in favor of Marcos. The piece quoted anonymous sources from the SC. The report claimed: “Our information is that ‘it’s 8-6 in favor of Marcos’ – that is, with the PET putting aside its Rule 65 for an ‘initial determination’ test in three pilot provinces and allowing a continuation of the
recount in the remaining 22 provinces and five highly urbanized cities protested by him.” Rule 65 holds that: “If upon examination of such ballots and proof, and after making reasonable allowances, the Tribunal is convinced that, taking all circumstances into account, the protestant or counter-protestant will most probably fail to make out his case, the protest may forthwith be dismissed, without further consideration of the other provinces mentioned in the protest.” The chief justice explained that after the member-in-charge of a particular case submits a report, the other justices would study it and “that takes time.” “There may be already deliberation, you know there are several parts of that case and the rumor that there is already a report, whether that is true or not will not necessarily mean we will terminate the deliberations,” he explained. The SC has earlier confirmed
that Associate Justice Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa, member-incharge on the petition, submitted a report on the petition. Bersamin said that he was only halfway through Caguioa’s report. The high court is not yet due to meet for another full court session until October 8. Marcos’ poll protest Marcos’ second cause of action covers the recount of ballots from Camarines Sur, Negros Oriental and Iloilo— the three provinces he earlier identified. The recount result will determine whether Marcos’ protest will be dismissed or not. If there is a big discrepancy between the official tally and figures from the revision, the PET would expand the coverage of the recount to 27 other provinces, coveirng 30,000 poll precincts. The opinion piece claimed that a majority of the tribunal “may decide to disregard its Rule 65.” (Philstar.com)
october 4-10, 2019 • NeW YorK AND NeW JerSeY ASIAN JoUrNAL
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Duterte says hazing can’t be eliminated by Ritchel
Mendiola AJPress
President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday, October 1, said that it is impossible to stop hazing, advising those who are in fraternities to “just don’t overdo it.” “To be frank about it, you cannot eliminate [hazing]. Just don’t overdo it,” he said during a press conference before leaving for Russia on Tuesday evening. “I really can’t take it out. You, if you enter a fraternity and you get caught up in it, too bad for you. You really can’t eliminate it,” he added. Duterte, who once experienced being hospitalized for three days due to massive
hematoma after undergoing a hazing ritual from the Lex Talionis fraternity members, signed the Anti-Hazing Act of 2018 or Republic Act No. 11053 in June 2018. RA 11053 bans all forms of hazing in fraternities, sororities and school programs such as the Citizens’ Military Training(CMT) and Citizens’ Army Training (CAT). According to Rappler, hazing was prohibited only when there’s no prior written notice to school authorities or the organization head before the passage of the law. “Unless you ban fraternity for all time, make it a criminal offense by joining a fraternity but that would raise so many constitutional issues. I really
can’t stop it,” Duterte said. The rite of initiation drew public outrage once again after Philippine Military Academy (PMA) cadet Darwin Dormitorio succumbed to his injuries caused by hazing. Consequently, top PMA officials filed their resignation after the incident. When asked for a comment about the incident, Duterte said he would refrain from commenting until the investigations conducted by the PMA and the Baguio City police are finished. The president added that he is expecting any final appeals to reach his desk for his decision, which would greatly depend on what the PMA and the police recommend. n
PhD thesis details Ninoy Aquino’s... PAGE 5 ing of the CPP and the NPA: “Aquino allowed [NPA head Kumander] Dante to move freely throughout his Hacienda Luisita, and Yap, on returning from a visit to China, had given Dante a copy of Mao’s Red Book.(RDT:Yap is the late congressman Jose Yap, Aquino’s close ally in Tarlac. Ironically perhaps, he was Cory Aquino’s peace negotiator with the CPP.) “Dante provided Aquino with an armed base of popular opposition to Marcos. Connecting Dante with Jose Ma. Sison and the CPP presented Aquino the possibility of expanding his base of armed support to a national scale. In October 1968, Aquino and Sison met and discussed ‘how big a problem Marcos was,’ and Yap, Aquino
and Rodolfo Salas [who would succeed Dante as NPA head] arranged a meeting between Sison and Dante. “The meeting took place in late January 1969 in Dante’s hometown of Talimundoc, Capas. Aquino later reported to his friends that he personally drove Sison to this meeting. Among the crucial conditions which facilitated both the discussions between Sison and Dante from January to March 1969, as well as the founding of the CPP at the end of March, was the demilitarization of Tarlac from Nov. 7, 1968 to April 10, 1969. “Dante and his men moved about in peace throughout the province, and Sison and his cohort traveled freely between Manila and Tarlac. The demilitarization, which effectively
removed the massive military buildup of Task Force Lawin from the province, lasted precisely from the founding of the party to the establishment of the New People’s Army. The negotiated removal of the military was entirely the doing of Aquino and was referred to in the press as the ‘Ninoy Aquino peace plan’.” “Scalice in page 392 would report an interesting detail: “Dante and (his deputy Rodolfo) Salas became political instructors in a party training school set up within the Voice of America radio relay station compound, housed on Aquino’s Hacienda Luisita. Dante’s men worked as security guards there and they gave Dante and Salas, dressed in blue security guard uniforms, access to the PAGE 10
The beginning of the end: Trump...
Lombard By The Bay is a joint venture development project between Premier Asia Pacific Real Estate and Development Corp. and Omnicor Industrial Estate & Realty Center, Inc.
PAGE 5 to hold a trial if the House passes articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump. Trump and his cohorts have been peddling a conspiracy theory that this is another witch hunt pushed by the Democrats, the mainstream media, the “deep states,” and even involving the U.S. intelligence community to oust him from power. DIGEST THIS: The 45th president of the United States, accorded with he power and public trust when he took the oath “to faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States,” is now
alleged to have abused the power and resources of the position and has betrayed public trust. In a call on July 25 with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump sought to obtain dirt on his political opponent Joe Biden in the context of the United States military aid to Ukraine still being withheld, and then tried to cover up the crime. As the Washington Post reported, “President Trump’s attempt to pressure the leader of Ukraine followed a months-long fight inside the administration that sidelined national security officials and empowered political loyalists — including the president’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani — to exploit the U.S. relationship with Kiev for political pur-
pose.” Digging up dirt on Biden Trump and Giuliani tactically sought to divert the narrative to another conspiracy theory they hatched against the president’s potential political opponent in the 2020 U.S. Presidential Elections -- former Vice President Joe Biden, and his son, Hunter. As reported by the Daily Beast, “Rudy Giuliani has alleged that the former vice president’s son was involved in corruption during his nearly five years at Ukrainian private gas company Burisma, but has not provided any evidence to support those claims. In fact, Yuri Lutsenko, a former top Ukrainian prosecutor told the Washington Post that PAGE 10
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october 4-10, 2019 • NeW YorK AND NeW JerSeY ASIAN JoUrNAL
The beginning of the end: Trump...
PAGE 8 Hunter Biden did not violate any laws while he was on the board of Burisma. “Hunter Biden cannot be responsible for violations of the management of Burisma that took place two years before his arrival,” Lutsenko told the Post. Trump and Giuliani and their cohorts have been hammering on their allegation that VP Biden interfered to dismiss the prosecutor handling the Burisma case to save his son Hunter. This is a totally false and malicious talking point because VP Biden, along with the leaders of the international community, wanted to use the sanction as leverage to oust the corrupt prosecutor who had not done his job to prosecute Burisma for all its violations. Nothing was hidden about this deal. It was meant to push Ukraine to get rid of corruption so it could get the aide it needed from the United States. This is a direct contrast to what Trump wanted to do — use U.S. military aid to pressure Ukraine to investigate the Bidens to benefit himself and his political ambition, not the United States. But with Trump talking about withholding the military aid Ukraine desperately needs from the United States, the Daily Beast reported that “Ukraine is likely to pursue the cases Trump urged Zelensky to reconsider during their notorious phone call—but not in the way Trump intended.” The White House tried to cover everything up, cognizant of the gravity of this potential crime of allowing interference of a foreign government in the 2020 Presidential Elections just so Trump can win the election and stay in power. The whistleblower Mga kababayan, this is NOT a witch hunt, nor is it politically motivated. These allegations had been the subject of the complaint of a U.S. intelligence community whistleblower knowledgable about how all of this transpired and has gathered evidentiary documents to back up his/her allegations over concerns of a potential violation of campaign finance law and abuse of power. The complaint was filed with the intelligence community inspector general on August 12. While the law mandates that the complaint should immediately
be turned over to Congress, Acting Intelligence Chief Joseph Maguire said White House officials raised the possibility that the complaint could be covered by executive privilege but did not give a definitive ruling on the issue, while the Office of Legal Counsel said the complaint did not meet the statutory definition of an “urgent concern” under the whistleblower law. However, when the inspector general ultimately informed Congress about the existence of the whistleblower complaint, and with the scheduled testimony of Maguire, the White House scrambled to immediately make public a “transcript” of the call, which Democrats said was actually just a highly edited “memo” deleting key verbatim components of the 30-minute phone call. But even with this “transcript” released to the public, Trump has effectively “confessed” to the crime when he said there is nothing wrong with what he told the Ukrainian president to do - just as he confessed in an interview that he would look into any “dirt” that would be given to him by any foreign government and classified it as “opposition research” without fully grasping violation of the spirit of the law that makes this as a threat to national security. Then immediately, the Justice Department ruled that it found no campaign finance violation in Trump’s Call with the Ukrainian Leader. Trump and his cohorts also launched an attack against the whistleblower, whose identity and security are protected pursuant to the Whistleblower Law. The Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA) protects federal employees and applicants for employment who lawfully disclose information they reasonably believe evidences: • a violation of law, rule, or regulation; • gross mismanagement; • a gross waste of funds; • an abuse of authority; • or a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety. Under the WPA, certain federal employees may not take or fail to take, or threaten to take or fail to take; any personnel action against an employee or applicant for employment because of the
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employee or applicant’s protected whistleblowing. But what has Trump been doing? He has been discrediting and attacking the whistleblower who he does not know and even called him and those who will testify against him as “spies” and sent a creepy message that spies should be executed. This is, in fact, the intent of the White House — to send a chilling effect to and scare witnesses who will be called and subpoenaed to testify in the House impeachment hearings. This is clearly an obstruction of justice. Trump also warned that there will be a “civil war” if he is impeached — sending signals and inciting his followers to violence just to protect his own personal interests to hold on to power no matter what the cost. This, too is a violation of the laws and could be an impeachable offense. Speaking before the House Intelligence Committee on Thursday, September 26, acting intelligence chief Joseph Maguire expressed his support for the whistleblower, who he affirmed had acted in good faith and followed the law and regular procedures for raising a concern with the inspector general. There has been a pattern of dirty unlawful tactics. The New York Times reported that “President Trump pushed the Australian prime minister during a recent telephone call to help Attorney General William P. Barr gather information for a Justice Department inquiry that Mr. Trump hopes will discredit the Mueller investigation, according to two American officials with knowledge of the call.” “The White House curbed access to a transcript of the call — which the president made at Mr. Barr’s request — to a small group of aides, one of the officials said. The restriction was unusual and similar to the handling of a July call with the Ukrainian president that is at the heart of House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry.”” ABANGAN ANG SUSUNOD NA KABANATA! *** 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. TheFil-AmPerspective.com, https:// www.facebook.com/Gel.Santos.Relos
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COMMUNITY Journal
22 suspects face murder, frustrated...
PAGE 7 the areas and accounts of witnesses who identified them, he said. Orduña said they had yet to consider it a closed case since investigators were still trying to identify the mastermind. Death threats Earlier, Police Col. Redrico Maranan, Pangasinan police
director, said Espino had requested for police security after getting death threats two weeks before the ambush. Espino also served as representative of Pangasinan’s fifth district. He lost in his reelection bid in the May 13 midterm elections. Police said they were looking into politics, business rivalry
and personal grudge as the possible motives behind the attack. Espino thanked the police for filing the case against the suspects. In a statement, he said it was a “miracle” to survive the “heavy gunfire from powerful firearms that kept pounding on us for almost one minute.” n
PhD thesis details Ninoy Aquino’s... PAGE 8
compound.” Red Isabela Sison’s plan right after the NPA was founded in 1969 was to build the communist first base in Isabela in the thick of the Sierra Madre mountains. This was of course his attempt to replicate Mao’s famous Red base in Yan’an, where the Chinese communists built up its forces to eventually defeat the Kuomintang in China’s civil war. In his thesis’ page 292, Scalice reports how Sison’s fledgling band of former Huks like Dante and student drop-outs from Manila’s universities managed to build a base of sorts in Isabela, where an obscure fishing port there would be used as a landing site for Chinese-made rifles in May 1972): “Salas recounted that Faustino Dy, the mayor of Cauayan, Isabela, ‘was instrumental in enabling the NPA to develop a base in the province.’ Ninoy Aquino, Salas claimed, ‘introduced Dy to the NPA.. For some time Joma even stayed in Dy’s house. … He helped us a lot.’ Salas further reported that with the NPA’s help, Dy was elected governor of Isabela in 1971. “Dy broke with the NPA with the declaration of martial law and allied with Marcos, thus securing his hold as governor for the next twenty years. The NPA was friendly not only with the local political elite of Isabela but with logging corporations as well, and Sison recounted that ‘in the forest region of Isabela, we did united front work with logging businessmen’.” Aquino’s money (“from the coffers of his wife.” Scalice scoffed) as well as from antiMarcos oligarchs such as the Lopezes — whose plea for a rate increase for their Meralco electric distribution utility Marcos denied — funded the CPP’s front organizations, including their huge 1970 rallies romanticized as the “First Quarter Storm,” Scalice pointed out. Tipped Aquino The NPA was officially established in March 1969 in Capas, Tarlac by Dante and his
eight lieutenants, along with Sison and four members of the CPP’s central committee. One of the eight was one Ruben Tuazon, known as Kumander Rubio and barrio captain of a town within the Cojuangcos’ Hacienda Luisita. According to Scalice, Tuazon was Aquino’s employee until his death right after martial law was declared. Tuazon would be an intriguing protagonist in the CPPAquino saga. Scalice gave credence to an obscure and forgotten newspaper report in 1989 that it was Tuazon, then still a party central committee member, who tipped Aquino that the Liberal Party miting de avance on Aug. 21, 1971 would be bombed by CPP operatives and that he should delay his scheduled attendance in that rally. Up to the last weeks before martial law ended his political career, Aquino was plotting with the CPP to seize power for himself, Scalice explains in pages 746 to 748 of his thesis: “Aquino intended to seize power through an uprising led by the CPP in conjunction with a military coup and then immediately implement martial law. For this to succeed it was imperative that he have the support of Washington, and on September 12, Aquino held a private meeting with two political officers of the US Embassy.* “Aquino first made clear that he supported military dictatorship regardless of who implemented it. He stated that ‘Marcos must take strong actions in the near future and these will include martial law. If the President follows this course, Aquino said that, ‘for the good of the country,’ he will support Marcos.’ Washington’s support Having established that Washington could rely on his support for martial law, Aquino then informed the Embassy political officers that he might in the near future attempt to seize power. ‘Aquino believes that the possibilities of his
becoming head of government by legitimate means are quickly diminishing, and he is accordingly keeping open an option to lead an anti-Marcos revolution in alliance with the communists.’ “During the same meeting, Aquino informed the Embassy officers that he had recently held a secret meeting with Sison. Aquino and Sison discussed the possibility of forming a broad united front in opposition to the Marcos administration. Aquino said that he had been offered and had declined as being premature and unwarranted by the present situation, the position of leading a revolutionary government ‘in the hills’ in alliance with the CPP. “In Aquino’s view, however, the internal security and socio-economic situation in the Philippines was rapidly deteriorating. He believed that President Marcos intended to stay in power indefinitely and that his own chances of becoming head of the government by legitimate means were slight. He thus may be willing at some point in the future to ally himself with the communists as the leader of a revolution, if he is convinced that this is the best way for him to realize his ultimate political ambition. “Aquino’s failed bid for dictatorship is one of the gross miscalculations in Philippine political history; it proved so slight, so insubstantial, that most are unaware that it was even attempted.” Are we sure we want our airport to be named after this man, and have his statues in prominent places as if he were a hero who opposed Marcos because of his democratic ideals? *Scalice’s source here: “Airgram From the Embassy in the Philippines to the Department of State,” chap. Document 257 in Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969-1976, Volume XX, Southeast Asia, 1969-1972 (Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 2006) n
NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY ASIAN JOURNAL • OCTOBER 4-10, 2019
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Safeguarding your petition, part 3 Immigration Corner Atty. MichAel Gurfinkel, eSQ IN a previous article I discussed some tips, strategy, and suggestions to safeguard your family-based petition. Here are more suggestions and observations: 7. Notify NVC if your priority date is current but no notice was received from NVC. Usually, a few months before a person’s priority date is current, the NVC will send fee bills, forms, etc., in preparation for immigrant visa processing (if the person will be processed for their immigrant visa at the U.S. Embassy). If your priority date is already current, but you have received no notices or forms from NVC, you may want to take immediate action to find out the status of your case. Were the notices sent to your correct address? Was the case ever approved and sent to the NVC? Don’t just sit on the case and do nothing for years after the priority date becomes current. You should perhaps
have an attorney assist in making inquiries, especially if the priority date is current. 8. Watch out for Section 203(g) terminations. When a person’s priority date is current, the NVC sends out forms and notices to the applicant. The notices typically give the person one year to respond. If they fail to respond, they run the risk of the NVC terminating their case and shredding the file, resulting in the priority date being lost. As just mentioned, if the priority date is current and you have received no notices from NVC, it could be possible those notices were sent to a different address, and the one-year deadline would still apply. Also, either the U.S. Embassy or NVC may ask for additional documentation, and you are also given one year to respond. If you do not, the case is canceled. (A visa is like a reservation on an airline. You might have booked your flight and reserved your seat, but if they are boarding and you don’t check in, your reservation is canceled and your seat is forfeited. In the same way, if a visa is available and the NVC is calling you to “check
in,” but you do not do so within one year, the case is canceled. 9. Locate your records now, even if the priority date is not yet current, and save them. Although the priority date on your petition may be years away, it would still be a good idea to locate all the relevant documents, such as the petition, the approval notice, etc. and put them in a safe place. You can even scan them to PDF, so you can have a record of the documents in the cloud. I’ve encountered many situations where a person will come to my office, stating that they had moved many times, records were destroyed by floods, termites, lahar, etc., and they lost track of their documents. While it is possible in some cases to retrieve the documents from the government, it is better if you just keep track of and save your own documents. These are only a few tips and suggestions while you are waiting for your priority date to become current. If you have issues with any of these items, you may want to seek the advice of an attorney now, rather than risk “losing” your petition. PAGE 12
Disney to develop animated feature directed by Filipina American
Disney and Pixar veteran Josie Trinidad one of four filmmakers appointed to work on upcoming original features By Klarize Medenilla AJPress
ON Tuesday, October 1, Walt Disney Animation Studios named four new directors to helm upcoming original theatrical features for the studio, including Filipina American filmmaker Josie Trinidad. Trinidad began as a Story Trainee at Walt Disney Animation Studios in 2004 after graduating from the CalArts Character Animation program. Since then, Trinidad has worked on a number of Disney and PAGE 12
Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Josie Trinidad, head of story for “Ralph Breaks the Internet.” Photo courtesy of Walt Disney Animation Studios
AFTER NEARLY 25 YEARS, THIS FAMILY’S AMERICAN DREAM IS FINALLY REALIZED. Jean (center) was petitioned by her sister in 1994. Life in America had always appealed to Jean and her family. Eventually, in 2013, she came to the U.S. as a tourist with her daughter. The trip was a graduation gift for her daughter who was an honor student. They risked everything and decided to overstay, along with Jean’s husband, Milo (left). When the petition became current, leading U.S. immigration lawyer Attorney Michael J. Gurfinkel (right) pursued Adjustment of Status for the family. Based on their eligibility, Jean’s petition was transferred from the Philippines to the U.S., where she and her family was interviewed. Watch how after almost 25 years of waiting, Jean and her family are now living the American Dream with no fear nor worries, on an encore episode of “Citizen Pinoy” – on Sunday at 6:15 p.m. (PST) on TFC. (Advertising Supplement)
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OCTOBEr 4-10, 2019 • NEW YOrK AND NEW JErSEY ASIAN JOUrNAL
Immigrant Living: 101 and Beyond Monette AdevA MAglAyA Do you believe in angels? I do. Most people do. The strong presence of angels in the various books of the Bible, especially during the birth of Jesus Christ attests to the role of angels in human history. The Angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she would bring forth a son. Zechariah received a message from an angel. It was an angel that told Joseph to take Mary for his wife. It was a multitude of angels that told the shepherds where to find the newborn child while angels hovered above the stable during that wondrous night. It was also an angel that warned Joseph of a clear and present danger to the child Jesus. Herod, the unhinged, murderous king descended from a long line of power-mad monarchs, wanted to make sure no one stood between him and his throne. In haste, Joseph left with Mary and the child during the night after the Magi had left for a long and arduous trek to a town in Egypt some scholars estimate to be 200 miles away where Herod had no authority to commit mass murder. You can bet a host of angels guided them in seeking refuge. Herod’s murderous rampage began when he realized that the Magi had tricked him and had taken a different route home ignoring his sly request to tell him of the child’s location. It is believed 14,000 inno-
Angels Among Us (First of 4 Parts)
“I think that someone is watching out for me, God, my guardian angel, I’m not sure who that is, but they really work hard.” — Mattie Stepanek Author, “Heartsongs” cent male babies from the age of two and below were killed in Herod’s most cruel, preemptive strike against this perceived threat to his kingdom. The holy family stayed safely away for years until the king died and the danger had passed. Did these holy innocents become cherubs, angels without wings? Do the millions of the unborn of our time the world over cut down by murderous abortionists become cherubs? Does God repurpose innocent souls upon their deaths to become angels themselves? There is a belief that souls are indestructible. If so, do souls get recycled back to be born at another time and place? Only God knows for certain. Angels were strong proactive characters when the story of humanity unfolded during biblical times. And while today, cynics, atheists and those on the dark side might argue that angels are figments of the human imagination, there are countless people who will brave the scorn of scoffers, fight back vehemently and attest to the very real presence of angels in their lives. The belief in the presence and power of angels to intervene is strong in popular conservative culture. In a
remarkable 1999 Hallmark film, “A Season for Miracles,” an angel plays a pivotal role in helping a loving aunt to two children whose incarcerated, drug addicted mother places them in a situation forcing them to run and escape from the foster care system that threatens to split them apart during Christmas. The film is based on a novel by Marilyn Pappano and scripted by Maria Nation. Michael Pressman directed the film. It is a heartwarming story set in a small town called Bethlehem during Christmas with engaging characters like Agatha and Corrina. For those with a penchant for romance, the story has spades of it as well. So check this film out on youtube whether it is Christmas or not. In my opinion, this is a timeless piece of good work worth watching a hundred times. It will be an hour and some minutes to lighten your load and feel the presence of angels in your life as well. Suspend disbelief. That is the only way to enjoy stories about angels. (To be continued …) *** Nota Bene: Monette Adeva Maglaya is SVP of Asian Journal Publications, Inc. To send comments, e-mail monette. maglaya@asianjournalinc.com.
Disney to develop animated feature... PAGE 11 Pixar features, serving as a story artist on “Tangled,” “Wreck-It Ralph” and “The Princess and the Frog.” She’s also served as head of story on “Ralph Breaks the Internet” and co-head of story on “Zootopia.” In addition to extensive work as a story artist and animator, Trinidad also provided the voices of Dharma Armadillo in “Zootopia” and Jubileena Bing Bing in “Wreck-It Ralph.” In July, Trinidad was accepted as a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Trinidad joins fellow directors Carlos Lopez Estrada, Suzi Yoonessi and Marc Smith, the latter of whom is also a veteran of the studio. Walt Disney Animation Studios’ announcement coincides with the studio’s Chief Creative Officer Jennifer Lee’s efforts to foster a diverse and inclusive team of animators and directors. “We aim to have Walt Disney Animation Studios serve as the premier home for filmmakers interested in telling engaging stories within the limitless anima-
tion medium,” Lee wrote in a statement. “Carlos and Suzi are two incredible, inventive filmmakers who have both received acclaim for their work. Josie and Marc, master, lead story artists, have been instrumental in shaping such films as ‘Zootopia’ and ‘Frozen 2.’ We are so thrilled to have these four talented artists join our 96-year-old studio as directors and help us build the stories of our future — adventures in completely original worlds, stories from around the globe and the next generation of musicals.”
NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY ASIAN JOURNAL • OCTOBER 4-10, 2019
Heart, Nadine, Kathryn, Gabbi and Ylona open up about hesitations By Gerald dizon Philstar.com
IN a world of expectations and double standards, there will always be ups and downs. If you’re a woman, expect the journey to be bumpier. You can’t help it if doubts and hesitations sometimes set in. But this doesn’t mean you can’t get through it. Take it all in, pause to breathe and set out to live another day. This is true even for the most beautiful and highly acclaimed female actresses in the country today. They have their triumphs, sure, but they also have their personal struggles. Take Heart Evangelista, Kathryn Bernardo, Nadine Lustre, Gabbi Garcia and Ylona Garcia. Invited to a sit-down forum on September 4 at the Maybank Performing Arts Theatre, the girls talked about their self-doubts and hesitations and how they managed to overcome them. Here’s what they had to say: Heart: Break the habit of ‘overthinking’ Heart is no stranger to scrutiny, being in the public eye for decades since her teenage years. She confessed that overthinking became her punishing habit. She eventually developed a way to face her problem. “I’ve learned to face the problems head-on, and since then, I’ve become more and more confident because I’ve started figuring out how to react to certain situations,” she said. She continued, “I choose to step back to find something to do for myself. And I found that the canvas lets me express what I want, an opportunity
Singer/Songwriter Cecile Azarcon-Inocentes performed for the audience during the gala. Gabbi Garcia , Nadine Lustre, Heart Evangelista, Kathryn Bernardo and Ylona Garcia join a sit-down forum last September 4 at the Maybank Performing Arts Theatre. There, the Pond’s girls talk about their self-doubts and hesitations and how they manage to overcome them. Philstar.com photo by Kat Leandicho
to make art. My desire for painting made me realize the importance of doing things for myself as a chance to take control of my own narrative. “Having control of it changes a lot of things: the way you walk into a room, the way you sit, talk, decide—it’s really about total freedom, being yourself and forgetting what the world wants FOR you,” she ended with confidence. Nadine: It’s okay to make mistakes “There’s always a voice in my head that says, ‘What if I can’t do it? What if I fail? What if I make a mistake?’” admitted Nadine, who herself was second-guessing in both her personal and professional life. But in owning these mistakes, she realized she could rise again. “Sometimes you lose, sometimes you win. There’s always contrast. Never be scared of failures because, at the end of the day, you won’t know what winning feels like until you experience the opposite,” she said. Kathryn: Shut out the negative There was a point in Kathryn’s life that she felt scared
to break out of her mold—the one that showbiz dictated—at the risk of losing her fans, and worse, her career. She coped with this by filtering the bad from the good. “I said to myself, whatever, I don’t care what people say about me, I’m just going to go live my life. As long as I’m happy and not stepping on anyone’s toes, I’m good,” Kathryn said. It’s also important to choose to be strong and in good company. “You can never try to be perfect. And for people who discover your flaws but accept you anyway, then they’re the right people to surround yourself with,” she said. Ylona: Own your decisions Only 17, Ylona admitted she’s still going through many changes, as you do when you’re blossoming into a young woman. “You’re overwhelmed with these emotions: you don’t know who to trust, you don’t know what to do, and you start getting confused at some point,” she said. But as soon as she realized that everyone is struggling, PAGE 15
Safeguarding your petition...
PAGE 11 Also, when the priority date finally becomes current you may also want to seek the assistance of an attorney in connection with either eligibility for adjustment of status or consular processing, especially in this era of Trump, where the government is getting very strict, looking at public charge issues, and whether perhaps an elderly parent may become dependent on the U.S. government, thereby justifying a visa refusal, etc.
*** 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 attorneyclient 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 (Advertising Supplement)
Seated L-R: Alex Inocentes, Cecile Azarcon-Inocentes, Minda & Max Azarcon, Atty. Ted & Josie Laguatan. Standing L-R: UPAAA Board Member Joe & Lynn Santos, and Butch Ungco.
UPAAA 20th Grand Reunion & Convention
THE University of the Philippines (UP) Alumni Association in America’s (UPAAA) 20th Grand Reunion & Convention, co-hosted by UP Alumni Association of San Francisco, was held recently at Crowne Plaza, Burlingame CA from August 30-September 1. Gala headliner was no other than singer/songwriter Cecile Azarcon-Inocentes, an alumna of U.P. College of Music.
EMPLOYMENT
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UPAAA Board Member Joe Santos and singer/songwriter Cecile Azarcon-Inocentes.
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(212) 655-5426 (212) 655-5426 • http://www.asianjournal.com N E W http://www.asianjournal.com YO R K / N E W J E R S• EY O C TO B E R 4 , 2 0 1 9
OCTOBER 4-10, 2019 • NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY ASIAN JOURNAL
people events arts culture entertainment
Malaka Gharib’s graphic novel “I Was Their American Dream” explores identity as a Filipina-Egyptian
“W
BY
CHRISTINA M. ORIEL / AJPRESS
HEN I was growing up, my mom would always say: ‘You have to be better than us.’ She never explained what she meant by that. But I understood. I had to somehow rise above my parents’ life in America. But how?”
Filipina-Egyptian writer and artist Malaka Gharib explores this idea of a ‘better life’ in the early pages of her graphic memoir, “I Was Their American Dream,” which was released earlier this spring. Through comics that illustrate anecdotes — from her Filipina mother and Egyptian father’s immigration stories to her upbringing in Cerritos, California and struggles to find a sense of belonging — Gharib goes beyond the stereotypical caricatures of what Filipinos or Egyptians are thought to look and act like and shows that there’s more to the immigrant experience than what the media portrays. Gharib, who is the deputy editor and digital strategist of
NPR’s Goats and Soda by day, was compelled to explore race and identity following the 2016 election after seeing the “antiimmigrant” rhetoric in the news. The result: a novel inspired by a ‘90s comic book charting Gharib’s perspective in a mixed-race household through red, white and blue coloreddrawings, with some pages inviting the reader to be interactive as well. The pages take readers through trying to fit in at high school and college, summers in Egypt where her dad moved back to after the divorce, the defiance of being a writer instead of a traditional job, and teaching her husband about her multicultural identity.
Yet, with the specific details of Gharib’s personal story, a universality emerges that especially first generation kids in American can relate to, whether it’s emulating what we see while watching popular TV shows or having to balance the cultures we identify with. In a conversation with the Asian Journal, Gharib talks about the creation of “I Was Their American Dream” and why it’s time to own our identity and culture. Asian Journal (AJ): At what point did you want to tell your story as a Filipina-Egyptian growing up in America? Malaka Gharib (MG): I never really thought much about race issues that deeply until 2016 and seeing all the anti-im-
Pages from Gharib’s “I Was Their American Dream” explore questions of identity and belonging as a first-generation growing up in a multicultural, mixed household. Reprinted from “I Was Their American Dream” (copyright 2019 by Malaka Gharib), published byClarkson Potter, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC
migrant rhetoric in the news. The very one-dimensional conversations that I was seeing in the media about immigrants — that we were coming here and taking people jobs, that we were terrorists — did not really match with what I grew up with in Cerritos, California. I grew up in a town that was an Asian bubble and had a lot of diversity and people from every social class. I also had my parents’ own story, which didn’t match the news either. Thinking about my dad, for example, he’s Muslim. I was a little too young for the post-9/11 discourse about Muslims, but for some reason, 2016 seemed to be the moment because I was an adult by then and I thought about my dad who liked gardening and loved the movie ‘Forrest Gump.’ He’s totally harmless. I wanted to correct the narrative that I was seeing and provide my own nuanced perspective for readers and also my generation. AJ: How did you decide a graphic novel would be the best platform for doing so? MG: As for why the graphic novel format, a big part of my artwork is the zine and comic book culture…I would buy zines at Skylight Books in LA and then try to create my own zines and comics at home and get them printed at the copy machine at my uncle’s medical office in Historic Filipinotown. That was a very foundational way for me to express myself. There wasn’t a question in my mind that I wanted to emulate this diary feel, DIY-style in expressing myself in the book. AJ: How did this idea become a book deal? MG: My publisher is Clarkson Potter, which is an imprint
An artist and writer, Gharib knew a graphic novel would be a fitting medium to tell her story.
Gharib sifting through old drawings and zines she made during her adolescent years.
of Penguin. I was making stuff and posting it on Instagram. I think I had less than 30 cartoons on there when a friend of mine at NPR said, ‘Hey, my friend is an agent and you should pitch this as a book.’ I didn’t take it seriously because I couldn’t imagine it turning into a book. She was very encouraging about it and said, ‘Here’s your idea: cartoons about being a first generation Filipino-Egyptian-American.’ I think everybody in 2016 understood that there was this need for nuanced immigrant
stories and that was something easy to sell to publishers during that time. AJ: The book is a quick read but is rich with intricate detail — whether it’s your mom using a cookie tin for a sewing kit or your dad eating KFC on the couch. What was the storyboarding process like and how did you decide on what details to include on certain pages? MG: For me, I wanted to use the least amount of information to convey the maximum PAGE 15
NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY ASIAN JOURNAL • OCTOBER 4-10, 2019
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Malaka Gharib’s graphic novel... ‘A Last Chance’: John Lloyd’s alleged
PAGE 14 story. That’s what I really love about the comics format in that it’s very restrictive. It’s like poetry: What are the base images, words and dialogue you need to tell the most impactful story? I had Easter eggs throughout the entire book too...if you knew, you knew. Everybody was like, ‘I totally eat with one foot up and the other foot down on the chair too.’ I’m so glad that people caught that because I put this little Easter egg in there. Like people who understood the sewing kit cookie tin reference — those are the little things I put in there for us. As for storyboarding, what was it that I wanted to say on a whole? I wanted to explore my relationship to race during high school and I would then unpack that into further detail. What did I aspire to look like? Why did I think that way? Why did I think that looking that way was the right way to look? When I unpacked those questions, I tried to use anecdotes to bring those answers to life. I wanted to look like that because I didn’t fit in. Instead of saying that, I tried to think of stories. I thought about [my sister] Min Min and how she took those pictures in high school with all those Filipina girls next to her...I never got to do anything like that because I didn’t have a group of Filipina girlfriends because I didn’t pass as one. AJ: How reliant were you on past diaries and drawings? MG: I relied on them pretty heavily. I kept a very serious journal in high school and college and even in my prepubescent years. I have them all at home and looked back at those in case there were any stories that were missing, but I also fact-checked my own history by calling elementary, high school and college friends. AJ: What conversations did you have with your family and friends? I know you spoke to your mom and dad about telling this family history. MG: I tried to use a journalist framework, which is you should never let your subject be surprised when they read the final story. You should be giving them clues along the way as to what the story is about, if it’s going be combative or supportive. In the question, they should be able to infer the tone and content of the story. I asked my parents questions like, ‘Why did you and dad get a divorce?’ ‘Dad, why did you get so upset when I told you Darren was going to be my husband? Do you
feel okay with people knowing that?’ I tried to be very fair to them and give clues to my family members about what the story was going to be about. AJ: Were there any memories or instances growing up that you wanted to include but didn’t end up because of page constraints? MG: Absolutely, that’s a great question and haven’t gotten that one before. I wanted to explore the conflict in religion. I think that when you’re growing up in a really devout household, religion is so important and you take it as seriously as your parents. When you’re young, you don’t question religion then and you believe the stories they tell you. You believe that two angels are on your shoulders watching your every move and you believe in heaven and hell and are guided by that righteousness. I wanted to talk about more deeply when I lost my faith in Catholicism, which was around the time I got confirmed. We went on this retreat in Big Bear and it was weird and cultish and I felt really uncomfortable. They made us kneel around in a circle and they said they would bring Jesus out at any second but they made us pray for an hour and when they finally brought Jesus out, he was a candle. I was so mad. It confirmed to me that I was better off as a Muslim anyways in the end. I wanted to include that story in the book because I think that religious pressure is such a big part of the immigrant experience too. I had limited space and also, I had a great editor named Kat Chow, who is one of the founding members of NPR’s Code Switch podcast. I hired her to help guide me in the process of helping me explore my race and identity issues. She basically said, ‘You can’t fit everything in. You just have to unpack a few things.’ I let that one go but that was something I really wanted to go into. AJ: The pages where you compare praying in a Filipino Catholic household versus the Egyptian Muslim household and the contradictions were interesting. Do you still feel that pressure of being on top of the customs and language when you’re with your sides of the family? MG: Oh yeah! My dad and a lot of my Arab family are on Instagram and there are a lot of things I just don’t post. I don’t post photos of me smoking hookah or me eating during the month of Ramadan...out of respect of my family members. I don’t post overly provocative
clothing because it’s very conservative in the Middle East and I don’t want my family to get the wrong idea about me. AJ: Growing up what were some of your favorite books or authors who inspired you to be a writer and journalist? MG: This is a very cliché thing but Tatay [maternal grandfather], when I was growing up in the 8th grade, he gave me a copy of ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ and it was a very mature, introspective, moody, coming-ofage story...I probably read it six times through the duration of high school but I really loved the poignant sensitivwity and care of Holden Caulfield. I wanted to emulate that in my writing style too. Comics and zines too, but I didn’t get into reading longer form or mainstream ones until after college. I read a lot of indie ones but I don’t even remember the titles of them. I was also really moved by the American Girl books. I like wholesome things in general, which is why the book, you could argue, can be perceived as wholesome and appropriate for young adults. I liked the historical stories about the girls, learning about their lives and cultures, and how they shaped them and their view of the world. I always wished they would have a book for a Filipino Egyptian so I tried to think about writing one. AJ: You spend your time at NPR writing about poverty and global development. But you’ve written pieces about your Filipino culture, whether through food or your husband wearing a Barong to your grandfather’s birthday. What was it like pitching those stories to your editor at NPR and having that platform to talk about your identity on a mainstream scale? MG: I am very lucky to be at a place where I can have such a huge platform...I did a piece about the Filipino lunch club we had and one about mental health and I did one recently about Thanksgiving...and an interesting perspective for the mainstream to see that other cultures just don’t eat turkey and mashed potatoes. I feel this obligation to write about stories I’m passionate about. I’m always thinking about the people I grew up with in Southern California, what they might be interested in reading because I am them and I am interested in reading that stuff too. AJ: You have some anecdotes around the question of ‘what are you?’ In the book, you write ‘I used to love this question because it gave me the opportunity to talk about my ethnicity. But not every-
comeback movie is with Bea
By Deni Rose AfiniDAD BeRnARDo Philstar.com
A NEW photo of actor John Lloyd Cruz together with onscreen love team Bea Alonzo has been posted in the social media account of a shawarma brand. The photo caption of the post says, “Matagal nang hindi nagkita at nagkasama. Pwede pa rin kayang magkaroon ng LAST CHANCE?” Philstar.com has earlier reported that reliable sources said a reunion movie is in the works for John Lloyd and Bea. Is “A Last Chance” the title of that movie? Is it going to be Cruz’s official come-
John Lloyd Cruz and Bea Alonzo
back film? A few months ago, Turks first reunited Cruz and Alonzo together with Piolo Pascual for an endorsement contract signing in Quezon City. It can be recalled that the shawarma brand was also responsible for Cruz’s first endorsement
Photo courtesy of Turks Philippines
appearance since his hiatus from the showbiz industry in 2017. John Lloyd and Bea starred in blockbuster films such as “A Second Chance,” “The Mistress,” “Miss You Like Crazy,” and “Now That I Have You.”
Heart, Nadine, Kathryn, Gabbi... PAGE 13 perfection didn’t seem the most important thing to aspire to. “Whatever decision you’ll be making you have to accept, and learn to live with, just make sure that when you choose it, it’s what speaks to you. That it’s your truth.” Gabbi: Rejections shouldn’t hinder ambition
Gabbi had a lot of fears in the industry, having faced many rejections and judgments especially online. That didn’t stop her from reaching her goal. “You just have to have the mindset to keep going, without letting anyone dictate your life—it’s your life, your rule,” she said adding, “If we comply with the standards of
society—beauty, talent—if everyone is the same, then what makes you unique?” She also emphasized the necessity of having a solid support system. “I tend to run back to my family and friends who I simply trust and whose opinion I value because theirs are the only ones that matter to me,” Gabbi shared.
one felt that way.’ How have you come into your identity over the years? MG: There’s no better time than now to proclaim from the rooftops your ethnicity. If this how you identify yourself and you are proud of it, then why should we hide that? There is something so beautiful about representing your culture... For a little bit, I didn’t want to tell people who I am but now, I want you to know exactly who I am and I want to celebrate my ethnicity. AJ: Through this journey, what does it mean for you to be Filipina? MG: My whole life, we were taught that being Filipino was a bad thing. In high school, I went to school with a lot of other Asians but I quickly understood that Filipinos were at the bottom of whatever hierarchy of the Asians with the Japanese at the top. When I would go to Egypt, my dad would tell me not to tell others that I was Filipino because, in the Middle East, Filipinos are the help. I had thought it wasn’t an honorable thing to be Filipino, but now, I get so excited when I see another Filipino out in the world. It’s a time to celebrate each other and it has lifted my
heart in so many ways. AJ: What do you want readers to take away from “I Was Their American Dream”? MG: First of all, I hope people can relate to this book who aren’t Filipino or Egyptian. What I’ve been amazed by is that so many people have found it relatable. It’s not just Filipinos who are reaching out and saying thank you for writing this book. It’s been people from so many countless cultures. I’ve seen the book become a force to bring people together like I saw a post of a group of young people having a kamayan dinner and said they were inspired by the book to have the dinner and talk about being Filipino. Someone told me, ‘This book makes me want to call my grandma and celebrate everything that we are.’ I want people to be proud of who they are. No matter who you are, take pride in it. There’s nothing to be ashamed of and you don’t have to try to be something that you’re not. AJ: In this book and even in your other writings and posts on social media, you share a lot of yourself. What’s something people may not know about you? MG: I actually don’t find the
things I share too personal. I feel like the stories are so universal that they’re impossible to be truly personal. I hope that makes people more vulnerable. In this world where everything’s so fake and posed, you’re constantly being promoted at by ads and everything is so algorithmically chosen for you so I want there to be some vulnerability, kindness, personal connection and intimacy. I hope the things I make bring people together or a person closer to how they’re feeling. AJ: For you, what does the American Dream mean? MG: I never knew that I needed to have an American Dream. I only thought that American Dreams were for outsiders. But I grew up feeling like an outsider too in this country and I realized that I also needed to have a dream, which was weird. But it wasn’t like my parents’ dream of a white picket fence or buying all my titos some polo shirts from the outlet. Mine was to feel a sense of belonging in my own country — the country that my parents told me I belonged in, yet it hadn’t felt that way. This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.
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OCTOBEr 4-10, 2019 • NEW YOrK AND NEW JErSEY ASIAN JOUrNAL
http://www.asianjournal.com • (212) 655-5426