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NOVEMBER 25 - DECEMBER 1, 2021
T H E F I L I P I N O A M E R I CA N C O M MU N I T Y N E WS PA P E R
Volume 32 - No. 47 • 12 Pages
2770 S. Maryland Pkwy., Suite 201 Las Vegas, NV 89109 Tel: (702) 792-6678 • Fax: (702) 792-6879
Also published in LOS ANGELES, ORANGE COUNTY/INLAND EMPIRE, NORTHERN CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO, NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY
USA
DATELINE Fil-Am assumes post as senior advisor in US Dept. of Energy FROM THE AJPRESS NEWS TEAM ACROSS AMERICA
A FILIPINA American diversity expert recently joined the Biden administration as senior advisor on Justice, Equity, Diversity, Belonging, and Inclusion at the U.S. Department of Energy. Lady Idos, MPA, will design a Department of Energy strategy to strengthen and integrate diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility within the department in accordance with presidential directives and executive orders. Idos is also part of the Designee Steering Committee for The White House Gender Policy Council, collaborating with other Federal agencies on implementation guidance for Pres. Biden’s first-ever National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality. Idos was born in Manila and immigrated to San Diego, California at the age of seven. She holds a master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of San Francisco; B.A. degree in Sociology from the University of California, Santa Cruz; and earned her Diversity and Inclusion Certifi-
Go: Pres. Duterte will not prevent Quiboloy extradition by RITCHEL
MENDIOLA AJPress
PHILIPPINE President Rodrigo will not get in the way if the United States requests for the extradition of his friend and spiritual adviser Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, according to Senator Bong Go.
The senator on Monday, November 22, noted Duterte’s close ties with Quiboloy, saying that the Chief Executive will offer moral support to his adviser. “The President is there to give moral support kay (to) Pastor Quiboloy. Kaibigan sila (They are friends),” Go said in a chance interview with report-
by AJPRESS
Attorney General Bonta co-leads multistate coalition in support of DACA
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MOBILIZE. Nevada Rep. Susie Lee and state Assemblymember Nguyen joined the AAPI Democratic Caucus on Sunday, November 21 at D’Pinoy Joint in Las Vegas to activate the AAPI electorate ahead of the 2022 midterm election. Top photo shows (L-R) community leader Gloria Caoile of APALA; Jessica Guerra, AAPI Dems Recording Secretary; Ava Carino, AAPI Dems Corresponding Secretary; Amanda Khan, AAPI Dems Press Secretary; Rep. Susie Lee of Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District; Angelyn Tabalba, AAPI Dems Chair; Dielle Telada, AAPI Dems 2nd Vice Chair; and Craig Valdez, AAPI Dems 1st Vice Chair. AJPress photo by Robert Macabagdal
MENDIOLA
AJPress
ALL fully-vaccinated adults in the United States are now eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccine boosters, giving them more protection amid the pandemic. Last week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)) authorized its advisory committee’s recommendation to expand vaccine booster eligibility to all adults ages 18 years and older who received a Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine at least six months after their second dose. “After critical scientific
GEARING up for the 2022 midterm election, Rep. Congresswoman Susie Lee (NV-03) and state Assemblymember Rochelle Nguyen (AD-10) joined the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Democratic Caucus of Nevada to reignite Southern Nevada’s AAPI community. The event on Sunday, November 21 at D’Pinoy Joint in Las Vegas sought to bring community members together to discuss the population’s growing political power and avenues to leverage this growth during the upcoming election. Attendees participated in an activity to strategize and learn from each other about ways to engage during the election year. Rep. Lee discussed her track record when it comes to priorities of the AAPI community and touch on investments in the historic bipartisan Infrastructure
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Report: 1 in 5 AAPIs experienced Biden nominates Nani Coloretti a hate incident in the past year as deputy budget director by KLARIZE
MEDENILLA AJPress
AFTER the most disturbing rise in crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) of the 21st century, a national hate crime tracker reported recently that anti-AAPI hate continues to proliferate across the nation. Stop AAPI Hate, the national coalition of AAPI organizations dedicated to addressing anti-AAPI discrimination, released new findings on Thursday, Nov. 18 bring the total number of reported AAPI hate incidents and crimes to 10,370 between
March 19, 2020 and Sept. 30, 2021. In addition to the tally, Stop AAPI Hate also conducted a survey between Sept. 21 and Oct. 8 of this year that yielded a concerning statistic: 1 in 5 AAPIs have experienced a hate incident in the past year. In terms of average number, that translates to 4.8 million Asian Americans and 320,000 Pacific Islanders. According to Stop AAPI Hate, verbal harassment and shunning continue to make up the largest share of types of incidents, comprising about 79% of total incidents. Like previous findings, a majority of
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CDC approves COVID-19 boosters for all adults by RITCHEL
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Rep. Lee, Assemblymember Nguyen mobilize Southern Nevada’s AAPI community ahead of 2022 election
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CALIFORNIA Attorney General Rob Bonta is co-leading a coalition of 24 attorneys general in a comment letter in support of the federal government’s efforts to preserve and fortify the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. In the comment letter sent Friday, November 19, the coalition highlights the critical contributions of hundreds of thousands of Dreamers to broader public health efforts, the economy, and communities across the country — and urges the federal government to finalize regulations strengthening DACA and ensuring that states can continue to benefit from the program. Since 2012, DACA has protected from deportation and extended work authorization to approximately 825,000 individuals who grew up in this country, most of whom have known no home other than the United States. California is home to more DACA recipients
ers in General Santos City. “Si Presidente pag kaibigan ka, kaibigan talaga (When the President says you’re friends, he really treats you as a friend),” he added. However, Go maintained that Duterte will not prevent the U.S. from extraditing Quiboloy should
evaluation, today’s unanimous decision carefully considered the current state of the pandemic, the latest vaccine effectiveness data over time, and review of safety data from people who have already received a COVID19 primary vaccine series and booster,” CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said Friday, November 19. “Booster shots have demonstrated the ability to safely increase people’s protection against infection and severe outcomes and are an important public health tool to strengthen our defenses against the virus as we enter the winter holidays. Based on
the compelling evidence, all adults over 18 should now have equitable access to a COVID-19 booster dose,” she added. Earlier that day, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) unanimously voted to recommend booster shots to all adults. It also recommended that every adult ages 50 and over should receive a booster. Likewise, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the requests of American drug makers Pfizer and Moderna to clear the booster doses for all fully vaccinated adults 18 and older. “Authorizing the use of a
single booster dose of either the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for individuals 18 years of age and older helps to provide continued protection against COVID-19, including the serious consequences that can occur, such as hospitalization and death,” said Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock. According to the FDA, streamlining the eligibility criteria and making booster doses available to all adults “will also help to eliminate confusion about who may receive a booster dose and ensure booster doses are available to all who may need one.”
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by MOMAR
G. VISAYA
AJPress
PRESIDENT Joe Biden has nominated two women of color to lead the Office of Management and Budget, which has been called as “the nerve center of the government”. According to the White House, Nani Coloretti, former Deputy Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, will take over as deputy director while Shalanda Young, who has been serving as acting director of OMB, will serve as its director. If confirmed by the Senate, the Filipino American Coloretti would become one of the highestranking Asian Americans in the administration. Young, on the other hand, would be the first Black woman to serve in the top role in the agency. “Today it’s my honor to nominate two extraordinary, historymaking women to lead the Office of Management and Budget,” Biden said in a video announcement released Wednesday, Nov. 24. “A proud Filipino-American, Nani will be one of the most senior Asian American leaders in government, Biden said. “I urge the Senate to swiftly confirm them again so they can lead OMB at this important time.” The president also cited the
Nani Coloretti
historic nominations as he continues to build what he called “the most diverse presidential cabinet in history” and noted both had previously won Senate confirmation for other posts. The OMB oversees the $4 trillion federal budget and helps coordinate operations and regulations across the government, giving it significant influence over the President’s agenda. Coloretti currently serves as senior vice president for financial and business strategy at the Urban Institute, a Washington, DC-based think tank that conducts economic and social policy research.
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http://www.asianjournal.com • (702) 792-6678
November 25-december 1, 2021 • LAS veGAS ASIAN JoUrNAL
From The FronT Page
Go: Pres. Duterte will not prevent...
PAGE 1 it happen. “Abugado si PRRD at ako po’y naniniwala na sumusunod sa batas ang ating presidente. Bilang presidente, naniniwala ako siya nagpapatupad sa anumang treaty (President Rodrigo Duterte is a lawyer and I believe our President follows the law. As president, I believe that he implements any
treaty),” he said. Meanwhile, the Philippine Department of Justice (DOJ) pointed out that there will be no need for extradition if Quiboloy turns himself in to the jurisdiction of the U.S. authorities. “All talks about possible extradition will be mooted if the person sought to be extradited opted to voluntarily surrender to the ju-
risdiction of the requesting state and defend himself/herself with the assistance of counsel in the appropriate legal proceedings in the requesting state,” said Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra in a separate statement. On Friday, Nov. 19, U.S. prosecutors charged Quiboloy and two other top church officials for participating in a conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion. In a 74-page indictment, the three church leaders were alleged to have recruited females ranging from approximately 12 to 25 years of age to work as personal assistants or “pastorals” for Quiboloy. “The victims prepared Quiboloy’s meals, cleaned his residences, gave him massages, and were required to have sex with Quiboloy in what the pastorals called ‘night duty,’” it added. Five females allegedly fell victim to this, three of whom were minors when the supposed sex trafficking began. For its part, Quiboloy’s camp dismissed the sex-trafficking charges filed against him in the U.S. “Once again, another vicious attempt to bring down Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy and some of the Kingdom leaders has been organized just recently in the United States, but (Kingdom of Jesus Christ, The Name Above Every Name) and all its followers remain steadfast and committed to faithfully respond to its mission, its ministry and its divine calling despite all the detraction efforts made against them,” the KJC Legal Counsel said in a statement. It also said that accusations will not “detract” the KJC from its mission and ministry. “People may have tried to silence Pastor Quiboloy, but they cannot put down the Kingdom nation. They will never detract from the mission and the ministry of The Kingdom. It will never stop. It will go on forever,” said the KJC Legal Counsel. “We are confident and ready to face whatever is hurled against Pastor Quiboloy and the Kingdom leaders. We trust the process of justice and we certainly expect the truth to prevail, and the Kingdom ministry will continue to prosper,” it added. n
Clark County Building Department 4701 W. Russell Road • Las Vegas, NV 89118 (702) 455-3000 • Fax (702) 221-0630
Jerome A. Stueve, P.E., Director Samuel D. Palmer, P.E., Assistant Director • Jim Gerren, P.E., Assistant Director
Nobyembre 9, 2021 Patalastas sa Publiko: Mga Mungkahi’ng Pagbabago sa Kodigo ng Lalawigan ng Clark Tungkol sa: Titulo 22, Kabanata 22.02 Mangyari’ng bigya’ng pansin na ang isang patakaran ay iminumungkahi ng Lupon ng mga Komisyonero ng Lalawigan sa Lalawigan ng Clark tulad ng sumusunod: Isang ordinansa upang Baguhin ang Titulo 22, Kabanata 22.02 ng Kodigo ng Lalawigan ng Clark at idagdag ang mga kasalukuya’ng gawi na may kaugnayan sa mga simple’ng bayarin sa permiso, mga ulat sa pagtatasa sa inspeksyon ng pinsala at mga pagbabawas ng bayad para sa mga kwalipikado’ng proyekto ng abot-kaya’ng pabahay, pagtatanggal ng mga kinakailangan para sa pagsusumite ng mga kopya nang dokumento na kasama sa mga aplikasyon sa permiso, at nililinaw at idinagdag ang ilang partikular na uri ng trabaho na bukod ang mga kailangan para sa permiso: 22.02.035 – Idagdag ang kahulugan ng Ulat sa Pagtatasa sa Inspeksyon ng Pinsala. 22.02.043 – Idagdag ang bago’ng seksyon, Pagtatasa sa Pinsala sa mga Gusali at Istraktura. 22.02.165 – Baguhin ang Marka, Konstruksyon o Permiso sa Pagkabit nang mga Hiwalay sa Kailangan. 02.22.190 – Baguhin ang Permiso sa Gusali Pagbubukod A at idagdag ang AC. 02.22.195 -- Idagdag ang Permiso sa Tuberyas Pagbubukod H 22.02.200 – Baguhin ang Permiso sa Electrikal mga Pagbubukod M, N, O, P, Q, R, S. 22.02.230 – Baguhin ang Pagsusumite ng mga Dokumento ng Konstruksyon. 22.02.235 – Binago’ng Impormasyon sa Mga Plano at Ispesipikasyon upang idagdag ng Pangkalahata’ng Liban at mga permiso sa demolisyon. 22.02.335 – Baguhin ang Paglakad sa Madaliang Plano. 22.02.345 – Baguhin ang Permiso at Bayad sa Repaso ng Plano upang magdagdag ng Liban. 22.02.347 – Magdagdag ng bago’ng seksyon, Bawas-Bayad sa Abot-Kaya’ng Pabahay. 22.02.350 – Baguhin ang Pagkawala ng Bisa ng Repaso ng Plano. 22.02.395 – Baguhin ang mga bayad sa permiso ng elektrikal. 22.02.400 – Baguhin ang mga bayad sa permiso ng mekanikal. 22.02.405 -- Baguhin ang mga bayad sa permiso ng Tuberyas. 22.02.430 – Baguhin ang Iba pang mga Pagsusuri sa mga Plano, Inspeksyon at iba’t-ibang bayad upang maisama ang DAIR. 22.02.510 – Baguhin ang Mga Espesyal na Inspeksyon. 22.02.525 – Baguhin ang mga Tungkulin at responsibilidad ng Ahensya ng Pagtitiyak ng Kalidad, at Espesyal na Inspektor. Bago ang pagpapatibay sa iminumungkahi’ng panuntunan, ang Lupon ng mga Komisyonero ng Lalawigan sa Lalawigan ng Clark ay inaatasan ng NRS 237.080 na gumawa ng isang pinagsama-sama’ng pagsisikap upang matukoy kung ang panukala’ng panuntunan ay magpapataw ng isang direkto at malaking pasanin sa ekonomiya nang isang negosyo o direkto’ng paghihigpitan ang pagbuo, pagpapatakbo o pagpapalawak ng isang negosyo. Dahil dito, ang mga samahan sa pangangalakal, may-ari at mga opisyal ng mga negosyo na malamang na maapektuhan ng iminumungkahi’ng panuntunan na ito, at ang iba pang interesado’ng mga tao ay kinakailanga’ng patalastasan at bigyan ng pagkakataon na magsumite ng mga komento, datos, o argumento sa Lalawigan tungkol sa kung ang iminumungkahi’ng panuntunan ay: a) Magpapataw ng isang direkto at malaking pasanin sa ekonomiya nang isang negosyo; o b) Direkto’ng paghihigpitan ang pagbuo, pagpapatakbo o pagpapalawak ng isang negosyo. Ang mga komento ay kailanga’ng isumite nang hindi lalampas sa 5:30 n.h. sa Disyembre 13, 2021 tulad ng sumusunod: Sa Pamamagitan ng Koreo sa:
Sa pamamagitan ng Pagdadala sa:
Sa Pamamagitan ng email kay:
Clark County Building Department Attn: Theresa Atimalala, Executive Assistant 4701 W. Russell Road, Las Vegas, NV 89118 Clark County Building Department Customer Lobby 4701 W. Russell Road, Las Vegas, NV 89118 Attn: Theresa.Atimalala@ClarkCountyNV.gov Lunes-Huwebes 7:30n.u. – 5:30n.h. Theresa.Atimalala@ClarkCountyNV.gov
Ang isang kopya ng iminumungkahi’ng panuntunan ay makukuha din para suriin sa: https://www.clarkcountynv.gov/government/departments/building___fire_prevention/codes/index.php at Lalawigan ng Clark Kagawaran ng Gusali at Pag-iwas sa Sunog, Una’ng Palapag Para sa mga Kostumer 4701 W. Russell Road, Las Vegas, NV 89118. Taos-Puso, /s/Jerome A. Stueve Jerome A. Stueve, P.E., CBO Direktor/Kagawaran ng Gusali ng Lalawigan ng Clark BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS MARILYN KIRKPATRICK, Chair • JAMES B. GIBSON, Vice Chair MICHAEL NAFT • ROSS MILLER • WILLIAM McCURDY II • TICK SEGERBLOM • JUSTIN C. JONES YOLANDA T. KING, County Manager
MORE TIME OUTDOORS. A girl poses at a Christmas display inside a mall in Quezon City on Sunday, November 21. As quarantine restrictions have been relaxed in Metro Manila, children get to enjoy more time outside their homes so long as they continue to adhere to the health protocols. PNA photo by Joey O. Razon
CDC approves COVID-19 boosters for... PAGE 1
In October, the CDC and FDA approved the mixing and matching of booster shots,
allowing vaccinated adults to get Based on the latest numbers a different brand as a booster from the CDC, more than 35 than was used for an initial million people in the U.S. have vaccination. received a booster shot. n
Biden nominates Nani Coloretti as deputy...
PAGE 1
“This will be a homecoming for Nani, who started her career as a presidential management fellow at OMB,” Biden said. Before joining HUD under the Obama administration, Coloretti spent five years at the US Department of Treasury and helped establish the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau where she served as its chief operating of-
ficer. “I think the broader challenge for me as a Filipino American who is half Filipina is to make sure that my voice can be heard in an effective way. I think it helps that I come from a diverse state of people with different ways of communicating and interacting,” Coloretti said in a 2016 interview with the Asian Journal. “I also think that any challenge can also be an
opportunity. So, being someone who is different from others in a table can be helpful, particularly if I am operating with both ears open and with curiosity.” Coloretti told the Asian Journal in a 2016 interview. Prior to joining the Obama administration, Coloretti spent several years as a policy adviser and budget director for then San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. n
Fil-Am assumes post as senior... PAGE 1 cate from Cornell University. Idos previously served as the Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. She serves as a co-chair for Bay Area Council’s Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Committee, and advisor for UC Berkeley’s startup accelerator, SkyDeck. She draws strength and inspiration from her parents, Salvador Idos (from Pangasinan) and Rosalina Idos (from Bicol). They became pioneers in the teaching of Filipino as a world language in the California public school system, with her mother being honored as California’s Outstanding Teacher in 2007. (Inquirer.net)
Lady Idos
Karagdagang kaalaman sa Filipino (Tagalog) ay makikita rin sa website ng Lalawigan ng Clark Kagawaran ng Halalan sa: www.clarkcountynv.gov/vote.
STATE OF NEVADA ) ) ss: COUNTY OF CLARK ) I, JOSEPH P. GLORIA, the duly appointed Registrar of Voters of Clark County, Nevada, do hereby certify that the following State, District, County, Town Advisory Board, and Township offices are the offices for which candidates are to be nominated at the Primary Election to be held on the 14th day of June, 2022, in Clark County, Nevada. Judicial and Non-Judicial candidate filing will be conducted March 7th through March 18th, 2022. Candidates filing for district offices and candidates filing for municipal offices will file within their own jurisdiction at the following locations: • Candidate Filing (Judicial and Non-Judicial): Clark County Government Center, 500 South Grand Central Parkway, 1st floor, Pueblo Room, Monday – Friday 8:00am-5:00pm • City of Boulder City , City Clerk’s Office 401 California Avenue, Monday – Thursday 7:00am – 6:00pm • City of Henderson, City Clerk’s Office, 240 Water Street, Monday – Thursday 7:30am – 5:30pm
• City of North Las Vegas, City Clerk’s Office, 2250 Las Vegas Boulevard North, Monday – Thursday 8:00am – 5:45pm • City of Mesquite, City Clerk’s Office, 10 East Mesquite Boulevard, Monday – Thursday 7:30am – 5:00pm Offices identified with asterisks (*) represent districts that are shared with other counties. Candidates for those offices will file with the Secretary of State at the Las Vegas or Carson City offices.
• City of Las Vegas, City Clerk’s Office, 495 S. Main Street, Monday – Thursday 7:00am – 5:30pm FEDERAL PARTISAN OFFICES
CONSTABLE, LAUGHLIN TOWNSHIP, 4-year term
COUNCIL MEMBER, BOULDER CITY, 4-year term
UNITED STATES SENATE, 6-year term
CONSTABLE, MESQUITE TOWNSHIP, 4-year term
COUNCIL MEMBER, BOULDER CITY, 4-year term
REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS, 2-year term Districts 1, 3, and 4*
CONSTABLE, MOAPA TOWNSHIP, 4-year term
STATE PARTISAN OFFICES
CONSTABLE, NORTH LAS VEGAS TOWNSHIP, 4-year term
GOVERNOR, 4-year term LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR, 4-year term
CONSTABLE, MOAPA VALLEY TOWNSHIP, 4-year term
CONSTABLE, SEARCHLIGHT TOWNSHIP, 4-year term
SECRETARY OF STATE, 4-year term
TRUSTEE, CLARK COUNTY SCHOOL, 4-year term Districts D, F and G
STATE TREASURER, 4-year term
MOAPA VALLEY WATER DISTRICT, LOGANDALE, 4-year term
STATE CONTROLLER, 4-year term ATTORNEY GENERAL, 4-year term
MOAPA VALLEY WATER DISTRICT, OVERTON, 4-year term
STATE SENATE, 4-year term Districts 2, 8, 9, 10, 12, 20, and 21
VIRGIN VALLEY WATER DISTRICT, MESQUITE, 4-year term Vote for up to 2
STATE ASSEMBLY, 2-year term Districts 1 through 23, 28, 29, 34, 35, 36*, 37, 41, and 42 COUNTY PARTISAN OFFICES COUNTY COMMISSION, 4-year term Districts E, F, and G DISTRICT ATTORNEY, 4-year term COUNTY ASSESSOR, 4-year term
VIRGIN VALLEY WATER DISTRICT, MESQUITE, 4-year term Vote for up to 2 VIRGIN VALLEY WATER DISTRICT, BUNKERVILLE, 4-year term VIRGIN VALLEY WATER DISTRICT, BUNKERVILLE, 2-year unexpired term
COUNTY CLERK, 4-year term
MOAPA VALLEY TELEVISION MAINTENACE DISTRICT 2 Seats, 4-year term 3 Seats, 2-year unexpired term
COUNTY RECORDER, 4-year term
OVERTON POWER DISTRICT 1, OVERTON, 4-year term
COUNTY TREASURER, 4-year term
OVERTON POWER DISTRICT 2, LOGANDALE, 4-year term
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATOR, 4-year term
CITY OFFICE (ALL NONPARTISAN) HENDERSON MAYOR, CITY OF HENDERSON, 4-year term COUNCIL WARD III, CITY OF HENDERSON, 4-year term MUNICIPAL COURT JUDGE, DEPT. 2, CITY OF HENDERSON, 6-year term CITY OFFICE (ALL NONPARTISAN) LAS VEGAS COUNCILMAN WARD 2, CITY OF LAS VEGAS, 4-year term COUNCILMAN WARD 4, CITY OF LAS VEGAS, 4-year term COUNCILMAN WARD 6, CITY OF LAS VEGAS, 4-year term MUNICIPAL COURT JUDGE, DEPT. 1, CITY OF LAS VEGAS, 6-year term MUNICIPAL COURT JUDGE, DEPT. 4, CITY OF LAS VEGAS, 6-year term MUNICIPAL COURT JUDGE, DEPT. 6, CITY OF LAS VEGAS, 6-year term CITY OFFICE (ALL NONPARTISAN) MESQUITE COUNCIL MEMBER, SEAT 1, CITY OF MESQUITE, 4-year term COUNCIL MEMBER, SEAT 3, CITY OF MESQUITE, 4-year term COUNCIL MEMBER, SEAT 4, CITY OF MESQUITE, 4-year term
STATE AND DISTRICT NONPARTISAN OFFICES
OVERTON POWER DISTRICT 4, BUNKERVILLE, 4-year term
JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT, 6-year term Seats A and E
OVERTON POWER DISTRICT 6, MESQUITE, 4-year term
CITY OFFICE (ALL NONPARTISAN) NORTH LAS VEGAS
TOWN ADVISORY BOARD, BUNKERVILLE, 2-year term Vote for up to 5
MAYOR, CITY OF NORTH LAS VEGAS, 4-year term
COURT OF APPEALS JUDGE, 6-year term Department 1, 2, and 3 DISTRICT COURT JUDGE, 4-year unexpired term (Clark County Eighth Judicial District) Department 9 and 11 REGENT, STATE UNIVERSITY, 6-year term Districts 6, 7, 8* and 13 COUNTY NONPARTISAN OFFICE CONSTABLE, BOULDER TOWNSHIP, 4-year term CONSTABLE, BUNKERVILLE TOWNSHIP, 4-year term
TOWN ADVISORY BOARD, LAUGHLIN, 2-year term Vote for up to 5
COUNCIL MEMBER, WARD 3, CITY OF NORTH LAS VEGAS, 4-year term
TOWN ADVISORY BOARD, MOAPA, 2-year term Vote for up to 5 TOWN ADVISORY BOARD, MOAPA VALLEY, 2-year term Vote for up to 5 TOWN ADVISORY BOARD, SEARCHLIGHT, 2-year term Vote for up to 5 SHERIFF, 4-year term
CONSTABLE, GOODSPRINGS TOWNSHIP, 4-year term
CITY OFFICE (ALL NONPARTISAN) BOULDER CITY
CONSTABLE, HENDERSON TOWNSHIP, 4-year term
MAYOR, BOULDER CITY, 4-year term
COUNCIL MEMBER, WARD 1, CITY OF NORTH LAS VEGAS, 4-year term
MUNICIPAL COURT JUDGE, DEPT. 2, CITY OF NORTH LAS VEGAS, 6-year term TOWNSHIP NONPARTISAN OFFICES JUSTICE OF THE PEACE, LAS VEGAS TOWNSHIP, 6-year term Department 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 13, 14 and 16 JUSTICE OF THE PEACE, LAS VEGAS TOWNSHIP, 2-year unexpired term Department 10
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the County Seal at my office in North Las Vegas, Clark County, Nevada this 25th day of November 2021.
JOSEPH P. GLORIA Registrar of Voters (Seal)
PUB: NOVEMBER 25, 2021, Las Vegas Asian Journal
(702) 792-6678 • http://www.asianjournal.com
Date lin e USa
COVID-19 vaccine-or-test requirements increase work and costs for governments by AmAndA
michelle Gomez And Phil GAlewitz Kaiser Health News
AmAndA Kostroski, a 911 dispatcher in madison, Wisconsin, leaves her busy job once a week to go to a county health clinic to be tested for COVId-19. She’s been making the 15-minute drive from work since late September, when dane County mandated all employees get vaccinated or tested weekly. The testing is free, and she is typically back to work within an hour. Kostroski is among 10% of county employees who are unvaccinated and get weekly tests. She chose not to get immunized because she thinks the vaccines are too new and she fears side effects. Kostroski said she doesn’t understand the need for the shots or why vaccinated people are not tested, since they can sometimes also transmit the virus. “I think it’s pointless,” said Kostroski, 34, who has always tested negative. She’s been told by vaccinated colleagues that they feel burdened filling in for people getting tested. dane is one of several dozen counties, cities and states that require workers to get a covid vaccine or get tested regularly. While some employees complained
about the policy, county officials say, it helps keep the workplace safe with modest interruptions. They also say vaccinated workers don’t need testing because they are less likely to get infected and, if they do, are less likely to contract a severe case of covid. But it has been costly, often requiring governments to use federal covid relief dollars they would rather have spent elsewhere. Some private employers have adopted similar policies. And starting Jan. 4, the Biden administration will require private employers with 100 or more workers to insist on shots or weekly testing. But opposition to those mandates runs deep among some workers, unions and conservative leaders. more than two dozen Republican state attorneys general sued the administration, arguing the federal government lacks the authority. A federal appeals court agreed with them and temporarily blocked the order, and the case might end up before the Supreme Court. Still, these early efforts by state and local governments offer insights into what Biden’s rule might mean for the wider private sector as companies deal with setting up and paying for testing and then monitoring the results. The regimen adds more work
for government managers even in localities like dane County, where nearly 90% of adults are at least partly vaccinated. nationally, about 81% of adults are at least partly vaccinated against covid, although rates vary widely among states, according to the Centers for disease Control and Prevention. Jurisdictions run by conservative officials tend to have lower vaccination rates and are unlikely to require vaccinations or testing for workers — meaning experiences to date don’t reflect areas that have had strong opposition to vaccines and other covid requirements. Local and state governments that have embraced the testing option have done so because it straddles the line between creating a safe work environment and giving reluctant employees a way to opt out of the vaccine without losing their job. Blaire Bryant, associate legislative director for health at the national Association of Counties, said, “It’s too early to give a definitive answer on how well it’s going, but so far [we have] not heard any major issues.” Counties are relying on free covid testing in their communities, paying for it through federal covid relief dollars, or having PAGE 4
WAITING FOR VAX. Adults and teenagers wait for their second dose against COVID-19 at the Commonwealth General Hospital and Medical Center in Fairview, Quezon City on Monday, November 22. As of November 20, the National Task Force against COVID-19 said the Philippines has administered 73,921,542 doses of COVID-19 vaccines, with 32,993,083 Filipinos now fully vaccinated. PNA photo by Oliver Marquez
LAS VEGAS ASIAN JOURNAL • November 25-december 1, 2021
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November 25-december 1, 2021 • LAS veGAS ASIAN JoUrNAL
Date lin e USa
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Rep. Lee, Assemblymember Nguyen mobilize... Report: 1 in 5 AAPIs experienced a hate... PAGE 1 Investment and Jobs Act and the Build Back Better Act. Meanwhile, Nguyen spoke about AAPI representation in government and its impact on policies and resources for the growing community. Other attendees included AAPI Democratic Caucus Chair Angelyn Tabalba, Marcus Manabat, the DCCC’s AAPI Constituency Organizing Director in Nevada, community leader Gloria Caoile, and representatives of various local organizations. “Home means Nevada to one of the fastest-growing AAPI populations in the country, and I’m proud to be working with the DCCC and Nevada Democrats to engage our community earlier
than ever before. As a young Filipino American and Nevadan, I’m so passionate about this work because it’s very personal — I’m always thinking of new ways to engage more Pinoys in politics and ensure AAPI voters across
the Silver State have the tools we need to make our voices heard next November,” said Manabat. AAPIs comprise 10% of the Silver State’s electorate, with 61% of them living in Clark County alone. n
COVID-19 vaccine-or-test requirements... PAGE 3 their health insurance companies foot the bill. Local governments have a smorgasbord of policies on who is subject to the vaccine-or-test requirement and how it’s enforced. For example, all unvaccinated employees of San Diego County, California, who do not work in a health care setting need to provide proof of weekly testing to their supervisor, said spokesperson Michael Workman. Miami-Dade County’s policy applies only to nonunion workers, or about 9% of its 29,000 employees. About 380 undergo weekly testing. The Florida county is still negotiating with unions about adding the requirement. Virginia’s Department of Corrections requires unvaccinated employees who work in crowded settings to get tested every three days, and the rest, every seven days. And the expense? It cost the department nearly $7,000 to test 442 staff members over two days in October. The state is tapping federal covid relief funds to pay for the testing. Securing scarce testing supplies can be difficult. The Virginia State Police had to wait more than a month to start a testing program in part because of delays in delivery. While the Biden administration hoped its rule would motivate more people to get vaccinated, counties have had mixed results. Officials in Fairfax County, Virginia, outside Washington, D.C., said they have not seen a signifi-
cant increase in employees submitting vaccination verification since its mandatory shot policy took effect in October. More than 80% of county employees are vaccinated. The county distributes and pays for self-administered tests for its 2,300 employees who need them, said spokesperson Dawn Nieters. The cost ranges from $35 for a rapid test to $53 for a PCR test, considered the gold standard for detecting covid. Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, which includes Charlotte, did see the needle move. Employees there are responsible for getting their own tests. The vaccination rate jumped from 62% to 85% one month after the requirement was implemented in early September. George Dunlap, chairman of Mecklenburg’s Board of County Commissioners, said he prefers the vaccine-or-test requirement to a vaccine-only mandate because “you have to allow for human behavior that might be different than yours.” But he isn’t sure the policy will encourage any more workers to get vaccinated. “The people that I know personally who decided to do the testing are still getting testing. They didn’t change their mind about the vaccination,” he said. Some health experts question the value of testing as a backup and instead favor mandating the shots. “A vaccine-and/or-testing policy is second best,” said Jeffrey Levi, a professor of health management and policy at George
Washington University. “A testing policy catches a problem early. It doesn’t prevent a problem, whereas the vaccination requirement helps to prevent it.” Marc Elrich, the executive in Montgomery County, Maryland, in suburban Washington, supports a vaccine-only mandate in theory but worries imposing it would result in workers leaving for jobs in neighboring jurisdictions without similar requirements. “I wish the federal government would impose a [vaccine-only] mandate, because if the feds were to do it, there wouldn’t be any job portability,” said Elrich. “I wouldn’t have to deal with an employee’s ability to go from, particularly in this region, Montgomery County Police Department to pretty much every other police department around here.” Robb Pitts, who chairs the Fulton County Board of Commissioners in Atlanta, would also like to do away with the testing option. “But I don’t think my colleagues would necessarily go along with that,” he said. About a third of county employees have opted for testing instead of vaccination. “Why did I compromise? Because I felt, well, we had to do something,” Pitts said. “A lot of times, politics is the art of compromise.” According to Pitts’ office, Fulton County saw its largest increase in vaccinations since May in September, when the vaccineor-test policy was implemented. The vaccination rate now hovers around 72%. n
PAGE 1 incidents take place in public, and women — who comprise 62% of the reports — are more likely to be the targets. Stop AAPI Hate’s finding coincides with other survey findings. Last month, a survey from NPR and Harvard found that 1 in 4 Asian Americans feared their families would be attacked because of their race. In the spring, Morning Consult relased a report that found that 3 in 5 Asian adults feel that the rise in anti-Asian harassment and violence greatly affected their mental health. Notably, Asian American respondents with a high school education (41.2%) are experiencing hate twice as much as those with college degrees (19.8%). One in three Asian American parents also reported their child was targeted in a hate
incident at school. “It’s tragic but not surprising that Asian Americans with lower education levels are experiencing more hate,” said Cynthia Choi, co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate and coexecutive director of Chinese for Affirmative Action, in a statement. “Anti-Asian hate is tied to systemic racism against our community. Stopping hate is not about quick fixes like law enforcement but about deeper investment in our communities.” The hate crime tracker — which gathers self-reported hate incidents via website submissions — has been tracking anti-Asian hate since the beginning of the pandemic when anti-Asian xenophobic harassment began rising. Stop AAPI Hate has been among the leading organizations pushing for more community-
based solutions and investment from lawmakers to prioritize solutions that address anti-AAPI harassment, discrimination, and violence. “The levels of Asian American children experiencing hate in school is devastatingly high,” Russell Jeung, co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate and professor of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University, said in a statement. “There needs to be an urgent push toward incorporating solutions that promote racial understanding in schools, including through investment in Ethnic Studies.” Victims can anonymously report the details of an incident on the website after which they will prompted questions about how they feel about what happened and if they’ve sought any legal or emotional counsel. n
Attorney General Bonta co-leads multistate... PAGE 1 than any other state in the country. “From defending DACA in court to supporting new federal efforts to fortify it, California will continue to lead the way in standing up for our nation’s Dreamers,” said Bonta. “DACA is critical, it is needed, and it’s important we get these updated regulations done. DACA recipients — many of whom are on the front lines of this pandemic — deserve to have peace of mind about their status. Bottom line: For hundreds of thousands of Dreamers across the country, home is here. They continue to show up for our communities and we’re going to keep showing up for them.” The DACA program has allowed recipients to live, study, and work across the United States free from the fear of being forcibly separated from their families and communities. DACA has enabled hundreds of thousands of grantees to enroll in colleges and universities, complete their education, start businesses that help improve our economy, and give back to our communities as teachers, medical professionals, engineers, and entrepreneurs — all on the books. These contributions became especially evident as the deadly coronavirus pandemic began to sweep through the nation and thousands of DACA recipients stood, and continue to stand, on the frontlines as essential workers. As of April 2020, an estimated 27,000 healthcare workers and support staff depend on DACA for their authorization to work in the United States, including nurses, dentists, pharmacists, physician assistants, home health aides, technicians, and others. DACA has also advanced public health and societal interests in another way: by giving its recipients the opportunity to procure employer-provided health insurance, which has been particularly critical as the states fight the COVID-19 pandemic. In the comment letter, the coalition asserts, among other things: • DACA has public safety and public health benefits for the states;
Attorney General Rob Bonta
• The states benefit economically from DACA and DACA recipients; • DACA and DACA recipients are important to the states’ higher education institutions; • The states have adopted laws, regulations, and programs in reliance on DACA; and • Opponents of DACA are unable to substantiate any alleged harms. In filing the comment letter, Attorney General Bonta is joined by the attorneys general of New Jersey, New York, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia. n
Dateline PhiliPPines
LAS VEGAS ASIAN JOURNAL • November 25-december 1, 2021
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5
PAL reroutes more flights to alternative gateways by richmond
mercurio Philstar.com
MANILA — Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) is rerouting flights to alternative gateways outside Manila to accommodate the high demand this holiday season and prevent greater inconvenience. “We are utilizing new ports of entry to accommodate more returning Filipinos and prevent cancellations of flights due to arrival limit at NAIA,” PAL said. “Our top priority is to help more of you fly home for the holidays,” the airline said. International arrivals to Manila are currently limited to 4,000 passengers daily, which are shared by all international airlines. Given this existing cap at
NAIA, PAL has recently rerouted flights from Bangkok to Panglao, Los Angeles and San Francisco to Cebu, Kuala Lumpur to Laoag, Doha to Subic, and Dubai to Subic, Davao or Cebu, among others. “We realize that any change of routing affects your travel plans and regret the inconvenience. However, we believe this is better than scaling back on flights that would make it harder for Filipinos to proceed with their homecoming plans,” PAL said. “With December just around the corner, we recognize that more and more of you need to find a way to fly home and reunite with your families. With the help of enlightened government intervention to open up alternative airports and liberalize
health and quarantine protocols, we will do our best to adjust our network so that we can fly more people home and support the revival of our local economy,” it said. PAL said passengers whose flights are rerouted to a new gateway may complete their quarantine at their port of entry in any accredited hotel. They can also fly onward to their final booked destination with PAL at no extra cost. “Philippine Airlines welcomes the latest government decision to increase the strict limits on flying overseas passengers into Manila. We continue to appeal for further increases that will help us add more flights on more routes from Asia, the Middle East, Australia and North America,” the airline said. n
PARU-PARO FEST. Colorful butterfly lanterns adorn the light posts along Emilio Aguinaldo Highway in Dasmariñas City, Cavite on Sunday, November 21. The city will celebrate its founding anniversary on November 26 with the staging of the Paru-Paro Festival to symbolize the city’s transformation through the years. PNA photo by Avito Dalan
‘There are things I have to do before retiring’- Duterte PNP defers to Comelec on drug testing for candidates
MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday, November 22 said he ditched his plan to retire from politics after his term ends in June next year because there are still goals he wants to achieve. “There are just things that I have to do before retiring. But not really staying for something na (that) it’s no longer our time,” Duterte said in a speech in General Santos City. He did not elaborate what these goals are but reiterated that “there’s always a time for everything.” “A time to be great, a time to be small, a time to be a shining star, but a time to fade and just maghanap ka na lang ng kanto kung saan magkakasya. Ganoon ang tingin namin sa buhay namin (look for a place to fit in. That’s what we think about life),” he added. Duterte said it does not really matter if his administration was remembered for their accomplishments because it is their job to serve the country and people. “We do not really care if we are remembered or not. That’s something na (that’s) irrelevant kasi (because) as I have said trabaho
namin ‘yan (it’s our job) and we are just doing what we are supposed to do,” he said. On October 2, Duterte announced that he will retire from politics. He, however, surprised many when he filed his candidacy for senator via a representative in the 2022 elections. His certificate of candidacy was filed by representative Melchor Aranas during the last day of the filing of statements of withdrawal and substitution at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Intramuros, Manila on November 15. He substituted a certain Mona Liza Visorde, who withdrew her certificate of candidacy for senator. Duterte, who chairs the ruling Partido Demokratiko Pilipino– Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), is running for senator under Pederalismo ng Dugong Dakilang Samahan (PDDS), an allied party of the PDP-Laban. The PDP-Laban earlier planned to field Duterte as vice president with his long-time aide, Senator Christopher “Bong” Go as president. He later withdrew his vice
by Franco Luna Philstar.com
President Rodrigo Duterte Malacañang photo by Ace Morandante
presidential bid in consideration of public sentiment that his intent to seek the second top post violates the Constitution. He was referring to the June 23 to 26 polls conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS), which showed that 60 percent of 1,200 adult Filipinos believed that his vice-presidential run could violate the intention of the Constitution, “which should be amended first before he may run for office again.” (Azer Parrocha/PNA)
MANILA — The Philippine National Police said it would take the cue from the Commission on Elections on procedural guidelines on the possibility of mandatory drug testing for national candidates after President Rodrigo Duterte’s nallegation that an unnamed presidential aspirant uses cocaine renewed talk of drug tests for candidates. Comelec said the Supreme Court has long ruled that a proposal to make drug tests mandatory is unconstitutional. “The most that we can do is to support the suggestion for political aspirants to submit themselves to a voluntary drug test to prove to their followers and supporters that they are clean,” Police Gen. Dionardo Carlos, the chief of the PNP, told reporters in a press briefing on Monday, November 22. “We will be ready to facilitate, and we can use our PNP Forensic Group, but let us cross the bridge when we get there,” he said, pointing out that there are no orders for that at the moment.
“Once the result is out, the PNP will immediately submit it to the requesting body. An investigation will follow if someone will test positive for drug use,” he said of potential drug tests. Sen. Panfilo Lacson and Senate President Vicente Sotto III — candidates for president and vice president — have undergone voluntary drug tests. Most candidates have indicated they are willing to take drug tests. No timeline for ‘fact-finding’ review so far Carlos earlier said that Duterte’s public accusations prompted “fact-finding” by the PNP’s anti-drug unit, though he was quick to clarify that no formal investigation had actually been launched yet. The chief executive made the allegation in a speech last week, a move reminiscent of the campaign period of the 2019 mid-term elections. Duterte, whose administration’s flagship “drug war” has killed thousands according to police data, did not name the candidate nor provide evidence to support his allegation.
Speaking in an interview aired over CNN Philippines’ “The Source” on Monday morning, Carlos also said that the possible probe is purely an initiative of the PNP and is not a result of a direct order from the president. He could not directly answer whether or not the PNP investigators would have to consult the president in order to investigate the claim, or whether the information would have to come from the commander-in-chief. “That can be undertaken [but] that’s presidential information. We’ll take action; if the president will give us the name, then we will work on it,” he said. “We’re going back to the lists and data...I can’t say who it is specifically, but at the end of the day, we have an effort to identify the person.” Asked if the PNP has a timeline on its fact-finding on the president’s allegation, Carlos said: “Well, why put a timeline? It’s a daily thing that we do to accomplish the task. They are professional enough to work on it. I don’t think I have to tell them to finish it in a week. We will work on it.” n
6
NOVEMBER 25-DECEMBER 1, 2021 • LAS VEGAS ASIAN JOURNAL
OPINION
Preventing a resurgence
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FEATURES
AFTER jumping to 2,227 new cases on Sunday, November 21, COVID infections again fell below 1,000 yesterday for the first time in a week. The daily tally of 984 did not include data from five laboratories, according to the Department of Health. dOH officials have repeatedly warned the public against complacency as pandemic restrictions are eased to revive the economy in the final quarter of the year and allow people to have some cheer during the Christmas season. In Europe, restrictions are being reimposed in several countries amid a fresh surge in COVId cases attributed to the highly contagious delta strain and its sub-variant that is said to be even more infectious. Beginning nov. 22, Austria became the first European country to reimpose a full COVId lockdown, with Germany saying it might do the same, sending jitters through financial markets. The netherlands has been under partial lockdown since nov. 13. Beginning Feb. 1 next year, vaccination will also be required for all Austrians. Even with new infections slowing in the Philippines, health experts have also pointed out that COVId deaths remain high. Last Sunday, 175 deaths were recorded; 99 were added on monday, november 22, bringing the total to 45,808. The numbers
do not include the people who die after recovering from the illness but suffer from post-COVId complications such as cardiac and respiratory problems. As restrictions on minors are lifted, there is also growing concern about pediatric infections, since most children are not yet vaccinated against COVId. Tracking infection trends, the OCTA Research Group says daily cases could go down to as low as 500 by december, allowing metro manila to be eased to the lowest Alert Level 1 – but only if people continue strictly observing COVId safety protocols. Tossing out those protocols is one of the reasons being cited for the resurgence of COVId in Europe. masking and physical distancing have been junked even as vaccine hesitancy persists in many areas, while efficacy of the jabs has also started waning among the first groups to be inoculated. The world is now seeing the consequences of all these factors. If Filipinos want to avoid a return to lockdowns, there must be no room for complacency. (Philstar.com)
Editorial
The Fil-Am Perspective GEL SANTOS-RELOS THAnKSGIVInG is a very special holiday, very much like Christmas minus the tree and decorations, gift giving, carols, and festive parties. But like Christmas, such love and beauty of the season makes our hearts sing praises of joy and thanksgiving, especially when our family gather together, hold hands in prayer before our Thanksgiving feast, acknowledging the pure solemnity of the moment that we have everything within our reach all that are essential and important — our life, our family, our faith. However, when there are dark clouds hovering over us, when times are so difficult and the pain becomes excruciatingly hard to bear, when the toxicity of lies and deception cause us to be blind to what is real and what is important, when the hurdles of sickness, loneliness, lack cause us to lose hope, it becomes so hard to pray to offer praise and thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving reflections: Offer the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving to God even before He answers our prayers It is easy to offer praise and thanksgiving when times are great, when people get along in harmony, when our plans go well, when we get what we want, but what if these are not real in our life? It does not require much faith to praise and thank God when the good times are rolling. But what about in the bad times? This is when the test of our faith comes in. The Bible says “bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord. For I will cause to return the captivity of the land, as at the first, saith the Lord.” (Jeremiah 33:11). It is thought provoking why the word “sacrifice” was used in this verse. But this is what God asks of us — to offer praise and thanksgiving even in the midst of our pains, suffering, hopelessness as our sacrifice, because a sacrifice is something that is hard to do , especially under these circumstances. But we do them anyway — to offer the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving because of
OUR two-day meeting with officials of the Pentagon and the department of State for the 9th Bilateral Strategic dialogue (BSd) between the Philippines and the United States went extremely well with our signing of a “Joint Vision Statement for a 21st Century United StatesPhilippines Partnership” that outlines the areas of cooperation that would definitely boost and strengthen our military and economic ties. I have attended three of these dialogues but I must say this is probably the most significant one that will clearly define our relationship with the United States. The U.S. delegation was headed by Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs daniel Kritenbrink and Assistant Secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Ely Ratner, along with deputy Assistant Secretary of defense for South and Southeast Asia Lindsey Ford, Acting Principal deputy Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Oceans and Inter-
our strong faith in God that He will answer our prayers, that He will make everything work together for our good. This Thanksgiving day, let me share with you some messages of hope that we can hold on to. Whatever it is we are going through as a person, as a family, as a nation, remember to keep the faith that this, too, shall pass. Weeping may endure for the night but joys comes in the morning. God promises beauty for ashes. But let us do our part — pray, believe, offer praise and thanksgiving, and God will reward us. “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” Phil 4:6 “Being thankful is not always experienced as a natural state of existence, we must work at it, akin to a type of strength training for the heart.” - Larissa Gomez See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to
do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. -1 Thessalonians 5:1518 “I don’t have to chase extraordinary moments to find happiness - it’s right in front of me if I’m paying attention and practicing gratitude.” - Brene Brown “…to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair” Isaiah 61:3 “Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” - melody Beattie “Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.” Col. 2:7 “When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around.” - Willie nelson
“The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart exults, And with my song I shall thank Him.” Ps. 28:7 “I looked around and thought about my life. I felt grateful. I noticed every detail. That is the key to time travel. You can only move if you are actually in the moment. You have to be where you are to get to where you need to go.” - Amy Poehler “I will praise the name of God with song, and shall magnify Him with thanksgiving.” Ps. 69:30 “I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.” - Gilbert K. Chesterton Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. -James 1:2-4
“If you concentrate on finding whatever is good in every situation, you will discover that your life will suddenly be filled with gratitude, a feeling that nurtures the soul.” “He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.” - Epictetus Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever. -Psalm 107:1 Happy blessed meaningful Thanksgiving! *** The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Asian Journal, its management, editorial board and staff.
*** Gel Santos Relos has been in news, talk, public service and educational broadcasting since 1989 with ABS-CBN and is now serving the Filipino audience using different platforms, including digital broadcasting, and print, and is working on a new public service program for the community. You may contact her through email at gelrelos@ icloud.com, or send her a message via Facebook at Facebook.com/Gel.Santos. Relos.
BSD: A vision for US-PH relations in the coming decade
Babe’s Eye View BABE ROMUALDEZ
Philstar.com photo
national Environmental and Scientific Affairs Valda VikmanisKeller, Assistant Legal Adviser for the East Asian and Pacific Affairs Bureau Robert Harris and USAId deputy Assistant Administrator Craig Hart. I headed the Philippine delegation with defense Undersecretary Cardozo Luna, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary ma. Theresa Lazaro and Asst. Secretary for American Affairs Kira Azucena, along with Trade Undersecretary Ceferino Rodolfo, Justice Undersecretary Adrian Ferdinand Sugay, defense Assistant Secretary Teodoro Cirilo Torralba and experts from the departments of Agriculture, Finance, Foreign Affairs, Justice, national defense and Trade and Industry, as well as the Office of the President, Anti-money Laundering Council, Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine nuclear Research Institute. Our discussions were pretty much straightforward on a wide range of issues that include mutual security and defense, particularly in the Indo-Pacific region, maritime issues, emerging common threats such as cybercrimes, transnational crimes
and terrorist networks, trafficking in persons, the pandemic, clean energy, climate change and other mutual concerns. With so many challenges we faced compounded by the pandemic, we at the embassy in Washington, dC had to double up in extensively making the relationship stronger and more stable and, most especially, more meaningful because we are marking 75 years of diplomatic relations and 70 years of the 1951 mutual defense Treaty. These are the key pillars in our bilateral defense and security relations. Shortly following President Biden’s victory in the nov. 3 U.S. presidential elections last year, we immediately reached out to Biden’s key advisers so as not to lose time in building our relationship. The BSd is an annual consultative mechanism to discuss the full range of political, security and economic cooperation between the Philippines and the United States and, as I said, this is probably the best of the lot with the joint vision statement clearly cut in terms of the direction where the partnership is headed, and the commitments made by our two coun-
tries given the changing geopolitical landscape and emerging challenges exacerbated by the COVId-19 pandemic. Obviously, one of the key challenges that both nations face today involves the situation in the South China Sea. In the joint vision statement, both nations recognized the importance of diplomatic efforts in “building an international coalition that supports the international law-based maritime order” and share the view that “China’s expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea are inconsistent with the international law of the sea” as reflected in the Un Convention on the Law of the Sea and the unanimous July 12, 2016 arbitral award that the Philippines asserted once again during the virtual 11th ASEAn maritime Forum last Tuesday, nov. 16. The recent incident in Ayungin Shoal where Chinese Coast Guard vessels blocked and water sprayed Philippine Coast Guard boats on a resupply mission is a clear example of why the 1951 mutual defense Treaty is critical, particularly the Article IV obligations to respond to an armed attack on either the
U.S. or the Philippines in the Pacific area. Certainly, we welcome the position of the U.S. as articulated in a July 13, 2020 statement that the Pacific area includes the South China Sea. not surprisingly, the latest act of aggression displayed by the Chinese has sparked outrage and condemnation not only from legislators and Cabinet officials that include Secretary Locsin, who told the Chinese to “back off,” and acting presidential spokesman Karlo nograles who said, “We will continue to assert our sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction over our territory,” but also local leaders in the municipality of Kalayaan who denounced the bullying as “a gross infringement of our sovereignty and a grave intrusion of our waters.” many Fil-Ams are outraged, even going so far as to say that the filing of diplomatic protests is “not enough,” considering the continued aggression displayed by China, claiming almost all of the South China Sea – which is simply preposterous. We proposed that the BSd working groups continue working together regularly to address current realities and
challenges, and that frank exchanges and regular interactions between both sides must be sustained to keep our momentum. Obviously, we must also continue efforts to enhance the defense capabilities of our Armed Forces given the current geopolitical tensions. To this end, avenues will be pursued, including funding arrangements, to strengthen the alliance. After all, it is in the best interest of both nations to have a strong and capable Philippine military that can significantly contribute to the partnership in the area of defense and security. Together with Secretary Locsin and Secretary Lorenzana, we are confident the work we have done in reinforcing the special relationship between the United States and the Philippines will meet common challenges we will face in the next decade and beyond. *** The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Asian Journal, its management, editorial board and staff.
*** Email: babeseyeview@gmail.com
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Date lin e Ph iliP P in e s
ICC suspends probe into PH drug war by ritChel
Mendiola AJPress
ThE International Criminal Court (ICC) has suspended its investigation into the killings linked to Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-narcotics crackdown following a deferral request from the Philippine government. “The prosecution has temporarily suspended its investigative activities while it assesses the scope and effect of the deferral request,” ICC prosecutor Karim Khan wrote in a court notification dated November 18. “The Prosecution will, however, continue its analysis of information already in its possession as well as of any new information it may receive from third parties, and actively assess the need for applications to the pre-trial chamber for authority to conduct necessary investigative steps for the preservation of evidence under Article 18(6) of the Statute,” he added. Based on court documents released by the ICC, Philippine Ambassador to the Netherlands Eduardo Malaya requested the deferral on November 10, in which he said that the administration was already looking into the alleged crimes against humanity committed during the
Marie Inquirer.net
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MANILA — Presidential aspirant Senator Panfilo Lacson and vice presidential running mate Senate President Vicente Sotto III underwent a voluntary drug test on Monday, November 22. Lacson and Sotto went to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) headquarters to take the test. “Magkaalaman na kung sino matatapang,” Sotto said. (Let’s see who’s brave enough.) According to Sotto, PDEA used a multi-drug testing kit on him and Lacson. “What we underwent was not the ordinary testing. PDEA uses a MULTI DRUG testing kit. It can check all types of illegal drugs. Encompassing holistic drug tests,” Sotto said. “Ordinary testing only checks marijuana and shabu,” he added. The tandem decided to be
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ippine government. “This, however, does not preclude the government from communicating with the ICC, and it should be stressed that the government’s communication to the ICC was conditioned on the fact that in making that communication the Philippine government was not waiving its position regarding the ICC’s lack of jurisdiction,” he said. “In any event, we welcome the judiciousness of the new ICC prosecutor, who has deemed it fit to give the matter a fresh look and we trust that the matter will be resolved in favor of the exoneration of our government and the recognition of the vibrancy of our justice system,” DIFFERENT VAX. Jennifer Alejos (left), a nurse of the Dasmariñas City Health Office, administers free measles, rubella, and tetanus-diphtheria he added. vaccines for children aged six and seven and 12 and 13 at the Molino Homes 2 covered court in Barangay Salitran 3 in Cavite on Saturday, Meanwhile, former presiden- November 21. The Department of Health and local governments are spearheading the supplemental immunization activity. PNA photo by Gil Calinga tial spokesperson harry Roque said that the ICC’s decision is proof that the Philippine institutions are “working.” “This order is a recognition that the Philippine institutions MANILA — President Rodrigo China Sea “provide legal clar- Bilateral Consultation Mechaare working and that the ICC Duterte, speaking at a regional ity…pointing us to a just and fair nism on the South China Sea. The will not exercise original juris- summit with China, has raised solution to our disputes,” the Pal- mechanism, established in 2016, diction precisely because sover- the issue of Chinese ships block- ace also said. is meant as a venue for parties eignty and jurisdiction provides ing efforts to resupply Philippine The Palace said the president to address differences and ease that it is Philippine authorities troops on Ayungin Shoal, the urged China to remain com- tensions. that must investigate, punish, Palace said Monday, November mitted to working towards “the “There is simply no other way and prosecute these alleged in- 22. conclusion of an effective and out of this colossal problem but stances of illegal killings in conAccording to a Palace state- substantive Code of Conduct in the rule of law,” the Palace quotes nection with the drug war,” he ment, Duterte raised the South the South China Sea”, a goal that Duterte as saying. The president said Sunday, Nov. 21. n China Sea issue at the ASEAN- ASEAN and China have been has repeatedly said that the Philippines does not stand a chance China Special Summit to Com- working on for decades. Absent a binding code of con- against China and has cautioned memorate the 30th Anniversary of Dialogue Relations, where he duct among claimants in the against escalating tension bestressed that the dispute cannot South China Sea, the Philippines tween the two nations over the be solved by force. Manila calls and China have put in place the South China Sea. (Philstar.com) parts of the South China within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone the West Philippine Sea. “We abhor the recent event in the Ayungin Shoal and view with grave concern other similar developments. This does not speak well of the relations between our nations and our partnership,” Duterte said, referring to Chinese coast guard vessels blocking and water-cannoning two Presidential aspirant Senator Panfilo Lacson and vice presidential running mate Senate supply boats headed to Ayungin President Vicente Sotto III undergo a drug test at the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Shoal last week. (PDEA) headquarters. Photo from Sotto’s office According to the Armed Forces of the Philippines, some of the drug tested after President Ro- dent was not referring to him. “I have never been addicted Chinese ships have left Ayungin drigo Duterte last week accused a presidential aspirant of using to drugs all my life, so I have no Shoal — where a Philippine Navy problem with that. In fact, we ship is grounded and serves as cocaine. While he did not give the per- should all undergo random test- an outpost — leaving only two son’s name, Duterte hinted that ing to make it more credible. I Chinese coast guard vessels in the aspirant comes from a well- understand drug toxins may dis- the area as of Sunday. Duterte stressed that the UN known and rich clan, whose fam- sipate after 72 hours,” Lacson Covenant on the Law of the Sea ily name means “strong” and is said in a previous statement. Other presidential bets have and a 2016 arbitral ruling invaliknown for its patriarch. Earlier, Lacson said he is likewise said they are willing to dating China’s sweeping ninedash-line claim over the South “1,000%” certain that the Presi- be drug tested. n drug war. Malaya also said that the Philippine government “has undertaken, and continues to undertake, thorough investigations of all reported deaths during anti-narcotic operations in the country.” In September, the ICC’s pretrial chamber found a “reasonable basis” to proceed with a full investigation into Duterte’s bloody war against illegal drugs. The decision was signed by Presiding Judge Péter Kovács, Judge Reine Adélaïde Sophie Alapini-Gansou, and Judge María del Socorro Flores Liera. “On the basis of the above, the Chamber concludes that there is a reasonable basis for the Prosecutor to proceed with an investigation, in the sense that the crime against humanity of murder appears to have been committed, and that potential case(s) arising from such investigation appear to fall within the Court’s jurisdiction,” the judges said. No jurisdiction For its part, Malacañang welcomed the ICC’s decision to suspend its drug war probe. Acting Presidential Spokesperson and Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles on Saturday, Nov. 21, maintained that the ICC has no jurisdiction over the Phil-
Lacson, Sotto take multi-drug test by Christia
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Fil-Ams Olivia Rodrigo, H.E.R., Saweetie, Bruno Mars earn several Grammy nominations by AJPress THE 64th annual Grammy Awards are shaping up to be a prideful event for the Filipino American community as artists Olivia Rodrigo, H.E.R, Saweetie, Bruno Mars and Elle King bagged several key nominations. The nominees were announced on Tuesday, November 23, with Grammy Award-winning H.E.R. leading the Fil-Am pack with eight nods, followed by Rodrigo with seven.
H.E.R., who was born to a Filipina mother and an African American father, landed nominations in many of the top categories including Album of the Year and Song of the Year. She was also nominated for Best R&B album, Best R&B Song, Best R&B Performance, Best Traditional R&B Performance, Best Song Written for Visual Media, and Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song. “8 NOMS??????????? ONLY GOD. Thank you to all the peo-
After a record-breaking year, Olivia Rodrigo has become the first Filipina and second-youngest artist to receive nominations in all four top categories at the 2022 Grammys.
ple that helped create these records!!!!! WOOOOOO 23 nominations at 24,” she wrote in an Instagram post after the announcement. This year’s breakout star, 18year-old Rodrigo, became the first Filipina and second-youngest artist to receive nominations in all four top categories: Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist. She also picked up nominations for Best Pop Vocals Album, Best Pop Solo Performance, and Best Music Video. The Disney star took to Instagram to express her excitement over the announcement. “Woke up this morning to 7 Grammy nominations. When I was younger, my family lived a few blocks from the staples center, where the Grammys took place every year. I would always walk outside the arena and look at the plaques on the ground with all the winners names in wide eyed wonder,” wrote Rodrigo. “Many dreams have come true for me this year but this one is probably the most meaningful. thank you to everyone who has believed in me and supported the songs I write,” she added. “I’m beyond humbled. Truly a Rapper Saweetie has bagged two nods: Best New Artist and Best Rap Song for “Best Friend,” alongside Doja Cat. day I will never forget. So grateful.” Meanwhile, Saweetie earned two nods: Best New Artist and Best Rap Song for “Best Friend,” which features fellow Grammy nominee Doja Cat. “2X GRAMMY NOMINATED IKDR !!!!!” the Icy rapper said on Instagram.
Four-time Grammy Award-winning R&B artist H.E.R. will be up for eight categories, including Album of the Year and Song of the Year
Silk Sonic, a duo consisting of Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak, has been nominated for the hit single “Leave the Door Open.”
She added, “I’m speechless. I wish I had the words to express how I feel but I’m just so grateful!!!!!!! Being acknowledged for all the hard work me and my team have been doing feels AMAZINNNNNG.” Saweetie was born to an African American father and Filipina-Chinese mother. She recently made her musical debut on “Saturday Night Live” by performing her brand new single “Icy Chain.” Silk Sonic, which comprises Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak, garnered nominations for “Leave the Door Open” — Record of the Year, Song of The Year, Best R&B Performance and Best R&B Song. Meanwhile, Elle King — who is of Filipino descent through her father Rob Schneider — is nominated for Best Country Duo/ Group Performance alongside Miranda Lambert for “Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home).” The 2022 Grammys Awards show will take place on January 31, 2022 in Los Angeles. It will be aired on the CBS Television Network and streamed live and on demand on Paramount+.
Saweetie makes ‘Saturday Night Live’ debut by
AJPress
BLACK and Filipina American hip-hop darling Saweetie performed a brand new single as she made her musical debut on “Saturday Night Live” over the weeked. The 28-year-old rapper on Saturday, November 20, performed new single “Icy Chain” in front of massive lit-up block letters spelling out “ICY.” She also performed a medley of her hits such as “Tap In” and “Best Friend,” which originally featured Doja Cat. Released on Friday, Nov. 19, ahead of her SNL guest appearance, “Icy Chain” will be included on Saweetie’s long-awaited debut album, “Pretty Bitch Music,” which has been pushed to 2022. “Pretty Bitch Music was supposed to come out this month, but I was really living with it,” she said during an interview with Big Tigger in June. “And one of my goals is for people to really feel something with every song, so I had to go back and reconstruct some songs. Just know that I’m a perfectionist, and it’s on the way,” she added. In a separate interview, Saweetie told Billboard: “This album needs to have feelings, it needs to have soul, it needs to have spirit. And I have a lot of room for improvement, so I’m gonna work on that.” Saweetie, whose real name is Diamonté Quiava Valentin Harper, was born to an African Ameri
Saweetie
can father and Filipina-Chinese mother. In September this year, she put her Filipino and Black heritage on display at the 2021 Met Gala, where the theme was “American Independence.” She wore a rose-colored Christian Cowan gown with an iridescent train split in two panels. One panel had the colors black and red to represent the Black American heritage flag, while the other
Photo from Instagram_@saweetie
panel had red, yellow, blue, and white for the Philippine flag. In a previous interview with the Asian Journal, Saweetie said her mother reminded her to speak up about her background and culture. “I remember my mom telling me that it’s important for me to share my heritage, to share my culture. So anytime that it makes sense, I do let people know that I am half-Filipina,” she said.
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SFIO acquires PH-based tech and software development hub LNS+ to establish global, cross-industry innovation ecosystem RECENTLY, OTC:SFIO Starfleet Innotech, Inc. (Smokefree Innotec, Inc.) announced its acquisition of Philippinebased software development company LEENTech Network Solutions (LNS+), marking the asset management company’s new direction towards technology development. With LNS+ and its subsidiaries now on board, SFIO is formalizing the team into their new Technology and Software Development Division. According to SFIO CEO and Chairman Jeths Lacson, this new expansion kicks off a fiveyear innovation roadmap of transformative collaborations across each of the company’s five divisions: Franchising, Food Manufacturing and Distribution, Coffee, Property Development, and the recently-formed Technology and Software Development. With 11 years of operation, LNS+ has established itself as a leading hub for technological excellence in the Philippines. Today, the company and its subsidiaries command a growing roster of over forty engineers, designers, systems architects, UX specialists, blockchain developers, and project managers. In addition, they’ve partnered with over 17 universities to build a sustainable and thriving talent pool. Altogether, LNS+ represents a fully fleshed-out ecosystem of tech builders. With this lat-
est acquisition, SFIO now fully owns and operates six ecosystem players: • LEENTech Network Solutions – Software & Platform Development • Webworx Design Studio – Web Development, UI and UX Design, and Graphic Design • Qalidad Solutions – Software Testing and Quality Assurance (Department Unit) • Voltz Security – Vulnerability Assessment and Security (Department Unit) • Livewire365 – Server Architecture and Maintenance • DHQ Digital Marketing – Digital Marketing Services. “With the LNS+ teams formalized into our new tech division, all our existing businesses and future businesses immediately benefit from having a full suite of digital transformation partners,” Lacson said. Now, Lacson plans to scale their digital transformation efforts globally with the establishment of tech innovation hubs across key strategic regions. LNS+ Founder Richard F. Prodigalidad, who now serves as the CEO of SFIO’s Technology and Software Development Division, sees this as both a fulfillment of his ambitions for LNS+, as well as an evolution of its mission. “When I founded LNS+ back in 2010, my original mission was to develop technologies that would be used throughout the world,” said Prodigalidad.
“With SFIO’s expansion plans to establish tech hubs in New Zealand, Australia, Dubai, and the United States, that original mission is really becoming a reality in a very concrete way.” “I built LEENTech to be a startup enabler, launching dozens of tech projects and spinning them off into their own businesses,” Prodigalidad said. “It’s easy to build an app or a website, but to launch a company – that takes more than code. Our mission at LNS+ was to invest in talent, nurture engineers and designers into entrepreneurs and leaders. As an asset management company, SFIO has the same mission – to build leaders. By investing in talent, what we’re really doing is giving them the best possible shot at long-term success.” With the establishment of their global hubs, that goal has now expanded. SFIO’s international reach presents a lucrative opportunity to not only build solutions across borders, but to also showcase the massive potential of tech talents in emerging markets like the Philippines. Pulling from Richard’s mission as a startup enabler, SFIO intends to be a catalyst for change in both the industries
they operate in and the communities they serve. Now serving on SFIO’s toplevel management team, Prodigalidad’s current mandate is to survey the asset management company’s portfolio for opportunities to both streamline existing operations with technology, and build entirely new systems to disrupt the industries they operate across. As SFIO begins to establish its global presence through strategic acquisitions, joint ventures, and the establishment of its tech hubs, a number of promising projects have already cropped up at their new tech division. For SFIO’s recently announced joint venture with real estate company Omnicor, Prodigalidad’s tech division will be developing community wellness monitoring tools and health data systems to be incorporated into a state-of-the-art “tech village” in Montemaria, Batangas in the Philippines. Looking across the group’s franchising, coffee, and food manufacturing and distribution divisions, Prodigalidad’s team will also be working on a unified, streamlined logistics platform. This platform will leverage machine learning
and similar AI applications to achieve real time data analytics for a truly scalable solution. With this project, SFIO aims to not only standardize the operations of their different businesses across the supply chain, but to also bring value to their franchisees and ultimately, their customers, who will now benefit from a truly seamless, tech-powered system. Utilizing their in-house expertise in blockchain technology, the group also intends to revolutionize how asset management companies manage their portfolios. Investors can expect instant insights and the ability to participate in SFIO’s growth in real time, using digital tokens powered by the blockchain. It’s a novel application of decentralized technologies that the group hopes will set a new golden standard for trust and transparency. “The reason we’re able to take on all these projects is we’re being strategic about not reinventing the wheel,” said Prodigalidad. “Over the years, we’ve built a series of modular technologies that we can easily deploy in order to rapidly build e-commerce platforms, e-learning tools, food delivery services,
decentralized apps – whatever our clients need. Now we’re taking all those tech engines, as I call them, and running them full throttle across SFIO’s different ventures.” The end goal of these ventures, says SFIO CEO and Chairman Lacson, is to leverage technology in order to collaborate towards greater efficiency and shared profitability. Similarly, the breadth of proprietary platforms the tech division will be developing, as well as the related trademarks and intellectual property, promises to bring new value to the asset management company in the mid- to long-term. “I come from the startup world so my job now is to bring that disruptive mindset and marry it with the broad resources of SFIO,” Prodigalidad said. “It’s been a really thrilling experience for me and my team so far, and we’re all very excited to be joining the SFIO community.” SFIO, which has just filed its Q3 financial reports in line with their broader plans to uplist onto the Nasdaq, will be publishing more news about their upcoming projects in the weeks to come. (Advertising Supplement)
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Grantor Retained Annuity Trust (GRAT) How Liza gained courage to ‘start speaking up’ Tax Tips Victor Sy, MBA, cPA (retired) WHAT is a Grantor Retained Annuity Trust (GRAT)? A Grantor Retained Annuity Trust (GRAT) is used in estate planning to minimize taxes on large financial gifts to family members. An irrevocable trust is created for a certain period of time. The individual establishing the trust pays a tax when the trust is established. Assets are
Health @Heart PhiliP S. chuA, Md, FAcS, FPcS A CARdIoloGIsT friend of mine in Indiana, who had referred countless patients for open-heart surgery to me in the 80s and 90s, had a freak accident at home that broke his neck (like actor Christopher “superman” Reeves, who fell from a horse), which left him quadriplegic, unable to breathe on his own, with total paralysis of his arms and legs. Connected to a ventilator, he lived for about 10 years. He retained a mind that was brilliant and clear as ever to the end. Unfortunately, the injury to his spinal cord remained “without a cure,” even to this day. A potential hope for patients with broken spinal cord, with paralysis from the hip down (paraplegia) or from the neck down (quadriplegia) might be in the offing, albeit this could be years down the line. Human neural (nerve) stem cell can restore mobility in cases of chronic spinal injury,” suggests a study from the University of California Irvine, following successful results of transplanted human stem cells in mice, which recovered from their 30-day laboratory-induced spinal cord injury. This encouraging preliminary findings in stem cell therapy for spinal cord injury is indeed promising. The therapeutic strategy will need more laboratory confirmations and, later, application to human clinical trials, before the final verdict is made. At least, it is a spark of hope. *** Vitamin C has been found to rapidly improve a person’s mood state, especially among acutely hospitalized patients, in a doubleblind clinical study at Montreal’s Jewish General Hospital and the affiliated lady davis Institute for Medical Research. While Vitamin C (l-ascorbic acid or l-ascorbate) supplements are available in pills, this antioxidant and essential nutrient is abundant in these plant sources, in the order of level of vitamin C content: kakadu plum, camu camu, rose hip, acerola, jujube, red pepper, red hot chili, guava, parsley, broccoli, kiwifruit, brussels sprouts, papaya, strawberry, orange, kale, lemon, melon, cantaloupe, lime, mango, blackberry, potato and other fruits and vegetables. The phyto-phenols and Vitamin C in these foods also boost immunity. *** The gene that increases an individual’s risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, tagged MTHFd1l, a gene on chromosome 6, has been identified in a genome-wide study at the John P. Hussman Institute of Genomics at the University of Miami Miller school of Medicine. This discovery will help the scientific community understand Alzheimer’s better and potentially develop a
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placed under the trust and then an annuity is paid out every year. When the trust expires the beneficiary receives the assets taxfree. In other words, a Grantor Retained Annuity Trust is an irrevocable gifting trust that allows a grantor to pass a significant amount of wealth to the next generation with little or no gift tax cost. Current tax law: • These trusts can currently be established with a duration of at least two years. Proposed tax changes: • Grantor Retained Annuity
Trusts (GRATs) would require a minimum duration of 10 years. *** Victor Santos Sy graduated Cum Laude from UE with a BBA and from Indiana State University with an MBA. Vic worked with SyCip, Gorres, Velayo (SGV – Andersen Consulting) and Ernst & Young before establishing Sy Accountancy Corporation. *** He retired after 50 years of defending taxpayers audited by the IRS, EDD, BOE and other governmental agencies. He published a book on “How to Avoid or Survive IRS Audits” that’s available at Amazon. Readers may email tax questions to vicsy@live.com.
marker for higher risk persons, and hopefully, discover a preventive regimen, if not an effective treatment for this tragic disease. Today, there are drugs called cholinesterase inhibitors that can help with the cognitive and behavioral symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease “by blocking the enzyme acetylcholinesterase, which breaks down the neurotransmitter (brain chemical) acetylcholine, which plays an important role in cognitive functions like thinking and remembering.” low acetylcholine levels cause memory loss. some of these medications include Aricept (donepezil), for all stages of Alzheimer’s; and Exelon (rivastigmine) and Razadyne (galantamine), for early and the middle stage of Alzheimer’s. As the dementia progresses, the level of acetylcholine goes down and even these medications may not be beneficial anymore. *** Medical Xpress reports that “researchers at the UsC Viterbi school of Engineering are using generative adversarial networks (GANs) – technology best known for creating deepfake videos and photorealistic human faces – to improve brain-computer interfaces for people with disabilities.” The team was able to “teach an AI to generate synthetic brain activity data which were fed into a machine-learning algorithms to improve the useability of brain computer interface (BCI), which analyzes a person’s brain signals and translating that neural activity into commands, allowing the user to control digital devices using only their thoughts.” These devices can obviously help improve the “quality of life for people with motor dysfunction or paralysis, and those fully conscious but unable to move or communicate.” *** Those who hold their breath during sleep, snorers or not, and wake up several times during the night gasping for breath, most likely have obstructive sleep Apnea (osA). They are usually sleepy and feeling tired by noon. Undiagnosed and untreated, osA increases the risk for heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, Alzheimer’s, and even cancer, due to chronic lack of oxygen during those breath-holding (apneic) moments, which could be dozens, [or even] a hundred. A sleep test is needed to confirm the diagnosis. The good thing about osA is that today, there is a proven, fully beneficial, treatment for it: the CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) machine. Users love it and feel more secure using it for a restful sleep every night. *** Anger and any form of stress, especially emotional, can make one ill. Psychosomatic disorders are real. Anger, for instance, causes the release of stress hormones, like adrenalin, cor-
tisol and noradrenalin, which increase heart rate, breathing, body temperature, muscle tone, sweating, alertness, and elevated blood pressure. All these also lead to the constriction of arteries in most organs, lessening their blood supply, and channeling a large share of blood supply to the muscles as a part of the body’s defense mechanism. This is normal physiology when anger sets in, as it prepares the body for fight or flight. Anger also depresses the immune system, slows down digestion, and the alertness it causes impairs sleep. Chronic emotional stress and anger do cause a lot more illnesses, and aggravate existing diseases (depression, heart condition, impending stroke, diabetes, high blood pressure, fibromyalgia, insomnia, even allergies and skin diseases, etc.). on the other hand, positive thoughts, laughing, listening to soothing music, relaxing, loving and the knowledge of being loved, spending quality time with family and friends, feeling happy and having serenity and peace, all these allow the body’s built-in “pharmacy” to produce the good hormones, called endorphins (from the word endogenous, meaning produced by the body, and the word morphine, which is like opium, heroin, and the medical pain killer, morphine). This gives us a high when produced by our body in abundance, circulating in our blood stream. Endorphins switch oFF the nerves in the frontal lobe of the brain, inhibiting pain, and this part of the brain is then flooded with endogenous dopamine, resulting in the sense of euphoria, the reason why many are addicted to drugs. let’s us encourage our mind by dAnA Cruz and body to produce these enInquirer.net dorphins more often and be adJoHN lloyd Cruz has exdicted to them, for a cheaper, healthier, safer, and legal way of tended his well wishes to his ex-girlfriend Ellen Adarna and getting high. her husband, fellow actor derek *** The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints Ramsay, after their wedding earexpressed by the author do not necessarily lier this month. Cruz talked about Adarna’s reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Asian Journal, its management, editorial wedding to Ramsay, which took place last Nov. 11, in an excluboard and staff. sive interview with broadcaster *** The main objective of this column is to Jessica soho for her show “Kaeducate and inspire people live a healthier puso Mo, Jessica soho” sunday, lifestyle to prevent illnesses and disabilities Nov. 21. soho brought up the subject and achieve a happier and more productive life. Any diagnosis, recommendation or treatment when she asked the actor about
Great medical news
lIZA soberano talks freely and honestly about anything. she also uses her social media as a platform for social change and awareness. “Honestly, for me, social media is such a scary place and that’s why before the pandemic, I was always very cautious about sharing my opinions on certain issues but I guess during the pandemic, when I couldn’t just sit back and watch everything happen like my mother being attacked, other people being attacked also, I kinda gained the courage and the strength to start speaking up and to start being vocal,” said liza during our virtual chat on Kumu’s The Best Talk. she continued, “And when I started getting support from my supporters and from the people who were, maybe, just happy with what I had shared, that’s when I realized that words are really powerful. I mean, I know this ever since before, but I didn’t know with my own strength until then and now I don’t wanna stop as long as I know that I’m helping a lot of people benefit from what it is that I’m saying or what it is that I’m doing, then, I’m willing to risk it all as long as I am helping someone.” No topic is seemingly off-limits to her because liza is even ready to let everyone know what her response would be if her boyfriend Enrique Gil pops the question on bended knees. “I can answer that so easily, yes!” declared liza in a jovial tone that made netizens (tuned in to the show) ecstatic. liza and Enrique recently celebrated their seventh anniversary at The Farm At san Benito in Batangas with the former sharing how the special occasion once again became a perfect moment for them to reminisce about the past and talk about the future. “It was great. It was a huge milestone for us. I mean, every year is a huge milestone. We were really reflecting on our younger days, I would say (laughs). We were reminiscing about Forevermore, where we got to first meet each other. And we were just thinking about how much we have grown individually and together. It’s such a beautiful thing to think about.” It is said that in any relationship,
Liza Soberano
Photo from Instagram/@lizasoberano
consistent communication is vital to building a lasting life together. And that’s one thing liza and Enrique exactly do to keep a healthy relationship. liza said they also got to talk about their goals. “I think it was more about what we want to do in the future, like in the years to come. It was more about planning on what’s in store for next year or what we wish or hope for in our relationship like in the next five years. We had a lot of reflections.” When it comes to marriage, the Kapamilya actress said that they talk about it “even not on our anniversary.” In one of my conversations with Enrique, he also mentioned that they are seriously talking about settling down. But they are taking things step by step. They both know marriage is a life-long commitment. “It’s what actually I really appreciate about him because ever since the beginning, he would always tell me like, ‘You know, I’m not getting into this relationship just to have a girlfriend. I really like this (relationship) to go somewhere.’ I was a bit young when I got into this relationship and very immature, and, so we would
argue over the slightest mistake. And me, I would wanna give up in the relationship but he’d say why do you just give up because of some small things? That made me realize that if you really love someone, you have to accept some of the smaller things you don’t agree on and you just have to learn together. You have to be able to get through the storm together.” Embracing each other’s strengths and weaknesses yields amazing results. In lizQuen’s case, their love for each other becomes deeper. But do they still argue? “We don’t quarrel that often and when we do, it’s actually still about really small things like when I’m about to get my period and I’m just like ultrasensitive, that’s when we, more like, tend to argue but that’s probably once a month (laughs).” I asked liza if Quen is the jealous type and she stressed that there is no reason for him to be jealous since she’s at home all the time. she described him as “very protective. He’s always been like that, (he’s) also very protective of his mom, his sister, (and) my sister.”
John Lloyd wishes Ellen, Derek a ‘strong and fun marriage’
in our article are general medical information and not intended to be applicable or appropriate for anyone. This column is not a substitute for your physician, who knows your condition well and who is your best ally when it comes to your health. *** Philip S. Chua, MD, FACS, FPCS, a Cardiac Surgeon Emeritus based in Northwest Indiana and Las Vegas, Nevada, is an international medical lecturer/author, a Health Public Advocate, and Chairman of the Filipino United Network-USA, a 501(c)3 humanitarian and antigraft foundation in the United States. Visit our websites: philipSchua.com and FUN8888.com Email: scalpelpen@gmail.com
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his past relationships. Though Adarna was not named, the broadcaster asked Cruz how he feels about the recent marriage of his ex-girlfriend. “Finally, she found the one,” Cruz said, noting that he is being “very careful” when talking about his former girlfriend’s personal life. “I have to put it in context and I have to be very careful because that’s her life,” he told soho. “Nagsisimula at natatapos sa anak namin ‘yung aking masasabi patungkol sa kanya o sa buhay niya.” (What I say about her or
her life starts and ends with our child.) Cruz then wished Adarna and Ramsay a “strong and fun” marriage. He believes the union between the two is important for his son with Adarna, Elias. “sincerely, I wish her all the happiness in the world. I wish them both a strong and fun marriage kasi vital ‘yon sa welfare at sa growth ng anak ko (because it’s vital to the welfare and growth of my son),” the actor explained. Aside from his thoughts on Adarna’s wedding, Cruz also opened up on his relationship with his son. “I try my best to lead without imposing. As much as possible, I try to bring him closer to nature,” he said. Cruz added that he considers El Nido, Palawan his second home, and his son also enjoys staying there. Cruz and Adarna dated in 2017 and welcomed Elias in 2018. They eventually parted ways the following year. They have since been co-parenting their child, as Adarna explained that she did not want to involve her son in her GMA photo “issues.”
John Lloyd Cruz
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LAS VEGAS ASIAN JOURNAL • November 25-december 1, 2021
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november 25-december 1, 2021 • LAS veGAS ASIAn JoUrnAL
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