1 October 19-25, 2023
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA EDITION
www.pnewstoday.com
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR WORSENS; FILIPINOS ARE REPATRIATED THE PREMIER FILIPINO-AMERICAN NEWSPAPER IN THE U.S. SINCE 1961
Vol.63 No.10 October 19-25, 2023
NEWS AND VIEWS YOU TRUST
Defense chief rebuffs China anew, says it’s a By ALFRED GABOT, Editor in Chief ‘squatter’ in West PH Sea TEL AVIV/MANILA – As the Israel-Hamas war
Biden, Pope call for humanitarian corridor, aid for Palestinians in Gaza
appears to be worsening and may spill over to nearby Middle East countries like Lebanon, Syria and Iran, repatriation of Filipinos in Israel and the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, Philippine authorities are speeding up evacuation and repatriation of Filipinos there which has been ordered mandatory. Page 9 CHECK FOR MILPITAS. Sen. Aisha Wahab turns over a check for $1.6 million to Milpitas Mayor Carmen Montano and Vice Mayor Evelyn Chua for the city’s SMART project.
Sen. Wahab donates $1.6 M SMART fund to Milpitas
By Elpidio R. Es�oko MILPITAS, California – State school, shopping, and other needs Senator Aisha Wahab has donated around town! $1.6 million to the city of Milpitas SMART offers an affordable seras additional fund for its SMART vice to Milpitas’ commuters, includproject (The Milpitas Simple Mo- ing those not conveniently served bile Access to Reliable Transit). by transit, and significant vulneraThe donation was made during ble/transit-dependent population by last Saturday’s inauguration of the supporting and complementing the new park in the city in honor of the Milpitas BART Station and VTA’s unsung heroes Delano Manongs existing bus and rail services. The (Delano Manongs Park) located at program combines the convenience McCandless Drive. of a ride-hailing service like Uber or Milpitas SMART is a new and Lyft with the capacity and affordconvenient on-demand rideshare ability of a more traditional shuttle service that gets one around Mil- or vanpool service. pitas quickly and safely. Residents The Milpitas Simple Mobile Acand visitors can also utilize the ser- cess to Reliable Transit (SMART) vice for local daily trips to work, service officially began Page 7
Duterte wages war with House over daughter’s lost secret funds By Be�ng Laygo Dolor, Editor MANILA – Former president Rodrigo Duterte is finding out that his once close allies are no longer on his side, especially those in the House of Representatives. He has no one to blame but himself after he said in a recent media interview that Congress was “the most rotten institution” of the government. All because the lower house of the bicameral Congress had stripped his daughter – Vice President and concurrent Education secretary Sara Duterte – of hundreds of millions of confidential and intelligence funds (CIF). He also threatened to kill ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro, whom he accused of being a communist. In fact, the lawmaker was at the forefront of the success-
ful removal of the younger Duterte’s P650 million in CIF. The controversial CIF can be considered as the best kind of pork barrel because it is not subject to audit. Much of what had been approved for next year’s national budget was reallocated to government bodies directly involved in intelligence gathering, notably the Armed Forces of the Philippines, tasked with defending the West Philippine Sea. Despite the elder Duterte’s verbal assaults, the House will not return the lost CIF to Ms. Duterte. So said deputy majority leader Rep. Franz Pumaren, who said “threats and intimidation will not get their desired effect” on the House if the former president’s goal Page 6
MANILA — Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. rebuffed China anew for its “unfriendly” and “belligerent” behaviour in the West Philippine Sea and South China Sea, stressing that China is a “squatter” for illegally occupying parts of the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Teodoro was reacting to claims by China that it has sovereignty over the West Philippine Sea as it defended its presence near Pag-asa Island, which it calls Zhongye Island. Teodoro even suggest- Page 7
CA bill compels law enforcement to do more to address hate crimes By Gilda P. Balan, Correspondent SAN FRANCISCO - As the old saying goes, if at first you don’t succeed, try and try again. So it was for San Francisco Assemblyman Phil Ting, who authored AB 449 which mandates California’s law enforcement agencies to submit a new policy to better recognize, report, and respond to hate crimes by the summer of 2024. The state’s Justice department will then review the policy and de- Page 5
PHL Metro filmfest in LA November, January LA honors outstanding Filipino Americans VIEWS & COMMENTS
SHOWBIZ
Conditional Permanent Residents need to petition their children immediately
Metro filmfest: Sharon, Vilma in; Nora, Maricel, Nadine, Coco, Vice out
By A�y. Lozano
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SPORTS
Pacquiao vs Mayweather rematch planned for December? Page 16
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