AJ May 28-June 3, 2010

Nick Popaditch: An American Hero for Congress

$34,000 condo units in Tagaytay. While you are away, you can rent out your unit as a condotel and make money on your investment. Presentations available in June 2 & 6, 2010, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Asian Journal offi ce at 550 East 8th Street Suite 6, National City, CA 91950 (in Old Schoolhouse Square). Call (619) 474-0588 or e-mail [email protected] for more information.

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the high point of Tagaytay

(Continued on page 11)

California’s Border Congressman Bob Filner endorses his former Dis-trict Chief of Staff, Humberto Peraza, who is a candidate for the Chula Vista City Council Seat 2 in the Primary Election on June 8, 2010. Filner is also a candidate for his ninth term to represent the 51stt District in the US Congress.

The Philippines swept top honors in the 2010 Top 100 Readers’ Choice Survey conducted by Scuba Diving magazine, a widely circu-lated dive magazine in North America.

The country won in the Pacifi c region as the best macro-life dive destination and obtained second place in the category for value for div-ing dollar, third for diving for advanced divers, diving for beginners and wreck diving, and second place for overall dive destination next to the Galapagos, a group of volca-nic islands off the west coast of South America.

More than 5,000 readers from all over the globe ranked the world’s best diving desti-nations in the following cat-egories: overall rating of the destination, wreck diving, big animals, shore diving, macro life, value for your diving dollar, diving for advanced divers, marine life, visibility, health of marine environment, wall diving, snorkeling, div-ing for beginners, underwater photography and overall rat-ing of the diving.

Readers of the magazine favored the Philippines as it satisfi es both beginners and advanced divers – a variety of dive sites and facilities, an unbelievable abundance of marine life, having the most affordable and exciting dive packages in the world and extremely helpful English speaking Filipinos.

With 11,250 miles of shoreline and 10,546 square miles of coral reefs, the archi-pelagic wonder lies at the tip of the Coral Triangle – an area with the most bio-diverse and marine-rich waters on Earth.

Our treasure trove of 7,107 islands is defi nitely a virtual paradise of infi nite subaquatic and subterranean possibili-ties ––– pristine reefs, huge pelagic fi shes and a menagerie of distinct marine life, World War II ship wrecks and un-

RP bags popular Scuba Diving magazine awards

As the men laughed, Albert took a look at the photo.Isabel is indeed pretty, he must admit. So pretty that he

had to take a second look. And a third. And a fourth look. “Don’t tell me you are falling for her,” Andy com-

mented when he noticed Albert’s reaction. To remind him of what Albert said before, Andy told his friend:

“You are the one who vowed not to commit the same mistake when you married your Mexican wife. Remember that you vowed to marry a girl who

sincerely loves you and not one who is only after a green card?”

Albert could not respond, but the image of the beautiful girl in the picture remained

ingrained in his mind.

See Page 3

By Simeon G. Silverio, Jr.Publisher & Editor

Asian Journal San DiegoThe Original and First Asian Journal in

America

Promised LandA Pretty Girl’s Photo

On Memorial Day. Today, only 18,000 WWII Fil-Am veterans are alive and living in the U.S. says the group Justice for Filipino American Veterans (JFAV).

May 28 - June 3, 2010

Zena Sultana BabaoMsgr. Gutierrez CommunityTrinity: an Encounter

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SWEET PINEAPPLE. It’s pineapple planting time all year round at the world famous “sweet pineapple fi elds” of Polomolok, South Coto-bato, Philippines near the Dole Cannery plant as a farmer see to every planted seedling as Mount Matutum sit at the background. PINOY GON-ZALES/ PNS

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Brief History of Filipino Immigrants

How I came to AmericaBy Dr. Cesar D. Candari

How I came to America after my graduation from medical school shall be told.

However, before I do that, I need to share with everyone the history of Filipino migra-tion to the United States, a country where all men are created equal and where there exists the fundamental in-alienable rights for freedom and justice. I do realize that I shall delve into the history of Filipino migrations to America and therefore away from my personal life story. It is, however, an opening of how I came to America, a very similar story for thou-sands of Filipino doctors and other professionals. It will be of signifi cant information to the younger generations of Filipino descent to learn about this history.

In the early years Filipi-nos were called the “forgot-

ten Asian Americans.” The history of how they came to the U.S. was never kept alive among the Filipino-Americans of today. What appears to some to be underlying con-fusion underscores the fact that so little is known about the history of Filipinos in America. So much research still remains to be done before

the rich, multi-faceted, and long history of Filipinos in America can fully unfold for students and everyone else to learn. As new and newly un-covered information is found, previous conclusions need to be revisited.

In San Diego County, Fili-pino Americans comprise the

“This country will not be a good place for any of us to live in unless it is a good place for all of us to live in.” - THEODORE ROOSEVELT

May 28 - June 3, 2010Asian Journal - (619) 474-0588 Visit our website at http://www.asianjournalusa.com

Food for thoughtRead previous articles by visiting our website at www.asian-

journalusa.com

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*Juris Doctor law degree, University of San Diego (1985),Diploma; Oxford Institute on International and Comparative Law (USD), Oxford, England (1984);Bachelor Degree, University of Southern California (1983);Montgomery High School, San Diego (1979)

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(NewsUSA) - It’s common for celebrities who experience tragedy and want to help oth-ers to have a book published by a traditional publisher. But now, “everyday people” can do the same thing. The power of publishing has truly gone public.

Thanks to continuing ad-vancements in digital tech-nology and print-on-demand resources, more people who want to make others aware of a worthy cause can have a professionally published book.

When Margarete Cas-salina lost her daughter Jena to cystic fibrosis, her world stopped; life, as she knew it, was over. Within one year, however, Cassalina went from the depths of depression to simply exist-ing to recovery, discovering that she could not just survive but even harness the power of true and absolute love. She literally went from “beyond breathing” to living a full and purposeful life.

Cassalina published her book, “Beyond Breathing,” through iUniverse (an imprint of indie publisher Author Solutions), and a film about her story is currently in pro-duction. Sixty-five percent of the net proceeds from book sales go to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Indie book publishing empowers anyone to publish a professionally designed book, maintaining complete

Promote Your Cause by Publishing a Book

control of the content, rights and marketing. For as little as $1,000, a book can be avail-able for sale on all leading online retailers and ordered at any bookstore.

“I’ll never stop the fight to eradicate cystic fibrosis by spreading the word, speaking to groups and raising money,” says Cassalina. “The ability to publish a book and use it as a vehicle to raise awareness of cystic fibrosis has been invaluable.”

In Reg Green’s case, his world turned upside down when his son Nicholas was murdered. Green published The Nicholas Effect through Author Solutions imprint

AuthorHouse. The book chronicles his experi-

ence and promotes organ donation.

Nicholas liter-ally saved the

lives of seven people who received

his organs. Green has sold tens of thousands of books and speaks regularly on the topic of organ donation.

“I was able to expand awareness of the importance of organ donation and use my book as a tool to get in front of people and relay the story of how my beloved son saved the lives of so many,” says Green.

“Indie book publishing isn’t just about fulfilling literary dreams,” says Keith Ogorek of Author Solutions. “A book is a powerful tool to educate and make the public aware of pressing social is-sues.”

Los Angeles, 18 May 2010 – Effective 1 June 2010, the Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles will begin the issuance of ePassport to all Philippine passport applicants. The ePassport will cost $60 and processing time will be from four (4) to six (6) weeks.

An ePassport has an embedded IC chip where the photograph and personal information of the bearer are stored in accordance with ICAO specifications.

What advantages does the Philippine ePassport offer?

The ePassport is highly secure. Hence, it avoids pass-port reproduction and tamper-ing. The ePassport database is enhanced with Automated Fingerprint Verification System (AFIS) that guards against multiple passport issu-ances to the same person and enhances imposter detection.

It facilitates fast clearance of travelers at immigration checks.

ePassports provide travel-lers benefits such as use of automated border clearance or “E-gates”, automated issuance of boarding passes, and faster travel arrangements with airlines.

For countries, the use of electronic passport also pro-vides better border protection and security.

Why do we have to use ePassports now?

The MRP has the minimum ICAO standards in travel documents while the ePass-port is the world standard in travel documents. As member of ICAO, the Philippines has an international obligation to enhance the security of its travel documents.

The issuance of ePassports

Los Angeles PCG to start issuance of ePassport

will allow the Philippines to offer world-class consular services to its nationals.

Countries have greater con-fidence and acceptance of the ePassport since it is enhanced with biometric technology.

Why is the ePassport more expensive than the current passport?

The added security features of the ePassport are factored into the production cost. Com-parative prices of ePassports from different countries, how-ever, show that the cost of the Philippine ePassport is among the lowest in the world.

What other countries use ePassports?

ePassports are now being used in more than 60 coun-tries worldwide including the United States and six (6) ASEAN countries namely: Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia and the Philippines.

I have a previously is-sued passport. Can I use it for travel as long as it is still valid?

Yes. Previously issued passports (MRP and non-MRP) are valid until their ex-piration. It is a good practice to make sure your passport is valid at least six months before intended date of travel to avoid any inconvenience.

Will there be additional

requirements needed for the processing of ePassports?

None. Essentially, the re-quirements for ePassport pro-cessing will remain the same as that for the MRP. Personal appearance is required for the taking of biometrics (i.e., fingerprints, photo, and signa-ture).

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Bill’s Corner

Read Bill Labestre’s previous articles by visiting our website at www.asianjournalusa.com

by Bill Labestre, MBA

If our economy is getting bet-ter, how come so many people are still unemployed or under employed? Many fresh college graduates cannot find jobs so, most of these kids came back home to live with their parents. Others decided to stay in school and pursue graduate studies.

Many people are tapping their retirement funds just to stay financially afloat. Hopefully, they won’t end up penniless and homeless too. Even the Federal, State and Local governments have reduced working hours for some employees. Employers were talking about more budget cuts and taxpayers were told to keep tightening their belts. How long can we do this?

When people lose their jobs and not able to find new ones for some time, more than likely they will lose their homes too. Those who still have toxic loans and not able to get them modified for better terms, it’s a question of when to walk away or get evicted. What is more important to you, keeping your moral ob-ligations or surviving the finan-cial crisis? Is your dream house worth dying for? You may need somebody to wake you up from your fantasy. You are not going to win big in the SuperLotto, period!!

We should learn from the serious mistakes we made. As human beings, we’re prone to temptations, stupidity and greed. When you’re in deep trouble, try to get some help. It’s time to be realistic and figure out what needs to be done. The past is over and you have to keep mov-ing on.

Last year, so many Filipino homeowners tried to get their

Walk Awaymortgage loans modified for bet-ter terms. Only a few were suc-cessful. Most of them quit paying the monthly mortgage payments, the property taxes and even HOA fees. They were supposed to save those payments but, most of them did not. Some were hoping that miracles would happen and someone would bail them out. A number of them lived in their homes for over a year without making any payments and were still upset when the homes got foreclosed, sold in auctions or they got evicted.

What most of these people failed to remember were to make adjustments on their tax withholdings from work. They were still expecting some big refunds when they have less tax deductions to claim on their tax returns. Others were expecting to claim big losses after the short sales on their rental properties. The lender got less than half of what they loaned you so, who lost money?

In some way, what happened to the real estate market was a good wake up call. Maybe, now people can learn how to live within their means. Maybe, we can learn to be humble and not to keep up with the Jones.

So many times I have heard from older Filipinos saying that they might as well retire or go home to the Philippines. Do you really believe it’s the right solu-tion? Would your life be easier there than here? Is it a sign of giving up/surrender?

At least for some of us, we have that option. There is that place we call our second home. What about your kids and your grandchildren? They may not like your retirement plan.

Asian Journal - (619) 474-0588 Visit our website at http://www.asianjournalusa.comMay 28 - June 3, 2010

Philippine Stories

Read Sim Silverio’s previous articles by visiting our website at www.asianjournalusa.com

by Simeon G. Silverio Jr.

The future is bright thanks to the heroes of the past

This Philippine Independence Day we share the joy of your community

© 2010 Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. All rights reserved. Member FDIC.

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4c

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A Sinulog beauty from Cebu (Photo by Nishi Perez)

A Santacruzan beauty Ms. Philippine Bahrain 2010 (Photo by Wowie Photography)

Promised LandA Pretty Girl’s PhotoChapter 7

Everyday in America was a long day for Ditas. She would wake up at three in the morn-ing, take a shower and dress up for work. Before four a.m., she would cook breakfast for her husband Romy and his parents and go to work at quarter to five. It would take her at least an hour to reach her workplace, McDonald’s, by bus. She helped open the restaurant at 6 a.m. and worked for twelve hours until five in the afternoon. She would have wanted to work more hours, preferably until the restaurant closed at 10 p.m. because she needed all the money that she could get her hands on. Her minimum wage salary was barely enough to cover the household expenses that Romy told her to pay in exchange for a chance to work and the money she sent to cover her mother’s medical bills. But her husband insisted that she be home at five in the afternoon to cook dinner for him and his parents. He wanted dinner to be ready by the time he got home at six. After dinner, she had to clean up the house and do the laundry. Romy’s parents would be busy watching their favorite shows on the Filipino Channel and would barely lift a finger to help her with the household chores. In their minds, they felt that Ditas had to pay back their

son Romy’s magnanimity of marrying her so that she could come over the U.S. and get a green card. The green card to them was their own personal property that they alone had the right to bestow to anyone of their choice. While Ditas may be their son’s preference rather than theirs, they did not want her to get away that easy. By the time she went to bed, Romy expected Ditas to fulfill her obligation to him as a wife.

“Asawa na, alila pa (I’m al-ready a wife and also a slave),” she could just mutter to herself. She did not complain and just opted to make the most of the situation. It was her nature to be good and put the interest of others, especially her mother’s, before her own.

Her husband Romy also used the situation to his advantage. On weekends, he would be out with friends, if he was not dat-ing other women. Ditas found out about his affairs whenever his friends teased him during drinking sprees in their apart-ment. Romy did not exert any effort to hide his infidelities. In fact, he seemed to relish the fact that she was aware of it to make her feel jealous. For al-though she was his wife, Romy was unsure of her love for him despite the fact that she was diligently fulfilling her marital duties and more.

“Pare, champion iyong bebot na kinuha mo sa Tijuana noong linggo, Naunahan mo lang ako

(Pal, the girl you got in Tijuana last Sunday was a champion. You just beat me in picking her),” Ditas overheard Andy tell Romy one time. They were drinking with two other friends, Albert and Ronnie. All of them were mates in the Navy.

“Hindi sasama sa iyo iyon, kuripot ka (She won’t go with you, you’re a cheapskate),” Romy teased Andy.

“Why won’t she? She’s a sure thing. She’s a prostitute,” Andy replied. The boys laughed.

Any wife would get mad, but not Ditas. She felt relieved that her husband Romy was occu-pied with other things so that she could concentrate on her work, household obligations and efforts to send money to her mother. She felt guilty though, because she prom-ised Romy that she would try her best to learn to love him. But his errant ways prevented her from doing so. To ease her guilty feel-ings, she kept praying God for help so that eventu-ally, she, her husband and hopefully their future children, would become a loving family. When she uttered her marital vows, she was true and sincere. She really promised to love and to cherish her husband, till death to them part.

But it was not meant to be. After three years of trying to bear a child, they found out that Romy could not father children. His years of patron-izing prostitutes took its toll and caused him to acquire a venereal disease that resulted in his impotency. Lucky for Ditas, Romy was cured of the disease when they got married, hence, it was not transmitted to her. But for Romy, the damage had been done. He had become a eunuch.

Ditas did not blame her husband. Though she wanted to have children one day, she knew that even if she and Romy could bear one, it would be dif-ficult to take care of a child as her hands were already full with

work, taking care of the house-hold and attending to the needs of her mother.

The discovery of his impo-tency led Romy to more drink-ing sprees with his friends and nights out with prostitutes in Tijuana, Mexico. Tijuana was just fifteen minutes from their apartment in San Diego, Cali-fornia. All one had to do was cross the border and vis-it

the seedy pros-titution bars south of the main commercial road, Avenida de la Revolucion.

“Pare, parang mga artista sa atin (Pal, they look like movie actresses in our counry),” Andy said, describing the prostitutes to Albert.

Romy was like a young and single navy recruit on a rest and recreation escapade in the seedy town of Olongapo.

One evening, when Romy and his friends were drinking in the house, Ditas showed Andy the photo of her cousin Isabel.

“Check her out, Andy,” she told him. “She’s looking for a boyfriend here in America.”

“No way,” Andy replied. “I know what she’s up to. She will just marry and leave me once she gets her green card.”

“But she’s very pretty,” Romy

told his friend. “With your looks, you can never have a wife as beautiful as her.”

As the men laughed, Albert took a look at the photo.

Isabel is indeed pretty, he must admit. So pretty that he had to take a second look. And a third. And a fourth look.

“Don’t tell me you are falling for her,” Andy commented when he noticed Albert’s reac-tion. To remind him of what Albert said before, Andy told

his friend: “You are the one who vowed not to commit the same mistake when you married your Mexi-can wife. Remember that you vowed to marry a girl who sincerely loves you and not one who is only after a green card?”

Albert could not respond, but the im-age of the beautiful girl in the picture remained ingrained

in his mind.

IT TOOK A WEEK for Albert to give Ditas a

call. During that time, he was agonizing over whether

to give Isabel a try. He was fully aware of the bitter lessons that he learned from his ex-wife who just married him to get her green card and eventu-ally married her boyfriend in Tijuana. He knew he might fall for the same trap again. But Isabel was so pretty and he felt that he was falling in love even with her picture alone.

“What’s the address of your cousin Isabel, Ditas?” he called her at work.

“Why, are you interested in her?” Ditas was pleased. Although her experience in America was not as good as she hoped for, she wanted to give her cousin Isabel the same opportunity she had. Isabel’s experience might be different.

“Yes,” Albert admitted. “I will be on vacation next month, and I want to visit her in the Philippines. But don’t tell my

shipmates about it. They will tease me.”

“I understand,” Ditas replied. She was fully aware of Albert’s experience and his vow to marry only a girl who would love him, not for his ability to take her to America. In a way, Ditas was pleased because among the friends of her hus-band Romy, Albert stood out as the most responsible and the nicest. She never heared stories about him having a good time with girls. She knew she would envy her cousin Isabel because Albert was the opposite of her husband Romy. – AJ

(To be continued)


Unseating the incumbent Democrat Con-gressman in the predominantly Democratic 51st district of California is an uphill battle, a difficult chal-lenge. But Nick Popaditch, the war hero and decorated veter-an now running for this district, is no stranger to battles, difficulty or challenge. In fact, “Charge the Hill!” is his battle cry.

A retired Gunnery Ser-geant and combat veteran

Nick PopaditchAn American Hero

for Congress

This April 9, 2004 file photo shows Staff Sgt. Nick Popaditch of the 3rd Battalion, 4th Ma-rines Regiment, smoking a cigar while stand-ing on top of his tank, in downtown Baghdad in front of a statue of Saddam Hussein just before his unit helped tear it down. (AP Photo/Laurent Rebours, File)

in downtown Baghdad, just before his unit helped tear it down. The photograph landed on the front pages of the world’s newspapers.

In a combat action dur-ing the Operation Vigilant Resolve in Fallujah in April 2004, he was hit on the head

This Memorial Day weekend, Retired USMC Gunnery Sgt. Nick Popaditch honors the men and women who have served and died for our country.

Nick with his son, Nicholas, Jr.

Nick being interviewed by Zena.

tion, is once again ready to serve and protect the liberties that make this nation great. Only this time, the battle will be carried in the halls of Congress!

Popaditch travels through-out the country sharing his story of encouragement by teaching leadership and core values and motivating people from all walks of life: corpo-rate people, veterans, church and youth groups, and citi-zens who believe in a better America.

I first met Nick and his lovely wife, April, in July 2009 before he even decided to run for Congress. Together with guest speakers, former Congressman Duncan L. Hunter and son, 52nd District Congressman Duncan D. Hunter, Popaditch delivered an inspirational speech in my church (Skyline Church at Rancho San Diego in La Mesa) for the Independence Day celebration.

A fiscally conservative candidate, Popaditch will work to rein in the out-of-control spending of the cur-rent national administration. If you visit his website www.PopaditchforCongress.com , you will see he is campaign-ing on the following issues: limited government, strong

national defense, secure bor-ders, more jobs, and strong family values.

His campaign issues give voice and action to the Tea Party groups’ concerns and demands for a better govern-ment.

A supremely confident man who always sees the positive side of life, Popa-ditch believes that his chances for winning his bid for the 51st congressional district are excellent. “We don’t get in a fight to lose it,” he said. His loyal and dedicated support-ers echo his sentiment.

In fact, the momentum is building up! And this mo-mentum will carry him on – up the hill and onto victory. Immediately after Popaditch announced his candidacy, grassroots support sprouted up and endorse-ments started pouring in.

One of his earli-est and strongest supporters is former Con-gressman Duncan L. Hunter, who said about Nick’s campaign: “Nick is doing great. He’s moving around a lot, and campaigning a lot. Every place he goes to he is well received. He speaks like Ronald Reagan – he’s very charismatic and he’s got a magnetic personality. He’s picking up lots of support and he’s truly achieving a grass-roots organization. I think it’s a testament to his ability that when he got in the race, the other Republican candidates got out. I think that’s also a function of the respect they have for him as a candidate

and as a guy who truly is an American hero.”

A week ago, former Presi-dential candidate and FOX News host Mike Huckabee, together with Huck PAC, Huckabee’s political action committee, announced their endorsement for Nick. Huck-abee wrote:

“Nick’s willingness to serve is a testament to his character and heart. Cali-fornians deserve a leader like Nick who will fight for lim-ited government, champion a strong national defense and work to secure borders. Nick believes that the only institu-tion that should be deemed ‘too big to fail’ is the ‘tradi-tional family.’ He believes it is our duty to protect our fami-lies and protect every human

life, without exception – be-cause he understands that life begins at conception. I hope you will join me in sending this great man to Congress, where he can continue fight-ing for what is right.”

The Combat Veterans for Congress, the Warriors for Congress, and the Can-Do Conservatives for America are among the strong support-ers of Popaditch nationwide. Locally, a lot of strong orga-nizations are working for his campaign.

Nick resides in Chula Vista with his wife April and sons, Richard and Nicholas Jr.

of the U. S. Marine Corps, Popaditch almost lost his life in the service of his country. He was at the front and center as history was being made in our country’s fight for free-dom. Popaditch was both in the Gulf War’s Desert Shield and Desert Storm operations, and later the Operation Iraqi Freedom.

He served with the 1st Tank Battalion, 1st Marine Divi-sion, commanding an M1-A1 Abrams Battle Tank from the deserts of southern Iraq to the streets of Baghdad. In April 2003, Popaditch’ unit helped topple Saddam Hussein’s statue in Baghdad’s Firdos Square.

Worldwide attention fo-cused on Popaditch after an Associated Press (AP) pho-tographer captured a smiling photo of him smoking a cigar, standing on top of his tank in front of a statue of Saddam

by fragments from a rocket-propelled gre-nade (RPG) and almost lost his life. The blast blinded his right eye, and left him with only eight percent vision in his other eye. He had been engaged in com-bat inside the terrorist stronghold continuously for 36 hours before he was severely wounded.

A Marine to the core, the 43-year old Popa-ditch, lovingly referred to as “Gunny Pop” by his troops, now sports a prosthetic eye embla-zoned with the Ma-

rine Corps’ eagle, globe and anchor logo. He wears a patch over his missing eye.

For his gallantry in ac-tion, and his honorable and patriotic service, Popaditch was awarded the Silver Star Medal, the Purple Heart Med-al, the Navy/Marine Corps Achievement medal with Combat “V”, and the Combat Action Ribbon. He was medi-cally retired from the service in 2005.

Videos of the attack is available on YouTube and in the website of his book Once a Marine an Iraq War Tank Commander’s Inspirational Memoir of Combat, Cour-age, and Recovery. The book, which holds an honor spot on the U.S. Marine Corps Profes-sional Reading Program, also known as the Commander’s reading list, is recommended for every rank from Private to General.

Nick has undergone a lot of challenging difficulties in the process of almost losing his life, yet he is willing to put his life on the line again for his homeland. To him, service for the country is a continuing en-deavor. Dedication, honesty, self-sacrifice and continuing vigilance are the marks of the strength of his character.

This award-winning author and speaker, a symbol of American freedom and libera-

by Zena Sultana Babao


$50

It’s another June, the beginning of summer, and also the month of many com-mencement exercises of our high schools and universities. I have attended many of them since my own graduation from Letran University in Manila over 30 years ago!

I have heard many com-mencement speeches (I have also delivered several such speeches in the past), and many of these speeches in my view do not leave much to remember after they were delivered. Most likely, many of us do not even remember the name of our commence-ment speakers and their “words of wis-dom” they tried hard to impart to their audience.

I often wonder what crite-ria do school administrators use to choose a speaker. Let me highlight a point: The prestigious University of Pennsylvania, one time in-vited U.N. Secretary, then, General Kofi Annan as the person most qualifi ed to give advice to its graduating class. The university even bestowed upon him an honorary doctor of laws degree! Any po-litically or globally oriented person who follow his tenure at the UN, and its oil-for-food scandal at how this UN aid program turned into was described as “the biggest graft-generating machine ever and enriching some of Amer-

The MetamorphosisRead Ernie Delfi n’s previous articles by visiting our website at

www.asianjournalusa.com.

by Ernie Delfi n

Advice to Graduating Students:

“Never Choose Your Heroes Lightly”

ica’s most forceful opponents at the United Nations.” At the helm of the U.N. (at that time) was Secretary General Annan, who, despite being cleared of a direct role of the scandal was harshly criticized by a U.N. report for mislead-ing investigators and for not scru- tinizing his

son’s lu-crative involve-ment in diverting

oil-for-food dollars

to the Swiss com-pany for which he worked for. Ques-tion: What relevant advice can this bureaucrat credibly offer to the graduating class?

Politicians are also invited to be the commencement speakers. The majority of them, unfortunately, are not worth the time (and hono-rarium fees?) listening to them as there are no enduring challenges that really move the students’ imagination.

Who then can be great in-dividuals who can dispense some relevant and inspiring

commencement exercises to any graduating class, be it a high school or col-lege? A few years back, the OC Register editorial wrote: “that commencement speakers should be people of principle who understand how our present world really works, who are honest think-ers, preferably doers, who have insights into the basic debates of life and who can deliver such message reason-ably well.” That editorial gave an example of several people, including an inventor, Burt Rutan, who has designed 38 new airplanes in his three decades of hands-on involve-ment in aviation. Inventor Rutan has been featured by 60 Minutes and that interview captivated millions of people. His SpaceShipOne won the Ansari X-Prize by fl ying beyond the atmosphere and repeated the feat a week later. Two of his designs were on

permanent display in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. A quote

from the Register: “What’s really fasci-

nating about Burt Rutan is how creatively he

thinks about the world be-yond airplane and space-ship designs, about what it takes to create a society in

which accomplishments like his are possible

and help to inspire even more from others. And he has an irreverent sense

of humor fed by a keen understanding of the importance

of doing things you love and having fun doing them if you want to have a good life.”

I have been fortunate to have met and listened to a variety of great people who inspired many people like me to aspire higher, to hitch our wagons to the stars. I have met and listened to many accomplished heroes, like an astronaut who was in the moon, Buzz Aldrin, in

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by Dr. Ofelia Dirige Co-Founder and Director, Kalusugan Wellness Center

Contemporary Asian American Issues

Read Dr. Dirige’s previous articles by visiting our website at www.asianjournalusa.com

Ever been on a Disney cruise? Think you know a little something about cruis-ing? Look at what Disney’s got going on with their cruises. Disney Cruise Line ships use the iconic fi rst seven notes of the “When You Wish Upon a Star” song melody as their horn signals. Measuring 964 feet in length, the Disney Magic and Disney Wonder are each longer than Main Street U.S.A at the Magic Kingdom

Uniquely DisneyDisney Cruise Line Fun Facts

in Walt Disney World. Taking place every cruise

onboard the Disney Magic and Disney Wonder, the “Pirates IN the Caribbean” deck party features the only fi reworks display at sea. Ad-ditionally, Disney Cruise Line dining room Cast members represent, on average, 60 dif-ferent nationalities.

Guest Experience

Seventy-fi ve percent of staterooms on the Disney Magic and Disney Wonder are outside, ocean view cabins. Of those, nearly half offer a private verandah. In a cruise industry fi rst, most staterooms on Disney Cruise Line ships feature a split “bath-and-a-half” design, providing fami-lies the added convenience of a sink and tub/shower in one room and a sink and toilet in a separate room.

Onboard each Disney Cruise Line ship, there are about 950 crew members representing more than 60 dif-ferent nationalities. That is ap-proximately one crew member for every three guests.

Disney Cruise Line was named the top large cruise ship experience by the read-ers of Condé Nast Traveler magazine in the ninth annual “Reader’s Cruise Poll.” In fact, Disney Cruise Line has won more than 50 different awards and accolades since launching in 1998.

Dining

On an average seven-night Disney Cruise Line voyage, the following food items are consumed: • Beef – 5,000 pounds • Chicken – 10,000 pounds • Salmon – 1,200 pounds • Shrimp – 1,300 pounds • Lobster Tail – 1,000 pounds

• Melon – 12,800 pounds • Pineapple – 3,300 pounds • Individual Eggs – 71,500 • Coffee – 57,820 cups • Soda – 3,125 gallons • Beer – 12,385 bottles/cans • Wine and Champagne – 2,700 bottles

In a single day, each Disney Cruise Line ship uses: • 10,000 forks • 5,000 cloth napkins • 800 tablecloths

Onboard Features

The main showplace for entertainment onboard Disney Cruise Line ships, the Walt Disney Theatre spans three decks and can seat 977 guests. A leader in family entertainment, Disney is the only cruise line to feature fi rst run fi lms from the Walt Disney Pictures fi lm ban-ners, with movies premiering exclusively at sea on the same day that they are released in US theaters. Disney Cruise Line is also the industry leader in onboard enhanced digital entertainment with advanced Disney Digital 3-D technology in all shipboard theaters.

Environmental Programs

Each Disney ship has an onboard Environmental Of-fi cer dedicated to overseeing all environmental systems and

procedures, along with ship-board recycling, waste mini-mization and water reclama-tion efforts. While cruising, Disney ships can convert sea water to fresh water for use onboard. An onboard desali-nization plant produces nearly 500,000 gallons of fresh water every day.

Disney Cruise Line made history by being the fi rst cruise line to utilize an inno-vative hull coating that is both 100 percent non-toxic and effective in increasing fuel effi ciency. The coating helps reduce the ships’ surface resis-tance in the water, decreasing the need for propulsion power as the ship glides through the sea.

On Castaway Cay, an in-novative recycling program repurposes used cooking oil from the ships’ galleys and combines it with diesel fuel to power machinery on the island. The program reduces waste and carbon dioxide emissions, saving up to 8,000 gallons of traditional fuel each year.

Shipboard recycling sys-tems help divert more than 405 tons of aluminum, plas-tics, paper and non-traditional recyclables from conventional waste streams each year. That’s the equivalent of over 27 school buses or 12 hump-back whales.

Researchers at Castaway Cay are helping to restore the health of coral reefs through a unique research project transplanting native sea urchins in The Bahamas. The urchins help to control harm-ful algae levels that can choke out corals, and the project is providing vital research for rebuilding coral reef systems that serve as homes for tropi-cal fi sh and marine life.

Disney Cruise Line News 2010

Guest Writer: Michael D. Jackson

Interracial marriage or marriage between two people of different

races is a growing phenom-ena but still just constitutes 3.6% of all marriages in 2003 or more than 2 million interracial couples. Filipino American (FilAm) men and women have higher rates of intermarriage compared with other Asian Americans except the Japanese American. More than 50% of FilAms marry outside their ethic group--18% of FilAm men and 39% of FilAm women. While other Asian Ameri-can interracial marriages consist mainly of marriages to Whites, FilAms may en-ter interracial marriages of all combinations especially Latinos and Black or African Americans.

There are many reasons why Filipinos tend to inter-marry. One obvious reason is that Filipinos themselves are of a mixed heritage, i.e. 22% according to the U.S. census 2000. The historical back-ground from the Philippines showed pre-colonial contacts with Chinese, Japanese, In-dian and Muslim traders and

First of a series:

Interracial Relationshipcolonization by Spanish and American conquerors that intermarried with native Fil-ipina women. Other reasons is their exposure to different races here in America but with similar culture, values, and experiences that draws them to each other. The Christian religion also en-courages loving one another without discrimination and prejudice.

This chapter in my book of life began 12 years ago at the School of Nursing at Southwestern College where I fi rst met and soon entered into an interracial relation-ship with Arlene Cunanan. She was very quiet, shy, and intellectual young lady who wore glasses, had braces and moved to the US when she was 15 years old from Pam-panga, Philippines. I was the only African-American male in a class that consisted of mostly Filipinos. Several of the men in the class would sit in the back of the class laughing and joking like ado-lescent men do. Frequently, I would joke with a Ron Medina and Fred Bautista about how I would one day marry Arlene because of her shyness, smartness, and her nice personality. Several of

my nursing school friends are still close today.

One day Arlene was in a car accident and totaled her car so, being the nice guy that I am, I began picking her up for school because we lived close to each other. Soon my good deed would pay off because we started to have a discrete courting friend-ship. The friendship eventu-ally turned into more serious

Jackson Family from lt to rt; Michael, Arlene and daughter Jazmyne

dating so, that meant I had to meet what I thought would be just the parents because Arlene was raised in a very traditional Filipino household and is the youngest of 5 sib-lings. Being the fact that she came from such a traditional home it made me nervous be-cause of the obvious cultural differences. Will I be accept-ed by the family and treated well? For Arlene, this wasn’t a major concern because my family lived in Kansas City, and was very acceptant.

So, the day fi nally came when Arlene brought me

home to meet her parents for the fi rst time. Knowing what I know about her mom and dad today, I should have been suspicious of their behaviors that day. I walked into the house that day in the condo where they lived, it was spotless and Arlene’s mother greeted us at the door very anxiously with her gleaming smile and slight sneaker. Her father emerged from the bath-

room wearing a nice Hawai-ian print shirt, clean-shaven face and nice white dentures in place. I say suspicious be-cause Arlene’s dad only wears a regular shirt 3 or 4 times a year and never wears his dentures even when he eats nowadays and the white T-shirt seems to be his favorite.

Arlene’s moth-er went about her business in

the kitchen that day prepar-ing pancit, frying lumpia, and making her highly sought after Filipino spaghetti. I later discovered that noodle dishes are mainly prepared for special occasions and good luck in the Filipino culture. In that culture there are many subcultures, like the Kapam-pangans are considered to be the best at cooking in the Filipino culture and I have found this to be true over the years because of the weight that I have gained. So, as I sat there chatting with her par-ents about me and my inten-

tions with their daughter the doorbell would ring over and over again, each time with a different family member or family friend showing up to meet the new guy that came calling to date Arlene. I think that day I met about 40 different people all at once. I whispered to Arlene that I would get revenge for this impromptu family gathering that she invited me to. She has insisted to this date that she knew nothing about it. I have learned over the years that family gatherings in my wife’s culture will always be centered on the dinner table.

This event might have been considered intimidating by most but, not for me that day because I was the tallest and heaviest person in the room full of people and I was really relaxed because of the way that her parents welcomed me in their home and hearts. I later discovered that I was the only man that wasn’t chased off by her father and fi rst real boyfriend. I stuck around and the dating turned into a relationship and then a mar-riage. Our relationship has been accepted by both of our families and all the people we have developed friendships with over the years but, I am sure there have been those that have not approved but have remained silent over the years.

There was only one incident over the years when her par-ents were unhappy during the time we were dating. That was the fi rst time that Arlene spent the night away from her family with me in my small apartment on Flower Street when her mother went to the Philippines. Her father had called her and he was very upset telling her that she

had to leave her the house because she was disrespect-ing her parents. After that we ended up having a shotgun Vegas wedding and moving into a new condo with our newborn baby girl. I tease Arlene frequently saying that I had to buy a new home in order to marry her because her father kicked her out of the house.

Over the years Arlene and I have learned much about each other’s cultures. My daughter has been an impor-tant bond that ties our family together. As I have watched my in-laws over the years I really think that they have a fond favoritism in my daugh-ter. I think it might be be-cause she looks a lot like her mother who is the youngest. In order for us to maintain a balance we have developed tolerance and acceptance. If I had to give advice on how to survive an interracial relationship or any relation-ship for the fact of the matter, it would be to have an open mind, learn about cultures, and being willing to give of yourself.

Michael Jackson is a stu-dent of Dr. Dirige in the AS 460 class, “Contemporary Issues in Filipino Ameri-can Communities.” He and his wife, Arlene Cunanan Jackson is both Registered Nurses who met while in nursing school in 1998. Both work at UCSD, Michael in the Emergency Department and Arlene in the ICU. They have been married for 10 years and have a 9-year-old daughter Jazmyne. Michael is from Kansas City, Missouri and moved to San Diego after serving in Desert Shield/Storm as a Marine. Arlene immigrated to the U.S. in 1991 from Mabalacat, Pam-panga Philippines. Both are from a family of 5 siblings.

“Never choose your Heroes

lightly”our fi nancial services con-vention in Florida about 10 years ago. I have also heard Bill Gates. Others I would love to meet, listen to and interview would be people like the founder of Google and the Dalai Lama of Tibet, as well as many great au-thors, pioneers in business, religion and the CNN Heroes.

In my opinion, a great com-mencement speaker should be an individual who had actu-ally changed the world for the better. One such a person would be someone like for-mer President John Fitzgerald Kennedy who has moved, in-spired and challenged people us to dream, and to dream BIG!. JFK challenged my generation to go to the moon, to join the Peace Corps, and stop asking what the country can do for us but instead what we can do for our country!

I challenge all graduates everywhere as they enter the real world to “NEVER CHOOSE YOUR HE-ROES OR ROLE MODELS LIGHTLY!” Your choice of heroes and role models have indelible marks in your lives. You become what you be-come largely because of the people and ideals you pat-tern your lives after. Be that SOMEBODY who made a difference to the world!

Email writer at: ernie.

delfi [email protected] or [email protected]

(Continued from page 5)

Advice to Graduating Students:

Perspectives

ASIAN JOURNALThe fi rst Asian-Filipino weekly in Southern CaliforniaAn award-winning newspaper, it is San Diego’s most

widely circulated Asian-Filipino newspaper!

Ashley SilverioAssistant Editor

In Pursuit of ExcellenceEugenio “Ego” Osin, (1946 - 1994)

Joe Cabrera, (1924 - 1996)Soledad Bautista, (1917-2009)

Dr. Rizalino “Riz” Oades, (1935-2009)

The Asian Journal is published weekly and distributed in all Asian communties in San Diego County. Publication date is ev-ery Friday of the month. Advertising deadline is Thursday prior to publication date at 5 p.m. For advertising rates, rate cards, or information, call (619) 474-0588. Subscription by mail is available for $50 per year (56 issues). The Asian Journal is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts and photographs but welcomes sub-missions. Entire content is © 2009 copyrighted material by Asian Journal. Materials in this publication may not be reproduced without specifi c permission from the publisher.

Genevieve SilverioManaging Editor

Simeon G. Silverio, Jr.Publisher & Editor

Miles BeauchampAssociate Editor

Santi SilverioAssociate Publisher

At Large...

Read Miles Beauchamp’s previous articles by visiting our web-site at www.asianjournalusa.com

by Miles Beauchamp


Maria, a Mexican citizen, came to me for legal advice. Her U.S. citizen husband, Barry, had fi led a divorce and her legal permanent resi-dence card is expiring in two months. They were married for less than two (2) years when Maria became a legal resident of the United States. Barry does not want to help her obtain her permanent resident green card. I asked Maria if Barry was abusive to her. Her response was, “not really”. I asked her to describe Barry as a husband. She said Barry was very pos-sessive and controlling. She won’t let her get hold of their contract of lease, utility bills, and other documents that are important to her immigration case. For this reason, she has very little documents to prove good faith marriage. Barry won’t let her work, she cannot have her own friends, and she cannot go grocery shopping without him. There was some physical abuse but not enough to make a 911 call. As Maria was narrating her ordeal, I realized she was not aware she was a victim of domestic violence. Like the rainbow, domestic violence has many colors. Domestic violence is not limited to broken bones, bruises, and scars.

Emotional abuse is of-ten ignored and undetected because it leaves no visible trails. Most of my clients who need help with their conditional resident status as spouse of U.S. citizens were victims of emotional abuse,

When Your U.S. Citizen Spouse Becomes “Extremely Cruel”

but they did not realize it until they spoke with me. They did not know that our im-migration laws protect them from abusive relationships. In this article we will discuss extreme cruelty as a form of abuse and what legal options they have under our immigra-tion laws.

Foreign nationals who obtain immigration status through marriage to a U.S. citizen or LPR are granted conditional resident status if the marriage is less than two (2) years old at the time the residence is granted. Dur-ing the 90 days preceding the expiration of the temporary green card, the foreign nation-al and sponsoring U.S. citizen spouse are required to take steps to make the conditional status permanent. This is gen-erally accomplished by jointly fi ling a petition to remove the conditions on residence. However, if the marriage falls apart during the two-year conditional residence, it may be necessary for the foreign national to fi le a waiver of the requirement that both spouses sign the petition.

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*Susan Perez is a licensed attorney both in the State of California and the Philippines. She has eighteen (18) years of combined experience in both jurisdictions in the areas of Immigration, Family, Appellate, Juvenile Dependency, Civil, Criminal, Labor, Contracts, Tax, and Business Law. She is also admitted to practice before the Ninth Circuit of the Court of Appeals, and the District Courts of Southern California and Central District of California.

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Visit our website: www.law-usimmigration.com

by Atty. Susan V. Perez

Legal BriefRead Atty. Susan Perez’s previous articles by

visiting our website at www.asianjournalusa.com



An Unauthorized History of the Philippines


22nd of a seriesBy Rudy D. Liporada

In the first series, the author stated that history is written by those who have the time to interpret events based on their perspectives and believed by those who do not know better. In the subse-quent series, the author traced why Spain, the United States, and Japan came to the Philip-pines and why the Filipinos failed to see their economic intentions; and how the subju-gated the Filipinos who even-tually rose in arms against the colonialists in spite of the complicity of the landed elites with the colonialists.

The Republic of the Philippines –From Roxas to Macapagal

The succession of presi-

dents of the Republic of the Philippines was characterized by the US furthering its hold on the Islands’ economy by insuring that the helm of the government was under the control of the landed elite of its choosing. The landed elite insured that laws, agreements, and policies passed with the US would be beneficial for the US and the landed elite. This was an offshoot of the US having to free the Philip-pines as a colony but still having to realize their goal of why they had to come to the Islands in the first place. The Constantinos write: “The U.S. objective immediately after the war was to transform the Philippines from a colony to a neo-colony. This meant continued domination of the economy, its retention as a market for American goods, a source of raw materials, and an open field for American investments. And to guaran-tee this control as well as to insure that the Philippines would serve as a convenient jumping-off point for any military operations the Ameri-

cans might wish to initiate in Asia, the United States wanted to have military and naval bases on Philippine soil but existing outside Philippine sovereignty.”

This would also necessitate the suppression of individuals, organizations, and any affilia-tions that would try to negate the goals of the US in the country. This would include labor union and peasant orga-nization fronts led by the still existing Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas (PKP). This would also entail quashing the Huks which evolved to the Huk-bong Mapagpalaya ng Bayan (HMB) or People’s Liberation Army. These organizations, basically, clamored for work condition and land reforms.

Elpidio Quirino After Manuel Roxas died

of a heart attack on April 15, 1848, Vice-President Elpidio Quirino assumed the presi-dency. His pressing act was to restore peace in Central Luzon which was then the hotbed of HMB rebellion. He offered amnesty to the rebels

announcing to “forgive, and forego the prosecution of the crimes of rebellion, sedition, illegal association, assault on, resistance, and disobedi-ence to persons in authority, and/or illegal possession of firearms.” Luis Taruc, then negotiator for the PKP/HMB, made Quirino to work for real independence by abrogating the Bell Trade Act and the Military Bases Agreement, among others. Critical, too, was the institution of land reform.

The Bell Trade Act, passed by the US Congress in Oc-tober 1945 provided for the continued free trade between the US and the Philippines where the Philippines export-ed raw agriculture products and mineral ores to the United States and imported American manufactured goods. This exchange, from the PKP per-

spective, ties down the Philip-pines to a mere agriculture adjunct of the United States and will remain a non-indus-trialized country.

Having failed to institute land reform, with his inability to negate the Bell Trade Act and the Military Bases Agree-ment, Quirino was accused by the PKP to have failed in his commitments. On August 15, 1948, the Huk leaders, once again, went underground to wage arm struggle.

Ramon Magsaysay

Dubbed as the “Guy”, Ramon Magsaysay came to the attention of the Ameri-can military officers when he provided buses to the 31st Division for the retreat to Bataan during the war. A guerilla during the war, ac-cording to the Constantinos, “Ramon Magsaysay’s rise from branch manager of a bus line to Congressman, to Defense Secretary, and finally to President of the Republic

was aided at each stage by American benefactors.” From the time, he was with the USAFFE, Magsaysay was a rabid anti-communist and carried through his mission against the HMB when he became Defense Secretary.

His machinations, guided by CIA Edward G. Lansdale, against the PKP/HMB led to the arrest of Jose Lava, general secretary of the PKP and other leading cadres on October 18, 1950.

Endeared to the American Chamber of Commerce en-trepreneurs, who contributed heavily to his campaign, and with his mass appeal to the impoverished Filipinos (where he crossed fields barefooted just to shake the gnarled hands of a farmer), Magsay-say successfully defeated Quirino to become president on November 10, 1953.

President Ramon Mag-saysay enacted the following

laws as part of his Agrarian Reform Program:

• Republic Act No. 1160 of 1954 -- Abolished the LASEDECO and established the National Resettlement and Rehabilitation Adminis-tration (NARRA) to resettle dissidents and landless farm-ers. It was particularly aimed at rebel returnees providing home lots and farmlands in Palawan and Mindanao.

• Republic Act No. 1199 (Agricultural Tenancy Act of 1954) -- governed the rela-tionship between landowners and tenant farmers by organiz-ing share-tenancy and lease-hold system. The law pro-vided the security of tenure of tenants. It also created the Court of Agrarian Relations.

• Republic Act No. 1400 (Land Reform Act of 1955) -- Created the Land Tenure Administration (LTA) which was responsible for the acqui-sition and distribution of large tenanted rice and corn lands over 200 hectares for indi-viduals and 600 hectares for corporations.

• Republic Act No. 821 (Creation of Agricultural Credit Cooperative Financing Administration) -- Provided small farmers and share ten-ants loans with low interest rates of six to eight percent.

Although his land reform efforts, however, had loop-holes and did not genuinely benefit the peasantry, Mag-saysay was able to provide other cosmetic solutions to the barrios like providing liberty wells that provided water to several areas. With his person-al touch to the common “tao”, Magsaysay implemented a counter-insurgency program that successfully dismantled the HMB by tranquilizing the rural folks with a promise that here, at last, is someone who

could mitigate their unrest by creating an illusion that the people now have a govern-ment that could be responsive to their long longed needs. The restive Central Luzon support for the Huks dwindled and pockets of resistance were reduced to roving bands and degenerated to mere bandits.

Carlos P. Garcia

Carlos P. Garcia ascended the presidency when, as vice-president, he took over the post when Magsaysay died

in a plane crash in Cebu on March 17, 1957. Although he put on a nationalistic stance, Garcia was vulnerable to pressures if he had to keep his post and have the ambition for re-election. An old Naciona-lista hardliner, he was among those who opposed the Bell Trade Act and the Military Bases Agreement.

His nationalistic stance showed in his Filipino First policy. He endeavored for Filipinos to patronize Filipino products and goaded them towards Filipino entrepreneur-ship. This provoked angry reaction from the American and Chinese Chambers of Commerce. This meant, to them, a policy that would have the effect of reducing foreign economic control. To

local Filipino entrepreneurs, however, the policy gave them expectations that the foreign interests would be dislodged and the Philippines would now be in the path of genuine industrialization.

The expectations, how-ever, would not materialize as Garcia had to cower faced by pressures covertly exerted by the CIA to dash his re-election bids. Moreover, Congress-man Bartolome Cabangbang revealed a coup d’état plan by the military. Garcia was branded as a communist supporter in print and radio media. Growing corruption in the government also finally dashed the hopes of Garcia’s reelection, in spite of his backing out from his Filipino First policy saying that there is still a huge space for alien investments in the country.

Diosdado Macapagal

Former vice-president to Garcia, Diosdado Macapagal, supported by the machinery of the old Magsaysay cliques, won overwhelmingly against Garcia in the 1961 elections. Amado Guerrero writes: “The first executive act performed by Macapagal when he as-sumed the puppet presidency


PNS -- JOHN Lloyd Cruz is the first guest of KC Con-cepcion in her talk show this morning, “Simply KC”. Lloydie is quite controversial these days as there are reports he’s now living in with Shaina Magdayao. “There’s no truth to that rumor,” he says. “Her parents will not allow her to do that at hindi rin kami papayag.”

He’s non committal, though, as to whether he and Shaina are now really going steady. “What I can say is there’s proper timing for everything as it concerns both of us. So

PNS -- MARIAN Rivera is happy and proud that her lat-est potboiler, You to Me Are Everything opposite boyfriend Dingdong Dantes is a certified hit.

“It’s simply over-whelming. Dong and I prayed hard for the success of the movie. It’s our first romance-comedy. We didn’t ex-pect that it would gross this high. We want to thank the public for supporting the proj-ect,” she states.

Clearly, this is a vin-dication of sort to the lovely star. Before the movie’s commercial exhibition, negative is-sues were hurled upon

Shaina-Lloydie Living In?kailangan muna naming pag-usapan how we are going to go about it.”

expects that she’ll be com-pared to Maricel.

“It’s inevitable I suppose. But personally, I don’t want to compete with her. She’s already an icon in the local entertainment scene. In fact, she’s my idol. Instead, I’ll make her an inspiration to give justice to the part.”

She and Dingdong are mak-ing a guest appearance in Ogie Alcasid and Regine Ve-lasquez’s forthcoming concert tour in the US and Canada.

“It’s just perfect because when we come back after a month, we’ll be in the thick of taping for our new soap End-less Love which is a heavy drama,” avers Marian.

her like, allegedly, she already has a child and the latest, hit-ting her English.

“I just smile at such in-trigues. If some people are happy making fun of me, let them be. Anyway, it’s not me who’ll carry it, right? I don’t say that I’m perfect,” Marian rationalizes.

According to Regal Enter-tainment’s Roselle Monte-verde-Teo, she will do the remakes of Maricel Soriano’s Inday series (Inday Bote, Inday, Inday sa Balitaw and Super Inday).

“The thought excites me. I know that these are all hit movies. It’s a big honor to be chosen to do these classic projects,” she admits.

This early, Marian already

Marian Rivera

“THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE WEIRD” - This deliriously over-the-top “Oriental Western” is a loving, virtually non-stop action tribute to The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. In the 1930s Manchurian desert, where lawlessness rules and ethnic groups clash, three Korean men fatefully meet each other on a train. The Good (Jung Woo-sung) is a bounty hunter who tracks down criminals with rewards on their heads. The Bad (Lee Byung-hun) is the leader of a group of bandits and can’t stand to be second best. The Weird (Song Kang-ho, The Host) is a train rob-ber with nine lives. The three strangers engage in a chase across Manchuria to take possession of a map The Weird discovers while robbing the train. Also on the hunt for the mysterious map are the Japanese army and Asian bandits. In an unpredictable, escalating battle for the map, who will stand in the end as the winner? Never be sure who’s good, bad or weird! Directed and co-written by Kim Jee-woon (A Tale of Two Sisters). (Fully sub-titled) www.ifcfilms.com/films/the-good-the-bad-the-weird This film is Not Rated by the MPAA. Running time 130 minutes.

Engagement Opens Friday, May 14th. Landmark’s Ken Cin-ema. 4061 Adams Avenue – (619) 819-0236

The answer is 3. That’s right. Three friends from highschool or elementary school or the same town x 1 idea x 10 books are all that’s needed to fill a classroom with 30 books.

Join the Friends of Sol Bau-tista and raise funds to benefit Gawad Kalinga USA by pre-or-dering a set of 10 copies of the book “Smiles from the Heart,” a collection of the late poet’s work The answer is 3. That’s right. Three friends from highschool or

EntertainmentMovies to Watch

(Following are movies now showing or soon to be shown in San Diego.)

by Simeon G. Silverio Jr.

No One Knows About Persian Cats is an exuberant look at Tehran’s youth and underground music scene and their unapolo-getic desire for creative expression in the face of an oppressive government. In the eyes of fundamentalist Islam, music (ghéna) is impure, giving rise as it can to cheerfulness and joy. Hearing a woman singing is considered a sin, because of the emotions it stirs. For the last 30 years in Iran, certain music, and in particular western music, has been virtually forbidden by the authorities. It has been forced into hiding underground: it must be played underground and listened to underground. Recently released from prison, two young musicians (Negar Shaghaghi, Ashkan Koshanejad) decide to form a band. Together they search the underworld of contemporary Tehran for other players. Forbid-den by the authorities to play in Iran, they plan to escape from their clandestine existence, and dream of performing in Europe. But with no money and no passports, it won’t be easy... Winner, Un Certain Regard Special Jury Prize, 2009 Cannes Interna-tional Film Festival. Written and directed by Bahman Ghobadi (Turtles Can Fly, A Time for Drunken Horses). www.ifcfilms.com/films/no-one-knows-about-persian-cats This film is Not Rated by the MPAA. Running time 106 minutes.

Engagement Opens Friday, May 07th. Landmark’s Hillcrest Cinemas 3965 Fifth Avenue, Suite 200 – (619) 819-0236

First it was a mine that exploded in the middle of the Moroccan des-ert. Years later, it was a stray bullet that lodged in his brain.... Bazil (Dany Boon) doesn’t have much luck with weapons. The first made him an orphan, the second holds him on the brink of sudden, instant death. Released from the hospital after his accident, Bazil is homeless.

Rudy D. Liporada, a local businessman based in Nation-al City announced the release of his novel, the Unholy Allied Mountains, a fictional account of one Filipino Amer-ican’s return to the armed struggle—the forty-year revolu-tion of the New Peo-ple’s Army (NPA) against the Philippine government.

To com-munists, religion is an opi-ate where Christians are lulled to accept their oppressed fate and never raise arms against oppressors. To Mus-lim extremists, however, religion is not an opiate but a high inducing drug that spiri-tually arms one to wage jihad on the infidels. In Unholy Al-lied Mountains, Ding, a Fili-pino American journalist, in a story quest on the Philippine insurgency, is confronted by ghosts of his past in the midst of an unholy alliance between the Communist New People’s Army (NPA) and Muslims in their quest to defeat lackeys of American imperialists in the Cordillera Mountains in Northern Luzon, Philippines.

Set in Montanosa, the novel features, among others, battles involving Igorot tribes,

Local Pinoy author’s novel – Unholy Allied

Mountainsa mummification process, and NPA ambuscades. This book, although fictional, represents a vivid picture of the revo-lutionary movement of one of the longest waging Third World armed struggles. Read-

ers will follow Ding as he revisits his days as one of the comrades, until his return as a journal-ist. For more infor-mation on Unholy Allied Mountains, interested parties may google Unholy Allied Mountains.

Before immigrat-ing to the United States, Rudy D. Liporada served as a Feature Writing, Photojournalism, and Advertising

instructor in Zambia Africa from 1983 to 1986. He used to string for Baguio City and contributed articles to Philip-pines newspapers. In the Unit-ed States, he contributes to the Ventura County Star and is a columnist for the San Diego Asian Journal in California. He graduated from the Uni-versity of the Philippines with a major in Economics, minor in Sociology, and cognate in Political Science. Blessed with four boys and a girl with nee Aurea Olosan, Liporada holds office at National City with Lutuang Best, a subsid-iary of Saladmaster.

To contact the author directly, one can call 858-722-1465 or email him at [email protected].

Luckily, our inspired and gentle-natured dreamer is quickly taken in by a motley crew of junkyard dealers living in a veritable Ali Baba’s cave. The group’s talents and aspirations are as surprising as they are diverse: Remington, Calculator, Buster, Slammer, Elastic Girl, Tiny Pete and Mama Chow. Then one day, walking by two huge buildings, Bazil recog-nizes the logos of the weapons manufacturers that caused all of his misfortune. He sets out to take revenge, with the help of his faith-ful gang of wacky friends. Under-dogs battling heartless industrial giants, our gang relive the battle of David and Goliath, with all the imagination and fantasy of Buster Keaton. Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Amélie, The City of Lost Children). www.sonyclassics.com/micmacs/

This film is Rated R by the MPAA. Running time 105 min-

utes.Engagement Opens Friday, June

04th

How many people will it take to furnish a classroom with books?

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Call 619.474.0588

John Lloyd Cruz

Marian: I don’t want to compete with Maricel

The answer is 3. That’s right. Three friends from highschool or elementary school or the same town x 1 idea x 10 books are all that’s needed to fill a classroom with 30 books.

Join the Friends of Sol Bau-tista and raise funds to benefit Gawad Kalinga USA by pre-ordering a set of 10 copies of the

book “Smiles from the Heart,” a collection of the late poet’s work The answer is 3. That’s right. Three friends from highschool or elemen-tary school or the same town x 1 idea x 10 books are all that’s needed to fill a classroom with 30 books.

Join the Friends of Sol Bautista and raise funds to benefit Gawad Kalinga USA by pre-ordering a set of 10 copies of the book “Smiles from the Heart,” a collection of the late poet’s work fea-tured in the Asian Journal from 2006-2009. Then ask two of your friends to match your pledge of $150. All proceeds will be donated to Gawad Kalinga USA, a 501(c)3 non profit organization, to raise funds for community building in the Philippines.

To learn more, email [email protected] or [email protected].


A few days before the actual Presidential elections in the Philippines, some friends, relatives and associates noticed a surge in the Binay Vice Presidential campaign. In the past weeks and months, he was never in the politi-cal radar, predicted to having no chance against the likes of Senators Mar Roxas and Loren Legarda. Roxas was elected nationwide as a Sena-tor with the highest number of votes in history. Legarda topped the Senatorial battle twice also with the highest number of votes aside from having been the running mate of Fernando Poe, Jr in the last presidential election.

Binay who never run for a national position before, is now projected to be the next elected Vice President of the Philippines. In my last col-umn, I wrote that I was not surprised. Despite the fact that I endorsed, campaigned and voted for a NOY-MAR ticket, I understood the reasons why. After listening to the views of my barber, friends, relatives and associates, let me share with you what I gathered.

First cause mentioned was ATTITUDE.

Second cause was Binay’s effective and efficient delivery of his MESSAGE.

Third, was the effective and efficient use of ORGANI-ZATION and NETWORKS.

Fourth, was the effective and efficient use of RE-SOURCES.

Fifth, strong and “macho”

by Benjamin Maynigo

Take it from my barber

Read previous articles by visiting our website at www.asian-journalusa.com

Binay: Philippines first “Black” Vice President

progressive LEADERSHIP.

ATTITUDE

“Attitude not Aptitude”, they say, “determines the Altitude of one’s achieve-ment.” This I know first hand, and reinforced by other Roxas supporters. When Villar was closing in on Noynoy (at least according to surveys), Roxas was way ahead of Legarda and even more so of Binay. I talked to a friend and fellow Noy-Mar supporter and this is what the former said, “Mar is already sure of winning. He is just concentrating on helping the others. In fact, he is tak-ing full control of the Liberal Party campaign operations”.

I remember saying, “Sobra comfiansa mata el hombre.” (Over confidence kills the man). The Filipino voter never likes any display of arrogance or over confidence. True or

Jejomar Binar

not, Mar was perceived as ar-rogant. In Philippine politics, perception is reality. While when partnered with Noynoy, he shared the reputation of Honesty; giving Hope; and bringing Honor; Mar as per-ceived by my barber, friends, relatives and associates just couldn’t share Noynoy’s “humble” image. Eventually, “Mr. Palengke” was more realistically described as an Araneta, related to Greggy (Irene Marcos’ husband) and Mike Arroyo; Wharton-edu-cated, Wall Street investment banker and “free marketer”.

MESSAGE

I used to say in seminars, “If you have a Vision, make it a Mission. Let it be your Ambition but never an Ob-session. Otherwise, you will end up in Frustration.” Since entering public service and politics, Roxas was rightly being prepared to follow the footsteps of his father, Presi-dent Manuel Roxas. After topping the Senatorial elec-tions with the highest number of votes, the Liberal Party started grooming him to be its presidential timber. I was told that prior to the death of Cory, he and the LP already invested about P100 million building the organization for his campaign. The problem was, he was running third or fourth in the surveys. Then, Cory died. Later, a clamor for Noynoy to run became a movement which the former couldn’t reject.. He gave in to Noynoy and became the lat-ter’s VP instead.

The clamor was a clear message from the Filipinos that they wanted a Cory-like leader who would provide them Honesty, and Humility; who would give them Hope and Honor. Cory’s son fit the bill. But he needed an organi-zation that already prepared for the battle. Mar Roxas’ Lib-

eral Party offered it to him and together with the one million volunteers, he accepted the challenge.

Binay knew this message. Targeting the Aquino follow-ers, he positioned himself as the real Cory’s and Ninoy’s choice for VP. He ran under the PDP-Laban Party which was Ninoy’s party during Martial Law while in prison. He was a courageous hu-man rights lawyer, Cory’s campaign manager in Makati against Marcos in the snap elections and more important-ly, he was the first appointee in any local executive position of then Revolutionary Presi-dent Cory Aquino, as Mayor of Makati. When there was a coup attempt to oust Cory where even Noynoy was shot, he rushed with his troops, risked his life, to defend Cory in Malacanang.

The best message I think, is the one forwarded by famous columnist Jose Montelibano by asking two questions when deciding. “First, which Vice-Presidential candidate would take a bullet for Noynoy? Sec-ond, which Vice-Presidential candidate would take a bullet for Noynoy even if it meant giving up the chance to suc-ceed him?”

The Cory people, the selfless volunteers, the fol-

lowers inspired by Con-rado de Quiros’ NOYPI. the non-“trapo” Liberals, even “Kamag-anaks” like Pep-ing and Tingting Cojuangco with their COPA, some of the leaders of the TuloypNoy group, accepted, absorbed, espoused and spread the mes-sage. NOYBI not NOY-MAR is better for Noynoy and the country.

ORGANIZATION

“Organization determines everything”, Lenin once said. Organization indeed is as im-portant if not more as the mes-sage. Binay was head of the United Opposition. Together with Senator Chiz Escud-ero, they ran the Presidential campaign of Fernando Poe, Jr, the perceived real winner against Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. He is the President of PDP-Laban, and ran under Erap Estrada who already won by landslide a Presiden-tial election. He headed and still heads the Boy Scouts of the Philippines whose motto is “LAGING HANDA” or BE PREPARED.” He is an alumnus and awardee of the National Defense College. He also managed concurrently the Metro Manila Commission aside from being Mayor of the Financial Center of the Philip-

pines, Makati City.If he did not run for

Vice President, he would be Noynoy’s choice as DILG Secretary as Noynoy himself admitted. Binay is an effec-tive and efficient organization man. He knows how to plan, lead and control. He does them well, effectively, effi-ciently and competently.

THE BINAY WELL-OILED MACHINE

If you lived and/or held office in Makati, Philippines, like I was, you most probably heard of the Binay political machine. My contacts in-volved in Makati politics tell me that in every precinct, Binay has it covered. In every poor family, at least one is either directly employed by the Binay government, indi-rectly by Binay community or non-profit organizations, or by contractors doing business with the Binay government.

Binay had perfected the concept of “community orga-nizing” even before Obama became one. In Makati, Binay’s machine could deliver votes the same way the Da-leys deliver in Chicago. In the 1987 elections, if you were Cory’s choice, you won. In Makati, if you were Binay’s choice, you also won. The rich people in the villages who op-posed him are automatically or unknowingly neutralized by the drivers and maids who serve them. Why? These are the people who receive greet-ing cards, gifts and cakes from Binay every year on their birthdays. You are elderly, you are lonely and feeling hot but have no money. Binay made sure that you could go to the air-conditioned movie houses in Makati for free.

RESOURCES

He is obviously not as rich



The rule is that you can only adjust your status in the Unit-ed States if there is already an immigrant visa number available to you based on an approved immigrant petition. It is also required that you have not overstayed nor been unlawfully employed. In most cases, therefore, adjustment of status is available only to immedi-ate rela-tives (U.S. citizen’s spouse, parent or unmarried child below 21) because visa num-bers are immediately available to them, and the law con-dones their being over-stays and unlawfully employed. Immediate relatives can apply for their green cards in the United States through the process of ad-justment of status under Form I-485. So, for example, someone who marries a U.S. citizen can be petitioned and apply for a green card, with-out need of going back to her home country.

On the other hand, other relatives such as the spouse or child of an immigrant (F2A), or a child over 21 years of age (F2B, FB-1 or FB-3) are usually ineligible to adjust sta-tus. Immigrant visa numbers are not immediately available to them and, for this precise reason, they are likely already overstays at the time their priority dates become current. The usual procedure for them is to await their visas in their home country through con-sular processing. The problem here is not so much as the time, effort and expense of going back to the beneficiary’s home country. Since the ben-eficiary has overstayed, she is subject to the 3-year/10-year bar rule, which means that even if her priority date has arrived and her immigrant visa is now available, the beneficiary still cannot be im-mediately admitted back into the United States, unless of course waiver is granted.

Today, we will discuss a pe-culiar case which was treated by the USCIS as an exception to this rule, thanks to Sec. 245(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). This is the story of Charmaine, who waited for 15 years under the radar, so to speak, to finally legalize her status.

Charmaine was only 19 years old when she and her parents arrived in the United States in 1995. They came in as tourists to visit her sister. Although they had a comfort-able life in the Philippines, America was such a beautiful place and offered good oppor-tunities so the parents decided to stay. Eventually, her sister became a U.S. citizen and pe-titioned their parents. In 1997, when Charmaine was already 21 years old, the father filed an I-130 petition for Char-

Sec. 245 (i) Allows Immigrants’ Child to

Adjust Status in the U.S.maine as an adult child of an immigrant under the F-2B category.

Since Charmaine is not classified as an immediate relative, the green card was not immediately available for her. Worse, she already exceeded her authorized stay. She was in limbo, unable and unwilling to find work and

always wary of being caught by immigration officers and sent back to the Philippines. Not that Charmaine had any choice. She was still young and dutifully followed her parents. Besides, there was nothing to come back to in the Philippines because her entire family was already in the United States. To her credit, Charmaine did her best to improve herself albeit the limited opportunities. She went to school and busied herself in church activities as a volunteer teacher. She was outstanding in what she does. Those who knew her offered to hire her or help her find employment. She just sighed to herself. If only she could say yes.

Then the time came when her priority date became current. If she were in the Philippines, everything would be just fine because the U.S. embassy would take care of her immigrant visa. But she was in the U.S., with an expired lawful stay. She was confused on what to do. She was afraid that if she did

anything, it might trigger her separation from her family. No, she could not afford the risk; she abhorred just the thought of it.

But her family did not want Charmaine to remain in that state of uncertainty. With their support and encouragement, Charmaine came to us and presented her case. Our initial analysis disclosed that Char-maine is Sec. 245(i) eligible because she had a pending pe-tition filed prior to 1998. This was the F2B petition filed by her father in 1997. Sec. 245(i) allows eligible aliens (even if they are not immediate relatives) to adjust their status although they have over-stayed or engaged in unlaw-ful employment, or even if they entered the United States without being inspected. This was Charmaine’s ticket to get her green card.

After making sure that she had met all requirements, we advised Charmaine that it was safe to proceed with the

Form I-485 adjustment of status applica-tion. She was at first hesi-tant but her family and our constant reassurances gave her the needed cour-age to take the bold step. Within two months, Char-maine got her employment authoriza-tion and, last week, she successfully hurdled her interview.

After 15 long years of anxious wait-

ing, Charmaine’s green card is finally on its way. Soon, she too will be on her way to Europe with her family for that much-needed vacation. Congratulations and best of luck to you, Charmaine!

Atty. Rogelio Karagdag , Jr. is licensed to practice law in both California and the Philippines. He practices im-migration law in San Diego and has continuously been a trial and appellate attorney in the Philippines since 1989. He travels between San Diego and Manila. His office address is located at 10717 Camino Ruiz, Suite 131, San Diego, CA 92126. He also has an of-fice in the Philippines at 1240 Apacible Street, Paco, Ma-nila, Philippines 1007, with telephone numbers (632)522-1199 and (632)526-0326. Please call (858)348-7475 or email him at [email protected] for your free consultation. He speaks Tagalog fluently. Articles written in this column are not legal advice but are hypotheti-cals intended as general, non-specific legal information.

discovered treasures, vibrant soft and hard coral forma-tions, exhilarating activities such as wall diving, under-water photography and deep diving.

Sought-after destina-tions such as Anilao, Puerto Galera, Palawan, Busuanga, Malapascua, Balicasag and Pamilacan are just some of the popular dive sites favored by international dive enthu-siasts.

Dive tour operators have

RP bags popular Scuba Diving

magazine awards

started to expand their Philip-pine dive programs as seen in various brochures and cata-logues. The country’s dive

resorts have likewise evolved — offering a variety of dive facilities from rustic setting to luxurious resorts.


Read previous articles by visiting our website at www.asianjo-urnalusa.com

by Atty. Rogelio Karagdag, Jr.Member, State Bar of California & Integrated Bar of the Philippines

Phil - Am Law 101


L01F_ShrekAd1122_Filipino_Mech_E.indd 1 5/5/10 9:53 PM


Community News

By Marissa Acierto

In San Diego, a demonstra-tion of TAX DAY protest was at Tuna Harbor Park in Downtown, San Diego from 10 a.m. - 11 a.m last April 15, 2010.

A chant in the crowd was saying loud and clear, “Carly! Carly! Carly!” Then the special guest speaker was no other than Carly Fiorina, candidate, US Senate who know heads the polls as the #1 candidate, trailing her as candidates is Tom Campbell and Chuck Devore stated on the speech Ms. Fiorina delivered.

Meanwhile other special guests who attended and spoke were SD Board of Supervisor Bill Horn; SD City Council-man Carl DeMaio, District 5;

Lorie Zapf, candidate, SD City Councilmember, District 6, and President Ron Nehring.

Most of the guest speak-ers spoke regarding why no taxes? As each speaker spoke on behalf of no tax increase, Ms. Carly Fiorina pledged that she would not increase taxes if she is elected in offi ce. Her quote of the day was “We’ve had enough!” The anti-tax rally which is identifi ed as a tea party is a ways and means to show the people the concerns on fi ghting higher taxes and out of control spending which Ms. Fiorina will advocate when elected in 2010.

Approximately 150-200 participants attended this event. Other guest in the audience are Chairman Tony Kravric, Repub-lican Party of SD County; Bar-

Fil-Am and students rally w/ Carly Fiorina: No Tax Increase

rett Tetlow, Executive Director, Republican Party of SD County; SD District Attorney Paul Pfi ngst (fmr); Michael Crim-mins, Candidate, 53rd Congres-sional District; Kristin Vellandi, Visible Outreach/Volunteer for Carly; Chuck McDougald, Statewide Volunteer Chair; two Filipino Americans in there 60’s and two Chinese Americans in there 50’s were among the crowd. However, three Filipino Americans attended and two of them were students in college and high school. One is cur-rently attending Southwestern Community College and the other is in the San Diego Charter School for home studies.

These Filipino American stu-dents who volunteered for Carly

for California was Jayvee “JV” Yalong and Mi-chael P. A. Rodri-guez, Jr. Michael who just turned 18-years-old were inspired to attend the rally, and they plan to vote even though they are not in any party line

as of yet? They held placards that indicated what the American people were indicative of “True change but not the change that happened in 2008 (excerpt),” said Carl DeMaio, as he stood on the stand to defi ne the wave of true change that is happening in the community.

Overall, it was an enlighten-ing experience for most who attended and throughout the day an anti-tax event will be held in all different areas and segments of the community in San Diego such as Oceanside, Point Loma (Midway), North County such as Rancho Bernardo, Poway, Rancho Penasquitos, Escondido, Fallbrook, Ramona, East County in El Cajon and South Bay in Chula Vista.

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National City, Calif. - After almost fi ve months of prepara-tion, the Council of Philippine American Organization of San Diego County (COPAO) has announced that it is ready to stage Philippine Faire2010 and the Festival of Festivals Parade on May 29 at the Kimball Park in National City. The parade will be led by Philippine Con-sul General Mary Jo Bernardo Aragon and Capt. Kenneth Norton, USN, commander of the USS Ronald Reagan as Grand Marshals. They will be joined by National City Mayor Ron Morrison, Congressman Bob Filner, Assembly Mem-ber Marty Block , Assembly Member Mary Salas, City of San Diego Council Members Todd Gloria and Tony Young, Sweetwater Union High School District President and Trustee, Arlie Ricasa and other elected offi cials and dignitar-ies.

Merly M. Ferrer, COPAO president lauded the support and cooperation of the Sweet-water Union High School Dis-trict and the San Diego Unifi ed School District for the par-ticipation of fi ve school bands, as well as the Council for the Teaching of Filipino Language and Culture for their depiction of several popular Philippine festivals like the Ati-Atihan, Sinulog, Pangabenga, Ka-dayawan, the colorful Pampan-ga Parol (lantern) festival and others. There will be close to a thousand Filipino language students participating. To assist the students, COPAO provided each participating school a

GMA Pinoy TV ties up with COPAO – San Diego to enliven Philippine Faire

2010 and the Festival of Festivals Parade, the largest Filipino gathering

to be held at Kimball Park, National City on Saturday, May 29, 2010.

token subsidy of $100 to help defray expenses for props and uniforms.

According to Joyce Tem-poral, Parade Chair, more than twenty marching units will participate in the parade, among them the COPAO Scholarship Awardees for Aca-demic Excellence, Leadership, Community Service and Ath-letics as well as the “Ambas-sadors of Goodwill” composed of Lita Martin, Mrs. Philippine Faire 2010; Kathy Miranda, Miss Philippine Faire 2010; Marie Juntilla, Miss Teen Phil-ippine Faire 2010; and Roselle Lopez, Little Miss Philippine Faire 2010 and their Court of Honor composed of Demy Din, Victoria Ann Pangilinan, and Mikaela Erin McLeish. They will be joined by Bea Bi-anes, Mrs. Tourism 2009, who is sponsored by the San Diego Humanitarian Foundation.

Parade participants will as-semble at E. 14th Street (High-land Ave., cross street) starting at 7:30 AM. The parade will start promptly at 9:00 AM and will wind up at Kimball Park for the opening ceremonies, entertainment program and booth exhibits. Admission to the event is FREE.

Hosts for the parade are Robert Ricasa and Mary Rose Peralta of the Filipino Ameri-can Educators Association. The Opening Ceremonies and morning festivities will be hosted by Ditas Yamane and Rudy Liporada, and the after-noon program will be handled by Christine McManus and Mark Gonzales of Hollywood

Music. Julius Alejandro, Chair of

the Program and Entertainment Committee has invited Ms. Patricia Javier, Mark Gonzales, Katriz Trinidad, and Jordan Aguilera, to showcase their singing talents. Also on hand to entertain the audience will be leading dance companies and musical groups, including PASACAT and the Samahan Dance Company , Hollywood Music, Heaile’s Polynesian Dancers, the Illmaculate, Nario Babao’s Filipino Martial Arts (Arnis) students, the San Di-ego Church of Christ Mission Band and senior group’s such as the First United Methodist Church Senior Adult Ministry Choral Group and the FilAm South Bay Terrace Line Danc-ers of Tooma Park. COPAO’s Ambassadors of Goodwill for 2010 will also be presented to the public, as well as the recipients of COPAO’s 2010 Scholarship awards for Aca-demic Excellence, Leadership, Athletics and Community Service.

The highlight of the day’s festival is the one and a half hour Variety and Game Show by GMA Pinoy TV and GMA Life TV with celebrities from the Philippines – Jay-R, Mark Herras, Rhian Ramos and Wendell Ramos, all well-known TV and movie person-alities of GMA.

According to Vince Bu-manglag, Chair of the Booth Committee, more than 60 vendors have submitted their booth applications as of MKay 17, seven of which are food booths. Going through the rigorous health permit require-ments of the San Diego County Department of Environmental Health are food vendors - Con-ching’s Café, Jasmine Sea-food Restaurant, JNC Pinoy Foodmart, Inc. L&L Hawai-ian BBQ, Ledesma’s Foods, Neiderfranks Ice Cream, Surf City Squeeze and Great Steak

and Potato Company. Admittedly, the cost of

organizing the Philippine Faire and Parade is prohibitive especially during these tough economic times. However, COPAO received help and sup-port from the County of San Diego Community Enhance-ment Fund; the City of Nation-al City, Dr. Ben Camacho, re-nowned cardiologist and owner of Ben’s Restaurant; Barona Casino; the Dish Network; and the Filipino media, namely, the Filipino Press, the Asian Journal, Philippine Mabuhay News, Philippines and Asian Report, and the National City Times. DR. Camacho has gen-erously responded to COPAO’s request for transportation, board and hotel accommoda-tions for the GMA celebrities.

The Philippine Faire Steer-ing Committee is composed of Dr. Aurora S. Cudal, Ex-ecutive Chair; Joyce Tem-poral ( Parade); Sally Idos (Festival of Festivals); Vince Bumanglag,(Booths and Vendors); Julius Alejandro (Program & Entertainment); George Alfonso, Bob Astudi-llo and Joe Nicolas (Logistics and Sanitation); Dina Ellorin, Scholarship; Jun Mataban (Awards); Femie Cupit (Popu-larity Contest): Merly Ferrer, (Sponsors); Norma Baladad (First Aid); Mike Pablo & Chris Olaes (Promotions); Rikky Reclosado (Security) Veterans and Community Sup-port (Bert Andrade); Luisito Melchor Jr.(Volunteer Man-agement); and Virgil Yalong (Publicity).

For more information about Philippine Faire 2010, visit COPAO’s website at www.copao-sandiego.org or send an e-mail to [email protected].

From: The Philippine Faire Committee, COPAO

Tel: (619) 850-0825


Spiritual Life

Read Monsignor’s previous articles by visit-ing our website at www.asianjournalusa.com

by Msgr. Fernando G. Gutierrez

Lower Your Nets Balintataw

Read Virginia Ferrer’s previous articles by visiting our website at www.asianjournalusa.com

by Virginia H. Ferrer


in 1962 was to proclaim im-mediate and full decontrol. Local U.S. firms were enabled to remit huge profits even without having to conceal them any more through over-pricing of goods and services bought from their mother and sister companies in the United States or elsewhere abroad. The comprador big bour-geoisie and the big landlord class gobbled up their dollar income from the export of raw materials and freely converted their pesos into dollars for the import of finished com-modities. Graft and corrup-tion shifted from the Central Bank to the Bureau of Cus-toms and the long seacoasts of the archipelago as the system of dollar allocations was replaced by a readjusted tariff system intended to draw government revenues.

“Upon the exhaustion of the dollar reserves of the reactionary government, the peso was devalued from the previous fixed rate of P2.00 per dollar to P3.90 per dol-lar. To maintain this rate, the Macapagal puppet regime had to accept onerous “sta-bilization” loans from U.S. banks. With the new peso-dollar rate, the broad masses of the people had to suffer high prices which cut down their real income. There was not a single commodity in the Philippines unaffected by

An Unauthorized History

of the Philippines(Continued from page 8)

the higher cost of importing finished goods, raw materials, spare parts, fuel and the like from the United States. While the peso was devalued to the extent of almost 100 per cent, the statutory minimum wage level was raised by only 50 per cent …”

To divert the attention of the Filipinos from the onslaught on the economy, Macapagal also changed the independence day of the Philippines date to June 12. The effect would be that if the Filipinos continue to be celebrating July 4 as inde-pendence day, they would be constantly be reminded, if not, perhaps, wonder if they are really free.

Continuing Hold

From Roxas to Macapagal from the so called granting of Philippine Independence by the US was a success story for the imperialists on Filipini-zation – where they trained the landed elite to establish systems of government containing laws, policies, and agreements beneficial for their imperialist designs; and benefitted, too, the landed elite at the expense of the larger mass of Filipinos.

While uncharacteristic of him but to show that Filipino presidents are in office on behalf of the American im-perialists, Macapagal himself said in a speech he delivered on March 29, 1968: ”Filipino incumbent presidents and most presidential candidates endeavor to obtain the support


Ang Buhay ng GuroMadilim pa talaga ang buong kapaligiranwala ni katiting na sinag itong si Haring Arawbukas na ang kanyang mga mata sa kinagawianna maagang paggising at bumati sa sanlibutan.

Isang tasang kape ang pampainit ng sikmurasa maghapong pakikibaka ang kanyang panimulaang pagod at hirap ay hindi na inaalintanasa pagturo ng tama at pagbigay ng halimbawa.

Ang hustong kaalaman sa buhay na masalimuotsa mga tinik sa ‘yong dibdib paano ang pagbunotharapin natin ng buong giting at lakas ng loobang mensahe ng isang guro na nais ipaabot.

Joke of the Week: One little boy in the Confirmation class had laryngitis. During the Confirmation examination, the bishop asked the students, “What is the Blessed Trinity?” Tommy whispered his reply, “Three divine persons in one God.” The bishop leaned closer and said, “I did not quite understand.” “You’re not supposed to,” answered Tommy, “it’s a mystery. No-body under-stands it.”

Scripture: First Reading: Proverbs 8: 22-31. In He-brew tradition, wisdom is to be found in one’s experi-ence of the world where God mani-fests himself in revelation and action. Wisdom in its later develop-ment prepares the way for the coming of the Word and of the Spirit. Therefore, everyone liv-ing responsibly in the world encounters the Three Persons of the Blessed Trinity. Sec-ond Reading: Romans 5:1-5. In today’s passage, we can read in-between the lines the early Christians experience of God in and through Jesus Christ. The passage clearly alludes to the Three Persons of the Blessed Trinity. God’s action through Jesus Christ gives peace with God, hope of God’s glory, and love of God. This peace carries with it the promise of future glory and

Trinity: an encounter with the mystery

the assurance of God’s love. Gospel: John 16: 12-15.

The God of love made him-self known in and through the revelation and action of Jesus Christ and through the Spirit makes meaningful to every Christian that once-and- for all revelation.

Reflections: In ancient Greece, “mystery” is mostly associated with religious rites or secret cults. Mystery

religions, such as these of those Dionysius in Athens, of Isis and Osiris in Egypt, and of Adonis of Byblos in Phoenicia, were popular in the Greco-Roman world because their esoteric el-ements attracted their initiates whose religious hunger was not fully met by the classical

religions of Greece and Rome. However, these ancient pagan mystery cults were not prac-ticed in those regions where Christianity had originated. Thus, it is wise to conclude that Christianity developed its sense of “mystery” from the Judaic tradition and shaped it according to its profound and exclusive experience of God who revealed himself in and through Jesus Christ. Howev-er, we cannot discount the fact that in the third and fourth centuries the pagan cults ter-minology and practices, such as mystagogia, enlightenment, and purification, begun to

seep into Christian rituals, but nonetheless adapted according to Christian experience and understanding.

Our age has an obsession with mystery, whether it is the case of DNA, or the numbers of the stars in the universe. If there is a mystery, we would not leave any stone unturned. We will solve the mystery. However, the Feast of the Trinity presents the Three Per-sons in One God as a mystery, not to be solved, fathomed, or understood, but to be encoun-tered and experienced.

The early Christians’ en-counter (second reading and Gospel) with the personified wisdom (first reading) is made possible through God’s self-disclosure in Jesus Christ. Just as the Israelites linked Wis-dom with the Torah, Chris-tians profess that Christ ful-fills that role before creation. Christians believe that Jesus has that wisdom and creative power of God, because the Holy Spirit makes it clear.

Salvation consists in en-countering the Three Persons of the Blessed Trinity. This is very apparent in the way Christians are baptized: in the name of the Three Persons. The Holy Spirit guides us to grasp the full meaning of what Christ has revealed to us so that we can follow him as the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Jesus in turn leads us to reach the final goal of our Christian journey: to go back to the Father, who is our maker.

The mysteries of the faith are difficult to explain and teach. Legend tells us that St. Patrick used a shamrock to explain the Trinity to the king’s two daughters. Its three leaflets on one stem represent the three persons in one God. Some believe that the occasion was his sermon to Laughaire, chief of the Irish clans who had come to seize the saint for daring to ignite the Easter fire on the Hill of Slane.

Quotation of the Week: “If we are not to lie when we call ourselves ‘Christians,’ we must bear witness to it by our way of living.” St. Gregory of Nyssa.

as Roxas. But he has human resources – a network of friends, human rights law-yers and activists, scouts and fellow Coryistas. He also has financial supporters. Remem-ber, he created an environ-ment conducive for local and foreign investments in Makati. Many of them became richer holding offices in Binay’s Makati. Win or lose for the Vice Presidency, the Binay family and machine would continue to rule Makati. A financial contribution to Binay is worth the investment.

STRONG AND MACHO LEADERSHIP

In my blog endorsing the Presidential candidacy of Noynoy Aquino, I traced the history of how the Filipinos voted for President since General Aguinaldo. I noted that somehow the Filipinos preferred their leader to be strong and “macho”, with some perceived supernatural gifts or anointed by God. This also explains the choice of someone who would assist the son of “Super boy Ninoy” and “Blessed Sagrado Corazon”. The choice between Mama’s boy Mar versus Boy Scout “Rambotito” Jojo who fought Anti-Cory rebel forces and bravely opposed the Marcos dictatorship seems clear.

“Why do you call Binay the first “black” President?”, I asked my barber.

He jokingly said, “it’s re-ally because he is MAITIM or in Ilocano, NANGISIT” (Dark-skinned).”In fact, he is even “blacker” than Obama”, this time he was a little seri-ous ‘

He explained that liter-ally, unlike Obama, there is no “white race” in his blood. Figuratively, his programs for the poor in Makati such as health reform, free medical care, free college education, employment, and care for the elderly are more progressively liberal than those of Obama.”

In voting for Binay to help Noynoy, the same way the Americans voted for Obama, the people were voting for HOPE and CHANGE on a national scale!

Binay: Philippines first “Black”

Vice President



How I came to America

“This country will not be a good place for any of us to live in unless it is a good place for all of us to live in.” - THEODORE ROOSEVELT

largest Asian Pacific Islander group. It is stated that Filipi-nos in the State of California are about 2 million making it the second largest minor-ity group. Yet in the past, as Filipino Americans, we remained invisible to main-stream society. How often did we chance upon Filipinos in books, in magazines, on tele-vision, or on the radio then? Now, we see changes.

Some amusing comments from the Northern California Pilipino American Students organization attest to this: “We are hidden in the shad-ows of our Pacific Islander brothers and sisters. If pos-sible, we would like to be able to tell our friends and neigh-bors that there is more to be-ing a Filipino than just lumpia (egg-roll) and pancit (rice noodle). We want to be able to tell our friends and family that we have a unique Asian Pacific Islander heritage. A heritage that reflects our be-ing Filipino. A heritage that goes deep into the hearts of all Pinoys, whether we speak English or Tagalog, whether we were born in America or in the Philippines, or whether we eat “kare-kare”(ox-tail dish with peanuts) and “pinakbet”(Ilocano vegetable dish), or hamburgers and french fries. We want to be able to tell our friends that our history is no mystery.” This observation dates back to the 60s & 70s. It had changed since then.

As a matter of fact when I have shared this subject with my cousin, Dr. Lourdes Burgos , here’s what she had said: “I am bothered, how-

attracted thousands of mostly male laborers.

The movement of agricul-tural workers later expanded to California and to Wash-ington and Alaska to work in fish canneries. This migration was reduced to 50 persons a year following the Tydings-McDuffie Act of 1934. Its main purpose was to exclude Filipinos because they were perceived as a social prob-lem, disease carriers, and an economical threat. The Ameri-can attitude toward Filipinos changed with the onset of World War II. It was offset by the United States Navy’s recruitment of Filipinos who were exempt from the afore-mentioned quota.

Successive waves of Filipino migrants followed in the 1960s, who were largely professional workers. They were Filipino nurses, doctors, and medical technicians who filled in the skill gaps in the United States.

Even before the 1900s, there were earlier Spanish-speaking Filipinos that were not truly immigrants but were transplanted to America by accident and appropriately called “accident immigrants,” .i.e., not to serve for the labor demands of America but for Spain. It was not until 1898, when the U.S. acquired the Philippine territory at the end of the Spanish-American re-gime, that true immigration to the United States began.

The earliest recorded presence of Filipinos in what is today the United States occurred in October 1587, when mariners under Spanish command landed in Morro Bay, California. The earliest

permanent Filipino Americans to arrive in the New World landed in 1763 and made their first permanent settlement in the bayous and marshes of Louisiana. As sailors and navigators on board the Span-ish galleons, Filipinos -- also known as “Manilamen” or Spanish-speaking Filipinos -- jumped ship to escape the bru-tality of their Spanish masters. They built houses on stilts along the gulf ports of New Orleans and were the first in the United States to introduce the sun-drying process of shrimps. They created settle-ments such as Saint Malo, Louisiana and Manila Village in Barataria Bay. More details are narrated below.

I will try to be brief and will categorize and organize the different types of Filipinos who came to America. With the passage of time, categories may change from one type to another. This is evident among the Filipinos coming to the North American continent. We see that different classes of Filipinos arrived in the U.S., each class having its own set of goals and objectives. The one common denominator that has drawn these people here is the demand for Filipino labor supply. It was this factor that bound the early Filipinos who were called the “Ma-nilamen”, the “pensionados” (with pension grants from the Philippine government), and the “manongs” (Filipino men in their senior years), and later on the two other distinct groups of Filipino recruits: those in the U.S Navy and Filipino medical graduates and other professionals. To be complete, here is the list :

· Crew on sailing ships dur-ing the Manila-Acapulco Gal-leon like trade servant women and concubines on galleons

· Chieftains exiled to New Spain

Merchant Mariners 1830- (for American ships)

· Pensionados 1903- (Fili-

pino students)· Sakadas 1906- (contract

workers in Hawaii)· Alaskeros (workers in

Alaska fisheries)· Steamship Crew (for Cu-

nard Lines and others)· U.S. Navy recruits· WWII military recruits· War brides (after WWII)· Post 1965 professionals

(doctors, nurses, etc.)· Mail order bridesThe list above can be

grouped into four “waves” of immigrants

The Manilamen (consid-ered to be the First Wave)

Filipinos had settled in North America before the American Revolution. As the Spanish galleons starting in 1565 left the port of Cebu, Philippines, bound for Aca-pulco, Mexico, the Manila-Acapulco trade route was born. Among the crewmem-bers of the Philippine-made Spanish galleons were Span-ish-speaking Filipinos known as the Manilamen. Many of the sailors were subjected to force hard labor for the gal-leon service. While their ships were in port in Hawaii, Guam, Acapulco, and New Orleans, a few of them were able to escape the brutal conditions imposed by their Spanish masters.

Some of the Manilamen eventually settled in the French Louisiana territory where they began to build settlements. The oldest and longest was St. Malo, a small community that numbered about one hundred. St. Malo was a free republic inside French Louisiana. At its height, three to four hundred people lived there.

Other settlements like St. Malo sprouted in other areas. In the early 1900s a Filipino community leader revealed that in the New Orleans com-munity alone there were over two thousand Manilamen, and

the Louisiana outside of New Orleans was home to several hundred Filipinos. During the War of 1812, Filipinos from Manila Village (near New Or-leans) were among the “Batar-ians” who fought against the British with Jean Lafitte in the Battle of New Orleans.

The Pensionados (Filipi-nos getting Philippine gov-ernment grants/pension) and Manongs. Considered to be the Second Wave.

From 1900-1940 the second wave of immigrants showed up on American shores. The first group was perhaps the only group that came from America’s de-mands for Filipino labor. These were the pensionados. They were sons and daughters of rich, influential families who came to the U.S. spe-cifically to obtain a college education. They were given Philippine government grants and fellowships, known as government pensions, hence the term “pensionados”. They were to return to the Philip-pines upon completion of their academic work. Because of their small number in Ameri-can campuses and were in the U.S. temporarily, they did not pose a threat to the major-ity of white Americans. One author described the white Americans’ attitude regarding the early pensionados as such.

Beginning in the early 1900’s, “pensionados” por-trayed that identification with an image of being well-mannered, well groomed, and knowledgeable of white American etiquette. Since the early pensionados did not experience much prejudice and discrimination, they came back to the Philippines with glowing reports and unre-alistic views of mainstream American culture. These false impressions gave false hopes and expectations to the second


(Continued from page 1) ever, by the fact that they feel that they are hidden in the shadows of our Pacific Island-er brothers and sisters.”

“Here in the East Coast, most of the Filipinos are Doc-tors, Nurses, MedTech, and Physical therapists. They are working in hospitals and are earning a reasonable income that puts them in the upper middle class. There are very few Pacific Islanders here and we are therefore elevated to the level of Medical Experts, a title most other ethnic groups covet. I was not aware that we are hidden in a group who just eat lumpia, pancit, pinakbet, without much to be proud about. I therefore beg to be forgiven for being so proud. I have been respected as a high-class pediatrician ever since I arrived here and I dare say that our history as Filipinos in the East is not the same as in the West. (No offense to you, of course, considering that you are a doctor who trained in Chicago but migrated to California).” The preceding astute and fulsome comments are true in fact.

Indeed, as Filipino Ameri-cans, we need to tell our story and when it all began.

In my review of this par-ticular subject, I believe it will be of significant interest to relate this history to everyone reading my memoir.

Since the early 1900’s, successive waves of Filipinos have migrated to other coun-tries in search of employment opportunities. Mass migra-tion, however, began at the beginning of the 20th century when the demand for labor in the plantations of Hawaii and farmlands of California



The Law that Matters

Read Atty Bautista’s previous articles by visiting our website at www.asianjournalusa.com

by Atty. A. Erwin Bautista

Can a Trustee undo any trans-fers you have made prior to filing Bankruptcy?

Question: I have transferred my credit card debt from one card to another because of lower interest rates and I sold my house to my brother because I can no longer afford to pay it and I did not get anything from it, would that be a problem if I file for Bankruptcy?

Answer: It will not be a prob-lem if the balance transfer will not be considered preference of one creditor over another and if the house transfer was not done in bad faith to hide an asset. But if it is done to perpetrate fraud or to hinder, delay or frustrate the creditors’ efforts to collect on their debts, the trustee can undo such transfer by the Strong Arm Power of the Trustee otherwise known as the Avoidance Power.

What is the Strong Arm Power?

Section 544(a) of the Bank-ruptcy Code as cited in the In the Matter of Deuel, Case No. 07-55266 decided by the 9th Circuit Ct. on January 28, 2010 describes such power of the trustee thus:

The trustee shall have, as of the commencement of the case, and without regard to any knowledge of the trustee or of any creditor, the rights and powers of, or may avoid any transfer of property of the debtor or any obligation incurred by the debtor that is voidable by—

… (2) a creditor that extends

credit to the debtor at the time of the commencement of the case, and obtains, at such time and with respect to such credit, an execution against the debtor that is returned unsatisfied at such time ; or

(3) a bona fide purchaser of real property, other than fixtures, from the debtor, against whom applicable law permits such transfer to be perfected, that obtains the status of a bona fide purchaser and has perfected such transfer at the time of the com-mencement of the case, whether or not such a purchaser exists.

A trustee can therefore undo your balance transfer if it would unduly disadvantage the credi-tor that made the payment to the other credit card company if you file bankruptcy just right after the balance transfer. The

Bankruptcy: Chapter 7thinking is why would the other credit card company bear the loss of such amount, which will be wiped out by a Chapter 7 petition, when such amount has benefited the original creditor with interest payments from pur-chases made from that account. It is as if the debtor has preferred the original creditor over the one who will suffer the loss in bank-ruptcy. Hence the trustee might exercise the strong arm power to undo an unfair or inequitable situation.

The house transfer can defi-nitely be undone if there’s equity that the trustee can recover to pay off your creditors which were deprived of the asset be-cause you gave it away to a rela-tive without consideration and with the possibility of retrieving such property at the end of the bankruptcy filing.

But if the purpose is to save the house by having your brother assume the loan and continue the payment on a house with-out equity then the trustee will probably not even touch such transaction and will just abandon the property from the bankruptcy estate.

How did the trustee exercise the Strong Arm Power in the Deuel case?

.The trustee wanted to take the

house of the debtors and sell it to pay off the debtors credi-tors because Chase Manhattan Bank failed to register its lien on the house. The Deuel’s Condo-minium is located in San Diego and the trustee in their Chapter 7 petition was Trustee Harold Taxel. When Chase refinanced the mortgage of the Deuel’s Condominium, Chase some-how forgot to register with the County Recorders Office their lien on the condominium subject of the mortgage.

It came to the knowledge of the trustee when Chase filed a Complaint to quiet title to its lien and won in the Bankruptcy Court. Trustee Taxel appealed to the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel (BAP) and won. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeal upheld the BAP’s ruling based on Sec-tion 544(a) or the Strong Arm Power or Avoidance Power of the Trustee.

It didn’t matter that Chase had the Deuel’s signature on the mortgage contract, what mat-

tered was whether it recorded the lien to be a secured creditor. Since Chase did not record it’s lien on the condominium then it will be treated as one of the unsecured creditor just like any credit card and will be paid as if it is an unsecured creditor if there are any assets that can be distributed out of the bankruptcy estate which are not exempt.

If you are thinking of filing bankruptcy, consult an attorney before you make any balance transfers or before you sell your house, foreclose your house or transfer the deed in lieu of fore-closure so that the trustee may never have to use its Strong Arm Power against the transfers you made. This way you will avoid preference of creditors, fraudu-lent transfers or a criminal li-ability for hiding assets which is subject to penalty and or prison term. That way you will get your discharge sooner without a hitch.

(We invite readers to set up their initial consultation with The Law Offices of A. Erwin Bautista. Atty. Bautista prac-tices Immigration, Bankruptcy, Personal Injury, Family Law and Income Tax Preparation/Audit Representation. Atty. Bautista obtained his law degree from Western State University, Ful-lerton, CA and his Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of the Philippines. You can reach him in Los Angeles at (213) 365 7690 at 3435 Wilshire Blvd., Ste. 2700, LA, CA 90010 or in San Diego at (619) 474 7755 at 550 E. 8th St., Ste. 11, National City, CA 91950)

1341 East 8th St. Suite D National City, CA 91950

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group of immigrant laborers known as the “manongs” (old timers).

The demand for Filipino labor began with the Gentle-men’s Agreement ratified between the United States and Japan in 1907. The agree-ment was intended to limit the number of Japanese in the U.S. by restricting its number of immigrants. The Exclu-sion Act of 1924 barred the Japanese from further im-migration. These actions led to a labor supply crisis for the sugar cane and pineapple plantations in Hawaii and for the farms in the mainland. Agents for labor started a recruitment program to bring Filipinos to the United States. Steamship companies were instrumental in transporting


How I came to America

these immigrants.Besides the economic

condition of the Philippines, other factors influenced the Filipino migration. The American public schools also played an important factor. The American virtues set forth in the American textbooks that were being used in the Philippines made some boys dissatisfied with the economic condition in their country and they became desirous to go to America.

The positive reports of the early pensionados, coupled with the fact that the first la-bor immigrants found it fairly easy to find work in the U.S. and were sending back money to their families with glow-ing reports, turned the Second Wave of immigrants from a trickle of a few hundred men arriving each year to a few thousand in the 1920’s.

Many Filipinos saw their fellow countrymen who had left for the United States, mostly by joining the United States military, return to their hometowns to retire after working for several years. They came back as heroes with money in their pockets and an elevated status in their community. This impression, combined with the glow-ing reports of the early im-migrants, led to a prevailing attitude of prospective immi-grants that they were going to America and also come back as heroes to their families and neighbors.

Mass migration, however, began at the beginning of the 20th century when the de-mand for labor in the planta-tions of Hawaii and farmlands of California attracted thou-sands of mostly male laborers.

The Filipino immigrants were not like the two earlier groups of Asians---the Chi-nese and Japanese. Although most of the early Asians came as laborers, the most striking difference was that the Chi-

nese and Japanese stayed as a cohesive group and settled in specific areas, whereas the Fil-ipinos were transients, mov-ing from city to city and from farm to farm. The reason that Filipinos never settled into specific areas was that they considered their immigration to the U.S. to be only tempo-rary. Since the Philippines were a United States Territory at the time, there was no need for a passport or immigra-tion papers. The only thing that one needed was enough money to buy a ticket. Be-tween 1920 and 1930, eighty percent of those entering the U.S. were between sixteen and thirty years old, seventy-seven percent of them unmarried. Because they believed that they were going back to the Philippines, they saw no need to transplant their culture and build communities.

Here’s the scenario: Upon arrival in the mainland, the new immigrant was shocked by the reality of American life. He faced prejudice and dis-crimination for the first time, something that he rarely ex-perienced back home. He also found that the low wages were not what he expected and the cost of living ate up much of what he earned.

At first, the new arrivals tried to find jobs as soon as possible, which meant work-ing in the fields. Filipinos were known to specialize in “stoop” labor like cutting asparagus. For instance, the lettuce industry in the Watson-ville district of California was largely created by Filipino labor.

Not all Filipino immigrants came in search of money. Others had dreams of com-pleting their education in the U. S., hoping to find work and do their schooling at the same time. Unfortunately, unlike the pensionados, these immi-grants were unprepared for the education system in America. Some lacked the basic skills to

enter a university and became discouraged, while others simply lacked the money.

Dr. Roberto Vallanga described what happened to many of them: “As the years passed, their dreams of com-pleting their education were thwarted; finding employment to support themselves became the objective. They were drawn into a lifestyle out of necessity against their will…a life molded not by laziness or an unwillingness to bet-ter themselves but by social and economic conditions in America.”

“Some were able to fin-ish a university education. For example, Camilo V. was able to obtain an MBA degree from the University of South-ern California (U.S.C.) in the 1930’s, but because of the well of prejudice, he was only able to get a job as chauffer. (But as a happy ending, when his employer passed away he willed his car to Camilo.)

”The Second Wave of Filipinos who intended to work temporarily in the U.S. discovered the harsh truth of American reality. Like the other previous immigrants, they also fell for the “Ameri-can Dream” trap. Some were able to return to the Philip-pines as heroes, but the vast majority could not bear to return home as failures.”

The Filipinos Navy men (considered the Third Wave)

The “manongs” came mostly between 1900 thru 1940 while the professional class did not arrive until the end of the 1950’s. When the Philippines became a U.S. ter-ritory, Filipinos had constant-ly been members of the U.S. military and the merchant marines. Article 27 of the Base Agreement, signed after the Philippines was given independence, allowed provi-sions for “special relations”



Read Romeo Nicolas’s previous poems by vis-iting our website at www.asianjournalusa.com

Ni Romeo Nicolas

Mga Tulang Tagalog

Laughing MatterRead previous articles by visiting our website at www.asian-

journalusa.com

Once there was a million-aire, who collected live alliga-tors. He kept them in the pool in back of his mansion. The millionaire also had a beauti-ful daughter who was single.

One day, the millionaire decides to throw a huge party,

and during the party he an-nounces, “My dear guests, I have a proposition to every man here. I will give one mil-lion dollars, or my daughter, to the man who can swim across this pool full of alliga-tors and emerge unharmed!” As soon as he fi nished his last word, there was the sound of a large splash in the pool. The guy in the pool was swim-ming with all his might, and the crowd began to cheer him on. Finally, he made it to the other side of the pool un-harmed.

The millionaire was im-pressed. He said, “That was incredible! Fantastic! I didn’t think it could be done! Well, I must keep my end of the bargain. Do you want my daughter or the one million dollars?” The guy catches his breath, then says, “Listen, I don’t want your money! And I don’t want your daughter! I want the asshole who pushed me in the pool!”

***

The teacher of the Earth Science class was lecturing on map reading. He spent the class explaining about lati-tude, longitude, degrees, and minutes. Towards the end of class, the teacher asked his students, “Suppose I asked you to meet me for lunch at 23 degrees, 4 minutes north latitude and 45 degrees, 15 minutes east longitude...” A student’s voice broke the confused silence, and vol-unteered, “I guess you’d be eating alone, sir.”

***

Two women that are dog owners are arguing about which dog is smarter.... First Woman : “My dos is so smart, every morning he waits for the paper boy to come around and then he takes the newspa-per and brings it to me. Sec-ond Woman : “I know...” First Woman : “How?” Second Woman : “My dog told me.”

***

A woman in Brooklyn de-cided to prepare her Will and make her fi nal requests. She told her rabbi she had two fi -nal requests. First, she wanted to be cremated, and second, she wanted her ashes scat-tered all over Bloomingdales. “Why Bloomingdales?” asked the rabbi. “Then I’ll be sure my daughters visit me twice a week.”

***

There was a boy who worked in the produce sec-tion of a super market. A man came in and asked to buy half

Alligatorsa head of lettuce. The boy told him that they only sold whole heads of lettuce, but the man replied that he did not need a whole head, only half. The boy explained that he would have to ask the manager and so he walked into the back

room and said, “There is some jerk out there who wants to buy only a half a head of lettuce.” As he fi nished saying this, he turned around to fi nd the man standing right behind him, so he quickly added, “And this gentle-

man wants to buy the other half.” The manager okayed the request and the man went on his way. Later on the manager said to the boy, “You almost got yourself in a lot of trouble earlier, but I must say I was impressed with the way you got out of it. You think on your feet and we like that around here. Where are you from, son?” The boy replied, “Minnesota, sir.” “Oh, really? Why did you leave Minne-sota?” inquired the manager. The boy replied, “They’re all just whores and hockey players up there.” “My wife is from Minnesota”, exclaimed the manager. The boy in-stantly replied, “Really! What team did she play for?”

License # 01113433

Street Poetry

Read about Michael’s upcoming book of poems “Crushed Violets” by visiting our website at www.asianjournalusa.com

by Michael R. Tagudin

©2010 Michael R. Tagudin. All rights reserved.

About the Author: Michael R. Tagudin Educated as an engineer in the Philippines, the City of Los Angeles em-ployee hopes his legacy of poems will provoke a dialogue about the human condition. He is donating the proceeds from the book “Crushed Violets” to anti-human traffi cking efforts in the City of Angels. Contact [email protected] for more information.

PagkikitaLabis-labis itong galak, makita kang muli hirang,Na ‘di pa rin nagbabago ang hinhin mo’t kagandahan.Ang panahong nagsilipas, parang ito’y kahapon lang,Tila puso ay bagabag, ninanais kang balikan.

Ngunit pigil ang damdamin sa situwasyong kakaiba,Dahil tayo’y ‘di malaya, kapwa kita may mahal na.Ano man ang napapansing ginanda ng pagkikita,Marahil ay dala lamang ng pagtinging natitira.

Tamis ng ‘yong mga ngiti at kilos mong mapangakit,Ala-ala ng lumipas sa isip ko’y nakaukit.Malambing mong pangungusap na kay lamig sa pandinig,Ikaw pa rin, walang iba, ang kahapong nawawaglit.

Sa maikling pagkikita, balitaang kapwa sabik,Ang galak at katuwaan ng nagdaan, binabalik.Maliban sa tanging paksa at hiwaga ng pag-ibig,Iniwasang pagusapan, itinabing ‘di marinig.

Bago tayo naghiwalay, kay init ng iyong halik,Kahit ito’y sa pisngi lang, ‘di ko kayang ipagpalit.Patunay lang sa pagtinging naiiwan sa ating dibdib,‘Di man ito yumayabong, nanatiling nakapiit.

Habang kita’y minamasdang unti-unting lumalayo,‘Di ko pansin na may luhang nagunahan sa pagtulo.Marahil nga dama pa rin ang hapdi ng pagkabigo,Na patuloy nililihim, patuloy na tinatago.

Hanggang kailan titiisin na maglihim ang damdamin?Hanggang kailan magpipigil twing magtagpo ang landasin?Isa kayang kasalanan kung patuloy tataglayin?Ang nalabi ng kahapong naglapit sa puso namin.

Handog ko ang tulang ito sa maraming Pinoy na bigo sa unang pag-ibig.

Romeo S. NicolasBocaue, Bulacan5/20/2010

Feed mefeed me...

feed me once morei am lacking...

so much...i need to be nourish

to share your strenghtso i can go on...

to live on...being strong

centeredbalanced

you and meinterwined refl ection

of each othertwin helical spheres

ripped from one anotheryour universe

colliding with mineleaving from each other

parts of ourselvesforever integrated

creating new born stars...feeding from your breast...

nourished by your milkonce more being a child...

once more...once more...



858

Now Hiring Drivers


How I came to Americabetween the U.S. Navy and Philippine nationals. The U.S. had no other agreement like this with any other country in the world. The provisions were mutually independent. The U.S. military bases in the Philippines were not necessar-ily required to recruit Filipinos nor were the Filipinos required to serve in the U.S. military in order for the bases to continue to exist.

The economic pressures in the Philippines drove the men into the Navy. In the past, the Filipinos recruited by the Navy were only allowed to serve as stewards. This can probably be explained by the United States’ colonial experience with the Philip-pines. However, the American attitude toward the Filipinos changed with the onset of World War II.

This began the Third Wave of Filipino immigration (1945-1965). Filipinos from the Philippines joined the U.S. Navy to fight against the Japa-nese. Filipinos were allowed to join the navy because they were so-called “nationals”. They were not U.S. citizens, nor were they illegal aliens. The following statement was taken from Ramon J. Farolan who wrote: From Stewards to Admirals: Filipinos in the U.S. Navy published in Asian Journal, on Jul 21, 2003.

Nothing to disparage, I truly praise the Filipino navy men. In the navy, many Fili-pinos were given the label as “Stewardsman”. As stewards, Filipinos in the U.S. Navy cooked, cleaned, shined shoes, washed and swabbed the decks of naval ships and naval bases across America and the entire world. Despite their

status, Filipinos fought side-by-side with the American soldiers for freedom against the Japanese.

In my research, my friend Leo Sicat in San Diego was quoted in one of the articles entitled, Filipino American Lives. Leo Sicat was a col-lege student at the University of the Philippines described the indignity he felt in the Steward School.

“ At the school we were taught how to cook and baked, how to set the table, and how to position the glass and the cup. They basically taught us the job of a wait-ress. I was almost a chemical engineer, and I came to the United States just to become a steward.”

Finally the restrictions for Filipino Navy were lifted in the ‘70s and they could become officers of the U.S. Navy up to the highest rank position. In l985, Commander Tem E. Bugarin became the first Filipino to command a surface ship of the line when he assumed command of USS Saginaw, LST1188. There are now hundreds of Filipino of-ficers in the U.S. Navy.

The Navy immigrants were a more cohesive group than the early manongs. Before the Philippines got its indepen-dence, those who joined the Navy had the original intent to return to the Philippines. However, after the Philip-pines’ independence, many of them had the new attitude of permanently emigrating to the U.S. They felt that they had better advantages if they remained here since the U.S. Navy treated Filipino retirees better in the States than in the Philippines. The U.S. Navy’s recruitment of Filipinos,


who were exempted from the established quota, brought a heavy wave of immigrants to the U.S. Thus, Filipino-Amer-ican communities developed around United States Navy bases whose impact can still be seen today.

Philippine Medical

Graduates and other profes-sionals (considered to be the Fourth Wave)

The Fourth Wave of Fili-

pino Immigration began after the passing of the Immigration Act of 1965 and continues to the present day. This allowed the entry of as many as 20,000 immigrants annually. One of the most identifiable groups in this wave of immigrants rep-resented the medical profes-sion. During the late 1950’s and early 1960’s the U.S. was in critical supply of technical people, especially in the medi-cal services. Again, Filipinos were actively recruited from the Philippines in order to fill the labor demands of the U.S.

Other groups of Filipino immigrants during these years were from the professional class...doctors, nurses, en-gineers, lawyers, as well as the Navy men. The United States opened its doors to professionals under the “third preference” status.

Have you heard of “brain drain?” The Fourth Wave had this impact on the Philippines with the exodus of profession-als leaving the country to come to the United States. These professional immigrants were very similar to the “manongs” who came seventy years ear-lier. They were mostly single, young, and were scattered throughout the U.S. moving to a job first and subsequently forming a Filipino community. The main difference is that af-ter 1962’s change in immigra-tion guidelines they knew they

By: Conrad I. Reloj, Jr.

As the school year closes in, seniors across California are bursting with excitement to be part of the 2010 graduating class at UC Merced; parents and close relatives from as far south as San Diego are close behind in jumping for joy as these students walk up the stage and accept their diploma.

Graduation candidates represented 39 California coun-ties, along with two other states

UC Merced Commemorates Class of 2010

qualities of her dad, Com-mander Anderson, is a U.S. Navy retired, an Annapolis graduate with masters degree in Computer Science, and now COO of Covington & Burling Company in Mary-land, that probably explain how why UC Merced School of Engineering was the per-fect fit for her.

Jessica was born and raised in Mira Mesa area of San Diego, played basketball since High School at Mira Mesa High and on to college where she excelled in sports. While at UC Merced she won the MVP & Coach of the Year awards for the 2009-2010 seasons. She credits basket-ball with her team-oriented and highly disciplined work ethics that she applied to her studies and daily living. A well-rounded individual, Jes-

sica also enjoys music, danc-ing, boating, snowboarding, surfing, and traveling with friends and family members she loves.

At the university’s annual commencement ceremonies last Saturday evening, award-winning broadcast journalist Lester Holt urged the gradu-ates of the University of Cali-fornia Merced to become free thinkers and critical consum-ers of news during his key-note address: “You leave here with open minds filled with fresh knowledge,” Holt said. “My challenge to you is for you to challenge us and help raise the level of our public discourse. Make us smarter. Force us to open our minds and work through our issues. Teach us to be free thinkers. And even hold those of us in the news media accountable. I know you can make us bet-ter....Today we all are enjoy-ing the fruits of the digital era,” he said. “Millions of sources of information com-ing at us at lightning-fast speed. That technology has also democratized the gath-ering and dissemination of news, allowing for ‘citizen journalists’ to make their mark, even usurping the role of mainstream news organi-zations.”

Jessica who founded the Science and Engineering Association (SEA) at UC Merced is leading the way since 2006. While under her leadership as president they won the Most Outstanding Club/Organization of 2008; Jessica also did some ramp modeling for fund-raising project. She interned with Siemens Building Technolo-gies and Procter & Gamble as a Product Supply Engineer. For the Chancellor’s Recep-tion in Los Angeles she was selected for Student Panel in 2008, and Student Advisor from2008-2010.

(Maryland and Washington) and four countries (Germany, France, Russia and Lebanon). Jessica Ashley Anderson was among the 321 graduates who participated in the ceremony.

Jessica at age 22 received her Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering to follow in the footsteps of her elder sister, Jacqueline who obtained the same degree at UCLA years earlier. Jessica is the youngest daughter of a Filipina mother and a white American father. What is striking about this Filipino-American mestesa is that she fit the mold of her parents. For starters, Jessica is always so outgoing like her mother Nanshi Ignacio of San Diego Asian and NOAH San Diego, a non-profit organizations, a line producer for Filipino shows; and the leadership

Nanshi Ignacio and daughter Jessica Anderson


(619) 702-3051

Housing and Real Estate

Can give 3-4 consecutive days training

Rooms for RentNo Smoking, No DrugsIn a quiet residential

neighborhood of National City

Call 619.656.0409

Outdoor rooms continue to be rated as essential by homeowners, given they are extensions of interiors and add real estate value. Yet, designing outdoor living areas comes with its share of challenges. Under-standing the basics from the ground up simplifies the process.

The patio is more than a hard surface. It can serve as the outdoor room’s focal point around which other materials and features are styled. The textures and shapes of stone flooring can lend a dimensional feel, while a deck’s color allows it to contrast or blend with the environment.

When planning the floor, spacing is the most important component. Determining upfront if a dining area or outdoor kitchen is desired, and how many people the space will accommodate are key consid-erations. The patio should be planned to house these instal-lations.

Patios, along with outdoor structures, provide exterior spaces with foundational dimensions and protected placements for furniture and accessories. “Foundations delineate the room and es-tablish the space that belongs to the room, and that which does not,” says Sarah Kin-

Outdoor Rooms from Top to Bottom

bar, editor of Garden Design magazine, a leading outdoor design publication. “Edges and boundaries created by

foundations are the outdoor’s answer to walls.”

Outdoor product manu-facturers offer exterior struc-tures, furnishings, fabrics and designs to provide permanent enhancements that increase property values. Through a recent partnership, the out-door room innovators at Walpole Woodworkers and ShadeFX Canopies unveiled versatility and quality as top priorities for outdoor spaces. As a result, the two compa-nies launched a line of shade

pergo-las that com-bine cellular vinyl pergo-las with retract-able and in-tegrated canopy sys-tems.

“As a design element, shade pergolas moderate the transition from indoors to outdoors,” explains Steve Os-trowski, president of ShadeFX Canopies. “The structure defines the space and provides a sense of privacy that makes dining tables and cushioned furniture feel more appropri-ate in outdoor areas.”

Shade pergolas offer homeowners the ability to create sanctuaries that are covered from rain, protect-ed from sun, impervious against wind, and immune from the stresses of daily life. Since the canopies are retractable, homeown-ers can switch from sun to shade at their leisure. The cellular vinyl pergolas are a low- to no-maintenance realistic wood alterna-tive and last more than 25 years. The durable cano-pies offer 10 to 15 years of use.

“With their height, depth, and width, using shade pergolas adds di-mension and substance to outdoor rooms,” says Lou Maglio, president of Wal-pole Woodworkers. “Out-

door structures such as these can reflect and enhance the integrity of a home’s architec-tural style.”

When adding an outdoor structure, a homeowner should first decide where in the landscape to place it, keeping in mind views from interior windows, sunlight, and proximity to the home. “Typical retractable awnings extend less than 16 feet, and a shade pergola can be used to cover a large area up to 600 square-feet,” says Ostrowski. “A design decision is whether it should be affixed to or sepa-rate from the house.”

The remaining outdoor living area should be designed like any interior, implement-ing function and cohesive style. Outdoor fabrics and accessories should reveal personality while adopting juxtaposed colors, textures and lines that translate eas-ily, as if the interior naturally extends outdoors.

According to Kinbar, outdoor rooms have always existed; they are becoming more defined as new products arrive on the market that make these spaces as livable as indoor rooms. To learn more, visit www.shadepergolas.com and www.gardendesign.com.

Chandeliers aren’t just for grand ballrooms or even formal dining rooms anymore. They come in so many styles and sizes that they can add a touch of drama to just about any room in the house.

Size matters when select-ing a chandelier, according to Mary Beth Gotti, a lighting expert with GE Consumer

& Industrial. She points out there is a simple way to make sure the fixture is not too large or too small for your room. Just measure the length and width of the room, in feet. Add the two numbers together and the sum should equal the diameter of the chandelier, in inches.

In the dining room, how-ever, a chandelier should be scaled to the size of the table,

Chandeliers Add Drama not the room. It should be no greater than the width of the table minus 12 to 20 inches, to prevent anyone from bumping into it. How high off the table should a chandelier be hung? “Typically, you’ll find them 30 to 36 inches above the top of the table, depending on the ceiling height, “notes Gotti.

Gotti suggest that light-ing from a chandelier that beams directly down on your guests from above can cast unflatter-ing shadows. The heat from bulbs directly over-head should also be con-sidered. She offered these tips:

Avoid high wattage bulbs as they will increase the heat and can increase the potential for glare.

Consider decorative

compact fluorescent decora-tive lamps to reduce watts and extend lamp life.

Try adding shades to chan-delier candelabra bulbs or a wall dimmer to help control the light and set a comfortable mood.

For extra sparkle, con-sider installing small recessed downlights on either side of the chandelier.

The right light in the right

fixture will create the look you really want. Use deco-rative bulbs in chandeliers, sconces, bathroom fixtures – anywhere the bulb is visible. With decorative bulbs, the bulb is just as dazzling as the light it creates. Superior halo-gen technology allows GE bulbs to deliver the highest quality of light that’s long-lasting and energy-efficient. To bring out colors and pat-terns that may normally go unnoticed, try GE Reveal light bulbs. They deliver clean, pure light that filters out the dull, yellow rays produced by standard incandescent bulbs.

Clear bulbs can provide glitter, but also can be sources of glare if exposed. Dimming can reduce glare and provide lighting flexibility or “scenes” for various events. Coated bulbs or coated compact fluo-rescent bulbs provide more diffuse light, reducing harsh shadows.

Now that you have the measurement details and proper bulb selection mas-tered, the biggest challenge will be selecting among the dazzling fixtures available. Whether it’s a Mission style fixture hanging in the den surrounded by quarter-sawn oak bookcases, a chrome fixture with geometric glass elements hanging in a modern master bedroom, or simply a junk-store find adding a splash of whimsy to a shabby chic apartment – chandeliers can be the crowning star of a room’s décor.

For more information, visit gelighting.com.

Courtesy of Family Feau-tres


Broker Associate, DRE# 01486032Weichert Realtor Elite (858-829-5452)

by Ligaya Cruz

Real Estate/Mortgage Tips

More and more homeowners who are “underwater” on their mortgage are walking away from their obligations even though they can actually afford to pay for the monthly pay-ments. “Underwater” means owing at least 20 percent more on your home than it Is worth. Some people call it “strategic foreclosures”. Is it something you should consider? As I understand it, it is legal but others may see it as immoral. It will definitely destroy your credit for seven years so if you want to purchase a home with a mortgage then you should think hard and consult a professional (real estate lawyer or accoun-tant) before making the deci-sion.

Bankruptcy lawyers of-ten say that if you are more

“Under Water” on your Mortgage? Should You

Ditch Your House?than 20% “underwater” then it makes more sense to walk away. A $500,000 thousand homes for instance now worth $300,000. The monthly mort-gage is $3500 a month but the rent in the same area is

$1500. Should you keep on paying your

mortgage or is it sensible to rent

instead - save the differ-

ence or pay your

other debts? Many homeowners see financial institution walking away

from their obliga-tion in the name of smart

business and think that they may consider doing the same. These “strategic” foreclosures are financial decisions that some homeowners are making and more than likely to persist as long as the economy and

degree in Business Administra-tion from University of Phoe-nix and Paralegal studies from University of San Diego. She is a member of the San Diego Association of Realtor (SDAR) Housing Committee. The committee provides education to home buyers and partners with business to promote ho-meownership. If you have any questions, email her at [email protected] or call her at 858-829-5452.

By: Father Shay Cullen

One of the biggest chal-lenges facing any new president and administration will be how to deal with the political culture of crime where guns and goons and oodles of ill-gotten money buys or buries opponents and bedazzles the electorate with false claims, promises and empty meaningless rhetoric.

Political violence like the massacre of 57 people in Maguindanao has bedev-iled the Republic since its founding. The culture of political crime and corrup-tion pervades every political

Supporters light candles in front of a portrait of the late for-mer Philippine President Corazon Aquino in Manila, whose “People Power” revolution toppled dic-tator Ferdinand Marcos and re-stored democracy to the nation.

The Power that Rules the Nation

with political positions or plush civilian jobs when they retire before the president leaves of-fice.

Recent history gives several examples to the king-making or breaking role of the military. They turned against President Estrada and he fell from power. Army officers rebelled against President Marcos and when the people supported the rebels, he fell from power. Some military officers have strategically posi-tioned themselves with state-ments pledging loyalty to the constitution, and incidentally in-grating themselves to the incoming president-elect.

There are honorable and honest military and police officers who will not play the corruption game. Some in recent years rebelled against the government and the corrupt system. They were jailed and charged. Others were cleared and now run for political office.

Private armies and militias are mostly government-paid .None of the presidential candidates have any genuine commitment to dismantle them. They need them to subdue social unrest and the armed rebels. These government-paid militias help keep down rebel-lion and keep the government in power. They are also used to massacre political rivals as we saw in Maguindanao.

The next president has the task of saving the millions of homeless, landless, suffering Filipinos from illiteracy, unem-ployment, sickness and hunger and must bring about a com-passionate and just nation. That means dismantling the armed militias and implementing the strict rule of law.

The new president will have to be a charismatic revolution-ary, ready to transform society and go against his own privi-leged class, their vested inter-ests, challenge the corporate gi-ants and the interests of foreign powers, take on the landlords, implement land reform and.... well, be a president for the 90 million people mired in hope-lessness and there is no such person - we are not yet Bolivia. [email protected]. / P.O. Box 68 Olongapo City 2200

Novena to Saint Jude

Oh Holy St. Jude, Apostle and Martyr, great in virtue, rich in miracles, near Kingsman of Jesus Christ and faithful intercessor of all who invoke your special patronage in time of need. To you I have recoursed from the depth of my heart and humbly beg, to whom God has given special great power, to come to my assistance in my present, in return I promised to make your name known and cause to be invoke. ( Say 3 Our Fathers, 3 Hail Marys and 3 Glorys for nine consecutive days, publication must be promised.) St. Jude, pray for us all who invoke your aid. (This novena has never been known to fail.

PersonalPrayer to the Holy Spirit

Holy Spirit thou make me see everything and show me the way to reach my ideal. You who give me the divine gift to forgive and forget the wrong that is done to me and who are in all instances of my life with me. I, in this short dialogue, want to thank you for everything and confirm once more that I never want to be separated from you no matter how great the material desires may be. I want to be with you and my love ones in your perpetual glory, Amen. A Person must pray this 3 consecutive days without stating one’s wish will be granted no matter how dif-ficult may be. Promise to publish this soon as your favor has been granted.

Maria, Nigel & Bo Maria, Nigel & Bo

The ANCOP (Answering the Cry of the Poor) Founda-tion U.S.A., a ministry of Couples for Christ (CFC), will hold a Summit on July 5, 2010 at The Woodlands Marriott Hotel & Convention Center, 1601 Lake Robbins Drive, The Woodlands, Texas 77380.

Like in previous years, the Summit will be a gathering of Couples for Christ leaders, both from the U.S. and the Philippines, ANCOP U.S.A. officers and volunteers, as well as, ANCOP friends and supporters.

According to Tony Ven-tura, ANCOP U.S.A. Presi-dent, those who are expected to attend from Manila are Jose Tale, CFC International Chairman, Joe Yamamoto and Lito Tayag, members of CFC International Council. The three top CFC officials are also scheduled to speak at the

ANCOP Foundation U.S.A. holds 2010 Summit

CFC Leaders Conference to be held from July 3-4, 2010 in The Woodlands.

Ventura also said this year’s Summit will not only discuss the ongoing and future activities and directions of ANCOP U.S.A., but also recognize the contributions of its partners in ANCOP’s continuing quest of building the church of the poor.

Top in ANCOP’s agenda are its Child Sponsorship Pro-gram (CSP) and Community Development Program (CDP).

CSP sponsors poor Filipino children so they may acquire free education in the elemen-tary, high school or college level. CDP builds homes for the poor in communities man-aged by CFC members.

For more details about the Summit, including registration of participants, please visit www.couplesforchristtexas.org

campaign with some notable exceptions to be admired and supported. It is not an electoral contest fought for different po-litical values, goals with stated policies and clear agendas. Few sign any detailed policy mani-festo that they could be held accountable for by the public and the media.

In reality, with inspiring and noble exceptions among the non-senatorial marginal-ized candidates, high aspira-tions are replaced by a desire to win, divvy up the spoils, and consolidate power with their own family members, business interests and cronies. Self-in-terest and clan dominance is at the heart of almost all Philip-pine politics. The greatest prize of all is the presidency; there lies the greatest power, influ-ence and prestige. There is no question political power is an addicting drug, once tasted the desire for more is insatiable.

History shows that at the heart of political power, where perhaps 200 hundred vastly wealthy power hungry dynastic families and their billionaire cronies rule the lives of 90 million impoverished Filipinos, its military and police power. While thousands of brave young officers and men have given their lives fighting, they died not knowing that they were defending - the vested in-terests of a ruling elite, not the Filipino people, the poor, the hungry and the landless. They followed orders without asking why they need to fight and die.

Getting and keeping the military on side is essential for the continued rule of few wealthy family dynasties that make it to the top. The elite place their own relatives or friends in strategic positions in the police and military and win their loyalty by giving some of them a generous slice of the military budget for themselves.

In some unnamed adminis-trations, a few really bad eggs might do the immoral and ille-gal bidding of the commander-in-chief and assassinate politi-cal rivals, dissidents, activists and journalists and be rewarded

employment remains weak.Ligaya Cruz was a mort-

gage/real estate broker prior to joining Weichert Realtor Elite. She originated residential and commercial mortgages. She is also a certified paralegal and worked for the City Attorney’s Office, City of San Diego. She assisted Deputy City Attorney in legal research on issues involving land use includ-ing but not limited to zoning, building, health and safety and environmental. She has a


ADVERTISE IN THE ASIAN JOURNAL (619) [email protected]

PHOENIX – Last week, the Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC) and Asian American Justice Cen-ter (AAJC), members of Asian American Center for Advanc-ing Justice, jointly filed a fed-eral lawsuit with other civil rights groups to challenge SB 1070, Arizona’s unconstitu-tional anti-immigrant law that requires police to demand “papers” from people they stop that they “reasonably suspect” are undocumented.

“Arizona’s actions not only interfere with federal law, but will invite widespread racial profiling in violation of the U.S. Constitution,” said Ronald Lee, staff attorney at AAJC. “The precedent it sets — numerous states have already introduced similar legislation — just underscores the need for comprehensive immigration reform at the national level.”

The coalition of civil rights lawyers represents more than 20 plaintiffs, including Ari-zona South Asians for Safe Families, Asian Chamber of Commerce, Japanese Ameri-can Citizens League (JACL), Muslim American Society, and individuals such as Jim Shee, a 70-year-old American-born citizen of Chinese and Spanish descent who has already been stopped twice by Arizona law enforcement for his “papers.”

“Arizona’s new law echoes one of the worst chapters in U.S. immigration history,” said Julie Su, litigation direc-tor at APALC. “In the 19th

century, the U.S. banned Chinese immigrants entirely and required them to carry ‘residency certificates’ at all times or risk deportation. As was true a century ago, the criminalization of an entire race and fear driven by eco-nomic insecurity make for bad public policy.”

The Impact of Arizona’s New Immigration Law on

Asian AmericansAsian Americans are fre-

quent victims of racial profil-ing – from Dr. Wen Ho Lee, a U.S. citizen accused of spying because of his Chinese ethnic-ity, to South Asian and Arab Americans being profiled as threats to national security, even though such policies have proven completely inef-fective.

“For JACL, many of our members, or their fam-ily members, were unjustly imprisoned during WWII,” stated Kathy Nakagawa, presi-dent of the Arizona chapter of JACL. “So we know firsthand what it means to have our civil rights stripped because of bigotry and ignorance.”

Parties to the lawsuit, such as Arizona South Asians for Safe Families, worry that crime victims from immi-grant communities, especially victims of domestic violence, will be even more afraid to seek help as a result of this law. Others worry that just be-ing associated with or helping immigrants will make some-one a police target.

“Our members are afraid that this new immigration law will hamper any possibil-ity of an economic recovery, a very real fear given the enormous consumer power of Asian American consumers in Arizona,” said Ted Namba, president of the Asian Cham-ber of Commerce.

In addition to APALC and AAJC, the legal organiza-tions filing the lawsuit include the Mexican American Legal Defense & Education Fund, American Civil Liberties Union, National Immigration Law Center, National Day Laborer Organizing Network, and NAACP. For more infor-mation regarding the lawsuit, visit www.apalc.org or www.advancingequality.org for the press release and the com-plaint filed in this case.

Letters to the EditorRead previous letters to the Editor by visiting our website at

www.asianjournalusa.com

San Diego, CA– The Union of Pan Asian Commu-nities (UPAC) is excited to an-nounce its Census 2010 Poster Contest. The Poster Contest is a great way to get youth and families involved in raising awareness about their commu-nities and how participating in census will help their com-munities. The contest is open to all San Diego youth. Post-ers should reflect the theme: “Asians and Pacific Island-ers (API’s) being accurately counted in Census 2010.”

UPAC is one of several community-based organi-zations that comprise the California Asian and Pacific Islander 2010 Census Net-work, also known as API Count, a network of Asian and Pacific Islander organizations that have come together to promote Asian and Pacific Is-lander involvement in Census 2010.

It has been shown in past census years that persons who are most under-counted in the census are ethnic minorities and children. UPAC along with other community-based organizations have made grassroots efforts to educate communities, raise awareness, and encourage participation in this year’s census in an effort to overcome this trend. Most importantly, Census 2010 marks the first time that multi-race responses are be-ing permitted. If everyone is counted, the census will show a more accurate picture of our multi-cultural communities and of our nation.

UPAC is targeting its outreach efforts in areas of San Diego County that had the lowest number of house-holds return their census form. These areas include the following zip codes: 92105 (City Heights), 92102 (Golden Hill), 92115 (College area), 92101 (Downtown), 92104 (North Park), 92113 (Logan Heights), 91932 (Im-perial Beach), 92116 (Normal Heights), 92173 (San Ysidro), 92109 (Pacific Beach), 91950 (National City), 92139 (Para-

Calling all Youth! Poster Contest featuring Asians and Pacific Islanders in

Census 2010dise Hills), and 92107 (Ocean Beach). With Census Bureau workers now going door-to-door collecting data towards an accurate count, we are ex-tending the invitation to youth in these areas to participate in the poster contest to help raise awareness about how census data can help their ethnic communities.

Posters can depict how census data are collected from API families (i.e. families mailing in their census forms, census workers coming to the doors, families calling the dif-ferent language help lines), or how census data determines how government funds will be used in API communi-ties (i.e. support for schools serving low-income students, support for students who have low English proficiency, early childhood education pro-grams, medical benefits for people without insurance, low income housing). Posters can be written in English or in any ethnic language, and can be of any size. Poster submissions will be accepted until June 30th.

First, second, and third place ribbons will be awarded in each of the following age groups: 5 – 8 years old, 9 – 11 years old, 12 – 14 years old, and 15 – 17 years old. In addition, two (2) Grand Prize cash awards of $100 will be awarded for the best interpre-tation of the theme described above and the best ethnic language poster. Pictures of the winning posters will be put on the API Count Website and submitted to local news-papers.

For details about the Poster Contest, go to the San Diego section of the API Count website at www.apicount.org/san-diego or call Debbie Rull, UPAC Census 2010 Program Coordinator at (619) 232-6454 extension 856, or Linda Le, UPAC Census 2010 Pro-gram Assistant at (619) 405-1575. For more information about Census 2010, go to the U.S. Census Bureau website at 2010.census.gov.

Name: P. L. OrdinarioMenu: News & Features - Our Life & Times -

Simeon Silverio, Jr.Heading: A Complicated Affair: Coming to America

Opinion: Looks like the parties do not understand the mean-ing of “marriage”, legally and morally, particularly the princi-pals. First, marriage means independence (from parents). But, because their parents need help, that help should be secondary to the help they should do to themselves. A better immediate ‘scenario’ would be to send Romy’s parents back home to the Phil. (assuming they cannotor do not want be by themselves in the U.S.) and for both Ditas and Romy to work and spare money to their parents. It may not be easy to let go of Romy’s parents, but someone has to be “pawn/s” to solve the marital problem. If they want to save their marriage, that is.

***

Sim: I was reading this weeks edition in the parking lot of Ranch 99 Market about the time that you E-mailed this weeks news today...Romy seems to also be a trophy collector like the charactor in your previous story who married the Mexicana.Both Romy and Ditas remind me a lot about people to whom I have come into contact in the past. His parents are, from an Anglo perspective, what I do not like about some Asian Families (not only Filipinos)....Also enjoying Dr Candari’s MEMOIRS OF A FILIPINO AMERICAN DOCTOR. Although I remember that during the period I was active with Samahan 25 to 30 years ago, the local Filipino-American Medical Association led by Dr Ed was out to get a lot of publicity as they were working to be accepted as part of San Diego’s high society, they gave only token support to the local Filipino cultural groups, like trying to hide their provinciano cousins in a closet...When I now have comments for Rudy, I E-mail then directly to him...Take care of yourself. Richard

***

Name: Dr. Edgar A. GamboaMenu: Editorials - BIOGRAPHY: From Antique to America by

Dr. Caesar D. CandariHeading: From Antique to America: Memoirs of a Filipino

American Doctor

Opinion: It is delightful to read the installments of Dr. Cesar Candari’s autobiography.

May his story inspire more Filipino-Americans to spend their talents and treasures in service to others. Congratulations to Sim & Gen Silverio for publishing Dr. Candari’s remarkable book.


674,975 READERS and counting ...

www.scribd.com/asianjournal

Health and Family

(NewsUSA) - Many Americans focus on the active part of exercise -- lifting more weight or running more miles. But you build muscle during recovery, not while you’re exercising. For this reason, athletes of all levels are start-ing to pay exercise routines and recovery periods equal at-tention. And for many, sports

massage has become a vital tool in the recovery process.

Sports massage is a specif-ic form of massage designed to help athletes achieve the best possible performance and conditioning. Therapists usu-ally concentrate on the areas most affected by a particular type of exercise. For example, a sports massage for a cyclist would address the quads, while a swimmer would need more work on the chest and upper back.

“Sports massage benefits all types of athletes; from the weekend warrior to the seri-ous competitor. Receiving sports massage on a regular basis can increase muscle flexibility, reduce pain and inflammation from overuse during physical activity and promote faster recovery time,”

Should Your Exercise Routine Include Massage?

said CG Funk, vice president of product development at Massage Envy.

Massage Envy recom-mends sports massage. Post-event massages help athletes recover after competitions, not only by increasing circulation to remove fatigue toxins and soreness, but also to promote mental relaxation.

Training massage helps athletes make the most of their exercise routines. Sports massage can reduce the likeli-hood of injury in oft-used muscles while also speeding recovery time, so athletes can work harder and more often.

Professional athletes will also arrange pre-event mas-sages, as massaging the mus-cles before a workout helps them warm up more quickly.

But don’t think only pro-fessional athletes can benefit from massage -- sports mas-sage helps anyone who engag-es in physical activity, includ-ing swimmers, weight lifters, runners, golfers, ball players, skaters, dancers, tennis play-ers and boxers.

For more information, visit www.massageenvy.com.

(NewsUSA) - While most people associate cold and flu with winter, warmer weather does nothing to cut your risk -; you can catch a cold at any time, year round. Despite the extensive warnings about the H1N1 virus in the fall, the majority of Ameri-cans saw this past cold and flu season as about the same or only slightly worse than the previous year, according to an online survey conducted by Matrixx Initiatives, Inc., makers of Zicam Cold Remedy.

The survey also revealed that many Americans heeded the warn-ings about H1N1 -; in fact, 95 percent of respondents said they took proactive steps to avoid cold and flu this winter. And those who took proactive steps to defend themselves against the flu shouldn’t stop now.

“It’s important to remem-ber that preparation and early treatment are the best defenses against the common cold, which can strike year round,” noted Dr. Tim Tucker, Pharm.D., FAPhA, and im-mediate past president of the American Pharmacists Asso-ciation.

Dr. Tucker recommends acting as soon as cold and flu symptoms become apparent. “Zinc products, such as Zicam Cold Remedy, can reduce the duration of your cold if taken within the first 24 to 48 hours after the onset of symptoms,” said Dr. Tucker.

Preparation is Key to Cold and Flu Prevention Year Round

In addition to basic precau-tions, like getting enough rest, taking a daily multivitamin, drinking fluids and washing hands, Zicam Cold Remedy

offers additional tips to help you stay healthy all year:

1. Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth, and clean frequently touched sur-faces, such as keyboards and door knobs.

2. Eat a balanced diet, and avoid sugar. Do treat yourself to dark chocolate, as it contains antioxidants and mood-boosters.

3. Exercise at least 20 to 30 minutes a day. Regular ex-ercise strengthens the immune system.

4. Avoid stress. Setting a hectic schedule can cause immune-weakening stress and fatigue and interfere with your ability to get enough rest.

5. Relax. Recharge your batteries at least once a day, even if only for 10 or 15 min-utes.

For more information, visit www.zicam.com.

(NewsUSA) - Teaching your kids to care for their teeth will do more than ensure a healthy smile -- it may also help them avoid health problems later in life.

Many parents consider cavi-ties a normal part of childhood -- after all, children eat more sweet foods than adults and often neglect brushing and flossing. But research links cavities and gum disease with serious health problems, including cardiovascular disease.

Research suggests that there is a relationship between gum disease and heart health. The American Academy of Periodontology re-ports that people with periodontal disease are almost twice as likely to have heart disease. Likewise, in a study of 657 heart-disease pa-tients published in “Circulation: Journal of the American Heart As-sociation,” lead researcher Moise Desvarieux, M.D., Ph.D. of Co-lumbia University discovered that patients with harmful bacteria in their mouths were more likely to have a clogged artery in their neck, a precursor to stroke.

Researchers believe that, when the harmful bacteria that cause gum disease invade the gum line, they

Kids Take Gum Disease to Heartalso access the bloodstream. Once they enter the circulatory system, these harmful bacteria can cause disease in other parts of the body.

But kids will be kids, and some may stop brushing their teeth be-fore they finish singing “The Star Spangled Banner” or forget to floss after eating that ice cream cone. Even if kids are excellent brushers and flossers, they can’t get rid of the harmful bacteria living in every part of their mouths.

Parents can skip the risk by giv-ing their kids probiotics for oral care, like EvoraKids (www.my-evorakids.com), a chewable that contains beneficial bacteria that are normally found in healthy mouths. When these good bacteria adhere to the teeth, they leave less room for harmful bacteria to grow, help-ing to support tooth health.

“Daily use of a product such as EvoraKids is an easy way to natu-rally maintain oral health,” says Dr. Jeffrey Hillman, D.M.D., Ph.D. and chief medical officer for Or-agenics. “The good bacteria inhibit the growth of the damaging bad bacteria, leading to better health and breath.”

Visit the ASIAN JOURNAL

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Saturday 10-12. Free Legal Clinic provided by Chua Tinsay & Vegaon U.S. immigration, family law,

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by the U.S. citizen spouse or LPR during the marriage. If the waiver is not available because there was no I-130 petition fi led by the U.S. citizen or LPR spouse, the foreign national can fi le his or her own petition under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). The VAWA im-migration provisions benefi t not only women, but hus-bands and children as well. Yes, VAWA is open to both genders but the vast major-ity of victims are women. The foreign national can fi le a VAWA petition even if the

When your U.S. Citizen spouse becomes “Extremely Cruel”


We welcome your feed-back. If you have any im-migration questions, please feel welcome to email me at [email protected] or call 619 819 -8648 to arrange for a telephone con-sultation.

ARE YOUR MORTGAGE PAYMENTS TOO HIGH? Foreclosure is not your only opti on

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of the American government or at least not to antagonize it in their bid for the Presi-dency. This is signifi cant on two counts. Firstly, it indi-cates that American authori-

The Marcos Era and Com-munist Resurgence

From Heaven to Hollywood and Wannabes

The Unfi nished Revolution of 1896

Statistics shows that almost 90 percent of the Filipinos are literate giving us the edge in the international employment. It is as if the educational system was patterned to make Filipinos serve the needs of the world.

An Unauthorized History

of the Philippines

ties perform acts, overt or clandestine, calculated to bear on the actuations of incum-bent Filipino Presidents and most Presidential candidates and to affect the campaign and its outcome. Secondly, this prac-tice lessens the independence of mind and action of Filipino Presidents – a fact which could jeopardize the interests of the Filipino people.”

Continuing in this series


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marriage ended in divorce, so long as there was a connec-tion between the divorce and domestic violence. The law also requires that the petition is fi led within two years from the termination of the mar-riage.

The one million dollar question is: What is extremely cruelty and how do I prove it. While the law provides that the foreign national must have been the subject of extreme cruelty during the marriage, it does not provide an exhaus-tive list of acts that constitute “extreme cruelty.” According to our immigration regula-tions, the defi nition is fl ex-

ible that includes, but is not limited to, threats of violence, forceful detention, psycho-logical abuse, sexual abuse, exploitation, rape, molesta-tion, incest (if the victim is a minor) and forced prostitution. Other abusive acts that are not violent may also be acts of “extreme cruelty” under certain circumstances. Exam-ples of nonviolent acts that if part of an overall pattern may constitute extreme cruelty are: social isolation of the vic-tim, accusations of infi delity, threats of deportation or other kinds of threats, incessantly calling, not allowing the vic-tim to get a job, degrading the victim, and interrogating the victim, her family and friends, and humiliating the victim in front of her friends and rela-tives. Whether a foreign na-tional’s experience constitutes extreme cruelty mainly de-pends on the facts of his or her case taking into account their personal history, vulnerabili-ties or past experiences with abuse. Marital tensions and incompatibilities which cause severe strains on a marriage, and in fact may be the reason of the marriage breakdown do not by themselves constitute extreme cruelty.

Unlike physical abuse, extreme cruelty is hard to prove. Most of the time, acts of extremely cruelty are not reported to police or medical personnel and they happen within the confi ne of their own homes without witnesses. It is extremely important that the victim can recount the details of each act of extreme cruelty such as the date, time, place, if it happened at home which part of the house, how long did it last, how did the victim feel about the incident, what happened after the inci-dent, did the victim leave the house, if the victim spoke with a friend of relative give his or her name, address and phone number, did things go back to normal after the incident. How the victim felt after the abuse is also very important. Corroborating evidence from professionals such as thera-pist, medical staff, or domestic violence counselor will make the foreign national’s declara-tion credible. Since USCIS will merely rely on documents when adjudicating VAWA or waiver cases, it is extremely important that evidence and declarations are well prepared and presented.

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How I came to Americawere here to stay.

Now it is a fact that Filipi-nos have been in America for quite some time. Yet one might persistently ask, “Who are the Filipino Americans? What makes them appear different, yet one and the same?”

My son Roy admits that he is a second-generation Filipino. He has an interesting point of view that goes like this: “Of course being American-born, I am more biased towards the American culture but as to which of the two cultures I truly belong to, I claim neither one. As a Filipino, I am the fi rst son of a successful doctor who holds much respect within the Filipino community. I am proud to be a Filipino-American…” I assume he is linking his public persona to being an American and his private feeling of iden-tifi cation to being a Filipino.

It is very unfortunate that many American-born chil-dren of Filipinos do not see themselves in the American mainstream or in the Filipino community because of this “in-visibility.” They lack a certain voice reminding them that they, too, are Filipino. This may be one of the reasons they act more American than Filipino.

There has been a signifi cant change in the lives of the last wave of Filipino immigrants

in this country. The Filipino American community is the second largest Asian American group in the United States. Filipino Americans are also the largest subgroup of over-seas Filipinos. The “American Dream” is very much alive.

The U.S. Census Bureau in its 2007 American Community Survey identifi ed approxi-mately 3.1 million as “Filipino” alone, or in any combination. The census also found out that about 80% of Filipino-Amer-ican communities are United States citizens. Also in 2007, the U.S. State Department es-timated the size of the Filipino American community at 4 million or 1.5% of the United States population.

According to the American Physicians Association, based on the Census in 2005, there were 19,000 Philippine-trained practicing physicians in the U.S.

The above story, written in chronological order, explains how I was able to come to this country. I have been lucky enough just in time for the Fourth Wave Filipinos going to America. I came under the Ed-ucational Council For Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG). The next chapter increased the clarity of image of what is an “American Dream.”


Visit the Asian Journal booth for a FREE LEGAL CLINIC from 10 AM - 12 PM about U.S. Immigration, Family Law, Phillppine Law

AJ May 28-June 3, 2010

Documents

Transcript of AJ May 28-June 3, 2010