Asian Journal Oct 22, 2010

FilAm Robyn deGuzman in Cast of Broadway Hit “Beauty & Beast”...p. 8

True vs. false identity

...p. 15

(Continued on page 11) (Continued on page 8)

(Continued on page 4)


Helen Castro Limcaoco, The Little Gym’s mas-ter franchisee for the Philippines, and co-master franchisee for Singapore, was recently named as The Little Gym International’s 2010 Franchise Owner of the Year, in recogni-tion of her sig-

Filipina is 1st woman honored for franchise’s global success

Helen Castro Limcaoco (right)

nificant contribution to the success of The Little Gym franchise worldwide.

Castro-Limcaoco re-ceived the award – the first woman to gain the honor – at The Little Gym’s 2010 Reunion, the company’s annual franchise owners’ meeting, which was held this year at The Homestead, a luxury mountain resort at Hot Springs, Virginia. As the 2010 Franchise Owner of the Year, Castro-Limcaoco will also be the first woman to be

elevated to The Little Gym’s Hall of Fame at official cer-emonies to be held in Scotts-dale, Arizona in April 2011.

The Little Gym is the premier developer of physi-cal skills in children world-wide. The very first location was established in Bellevue, Washington in 1976 by South African-born Robin Wes, an innovative educator with a genuine love for children. The Little Gym International, Inc., headquartered in Scottsdale,

Speaking of reality shows, which are so popular these days, I remember one radio reality show that I did not miss listening to when I was a boy. It was on air Monday to Friday, before noon, for 30 minutes. My mother was a loyal fan of the radio reality show. She heard the majority of the episodes. The nice thing about radio, my mother could multi-task. She was cooking lunch, or pressing the clothes, or cleaning the house, and listening to the show all at the same time.

Maria had a sinister husband. He went around the crowded

“Drama Queen”Story by Percival Campoamor Cruz

The author, Percival Cam-poamor Cruz. Photo by Randy Labrie

neighborhood of shanties at night to peep on women. These shanties were small, instantly-built houses made up of used galvanized iron sheets and surplus lumber. People who came to the city to find work and did not have the money to

rent build these kinds of inex-pensive houses. They stood on idle lands owned by the gov-ernment. These houses did not have rooms – they were literally

October 22 - 28, 2010

Gen SilverioMsgr. Gutierrez Ogie CruzSino kina Kris at Sarah mga bagong Floptsina

Queen?... p. 22

Warning: The California Department of Real Estate has not examined this offering, including but not limited to the condition of title, the status of blanket liens of the project (if any), arrangements to assure project completion, escrow practices, control over project management, racially discriminatory practice (if any), terms, conditions, and price of the offer, control over annual assessments (if any), or the availability of water services, utilities, or improvements. It may be advisable for you to consult an attorney or other knowledgeable professional who is familiar with real estate and development law in the country where this subdivision is situated.

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71% satisfied, 11% dissat-isfied with President’s perfor-mance so far

A BUNGLED HOSTAGE RESCUE notwithstanding, President Benigno C. Aquino III has started his six-year term with a “very good” net satisfaction rating, a Social Weather Stations (SWS) sur-vey showed.

Results of the SWS poll,

‘Very good’ start for Aquino

President Benigno C. Aquino III

made exclusive to Business-World, had 71% of the re-spondents saying they were satisfied with Mr. Aquino’s performance, compared to the 11% who said otherwise, for a net satisfaction score of +60.

It is not the highest initial rating for a Philippine presi-dent, however, based on SWS data beginning 1986. While better than the +53 received by his late mother, Corazon C. Aquino, in May 1986 and well above the +24 notched by his predecessor, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, in March 2001, Mr. Aquino’s starting score just matches that of Joseph E. Estrada (+60, Sept. 1998) and is topped by Fidel V. Ramos’s +66 (Sept. 1992).

Mr. Aquino, who over-whelmingly won the May elections and secured a “very good” net trust rating of +83 just before he took his oath on June 30, quickly saw his administration fumble: late last August, eight Hong Kong tourists died in a botched hos-tage rescue attempt that made international news.

That, plus several minor policy and administrative miscues, was expected to dent his ratings.

The results of the Sept. 24-27 SWS survey, however, had a Palace official claiming that people were benefiting from the President’s commitment

Here’s another Filipino who surely has “got [the] talent”: Luigi Seno.

The 20-year-old Cebu native proved so when he performed on “America’s Got Talent” in Chicago on Sunday, June 30, for the talent search’s final leg of auditions. Looking like a “shy, young kid” when he walked on stage, Luigi transcended the impression with his laid-back but mesmerizing version of Maroon 5’s “Sunday Morning” done ala-“American Idol” finalist Andrew Garcia.

“The ladies love him!” ex-claimed show host Nick Cannon to Luigi’s proud yet nervous parents backstage.

Even the judges were all praises for the guitar-totting musician after his much-applauded performance.

“You are truly a great entertain-er and if you had an album out right now I would be listening to you in my car,” said Howie Mandel.

Sharon Osbourne, on the other hand, commended Luigi’s “cool, relaxed style” — “fantastic, she said– while Piers Morgan believes the Pinoy’s charm could be his ticket to a promising career ahead.

Fil-Am Luigi Seno wows America’s Got Talent judges

“It’s not just

that you are a good guitar player, although you’re a very comfort-able singer and a good singer. It’s the fact that you’ve got this charm about you, which I think is gonna go a long way,” Piers said.

As expected, each of the three judges gave him two thumbs up.

It was only eight years ago when Luigi and his family moved

“Who are you?” Romy asked in a loud voice.The girl started to cry. Ditas took pity of her.

She squatted before her and softly said: “Don’t cry. What’s your name? Why are you here?”The girl didn’t answer. She seemed not to

understand English.“Como se llama (What’s your name)?”

Ditas asked in Spanish.“Mikaela,” the girl replied.

By Simeon G. Silverio, Jr.Publisher & Editor

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There are 1.7 M Filipino foreign-born immigrants in the US, accounting for 4.4% of the 38M total immigrants in the US; and nearly half of them are in California.

In addition, there are about 1.4 M US-born citizens who claim Filipino ancestry.

Since 1990, Filipinos have been the 2nd largest immigrant group, after the Mexicans.

In 2009, 2% of all unau-thorized immigrants in the US were from the Philippines. The number of unauthorized immigrants increased by 1/3 between 2000 and 2009.

More than 1/2 reside in California

In 2008, California had the most foreign-born Fili-pino immigrants - 787,422, or 46.7%; followed by Hawaii - 99,659, or 5.9%; New Jersey - 89,098, or 5.3%: New York - 83,194, or 4.9%; Illinois - 77,505, or 4.6%; and Texas -70,819, or 4.2%.

More than 1/3 reside in 3 Metropolitan Areas

The Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York met-ropolitan areas accounted for 35.1% of the 1.7 M Filipino immigrants in the US – the

Filipino Immigrants: Facts and Trivia

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana metropolitan area has the largest number of for-eign-born Filipinos (278,809, or 16.5% of the total Filipino-born population), followed by San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont (159,102, or 9.4%), and New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA (153,367, or 9.1%).

Almost 2/3 were adults of working age. Of the Filipino immigrants residing in the US in 2008, 5.8 % were minors (under 18), 62% were adults of working age (between 18-54), and 32.2 % were seniors (55 and older).

Immigrant women out-numbered men in 2008.In 2008, 3 of 5 every fi ve Fili-pino immigrants were women (58.8%) and 41.2% were men. Among all immigrants, 49.8% were women and 50.2% were men.

Over 3/4 of Filipino foreign-born adults had college education or higher. Filipino immigrants were better educated than other immigrants and those born in the US. In 2008, 50.7% of Filipino-born adults age 25 &

older, had a bachelor’s degree or higher compared to 27.1% among all 31.9 M foreign-born adults, and 27.8% of all 168.1 M US-born adults. An additional 26.5% had some college education or an as-sociate’s degree compared to 18.4% among all immigrant adults and 30.8% of all US-born adults.

However, 8.5 % of Filipino-born adults had no high school diploma or the equivalent general education diploma (GED), which is lower than the 32.5% among all foreign-born adults and the 11.7% among US-born adults.

Filipino immi-grant women were more likely to work than other foreign-born women. Foreign-born Fili-pino women age 16 & older, were more likely to work (76.5%) than other foreign-born women (57.1%). Interest-ingly, Filipino-born men were less likely to work (69.9%) than foreign-born men overall (80.5%).

1/3 of employed Filipino men worked in health-care sup-port or construction, ex-traction & transportation. Among the 491,000 foreign-born Filipino workers age 16 & older employed in 2008, 15.5% were in health-care support occupations and 14.5% were in construction, extraction, and transportation - compared to only 0.6% and 25.9%, respectively of the to-tal 13.6 M foreign-born male workers.

Filipino men were also

concentrated in sales occupa-tions (12.9 %); management, business, and fi nance (11.4 %); and farming, fi shing, and forestry (10.0 %).

1 out of 4 Filipino women worked as a registered nurse.Of the 666,000 foreign-born immigrant women employed in 2008, 22.9% worked as registered nurses and 16.8% worked in sales. By contrast, of the 9.5 M total foreign-born female workers, 3.4% are registered nurses and 10.5% worked in sales.

Filipino women were also

concentrated in health-care support occupations (14.3%) and management, business, and fi nance (12.9%).

Filipinos less likely to live in poverty than other immi-grant groups.14.0% of Filipino immigrants lived in poverty in 2008 compared to 37.9% of all immigrants and 28.7% of the US-born. (Note: Poverty is defi ned as individuals residing in families with total annual income of less than 200% of the federal poverty line. Whether an individual falls below the offi cial “poverty line” depends not only on total

family income, but also on the size of the family, the number of children, and the age of the householder).

7 in 10 Filipino immi-grants were homeowners.

In 2008, 7 out of 10 (70.5%) Filipino immigrants were homeowners compared to 56.5% of all immigrants. Homeownership rates are the same between foreign-born Filipino immigrants and US-born citizens (72.6%).

About 61.6% of Filipino immigrants have a mortgage or home loan compared to 44.3% of all immigrants and

50.8% of natives.

1 in 10 Filipino immigrants did not have health insur-ance.In 2008, 1 in 10 (11.1%) Filipino immigrants did not have health insur-ance — much lower than the 1 in 3 unin-sured (32.9%) among all immigrants and slightly lower than the uninsurance rate among the US-born (12.9%).

About 87,000 Filipino immigrants

have served in the US Armed Forces.87,000 Filipino immigrants have served in the US armed forces (army, navy, air force, marines, or coast guard). In 2008, 12,000 were active duty members and about 75,000 were veterans, mak-ing Filipinos the 2nd largest group among the 650,000 foreign-born veterans (11.8%) after immigrants from Mexico (12.8%) and ahead of those from Germany (8.2%) and Canada (6.9%).

Of the foreign-born Fli-pino veterans, 23,200 were in active-duty military ser-vice during the Vietnam

War (08/1964 to 04/1975); 4,100 during the Korean War (06/1950 to 01/1955); and 6,200 during World War II (12/1941 to 12/1946). About 25,000 Filipino immigrants were in active-duty military service in 2001 or later.

(Note: Veteran includes any individual who has served in the army, navy, air force, marines, or coast guard - for any length of time at any place at home or abroad. It ex-cludes current members of the armed forces serving abroad. The American Community Survey data on veterans is based on self-reported re-sponses, and may differ from Department of Defense or the Veterans Administration.)

Sources:

Terrazas & Batalova, “Fili-pino Immigrants in the United States”, 04/2010, Migration Policy Institute

US Census Bureau’s 2008 American Community Survey (ACS) and 2000 Decennial Census

DHS’ Offi ce of Immigra-tion Statistics (OIS) for 2008

Atty. Aurora Vega-Buzon

is a partner in Chua Tinsay & Vega, A Professional Legal Corporation (CTV) - a full service law fi rm with offi ces in San Francisco, San Diego and Philippines. The informa-tion presented in this article is for general information only and is not, nor intended to be, formal legal advice nor the formation of an attorney-client relationship. Call or e-mail CTV for an in-person or phone consultation to discuss your particular situation and/or how their services may be retained at (415) 495-8088; (619) 955-6277; [email protected]

Asian Journal - (619) 474-0588 Visit our website at http://www.asianjournalusa.comOctober 22 - 28, 2010


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

Getting married was never planned for some of us. It just happened. I thought I would be single for a long time after I was done with college.

One day I decided to enlist with the military and left my family and my girlfriend. I wanted to be away from home and to be on my own. The trip to San Diego Recruit Training Center was the answer to my prayer. I never wanted to be a military man but, I would learn to like it eventually.

The physical training and various schools were not bad but, the homesickness was tough on my soul. I realized it was not easy to be alone. Even though we did not have a long term relationship before I left, I missed my girlfriend too. She thought I won’t be back in her life and become just another girlfriend of the past.

Before reporting to my fi rst ship, I went home for vaca-tion. I’ve been away for only nine months but, it felt like a long time. A few days before leaving for Hawaii, I asked my girlfriend to be my wife. We got married before a Judge without telling our families. My decision came out of the blue and I have no regrets. I knew in my heart that she was the one for me.

The secret marriage was later discovered so we had a church wedding. So, I was married to same woman twice and stuck with 2 wedding an-niversaries every year.

A marriage license is just

For Better or for Worsea piece of paper. What’s most important is the relationship we built after the wedding. I have not worn my wedding ring for 29 years yet, I always remember I’m a married man.

Marriage is not just a seri-ous commitment but also a learning experience. If you truly love each other, there will be sacrifi ces to make and many adjustments along the way. You need to support each other no matter what.

The military life was not easy for us but we managed. The frequent separations from my family were grueling. Like other Navy wives, my spouse raised the children while I was away on deployments.

Hawaii may seem to be a paradise for visiting tourists but for my young family it was not that great. We re-lied on military stores to live decently on my sailor’s salary. It was hard fi nancially, but it was better than what I had before. My wife never com-plained or asked for anything more. She did appreciate whatever I could afford to provide. There is one thing we never argue in our marriage, and it’s about money. For us, why bother?

After we moved to San Diego in 1986, my wife went to work and we breathe a little easier. Later, we bought our fi rst and only house. I retired from the military in 1994. I quit my IRS job and started my own business in 1998.

When our 2 sons fi nished schools, my wife quit her

nursing job. We opted for more time together than for more income. She works in my offi ce during the tax sea-son and just be a wife rest of the year.

We love to travel while our knees are strong and still in good health. Why wait for later when that day may never come. Life is too short to worry about so many things. We can always choose on how we live for the rest of our lives.

from Guizo, Mandaue in Cebu to Highland, California to chase the “American Dream,” according to his website www.luigiseno.com.

“They brought me here to get a better life because it was really tough back in the Philippines,” he confessed during his audition interview.

Music runs in Luigi’s blood. His mother is a music director and church pianist, and his sister Mary sings, too [whose covers he has uploaded on his site]. According to his formspring account, Luigi only began singing and playing the guitar two years ago.

Apart from being a Music major at San Bernardino Valley College, Luigi currently works part-time at a shipping company.

Unlike many contestants who join competitions in chase of self-serving dreams, Luigi tried his luck on “AGT” because he wants to give back to his family.

“It’s for my family in the Philip-pines whom I haven’t seen in a while. It’s been eight years,” said the young Cebuano when Nick asked what the opportunity meant to him.

Luigi’s wish may simply be to reconnect with his Filipino relatives, but Howie predicts that destiny has something more in store for the young crooner.

“We’re gonna hear more,” the judge said.

(Story courtesy of Rowena Joy A. Sanchez of Manila Bulletin)

Fil-Am Luigi Seno wows America’s

Got Talent judges(Continued from page 1)

Last Night I Dreamed of Peace: The Diary of

Dang Thuy Tram

by Dang Thuy Tram, Jane Barton Griffi th, Andrew X. Pham (Translator), Andrew

X. Pham (Translator), Frances Fitzgerald

(Introduction)

Product DetailsPub. Date: September 2007Publisher: Crown Publishing GroupFormat: Hardcover, 256ppSales Rank: 194,313ISBN-13: 9780307347374ISBN: 0307347370

Synopsis

“Remarkable. . . . A gift from a heroine who was killed at twenty-seven but whose voice has survived to remind us of the humanity and decency that endure amid—and despite—the horror and chaos of war.”—Francine Prose, O, The Oprah MagazineBrutally honest and rich in detail, this posthumously pub-lished diary of a twenty-sev-

en-year-old Vietcong woman doctor, saved from destruction by an American soldier, gives us fresh insight into the lives of those fi ghting on the other side of the Vietnam War. It is a story of the struggle for one’s ideals amid the despair and grief of war, but most of all, it is a story of hope in the most dire circumstances.“As much a drama of feelings as a drama of war.”—Seth Mydans, New York Times“A book to be read by and included in any course on the literature of the war. . . . A major contribution.”—Chicago Tribune“An illuminating picture of what life was like among the enemy guerrillas, especially in the medical community.”—The VVA Veteran, offi cial publication of Vietnam Veter-ans of America

Woman from Shanghai

by Xianhui Yang

Product DetailsPub. Date: August 2009Publisher: Knopf Doubleday

Publishing GroupSold By: Barnes & NobleFormat: eBookSales Rank: 731,046File Size: 1945 KBISBN-13: 9780307378354ISBN: 0307378357SynopsisIn Woman from Shanghai, Xianhui Yang, one of China’s most celebrated and contro-versial writers, gives us a work of fact-based fi ction that reveals fi rsthand—and for the fi rst time in English—what life was like in one of Mao’s most notorious labor camps.

Between 1957 and 1960, nearly three thousand Chinese citizens were labeled “Right-ists” by the Communist Part and banished to Jianiangou in China’s northwestern desert region of Gansu to undergo “reeducation” through hard labor. These exiles men and women were subjected to hor-rifi c conditions, and by 1961 the camp was closed because of the stench of death: of the rougly three thousand in-mates, only about fi ve hun-dred survived.

In 1997, Xianhui Yang trav-eled to Gansu and spent the next fi ve years interviewing more than one hundred survi-vors of the camp. In Woman from Shanghai he presents thirteen of their stories, which have been crafted into fi ction in order to evade Chinese cen-sorship but which lose none of their fi erce power. These are tales of ordinary people facing extraordinary tribulations, time and again securing their humanity against those who were intent on taking it away.

Xianhui Yang gives us a re-markable synthesis of jour-nalism and fi ction—a timely, important and uncommonly moving book.


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by Dr. Ofelia Dirige Founder, President & CEO Kalusugan Community Services

Contemporary Asian American Issues

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

Part II

by Jean Jenkins

By the time they’d reached the end of Thorne Street, Coy was tired. If they cut through the Fesler’s side yard and down the alley, they’d be home in a flash.

The story below is Part II of Jean Jenkins’ Halloween Treat. If you missed Part I, you can find it on the website.

Bad to worse“What about the house,”

Jarvis asked.“Let’s do it next year. We’ll

be older and bigger.”“They might tear it down

by then.”Good, Coy thought. He

turned toward the Fesler’s house. “Come on. Mom said we could watch an hour of TV

before bedtime.”Jarvis shook his head.

“That candy was good. I want some more.” He shoved his full bag at Coy. “Here, hold our stuff. I’ll be quick. Get enough for both of us.”

Before Coy could protest, Jarvis was off, white sneakers flashing until the dark swal-lowed him.

That was the trouble with Jarvis. Whatever he wanted to do, he assumed Coy would be right behind him. He never waited, just decided, and, zoom, off he went.

Coy dropped their bags be-hind a hedge, and ran. No way he could let his best friend go back to that place alone. He hoped Jarvis at least waited at the bottom of the steps. He sure didn’t want to climb up there by himself even with Jarvis somewhere ahead.

The closer he got, the more dread Coy felt. The old house seemed to eat light like a coming storm. The full moon dropped enough glare to highlight the steps wind-ing up the hill but everything else lay as flat and dark as charcoal drawings. Still. Like something holding its breath just before it pounced.

“Jarvis?” Coy’s whisper squeaked out.

He stopped at the foot of the steps but heard nothing. At least Jarvis wasn’t in trouble. When he got in too deep, he screamed his head off. Always had.

Coy took a tentative step. He could go up far enough to see what Jarvis was doing. Or maybe if he went slow, Jarvis would meet him coming down, pockets bulging with chocolate coins. He knew his friend well enough to know that if he made it to the porch, just a handful wouldn’t do.

At the first switchback, the street looked small and far away. In the other direction, the house had disappeared behind the tall grass along the bulge of the hill. Ribbons of concrete stretched in front of

him and behind. He heard his lungs expand in the quiet.

A rock lay on the edge of the step in front of him. Im-pulsively, he threw it toward the road. The rock clattered a couple of times against con-crete, then dropped as silently as if he’d thrown it down a well.

Still no Jarvis.By the second switchback,

Coy was angry, but more scared. Should he keep go-ing? Or run back now and tell Mom?

Most likely Jarvis had gone around back to see the burned part of the house, which meant they’d both be in trouble for being here in the first place. But maybe Jarvis had fallen…or tripped. Was laying somewhere knocked out, needing help.

When he found him he was gonna kill him.

Coy heard the first foot-fall as he took his next step. Boom! Loud as a drum in the quiet. Boom! Hard soles on concrete. Boom!

He gripped the rail ready to run but his legs had forgot-ten how to move. Like one of those dreams where you try to escape and don’t get any-where.

Boom!A dark figure appeared

higher than his head, coming fast. As it registered that the biker was back, the guy was almost upon him.

Coy sucked in a gasp.“Hey, dude,” Biker Guy

said. “Liked that candy, huh?”Coy shook his head but

found his voice now that the spell was broken. “I – Jarvis, did you see him?”

“The other kid? Your buddy?” Biker guy looked around. “You lose him?”

Coy nodded. “He said he was coming here.”

“Well, I was just up there. Didn’t see anybody else.”

That couldn’t be right. Jarvis might lie sometimes to his mama but he’d never lie to his best friend.

“Hey, hope you find him. Go on up. Score some choco-late. Have a blast.”

With that Biker Guy took a step down. As he brushed past Coy, light glinted off the helmet he had tucked under his arm. Or maybe came from inside it.

The quick vision took Coy’s breath away. Then the biker was gone, thumping down the concrete until his steps died away.

Coy leaned into the rail, sure about what he’d seen. Feeling sick, needing to run.

He should get Mom, she’d figure this out. But the Biker Guy was down there. Some-where.

He sagged onto the cold steps, heart thudding, more vibrate than beat.

As Biker Guy had brushed past, in the visor of his hel-met—or beyond it, he didn’t know how to explain—he’d seen Jarvis clear as day, trapped. Eyes big as the moon. Mouth open in one of those screams you make when the worst thing in the world happens. The look on his face begging, please, help me, please make it okay.

But Coy couldn’t. He was afraid even Mom couldn’t. And here he was stuck on steps that went from bad to worse.

Perspectives

ASIAN JOURNALThe first 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 specific permission from the publisher.

Genevieve SilverioManaging Editor

Simeon G. Silverio, Jr.Publisher & Editor

Miles BeauchampAssociate Editor

Santi SilverioAssociate Publisher

At Large...

Miles is Assistant to the Dean and Assistant Professor in the Shirley Hufstedler School of Education at Alliant International University where he teaches new media and diverse writing courses. He has been with the Asian Journal since the 1990’s.

by Miles Beauchamp

PARENTS AND GRAND-PARENTS: The story of my parent’s migration to the United States surprisingly did not come from the mouths of my parents, but rather my mother’s sisters, who can recall every detail of their journey. My mother was born and raised in the province of Pangasinan, and my father was born and raised in the province of La Union, Bauang. It was through both sets of my grandparents that my mother and father met, courted, and married. At the time, my father was a sailor in the United States Navy, while my mother worked at the local hospital. I do not know the exact date of their marriage but I do know they were happily married in the 70’s. Within those years my older sister was born in the Philippines in 1975 but unfortunately her birth came around the time my father had to relocate back to the states, thus beginning their journey to California. Just like many other

The Abuan Family

Coming to America: The journey of my family

Guest Writer: Myleen Abuan

It is with much faith and prayer that my family continues to strive for the best every day, even when the times may not be on our side. From my parent’s immigration to the United States to the current state in life we are in now, we remain open minded and

strong to face any situation that may come our way. At the same time we acknowledge and are proud of

our heritage or where we came from.

families in the armed forces, my sister and parents moved to San Diego, relocated to Hawaii, and went back to California where my brother was born three years after my sister.

The most important piece to our permanent residence in San

Diego was the death of my late grandmother, Lola “Mading.” It was through her death as my aunties had stated that my mom promised she would try and bring all her siblings to come and live with her in the States. For the most part, she kept her promise, bringing a good ma-jority of her siblings to Amer-ica: my two uncles, my three aunties (one who married my father’s cousin), and my grand-father. After some time, I was born on August 14th, 1988. As my mother would jokingly say, I was their “Blessed mistake “and their “Retirement baby,” because my father retired around the time of my birth. As shown, my family consists of my mother and father, as well as my kuya (older brother) and ate (older sister) with me being the “bunso” or young-est of the three. My parents and sister became permanent residents of the United States in the 70’s, while my brother and

I were born and raised in San Diego. Out of us three children, I am the only one remaining at home.

BROTHER AND SISTER: As for my brother and sister, their growth in the United States mirrors the path that

many other Filipino Ameri-can teenagers have followed. During their early pre-teen years, my brother and sister participated in activities such as dance classes, piano lessons, martial arts, and other activities in church. However, as they grew older, influences from other Filipino American teenag-ers from our block became a large concern as well as a great lesson to us. In the early 90’s, gangs were highly prominent within the area, having affected my brother and sister. Their associations with certain groups caused great disruption in my family.

How they responded to such situations somewhat determined their future paths.

Although my older sister conceived at a very young age, she was able to graduate from high school and earn her AA degree at Southwestern Com-munity College. She is cur-rently living in Hawaii with her husband and son, while her daughter resides with us in California. Occupation-wise, my sister holds a music direc-tor contract with Tripler AMC Catholic Church and works as a Triage Specialist at Kapiolani Medical Center at Pali Momi. My brother unfortunately did not graduate in time during high school, but earned enough cred-its for his GED. He dropped out of community college, but found success as a Marine. In 2000, he married his wife and had two sons. Today, he is enjoying life with his family in Okinawa as a Gunnery Sergeant in the United States Marines.

As for myself, I was very fortunate to have seen my family go through such a dynamic change in the 90’s that it had helped me to suc-ceed and progress to where I am today. Currently, I am a 5th year student at San Diego State majoring in Public Health. My interests include art, music,

and cars. Just like my mother and sister, I am very active at Saint Charles Parish as a music Cantor.

EXPERIENCE WITH RACISM: As I recall, the early 90’s did not bring too much racial tension particularly for my parents or my siblings, but it brought socio-economic discrimination during my attendance at Saint Charles Catholic School. It was there that I was teased and hassled for miniscule details about where I come from (which by the way was not exactly a bad place), and who took care of me when my parents were at work (my brother and sister and their friends). Presently, I can only remember one account of racial discrimination that was extremely irritating.

My family and I were com-ing home from a trip to Okina-wa. Before heading back to San Diego, we had a stop-over in Seattle which I know is a very diverse city with welcoming people, or so I had believed. It was at customs where I encoun-tered my first real bout of racial discrimination. As we got to the inspection area, an officer who seemed to be of African Ameri-can descent gave us “special” attention which offended me. While inspecting our things, the officer questioned my parents and me, destroying some of our gifts we had brought home to give to our relatives. His as-sumption was that we were go-ing to sell the items for profit, so decided to question us even further.

I had a feeling there was more to that than what we had in our luggage, because he re-peatedly asked questions about where we were from, where we were going, and what our oc-cupations were, and if my niece and I were attending school (I would assume it would be ap-parent being that I was wearing my SDSU sweater). My mother had no problem answering back to him, but my father was struggling due to his hearing and slight speech impediment. That gave the officer all the opportunity to make my father uncomfortable. When it was time for him to question me, my anger seemed very apparent. I was not entirely upset at how he questioned me, but rather how he treated my parents. I assumed my face showed my distress and anger because he did not bother to question me any further. Because of his au-thority, he used it against us in ways that seemed unjust. What was even more irritating to me was that he too was a person of a minority race, and for him to speak to us in such a matter bewildered me even more. We did take this matter up to the Seattle International Airport, but unfortunately I do not know what happened after.

ACCULTURATION: Generally speaking, my family was able to assimilate well with the American culture. Because of my father’s involvement in the military, it was easy for my parents to network with other families, some of whom we still keep in touch with today. My mother worked as a machinist for “A” company, and is still a machinist to this day for AAA EDM. She remains very active in church activities which have influenced me in many ways. Although my father is retired, he continues to work at Mira-

mar as a fuel technician for aviation and ground vehicles. As of today, my mother is in her late 50’s, while my father is in his late 60’s, still healthy and strong.

Although it was easy for us to assimilate to the American culture, my parents made it an effort to teach us the many traditions we try to hold onto, such as the “mano po” of the elders, to the eating of our cul-tural foods. We still remain very family-oriented, holding large parties for every important event. It is unfortunate that my siblings, my cousins, and I did not learn how to speak our na-tive tongue first hand, because my parents and aunties and uncles spoke Ilocano primar-ily with Tagalog and English secondarily. Still we have a decent understanding of it when spoken to. It is with much faith and prayer that my family continues to strive for the best every day, even when the times may not be on our side. From my parent’s immigration to the United States to the current state in life we are in now, we remain open minded and strong to face any situation that may come our way. At the same time we acknowledge and are proud of our heritage or where we came from.

Myleen is a senior student at San Diego State University majoring in Public Health. She is a student of Dr.Dirige in AS 460, “Contemporary Issues in Asian American Communities.”

***

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I am sharing with you a novel case that came down from the Board of Immigra-tion Appeals (BIA) early this month. This is the fi rst case interpreting the term “sought to acquire” found in section 3 of the CSPA. As most of you already know, the CSPA provides relief to children who “aged-out” as a result of delays by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in processing visa

petitions. It offers a formula to determine whether the derivative is a “child” as de-fi ned by the Immigration and Nationality Act. The statu-tory formula is the child’s age freezes as of the date that a visa number becomes avail-able for the petition in ques-tion reduced by the number of days that the petition was

What does “sought to acquire” under the Child Status

Protection Act (CSPA) mean?pending, but only if the child seeks to acquire the status of a legal permanent resident within one year of the date the visa became available.

The facts of the case are as follows. Gerardo is mar-ried to Jessica who has a son, Gabriel. Gerardo’s visa petition has a priority date of October 16, 1995, and was approved on August 8, 1996. At the time, Gabriel, who was born on May 8, 1984, was 12

years of age and eligible for derivative benefi ts as the “child” of the Jessica. On June 1, 2003, the visa for the family became avail-able. At the time Gabriel was 19 years old and thus still a “child” under the CSPA. It was only on February 1,

2005, or over 20 months after the visa became available when USCIS received the application for adjustment of status based on Gerardo’s ap-proved visa petition. Gabriel was over 21 years old by then. However, Gabriel established that he retained the services


by Genevieve Tagudin-Silverio

In Perspective

Read Genevieve Tagudin-Silverio’s previous articles by visiting our website at www.asianjournalusa.com

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 employee hopes his legacy of poems will provoke a dialogue about the human condition. He is donating the proceeds from the book “Crushed Violets” to the “Coalition to Abolish Slavary & Trafficking (CAST)”, a non-profit that provides public awareness and advocacy effforts against human trafficking in the City of Angels. To learn more, visit www.castla.org. To help, call the CAST 24 hour hotline 888.KEY.2.FRE(EDOM) or 888.539.2373. Contact [email protected] for more information about ordering the book “Crushed Violets.”

ASK FOR RUBEN

Shooting Star Poem No. 9

I wish I was a shooting star streaking through the night sky

Being here and there in a brief flash of light And really nowhere

to be found Me in your life being caught

in your universe Running around in circles,

ever nearing your space Seeking the face by which

I am doomed to certain death Like a flash, like a bang, I am nowhere to be found

Me in your life caught in your universe

streaking aimlessly towards destruction

envying the celestial dance between Moon and Sun,

Sun and earth, earth and heaven, Seeking freedom

from my desolated journey,In you

I found destruction, through my destruction

I found my freedom.

Asian Journal | SAN DIEGO, 10/20/2010 -- “Travel brings out who you are,” Robyn de Guzman, 25, observes as she explained how her travels abroad prepared her for a slow, circu-itous and steady route to the bright lights of Broadway. The 25-year old, Filipina American artist is in the cast of the smash hit “Beauty and the Beast.”

The Broadway show is back on the road after a 15-year hiatus in an all-new production and will be coming to the San Diego Civic Theater October 26-31st, 2010.

Like the beloved show that has now become the center of her life, Robyn waited as well to get her career on the road. Unsure of the direction she should take after college in 2007, Robyn took her time. The journey of self-discovery took the U.C. Irvine Dance major to a few unlikely destinations thousands of miles away from the Big Apple.

It was an unusual journey very few in the West come to experi-ence.

“After college, I took the time to sit down and think about what I wanted to do. Going to the Philippines, finding myself and discovering the culture gave me the foundation I needed. You have to know who you are to brave the life of an artist in the harsh spotlight of Broadway.”

Robyn’s trek began with a rite of passage that took her to the back roads of Eastern Samar in

Filipina American Robyn deGuzman in Cast of Smash Broadway Hit

“Beauty and the Beast” After 15-Year Hiatus, Broadway Show is back. Catch

it at San Diego Civic Theater Oct 26-31st, 2010the Philippines. The fresh college grad accompanied her mom, an anesthesiologist, on a medical mission to one of the poorest areas of the country.

“I do not have a medical back-ground but the experience left me with the sense of how privileged I was. Thousands of poor people came for treatment. They did not have anything. And they were being examined for medical problems that were preventable in the first place. It made me think of what we have. Health care is something we take for granted in this country. ”

She also journeyed on to Africa where she taught school children. The eye-opening lessons of her sojourn to the Philippines and Africa have stayed with Robyn to this day.

Rooted in a new appreciation for life, the young ingenue came home after a year. With the quick call of her mom to a relative in New York, Robyn was on her way to her dreams.

In New York, she immedi-ately went to work as a substi-tute teacher and tutor and saved enough money to prepare for her dream of making it in the city that never sleeps.

“I worked as a math and Eng-lish tutor and substitute teacher in between audition runs. It took me three months and many rejec-tions before a job offer arrived from a Broadway production outfit, of all places as fate would

have it, in Tempe, Arizona.”She became part of the Arizona

Broadway Theater, where she appeared in “Annie Get Your Gun (Ensemble), Guys and Dolls (Hot Box Girl), Miss Saigon (Yvonne).

The decision paid off for the Alameda transplant. With the Tempe experience under belt, she auditioned for and was hired as a cast member of “Beauty and the Beast.” She was back for good in New York, the city of her dreams and her first national tour in a smash hit Broadway show.

Robyn gets her passion for dance from her father who was a member of a Philippine dance company in New York.

“My father brought my broth-

er and me at a young age to dance les-sons, giving us a way to de-velop a skill we could fo-cus our energy on. We found our passion in dance.”

This passion has been the guiding light for the young artist whose journeys to different des-tinations has not ceased.

The trouper has been trav-

eling with the cast since the

show rolled off Broadway in February. She has been to so many places that can’t remem-ber just how many she has been to this year. “We would be in places for one night, and some others for two weeks.”

But she remembers the mo-ments.

“In San Francisco, my friends from middle school cheered me on. It was cool for them to come out on the stage to join me.”

The show sold out in San Francisco and Tempe.

Even in between shows in Tempe, Robyn does not skip a beat to share her love for the stage.

“It’s a great show!” Robyn at-tests with understated glee. “It is not just themed for children. There is something in the show for people of all ages to enjoy. I hope everyone comes out to see it in San Diego.”

Her enthusiasm is contagious. If success is a journey, not a

destination, then Robyn in the pursuit of her dream has magical-ly and truly taken us along on her authentic journey of discovery.Visit http://beautyandthebeas-tontour.blogspot.com/2010/10/robyn-deguzman-aloha.html

– G. Silverio, Asian Journal San Diego

Robyn as “Silly Girl” in Beauty and the Beast

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PhilippineStories

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

by Simeon G. Silverio Jr.

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*Legal Advisor, Los Chabacanos of Cavite CityAssociation, Inc., San Diego, California

*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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Chapter 30

(Editor’s Note: To read the previous and weekly install-ments of this series, visit www.asianjournalusa.com. Once there, click the “News and Features” heading, then click “Promised Land by Simeon G. Silverio, Jr.” title to see the list of all chapters of ‘Prom-ised Land’. Click the title of the chapter you want to read and the article will appear.)

Ditas was cleaning up in the kitchen when the door bell rang. Her husband Romy was with his parents in the living room watching T.V.. It was seven o’clock in the evening.

Romy opened the door and saw a little girl and a Mexican woman standing infront of him.

“Are you Romeo Angus-tia?” the woman asked him.

“Yes,” he replied.The woman introduced

the little girl as Mikaela. She said the girl was the daughter of her friend, a prostitute in Tijuana who recently died of AIDs. The girl’s father was identified as one of the prostitute’s customers named “Romeo Angustia”. Romeo, according to the woman, was identified by the mother be-cause of the bean-sized mole at the back of his ear. When the mother was about to die, she launched a frantic search for the girl’s father so she could entrust her to him. She asked some Filipino sailors frequenting the brothel and she was told there’s a Filipino sailor with that distinct mole behind his ears. He was iden-tified as “Romeo Angustia” whom she later tracked down through the San Diego phone

PROMISED LAND

Mikaelabook.

“But I’m not that girl’s father!” Romy protested.

“Can you turn your head so I could see the back of your ear?” she asked.

Romy didn’t have too. He knew he had a bean-sized mole mentioned by the woman. When he refused, she put her hand at the back of Romy’s ear and felt the mole. That was enough.

“Here’s your daughter, take care of her. We do not have the means to do so,” she said. She handed him an envelope containing the girl’s birth certificate.

“No I won’t,” Romy re-fused.

“Wait here, I’ll get some-thing in the car,” the woman said. She turned around and walked towards the car. She went in and drove away.

“Wait!” Romy called her. “Come back.”

But she was gone. “Who are you?” Romy

asked the girl.The girl didn’t answer. She

just stared at Romy.“Who’s that?” Romy’s fa-

ther asked from the inside the apartment.

“It’s a little girl.”Ditas got curious and went

to the door. The little girl was just staring at them.

“Who are you?” Romy asked in a loud voice.

The girl started to cry. Ditas took pity of her. She squatted before her and softly said: “Don’t cry. What’s your name? Why are you here?”

The girl didn’t answer. She seemed not to understand English.

“Como se llama (What’s your name)?” Ditas asked in Spanish.

“Mikaela,” the girl replied.Romy told Ditas what the

woman just said. Ditas was also surprised.

“Come in,” she led the girl inside.

The night was cold.“Don’t let her in. She

might be somebody else’ child. We might get sued,” Mang Teban warned her.

But Ditas ignored him as Romy stood quietly looking at the child. She placed the girl on the sofa.

“Is this your daughter?” Ditas asked her husband.

“No way,” Romy an-swered.

By then, his parents be-came curious and gathered around the girl.

“But the woman said so,” Ditas noted.

“There might be a lot of ‘Ro-meo Angustia’ in America,” he replied.

“But no one else has a mole at the back of the ear like yours.”

Romy was speechless.He then told his parents

what the Mexican woman said.

“Hindi puwedeng maging anak mo iyan, anak ng puta iyan (She can’t be your child. She’s a child of a bitch),” his father said afterwards.

“Tatay (Father)!” Ditas sharply cautioned her father-in-law. “Watch your lan-guage!”

Romy remained quiet. Later, he said: “How can I be her father, when I can’t bear a child. I got sick remember?”

He had to remind his wife that due to his frequent visits to the brothels in Tijuana, he was afflicted with a venereal disease that caused him to be impotent.

“When did the doctors discover your ailment?” Ditas asked Romy.

“About four years ago.”“She must have been con-

ceived before you got sick.”“Cuantos anos tiene usted

(How old are you),” Ditas asked the girl in her broken Spanish.

“Cinco,” the girl shyly replied.

“Hey Ditas, don’t implicate my son to that girl,” Aling Munda, Romy’s mother, cau-tioned her daughter-in-law.

“No matter, she must be taken care of,” Ditas said.

“Don’t take her, bring her to the police,” Aling Munda insisted.

“But it’s already late in the evening. Besides, there’s a chance she might be Romy’s child.”

“How will you know?”“We’ll have a DNA test

taken later.”Aling Munda was about to

protest when Romy told her to shut up.

“Stop

it

moth-er, Let’s just have her tested tomorrow,” he said.

Ditas looked at the girl. She’s beautiful with Mexi-can features. She could sense some Filipino traits in her. She looked like a young Shirley Temple, with curly hair, beau-tiful eyes, and sharp nose. But she was dirty and disheaveled.

“Come on, sit here,” she led the girl to the dining table. She could sense the girl was hungry. But she could not understand Ditas.

“Maybe she only speaks Spanish,” Ditas said aloud.

Romy was still confused. He tried to recall his esca-

pades in nearby Tijuana five years ago, but there were too many of them for him to re-member. He was a new recruit in the Navy then, and he was like a child in a candy store. There’s no way he would remember the identity of the girl’s mother.

“Is there a photo of her mom in the envelope?” he asked Ditas.

“No,” she re-plied.

Ditas heated a bowl of soup, rice and a piece of leftover fried chick-en. The girl gobbled

them down

as if she

had not eaten

for days. Romy watched

his wife feed the girl. His father

stood up from the sofa.

“I lost my appetite to watch T.V., “ he said as he walked towards their room with his wife.

“Quiet,” his wife cautioned him. “She might be our grand-daughter.”

“So what?” Mang Teban asked. “Makakahati pa natin iyan sa grasya ng anak mo pag kinupkop dito iyan (She might get a share of the bounty we receive from our son if she is kept here).”

Ditas and Romy could not believe what they heard. Mang Teban didn’t seem to care if the girl was his grand-daughter

After feeding the girl, Ditas

asked Romy to watch her.“Where are you going?”“I’ll go to Savon’s. It’s

open twenty-four hours. I’ll buy her toothbrush, some clothes and other things she might need.”

The girl came with noth-ing but the clothing she was wearing.

Romy did not say a word. He was still confused. He stared at the girl who was qui-etly seated on the sofa. Then his fatherly instinct led him to change the channel of the T.V. to a Spanish station. The girl’s eyes lit up and got interested in the show.

DITAS GAVE THE GIRL A BATH upon her return. She shampooed her hair and combed it afterwards. She led her to the sink to brush her teeth. She put on her a new nightwear. She was about to tuck her to bed when Romy stopped her.

“Don’t let her sleep in our bed. She might have a dis-ease,” he told his wife.

Ditas was appalled by the insensitivity of Romy consid-ering he might be the child’s father. She spread a blanket on the floor, put a pillow on it and motioned to the girl to sleep there. When the girl was hesitant to do so, Ditas got a pillow for herself and slept beside her. - AJ

(To be continued)

(Editor’s Note: To read the previous and weekly install-ments of this series, visit www.asianjournalusa.com. Once there, click the “News and Features” heading, then click “Promised Land by Simeon G. Silverio, Jr.” title to see the list of all chapters of ‘Prom-ised Land’. Click the title of the chapter you want to read and the article will appear.)


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ATLANTA, Georgia – Some 75 leaders of Couples for Christ (CFC) and ANCOP across the United States met in this city last October 15-17 and mapped out their plans for 2011. Next year will be CFC’s 30th anniversary.

CFC is a Manila-based global Catholic family renew-al movement. It has members in every continent. ANCOP, which stands for Answering the Cry of the Poor, as a min-istry of CFC, is its work group for the poor.

International CFC/ANCOP leaders from Manila who steered the three-day confer-ence and planning sessions were Rouquel A. Ponte and Dr. Jose S. Yamamoto, both members of CFC International Council and Ricky Cuenca, President & CEO of ANCOP-Tekton.

Ponte led the group in a

Couples for Christ / ANCOP Leaders Meet in Georgia, Announce Plans for 2011

recollection/retreat at the start of the conference and dis-cussed CFC’s theme in 2011, “Put on the full Armor of God”.

Referring to the split that happened within CFC three years ago and the letting go of Gawad Kalinga last year, Pon-te cited part of a letter to the conferees by Jose Tale, CFC Chairman and Dr. Yamamoto, which said, “Our community has recovered from the storms which hit CFC, filled with les-sons learned that have made us stronger and in a better position to face the challenges of the future.”

Dr. Yamamoto, for his part, emphasized accountability and responsibility as qualities that leaders should emulate. He also told the participants, “We celebrate next year our 30th anniversary. But even now, we are experiencing

blessing upon blessing, affir-mation after affirmation in all areas of our life and mission. We see before us a wider field of harvest for the Lord.”

Meanwhile, Cuenca re-ferred to “miracles” happen-ing to ANCOP. Among them, the many partnerships with

houses for ANCOP communi-ties for every house sold by the company. He also men-tioned the Armed Forces of the Philippines building of ANCOP communities for the families of insurgents who would return to the fold of government and granting of

ANCOP that are pouring in from both private and govern-ment groups in the Philip-pines.

Cuenca cited the recent partnership agreement with San Miguel Properties with the latter promising to donate

ANCOP scholarships to their children.

The speaker announced that ANCOP’s two major programs for the poor, Child Sponsorship Program (CSP) and Community Development Program (CDP) will be inten-sified next year.

For information about CFC and ANCOP, visit www.couplesforchristusa.org and www.ancopusa.org.

After 4 years of hitting the local Pinoy entertainment scene, award-winning band “Chapter 2” is getting ready to debut as the first Filipino band to hit the stage of the world renowned Carnegie Hall in New York.

“We’re so honored to do a show entitled ‘An Homage to Original Pilipino Music’, and

for us to be accepted by Carn-egie folks,” said band vocalist and songwriter, Dennis Sy.

“I am beyond excited when we got the confirmation that we’re doing it, I actually held back tears, for every singer, for every artist, it’s a little girls dream. You know, it’s Carnegie Hall.” added vocal-ist Cutuy Hererro.

Hererro is the daughter of popular Philippine comedian Subas Hererro known for his TV show “Champoy” in the 80’s, who now lives in New York.

Hererro said there’s only one way to get into this great hall, “Just like the old adage says, ‘How do you get to Car-negie Hall?’ Practice, practice, practice!”

Chapter 2 began as a group of friends making music for fun 4 years ago, but through

First Pinoy band to perform at NY’s Carnegie Hall

the years the group evolved to a more versatile, high energy full band ensemble after hit-ting the local performance circuit.

The group’s harmony infused musical style wowed the judges at the 2006 Los Angeles Music Awards where the band won ‘Artist of the Year’, the same music awards

where the Black Eyed Peas was first recog-nized.

Chapter 2’s Carn-egie Hall show called “An Homage to Orig-inal Pilipino Music” will be an evening of songs from renowned Filipino composers and artists as reinter-preted by this premier pop/acoustic New

York based band.Lead Guitarist Carlo Tam-

pac said, “Our band’s main goal, of course, is to create music for our kababayans but since we’re here in America we’d like to have a broader range of audience appreciate our music.”

The show will also feature another Filipino artist, Anthea Neri, who was last seen on Fox TV’s Season 4 American Idol auditions. Neri is a triple threat artist who can sing, dance and act and whose tal-ent ranges from Broadway to Pop. Neri can also be seen on off-Broadway musical pro-ductions in New York.

Chapter 2 is performing live at the Carnegie Hall on October 9 at 8:00 PM in Mid-town Manhattan, New York.

(Story courtesy of Don Tagala, ABS CBN North America News Bureau)

SPECIAL EDITION


Arizona, was formed in 1992 to franchise The Little Gym concept. Today, The Little Gym International has more than 300 locations in 21 coun-tries.

“The Little Gym Hall of Fame [to which Helen will be elevated soon] is comprised of a small group of franchise owners, [including our Found-er, Robin Wes, who have had a large impact on the success of our company,” explains Bob Bingham, The Little Gym International’s President and CEO.

“I am glad that my ongoing commitment to excellence, and to hiring and retaining only the best teachers and to deliver-ing the best programs that The Little Gym offers has been recognized by TLGI,” said Castro Limcaoco. “I’ve not

Filipina is 1st woman honored for franchise’s global success

met a group of people more committed to improving chil-dren’s lives at such a high level of excellence; that’s why I’m extremely honored to be part of The Little Gym family.”

In his remarks, Bob Bing-ham cited Castro Limcaoco “for her many, many years of service to TLGI; for serving us well as business operations consultant [for Asia]; for hav-ing done the best-ever job of PR of any franchise owner; for having spent literally hundreds of hours guiding potential fran-chise candidates in the process of what it would be like to be a TLG franchise owner; for do-ing an outstanding job running TLGs under circumstances that are tougher than any one else in this room has ever faced; and for being the only person to own TLGs in two different countries.”

The Little Gym of Man-

daluyong was the first chil-dren’s program of its kind in the Philippines when it opened in September 1996, just as the Asian financial crisis hit. Despite this, it preceded the opening of five more TLGs: Makati in 1998, Alabang in 1999, Quezon City in 2001, and in Singapore at Forum Shopping Mall in 2003 and Marina Square in 2009. The Philippines and Thailand are the only developing countries in which The Little Gym is currently operating, although it will open in Shanghai, China before the end of 2010.

The Little Gym of Singa-pore West, one of five operat-ing facilities supervised by Helen Castro-Limcaoco, has been a member of the elite The Little Gym International’s President’s Circle since 2006, and is its most awarded facility in Asia. Eighty-five percent of

The Little Gym Lead Instruc-tors under Castro-Limcaoco in the Philippines and Singa-pore are certified Gold Level Instructors in the franchise’s global Instructor Certification System.

Helen Castro Limcaoco earned her degrees in BS in Business Economics, magna cum laude, from the Univer-sity of the Philippines; MA in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania, and MBA in Finance from The Wharton School of the Univer-sity of Pennsylvania. Before buying The Little Gym fran-chise, she worked with SGV’s Management Consulting Divi-sion, and Citibank Manila’s In-vestment Banking Group. She is married to newly named BPI Family Savings Bank Presi-dent, Teodoro “TG” Limcaoco, and has three children who all attended The Little Gym.

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

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”Success is not the key to happiness”, says the German philosopher Albert Sch-weitzer. But rather, he adds, “Happiness is the key to suc-cess. If you love what you are doing, you will be success-ful.” About a hundred years earlier, Benjamin Franklin, in one of his many satiristic writings, quipped that “The Constitution only guarantees the American people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself”.

Our hypothetical this week is about Alberto, a prominent attorney in the Philippines who, despite having achieved prominence in the legal profession, has found himself still searching for his true calling in life. Unknown even to his close friends, Alberto was pressured to take up law by his father who wanted one of his children to take over his law firm. Alberto is the youngest child, and since all his siblings had already gone ahead to pursue careers in other fields, the burden of fulfilling his father’s wish fell on his shoulders.

Actually, there is nothing more that Alberto wanted to do than to be a cartoonist like his idol Charles Schulz. Since he was a child, Alberto has been fascinated by cartoons. As a young boy, he spent long hours and most of his allow-ance reading rented materials from the neighborhood com-ics vendor. He was fascinated by how the cartoonist was able to flawlessly combine graphics with words to viv-idly convey his characters’ thoughts. As he progressed in age and taste, he began to ad-mire the humorous yet satiri-cal works of Schulz and Jim Davis. In fact, it has become his avocation to draw car-toons. If only he could liven up his boring pleadings with his graphics arts, he sighed to himself.

Now that he is already financially independent after being an attorney for more than 20 years, Albert believes that it is about time that he pursues his true calling. In one of his many visits, he found a good vocational school in California which of-fers a course in cartoon art for ten months. He wants to know how to go about studying in the United States.

First of all, we should understand that there are three types of student visa, The first type is the F-1 visa, which is used for academic studies such as a college or graduate course. Then we also have the J visa for exchange students. Finally, there is the M visa which is used to study a nonacademic or vocational course. The M-1 visa is what Alberto needs to study car-toon art since it is a vocational course.

The USCIS has a list of ac-credited schools. The first step for a prospective nonimmi-grant student is to be accepted in a school which is certified by Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP). The school issues a Form I-20 which it generates from the SEVIS (an internet system of the USCIS), but only after it is satisfied that the student-applicant is qualified. Alberto needs the Form I-20 in apply-ing for his M-1 visa with the U.S. Consulate in Manila.

Aside from being able to show that he will go back to the Philippines after complet-ing his studies, Alberto must also convince the consular officer that he is financially capable of paying the school

The Cartoonistfees and sustaining himself while in the United States. Specifically, the Immigration and Nationality Act requires that Alberto must have a resi-dence in the Philippines which he has no immediate intention of abandoning; that he intends to depart from the United States upon completion of the course of his studies; and that he possesses sufficient funds to pursue the proposed course of study. Alberto is not allowed to work while under an M-1 visa, so he should not expect to derive any income from the U.S.

Please note that the intent to return home is also required for tourist visa applications. Since Alberto has already se-cured a tourist visa before and has returned promptly after each visit, then he will not have a hard time proving this. The more difficult require-ment is financial capacity, which is greater for prospec-tive students than for tourists. As a prospective student, Alberto must prove that he can afford to pay his tuition and other school fees – which

by themselves may already be substantial -- as well as all his living expenses while staying in the United States. Since the course takes ten months, and he is allowed to arrive in the U.S. one month before the start of classes and to leave one month after they end, Alberto must prove that he can cover his expenses for at least one year. Finally, Alberto should be ready to answer questions on why he wants to venture into an alien field after being an attorney for two decades. No mean feat indeed, but something that Alberto is ready and willing to do to finally attain his true love.

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/(858)536-4292 or email him at [email protected]. He speaks Tagalog fluently. Articles written in this column are not legal advice but are hypotheticals intended as general, non-spe-cific legal information. Read-ers must seek legal consulta-tion before taking any legal steps.

MARTINEZ, Calif. - The California Attorney General’s Office today filed criminal charges against three men who stole more than $100,000 from about 200 people by creating fake credit and debit cards from banking informa-tion they skimmed from ATM and credit cards through de-vices placed inside gas station pumps in Northern California.

“These thieves broke into gas station pumps and installed devices that col-lected customers’ debit and credit card numbers and ATM PINs,” Attorney General Ed-mund G. Brown Jr. said, “and later they used that stolen in-formation to create fraudulent cards, make purchases and withdraw thousands of dollars from victims’ accounts.”

David Karapetyan, 32, Zhirayr Zamanyan, 30, and Edwin Hamazaspyan, 31, all of Los Angeles, were sched-uled to appear today in Contra Costa County Superior Court to face charges. The complaint against them includes 42 counts of felony identity theft and one count of conspiracy.

If convicted on all charges, the three could each face up to 31 years in prison.

In March, the Attorney General’s office took over prosecution of the case from the Contra Costa District Attorney’s office because the crimes occurred in mul-tiple jurisdictions through-out Northern California. An amended complaint was filed today.

In their high-tech crime spree, the three traveled to gas stations and banks across the Bay Area in a rented Cadillac Escalade. From November 2009 to February 2010, they are believed to have stolen $158,800 from 196 people.

They acquired keys to unlock various kinds of gas station pumps. Once they opened the pumps, they were able to connect two cables inside to their two-inch elec-tronic device, which looked like a circuit board encased in electrical tape, and recorded ATM and credit card data as well as victims’ PINs. No tampering was visible on the outside of the pumps. The trio

Three Charged with Stealing More Than $150,000 From Nearly 200 People by

Skimming ATM and Credit Cards at Gas Pumpswould later return to retrieve the skimmers, which took less than 20 seconds.

The investigation began in February when police in So-lano and Contra Costa coun-ties reported an increase in identity theft and a 7-11 Store employee in Martinez noticed a skimming device inside a gas pump. Police removed the device, replaced it with a mock device and conducted 24-hour surveillance. Kara-petyan and Zamanyan were arrested when they arrived to remove the device. In total, seven devices were found inside gas pumps in Martinez, Benicia, Livermore, Hayward, Oakland, San Mateo and Sac-ramento.

Banks have reimbursed the victims.

The Northern California Computer Crimes Task Force, a partnership of 17 local, state and federal agencies, led the investigation with assistance from the U.S. Secret Service, Martinez Police Department and the Glendale Police De-partment.

(Continued from page 1)


New low-floor Trolleys, track, and station platforms are all part of the project to update the system over the next several years. Construc-tion is scheduled to start October 29 and be complete by 2015.

Riders heading to and from the San Ysidro border cross-ing on the Trolley will be the first to be impacted by con-struction.

On October 29 at 9 p.m., construction will close the Blue Line between the Palm Avenue Trolley Station and the San Ysidro Transit Center. Trolley service will resume November 1 for regular week-day service.

While the Blue Line is closed, MTS will offer two bus shuttles:

After nearly 30 years of operation, the Metropolitan Transit System’s Trolley

is undergoing a massive overhaul A Trolley Shuttle will • serve the San Ysidro Transit Center, Beyer Boulevard, Iris Avenue and the Palm Avenue stations. A Trolley Shuttle Ex-• press will take riders between San Ysidro and Palomar Street Trolley Station. This is best for riders going downtown.

This same segment of track will be shut down every weekend for the remainder of 2010, with the exception of the weekends of Thanks-giving, Christmas and New Years.

Shuttles are expected to visit stations every 10 min-utes. Riders should expect delays and allow extra time.

The renewal project is fo-cused on improving the Blue and Orange lines. The project will improve station ameni-

ties, raise station platforms, replace old rail and overhead wire, and improve switching, signaling, and crossovers.

As part of this project, MTS purchased 57 ultra-short, low-floor light rail vehicles from Siemens Transportation Systems, Inc. The vehicles, which will be purchased for $205.2 million, will be manufactured in Sacramento,

California. The first of these vehicles is expected in late 2011.

The new low-floor cars are more accessible and easier to board for all riders, which will lead to faster travel times and easier transfers.

When the renewal is com-plete, riders will see minutes shaved off travel time. With the realignment of the Green

Line, riders will no longer need to transfer when trav-eling from Mis-sion Valley to the Convention Center or Petco Park.

MTS ap-preciates riders’ patience during construction. Rid-ers can find out more information online at www.sd-mts.com/Trolley-Renewal.asp or by calling the hotline at 619.557.4533.

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EntertainmentMovies to Watch

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

by Simeon G. Silverio Jr.

Sam (Andrew Dickler) is a few days away from marrying Steph (Marguerite Moreau), a beautiful woman who is madly in love with him. Everything is going well, but Steph simply doesn’t understand why Sam’s only brother, Tom (Ben York Jones), is not coming to the wedding. When she takes it upon herself to surprise Sam by driving Tom down for the event, the estranged brothers find themselves under the same roof for the first time in years, unprepared to confront whatever it was that drove them apart in the first place. Since Tom has no date for the wedding, Sam decides they should hit the road to find Tom’s former flame. The problem is, he hasn’t seen her since the fifth grade. What ensues is a riotous road trip that starts off as Tom’s search for his old girlfriend, but ends up as Sam’s search for a last taste of freedom before he settles down for good. Combining classical elements found in the best odd-cou-ple comedies and road movies, Douchebag has an edgy, ki-netic, improvisational style all its own. Directed and co-written by Drake Doremus. Official Web Site

This film is Not Rated by the MPAA. Running time 81 minutes.

Exclusive Engagement Opens Friday, October 29thLandmark’s Ken Cinema

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Oscar (Nathaniel Brown), a small-time drug dealer, and his sister Linda (Paz de la Huerta), a nightclub stripper, are recent arrivals in Tokyo. One night, Oscar is caught up in a police bust and shot. As he lies dying, his spirit, faithful to the prom-ise he made his sister—that he would never abandon her—refuses to abandon the world of the living. It wanders through the city, his visions growing evermore distorted and nightmar-ish. Writer/director Gaspar Noé (Irreversible) shoots the film from Oscar’s point of view, so when Oscar takes a psychedelic

drug, we see the hallucinations he is having (note: the film con-tains strobe-like effects). Cinematographer Benoît Debie (The Runaways) allows the viewer to experience Tokyo’s under-world in a most unique way, sometimes floating above the city and watching the story unfurl below. In one extended sequence Oscar takes a trip through the Love Hotel, a dreamlike sexual labyrinth with characters acting out their favorite fantasies. Though destined to draw divided opinions, Enter the Void is a bold and incomparable cinematic experience. (Fully subtitled) Official Web Site

This film is Not Rated by the MPAA (Due to explicit sexual content, no one under 18 will be admitted).

Running time 137 minutes. Exclusive Engagement Opens Friday, October 22nd

Landmark’s Ken Cinema4061 Adams Avenue – (619) 819-0236

“Nothing will produce Bad History more directly nor brutally, than drawing a Line.” —Thomas Pynchon, Mason & Dixon. Right now, across the country, our two major politi-cal parties are gearing up for a once-a-decade war whose winner will control Congress for the next ten years, and pos-sibly more. There will be battles in every state, and each will be kept carefully hidden from the prying eyes of aver-age voters who only be-come more disenchanted with their government with each meaningless

election. Democrats and Republicans collude to keep these skirmishes private so that they can maintain total control over the ultimate political weapon: the ability to directly determine the outcome of elections. Why bother stuffing ballots when they can just draw districts? For the first time, Gerrymander-ing exposes the most effective form of manipulating elections short of outright fraud. After the 2010 Census is finished, will you know where your district went? Written and directed by Jeff Reichert. Official Web Site

This film is Not Rated by the MPAA. Running time 77 minutes.

Exclusive Engagement Opens Friday, October 15thLandmark’s Ken Cinema

4061 Adams Avenue – (619) 819-0236

PNS -- Sa interview ni Ricky Lo kay Pia Guanio, na-kumpirma nga na may “tam-

puhan” sila ni Vic Sotto.Inamin din ni Pia kay

Ricky na may differences sila ni Bossing Vic at hindi na nito idinetalye kung ano ’yung dif-

Vic, Pia’s lovers quarrelferences nila ng sikat na TV host/comedian/ actor.

Matatandaang si Ricky Lo rin ang unang nagsu-lat na “on the rocks” ang relationship nina Bossing Vic at Pia, pero hanggang ngayon ay tikom pa rin ang bibig ni Vic tungkol sa issue.

Hindi naman ito naka-kagulat dahil noon pa ay hindi nag-bibigay ng paha-yag si Bossing Vic tungkol

sa kanyang lovelife.Anyway, wait lang tayo

kung magkakaayos pa rin ang dalawa.

PNS -- ANGEL Locsin doesn’t mind if it took months before ABS-CBN gave her projects.

“It’s worth the wait,” she said. “Imagine a soap opera opposite John Lloyd Cruz and a film alongside Aga Muhlach. These are quality projects which can definitely add pres-tige to my status as an actress.”

Now, her work schedule is busy again.

“And I’m relieved. I missed being busy for almost a year now. It’s a great and wonderful feeling to be back to my old routine. I feel inspired to report for work every day.”

Angel ignores the obser-vation that other Kapamilya female stars are more visible than her in the past months.

“For one, I’m not competing with them. I think I’m already past that stage. I also had my time. Now, I have a more mature perspective of things. I just go with the flow. What’s

Angel far from poorimportant is that I’m still able to do good projects!”

As to the ugly rumor that her savings are gradually drain-ing because she didn’t have any regular show for the longest time, the dusky beauty just laughs it off.

“Well, it’s not for me to brag but I am presently constructing two houses, I have a bar whose revenue is picking up, I have endorsements. It’s just funny. I’m not saying that I’m already that rich but I’m not hard up either,” Angel explains.


Unholy Allied Mountains

The book “Unholy Allied Mountains” by R.D. Liporada is available from Amazon.com.

By RDLiporada

Publisher’s note: The com-plete novel serialized here is on Unholy Allied Mountains by RDLiporada. For those

who would want to procure a copy of the book online, go to unholyalliedmountains.com. In the previous series, Ding

Romualdez arrives at the NPA camp of his former classmate,

Commander Ronald.

Chapter 6 continued (Eleventh of a series)

After lunch of simple rice and fish, Ding took a long nap in a canvass shade with a wooden planked bed. His body was aching when he woke up and he decided to take a dip in the river so he could be refreshed from the long trek he had had.

That part of the river could have been any part of the river anywhere with all its bends and rocks. Hidden under thick foliage, the structures at the banks would not be seen by any prying soul on helicopters or low flying planes. Ding surmised that there could be sentries up and down the river aside from the hard to pass trails into the camp.

“We’ve been here two years,” Rex had said earlier. “Enemy patrols had been hovering up the hill some months ago but they did not find us. Just in case, this gets discovered, we already have an alternate camp set around two hours hike from here.”

That is really a far cry from long ago, Ding thought. They were so mobile then and could not stay in a certain place for more than a week. They had to keep hopping from one forest spot to an-other or from one barrio to an-other. And they had not much guns before. He used to lug a dilapidated looking Spring-field which he did not really know if it would fire because he never really had the chance to fire it. Once, when they

were pursued, he was as-signed to be with the blocking force to stall the pursuing en-emy if they did pursue them. He imagined that the best he could do was use the rifle as a baseball club if, by chance, he would have a close encounter with the enemy. Luckily the pursuers did not come. He did become proficient with the 45 caliber pistol, even able to disassemble and reassemble it in record times. They also used to laugh at a buckshot rifle assigned to Ronald. They swore that the barrel was bent. It did fire with a funny squeaking undertone.

Now, he was overwhelmed at the sight of the NPAs in the camp. He was told that there was a company of them including the women fighters in this camp alone. No one lugged a rifle lower than an M-16. He even saw a stock of Claymore mines.

He remembered thirty five years ago, he used to lecture that “true, we do not have that much arms today but the en-emy will provide the arms for us. All we have to do is grab them from them. Most impor-tantly, we must have the heart to fight for our most important weapon is our heart. Our will-ingness to fight will guarantee us to be able to arm ourselves with the enemy’s arms.” Ding felt choked with the thought that theory of agaw-armas, grabbing the arms, from the enemy to arm the NPA thence would be reality now before his eyes. Somehow, he felt that even if he is a mere petty-burgis, he was truly able to contribute to the growth of the revolution even if only in theory.

Refreshed and dried up from the river, having secured permission earlier, Ding start-ed to take pictures and video clips of the NPAs around the camp.

That night, Ronald came and joined him for dinner on another round of rice and dried fish, after which, a shar-ing session was held at the hall illuminated with a 60 watt bulb. There, Ronald intro-duced Ding as a comrade who was assigned at a far away place. He also writes and would continue taking photo-graphs of NPA formations in the afternoon tomorrow for publication not only for the national papers but even in America.

As the session continued, Ding was reminded that the NPAs, when not engage in combat, their primary po-

litical task is to explain to villagers within the satellite of their command why there should be a revolution. When not in camp, they are broken into armed propaganda units which can be as small as a squad. Often, members of a squad, are sons or daughters of families in the villages they visit. These villages are slowly being converted into red zones or areas where the NPAs exert

their influence - meaning: the villagers welcome fighters anytime to be fed or to rest; contribute to the revolutionary effort by feeding info on the movements of the enemy; con-tributing resources like food; and, most importantly, joining as NPAs or letting their sons and daughters participate in the revolution.

The sharing was capped with the singing of revolution-ary songs with Rex strumming on a guitar. Again, Ding was amazed at the lyrics of new songs that the NPAs were singing. The songs that he knew of thirty-five years ago were like old forty-fives.

The tunes played in Ding’s mind even as he tried to sleep for, although still feeling ex-hausted, he only had snippets of dozes. It must have been his continuing excitement, his long afternoon nap or his still being in the jetlagged mode. He finally decided that it was the hard wood planked bed he was graciously offered in one of the canvassed structures.

His inability to sleep al-lowed him to review in his mind the topic that Ronald asked him to discuss for a class tomorrow. He had argued over the phone and questioned the integrity of him being a

lecturer when he had been de-tached from the movement for so long. Ronald insisted that he believed in him, that he is not really that detached, plus the topic was his favorite, and Ronald trusted that he could do it. If not, why would he even request it? “Trust me,” said Ronald. “I know what I am doing.” Ding only agreed when Ronald agreed to back him up and smoothly transi-tion him out of the lecture if he does not come up with the expectations.

By daybreak, Ding had to relieve himself. Glad that he brought along tissue papers from Albertson’s, he was also impressed with the camp’s latrines. They had two covered structures with dug deep enough holes complete with septic tank systems. To his mind, he said, boy, if left undiscov-ered in this place, these NPAs are re-ally here for a long haul.

Chapter 7

Early the fol-lowing day, while Ding was sipping

his coffee close to a fire, a squad of NPAs ambled into the camp. A little bit later, a woman from the squad ap-proached him.

“Kumustan, Alinew?” How are you, Alinew? She said. “Ronald just told me that you are here.”

Alinew? The sound had a distant ring and Ding had not heard himself called Alinew for ages now. To be in the underground, then and now, comrades used nom-de-guerres to hide their real identities. Ding had used nu-merous names in the numer-ous places he had been. Those names escape his memory now but Alinew, although he had almost also forgotten about it, felt an intimate throb-bing in his heart.

He had chosen Alinew after a local tree found in the mountains. An Alinew’s bark is whitish with sparse shades of brown. Though lanky, however, the tree sprouts and shoots up to be a sturdy tree that seemed to forever reach for the skies. Pliant, it bends with the winds without break-ing its back. He was lanky and fair then so he chose to be called Alinew.

He, however, turned out not to be that pliant.

“So, where have you been? Could you even tell me?”

Ding stared at the woman trying to recollect who she could be. Her thick bare feet span like half-opened fans be-neath her gray jogging pants. Her toes looked like warped ginger in their crookedness.

Her thick eyelashes flickered and her mole rode on her left upper lip when she smiled. Wrapped in a thick tattered Levi’s jacket, she lugged an M16.

“You don’t remember me!” she said in a pretentious pout. “Well, it has really been a long…”

“Zeny?”“You do remember,” she

exclaimed. “How long has it been? Ten, fifteen years?”

“Make that over 30.”She now has streaks of

white on her braided hair that snaked through her back but her face radiated still sem-blances of her once youthful ethnic beauty.

“So, how have you been? You never came back after you left Ifugao,” she said, now more animated, speaking in staccato mode in her Ifu-gao twang. “I thought I will never see you again. I thought something bad had already happened to you. Where have you been assigned?”

She does not know? Ding asked himself. She does not know I was imprisoned and now in the US? Nobody told her?

“I have just been around,” Ding said.

“I knew it. I knew it. I know that we will see each other again. Are you going to be assigned here now?”

“Well…How about you. How are you now?”

“I have never married, you know.”

Ding reluctantly smiled then said “How about Ama Sam-ang? How is he?”

“You don’t know?”

(To be continued)

of an attorney to file for adjustment of status in April 2004, less than a year after he became eligible. At the time, Gabriel was still eligible for derivative benefits.

USCIS denied Gabriel’s application for adjustment of status. A few months later, removal proceedings were instituted against Gabriel. The Immigration Judge (IJ) found Gabriel was eligible for adjustment of status under CSPA. The IJ based upon her conclusion that the applica-tion for adjustment of status did not necessarily have to be timely “filed” by the deriva-

What does “sought to acquire” under the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) mean?


tive child alien to meet the “sought to acquire” lawful permanent resident status language in the statute. The IJ said determined that the phrase “sought to acquire” could, in certain cases, be satisfied by circumstances short of filing the adjustment application. According to the IJ, the “sought to acquire” was satisfied in Gabriel’s case because the record showed Gabriel hired an attorney to prepare his adjustment of sta-tus application in April 2004, within a year of his immigra-tion number becoming avail-able, he filed his application within a reasonable period thereafter (20 months), and he was still under the age of 21. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appealed. It argued the “sought to acquire” language in section 3 of the CSPA contemplates only the actual filing of an applica-tion. Since Gabriel was over 21 when USCIS received the application, he was no longer a “child”.

The BIA disagreed with DHS and dismissed its ap-peal. The BIA said the Con-gress chose to use “sought to acquire,” rather than “file,” “submit,” or “apply.” The term “file” is defined as “to deliver a legal document to the court clerk or the record custodian for placement into the official record” and the term “apply” means “to make application.” The BIA believed that the Congress could have easily used the term “filed,” or any compa-rable language if this is what Congress intended. The BIA concluded that the term “sought to acquire” is broad enough to include substantial steps taken toward the fil-ing of the relevant applica-tion during the relevant time period but which fail short of actual filing or submission to the relevant agency. The question remained whether Gabriel’s actions constituted substantial steps taken within the relevant time period such that he remained eligible un-der the CSPA.

The BIA found Gabriel clearly demonstrated an intent to file his application and made such substantial steps toward having the applica-tion prepared and filed during the one-year period that he properly was found to have “sought to acquire” lawful permanent resident status and remained eligible for adjust-ment. This interpretation is in accordance with the very purpose and intent of CSPA, which is to protect a foreign national “child” from “aging out” due to “no fault of her own.”

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.


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

Naniniwala Ako (2)Naniniwala ako na hindi basta-basta dapatmagpalit ng kaibigan ng ganuon lang kaagadkung sadya nga bang ang pang-unawa mo ay malawakat bakit siya sa ‘yo ngayon ay pilit umiiwas.

Naniniwala din akong kahit gaano kasarapang inyong pagiging magkaibigang ganapay maaaring masaktan ka niya sa isang iglaphanda mo s’yang pagbigyan dahil iyon ang nararapat.

Naniniwala akong ang tunay na pagkakaibiganwalang mahabang tulay o malalim man na dagatpatuloy itong sisibol, patuloy itong hahawaklalong-lalo na kung ikaw ay kanya nang nililiyag.

(may karugtong)

Joke of the week: An MG Midget pulled alongside a Rolls Royce at a traffic light. “Do you have a car phone?” its driver asked the guy in the Rolls. “Of course I do, replied the haughty deluxe- car driver. “Well, do you have a fax ma-chine?’ The driver in the Rolls sighed, “I have that too.” Then do you have a double bed in the back?” the Midget driver wanted to know. Ash-en-faced, the Rolls driver sped off. That afternoon, he had a mechanic install a double bed in his auto. A week later, the Rolls driver passes the same MG Midget, which is

True vs. False Identityparked on the side of the road, back windows fogged up and steam pouring out. The ar-rogant driver pulls over, gets out of Rolls and bangs on the Midget’s back window until the driver sticks his head out, “I want you to know that I had a double bed installed,” brags the Rolls driver. The Midget driver is unimpressed, “You got me out of the shower to tell me that?”

Scripture: First Reading: Sirach 35: 12-14, 16-19. Though God shows no favor-itism, yet the prayer of the humble pierces the clouds.

The humble person admits his dependence on God and his neediness for his help whereas the proud and the haughty person claims that he has no need for God. Second Reading: 2 Timothy 4: 6-8, 16-18. The Roman Christians deserted Paul be-cause they did not want to reveal their identity be-fore Nero’s pagan court. Paul, dis-heartened, was not perturbed, because he knew that God has never abandoned him. Gos-pel: Luke 18: 9-14. The humility of the tax collector who prayed with open hands earned him grace and pardon. The proud self-righteousness of the Phari-see did not merit him God’s forgiveness.

Reflections: A reversal of fortune occurs in today’s Gospel. The Pharisee is not all that bad. He is a righteous man, who fasts twice a week (whereas the Law requires the Israelites to fast only on the Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur) and gives ten percent of his earnings on almost everything (while the Law demands tithing only on cer-tain specific things). He truly exemplifies somebody who faithfully adheres beyond the requirements of religion. Yet at the end of the day, he would go home unjustified.

On the other hand, the tax collector, considered by many during Jesus’ time not only as a public sinner, but also as a traitor and agent of foreign power, because he is subservi-ent to the Romans, would go home forgiven and justified. The publican personifies a re-ligiously, morally, and social-ly corrupt person. At the end of the day, his humble attitude earns him salvation.

We go to church with the intention of standing before

NAUNSIYAMING PANAGINIP!Pangalawang Yugto

Ginising nga ang kamalayan ng napugtong pangarapNamulatang ang sarili’y nakalugmok na sa lapagDi inalintana bagkus sinariwa ang hinagapBaka may nalabi pa ang karugtong ay maapuhap. Ang nangyari‘y parang bula, tuluyang di na nagbalikNa sana ay kaganapan ng ligayang anong tamisBathalumang kay ganda panandaliang nakaniigAy saan na hahanapin upang lunasan ang hapis? Ramdam pa ang panghihinayang na sa katre’y nahigaSikil ang unan at mata’y sa kisame itinudlaAt doo’y pilit hinanap ang larawan ng diwataNguni’t di maaninag, nalambungan ng nam’ong luha. Charisma ng panauhin sa nagdaang panaginipDi matakasan ang gunita’t sa isipa’y di mawaglitAng alindog nitong diwatang sadyang kaibig-ibigNauwi na lamang sa himutok at paghihinagpis. Inalo ang sariling baka bukas ay masumpunganAng naunsiyami na pangarap muli ay dumalawPinalipas ang maghapon na para bang anong tagalUpang gabi ay sumapit lubhang kinaiinipan. At ang gabi nga ay dumating na kinasasabikanBuo yaring pag-asa na ang diwata ay daratalSa labis na pagkainip, oras ay di namalayanAng tilaukan ng mga manok ang siyang pumukaw. audeleCuenca, Batangas10-07-10

God. But at times we may be like the Pharisee in today’s Gospel. Kneeling in prayer, we may be more concerned with ourselves than on God’s presence, more conscious of

our good deeds and virtues than our faults, more proud of our accomplishments than our failures. We may be more occupied with the thought that we are in church to do God a favor than our neediness for his grace to continue leading a morally and socially religious life. Since we are concerned more with our greatness than our lowliness, we distinguish and separate ourselves from others who are failures and sinners. We tend to forget that prayer should lead us not only to a humble union with God but also to a solidarity and communion with others who are struggling to be true to their Christian calling.

There is nothing wrong about recognizing our suc-cesses. Yet not to acknowl-

edge our neediness for God and our true identity as sinners is to fall into the trap of self-righteousness and spiritual pride. This belief leads to the idea that God owes us some-thing and that he is obliged to bless us because we are religiously, morally and so-cially leading a Christian life. Nobody has a right to grace. Grace is a free gift of God and is given according to his will to anyone who humbly prays for it. The tax collector shows us that humble attitude in today’s Gospel. God has been merciful to the humble and

contrite tax collector but not to the Pharisee, who in spite of his religiously righteous life goes home without the grace of forgiveness, because he thinks God needs him more than he needs God!

Quotation of the week: “Holiness is not an exercise or another, it consists in a disposition of the heart, which renders us humble and little in the hands of God, conscious of our weakness but confident, even daringly confident, in his fatherly goodness.” St. Thérèse of Lisieux.

©2010 Virginia H. Ferrer. All rights reserved.

About the Author: Virginia H. Ferrer is a Filipino Language Teacher at Otay Ranch High School in Chula Vista.

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By Dr. Cesar D. Candari27th in a series of articles

For the significant time I spent with civic and social organizations in San Diego and with my involvement in the Association of Philip-pine Physicians in America (APPA), I had entertained the impression that among the Filipinos living in America, only a few still possessed the credibility, spirit and will for unity. Thus, the dream still remained an elusive one.

The Council of Pilipino American Organizations (CO-PAO) of San Diego County once held its Inaugural Ball and Recognition Night with the theme, “Unity-Pagkakai-sa” which means “Unity-Oneness”. The Philippine Faire it planned for the fol-lowing month had its theme, “Ginintuang Layunin- Pag-kakaisa,” which means, The Golden Principle is Unity.

From Antique to America:Memoirs of a Filipino American Doctor

Community InvolvementCOPAO had been in existence in the community for almost 20 years. It had not stopped yearning and dreaming for unity.

It had been an uphill battle on rough and stormy seas for Filipinos in this country in their dream for unity. This subject was talked about in Filipino-American communi-ties all over the United States. It was in their agenda for more than a quarter of a cen-tury, particularly for the “third wave” Filipino immigrants. This theme appeared in edito-rials and writings in various publications, heard in speech-es and in conversations all expressing their wishes and aspirations for unity.

When we talked of unity, harmony and solidarity, we expressed them in hyperbolic terms especially around elec-tion time in our respective as-sociations. Often we delivered the subject in masterly oratory

and erudition to the point that it sounded like a dream that seemed real in our minds yet at the same time so far away and illusory like a mirage on a hot desert.

COPAO joins us in this totally engrossing, action-packed enterprise –the battle-field of dreaming. Never-theless, no matter how we sweeten the language, the dreams really never change year after year. Dreams of national unification or greater political clout of harmony among ourselves, of more concerted humanitarian work here and abroad in helping to rebuild the Philippines, of pooled financial resources to build a Filipino Cultural Cen-ter in our respective commu-nities …the list goes on. Very soon, these “third wave” Fili-pino immigrants comprising the COPAO may fade away as they are now approaching the twilight of their lives. There is that torpor for improvement in Filipino harmony, cohesive-ness and camaraderie.

Once I was asked by a group of concerned citizens of the Filipino-American Com-munity Organizations of San Diego to be a member of an Ad Hoc Committee to help mediate and/or reconcile two groups of community lead-ers. They were in the midst of a divisive controversy that was leading to a crisis in leadership in the umbrella organization in the County. As Filipinos coming from a diversity of origin in the dif-ferent islands of the country, these difficulties were prod-ucts of the Filipino psyche… “Our pride, our intelligence, our “amor propio”, our cul-

ture, our loss of face, and con-cern for our sign of weakness or surrender.” The myriads of small and separate unions are uniquely Filipino. It is our expressed manifestation of the ethnic and linguistic bound-aries that separate us. Our strong adherence to traditions and customs also blind us.

It was about this time that a similar imbroglio in the leadership of the Association of Philippine Physicians in America (APPA) was hap-pening. My close friend, Dr. Lestrino C. Bacquiran, editor of APPA Philippine Physician Journal, wrote an amusing editorial about primates and human similarities in peace-making. I was a member of the editorial board of APPA. I know Ching Baquiran will not disagree with me if I briefly retell the story.

I wrote a commentary en-titled “Primates do better job of resolving differences than human counterparts” pub-lished in the Filipino Press in San Diego, where I was a con-tributing columnist for a long time. Allow me to convey this insightful analysis based on the book authored by Frans de Waal, entitled “Peacemaking among Primates.” I know Ch-ing Baquiran will not disagree with me if I briefly retell the story.

The following are excerpts of my commentary:

As intermediaries in the dispute, we labored hard. Did we accomplish our mission? It was perceived that we did in one way or another, but there were those who said other-wise.

…These efforts have prompted me to write this opinion piece about our peace-making abilities. If it is not blasphemy, I would like to extrapolate the behavior of non-human primates regard-ing peacemaking to human ef-forts. I’d say the former know

to reforms. A political analyst, meanwhile, said Filipinos could still be anchoring their hopes on Mr. Aquino given their dissatisfaction with pre-vious administration.

The SWS said Mr. Aquino received “very good” rat-ings in all geographical areas, with a net score of +66 (76% satisfied, 10% dissatisfied) in Metro Manila, +65 in the Bal-ance of Luzon (73% satisfied, 8% dissatisfied), +54 in the Visayas (68% satisfied, 14% dissatisfied) and +52 in Min-danao (67% satisfied, 15% dissatisfied).

Respondents in urban areas gave Mr. Aquino a +62 net rating (72% satisfied, 10% dissatisfied) while in rural areas his score was +58 (70% satisfied, 12% dissatisfied).

By socioeconomic class, Mr. Aquino was rated “very good” by those in Class E and D: +64 (73% satisfied, 9% dissatisfied) and +59 (71% satisfied, 11% dissatisfied), respectively. His score was a “good” +49 among the class ABC (65% satisfied and 16% dissatisfied).

By gender, Mr. Aquino obtained a “very good” +62 (73% satisfied, 11% dissatis-fied) among women and +68 (69% satisfied, 11% dissatis-fied) among men.

The quarterly survey polled 1,200 adults nationwide via face-to-face interviews. The sampling error margins are ±3% for national and ±6% for area percentages.

The SWS rates scores of +70 and above as “excellent”; +50 to +69, “very good”; +30 to +49, “good”; +10 to +29, “moderate”; +9 to -9, “neutral”; -10 to -29, “poor”; -30 to -49, “bad”; -50 to -69, “very bad”; and -70 and be-low, “execrable”.

Asked to comment on the results, presidential spokes-person Edwin Lacierda said: “The President’s social con-tract with the Filipino people is being implemented in ways our fellow citizens see and feel in their daily lives. This rating is a reminder for the whole team to stay focused on reforms needed to make opportunities for fighting cor-ruption and lowering poverty as reality.”

Earl G. Parreño, an analyst at the Institute of Political and Electoral Reforms, said: “To put this in context, there was hopelessness in most people during the previous admin-istration. The people now see hope in the President’s programs amid the problems early on [in his administra-tion].”

He cited the Aug. 23 Manila hostage crisis — Mr. Aquino has so far held off an-nouncing sanctions — and the alleged involvement of some of the president’s trusted men in illegal gambling.

“The people are [still] ready to accept him, hoping he would concretize promises [made] during his campaign,” Mr. Parreño said. – A. M. G. Roa

‘Very good’ start for Aquino


how to do it, the latter does it in a complex transaction.

For our perspective, it is an interesting phenomenon that primates are able to form a stable social relationship. This observation has been described by ehtologists and primatologists based on keen observations of non-human primates in captivity. For in-stance in a group of primates, “the members are simultane-ous friends and rivals, squab-bling and fighting for food and water, but thereafter, becomes friends and comfort each other by means of body contact.”

…It is theorized that these animals realize that they can-not win a fight without los-ing a friend. Therefore, they have developed some forms of behavior, which are either to reduce damage afterwards. “The first solution is known as tolerance, the second, recon-ciliation.” With these traits, they maintain their communi-ties and manage to live in a cohesive fashion for many years in spite of non-ending and veritable battlegrounds.

There appears to be a “cooling system, a highly developed one that prevents overheating, explosions or disintegration of the social machinery.” Aggression in these primates does not lead to dispersal. The healing pro-cess somehow is swift, and do not wait for the “time to heal the wounds.” “The peacemak-ing strategies of the chimpan-zees, the bonobos, Rhesus monkeys and stump-tailed monkeys, ranging from pant grunt, intense sexual contact, groom the fur of their rival and hold bottom respectively are amusingly interesting.”

Now consider the human behavior. “They hug and kiss, test and offer through inter-mediaries, smile or offer an aloof handshake and apolo-gies.” There is no difference between apes and humans

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peacemaking strategies, ex-cept that we human approach it with great complexities and difficulties compared with the primates. I beg your pardon for this amusing compari-son. The juxtaposition of the peacemaking behavior of humans and primates, trivial and mundane … we have to reconcile it is not paradoxical.

If we do not learn to make our reconciliation processes work, then I venture to say that we should learn from our closest relatives, the primates. If they can do it, why can’t we-the “fifth species “- does it? We need to stir to these strategies in the COPAO. As the saying goes, a gentleman is a man who can disagree without being disagreeable.

(To be continued)


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

A woman and a man are involved in a car accident on a snowy, cold Monday Morn-ing; it’s a bad one. Both of their cars are totally demol-ished, but Amazingly neither of them is hurt. God works in mysterious ways.

After they crawl out of their cars, the man is yelling about women drivers.

The woman says, ‘So, you’re a man. That’s inter-esting. I’m a woman. Wow, Just look at our cars! There’s nothing left, but we’re unhurt. This must Be a sign from God that we should be friends and live in peace for the Rest of our days.’ Flat-tered, the man replies, ‘Oh yes, I agree completely, this must be a Sign from God! But you’re still at fault...women shouldn’t be al-lowed to Drive.’

Don’t mess with women: (Many of them are just clever, evil

shrews!) READ this story!The woman continues,

‘And look at this, here’s another miracle. My car is Completely demolished but this bottle of wine didn’t break. Surely God Wants us to drink this wine and celebrate our good fortune. She hands the Bottle to the man.

The man nods his head in agreement, opens it and drinks half the bottle And then hands it back to the woman. The woman takes the bottle, puts the cap back on and hands it back to the Man. The man asks, ‘Aren’t you having any?’

The woman replies, ‘No. I think I’ll just wait for the police...’

MOR-AL OF THE

STORY:Women

are clever, evil shrews.

Don’t mess with them.

Light &Shadows

Read Zena Babao’s previous articles by visiting our website at www.asianjournalusa.com

by Zena Sultana Babao

“When the trees their summer splendor change to raiment red and gold; When the summer moon turns mel-low and the nights are get-ting gold; When the squirrels hide their acorns and the woodchucks disappear; Then we know that it is autumn, loveliest season of the year.” – Author Unknown

Autumn is definitely near

when the arrival of night becomes noticeably earlier and the leaves start to turn. Autumn … when all around us is ablaze with color, with the sweet cool breeze kissing and caressing our skin, height-ening our senses and bringing out the poet in us.

Autumn is, as most poets

say, the crowning glory of the year!

But I’m just dreaming! Though San Diego is blessed with a fantastic weather all year round – the real au-tumn belongs somewhere else. Here, we don’t really experience the four temperate seasons of the year: win-ter, spring, summer and fall. Neither does our version of autumn bring us all its color-ful glory. Although I wish it does!

“Pumpkins in the corn-fields, gold among the brown

Leaves of rust and scarlet, trembling slowly down

Birds that travel south-ward, lovely time to play

Nothing is as pleasant, as an autumn day!”

There is no

doubt that au-tumn or fall has definitely started, what with an overcast sky and off-and-on drizzle the past few days. The coolness is just enough to dissipate the sum-mer warmth … enough to be wearing sweaters again, but not yet cold enough for winter coats.

What makes autumn, or

Picturesque Images of Autumn

fall as everyone calls it here in the West Coast, so wonder-ful and a favorite of many? Answers come in many forms, but denote a similar theme. Among them are the follow-ing:

--- Autumn is so pictur-esque. The riot of colors fills the air with sweetness and glory.

--- It’s a very inspiring season, a pretty awesome time of the year!

---It is a release from the heat of the long hot summer.

---Autumn/fall is the per-fect time to get together with wonderful friends and have a fall party.

--- I feel more refreshed during autumn.

--- At the beginning of fall, we have one extra hour to do what we have to do, but most of us use it to go to sleep.

---It’s windy and cool, and I love it when the breeze blows my hair all over my face.

---With the kids back

in school, the house is once again neater and quieter.

--- The perfect time to cuddle with my loved one and whisper sweet things in her ear.

---Fall has an energy about it that seems to bring out the best in my mood.

---The crisp air mo-tivates me to shop for a new wardrobe.

---Fall is magical. Even more so than spring when everything comes alive once more!

---Anticipation of the big holidays coming up: Hallow-een, Veterans Day, Thanksgiv-ing Day and Christmas.

--- The fun days are here

again!For others, autumn may

seem to denote a time of melancholy as the poem Au-tumn Dreams by Mortimer C.

Brown suggests:

“I know the year is dying, soon the summer will be dead.

I can trace it in the flying, of the black crows overhead;

I can hear it in the rustle, of the dead leaves as I pass,

And the South winds plain-tive sighing, through the dry and withered grass.

Ah, ‘tis then I love to wan-der, wander idly and alone,

Listening to the solemn music, of sweet nature’s un-dertone;

Wrap in thoughts I cannot

utter, dreams my tongue can-not express,

Dreams that match the autumn sadness,

In their longing tender-ness!”

To me, autumn is not a sad

season at all. Every season has its pleasure, and autumn is no exception. It’s a perfect time for reflection, for opening

our hearts and minds to this beauteous seasonal dance of joy.

According to Elizabeth Barrett Browning, during autumn “the Earth is crammed with Heaven and every com-mon brush afire with God.”

In contrast to this year’s onset of autumn, last year was really warm. It was just like summer again – “In-dian Summer”! The informal term “Indian summer” dates back to the 18th century in the United States to define the spell of warm, quiet, hazy

weather that oc-curs in October or even in early November. It’s a kind of a tran-sition-weather as the thun-derstorms and severe weather gives way to a tamer, calmer period before the turbulence of winter starts.

We don’t know if there’s another “Indian Summer” along the horizon in the days up ahead. Maybe “Indian summer” will visit us again, or maybe it will not. Cool days are much bet-ter for me! If you love Fall/Autumn as much as I do, “let yourself be silently drawn by the strongest pull of what you really love.”


I just came back from my regular haircut, and as ex-pected, I had to listen to and absorb the views and opinions of my barber. He is also a dual citizen like me, so our conversations always cover both Philippine and American events.

He read my last article on Civil Disobedience and about the Reproductive Health bill that covers contraception. He said he was at the Congress rally for a non-partisan Con-stitutional Convention on January 26, 1970. He claimed to have heard me speak at the event and even remembered and liked what I said as I de-scribed the types of politicians at the time. Rejecting the participation of professional politicians at the convention, I named them as “mga tao na kung sumamo sa bayan dur-ing the campaign ay kasing amo ng mga tupa, ngunit pag panalo at nakapuesto na, ay mga anak ng tupa”.

*****

On contraception, my bar-ber’s take is that the Catholic Church is against it because it would go against the biblical mandate for a man (Adam) and woman (Eve) upon their creation to “go forth and multiply”. That’s why he says that some, like Tea Party can-didate Christine O’Donnell of

Fil-Am Politics in the Eyes of a Barber

Figure 1 The Pope: Head of the Catholic Church

Delaware, believes that mas-turbation is a sin not only be-cause it is “lusting” but more so because it wastes cells needed in the fertilization of human eggs, thus preventing pregnancy.

If there has to be birth control, the Church encour-ages abstinence. What about withdrawal during sex by married couples? It also pre-vents pregnancy and wastes the needed cells for procre-ation. Sin or not, at least, they are considered natural birth control methods.

Is taking birth control pills prohibited by the Church? My barber thinks so. That’s why the Church objects to the RH bill which allows and, in fact, funds the use of artificial birth control pills. What about a pill that would put the man to sleep prior to a planned sexual

activity, thus preventing a potential pregnancy? Is this an artificial or natural method?

If there is a biblical man-date to “go forth and mul-tiply”, why is it that unlike the Protestants who are also Christians, Catholic priests and nuns are not allowed to get married and, therefore, theoretically and morally are prevented from going forth and multiplying their kind? My barber seemed puzzled on this one. But of course, this has not prevented the likes of Fr. Damaso and other priests from begetting Marias and Claras even to this day.

Excommunication is a punishment that the Church gives to violators. It prohib-its Catholics from receiv-ing the Sacraments such as Communion, Reconciliation, Matrimony, etc. Not receiving the Sacrament of Matrimony would not allow you to get married and procreate. Anoth-er seeming contradiction that my barber imparted.

*****

I diverted the discussion to American politics because it affects the two of us more. So I asked my barber, “What is your take on these mid-term elections?”

Figure 2 Ronald Reagan: Idol of the Tea Party

According to him the birth and growth of some third par-ties or movements are actually healthy. The conservatives continue to push the anti-abortion agenda, a pro-tax cut, anti-taxes, balancing the bud-

get, and anti-spending pro-grams to convince the elector-ate that they deserve to regain control of Congress and some state and local governments. The liberals, who successfully pushed some programs such as Health Care and Financial reforms, are still not satisfied with what the Democrat-controlled Congress had done, so the extent of their enthu-siasm and participation had decreased causing a possible defeat of several Obama can-didates.

There is one party and can-didate that caught the atten-tion of my barber, however. It sounds like a one-issue movement but as claimed by the leader of the party Jimmy McMillan, it is not. The party is the “Rent Is Too Damn High” Party. The following video links should give us an idea of what McMillan and his party stands for:

http://www.ny1.com/content/127157/ny1-online--rent-is-too-damn-high-party-candidate-for-governor-jim-my-mcmillan-on--inside-city-hall--10-14-10

http://tv.gawker.com/5667182/crazy-rent-is-too-damn-high-candidate-steals-the-show-at-ny-gov-debate

Figure 3 McMillan: Leader of “Rent is Too Damn High”

Jimmy McMillan is a decorated Vietnam War vet-eran who was also an Orange Agent victim. He is running for Governor of New York because he believes that, in New York, the “rent is too damn high”, it’s hard to find a job, and it’s hard to provide

education, breakfast, lunch and dinner for your children. Government officials are in cahoots with landlords thus making rent control laws inef-fective. People have to work two or three jobs just to pay the rent to the landlords who have committed 10,000 viola-tions.

*****

As my barber finished my hair cut, I repeated my original question to my barber, “What is your take on these mid-term elections?”

He said that as a young boy growing up in the Philippines, he first heard of what the late President Ramon Magsaysay said, ‘those who have less in life must have more in law.”

When President Obama and the Democrats took control of the reins of govern-ment, they were mandated by the people to pass and

execute laws that benefit the people especially those “who have less in life”. President Obama was given four years to show and accomplish what he has set out to do within the period. He and his partners in Congress, for example, passed a health care bill benefiting mostly those who could not afford. It was a law that has evaded us for decades. He and his partners in state and local governments are still begin-ning to execute the said law.

Two years ago, Obama and company started a course that changed the direction of this country with the consent of the governed. We “cannot change course mid-stream.” Neither can we “change horses mid-stream” or mid-term elections. He believes the Democrats should retain control to help Obama finish his job.

Take it from my barber!

Assessor/Recorder/County Clerk, David L. Butler is proud to donate $10,000 to the A.B. and Jessie Polinsky Chil-dren’s Center. The presenta-tion of the check will be made at the Board of Supervisors’ meeting on October 12, 2010 at 9:00 a.m.

This donation is funded by a portion of the proceeds from the sale of photographs taken during marriage ceremonies performed by Butler’s office. With this latest donation, the department will have donated nearly $100,000 to the Polin-sky Center since 2000. The pictures are among a series of keepsake items Butler’s office offers for sale.

David Butler, also the Commissioner of Civil Mar-

Assessor/Recorder/County Clerk Donates $10,000 to

Polinsky Children’s Centerriages states, “We are excep-tionally pleased that we can provide couples with a me-mento of this joyous occasion while at the same time helping the children at the Polinsky Center.”

This facility is a 24-hour temporary emergency shelter for abused, neglected, and abandoned children. Dur-ing FY 2009-10, the Center served over 2,000 children, with an average daily popu-lation of 59 children and an average length of stay of 12 days. The Center uses mon-etary donations to purchase extra items for the children, such as new clothing, movie tickets, fast food certificates, and recreational activities.

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Los Angeles, CA., Oct. 14, 2010. In an increasingly multi-cultural society, the arts and achievements of a people is a universal language, a bridge of illumination that connects all of mankind.

The Filipino American Museum of Culture and His-tory will launch its Philippine Cultural Heritage Series on Saturday, October 30th with a presentation of “Banaue!

Ifugao Cultural Show”, to cap the Filipino American History Month recently proclaimed by the Board of Supervisors of the County of Los Angeles, under the sponsorship of Su-pervisor Don Knabe.

The program will highlight the unique culture of the Ifugao people who hand-carved the natural contours of the hills and parts of the Cordillera Mountains in the Philippines with stone and mud wall reinforcements into the Banaue Rice Terraces over two thousand years ago, serv-ing as a memorial to the his-tory and culture of small-scale farmers who worked together as a community.

The Banaue Rice Terraces is recognized as a United Nations UNESCO World Heritage Site and is the top tourist attraction in the Philip-pines. The landscape has been estimated to measure halfway around the world if each layer of the rice terraces is laid from end to end.

The program consists of an Exhibition of Ifugao Antiques and Artifacts from private collections; Rites and Rituals performances of music and dance led by leaders of the local Ifugao community; an educational talk on ancient Ifugao tattoos by Lane Wil-

Filipino American Museum of Culture & HistoryOct. 30th launch caps Filipino American history month

cken, author of an upcoming book titled Filipino Tattoos ancient to modern, and a fash-ion showcase of Traditional Textiles and Lifestyle demon-strating the utilitarian aspects of Ifugao cultural artifacts.

The event will be held from 2:00 PM to S:OO PM at the museum site, the Filipino (Disciples) Christian Church, the only Historic Cultural

Monument designated by the City of Los Angeles of Fili-pino origin in Historic Fili-pinotown, which was recog-nized by the Los Angeles City Council under the presidency of Eric Garcetti, who repre-sents the 13th district.

The US-year old structure of German Gothic Revival and Craftsman architecture.

With its majectis stained glass mural (believed to be the work of a prominent artist In the early 1900’s) is located at 301 No. Union Avenue, in the Echo Park corridor of downtown Los Angeles on the corner of No. Union Avene and Court Street.

The museum’s purpose is to preserve its important building and history and promote greater awareness of Filipino American culture and history in the city. It is patterned after the national treasure, San Juan Capistrano Mission Church, Museum,

Theatre and Garden and near-by historic cultural monument San Gabriel Mission Church, Museum and Garden which were considered as “clearing houses” for early settlers of California.

Similarly, the Filipino Christian Church under the auspices of the Disciples of Christ denomination, served as the center for many

Filipinos since its inception as a fellowship in 1928 (later its forma-tion as a church in 1933) and through the succeeding decades towards the advancement of the Filipino Ameri-can community in Southern Califor-nia.

(Four bunga-lows secured by the Disciples of Christ for the Fili-pino Fellowship on

First Street and Bunker Hill in 1928 is believed to be the site where the Disney Concert Hall and the Music Center stand today.)

“lt is also significant that through the years, our church and its members played a vital role in promoting cultural ethnic pride for new Filipino immigrants, as well as Ameri-can born Filipinos. Several Filipino American service organizations were “birthed” or nurtured at this church and became powerful influences in the Filipino American com-munity in this country,”said Ely Dumapias-Obillo, ‘Chair-man of the church’s Board ‘’Search to Involve Pilipino Americans (S.I.P.A.) was established and grew within these walls during its first dozen or so years mainly under the leadership of Roy Morales, who was instrumen-tal in the creation of Filipino American studies at UCLA

and USC, where scholarships are named after him,” she added.

Pilipino American Re-search, Reading Room and Library (PARRAL), founded by Helen Agcaoili Summers Brown and now called Filipino American library,

occupied a room for more than ten years free of charge on the church’s ground floor,

The museum is developing the Royal Morales and Helen Brown Children’s Garden in honor of the two trailblazers of Filipino American history. (Anne Hars, a land-scape architect. and .Tenn Su, a schoolteacher, are helping design the garden, They are volunteers connected with the University of California Mas-ter Gardener Program.

Darling’s Nursery and Flowers is a sponsor.) Several other church leaders served as past presidents of the Filipino American Community of Los Angeles, Inc. during its for-mative years.

Others co-founded or pioneered important service organizations including the California Filipino Basket-ball Leauge, the Los Angeles Downtown Evening Optimist Club; the Philippine Junior Cultural Organization; the se-nior and junior chapters of the Philikppine Women’s Clubs; the first Filipino Summer Cul-tural School, the local Filipino American Nartional Historical Society, various legionario groups and hometown asso-ciations.

Filipino American hero Dan Inosanto, a world re-knowned martial artist and author, is also a product of the church. Dr. Teodoro Ines wrote, produced and co-directed the historic film, “A Filipino in America”, in 1938.

The history of the church featuring biographies of its heroes and trailblazers, is chronicled in the recendy pub-lished book Filipino American Experience: the Making of a Historic-Culturn! Monu-ment which will be sold at the museum gift shop on October 30th to benefit the church, museum and garden.

Members of today’s Board

of Directors include descen-dants of founders and pioneers of the Filipino (Disciples) Christian Church such as Ely

Dumapias Obillo, Yvonne Rallonza-Park, Bettie Obillo-DiMeo, Anne leamen-Morales and Celestina Lazo. Also serv-ing are longtime leaders Helen Culp and Pablo Torralba; Mars Balderama, Hope Ube, Allan Kelley, Ben Terry and

Yolanda Hernandez-Obillo.The Museum Committee is

comprised of volunteers Her-minia Balderama, Lorna Du-

mapias, Helen Culp, Hope Ube, Mars Balderama, Divina Pagdi-lao, Rita Rigor Aparicio

and Dr. Cheryle MEn-doza. Support is provided by Allan Kelley.

Mendoza. Special advise rs are Violeta Quismorio, a pioneer of the Philippine Arts Council of the

Pacific Asia Museum in Pasa-dena and founding president of the Narvacan Association, and Jo Sarmiento Moulton, founder and executive direc-tor of the Temecula Valley international film and music festival, now in its 17th year.


boxes – and privacy was impos-sible. Maria’s husband peered through holes on the walls of the houses and watched the women as they change clothes or wash themselves. One night, one of the husbands caught the peeping tom in the act. He yelled at him and the noise attracted the attention of the other men in the neighbor-hood. The men came out, grabbed the village voyeur and started beating him up. Maria said they left her husband for dead. She alone picked him up and dragged him to the main street where a good Samaritan came by and of-fered to take her husband to the hospital. “Louie, I cried so much for my husband. He suffered for days, I had to beg other people for money to pay for his hospital bills. That was the saddest part of my life, that I will never forget,” Maria narrated her most harrow-ing experience. There was a big applause from the audience.

Such was the format of

the show. Housewives came to the studio and in a 30-minute live show, Louie, the producer-host of the show, picked seven women to tell their most tragic, deplorable, humiliating, hurting, tear-jerking real-life stories. The show was titled, “Drama Queen”. The win-ner was chosen at the end of the show. Louie asked the audience to clap for the seven contestants, one at a time; and the one who got the loudest applause was declared the winner, the “Drama Queen” of the day. The winning housewife took home twenty pesos and several loaves of bread and canned sar-dines, plus a year’s supply of the sponsor’s medicinal ointment.

Esther was married to a good-looking husband. She was short, dark, and homely-looking. Her husband was tall, had a mous-tache, and looked like a movie ac-tor. She was not sure whether the husband loved her for what she was as a person, or married her, just for convenience. The husband loathed working and preferred to be at home or with his friends kibitzing at the corner store. He

was economically dependent on Esther, who was a gainfully employed nurse. One day Esther came home unexpectedly and was able to confirm that her husband was just a freeloading scoundrel. She caught him in bed with the housemaid. And that was Esther’s most hurting experience. At the end of the revelation, the audience gave her a resounding round of applause.

Radio was the main source of entertainment at that time. TV was still scarce and not afford-able. Louie loved the show. It had brought him fame and money. He had this reality show and a string of other shows that played out daily. They were all “live” broad-casts. Louie spent a lot of time at the studio doing his daily beat. As late as 10 in the evening, he sat at his booth and read letters from women who sought advice. He sat like a psychologist who fielded questions about love, courtship, sex, and marriage. His job ended at midnight and that was the time he went home.

Blanca had to work as a house-maid in a rich Chinese business-man’s household. She needed to support the medical bills of her mother who had tuberculosis. The boss and his wife were mean. Blanca was made to work from

“Drama Queen”Story by Percival Campoamor Cruz

the wee hours of the morning till late at night. She was given a room beside the kitchen that was small and airless. She had to cook her own simple food as she was not allowed to eat the food that she served the family. When she made a mistake, like she dropped and broke a ceramic plate, the wife pulled her hair and banged her head on the wall. She was also required to pay for whatever ware she broke. She led a harsh, lonely and miserable life away from his parents. She had to endure the cruelty of her employers. In spite of all the sacrifices, the mother died anyway of the dreaded dis-ease. The audience was jubilant and gave Blanca a thunderous applause.

Louie’s wife was younger than him. She was an attractive woman. Louie told her she did not have to work because money was pouring in. She spent her time shopping and seeing her friends. She had a beautiful house and all the equip-ment she needed in the house. She had her own car. Nice clothes, shoes and handbags. Jewelry. She had everything that a young woman could desire. The only thing she did not have was the company of Louie because he was always at work.

“I am a battered housewife,” Nora declared. “My husband goes out with his friends every night, he comes home drunk and makes trouble. He asks me if I still see my former boyfriend and I tell him, No. He says he does not believe me because somebody said he saw me and my boyfriend having coffee together at some place. That is a lie, Louie, and I tell him so. But he believes the lie and beats me up. He is madly jealous. He is not letting me go out. I cannot even wear makeup. I live the life of a prisoner. The last time he beat me up, he busted up my eyes and mouth that my own mother could not recognize me. He said he was going to kill me if he heard about anymore cheating. This is my horrifying experience.” The audience loved her story and gave Nora a good applause.

Louie’s wife, Victoria, was his number one fan. Wherever she was, she made certain the radio was playing on so she could listen to him. When she was at home the radio played all day long tuned in to Louie’s radio station. When she was in the car, the car’s radio was constantly tuned in to the same radio station. The radio worked like a clock or scheduler that told Victoria the whereabouts of her husband.

Aling Eliza’s 5-year old son had a swollen head caused by encephalitis. She could not af-ford to buy the medicines, much less, agree to a procedure that the doctor recommended. The boy, a smart, lovable human being was wasting away. She cried every time she saw boys his son’s age having fun outdoors while her son was lying in bed and endur-ing pain. The boy got so sick one evening that she had to take him to the emergency room. She went from one hospital to the other begging for mercy but no hospital took the boy in because she did not have the security deposit. “My son was burning with fever. He was shaking and throwing up. He could not speak but with his eyes

he was pleading to me for help. He was like telling me – Mama, why doesn’t anybody want to help me? – Louie, I wanted to die. I asked God to take my life instead of my son’s, if He could just spare my son’s life.” And Aling Eliza sobbed uncontrollably.

Louie gave her his handker-chief so she could wipe off her tears. “I’m so sorry, Aling Eliza,” Louie commiserated.

“My son died that very same night. . . Losing my son is like losing my own life. Oh, my God, how cruel this world could be!” And Aling Eliza sobbed some more, and the audience clapped enthusiastically, obviously very pleased with her sad story.

“We will be back after this commercial.” Louie took a break.

Sound of a wailing baby in the background.

Announcer: -- Hindi makatu-log ang inyong anak dahil sa baradong ilong? Breecks Cold Ointment ang lunas. Lamig na tumatagos sa balat na pumupugsa sa pagbabara sanhi ng sipon sa dibdib at lalamunan. Ihaplos sa dibdib at lalamunan ni baby at kagyat makikita ninyo ang pam-bihirang bisa ng Breecks. – (Your child can’t sleep because of stuffy nose? Breecks Cold Ointment is the remedy. Soothing cold that penetrates the skin and melts away the stuffiness caused by colds in the chest and throat. Gently apply on the chest and throat of baby and see the instant result of Breecks.)

Sound effect (glee-ful chimes) up and out. Announcer: -- Breecks Cold Ointment, kung may sipon, may ginhawa! (Breecks Cold Oint-ment, when there is cold, there is relief.)

Victorious music up and under. Announcer: Mabibili sa maliit

na lata o sa malaking botelya sa pinakamalapit na botika. (Avail-able in a small tin can or in the big bottle at your neighborhood pharmacy.)

The show continued on.Wife Victoria was being

pursued by her former boyfriend. She got calls in her house phone again and again. When she was out shopping or having snacks she could sense his presence. She was being stalked. She picked up the phone one day and admonished him to stop harassing her.

The former boyfriend was very persistent. He tried soft-sell tactics like sending her flowers and chocolates. Those unwelcomed gifts she threw away as soon they were delivered.

She never discussed the prob-lem with Louie. She preferred not to give him any worries. Besides, she thought she could handle the situation.

Then the former boyfriend tried blackmail. He told Victoria on the phone, “I keep our pictures. I have several that show us in very compromising situations. I wonder how Louie would react if he sees them.”

“Louie knows we’re over. I married him and I am faithful to him, God knows!” Victoria protested.

“God knows, but Louie does not,” the former boyfriend was straight-forward about it. “When he sees the pictures he will think we are still on.”

“What do you really want!?” Victoria cut him short.

“I just want to see you and talk to you. Just one final time and then I’ll let you go,” the former boyfriend tried to calm her down.

The former boyfriend arrived in a flashy, yellow, convertible Corvette to pick up Victoria at her favorite coffee shop. As soon as she sat herself in the car, the sports car sped away in a loud roar. The car’s radio was playing at full blast, momentarily the song being played was, “Your Cheatin’ Heart”. . .

Your cheatin’ heart,Will make you weep,You’ll cry and cry,And try to sleep,But sleep won’t come,The whole night through,Your cheatin’ heart, will tell on

you . . .Without asking permission,

Victoria reached out for the radio dial and switched the tuner to her husband Louie’s radio station.

“Our next contestant for the day,” Louie announced, “is Jose-phine Reyes.”

Josephine narrated how her husband disappeared, never to show up again. He was a leader in the labor union. He led his co-workers in strikes against unfair and abusive employers. She spoke of how the police and the military sided with employers. Many times her husband was picked up and mauled at the police station for inciting strikers. The police and the military always presumed that her husband was a communist

and that he was undermining the authority of the government. One evening, men in uniform came to pick up her husband for question-ing. In spite of her pleadings the men took him away and that was the last time she saw him. She went to the police and the military for help. She was told they knew nothing about the abduction. The audience liked the story and ap-plauded with gusto.

The former boyfriend was very gentle to Victoria. They had lunch at a posh restaurant. Then they drove up to a suburban resort where they could have a private talk. The former boyfriend talked about how miserable his life had been. Born into a rich family, the boyfriend spoke of how he already possessed all the nice things a man like him could ask for. But his life still remained empty.

He travelled all over the world and tried to forget Victoria. He planned on starting a new life in California where his parents owned a house. “Victoria . . .” he said. “My heart is aching for you. No possession, no place in the world, no one, no experience can fill up my life but you.”

Victoria was silent. She did not know what to say.

“I wanted to marry you, re-member?” the boyfriend asked for an acknowledgment.

At that point, Victoria blurted out, “. . . and your parents were against the marriage because they wanted you to marry someone else.”

“I assure you, Victoria, it was not my fault.”

“It was all your fault,” Victoria pointedly disagreed. “You were not man enough!”

The boyfriend took Victoria home, thanked her for the compa-ny and left. That evening, Victoria could not sleep. Thoughts were running all over her head . . . . -- He was not a monster after all . . . I did not know he was having a tough time, the poor fellow. . . How can I help him? I am beyond helping him. I need help myself. --

Then she thought about her own life. . . -- Isn’t it weird? He and I lead the same miserable life. Materially, I am well-off; but spiritually, I am a lonely soul. Oh, Louie, forgive me for these thoughts. . . --

Time went on and the daily stuff that made up Louie’s and Victoria’s days remained monoto-nously the same. Victoria’s former boyfriend stopped calling, for a while, until one day . . .

He wanted to meet up with Victoria again.

Old folks have a way of ex-plaining that even a piece of wood soaking with water when left beside the fireplace will eventu-ally ignite; similarly, that a big boulder of rock when tiny drops of water incessantly fall on it, will eventually crack up. Such was the analogy that could be applied in the case of Victoria. No matter that Victoria was strong-willed, no matter that she loved her husband, no matter that she had rejected the former boyfriend so many times in the past, she eventually suc-cumbed to the invitation.

She and the former boyfriend had a fine day at the beach. They had lunch at an outdoor seafood restaurant. They went on board a boat that took visitors on a cruise around the bay. Before night fall, they found themselves in a cocktail bar. They danced and felt a longing for each other. Victo-ria had a transistor radio in her handbag. She was still tuned in to husband Louie’s radio station.

One thing led to another. Victoria and the boyfriend found themselves carrying on an inti-mate affair inside a motel room.

She felt a different ecstasy in the hands of the former boyfriend. Feeling she did not experience with Louie. The former boyfriend was very familiar with the ter-ritory; he was able to control her whole being, awaken all her sensitive spots. Naked before each other, she felt the kisses and the touches that she once knew and they felt great. Her body was quivering and absorbing all the wonderful sensation as her mind and hearing were wafting away.

The radio in the motel room was playing softly and she could hardly hear Louie’s voice coming out of the speaker. Unbeknownst to Louie, his own personal tragedy of a major proportion was unrav-eling as he delivered in his modu-lated voice an endearing message . . . “and this next song is heartily dedicated to you, loyal listener, whose heartache we felt through your letter; a song of eternal love, also lovingly dedicated to my wife, Victoria. Victoria, I love you,” . . . and he provided a sweet musical background to his wife’s indiscretion.



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

Ni Romeo Nicolas

Mga Tulang Tagalog

Buhay Sa USAKaming Pilipinong pinalad lisanin ang sariling bayan,May mga pangarap, sa isip natanim noong una pa lang.Nagsilbi sa Navy, na isang gawaing mababa kung tignan,Kami ay nagtiis, dala ng pangarap bumuti ang buhay.

Sa maraming taon na aming ginugol, palad ay uminam, Kabiyak sa buhay at dalawang anak syang naging yaman.May sariling bahay na hinuhulugan, apat ang sasakyan,Sa likod ng lahat ng mga pangarap, kumapal ang utang.

Dalawangpung taon ang aming ginugol sa pagseserbisyo,Aming natagpuang buhay sa USA ay nakalilito.Sa tuwing tataas, sahod sa gawain, ngiti ang gobyerno,Arangkadang kaltas, upang matulungan ang TAMAD na tao.

Dahil hindi sapat, biyayang halaga ng pagreretiro,Kami’y napilitan sa bagong gawain ‘pagkat delikado.Muling sumagupa sa bagong problema, gulo ng trapiko,Kaya’t unti-unting pumuti ang buhok, tulirong-tuliro.

Ganito ang buhay naming mga Pinoy sa hiram na bansa,Likas naming sipag, naging kasangkapan ng tamad at dukha.Paano uunlad sa mga pasaning dito’y gawa-gawa,Kayod, naghihirap, samantalang iba’y mandin natutuwa.

Ganyan nga ang buhay at ito ay aking malimit isipin,Taas ng bilihin ay ala-caliente sa bilis at tulin.Sweldong sinasahod sapat lang pambayad at ipong katiting,Malabong pangarap at ang KATANDAAN heto na’t dumating.

Tulang alay ko sa mga Pinoy na hanggang sa ngayon ay patu-loy pang nagsisikap na gumanda ang buhay sa USA.

Romeo S. NicolasBocaue, Bulacan

Room for RentNo smoking. No drugs.

Close to all.$400 per month plus utilities

Call: (619) 746-3416

Sometimes, when I look at my children, I say to myself, ‘Lillian, you should have remained a virgin.’

Lillian Carter (mother of Jimmy Carter)

***

I had a rose named after me and I was very flattered. But I was not pleased to read the description in the cata-logue: -

‘No good in a bed, but fine against a wall.’

- Eleanor Roosevelt

*** Last week, I stated this

woman was the ugliest wom-an I had ever seen.

I have since been visited by her sister, and now wish to withdraw that statement..

- Mark Twain

*** The secret of a good

sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending; and to have the two as close together as possible

- George Burns

*** Santa Claus has the right

idea. Visit people only once a year.

- Victor Borge

*** Be careful about reading

health books. You may die of

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

journalusa.com

Great Quotes!!!a misprint.

- Mark Twain

*** By all means, marry. If you

get a good wife, you’ll be-come happy; if you get a bad one, you’ll become a philoso-pher.

- Socrates

*** I was married by a judge. I

should have asked for a jury.- Groucho Marx

*** My wife has a slight im-

pediment in her speech.Every now and then she

stops to breathe.- Jimmy Durante

*** I have never hated a man

enough to give his diamonds back.

- Zsa Zsa Gabor

*** Only Irish coffee provides

in a single glass all four es-sential food groups: alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.

- Alex Levine

*** My luck is so bad that if

I bought a cemetery, people would stop dying.

- Rodney Dangerfield

*** Money can’t buy you hap-

piness .... But it does bring you a more pleasant form of misery

- Spike Milligan

*** Until I was thirteen, I

thought my name was SHUT UP .

- Joe Namath

***

I don’t feel old. I don’t feel anything until noon.

Then it’s time for my nap.- Bob Hope

*** I never drink water because

of the disgusting things that fish do in it..

- W. C. Fields

*** We could certainly slow

the aging process down if it had to work its way through

Congress. - Will Rogers

*** Don’t worry about avoid-

ing temptation. As you grow older, it will avoid you.

- Winston Churchill

*** Maybe it’s true that life be-

gins at fifty .. But everything else starts to wear out, fall out, or spread out..

- Phyllis Diller

*** By the time a man is wise

enough to watch his step, he’s too old to go anywhere.

- Billy Crystal

*** And the cardiologist’s diet:

If it tastes good, spit it out. May your troubles be less,

may your blessings be more, and may nothing but happi-ness come through your door.

The Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) an-nounced that the San Diego Zoo’s Elephant Odyssey re-ceived awards for significant achievement in exhibit design and top honors in marketing for budgets over $175,000.

“The San Diego Zoo is leading the way in exhibit design and promotion,” said AZA president and CEO Jim Maddy. “These awards pro-vide well-deserved national recognition to the San Diego Zoo’s dedication to the best in animal care and public educa-tion.”

The exhibit began with an idea to build a new home for the San Diego Zoo’s elephants and became an extraordinary $45-million project that took four years to create. The Har-ry and Grace Steele Elephant Odyssey spans 12,000 years, 7.5 acres and is home to more than 35 species of animals, some of which have been around since the Pleistocene epoch.

“To see the same diver-sity of animals when mam-moths and saber-toothed cats roamed Southern California, you would need to travel the world,” said John Dunlap, director of the San Diego Zoo. “Elephant Odyssey offers fun, up-close animal encounters with elephants and jaguars, relatives of those now-extinct animals.”

Elephant Odyssey is the San Diego Zoo’s largest ex-

San Diego Zoo’s Elephant Odyssey receives national awards for exhibit design and marketing

hibit undertaken at one time. The cornerstone species of Elephant Odyssey is the el-ephant. Instead of the Colum-bian mammoth that wandered through San Diego thousands of years ago, Asian elephants meander a 2.5-acre exhibit that includes a 137,000-gal-lon pool, gentle rolling hills, hidden drinkers and feeders to entice foraging, and the half-acre Conrad Prebys Elephant Care Center.

For the first time, special viewing at the Elephant Care Center provides guests with an insider’s view, seeing keep-ers and veterinarians using protected contact and a posi-tive animal-management style to work alongside elephants. The animals have access to heaters, shelter and shade dur-ing inclement weather, while some areas in the care center include a floor with rubber coating for medical care.

Founded in 1924, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of zoos and aquariums in the areas of conservation, education, science, and recreation. Look for the AZA logo whenever you visit a zoo or aquarium as your assurance that you are supporting a facility dedicated to providing excellent care for animals, a great experience for you, and a better future for all living things. The AZA is a leader in global wildlife

conservation, and your link to helping animals in their native habitats. The AZA Exhibit Award recognizes excellence in the area of live animal display and exhibit design by an AZA-accredited facility. The Excellence in Marketing Award recognizes marketing campaigns developed and executed by its AZA member institutions. Campaigns must utilize a marketing mix with a minimum of three com-munication channels, such as television, radio, print adver-tising, outdoor, internet, direct mail, etc.

The 100-acre San Di-ego Zoo is dedicated to the conservation of endangered species and their habitats. The

organization focuses on con-servation and research work around the globe, educates millions of individuals a year about wildlife and maintains accredited horticultural, ani-mal, library and photo collec-tions. The Zoo also manages the 1,800-acre San Diego Zoo Safari Park (histori-cally referred to as the Wild Animal Park), which includes a 900-acre native species reserve, and the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research. The important con-servation and science work of these entities is supported in part by The Foundation of the Zoological Society of San Diego.


Elsa T. EleyOwner / Hair Specialist

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Showbiz Watcher

Read Ogie Cruz’s previous articles by visiting our website at www.asianjournalusa.com

by Ogie Cruz

$50

Sina Kris Aquino at Sarah Geronimo raw ngayon ang mga bagong tinaguriang Floptsina Queens.Nang umalis si Kris sa “Win na Win” ay single digit na lang ang rating nito sa survey noong simula pa lang na siya ang nagsimula ng naturang show.Pinalalabas niya na

Sino kina Kris at Sarah mga bagong Floptsina Queen?

SAN DIEGO – October 18, 2010 – San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) wants cus-tomers to be aware that some-one posing as an employee of SDG&E is targeting Hispanic and Asian small businesses in San Diego, threatening to turn off their power due to not making a late payment to their SDG&E account. The imper-sonators ask for an immediate payment unless they provide their credit card information.

To date, 25 businesses have been called and sev-eral business customers have given their credit card infor-mation to this imposter who had contacted them by phone. SDG&E wants to prevent oth-er individuals and businesses from becoming fraud victims. The company assures cus-tomers that SDG&E will not proactively contact them and ask for credit card information over the phone.

Hispanics and Asian small businesses targeted by person

claiming to be from SDG&ECustomers are urged not to

provide any financial infor-mation by phone unless they have initiated the conversa-tion. If you have received this kind of call and believe you might have been a vic-tim of fraud, please contact SDG&E’s Customer Service line at 1-800-411-7343.

SDG&E is a regulated pub-lic utility that provides safe and reliable energy service to 3.4 million consumers through 1.4 million electric meters and more than 840,000 natu-ral gas meters in San Diego and southern Orange coun-ties. The utility’s area spans 4,100 square miles. SDG&E is committed to creating ways to help our customers save energy and money every day. SDG&E is a subsidiary of Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE), a Fortune 500 energy services holding company based in San Diego.

Sarah Geronimo

Amy Perez

pinaalis daw siya ng chan-nel 2, para pagbigyan sina Rico Puno,Marco Sison , Rey Valera at Nonoy Zuniga pero marami ang hindi naniwala.

Palubog na raw ang barko kaya umalis siya,tanggapin niya na hindi siya bagay sa pantanghaling show at hindi niya kayang tapatan ang na-gawa ni Willie Revillame sa Wowowee.kaya nang umalis siya at sina Rico and

Co. ang pumalit sa kanya, aba pumapalo na ito ngayon sa rating.Tumaaas ito sa survey at hindi na single digit na lang kagaya noon, kaya ngamasaya ang apat na hit-makers.

Sa ngayon,wala pang tv show sa Pilipinas si Kris Aquino,ang balita babalik daw ang “Deal or no Deal” pero hindi pa namin alam

kung kailan.Pero ang maliwanag, bigo

siya sa “Win na Win”, kaya ngayon tinatawag na si Kris, at hindi Queen of All Media kundi Flopsina Queen.

Isang chismis pa ang lum-abas at naisulat na lulundag na daw siya sa ibang network, hindi totoo yan . Gagawa lang siya ng isang movie para sa GMA Network.

Isang ring humahabol kay kris, ito si Sarah Geronimo para Floptsina Queen.Alam nyo ba na matatanggal na ang “IDOL” niya sa TFC, dahil ito ang may pinakamababang rat-ing sa mga teleserye ng chan-nel 2.Nilalampaso ito ng kala-ban niya programa sa channel 7,kaya nag-decide na tapusin na ito ng naturang network, to think na kasisimula pa lang ito sa ere at bilang tsugi kaagad . This Friday Oct. 22 ang last airing nito, na pilit ginagaya ang programang “GLEE”, pero sa malas hindi nagustu-han ng mga manonood kahit sabihin pa na nadun din sina Sam Milby at Coco Martin.

Pinalalabas ng kampo nila na ang dahilan kaya eto maaa-lis sa ere dahil marami raw gagawin sina Sarah at Sam na shows sa ibang bansa at wala na raw silang time para mag-shoot pa sa naturang show.Ganon!!!

Sa totoo lang walang chemistry sina Sarah at Sam, kaya hindi sila tanggap ng manonood, corny daw ang show nila compare sa pinipilit nilang gayahin na “GLEE”.

Basta ngayon wala ng nin-ing si Ms. Sarah Geronimo, buti pa ang Charice Pempeng-co humahataw ang concert show kamakailan at inaaban-gan ang kanyang pagbabalik sa “GLEE”.Etong dalawa kasi ang magkatapat kaya lang pang-international ang beauty ni Charice compare kay Sarah.

Kaso bigo itong si Sarah sa kanyang “ IDOL” kaya isa rin siya na puedeng tawagin sa ngayon na Floptsina Queen.

Sino ngayon ang dapat igawad ang titulong Floptsina Queen,si Kris o si Sarah?Sabi ng isang mataray ng TV host, silang dalawa pareho silang Floptsina Queens.Agree kami !!!

ASAR NA ASAR sina Cristy Fermin at Mo Twister kay John Lloyd Cruz dahil

itinanggi nito na tinatawagan niya si Ruffa Gutierrez, at sabi pa John Lloyd gawa-gawa lang daw itong balita na ito.

Siempre nakasalalay ang credibility nina Ate Cristy at Mo, tungkol sa pagtanggi ng actor. Kaya ang nangyari, sinabi mismo ni Ms. Ruffa na hindi liers sina Cristy at Mo, totoo ang sinasabi nila.Ibig sabihin si Lloyd ang nagsisi-nungaling. Dagdag pa nga ni Ruffa, hindi naman daw hahaba ang buhok niya kung sakaling tumatawag sa kanya si Lloyd, at dedma lang siya kung itanggi man ito ni John Lloyd Cruz.

NATATAWA NAMAN KAMI KAY AMY PEREZ, react to death talaga siya sa kanyang Facebook dahil may tumira sa kanyang pananamit sa “Face to Face” na ka-face-book pa niya.

Karamihan daw na ginag-amit niyang damit sa show ay nabibili lang sa “Landmark”, pwes react ang Amy sa kan-yang Facebook kesyo hindi naman daw siya mayaman para magdamit ng pangmaya-man at karamihan daw nang nakakasama niya sa show e yung mga masa kaya ayaw niyang magdamit ng maganda at magarbo.

Siempre humahanap ito ng simpatiya sa kanyang mga ka-facebook, para tuligsain yung tumira sa kanya.Pati nga ang diyos ginamit niya para ipagtanggol lang niya ang

kanyang sarili.Ewan ko lang kung napu-

puna nang kanyang mga ka-Facebook, na hindi marunong ito sumagot sa facebook o magpasalamat man lang sa mga magagandang bagay na sinasabi sa kanya, dedma lang itong si Amy.To think na wala pang sampu, ang nagbibigay nang comments sa kanyang Facebook ni hindi man lang marunong magpasalamat ito.

Para kang nagsasalita sa tuod, buti pa yung ibang celebraties sa facebook , marunong sumagot.Ganyan naman yan si Amy kapag may masama na massage sa kanya, doon siya nagre-react pero ka-pag maganda ay dedma lang ito.Lalo pa umaarangkada ang show niya sa channel 5 sa rating, naku tiyak hindi mag-aaksaya ng panahon yan para sumagot.

Sabi nga ng iba dyan sa showbiz, supladita talaga yan si Amy kaya ganyan din ang lumalabas sa kanyang person-ality sa Facebook.Minsan nga tinira rin namin yan sa Face-book, aba nag-react ang Ms. Perez kala ko tuod ang kausap namin.Pero ngayon iba na na-man ang ihip ng hangin balik na naman siya sa dati niyang ugali.Naku ,mga ka-facebook wag nyo nang pag-aksayan ng oras yan,mataas yan.Sana mabasa ito ni Ms Amy Perez, alam mo naman ang showbiz hindi laging nasa ibabaw Ka, time will come baka ma-tsugi rin yang show mo at mapag-initan ng MTRCB.What do you think Kapamilya?

TOTOO KAYA ITONG NABALITAAN NAMIN, sinuntok daw ng dalawang beses sa dibdib itong si Sha-lala ni Mr. German Moreno dahil sa mga Blind items nito na sinasabi sa “Juicy”? Umiyak daw ang naturang reporter/host sa sakit, dahil isinumbong daw siya ni Mar-ian Rivera kay Kuya Germs dun sa backstage ng “Walang Tulugan”, dahil lagi niyang Blind item si Marian at ang boyfriend nito na si Dingdong Dante.

Sumbong to death lang itong si Shalala kay Cristy Fermin dahil sa mga nangyari, pero ayaw niyang aminin na may ganon na nangyari. Pero sabi nga ni Tita Swarding ng DZRH, buti raw sa baklang yan na mabug bog ni kuya Germs, dahil wala raw utang na loob ito.

Galit talaga si Tita Sward-ing kay Shalala, dahil sa mga nakakarating sa kanya.Wala raw utang na loob itong si Shalala, ultimo si kuya Germs daw ang i-chinischismis nito sa showbizlandia, kaya nasabi niyang walang utang na loob ito.

Binabati pala namin itong

si Winston Gonzales, ang isang baguhang gusto maka-gawa ng name sa showbiz, at takenote nag-guest pa siya sa isang radio show para sabihin na may mga kumakalat na sex video na siya ang kasangkot.Anung say mo Benny An-daya, ikaw ba ang manager ngayon?Im sure tataas ang kilay ni Alex Datu sa balitang ito.


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NAPLES COURT & ALDERWOOD APARTMENTS1105-1121 FOURTH AVENUECHULA VISTA 619-420-5313

MOVE IN SPECIAL$0 DEPOSIT

On approved creditWith 6 month lease

$885-$885-$8851 BEDROOM 1 BATH

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POOLEXERCISE ROOM

ASSIGNED PARKINGGARAGES AND STORAGE AVAILABLE ON SITE


CALL FOR AN APPOINTMENT TO VIEW 619-420-5313 OR 619-425-5446

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VISIT OUR WEBSITE SDRENTING.COM TO APPLY ON LINE

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$0 DEPOSIT (OAC)$895-$895

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Classified Ads

Live-in Housekeeper/Nanny for a Filipino

family in Poway. Please call Bob at

(858) 382-8983

To:

From: Eugene De Leon

Herewith is proof of your classified ad for publication in the Asian Journal. Please proofread i t and fax back the correction if any or call us for your approval. The ad is tentatively scheduled to be published in the

issue of the Asian Journal if we receive your approval on time. At $4 per line

lines, it costs

$______.00 to be paid upon your receipt of the invoice and tear sheet. Thank you.

Fax #

If approved please sign and fax back to

(619) 474-0373

__________________

Asian JournalFirst Asian Weekly Newspaper in Southern California & San Diego’s Most Widely Circulated Asian-Filipino Newspaper

550 East 8th Street, Suite 6, National City CA 91950 • Tel. (619) 474-0588 • Fax (619) 474-0373

10/22/10

Suzanne O’Kane

1x4x1040

SENIOR TRANSPORTATION ENGINEER

The Senior Transportation Engineer will manage and coordinate the design and development of capital projects and investment studies in the region’s transportation corridors. Qualifications: Bachelor’s degree with major course work in civil, structural, or transportation engineering, and a minimum of five years of capital project design and delivery, preferably for transportation-related projects. This is a limited term position. SANDAG of-fers competitive salaries and benefits. Visit www.sandag.org/jobs or call (619) 699-1900 for information. Closes: November 12, 2010. EOE.

NEED FULL TIME HOUSEKEEPER

MONDAY THRU FRIDAY. LIVE IN OR OUT.

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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.

Prayer to Blessed Virgin

(Never known to fail)

Oh, most beautiful flower of Mt. Carmel, fruitful vine, splendor of Heaven. Bless Mother of the Son of God, Immaculate Virgin, assist me in my necessity. Oh Star of the Sea, help me and show me here you are my Mother. Oh Star of the Sea, help me and show me here you are my Mother. Oh Holy Mary, Mother of God, Queen of Heaven and Earth, I humble beseech you from the bottom of my heart to succor me in my necessity(make re-quest). There are none that can withstand your power. O Mary, conceived without sin pray for us who have recourse to thee (three times). Say this prayer for three consecutive days & then you must publish & it will be granted to you.

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.

Florida C. Jennifer J.

Jose R.


Jose R.


Jose R.

Human FaceBy Ma. Ceres P. Doyo

Philippine Daily Inquirer

TWO DECADES ago, I did a feature story for the Sunday Inquirer Magazine on the sex life of the urban poor, titled “A few meters of loving space.” It was based on my interviews with couples living in blighted, depressed areas of Manila. The story was illus-trated by Inquirer cartoonist Jess Abrera (done in semi-abstract, okay?).

There was a debate at that time on family planning meth-ods and reproductive health. Today, several millions of babies later, the debate rages again. In this context, I bring out compressed excerpts (for just two columns instead of three) from that feature for your enlightenment, if not for

The sex life of the urban poor

your entertainment:When I asked her how cou-

ples can be intimate in such a congested setting, the woman gave out a throaty laugh. “Ah, wala nang pa-tumbling-tum-bling pa. Deretso na kaagad para makaraos.” She sounded almost casual.

“You know,” she added, “you are the second person to ask me that. The first one was a Belgian woman who came to see how we lived.”

After she had unraveled her personal life, we talked about urban congestion and its effects on people. Of course I had to inquire about the slum dwellers’ private lives but only after we had dis-cussed their food and wages, their dilapidated homes, their religious faith and political views, their coping abilities, even their toilet habits.

Some nights, the woman

said, when every single one in her multi-family household was at home, their two-story patchwork structure would be packed to the corners with steaming horizontal bod-ies in deep slumber. In the heat of the night, when she lay awake, she would feel movements and hear muted sounds. “Alam ko na kung ano yun. Naiintindihan ko,” she said rather solemnly.

Studies on people’s sex life have become com-monplace but most of them, it seems, are conducted among the middle and upper classes. The stud-ies’ results are published in expensive publications for these same classes to lap up, for they see in these glossies a reflection of their bedroom lives, their fatal attractions, their forbidden romances, even their gynecol-ogy.

Who cares what the poor do? The way the idea of sex has been glamorously and ex-

pensively packaged (as in the glossy girlie mags, the ads, the movies), it is as if only the haves make love while the

have-nots merely copulate. Sex and the poor are often-times discussed only in the context of prostitution, child abuse and such worries as population explosion. But de-spite the constraints of space, time and privacy, the poor also generally live normal and vigorous sex lives. Whatever quirks and pathologies they have could not be any worse than those of their well-to-do counterparts.

I tried to find research literature on the poor’s sexual habits or something closely related to the topic but there was none, so I decided to go down to the slums and ask around. What at first I thought would be a voyeuristic un-dertaking yielded no-holds-barred discussions with very open and articulate intervie-wees. No euphemisms—they call a spade a spade, a penis a penis.

The first and last time Joel and Yolanda Lapena had a very private moment to themselves was when they at-tended, with some other poor couples, a three-day marriage encounter seminar in Taytay a few years ago on the invita-tion of a nun. The encounter, the Lapena couple says, was “honeymoon talaga.” But more important to them was that they had time to talk intimately to each other. “We even wrote letters to each other,” a beaming Yolanda re-ports. A non-physical dimen-sion and a spiritual commu-nion with each other were, to them, new and exhilarating.

Married for almost 15

years, the 34-year-old Lap-enas have six children aged 14 to eight (that means one baby every year). “Sa bunso na kami kinasal,” reveals Yo-landa who adds that they were married in mass wedding rites sponsored by civic groups.

Joel works as a taxi washer while Yolanda has her hands full just taking care of the family. Joel earns P20 for every taxi he washes. On a

good day he can earn P100. Home to the family is the second floor of a creaky house squeezed between two rundown structures in the Malate slums. The place, measuring about five by 15 feet is divided by a curtain. At night the couple, the six children and several in-laws sleep in this cramped space. There is only one bed, so the rest have to sleep on the floor.

So how and when did Joel and Yolanda make those six children? “Panakaw-nakaw lang pag-walang tao,” says Joel. Never at night. “Mabilisan lang.

Pag umakyat ang mga bata napipigilan pa.” Even in the daytime, there is no way the couple can hide if someone happens to climb the ladder and enter the narrow door. So husband and wife are always on their guard and have their outer garments on just in case. “Wala nang romansa-roman-sa, basta makaraos lang, pero

hindi naman bitin. Nerbiyos lang ho yung madalian. Pag-katapos wala nang paguusap. Tayo kaagad.” They can hear the children playing down-stairs.

Yolanda admits to being so fertile. “Mahagisan lang daw ng briefs o malakdawan buntis na.” Several times she tried the pill but she devel-oped rashes and had difficulty breathing. Although Joel wor-ried about her, he never con-sidered vasectomy. So after the sixth child Yolanda had a tubal ligation. It has been sex without worry twice weekly since then, she says.

“Maligo ka na,” is Joel’s way of inviting his wife. She has never been one to ask for it, Yolanda admits. “Minulat kaming malayo sa lalaki,” she reasons.

(To be continued)


PLANO, Texas (October 12, 2010) -- Giving customers a new, exciting reason to shop early and often, J. C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE: JCP) today announced the launch of MNG by Mango®, bring-ing high quality, affordable European runway fast fashion directly to the JCPenney cus-tomer. JCPenney is the ex-clusive U.S. department store retailer for MNG by Mango, with new merchandise ar-riving at JCPenney twice monthly.

The collaboration between Mango and JCPenney capital-izes on the strengths of both companies, combining Man-go’s fast fashion leadership with JCPenney’s merchandis-ing, marketing and inventory management capabilities. MNG by Mango expands JC-Penney’s exceptional, exclu-sive contemporary assortment which currently includes AL-LEN B®, I Heart Ronson® and Bisou Bisou® and builds on the successful integration of Sephora inside JCPenney enabling the Company to continue to capitalize on its full fashion potential with top, global brands.

“The launch of MNG by Mango is a testament to our success in making JCPenney a first-choice style destination and the department store lead-er in fast fashion,” said Liz Sweney, JCPenney’s execu-tive vice president and senior general merchandise manager. “Contemporary apparel for women is our fastest-growing category and we believe the launch of MNG by Mango at JCPenney - with its standout shop-within-a-shop experi-

MNG by Mango Launches Exclusively at JCPenney

European Style Fast Fashion at Its Best and Most Affordable Comes to JCPenney Dedicated MNG by Mango Shop-Within-a-Shop Transforms JCPenney’s Contemporary Shopping Experience

ence and constant flow of fresh new merchandise – will allow us to create a sense of discovery for our customers every time they shop, allow-ing us to grow our market share.”

MNG by Man-go will present a full contem-porary lifestyle offering of ca-reer and casual women’s sports-wear as well as handbags, accessories and footwear. The brand will fall into JCPenney “better” and “best” pricing tiers with items retailing from $9.90-$19.90 for a tee to $59.90-$159.90 for a jacket.

Creating an impactful brand presence and specialty store feel, MNG by Mango will be featured in-store in a dedicated shop-within-a-shop experience that will transform JCPenney’s contemporary offering. The shop-within-a-shop will be presented with the look-and-feel of a stand alone Mango store, including the retailer’s signature black and white logo, stylized fix-tures and chandeliers, as well as lifestyle images and man-nequins featuring head-to-toe looks showcasing the latest fashion trends. The brand will be available on jcp.com and in 77 JCPenney stores across the country beginning in fall

2010 and will expand into 600 stores by fall 2011. Ad-ditionally, Associates at any of JCPenney’s 1,107 stores will be able to assist customers in-

terested in pur-chasing MNG by Mango mer-chan-dise as all point-of-sale regis-ters are con-nected directly to jcp.

com.Mango, a leading interna-

tional fashion retailer – cur-rently in 100 countries – has been well received in every new market it enters and has begun to expand its store base in the U.S.

About JCPenney

JCPenney is one of Amer-ica’s leading retailers, operat-ing 1,107 department stores throughout the United States and Puerto Rico, as well as one of the largest apparel and home furnishing sites on the Internet, jcp.com, and the nation’s largest general merchandise catalog busi-ness. Through these integrated channels, JCPenney offers a wide array of national, private and exclusive brands which reflect the Company’s com-mitment to providing custom-ers with style and quality at

a compelling price. Traded as “JCP” on the New York Stock Exchange, the Com-pany posted revenue of $17.6 billion in 2009 and is execut-ing its strategic plan to be the growth leader in the retail industry. Key to this strategy is JCPenney’s “Every Day Matters” brand positioning, intended to generate deeper, more emotionally driven relationships with customers by fully engaging the Com-pany’s approximately 150,000 Associates to offer encour-agement, provide ideas and inspire customers every time they shop with JCPenney. For more information visit www.jcpenney.net.

About Mango

MANGO is an interna-tional brand dedicated to the design and commercialization of fashion, aimed at urban women aged 18 to 40 and is one of Spain’s top two export-ers in the textile sector. The firm began its international expansion in 1992 with the opening of two franchises in Portugal. Today, it is present in 100 countries in all five continents with 1,500 stores. Thanks to its rapid interna-tional expansion, the company has fulfilled its aim: to have a store in every major city in the world. MANGO ended the 2009 financial year with a turnover of 1.48 billion euros, a figure that corresponds to Retail Sales excluding VAT for both company and fran-chise-owned stores. Further-more, the MANGO/MNG Consolidated Group turnover was 1.15 billion euros, a fig-ure that corresponds to Re-tail Sales excluding VAT for company-owned stores, plus wholesale sales to franchises. Given the major international presence of the brand, 78% of turnover corresponds to foreign markets, and the re-maining 22% to the domestic market.

SAN DIEGO — U.S. Customs and Border Protec-tion officers at ports of entry along the California/ Mexico border seized almost 4,191 pounds of narcotics valued at $4, 087,010.00 over the busy holiday weekend.

From 6 a.m. on Friday through 6 a.m. on Tuesday, CBP officers at the six land ports of entry intercepted 28 smuggling attempts involving marijuana, cocaine and methamphetamine. The drugs were hidden in vari-ous areas of the vehicles such as in the gas tank, in the bumpers, quarter panels and the tires.

A significant seizure oc-curred at the Otay Mesa cargo border station on Saturday at about 2:30 p.m. after the driver of a tractor truck pulling a trailer was referred for a closer look. After a narcotic detector dog alerted to the scent of nar-cotics and an x-ray inspection, CBP officers discovered 469 packages of marijuana totaling 2,824 pounds with a street value of more than $1.4 million.

The driver a 40-year-old male, citizen of Mexico was arrested and turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

Another seizure occurred Monday, at about 4:30 p.m. at the Andrade Port of Entry when a 30-year-old Yuma woman driving a light blue 1995 Ford Explorer was referred for fur-ther examination after a detec-tor dog alerted to the vehicle.

An intensive inspection of the vehicle led to the discov-ery of 20 wrapped packages of cocaine concealed inside the vehicle’s roof. The weight of the narcotic was 51 pounds with a street value of $408,000.

CBP officers arrested the driver, a U.S. citizen, and

CBP in San Diego and Imperial Valley Seize Almost

$4.1 Million in NarcoticsOver Busy Holiday Weekend

turned her over to the custody of ICE agents.

The third significant sei-zure occurred later that day at about 5:00 p.m. Officers at the Calexico East port of entry conducting inspections of travelers entering the United States escorted a 56-year-old female United States citizen for further inspection, after they discovered a package contain-ing a white crystal substance concealed inside a suitcase in the trunk of the vehicle she was driving, a grey 2004 Mazda.

Officers then conducted and intensive inspection of the Maz-da and found an additional 29 packages of methamphetamine. All 30 packages were hidden within the clothing inside the suitcase and had a combined weight of more than 30 pounds. The narcotic has a street value of $325,500.

The driver, a resident of Madera, California, was ar-rested and turned over to the custody of ICE agents for fur-ther investigation.

The fourth significant seizure occurred late Mon-day night at 10 p.m. when a 25-year-old female U.S. citizen and member of the SENTRI program, was referred for an in-depth inspection.

After the female drove her vehicle through the x-ray machine, CBP officers discov-ered 34 packages of marijuana hidden in the bumper and all four tires of her vehicle a 2007 Dodge Caliber. The weight of the marijuana was 139 pounds with a street value of $70,000 CBP officers arrested the fe-male driver, and turned her over to the custody of ICE agents.

CBP officers in all four in-cidents seized the narcotics and vehicles.

Asian Journal Oct 22, 2010

Documents

Transcript of Asian Journal Oct 22, 2010