Filipino Press Digital Edition | Nov. 6-12, 2010

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HEALTHY LIVINGYoga eases fibromyalgia pain

Page 8

SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENTMercito Gesta catches the eye of boxing fans

6

November 6 -12, 2010

HOME IMPROVEMENTNew home sales stuck at rock-bottom

Page 4

San Francisco Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum was a key player in the team’s World Series victory over the Texas Rangers on Nov. 1.

Illustration: Tony Robleshttp://tonypsd.blogspot.com

Facebook | Tony.psd

Photos: Pacquiao vs. Margarito courtesy DIRECTV/Mercito Gesta by Paul Gallegos

P A C Q U I A O V S . M A R G A R I T OSATURDAY, NOV. 13 • COWBOYS STADIUM • DALL AS

TEXAS TORNADOWBC World Super Welterweight title

on the line as fighters set to duke it out in Dallas

Fil-Ams win seats locally, statewide as familiar faces return to positions

in National City and Congress

Pacquiao allays fears, to fight at 150 lbs.

By Lito Gutierrez and Gerard L. Estrella

Manny Pacquiao last week sought to allay fears that his political career and

skipping training camp were jeop-ardizing his chances of winning the WBC super welterweight fight on Nov. 13 against Antonio Mar-garito in Dallas.

Pacquiao, the seven-division ti-tle holder also known as the “Pac-man,” told a roaring crowd at San-ta Monica Place, a mall in this swanky oceanside city, that he had been diligently training and

Margarito: Training, not height, reach key to victory

By Nick Giongco

Preparation, not Antonio Margarito’s advantage in height and reach nor Man-

ny Pacquiao’s edge in speed will determine the winner of the much-awaited Nov. 13 duel in Dallas.

Margarito, who has been train-ing like hell the last nine weeks under the tutelage of Robert Gar-cia, said in his diary on ESPN that training will be the key in the scheduled 12-round super-welter-weight title fight, hinting that it is himself, and not the Filipino, who is more prepared.

See pacquiao on 19 See margarito on 19

WHERE TO WATCHTV: The fight will be broadcast live on DIRECTV and Cox Digital Cable on HBO PPV.

PALA PARTY: The fight will be shown casino-wide including the Center Bar Stage. 6 p.m. Admission is free.

ONLINE: Visit TopRank.com or HBO.com for fight updates.

NATIONAL CITY MAYOR & COUNCIL ELECTION RESULTS*

Mayor: Ron Morrision (right) Council: Mona Rios & Luis Natividad

* Likely outcome with not all votes counted.

INSIDE SPORTS: ‘NO MERCY’

Mercito “No Mercy” Gesta recaps his Oct. 22 fight and talks about what he sees in his future. The undefeated boxer is well on his way to conquering a world title.

By Brandi Perez

PAGE 16

E L E C T I O N 2 0 1 0LO C a L N E w s

Fil-Am becomes California’s top

court justice

Compiled from news reports

Filipino-Americans and local candidates faired well in elec-tions locally, statewide and na-tionally in the outcome of the Nov. 2 midterm elections.

In California, voters ap-proved of Gov. Arnold S c h w a r -z e n n e g -er’s choice of Fil-Am Tani C a n t i l -S a k a u y e to become the state’s first non-white and only the second fe-male chief justice of the state s u p r e m e court.

C a n t i l -S a k a u y e , d a u g h t e r of a Filipi-

na farm worker and a Filipino-Portuguese plantation worker, made history as the first Asian-American, and also the young-est jurist, to hold the highest position in any state judiciary in the United States. She will serve a 12-year term.

Arlie Ricasa, San Diego’s only Fil-Am serving in an elective of-fice, topped challenger Andrew

Valencia to reclaim Seat 5 on the Sweetwater Union High School District School Board.

In National City (with not all absentee and provisional votes counted) it appears Ron Morrison has been returned to the mayor’s office with a sub-stantial majority of votes over his closest competitor, Council-member and Vice Mayor Alejan-dra Soteleo-Solis.

Mona Alvarado-Rios and Luis Natividad seem likely to pre-vail in a tight race that includ-ed Ditas Yamane and Frank Lo-pez for the two open city council seat in National City.

In the 51st Congressional District, Democrat Bob Filner was returned to office, fending off Republican challenger Nick Popaditch.

Three other Fil-Ams in the state were re-elected mayor — Cristopher Cabaldon of West Sacramento, Pete Sanchez of Suisun City in Solano County and Jose Esteves of Milpitas.

Elsewhere, Mike Guingona, Rob Bonta and Pat Gacoscos topped the city council elections in Daly City, Alameda City and Union City, respectively. Hydra Mendoza was No. 1 in the race for the San Francisco School Board.

Myrna de Vera won a seat in the Hercules City council, while Joanne del Rosario was reelect-ed to the Colma town council.

Tani Cantil-Sakauye

Arlie Ricasa

LOS ANGELES — Because electronic passports will be is-sued instead of the machine readable passports formerly is-sued, the Philippine Consular Outreach Program in Nation-al City originally scheduled for Nov. 6 has been postponed to Nov. 13-14 from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the Council of the Philippine American Organizations of San Diego County Center, 832 E Av-enue.

The following consular servic-es will be offered:

Applications for electron-ic passport (ePassport) (Cost: $60)to be returned to the ap-plicant by mail at an addition-al cost of $6.

Applications for the retention and re-acquisition of Philippine citizenship pursuant to Republic Act 9225 or Dual Citizenship Law (Cost: $50) Oath-taking will be scheduled on the same day for qualified applicants.

Applications for Report of Mar-riage & Birth (Cost: $25) will be accepted but will be processed in Los Angeles and returned to the applicant by mail at an addition-al cost of $6.

Notarization of documents (Cost: $25) will be accepted but will be processed in Los Angeles and returned to the applicant by mail at an additional cost of $6.

By appointment onlyThe following services will

be offered by appointment only. No walk-in applicants will be accepted.

Appointment Scheduling Steps for ePassport Applicants

• Visit the Philippine Con-sulate website (www.philippine-consulatela.org) and download and complete the ePassport ap-plication form;

• No later than Nov. 8 or un-til we receive 160 applications, whichever comes first, send an advance copy of the completed ePassport application form and data page (bearing the name and photo) of the expired or expiring passport to the consulate by fax

Consulate outreach

postponed

See outrEacH on 18

Lincecum joins ranks of Fil-Am sports heroes

Barely two weeks before Manny Pacquiao goes for another record, an eighth title in as many weight

division, at the Cowboys Stadium in Ar-lington, Texas, a Fil-Am hurler made his own mark at the Texas Rangers di-amond.

Tim Lincecum, with a diminutive stature and lanky frame, helped make things happen for San Francisco, hold-ing the Rangers to only three hits over eight innings and keying the Giants’ 3-1 victory and a World Series’ clinching 4-1 romp Monday, Nov. 1.

But in a typical Filipino manner,

Lincecum, 25, was modest in victory.“We did it as a team. We put it togeth-

er and that’s how we won it,” Lincecum said.

It was a big win indeed for the 5-11, 172-pounder, who Gi-ants manager Bruce Bochy calls the “Freak.”

After being picked to start against Texas’ Cliff Lee in Game 1, Lincecum has gained a popular Filipino following.

He is the first pitcher in Major League Baseball history to win the prestigious Cy Young Award in each of his first two

full seasons. He is also the only pitch-er to strike out more than 260 hitters in

each of those two seasons.In February, Lincecum became

the highest-paid pitcher in the MLB in his first year of eligibil-ity in after signing a $23 million

two-year deal with the San Fran-cisco Giants.The deal was reported to surpass

the record set by Boston closer Jonathan Papelbon who signed for $6.25 million in 2009.

See lincEcum on 18

National City program visit rescheduled for Nov. 13-14

2 November 6 -12, 2010THE FILIPINO PRESS

MANILA, Philippines – Presi-dent Benigno S. Aquino III called on the medical practitioners to become partners in the govern-ment’s fight to eradicate poverty, which he described as the most recognizable cancer that afflicts our society, by taking time to “do more charity work.”

The Chief Executive made his appeal during his keynote ad-dress at the joint opening ceremo-nies of the International Federa-tion of Head and Neck Oncologic Societies (IFHNOS) and the Phil-ippine Societies of Otolaryngol-ogy-Head and Neck Surgery (PSO-HNS) conventions.

The President said that the charity work of health practi-tioners would greatly help in

lessening the burden for medi-cal expenses for the less unfor-tunate Filipinos.

It would also augment the gov-ernment’s anti-poverty programs such as the Conditional Cash Transfer Program, which aims to fight poverty by giving stipends and food to the poorest families if they meet certain requirements, such as sending their children to school regularly, or getting their babies vaccinated.

“I am sure you have devoted much time and effort to practice your profession. But let me make this request: please find the time to engage in more charity work. I know that many of you already do this,” said the President. “Can I ask that you give until it hurts?”

“The more you engage in charity, the more we can reduce out-of-pock-et expenses for the poor,” he added. “Of course, I am not asking you to impoverish yourselves, but merely to try and give more for your coun-trymen and your country.”

The President also exhorted the delegates “to find a way to offer their service and expertise to poor families in the Philippines, espe-cially those in the far flung areas.”

He expressed hope that this “event will serve as an impetus propelling your organizations and the whole medical society in achieving your pursuit to provide quality, equitable and sustainable healthcare, not just for the Filipinos, but for the rest of the world.” (MNS)

RP makes big strides in meeting MDGsMANILA, Philippines — The Philippines made considerable strides in meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) but chal-lenges remained to be hurdled in other areas.

NEDA Director General Dr. Cayetano W. Paderanga reported during the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Congress that the Philip-pines has made considerable progress in meeting the MDGs, includ-ing the reduction of mortality rate among children aged five years and below, reversing the incidence and death rate associated with malaria, increasing tuberculosis treatment success rate, expanding access to sanitation, and providing equal opportunities for girls in the area of education.

“However, it was also revealed that challenges remained to be hurdled in the area of universal access to elementary education, maternal mortality ratio, the rate of HIV cases, and environmental sustainability. The 2010 Philippine Progress Report on the MDGs in-dicated that poverty incidence among the population has gone up from 30.0 percent in 2003 to 32.9 percent in 2006,” Paderanga said.

The increase in the poverty incidence, he said, is due to the conse-quences of the global economic and energy crises as well as natural disasters that hit the country.

Paderanga noted that the next medium-term Philippine De-velopment Plan 2010-2016 will prioritize the outcome of this MDG Congress.

National and local government officials, together with develop-ment partners from the United Nations, the international donor community and civil society, discussed breakthrough strategies and put forward their commitments to speed up implementa-tion of efforts at the first ever MDG Congress as a national follow through on its commitment to achieve the Millennium Develop-ment Goals (MDGs) by 2015.

The event, organized jointly by the Department of Foreign Af-fairs (DFA) and the National Economic and Development Author-ity (NEDA), in cooperation with the United Nations Country Team (UNCT), presented the government’s “breakthrough plans” which will pave the way to ensuring that the Philippines achieves its MDG targets.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo said that while there have been successes in achieving some of the MDGs, there have been some obstacles, which should be looked at as opportunities.

“While the Philippines still faces considerable obstacles in attain-ing the MDGs, we are also considered as having pockets of ‘good practices’ that are worthy of emulation, such as in malaria control and on water management use,” Romulo said.

“As the country’s eyes, ears and mouthpieces on global discussions regarding development assistance in the various office around the world, the DFA plays a vital role as the country’s first line of contact with our international development partner. We are committed to continue that said cooperation,” he added. (philstar.com)

Japan OKs P21.4-B loan assistance for PHL road projectsMANILA, Philippines — Japan has approved a P21.4-billion loan assistance to the Philippines for the maintenance and improvement of the country’s roads, Malacañang said.

Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning secretary Ramon Carandang said Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan recently relayed this to President Benigno Aquino III.

Government-run dzRB radio reported the approval came quickly, as the Philippines had completed the requirements for the loan assistance only.

The dzRB report also said Japan assured Aquino of help for Philippine health workers seeking work in Japan, particularly in language training.

Philippine health workers had cited problems adjusting in Japan due to the language barrier.

On the other hand, the dzRB report said Aquino appeared excited after bilateral talks, even interrupting Carandang’s briefing to Manila-based reporters covering the president’s visit.

“Secretary, why won’t you share the good news with them," it quoted Aquino as telling Carandang. (MNS)

FMIC income rises 63% to P1.3 billion in first halfMANILA, Philippines — The solid performance of the Philippine economy and the numerous capital-raising activities of corporates and financial institutions boosted the consolidated net income of First Metro Investment Corp. (FMIC) by 63 percent to P1.3 billion in the first half of this year.

Total assets at the end of the first semester reached P60.7 billion, two percent higher than the end-2009 level, while capital funds rose eight percent to P9.3 billion, which translates to a healthy capi-tal adequacy ratio (CAR) of 20.76 percent.

FMIC president Francisco Sebastian said the weakening European credit markets, the low employment numbers in the US and slump-ing Chinese stocks contrasted with the strong performance of emerging markets, including the Philippines.

“The operating environment buoyed our business with the solid eco-nomic performance of the Philippine and Asian economies,” he said.

As expected, FMIC’s investment banking group (treasury) took the lead in domestic fund-raising for both government and private sec-tor, generating high fees of P363.2 million, a 24 percent expansion.

FMIC director and investment bank group head Roberto Juanchito Dispo said the group’s strong performance was characterized by a reduction of interest costs, realized gains from government securi-ties trading, and effective distribution of fixed income securities.

”Gross earnings rose 27 percent to P2.4 billion,” Dispo added.

The investment arm of the Metrobank Group of Companies expects its total earnings to stay within its record level for the rest of the year, and possibly sustain next year.

Officials said banks are still expected to raise capital in anticipation of new risk measures of Basel III, private firms will still take advan-tage of the low interest environment over initial public offers, and government will likely restructure debts to long-term ones.

FMIC is looking at developing new competencies and new markets in the face of a new Philippines and the Asian markets, which has been leading the global economy. (philstar.com)

MANILA, Philippines — President Benigno Aquino III said on Thursday, Nov. 4, the Republicans’ capture of the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives should have no major impact on American involvement in Southeast Asia.

Commenting on the re-sults of the U.S. midterm elec-tions, Aquino said the Ameri-cans had a resilient economy and their democratic process-es “have [been] firmly institu-tionalized so we believe there

will be no major changes as far as their involvement in South-east Asia are concerned.”

Rep. Ben Evardone of East-ern Samar said that tighter immigration rules would be the “downside” of the Repub-licans again taking control of the House, and it was bad news for undocumented Fili-pinos or “TNTs.”

In a text message, Evardone said Republicans had cam-paigned partly for tighter immi-gration rules to ward off people sneaking into United States.

“Democrats are general-ly more receptive of immi-gration reforms that would set the path toward the le-galization of illegal immi-grants, Filipino TNTs includ-ed,” Evardone said.

However, there’s also a sil-ver lining, Evardone said.

“The significant [Republi-can] electoral gains … would impact on two issues of vi-tal importance to the Philip-pines — immigration and offshore jobs that U.S. compa-nies outsource to our country

and elsewhere,” he said.Evardone said efforts to rein

in the outsourcing of jobs would be frustrated by the Republi-cans because of their pro-busi-ness orientation and their ba-sic philosophy of staying out of the affairs of private business.

“The Republican gains would put the brakes on the growing calls within the U.S. to limit the outsourcing of jobs,” he said. “There is a downside and an upside from the Republican Party’s elector-al gains.” (inquirer.net)

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Jejomar Binay will be holding consultations with several government agen-cies and other groups in con-nection with his new post as presidential adviser on over-seas Filipino worker concerns, his spokesman said recently.

Spokesman Joey Salga-do said Binay will be hold-ing consultations with the De-partment of Foreign Affairs, the Department of Labor and Employment, and non-gov-ernment organizations "at the soonest time possible" to deter-mine the issues and concerns of OFWs.

He said the consultations will provide inputs for the rec-ommendations to be made by the vice president to President Benigno Aquino III concerning the country's overseas workers.

"The vice president recog-nizes that our economy has been largely sustained by the remittances of OFWs. He be-lieves that it is only fair and just that they receive more from their government in terms of welfare assistance and pro-active policies. This is the commitment of the Presi-dent and is shared by the vice president," Salgado said.

Salgado said Binay like-wise thanked Aquino for giv-ing him the post, which was previously held by his prede-cessor former Vice President Noli De Castro.

"Vice President Binay ex-tends his appreciation to Pres-ident Aquino for appointing him as presidential adviser on OFW concerns," he said. (MNS)

Binay to hold consultations

Aquino urges medical field to help eradicate poverty in RP

Philippines President Benigno Aquino shakes hand with U.S. President Barack Obama on Sept. 25 on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York during Aquino’s first official visit to the United States. On Nov. 4, Aquino said Republican during the midterm elections should have no effect on U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia.

Photo: Jay Morales/Malacañang Photo Bureau

MANILA, Philippines — Not-ing that local boxers have always brought acclaim to the country, Senator Lito Lapid has filed a bill that would establish the Philippine Boxing Academy or the Philbaca.

Senate Bill 2508 or the Box-ing Academy Act of 2010 seeks to create the Philbaca which is ex-pected to recruit, train, and as-sist talented boxers and other boxing personnel.

"Given the continuing patron-age and desire of more young ath-letes to get into boxing, the govern-ment should provide the necessary support to our aspiring boxers by teaching them the proper funda-

mentals and providing them with scientific boxing training pro-grams," Lapid said in his bill.

Lapid is the chairman of the Senate committee on games, amusement, and sports.

SB 2508 says that to be eligi-ble for admission to the Philbaca, the candidate must be:

• At least 12 but not more than 35 years old;

• A natural-born citizen of the Philippines;

• In possession of the skills and talent of "a potential world caliber athlete" as determined by the board; and

• Able to pass the physical and

psychological examinations and other standards and qualifica-tions that may be set by the board.

The proposed measure likewise states that a boxing road show in the form of a tournament shall be conducted yearly in various prov-inces to help identify local poten-tial talents who may be recruited as scholars to the academy.

The bill says that a monthly stipend, to be determined by the Office of the President upon the recommendation of the acade-my's board, and living quarters shall be extended to all student-scholars during the duration of their stay at Philbaca.

The bill also requires the De-partment of Education to include boxing fundamentals as an elec-tive subject in the physical ed-ucation curriculum of all pub-lic schools and state universities and colleges. (MNS)

Senate bill seeks to create PHL boxing academy

Aquino downplays Republican win in U.S.

November 6 -12, 2010 3THE FILIPINO PRESS

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By Dawn Wotapka

While new-home sales rose from a depressed level in Septem-ber, they’re still really, really low.

And home builders continue struggling. What a change from earlier this year, when builders were snapping up land in prep-aration for a recovery expect-ed by year end. But those sales gains came as the government offered buyers a tax credit of up to $8,000. Since that offer’s April 30 expiration, builders have struggled to find stability without government support.

September’s new-home sales climbed 6.6% from a month earlier to a seasonally adjust-ed annual rate of 307,000 the Commerce Department said Wednesday. When compared to a year earlier, the rate tum-bled 21.5%. September saw the fourth-worst monthly reading since 1963, though these sta-tistics are notoriously prone to later revisions.

R e g a r d l e s s , s a l e s “ r e -mained stuck at near rock-bottom levels,” said Patrick Newport, an economist with IHS Global Insight.

Indeed, shares o f home builders fell following the news. Lennar Corp. recently declined 2.28%, while Hovnanian En-terprises Inc. lost 1.9%.

The report wasn’t entirely negative. The median price came in at $223,800, up 3.3% from a year earlier. The num-ber of unsold new homes fell to the lowest level since 1968: September’s supply registered 8 months, down from 8.6 a month earlier. Six months typically indicates a healthy balance.

Bui lders face cont inued

headwinds including elevat-ed unemployment — a figure some expect to climb into the new year — and depressed housing values. Home pric-es, already down dramati-cally from the peak, slipped in August, according to the S&P Case-Shiller home-price indexes covering major metro areas.

Meanwhile, some banks have suspended the foreclo-sure process in recent weeks, which threatens to keep the

Long-time Chula Vista res-ident and REO and short sale specialist Jorge Garcia has been hired by McMillin Realty.

Garcia has worked in real es-tate for 12 years and, in 2006, recognized that the market was changing and he had to learn new skills to help his cli-ents. With the guidance of Har-ris Real Estate University, he learned how to negotiate short sales and has since become a leader in the area and has even co-authored a book on the subject to guide homeowners through the short-sale process.

According to Garcia, he is dedicated to continually im-proving his real estate knowl-edge and skills and utilizing new and exciting methods, programs, systems, and ser-vices to protect his clients' as-sets and sell their properties in the shortest time possible. This philosophy is centered on REO-listing maintenance, maintaining relationships with lenders and identifying and making property repairs to facilitate the quickest sale.

“Understanding my clients’ needs is the most important step in helping them to achieve their real estate goals,” said Garcia. “I work hard to keep my clients informed through every step of the process so that they can make the best decision for their families.”

Bilingual in English and Spanish, he is affiliated with such industry organizations as National Association of Real-tors, California Association of Realtors and San Diego Asso-ciation of Realtors. Find Gar-cia's short-sale book, “Should I Short Sale My Home,” at is-suu.com/mcmillinrealty/docs where it can be read or down-loaded for free.

McMillin Realty is a full-service real estate company serving all of San Diego with a focus in South County. For more information, visit www.mcmillinrealty.com.

By Nadja Brandt

SAN DIEGO, Calif. — Cali-fornia home-mortgage defaults climbed 19 percent in the third quarter from the previ-ous three months as the state's unemployment rate lingered close to a three-decade high, MDA DataQuick said.

Homeowners in the most-populous state received 83,261 default notices, up from 70,051 in the second quarter, the San Diego-based research company said Tues-day in a statement.

Defaults fell 26 percent from a year earlier.

California's unemployment rate was 12.4 percent in Sep-tember, the U.S. Labor De-partment said recently.

That's close to the 12.6 per-cent record reached in March, according to agency, whose data goes back to 1976. The U.S. job-less rate held at 9.6 percent.

Mortgage defaults were high-er in California's less expensive areas. Neighborhoods with me-dian home prices of less than $200,000 had 14.4 defaults for every 1,000 homes, compared with 2.7 defaults per 1,000 in areas with prices of at least $800,000, MDA DataQuick said.

Defaults reached a peak in California in the first quarter of 2009, when 135,431 notices were filed, said the data pro-vider, a unit of Richmond, Brit-ish Columbia-based MacDon-

California mortgage

defaults rose in 3rd quarter

McMillin hires REO and short

sale expert

New home sales stuck at rock-bottom

See HomE salEs on 5See dEfaults on 5

Jorge Garcia


ald, Dettwiler & Associates Ltd.The third-quarter data pre-

cedes the impact, if any, of fore-closure suspensions by loan servicers such as Bank of Amer-ica Corp., Ally Financial Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. after al-legations they used "robo-signers" to push through repossessions without verifying documentation.

"Over the past year, with some minor ups and downs, fi-nancial institutions and their servicers have been processing a fairly steady number of defaults each quarter," MDA DataQuick President John Walsh said.

"That probably has more to do with their capacity to pro-cess defaults than with higher or lower levels of incoming dis-tress," he said.

Default notices, filed at coun-ty recorders' offices, are the first step in foreclosing on a home.

A homeowner can halt a foreclosure by catching up on payments, refinancing or sell-ing the property.

Countrywide Financial Corp., now owned by Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), origi-nated the most California loans that went into default in the quarter, MDA DataQuick said.

It was followed by Bank of America; World Savings, now part of Wells Fargo & Co.

(NYSE: BFW); Wells Fargo; and Washington Mutual (Pink: WAMUQ), acquired by JPMor-gan (NYSE: JPM) in 2008.

Those lenders were the most active in 2006, according to the data company.

The median origination date for the third quarter's default-ed loans was August 2006.

MDA DataQuick compiles its surveys using county records and supplies real-estate infor-mation to customers including public agencies, lenders and ti-tle companies. (sddt.com)

defaultsContinued from p age 4 California home-mortgage defaults climbed

19 percent in the third quarter from the pre-vious three months as the state's unemploy-

ment rate lingered close to a three-decade high.

glut of foreclosed homes on the market and further de-lay recovery.

Some industry watchers say the situation could even-tually help builders, but that hasn’t happened yet.

“So many buyers have been burned so badly that housing demand is likely to remain depressed for years,” wrote Mike Larson, a re-al-estate and interest-rate analyst at Weiss Research. “Competition from cheap, distressed, used homes is also working against the home builders.”

The sector’s turmoil is apparent in builder’s quar-terly results. Late Tuesday, Standard Pacific Corp. said it made a profit of $0.02 per share in its third quar-ter, an improvement from a loss of $0.10 a year earlier. But closings fell by a third and orders plunged near-ly 40%. The Ryland Group, which reports results late Wednesday, is expected to show similar declines.

“It appears that the na-tion’s economic recovery may take longer than many anticipated,” Ken Camp-bell, Standard Pacific’s chief executive, said in the release. (wsj.com)

home salesContinued from p age 4

Builders face continued headwinds

including elevated unemployment — a figure some expect

to climb into the new year — and depressed

housing values.


“The trouble with hello i s g o o d b y e , ” s a y s the song of the same

title popularized by Shirley Bassey and Sergio Mendez in the mid-1970s.

I remembered this beau-tiful song as I pondered on the eve of the midterm elec-tions in the U.S., thinking how a campaign for change that raised the hopes of mil-lions of Americans has turned into disappointment for many, thus raising the very distinct possibility of the Democrats, who rode the waves of change to victory in the presiden-tial elections of 2008, being drowned by the backlash of the waves of disappointment.

President Barack Obama, whose constant calls for change rallied the young, the indepen-dents and the apolitical be-hind him and the Democrats, now faces the prospect of los-ing control of the Democratic-controlled House of Represen-

tatives and the loosening of his grip over the Senate.

In the presidential cam-paign of 2008, Obama and the Democrats only had to utter the magic word “change” and the crowds would erupt into cheers and applause. Now, the word seems to have lost its lus-ter, with the president having to appeal to the American peo-ple, grown impatient by the prolonged economic crisis and angered by the unending polit-ical rumblings in Washington, to give him and his party more time to steer the ship back on its course, while continuing to blame former President George W. Bush and the Republicans for the current state of affairs.

In its Oct. 14-17 surveys, the Gallup Poll reported that Obama’s job approval rat-ing average of 44.7 percent for the seventh quarter of his presidency marked a new low, with a majority of those polled saying he does not de-serve to be re-elected.

But Obama can look back to recent history for relief. Both Presidents Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan reached their lowest job approval ratings in the middle of their first terms,

resulting in heavy losses in the congressional and senate races for their respective parties. But both recovered fast enough to win re-election.

The troubles of Obama should serve as a reminder to Philippine President Noynoy Aquino, who rose to the presi-dency on the same message of hope and change, that he has to deliver on his promises, or at least show clear signs to the Filipino people that he is doing his best to institute the changes that he had promised.

Like Obama, he raised the bar high and he has to show even in the early stages of his presidency that he can hur-dle that bar. So far, he has not shown signs that he can bring about the change that the peo-ple expect from him.

Fortunately for Aquino, the Filipino people are not as impa-tient as the Americans. While

Obama’s ratings have consis-tently dropped since he took office nearly two years ago, Aquino’s approval rating has remained in the high 70s. But at the rate he and his Cabinet have been fumbling and mak-ing moves that make it look like the Philippine government is back to “business as usu-al,” it’s not difficult to imagine Aquino suffering the same im-age problem in the near future as Obama is facing now.

One thing going for Aqui-no, however, is the fact that the country does not have a strong political party system and, therefore, does not have to worry much about the mid-term elections in 2013, when the people elect local officials and congressmen. All he has to do, as all presidents have done before him, is dangle the pork barrel before congressmen and public-work funds before gov-ernors and mayors, and his Liberal Party will be much stronger than it had been in last May’s election.

And that’s what he has ob-viously been doing in the last few weeks. Instead of remov-

This week‘s edition hap-pens to be a sports-filled issue, with special fo-

cus — obviously — on boxing. With the much-awaited fight of Pacquiao vs. Margarito on Nov. 13, the Filipino communi-ty will again hit center stage globally. Locally, boxer Merci-to Gesta is a rising star with his eye on titles of his own, as Assistant Editor Brandi Perez writes in our Sports & Enter-tainment section.

As I mulled the idea of sports as entertainment, I happened to remember a favorite expres-

sion of those people engag-ing in contact- and non-con-tact sports — “Sports Lang,” which means one should not take offense or feel slighted if one happens to lose or there is an accidental blow or hurt in-curred, as there was no mal-ice or the hurt was not inten-tional. It just comes with the territory. As we all know, ev-ery sports activity has inher-ent danger or hazards associ-ated with it.

I guess just like in life, sometimes we win and some-times we lose in challenges or

battles we face. As much as we want to enjoy the sweetness of victory, it is the pain that also teaches us some deep and meaningful lessons and actu-ally may make the feeling of victory that much sweeter.

This further reminds me of when I was much younger and facing some personal disap-pointments. A friend once told me, “Susan, you have to learn how to roll with life’s punch-es.” If you don’t learn how to be flexible in dealing with things, situations and people — discerning what is within and out of your control — then you will have difficulties in ad-justing in life.

What is important is to keep your values intact and know what is negotiable and non-negotiable. As for every-thing else, whether you lose or fall down, then just get up, think “Sports Lang,” and move ahead with the lessons you’ve learned so you can employ new winning strategies.

For comments and sugges-tions, e-mail me at [email protected] or visit us at www.filipinopress.com.

‘Sports Lang’

By Perry Diaz

Th e r e c e n t S u p r e m e Court decision absolv-ing Justice Mariano del

Castillo of plagiarism stirred a hornet’s nest in the interna-tional legal community. And, at home, the high court’s sub-sequent action, which threat-ened to sanction 37 faculty members of the University of the Philippines College of Law, ignited a firestorm of contro-versy that questions the infal-libility of the Supreme Court.

It all began in April 2010 when the Supreme Court dis-missed the petition of 70 Fili-pino “comfort women” (Vinuya vs. Romulo, G.R. No. 162230) to compel the Philippine gov-ernment to get a public apolo-gy from the Japanese govern-ment including reparation to victims of sexual abuse by the Japanese Imperial Army dur-ing World War II. Justice Del Castillo penned the ponencia.

PlagiarismThat would have been the

end of it. But Marvic Leonen,

Dean of the U.P. College of Law, learned from a student of international law that Del Cas-tillo lifted quotes and footnotes – without crediting the au-thors -- from three internation-ally published articles. Conse-quently, lawyers Harry Roque and Romel Bagares submitted a motion for reconsideration on the comfort women’s petition and also accused Del Castillo of plagiarism.

Meanwhile, Dr. Mark El-lis, one of the authors whose work was plagiarized, sent an email to the justices, which says: “In particular, I am con-cerned about a large part of the extensive discussion in footnote 65, pp. 27-28 of the said Judgment of your es-teemed Court. I am also con-cerned that your esteemed Court may have misread the arguments I made in the ar-ticle and employed them for

cross-purposes. This would be ironic since the article was writ-ten precisely to argue for the appropriate legal remedy for victims of war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity.”

Pretty soon, calls for disci-pline against the 10 justices -- including the ponente, Del Castillo -- snowballed. Chief Justice Renato Corona creat-ed a five-member committee on Ethics and Ethical Standards, headed by him, to investigate the complaint of plagiarism. The problem is that all five jus-tices assigned to the commit-tee had concurred with the po-nencia in question; therefore, if they recommended disciplin-ary action, they would be in-criminating themselves.

Consequently, the 37 U.P. College of Law faculty mem-bers issued a public statement on the allegations of plagia-rism and misrepresentation

of the Supreme Court, to wit: “It is within this frame that the Faculty of the Universi-ty of the Philippines College of Law views the charge that an Associate Justice of the Su-preme Court committed pla-giarism and misrepresentation in Vinuya v. Executive Secre-tary. The plagiarism and mis-representation are not only af-fronts to the individual scholars whose work have been appro-priated without correct attribu-tion, but also a serious threat to the integrity and credibility of the Philippine Judicial Sys-tem.” They deplored the act of plagiarism as “unacceptable, unethical and in breach of the high standards of moral con-duct and judicial and profes-sional competence expected of the Supreme Court,” and de-manded the resignation of Del Castillo to save the “honor and dignity” of the Supreme Court.

Last October 15, 2010, the Supreme Court -- on a 10-2 de-cision -- absolved Del Castillo of plagiarism for “lack of mer-it.” The two justices who voted against the ruling were Conchi-ta Carpio-Morales and Maria Lourdes Sereno. Justices An-tonio Carpio and Diosdado Per-alta were on official leave while Del Castillo did not participate in the proceedings.

Judicial voodooIn the ruling, the majority

said that Del Castillo couldn’t be faulted because the alleged plagiarized material was “acci-dentally deleted” by Del Castil-lo’s court researcher. They also said that Del Castillo and his researcher could not be held li-able for plagiary because Micro-soft Word, the software used in writing the ponencia, could not detect “copied” material with-

C O m m E N Ta r y

The trouble with hope

Judicial Voodoo vs. Rule of Law

See abElgas on 7

The

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See diaz on 7

“The trouble with hello is goodbye. The trouble with hope is

disappointment."


The fat lady has sung!Jerry Brown, Califor-

nia governor some three decades ago, will return to Sacramento to replace Arnold Schwarzenegger. In the face of a Republican tsunami all over the U.S., Democrat Brown trounced former eBay CEO and Republican candidate Meg Whitman for the post.

Brown served two terms as California governor from 1975 to 1983. That tenure endeared him to our community because of the number of Fil-Ams that he appointed to key state posi-tions. He is widely expected to do the same this time around.

Brown’s first gubernatorial campaign in the mid-1970s was an opportunity for the Fil-Am community to demonstrate its political potency. Led by Phil-ippine News editor-publish-er Alex Esclamado, community leaders organized themselves into “Browns for Brown” and actively campaigned for him. Aside from working the neigh-

borhoods and manning phone banks and voting precincts, the group raised a substantial sum for Brown’s coffers.

When Brown assumed office, he didn’t forget his Fil-Am sup-porters. He appointed more 30 Fil-Ams to state boards and com-missions, as well as the first two judges of Filipino descent: Mel Recana of Los Angeles and Ron Quidachay of San Francisco.

Brown also actively worked for Filipino professionals, ac-countants, doctors and other medical specialists to be al-lowed to practice in Califor-nia. More than 300 got their licenses in the state because of Brown’s efforts.

According to Tim Dayonot, who served as an aide to Brown in those early years and was among his most ardent cam-paigners in this contest, "Some politicians make empty promis-es, but not Jerry Brown. During his tenure as California gover-nor, his responsiveness to our community was extraordinary."

As a communications practi-tioner, I have been particularly fascinated by the dynamics of the Brown-Whitman rivalry.

Early in the campaign, Whit-man gave every indication that she would spare no expense to win the governorship. She lit-erally poured money into her campaign, spending $142 mil-lion of her own fortune, aside from the millions contribut-ed by corporate and individual donors. She has broken all re-cords for election spending on a gubernatorial campaign.

But, like the campaign of a candidate in the last Phil-ippine presidential elections, the heavy spending apparently boomeranged on Whitman. As election day neared, the per-ception began to develop that Whitman was “buying her way to public office.”

Wasn’t this the same percep-tion that developed as a result of the heavy spending of Manny Villar in his run for president?

From the outset, Whitman’s campaign began to show wrin-kles. She assiduously avoid-ed the media, except under the most carefully managed condi-tions. Her proposed platform of government, mostly explained with motherhood verbiage, be-gan to ring hollow.

Apparently following the advice of her political consul-tants, she substituted substan-tive information on herself and her platform with merciless at-tacks on Brown. At best, Whit-man gained high name recog-nition with her heavy media weights. But, ironically, her continuous barrage against Brown also served to keep his awareness level high.

Wily political veteran that he is, Brown held his fire and campaign expenditures until after the Labor Day weekend in early September. By that time, Whitman and Brown were already neck and neck in the public opinion polls. But Whitman may have also peaked at that point.

Villar also began to catch up with Noynoy Aquino, with his heavy media weights. But he avoided the media that kept hounding him on the C5 con-troversy and, instead, sought to neutralize that with clumsy at-tacks against Aquino.

In the case of Whitman, her propaganda geniuses got car-ried away with their scorched-earth blitz against Brown. They began to play loose with the facts as they went for Brown’s jugular.

But as Whitman’s attack ads became more and more strident, they also began to turn off the average voters. Worse yet, the loose facts gave Brown a great opening for a counter-attack.

When Brown began to run his TV ads, he portrayed Whitman as a person of ques-tionable integrity, having no compunction about twisting facts and playing loose with the truth.

Here again is an interesting similarity with the presiden-tial campaign of Villar. After riding high on their portray-al of Villar as a poor boy who made good, his propaganda geniuses began to exaggerate their portrayal of the candi-date, the better to achieve the desired soap-opera effect.

What severely derailed Whit-man’s campaign was the revela-tion that her former housekeep-er, who had worked with her for nine long years, was an il-legal immigrant from Mexico. Whitman said that she fired the housekeeper upon learning that she was in the country illegally.

But this was a Catch-22 sit-uation. The immigration issue is a hot topic in U.S. politics and one has to tread very care-fully because of the power of the Latino vote, which is pre-dominantly Mexican.

Whitman had been ardent-ly wooing Latinos but was un-clear on her stand on immi-gration. Unfortunately for her, she didn’t handle the problem with the housekeeper elegantly. Her decision to fire the woman served to depict her as a heart-less employer with no sympa-thy for illegal immigrants.

When Whitman claimed that she had treated the housekeeper like a member of

the family, the woman blunt-ly retorted that if that were true, “Why did you treat me the way you did?” Or words to that effect. It was public rela-tions disaster.

Like Whitman, Villar out-spent all of his rivals, but the positive effect that he had hoped for was not achieved. In fact, the heavy spending gave his opponents a major talking point in their counter-attack.

They fanned the fear that Villar would surely get back what he spent and ensure a substantial “return on in-vestment.” Aside from the C5 controversy, his association with Gloria Macapagal-Ar-royo — naughtily summed up by the nickname “Villarroyo” — eroded his poll numbers. The more money he spent, the worse his image became.

The other day, an editorial cartoon in the San Francisco Chronicle showed a distraught Meg Whitman complaining to her political consultants that the millions she had spent that were supposed to have made her likeable had simply made her “unlikeable.”

Chorused the consultants: “We like you!”

That cartoon would have ap-plied just as well to Manny Villar.

There should be a lesson here somewhere for candi-dates who have become overly dependent on their money and on political consultants and propaganda specialists.

There’s a limit to how much you can twist the truth. And there are some things mon-ey can’t buy. In fact, too much money can boomerang on you. ([email protected])

I think that acting is one of the best career choices of-fered to anyone. Whether

on stage or in front of the cam-era, it is a tremendously effec-tive means by which to learn and grow; it is well balanced as an art, a business, and a calling; and last, but not least, it’s a blast!

I’m a theatre fan. Putting modesty aside, I can certainly write about it. It’s something I do simply because I want peo-ple to talk more about this thing that I’m in love with, so that more folks make and see theatre. So the fact that a fairly new Filipino-American produc-

tion has just emerged has made me a very happy camper.

I do believe that the theatre’s mandate reads as follows: To encourage intelligent, critical dialogue among arts enthusi-asts and people working in the cultural sector. I say, too, it is also to increase media cover-age of the performing arts, giv-ing culture the conversational space it deserves.

I know, I know, we’ve still got a real love/hate thing going on with some of the critics. Don’t we all? It is terrifying having them somewhere out there in the house — (Is that him? Is he that one in the back row?) How

does he look? Happy? Bored? Perplexed? I think he looks bored, I’m going to kill myself now) — lurking in the dark and hunkered over their little pads, judging, probably hating … God, why we do even need them at all Seriously, why do we even invite them? This piece is about the art. The art, I say again!

Well, it is so past due for us to get over this. It’s time to get real perspective on these peo-ple and what they are doing. It’s time to talk to them — to engage them. Professional crit-icism is not a one-way street; it’s one half of a conversation that you start with any play. We need them. We really do, if we ever want to make money through theatre work, anyway.

Oh, what a feeling! On stage at the Serramonte

Del Rey School Theatre in Daly City, Calif., under blinding hot stage lights, applause thunder-ing, it was time to take a bow for my old high schoolmate Joji Isla, who’s playing in “New Yorker in Tondo.” This is a wonderful Palanca Award-win-ning stage play written by Nar-celino Agana Jr. that my wife and I have just seen when we went to the Bay Area a couple of weeks ago for a high school alumni gathering. I know I should not have put off writing about it for so long.

A comedy from the old home-land is certainly a novelty, and “New Yorker in Tondo,” playing

at scattered sites here on the West Coast is a cultural diver-sion of farcical innocence and bilingual punch — if you know Tagalog. Certainly it is broaden-ing the meaning of Asian-Pacif-ic theatre. The playing style is extensive and somehow quaint at the same time. For any non-Filipino reviewer, I say the ex-perience would be alternately charming and over-baked.

The show that my wife and I watched in Daly City on Oct. 16 was absolutely a satiric delight and raucously hit home in the as-sorted moments when the char-acters used Tagalog, the national language of the Philippines.

“New Yorker in Tondo” is a story about a Filipina who used to live in Tondo (a squat-ters area in Manila) and had an opportunity to stay in New York City. After spending some time of her life in the Big Ap-ple, she went back to visit her old hometown and by then, she no longer knew how to speak the native tongue because of so-called “acculturation.”

The five-member cast of “New Yorker in Tondo” fit-ted well in their roles and kept the audience entertained throughout the one-act play. Cris Gosalvez set the tone as Aling Atang, the mother of Ki-kay, her daughter who just got back to Tondo after a year of studying in New York.

Lee Robin Salazar played Tony, the centerpiece of an

odd-ball love triangle who is engaged to two women — his singing voice and quite hand-some features worked well for his part.

The four childhood friends in the play — Tony, Kikay, Totoy and Nena — were the closest of friends in Tondo up until life’s circumstances took them out of the slums. Tony became an en-gineer and goes wherever his job takes him, while his child-hood sweetheart, Kikay, wanted to expand her own horizons, so off she goes to the “land of oppor-tunity” that was America — spe-cifically to New York City. After a year in the Big Apple, Kikay returns unexpectedly to Tondo, much to the delight and dilem-ma of her mother, Aling Atang.

The play begins with Tony, Totoy and Nena all getting to-gether in Aling Atang’s house in Tondo to welcome their dear old friend Kikay back home.

My high school buddy, Joji Isla, was in his element as he played Totoy, a lifelong friend who had a crush on one of Tony’s fiancée, Nena played by Jackie Castillejo-Guingona. Castillejo’s “Nena” was rem-iniscent of the American co-medienne Lucille Ball, as she worked the stage with an in-credible sense of slapstick and facial expression.

Richgail Enriquez stars as Kikay, the girl whose friends all came to welcome her back home to Tondo only to find out that

Tondo had become too small for a big city girl like her (with an attitude to go around).

I spoke with my schoolmate Joji after the show. When I asked him how this kind of play is successfully achieved, he modestly replied, “What’s fun-ny to me is something that’s truthful. I always see come-dy in any play. So there’s not much of a difference. Think about real life, your family and friends thing. There are always very funny things that happen. In the middle of a fight, all the sudden a ham will fall down. I just think that’s kind of like life, don’t you think so?”

By the way, my buddy Joji (before migrating to the U.S.) was very active in Philippine radio, television, film and stage. Filipino movie-goers back in the old homeland are very fa-miliar with Joji, as he has ap-peared in at least 40 films back home, mostly in comedy.

On TV, he played differ-ent characters in IBC 13’s fun-ny political satire “Sic O’clock News” and was aide-de-camp to Congressman Tengco in the hit sitcom “Abangan ang Susunod na Kabanata.” His stage credits include “Kenkoy Loves Rosing,” “Pilipinas Circa 1907,” “Bong-bong at Kris,” “Scapino,” the op-era “Rizal: Mga Huling Araw” and “Walang Sugat” including its Indonesian tour.

Some things money can’t buy

All the world’s a stage: A Fil-Am

perspective

ing the pork barrel funds as he had promised, he has even increased the lawmakers’ al-locations by at least P50 mil-lion each and has retained his own office’s P500-million pork barrel allocation.

He has not made any moves against jueteng, saying that it is not a priority in his admin-istration. He stood his ground against the Catholic church on the issue of family planning and birth control, but after a talk with the bishops, we are not hearing about condoms be-ing distributed by the Depart-ment of Health anymore.

His officials have been ac-cused of being “arrogant” and he himself has been described as “too combative,” the same unfavorable traits that de-

scribed his predecessor, Glo-ria Macapagal Arroyo. And now, he is hinting that he would embark on more for-eign trips after two succes-sive visits to the U.S. and Vietnam — this after he and his allies had criticized Ar-royo for her numerous trips.

Just as Obama had raised high hopes and has failed to meet the Americans’ equally high expectations, Aquino is beginning to make Filipinos think “pareho lang pala.”

We acknowledge that it is still too early to judge Aquino, but he has to at least show us that we are beginning to take a new path so that the Filipi-no people could continue to hope for change.

The trouble with hello is goodbye. The trouble with hope i s d i sappo intment . ([email protected])

abelgasContinued from p age 6

out the proper attributions. “Microsoft Word program does not have a function that rais-es an alarm when original ma-terials are cut up or pruned. The portions that remain sim-ply blend in with the rest of the manuscript, adjusting the foot-note number and removing any clue that what should stick to-gether had just been severed,” the ruling said. The majority also accepted Del Castillo’s ex-planation that there was “no malicious intent to appropriate another’s work as our own.”

The Supreme Court ruling defied conventional logic and used convoluted rationale that could only be construed as an aberration – or abrogation – of established norms and stan-dards. It was classic case of

“judicial voodoo” taking pre-cedence over the rule of law where the magistrates used mumbo-jumbo reasoning.

In her dissenting opinion, Justice Sereno said, “Plagia-rism thus does not consist sole-ly of using the work of others in one’s own work, but of the former in conjunction with the failure to attribute said work to its rightful owner and thereby, as in the case of written work, misrepresenting the work of another as one’s own.” She also said that claiming “lack of malicious intent” would not “change the characterization of the act as plagiarism.” Indeed, Sereno’s rebuttal exemplifies logical rationalization predi-cated on the rule of law.

Desperate actAnd in a desperate act

to salvage what is left of its credibility and integrity, the

Supreme Court tried to muf-fle dissent and criticism by threatening to impose sanc-tions against the 37 faculty members for their purported violation of the lawyers’ “code of ethics.” Little did the Su-preme Court realize that its action would only provoke and infuriate the media and the academia; thus, further intensifying demands for Del Castillo’s resignation. Indeed, it’s a rude awakening for the Supreme Court justices who had gotten away with contro-versial decisions in the past which were accepted as “in-fallible” and therefore beyond reproach. Not anymore.

Quo vadis, Supreme Court?The Supreme Court’s con-

troversial ruling that totally ignored Section 15 Article VII of the Constitution -- which bans “midnight appointments”

-- and allowed then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to appoint Justice Renato Coro-na as Chief Justice during the prohibited period was anoth-er process that could only be construed as “judicial voodoo” where rule of law was debased for the purpose of circumvent-ing the constitution for the ag-grandizement of a few.

Sad to say, with Corona at the helm of the Supreme Court until 2018 -- when he reaches mandatory age retirement -- and the other Arroyo appoin-tees holding a majority until then, the Aquino administra-tion would be under the spell of “judicial voodooism” for a long time to come.

Are these the signs that por-tend to the coming of the Dark Age in Philippine jurisprudence? Or, are we already in that age? ([email protected])

diazContinued from p age 6

See rEyEs on 14

There’s a limit to how much you can twist the truth. And there are some things money can’t buy. In fact, too

much money can boomerang on you.


There are no consistent patterns in alcohol consump-tion or spending on alcohol during recessions, a report released by Third District Board of Equalization Mem-ber Michelle Steel concludes.

The November 2010 edi-tion of the BOE’s Economic Perspective newsletter looks at alcohol consumption data during the recessions of 1970, 1973, 1980, 1981, 1990, 2001 and 2008.

The BOE report notes sev-eral ways consumers would be expected to react during recessions: First, total alco-hol consumption per capita may fall during the recession, as consumers would have less income to spend on alcohol. Second, consumers may sub-stitute less expensive brands of alcohol for more expen-sive brands or less expensive ways to consume alcohol for more expensive ways, such as more off-premises con-sumption during recessions, as opposed to in bars and res-taurants. Third, consumers may change the kind of alco-hol they drink, for example switching from distilled spir-its to less expensive alterna-tives such as beer. The fourth response, based on psychol-ogy more than economics, would be that consumers “drink away their sorrows,”

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One in three San Diego Coun-ty residents has at least one or more chronic diseases, with treatment costing $4.6 billion annually, according to the San Diego County Health and Hu-man Services Agency (HHSA).

“Unfortunately too many county residents currently en-gage in unhealthy behaviors,” said Chairwoman Pam Slat-er-Price, County of San Di-ego Board of Supervisors. “Im-proving our health habits will lead to improved quality of life and result in significant sav-ings to taxpayers.”

HHSA’s Public Health Ser-vices analyzed the prevalence of chronic disease among San Diego County residents, as well as the cost to treat these illnesses. The analysis revealed that in 2007 nearly 11,000 people died from cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and lung disease, the four chron-ic diseases that caused 57 percent of the deaths in the region.

The same report showed that by 2020 the number of deaths from chronic diseases is project-ed to increase by 36 percent if no changes are made in risk behav-iors. Another report indicated that treating people with chron-ic diseases in San Diego County cost $4.6 billion in 2007, includ-ing treatment of mental health

Under the influence of recession

One million San Diegans suffer from

chronic disease

See rEcEssion on 9See disEasE on 9

By Bill Hendrick

Women with fibromyalgia can reduce symptoms of the disease and improve their function by practicing the mind-body tech-niques of yoga, a new study said.

Researchers in Oregon who en-rolled 53 women aged 21 or older for the study say that women who participated in a “Yoga of Aware-ness” health program showed sig-nificantly greater improvement in fibromyalgia symptoms.

Their findings are published in the November issue of Pain, the journal of the International Association for the Study of Pain.

To participate in the study, the women had to have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia using the American College of Rheumatology’s criteria for at least one year, and to be on a stable regimen of prescription or over-the-counter medica-tions for at least three months.

Because the prevalence of fibromyalgia is much great-er in women than in men, re-searchers enrolled only wom-en, 25 of whom participated in a yoga awareness program and 28 who received standard care.

Women in the “Yoga of Awareness” class participated

for eight weeks in a program of instruction and exercise.

Classes included 40 minutes of gentle stretching poses, 25 minutes of meditation, 10 min-utes of breathing techniques, 20 minutes of teaching presen-tations on using yoga princi-ples for coping, and 25 minutes of group discussions, in which participants talked about prac-ticing yoga in their homes.

Both groups were then as-sessed for fibromyalgia symp-toms and functional deficits and overall improvement of pain. They also underwent physical tests to identify “tender points”

and an analysis of pain-coping strategies that they used.

Yoga reduces pain and other symptoms of fibromyalgiaWomen assigned to the yoga

program showed significant-ly greater improvements on the standardized measures of fibromyalgia symptoms, lev-els of pain, fatigue, and mood, among other things.

Researcher James W. Car-son, PhD, of the Oregon Health & Science University, said in a news release that the results “suggested the yoga interven-

See yoga on 9

Yoga eases fibromyalgia

pain


tion led to a beneficial shift in how patients cope with pain, in-cluding greater use of adaptive pain-coping strategies.” Those strategies included engaging in activities despite pain, accep-tance of their condition, the use of religion as a coping mecha-nism, and the ability to relax.

Women in the intervention group also reported feeling less isolated and said they were less confrontational and less likely to see things in the worst light, or to “catastrophize.”

Yoga helpful for fibromyalgiaStandard care for fibromy-

algia includes medications accompanied by exercise and instructions on how to best cope with pain.

“Although yoga has been practiced for millennia, only recently have researchers be-gun to demonstrate yoga’s ef-fects on persons suffering from persistent pain,” Carson said. “The Yoga of Awareness program stands in contrast to previous multimodal inter-ventions with [fibromyalgia] patients in that it integrates a wide spectrum of yoga-based techniques -- postures, mind-fulness meditation, breathing exercises, application of yogic principles to optimal coping, and group discussions.”

He said the study provides “promising preliminary sup-port for the beneficial effects of yoga” for patients with fibro-myalgia. Carson said he has planned a training course for

yoga teachers who want to build their skills for working with peo-ple suffering from chronic pain.

Fibromyalgia is a debili-tating condition that affects about 11 million people in the United States and carries an annual direct cost for care of more than $20 billion.

The authors say drug ther-apies are only 30% effective in relieving the pain of fibromy-algia, and 20% effective in im-proving function. (webmd.com)

yogaContinued from p age 8

disorders. Indirect costs such as absenteeism and lost pro-ductivity, which typically are about 80 percent of total costs, were not included in this es-timate. Full reports can be found at www.SDHealthSta-tistics.com.

“Many chronic diseases can be prevented,” said Wilma Wooten, M.D., M.P.H, Coun-ty Public Health Officer. “Not smoking, healthy eating and exercising are lifestyle chang-es that will make a difference.”

To reduce the negative impact of chronic illness, the County has embarked on an initiative to improve the quality of life for County residents and communities. The Health Strategy Agen-da: Building Better Health aims to improve the delivery of healthcare services, sup-port healthy choices, pursue policy changes for a healthy environment, and change in-dividual behaviors. For more information on the Health Strategy Agenda, visit www.sdcoundy.ca.gov/hhsa.

“This 10-year plan strives to improve the health of chil-dren and adults in our com-munities,” said Nick Macchi-one, HHSA Director. “Our goal is to reduce these chronic dis-eases that impact millions of lives now and in the future.”

diseaseContinued from p age 8

and increase alcohol consump-tion during recessions. The data show examples of all four kinds of responses during re-cessions. The most consistent response, occurring in four of the seven recessions studied, was lower growth in on-prem-ises alcohol consumption.

The November Econom-ic Perspective also notes that in terms of national spend-ing patterns on alcohol, prior to the 2008-09 recession total U.S. spending rose 2.4 percent. In contrast, during the 2008-09 recession, U.S. spending on alcohol declined by 1.7 percent.

The Economic Perspective newsletter also notes:

• Alcohol consumption na-tionally is at a 25-year high,

based on a Gallup survey re-leased in the summer of 2010, with 67 percent of Americans drinking alcohol

• Federal Health and Hu-man Services data show a low of 1.96 gallons ethanol con-sumption per capita in 1954 (a recession year) and a high of 2.76 gallons in both 1980 and 1981 (both of which were re-cession years)

• The data show that Cal-ifornia alcohol consumption has generally followed nation-al trends in the last 20 years. California per capita consump-tion, like the U. S., reached a low point in 1998, then start-ed gradually trending upward

The report points out that historical data show that when confronted with a recession, people who drink alcohol have responded in a variety of ways.

The Economic Perspective is a quarterly publication pro-duced by the BOE that looks at economic factors of interest or that influence California eco-nomic activity. The November edition looks exclusively at the issue of alcohol consumption during the seven recessions of the last 40 years.

Elected to the Board of Equalization in 2006, Mi-chelle Steel serves as South-ern California’s elected tax-payer advocate. In December 2007, Steel discovered the Board of Equalization had de-layed the return of millions of dollars in security deposits owed to California business-es. Procedures were changed due to Steel’s decisive leader-ship. Following her investiga-tion, the tax agency refunded tax security deposits to over 5,500 small businesses.

The five-member California State Board of Equalization (BOE) is a publicly elected tax board. The BOE collects more than $48 billion annual-ly in taxes and fees supporting state and local government services. It hears business tax appeals, acts as the ap-pellate body for franchise and personal income tax appeals, and serves a significant role in the assessment and admin-istration of property taxes. For more information on other taxes and fees in California, visit www.taxes.ca.gov.

recessionContinued from p age 8

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On Sunday, Nov. 14, my church, the First Unit-ed Methodist Church of

National City, located at 8th St. and the corner of C Ave., will celebrate its 125th anniversary. There will be a celebratory wor-ship service with Bishop Mary Ann Swenson of the California-Pacific Annual Conference as our special guest. She will also deliver the sermon. The pro-gram committee has prepared a lunch to be followed by an array of musical entertainment. It will indeed be a celebration and the church is opening its doors to all who would like to come, for we are the people of “Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors.” Everyone is welcome!

Who are the people called Methodists? Our answer is sim-ple. We are a dynamic commu-nity of disciples of Jesus Christ — developing faith, worship-ping God, nurturing one an-other and serving others. Our church family always extends a warm welcome to all, to join us for worship, bible study, fel-lowship and service.

Our mission statement: “We are a community called by God to mission and min-istry. We covenant to re-spond to Christ’s commission to proclaim and live the gos-pel in our personal and corpo-rate endeavors by offering our time, talents, and resources to the end that God’s reconcil-ing love, peace, mercy and jus-tice may abound among people and with all of God’s creation.”

As written in our Book of Discipline, United Methodists share with other Christians the conviction that Scripture is the primary source and cri-terion for Christian doctrine. Through Scripture the living Christ meets us in the expe-rience of redeeming grace.

We are convinced that Jesus Christ is the living Word of God in our midst whom we trust in life and death.

As we open our minds and hearts to the Word of God through the words of hu-man beings inspired by the Holy Spirit, faith is born and nourished, our understand-ing is deepened and the pos-sibilities for transforming the world become apparent to us.

Our standards affirm the Bi-ble as the source of all that is “necessary” and “sufficient unto salvation (Articles of Religion) and “is to be received through the Holy Spirit as the true rule and guide for faith and prac-tice” (Confession of Faith).

As the First United Meth-odist Church of National City celebrates its 125th anniver-sary, my fervent desire is for all of us, the people called Methodists, to be the light to a darkened world, to be a ve-hicle of peace and love in a world full of anger and ha-tred and to translate faith and love into action, not only with-in the church but throughout our community. As John Wes-ley the founder of Methodism, said, “The world is my parish.”

Church anniversaries are times of thanksgiving and so we give thanks to God for His sustenance through all these years. May this day be a day of renewal and rededication of our lives as we continue to serve God.

“Let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16, NIV)

Happy 125th anniversary, FUMC of National City.

In one of the all-time great sports movies, The Rookie, Jim Morris (played by Den-

nis Quaid) has lived with the un-fulfilled dream of playing base-ball in the major leagues all of his adult life. A series of injuries and surgeries has kept him out of playing baseball and instead he finds himself teaching high school Chemistry and coaching the high school team in a dusty Texas oil town where baseball takes a distant backseat to foot-ball. As another dismal season begins, Coach Morris challenges his players to do more than set-tle for mediocre and to strive to follow their dreams. His players pledge to play harder and win the district if he will agree to try-out for the majors. The team rises to the challenge. They do win the district. Then they hold Coach Morris to his part of the bargain by saying, “It’s your turn, coach.”

He tries out. He impress-es the scouts and gets the invita-tion to play minor league ball with the hope of eventually reaching the majors. As he struggles with the idea of staying with what he knows how to do or reach for what he dreams to do, he stops by his es-tranged father’s house one evening hoping to receive the support that he has longed for. Again his father

disappoints him when he shares the advice he had received from his father: “It’s okay to think about what you want to do until it’s time to do what you were meant to do.”

Is that your story? Is there a dream out there waiting to be realized? Have you spent your life “thinking” about what you want to do? Do you live ev-ery day thinking about how you would like to live and what you would like to do, but allowing what’s practical to keep you safe-ly where you are and doing what you do? Is it possible that what we want to do and what we are meant to do might be the same thing? Must we make the choice?

Matthew 14:22-33 is the sto-ry about one of the disciples dis-covery that doing that what he wanted to do and what he was meant to do are not impossible.

The disciples are in a boat well after dark when the wind and the waves begin to get rough. They see Jesus coming toward them walk-ing on the water. As he often did, Peter simply reacts to the situa-tion and says what’s in his heart, “Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come to you on the water.” Peter wanted to be with Jesus. Jesus tells Peter, “Come.” He does. Peter steps out of the boat and begins to walk to-ward Jesus on the water. We give

Peter such a hard time because he became afraid, began to sink and had to be rescued by Jesus. Yet, the deeper truth is that Peter was able to do he wanted to do as well as what he was meant to do. Peter was meant to walk on water. He sinks and stumbles and falls and fails, yet Peter did things that no other disciples ever did. Jesus used Peter in mighty ways because he was willing to accept that what he wanted to do, he was meant to do.

Now back to the movie. Al-though those were not the words Jim had hoped to hear from his father, he tries to rationalize that maybe he’s right. Maybe staying home and giving up on his dream is the more practical thing to do. After all, he has responsibilities. He has a good job offer in a ma-jor city with more pay. He has a family. Maybe he should just settle for what he knows is the sure thing. Jim chooses anoth-er route. He decides to take the advice he had given to his play-ers: Live your dream. Don’t set-tle. Step out. When he did, he learned that what he wanted to do, he was also meant to do.

What about you? Are you try-ing to choose between what you want to do and what you were meant to do? Do you find yourself wondering if you will live the life of purpose you were created to do? Are you standing in the boat wishing you were out on the wa-ter with Jesus? Maybe it’s time to stop thinking about it and talk-ing about it and dreaming about it. Maybe it’s time you let go of the comfortable, the secure, the pre-dictable, and the mediocre. May-be it’s time to realize that those thoughts about what you want to do are really God’s words of affir-mation to you that it is also what you were meant to do.

A time for renewal and rededication

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Old Town Gift Co. is offer-ing a unique opportunity for San Diego’s literature buffs to meet and greet with four lo-cal authors. Authors Under The Stars is a free event in Old Town’s Fiesta de Reyes on Wednesday, Nov. 10, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. and will showcase four local authors in the open-air courtyard with complemen-tary appetizers.

The Authors Under The Stars event will feature the following local authors: Bet-te Blaydes Pegas, Jack Schef-fler Innis, Joey Seymour and R.D. Riccoboni. Guests will get to hear these authors discuss their books in the intimate, outdoor setting of the Fiesta de Reyes courtyard.

The event will also fea-ture a question and answer portion and opportunities for one-on-one conversations with each author.

Bette Blaydes Pegas will be speaking about her book “Chasing a Dream in the Galá-pagos: A Personal Evolution,” which recently won a San Di-ego Book Awards Association Award in the “Best Travel” category. She will be featured

alongside Jack Scheffler Innis, author of “San Diego Legends: Events, People, and Places that Made History.” Jack is an award-winning local journal-ist who has studied the histo-ry of San Diego extensively.

Also featured at the event will be Joey Seymour, whose latest book “San Diego’s Fin-est Athletes: Five Exception-al Lives” profiles the lives and careers of five incredible ath-letes from San Diego such as Padres first baseman Adrian Gonzalez and Olympic diver Greg Louganis.

Another author attending the event is R.D. Riccoboni whose art gallery is also locat-ed within the Fiesta de Reyes plaza. His book “From Old Town to New Town, San Diego Paintings” features over 60 of his paintings of different areas of San Diego such as Mission San Diego de Alcala, Old Town, and the historic Gaslamp.

Old Town Gift Co. is locat-ed within Fiesta de Reyes in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park at Wallace and Calhoun streets, a one-block stroll from the Old Town Trol-ley Station. In addition to two

dining establishments -- Casa de Reyes and Barra Barra Sa-

loon – Fiesta de Reyes boasts 16 specialty stores open dai-ly from 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. For more information call (619) 297-3100 or vis-it www.FiestaDeReyes.com or text “Fiesta” to 53137

to keep weekly updates on events at Fiesta de Reyes.

The Filipino Ameri-can Chamber of Commerce (FACC) will be hosting a con-tingent of successful Filipino entrepreneurs on November 15, 2010 seeking to expand trade and investment oppor-tunities between the Phil-ippines and San Diego. Ac-companying the group are Philippine Consul General Mary Jo Bernardo-Aragon, Foreign Commercial Service Director Matt Anderson of the US Department of Commerce,

and Philippine Trade Repre-sentative Archimedes Gomez.

To provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and oppor-tunities, FACC has organized a conference and reception from 4:00 to 7:30 p.m. on No-vember 15th at the Double-tree Hotel in Mission Valley.

“We are pleased to take the lead in putting together this event,” said FACC Pres-ident Audie de Castro. “This important business exchange will provide significant bene-

fits and strengthen economic and business ties between the Philippines and San Diego.”

Local attendees will include prominent local business exec-utives and community leaders.

The Philippine business delegation consists of execu-tives from AgriNurture, Inc. - a publicly listed agricultur-al company, Prople – a busi-ness outsourcing company, Philippine Franchise Associ-ation, Max’s Restaurant – an institution in Philippine food

service, ATHAG – a non-prof-it organization that promotes traditional healing, and DAI-LA Herbal Enterprises – a firm manufacturing natural herbal products.

Registration starts at 4:00 p.m. The registration fee is $25.00 for members ($35.00 for non-members), which includes the entire conference, food and refreshments. For more de-tails, please contact Audie de Castro at (619) 702-8690 at [email protected].

NOVEMBER 7

9TH ANNUAL INTERFAITH CANDLELIGHT VIGILThe 9th Annual Interfaith Candle Vigil will take place on Sunday, No-vember 7, with the procession starting at San Diego Rescue Mission (120 Elm Street, San Diego, 92101).

A procession to the vigil will depart from the San Diego Rescue Mission at 3:15 p.m. and walk approximately a mile stopping at four points in the procession to the County Building. Each person in the procession will carry a pair of shoes which represents homeless individuals who died in the last year. The candlelight vigil program at the County Build-ing begins at 4:00 p.m. The interfaith event is designed to create aware-ness for the 10,000 men, women and children living each day homeless in San Diego that should not have to die on the streets.

NOVEMBER 8

NORTHWEST CIVIC ASSOCIATION TOWN HALL MEETINGThe Northwest Civic Association Town Hall Meeting will take place on Monday, November 8, at 6:00 p.m. at the Chula Vista Civic Center Branch Library Auditorium (4th & F Streets). It is Open Mike (Microphone) Night. Come express your opinions on Chula Vista issues.

Topics expected to include city budget, redevelopment, the recent elections, bayfront development, etc. The event is free. Everyone is welcome. For further

information, please call (619) 307-3460 or visit www.northwestchulavista.org.

NOVEMBER 14

CELEBRATION OF 125TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH OF NATIONAL CITYWorship Service at 10:00 a.m. with Pastor J.T. Kim and featuring a special message from Bishop Mary Ann Swenson. A luncheon and entertainment program will follow after the worship service.

NOVEMBER 14

MIRACLE BABIES 5K WALK/RUNThe second annual Miracle Babies 5K Family Walk/Run will take place 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, November 14, 2010 at Mariner’s Point in Mission Bay Park. After the walk, participants and spectators will enjoy live music, kids’ activities, food, drinks and more! Strollers are welcomed and encour-aged. Participants may register through www.active.com or on location the day of the event.

Join with Miracle Babies, an organization that aims to lift the financial burdens of families, so families can focus on one thing – the health of their newborn. For more information, please visit www.miraclebabies.org.

NOVEMBER 15

ExPANDING TRADE & INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES WITH THE PHILIPPINESCo-organized with the Philippine Consulate General, Los Angeles, the Philippine Trade & Investment Center, and a group of community leaders, the event will give members an opportunity to explore opportunities to do business with other Philippine business owners, here and overseas! There will be executives and business owners visiting from the Philippines, speaking at the event, including representatives from: AgriNurture, Inc., Prople, Philippine Franchise Association (PFA), Max’s Restaurant, ATHAG, and DAILA Herbal enterprises Community, Inc.

Guests of honor will include Hon. Mary Jo Bernardo-Aragon, Consulate General of the Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles, Mr. Archime-ndes C. Gomez, Philippine Trade Representative, and Mr. Matt Anderson, Director, Foreign Commercial Service, U.S. Department of Commerce.

The event will take place on Monday, November 15 from 4:00 to 7:30 p.m. at the Doubletree Hotel, 7450 Hazard Center Drive, San Diego, CA 92108. The cost is $25.00 for members and $35.00 for non-members (appetizers includes).

Please RSVP by November 10. For more information, please contact Audie de Castro (619) 702-8690 or Catherine Soriano (619) 793-7443 ([email protected]).

Chamber of Commerce to host Philippines entrepreneurs in San Diego

Free ‘Authors Under The Stars’ event in Old Town

GET LISTED: To have your event listed in Save the Date, e-mail your information (include date, time, location, cost, and phone) to [email protected]. Keep in mind we publish on Saturdays, so ensure your event happens on the day of publication or during the following week.

Advertise with us

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The

Blessing of the Graves

Photo: Filipino Press StaffFather Bernard of Glen Abbey Memorial Park blesses a grave on Monday, Nov. 1, during a celebration of All Saints Day Remembrance at the park in Bonita. The ceremony included prayers, the Blessing of the Graves and a Mass Remembrance. Luminaries and priests were on hand to bless the graves of the loved ones of families in attendance. Glen Abbey Memorial Park is located at 3838 Bonita Road. For more information, call (619) 498-4600.


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Pumpkin, cinnamon, hon-ey — the makings of a delicious dessert? Of

course, but this season’s fa-vorite ingredients also make for simple and effective ways to pamper yourself inside and out.

Autumn can wreak hav-oc on one’s complexion. The change in weather tends to dry out skin. Pumpkin has a soothing effect and boosts the effect of other ingredients be-cause it stimulates a deeper and quicker absorption of nu-trients. Pumpkin is also rich in a number of anti-oxidants that can help reduce signs of aging.

Pumpkin Masque• 1 ½ tablespoons pureed

pumpkin• ½ teaspoon milk• ¼ ground cinnamon• ½ teaspoon honeyCombine ingredients. Warm

the mixture in the microwave for five seconds only. Add ¼ teaspoon milk if mixture is too thick. Apply masque to clean skin. Let it dry for 20 minutes. Rinse off with warm water. Follow with a moisturizer.

Pumpkin seeds make for a healthy snack known to benefit people with arthritis. Pumpkin seeds are also a natural way to support kidney function. This is a great low-calorie solution

when you have a case of the munchies; a good alternative to chips.

Toasted Pumpkin Seeds• Fresh pumpkin seeds, cleaned• Olive oilPreheat oven to 400 degrees.

Toss pumpkin seeds lightly in olive oil. Spread seeds onto a roasting pan or baking sheet. Bake seeds for 15 minutes or until they are browned to your liking. Remove seeds from oven and let cool before eating. Eat with or without shell. Shelled seeds are a great condiment on spinach salads, too!

Pumpkins and bananas are both rich in potassium. Com-bined, they make for a deli-cious powerhouse of health benefits. This recipe is so ver-satile. It can be enjoyed as a breakfast you can travel with

or a dessert that is simpler than pumpkin pie but just as tasty!

Pumpkin and Banana Pie Smoothies

Serves 4-6• 16 oz. pureed pumpkin• 1 banana• 2 cups 2% milk• ¼ cup brown sugar• 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg• Honey and/or vanilla extract to tasteIn a blender, combine in-

gredients until the mixture has reached a smooth consis-tency and desired taste. Gar-nish with a dollop of low-fat whipped topping and a dash of cinnamon. This may also be served and enjoyed warm.

Call the girls, throw on your favorite Piolo Pascual DVD and have a beautifying pam-pering session with pumpkin! You can never have too much Piolo or pumpkin, right, my pampered friends? Enjoy!

Wanna keep in touch and join in on fun weekly chats with other Pampered Pinay fans? Simply check out www.Face-book.com, and search "Fran-cine Maigue." See you online!

Check back every week for ways to pamper yourself and those you love. Why? The an-swer is simple: You deserve it!

Got a business or event I should know about? Wish to agree or disagree with me? Want to send me a love note? (I love those.) E-mail me at [email protected].

Pampered with pumpkin

Francine Maigue

The PamperedPinay

Here in America, Joji land-ed a major role in “Corky’s Hot Ice,” a thriller-comedy indie film which was shown in some Bay Area theaters. Joji’s latest stage stints, both in the Bay Area, were in “Green Card, the Musical” and the passion play “Kristo.”

As an ensemble I think this cast of “New Yorker in Tondo” really nails it. The set is sim-ple, yet charming and creative. Incidentally, this production is mostly playing here on the West Coast, but I wouldn’t be sur-prised to see many more rendi-tions of this play mounted over the years to come.

Personally, I really like this particular theater experience. This play is a comedy that can have you in stitches laughing (as my wife did) but at the same time can also leave you with profound thoughts about the importance of preserving one’s

culture and of always being proud of who you are no matter where in the world you may end up. Truly, this is the kind of the-atre I hope to see more in the coming days. I say again, this has been a fantastic theatre ex-perience for me and my wife.

So, if you want to know more about this Filipino-American

production and might have in-quiries about staging “New Yorker in Tondo” in your own area or in any of your upcoming events, please call L3 Dream Productions at (925) 487-6567, (650) 892-9067 or (415) 684-4040. They will be more than happy to oblige you and your company. Have a good one!

reyesContinued from p age 7

The five-member cast of “New Yorker in Tondo”.Photo: Cel Chavez


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SAN DIEGO, Calif. — The Asian Business Association of San Diego (ABA) announces its 20th anniversary, which will be celebrated on November 18, 2010, at an awards gala. An in-fluential organization in the San Diego business communi-ty, ABA will recognize individ-uals for business leadership and community service, Cor-porate Member and Member of the Year awards, and scholar-ship winners. Recipients were selected by a panel of judges based on their overall contri-butions to the community.

“I am delighted to recognize those who have made such sig-nificant contributions to the Asian business community, in-cluding the students who have overcome amazing obstacles while continuing to excel aca-demically,” said Paulina Ras-savong, board chair.

David Du will receive the Business Leadership Award. David and his family, original-ly from Vietnam, started DDH Enterprise in 1988, after mov-

ing to the United States. They also founded Dutek Corp and New East Asian Electronics in China. David is a goodwill am-bassador between the United States and China, and advo-cates for the rights of the local Chinese communities with the purpose of integrating them into mainstream society.

Dr. Allen Chan will receive the Community Service Award. He is a tireless community orga-nizer and the founder of Beyond Productions. It is a non-profit group composed of multi-ethnic professionals and volunteers for charity causes benefiting victims of earthquakes in Hai-ti and Sichuan China. He is co-founder of the Asian and Pacif-ic American Coalition (APAC), a nonprofit organization that is uniting Asian and Pacific Americans for fair redistrict-ing of the City of San Diego’s ninth council district.

The San Diego County Re-gional Airport Authority will receive the Corporate Mem-ber of the Year award for their

ongoing partnership with ABA to assist disadvantaged busi-nesses in our community grow and prosper. The airport’s role as an economic engine de-pends on the synergy that it has with local businesses. The Airport Authority has taken a “green approach” to meet-ing the current and future de-mands of millions of travelers each year by embarking upon “The Green Build”, which is largest improvement project in the airport’s history.

Wendy Williams is this year’s Member of the Year. Wendy has been active with ABA since 2005. With a back-ground in PR and marketing, she has devoted many hours to ABA, especially as a member of the ABA Marketing Com-mittee. Wendy is the incoming chair of the committee.

Jomar Ebalida, Russy-an Mabeza, Linh Nguyen and Mercy Tang are this year’s scholarships recipients. Jomar Ebalida, who attends Mont-gomery High School, will re-

ceive the Thomas N. Fat Schol-arship. Mabeza attends Morse High School while Nguyen and Tang both attend U.C. San Di-ego. These awards are made possible through live auction donations at the ABA’s annual awards gala.

Sponsors of this year’s An-nual Awards Gala include SDG&E (Title Sponsor), Cox Communications, US Bank, Wells Fargo, Jo and Vi Jacobs Center, San Diego County Re-gional Airport Authority and Union Bank of California.

For more information about the 20th Anniversary Awards Gala, visit www.abasd.org, or call (858) 277-2822, ext. 102. Media passes are available for those who would like to attend the gala.

ABA provides a strong voice on business, cultural and po-litical issues of interest to San Diego’s Asian and Pacific Is-lander community. Our mis-sion is to unite, promote and advocate on behalf of the San Diego Asian Pacific American business community.

Asian Business Assn. announces award and scholarship winners for 2010

Fiesta de Reyes, located in Old Town San Diego State His-toric Park, is hosting an Irish-Mexican Fiesta on Saturday, Nov. 13, with the oldest frater-nal organization in the Unit-ed States, the Friendly Sons of Saint Patrick. The goal of the event is to eat great food, en-joy a drink with friends and raise some money for Opera-tion Caregiver who send 'com-fort packages' to soldiers on the front lines of battle.

Featuring traditional Irish music and a blend of Mexican and Irish food, the celebration honors Saint Patrick’s Brigade, a legendary artillery unit led by Irish immigrants who became a one of the Mexican Army’s most highly decorated brigade dur-ing the Mexican-American War.

Members of the world-fa-mous Cameron Highlanders Pipe Band will make a rare

appearance in full dress kilts followed by traditional Irish dance and song. In the Fiesta de Reyes plaza, $2 Guinness beers, corned beef tacos and potato flautas will be offered to the celebrants. The Friend-ly Sons of St. Patrick, will be in attendance at the festival.

Admission to this event is free. The event begins at noon and ends at 3:30 p.m.

Fiesta de Reyes is a plaza of 18 shops and three restau-rants within Old Town San Di-ego State Historic Park. Lo-cated at Wallace and Calhoun streets, Fiesta de Reyes is a one-block stroll from the Old Town Trolley Station. Free parking is available in the Cal-trans parking lot all day on weekends. For more informa-tion call (619) 297-3100 or vis-it www.FiestaDeReyes.com or text “Fiesta” to 53137.

Fiesta de los San Patrios Nov. 13

in Old Town

An Irish-Mexican Fiesta will be held on Saturday, Nov. 13, with the oldest fraternal organization in the United States, the Friendly Sons of Saint Patrick.

Photo: Courtesy photo


CLUBSCAFE LA MAZE STEAKHOUSEJulius Obregon and Friends ShowWhen: 7 p.m. SundaysWhere: 1441 Highland Ave., National City, (619) 474-3222

LUCKY STARWednesdays: Filipino Night with Eric de LeonThursdays: Moonlight Serenade Orchestra Big BandFridays: Ballroom dancing/KarokeWhere: 3893 54th St., San Diego, Phone: (619) 229-8228

MCDINI'S DINER & EVENTSFilipino food every Saturday with live Filipino BandsWhere: 105 E. 8th St., National City, Phone: (619) 474-6771

TROPHY LOUNGERising StarWhen: 8 p.m. ThursdaysWhere: 999 National City Blvd., National City, Phone: (619) 477-9862

KARAOKEEL JUAN RESTAURANTEric de Leon one-man band

When: 6-9 p.m. ThursdaysWhere: 2316 Highland Ave., National City Phone: (619) 477-6262

GAPORESTO & KARAOKEWhen: 7 p.m.-midnight, Tuesdays to SundaysWhere: 933 S. Harbison Ave., National City Phone: (619) 267-3746

JASMINEWhen: 7 p.m -1 a.m. WednesdaysWhere: 4609 Convoy St., San DiegoPhone: (858) 268-0888

SIZZLER JULIUS OBREGON SHOW ROOMWhen: 7 p.m. Fridays and SaturdaysWhere: 1325 E. Plaza Blvd., National City Phone: (619) 477-2590

GET LISTED: To have your concert, club or event listed in What's Happening, e-mail your information (include date, time, location, cost and phone/e-mail) to [email protected]. Keep in mind we publish on Saturdays, so ensure your event happens on the day of publication or during the following week.

DJ Kristina at Jasmine

Pop sensation Justin Bieber has company on the stages he’s been storming. Discovered on YouTube just like the shaggy-haired teen idol was Legaci — a group of four Filipino-Ameri-can R&B singers who are part of a wave of Pinoy talent crest-ing in America.

Before making it to “Saturday Night Live” and “Ellen,” Lega-ci could be found auditioning for talent shows everywhere. You name it, they tried it. The late 1990s found the group as part of a larger Filipino R&B boom in Northern California alongside groups like Pinay, DNH and Kai.

They circuited the clubs and college campuses, released two albums and auditioned for tele-vision talent competitions with open calls: “American Idol,” “The Sing Off,” “America’s Got Talent” and MTV’s “Top Pop Group.”

Despite their obvious talent, they weren’t getting any big breaks. So they turned to You-Tube — which turned out to be a good thing, because it was through their YouTube video of Bieber’s runaway hit “Baby” that they skyrocketed to invisible fame. The video had been post-ed for just one day when Bieber’s manager, Scooter Braun, invited Legaci to join them.

A week after the call, Lega-ci found themselves rehearsing with Bieber in New York and performing live with Bieber on MTV and on New York’s top pop radio station, Z100. This time,

their talent isn’t going unrec-ognized, despite being over-shadowed by Bieber, who is, of course, still in the spotlight. Bieber has adjusted his set to give way for Legaci to perform one of their own songs.

Bieber and Legaci played to a sold-out crowd on Oct. 30 at the San Diego Sports Arena, now known as the Valley View Casino Center.

While most of their expo-sure now is shared with Bieber — many of their Twitter follow-ers and YouTube subscribers are also Bieber fans — Legaci may just be making it big on their own. A record deal with Braun is already in the works.

Asian-Americans are a rar-ity on stage, but the gates to the mainstream are opening a bit wider as Legaci joins the ranks of Charice Pempeng-co, the Pussycat Dolls’ Nicole Scherzinger and Allan Pine-da — more popularly known as Apl.de.ap of the Black Eyed Peas. (GMANews.TV)

Fil-Am R&B group found fame on YouTube, now they

sing with Justin Bieber

By Ruben V. Nepales

LOS ANGELES — “Amigo,” writer-di-rector John Sayles’ drama set in the Phil-ippine-American War and shot in Bohol, screens for the first time in the United States at the American Film Institute Fest on Nov. 6 at the world famous Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.

The film focuses on a local village dealing with the U.S. invasion in 1900 while still recovering from the revolution against Spain.

The screening is presented by The As-sociation for the Advancement of Fili-pino-American Arts and Culture (also known as FilAm ARTS), according to its founding board director and chair emeri-tus, Winston Emano.

“We’re excited about our very first screening of ‘Amigo’ in the United States, specifically in L.A., which has a large Fili-pino population as well as a big John Say-les fan base,” Maggie Renzi, “Amigo’s” pro-ducer, told us via e-mail. “AFI hooked us up with FilAm ARTS and Winston Ema-no, whose outreach for ‘Amigo’ is getting a great response.”

Unspoken part of historyStarring Joel Torre, the film that was

shot entirely in the Philippines depicts a part of Filipino-American history that Renzi described as "so unspoken it’s prac-tically a secret."

Asked about the film’s journey in the festival circuit thus far, Renzi answered: “AFI will be our fourth festival with ‘Ami-go’ and since London, we’ve really felt the Filipino audience discovering the movie. Toronto was all business — that’s what’s happening at TIFF (Toronto Internation-al Film Festival) now. San Sebastian? Check out johnsaylesbaryo.blogspot.com. The historic loss of the Philippines is huge in the Spanish psyche, even today. In San Sebastian, they saw the movie to-tally in subtitles. There was some resis-

tance, though everyone loved Rafael, Jo-el’s character. Joel got a lot of attention wherever he went. And John Sayles is worshipped in Spain.”

“Provocative, insightfully funny”We have not seen the film yet. The In-

quirer’s Lito Zulueta, who attended the first composite print screening of “Amigo” in the Philippines last August, wrote in an article: “Brave, provocative, and insight-fully funny, ‘Amigo’ weaves a complex tale that does not simplify the issues involved in the war and tries to give voice to the Fil-ipinos’ yearning for freedom.”

Lito also wrote: “Sayles said he tried to capture the complexity of the war in the movie while tracing America’s conflict-ed policy in Iraq to its original imperialist venture in the Philippines.”

Formerly titled “Baryo,” “Amigo” fea-tures a cast of Filipino and international actors. Aside from Joel, the Pinoy thespi-ans include Bembol Roco, Ronnie Lazaro, Rio Locsin, Pen Medina, Bodjie Pascua,

Irma Adlawan, John Arcilla, Spanky Man-ikan, Miguel Faustmann and Joe Gruta.

The international cast has Chris Cooper (winner of Oscar and Golden Globe Best Supporting Actor awards for “Adapta-tion”), Garret Dillahunt, DJ Qualls, Lucas Neff, Bill Tangradi, Yul Vasquez, Dane De-Haan, James Parks and Stephen Taylor.

“It was an honor and privilege to have an icon like Sayles shooting in the Phil-ippines, definitely,” Art Acuña said when we asked him about his experience work-ing with the director who also wrote and edited the film. “It was already an honor that he was interested in telling this sto-ry in the first place.”

Acuña added: “The easy collaboration between actor, director, and the production team was unique.”

“True learning experience”John also tapped Filipinos to comprise

the film’s production staff and crew.Acuña, who is based in the U.S. where

he also appears in the theater, flew to the Philippines for the movie’s shoot. “For the character (Macario Locsin) I played, it took an expanded three weeks,” he said. “Expanded because there were scenes in-between mine that left me with an open, enjoyable window to explore Bohol on a motorcycle with my lady, Maritina (Romu-lo). And the shoots were totally enjoyable and a true learning experience.”

Aside from having his my wife-to-be helping him with ideas and notes while shooting, Acuña said he thought “seeing Sayles in a Philippine setting seemed un-real. The American cast was cool. They were serious actors.”

He thinks “Amigo” is “a beautiful movie with a lot of heart.”

Sayles and Renzi will both attend the Nov. 6 screening. Emano said that ad-mission to the movie is free. Details on how to get tickets are available on http://filamarts.org/get-involved/presenting-la-premiere-amigo. (Inquirer.net)

Fil-Am war film’s U.S. premiere set for Nov. 6

Mercito Gesta catches the eye of boxing fansBy Brandi PerezFilipino Press Staff Writer

The undefeated Mercito “No Mercy” Gesta is well on his way to capturing a world title. Gesta (20-0, 10 KOs) of

Cebu, Philippines, defeated Ivan “Relam-pago” Valle (28-10, 24 KOs) of Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico, on Oct. 22 in front of a sellout crowd at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel in San Diego.

The 23-year-old defeated Valle in a sec-ond round knockout during the main event.

“I was surprised it ended so quickly,” Gesta said. “After all the training and the planning, it’s paid off. I’m happy.”

He dropped Valle twice in the first round, leaving him dazed. Gesta capital-ized on his opponent’s weakness and took him to the ropes. His speed and power was no match. Valle’s corner waved the towel and the fight was stopped at 26 seconds in the second round.

“I was surprised. He’s really tough,” Gesta said. “I saw his tapes. I knocked him down twice in the first round. I feel bad. I think they should have stopped it then. In the second round I threw some combi-nations and the trainer saw that, so he stopped the fight.”

Vincent Parra, Gesta’s co-manager and trainer had said earlier that Valle would be the toughest opponent Gesta has faced in his career. After an effortless win, hav-ing knocked down the veteran twice in the first round, Gesta has proven he’s ready to take his career to the next level.

“Myself and co-manager Joel Coombs will be meeting with our matchmaker, Jorge Marron, and promoter, Don Chargin regarding Mercito's future,” Parra said.

Gesta said he is looking to fight in Feb-ruary 2011. He isn’t sure where, or who his opponent would be, but he is eagerly awaiting the details for his next fight.

The Sólo Boxeo Tecate card, billed as “No Mercy,” was televised live on TeleFu-tura. It was presented by Jorge Marron Productions and Don Chargin Productions in association with Golden Boy Promo-tions and Bobby D. Presents.

Gesta’s knockout performance earned him the honor of being crowned as the “Boxer Con Carácter,” or the fighter with the most character.

“I’m just so thankful. It’s nice to have people notice,” a humble Gesta said. “I hope this helps me get to the next level. I think in 2011 I’ll have the chance to fight for the championship. I’m ready for that.”

According to a statement released on the Golden Boy website on Oct. 26, “Box-ing fans viewing Friday night's TeleFu-tura broadcast of Sólo Boxeo Tecate” sat in the judge's seat and cast their text votes naming Mercito Gesta as the fight-er with the most character. Gesta defeat-ed Ivan Valle in a second-round knockout after bringing him down twice in the first round. Boxing experts consider this victo-ry the biggest win of Gesta's career, and 78 percent of fans who voted agreed.

Launched by Tecate, cerveza con caráct-er, the “Cinturón Tecate” award gives view-ers the chance to recognize the strength, courage and determination of up-and-com-ing fighters featured on Sólo Boxeo Tecate.”

“I'm very happy for Mercito and am very pleased with his performance,” Parra said. “Next, Mercito will take a trip home to vis-it his family for the holidays.”

The Filipino boxer hasn’t gone home to the Philippines for almost three years. He will be there until mid-January.

“I’m so excited to go back home,” he said with a smile. “I haven’t been able to focus. I miss it so much. It’s hard because I’m re-ally close to my family.”

The WBO World Juvenile Champion’s big win on Oct. 22 has brought the recog-nition he deserves.

Whether his next fight is in San Diego or

Mercito Gesta defeated Ivan “Relampago” Valle (28-10-24 KOs) of Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico, on Oct. 22 in front of a sellout crowd at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel in San Diego.

The Filipino-American R&B band Legaci. The band was discovered by singer Justin Bieber’s manager on YouTube, who invited them to sing back up for Bieber (below), who was also a YouTube sensation.

Photo: Paul Gallegos

Photos: Legaci

See gEsta on 17


on the road, Gesta will definite-ly have more eyes watching him.

“I want to make my name bigger. Not because I want to be famous but because I want a chance at the champion-ship,” he said. “Now that the fans saw the fight, I hope they like it. It’s a step up. I want the best and I’m not going to stop until I’ve fought the best.”

ResultsAlso on the Oct. 22 card,

Christian Bojorquez (1-0, 0 KOs) of Tijuana, Mexico, de-feated Salvador Cifuentez (0-1) in the 4-round featherweight event. Bojorquez went the dis-tance in his professional debut and won with a majority vote of 38-38, 40-36 and 39-37.

Michael “Lil’ Warrior” Fran-co (17-0, 11 KOs) of Riverside, Calif., defeated Adolfo “El Ter-ror” Landeros (20-16-1, 9 KOs) of Mexico City in the eights-round featherweight co-main event. The fight went the dis-tance and Franco won by unan-imous decision with scores of

80-72, 79-73 and 78-74.Amaris “Diamond Girl”

Quintana (3-0-2, 0 KOs) of La Mesa, Calif., defeated Gloria Salas (3-5-1) of Riverside, Ca-lif, in the four-round junior flyweight event. After going all four rounds, Amaris took the win with scores of 40-36, 40-36 and 39-37.

Mark Salcer (11-0, 9 KOs) defeated Juan Carlos Diaz (1-10) in the welterweight event by a fourth-round decision.

Up nextThe next Coors Light Box-

ing Series show will be held on Thursday, Nov. 18. The card, which is being co-promoted by Bobby D. Presents and Jorge Marron Productions, will be held at the Crowne Plaza Ho-tel in Mission Valley, located at 2270 Hotel Circle North in San Diego, for the first time. The card is billed as “Show-down at the Crowne — San Diego’s Biggest Little Fight.”

Lester “El Cubanito” Gonza-lez (11-0-1, 6 KOs) of San Diego by way of Havana, Cuba, will face Chris “The Last Chapter” Chatman (8-1, 4 KOs) of San

Diego by way of Chicago, in the eight-round main event for the California State Super Welter-weight Title.

James “El Chocolate” Pari-son (12-1, 3 KOs) of San Diego, will take on Loren “Rock” My-ers (7-9-1, 2 KOs) of Fresno, Calif., in the six-round middle-weights co-main event.

The four-round feather-weight event will feature Pablo “Bronco” Armenta (3-0, 1 KO) of South San Diego, against Ron-ald “Mad Man” Hurley (4-4-2, 0 KOs) of San Jacinto, Calif.

Emmanuel Robles (1-0, 0 KOs) of Imperial Beach, Ca-lif., will face a fighter still to be announced in the four-round lightweight event.

Ernesto Ocon (1-0, 0 KOs) of Los Angeles, will face a fight-er still to be announced in the four-round welterweight event.

Doors open at 6:30 p.m. with the first bout scheduled for 7:00 p.m. The event is all ages and there is plenty of onsite parking. Tickets start at $25 and are avail-able at the hotel gift store. For tickets or more information, call (619) 420-8866 or (619) 743-0698.

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FM1009042 _FilipinoNews.indd 1 9/27/10 2:49 PM

This Christmas, GMA Net-work — the broadcasting com-pany behind the Philippines’ top-rating programs shown inter-nationally via GMA Pinoy TV and GMA Life TV — recognizes the heart of the Filipino through a se-ries of real-life, inspiring stories.

Tagged “Isang Pagkilala sa Puso ng Pilipino Ngayong Pas-ko,” the stories tell the real-life tales of Filipinos who, by sharing what they can, have made a dif-ference in the lives of many.

“When we came across these stories, we immediately knew that we had to share them with our audience,” said Regie Bau-tista, vice president of GMA pro-gram support department. “This Christmas campaign reaffirms what Filipinos should always be proud of — the inherent good-ness of their hearts.”

Starring in the vignettes are three of GMA’s biggest and most renowned Kapuso stars: Ding-dong Dantes, Marian Rivera and Richard Gutierrez.

Richard plays Ed, a U.S. im-migrant based in Las Vegas, Nev., whose heart remains very Filipino. With his wife, he per-sonally packs balikbayan boxes with toys and school supplies and ships these at Christmas time to children in different provinces.

Marian portrays Mila, a woman who literally opens her home to the less fortunate. Mila welcomes the Season of Advent by selling Christmas decors in her garage. She uses the mon-ey she earns to prepare food and feed more than 200 fami-lies on New Year’s Eve.

Meanwhile, Dingdong is cast as Jose, who spends Christmas Eve going to different hospitals in Metro Manila, paying the bills

of indigent patients unable to af-ford treatment. When the sur-prised families of these patients ask to thank him in person, they are told by the hospital staff that Jose has already left.

“These are real-life Santas,” explained director Paul Ticzon when asked what he found spe-cial about this project after hav-ing directed many of the net-work’s Christmas campaigns. “These are people who go out of their way to create a meaningful Christmas for others. Their sto-ries will hit you in the heart.”

The GMA project team is com-prised of multi-awarded cinema-tographer Ding Achacoso (direc-tor of photography), Paul Ticzon

(director), Vince Gealogo (co-di-rector), Ingrid Navarro (producer) and cameramen Hanniel Aguilar, Javier Delgado and Paul Arrojado.

The entire campaign was spearheaded by the creative team of GMA's program support department, comprised of Regie Bautista (vice president), Armie Herrera (associate creative di-rector), Caca Ko, Weng Espiri-tu (writers), Chris Roxas, Calvin Anchores, Donn Dacalanio (art-ists), Hasmin Marable (senior project manager) and Minette Lopez (project manager).

GMA Network’s 2010 Christ-mas plug series (shot in high-def-inition digital video) premiered on GMA Pinoy TV on Oct. 30.

GMA Network launches Christmas campaign with real-life, inspiring stories

Marian Rivera portrays Mila, a woman who opens her home to the less fortunate.

Photo: Courtesy photo

2010 CD: John E Studio Mgr.: Jim CJob#: PAL-1008874 Live: visual AD: Shevaun Print Prod. Mgr.: Jim CTitle: Entertainment NP Ad - FIL Trim: 6.4375 "w x 10.5 "h CW: Dave AE: Farrah

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From San Diego County: Take I-15 to HWY 76, go east 5 miles

Mercito Gesta’s knockout performance on Oct. 22 earned him the honor of being crowned as the “Boxer Con Carácter,” the fighter with the most character.

Photo: Paul Gallegos

gestaContinued from p age 16


to (213) 639-0990. Thumbprints and signature must be affixed and all pertinent data on the application form must be com-pleted. Incomplete forms will not be processed.

• Personal appearance is required in all cases (includ-ing applicants who are 65 and above and minors who are be-low 18 years old).

• Do not bring passport pic-tures. Passport pictures are to be taken by the consulate.

• The applicant must wear decent attire (no sleeveless and/or collarless attire) and without eyeglasses/colored contact lenses.

• No facial piercings allowed.Appointment Scheduling Steps for Dual Citizenship Applicants

• Visit the Philippine Con-sulate website (www.philip-pineconsulatela.org) and print the Dual Citizenship Applica-tion form;

• Complete the Dual Cit-izenship Application form; and,

• No later than Nov. 8, send an advance copy of the completed Dual Citizenship application form and sup-porting documents to the consulate by fax (213) 639-0990. Other than the thumb-print and photo which will be done on site, all pertinent data on the application form must be completed. Other-wise, incomplete forms will

not be processed.• Oath-Taking will be sched-

uled on the same day for quali-fied applicants.

• Applicants should take their oath as Dual Citizens in decent attire. The consulate will refuse oath-taking to ap-plicants wearing inappropriate outfit such as:

• Sleeveless shirts• Skimpy clothes• Shorts• Sandos• Slippers

Appointment Scheduling Steps for Report of Marriage (ROM)

and Birth (ROB)• Visit the Philippine Con-

sulate website (www.philip-pineconsulatela.org) and print the ROM or ROB form;

• Complete the ROM or ROB form; and,

• No later than Nov. 8, send an advance copy (one set only) of the completed form and supporting documents to the consulate by fax (213) 639-0990. Incomplete forms will not be processed.

Appointment Scheduling Steps for Notarization of Documents

• No later than Nov. 8, send an advance copy of the document to be notarized to the consulate by fax (213) 639-0990.

Information for all applicants The consulate regularly up-

dates the appointment sched-ule posted on its website as they receive the completed applications.

Once the names of the ap-

plicants are posted on the web-site schedule, all applicants are required to appear person-ally during their appointment time for data verification, fin-ger printing and photo/signa-ture capture and must bring all original documents.

The final list of all applicants with pre-processed applications will be posted at the consulate’s website (www.philippinecon-sulatela.org) by Nov. 11.

All applicants are advised to transact their business directly with consulate officials and not through travel agencies.

FeesFees must be paid in per-

son at the scheduled appoint-ment. The consulate will only accept payments in cash, post-al money order or cashier’s check. Personal checks will not be accepted.

• ePassport: $60 processing fee plus $6 for passports to be returned to the applicant by mail

• Dual Citizenship: $50 pro-cessing fee

• Civil Registry: $25 process-ing fee plus $6 for documents to be returned to the applicant by mail

• Notarization of Documents: $25 processing fee plus $6 for documents to be returned to the applicant by mail

Contact informationFor more information call

Eric Sierra of the consulate at 1-213-637-3028 or Fred Gallardo of COPAO at (619) 850-0825.

outreachContinued from p age 1

In an earlier article, Lince-cum said he owes his devel-opment to his father, Chris, a parts inventory employee at Boeing in Seattle. He learned the game at the age of 5 and developed his style from drills and hours of watching tape with his father.

Lincecum’s mother Rebec-

ca (Becky) Asis is a full-blood-ed Filipina. Her father, Balle-riano, was born in Honolulu and mother Philomena Mara-sigan in Stockton, Calif. Bal-leriano’s father, Genaro, was born somewhere in Mindan-ao and mother, Albert Alcoy, in Cebu. Philomena’s father, Leoncio, was born in Batan-gas and mother, Anastasia Dominguez, in Siquijor.

Lincecum inheri ted his

strong sense of family ties from his mother. Writer Kev-in Riley said a few days after Lincecum’s Filipino grandfa-ther, Balleriano Asis, died in 2007, he was distraught and didn’t play up to par against the Chicago Cubs.

“It was my fault, I had a lot of stuff in my head,” said Lince-cum. “I’m just trying to be as fo-cused on the game as possible.” (philstar.com)

lincecumContinued from p age 1

Photo: Filipino Press StaffPush-cart educator and 2009 CNN Hero Efren Peñaflorida (center) attends a private dinner at the home of Gemy and Remy Broas while in San Diego Nov. 2-3 for a fundraising visit that included a Dinner Musicale at Jasmine Seafood Restaurant.

By Aurora S. CudalFilipino Press Contributing Writer

Efren Peñaflorida, the young and unassuming boy who grew up in the dumpsite of Cavite City, Philippines, and became CNN's Hero of the Year in 2009, made a whirlwind fundraising visit to San Diego on Nov. 2-3.

The hurriedly coordinat-ed but ultimately successful events, consisting of a private dinner at the residence of Gemy and Remy Broas and a Dinner Musicale at Jasmine Seafood Restaurant, proved to be heart-warming as Cavitenos and their friends came to support his project, the completion of a learning center for the poorest of the poor children in Cavite. The building with a “push-cart” architectural design started with the funds awarded to Pe-ñaflorida as last year’s CNN Hero.

The touching, heartwarm-ing story of Peñaflorida carried a simple message: “Embrace ed-ucation and it will embrace you back.”

“My father was a tricycle driver and my mother was a laundry woman,” said Peña-florida. “I lived in poverty and

I was bullied, but I was able to overcome these challenges. I went to school and studied com-puter technology then went on to pursue a degree in education, majoring in secondary educa-tion. Reaching out to the chil-dren is my way of giving back.”

Together with other young boys challenged by pover-ty and street gangs, Peñaflor-ida established the Dynamic Teens Company and offered a unique out-of-school education-al program as a means of entic-ing the street children to learn how to read and write and to go back to formal schooling. They gathered the children as they pushed carts loaded with books and school supplies. This young group of young people took ed-ucation where the children are playing, usually around the dumpsite or in the cemetery of Cavite City.

“Our aim is to make learning fun so that the children will be enticed to go back to school,” Pe-ñaflorida said.

Peñaflorida was invited to come to the U.S. to attend the 2010 CNN Heroes Award cer-emony in Los Angeles, howev-er, one of his friends and bene-factors, Erlinda Granda-Sabah

of Global Link Media, advised him to make his trip productive by raising funds for his projects, particularly the completion of the learning center.

The Dinner Musicale fea-tured two outstanding singers, Fresas Flores Balestreri and Maripaz Alvero Vigo, who sang the Philippine national anthem and the U.S. national anthem, respectively. Melanie Jiminez, a seven-year-old singing sensa-tion, sang “My Hero.” But the guest entertainer who brought the house down was Bernardo Bernardo, comedian-singer ex-traordinaire.

The organizers of the event, Aurora S. Cudal, Remy Broas, and Blessie Trott, were support-ed by Ed Danico, president of Cavite Association, Nina Anson and Jean Sipriaso of Los Cha-bacanos Association, and Arnel Encabo, also from Cavite and treasurer of the Council of Phil-ippine American Organizations of San Diego County, the fis-cal agency for the fundraising event. Dr. Allen Chan, owner of Jasmine Seafood City Restau-rant, presented a $1,000 check to Peñaflorida representing a portion of the proceeds from the eight-course dinner.

Push-cart educator, CNN Hero Peñaflorida visits San Diego

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The City of San Diego Public Li-brary will host an author talk featuring San Diego author Judy Reeves and her newly re-vised book, A Writer’s Book of Days, on Monday, November 15, 2010 at 6:30 p.m. in the Wangenheim Room--3rd floor of the Central Library, located at 820 E Street in downtown San Diego. This event is free and open to the public.

A Writer's Book of Days is a holistic approach to being a writer that encompasses the physical, emotional, and spir-itual as well as the creative aspects of writing. Evocative

daily writing prompts - culled from hundreds of writing workshops - opens the door to the creative process and bet-ter writing. To create new or enhance existing stories, po-ems, or writing of any kind, all one has to do is set a date for writing practice, open a notebook, and begin writing. Be sure to bring a pen and pad for Judy’s on-the-spot writing exercise (don’t worry; it will be fun).

Judy Reeves is also the au-thor of The Writer’s Retreat Kit; Writing Alone, Writ-ing Together; and A Creative Writer’s Kit, and has been a

featured columnist and editor. She currently teaches writ-ing and leads creativity work-shops. In her 20 years of ex-perience as a workshop leader, Judy has conducted work-shops at a number of confer-ences, including San Diego State University Writers' Con-ference and Southern Califor-nia Writers' Conference.

Learn about other events at the San Diego Public Li-brary’s Central Library and 35 branches, find links to nu-merous additional resources, or search for materials online in the Library’s catalog at www.sandiegolibrary.org.

Central library hosts hybrid author talk

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had just come from a gruel-ing 12-round sparring session with four fighters from differ-ent divisions.

The event was sponsored by Nike, which was releasing a new line of products, ranging from flipflops to hoodies to box-ing shoes in its new store here.

Later in a hurried inter-view, Pacquiao told the Phil-ippine Daily Inquirer that he would be fighting at 150 lbs., which is five more than when he fought and beat welter-weight Joshua Clottey, his last victim. The catch weight in the WBC super welterweight division is 151 pounds.

If Pacquiao beats Margarito in their Nov. 13 bout, he will be the first man to win eight titles in as many weight divisions.

Currently, Pacquiao shares the seven-title record with Hec-tor “Macho” Camacho, a trou-bled Puerto Rican pugilist who retired in 2008. Camacho nev-er gained renown because some of his titles were not recognized by major boxing organizations.

Boxing pundits and aficio-nados here and in the Philip-pines have expressed concern that Pacquiao’s emergent polit-ical career as the congressman from Sarangani is causing him to lose focus on his training.

DistractionsPacquiao’s coach, Freddie

Roach, has been quoted on a boxing website as saying he was “thrilled” that his ward had left the Philippines where there were too many “distractions … just too much (expletive).”

But since Pacquiao arrived on Oct. 23, he has skipped training camp twice already. He went to San Diego, about an hour’s drive away south from here, to coach a Filipi-no-American basketball team he sponsors.

He later flew to Las Vegas, Nev., on the request of boxing promoter Bob Arum, to support

the flagging re-election bid of Democratic Sen. Harry Reid.

The Vegas trip has already raised a howl here among Republicans.

Roach said this training camp was Pacquiao’s “worst ever,” which has led to specu-lation among boxing fans here that Roach was still upset and that this was the reason it was conditioning coach Alex Ariza who was with the boxer during the Nike event.

All’s wellSpeaking with the media,

however, Pacquiao said all was well in Team Pacquiao, though he did not say why Roach was not with him.

For his part, Roach, in the doghouseboxing.com article, said he was confident that Pacquiao would “be prepared” in his fight with Margarito, a Mexican-American from Tor-rance, Calif., at the ultramod-ern Cowboys Stadium.

Margarito, 32, became the WBO welterweight champ on March 16, 2002, with a knock-out of Antonio Diaz. On Dec. 2, 2006, setting a furious clip of 1,675 punches in 12 rounds, he decisioned Joshua Clottey. Two years later, on July 26, 2008, he would TKO Miguel Cotto in the 11th round.

Then on Jan. 24, 2009, he lost a ninth round technical knockout to Shane Mosley. But during these fights, Mar-garito’s gloves were found to have substances used to make plaster of Paris. As a result, Margarito and his trainer Ja-vier Capetillo were suspended by the California State Ath-letic Commission.

Resuming his career, on May 8 this year, Margari -to won a 10-round decision against Robert Garcia for the vacant WBC international light-middleweight title.

Height, reach handicapMargarito stands 5 feet, 11

inches; Pacquiao is 5-foot 6 inches. Margarito’s reach is 73 inches; Manny’s is 67 inches.

This will be the biggest height and reach handicap that Pacquiao will be facing, which is why he has two 6-foot boxers among his sparring partners.

During the Nike event, the host, Laila Ali, daughter of box-ing great Muhamad Ali and her-self a boxing champion, asked Pacquiao for a prediction, which he declined to give.

Special guests in the audi-ence were Fil-Am high school students from Carson City, an-other Filipino enclave in Cal-ifornia, some of whom got to ask Pacquiao some questions about his career and motiva-tions as a boxer.

Pacquiao’s advice: “Finish school, and if you want to be-come a boxer, you would need to have the passion and the disci-pline to succeed.” (Inquirer.net)

pacquiaoContinued from p age 1

“People talk a lot about height and reach, but I think the advantage in this fight will go to whoever prepares him-self better in the gym for this fight, be-cause he has already shown that he has the power to fight in these divisions, and I don’t think there are any advantages to anyone. The fighter who prepares hard-er for this fight will win,” said Margarito, who is a 5-1 underdog.

Margarito was already doing his road-work and attending afternoon sessions in the gym when Pacquiao was still attend-ing to his duties in Congress and the sub-ject of buildup will be put to a stern test as soon as the two fighters answer the bell at Cowboys Stadium.

Pacquiao had a not-so-impressive stint while spending four weeks in Ba-guio and Manila and this gave Freddie

Roach a lot of worries.But with Pacquiao back in the familiar

confines of the Wild Card in Hollywood, Roach said Pacquiao is back in his element, doing what is expected of him in this cru-cial stage of training.

Margarito’s training, meanwhile, is buzzing with confidence.

“I only have two more weeks of train-ing here at the gym, and on Saturday [Nov. 6] we will fly to Dallas one week before the fight. We’re not going to train as intensely in Dallas; we’ll just jog a little bit just to stay in weight. The rest of the training stays the same: I hit all the bags, mitts and all that,” said Mar-garito who, like Pacquiao, is tapering off after logging 12 rounds of sparring in just one day.

Even if Margarito cuts down the num-ber of rounds of sparring in the final three or four sparring days, he will still have the likes of Ricardo Williams, Aus-tin Trout and Casey Martinez on call to help him study Pacquiao’s style being southpaws themselves.

In contrast, Pacquiao has welterweight Rashad Holloway and lighties David Rodela and Ray Beltran at his disposal. (mb.com.ph)

margaritoContinued from p age 1

Superstar Manny Pacquiao hits the double end bag at the Wildcard Boxing Club on Monday, Nov. 1. Pacquiao takes on three-time world champion Antonio Margarito on Nov. 13 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Photo: Chris Farina/Top Rank

If Pacquiao beats Margarito in their Nov. 13 bout, he will be the first man to win eight

titles in as many weight divisions.

Photo: Chris Farina/Top Rank

Three-time world champion Antonio Margarito (right) hit the mitts with trainer Robert Garcia at the Robert Garcia Boxing Academy in Oxnard, Calif.


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It is believed that music and the art of painting share a common vocabu-

lary as sister arts. Like mu-sic, colors have tones and har-monies, the reason why both can be referred to as composi-tions. Also, paintings are com-pared to literature and poetry because they often share lyr-ical qualities. Dance, drama, even architecture have their counterparts in certain types of painting. And painting has sometimes has been linked to motion pictures in works quite apart from the many biograph-ical epics detailing the lives and loves of famous artists.

But nowhere is the bond be-tween the arts stronger than the link between painting and music. That sums up the concept of “Colors of Love,” a unique art exhibit and con-cert featuring Cesar Monta-no, Sunshine Cruz and Julius Obregon at 7:00 p.m. on Sat-urday, Nov. 20, at the Mar-riott Courtyard Hotel, 895 Hotel Circle South in San Di-ego. The event’s mood will be light, lively, elaborate and yet surprisingly impromptu, with the songs and music of Cruz, Obregon and Montano seem-ingly harmonizing with those of the artworks of the latter, a multi-talented actor with an eye on Hollywood, film direc-tion, and now, painting.

“How could we not do this?” asks Dr. Emmanuel Agui-lar and the Rev. Julius Obre-gon, common friends of hus-band and wife Cesar Montano and Sunshine Cruz. The art-works of Montano are irresist-ible to behold. They draw forth multi-layered images of home: the water, islands and people. It is the total expression and passion of a consummate art-

ist such as Montano to put in canvas the love of his life: Bo-hol, the land of his boyhood and now, the object of his de-sire to improve the quality of life of his home province.

Cesar Montano, oil painter? Very few people know he paints using oils and draws sub-jects from familiar sights and scenes: sabong (cockfighting), balay(homes in the neighbor-hood), isda sa suba (river fish), inahan (motherhood), tasa og kape (coffee cup). Among an as-sorted body of some 50 works, his paintings are brightly hued,

with bold streaks and multi-ple strokes, fuzzy backgrounds and intense lines of silhouettes. There is much to see and imag-ine in his paintings, drawing at-tention to his eye for color, in-terstices of lines and intricate figures, to his sense of nature and transcendence.

On the musical side, the al-luring Sunshine Cruz, who has starred in many movies and TB series in her career as a teeny-bopper in the now defunct teen show, “That's Entertainment,” will perform with “The Gentle-

man of Songs,” Julius Obregon, and Cesar Montano. Cousin to a few popular Cruz’s in the in-dustry, namely Sheryl Cruz, Donna Cruz and Geneva Cruz, she showed that she had what it took to shine in show busi-ness, just like her cousins.

“Sunshine is equally gifted with a wonderful set of vocal chords,” said Obregon, co-pro-ducer, director and conceptu-alist of the show. “She really is the sunshine of Cesar’s life,” Obregon said with a smile.

The show will also intro-duce the singing dentist, Dr. Emmanuel Aguilar, propri-etor of American Dental Clin-ic in Clairemont on Mesa Blvd. in San Diego. Dr. Noel Agui-lar is a well-trained San Di-ego dentist providing excellent dentistry, including dental im-plants, veneers, cosmetic den-tistry and teeth-whitening. He is the president of the Associa-tion of Filipino Dentists of San Diego County.

“Colors of Love” is all about the Panaghoy Children Founda-tion, Inc., Montano’s brainchild project recognized for its efforts in advocating basic education, with the belif that it is the only way to be able to sustain or even uplift living conditions in their respective hometowns.

The powerhouse show of-fers an evening of arts narrated through songs and music as the expression of the colors of love of three consummate artists.

Tickets are at $35 per per-son with a limited “Meet and Greet” special seating from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. on the foy-er of the ballroom, followed by the show at 7:00 p.m.

For ticket and sponsorship information, call (858) 750-8676 or (619) 708-8021. Group discounts available.

‘Colors of Love’Music, art bond for unique conceptual show

Sunshine Cruz and Cesar Montano

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We are proud to announce the opening of our new restaurant TITA’S II at 3421 East Plaza Boulevard National City, CA. 91950. TITA’S II will be the first Filipino-American fusion restaurant in the heart of National City that offers a fast-casual, Downtown contemporary touch provided at affordable dining prices. Our goal is to create a new and unique dining and entertainment experience in National City where delicious food, chic ambiance, and excellent service are provided to our customers at reasonable prices. To achieve this goal, we are looking for creative, talented, and ambitious cooks to join our team. We are looking for team members who:

Have experience in cooking authentic Filipino dishes. Have experience in cooking NON-Filipino dishes. Have creativity in food presentation as well as the desire to explore and

develop new signature dishes. Have an enthusiastic attitude and be organized, motivated, and a team

player. Have the passion for being a part of a team that is establishing something

new, something unique built from scratch, and making it into the new “it” thing!

If you have some or all of the above qualities, submit your resume at [email protected] Our target opening day is 1st week of December.

HELP WANTED

Filipino Press Digital Edition | Nov. 6-12, 2010

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