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DATELINEUSAfrom the AJPress NEWS TEAM AcroSS AMEricA

April 23-26, 2016

Volume 26 - No. 33 • 4 Sections – 34 Pages

mANILA—the supreme Court (sC) on Wednesday, April 20, issued a temporary restraining order (tro) which lifts the Commission on elections’ (Comelec) ban on campaigning overseas.

the high court allowed campaigning abroad ex-cept in Philippine embassies and consulates where voting takes place.

Supreme Court issues TRO on overseas campaign ban

by Patricia Lourdes VirayPhilstar.com

Fil-Am businesswoman and community leader Loida Nicolas Lewis (center), with Ateneo Human Rights Center’s Executive Director Atty. Ray Paolo Santiago and Atty. Jaymie Ann Reyes, filed the Certoriari and TRO Petition before the Supreme Court. On April 19, 2016, the Supreme Court granted a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against the Comelec before recess.

NeW YorK—hillary Clinton and Donald trump both cruised to victory in New York’s presidential primary beating their rivals Ber-nie sanders, John Kasich and ted Cruz. Both frontrunners had a double digit lead against their opponents.

With the win, Clinton will take 139 of New York’s 247 pledged delegates. her win also ended sanders’ month-long winning streak.

“New Yorkers, you’ve always had my back and I’ve always tried to have yours. today, we did it again – and I’m deeply, deeply grateful,” Clinton said as she began her victory speech in front of a throng of supporters. “to all

Clinton, Trump post decisive wins in New York primaries

Los ANGeLes mayor Garcetti unveiled an $8.76 billion budget for fiscal year 2016-2017 that would dedicate $138 million toward homelessness.

the funds in the budget come amid a 12 percent rise in homelessness since 2013.

In the Los Angeles region, there are 25,000 homeless individuals.

“this commitment represents a hous-ing first strategy that we know works... that came from LA but that has not been scaled up enough to deal with the ongoing onslaught of new homeless individuals we see on our

Garcetti’s $8.7-B budget includes commitment toward homelessness

mANILA — the Commission on elections (Comelec) on friday, April 23, announced that a website built by hackers containing a massive leak of almost 55 million registered voters has been taken down.

Comelec spokesperson James Ji-menez said the United states Depart-ment of Justice helped to disable the website that angered filipinos on thursday, April 21, upon finding their names and personal information on the website.

hacking group Lulzsec Pilipinas launched the website wehaveyourdata.

com featuring a search engine enabling users to search for their names in the leaked Comelec database hacked and stolen in march. Included in the listing are full names, birthdates, addresses, parents’ names, passport numbers and even, at times, text markers of finger-prints.

Citing the Philippines’s Department

of Justice, which oversees the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in charge of the hacking probe, Jimenez said the data was preserved by the Us DoJ via web security provider Cloudflare and repurchased from domain registrar GoDaddy.

“DoJ [is] currently in the process of requesting for the preserved data on

Cloudflare and GoDaddy, through offi-cial channels, [and] coordinating with NBI,” Jimenez said in a statement on twitter.

on friday afternoon, a review by Philstar.com of the WhoIs domain name registration of the website shows that the site wehaveyourdata.com was

US helps take down site with leak of Filipinos’ data

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mANILA — the treasurer of rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (rCBC) has resigned amid investiga-tions into the bank’s possible role in the laundering of $81 million stolen from Bangladesh.

the resignation of rCBC treasurer and executive Vice President raul Victor tan took effect Wednes-day, April 20 said senior Vice President and Corpo-rate Information of officer ma. Christina Alvarez in a disclosure to the Philippine stock exchange (Pse). tan headed the bank’s treasury Group and the retail

RCBC treasurer quits; Philrem faces tax raps

mANILA — the Department of Justice (DoJ) is pursuing its investigation of the alleged in-volvement of Davao City mayor rodrigo Duterte in unexplained killings purportedly perpetrated by Davao death squads (DDs).

officials confirmed on friday, April 22, that the National Bureau of Investigation has been con-ducting the fact-finding probe since last year and revealed to the stAr that a possible state witness who “used to be part of the DDs and has personal

DOJ probes Davao death squads, Duterte

A group of hackers, which calls itself LulzSec Pilipinas, launched a search engine for the data of Filipino voters stored in breached Commission on Elections (Comelec) database. An Investigation by TrendMicro found that passport details of 1.3 million overseas Filipino voters and 15.8 million fingerprint records were included in the massive data breach. Philstar.com photos

the United states has issued a fresh travel warning for most of southern Philippines after a surge of kidnappings there, with some victims being snatched from ves-sels at sea.

An advisory issued by the state Department on thursday, April 21, asked its citizens to defer “non-essential” travel to the sulu archipelago and the southern tip of the western island of Palawan, and to take “extreme caution” elsewhere in the southern region of mindanao.

It cited “the high threat of kid-napping of international travel-ers, increased threat of maritime

US warns vs travel to Sulu, Palawan

knowledge about the killings” has remained in NBI custody.

Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte

by camiLLe dioLaPhilstar.com

by Lawrence agcaoiLi and Prinz magtuLisPhilstar.com

by edu PunayPhilstar.com

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From the Front Page

JUST A DRILL. Policemen carry a “victim” during an earthquake drill held in Camp Crame on Thursday, April 21. Similar drills were held in various cities in Metro Manila and in the provinces as part of the country’s preparation for a big temblor. ManilaTimes.net photo by Mike De Juan

successfully reregistered on GoDaddy at 1:56 p.m., Manila time.

Experts say, however, that even with the site taken down, crooks may have already backed up the data and planning on their next moves.

“Taking down the website

doesn’t matter. The people who can do damage with the infor-mation already [have] the data,” Carlo Ople, managing director of Dentsu Digit, said on Twitter.

The data, meanwhile, are still available on torrent listings for downloading.

Screenshot at 2:42 p.m. on Friday, April 22, 2016 shows

that the website, which went viral on Thursday, April 21, for containing a dump of personal information of millions of Filipi-no voters, has been taken down. Philstar.com

The NBI is still investigating the matter and going after in-dividuals behind the hacking and what could possibly be the largest government leak in his-tory.

Election officials say the May 9 national elections will go ahead despite the hacking scandal.

Government agents late Wednesday arrested a 23-year-old suspect, a new graduate of information technology, in his home in Manila. Officials say they are still hunting down his alleged accomplices.

Jimenez said the automated elections will be run on a differ-ent server, not on the one that was hacked, and that experts say the polls are unlikely to be compromised. (With a report by Associated Press)

US helps take down site with…PAGE A1 t

Banking Group. Meanwhile, tax charges have

been filed against a remittance firm that facilitated the funds’ transfer to the bank.

Bureau of Internal Revenue commissioner Kim Henares said they have filed tax evasion charg-es against Philrem for the latter’s P35.61-million unpaid taxes from 2005 to 2014.

“RCBC’s internal investigation had previously cleared Mr. Raul Tan of any participation in or breach of banking policies with respect to the $81-million money laundering issue,” the bank said in a statement.

“The bank thanked him for his valuable services and wished him well in his future endeavors,” Al-varez said.

The board appointed Carlos Cesar Mercado as acting trea-surer.

The bank – owned by tai-pan Alfonso Yuchengco – fired RCBC Jupiter branch manager Maia Santos-Deguito and senior customer representative officer Angela Torres last March 22 for violating bank policies and pro-cedures and falsification of com-

RCBC treasurer…PAGE A1 t

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(818) 502-0651 • (213) 250-9797 • http://www.asianjournal.com LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL • APRIL 23-26, 2016 A�From the Front page

SWITCH ON. President Benigno S. Aquino III, assisted by Energy Secretary Zenaida Monsada; Negros Occidental Governor Alfredo Marañon, Jr.; San Carlos City Mayor Gerardo Valmayor, Jr.; Aboitiz Power Corporation chief executive officer ErramonAboitiz; and Aboitiz Power Corporation chief operating officer and president Antonio Moraza, lead the ceremonial switch-on during the Inauguration of the 59MW San Carlos Sun Power Inc. Solar Power Plant in San Carlos Ecozone, Barangay Punao, San Carlos City, Negros Occidental on Tuesday, April 19. Malacañang photo by Benhur Arcayan

The SC en banc partially grant-ed the application for a TRO in the implementation of Republic Act 9189 or the Overseas Absen-tee Voting Act which prohibits campaigning abroad during the 30-day overseas voting period.

Filipino-American business-woman Loida Nicolas-Lewis filed the petition before the high court to issue the TRO, citing that the

prohibition on campaigning over-seas violates the right to assembly and freedom of expression.

“It is also settled in jurispru-dence that any prior restriction of protected speech is presumed unconstitutional, and the govern-ing body restraining such speech is burdened with proving that such measure is justifiable and valid,” Lewis said in the petition.

Overseas absentee voting

started on April 9 despite minor glitches, according to the poll body.

It also declared that the start of the overseas absentee voting was “generally good.”

Comelec records show that 593,772 overseas Filipino voters are in the Middle East and Africa, 344,848 in Asia-Pacific, 275,729 in North and Latin America, and 161,718 in Europe. n

Supreme Court issues TRO on overseas…PAGE A1 t

kidnappings against small boats, and violence linked to insurgency and terrorism.”

Sulu is a stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf, a group of Islamic mili-tants infamous for kidnappings, bombings and beheadings in the South.

The group abducted eight for-eigners in the past three years, some from neighboring Ma-laysia. It continues to hold four Westerners after killing a Malay-sian and freeing other hostages reportedly for large ransoms.

In the past month, 14 Indone-sians and four Malaysians aboard commercial ships had also been abducted in nearby waters.

Foreign ministers of Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines are to meet in Jakarta on May 3 to discuss an Indonesian proposal for joint patrols in the area of the recent kidnappings, Indonesian security minister Luhut Panjaitan said also on Thursday.

“We don’t want to see this area become a new Somalia,” he added.

Filipino officials said they could not immediately confirm the ministerial meeting.

Britain also warned on Wednesday of the widening threat of kidnappings in coastal resorts and dive sites in Mind-anao, while Canada advised its citizens last week to avoid travel to most of the region.

“Kidnap groups in the Sulu ar-chipelago have sought to expand their reach including by working with affiliates,” the British advi-sory said.

Joint sea patrolsLast week, Malaysia proposed

joint maritime patrols and aerial surveillance with the Philippines and Indonesia in the Sulu Sea be-cause of the rash of kidnappings there.

Defense Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said he will discuss the rise in kidnap-

ping with his Philippine and Indonesian counterparts — Vol-taire Gazmin and Ryamizard Ryacudu.

“It is time the same approach is taken to ensure safety in the Sulu Sea as kidnappings are on the rise in the sea, it not only affects Malaysia, but also the neighboring countries,” Hisham-muddin added.

On March 26, Abu Sayyaf rebels kidnapped 10 Indonesian crew of the tugboat Brahma 12 off Tawi-Tawi province. On April 2, Abu Sayyaf bandits snatched four Malaysian crew of tugboat MasFive 6 in Semporna. On April 8, the jihadist group released a photo of the Malaysian hostages –Wong Teck Kang, 31, Wong Hung Sing, 34, Wong Teck Chii, 29, and Johnny Lau Jung Hien, 21.

On April 15, the group again attacked, abducting four Indone-sian sailors near the Sabah bor-der. (ManilaTimes.net)

US warns vs travel to Sulu…PAGE A1 t

The NBI’s death investigation division is also in the process of “verifying information” provided in the affidavit of the witness.

The DOJ officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they would have to wait for the results of the NBI probe before they could act and conduct a pre-liminary investigation.

In June last year, then justice secretary and now senatorial candidate Leila de Lima bared plans to probe Duterte, saying the allegations against the DDS and the feisty mayor were “very serious and disturbing” and that the NBI would “validate and build the case.”

Law experts earlier explained that extrajudicial killings are

“criminal acts which cannot be justified” even when allowed by government officials, who could be held liable under the US Alien Torture Act.

As an example, they cited the case where the late dictator Fer-dinand Marcos was ordered to pay billions in damages to human rights victims during the martial law years. n

DOJ probes Davao death squads…PAGE A1 t

mercial documents when they fa-cilitated the opening of accounts to accommodate the $81 million.

RCBC corporate secretary and board director Macel Fer-nandez-Estavillo said Deguito’s admission to the Senate Blue Ribbon committee that she lied to the bank’s head office to get the transaction approved clearly shows that RCBC higher-ups had no involvement in the scan-dal. The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) is also investi-gating the case.

“Out of decency and honor, and despite his lack of involvement in the same, he tendered his resig-nation because of command re-sponsibility, as Deguito – whose culpability has been clearly and convincingly established – was under him,” Estavillo said, refer-ring to Tan.

She added the bank’s board of directors turned down Tan’s ear-lier resignation offer.

RCBC president Lorenzo Tan

went on leave last March 23 after he was dragged into the issue by Deguito. Yuchengo’s daughter

RCBC treasurer quits; Philrem faces tax…PAGE A2 t

The resignation of RCBC treasurer and executive vice president Raul Victor Tan (left) took effect Wednesday, said senior vice president and corporate information officer Ma. Christina Alvarez in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE). Tan headed the bank’s Treasury Group and the Retail Banking Group. Senate PRIB, file

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streets (who) have been pushed out, whether it’s from jails, foster care, whether it’s veterans re-turning home from war or folks who are pushed onto the streets by rising rents,” Garcetti said, according to NBC LA.

Garcetti’s plan is 2 percent larger than the current year’s budget. Of the funds proposed for homelessness, approximately $64.7 million would come from the general fund, while $6.4 million would be sourced from special accounts. Much of the funding would be allocated to-ward the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, which is the primary provider of housing and services for homeless people in LA County.

Other funds would pay for “smart teams” in the Los Ange-les Police Department that are trained to deal with mentally ill individuals and “hope teams”

that would be sent to refer home-less people to services.

A major component of the budget includes a real estate pro-posal, where $47 million worth of city-owned property would be sold or converted into affordable housing.

The mayor is also looking to raise $20 million by charging a “linkage fee” on developments. Cities including Boston and San Francisco currently impose such fees on developers , which is considered a charge for building new projects.

The proposal, however, is op-posed by the construction indus-try.

“It’s just another layer of costs,” said Tim Piasky, CEO of the local chapter of the Building Industry Association, according to the LA Daily News. Piasky also said imposing these fees would result in higher housing prices passed on to consumers.

But some developers have touted Garcetti’s plan, though they noted that his proposal only makes sense if city land is either free or leased at a sharp discount. Affordable housing developers say it costs nearly $400,000 to build a unit for a homeless per-son, a price that includes the cost of land.

Jeremy Sidell, chief develop-ment officer and communications director at Los Angeles-based af-fordable housing developer and services provider PATH Partners, said that finding affordable land in Los Angeles is a huge prob-lem, according to the Los Ange-les Daily News.

“Any innovative way to ad-dress homelessness here in Los Angeles, where there’s a lack of affordable housing, is a step in a right direction,” Sidell said.

Another component in the mayor’s budget for the upcoming

Garcetti’s $8.7-B budget includes commitment…

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APRIL 23-26, 2016 • LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL http://www.asianjournal.com • (818) 502-0651 • (213) 250-9797A� Dateline USa

ALIWAN FIESTA. Participants in their colorful costume perform for the Aliwan Festival parade, held along the road from Quirino Grandstand to CCP complex despite the hot weather. Inquirer.net photo by Jilson Seckler Tiu

the people who supported Sen. Sanders, I believe that there is much more that unites us than di-vides us.” Her 19-minute speech was disrupted a number of times when the crowd cheered her on and chanted her name.

“The race for the Democratic nomination is in the home stretch and victory is in sight,” Clinton added. “It’s becoming clearer that this may be one of the most consequential elections of our lifetime.”

Filipino-Americans came to support Clinton. Among those who attended the gathering at the campaign headquarters were Jerry Sibal, Edwin Josue, Dr. An-gie Cruz, Kevin Nadal, Filipino-American Democratic Club pres-ident Aries de la Cruz and Nicole Ponseca. The campaign’s Asian Pacific Islander outreach director

Jason Tengco was also on hand to make sure that the AAPI con-tingent was present.

“This is an exciting moment for the Asian American community. Her victory here tonight means a lot. This is her home state, she was elected here twice. Our com-munity – the Filipino-American community to be specific - had a concerted effort over the past few weeks. We are grateful to the volunteers and everyone who came out to vote,” Tengco said.

“We’re not going to take any state or vote for granted and we will continue to fight through Pennsylvania, Maryland all the way to California. We’re just so happy with tonight’s results and we will continue to engage the Asian American community as we move forward,” he added.

Filipino Americans for HillaryFilipino Americans for Hillary

celebrated Clinton’s win in the New York Primary Election at the Sheraton Hotel along with many Democrats supporting the for-mer Secretary of State.

“Today you proved once again, there’s no place like home,” said Hillary to the cheering crowd.

Clinton won 58% of the New York Democrat votes while Sena-tor Bernie Sanders received 42%. Hillary presently has 1428 delegates committed to her to Sanders’ 1151. She will need 2383 delegates to garner the nomination.

Filipino Americans for Hillary New York recently re-launched at Maharlika Restaurant in New York City to galvanize support for Clinton. Chaired by Loida Nico-las Lewis, the political group has been reaching out to the Filipino American community getting out the vote for Hillary.

“Hillary Clinton has always been attentive to the Fil Am com-munity,” said Ms. Lewis, “In 1999, she was the first and so far the only First Lady of the White House who accepted to be the keynote speaker of NAFFA3rd Empowerment Conference. As Secretary of State, she agreed to our suggestion in 2010 to send US observers to the Philippine elections. She signed the Omni-bus Bill in 2009 which gave lump sum payments to Filipino Veter-ans of WWII. As President of the USA, she will be sympathetic to the Philippines vis a vis China.”

Clinton talked about how New York is home to a diverse group

Clinton, Trump post decisive wins in New York…

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stresses a point as she delivers her speech at the Sheraton New York in Manhattan after defeating Bernie Sanders in the New York primary on Tuesday, April 19, 2016. AJPress photo by Momar G. Visaya

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Helen Yuchengco-Dee, who is chairman of RCBC, took over the bank’s day to day operations to-gether with a management team led by vice chairman Cesar Virata and Armando Medina.

As head of the investment management team, RCBC said Tan was instrumental in growing treasury trading revenues to his-toric highs, which peaked at over P6 billion in 2012.

Tan, as head of the Retail Bank-ing Group, also helped raise low

cost deposits of the retail bank at an average of 24 percent per an-num, RCBC said.

Booked consumer loan refer-rals, it added, moved up by 35 percent per year, and bancassur-ance sales reached P1.2 billion in 2015, RCBC said in a statement.

Waiver of secrecyWith her former employers

in RCBC intent on pinning her down for the laundering scan-dal, Deguito said she is willing to open her bank accounts for scru-tiny to prove she earned nothing from handling the $81 million.

“I am willing to sign a bank deposit secrecy waiver so that my accounts can be examined. People suspect I earned some-thing from this, pero wala akong kinita (but I earned nothing),” she told the Pandesal forum at the Kamuning Bakery in Quezon City yesterday.

She had earlier told senators that the accounts were opened in May 2015 by depositors referred to her by casino junket operator Kim Wong during a meeting at the Midas Hotel and Casino on Roxas Boulevard in Pasay City. On Feb. 5, she said Wong repeat-edly inquired about the remit-tances.

Senators have said she is a key player in the $81-million money laundering scandal.

In the forum, Deguito insisted Wong did not offer her money for handling the transactions of the four account holders referred to her – Michael Francisco Cruz,

Jessie Christopher Lagrosas, Al-fred Santos Vergara and Enrico Teodoro Vasquez.

An internal RCBC investiga-tion has found the accounts to be bogus, having been opened with the supposed depositors using fake addresses and identification documents. The account holders could not be located and none of them has surfaced.

In the same forum, Deguito’s legal counsel Ferdinand Topacio also presented documents from the RCBC head office clearing the remittance of $81 million into five bank accounts.

Supposedly upon the instruc-tion of Wong, the $81 million was transferred to the account of businessman William Go in the same Jupiter branch, then to remittance firm Philrem, then to Wong, Solaire and Midas for the account of Chinese client-gam-blers.

Go has denied opening US dollar and peso accounts in the Jupiter branch. An RCBC internal probe found Go’s signatures on the account opening forms and a withdrawal slip for P20 million to be forged.

Deguito admitted that she “erred” in telling RCBC investi-gators that it was Lagrosas who instructed her to transfer his dol-lar remittance to the Go account.

“I’m sorry, but it was Wong actually. However, at that time, I could not name Kim Wong be-cause I did not know how big

RCBC treasurer quits; Philrem faces tax…

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INJURED AT WORK?

It is against the law for an employer to terminate or discriminate against someone for filing a workers' compensation claim.Most WC benefits are not affected by immigration status.

(818) 502-0651 • (213) 250-9797 • http://www.asianjournal.com LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL • APRIL 23-26, 2016 A�Dateline USa

SIKARAN. Franz Jessen, the Biking Ambassador from the European Union, participates in the Guimaras’ “Sikaran” together with Romanian Charge d’Affaires, a.i. Mihai Sion and German Deputy Ambassador Michael Hasper during the weekend to enjoin everyone to counter climate change. Photo from the European Union in the Philippines Facebook page

fiscal year includes $17.3 million to train and hire 230 new fire-fighters in the Los Angeles Fire Department, which has not seen new personnel in several years.

It also dedicates $14.8 million to keep the police force at 10,000 officers and offer additional over-time hours, and $12 million for street cleaning.

Councilman Paul Krekorian,

chairman of the Budget and Fi-nance Committee, said the may-or’s proposal is a “solid start.”

“I’m happy to see the mayor supporting the council’s work by funding our newly created side-walk repair program, improving the way the city serves the busi-ness community and rebuilding the ranks of our fire department,” Krekorian said, according to NBC LA. (Agnes Constante/AJPress)

Garcetti’s $8.7-B budget includes…PAGE A3 t

and deep this thing was. I had to point to the depositor,” she said. Senators had accused her of ly-ing for her conflicting statements on the transaction.

The dismissed RCBC branch manager also insisted her former bosses had given her the green light to accept the $81 million into her branch.

FalsehoodReacting to Deguito’s claim,

Estavillo said “this is false,” as she cited the dismissed branch manager’s own admission earlier that the accounts were credited automatically without need for any approval.

Bank records, Estavillo said, showed that at the end of the banking day of Feb. 5, a hold advisory from the Operations Group was lifted when Deguito explained that the account hold-ers were long-standing clients, and that the amounts were ex-pected, and with KYC (know your client) documents in order.

In her letter to RCBC head of-fice, Deguito claimed to have met the account holders and spoken repeatedly with Lagrosas to get his instructions.

Deguito later admitted she was only getting instructions from Wong. A supposed SSS ID of Lagrosas shows the face of one Adrian Yujuico.

Two security guards and two branch officers earlier said in af-fidavits that Deguito loaded P20

million in cash in her white Jazz car and not in Go’s gray Lexus SUV as she and Torres had claimed. RCBC is eyeing perjury charges against Deguito and Torres.

Tax case vs PhilremAt the BIR, Henares said they

are seeking P35.61 million worth of unpaid taxes, plus surcharge and interest, from Philrem, which they accuse of “willful” non-payment of gross receipts and percentage taxes from 2005 to 2014.

Also sued were Philrem president Salud Bautista and treasurer Michael Bautista for violations of Sections 254, 255 and 258 of the National Internal Revenue Code.

“The gross failure of Philrem to register, declare and pay the (gross receipt tax) showed a clear intent and purpose on its part to evade the payment of the correct amount of taxes,” the BIR said in a statement.

“Further, its failure to update its registration with the BIR made it liable for unlawful pursuit of business,” it added.

Last week, Henares told a Sen-ate inquiry about her discovery that Philrem was not registered as a remittance company with the agency, but as a land trans-portation firm.

She said Philrem amended its Articles of Incorporation at the Securities and Exchange Com-mission in 2005, but failed to amend its tax records with the

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of people with diverse beliefs as well.

“New Yorkers speak every lan-guage, worship every faith, and hail from every continent. Our diversity is one of our greatest strengths, not a weakness,” she said.

Tengco cited that the New York Primary victory was a testament of the outreach of the Campaign, especially to the Asian American, Filipino American community. “I am proud to be a Filipino Ameri-can and to serve as Outreach Di-rector. I understand the needs of the community – just like Hillary does,” he said.

Representatives of the Fil Ams for Hillary NY who attended the Primary Night Celebration were elated with the results.

“I was there last night to wit-ness this historical event and was blown away by the high energy. It was so contagious!” said Jerry Sibal.

Dr. Angie Cruz reiterated that Hillary is the best qualified can-didate to serve as President of the United States. Coupled with her experience, her engagement with Filipinos has generated the admiration and affection of Fili-pino Americans.

“Hillary has a proven track re-cord of working across the aisle, and her experience as junior Sen-ator of NY and Secretary of State has enhanced her understanding of the unique experiences of all Americans- particularly Filipino Americans and other communi-ties of color,” said Kaleo Nadal of the Filipino American National Historical Society. Kaleo also spoke at the Fil Ams for Hillary NY launch along with Nicole Ponseca and Broadway actor Jose Llana.

“Last night, Filipino American Democrats stood with Hillary be-cause throughout her decades-long career in public service, she has stood with us. We have chosen as the next President of the United States a woman

who shares our values of family, strong communities, and taking care of one another,” said Aries Dela Cruz, President of the Filipi-no American Democratic Club of NY, “I know that if we continue to stand with her to defeat the anti-immigrant Republican nominee in November, as President she will ensure that our community, the second largest Asian group in the United States will be a visi-ble presence in the White House. Our choice in November is clear: We need Hillary’s leadership for America.”

“There’s really no place like home! New York will never aban-don her and neither will she!” added realtor Edwin Josue, “We are with her all the way to the White House!”

There will be ongoing activi-ties to reach out and support for Hillary throughout the general election, said Marilyn Abalos, New York Lead Organizer. The group plans to hold phone banks and other events to help get out the vote for neighboring states upcoming primaries, including Connecticut, Delaware, Mary-land, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island on April 26th. (Momar G. Visaya/AJPress)

Clinton, Trump post decisive…

Jason Tengco, Director for Outreach, Asian American and Pacific Islanders for Hillary Clinton Campaign. AJPress photo by Momar G. Visaya

RCBC treasurer quits; Philrem faces tax…bureau.

“Despite the change in its pri-mary purpose, it did not update its registration with the BIR,” the statement said.

Regulators are still probing how stolen funds from the ac-count of Bangladesh Bank in the New York Federal Reserve found their way to the Philippines last February.

Philrem has admitted before senators having exchanged and remitted the entire $81 million to RCBC’s Jupiter Street branch in Makati City. (With Jess Diaz, Iris Gonzales, Ted Torres)

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Fil-Am survivor of Bataan Death March passes away at 95

UNSUNG HERO NO MORE. Jesse Baltazar, veteran of three wars, receives his overdue medal with a full-dress parade, fixed bayonets, colonial fife and drum corps. Inquirer.net photo

JESSE Mallares Baltazar, a World War II veteran who fought under the US Armed Forces and received the United States Pur-ple Heart, died due to cancer last week at a hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, US. He was 95.

In a report by the Washington Post, the retired major joined the US Armed Forces of the Far East (USAFFE) in 1941 while he was a student at the American Far East-ern Aviation School in Manila. He was commanded by Maj. Gen. Douglas McArthur, then Field Marshall of the Philippine Army.

He was also a survivor of the

Bataan Death March, where Jap-anese troops coerced their Filipi-no and American counterparts to trek 106 kilometers from Mariv-eles, Bataan, to Camp O’Donnel in Capas, Tarlac. On the third night, he escaped from the ago-nizing procession that starved thousands of soldiers to death.

After the war, Baltazar flew to the US and worked at the Office of Special Investigations under the US Navy and was commis-sioned to Korea and West Ger-many. Upon his military retire-ment, he joined the US Agency for International Development

in Vietnam and retired from the State Department in 1988.

Baltazar was born on Octo-ber 8, 1920, in Quezon City. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Russian at Georgetown Universi-ty in 1950 and a Master’s Degree in Education from the University of Virginia in 1979. He left be-hind five children with his wife Margrit Kilchmann.

This year, he published a novel entitled ‘The Naked Sol-dier’, which is a memoir about his prodigious life and times in the military. (Gianna Francesca Catolico/Inquirer.net)

APRIL 23-26, 2016 • LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL http://www.asianjournal.com • (818) 502-0651 • (213) 250-9797A� Dateline USa

PICKETED. Some 2,000 peasants on Monday picketed around the office of the Department of Agriculture (DA) in Koronadal City to demand for food rations to mitigate heavy crop losses due to the continuing drought. The picketers first converged on Thursday, April 11 at one side of the national highway in Barangay Carpenter Hills south of Koronadal City and, subsequently, marched early Friday towards the city proper and established makeshift shelters in the periphery of DA’s Region 12 office there. Philstar.com photo

SAN FRANCISCO — And now they are down to nine. This is the sad reality facing the number of surviving Filipino World War II (WWII) veterans who were able to attend the recent Prisoners of War Day.

“Out of the 17 we had last year when we commemorated the 73rd anniversary (of the Fall of Bataan), now we only have nine. Most of them are 90-years-old, they may not last too long and that is the sad part,” lamented American Legion Bataan Post 600 Commander Rudy Asercion, also the National Federation of FilipinoAmericans Association Region VIII Chair.

“In 2002, I hosted an event with over 600 veterans. Then in celebration 60th anniversary of the Leyte landing in 2004, 384 veterans were present,” Asercion added.

The recent event coincided with the 74th Commemoration of Fall of Bataan at the Filipino Vet-erans Education Center in War Memorial Performing Arts Vet-erans Building in San Francisco. There may no longer be surviv-ing veterans who can join future anniversary events.

“And that is the reason why we should let then know that we

Justin Iselin, Rudy Asercion and U.S. Army Sgt. (ret.) Pelagio Valdez lead a moment of silence after the wreath-laying ceremonies at the Filipino Veterans Education Center. Inquirer.net photo by Jun Nucum

Fil-Ams keep memory of WWII vets alive as ranks dwindle

by Jun nucumInquirer.net

are beholden to them and we owe them a debt of gratitude. It is very, very important that they know before they all expire,” Asercion stressed.

It is also very important for the mostly Filipino high school stu-dent cadets of the San Francisco Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) to meet, greet and interact personally with the veterans they’ve only heard of and seen in television programs featuring them.

Sixteen-year-old JROTC Cdt. 1Lt. Janet Quan of Lowell High School intimated that seeing the veterans in person made her more determined to get involved in helping out them and the ser-vices that they need in her own way.

“I read a book When the Rain-bow Goddess Wept (by Cecilia Manguerra) about what hap-pened in the Philippines,” shared Quan, “and seeing the veterans especially how they are now, makes everything so very real.”

Senior high school student James Chan admits that prison-ers of war (POWs) and missing in action (MIAs) were terms he had barely heard before.

“These veterans made sacri-fices to make sure that their chil-dren could have better lives in the future,” Chan stated. “I just feel very grateful for what they

have done for us. I am just grate-ful to see them, who inspired me, in person.”

Hearing these statements from the students, Asercion disclosed that the veterans education cen-ter will have lectures where his-torians like Alex Fabros would be invited speak to high school kids.

Division Regimental Com-mander of more than a thou-sand guerrillas in Batangas City, Colonel Aquilino Delen, who also spent 44 years as a teacher, was also glad that the JROTC cadets were there.

“It is a big thing for us to be heard from directly by these high school students in commemora-tions and recognitions in events like this. We thank them that they feel honored to see us personally and we are glad that they appre-ciate us,” Delen uttered.

Luzon de Guzman was a young girl from Tarlac in the Philippines during the WWII. “I was crying when they showed videos of what happened during those days,” she said. “I really will not forget the Death March which was the most painful thing to happen to them during that time. My cousin who was a colonel was among the marchers and caught malaria but survived the march.”

Marjan Philhour, who is run-ning to be the first Filipino American San Francisco super-visor, noted that the as Filipino Americans grow in number and make its presence known in the community through invaluable contributions, it is so important to remember where they came from and what the veterans did for freedom.

“As a candidate for supervisor of San Francisco, I want t make sure that I always keep with me the values, hard work and honor that the manongs and the manangs who came before me fought for that I can instill them in my children,” Philhour said.

Federation of Philippine American Chambers of Com-merce, Inc. (FPACC) President Emeritus and Founder Yolanda Ortega Stern narrated the histor-ic timeline of Asia and the rest of the world from 1521-1898 to the events immediately after the Fall of Bataan on April 9, 1942.

“I had an uncle who was a survivor of the Death March but died without being recognized and without ever getting any benefits due him. He kept wait-ing in vain for him to be recog-nized and given the benefits that he so fully deserved,” Stern.

Philippine San Francisco Con-sulate Deputy Consul-General Jaime Ramon Ascalon’s grand-father survived in the Bataan Death March but was never rec-ognized by the U.S. government as a veteran.

“Even as some of them have not been recognized and given their benefits, we are glad that there are organizations that are helping them,” said Ascalon. “Hopefully, before they pass on, they can get the benefits that are due to them.” n

SAN FRANCISCO — Two Fili-pino teenagers were swept out to sea at San Francisco’s Ocean Beach Saturday, April 16 and are presumed dead as searchers failed to find them.

A wave pulled Wayne Ausa, 17, and Grisham Duran, 18, from Vallejo, California, out to sea as they waded into the ocean with three of their friends on Saturday afternoon.

The five teens had walked into the surf arms locked on a sunny day of record high temperatures in the San Francisco Bay Area. A wave knocked them down, forc-ing the boys apart and dragging out Ausa and Duran.

The fire department said the rip currents off Ocean Beach could be very strong even in shallow water. Firemen said the two boys might have been swept

Two Fil-Am teens swept out to sea in San Francisco, presumed dead

as far as 15 miles from shore.The water off the beach is also

very cold and long exposure to it could lead to fatal hypothermia. The other three teens who man-aged to swim to shore were taken to a hospital to be checked.

Firefighters and the US Coast Guard boats and a helicopter searched the waters off Ocean Beach but called off the search that night, saying it could take weeks before their bodies drift back to shore. (Inquirer.net)

Grisham Duran Wayne Ausa

THE Senate Public Safety Committee passed five firearm bills last Tuesday, April 19, in the hope that it will keep more firearms out of the hands of peo-ple who are not allowed to have them, and possibly reduce the threat of mass shootings.

Several of the proposals were vetoed by State Gov. Jerry Brown in 2013, and its return to the Capitol brought again a contentious issue between advocates and gun rights organizations.

The National Rifle Association (NRA) believes that the new regulations would only target weap-ons that have been once deemed reasonable by the State. The organization also testified that some would amount to unconstitutional bans and confis-cations.

“People should be able to own any kind of gun they want to own in the United States of America,” said Ed Worley of the NRA in an interview with the Sacramento Bee.

However, these arguments provided little nudg-ing with the committee’s majority Democrats. In the end, all five measures were passed over the ob-jections of the Republican members and will head next to the Senate Appropriations Committee for fiscal consideration.

Sen. Loni Hancock (D-Berkeley), chair of the Senate Public Safety Committee said that there is “no silver bullet” in dealing with gun safety. “Gun

safety regulation seems to [be] plugging one small loophole at a time.”

The five bills include:• SB 1407 (authored by Senate President Pro

Tem Kevin de Leon) - Anyone who assembles their own firearms must be licensed by the state and would prohibit the sale or transfer of such weap-ons.

• SB 1235 (also by de Leon) - This provides a more explicit definition of ammunition. De Leon previously rallied for a law to require in-person ammunition sales, but was thrown out in court for being too vague.

• SB 894 (authored by Sen. Hannah-Beth Jack-son, D-Santa Barbara) - Imposes a five-day dead-line for owners to report lost or stolen firearms.

• SB 880 (co-authored by Sens. Isadore Hall, D-Compton, and Steve Glazer, D-Orinda) - Expands California 1989 ban on assault weapons to include semi-automatic rifles with ammunition magazines than can be easily detached with the press of a but-ton.

• SB 1446 (by Hancock) - Forbids the posses-sion of high-capacity magazines that can hold more than 10 rounds. California outlawed their manufacture and sale in 1999, but grandfathered in weapons that residents already owned. (AJ, with reports from Sacramento Bee)

New gun restrictions in Calif. clear Senate Committee

5/3/16

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WASHINGTON, DC – As ap-propriations bills are “marked up” in the House Appropriations Committee, US Rep. Mike Honda (D-Silicon Valley, Calif.) contin-ues to play a role in fighting for the issues most important to Bay Area residents.

On Tuesday, April 19, the Ag-riculture and Energy and Water bills were in the committee, and included some major projects and programs that Honda has fought for. As a member of the Energy and Water subcommit-tee, Honda got approval of his amendment to the bill, which will call on the US Army Corps of Engineers to take greater steps to protect Corps facilities, like dams, from cyberattacks.

Earlier this year, Honda led more than a dozen of his col-leagues, calling on the IRS to include energy storage in the renewable energy investment tax credit. Honda continued to show that commitment to renew-able energy storage by fighting for more than $24 million for energy storage research in the appropriations legislation, sup-porting research currently being conducted at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab in California.

Honda continues to champion important programs in funding battle

Energy storage is critical to making full use of the energy produced by solar and renewable energy sources, while improv-ing the electric grid. Honda has been a champion of solar power, continuing that in the Appropria-tions legislation, by pushing to make solar energy a larger part of Weatherization Assistance Grant program and increasing funding for the program. These grants improve the energy efficiency of low-income homes, and the in-creased funds will help expand access to solar power.

Honda also fought against in-clusion of several policy riders in the bill, particularly those having to do with the National Ocean Policy, and allowing firearms at Army Corps development proj-ects.

“Allowing unregulated pos-session of firearms at water re-sources development projects unnecessarily creates an unsafe environment, and coordinated ocean planning that encourages collaboration between stakehold-ers and federal agencies can only

improve our ability to protect our ocean and support our ocean economy,” said Honda.

In the Agriculture funding legislation, Honda’s main prior-ity, funding Women, Infants and Children (WIC) was fully funded at President Obama’s request of $6.3 billion.

Honda also helped lead the way to have President Obama’s request for $299 million in fund-ing for the Emergency Food As-sistance Program, which is used extensively by Second Harvest

and Alameda County Food Banks in the Bay Area to fund their ef-forts to fight hunger. Honda also secured $59 million to fund stor-age and distribution of food for these food banks.

Finally, in the same legisla-tion, Honda joined Rep. Mike Quigley to defend an amend-ment protecting the rights of gay Americans to donate blood. The amendment instructs the FDA to focus on behavior, rather than sexual orientation alone, when screening blood donors.

The FDA lifted the complete ban on blood donation, follow-ing Honda’s extensive campaign against the practice. He wrote the FDA in 2014 demanding an end to the ban. In 2013, Honda criti-cized the American Red Cross for refusing to accept donated blood from Campbell Mayor Evan Low and Vice Mayor Rich Waterman. In 2010, Honda led dozens of his colleagues in a letter to the fed-eral Department of Health and Human Services, calling on the ban to be lifted. n

Mike Honda

A GROUP of human rights claimants which won a class suit against late dictator Ferdinand Marcos has staked claim to the Philippine government’s civil forfeiture case involving 150 of Imelda Marcos’ prized paintings purchased through their alleg-edly ill-gotten wealth.

In a motion for intervention filed before the Sandiganbayan Special Division, the group rep-resented by Zenaida Mique and Hilda Narciso asked the court to allow them to intervene in the motion for partial summary judgement filed by the Republic of the Philippines regarding the court’s resolution on the forfei-ture of Imelda’s 150 paintings purchased in the 1970s-80s.

The group said while the Philippine government is stak-ing its claim over the paintings purchased with malversed funds

Hawaii human rights claimants eye150 Imelda Marcos paintings

by Marc Jayson cayabyabInquirer.net

during the Marcos regime, the group said it also has an interest on the artworks as human rights claimants.

The group said this is because it won a class suit against Marcos in a Hawaii court which ordered the dictator’s family to indemni-fy some 7,000 claimants with $2 billion and $353.6 million.

The group said in December 2012, it commenced a turnover proceeding in the New York County Supreme Court against the New York Country district at-torney that seized two of Imelda’s paintings and at least $15 million proceeds from a sale of a third painting.

The New York County Su-preme Court later ruled that the paintings were in its custody.

The group also sued Imelda’s personal secretary Vilma Bau-tista and sought from her 200 paintings.

A Manhattan court would later uPAGE A11

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IN their posts on Facebook, supporters of presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte urge the public: “Enough already, he has apolo-gized. Move on!” But there’s confusion as to whether he actually did so—he had adamantly said he wouldn’t—or his people put words in his mouth to contain the damage.

It’s not funny

And much damage was gener-ated when, in the course of his campaign, the mayor of Davao City recounted the rape-slay of an Australian lay missionary during a prison riot in 1989 and treated it as a joke. A bad joke, Sara Duterte acknowledged, before adding that as a rape survivor herself, she found nothing offensive in her father’s words. But no, she’d rather not talk about her rape, it was too embarrassing.

Probably more embarrassing was Duterte’s reaction to his daughter’s revelation: The rape couldn’t have happened, he said, calling her “a drama queen.” And there, in that short exchange, lies the kernel of truth about rape: It’s a person-al violation considered so shameful that people would rather keep it a deep, dark secret, or deny it ever happened.

f it still has to be said, we will say it: Rape is not funny. It is the ultimate violation. It leaves a lifelong stigma on the survivor. And contrary to common belief, rape is not about sex, where a woman’s good looks and youthful appeal are cited as so irresistible they could unleash a man’s “natu-ral urges.” It is this thinking that has allowed such jokes as one being “too old, too fat, or too ugly to be raped” to persist. It is the same mindset behind the idea that a woman is “asking for it” when she wears skimpy clothes, is out in the streets late at night, goes off alone with a man, or becomes too friendly with him.

As that 1989 prison riot in Davao showed, rape is about power and control, with the powerful

preying on the weak and helpless. Recall how children, women de-tainees especially during martial law, domestic helpers in male-

headed households, and even men in prison, often find themselves vulnerable to rape. It is a way of asserting control and authority over the defense-less, a very physical and violent invasion of one’s intimate space, as if to taunt the conquered that she had lost control even over her own body.

In war, the rape of women from the enemy camp is meant to demoralize their menfolk who find themselves useless and ineffectual in the one role drilled into them from childhood: protecting their home and family, and especially their women. In-deed, mass rape has become a tool and weapon of war, leaving disease, shame and unwanted chil-dren in its wake, destroying lives and families and diluting the bloodline of ethnic groups deemed undesirable. Think ethnic cleansing and the rape camps of Serbian soldiers during the Bosnian war. Recall how the West Pakistani army routinely raped the Bengal women when East Pakistan se-ceded to later become Bangladesh. Until a west-ern journalist broke the story, each woman kept her rape a grim secret even while she was raising the fairer-skinned child of her rapist—a constant reminder of her ordeal and an immediate cause of her now-pariah status.

In this country, rape brands its survivor as dam-aged goods, one who should be married off post-haste to her violator since no other men would want her now. For the longest time, only a chaste

woman could credibly complain of rape, as women of less sterling character were presumed to have consented to the sexual encounter. This was the presumption of the court when it acquitted the businessman whom Karen Vertido had accused of raping her. How could she have been raped, the defense asked, when she was no naive probinsy-ana but a smart career woman who was married and therefore no longer virginal?

Fortunately, Republic Act No. 8353, or the Re-vised Anti-Rape Law of 1997, defines rape as a crime against a person, rather than against chas-tity, and does away with that presumption. With rape now considered a public crime, anyone, and

not only the victim, can file a complaint.For rape survivors, mending the physical scars

of that violent encounter might take some time, but it is the psychological and emotional trauma that could take a lifetime to heal. Lost is the capac-ity to trust, with most rapes committed by people known to the victims. Gone as well is the desire for intimacy, as the act naturally associated with love now gets associated with violence, force, feelings of helplessness, and often self-doubt, as the victim replays the ordeal in her mind as if to check if she was to blame.

Who then would find humor in rape? And why? (Inquirer.net)

Guest Editorial

WE have been urging Filipinos in America and elsewhere around the world to cast their votes and make their voices heard in decid-ing who will be the next president, vice president and other elected of-ficials in the Philippines. But recent news about hacking, fraud, cheat-ing, and voting machine problems surely douse water on the fire of enthusiasm among those who really want to be fully engaged in Philippine politics.

There have been reports and postings online showing that copies of the ballots with different instructions on how to cast votes. One version re-quires voters to shade the oblong corresponding to their candidate of choice, while another just in-structs voters to draw a circle around the oblong beside their candidate’s name.

Some kababayans are also concerned about re-ports saying machines the Comelec provided in consulates abroad are faulty, and are really wor-ried about the massive data leak of personal in-formation of 55 million voters when the Comelec

database was hacked. But in a report on

The Filipino Channel’s daily newscast “Balitang America” by Henni Espi-nosa, San Francisco Con-sul general Henry Ben-surto said, “In the state of democracy that we are in now and Comelec is

really working hard to ensure that all our votes are cast and that they are counted, we have to keep that faith.”

Addressing the aforementioned con-cerns, Bensurto advised Filipino voters, “Just make sure that you’re able to shade it within the circle. Huwag lalagpas as much as possible. (fully shade it?) Importante that you’re able to shade the whole circle kasi there’s a possibility pagkakulang, puwe-deng hindi macount yon.”

Bensurto assures kababayans that the vote they would cast for their chosen candidate would be the vote that would be counted by Comelec. He

explained, “That’s the reason why you have a re-ceipt, to make sure na kung ano talaga ang nilagay mo don, yon ang magrereflect. so if that happens and I hope it doesnt happen to us, so far that hasnt happened, if that happens, you have to bring that

to the attention of the officials there.”On the issue of hacking, Bensurto ad-

mitted to “Balitang America” that over-seas Filipinos may be among the victims, but reiterates the assurance of Comelec that the leaked data cannot be used to rig the election. He added that Comelec plans to use a different set of servers and a different website for election results.

Balitang America reported that the Comelec, the NBI and some international I.T. experts have worked full force in clos-ing down the controversial website that carried the stolen Comelec data.

Having heard this, I hope kababayans continue to exercise their right and obli-gation to vote, and not be paralyzed by fear and doubt.

* * *Gel Santos Relos is the anchor of TFC’s “Balitang

America.” Views and opinions expressed by the author in this column are are solely those of the author and not of Asian Journal and ABS-CBN-TFC. For comments, go to www.TheFil-AmPerspective.com, https://www.facebook.com/Gel.Santos.Relos

Philippine Consulate assures Fil-Ams: your votes will count

Gel SantoS-ReloS

The Fil-Am Perspective

“LOVE is life force. I believe that the cre-ative spirit is nothing less than love made manifest. I see love as the essential na-ture of all that sup-ports life. Love is opposed to the death of the dream. Love is opposed to the delimiting of possi-bilities of experience. When we run on love, when we move and change and build and paint and sing and write and foster the maximal fulfillment of our own lives, as well as the maximal fulfill-ment of other lives that look to us for help, for protection, or for usable clues to the positive excitement of just being alive, then we make manifest the cre-ative spirit of the universe: a spirit exist-ing within each of us and yet persisting infinitely greater than the ultimate ca-pacities of any one of us…And it seems to me that love, that a serious and tender concern to respect the nature, and the spontaneous purpose of other things, other people, will make mani-fest a peaceable order among us such that fear, conflict, competition, waste and environmental sacrifice will have no place.” – June Jordan, The Creative Spirit: Children’s Literature, 1977.

How do you sustain your creative spirit, the question goes. I am not sure if the question was meant for me or for the individual raising the question. I an-swered it as if I were in the quest for living waters of creativity.

Any artist will attest to the reality that cre-ativity, like love, is a life force. When in that sacred zone of inti-mate connection with “The Higher One,” all seems like life is hand-ed to you on a silver platter.

Much like being in love. Everything is new. Everything seems vibrant. Ev-erything seems effortless. Everything is in synchrony. Everyday is filled with natural joy, an exuberance, unlike any other. No need for distractions in the form of alcohol, street drugs, nor gam-bling. Just pure, internal joy of one’s heart, whose soul is animated by the Higher Universe.

Fail to cultivate your creativity and your inner wellspring dries up. Your soul withers. No longer a reservoir for renewal, it becomes a drainage, leaking out positivity, inspiration and joyful en-thusiasm. Richard Sipe, a psychiatrist to ex-priests, calls it the domination of the Prince of Darkness in one’s life. Some refer to it as “four elves” while few rec-ognize it as their ground zero, coming closer to a sinkhole of depression.

Contrast that to the sacred zone of inspiration, a place where one feels grace, God’s favors to us, imperfect human beings, His beloveds. The zone becomes a sustained rainfall of bless-ings. One feels overwhelmed and in awe of what is being laid out by the Universe. One calls it a partnership with

the Higher Source, as long as one clari-fies what one desires and the intentions are clearly “for the love of music,” “for the love of community,” “for the love of seeing another person succeed,” “for the love of one’s heritage and culture,” “for the love of country,” “for the love of an organization’s vision to come forth.” Thoughtfulness abounds within and without. One thinks of how to ex-tend one further, how to push beyond fatigue to serve another human being and in doing so, transforms that physi-cal wear and tear into transmuted inspi-rations.

Make it first about yourself, and you see yourself drain. You see yourself moving towards frustration, unener-gized, a place where you fail to sense any meaning in your life, a zone where you believe your end has come and you serve no purpose in anyone nor your own life.

Amidst noise of urban citiesAre you present to love and joy

around you? Even if you are immersed in the hot afternoon peak hour traffic of the San Diego 405 Freeway? Do you choose to see curious opposites of yel-low wildflowers and black oil derricks? Do you choose to have conversations with your passengers, eating a deli-cious meat pie that is moist, balanced in spices, with a very flaky crust from Republique, a neighboring bakery and restaurant?

Or would you curse the peak mid-afternoon traffic, spawning more frus-tration and releasing stress hormones,

in the form of cortisol, which will later damage more internal organs?

Would you instead choose to view your Instagram, only if a passenger, and allow the photos to take you around the world? Like images of national parks, sunsets and babies nurtured in love do it to change your paradigm that all is well in this world?

One day, I read a piece about how the world is coming to an end, with nature in so much imbalance that ocean wa-ters are becoming acidic and bleaching coral reefs.

But, I also read in the same article that ocean scientists are navigating is-lands and doing interventions to raise pollution-resistant coral reefs to reverse erosion of these seascapes.

Should we celebrate, then the posi-tive efforts of these scientists? Or per-haps the discovery of a water barrels-conveyor system, powered by pumps, to vacuum out the unconsciously dis-posed of human waste and litter in the oceans?

Should we not vote to install folks with consciences, who will represent the best of us, rather than settling for mediocrity and a shortcut to democratic processes and the rule of law, just because we are angry and frustrated? Should we not dispense with our anger, drain out our bitterness before we go to the polling places? Should we not inquire into what our consciences would choose and for a moment, recall what our ancestors sac-rificed for us with their lives, so we have a clear, unencumbered space to vote?

Should we not take the time off work and off leisure and care that future rep-resentatives are the best folks who are not into dividing us all, but instead uni-fies us Americans? Should we not em-brace all of those around us, of various ethnicities and find their best strengths and consider all, as part of America, the beautiful?

We have a lot to evolve from, a first step is to consider, to move from our angry selves, and to be happy, grown, mature souls. We need for us to fully do the work within, examine our past for patterns and themes of miracles, including scrubbing out the past hurts and replace the anger with love in our hearts.

May we, Americans, succeed to grow our weary, angry, tired, frustrated souls into vibrant, loving and “in love with oth-ers” refreshing souls, as we are meant to be, from the day we were born.

* * *Prosy Abarquez-Delacruz, J.D. writes a weekly column for Asian Journal, called “Rhizomes.” She has been writing for AJ Press for 9 years now. She contributes to Balikbayan Magazine. Her training and experiences are in science, food technology, law and community volunteerism for 4 decades. She holds a B.S. degree from the University of the Philippines, a law degree from Whittier College School of Law in California and a certificate on 21st Century Leadership from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. She has been a participant in NVM Writing Workshops taught by Prof. Peter Bacho for 4 years and Prof. Russell Leong. She has travelled to France, Holland, Belgium, Japan, Mexico and 22 national parks in the US, in pursuit of her love for arts.

Boldly be present to love and joy

Prosy AbArquez-DelAcruz, J.D.

Rhizomes

(818) 502-0651 • (213) 250-9797 • http://www.asianjournal.com LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL • APRIL 23-26, 2016 A�

Dateline PhiliPPines

GRAND CHAMPION. Senator Cynthia A. Villar and Las Piñas Rep. Mark Villar pose with members of the Adamson University Chorale, who got P60,000 cash and trophy after being declared the grand champion in the 2nd Chorale Festival Competition, sponsored by Villar SIPAG. The competition was held in honor of the 168th birthday of healing saint, St. Ezekiel Moreno at the Santuario de San Ezekiel Moreno, Villar SIPAG in Las Piñas City. Also in the photo, (from L-R) are Prof. Armando Salarza, Mr. Gregorio Asilo Jr. and Mr. Jerry Amper Dadap. Senate photo

OLONGAPO CITY — Convict-ed US Marine Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton is taking his case to the Court of Appeals (CA).

He made this manifestation in a notice of appeal his lawyers filed on Monday, April 18, at the

Pemberton tells court he’s bringing case to CAOlongapo Regional Trial Court (RTC) that found him guilty of homicide for killing transgender Jeffrey “Jennifer” Laude on Oct. 11, 2014.

In the notice of appeal, Pem-berton’s lead counsel, Rowena Garcia-Flores, said her client was questioning the homicide convic-tion rendered by Judge Roline-Ginez Jabalde of Olongapo RTC

by Reina TolenTinoManilaTimes.net

by allan MacaTunoInquirer.net

ALAMINOS CITY, Pangas-inan — Vice President Jejomar Binay confirmed Friday that he had talked with Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) Executive Minister Edu-ardo Manalo.

“Secret,” he replied when asked about his alleged meeting with Manalo. “Basta tinatanggap ko nagkausap kami ni Ka Edu-ardo (I confirm that Ka Eduardo and I had a talk.)”

He refused to disclose, how-ever, whether he had sought the INC’s support in his bid to become the country’s next Presi-dent as the standard-bearer of

Binay confirms he met with INC execthe opposition United National-ist Alliance (UNA) for the May 9 elections.

When asked how much of help it would be if the INC endorsed him, he replied, in Filipino, “It would be a big help even in lo-cal elections, especially with councilors. Out of eight council-ors, if you were number five, six, seven, eight, if you did not have the Iglesia’s support, you would be in danger.”

The religious sect INC is con-sidered influential because of its practice of bloc voting during elections.

Joey Salgado, UNA communi-cations director, said Thursday, “The Vice President is humbled by

MANILA — With or without a response from Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) will pro-ceed with its investigation into allegations of his having violated women’s rights based on a com-plaint filed by various women’s groups.

“Our doors remain open,” CHR chairman Chito Gascon told The STAR yesterday. “Part of the process to give it due course is to give the respondent, Mayor Duterte, an opportunity to re-spond to the complaint.”

The complaint stemmed from the mayor’s making a joke about the rape and killing in 1989 of Australian missionary Jacqueline Hamill during a hostage situation in a Davao prison.

CHR to proceed with probe of Duterte’s rape comment

by Janvic MaTeoPhilstar.com

Gascon was responding to Duterte’s pronouncement that he would not take part in a CHR in-vestigation.

Upon learning of the filing of complaint last Wednesday, the presidential race frontrunner told the human rights agency and the women’s rights advocates to “go to hell.”

Earlier that day, various wom-en’s groups went to the CHR to personally submit their letter-complaint asking the agency to investigate his alleged violation of the provisions of the Magna Carta of Women. Duterte’s re-marks about Hamill drew con-demnation from numerous quar-ters.

“(His actions put) in peril the future of many children and young women who are potential victims of violence against wom-en,” read the complaint.

“What protection and redress would they expect in a society where men tolerate such viola-tion?” it added.

The CHR chief said due pro-cess and rule of law dictate that every person is given the chance to respond to charges.

“All public officials have a sworn duty to uphold the Consti-tution and laws of the land,” he said.

A consumer group, meanwhile, said it is Duterte who is behind widespread rice smuggling ac-tivities in Davao City.

Perfecto Tagalog of the Coali-tion of Filipino Consumers said former National Food Authority (NFA) administrator and Duterte campaign strategist Lito Banayo, Davidson Bangayan alias Da-vid Tan, and the mayor’s son Paolo Duterte alias Polong are

uPAGE A10

the opportunity extended by INC Executive Minister Ka Eduardo Manalo to discuss his programs, to lift the poor from poverty and build a compassionate, caring and competent government.”

He added, “It was an oppor-tunity for the VP to share his vi-sion for the country with Ka Edu-ardo.”

On Friday, Binay took his cam-paign to Pangasinan province.

In a speech at the Plaza En-rique Braganza Covered Court, the former Makati mayor prom-ised free health-care services, including free medicines and hospitalization like those given to Makati residents, if he is elected President. n

Branch 74 on Dec. 1 last year.She said Pemberton would

challenge Jabalde’s ruling on “both questions of facts and law” in the appellate court.

Pemberton was also elevating to the CA Jabalde’s March 30 rul-ing denying his omnibus motion seeking partial reconsideration of the court’s guilty verdict, his

uPAGE A10

APRIL 23-26, 2016 • LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL http://www.asianjournal.com • (818) 502-0651 • (213) 250-9797A10 Dateline PHiliPPineS

K-9. DIVISION. Jazz, a bomb-sniffing dog who gave birth to five puppies, poses with her handler at Butuan-Bancasi Airport in Agusan del Norte province. The country’s top enforcer of laws governing air transportation plans to put up its own K-9 division to help guard 44 commercial airports nationwide. Inquirer.net contributed photo

TO USE OR NOT TO USE. Presidential sister and television host Kris Aquino was heavily criticized on social networks after photos circulated showing her allegedly using the presidential chopper to campaign for Liberal Party (LP) standard bearer Mar Roxas and his running mate Rep. Leni Robredo. The Palace has commented that Kris was merely accompanying his brother, President Noynoy Aquino, and the chopper was there for him, and not for her. Photo grab from Municipality of Dalaguete Facebook page

MANILA — As far as President Aquino is concerned, his young-est sister Kris can always ride with him on presidential helicop-ters because the celebrity-talk show host is the country’s “top individual taxpayer.”

Aquino justified further that it has been his habit to invite even businessmen to hop in, if only to show them something from an aerial perspective.

“I do not know what reason the critics saw this. I only ask them: probably you know Kris is one of the top individual taxpayers,” Aquino remarked in Filipino.

Aquino’s comment was sought after pictures of the queen of multi-media went viral and was trending on social media, criti-cizing the Aquino government for allowing the younger Aquino to use government vehicles and join in partisan politics.

At the same time, Aquino pointed out to journalists that he also wanted his sister to reap and enjoy the benefits of what their parents had long fought for, Kris having been only a year old when the late strongman Marcos declared martial law in Septem-ber 1972.

“I wanted to show her how democracy was restored by our

Aquino: Kris, top taxpayer, entitled to presidential helicopter rides

by Delon PorcallaPhilstar.com

parents in the country,” he said. “She was born when our family was really down and out.”

“Whether as an individual tax-payer or somebody who was very close to me, who shared all of the burdens, I think it’s but proper that I share the successes,” Aquino stressed in defending his sister.

Aquino said he could not un-derstand why his critics could see nothing positive about him, and have in fact described him as “lame-duck by this time.”

“I really appreciate that critics still notice me. Thank you,” he said.

Aquino said the “same set of characters” is behind the criti-cisms against his administration.

“It only means the same set of characters do not see any-thing positive in me. They still continue, eh di thank you,” he remarked.

Presidential Communications Operation Office Secretary Her-minio Coloma Jr. issued a state-ment Wednesday defending Kris, reminding reporters that “mem-bers of the President’s immediate family are allowed to ride with him in official government vehicles.”

Netizens have protested Kris’ use of the presidential aircraft, noting that government only utilized one in attempting to put the forest fire out in Mt. Apo in

Davao but has actually used five helicopters for her use in what obviously was partisan politics.

Forty-five-year-old Kris, who took a break from her daily TV programs, has endorsed the candidacy of administration can-didates Manuel Roxas II and Ca-marines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo.

Kris initially said she was only endorsing Robredo.

But Aquino told reporters that his sister volunteered to help the Liberal Party. Kris has so far joined the campaign sor-ties in Bulacan, Bacolod, Samar and Cebu in the hope of increas-ing the ratings of her brother’s anointed one.

Kris admitted she has been drawing flak from social network-ing sites because of the contro-versy, which has stirred debates on whether she violated the law and used government facilities for election campaign.

Section 261 of the Omnibus Election Code regards as an election offense the use of “any equipment, vehicle, facility, ap-paratus or paraphernalia owned by the government or by its po-litical subdivisions, agencies in-cluding government-owned or controlled corporations, or by the Armed Forces of the Philip-pines for any election campaign or for any partisan political activ-ity.” (With Alexis Romero)

bail application and his request for clarification regarding his sentence, Flores said.

Although Jabalde affirmed the court’s original decision to con-vict Pemberton when she dis-missed the omnibus motion, she reduced his jail term from the maximum 12 years to 10 years in her latest ruling.

Laude’s kin and their lawyers have yet to comment on Pember-

ton’s intent to appeal to the CA.Lawyer Virgie Lacsa-Suarez,

one of the counsels of the Laude family, said she received a copy of the notice only on Wednesday.

The court received Pember-ton’s notice of appeal on Tues-day, said RTC Branch 74 court of clerk Gerry Gruspe.

Pemberton’s case has had little effect on the continued arrival of American troops in the Philip-pines. n

Pemberton tells court he’s…

in cahoots with the mayor in rice smuggling activities.

“Maliwanag pa sa sikat ng araw na ang Davao City ay isang smug-glers’ haven dahil mismong ang anak ni Mayor Duterte ang lord ng mga smugglers (It’s clear as day that Davao City is a smuggler’s haven because it’s the son of the mayor himself who is the lord of the smugglers),” Tagalog said.

“Duterte has no balls in fight-ing smugglers. Duterte has no balls in reforming our govern-ment,” he added.

But Pete Laviña, chief of Duterte’s media bureau, dis-

CHR to proceed with probe of Duterte’s…

PAGE A9 t

missed Tagalog’s accusation as another black propaganda against the Davao mayor, whose ratings in presidential surveys have soared dramatically with the national elections barely three weeks away.

Black prop?“Another black propaganda.

They should have filed cases long ago. Why raise the issue now?” asked Laviña.

Tagalog based his accusations on a 2007 report made by the National Bureau of Investigation and the Presidential Anti-Smug-gling Group, copies of which were distributed to the media

during a press briefing at the Ka-muning bakery in Quezon City on Thursday, April 21.

“Intelligence information re-ceived that a certain Glen Escan-dor, son of Col. Escandor and owner of Mandaya Hotel, and Paolo Duterte aka Polong… are business partners in smuggling activities and are responsible in the proliferation of smuggled Sub-Urban Vehicles and high end cars in the area,” said the PASG report dated Dec. 7, 2007 signed by Rosauro Bautista, PASG team leader 2.

“These activities are being undertaken without any arrest or apprehension by concerned government agencies due to the alleged power and influence of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, the father of Paolo,” the report added.

Tagalog said that Bangayan is the same rice smuggling lord which the Senate had investi-gated and who is temporarily out on bail.

According to Tagalog, Duterte had previously insisted that Ban-gayan or David Tan is a fictitious character and does not exist in Davao City. (With Non Alquitran)

PAGE A9 t

WASHINGTON — Many jour-nalists have been murdered in the Philippines, from the 2009 Maguindanao massacre to re-cent execution-style killings, Re-porters Without Borders said in its 2016 World Press Freedom Index.

“Often committed by private militias in order to silence re-porters who are investigating them, these murders usually go

PH 138th in World Press Freedom Indexby Jose KatigbaK

Philstar.com

unpunished. In this climate of terror, media outlets succumb to self-censorship or corrup-tion, in which journalists receive ‘favors’ in exchange for positive coverage,” the report said.

The Philippines was in 138th place in the latest index which ranked 180 countries according to the freedom allowed journal-ists. It was in 141st place in last year’s index.

“In the Philippines, journalists carry guns and know how to use them because they are in con-

stant danger,” the index said.Paradoxically, the national me-

dia are fairly free and diversified and do not hesitate to criticize the Aquino administration, it said.

Also, the Internet is not subject to any control.

Heading the rankings were Finland, Netherlands and Nor-way in that order, while the last three positions were held by Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea, referred to by the index as “the same infernal trio.” (With Artemio Dumlao)

MANILA — The Aviation Se-curity Group (Avsegroup) is look-ing into the case of a US-bound passenger who cried extortion after being stopped before noon Tuesday, April 19, at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) because of a bullet found in her handbag.

The incident gave rise to spec-

‘Tanim-bala’ back? Woman, 75, stopped at NAIA for bullet in bag

by Jeannette anDraDeInquirer.net

ulation that the so-called “tanim-bala (bullet-planting) scheme has returned at the country’s premier airport.

The Avsegroup director, Chief Supt. Pablo Francisco Balagtas, said he had ordered the NAIA-based police unit to investigate the allegation made by 75-year-old Salvacion Cortabista of Anti-polo City. He also sought her help in identifying the person who al-legedly asked for P50,000.

Balagtas told the Philippine Dai-ly Inquirer: “While we are waiting for her (Cortabista) to file a formal complaint, I have asked our NCR (National Capital Region) office to validate the claim and check the persons who were present when she was stopped at the final secu-rity screening checkpoint.”

Cortabista and her 78-year-old husband, Esteban, were sup-posed to board a South Korea-

uPAGE A11

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SEN. FERDINAND “Bong-bong” Marcos Jr. appears to have so far escaped unhurt the sustained bashing he has been getting front and center for re-fusing to apologize for the mar-tial law excesses of his father’s martial law regime, topping the latest Pulse Asia voter preference survey of vice presidential candi-dates released on Tuesday.

The survey showed Marcos got a nationwide rating of 27 per-cent, with solid support coming from Metro Manila, Luzon out-side Metro Manila, Classes ABC and D, results of the latest Pulse Asia survey conducted from April 5 to 10 showed.

He held a four-point lead over Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero who was preferred by 23 percent of the respondents. Escudero was in a statistical tie with Cama-rines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo who had 21 percent.

The survey, commissioned by ABS-CBN, interviewed 4,000 re-spondents and used a margin of error of plus-or-minus 1.5 per-centage points.

In the one and only vice presi-dential debate sponsored by the Commission on Elections and TV5 on April 10, Marcos was skewered by his rival on issues of his father’s human rights record, corruption and the alleged stolen billions of dollars.

President Aquino himself has been leading the Bongbong Mar-cos bashing, devoting his speech on the 30th anniversary of the Edsa People Power Revolution in February to the excesses of the Ferdinand Marcos dictator-ship after the New York Times

Bongbong tops survey for VP amid attacks by rival bets

Vice presidential candidate Sen. Bongbong Marcos during a campaign sortie in Tarlac province . Inquirer.net photo by Grig Montegrande

by AnA RoAInquirer.net

said that Filipinos, disillusioned by the Aquino administration’s ineptness, were yearning for the Philippines’ “golden age” under martial law rule.

Duterte, MarcosExplaining Marcos’ surge in the

survey, Edmund Tayao, a political science professor at the Univer-sity of Santo Tomas, noted a simi-larity between Marcos and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, who is seeking the presidency.

Duterte and Marcos lead-ing the polls shows the voters’ preference for “strong men and decisive leadership,” said Rich-ard Javad Heydarian, political science professor at De La Salle University.

There was little change in the ratings of the vice presidential candidates compared to the last Pulse survey conducted from March 29 to April 3. Marcos was down by a point, Escudero was up by one point while Robredo’s rating was unchanged.

“Albeit small, there are still movements in the ratings. This remains a three-way race,” Ta-yao said.

Following the top three were Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano (17 percent from 15 percent), Sen. Gringo Honasan (4 percent, un-changed from the last survey) and Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV (3 percent from 5 percent).

Marcos was the leading candi-date in Metro Manila (40 percent), Luzon outside Metro Manila (35 percent), Class ABC (43 percent) and Class D (28 percent), while Robredo topped the Visayas (35 percent) and Cayetano was the most favored in Mindanao (32 percent).

The ratings of Escudero (23 percent), Marcos (22 percent),

Robredo (22 percent) and Cay-etano (20 percent) were almost the same among Class E.

The survey also showed Es-cudero as the leading second-choice of voters with 26 percent of the respondents saying they would vote for him in the event their candidate withdraws.

Sixteen percent said Cayetano was their alternative candidate while 13 percent chose Robredo and 13 percent picked Marcos. Trillanes and Honasan were the second choice of 7 percent and 5 percent, respectively.

Escudero would gain the most if Marcos cancels his candidacy with 33 percent of the latter’s voters naming Escudero as their second-choice candidate.

Escudero was also the alter-native candidate of 38 percent of Robredo’s voters, 36 percent of Cayetano’s supporters and 24 percent of those who favored Trillanes.

Message of unityIn a statement on the survey

result, Marcos said, “It is a vali-dation that the Filipino people want to hear platforms and pro-grams rather than mudslinging.”

He added, “Our message of unity is being accepted and the survey results will continue to inspire us to work doubly hard in the remaining days of the cam-paign.”

At the “Agbiag ti Ilocano (Long live the Ilocano)” event at Ma-nila Polo Club on Monday, Mar-cos said that he had always been spreading the message of unity, which was being well-received and accepted around the country.

He pointed out that it was time to bring back the true essence of public service but the campaign still has to be won and it was time to work “double time” in the re-maining period of the campaign.

After the event, Marcos ex-plained that he needed to work doubly hard on the campaign, saying, “I am not counting out anyone from the vice presidential race… Every candidate has skills, a bailiwick, support so I take every candidate’s campaign seriously.”

He added that he was focusing on his own style of campaign and would not be distracted. “Other candidates will do what they do. We will continue with our cam-paign and message of unity, mer-it and excellence in government. That I think is something that re-verberates with the people.” n

bound plane to catch a connect-ing flight to the US where they were to receive medical treat-ment. The couple were travel-ling together with their niece, Fei Balagot.

Based on a report from the Avsegroup-NCR, Cortabista was stopped around 11:30 a.m. Tues-day at the final security check-point of NAIA Terminal 1 after a .38-caliber bullet was found in the pocket of her handbag. She was taken into police custody and a complaint for illegal pos-session of ammunition was filed against her in the Pasay City prosecutor’s office.

Senior Deputy State Prosecu-tor Theodore Villanueva later ordered Cortabista released for

further investigation.In a radio interview Wednes-

day morning, Cortabista said she “overheard” one of the airport security personnel asking her niece for P50,000.

“I asked my niece to hurry up because she had a family wait-ing for her. She was about two meters away when I saw some-one chasing after her,” she said. “That is just what I overheard and my niece said she did not have that kind of money.”

She surmised that it was about money based on the hand signals they used and her niece’s re-sponse. “I only overheard ‘50.’ I really don’t know what it’s about. My niece is already in the US so she cannot attest to that.”

Cortabista maintained she did

not know how a bullet got into her handbag, although she said she had a relative who has been into shooting. “I haven’t seen an actual gun. Maybe on TV or the movies,” she added.

The Avsegroup-NCR chief, Se-nior Supt. Adolfo Samala, said it was only on Wednesday that he heard about Cortabista’s allega-tion of an extortion attempt.

“She never mentioned any-thing about that while she was here (on Tuesday). Even her lawyers — she had two from the PAO (Public Attorney’s Office) — didn’t say anything,” Sama-la told the Inquirer. “If she had mentioned that, I would have in-vestigated the matter right away and called the attention of the concerned unit.” n

‘Tanim-bala’ back? Woman, 75,stopped…PAGE A10 t

convict Bautista of conspiracy and tax fraud and sentence her to two to six years in prison for the illegal sale in New York of Imelda’s Monet piece that disap-peared after the Marcoses fled the Philippines.

In March 2016, the Philip-pine government filed a motion for partial judgement before the Sandiganbayan with regard to Marcos’ civil forfeiture case No. 141.

The motion identified Imelda’s paintings purchased in the 70s and 80s, all of which were also included in then claimants’ case against Imelda’s personal secre-tary Bautista in New York.

The group said the Philippine government “has not advised the (Sandiganbayan) of the penden-cy of the litigation in the United States over the same artwork which is the subject of the pend-ing motion for partial summary judgement.”

“The petitioner has fraudulent-ly failed to inform the Honorable Court that, by virtue of a formal settlement made in 1986 by the PCGG (Presidential Commission on Government), that it recouped the funds allegedly misappropri-ated and used to purchase most of the artwork,” the group said.

The group claimed it has a “legal interest” to intervene in the Philippine government’s motion “as they are so situated as to be adversely affected by any disposition of the property (paintings).”

It added that the New York District Attorney even filed an action for interpleader before the

New York Federal Court in Feb. 2014 seeking a determination of the entitlement to the seized property and naming Imelda, the group and the Philippine govern-ment as defendants.

At least three paintings and proceeds of a fourth painting have been deposited before the federal court.

Earlier, the Sandiganbayan on Sept. 2014 ordered to confiscate Imelda’s paintings believed to be part of the family’s ill-gotten wealth, among them three simi-lar “Madonna and Child” paint-ings by Michelangelo; “Femme Au Chapeau,” “Paysage,” “Jeune Femme En Rouge,” “Coupe De Fleurs,” five “Vase De Fleurs,” “Panier De Fleurs” and “Jeune

Femme Shabilant” by Paule Go-billard; and a Picasso replica brass strokes.

These prized artworks have since been transferred to the au-thorized custodian National Mu-seum for safekeeping.

Imelda also faces 10 counts of graft before the Sandiganbayan for allegedly having pecuniary interests in various foundations set up by her and her husband to accumulate ill-gotten wealth.

Her son Sen. Bongbong Mar-cos, a vice presidential candidate, in an election debate denied that he has corruption allegations under his name. He also said he could not return what he does not have, pertaining to the fam-ily’s ill-gotten wealth. n

Hawaii human rights claimants eye…PAGE A7 t

This file photo taken on June 7, 2007 shows former first lady Imelda Marcos is seen in her apartment in Manila with a gallery of paintings including a Picasso, seen at upper right. AFP file photo

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After spending a few days in the Philippines, reigning Miss Universe Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach is back on track to fulfill her duties as international beauty titleholder.

Wurtzbach took to Instagram to share her itinerary, saying that she was hoping to go to the quake-stricken ecuador.

“Wasn’t quite ready to leave yet and I really do hate saying goodbyes but duty calls! Next stop…Peru! And a possible ec-uador trip in the works (fingers crossed it pushes thru) I have you

all in my thoughts and prayers!” Wurtzbach said.

the death toll from the pow-erful quake that rattled ecuador had climbed to more than 500.

“thank you to my amazing team for helping me prepare for my final walk as BInibini. Back to Miss Universe duties now!” she added.

Wurtzbach turned over her crown as Miss Universe-Philip-pines during the Binibining Pilipinas 2016 coronation night last Sunday, which saw Maxine Medina as winner. (Inquirer.net)

SHOWBIZ&STYLEJournal

Back to Miss U duties: Pia hopes to fly to quake-stricken Ecuador

Iza Calzado with James Corden

When Iza Calzado met James Corden

the Search to Involve Pilipino Americans (SIPA) celebrated its 44th Anniversary Awards and Benefit Dinner on thursday, April 14 at the Sheraton Universal ho-tel. the event entitled “Building for the future” or “Magtatag Ng Kinabukasan” attracted a mix of individuals and corporate sponsors in support of the organization.

the night kicked off with a warm welcome by the hosts - musician/model Liane V and director/chore-ographer Giovanni Ortega.

As part of the celebration, SIPA honored four distinguished indi-viduals who have made significant contributions in the filipino Com-munity. Lillibeth e. Navarro re-ceived the Bayanihan / Community Service Award for her work with Communities Actively Living Inde-pendent and free. Chef Charles Olalia received the Kalampusan / Corporate Achievement Award for the recent opening of rice Bar, located in Downtown LA.

“the Corporate Achievement Award gave me great validation that ricebar is doing something right. It is very flattering to be amongst fellow filipinos who are doing very well in their respective fields. It’s great to be recognized by our own community. I did ricebar for every-

SIPA honors distinguished Fil-Ams

PAGE B3

ACtreSS Iza Calzado recently got a chance to watch “the Late Late Show with James Cor-den” live in Los Angeles before her trip back to Manila.

“My friend rembrandt flores knew I was a big fan, so he took me with him when he got invited by [producer] Kate Presutti to hang out backstage,” Iza told the Inquirer.

Iza saw Gwyneth Paltrow and Andrew rannells on the set, but was too shy to take a selfie.

When James passed by, however, Iza threw cau-tion to the wind and asked for a souvenir snapshot. “he was so pleasant and generous. he took my phone and snapped the pic himself, making sure to include the show’s logo in the background.”

As a bonus, James also said yes to Iza’s request to shoot a video greeting for her boyfriend Ben Wintle, who similarly adores the British actor-singer. “I had so much fun,” she recalled. (Bayani San Diego Jr./Inquirer.net)

SIPA Crew, SIPA’s very own performing dance group, gave a rousing performance that incorporated swing, house, and hip hop dance styles. Pictured from left to right, top: DiannaMae Manaluz, Justin Gamboa (Dance Captain), Fred Mayor (Choreographer), Nicole Salimbangon, Gerald Berzuela, Brianna Menendez, Zuce Morales (Choreographer), Karl Bustillos (Marketing & Media Representative), Fred Jabagat, Jahaziel Hernandez; bottom: Hiromi Nomura, Rheanna Ocampo, Ava Chavarria, Keianu Jacinto, and Ray Basa (Artistic Director); not pictured: Joan Maranan (Company Director) and Van Jovi Wong (Assistant Artistic Director) AJPress photos by Andy Tecson

Photo from Miss Universe Facebook page

SIPA board members

april 23-26, 2016 • la WEEKEND aSiaN JOUrNal http://www.asianjournal.com • (213) 250-9797B� Features

Moonlighting

by Mylah de leon

IN 1960, the Silver Strands was a group of United States Navy personnel serving onboard the USS Jason (AR-8) based in San Diego, California. The group recruited John Gummoe, who originally acted as manager before becoming the lead vocals. They left the Navy to become The Thundernotes.

The group’s other members in-clude Lenny Green, (vocal and lead guitar), Dave Wilson, (drums and vocal), Dave Stevens, (bass), and Art Eastlick, (rhythm guitar). Their first and only recording, “Thunder Rhythm” (and “Payday” on the re-verse of the 45rpm) was with DelFi Records of Hollywood, owned and managed by Bob Keane. Lenny left soon after to pursue his own goals and the group acquired Eddie Snyder (guitar), Von Lynch (key-boards), Ronald Lynch (keyboards, saxophone), Dave Stevens (bass) and Dave Wilson (drums).

Influenced by the Beach Boys, the group became more interested in vocal harmony. They recorded demos and signed with Barry De Vorzon at Valiant Records, a subsidiary of Warner Bros., and changed their name to The Cas-cades – inspired by a nearby box of dishwashing detergent. Their first release, “There’s A Reason,” became a small regional hit.

In the summer of 1962, they went to Gold Star Studios in Los

John Gummoe of the Cascades joins Regine Velasquez in LA concert

Angeles to record a song Gum-moe wrote in his Navy days. The musicians on the recording include the “Wrecking Crew”—Jim Owens (on drums), Carol Kay (on bass) and Glen Campbell (on guitar)— and arranged by Perry Botkin, Jr. “Rhythm of the Rain” was issued in November 1962. It rose to #3 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in early 1963, becoming a major hit in over 80 countries. It peaked at #5 in the UK Singles Chart. The record sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.

The Cascades continued to record, produce an album and several additional singles, includ-ing the follow-up “The Last Leaf”, but it did not match the charm or

PAGE B3

FAREWELLS are always both sad and bright like sunshine after the rain.

The town hall meeting with our US Ambassador Jose Cuisia Jr. last Monday, April 18, was just like that. At what might be his last

Till we meet again, Amb. Jose P. Cuisiavisit in Los Angeles before he fin-ishes his tour of duty on June 30, the meeting was more like a little convergence of the relatively tame media and the Fil-Am community who are bounded by strength in numbers and locked with dedica-tion to their respected endeavors.

The Fil-Am Community rep-resents, if not, affect collective thoughts and ideas, in order to ensure the victory of any undertak-ing. It takes a conscious effort to unite, and every opinion be given

the courtesy it deserves. It was an evening of great fellowship with the ambassador.

Like as I said, media participa-tion was relatively tame. As soon as the first three questions rang out, they started vibrating like tuning forks. The centerpiece of the eve-ning was the Q and A but gathering news can be funny, lonesome and arduous — people blame you for

the bad news. Truth can get you into a lot of trouble, the Greeks used to kill the messenger that brought bad news.

But how can a notepad and a pen capture a frame of mind, a disposition, a temperament, human or body language, which was the collective effort among us?

Attempting to synopsize all the

Ambassador Jose Cuisia Jr. with Consul General Leo Herrera-Lim.

The Fil-Am community at the Philippine Consulate. Photos by Bobby Crisostomo

PAGE B4

John Gummoe

Regine Velasquez

(213) 250-9797 • http://www.asianjournal.com LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL • ApRIL 23-26, 2016 B�Features

BEAUTY QUEEN’S CASE DENIED BECAUSE OF FRAUD, ON A ENCORE EPISODE OF “CITIZEN PINOY!” Karen (center) married US citizen Paul (left) in 2007. It was a match made in heaven, until their beautiful life was put under extreme hardship when Karen’s adjustment of status was denied, after she was found guilty of immigration fraud. They submitted a fraud waiver, and even that was denied. The couple was devastated and all plans for their family and businesses were shattered. Everything seemed hopeless until leading US immigration attorney Michael J. Gurfinkel (right) took over Karen’s case and fought to convince USCIS Karen never committed any fraud. Watch how the “Beauty Queen” and her family regained their charmed life and Karen’s name was cleared, on an encore episode of “Citizen Pinoy” – on Sunday April 24 at 6:15pm (PST) on TFC.

one and I’m glad we have gained their support,” Olalia stated.

The Lingkod Bayan / Political Leadership award was given to Hon. Elito M. Sanataria for his immense contributions within the Carson City Council. Ramona Rich was awarded the Uliran / Role Model Award for her work with development of affordable rental housing.

Upon receiving the award, Rich proclaimed, “I am truly, very hon-ored to receive this award. I really appreciate and am satisfied that I am able to help Filipino organiza-tions in their quest to provide af-fordable housing and much needed

SIPA honors distinguished... PAGE B1 services to the Filipino American

community.”The crowd received words of

inspiration from award winning author, peak performance business trainer and speaker, Kalani Vale. He currently serves as one of the top trainers for the famous Anthony Robbins Company.

One of the highlights of the night included a performance by hip hop dance troupe, SIPA Crew, led by Ar-tistic Director Ray Basa. SIPA Crew currently offers free classes for dance, empowerment and technol-ogy every Wednesday and Friday at SIPA in Historic Filipinotown.

Music performer Jessica Louise provided entertainment for the eve-

John Gummoe of the Cascades...success of their big hit. The group continued to receive major radio airplay in their hometown, San Diego. The Cascades’ cover ver-sion of Bob Lind’s “Truly Julie’s Blues” received spins on KCBQ and KGB in 1966, and their song “Maybe The Rain Will Fall” fared well on San Diego radio charts in the summer of 1969.

The group was active, played local San Diego clubs like The Cinnamon Cinder, and at other times, toured widely. In 1967, The Cascades appeared onscreen in the Crown International Pictures teen comedy adventure film, “Cata-

PAGE B2 lina Caper,” which included their version of a song written by Ray Davies of the Kinks, “There’s A New World.

Gummoe left the group in 1967 to pursue a solo career and later formed the band Kentucky Ex-press. Keyboardist/vocalist Gabe Lapano took over the lead chores, the group also added Tony Grasso, with Owens and Snyder the re-maining original members. The group finally split in 1975. Snyder later recorded country music under the name Eddie Preston. Gummoe recorded a dance mix of “Rhythm of the Rain” in 1990. The group reformed twice, in 1995

and 2004, touring the US and the Philippines, where they retained a fan following. A compilation CD of the Cascades’ best moments was issued in 1999. That same year, performing rights organiza-tion BMI announced the “Top 100 Songs of the Century.” to receive airplay on radio or television in the U.S., with “Rhythm of the Rain” at #9.

Gummoe is currently scheduled to perform on May 22, 2016 as a guest artist to Asia’s SongBird, Regine Velasquez in Los Angeles, CA.

Call V Entertainment for tickets at (818) 458-9258.

ning and DJ Icy Ice closed out the night on the ones and twos.

Although the annual dinner is one of SIPA’s key fundraisers, the organization plans to host a number of events throughout the year that will focus on sports, Filipino food culture, networking events and community gatherings.

SIPA enriches and empowers generations of Pilipino Ameri-cans and others by providing health and human services, com-munity economic development and a place were people of all backgrounds come together to strengthen community. For more information or to make a donation to SIPA, go to sipa-online.org or follow SIPA on Facebook. (By Ra-chel Buenviaje)

april 23-26, 2016 • la WEEKEND aSiaN JOUrNal http://www.asianjournal.com • (213) 250-9797B� Features

By Monet Lu

TIME really flies so quickly. Paul Victor Ireton was just an ordinary teenager when I met him with his younger bother, Nathan. Fast forward to 12 years later, Paul and his wife Miriam invited me to a five-day seminar and conven-tion hosted by the World Finance

Paul and Miriam Ireton: No substitute for hard workGroup (WFG) in Las Vegas. The evening was jam-packed and I witnessed how the couple turned their life around and became successful entrepreneurs. Paul is now the CEO of his company and living a very comfortable life.

Paul was chosen as one of the speakers along with the honor-able 66th United State Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice. It was held at the MGM grand arena with a full house of 25,000 thousand attendees and guests. He shared his story, experience, strength and hope, with convictions and

Till we meet again... PAGE B2

MONDAY, April 25 - Meet teen race car driver Gabe Tayao, a 16-year-old multi-awarded Fili-pino-Chinese karting champion who is currently the reigning 2015 GWA International Karter of the Year. He has garnered several podium wins all around Asia during his five years of karting. After Marlon Stock-inger, he is the Philippines’ lat-est driver to level up to Formula Cars.

Tuesday, April 26 - Join our panel of Pinays who will explore the often never-spoken-about and taboo topic of sexual assault, violence and how we can protect our loved ones.

Wednesday, April 27 - Mid-week News Updates from the Asian Journal and Mia Mcleod of McLeod and Associates gives real estate advice.

Join us as we fly with EVA Airways directly to Cebu, Phil-ippines.

Kababayan Today and Next

G. TönGi

The Global Kababayan

Programming of Kababayan Today, April 25-29, 2016

Day Better collaborate to engage people around the world to help drop the price of pneumonia vaccination in the Philippines. Pneumonia is the leading cause of childhood deaths in our home-land. Dropping the price of vac-cines will help make it more ac-cessible to families and children across the Philippines.

Filipino health profession-als around the world are get-ting involved. We’re asking the Filipino diaspora to support the campaign by signing this petition: www.nextdaybetter.com/afairshot

Thursday, April 28 - Actor Alvin Anson shares his insights on Philippine entertainment.

Friday, April 29 - Get to know Taylor Ligan who donates baby blankets to babies in need at the Children’s hospital of Los Angeles.

*** Giselle “G” Töngi is the host and producer

of Kababayan Today, a daily talk show that features relevant topics for Filipino’s living in America. Her aim is to bridge not only the cultural gap between America & the Philippines but to help with the generational gap between our own people. She is married with two children and is based in Southern California and makes frequent trips in the Pacific Rim to Hawaii and Manila to feature fellow kababayans who are empowering the FilAm community.

honesty. This story proves that each of us has a purpose in life and things happen for a reason. You need to give it your all, do not give up on your dreams, and believe in yourself and most all in God. I was given an opportunity to be part of this amazing couple’s career in the early stages of their life. The story of the young lovely couple Paul and Miriam Ireton.

The inspiring story started in 1997, when Paul first came to the US. Back then, he already had the burning desire to get ahead, being

in a situation where they lived in a one-bedroom apartment, with his single mom and siblings. Paul was always looking for ways to help out his mom. He used to work at Papa John’s Pizza as a delivery guy, while selling TFC cable and attending Mt. San Antonio for college.

“I wasn’t making enough! so one day, I picked up a penny saver and saw an ad for a $10 per hour marketing job for a real estate company,” Paul shared.

Mari Santera, Trini Foliente, Mrs. Fides Herrera-Lim and the author.

The question and answer portion of the evening. Photos by Bobby Crisostomo

FACLA President is congratulated by Ambassador Jose Cuisia Jr.

things Ambassador Cuisia has done will entangle any reporter in a paradox of distance and involve-ment, and could blur a journalist’s objectivity. We could only try re-calling definitive moments, from his time with the Central Bank of the Philippines, and times he visited the 365 Club of the Inter Con, that provided light consulta-tions with grassroots organization and as guest speaker every so often besieged with requests and grievances always answer in kind manner, bridged difference with wisdom shared.

At the Town Hall meeting, he gave us his comprehensive views on the incoming election and be-yond, also his overall reflections on his five-year stint as ambassador.

The nebulous nature of a dip-lomatic calling has its share of pe-culiar overtones, and with shift in leadership by the end of June, the Fil-Am community will be asking

what they have lost and gained.When an issue of substance

demands a total cleavage between the accidental and the absolute, the just and the expedient even in our mundane tribulation on his diplomatic career the ambas-sador captures us — or have we captured him?

Good luck and God speed Am-bassador Cuisia, ’til we meet again!

PAGE B6

SCIENCE and technology have improved over the past few years, thanks to the contin-uous modernization and devel-opment of the society. With the discovery of new illnesses and outbreak of antibiotic-resistant bacteria plus new strains of vi-ruses, several advancements in medicine are starting to rise—giving patients more chances of survival.

The recent addition to the medical line-up is Stem Cell Therapy, also known as Re-generative Medicine, a non-invasive and non-surgical way of treating various ailments and diseases through the use of stem cells. In this therapy, stem cells are used to repair or regenerate damaged cells caused by the disease to in-duce healing.

Stem Cell Therapy is a breakthrough in science; a non-invasive and non-surgical alternative for people suffering from various ailments and ill-nesses. The procedure involves intravenous infusion of Umbili-cal Cord Blood Stem Cells from healthy born babies. The cells

then regenerate and replace damaged cells that were af-fected by the disease.

This 20-minute procedure avoids the complicated and potentially dangerous nature of surgical procedures but can also be used in conjunction with surgery to significantly re-duce inflammation and speed the healing process. Guaran-teed and certified millions of live stem cells.

The first stem cell implant occurred in early 1960s via bone marrow transplant to cure leukemia but doctors were still unaware of that time about the potential cure brought by the newly discovered therapy. Bone marrow transplant is the most widely used kind of stem cell therapy used to treat sever-al numbers of illnesses includ-ing leukemia, sickle cell ane-mia, lymphoma and multiple myeloma.

Stem cell therapy is mostly coordinated with Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSC), these cells come from the umbilical blood cords of a newly born healthy baby, removed of markers and

diseases, and have the ability to regenerate and replace sick and damaged cells in the body.

The use of stem cells as an alternative to regenerate the normal function of a person suffering from a grave dis-ease, the Stem Cell Regen-erative Therapy aims to be an alternative therapy for various diseases and conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes type 2, parkinson’s disease, lung diseases like COPD and asthma, heart diseases includ-ing stroke, multiple sclerosis and many more.

Now that Mother’s Day is fast approaching, give her a gift of a better quality of life with Stem Cell Therapy! Relieving arthri-tis pain equals more energy and clearer memory so you can celebrate her special day with full happiness. Please call (310) 995-0602 or visit www.stemcellscience.net

Distributorship career op-portunities available for medi-cal practitioners who would like to offer the stem Cell Ther-apy in their clinics.

(Advertising Supplement)

Stem cell therapy: the future of medicine

Paul and Miriam Ireton with their kids Nicholas, Sebastian, Troy and Sharlene.

Gloria Weischadle is the Marketing Director and Distributor of Stem Cell in California. For more information, call (818) 207-4524 or visit www.stemcellscience.net.


YOUR OWN PIECE OF QUIET LUXURY IN CEBU

After years of hard work, come home to a place of

quiet luxury in Cebu, the newest global metropolis! One such de-velopment project is underway. Its builders had in mind the future homeowner who has worked hard for many years and will now be able to relax in his own home close to everything yet away from it all!

It seems far away from the busy economic district and the grid-locked streets but is actually right within the center where everything is within reach. Located along a national highway, it is flood-free due to its elevation of 100 meters above sea level.

With the names Kenneth Cobon-pue, Budji Layug and Royal Pineda composing its world-class design team, SUNDANCE RESIDENCES is certainly an attractive residential investment.

It has a Party Hall where res-idents can hold gatherings with family and friends. For the health and fitness enthusiast, a gym with modern equipment is available. A jogging path, outdoor playground,

prayer room, meditation garden and a poolside lounge within the property are all part of the whole design.

Sundance Residences is devel-oped by Worldwide Central Proper-ties. With over 40 years of experi-

ence and expertise in the steel and construction supply business, you have the assurance of quality, in-tegrity and commitment as it raises the bar in building homes and cre-ating self-sustained healthy com-

munities.Here are eight rea-

sons why you choose right with Sundance Residences:

1. Your own private hillside home. Located on the hills of Banawa, your snug getaway af-fords you fresh moun-tain air, a serene, com-fortable distance from the urban center.

2. Convenience and Accessibility. Away but not far, your home is a walk to and from the malls and easily accessi-ble via public transport. Near schools, churches, hospitals, your home is a only a ride away to the business district.

3. Family-centered amenities. Sundance Residences is the coun-try’s first child & family-friendly residential development group.

With their Day Care Center, Fitness Gym, pool, jogging path and Sky garden fa-cilities which ensure family bonding, they are also spiritually strengthened at the Prayer Room.

4. Elegantly functional by de-sign. Backed by a team of world-class design consultants such as Kenneth Co-bonpue, Royal Pine-da and Budji Layug,

Sundance Residences is an archi-tectural feast for the senses!

5. A developer you can fully rely on. Worldwide Central Proper-ties, Inc. is an integral part of the Worldwide Steel Group Inc., which includes reputable home-grown

brands such as Worldwide Steel and Worldwide Home Depot. The group has a tried and tested track record in the construction industry for over 40 years.

6. A quality home at an afford-able price.Delivered finished with upper and bottom kitchen cabinets, and gran-ite counter top, among others add-ed in. Sundance Residences units are relatively larger compared to other developments.

7. Move-in hassle free.Six months before turn-over of the units, residents are presented with the option to choose from the stan-dard designs for their units with recommended furniture and appli-ances to maximize space.

8. Best Value for your Money.At an affordable price, Sundance Residences, with its prime com-mercial and residential location is an unbeatable investment.

For more information visit www.worldwidecentralproperties.com

Party Hall

Poolside Lounge with Bar

Sky Garden

Worldwide Central Properties executives with design team Architect Royal Pineda and Kenneth Cobonpue.

april 23-26, 2016 • la WEEKEND aSiaN JOUrNal http://www.asianjournal.com • (213) 250-9797B�

It seems like the people behind “the Survivor” fran-chise have taken a liking to the beautiful island of Cara-moan in Camarines Sur, as the popular reality show has begun filming in the pristine island for the third time.

Citing reports from the Bicol region’s local news-paper, Bicol Standard, some parts of the island will no longer be accessible to the general public starting April 15 until July 22, to accom-modate the hit American reality competition.

the booking was confirmed through a notice from the Ca-marines Sur’s provincial govern-ment, which was posted by the

Features

Paul and Miriam Ireton...He started there, got involved

in real estate from 2000-2005. He then came across a company in the financial service business, where he also met beauty queen (Mutya ng Pilipinas) and top model, Miriam Chui.

“We were both recommended to work for this company!” Paul said. mMiriam was introduced to the business with Paul. He trained her and that’s how they eventually they fell in love. they got married six months later. I am honored to be one of their wed-ding sponsors.

they had a baby the following year. their baby suffered com-plications after the birth, which were not covered by their health insurance. It resulted to a credit card debt of more than 40K, not to mention the multiple car and a couple of home payments. the couple looked good on the outside but were dying in the inside. they were hungry for answers to get out of that challenging situation. Paul and Miriam grew tired of being broke.

PAGE B4

FULLERtON—Filipino-Ameri-can parishioners at St. Pius V Church in Buena Park on Satur-day, April 16, 2016 honored their new parish priest Fr. Jude Serfino with a party celebrating his 48th birthday.

the celebration featured the St. Pius V Church Fil-Am Choir, who, under the directorship of Musi-cal and Choir Director Zenaida de Ocampo, performed melodic and romantic Kundiman songs. the All-Male Group, meanwhile, serenaded everyone with their rendition of a medley of classic songs by the Cascades.

Father Jude, who himself loves to sing, gave his impressive rendi-tion of “Climb Every Mountain”, from the classic movie “the Sound of Music”.

Entertainment was also pro-vided by a group of dancers who took to the dance floor to do a Zumba number with Father Jude who gamely joined them.

Food, music, dancing and camaraderie characterized the party attended by at least 300 the parishioners, their families and friends. Also present were Father Paul Win, Father Mario Juarez, and Father Maximo Rosario.

Father Jude is the first Filipino assigned as the parish priest of St. Pius V Church. His assumption to the parish office was greatly wel-comed by the Filipino-American members of the parish.

A native of Bacolod City, Father Jude brings to his flock a varied background of life experiences.

Fil-Am parishioners honor Fr. Jude Serfino with a birthday celebration

by Manny V. Ilagan

The St. Pius V Church Filipino-American Choir, with Zenaida de Ocampo as Musical and Choir Director, performs a romantic rendition of beloved Kundiman songs.

Members of the All-Male Group showcase their singing abilities by performing a medley of classic songs by The Cascades.

Father Jude, the “Dancing Priest,” shows off his dancing skills to the delight of his Filipino-American parishioners.

Father Jude Serfino, the first Filipino priest assigned to the St. Pius V Parish Churh in Buena Park is joined by some Filipino-American parishioners.

He was schooled at Centros of Lima, which was run by Do-minican sisters, St. Joseph High School and La Salle College, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree major in Account-ing. After graduation, he was employed at PCI Bank where he worked diligently for six years.

It was during his tenure at the PCI Bank when the major turn-ing point in his life happened: God called him into the ministry. thereafter he attended the Sacred Heart Seminary for 3 years and finished his theological studies at the University of Santo tomas, Manila. Fr. Jude was ordained on May 19, 2003. He credits St. John Paul II as the one who inspired him into entering the priesthood.

Father Jude is one of the found-ers of a charity named “St. John

Paul II Haven for Street Children” or “Deus Children” in their dio-cese in the Philippines.

Beyond his duties as a priest, Father Jude also loves to write reflections based on his personal experiences, the Bible, and his travels. As a nature lover, he also enjoys visiting churches and places of interests such as museums, zoos, national land-marks and parks. He is passionate about religious arts and also does crafts.

In addition to his love for mu-sic, Father Jude is a fine dancer, a quality that endears him even more to his Filipino parishioners who were delighted to share the dance floor with him during his recent birthday celebration.

the birthday celebration, put together by Filipino-American pa-rishioners of St. Pius V Church.

After a very successful campaign rally in Los Angeles, Team Binay North America trekked to Phoenix, Arizona to rally the troops and spread the message of VP Jojo Binay. Campaign Rally was held last April 16, 2016 at the Heard Scout Pueblo Camp. Attendees were Alpha Phi Omega brothers, sisters and friends from the different parts of North America. They came from Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Dallas, Vancouver, Chicago, Toronto, Calgary, Alberta, New York, Houston, San Antonio, Las Vegas, Fresno and Arizona.

In the picture are Team Binay North America Coordinators, Lester Arevalo, Mel Gonzales, Geo Arroyo, Casey Mansilla, Ving Adriatico Javier, Leo Baltazar and Belinda Reponte. The Team Binay’s next destinations are Las Vegas, San Francisco. and your local area.

With God’s grace, they came across a business that thought them how to make and save more money. One thing they found out is that they were not in control of money. Money was controlling them from their fears—worrying and stressing over what bill to pay first.

“I remembered one time when I filled up my car with gas and I re-ceived a phone call from my wife telling me that because I filled up my car with gas, she can’t buy diapers and milk for my son,” Paul shared. “It is heartbreaking. But I know that this part of life makes us realize that you are in control of your own destiny, to believe and trust the Lord.”

Now the couple has a life of peace and harmony. Paul said his family will never have to worry about money ever again. Now they are both very successful and continue to save and make money. they have built a business that serves families: to give them financial strategy and education for their household, have more meaningful conversations with

there loved ones, and because money is not issue. Money is only an issue when you don’t have any. they have a mission driven to help families get ahead financially.

“All the blessings come when your heart is in the right place. “A man or woman is lazy till something catches their heart,” Paul said.

the couple is inspired by help-ing individuals like me, who is in need of financial knowledge and support securing my future. Paul and Miriam are so blessed to have beautiful kids, Nicholas, Sebastian, troy and the princess of the family, baby Sharlene.

to Paul and Miriam, I wish you all the best and may God bless you and your family.

***Monet Lu is a Marikina-born, award-

winning celebrity beauty stylist with his own chain of Monet Salon salons across Southern California and Las Vegas, Nevada. Ultimately, Monet is known as an all-around artiste who produces sold-out fashion and awards shows as well as unforgettable marketing campaigns. Monet is also the founder of the revolutionary all-natural beauty products such as Enlighten, your solution to discoloration. To contact Monet, please visit www.monetsalon.com or email him at [email protected]

March for the celebration of the actor’s birthday in Cebu.

they were recently spotted at the Hot Air Balloon Festival in Pampanga and last night in Bonifacio Global City.

there were speculations that Matteo’s camp is the one releas-ing these photos in different

social media sites, something that the actor denied.

“We’re public personalities, so people take our photos,” he concluded.

the season two of Matteo’s tV series “Single, Single” with Shaina Magdayao will air on May 15 in Cinema One.

Matteo Guidicelli denies engagement with Sarah Geronimo

Screengrab from Bicol Standards’ FB page

Reality-series ’Survivor’ returns to Caramoan for filmingand Mantapas will no longer entertain guests for the time being.

Also off limits to the pub-lic is the Gota Village Resort, including parts of Lahuy, Paniman rice field and the Sohoton River.

Meanwhile, the popular show hosted by Jeff Probst is not foreign to Philippine soil, as they’ve also used

the Palaui Island in Cagayan as location for two consecutive seasons—”Survivor: Blood vs Water” and “Survivor: Cagayan, respectively.”

A local version hosted by Rich-ard Gutierrez also filmed in San Vicente, Palawan in 2013. (Khris-tian Ibarrola/Inquirer.net)

Bicol Standard in their official Facebook page.

According to the letter signed by Bicol’s Governor, Miguel Luis Villafuerte,the islands of Sabitang Laya, Lahos, Matukad, Catanhawan, Pitogo Bay, tupan Lagoon, Inayun-ayunan, tayak

by Joyce JIMenezPhilstar.com

Matteo Guidicelli denied that he already proposed to girlfriend Sarah Geronimo. Philstar.com photo by Joyce Jimenez

MAttEO Guidicelli has clari-fied that he and girlfriend Sarah Geronimo are not yet engaged.

“No, that’s not true,” he re-plied when asked to confirm the engagement, in an interview on thursday, April 21. “there were rumors, people were texting me, congratulating me [but] we’re not engaged.”

the 26-year-old actor was also asked if he has plans to propose to Sarah since she’s turning 28 this July.

Matteo said he’s not sure if it’ll happen this year, what he’s only sure is that “we still have a lot to do first.”

“there’s stuff that I want to fulfill for myself, and her also. If it’ll happen, it’ll happen,” he added.

the Kapamilya actor is just happy that they still find time to see each other despite their busy schedules.

Matteo currently stars in ABS-CBN’s primetime series “Dolce Amore” and Philstar tV’s “Single, Single” that airs in Cinema One.

Some of their sightings were last February during their Val-entine’s Day celebration, and in

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COMMUNITYJ o u r n a l

IN most countries, including the United States, citizenship is the ultimate immigration status. A citizen of the United States cannot be deported or removed from the country, and only a citi-zen can vote in federal and state elections. Citizenship can be described as a social contract—rights and protections provided by the nation, in exchange for allegiance to the nation. This concept can get rather murky when a person is a citizen of more than one country, or when a person wants to stop being a citizen.

Grace Poe is the current front-runner in the race for President of the Philippines. She contin-ues to hold a lead in the polls for the election this May, but her candidacy is under attack because of her citizenship. Poe, who is rumored to be an illegiti-mate child of Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos, was born in the Philippines but abandoned as a child. She was then ad-opted and raised by a Filipino movie star. She immigrated to the United States in the 1980s and naturalized as a U.S. citizen in October 2001. In 2005, after her adopted father died, she moved back to the Philippines and applied for dual citizenship under Philippine law, which was granted in 2006.

In 2010, President Benigno Aquino appointed Poe to chair the Movie and Television Re-view and Classification Board (MTRCB), but Philippine law required her to renounce her American citizenship before tak-ing the appointment. She signed an affidavit before a notary in October 2010, renouncing her American citizenship. She later filed an Affirmation of Renuncia-tion at the U.S. Embassy in Ma-nila, and the Embassy formally recognized her renunciation in February 2012.

Now, Poe is facing challeng-ers who claim she is not eligible

Grace Poe and the idea of citizenship

to hold the office of President because of Philippine law re-garding citizenship. Her chal-lengers claim that because Poe was found as an abandoned child and cannot prove the iden-tity of her birth parents, she is not a “natural born” citizen of the Philippines. They also al-lege that she did not meet resi-dency requirements. Her op-ponents also argue that she did not timely renounce her U.S. citizenship before accepting her position with the MTRCB. Some even argue that legality aside, she should not be allowed to run for president because she previ-ously naturalized as an Ameri-can, and in doing so turned her back on the Philippines.

Poe’s candidacy has raised interesting questions regarding the citizenship of a parentless child, and the idea of dual citi-zenship. Regarding her birth, Poe’s challengers argue that since Poe’s actual biological parents are not known, she can-not prove she was born to Phil-ippine parents. This would not be an issue in a country like the United States that recognizes citizenship “jus soli” (“right of the soil”), but unlike the United States, birth in the Philippines does not in itself confer citizen-ship. For her part, Poe (and her supporters) have strongly ar-gued that she is entitled to citi-zenship as a parentless “found-ling,” who should be presumed by law to be born of natives of

the country where born. Regarding her American

citizenship, Poe’s case raises more thorny issues. The Unit-ed States does not expressly forbid dual citizenship, but it is discouraged. The position of the United States is that citi-zenship confers special privi-leges both inside and outside of the United States, including diplomatic protection abroad, and the protections and rights of American citizens can be-come unclear when a person claims citizenship to more than one sovereign. For Grace Poe, the issue is even more clearly restricted: under Philippine law, only Philippine citizens with no allegiance to any other country can seek election to public office.

In order to renounce her U.S. citizenship, Grace Poe had to engage in a formal process be-fore the U.S. Consulate and sign an oath of renunciation. Ameri-can citizenship cannot be easily lost or forfeited; the formalities of the renunciation process are specifically designed to make certain that the person renounc-ing does so with clear intent and informed understanding of what they are giving up.

Whether Grace Poe is elected next month remains to be seen. If she is elected, she is likely to hear continuing challenges from her detractors. The special sta-tus that citizenship confers—and

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Eric WElshand nancy MillEr

Your ImmigrationSolution

APRIL 23-26, 2016 • LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL http://www.asianjournal.com • (818) 502-0651 • (213) 250-9797C� Community Journal

Atty. RAymond BulAon

Minding Your Finances

VictoR Sy, cPA, mBA

Tax Tips

IF you fail to file on time or pay on time, penalties kick in. Here are 10 reasonable causes to abate (forgive) penalties for late filing or late paying:

1. Tax returns were mailed on time. A return used to be considered filed on time if it is postmarked on or before the due date. Recent Development: You are now required to use certified mail for filing a return to prove that mailing was made on time.

2. Delay or failure to file was due to erroneous information supplied by an IRS employee.

3. Delay was caused by serious illness or death of the taxpayer

10 excuses to abate penalties for late filing or paying taxes

or a member of your immediate family.

4. Delay was caused by your unavoidable absence.

5. Delay was caused by the de-struction by fire or other casualty of your business records.

6. You were not able to deter-mine the amount of tax due to reasons beyond your control.

7. You called the IRS for blank forms that did not arrive on time.

8. You personally visited an IRS office but were not attended to through no fault of your own.

9. You filed the return in the wrong district of the IRS and ar-rived at the right district after the

deadline.10. You relied on erroneous

advice from the IRS.And oh, you died.

* * *Victor Santos Sy graduated Cum Laude from UE with a BBA and from Indiana State University with an MBA. Vic worked with SyCip, Gorres, Velayo (SGV - Andersen Consulting) and Ernst & Young before establishing Sy Accountancy Corporation in Pasadena, California.

* * *He has 50 years of experience in defending taxpayers audited by the IRS, FTB, EDD, BOE and other governmental agencies. He is publishing a book on his expertise - “HOW TO AVOID OR SURVIVE IRS AUDITS.” Our readers may inquire about the book or email tax questions at [email protected]. (Advertising Supplement)

ARE you seriously in debt and thinking of filing bankruptcy as a last resort?

Individuals who have accu-mulated excessive debt are of-ten left to ponder whether they should file bankruptcy in order to get out of debt. Sometimes, these people feel that somehow, they’ve lost, failed, or that they will never have a chance to re-build their credit again.

Because we are living in a so-ciety where having a lot of credit cards has become the norm, they can’t imagine themselves with-out credit cards.

Of course, the truth is that credit cards only give us a sense of false security. Why? Because these plastic cards create the il-lusion of having money that you really don’t have in your bank ac-count, that’s why. That is exactly how most people end up spend-ing their money before they even earn it. And they wonder why they are broke every pay day no matter how hard they work.

If you find yourself over-ex-tended and have tried living on a budget, doing financial counsel-ing, etc. and still have not made great progress in repaying your

Filing bankruptcy when necessary to solve debt problems

debts, I applaud you at least for your efforts. However, your plan must be a realistic one or you will simply end up getting frustrated.

When you have incurred more debt that you can possibly repay, perhaps filing bankruptcy may be the only way to get debt relief. And in most cases, it’s not as com-plicated and as bad as what your creditors would like you to be-lieve. As a matter of fact, most of the 1.5 million people who file for bankruptcy in the United States do just fine. They rebuild their credit after a few years and a lot of them are able buy homes just like everyone else. Filing bankruptcy doesn’t have to be the end of the world. It is only a new beginning for those who really need it.

Suppose you have attempted to negotiate with your creditors to work out an affordable repay-ment plan but they simply would not work with you? Although you’ve told them repeatedly that you cannot afford to pay the en-tire amount, they refuse to coop-erate and continue to threaten you with filing a lawsuit, obtain-ing a judgment and perhaps even garnishing your wages (which you know you cannot afford).

What else can you do? This may leave you no other option but to seek debt relief through our fed-eral bankruptcy laws.

If you are drowning in debt, don’t wait until things get worse or you may regret not having acted sooner. Waiting until the last minute also doesn’t give you enough time that you need to find a good attorney who can protect your interests. Remem-ber that like doctors, not all law-yers are the same. You need a competent legal representative who understands the debt collec-tion and bankruptcy laws and has had the experience of handling a lot of cases like yours. Hiring the wrong attorney can only make your situation worse.

For a free office consultation, please call Toll-Free 1-866-477-7772. We have offices in Glen-dale, Cerritos and Valencia.

* * *None of the information herein is in-

tended to give legal advice for any specific situation. Atty. Ray Bulaon has success-fully helped thousands of clients in getting out of debt. For a free attorney evaluation of your situation, please call Ray Bulaon Law Offices at TOLL FREE 1 (866) 477-7772. (Advertising Supplement)

Atty. EthElEnE F. SAlAS

Family Law

1. WHAT is paternity? Paterni-ty means fatherhood. Establish-ing paternity is the legal process of determining the legal father of a child who was born to unwed parents. When parents are mar-ried, in most cases, paternity is established without a legal action by virtue of their marriage. If parents are unmarried, paternity establishment requires a judicial court order. This legal process should be started by either par-ent as soon as possible for the benefit of the child.

Until a paternity is established, the father does not have the legal rights or responsibilities of a par-ent. Therefore, unless paternity is established, the father does not have to pay child support.

Establishing paternity of children2. What if he does not coop-

erate? It is okay. Paternity can still be accomplished without his help so long as the initial court documents were served to him personally and he knows about this action. If the father denies paternity, it can still be estab-lished after DNA tests are given to the mother, child and the al-leged father. This DNA testing excludes men who are not the father and indicate the likelihood of paternity of a man who is not excluded. Of course, DNA tests are very reliable which is why so few paternity cases actually go to trial. In most cases, the issue of paternity can be easily estab-lished by such tests.

3. What if I only want support from him? Establishing paternity means that he will have responsi-bilities of a father, but he will also

have the privileges of being a fa-ther. This usually means that the father will be afforded rights to his child unless it can be proven that he is a danger to the child and the child’s health, safety and welfare. With the privileges of being a father, he will have the opportunity to see his child grow-up as if the child was born between wed parents.

4. Why should paternity be es-tablished if the father has no mon-ey to support the child? When the father starts working, he will be able to support the child. Estab-lishing paternity as soon as pos-sible will make collecting child support easier later on. More-over, if the father refuses to work, the court can impute income and base a child support order on that imputed income. In other words,

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Atty. Kenneth uRSuA ReyeS

Barrister’s Corner

Five benefits of establishing a revocable living trust

THERE is never the perfect time to think about who you would like to inherit from your estate in case you pass away or at least who among your clos-est friends (BFFs) and family members are even deserving of inheriting from your estate. In doing so, you should also think about which vehicle you plan to use in implementing your estate plan. One of the best vehicle in implementing your estate plan is a revocable living trust. Five major benefits of establishing a revocable living trust are:

Your estate can avoid the time, cost, and hassle of going through the probate court process.

If you pass away without a will (intestate) in California, one of your close family would have to file a petition in probate court to probate your estate. Your es-tate will be divided and distrib-uted according to the California probate code rules of intestate succession. Even if you have a will when you pass away, your family would still need to file a petition in probate court if your estate is worth over $150,000 and go through the probate pro-cess. This can become a circus if certain beneficiaries contest the validity of the Will or the distri-bution of the estate. Your estate

will pay for attorney’s fees, pro-bate referee fees, appraisers and other experts, CPA fees, etc. If people contest the case, your es-tate would end up paying legal fees to defend the estate in litiga-tion. The entire process can take anywhere from 9 months to years depending on the contentious-ness of the probate case.

With a revocable living trust, your trustee or successor trustee if you were the initial trustee, would administer the trust and distribute the estate according to the trust document without hav-ing to open a probate court case. If the trust is funded with all your assets, it is possible to adminis-ter and distribute the trust assets without any Court involvement at all. This process is a lot faster than going through probate.

Your estate is not public re-cord

When you file a probate case, the public has access to your probate case file. The public will know the assets of the estate including the values of those as-sets. If the Will is admitted into probate, the terms of the Will is open to public scrutiny.

Establishing a revocable living trust makes your estate affairs private. Strangers do not have access to the terms of your living trust. Only certain beneficiaries and possible heirs can request a copy of the revocable living trust after you pass away.

You can dictate who will in-herit from your estate

If you pass away without a Will, your estate will be divided and distributed in Probate Court following the rules of intestate succession in the California pro-bate code. Certain relatives will be entitled to a share of your estate even if you feel they are not deserving. By establishing a revocable living trust, you can designate who you want to in-herit from your estate. You can designate what and how much each one will received from your estate after you pass away. The assets distributed to each beneficiaries does not have to be equal. The people you desig-nate as beneficiaries of your liv-ing trust does not even have to be close family members. You can designate anyone as a ben-eficiary, with certain exceptions, of your estate.

You can structure your estate to minimize estate taxes

If your estate is valued above the estate tax exemption, estab-lishing a trust can allow you to divide up your estate into smaller sub trusts to minimize the overall estate tax effect on your estate. It allows you to set up a vehicle for certain charitable giving which carries tax advantage and asset protection.

You can choose who will administer your estate after

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(818) 502-0651 • (213) 250-9797 • http://www.asianjournal.com LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL • APRIL 23-26, 2016 C�Community Journal

Atty. C. Joe SAyAS, Jr.

Protecting Employee & Consumer Rights

Dear Attorney Tan,I RECENTLY married a US Citizen, who is my second hus-

band. He has filed an immigrant visa petition and green card application for me. My husband recently received from USCIS a Notice of Intent to Deny the petition that he filed on my behalf. The Notice indicated that the immigrant visa petition could not be approved since the USCIS had determined that I previously entered into a fraudulent marriage to get a green card several years ago. My ex-husband previously filed an immigrant petition on my behalf several years ago, which was denied since USCIS determined that I only married him to get a green card. My sec-ond husband and I truly love each other. What are my options? -- In Love but Out of Status

Dear In Love but Out of Status,Under INA Section 204(c), a person who “attempted or con-

spired to enter into a marriage” in order to receive permanent resident status in the US is prohibited from obtaining USCIS approval of an immigrant visa petition. Simply stated, Section 204(c) prohibits approval of any immigrant visa petition if there has been a finding of “marriage fraud” in a prior marriage-based petition.

Based on the above law, your case seems at first glance like an “open-and-shut” case in favor of denial. However, you still have hope of getting a green card—a person can apply for and get his immigrant petition approved despite the prior finding of “marriage fraud” under certain circumstances.

You may ask, how is this possible? Isn’t Section 204(c) straightforward? Not quite. The answer lies in the fact that USCIS must independently examine the prior finding of “marriage fraud” in considering the subsequently filed immigrant visa petition. Before invoking the Sec. 204(c) bar to approval of a subsequent visa petition, USCIS must make an independent determination of fraud based upon the record, including but not limited to any evidence gathered during adjudication of the prior visa petition, but may not parrot or rely on the conclusions made by other adjudicators. USCIS must have “substantial and probative” evidence of “marriage fraud.” Matter of Tawfik, 20 I. & N. Dec. 166, 168.

The determination is to be made by the USCIS district director while adjudicating the subsequent visa petition. Matter of Samsen, 15 I. & N. Dec. 28, 1974 WL 29995 (B.I.A. 1974). The district di-rector should not give conclusive effect to the determinations made in the prior proceedings, but should reach his own independent conclusion based on the evidence actually before him. Matter of F-, 9 I. & N. Dec. 684 (BIA 1962).

Therefore, in cases such as yours in which the USCIS has indicated it intends to deny the sub-sequent immigrant visa petition due to the prior finding of “marriage fraud,” new evidence can be submitted that demonstrates that the prior finding of “marriage fraud” was incorrect—i.e., evidence that shows that the prior marriage petition was based on a bona fide marriage, or that explains that the prior denial was based on an incomplete or inaccurate assessment of the facts. In cases in which the subsequent immigrant visa petition has already been denied, this new evidence should be submitted as part of a motion to reconsider. I recommend that you seek an experienced attorney to assist you in properly presenting the law and facts to the USCIS adjudicator to address the Section 204(c) bar.

* * *Darrick V. Tan, Esq. is admitted to practice law in California and Nevada. Mr. Tan is

a graduate of UCLA and Southwestern University School of Law. He is a member of the Consumers Attorney Association of Los Angeles and is a former member of the Board of Governors of the Philipp ine American Bar Association. LAW OFFICES OF DARRICK V. TAN, 3580 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 900, Los Angeles, CA 90010. Tel: (323) 639-0277. Email: [email protected]. (Advertising Supplement)

Can I get a green card if I had a previous marriage petition denied based on fraud?

ACCORDING to the National Equal Pay Task Force, for every $1 that men earn, women earn only $0.79. This is true for nearly all industries and for most wom-en in any pay grade. Even when female employees are making a lot of money, they are still not making as much as their male counterparts. Consider the fol-lowing story:

Lynne Coates has been licensed to practice law in California since 1992. In April 2011, Coates be-gan working as a full-time attor-ney employee for Farmers Group, Inc. Coates was paid a starting salary of $90,000 and was as-signed to a team of attorneys who handle high risk cases. As part of this team, Coates shared similar tasks with Andy Lauderdale, who handled the same responsibili-ties as Coates. Throughout the time Coates worked at Farmers, she consistently received excel-lent performance reviews. In April 2014, Coates’ salary was increased to $99,634.08.

In early May, 2014, Coates learned that there were male attorneys in the office with less experience who were receiving higher compensation than fe-male attorneys with more experi-ence. Coates also discovered that a newly licensed and newly hired female attorney was being paid $68,000 compared with a newly licensed newly hired male coun-terpart who was paid $85,000. Coates further observed that cer-tain female attorneys were not being promoted or given raises at the same rate as their coun-terpart male attorneys. Lastly, Coates learned that her male counterpart, Lauderdale, who was licensed in 1993, one year af-ter Coates, was earning between $150,000-$200,000, compared to

Pay discrimination affect women of all wage levels

her salary of $99,634.08. Lauder-dale and Coates were both sub-stantially doing the same work, but with very unequal pay.

Coates complained to her su-pervising attorney, Scott Strat-man, about this unfairness in pay, and asked him to “make it right.” Stratman told her that he would look into it. However, a few days after her complaint, Coates began to be stripped of the du-ties she had been performing for years. She was, in effect, demot-ed from her attorney position to that of a paralegal in retaliation for complaining about unfair pay. Because she had been stripped of her attorney duties, Coates had no choice but to tender her resignation.

Coates sued Farmers in a gen-der discrimination class action on behalf of herself and other female attorneys. Coates accused Farm-ers of implementing policies and practices that underpaid, under-promoted, or terminated them because of their gender.

A year after the lawsuit start-ed, Farmers agreed to settle the case and pay about $4 million to about 300 in-house female lawyers plus $1.8 million of the class members’ attorneys’ fees and litigation costs. Farmers also agreed to make employee wages more transparent, to con-duct an annual statistical analy-sis to ensure that pay practices are not discriminatory to female employees, and to increase the number of women promoted to top salary grades over the next three years,

The California Fair Pay Act, en-acted in October 2015, prohibits employers from paying employ-ees less than those of the oppo-site sex for “substantially similar work,” even if their titles are dif-ferent or they work at different sites. This means the lower paid employee does not have to prove

that the higher paid employee of the opposite sex has exactly the same job as she (or he) does. If differences in wages exist, the difference must be legally justi-fied based on one or more of the following factors:

a) A seniority system b) A merit system c) A system that measures

earnings by quantity or quality of production

d) A bona fide factor other than sex, such as education, training, or experience.

Discriminated employees who successfully prove their claims may be entitled to the balance of the wages, including interest, and an equal amount as liquidat-ed damages, together with the costs of the suit and reasonable attorney’s fees. Even if the em-ployee has agreed to work for a lesser wage, this does not affect a pay discrimination claim.

Finally, an employer cannot prohibit employees from dis-cussing their wages with each other, or inquiring about another employee’s wages, or aiding or encouraging any other employ-ee to exercise their legal rights. An employee who has been dis-charged, discriminated or retali-ated against, for doing any of the above is entitled to additional damages.

* * *The Law Offices of C. Joe Sayas, Jr. welcomes inquiries about this topic. All inquiries are confidential and at no-cost. You can contact the office at (818) 291-0088 or visit www.joesayaslaw.com.

* * *C. Joe Sayas, Jr., Esq. is an experienced

trial attorney who has successfully obtained significant recoveries for thousands of em-ployees and consumers. He is named Top La-bor & Employment Attorney in California by the Daily Journal, consistently selected as Super Lawyer by the Los Angeles Magazine, and is a member of the Million Dollar-Advo-cates Forum. (Advertising Supplement)

the rights and benefits that come with citizenship—often inflame passions of national identity and the abstract notion of “belong-ing.” Poe’s candidacy provides an opportunity for constructive dialogue about the idea of citi-zenship, and about the costs of giving that status away.

***Reeves Miller Zhang & Diza is one of the oldest, largest and most experienced immigration firms in the United States with offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas and Manila. For more Information please call (800) 795-8009 or visit www.rreeves.com. His offices are located in Pasadena, Irvine, San Francisco, Las Vegas and Makati City.

Telephone: (800) 795-8009 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.rreeves.com.

***The analysis and suggestions offered in this column do not create a lawyer-client relationship and are not a substitute for the personalized representation that is essential to every case. (Advertising Supplement)

Petitioning a beloved significant…PAGE C1 t

reverendrodel G. BAlAGtAS

To Live With Faith

he cannot be lazy in working.As stated previously, through-

out the years that I have prac-ticed family law here in Los An-geles, I found that my Pilipino clients have to be briefed about the law and what the law could and would provide for them. They tend to bring their own knowledge of the law from the Philippines and expect that the

Philippine law would also ap-ply here in the United States. This is rarely the case and is a cause of much confusion. That is why it is very important that we Pilipinos know our rights in this family law area so that we could plan ahead of time before it is too late. Understanding your rights in family law could and would protect you.

* * *

Ethelene F. Salas, Esq. is a practicing family law attorney. Ms. Salas is a Filipino-American born in the Philippines, raised in the United States, and speaks Tagalog fluently. The Law Offices of Ethelene F. Salas is located at two locations – the main office at 100 N. Barranca St., Suite 700, West Covina, CA 91791 and affiliated offices at 18000 Studebaker Road, Suite 700, Cerritos, CA 90703. To schedule an appointment with her, please call (626) 858-4646 or visit www.EFS-Law.com. (Advertising Supplement

Establishing paternity of…PAGE C2 t

“BEHOLD, God’s dwelling is with the human race. He will dwell with them and they will be his people and God himself will always be with them as their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, wail-ing or pain, for the old order has passed away.” (Rev. 21:3-4)

We all long for order in our lives and in our society. We long for peace, progress, justice and respect for all human beings. We long for harmony and human de-cency; for streets and cities that are free of crimes and drugs; and for governments that are not cor-rupt. We long for a better world, a better nation, and a better fu-ture for our children. We long for strong, wise, intelligent, un-selfish and genuine leaders that have hearts for the poor and the alienated.

But we can’t fulfill these long-

Our longings and prayers for the Philippinesings if we don’t choose wisely the people who can lead and serve us; if we don’t do our part in building up our nation; and if we don’t work together in mutual re-spect. A slogan on Facebook says it right, “Real change begins with me…not with the President you are a fan of.”

We can’t fulfill our hearts’ yearnings if we and our leaders don’t have fear of God and love for his will and commandments. Ultimately, change happens when human hearts are convert-ed and have become pure and free from sins of greed, pride, selfishness, and corruption.

As we, Filipinos, experience the anxieties of our country’s election of new government leaders, we must pray for peace and order. We must ask God to enlighten our minds and to in-tervene in our lives to help us choose our right leaders.

During the last presidential election in the Philippines, Mark Herringshaw, an American writer

and pastor, wrote this prayer for our country, which I think is still relevant today:

“God, may your regime pre-vail today in the Philippines. As this nation goes to the polls to elect a new president we ask that in and through this pro-cess your perfect peace would reign. We know that no human government is perfect. We know that until your Kingdom comes in total we will always fall short of your glory. But there are de-grees of goodness that are pos-sible here and now and we ask that by your Spirit you would guide the decisions made today in this great nation. We ask that godly men and women would be entrusted with authority there. We ask that truth would tri-umph, that the light of honesty and integrity and generosity will win the day. Lord, root out cor-ruption and greed in the Philip-pine government. Bring instead a spirit of humility, servanthood,

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APRIL 23-26, 2016 • LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL http://www.asianjournal.com • (818) 502-0651 • (213) 250-9797C� Community Journal

Atty. LAwrence yAng

Debt Relief

TWO clients with issues re-lating to known and unknown persons who used their names and social security information to borrow credit card in their names. The first client is 51 years old and married. She met this person who became her “friend”. Let’s just call the “friend” Ms.

Client’s ‘friend’ uses her identity to borrow $80K credit cards

Creditor puts lien on client’s house for $16K identity theft credit card

Crook. Client is a relatively new immigrant to America having ar-rived here 8 years ago. Ms. Crook is introduced to her by a trusted person who says that Ms. Crook wants to buy a piece of jewelry

from JC Penney but can’t get credit. Mrs. Crook convinces cli-ent to go with her to JC Penny to open an account in client’s name. Since client speaks no English, Ms. Crook serves as the inter-preter giving the personal infor-mation of client to credit person on the phone that is checking out the creditworthiness of client. So as Ms. Crook translates all of the personal information, she is able to get client’s social security number, home address, and all the other good stuff about cli-ent. After the account is opened, Ms. Crook points to a pair of ear-ing costing $2K that she wants to buy to be charged to client’s account. Client doesn’t speak English, so Ms. Crook is the one talking to the JC penny jewelry sales rep. The rep rings up the purchase and Client signs for the purchase on her newly opened account. The package is given to Ms. Crook and they walk out of the store together.

After a month, client receives a statement from JC Penny show-ing that she owes about $12K for the purchase of 4 separate pieces of jewelry. She tells me that she will only pay for the piece of jewelry that she agreed to buy for Ms. Crook. That piece of jewelry is only $2K. She won’t pay for the other $6K of jewelry. I told her that’s not possible, because she signed the pur-chase at the store. As long as she signed for it, she’s liable on the purchase. She can sue Ms. Crook for $8K if she wants to, because Ms. Crook defrauded her. Clearly Ms. Crook took ad-vantage of her inability to speak English and trust as her “friend” to buy $12K of jewelry but made it appear to her that she was only helping her buy $2K of jewelry. Sorry to say, client was a sucker for a con game.

3 months after, client received statements from 10 credit cards that she never applied for, with total purchases of $70K! Looks like Ms. Crook went on a shop-ping spree, using client’s social security, name and good credit to open $70K of new credit card debt! She gets more than 30 calls

If you have an upcoming event and would like us to post it, please email us the details at [email protected] or [email protected]

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ADVERTISE YOUR EVENTS!PRE-EVENT AND POST-EVENT

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FOR NON-PROFIT GROUPS

Pilgrimages to Eastern Europe, Mexico and IndiaAmazing Pilgrimages for the Jubilee Year of Mercy! All are welcome to join Fr. Joe

Joseph of Holy Trinity Church for the spiritual and fun-filled experiences of EASTERN EU-ROPE (April 17- 30): Poland, Czech., Austria, Hungary, Medjugorje; COLONIAL MEXICO/OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE (June 20 - 27): Mexico City, Theotihuacan, Puebla, Tlaxcala, Ocotlan, Xochimilco, Guanajuato, San Miguel De Allende, Guadalajara, San Juan De Los Lagos, Cristo Rey, Zapopan, Tonala; and INDIA (September 15 - 29): Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Kolkata, Kerala. For more pilgrimage information and detailed flyers, please contact Berna-dette at [email protected] OR call 323-344-1548 & 323-547-6618.

APRIL — SEPTEMBER

PUP/PCC to hold 1st Global ReunionAttention all graduates of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines and the Philip-

pine College of Commerce: join us in our FIRST GLOBAL REUNION being organized by the Polytechnic University of the Philippines Alumni Association, USA Inc. scheduled on May 27-29, 2016 (Memorial Day Weekend) at the New Orleans Hotel in Las Vegas, NV. We promise a weekend of fun-filled activities, of friendship and camaraderie as we reminisce our best memories during our high school and college days. There will be lots of entertain-ment, singing and dancing and photo opportunities with your classmates and friends.

For more information, please contact any of the following: Loi Herrera at 562-544-8210 [email protected]; Monette Santillan-Rivera at 818-970-8317 [email protected]; Rose Mejia at 323-997-3838 or [email protected]; Marissa Sugay-Palanca at 818-281-7460 or [email protected]; Rose Maghari at661-794-8906 or [email protected]; Sally Mendoza at 323-695-0235 or [email protected]; Honeylette De Leon at 562-480-5743 [email protected]; Virginia Herbito at [email protected]; Connie Acosta at 323-854-5303 or [email protected]; Violeta D. Cristobal at 310-880-5808 [email protected]; Jun Mapoy at 323-627-5326 or [email protected].

MAY 27-29

Chino Hills Multicultural FestivalInspired by last year’s successful celebration of the community’s diversity, the Rotary

Club of Greater Chino Hills Foundation will host its second Multicultural Festival on Satur-day, April 23, from 3 to 9 pm, at the Chino Hills Community Center (14250 Peyton Drive, Chino Hills, CA 91709). Admission is free. There will be food booths, live entertainment, music, dance and performances by an array of participants. Sponsorship and advertisement packages are available for non-profit organizations to fundraise, and for businesses inter-ested in market their products and services. For more information, contact [email protected] or visit www.chinohillsrotaryclub.org. Contact: Ted Alvarez (909) 456-0359, [email protected]; Tessie Lightholder (909) 576-4152,[email protected], or Ginny Mondonedo (951) 212-4624, [email protected].

APRIL 23

COSC celebrates 27th Anniversary The Candonians of Southern California (COSC), under the leadership of their newly

elected president, Mrs. Elizabeth Gacula Singh, will celebrate their 27th Anniversary on April 30 at the Doubletree Hotel-Monrovia (924 W. Huntington Dr., Monrovia). Music will be provided by The Midnight Motion Band. For questions and those interested, please email [email protected].

APRIL 30

Free Elder Law Living Trust SeminarPlease join our FREE annual Elder Law seminar presented by the attorneys at Elder Law

Services of California, a professional law corporation, and take advantage of our $1,000 off trust or trust update package SEMINAR DISCOUNT!

This event will provide a wealth of information to both individuals and families who are planning to start their estate planning, have no clue whether they need an estate plan, or already have an estate plan in place. We will be going over topics such as how to save thousands in probate fees, whether your existing trust needs updating, how to avoid conservatorship, how to pay for long-term care, Medi-Cal House Protection Trusts, and most importantly, how to preserve your assets. We have two seminars on Saturday April 23: one at 10am to 11:30 am and one from 1 pm to 2:30 pm. They will be held at 110 Jackson Street San Jose, CA 95112. Call 1-800-411-0546 for reservations.

Community Mini Health & Resource FairMay is Hepatitis Month, and Asian Pacific Liver Center has teamed up with Asian Pacific

Health Care Venture to offer Hepatitis B screenings at the Community Mini Health & Re-sources Fair on Saturday, May 7, from 9am to noon. The event will feature an educational awareness workshop to promote Hepatitis B prevention as well as blood pressure screen-ing, blood sugar checks and various community resources. The fair will take place at Center of Hope, 2707 W. Temple St., Los Angeles, California 90026. For more information, contact Perla Santos (323) 664 3880 Ext. 341 or email [email protected].

MAY 7

FALEO KamayanThe Filipino American Law Enforcement Officers Association (FALEO), a 501c(3) non-

profit organization, along with Pastor Chef, a graduate of Le Cordon Blue College of Culi-nary Arts, have come together to host an event that samples some traditional and popular dishes from his restaurant. Guests will receive an exclusive experience, as the restaurant is not open to the general public during the time of the event. The event will be a clas-sic taste of Filipino cooking where utensils are optional. Menu items will include chicken adobo, pancit, lumpiang Shanghai, crispy pata and bangus. Tickets are $20 for FALEO members and $30 for general guests. Proceeds will benefit FALEO-LA’s Annual Scholarship program. Seats are limited and those who do not pre-pay may not have a seat. For reserva-tions, please contact Arlene Herrero at (213) 435-8700.

uPAGE C5

and gratitude. Lord, prevail there. May your people across every island, in every city and village rise to speak your voice in their vote. Unite those who have faith in you, and build your Church in part by giving them a good and just government that will protect them from the waves of human and demonic evil. We

pray for the Philippines in Jesus’ great name.”

Let’s all join together in the same longing and prayer for peace, order and guidance dur-ing this election time in our Motherland, the Philippines!

* * *From a Filipino immigrant family, Reverend Rodel G. Balagtas was ordained to the priesthood from St. John’s Seminary in

1991. He served as Associate Pastor at St. Augustine, Culver City (1991-1993); St. Martha, Valinda (1993-1999); and St. Joseph the Worker, Canoga Park (1999-2001). In 2001, he served as Administrator Pro Tem of St. John Neumann in Santa Maria, CA, until his appointment as pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary, Los Angeles, in 2002, which lasted 12 years. His term as Associate Director of Pastoral Field Education at St. John’s Seminary began in July 2014.

Our longings and prayers for the…PAGE C3 t

your deathWhen you establish a revocable

trust, you can appoint someone else as trustee or you can appoint a successor trustee if you are the initial trustee. The trustee will be administering (managing) the trust after you pass away without a need to open a probate court case. This allows for continuity in operating the trust and the ef-ficient and cost effective distribu-tion of estate assets. If you are concerned about whether you can trust any family members as your trustee, you can appoint an institution as a professional trust-

Five benefits of establishing a revocable…ee to carry out the terms of the declaration of trust. These type of trustee services are often of-fered by banks, financial institu-tions, wealth management firms, and business management firms for a reasonable fee. This mini-mizes conflicts within the fam-ily and prevents negligence and wrong doing by inexperienced family members.

* * *Attorney Kenneth Ursua Reyes is a Certified Family Law Specialist. He was President of the Philippine American Bar Association. He is a member of both the Family law section and Immigration law section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association. He has extensive

CPA experience prior to law practice. LAW OFFICES OF KENNETH REYES, P.C. is located at 3699 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 747, Los Angeles, CA, 90010. Tel. (213) 388-1611 or e-mail [email protected] or visit our website at Kenreyeslaw.com.

* * *Please note that this article is not legal advice and is not intended as legal advice. The article is intended to provide only general, non-specific legal information. This article is not intended to cover all the issues related to the topic discussed. The specific facts that apply to your matter may make the outcome different than would be anticipated by you. This article does create any attorney client relationship between you and the Law Offices of Kenneth U. Reyes, P.C. This article is not a solicitation. (Advertising Supplement)

PAGE C2 t

(818) 502-0651 • (213) 250-9797 • http://www.asianjournal.com LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL • APRIL 23-26, 2016 C�

LOS ANGELES, CA — The Philippine American Bar Asso-ciation (PABA) will hold its 30th Annual Installation & Awards Gala on Friday, May 6, 2016, in downtown Los Angeles. PABA is the largest local organization of Filipino-American attorneys in the United States. Formed three decades ago, PABA serves the needs of Fil-Am lawyers and law students in Southern California.

The Gala is a celebration of the Fil-Am legal community, as well as PABA’s largest fundraiser of the year. The proceeds are used to carry out the group’s mission: strengthening the legal com-munity through mentoring pro-grams, networking events, schol-arships for students, continuing education, and attorney service referrals.

The keynote speaker for this year’s Gala is Assemblymember Rob Bonta, the first Filipino American state legislator in the history of California. Eduardo A. Angeles, the Federal Avia-tion Administration’s Associ-ate Administrator for Airports, will be honored as PABA’s Trailblazer. The Honorable Ra-fael Ongkeko of the Los Angeles Superior Court will be recog-

PABA to hold 30th annual installation & awards gala

nized as PABA’s Distinguished Jurist. Joe Sayas, principal of the Law Offices of C. Joe Sayas, Jr., will be honored as PABA’s Com-munity Champion. The Honor-able Teresa P. Magno, the first Filipino American to be elected to the bench of the Los Angeles Superior Court, will administer the oath.

Nico Santos, Fil-Am star of NBC’s hit comedy Superstore, will emcee the event.

The gala will be held at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in down-town Los Angeles at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, May 6, 2016. The event includes a cocktail hour, dinner, and a program featuring this year’s award and scholarship recipients. Recent PABA Galas have been attended by well over 300 lawyers, businesspeople, students, judges, regional po-litical leaders, and community members. The Gala also attracts numerous sponsorships by law firms, businesses, and other or-ganizations seeking to support and reach out to the Fil-Am legal community.

For further information about attending the Gala or sponsoring the event, please visit http://pa-bala.org/annual-banquet. n

IN my last article, I explained why it is absolute necessary to qualify for Medi-Cal and get the government to pay for nursing home care for an ailing parent or loved one. After all, how many families do you know who can afford paying $8,000-$15,000 a month for Long Term Care. However, using Medi-Cal for Long Term Care has one major drawback: the Medi-Cal Estate Recovery Program.

In this article, we will discuss how to legally avoid future estate recovery claims. Basically, the estate of any person over 65 who receives Medi-Cal benefits is subject to the recovery process. When the beneficiary passes away (and his or her spouse), Medi-Cal has the right to recover benefits paid from the estate.

What can Medi-Cal come af-ter? Pretty much anything left in the deceased person’s es-tate. This includes liquid assets such as investment accounts and bank accounts. It also in-cludes real property, including the family home! How much can they come after? Medi-Cal is entitled to recover the lesser of the amount of benefits paid or the deceased’s entire estate. If a Medi-Cal beneficiary was in a nursing home for an extended period of time, the Recovery claim could easily exceed every-thing the person owned, includ-ing the entire home.

So what can you do? The easiest and most cost effective measure to protect against re-covery is to make sure there is nothing left in the Medi-Cal beneficiary’s estate. In future articles we will discuss protect-ing other assets, but here we will go over what can be done to protect the home, specifically the outright gift and the Medi-Cal House Protection Trust.

An outright give is the simplest way to get the home out of the Medi-Cal beneficiary’s estate. Because it is a gift, the transfer of the home is not considered in-come to the recipient and there-fore no income tax is paid by the child(ren). Additionally, the Life-time Gift Tax exemption is cur-rently $5.43 million. There are no gift taxes due by the parent as long as the gifts are under this amount. The parent should file a gift tax return for the year the gift was made that signal to the IRS that some of the lifetime tax credit has been used up.

Additionally, this transfer does not result in an increase in prop-erty taxes if the transfer was made to the children or grand-children. Proposition 58 and 193 are California constitutional initiatives that make it easier to keep property “in the family” by providing tax relief for real prop-erty transfers between parents and children and from grand-parents to grandchildren, re-spectively. Proposition 58 states that real property transfers from

Protecting your homeby Andrew PArAnAl, esq.

a day from creditors that she has never contacted before, all col-lecting past due accounts from her. It certainly looks like a mas-sive fraud perpetrated by Ms. Crook on client. I tell client that I can contact each credit card company to inform them that this is a case of identity fraud, and she would be required to report this matter to the police. But for the JC Penny account for $12K, she’s on the hook for that one. I also told her to sue Ms. Crook. However, client tells me that Ms. Crook has left the coun-try and is nowhere to be found. I told client that, she can also get a fresh start by discharging the $82K with a Chapter 7 bankrupt-cy. Client agrees that this is the most effective and simplest way to solve the chaos caused by Ms. Crook. I warned client never to give her social security number and personal information to any-one, or the same thing is going to happen again.

The second client is 85 years old. She’s been here for a long time but can’t speak English. She owns a house in Los An-geles. She was in the process of transferring ownership of the house to her children when she found out that there was a judgment lien for $16K on her fully paid residence. Apparently, it was made to appear that she was served with summons and complaint to collect the $16K owed to Discover card, in her name 3 years ago. A judgment lien subsequently ensued that attached to her residence. Client has never applied for any credit card in her whole life. Now she wants to get rid of the lien. Is it possible to do so? Sure it is. Since the judgment arose from an identity theft claim, she will win this lawsuit on the merits af-ter the judgment is vacated. She would have to vacate the judg-ment on the ground that she was

Client’s ‘friend’ uses…never served with summons and complaint. The proof of service made it appear that she was served on a certain date at a spe-cific place. The truth is on that date, client was in the hospital and she had the medical records to prove it. Since she was never served with the summons and complaint, she can file a motion to set aside or vacate the judg-ment because the court never acquired personal jurisdiction over client. There will be a hear-ing set for this motion. When the court grants the motion to vacate or set aside judgment, the lien will also be ordered removed.

Unfortunately, because of original sin, man is in a fall-en & corrupted state, and the devil, Lucifer and his demonic minions are always prowling around, tempting people to fool other people. We are indeed for-tunate that Jesus Christ, the one and only beloved Son of the one true God, Yahweh, who loves us so much that he sent his one and only beloved Son, Jesus Christ to die for our sins, to die for us, to redeem us and rescue us from this fallen and corrupted state. We are indeed fortunate that Je-sus Christ also loved us so much that He agreed to follow the will of His Father, and willingly died for us on the cross, because the weight and extent of our sins as humans is so great that only the Son of God could intervene for us.

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” — Ephesians 2:8

* * *Lawrence Bautista Yang specializes in bankruptcy, business, real estate and civil litigation and has successfully represented more than five thousand clients in California. Please call Angie, Barbara or Jess at (626) 284-1142 for an appointment at 1000 S. Fremont Ave, Mailstop 58, Building A-1 Suite 1125, Alhambra, CA 91803. (Advertising Supplement)

PAGE C4 t

LOS ANGELES — The Filipino American Community of Los An-geles (FACLA), the oldest existing Filipino community organization in the United States, will hold its 71st Gala Night and Induction of Officers on Sunday, April 24, at 7 p.m. at the Glendale Hilton at 100 West Glenoaks, Glendale, CA 91202.

The theme for this year’s event is “Bringing the Community To-gether” to highlight the mission of the new set of officers, led by businessman-designer Fernandi-co Q. Gonong Jr.

“For more than three decades now, FACLA has been plagued by political feuds that have caused its fall from being the most im-portant and most prestigious or-ganization into a virtual pariah of

FACLA 71st Gala night, induction set on April 24

People and Events

parent to child or child to parent may be excluded from reassess-ment while Proposition 193 ex-tends the relief to grandparent(s) and grandchild(ren).

An outright gift of the principal residence to the children while the parents are still alive causes a loss of a step-up in basis un-der IRC Section 1014, which could result in substantial capital gains taxes upon sale. One so-lution is to execute a grant deed combined with a Lifetime Right to Occupy Agreement between the parent(s) and the child(ren). An occupancy agreement is an agreement where the parent(s) retain the right to occupy the res-idence until death. As a result, the value of the residence would be includable in the parent’s es-tate under IRC Section 2036 and the child(ren) would receive a step- up in basis.

Medi-Cal Estate Recovery is a significant drawback that can be easily avoided with some simple thought and planning. Unfortunately, the implementa-tion of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 may get rid of some of our Medi-Cal planning strategies in the new future, so if you are on Medi-Cal or a family mem-ber may need Long Term Care in the future it would be wise to implement these techniques right away. Next time we’ll dis-cuss the benefits of the Medi-Cal House Protection Trust and the ways this irrevocable trust can benefit you and your family. n

the community,” Gonong said as he explained this year’s theme. “We want to change that image

Fernandico Q. Gonong Jr.

and bring back the glory and prestige of this association that was founded on unity and service to the community.”

Gonong replaced former presi-dent Austin G. Baul, whose term expired on Dec. 31, 2015 under the organization’s constitution and by-laws. Gonong will serve for four years.

Other officers to be inducted Sunday night are Apolonio Ju-lian, first vice president; Vero-nico Agatep, second vice presi-dent; Gloria Resurreccion, third vice president; Rosalinda Nery, treasurer; Aleli Neal, auditor; and Orlando Cagampan, secretary; Baul, Danilo Adlawan, Leticia Reyes, Manocito Santos, Susan de Guzman, Susan Pineda and Teddy Mangune, directors.

FACLA was established on April 26, 1945 shortly before the end of the Second World War as a halfway house for Filipino farm workers who settled in Los An-geles to work as seasonal work-ers in different states from as far north as Alaska and as far west as Missouri and Illinois. It is be-lieved to be the oldest non-profit organization in the US.

The present FACLA building was built in 1965 on the same site where the two halfway hous-es were built on Temple Street in what is now known as Historic Filipinotown. n

Piyesta Pinoy BolingbrookPLEASE join us on Saturday,

June 4 for the 3rd Philippine Fest Celebration (Piyesta Pinoy sa Bolingbrook) at the beauti-ful Bolingbrook Performing Arts Center (375 W. Briarcliff Rd. Bolingbrook, IL).

This year’s event will include a variety of food vendors, business, merchandise, and non-profit or-ganizations, as well as hours of dance, games, and musical en-tertainment, including special guest performances.

The Philippine American Cultural Foundation (PACF) is proud to promote and share our rich Filipino cultural heri-tage and traditions in America. Your participation and support are always valuable and critical to the survival of PACF and its programs.

For more information, or to volunteer, perform, exhibit, or donate, please visit www.piye-stapinoy.net, or email [email protected]. n

APRIL 23-26, 2016 • LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL http://www.asianjournal.com • (818) 502-0651 • (213) 250-9797C�

(818) 502-0651 • (213) 250-9797 • http://www.asianjournal.com LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL • ApRIL 23-26, 2016 D�

&MARKETPLACESHOWROOM

“The media wants overnight successes (so they have someone to tear down). Ignore them.

Ignore the early adopter critics that never have enough to play with. Ignore your investors that want

proven tactics and predictable instant results. Listen instead to your real customers, to your vision

and make something for the long haul. Because that’s how long it’s going to take, guys.”

— Seth Godin, author, entrepreneur, marketer, and public speaker

Business Quote of the Week

Atty. MichAelGurfinkel, eSQ

ImmigrationCorner

ON April 18, 2016, the US Su-preme Court heard oral arguments from Texas and other states, as well as the Obama administration, concerning President Obama’s November 2014 Executive Action for DAPA and expanded DACA, which would enable qualified\eli-gible parents of US citizens and green card holders to obtain work authorization and be protected against deportation. His executive action also expanded the number of young people who would be eli-gible for DACA.

Soon after Obama announced these Executive Actions, Texas and other states filed a lawsuit, try-ing to block USCIS from moving forward. Texas claimed it was be-ing harmed or injured because the state would be required to issue driver’s licenses to DAPA/DACA applicants, and, in the process, would lose money, because Texas subsidizes the cost of driver’s li-censes. (In other words, it costs Texas more to issue driver’s li-censes than the amount it charges people).

A federal court judge and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal sided with Texas, and put DAPA and DACA on hold, pending a written decision from the US Supreme Court, which is expected in June 2016.

Supreme Court hears oral arguments on Obama’s DAPA/ DACA executive action

During oral arguments, the ba-sic issues are whether Texas and the other states have “standing to sue,” and if Obama exceeded his authority by effectively passing a law on immigration. I will briefly discuss these two issues:

Standing: One of the long-standing rules for suing in federal court is that the party must have suffered a legally recognized in-jury. In this case, Texas claimed that in subsidizing the cost of driver’s licenses, and being forced to issue driver’s licenses to DAPA and expanded DACA applicants, Texas has been injured. But the problem with Texas’s argument is this injury was “self inflicted.” Texas should simply charge people the actual cost of driver’s licenses, and it would not suffer a monetary loss. Instead, it appears Texas purposely created this in-jury, so it would have “standing” to sue. But if Texas’ theory is al-lowed to stand, the courts would be flooded with states bringing all kinds of lawsuits challenging the authority of the federal govern-ment, by creating self-inflicted injuries.

Executive branch cannot leg-islate: It is Congress’s job to pass laws, and the president’s job to en-force them. Texas and others are arguing Obama’s executive action is effectively making or passing immigration laws, which is under Congress’s power and authority,

SB 954 requires employees to give consent before employers can deduct a portion of wages for use by contractor associations

Senate passes legislation protecting workers’ paychecks

SACRAMENTO—Legislation by Sen. Bob Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys) that requires employees to give their consent before employ-ers can deduct wages from their paychecks for industry advance-ment programs passed the Senate on Thursday, April 21 on a 26-12 vote.

SB 954 clarifies the list of de-ductions an employer may make when reducing hourly wages, with-out prior consent from employees. The bill excludes from per diem wages credits for employer pay-ments for industry advancement unless it is part of a bargained agreement.

“Workers should have a say over how their money gets spent,” Hertzberg said. “This is a straightforward bill that ensures workers have control of their

hard-earned wages.” Contractors on public works

projects are required to pay their employees at least the prevailing wage, which is also known as the per diem wage. Current law allows several fringe benefit pay-ments that can be taken as a credit against the obligation to pay cash wages, including for healthcare, pension contributions, vacation and other benefits, such as appren-ticeship training and other industry advancement programs.

However, sometimes industry advancement funds are used to support activities that are contrary to the interests of workers, such as efforts to weaken health and safety standards. SB 954 makes clear that any wage reductions made for industry advancement causes must

Jollibee takes full control of Mang Inasal for P2-B

MANILA—Fast food giant Jol-libee Foods Corp. recently took full control of barbecue chain Mang Inasal, according to a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange released Friday, April 22.

Jollibee acquired the remain-ing 30-percent share in Mang Inasal Philippines Inc., the owner and operator of the chain, for P2 billion.

The company said the acquisi-tion was according to the terms of the shareholders’ agreement executed in 2010. That year, Jol-libee Foods bought 70 percent of Mang Inasal for P3 billion.

The company said there will be no changes in the business conduct and direction of Mang Inasal resulting from the acquisi-tion. The board of directors of Mang Inasal, however, would completely be composed of repre-sentatives of Jollibee Foods.

Architect Edgar Sia II opened the first branch of Mang Inasal in 2003 in Iloilo. Mang Inasal, specializing in grilled chicken and known for its “unlimited rice” items on the menu, soon be-came one of the fastest-growing companies in its sector. (Camille Diola/Philstar.com)

A branch of fast food chain Mang Inasal on Calle Crisologo in Vigan, Ilocos Sur. Philstar.com photo

not the president’s. Obama has been arguing that for years he has been urging Congress to pass laws dealing with the immigration situ-ation and the 11 million undocu-mented immigrants. Congress consistently refused to act. With the executive actions, Obama ba-sically said that in enforcing the existing immigration laws, the executive branch does not have enough budget, personnel, court-rooms, etc. to deport everyone. Therefore, in exercising his discre-tion in enforcing the immigration laws, the executive branch was first going after the “high priority” undocumented (such as felons, terrorists, etc.) and conserve re-sources by not going after certain people, such as parents of US citi-zens and young people brought to the US at an early age, who pose no threat to US safety or security. Therefore, he is not passing any law, but instead deciding best how to enforce the existing laws, until Congress finally acts.

With the death of Justice Sca-lia, the Court is split between four conservative and four liberal justices. If there is a 4-4 tie, then the lower court’s decision, halting

implementation of DAPA, would stand.

Let’s hope at least one conserva-tive justice understands that Texas does not have “standing” based on self-inflicted injuries, and Obama’s executive action is not making or passing an immigration law, but simply figuring out the best way to enforce the laws, given the limited resources and manpower.

* * *Michael J. Gurfinkel is licensed, and an active

member of the State Bar of California and New York. All immigration services are provided by, or under the supervision of, an active member of the State Bar of California. Each case is different. The information contained herein including testimonials, “Success Stories,” endorsements and re-enactments) is of a general nature, and is not intended to apply to any particular case, and does not constitute a prediction, warranty, guarantee or legal advice regarding the outcome of your legal matter. No attorney-client relationship is, or shall be, established with any reader.

WEBSITE: www.gurfinkel.comCall Toll free to schedule a consultation for

anywhere in the US: (866)—GURFINKELFour offices to serve you: LOS ANGELES · SAN

FRANCISCO · NEW YORK · PHILIPPINES (Advertising Supplement)

PH targets huge gain in doing businessFrom 103 to at least 63

by Richmond meRcuRio Philstar.com

MANILA—The Philippines is targeting to leap to 63rd place in this year’s World Bank Ease of Do-ing Business Report, a 50-notch jump from last year’s ranking of 103.

National Competitiveness Coun-cil (NCC) co-chairman for the pri-vate sector Bill Luz said yesterday the target is achievable following measures implemented by gov-ernment agencies in streamlining process for starting a business and paying taxes, as well as social payments.

“We’re very confident that we can move up. We feel we will be on an upward trend. Whether we will hit 63rd or better (we don’t know yet), but we will be moving in that direction. I’m confident that with our hard work we will see some good results,” Luz said.

Luz said the upcoming change in administration would have no negative effect on the country’s stride for providing a better busi-ness environment.

“We’re looking at regulations and processes that are being writ-ten up so these are not political. I

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Sen. Bob Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys)

Decision expected by June 2016

april 23-26, 2016 • la WEEKEND aSiaN JOUrNal http://www.asianjournal.com • (818) 502-0651 • (213) 250-9797D� Marketplace

Facebook launches Philippine office

PAGE D1

Pinoys among most heavily taxed in Asia, says Escudero

by Janvic Mateo Philstar.com

MANILA—Social media giant Facebook officially launched on Friday, April 22 its local opera-tions in the Philippines.

Facebook vice president for Asia-Pacific Dan Neary made the announcement on his own social media account, saying over 49 million Filipinos or 91 percent of the Internet population in the country access the site.

“The Philippines is a highly engaged mobile-first nation filled with people who are cre-ative, entrepreneurial and have a strong sense of community,” said Neary.

“Filipinos have been sharing the unique moments that matter on Facebook with their friends and family, be it life milestones or a trending video. Two in three Filipinos are connected to a business page on Facebook, and they’re using the platform to dis-cover new brands and products,” he added.

In a subsequent video mes-sage, Neary said Facebook will work with local businesses on how they can use the social me-dia in their operations.

“Our team has already been partnering closely with busi-nesses—small and large—in the Philippines and I’m looking forward to the opportunity to grow together with our partners there,” he said.

Named country manager is Digs Dimagiba, former business unit head of the information technology and mobile division of Samsung Philippines.

Last year, Facebook launched the Internet.org initiative in the country, allowing Filipinos to have free access to various

sites.“We’re one step closer to con-

necting the world as we launched Internet.org in the Philippines. Now everyone in the country can have free access to Internet ser-vices for health, education, jobs and communication on the Smart network,” Facebook founder and chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg announced.

Recently, the social media gi-ant has been active in monitoring data on conversations among Filipino Facebook users about the upcoming elections.

be approved as part of a collective bargaining agreement.

The collective bargaining pro-cess is essential to a level playing field between management and labor by giving workers a strong voice and seat at the negotiating

PH targets huge gain in doing...don’t hear any of the candidates opposing for the streamlining of processes. In fact, they are quite impatient and they want us to go faster. So I have yet to come across a businessman, investor, or citizen who says let’s slow down the service. Everyone wants it faster,” Luz said.

The new Ease of Doing Busi-ness Report is set to come out in October.

The report measures and tracks changes in regulations affecting 11 areas in the life cycle of a business namely, starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, resolving insolvency and labor market regulation.

Last year, the country’s ranking dropped six notches to 103rd from the previous year’s 97th spot across 189 economies.

The NCC was displeased with

table, so that any payments that reduce workers’ wages are actually in the interests of workers.

The legislation, which is spon-sored by the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California, goes next to the As-sembly.

“This bill is essential to protect construction workers on public works projects by ensuring they receive their rightfully owed wages,” said Robbie Hunter, President of the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California.

Senate passes legislation protecting...

PCCI pushes PH as global education hubby RichMond MeRcuRio

Philstar.com

MANILA—The Philippines is eyeing to become a preferred pro-vider of higher education globally with a revenue target of $1 billion annually.

Philippine Chamber of Com-merce and Industry (PCCI) presi-dent George Barcelon said the country’s ambitious plan to be-come a global education hub is attainable given that majority of the factors considered by foreign students for studying overseas are already present in the Philip-pines.

“The factors that make Malay-sia and Singapore as global and ASEAN education destinations are available here,” Barcelon said.

These factors include English instructions, qualifications recog-nized in their desired work coun-tries, quality faculties and facilities, and low costs of living, he said.

Barcelon said Philippine col-leges and universities are looking forward to improving their global competitiveness to attract talented foreign students to enroll in college and graduate degree courses in the country.

The PCCI official, however, said

regulatory and legal impediments that discourage many foreign stu-dents from enrolling in the country should be lifted as part of reforms in promoting the Philippines as a higher education hub.

Among the initial reforms seen critical in encouraging foreign students to enroll in the country is the easing of immigration rules, Barcelon said.

“Because most foreign students want to take up medicine, engi-neering, accountancy and other long-term degree courses, dura-tion of student visas for college or graduate degree courses should be as long as normally needed to graduate,” PCCI said, echoing the concerns raised by representatives of major universities and colleges during recent stakeholder consul-tations.

In addition, PCCI said foreign students applying for initial stu-dent visas are required by the Department of Foreign Affairs to personally file their applications at the consular office in their home countries.

“Higher education institutions representatives said it takes several months before the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), the Bureau of Immigration and the

DFA could complete the process of verifying documents filed by foreign students supporting their applications for visas,” PCCI re-ported.

A technical working group com-posed of the PCCI, CHED, Depart-ment of Trade and Industry, De-partment of Education, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, and higher education institutions are now embarking on the creation of the country’s educa-tion services roadmap.

BUTUAN CITY—Independent vice-presidential contender Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero said the “Gobyernong may Puso” would cut income tax rates to increase

the take-home pay of millions of Filipino salaried workers who are among the most heavily taxed people in Asia.

Escudero said that lowering the country’s personal income tax rate, which at 32 percent is one of the highest in the continent, would be the on top of the legislative agenda of his running mate, Sen. Grace Poe, if she becomes president.

“We have one of the highest tax rates in Asia. It’s really time to bring them down. We intend to do this, especially the income taxes of workers,” Escudero said in a recent radio interview.

He said that if the government cannot raise the salaries of private sector employees, it might as well ease their tax burden to boost their take-home pay and help them keep up with the rising cost of living.

“If we cannot raise their sala-ries, then we can certainly raise their take-home pay,” said Es-cudero, who is responsible for exempting minimum wage earners from paying the income tax, or Republic Act 9504.

There are around 39 million people comprising the nation’s labor force and about 36 million of

them are in the private sector.While the country’s estimated

1.53 million state workers have been recently granted an increase in pay and benefits, private sector employees only received minimal pay increases in the last five years, the latest of which was in April 2015 when P15 was added to the daily minimum wage in Metro Manila.

The wage adjustment, the fifth under the Aquino administration, raised the minimum pay to P481 for workers in the non-agriculture sector from P404 in 2010.

Since 1997, when the Tax Re-form Act was passed, tax brack-ets in the Philippines have not changed. Salaries, however, have been adjusted to inflation, pushing more wage and salary workers into higher brackets, which compel them to pay higher taxes.

According to the Joint Foreign Chambers of the Philippines, the 32-percent individual tax rate in the country for income over P500,000 is the second highest in Southeast Asia and the seventh highest in the entire continent.

Japan, which has a top marginal tax rate of 50 percent, is the high-est in Asia. (Philstar.com)

National Competitiveness Council (NCC) co-chairman for the private sector Bill Luz said the target is achievable following measures implemented by government agencies in streamlining process for starting a business and paying taxes, as well as social payments.

last year’s ease of doing business outcome, saying the report has un-dergone methodological changes in four of the last five years which made it confusing and unreliable for measuring change.

For this year, Luz said the coun-try has already been informed about the upcoming changes which allow the NCC to make adjustments to comply.

The NCC reported yesterday that the country’s ease of doing business task force has continued to streamline the process for starting a business and paying taxes and social payments.

The ease of doing business task force is composed of the NCC, Department of Finance, Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Interior and Local Government, Bureau of Internal Revenue, Securities and Exchange Commission, Social Security Sys-tem, PhilHealth, PagIBIG Fund, Landbank, Development Bank of the Philippines, and the Quezon City government.

PAGE D1

Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) president George Barcelon

Sen. Chiz Escudero

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WIN Hyundai and WIN Chevrolet: Three giant locations to serve you

There’s no better place for kababayans to shop for hyundai vehicles than WIN hyundai in Carson, Calif.

established in 2011, the young dealership started with the goal of becoming the premiere hyundai dealership. since then, it has lived up to its aim by consistently ranked among the top five dealers in the district. In 2012, the dealership, which is also equus Certified, was also ranked No. 1 in district sales.

WIN is proud to carry hyundai vehicles. J.D. Power and Associates ranked the automaker No. 2 among non-premium automakers in the 2015 Automotive Performance, execution and Layout (APeAL) study.

“Finishing among the top two non-premium brands in this year’s J.D. Power, the APeAL study shows hyundai takes design, technology, features, and performance seriously across the entire lineup. having the best-selling sonata ranking among the top two in its class is a remarkable accomplishment and we are committed to delivering the highest customer experience possible to our owners,” said Mike O’Brien, vice president of corporate and product planning at hyundai.

WIN hyundai offers a wide selection of quality hyundai vehicles and extends its offerings across the Los Angeles area with its two locations: one in Carson and another in el Monte. On both sites, customers can find new and certified pre-owned vehicles – including the santa Fe, sonata, elantra and Genesis Coupe – to meet a variety of budgets and preferences. Because the Carson and elMonte locations serve just about anyone and everyone in southern California, its experienced sales representatives are prepared and eager to help customers find the cars that best fit their preferences and needs.

When it comes to purchasing a hyundai, WIN specializes in working with all types of credit, good or bad, and has the ability to refinance current loans.

Additionally, although it sells hyundai cars, the dealership services vehicles of all makes and models and currently has an oil change special of $19.95

For Chevrolet owners and

shoppers in Los Angeles, you may check out WIN’s third location at WIN Chevrolet, which will make sure to handle everything from helping you purchase a new or used Chevy. schedule an appointment or just stop on by to take any of our 2015 Chevrolet models for a test drive including the 2015 Chevrolet Camaro, 2015 Chevrolet Impala, and 2015 Chevrolet Tahoe.

Beyond the highly-praised brand WIN offers southern California residents, it has departments dedicated diverse groups found throughout the Los Angeles region, including Chinese, Korean, hispanic and Filipino communities.

“We want to make the buying process as easy as possible, so we understand communicating in your native language can be important to completely understanding the purchasing and financing of your vehicle,” said Munir Younis, general sales manager of the dealership.

Younis, who is of Middle eastern descent, grew up in the Philippines and can speak Tagalog fluently, just as the Filipino sales representatives at the dealership.

“We have a dedicated team that serves the largest Filipino community in the U.s. We believe in giving back to the community and have participated in multiple sponsorship opportunities with multiple Filipino groups and organizations, including the Philippine Independence Day Foundation,” he said.

Among Filipino members of the WIN hyundai Carson team include long-time car industry veterans Jun Milan and Jay Trinidad.

“WIN is a great dealership and customer service is the best it can be,” Milan said.

Also on the Filipino team is Franklin Magarro, the dealership’s internet sales manager.

In addition to its on-location offerings, those shopping for hyundai cars can browse WIN’s inventory online with user-friendly filters. Whether you know specifically what make and model you’re looking for, are trying to shop based on a budget, or simply want to browse through what is available, the dealership website makes it easy to shop around from home. Live chat is also available and sales representatives are happy to assist customers via phone.

WIN Hyundai Carson2205 e 223rd streetCarson, CA 90810(877) 354-4253Monday through saturday: 9am

to 9pmsunday: 10am to 8pmWIN Hyundai El Monte3462 N Peck roadel Monte, CA 91731(877) 290-2164Monday through sunday: 9am

to 9pmwww.winhyundai.comWin Chevrolet2201 e. 223rd street Carson,

CA 90810(818) 639-1216www.winchevrolet.com

april 23-26, 2016 • la WEEKEND aSiaN JOUrNal http://www.asianjournal.com • (818) 502-0651 • (213) 250-9797D� Marketplace & ShowrooM

Spring BBQ at Five Knolls in Santa Clarita Saturday, April 30

Santa Clarita—it’s time you celebrated the season in Santa Clarita! On Saturday, april 30, you’re invited to the Spring BBQ at Five Knolls by Brookfield residential. Come out from 11am to 2pm to enjoy delicious BBQ eats while hanging out at the Club, experience Golden Valley Park and the signature knolls and discover six stylish neighbor-hoods, including the community’s three most distinctive new collec-tions at the Heights, the exclusive gated enclave at the top of Five Knolls.

Plus, you can enter for the chance to win a $500 Pottery Barn gift card! With miles of trails, a resort-style club, community park and five signature knolls, this is an event you don’t want to miss. Visit today and tour the designer-fur-nished models to find the perfect home suited to your lifestyle.

Five Knolls brings a great range of new home options and oppor-tunities to the Santa Clarita Valley, offering homes that are well built, well priced and in demand. Home shoppers can enjoy a location that caters to a lifestyle of both recreation and convenience with a new home that delivers style, innovation and function. Five Knolls is simply one of those rare opportunities to have it all.

along tree-lined streets, the six new home collections at Five Knolls provide a host of choices from an all-star lineup of home-builders. With timeless architec-tural styles, including Santa Bar-bara, Spanish, american Farm-house, Monterey and more, each home is defined by elegance.

Highglen at the Heights by Brookfield residential welcomes two-story detached homes behind gates, with floorplans ranging from approximately 3,788 to 4,235 square feet. With up to six bedrooms and five-and-one-half baths, Highglen also offers three-bay garages as well as a host of desirable features. Highglen is priced from the $700,000s.

Monterra at the Heights by Christopher Homes presents gat-ed living with beautiful two-story detached homes. Priced from the $700,000s, designs span from ap-proximately 3,583 to 3,858 square feet with up to seven bedrooms and six baths as well as two- and three-car garages.

Priced from the $700,000s, Brighton at the Heights by Brook-field residential delivers two-

story detached homes in a gated neighborhood. a variety of op-tions offer from approximately 3,116 to 3,470 square feet with up to six bedrooms and four-and-one-half baths. Brighton residents also enjoy three-bay garages and premium appointments.

Everett by Meritage Homes pleases homebuyers with an ar-ray of floorplans to choose from. two-story detached designs fea-ture approximately 2,724 to 3,131 square feet in addition to up to five bedrooms and four-and-one-half baths. Priced from the high $500,000s, Everett also provides two-bay to three-car tandem ga-rages and stunning interiors.

new two-story detached resi-dences at Grayson by tri Pointe Homes are designed for homebuy-ers. With approximately 2,121 to 2,470 square feet, up to five bed-rooms and three baths and two-car garages, Grayson is priced from only the $500,000s.

Haywood by KB Home affords a new collection of two-story de-tached residences priced from the high $400,000s. ranging in size from approximately 1,856 to 2,388 square feet, designs include up to five bedrooms, up to three baths and two-car garages in addition to a multitude of great features.

at Five Knolls, the great out-doors is just outside your door, from the array of walking and biking trails to the five signature knolls the community is named for. Golden Valley Park brings a mixture of open spaces and gathering places as well as picnic enclaves, a shaded playground, basketball half-court and big and small dog park. and the Club is a haven for all things fun, where residents can splash around in the pool, relax in the spa or meet up with friends for wine tastings, get-togethers or celebrations.

to live at Five Knolls in Santa Clarita is to be close to everything. Connecting Golden Valley road all the way through to Bouquet Can-yon road means a faster, more direct route to everyday destina-tions from shopping and dining to entertainment, great schools, employment and more than 25 city parks. and the Metrolink and local transit make just about any-where within reach. residents are close to all the things they love, from the easygoing community to the bustling world beyond. Five Knolls is the place to be.

Models are open daily from 10am to 6pm. For more details on Five Knolls, please visit Five-Knolls.com.

Brookfield residential los angeles is a premier lifestyle provider comprised of a dedi-cated, knowledgeable team of professionals with the passion and experience to craft exceptional new homes, neighborhoods and communities. From the goals of first-time buyers to the prestige of luxury homes, we are proud to offer opportunities that embrace a diversity of aspirations. respected as an award-winning innovator, we are recognized for delivering consistent quality, design details and an outstanding customer experience.

Brookfield residential Proper-ties, inc. is a leading north ameri-can land developer and home-builder. We entitle and develop land to create master-planned communities and build and sell lots to third-party builders as well as to our own homebuilding divi-sion. We also participate in select strategic real estate opportunities, including infill projects, mixed-use developments and joint ventures. For more information, please visit Brookfieldresidential.com.

(Advertising Supplement)

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What car would your PH presidential bet be?the Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines.

“She’s a Toyota Hi-Ace, which appeals to families and bonds them together,” said businessman Peter Dinglasan.

Rodrigo Duterte: Battle-scarred jeepney

“Rodrigo Duterte is a bullet-proof jeepney, the king of the road with a devil-may-care attitude,” declared Ocampo.

“Duterte is like the controversial Hennessey Venom GT, the fastest sportscar to date with deadly speed records,” quipped Loinaz.

“He’s an off-road vehicle, like an Isuzu D-Max. Get ready for some rough sailing but built strong and trustworthy. However, con-stant high-revving may blow-by its combustion chamber,” said Raquelsantos.

“He’s a Montero Sport, associ-ated with sudden unintended ac-celeration,” said Dinglasan.

“I liken Duterte to a Rubicon—no matter how bad the roads are, he can still pass through,” said Llave.

Mar Roxas: An elite PorscheOcampo: “Mar Roxas is a heav-

ily tinted Mercedes-Benz. He thinks everything is well even if they are not.”

Loinaz: “He is the Beetle, rein-troduced but plagued with falter-ing sales.”

Raquelsantos: “He’s like the Montero SUV, dependable but doubted due to its sudden unin-tended flare-ups (controversies). It’s an all-terrain vehicle with all the features and party machiner-ies. Sporty as it is, it can be quick and take the checkered flag.”

Dinglasan: “He’s a Porsche,

which is for the affluent.”Llave: “He’s a Mahindra—often

traveling around the Philippines and present during crises.”

Jejomar Binay: Smuggled BMW 7

Ocampo: “I liken Binay to a smuggled BMW 7 Series. Living the life of a king by stealing.”

Loinaz: “He is the Batmobile of the Dark Knight.”

Dinglasan: “He’s a Mercedes-Benz 100 van made in Korea, considering people’s comparative preferences.”

Anonymous car enthusiast: “He’s like a taxi… [it] keeps col-lecting.”

Llave: “He is a Mercedes-Benz G Class. It always fits in any occa-sion and looks tough.”

Miriam Defensor-Santiago: A Kia Pride

Ocampo: “Miriam is a 1992 Mercedes-Benz that is not well-maintained and might break down anytime.”

Loinaz: “She is a Rolls-Royce with the emblem ‘Spirit of Ecstasy’ flying mascot ornament on the hood who seems to be timeless and tireless.”

Raquelsantos: “She is like a restored Vintage Porsche. The design and brain are outstanding. It drives with authority. It may be old in looks, but remains iconic. Valves may not be fuel injected but still pumping hard.”

Dinglasan: “She’s a Kia Pride, for the masses but relegated to the sidelines.”

Do you agree with their imag-eries?

Remember, it’s still anybody’s race. Crazier finishes have hap-pened in the political circuit.

by Tessa R. salazaRInquirer.net

THE race to the highest posi-tion in the land is nearing its final turn. Wait, did we mean that literally?

Let’s tweak this interesting an-gle a bit. For so long, Inquirer Mo-toring has been matching political personalities with the automobiles they’d like to be seen in.

This time, we wonder, what metal beast of burden would our five aspiring presidents be likened to, if in a crazy trip of reality they could transform themselves into a car?

So, we asked our game and imaginative sources just that. And here are their answers.

Just a reminder, dear reader: You may or may not take these things seriously. But for sure, the fun’s intended, right to the very last loose screw our noble “transform-ers” throw each other’s way.

Grace Poe: ‘Filipinized’ Ford“Sen. Grace Poe could be a Ford

Expedition painted with the Phil-ippine colors,” quipped journalist Junep Ocampo.

Auto customization whiz kid Atoy Lim Llave thinks the same. “Poe is an Expedition—tough, strong and made in the USA.”

“I think of Poe as a ‘Pink Cadil-lac,’ a song popularized by Bruce Springsteen from the B side of ‘Dancing in the Dark,’” said auto expert Alexander Loinaz.

“Grace would be like a Tesla—a new breed with electrifying wis-dom. Though not fully tested but the talent is promising and the performance can be trusted,” said Ferdinand Raquelsantos, chair of

(L-R) Vice Pres. Jejomar Binay, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, Sen. Grace Poe, former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas and Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago. Inquirer.net photos

Longo Toyota delivers world class experienceBeing the premiere Toyota

retailer in the nation, Longo Toyota aims to deliver a truly world-class experience to our guests on every transaction, everyday.

it all starts with our friendly and welcoming staff, a clean and modern environment, and a wide range of services to make your visit pleasant and convenient. Here are some of our key amenities at Longo Toyota:

Auto Club of Southern California (AAA)

in november 1999, Longo Toyota became the first automotive dealership in the US to have the Auto Club on its premises. For 14 long years, our Auto Club branch has served countless satisfied Longo customers with its wide array of services

Today, our on-site branch offers DMV services, airline, car and hotel reservations, discounted movie and local attraction tickets, membership processing, OnBoard Teen Safe Driver Program, and more. Sign up at our Longo Toyota branch and get $13 off the original membership application price. Located in our new car showroom, our AAA branch is open Mondays thru Saturdays, from 11am to 7pm.

Verizon Wireless Premium Retailer

Longo Lexus is the first car dealership in the US to provide Verizon Wireless and Verizon Wireless neighborhood services on-site. Our Verizon branch offers the latest in telecommunications, mobile devices, accessories and services. We also offer complimentary cellphone charging stations for our customers. Our Verizon retailer is located inside our parts retail center. Our Wireless Playground is open Monday-Friday, 7am-7pm; Saturday, 7am-5:30pm; and Sunday, 8-4pm. Please call (888) 623-2133 for more information.

Starbucks and SubwayWhile waiting for your car

to come out of our car-care service lines, you can enjoy a quick bite at Subway or a nice refreshing drink at Starbucks. We offer healthy dining options with Subway’s wide variety of sandwiches, salads, and wraps.

if you’re thirsty and you’re looking for that quick coffee

fix, you can grab a refreshing Hazelnut Macchiato or a smooth Caramel Frappuccino at Starbucks. Offering only the finest coffee specialties, teas, juices, and assortment of pastries, there’s something for everybody at our on-site Starbucks branch.

Both our Subway and Starbucks branches are available for catering services.

Enterprise Rent-A-CarLongo Toyota also has two

enterprise Rent-A-Car offices on its premises. One is located adjacent to the Service Drive in the Pre-Owned Vehicle Showroom, and the other is in the Collision Repair Center. Customers are welcome to utilize the enterprise rental services, regardless of whether or not they leave their vehicle in Longo for any car service.

Complimentary Vehicle Delivery Service

Longo Toyota also offer complimentary vehicle delivery service. Our delivery service is available 6 days a week, Monday thru Saturday, anywhere within a 60-mile radius of Longo Toyota.

Longo Toyota Parts and Accessories Department

You can also shop at the Longo Toyota Parts and Accessories Department, which carries a wide selection of genuine Toyota parts and accessories for your vehicle. With thousands of parts and accessories in stock, we definitely have whatever it is you’re looking for. Our boutique also carries a selection of Ray-Ban and Oakley sunglasses, women’s and men’s apparel, and so much more.

Shuttle ServiceFor your convenience, Longo

Toyota offers complimentary shuttle service while your vehicles are being serviced. Our shuttles can take you to virtually anywhere within a 15-mile radius of Longo Toyota – be it your home, work, the mall, or even the parlor! Anywhere!

An engaging stayWhile we understand that our

customer’s time is precious, we realize that many of them may need internet connectivity at all times. As such we are more than happy to provide FReeWiFi throughout our facility, and FRee use of our great business center. in our business center, we provide a quiet setting where our guests can work on our computers or on their own laptops.

We also provide free use of an iPad for Longo guests who are waiting for their vehicles. Our guest Check-in representative will be more than happy to arrange this for you.

if you decide to bring the kids to the dealership, boredom will never be a problem. We also offer a variety of video games and DVDs just for kids so that they can also enjoy their visit to Longo Toyota.

For more information on our Longo Toyota guest Services, please log on to http://www.longotoyota.com/dealership/amenities.htm.

Longo Toyota is located at 3534 north Peck Road, el Monte, CA 91731. Call (626)539-2584 to set up your appointment.

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