View/Download

TRENDING
USD TO PHP: $1 = P43.92 as of May 28, 2014
WE PROVIDE PRESS
COVERAGE FOR ANY EVENTS OR
PROMOTIONS.
Claudine
makes ‘peace’
with Raffy
Tulfo
- page 13
Contact 1-855-454-7678 for more details.
SHOWBIZ
Vice Ganda
on Terrence:
I never said
we’re together
- page 13
FREE
108 senators, solons in
‘Napolist’
VOL. 2 ISSUE 31
VIEW US ONLINE: WWW.SF-POST.COM
MAY 29, 2014 - JUNE 4, 2014
Insists Abad gave her ideas to set up NGOs
M
Aquino endorsed fund
transfers to DAP -exec
ANILA -- An official
of the Department of
Budget and Management
(DBM) told the Senate
Finance Committee yesterday that it was President Aquino himself who
endorsed the transfer of
slow-moving funds, savings and unprogrammed
funds not spent by other
government agencies to
the now controversial Development Acceleration
Program (DAP).
Parties have questioned
the constitutionality of the
DAP before the Supreme
Court and the High Tribunal has yet to resolve the
matter.
The Senate Finance Committee chaired by Sen.
Francis “Chiz” Escudero
held the inquiry based on
M
the resolution of Sen. Joseph Victor “JV’’ Ejercito
following allegations that
the Executive branch used
DAP funds to “bribe’’ or
give “incentives” to senators and members of the
House of Representatives
who voted to impeach former Supreme Court Chief
Justice Renato C. Corona
and which were also used
for projects and programs
not included in the General Appropriations Act.
When asked by Escudero
whether it is not only savings but even the utilization of the unprogrammed
funds for the DAP that
goes to the Office of the
President, DBM Director
Rowena Candice M. Ruiz
of the
(Cont. on Page 7)
Pope to visit
PH in January
P
ope Francis talks with Vatican Spokesman Father Federico Lombardi, right, during a
press conference he held aboard
the papal flight on his way back
to Rome at the end of a three day
trip to the Middle East, Monday,
May 26, 2014.
ABOARD THE PAPAL
PLANE—Pope Francis confirmed Monday that he will visit
the Philippines in January next
year as well as Sri Lanka for two
days, but gave no definite dates
and details. Philippine Catholic
Church officials have reportedly
invited him to visit the Philippines, with a trip to typhoondevastated Leyte as the highlight
of his visit.
Early this year Palo Archbishop
John Du was quoted by the Philippine Daily Inquirer as saying
that
“the
Holy Father (Cont. on Page 8)
ANILA — Suspected pork barrel
scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles
has implicated 108 former and incumbent
senators and congressmen in the misuse
of their Priority Development Assistance
Fund (PDAF) in her expanded affidavit
submitted yesterday to Justice Secretary
Leila de Lima.
In the same affidavit, Napoles said that
it was Budget Secretary Florencio Abad,
then a congressman representing the lone
district of Batanes, who told her in 2000
about a P10-million project. Abad even
showed Napoles the Special Allotment
Release Order (SARO), explaining what it
was for. Abad, she said, gave her ideas on
how to set up non-government organizations (NGOs).
The 20 senators listed in Napoles’ affidavit submitted by the Department of Justice
(DOJ) to Senate Blue Ribbon Committee
Chairman Sen. Teofisto “TG” Guingona III
are:
1. Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile
2. Sen. Jinggoy Estrada
3. Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr.
4. Sen. Gregorio Honasan II
5. Sen. Manuel “Lito” Lapid
6. Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
7. Sen. Loren Legarda
8. Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III
9. Sen. Vicente Sotto III
10. Sen. Cynthia Villar
11. Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano
12. Sen. Francis Escudero
13. Ex-Sen. Rodolfo Biazon (now Muntinlupa congressman)
14. Ex-Sen. Robert Barbers
(Cont. on
15. Ex-Sen. Loi Estrada
16.Ex-Sen. Robert Jaworski Page 9)
Abad blasts Napoles for ‘shameless lying’
M
ANILA - Budget Secretary Florencio Abad
yesterday slammed alleged pork barrel
scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles for saying that he mentored her on how to skim billions
from the Priority Development Assistance Fund
(PDAF) of lawmakers.
For his part, President Aquino urged the public
not to fall for Napoles’ tricks and warned of persons trying to muddle the issue by pinning the
blame on others to save themselves from charges
and delay the investigation.
But the search for truth continues, Aquino said
even as he defended Abad and Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala, who were named in the
extended affidavit of Napoles.
Abad said it was unfortunate that despite the
countless opportunities she had to reveal the
Aquino open to security alliance with US
truth, Napoles resorted instead to “blatant,
shameless lying.”
“Her claims about me amount to deception of
the sorriest caliber, holding up poorly to scrutiny
and collapsing in the face of facts. What a disservice her statement is to the people who have been
waiting to hear the truth all these months. But
should we be surprised? Ms. Napoles’ history
has made one thing clear to all of us: the Filipino
people’s best interests mean nothing to her,” he
said in a statement.
The former congress- (Cont. on Page 10)
man
Story on
page 15
LOCAL
PAGE 2
May 29, 2014 - June 4, 2014
3 victims in Santa Barbara
rampage from Bay Area
SANT
A
BARBARA
Three
of the
v i c tims
killed
in
a
deadly
rampage
Friday
near
Santa
Barbara are
from
t h e
B a y
A r e a , Flowers are placed through a bullet hole on a window of IV Deli Mart, where
t h e part of Friday night’s mass shooting took place by a drive-by shooter, on SaturS a n t a day, May 24, 2014, in Isla Vista, Calif.
Barbara County Sheriff’s Office said Sunday. assistant at Rainbow Chinese School in
Cheng Yuan Hong, 20, and George Chen, Cupertino.
19, both of San Jose, along with Wei- Investigators believe Rodger killed the
han Wang, 20, of Fremont were stabbed three victims before then going on a
multiple times in suspect Elliot Rodger’s shooting rampage around Isla Vista that
left four more dead, including the gunapartment, authorities said.
All three victims were UC Santa Bar- man.
bara students. Authorities said Hong and Thirteen others were wounded in the meChen, along with Rodger, were on the lee late Friday.
lease as tenants of the apartment on the Rodger penned a disturbing manifesto
6500 block of Seville Road in Isla Vista. and posted at least 22 videos on YouTube
Investigators were working to determine in the weeks leading up the attack where
if Wang was a roommate or just visiting he voiced contempt, mostly for women,
whom he said kept him a virgin for all of
the residence.
According to UCSB student newspaper, his 22 years.
the Daily Nexus, Hong, who went by Deputies found three semi-automatic
James, was majoring in computer engi- handguns along with 400 unspent rounds
neering and volunteered as a teaching in his black BMW after the shooting rampage was over.
Consulate hiring for overseas
voter registration
SAN FRANCISCO, California — Have
you ever wondered what’s it like to work
with the Philippine Consulate General in
San Francisco? Here’s your chance to find
out if you’re at least 18 years old.
The Consulate General needs motivated
individuals at least 18 years of age to work
full-time in registering Filipino nationals
for overseas voting, which is currently underway until October 2015.
Voter registration has started for the Philippine national elections in 2016.
Interested applicants are invited to send
their resumes to [email protected]. Interviews will be set to discuss
responsibilities and remuneration.
The San Francisco Post
$70M lotto ticket sold at Safeway
store in SF
SAN FRANCISCO -- Some lucky person
bought a ticket worth a cool $70 million
at the Safeway in San Francisco’s Sunset
District, the California Lottery announced
Sunday.
The ticket, which was bought at the store
at 2350 Noriega St., matched all six numbers to win the SuperLotto Plus jackpot.
Winning numbers 13, 11, 23, 27, 29 and
Mega number 10 were drawn Saturday
night, lottery officials said.
Saturday’s ticket was the largest SuperLotto Plus payday since Feb. 7, 2009,
when someone hit a $76 million jackpot
with a ticket bought in Shasta City.
Lottery officials said the winner will
probably get $40.9 million before taxes if
he or she takes the cash option. Safeway
also gets a $350,000 kickback for selling
the winning ticket.
The winner has 180 days to claim the prize.
SuperLotto Plus is a California in-state lottery game. Players who purchase $1 tickets chose five numbers from 1 to 47 plus a
Mega number from 1 to 27. Drawings are
held Wednesday and Saturday at the lottery’s headquarters in Sacramento.
BUSINESS
PH businesses more bullish about Q2
MANILA -- Optimism among businessmen about the prospects of the Philippine economy for the current quarter has
grown, outweighing the negative outlook
expressed by the others in the latest central
bank survey of local firms.
Business confidence about the third quarter, however, lost some steam, according
to the latest Business Expectations Survey
(BES) survey conducted by the Bangko
Sentral ng Pilipinas.
The overall business confidence index
(CI) for the second quarter stood at 50.7
percent, up sharply from 37.8 percent recorded for the first quarter. The CI for the
third quarter dipped to 48.9 percent.
The index considers the percentage of
firms that answered in the affirmative and
the percentage of firms that answered in
the negative with respect to their views on
a given indicator.
The BSP views the new data as a favorable indicator of business confidence in the
country, highlighting the increase in the
number of optimists among the businessmen surveyed and that they outnumbered
the pessimists during the quarter.
According to the BES, the more upbeat
outlook was reflected by robust consumer
demand during the second harvest season,
the school graduation and enrollment periods, and the summer season when a high
influx of both local and foreign tourists
was recorded.
Respondents also based their replies on
new construction projects by the public
and private sectors, boosted by the rehabilitation efforts after the natural calamities
of last year, and on an increase in orders
and new contracts or projects which led to
a higher volume of production.
Businessmen in the country also attributed
their bullish outlook on the expansion of
businesses, the launch of new product lines
and a rise in investment coinciding with
the recovery in the United States and other
export markets, as well as continued confidence in the incumbent administration.
“The country’s strong macroeconomic fundamentals, such as manageable inflation
and steady growth of remittances, as well
as more favorable external conditions with
the recovery of the global markets support
the positive business outlook,” the BSP
said in a statement.
Going forward into the third quarter of the
year, the survey shows the business outlook continued to be upbeat as businesses
expect the expansion in the economy to
continue, although the momentum loses
some steam.
The BSP said optimism for the next quarter was based on a positive outlook for
wholesale and retail trade, as well as the
construction sector, given expectations of
brisker demand, as the new school year
starts and expansion projects in power generation, telecommunications and building
of highways gain pace.
“However, the optimism was dampened
by expectations among firms engaged in
manufacturing and hotel and restaurant
services of a slack in demand during the
rainy season,” it added.
The BES is a quarterly survey of firms
drawn at random from the Securities and
Exchange Commission’s top 7,000 corporations ranked in 2010 and Business
World’s Top 1000 Corporations in 2012.
The survey was conducted between April
1 and May 14 among 1,529 companies nationwide.
THEFT OF FREE NEWSPAPER IS A CRIME IN THIS STATE.
NATIONAL
The San Francisco Post
Obama to argue for avoiding overreach overseas
WASHINGTON — Confronting critics of his
foreign policy, President Barack Obama will
soon outline a strategy for his final years in office that aims to avoid overreach as the second
of the two wars he inherited comes to a close.
The president’s commencement address
Wednesday at the US Military Academy will
come amid growing frustration in the White
House with Republicans and other critics who
contend that Obama has weakened America’s
standing around the world and faltered on
problems across the Middle East and in Rus-
sia, China and elsewhere.
That criticism has mounted over the past year
following Obama’s decision to pull back a
military strike in Syria and his inability to stop
Russia from annexing territory from Ukraine.
A White House official said Obama would
specifically address both situations, as well
as the status of ongoing nuclear negotiations
with Iran.
The president is also expected to discuss how
he views shifts in the counterterrorism threat
from al-Qaida and other groups, according to
US forming new security alliance in
Asia-Pacific
MANILA - Amid a warning from
China against military alliances in the
region, the United States is working
out a new “security architecture” in
the AsiaPacific with
its strategic
partners
and treaty
allies including
the Philippines, official sources
said.
The new
security arrangement
is
being
forged as
regional tensions rise over China’s increasingly aggressive moves to stake its
territorial claim over waters around it,
including nearly the entire South China
Sea.
New US bases, considered too expensive by Washington, are out, according to the sources. Instead, the United
States will be working with “spokes” in
the new security architecture as part of
the pivot or rebalancing of US forces in
the region.
The sources told The STAR that aside
from the Philippines, the “spokes”
would include Australia and Japan,
and possibly Singapore and Thailand.
Washington is also wooing Malaysia as
a strategic partner.
Singapore allows US naval and air
force troops to use the Sembawang military base under an agreement concluded in 1992. US forces also hold joint
exercises with Thai troops, although US
aid has been suspended following the
recent military coup in Bangkok.
Last Friday at a session on security during the
World
Economic Forum
on East Asia,
Admiral William Locklear
III, commander
of US Pacific
forces, noted the
“rapid growth
of
military
equipment” in
the Asia-Pacific
which, “if improperly used,”
would
mean
“we have a big problem.
With economies growing rapidly, he
observed, the region has become “the
most militarized” in the world.
“For business to go on, there has to
be some kind of security architecture,”
Locklear said.
He explored this new “architecture” at
a subsequent closed-door WEF meeting
with Philippine officials and experts on
security in the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations.
At the earlier session, Locklear emphasized that the US has maintained
a strong security presence in the AsiaPacific for 70 years and “the US military position is to welcome China as a
partner.”
“The US position is not to contain
China,” Locklear said as he pointed out
that the two countries’ interests “converge” on about 80 percent of issues.
the official, who insisted on anonymity to preview the president’s speech.
Obama came into office vowing to end the
lengthy American-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and seeking to keep a war-weary
nation out of unnecessary conflicts. The war in
Iraq ended in the closing days of 2011 and the
Afghan conflict will formally conclude later
this year, though the White House is seeking to
keep a smaller contingent of US troops behind
to train Afghan forces and conduct counterterrorism missions.
White House blows
cover of CIA chief in
Afghanistan
WASHINGTON -- The name of the CIA’s
top officer in Afghanistan’s capital of
Kabul was inadvertently exposed by the
White House on Saturday.
The Washington Post first reported the
misstep, saying the intelligence agent’s
name was included on a list given to news
organizations of senior U.S. officials taking part in President Obama’s surprise
visit with US troops.
The White House realized what had happened and quickly issued a revised list
without the person’s name on it.
The official “had been identified on the
initial release as the ‘Chief of Station’ in
Kabul, a designation used by the CIA for
its highest-ranking spy in a country,” according to the Post.
The newspaper compared the mistake
to the only other recent instance of U.S.
officials outing a top CIA operative; the
very different case of Valerie Plame. She
was allegedly named by members of the
George W. Bush administration in a bid to
discredit her diplomat husband who had
become a vocal critic of the Iraq war.
CBS News and the Post are both withholding the name of the CIA officer. The
Post says Obama administration officials
warned the officer and family members
could be at risk if the name was published.
The CIA and the White House declined to
comment to the Post.
The CIA officer was one of 15 senior U.S.
officials named as participants in a military briefing for Obama at the sprawling
Bagram air base, north of Kabul.
CBS News chief White House correspondent Major Garrett said the CIA official will have to leave Afghanistan to
avoid retribution from the Taliban, and it’s
possible he’s fled the country already, according to intelligence sources.
BANKRUPTCY Q&A
What can the Automatic Stay in
bankruptcy do for you?
T
he Automatic Stay in bankruptcy By Atty. Crispin C. Lozano Stay:
is one of the fundamental debtor
1.Certain tax proceedings. The IRS
protections provided by the Bankcan still audit you, issue a tax deficienruptcy Code. If creditors have been harassing you, this cy notice, demand a tax return (which often leads to an
is the provision in the bankruptcy code that will give audit), issue a tax assessment, or demand payment of
you immediate relief. Whether you are filing Chapter such an assessment. However, the automatic stay does
13 or Chapter 7 bankruptcy, the Automatic Stay goes stop the IRS from issuing a tax lien or seizing your
into effect immediately and automatically when you property or income.
file for bankruptcy protection. The automatic stay is 2.Support actions. A lawsuit against you seeking to esa legal injunction that prohibits most creditors to stop tablish paternity or collects child support or alimony
taking legal action against you, and from even con- will not stop by your filing for bankruptcy.
tacting you.
3.Criminal proceedings. A criminal proceeding that
can be broken down into criminal and debt compoQ. What benefits can Automatic Stay do for you?
nents will be divided, and the criminal component is
A. The Automatic Stay is a great tool for debtors be- not affected by the automatic stay. For example, if you
cause it serves to stop most contact and continuing were convicted of writing a bad check, sentenced to
collection activity from creditors on debts that are community service, and ordered to pay a fine, your
owed. If you want to get creditors off your back, fil- obligation to do community service won’t be stopped
ing for bankruptcy and enacting the automatic stay is by your filing for bankruptcy.
an effective means of doing so. Once the automatic 4.Loans from a pension. Despite the automatic stay,
stay goes into effect, your creditors are not even al- money can be withheld from your income to repay a
lowed to call you or write you. Any communication loan from certain types of pensions, including most
they wish to have with you will have to go through job-related pensions and IRAs.
your bankruptcy attorney.
5.Multiple filings. If you had a bankruptcy case pending during the previous year, then the stay will auIn most situations, the Automatic Stay STOPS:
tomatically terminate after 30 days unless you, the
• Foreclosure
trustee, the U.S. Trustee, or a creditor asks for the stay
• Trustee Sale
to continue and proves that the current case was filed
• Repossession
in good faith. If a creditor had a motion to lift the stay
• Wage garnishment or levies, even if garnishment or- pending during the previous case, the court will preders are already in effect.
sume that you acted in bad faith, and you’ll have to
• Creditor lawsuits
overcome this presumption to get the protection of the
• Creditor harassment
stay in your current case.
• IRS Collection Activity
6.Co-debtors on certain debts. Co–debtors are not af• Any creditors (including collections agencies) from forded the same protections under the Automatic Stay
corresponding with you at all, including phone calls, that you are in Chapter 7. However, if you are filing
letters, etc.
for a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy, a creditor may not pursue a debt against a co-debtor or guarantor, if the debt
Q.Are there debts not affected by automatic stay?
is a “consumer debt.”
A.The following debts are not affected by Automatic
(Cont. on page 10)
PAGE 3
May 29, 2014 - June 4, 2014
Arrested hacker credited with
thwarting 100s of cyberattacks
NEW YORK - A prolific computer hacker
who infiltrated the servers of major corporations later switched sides and helped the
U.S. government disrupt hundreds of cyberattacks on Congress, NASA and other
sensitive targets, according to federal prosecutors.
New York prosecutors detailed the cooperation of Hector Xavier Monsegur for
the first time in court papers while asking
a judge to reward him with leniency at his
sentencing Tuesday. They credited Monsegur with helping them cripple Anonymous,
the notorious crew of hacktivists who stole
confidential information, defaced websites
and temporarily put some victims out of
business.
Working around the clock with FBI agents
at his side, Monsegur “provided, in real
time, information about then-ongoing computer hacks and vulnerabilities in significant
computer systems,” prosecutors wrote. The
FBI estimates he helped detect at least 300
separate hacks, preventing millions of dollars in losses, they added.
After his arrest and guilty plea in 2011,
Monsegur faced more than two decades behind bars. But because of his cooperation,
the sentence could be two years or less.
Court papers say Monsegur first began
hacking in a Manhattan apartment in the
early 2000s. His aim then was to steal credit
card information, then sell it or use it to pay
his own bills.
In a 2011 interview with an online magazine, Monsegur said he decided to join forces with Anonymous because he was upset
over the arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian
Assange.
“I’m just doing what I know how to do,
and that is counter abuse,” he said.
Starting in early 2011 and using the alias
Sabu, Monsegur led an Anonymous splinter group called Lulz Security, or LulzSec,
which hacked computer systems of Fox
television, Nintendo, PayPal and other businesses, stole private information and then
bragged about it online. The group was
loosely affiliated with Jeremy Hammond,
the FBI’s most wanted cybercriminal whose
stated objective was to cause mayhem with
the attacks, prosecutors said.
When FBI agents showed up at his home
in the summer of 2011, Monsegur immediately agreed to cooperate, giving the
FBI a tutorial on the inner-workings and
participants of LulzSec and Anonymous,
prosecutors said. Under their direction, he
“convinced LulzSec members to provide
him digital evidence of the hacking activities” and “asked seemingly innocuous
questions that ... could be used to pinpoint
their exact locations and identities,” court
papers said.
OPINION
PAGE 4
May 29, 2014 - June 4, 2014
The San Francisco Post
Is a Russia-China-Iran Axis in
the offing?
hat hapW
pens if
Russia
and
Strategic alliances in Asia
W
ith China increasingly aggressive in asserting its territorial
claims over most
of the South China, it is inevitable
that its smaller
neighbors would
THE NUCLEUS OF
form strategic deTHE MATTER
fense alliances to
By
protect themselves
Val Abelgas
from the region’s
bully.
The Philippine government was right in seeking strategic alliances with Japan, Vietnam and,
of course, the United States. After forging a defense accord with Japan, the Philippines signed
last week a roadmap towards a strategic defense
partnership with Vietnam, China’s former ally.
The agreement presents the start of a united
front against Chinese incursions in the disputed
isles in the South China Sea, almost 90% of
which is being claimed by the Chinese using
an ancient map dating back to the time of the
dynasties.
Both the Philippines and Vietnam are embroiled in escalating disputes with China over
oil and marine resources-rich areas in the South
China Sea.
(An Employees owned Publication)
Distributed weekly in Northern California
1290 B Street, Suite 203,
Hayward, CA 94541
Tel # 510-885-8827, Fax # 510-538-7115
[email protected]
For Car Dealers, call 650-521-4555
Teresita Estanislao
Editor-in-Chief & CEO
Atty. Crispin C. Lozano
Executive Vice President
Val Abelgas
Editorial Consultant
Adda Humady
General Advertising Manager
Ben Bagalso
Automotive Advertising Manager
Don Orozco
Bureau Chief, Silicon Valley
Alvin Maglan, CPA
Controller
Inquirer.Net
Content Syndication Partner
San Francisco FilAm Post, LLC
Publisher of San Francisco Post & SF Filam Post
The San Francisco Post will be happy to hear
from you. Comments, letters to the editor,
contributions, story/picture submissions can
be sent via email to [email protected] or via
snail mail to: ATTN: San Francisco Post, 1290
B Street, Suite 203, Hayward, CA 94541. All
submissions are subject to editing for style and
accuracy. All Rights Reserved.
NOTICE TO ADVERTISERS
San Francisco Post reserves the right to refuse any advertising not in keeping with the publication nature of San Francisco Post, sf-post.com, and all
or any other material published under Sf FilAm News, a Limited Liability
Company. For Corrections: Advertisers agrees to verify the corrections of
the advertisement. San Francisco Post will be responsible for only one incorrect insertion. Any error must be reported immediately. For Damages:
Advertisers agrees San Francisco Post, sf-post.com and all or any other
material published under the company shall not be liable to the customer
for damages resulting from failure to include in the advertisement any item
of advertising or from errors in spelling or grammar or omission printed or
not printed in the advertisement in which the error or omission occurred,
including but not limited to the loss of business by Advertiser. For Content: Advertisers assumes full responsibility containing the right to use any
name, address, trademark, service mark, trade name, or other copy in any
advertisement. Advertiser assumes full responsibility for determining that
the advertising will conform in all respects to all applicable laws, including but not limited to, all licensing requirements of federal, state or local
licensing authorities.
Vietnamese ships recently engaged in a battle
of water cannons with Chinese coast guard vessels near the Paracel Islands when the Chinese
pulled a gigantic oilrig to the area obviously to
begin tapping oil and natural gas in the area.
Luckily, both protagonists opted to use water
cannons instead of real cannons. Earlier, Vietnamese fishing vessels collided with a Chinese
frigate that was part of the convoy towing the
oilrig.
In 1974, the Chinese took control of the Paracels, which are well within the 200-mile economic zone of Vietnam, after a brief battle that
resulted in the death of 54 Vietnamese troops.
The Chinese have also been slowly occupying
islands claimed by the Philippines that are well
within the country’s 200-mile economic zone.
In 1993, the Chinese started occupying Panganiban or Mischief Reef and last year began
occupying Panatag or Scarborough Shoal after
a long standoff. In May last year, the Chinese
sent a fleet of fishing vessels, two large civilian
ships and a frigate to waters near the Ayungin
Shoal. And early this month, the Chinese were
found to be reclaiming land and building an airstrip over the Mabini Reef, which is very close
to Zambales.
Despite repeated protests, Chinese officials
insisted that they have the right to do anything
in the disputed islands because they were rightfully theirs.
It is increasingly obvious that China could not
be deterred by protests and the filing of legal
cases before the international courts in its bid
to take control of the South China Sea, which
is critical to its goal of becoming a world superpower by 2025.
The 1.7 million square kilometers of the disputed South China Sea area is believed to contain from seven billion to as high as 130 billion
barrels of oil reserves, and billions of barrels of
natural gas, important resources that are necessary to fuel China’s economy and consequent
rise as a superpower. The area is also a rich
source of fish and other marine resources to
feed the more than a billion Chinese.
Just as importantly, the area is a major shipping lane for many nations and accounts for
more than half of the world’s shipping activity.
Amid the escalating tension in the area, analysts are questioning the weak and tentative response of the Obama administration. They said
that after announcing a “pivot to Asia,” the US
government has not really done much to back
up its promise. Instead, they argue, Russia has
done more to pivot to Asia, with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi
Jinping all but formalizing a Russian-Chinese
alliance earlier this month.
Putin and Xi signed an energy agreement that
calls for Russia to supply China with $400 billion of natural gas over the next 30 years. And
to show to the world that they have become
comrades in arms, the Russian and Chinese Navies held a joint naval exercise in the East China
Sea amid territorial tensions in Asia.
While China is spending billions of dollars to
beef up its military muscle, the US is actually
cutting down on its military budget as it focuses
on its domestic problems.
Just like the Philippines, the US is aware that
it needs to forge stronger alliances with Asian
nations to counter the emerging Russo-Chinese
alliance in the region. The US is not ready to
build expensive new bases in the region, but it
can reach agreements with host countries to use
existing bases, just as it did with the Philippines
through the Enhanced Defense Cooperation
Agreement (EDCA).
The US is also planning to expand its use of
bases in Australia and Japan, and possibly Singapore and Thailand. In addition, Washington
is wooing Malaysia. These countries are in the
thick of an Asian arms race with China, which
has become inevitable as their economies grow.
(Cont. on page 10)
China joined
forces? They
would be a
formidable
economic and
PERRY SCOPE
military power
By
at par with the
Perry Diaz
United States.
Last May 21,
2014, Russian
President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping signed a $400-billion megadeal wherein Russia would supply Siberian
gas to China for 30 years. That would put
into action the “strategic partnership” that
Putin and Xi had envisioned at their first
summit a year ago in Moscow.
If there is one thing that is common to Russia and China, it’s their penchant for grabbing land. Russia had been grabbing land
and extending her domain since the time of
the czars. When the communists took over
the Russian Empire in 1922, they formed
the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
(USSR), which unified 15 republics including the Russian, Transcaucasian, Ukrainian,
and Byelorussian republics.
Old glory
Lately, Putin declared that Mother Russia
has a right to defend or come to the assistance of ethnic Russians or Russian-speaking people in the “near abroad” – that is, the
Eastern European countries that were formerly associated with or part of the dismembered USSR. Because of this policy – called
Putinism – pro-Russians in the erstwhile
Ukrainian province of Crimea were emboldened to secede from Ukraine and offered to
join Russia, which Putin gladly accepted.
With the specter of Russian intervention in
Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, and others in
the “near abroad,” the U.S. and her NATO
allies have been sending troops and military
assets to their beleaguered allies.
In his annual state of the nation address to
the Russian parliament in 2006, Putin said,
“First and foremost it is worth acknowledging that the demise of the Soviet Union was
the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the
century. As for the Russian people, it became a genuine tragedy. Tens of millions of
our fellow citizens and countrymen found
themselves beyond the fringes of Russian
territory.” His recent expansionist adventure manifests his fervent desire to restore
the old glory of Imperial Russia.
Territorial disputes
Currently, China has territorial disputes
with 22 neighboring countries, to wit: Ja-
pan, Vietnam, India, Indonesia, Nepal,
North Korea, the Philippines, South Korea,
Bhutan, Burma (Myanmar), Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, Kazakhstan, Laos, Brunei,
Tajikistan, Cambodia, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Mongolia, and Afghanistan. She also
claims about 90% of the entire South China
Sea including the more than 300 islands that
extend farther to the East China and Yellow
Seas. Mao asserted that these territories
were lost due to the fall of the Qing Empire.
And now, Xi wants them back.
Today, under Xi’s leadership, China has
intensified her claims in the South and East
China Seas, particularly in disputed territories with Japan, the Philippines, and Vietnam.
In my article, “New World Disorder”
(March 26, 2013), I wrote: “Upon his ascension to the presidency, Xi’s first venture outside China was to visit his Russian
counterpart Vladimir Putin. At their summit
in Kremlin last March 22, the two leaders
agreed to form a ‘strategic partnership’ to
advance their countries’ interests. They affirmed their mutual support for each country’s geostrategic and territorial interests,
which include territorial disputes. With more
than 20 territorial disputes that China is embroiled with various countries — including
Japan, Philippines, India, Malaysia, Taiwan,
Vietnam — this could put Russia squarely
on the paths of conflict, which could involve
the United States who has mutual defense
treaties with at least four of China’s adversaries. “In the economic front, the new China-Russia strategic partnership would bind
the two countries in jointly developing Russia’s most strategic economic resources —
oil, gas, and coal — to meet China’s massive
current and future energy requirements.”
Russia-China-Iran Axis
On the day Xi and Putin signed the gas
deal in Shanghai, Xi hosted the Conference
on Interaction and Confidence Building
Measures in Asia (CICA) summit, which
was attended by leaders from 26 countries.
Putin attended the summit as well as Iran’s
supreme leader, Hassan Rouhani, whose
country is one of the biggest suppliers of oil
to China.
These three authoritarian dictators appear
to pursue a common goal, which brings
to mind the Germany-Japan-Italy Axis 75
years ago. As we all know, the GermanJapan-Italy Axis was an evil enterprise designed to subjugate and plunder the world.
Is a Russia-China-Iran Axis in the offing?
History has an uncanny way of repeating itself. And just like the old Axis, the new Axis
will fail, too. Can’t these dictators ever
learn from history?
([email protected])
INSPIRATIONAL VERSES
Compiled by Atty. Crispin C. Lozano
Love for a wife
“She gets up while it is still
night; she provides food for her
family and portions for her female servants.”
Proverbs 31: 15-17
by:
Atty. Crispin Caday
Lozano
My personal belief:
We should always be thankful for our wife for doing things out of the ordinary. A wife
usually wakes up early in the morning and prepares food for the family and other members of the household. Man chooses a wife to be his better half.
The San Fancisco Post
1290 B Street, Suite 203 Hayward CA 94541
Ph: (510) 885-8827 Fax: (510) 538-7115 Email: [email protected]
Send this filled up form to us and we will email you a
digital copy of our publication weekly.
FREE EMAIL SUBSCRIPTION FORM
Name:
_______________________________________________
Email (required): __________________________________________
Other Email Add: ________________________________________
________________________________________
WORLD BRIEF
The San Francisco Post
Anti-coup protesters defy Thai junta ban
BANGKOK -- Public anger at the
Thai military’s coup grew Sunday
as more than one thousand protesters
shouting “Get Out!” marched across
the capital Bangkok in defiance of an
army warning against protests.
Demonstrators began marching in
the Chidlom district and made their
way across the city to the Victory
Monument cheered by onlookers,
an Agence France-Presse reporter at
the scene said, after a tense standoff
with armed soldiers in the city’s retail
heart.
It was the largest expression of dissent since the army seized power on
Thursday after months of political
turmoil.
There was no sign of soldiers or police on the streets during the march on
Sunday, which went ahead despite a
junta statement calling on people not
to protest and a martial law ban on
gatherings of more than five people.
“I am not afraid of them because
the more we are afraid of them, the
more they will stamp on us,” protester
Kongjit Paennoy, 50, told AFP. “We
want an election — to choose our
own boss.”
The military has detained former
premier Yingluck Shinawatra and
scores of other ousted government
leaders and political figures since the
coup, which brought sharp international criticism.
“I ask for people’s understanding on
the current situation and that they refrain from anti-coup rallies, because
Nigeria says abducted girls have
been located
LAGOS -- Nigeria’s military has located of anonymity because of the sensitivity
nearly 300 school girls abducted by Is- of the issue.
lamic extremists but fears using force to Nigeria’s military and government have
try to free them could get them killed, the faced national and international outrage
country’s chief of defense said Monday. over their failure to rescue the girls
Air Marshal Alex Badeh told demon- seized by Boko Haram militants from
strators supporting the much criticized a remote northeastern school six weeks
military that Nigerian troops can save ago.
the girls. But he added, “we can’t go and President Jonathan was forced this
kill our girls in the name of trying to get month to accept international help.
American planes have been searching
them back.”
He spoke to thousands of demonstrators for the girls and Britain, France, Israel
and other counwho marched
tries have sent
to Defense
experts in surveilMinistry
lance and hostage
headquarters
negotiation.
in Abuja, the
The U.S. State
capital. Many
Department had
were brought
no
immediate
in on buses,
comment on the
indicating it
reports about the
was an orgamissing Nigerian
nized event.
Asked
by Four female students of the government secondary girls.
r e p o r t e r s school Chibok, who were abducted by gunmen and Jonathan’s relucwhere they reunited with their families, walk in Chibok, Nige- tance to accept
offered help for
had found the ria, April 21, 2014.
weeks is seen as
girls, Badeh
unwillingness to
refused
to
have outsiders looking in on what is conelaborate.
“We want our girls back. I can tell you sidered a very corrupt force.
we can do it. Our military can do it. But Soldiers have told The Associated Press
where they are held, can we go with that they are not properly paid, are
dumped in dangerous bush with no supforce?” he asked the crowd.
plies and that the Boko Haram extremPeople roared back, “No!”
“If we go with force what will happen?” ists holding the girls are better equipped
than they are.
he asked.
“They will die,” the demonstrators re- Some soldiers have said officers enriching themselves off the defense budget
sponded.
That appeared to leave negotiation the have no interest in halting the five-yearsole option, but a human rights activ- old uprising that has killed thousands.
ist close to negotiators said a deal to Soldiers near mutiny earlier this month
swap the girls for detained Boko Haram fired on the car of a commanding officer
members was agreed last week and then come to pay his respects to the bodies
scuttled at the last minute by President of 12 soldiers who their colleagues said
were unnecessarily killed by the insurGoodluck Jonathan.
The activist who is close to those mediat- gents in a night-time ambush.
ing between Boko Haram extremists and The military also is accused of killing
government officials said the girls would thousands of detainees held illegally in
their barracks, some by shooting, some
have been freed last week Monday.
Jonathan had already told British offi- by torture and many starved to death or
cials that he would not consider an ex- asphyxiated in overcrowded cells.
change. The source spoke on condition
democracy cannot proceed normally
at the moment,” said junta spokesman Col. Winthai Suvaree on Sunday
morning, adding a warning against
using social media to “incite” unrest.
Before the main march, minor scuffles broke out as dozens of protesters,
some waving signs reading “Junta
Out” and “Fuck Coup,” staged a boisterous demonstration, jeering angrily
and pushing at lines of armed soldiers outside a Bangkok shopping
mall.
Pope to Muslims, Jews:
Let’s work together for
peace
JERUSALEM – Pope Francis yesterday called on
Christians, Jews, and Muslims to “work together” for
justice and peace on a visit to Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa
mosque compound, the third holiest site in Islam.
“May we work together for justice and peace,” he said
at the sprawling plaza, which is also considered sacred
by Jews because it was the site where their two Jewish
Temples once stood.
As he toured the compound accompanied by the Grand
Mufti of Jerusalem, Mohammed Hussein, he was surrounded by a large crowd of Catholic and Muslim
officials, as Vatican security guards and Israeli police
looked on.
Entering the exquisite blue-tiled Dome of the Rock
with its landmark golden cupola, which is used as a
place of worship for women only, the Pope first removed his shoes.
He then walked down towards the smaller, silverdomed Al-Aqsa mosque – Arabic for the “furthest
mosque” – which is considered the third holiest shrine
within Islam because it is the site where Muslims believe the Prophet Mohammed ascended to heaven.
Located at the southeastern edge of the Old City, the
compound is known to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif or
the Noble Sanctuary, and to Jews as the Temple Mount.
For Jews, it is the holiest site in Judaism but they are
forbidden by law to pray there, praying instead at the
adjacent Western Wall, the last remnant of the retaining
wall that supported the second Temple complex. It is currently the holiest site at which Jews can pray and was
also to be visited by the Pope immediately after his tour
of Al-Aqsa.
‘INCREASINGLY UNACCEPTABLE CONFLICT’
The day before, Pope Francis made a personal bid for
peace by inviting the Israeli and Palestinian presidents
to the Vatican to pray for an end to their “increasingly
unacceptable” conflict.
The Pope is on a three-day pilgrimage which began on
Saturday in Jordan.
And he came face-to-face with daily Palestinian reality in Bethlehem when he made an unscheduled stop by
the towering separation barrier Israel is building across
the West Bank, and spent time talking with families and
refugees.
But as he arrived in Jerusalem, the 77-year-old pontiff
turned his attention to matters of faith, holding a landmark unity service with Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I at
Christianity’s most sacred shrine.
TAX CORNER
IRS paid at least $13B in improper
tax credits
by: Alvin C. Maglan, CPA
W
ASHINGTON (AP) The Internal Revenue
Service paid more than $13
billion in tax credits last year
to people who may not have
qualified, a government investigator said Tuesday.
The Earned Income Tax
Credits were supposed to
go to low-income working
families.
The agency’s inspector general issued a report Tuesday
saying the improper payments were between $13.3
billion and $15.6 billion.
That’s about a quarter of all
EITC payments.
“The IRS can and must
do more to protect taxpayer
dollars from waste, fraud
and abuse,” said J. Russell
George, the Treasury inspector general for tax administration.
The IRS said it is aggressively fighting tax fraud, and
is improving its efforts to
police EITC payments. The
agency said it has stopped
nearly 15 million suspicious
returns since 2011, blocking more than $50 billion in
fraudulent refunds.
“The IRS remains deeply
concerned about the level of
improper payments, and a
major review currently underway is exploring a wide
range of options to distinguish valid claims from excessive ones,” the IRS statement said.
The Earned Income Tax
Credit is one of the nation’s
largest anti-poverty programs. In 2011, more than
27 million families received
nearly $62 billion in credits.
The credit is attractive because, if it is larger than your
total income tax bill, the IRS
will pay you the difference.
This is especially helpful to
low-income families because
many pay little or no federal
income tax.
But it also makes the credit
more susceptible to fraud.
Using IRS statistics, the
inspector general’s report
provided an estimated range
of improper EITC payments
from 2003 through 2013.
The report says the IRS paid
out at least $124.1 billion in
improper payments during
the period, and perhaps as
much as $148.2 billion.
Families earn the credits by
working and earning money, though there are income
limits. The size of the credit
depends on your income and
the number of children you
have.
This year, a married couple
with three or more children
can earn up to $52,427 and
still qualify for the credit. A
married couple with two children can earn up to $49,186
and still qualify, according to
the IRS.
The maximum credit this
year is $6,143 for families
with three or more children.
The maximum credit for
families with two children is
$5,460.
Al Maglan is a CPA licensed
in California and Nevada. You
can contact him @ 510 432 7438.
You may e-mail tax questions at
[email protected] or [email protected].
PAGE 5
May 29, 2014 - June 4, 2014
China fighters in ‘dangerous’ brush
with Japanese planes
TOKYO – Japan on Sunday accused
China of “dangerous” maneuvers above
disputed areas of the East China Sea, saying a Chinese fighter flew within roughly
30 meters (100 feet) of a Japanese military aircraft.
A defense ministry spokesman said a
Chinese Su-27 jet on Saturday flew close
to a Japanese OP-3C surveillance plane
above the waters where the countries’ air
defense identification zones overlap.
Another Chinese SU-27 fighter also flew
close to a Japanese YS-11EB plane in the
same airspace, the ministry said.
One fighter jet approached to within
about 50 meters and the other was as
close as 30 meters to the Japanese planes,
according to the spokesman.
Relations between Japan and China are
strained by a territorial dispute over Tokyo-controlled islands in the East China
Sea.
Beijing raised regional tensions in November by declaring an air defense iden-
tification zone covering the area, which
overlaps a similar Japanese zone.
“They were dangerous acts that could
lead to an accident,” Japanese Defense
Minister Itsunori Onodera told reporters
on Sunday. “The Japanese crew reported
that the fighters were flying with missiles,
which raised the tension as they handled
the situation.”
Tokyo protested to Beijing over the incident through diplomatic channels, he
said.
The Chinese fighters did not enter the
Japanese zone, according to the Asahi
Shimbun daily.
The two Japanese aircraft were monitoring a joint naval drill by China and Russia
in the northern East China Sea near Japanese territorial waters, Kyodo News said.
Chinese state-owned ships and aircraft
have periodically approached the Senkaku islands, which China also claims
and calls the Diaoyus, to assert Beijing’s
claim to them.
Thai coup chief warns of crackdown
BANGKOK - Thailand’s coup
leader received royal endorsement to lead the politically divided
kingdom on Monday and quickly
threatened to crack down on any
further agitation after a weekend of
angry protests.
The palace officially appointed
army chief
Prayut
Chan-OCha
as
leader of
a military
junta that
has deposed
the government and
assumed
extensive
powers in
the Southeast Asian
nation of 67 million.
“To restore peace and order in the
country and for the sake of unity,
the king appointed General Prayut
Chan-O-Cha as head of the National Council of Peace and Order
to run the country,” according to
a royal command, referring to the
military council set up as the country’s all-powerful ruling force.
The constitutional monarchy,
headed by King Bhumibol Adulyadej, 86, commands great respect
among many Thais and the king’s
blessing has traditionally been a
key step in legitimizing the country’s recurring military takeovers.
The latest coup has triggered a
small but growing backlash on
the streets, with more than 1,000
anti-coup demonstrators marching
through Bangkok on Sunday.
Dozens of protesters faced off
against lines of armed soldiers.
Scuffles broke out and at least
two demonstrators
were taken away by
troops, one bleeding.
Shortly after getting
the royal nod, Prayut,
60, held his first press
conference as junta
head and threatened
to “intensify law enforcement” against
anti-coup protesters
who have pledged
to rally in Bangkok
again on Monday.
He also warned that
demonstrators could be tried in
tough military courts.
In one of the first legal steps taken
against a prominent detainee since
the coup, the attorney general’s office granted bail to Suthep Thaugsuban, a firebrand leader of nearly
seven months of anti-government
protests, over an insurrection
charge, according to one of his
lawyers.
He was still to face court on
Monday on a separate outstanding
murder charge linked to a bloody
military crackdown on opposition
protests against a previous government in 2010.
PAGE 6
May 29, 2014 - June 4, 2014
HOMELAND
Aquino open to new security alliance with US
MANILA - President Aquino is open to a new
security alliance with the United States as embodied in the Mutual Defense Treaty of 1951
and the Visiting Forces Agreement.
He said this when asked about the new “security architecture” in the Asia-Pacific region
reportedly being eyed by the US with its strategic partners and allies, including the Philippines.
“We both want to be real in the sense that we
will improve the inter-operability, capability of
their most advanced forces and ours that is just
trying to build up its capability,” Aquino told
reporters yesterday in a chance interview following the celebration of the Philippine Navy’s
116th anniversary in Palawan.
The President said he is unperturbed by the petitions filed with the Supreme Court (SC) questioning the legality of the Enhanced Defense
Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) with the US
government.
The new security arrangement is being eyed as
tensions over China’s aggressive actions in the
South China Sea continue to rise.
The STAR reported the plan to establish a new
security alliance in the Asia-Pacific that would
require the US to work with “spokes” including
Australia, Japan, the Philippines, and possibly
Singapore and Thailand.
The US is also convincing Malaysia to join
the security architecture, which is part of Washington’s plan to rebalance its forces in Asia Pacific.
Three of the countries being eyed to join the
alliance – Japan, Malaysia and the Philippines
– are embroiled in territorial disputes with China.
Japan and China are claiming the uninhabited
Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.
China’s territorial claim in the West Philippine
Sea covers about 90 percent of the potentially
oil- and gas-rich area and overlaps with those
of the Philippines and Malaysia as well as Vietnam, Brunei and Taiwan.
In her own words: How Janet Napoles started
MANILA, Philippines — “Pork barrel” scam operator background of her husband, Jimmy, nor deny reports
Janet Lim Napoles only reached high school but her that her first anomalous business was with the armed
simple background and education did not deter her from forces.
pursuing her “dreams.”
The entrepreneur was looking for ways to expand
“Bata pa lamang ako
her products and business
ay natuto na ‘kong
“just like any other businessmaghanap-buhay. Sa
woman” would, when she
biyaya ng Diyos, sa
claimed to be introduced to
aking tiyaga, sipag at
then Batanes Rep. Florencio
pawis, at sa tulong ng
“Butch” Abad, now Budget
mga taong nakilala
secretary, around 2000.
ko, ito ay aking naShe alleged that Abad offered
palago hanggang sa
her P10 million for a liveliaking narating ngayhood project where she would
on,” Napoles said in
be a supplier.
her signed extended
In the meeting, Abad reaffidavit submitted
ceived an initial P2 million
to the Department
from Napoles, who doubled
of Justice (DOJ) on
the amount when a cash alloJanet Lim Napoles shares what she says is the “truth” cation notice was released for
Monday.
She said her drive to about the pork barrel and Malampaya fund scandals in the project.
help others and work her notarized and sworn affidavit.
“Afterwards, when we talkhard was inspired by
ed about the implementation,
her late mother, Maghe asked me if I had an NGO
dalena Lim. Her remains now lie in a mausoleum at (non-government organization). When I told him I did
Heritage Park reportedly worth P30 million.
not have an NGO, he told me he would take care of it,”
Napoles said she entered various small businesses, spe- Napoles claimed.
cializing in sales, before she was able to buy her own
Abad, however, returned the P4 million he received
company.
and padded it with an additional P2 million when the
Among her first ventures was as an exclusive distribu- project was implemented under the Batanes Electric Cotor in the Philippines of Nutrigrowth, a manufacturer of operative based in Basco town.
liquid foliar fertilizers.
“That is when I started to transact using the PDAF,”
She later bought the Philippine arm of the company af- Napoles said, referring to lawmakers’ Priority Developter a few years, but abandoned the brand after it ran into ment Assistance Fund allocation.
some “problems.” Napoles then put up another fertilizer
In the 33-page document, Napoles decried being called
company called Dragon 1.5 Mega Philippines.
the “mastermind” of the multibillion-peso government
In her affidavits, she made no mention of the military fund scam as she is only a “victim” of a corrupt system.
Sandigan denies Arroyo’s bail petition anew
MANILA -- The Sandiganbayan has denied again Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s request for temporary
freedom in connection with the plunder
case filed against her.
The anti-graft court first division denied
the latest motion for reconsideration for
bail filed by Arroyo’s camp early this
month after it found no reason to overturn
its earlier ruling.
“The Court finds it unnecessary to hear
oral arguments on this matter… Wherefore, the Motion for Reconsideration of
accused is hereby denied,” the decision,
promulgated on May 23 but was made
public on Monday, stated.
The court said it has found “the existence
of strong evidence against movant Arroyo
after the bail hearings, no bail can be allowed in accordance with Section 7, Rule
117 of the Revised Rules of Criminal Procedure.”
This is despite the Arroyo’s camp claim
that the former president is not a flight
risk and she would not escape the prosecution.
Arroyo is under hospital detention at
the Veterans Memorial Medical Center
(VMCC) for alleged misuse of the P366million intelligence fund of the Philippine
Charity Sweepstakes Office.
The San Francisco Post
Legarda mad, Marcos relieved over affidavit
MANILA, Philippines — A “perjured lie” and “ac- Asked then if she was planning to file criminal chargtionable criminally” was how Senator Loren Legarda es against Napoles, Legarda said her lawyers were
described her alleged involvement in the ”pork bar- still studying all media reports and submitted affidarel” scam as she denied “in the strongest terms” any vits to the Senate.
dealings with suspected scam mastermind Janet Lim- “There is clearly a massive well-funded operation to
muddle the issues, divert from the cases, besmirch repNapoles.
utations of people with credibility,”
“I categorically deny,
she said in a text message.
in the strongest terms,
Legarda was among those menallegations that I had
tioned by Napoles in her affidavit
any dealings with Ms.
that she submitted to the Senate
Napoles or any of her
blue ribbon committee in connecgroup. I have never
tion with the “pork” scam.
dealt with them and
Senator Ferdinand “Bong-Bong”
have never even heard
Marcos, meanwhile, felt that Naof their foundations,”
poles has cleared him of any parLegarda said in a stateticipation in the scam when she adment on Tuesday.
mitted in the affidavit that she did
“Above all, I have never Senator Loren Legarda and Sen. Bong Marcos
not know the senator and that she
received monetary or
had not directly talked to him.
any form of illegal benefit from my PDAF or its equivalent at any time. I have “The Affidavit speaks for itself. As I’ve said from day
never authorized anyone in my staff or outside of my one, I never met Ms. Napoles. I never spoke to her nor
did I ever have any personal dealings with her. Ms.
office to transact with anyone,” she said.
PDAF is Priority Development Assistance Fund also Napoles’ affidavit confirms this fact,” Marcos said in a
separate statement.
known as “pork nbarrel” funds.
Legarda said she has “judiciously allocated” her “While Ms. Napoles has cleared me of any participaPDAF to accredited government agencies and local tion in the PDAF scam, let me reiterate, once more,
government units as prescribed by law, and not to any that my office is willing to fully cooperate with the
concerned government agencies so we may all get to
non-government organizations (NGO).
“I never endorsed any NGO to benefit from my PDAF. the bottom of this,” he said.
Any statement to the contrary contained in any affida- In her affidavit, Napoles claimed that it was Catherine
vit is a perjured lie and is actionable criminally against Mae “Maya” Santos, who served as agent of both
Legarda and Marcos.
those involved in this smear campaign,” she said.
Palace ready to defend some officials in pork scam
MANILA - Malacañang said on Monday it is
ready to defend its officials from pork barrel
scam allegations but it would be selective in
standing by other members of the administration.
Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said
unfounded allegations against members of the
Aquino administration jibe with “the theory that
everybody is trying to burn the house down.”
“The Palace stands ready to defend itself. We
in the Palace have committed ourselves to the
straight path,” he said.
Asked if defending the Palace would include all
others in the administration, Lacierda said: “We
will defend those we truly believe in.”
He said there are other personalities in government they are “not very well aware of.”
“In any case, we will look into the evidence.
It is easy for someone to say this or that, but,
again, let’s see the evidence.”
Lacierda cited Budget Secretary Florencio
Abad as an example, saying he has been performing an important job but was portrayed in
a negative way.
“If you outline all the reforms that he has undertaken together with the President, you will
not believe that Butch Abad is involved in any
way in the scam,” Lacierda said.
He also dismissed a newspaper report linking
a high-ranking Malacañang official and three
employees to the multibillion-peso pork barrel
scam.
The three female employees were identified as
Rochelle Ahoro, reportedly a Malacañang official’s personal secretary; Odette Ong, assistant
secretary of administration and finance; and
Mary Antoinette Lucile Ortile, assistant to the
executive secretary.
In a statement, Ong decried insinuations that
she was involved in unlawful and dishonest activities.
“I strongly refute these baseless and unfounded
claims. I would like to clarify that I do not head
the Finance and Administration Department of
the Office of the President, and my function is
limited to being head of the Office of the Special Assistant to the President with a mandate to
directly supervise the Internal House Affairs Office,” Ong said.
She said her responsibility involves direct supervision of day-to-day operations related to
official functions and uses of the presidential
residences and offices.
In the case of Ortile, Lacierda said she has not
been working for the Palace or under the executive secretary for a long time now.
Opposition to EDCA mountsas second petition
filed in SC
MANILA, Philippines–The Makabayan bloc at the
House of Representatives, cause-oriented groups
and artists on Tuesday filed a petition to declare as
unconstitutional the Enhanced Defense Cooperation
Agreement (Edca).
They also asked the high
court to stop implementation
of the agreement for allegedly violating several provisions of the Constitution.
This is the second petition
filed against Edca.
Petitioners said Edca disregarded the national sovereignty, national interest
and the requirement of an
independent foreign policy
under Article III Section 7 of
the 1987 Constitution.
They said Edca, which was
signed last April in time for
the visit of US President Barack Obama, made the
Philippines a “launching pad for covert or overt US
military operations.”
Under Edca, there are “agreed locations where US
can have free access to conduct its activities.
But petitioners said there were no clear guidelines in
identifying or selecting the agreed locations.
Also, they said there was no limit as to the number
of troops and as to the duration of stay.
The petition stated that the US could stockpile
weapons, ammunition, supplies and other materials
to be used in war.
“The Philippines has no power to inspect the US
prepositioned material and cannot object to the entry of nuclear, biological or chemical
weaponry…Deploying forces and material includes the
launching of military drones which
have become not
just
surveillance
planes but deadly
offensive weapons.”
Petitioners are
Bagong Alyansang
Makabayan led by
its Secretary General Renato Reyes
Jr, Bayan Muna
Partylist Representatives Neri Colmenares and Carlos Zarate, Gabriela Partylist Reps. Luz Ilagan and
Emerenciana De Jesus, ACT Teachers Partylist Rep.
Antonio Tinio, Anakpawis Rep. Fernando Hicap,
Kabataan Partylist Rep. Terry Ridon, Makabayan
Koalisyon ng Mamamayan (Makabayan) represented
by Satur Ocampo and Liza Maza, Bienvenido Lumbera, Joel Lamangan, Renato Constantino, Salvador
France, Rafael Mariano, Rogelio Soluta and Clemente Bautista.
PH not engaged in espionage, says DFA
MANILA - The Department of
Foreign Affairs (DFA) denied
yesterday that the Philippines is
engaged in espionage even as the
Philippine embassy in Doha has
made representations with the
Qatari government following the
conviction of three Filipino workers for espionage and economic
sabotage.
“We categorically deny that we
are engaged in espionage,” DFA
spokesman Charles Jose said in a
text message to reporters.
The lower court verdict was appealed before the Qatari Court of
Appeals last May 4.
“We are appealing the case before
the Court of Appeals. Our embassy
in Doha has made representation
with Qatari government,” he said.
One of the overseas Filipino
workers (OFWs) was sentenced to
death last month while two others
were meted life imprisonment for
espionage and economic sabotage
in Qatar.
The DFA did not identify the accused Filipinos but said the one
sentenced to death was an employee of a state-owned company and
the two others were technicians in
a military base.
The Doha News said the Filipinos
were reportedly accused of providing information to intelligence
officials in the Philippines about
Qatar’s aircraft, weaponry, maintenance and servicing records, as
well as specific details about the
names, ranks and phone numbers
of staff members.
Philippine Ambassador to Qatar Crescente Relacion said the
charges against the Filipino worker
who was handed the death penalty
stemmed from a corruption case
supposedly involving his employer.
He said investigators found information in the Filipino’s laptop that
may be used for their case.
IMMIGRATION
The San Francisco Post
PAGE 7
May 29, 2014 - June 4, 2014
What grounds of inadmissibility are covered by fraud waivers?
By Atty. Crispin C. Lozano
S
ometimes, for lack of guidance from an experienced immigration attorney, applicants
for immigration benefits, including those seeking K-1 or K-2 visas, makes a fraudulent action or willful misrepresentation. In these cases,
the applicants are required to file Form I-601 or
Application for Waiver of Ground of Inadmissibility.
: What grounds of inadmissibility may be
covered by a waiver?
: The following grounds of inadmissibility under the Immigration and Naturalization Act (INA) are as follows: health-related
grounds, criminal and related grounds, immigrant membership in a totalitarian party, misrepresentation in immigration matters, smugglers,
subject to civil penalty, and unlawful presence
in the U.S. for at least 180 days, beginning on or
after April 1, 1997, followed by departure from
the U.S.
: How long is the validity of the waiver?
Q
A
Q
A
: If the waiver is granted, then, except for
K-1 and K-2 nonimmigrant’s and conditional permanent residents, the grant permanently waives fraud or willful misrepresentation included in the application for purposes
of any future immigration benefits application,
whether immigrant or nonimmigrant. The waiver remains valid even if the person later abandons or otherwise loses LPR status.
:If you are a conditional permanent resident, is the waiver also permanent in nature?
: For conditional permanent residents, the
waiver only becomes valid indefinitely if
and when the conditions are removed from his
or her permanent resident status. Conversely,
termination of the conditional permanent resident status also terminates the validity of the
waiver.
: Does the waiver cover all grounds of inadmissibility?
: A waiver applies only to the specific
grounds of inadmissibility and related
crimes, events or incidents specified in the
waiver application. If, in the future, the applicant is found inadmissible for a separate incident of fraud or willful misrepresentation not
already included in an approved waiver application, he or she will be required to file another
waiver application. USCIS may reconsider an
Q
A
Q
A
approval of a waiver at any
time if it is determined that
the decision has been made
in error.
: Are there conditions for the grant of a
Waiver to K-1 or K-2 nonimmigrant visa
applicants?
: If the applicant seeks a waiver to obtain
a fiancé(e) visa (K-1 or K-2), the waiver’s
approval is conditioned upon the K-1 nonimmigrant marrying the U.S. citizen who filed the
fiancé(e) petition. The waiver becomes permanent once the K-1 marries the petitioner.
: What happens to the waiver if the K-1
nonimmigrant does not marry the petitioner?
: In general, if the K-1 nonimmigrant does
not marry the petitioner, the K-1 and K-2
(if applicable) will remain inadmissible for purposes of any application for a benefit on any
basis other than the proposed marriage between
the K-1 and the K nonimmigrant visa petitioner.
Note: This is not a legal advice. You should
consult with an immigration attorney about
your specific circumstances.
Q
A
Q
A
S
UCCESS STORIES
1. On May 12. 2014, we received an approval
from USCIS of green card under the same sex
marriage law and the corresponding waiver of
certain misrepresentation.
2. On April 21, 2014, we received an approval
of green card after the denial was appealed to
the Board of Immigration Appeals.
3. On March 31, 2014, we received an approval of green card for a client under Violence
Against Women Act.
4. On March 25, 2014, we received another approval from the Immigration
Court for waiver of misrepresentation
for a client who entered the U.S. as
single but actually married.
5. On January 24, 2014, we received
another approval for waiver of misrepresentation from the Immigration
Court for an alien who entered as single but actually married.
6. On January 14, 2014, we received an
approval from USCIS of a green card
under law on Registry for a person who
has been in the U.S. since before 1972.
(Cont. from page 1..AQUINO ENDORSED) were not actaken
DBM legal service, replied: “Yes, from the savings of thetually
government
the DAP is the program of the Aqui- but taken from discontinued
no administration to quickly dis- moving projects in 2010, thusoraslowclear
burse slow-moving (projects).’’
violation
of
the
provisions
of
the
When Escudero pressed Ruiz as Philippine Constitution as to the use
to whether there were documents of the government’s money.’’
signed by the President with regards The committee hearing, however
to savings and unprogrammed funds was cut short because of a pending
that were aligned for the DAP, Ruiz case questioning the legality of the
replied in the affirmative adding, DAP but this did not stop the Sen‘’the controlling point is that the ate from getting raw data on DAP
President has to sign off to release releases, Escudero said.
the DAP.”
the Supreme Court eventually
Last Oct. 12, 2011, the DBM de- “If
that the DAP releases were
clared that the Aquino administra- rules
with more reason
tion would implement P72.11 billion unconstitutional,
that
the
Senate
would
to know
in additional projects to fast-track where the funds went,”want
he explained.
disbursements and push economic Critics of the DAP maintained
that
growth in light of the global slow- the DAP is unconstitutional because
down and the onslaught of recent it is only Congress that has the powcalamities otherwise known as the er of the purse, not the Executive
DAP.
Ejercito said “there were also allega- branch.
tions that the funds used in the DAP The Ejercito resolution seeking an
inquiry, in aid of legislation, stated
that the Supreme Court had “declared that the President cannot indiscriminately transfer funds from
one department, bureau, office of
agency of the Executive department
to any program, project, activity of
any department, bureau or office included in the GAA or approved after its enactment, without regard to
whether the funds to be transferred
are actually savings in the item from
which the same are to be taken, or
whether or not the transfer is for the
purpose of augmenting the item to
which the transfer is to be made.’’
The resolution also seeks to examine and scrutinize the DAP of the
current administration with the aim
of recommending and formulating
laws, policies and regulations for the
proper use of the savings of different departments of the government
and proper use of budget augmentations.’’
7. On January 6,
2014, we received an
approval of waiver
of misrepresentation from Immigration
Judge for a client who entered as single
but actually married.
8.On November 21, 2013, we received an approval from USCIS for
adjustment of status under SAME SEX
MARRIAGE.
9. On November 14, 2013, we received
an approval of adjustment of status
from Immigration Judge for a client
who was originally denied adjustment
by USCIS.
10. On November 4, 2013, we received
an approval of waiver of misrepresentation from the Immigration Judge for
a client who entered the U.S. as single
but actually married.
11. On October 24, 2013, we received
an approval by an Immigration Judge
on the review of I-751 Application to
Remove Condition on Residence that
was previously denied by USCIS.
12. On October 2, 2013, we received
an approval of adjustment of status
based on SAME SEX MARRIAGE.
C
rispin Caday Lozano is an active member of
the State Bar of California, the American Immigration Lawyers Association and the National
Association of Consumers Bankruptcy Attorneys.
He specializes in immigration law and bankruptcy
law. He earned his Juris Doctor at Western State
University College of Law in Fullerton, California.
He is also a Certified Public Accountant, a Real
Estate Broker and a Bachelor of Business Administration Cum Laude graduate. He has offices in San
Francisco, Hayward, San Jose, and Cerritos, California. You can contact him at 1-877-456-9266.
Email questions to [email protected]/.
Visit our website at www.crispinlozanolaw.com.
PAGE 8
May 29, 2014 - June 4, 2014
The San Francisco Post
(Cont. from page 1..POPE TO VISIT )
might just come,” adding that there was a
plan but that “there is no calendar yet (for
this possible visit). But we are praying for
it.”
Du talked about the Pope’s possible visit
d u r ing the
visit of
Robert
Cardinal
Sarah to
Leyte on
Jan. 28,
2014,
during
which
he expressed
Francis’
“oneness and
solidari t y ”
with the Pope Francis
people
of Leyte
and the rest of the areas hit by Super Typhoon Yolanda on Nov. 8, 2013.
Cardinal Sarah is the president of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council Cor Unum responsible for charity and humanitarian assistance. He said Mass at the damaged Saint
Elizabeth of Hungary Church in Libertad
village, about four kilometers away from
Palo town proper.
Sex abuse victims
Francis also announced Monday he would
meet soon with a group of sex abuse victims at the Vatican and declared “zero tolerance” for any member of the clergy who
would violate a child.
Francis also revealed that three bishops
are currently under investigation by the
Vatican for abuse-related reasons, though it
wasn’t clear if they were accused of committing abuse itself or of having covered it
up.
“There are no privileges,” he told reporters en route back to Rome from Jerusalem.
The meeting with a half-dozen victims
will mark the first such encounter for the
pope, who has been criticized by victims
for not expressing personal solidarity with
them when he has reached out to other people who suffer.
Francis said the meeting and a Mass at
the Vatican hotel where he lives would take
place early next month. A statement from the
office of Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley,
who is organizing
the encounter,
said
the
date
and details
hadn’t been
finalized
but that the
meeting
was expected to take
place “in
the coming
months.”
‘Zero tolerance’
“On this
issue
we
must
go
forward, forward. Zero tolerance,” Francis
said, calling abuse of children an “ugly”
crime that betrays God.
The executive director of the main U.S.
victims’ group, Survivors Network of
Those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, dismissed the meeting as “just utterly, utterly
meaningless.”
“The simple truth is this is another gesture, another public relations coup, another
nice bit of symbolism that will leave no
child better off and bring no real reform to
a continuing, scandal-ridden church hierarchy,” said SNAP Executive Director David
Clohessy.
Clohessy said the pope has shown himself capable of making real change in other
areas such as church governance and finance but hasn’t done so in dealing with
sex abuse by Catholic clergy.
Francis spoke to reporters for nearly an
hour after his grueling, three-day trip to
Jordan, the West Bank and Israel, taking
all 11 questions posed and responding with
candor and occasional humor.
The San Francisco Post
PAGE 9
May 29, 2014 - June 4, 2014
The San Francisco Post
HEALTH & FITNESS
How to beat bloat for bikini season
Water is good for you!
Summer is right around the corner, later, stock up on healthy snacks gum, mints and dried fruits are just
he body is composed of over 50% water. 5. Use other water substitutes: Coconut water is
and so in other words, it’s (gulp) for the office and home. There’s a few of the sorbitol culprits.
swimsuit season. Many people nothing easier than having the Avoid straws and fizzy drinks. TThere are so many benefits of drinking wa- a good beverage as a water substitute.
will frantically look for fad diets following on hand: granola-type Straws and fizz can also cause un- ter such as it keeps you hydrated and aids in
PAGE 10
May 29, 2014 - June 4, 2014
to lose weight quickly or search
online for foods that will “flatten
their bellies.” I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but fad diets don’t
work, and you
should have
thought about
losing weight
as early as
January
if
you want to
keep it off all
summer. And
there really is
no food that
can give you
a flat belly, at
least according to science.
A flat belly
(also known in
some circles
as six-pack abs) is the result of
many different factors, such as age
and genetics, and for some people
it just won’t happen – no matter
how hard they try.
Instead of trying to drop pounds at
the last minute before your weekend getaway, perhaps simply finding ways to cure a bloated stomach will boost your confidence in
a bikini. With 1 in 10 Americans
suffering from regular bloating,
this is a fix many of us desperately
need – not only in the summer, but
year-round, too.
Plan ahead with healthy snacking.
From ice cream to calorie-packed
frappuccinos, it seems unhealthy
sweets lurk at just about every corner. Instead of giving into temptation, which will only leave you
feeling stuffed and uncomfortable
bars, single-serving cheeses, lowfat Greek yogurt and almonds.
Choose low-sodium foods and
drinks. Sodium can cause a
nightmare of stomach bloat, and
you may not even realize how
many foods and beverages are
jam-packed with this sneaky ingredient. Summer seems like the
perfect time for fruit and a scoop
of cottage cheese, but make sure
you’re buying a low-sodium version. This simple step can save
you hundreds of milligrams of sodium. And who doesn’t love an afternoon bloody mary by the pool?
But make sure to pick a low-sodium version of your tomato juice,
or else you could be consuming
680 milligrams per cup.
Be on the lookout for sorbitol.
Sorbitol, an artificial sweetener
that can be naturally occurring, is
a sugar alcohol that is known to
cause stomach issues, like bloating, for many people. Chewing
comfortable bloat by allowing air
and bubbles to enter your digestive tract. To solve this problem,
plain water is probably the best
bet for hydration rather
than carbonated drinks.
And if you love those
summer cocktails, leave
the little umbrella, but
lose the straw. Actually,
you would be better off
losing the entire cocktail because of its calories, but that’s another
story.
Don’t talk with your
mouth full. Talking
with a full mouth is a
bad idea for many reasons, but especially in
regards to bloating. Just
like with the straws,
doing so allows extra air to enter
your digestive tract. My best advice is to chew slowly, and keep
your mouth shut.
Start your day with fiber. Constipation is a sure-fire way to make
you feel bloated, and starting your
day with a fiber-rich breakfast is
the perfect anecdote. My favorite
pick is a bowl of oatmeal topped
with chia seeds and almond butter – it works like a charm. Other
good morning options are: an omelet with veggies and 100-percent
whole-wheat toast; low-fat Greek
yogurt topped with fresh fruit,
ground flaxseeds and a high-fiber
cereal (read the label for greater
than 5 grams of fiber per serving);
or quinoa with slivered almonds,
berries and a touch of honey.
Walking linked to fewer strokes in
women
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Women who
walk at least three hours every week are less
likely to suffer a stroke than women who walk
less or not at all, according to new research
from Spain.
“The message for the general population remains similar: regularly
engaging in moderate
recreational activity is
good for your health,”
lead author José María
Huerta of the Murcia
Regional Health Authority in Spain told Reuters
Health.
Past studies have also
linked physical activity
to fewer strokes, which
can be caused by builtup plaque in arteries or
ruptured blood vessels
in the brain.
While the current study cannot prove that
regular walking caused fewer strokes to occur
in the women who participated, it contributes
to a small body of evidence for potential relationships between specific kinds of exercise and
risk for specific diseases.
Women who walked briskly for 210 minutes
or more per week had a lower stroke risk than
inactive women but also lower than those who
cycled and did other higher-intensity workouts
for a shorter amount of time.
In all, nearly 33,000 men and women answered
a physical activity questionnaire given once in
the mid-1990s as part of a larger European can-
cer project. For their study, Huerta and his team
divided participants by gender, exercise type
and total time spent exercising each week.
The authors, who published their findings in
the journal Stroke, checked in with participants
periodically to record any strokes. During the
12-year follow-up period, a total of 442 strokes
occurred among the
men and women.
The results for women
who were regular walkers translated to a 43
percent reduction in
stroke risk compared
to the inactive group,
Huerta said.
There was no reduction seen for men based
on exercise type or frequency, however.
“We have no clear explanation for this,” Huerta wrote in an email. He hypothesized that the
men may have entered the study in better physical condition than the women, but there was no
evidence to support that guess.
Huerta also declined to compare the study
participants’ risk levels to those of the general
population, citing the subjects’ unusual characteristics: a majority of men and women in the
study were blood donors, who tend to be in
good health in order to give blood.
“I wouldn’t make much of the results because
they are for a very specific population,” Dr.
Wilson Cueva of the University of Chicago in
Illinois said.
digestion. Here are 6 ways to help you drink
more water or fluids in your system.
1. Morning glass: As soon as you get up, have
a glass of water. It is the best way to improve
movements and flush out toxins from the body.
You can drink your milk, juice or tea after
sometime. Drinking water after getting up increases chances of regular stools.
2. Carry water: Make sure you are never going
out without a bottle of water. When you are going outdoors, carry a small bottle at your convenience. Apart from keeping you hydrated, it
will also boost your body’s metabolism.
3. Drink while working out: You lose water
due to perspiration during your workout. Keep
yourself hydrated by having water breaks in between your workout.
4. Mix it up: If you are tired of drinking water,
put lemon or honey to flavor it up.
6. Drink water meals: If you are on a diet, have
a glass of water 10 to 15 minutes before. Not
only it prevents water retention but you will
feel fuller.
About the contributor:
John Pangan
is a Certified
Personal Trainer,
Champion Natural
Bodybuilder and
the co-founder
of Bfitandlive
website. For more
diet and excercise
tips, email john@
bfitandlive.com.
Download the bFitandLive Freebook
at www.bfitfreebook.com.
Vietnam was
(Cont. from page 4..THE NUCLEUS)
an
ally of both
The world has indeed changed. The
rise and fall of economies have Russia and China during the
resulted in shifting alliances, Vietnam War in the 60s, but
where friends have become is now an important American
foes and vice versa. Russia ally. Japan, which invaded and
and China were major allies of occupied the Philippines for
the US in World War II and are five years in the Second World
now major rivals in the race War, is now a Philippine ally.
Europe and the Pacific were
for world dominance. Japan
and Germany, which were the the main theaters in the SecAmericans; biggest enemies in ond World War, and from all
the Second World War, on the indications, Asia would conother hand, are now America’s tinue to be the flashpoint in
the world’s military theater
allies.
in the coming years. China,
Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand,
Taiwan, Indonesia, Singapore,
the two Koreas, and other
Asian countries are all beefing
up their military muscles in
one of the biggest arms races
the world has ever seen.
The Philippines, which does
not have the means to keep up
with its neighbors in the arms
race, needs to start positioning
itself rightly in this developing
drama.
([email protected])
(Cont. from page 3..BANKRUPTCY) soon after you file
for bankruptcy, to
ask for permission
Q. How long does the Autoto proceed with the foreclomatic Stay last?
A. The Automatic Stay in sure -- and that permission is
bankruptcy is neither absolute likely to be granted.
nor permanent. For most chapter 7 and 13 cases however, it Note: This is not a legal adstays in effect until the debtor vice. You should seek the
gets a discharge from his or advice of your attorney about
her debt, the property in ques- your specific case.
tion is no longer a part of the Bankruptcy Basics
estate, or a judge lifts the stay
at the request of a creditor, 1. Bankruptcy will actually
who must file a Motion for Re- improve your credit within
one year because your unselief from the Automatic Stay.
cured debts are discharged.
Q. How Creditors Can Get Although the bankruptcy
will be in your records for 10
Around the Automatic Stay
A. Usually, a creditor can get years, not filing bankruptcy
around the automatic stay by will make your credit even
asking the bankruptcy court worse until most your debts
to remove (“lift”) the stay, if are paid.
it is not serving its intended 2. If you are being sued by
purpose. For example, say you your creditors, most money
file for bankruptcy the day be- judgment can be eliminated in
fore your house is to be sold in bankruptcy.
foreclosure. You have no equi- 3. Collection actions continue
ty in the house, you can’t pay and you can be sued if you are
your mortgage arrears, and in debt settlement.
you have no way of keeping 4. Chapter 7 will eliminate all
the property. The foreclosing unsecured debts. If you are
creditor is apt to run to court near retirement age, you must
eliminate most of your debts.
5. Bankruptcy will stop foreclosure actions. If your trustee
sale date is 10 days before, you
can still file for bankruptcy.
6. If your salary is being garnished, you have a court case
about debts or you are being
harassed by creditors, bankruptcy can stop garnishment,
court cases, harassing creditors and eliminate the debt.
7. Bankruptcy is cheaper, faster and safer than debt settlement which has no guaranteed
success.
8.
Preserve
your
health, eliminate stress and
live a happy life by eliminating your debts which is the
root of all problems.
(Cont. from page 1..ABAD BLASTS) ship with me when she
has been trying – with
reiterated he had never dealt with
great
effort,
it
appears – to make my
Napoles in any manner, much less
acquaintance
for years now? It’s
through an agent or a middleman.
While he may be acquainted with nothing short of ridiculous,” he said.
Manuel Jarmin, Abad said he had “It gets worse. She claims that when
never transacted with him in any she met me in 2000, I showed her a
SARO (Special Allotment Release
capacity.
“Ms. Napoles’ claims about me – Order) for a P10-million project, for
that I tapped Mr. Jarmin as my agent, which the Batanes Electric Cooperaand that I taught her how to profit il- tive would serve as the implementlegally from the bureaucracy – are ing arm. But no such project exists
in the DBM’s records. Neither does
absolutely not true,” he said.
The budget secretary said even the it exist in the records of the National
lawyer for some pork barrel scam Electrification Administration and
whistle-blowers, Levito Baligod, BatanElCo. Both NEA and BatanElin various interviews attested to the Co had confirmed this,” he added.
Abad denied the mysterious P10fact that he had never transacted
million project, secret meetings at
with Napoles.
Abad said a number of Department EDSA Shangri-La and Cravingsof Budget and Management employ- Katipunan where he supposedly
ees had informed him that in 2010, gave Napoles a crash course in the
Napoles dropped by his office in an ways of doing business with lawattempt to introduce herself, but was makers.
“These things never took place and
unsuccessful in securing an appoint(neither did) the happily generous
ment with him.
“How is it possible for Ms. Napoles exchange of millions in cash beto have a close professional relation- tween us – except in the warped, fe-
vered imagination of Ms. Napoles,”
he said.
Aquino said Napoles has no hard
evidence to back her “expanded affidavit.”
“Before, Mrs. Napoles was abhorred. Now, when she says something it’s as if they are true, how did
that happen? And isn’t it that it is in
her interest to muddle the issue to
delay the process and make it forgotten in time? Who knows someone
must have told her, ‘The more this
drags on, the better for you.’ The
people’s abhorrence toward you is
lessened,” he said.
“Now if we fall for her misleading
(lies) then it is up to us. For our part,
look for the evidence, and if sufficient evidence is there, file the appropriate case. It’s very simple,” the
President told reporters in a chance
interview after attending the Navy’s
116th anniversary in Palawan.
Aquino said the claims of Napoles
were not only confusing and a delaying tactic but also meant to save herself from the charges she is facing.
Crispin Caday Lozano is an active
member of the State Bar of California, the American Immigration Lawyers Association and the National
Association of Consumers Bankruptcy Attorneys. He specializes in immigration law and bankruptcy law.
He earned his Juris Doctor at Western State University College of Law
in Fullerton, California. He is also
a Certified Public Accountant, and a
Bachelor of Business Administration
Cum Laude graduate.
AROUND TOWN
The San Francisco Post
INC’s UNITY GAMES
A
historic
event unfolded last week
for
members
of the Iglesia
Ni Cristo here
in the United
States. It is the
National Games
LET’S HAVE COFFEE
By
Championship
Don Augusto Orozco
for the entire
United States
region.
The
Iglesia Ni Cristo
has 8 Ecclesiastical Districts in the US. These
are Northern California, Southern California,
Northern Midwest, Southern Midwest, North Eastern
Seaboard, South Eastern
Seaboard, Pacific Northwest
& the Hawaii Pacific. The
historic event took place at
the California State University, East Bay under the
leadership of the INC’s US
Main Office which is located in the City of Burlingame, CA.
The event was held last
May 23 & 24. So how can
you top a sports tournament
that opened in San Jose
California with a worship
service for the participants?
The service was so full pack
with about 600 athletes from all over the US
registered to participate. Everyone else was so
excited and some even quoted as saying it was
their very first time here in California.
Results? People I asked around said it was
California who dominated the competition. It
was California using home court advantage.
California was the run away winner. Take note
that most athletes have jetlag and too much excitement and no practice. But after everything
has been said and done, the only standard reply
to them was everyone is a winner. They may not
have the hardware hanging on their necks but
they mightily represent their District. Which to
me is the essence of the Unity Games. To see
everyone UNITED to the aim and purpose of
the Church administration all for the Glory of
God.
So, congratulations to everyone. It was a
smashing success. Even the Medical Team provided all the medical attention to all the athletes
and participants on different venues from Basketball, Volleyball, Track & Field, Swimming,
Tennis, Chess, Soccer, Baseball and all other
games.
Here are the rundown of winners. For all
the 3 categories of Basketball it is all Team
California and so is in
the Men’s and Women’s
Volleyball. California
also won in the Soccer
and Baseball competition. In Track and Field
the California shared
the limelight with the
Pacific, Midwest and
Eastern Seaboard representatives. While it
was a toss-up in Tennis,
Table Tennis, Bowling,
Chess and Swimming.
But mostly are Californians.
The winners are all
looking forward to make it to the cut for the
World Wide Unity Games to be held in the
newly built Philippine Arena and the Philippine
Sports Stadium in Manila, Philippines. This
will feature athletes from Diffrent Districts in
the Philippines, in Asia, Canada and Europe.
In the end for all members of the Iglesia Ni
Cristo, it is onward to the Centennial Anniversary.
Celebrate. The only thing to be asked now is, ARE YOU
READY? ([email protected])
PAGE 11
May 29, 2014 - June 4, 2014
Filipino American Performing Arts on Full
Display Before and During Giants Win
San Francisco Giants donate $120,000 for Typhoon Yolanda
Recovery Efforts
San Francisco, CA - Filipino Americans
sporting blue, yellow, red, as well as orange and black were out in force as the San
Francisco Giants hosted Filipino American
Heritage Night at AT&T Park. For the 7th
consecutive year, the Giants honored Filipino culture and history by designating the
home game on May 12 as Filipino Heritage
Night (FHN). In return, a Filipino American helped the Giants beat the Atlanta
Braves to stay in first place.
This year, a local dance company called
Steps, Styles and Spotlights welcomed Giants fans as they entered the ballpark at
Willie Mays Plaza with a suite of festive
Philippine folk dances. Additionally, Parangal Dance Company performed a medley of Barrio Fiesta dances – Binasuan,
Subli and Tinikling – during the pre-game
opening ceremonies at homeplate.
“Dance and music tell the oral history
of Filipino culture,” said Al Perez, President, Filipino American Arts Exposition
(FAAE). “These traditions stand the test of
time and can’t be erased by a typhoon or an
earthquake. We are proud to partner with
the SF Giants to help broaden awareness
and deepen the understanding of Filipino
heritage with SF Giants fans by showcasing Filipino folk dances during the game.”
The San Francisco Giants also presented
a check for $120,000 to UNICEF and Feed
the Hungry Philippines to assist with Typhoon Yolanda recovery efforts. Following
last year’s devastating typhoon the Giant’s
fans made donations at fundraisers hosted
by the team.
“Countless Filipinos lost their homes,
businesses, and loved ones after Typhoon
Yolanda,” said Deputy Consul General Jaime Ramon Ascalon. “As a people we are
resilient and will rebuild stronger. We’re
happy to know we are not in this alone and
we appreciate the support of the SF Giants
organization and the Giants fans.”
Star pitcher and Filipino American Tim
Lincecum also performed a masterful
piece of the performing art himself by
striking out 11 batters and allowing only
two hits in the Giant’s 4-2 victory over the
Braves. Lincecum’s winning performance
is historic as it was his first time pitching
at a Giants Filipino Heritage Night event.
The Giants Filipino Heritage Night started in 2008 as a partnership between the SF
Giants, Filipino American Arts Exposition
and Manilatown Heritage Foundation to
feature Filipino American community and
culture during a Giants home game and
help raise funds for local nonprofit organizations. Additional community partners
include the Filipina Women’s Network and
600 Hands, who help make FHN one of
the largest special event in SF Giants history. “I would like to sincerely thank the
SF Giants, especially Faham Zakariaei and
his awesome team for their leadership in
championing Filipino Heritage Night and
for their continued commitment to the
event,” said Al Perez.
The event has been so successful that it
requires two dates during the Giants baseball season - one in the spring and one in
the summer. Filipino Heritage Night #2 is
scheduled on Friday, August 15. FHN #2
attendees will be treated to live Filipino
entertainment from 5-7pm in Seals Plaza,
located behind the ballpark, and a limitededition Filipino-themed Giants texting
gloves. Special Event tickets are subject
to dynamic pricing, which means ticket
prices can fluctuate based on factors affecting supply and demand – so buy early
and save! This event is also expected to
sell out, so fans are encouraged to purchase
their tickets in advance at www.SFGiants.
com/Filipino or by calling 415-972-2298.
“Filipino Americans are proud members
of the San Francisco Bay Area’s multicultural social fabric,” said Perez. “We invite
all people, no matter your heritage, to step
up to the plate, learn about Filipino traditions and enjoy a great time out at the ballpark with your family and friends!”
For more information visit www.pistahan.
net.
SAN MATEO, RIZAL ASSOCIATION OF NORTHERN
CALIFORNIA (SMRANC) DINNER DANCE
Part of the crowd that participated in the Iglesia Ni Cristo United States National Games
Championships cheer during the parade of teams held at California State University,
East Bay in Hayward CA
Some members of the Fiilipino American community spending one great afternoon at the
Cataldi Park in Berryesa, City of San Jose to celebrate Memorial day. The group was
joined in by Milpitas Mayor Jose Esteves and members of the Iglesia Ni Cristo.
ARE YOU CELEBRATING YOUR BIRTHDAY,
ANNIVERSARY, GRADUATION OR
BUSINESS GRAND OPENING?
SF Post can cover an exclusive feature of your event!
Call us at
1-855-454-7678
or email us at [email protected]
to learn more.
The Officers of the San Mateo, Rizal Association of Northern CA (SMRANC) is inviting all our “kababayans” from San Mateo, Rizal to a Dinner Dance Reunion to be held
on July 26, 2014, Saturday at 6:00 PM. The venue is at St. Paschal Church Hall, 3700
Dorisa Avenue, Oakland, CA 94605.
Those interested to join this reunion, please contact any of the following: Estelita San
Jose del Rosario (Stella) 707-567-0462, Mimi San Pascual Tampinco 707-853-1048,
Annie Antonio del Rosario 650-534-5184, Norina Asprer Salvador 510-638-7871.
PAGE 12
May 29, 2014 - June 4, 2014
Arum won’t stop Manny from
playing in PBA
MANILA -- Manny Pacquiao’s
decision to play hoops professionally doesn’t concern Top
Rank chief Bob Arum.
“As long as it doesn’t interfere with
his boxing, it will
be okay
for him
to play
basketball,” said
Arum, the
82-yearold Hall
of Fame
promoter
w h e n
asked about Pacquiao’s impending foray into the Philippine Basketball Association as
a playing coach for new team
Kia Motors.
Arum believes Pacquiao’s involvement in basketball won’t
be as deep as his commitment
to boxing, the sport that has
made the Filipino an icon in the
eyes of sports fans from around
the world.
While Pacquiao, 35, is raring
to suit up and dribble his way
to the basket, Arum thinks the
fighting congressman’s stint
is more of a show to enhance
the growing popularity of the
Korean car brand in the Philippines.
Columbia Auto Corp., the distributor of Kia vehicles in the
country, has given Pacquiao the
free hand
to form
a team in
time for
the opening of the
All-Filipino Cup in
the third
week of
October.
To beef
up
his
think tank,
Pacquiao has acquired the services of former pro and Globalport head coach Glenn Capacio
and there will be more specialists who will be hired in the
coming weeks.
Pacquiao, meanwhile, will return to the ring on Nov. 8, according to Arum and that Macau, which hosted Pacquiao’s
easy win over Brandon Rios
last year at the CotaiArena, has
expressed its desire to stage another headliner.
Arum has a scheduled meeting with the casino bigwigs of
The Venetian, which houses the
CotaiArena, tomorrow.
Senate okays PH citizenship
for Blatche
MANILA - The Senate approved
on third and final reading yesterday a bill that will confer Philippine citizenship on American professional basketball player Andray
Blatche who plays for the Brooklyn Nets in the National Basketball
Association (NBA).
Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara, who
filed the measure, said the move
in effect gives Blatche an opportunity to help the Philippine national
basketball team that will compete
in the FIBA World Championships
in Spain this August.
“Blatche is possibly the best
center from the NBA that we can
get who is willing to shun more
lucrative offers now and in the future just to be part of our national
team,” Angara said.
Also a basketball fan, Angara
said that the Brooklyn Nets’ big
man’s documents would now be
transmitted to Malacañang for
President Aquino’s signature.
Angara expressed gratitude to
his colleagues, particularly Senate
Justice Committee chair Aquilino
Pimentel III and Majority Leader
Alan Peter Cayetano, for the swift
passage of Senate Bill 2108.
“This was indeed a total team
effort on the part of the Senate.
Credits are due to both the majority and minority blocs for supporting this measure, which to my
mind, is the Senate’s own way of
contributing to the cause of our
basketball team,” he said.
Angara also noted that Senate
President Franklin Drilon, and
Senators Vicente Sotto and Jinggoy Estrada were also supportive
even though Estrada earlier raised
questions why Baltche was given
citizenship when he has not set
foot in the country.
Blatche, who averages 12 points
and six rebounds in the NBA
where his team reached the conference semifinals, will also play
for the country in other major
international basketball tournaments, including the Asian Games
in September this year in South
Korea and in the 2016 Summer
Olympics.
For accepting to be part of the
Philippine basketball squad,
Blatche will be forever prohibited
to join any other foreign national
team.
“Having naturalized players is
the rule in international competitions rather than the exception. It’s
very accepted. We are just taking
advantage of the rule,” said Angara, who chairs the committee on
games, amusement and sports.
The House of Representatives,
through the efforts of Antipolo
Rep. Robbie Puno, approved
the application of Blatche last
month.
The 6-foot-11 American isn’t
the first foreign player to be given Philippine citizenship.
The San Francisco Post
SPORTS
Donaire re-signs with Arum
After Manny Pacquiao comes Nonito
Donaire.
Top Rank head Bob Arum bared on
Sunday that Donaire and his promotional
outfit have reached an agreement to extend their contract until mid-2016.
Donaire’s deal with the Las Vegas-based
Top Rank will lapse until October, 2014
and Arum said both parties have decided
to extend it for “another 20 months.”
Last week, Pacquiao and Top Rank also
renewed their contract with each other,
making the fighting congressman Arum’s hot property until the end of 2016.
Donaire is taking centerstage this week
as he guns for a fourth world title against
Simpiwe Vetyeka of South Africa at the
CotaiArena in Macau.
Regarded as Pacquiao’s heir apparent,
Donaire is also being groomed by Top
Rank to carry the Philippine flag once
Pacquiao, 35, leaves the sport.
Donaire, 31, is also a multi-division
titleholder like Pacquiao and a big win
over Vetyeka should only enhance his
reputation as a future star.
Arum said ticket sales for this weekend’s show is tremendous and he expects
a night of fistic fireworks.
Yao Ming latest celebrity interested in
buying Clippers
LOS ANGELES - Retired Chinese superstar Yao Ming is lining
up investors to make a bid for the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers
if embattled owner Donald Sterling has to sell, ESPN.com reported on Friday (Saturday in Manila).
Yao is just the latest celebrity to be linked to a potential Clippers bid since Sterling was engulfed in a scandal over racially
charged remarks that became public in April. ESPN, citing unnamed sources, said that Yao and another former NBA player,
Grant Hill, were working separately to find investors to launch
bids.
Celebrity gossip website TMZ and other US media outlets
reported that Sterling has surrendered control of the club to his
estranged wife, Shelly, who is in talks with the league to sell
the team.
The Clippers are valued at nearly $600 million by Forbes
magazine and could fetch substantially more given the publicity surrounding the team and its location in a major US market.
Yao became an NBA star with the Houston Rockets, who made
him the first pick in the 2002 NBA draft.
Although his size was his strength, the rigors of top-flight basketball proved too much for Yao’s massive 7 foot 6 inch frame
and his career was marked by lengthy absences from the court
due to a succession of mostly foot and leg injuries.
He announced his retirement in July of 2011 following a trailblazing career that made him China’s best-known athlete and
helped spur the game’s growth all across Asia.
He owns a team in China, the Shanghai Sharks, and maintains
close ties with the NBA.
Hill is just completing his first year in retirement after a
19-season career that ended with the Clippers after seven AllStar berths.
Other big names said to be interested in purchasing the clippers include software billionaire Larry Ellison, entertainment
mogul David Geffen and television powerhouse Oprah Winfrey, along with former Los Angeles Lakers star Magic Johnson
and unbeaten boxer Floyd Mayweather.
Azkals coach confident of winning
against host Maldives
AFTER a draw and back-to-back wins
in the elimination round, the Philippine
men’s football squad is pumped up for its
semifinal showdown against host Maldives in the Asian Football Confederation Challenge Cup on Tuesday.
A scoreless draw against Afghanistan
and victories against Laos and 2012 finalist Turkmenistan earned the Azkals
seven points to top Group B during the
elimination round for an automatic semi-
final slot.
Striker Phil Younghusband and Patrick
Reichelt provided the scoring punch for
the 140th FIFA-ranked Azkals with one
goal each, while goalkeeper Roland
Mueller provided good defensive job to
contain Turkmenistan’s goal attempts.
Thomas Dooley, the American coach
who replaced German Hans Michael
Weiss last February, is confident the Azkals could score two more wins to win
the Challenge Cup and qualify for the
2015 Asian Cup.
“I know what the team can do,” said
Dooley to the AFC web site. “Our focus
is on winning the Challenge Cup.”
The Azkals are expected to be led by
Simone Rota, Daisuke Sato, Rob Gier,
Reichelt, Rota, Stephan Schrock, Phil
and his brother James Younghusband,
goalkeeper Mueller, Jerry Lucena and
Amani Aguinaldo.
REAL ESTATE
US new home sales rose 6.4% in April
WASHINGTON – Sales of U.S. new homes recovered in April after
slumping in the previous two months. But Americans are still buying
new homes at a slower pace than they did a year ago.
The Commerce Department said Friday that sales of new homes rose 6.4
percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 433,000. That
compares with an upwardly revised annual pace of 407,000 in March,
when purchases fell 6.9 percent. Buying had dropped 4.4 percent in February, in part because of winter snowstorms.
Demand for newly built homes remains one of the missing pieces of the
nearly 5-year-old recovery from the Great Recession. A lack of affordability has limited buying around the country. Sales of new homes are
running at roughly half the rate of a healthy real estate market.
Warmer weather has yet to heat up the housing market after a harsh winter slowed sales in January and February. Higher prices and mortgage
rates over the past year have sidelined many would-be buyers.
Sales during April surged in the Midwest and edged up in the South.
Home-buying was flat in the West and fell in the Northeast.
Yelena Shulyatyeva, an economist at BNP Paribas, noted that the 47.4
percent increase in Midwest sales likely came from the start of the
spring buying season and that similar levels of growth are “not likely
to continue.”
“The broader trend remains one of weak underlying demand,” Shulyatyeva said in a client note.
New-home sales have declined 4.2
percent over the past 12 months.
The median sales price, which can be
volatile, fell a slight 2.1 percent during the past month to $275,800.
Buying has been slow across much
of the country after climbing in the first half of 2013. Last year’s gains
and a limited supply of homes pushed up prices to levels that strained
household budgets for potential buyers.
Sales of existing homes in April rose 1.3 percent from March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.65 million, the National Association
of Realtors said Thursday. Purchases of homes over the past 12 months
have dropped 6.8 percent. In a healthy housing market, roughly 5.5 million existing homes are purchased each year.
The median price for an existing home has risen 5.2 percent to $201,700.
Home sales growth over the past year has occurred primarily among
homes worth more than $750,000. Buying fell during the same period
for homes worth less than $250,000, which make up the majority of all
purchases.
Much of the increase in construction has been in the apartment sector, a
sign that builders expect fewer buyers and more renters. After the housing bust and Great Recession, Americans have been coping with flat
wages and job insecurity, making it hard to save for a down payment.
The home ownership rate was 64.8 percent at the start of the year, down
from a peak of 69.2 percent during 2004.
New homes usually represent about 20 percent of all homes sold. That
figure has fallen recently to 10 percent, according to real estate data
firm Zillow.
An index of builder confidence for this month fell a percentage point to
45, the National Association of Homebuilders and Wells Fargo reported
Thursday. A reading below 50 indicates that builders consider the conditions for new construction to be poor. The index had been above 50 from
June through January.
The San Francisco Post
SHOWBIZ
Sarah is aching for something new
LOVE teams in Philippine
movies mean a lot to producproduc
ers and audiences.
For the producers, a good
love team can translate into
box-office hits.
A successful pair
can translate into
more following
and for the stars,
it means more
commercial
endorsements.
According to
movie chronicler
Mario
Bautista, love
teams in Philippine
cinema made quite an
impact from the ’20s
to the ’30s with the love
team of Mary Walter and Gregorio Fernandez (Rudy Fernandez’s grandfather).
In the ’30s and the ’40s, the love team of Rosa del Rosario and Leopoldo Salcedo was the toast of tinseltown
followed by Elsa Oria and Ely Ramos, Lucita Goyena
and Fernando Poe Sr.
From the ’40s to the ’50s, the love teams to beat were
Corazon Noble and Angel Esmeralda, Carmen Rosales
and Rogelio de la Rosa, Tita Duran and Pancho Magalona
and on to the decades of Delia Razon and Mario Montenegro, Nida Blanca and Nestor de Villa, Gloria Romero
and Luis Gonzales and into the ’60s most-loved pairs of
Amalia Fuentes and Romeo Vasquez and on to Susan Roces and Eddie Gutierrez.
The love teams of the new millennium are dime a dozen
and as always, the partners change faces and they still do
good at the box-office.
The new love team to reckon with is Sarah Geronimo
and Coco Martin who will appear in a new film called
Maybe This Time, opening on May 28.
In the presscon announcing her latest starrer, Sarah told
media men the first order of the day before shooting starts
is to get to know her leading man. Here, she described
her close collaboration with co-actors, notably with her
leading man.
The singing actress rued a good and credible love team
doesn’t just happen overnight. “Since this is our first
team-up as a love team, my first work was to find ways to
connect with my co-actor. Coco and I earlier worked together in none-movie projects and we have to build anew
based on that first meeting. Now, I have to relate to him
as a co-actor but the most challenging part is to relate
as close as possible to his character as Tonio in another
time and in another setting. This means you have to get to
know your leading man inside and out and more importantly, get to know the character he is portraying.”
Coco said he is surprised at the work ethic of his leading lady and how she made it all easy for him. “Since
this is our first time as a love team, I needed to get to
know her quickly and know at once what she expects
from her screen sweetheart. Sarah was a revelation. She
is constantly concerned with the chemistry that will work
and what will make the love team credible. She actually
helped me relax and as a result, my acting on the set was
real and spontaneous. In between the harutan and the
landian on the set, I was stunned to see a new kind of
aggressiveness in her.”
Coco was probably referring to a scene where Sarah
gangs up on him and looking like a cool femme fatale
determined to seduce him. But after pinning him down
and running her hands on his face, she drops her line,
“You badly need a facial.”
Even director Jerry Sineneng noticed the unusual rapport between the two who are always looking for something new and exciting to show their fans.
As the cliché goes: The love team is not resting on its
laurels.
As it is, Sarah has moved on from acting for her screaming fans and is ready to show them her new persona as
an actor.
SEXY actress Meg Imperial recalled her
humble beginnings in the world of show
business and how she often accepted roles
with little to no lines just to make ends
meet.
In an
interview on
“ Ta p a tan Ni
Tunying
“ aired
Thursday, the
21-yearold admitted
that she
used to
earn as
little as
P 3 0 0
for her
roles as
an extra
in various television
Meg Imperial
shows.
“Siyempre,
nag-start ako as passerby lang, tapos nagsikap ako hangga’t nagkaroon ng roles,
lines. ‘Yung mga 300 [pesos] na dati mong
kinikita dati, tumataas ng 1,500 [pesos],”
she said.
Imperial shared how she bragged about
her role as an extra in the hit drama anthology, “Maalala Mo Kaya.” She said:
“Pinagmamalaki ko ‘yun kahit passerby
lang ako.”
The actress also admitted that there were
several times when the she almost gave up
on show business because her career was
not playing out the way she wanted it to.
“Dumating talaga sa point na yun. Na
parang hihingi kami sa mga kamaganak
namin, hihingi kami sa mga kakilala [ng
pera]. And minsan dadating na lang ‘yung
mga maniningil sa bahay. So lahat tini-try
ko. Kasi parang wala ka ng matatakbuhan
eh,” she said.
“May mga times na sasabihin niya [her
mother] na tumigil na ako kasi walang project eh. Pero pag may tumawag sa amin, go
agad. Wala naman masama sa pag-try eh,”
she added.
Why Meg Imperial almost quit showbiz
B I G
BREAK
Imperial, who
moved
to ABSC B N
last year,
was then
given her
first huge
break in
the television
industry
with
a
lead role
for
the
afternoon
drama,
“Moon of
Desire.”
Asked
a b o u t
why she
accepted such a daring role, Imperial said:
“Nung naguumpisa ako, talagang conservative ako. Dahil lang sa gusto ko lang talaga ‘yung trabaho, at gusto ko rin naman
mag-evolve para maiba yung ginagawa,
kaya tiniry ko siya.”
She said, with her newfound success, they
can now afford her family a new house,
pay for her brother’s education, and support her plans to buy her own car.
Imperial, however, added she is not willing go a step further and accept more
‘sexy’ roles in the future. “Hanggang doon
na lang muna ako. Kasi doon pa lang nahihirapan na ako,” she said.
Asked to rate the afternoon drama, which
also stars Ellen Adarna and JC de Vera, she
said: “9 kasi maganda ‘yung story at casting pero hindi ko siya ginawa na perfect
10 kasi I know na mayroon pang room for
improvement sa akin.”
DOJ summons Zoren Legaspi over tax evasion case
MANILA, Philippines—The Department
of Justice (DOJ) ordered actor Zoren Legaspi to answer the P4.4 million tax evasion complaint filed against him by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).
Assistant State Prosecutor Stewart Allan
Mariano has set the preliminary investigation on Legaspi’s case on Wednesday, May
28.
Mariano said Legaspi is required to respond to the complaint filed by the BIR.
Based on the BIR’s complaint, Legaspi
has been slapped with a case for violation
of sections 254 and 255 of the National Internal Revenue Code for wilful attempt to
evade or defeat tax and deliberate failure to
supply correct and accurate information in
his income tax returns for 2010 and 2012.
Investigation by the BIR showed that Le-
gaspi received a total income of P9.64 million in 2010, and P6.49 million in 2012.
A comparison of the documents and information, however, showed that Legaspi declared P6.79 million as gross income in his
tax returns filed with the BIR in 2010, and
P1.82 million in 2012. Compared with the
income payments he received as per alpha
lists of withholding agents provided by the
BIR’s Information Systems and Development Operations Service (ISDOS) showed
Legaspi “willfully and substantially” underdeclared his correct taxable income by
P2.85 million or 42% in 2010, and P4.67
million or 256% in 2012.
His tax liability for 2010 and 2012 is
P4.45 million inclusive of surcharges and
interest.
PAGE 13
May 29, 2014 - June 4, 2014
Claudine makes ‘peace’ with Raffy
CLAUDINE Barretto seems to have reconciled Raymart and his male friend who had supposwith journalist Raffy Tulfo, based on her new edly given their older brother a beating.
Instagram post.
Claudine and Raymart, who are now dealing
She uploaded her photo with Raffy, Thursday, with their own marital woes, filed grave threats
with the caption: “Peace.
and serious oral defaHad a nice afternoon with
mation cases against
you po, Sir Raffy Tulfo.
the Tulfo brothers,
God bless po.”
claiming that their
Also seen in the photo are
on-air remarks were
her lawyer, Atty. Ferdinand
threatening.
Topacio, and an unidentiThe Movie and Telefied woman.
vision Review and
Recall that in May 2012,
Classification Board
Claudine and her now-es(MTRCB) suspendtranged husband Raymart
ed “T3” for three
Santiago, were involved in
months for the on-air
a fracas with veteran coltirade.
umnist Ramon Tulfo, the Raffy Tulfo, Claudine Barretto with Atty. Ferdinand Topacio
Claudine’s
reconeldest of the Tulfo brothers,
ciliation with Tulfo
at the Ninoy Aquino Intercomes in the heels of
national Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3.
a much-publicized feud with Raymart, resulting
Following the incident, Raffy, Erwin and Ben in the former filing several charges against him
Tulfo aired their side on their now-defunct in court.
show “T3: Kapatid Sagot Kita!” and threatened
Vice Ganda on Terrence: I never said we’re together
VICE Ganda said he got a call from Terrence Vice Ganda first hinted about the end of his relaRomeo right after the GlobalPort cager went on tionship last May 9 through a series of posts on
record to finally clarify his rumored ties with him. Twitter. “It is over,” he said in one tweet.
In an exclusive interAnother tweet read, “i
view with “The Buzz”
TRied but im TiRed.
which aired on Sunday,
time To Rest.” This
Vice Ganda said Romeo
had fans of the cocalled to apologize for
median speculating
what has been said in his
on the apparent hints
interview with Spin.ph.
in the capitalization
“Tinawagan niya ako to
of the letters, with
clarify and to apologize
a number asking if
for what has been said,
the initials “TR” perkung anong lumabas,
tained to Romeo.
kung anong nasabi nila.
Stressing that he
I felt sorry for him kasi
never mentioned Ronapakinggan ko yung
meo’s name, Vice
podcast. Naawa ako kasi
Ganda said, “Never
parang napaglaruan sila Former FEU Tamaraws cager Terrence Romeo akong nagpangalan. I
nung nag-i-interview.”
never clarified, I nevand Comedian-host Vice Ganda.
“Kaya nga sabi ko sa
er admitted, I never
kanya ‘I never had any
confirmed anything. I
doubt na it will not come from your mouth. I knew never said na we were together, wala akong tahana hindi siya galing sa bibig mo.’ Yung saktong sang direktang sinabing Terrence Romeo at wala
na-quote sa kanya, it was spoon-fed, wala nang akong masamang sinabi sa kanya. I will never say
nagawa. Naawa din naman ako kasi na-pressure,” anything ill about him.”
he added.
Although he admits that he is not doing okay amid
In his interview with Spin.ph, Romeo lamented this issue, Vice Ganda reiterated he will not say
that the rumor has long affected his image, and anything negative about Romeo or his dad, who
that he wants it to be put to rest. He also asked defended his son following allegations that he
fans of Vice Ganda to stop spreading rumors supposedly received expensive gifts from the coabout him.
median including a condominium unit and a car.
“Sana matapos na ‘yung isyu na ‘yan, dahil paulit- “I’m not so okay but I don’t have any negative
ulit lang naman na hindi katotohanan! Isang multo words to say about them. Gusto ko ipagtanggol
yan ng imahe ko na gusto ko nang mabura total- ang sarili ko pero ayaw kong may taong masakly,” he said. “Sana huwag na silang gumawa ng tan at mapahiya kapag lalo ko pang ipagtanggol
mga bagay na hindi totoo. Sariling buhay na lang ang sarili ko. Ayaw kong manakit ng isang taong
nila yung pansinin nila.”
naging mahalaga sa akin. Ayaw kong manakit ng
Romeo has been linked to the “It’s Showtime” co- kaibigan,” he said.
host since his stint in the UAAP as a player for “I already cried so much last night. I’m trying my
the Far Eastern University Tamaraws, which Vice best to smile. Sabi ko nga sa Showtime, at times I
Ganda has been vocal of supporting as an alumnus am smiling because I am happy, but at this point, I
of the school.
am happy because I am strong,” he added.
Alice Dixson’s timeless beauty
CAUSING quite a stir with her debut
appearance on the cover of a men’s
magazine late last year, Alice Dixson
maintains that it wasn’t planned.
The actress insists, “I never really
imagined myself doing that, it just organically happened.”
Asked if she’s willing to have a go at
it again, the former Binibining Pilipinas International replied, “It would
depend.”
“The only reason I wanted to do that
FHM cover was because I wanted to
inspire women who are in my age category that you could still be healthy,
be fit and look good (even) half naked,” she adds, laughing. “So, I think
siguro kapag ang focus (ng magazine)
ay more on health and fitness, (maybe
I would).”
Despite appearing quite spectacular in
her magazine spread, Alice shares how
worried she had been during the shoot.
“It was my first time working with
the photographer kasi… but when he
showed me the initial shots, maganda
naman so I put my trust na on him,” she
relates.
‘Forever young’
With her angelic face and lean body, it’s
not surprising that Alice, at 44, is often
mistaken being only at her early 30s.
“That’s the youngest (a guy) ever said
I look like,” she gush. “I don’t know
kung binobola lang ako.”
To be pegged as “forever young” is
proving quite a challenge for her, saying “nakakastress ’yan… If there’s only
so much time na masu-sustain ko ang
(physical appearance) ko.”
“Siyempre we all age, it’s not as if I
found the fountain of youth naman. If
I still look good in the next ten years,
then great,” she adds.
She credits an active and healthy lifestyle for her youthful appearance.
The veteran star is into yoga and running. She also makes it a point to eat
right, to take her vitamins and have
eight hours of sleep.
“Basta hindi ako puyat, I try to go to
the gym before I go to work. I have so
many activities and I don’t keep it to
one thing para hindi siya boring,” she
says.
Alice was recently tapped as the
brand ambassador of General
Nutrition Center (GNC), a
manufacturer and retailer of
nutritional supplements.
She uses GNC’s Resvitale
Collagen Enhance to restore
her youthful DNA, Women’s Ultra Mega to keep
her natural energy up despite her busy schedule
and Burn 60 to jumpstart her fat loss.
“When I was at
my 20s, I thought
I was invincible.
I could eat anything, I could do
anything. I was very
active but I wasn’t
very careful with the
vitamins I took,” she shares. “It wasn’t
until my late 30s that I realized that I
need to start taking better care of myself and I started reading about different kind of supplements.”
Love life
On matters of the heart, Alice admits,
“I’m doing well.”
She got divorced from husband of 13
years, Ronnie Miranda, last year.
“I started dating again. Happy ang puso
ko. I have trust issues pero if you want
to find new love, you have to be open,”
she admits.
Will she settle for younger boys, say, 10
to 20 years her junior?
“Not the really young
ones, definitely not
the 20 year olds. I
think if eight years
my junior, that
would be the
max,”
s h e
says.
Alice
adds,
“Kasi
m a y
m g a
maturity
levels din
naman
ang mga
lalaki…”
CLASSIFIED
PAGE 14
May 29, 2014 - June 4, 2014
*PROMO FOR FIRST TIME ADVERTISERS:
Only $40 for 4 issues (Classified Section - 6 liner) and $60 for 4 issues (Coupons Section)
To advertise, call (510) 885-8827 or
email us at [email protected]
PROPERTY
HOUSE AND LOT FOR
SALE BY OWNER
Located in Pacdal, Baguio
City, Philippines
2 Story detached house,
steel gated enclosure. 4
huge bedrooms, (1 private
room - 1st flr, 3 rooms -2nd
flr) 3 huge bathrooms, 2
car garage At the back of
St. Joseph Church, Botanical Garden &
Mansion house
CALL ZOSIMO
AT (C) 650-219-0600 /
(H) 650-952-2340
The San Francisco Post
PROPERTY
JOBS
JOBS
USED CARS
ROOM FOR
RENT?
Trying to rent your
room / house / in-law
apartment?
HAIR CUT STATION
WANTED FOR
IMMEDIATE
HIRING
SELLING
YOUR CAR?
Hair Cut Station to rent.
$600 / month
Call (510) 895-1963
Transporters and
VSA’s Wanted
SFO Airport
Fleetlogix, a local
transportation company is
looking for good people to
transport rental cars in and
around the Bay Area. If you have
a good driving record and are
drug free please apply in person
Tuesdays, Wednesday’s and
Fridays @ 1457 Rollins Rd, Burlingame Ca 94010 between 9am
to 5pm. Pay starts @ 9.50hr.
ADVERTISE WITH
US!
Email us at
advertise@sf-post
or call us at
(510) 885-8827
L & L Hawaiian Barbecue is
looking for several experienced
Cooks. 2 for the existing L & L
Restaurant and 2 others for an
upcoming Vietnamese Chinese
Restaurant to open on the same
complex. Please apply inside L
& L Hawaiian Barbecue at the
San Jose Market Center with address at 579 Coleman Ave,
Suite 40 San Jose CA 95110.
Call 408-920-7772
ADVERTISE NOW!
[email protected]
FOR
SALE
95’ BLACK
LINCOLN TOWN CAR
STRETCH LIMOUSINE
w/ bar & TV port.
Good for Limo business.
$3,000 or BO.
Call 650.290.0542 for
more details.
CARDS & COUPONS
TRAVEL TOUR PACKAGES
BUS TOURS of Orchid Farms, Gardens, Historical Sites, etc. from $80.00.
CRUISES - round-trips from San Francisco or LA, CA to Mexico ($550.00), Canada ($250.00),
Hawaii ($1,449.00). Fascinating tour onto the life Pope Francis in Argentina and
learn it’s history and role of the church on its culture, society; and their famous tango
(land /tour w/ some meals $2,950.00).
FOR MORE INFO PLEASE EMAIL US AT [email protected]
All prices are for double occupancy and subject to chage. CST 2099748
GET
15%
OFF
ADVERTISE WITH US NOW!
Only $60 for 4 issues!
when you advertise your
business in SF Post!
$50 off
Tax Preparation
Call 510.885-8827
10% OFF
TAX PREPARATION
114 Parrott St.
Unit B
San Leandro
CA 94577
FEES
Call:
(510) 357-5578
TAX SAVERS PRO
Call 510-538-7188
We build Ponds,
Gazebo & Waterfalls
for your backyards.
Call (707) 419-2881
GAMES & ENTERTAINMENT
CROSSWORD PUZZLE
SUDOKU
To solve a Sudoku puzzle, place a number into each box so that each row
across, each column down, and each
small 3x3 square within the larger diagram (there are 9 of these) will contain
every number from 1 through 9. In other words, no number will appear more
than once in any row, column, or smaller 3x3 square. Working with the numbers already given as a guide, complete
each diagram with the missing numbers
that will lead to the correct solution.
HOROSCOPE
Aries March 20 - April 18
It may be more difficult to come up with your
quick, witty rebuttals in conversations. Take
your time and make sure you choose your
words very carefully. Communicating with
others might be a bit like pulling teeth today.
Taurus April 19 - May 19
You might find that words aren’t the
best way to communicate today, Taurus. Body language and the sense of
touch and taste are much more effective. You’ll find that your senses will be
heightened overall.
Gemini May 20 - June 19
There will be a lot of information coming
your way, but it all won’t necessarily be
great. It seems that someone is putting a
roadblock in your path, making it difficult for
you to pass. Don’t let this stop you.
Cancer June 20 - July 21
Your head may be buzzing with activity,
Cancer. It seems like the spotlight suddenly has been turned on. Your mind is on
stage and your brainpower is being tested.
Leo July 22 - August 21
You may have felt somewhat frustrated
in your initiatives over the past few days,
Leo. Either outside obstacles, such as
events that caused delays, or inner restraints, such as your own apathy, presented a clear challenge to you. Be your
own person and think for yourself.
Virgo August 22 - September 21
Focus on your creative mind, Virgo. This is
a very fertile time for planting hearty seeds
that will be sure to grow up healthy and
strong. You have the ability to be very prosperous, but it certainly won’t come easily.
Libra September 22 - October 21
Motivation must come from within, Libra. The
only thing that can pull you out of bed is your
inner drive and determination. Too much partying could leave you drained to the point that
you don’t want to move. Remember moderation.
Scorpio October 22 - November 20
Your mind should be quite clear today,
and communication will go extremely well
for you, Scorpio. You’ll find that you’ll need
very few words to get your point across.
You’ll connect to people on many levels.
Sagittarius November 21 - December 20
Strong forces may be acting up and asking you to stand up a little straighter than
usual, Sagittarius. Keep your shoulders
back and be proud. Don’t think of yourself as any less of a person just because
there is disagreement between you and
the people around you.
Capricorn December 21 - January 18
Feel free to take the lazy route today,
Capricorn. Don’t lift a finger if you don’t
really have to. It may be hard to get others moving as well. You can prod all you
want, but, ultimately, if people don’t want
to go, they aren’t going to.
Aquarius January 19 - February 17
Your thinking is steady and reserved today, Aquarius. You’ll find that your mind
is right in line with your ego, and you’ll be
able to accurately verbalize what’s going
on inside. You might be guarded about
how much you tell people.
Pisces February 18 - March 19
Today is an excellent day for you to say
exactly how you feel, Pisces. Your thinking
is sharp and clear. You’ll find that once you
start talking, you may never stop. People will
listen extra carefully to your words. You have
a great deal of influence on others.
HOW TO PLACE AN AD IN THE SAN FRANCISCO POST:
BY PHONE:
BY FAX:
BY EMAIL:
1-855-454-7678
(510) 538-7115
[email protected]
Please have this info ready: Company Name,
Contact Person, Contact Numbers &
Complete Address.
Please include Company Name, Contact Person, Contact Numbers & Complete Address.
Artwork should be readable.
Please include Company Name, Contact
Person, Contact Numbers & Complete
Address. Artwork should be attached.
PAGE 15
May 29, 2014 - June 4, 2014
The San Francisco Post
BMW’s electric brand to lower
CO2 and pay off big long-term
G
ermany’s BMW is turning a
costly necessity to reduce fuel
consumption into a profit generating virtue.
The world’s biggest premium car
maker is currently cranking up the
publicity machine for the August
launch of its i8 plug-in hybrid twoseater supercar. BMW recently
parachuted some investment bank
analysts from Europe into Los Angeles to drive the i8 and they’ve
come away very impressed.
The i8 is BMW’s second vehicle
in its drive for electrification, for
which it has set up a separate “i”
brand. The i3, a small electric city
car with the option of a small-gasoline powered range extender to
shore up the unpredictable battery
mileage, was launched in Europe
late last year.
IHS Automotive analyst Tim
Urquhart, who wasn’t in Los Angeles, said what started out as a
loss-leader for BMW to show it
took upcoming government rules
slashing carbon dioxide (CO2)
emissions seriously, is turning
into an exercise of effective brand
building.
“It’s taking huge amounts of R&D
(spending) for materials, structures
and power-trains. I think at the moment it’s (the “i” program) about
being a mobile test bed to prove
electrification techniques which
are being gradually developed and
honed. But what is really important, the “i” vehicles are turning
into fantastic brand builders for
BMW,” Urquhart said.
Last year analysts were saying the
i3 programme alone would lose
BMW up to $270 million a year
(Cont. from page 1..108 SENATORS)
17. Ex-Sen. Ramon Magsaysay
18. Ex-Sen. Tessie Aquino Oreta
19. Ex-Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr.
20. Ex-Sen. Manuel Villar
Also listed were 88 former and incumbent congressmen. They are:
1. Abad, Florencio
2. Agarao, Benjamin
3. Albano, Rodolfo
4. Amatong, Prospero
5. Angara-Castillo, Bellaflor
6. Arroyo, Iggy
7. Arroyo,Mickey
8. Bagatsing, Amado
9. Banaag, Leovigildo
10. Baterina, Salacnib
11. Beratio, Napoleon
12. Biazon, Ruffy
13. Cagas, Marc Douglas
14. Chavez, Leonila
15. Chiongbian, Erwin
16. Chipeco, Joaquin
17. Cuenco, Antonio
18. Dangwa, Samuel
19. Estrella, Conrad III
20. Estrella, Reymund
21. Fabian, Erico
22. Falcon, Jesnar
23. Falcon, Peter
24. Flores, Flor-
encio
25. Fuentebella, Arnulfo
26. Gullas, Gerald
27. Joaquin, Uliran
28. Jaraula, Constantino
29. Lagdameo, Antonio Jr.
30. Seachon, Lanete Rizalina
31. Lanete, Scott Davies
32. Labanan, Marcelino
33. Macarambon, Benasing Jr.
34. Madamba, Sunny Rose
35. Malanyaon, Corazon
36. Malapitan, Oscar
37. Martinez, Clavel
38. Mercado, Roger
39. Miraflores, Florencio
40. Miranda, Anthony
41. Montejo, Neil Benedict
42. Nieva, Ernesto “Banzai”
43. Olano, Arrel
44. Ortega, Manuel
45. Ortega, Victor
46. Pablo, Ernesto
47. Padilla, Carlos
48. Pangandaman, Hussein
49. Pangandaman, Nasser
Of the 20 former and incumbent senators,
Enrile, Estrada, and Revilla are already facing plunder complaints before the Office of
the Ombudsman.
The agents
Enrile’s agents are Gigi Reyes, Ruby Tuason, Freddie Villamor, Butch Tuason.
Jinggoy’s agent was Ruby Tuason, while
Richard Cambe acted as Revilla’s agent.
According to Napoles, certain “Bernard and
Rose Palacio” acted as agents for Biazon and
Barbers, respectively.
The affidavit also stated that certain “Lyn,”
Matt Ranillo, Butch Tuazon, Tet De Joya, and
Pauline Labayen acted as agents for Ex-Sen.
Loi, wife of former President and now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada, while a certain
“Atty. Danny” acted as agent for Honasan.
Jaworski’s agents, according to Napoles’ affidavit, were his son Dudut (prior to his election as Pasig congressman) and Tet De Joya.
A certain Zenaida Ducut acted as Lapid’s
agent, while a certain Catherine Mae “Maam
Maya” Canlas Santos acted as agent for Marcos and Legarda.
50.
51.
52.
53.
54.
55.
56.
57.
58.
59.
60.
61.
62.
63.
64.
65.
66.
67.
68.
69.
70.
71.
72.
73.
74.
75.
76.
77.
78.
for five years. BMW, which has
reportedly spent about $2 billion
on the project, said it will make
money from day one.
Arndt Ellinghorst, analyst with
International Strategy and Investment of London and who was in
Los Angeles, sees a big long-term
payoff for the BMW “i” brand.
Ellinghorst estimates that the “i”
brand alone could be worth 13 billion euros ($17.6 billion) although
he doesn’t say when.
Pichay, Prospero
Pinggoy, Arthur
Plaza, Rodolfo
Ramiro, Herminia
Real, Isidro
Remulla, Gilbert
Rodriguez, Maximo
Rodriguez, Oca
Romualdo, Jurdin Jesus
Rodriguez, Rufus
Romualdo, Pedro
Sandoval, Ricky
Sandoval, Joseph
Solis, Jose
Suplico, Rolex
Tulangan, Generoso
Umali, Alfonso “Boy”
Umali, Aurelo “Oyi”
Umali, Reynaldo
Ungab, Isidro
Unico, Renato
Valdez, Edgar
Valencia, Rodolfo
Veloso, Eduardo
Yumul Hermida, Georgilu
Zamora, Manuel
Alvarado, Wilhemino
Cortuna, Juliega
Daza, Nanette Costelo
79.
80.
81.
82.
83.
84.
85.
86.
87.
88.
In Magsaysay’s case, Napoles said that certain Patricia “Gay” Agana Tan, Bibing Agana
Villacorta, and Atty. Yacky Agana were his
agents.
Listed as Oreta’s agent was a certain Carlos
“Caloy” Reyes, while a certain Mon Arcenas
acted as agent of the elder Pimentel. On the
younger Pimentel’s case, his estranged wife
Jewel and Luis “Louie” Cruz acted as his
agents.
Napoles named Jennifer “Jen” Corpuz as
Sotto’s agent, while she identified Jun Adriano and Arman Padilla as the agents of the
Villar couple.
Campaign contributor
Napoles also admitted providing campaign
funds for former senator Villar through Adriano, as well as Cayetano and Escudero.
“Nagbigay ako ng pera para sa kampanya
ni Senador Alan Peter Cayetano noong last
election (2010). Nagkita kami sa Slice restaurant sa Bonifacio Global City. Personal
kong inabot sa kanya ang pera,” Napoles
stated in page 28 of her affidavit.
Echeverri, Recom
Lapuz, Jesli
Monfort, Narciso
Nantes, Rafael
Nograles, Prospero
Pablo, Ernesto
Plaza, Maria Valentina
Roman, Antonio
San Luis, Rodolfo
Zialcita, Eduardo.
2015 Lincoln Navigator starts at
$62,475
The 2015 Lincoln Navigator
will cost $62,475, including
destination, when it hits dealership lots. The optional reserve package, which comes
with 22-inch wheels, upgraded
leather and premium Ziricote
wood trim, costs $69,975.
Four-wheel drive adds about
$3,000 to the price.
The standard powertrain for
the new Navigator -- and only
powertrain, as the V8 has been
dropped -- will be an EcoBoost
V6 making 380 hp and 460 lbft of torque. When Ford said
the engine could handle more
power, they weren’t kidding.
That engine comes with a sixspeed automatic and a tow rat-
ing of 9,000 pounds.
When equipped with fourwheel drive, or 22-inch wheels,
the 2015 Navigator will come
with Lincoln Drive Control.
LDC automatically adjusts the
dampers for a smoother ride,
and fine-tunes the electric power steering. Four-wheel drive
models will also come standard with hill descent control.
The Navigator L will offer buyers 12 more inches of wheelbase and about 14 more inches
of length. It comes with a 4:10
rear axle, which is optional on
standard wheelbase versions.
The new Navigator will be
built in Kentucky, and will hit
dealerships in the fall.
2015 Hyundai Sonata gets
$300 price drop
T
he redesigned 2015 Hyundai
Sonata will start at $21,960 for
the base model including destination. The Sport 2.0T trim with the
turbo engine costs $29,385. That’s
a $300 price drop from last year’s
model.
Power is down a tick for both versions of the Sonata. The direct-injection 2.4-liter now makes 185 hp
and 178 lb-ft of torque. Last year’s
base model made 190 hp. As for
the turbocharged model, it now
delivers 245 hp and 260 lb-ft of
torque. That’s down from 274 hp
and 269 lb-ft. Normally we would
whine about this all the way to the
dealership, but the last turbo Sonata was comically fast.
Both engines feature Hyundai’s
new Electronic Intake Continuously Variable Valve Timing or
E-CVVT, which improves performance in low temperatures and
reduces emissions.
Hyundai says the new look of
the sheet metal follows its Fluidic
Sculpture 2.0 design language and
features a stiffer body structure,
better ride quality and reduced
noise and vibration.
The 2015 Sonata gets a bunch
of safety features including seven
airbags, Forward Collision Warning, Blind Spot Detection, Rear
Cross Traffic Alert and Lane Departure Warning.
The 2015 Sonata goes on sale
later this month.
PAGE 16
May 29, 2014 - June 4, 2014
The San Francisco Post