p1-22.chp:Corel VENTURA

Vol. XXI, No. 12
Online: www.ManilaMailDC.net
April 30, 2012
Memphis Int’l Festival salutes the Philippines
This is the Memphis International Festival's online display of two Filipino
cultural dancers.
WASHINGTON D.C. - The
Philippines will be the "honored
country" at the month-long
Memphis, Tennessee International Festival which opens on
May 1. This will be the second
time that the Philippines will be
the featured country in a US
state festival. The first was in the
Knoxville International Exposition, also in Tennessee, in the
early 80s.
During the festival, the
country's
alluring
exhibits
would be displayed in the city's
local museums, galleries, and
public places, and in other exciting activities and events.
The festival's program said
that besides the exhibits around
town, there would be dance and
singing performances, display of
Philippine wines and cuisine, international gala, speakers, business opportunities, lectures and
international tour.
Ambassador Jose L. Cuisia,
Jr. will be the keynote speaker at
the International Business Council luncheon on May 10. He will
talk about trade and investment
opportunities in the Philippines.
A number of distinguished
guests from the Philippines, experts in their respective fields,
will share their professional experiences with the audiences in
Memphis throughout the Festival .
The series of events will begin on May 8 with Architect
Augusto Villalon as the featured
speaker during the Architects of
the World Luncheon at the University Club and later Mr.
Guillermo Luz, co-Chair of the
National Competitiveness Coun-
Continued on page 24
PH to inform US
of Shoal standoff
Filipino and other Asian
American groups have assailed
Washington D.C. council member Marion Barry as “bigoted
and racist” for singling out Filipino nurses and teachers in his
April 23 remarks at the budget
hearing of the University of the
District of Columbia (UDC).
Barry’s statement immediately triggered angry responses
not only from the Filipino and
Asian American organizations
but also from Philippine Ambas-
sador to the United States Jose L.
Marion Barry
CAPS’ ‘Red Rocker’
By Rodney J. Jaleco
After what it feels like a
long drought, DC sports fans appear to finally have a reason to
cheer as the Washington Capitals fight for a play-off berth in
the Stanley Cup. And spectators
who might notice that bundle of
beauty and energy called the
Red Rockers the Cap’s official
cheerleading squad probably
didn’t know one of them has
Filipino roots.
Michelle Dee is the only
Filipina in the 16-woman Na-
Continued on page 23
Koreans hit Pinay
legislator P6
Cuisia, Jr.
The Council Member said in
the UDC hearing that “if you
go to the hospital now, you’ll
find a number of immigrants
who are nurses, particularly
from the Philippines. And no offense, but let’s grow our own
teachers, let’s grow our own
nurses, and so that we don’t
have to go scrounging in our
community clinics and other
kinds of places, having to hire
Continued on page 22
Asians mark
heritage fest
MANILA - The Philippines
will brief the United States on
the current standoff at the Scarborough Shoal and other disputed islands in the West
Philippine Sea amid warnings
from China of small-scale war.
In a press conference April
23, Department Foreign Affairs
(DFA) Spokesperson Raul Hernandez said the recent tense confrontations, Chinese warnings
and cyber attacks due to the
standoff over Scarborough will
be on the agenda of the first ever
“2 Plus 2” meeting in Washington, DC at the end of the month.
Department of Foreign Af-
More SAVE
backers P8
Continued on page 24
Farmers win
‘Luisita’ P10
Continued on page 23
Jessica Sanchez
becomes test of unity
WASHINGTON D.C. Filipinos across Metro DC, in Maryland and Virginia help celebrate
Asia Pacific Heritage Month
starting next week.
The Smithsonian Institution
is holding a Family Day at the
Kogod Courtyard of the National Portrait Gallery along F
Street NW on May 6.
The US Navy is also celebrating
outstanding
Asian
Americans in the service, includMichelle Dee
fairs Secretary Albert del Rosario
and Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Voltaire
Gazmin will meet with their
counterparts , Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.
“I don’t know what the US
can play [in this] but the US is
also concerned about what is
happening because the freedom
of navigation and unimpeded
commerce could be affected…,”
he said.
He said it is not clear yet if
the country will seek anything,
but the US should be “apprised
FALLS CHURCH, Virginia.
The call to support compatriot
Jessica Sanchez, vying for the
top-rating TV reality singing
contest American Idol, has taken
the shape of a full-blown campaign to test the strength and cohesion of the Filipino-American
community.
(Flash:
Jessica
survives
April 26 elimination round.)
“This seems to show that
Filipinos excel in two things
Jessica Sanchez
PH’s Most
Wanted P12
Continued on page 23
Parade of
Lechon? P15
2
April 30, 2012
FilAm gets more votes than Barry as DC delegate
A Filipino American has
garnered more votes than DC
Council Member Marion Barry
during the election for delegates
to the Democratic Partys national convention in Charlotte,
North Carolina in September.
The Filipino American is 25year-old Gregory Cendana who
got more votes to represent District 1 which includes Barrys
Ward 6. Cendana is executive
director of the Asian Pacific
American
Labor
Alliance
(APALA).
Some 1,300 local political
diehards converged on the University of the District of Columbia's campus for the quadrennial
rite to select the 44 delegates for
Gregory Cendana
the Convention.
Although Barry took twice
the time allotted for his own
pitch, which stressed his four
decades of work on behalf of
D.C.'s Democrats, he picked up
138 votes, more than anyone he
was running against except for
Cendana who got 50 more votes.
District One encompasses
Wards 1, 2, 6, and 8; it's how
Cendana, a Ward 1 resident,
ended up competing for votes
with the likes of Barry and
Evans. Thirty-nine other names
also graced the Congressional
District One ballot. Voters were
able to select four women and
four men. (Voters from District
Two-which represents Wards 3,
4, 5, and 7-got to pick four
women and three men.)
Cendana
may not have
Filipinos lead world in belief in God
CHICAGO - The Philippines leads the world in the
number of people who believe in
God, while the elderly across all
countries tend to be the most religious, according to study made
by the NORC research group at
the University of Chicago.
Belief in God tends to be
strongest in the United States
and Catholic countries and lowest in Scandinavia and former
Soviet states, according to the
survey released recently. The
study was based on data from 30
countries -- nearly all with
Christian majorities -- in which
surveys about belief in God have
been taken since 1991.
It found that 94 percent of
people in the Philippines said
they had always believed in
God, followed by Chile, with 88
percent, and the United States
with 81 percent. Belief was lowest in the former east Germany
(13 percent) and in the Czech Republic (20 percent).
The surveys found atheism
was most widespread in Scandinavia and the former Soviet Union -- with the exception of
Poland -- and
that belief in
God was generally
declining
worldwide, but
not in Russia,
Slovenia or Israel.
The report
found that senior citizens tend
to believe more
strongly in God.
begun the day with name recognition, so he adopted a strategy
based on what he does have: organizing expertise. He set up his
operation like a big-time political effort. A group of 20 volunteers organized events, knocked
on doors, set up a website,
spammed reporters with press
releases, and tapped their personal networks.
Cendana was born to a military family in Guam, grew up in
Sacramento,
California and
moved to Washington DC in
2008. His background is in progressive movement building,
and his comfort with organizing
landed him the role of president
of the United States Student Association, which brought him
from L.A. to D.C. in 2008 for a
year-long term.
He started getting involved
in local LGBT organizing with
an organization Asian/Pacific
American Queers United For
Action.
Cendana decided that getting involved in District politics
would be a way to embrace his
new home. "One thing I learned
when I moved to D.C. was that
people were very disconnected,"
he says.
3
April 30, 2012
Pinoy’s English ‘not good enough’?
HAGATNA, Guam. A word
war has erupted between Philippines and Guam officials over
the question of whether Filipinos speak English that’s “good
enough”.
Assistant Attorney General
Benjamin Abrams reportedly
commented about the Filipino’s
proficiency in English during a
Guam Board of Allied Health's
meeting earlier this month.
"I don't like the idea at all,"
Abrams told the board, which
was discussing a proposal to
outsource a transcription task to
a transcriber in the Philippines.
"Their English is not good
enough. You're dealing with a
3rd world country where English is a second language and
we're dealing with tapes that are
not crystal clear," he reportedly
said.
That promptly drew cries of
racism from the Filipino community, including Philippine
Consul General Bayani Mangibin.
Abram’s alleged derogatory
statement surfaced in an anonymous 4-minute-long posting on
YouTube.
The Consul General’s office
plans to meet with the Guam
Bar Association to determine
whether Abram’s remarks warrant an ethics complaint.
Abrams went on to reportedly tell the board, "We're dealing with a transcriber who may
or may not know anything
about legal proceedings and certainly can't pick up the phone...
to get clarification as to what
they might have said."
He said the video “is an act
of desperation. The allegation
that I’m a racist is not only erroneous, it’s downright preposterous. I am happily married to a
wonderful woman who happens
to be a Filipina. It’s sad that
these people have to resort to
tricks and lies to gain notoriety.”
Filipino-Americans
comprise the second largest ethnic
group on Guam.
4
April 30, 2012
3 FilAms aim to win 1st ever CA seats
OAKLAND, Ca. It is a political feat Filipinos have yet to
achieve. No Filipino has ever
won a California assembly or
senate seat but there are 3 Filipino contenders who have an
eye on breaking yet another
glass ceiling at the June election.
Three Filipinos are running
for the assembly seat in different
districts Alameda Vice Mayor
Rob Bonta, Lathrop Vice-Mayor
Chris Mateo and the Alameda
County Status of Women Commissioner, Dr. Jennifer Ong.
Former Assembly District
18 candidate Kathy Neal, San
Francisco
Firefighters,
and
Alameda Police Officers Association have endorsed the 40year-old Bonta for the State
Assembly.
“His local government roots
are desperately needed to stop
Sacramento from slashing vital
public services in our communities,” said Dominick Weaver,
President of the Alameda Firefighters Association, Local 689.
“It is an exciting time to
break once and for all a glass
ceiling that’s been there for far
too long and I’m hoping to do
that with the support of the en-
tire Filipino community,” Bonta
said.
On the other hand, Mateo
dogs in the Oakland Coliseum.
“My parents had good union jobs, with health insurance
ther who was a member of
UFCW Local 5 and a mother
Dr. Jennifer Ong.
Alameda Vice Mayor Rob Bonta
Lathrop Vice-Mayor Chris Mateo
has served as Lathrop vice
mayor since 2010. His rise has
been seen as key to affinity with
voters. A native of Baguio City,
his family moved to the US in
the 1970s and he has served as
an aviation machinist for the US
Navy, started his own business
in 1994 then worked as a postal
clerk before joining the San
Joaquin County Public Works.
He won a seat in the
Lathrop city council in 2008.
Ong has a unique story as
well, an optometrist by profession. After immigrating to California, her father worked as a
grocer and her mother sold hot-
for us. Every family deserves
that. My good public education
gave me the chance to attend a
great university. Every child deserves that opportunity. As a
health care provider, I care
about health issues and why I
am so supportive of the First
Lady’s campaign against childhood obesity,” Ong pointed out.
“My politics are simple,”
she added, “I believe in personal
responsibility. Every person
who can work should work.
Everyone should pay their fair
share of taxes nothing more and
not a penny less.”
Ong is the daughter of a fa-
who was a member of Unite
Here Local 2850.
She’s gotten the endorsement of AFSCME Council 57
and is a member of the (AFSCME affiliate) Union of American Physicians and Dentists
(UAPD), Asian Pacific American
Labor Association (APALA),
and past member of SEIU Local
1021.
Having 3 Filipinos run for
higher office has brought Republicans and Democrats together for a common cause: Get
them elected.
Charito Benipayo, API State
Chair for the Republican Party
said, “I believe he can do it and
he can represent Filipino Americans.”
Fel Amistad, Chair of the
FilAm Democratic Club of San
Mateo County said, “Our community should be behind him.”
The Manila-born FilipinoAmerican is the current ViceMayor of Alameda. Throughout
his career in public service, the
40-year-old Bonta said he has
advocated for California’s public
schools, fought to prevent layoffs of firefighters and police officers and foster economic
development.
For politicians, the Filipino
community could be a goldmine
of votes. There are an estimated
300,000 Filipinos in the San Francisco Bay Area and neighboring
counties, ranking second to the
Chinese in total population
among API communities.
There is power in Filipino
American votes. Reports show
that in the last 12 years, California’s registered voters increased
by 1.3 million, all from ethnic
groups.
Solon hits USAID English lessons for Mindanao youth
WASHINGTON D.C. Some
lawmakers want the United
States Agency for International
Development (USAID) to stop
spending tax dollars to train college students who end up working for call centers in the
Philippines.
According to the website
“Information Week”, New York
Congressman Tim Bishop called
it “surprising and distressing”.
He has sponsored a bill that
would make companies that will
disqualify companies that outsource call center needs from
getting government contracts.
USAID funds the Job Enabling English Proficiency (JEEP)
as part of the $100 million-a-year
Growth and Equity in Mindanao
(GEM) program that is helping
former strife-torn areas of Muslim Mindanao.
JEEP, according to its
website "is classroom based, and
focuses on the specialized Eng-
lish skills required by employers
in areas such as: nursing and al-
year. They argued that it was an
important initiative to promote
The World Bank said in its
Philippines quarterly update
New York Congressman Tim Bishop
lied healthcare; maritime services; travel and tourism services;
business process outsourcing
(BPO), and other areas of international employment."
The 2-year training will reportedly benefit about 23,000
Filipinos in Mindanao. The
USAID said the project will
wind down by the end of the
A call center in the Philippines.
peace and stability in Mindanao.
But the BPO component appears to be troubling solons like
Rep.
Bishop.
“Information
Week” quoted him as complaining that the US lost half a million
call center jobs in the past 5
years.
that the BPO industry is expected to create 100,000 jobs in
2012 alone.
California-based
Wells Fargo Bank has revealed it
has chosen the Philippines for a
$2 billion BPO operations center.
Wells Fargo Philippines So-
lutions will employ some
126,000 and set up operations in
Manila’s 14-hectare McKinley
Hill Cyberpark, which already
hosts centers for firms that include
Accenture,
HewlettPackard and Thomson Reuters.
"We have a serious jobs
deficit in this country and the
fact that we would spend US
taxpayer dollars to prepare foreign nationals to take over jobs
that can easily be done by
Americans is shocking" Bishop
was quoted by “Information
Week.”
But the Philippine call centers are not the solons’ only targets they have also trained their
sights on another USAID initiative to train the youth in Sri
Lanka to land jobs in Information Technology (IT).
Price of happiness; PH is 103rd happiest in world
WASHINGTON D.C. How
much happiness? If you live in
the United States, the Marist Institute for Public Opinion answers that question with a nice,
round figure -- $50,000.
Marist looked at various aspects of people's lives, including
satisfaction with neighborhood
safety as well as health, employ-
ment, spiritual life and community involvement.
Those earning $50,000 were
generally more satisfied.
According to the survey,
those earning below $50,000
were not as personally satisfied
with their lives as those above
that mark in areas such as one’s
housing situation, personal rela-
tionships and overall direction
in life.
A 2010 Princeton University study suggested strongly
that money really can buy happinessbut only up to a very specific point.
The researchers found that
up to about $75,000, annual income closely correlates with
emotional well-being. Beyond
that threshold, however, more
income doesn’t translate into
more happiness.
A 158-page report published by Columbia University’s
Earth Institute, the World Happiness Report identified Denmark as the happiest place in
the world, followed by Finland,
Norway and the Netherlands.
The rankings in the report
were based on a number called
the "life evaluation score," a
measurement which takes into
account a variety of factors including people's health, family
and job security as well as social
factors like political freedom
and government corruption.
5
April 30, 2012
NaFFAA hails nomination of 1st FilAm judge
WASHINGTON D.C. - The
National Federation of Filipino
American Associations (NaFFAA) hailed the nomination of
Filipino
American
Lorna
Schofield by President Barack
Obama on April 25 as federal
district court judge for the
southern district of New York.
"As a second-generation
Filipino
American,
Ms.
Schofield's nomination and confirmation by the Senate would
make her the first in the history
of the United States to serve as a
federal judge," says NaFFAA
National Chairman Ed Navarra.
"Given that Asian Americans are
significantly underrepresented
in the federal judiciary, Ms.
Shofield's addition will greatly
enhance the judiciary's diversity."
Adds Rozita Lee, NaFFAA
National Vice Chair Emeritus,
"We are elated with her nomination and our community is very
proud to see a Filipino American
achieve this honor and distinction. Given her professional
background and experience, she
will no doubt bring a unique
perspective to the U.S. District
Court."
Lorna Schofield
Ms. Shofield is the only
child of a Filipina mother who
came to the United States during
the post-World War II reconstruction of the Philippines.
Mother and daughter remained in the Midwest after Ms.
Shofield's father left the family
when she was only three years
old. She grew up in a blue collar
community and received a full
tuition scholarship to attend Indiana University.
She earned her law degree
from the New York University
Law School and in 2008 was
named one of the nation's 50
most influential minority law-
yers by the National Law Journal. She served as Assistant
United States Attorney for the
Southern District of New York
for four years before joining the
firm of Debevoise & Plimpton
LLP where she is currently serving as Of Counsel.
Asian Pacific American
leaders have also applauded the
nomination.
"We congratulate Lorna
Schofield on her nomination,"
said Nimesh M. Patel, president
of the National Asian Pacific
American Bar Association (NAPABA). "She is an exceptionally
well-qualified nominee, and we
thank
both
President
Obama
and
Senator Charles
Schumer
for
putting
her
name forward
to serve on such
a distinguished
court. If confirmed by the
Senate,
Ms.
Schofield will be
the first Filipino
American in the
history of the
United States to serve as an Article III judge."
Ms. Schofield was the first
Asian Pacific American to chair
the Litigation Section of the
American
Bar
Association
(ABA), which is the ABA 's largest section with over 60,000
members, and has also served as
a member of the ABA 's Standing Committee on the Federal
Judiciary.
"We commend President
Obama for nominating Lorna
Schofield to be a federal district
court judge," said Mee Moua,
president and executive director
of the Asian American Justice
Center (AAJC), member of the
Asian American Center for Advancing Justice.
Asian Pacific Americans are
significantly underrepresented
in the federal judiciary. In the
New York City area, approximately ten percent of the population is Asian Pacific American.
However, of the over 90 active
and senior Article III judges currently serving the Southern and
Eastern Districts of New York ,
none is Asian Pacific American
in the Southern District and only
one is Asian Pacific American in
the Eastern District.
6 Hometown News
April 30, 2012
Pinay wins seat in Korea, gets racist attacks
MANILA - Jasmine Lee, a
Filipina who became the first
naturalized Korean to win a seat
in the South Korean assembly, is
now a target of "racist" and
"xenophobic" attacks on the Internet, according to leading
Jasmine Lee
South Korean newspapers.
English newspaper The Korea Times reported that some
Korean netizens have posted
messages against Lee on Twitter,
"many of which are based on
false information about her or
due to racism." Lee won a seat in
Korea's National Assembly early
this month as a party-list candidate of the ruling Saenuri Party
(New Frontier Party).
The Korea Times quoted a
Twitter message as saying: "Following the immigrant wife Lee's
entry to the Assembly, we can
well predict the rise of unregistered foreigners and foreign
women marrying in return for
money. We'll see the truth of
multiculturalism that exploits
Koreans."
Lee, a native of Davao,
dated her husband in the Philippines before moving to Seoul
and becoming a legal resident.
Lee is well-known advocate
for multicultural families and
the Filipino community in South
Korea. She met her husband Lee
Dong-ho when she was still a
college student at Ateneo de
Davao, and moved to Seoul in
1995. She became a naturalized
Korean citizen in 1998.
Her husband died in 2010
while saving their daughter
from drowning in a mountain
stream in Okcheon-dong, Gangwon province.
Lee is secretary general of
Waterdrop, a charity formed by
foreign spouses of Koreans and
the team manager of the city
government's Seoul Global Center.
Last year, Lee co-starred
with Korean heartthrob Yoo Ahin in the blockbuster hit "Wandeugi" (Punch), where she
played the role of a Filipina married to a Korean. Since 2006, she
has appeared on the KBS program "Love in Asia" and a Korean language program on
educational channel EBS.
In December 2011, she was
the first recipient of the Korea
Image Millstone Award from the
Corea Image Communication In-
stitute. She was cited for her volunteer and charity works for foreign immigrants in Korea.
Other Korean netizens said
that Lee did not deserve any
benefits as a lawmaker. The Korea Times quoted a sarcastic
Twitter post: "Korea is a paradise for foreigners. Korea gives
foreigners benefits which it
doesn't even give to its nationals.
Come to Korea, you can become
lawmakers."
Some of the criticisms
against Lee may be due to the
fact that she is from the Philippines. The Korea Times said one
Twitter user pointed out Koreans' bias against Southeast
Asians, saying "If Lee was from
the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany or other
Western European countries,
would people still speak in the
same manner?"
False rumors about Lee's
supposed campaign pledges to
immigrants have been spreading
on the Internet, prompting some
Korean netizens to attack her.
FilAm mayor brings life to
Pennsylvania ‘ghost town’
RIDGWAY, Pennsylvania Filipino-American
Mayor
Guillermo Udarbe has brought
life to Ridgway, Pennsylvania,
which was already in danger of
becoming a ghost town when he
assumed office in 2010, according to the Philippine consul general in New York who visited
the town recently.
Mayor Udarbe, 72, is credited with turning Ridgway
around which was on the verge
of becoming a ghost town when
he decided to run for mayor in
2010. It had a population of
4,600 people.
"I realized that Ridgway
was slowly becoming a ghost
town. Businesses and factories
were closing down and residents
were moving away in search of
jobs," Udarbe told Philippine
Consul General Mario de Leon
Jr. whom he had invited to visit
the borough April 11-12.
"We felt the full impact of
the U.S. financial crisis of 20082009 and the borough council
was helpless. I wanted to do
something to reverse the tide
and revive Ridgway," Udarbe
said.
Udarbe is a native of
Camalaniugan, Cagayan and
earned his degree in medicine
from the Manila Central University in Caloocan City in 1965. He
practiced medicine in Camalaniugan for seven years before
moving to Philadelphia in 1972.
There, he trained and specialized in family medicine at Temple University Hospital from
1978 to 1981.
In 1982, Udarbe moved to
Ridgway Borough. He told the
consul general he is the "first
Filipino to live in Ridgway
where he eventually established
a successful family medicine
practice and also became an
equally successful businessman
buying and renovating buildings
for commercial purposes. He
was elected mayor in 2010 and
will serve until 2013."
After
assuming
office,
Udarbe worked with the local
Chamber of Commerce, Rotary
Club and Heritage Council to
bring back businesses in Ridgway. The unemployment rate
dropped dramatically from a
high of 15 percent before he assumed office to 6.8 percent in
2011.
7
April 30, 2012
2 Pinoy doctors, 4 RNs included in $20-M Medicare fraud
CHICAGO - Two Filipino
physicians and four Filipino registered nurses have been added
to the federal indictment against
a suburban Chicago FilAm businessman, who operated two
home health care facilities and
allegedly swindled Medicare of
at least $20 million over five
years, federal law enforcement
officials announced last month.
The new defendants allegedly conspired with the initial
defendant,
Jacinto
"John"
Gabriel, Jr., to submit millions of
dollars in false claims for reimbursement of home health care
services purportedly provided to
Medicare beneficiaries, which allegedly were never provided or
were not medically necessary so
that they could profit from the
fraudulently-obtained funds.
Gabriel and his co-schemers
allegedly used the proceeds for
various purposes, including using cash to gamble at casinos in
the Chicago area and Las Vegas;
to buy automobiles, jewelry; to
purchase real estate in the
United States and the Philippines; to perpetuate the businesses by paying his employees
and providing them with gifts;
and to bribe physicians and pay
kickbacks to others in exchange
for patient referrals.
Gabriel, 44, of Berwyn, who
had no formal medical training,
medical degrees, or licenses to
practice as a health care professional, was charged in the new
indictment with one count of
health care fraud conspiracy, 43
counts of health care fraud, 11
counts of money laundering,
and four counts of federal income tax evasion in a 69-count
superseding indictment returned
by a federal grand jury, announced Patrick J. Fitzgerald,
United States Attorney for the
Northern District of Illinois.
The new defendants are
Jassy Gabriel, 42, of Berwyn,
John Gabriel's brother, the nominal majority owner of Perpetual
and its president, as well as a
registered nurse charged with
one count of health care fraud
conspiracy and one count of filing a false federal income tax return;
Stella Lubaton, 46, of
Midlothian, a minority owner of
Perpetual and an officer and administrator, as well as a registered nurse charged with one
count of health care fraud conspiracy, 16 counts of health care
fraud, one count of filing a false
federal income tax return, and
one count of violating the medical anti-kickback statute;â ¢
Nessli Reyes, 35, of Elgin, partowner of Legacy and its president, as well as a registered
nurse charged with one count of
health care fraud conspiracy and
nine counts of health care fraud;
Charito Dela Torre, 71, of Ber-
wyn, a physician, was charged
with one count of health care
fraud conspiracy, 12 counts of
health care fraud, and three
counts of federal income tax evasion; Ricardo Gonzales, 75, of
Orland Park, a physician
charged with one count of health
care fraud conspiracy, 19 counts
of health care fraud, and one
count of violating the medical
anti-kickback statute; Rosalie
Gonzales, 42, of Chicago, a registered nurse and Ricardo Gonzales' daughter, was charged
with one count of violating the
medical anti-kickback statute;
James Davis, 37, of West Chicago; Francis Galang, 27, of
Crest Hill; and Michael Pacis, 38,
of Homer Glen, charged with
one count each of health care
fraud
conspiracy;
Regelina
"Queenie" David, 58, of Joliet, a
Perpetual quality assurance employee, was charged with one
count of health care fraud conspiracy; Kennedy Lomillo, 44, of
Mundelein, who provided bookkeeping and payroll services to
Perpetual and also prepared a
corporate tax return for Perpetual, as well as an individual return for Lubaton charged with
two counts of aiding and abetting the preparation of false income
tax
returns.
The
indictment also seeks forfeiture
of $20 million against the
Gabriel brothers and Lubaton.
Gabriel was arrested on preliminary charges in February
2011, and was charged alone in a
15-count indictment last summer. He pleaded not guilty to
the original charges and is free
on bond.
According to the indictment, Gabriel did not identify
himself as an owner, but in fact
exercised ownership and control
over Perpetual Home Health,
Inc., based in Oak Forest, and
Legacy Home Healthcare Services, which was located on the
city's north side.
Both firms have ceased operating and no longer receive
Medicare payments. Between
May 2006 and January 2011, Perpetual submitted more than
14,000 Medicare claims seeking
reimbursement for services allegedly provided to beneficiaries.
As a result of those claims,
Perpetual received more than
$38 million in Medicare payments. Between 2008 and January 2011, Legacy submitted
more than 2,000 claims for Medicare reimbursement and received more than $6 million.
Neither Perpetual nor Legacy had any sources of revenue
other than Medicare funds, the
indictment states.
As part of the conspiracy,
Gabriel, acting in various combinations with the nine co-con-
spirators, allegedly obtained
personal information of Medicare beneficiaries to bill Medicare without the beneficiaries'
knowledge or consent; paid
bribes and kickbacks in cash and
by check, directly and indirectly,
to physicians and others in exchange for referrals of patients
to Perpetual and Legacy; created
false patient files to support
fraudulent Medicare claims and
submitted false claims based on
those records; used Medicare
proceeds to pay themselves and
others who assisted in carrying
out the scheme; and concealed
the fraud proceeds by directing
Perpetual and Legacy to issue
checks payable to fictitious entities, John Gabriel's friends and
associates.
Among other details, the indictment alleges that John and
Jassy Gabriel, Lubaton and
Reyes authorized Perpetual and
Legacy to pay various amounts,
ranging between $200 and $800,
to employees and others, including indirectly to Ricardo Gonzales, for each patient they
referred and enrolled in home
health care services.
John Gabriel and others also
called Medicare beneficiaries to
try to persuade them to enroll
with Perpetual and Legacy, the
indictment says.
8
April 30, 2012
‘SAVE Act’ wins more support from Capitol Hill
WASHINGTON D.C. The
SAVE Act, potentially the first
trade pact between longtime allies Philippines and the United
States is nearly half a century,
drew additional support from
American lawmakers and a top
conservative think-tank here.
Visiting Philippine Foreign
Affairs Secretary Albert F. del
Rosario secured the commitment
of three more legislators Sen.
Ron Wyden (D-Or), Chairman of
the Subcommittee on International Trade, Customs, and
Competitiveness,
Sen.
Pat
Roberts (R-Ks), senior member
of the said Subcommittee, and
Rep. Don Manzullo, Chairman
of the House Subcommittee on
Asia and the Pacific under the
Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Del Rosario and Ambassador Jose L. Cuisia, Jr., met with
leaders and members of the US
Congress April 18-19 to campaign for the SAVE Act.
Meanwhile, The Heritage
Foundation said the SAVE Act
can be a pillar of stronger ties
between the two nations.
“There are some easy ways
for the U.S. to support its treaty
alliances in Asia,” writes Walter
Lohman, director of the Asian
Studies Center at The Heritage
Foundation.
“Promoting
free
trade
through as many different venues and mechanisms as possible
is a major one. Free trade, in fact,
is a perfect solution in that it
benefits all parties concernedincluding the United States,” he
added.
“The US would ideally have
“The truth, however, is that
as attractive as these options are,
the bar to entry is high,” he explained.
“Not all of America’s allies
Secretary Albert F. del Rosario (left) and Ambassador Jose L. Cuisia, Jr.
meet with Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon (center), Chairman of the Senate
Subcommittee on International Trade, Customs, and Global Competitiveness of the Committee on Finance.
free trade agreements (FTAs)
with all of its security allies as it
has with South Korea and Australia,” Lohman pointed out but
also conceding that some of
America’s allies are not willing
or ready to join the Trans-Pacific
Partnership (TPP).
are ready to negotiate a bilateral
FTA or to be part of broader initiatives such as the TPP. US failure to reach an FTA with
Thailand is a stark reminder of
this problem, as is Thailand’s
continuing reluctance to the join
the TPP,” Lohman averred.
“The
Philippines,”
he
added, “is not ready for an FTA
or TPP.”
The SAVE Act, as an interim
measure will serve as a bridge
while the Philippines prepares
itself for eventual membership
in the Trans Pacific Partnership
(TPP), Del Rosario explained.
He added that treaty ally
Philippines was asking for a
“relatively small preferential
trade program” that was modest
compared to what the US has
given to countries in the Caribbean, Andean, Sub-Sahara Africa, and the Middle East for
countries such as Egypt, Jordan
and Mauritius
“It is a win-win for the USPhilippine alliance,” Lohman
emphasized.
He believes the SAVE Act
has significant bipartisan support, counting among its cosponsors Senate Majority Leader
Harry Reid (DNV) and Senator
Roy Blunt (RMO) a member of
the Senate’s Republican leadership.
But
the
Congressional
Budget Office has minimized the
potential benefit of the SAVE
Act, Lohman complained. “It
calculates only the static costs
associated with lowering US tariffs, not the increased revenues
associated with the increase in
production for export,” he argued.
“CBO’s
static
scoring
dogma should not stand in the
way of a bill that even on a static
basis would cost only $536 million over 7 years. For an ally,
that is not very much, and enabling greater economic activity
by removing barriers to trade
should always trump foreign
aid,” Lohman said.
“The US has a long, special
relationship with the Philippines,” he stressed.
“While it might not be quite
as topical todayits current impasse with China just off its
coast
notwithstandinghistory
has tied the US and the Philippines at the hip. America should
do whatever it can to support
itespecially when it can do so by
supporting free trade,” Lohman
averred.
Del Rosario reported productive meetings with Senators
Max Baucus (R-Mt), Chuck
Grassley (R-Ia), John Rockefeller
(D-WV), Mike Enzi (R-Wy),
Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Robert
Menendez (R-NJ), Debbie Ann
Stabenow (R-Mi), and Marco
Rubio (R-Fl).
In the House, the Secretary
pursued discussions with Representatives Hal Rogers (R-Ky),
Wally Herger ((R-Ca), SAVE Act
principal sponsor Jim McDemott
(D-Wa), Ed Royce (R-Ca), Ander
Crenshaw (R-Fl), Geoff Davis
(R-Ky), Mazie Hirono (D-Hi),
Steve Austria (R-Oh), and Kilili
Sablan (D-MP).
‘Paulinians’ set ‘global reunion’ for retired nuns
ALEXANDRIA, Va. They
were once “colegialas”
girls
from nun-run schools who developed their own language and
redefined the image of uppity
pre-Facebook Filipina teens.
Some alums of St. Paul College
are getting together in Tyson’s
Corner next month to help the
nuns who helped mold them.
This is the first time
“Paulinians” from all over the
United States, Philippines and
other countries are mounting a
global, fund-raising reunion in
the Metro DC region.
Gather former school chums
wiser and perhaps mellowed by
the years under one roof (in this
case, the Marriott of Tyson’s
Corner, Virginia) and you’re almost guaranteed a rambunctious party
But Virna Lisa Mananzan, a
Northern
Virginia
resident
who’s perhaps best known as
the voice behind “Magkaisa”
that banner song of the 1986
People Power revolt adds it’s
also for a worthy cause.
“The main objective is to
lend financial support to the Sisters of St. Paul of Chartres Vigil
House in Bgy. Tikling, Taytay in
Rizal Province,” she explained.
“This is where our ailing
nuns spend the remaining years
of their lives. We hope that
through these reunions, we are
able to regularly provide for the
sick and retired nuns and give
them the quality of life they so
richly
deserve,”
Mananzan
stressed.
The various St. Paul’s allgirl schools in the Philippines
are run by the Congregation of
the Sisters of St. Paul of Chartres
established in France in 1696.
The group’s ministry revolves
around education and caring for
the sick and elderly.
The Sisters of St. Paul have
been in the Philippines for over
a hundred years, first arriving in
Dumaguete, Negros Oriental in
October 1904. Today, more than
500 Filipino nuns help run 39
schools, 11 health care facilities,
10 pastoral centers and 9 houses.
Mananzan (St. Paul’s College-Quezon City ’82) said exclassmates approached Soledad
Ilagan (SPC-Manila ’65) in 2007
to enlist her support for raising
funds for the nuns’ retirement
home. Ilagan had earlier established the Paulinian Global
St. Paul nun with poor kids in Manila.
Foundation Inc.
“It’s always a wondrous
thing to breeze down memory
lane and reminisce about the
good times. What makes this reunion twice as wonderful is we
not only get the chance to re-live
our salad days with people who
helped shape who we are today
but we also extend a helping
hand to them and give back,”
she averred.
Mananzan recalled her
“best years” as a senior. “I was
elected to be the President of
Himig Club that’s our Glee club
and I remember having activities
almost every month,” she enthused.
“The most memorable was
when we represented our school
in an inter-collegiate competition that happened at the PICC
and we won first place in the female division,” she told the Manila Mail.
It was also a time when she
worked with classmates, some of
whom would branch into the entertainment world.
“The rehearsals were fun,
the competition was fun. Rica
Arambulo played the grand piano and she was the only one
who didn’t have any sheet music
up.
“Also in our batch were
Milette Francia-Belmonte, MayAnn Casal who sings with Gary
Valenciano in his concerts, Suzette Hahn-Lopez, Stella Abesamis-Jaleco,
Pat-P
Daza,
Mylene Abiva, Leah de LeonLorenzo, Leah Alberto-Nuyda
and Judge Joy Sundiang-Dilig.”
The St. Paul’s reunion will
be held May 25-26.
April 30, 2012
9
10
April 30, 2012
SC nixes PNoy’s ‘just’ payment plea for Luisita
BAGUIO CITY-The Supreme Court April 23 rejected
the plea of President Benigno
Aquino III for "just compensation" to the Cojuangco and
Aquino heirs of Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac which will be distributed to some 6,000 farmers.
By a vote of 8-6, the high
court presided by Impeached
Chief Justice Renato Corona affirmed its ruling last November
setting the value of the sugar
plantation at around P196 million based on 1989 prices. The
Cojuangcos and Aquinos asked
for at least P5 billion as just compensation.
Hundreds of farmers gathered in Baguio cheered as the
announcement was made. The
court has described its decision
as a "litmus test" of the government resolve to implement a
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program launched by Mr.
Aquino's
mother,
Corazon
Aquino, after she took power
following a People Power Revolution that ousted the dictator
Ferdinand Marcos in 1986.
Briefing reporters in this resort capital, where the high tribunal is holding its summer
session, spokesperson Midas
Marquez said the court ruling
was "final and executory." He
said the court would no longer
entertain further pleadings and
motions for reconsideration on
the dispute that had taken 27
years to resolve.
Earlier, the court had unanimously ruled in favor of the re-
(HLI) struck a deal in which
management offered a stock distribution option (SDO) in lieu of
outright land distribution.
In a ruling last November
Luisita Hacienda farmers cheer after Supreme Court announced its
decision. Below, a truck loaded with sugar cane.
distribution of the hacienda to
the farmers.
The court also ruled that the
Luisita farmers may pay amortization fees for the next 30 years,
according to the 1989 land values for the 4,915-hectare estate
when Hacienda Luisita Inc.
22, the court rescinded the SDO
and voted 14-0 to distribute the
hacienda.
Chief Justice Renato Corona
and Associate Justices Presbitero
Velasco Jr., Arturo Brion, Teresita
Leonardo-de
Castro,
Roberto Abad, Jose Perez, Jose
Mendoza and Martin Villarama
Jr. voted for the 1989 valuation,
Marquez said.
Voting against were Associate Justices Lucas Bersamin, Maria Lourdes Sereno, Mariano del
Castillo,
Diosdado
Peralta,
Estela Perlas-Bernabe and Bienvenido Reyes. In the Nov. 22 decision, Sereno, Mr. Aquino's first
appointee to the high tribunal,
batted for a 2006 valuation,
echoing the position of the HLI
management.
Dozens of Hacienda Luisita
farmers greeted the court's ruling with cheers and loud applause. They traveled 100
kilometers from their homes in
Tarlac to Baguio, where the 14
justices deliberated on the issue.
"We are happy about the
Supreme Court decision," said
Felix Nacpil Jr., chairman of the
Alyansa ng Manggagawang
Bukid sa Asyenda Luisita, who
was in Baguio City.
He described the farmers'
victory against the CojuangcoAquino family as a remarkable
achievement in land reform after
a court battle lasting many
years.
During its en banc session
in Baguio City, the Court denied
the motion for reconsideration
filed by Hacienda Luisita Inc.,
which asked the Court to reverse
its November 2011 decision and
rule that the compensation be
based on current values or on
the land values prevailing in
2006, when the Agrarian Reform
Department ruled against its
stock distribution plan as an alternative to land distribution.
The company also asked the
Court to give the 6,296 farmerbeneficiaries the individual option to choose whether they still
want to remain stockholders of
the company, and to lift the 10year prohibition on the sale of
the awarded land.
In its Nov. 22 resolution, the
Court affirmed a July 5 decision
that the just compensation for
the distributed land be pegged
at its value in 1989, when the
company's stock distribution
plan was approved, saying this
was when the farmers were considered to be owners of the land.
The Court also ruled that
the 10-year prohibition on the
sale of awarded land had not
started yet, since none of the
farmers had been issued any certificates.
Company spokesman Antonio Ligon had earlier said the
owners of the hacienda wanted
P5 billion for the land, a value
that was set by the Land Bank of
the Philippines and the Agrarian
Reform Department during the
Arroyo administration.
11
April 30, 2012
Philippines okays
Bangsamoro State
MANILA - After years of
negotiation, the Philippine
government
has
finally
agreed to the creation of an
autonomous Bangsamoro political entity for the separatist
Moro
Islamic
Liberation
Front that will replace the
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
In a deal signed by government chief negotiator
Marvic Leonen and his MILF
counterpart, Mohagher Iqbal,
in Kuala Lumpur on April 24,
both parties agreed that the
new autonomous political entity will have a "ministerial
form of government."
The powers to be reserved for the national government are as follows:
defense and external security;
foreign policy; common market and global trade; coinage
and monetary policy; citizenship and naturalization; and
postal service. The power to
enter into economic agreements, however, will be
transferred to the new Bangsamoro entity.
The document signed
was "not yet the final peace
agreement," but it will serve
as a "framework for the eventual signing of a peace agreement," Leonen said. The talks
on disarmament, demobilization and reintegration will be
tabled next for negotiations.
The MILF had earlier
asked for the powers to establish civil service, electoral,
educational, legislative and
legal institutions, police and
internal security forces, and
judicial and correctional systems.
Both sides also agreed
that the future Bangsamoro
entity must be given the
power to "create its own
sources of revenue and to
have a just share in the revenues generated through the
exploration, development or
utilization of natural resources."
The Bangsamoro entity
will also have powers over
the Shariah justice system.
"The autonomous political entity envisioned is a
secular political unit, existing
within the Republic of the
Philippines, located within its
territory, and subject to its
sovereignty as a State,"
Leonen said.
"The government of this
autonomous political entity
shall also ensure guarantees
of human rights and liberties
for its inhabitants, such as religious freedom, the right of
women to meaningful political participation, and freedom from ethnic, religious or
sectarian harassment, in addition to the rights already
enjoyed."
Leonen said the government and the MILF achieved
a breakthrough with the signing of a document containing
at least 10 consensus points.
He said the 10 common
points were "commitments
that can be properly accommodated by our current legal
and political realities."
12
April 30, 2012
PH’s 4 most wanted persons being hunted
All the Philippines' law enforcement agencies are hunting
four of the country's high-profile
fugitives. Leading the list of
most wanted is retired Major
General Jovito Palparan who has
been linked to the disappearance
of activisits; former Governor
Joel Reyes of Palawan province
and his brother, Coron Mayor
Mario Reyes Jr., both wanted for
the murder of environmentalistbroadcaster Gerry Ortega in
Puerto Princesa City last year
and Rep. Ruben Ecleo Jr. of Dinagat Island, who has been convicted of parricide charges
involving the death of his wife
10 years ago. Speaking at a
news conference earlier, Justice
Secretary Leila de Lima said the
manhunt for Palparan may have
reached a dead end because
authorities had stopped receiving tips from informants. He is
accused of responsibility, as
commander of the Army's 7th
Infantry Division, for the disappearance of two University of
the Philippines students in 2006.
But the hunt for Palparan continues, she said. He tried to
leave for Singapore on December 19, but immigration officers
at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in Clark,
Pampanga, blocked his departure.
His two coaccused, Lt. Col.
Felipe Anotado and S/Sgt.
Edgardo Osorio, are detained at
Fort Bonifacio. The fourth accused, M/Sgt. Rizal Hilario, has
yet to be arrested.
The Reyeses are suspected
of masterminding the assassination of Ortega, who criticized
them on his radio programs.
Friends and supporters of
Ortega have put up P300,000 for
information that would lead to
the arrest of the Reyeses.
De Lima said the Department of the Interior and Local
Major General Jovito Palparan
Government had doubled the
bounty by putting up another
P300,000 for the arrest of the
brothers. "It's now a total of
P600,000 so [I hope that will]
help," De Lima said.
She announced the start of
the manhunt for Ecleo, who on
Friday was found by the Cebu
Regional Trial Court guilty of
the murder of his wife, Alona
Ecleo, in 2002.
The court sentenced Ecleo,
spiritual leader of the cult Philippine Benevolent Missionaries
Association, to 30 years in
prison.
De Lima said there was an
outstanding warrant for Ecleo's
arrest.
"[Ecleo's] conviction has just
been affirmed so it's now time to
[enforce the] warrant of arrest,"
she said.
The police and the National
Bureau of Investigation are looking for the high-profile fugitives,
De Lima said.
"We really have our hands
full," De Lima said.
De Lima admitted frustration at the lack of progress in the
search for Palparan and the
Reyes brothers.
As long as Palparan and the
Reyeses remain at large, the
courts have no jurisdiction over
them and the cases against them
cannot move, De Lima said.
Asked about the possibility
that the fugitives had already
fled the Philippines, De Lima
said she believed the wanted
men were still here, as there
were no indications that they
had left the country.
"We have no reason to believe, or no basis to say at this
point, that they have gotten out,"
De Lima said.
"Besides, they cannot just
go out of the country because
they have outstanding arrest
warrants," she said.
Belated birthday party for Arroyo Erap offers to be PNoy’s
MANILA, Philippines - Detained Former President and
now Congresswoman turned 65
last April 5 but some 500 local
officials from Pampanga, including those outside her congressional district, threw a belated
birthday party for her at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center
lies along Agham Road who lost
their homes in a fire earlier.
"She (Arroyo) was very
happy because of what they (local officials) did but she asked
them to bring most of the food
to families on Agham Road, so
the guests thinned out immediately after lunch because they
Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her cabalens say a prayer
before the start of her belated birthday party at the Veterans' Memorial
Medical Center April 20.
where she is detained on election related charges.
She later ordered the food
donated to the victims of the fire
that razed a squatter colony
along Agham Road in Quezon
City, a few blocks from the
VMMC.
Pampanga officials brought
with them delicacies from the
province that included adobong
balut and pork humba.
Arroyo, however, asked her
guests to set aside some of the
food they brought and for the
rest to be given to the 150 fami-
went there," Mike said.
Among the food shared
with the poor residents were
lechon, balut, corn and rice
cakes. Several sacks of rice were
also donated by the Pampanga
officials to the residents.
The Arroyos and their visitors first attended Mass at the
foyer of the VMMC at 10 a.m.
before the early lunch. Also present were their children, Ang
Galing Pinoy party-list Rep.
Juan Miguel "Mikey" and Camarines Sur Rep. Diosdado "Dato"
and grandchildren.
The Pasay City Regional
Trial Court that has jurisdiction
over her electoral sabotage case
allowed the holding of the belated birthday party from 10
a.m. to 3 p.m.
Arroyo's birthday was on
April 5 but the celebration was
delayed after she contracted
shingles.
Arroyo was detained at the
VMMC in November for allegedly rigging the 2007 senatorial
elections, a charge she strongly
denies. She remains afflicted
with a degenerative disease that
is weakening her spine.
The
former
president
wished for healing and forgiveness for the nation on her birthday.
"I wish that the turmoil and
sadness caused by disunity
would end," Arroyo said.
She said it was her "fervent
hope that we will be truly united
in the pursuit of long lasting
happiness and prosperity."
"Let us pray so hard that
wounds will be healed soon,
with faith and resolve to help
one another and move as a nation towards a brighter future,"
Arroyo said after blowing the
candles on her birthday cake.
One of her well-wishers,
Candaba Mayor Jerry Pelayo,
said Arroyo appeared happy
and lively.
"We could see she was looking forward to seeing us. She
was happy that she was in the
company of her constituents,"
Pelayo said.
According to Pelayo, no
politics were discussed during
the gathering, except for her urging her guests to pray for safety
amid disasters.
adviser on romance
MANILA - Former Philippine president Joseph 'Erap' Estrada has volunteered to
become President Benigno
Aquino III's consultant on romantic ties, apparently noting
that the incumbent is having
difficulty latching on to a longterm relationship, Cathy Yamsuan of the Inquirer said.
Yamsuan said the offer
came during Estrada's 75th
birthday bash on April 19 that
was attended by supporters,
friends and family, including
his wife, former Sen. Dr. Luisa
'Loi' Ejercito, his 12 children
with six different women and
about two dozen grandchildren.
"I'm opening myself to be
your adviser in your love life,"
Estrada told Aquino, prompting hoots and thunderous applause from guests, among
them Vice President Jejomar Binay, Senate President Juan
Ponce Enrile and House
Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr.
"That is, in case you need a
consultant for your many love
lives. I will be able to help you,
Mr President," added Estrada.
Aquino, who occupied a
seat at the presidential table
during the event, appeared
amused by the offer although
he kept his arms crossed over
his chest. The President, who
came with his sisters Ballsy
Aquino-Cruz
and
Pinky
Aquino-Abellada, stayed for
about four hours.
Aquino's love life has been
exposed to relentless scrutiny
since he won the presidency
two years ago. The public
lapped up news on his relationship and eventual split
from girlfriend Valenzuela
Councilor Shalani Soledad a
few months after taking his
oath as president, and his dates
with a succession of women,
among them stylist Liz Uy and
lately, VJ and television host,
Grace Lee.
Estrada called Aquino "the
nation's most eligible bachelor"
and recalled that when he was
still president, he had already
noted that the then Tarlac representative had "a future in
politics". But, Estrada added, "I
just did not expect that he
would run against me and that
he would win." Estrada placed
second in the 2010 presidential
elections which Aquino won by
a margin of about five million
votes.
During his mostly impromptu birthday speech, Estrada showed a mix of his
poignant and comic sides, at
one point calling his 12 children
"my exhibits of a nevertheless
truly productive life." The statement prompted more guffaws
from his guests.
"Don't take it against me if
I took the Bible... too seriously
when it said 'go and multiply,'"
he added.
Estrada's 45-minute speech
also acknowledged the patience
and understanding of his legal
wife during their 52-year marriage. "I must acknowledge that
she loved me for what I am, not
for what I have or what I have
become," he said.
The former president and
his first lady met while he
worked as a mimeograph machine operator and she as psychiatrist at National Mental
Hospital in Mandaluyong City.
13
April 30, 2012
Straying husbands, wives - beware!
MANILA - A House of Representatives committee has approved a bill that would impose
stiff penalties on married citizens engaging in sexual intercourse with an individual other
than his or her legal spouse.
The House Committee on
Women and Gender Equality
has endorsed for plenary action
on House Bill 5734 which also
eliminates gender bias in laws
penalizing the crimes of adultery
and concubinage.
HB 5734, an Act Defining
the Crime of Sexual Infidelity, is
a consolidation of five bills filed
by Deputy Speaker Ma. Isabelle
Climaco; Susan Yap (LP, Tarlac);
Josephine Veronique Lacson
Noel (LP, Malabon-Navotas);
Teddy Brawner Baguilat (LP,
Ifugao); and Linabelle Ruth Villarica (LP, Bulacan).
The bill defines sexual infidelity as an act committed by
any legally married person who
shall have sexual intercourse
with another person other than
his or her legal spouse.
Lacson-Noel said HB 5734
does not exempt a person whose
marriage has been subsequently
declared void.
However, the crime cannot
be prosecuted by anybody ex-
cept upon the complaint of the
offended spouse.
"The bill aims to protect the
institution of marriage," the neophyte solon said.
Lacson-Noel said the bill
also eliminates the disparity between the penalties imposed by
existing laws on the crimes of
concubinage and adultery.
Under Article 333 of the Revised Penal Code, adultery is
committed by a married woman
who engages in sexual intercourse with a man not her husband. Offenders are punishable
by prision correccional, a maximum jail term of six years.
On the other hand, Article
333 of RPC metes out on the offender a penalty of destierro or
banishment from the community where the couple lives for a
certain period of time.
14
April 30, 2012
Veteran Rumingan: One man made a difference
By Jennie L. Ilustre
about not being a college graduate, which, to be sure, is not the
You would probably not
notice World War II veteran
Guillermo Obedoza Rumingan if
you met him on the street. He
himself would be the first to say,
cracking a smile (he knew he
didn’t look like Brad Pitt): “I’m
just an ordinary guy.”
But he was an ordinary guy
who accomplished extraordinary things. He passed away last
March 27 in Virginia , a result of
aortic abdominal aneurysm. In
the course of his 86 years on
earth, he touched the lives of so
many, in an enduring legacy.
The individuals and families, some he casually met, who
became U.S. citizens through his
help? Their clans are assured of
a brighter future. The guy everyone called Manong (Elder
Brother) Emong was not a lawyer, but he was as good as one.
He and two other friends
set a goal to become a lawyer.
But the war broke out. Rumingan joined the guerrilla movement, foregoing college. Later,
he would send relatives to college. Those he helped become a
nurse or a teacher? Why, their
future generations will owe
thanks to one man, by then long
gone.
Rumingan was sensitive
File photo shows Filipino veteran Guillermo Rumingan with President and
Mrs. Barack Obama at the White House.
true measure of a man. “Thou
have been weighed in the balance and found wanting” did
not apply to him.
He was not religious, by his
own admission. But he was a
true Christian. “I’m probably the
only man in the world,” he
would softly say, “who was able
to forgive the man who killed
his father during the war, and
the man who killed his son.”
(The former would later save his
life.)
True, Rumingan did not
have a college diploma framed
on the wall. But he rated summa
cum laude in Life 101. And he
was always educating himself.
He read history and other books,
and late in life, went high tech,
via Google.
He liked to quote Rizal’s Mi
Ultimo Adios. Churchill was another favorite. “They also serve
who stand and wait,” referring
to those who were not in combat. But with Rumingan’s sense
of humor, it also related to his
life as a driver to eight ambassadors in the nation’s capital a
source of pride for him.
Mr. Veteran
Rumingan was proudest of
his lobbying efforts and also assistance to fellow veterans and
their widows, after the war and
later as Service Officer of the
American Coalition for Filipino
Veterans. He liked to “come
home,” following up pension
claims with the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office. For veterans
in the U.S. , including Hawaii ,
he researched their records at
the National Archives. Many received approval of previously
denied claims.
With Febe Antolin Rumingan, since 1963 he opened his
home to visiting Philippine government and veterans’ officials,
lobbying for an Office of Veterans Affairs in the capital. “I’m
lucky to have a wife who is very
supportive,” he said.
During the war, Rumingan
joined the 201 Squadron of Capt.
Juan Pajota of the Central Nueva
Ecija Military Area, under the
overall command of Maj. Robert
Lapham of the Luzon Guerrilla
Army Forces.
Lapham sent runner (intelligence courier) Rumingan on a
mission to pass information to
Pajota. (The rescue mission of allied Prisoners of War in Nueva
Ecija was depicted in “The Great
Raid.”) No one knew his role. At
a recent book signing, he told
“Ghost Soldiers” author Hampton Sides about it.
Retired U.S. Army General
Antonio M. Taguba wrote in a
tribute: “Rumingan was truly a
Soldier’s Soldier…He faithfully
and honorably served his country of birth, and the nation that
granted him a place in history:
the Philippines and the United
States . He coveted the heart of
the Soldier’s Creed ‘I will never
leave a fallen comrade.’
“Even in retirement, he was
a stalwart advocate for veteran’s
rights to gain their rightful benefits. For over fifty years, he tirelessly
assisted
his
fellow
veterans in pursuit of their compensation and benefits up to
time of his untimely death.
“Recognized by three U.S.
Presidents Clinton, Bush, and
Obama he was the fierce warrior who gained their full attention on the plight of his fellow
veterans. He was a soldier above
all whose greatest acts of sacrifice in war and peace disclosed
his uncommon character to
many lives he touched. Sergeant
First Class Guillermo Rumingan,
U.S. Army Retired, will not be
forgotten.”
15
April 30, 2012
PAFC’s Parada ng Litson
A Parade of Roasted Pigs
(Parada ng Litson) will be held
during the community picnicsports festival on Sunday, June
24 at Tucker Road Recreation
Park in Fort Washington, Mary-
land, it was announced by Mya
Talavera, PAFC Community Picnic & Sports Fest chair. She said
this will be an added attraction
for Filipinos and non-Filipinos.
The Parada ng Lechon is said to
have originated in Balayan,
Batangas. The tradition of parading lechon throughout the
towns streets is said to have
started during the early 1900s,
but many believe that it has been
going on earlier than that. Dating back as far as the Spanish regime, the parade was said to be
practiced to give thanks for a
fruitful year and also as a show
of pride between social classes.
Talavera said that the parade
here is to simply show an unusual tradition in one part of the
Philippines.
Four organizations have expressed interest in joining the
parade and Talavera is encouraging others to sign up. For additional information contact
[email protected].
FilAms join O’Connell
High School demo
The firing by Bishop O'Connell's High School of well-loved social studies
teacher John Harrison sparked a demonstration by more than 100 students,
including Filipino Americans, in front of the school in Arlington, Virginia
on April 19. The students alleged the firing of Harrison, a Vietnam veteran
and brilliant trial lawyer, was done so the school could hire younger replacements at cheaper salaries. The school said in a statement it had to
change so it can flourish. The Filipino American student demonstrators are,
from left, Andrew Roa, Allan Africa and Ronell Dela Cruz. Besides the
placards they are holding, they also shouted "Save Harrison" (in tagalog).
In background are the group of demonstrators. (Photo by Pacifico Lopez)
May
2
(Wednesday)
7:00pm-9:00pm. PAFC Philippine Festival Committee Meeting to plan the June Festivities.
Everyone is welcome. Lincolnia
Center at 4710 N. Chambliss
Rd., Alexandria VA from 7pm.
Light dinner is served. Contact:
Eileen Nadal [email protected]
May 5-July 14 (Saturday).
Opening ceremonies on May
500 at 11:00am - 2:00pm “ Prismatopia.”. a collective exhibition
of different genres by a diverse
group of artists (e.g. site specific
installation/sculpture,
paintings, film/video-media, music
and dance, etc.). Damascus
Community Recreation Center,
2250 Oak Dr. Damascus, MD.
20872. Contact: Marvin Santos at
[email protected]
May
9
(Wednesday)
7:00pm-9:00pm. PAFC Philippine Festival Committee Meeting to plan the June Festivities.
Everyone is welcome. Lincolnia
Center at 4710 N. Chambliss
Rd., Alexandria VA from 7pm.
Light dinner is served. Contact:
Eileen Nadal [email protected]
May 11 (Friday) 6:00 pm 12:00mn.The Rotary Club of
Gaithersburg 5th Annual Dinner
Dance and Silent Auction to
benefit the “End Polio Now”
campaign. Gaithersburg Hilton,
620 Perry Parkway, Gaithersburg, MD. $50 per person, $45
for 2 or more. Contact: Teddy
Cornejo 301-966-4038
May
16
(Wednesday)
7:00pm-9:00pm. PAFC Philippine Festival Committee Meeting to plan the June Festivities.
Everyone is welcome. Lincolnia
Center at 4710 N. Chambliss
Rd., Alexandria VA from 7pm.
Light dinner is served. Contact:
Eileen Nadal [email protected]
May 19-20 (Saturday-Sunday) 2012 DC Dragon Boat Festival, Thompson Boat Center,
Georgetown, Washington, DC.
Includes Filipino Young Professionals-DC Dragon Boat team.
Details TBA.
May
23
(Wednesday)
7:00pm-9:00pm. PAFC Philippine Festival Committee Meeting to plan the June Festivities.
Everyone is welcome. Lincolnia
Center at 4710 N. Chambliss
Rd., Alexandria VA from 7pm.
Light dinner is served. Contact:
Eileen Nadal [email protected]
May 26 (Saturday) 6:00pm
Paulininan Global Foundation’s
“Paulinian Gala Event,” Tysons
Corner Marriott, 8029 Leesburg
Pike,Tysons Corner, VA. $65 if
purchased before April 15 ($70
at the door). RSVP to Carole
Evanhelista 703.690.3342 or
[email protected]. More info
at www.paulinianglobal.org
May 27 (Sunday) 6:00pm.
Miss Teenage Philippines Pageant Coronation & Ball, Sheraton National Hotel, 900 South
Orme Street, Arlington, Virginia
22204, Contact: Trining Padama
301-705-8550.
16 Around DC
April 30, 2012
PH, Vietnam, Brunei featured at AWC fete
The Asean Women’s Club
featured the culture of three ASEAN countries, namely Vietnam,
Brunei and the Philippines, during its the fete hosted by Mrs.
Hoang Minh Ha, wife of the Vietnamese ambassador to the US,
at their official residence in
Washington D.C. on April 19.
Theme of the affair was
"Bridging Cultures of Brunei, Vietnam, and the Philippines.”
Guests were transported to each
country’s unique characteristics
and cultures during the 2-hour
program.
Photo shows Mrs. Rosa Rai
Djalal,
president
ASEAN
Women's Club (left), acknowledges the presence of the wives
of the three countries (at right,
from left) Mrs. Maria Victoria
Cuisia, (Philippines), Mrs. Hoang Minh Ha, (Vietnam), and
Mrs. Datin Mahani (Brunei
Darussalam).
The three presenting countries showed their traditional
dresses, songs, dances, and a
video of their countries tourism,
history, and culture. Emcees
Thryza Navarete, Executive Assistant of Amb. Jose L. Cuisia,
and Phuong Nguyen, from the
Embassy of Vietnam, wore their
respective national costumes.
good voice. She sang several
songs in Vietnamese. She also
Mrs. Maria Victoria Cuisia,
wife of the Philippine ambassador, invited members of the
Philippine American Foundation
for Charities, Inc. to participate
in the presentation. They are
shown, from left,
Presy
Guevara, Elvie Melegrito, Elvi
Bangit, Jennifer Tabones, Belen
Saramosing, Mrs. Vicky Cuisia,
Rebecca and Pat Pagsibigan, and
Jon Melegrito.
The biggest surprised was
Mrs. Hoang Minh Ha, who delighted the audience with her
joined several of her staff for a
fashion show later, focusing on
their regional costumes.
Mrs. Datin Mahani, wife of
the Brunei Darussalam Ambassador, did a fashion show. Mrs.
Mahani danced to the beat of the
music, swaying, and showing off
the beautiful batik fabrics that
Brunei is famous for. Brunei traditional "baby shower", was also
demonstrated and several audience were invited to participate.
The Philippines had live
music as background when the
The Philippine American Foundations for Charities (PAFC) pose for photo during their weekly
meeting to prepare for the forthcoming Philippine Festival, Asian American Festival and other
programs for 2012. Seated, from left, are Evelyn Bunoan, Ador Carreon, PAFC chair; 2nd row:
Bing Cardenas Branigin, Mya Talvera, Nancy Ceniza, Eileen Nadal, PAFC president, Elvi
Bangit,and Maurese Owens; 3rd row: Rey Bangit, Kevin Owens,and Oscar Bunoan.
Maj. Gen. (U.S. Army-Ret) Antonio M. Taguba, with Cong. Judy Chu (D-CA), Chair of Congressional, Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) at the AAA-Fund Awards ceremonies, l
April 17.
models were presented. Jon Melegrito was with his guitar while
Pat Pagsibigan serenaded the
audience with the famous
Kundiman,
"Ang Dalagang
Filipina." PAFC models presented their beautiful Filipiniana
clothes, with intricate embroideries, and cut out flower designs.
The Philippine audio visual
presentation was about “its
more fun in the Philippines".
Malou Araque and Thryza
Navarete put it together from
online and youtube clips.
Guests enjoyed the culinary
presentations of the three countries: Pho and fresh garden egg
roll from Vietnam. Brunei with
their shrimp and fish chips, beef
curries, and spice/fragrant rice.
Several desserts and other
delicacies were also served.
Mrs. Rosa Rai Djalal, wife of
the Indonesian Ambassador,
and president of the AWC, announced the next set of countries
to be presented next month. She
also invited everyone to participate in the Avon Breast Cancer
Run in Washington, D.C. (Text
and photos by Bing C. Branigin)
From left are Irene Bueno, member of the Board of Directors of the Asian American Action
Fund (AAA Fund), Cong. Xavier Becerra, (D-CA), Gloria T. Caoile, recipient of the Trailblazer
Award, and Melissa Hampe, Deputy Executive Director, AAA Fund. The award ceremony was
held at the Democratic National Committee building on Capitol Hill April 17. Other recipients
are former Transportation and Cong. Norman Mineta, Lifetime Achievement Award, and former White House appointee during the Clinton and Obama administration, Neera Tanden, for
Catalyst Award. AAAF was founded in 2000 to empower the Asian American and Pacific Islander to participate in the political process. It aims to boost the Democratic voice in Congress,
concentrating their financial and grassroots campaign resources in battleground states and target congressional races with swing AAPI populations.
Fred Embuscado of PAFAI celebrated his birthday April 15 at a Virginia restaurant. Shown
from left, seated are Fely and Cesar Pontanilla, Butch and Evelyn Arguenza and Babsie Carag
Quinn, standing, same order, are Lulu De Vera, Fred (the celebrant) and Vicky Embuscado,
Lilia and Danny Alba, Becky and Pat Pagsibigan. (Bing C. Branigin)
April 30, 2012
17
18 U.S. News Briefs
April 30, 2012
World Bank elects 1st Asian as president
WASHINGTON
The
World Bank early this month
elected Korean-born American
prosecution believes Michelle is
telling the truth and is baffled by
Yvonne's defense of her husband. The trial has been reset to
July 27.
PH's injured heroine
dog going to US?
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines- The courageous canine
who saved two girls from harm
im Yong Kim
health expert Jim Yong Kim as
its new president. He is the first
Asian to head the bank. Kim, a
physician and anthropologist
won over Nigeria's widely respected finance minister, Ngozi
Okonjo-Iweala. The Philippines
supported Kim for his anti-poverty program. Kim, 52, who is
president of Dartmouth College,
will assume his new post on July
1 after Robert Zoellick steps
down as head of the World
Bank. "I will seek a new alignment of the World Bank Group
with a rapidly changing world,"
Kim said in a statement. He said
he would work to ensure that
the World Bank "delivers more
powerful results to support sustained growth; prioritizes evidence-based
solutions
over
ideology; amplifies the voices of
developing countries; and draws
on the expertise and experience
of the people we serve."
A new twist in
Pinay mistress case
HOUSTON, Texas - The
trial of prominent lawyer Jeffrey
Stern, who is accused of trying
to have his wife, Yvonne, killed
by hired assassins has been delayed after the disclosure of new
information about the prosecution's star witness, Filipino mistress Michelle Cabrera Gaiser.
She confessed her involvement
in the murder attempts but
claimed Jeffrey Stern was the
brains behind them. The new information is that Michelle might
have been involved in a prior
murder-for-hire plot. Publicity
on the postponement of the trial
has now turned on Yvonne's
strange defense of her husband
who confessed his affair with
Michelle but denied hiring the
assassins. After initially divorcing him, Yvonne reversed course
and reconciled with her husband. Now, she has been standing by him, saying he could not
have participated in such a dastardly act. Michelle had admitted hiring the assassins in order
to get a lesser prison sentence
and said Jeffrey was a participant in the failed attempts. The
Wound dog takes care of litters.
when she blocked the path of a
speeding motorcycle here in December, is US-bound. In saving
the girls, "Kabang," a female
aspin (short for asong Pinoy or
native breed), will undergo major surgery to reconstruct her
upper snout, which was mangled and ripped off in the accident, according to veterinarian
Dr. Anton Lim. "Kabang is going
to the US with the help of many
kind-hearted individuals and
donors, who would like to see
the dog ... live longer. Her story
inspired many people especially
animal lovers," Lim said, citing a
confirmation from Ramona Consunji of the Animal Welfare Coalition.Lim said among those
helping in Kabang's trip to the
US, which could take place next
month at the latest, aside from
local veterinarians and humanitarian groups and individuals,
was Animal Welfare Coalition
US coordinator Karen Kenngott.
Kabang would be operated on at
the Veterinary Medical Teaching
Hospital of the University of
California in Davis, "under a
team of multi-disciplinary doctors and surgeons led by Dr.
Boaz Arzi."
48-M workers don't
have health insurance
WASHINGTON - Reuters
News Agency says a studey by
the Commonwealth Fund shows
that one in four working-age
Americans went without insurance at some point in 2011, often
as a result of unemployment and
other job changes. The polled
2,100 people aged 19 to 64 and
found that 26 percent of nonelderly adults went without insurance - a percentage that
researchers said equals about 48
million people when measured
against U.S. Census data. CF, a
nonprofit organization that analyzes healthcare issues, said that
seven in 10 of those who lost insurance spent a year or more
without coverage, partly because plans sold on the individual market for health insurance
were unaffordable. Reuters said
the results provide a disturbing
snapshot of the $2.6 trillion U.S.
healthcare system.
100 Pinoy nurses
lose jobs in NY
NEW YORK - About 100
FilAm nurses have lost their jobs
as the Peninsula Hospital Center
in Far Rockaway, Queens, N.Y.
closed because of bankruptcy.
The nurses earlier fought with
management to keep their jobs
and save the bankrupt facility.
They lost. After staging protest
rallies and holding series of
meetings with the management
since last year until early this
week, the 1,000 hospital workers, including the Filipino
nurses. "We're devastated...but
we fought till the end," said
FilAm nurse Agnes Joven, a 28year veteran at Peninsula,
"We're sad "dahil matagal na
kami rito," said the Ilocos Surborn nurse.
the sale of Clark's properties.
The New York Times reported
that based on Clark's second
will, Peri will receive 60 percent
of the multimillionaire's various
assets, worth about $40 million,
including investments and much
of her real estate holdings not
specifically bequeathed in the
will. But relatives of Clark are
still contesting the second will in
which Peri is the beneficiary and
the rest will go to foundations.
The New York Times reported
that a first will, drafted six
weeks prior to the second,
would have left most of Clark's
estate to her relatives. But the
second leaves the bulk of the fortune to a foundation and the rest
to Peri, completely leaving out
her family. Peri came to the US
in 1971 after graduating nursing
school in the Philippines. She became Huguette Clark's nurse in
1991 through a nursing agency
and took care of the heiress for
20 years.
PH nurse will get
bulk of Clark estate
NEW YORK - The Upper
East Side properties owned by
the late heiress Huguette Clark
hit the market early this month
and her Filipina nurse, Hadassah Peri, 62, will receive the bulk
of the sale. Edwin Josue, a Filipino real estate broker of Halstead properties, explained that
Peri will benefit the most from
Pinoys line up
to join X-Factor
Chicago Pinay nurse
sued by employer
SAN FRANCISCO - Thousands of hopefuls, including Filipinos, lined up for hours on
April 18 at the Cow Palace here
to audition for FOX's talent
show, X-Factor. The audition is
part of a five-city nationwide
search for the next big talent in
America. Former American Idol
judge Simon Cowell produces
the show. He promises to give
the winner $5 million, the biggest paycheck in talent show history to date. Among the Pinoys
were Lauren Ona, 17, Melissa
Barrolo, 14, and Samantha Palomino, also 14. The oldest is
Jenny Fernandez who is in her
40s.
CHICAGO - Carmelita
Pasamba, a certified Filipino
nursing assistant, has been ac-
Bad news for Pinoy
cockers, ban upheld
FAA okays Manila's
aviation action plan
WASHINGTON D.C. - The
US Federal Aviation Authority
(FAA) has accepted and approved the Civil Aviation
Authority of the Philippines's
(CAAP) action plan on the US
agency's 23 concerns about aviation safety in the country. The
action plan's approval boosted
the country's hope of regaining
the Category 1 status it lost in
2007 because of 88 significant security concerns. Although the
CAAP had addressed the 88
concerns, an FAA team, headed
by Jacques Astre, added 23 more
items during its last visit to the
country in January. The CAAP
subsequently prepared its plan
on the 23 additional concerns
and presented it to the FAA in
meetings here on April 16 and
17. The Philippine team was
headed by CAAP director general Ramon Gutierrez.
The FAA technical review
was conducted to determine
what Philippine aviation officials have done to correct eight
critical elements that caused the
downgrading of the Philippines
to Category 2.
Pasamba authority to handle
Davies' financial affairs, including making withdrawals and
writing checks from Davies'
bank account, Burton claimed.
Bascos said Davies was lucid
when he prepared the last will
and trust in 2008. Davies has no
immediate relative.
Carmelita Pasamba
cused of stealing more than half
a million dollars during the
more than two years she cared
for Marshal Davies, 90-year-old
retired engineer who is suffering
from dementia., From her alleged loot, she bought herself,
among other things, a brand
new Mercedes-Benz and paid
her daughter's tuition, authorities said. Pasamba was hired by
Davies' family in 2008 to care for
him before he could be discharged from St. Joseph's Hospital. The Public Guardian's Office
said it is trying to get back the
money Pasamba and her family.
The scheme began when
Pasamba brought Davies to the
Filipino American Council of
Chicago (FACC) to get legal help
from lawyer Alfonso Bascos.
PGO said Bascos prepared a
new last will and trust agreement for Davies granting
$20,000 to various social service
agencies affiliated with the Filipino American Council and giving Pasamba and her family a
total of $175,000 upon Davies'
death. Bascos also prepared a
power of attorney giving
RICHMOND, Virginia - The
U.S. Congress did not exceed its
constitutional authority when it
passed criminal laws that ban
cockfighting, a U.S. appeals
court ruled on April 19, Reuters
reported. After they were convicted of operating cockfighting
derbies in Swansea, South Carolina, Scott Lawson, Jeffrey Gilbert and eight others filed two
separate appeals in 2010. In
both, the defendants argued that
Congress' power under the Constitution to regulate interstate
commerce did not extend to animal fighting, a distinctly local
activity. But the Richmond, Virginia-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit
disagreed in both cases, finding
that animal fighting has a significant impact on business
across state lines.
Pinay fur-free design
gets prize in NY
NEW YORK - Johana Zara
has been sketching cartoon characters at a young age, but did
not imagine that such creative
Johana Zara
Continued on page 19
19
April 30, 2012
U.S. New Briefs... from page 18
expression would earn her The
Humane Society's Cool vs. Cruel
Fashion Design top prize. The
competition challenges fashion
students throughout the United
States and Canada to reinterpret
and replace animal fur on runway looks by famous designers.
The judges said Johana's Fendiinspired piece using faux-fur,
faux-suede and polyester chiffon
was both creative and compassionate. The diploma student
from The Art Institute of Van-
couver will receive her award on
May 8 at the new retail outlet
STORY on 144 Tenth Avenue.
As grand prize winner, Johana
will receive an expense-paid,
weeklong internship in New
York City with fur-free designer
Victoria Bartlett has judged the
Cool vs. Cruel competition for
the past two years and was the
recipient of The HSUS's 2010
Compassion in Fashion Award.
Her co-winners are Matthew
Vice from The Art Institute of
Dallas, second; Golden Skyy
from The Art Institute of Pittsburgh, third. Melissa Hoffman
from The Art Institute of California-Los Angeles received an
honorable mention.
Guam picks Pinoy
as head of AHRO
GUAM - Alfredo Antolin,
Jr., a Filipino-American, has
been named new head of the
Guam government's Agency for
Human Resources Development
(AHRD). Antolin was among
the new Cabinet members who
took their oaths before Guam
Governor Eddie Baza Calvo last
month. During the induction,
Calvo said his administration
does not look into one's ethnicity
or political affiliation and they
instead focus on the qualifications of the people they appoint
to head key agencies of the government. Antolin was nominated for the directorship on
March 3 and was confirmed by
the Guam Legislature on March
19. Antolin has a BA, Major in
Politics and History, from the
Salve Regina University in
Rhode Island.
Lea Salonga sets
NY concert May 4
NEW YORK - Tony and
Olivier Award-winning actress
and recording artist will perform
in concert on Friday, May 4 at
landmark concert and theatre
venue, The Town Hall, located
at 123 West 43rd Street, said it
was pleased to present "Lea Salonga: The Journey Continues".
Tickets, priced at $55, $50 and
$45, are now available via Ticketmaster.com
(800-982-2787).
The Journey Continues is an intimate evening that features a selection of Broadway tunes,
standard classics and today's
hits, plus Tagalog songs (native
Filipino songs) and personal stories of Salonga's incredible journey, spanning decades.
FilAm named head
of Planning Ass'n
SAN DIEGO - Former San
Diego Planning Director Bill Anderson was named April 19 as
president-elect of the 40,000member American Planning Association with an agenda to
tackle environmental, economic
and social issues as well as landuse matters. Anderson, 51, who
is now vice president and principal of the AECOM consulting
group, will take office for a twoyear term next year. He will be
the first San Diegan and Filipino-American to be elected to
that post. Anderson said in an
interview from Los Angeles,
where the APA is holding its annual convention, that planning
has broadened out far beyond
the traditional land-use issues
that planners typically focus on.
Pinoys help San
Mateo's old people
Lea Salonga
the
Town
Hall,
Broadway's
SAN BRUNO, CaliforniaSan Mateo Supervisor Adrienne
Tissier is leading the call to action to protect the elderly
through policy, engagement and
education. "As the aging population in San Mateo County has
continued to grow at a rapid
rate, our District Attorney's Office has seen the number of reported elder abuse cases increase
tenfold over the last 12 years,"
said Tissier. "Tissier, the board
liaison to the Commission on
Aging, will join Consul Jaime
Ramon Ascalon in keynoting a
free seminar and resource fair on
April 28. The FilAm Group of St.
Robert is hosting the presentation by ALLICE Kumares and
Kumpares in collaboration with
Seton
Medical
Center,
Thomasians USA and Union
Bank. APS social worker Rowland Valladares shared his experience serving Filipino American
families. Valladares was 14
when he came to this country
with his family. Besides having
earned his undergraduate degree in Social Welfare at U.C.
Berkeley and his master's in Social Work at San Francisco State
University, he complements his
expertise with his proficiency in
Tagalog and Hiligaynon, a
Visayan language.
New Mexicans recall
Bataan Death March
ALBUQUERQUE - New
Mexicans soldiers who participated in the Bataan Death March
were honored at the 70th anniversary ceremony here on April
8. Out of the 1800 New Mexican
soldiers that were involved, only
about 30 are still alive. On April
8 they shared the stories of the
pain they saw and experienced.
Seventy years ago, half of the
12,000 American troops and
more than 60,000 Filipinos did
not make it out alive from the
Bataan Death March in the Philippines. Sergeant Al David spent
three years in a prison camp.
"When I was in the Bataan I didn't think I'd live to see 21. Here,
I'm 91 and all this attention is beginning to spoil me," Sgt. David
said. Family members came to
hear stories and some came
searching for more, the radio
station that covered it said. Congressmen in New Mexico are
trying to get the soldiers
awarded with the congressional
gold medal. Mayor R.J. Berry
honored the soldiers with a
proclamation for the 70th anniversary of the death march.
20 Hometown News
April 30, 2012
Filipinos are top rice wasters, says IRRI
The Philippines, one of the
world's biggest importers of rice,
could go a long way to achieving its elusive goal of self-sufficiency simply by wasting less, a
global research institute said. An
average of five cups of steamed
rice is cooked daily for every
Filipino but nine grammes (three
tablespoons) of this is wasted,according to the Philippine-based
International Rice Research Institute. These morsels add up to
more than 300,000 tonnes a year,
or 36 percentof the country's rice
imports in 2011, the institute
said in a report inits quarterly
journal, Rice Today. "Why buy
that much rice for the table
when a significant amount is
thrown away, taking with it all
the nutrients and energy that
rice can give," the report said.
"Middle-class families tend to
waste more than low-income
families. Apparently, the more
people have, the more they
waste," it said.
UP has 19 summas,
222 magnas in '12
Nineteen summa cum laude
graduates led Class 2012 of the
University of the Philippines
April 21 with Psychology major
Julianne Keane Pascual topping
the honor roll with a weighted
average of 1.053. The nation's
top state university also has 222
magna cum laude and 862 cum
laude graduates. UP awards the
highest academic honors of
summa cum laude to graduates
who have earned a weighted average grade (WAG) of 1.20 or
better.
Binibining Pilipinas 2012 winners
Comelec bans transfer
of envoys abroad
In view of the 2013 midterm
polls, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has banned the
movement of officers and members of the Foreign Service
Corps, including those belonging to attached agencies, from
May 13, 2012 to August 2013.
Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said "the ban is intended to
protect Foreign Service personnel from politically motivated
transfers or movements." Come-
Binibining Pilipinas winners blow kisses during the coronation night of the country's most prestigious beauty
pageant at the Smart Araneta Coliseum April 17. Photo shows (from left) 2nd runner-up Annalie Forbes, Bb.
Pilipinas-International Nicole Schmitz, Bb. Pilipinas-Universe Janine Mari Tugonon, Bb. Pilipinas-Tourism Katrina Jayne Dimaranan and 1st runner-up Elaine Kay Moll.
lec said "no officer or member of
the foreign service corps, including those belonging to attached
agencies, shall be transferred,
promoted, extended, recalled or
otherwise moved from his current post or position one year
before and three months after
the day of elections, except upon
approval of the Commission."
DFA will be the one to administer the mid-term 2013 elections.
Pacquiao joins
camp of Binay
UP honor graduates cheer as their names are announced.
Aquino inaugurates
Underground River
President Benigno S. Aquino III
receives a Plaque from New 7
Wonders of Nature (N7WN)
president and founder Dr. Bernard Weber during the inauguration of the Puerto Princesa
Underground River (PPUR) as
one of the world's N7WN at the
One Esplanade, Open Grounds
in Pasay City on April 21. Aside
from the PPUR, the other six
winners include South Africa's
Amazon River, Vietnam's Ha-
long Bay, Argentina's Iguazo
Falls, South Korea's Jeju Island,
Indonesia's Komodo National
Park and South Africa's Table
Mountain. PPUR features spectacular limestone formation and
is reputed to be the longest navigable underground river in the
World. Witnessing the ceremony
are Puerto Princesa City Mayor
Edward Hagedorn and Environment and Natural Resources
Secretary Ramon Paje.
The Partido Demokratiko
Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDPLaban), led by Vice President Jejomar Binay, is set to swear in
Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao
who is preparing to run for governor. Party president Senator
Aquilino Pimentel III said it actually took 10 months for them
to finally convince Pacquiao to
be part of PDP-Laban, which recently formed an alliance with
Estrada's PMP for the 2013 midterm elections. "We already have
a meeting of the minds but we
have yet to finalize the schedule
of the oath-taking. I cannot say
yet if it will happen before he
takes on Timothy Bradley this
June, Pimentel said, referring to
Pacquiao's upcoming defense of
his World Boxing Organization
(WBO)welterweight title in Las
Vegas. Pacquiao said he is going
to run for governor next year,
trading positions with incumbent Governor Miguel Rene
Dominguez as per their political
arrangement last July.
PNoy to Arab nations:
give OFWs dignity
President Aquino urged labor ministers of different countries meeting in Abu Dhabi to
ensure that Filipino workers
abroad are treated with dignity.
In his speech, Aquino noted that
60% of Filipinos working abroad
and 12% of all migrant workers
are stationed in countries, who
were represented in the meeting.
"Suffice it to say: We all have a
significant stake in this; and our
discussions today will affect the
lives of tens of millions of our
people, at the very least, perhaps
even more," Aquino said. "What
all of us want is clear: we want
recruitment for our people to be
both fair and efficient; we want
workers to be treated with dignity; and we want to be able to
go back home in a convenient
manner, and to be successfully
reintegrated in our respective societies. Aquino said that his administration's objective is to
attract more investments and
create jobs here so that Filipinos
would not be forced to look for
work abroad.
his philandering ways. He candidly replied: 'mahirap po yun'
(that is hard to do)," Vidal recalled about Erap, who was
ousted as president in January
2001 by the so-called EDSA 2.
PH hawk-eagle
bred in captivity
A Philippine hawk-eagle
feared to be heading for extinction has been bred in captivity
Erap marks 75th
with book launch
Former President Joseph
"Erap" Estrada may have lost
"practically everything," but certainly not his sense of humor.
Turning 75 April 19, former
President Joseph "Erap" Estrada
continues to be a source of enjoyment and inspiration for his
friends with the launching of a
new book, "Ito ang Pilipino: A
Tribute to Joseph Estrada.". The
book is a collection of jokes and
anecdotes that his closest friends
shared about Erap's great sense
of humor. For Archbishop
Emeritus of Cebu Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, Erap "is truly blessed."
"For in spite of the gravity of his
humiliation and hardships, he
remained resilient, respectful,
genuine, and hopeful," he said.
"More importantly, he never lost
his sense of humor; he did not
lose his sense of sacrifice and his
faith in the Lord. I believe it is
these virtues that have earned
him his redemption, in spite of
his admitted weakness for the
ladies! A funny story, I once
tried to advise him to sacrifice
Hawk eagle chick.
for the first time, its breeders
said April 19. Hand-fed with
ground quail meat, the chick has
swiftly bulked up to 157 grams
(0.04 ounces), three times its
weight when hatched in an artificial incubator 16 days ago, the
Philippine Eagle Foundation
said. Its spokeswoman Anna
Mae Sumaya said this marked
the first success of an 11-yearold captive breeding programme
for the Nisaetus philippensis
that dwell in fast-disappearing
lowland forests.
"The species is under threat
from human persecution. All the
Philippine hawk-eagles that had
been turned over to us were
either injured by hunters or were
young birds that had been removed from their nests," she
said. The adult of the darkbrown bird is 64-69 centimetres
(25.2-27.2 inches) long, with a
long crest of four or five feathers
Continued on page 21
21
April 30, 2012
Hometown News ... from page 20
protruding from its crown. Preying on lowland forest animals,
the unique raptor is one of
nearly 200 bird species that are
found only in the Philippines.
Priest wins 2012
Goldman Prize
Rev. Edu Gariguez, executive secretary of the Catholic
Bishops' Conference of the Phil-
Rev. Edu Gariguez
ippines-National Secretariat for
Social Action, is one of the
awardees of the 2012 Goldman
Prize, given by a US-based organization in recognition of efforts of individuals to save the
environment around the world.
The awarding ceremony
was held on April 16 at the San
Francisco Opera House in the
United States. Aside from
Gariguez, the Goldman Prize
also recognized five other environmental heroes: Kenyan Ikal
Angelei, Chinese Ma Jun, Russian Evgenia Chirikova, Ameri-
can Caroline Cannon, and Argentinian Sofia Gatica. In his
speech, Gariguez acknowledged
the Mangyans, indigenous people of Mindoro, who inspired
him to do his work.
2 Minda judges
fired by high court
The Supreme Court has dismissed two judges in separate
rulings for gross misconduct and
incompetence. One of these
judges drew the court's ire for
annulling marriages without undergoing court procedures. Dismissed are Judge Cader Indar,
who is presiding judge of the
Regional Trial Court Branch 14
in Cotabato City, and acting presiding judge of the RTC Branch
15 in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao; and Judge James Go, presiding judge of the Municipal
Trial Court in Cities Branch 2 in
Butuan City.
PH nurse wins
Servant-Leader award
Filipina nurse Lilian Perez,
founder of Heartbeat Pregnancy
Support Services of Asia (PSSA),
received the 2012 International
Servant-Leader Award for her
pro-life and pro-family advocacies. The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines
(CBCP) said Perez, who works
for the Manila Archdiocese's
Commission on Family and Life,
received her award on March 29
at the Marriott Hotel of Los Angeles in the United States. "Perez
founded the Heartbeat Pregnancy Support Services of Asia
(PSSA) 10 years ago and has
been the life line of Asians, especially Filipino families on the
ground that there are services
that enhance life and protect the
value and sanctity of life from its
conception," the CBCP said.
tors in terms of online votes. On
his Twitter page, Rosadino
thanked all Filipinos who voted
for him during the competition.
He also posted pictures showing
how much he enjoyed his South
Africa experience.
Pinay puts Kalinga
in world tattoo map
Baguio overcrowded
with .4-M people
Analyn 'Ikin' SalvadorAmores is the first Filipina
scholar to obtain a masters degree and a doctorate in Social
and Cultural Anthropology at
Hertford College, Oxford University. She studied Kalinga's
traditional tattoos and makes it
her personal mission to spread
awareness on the cultural significance of tattoos in the Philippines.
BAGUIO CITY - Baguio's
streets are congested with vehicles and its skyline, now peppered with buildings. "When we
were kids we just cross [the
streets] back and forth without
the possibility of being hit by a
vehicle," said urban planner, Architect Joseph Alabanza. Baguio
was designed for only 25,000
people, but today, the city's
population is estimated at about
400,000. Based on data from the
local government, out of a total
land area of 5,749 hectares, 5,183
hectares are for residential, commercial, industrial and institutional use, while only about 521
hectares are left for forest cover.
"Socio-economic development
should balance also with the demands of the environment. This
way, we can probably to some
extent stop the migration to Baguio," Alabanza said. Which is
why many Baguio residents
were outraged over SM's plan to
uproot and transfer the pine
trees at Luneta Hills.
Pinoy wins 2 Mr.
Gay World awards
Carlito Floro Rosadino Jr.
won two Mr. Gay World 2012
awards: People's Choice and
Best National Costume during
the Mr. Gay World competition
in South Africa on April 8.
Rosadino Jr. won the best national costume award for his
sarimanok-inspired outfit, complete with a gold headdress and
mechanical wings on the finals
night of the competition held in
Johannesburg. The 27-year-old
representative of the Philippines
was also chosen as one of the
Top 10 finalists. He likewise
won the People's Choice Award
after besting 21 other competi-
LUZON
Espino honors 6
Pangasinenses
LINGAYEN, Pangasinan -
Gov. Amado Espino, Jr. recently
awarded six Pangasinenses with
the ASNA Awards during Pangasinan celebration last week.
Awarded with the Balitok
awards, the highest given as
they denote gold in the Pangasinan language, were Hilarion
Henares Jr. (national economic
development)
and
lawyer
Gabriel Singson (business/banking and finance). The four other
ASNA awardees were Ermin
Garcia Jr. (journalism), Jose
Datuin (visual arts), Amadeo
Perez Jr. (government service/public administration), and
retired Gen. Jose Magno (military service). Garcia is the publisher of the hard-hitting
"Sunday Punch" newspaper and
former publisher of "Manila
Time"/; Datuin, an international
visual artist, and Perez, the
chairman of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office in
Taiwan.
VISAYAS
Leyte, MIT link up
for science development
PALO, Leyte - Through
Project Philippines 2012, two
schools - Palo Science High
School and MIT in Cambridge
have combined forces to inspire
students to develop scientific
traits, like having an inquiring
mind
and
problem-solving
skills, through leadership training. "Inquiry, problem solving,
and most importantly a 'can do'
attitude...these are powerful as-
Continued on page 22
Rare species of frogs, crabs, mouse found in PH
MANILA -- Two new species of frog, a rare mouse and
new species of crabs have been
found in various parts of the disappearing forests and other waters in various parts of the
Philippines by wildlife scientists.
The new discoveries include
a mottled brown frog with red
eyes and a broad yellow stripe
running down its back, and a
yellow-green one not much bigger than a human thumb, British-based Fauna and Flora
International said. Country director Aldrin Mallari said the
finds should boost conservation
efforts in the Philippines, which
has extremely diverse plant and
animal life but where many species are threatened by extinction.
His team discovered the
frogs in Leyte island's Nacolod
mountain range in November
last year. Their dwindling habitat also harboured 62 other reptiles and amphibian species, 36
mammal species, 112 bird species, and 229 plant species.
The four new species of
freshwater crab, bright purple in
colour, have been discovered in
Palawan, according to a team
led by Hendrik Freitag, of Germany's Senckenberg Museum of
Zoology."They are semi-aquatic
and hide in burrows at the
stream bank, which are usually
found under boulders and
roots," said his paper published
measured about 43-55 millimetres (1.7-2.2 inches) while the
yellow-green ones were 20-27
millimetres (0.8-1.1 inches) long.
They have not yet been formally
in the latest edition of the National University of Singapore's
Raffles Bulletin of Zoology.
In Bacolod city, a cloud rat,
endemic to one tiny island of the
Dinagats has been rediscovered
after a more than 20-year
search.Dr. William Oliver, of the
Philippine Biodiversity Conservation Foundation Inc. (PBCFI),
on Sunday said the Dinagat
cloud rat belongs to a critically
endangered species and was
even believed to be extinct until
its rediscovery on Dinagat Island early this year.
The brown frog specimens
named. US-based Conservation
International lists the Philippines both as one of the 17
countries that harbour most of
Earth's plant and animal life,
and a "biodiversity hotspot" due
to massive habitat loss.
Theresa Lim, wildlife protection chief of the Department
of Environment and Natural Resources, told the forum that despite this, apart from the frogs
36 new plant and animal species
were discovered in the Philippines in the past 10 years.
The four new species of
freshwater crabs
are semi-
aquatic and hide in burrows at
the stream bank, which are usually found under boulders and
roots," said his paper published
in the latest edition of the National University of Singapore's
Raffles Bulletin of Zoology.
Their eggs hatch directly
into juvenile crabs, and the creatures emerge at night to forage
under water, Freitag added.
Photographs of the adult
crabs published on the website
of Dresden-based Senckenberg
museum showed them with a
purple carapace, and with claws
and legs tipped red.
The biggest, Insulamon
magnum, is just 53 millimetres
by 41.8 millimetres while the
smallest, Insulamon porculum,
measures 33.1 by 25.1 millimetres.
US-based Conservation International lists the Philippines
as one of 17 countries that harbors most of Earth's plant and
animal life.
In Bacolod city, a cloud rat,
endemic to one tiny island of the
Dinagats has been rediscovered
after a more than 20-year search.
Dr. William Oliver, of the
Philippine Biodiversity Conservation Foundation Inc. (PBCFI),
on Sunday said the Dinagat
cloud rat belongs to a critically
endangered species and was
even believed to be extinct until
its rediscovery on Dinagat Island early this year.
The Dinagat cloud rat was
observed and a video was recorded by a couple from the
Czech Republic who were on
their honeymoon, said Oliver,
PBCFI director of program development and conservation
partnership.
Zoologist
Milada
Reháková, who was
commissioned by the PBCFI,
and her husband, programmer
Václav Rehák, spotted
the Dinagat cloud rat, a huge,
hairy gray-brown rat with blackwhite
tail,
in
the
islandâ (tm)s
forest
in
January.
The couple were in a semiprotected watershed reserve site
on central-north Dinagat Island
to conduct a 10-day study on
tarsiers and to collect information from residents on the possible existence of the Dinagat
cloud rat, Oliver said.
22
April 30, 2012
FilAms assail Barry ... from page 1
people from somewhere else.”
Ambassador Cuisia called
Mr. Barry’s remarks “deplorable,” adding that he should
apologize to the Filipino nurses
for his tirade. Barry said he will
not apologize.
In a statement, the Ambassador said Council member
Barry's penchant for blaming
Asians, who only want to work
for their American dream, fuels
racism, discrimination, and violence. Such rhetoric does nothing but harm relations among
community members, when the
times call for developing relationships and finding solutions
to common challenges. He owes
Filipino nurses an apology for
his recent tirade.”
Ed Navarra, chair of the
National Federation of Filipino
American Associations (NaFFAA), called Barry’s remarks
“racist” and “bigoted.”“We reject this continued Asian bashing
by elected officials like Mr.Barry
and demand that he apologize
for his insensitive and irresponsible
remarks,” Navarra said in a
statement.. “We also call on him
to engage in a meaningful dialogue with our community so
we can better educate the
broader American public about
the significant contributions that
our diverse immigrant communities have made to this country.”
Tom Hayashi, Executive Director of the Organization of
Chinese Americans (OCA), one
of the largest and most influential Asian American groups in
Washington, said Barry was
“setting a pattern of unacceptable public policy critique stereotypically casting APAs as
being a perpetual foreigner.”
Floyd Mori, national executive director of the Japanese
American
Citizens
League
(JACL), condemned Barry for
“his continued bigoted remarks
concerning the role of Asian
Americans in the city’s economy.”
JCAL, the largest and oldest
Asian American human and
civil rights organization in the
US, said in a statement Barry
“needs to apologize to the Asian
American community and set in
motion actions to heal the chasm
he has created by his thoughtless
remarks. Barry can do something positive in a sincere and
bridge building manner. To do
anything less is a discredit to all
he has accomplished in his long
career as a public servant.”
Ambassador Cuisia said
that “from its silent beginnings,
the Philippine nursing profession grew to become a major
player in the global healthcare
market when it became the biggest supplier of registered
nurses due to the global nursing
shortage. Filipino nurses are
known to be competent, hardworking, caring, and possess
good work ethic. These are some
of the reasons why most patients
prefer and trust them. Like
many good citizens, they pay
Hometown News ... from page 21
sets people in general must develop and exercise in order to
build a strong and powerful nation," PP 2012 said in its mission
statement. PP 2012 believes the
Philippines has an "impressive"
economic growth of 7.3 percent,
and yet it cannot hold back the
rise in population and the
spread of poverty.
The program identifies institutions in
the Philippines which MIT can
partner with in molding future
scientists and engineers with the
skills to "lead and to initiate
positive change in their community and beyond." One of PP
2012's project leaders is Francis
Plaza, an electrical engineering
and computer science student at
MIT. "I have always wanted to
be part of something that makes
an impact to the community," he
said. A graduate of PSHS in
Leyte, he has been involved with
PP 2012 for three years now.
Rep. Ecleo convicted
for killing wife
CEBU CITY
- A brave
judge here convicted Dinagat
Rep. Ruben Ecleo Jr. of parricide
and sentenced yesterday to life
imprisonment for the killing of
his wife, Alona Bacolod Ecleo,
over 10 years ago. Alona was
found dead in a ravine in the
southern town of Dalaguete on
Jan. 12, 2002, a week after she
disappeared from their home in
Banawa, Barangay Guadalupe,
Cebu City on Jan. 5. The couple
have three children. After several judges back off deciding the
case, Regional Trial Court
Branch 10 Presiding Judge
Soliver Peras, convicted Ecleo
and ordered him to pay Bacolod's family P26 million as
compensation
apart
from
P200,000 in exemplary damages,
P200,000 in moral damages,
P200,000 as attorney's fees, and
P50,000 as temperate damages
aside from the P25.650 million as
compensatory damages. It took
the court seven years and six
judges to handle the case. Security for Judge Peras has been
augmented.
Samar town mayor
fired for oppression
EASTERN SAMAR - Mayor
Francisco Adalim of Taft has
been removed from office after
the Ombudsman found him
guilty of committing grave misconduct with the aggravating
circumstances of gross neglect of
their taxes and contribute to the
American economy.”
This was the second time
this month that Barry had to
fend off criticisms for maligning
Asian immigrants in his attempt
to encourage more blacks to go
into business or to train as
nurses and teachers. But Barry
said there was nothing wrong
with his attempt to make the
point that UDC and other nursing schools to meet the demand
for nurses and teachers. He said
that while “it’s an asset. to have
access to nurses from other
countries, I want UDC to be the
premier
nursing
institution..?Every time I mention a
group, it’s not negative, it’s a
fact.”
The controversy erupted
less than a month since he was
forced to apologize for his remarks about the “dirty” Asianowned businesses in his district.
Barry’s mistake, Navarra
said, was his “singling out an
ethnic group.”. “Filipino nurses
and teachers have performed admirably in America’s health care
and educational system, and
they don’t deserve the harmful
and xenophobic rhetoric that
pits them against other American professionals,” Navarra said.
Marissa Usman, President,
Philippine Nurses Association of
the Washington DC Metropolitan Region, said they are “extremely
disappointed
and
dismayed to be unfairly maligned by an elected official like
DC Council member Barry.” For
many decades, Filipino nurses
duty and oppression. The sacking stemmed from the mayor's
failure to rehire 25 city hall employees who were illegally terminated last August 2005. The
order was delivered to the
mayor's office by Department of
Interior and Local Government
(DILG) regional director Pedro
Noval Jr.
Last year, Adalim was
slapped with a 6-month preventive suspension after he failed to
carry out orders of the Civil
Service Commission.Adalim will
no longer be allowed to run for
office or hold any government
position.
NCIP backs Ati's
claim on Boracay
BORACAY - The National
Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) has expressed support for the Ati tribe's habitation
of their ancestral land in Boracay, rallying the locals and tourists to help them reclaim a
portion of their "lost paradise."
NCIP
chairperson
Zenaida
Brigida H. Pawid said the Atis
could occupy the land because
they had been issued the Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title
(CADT) in August 2010."Boracay is theirs," Pawid said in an
interview.
have been recruited to serve not
only in this country but all over
the world because of our professionalism, competence and complete dedication to quality
patient care. Filipino health care
professionals have become a vital part of America's health care
system and we are proud of the
work we do.”
For his part, Gregory Cendana, a newly elected Filipino
American delegate to the Democratic
National
Convention
along with Barry, said he is
deeply concerned about remarks
against immigrant health care
and education workers because
of its negative effects on the
community. “As a fellow minority who has achieved success despite socio-economic adversities
and stereotypical doubt, I would
think that Council member
Barry would understand first
hand why these negative remarks are so hurtful to the APA
population and the District of
Columbia’s sense of community
as a whole."
“Mr. Barry, who made
similar inflammatory remarks
earlier about Asian entrepreneurs, continues to fuel racism
and animosity towards other immigrant and ethnic groups with
his bigoted statements,” Navarra
said.
“Demonizing a specific class
of people using fear tactics based
on broad political and economic
generalizations should not be
tolerated by the community atlarge,” Hayashi declared.
The OCA asked for a
“meaningful apology” to Asian
business owners and Filipino
nurses. They also urged Barry
“to meet with APA community
advocacy organizations and
other people of color advocacy
groups to jointly address public
policy strategies for educational
and economic equity and equality within 30 days.”
Cendana said the assumption that Filipino nurses, as well
as Filipino teachers, are substandard employees by insisting that
they were ‘scrounged’ from
‘community clinics and other
kind of places’ can create a
strong disconnect with the value
of the diversity of DC’s population. Those comments only fuel
an already visible disconnects
through other communities in
the area and I encourage Councilmember Barry to take this opportunity to engage himself into
the diversity that is and makes
the District of Columbia.
He suggested that Barry
meet with local Asian American
community leaders not only
open up a dialogue to a better
understanding of their community but assist in coalition building in the area. “Furthermore, I
will work with Mayor Vincent
Gray and the DC council to support programs and efforts that
foster community partnerships
and fall under the banner of
Mayor Gray’s “One City” Initiative. While I do not condone
Councilmember Barry’s statements, we must come together
to find proactive solutions that
unite all of our communities.”
23
April 30, 2012
Filipina cheers for... from page 1
tional Hockey League Cheerleaders Squad. But more remarkable perhaps, she holds a double
Master’s degree in Public Policy
and International Development
and actually has a full-time day
job as a government budget analyst.
She’s always loved the competition, according to her mother
Ellen Dee, originally from Ilocos
Norte (her father Wilson is Chinese). Michelle is an only child.
“She was always an active
participant in her school musicals and was one of her middle
school’s best defense players on
their lacrosse team,” she confided to the Manila Mail, adding
that Michelle joined her first
cheerleading team in high
school.
Born in Manila, she has
lived in the United States since
she was 10 years old.
Michelle has lived in Lon-
don, Toronto and Washington
DC. After graduating from a private high school in Alexandria,
Va., she pursued an undergraduate degree in Political Science and went on to the
prestigious London School of
Economics (LSE) for a graduate
degree in International Development.
Immediately after graduating from the LSE, she pursued
another Master's -- this time a
Public Policy degree from University of Toronto.
Michelle’s
passion
for
sports, from cheerleading to lacrosse and ice hockey, intensified during her college days in
Canada where ice hockey is a
big sport, her mother explained.
“When Michelle returned to
the DC area, she decided to
audition for the Red Rockers,”
Ellen says. From a pool of over a
hundred contenders, Michelle
Jessica Sanchez.. from page 1
boxing and singing,” rising impresario Benny Aquino of Maryland told his audience at the
launching of his “Tuwid na Landas” CD here.
“If the Chinese Navy ever
invaded the Kalayaan municipality in the Spratly Islands and
captured all of its 223 Filipino inhabitants, I am uncertain if the
resulting campaign by the global
Filipino community to save
them would come close to the
current massive united effort being mounted to save Jessica
Sanchez from elimination in the
American Idol finals,” California-based lawyer Rodel Rodis
wrote in the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
“I have never seen anything
like it,” he added.
Community leaders have
been actively organizing to campaign and vote to make sure
Sanchez becomes the first Asian
and the first Filipina to win
America’s most popular talent
show.
Fans have used social media
such as Facebook to generate
votes for Sanchez, creating a
page called “Save the Best, Save
our Own, Save Jessica Sanchez.”
Leaders of the National
Federation of Filipino American
Associations (NaFFAA, an umbrella organization of FilipinoAmerican groups across the
entire US) have sent out e-mails
and Facebook links encouraging
every Filipino in the United
States to vote for the young
singer.
The NaFFAA’s Nony E.
Abrajano for instance blastemailed his address book urging
everyone to “please take time to
give this girl our votes. It is all
right to VOTE as many times as
you can. She needs all our
votes.”
Her near brush with elimination jolted Filipinos in the US,
who have since vowed to actively vote for Jessica until the finals. Judges used the season’s
only save to keep her in the competition.
Jessica posted a recorded
video on her Facebook account
imploring, “Hey guys, I just got
saved last week so please, please
vote.”
Her appeal was obviously
heard loud and clear by the FilAm community.
Filipino
restaurant
PH to inform US... from page 1
with what’s happening.”
China has already warned
the United States of more confrontations, and the US also
pushed through with its naval
exercises with the Philippines
last week.
Balikatan not linked to
dispute
Both the US and the Philippines insist the Balikatan exercises had nothing to do with the
Scarborough standoff.
"The United States and the
Philippines have a mutual defense treaty which guarantees
that we get involved in each
other's defense and that is self
explanatory," Commander of the
US Marines in the Pacific Lieutenant General Duane Thiessen
said yesterday.
He also reaffirmed the US’
mutual defense treaty with the
Philippines. He said the military
exercises had nothing to do with
the territorial dispute.
Hernandez also debunked
was among those elected to join
the squad last July.
"I just love cheering for the
Caps. They are a great team who
not only works hard on the ice,
but also cares deeply about their
fans. I'm proud to represent
them on and off the ice",
Michelle stressed.
“The first thing that my
husband and I worried about
was how she would allocate her
time. Will she have enough time
on her hands to juggle between
work, practices, and the actual
games? We were confident
about her tackling the ice, as she
is a very good ice skater, but we
worried about work overload,”
Ellen said.
Their concern turned out to
be baseless. “Michelle got them
all under control and even created some time for leisure,” the
mother says amusedly.
As of press time, the Caps
were in the midst of a campaign
to oust defending Stanley Cup
champion Boston Bruins. The
second-seeded Bruins won their
first Stanley Cup title since 1972
last spring, but find themselves
in desperate straits against
Washington.
“Michelle is an overachiever, which I’m still not sure
if it’s good or bad,” Ellen told
the Manila Mail.
But like a typical parent, she
says she sees her daughter “very
successful” in her government
Goldilocks organized a viewing
party for Jessica, attended by
hundreds of supporters who
cheered her on when she performed Fallin’ and Try a Little
Tenderness.
Interviewed by ABS-CBN,
the fans admitted that Jessica’s
near-elimination inspired them
not only to vote, but to actively
urge others to vote for her as
well.
Another voting party was
held in Jessica’s hometown in
Chula Vista, California, hosted
by a local radio station. The FilAm and Mexican fans were
joined by Chula Vista Mayor
Cheryl Cox who made a special
appearance.
They rallied support for
their favorite, vowing not to let
her have the least votes among
all the contestants again.
Jessica entered American
Idol's Top 6 after many FilipinoAmericans campaigned and
voted multiple times for her. A
season-high 53 million votes
came in for the Top 7 contestants, acknowledged by Idol experts as one of the most talented
group of finalists the show has
ever had.
“A lot of Filipinos are concerned and they are taking ac-
tion by voting and by calling on
people to vote. We also give instructions on how to make the
vote and coach people on how to
do it properly,” Susan Delos
Santos said.
Rodis admitted that he was
initially annoyed by the attention lavished on Jessica.
“Somehow ‘Save Dondon
Lanuza!’ (an OFW on death row
in Saudi Arabia) just does not
have the same ring of urgency
that ‘Save Jessica Sanchez!’ possesses even though, in Lanuza’s
case, the effort would be literally
saving a life,” he wrote.
Rodis noted that the push
for Jessica has eclipsed past support for Fil-Ams who have made
it to the American Idol finals including Jasmine Trias, Camille
Velasco, Thia Megia, Ramielle
Manubay, Sway Penala and Melinda Lira.
Grace Valera of the Virginia-based Migrant Heritage
Commission (MHC) that was
among the first to organize support for Jessica, believes she is
more talented and thus has better chances of winning the Idol
plum.
“She’s the only Asian who
can reach that part and we believe so much in her talent. We
know she can do it. It’s not only
she’s Filipino; it’s that she’s really THAT good,” she told the
Manila Mail.
“This belies what they say
that Filipinos can not get together. It’s really a show of
force,” she averred.
That appears to be a the
prevalent sentiment among
many Fil-Ams. Manny Pacquiao
helped galvanize Filipinos by
winning fights against the best
in the world.
“Jessica symbolizes our
country. We are a small country,
but we are bursting with talent.
We just need to find our way,
work our way harder to be
known, to be famous," said ABSCBN Balitang America’s top Filipino Champion for 2011 Nimfa
Gamez.
“It will only prove one
thing: that we really can unite as
a people. That, if there's a great
cause like Jessica's cause, we can
unite and bond together and
fight for something to represent
us as a people,” she said.
Jessica joins the “round of
6” who returns this week for another shot to prove that they deserve to be American Idol
champion.
allegations that the meeting with
the US will further aggravate the
matter. He said the “2 Plus 2”
meeting had long been scheduled.
supply.”
He said the 3 fishing vessels
are “new.” As such, authorities
have no information if these 3
vessels are also poaching. He
said the Philippine Coast Guard
is monitoring the activities in the
lagoon.
Nonetheless, the Philippines
will continue to tread a “legal
track” in resolving the dispute
with China, which includes
bringing the case before the International Tribunal for the Law
of the Sea (ITLOS).
He said there are also other
options available for settlement
under the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Seas
(UNCLOS), which the country’s
legal team is already discussing.
“We’re hoping the impasse
will be resolved as quickly as
possible. We continue to invite
them to this legal track to be able
to have a durable resolution not
just at Scarborough, but the
whole West Philippine Sea,”
Hernandez said.
He said the Philippines is
prepared “to go alone” if China
refuses to react.
Chinese vessels
Meanwhile, Hernandez said
the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has spotted 3 Chinese fishing vessels and one
surveillance ship inside the Scarborough lagoon.
Only the BRP Pampanga is there
to defend the country’s stake. It
replaced the BRP Edsa, which
left for “re-provisioning and re-
The 'Red Rockers' with Michelle at left.
career and “having a happy family of her own although her love
for sports and cheerleading will
still be there.”
But
Michelle’s
mother
added, “She could still be with
the Red Rockers but maybe then
as a mentor to new recruits.”
24
April 30, 2012
“All commands are strongly
encouraged to engage their sailors in embracing the contributions of Asian and Pacific
Americans to the Navy through
programs, exhibits, publications
and events celebrating Asian
and Pacific American Heritage
Month,” Adm. Buskirk’s message read.
Asian-Pacific
Heritage
Month originated in a congressional bill. In June 1977, Reps.
Frank Horton of New York and
Norman Y. Mineta of California
introduced a House resolution
that called upon the president to
proclaim the first ten days of
May as Asian-Pacific Heritage
Week.
The following month, Senators Daniel Inouye and Spark
Matsunaga introduced a similar
bill in the Senate. Both were
passed. On October 5, 1978,
President Jimmy Carter signed a
Joint Resolution designating the
annual celebration.
Twelve years later, President George H.W. Bush signed
an extension making the weeklong celebration into a monthlong celebration. In 1992, the
official designation of May as
Asian-Pacific American Heritage
Month was signed into law.
California Rep. Judy Chu,
who also chairs the Congressional Asian Pacific American
Caucus (CAPAC) sponsored
House Resolution 621 that recognizes the significance of Asian
Pacific Heritage Month.
The story of the Asian Pacific American is inextricably
linked to that of the United
States, the resolution noted. It
pointed out that there are presently 41 members of Congress
who have Asian Pacific roots.
“Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are serving in
State legislatures across the Nation, in States as diverse as
Alaska, Arizona, California,
Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii,
Idaho, Maryland, New Jersey,
New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania,
Texas, Virginia, Utah, and
Washington,” the resolution
read.
The Chu resolution said
“much remains to be done to ensure that Asian Americans and
Pacific Islanders have access to
resources, a voice in the United
States Government and and continue to advance in the Nation's
political landscape.”
Philippines that swept Cory
Aquino to the presidency and
ouster of Ferdinana Marcos.
Komenich was a photographer
for the San Francisco Examiner
and this assignment garnered
him the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for
Spot News Photography.
- The Corregidor Island
Story" at the Mississippi River
Museum at Mud Island. This
historical and informative exhibit will outline the importance
the island played during World
War II. The exhibit will include
artifacts from life on the island
during the key time periods and
influential battles. Here, you will
be able to explore the history of
Corregidor, Malinta Tunnel,
Gen. Douglas MacArthur and
the remarkable determination of
Filipino and American soldiers.
"Floating Warps and Guiding Heddles" at the Brooks Museum of Art.
- An exhibition of Philippine textiles from the Museo Ilocos Norte will offer a rare
opportunity to see these fragile
weavings. Long famous for their
fine cotton textiles, particularly
their damasks made with the
floating warp technique or those
woven with multiple heddles,
they are remarkable for their
rich coloring and bold designs
and are an important part of
Philippine cultural heritage.
-"An Untold Triumph" at
the Blount Auditorium (Buckman Hall), Rhodes College. In
this documentary, Director Noel
M. Izon captures the stories of
Filipino Americans, who volunteered their services to the U.S.
Army and helped liberate their
homeland from Japanese occupation during World War II,
through the voices of the veterans themselves...and delivers
touching personal accounts of
the men's contributions and sacrifices during the war. The film
won Best Documentary at its
world premiere at the Hawaii
International Film Festival and
has aired on PBS. A brief demonstration of Filipino martial
arts shall precede the screening.
Asians mark... from page 1
ing the only Filipino in the US
Navy to be decorated with the
Medal of Honor.
Filipino students in Virginia
Tech actually had jump start
marking the annual event. The
Filipino American Student Association held the 24th Culture
Night with the theme “Ang Aming Sakripisyo” (Our Sacrifice) at
the Blacksburg campus Burruss
Hall Auditorium.
This has traditionally been
the association’s biggest event of
the school year, featuring more
than 100 participants performing
Filipino dances, skits and a fashion show.
Students from the Filipino
Cultural Association of George
Mason University and volunteers from the Virginia-based
Migrant Heritage Commission
(MHC) will show off native Philippine dances and a demonstration of the Eskrima martial arts
at the Smithsonian event.
They Filipino segment begins at about 2:00 PM.
US Navy Deputy Chief of
Naval Operations for Personnel,
Vice Adm. Scott R. Van Buskirk
paid homage to sailors of Asian
and Pacific heritage which in-
clude 9 flag officers, 11 members
of the senior executive service
and 191 master chief petty officers.
He noted that Asians and
Pacific Islanders of various nationalities and ancestry, including Chinese, Filipino, Japanese,
Korean, Southeast Asian, Asian
Indian and Polynesian have
served with the US Navy since
the early 19th century.
They included Fireman 2nd
Class Telesforo Trinidad, the
only Filipino in the US Navy to
be awarded the Medal of Honor,
the highest military decoration
awarded by the US government
for
“conspicuous
gallantry
above and beyond the call of
duty”.
“In the wake of the SpanishAmerican War, Trinidad was
aboard armored cruiser No. 6
when an obstructed tube in one
of the ship’s boilers gave way,
setting off a chain reaction of explosions,” the US Navy cable
stated.
“Risking his own life and
personal safety, Trinidad rescued several crewmates and led
them to safety. Trinidad survived the ordeal.”
Memphis Int’l Festival ... from page 1
cil (NCC) for the Philippine private sector, will make a presentation
to
the
business
community at the luncheon
meeting of the Memphis Rotary
Club.
On May 9, Mr. Aurelio
Montinola III, president and
CEO of Bank of the Philippine
On May 17, Dr. Jaime C.
Montoya, Executive Director of
the Philippine Council for
Health Research and Development (PCHRD), will address a
luncheon forum with the members of the Memphis Bioworks
Business Association and the
Greater Memphis Chamber Life
FilAm boy holds Philippine flag.
Vargas receives ACLU-NCA award
To speak at various forums during the Memphis in May Festival are, clockwise from upper left, Ambassador Jose Cuisia, Tourism Secretary Ramon
Jimenez, Mr. Guillermo Luz, Architect Augusto Villalon, Dr. Jaime C. Montoya, and Mr. Aurelio Montinola III.
Islands (BPI), will speak at the
Economic Club of Memphis
(Clark Tower) on major Philippine economic developments
and the global economic perspectives.
On May 11, Philippine
Tourism Secretary Ramon R.
Jimenez, Jr. will take part in a
luncheon forum on May 11 to be
co-hosted by the Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau and
Memphis Hotel Association.
Jimenez will also introduce the
Philippines' tourism marketing
campaign dubbed, "It's More
Fun in the Philippines!" in other
key events at the festival.
Science Council - both organizations represent and promote
health, medical and biomedical
companies in the Memphis region.
Top MIMIF and Memphis
City officials and corporate executives had a productive visit
to the Philippines (Manila and
Cebu) last March 17 to 24 to explore business opportunities and
visit the country's cultural
amenities and tourist destinations.
Among the cultural and historical exhibits would be photographer
Kim
Komenich's
pictorial of People Power in the
Filipino
journalist Jose
received the
Award of the
award-winning
Antonio Vargas
2012 Edgerton
American Civil
Liberties Union, Foundation of
the Nation's Capital (ACLUFNC) during the 50th anniversary of the Bill of Rights
Photo shows Vargas with Sarahi Uribe, ACLU-NCA board member, and
John Wimberly, Jr., president, ACLU-NCA.
ceremonies in Washington D.C.
April 16. Vargas is the founder
of "Define American," a new
campaign that seeks to elevate
the conversation around immigration. Vargas has been a journalist for over a decade, writing
for some of the most prestigious
news organizations in the country. While at the Washington
Post, Vargas was part of a team
that won a Pulitzer Prize for
covering the 2007 massacre at
Virginia Tech. Born in the Philippines, he emigrated to the
United States at age 12. Stunning
the media and political circles
and attracting world-coverage,
Vargas wrote the groundbreaking essay, "My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant," for the
New York Times Magazine in
the summer of 2011.
25
April 30, 2012
Real estate
tidbits
Prevent colon cancer
'Blood in the stools is one of
the earliest signs of colon cancer.'
IT was 3:13 p.m. on February 11, 2009, when CBS World
News bannered this headline,
"Philippines
Icon
Corazon
Aquino Has Cancer," followed
by this report:
"Former Philippine President Corazon Aquino, who
sparked a wave of pro-democracy movements around the
world by leading a 1986 'people
power' revolt, has colon cancer,
her daughter said Monday.
"Aquino, 75, was swept into
power by the peaceful uprising
that ousted late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, cementing her as
an icon of democracy.
"Usually dressed in her
trademark yellow in public, she
has remained active in social
and political causes. Most recently, she has been attending
rallies calling for the resignation
of President Gloria Macapagal
Arroyo.
"Kris Aquino, her voice
breaking as she fought back
tears, read a statement on live
television that said her mother
had gone in for tests after suffering from high blood pressure,
difficulty breathing and fever
during the Christmas and New
Year holidays, then a persistent
cough, loss of appetite and
weight loss."
Colon cancer is a preventable disease. Had Cory's colon
cancer been detected earlier, she
would still have been alive today, and the history of the Philippines would have been
different.
*What is colon cancer?*
Colon (large intestines) and
rectum (reservoir for feces) are
the terminal parts of the digestive system. Cancer of the colon
and rectum, or colo-rectal cancer, is the rapid uncontrolled
growth of abnormal and very
aggressive cells that multiply
without order, causing a tumor
that is malignant and tends to
destroy organs around it. The
cancerous cells travel (metastasize) through the blood and
lymph channels to distant parts
of the body, like the liver, bones,
brain, etc., ultimately killing its
victim.
*How prevalent is colon
cancer?*
Colorectal cancer ranks the
second most leading cancer
deaths (51,370 a year) for both
men and women in the USA,
with about 142,570 patients diagnosed annually. It claims
more lives than AIDS and breast
cancer combined. In the Philippines, at least 8,000 new cases of
colorectal cancer are diagnosed
yearly, "and steadily increasing,"
according to the Philippine Cancer Society.
*How does it usually start?*
Colon cancer usually begins
as a polyp, a tonsil-like growth
on the inner wall of the colon,
which is pre-cancerous (not malignant), but over the years they
can become cancerous. They are
easily visible by colonoscopy.
Majority (more than 95 percent)
of colo-rectal cancers are adenocarcinoma, cancer of the gland
cells on the surface of he inner
wall of the colon/rectum.
*Does genetics play a role in
colorectal cancer?*
To some degree yes, but
there is really a low genetic predisposition to cancer of the large
intestine. Exception to this is
seen in "cancer-families" and "colon cancer-families," where colorectal cancer victimizes family
members across several generations, usually occurring before
the age of 40.
*Are
meat-eaters
more
prone to colorectal cancer?*
It appears to be so, because
colorectal cancer is found more
prevalent in populations that
low-fiber diets that are high in
animal proteins, fats, and refined carbohydrates. The incidence of colorectal cancer and
other forms of cancers is indeed
high among those who eat red
meat (pork, beef, etc) compared
to those who eat high fiber diets
(vegetables, fruits, wheat, bran,
etc) and fish.
*What is the mechanism in
the formation of cancer?*
This question is not yet settled. It is postulated that carcinogens (cancer-causing agents)
may be from the low-fiber food
(especially red meat) we eat, or
produced from the resulting
biliary or intestinal secretions
following bacterial action, which
transforms these into carcinogens. Colorectal cancer is one
reason why we recommend abstinence from red meat and staying on high-fiber diet of
vegetables and fruits, and fish.
The other is, of course, to minimize the occurrence of diabetes,
REO-TO-RENTAL- not for
every market. REO or Real Estate Owned also known as bank
owned properties are those foreclosed homes but was not sold
in courthouse auctions and automatically becomes the property
of the bank that holds the mortgage. About a month ago, there
was stir created when Federal
Housing Finance Agency gave a
green light to Fannie Mae and
Freddie Mac to convert REO
properties available through
bulk sales to investors for use as
rentals. This program is a part
of the President Obama initiative to help underwater homeowners. The goal is to reduce
the inventory of REO properties
contributing to low prices of
homes while helping property
owners and investors meet the
increasing demand for rental
properties. Don’t get excited as I
received a lot of phone calls
about this and have to do some
research and talked to lenders
on how the program works.
Though this seems works
better for underwater homeowners; the program is not acceptable in NorthernVA. This is
because REO properties are already selling well. The program
applies only in areas where there
is significant need wherein there
is a high REO inventories.
Obama administration is sensitive to the different market conditions and intends to limit the
program to places with high
REO inventories.
FHA FEES: Up for Purchasers; Down for some Refinances:
The FHA mortgage insurance
premium will increase by .10%
for purchase money borrowers
started April 1. The increase
was part of the 2011 legislation
to extend payroll tax cuts. There
is an additional .25 % increase
on jumbo loans to take effect
June 1. The upfront mortgage
insurance premium has gone up
April 1 to 1.75%. If you are in
the process of buying a home
under FHA loans, you may want
to contact your loan officer or
bank to get more details on this
on how it will affect your future
loan.
Meanwhile, borrowers
who took out loans before June
1, 2009, the administration is reducing the upfront premium on
FHA refinance to .01% and lowering the annual premium to
.55%; however you have to meet
certain eligibility requirements.
Pick up the phone and call your
lenders as you may qualify for
this.
Deb Cancellation Relief
Federal law that provides tax relief for homeowners who receive
debt forgiveness through foreclosures, shot sales or modifications is set to expire this year but
already extended until December 31, 2013. This is the third extension as it should expire
originally in 2009. The market
still unstable to date and still
high number of short sales and
foreclosures. Analysts say the
extension is needed as lenders
restructure millions of loans.
Homeowners are more attractive than renters!! Eat your
heart out, recent CNN survey of
1,000 single people. More than
1/3 of women said they would
prefer to date a homeowner
rather than a renter and about
18% of me said the same thing.
Moving back with parents might
be a good idea just like us Filipinos but will not be attractive for
your love life. So find a Realtor® and a loan officer as soon
as possible.
obesity, heart attack, stroke, and
Alzheimer's.
*What are the signs and
symptoms of colorectal cancer?*
The person may not have
symptoms at all. It could be so
subtle, like fatigue and anemia.
Blood in the stool (black or
bloody red stools) is one common sign. The others include
change in the bowel habits, diarrhea or constipation, stools more
slender or flatter than usual,
stomach discomfort, bloating,
fullness, abdominal cramps, frequent gas pains, unexplained
weight loss, a sensation that the
rectum does not empty completely. Not all these symptoms
and signs need to be present, or
necessary, to suspect possible
presence colorectal cancer. Any
one of these, if persistent, should
alert one to seek medical help.
*When should colonoscopy
be done?*
Looking at your stools
every time you defecate is fundamental. If there is a change in
the color, consistency, and shape
of your stools, or if you see red
blood in your stools, or if is
black, report this to your physician, since blood in the stools is
one of the earliest signs of colon
cancer. He/she may order a test
for occult blood even if the color
of your stool is normal, which is
recommended
annually
for
those 50 and older, together with
flexible fiber-optic colonoscopy
every 3 to 5 years. These are lifesaving test and procedures,
great gifts of medical science,
which each of us should take advantage of.
Mortgage Disclosures: The
Consumer Financial Protection
Bureau is now looking for similar disclosures as to credit card
offers so lenders can’t pull a fast
one. The goal is to make it easier
for consumers to make informed
decisions and compare lender
rates before making the final decision. This will be in effect
soon.
Is 15 the new 30?
Something to think about.
About 90% of people prefer the
30-year, fixed-rate loan. Last
quarter of 2011, it was down to
60%; meaning more homebuyers
prefers the 15 to 20 year loans instead. Those who are refinancing switch to 15 year mortgage.
People start to think longerterm, bigger picture. While typical payment on 15 year term is
50% higher than the 30 year
mortgage, interest rate is significantly lower. Example 3.41% for
a 15 year mortgage versus 4.05%
on a 30 year.
Note: Jocelyn Porteria is a
Realtor® licensed in VA. She
earned a designation of ABR, GRN
Accredited Buyer’s Specialist and
GREEN Designation, CDPE Certified Distressed Property and Short
Sale Expert, (SFR) Short Sales and
Foreclosure Resource. For more
info, call her at 571-432-8335 or
email at [email protected]
for a free confidential
evaluation of your individual situation, property value, and possible
options. She is also an accredited
agent of Ayala Land, SM Residences and Century Properties in
the Philippines.
*How can we prevent cancer?*
Cancer in general is caused,
in almost all cases, by what we
eat and drink, what we breathe
in, what we apply to our body,
what we expose ourselves to in
our environment, by our personal behavior, and to some extent by our individual genetic
predisposition. As far as our
genes are concerned, we did not
choose them, but we can choose
to protect our DNA from harm
through healthy lifestyle and behavior.
Here are some basic guides:
(1) Minimize or avoid eating red
meat. Instead, have a regular
diet of fish, vegetables, nuts,
whole grains, fruits, and partake
rice, bread, and other carbohy-
Continued on page 31
26
April 30, 2012
CAMARON REBOSADO
This is one of those recipes
we inherited from the Spaniards
long time ago when the Philippines was under its regime for
more than 300 years. So many
good versions of this recipe have
emerged and yet not many people would dare to serve them at
parties. Most obvious reason is
that shrimps nowadays are too
expensive and its preparation
would entail some tedious tasks,
especially in deveining them. It
is not advisable to skip the process of deveining because the intestinal tract of the shrimps is
not edible at all. In this recipe, I
intentionally kept the heads of
the shrimps intact to give that
native presentation. It is really
all up to you whether or not to
include the heads.
Serves 4-5
Ingredients:
20 large shrimps, shelled,
deveined, head and tail left intact
1 cup flour
Salt and white pepper
1 cup water or a little less
than 1 cup if thicker batter is
preferred
1 egg, beaten
1/2
teaspoon
finely
chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup bread crumbs (add
more if required)
Vegetable oil for shallow
frying
Sprigs of parsley for garnishing
Methods:
Preheat a non-stick frying
pan with vegetable oil over medium high heat. (Using a nonstick pan minimizes the oil
required in cooking, thus allowing the crust to toast lightly.)
Combine the flour, salt,
pepper and parsley and water
then whisk vigorously until
smooth; mix in the egg. Spread
the breadcrumbs over a plate.
Dip the shrimps into the flour
mixture or batter and then
lightly coat with breadcrumbs.
Pan-fry the shrimps in
batches in hot oil for 2 minutes
on each side or until the shrimps
are golden brown. Place the
cooked shrimps in a colander to
drain the excess oil.
Garnish with sprigs of parsley. Serve with your favorite
dipping sauce -- or either sweet
chili sauce or banana sauce.
Chef's Tips:
Deveining a shrimp is not at
all difficult to do. First, remove
the shell then use the tip of the
knife to slit along the backside of
the shrimp just deep enough to
expose the long dark thread-like
intestinal tract. Next, with your
fingers or tip of the knife, lift up
and pull out the vein and discard. When done deveining all
the shrimps, rinse and pat dry
with paper towels.
To make your own bread-
crumbs from leftover bread, arrange thin slices in a single layer
on a baking sheet. Bake at 350°
F until crisp and golden brown.
When cool, crumble or crush
with a rolling pin or run through
a food processor.
Editor’s Note: Master Chef
Evelyn: 100 Most Influential Filipina Women in the U.S., 2009,
Filipina Women’s Network; MHC
Most Outstanding Migrant Award
in Culinary Arts, 2011; PAFC
Dakila Special Achievement Award,
2011; Owner, Philippine Oriental
Market & Deli, Arlington, Virginia; Founder and President of
CHEW (Cancer Help Eat Well)
Foundation, a 501 (c) (3) public
charity formed to help and cook
pro-bono for Filipino-Americans
who are afflicted with cancer and
other serious illnesses; Culinary
writer, master baker and cake designer (kitchen-tested and mastered
more than 400 recipes, and counting); Member, Les Dames d’Escoffier International, Washington DC
Chapter; Member, International
Cake Exploration Society, Master
Chef, French Cuisine and Patisserie, Le Cordon Bleu, London, U.K.;
Producer/Host of the cooking show
“Evelyn’s Kitchen Cooking with
Friends”
NYMPHO
The woman seated herself
in the psychiatrist's office. "What
seems to be the problem?" the
doctor asked.
"Well, I, uh," she stammered. "I think I, uh, might be a
nymphomaniac."
"I see," he said. "I can help
you, but I must advise you that
my fee is $80 an hour."
"That's not bad," she replied. "How much for a onenight stand?"
THE KISS
There was an Irishman, an
Englishman and Clarisse Stone
sitting together in a carriage in a
train going through Tasmania.
Suddenly the train went through
a tunnel and, as it was an old
model train, there were no lights
in the carriages and it went completely dark.
Then there was this kissing
noise and the sound of a really
loud slap. When the train came
out of the tunnel, Clarisse Stone
and the Irishman were sitting as
if nothing had happened and the
Englishman had his hand on his
face as he had been slapped
there.
The Englishman was thinking: "The Irish fella must have
kissed Clarisse Stone and she retaliated by slapping him, but
missed and slapped me instead."
ALCOHOL
Clarisse Stone was thinking:
"The English fella must have
tried to kiss me and actually
kissed the Irishman and got
slapped for it."
The Irishman was thinking:
"This is great! The next time the
train goes through another tunnel, I'll make another kissing
noise and slap that English idiot
again."
ANONG GUSTO
HUH?
Shortly after the 911 emergency number became available,
an elderly and quite ill lady appeared in a Rochester hospital
emergency room, having driven
herself to the hospital and barely
managing to stagger in from the
parking lot. The horrified nurse
said, 'Why didn't you call the
911 number and get an ambulance?'
The lady said, "My phone
doesn't have the number
"eleven".'
A large signboard says:
"ALCOHOL KILLS SLOWLY."
Nakita ng lasenggo... "So
what?! Sino ba ang nagmamadali?"
Son to dying father: Itay,
ano po ang gusto ninyo, magpalibing ba o magpa-cremate?
Ama: Ikaw na ang bahala,
anak. Isurprise mo na lang ako.
BUKSAN
Mister: Honey, boksan mo
na yung sweets.
Misis: Nasaan, honey? Ang
lambing mo naman. May pasalubong ka pa sa akin!
Mister: Yung sweets ng
elaw. Ang dilim kaya dito!
ORDER
Waitress: How do you want
your eggs done, Sirs?
American: I want my eggs
fried.
Japanese: I want it boiled.
Pinoy: Ala eh! Sa 'kin,
hawakan mo na lang... masarap
na yaan!
WALANG TIWALA
Nag-uwi ng babae si Pedro
sa bahay nila.
"Huwag kang mag-alala,
wala ang misis ko ngayon dito...
nagbakasyon sa probinsiya. Puwedeng-puwede tayo," paniniguro ni Pedro sa babae.
Dumiretso sa kama ang
dalawa at nang nasa gitna na ng
kainitan ng laban, nagsalita ang
babae.
"Teka, kinakailangang magsuot ka ng condom."
Nagmamadaling naghanap
ng condom si Pedro at mga ilang
saglit lang, bumalik na galit na
galit.
"Sabi ko na nga ba... I don't
believe it, talagang walang tiwala sa akin ang asawa ko. Pati
mga condoms ko, dinala! Buwisit"
PINAKAMASAYA
Tino:
Pare,
sinong
pi-
nakamasayang lalaki dito sa ibabaw ng mundo?
Dulo: Si Adam
pare…
asawa ni Eva.
Tino: Ha, bakit naman?
Dulo: Kasi, wala siyang
naging biyenan na babae.
SA HOTEL
Misis: Hello? Please lang,
send maintenance dito... hurry!
Ang mister ko tatalon sa bintana... gustong magpakamatay,
Bilis lang please!
Receptionist: Yes, po mam.
Right away po. Pero bakit po
maintenance?
Misis: Ayaw kasing mabuksan ang bintana, eh!
27
April 30, 2012
The
Inevitable
Has Come
Transition to a more lowkey life is most wonderful.
When the overwhelming days of
accumulation of activities, responsibilities, and of course,
stuff, appears to be less and less
appealing and becoming tiring
endeavors, something inside us
is changing. When we begin to
feel this way and there’s no
more sense of satisfaction and
pleasure in these energies, what
could be the matter?
I guess time has come when
we want to do less and enjoy it
more. For some of us who’s children are all grown up and living
on their own and for us whose
husbands are retired already, we
seek ways to find shortcuts
through daily drudgery and take
a close look at activities that occupy much of our time. We want
more personal time, time with
family and friends and time to
do pleasurable things that interest us, like hobbies or projects.
And at the end of the day, we
feel great when we’ve created a
meaningful life with simple satisfactions.
Hello! Are we dreaming of
seeping some tea, enjoy reading
or having massage? Of not waking up early, dressing up and
driving though the traffic for
work? Or just living a simple
life free of stresses? We now
want to down shift our energies,
to downsize our homes, decrease and de-clutter the accumulated material things and
repeat, to simplify our life. The
inevitable has come. Yes, this
means looking forward to retiring from work! It needs refocusing on priorities of life and the
dictates of our wellbeing.
Friends and Events Here
and There
1Christening of Madelyn
Dodson, the daughter of and
Jim and Liza Mataac Dodson
and granddaughter of Celso and
Vilma Mataac of West Potomac
in Maryland. The celebration
was attended by the families and
friends of the Dodsons and
Mataacs.
26th Birthday of Maddie
Embuscado, daughter of Mark
and Leslie Embuscado . Hosted
by Lolo Fred and Lola Vicky
Embuscado, the guests were invited to a luncheon party at the
Cheng’s Oriental Restaurant in
Sterling, Virginia.
3Lito and Millette Suarez invited their relatives and friends
to celebrate the Baptism of their
grandaughter, Sofia Suarez.
Parents of Baby Sofia, Mark and
Mai, welcomed the arrival of
their 3rd child together with their
other two daughters, Francesca
and Nicole. The party after the
ceremony was at the Suarez residence in Beltsville, Maryland.
4Vellie Dietrich Hall invited guests to a Ribbon Cutting
and Grand Opening of Vellie’s
Boutique and Specialty Gift
Shop in Charlotte Court House,
Virginia. Vellie and husband
Harry Hall also had a tour and
preview of their Diamond Hill
facilities: Bed and Breakfast Style
Lodging, Conference House
(Rustic Barn), Courtyard &
Smoke House Pub and Ceremonial Centers (Wedding /Gathering). The Diamond facilities are
located way past the Richmond
area. Vellie was a former Commissioner on Asian Pacific Initiatives at the White House. The
event was heavily attended by
officials in Richmond as well as
local area officials. Friends of
Vellie in Washington, DC area
drove all the way and braved
the all-day rainy weather to attend the event. Inday Alvir,
Norma Azarcon, Becky M. Pagsibigan and Maurese Owens
with spouses of the last three,
Warie, Pat and Kevin, could not
resist buying items at the highend boutique.
5The Philippine Medical
Association of Washington, DC
will hold its Spring Gala Ball at
the Bethesda Marriot Hotel in
Maryland on April 28, 2012.
‘Memories of Philippine Kitchens’
Amy Besa, co-author of a
charming and comprehensive
cookbook, "Memories of Philip-
Sweet City Desserts, a new Filipino-owned and managed pastry shop in Vienna, Virginia on
Amy Besa (seated) with, from left, Nita Churchill, Becky Pagsibigan, PALM
President Mitzi Pickard and Malcolm Churchill, answers questions about
pine Kitchens" (revised and updated edition) was featured at
April 13.
The new edition--published
in April 2012-- notes that Besa
and Romy Dorotan (co-author
and chef) have closed the highlyacclaimed Cendrillon in SoHo
New York and have re-opened
as Purple Yam restaurant in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn. The first
book was honored by the International Association of Culinary
Professionals (IACP) with the
prestigious Grigson award.
Besa took attendees through
a gastronomic overview of the
book--tracing the traditions of
native Filipino food passed
down through generations to the
melding of foreign cultures into
the cuisine. Memories of Philippine Kitchens contains more
than 100 time-honored and
unique recipes, including new
inspirations such as chocolate
turon, fried Philippine heirloom
rice, pomelo, watermelon and
papaya salad, among others. The
authors take the readers on a
mouth-watering journey with
hundreds of inviting photographs with colorful stories of
OLRA
I spent my first 5 years of
school at FABES (Fernando Air
Base Elementary School.) I transferred to OLRA (Our Lady of the
Rosary Academy) in the city of
Lipa, Batangas in my sixth
grade. It was ran by the
Maryknoll Sisters. They have
since left the Philippines and relinquished their role as educators. That saddens me. The
Maryknoll sisters were friendly
and knew how to run a good
school.
Until OLRA, I had not encountered an American. Their
way of speaking was foreign
and strange. I could not understand a word uttered by Sister
Peter Marie, our sixth grade
teacher. I asked to be transferred
to the front of the class. I
thought my problem was my
hearing. I had a bout of dyslexia
when I was in Second Grade. I
was already gripped by fear that
it had come back. Sister Peter
Marie looked at me kindly,
moved me nearer the front, and
spoke a little slower for my
benefit. I eventually got used to
her way of talking. I wasn't going deaf after all.
The nuns tried their best to
improve our own diction. One
scribbled th on the board one
morning. 'Repeat after me. Withth.' She said hopefully. She emphasized and prolonged the th.
'WID' we replied loudly. She
closed her eyes and repeated the
request. We repeated the reply.
'Ok, how about this.' She stuck
out her tongue and said thhhe.
'DA.' We almost screamed. She
couldn't help laughing with us.
Our Sister Professor Higgins
looked at us hopelessly. Our
group of Eliza Doolittles and
Doods were as hard to crack.
My favorite activity of the
day was reading time. My parents did not read to me at bedtime. To be fair I didn't know of
any parent who read to their
children. So it was a novel and
happy time for me when Sister
Maria Luke read to us. Some of
my classmates welcomed it as a
chance to catch up on sleep.
Snores were abruptly ended by
covert taps from friends.
Heidi, the young protagonist of a well-known series of
Swiss children's book that was
read to us, quickly became my
heroine. I asked for dinners of
cheese, bread, and milk. My
mother obliged and served me
Kraft processed cheese, American bread - what we called the
loaf of sliced bread - and evaporated milk. I deluded myself
about how delicious it was. My
mother hid a smile when she
saw the sour look on my face as
I gulped the warm milk.
Heidi's love of the Alps and
her tender regard of her grandfather made me think of my ambiguous feelings toward the
mountains we crossed to get to
Dupax. No ambiguity really. I
hated those mountains. But like
Heidi I loved my grandfather, so
I revised my dread and convinced myself the overnight
travels weren't so bad after all.
I was mischievous and daring, willing to take on fisticuffs
with boys and jumping from
swings in full motion. But I was
also naïve. One nun was incredulous when I insisted Santa
Claus was real. 'How old are
you?' She asked and arched an
eyebrow. I hung my head.
'Eleven.' I admitted. 'Oh,
Myrna...' was all she could say.
Santa Claus is real! Didn't I just
receive many toys from him the
past Christmas? I ignored how
closely Santa's handwriting resembled my mother's. My
mother shushed all my questions. When the presents
stopped coming, I was crushed. I
still cling to the romance of the
jolly old fellow.
I visit Lipa whenever I
could. There is a planned OLRA
reunion in January 2013. I can't
wait to be around my classmates
once more. Decades would disappear; wrinkles, and sags, and
weight gains would be ignored.
And our conversations would be
resumed and picked up where
we left off.
Are we there yet?
Send comments to [email protected]
culinary traditions of the Philippines.
The
standing-room-only
event was sponsored by the
Philippine Arts, Letters, Media
Council (PALM) and organized
by
president
Mitzi
Pickard.
Signed copies are still available
and may be purchased at Sweet
City Desserts.
28 Editorial
April 30, 2012
Challenges of being Asian
America celebrates Asian Pacific American Heritage Month
to train the limelight, albeit briefly, to the many contributions
of Asians and Pacific Islanders to weaving the colorful and vibrant fabric of American society.
The Asian Pacific Islander community itself consists of 45
disparate ethnicities and about a hundred dialects.
Filipinos now comprise the 2nd biggest Asian immigrant
bloc, next only to the Chinese.
This commemoration is both a celebration and a challenge
for the Filipino American community.
The contributions of Filipinos from defending democracy
Manila Times
and the American way of life to caring for Americans young Washington Tsismis
and old to providing skills that keep the American economy
humming are legion and continuing.
Just as Filipinos cast their own distinctive hue on the Asian
American rainbow, there is also the need to make that even
brighter and more vibrant.
For today’s FilAms, this should not only be a time to remember and honor compatriots who’ve blazed trails for us
more importantly, it should be occasion to contemplate and rededicate ourselves to the task of forging even newer paths for
generations yet to come. And one of them is political empowerment. (RJJ)
Calling the new Congen
“A Cut Above the Rest.” That is how
Manila Mail national editor and columnist Bing C. Branigin described Consul
General Ding Nolasco for rendering extraordinary service to the Filipino community in the southeastern part of the
United States.(Manila Mail, Feb. 29,2012)
Bing said that during Nolasco’s six-year
stint here, people had nothing but praise
for the Congen and his staff who went
out of their way to help all those seeking
consular services.
Today, a little over two months after
Nolasco’s departure on Feb. 22, the Manila Mail has started receiving complaints
about how they have been treated by the
staff. The most common complaints are
the long wait, unanswered phone calls
and the shabby treatment they get from
some members of the consular staff. Calling on Ambassador Cuisia.
***
SOS….the Filipino American community is wondering when the USP4GG
(US Pinoys for Good Government) will
stage a noisy demonstration in front of
the Chinese embassy in Washington D.C.
to protest its incursion into Philippine
territory, specifically the Scarborough
Shoal which is only 124 nautical miles
from Zambales. Two years ago, they
staged a demonstration and held a meeting about oil in the Spratlys. That was the
last Tsismosos in town heard of USP4GG.
“Is it because their requests have not been
granted by PNoy? asked my compadre.
Another said they are busy preparing for
the visit of PNoy.
***
Ha, ha, ha, ha…Is Philippine President Aquino III still a kid? Why does he
like to repeat words that only kids often
say? Or when making serious public
statements? First, it was “wang wang”
(for sirens), now its “jaw jaw” and “war
war.” Is this why he is called Noynoy, by
some people close to him? Statements like
these are un-Presidential. He should not
imitate Lady Gaga. What if he mistakenly
calls the US President “barat barat”!
Seriously speaking, his statement
that “It’s better to Jaw Jaw (meaning talk)
than to “War War” l seems to have emboldened the Chinese in the current
standoff at the Scarborough Shoal. More
Chinese ships are appearing near the
Shoal. Some people are now saying
Noynoy might be a “duwag” (coward).
He is afraid to confront the Chinese, unlike Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario.
This might be the reason why the “biggest” warship the Philippine navy sent to
arrest the Chinese fishermen on the Shoal
was withdrawn for “refueling and replenishment of supplies.” The Philippine
media are now making fun of what they
called “retreat.” Filipinos want the government to “War War” if need be, even
with its mosquito navy and airforce. .
Others are wondering if he is a real blueblooded Filipino. Others think he isr a
Chinese sympathizer because of his ancestor. Remember during his visit to
China he was brought to a place where
his ancestors were reportedly born. His
mom’s family name is Cojuangco.
***
Filipino Americans are also angry
over the brazen Chinese incursion on
Philippine territory. They said Scaborough Shoal, an islet close to Zambales
and claimed by both countries, Now
where are the USP4GG army? Last year,
they staged a noisy demonstration in
front fo the Chinese embassy. Is this because some members are sympathetic to
the Chinese because they too have Chinese sounding names.
***
If the 93 million Filipinos in the Philippines, 4 million in the US and more
than 100 million Mexicans join forces tosend email , phone calls and text messages to American Idol, Jessica Sanchez
will be the 2012 Idol champion. In fact
that is what supporters of the other candidates are doing, urging the local communities and states to send in their votes
to American idol. The votes cast last week
numbered more than 93 million. Expect
it to surpass 100 million next time.
This makes the singing contest into a
popularity contest. Tsismosos’ two-cents
worth of advice to promoters of the show:
Why not make the judges votes constitute
as 40 percent of the vote?
***
The editor passed on to your’s truly
this email from one who identifies himself as Ado Paglinawan: He calls PNoy
“ineptocrat.” Defined by Urban dictionary as "a system of government where
the least capable to lead are elected by the
Continued on page 31
Opinion 29
April 30, 2012
Noynoying
Snow and Bush
I miss snow.
And I miss George W.
Bush.
If you’re looking for a connection between the two, you’ll
just have to read through.
First, snow. Or the lack of
it. I’m sure most people are relieved that our winterless winter spared us snow storms and
the back breaking chore of
snow removals. But farmers
and gardeners like me are worried. No snow means that the
subsoil moisture has not been
recharged and restocked. With
good subsoil moisture, all the
water that vegetables need
won’t have to come from the
rain. Winter, with its cycles of
freezing and thawing, is also
the time for repairing and rebuilding. That way, when the
rains come in the spring, the
soil structure can easily soak
up the precipitation. Soil will
be soft and warm, full of air
and water and life.
Well said, Terra Brockman, author of “The Seasons
on Henry’s Farm.” She grows
vegetables in the Mackinaw
River Valley of central Illinois.
Like Brockman, I also pine for
deep winter and yearn for “the
full measure of the hunkeringdown season that is necessary
for revitalization and rejuvenation of the soil and of the soul.”
For all the harshness of bitter cold and biting wind, of
barren ground as hard as rock,
winter allows cracks and crevices for water to sink down
deep, where the roots are. After
winter comes spring, a time of
softening.
Which brings me to
George W. Bush.
I’ve been worried lately
that the harsh rhetoric spinning
out of the GOP candidates for
president may not change anytime soon, even as they try
harder to compete for affection.
Mitt Romney must curry favor
with the Tea Party. But after his
nomination, his advisers assure
us, they’ll just hit the reset button: “Everything changes. It’s
almost like an Etch A Sketch.
You can kind of shake it up
and we start all over again.”
Start all over again and declare himself a moderate, like
George W. Bush? I suppose it’s
perfectly reasonable to conclude, as some of his fans
would say, that Romney aims
to fulfill his father’s dream of
being a compassionate conservative president.
But right now, there
doesn’t seem to be a place for
compassion in this race, which
has featured supporters cheering the death penalty and
crackdowns on undocumented
immigrants. “There is a meanness to the way many Republicans talk about the poor these
days that was not in vogue
during the Bush years,” observes Amy Sullivan of USA
Today. “What happened to
compassion? … In 2010, Republican Senate candidates attacked programs such as Social
Security, student loans and unemployment benefits, saying
they made Americans lazy. The
debates in this election cycle
have also encouraged the turn
away from compassionate conservatism. Led by Gingrich, the
candidates have played to
audiences hungry for red meat.
These party faithful lustily
cheer attacks and boasts, and
they boo any statement that
carries a whiff of moderation.”
Recall how former Arkansas
governor Mike Huckabee was
savaged by the right for favoring state tuition breaks for children
of
undocumented
immigrants. “You don’t punish
a child because a parent committed a crime,” he dared say.
And Bush’s domestic faithbased program was the signature policy that grew out of his
compassionate
conservative
philosophy, which shaped his
more humane view of immigration. Romney’s, on the other
hand, makes one shudder.
Now you see why I miss
Bush.
So, we had no snow this
year. But we had a Republican
primary with the harshness of
a cold, mean winter. If the soil
that nurtures our politics is
now hardened like rock, one
hopes for real cracks and openings that softens and warms.
Ah, if only starting all over
again is as easy as shaking up
an Etch A Sketch.
Send your comments to
[email protected]
The Philippine dictionary
may not be as rich as the words
trove of Webster, but Filipinos
never fall short of coming up
with new terms to fill in the vocabulary gaps. There’s a new
word coined after the sitting
Philippine president that even
merited a space in Wikipedia,
the online encyclopedia.
“Noynoying”, an effortless
pose or activity consisting of sitting or standing around in an
unconcerned manner. Militant
activists came up with this word
as a protest against Pres. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino’s alleged inaction on the oil price
hikes and indifference to the
calls of the labor section for
wage hikes. They are calling
Pres. Noy a do-nothing president.
If you are a fan of P-Noy,
don’t worry, be happy just like
P-Noy. It’s more perception than
reality according to Malacanang.
P-Noy is actually a hard worker.
He even wants to double up and
do some of the work of the Supreme Court. Get out Chief Justice Corona, P-Noy can do a
better job in dispensing justice to
the corrupt who happen to be in
his black list. He even works
overtime making puppets of
members of Congress to ensure
his wishes are their command.
There goes the half-baked impeachment complaint against
the Chief Justice.
Perception or reality, P-Noy
has to get rid of this tag lest he
goes down in history as the most
hardworking lazy commander
in chief. He must project himself
as a man of action and compassion for the struggling masses.
Next time the Red Chinese boats
intrude Philippine waters, he
should lead a flotilla of concerned citizens and shout to the
communist bullies- leave us in
peace or we will all stop eating
your pancit.
And he should get married.
Making romance on an installment basis would not please the
influential bishops. They might
think that he is over patronizing
the rubber industry which is a
sin according to church tenets.
After he gets a wife, the first
lady then can convert a portion
of the Malacanang front, side or
back lawn into a vegetable garden, just like what Michelle
Obama is doing at the White
House grounds. The first family
can then feed the families of
jeepney drivers who are reeling
from the oil price hikes. And
everybody in the shanties will
live happily ever after.
Noynoying then will have a
new meaning- hardinerong macho!
***
More
on
Philippine
wordsmith. I left the Philippines
in the late seventies. I still remember the new lexicon of the
streets then like- pogi instead of
guapo; dehin goli meant hydrophobia sometimes blamed on
Nawasa; tsibog instead of kain;
bebot instead of girl, and many
others not fit to print.
As I watch Philippine TV, I
find that Filipinos continue to
fill in the blanks in their cultural
vocabulary for convenience and
even necessity. Even the media
has concocted verbal shortcuts.
Because the translation of Statement of Assets, Liabilities and
Networth would be very very
long and even sound funny,
they came up with SALN, pronounced as sal-in. The Department of Education is called Dep
Ed. A cabinet undersecretary is
called- U Sec, pronounced yoosek. The Department of Labor
and Employment is called
DOLE, pronounced- dooley. Phil-
Continued on page 31
Shrinking
archipelago
When news of the latest
flare-up at Scarborough Shoal
made the front page, many back
home thought it was part of the
Spratly Island dispute with
China.
In fact, it is hundreds of
miles away from Spratly Islands
which lie west of Palawan; Scarborough Shoal is closer to Zambales on Luzon’s western coast.
Many Filipinos have only cursory knowledge of the various
Philippine territorial disputes.
The Philippines has arrested
significant numbers of Chinese
fishermen there but barely
raised a ruckus. The Shoal, actually a collection of reefs and
rocks that more often disappear
during high tide, is 137 miles
(220 kilometers) from Palauig,
Zambales.
For decades, Filipino and
Chinese fishermen have shared
the rich seas, including the harvesting of guano or bird droppings that was prized as an
ingredient
for
gunpowder.
American warships often sailed
through the waters going to and
from Subic Base.
In 1957, the Philippines con-
ducted an oceanographic survey
of the area together with the US
Navy. They built a flag pole to
fly the Philippine flag and when
China tried to plant a marker in
1997, it was quickly thrown
down by Filipino troops.
Spanish
and American
maps
showed
Scarborough
Shoal as part of the Philippines
identified as “Bajo de Masinloc”.
The Philippine claim rests
largely on proximity it is the
closest land mass to the Shoal.
But in the realm of geopolitics, proximity does not carry as
much weight as actual presence
or occupation. The Chinese have
built markers and regularly sent
ships to Sabina Shoal, just 70
miles (113 kilometers) from the
municipality of Quezon in
Palawan Province.
The Philippines has lost its
claim over Ligatan and Sipadan
Islands off the Borneo coast with
neighbors Indonesia and Malaysia. The claim is part of the
larger dispute with Malaysia
over Sabah.
Sipadan rings bells perhaps
because of the May 2000 kidnapping incident perpetrated by the
Al-qaeda affiliated Abu Sayyaf
Group.
The shrinking of the Philippine archipelago extends to the
north where Taiwan has reportedly intruded with impunity on
the smaller, uninhabited islands
near the Balintang Channel off
the Cagayan coastline.
For years, the Philippine
Navy has been trying to develop
a base at Port Irene in the
breathtaking Sta. Ana coastal
area. The Taiwanese moves are
reportedly tolerated because
they are the biggest foreign in-
Continued on page 31
30
April 30, 2012
Immigration Notes
By J.G. Azarcon, Esq.
Fictitious
documents
PNoy’s own SWAT
MANILA
It may not be so apparent
but President Aquino is under
siege from many sides. Observer
wonders if he'll survive for long.
A reformist president will
attract opposition, some virulent, sooner or later. Mr. Aquino
ran under the banner of a crusade to clean up government,
identify past plunderers and
lock them up for a long time. Already he has stepped on many
toes, some belonging to previously powerful personalities.
The previously imperious
Gloria Arroyo has been reduced
to a neck-braced hospital arrestee whose daily sunshine diet is
limited to two hours (who does
she talk to all day, her husband
Mike? Her spokeswoman Elena,
the Horn of Gloria? Her lawyerspokesman Raul Lambino? Or
just the nurses?).
The
greasy
Benjamin
Abalos, former elections commissioner, is on the dock too,
and the Chief Justice is being pilloried, virtually in the public
square for all to gawk at and
ridicule. Other minor Arroyo
functionaries are either under investigation or indictment and
are waiting for their respective
penitential coming-out.
The bureaus of Customs
and of Internal Revenue are
flushing out tax evaders and
everyone is running scared
while, slowly, the nation's coffers are gaining heft as collections rise. These bureaus
shouldn't forget to wield the axe
inside their own premises and
get rid of the extortionists in
their midsts.
So, PNoy has been rocking
the boat. Naturally, a lot of people are pissed. They want to get
even. Do you think Gloria is suffering her indignity magnanimously?
Mr. Aquino must cover his
flanks, a lot of people want to
take a crack at him. He's no
dummy, of course, and he doesn't need a lowly columnist to tell
him of the dangers that lurk
around.
Still, it doesn't hurt for
PNoy to mull the risks and potential dangers ahead. He's currently untouchable because the
people are behind him, as validated by the surveys. They are
his not-so-secret weapon. As
long as his numbers are up, the
talkative congresswoman Mitos
Magsaysay can whine until she's
hoarse but she'll get nowhere.
But any erosion in Aquino's
popularity and the daggers will
come out, probably not just figuratively.
The national economy will
be key. As the priapic Bill Clinton knew early on, people's wallets dictate political outcomes.
Already, PNoy's numbers are
dropping under the dead-weight
of an ailing economy, made
worse by external dynamics that
are beyond the President's control. But, an empty stomach
cares not whence the causes of
its pain emanate, it will always
blame the guy in charge, rightly
or wrongly. "It's the economy,
stupid!"
Hopefully, Mr. Aquino's
economic managers are on the
right track and will soon show
tangible positive results. Then,
he can have more time to take
care of the political agitators.
PNoy needs his Cabinet to
be candid about the problems
the administration faces and not
be simply yes-men who are
there to please their boss. Besides the justice secretary, he
needs a trusted legal guru from
whom he could seek independent counsel on complicated
issues, one who's politically
savvy and who possesses the
gravitas to impress the usual
naysayers.
The Observer can sense that
the President's image-makers
have stepped up their efforts
and are working hard behind
the scenes to keep their boss's
popularity up (they're not, as another columnist has complained,
above flooding newspapers' letters sections with disguised
propaganda mail). As a matter
of operational policy, the President must surround himself
with operatives who are loyal
and dedicated to him and, important of all, who know what
they're doing.
The stubborn elusiveness of
fugitives like Jovito Palparan,
ex-Gov. Joel Reyes and others
(including convicted wife-killer
Congressman Ruben Ecleo) is a
continuing embarrassment to
Mr. Aquino, exposing his government's ineptness in implementing the law. In cases like
this, the President must have
Continued on page 31
Some unscrupulous operators abroad dupe aliens into paying big bucks for a passage to the
United States by any means.
Some aliens end up presenting
documentation fabricated by
strangers to the Consular officer,
i.e. fake birth certificate naming
the alien's travelling companions
as parents, or passport with the
alien's face but somebody else's
name.
Most aliens are not aware of
the consequences of misrepresentation through the use of fictitious documents in the visa
application. The Immigration
Act provides that an alien who
seeks to procure, has sought to
procure, or has procured, a visa,
other documentation, admission
into the U.S., or other benefits
under the Immigration Act,
through fraud or willful misrepresentation of a material fact is,
inadmissible. An alien at the port
of entry who is found to have
committed the offense is subject
to expedited removal and cannot
reapply for the next five years.
Those who pass the inspection process set foot in America.
Once in the United States, these
aliens find opportunities to obtain valid status. Some get married to U.S. citizens, while others
get willing employers interested
in their services to file an employment based visa petition. It
is in the process trying to change
a valid status when the alien
feels the sting from the use of fic-
VISA PRIORITY DATES FOR THE PHILIPPINES
APRIL 2012
• FAMILY-SPONSORED PREFERENCES
First: Unmarried sons/daughters
of US citizens
Second:
A: Spouses/minor children of
permanent residents:
B: Unmarried sons/daughters 21 years of age
or older of permanent residents
Third: Married sons/daughters of citizens
Fourth: Brothers/sisters of citizens
Jun. 22, 1997
Oct. 08, 2009
Dec. 08, 2001
Jul. 15, 1992
Jan. 08, 1989
• EMPLOYMENT-BASED PREFERENCES
First: Priority workers
Second: Professionals holding advanced degrees
or persons of exceptional ability
Third: Skilled workers, professionals
Other Workers
Fourth:
Certain Religious Workers
Fifth: Employment creation/
(Million or half-million dollar investor)
Current
Current
Apr. 08, 2006
Apr. 08, 2006
Current
Current
Current
titious documents. There is however a limited relief available to
this ground of inadmissibility. If
the alien is the spouse, son, or
daughter of a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident, he/she
can apply for a discretionary
waiver, provided that the alien
can demonstrate that the U.S.
citizen or permanent resident
spouse, son or daughter would
suffer extreme hardship if the
alien is refused admission to the
U.S. I emphasize the word, discretionary, since relationship to a
U.S. citzen or permanent resident spouse, son or daughter is
not a guaranty that the alien will
be granted valid status. The burden of proving extreme hardship
to the U.S. citizen or permanent
resident is not an easy task, depending upon the specific circumstances of the case.
In employment based petitions where the alien has no U.S.
citizen or permanent resident
spouse, son or daughter, the
alien who is found to have used
fictitious documents to obtain a
visa will be barred from adjusting to permanent residence.
The lesson here is, if you
want to preserve your option to
obtain permanent residence in
the U.S. in the future, play it
clean. Do not present fictitious
documents to the U.S. Consular
office or to the INS.
continue. But there are hard
facts. China, for example, dislodged Japan as
the world's
second-biggest economy in 2010.
Flush with cash, housewives
made China’s grocery shopping
the world’s largest.
China's surge started 1978.
The economy then was a 20th
that of the US. Beijing’s global
impact was
minuscule..Not
anymore. At 21st century’s start,
China had tucked , under it’s
belt , years of “growing in the
region of 9-10% annually”.
Overall size rose to a quarter of
America's economy.
China chipped away at
US
dominant global power
status. . .Trade is the most dra-
matic expression. .In 1990, no
country had China as main
trading partner. By 2000, you
counted a few on your fingers.
Most clustered in east Asia.
A decade later, the list
grew to include: Japan, Africa,
Australia, Chile, Brazil, India,
Pakistan, the US and Egypt In
2011, Beijing emerged as the
world's largest producer of
manufactured goods. America
yield a standard it bore for 110
years.
.These are tectonic shifts.
“The global effect is of an entirely different order,” adds Observer “The world is tilting on
its axis in even more dramatic
Mandarin
Anyone?
How are your Chinese
lessons?” we asked grand
daughter Kristin, 8. “So, so,” replied this International School
seond grader.. “Why?”
You’ll need the Mandarin
kid,” we said..“So, will Kathie.”
Katarina, 5, is in kindergarten.
Both grapple with Swedish,
their mother’s language.. Playmates and their nanny speak
Cebuano.
China
will irresistibly
shape our future, writes Martin
Jacques..His Observer op-ed ,
updates , his 2009 book “When
China Rules the World”. Beijing’s economy would overtake
that of the US in size by 2027
This proved an underestimate. China will overtake America
in
2018,
Economist
projections assert.. No, the
Guardian disagrees.. International Monetary Fund’s world
economic outlook database of
April imply 2016.
This crystal-bowling will
Continued on page 31
31
April 30, 2012
PNoy’s own SWAT... from page 30
trained operatives at his direct
command whose specialty is to
track down slippery outlaws.
In sum, PNoy must have at
his quick disposal men and
women who can be mobilized at
the snap of his fingers and be
able to act with decisive results.
Critics can say what they want,
but a chief executive must possess this capability if he's to be
successful and to maintain the
upper hand against those who
would subvert or weaken the legitimate government.
Despite initial failures and
setbacks, the President's detractors and enemies won't stop
coming. They will regroup and
reload and will be continually
nibbling at his heels and banging at his door, and worse. PNoy
has no recourse but to fight
back.
For all we know, the President already has a defensive (or
offensive) setup, as he is, to repeat, no dummy. But, come to
think of it, from results so far,
nah, he doesn't. About time to
get his act together.
The stubborn elusiveness of
fugitives like Jovito Palparan,
ex-Gov. Joel Reyes and others
(including convicted wife-killer
Congressman Ruben Ecleo) is a
continuing embarrassment to
Mr. Aquino, exposing his government's ineptness in implementing the law. In cases like
this, the President must have
trained operatives at his direct
command whose specialty is to
track down slippery outlaws.
In sum, PNoy must have at
his quick disposal men and
Mandarin Anyone?... from page 30
style” than when Europe ruled
the roost ---- until dislodged
by an upstart colony of then 13
states.
“We no longer have any alternative but to abandon our
western parochialism,” Jacques
argues. “ ( We must ) seek to understand China on its own
terms. But the shift in mindset
that faces us is colossal….
During the 19th and 20th
centuries, every non-western
country was compelled to understand the west in its own
terms. “Now, it is now our turn
to make sense of a country so
different from our own It will
be a Herculean task. We always
look west, hardly ever east.
The result is we “insist on
living in a world that was rather
than is. We are so far behind the
curve.” Why? Does part of this
hang-up stem from a question
of ill-fitting prisms?
Ascendancy bred, first in
Europe, then the US, a westerncentric mentality. The west is the
fount of all wisdom. The only
universal model of modernization that worked was westernization
“Our
sense of
superiority closed our minds”.
Few entertained the idea that a
backward China, shorn of democracy and bereft of Enlightenment
principles,
would
flourish.
“ We were not even curious,” Jacques recalls., We insisted “on seeing China through
a western prism. We refused to
understand China in its own
terms. Our arrogance bred ignorance”:
Few heard of China Development Bank and China Exim
Bank. Yet, they lent more to the
developing world than the
World Bank in 2009 and 2010,
“just as the Rothschilds funded
much of Europe's industrialization in the 19th century.
China began making the
renminbi available for settlement of trade. Hongkong Shanghai
Banking
Corporation
foresees half of China's trade,
with the developing world, will
be paid for in renminbi by 2015.”
Is this first stage in a process
where the renminbi could dislodge the dollar as the world's
dominant currency?”
Overall figures can mislead
though. China’s huge population base whittles down per
captia income. Well-being is reflected better in modern human development indices. These
factor in education, health, justice, etc Other equity measures
include political freedoms and
human rights..
Norway tops 169 countries
in human development ranking, gauged by UN. The next
four are: Australia, New Zealand, the US and
Ireland.
China is in slot No. 89. Given
the massive poverty, Beijing s
unlikely to break into the magic
circle of 42 countries with very
high human development anytime soon.
Prevent colon... from page 25
drates in moderation.
For those who are overweight, abstaining from rice,
soft drinks, cakes, ice cream,
and other sweets is most effective in preventing obesity. Soft
drinks are all hazardous to
health as they increase the risk
for Metabolic Syndrome. (2) Do
daily physical exercises, which
is a magic bullet against diabetes, heart attack, stroke, Alzheimer's, and even cancer. They
also improve stamina, agility,
mental health, and even sexual
performance. (3) Take daily
women who can be mobilized at
the snap of his fingers and be
able to act with decisive results.
Critics can say what they want,
but a chief executive must possess this capability if he's to be
successful and to maintain the
upper hand against those who
would subvert or weaken the legitimate government.
Despite initial failures and
setbacks, the President's detractors and enemies won't stop
coming. They will regroup and
reload and will be continually
nibbling at his heels and banging at his door, and worse. PNoy
has no recourse but to fight
back.
For all we know, the President already has a defensive (or
offensive) setup, as he is, to repeat, no dummy. But, come to
think of it, from results so far,
nah, he doesn't. About time to
get his act more together.
In the Philippines, we’re
wedged between Paraguay and
Botswana at Slot 97. Like China,
we huddle with 46 other countries with middling “medium
human development.” .
The west has primarily
been shaped by its experience of
nation, the analysis claims. In
contrast, China is not even primarily a nation state. It is a civilization state. China has been
moulded by its sense of civilization.
“Unlike Europe, China
never sought to acquire overseas
colonies. Instead, Beijing established a tribute system in east
Asia… The Chinese state bears a
fundamentally different relationship to society compared with
any western state ….( This ) lies
at the heart of the Chinese pysche.
The Bo Xilai scandal rocks
a China set for a leadership
change November. Tibet rash of
immolations contiune.. Asean
countries are edgy Chinese
claims that butt into their exclusive economic zones US stationed troops in Australia
November
for a“region has
some of the busiest sea lanes in
the world,” President Obama
said.
Learn Mandarin, we tell
Kristin and Kathie. As a Chinese proverb says: “When the
sea is wide, the mountains are
high --- and the emperor is far
away, my heart is at rest.”
(
Email:
[email protected] )
multivitamins and minerals, but
avoid mega-doses as they are
toxic to the body. (4) Listen to
your body, and consult your
physician promptly for any
health concerns, and do not put
off any recommended laboratory tests and procedures, like
colonoscopy, etc., since early detection can save lives. (5) Stay
Noynoying... from page 29
ippines used to be just RP or PI
or Phils. Now it is PH.
The more things change, the
more things stay the same. Graft
and corruption is still called
larong buaya.
*****
Our hero Manny Pacquiao
is now a man of god. One afternoon at his rooster farm in
Sarangani, lightning struck rendering our champ briefly unconscious. When he woke up, his
mind was reprogrammed. He
thought he heard the sermon on
the mound. He then made a
transcript of his conversation
with the Lord and sent it to the
Vatican.
His wife Jinkee and all of
the Team Pacquiao who comprise his entourage are now
members of his religious choir.
The boxer is now a preacher.
Don’t laugh now. Pacquiao may
be the messiah in Congress. If he
can convert his fellow congressmen to follow the path to eternal
salvation, there will be less illegitimate children looking for
their fathers and even P-Noy
will thank him for ending graft
and corruption.
How does he reconcile his
new calling with his lucrative
vocation that requires infliction
of pain and suffering? Just think
the other figure is the devil that
must be punished in hell.
Shrinking archipelago... from page 29
vestors in the Ilocano-speaking
region. In fact, the fancier hotels
in Laoag City have snack dispensers that will accept only
American and New Taiwan Dollars.
But it’s only a matter of time
before heightening competition
for fisheries and other resources
in the area boils over to intragovernment dispute.
Upholding Philippine sov-
ereignty in the South China Sea
is only the tip of a wider challenge to preserve the nation’s
territorial integrity.
There are myriad economic,
environmental, security and political pressures for neighbors to
encroach on the Philippines.
That raises the very real prospect the Philippines could lose
some of its islands regardless of
the tides.
Washington Tsismis... from page 28
least capable of producing, and
where the members of society
least likely to sustain themselves
or succeed, are rewarded with
goods and services paid for by
the confiscated wealth of a diminishing number of producers."
“He is the chief architect of
the world's latest public administration strategy - characteristic
among others of thinking governance policies on one's feet,
hiding in a closet in the Palace
while eight Chinese tourists
were being massacred two miles
away, partying with a Playboy
covergirl while a killer typhoon
drowns an entire southern region, blaming and demonizing
one's political enemies for the
country's ills, freezing the momentum of the nations gross do-
mestic product, and calling for
summits after the fact on issues
like a catastrophic power crisis,
runaway increases in fuel prices
and cooking gas.”
***
away tobacco and from secondhand smoke, which is even
more toxic. (6) If you enjoy alcoholic drinks, imbibe in moderation, preferably with dinner;
excess alcohol increases the risk
for cancer, burns the liver and
cooks the brain. (7) Overall, live
and enjoy a healthy lifestyle
with family and friends.
Email:
[email protected]
Here’s another query from a
FilAm about impeached Chief
Justice Corona:
Do you think he earned all
his so-called enormous wealth
honestly?
Based on the evidences presented by the prosecutors compared to his declared assets, do
you think Chief Justice Corona is
corrupt and should be prosecuted.
If your answer to all the
questions above is NO then I am
afraid that you are living in LA
LA land.
32
April 30, 2012