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Volume 20 - No. 96 • 3 Sections – 28 Pages
MIDWEEK EDITION
US embassy downplays memo leaks by PIA LEE-BRAGO Philstar.com
MANILA – The US embassy in Manila said it is confident of its government’s capacity to preserve its good relations with the Philippines and with other countries despite the leak of thousands of diplomatic cables, many of which contained unflattering comments on global allies. “We are in constant communication with the government of the Philippines on many issues of bilateral importance,” US embassy Press Attaché Rebecca Thompson told The Star on November 30.
DATELINE
USA
Citing deficit, Obama freezing federal worker pay
AP Photo by Pablo Martinez Monsivais
US says leaks are a crime, threatens prosecution by ANNE
GEARAN Associated Press
WASHINGTON – Striking back, the Obama administration branded the WikiLeaks release of more than a quarter-million sensitive files an attack on the United States Monday and raised the prospect of criminal prosecutions in connection with the exposure. The Pentagon detailed
new security safeguards, including restraints on small computer flash drives, to make it harder for any one person to copy and reveal so Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton makes a statement many secrets. on the Wikileaks document release, Monday, Nov. 29, 2010, at The young Army Pfc. sus- the State Department in Washington. AP Photo by Evan Vucci pected of stealing the diplomatic memos, many of tagon security systems using little them classified, and feeding them to more than a Lady Gaga CD and a WikiLeaks may have defeated Penu PAGE A2
“As Secretary (of State Hillary) Clinton said, I am confident that the partnerships that the Obama administration has worked so hard to build will withstand this challenge,” Thompson said. Clinton had strongly condemned the unauthorized disclosure by WikiLeaks of classified information, saying it could put people’s lives in danger, threaten US security, and undermine efforts to work with other countries in solving mutually shared problems. Clinton said the disclosure was not just an attack on America’s foreign interests but
FROM THE AJPRESS NEWS TEAM ACROSS AMERICA
Stitches are seen in President Barack Obama’s lower lip as he delivers a statement to members of the media in the Old Executive Office Building, on, Monday, Nov. 29.
DECEMBER 1-3, 2010
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama on Monday called for freezing the pay of 2 million federal employees, saying the move is the first of many difficult decisions that must be made to slash
the nation’s mounting deficits. “The hard truth is that getting this deficit under control is going to require some broad sacrifice, and that sacrifice must be shared by the employees of the federal government,” Obama
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Cali regulator fines insurers for underpayment LOS ANGELES – After a state audit, California’s seven largest health insurers face nearly $5 million in fines for wrongly refusing to pay claims to hospitals and physicians. Improper claim payments are burdening health providers as they struggle to stay afloat in a bad economy, California Department of Managed Health Care Director Cindy Ehnes said Monday. “If providers are not paid, patient care and access suffers,” Ehnes said. “The insurance companies in this state must pay their fair share of their claims promptly, fairly and on time.” Audits ordered by Ehnes in 2008 found seven health plans weren’t meeting a legal
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PH gov’t lauds French travel advisory by CHRISTINE
AVENDAÑO Inquirer.net
M A N I L A – Malacanang is pleased by the travel advisory of France and hopes that other countries that have warned their citizens of terrorist attacks here will follow the European country’s example. “The modificaAbigail Valte tion of France is Deputy spokesperson a welcome development to us,” President Aquino’s deputy spokesperson, Abigail Valte, said. She was referring to the travel advisory issued by the French government to its citizens which skipped any mention of threats of a terrorist attack in the country as it had earlier
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VICTIM OF CONTRACTUALIZATION. If he were alive today, Andres Bonifacio would have been also a victim of low wages and contractualization, militants said in a protest rally Monday at Manila’s Liwasang Bonifacio. Inquirer.net photo by Edwin Bacasmas
AT THE UN CLIMATE TALKS IN CANCUN
Studies find PH a disaster waiting to happen by WINSTON
A. MARBELLA
Inquirer.net
MANILA – As close to 200 countries began Monday a two-week meeting in Cancun, Mexico, to try to forge an agreement to curb climate change, several international agencies warned that the Philippines remained a disaster waiting to happen – with Metro Manila possibly going
under water after just a heavy downpour. As in earlier meetings in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Bali, Indonesia, a legally binding international agreement is not expected in Cancun to put a cap on carbon emissions scientists believe to be causing global warming and worsening natural disasters. But at least a preliminary road map is expected to be drawn up to replace
the aging Kyoto agreement expiring in 2012. As 15,000 government delegates, environmentalists, business leaders and journalists gathered in the Mexican resort, the Philippine government appeared to be moving heaven and earth to avert more catastrophes from impending natural disasters in a desperate race against time in a
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‘Pacquiao effect’ on Pinoys subject of study by ELMER
THAT TOWERING FEELING. ‘The Transformation’ is a masterly sculpture of glass and granite by architect Lor Calma, not only to brighten Bonifacio Global City but also to showcase the country as progressive, with the 3 towers representing Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. Each night, a blast of colors lights up each tower. The sculpture bested 69 entries from all over the world. Inquirer.net photo by Jim Guiao Punzalan
KRISTIAN DAUIGOY Inquirer.net
BAGUIO CITY – Even psychologists are intrigued by the so-called Pacquiao phenomenon. Filipinos worldwide rejoice every time Manny Pacquiao brings down an opponent, but can Pacquiao, who is also a politician, boost the Filipinos’ sense of their national identity? This was what Adrianne John Galang, a De La Salle University psychology professor, said he hoped to find out in a study he presented the other day at the 35th Sikolohiyang Pilipino (Philippine Psychology) conference at the University of the Philippines Baguio. Galang said low crime rates during Pacquiao’s fights were some of the
“anecdotal evidence” that the boxing champion influenced the national behavior. “I wanted to find real evidence of a Pacquiao effect,” Galang said. Filipino or American? In March, Galang gathered 18 of his students to test how strongly they saw themselves as Filipinos. The test was done for three consecutive Mondays after Pacquiao’s victory over Ghanaian Joshua Clottey on March 14. Galang said he used the Brief Implicit Association Test (BIAT), which measures how a person associates words with concepts shaped by his or her experiences. He required his students to sit in front of a computer monitor, where
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Also published in ORANGE COUNTY/INLAND EMPIRE, LAS VEGAS, NORTHERN CALIFORNIA, NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY 11/30/10 5:43:28 PM
A DECEMBER 1-3, 2010 • LA MIDWEEK ASIAN JOURNAL
http://www.asianjournal.com • (213) 250-9797
From the Front Page
US embassy downplays memo… US says leaks are a…
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on the international community’s as well. “Any unauthorized disclosure of classified information by WikiLeaks has harmful implications not only for the lives of identified individuals that are jeopardized, but also for global
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engagement among and between nations,” Thompson said earlier in a text message. “Given its potential impact, we condemn such unauthorized disclosures and are taking every step to prevent future security breaches,” she said. The US is investigating wheth-
er WikiLeaks founder 39-year-old Julian Assange could be charged under its Espionage Act for releasing secret diplomatic documents. The Department of Foreign Affairs, for its part, said it was still too early to determine the impact of the disclosure on Philippines-
US relations or on the Philippines itself. “To our knowledge, there are yet no Philippine documents uploaded to their (WikiLeaks) website,” said DFA spokesperson Eduardo Malaya. The diplomatic cables ex-
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portable computer memory stick. The soldier, Bradley Manning has not been charged in the latest release of internal US government documents. But officials said he is the prime suspect partly because of his own description of how he pulled off a staggering heist of classified and restricted material. “No one suspected a thing,” Manning told a confidant afterward, according to a log of his computer chat published by Wired.com. “I didn’t even have to hide anything.” Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton asserted Monday that WikiLeaks acted illegally in posting the material. She said the administration was taking “aggressive steps to hold responsible those who stole this information.” Attorney General Eric Holder said the government was mounting a criminal investigation, and the Pentagon was tightening access to information, including restricting the use of computer storage devices such as CDs and flash drives. “This is not saber-rattling,” Holder said. Anyone found to have broken American law “will be held responsible.” Holder said the latest disclosure, involving classified and sensitive State Department documents, jeopardized the security of the nation, its diplomats, intelligence assets and relationships with foreign governments. A weary-looking Clinton agreed. “I want you to know that we are taking aggressive steps to hold responsible those who stole this information,” Clinton said. She spoke in between calls to foreign capitals to make amends for scathing and gossipy memos never meant for foreign eyes. Manning is charged in military court with taking other classified material later published by the online clearinghouse WikiLeaks. It is not clear whether others such as WikiLeaks executives might be charged separately in civilian courts. Clinton said the State Department was adding security protections to prevent another breach. The Pentagon, embarrassed by the apparent ease with which se-
cret documents were passed to WikiLeaks, had detailed some of its new precautions Sunday. Col. Dave Lapan, a Pentagon spokesman, said it was possible that many people could be held accountable if they were found to have ignored security protocols or somehow enabled the download without authorization. A senior Defense Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the criminal case against Manning is pending, said he was unaware of any firings or other discipline over the security conditions at Manning’s post in Iraq. In his Internet chat, Manning described the conditions as lax to the point that he could bring a homemade music CD to work with him, erase the music and replace it with secrets. He told the computer hacker who would turn him in that he lip-synched along with pop singer Lady Gaga’s hit Telephone while making off with “possibly the largest data spillage in American history.” Wired.com published a partial log of Manning’s discussions with hacker R. Adrian Lamo in June. “Weak servers, weak logging, weak physical security, weak counterintelligence, inattentive signal analysis,” Manning wrote. “A perfect storm.” His motive, according to the chat logs: “I want people to see the truth ... because without information, you cannot make informed decisions as a public.” By his own admission, Manning was apparently able to pull material from outside the Pentagon, including documents he had little obvious reason to see. He was arrested shortly after those chats last spring. He was moved in July to the Quantico Marine Corps Base in Virginia to await trial on the earlier charges and could face up to 52 years in a military prison if convicted. There are no new charges, and none are likely at least until after a panel evaluates Manning’s mental fitness early next year, said Lt. Col. Rob Manning, spokesman for the Military District of Washington. He is no relation to Bradley Manning. Manning’s civilian lawyer, David E. Combs, declined comment.
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11/30/10 5:44:01 PM
(213) 250-9797 • http://www.asianjournal.com
From the Front Page
LA MIDWEEK ASIAN JOURNAL • DECEMBER 1-3, 2010
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US embassy downplays memo… PAGE A2 t
tracted by WikiLeaks – an organization devoted to revealing secret documents – covered the period between 1966 and February this year. Of the more than 250,000 cables sent by 274 embassies, 1,796 were sent from Manila between 1994 and last February. The US embassy in Manila is the 44th among the embassies and consulates around the world and the fourth in Southeast Asia with the biggest number of cables that had leaked. The Guardian newspaper in the United Kingdom earlier said all but two of the leaked cables were sent between January 2005 and February 2010. The two other leaked cables from Manila were dated Nov. 21, 2001 and July 19, 1994. The US embassy in Indonesia, according to the Jakarta Globe, has the biggest number of cables sent from Southeast Asia at 3,059. The US Consulate in Surabaya sent 167 cables. The embassies in Bangkok sent 2,941; Rangoon, 1,854; Kuala Lumpur, 994; Phnom Penh, 777; Singapore, 704; Dili, 390; Bandar Seri Begawan, 256. Aquino’s concern President Aquino said he sees danger in the unauthorized release of the diplomatic cables by WikiLeaks. “We are championing freedom of information but, at the same time, there is also what you call little knowledge is deadly. It’s like you’ve a read a book on medicine and you already feel like you can already be a surgeon, it isn’t like that, is it?” Aquino told reporters. “When you take things out of context, something totally different comes out. Now, we need to somehow fix operational security. Of course, on our part, the fields covered were not done during our time,” he said. While downplaying the controversy’s effect on his administration, Aquino said exchange of information was necessary “as much as possible, so long as it doesn’t endanger our national security.” “We want it done in broad daylight, very visible and transparent,” he added. Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda also downplayed the controversy’s impact on the Aquino administration. “There’s nothing on the Aquino administration on that matter because it’s February 2010 and backwards,” Lacierda said, pointing out that President Aquino assumed office only on June 30. He said it’s too early to comment on the leaks because they have not been authenticated yet. “We don’t even know if they are authentic. We don’t have any information what those leaks are.
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We have not seen the documents. We have no basis to comment. It’s too early to speculate,” Lacierda told Palace reporters in a briefing. “Until such time there is truth to it we cannot comment on that. These are cables pilfered from the US State Department. The cables are with the US,” he stressed. Get details Parañaque Rep. Roilo Golez and Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone said Malacañang should examine the details of the secret memos from the US embassy in Manila to determine if they had compromised national interest. Golez, a former national security adviser, noted that it would take some time for the government to sift through the leaked documents. “I would assume they (secret memos) covered a lot of topics,” Golez told The Star. “Some could be embarrassing for the source and also to those subject of unflattering comments or whoever is alluded to.” He said it would be premature to talk about the implications of the leaks as their contents have yet to be studied. “I’m sure the diplomatic community or our diplomatic relations can weather this for as long as there is no outright betrayal (on the part of the US government),” Golez said. “Of course, we will hear some denials, or demands for proof or even questions on the authenticity,” he said. He said the incident should prompt the government and even the private sector to improve their information security. Evardone also said the government should find out as soon as possible the complete contents of the memos. “The government should be very concerned about this incident. There could be information or communications that concerns our national interests or even detrimental to our national security,” Evardone, chairman of the House committee on public information, said. “The Aquino administration should review in depth the documents with the end view of protecting our national interest,” he said. Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara and Ang Kasangga Rep. Teodorico Haresco in separate statements said it was very likely the communications coming from the US embassy in Manila contained sensitive information the government should have been aware of or had wanted to keep secret. “Not only curiosity but also a desire to protect our country (should) be the impetus to look into these memos,” Haresco said. n
PREPAREDNESS. Policemen and soldiers conduct a disaster preparedness drill in Barangay Cogon, Irosin, Sorsogon to get them ready if Mt. Bulusan erupts. Philstar.com photo by Edd Gumban
US says leaks are a crime…
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Lapan, the Pentagon spokesman, said the WikiLeaks experience has encouraged discussion within the military about how better to strike a balance between sharing information with those who need it and protecting it from disclosure. So far, he said, Pentagon officials are not reviewing who has access to data but focusing instead on installing technical safeguards. Since summer, when WikiLeaks first published stolen war logs from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Defense Department has made it harder for one person acting alone to download material from a classified network and place it on an unclassified one.
PH gov’t lauds French travel…
done. But the French government had warned of a risk of violence throughout the country as it noted the rise of crime and kidnapping cases, especially during the holiday season. Valte said the government had made efforts to countries like France which had issued travel advisories against the Philippines “without any solid basis”
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to withdraw their advisories. “We are hopeful that other countries will follow soon,” Valte told government radio station dzRB. Five other countries had previously warned their citizens traveling to the Philippines to be careful of terrorist attacks. These are the United States, Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. Britain had since clarified that
it had not changed its terror assessment in the Philippines since a year ago. When Aquino spoke to the US and Canadian leaders during a world summit in Japan, they promised to look into their travel advisories. Valte also dismissed as an “exaggeration” the assessment by a Hong Kong-based human rights group that the Philippines was a “lawless” nation.
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) said the Philippines was a “broken” and “lawless” nation following reports of two recent murders in Mindanao, which saw victims being executed in front of their family members. The regional watchdog cited the murders of Reynaldo Labrador of Davao City and Vicente Felisilda of Mawab, Compostela Valley, in September. n
Such transfers generally take two people now, what Pentagon officials call a “two-man carry.” Users also leave clearer electronic footprints by entering a computer “kiosk,” or central hub, en route to downloading the classified material. Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said the WikiLeaks case revealed vulnerable seams in the information-sharing systems used by multiple government agencies. Some of those joint systems were designed to answer another problem: the failure of government agencies to share what they knew before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. “These efforts to give diplomatic, military, law enforcement and intelligence specialists quicker and easier access to greater amounts of data have had unintended consequences,” Whitman said. Agencies across the US government have installed safeguards around the use of flash drives and computer network operations, said Navy Rear Adm. Michael Brown, the Department of Homeland Security’s director for cybersecurity coordination. Like the Pentagon, Homeland Security has laid out policies to ensure that employees are using the networks correctly, that the classified and unclassified networks are properly identified,
and that there are detailed procedures for moving information from one network to another. Dale Meyerrose, former chief information officer for the US intelligence community, said Monday that it will never be possible to completely stop such breaches. “This is a personnel security issue, more than it is a technical issue,” said Meyerrose, now a vice president at Harris Corp. “How can you prevent a pilot from flying the airplane into the ground? You can’t. Anybody you give access to can become a disgruntled employee or an ideologue that goes bad.” One official in contact with US military and diplomatic staff in Iraq said they already were seeing the effect of a tighter collar on information. The State Department and other agencies are restricting access among the Army and nonmilitary agencies, the official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sharing of classified information. Former CIA director Michael Hayden warned the latest leak will affect what other governments are willing to share with the US as well as change the way US officials share information among themselves. “You’re going to put a lot less in cables now,” he said. n
11/30/10 5:44:26 PM
A DECEMBER 1-3, 2010 • LA MIDWEEK ASIAN JOURNAL
From the Front Page
http://www.asianjournal.com • (213) 250-9797
‘Pacquiao effect’ on Pinoys subject…
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HOLIDAY MARKET. A vendor sells puppets at the Union Square Holiday Market, Sunday, Nov. 28, 2010 in New York.
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AP Photo by Mary Altaffer
pared to the tests he conducted two weeks after the fight. “They reacted much faster right after Pacquiao’s bout. It became automatic to them to say that they are Filipino,” Galang said. More studies needed The test to determine the “Pacquiao effect” is still in its early stages, he said. Galang said he conducted a new set of tests after Pacquiao’s win over Mexican Antonio Margarito on November 14. He said 128 subjects were tested online. He has not released the results of the latest test. “This is just a glimpse. There may be or there may not be [a Pacquiao effect]. It is subject to further studies,” Galang said. A different study In contrast to Galang’s find-
ings, another study presented at the forum indicated that the sense of being a Filipino wanes after a tragedy has befallen the country. Diwa Malaya Quiñones, a UP Baguio professor, conducted this other test among 110 students two days after a dismissed policeman killed eight Hong Kong tourists during a hostage drama at Manila’s Rizal Park on August 22. The respondents were asked how they ranked their “being Filipino” on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree) when faced with a statement like: “I don’t feel good about being Filipino.” The respondents mostly agreed with the statement “I don’t feel good about being a Filipino,” Quiñones said. n
Studies find PH a disaster waiting to…
dangerously warming planet. On the eve of the Cancun conference, President Benigno Aquino III declared a Global Warming and Climate Change Consciousness Week, calling on the people to adjust their lifestyles to prevent further degrading the environment as temperatures climb, ice melts, seas rise and the climate that nurtured man shifts in unpredictable ways. Mr. Aquino also ordered the scrapping of the P18.7-billion Laguna Lake rehabilitation project in order to include additional features to remove centuries-old silt, save the watershed, install global positioning mapping, relocate illegal settlers, and provide livelihood programs for displaced fishermen. The President’s order came not a day too soon: Some 70,000 fishermen live in 170 coastal villages around the lake area covering 90,000 hectares. A triple-agency international study has found Metro Manila, together with three other Asian coastal megacities, in grave danger of killer floods that could devastate them anytime now unless steps are taken fast. An average of 20 typhoons strikes the country yearly. The government-run Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) issued a similar warning after Typhoon “Ondoy” (international name: Ketsana) unleashed killer floods a year ago that kept parts of Metro Manila underwater for many months. The state-owned water regulatory agency, Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS), has reported that many more parts of Metro Manila have slid below sea level because of sinking water tables. It said massive siltation had also greatly reduced the Pasig River’s capacity to drain floodwaters into Manila Bay, threatening to swamp the capital after even just a heavy thunderstorm. An Asian-focused US think tank, Pacific Strategies and Assessments, recently accused the Aquino administration of underestimating the threat of natural disasters on the “most vulnerable” part of
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he flashed in sequence English words like “self,” “I,” “me” and “mine.” Each time the words were flashed on the screen, Galang asked the students to describe whether each word was a Filipino or an American concept. He theorized that the impact of Pacquiao’s fights on behavior would determine the speed by which the students responded. Automatic response “They responded faster and quickly associated the words ‘self,’ ‘I,’ ‘me’ and ‘mine’ with ‘Filipino.’ This means that the students are closer to the Filipino concept cognitively,” he said. Galang also said the tests indicated that the students responded much faster on the Monday that preceded Pacquiao’s win, com-
the country – Metro Manila – and overestimating government preparedness to cope with natural disasters like typhoons, floods and earthquakes in many parts of the country. A series of international conferences over the past two years – in Bali, Indonesia, in 2008, Copenhagen, Denmark, in 2009, and now in Cancun – is expected to produce scant progress in reaching an enforceable agreement to cut pollution by the world’s leading industrial economies, notably China, India, the European Community, and the United States. Silver lining Happily, the gathering storm clouds have produced a silver lining: Filipino scientists are close to finding a breakthrough solution to environmental problems caused by fossil fuel. They are growing a species of algae suitable to large-scale biofuel production, an alternative energy source discussed in a new documentary film. The film, Cool It, is heating up the global warming controversy first raised by the documentary An Inconvenient Truth and a disturbing UN report warning of imminent environmental disasters caused by climate change. The earlier documentary won an Academy Award that catapulted former US Vice President Al Gore to the world stage and a new career as environmentalist. For their work in raising globalwarming awareness, Gore shared a Nobel Peace Prize with the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Skeptical Cool It is making enough waves to rock the boat carrying Gore’s brand of environmental activists. The film questions the scientific bases of the climate change effects predicted by Gore and some 2,500 scientists comprising the UN panel. Cool It is based on lectures and a book of the same title by Bjorn Lomborg, controversial author of The Skeptical Environmentalist. Lomborg founded the Copenhagen Consensus Center, a think tank that puts forward the views of the world’s leading economists on major global problems.
The award-winning filmmaker, Ondi Timoner, traveled the warming globe together with Lomborg to document climate change and find the most practical solutions to environmental problems. Scare tactics Lomborg says that Gore “oversold the message” of climate change and that Gore’s film was designed to scare people “witless.” He says it “works very well as a scary way to get everyone’s attention” but is an “incredibly poor way to make good decisions” about climate solutions. Lomborg does not deny climate change but questions the scientific bases of the UN panel’s predicted environmental consequences. He also contests the cost effectiveness of proposed ways to fight global warming. “There’s a lot of amazing ideas,” says Lomborg. “Solar and wind, of course, but we also look at growing your own oil fields through algae in the ocean, making artificial photosynthesis …” Lomborg says current efforts to cut carbon emissions would reduce global temperatures only minimally, while much lower amounts spent for research could radically cut the costs of improving existing alternative energy sources and developing new ones. Breakthrough In one such effort, Philippine scientists have identified a species of algae capable of producing commercial quantities of oil for fuel. Teresita Perez, chair of Ateneo de Manila University’s Department of Environmental Science, has isolated species of algae that can yield 40 to 50 percent oil when grown in a medium containing nutrients that increase production. The Ateneo scientists are looking at growing algae without using chemical fertilizers. They are experimenting with chicken manure, hog waste, and even fresh water lakes as alternative growth media. Zero emissions To preserve the environment, the researchers are testing a closed carbon-loop method to grow the algae, meaning the carbon dioxide by-product
of aerobic decomposition is fed back to enrich the growth medium, thus avoiding releasing CO2 into the atmosphere. After the oil is extracted, the algae become a rich source of protein and carbohydrates for feeding fish and livestock, completing the cycle. An advantage of producing fuel oil from algae is that the process does not displace croplands that are better used for growing food like corn, soybean and sugar cane, thus keeping prices stable. Algae are 150 times more efficient than soybean in using arable land. Boeing, the airplane manufacturer, estimates that growing enough soybeans to supply the fuel needs of the aviation industry for a year would require fields as big as Europe, but algae would need only 30,500 square kilometers of ponds, the size of Belgium. Disaster-prone The World Bank joint study released recently found Metro Manila – together with Asia’s biggest megacities, Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City – in grave danger of natural calamities triggered by climate change. The country is already suffering the quadruplewhammy effects of global warming identified by UN climate scientists: rising sea levels, floods triggered by killer typhoons, dwindling drinking water supplies induced by drought, and shrinking food crops from parched agricultural lands. A one-meter rise in sea level resulting from melting polar ice caps could put 64 of the country’s 81 provinces – a full 80 percent – in harm’s way, according to the environmental group Greenpeace. That’s equivalent to 700 million square meters of coastal lands covering half of the country’s 1,610 municipalities, where half of the population depends on seafood as the main source of protein. In 2006 alone, 3 million Filipinos were directly affected by natural disasters, according to the nongovernment Citizen Disaster Response Center. The number is expected to rise with rising temperatures and sea levels. n
11/30/10 5:45:01 PM
(213) 250-9797 • http://www.asianjournal.com
Dateline USA
LA MIDWEEK ASIAN JOURNAL • DECEMBER 1-3, 2010
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Citing deficit, Obama freezing… PAGE A1 t
said. The two-year freeze would apply to all civilian federal employees, including those working at the Department of Defense, but would not affect military personnel. The freeze is expected to save more than $5 billion in savings over two years, $28 billion over five years and more than $60 billion over 10 years, White House officials said. Federal pay is determined by Congress, and lawmakers must approve Obama’s call for a freeze. Congress is not covered by Obama’s order, but lawmakers voted last April to freeze their pay, with the House and Senate opting to forgo an automatic $1,600 annual cost-of-living increase. House members and senators now are paid $174,000 a year. Their last pay increase was $4,700 a year at beginning of 2009. The president’s pay of $400,000 a year was fixed by Congress in January 2001. It has not changed since then. While Obama said the federal employee salary freeze was necessary to put the nation on sound fiscal footing, he also said that he didn’t reach the decision lightly. “This is not just a line item on a federal ledger,” he said. “These are people’s lives.” The savings from the pay freeze make only a small dent in the nation’s $1 trillion-plus budget deficit. But with vot-
ers voicing their anger over Washington’s spending during the midterm elections, even a symbolic gesture would show the White House got the message. Obama and bipartisan congressional leaders will meet at the White House Tuesday for the first time since Republicans gained control of the House and increased their strength in the Senate during the midterm elections. Obama said he hopes the move to freeze federal pay sets a serious tone for the meetings. “We’re going to have to budge on some deeply held positions, and compromise for the good of the country,” Obama said. California Rep. Darrell Issa, the top Republican on the House Oversight Committee, said that while the pay freeze was “long overdue,” the president and congressional leaders should take additional steps to reduce spending, including imposing a federal hiring freeze of non-security employees. The co-chairmen of Obama’s bipartisan deficit commission have proposed a three-year freeze in pay for most federal employees as part of its plan to reduce the nation’s growing deficit. The commission’s proposal also suggested cuts to Social Security benefits and higher taxes for millions of Americans to stem the flood of red ink that they say threatens the nation’s very future. The popular child tax credit and mortgage interest deduction also would be
eliminated. The commission’s final report is due to be released later this week. Shortly after taking office in January 2009, Obama froze salaries of top White House aides. He proposed extending that freeze to political appointees across the government in last year’s budget, and also eliminated bonuses for political appointees. The pay freeze would not affect bonuses or step increases for federal employees. Labor leaders assailed Obama’s decision as bad for the economy and the middle class. “We need to invest in creating jobs, not undermining the ones we have,” AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka said in a statement. John Gage, president of the 600,000-member American Federation of Government Employees, called the decision “a slap at working people.” “Working people’s wages are not the issue with this deficit or what is going on in our country,” Gage said. “To symbolically hit at federal employees I think is just wrong.” Gage said the White House was using federal workers as scapegoats for the nation’s deficit problems. He said the move would not really save as much as the White House claims because federal employees often get just a fraction of projected raises. Federal workers received a 1.9 percent pay increase this year. (Julie Pace/AP)
Cali regulator fines insurers for…
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threshold of paying 95 percent of claims correctly. On average, plans paid about 80 percent of claims correctly, Ehnes said. Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of California each have agreed to pay $900,000 fines. United/Pacificare is being fined $800,000; HealthNet and Kaiser Foundation Health Plan are being fined $750,000 each. Cigna is being fined $450,000; and Aetna is being fined $300,000. Additionally, insurers will have to pay an uncapped amount of restitution to hospitals and health providers, which is expected to cost tens of millions of dollars, Ehnes said.
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The fines and corrective actions have been negotiated and agreed upon with the insurers, officials said. Insurers also face a follow-up audit. A lobbying group representing health insurers pledged to streamline the system to reduce costs, prevent errors and maintain a focus on patient care. “Plans are committed to ensuring our members have access to the health care they need every day,” California Association of Health Plans President Patrick Johnston said in a statement. The state audit relied on statistically significant samples of each insurer’s claims, so
an exact number is unknown. But hundreds of thousands of claims might have been affected, Ehnes said. She also criticized what she called the hollow provider dispute resolution process discovered at five of the seven plans – all but Anthem and Blue Shield. Providers with a claim dispute would often end up contacting the same department that had initially denied their claim, which rarely took a “real renewed interest in the claim,” Ehnes said. Corrective plans are in place to prevent that in the future, she said. (Shaya Tayefe Mohajer/AP)
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A6 DECEMBER 1-3, 2010 • LA MIDWEEK ASIAN JOURNAL
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OPINION
FEATURES
Phenomenal
WHENEVER Pambansang Kamao Manny Pacquiao brings down an opponent, roars and cheers from Filipinos reverberate across the globe – an astounding phenomenon called the “Pacquiao effect” which moved De La Salle psychology professor Adrianne John Galang to create a study to prove whether the pound-for-pound king is capable of boosting his kababayans’ sense of national idenassociated the three words with tity.
Editorial
Low crime rates in the Philippines during Pacquiao’s fights were considered “anecdotal evidence” which prove that the pound-for-pound king has the power to influence behavior on a national scale. Using the Brief Implicit Association Test (BIAT), “a test which measures how a person associates words with concepts shaped by his or her experiences,” Galang gathered 18 of his students to test how strongly they identify themselves as Filipinos. Galang conducted the test for three consecutive Mondays after Pacquiao won over Ghanian Joshua Clottey on March 14, requiring the students to sit in front of a computer monitor while English words like “self,” “I,” “me” and “mine” were flashed onscreen. The students were asked to describe whether each word was a Filipino or an American Inquirer.net photo concept. The results revealed that the students
“Filipino.” “This means that the students are closer to the Filipino concept cognitively,” Galang said. According to Galang, the tests indicated that the students responded much faster on the Monday that preceded Pacquiao’s win, compared to the tests he conducted two weeks after the fight. However, Galang’s efforts remain inconclusive. He said that the “Pacquiao effect” is still in its early stages and still requires further studies. Phenomenal or not, Manny Pacquiao clearly remains as the ultimate source of Pinoy pride these days. For a country constantly pummeled by negativity, it is indeed, refreshing to know that one successful person is enough to inspire an entire nation to become resilient -a fact that packs a lot of punch. (AJPress)
Taking ‘the chance’ route THERE is something about the holiday season that makes us want to dream more, give more, love more! One indicator is the recent report in consumer confidence, showing that the Consumer Confidence Index rose to 54.1 in November, up from a negatively revised 49.9 in October. People are spending more, hopefully a real sign of optimism in the market. However, with the job market still in trouble with a 9.6% unemployment rate, and millions more people losing their jobless benefits, many critics remain skeptical that Americans are once again driven by the sentimental urge to splurge, the noble aim to give and share more during the holiday season even if many of them may not really have the means to do it. Those people who are not liquid with their cash flow will once again swipe their credit cards this holiday season to buy gifts to enable their families to enjoy the traditional feasts of the season. Of course, we know swiping plastic is not free – the money we borrow needs to be paid with hefty interest in the future. While reports show less Americans have defaulted on their credit card payments in the past months, this holiday season may just reverse back the gains we have made from austerity. Yes, in a way we can view this as a sign of optimism in the US economy, that maybe
2011 will be better than 2010. But then again, this is taking The Fil-Am chances. For many, taking Perspective this leap of faith seems worth it, if only to create priceless memories for their families here in America and in the GEL SANTOS-RELOS Philippines. Many of our kababayans here borrow money from the banks using their credit cards just so their loved ones in the Philippines will get a balikbayan box full of gifts and a lavish noche buena feast for Christmas. Despite the recession, not exhausting all possibilities to make our loved ones’ Christmas wishes come true is not an option for many. Naghihirap man tayo, kailangang mairaos pa rin daw ang Pasko. When we cannot reach our goals through accepted conventional means, such as through our jobs and savings, many of us take the “chance route.” We bet on a better future through the use of loans and credit cards. Some of our kababayans religiously go to casinos to sit for hours in front of slot machines waiting to hit the 7-7-7 jackpot! Others invest on lottery – the superlotto and the megamillions and all sorts of games of chance. Our kababayans do the same in the Philippines. Recently, the jackpot reached P741 million pesos ($16.7million). The lotto mania
grew as anticipations of winning close to a billion pesos mounted. We hear conversations and dreams of “what will I do if I win the jackpot?,” all around the country. For some of us the answer may be as lofty as quitting our job and just enjoying life through our winnings, or traveling around the world, or buying the biggest mansion in elite neighborhoods, or high-end cars, designer clothes and accessories. However, for our humble kababayans back home, I hear wishes so basic and so real--things we, who have enough, take for granted. They say if they win the lotto grand prize, their mother or father can already come back to the Philippines and need not work in the middle east or Hong Kong as a domestic helper or contract worker. Some dream of getting that coveted prize so their parents or brothers and sisters need not become “TNT” in America – running around like a fugitives just to find work and be able to send money back home. I hear kababayans praying to win so they can provide their chronically-ill family member with the medical care he needs to prolong his life. Yes, they too have wishes to make. Hindi naman daw masamang mangarap
– malay mo ito na ang suwerteng magbabago ng buhay mo. Lately, it was reported that there was one lone winner of the big pot! Who could this lucky Filipino be? Dreaming, wishing, faithful anticipating – they all have a function to keep us going and fighting in the battlefield that is life during this recession. They serve as defense and coping mechanisms and may actually be healthy when coupled with vision, planning, real hard work and perseverance. They become toxic when we just leave our fate all up to chance, as we have no control over the results, if we only take this route. Hopefully the optimism in the air and the reported improved consumer confidence will drive the engine of the economy to higher gear – boosting demand for products and services, creating more jobs in an upward spiral way. As we prepare for the holidays and look forward to the new year, we can only pray, hope and do our share through hard work so our bet on 2012 being a better year will hit the jackpot! ***
Gel Santos Relos is the anchor of TFC’s “Balitang America.” Views and opinions expressed by the author in this column are are solely those of the author and not of Asian Journal and ABS-CBN-TFC. For comments, go to www.TheFil-AmPerspective.com,facebook.com/ gelrelos, twitter.com/gelsantosrelos.
The 4th richest Filipino BUSINESS tycoons in a way rule the The Kite world. In Asia we refer Runner to them as Taipans. Many Taipans from Asia are now emerging in the map of the PROF. world’s richest people. ENRIQUE M. SORIANO Western economies have collectively acknowledged Asia as the next growth corridor with India and China pacing the pack and outperforming most economies of the world. Knowing the biographies of these Taipans is quite inspiring for the future generation. There are only a handful of Taipans in the Philippines who started their life as ordinary men. One Taipan that has achieved immense success and continues to inspire entrepreneurs to dream big and persevere amidst the very competitive environment is my former boss and mentor of 8 years, Andrew L. Tan. Tan is the single biggest reason why I took the giant leap of faith in becoming an entrepreneur and real estate advocate.
On the other hand, his eldest son Kevin was my first rank and file employee and trainee. He is now the Group head of Megaworld’s Commercial Services Group. Recently, Andrew Tan moved up to the list of the Philippines’ richest men (4th in the Forbes 2009 list of The Philippines’ 40 richest estimated wealth at $1.4 billion). When most of the local Taipans are in the twilight of their golden years, Tan is still very much in the plate and is far from corporate retirement. I am almost certain that in the Forbes 2015 list, Tan will emerge as the richest Filipino. His phenomenal rise to the top in just a little over 20 years has caught everyone in the business community gasping for breath. The tenacity and speed by which he has grown the business and amassed his wealth is legendary. Phenomenal is an understatement, I have lost count of the num-
ber of high rise buildings he has developed starting with the first 35 storey, One Beverley Place condo along Annapolis Street in Greenhills in 1989. His real estate group, all publicly listed and under the Megaworld, Empire East and SunTrust brands own close to 300 buildings and counting… He is the biggest BPO landlord in the Philippines having developed a total gross floor area covering more than 300,000 square meters and employing thousands of call center and knowledge based service providers. These BPO office buildings are housed in pioneering developments in Eastwood City, McKinley and Newport City. On top of his real estate businesses, Tan is the Chairman of Alliance Global Group Inc. a holding firm that owns 49 percent of Golden Arches Dev’t. Corporation, the franchise holder of the McDonald’s hamburger chain. He also owns Consolidated Distillers Inc., makers of the Emperador brandy, the world’s largest selling brandy by volume.
Recently, he ventured into Gaming, hotel and Tourism development by putting up Travellers International Group, a joint venture agreement with the Genting Group of Malaysia. The same group that developed the Sentosa Leisure Complex in Singapore. The company’s first foray into leisure development is the hugely successful Resorts World Entertainment Complex in Newport City in Pasay. Born of humble beginnings, he was the son of a transistor radio factory worker who came to Manila from China at age 16. Tan is a genius – graduated magna cum laude with a degree in Business Administration from the University of the East. He lived with his family in a second floor cramped shop house measuring 30 square meters. He would walk to school and struggled throughout his college days because he had no money. In one of my business trips to the US, I remember talking to one of his closest friends and he reminisced some days during college when he would asked his mother to prepare
2 sets of bread to bring to school. When his mother asked why 2 sets? The friend said he felt pity and wanted to share it with Tan during lunch breaks. Tan was good looking but he would perennially refuse invitations to parties and dates with girls. When he was finally cornered by classmates for refusing to go out with them, he was forced to admit that he had no money for transportation. In several instances when we would exchange notes, he would always emphasize four very important values…the need to focus, the need to be bold and innovative, urgency to get things done as time is money and the universal value of integrity. These values will forever be my guideposts in my quest for entrepreneurial excellence. ***
Prof Soriano is the CEO of advisoryasia.com and the Founder of Asia America Policy Institute for Real Estate Studies, an advocacy group that protects the interest of homebuyers and promotes integrity and best practices amongst private developers and housing agencies. He teaches Global Marketing at the Ateneo Graduate School of Business. For comments please email writer at sorianoasia@gmail.com
The views expressed by our Op-Ed contributors are solely their own and do not necessarily reflect the predilection of the editorial board and staff of Asian Journal.
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Dateline Philippines
PH under threat due to RH bill – Vidal by Evelyn
Macairan Philstar.com
FIRST YELLOW SALE. Ballsy Aquino Cruz shops at the 1st Yellow Sale of the Ninoy and Cory Aquino Foundation at Tiendesitas, Pasig City, on Friday in commemoration of the 78th birthday of her father, former Sen. Ninoy Aquino. Inquirer.net photo by Richard Reyes
Poll: 7 of 10 Pinoys in favor of RH bill MANILA – 7 in 10 Filipinos, mostly residents of Metro Manila, favor the passage of the Reproductive Health (RH) bill, the recent Ulat ng Bayan Survey conducted by Pulse Asia showed. The survey results also showed a high awareness rate of the bill’s existence among the general public – 80 percent of the 1,200 respondents across all socio-economic classes nationwide. A majority of the respondents in all geographic areas have heard of, read or watched something about the bill, broken down as follows: National Capital Region (90 percent), Luzon (82), Visayas (66) and Mindanao (80). The same is true for a majority of the respondents in all socio-economic classes: Classes ABC
(93 percent), Class D (82), Class E (72). Only 20 percent of respondents learned of the existence of the bill while being interviewed for the survey. The survey showed that 69 percent of the respondents across all geographic areas and socioeconomic classes agree with the bill. Geographically, this is broken down as follows: NCR (74 percent), Luzon (67), Visayas (66) and Mindanao (72). Across economic classes: Classes ABC (78 percent) Class D (66), Class E (72). Only seven percent of respondents, mostly in Mindanao, disagree with the bill; 24 percent, on
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MANILA – Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal has reported to Pope Benedict XVI that the Philippines is under threat because of the efforts to pass the Reproductive Health (RH) bill. Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines-Episcopal Commission on Family and Life (CBCP-ECFL) executive secretary Fr. Melvin Castro told reporters that Cardinal Vidal met with the Pope in the Vatican during the Consistory last Nov. 20. Members of the College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church attended the Consistory. “Cardinal Vidal mentioned to the Holy Father that in the Philippines, we are under threat because of the RH bill,” said Fr. Castro. The Pontiff was reportedly not surprised to hear Vidal’s report since similar incidents were already happening in other countries particularly in Latin America. The CBCP had opposed the passage of the RH bill in the country that could pave the way for the promotion of artificial contraceptives and indirectly promote abortion. Despite the recent confusion on the Pope’s stand on the use of condom, Fr. Castro believed that the Pontiff continues to be
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‘PH can offer humanitarian aid to ease Korea tension’ by Delon
Porcalla Philstar.com
MANILA – A country with “all coast but no guard” and “all air with no force” can only offer “non-military and humanitarian assistance” to South Korea in the event of a fullscale war with the communist North Korea, Malacañang admitted on November 29. “Right now, we can offer our humanitarian services to the Korean government. That is something we can be certain of,” presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said. “Again, there are concerns, limitations in our AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines)
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that we have to be realistic about our capability. What is definite is we can provide humanitarian assistance to the South Korean government if and when we are asked to provide assistance,” he said. “So right now, we are sending humanitarian, if and when kailangang magpadala tayo (we need to send), we can offer our humanitarian, and non-military assets,” Lacierda stressed. Lacierda also said Filipino soldiers are ill equipped against a possible nuclear attack by North Korea. “In case of a nuclear war, do we have necessary protection for our soldiers? Do we
have the suits to protect us from a nuclear war? That’s one of the concerns and they will be in the forefront of the battle with soldiers from South Korea,” he said. The Philippines sent one of the biggest contingents that helped South Korea repel an invasion by North Korea during the Korean War that ended in armistice in 1953. But Lacierda said discussions in the security cluster never reached the stage where the sending of troops to South Korea was seriously considered. He said President Aquino’s primary concern was the welfare of some 60,000 work-
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A DECEMBER 1-3, 2010 • LA MIDWEEK ASIAN JOURNAL
Dateline PHILIPPINES
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Human Rights Day dream showcase: Freeing ‘Morong 43’
rong 43’’ on Monday opened up to visiting House Deputy Speaker Lorenzo Tañada III, who said MANILA – They were herded it would be a good gesture for outside their cramped cell in President Aquino to free them the Metro Manila District Jail in before December 10. Taguig to meet a visitor, and for “They’re hoping they will be more than an hour, they talked released before December 10. animatedly about life behind They’re very happy I visited,’’ bars and a wish: to be free by he told reporters after emerging Christmas. from the visit. ``It would be a nice In a rare dialogue, 21 women- gift for the Morong 43 to spend members of the so-called “Mo- Christmas at home.’’ by TJ
Burgonio Inquirer.net
The country is marking International Human Rights Day that day, and this would be a good occasion to free them, Tañada said. “International human rights day is around the corner. It’s 11 days from now and it may be one of the messages that the administration might want to make – to show that they respect human rights and one showcase is the release of the 43,’’ the lawmaker said. n
UN condemns killing of aid worker in Mindanao PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT. A cyclist practices in front of the Bonifacio shrine in Manila on Nov. 29.
Philstar.com photo by Manny Marcelo
Poll: 7 of 10 Pinoys in favor of RH…
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the other hand, remain undecided. Pulse Asia said the disagreement may be attributed in part to a provision seeking to include reproductive health and sex education in the school curriculum. The minority who disagree with the bill were asked for their opinion regarding specific provisions. Respondents in the group agree with the following provisions: recognizing the rights of women and couples to choose the family planning method that they want on the basis of their needs and personal and religious beliefs (79 percent); promoting information about and access to natural and modern family planning methods (70); and stipulating the use of government funds to support modern family planning methods (55). Forty-four percent of the minority disagree with the proposal to include “Reproductive Health and Sexuality Education” in the school curricula; 39 percent, however, agree with this provision. Fifty percent of the minority in Luzon and 55 percent in Mindanao are not in favor of including sex education in schools; 47 percent of the minority in socio-economic class E disagree to this provision. Opinion among the minority in socio-economic classes ABC and D is split, with 41 percent to 43 percent expressing agreement and 42 percent to 43 percent supporting the provision. Fifty percent, however, of the minority in Metro Manila and Visayas favor the inclusion of reproductive education in schools. Public indecision on the provision is more prominent in Visayas at 32 percent. The survey has a plus or minus error margin of three percent at 95 percent confidence level. ‘Misleading’ Lawmakers with a pro-life stance said the conduct of the survey was misleading because most of
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the respondents have likely not read the bill. “I understand at least 90 percent of the folks have not read the RH bill. How can someone who has not read the bill have an informed opinion on the bill?” said Parañaque Rep. Roilo Golez. He said the respondents should have first been asked if they have read the measure. Bacolod City Rep. Anthony Golez, a medical doctor, said the survey “clearly shows that 69 percent of Filipinos are not informed about the danger of the health services the RH bill is offering to our people.” “More than half of the services it (RH bill) offers are abortifacients. This should signal the different medical society groups and medical scientists to come out and inform our public that when we consider that life begins during fertilization, many of RH services can kill a life in utero,” he said. Fence sitting Amid the new discussion on the controversial bill, President Aquino still refuses to take sides, maintaining that he wants couples to decide for themselves on the birth control method they consider appropriate. “I’m not going to base any of my decisions or my stand on what the survey says. But, let me reiterate, I have not changed my position, it’s still called responsible parenthood and what it seeks to do is remind all those who will become parents or are already parents that they must fulfill their responsibilities,” Aquino said in a chance interview at the Palace. He said even the softening of the Vatican’s stand on the use of condoms to prevent the spread of AIDS would not change his position. “I have a responsibility as leader of this land. My bosses, who are the people, are having a hard time fulfilling the needs of their families. So that’s where it begins, if the Church will be more sensible, of course it would also help,” Aquino said. (Philstar.com)
MANILA – The United Nations on November 29 condemned the killing of a Filipino aid worker in Mindanao, but said the attack would not affect its food distribution efforts there. The worker was helping the UN World Food Programme (WFP) deliver rations on Friday when a gunman attacked the agency’s truck outside Marawi City on Mindanao island, where many armed groups including Islamic militants operate. “The WFP strongly deplores this act of wanton violence that has led to the tragic and senseless loss of life of an individual who was assisting in the delivery of humanitarian assistance,” the agency said in statement issued by country representative Stephen Anderson. The WFP said the man, identified by police as Sadam Basnillo, 25, was contracted locally and not a full-time staff member of the agency. The WFP’s contracted truck was off-loading rice and mung
beans for its food-for-work distribution at Barangay Maul, Marantao, Lanao del Sur, on Friday when the driver’s assistant was killed, according to the UN food agency. “The WFP, in partnership with the Department of Social Welfare and Development, has been providing food assistance to vulnerable populations displaced by the conflict in Mindanao since 2006, with relatively minimal security incidents compared to the scale of operations,” the UN agency said. 250,000 beneficiaries “The organization currently distributes approximately 2,000 tons of food a month, or an average of 100 truck deliveries per month, mainly for livelihood programs targeted to food-insecure populations who were displaced by the upsurge in conflict in 2008/2009 and have now largely returned to their places of origin.” The agency said it was aware of the risks involved in delivering food to Mindanao, where it
was helping some 250,000 beneficiaries, but that its operations would not change because of last week’s killing. “As of press time, based on the evidence on the ground, the WFP is treating this incident as an isolated case, and will do everything possible to ensure that operations in central Mindanao will not be hampered,” it said. The WFP stressed that it was routinely in touch with the government and the military to ensure safety of its personnel. The killing highlights the dangers humanitarian workers face in Mindanao, where a long-running Moro separatist rebellion is complicated by a proliferation of unlicensed firearms and clans fighting over political turf. Anderson earlier told Agence France-Presse that it was too early to blame any group for the attack, after other press reports pointed to the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). (Inquirer.net with reports from AFP)
PH under threat due to RH bill… PAGE A7 t
strongly against the passage of such bills. He recalled that last Nov. 21, the Holy Father issued a statement that was sent to the Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care president Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski and it says that the “defense of life from conception until natural death must be supported and proclaimed even if this means going against the tide.” “In concrete sense, he (Pope Benedict XVI) is also against the RH,” Castro added. Meanwhile, the CBCPNews, the official news service provider of the CBCP, said that
CBCP president Tandag Bishop Nereo Odchimar was a recent guest at the Vatican Radio and he discussed the priorities of the Church. He cited the CBCP’s continued participation in the debates over the issue of government corruption and artificial birth control. “We are heard in part,” Bishop Odchimar added. He was at the Vatican for the ad limina visit, meeting with the various dicasteries of the Roman Curia and Benedict XVI. The Catholic Church in the Philippines is regarded as the third world’s largest with 73 million faithful. The top two spots
belonged to Brazil and Mexico. On the RH bill he said that, “there are people who, especially through the media, support the promotion of artificial birth control. Our episcopal conference is committed to making known the position of the Catholic Church.” He also expressed confidence that the Filipino laypeople are committed to defend their faith. “We give special attention to the family to protect it from the danger of fragmentation, which occurs given intense emigration and attacks coming from phenomena such as abortion, divorce and consumerist models of life,” Bishop Odchimar said. n
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Dateline PHILIPPINES
LA MIDWEEK ASIAN JOURNAL • DECEMBER 1-3, 2010
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News Briefs DOH to request budget for contraceptives, cites Pope’s statement WITH the suggestive statement from Pope Benedict XVI to use condoms in order to hamper the spread of HIV AIDS, the Department of Health (DOH) takes it as an opportunity to be allowed to purchase contraceptives in line with the department’s family program next year. Citing the statement of the Pope in his speech, DOH Secretary Enrique Ona together with other health officials justified the planned purchase of contraceptives before the Senate. Ona said in his speech that the allotment of P880-million ($20 million) for the purchase of contraceptives from the P32.627 billion ($758.8 million) budget for next year is just appropriate considering the pontifical statement. Senator Loren Legarda, meanwhile, questioned the DOH how it plans to address the Millennium Development Goals, Disaster Risk Reduction programs, and issues that concern maternal deaths and birthing centers with the remaining budget. One with the Pope’s statement but against the use of other contraceptives other than condoms, Sen. Vicente Sotto also aired out his concern saying that the use of contraceptives violate the provision in the Constitution that pays importance to life, protects, and strengthens the family. Considered as one of Asia’s most predominantly Catholic nations, a large part of the Philippine society and politics remain to be influenced by Catholic teachings that includes the preservation of life that prohibits contraceptive use believing it encourages abortion.
Manila celebrates 147th Bonifacio day WITH the aim to encourage unity, patriotism, and active volunteerism in the country, Gatpuno Andres Bonifacio Music and Policy Foundation, Inc. recently launched a movement that will help promote awareness in the local arts and culture via a concert entitled Mga Awit ng Pag-Ibig sa Inang Bayan held recently at Manila in commemoration of the 147th birthday of Andres Bonifacio. With several local leaders of Quezon City as the foundation’s head, the movement aims to propagate patriotism through music , songs, and other cultural events that includes active volunteerism by forming and maintaining choirs in the different barangays according to the Manila Bulletin. The choral concert, Mga Awit ng Pag-Ibig sa Inang Bayan, was held at 8 in the evening of Bonifacio Day, November 30, 2010.
Immigration official returns $10,000 AN immigration officer at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport has found and returned an envelope containing $10,000 to a Filipino family that was about to board a plane bound for Canada last November 27 at around 11:15am. Amando Amisola, the immigration officer designated at the special departure counter said in a report from the Star that the owner of the found money, Patricio Francisco was surprised and “almost hugged” him for joy as he told the owner that he left his money and was surrendered at the airport’s immigration office. “The money is a family fund for their visit to Canada,” Amisola said.
Aquino administration seen to attract more foreign investors in 2011
THE Aquino administration continuous to attract foreign investors as more foreign companies look into putting up a business space in some of the key business cities in the country; not only in Makati, but also in Ortigas and The Fort, according to an international real estate firm. Rick M. Santos, chairman of CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) in the Philippines said in a report from a local newspaper that foreign investor seem to be the “number one choice of foreign investors” with the demand for business space expected to soar by 10 percent next year because of the recently launched Public-Private Partnership (PPP). With 250,000 square meters taken for the first 11 months in Metro Manila this year for office space, Santos said during an interview that the local economy has never shown such strength since 1996 and that the decline in office space in the US will mean growth for the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector in the country.
Police official calls on the coordination of UN-WFP in local operations FOLLOWING the death of a relief distributor in Lanao del Norte, a local police official in the province recently called on the leaders of the United Nations World Food Program (UN-WFP) to coordinate with any local government security should there be any relief operations that will take place so as to avoid any similar tragic incident. Director of the Lanao del Sur Police, Cosanie Derogongan clarified in a report from a local newspaper that the victim, Sadam Basnillo, who was shot by armed men in Barangay Tuca Ilian,Maul, Marantao town, was a full time employee of the UN-WFP but was a helper of the truck that distributed the goods due to the conflict in Lanao del Sur and neighboring areas. Citing that some areas in Lanao del Sur are not safe, Derogongan said that coordination with the local security force is very important, whether or not it is connected with the WFP, so that the security of the agency’s employees will be secured. Meanwhile, the UN-WFP country director Stephen Anderson said during a separate interview that the “WFP staff are in touch with the family of the bereaved and are extending the necessary support in their time of grief.”
UST marks 400th year with a record-breaking human living rosary ASIA’S oldest Catholic university, the University of Santo Tomas (UST), will mark its 400th anniversary with a goal to set the record for the world’s largest human rosary. The event, entitled “Q Rosary” by its Facebook fan page, will be formed by at least 20, 000 participants on the Feast of the Immaculate Concepcion on December 8. The forming of the human rosary is UST’s expression of adornment and devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Sole bettor finally won P741-M Grand Lotto jackpot THE sole bettor of the winning combination 11-16-42-47-31-37 from Luzon broke the 6months of suspense of what seemed to be an elusive game of fate as he wins the P741-million ($16.7million) jackpot. The biggest jackpot in the country’s history since the P347million ($7,831million) jackpot last February 2009 wherein two winners shared the jackpot prize, this year’s sole Lotto winner will enjoy his prize tax free according to Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office assistant general manager Liza Gabuyo. The Grand Lotto 6/55 lucky combination was drawn on the night of November 29 and took 86 draws before someone was declared the winner.
2010 Presidential Awards for Pinoys overseas MANILA – The Commission on Filipinos Overseas has released the names of awardees for outstanding Filipinos overseas. The Lingkod sa Kapwa Pilipino Awards go to: Teresita R. Alarcon (USA), Ruth C. Martinez (Australia), North Central Virginia Association of Philippine Physicians (USA), Philippine American Association of Connecticut (USA), and Philippine German Community Oberberg E.V. (Germany). The Kaanib ng Bayan Awards go to: Caritas Lebanon Migrants Center (Lebanon), Phoebe Lam Bik Che (Hong Kong), Sunny Lam Kai Chor (Hong Kong), and Simha Salpeter (Israel). The Banaag Awards to: Emely D. Abagat (South Korea), Computer Society of Filipinos International (Saudi Arabia), Congress of Visayan Organizations (USA), Federation of Filipino Communities in Israel (Israel), George G. Gange (USA), Marilyn R. Kasimieh (United Arab Emirates), Kinding Sindaw (USA), Lucia C. Olalia (South Korea), and Evangeline V. Ybo (Jordan). The Pamana ng Pilipino Awards to: Lilac L. Caña (Canada), Angelito D. David (USA), Fred S. De Asis (USA), Bernard Randy G. Gener (USA), Lilibeth E. Navarro (USA), and Rafe Totengco (USA). (Inquirer.net)
Chiz wants roads in tourist areas to be nat’l roads MANILA – In the aftermath of the fiasco over the new promotion slogan of the Department of Tourism (DOT) that President Aquino ordered cancelled, Sen. Francis Escudero pushed on November 29 for more concrete measures to promote tourism in the country that includes the classification as national roads of all roads leading to tourist spots and seaports. Escudero wants the secretaries of the Department of Public Works and Highways and the DOT to issue the necessary rules and circulars once his proposed Senate Bill 2611 passes muster. Roads that are classified as national roads are maintained and supervised by the national government, particularly the DPWH. Escudero said tourist spots refer to an area where there is an establishment or group of establishments that have been created with the purpose of attracting tourists duly accredited by the DOT pursuant to the Tourism Act of 2009. “The state needs to significantly improve and develop tourism and economic activities in the country,” Escudero said in the explanatory note of SB 2611. “Consequently, the government should focus on the improvement and appropriate maintenance of roads leading to major tourist and economic destinations. This is to facilitate access and thus, promote such activities for tourism and economic development,” Escudero said. (Christina Mendez/Philstar.com) 101201 - MW SEC A rev w-ads.indd9 9
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‘PH can offer humanitarian aid to ease Korea…
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ers in the Korean peninsula. “The primary consideration is the Filipinos – how do we evacuate them in case of an escalation of tension in South Korea,” Lacierda said. But Lacierda made clear that the Philippine government would not renege on its commitment to the Mutual Defense Treaty, which is to help the US protect South Korea from an invasion. “We will honor whatever obligations that we have entered
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into, the treaty but that will also be subject to the invitation of the government concerned. But there’s still no offer now. Let’s not get ahead of the offer, if any, of the South Korean government,” he said. “In whatever way we can (to abide by the treaty). Of course, depending on the resources and capability of our assets. We will assess our resources and capability, if we can prepare for it and what kind of resources that we will need for our own AFP,” he
added. For his part, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad gave assurance that the government could cover the expenses should there be a need to evacuate or repatriate Filipinos in Korea. “We have the capability to respond to any contingency that will be brought about by the tension in South Korea,” Abad said over radio dzXL. Surge of students As tensions rose in the Korean peninsula, the Philippines may
have to deal with a fresh surge of students from South Korea, Cebu Rep. Eduardo Gullas said on November 29. “For the sake of world peace, and the 60,000 Filipino workers in South Korea, we hope there will be no further hostilities on the peninsula,” Gullas said. “Nonetheless, we expect many South Korean families to take the necessary precautions, and send their children away for schooling here in the months ahead,” he said.
Koreans – many of them students – have been arriving in droves even before the crisis. Some 200,000 South Koreans are already studying in the Philippines, including those taking up short courses in English, Gullas said. According to Bureau of Immigration data, for this year alone 27,116 South Koreans were registered in the country as of Sept. 16. They are the second largest foreign ethnic group in the country next to the Chinese. Gullas said Filipinos should welcome the prospect of more South Koreans staying in the country. “As potential consumers, they can create incremental demand for local goods and services, including housing, and thus contribute to domestic economic expansion,” he said. “As investors, they can help build new factories that can provide badly needed new jobs to our unemployed,” Gullas said. South Koreans find the low cost of living and studying in the Philippines highly attractive, the lawmaker said. “A growing number of young South Koreans are also eagerly trying to master the English language, so they like being able to communicate with us in the world’s lingua franca,” he said. Manila has liberal programs for foreign visitors and students. A special entity also offers resident visas to foreigners 35 to 49 years old and their qualified dependents who bring in at least $50,000 (P2.2 million), or $20,000 (P880,000) in the case of those 50 years old and above, he said. Scrap war games Meanwhile, Akbayan party-list Rep. Walden Bello said he agreed with President Aquino’s decision to defer the deployment of Filipino overseas workers to South Korea but asked the Chief Executive to demand that the US and South Korea call off their ongoing “war games” near North Korea. Bello, chairman of the chair of the House committee on overseas workers’ affairs, said the longstanding deployment of combatready US military forces in South Korea, particularly along the 38th Parallel separating the two Koreas, “has been seen as a constant provocation by the North Koreans.” “Indeed, North Korea’s development of nuclear weapons, which in our view is a tragic mis-
take, must be understood as a response by North Korea to their encirclement by powerful US forces based in South Korea and Japan and in the waters off the Korean peninsula in the form of the US Seventh Fleet,” he said. He also said North Korea’s paranoia was “understandable given this military encirclement, though their firing on Yeonpyong Island was not justified.” “As long as a state of military confrontation dominated the Korean peninsula, there will always be a high risk of war breaking out, with the consequent risk to the well being of the 50,000 Filipinos working in South Korea,” Bello said. “Evacuation plans must be ready, but more effective than evacuation plans must be the return of stability to the region as quickly as possible,” he said. “An end to the US-South Korea war games would be a key step in this process of de-escalation, and President Aquino can help bring this about by pressuring the two governments to end their provocative military exercises,” he said. He also urged the US, South Korea, and North Korea to sign a treaty ending the Korean War of 1950-53. “Until there is a formal end to the state of war between North Korea and the United States, the Korean peninsula will always be a powder keg,” he said. Pinoys workers overtime In Taiwan, Filipinos working for South Korean giant companies like Samsung and LG are working overtime to compensate for production slowdown in their home base. Jackson Gan, president of the Pilipino Manpower Agencies Accredited to Taiwan (PILMAT) reported that Filipino workers in Taiwan are earning higher due to overtime work. “Filipino factory workers in Taiwan are getting higher wages these days as more overtime is given to them to keep up with the additional orders,” Gan noted. According to Gan, Filipino factory workers in Taiwan receive up to P30,000 monthly wage depending on overtime work. The Blas Ople Policy Center, for its part, urged the government to make full use of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter to send updates, advisories, and reminders to Filipinos in South Korea. Susan Ople, Center head, said a good number of Filipinos in South Korea are on Facebook or have active e-mail accounts. n
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COMMUNITY
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Journal
Humanitarian reinstatement
Your Immigration Solution Atty. Robert Reeves Lorena Larios Shah THE death of a loved one is a tragic event in anyone’s life. The death of a petitioner in immigration law is a legal event that automatically revokes a visa petition. However, there is hope for those family members living abroad that waited patiently for their immigrant visa petition to become current prior to the death of their family member. A humanitarian reinstatement request of an approved petition may allow a beneficiary to continue with the immigrant visa process and reunite with his/her family in the United States. Under 8 C.F.R. 205.1(a)(3)(i)(C), the Attorney General will not revoke a family-based immigrant petition upon the death of the petitioner where he “determines that for humanitarian reasons revocation would be inappropriate.” The United States Department of State’s Foreign Affairs Manual (9 FAM 42.42 PN2) provides a list of factors the USCIS should consider in evaluating requests for reinstatements. – Disruption of an established
family unit – Hardship to US citizens or lawful permanent residents – Beneficiary is elderly or in poor health – Beneficiary has no home to go to – Undue delay by INS or consular officer in processing petition and visa – Beneficiary has strong family ties in the United States In addition, on March 13, 2002, H.R. 1892 became Public Law 107-150. This law amended the INA by permitting an alternate sponsor for the affidavit of support if the original sponsor has died and the Attorney General has determined that the petition should not be revoked for humanitarian reasons. The amendment specifically permits the substitution of a close family member, i.e., the spouse, parent, mother-in-law, father-in-law, sister, brother, son, daughter, sonin-law, or daughter-in-law. As in the case of other financial sponsors, the sponsor must maintain an annual income equal to at least 125% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines. This law applies to deaths triggering visa revocation occurring before, on, or after the enactment of this law. Where the beneficiary is living in the US when the petitioner
dies, a separate law may apply and allow a beneficiary to adjust status. The Immigration and Nationality Act (Act) was amended with the passage of Public Law No. 111-83. Section 204(l) of the Act provides that an alien’s application for adjustment of status shall be adjudicated “notwithstanding the death of the qualifying relative” if the alien resided in the US at the time of their qualifying relative’s death and continues to reside in the United States. The death of a loved one can leave a family feeling hopeless. But not all hope is lost. An immigration expert can evaluate whether a request for humanitarian reinstatement or adjustment of status pursuant to section 204(l) is proper.
*** Atty. Reeves has represented clients in numerous landmark immigration cases that have set new policies regarding INS action and immigrants’ rights. His offices are located in Pasadena, San Francisco, Las Vegas and Makati City. Telephone: (800) 795-8009 E-mail: immigration@rreeves.com Website: www.rreeves.com. *** The analysis and suggestions offered in this column do not create a lawyer-client relationship and are not a substitute for the personalized representation that is essential to every case. (Advertising Supplement)
Humanitarian reinstatement granted ON June 7, 2010, the US Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) reinstated, on humanitarian grounds, the family petition filed by the late Mr. Rogelio C. Poblete (Rogelio), a US citizen, on behalf of his brother Mr. Catalino Poblete (Catalino), who resides in the Philippines with his wife and son. Revalidation of the instant petition will finally enable Catalino to obtain an immigrant visa and reunite with his United States citizen siblings, daughter, grandson and son-in-law in the US. Growing up in the Philippines, Catalino was very close to his brother, Rogelio, and two other
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Community Journal Immigrant Living: 101 and Beyond Monette Adeva Maglaya FOR most women, the pressure is on. We do the lists, the cards, the shopping for presents, the decor, the cooking, the parties – hoping that by doing all these we would have an infusion, a dose of the Christmas spirit within us. By going through the motions, we hope that the emotion of joy follows. Some people have it down to an art and science. They know the secret of being joyful during this season and beyond and you can see it in the glimmer in their eyes, the extra bounce in their gait and the aura that they exude about them. A great many, however, still feel empty even if they fill their time with activities and max out their cards at the shopping malls. Deep down, they know that things are just stuff, no matter how beautiful or
Minding Your Finances Atty. Raymond Bulaon FILING bankruptcy can be very stressful and uncomfortable for people who are facing a financial crisis for the first time in their lives. But a lot of the anxiety involved can be alleviated by simply understanding the process and keeping things in perspective. Oftentimes, people are so focused on their current financial problems that they lose sight of the big picture. If you are seriously drowning in debt, I am sure chances are that your problems did not happen overnight. If so, then it only makes sense that any solution you choose to implement to correct the situation may also take time. When appropriate for your situation, filing for bankruptcy protection can accelerate the process of financial recovery so this can be your first step. Creditors will often try to make you believe that filing for bankruptcy somehow makes you a failure and that you are a bad person for doing so. These characterizations are simply ridiculous and they should not stop
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Welcoming the season of joy Nothing can cure the soul but the senses, just as nothing can cure the senses but the soul. – Oscar Wilde how pricey. Like life itself, the spirit of Christmas is a mystery. It cannot be pinned down exactly. It cannot be put on. Neither can it be bought by Visa or Mastercard. It is only when we dwell within the deep recesses of our souls that the true spirit of Christmas comes slowly, quietly, enfolding us in its warm embrace. That somewhat elusive spirit will come and alight upon us like a butterfly during quiet moments when our senses are sharpest. Take a deep breath and experience Christmas with your senses. We can use our sense of sight
and see, as though for the first time, the splendor of nature all around us – of trees garbed in vermilion red, yellow and gold putting on their finest raiment in quiet anticipation of some glorious event about to happen. A canopy of blue skies with light wisps of fluffy clouds provide a backdrop for the verdant hills and mountains bathed in shafts of golden light that would send Monet, if he were still alive, splashing paint furiously onto his canvas to create impressions of light on the same subject at different hours of the day. At night, houses and apartments
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Bankruptcy: Don’t lose sight of the big picture you from doing what is necessary to change your situation for the better. Your creditors know that once you file, they will no longer be able to call and harass you and so they will tell you all kinds of things in order to humiliate you and discourage you from filing. Once you are able to regain control of your finances by either wiping debts you can no longer pay (Chapter 7) or paying creditors over time (3-5 years under Chapter 13), bankruptcy relief helps you break out of the seemingly never-ending cycle of debt. Whether your problems were caused by factors beyond your control or simply a result of poor financial planning, bankruptcy can give you a fresh start by putting your debt problems behind you once and for all. Filing bankruptcy is not financial failure. It is nothing more than financial planning so that you can have a better future for you and your family. Don’t let your current situation make you lose sight of your long-term financial goals. Some people are so buried in debt that they have no other
way of repaying what they owe. They live from paycheck to paycheck and have zero savings in bank. They are literally only one paycheck away from bankruptcy. You need a financial plan if you are going to retire some day. This could be as simple as participating in your company’s 401K plan if you are employed or maybe putting money into an IRA if you are self-employed. A lot of people who come to me for bankruptcy help are broke every month due to excessive indebtedness that they can’t even put aside a couple of hundred dollars a month for retirement. How can they when they’re simply in “survival mode” month after month? If you don’t have a financial plan, who is going to support you when the day comes you can no longer work? I hope you’re not simply counting on the government to support you. Experts say that by the time most of us retire, social security may not even be around anymore. If your current debt problems were caused by your failure to set financial priorities, you may
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Community Journal
Atty. Daniel Hanlon
USCIS ‘background clearances’ should be complete in 180 days or less
RECENTLY, I have consulted an alarming number of people with applications for adjustment of status pending for more than 6 months; and in some cases several years, allegedly for no other reason than the USCIS background clearances have not been completed. The USCIS is routinely ignoring the inquiries of such people at their “InfoPass” appointments to follow-up the status of their cases, telling them that they must simply wait. This type of customer service is unacceptable, especially in light of the USCIS’ stated policy of completing action on such cases within 180 days. Nearly three years ago, USCIS Associate Director of Domestic Operations, Michael Aytes, issued a memorandum revising CIS’ policy of requiring complete background clearances before an application for adjustment of status may be approved. The Memo sets forth the USCIS’ policy, in which the USCIS, in cooperation with the FBI, will render final decisions on pending I-485 and I601 (waiver applications) within 180 days of receipt. This policy is in accord with Congressional mandate and should have reduced the waiting period for adjustment of status in most cases. In the aftermath of 9-11, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) implemented strict procedures to screen out inadmissible aliens during the adjudication of applications for US immigra-
tion benefits, such as adjustment of status, work authorization and naturalization. By regulation, DHS made FBI fingerprint and name checks, as well as Intragency Border Inspection Services (IBIS) checks mandatory prior to the approval of these immigration benefits. As a result, foreign nationals were subjected to delays of several months, and in some cases years, for the adjudication of their green card applications. Prior to the policy shift, applicants weary of such delays could seek “mandamus” relief in the Federal Courts, enlisting the intervention of a US District Court Judge to order the CIS and related agencies to complete the background checks within a “reasonable time” as required under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). While Mandamus remains a viable tool to obtain long overdue adjudication of green card applications, the USCIS’ 2008 policy should have obviated the need for such litigation in many cases. Under the 2008 policy memorandum, the USCIS is supposed to initiate the required background checks upon the receipt of applications for adjustment of status. Once the application has been pending 180 days, however, if the application is other wise approvable, the USCIS should adjudicate the application and issue the green card without the background check results. Under this policy, USCIS retains the files of
Immigration Edge
cases where the application has been adjudicated pending the results of the background clearance. If the background clearance reveals a criminal history or other potential basis for ineligibility, DHS would then render a determination as to whether rescission or removal proceedings should be initiated against the applicant. The USCIS policy memorandum seems to have been lost in the shuffle of late, as many people are forced to endure inordinate delays in the processing of their applications for adjustment of status. USCIS is informing many of these people that the “background clearance” is to blame for the delay. Given the USCIS’ official policy, if more than 180 days elapses with no decision forthcoming, applicants for adjustment of status should consider filing a lawsuit seeking Mandamus relief to enforce the USCIS policy. Of course, litigation is generally a last resort and an applicant’s Immigration Attorney should exercise diplomacy with the USCIS to obtain a favorable resort for any applicant prior to marching into Federal Court. *** Daniel P. Hanlon is a California State Bar Certified Specialist in Immigration and Nationality Law and a principal of Hanlon Law Group, PC, located at 225 S. Lake Ave., 11th Floor in Pasadena, California; tel. No. (626) 585-8005. Hanlon Law Group, PC is a “fullservice Immigration Law firm.” E-mail: visas@ hanlonlawgroup.com and www.hanlonlawgroup. com (Advertising Supplement)
Political empowerment is still a treasure that eludes us as a community here in America. While we are the second largest Asian American community in the United States, we have yet to harvest the power that comes from our numbers. The Voice of FilAmerica features elected and appointed officials – regardless of political affiliation – in the different US states who are of Filipino ancestry. As your Filipino American community newspaper, the Asian Journal recognizes the fact that we all have a responsibility towards bringing political empowerment to fruition, especially for our future generations. It is our hope to have our voices heard all over America.
Robert ‘Rob’ Bonta
Newly elected Member of Alameda City Council by Cynthia de
AJPress
Castro
DURING the recent elections, Filipino American Robert “Rob” Bonta, won a seat in the Alameda City Council. He also holds elected public office as a Director of the City of Alameda Health Care District. Rob has been on the Alameda Hospital Board, where he oversaw the greatest financial turnaround in the Hospital’s history, turning a deficit into a surplus, while preserving critical, high quality health care services. He is the Chair of the City of Alameda Economic Development Commission where he has promoted economic growth in Alameda to improve Alameda’s quality of life. He is also the Co-President of the City of Alameda Democratic Club, and President of the Asian Pacific American Democratic Caucus of Alameda County. Before the elections, Rob Bonta served as a Deputy City Attorney in the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office. Bonta is also the President of the City of Alameda’s Social Service Human Relations Board, where he helps ensure a “safety net” for the most vulnerable members of our community. “I grew up the son of an immigrant mother and working class father. My parents wanted a good life for their children. I benefited from a strong California public school education growing up, and, with the help of financial aid and work study, was fortunate to attend some of the world’s finest universities,” Bonta stated in his webpage. “I grew up in a home where the values of public service, activism and the common good were instilled in me from an early age. My parents dedicated their lives to social justice and the service of others. That commitment to public service has taken root with me and only grown stronger over time.” Rob’s Filipina mom, Cynthia Bonta, said of her
son, “My son was born Robert Andres Bonta -- Andres after Andres Bonifacio, a Filipino hero of the people’s revolt against Spain. Our family became involved in the farmworker movement as volunteers. Rob was only a year old when we moved into our trailer home at La Paz, the UFW Headquarters, home of Cesar Chavez. Rob and his siblings were often with us at meetings, marches or picket lines. At Yale College, my son acted on his social consciousness. He founded and coordinated a Bilingual Tutoring Program; insured the provision of social and educational services to poor Connecticut youth as program coordinator with LEAP. During the summers he served the needs of Mexican and South American sweatshop workers; interned in the San Francisco mayor’s office dealing with criminal and juvenile justice issues.” Robert received his Bachelor of Arts Degree in History from Yale University in 1993. He attended the University of Oxford in 1984 where he did graduate work in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics. He entered Yale Law School with a clear vision of leadership in public service and received his Juris Doctorate in 1998. At graduation, Yale awarded him the prestigious Roosevelt L. Thompson Prize for dedication to public service. Rob has been very active in the Filipino American community, like his immigrant Pinay mother, Cynthia Bonta. On the Board of Filipino Advocates for Justice for many years, Rob is proud to be following in his mother Cynthia Bonta’s footsteps advocating for social justice for the Filipino American community. Robert is also involved with Filipinos for Affirmative Action, Alternative in Action. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Manilatown Heritage Foundation, which he joined in 2003. He has been in the Advisory Board since 2006. Rob lives in Alameda with his wife Mia and three children Reina, Iliana, and Andres. n
Barrister’s Corner Atty. Kenneth Ursua Reyes THERE are situations in both Divorce and Child Support cases where the Summons and Petition resulted to a default against one party for failing to respond in time. In certain situations, the defaulted party failed to respond in time because he or she did not even know that he or she was served with a Summons. This situation places the defaulted party in a precarious situation in that the first time the defaulted party usually becomes aware of the existence of the case is when the default child support judgment or divorce judgment is actually being enforced against the defaulted party. At this point, the party no longer has the right to participate or defend itself in the litigation. Based on my experience in practice, the defaulted party usually gets in this situation because they move residences and the summons is served in the prior residence. Sometimes, the summons is fraudulently served. Fortunately, relief is available for the defaulted party. If a default judgment is entered against a party who was served with summons, but service did not result in actual notice in time to defend the action, the party may serve
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Relief from default in divorce cases and file a notice of motion to set aside the default or default judgment, and for leave to defend the action. Code Civ. Proc., § 473.5, subd. (a) “Actual notice” means genuine knowledge of the party litigant. Rosenthal v. Garner, 142 Cal. App. 3d 891, 191 Cal. Rptr. 300 (2d Dist. 1983)The Courts has strictly construed this term to implement a policy of liberally granting relief so that cases can be resolved on their merits. Olvera v. Olvera, 232 Cal. App. 3d 32, 283 Cal. Rptr. 271 (4th Dist. 1991) In addition, actual notice by a party’s attorney will not be imputed to the client. Rosenthal v. Garner, 142 Cal. App. 3d 891, 191 Cal. Rptr. 300 (2d Dist. 1983) There is an additional angle of argument available for non native English speakers. Receipt of summons and complaint by a non-English speaking defendant lacking in business sophistication may not impart “actual knowledge.” Goya v. P.E.R.U. Enterprises, 87 Cal. App. 3d 886, 151 Cal. Rptr. 258 (2d Dist. 1978); Tunis v. Barrow, 184 Cal. App. 3d 1069, 229 Cal. Rptr. 389 (2d Dist. 1986) So even if you actually received the complaint, if you do not speak English and are not sophisticated with business and legal matters, you may use
the arguments that the default judgment should be set aside because you did not receive “actual notice.” It is the Court’s policy to, as reflected in the Olvera case, to liberally grant setting aside such defaults and having the case heard on the merits. Default Judgment may be set aside by an attorney by filing a Motion for relief from default. This would be accompanied by a declaration from the defaulted party that he never received actual notice. A copy of the proposed response is also required to be filed with the court. This type of motion must be filed and served within 2 years after entry of default judgment or within 180 days after service of a notice of default or default judgment on the defaulted party, whichever comes first. If you are a defaulted party, you should retain the representation of an experienced attorney to set the default aside as soon as you can. ***
Attorney Kenneth Ursua Reyes was President of the Philippine American Bar Association. He is a member of both the Family law section and Immigration law section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association. He has extensive CPA experience prior to law practice. Law Offices of Kenneth Reyes, P.C. is located at 3699 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 700, Los Angeles, CA, 90010. Tel. (213) 3881611 or e-mail kureyeslaw@aol.com. Website kenreyeslaw.com (Advertising Supplement)
Welcoming the season of…
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on the street where you live are ablaze in twinkling icicle lights simulating the glow of millions of fireflies. There are heartwarming, original movies you can view at the Hallmark Channel. You can watch them curled up in bed in your pjs, sipping a warm mug of cocoa while nursing a bout with the sniffles. Though a sight to behold, our puny human efforts pale in comparison with a glimpse of the universe just above our heads — stars that seem to shine brightest on the clearest skies about this time of the year. Step out during a clear night, turn off the boob tube, get out of the rut of the insipid details and mundane activities that seem to pass for real life and look heavenward. If you are patient, you might be rewarded by the sight of shooting stars and meteor showers. Star-
gazing can leave you breathless in the same way it has moved generations of men before us. The best part about it is that like the air we breathe, the sight of the heavens is absolutely free. The most awe inspiring nightly galactic shows are at about this time of the year. Better yet, take the time to view the stars at the Griffith Observatory. And what of the sense of smell? They say that the nose knows. That proboscis jutting out of our faces does a truly important function. So do handle it with real care particularly this season of colds and flu. Get that flu shot. Wash your hands often and refrain from touching your eyes and mouth. Catching a cold deprives you of the enthralling, beguiling smells of cooking and baking and sabotages your sense of taste as well. Find out what beguiles your senses and let these bring you
the delights of this blessed season. Never lose sight of the reason for the season. Don’t strain yourself or try too hard. Easy does it. Picture the Christmas spirit as an elusive little butterfly that alights on you only when you are very still. Let your senses soak it all in. The Christmas spirit, once it dwells in you and suffuses your being stays on auto pilot. It stays on to warm your heart all year round like embers that just need a little stoking from time to time to keep it burning. *** Nota Bene: To ask questions and send feedback, e-mail monette.maglaya@ asianjournalinc.com. If you want to read more articles on aspects of immigrant living, go to amazon.com, search using my name and two entries will pop up, with the titles, “The Complete Success Guide for the Immigrant Life: How to Survive, How to Thrive, How to be Fully Alive,” and the portable, handy, “The Immigrant’s Little Quote Book for Success.”
Humanitarian reinstatement…
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siblings, Edgardo and Nunila. Edgardo and Nunila both had the opportunity to immigrate to the United States in 1959 and 1969, respectively. Rogelio immigrated to the US as a physician in 1965. Their father who was a widower, however, had to remain behind in the Philippines due to health problems. Catalino selflessly opted to remain behind with their father to care for him during his last years. This separation was extremely difficult and painful for all of them as they had always been a very close family. All three of Catalino’s siblings immigrated to the US knowing full well that thanks to their brother’s sacrifice they could begin a new life full of opportunities. The petitioner, Rogelio, became a citizen of the US on June 12, 1974. Rogelio filed a relative immigrant visa petition on behalf of his brother, Catalino on June 7, 1985, as a brother of a US citizen. The relative petition was approved and sent to the US 101201 - MW SEC B.indd 3
Embassy in Manila, Philippines. While awaiting the availability of the visa, Rogelio passed away on November 22, 1997, a legal event that automatically revoked the visa petition. To make matters worse, On December 27, 2003, Catalino’s only daughter, Ann Catherine married a US citizen and immigrated to the US Although, Catalino was happy that his daughter found a good and responsible husband, he and his wife were saddened to be separated from their only daughter and grandchild. The Poblete family consulted with Reeves & Associates (R&A) and retained R&A to represent them for humanitarian reinstatement of the approved immigrant visa petition, as authorized by 8 Code of Federal Regulation § 205.1(a)(3)(i)(C). Under this provision, the Attorney General will not revoke a family-based immigrant petition upon the death of the petitioner where he “determines that for humanitarian reasons revocation would be inappropriate.” R&A’s attorney
Lorena Larios Shah prepared and presented the request for humanitarian reinstatement before the USCIS and highlighted Catalino’s equities as factors the USCIS should consider in granting the reinstatement request. Some of the equities listed included disruption of an established family unit, hardship to US citizens or lawful permanent residents, age and health of the beneficiary, undue delay by the USCIS, and strong family ties in the US Catalino waited for over 25 years for this opportunity. His dream of becoming a US legal permanent resident and immigrating to the US to be reunited with his siblings and daughter and bond with his grandson will finally become a reality. Atty. Reeves personally met with Mr. & Mrs. Catalino in the R&A’s Manila Office and gave them the good news. They expressed their heartfelt gratitude to the firm for making it all possible. They felt as if it was a miracle. (Advertising Supplement) 11/30/10 2:18:55 PM
B DECEMBER 1-3, 2010 • LA MIDWEEK ASIAN JOURNAL
People & Events
http://www.asianjournal.com • (213) 250-9797
NAPABA installs new leadership for 2010-2011 bar year WASHINGTON – The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA), which represents the interests of over 40,000 Asian Pacific American (APA) attorneys and 62 local APA bar associations, has installed its Board of Governors for the 2010-2011 bar year. NAPABA’s newly elected Officers, Regional Governors, and At-Large Members were sworn into office at NAPABA’s Anniversary Gala and Celebration Dinner on November 20, 2010, during NAPABA’s 22nd Annual Convention in Los Angeles, CA. The dinner was hosted by actress Tamlyn Tomita (The Joy Luck Club), who was a lively Mistress of Ceremonies, and the swearing-in was preceded by an inspiring speech by the Honorable L. Tammy Duckworth, Assistant Secretary for Public and Intergovernmental Affairs, Department of Veterans Affairs. The Board of Governors were sworn into office by the Honorable Denny Chin, Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The NAPABA Board of Governors is comprised of the Executive Committee, which consists of nine elected Officers, the Regional Governors, who each represent one of the nine NAPABA regions across the United States, and four At-Large Members. Brief biographies of the incoming Officers are included below, and more information can be found at www.napaba.org. Executive committee President: Paul O. Hirose is Of Counsel with Perkins Coie LLP, where he represents corporate clients in commercial litigation as well as business and transactional matters. Mr. Hirose serves as Marketing Counsel for Isuzu North America Corporation where he is responsible for business and consumer litigation, motor vehicle franchise and marketing, advertising, employment, and intellectual property matters. Before attending law school, Mr. Hirose was a licensed Certified Public Accountant in California and worked at Deloitte Haskins & Sells as a Senior Tax Consultant. Mr.
Hirose served for several years as Treasurer of NAPABA and is a member of NAPABA’s Leadership Advisory Council. President Elect: Nemish M. Patel is the Division Chief of the Diversity Management and Operations Support Division of the Office of Civil Rights and Liberties for the Transportation Security Administration, US Department of Homeland Security, where he manages the team that provides advice, training, and technical support for all TSA components to ensure compliance with civil rights and EEO laws and regulations. He also leads the agency’s diversity-related efforts and coordinates diversity management with the Office of Human Capital. Previously, Mr. Patel was a member of the Labor and Employment Practice Group of an AmLaw 100 law firm where he specialized in diversity/risk assessment. He began his career as an Honor’s Program Attorney with the US Department of Justice, and he later served as a senior trial attorney in the Civil Rights Division, Special Litigation Section. Mr. Patel’s leadership includes serving as Vice Chair of the DC Commission on Human Rights, Member of the ABA President’s Commission to Advance Diversity in the Legal Profession, Board Member of the NAPABA Law Foundation, and Co-Chair of the NAPABA Diversity Task Force. Mr. Patel was previously selected as one of NAPABA’s Best Lawyers Under 40. Vice-President for Finance & Development: Linda Lu is a Senior Attorney with the Corporate Litigation Division of the Law and Regulations Department of Allstate Insurance Company. Ms. Lu manages nationwide and statewide class action litigation challenging Allstate’s policies, practice, and procedures, and is also a member of the Allstate Law Department Diversity Committee. Before joining Allstate, Ms. Lu was an attorney at Lowis & Gellen in Chicago. This will be her second term as NAPABA’s VP of Finance and Development. Ms. Lu was previously a recipient of NAPABA’s Best
SCE offers customers…
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lights are unplugged. – Use lights and extension cords designed for outdoor use if placing them outside. – Unplug lights when you leave home or go to bed. Save energy by using a timer so the lights are on only during the hours you select. – Use only three strands of light per electrical cord or outlet. An overload could cause a short circuit and a fire. – Keep indoor trees well watered so that they will not dry out and become fire hazards. – Keep lights away from carpeting, furniture, drapes and other combustible material. Holiday lighting and SCE streetlights Holiday lighting, decorations and displays are not allowed to be attached or hung from SCE streetlights or facilities. The holiday lights can create a safety
or fire risk for residents and SCE employees. The utility’s policy requires that permission must be given to hang any objects or materials from company facilities. SCE also encourages its customers to use light emitting diode (LED) lights for holiday decorating. LEDs offer many benefits: Energy Efficiency: LEDs use up to 90 percent less electricity than conventional incandescent, painted or ceramic-coated bulbs. Environmentally friendly: the lower electricity usage of LEDs means less carbon emissions. Safety: LEDs generate much less heat when they operate so they are cool to the touch and are less likely to overload a circuit. Longevity: LEDs can last up to 10 times longer than traditional incandescent strands. n
Lawyer Under 40 award. Currently, she is a Board Member of the Chinese American Bar Association and an appointed member of the District 34 Local School Council. Vice-President for Programs and Operations: Emily T. Kuo is Associate General Counsel of M. D. Anderson Services Corporation, a nonprofit supporting organization to The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, focusing on health and corporate law. Following two terms as VP of Membership, Ms. Kuo will be serving a second term as VP of Programs and Operations for NAPABA. She also serves on the Council of the State Bar of Texas Asian Pacific Interest Section, the Board of Trustees of the Asian American Bar Foundation of Houston, and was the 2007 President of the Asian American Bar Association of Houston. Ms. Kuo was selected as one of NAPABA’s 2007 Best Lawyers Under 40 and, from 2007-2009, was named a Texas Super Lawyer - Rising Star by Texas Monthly magazine. Ms. Kuo serves on the boards of directors for the Society for the Performing Arts and Houston Early Music. Vice-President for Membership: Sumbal Mahmud currently serve as Counsel to the Minnesota Stroke Institute and manages a private client base in the US and abroad. She is a consultant and frequently lectures and teaches seminars internationally. Vice-President for Communications: Bryce K. Kunimoto is a partner in the litigation practice group of the Las Vegas office of Holland & Hart LLP. His practice focuses on commercial litigation cases involving contract disputes, banking law, trade secrets, partnership disputes, NASD/FINRA broker-dealer disputes, and construction law. He has represented large national banks, gaming companies, developers, hotels/casinos and technology companies. Mr. Kunimoto is a former NAPABA Regional Governor and was the Co-Founder and Co-President of the Asian Bar Association of Las Vegas.
Secretary: Bijal Vakil is the executive partner in charge of White & Case’s Silicon Valley office and a member of its intellectual property practice. He represents entities of all sizes, ranging from Fortune 500 companies to Silicon Valley start-ups, in IP litigation, strategic counseling, and technology licensing matters. He represents clients in numerous district courts, the International Trade Commission, and before the Federal Circuit. Mr. Vakil is active in community organizations and devotes his time to pro bono matters and is a recipient of the Minority Bar Association’s Unity Award and was named as one of NAPABA’s 2010 Best Lawyers Under 40. Treasurer: Camilla M. Eng serves as General Counsel to JM Eagle, where she leads the law department of the world’s largest plastic pipe manufacturer and advises on corporate strategy and implementation. Prior to her current role, she served as a Deputy City Attorney for the Renewable Energy Group at the Department of Water and Power in Los Angeles, CA. Immediate Past President: Joseph J. Centeno is an equity partner with Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel LLP. Mr. Centeno founded the firm’s Diversity Committee and is the firm’s Diversity Partner. In 2006, Diversity & the Bar Magazine named Mr. Centeno as one of “The Best of the Best” labor and employment lawyers. He was recognized as a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer and NAPABA’s “Best Lawyers Under 40.” Mr. Centeno has served as VP of Finance and Development, President-Elect, and President for NAPABA. He has been President of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Pennsylvania, a Senior Hearing Officer to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Disciplinary Board, and Commissioner to the Philadelphia Human Relations Commission. Mr. Centeno also served as board member to the Philadelphia Diversity Law Group, NAPABA Law Foundation, the National Employment Lawyer’s Council, and the Homeless Advocacy Project. n
Philippine Nurses Association of America Foundation
THE Philippine Nurses Association of America Foundation (PNAAF) is a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization that undertakes development and continuing education programs in support of the training and research objectives of the Philippine Nurses Association of America, and health and well-being for all. Promoting Health Care Quality through Leadership and Global Linkages: Translating Research into Practice Conference Iloilo City, Philippines February 3-5, 2011 Purpose PNAAF is pleased to present its first collaborative international conference, “Promoting Health Care Quality through Leadership and Global Linkages: Translating Research into Practice”, in collaboration with the Philippine Nurses Association Iloilo Chapter and the PRC Iloilo Employees Multipurpose Cooperative, to be held on February 3-5, 2011, at the Iloilo Grand Hotel, Iloilo City, Philippines. The purpose of this multidisciplinary and multi-sectoral 2.5-day conference is to offer cutting
edge information, science, and technology about translational research dealing with evidence-based practice guidelines on important health and health care concerns and diseases such as healthy heart, healthy aging, nicotine dependence, heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, hepatitis B, HIV/ AIDS, chronic kidney disease and information systems technology. Featured speakers International, regional and national resource persons with research, policy, practice, educational, consumer and/or managerial expertise will be featured speakers. Breakout panel sessions Concurrent sessions will present papers grouped by topic and include discussant commentary. Who should attend? Doctors, Dentists, Nurses, Pharmacists, Nutritionists, Physical therapists, and other healthcare Team Members, Health care Executives, Policy makers and Consumers Researchers, Health educators and Health profession students Call for Abstracts Researchers and practitioners from vari-
ous disciplines in academic or health care settings are invited to submit an abstract to the Conference. The call for abstracts is now open. Submissions will undergo peer review. The submission deadline is Tuesday, November 30, 2010. Go to Abstract Form, complete the Form and email to: Ledadanao@yahoo.com Continuing Education contact hours: PNAAF is an approved continuing education provider by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider # 14134, for 20 contact hours, for nurses who complete participation in this conference. Questions? For inquiries, please contact: Leda Danao at ledadanao@yahoo.com or 310-384-5485 Mila Velasquez at mila.velasquez@yahoo.com or 562-547-1010 Pete Calixto at calixtopr@comcast.net or 415-290-4450 Araceli Antonio at aracelidantonio@aol. com or 650-878-0622 Nanette de Leon at ngrc_ngpi@yahoo. com Lily Ann Baldago at bravofox256@yahoo. com or (0163) (917) 840-7409. n
(L-R) Marty’s mom Edna Duamaual, Jazz Masters and UCLA faculty Charles Owens, Kenny Burrell, Marty, myself, and Peter Dumaual the proud father. AJPress Photo by Bert Jaurigue
Galing Musikong Pinoy!
A VERY humble shining Star! Isang Musikong Pinoy, Marty Dumaual is who I am talking about. An amazing young and determined Jazz Saxophonist currently enrolled at his freshman year at the UCLA College of Music. I was invited to attend the fall Jazz recital last Monday Nov. 22nd at the Schoenberg Hall in UCLA and experienced the great talent of the students from the college jazz department. Guess who shined bright? It was our Pinoy saxophonist Marty with his combo, on Drums: Sarah Mori Bass: Mike Pepper Guitar: Justin Lucas Trombone: Spencer Dunn Alto Sax: Marty Dumaual. They played
Sugar by Stanley Turrentine, How Insensitive by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Donna Lee by Miles Davis a Bebop Jazz which give Marty the wings to fly high when he took off for his solo, but even then I was already taken away with the clarity and the high musical content when he executed the difficult bop theme at the very start, very impressive! I promised Marty that I will support and guide him to the best of my knowledge and experience to help in the preparation with his professional music career. I am very proud and excited with this young talent. Mabuhay ang musikong Pinoy! (Bob Shroder)
Tala Awards for Parol Festival SAN FRANCISCO – Who will be Tala Award Grand Prize winner in this year’s Parol Lantern Festival? Every year more than two dozen contingents are gearing up for the annual Parol Festival in San Francisco for the festive stroll to display their lanterns which are creatively produced by their members and to vie for the esteemed Tala Award Grand Prize. The judges for the parol pageant usually offer the Tala Awards to those who ingeniously capture the essence of the year’s festival theme. Last year the theme was connected to the US 2010 Census campaign, while this year is “Heritage: Let It Shine” in conjunction with the proposed Filipino Social Heritage Special Use District in San Francisco. The contingent from the University of San Francisco’s Kasamahan was last year’s Tala Award Grand Prize winner and $500 reward, and the second and third prizes went to Canon Kip Senior Center and the Veterans Equity Center respectively. Canon Kip was also the Grand prize winner in 2008 Parol Festival. The San Francisco’s 8th annual Parol Festival is on Saturday, December 11, 2010, from 5 to 8 PM. The assembly for the Parol Stroll starts at the Yerba Buena Lane on Market Street and the main program and gallery of parol lanterns at Jessie Square near St. Patrick’s Church, between 3rd and 4th Street in South of Market. It is much awaited and a must-see event. 101201 - MW SEC B.indd 6
There are also live entertainments, display of San Fernando lanterns, and lots of prizes for the audience participation in the game “Give me ... this Christmas!” The prizes are courtesy of Mrs Fields, Trader’s Joe, Yerba Buena Business Improvement District, Intramuros, Rainbow Grocery, Asian Ventures, and BF Imports. The parol festival is presented by the Filipino American Development Foundation and KulArts, in partnership with the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival, MJM Management, St. Patrick’s Parish, and supported by the Grants for the Arts, ABS-CBN International, PG&E, Asian Week Foundation, and Alliance for California Traditional Arts. For more information, please contact Parol Festival at (415) 348-8042, email parolsf@gmail.com or visit www.bayanihancc.org. n 11/30/10 2:15:27 PM
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LA MIDWEEK ASIAN JOURNAL • DECEMBER 1-3, 2010
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entertainment
Sampaguita inspired to record again
The Asian Journal MDWK MAGAZINE - D e c e m b e r 1 , 2 0 1 0
Pinay on JazzWeek... From Page 2 Mother Nature Suite on a positive note, as I strongly believe that we can make a difference and that we still have hope. Flow is an original song by Bo Razon (music) and Michael (lyrics). Whenever I have an opportunity, I volunteer for two water organizations in Los Angeles: Food & Water Watch and Sierra Water Committee. One of the pressing global issues today is the scarcity of clean water. According to the United Nations, every 20 seconds, a child dies from a water-related disease. Michael captured my strong feelings about the water issue and put it brilliantly with Bo’s catchy melody, creating Flow or For the Love of Water. I wanted to bring in children’s voices to make the message more powerful, to remind us that our choices about water use will affect the generations to come. The Our Lady of Refuge Choir in Long Beach, California, directed by Art Maramba, did a fine job on this track. Who knew Maalaala Mo Kaya? could be turned into an uptempo tune that actually works? The rollicking piano intro is wild! Maalaala Mo Kaya? is one of my favorite kundiman. I approached Eli Brueggemann (pianist/arranger) with my idea for this song—how I wanted it to have a fast tempo. Eli took it from there, came up with the
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“rollicking piano intro”—it’s a tango!—and the whole arrangement. I’m very happy with the way it turned out. So are a lot of jazz radio stations! “Sweet Spot” is so sexy that it should be banned! I meant that as a supreme compliment to your sensuous singing here. It’s funny because people usually hear me sing jazzipino, harana and jazz—but then I turn around and serve up a downright dirty song and they can’t believe it. I’m actually a lover of the blues, and I’m happy to show my sensuous side once in a while. Tell us about the other tracks. Every Single Moment is one of the unique songs on the album. It is sort of a “morna” or the blues of Cape Verde. We chose it because it brings the listeners immediately to a different realm, gives the listening experience a world feel with its beat and our laud. We wanted to let the listeners know right from the start that this is not your typical jazz album. It’s “something good”! Ikaw is another jazzipino number. It’s another one of my favorite kundiman and I wanted to give it a big band sound. Robby Marshall elegantly handled this swinging arrangement. The Farther You Go is a collaboration between the great Mon David (music) and Michael (lyrics). Mon has a knack for com-
MANILA —“The songs need to have ing up with very catchy melomeaning,” says dies. He let me listen to it and Pinoy rock queen I liked it right away because of Sampaguita, on its playfulness and lightness. Mr. the prospect Konik shaped the way the story of her writing goes on this piece so I could new material enjoy portraying the delusional, for another shot Fatal Attraction woman on this at recording an number. album. I Believe in Love is one of my The grefavorite songs on the album. The garious mother music was composed by Joshua of three children, Redman, one of our greatest still full of wit and contemporary sax players, and Eli energy, confesses B. put such beautiful lyrics to it. feeling anxious as Aside from the sublime melody, she prepares to the message of the song is powgo onstage again At his recent album launch at Hard Rock Cafe, jazz singer Arthur Manuntag persuades Jinkee Pacquiao to jam on a pop tune. Inquirer.net photo erful, and I wanted the album to in the concert end with a positive message: yes, Ugat, The Legends of Pinoy Folk Romero and their daughter Jasecond keyboardist Joey “Whitethings are sometimes bad but I Rock on December 3 at the Ara- cinta, 23, in BF Home subdivision bird” Casal. believe love can take us to the neta Coliseum. in Parañaque City. The world-class caliber of other side. It may take some time The gig, which she describes “Now Jacinta wants to be a the performance is something but I know it will happen. as a “class reunion,” also features singer, too,” says Sampaguita. to crow about; Manuntag has, In Breakfast with Bubba, I can the Juan dela Cruz Band, Lolita “What can I do, well, I can guide through the years, perfected his picture a club jumping with joy Carbon, Florante, Heber Bartoher.” tone and phrasing and just about and energy. lome, plus two from a younger Mother and daughter look at everything one needs to hone as Breakfast with Bubba is the batch of folkies, Gary Granada each other and smile like they’ve a jazz vocalist. bonus track. I had so much fun and Noel Cabangon. seen the future. Veteran radio DJ Barr Samsinging this tune with my FreeWhile hanging out and talk*** son even got up onstage to proHam Records colleagues, Mon, ing shop with guitarist Arnold “This is such a wonderful claim Manuntag as “Asia’s King Mark Winkler, Mr. Z, Michael and Jallores at her farm in Tagaysurprise,” says jazz singer Arthur of Vocal Jazz.” (Inquirer.net) the living legend, Linda Hopkins. tay, Sampaguita admits being Manuntag at the launch of his This is our tribute to our beloved inspired enough to consider new album, My Kind of Christmas morning KKJZ DJ, Mr. Bubba making songs again. Is You, at Hard Rock Cafe Makati, Jackson, whom we love for his “But I want songs that have recently. energy, generosity and strong something to say,” she tells the The hefty performer was support of Filipino jazz. This is Inquirer while playing her colexpressing delight at the number actually one of the hits from the laborative masterpiece with Gary of people (including Jinkee Pacalbum and I’m delighted that Perez, Tao, on her acoustic guitar. quiao, with twin sister Janet) who Bubba was tickled by this tribute. After going through a numturned up to watch him sing with It’s so catchy that kids even sing it. ber of relationships, the former a quartet composed of keyboardAgain, this is a Mon and Michael Tessy Alfonso has fully settled ist Romy Posadas, bassist Tom composition. down and lives with Miguel Galang, drummer Cesar Cruz and
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