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Marcos on Yulo’s win: ‘We’ve witnessed history’

MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.,

first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and lawmakers paid tribute to Carlos Edriel Yulo for winning the country’s second gold and the first gymnastics medal in the Olympics on Saturday, August 3.

“We’ve witnessed history as Carlos Yulo clinched the Philippines’ first gold medal in artistic gymnastics at the Paris 2024 Olympics,” the President said in a Facebook post. “I am confident that it will not be the last.”

On Sunday, August 4, the President was all out in expressing his delight over Yulo’s victory.

“Congratulations, Caloy! The entire country stands proud with you!” he said.

The first lady also took to social media to congratulate Yulo.

“Got goosebumps as ‘Lupang Hinirang’ played at the arena! We are so proud of you!” she said,

PHILIPPINE Charity Sweepstakes Office

(PCSO) General Manager Melquiades

Robles has filed defamation and invasion of privacy charges against vlogger Claire Contreras, known as "Maharlika," before a United States court.

In a press conference on Sunday, August 4, Robles said he decided to file the cyber complaints before the Central District Court of California after Contreras allegedly maligned his family in her vlogs.

Robles said he and his wife, Sherwil, went to the U.S. late last June to sue Contreras to "stop her from continuously harassing and maligning" them through her online vlog. Contreras, said to be a U.S. citizen, has been dubbed as the "queen of fake news" by many social media users because

Harris’ California health care battles signal ghts ahead for hospitals if she wins

WHEN Kamala Harris was California’s top prosecutor, she was concerned that mergers among hospitals, physician groups, and health insurers could thwart competition and lead to higher prices for patients. If she wins the presidency in November, she’ll have a wide range of options to blunt monopolistic behavior nationwide.

The Democratic vice president could influence the Federal Trade Commission and instruct the departments of Justice and Health and Human Services to prioritize enforcement of antitrust laws and channel resources accordingly. Already, the Biden administration has taken an aggressive stance against mergers and acquisitions.

In his first year in office, President Joe Biden issued an executive order intended to intensify antitrust enforcement across multiple industries, including health care. Under Biden, the FTC and DOJ have fought more mergers than they have in decades,

referring to the national anthem which was played during the men’s artistic gymnastics medal ceremony.

Yulo, 24, perfectly executed his routine, ending with a sure-footed landing to score 15.000 points. He said earlier that he was “shooting for the stars” in Paris. But his acrobatic and technically difficult routine proved a hit.

“I’m so overwhelmed. I’m feeling grateful for having this medal and for God,” said Yulo, who competed in the vault final as of this writing. “He gave me the strength to get through this kind of performance and perform this well.”

Cash awards, pledges

Speaker Martin Romualdez on Sunday hailed Yulo as a “sports hero” and “national treasure” whose victory “symbolizes the indomitable spirit and resilience of the Filipino people.”

Romualdez said the House of Representatives will give Yulo P3 million, as pledged by the Speaker’s

GYMNAST Carlos "Caloy" Yulo has cemented his status as the greatest Filipino Olympian. About 24 hours after ruling the floor exercise final, Yulo conquered the vault competition at the Paris Olympics men's artistics gymnastics, emerging as the first Filipino Olympic multi-gold medalist at the Bercy Arena on Sunday, Aug. 4.

His confidence through the roof after delivering the Philippines first gymnastics Olympic medal on Saturday, August 3, the 4-foot-11 dynamo unleashed his magic anew to top the vault with an average score of 15.116 points.

The 24-year-old dazzled with a high-level execution of dragulescu pike in his first vault, just needing a little hop to gain balance after his landing and netting 15.433 points — 6.000 in difficulty and 9.433 in execution. Fourth to perform in the final, Yulo then executed a

Yulo, as

After each

been all

into the

of his performance. When the last four performers wound up with lower scores, Yulo was once again in disbelief after pulling off an Olympic feat no other Filipino athlete has done before.

MANILA — Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Garcia is seeking the assistance of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) in identifying those behind the allegations that he owns offshore bank accounts.

Garcia said he would coordinate with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in requesting help from the U.S. DOJ.

He expressed optimism that the U.S. govermment would lend a hand in probing

possible cases of identity theft and bank fraud.

Garcia said he would ask the U.S. DOJ to probe those behind Jaleo Consulting LLC who deposited $100 each in the Cayman National Bank and New York Bank accounts that he supposedly owns.

Sagip party-list Rep. Dante Marcoleta earlier alleged that volunteers made fund transfers to two offshore accounts of Garcia.

Garcia said the Comelec wants to know the real owners of the two bank accounts.

He said he would send a letter to the DFA requesting the U.S. DOJ to provide legal

MANILA — At least 15 police officers have been relieved for failing to arrest Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) pastor Apollo Quiboloy, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil said on Monday, August 5.

“These officers were relieved not for their abuses but for their failure to arrest Quiboloy and his co-accused,” Marbil clarified during the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs.

Of the 15 cops, 12 were non-commissioned police officers.

Marbil said he immediately directed the PNP Internal Affairs Service to conduct an impartial investigation to determine if any operational lapses or excessive force were committed during a police operation at Quiboloy’s compound in Davao in June.

He maintained that the police were simply doing their job in keeping with established procedures.

“It was a critical mission to execute a lawful warrant of arrest against the fugitives Quiboloy and five others in connection with non-bailable offenses of child abuse and qualified trafficking,” Marbil said.

He added the police operation was carried out with strict adherence to PNP operational procedures.

“Our guiding principle was to uphold human rights while executing our duties with the highest standards of professionalism and respect for the law,” Marbil said.

The PNP chief stated that members of KOJC chose to use women and children as human shields, obstructing and delaying the lawful actions of the police.

MANILA — Top leaders of the Philippine National Police (PNP) on Monday, August 5 urged wanted religious leader Apollo Quiboloy to finally come out of hiding and surrender, assuring that due process and human rights would be respected.

PNP chief Rommel Marbil first aired his demand before the Senate panel on public order and dangerous drugs’ Monday hearing, maintaining that the June 10 operation to serve an arrest warrant against alleged rapist

Quiboloy did not violate any rules.

“I assure, as the chief PNP, that we will assure you na i-surrender niyo na po si Apollo Quiboloy and the four others, nandito po kami and you will see na we follow the rules, human rights, and dito niyo lang po kami makikita na we follow yung human rights. We assure you po,” said Marbil. (I assure you, as the chief PNP, that if you surrender Apollo Quiboloy and the four others, we are here and we will see that we follow rules and human rights. We assure you.) For his part, Police Brigadier

Marcos on Yulo’s win...

fellow lawmakers, and also confer on him a congressional medal.

“Caloy has earned this reward through sheer hard work and unmatched talent. This incentive is a testament to our unwavering support for Filipino athletes who strive for greatness on the global stage,” Romualdez said.

Yulo is also due to receive from the Philippine Sports Commission

a P10 million incentive, in accordance with Republic Act No. 10699 or the National Athletes and Coaches Benefits and Incentives Act, as well as an Olympic Gold Medal of Valor.

Philippine Olympic Committee president Bambol Tolentino had also pledged to reward each Olympic winner with a house and lot. From the private sector, property developer Megaworld Corp. said it would award Yulo a fully furnished two-bedroom unit worth P24 million in McKinley Hill, Taguig City. Other pledges as of this writing include P100,000 worth of furniture from Apollo Home Depot in Cagayan de Oro and a lifetime of free food from several restaurants including Vikings and Tipsy Pig, among others. g

Carlos Yulo gifts PH with 2nd...

With Yulo's two-gold haul, the Philippines will finish the Paris Games with at least four medals, the other two being guaranteed bronzes - one each for Nesthy Petecio and Aira Villegas.

When Yulo comes home to the Philippines, he will get more than a hero's welcome — he stands to receive at least P23 million in incentives from the government and a posh condominium worth P24 million from real estate giant Megaworld.

Before winning his second gold, Yulo delivered a dazzling performance that netted him 15.0 points and the gold medal at the Paris Olympics men's gymnastics floor exercise at the Bercy Arena on Saturday evening, August 3. The gold was the first medal for the Philippines in Olympic gymnastics. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. congratulated Yulo on his social media account.

"We've witnessed history as Carlos Yulo clinched the Philippines' first Gold medal in artistic gymnastics at the Paris 2024 Olympics," the President said, adding that he is "confident that it will not be the last."

"Congratulations, Caloy! The entire country stands proud with you!" he said. Under Republic Act 10699, also known as the Sports Benefits and Incentives Act of 2001, Filipino

P10 million on top of the Olympic Gold Medal of Valor to be issued by the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC).

Silver medalists will be given P5 million, while bronze medalists will get P2 million.

The House of Representatives, meanwhile, chipped in a P3 million reward to the gold medalist.

"Caloy has earned this reward through sheer hard work and unmatched talent. This incentive is a testament to our unwavering support for Filipino athletes who strive for greatness on the global stage," Speaker Martin Romualdez said of the cash incentive.

The House will also give Yulo a congressional medal for his achievement.

Meanwhile, Megaworld on August 2 pledged a fullyfurnished two-bedroom residential condominium unit worth P24 million inside the company's 50-hectare McKinley Hill township in Taguig City. g

15 cops sacked over failure to...

He also said that male members of the group were armed with bolos and other bladed weapons and engaged in violent confrontations with police officers.

At least six people and two

minors were taken to the police station but were released the same day for humanitarian reasons, according to Marbil.

The apprehended individuals, however, face criminal charges for obstruction of justice under Presidential Decree 1829. g

PNP urges Quiboloy to surrender...

General and Regional Director Nicolas Torre III shared Marbil’s point of view, also calling for Quiboloy to show up and spare Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KJC) members from what they considered “harassment.”

“As I’m saying, the wheels of justice can only start if he submits to the jurisdiction of the court because everything that we discuss here, saying whether he’s innocent or guilty, are of the moment because we are not the court that will thresh out all those issues,” said Torre.

“So I would really suggest that Mr. Quiboloy submit[s] himself to the jurisdiction of the court because sooner or later, the long arm of the law will catch up with him,” he added.

‘Even Duterte clueless on Quiboloy’s whereabouts’ Panel head Sen. Bato dela Rosa, meanwhile, countered the demands, clarifying that it’s unfair to make Quiboloy’s presence a prerequisite for peace in Davao.

“I would just like to react na it’s unfair for them naman na i-require niyo muna sila na i-surrender muna si Pastor Quiboloy para maging peaceful ang Davao.

of her criticisms against the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and other government officials.

Robles said that for almost a year now, he and his family have been subjected by Contreras "to an almost daily barrage of vicious, unjustifiable and blatantly false attacks through her YouTube channel called 'Boldyak' TV."

"For reasons unknown to us, she continues to deliberately spread malicious lies against us while also calling me various names that were meant to deride and denigrate my reputation," he said.

In her online program, Contreras also allegedly made several "absolutely untrue and outlandish accusations" against Robles, including "stealing money from the people, contract killing and even assisting terrorists."

Parang ganon — para maging normal ang lahat; for all you know, even [former] President Rodrigo Duterte ay walang contact kay Pastor Quiboloy, hindi alam kung nasaan na ‘yun ngayon,” said dela Rosa. (I would just like to say that it’s unfair to require them to surrender Pastor Quiboloy before it becomes peaceful in Davao. It’s like that, in order for it to be normal again; for all you know, even former President Rodrigo Duterte has no contact with Pastor Quiboloy, we don’t know where he is right now.)

According to dela Rosa, he even tried to keep in touch with Quiboloy after the warrant was issued, but he failed to have constant contact with the religious leader who is wanted for sexual abuse and human trafficking. Quiboloy is facing two separate arrest orders from Davao and Pasig courts. The Supreme Court, however, granted the Department of Justice’s bid to transfer Quiboloy’s sexual abuse case from a court in Davao to Quezon City to avoid a miscarriage of justice. Apart from these, the Senate panel on women headed by Sen. Risa Hontiveros is likewise seeking Quiboloy’s arrest. g

"She even accused me of plotting to kill her when I went to the U.S., which was outrageous because my main job in the PCSO is to save lives, and we have helped over 300,000 Filipinos who were hospitalized just last year," he said.

Robles said he wonders why Contreras continues to harass and malign him and his family when he did not even know her personally.

He said he and his family tried to stay silent, knowing that Contreras' accusations "were only products of her vile imaginations and hateful heart." They decided to seek redress from the court when they realized that the vlogger had no plans of stopping her unfounded assaults against us, Robles said. He said he would go back to the U.S. once the court required his presence. (Arlie Calalo/ ManilaTimes.net)

LOS ANGELES — Jonnae

Thompson has felt for a long time that her dark brown skin and natural hair have made finding work in Hollywood especially hard.

“It’s like this negative connotation,” said the 37-year-old actress, singer, and stand-up comedian, who said she is often asked to audition for villainous roles such as a bully, drug dealer, or pimp.

Her quest for more equitable representation on the big screen isn’t just professionally exhausting. Thompson says anxiety about her skin complexion has affected her health.

“It definitely had a negative impact on my self-esteem,” she said. She recalls being called “charcoal” in kindergarten. “It was big, like, your skin is dark and that’s a problem.”

The term colorism — a form of prejudice and discrimination in which lighter skin is favored over darker skin — was popularized by author Alice Walker in her 1983 book “In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens: Womanist Prose.”

Clinicians from various ethnic groups have recently begun to draw a direct line between colorism and poor health. A 2023 KFF survey found that, among Black and Hispanic adults, those with self-described darker skin tones reported more experiences with discrimination in daily life compared with those who have lighter skin tones. People who feel they experience daily discrimination can be at higher risk for depression, loneliness, increased alcohol and drug use, and anxiety, data shows.

And colorism can also lead to physical health concerns. Hair straighteners and skin lighteners commonly used by women of color, sometimes to conform to racialized beauty standards, increase their exposure to toxic chemicals, research shows.

Because of the potential health implications, the health care system should pay more attention to colorism, said Regina James, a child and adolescent psychiatrist who heads the American Psychiatric Association’s Division of Diversity and Health Equity.

“Skin color discrimination is so insidious it can literally get

under your skin,” she said. “And consciously or subconsciously, it can contribute to low self-esteem and self-confidence, and even be detrimental to one’s mental health.”

Conversations about skin complexion can remain overlooked by mental health professionals who do not have expertise about or awareness of a person’s cultural context, if the conversations happen at all, said Usha Tummala-Narra, a clinical psychologist and professor in the Department of Counseling, Developmental, and Educational Psychology at Boston College.

“There’s no specific training on colorism. Many people are unaware that it exists,” Tummala-Narra said.

But the experience can negatively affect a person’s selfworth, relationships, sense of belonging, and dignity. “These are all really critically important things as human beings that we all need to secure to have good health, both physically and mentally,” she said.

The issue can emerge in childhood for Black and Indigenous people and other people of color, who must navigate fair skin often being seen as superior, a ramification of colonialization.

Black children with the darkest complexions experience higher levels of depressive symptoms, found a 2020 study in the journal Society and Mental Health.

Shannon Brown, 34, a former college counselor from the Bronx, New York, who is Black, remembers being called “midnight” by classmates and having family members joke about his skin being difficult to light in family photos. “I’ve just kind of accepted it and try to find the humor in it,” he said. “I feel like most folks aren’t intentionally trying to hurt me, but the jokes get tiresome.”

Shakun Kaushal, a 26-year-old digital communications specialist at the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions, is Indian American and has a “darker complexion.” She said that in Indian culture one might hear comments like, “Oh, she’s so light and beautiful.”

“I sometimes feel dismissed by people,” said Kaushal, who has searched for an Indian or Black therapist in hopes they might better relate to her lived experi-

ence. She believes conversations about colorism should be intergenerational, start early, and get introduced with great care.

“What you say to a child does affect them. They will remember, and it will impact how they feel about themselves and in their skin,” Kaushal said. “We must talk about it.”

The feeling of shame and embarrassment colorism produces in people is palpable and needs to be acknowledged in health care settings, said Roopal Kundu, a dermatologist who founded and directs the Northwestern Medicine Center for Ethnic Skin and Hair in Chicago. Kundu, who is of South Asian heritage, opened the center in 2005 and notes that some cases of diseases like psoriasis, skin cancer, and eczema get diagnosed later, or misdiagnosed, because they present differently on diverse skin tones.

“How can we really make sure, as a field, that we’re taking care of everybody?” she said.

“Healthy skin is beautiful skin. And beauty is across every single skin tone that there is.”

Therapists, doctors, and other clinicians from diverse backgrounds say that, in addition to clinical approaches that incorporate cultural competence, more efforts are needed to diversify the pool of mental health practitioners and to collaborate between disciplines.

Without cultural awareness and sensitivity, “you’re not going to get all the information that you need to appropriately diagnose and treat someone,” James said.

Black people are more likely to report difficulty finding mental health providers who understand their background and experiences, a KFF survey found. At the same time, programs that bolster diversity, equity, and inclusion in medical schools are faltering in the wake of the 2023 Supreme Court decision outlawing affirmative action in higher education.

According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, in 2022, about 5% of active psychiatric physicians identified as Black, 16% as Asian, 6% as Hispanic, and fewer than 1% as American Indian or Alaska Native. Thompson, Brown, and

Evangeline ‘Vangie’ Paredes, who served as secretary to President Manuel Quezon during WWII, celebrated her 108th birthday on July 26

by BING CARDENAS BRANIGIN AND JON MELEGRITO Inquirer.net

WASHINGTON – Filipino American centenarian

Evangeline “Vangie” Paredes of Washington DC, who celebrated her 108th birthday on July 26, shared her secret to better health and longevity: community service.

“Volunteer, when you can,” she told well-wishers who attended her 108th birthday celebration. “Use your instincts. Do your best and always find ways to help others.”

After retiring from her secretarial jobs at the Philippine Embassy and the Pentagon, she spent the next four decades volunteering with AARP as an activist and advocate.

A life-long member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Auxiliary, she visited veterans in hospitals and offered her personal assistance to their families.

She played a key role in planning and building the Congress Heights Senior Wellness Center in Washington, DC. On July 21, leaders of the VFW Post 5471, auxiliary officers and members, family and guests hosted a tea party in her honor at the Chevy Chase House where she resides.

Auxiliary President Lera

Rickling organized the event, which featured testimonials and musical renditions. Residents of Chevy Chase House hosted their own celebration for Vangie Paredes on July 25, replete with musical performances by a jazz band.

Speakers shared personal anecdotes, with tributes about her honesty, openness and kindness to the Chevy Chase House staff.

“Seeing Miss Vangie participate in many of the house activities was inspiring,” noted one staff member. Asked how she managed to stay healthy and look well, she gave this advice: “Eat a lot of nuts, and chew your food very well.”

For her amazing memory, Vangie Paredes was asked by John Hopkins Hospital if she would be willing to donate her brain for research on finding a cure for Alzheimer’s. “I did not hesitate to say yes,” she recalls.

“I’m glad I can help.”

Evangeline “Vangie” Abellera Paredes is the daughter of Tomas Rulloda Abellera – who left the Philippines to serve in the US Navy during World War I – and Francisca Estrada, who was born in Asturias, Spain and worked as a translator on Wall Street in New York City. Vangie was born in Brooklyn, New York, on July 26, 1916. The family moved to Washington,

DC when Tomas became a chief master mechanic at the Navy yard in 1921.

After attending Congress Heights School and Eastern High School, Vangie won a scholarship to secretarial school and began working as a telephone operator in the office of the Resident Commissioner of the Philippines. In the early 1930s, Vangie attended George Washington University and studied interior decorating. After graduation she became an executive secretary to the resident commissioner. She married Juanito Paredes in 1941 and they lived on Chesapeake Street in southeast Washington, DC. Juanito was the nephew of Quentin B. Paredes (1884-1973), the Philippine resident commissioner to Washington, DC in 1935.

During World War II, Vangie was President Manuel Quezon’s secretary and later served as the public relations officer for the Philippine Embassy.

She worked for the Philippine government from 1936 to 1957, then served as a secretary for the Pentagon for 30 years.

Vangie Paredes has a son, Juan, who lives in Washington DC with his wife Francine. Her younger sister, Dolores Lillian Abellera, who lives in Las Vegas, travelled to Washington DC to honor her sister on her 108th birthday. 

Vangie Paredes is serenaded by Jon Melegrito.

Contributed photo

With escalating anti-immigrant rhetoric, California farmworkers fear the future

by Selen Ozturk Ethnic Media Services

AS this year’s polarized election cycle continues, anti-immigrant rhetoric grows ever uglier, with life-altering consequences for farmworkers in California.

Between half and one-third of all farmworkers in the U.S. live in California alone. That’s between 500,000 and 800,000 farmworkers. These immigrants working to put food on the nation’s table face a paradox of great demand for cheap labor on the one hand, and politically fueled hate speech rejecting immigrants on the other.

“Ninety nine percent of the communities we’ve reached out to are farmworkers and all have expressed anxiety and fear. All feel their future is deeply impacted by this,” said Gustavo Gasca Gomez, immigration outreach specialist and Stop the Hate coordinator at the Fresno-based Education and Leadership Foundation.

As the ‘24 elections get into full swing, anti-immigrant rhetoric is growing increasingly ugly, with real world consequences for migrant communities. PAGE 3 PAGE 1

“They’re most concerned about public charge, about being deported if they access benefits like health care that they or their children — who are often U.S. citizens — qualify for,” he explained at a Friday, August 2 Ethnic Media Services briefing about the impact of hate speech on migrant farmworkers. Nationwide, 70% of farmworkers are foreign-born with 78% identifying as Hispanic. In California, 75% of farmworkers are undocumented, with 96% identifying as Hispanic.

“I’m undocumented with a sliver of privilege … I’m still in a precarious position, but millions of people would love to be in my shoes,” Gomez continued. “I can work, and I have social security. But I can’t vote or leave the country and return without express permission. And before I was a DACA recipient in 2012 I was a farmworker right out of high school … The work is difficult. It’s hot, dirty and tedious. It makes your mind numb in many ways. But it’s a job that the entire country depends on.”

“I speak to clients who say, ‘How can it not faze me when there are hundreds if not thousands of people holding up ‘Mass Deportation Now’ signs on national news?’” he said. “I am still human, and I am still committed to this country. We didn’t come here to cause harm.”

“Power in politics needs to invent a physically and morally repugnant enemy who wants to take what’s yours because the feeling of emergency creates unity and the need of a savior,” said Manuel Ortiz Escámez, sociologist, audiovisual journalist and co-founder of Redwood City-based press Peninsula 360. “That’s why migrants have always been the ideal enemy of some U.S. political campaigns … and the data shows that it works,” he continued, adding that in the mid-19th century, for instance, manufacturing industries encouraged Irish immigrants to work in the U.S. while the nativist Know-Nothing Party characterized them as job-stealers.

The country saw similar pushes for Chinese immigrants to work on railroads and in gold mines until the Chinese Exclusion Act passed by Congress in 1882.

Far more recently, Brookings data analysis shows that support for Donald Trump in his successful 2016 presidential campaign was primarily driven by anti-migrant and racist rhetoric, alongside sexist sentiment.

However, racist anti-immigrant sentiment is now evolving from what it has been for decades, since the civil rights advances of the 1950s and 1960s, said Escámez.

“We had this phrase, ‘No human being is illegal.’ But we’re entering an era now where we’re breaking what we’ve built, this idea that it’s not okay to be directly racist … With a second Trump term, migrants will be the first to suffer, but they won’t be the only enemy. They’ll target anyone who questions this.”

“During community discussions I had in Tulelake, a remote town in Siskiyou County, everyone agreed that migrants are experiencing anxiety and fear due to the elections,” he continued. “Some were not getting Medi-Cal because they were afraid of public charge.”

“Many kids were bullied at school who said, ‘Once Donald Trump is here, your family will be deported’ … but some who were bullied now support Trump,” he added. “I asked why, and they said it was to belong in a society that is turning more racist for young people. They have to be quiet now or show support for the bullies.”

“The consequence is that people are very afraid to talk at all. I hold in-

terviews with people who later call and say, ‘Please do not publish anything, because I’m afraid of what could happen,’” Escámez said.

“We’re breaking the social fabric in these communities. Until now, many of these farmworkers had built good relationships, including with the white population … Now, they tell me they’re more isolated. That they just go to church, to work, to the store, then stay home, because they don’t know what could happen.”

“What worries us most is that this rhetoric in power, on TV, that undocumented people are criminals and not welcome here, is reinforcing these actions of hate,” said Arcenio Lopez, executive director of Ventura-based Mixtec Indigenous Community Organizing Project. “We saw, when Trump was running the country, the increase in racism-motivated crime.”

Hate crimes under Trump spiked nearly 20% under the Trump administration — from 6,121 reported incidents in 2016 to 7,314 reported in 2019, according to annual FBI hate crime statistics reports. Of these hate crimes in 2019, 57.6% were motivated by race.

Hate-motivated murders in particular totalled 51 in 2019 — the highest count in nearly three decades.

“We talk about the politics, but the indigenous Mexican migrant communities we work with experience this hate daily,” explained Lopez. “We’re called ‘Oaxaquitas’ (‘little Oaxacan’) and ‘indito’ (‘little Indian’). We’re told what we speak is a dialect, not a language. We hear ‘You’re brown,’ ‘You’re short,’

‘You’re ugly’ … When this language takes the mic, it gives the green light for these actions.”

Around 84% of California farmworkers are Mexico-born, while 9% identify as indigenous.

“When we talk about this, we should also mention why people leave their lands to come here.

Many don’t want to,” he added.

“If you go to Oaxaca, you’ll see so many companies from the U.S., Canada and Europe extracting natural resources. How does that impact indigenous communities who can’t compete, who don’t have trees or clean water? What are the decisions that this government is making with those? Who is in power?” g

Linda P. Simpson, Contracts Administrator Contracts & Purchasing Ph: (702) 477-3144; TDD (702) 387-1898 lpsimpson@snvrha.org or if not available

Johnny Shaw, Purchasing Manager jshaw@snvrha.org Ph: (702) 477-3146

1.

DOWNLOAD AND RESPOND TO THIS SOLICITATION: Housing Agency Marketplace website: https//ha.internationaleprocurement.com Registered Users: “Log in and insert Solicitation No. IFB B25002 Non Registered Users: You must first register your company before downloading the Solicitation. Click on “New Vendor” to register. Problems accessing the system or registering, call 866-526-9266, M-F, 9 AM (EST) – 4 PM (PST)

2.

DOWNLOADS ONLY: SNRHA website: www.snvrha.org, click on Procurement and “Current Bid Invitations” and proceed to the appropriate solicitation number. Problems downloading the Solicitation, call (702) 477-3160, M-Th, 7AM-6PM (PST)

Thurs., August 8, 2024 – Thursday, August 22, 2024, 3:00 PM (PST) No Questions will be answered after this period, unless the deadline is extended.

Southern Nevada Regional Housing Authority Attn: Linda P. Simpson

Contracts & Purchasing

340 North 11TH Street, Suite 140 Las Vegas, NV 89101 IFB B25002 Window Glass & Door Replacement Services

1 Sealed, Hard Copy Bid Due: Thurs., September 5, 2024, 3PM (PST) at the above-stated address

Proposed Fees Due: Thurs., September 5, 2024, 3PM (PST) at https://ha.internatinaleprocurement.com

September 19, 2024, 12N Women and/or minority owned companies are encouraged to respond to this solicitation. In addition, the SNRHA encourages the same to register with the Emerging Small Business Program of the Nevada Governor’s office at esbprogram@goed.nv.gov for increased business opportunities. Contact Rosa Moreno at 702-486-2700 for further details.

‘I

feel dismissed’: People experiencing colorism...

Kaushal all said they had never been treated by a therapist who looks like them.

Thompson, the L.A. comedian, said she drank bleach when she was 10 years old, thinking

it would lighten her skin. Fortunately, it caused only nausea.

If she could speak to her younger self, she would say: “You’re beautiful. You’re brilliant.” KFF Health News is a national

Harris’ California health care battles signal...

often targeting health care deals.

“What Harris could do is set the tone that she is going to continue this laser focus on competition and health care prices,” said Katie Gudiksen, a senior health policy researcher at University of California College of the Law, San Francisco.

The Harris campaign didn’t respond to a request for comment.

For decades, the health industry has undergone consolidation despite government efforts to maintain competition. When health systems expand, adding hospitals and doctor practices to their portfolios, they often gain a large enough share of regional health care resources to command higher prices from insurers. That results in higher premiums and other health care costs for consumers and employers, according to numerous studies.

Health insurers have also consolidated in recent decades, leaving only a handful controlling most markets.

Health care analysts say it’s possible for Harris to slow the momentum of consolidation by blocking future mergers that could lead to higher prices and lower-quality care. But many of them agree the consolidation that has already taken place is an inescapable feature of the U.S. health care landscape.

“It’s hard to unscramble the eggs,” said Bob Town, an economics professor at the University of Texas.

There were nearly 1,600 hospital mergers in the U.S. from 1998 to 2017 and 428 hospital and health system mergers from 2018 to 2023, according to a KFF study. The percentage of community hospitals that belong to a larger health system rose from 53 in 2005 to 68 in 2022. And in another sign of market concentration, as of January, well over threequarters of the nation’s physicians were employed by hospitals or corporations, according to a report produced by Avalere Health.

Despite former President Donald Trump’s hostility to regulation as a candidate, his administration was active on antitrust efforts — though it did allow one of the largest health care mergers in U.S. history, between drugstore chain CVS Health and the insurer Aetna. Overall, Trump’s Justice Department was more aggressive on mergers than past Republican administrations.

Harris, as California’s attorney general from 2011 to 2017, jumpstarted health care investigations and enforcement.

“She pushed back against anticompetitive pricing,” said Rob Bonta, California’s current attorney general, who is a Democrat.

One of Harris’ most impactful decisions was a 2012 investigation into whether consolidation among hospitals and physician practices gave health systems the clout to demand higher prices. That probe bore fruit six years later after Harris’ successor, Xavier Becerra, filed a landmark lawsuit against Sutter Health, the giant Northern California hospital operator, for anticompetitive behavior. Sutter settled with the state for $575 million.

In 2014, Harris was among 16 state attorneys general who joined the FTC in a lawsuit to dismantle a merger between one of Idaho’s largest hospital chains and its biggest physician group. In 2016, Harris joined the U.S. Department of Justice and

11 other states in a successful lawsuit to block a proposed $48.3 billion merger between two of the nation’s largest health insurers, Cigna and Anthem.

Attempts to give the state attorney general the power to nix or impose conditions on a wide range of health care mergers have been fiercely, and successfully, opposed by California’s hospital industry. Most recently, the hospital industry persuaded state lawmakers to exempt for-profit hospitals from pending legislation that would subject private equitybacked health care transactions to review by the attorney general.

A spokesperson for the California Hospital Association declined to comment.

As attorney general of California, Harris’ work was eased by the state’s deep-blue political hue. Were she to be elected president, she could face a less hospitable political environment, especially if Republicans control one or both houses of Congress. In addition, she could face opposition from powerful health care lobbyists.

Though it often gets a bad rap, consolidation in health care also confers benefits.

Many doctors choose to join large organizations because it relieves them of the administrative headaches and financial burdens of running their own practices. And being absorbed into a large health system can be a lifeline for financially troubled hospitals.

Still, a major reason health systems choose to expand through acquisition is to accumulate market clout so they can match consolidation among insurers and bargain with them for higher payments. It’s an understandable reaction to the financial pressures hospitals are under, said James Robinson, a professor of health economics at the University of California-Berkeley.

Robinson noted that hospitals are required to treat anyone who shows up at the emergency room, including uninsured people. Many hospitals have a large number of patients on Medicaid, which pays poorly. And in California, they face a series of regulatory requirements, including seismic retrofitting and nurse staffing minimums, that are expensive.

“How are they going to pay for that?” Robinson said.

At the federal level, any effort to blunt anticompetitive mergers would depend in part on how aggressive the FTC is in pursuing the most egregious cases. FTC Chair Lina Khan has made the FTC more proactive in this regard.

Last year, the FTC and DOJ jointly issued new merger guidelines, which suggested the federal government would scrutinize deals more closely and take a broader view of which ones violate antitrust laws. In September, the FTC filed a lawsuit against an anesthesiology group and its private equity backer, alleging they had engaged in anticompetitive practices in Texas to drive up prices.

In January, the agency sued to stop a $320 million hospital acquisition in North Carolina.

Still, many transactions don’t come to the attention of the FTC because their value is below its $119.5 million reporting threshold. And even if it heard about more deals, “it is very underresourced and needing to be very selective in which mergers they challenge,” said Paul Ginsburg, a professor of the practice of health policy at the University of Southern California’s Sol Price School of Public Policy.

Khan’s term ends in September 2024, and Harris, if elected, could try to reappoint her, though her ability to do so may depend on which party controls the Senate. Harris could also promote regulations that discourage monopolistic behaviors such as all-or-nothing contracting, in which large health systems refuse to do business with insurance companies unless they agree to include all their facilities in their networks, whether needed or not. That behavior was one of the core allegations in the Sutter case.

She could also seek policies at the Department of Health and Human Services, which runs Medicare and Medicaid, that encourage competition.

Bonta, California’s current attorney general, said that, while there are bad mergers, there are also good ones. “We approve them all the time,” he said. “And we approve them with conditions that address cost and that address access and that address quality.”

He expects Harris to bring similar concerns to the presidency if she wins. (Bernard J. Wolfson and Phil Galewitz/KFF Health News)

This

Vice President Kamala Harris White House photo BACK

PNA photo by Joan Bondoc

Dateline PhiliPPines

‘Growth and progress’: EJ Obiena cheered for 4th place finish at Paris Olympics

by Jeline Malasig Philstar.com

FILIPINOS celebrated EJ

Obiena‘s significant rise in his rankings despite falling short in the men’s pole vault final at the Paris Olympics 2024.

The World No. 2 pole vaulter on Tuesday, August 6 missed his chance to clear 5.95 meters after three tries, landing him in fourth place.

The lower part of EJ’s body hit the bar on his third attempt.

Swedish Armand Duplantis, the World No. 1 pole vaulter, took home the gold medal.

American Sam Kendricks won silver, while Greek Emmanouil Karalis bagged bronze.

EJ previously shared that he had been battling “various physical ailments” days before the Summer Games.

The 28-year-old pole vaulter apologized for failing to bring a medal to his country, admitting that it was “painful” for him.

“I missed a medal by one jump and it wasn’t far on all my attempts at [5.95m],” he said in an interview with One Sports.

“I apologize. I promised I’m gonna go back after Tokyo [Olympics] and do better. I did, but it didn’t change in my book. I still came up short. I’m really sorry. I apologize for it,” Asia’s top pole vaulter added.

Despite falling short, EJ’s rank significantly rose from 11th place in the Tokyo Olympics 2020 to fourth place in the Paris Olympics 2024.

This was noticed by some Filipinos who continued to pat his back despite failing to bring home a medal.

“When talking about the Olympics with your children, aside from Carlos Yulo, pagusapan niyo din si EJ Obiena!” child development specialist Tina Zamora said on August 6.

Carlos is the first ever Filipino to have brought home two gold medals from the Olympics.

“Having a Growth Mindset is also talking about working hard, striving for the medal, failing to get it, learning from the failure and mistakes, then training again for the next challenge… a journey that all athletes go through, including

gold medalist Carlos Yulo,” she added.

“He may not have gotten a medal, but if you see EJ’s trajectory, he was 11th in the Tokyo Olympics in 2020 and now, he is 4th in Paris! That in itself is growth and progress! Mabuhay ka, EJ!” Tina said.

Another Facebook user reflected that EJ was “carrying a lot” on his shoulders as a Pinoy pole vaulter.

“Imagine carrying the hopes and dreams of an entire country who hasn’t seen a Filipino claim a medal in an Olympics athletics event for 88 years, in a sport very few participate in, and almost no one is passionate about,” creative director Gerry Cacanindin said on Facebook.

Pole vaulting is a track and field event in which the athlete vaults over a long horizontal bar, launching themselves into the air and seeking to clear the greatest height without knocking the bar to the ground.

“Yet EJ Obiena made the rounds of the international circuit, winning what he can, promising to do better at the #ParisOlympics2024 after finishing 11th in Tokyo in 2021,” Gerry added in his post.

“He is the lone bemedalled pole vaulter in a country where many of his fellow Filipinos have probably never heard of the sport. EJ came to Paris touted as ‘World Number 2’ which naturally heightened his countrymen’s expectations,” Gerry continued.

He then called EJ “one of the greatest pole vaulters alive today” despite coming short of winning a medal.

“That is worth cheering for, regardless of EJ’s final standing.

Mabuhay ka, EJ!” Gerry said.

Another Filipino told EJ to “don’t lose heart” despite falling short at the games.

“We [are] proud of [you], EJ and to all of you who represent our country, Philippines,” a Facebook user said.

“We can see all of you [sic] the dedication and determination that you guys put on it [sic] to represent our country, [you] are already gold for us… ‘wag panghinaan ng loob,” the user added.

“Imagine getting injured during training and still coming out fourth worldwide. EJ OBIENA, YOU DID AMAZING AND PROVED YOURSELF EVEN BEFORE THE OLYMPICS,” another online user said.

Another Pinoy reflected on what EJ has gone through in his athletic career so far.

“EJ Obiena, [you] are the best in the PH [and] Asia, world #2 despite not much funding, jumped [seven] places from Tokyo 2020 rank, made more Pinoys aware of the sport, faced gov’t officials who tried to drag you, represented the PH numerous times. Always proud kami sa’yo!!” the user said.

EJ is Asia’s top pole vaulter who notched a year-best clearance of 5.97 meters last June and won a historic silver in the World Athletics Championships almost a year ago in Hungary.

Last year, he became the first Asian pole vaulter to enter the elite “six-meter club” after achieving a milestone at the Bergen Jump Challenge in Norway.

This made EJ a member of an elite group that includes legendary athletes like Armand, Sergey Bubka and Thiago Braz. g

MANILA – The Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Tuesday, August 6 it has placed a dozen individuals led by former presidential spokesperson Herminio “Harry” Roque Jr. in the government’s lookout bulletin order (LBO).

“We can confirm that an Immigration Lookout Bulletin Order has been issued by the Department of Justice to the Bureau of Immigration (BI). May 12 po na pangalan doon (There are 12 names there). Ibig sabihin po ‘yung 12 na individuals na ‘yun ay mamo-monitor ‘yung outbound and inbound travel ho nila (It means those individuals’ outbound and inbound travel will be monitored),” DOJ spokesman Mico Clavano told reporters.

“Hindi ito nakaka-restrict sa right o karapatan mag-travel pero patitimbrehan lang po ang Immigration at ang DOJ kung lumabas o pumasok sila sa bansa (This does not restrict their right to travel, but it means the BI and the DOJ are immediately informed if they leave or arrive in the country).”

He said an LBO is issued when an individual undergoing

investigation is considered a flight risk, and authorities need to keep tabs on his or her whereabouts.

Clavano said the LBO was issued against Roque and the other respondents after preliminary information showed that another person being investigated for links in Philippine Overseas Gaming Operators (POGO) syndicates, Sandra Li Ong, has managed to slip out of the country.

Aside from Roque and Ong, also in the LBO are Xiang Tan, Jing Gu, Stephanie B. Mascareñas, Michael Bryce B. Mascareñas,

“A precautionary hold departure order will likewise be filed at the Office of the Executive Judge pending preliminary investigation,” the memorandum for BI Commissioner Norman G. Tansingco from Justice Secretary Jesus Remulla stated. Roque, meanwhile, denied planning to flee the country, saying he would face any charges regarding his alleged links to POGOs. (PNA)

PNA photo by Avito Dalan

EJ Obiena Photo from Instagram/@ernestobienapv

Former Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque PNA file photo

Zhang Jie, Duanren Wu, Raymund Calleon G. Co, Randel Calleon G. Co, Dennis L. Cunanan, and Han Gao.

OPINION FEATURES

Excessive entitlement

IT’S good to hear Sen. Ronald dela Rosa saying he is willing to be interviewed by prosecutors of the International Criminal Court. Although the former chief of the Philippine National Police maintained that he still did not recognize ICC jurisdiction, he said the ICC “can interview me anytime.”

“If they want to talk, I will answer their question,” Dela Rosa said last Friday, August 2, adding he would not show the ICC disrespect. What he intends to tell the ICC is unclear. Dela Rosa, as the first PNP chief during the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte, is said to be the architect of the brutal anti-drug crackdown codenamed Oplan Tokhang. If he would tell the whole truth about the war on drugs that led to the killing of over 6,000 drug suspects at the hands of law enforcers, it would be a major step toward justice. Dela Rosa issued the statements after Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said the Philippine government would not stop the International Criminal Police Organization from enforcing an arrest order issued by the ICC for “suspects” in a case of murder as a crime against humanity in the conduct of Duterte’s drug war. The Philippines is one of 196 Interpol member states and is bound by its commitments to the world’s largest police organization, in case the ICC courses its arrest orders through the Interpol.

There are unconfirmed reports that upon ICC request, the Interpol has issued “blue notices” to member states for help in obtaining information from five drug war “suspects” – Dela Rosa, former PNP chief Oscar Albayalde, PNP Drug Enforcement Group chief Brig. Gen. Eleazar Mata, retired police Col. Edilberto Leonardo who is now a commissioner of the National Police Commission, and Northern Luzon police commander Maj. Gen. Romeo Caramat Jr., who was the Bulacan provincial director when 32 drug suspects were killed within just 24 hours in the province in 2017 in a “one-time, big time” anti-drug sweep. The ICC has reportedly tagged Leonardo as the paymaster for PNP members who killed drug suspects, with Caramat allegedly facilitating the reward of P10,000 per kill. If the allegations are true, it could help establish that the killings were state-sponsored and systematic. Will Dela Rosa and the others cooperate? They may want to help finally shed light on a dark period

DID you know that the Philippine government budgeted only P52 million to prepare, train and send our athletes to the Paris Olympics?

For that money, the Philippines so far has won two golds and possibly will win two bronzes, if not silvers (from boxing), during the 100th year anniversary of the Games in Paris where Manila is making its 23rd Olympics appearance.

On Aug. 3, Carlos Yulo won the gold in floor exercise, artistic gymnastics and on Aug. 4, his second gold, this time in men’s vault, artistic gymnastics.

With two Olympiad golds (each with six grams of pure gold, worth $1,027 plus a bit of Eiffel metal) by spending just P52 million, the cost per gold medal for the Philippines is only P26 million. Per capita with a population of 116 million, the Philippines has one Olympic gold for every 58 million Filipinos.

At Ground Level

APPARENTLY, there’s a huge payback for the Marcos Jr. administration after its magnanimous offer to the Americans last April to use five more Philippine military bases in addition to the previous four.

The United States can now set up their own military facilities – minibases, actually – inside nine Philippine locations, in accordance with the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) of 2014.

They can install communication systems, store war equipment, ammunition, transport vehicles and supplies. American troops are to be stationed there on “rotational basis.” This effectively means U.S. troops will continually be present in the country in the coming years.

Presumably in appreciation of Marcos Jr.’s show of generosity, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced in Manila on Tuesday that the U.S. Congress would allocate an additional $500 million in military financing to the Philippines. They described the amount as part of an “unprecedented… once in a generation” U.S. investment in modernizing the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).

Well, not bad. India, with a population of 1.4 billion, so far has zero gold in Paris. In Tokyo, India won one gold, or one gold for every 1,400 million Indians.

With two gold medals, the Philippines ranks 21st out of 206 participating countries and territories, No. 5 out of 44 Asian countries, in the Paris Olympiad, in gold medal tally.

According to a University of the Philippines study years ago, up to 40 percent of the government’s annual budget or the General Appropriations Act (GAA) is stolen.

The GAA in 2024 is P5,767.6 billion (P5.767 trillion), of which only P52 million went to the training and expedition of 22 Filipino athletes to Paris, or about P2.36 million per participant, including Yulo. In effect, for spending P2.36 million for Caloy, the Philippines got one gold for every P1.18 million.

If the 40 percent of the P5.767 trillion that is stolen (which may explain the massive floods that inundated Metro Manila and most of Luzon last July 23 and 24, 2024, because the government spends

The nine EDCA sites are: Antonio Bautista Air Base in Palawan; Basa Air Base in Pampanga; Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija; Lumbia Air Base in Cagayan de Oro City; Mactan-Benito Ebuen Air Base in Cebu; Camilo Osias Naval Base and Lal-lo Airport, both in Cagayan; Camp Melchor dela Cruz in Isabela and Balabac Island in Palawan.

Three of the new sites are in Northern Luzon – the Lal-lo Airport and the naval base in Cagayan and Camp Melchor dela Cruz in Gamu, Isabela – which are proximate to the Taiwan Strait, an arena of potential armed conflict between the U.S. and China. Marcos Jr. specifically cited the importance of Lal-lo Airport in the defense of Northern Luzon against “external threat” (subtly suggesting China).

Through a series of four bilateral discussions, dubbed as 2+2 dialogues from April 30, 2012 to April 12, 2023, the Philippines has entered into multiple defense and security alliances with a growing number of countries –bilateral, trilateral, quadrilateral alliances that the U.S. is cobbling together to shore up its hold in the Indo-Pacific region. Over the decades, U.S. military financing purportedly to help modernize the AFP had typically been so minuscule as to make no impact in whatever aspect of the modernization program. Now let’s look more closely into the implications of these developments.

more than P1 billion for every work day for flood control that cannot control floods; that is P2.3 trillion literally down the drain), were diverted to sports, we could possibly win hundreds of Olympic medals.

Divide P2.3 trillion by P26 million, that is 88,461 gold medals. Statistically, though, winning 88,461 gold medals is not possible. There are only 329 gold events in Paris.

In Olympics, there are two proven ways to success – genes and money.

Some nationalities are predisposed to excel in sports. According to Randall Wilber of the US Olympics Committee and Yannis Pitsiladis of the University of Brighton, “since the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, Kenyan and Ethiopian runners have dominated the middle- and long-distance events in athletics and have exhibited comparable dominance in international cross-country and road-racing competition.”

Among the factors for their excellence: 1) genetic predisposition, 2) development of a high maximal oxygen uptake as a result of extensive walking and running at an

One may perceive that the EDCA arrangements practically circumvent the 1987 Philippine Constitution’s prohibition on the permanent presence of foreign military bases and troops in the country. This situation calls for a thorough re-examination.

After EDCA was signed in 2014 as an executive agreement between the Philippines and the U.S., its constitutionality was challenged before the Supreme Court by former senators Wigberto Tanada and the late Rene Saguisag together with progressive organizations. The SC, by a 10-4 vote, however, upheld its constitutionality as an implementing agreement to the 1999 Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) and the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT).

The EDCA was supposedly to be effective for an initial period of 10 years, and thereafter, it shall continue in force automatically unless terminated by either party by giving one year’s notice through diplomatic channels of its intention to terminate the agreement.

In February 2016, De la Salle University professor Renato Cruz de Castro wrote that the SC ruling upholding the EDCA paved the way for “the return of forward-deployed U.S. forces to select Philippine military bases.” Notably, he pointed out:

“The 10-year EDCA is considered a calculated effort by Manila and Washington to make the Philippines again a major staging

early age, 3) relatively high hemoglobin and hematocrit, 4) development of good metabolic “economy/ efficiency” based on somatotype and lower limb characteristics, 5) favorable skeletal-muscle-fiber composition and oxidative enzyme profile, 6) traditional Kenyan/Ethiopian diet, 7) living and training at altitude and 8) motivation to achieve economic success.

The richer a country is in GDP, the higher are its chances of winning Olympics medals.

In the past 20 years of the Olympics, the winningest countries have been: 1) United States, 816 medals; 2) Russia 559; 3) China 535; 4) Germany 441; 5) Britain 321; 6) France 299; 7) Australia 281; 8) Japan 264; 9) Canada 257 and 10) Italy 253. In nominal GDP, the richest countries are in US trillion dollars: 1) USA $27.36; 2) China $17.94; 3) Germany $4.45; 4) Japan $4.21; 5) India $3.55; 6) UK $3.34; 7) Italy $2.25; 8) Brazil $2.17; 9) Canada $2.14 and 10) Russia $2.02.

Per Wikipedia, Russian medal winners have historically been gifted expensive premium cars valued at $50,000 to $200,000 and luxury

base for projecting U.S. naval and air power in the face of China’s maritime expansion in the South China Sea.”

On the $500-million additional funding, U.S. Secretary of State Blinken explained that it’s intended to “boost security collaboration with our oldest treaty ally in this region, to strengthen the alliance.” The two countries’ armed forces, he added, are “working on more shared priorities in more places than ever before.” However, he did not provide any details.

It was Defense Secretary Austin who gave some details. He and Blinken, he said, are working with the U.S. Congress to allocate the $500 million to send a “clear message of support for the Philippines from the Biden administration [which ends its term this year], the U.S. Congress and the American people.”

The U.S. defense department intends to more than double its investments in EDCA sites across the Philippines, with Biden asking Congress to allocate more than $128 million this year to fund key EDCA projects. Besides the DND, Austin said, the USAID plans to pre-position disaster relief supplies in EDCA sites later this year.

For the nth time, Austin reiterated that the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty remains the “bedrock” of the U.S.-Philippine alliance and that it applies to armed attacks on either of the two countries’ armed forces, aircraft

apartments valued at $500,000 to $1,000,000 in addition to separate payouts from national federations and regional governments. That tradition stretches back to the Soviet era.

Our Philippine Sports Commission has a P112-million budget for “amateur sports promotion and development.” PSC itself has a 2024 budget of P1.156 billion. Most of that money PSC spends for itself, its bureaucracy – P69 million in payroll, P782 million in maintenance and operations and P295 million in capital outlay. Each of our senators has an annual pork of P200 million or P1.2 billion in six years. The Senate donated P30 million to the Philippine athletes in Paris; of that money, P23 million came from just one senator, Risa Hontiveros. Some senators did not part with their pork.

I am sure when Caloy Yulo returns a hero in Manila, the Senate will allocate princely sums to honor him. Or maybe, pass a bill to erect a statue (bronze will do) in his honor in front of the spanking new P30-billion Senate building in Taguig. After all, gymnastics

is far more exciting and thrilling than the verbal calisthenics inside a Senate session hall, what with its six actors and two broadcasters as members.

With his unprecedented two golds, Yulo comes home a multi-millionaire. By law, the government awards a gold winner P10 million or P20 million for two golds. The House of Representatives has pledged P3 million per gold. Andrew Tan’s Megaworld will give a three-bedroom condo in Mckinley Hill worth P35 million. Meanwhile, in July 2023, Cynthia Carreon sent an effusive thank you note to Manuel V. Pangilinan for his total support for Philippine gymnastics and for being the first to respond to her call for funds to train Carlos in Japan. This week, that support paid off, handsomely, for the country and our people. (Philstar.com)

* * * The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Asian Journal, its management, editorial board and staff.

* * * Email: biznewsasia@gmail.com

or public vessels anywhere in the South China Sea. Way back in 2011, such assurance was first given by former U.S. President Barack Obama during his first official visit to the Philippines. Local “uzi” noted that when Marcos Jr. welcomed Blinken and Austin to Malacañang on Tuesday, the three were all broadly smiling. Similarly, after a press conference following their 2+2 meeting, Blinken, Austin and their counterparts, Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo and Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr., put on happy faces as they joined hands for media photographers. In welcoming the two Americans, Marcos Jr. remarked:

“I’m always very happy that these communication lines [between the treaty allies] are very open so that all the things that we are doing together, in terms of our alliance, […] the specific context of our situation here in the West Philippine Sea and in the Indo-Pacific, are continuously examined and re-examined so we are agile in […] our responses.”

The primordial consideration, of course, is how all these developments affect the lives and future of the Filipino people. (Philstar.com)

* * * The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Asian Journal, its management, editorial board and staff.

TONY

in Philippine law enforcement. It could bring not

only spiritual redemption, but also a better legal deal for those who are directly responsible for murder as a crime against humanity. (Philstar.com)

ALLIES. United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and the Philippines’ Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo and Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. (from left) hold a press conference after convening the 2+2 ministerial meeting at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City. PNA photo by Robert Oswald P. Alfiler

DICT: Philippines needs law vs deepfakes, disinformation

by HElEn FlorEs Philstar.com

MANILA

— The Philippines needs a comprehensive law to combat deepfakes and disinformation on social media, according to the Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT).

“We need to have a more comprehensive law rather than bits and pieces of legislation that address small items or specific items,” DICT Secretary Ivan John

Uy said on Monday, August 6. Uy warned that deepfakes will be utilized during the May 2025 midterm elections.

He said there is a proliferation of deepfakes in the United States, which will hold its presidential elections in November.

A deepfake video of President Marcos allegedly using illegal drugs recently circulated on social media.

In April, an audio deepfake of Marcos supposedly ordered the military to act against a particular

foreign country. Investigations are ongoing amid deepfakes targeting celebrities and public officials, Uy said.

Other countries such as Malaysia and Singapore have tried to address this problem, he noted.

“Malaysia has just come up with a law requiring social media platforms that have a following of more than eight million to get a license or a permit,” Uy said.

He lamented that many social media firms do not have offices in the Philippines. g

Closure of POGOs to have ‘very little’ impact on GDP

by Reina C. TolenTino

THE closure of Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) will have "very little" impact on the country's economic growth, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced the banning of POGOs during his State of the Nation Address last July 22. The President wanted the gaming operators to shut down by the end of this year.

Attending the 2025 budget

deliberations at the House of Representatives on Monday, August 5 Balisacan said "our estimates show that POGOs account for less than one-half of 1 percent of GDP (gross domestic product), or that's.23 percent of GDP, in 2023."

Balisacan cited figures from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) that about 25,000 Filipinos were employed in POGOs in 2023. He also said that "POGOs accounted for roughly 11 percent of office occupancy in the first half of 2024."

"We do note that the industry,

the real estate industry reports a high take-up of office spaces by government, various government agencies and that helped the situation in the real estate sector," Balisacan said. "So all in all, there's very little impact of the cessation of POGO operations in the country."

He said the impact of the POGO ban "does not even take into account the social" cost and "reputational risk" that the Philippines faced because of the criminal activity linked to the gaming operators. It was Finance Secretary Ralph Recto who recommended a total ban on POGOs. g

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VEGAS&STYLE JOURNAL

Fresh off his James Beard win, Chef Lord Maynard Llera joins Filipino American peers at ‘Taste America’ culinary celebration

by MoMar G. Visaya / AJPress

TASTE America, a nationwide

initiative by the James Beard Foundation, unites chefs, special guests, and diners to celebrate local independent restaurants at the heart of their communities, while advocating for a more inclusive, sustainable, and diverse culinary industry.

The recent kickoff event at Tribeca 360° in New York was a powerful demonstration of this mission, featuring food stations hosted by the TasteTwenty 2024-2025 chefs. The culinary series not only showcases these chefs' signature styles but also highlights the uniqueness of their respective restaurants and communities.

This year's roster includes four James Beard Award winners, five semifinalists, and six nominees. Notably, three Filipino American chefs were among those celebrated, reflecting the initiative's commitment to honoring diversity in the culinary world.

Recent James Beard Award Winner for Best Chef: California

Lord Maynard Llera joined chefs Jerome Grant and Silver Iocovozzi at the foodie event.

From Garage Kitchen to Culinary Stardom

Lord Maynard Llera of Kuya Lord in Los Angeles prepared a dish that beautifully encapsulates his culinary journey: Lucenachon at Talong (Slow-Roasted Pork Belly with Smoked Eggplant

Pulp, California Cherry Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Micro Mint, Cilantro, Fish Sauce, and Calamansi Vinegar).

This hearty and innovative combination of lechon pork belly and smoked eggplant puree with housemade anchovies reflects his culinary philosophy: a blend of tradition and creativity, deeply rooted in his Filipino heritage.

Reflecting on his recent win in Chicago, Llera admitted, “It took me about a month, and after that, it was very overwhelming. I couldn’t believe it, it felt like winning the lotto without the money!”

Llera's journey to this accolade was far from straightforward. "I was supposed to open my restaurant in 2020," he shared, recalling the challenges posed by the pandemic. "I was forced to build a kitchen out of my garage." Despite the setback, Llera's determination only grew stronger. With nearly two decades of experience in the food industry, he felt ready to take the leap and open his own restaurant in Los Angeles.

“It is an honor, especially for me, coming from the Philippines. I come from the province of Quezon. What else could you ask for?” he said beaming. “Opening a restaurant in the United States was my American dream, and winning James Beard was a big plus.”

Joining Llera at the event were

fellow TasteTwenty chefs Jerome Grant and Silver Iocovozzi.

"This year's TasteTwenty cohort exemplifies culinary excellence, innovation, and a commitment to positive societal impact. Their remarkable talents and dedication to their craft and communities inspire us, and we're honored to showcase their remarkable work on a national stage,” said Siobhan Flaherty Haber, Vice President of Events at the James Beard Foundation.

James Beard Award Semifinalist, Chef Bootcamp Alum, and American Culinary Corps Chef Jerome Grant of Mahal BBQ in Washington, D.C., prepared Smoked Beef with Szechuan Peppercorn–Coriander Rub, Marinated Cucumbers, and Calamansi White Barbecue Sauce.

Grant told us that he is both proud and happy to be a part of the TasteTwenty chefs from across

the country and he is looking forward to touring different cities with the group, where they will showcase their talents throughout the year at chef dinners and walkaround tastings, spotlighting the breadth and unity of culinary creativity across the nation.

He introduced his latest culinary project, "Mahal" two years ago. After spending 20 years in the culinary industry, this concept - American-style barbecue with Filipino flavors - is deeply personal for him, especially after the reflective pause brought on by the pandemic. During these challenging times, he cherished the opportunity to slow down, spend time with family, and appreciate life’s blessings.

James Beard Award Nominee Silver Iocovozzi of Neng Jr.’s in Asheville, NC, presented Smoked Duck Adobo, a dish that pays homage to Filipino culinary traditions. “My mom’s nickname is Neneng and basically I’m her mini-me,” Silver shared.

At Neng’s Jr., they serve Filipino classics like pancit, beef caldereta, duck adobo, and tinola. For the Taste of America event, Silver brought one of her favorites: duck adobo, smoked with applewood, sliced thinly, and served with a traditional adobo sauce using coconut vinegar, soy sauce, black peppercorns, onions, garlic, and bay leaves, steeped in coconut milk.

“It feels really special to be here and I love representing Filipino food. We’re having so much fun,” she said. Silver opened Neng’s Jr. two years ago and dreams of opening another restaurant in New York someday.

Llera also shared his inspiring journey and plans for his restaurant. "I decided to leave my last job to open the restaurant," he said, highlighting his commitment to this dream. For him, the James Beard Award is more than a professional milestone. "It's an honor, especially coming from the Philippines," he proudly expressed.

Llera's journey to America was

Liza Soberano has same acting coach as Johnny Depp and Meg Ryan

by MJ Marfori Philstar.com

AND just like that, she’s back in

I know fans have been eagerly waiting for her next big screen role after her impactful portrayal as Taffy in “Lisa Frankenstein,” and she is, too.

“I’ve been very, very busy, but I’m actually so excited to get back into actual filming work,” she shared. What I can tell you is, we all know Hollywood is no easy journey and Liza has been making sure that she is planting the right seeds to be in the industry for the long haul. Patience, strategy and persistence are what Liza is showing. Landing the next big project is not a walk in the park, but she soldiers on.

said.

driven by a singular dream: to open his own restaurant.

"Coming to America just to see my dream come true... it's an American dream for me," he said, his voice brimming with gratitude. Despite his growing fame, Llera remains grounded and grateful to the people who believed in him. "I don't care if you're a food writer or a regular customer,” he said. “I just want people to experience my way of showcasing Filipino cuisine."

Llera's dishes are more than food; they are narratives of his life. "The regional specials are special to me because they tell the story of my upbringing," he shared. This blend of Filipino heritage and American techniques defines his culinary style, creating a unique dining experience that resonates with authenticity and innovation.

To younger Filipinos and Filipino Americans aspiring to enter the culinary industry, Llera offers some sage advice. "Make sure you know yourself," he emphasized. "Understand your roots and stay patient. Keep pushing forward despite mistakes, it's all part of the journey."

Right now, Liza is sharpening her skills in acting, learning from the 12-time Best Acting Coach in the business.

“I’ve been taking acting classes. I’ve been very busy with that, and I’m taking that four times a week with this amazing acting coach named Alex Taylor.”

Wow! The Taylor Studio of Alex Taylor is actually one of the top five acting schools in Hollywood.

According to his profile, Alex is the youngest acting teacher to have worked with legendary acting teacher Sanford Meisner. He was in the last class to work with Meisner before Meisner’s death

“I’ve been taking in also a lot of auditions,” she said. As she should! Liza said that she is not stopping with her plans to represent the country in Tinseltown.

in 1997. So, Liza is learning the Meisner approach, wherein actors do not focus on themselves and instead concentrate on the other actors in the immediate environment. It is one of the most prevalent techniques in Hollywood today. What is more significant about Liza’s acting school is that she is also working with the same acting coach as Johnny Depp, Jessica Lange, Meg Ryan, and Mickey Rourke. Okay, Liza! Good move! We see where this one is going.

Given that Liza has been around and has deep roots in the Philippine scene, she said that all that she is doing is for her Filipino fans, “Like with anything, I have been hands-on. I’ve been

setting up businesses in L.A. and my production company.”

Like the creative that she is, Liza has been collaborating with international producers.

“I am the Philippine producer, but I am also working with people from L.A. and people from Korea,” said she.

Another major life update, too, is that finally, Liza has already moved into her own apartment in Los Angeles. We even played around with the idea of an apartment tour, to which she made

reply. “Hindi

the most sensible

ko alam! Nakakatakot

Recent James Beard Award Winner for Best Chef: California Lord Maynard Llera

AJPress photos by Momar G. Visaya

Silver Iocovozzi and Jerome Grant at a recent Taste America event in New York

Liza Soberano is sharpening her skills in acting by learning from the 12-time Best Acting Coach in the business, Alex Taylor. The Taylor Studio is actually one of the Top 5 acting schools in Hollywood. Liza is studying

Sanford

Eager crowds gather for Richard Harris Law Firm’s annual backpack event

ON an early morning in July,

families from all over Southern

Nevada began forming lines in eager anticipation of the Richard Harris Law Firm’s annual backpack event. As the 2024-2025 school season kicks off, this much-anticipated event provided free backpacks filled with essential school supplies to countless thrilled families.

The colorful backpacks, loaded with school necessities, offer significant savings and muchneeded assistance to many, including Yuri Canela’s family. When asked about the impact, Yuri shared, “Yeah, because some of the stuff they need, so it's a big help.”

Cassie Patterson’s family also understands the profound impact of receiving free backpacks.

Cassie revealed, “For a lot of us, I can speak for myself. My husband is ill and him not working helps me stay ahead in communities like this.”

This sentiment resonates with Romelie Vidal Carter, who emphasized the rising cost of living. “Absolutely, especially nowadays there's been an increase in the cost of living, so it helps people like us who can't afford to get supplies when you have more than one,” she said. Romelie, who has four kids and recently lost her job along with her husband, finds this support invaluable.

In addition to the free backpacks filled with school supplies, children and families in line were delighted with refreshing shaved

affirmed their commitment to this event. “We give back. It's the legacy of the Richard Harris Law Firm. We are involved in a number of community outreach events, and Project Backpack is one of our favorites and most rewarding.”

Josh Harris, Managing Partner of the firm, added, “The last few years have been really tough on the community with inflation and the cost of living. We understand that, so we thought of the best way to help, which is through our backpack initiative. This is my favorite activity of the year. It’s great to see kids out here, and it makes us a part of the community.”

Over the past four years, the Richard Harris Law Firm has distributed over 50,000 backpacks and promises to continue this initiative annually. As Luke and Lance Cachola expressed, “Thank you, Richard Harris Law Firm. Dahil kay Richard Harris, tanggal ang worries.” (Bev Llorente, Las Vegas Nevada)

by Jessica ann evangelista Inquirer.net

AFTER Gerald Anderson went viral for doing a good deed during typhoon Carina, Julia Barretto shared that she felt hugely proud of her boyfriend’s charitable work, but admitted she was worried about him while he was out.

“It’s a proud moment, of course, but I was really worried. But by nature, that’s who he is. I just hope he will be safe doing that for others. It’s a proud moment, but ang hirap grabe ‘yung worries ko (it was hard, I was quite worried),” she told MJ Marfori.

Barretto said that Anderson’s initiative to swim in flood waters and help a stranded family evacuate shows how good a person he is, saying, “Whatever you see, that’s the heart he has.”

Last month, Anderson helped rescue a family with a child stranded in Barangay Sto. Domingo, Quezon City, due to the floods brought by Typhoon Carina. It wasn’t the first time the Kapamilya actor joined rescue efforts. It can be recalled that in September 2009, Anderson also participated in rescuing victims

of Typhoon Ondoy. His neighbor, Dr. Divine Rosales-Murao, took to social media to share photos of the actor swimming through the flooded streets of their village, Vista Real Classica, in Quezon City, to check on his neighbors. “Gerald tried to check on us since he knows and he saw I have three small kids with me, plus the house staff. The whole ground floor of our house was affected by the water. We told him we are still okay, and the second time

he went back to us there, he was with Cesar

three years now. In his recent interviews, the actor said he already sees Barretto as the woman he will marry.

Julia Barretto proud of BF Gerald Anderson’s initiative to help Carina victims Regal

Lily Monteverde has passed away days after her husband, Remy, died. She was 85. Her son, University of the Philippines men's basketball coach Goldwin Monteverde, confirmed her passing to GMA News Online via text message.

Monteverde, lovingly called by showbiz insiders and fans as Mother Lily, was known as the producer of some of the biggest film franchises in the Philippines. These include the movie franchises for the FilipinoChinese family drama "Mano Po" and the horror series "Shake, Rattle & Roll."

Monteverde's husband, Leonardo "Remy" Monteverde, died on July 29 due to pneumonia. He was 86.

Celebrities close to Mother Lily shared their condolences to her family, which also includes film producers Roselle Monteverde and Dondon Monteverde.

"The Queen is dead. Long live the Queen. Paalam, Mother Lily," wrote director Lore Reyes on Facebook.

Reyes directed some of the earlier "Shake, Rattle & Roll" films.

Sen. Grace Poe also bid farewell to her "ninang." "I’m so sorry and sad to hear about Mother Lily’s passing. My Ninang Mother always believed in me and assured me whenever I doubted myself. She has helped so many and she will never be forgotten. She was, and will always be, a Titan in the Philippine movie industry. Our deepest sympathies and condolences to her family and loved ones," wrote the senator on Facebook.

Her parents, the late screen legends Fernando Poe Jr. and Susan Roces, were friends of Monteverde.

by Kathleen a llemit Philstar.com

Julia Barretto and Gerald Anderson Photo from Instagram/@andersongeraldjr

ice treats, face painting, and hula hoop tricks performed by Ehrlich “Firechill” Ocampo. Rick Harris, CEO of Richard Harris Law Firm, passionately

REGAL Entertainment matriarch

ONE of the most fascinating vital organs in the body, a symbol of love, endearment, even of religious adoration, and still a mystery to most of us, is the heart. The marvelous facts about this restless, non-stop pump, are mindboggling and a constant source of wonderment. Winning hearts, stealing hearts, breaking hearts (and for cardiac surgeons, mending hearts) are easier to understand and do, than to comprehend fully the wonders of this ceaselessly active, seemingly untiring, and unique contractile muscle in our body.

How large is our heart?

The size of the adult heart is about the volume of two hands clasping each other, with the fingers intertwined. In children, it is the size of the kid’s one fist. The heart is located, not to the left, as often thought of, but in the middle of your mid chest, enclosed in its own compartment, an envelope called pericardial sac, and located between the left and right chest cavity, where the left and right lungs are, respectively. Its tip is pointed slightly to the left.

Does the heart ever rest?

The heart beats about an average of 70 beats per minute, 4,200 an hour or about 100,800 times in one day, roughly about 36 million times in a year. In an average life span, the human heart will beat about 2.5 billion times. But contrary to what seems obvious, the heart rests for a split second in between beats. This happens between contractions, when the heart relaxes to accept more oxygenated blood from the lungs and prepares to pump blood out of its chambers again.

How powerful is the heart contraction?

The heart contraction is so powerful that it approximates the force one needs to give a tennis ball a hard and full squeeze with all your might. The cardiac muscles work twice as hard as the leg muscles of a person running full speed. The hydraulic force generated is necessary to propel rapidly the blood that circulates about 13 kilometers per minute, or 780 kilometers per hour, about four times the speed of the fastest racing car there is.

Will the heart beat on its own?

The muscle of the heart, unlike other muscles in our body, is a specialized one that beats on its own (automaticity) and one that

Our amazing heart

has its own rhythm (rhythmicity), even when cut off from the body and lying on a surface. The isolated heart in this situation will beat continuously until its own residual energy is used up, which is within about 4 minutes. It then ceases movement.

What is the normal heart rate?

This varies from individual to individual, depending on the age, condition of the body, and the health of the person. A well-conditioned athlete may have a heart rate of 35 a minute and feel great, but this rate would cause almost all of us, nonathletes, to feel faint and pass out, or in the very least, feel very dizzy and weak. On the average though, the normal resting rate (medically speaking) is from 60 to 100 beats per minute. Anything below 60 is called bradycardia (too slow heart rate), and a rate higher than 100 is tachycardia (too fast a heart rate). Among children the range is between 90-120 beats a minute.

How much blood does a person have?

The adult human body has about 5.6 liters (6 quarts) of blood in the circulation. These 6 quarts completes a full round of circulation throughout the body about every 20 seconds. The blood travels a total of about 19,000 kilometers (12,000 miles) in 24 hours, which is about four times the distance from California to New York, or roughly five times the air miles from San Francisco to Manila. About one million barrels of blood is pumped by the heart in an average life span, a volume enough to fill more than three super tankers.

How does blood get oxygen and nutrition?

The nutrition and oxygen in the blood are used up by the tissues and cells. The used blood (now containing much less oxygen and more carbon dioxide, lactic acid and other “waste products”) travels back from the tissues and cells to lungs for oxygenation. Then blood goes to the heart for pumping to all organs, like the liver where toxins will be detoxified, to the kidneys that will filter the waste products and passed out through the urine, to the stomach and intestines where it will be replenished with new nutrition. The used blood then flows back to the lungs. After the oxygenation, the blood flows into the heart, ready to be pumped back into the circulation once again. And the cycle goes on. How strong is our heart?

A healthy heart can take a lot of beating (no pun intended). It is one of the most powerful pumps in the world, even when compared to the

mechanical ones built by man. Selfcontained, self-propelled, energyefficient, the heart works without stopping, and can survive grave insults and abuses we, humans, subject it to, day in and day out. When is artificial heart used?

Mechanical (man-made artificial) heart is helpful as a bridge to heart transplantation, implanted temporarily (for a few weeks or so) while a transplant patient waits for a human donor heart, but not as a long-term, permanent, heart replacement. Obviously, of course, a suitable permanent mechanical heart with as close inherent features as those of the human heart is the ultimate goal of ongoing research around the world. When that day comes, a dying cardiac patient would not have to wait for a compatible donor to die before getting heart transplant. The cardiac surgeon then would simply ask the operating room nurse for the appropriate size artificial heart from the shelves (much like asking for a pacemaker today) to be implanted on the patient. By then too, coronary bypass, heart valve surgery, and most cardiac surgeries, would be a thing of the past, and the millions of lives lost annually around the globe today from severe and end-stage heart diseases would be saved. As a cardiac surgeon, I can’t wait for that dream to come true.

* * * The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Asian Journal, its management, editorial board and staff.

* * * The main objective of this column is to educate and inspire people to live a healthier lifestyle to prevent illnesses and disabilities and achieve a happier and more productive life. Any diagnosis, recommendation, or treatment in our article are general medical information and not intended to be applicable to or appropriate for anyone. This column is not a substitute for your physician, who knows your condition well and who is your best ally when it comes to your health.

* * * Philip S. Chua, MD, FACS, FPCS, a Cardiac Surgeon Emeritus based in Northwest Indiana and Las Vegas, Nevada, is an international medical lecturer/author, Health Advocate, newspaper columnist, and chairman of the Filipino United Network-USA, a 501(c)3 humanitarian foundation in the United States. He was a recipient of the Indiana Sagamore of the Wabash Award in 1995, presented by then Indiana Governor, US senator, and later a presidential candidate, Evan Bayh. Other Sagamore past awardees include President Harry Truman, President George HW Bush, Muhammad Ali and Astronaut Gus Grissom (Wikipedia). Websites: FUN8888.com, Today. SPSAtoday.com, and philipSchua.com; Email: scalpelpen@gmail.com.

says role in ‘Pulang

Randy Santiago to perform at NWR’s

Bar 360; Philstagers’ musical version of ‘Juan Luna’ coming soon

My P.E.P. (People, Events,Places)

Rogelio ConStantino MeDina

RANDY Santiago, OPM’s one and only EyeCon dubbed as Mr. Private Eyes, had an engaging performance on August 3 at Bar 360 in Newport World Resorts (NWR), with the Serenity band. Recently, his son Raiko, or Rainier Nikolo Lorenzo Coronel Santiago, graduated with Honorable Mention and Loyalty Award from De La SalleCollege of Saint Benilde. He said, “So proud of this hardworking son of ours who works for me as production and tour manager of Private Eyes and still managed to study online especially during the pandemic... He managed his time between working and studying online while we were doing the Eye Labyu U.S. Tour... He did very well as we flew back and forth from East Coast to West Coast. So much pressure including time difference,” said Randy, who was my classmate at De La Salle University-Manila.

* * * I was a guest recently in The Voice of Senior Citizens at DZME TV Cable Link Channel 5 and DZME 1530 AM Band from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m., with Congressman Godofredo Arquiza, Sure Manuel and director Raymard Gutierrez, assessing the situation of senior citizens in the Philippines.

* * * Singer Louie Heredia, known for his phenomenal song “Nagiisang Ikaw,” reminisced to me that: “My bosses at Vicor Music Corp. wanted me to sing Tagalog songs because they felt that I would be able to reach to the masses, or ordinary people, more if I sang Tagalog songs. So they gave me Nag-iisang Ikaw, composed and tailormade by one of the country’s top composers Vehnee Saturno. At first I did not want to sing this song since I found it so ‘baduy’ (in poor taste). It was then not my style but an insider in Vicor told me that if I did not record the song, they would release me from my contract with them. So, I had no choice but to record the song.” Louie took up business management at Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont, California and graduated cum laude in 1987.

“Vehnee Saturno, aside from being the composer of the song, was also assigned to be the producer of the song. He guided me every inch of the way during the recording of Nagiisang Ikaw, and I guess we did everything right since the song gave me a Double Platinum Record Award and this is the same song that made Louie Heredia,” he added.

To this date, many other top performers have revived Nagiisang Ikaw.

* * *

Congrats to the winners of the PSF (Philippine Stagers Foundation) Theater Festival 2024 Thumbs Up Awards as well as to the PSF Workshop and Masterclass Batch 2024 graduates.

Written and

Atty. Vince Tañada, the musical brings us to late 1800s Manila and Europe up to the death of Luna in Hong Kong. The avant-garde, neo-cinematic musical is billed as “Juan Luna, Isang Sarsuela” – a lavish, most expensive and highly technical stage piece but maintaining its classical and elegant literary masterpiece and musicality.

The musical will run from August 2024 to April 2025 in various theaters all over the Philippines, true to the vision and mission of the theater company in bringing quality theater to the masses and in turn educating its audience on Philippine history, culture, tradition, patriotism and national identity.

* * *

Congrats to Mabalacat City College (MCC) of Mabalacat City, Pampanga for being praised by Pres. Bongbong Marcos in SONA 2024. MCC was bestowed a prestigious award as Technological or Digital Innovation of the Year by Times Higher Education in United Kingdom.

It is headed by MCC president Dr. Michelle Aguilar-Ong, also a former producer of films directed by multi-awarded Kapampangan director Carlo Enciso Catu.

Among them were Maricris Wee, Mike, Winston, James, Aris and Jason of Live Love Party (LLP) Crew; Jenito, Camper and Gilbert of South Vibes Est. 2020; Charly Esquejo and Jayz Blanco of TML; Mark and Che of MNL Crew Est. 2018; Lhou and Ace of Lou & Ace Fitness Group; and Erwin Mendana of AE5. It is spearheaded by One Movement Inc. headed by chairman Marlon Mendoza, with the support of former Eat Bulaga and Solid Gold dancer Emily Samson. Singer Imelda Papin, with her daughter Maffi and her sister Aileen, attended this worthy cause.

* * * First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos attended recently the GMA Gala 2024, and she was seen with GMA Films president Annette Gozon-Valdes and actor Shintaro Valdes, a fellow La Sallite. Meanwhile, on August 10, some young talents from Sparkle GMA Artist Center will be recognized as Philippine Empowered Youth 2024 at Teatrino Promenade in Greenhills, San Juan City.

by HannaH Mallorca Inquirer.net

OUTFIT , check. Top hat, check. Wavy hair, check. Twitchy mustache, spot on! But wait until Epy Quizon started tap dancing “bodabil” (vaudeville) style while “Katy dela Cruz” sings onstage in “Pulang Araw.” A quick glance would call to mind his late father, Comedy King Dolphy whose career in entertainment took root when he was an onstage trouper during the Japanese occupation. Fast forward to the present, Quizon would be playing the character that his father excelled in — dressing up and dancing ’40s-style. Unknown to many, he was supposed to take a break from show biz when the offer to join “Pulang Araw” and assume such a colorful character came knocking, it was an opportunity he didn’t want to miss.

Quizon stars as Julio Borromeo, a bodabil or vaudeville performer and owner of the Cine Borromeo theater, in the historical drama. His character is also the biological father of Teresita Borromeo (Sanya Lopez) and Adelina dela Cruz (Barbie Forteza). The drama also stars Alden Richards, David Licauco, Dennis Trillo, Angelu de Leon, Ashley Ortega, Rochelle Pangilinan, Mikoy Morales, and Sef Cadayona.

Bodabil is a form of entertainment which was introduced by the Americans to the Philippines. The indigenized form of bodabil contained influences of zarzuela,

komedya, and the French vaudeville, as seen in its musical numbers, dramatic skits, and shortform comedy numbers.

The actor admitted in the press conference for “Pulang Araw” that taking on the character is a way of showing his love for his father, who used to do vaudeville performances during World War 2 using his stage name, Golay. Other known performers during that time were the late actors Leopoldo Salcedo and Rogelio dela Rosa. Quizon claimed Dolphy used to tell him about the war, when they would be in the middle of a performance when an air raid alarm would set off, and they would immediately head to a shelter inside the theater together with the audience. Afterwards, the show would go on as usual.

“Noong pinakita sa akin ‘yung character description at concept nito, sabi ko, ‘I want to be part of this,’” he said. “Malapit ito sa puso ko dahil ang tatay ko ay isang mananayaw ng Bodabil. At siyempre pinagdaanan ng tatay ko ang giyera, diba? Naikwento niya sa akin. So, isa po itong proyekto na talagang malapit sa puso ko.”

(When the character description and concept were shown to me, I said that I wanted to be a part of this. This is close to my heart because my father is a Bodabil dancer. My father experienced the war, right? He told stories of it to us. So this is one of the projects close to my heart.)

Meanwhile, in a “Fast Talk with Boy Abunda” interview on

Thursday, August 1, Quizon said he hoped that no comparisons would be made between himself and his father.

“How can I say no to a vaudeville actor during World War 2 which, kwento ‘yan ng tatay ko sa’kin?

When I saw [the role], I’m in… Huwag niyo akong ikumpara sa tatay ko dahil iba ‘yung tatay ko,” he said. “Nakakatakot kasi alam mo agad na ikukumpara ako sa tatay ko eh. So ngayon pa lang sinasabi ko sa inyo, huwag niyo akong ikumpara. Napakagaling n’un.”

(How can I say no to a vaudeville actor during World War 2 which was a story of my father to me?

When I saw the role, I’m in. Don’t compare me to my father because he is different. It’s scary because I knew that I would be compared to my father. So moving forward, I hope no comparisons would be made. He was really good.)

Quizon also pointed out that “Pulang Araw” is a drama that “shows a glimpse” of the Philippines’ history, saying it’s an important time to look back at our past to move forward. “We have to look back at our past for us to go forward. ‘Pulang Araw’ shows us a glimpse of our history, of what happened prewar and during the war, it’s not just about the bodabil [kundi] ang pinagdaanan ng mga Pilipino sa kamay ng mga Amerikano at Hapon (but it’s also about what Filipinos suffered under the hands of the Americans and Japanese),” he said.

The PSF, or Philstagers, the national mobile theater company in the Philippines, announces the biggest, grandest and most spectacular All-Original Filipino Musical based on the life story of the misunderstood and highly questionable character

She is the former TV host of a weekly public affairs program on GNNTV 44 in Pampanga.

* * *

Zumba instructors joined together in Quezon City Memorial Circle to show their concern for the environment.

Among the young Sparkle GMA Artists to be recognized are as follows: James Graham, Charlie Fleming, Zyren dela Cruz, Waynona Collings, Travis Clarino, Shane Sava, Selina  Griffin, Princess Aliyah, Patricia Coma, Mark Oliveros, Liezel Lopez, Liana Mae, Lee Victor, Kimson Tan, Keisha Serna, Kaloy Tingcungco, Josh Ford, Jade Tecson, Hannah Arguelles, Gaea Mischa, Brent Valdez, and Aya Domingo.

Randy Santiago with his son Raiko during the latter’s graduation in P.I.C.C. Manila. Photos courtesy of Rogelio C. Medina

Louie Heredia gives moral support to current Miss Universe Philippines Chelsea Manalo.

First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos attends the GMA GALA 2024. With her in the photo are Annette Gozon-Valdes and Shintaro Valdes.

MCC president Michelle Ong with Senate Pres. Chiz Escudero during the recent U.S. Independence Day reception in Fairmont, Makati.

Dr. Fernando de la Pena (right) with his dad Paquito Diaz in a photo from 2003.

OMI chairman Marlon Mendoza (middle) with friends.

Singer Maffi Papin Carrion (3rd from left) with OMI’s Emily Samson (extreme left) and friends.

Dolphy and Epy Quizon

GMA photos of a national hero, Juan Luna.

directed by

How to transfer real estate titles in the Philippines

SAB’s Review

Sharon ann Bathan-San Pedro

TRANSFERRING a real estate

title in the Philippines (from a sale) is crucial to ensure legal ownership and avoid future disputes. For overseas Filipinos, this process can seem daunting due to distance and time constraints. Here’s a simplified guide to help you navigate the process and ensure a smooth transition of ownership, even from abroad.

Potential problems

• Unregistered sales: If a property sale isn't registered and the title isn't transferred, future disputes can arise, especially if the original parties pass away.

• Incomplete documents: Purchasing a property without verifying all documents can lead to issues if supporting documents are missing.

• Corporate sales: If a corporation sells a property but dissolves before the title transfer is complete, the buyer may face difficulties.

Step-by-step guide

A. Preparation

1. Documents for Deed of Sale:

– Deed of Absolute Sale

– Acknowledgment of payment

– Affidavit of Non-Tenancy (if applicable)

– Affidavit of Land Holdings (if applicable)

2. Signing documents:

– Both parties sign the Deed of Sale and Acknowledgment Receipt

– Seller signs the Affidavit of Non-Tenancy (if applicable)

– Buyer signs the Affidavit of Land Holdings (if applicable)

3. Additional documents:

– 2 government-issued IDs of both parties

– Tax Identification Number (TIN) of each party

– Original Owner’s Duplicate of Title

– Marriage contract (if applicable)

– Previous Certificate Authorizing Registration (CAR)

– Tax Declaration

– Real Property Tax (RPT) receipts

– Special Power of Attorney (SPA) if applicable

4. Notarization: Notarize all signed documents.

B. Payment computations and certified copies

1. Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) – Get computation for Documentary Stamp Tax (DST) and Capital Gains Tax (CGT).

2. City Treasurer’s Office – Get computation for Transfer Tax and Tax Clearance.

3. City Assessor’s Office –Obtain a Certified True Copy of the Tax Declaration.

4. Registry of Deeds – Get computation for Registration Fee and a Certified True Copy of the existing Title.

C. Prepare payments

1. Deadlines

– CGT: 30 days after notarization of Deed of Sale

– DST: 5th day of the following month from notarization

– Transfer Tax: 60 days from execution of Deed of Sale

– Registration Fee: 1 year from CAR release date + 6 months extension if approved by BIR.

D. Process payments

1. BIR

– Submit required documents to ONETT for computation

– Pay DST and CGT at the Accredited Agent Bank

– Return to BIR to file documents and obtain the new CAR.

2. City Treasurer’s Office

– Submit Deed of Sale and IDs.

– Pay Transfer Tax and get the Transfer Tax Clearance.

3. Registry of Deeds

– Submit CAR, Deed of Sale, and Transfer Tax Clearance.

– Pay the registration fee.

E. Follow up

1. Registry of Deeds

– Follow up on the new Title application.

– Once released, file a copy with the City Assessor’s Office.

F. New Tax Declaration

How Fil-Korean Joshua Kim makes his presence felt in the OPM scene

by Jerry Donato Philstar.com

JOSHUA Kim shows what he’s made of as a promising singersongwriter in his debut six-track EP, Alone In Melbourne. It’s his contribution to the ever-evolving and adapting Original Pilipino Music (OPM) and perhaps also a glimpse of what musical path Joshua might further tread on. He belongs to the young group of storytellers that are making their presence felt in the local recording and live performance scenes.

“It’s the title track of the EP,” said Joshua of Alone In Melbourne, the song in a virtual interview with The STAR. The other tunes on the album are Breeze, as well as its alternate version Breeze-Amihan, Pockets, Silent Footsteps and Tempo.

“I would think so. I think most of the themes that are in the EP are in that song when it comes to uncertainty, trying to figure out where I am in life. You know, what I actually want,” answered the artist when asked if the track Alone In Melbourne set the overall tone and theme of the album.

“It’s kinda like an introspective look into, like me trying to figure out what makes me happy.” In a previous performance, Joshua said it’s “a song about homesickness and about missing the things that you used to have.”

Just a quick flashback: Joshua wrote Breeze in 2021 and Tempo two years later. Then he forayed into composing the other tunes. He shared that Breeze was supposed to be released as a solo track. “You know, over time, as I was writing more songs, I realized that it could fit into a larger idea.”

And that was coming up with an EP, with Alone In Melbourne.

“I guess the best way to describe it is when you get what you want, and once you get it, you find out that it wasn’t anything you imagined it to be. It’s almost like chasing a feeling that’s always changing,” said Joshua about the theme behind the song.

The album is autobiographical.

The ditty Alone In Melbourne was inspired by his work trip to, yes, Melbourne, Australia last year.

“Alone In Melbourne is not about the location itself. It never was,” Joshua gave some insights and context to the song. “It’s more about, like, who I am and how I look at things.”

In September, he is heading back to Melbourne. Who knows?

After that, Joshua might write and record a new collection of songs, maybe for another EP.

Similar to other new singersongwriters, Joshua, with Chinese, Filipino, and Korean lineage, has a full-time job. He works as an AI software engineer.

1. City Assessor’s Office

– Present the new Title to get a new Tax Declaration. Final reminders

• Pay close attention to details to avoid delays.

• Bring original documents when in doubt.

• Be patient due to potential wait times.

Overseas solution For overseas Filipinos, handling these steps from afar can be challenging. If you can't travel back home to the Philippines, SAB Realty can assist you with advanced market value evaluation, marketing and promotion, and representation for your property.

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Reach out to SAB Realty today and experience seamless real estate transactions, wherever you are in the world.

* * * The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Asian Journal, its management, editorial board and staff.

* * * Sharon Ann Bathan-San Pedro, a licensed real estate broker in the Philippines for 9 years, is also a member of NAR (National Association of Realtors in America). For inquiries, questions, or are interested in buying or selling a property, please feel free to reach out via email at sab. sanpedro@gmail.com or call PH number 09178237796 (Whatsapp and Viber) USA (909) 4131480 (Viber).

Randy Santiago to perform at NWR’s...

* * * Dr. Fernando dela Pena, a California-based dentist, is the eldest son of the late actor Paquito Diaz and 1969 FAMAS Best Supporting Actress Eva Darren.

Dr. De la Pena finished college at Centro Escolar UniversityCollege of Dentistry in Manila in 1992. Afterwards, he went to the U.S. His younger brother actor Joko Diaz and sister actress Cheska Diaz and other siblings often visit him there.

“My best memories of my dad was when he came to see me on my birthday. No matter how busy he was, he always found time to see me,” he said.

Dr. de la Pena’s practice’s website (De La Pena Dental Group) is www.losangelesdentist. la, while the school website of Los Angeles School of Dental Assisting is www. losangelesdentalassistant.

com and is located along Beverly Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. Dr. Fernando is named after Fernando Poe Jr., his dad’s bosom friend. He also writes articles about the Philippine Dental Association.

“All the music stuff just comes, like, on the side,” said he, who graduated summa cum laude with a degree in Computer Science from the University of the Philippines. “I don’t know if this is common for all songwriters, but it’s always almost at 2 a.m. or 3 a.m. (when ideas somehow come to me).”

While everyone is in a sweet slumber in the wee hours, Joshua is half asleep with his creative juices somehow active.

As for his songwriting process, he said the idea could be in the form of a phrase, a line, or a word. He thinks in sentences or paragraphs and writes them down. When the artist feels inspired and has the melody, he sits at the piano, hums the melody, looks at his notes, and tries to navigate all the words. “It usually starts with a chorus, a hook or one sentence per se,” shared he. Joshua, the creative has regular collaborators for vocals and sounds. Genre-wise, he said it’s the singer-songwriter kind with a Nashville vibe. His musical influences include Jason Mraz, John Mayer and Sara Bareilles and he uses minor chords that lend a bittersweet, melancholic, sad and wistful feel to the song.

So far, Joshua has graced indie venues such as SaGuijo and Jess & Pat’s in Metro Manila and performed in events like the ToyCon 2024, Féte de la Musique’s acoustic stage, Hally Universe and the concert of OPM acoustic artist Paolo Santos, shared his publicity team. After the debut EP, Joshua will release new versions of Alone In Melbourne on Sept. 6 and the single, Naperville, either in November or December. The title refers to the city where he grew up. The song explores an experience when one goes to a place that remains unchanged through time but the people have changed.

From left: Ray Gutierrez, Sure Manuel, Cong. Fred Arquiza and Rogelio Medina.

Joshua Kim presents his musical style in the EP, Alone In Melbourne. The singer-songwriter treats listeners to autobiographical and introspective songs. His team says he’s known for ‘his soulful melodies and heartfelt lyrics.’ Photo from Instagram/@joshuakimmusic