New York/New Jersey -- March 11 -- 17, 2016

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Volume 10 – Issue 11 • 16 Pages

MA R C H 1 1 - 1 7 , 2 0 1 6 Also published in LOS ANGELES, ORANGE COUNTY/INLAND EMPIRE, LAS VEGAS, NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

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Palace leads opponents of election postponement by caTherine

S. ValenTe llaneSca T. PanTi ManilaTimes.net

PLANs to postpone the 2016 elections were met with vehement opposition from malacañang, election watchdogs and Information technology (It) experts.

But the Palace quashed fears of a no-election scenario on thursday, saying the polls must push through in may as scheduled.

Presidential Communications secretary herminio Coloma Jr. said they are confident that the

Commission on elections (Comelec) will be able to pull off an “uneventful” electoral exercise on may 9.

“We trust that the Comelec will exert all efforts to ensure the orderly conduct of the national elections while complying with the Constitution and with the supreme Court decision,” Coloma told reporters.

Lito Averia, an It expert from the National Citizens’ movement for free elections (Namfrel), said postponing the elections is not an acceptable option. he noted that the Comelec’s

failure to prepare a contingency plan is the reason why it is having problems in complying with the sC order.

Averia explained that while the voter verified paper audit trail (VVPAt) feature can easily be enabled in the software that will be used by the vote counting machines (VCms), the challenge is how it will be rolled out in the hardware because the new machines do not have a switch that will enable them to print receipts.

“Postponing the elections is

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USA

DATELINE Las Vegas mom sentenced to life without parole for husband’s murder

Grace Poe defends Danding Cojuangco on coco levy

from the AJPress NEWS TEAM AcroSS AMEricA

A LAs VeGAs mother of four was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on thursday, march 3, for plotting to have her husband killed in order to collect his life insurance. michelle Antwanette Paet, 34, — who is of filipino descent, a source told the Asian Journal — pled guilty to conspiracy to commit murder and first-degree murder with use of a deadly weapon back in october, which took the death penalty option off the table. she had revealed that she and her then-boyfriend, michael rudolph rodriguez, planned to murder her husband Nathan Paet, who was a Us Air force service member and Iraq War veteran. michelle and Nathan Paet were high school sweethearts and got married in 2006, a source told the Asian Journal.

“I made a huge mistake and a really bad choice and I’m truly sorry,” michelle Paet tearfully said in court on thursday, accord-

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Homeland Security launches employer pilot program the Us Department of homeland security (Dhs) announced the launch of a Known employer pilot program on thursday, march 3, assessing a new process for employers who seek to hire workers through employmentbased visa categories. modifying the process Us Citizenship and Immigration services (UsCIs) already uses to review an employer’s eligibility to sponsor individuals (under certain employment-based immigrant and non-immigrant classifications), the Known employer pilot is expected to streamline paperwork, reduce costs and delays in the processing of these benefit requests.

According to a release from the Dhs press office, UsCIs will oversee the pilot program, in collaboration with the Dhs office of Policy, Us Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and the Us Department of state (Dos).

“Last year, Dhs announced it would explore a Known employer pilot to modernize and streamline the process for U.s. employers

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ELECTION PREPARATION. In this file photo, workers unload printed ballots at a warehouse in Marikina. The Comelec transferred 1.7 million official ballots from the National Printing Office to the warehouse, from where they will be forwarded to various regions for the elections. The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday, March 8 ordered the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to issue ballot receipts on May 9 polls. Voting 14-0 in favor of the Bagumbayan-Gordon petition, the high tribunal mandated the activation of Voter Verification Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) features in the vote counting machines to assure the credibility of the elections. Philstar.com photo by Michael Varcas

by Gil

c. cabacunGan Jr. Inquirer.net

the government and not businessman Danding Cojuangco Jr., should be blamed for the delay in deploying the multibillion-peso coconut levy fund for the benefit of farmers, according to senators Vice President Jejomar Binay woos voters in Olongapo City on Tuesday Grace Poe and francis “Chiz” escudero. night.

In a press conference in Candelaria, Quezon, Poe said she herself was getting impatient that coconut farmers have yet to benefit from the coco levy funds more than four decades after they paid Sen. Grace Poe Danding Cojuangco the forced tax.

“But the problem is that Danding Cojuangco government and 20 percent to Cojuangco.

“But the government had other ideas on how to doesn’t control it anymore because all the shares (bought with the coco levy funds) are now with the deploy the coco levy funds which explains why it hasn’t been distributed to the rightful beneficiagovernment,” said Poe. by nancy c. carVaJal Inquirer.net she said the coco levy funds should have been ries,” she said.

In march 2015, President Aquino issued execuimmediately given to the farmers after the suthe Commission on Audit (CoA) has recommended preme Court made a final ruling on the coco levy tive orders No. 179 and 180 privatizing the coco sanctions against Vice President Jejomar Binay in con- assets in 2012, specifically that of the disputed san levy funds, but the eos were was suspended by the nection with the alleged anomalous construction of the miguel Corp. shares, 31 percent should go to the supreme Court. n P2.8-billion makati City hall Building II, according to a special audit report. the 148-page report by the 12-member CoA team against Binay, who is running for President in the may (PCGG), which was mandated 9 elections, said the Vice President was administratively

by JefferSon anTiPorDa to recover the ill-gotten wealth liable for grave misconduct, dishonesty and gross inexanD caTherine S. ValenTe of the marcos family and their cusable negligence, graft and corrupt practices.

ManilaTimes.net cronies. the charges concerning crimes that Binay allegedly former senate President he started his career in politics committed while he was mayor of makati City carry penJovito salonga, nationalist, de- in 1961 as representative of rizal alties ranging from removal from office, fines and imfender of political prisoners and province. prisonment. himself a victim of martial law, salonga topped the senatorial however, Binay, as a sitting Vice President, is immune died on thursday, march 10, at race in 1965. from lawsuits and the charges against him can only be the age of 95. he was one of several people prosecuted after he steps aside. salonga served as senate pres- injured at the Plaza miranda the report, a copy of which was secured by the Inident from 1987 to 1992 after bombing on August 21, 1971 quirer, said that Binay should be meted out administraheading the Presidential Com- during the proclamation rally of tive disciplinary action for violation of CoA circulars and mission on Good Government u PAGE A2 u PAGE A2

COA bares raps vs Binay But sanctions to take effect after his term

Ex-Senate president Salonga passes away at 95

Former Senate President Jovito Salonga

Jersey City man nabbed for unlawful possession of loaded gun, assault weapon

by MoMar

G. ViSaya

AJPress

JerseY City police arrested a 59-year old filipino man tuesday, march 8 inside the hudson mall for carrying a handgun while dressed in police-style clothing. he was identified as Julio Concepcion of Boyd Court and was initially charged with one count of possession of a handgun without first obtaining a permit to carry.

According to reports, he posted a $50,000 cash-or-bond bail, but an arrest warrant was issued when he failed to appear for his first hearing Wednesday morning, the Jersey Journal reported. he was charged additionally on Wednesday evening with possession of an assault weapon and hollow point bullets and after failing to appear in court on the original charges, he was arrested at his home.

the judge ordered him held without bail.

It was learned that Concepcion worked for the Department of Defense from 1989 to 2003 but it is unclear as of press time what his role was in the department. he allegedly told police that he is a retired federal law enforcement officer providing an ID and complied with the officers who arrived on the scene after receiving a call

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USAID picks PH for growth program

by Michael Joe

T. Delizo

ManilaTimes.net

the United states Agency for International Development (UsAID) has picked the Philippines as the only Asian country for its Partnership for Growth (PfG) project.

PfG is a White house signature initiative through which the Us and the Philippine governments work together to improve economic growth and development in manila. “the Philippines is very, very special in the eyes of the United states,” Dr. susan Brems, mis-

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A MARCH 11-17, 2016 • NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY ASIAN JOURNAL

http://www.asianjournal.com • (212) 655-5426

From the Front Page

Palace leads opponents of election…

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one of the scenarios the [Comelec] is looking at but I don’t think that is an acceptable option,” he said.

Professor Ramon Casiple, an executive director of another poll watchdog, Institute for Political and Electoral Reform (IPER), said the Comelec may have a valid concern regarding the VVPAT but not pushing through with the May 9 elections can lead to more serious problems.

Casiple added that the Comelec may no longer have time to comply with the SC ruling be-

cause aside from reconfiguring the vote counting machines, the poll body will also have to train members of the Board of Election Inspectors (BEI).

Liberal Party presidential bet Manuel “Mar” Roxas 2nd also rejected the idea of postponing the May 9 polls.

“The election day is scheduled and is provided for by the Constitution. Hindi basta-basta naipopostpone yan [It’s not something that you can hastily postpone],” Roxas told reporters.

“There’s enough time for the experts in the Supreme Court

and the Comelec to resolve things,” he said.

Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel 3rd expressed dismay over the attitude of officials of the Comelec.

“They should look at all available options and then if there is really no chance for them to comply [with the SC ruling], then they should clearly show it to the court and the Filipino people that it can’t be done,” Pimentel said.

Senate President Franklin Drilon said he will block any attempt to postpone the May elections. n

USAID picks PH for growth…

PAGE A1 t

sion director of USAID Philippines, said in a Kapihan session on Wednesday, March 9.

She added that the country has seen growth in the past years and the agency only needs to address Manila’s “constraints” to help its economy even move faster.

“We chose the Philippines because this is the only country [in Asia] that is doing well. The people, the government, as well as the private and academic sectors are committed for the development,” Brems said.

Among the major constraints in the Philippines’ development

that she cited were weak governance, regulatory environment, fiscal space and human capital.

In line with this, the USAID granted a P1.5-billion fund for Stride (Science, Technology, Research and Innovation for Development) program.

The fund was seen as a key in strengthening the regulatory capability of the government while providing governance and capacity building training for universities in planning, financial management, patents and networking.

Stride is a five-year program started in July 2013, under the

PFG project.

“Stride aims to spur inclusive economic growth by boosting science and technology research,” said Dr. Dave Hall, the program’s chief of party.

As of last month, the program has awarded P144.8 million in research grants to 34 universities around the country to conduct science and technology innovation research. It has also awarded 31 scholarships to Filipinos who will study in US universities.

“What we want is to have an economic growth that can benefit everyone,” Brems said. n

Corazon Aquino tapped him to head the PCGG. The next year, Salonga topped the Senate elections for the third time.

It was during his term term that he and 11 other senators opposed the RP-US Bases Treaty, which had aimed to extend the stay of US military bases in the country.

Malacañang, in extending its condolences to Salonga’s family, said the passing of the esteemed statesman “challenges all who would seek election to live up to a life well lived as a patriot and citizen.”

“With heads bowed in grief and respect, we extend our deepest sympathies to the family of Senator Jovito Salonga. His passing marks the departure from this life of another of those brave, committed individuals who lit a

candle during the deep darkness of the dictatorship; and who contributed to the restoration of our democratic way of life after the triumph of people power,” Palace Spokesman Edwin Lacierda said.

Salonga, he added, “stood squarely on the side of good government, and did his part in Kilosbayan and the Bantayog ng mga Bayani Foundation to ensure that the sins of the past would not be repeated in the future, becoming a Magsaysay laureate in 2007.”

“His life stands as a reproach to all those who would put personal gain ahead of public service; who would lower the standards of public discourse; and who would sacrifice human rights and the rule of law either for personal or partisan advantage. He joins the ranks of those who have made

Ex-Senate president Salonga passes…

PAGE A1 t the Liberal Party, leaving him blind in one eye.

In 1980, during martial law, Salonga was arrested for allegedly masterminding a series of bombings in Metro Manila.

President Ferdinand Marcos ordered his release a month later because of immense pressure from Salonga’s supporters and lack of concrete evidence against him.

Salonga’s significant pieces of legislation include the State Scholarship Law, the Disclosure of Interest Act, the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers, the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees and the Act Defining and Penalizing the Crime of Plunder.

After the 1986 EDSA people power revolution, President

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RARE ENCOUNTER. President Benigno S. Aquino III and Vice president Jejomar Binay grace the 37th Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) Commencement Exercises for “Masundayaw” Class of 2016 at the Camp General Mariano Castañeda in Silang, Cavite on Thursday, March 10.

Malacañang photo by Joseph Vidal

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COA bares raps vs…

memorandums as the head of a procuring entity from 2007 to 2010.

Also named in the special audit report, forwarded to the Office of the Ombudsman for prosecution, were Binay’s son, Junjun, who has been removed as mayor of Makati in connection with construction irregularities in the city, and 54 former and current officials in the municipality.

“Any unjustified failure of the officials and employees concerned to comply with the requirements herein imposed shall be subject to the administrative disciplinary action provided in Section 127 of Presidential Decree No. 1445; Section 55, Title I-B, Book V of the revised Administrative Code of 1987 and Section 11 of Republic Act No. 6713,” the report said.

Irregularities The report stated that “the construction of the Makati parking building from Phase 1 to 5 totaling P2.8 billion showed irregularities from budgeting to procurement to execution resulting in the misuse of public funds.”

It also said that the grant of the city government of undue advantages to the privately owned Hilmarc’s Construction Co. and Mana caused injury to the government.

The audit team also found out that the contract for architectural

and engineering services with Mana for P11,974,900 was not covered by an appropriation and was awarded through “simulated bidding.”

Payments, it said, were not supported by documents as required by law.

The recommendation by the special team was approved the Assistant Audit Commissioner Alexander B. Juliano.

Anomalies Among anomalies cited by the team were programs not included in the annual procurement plan (APP); the supplemental budget of P2.55 billion was enacted without available funds; the purported public bidding on the five phases as bases of award of contracts were not an outcome of a competitive bidding; the original project of a nine-story parking building with cost of P283 million was upgraded to 11 floors with bloated cost of P2.28 billion without an approved plan and approved budget cost; reported accomplishments were paid without the required vital documents; the 100 percent reported accomplishments showed variances when compared to actual inspection per audit resulting in bloated reports equivalent to P1.3 billion.

The report said that the absence of the APP, which should have determined the extent and size of contract scopes, resulted in the

construction and implementation of the parking building project into five phases without judicious planning and procurement.

The team refuted Binay’s defense that the responsibility for the bidding of the project was not with the mayor, but with the city’s bids and awards committee. It said that under the law “fiscal responsibility rests directly with the head of the agency concerned.”

Indispensable The absence of an APP, an indispensable requirement for judicious planning and procurement, should have alerted Binay to do a more strict review and supervision of the project, it said.

The team said that the auditors assigned to Makati that reviewed the different phases of the project did not issue any adverse audit observation or notice of disallowance did not mean that the transactions were legal and regular.

On the case of the enacted supplemental budget, the team found out that the various infrastructure projects amounting to P14 billion of which the P2.8 billion pertains to the parking building were sourced from either loans, unappropriated surplus or savings of the executive budget and surplus income.

The audit team discovered that P1.24 billion and P2.3 billion representing proceeds of loans which

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(212) 655-5426 • http://www.asianjournal.com

Dateline USa

PASS-IN-REVIEW. Former PAF Chief Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Delgado, salute to the colors for the Pass-in-Review during the Philippine Air Force (PAF) Change of Command and Retirement Ceremony at the Air Education and Training Command (AETC) Grandstand, Fernando Air Base (FAB) in Lipa City, Batangas on Wednesday, March 9.newly assumed 34th PAF Commanding General Lt. Gen. Edgar Fallorina is a member of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) “Matikas” Class of 1983.

Malacañang photo by Robert Viñas

Homeland Security launches employer pilot…

PAGE A1 t

seeking to employ certain foreign workers,” said USCIS Director León Rodríguez. “Today, we’re partnering with a select group of representative organizations across a variety of industries to determine how we can improve efficiency and cut costs. If successful, we will continue to build on this trial program and promote robust trade, travel, and economic prosperity.”

DHS first announced in January 2015 that it would explore a Known Employer pilot program, under the United States-Canada Beyond the Border initiative. The pilot also was highlighted as a recommendation in a report from federal agencies, “Modernizing and Streamlining Our Legal Immigration System for the 21st Century,” that was submitted to the President in July 2015.

The Known Employer pilot aims to make the employment eligibility adjudication process more efficient, while reducing delays for businesses and employers who wish to employ foreign workers under certain immigrant and nonimmigrant visa programs.

Goals of the program include:

reducing the amount of paperwork filed by employers and retained by USCIS; promoting consistency in the adjudication of employmentbased petitions and applications; streamlining the adjudicative process to achieve greater efficiency within USCIS; and providing greater support to CBP and DOS in support of greater efficiency and consistency at ports of entry and consular posts.

Under the Known Employer pilot, up to nine pre-selected employers can file applications requesting that USCIS predetermine that they meet the requirements relating to certain immigrant and non-immigrant visa classifications. When making this request, employers will create a profile in the Web-based Known Employer Document Library (KEDL), and can upload documents relating to the requirements.

USCIS officers will swiftly review and predetermine whether a prospective employer has met certain requirements relating to the visa classifications. If the predetermination request is approved, the employer may then file petitions or applications for individual employees, without needing to resubmit

Guilty: Michelle Paet, 33 (left), broke down in the stand Thursday, March 3 as she admitted to having her boyfriend shoot dead her husband, Staff Sgt. Nathan Paet (right), an Iraq War veteran, outside their Las Vegas home in 2010.

Photos from Las Vegas Metropolitan Department and Nathan Paet’s Facebook account

Las Vegas mom sentenced…

PAGE A1 t

ing to the Las Vegas ReviewJournal.

The murder occurred back in December 2010, prosecutors detailed, when Rodriguez waited outside the Paet residence and was signaled by a text message that Nathan Paet was getting ready to leave for work at Nellis Air Force Base.

Rodriguez and an accomplice, Corey Hawkins, confronted Nathan Paet and shot him five times in the back. He reportedly collapsed in front of his wife and their four children, before he was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.

Michelle Paet revealed that the murder plot was conspired to collect $650,000 in life insurance — $400,000 from the military and $250,000 from her husband’s insurance policy. She and Rodriguez met and entered a relationship while working at a telemarketing company in Las Vegas. The murder plot was planned over the

course of six months, prosecutors said.

“She sits before you as she has before other men, crying and kind of the perfect picture of femininity and vulnerability, looking like a victim,” Chief Deputy District Attorney Michelle Fleck said. “What you see is not what you get.”

Rodriguez was separately found guilty last year for his part in the murder.

The Paets’ four children currently live in Guam with relatives and are reportedly afraid of their mother.

“They are afraid that if she can do this to their father, she may be capable of doing this to them,” Nathan Paet’s mother Carmelita said.

Michelle Paet, addressing the judge and her murdered husband’s relatives, sought forgiveness.

“I hope and pray that one day each and every one of them will find it in their hearts to truly forgive me,” she said. (Christina M. Oriel / AJPress)

COA bares raps vs…

PAGE A2 t

were not released by state-owned Land Bank of the Philippines on 2007 and 2008 but on Jan. 29, 2010, an election period.

Cited for sanctions Also cited for the sanctions were Line de la Peña, Marjorie de Veyra, Mario Hechanova, Nelson Morales, Kenneth Dasal, Lorenza Amores, Ulysses Orienza, Ernesto Mercado, Ernesto Aspillaga, Maria Theresa de Lara, Virgilio Hilario, Angelito Gatchalian, Henry Jacome, Erlinda Gonzales, Arnold Magpantay, Luis Javier, Salvador Pangilinan, Armando Padilla, Tosca Camille Puno, Elias Tolentino

Jr., Constancia Lichauco, Christine Mercado, Israel Cruzado, Romulo Peña, Monique Lagdameo, Leonila Querijero, Lorenza Amores, Nelia Barlis, Merlina Panganiban, Norman Flores, Ralph Liberato, Rodel Nayve, Giovanni Condes, Carmelita Morales, Febronia Ambrosio, Rowena Carpio, Cecilio P. Lim III, Raydes Pestaño, Eleno Mendoza, Rosemarie Yumul, Arnel Cadangan, Patrick Carullo, Jane Cano, Alden Albano, Efren Canlas, Ernesto Magat, Eleuterio Tamayo, Ronaldo Garcia, Abraham Pastor, Ronelio Tan, Mario Badillo and Mana. n

Ex-Senate president…

PAGE A2 t the position of senator of the Republic an honorable, and respectable, thing,” Lacierda said.

Salonga, who served as the country’s 14th Senate president upon the restoration of the Philippine Senate in 1987, ran

but lost in the 1992 presidential elections, landing in sixth place.

He took up law at the University of the Philippines and eventually topped the 1944 Bar examinations alongside Jose W. Diokno. n

company information with each petition or application.

According to the process, employers will not be charged any additional fees to participate in the Known Employer pilot, which is scheduled to last for up to one year. The DHS reports that USCIS may terminate or extend the pilot at any time.

DHS and DOS will solicit ongoing feedback on the program from its participants. More information and a list of participating employers can be found on the Known Employer pilot page. (Allyson Escobar / AJPress)

NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY ASIAN JOURNAL • MARCH 11-17, 2016

A

Palace: Almendras is new DFA chief

PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III has appointed Cabinet Secretary Jose Rene Almendras as ad interim foreign affairs secretary, replacing Albert del Rosario, whose resignation took effect last Monday, Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. said.

Sources said the President spoke with two retired ambassadors, who turned him down. One of them is reportedly sick, the sources said.

Since there are no more sessions for both houses of Congress, the Commission on Appointments will not have any hearing to confirm the new foreign affairs chief and thus the person will only hold the position for three months in an acting capacity, Aquino said during his visit to the United States last month.

The President said he would have to talk seriously to those he was considering because taking on the job would entail a

Undersecretary Del Rosario is a career official and is not related to the retired secretary.

Aside from Almendras, the name of presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda was also one of those supposedly being pushed to become head of the department.

Lacierda recently engaged journalist Ellen Tordesillas in a word war on social media for writing that he was interested in the position.

Lacierda said the story that the administration’s standard bearer, Jose Rene Almendras Manuel Roxas II introduced him to a Filipino ambassador as “your lot of sacrifice.

Aquino thanked Del Rosario for future boss” was fiction.

Tordesillas, however, stood by serving the department despite his her story. health concerns.

Last month, the President told There had been talks within the Department of Foreign Affairs that reporters that Lacierda never Ochoa was not in favor of DFA Un- mentioned that he would like to dersecretary Laura del Rosario to be DFA secretary and that he was replace her boss, who nominated considering four persons to take her to the position, but there were the place of Del Rosario. (Aurea Calica/Philstar.com) no reasons cited.

Jersey City man nabbed for unlawful…

PAGE A1 t

from an off-duty officer who reported the suspicious condition.

Jersey City spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill said Concepcion, who was charged with unlawful possession of a weapon, was found sitting at a table in front of the Popeye’s restaurant at approximately 11:30 a.m. He was wearing a full-duty police belt, with a .40 caliber gun and two magazines in the pouch.

After securing the weapon, officers asked Concepcion if he had any additional weapons, to which

he said yes in the trunk. There, police recovered a .38 caliber fully-loaded gun and two bullet proof vests.

Several hours later during the course of the investigation Concepcion was arrested while in custody at the West District, according to Morrill. During the course of the investigation, officers discovered Concepcion had been an employee of the Department of Defense from 1989 through 2003, however his role with the DOD is still under investigation.

Concepcion also told officers he had additional weapons in his home, and two additional firearms were recovered during a subsequent search.

Members of the city’s Filipino community expressed their reactions on social media, calling the arrest as “unfortunate”. A couple of residents said that they have always seen Mr. Concepcion either in the mall or along Westside Avenue wearing police-style clothing which they thought were his uniform as a policeman or military police. n

A MARCH 11-17, 2016 • NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY ASIAN JOURNAL

Dateline USa

http://www.asianjournal.com • (212) 655-5426

Young Filipino New Yorkers support NOW PH Tour launch

PHILIPPINE ARMY CHIEF OF STAFF GENERAL HERNANDO IRIBERRI CALLS ON PCGNY. General Hernando Iriberri, 46th Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, paid a courtesy call on Consul General Mario L. De Leon, Jr. at his office last Monday, Feb. 29. He was in New York City after a visit from Haiti relating to Philippine participation in UN Peacekeeping Operations (PKO). Assuming office on 10 July 2015, General Iriberri was previously Commanding General of the Philippine Army from 2014 to 2015. A native of Cantilan, Surigao del Sur, General Iriberri is a graduate of the Philippine Military Academy and has been in active service with the Philippine Army since 1983.

Over the years he has taken leading roles in the military campaigns against the Communist and Islamic insurgencies in the Philippines.

He has been awarded the Distinguished Service Star and the Military Merit Medal.

Group raises concern over new requirement for overseas voting in the Philippine elections THE National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON) raises serious concern about a new requirement from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) that would require Filipinos in the US to request their ballot by mail to be able to participate in the upcoming 2016 national Philippine elections.

Historically, voters in the US automatically received their ballots in the mail. Last December 2015 the COMELEC decided that 30 voting posts outside the Philippines will be implementing the automated election system (AES), and this past February approved a resolution that requires voters in 8 countries, including those registered in the 6 voting posts in the United States, to request for their ballot by April 22nd, otherwise they will not receive any by mail and will be expected to vote in person.

“There were no consultations made with voters regarding these changes. As we reach out to community members, we find out that many Filipinos have not heard about this new requirement regarding postal voting.

The challenge now is to notify all 170,000 registered voters in the US and make sure they know

about the new requirement and the different methods to vote,” says AV David, NAFCON Secretary General.

NAFCON urges the COMELEC and their local counterparts in the US to come up with a comprehensive plan to notify registered voters to ensure their participation in the elections.

“Personal voting is a good option for those who can make it to their local Consulate, however, the jurisdiction of one Consulate encompasses several states.

We cannot expect someone from Alaska or Washington State to fly to the nearest Consulate in San Francisco just to vote -- this is why postal voting is important.

But with this new requirement, tens of thousands of voters could potentially not know that they will not be automatically receiving their ballots in the mail and in the process would be disenfranchised,” continues David.

“Filipinos in the US contributed almost 40% of the $26.9 B in remittances to the Philippines in 2014, the largest among all countries that remitted to the Philippines. Voting allows Filipinos overseas to have a say in their own lives and the future of their families in the Philippines.

Let’s inform our fellow Filipinos about this new voting requirement, and not allow this requirement to be a bureaucratic hurdle that will effectively silence the basic democratic voice of tens of thousands of overseas voters,” adds Terrence Valen, NAFCON President.

We enjoin all Filipino groups and institutions in the United States to share this important information. We support the campaign of the U.S. Chapter of Migrante Partylist to inform Filipinos of this new requirement and we urge others to disseminate their educational materials.

On March 12, NAFCON will participate via live stream in the worldwide Miting De Avance of Migrante Partylist that will be hosted by its Hong Kong Chapter and that will feature Senatorial candidate Neri Colmenares and Migrante Partylist nominees.

During this activity Filipinos around the world will voice their concerns and aspirations, the issues their sector faces, and the vision of a better Philippines that they want for themselves and their families. For more information, please contact Migrante Partylist-USA at 415-890-4526 or migrantepl.usa@gmail.com. n

NEW YORK — With Spring just around the corner, FilipinoAmerican young professionals trooped to the Philippine Center Gallery lobby last March 7 for a fellowship night hosted by the Philippine Consulate General New York and Philippine Department of Tourism New York.

While enjoying Filipino food and drinks by Maharlika Jeepney, and music by DJ Norman Dalager, some 55 attendees learned about the NOW PH Tour, an 8-day tour specially designed for the Fil-Am millennials.

During the brief program, Consul General Mario De Leon spoke to the guests, noting the many initiatives the Consulate has done to engage the young community members, such as the Leadership and Mentoring Seminar series, the FYLPRO Town Hall, and the Philippine Graduation (PGRAD). He hailed the NOW PH Tour for its unique itinerary and the valuable lessons it can teach the young: appreciation for their heritage and history, understanding of the government and business situation in the Philippines, fun and friendship during the adventure tours, and most importantly, a spirit of giving back on the many opportunities to join social enterprise programs in the country.

Ms Zeny Palugna, Department of Tourism-New York Administrative Officer discussed the details of the 8-day tour, which arrives in the Philippines on April 8, and highlighted the sights and

Consul General Mario De Leon encourages the youth, “Experience the Philippines with NOW PH Tour.”

PDOT-NY’s Zeny Pallugna (left) describes the NOW PH Tour itinerary to guests.

Photos by Carlos Cruz

experiences featured in the NOW PH Tour: a visit to Malacanang Palace, meeting with Business Leaders, tour of Intramuros and nightlife spots in Manila, heritage tour of Dumaguete, swimming with whale sharks in Oslob, Cebu, gastronomy and traditional industries in Cebu City.

NOW PH Tour is a project of the Philippine Embassy Washington with the support of the Department of Tourism, US-Philippines Society, and the Philippine Consulates General in the US. More information may be found in NOW PH website www. justgoph.com. n

how the Affordable Care Act, which requires Americans to purchase health insurance or pay a fine, affects tax credits and refunds.

“There is still a steep learning curve,” Mark Ciaramitaro, H&R Block’s vice president for taxes and health care, told the Associated Press (AP).

To help consumers gain coverage, the law provided tax credits for individuals who opted for insurance through state or federal exchanges.

The problem, however, is that a number of Americans appear to have trouble estimating their expected annual incomes, Ciaramitaro told the AP. Those who

underestimated their incomes had to repay part of the credit.

Consumers who owed money saw, on average, a 17 percent decrease in their federal refunds, according to H&R Block.

On the other hand, more than one in three taxpayers overestimated their incomes, and thus received an additional average of $450 in their refunds.

Only 3 percent of H&R Block customers with health law subsidies correctly estimated their incomes and didn’t see a change in their tax returns.

The minimum fine an uninsured adult will be subject to in 2016 is $695, up from $325 in 2015 and $95 in 2014.

Obamacare still confusing to many taxpayers

by Agnes

ConstAnte AJPress

MANY Americans who didn’t have health coverage last year saw an average penalty more than twice as high as that in 2014, according to a report from tax services company H&R Block.

On average, H&R customers owe a penalty of $383, up from $172 for 2014. Furthermore, 60 percent of taxpayers who had subsidized healthcare are having to pay back some of their financial assistance. This year the average payment is $579, up from $530 in the previous tax season.

The findings indicate that most taxpayers remain confused about

Cuisia leads economic diplomacy mission in Atlanta ATLANTA, GA—Jumping off from the success of the Philippine Business and Investment Forum in New York last week, Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose L. Cuisia, Jr. brought the message of a resurgent Philippine economy to one of the most vibrant cities in the south – Atlanta.

On Tuesday, March 8, the Ambassador met with Mr. Gary Black, Agriculture Commissioner of Georgia, to assess prospects for trade and cooperation in several areas, including food manufacturing and safety, agricultural research, and distribution of agricultural commodities.

Agriculture is Georgia’s oldest and largest industry and farming remains the foundation of the state’s economic well-being. Organized in 1874, the Department of Agriculture in Georgia was the first to be established in the United States.

“Georgia, being a world leader in agriculture, would be a valuable partner for the Philippines. Its experiences can provide additional insight into growing the sector.

The Philippines also have a lot to offer to Georgia’s companies.

I highlighted to Commissioner Black the significant investments we have made in agriculture and agribusiness to make them internationally competitive,” Ambassador Cuisia said.

On Wednesday, March 9, Ambassador Cuisia exchanged views with Mr. Dennis Lockhart, the President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, on manifold issues such as the state of the Philippine and US economies, the future of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), remittances, and the impact of the creation of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) on the Asia-Pacific region.

As the former chief of the now defunct Central Bank of the Philippines—the precursor of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas—Ambassador Cuisia was able to engage Mr. Lockhart into an in-depth discussion on monetary policy. The two central bankers agreed that interest rates represent only one tool in the box and that much is demanded from the fiscal side to stabilize any economy.

The envoy likewise touched base with the executives of The CocaCola Company, which continues to be a strong source of employment and income for host communities in the Philippines.

“We note Coca-Cola’s leadership for their commitment to invest US$1 billion in the Philippines over the last five years, and its expansion plans that are expected

Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose L. Cuisia, Jr. and Agriculture Commissioner of Georgia Gary Black meet in Atlanta on Tuesday, March 8.

Meeting with The Coca-Cola Company executives: (L-R) Pia Valeriano, President of the Philippine American Chamber of Commerce of Georgia; John UyHam, M&A Councel, Corporate Legal Finance, Coca-Cola; Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose L. Cuisia, Jr.; Anthony Quan, Director, Strategic Initiatives, Global Finance, Coca-Cola; Jennifer Ragland, Director, International Government Relations and Public Affairs; and Philippine Honorary Consul General Raoul Donato.

to further benefit the Philippine economy,” Ambassador Cuisia remarked.

Mr. Anthony Quan, Coca-Cola’s Director of Strategic Initiatives, said that Coca-Cola remains upbeat about the economic trajectory of the Philippines. He likewise reiterated his company’s strong commitment to the country.

Ambassador Cuisia was also interviewed by Global Atlanta, a widely circulated publication “devoted to tracking Atlanta’s rise as a center for international business, education and culture.”

In response to the question of how the Philippines has been able to sustain a relatively high level of economic growth, the Ambassador cited three factors: 1) remittances

from overseas Filipinos; 2) growth of the IT-BPM sector; 3) the Government’s substantial investment in developing infrastructure.

The meetings were arranged through the offices of Mr. Raoul Donato, the Philippines’ longtime Honorary Consul General in the state of Georgia. Ms. Pia Valeriano, President of the Philippine American Chamber of Commerce of Georgia, was a member of the Ambassador’s delegation.

Atlanta’s metropolitan area constitutes the 10th largest metro economy in the United States and the largest in the south. It also ranks third among cities in the US with the highest number of Fortune 500 companies headquartered in the metro area. n

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Dateline PhiliPPines

A

SC’s ruling on Poe could create ‘chaos’

OUTNUMBERED. Professor Danilo Arao of Kontra Daya confronts policemen who set up a barricade to prevent rallyists from getting near the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) building in Intramuros Manila.

ManilaTimes.net photo by Abby Palmones

Investors await next President’s moves on economy

by Ben

O. de Vera Inquirer.net

INVESTORS are curious to see if the next administration will further open up the economy to attract more foreign capital, especially in infrastructure, DBS Bank Ltd. said Wednesday, March 9.

“Whoever wins the presidential election in May will have plenty to prove. One to watch closely is what the next government will do to step up investment growth,” Southeast Asia’s largest bank said in a research note.

DBS noted that revenue collections had been growing at a “strong” average annual rate of 12 percent during the first five years of the Aquino administration, such that there was room for an “infrastructure overhaul” via the centerpiece public-private partnership or PPP program.

“Total investment growth contributed about a third of the economic growth seen during Aquino’s term. And investment is the key that could sustain robust consumption growth and poten-

tially bring overall GDP [gross domestic product] growth to 7-8 percent trend,” DBS said.

The economy grew a dismal 5.8 percent last year, while economic managers had slightly cut to 6.8-7.8 percent the GDP expansion target for this year as government expenditures on public goods and services have remained below program despite loads of cash just waiting to be spent.

According to DBS, “it is also important to watch if the next government supports the easing of foreign ownership limits.”

President Aquino was firm that the 1987 Constitution—put in place by his mother, former President Corazon—will never be amended during his watch, even as business groups had been seeking further liberalization of its economic provisions.

DBS noted that foreign direct investment (FDI) “continues to be dwarfed by foreign worker remittances, growth of which has been sustained every year in the past decade.”

The latest Bangko Sentral ng

Pilipinas (BSP) data showed that as of end-November last year, total FDI declined 3.4 percent yearon-year to $5.452 billion.

The BSP had set targets of $6 billion and $6.3 billion in FDI for last year and this year, respectively. The end-2015 FDI data will be released today.

Cash sent home by Filipinos abroad, meanwhile, hit a record $2.47 billion last December— the biggest monthly amount to date—to bring the 2015 total to $25.767 billion, also the highest annual figure.

End-2015 cash remittances grew 4.6 percent year-on-year, exceeding the 4-percent growth target.

For 2016, the increase in remittances was projected at a similar 4 percent.

But while “strong remittance flows are definitely a positive for the macro risk profile,” DBS cautioned that such also “triggers questions about the dynamism of the local economy, especially since foreign worker remittances make up almost 10 percent of the economy.” n

Aquino wants Supreme Court to clarify rules on citizenship FERNANDO AIR BASE, Batangas — President Benigno Aquino III asked the Supreme Court (SC) justices on Wednesday, March 9, to clarify Philippine laws on citizenship, following its ruling allowing presidential candidate Sen. Grace Poe to run in the May polls.

“I hope the SC will fully clarify before the people its decision as far as the law is concerned,” Aquino, speaking in Filipino, told reporters i in an interview, “so that it would be very clear to our citizens what are the laws governing being a citizen or noncitizen of our country.”

The President also wanted it clarified how Poe had reacquired her Filipino citizenship.

Poe supposedly visited a consular office in 2011 to renounce her US citizenship when she was already the chairperson of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board.

Voting 9-6, the High Court reversed Tuesday the decision of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to disqualify Poe from running for president in the upcoming elections.

Aquino then emphasized the independence of the SC justices as four of his six appointees vot-

Liberal Party (LP) chairman President Benigno S. Aquino III delivers his speech during a meeting with local Leaders and the community at the Old Plaza in Barangay Del Pilar, Calamba City, Laguna on Wednesday, March 9. Aquino asked the Supreme Court to clarify Philippine laws on citizenship, following its ruling allowing presidential candidate Sen. Grace Poe to run in the May polls.

Malacañang photo by Gil Nartea

ed in her favor.

“We appointed them to be independent,” he stressed. “They have shown their independence.”

But Aquino said he believes the SC decision will give a boost to Poe’s candidacy.

Poe, who was the top choice by

the administration to be its vicepresidential candidate, is topping the pre-election surveys.

Aquino said that if there is anything that he has learned, it is not to worry about things that are beyond his control. (Catherine S. Valente/ManilaTimes.net)

PH blocks $870-M stolen from Bangladesh by daxim

l.lucas Inquirer.net

AN ATTEMPT to launder through the Philippine banking system an additional $870 million—funds reportedly stolen by computer hackers from the account of the Bangladesh central bank—was foiled last month after international banks recalled an order to transfer the amount to local banks.

Just a few days before this, however, $81 million, suspected to have come from the same source, managed to enter the local banking system and was released to local clients of Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.

(RCBC).

Various sources told the Inquirer that the money, worth almost P3.7 billion at the prevailing exchange rate, were channeled to a foreign exchange dealer and then transferred to casinos—Solaire Resort and Casino, City of Dreams and Midas— where they were converted into chips for betting at the gaming tables, then converted back into cash and remitted to accounts in Hong Kong soon after.

All told, these transactions comprise the largest documented case of money laundering ever uncovered in the country

by regulators.

RCBC execs knew At the same time, the Inquirer learned that the head of the RCBC branch on Jupiter Street in Makati City where the transactions were made has issued a statement to the bank’s management that top officials of the Yuchengco family-controlled bank were “aware of the transactions at every stage, from the very beginning to the end.”

A representative of the bank manager—who has since been suspended as part of the bank’s internal investigation—showed the Inquirer documents alleging that the transactions had the imprimatur of top bank officials ever since the manager was ordered to open five bank accounts as early as May 2015.

To support the opening of these bank accounts, the RCBC branch manager was provided with five identification documents or ID cards, all of which were determined to carry fictitious identities after the controversy broke out.

“The branch manager is now willing to speak out because she’s afraid the bank will pin it all on her,” a representative of the official told the Inquirer on late Monday. “But, in fact, she was ordered to facilitate these

transactions. You can’t do anything this big without higherups not knowing.”

US banks According to the documents seen by the Inquirer, the $81 million in inward remittance happened on Feb. 5. As with all international wire transfers, the funds were cleared through USbased correspondent banks, in this case, the Bank of New York, Citibank and Wells Fargo, according to the branch manager’s representative.

The local counterpart was then notified of the incoming funds using the Swift (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) messaging system commonly used by banks for international transactions.

Businessman, casinos The funds were deposited into the five bank accounts created a few months earlier and were transferred to foreign exchange broker Philrem for conversion into pesos. It was then transferred back to RCBC and consolidated into the bank account of a Chinese-Filipino businessman, who then moved it to the casinos.

Another government source told the Inquirer that the Chi-

u PAGE A7

PRESIDENTIAL aspirant and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte has warned that the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn twin rulings by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) canceling Sen. Grace Poe’s certificate of candidacy would create a “chaotic condition” for the 2016 polls.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, March 10, Duterte said the SC ruling set aside the requirement of the Constitution that candidates for President must be natural-born Filipino citizens.

Poe’s critics said that because she is a foundling, the citizenship of her parents remain a mystery, thus there are doubts about her being a “natural-born” Filipino.

A lawyer who had served as prosecutor before becoming Davao City mayor, Duterte said the SC decision goes against lawschool lessons.

“I respect it, but I don’t agree with it kasi maski magtanong ka sa kahit sinong abugado, isang semestro ‘yan, political law, kabaliktaran sa lahat ng sinasabi ng mga professors [Even if you ask any lawyer, we took political law for one semester, and the decision is the opposite of what the professors taught us],” he explained.

In law school, Duterte said, he and his colleagues were taught that a natural-born Filipino is one who is a Filipino the moment he

IT’S A GO FOR GRACE. The Supreme Court has cleared the way for Sen. Grace Poe to run for President, voting to reverse the Commission on Elections (Comelec) orders disqualifying her from the tight race just two months before Election Day. In an en banc session Tuesday, nine justices voted in favor of Poe’s contention that the Comelec had committed grave abuse of discretion in canceling her certificate of candidacy (COC) for President, while six justices affirmed the poll body’s action.

Inquirer.net photo by Lyn Rillon

is out of his mother’s body.

“Lahat kami ng abogado diyan, tutol sa Supreme Court. ‘Naturalborn,’ paglabas mo sa tiyan ng nanay mo, Pilipino ka na. That is natural-born, natural ang pagkaPilipino [All lawyers disagree with the Supreme Court. Natural-born means the moment you leave your mother’s body, you are a Filipino. Your being a Filipino is natural],” he further explained.

The Comelec disqualified Poe on December 23, 2015, saying she had committed “material misrepresentation” when she claimed in her certificate of candidacy that she is a natural-born

Filipino citizen and has resided in the Philippines for at least 10 years.

The Supreme Court, however, reversed the Comelec’s decision on March 8 and allowed her to run for President.

“It will create a very chaotic condition because it is the exact opposite of what we had studied [in law school],” Duterte said.

“The Supreme Court says she can run. They did not say it’s because she is a Filipino or because she has complied with the residency requirement. Wala [None of that]. That’s very sweeping,” he added. (Catherine Valente/ ManilaTimes.net)

Robredo: I can beat Marcos, Escudero by alexis

rOmerO Philstar.com

BATANGAS CITY – Liberal Party (LP) vice presidential candidate and Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo is optimistic that she can beat survey frontrunners Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Sen. Francis Escudero in the elections in light of improving numbers in pre-election polls.

Robredo said she is happy with the recent survey results showing that she is preferred by about 20 percent of respondents, a jump from the single digits she got after she announced her bid for the vice presidency.

Rep. Leni Robredo

“When I started, I was at three percent while the frontrunner, I think, got 40 percent plus… This is now more attainable and we are hopeful and more inspired to work harder,” she told reporters at a campaign sortie here.

When asked if she thinks she can beat Marcos and Escudero, Robredo said: “I hope. That is the main target, right? Of course.

If not, I wouldn’t join the race, right?”

She added that she cannot settle for second place. “Of course, our main target is to reach the top spot.”

A nationwide survey conducted by pollster Junie Laylo

u PAGE A7

A MARCH 11-17, 2016 • NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY ASIAN JOURNAL

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OpiniOn

Features

Empowered ON MARCH 8, the world celebrated International Women’s Day. It has been designated to acknowledge and celebrate the many social, economic, cultural and political achievements and contributions of women around the world.

According to the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW), the observance of International Women’s Day (IWD) was a result of the organizing activities of women in the early 20th century. Between 1909 and 1911, working women in the United States participated in organizing strike activities of the National Women’s Trade Union League and other concerned groups.

They were responding to the low wages, lack of protective legislation and the poor working conditions to which women workers were subjected during that time.

With this year’s team “Pledge for Parity,” people are encouraged to take a concrete step to help achieve gender parity more quickly—whether to help women and girls achieve their ambitions, call for gender-balanced leadership, respect and value difference, develop more inclusive and flexible cultures or root out workplace bias. Each of us can be a leader within our own spheres of influence and commit to taking pragmatic action to accelerate gender parity.

The World Economic Forum (WEF) predicted in 2014 that it would take until 2095 to achieve global gender parity. Then one year later in 2015, they estimated that a slowdown in the already glacial pace of progress meant the gender gap wouldn’t

close entirely until 2133.

In the Philippines, March is Women’s Role in History Month.

It is also National Women’s Heart Health Month, its first week is Women’s Week and its 8th day is International Women’s Day. The country was recently hailed by WEF as Asia’s best-performing country and fifth in the world when it comes to closing gender disparity.

Iceland remained the most gender-equal country in this year’s list, followed by Norway, Finland, Sweden and Ireland. Rwanda ranked sixth, followed by the Philippines at seventh. Switzerland, Slovenia, and New Zealand completed the top 10 worldwide.

The Global Gender Gap Index is measured based on four primary indicators which include economic participation and opportunity, education, political empowerment, and health and survival.

In its Global Gender Gap Index, the WEF reported that the major improvement was seen in the economic participation and opportunity indicator after the Philippines recorded more female legislators, senior officials and managers, as well as professional and technical workers. The country also saw slight improvement in its score for political empowerment due to a higher number of women

Editorial

Philstar.com photo

in ministerial positions.

While Filipinas have made strides in realizing their formidable role in nation building, the Center for Women’s Resources (CWR) still insists that more women initiate genuine societal transformation where their demands would be fulfilled. They must contribute to bridging gender disparities and shortfalls especially in areas with low development

levels such as areas with high poverty level, and are hazard-prone and disaster affected.

For the world to truly enjoy gender equality and women empowerment, men and women alike must continue exerting tremendous efforts to identify remaining difficulties threatening women’s development, not just for their advancement but for the better future of all. (AJPress)

Could the Republican Party establishment stop Trump’s momentum and prevent him from becoming the GOP nominee?

WHAT is going on in the Republican Party nomination contest has become more of a nailbiter than most reality shows, thanks to the unexpected sprint to the front by reality show star and business mogul Donald Trump. Perhaps the Republican Party establishment did not see this coming, thinking that the Grand Old Party (GOP) electorate’s relationship with him was just a “fling”, arousing its curiosity when he announced he was running for president. But now, Trump has proven such fling is looking like a lasting affair, as he has been winning in more states than any of the traditional Republican presidential candidates.

Could it be too little, too late? The GOP has been scrambling to convince voters to think again before voting for Trump. Former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney had

even spoken out as one of the elder party leaders to warn The Fil-Am people against Trump, delivering a fiery speech against their Perspective party’s front-runner.

“Donald Trump is a phony, a fraud,” Romney said of Trump.

“His promises are as worthless Gel SantoS-reloS as a degree from Trump University. He’s playing members of the American public for suckers: He gets a free ride to the White House, and all we get is a lousy hat.”

Romney went on to characterize Trump as somebody the voters should not put their trust in during this election season, alleging that “dishonesty is Donald Trump’s hallmark,” pointing to his “bullying, the greed, the showing off, the mi-

sogyny, the absurd third-grade theatrics.”

Of course, these words went antithetical to what Romney did when he was running against Pres. Barack Obama four years ago. He courted Trump’s endorsement -- as CNN reported, even after Trump had led the “birther” controversy against President Barack Obama, insisting that Obama release his birth certificate to prove he is an American citizen.

Now the Republican Party SuperPAC has been spending millions of dollars to attack Trump, but the more they do this, the more his loyal fans came to his defense.

However, it seems some of the criticism may

have been gaining traction as Trump’s ratings have gone south by a few percentage points leading up to Super Tuesday 2 (Tuesday, March 8).

More consequential primaries and caucuses are taking place this March, and the results of these will prove if Donald Trump can hold on to his frontrunner status, and eventually win enough delegates to clinch the nomination.

However, pundits say if Trump does not win the required number of delegates, we may be expecting some backroom deals happening within the Republican Party leading up to the convention. *** Gel Santos Relos is the anchor of TFC’s “Balitang America.” Views and opinions expressed by the author in this column are are solely those of the author and not of Asian Journal and ABS-CBN-TFC. For comments, go to www.TheFil-AmPerspective.com, https://www.facebook.com/Gel. Santos.Relos

The whole truth about EDSA 1 may never be told WHILE doing research Street at the Library of Congress Talk in Washington DC on the presence of natives of Las GreG B. MacaBenta Islas Filipinas in Louisiana in the 1700s, I chanced upon a compilation of “Manuscripts and materials relating to the Philippines,” prepared by Charles O. Houston of the library’s manuscript division.

In the preface, Houston wrote: “The library’s collection is extremely rich in the period 1898 and contains as well materials on the preceding period which reflect the interests and biases of Americans who were concerned with Philippine affairs in the opening years of this century.

“Enough was discovered in only two of the collections to make necessary an almost complete revision of the history of the period 1898-1934, and which makes tendentious and misleading most works printed about the Philippines since 1900.“ I recalled Houston’s critical comment on reading the news about the speeches of President Noynoy Aquino at the observance of the 30th anniversary of the People Power Revolution or EDSA 1 and at the memorial service for the late Stephen Bosworth, former US ambassador to the Philippines.

In both speeches, Aquino heaped opprobrium on the late President Ferdinand Marcos and his family, and passed on the onus to vice-presiden-

tial candidate Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos II. Among other things, Aquino tried to dispel any notion that the Marcos era was a “golden age” for the Philippines, in the process making that claim for his own administration. He also belied the story about Marcos restraining his military from attacking the civilians massed at EDSA and around Camp Aguinaldo, where the breakaway forces of Gen. Fidel V. Ramos and Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile were entrenched.

Not surprisingly, Aquino’s narratives were challenged by individuals who had intimate knowledge of the Marcos years and the incidents leading to the civil-military uprising that deposed him. Among the detractors were Manila Times columnists Rigoberto Tiglao, former ambassador and key official under President Gloria MacapagalArroyo, and Francisco “Kit” Tatad, former senator and former press secretary in the Marcos cabinet.

Note that each one had played a role in the events that led to the declaration of martial law that, subsequently, led to EDSA 1: Aquino, as the son of the man whose assassination was one of the sparks that set ablaze the embers of the revolt, and a mother who became president as a result of that uprising; Tatad, as a key official in the Marcos government, privy to the

machinations in Malacañang; and Tiglao, as a young member of a Communist cadre openly working for the overthrow of the government – the reason Marcos gave for declaring martial law.

Was Aquino lying or were his detractors the ones doing so?

Frankly, I think that they were all telling the truth—their versions of the truth.

History is written by the victors. Thus, like the records on Philippine-American relations that Houston described as “tendentious and misleading,” the stories about the Marcos regime and EDSA 1 have been told mainly from the perspective of those who deposed him. Expectedly, while based on facts, these have been subjected to biases and varying degrees of embellishments.

It was in that context that Aquino recounted his version of the Marcos years and EDSA 1.

It takes a truly dedicated and objective historian or journalist to dig up accounts from various sources, attempt to separate the grain from the chaff, and come up with a truthful and balanced recounting of the Marcos years and EDSA 1. That may not be possible in our lifetime.

In his speech at the Bosworth memorial service, Aquino said that it was not true that Marcos was compassionate and refused to order government forces to attack the rebels and slaughter their civilian supporters.

I know of different versions of this. One version is that the US warned Marcos that he would be made severely answerable for any deaths at EDSA. On the oth-

er hand, I personally overheard the commander of the Philippine Marines at the time, Gen, Artemio Tadiar, admit that he could not, in all conscience, order his tanks to attack. This was confirmed by other senior officers. In other words, the Marcos military did not have the heart to massacre fellow Filipinos.

But Aquino’s version is understandable. Anyone under his circumstances would be burdened by a humongous prejudice. He is entitled to it, never mind that the main reason for his speech was to keep “Bongbong” Marcos II from winning the vicepresidency.

The best that readers and kibitzers can do is to go by the incontrovertible facts.

What is fact is that Marcos and his military did not spill blood at EDSA. In contrast, one need only Google the heading, “Mendiola massacre,” to read this entry: “The Mendiola massacre, also called Black Thursday by some Filipino journalists, was an incident that took place in Mendiola Street, San Miguel, Manila, Philippines on January 22, 1987, in which state security forces violently dispersed a farmers’ march to Malacañan Palace.

Thirteen of the farmers were killed and many wounded when government anti-riot forces opened fire on them. The farmers were demanding fulfillment of the promises made regarding land reform during the Presidential campaign of Cory Aquino, and distribution of lands at no cost to beneficiaries.”

This carnage happened less

than a year after President Cory Aquino’s assumption of the presidency by virtue of her revolutionary powers.

Who had compassion? Marcos or Cory Aquino?

And speaking of compassion, the day after Ninoy Aquino was allowed to leave for the US for medical treatment, it was revealed to us by then First Lady Imelda Marcos that Ninoy was so sick, they had to let him go.

According to her, if Ninoy had died while incarcerated, nobody would have believed that Marcos did not have him killed. Talk about irony.

The reason I know this is because, I happened to be in Malacañang that day with my elder brother, Danding, my cousin, Yen, his uncle Ben Peñaranda, and Leyte poet, Paquing Javines, on the invitation of Mrs. Marcos, in connection with the Santo Niño Fiesta in Tacloban of which Bongbong Marcos was the hermano mayor.

Those are the facts.

Another fact is that Noynoy Aquino has not shown similar compassion for a former president who continues to languish in “hospital arrest” while suffering from a spinal ailment.

The books that have been written about EDSA 1 have been based mostly on the accounts of one side of the confrontation— that of the side that won. In that regard, I happen to have in my possession, copies of three reports written by high-ranking officers in the Marcos military who were in the thick of that conflict.

They may present what I refer to as “The other side of EDSA.”

One of the reports was submitted by former Philippine Navy Flag Officer in Command, Admiral Brillante Ochoco. He had requested newly-designated AFP Chief of Staff, Gen. Fidel Ramos, permission to leave for the US. As a condition, Ramos asked Ochoco to submit a detailed—virtually hour by hour— account of his role in the threeday uprising. Ramos must have been satisfied with the report, because Ochoco was allowed to leave.

The reason I am familiar with the report is because Ochoco was a friend and he asked me, as a personal favor, to go over the draft of his manuscript. I retained a copy of it. I also managed to get a copy of two other hour-by-hour narratives submitted to Ramos by two Philippine Navy captains who were also on the government side.

If you were to juxtapose the EDSA 1 accounts of writers like Nick Joaquin with the reports of the senior officers of the Marcos military (which Ramos may have in his archives), we could have a better picture of what really happened in those three fateful days.

The same can be said about the Marcos years, if told from different eyewitness perspectives, such as those of Tatad and Tiglao, and not just from Noynoy Aquino’s point of view.

Until then, we will have to make do with incomplete, possibly tendentious, possibly misleading and possibly self-serving versions of an important part of our country’s history. (gregmacabenta@hotmail.com)

The views expressed by our Op-Ed contributors are solely their own and do not necessarily reflect the predilection of the editorial board and staff of Asian Journal.

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A

Estrada buries the hatchet, all praise for justice who convicted him of plunder

by TeTch

Torres-Tupas Inquirer.net

FoRMER President and now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada has already moved on from his plunder conviction by the Sandiganbayan in 2007.

Speaking as a special guest for the 21st annual convention of the Philippine Women Judges Association (PWJA), Estrada said in jest that he will never forget Supreme Court Associate Justice Teresita Leonardo-De Castro.

De Castro was the presiding justice and chair of the Sandiganbayan Special Division that convicted Estrada of plunder that carries the penalty of up to 40 years imprisonment. However, he was pardoned by former President and now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

“I cannot forget the justice who is responsible for the…never mind,” Estrada said laughing.

He said he will never forget De Castro because she is one of the three justices who convicted her of plunder—the other two being now Supreme Court Associate Justice Diosdado Peralta and retired Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Francisco Villaruz.

“Justice De Castro and I as you all know share a unique history.

Sabi nga, iba na ang may pinagsamahan. Mahigit isang dekada na rin pala ang nakalipas mula noong nagkakaharap kami sa Sandigan-

bayan… More than a decade has passed since we encountered each other at Sandiganbayan)…I will never forget her, Justice Teresita de Castro was one of the three justices who heard the plunder case against me. Sinabi ko nga noon handa ako makulong dahil wala akong ninakaw na pera sa gobyerno, akalain ninyo, ipinakulong nga ako, si Ma’am naman hindi na mabiro (I have said before that I was ready to be imprisoned because I didn’t steal money from the government and as you know, she really sent me to jail),” Estrada said which solicited loud laughter from the audience including De Castro and Chief Justice Sereno.

However, Estrada said that is all

water under the bridge.

“It is a chapter now relegated to the past. Between that time and now, Justice De Castro has risen to be part of our nation’s highest court while I have returned to the city of my birth to heed the call of public service once again,” Estrada said.

Estrada also thanked De Castro because she was the ponente in the 2015 decision dismissing a petition seeking his disqualification as mayor of Manila.

“In truth, I would not be here today, delivering these welcome remarks, were it not for the probity and impartiality of that decision by the Supreme Court. Neither would I have had the authority nor the power to put in place the reforms necessary to resurrect a bankrupt city and steer it back on the road to progress,” said Estrada.

In his speech during the PWJA, Estrada assured the women judges that he is in full support and very vocal against any form of abuse against women, especially those entailing violence against women and children.

Meanwhile, De Castro acknowledged Estrada as “the quintessential gentleman, most kind-hearted, public servant and most-loved by the poor.”

She also thanked him for providing security during the 2015 Bar examination where she is the chairperson.

lion had already been released and, by the time authorities were alerted, had already been moved back offshore.

Hackers, Federal Reserve Two officials of the Bangladesh Bank (the central monetary authority of Bangladesh) were also reported to have visited the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to demand the return of the funds that were allegedly stolen by hackers based in China from its accounts with the US Federal Reserve.

The branch manager’s representative, meanwhile, said she was now afraid that she would be included by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas in its so-called “orange list” of bankers found to have committed violations of important banking regulations, such as the know-your-customer rule under the Anti-Money Laundering Act.

Ordered by top execs “The fact is, she was ordered to do it by top officials,” said the manager’s representative. He asked that the identities of the RCBC branch manager and himself be kept confidential due to the sensitivity of the issue until the Senate blue ribbon committee holds a public hearing on the matter on March 14. “[The branch manager] is willing to testify,” he said. “She is clear that she did not violate any banking or antimoney laundering laws.”

Besides the Senate, the National Bureau of Investigation and state-owned Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.

(Pagcor) are conducting their own investigation of the money laundering incident. Pagcor operates its own casinos and licenses a few private firms to run their own casinos.

Former President and now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada

PH blocks $870-M stolen from…

PAGE A5 t nese-Filipino businessman also took care of remitting the funds to Hong Kong after these were moved through local casinos.

System failure “Yes, the casinos were part of the chain to transactions in this [suspected] laundering case, but there were several layers in the banking system before that, which should have detected these suspicious funds and stopped them,” the official said.

“The system failed.”

Soon after RCBC released the funds to its client, the bank received a so-called “MT103” message through the Swift system recalling the $81 million and ordering a stop to another $870 million in inward transfers.

A banking source said the transfer of the $870 million was stopped in time, but the $81 mil-

NEW YORK

GRADUATION. President Benigno S. Aquino III acknowledges the graduating cadets during the 37th Philippine National Police Academy Commencement Exercises for “Masundayaw” Class of 2016 at the Camp General Mariano Castañeda in Silang, Cavite on Thursday, March 10.

Malacañang photo by Robert Viñas

Abu Sayyaf captives ask Canada, Norway anew: Negotiate for our safety

by Julie

alipala Inquirer.net

ZAMBoANGA CITY — The Abu Sayyaf has released a new video of the three foreigners and a Filipina who were kidnapped from the Island Garden City of Samal in Davao del Norte in September last year.

In the video, the Canadian and Norwegian captives were apparently forced to plead for help to their governments. A hooded Abu Sayyaf member warned that “something terrible” would be done to the four victims if ransom demands were not met by April 8.

The one-minute, 37-second

PAGE A5 t

video was posted on the Facebook page of “Pamantasan ng Tawheed at Jihad Filibin.” In the video, one of the six armed men forced three of their captives to ask for help.

Canadian John Ridsdel was the first to beg. “For my wife, to my family and this is so much bigger than family, to the Canadian Prime Minister and to the Canadian people in the world, please, do as needed to meet their demand within one month or they will kill me, they will execute us,” Ridsdel said while a man wearing held a bolo on his neck.

Canadian Robert Hall, who was seated beside his Filipina girlfriend Flor, was next. “I am

a Canadian citizen being held by the Abu Sayyaf Group for ransom, the amount is, I do not know what it is. But the Canadian government has got to get us out of here fast, to do what is necessary to get us out of here soon.

We got one month before this happens,” he said.

Norwegian Kjartan Sekkingstad said it was his “last message to my family, friends and authorities.”

“Follow the negotiation, try to meet their demands within 30 days or we are all dead,” he said.

The victims were kidnapped from the overview Marina in the Island Garden City of Samal in September last year. n

cent each.

Robredo was followed by Cayetano with 13 percent while Honasan got six percent. Trillanes was the least preferred vice presidential bet with five percent.

“I am comfortable where I am right now. But, of course, the target is (to be) at the top spot.

That’s all there is to this. I should win,” Robredo said.

Robredo attributed the improvement in her numbers to the campaign sorties of the LP-led administration coalition.

“I was given the opportunity to introduce myself. There are still a lot of places that I haven’t visited,” the vice presidential candidate said.

“My problem really is time.

Even if I work hard, I only have

24 hours a day and one body. I was able to multiply myself because my daughters are active in the sorties,” she added.

The same Pulse Asia survey also showed Sen. Grace Poe as the frontrunner among presidential candidates with 26 percent, followed by Vice President Jejomar Binay with 24 percent and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte with 22 percent.

Robredo’s running mate, Liberal Party standard-bearer Manuel Roxas II, ranked fourth with 19 percent while Sen. Miriam Santiago got three percent.

Roxas remains upbeat about his chances despite his stagnant survey numbers.

“What is important is we are rising steadily,” he said. n

Robredo: I can beat Marcos...

showed Escudero leading the vice presidential race with 30 percent. Marcos ranked second with 24 percent followed by Robredo with 20 percent.

Sen. Alan Cayetano was picked by 11 percent of the respondents while Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV and Sen. Gregorio Honasan got seven percent and four percent, respectively. The Laylo survey was conducted from Feb. 24 to March 1 and had 3,000 respondents.

Robredo, meanwhile, ranked second in the nationwide Pulse Asia survey conducted from Feb. 16 to 27. She was selected by 18 percent of the 5,200 respondents, behind Escudero and Marcos who were tied with 26 per-

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A MARCH 11-17, 2016 • NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY ASIAN JOURNAL

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people events arts culture entertainment

March 11 - 17, 2016

Carmelyn malalis

Chair and Commisioner, new york City Commision on human rights

sheila lirio-marCelo Chair, Ceo and Founder, Care.Com

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stella abrera

prinCipal danCer, ameriCan ballet theatre

distinguished Filipino women 2016 honorees stella abrera (right), Carmelyn malalis (seCond From right) and sheila lirio-marCelo (seCond From leFt) were joined onstage by (From leFt) philippine deputy permanent representative to the united nations irene susie natividad, Consul general mario l. de leon, jr. and his wiFe, ms. eleanor de leon. ajpress photos by momar g. visaya

2

An Asian Journal Magazine

The Asian Journal N E W YO R K / N E W J E R S EY M A R C H 1 1 , 20 1 6

Celebrating International Women’s Day

by MoMar

G. Visaya/AJPress

THE Philippine Consulate General New York and the Philippine Mission to the United Nations celebrated International Women’s Day with a reception on Tuesday, March 8, recognizing the achievements of three remarkable Filipino women.

The event, dubbed “Distinguished Filipino Women 2016,” gathered the community to meet outstanding Filipino women who have found success in their personal and professional lives. It was an evening of opportunity to meet the awardees and hear them share their thoughts and experiences as they journeyed through their respective fields.

The evening’s honorees were American Ballet Theatre principal dancer Stella Abrera, care.com CEO and founder Sheila Lirio-Marcelo and Carmelyn Malalis, commissioner and chair of the New York City Commission on Human Rights.

Irene Susan Natividad, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Philippines to the United Nations, delivered the welcome remarks and reported briefly on the Philippines and gender equality.

“The theme for this year’s celebration of International Women’s Day is Planet 50/50 by 2030: Step it Up for Gender Equality,” Ms. Natividad said. “We are giving inequality a definite expiration date.

Each one of us is called to contribute towards the goal of gender equality which is not just a women’s issue, it is everyone’s issue. All of us, specially men – and it’s good there are several of them around - must be engaged to address the inequalities that affect women and girls around the world.”

Natividad also reported that UN Women, the agency tasked to promote equality, recently selected President Benigno Aquino III as one of the ten Impact head of states champion in recognition of his leadership in formulating and promoting policies for women are seen as dependable partners for peace, social justice and inclusive growth.

Consul General Mario L. de Leon, Jr. explained that this is the second year that the Philippine Consulate General and the

AJPress photos by Momar G. Visaya

Philippine Mission to the United Nations have collaborated to celebrate International Women’s Day celebration and honor the achievements of three distinguished Filipino women.

“It is gratifying to know that the Philippines is leading the international community on gender development and empowerment such as closing the gender gap and sharing its best practices to the world,” ConGen de Leon said, reacting to DPR Natividad’s report.

The consul general then introduced the honorees and gave each one the opportunity to talk about their experiences as they excelled in their respective fields providing them with increased visibility and prominence in the mainstream US society.

Family Matters “It’s an honor to be here with all of you. I find motivation and support from female colleagues and I am constantly inspired by women leaders and tonight, to meet Sheila and Carmelyn, it’s so inspiring to hear your stories and your incredible work,” Stella Abrera said.

Ms. Abrera is the first FilipinoAmerican principal dancer at the prestigious American Ballet Theatre, a feat she achieved in August 2015.

“At the age of five, I was smitten with ballet. I was lucky to have parents who supported my

dream. They helped instill in me the dedication and work ethic,” she shared. “I’m privileged to do what I love and I recognize that I couldn’t have come this far if not for the love and support of my family as well as my wonderful husband who is here with me tonight.”

Family was the common thread among the three exemplary honorees as the three ladies paid tribute to their parents for working hard and instilling in them values that guided each one of them as they grew older.

“I feel very fortunate being a Filipina. My father was a teddy bear dad, taught me tenderness, passion and algebra. My mom was an aggressive entrepreneur, the chief household officer, taking care of six kids,” Sheila Lirio-Marcelo said.

Sheila is the fifth of six children and was raised in a tightknit Filipino family. She grew up watching her parents run a variety of entrepreneurial endeavors.

She founded care.com in 2006, now the world’s largest online destination for finding and managing family care, with more than 18.4 million members across 16 countries. Today, Marcelo is one of the few female technology entrepreneurs to raise more than $35 million in venture capital funding.

“It is no coincidence being a Filipina, that I started a company

Distinguished Filipino Women 2016 honorees Stella Abrera (right), Carmelyn Malalis (second from right) and Sheila Lirio-Marcelo (second from left) were joined onstage by (from left) Philippine Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Irene Susie Natividad, Consul General Mario L. de Leon, Jr. and his wife, Ms. Eleanor de Leon.

Sheila Lirio-Marcelo poses with fellow honoree Stella Abrera who attended the event with her husband, fellow dancer Sascha Radetsky

called care.com. When I started the company, my mother said ‘I don’t know if you know, but the number one source of all caregivers in the world is the Philippines’,” Ms. Marcelo remarked.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio appointed Carmelyn Malalis as commissioner and chair of the New York City Commission on Human Rights in November 2014.

Prior to this post, she had more than a decade in private practice as an advocate for employees’ rights in the workplace.

Like Abrera and Marcelo, Malalis also paid tribute to her parents for paving the way for her and her sister.

Her father is a chemical engineer while her mother is a doctor.

“I give full credit to my parents, they did all the work and broke all the barriers for the family. They arrived in the U.S. in the late 1960s,” she recalled. “I grew up in a small town in New Jersey called Carteret, which was an enclave of mostly Polish, Irish and Italian. If you go back to that town now, there’s a Filipino church, a Filipino bowling league.”

“My parents were good community builders. They built relationships and they’re very good at getting to know people,” she added.

Born in Manila, Ms. Abrera arrived in the United States with her family when she was four. Ms. Marcelo-Lirio was born and raised in the Philippines and moved to the United States where she finished her college degree in Economics, magna cum laude at the Mt. Holyoke College. She received her MBA and JD degrees, with honors, from Harvard University. Ms. Malalis was born and raised in New Jersey and received her B.A. in women studies from Yale University and her JD from Northeastern University.

Despite those differences, there was a commonality among the three honorees and this had something to do with the way they were all brought up in traditional, close-knit Filipino families.

Giving Back More than the success they have achieved in their professional lives, these distinguished women also know the importance of giving back.

“It has been a wild ride from the glorious moments of practicing my art form on grand stages of the world to the devastating times brought about by a near careerending back injury,” Abrera shared.

“I’ve experienced the highs and lows as well as everything in between and I’ve embraced them all with my whole heart.”

Consul General Mario L. de Leon, Jr. and Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Irene Susie Natividad presented the award to (from top to bottom photo) Carmelyn Malalis, Sheila Lirio-Marcelo and Stella Abrera

A trip to Manila in 2014 was instrumental in the birth of a charity she founded.

“I am grateful that my career path provided me the opportunity to perform in 2014 at the iconic Cultural Center of the Philippines in Manila. The trip inspired me to create my charity called Steps Forward for the Philippines to help children get access to education in the wake of Super Typhoon Haiyan,” she said. “That work gave me some of the most fulfilling experiences of my life. I was able to see first-hand how resilient and strong Filipinos can be.”

Through crowdfunding, Steps Forward raised more than $20,000 and the amount was used for the restoration of a school in the town of Guiuan, Eastern Samar, the first of the many towns badly battered by the super typhoon.

In 2010, Sheila founded WomenUp.org to increase women’s roles in the global economy by providing leadership training, mentorship and support to girls and women through every stage of their lives and careers. An active philanthropist, she is also a Board Trustee of the Philippine Development Foundation, a nonprofit organization that works with the Philippine government on education, innovation and entrepreneurship initiatives.

“What are we doing about care?

It is undervalued,” Ms. Marcelo said.

“Caregivers – many of them are Filipino women – on the average, are paid nine dollars an hour while golf caddies are paid $17 per hour.

We pay less for those that care and carry our children than our golf clubs. Something’s wrong.”

In her talk, Ms. Marcelo said that the Philippines is a special place for women.

“It is evident in our past, our

present and in our future. It is a matriarchal society. Our culture celebrates equality. Today, the Philippines has the narrowest gender gap in all of Asia. It is one of the few places in the world where female representation in government and business reflects the population,” she said.

Ms. Malalis on the other hand has a dedicated history of combating prejudice, intolerance, discrimination and harassment through her representation of employees from a variety of industries and income levels, work with employers’ advocates, and collaborations with community groups, non-profit organizations and bar associations.

“My parents had a difficult time with the transition from me being a future Dr. Malalis to me being a lawyer but they handled it very well because they knew where I was coming from,” she said as she recalled how she shifted from becoming a doctor to pursuing a law career.

Now, as commissioner and chair of the Commission on Human Rights, Ms. Malalis leads the agency with the dual roles of investigating complaints of discrimination and retaliation in employment, housing and public accommodations; and providing outreach, education and training to the public to prevent discrimination before it occurs.

Through sheer hard work, these family-oriented Filipina women with vision, talent, compassion and courage were able to rise above their peers as they broke the proverbial glass ceiling in their respective fields. We look at them and we can relate with their stories of struggle and success as we see our own mothers, aunts and sisters in them.

The Distinguished Filipino Women 2016 honorees with some female members of the audience comprised of community leaders, businesswomen, nurses and entrepreneurs.

An Asian Journal

Immigration Corner Atty. MichAel Gurfinkel, eSQ EACH month, the Visa Office of the State Department publishes, in the Visa Bulletin, the priority dates for that particular month, for the various family and employment based categories. A priority date is a person’s “place in line” for a visa, meaning immigrant visas (or green cards) would be available for persons whose priority date is earlier than the cut-off date listed below. If your priority date was “current,” but later retrogressed (or “moved backwards” and became unavailable) before your immigrant visa was issued (or before you adjusted status in the U.S.), you would have to wait until it becomes current again.

Beginning last October 2015, the format of the Visa Bulletin changed, in that a new column was added, called the “Application Filing Date.” If a person’s priority date is earlier than the Application Filing Date, they can already file for adjustment of status and work authorization (provided they are otherwise eligible and USCIS indicates on its website it will use the Application Filing Date for that month).

This could allow people to obtain work authorization much sooner than before, where they

Immigrant Living: 101 and Beyond Monette AdevA MAglAyA AMERICA is now a debtor nation owing $19 trillion and still mounting, the last $10 trillion load incurred in the last 7 years. Economists say that with the current budget passed by the feckless, reckless bunch of politicians of both parties in Congress, this budget will catapult the national debt to $21 trillion in 2 years.

Early warning signs indicate that unless something drastic is done and a tourniquet applied to stop the

3

Magazine

The Asian Journal N E W YO R K / N E W J E R S EY M A R C H 1 1 , 20 1 6

The April 2016 Priority Dates The Priority dates for the Philippines are as follows: FAMILY CATEGORY:

Application Filing Date

Visa Issuance Date

September 1, 2005

July 1, 2004

First Preference

Unmarried sons and daughters of US citizens (over 21 years of age)

Second Preference

(2A) Spouse and minor children (below June 15, 2015 21 years old) of green card holder

October 22, 2014

(2B) Unmarried sons and daughters (21 years old or older) of green card holder

May 1, 2005

April 1, 2005

Third Preference

Married sons and daughters of US Citizens.

August 1, 1995 December 22, 1993

Fourth Preference

Brothers and sisters of US Citizens.

January 1, 1993

LABOR CERTIFICATION:

Application Filing Date

Third Preference

Professional/ Skilled Workers

Other Workers

Non-Skilled Workers

had to wait for the priority date to be current (in the Visa Issuance Date column) in order to

September 1, 1992

Visa Issuance Date

January 1, 2010

May 1, 2008

January 1, 2010

May 1, 2008

both file for adjustment and be eligible for a green card. ***

Credit card hell on the macro and micro levels “Just because America is $19 trillion in debt does not give us the go-ahead to do likewise in our personal fiscal life.” — MAM hemorhage, America is on a tipping point going the way of socialist Greece in a few short years. Greece, long admired as the foundation of Western civilization, has become a case study in modern times on how nations.

Let me try and break it down

for those of us trying to wrap this staggering national debt load in our heads: $19,000,000,000,000.00 or 12 zeroes to the left of the decimal point. A trillion is a million million dollars. If every individual living in this country were to pay this debt Continued on Page 5

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

Each case is different. The information contained herein including testimonials,

“Success Stories,” endorsements and re-enactments) is of a general nature, and is not intended to apply to any particular case, and does not constitute a prediction, warranty, guarantee or legal advice regarding the outcome of your legal matter. No attorney-client relationship is, or shall be, established

with any reader.

WEBSITE: www.gurfinkel.com Call Toll free to schedule a consultation for anywhere in the US: (866)—GURFINKEL Four offices to serve you: LOS ANGELES · SAN FRANCISCO · NEW YORK · PHILIPPINES (Advertising Supplement)

Denial of a fraud waiver shatters this beauty queen’s American dreams – on Citizen Pinoy IT was a match made in heaven when beauty titlist Karen exchanged “I do’s” with US citizen Paul in 2007. They were shuttling between the US and the Philippines, managing their businesses and happily living their successful life. When they finally decided to settle in the US, they thought getting a green card through a spousal petition by Paul for Karen would be easy.

But tragedy struck! At her interview, Karen was accused of fraud, and was required to submit a fraud waiver. The fraud waiver prepared by the lawyers they initially retained was denied. They felt their life and dreams crumbled right in front of them.

Hope came when they saw an episode of Citizen Pinoy while they were at a Filipino restaurant.

They immediately consulted with leading US immigration attorney Michael J. Gurfinkel on what to do with their denied fraud waiver case.

Find out how the “third times a charm”, when Atty. Gurfinkel, as their third attorney, was able to turn Karen’s case completely around, by convincing USCIS Karen commited no fraud, and no fraud waiver was even required on a brand-new episode of Citizen Pinoy–on Sunday 6:15 pm PST/EST (9:15 pm EST thru select Cable/Satellite providers).

(Advertising Supplement)

An Asian Journal

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Magazine

The Asian Journal N E W YO R K / N E W J E R S EY M A R C H 1 1 , 20 1 6

On the PEP Front

People, Events, Places

Pinoys on-the-rise in a dog-eat-dog music arena

BoBBy T. yalong MUSIC as a universal language and a pragmatically quintessential articulation of human emotions has considerably undergone paramount evolutions and adaptations to fit into the demands and modes of social lifestyles. An ultimate structure of poetry fused with melody, music has indubitably streamed to limitless forms and possibilities.

Some adapted commercially pertinent genres in modern pop-music include Alternative Rock, Folk, Blues, Classical, Country, Dance, Hip-Hop/ Rap, Children Rhymes, Inspirational/ Hymn, Jazz, Opera, R&B / Soul, Reggae, Rock, and a variety of regionpersuaded beats. However, music, by any influence, has an enduring relevance in any given generation… making this art form an explosive expression of humanity with incredible healing and soothing powers.

Filipinos have proficiently instituted their divergent brand of innate musicality not only in the Asian region but across the globe as well.

At par with world-class talents and mainstream performers, Filipino singers have consistently dominated international competitions and searches…solidly establishing supreme dominance in such field.

New York, aside from being one of the world’s greatest ethnical hodgepodge and an unrivaled melting pot of cultural diversity, has also been the cradle of homegrown talents specifically Queens. The mushrooming emergence of Filipino singers in New York’s largest borough gave a strong substantiation of the Filipinos’ instinctive singing capability and performing supremacy.

Get to know the latest crop of Filipino talents who are unhurriedly creating waves while unflinchingly carving their respective niches in an arena more or less subjugated by fellow Filipinos.

Rasmin Diaz – This Gemini-born from Cagayan De Oro City was musically influenced by her grandfather from her mother side, Sharon Cuneta, and Lea Salonga. Ably armed with an AB in International Studies from Xavier University and Ateneo De Cagayan, Rasmin’s initial appearance in a high school musical show instantly

EMPLOYMENT

EMPLOYMENT

Rianne Avendula Philips

fueled her magnificent obsession to perform, create an illustrious moniker, and headline prominent marquees.

Honing her vocal talent included her stint as a vocal soloist of the Switch Band that played in famous watering holes and clubs in Cagayan De Oro and active participation in stage plays such as “Yellow Head Casino” and “Four Points Hotel.”

Fate serendipitously brought her overseas: first in Edmonton and Alberta in Canada where her passion in singing persisted to reign supreme despite being engaged to her professional career; and second, in New York where she currently resumes her passion and does what she loves best -- singing.

Rasmin, featly equipped with a high pitched vocal range and a known belter, has just recently opened the show for Aiza Seguerra while regularly headlining entertainment slots at D’Haven, Payag and Perlas Restaurants, all in Queens.

Desiree Wisotsky – Young with a mature outlook in life, tall with a voluptuously developed physicality, passionably fashionable, and socially exposed with strapping public relations rarely common among girls her age, fourteen-year-old Desiree is undoubtedly promising and predicted to make it big in this business.

She was barely four when she exhibited her potential in singing and dancing that gave her the opportunity to hog the limelight at age eight at a Philippine Independence Day Council event. She enjoyed the over-

SERVICES

Desiree Wisotsky

Rasmin Diaz

whelming admiration and praises she earned from her maiden public exposure and soon enough singing stuck to her system.

With a great amount of intelligence heritability and singing influence from her mom Margie and grandpa, Desiree’s gregarious and affable traits suitably enhance her total appearance especially when performing on stage. Her constant tagging along with mom in the latter’s various social commitments inevitably developed her personality while simultaneously honing her innate singing talent.

Young Desiree has shared the stage with Concert King Martin Nievera, Salamat Musika, Payag Restaurant, PACCAL Anniversary Ball where she was crowned Anniversary Queen, Mrs. Kalayaan and the Mrs. Continued on Page 6

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What makes ‘JaDine’ and #OTWOL a hit among Filipinos

By Monet

Lu

WHEN James Reid and Nadine Lustre—a.k.a JaDine—started making some buzz, I wasn’t paying much attention. I love their tandem but I didn’t think they would be the phenomenal loveteam that they are now. Things changed when I went home (Philippines) for a vacation and really saw it for myself—The JaDine craze is beyond imaginable!

ABS-CBN’s TV Series, “On The Wings Of love” (OTWOL), which starred reel—and now real lovers—James and Nadine ended just a week ago. After soaring the airwaves with over four million viewers every day, 1 million tweets and the hyper-kilig-to-the-bones feeling that’s just so contagious that they could form a cult, they finally ended their seven-month run. I didn’t get the chance to watch the final episode but it’s like the end of an era when it happened.

Everybody got so hooked to the story; now that it’s over, there’s just a void in their day-to-day routines between 9:30pm–10:15pm.

You’ll know an amazing show

when you can’t stop thinking about it. You just stop whatever it is you’re doing or make room in your schedule to watch it. And it doesn’t end there -- you have this intense desire to talk about it with your friends or play the scenes in your head and think about possible lines you would’ve said if you were Leah (Nadine’s character) or Clark (James’s character). It got me thinking what makes this series so unique and yet so familiar to Filipinos.

Well, for one; it is a story that is so relatable to the modern Pinay and her struggles as an OFW. The pilot episode showed Leah’s mom, “Rona” (played by Isay Alvarez) leaving her children to work abroad. The scene where she is saying goodbye to her children is just one of the many scenarios happening over and over to thousands of our Kababayans who chose to do the same to give their families (back home) a better future. The situations involving TNT’s in the US and “arranged marriages” to get a green card, or wishing the “American dream,”

are just among the issues that we (here in the US) encounter so often.

Coming from someone who’s lived here almost my whole life, I can relate when the show talks about problems that immigrants face. I believe this is one of the strongest points of the show. They truly knew how tug on the heartstrings and make the storyline relatable in a really poignant manner.

Speaking of emotional scenes, OTWOL just makes you feel in love almost all the time. What’s even more amazing is that you feel for the characters; you laugh, fall in love, get heartbroken and be hopeful just like the characters! There are no overly complicated plot lines, cliché displays of affection, ‘forced’ backstories or complex love affairs.

Only lighthearted, romantic story that puts you in a good mood every time you watch it.

But aside from the way the writers made this TV series so engaging, there is no denying the chemistry of James and Nadine.

Even the whole cast spoke about it behind the scenes. Indeed, the one thing that the creators of this series

Credit card hell on the macro and...

From Page 3

just to be free and clear, each one would have to pay through the nose, roughly $70,000 for every man, woman and child.

How can any country sustain its sovereignty with such a staggering load? How can our leaders be so inept as to be unable to bite the bullet and rein in such utterly reprehensible fiscal irresponsibility? How can we leave generations yet to come with such a shameful legacy?

On the more mundane individual level, many people do not realize until it is too late that they have become addicted to the use of credit cards to the point that after just a few years, they seek credit card counselling and in a worst case scenario, bankruptcy relief protection. They have unwittingly entered credit card hell with collection agencies hounding them and recording all

sorts of negative entries into their credit history.

How do you know if you are way in over your head with too much debt? There are early warning signs.

If you find yourself like an acrobat trying to juggle too many bills, paying one company this month and another next month, borrowing from one to pay the other one and when lenders send you overdue notices, you are wading into the waters of financial trouble.

Making only the minimum payments never really paying down the principal owed is one sure sign.

When you have nightmares and begin dreading going to the mailbox and opening your monthly credit card statements, it is time for a reality check.

Face this problem squarely.

Ignoring it will not make it go away.

Try discussing this with your lenders

to work out a debt repayment schedule. They would rather not seize your property or send the hounds of a collection agency to you. This is their last resort if you try to bury your head in the sand and ignore this problem.

Even if you have defaulted on your credit, you still have certain rights as mandated by the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. There are a number of provisions about this act that affords you certain types of protection that you should know. Under the current laws of the land governing this matter, debt collectors cannot use abusive, deceptive or unfair techniques to collect the money that you owe.

Unlike in some other countries, there are parameters that a collection agency cannot and should not cross.

It will cost them if they do. There are Continued on Page 6

did right from the start is to cast a loveteam that is not predictable and unassumingly innocent.

JaDine is the fresh, ‘goodvibes’ pair that’s so easy to love.

They don’t try too hard to look sweet or to come up with stories for publicity’s sake. They started out as best friends in real life, they didn’t make people expect that they are—or will be—a couple.

And when they actually became one, they owned up to it and admitted it in the most kilig way possible! Everything about them is so transparent and that, I believe, is their best asset as love team both on and off-cam.

It is nice to know that we, Filipinos, can still spot and appreciate an authentic relationship in reel or real-life. To some, JaDine may be seen as just another loveteam competing amongst equally lovable rivals.

But for me, they do more than just solicit votes and followers— they prove that there is much to look forward to as far as TV entertainment is concerned. To actually see how a teleserye like

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Nadine Lustre and James Reid

“On The Wings Of Love” became a household name even without the use of gimmicks or rated-PG scenes, tells us that there’s some maturity in us as Filipino viewers.

To JaDine, and the cast and crew of OTWOL, congratulations! Please do not make us miss you too much. a movie ‘version’ would be nice (hint!). *** Monet Lu is a Marikina-born, award-winning

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

Despite apology, Vivian Velez wants Cristine Reyes to ‘drown in own vomit’ VETERAN actress Vivian Velez has reacted on the statement issued by her “Tubig at Langis” co-star Cristine Reyes whom she accused of being rude to her.

In a statement, Velez told the Philippine Entertainment Portal (PEP) that she is now in the process of moving on from her spat with Reyes.

Not mincing her words, Velez said on Wednesday: “Let her drown in her own vomit. I’m taking the high road and moving on.”

The issue between the two actresses started when Velez vented out on Facebook on Sunday that she will be quitting the afternoon show because she was humiliated by a co-star. She later confirmed that it was Reyes who treated her rudely on set.

In her statement, Reyes lengthily narrated her side. She said that it

all started when she had to share a dressing room with Velez. When the veteran actress was being asked to be transferred by the showrunners to her own dressing room, Velez supposedly threw a fit and accused Reyes of booting her out.

The issue on the dressing room, Reyes said, went unresolved. In another instance, Velez and her makeup artist supposedly charged toward Reyes after they heard her singing Avril Vivian Velez Lavigne’s “Goodbye.”

Reyes has since apologized to Velez.

With regard to the statement issued by the “Tubig at Langis” production team where they shielded Reyes from blame and owned up to the miscommunication between the two actresses, Velez said: “Understandably, they have a show to protect. But I stand firm with my truth.” (Inquirer.net) Cristine Reyes

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Aiza Seguerra slams TV, movie production’s ‘rotten system’ AIZA Seguerra called for change in the system of television and movie production.

Aiza’s statement came after the death of TV and movie directors Wenn Deramas and Francis Pasion last week.

In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Aiza said that the people behind the camera bear the brunt of the work in TV and movie productions.

The actor added those who work in the industry don’t complain as they are scared not to be given work.

“Malakas ang loob ng mga mga networks at film productions dahil para sa kanila, lahat dispensable.

Madaling palitan ang mga umaangal ng mga taong gagawin ang lahat makapasok lang sa industriya,” Aiza added.

Aiza further said the “awful system” in production will only change if everyone is willing to sacrifice for the good of everyone.

“For the meantime, habang wala pang nangyayaring pagbabago, I think malaking tulong din if we’re kind to each other. Nakakabawas din sa stress yon kung harmonious ang paligid natin kesa nagsisigawan at nagmumurahan,” the artist said.

“Sana maayos na ang bulok na systemang to na literal pumapa-

“Zootopia” characters Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps

Fil-Am, a ‘huge’ fan of Ronnie del Carmen, is also making a mark in animation

By Ruben

V. nepales InquIReR

Aiza Seguerra

tay sa mga taong nasa industriya. Kailangan magsamasama.

Kailangan magkaisa kung gusto nating mabago at itama ang systema.”

Aiza’s is not the first to call out the the working conditions of those who work in television fol-

lowing the deaths of Deramas and Pasion.

Movie director Quark Henares went as far as blaming the “horrible working hours” for the reason why Deramas and Pasion suffered cardiac arrest, which caused their deaths (Chuck Smith/Philstar.com)

Pinoys on-the-rise in a dog-eat-dog...

From Page4 Philippines-America events.

Arianne Aldecoa – This BS-Nursing graduate who hails from Manila has been professionally affiliated with a popular plastic/reconstructive surgeon but just couldn’t abandon her penchant for singing. Arianne, who started singing publicly at the tender age of ten at Bistro Castellvi Restaurant and Perlas Ng Silangan Restaurant in Woodside, Queens, became a Viva artist in 2007 to 2012.

She has extensively traveled from Manila to Bicol, Davao, and other key cities via mall tours in connection with her company’s record and movie promotions.

Strongly influenced by the musicality of Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston, Arianne is comfortably proficient with ballads, R & B, and Pop. With her powerful voice and wide vocal range Arianne has gained extensive exposures and projects via TV commercials, singing in special events and weddings, being a member of an all-girl group under Viva Artist Agency, and front acting for Jun Polistico, Florante, Anthony Castello, and Nyoy Volante.

Rianne Avendula-Philips – Rianne’s musical orientation and ardent pursuit of her passion in singing started at the young age of five which was ably capped by her sterling performance at seven with the Center For Pop Music. While her mom Radia stands behind that influenced her to sing and play the piano, Rianne takes the easier path to achieving her goal: enrolling at La Guardia High School of Music & Arts and Performing Arts where she’s currently a 12th grader.

Mastering both Pop and Classical music, the Cebu-born artist has performed professionally as follows: as front act artist for Aegis at Laboom Club and the Tribeca PAC, Marco Sison at Payag, Jam Morales at Payag, and at the GMA Kapusong Pinoy 10thAnniversary at The Town Hall.

Arianne has also graced a number of well-attended events at prominent venues: the Grand Masonic Lodge, EVR Longe, Astoria World Manor, Double Tree by Hilton, Philippine Consulate New York, Salamat Musika, and with the Prince of You Tube, David Dimuzio.

Christopher Corro – Despite being already armed with a double course, Associate as Medical Assistant and BS in Accountancy, Christopher opted to strongly hold unto his lifetime passions -- singing and dancing. Another Cebu-honed talent who had consistently won top prizes in ama-

teur singing contests back home, this affable son of Alberto and Carmen Corro has never ceased wearing his dancing shoes and incessantly whetted his terpsichorean skills since he was ten. He’s mighty proud of his expertise in Professional Latin and Standard following his scholarship training as part of Cebu City Dancesport Team.

Since dance is another form of expression more eloquent than words and in itself considered as poetry in motion… while music is an ethereal expression of emotion fused with rhythm and melody, Christopher becomes an archetypal paradigm of a true-blooded performing artist.

Currently a professional dance teacher while singing on the side whenever his hectic schedule permits, Christopher has had exultantly snatched two championship titles: Latin Champion from the Atlanta Dancesport Championship in 2014 and Standard Champion at the New York Dancesport 2013.

Take the Stage Band - The advent of boy bands in the earlier part of the 20thcentury gave rise to the prominence of all-male vocal groups that offered not only their versatile instrumentations and well-blended vocal blending but oftentimes energetically choreographed performances, as well. In the local music scene, a three-member band is slowly gaining a massive following and wide fan base.

Garcia brothers Hans Samuel, Shane Stephen, and their cousin Juan “Kiel” Calonzo, collectively, Take the Stage Band, are typical teenagers who just found themselves addicted to musical instruments and music.

With an unusually catchy name that was lifted from the lyrics of a song, the group literally broke all norms and omens and invaded center stage three years ago that showcased their innate talent and their youthful magnetism.

Hans Samuel Garcia, 16, is the band’s lead guitarist, vocalist, and keyboardist. The eldest son of Hannah and Sam, Hans is a junior at Talent Unlimited High School and already a prolific songwriter-composer at his young age, having been influenced by Michael Jackson, The 1975, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Rise Against, All Time Low, Twenty One Pilots, and Green Day. Shanne Stephen Garcia, Hans’ younger brother and barely 12, is a 7th grader at The Louis Armstrong Middle School who also does vocals, plays the piano, guitar, ukulele, and principally the band’s drummer.

Calendar of Events across

Arianne Aldecoa

From Page 5 resources in the internet and books in the library to help you through this sticky situation.

Collection agencies cannot threaten you with violence, curse you or verbally assault you with arrest or imprisonment unless they are able to obtain the legal right to do so. They cannot force you to accept collect telephone calls or shame you by advertising your debt.

You should know that bill collectors are prohibited from calling you before 8:00 AM or after 9:00 PM, and they may not call you at work if they know that your employer disapproves.

If the collectors violate any of the rules of the act, you can sue for damages. But do not look at this as a way to make money. Know that if the court finds you have acted in bad

and her journey from a small-town girl to fulfilling her dream of being a police officer in the big city.

That’s how we approach story at Disney—by focusing on specific characters and asking how they would respond to the situations we put them in.

How did you strike a balance between tackling prejudice and diversity and still manage to be entertaining?

We were able to strike a nice balance because telling entertaining stories with a strong emotional core is part of what we do.

I credit our directors, Byron Howard and Rich Moore, for creating such an entertaining and hilarious movie. Byron directed “Bolt” and “Tangled”; Rich is a veteran from “The Simpsons” and “Futurama,” as well as “Wreck-it Ralph.”

They are uniquely funny guys who brought together two great writers, Phil Johnston (also from “Wreck-it Ralph”) and Jared Bush (also our codirector) and a wonContinued on Page 7

America

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Eagle Rock High School Monthly Open House Tours

Christopher Corro

Young Shanne was also influenced by the same groups with the addition of Two Door Cinema Club.

Juan “Kiel” Calonzo – the Garcia brothers’ first cousin and son of Zosima and Elmer, is a junior at Bergenfield High School who is powerfully fascinated by The Offspring, Green Day, and Blink 182 and the band’s bass guitarist who can also do vocals.

Sans neither formal musical training nor tutorial session, the boys’ common avidness to music and collective interest in musical instruments motivated them to form the band. A family incident in the Garcia household (when mom was wheelchair-bound for months following a street accident) could have actually motivated the brothers to lean towards music out of boredom…and paid off!

Take the Stage Band has performed with Parokya ni Edgar, Philippine Independence Day celebration in NYC, Glenn Jacinto, and different watering holes around the Queens area.

Incidentally, all the above Filipino talents have significantly impressed Vince Gesmundo of VYNZ- NY Entertainment who assembled them for an upcoming grand project.

For comments and suggestions, please email to: gemini0646@yahoo. com.

Credit card hell on the macro and... faith with the collection agency, you may have to pay the collector’s legal bills. Suing for damages can backfire on you and cause you more trouble.

The rights protect you from abuse but your debts have not been forgiven. Creditors can and will seize whatever assets you have, attach or garnish your wages or foreclose on your home or property if you do not pay what is due them.

Recent legislation that govern bankruptcy protection laws seem to go in favor of credit card companies rather than the consumer. Gone are the times when consumers who have abused their credit lines can seek protection from their creditors by simply hiding their assets and filing for bankruptcy.

If you seek to understand the substantial changes that are shaping the country’s bankruptcy protection laws, go to government internet

LOS ANGELES—Josie Trinidad is “a huge fan of Ronnie del Carmen,” the “Pixnoy” (a Pinoy who works at Pixar) who was a nominee in the recent Oscars, but she herself is going places. The Fil-Am is the cohead of the story of “Zootopia,” Disney’s 55th animated feature film. She began as an apprentice in 2004 and rose from the ranks.

The UCLA and CalArts alumna said she was inspired by her father, Amado Fernando Trinidad, who recently passed away. “He truly influenced me the most as a creative storyteller,” Josie remarked about her father who was born and raised in San Juan, Metro Manila.

Set in a world of talking critters, “Zootopia” is being hailed for its uncanny timeliness. Featuring a lovable small town rabbit named Judy Hopps (voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin), who dreams of becoming a cop, this very entertaining toon touches on race relations and

explores bigotry, apropos in these times when the diversity issue is a pressing topic.

These themes are not handled with heavyhandedness, though.

Credit Josie and her team, which includes directors Byron Howard and Rich Moore, for coming up with a fun, engaging movie that taps excellent actors as voices for the various characters, including Jason Bateman, Idris Elba, JK Simmons, Octavia Spencer and even singer Shakira (who also sings the catchy theme song).

Excerpts from our interview with Josie: Can you talk about how fortuitous it is that “Zootopia” tackles diversity at a time when that topic is very much in the news?

At Disney Animation, our goal first and foremost is creating believable, complex and real characters who live in worlds that we’ve never seen before.

Rather than broadly tackling any theme, we chose to focus on our main character, Judy Hopps,

websites that cover consumer debt and bankruptcy laws. Who would know better than a government mired in debt itself?

For those of us pathetic rubes near or at the bottom of the American social structure who must work or tend to our businesses, there is a basic life lesson to be learned from this cautionary tale of American fiscal recklessness. In our time, this would be the big kahuna of debts.

Bringing this down to the microcosmic level of our personal lives, there is a simple life lesson to be learned from this monumental fiasco.

When it comes to drugs and debt: Don’t do it. Just don’t. *** Nota Bene: Monette Adeva Maglaya is SVP of Asian Journal Publications, Inc. To send comments, e-mail monette.maglaya@ asianjournalinc.com

laureate Open House Tours, from 8-10am during the spring semester on Friday, March 11; and Friday, April 1. Eagle Rock Junior/Senior High School serves students in grades 712, and was the first school in the LAUSD to be authorized to offer the prestigious International Baccalaureate (IB) Middle Years Programme (grades 7-10) and the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (grades 11-12), a project-based program for concept and content-based learning to promote global mindedness and service to others. The IB Open House is open to all interested students, and will include an introductory presentation in the ERHS library, followed by campus tours, classroom visits, and a short questionand-answer period. To register for the Open Houses, please visit www.erhs.la, and click on the “IB Open House Registration” link. Please email Mylene Keipp mylene.keipp@lausd. net for more information. We look forward to your visit!

MARCH 12

Philippine Independence Day Council Inc. Grand Marshals Gala The Philippine Independence Day Council, Inc. (PIDCI) will launch the commemoration of the 118th anniversary of the declaration of Philippine Independence on Saturday, March 12 with the Grand Marshals Gala at the Astoria World Manor (25-22 Astoria Boulevard in Astoria, Queens, New York 11102). The gala will take place from 7:00pm until 12:30am, honoring Dr. Leonidas “Ned” Pulido and wife Carmencita “Menchie” Pulido, who were chosen as the Grand Marshals of the 2016 Philippine Independence Day Parade in June. Gala tickets are $100 per person, with formal or Filipinana attire. Please contact the Chairwomen of the Grand Marshals Selection and Gala Committee, Ollie David (732-499-7995) and Helen LaBarbera (516-581-8830), ir OUDCU President Dr. Prospero Lim (347-248-5106) for gala invitations and more information. Interested parties may also call any of the Committee Co-chairs: Drs. Emilio and Fely Quines (347-254-2945), Drs. Rod and Elma Castillo (201-869-4044), Dr. Ely Parico (908-265-1293), Dulce Barangan (516-343-8592), Lauren Martinez (347-284-9886), Thelma Cabralda (631-331-5891), Zita Lapena (917-454-9344), Nida Cortez (646-649-5531), or Angie Molina (917-478-6754) or any of the PIDCI Board of Directors.

FACC-SLAA Induction Gala The Filipino-American Chamber of Commerce for South Bay Los Angeles Area (FACCSLAA) presents the annual fundraising gala and induction of its board members, to be held on Saturday, March 12 at 6:00 pm, at the Holiday Inn Los Angeles Gateway-Torrance (19800 S Vermont Ave. Torrance, CA 90502). Philippine Consulate General Leo Herrera-Lim will be the inducting officer, with guest speakers Assemblymember Rob Bonta and former Assemblyman Warren Furutani. Attire for the dinner is Filipiniana/formal. The gala dinner is also a fundraiser for the FACC-SLAA Scholarship project of the chamber raising funds for deserving, eligible Filipino American students who are business (or related) majors in colleges and universities in the South Bay area. Four scholars who will each receive a $500 scholarship award. Fil-Am students applying for the scholarship should have a minimum of a 3.0 grade point average, low income/financial need, have no criminal record, must submit a one page essay on why the student is applying, and must be willing to volunteer or intern at FACC-SLAA for 80 hours.

The deadline to apply is on Feb 15 to apply. Interested students, please email facc.slaa@ gmail.com or fekoons@aol.com. Tickets for the FACC-SLAA Induction and Fundraising Gala are $60 each. Please email facc.slaa@gmail.com for more information, or contact President Cynthia Tan (310) 748-9688 or Fred Docdocil, VP Programs (310) 619-8101.

MARCH 13

Sto. Tomas, Batangas Association Fiesta The Sto. Tomas, Batangas Association of Southern California will celebrate their fiesta on Sunday, March 13, at 1:00pm at Sliver Star Financial office (217 N Azusa St. Azusa, CA).

For further details, please call Willie Manacsa (818) 400-7391, Ofie Villanueva (626) 3834152, Rosie Sancianco (951) 898-7628 or Myrna Jaurigue at (909) 545-9876.

MARCH 20

2016 Piyesta Pinoy Chicago Sunday, March 20 from 11:45am to 4:00pm is the Philippine Celebration (Piyesta Pinoy sa Chicago), as part of the Neighborhoods of the World series at Navy Pier’s Crystal Gardens (Navy Pier 600 E. Grand Ave. Chicago, IL). Come travel to the Philippines without ever leaving your backyard! This cultural celebration is free and open to the public of all ages. Join us and enjoy an afternoon of lively folk music, special performances, traditional dance, cuisine, arts and crafts. The Philippine American Cultural Foundation (PACF) and thevibrant Filipino community of Chicago is so proud to put on this event for the 5th year in a row, and Piyesta Pinoy is a wonderful opportunity to showcase our culture with our people.For more information, or to volunteer, perform, exhibit, or donate, please visitwww. piyestapinoy.net, or email Piyestpinoy@gmail.com.

If you have an upcoming event and would like us to post it, please email us the details at info@asianjournalinc.com or calendar@asianjournalinc.com

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Fil-Am, a ‘huge’ fan of Ronnie del...

From Page6 derful story crew (many of whom I worked with on “Tangled” and “Ralph”).

In addition, we test our story out through several internal screenings over a period of roughly two years. After each screening, our Story Trust, similar to Pixar’s Brain Trust (which includes directors, story supervisors and our creative leadership—John Lasseter and Ed Catmull), give extensive notes on what worked and didn’t work, and how to improve the story.

We also get feedback from the crew.

Speaking of diversity, as a person of color and a woman, what was your journey like in your pursuit of a career in the male-dominated world of animation?

My journey in animation began when I was accepted to the character animation program at California Institute of the Arts (CalArts).

This is where a lot of great artists in animation studied.

When I went to CalArts, the animation department was roughly half women and half men. Many of my classmates were from around the world, particularly Asia (Korea, Thailand and the Philippines). So where you came from and who you were (male or female) didn’t really matter. It was about how talented you were.

I admit I wasn’t a very talented animator or designer, but I knew I had a knack for story. So, that’s what I focused on while at CalArts.

Fortunately, I had the best story teachers during my time there— people who became directors and story supervisors like Steve Anderson (“Meet the Robinsons”), Mark Andrews (“The Incredibles” and “Brave”), Cody Cameron (“Shrek,” “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2,” “Open Season 3”) and Mark Walton.

I heard about a story apprenticeship at Disney through Mark Walton, who worked at Disney Animation at the time.

I applied, was accepted and when I first started at Disney, there were only two women in the story department including my mentor,

Josie Trinidad

Stevie Wermers. Stevie helped me transition from a fledgling story trainee to a capable veteran.

Have you always dreamt of a career in animation?

Not always. When I was young, I had silly dreams like working at an ice cream parlor and wanting to be a professional volleyball player, which is ridiculous since I’m very short!

I also wanted to be a teacher, a lawyer and a park ranger when I was in school. But much of my time as a child was spent watching movies and cartoons. And I always loved reading, writing and drawing.

What are your earliest memories of watching animated films?

I saw “Cinderella” in the theater when I was 5 years old. It’s my favorite Disney movie to this day—a wonderful, classic animated film with a great story and characters and fun songs.

But when I was about 10 or 11, when my best friend and I were watching “Robin Hood” on VHS, I accidentally paused it. It started playing frame by frame and at that moment, I realized those were individual drawings. That’s when the idea of my becoming an animator first started.

Can you comment on the success of several Fil-Ams in animation, including Ronnie del Carmen who was a story artist and supervisor like you?

While I don’t know him personally, I’m a huge fan of Ronnie del Carmen, and have been for a long time. I greatly admire his personal comic book series, “Paper Biscuit.”

I’ve attended his lectures on screenwriting and the story process at Pixar. I especially love his drawing style and sensibility—a perfect combination of emotion and humor.

Can you also comment on Ronnie being the first Fil-Am to be nominated for best original screenplay Oscar for “Inside Out”?

Ronnie’s nomination is a great achievement for Filipino-Americans.

Can you talk about your Filipino heritage?

I was born and raised in California. My mother is Carmencita Lazo Trinidad, born and raised in Canlubang, Laguna. And my father is Amado Fernando Trinidad, born and raised in San Juan, Metro Manila with roots in Marikina.

What are your tips to people aspiring to have careers in animation?

My advice to aspiring story artists is to build your artistic skill set.

Focus on drawing, composition, editing, acting, film analysis and structure and enrich your mind through experience… because that is where your own characters and stories are going to come from.

PIDCI launches 118th PH Independence commemoration with Grand Marshal Gala

NEW YORK—The Philippine Independence Day Council, Inc. (PIDCI) honors the 2016 Independence Day Parade Marshals at the now-traditional annual Grand Marshals Gala at the Astoria World Manor in Astoria, Queens, New York, Saturday, March 12, 2016.

The Grand Marshals, Dr. “Ned” (Leonidas) and wife “Menchie” (Carmencita) Pulido were unanimously elected by the PIDCI Board last year to fill the role of the highest, most prestigious elected position in the Filipino and Filipino-American community in the Northeast, if not eh entire United States.

PIDCI’s Grand Marshals Gala sets off the lineup of major events that commemorate the annual Philippine Independence anniversary celebration in New York. It is climaxed by Philippine Independence Day usually marked on the first Sunday in June with a trio of blockbuster events that draw throngs of celebrants and onlookers to a stretch of Madison Avenue from 23rd to 38th Streest, at one time attracting up to 100,000 people.

This crowd-drawing power has gained the event the designation

by Filipinos and others around the world as the largest outdoor gathering, at one time, in one place, of Filipinos and their friends in the world.

The trio events held on the same day are ushered in early morning by a flag ceremony replete with the singing of the Philippine National Anthem “Lupang Hinirang” at the Philippine Center of the Fifth Avenue quickly followed by a Thanksgiving Mass at Kalayaan Hall on the second floor of the Center.

Just as soon as the New York Police Department (NYPD) closes the downtown end, between 23rd and 30th Streets, as vendors’ selling booths (tents) are put up

2016 Philippine Independence Day Parade Grand Marshals: Carmencita “Menchie” and Dr. Leonidas “Ned” Pulido.

Photo by Nonoy Rafael

along with the open air Stage and a Parade Reviewing Stand for use of the three big events of the day: the Independence Day Street Fair, the Independence Day Parade and the afternoon Cultural Festival.

As a build up to the yearly celebration’s climax Independence Day, PIDCI produces and presents other commemorative events such as The Mrs. Kalayaan Coronation Pageant and Gala and the Diwa ng Kalayaan (Spirit of Independence) Selection and Coronation Pageant and Gala.

And as a culmination to the many-months, multi-event celebration there is the Philippine Independence Ball that wraps it all up for the year.

This year’s 118th anniversary commemoration of the declaration of Philippine Independence is being produced, directed and presented with

the leadership of PIDCI’s newlyelected President Dr. Prospero Lim, with Vice President Antero “Ner” Martinez, Secretary Joycelyn Aligarbes and Treasurer Violeta McGough.

Able assistance is being provided by the Board of Directors: re-eletionists Olivia David and Violeta McGough along with new members Rely Manacay, Beth Manao, Edilberto Olimpo and Shiran Ybanez.

They join Raul Estrellado, Helen LaBarbera, Antero Martinez, Nonoy Rafael, Mayann Sanagustin, Margie Wisotsky and Tambi Wycoco, who are on their last year in the PIDCI Board.

In addition, help also comes from Annie Ortiz, last year’s Internal Auditor who was reappointed as from Gheng Pingol, who had been Executive Director.

Manuel B. Quintal, PhD remains the General Counsel of PIDCI for the tenth consecutive year.

An Asian Journal

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The Asian Journal N E W YO R K / N E W J E R S EY MARCH 11, 2016