Los Angeles Midweek January 2, 2013

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Volume 23 - No. 1 • 3 Sections – 24 Pages

MIDWEEK EDITION

J A N U A RY 2 - 4 , 2 0 1 3

‘Pinoys to feel growth benefits in 2013’

by Aurea

Calica Philstar.com

MANILA – The government wants to ensure inclusive growth benefits for every Filipino in 2013 through job generation and pro-poor programs to carry through the people’s optimism, Malacañang said on December 29.

A recent Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey found that nine out of 10 Filipinos were looking forward to 2013 with hope.

President Aquino’s net satisfaction rating, however, dropped by 12 points but still remained “very good” in December, another SWS survey showed.

The President’s net satisfaction score dipped to 55 Pres. Benigno Aquino III

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Philstar.com photo

DATELINE

USA

from the AJPress NEWS TEAM across America

Fil-Am selected as Hawaii’s senate president HAWAII – FilipinoAmerican Hawaii State Senator Donna Mercado Kim (D-Moanalua, Aiea, Kalihi Valley) has been selected as the new senate president of the Hawaii legislature.

The state’s upper house reorganizes, after the death of long-time Filipino champion and US senator Daniel InSen. Donna Mercado Kim ouye.

Kim, the former vice president of the senate, will now preside during the 27th Hawaii State Legislature in January, replacing Senator Shan Tsutsui, who was sworn in as Lieutenant Governor.

Hawaii Governor Neil Abercombrie chose former lieutenant governor Brian Schatz as Inouye’s successor to the US Senate.

“We are solidified in dealing with the pressing

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Hillary hospitalized due to blood clot WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is under observation at a New York hospital after being treated for a blood clot stemming from the concussion she sustained earlier this month.

Clinton’s doctors discovered the clot Sunday Sec. Hillary Rodham Clinton while performing a follow-up exam, her spokesman, Philippe Reines, said. He would not elaborate on the location of the clot but said Clinton was being treated with anti-coagulants and would remain at New YorkPresbyterian Hospital for at least the next 48 hours so doctors can monitor the medication.

“Her doctors will continue to assess her condition, including other issues associated with her concussion,” Reines said in a statement.

“They will determine if any further action is re-

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SEAFOOD CITY

Fil-Am doctor released after being convicted for illegal prescription

by Mico Letargo AJPress

LOS ANGELES – Dr. Carlos Estiandan is a Filipino-American physician who was recently the subject of a Los Angeles Times special report. Estiandan was described in the report as a ‘diminutive man with a cheerful demeanor’ whose medicine general practice was ‘thriving.’

He was a real family man, and a retired colonel from the US Air Force Reserve.

However, the kindly-mannered doctor would be embroiled in a case so huge, that it involved four government agencies: the Medical Board of California, the Los Angeles County Sheriff, the US Drug Enforcement Agency, and Medi-Cal. In the four-year span of the medical board’s investigation into Estiandan’s case, eight of his patients had already died from drug overdose and related causes, based on the Times’ probe into the coroners’ files and court records.

By the time that he was stopped from giving prescriptions, it was already too late for the ill-fated patients.

Medi-Cal also suspected him of fraud-

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THE YEAR THAT WAS. (Clockwise, from top) The aftermath of typhoon ‘Pablo’ in Compostela Valley; priests face off with pro-RH activists as Congress votes on the measure on Dec. 12; Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo, who died in a plane crash in August; and Renato Corona, who was removed as Chief Justice in an impeachment trial.

Philstar.com photo

Exit the dragon: A troubled, troublesome year

by Juaniyo

Arcellana Philstar.com

MANILA – The earthquake in the Visayas in February 2012 proved to be a harbinger of things to come in 2012, which more than lived up to its Chinese zodiac character marked by tumultuous life-changing events fraught with political high jinks.

Fatalities were minimal in the towns of Guihulngan and La Libertad in Negros Oriental, but the images of roads cracked open in the hinterland towns suggested that doomsday and potential tsunamis could not be that far off.

And just as there was the usual end of world scare late in the year owing to the Mayan calendar, the

strongest typhoon in decades hit Mindanao, resulting in more than a thousand dead and perhaps just as many missing. “Pablo” was a virtual reprise of “Sendong” that also hit in December a year ago, in the same unfortunate region.

Thus two natural disasters sandwiched serial diplomatic contre-

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Legendary Jesuit dies at 96 Reuter: 1986 Edsa ‘Bandido’

by Tarra

Quismundo Inquirer.net

MANILA – He is home.

Fr. James Reuter, SJ, the revered and and well-loved American priest and honorary Filipino, passed away Monday from lung and heart failure, the Ateneo de Manila University community has announced.

He was 96.

Reuter, academic, communicator, singer, athlete, artist and political activist, died at 12:51pm Monday at the Our of Lady

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Fr. James Reuter, SJ

CBCPForLife.com photo

ON THE 116TH DEATH ANNIVERSARY OF DR. JOSE P. RIZAL

‘Let’s paddle in the same direction’ – Aquino

by Christina

Mendez

Philstar.com

MANILA – President Aquino urged Filipinos to “paddle in the same direction” and work for national unity as he led the annual ceremonies on December 30 commemorating the execution of national hero Jose Rizal.

The ceremonies coincided with the reenactment of the transfer of Rizal’s remains to the monument set up in his honor in Manila’s Rizal Park.

Speaking in Filipino, Aquino reminded the people that the day “is also the occasion when we celebrate the birth of our national language.”

Dec. 30 is also the 75th anniversary of the naThe Philippine flag is raised during a wreath-laying ceremony on the 116th death anniversary of national hero Jose Rizal in Rizal Park on December tional language, apart from the centennial of the 30.

Philstar.com photo by Edd Gumban event when his remains were transferred from

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Binondo to the monument in Luneta in 1912.

Sen. Loren Legarda also urged Filipinos to celebrate Rizal Day by upholding our national heroes’ core values of integrity and nationalism in everyday life.

“Dr. Jose Rizal was an unparalleled visionary whose thoughts and actions have forever changed the landscape of our identity as Filipinos,” Legarda said.

She said Rizal’s ideas “began the revolution that earned us our freedom, and his integrity and nationalism continue to inspire new generations.”

“Today, we have a collective opportunity to pay our respects to him through reexamining our lives and evaluating how we have contributed to the betterment of our country,” Legarda said.

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ISLAND PACIFIC

Also published in ORANGE COUNTY/INLAND EMPIRE, LAS VEGAS, NORTHERN CALIFORNIA, New York/NEW JERSEY

A JANUARY 2-4, 2013 • LA MIDWEEK ASIAN JOURNAL

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From the Front Page

‘Pinoys to feel growth benefits…

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(72 percent satisfied, 17 percent dissatisfied) from 67 (77 percent satisfied, 10 percent dissatisfied) in August, according to the poll conducted from Dec. 8 to 11.

Valte said there was nothing to cry about the drop in rating because “from excellent to still very good” meant that the Presi-

dent was enjoying a very wide margin of support among the people.

Also, Valte said in a radio interview over state-run dzRB that the administration was still focusing on job generation as well as inclusive growth.

“We see that the GDP (gross domestic product) has been sur-

prising everybody; it seemed to be candid about it in the sense that the third quarter was really a very pleasant surprise for everybody,” she said.

“So the task is to continue making that growth inclusive, not just to wait for it to trickle down but to have direct intervention at the fifth quintile,” Valte said. n

Exit the…

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MANGO TOURS 1/8

temps in the high seas, dizzying musical chairs and the changing of the judicial guard, the death of an everyman Cabinet secretary in a plane crash heading home, the naming of a second Filipino saint, a new draft accord with Muslim rebels in the south, and Congress rushing at breakneck speed to pass landmark legislation that will likely change the complexion of Philippine society.

Just when everybody was starting to prepare for the holidays, what should rudely come blowing into the provinces of Davao Oriental and Compostela Valley but a super typhoon, in some cases wiping entire barangays off the map. Hardest hit were the towns of Cateel, Baganga, Boston, New Bataan, and Compostela, with whole families swept away. President Aquino was forced to declare a state of national disaster in the wake of the calamity, and relief drives went into high gear to reach the destitute and needy in cramped evacuation centers, even as more bodies were recovered under tons of logs, mud, and assorted rubble.

The late Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo was deemed one of a few good men worthy of being called a public servant, and his death in August in the sea off Masbate brought back memories of plane crashes past that claimed the lives of other great men, such as President Ramon Magsaysay.

Himself a Magsaysay awardee, Robredo set the example for transparency in governance, and never shirked from dirty work and the nitty gritty – wading in floods to get to typhoon victims and generally hobnobbing with the masa in his trademark tsinelas (rubber slippers) not for mere

BEATING THE DEADLINE. Voters beating the deadline for registration for the coming 2013 elections at the local Comelec office in Quezon City.

ManilaTimes.net photo by Miguel de Guzman

Fil-Am doctor released after…

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ulent billing.

Investigations on Estiandan began in October 2004, when an anonymous tip was received by medical board investigator Robin Hollins. According to the tipster, Estiandan, then 62, was raking in $3,000 a day for drug prescriptions.

According to Hollins’ report, the employee said that Estiandan gives the patients ‘anything they want.’ The employee also noted how Estiandan’s clinic in downtown LA, one of three the doctor owned, was packed with ‘drug-addicted patients’ Because the government agencies were sharing information on the Estiandan case, numerous evidences were gathered in a small amount of time.

In Los Angeles, alleged drug dealers were arrested. Court records showed that bottles of drugs prescribed by Estiandan were found in their possession.

In Albuquerque, New Mexico, the drug enforcement agents stopped a man on the street who carried about 1,800 pills and several bottles of narcotic cough syrup, the labels of which showed Estiandan as the prescribing doctor.

In the summer of 2005, Leo Martinez consulted with Estiandan in his Reseda clinic. Martinez was billed $120 for the visit and left the clinic with drug prescriptions.

Martinez was an undercover sheriff’s agent who investigated narcotics cases. He walked out of Estiandan’s clinic with a prescription for painkiller u PAGE A3 Vicodin, muscle relaxant Soma, anti-anxiety drug Valium, and a 16-ounce bottle of narcotic cough syrup.

Estiandan’s reckless prescription was linked to numerous deaths that the Times looked into. In the overdose deaths that was investigated, most of the drugs found in the victims’ bodies were antianxiety drugs, muscle relaxants, and cough syrup formulations, all prescribed by Estiandan.

Looking into the patients’ records, it was found that people from as far as Bakersfield, Antelope Valley, Victorville, and San Bernardino would travel all the way to downtown LA to consult with

Estiandian. They described similar symptoms, and left the office with prescriptions for similar drugs.

On Sept. 12, 2007, Hollins summoned Estiandan to a medical board office in Glendale. She told Estiandan that there was now a patient death and that it was an ‘inevitable result’ of his prescriptions.

Later on, Hollins received a report from an expert physician that concluded Estiandan’s treatment of a patient as one that deviated from accepted standards and had contributed to the patient’s death.

On the morning July 23, 2008, Estiandan was arrested in his home when DEA agents and sheriff’s deputies appeared at his doorstep, said the Times report.

Estiandan was polite and cooperative when he was handcuffed and led to a squad car. He was charged with “13 felony counts of illegally prescribing controlled substances.” He was not charged for the deaths of his patients.

In February 2009, Estiandan was barred by court from prescribing painkillers and other addictive drugs. In September that year, he was stripped of his medical license. In 2010, Estiandan was tried, found guilty, and was convicted on the criminal charges filed against him. He was sentenced to a five-year jail term.

In September 2012, the doctor was released after serving about half of his prison time. A few days after he was released, he told Times reporters in his home in Burbank that he was ‘unfairly targeted’ by prosecutors for ‘simply doing his job.’

He said that his wife Gloria, a nurse, had warned her before that he was ‘headed for trouble.’ Looking back on his experience, he warned patients of the dangers of addiction to prescription drugs.

Estiandan told the Times that he was not motivated with greed, and never intended to harm his patients. Rather, he admitted poor judgment in prescribing the drugs.

“Instead of helping them, I might have harmed them,” Estiandan told the Times as he talked about his patients, “I made a mistake.” (With reports from the LA Times)

Legendary Jesuit dies at 96

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LARRY YANG 1/4

of Peace Hospital in Parañaque City, his home for the past three years, said Sister Eva Maamo, a nun who was closely involved in the priest’s mission work in the Philippines.

“He had been unconscious in the last four days. We gave him IV (intravenous fluid), oxygen, we gave him everything that can help but his heart and lungs gave,” she said in an interview.

Maamo is the president of the Foundation of the Our Lady of Peace Mission Inc. (Folpmi), an organization that supports urban poor and indigenous communities around the Philippines whose board Reuter chaired.

The nun said Reuter had been under the care of private nurses at the hospital. Already wheelchair-bound, he had moved from the Jesuit residence in Manila to the Parañaque hospital in 2009 because of his frail health.

“He was still able to speak until four days ago, when he fell unconscious. Nurses were on duty every day to take care of him,” Maamo said.

Former Ateneo de Manila University president Jesuit Fr. Bienvenido Nebres said the wake for Reuter will be held at the Church of the Gesu at the Ateneo de Manila University’s main campus in Quezon City.

Interment plans are expected to be finalized after the holidays but Nebres said Reuter will definitely be interred in the Jesuit cemetery at the Sacred Heart Novitiate in Novaliches, Quezon City, Nebres said.

Reuter’s relatives in the US have also been informed about the priest’s passing.

“The University mourns the passing of Fr. James B. Reuter, SJ, who joined our Creator at 12:51pm [Monday], at the age of 96,” the Ateneo de Manila University said on its Twitter account.

Decision at 7 Reuter was born in New Jersey on May 21, 1916, When he was

just 7 years old, he made a decision that would set the course of his life.

“I was in second grade and heard the nuns talking about the missions. This struck me as attractive so I said I would be a missionary,” he said.

At 18, he entered the Society of Jesus, and just four years later, he was sent as a Jesuit scholastic to study philosophy in the Philippines.

Reuter arrived in the Philippines in 1938 and immediately fell in love with the Philippines and the Filipinos, a nation he credits for teaching him the true meaning of faith.

“When I first came here, I thought I was bringing God to the Philippines. But what I discovered was [the Filipinos] brought God to me,” an already frail Reuter said between sobs during an intimate gathering of friends and former students at the Our Lady of Peace Hospital to celebrate his 94th birthday in 2010.

Prominent communicator Reuter played many roles, that of priest, teacher, counselor, friend, sports coach, dramatist, author, singing coach—and enjoyed them all.

Chiefly known as a prominent communicator of the Church, he used the different media—radio, television and print—to spread the Gospel for almost 50 years.

He taught at the Ateneo de Manila University and pioneered Jesuit broadcast communication in the country through the Family Rosary Crusade.

As head of the Church’s National Office of Mass Media, he may well have been one of the few clergymen in the country who really understand media culture. He coordinated the conduct of all Catholic radio stations including TV programs.

His mark on PH history Reuter’s most lasting contribution to Philippine history was the setting up of Radyo Bandido, the underground radio sta-

tion that bolstered people’s spirits and kept the country and the world informed about the 1986 People Power Revolution.

During the first Edsa People Power Revolution, when the transition facilities of the Churchowned Radio Veritas were destroyed by Marcos troops, Jaime Cardinal Sin, the Archbishop of Manila, called Reuter about finding a replacement.

DZRJ radio, then controlled by the anti-Marcos opposition forces, moved its frequency from 810 to 840, and thus was born “Radyo Bandido,” with June Keithley-Castro becoming the eyes and ears of the nation during the four-day uprising.

Awards and citations In 1989, Reuter received the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Arts in 1989 for “employing his gifts as writer, theatrical director and broadcaster, and most of all as teacher, to make the performing arts and mass media a vital force for good in the Philippines.”

In 2009, the Catholic Church gave Reuter the Serviam Award for his hard work and passion as a priest and as head of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines’ media commission.

He was cited for what he accomplished for the Church, communities, schools and young people in the Philippines and across Asia using broadcasting, theater and his writings.

In 1996, Congress unanimously voted to make Reuter an honorary Filipino. In 2005, the Senate passed Senate Resolution No. 17, which hailed the Amercian Jesuit for his “extraordinary and unparalleled life of service to the Filipino people.”

In 2011, President Aquino awarded Reuter the Philippine Legion of Honor with the rank of Chief Commander, the highest honor that the President of the Philippines may grant an individual without the concurrence of Congress. n

From the Front Page

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Exit the dragon: A troubled, troublesome…

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FIREWORKS CAPITAL. Women make firecrackers at a makeshift factory in Bocaue, Bulacan, known as the fireworks capital of the Philippines.

Philstar.com photo

‘Let’s paddle in the same direction’ – Aquino PAGE A1 t

The Grand Lodge of the Philippines, headed by Grand Master Santiago Gabionza, took part in the reenactment of Rizal’s remains, when Freemasons and Rizalistas were entrusted by Rizal’s sisters to enshrine his ashes in the Luneta monument.

Rizal’s remains were taken from his mother’s house in Binondo by the Masons and members of the Knights of Rizal in a two-day procession. The grand lodge members participated in the reenactment in full Masonic regalia.

“This (reburial of Rizal in 1912) is one of the greatest events for Freemasonry – refreshing the memories of those who know, and informing those who do not know as yet that Rizal was a Mason, a great one; and the role of Masons and Masonry in the history of this country,” said Armando Cazzola, Masonic historian and Grand Lodge Museum curator.

The Order of the Knights of Rizal also joined the first ever reenactment of the transfer of the national hero’s remains, where Reghis Romero II as its supreme commander participated, along with a contingent of government and community leaders.

Romero’s group started the procession at 4 a.m. from the house of Narcisa, Rizal’s sister, in Binondo to his final resting place at the Rizal Park exactly 100 years ago.

Based on documents, Rizal was executed at past 7am on Dec. 30, 1896, in the park, then known as Luneta de Bagumbayan.

Narcisa, searching for her brother’s body, found he was secretly buried at the old Paco Cemetery.

She asked the guards to place a marble plaque designed by Doroteo Ongjungco containing Rizal’s initials in reverse, “RPJ.” On Aug. 17, 1898, four days after the Americans took over the city, the remains of Rizal

photo-ops, because there was something genuine and down to earth about the long-time, well loved Naga mayor.

What captured the people’s imagination and kept them glued to their seats in front of the TV in the summer months was the impeachment trial of then chief justice Renato Corona, who was eventually removed from office in late May by an overwhelming Senate vote for concealing secret accounts in his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth. It was the first time a sitting chief justice of the land was removed through impeachment, and much credit went to Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile for ably steering proceedings to their conclusion. Corona’s walkout after his testimony only to be brought back bewildered and hypertensive in a wheelchair was a signal lesson on the various ways the mighty have fallen.

The Philippines’ relations with China entered a severe test with the standoff last April at Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal, when Chinese fishermen were caught poaching in the disputed territory in the West Philippine Sea. The diplomatic nip and tuck would last throughout the year, featuring an exchange of notes verbale, intramurals over the is-

where exhumed. His bones were brought to Narcisa’s house, where they were cleaned and placed in an ivory urn designed

by Romualdo Teodoro de Jesus.

The urn stayed in Narcisa’s house until 1912.

On Dec. 29, 1912, from Estraude Street in Binondo, the urn was transferred in a procession headed by the Knights of Rizal to the marble hall of the Ayuntamiento de Manila, where it stayed PAGE A1 t overnight with the Knights on issues facing our State. The Senguard. n ate continues to be organized in a cooperative and focused manner. I’m humbled to receive the confidence and support of my thinners to allow them to dissolve colleagues,” said Senate Presion their own and to prevent fur- dent Kim, who was first elected ther clots from forming, he said. to the senate in 2000.

Kim becomes the first Fil-Am A clot in a lung or the brain is more serious. Lung clots, called to head Hawaii’s senate. Ronald pulmonary embolisms, can be Kouchi takes over Kim’s old post deadly, and a clot in the brain can as the new Senate vice president.

Brickwood Galuteria is the macause a stroke, Motamedi said.

Keeping Clinton in the hospital jority leader.

Kim has long been active in for a couple of days could allow doctors to perform more tests to the state political scene having determine why the clot formed, served as a former representaand to rule out a heart problem tive of the Hawaii State House or other condition that may have of Representatives from 1982 to 1985 and as a Honolulu City led to it, he said.

Dr. Larry Goldstein, a neu- Councilwoman from 1985 to rologist who is director of Duke 2000. In 2000, she was elected to University’s stroke center, said the state’s senate.

Kim is one of three Filipinoblood can pool on the surface of the brain or in other areas of Americans in the state senate. the brain after a concussion, but Others include Will Espero (19th those would not be treated with District); and Donovan Dela Cruz blood thinners, as Clinton’s aide (22nd District). (Joseph Pimentel/AJPress) described. (AP)

Fil-Am…

sue in the talkshop of ASEAN, and even a Senate showdown between Enrile and Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, who took on the role of backdoor guy to resolve the Panatag stalemate. Capping it off was the inclusion in the new Chinese passport of the ninedash demarcation line claiming most of the territory as China’s, because the “law of the land is superior to the law of the sea”.

A ray of light and hope shined on the country in October in time for the feast of La Naval when San Pedro Calungsod was declared the second Filipino saint after San Lorenzo Ruiz in rites at the Vatican. The 17th century teenage catechist was one of seven new saints installed at St. Peter’s Square, in elaborate ceremonies attended by several dignitaries who made the trip to Rome. One of the miracles ascribed to the Visayan lay missionary that helped usher him into official sainthood was the seeming reversal of situation of a terminally ill patient.

The saint’s body was never found after it was thrown into the sea by angry natives in Guam who refused to be converted.

Much fanfare attended the signing of the framework agreement on the Bangsamoro in October that sought to end decades of secessionist struggle by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Delegates from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation as well as from peace broker Malaysia were present at the Palace for the landmark event, which

also saw MILF chairman Al Haj Murad shed a tear upon stepping on what was formerly hallowed ground for Moro rebels. The draft accord, however, was considered to be a baby step toward a permanent peace, as there remained some thorny points to be addressed by the joint panel, not least the glum countenance of Nur Misuari of the Moro National Liberation Front.

No legislative measure has been more divisive than the Reproductive Health bill that finally passed Congress after close but decisive votes on the floor.

The issue of contraceptives, health care for poor mothers, and birth spacing rent families as fathers took stands opposite their sons’, and daughters went against their mothers and the ubiquitous presence of men of the cloth tried to influence the affairs of state. There were subplots of plagiarism, tearjerking privilege speeches, and amusing debates over whether the phrase “safe satisfying sex” should be included or deleted in one of the provisions of the crafted legislation which Malacañang calls the Responsible Parenthood bill.

Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno made history by being named in July to head the traditionally male dominated Supreme Court, hardly surprising since she was the first appointee of the President to the high court, with the Aquino-named justices now numbering four. The tele-

Hillary hospitalized due to…

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quired.”

Clinton, 65, fell and suffered a concussion while at home alone in mid-December as she recovered from a stomach virus that left her severely dehydrated. The concussion was diagnosed Dec. 13 and Clinton was forced to cancel a trip to North Africa and the Middle East that had been planned for the next week.

The seriousness of a blood clot “depends on where it is,” said Dr. Gholam Motamedi, a neurologist at Georgetown University Medical Center who was not involved in Clinton’s care.

Clots in the legs are a common risk after someone has been bedridden, as Clinton may have been for a time after her concussion.

Those are “no big deal” and are treated with six months of blood

KENNETH REYES 1/4

GUESS 1/16

AUHS 1/4

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A JANUARY 2-4, 2013 • LA MIDWEEK ASIAN JOURNAL

Dateline USA

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Road trip on tap for NASA’s GOP governors walk Mars rover in new year balance beam on health law

PASADENA – Since captivating the world with its acrobatic landing, the Mars rover Curiosity has fallen into a rhythm: Drive, snap pictures, zap at boulders, scoop up dirt. Repeat.

Topping its to-do list in the new year: Set off toward a Martian mountain — a trek that will take up a good chunk of the year.

The original itinerary called for starting the drive before the Times Square ball drop, but Curiosity lingered longer than planned at a pit stop, delaying the trip.

Curiosity will now head for Mount Sharp in mid-February after it drills into its first rock.

“We’ll probably be ready to hit the pedal to the metal and give the keys back to the rover drivers,” mission chief scientist John Grotzinger said in a recent interview at his office on the sprawling NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory campus 15 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.

The road trip comes amid great expectations. After all, it’s the reason the $ 2.5 billion mission targeted Gale Crater near the Martian equator. Soaring from the center of the ancient crater is a 3-mile-high peak with intriguing layers of rocks.

Curiosity’s job is to figure out whether the landing site ever had the right environmental conditions to support microbes. Scientists already know water flowed in the past thanks to the rover’s discovery of an old streambed.

Besides water, life as we know it also needs energy, the sun.

What’s missing are the chemical building blocks of life: com-

by Bill

Barrow Associated Press

A file image shows a color self-portrait of the Mars rover Curiosity. It is set to drive toward a Martian mountain in mid-February after drilling into a rock.

AP Photo

plex carbon-based molecules. If they’re preserved on Mars, scientists figure the best place to hunt for them is at the base of Mount Sharp where images from space reveal hints of interesting geology.

It’s a six-month journey if Curiosity drives nonstop. But since scientists will want to command the six-wheel rover to rest and examine rocky outcrops along the way, it’ll turn into a ninemonth odyssey.

Before Curiosity can tackle a mountain, there’s unfinished business to tend to. After spending the holiday taking measurements of the Martian atmosphere, Curiosity gears up for the first task of the new year: Finding the perfect rock to bore into.

The exercise — from picking a rock to drilling to deciphering its chemical makeup — is expected

to last more than a month.

“We have promised everybody that we’re going to go slowly,” said Grotzinger, a geologist at the California Institute of Technology.

Curiosity’s low-key adventures thus far are in contrast to the drama-filled touchdown that entranced the world in August.

Since the car-size rover was too heavy to land using a parachute and airbags, engineers invented a daring new way that involved lowering it to the surface by cables.

The risky arrival proved so successful and popular that NASA is planning an encore in 2020.

Curiosity joined another NASA rover, Opportunity, which has been exploring the Martian southern hemisphere since 2004. Opportunity’s twin, Spirit, stopped communicating in 2010.

(AP)

Exit the dragon: A troubled, troublesome…

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vised Judicial and Bar Council interviews for the chief justice post again provided sufficient distraction for a population inundated by monsoon rains in the metropolis, though her constant mentioning of God almighty and praise the Lord demeanor seemed to make secular citizens a bit uncomfortable. Many senior justices she bypassed also got lazy attending the Monday flag ceremony.

More pertinent legislation passed the Congress mill that would impact on tax collection, news gathering, the disappeared, as well as cyber-bullying and in-

trigue. The sin tax reform bill has been signed into law by the President, raising the prices of alcohol and tobacco products, with cigarettes bearing the brunt of the additional tax. Also enacted was the so-called desaparecido bill which criminalizes enforced disappearance. The Freedom of Information bill may have to wait till next Congress, giving media access to sensitive government information short of state secrets. The Cybercrime Prevention Act had been earlier signed into law with libel provisions intact, raising the hackles of advocates of freedom of speech and expression.

Two former presidents continued their slide into local government, with Gloria Arroyo aiming for a second term in Congress between trips to court for various cases and stays in hospital, while Joseph Estrada is now gunning for the mayorship of Manila in a projected blockbuster showdown against incumbent Alfredo Lim. No such slow fade is expected of the President after his term in 2016, as Aquino has gone on record to say that his post presidential activities would be centered on finally settling down and maybe raising a family, keep those nicotine stained fingers crossed. n

DR CHONG 1/4

ATLANTA — Florida Gov. Rick Scott, who made a fortune as a health care executive, long opposed President Barack Obama’s remake of the health insurance market. After the Democratic president won re-election, the Republican governor softened his tone. He said he wanted to “have a conversation” with the administration about implementing the 2010 law. With a federal deadline approaching, he also said while Florida won’t set up the exchange for individuals to buy private insurance policies, the feds can do it.

In New Jersey, Gov. Chris Christie held his cards before saying he won’t set up his own exchange, but he’s avoided absolute language and says he could change his mind. He’s also leaving his options open to accept federal money to expand Medicaid insurance for people who aren’t covered. The caveat, Christie says, is whether Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius can “answer my questions” about its operations and expense.

Both Republican governors face re-election in states that Obama won twice, Christie in 2013 and Scott in 2014. And both will encounter well-financed Democrats.

Their apparent struggles on the issue, along with other postures by their GOP colleagues elsewhere, suggest political uncertainty for Republicans as the Affordable Care Act starts to go into effect two years after clearing Congress without a single Republican vote. The risks also are acute for governors in Democratic-leaning or swing-voting states or who know their records will be parsed should they seek the presidency in 2016 or beyond.

“It’s a tough call for many Republican governors who want to do the best thing for their state but don’t want to be seen as advancing an overhaul that many Republicans continue to detest,” said Whit Ayers, a consultant in Virginia whose clients include Gov. Bill Haslam of Tennessee, a Republican who didn’t announce his rejection of a state exchange until days before Sebelius’s Dec. 14 deadline.

Indeed, cracks keep growing in

the near-unanimous Republican rejection of Obama’s health care law that characterized the GOP’s political messaging for the last two years. Five GOP-led states — Idaho, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah — are pressing ahead with state insurance exchanges. Ongoing monitoring

by The Associated Press shows that another five Republican-led states are pursuing or seriously a partnership with Washington to help run the new markets.

Democrats, meanwhile, hope to use the law and Republican inflexibility to their advantage, betting that more Americans will embrace the law once it expands coverage. The calculus for voters, Democrats assume, will become more about the policy and less about a polarizing president.

“It shouldn’t be complicated at all,” said John Anzalone, an Obama pollster who assists Democrats in federal races across the country. Anzalone said Republicans could use their own statesrights argument to justify running exchanges. Instead, he said, “They are blinded by Obama-hatred rather than seeing what’s good for their citizens.”

Governors can set up their own exchanges, partner with Sebelius’ agency or let the federal government do it. The exchanges are set to open Jan. 1, 2014, allowing individuals and businesses to shop online for individual policies from private insurers.

Low- and middle-income individuals will get federal premium subsidies calculated on a sliding income scale. Eighteen states plus Washington, DC, most led

by Democrats, have committed to opening their own exchanges.

The law also calls for raising the income threshold for Medicaid eligibility to cover people making up to 138 percent of the federal poverty line, or about $15,400 a year for an individual. That could add more than 10 million people, most of them childless adults, to the joint state-federal insurance program for low-income and disabled Americans. Together, the exchanges and the Medicaid expansion are expected to reduce the number of uninsured by about 30 million people within the next decade.

A Supreme Court ruling last summer made the Medicaid expansion voluntary, rather than mandatory for states. At least

CDA 1/4

eight governors, all of them Republicans, have already said they have no plans to expand Medicaid.

The complexity is obvious.

National exit polls from last month’s election showed that 49 percent of voters wanted some or all of Obama’s signature legislative achievement rolled back. Among self-identified independents, that number was 58 percent. Among Republicans, it spiked to 81 percent. When asked about the role of government, half of respondents said the notion that government is doing too much fits their views more closely than the idea that government should do more.

Before the election, a national AP-GfK poll suggested that 63 percent of respondents preferred their states to run insurance exchanges, almost double the 32 percent who wanted the federal government to take that role.

And the same electorate that tilts toward repealing some or all of the new law clearly re-elected its champion.

That’s not the most important consideration for governors who face re-election in Republican states. Georgia’s Nathan Deal and Alabama’s Robert Bentley, who also face 2014 campaigns, initially set up advisory commissions to consider how to carry out the health care law, but they’ve since jumped ship. But, unlike others, Deal and Bentley aren’t eyeing national office.

Three Republicans who are viewed as potential national candidates — Rick Perry of Texas, Nikki Haley of South Carolina and Bobby Jindal of Louisiana — were full-throated opponents.

Jindal, the only one of the three who is term-limited, is the incoming chairman of the Republican Governors Association. In that role, he has co-signed more conciliatory letters to Sebelius asking questions to flesh out how the designs might work.

Republican governors also are feeling quiet pressure from hospitals and other providers.

Deal, the Georgia governor, offers the typical argument for saying no: “We can’t afford it.”

But the law envisions the new Medicaid coverage more or less as a replacement of an existing financing situation that pays hospitals to treat the uninsured. The

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Dateline USA

Budget struggle raising anxiety for health care

by Ricardo

Alonso-Zaldivar

Associated Press

WASHINGTON – Confused about the federal budget struggle? So are doctors, hospital administrators and other medical professionals who serve the 100 million Americans covered by Medicare and Medicaid.

Rarely has the government sent so many conflicting signals in so short a time about the bottom line for the health care industry.

Cuts are coming, says Washington, and some could be really big. Yet more government spending is also being promised as President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul advances and millions of uninsured people move closer to getting government-subsidized coverage.

“Imagine a person being told they are going to get a raise, but their taxes are also going to go up and they are going to be paying more for gas,” said Thornton Kirby, president of the South Carolina Hospital Association. “They don’t know if they are going to be taking home more or less. That’s the uncertainty when there are so many variables in play.”

Real money is at stake for big hospitals and small medical practices alike. Government at all levels pays nearly half the nation’s health care tab, with federal funds accounting for most of that.

It’s widely assumed that a budget deal will mean cuts for Medicare service providers. But which ones? How much? And will Medicaid and subsidies to help people get coverage under the health care law also be cut?

As House Speaker John Boehner famously said: “God only knows.” The Ohio Republican was referring to the overall chances of getting a budget deal, but the same can be said of how health care — one-sixth of the economy — will fare.

“There is no political consensus to do anything significant,” said Dan Mendelson, president of Avalere Health, a market analysis firm. “There is a collective walking away from things that matter.

All the stuff on the lists of options becomes impossible, because there is no give-and-take.”

As if things weren’t complicated enough, doctors keep facing their own recurring fiscal cliff, separate from the bigger budget battle but embroiled in it none-

President Barack Obama speaks to reporters in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington after meeting with Congressional leaders regarding the fiscal cliff, Friday, Dec. 28.

AP Photo by Charles Dharapak

theless.

Come Jan. 1, doctors and certain other medical professionals face a 26.5 percent cut in their Medicare payments, the consequence of a 1990s deficit-reduction law gone awry. Lawmakers failed to repeal or replace that law even after it became obvious that it wasn’t working. Instead, Congress usually passes a “doc fix” each year to waive the cuts.

This year, the fix got hung up in larger budget politics. Although a reprieve is expected sooner or later, doctors don’t like being told to sit in the congressional waiting room.

“It seems like there is a presumption that physicians and patients can basically tolerate this kind of uncertainty while the Congress goes through whatever political machinations they are going through,” said Dr. Jeremy Lazarus, president of the American Medical Association. “Our concern is that physician uncertainty and anxiety about being able to pay the bills will have an impact on taking care of patients.”

A recent government survey indicates that Medicare beneficiaries are having more problems when trying to find a new primary care doctor, and Lazarus said that will only get worse.

Adding to their unease, doctors also face an additional reduction if automatic spending cuts go through. Those would be triggered if Obama and congressional leaders are unable to bridge partisan differences and strike a deal.

They are part of the combination of tax increases and spending cuts dubbed the “fiscal cliff.”

Medicare service providers would get hit with a 2 percent

across-the-board cut, but Medicaid and subsidies for the uninsured under Obama’s health care overhaul would be spared. The Medicare cut adds up to about $120 billion over ten years, with 40 percent falling on hospitals, according to Avalare’s analysis.

Nursing homes, Medicare Advantage plans and home health agencies also get hit.

The American Hospital Association says that would lead to the loss of hundreds of thousands of hospital jobs in a labor intensive industry that also generates employment for other businesses in local communities.

“It’s very difficult to believe hospitals can absorb the kinds of numbers they are talking about without reducing service or workforce,” said Kirby, the hospital association head. “You may decide that a service a hospital provides is not affordable — for example, obstetrics in a rural community — if you’re making a little bit of money or losing a little bit of money by continuing to deliver babies in a rural community.”

Independent analysts like Mendelson doubt that a 2 percent Medicare cut to hospitals would be catastrophic, but say it will cost jobs somewhere.

Even if there is a budget deal, the squeeze will be on.

The administration has proposed $400 billion in health care cuts so far in the budget talks, coming mainly from Medicare spending. That’s only a starting point as far as Republicans are concerned. They also want to pare back Medicaid and Obama’s health care law, and have also sought an increase in the eligibility age for Medicare. n

LA MIDWEEK ASIAN JOURNAL • JANUARY 2-4, 2013

Obama wants gun violence measures passed in 2013

by Jim

Kuhnhenn Associated Press

WASHINGTON – Recalling the shooting rampage that killed 20 first graders as the worst day of his presidency, President Barack Obama on Sunday pledged to put his “full weight” behind legislation aimed at preventing gun violence.

Obama voiced skepticism about the National Rifle Association’s proposal to put armed guards in schools following the Dec. 14 tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. The president made his comments in an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Instead, the president vowed to rally the American people around an agenda to limit gun violence, adding that he still supports increased background checks and bans on assault weapons and high-capacity bullet magazines.

He left no doubt it will be one of his top priorities next year.

“It is not enough for us to say, ‘This is too hard so we’re not going to try,’” Obama said.

“I think there are a vast majority of responsible gun owners out there who recognize that we can’t have a situation in which somebody with severe psychological problems is able to get the kind of high capacity weapons that this individual in Newtown obtained and gun down our kids,” he added. “And, yes, it’s going to be hard.”

The president added that he’s ready to meet with Republicans and Democrats, anyone with a stake in the issue.

The schoolhouse shootings, coming as families prepared for

GOP… PAGE A4 t law contemplates cuts in that program, which already requires state seed money. The idea was that expanding Medicaid coverage would reduce “uncompensated care” costs.

“Some of those cuts were made with the expectation that Medicaid would be expanded and that hospitals would be paid for portions of business that we are not being paid for now,” said Don Dalton of the North Carolina Hospital Association. n

HANLON 1/2

the holidays, have elevated the issue of gun violence to the forefront of public attention. Six adult staff members were also killed at the elementary school. Shooter Adam Lanza committed suicide, apparently as police closed in.

Earlier, he had killed his mother at the home they shared.

The tragedy immediately prompted calls for greater gun controls. But the NRA is strongly resisting those efforts, arguing instead that schools should have armed guards for protection.

Some gun enthusiasts have rushed to buy semiautomatic rifles of the type used by Lanza, fearing sales may soon be restricted.

Obama seemed unimpressed by the NRA proposal. “I am skeptical that the only answer is putting more guns in schools,” he said. “And I think the vast majority of the American people are skeptical that that somehow is going to solve our problem.”

The president said he intends to press the issue with the public.

“The question then becomes whether we are actually shook up enough by what happened here that it does not just become another one of these routine episodes where it gets a lot of attention for a couple of weeks and then it drifts away,” Obama said. “It certainly won’t feel like that to me. This is something that - you know, that was the worst day of my presidency. And it’s not something that I want to see repeated.”

Separately, a member of the president’s cabinet said Sunday that rural America may be ready to join a national conversation about gun control. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the debate has to start with respect for the Second Amendment right to bear arms and recognition that hunting is a way of life for millions of Americans.

But Vilsack said Newtown has

A

changed the way people see the issue. “I really believe that this is a different circumstance and a different situation,” Vilsack said on CNN. Vilsack said he thinks it’s possible for Americans to come together. “It’s potentially a unifying conversation,” he said. “The problem is that these conversations are always couched in the terms of dividing us. This could be a unifying conversation, and Lord knows we need to be unified.”

Besides passing gun violence legislation, Obama also listed deficit reduction and immigration as top priorities for 2013. A big deficit reduction deal with Republicans proved elusive this month, and Obama is now hoping Senate Democratic and Republican leaders salvage a scaled-back plan that avoids tax increases for virtually all Americans.

In addition, he issued a defense of former Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, who has been mentioned as one of the leading candidates to replace Leon Panetta as defense secretary.

Hagel supported the 2002 resolution approving US military action in Iraq, but later became a critic of the war. He has been denounced by some conservatives for not being a strong enough ally of Israel. Also, many liberals and gay activists have banded against him for comments he made in 1998 about an openly gay nominee for an ambassadorship Obama, who briefly served with Hagel in the Senate, stressed that he had yet to make a decision but called Hagel a “patriot.”

Hagel “served this country with valor in Vietnam,” the president said. “And (he) is somebody who’s currently serving on my intelligence advisory board and doing an outstanding job.”

Obama noted that Hagel had apologized for his 14-year-old remark on gays. n

CONTINENTAL 1/32

A JANUARY 2-4, 2013 • LA MIDWEEK ASIAN JOURNAL

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Opinion

Features

Subsistence

2012 was generally a good year for Filipinos.

Triumphs were made, losses were faced, and lessons were learned.

Filipinos are starting the year right, looking forward to 2013 with hope.

In its recent survey, Social Weather Station (SWS) revealed that nine out of ten Pinoys are hopeful rather that fearful in the new year. This was the predominant sentiment among respondents in Luzon (96 percent), Metro Manila (93 percent), and the Visayas (93 percent).

“At home and around the world, the Philippines has become recognized as a bastion of stability and good governance. Through hard work, deft decision-making, and intense political will, the President has laid down the foundations of justice and inclusive growth. Through it all, he continues to clean house, eliminate waste, and put primacy on restoring public trust in our institutions,” said Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda.

Lacierda said 2013 can be a banner year with ““more reason for Filipinos to travel on the straight path under the leadership of President Aquino and the adherents to his noble cause.”

“In 2012, we turned the corner, fixed the damage wrought by the crooked ways of the past, and established further that the straight path is the only way forward. Despite the tragedies that have visited the country in 2012—from natural disasters

to the untimely demise of a beloved reformist—the Filipino people have shown that their spirit cannot be broken. As the administration embarks on 2013, there is all the more reason for Filipinos to travel on the straight path under the leadership of President Aquino and the adherents to his noble cause,” he added.

The past year witnessed the Philippines posting an economic growth as high as 7.1 percent in the third quarter.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has raised the country’s economic growth forecast to 4.9 percent in 2013. The country’s growth path IMF says, backed by sound policy management, enjoys a “solid momentum.”

Likewise, the government assured Pinoys that the growth will soon be felt by everyone through job generation and pro-poor programs.

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) also expressed optimism that the country will finally reduce its poverty level with the expansion of government’s investments in social services, alongside respectable economic growth and stable inflation.

However, the impact of such growth has not been the same for everyone.

While some Pinoys have fared well, the poor

Editorial

seem to lack behind and have not been able to capitalize on the potential created by the economy.

Economic growth should jobs and industries, people will benefit from. A 7.1 percent growth should lead to millions of new jobs, and higher wages for those already employed.

Our situation is far from dire. Yes, we can do bet-

ManilaTimes.net photo

ter in terms of inclusive economic performance, but since most of the problems are self-inflicted, the solutions are not too far.

To start the year right, everyone is held responsible to address priorities that not only ensure a solution to the current crisis, but also to prevent its recurrence. (AJPress)

Arming good guys: Solution to gun violence?

WITH several mass killings in the past years, finally, the demand and push for solutions to solve gun violence in America has reached a tipping point.

More than two weeks ago, twenty young innocent first graders and six school personnel were brutally slaughtered by a lone young gun man in Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

The gunman was 20-year old Adam Lanza, who used his mother’s two pistols and a Bushmaster semi-automatic rifle -- a civilian version of the military’s M-16 that is legal to own in many states.

After killing 26 victims and his own mother at their house, Lanza committed suicide. Adam reportedly learned how to shoot from his gun-collecting mom.

President Barack Obama pledged to “use all the powers of this office” to identify and promote new policies to address the scourge of gun violence.

He tapped Vice President Joe Biden to head a task force composed of Cabinet members, members of Congress and outside organizations, which would submit a “very specific” set of proposals to Congress in January.

In the wake of the Newtown massacre, more Americans now favor stricter gun control laws.

Gallup Poll conducted a survey from December 19-22, 2012 which found that 58 percent of Americans are in favor of strengthening the laws cov-

IN THE wake of the pre-Christmas masStreet sacre of 20 school children and 6 teach- Talk ers and school officials in Connecticut, National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre is Greg B. Macabenta once more being portrayed as TheGrinch who’s stealing the joys of the season.

Like the predictable blame-passing and pompous proposals that follow every natural catastrophe in the Philippines, shooting sprees in America staged by mentally unbalanced individuals, many of them in their teens, unleash a familiar torrent of protests against the easy availability in the US of high-powered firearms, and proposals for stricter gun controls.

But the gun lobby in America and the attitude of Americans, as a whole, are more powerful than the grief of parents and the citizenry. It is unlikely that any legislation that will tend to deprive Americans of the right to keep and bear arms, enshrined in the Second Amendment to the Constitution, will gain any traction.

What could happen is less resistance from opponents of gun control to laws restricting purchase and ownership of high-powered automatic weapons.

That has already happened in California, which has some of the strictest gun laws in the US. To purchase a handgun in California, one has to have a Handgun Safety Certificate obtained by passing a written test. Private sales of firearms must be done through a licensed dealer and handguns sold by dealers have to be

ering the sale of firearms -- up from 43 percent in 2011.

The Fil-Am Several state and federal lawmakers have already an- Perspective nounced that they will seek to ban both semi-automatic rifle and high-capacity ammunition magazines from the commerGel Santos-Relos cial market.

However, the same poll by Gallup also revealed that Americans’ views on the sale of assault rifles are unchanged. The slight majority (51 percent) still opposed the idea of making assault rifles illegal to manufacture, sell, or possess.

One of the many groups who demanded that President Obama and Congress come up with a plan to end gun violence is Demand A Plan.

As Balitang America reported, this is a group which is composed of more than 800 mayors and 800,000 grassroots supporters.

Organizers of Demand a Plan say that “they cannot bring back the people lost in Newtown, nor the 33 people murdered with guns everyday in America,” but together, they say America can prevent future tragedies “by passing common sense legislation that will require a criminal background check for every gun sold in America, ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines and make gun trafficking a federal crime, including real pen-

alties for ‘straw purchasers.’”

Organizers say more than 300,000 Americans have signed the petition on their website, www. demandaplan.org.

Balitang America further reported that popular personalities (like Ellen Degeneres, Julianne Moore, Courtney Cox, Jennifer Aniston, Gwyneth Palthrow, Brooke Shields, Conan O’Brien and many more) have used their celebrity status to help the organization in furthering the cause.

They took turns saying the lines: “How many more? How many more? Enough. Enough.

Enough. Demand a plan. Right now… as a mom, as a dad, as a friend, as a husband, as a wife. As an American. As a human being. For the children of Sandy Hook.”

Despite the broad public outcry favoring the passing of stricter gun-control laws, President Obama faces formidable forces from Congress and pro-gun groups that may still keep the legislation process dormant.

Republicans still hold majority in the House for the next two years. While Democrats rule the Senate, there are still enough gun-rights votes to stall a bill. It may still be a big challenge for President Obama to win the support of lawmakers from both parties (Yes, not just Republicans). As TIME

Magazine reported, there are still those who are “beholden to the gun lobby or at least lack the will to challenge it.”

One such pro-gun lobby group is the National Rifle Association (NRA). As Balitang America reported, instead of the public clamor for less guns, the NRA has put forward a solution that is asking for more guns.

In fact, NRA Executive Director Wayne LaPierre recently said: “The thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.” To achieve this, his plan is to hire armed guards for every school in America.

Others propose that teachers and other school personnel should be trained and allowed to carry guns in school, in order to be equipped to protect school children from bad guys with guns.

Where will this renewed passion and mission to end gun violence in America take us? What should President Obama do to attain this goal, while still protecting the “right to bear arms,” as mandated by the US Constitution? Will arming good guys be the solution to gun violence? *** 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

Give a child a gun for Christmas?

listed in a roster of weapons certified for sale.

Firearms sales are recorded by the state and require a ten-day waiting period. Most of all, the California State Constitution does not explicitly guarantee an individual’s right to keep and bear arms. However, many of California’s gun laws are being challenged in the US Supreme Court, based on the Second Amendment.

In many other states of the Union, the sale and purchase of firearms, including assault weapons, is unrestricted.

People may carry concealed weapons and even openly carry them.

This could explain why the US leads the world in terms of gun violence. According to media reports, compared to 11 homicides in 2008 in Japan, which does not allow private ownership of guns, except those for hunting and sports (and only after stringent clearance procedures), the US, had 9,484.

Records indicate that California and six other states with the strictest gun laws rank among the top ten states with the lowest per capita rates of gun deaths.

But despite overwhelming empirical evidence that restrictions on gun ownership result in a reduction of gun violence and deaths, America’s macho culture – routinely glorified in Hollywood Westerns and Rambo films – simply had a reverse effect on the citizenry following the massacre in Connecticut.

Reacting to news that stricter gun laws would make it more difficult for Americans to buy firearms, especially high-powered ones, the sale of these weapons have gone through the roof.

Inventory in many gun stores has run low. Like folks stocking up on foodstuff in anticipation of a hurricane, people have been rushing to buy their weapons before the laws make it difficult to do so.

Their attitude, it seems, is that, if there are crazed gunmen roaming the streets, they had better be in a position to protect themselves. Thus, the race to stock up on firearms.

NRA’s LaPierre couldn’t have stated this attitude more clearly when, in response to the outcry against gun violence, he proposed posting police and armed security guards at schools.

“Think about it. We care about our money, so we protect our banks with armed guards. American airports, office buildings, power plants, courthouses — even sports stadiums — are all protected by armed security.

“We care about the President, so we protect him with armed Secret Service agents. Members of Congress work in offices surrounded by armed Capitol Police officers.

“Yet when it comes to the most beloved, innocent and vulnerable members of the American family — our children — we as a society leave them utterly defenseless, and the monsters and predators of this world know it and exploit it. That must change now!”

Refusing to concede that the proliferation of guns is one of the root causes of gun violence, LaPierre also passed the buck to another bogeyman: “There exists in this country a callous, corrupt and corrupting shadow industry that sells, and sows, violence against its own people. Through vicious, violent video games with names like Bulletstorm, Grand Theft Auto,

Mortal Kombat and Splatterhouse. And here’s one: it’s called Kindergarten Killers. It’s been online for 10 years. How come my research department could find it and all of yours either couldn’t or didn’t want anyone to know you had found it?

“Then there’s the blood-soaked slasher films like American Psycho and Natural Born Killers that are aired like propaganda loops on ‘Splatterdays’ and every day, and a thousand music videos that portray life as a joke and murder as a way of life. And then they have the nerve to call it ‘entertainment.’...A child growing up in America witnesses 16,000 murders and 200,000 acts of violence by the time he or she reaches the ripe old age of 18.”

The reaction to LaPierre’s proposal was one of derision, as reported in US media. Mayor Michael Nutter of Philadelphia called LaPierre’s proposal of armed guards in schools “insane” and added that the man “had clearly watched too many old Westerns.”

Mayor Bloomberg of New York called LaPierre’s speech “a shameful evasion of the crsis facing our country.”

It is obvious that the proponents of stricter gun laws and those against them are digging in and hanging on to their rationales, shutting their ears to the arguments of either side. And that is the tragedy following the massacre.

Among those with whom I have discussed the senseless killings, no one has conceded that both President Obama and LaPierre have a point.

Obama has proposed stricter gun laws. LaPierre wants armed guards in schools and public places and controls on the pervasive culture of violence propagated by media and the enter-

tainment industry.

I recall the wild and wooly days back in Manila before the declaration of martial law, when everyone and his uncle carried a gun. That included me. It was part of the macho culture. It was reminiscent of LaPierre’s rationale: carry a gun to protect yourself from crazy gun wielders.

Then one day, while accompanying my wife to Divisoria, a burly man bumped her. Whether or not he did it on purpose did not matter to me. I instinctively reached for my gun. Mercifully, I stopped to think: Am I going to shoot someone FOR THIS? Suddenly, my gut reaction made absolutely no sense. It was the fact that I had a gun that caused me to react the way I did. I realized that I was about to become the crazy gun wielder that I needed protection from.

The next day, I left the gun in the house and never took it out again.

It’s simple logic: No guns in the house within easy reach means that the crazy Adam Lanzas will have no weapons for mass killings and impulsive macho men like Rolito Go will have no gun to use on defenseless motorists.

On the other hand, until someone has a brighter idea to protect America’s school children, doesn’t it make sense to shield them the way America protects the nation’s president? And LaPierre is right. A daily dose of killings in video games and on TV and films will continue to raise generations of potential Adam Lanzas. And one day, something’s got to give.

Meanwhile, how many of us bought toy guns for our kids this Christmas? *** Email 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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Dateline Philippines

9 of 10 Pinoys hopeful in 2013

Congressmen voting on the Reproductive Health (RH) bill.

MANILA – 9 in 10 Filipino adults will welcome the New Year with hope rather than fear, the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed.

“Hope for the coming year is widespread across all areas,” the Fourth Quarter 2012 Social Weather Survey, conducted from Dec. 8 to 11, said.

The 92 percent hopeful in the coming year, however, was three points lower than the recordhigh 95 percent registered in 2002 and 2011.

Hope for the coming year has customarily been at high levels, starting at 87 percent when ManilaTimes.net Photo by Miguel de Guzman it was first polled in December 2000, and at 88 percent in December 2001, the SWS said.

The December 2012 survey of Pulse Asia also showed 92 percent of adult Filipinos will face the year 2013 with hope rather than apprehension.

New Year Hope lower in Minsaddened by the passage of the Reproductive Health (RH) bill and its enactment, said the law danao Compared to 2011, New Year is the worst Christmas gift our leaders can give the people.”

“Christmas is a celebration of human life that comes from God, the one who conceived was a teenager and she brought to life into the world [the Baby Jesus) by the Holy Spirit of Christmas.

Therefore, it is a celebration of human life that comes from God, it comes with the cooperation of a teenager and God. Kaya (That’s why) the RH law is s the worst Christmas gift,” Archbishop Quevedo stressed.

The report also quoted Quevedo saying that the Catholic Church will continue to fight, seeking the Supreme Court’s help.

“It will be a legal action but also it will be a prayerful action. Prayers are needed for this,” he said.

The ABS-CBN report also quoted Moro Islamic Liberation Front 1st vice chairman Ghadzali Jaafar, who “also expressed his strong opposition to the RH [law].”

“Jaafar said the lawmakers’ move to push through with family planning methods is good, but the usage of contraceptive is prohibited in Islam.

The story by Lalaine Bolongon and Lore Mae Andong of ABS-CBN gave these pro-life words by Jaafar: “Kahit sino mang tao, ipinagbabawal talaga ang pumatay ng inosente kasi ‘yang fetus kapag nasa sinapupunan na ng ina, tao na ‘yan, may buhay na ‘yan. Family planning hindi bawal sa Islam.

But generally ang taong ipinanganak sa mundo may budget na ‘yan kay Allah. Every [normal] person knows that it is forbidden to kill the innocent, [who in this case] is the innocent fetus, because the fetus in the womb of the mother is a human life. Islam does not forbid family planning.

But generally every human being already has a budget from Allah.]”

Pro-life people believe – as respected social scientists do – that implementing the contraceptive intentions and processes prescribed by Republic Act 10354 (Reproductive Health Act of 2012) will lead to the Philippines being beset by the breakdown of moral and social values.

They also believe it will also destroy the family and the authority of parents over their children.

It will bring to the Philippines what the USA, Europe, Japan, Singapore are suffering from: The “demographic winter” and the empty cradle syndrome. n

Pro-life movement will continue to fight RH Law in court

by Joaquin

B. Sar

ManilaTimes.net

MANILA – Former Catholic Bishop Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) President Orlando Quevedo, Archbishop of Cotabato has called the Republic Act 10354 (Reproductive Health Act of 2012) “the worst Christmas gift our leaders can give to the people.”

President Benigno Aquino III signed the RH bill into law earlier this week.

What is known as Republic Act 10354 (Reproductive Health Act of 2012) was passed by both the House and the Senate, and swiftly ratified by the bicameral conference of the two houses.

Passage quickly transpired after the President used his persuasive powers, including, it was reported, his power to withhold pork barrel funds.

The SunsStar reported on Saturday that “in a brief statement, CBCP–Episcopal Commission on Family and Life (ECFL) Executive Secretary Fr. Melvin Castro said it is lamentable” how the government that vowed to observe “transparency in governance has kept the signing a secret.”

The report quotes Dr. Castro saying, “That the RH bill was signed into law in the cover of darkness and secrecy, only the President knows why” and “If such signing did not merit media and public attention, it only goes to show that such a law is not meritorious at all.”

Fr. Castro and other CBCP figures have vowed not to stop the fight against the RHB law, which promotes “the Culture of Death” by funding the free use of abortifacient medicines, pills and devices.

The CBCP together with groups of Roman Catholic pro-life organizations have been the most active opponents of RH, which they say is a misnomer for a population control law.

On Friday, December 28 – which Catholics commemorated as the Feast of the Holy Innocents (the two-year-old and younger children murdered

by Herod’s troops seeking to kill Jesus) – the prolife groups launched the nationwide Million Red Ribbons for Life Movement.

The campaign aims to keep the majority of Filipinos remain pro-life and unwilling to go along with the pro-abortifacient pro-contraceptive intent of the RH law.

An ABS-CBN News report by Lalaine Bolongon and Lore Mae Andong of ABS-CBN News Central Mindanao, said that a former CBCP president, the Cotabato City Archbishop Orlando Quevedo,

hope hardly changed in balance Luzon (95 to 96 percent).

In the other three areas, however, New Year hope slightly declined as fear for the coming New Year increased.

In Mindanao, New Year hope declined by nine points to 85 percent in 2012 after reaching 94 percent in 2011.

The 85 percent New Year hope in Mindanao is the lowest recorded since the 84 percent in 2005 who were hopeful of entering 2006, the SWS said.

In the Visayas, New Year Hope slightly declined to 93 percent in 2012 from 96 percent in 2011 and 97 percent in 2010. Those who fear the coming 2013 doubled from three percent in 2011 to seven percent in 2012.

In Metro Manila, New Year hope slightly declined to 93 percent in 2012 from 96 percent in both 2010 and 2011. Those who fear the coming 2013 doubled from three percent in 2011 to six percent in 2012.

The SWS noted that New Year hope was highest among classes A, B, and C. New Year hope among classes ABC increased to 100 percent in 2012 from 97 percent in both 2010 and 2011.

Among class D, New Year hope slightly declined to 93 percent in 2012 from 96 percent in 2011 and 95 percent in 2010.

Fear of the coming New Year, however, increased to six percent in 2012 from three percent in 2011.

Among class E, New Year hope declined to 89 percent in 2012 after recovering to 93 percent in 2011 from 89 percent in 2010.

Fear of the coming New Year increased to 11 percent from six percent in 2011.

SWS said the survey question on hope versus fear about the New Year was patterned after the polls conducted annually by the Allensbach Institute of Demoskopy, a pioneering opinion research center in Germany. (Philstar.com)

FAMILY CARE 1/8

China now extracting oil from disputed waters

by Pia Lee-Brago Philstar.com

MANILA – China’s largest offshore oil and gas producer has announced that two of its oil fields in disputed waters in the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea) have started production.A report of the state-owned China Daily on December 29 said the China National Offshore Oil Co. Ltd. (CNOOC) announced on Friday the operation of the oil fields in the contested waters.

In a statement, the CNOOC said both oil fields are located in the Pearl River Estuary Basin.

The report said the Panyu 42/5-1 field, one of the two oil fields, is expected to reach its peak output level in 2014.

The CNOOC owns 75.5 percent of the field, while Burlington Resources China Llc. owns the rest.

The other field was identified as Liuhua 4-1. The company owns it completely and expects its production to peak next year.

In June, the CNOOC announced it would open nine new blocks in the South China Sea to bids for exploration and development.

The blocks are in disputed waters directly off Vietnam’s coast, in some cases within 100 nautical miles of Vietnam’s shores.

A few days later, the Chinese Defense Ministry announced that it was preparing to start regular naval patrols in the waters around the Spratly Islands, which are being claimed also

by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam.

Vietnam protested the CNOOC announcement on the opening of nine oil and gas lots for international bidders in areas overlapping with existing Vietnamese exploration blocks. Vietnam

said the lots lie entirely within its 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone and continental shelf.

Malacañang, on the other hand, said the Philippine government would continue to call on China to respect the country’s territorial integrity and sovereignty as stipulated in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Malacañang issued the statement after the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) protested China’s sending of an oceangoing patrol vessel to disputed waters in the West Philippine Sea on Thursday.

“The Philippines again calls on China to respect our territorial sovereignty and EEZ (exclusive economic zone). The Philippines strongly objects to the Chinese patrol of Philippine maritime domain in the West Philippine Sea,” the DFA said.

“Such patrol will not validate the nine-dash lines and is contrary to China’s obligation under international law including UNCLOS,” the DFA added.

China announced the deployment of Haixun 21, the first oceangoing patrol vessel equipped with a helipad, to conduct maritime patrol in the West Philippine Sea. Haixun 21 is the first of its kind to be put into service in the West Philippine Sea and will be under the administration of the Hainan Maritime Safety Administration, according to state-run Xinhua news agency.

Haixun 21, which is equipped with a helipad, is under the control of the Hainan Maritime Safety Administration.

Huang He, deputy head of the maritime bureau of the Ministry of Transport, said the vessel’s principal mission is to monitor maritime traffic safety, investigate maritime accidents, detect

pollution, carry out search and rescue work, and fulfill international conventions.

The Chinese Defense Ministry said China only intends to build “harmonious oceans” and protect its maritime sovereignty with its deployment of patrols in the disputed waters.

Malacañang said it remains committed to finding a peaceful resolution to the dispute and avoiding provocative actions.

It said President Aquino is now being recognized in the global community as a champion of peace with his vigorous effort to bring the issue to a multilateral and diplomatic conclusion.

The government earlier in May asked the Federation of FilipinoChinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. (FFCCCII) to consider investing in Philippine companies undertaking exploration activities in the country’s continental shelf.

Assistant Secretary Gilberto Asuque of the DFA’s Ocean Concerns Office encouraged the federation’s members during a meeting organized by the FFCCCII in Manila to invest in an energy exploration project in the Philippines’ continental shelf that includes Recto Bank (Reed Bank), which China is also claiming as its own.

Scientific data showed the West Philippine Sea contains vast deposits of oil and natural gas. The area around Recto Bank alone has an estimated 16.6 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, enough to last for a century, according to the Department of Energy.

Asuque also assured the public that the government is protecting the rights of Filipinos in their territory as well as the Philippines’ marine resources as provided for under local and international laws, including the UNCLOS. n

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COMMUNITY

LA MIDWEEK ASIAN JOURNAL • january 2-4, 2013

Journal Business News

BSP sees sustained economic gains in 2013

by Prinz

P. Magtulis Philstar.com

MANILA—The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is optimistic the country’s economic gains this year could be duplicated in 2013 as it touted its achievements a day after the government reported its own.

“With six to seven-percent growth and 3.1 percent inflation, that is a performance that basically matches the performance of 2012. It is a continuation of strong combination of strong GDP growth and stable inflation,” BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. told reporters on Dec. 26.

The Aquino administration has set a six to seven-percent growth goal next year, while BSP forecasts inflation will hit 3.1 percent. The outlook is within the latter’s three to five-percent target in 2013.

The Philippines enjoyed what investors and analysts call a “sweet spot” this year, characterized by strong gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 6.5 percent as of the third quarter— beating official targets— and tamed inflation of 3.2 percent as of November.

Normally, a fast growth in GDP— the sum of all products created and services rendered in an economy— results in an upshot in the prices of goods and services, hurting consumers. In the case of the Philippines however, both have remained well managed in 2012.

All these were achieved despite challenging global economic times with Europe and US still trying to get out of their respective crises. Tetangco said he does not see any reason why the strong economic performance could not be maintained next year.

“We have an election year next year, and then

there is PPP (public-private partnership). If the signs of recovery strengthen, then we will also have higher exports and therefore higher manufacturing activity,” the BSP chief explained.

“And then you have the anchor of driver of consumption. Given all of these, we expect sustained strong economic growth next year,” he added.

As for inflation, Tetangco is confident prices will remain tamed even as demand is expected to pick up further as a result of the senatorial elections. A strong peso, which gives more purchasing power to consumers, is expected to help achieve that.

“The experience in the past was there was some uptick in the inflation rate at around the time of the election. But not such is not significant and non-persistent,” Tetangco said.

“The exchange rate is projected by market players to be firm,” he added.

In a statement released last Dec. 26, the central bank said it pursued its mandate of price and financial stability “carefully” this year as well as ensure banks remain healthy and able to lend to finance economic activity.

It cited the four rate cuts it implemented this year that brought borrowing and lending rates to record low of 3.5 percent and 5.5 percent, respectively. This “led to lower bank lending rates that helped encourage domestic investment and consumption,” it explained.

Banks have also been well-capitalized, BSP said, putting them at a comfortable situation once Basel III banking reforms take effect in January 2014. The reforms are concentrated on having more capital and better liquidity management to avoid a repeat of the 2008 global financial crisis.

“We are better prepared for Basel III than other jurisdictions in the West,” Tetangco said.

PH economy on track to full recovery – NEDA

MANILA—After three consecutive quarters of robust growth, the Philippine economy now appears en route to a full recovery this year from a lackluster showing in 2011.

The country’s chief economic planner, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) director general Arsenio M. Balisacan, said he expects gross domestic product (GDP) growth to surpass the target range of five to six percent in 2012.

GDP expanded at a two-year high of 7.1 percent in the third quarter, pushing the nine-month figure to 6.5 percent. In 2011,

growth registered at a relatively feeble 3.7 percent compared with a rapid 7.6 percent clip in 2010, the fastest in three decades.

“We posted the fastest economic growth within the ASEAN region. We are well on our way to surpassing our growth target of five to six percent this year and this economic expansion continues to be broad-based, as almost all sectors posted higher year-on-year growth rates,” Balisacan said.

In the third quarter, Indonesia came in second in terms of GDP growth with 6.2 percent, fol-

lowed by Malaysia (5.2 percent), Vietnam (4.7 percent), Thailand (three percent) and Singapore (0.3 percent).

“As you can see, our efforts at good governance are beginning to bear fruit. But we know that our task is far from over,” Balisacan noted.

He pointed out that for the economy to really get off the ground, it must grow by at least the same rate consistently for the next two decades.

For example, Balisacan said for the Philippines to hike real per capita income two-fold in 15

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Community Journal

Clients’ Bill of Rights

Immigration Edge Atty. Daniel Hanlon Every year, I write hundreds of articles for the press dealing, in general terms, with new immigration laws, regulations and interpretations impacting hundreds of thousands of immigrants both inside and outside the US. Rather than start off this New Year with an article regarding new changes in the law or changing interpretations as to what can be done, legally, for clients in certain circumstances; I decided to publish an article about how things should be done, in practice, for clients seeking the highest quality legal representation. Clients should be aware that when they hire an attorney to represent them in their immigration matters, the attorney owes them several duties under both State Bar ethical rules and contract law. In order to help clients understand what they duties are and how to better obtain the benefits of the services they bargained for in retaining the attorney, I present this Clients’ Bill of Rights.

First of all, you, the client, have a right to a competent consultation with the attorney whose representation you seek. This means that when you schedule your initial consultation appointment with the attorney, whether paid or free, you have a right to

meet with that attorney and that attorney owes you a duty to listen to the facts of your case, review the procedural background and documents and render a competent opinion. You have a right to understand the strategy to be implemented in the case, such that the attorney owes you a reasoned explanation as to how he intends to go about helping you. You do not have to settle for meeting with a “paralegal” or “assistant” to start work on your case. If this is what the attorney’s office presents to you as an appropriate starting point for your case; you have the right to walk out and consult with another attorney.

You also have a right to a written retainer contract, which must clearly describe the services the attorney will provide and how you are to pay for the services. State Bar rules require that the retainer agreement be sufficiently detailed so as to inform the client as to exactly what the contract includes. You have a right to know what you are paying for! In this regard, you have a right to be charged a fair fee for the services to be rendered.

State Bar rules strictly prohibit an attorney from entering into an agreement for or charging an “unconscionable” or unreasonably excessive fee. Factors included to determine whether a fee is unconscionable include: The amount of the fee in proportion to the value of the services

performed, the relative sophistication of the attorney versus the client and the uniqueness and difficulty of the questions involved and the skill required to perform the legal service properly.

One measure of a fee’s reasonableness is also the standard or “going rate” for similar services among similarly competent and experienced attorneys in the same field. If you think you have been charged an unreasonable or unconscionable fee, you have a right to seek a second opinion on the case and also to seek State or local bar fee arbitration.

If the attorney has violated his ethical duties to charge only a reasonable fee and not abuse his relative sophistication or, worse, coerces you into signing the agreement through exaggerated claims of the attorney’s rate of success or fame, you have a right to walk away from the client and go to a higher authority.

You also have a right to the benefit of whatever bargain you have struck with the attorney, which means you have a right to speak to that attorney, meet with that attorney or email that attorney and obtain satisfactory answers regarding any factors impacting your case as well as progress and developments.

When you sign the retainer agreement, you should be facing the attorney you hire. Once you have signed the retainer and paid the attorney, you have a

right to that attorney’s representation. You did not hire a “paralegal” or the firm’s office manager. If your calls are unanswered or you are only allowed to speak to the paralegal after you hire the attorney, you have the right to hire a new attorney who will honor the retainer contract and actively represent you; not hide behind a paralegal and ignore your phone calls and emails.

In addition to these rights, you also have the “self-evident” right to be treated with dignity and respect. Too often I hear stories from people who were denied access to their attorneys at other firms, only to be belittled and derided by the paralegals; when they finally get a chance to speak to the paralegal! When you hire an attorney, you are hiring a professional. A true professional will adhere to the rules of ethical conduct and basic human decency in carrying out his duties toward his clients. If you are receiving anything less from your attorney, you have the right to take your case, and hard-earned money, somewhere else. *** Daniel P. Hanlon is a California State Bar Certified Specialist in Immigration and Nationality Law and a principal of Hanlon Law Group, PC, located at 225 S. Lake Ave., 11th Floor in Pasadena, California; Tel. No. (626) 585-8005. Hanlon Law Group, PC is a “full-service Immigration Law firm.” Email: visas@hanlonlawgroup.com and www. hanlonlawgroup.com.

(Advertising Supplement)

PH imports up 4.3% in October

by Louella

D. Desiderio Philstar.com

MANILA—The country saw merchandise imports continue to rise in October from a year ago due to higher purchases of electronic products, metal scraps, cereals, transport and telecommunication equipment as well as industrial machinery.

The National Statistics Office (NSO) reported on December 28 that imports went up 4.3 percent to $5.240 billion in October from last year’s $5.024 billion.

“Metalliferous ores and metal scrap, cereals and cereal preparations, transport equipment, telecommunication equipment and electrical machinery, electronic products and industrial machinery and equipment, all contributed to the overall growth in imports for the period,” it said.

But while October imports increased year-on-year, it went down slightly by 0.5 percent compared to the previous month’s level of $5.266 billion.

For the January to October period, imports posted a slight increase of 0.9 percent to $51.275 billion from the same period in 2011.

University of the Philippines economist Benjamin Diokno said in a text message on December 28 that given year-to-date imports, it is impossible for the government to meet its official imports target of 12 percent for the year.

“For the government to meet its imports growth target, imports have to grow 45 percent in November and December,” he said.

“But that’s impossible given the weak-growing and uncertain world economy,” he said further.

Late last month, the interagency Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC), which sets the country’s macroeconomic assumptions, trimmed the imports growth goal this year to seven percent from 12 percent amid uncertainties in the global economy.

The NSO said payments for inward shipments of electronic products, which rose 8.7 percent to $1.345 billion from last year, accounted for the bulk of the import bill in October.

Payments for imports of metalliferous ores and metal scrap surged 326.4 percent to $222.93 million from a year ago.

Purchases of cereal and cereal preparations also grew 120.7 percent to $187.67 million compared to last year.

Transport equipment brought to the country from overseas

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How bankruptcy can help you rebuild your finances, your credit and your life

When debts spiral out of control, bankruptcy can become an invaluable financial recovery tool in stemming the tide and getting you back on the right track. While it’s not for everyone, more than 1.5 million people evAtty. Raymond ery year find it to be their only Bulaon hope of getting a fresh financial start. Debt problems can be the result of unemployment, reduction in income, disability, divorce, or in some cases, poor financial decisions. A financial crisis can happen to anyone at any time. No one is exempt. Bankruptcy is a fact of life. Without it, people with serious debt problems will remain stuck where they are, unable to move on with their lives. Living with stress every day caused by the burden of debt is a horrible way to live. Bankruptcy can offer hope when the future looks bleak.

Because of eligibility requirements for the type of relief being sought, some people will qualify for Chapter 7 to completely wipe out their debts. Others may have no choice but to file Chapter 13 and pay their creditors over a 3-5 year period. Much of it depends on your income and your assets. You also need to take into consideration your purpose in seeking debt relief.

Under the latest rules for Chapter 7 bankruptcy eligibility, your current monthly income must be measured against the median monthly income for a family of your size in your state. If your average monthly income is lower than the median, Chapter 7 may be for you. If your income is higher than the median, Chapter 7 is still a possibility, but there is an additional step. You have to undergo what’s known as “the means test”, a mathematical formula for calculating your disposable income and determining whether it is high enough to help pay off some of your debts. Technically speaking, the test measures your disposable income after subtracting various expenses and payments, and shows whether that amount would be sufficient to make a dent in your unsecured debts over a five-year period.

Chapter 7 will be denied to those who have received a discharge of debts under Chapter 7 within the last eight years or Chapter 13 within the last six years. You may also not be able to file if you were denied a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy within the previous 180 days. Your eligibility for Chapter 7 bankruptcy may be in serious jeopardy if the court believes you are guilty of defrauding your creditors. Among other actions, this can include transferring assets to friends or relatives in an attempt to hide them from creditors or the bankruptcy court, as well as purchasing luxury items with the knowledge that you couldn’t possibly make the required payments.

Chapter 13 can be the most effective way to consolidate all your debts into one low monthly payment that you can afford. In a lot of cases, most debts are only paid a small percentage of the actual amount owed, resulting in significant reduction- a reduction of 50% or more is not unusual. Even a second mortgage on your home can be reduced or eliminated if your property is “upside down” and the second mortgage is essentially “unsecured” due to lack of equity in your property. With reduced debt payments every month, people who are struggling financially are able to manage their finances better by making sure that they have enough money left over for basic necessities before paying any of their creditors.

If you need help in finding a solution to your debt problems, we can help you figure out your options. Please call Toll-Free 1-866477-7772. We have offices in Glendale, Cerritos, West Covina and Valencia. ***

Minding Your Finances

jumped 21.4 percent to $410 million from the previous year.

Imports of telecommunication equipment and electrical machinery rose 9.5 percent year-on-year to $108.31 million.

Inward shipments of industrial machinery and equipment likewise climbed 4.6 percent to $277.98 million from last year.

In terms of imports source, the NSO noted that the United States of America (USA) including Alaska and Hawaii, accounted for most of the inward shipments in October with its 11.5 percent share.

Payments for imports from the US reached $603.96 million, an increase of 22.3 percent from last None of the information herein is intended to give legal advice for any specific situation. year.

The NSO also said total exter- Atty. Ray Bulaon has successfully helped over 4,000 clients in getting out of debt. For a free nal trade in goods for October attorney evaluation of your situation, please call Ray Bulaon Law Offices at TOLL FREE 1-866(Advertising Supplement) reached $9.648 billion, up 5.1 477-7772. percent from last year.

PSEi caps 2012 as one of Asia’s top performers MANILA—Philippine share prices closed the final trading session of the year with modest gains, rising 17.84 points or 0.31 percent to close at 5,812.73.

Year-to-date, the PSEi gained 33 percent in record-setting pace, breaking through all-time high levels 38 times, compared

to a modest 4.1- percent growth in 2011.

The PSEi ended the year as one of the best performing indices in Asia Pacific, finishing only behind Thailand’s 36.3 percent, according to First Metro Securities.

Market breadth was positive

with advancers beating decliners, 101 to 83, while 35 issues were unchanged. A total of 3.71 billion stocks worth P7.87 billion changed hands.

“The market ended on a positive note given the upbeat prospect for the new near,” said As-

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Mineral output plunges 18.85% in Jan-Sept

by Czeriza

Valencia Philstar.com

law office carmel hehr 1/4v

MANILA—Total mineral production value in the first nine months of the year fell 18.85 percent to P79.52 billion from P97.99 billion in the same period last year because of the suspension of several mines and lower gold purchases made by the Bangko Sentral for the period, according to the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB).

Data from the mines bureau showed that gold production suffered a 54-percent production slowdown, with the volume

of production from January to September falling to 12,369 kilograms from 26,976 in the same period last year. The value of gold production for the period fell 50 percent to P27 billion from P53.66 billion in the same period last year.

Mines bureau director Leo Jasareno said metal production for the first nine months of the year was affected by the suspension of the copper-gold mine in Padcal, Benguet because of the tailings spill; the Nonoc Island Nickel project because of unsettled obligations to the government of Shuley Mine Inc., and the

magnetite operations of Nicua Corp. because of environmental violations.

The production value of metal output for the period was affected by lower gold purchases by the BSP as small scale miners sold less gold to the BSP because of the imposition of a seven- percent gold tax.

The value of BSP gold purchases from small scale miners fell 94 percent in the first nine months of the year to P2 billion from P32.71 billion in the same period last year. The volume of gold purchases likewise fell 94 percent to

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PH economy on track to full recovery...

PAGE B1 t years, it must grow 6.7 percent annually, on the average, for the next 15 years.

“My battlecry is between six to seven, and seven to eight percent growth rates for the next 20 years, for example, to catch up with Thailand. If not, we will be overtaken by Vietnam and Cambodia,” he said.

But the NEDA chief lamented that poverty reduction in the country has been slow and lagging, as the economy had not experienced sustained high growth over a long period.

The Philippines must also generate high quality employment, which can help address poverty.

“Manufacturing is a crucial part of the transition,” Balisacan said.

From 2000 to 2009, the proportion of poor Filipinos had remained constant instead of decreased despite the continuous economic growth at the time. “This is why we term this period as our ‘lost decade’,” the NEDA chief said.

In addition, he said the economy suffers from high income inequality, which indicates that economic gains have not been broadly distributed across the different sectors of the population. Opportunities remain unequal, in terms of access to health and education services, market infrastructure and the like.

The socio-economic planning head also said inclusive growth represents a paradigm shift for reducing poverty. It contrasts with the terms “exclusive growth” and “trickle-down.”

Inclusive growth includes the poor and marginalized groups in the growth process. This presents a better chance for the poor to benefit from growth.

Exclusive growth, on the other hand, means that

the benefits of growth are confined to a few.

“In trickle-down growth, the poor also benefit from growth, but only after some time. Given the current volatile situation in the global market and even the physical environment, it would be very difficult to sustain rapid growth long enough for trickle down to happen,” Balisacan told a business forum last month.

The Philippine Development Plan (PDP) enumerates a number of strategies to achieve inclusive growth. Most of these are needed for rapid and sustained growth. For inclusive growth, these strategies have to be targeted to benefit the poor and the marginalized.

First is massive infrastructure development not just in the cities, but making sure that the rural and marginalized areas are connected to highly-urbanized centers.

Second is human development and human capital formation. To ensure that productive sectors would have the pool of skills they would need for a growing economy and, at the same time, improve the capacities of the poor to benefit from growth.

Third is direct poverty relief. There are those who cannot be directly involved in the growth process but government has to ensure their basic right to live decent lives. For them, government is implementing targeted poverty reduction programs.

Lastly is employment generation, where government can provide temporary employment to selected individuals in implementing public works, like rehabilitation of infrastructure in disaster-affected areas, construction of other small infrastructure, and other activities. At the same time that the infrastructure is built, the poor are able to earn incomes and learn new skills. (Ted Torres/Philstar.com)

(213) 250-9797 • http://www.asianjournal.com

Barrister’s Corner Atty. Kenneth Ursua Reyes ESTABLISHING parentage rights for moms is a lot easier than establishing one for unmarried dads. Moms can establish this by simply showing proof of her having given birth to the child. Family Code §7610.

Establishing parentage rights, including custody and visitation rights, becomes more problematic with unmarried Dads because proving yourself as the biological father does not automatically make you the natural father of the child. Under the family code, there are competing presumptions of paternity which allows the non biological father to be deemed the natural father of the child.

A typical situation is when boyfriend gets girlfriend pregnant.

Girlfriend for some reason decides to exclude boyfriend from baby’s life so she breaks up with boyfriend, does not give the boyfriend any information about her delivery, and does not state the boyfriend as the father in the birth certificate or decides to name someone else as the father. Girlfriend does this because her parents disapprove of the ex boyfriend.

One way a presumption of Paternity is created is by executing a voluntary declaration of paternity.

A Voluntary declarations executed before 1997 give rise to a conclusive presumption of paternity and can be overcome only by blood or genetic tests ordered on noticed motion by the mother or presumed father must be made within three years of the date of execution of the voluntary declaration Kevin Q. v. Lauren W. (2009) 175 CA4th 1119, 1133, 95 CR3d 477, 485 If the voluntary declaration of paternity is executed after 1996, it is

How to obtain custody and visitation rights for unmarried dads not characterized as a conclusive presumption. Instead, it “shall establish the paternity of a child and shall have the same force and effect as a judgment for paternity issued by a court of competent jurisdiction” and trumps §7611 presumptions discussed below.

A post 1996 voluntary declaration of paternity “shall be recognized as a basis for the establishment of an order for child custody, visitation, or child support.” In re J.L. (2008) 159 CA4th 1010, 1019, 72 CR3d 27, 33.

Another way of establishing presumed father status is if you fall under any of the categories listed (a) to (f) under family code §7611: (a) He and the child’s natural mother are or have been married to each other and the child is born during the marriage, or within 300 days after the marriage is terminated by death, annulment, declaration of invalidity, or divorce, or after a judgment of separation is entered by a court. (b) Before the child’s birth, he and the child’s natural mother have attempted to marry each other by a marriage solemnized in apparent compliance with law, although the attempted marriage is or could be declared invalid, and either of the following is true: (1) If the attempted marriage could be declared invalid only by a court, the child is born during the attempted marriage, or within 300 days after its termination by death, annulment, declaration of invalidity, or divorce.

(2) If the attempted marriage is invalid without a court order, the child is born within 300 days after the termination of cohabitation. (c) After the child’s birth, he and

PSEi caps 2012 as one...

PAGE B2 t tro del Castillo, managing director at First Grade Finance Inc. “We are celebrating a great year for the market and we expect another stellar year for 2013 on the back of favorable macroeconomic fundamentals and a possible credit upgrade to investment grade status,” Del Castillo said.

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Community Journal

the child’s natural mother have married, or attempted to marry, each other by a marriage solemnized in apparent compliance with law, although the attempted marriage is or could be declared invalid, and either of the following is true: (1) With his consent, he is named as the child’s father on the child’s birth certificate.

(2) He is obligated to support the child under a written voluntary promise or by court order. (d) He receives the child into his home and openly holds out the child as his natural child. (e) If the child was born and resides in a nation with which the United States engages in an Orderly Departure Program or successor program, he acknowledges that he is the child’s father in a declaration under penalty of perjury, as specified in Section 2015.5 of the Code of Civil Procedure. This subdivision shall remain in effect only until January 1, 1997, and on that date shall become inoperative. (f) The child is in utero after the death of the decedent and the conditions set forth in Section 249.5 of the Probate Code are satisfied.

An alleged biological father who does not meet any of the § 7611 conditions for presumed father status has no constitutionally-protected “liberty interest” in establishing a parentage relationship with a child as against the rights of a presumptive father who has an extant parentage relationship with the child. Dawn D. v. Super.

Ct. (Jerry K.) (1998) 17 C4th 932, 940–942, 72 CR2d 871, 876–877 The facts get even more com-

u PAGE B5

Meanwhile, major markets in Asia were up on December 28, hours before President Barack Obama and key lawmakers were to meet at the White House to try to hammer out an 11th-hour budget compromise to avert the so-called fiscal cliff.

Lawmakers have until Monday night to reach a deal before hundreds of billions of dollars in automatic tax increases and deep cuts to government spending kick in. Such a drastic reshuffling of money could throw the US into another recession, economists have warned. (AP)

Mineral output plunges 18.85%...

945 kilograms from January to September from 16, 724 kilograms in the same period last year.

The BSP has five gold buying station in Baguio City, Davao City, Zamboanga City, Naga City and Quezon City.

In terms of contribution to the total mineral production value, nickel outperformed the other metals with a 47 percent contribution with a production value of P37.36 billion.

Jasareno said nickel production was boosted by

the approval of operations of the nickel mines of Pilipinas Mining Corp in Zambales and Oriental Vision Mining Corp in Dinagat.

Gold contributed 34 percent to the total production value. Copper comprised a 16 percent share in the total production value at P12.51 billion from the previous P14.14 billion.

Other metals such as silver, chromite, zinc and iron comprised three percent of the total production value placed at P2.64 billion for the period.

Immigrant Living: 101 and Beyond Monette Adeva Maglaya A few people I have met and known over the years passed away quite unexpectedly in 2012. There seemed to be no warning signs. All the deep, dark emotions of shock, grief, denial and finally, calming, quiet acceptance wash over our souls like a devastating tsunami wave as we come to grips with the finality of death. It does come like a thief in the night. And in many life stories, mercifully so …

They were there one moment, living, breathing, smiling and so full of life. In the blink of an eye, they were gone. Just like that, it was over. No one is exempt. It leaves one with a profound sense of mortality – that final end game.

We derive comfort in knowing that those we know of and care about may have lived good lives and are now free of all pain and strains of human bondage.

Death, after all, makes it possible to finally come home.

And yet, while we are alive and kicking, most of those who are aware of their own mortality strive to make the most of their lives. We try to make each day count. We try to live purposeful lives.

But it is not always easy. It seems that we are always at the throes of uncertain times. Most of the things that weigh us down or at the very least, ruffle our feathers, will come from within us, from our own heads and hearts, as we process the external world.

Oftentimes, our bodies simply follow the lead. If we recognize this mind-body-spirit dynamic, perhaps we can retool the coping skills we need to adapt to tough, troubling times and still come out whole.

The mind-body-spirit connection is real. How often have we heard of this about stress? It is not what we eat but what is eating us. Stress is a silent killer. It is not unusual to read or hear about people in the prime of life— sixty, fifty, forty and even thirty year old men and women who drop down dead without warning because of strokes or massive brain aneurysms—the body’s reaction to unrelenting stress that typically characterize modern life.

There are increasing numbers of horrific news accounts of otherwise ordinary people who felt

LA MIDWEEK ASIAN JOURNAL • january 2-4, 2013

Retooling coping techniques 101 “I’ve used up all my sick days, so I’m calling in dead.”

—Graffiti they have reached the end of their ropes and resort to killing themselves and their families in one fell swoop. Whatever the circumstance, murder is never the answer.

There are a few simple stressbusting techniques we can adapt and perhaps, give us a few more good years out of life.

Become a presentist. Learn to focus on the present to savor the joy of the moment. Regretting the past and worrying about the future only increases stress. For as long as we are alive, stress is like a chisel that is meant to shape our characters as real human beings. The most adjusted people have learned to deal with their own stresses.

When life becomes too stressful, find a quiet place to pray and meditate. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was stressed too and He would always find a place to be by himself and pray, specially when he has ministered to the crowds, teaching them, healing them and feeding them by the thousands. He would slip away and pray with a few of his apostles. As a God-man, he needed to recharge his internal batteries with prayer and meditation.

The best times are in the early morning hours when no one is stirring—not even the mouse.

Hie off to a quiet corner and get your bearings straight for the day. Listen to the silence as it quiets your mind. Imagine your mind as a blank computer screen with your stresses in teeny tiny bundles which you then drag and drop into a mental trash bin and emptying it out into the netherworld of cyberspace. It is astonishing what this quiet half hour can do for us in the quality of our physical and spiritual life each day.

Take a break in the middle of a workday. Eat a light, balanced lunch — without hurrying, preferably with good company you enjoy. Slow down deliberately.

Find the humor in situations and laugh often. Once in a while, try taking a nap during your lunch break instead of eating.

Machines need to power down.

And so do we. Downtime is just

as important in recharging one’s batteries. Hold your calls. Carpe diem!

Be ready to admit it when you need help. At the root of most serious problems is foolish, foolish pride. The ego will prevent you from asking for help — effectively dragging you to a whirlpool of denial until stresses and problems have you on a stranglehold.

It takes courage to finally admit that you need help.

When you get down on your knees and humbly ask for the grace and the strength to finally snap out of it, seek help as soon as possible. It can be your spouse, a friend, a professional or someone you can trust to help you sort out your problems and support you in doing something constructive about them.

Deep emotional or psychological problems are the worst burdens for they can weigh you down and seriously threaten your entire wellbeing and also affect the lives of those whom you care about. Unload the burden of a heavy heart. Allow time to mend and heal your broken heart or it will bury you six feet deep.

Know thyself. Gauge what you can and cannot do, both in your personal and professional life. Do not set unrealistic pie in the sky goals for yourself. You can choke yourself to death when you bite more than you can chew. Do not overextend yourself. The mortgage crisis is caused by millions of borrowers overextending themselves and the financial titans allowing such foolishness to go unrestricted.

Each human being is created for a specific purpose in life.

He who finds his purpose early enough and fulfills it saves himself from unnecessary and unwanted frustrations and crushing disappointments.

Filter the messages that bombard you daily. The constant barrage of messages and suggestions from songs, news, features and advertisements from the media is designed to make you feel inadequate so that you as a consumer will buy a product or service.

Searching for a kababata from your hometown, a college buddy or a Pinoy colleague? Your search is finally over. The Asian Journal brings you Re:Union, Filipino American Associations in America -- your link to a network of kababayan associations here in the United States. As your Filipino-American community newspaper, the Asian Journal recognizes your need to nourish and maintain ties with the people and the culture you were born with. This is our way of connecting our kababayans to the past, of creating new opportunities for the present and of inspiring you to pay it forward by becoming active members of your association and the Fil-Am community at large in the future.

National Council of Philippine American Canadian Accountants (NCPACA)

Contact: Email: Vic P. Ching, President - vicente.ching@yahoo.com Wendy Andong, Secretary - wendy.andong@gmail.com Website: http://ncpaca.org

NCPACA is an umbrella organization of professional accounting organizations and members-at-large in various regions of the United States and Canada and beyond.

As a council of professional accounting organizations, it is our mission to promote the advancement of individuals with Filipino ancestry in the field of accounting, audit, finance, tax and related areas.

NCPACA endeavors to provide its members with quality and relevant continuing professional education, disseminate reports on professional licensing policies and updates on current accounting industry rules, regulations, and relevant changes to enhance their knowledge, keep them abreast with current trends and best practices that will be beneficial and of value to the high quality and standards of performance in their chosen career.

In addition, our programs include fellowship among its members to encourage sharing of knowledge and experiences in order to develop team building capabilities and promote harmonious relationships among members. Our programs also include activities to help preserve, protect, promote Philippine culture and collective identity.

The National Council of Philippine American Canadian Accountants (NCPACA) is nonprofit professional organization represented by accounting professional organizations from various major cities of USA and Canada whose memberships are mostly Filipino, American and Canadian accountants. The Council is commit-

ted to serving the accounting professionals by providing its chapters and members the need to turn vision into reality and success. It was organized in San Francisco in the State of California in 1984. The nine professional accounting organizations are: Philippine Certified Public Accountants of Greater Chicago - Chicago, Illinois Philippine American Society of CPAs - Los Angeles, California Filipino American Accountants of Texas Association of Filipino American Accountants - New York City, New York Association of Filipino American Accountants - New Jersey City, New Jersey Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants, USA - San Francisco, California Filipino American Association of CPAs - Seattle, Washington Association of Filipino Canadian Accountants - Toronto, Canada Filipino American Institute of Accountants Washington, DC The NCPACA, a diversified professional and member-driven organization, is a resource for accountants in their pursuit of continuing education. As part of NCPACA’s continuing education program, annual convention is held annually at a designated city in USA or Canada.

If you are an existing accounting professional organization operating within the USA or Canada that meets the NCPACA chapter criteria membership, we encourage you to join the Council.

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classified ads fpbw

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Debt Relief Atty. Lawrence Yang Not many people know that parents can transfer their retirement accounts such as 401k and IRA to their children tax free.

For instance, you have a 401k of $150,000. At the age of 65, you transfer the 401k to your son and your son keeps the $150,000 as a 401k in your name in his custody but owned by him. There is no transfer tax on this transaction.

But let’s say that your son has made some wrong financial decisions and has borrowed too much money on his credit cards and decides to seek Chapter 7 bankrupt-

Community Journal

LA MIDWEEK ASIAN JOURNAL • january 2-4, 2013

B

Is inherited IRA exempt in bankruptcy?

cy relief. On his Chapter 7 petition he declares on schedule B that he has two retirement accounts, one is his own PERS from the city, the other the $150,000 401k that he inherited from you. On schedule C, he exempts both retirement accounts. Naturally, the Chapter 7 trustee objects to the claim of exemption for the $150,000 and argues that the $150,000 is not exempt because it is a 401k that was inherited therefore the retirement exemption does not apply. Who is correct?

Section 522(d)(12) of the bankruptcy code exempts “Retirement funds to the extent that those funds are in a fund or account that is exempt from taxation under section 401, 403,408,408A, 414,457, or 501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. In other

words, these are accounts which have been certified by the IRS to be retirement accounts. Let’s say the $150,000 is in cash wrapped in saran wrap and hidden behind your restroom water closet. This may qualify under provisions of the 1100 A.D. British Internal Revenue Code, but it certainly will not qualify as a retirement account under the American Internal Revenue Code of 1986. If your 401k plan is prepared by a person who failed all his math subjects in high school and college and whose college degree is in physical education with a minor in yoga, you may think you have a 401k plan, but that plan probably would not be one that is approved by the IRS under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

Normally, 401k plans are pre-

pared by actuaries. Actuaries are people who do not need to look at their fingers and toes to count, and they know how many strands of hair they have on their heads at any given time by extrapolating the number or hairs they were born with. If Mayans had actuaries, they would have known that December 21, 2012 was not the end of the world, that’s how accurate at math actuaries are.

The Mayans obviously ran out of fingers to count because as Mel Gibson (Apocalypto) knows very well, Mayans have a history of cutting heads from necks for the flimsiest of reasons. “What, you failed to file your 302 A.D. Mayan income tax return? Off with your head!”

In Re Seeling, in May 2007, the debtor inherited half of a tax

deferred annuity account. She rolled the proceeds of the annuity into an IRA in the decedent’s name for her benefit. Four years later, the debtor filed for Chapter 7 relief. She scheduled the IRA, which was then worth $52,975, and claimed the full amount as exempt pursuant to Section 522(d)(12). The trustee objected to the claim of exemption arguing that the money lost its status as “retirement funds” when it was rolled over into the IRA. The court disagreed and overruled the trustee’s objection. To qualify for the Section 522(d)(12) exemption money must be “retirement funds”, and be held in an account exempt from taxation under Internal Revenue Code sections 401, 403, 409, 408A,414,457 or 501(a) but the court found

that Section 511(d)(12) does not specify for whose retirement the money must be set apart.

“This Court finds itself in agreement with what appears to be a consensus. Individual retirement accounts are tax exempt under 26 U.S.C.∫ 408 and accordingly are exempt under the Bankruptcy Code, pursuant to Section 522(d)(12). The Bankruptcy Code requires no forensic analysis in order to determine from where those funds arose…” ***

Lawrence Bautista Yang specializes in bankruptcy, business, real estate and civil litigation and has successfully represented more than five thousand clients in California.

Please call Angie, Barbara or Jess at (626) 2841142 for an appointment at 1000 S Fremont Ave Bldg A-1 Suite 1125 Unit 58 Alhambra, CA 91803.

(Advertising Supplement

People and Events 2013 Ancil Payne Awards for Ethics in Journalism open for nominations Nominations are due by February 28, 2013

EUGENE, OR—The University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication announced recently that nominations are now being accepted for the 2013 Ancil Payne Awards for Ethics in Journalism for outstanding ethical decisions or work published in 2012. A hallmark for excellence in journalism ethics, the annual award recognizes journalists and news organizations that have demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to ethical conduct, even when faced with economic, personal, or political pressure.

“During a time when, according to a new Gallup poll, less than a quarter of the American public gives journalists high marks for honesty and ethics, it is even more important to recognize those who embody those very values,” said Tim Gleason, Dean of the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication.

“How ethical decisions about controversial stories are made and reported – or in some cases, not reported – is the core of what makes media trustworthy, and we are glad to honor journalists and news organizations whose actions reinforce that trust.”

In 2012, Ancil Payne Awards were given to freelance journalists Matthew LaPlante and Rick Egan for their efforts to document the ritual killing of “cursed”

children in Ethiopia’s South Omo River Valley, and to the Yancey County News, a weekly newspaper in rural Burnsville, North Carolina which, in 15 months of operation, established itself as a check on corrupt local law enforcement.

The Ancil Payne Awards accepts entries from news organizations and professional and student journalists in broadcasting, print, or digital media. Journalists and outlets can nominate themselves or be nominated by a third party. Nominations for the Ancil Payne Awards are limited to material published, broadcast, or posted in the United States, or decisions made by journalists or news organizations based in the United States.

Nominations can be submitted online at http://journalism.uoregon.edu/payneawards/forms_criteria and are due no later than February 28, 2013.

A panel of judges representing both the news industry and academia will determine the 2013 Ancil Payne Awards winners. The awards ceremony will be held in May, 2013 in the new Allen Hall, home to the School of Journalism and Communication on the University of Oregon campus in Eugene, Oregon. Winners of the 2013 Ancil Payne Awards will be announced in April 2013. n

Commission on Filipinos Overseas schedules Second Global Summit on February 2013

The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) announced that it will be holding the 2nd Global Summit of Filipinos in the Diaspora at Dusit Thani Hotel in Makati City on February 25-27, 2013.

Secretary Imelda M. Nicolas, CFO Chairperson, personally made the official announcement in front of a select group of news editors and reporters recently.

“Following the successful first summit in September 2011 in Manila, we expect the February 2013 event to be even bigger; with leaders of the various global Philippine associations in attendance,” said Sec. Nicolas.

“Preparations are underway as we speak.”

For the second summit, the CFO has adopted the theme Two Years Thereafter: The Best of the Philippine Diaspora in line with its charge to track the progress of the different groups’ diaspora projects since the first summit and in order to identify areas of synergies

to enhance these groups’ contributions to Philippine development.

A diaspora refers to the movement or migration of people away from their countries of origin, heritage or interest, while maintaining links with their homeland.

Through its flagship program, Diaspora to Development (D2D) the Commission intends to institutionalize and maximize Overseas Filipino involvement in the socio-cultural and economic development of the Philippines through 10 major areas of interventions including skills and technology transfer, arts and culture exchange, educational exchange, business linkaging, diaspora investments, global legal assistance, advocacy, diaspora philanthropy, medical mission coordination, tourism initiatives, and return and reintegration.

With the impetus of the D2D coming from the hundreds of Overseas Filipinos expected to attend the 2013 Global Summit , the rallying

How to obtain custody...

be challenged by filing a motion for blood or genetic testing unplicated if the girlfriend, whom der Family Code §7541 but this boyfriend gets pregnant is married has to be done within 2 years of to another man because the law the childs birth. In addition, only provides a conclusive presump- persons with standing can bring tion of paternity to the husband of this motion which is limited to the the girlfriend. Under Family Code husband, child, mother and a pre§7540, the child of a wife cohabit- sumed father as listed in Family ing at time of conception with her Code §7611 and 7612.

Even absent a recognized rehusband, who is not impotent or sterile, is “conclusively” presumed buttal, the court has discretion as to be a child of the marriage. This a matter of due process not to apconclusive presumption may be ply In re Kiana A. (2001) 93 CA4th challenged by showing that the 1109, 1115, 113 CR2d 669, 675.

Procedurally, the ex boyfriend husband was sterile. It may also

PAGE B3 t

cry “BALIKBAYANIHAN!” has been fittingly chosen by the event organizers.

The summit also aims to promote networking among Overseas Filipinos in the different regions of the world and accelerate participation of second and third generation Overseas Filipinos in the country’s development. The CFO is the government agency mandated to promote and uphold the interests of overseas Filipinos and to preserve and strengthen ties with Filipino communities overseas.

Among the major sponsors in the upcoming Diaspora to Development summit are the Department of Tourism (DOT), the Philippine Retirement Authority (PRA), Dusit Thani Manila, The Medical City, Vibal Printing, ActivAsia, and DDB Philippines.

DDB, one of the largest companies in the Philippine advertising industry, has also been appointed as the official communications partner and marketing arm for the global summit. n

should file a Petition for Parentage as soon as the child is born.

While the case is pending, the ex boyfriend may seek temporary visitation order although this may be on a limited or even monitored basis. If successful in proving parentage, the ex boyfriend may be granted custody and visitation rights. However, the ex boyfriend would also have the obligation of paying child support based on California guidelines. *** Attorney Kenneth Ursua Reyes is a Certified Family Law Specialist. He was President of the Philippine American Bar Association. He is a member of both the Family law section and

Immigration law section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association. He has extensive CPA experience prior to law practice. LAW OFFICES OF KENNETH REYES, P.C. is located at 3699 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 700, Los Angeles, CA, 90010. Tel. (213) 388-1611 or e-mail kureyeslaw@gmail.com or visit our website at Kenreyeslaw.com.

*** Please note that this article is not legal advice and is not intended as legal advice. The article is intended to provide only general, non-specific legal information. This article is not intended to cover all the issues related to the topic discussed. The specific facts that apply to your matter may make the outcome different than would be anticipated by you. This article does create any attorney client relationship between you and the Law Offices of Kenneth U. Reyes, P.C. This article is not a solicitation.

(Advertising Supplement)

B January 2-4, 2013 • LA MIDWEEK ASIAN JOURNAL

Calendar of Events across

People & Events

America

O c to b er 2 0 1 2 – January 2 0 1 3

Through My Father’s Eyes: The Filipino American Photographs of Ricardo Ocreto Alvarado Through My Father’s Eyes: The Filipino American Photographs of Ricardo Ocreto Alvarado (1914 – 1976) is a collection of 50 photographs chosen from more than 3,000 discovered by his daughter, Janet Alvarado after his death. This exhibit offers a rare view into the daily life of the Filipino-American community in the post-World War II era in the Bay Area.

Alvarado’s photography was more than a hobby. He photographed weddings, funerals, baptisms, and parties. His ‘view camera,’ a Speed Graphic, documented street scenes, beauty pageants, cock fights, agricultural workers tending crops, and entrepreneurs on the job. The exhibit is at the Gallery in the Pacific Hotel at History Park in Kelley Park. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Sunday 11am to 5pm; the Museum Store and O’Brien’s Café are 11am to 4pm. Gallery admission: Tuesday through Friday is free; Saturday and Sunday: Free for HSJ members, Adults $8, Seniors and Students $5, Children under 6 are free. For more information visit www.historysanjose.org or www.thealvaradoproject.com

2013

Pangasinan Normal School class of ‘63 Golden Reunion Calling all graduates of Pangasinan Normal School of Bayambang Pangasinan Class of ’63. A small group of alums is planning a Golden Reunion in 2013, and would like all other graduates to join in planning and, of course, attending the celebrations in the Philippines. We are excited to get in touch with as many of our cohorts as possible or if you may of some who is a graduate of the class of ’63, please pass this information along to them. If you’re interested and would like to join the thus-far small committee, please contact Engr. Ernie Llanes at (323) 459-4869 (cell) or (323) 661-7745 / email:erniellanespe@pacbell.net. Or call Mina Casipit Valenzuela at (847) 678-4261/email: minav43@gmail.com. We all look forward to getting together after 50 years with everyone and catching up! And please remember that we would like to gather as many graduates as possible, so please pass the information along to anyone you may know.

January 1 , 2 0 1 3

New Year’s Resolution Run for Bantay Bata

http://www.asianjournal.com • (213) 250-9797

A ‘raise’ for people who get Social Security Beginning in 2013, a 1.7 percent cost-ofliving adjustment (COLA) was applied to all Social Security and SSI payments. The average monthly Social Security benefit for a retired worker in 2013 is $1,261 (up from $1,240 in 2012) and the average monthly Social Security benefit for a disabled worker in 2013 is $1,132 (up from $1,113 in 2012). These changes were reflected in SSI payments dated December 31, 2012 and Social Security payments dated in January 2013.

For people who receive SSI, the maximum federal payment amount has risen to $710 (up from $698).

Other Social Security changes in 2013 are

worth noting. For example, a worker now pays Social Security tax on up to $113,700 of annual income (up from $110,100 in 2012). A worker earns one credit after paying taxes on $1,160 in earnings in 2013 (up from $1,130). As always, a worker may earn a maximum of four credits each year and a person generally needs forty credits (or ten years of work) to be eligible for retirement benefits.

To learn more about these and other changes for 2013, visit the Social Security website at www.socialsecurity.gov, and read our fact sheet about the changes at www.socialsecurity. gov/pressoffice/factsheets/colafacts2013.htm.

(Rita Meier)

CHP to accept new officer applications The law enforcement agency will accept applications for 3 days only in January

SACRAMENTO—The California Highway Patrol (CHP) recently announced that it will accept applications in January 2013 from individuals interested in a career as a CHP officer.

“This is an opportunity to serve alongside some of California’s finest who provide the highest level of safety, service and security throughout the state,,” said CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow. “A career with a law enforcement agency like the CHP offers unlimited opportunities for someone who is looking for a challenge.”

Applications will be accepted online only during a three-day period from Thursday, January 3 through Saturday, January 5.

This brief application period marks the first time in three years that the CHP has accepted applications. Those interested in applying, or seeking additional information, should visit www.chpcareers.com.

“Officers are needed throughout California,” added Commissioner Farrow.

“Through this process, we are determined to find qualified men and women from diverse backgrounds who are commit-

ted to carrying out the CHP’s mission and making a difference in their communities.”

To be considered, candidates must be 20-35 years old, a US citizen, have no felony convictions and be a high school graduate. Each applicant will be required to complete a selection process including a written test, physical ability test, appraisal panel interview, background investigation, medical/vision evaluation and psychological evaluation.

The CHP’s recruitment Facebook page is www.facebook. com/chp.recruiting. n

AV Events invites the Fil-Am community to join in the New Year’s Resolution Run for Bantay Bata, on January 1, 2013 at the Coyote Point Park, San Mateo, CA. The Run, which has 5K and 10K categories, is open to participants of all levels. The route provides beautiful views of the San Francisco Bay and the Coyote Point Marina. The event encourages family and friends to come together with post-race food catered by local restaurants, music, and a kids’ mini dash. Register now at www.ActiVentures.com, registration for the 5K run is at $20, while the 10K run costs $25. Percentage of proceeds will go to Bantay Banta Foundation.

Please note that dogs are not permitted in county parks, and that there is a $6 fee for entry to the park.

January 1 0, 2 0 1

Fundraising Reception for Assemblymember Rob Bonta Please Join the Los Angeles Filipino Community and Hildy Aguinaldo, Jun Jao, Menard Leelin, James Santa Maria, Ben Nate, Honorable Mark Pulido, Judith Sethna and Levin Sy for a reception supporting Assemblyman Rob Bonta on Thursday, January 10, 2013 from 6 to 8pm at the The Santa Maria Group on 550 S. Hope Street, Suite 1910 - Los Angeles, CA 90071. The ticket prices are as follows: Ticket - $100, Friend - $250, Sponsor - $500, Chair - $1,000. RSVP to (916) 551-1430, or via email at rsvp@bertolina.com. Please make checks payable to Rob Bonta for State Assembly 2012, ID# 1339722, 1005 – 12th Street, Suite H, Sacramento, CA 95814. Online Contributions: https://m.actblue.com/entity/fundraiser/27423

January 1 2 , 2 0 1 3

‘On the Level’ a Masonic Information Night The Los Angeles community is invited to “On The Level,” a masonic information program and open house at the Atwater Larchmont Tila Pass Masonic Lodge at 2927 Rowena Ave, Los Angeles CA 90039 on Jan. 12, 2013 at 6:00 pm. The event is open to men and their families who would like to know more about Masonry or who are interested in membership.

Guest speaker is Dr. Ron Koretz, an alumnus of Caltech and the UCLA School of Medicine and an Emeritus Professor of Medicine at Olive View-UCLA Medical Center with a specialty in Gastroenterology. WB Ron Koretz is a Past Master and authority in Masonic History and will gladly answer your questions related to Freemasonry. A sumptuous dinner will be served after the presentation.

For reservations please call any of the following: Jonathan Asis WM at (818) 929-2224, George dela Cruz SW at (562) 644-9511, Jimmy Gonzales JW at (310) 408-3377, Gilbert Cabrera PM, Lodge Secretary at (626) 715-8047. General information about the Masons of California is available at www.freemason.org, or you may go to our lodge web site at www. altp614.org

january 26 , 2 0 1 3

Bambanense Town Fiesta Everyone is invited to join the Bambanense Town Fiesta on January 26, 2013, from 12pm to 4pm at the Hilltop Community Park on 9711 Oviedo Way, San Diego, CA 92129. This event will be an annual celebration of our hometown of Bamban, Tarlac. There will be a mass celebration as well as a potluck feast. The fiesta is hosted by the 2012-2013 San Diego Chapter Bambanense Officers. For more information, please get in touch with Arlene Arcilla at (858) 780-0890 or Hazel Esguerra at (805) 822-4095.

45th Year High School Reunion of Holy Angel College Class of 1968 To all members of HAC High School Class 1968 (the “Victors”): Come join us in celebrating our 45th High School Reunion and be a part of Batch ‘68’s history. Let’s prove that after 45 years we remained united and we never forget to look back and pay tribute to our alma mater. Our reunion will be on January 26, 2013, from 1pm - 11pm at the Holy Angel University Main Bldg. Quadrangle in Angeles City, Philippines. For Batch ‘68 members overseas, please contact any of the following to confirm your attendance: Cynthia Ocampo (cynergy1028@yahoo.com, (702) 361-2846, (702) 353-3233; Yolanda Garcia (ybuan.yolanda@gmail. com); Renato Franco (rdpfranco@gmail.com); Albilio Lansangan, Jr. (jun.lansangan@gmail. com).

Fe b ruary 1 , 2 0 1 3

Filipino American Educators Association Conference The Filipino American Educators Association of California (FAEAC) will be holding a statewide conference in Sacramento, CA. The theme is BUILDING SHARED KNOWLEDGE TO INSPIRE & EMPOWER: Sharing the Filipino-American Experience. The conference will be held from February 1 to 3, at The Citizen Hotel on 926 J Street, Sacramento, CA.

f e b ruary 1 0, 2 0 1 3

Cayetano Arellano (Manila North) High School 68th Grand Alumni Homecoming Tayo na sa Arellano! Rekindle the fire of long-lost friendships and re-connect with high school classmates. And create new, exciting memories! GREEN means GO! The Cayetano Arellano High School Class of 1963 (Golden Jubilee) and Class of 1988 (Silver Jubilee) invites the entire Cayetano Arellano High School alumni community to the 68th Grand Alumni Homecoming on February 10, 2013, to be held in Manila, Philippines. Jubilee tickets are now available for USA and Canada residents! Please contact the 2013 Arellano Homecoming Team via email at Arellano63@yahoo.com or Heartzone@aol.com or via telephone at (818) 281-8105.

f e b ruary 1 6 -23, 2 0 1 3

General Roxas Elementary / Manuel Roxas High School Reunion Members of the alumni communities of General Roxas Elementary School and Manuel Roxas High School are all invited to the upcoming reunion on February 16 – 23 2013 at the Gen. Roxas Elementary School in Roxas District, Quezon City. For more information, you may contact Rene Aquino (based in Florida, USA) at araquino@cfl.rr.com or +1(407) 699-9522, or Ruby Ferniz (based in the Philippines) at rubyferniz@yahoo.com or +(632)345-2464.

A p ril 27, 2 0 1 3

Santa Maria Ilocos Sur Global Reunion – Las Vegas, 2013 The Santa Maria Ilocos Sur Association of Nevada invites you to the 9th Biennial Santa Maria Ilocos Sur Global Reunion in Las Vegas. The event will be held on Saturday, April 27, 2013, from 6pm until 12mn at the Tuscany Hotel and Casino on 255 East Flamingo Road, Las Vegas, NV 89169. For more information, contact Alex Pena at (702) 373-9522 or adpena@ cox.net.

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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People & Events

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D&D CHRISTMAS PARTY. D&D Nursing Educators, Inc. held a Christmas Party at its corporate office in San Bruno, CA which was attended by management, staff, family and friends. Led by its management team of Executive Director Dennis Manzanades, RN, MSN, CCRN; Training & Education Program Director Janette Moreno, RN, MSN, CCRN; Marketing & Operations Director Donna Ocampo, RN, MSN; and East Coast Review Program Director Cecile Brizuela, RN, MSN, D&D Educators welcomed instructors, staff and guests, and gave a brief overview of the company’s future plans. Raffles and games were held that livened the evening, and where two lucky recipients won a mini iPod and an Apple gift card. Photo above shows D&D Nursing Educators management and staff, their families and guests at the Christmas gathering.

AJ Press photo by Joseph Peralta

Retooling coping...

PAGE B3 t Listen, if you must, but always think for yourself. Give no one the power to even suggest you are an unworthy or inadequate human being who needs to buy something in order to feel whole.

Media serves a purpose—for good or ill. It is a most potent force and we will all do well to keep it at bay. Use self-editing filters, because media messages following an agenda have the most awesome power to influ-

ment, where our abilities fit with what we want to do like a hand ence thought, feelings and self- in glove. image. There is always the MUTE *** OR OFF button. You’re still the Nota Bene: Monette Adeva Maglaya’s opinions boss. Use it. are her own and do not necessarily reflect Knowing what we can do with- that of the management of Asian Journal in our own set of circumstances Publications, Inc. She has written the book, will save us a lot of angst from “The Complete Success Guide for the wanting to do that which is be- Immigrant Life” and edited its companion yond our capacities. When we book of quotations. Her books are available at begin to relax and REFUSE to be amazon.com. To send comments or requests, driven by the ego, it is uncanny e-mail monette.maglaya@yahoo.com or how life permits us to naturally monette.maglaya@asianjournalinc.com When flow into that glowingly wonder- you send comments by email, please use your ful state of peace and content- real name.

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