Norcal 12/15/22

1 December 15-21, 2022

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA EDITION

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THE PREMIER FILIPINO-AMERICAN NEWSPAPER IN THE U.S. SINCE 1961

Vol. 62 No.19 December 15-21, 2022

NEWS AND VIEWS YOU TRUST

CONGRESS SET TO OKAY MAHARLIKA WEALTH FUND Marcos, more solons, groups back plan as opposition mount

By ALFRED G. GABOT Editor in Chief

LA County reports rise in hate crimes year-on-year

MANILA — From all indications, the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., By Gilda P. Balan, Correspondent LOS ANGELES - The Los supported by Congress, is poised to approve Angeles County Commission on the proposal to create the Maharlika Wealth Human Relations has been keepFund (MWF) with an initial government-pri- ing tabs on the hate crimes takPage 9 ing place in the county, and the vate investment of P250 billion. results are most disturbing, to say IN BRUSSELS. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. addresses the Filipino community in Belgium and nearby countries. Listening are Senior Deputy Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, DICT Secretary John Ivan Uy, DMW Secretary Susan Ople and Sen. Mark Villar on the sideline of the ASEAN-UE commemora�ve mee�ng.

Drug menace in PHL ‘back with a vengeance’

By Be�ng Laygo Dolor, Editor

MANILA – The country’s drug problem that the previous administration worked extra hard – some say too hard – to eradicate is not only back, but could be worse than before.

The former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief who is widely believed to have overseen the Duterte administration’s deadly anti-drug war that resulted in the killing of thousands of mostly young men suspected to be users or pushers is now a senator, and he all but blamed the Marcos administration for the resurgence of

the menace.

Senator Ronald ‘Bato’ Dela Rosa said at the start of this week that drug syndicates are not only back, but “they are coming back with a vengeance.”

To make matters worse, he cited recent drug busts that involved both PNP officers, as well as operatives of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).

During a privilege speech at the Senate plenary, Dela Rosa quoted an unnamed mayor as telling him that many drug personalities were back in Page 8

US Department of Treasury sanctions Quiboloy over alleged human rights abuses

By Claire Morales True

LOS ANGELES - The United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has sanctioned Kingdom of Jesus Christ founder Pastor Apollo Quiboloy over his involvement in alleged “serious human rights abuse”.

Quiboloy, the spiritual adviser of former president Rodrigo Duterte, is among 40 individuals and entities from nine countries included in a US Department of the Treasury report announcing that they were being sanctioned due to their alleged involvement in corruption and human rights abuse.

Quiboloy’s lawyers questioned the sanctions saying they

the least.

While there are still no figures for the current year, last year’s figures paint a grim picture for Asian-Americans. The Page 8

Winning FilAms in midterm polls sworn in, start work

By Jun Nucum and Claire Morales True

Quiboloy were imposed without first hearing the side of the pastor.

The sanctions were imposed by the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to demonstrate the US government’s focus on promoting respect for human rights and countering corruption in recognition of the International Anti-Corruption Day and Human Rights Day. Page 8

SAN FRANCISCO – Many Filipino Americans who notched historic wins in the midterm election in California, Hawaii and other states have been sworn in and have started to work.

The National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA) led by current president and national chair, Brendan Flores lauded the election and assumption to office of the Filipino Americans as the federation sees more FilAms partici-Page 10

Overseas Filipino voters registration starts in DC

Pacquiao wins in Korea, rematch with Floyd seen VIEWS & COMMENTS

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Are you retiring and still having debts?

FilAm H.E.R stays ‘very proud’ of Filipino heritage

Hidilyn Diaz shines in Bogota with 3 gold medals

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 NATIONAL NEWS

December 15-21, 2022

2

PNP on full alert starting December 16 - Azurin

By Jeanne Michael Penaranda CAMP CRAME, Quez on City Starting December 1 6 , the entire Philippine National Police force all over the country will be on full alert.

PNP chief Gen. Rodolfo Az urin Jr. ordered full alert status to ensure the safety of people and churchgoers.

“Full alert will start on Friday, coinciding with the opening of Simbang Gabi. I have directed our policemen to be visible in churches for the Simbang

Gabi. They should be visible so that if police response is needed by our countrymen, they are ready… They should be ready, on call, anytime,” Az urin told reporters at the PNP headquarters in Camp Crame, Quez on City.

Az urin said he has instructed police units to beef up their presence in areas where people frequent, including malls. z urin said policemen are allowed to go on Christmas break but said they should be on call to report anytime if their services are needed.

“W e will require our personnel,

where they are on vacation, to report their presence to the nearest police station so if police response or additional police assistance is needed in that area, they can help,” the country’s top cop said.

PNP spokeswoman, Col. Jean Faj ardo, said police visibility will be increased in churches, malls and restaurants where people may go after attending the dawn mass.

“Our chief PNP wants enough number of (PNP) personnel who will be assigned and doing patrol in the vicinity

of churches,” said Faj ardo.

Faj ardo said more policemen will be deployed in transport terminals due to the anticipated increase of passengers during the season.

She said the PNP has not monitored “any serious or credible threat” to disrupt the celebration of the Y uletide season.

“But of course, we are not going to be complacent,” said Faj ardo, adding that police units will be ready to respond to any threat.

PHL, US forces ok live-fire drills in urban terrain for ‘Balikatan’ 2023 CAMP AGUINALDO, Quez on City – Filipino and American troops have started finali ing plans for a wider annual “Balikatan” j oint exercises for 2 02 3 .

The two groups held their planning conference at Camp Aguinaldo, in which they agreed to have a segment dedicated to operations in urban terrain.

“The 2 02 3 iteration of ‘Balikatan’ is pro ected to include field training exercises composed of combined and li e-fire e ercises and military operations in urban terrain,” said Philippine Army (PA) spokesperson Col. X erxes Trinidad.

No other details were provided for security reasons. Urban terrain refers to heavily populated areas like towns or cities or locations densely packed with buildings and other infrastructure.

Trinidad made the statement after the PA j oined the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and US Armed Forces’ ndo-Pacific ommand ndopacom planners in threshing out the final details of next year’s “Balikatan”.

The final planning conference was held) at the AFP Education, Training and Doctrine Command, Camp Aguinaldo, Quez on City on December 1 2 , 2 02 2 ,” he added.

“Balikatan” is an annual exercise between the AFP and Indopacom geared at enhancing both forces’ interoperability. “The annual bilateral activity is also aimed at strengthening the capacity and competencies of both forces in a spectrum of military operations such as counter-terrorism and humanitarian assistance and disaster response,” Trinidad said.

I this year’s “Balikatan” exercises, around 3 ,8 00 members of the AFP and 5 ,1 00 US military personnel -- the largest number of combined personnel of the two militaries in the annual exercise since the start of the coronavirus disease 2 01 9 (Covid-1 9 ) pandemic in 2 02 0. . Planners from the Armed Forces of the Philippines nalize details of the The Philippines and US exercise BALI ATAN itera� on of Balikatan E ercises during the planning conference held at the AFP Educaforces employed more than 5 0 aircraft, four ships, 1 0 amphibious craft, four �on, Training and Doctrine Command, Camp Aguinaldo, uezon City. high mobility artillery rocket system tems during “Balikatan” 2 02 2 . approximately 40 personnel from the launchers, and four Patriot missile sysThis year’s exercise also included Australian Defense Force.

Bishop urges faithful to attend ‘Simbang Gabi’

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pam- tions against coronavirus disease 2019 ga urged the faithful to attend the “Simpanga – Amid the easing up of restric- (Covid-19) , the Archdiocese of Pampan- bang Gabi” (dawn masses).

In a circular, San Fernando Archbishop Florentino Lavarias called on parishioners to physically attend the nine-day annual pre-Christmas event.

Lavarias noted that such Eucharistic celebrations are best celebrated inside churches.

“Simbang Bengi (Gabi) Masses are best celebrated in parish churches, shrines, chapels, and not in malls, hotels, offices, resorts, radio and T stations, and N otary P ublic & R eal E state B roker private homes,” the archbishop said.

“Let us strongly encourage our parishioners to a real and actual celebration of the Simbang Bengi Masses and all other Masses subsequently in our chapels and * C ommissioned N otary P ublic and licensed R eal E state B roker ( B R E # 0 0 6 3 5 9 7 6 ) in C alif ornia since 1 9 8 1 . A uth or, C olumnist, and Member, N ational N otary A ssociation ( N N A ) churches, and no longer through virtual and on-line watching,” he added.

Lavarias noted that although the broadcast and live-streaming of Masses provide “valued service to the sick and those who are unable to go to church”, personal participation in Masses is still a

di erent e perience He added that virtual Masses also “risk distancing us from a personal and intimate encounter with the incarnate God.” “The sacramental personal encounter is absent in online Masses,” said the head of the Pampanga archdiocese.

“Silent watching cannot be a substitute to personal, full, active, and conscious participation in the Liturgy. Moreover, spiritual communion can never be a substitute to real communion,” he added.

The Archdiocese of San Fernando said the Simbang Gabi Masses in the evening can start as early as 6: 00 pm while the last morning mass will be at 6: 00 a.m.

The Simbang Gabi is a novena of Masses celebrated more than a week before Christmas in honor of the Blessed irgin ary Aside from morning novena masses which will be held from Dec. 16 to 24, the anticipated Simbang Gabi Masses in the evening will be from Dec. 15 t o 23.

3 December 15-21, 2022

 NATIONAL NEWS

No security threats detected for Yuletide; AFP, PNP alerted CAMP AGUINALDO, Quez on City – The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) does not see any security threats for the Y uletide Season as insurgent rebels have been greatly weakened.

This as the Philippine National Police stepped up its security preparations for the season, including fielding more operatives especially in the National Capital Region.

“W e have not seen any threat yet so far and I think even the capability of the CPP (Communist Party of the Philippines), a local terrorist group, (has) weakened that they are incapable of mounting large scale or shall we say a terrorist act that will disturb the peace,” said Col. Medel Aguilar, spokesman of the AFP.

Aguilar said the AFP will support to the Philippine National Police (PNP) as it is the lead agency on security operations and preparations for the Y uletide Season.

“Now, in the conduct of security operations, what we will do is to provide our support to PNP because they are the lead e ort when it comes to security operation and preparation during Y uletide Season,” he said. e also said a ceasefire with insurgents is out of the question as the government does not know on whom to talk to as there is now a leadership vacuum in the rebel ranks.

The ceasefire is out of uestion now because we do not know who to talk to, their leaders are, have gone into hiding,

some are neutraliz ed and number two is that there is a leadership vacuum, a leadership crisis within the underground organiz ation so how can they enforce a ceasefire to ma e sure the compliance of all its force,” he said.

What the AFP can o er for now is the “suspension of military operation” which will allow them to shift to active defense, he added.

Aguilar said this measure will allow troops to be with their families and hopefully, the CPP will also do the same for its New People’s Army NPA fighters or members.

“Hopefully the CPP will allow its members, its fighters, the NPA members to visit their families, to go home and

by the time that they are supposed to go back, they will realiz e that armed struggle is no longer relevant, it will be a futile exercise because reforms can be achieved without resorting to violence,” he added.

Aguilar also reiterated that the AFP has been successful in internal security operations as out of the 89 guerilla fronts reported in 2016, only 24 are left with only fi e acti e to date “So what we are trying to do now is to intensify more, double up our e orts , so that we can give the people the gift that they’ve been longing for so long and that is to have a free and democratic country,” he added.

Chinese ships continue to swarm at West Phl Sea, DND sounds alarm CAMP AGUINALDO, Quez on City – China warships, Coast Guard vessels and those of the Chinese militia said to be disguised as fishermen continue to swarm in the W est Philippine Sea, raising new tension and prompting the Department of National Defense to sound an alarm.

And while expressing alarm over the reported swarming of the Chinese ships, particularly o ro uois eef and Sabina Shoal in the W est Philippine Sea (W PS), the defense department main-

tained that it will not give up any part of the country’s territory and will continue with its regular maritime and air patrols.

“The DND views with great concern the reported swarming of Chinese vessels in Iroquois Reef and Sabina Shoal in the WP , N officer-in-charge Undersecretary Jose Faustino Jr. said in a statement.

Faustino said President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s directive to the DND is clear and that is not to give up any part,

regardless of siz e, of the country’s territory.

“The President’s directive to the Department is clear -- we will not give up a single square inch of Philippine territory. W e continue to conduct routine maritime and aerial patrols in the W PS. Information gathered in these patrols are submitted to relevant authorities for appropriate action,” Faustino said.

The DND chief also stressed that their lines remain open to dialogue.

“However, we maintain that activi-

ties which violate our sovereignty, sovereign rights, and j urisdiction, and undermine the peace and stability of the region, are unacceptable,” he added.

Faustino also said the Philippines remains committed to maintaining a rules-based order in the W est Philippine Sea and the larger South China Sea. However, he added that the country reserves the right to deal with any situation that violates or threatens its territorial integrity and sovereignty.

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 METRO NEWS

December 15-21, 2022

Catholics urged to share blessings AN A oman atholics all o er the country celebrated the Feast of mmaculate Conception on December 8 , a national holiday.

As part of the celebration, the Act of onsecration and Entrustment to the Immaculate Conception was prayed in churches in honor of ary as the Principal patroness of the Philippines.

The feast celebrates the conception of Mary without sin. n alacanang, President Ferdinand arcos Jr. described the Blessed V irgin Mary as the patroness of the Philippines as he greeted the Filipino faithful on the Feast of the mmaculate Conception.

In his message, Marcos urged Filipinos to let their shared experience shape history and “put our trust in one another.”

“In the intersection of these things, we

will certainly learn where to hold on and gain greater courage Together, let us gracefully anticipate the promises of a brighter and more comfortable future as we work hard and pray for guidance so that we can march onwards the road of progress to ensure a better future for our families, neighbors, and all Filipinos,” Marcos said. i e ary, may we also stri e to resign from our indi idualistic tendencies and aspire to generously gi e oursel es without e pecting anything in return. In the end, what we can bring into our e erlasting home are those we cherish deep in our hearts, not the possessions we can only hold in our hands,” he added.

Marcos expressed optimism that despite the uncertainty of the near future, Filipinos will soon understand their purpose behind their j ourneys and the will of God for each person.

As we honor the patroness of our country and re oice in the re elry of this celebrated feast, may we remind oursel es to re isit our reason for being and search for our ocation in the spirit of unconditional obedience and abiding lo e, he said At the Manila Cathedral, Archbishop Jose ardinal Ad incula urged the faithful to share their blessings with others. n his homily for the fiesta assl on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the irgin ary, Ad incula said od’s grace did not only refer to od’s blessings but od’s presence as well, asking the faithful to share this with others. ow often it is that when you recei e od’s graces, we tend to eep it to oursel es Madalas kapag may natatanggap tayo, mas pinipili nating sarilinin at ipagdamot sa apwa, Ad incula said

4

DOE eyes allowing hybrid, e-vehicles to use bus, bike lanes AN A the go ernment is eyeing to allow hybrid and electric ehicles to use bus lanes and bike lanes in maj or thoroughfares like EDSA to promote the use of EV s.

This was disclosed by Department of nergy O ndersecretary Feli William Fuentebella who said at the Energy n estment Forum at heraton anila ote that the plan is one of the non-fiscal incenti es that the go ernment can proide to encourage Filipinos to shift to eehicles A nd the mo e for that is coming up with green plates’ -- not the usual blac and white plates for passenger ehicles but green plates’ for e- ehicles to monitor it,” he added.

The O official said those fourwheeled ehicles with green plates’ may use the bus lane, which is now e clusi ely for EDSA Carousel.

Metro Manila police force beefs up Manila cop security for ‘Ligtas Paskuhan 2022’ dismissed for CAMP BICUTAN, Taguig City – As the traditional “Simbang Gabi” (dawn masses) starts on December 1 6 , the Philippine National Police National apital egion Police istrict Office (NCRPO) beefed up security operations in the 1 6 cities and one town in Metro

Manila.

Maj . Gen. Jonnel Estomo, NCRPO chief, said he has ordered its fi e district directors to tighten security around churches and residential areas to ensure public safety during the Y uletide season.

The fi e districts co ered by the

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NCRPO are the Manila Police District (MPD), Quez on City Police District (QCPD), Northern Police District (NPD), outhern Police istrict P , and astern Police District (EPD).

Estomo said he has directed the police force to enforce ma imum police isibility around the churches in Metro Manila with the e pected in u of people going to churches to attend the “Simbang Gabi” or “Misa de Gallo”.

“This is an important Filipino tradition that we cannot a ord to miss We don’t ha e many frets on our security preparation and implementation due to our e isting S.A.F.E. (Seen, Appreciated and Felt) NCRPO strategy where our personnel are wide awa e e en during the unholy hours of the day We are prepared to address any security issue that can possibly spoil this e ent, stomo said He said more than 13,000 personnel were deployed in di erent areas in the metropolis including places of worship, malls, public mar ets, ma or thoroughfares, transportation hubs/ terminals, and other places of con ergence This started last ec to co er arious aspects of the police operation, heighten police presence and respond to other necessary measures for an orderly, peaceful, and safe yuletide season.

Police Assistance Desks (PADs) were also established near the church entrances to immediately attend to any emergency or untoward incident.

Estomo reminded the Metro cops to ma imi e their presence in the field to pre ent crime and terrorism, and to continue to collaborate and open their communication for better coordination. espite e erything we ha e been through this year, let’s not forget to than od for all the blessings e has gi en us In the coming year, may we continue to be the channel of the blessing of peace by keeping the people of Metro Manila safe and secure against any form of criminality and inj ustice,” said Estomo.

killing traffic enforcer

ON T A anila police officer has been dismissed from the ser ice for illing a ue on ity traffic enforcer two months ago.

The go ernment said t Feli berto Ti uil was remo ed from the ser ice due to gra e misconduct and conduct unbecoming of a police officer after he gunned down dgar Abad Follero, , along oose elt A enue in arangay eterans illage on Oct. 1 3 . ayor oy elmonte said the decision of the People’s aw nforcement oard P should ser e as a warning to rogue cops.

“The resolution of this case is a triumph for j ustice. In less than 6 0 days from the filing of the complaint, the P was able to resol e this matter with utmost impartiality and dispatch. The wheels of j ustice run fast here in Quez on City, without fear or fa or again commend the P for their prompt action in helping out the little one in need,” she said in a statement.

Ti uil was charged by harilyn Pagsibigan, Follero’s common-law wife, and Paul Timothy Delos Reyes, who was with the ictim when he was shot awyer afael alinisan, P e ecuti e officer, said Ti uil mistoo Follero and Delos Reyes as carnappers.

We do not buy the alibi of Ti uil that he shot Follero because of self-defense e claims to be a seasoned police officer, and yet at the slightest instance, his first instinct is to in ict a mortal wound against an innocent person,” Calinisan said.

Delos Reyes assisted his friend Follero, a deli ery rider, after the latter’s motorcycle broke down in Pandacan, Manila.

They were near Muñ oz Market when Tiquil approached them and without any warning, shot Follero twice in the body.

5 December 15-21, 2022

 PROVINCIAL NEWS

Baguio unveils plans for ‘bigger, better’ Panagbenga festival early next year

By J en n if er T. San t os BAGUIO CITY – Expect thousands of local and foreign tourists to climb to the country’s summer capital starting early next year.

This as Mayor Benj amin Magalong and the Baguio Flower Festival Foundation (BFFF) unveiled plans for a “bigger and better” Panagbenga Festival after two years in hiatus due to the Covid-1 9 pandemic.

We will astound the world with one of the finest presentations that showcase our creativity and the very best cultural heritage,” Mayor Magalong said during the unveiling of the plans for the Panagbenga, the local name for ower blooming, in the city At its height, Panagbenga attracted more than one million tourists each year, especially when the ower parade along the Session Road and main streets were participated

by actors, actresses and other celebrities.

Anthony de Leon, chairman of the BFFF executive W ith the re-opening of the Laokan Airport, thousands committee (Execom), for his part said “the 2 02 3 Panagmore and expected in the city as travel time from Manila benga will be grander with all activities to be made bigger will only be an hour by plane, unlike the land travel which and better.” takes less than four hours, thanks to the new expressways up to Rosario, La Union. et Panagbenga ourish again and again as a wellspring of hope and a sense of community pride,” Magalong said at the launch We will again o er the richness of our tradition, the beauty of our environment, wealth and hospitality of Baguio people that can be readily offered,” he added.

Former mayor Mauricio Domogan, lifetime chairman of the BFFF, advised the executive committee to invite festival competition winners in other provinces in the country to be part of the 2 02 3 festival, which is a rebound of the canceled 2 5 th year of Panagbenga in 2 02 1 .

12 most outstanding Kapampangans honored CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- After two years of absence, the provincial government of Pampanga recogniz ed the 1 2 most outstanding Kapampangan awardees (MOKA) during the celebration of the 45 1 st founding anniversary of the province on December 1 1 at Kingsborough Convention Center.

Pampanga Governor Dennis “Delta” Pineda said the annual event aims to honor the Kapampangans whose lives and dedication embody the exemplary Kapampangan values, culture, and tradition as their life stories created a significant impact on society.

“Every year, we honor the efforts and hard work of our Cabalens whose lives are anchored for the welfare of others through the Most Outstanding Kapampangan Awards,” the governor said.

Plan to return to old name of Manila airport revived

“The provincial government and we in the public service strive to recogniz e and admire these people who contributed to the development of the Kapampangan race,” he added.

The MOKA recipients for 2 02 2 were Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez for Outstanding Honorary Kapampangan; Eufrocina Peñ a, Arts; Edelyn Cañ ero, Business and Entrepreneurship; Lord Francis Musni, Culture; Mary Joyce Guinto-Sali, Education; Atty. Ricardo Sagmit, Jr., Judicial Service; PLtCol. Eugene Marcelo, Law Enforcement; Ian Flora, Mass Media; Pierangeli V ital, Science and Technology; David Edward Jimenez , Social Service; Oshrie Jhames Reyes, Sports; and Dara Mae Tuaz on, Y outh Service.

 NATIONAL NATIONAL NEWS NEWS

December 15-21, 2022

6

arcos meets ing Philippe, pushes for PHL-Belgium action plan BRUSSELS/ MANILA – President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. met with King Philippe of Belgium at the Royal Palace of Brussels to express his desire to push for a new Philippines-Belgium Joint Plan of Action for 2023 t o 2027.

Marcos commended the monarch for 76 years of strong and vibrant bilateral relations between Belgium and the Philippines.

“The President used the occasion to announce his intention to pursue a strategic engagement with Belgium and to sign a new Philippines-Belgium Joint Plan of Action for 2023 to 2027 that will further strengthen PH-Belgium ties and pave the way for discussions on regional and global concerns of mutual interest, the Office of the President said.

Marcos said the four-year strategic plan aims to ensure the continuous recovery of the post-pandemic Philippine economy through the partnership of the ACTION PLAN. Pres id en t Ferd in an d R. Marcos J r. meet s w it h Belgian K in g Ph ilip p e at t h e Royal two countries.

Palace of Brus s els .

He and the King also discussed cooperation in arious fields including the promotion of the welfare of Filipino workers in Belgium.

“Mas malalim na ugnayan at kooperasyon sa iba’t ibang larangan kabilang na ang pagsulong sa kapakanan ng mga OFW dito sa Belgium ang ating tinalakay sa pakikipag-usap natin kay Maj esty King Philippe (Deeper relations and cooperation in arious fields including the promotion of the welfare of OFW s here in Belgium is what we discussed in our conversation with his Maj esty King Philippe),” he said.

Marcos was granted an audience with the King on the sidelines of his participation in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations-European Union (ASEAN-EU) Commemorative Summit.

He earlier thanked the Filipino community in Belgium for playing a huge part in strengthening Philippine-Belgian ties.

Marcos forms maritime industry advisory board, e es direct Belgium-PHL igh

BRUSSELS/ MANILA – President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has ordered the creation of an advisory board to address deficiencies identified by the European Union (EU) in the Philippine seafarers’ education, training and certification system.

Marcos issued the directive during a meeting with International Maritime Employers’ Council (IMEC) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Francisco Gargiulo and several business executives and leaders of European shipping companies and shipowners associations in Brussels, Belgium.

Marcos also met with Brussels Airport chief executive officer (CEO) Arnaud Feist and discussed the possibility of launching nonstop flights between Belgium and the Philippines.

Marcos met with Feist on the sidelines of his participation in the commemorative summit between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the European Union (EU).

The plan to set up flights between Brussels and Manila is meant to allow passengers to enj oy “hassle-free” travel, the Office of the President (OP) said in a Facebook post.

Marcos said he wanted members of the maritime advisory board to consist of representatives from government agencies, international shipowners and other stakeholders.

He also assured EU transport officials that the Philippines continues to address maritime industry issues to

make the country compliant with the Standards of Training, Certification and W atchkeeping (STCW ) Convention.

“Our seafarers are of great importance to the Philippines in many, many ways. Although we recogniz e that in the last many years, the Philippines has done very well in terms of being the leading seafarers around the world.

However, with the changing situation after the pandemic, with the changing situation especially when we talk about supply line problems, all of these areas have to be revisited,” he said during the meeting.

“That comes with the training, changes in the curriculum, all of these things have to be ascertained,” he added.

Department of Migrant W orkers (DMW ) Secretary Susan “Toots” Ople said Republic Act No. 1 1 6 41 (RA) identifies the establishment of an advisory body to assess training and qualifications.

“Under the law creating the Department of Migrant W orkers, we checked and there’s a provision there that the department can actually form or create advisory bodies with the participation of key stakeholders including employers and in this case the international shipowners,” she said.

She said her department can meet on a regular basis with the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA), Commission on Higher Education (CHED), and other relevant institutions to en-

MARITIME MEETING. President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. meets ith Interna�onal Mari�me Employers Council IMEC Chief E ecu�ve O cer CEO Francisco Gargiulo and several business e ecu�ves and leaders of European shipping companies and shipo ners associa�ons in Brussels, Belgium. sure that the country’s training initiatives and accreditation scheme for seafarers would pass the standards of the EU. Marcos also assured that his administration continues to strengthen the relationship between the public and private sectors in efforts to boost the Philippine seafaring industry.

“Perhaps we can develop that idea further especially when it comes to training. W e have always regarded our seafarers,” he said.

He also thanked IMEC for reinforcing Manila and the EU’’s strong working relationship.

Earlier this year, the European Commission’s Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) flagged the Philippines for deficiencies in local seafarer education, training and certification.

Marcos assured that his administration will do “everything” to address these deficiencies to prevent j ob losses among Filipino seafarers deployed to work for EU vessels.

 NATIONAL NEWS Drugs...

(From page 1)

business.

He called for a stronger anti-drug campaign by the current administration.

Dela Rosa said former president Rodrigo Duterte was concerned at the return of the drug menace, but would not do anything as he wanted President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to handle the problem.

Dela Rosa cited recent drug hauls that led to suspicions that law enforcers were active in the multi-billion peso drug trade.

A recent drug haul in the capital city of Manila saw the seiz ure of 9 9 0 kilograms of metamphetamine hydrochloride AKA shabu worth P6 .7 billion (about $ 1 2 0 million).

Arrested during the operation was Master Sgt. Rodolfo Mayo Jr., an intelligence officer assigned to the PNP rug nforcement Group.

The senator asked how Mayo had managed to find his way bac to anila after he had been tagged as among the “ninj a cops”

LA...

(From page 1)

2021 totals were made available recently, and were culled from reports from the heri , more than city police departments, doz ens of police agencies in schools, colleges, and universities, and trained community-based organiz ations.

The data shows that anti-Asian hate crimes rose 67 percent in 2021, from 46 to 7. n A ounty, Asian-Americans constitute 15.6 percent of its residents. They were targeted in 16 percent of racial hate crimes in 2021.

Despite the dramatic increase in the number of hate crimes, it is highly probable that the true numbers are even higher. This is because under-reported hate crimes takes place against Asian-Americans because of several factors, including linguistic and cultural barriers, immigration status, fear of retaliation, unwelcome

December 15-21, 2022

involved in the drug trade. Mayo had been reassigned to Mindanao back in 2 01 6 .

Speaking in the vernacular, Dela Rosa said it was clear that “a police master sergeant alone cannot run a drug empire this big.”

Mayo’s arrest was a small victory in what should be a war on drugs, said Dela Rosa.

Meanwhile, a sting operation in Taguig ity in ol ed P A officers, resulting in the relief of the agency’s National apital Region chief, Christian Frivaldo. n that operation last ec , the P A satellite office in pper icutan, Taguig, resulted in the recovery of 1 .3 5 kilos of shabu valued at P9 .1 8 million (roughly $ 1 6 4,000).

Arrested were P A outhern istrict chief nri ue ucero and two of his agents.

P A irector eneral oro a o said “all the people assigned in (the) southern district office has been replaced

The head of the P AN hristian Frivaldo was sac ed by a o under the principle of command responsibility. Frivaldo was replaced by merson osales The raid so shocked and angered the city government that they said they would refuse to deal with the P A, further demanding that their Taguig office owned by the city government -- be closed.

The P A has as ed the epartment of nterior and ocal o ernment to intercede in their behalf and ask Taguig officials to allow them to continue using the office

publicity, and a lack of understanding of the criminal j ustice system.

Thus, the real figure could easily double as one F study estimated that less than half of victims reported hate crimes to law enforcement.

Fifty seven percent of the anti-Asian hate crimes happened in the ity of os Angeles.

In 23 percent of the reported crimes, the suspects blamed their victims for coronavirus. Anti-immigrant slurs were used in 2 percent of the crimes. In other cases, it was not clear if the perpetrators of the assaults had anti-immigrant sentiments. Such sentiments may have existed, but were not made explicit at the time that the attacks took place.

In slightly more than one in four hate crimes, anti-Chinese insults were prevalent. Smaller percentages were anti-Asian Indians and anti-Japanese, with even less recorded hate crimes directed at Filipi-

nos, Koreans, and V ietnamese.

And while the ethnicities were not available in all the recorded cases, the largest group of victims were found to be Korean at 38 percent, Chinese at 32 percent, Indians and Japanese at six percent, and much smaller totals for angladeshis, Cambodians, and V ietnamese.

W here the gender of the victims were concerned, 44 percent were found to be male and 46 pe rcent female.

In 2020, only 38 percent of victims were female.

Age-wise, 42 percent of the victims were age 40 or older, while 38 percent were in the 26 t o 40 age group.

V ictims in the 18 to 25 age group represented 14 percent of the total, with only six percent being j uveniles.

The most common hate crimes included simple assault at 48 percent of the time, followed by aggravated assault at 14 percent, then intimidation and vandal-

US Dept...

(From page 1)

Quiboloy, who founded the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC), was indicted by the epartment of ustice in for allegedly coercing underaged girls and young women to work as “pastorals” or his personal assistants, and have sex with him under threats of “eternal damnation.”

In a statement released to media, the Department of Treasury said the sanctions to be imposed on Quiboloy include the following: - All property and interests in property that are in the or in possession or control of persons will be bloc ed and reported to the OFAC; - ntities that he owns, directly or indirectly, 5 0 percent of more, will also be blocked; - nless authori ed by a general or specific license issued by OFA , or otherwise e empt, all transactions by persons or within or transiting the nited tates that involve his property or interests in his property are prohibited.

- Contribution or provision of funds, goods, or ser ices by, to, or for his benefit or the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from him

8

In another recent case mentioned by Dela Rosa, two anti-drug cops were killed in Pampanga, reportedly by the Flores Drug Syndicate.

Suspicions were rife that the syndicate had been tipped o about the planned raid by the two lawmen. ism at 13 percent, and disorderly conduct at six percent.

The rate of violence last year stood at81 percent as against 76 percent the previous year.

A large number of hate crimes against Asian Americans took place in public places at 44 percent, followed by businesses at 35 percent, then residences at 12 pe rcent.

The biggest increase year-on-year was against businesses, as last year’s 35 percent showed a substantial increase from the previous year’s 24 pe rcent.

W hile not highly appreciated, data gathering is an important part of crime fighting and crime pre ention specially when the data raises red ags, correcti e action can be taken by law enforcers. For A ounty at least, the data pro ided can serve as part of the bluerprint on how to minimiz e if not end hate crimes, especially against Asian-Americans. will likewise be prohibited.

For more than a decade, Apollo Carreon Quiboloy engaged in serious human rights abuse, including a pattern of systemic and pervasive rape of girls as young as 1 1 years old, as well as other physical abuse,” the Treasury Department said in a statement on Saturday (Philippine time).

“Quiboloy exploited his role within the KOJC to rape his victims and subj ect them to other physical abuse, describing these acts as sacrifices re uired by the ible and by God for the victims’ salvation,” it added.

The Treasury said Quiboloy kept pastorals in various countries, including the Philippines and the , where they also experienced physical abuse.

“Reports indicate Quiboloy personally beat victims and knew where to hit them so there would be no visible bruising,” it said.

“Pastorals and KOJC members who angered uiboloy were at times sent to pper Six,” a walled compound used solely for punishment,” the Treasury added.

The Federal ureau of n estigation earlier included Quiboloy and two other church members in its wanted list for sex traffic ing charges

9 December 15-21, 2022 Congress... (From page 1) Amid mounting opposition to the WF as ongress attempts to finetune the proposal by initially remo ing the Social Service System and the o ernment er ice nsurance ystem pension funds from contributions to the MW F, Marcos himself declared that believes the country stands to benefit from the proposed aharli a W ealth Fund (MW F).

At the same time, Marcos said views and opinions on the proposed fund should be put o , meantime, while ongress is finali ing the bill see ing to creating the fund Proponents of the fund stood their ground, pointing out that it will help promote economic development and attract investments.

Opposition to the fund has mounted as critics wary of the ris s to public funds, especially the government and pri ate wor ers pension funds with the and , including the PagIbig Fund. udget ecretary Amenah Pangandaman declared that the proposed WF was bac ed by the Asian eelopment an A , nternational onetary Fund F , and -based thin tan il en nstitute, admitting that discussion on the fund was started during the uterte administration The latest bill on the MIF, its initial capitali ation was cut to ust P billion from P275 billion after the House leadership dropped the GSIS, SSS and the national budget from its fund sources.

Now they’re fine-tuning the bill At least marami na rin yung na u uha nating we are getting more positive response from the creation of the fund,” she added.

She appealed to critics to “respect the process of legislation”, adding that it will still have to undergo tedious scrutiny before it reaches the bicameral conference committee. “...The version that we have now,

COURTES CALL. Manila o cials led by Mayor oney Lacuna get a pep talk from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during a courtesy call in Malacanang.

that they’re going to pass is a result of the consultation from the public…

After sa House, pupunta pa ‘yan sa Senado (it would go to the Senate), and there will be committee hearings, publication consultations, marami pang mangyayari (much more will happen),” she said. he said the Asian e elopment an A , nternational onetary Fund F , World an and il en n ongress, pea er artin omualde declared the WF or F bill in the ouse of epresentati es has o erwhelming multi-partisan support as more lawma ers ha e e pressed their desire to be included among the co-authors of the measure omualde said lawma ers ha e already signified intention to coauthor the bill, according to the House official records We are ery e cited for it and

see that two-thirds of the ouse who have already seen the wisdom and you now the benefits to the country and to the people as a whole, so we’re uite e cited for this, omualde said.

The fund oppositors questioned the country’s need and readiness for a so ereign wealth fund, gi en the go ernment’s budget deficit and record debt of P trillion Critics had warned that the fund will only breed corruption, citing the e ample of alaysia where its former prime minister was charged and incarcerated due to the abuses on their own wealth fund.

Critics also hit the provision stating that ma or pension funds will be used as sources, warning this could put

the people’s money at ris Following the bac lash, authors of the MW F bill made an amendment which provides that dividends of the ang o entral ng Pilipinas would be used as initial investment instead of ocial ecurity ystem and o ernment Service Insurance System contributions. Other funding sources include billion from andban of the Philippines and billion from the e elopment an of the Philippines.

 NATIONAL NEWS Winning...

December 15-21, 2022

10

(From page 1)

pating in the coming US elections.

The highest official in alifornia to be elected is lawyer obert ob onta who won a full four-year term as the state’s Attorney eneral, a post once occupied by ice President amala arris upreme ourt hief ustice Tani antil- a auye used to be the highest FilAm official in the state since but opted to retire and did not submit herself to an election for a new term he will ser e as president of the Public Policy nstitute of alifornia starting anuary , Prior to his election, onta occupied the position in the epartment of ustice after he was appointed to the post on April by o ernor a in Newsom, lea ing his post as a member of the alifornia Assembly is wife ia was later elected to the Assembly post onta, born in ue on ity who went to ale and O ford, defeated Nathan ochman, who was assistant attorney general in ountry-wide, ep obert obby cott remained the highest-ran ing Filipino American elected official after winning the ouse election in irginia’s rd ongressional istrict cott, who traced his Filipino roots to his maternal grandfather from Tarlac, has ser ed his district since n New or , te en abildo aga, , a emocrat, born and educated in New or who got graduate degrees from the ity ni ersity of New or and ornell niersity, represents New or istrict which includes ittle anila in the New or tate Assembly n os Angeles, one of whose founders was a Filipino pioneer, FilAm enneth e ia, a certified public accountant, was sworn in as the city’s new controller Prior to e ia’s swearing in, former ongresswoman aren ass too her oath as the first female may-

or and the rd mayor of os Angeles before ice President amala arris aria er ania became the first Filipina American member of the North arolina egislature after winning at the North arolina ouse of epresentati es to represent istrict oining them on the east coast are reelects ris alderrama, a aryland ouse of elegates member, and ar in im, a state representati e in istrict in eorgia ustin ones also won as a state representati e for istrict in Tennessee, and u ay won at the New ampshire ouse of epresentati es for trafford ounty istrict epresenting Filipino American state election winners on the west coast are ene ie e ina, who will assume office in the Alas a ouse of epresentati es, representing istrict , and rica osca, elected as a state assembly member for istrict in Ne ada n awaii, osebella artine is elected as a member of the tate ouse of epresentati es for istrict in wa, awaii oining Filipino American history ma ers in awaii are randon lefante and enry A uino, two newly elected senators in the awaii tate enate Also in alifornia, Assuming the office of ayors are

ed eano of laremont ity, od ausagbual of aly ity, and elissa amoso of the ity of Artesia The three mayors are elected council members but will assume the role of mayors in eanwhile, in National ity, FilAm itas amane oined the ity ouncil representing istrict which has a big population of Filipinos n istrict , another FilAm, u olina, won a seat amane and olina’s ictory came after fighting for a switch in the city’s election system from at large or city-wide to election by district Audie de astro, in a report in the oice of an iego, National ity elected ust one person of Filipino descent in the last two decades and only two in years despite the fact that Filipinos ma e up percent of the city population On the udicial e el, Filipina American attorney ari Parlade won as a istrict Family ourt udge in as egas, Ne ada while lawyer arissa ordon- lac won her bid to become the first Filipina American illsborough ounty in the tate of Florida udge oining first Filipino apanese American uperior ourt udge Pelayo A lamas r who ran unopposed in Alameda ounty alifornia in une this year and will ta e office on anuary ,

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 OPINION Intersecting transformations

W

EDITORIAL

Impending fall of a Philippine quasi-religion

O

ther nations and nationalities may not comprehend why some “religious” groups seem to have excessive political and economic power in out motherland, the Republic of the Philippines.

One such group is the Davao-based sect headed by Pastor Apollo Quiboloy known as The Kingdom of Jesus Christ.

W hether it is a true Christian church is under question as Quiboloy has practically declared himself the equal of Jesus Christ. In his own words, Quiboloy has declared himself the “Appointed Son of God.” It is indeed a mystery why so many Filipinos j oined this supposed religion whose leader also claims to be owner of the universe. This alone should have raised red ags, yet there are a reported fi e million or so members of the church is in uence grew during the uterte administration because of his closeness to the Davao mayor-turned Philippine president. He allowed Rodrigo Duterte free use of his private plane, and was also reportedly the biggest donor to his presidential campaign.

Quiboloy was able to set up a television station, the SMNI News Channel, during the six-year presidency of Duterte, by which time he had taken to “endorsing” candidates for both national and local positions.

There was a short falling out between Duterte and Quiboloy, supposedly because the latter had tried to have some of his cohorts appointed to top government posts.

The two leaders, howe er, soon patched up their di erences, and uiboloy readily endorsed the president’s daughter, who ran for vice president in this year’s elections.

That this organiz ation would then expand its reach to the US was another mystery, as US-based Filipinos and FilAms are supposedly of a more intelligent mindset and far from being gullible. Y et it set up operations in two states with seeming ease.

Those US operations had been under watch by the FBI for its suspected involvement in a number of crimes, including se traffic ing, firearms smuggling, and money laundering. t is the first accusation that must be considered as the most disgusting A alifornia court has alleged that Quiboloy himself had abused female church members ranging in age from 1 2 to 25. The pastor is said to have threatened the female church members with eternal damnation if they did not submit to his sexual demands.

The Duterte administration chose to ignore the alleged crimes committed by the presidential friend, including the rape of minors. Quiboloy, it seemed, had truly become one of the most powerful men in the Philippines who could get away with anything.

It can be considered a good thing that the US j ustice system is far superior to it Philippine counterpart ustice may finally come for the un nown number of ictims of the anointed son of God. This week, the US Department of State along with the Department of Treasury imposed sanctions on Quiboloy along with other church leaders. The sanctions are due to the religious leader’s “serious human rights abuse.”

Imposing the sanctions means that Quiboloy may no longer enter US territory under pain of arrest. It remains to be seen what the current Philippine government will do, relative to the case.

His lawyers both in the US and the Philippines have stated that Quiboloy is innocent but has been unfairly j udged as guilty even before he has even faced trial.

Because of his advanced age – Quiboloy is 72 – he may not face trial in the US at all. At the very least, his operations in the US are headed for oblivion. It has nowhere to go but out.

Upside

E knew of each other in school and that was the extent of my earliest relationship – or the absence of it – with Joanne del Rosario. Hard to believe, when there I was the other night, swearing in my dear classmate for a fifth term as member of the olma City Council.

I do recall that she was among the girls – most of us had ust turned who would define ladyli e, with their long shiny straight hair, ma eup, polished fingernails, heels and an aura of gentility unlike the ones who had not shed our boys’ shoes, not plucked our brows and CHERIE M. QUEROL MORENO tried but failed to tame our naturally curly hair with an iron, the one that smoothens wrinkles on the green and white uniforms we rarely wore.

Joanne and her group should have been on the cover of magaz ines or on fashion show ramps, and boys sure agreed. Fancy wheels would roll into the lanai with dashing driver from the schools across the creek, further down the avenue or farther in the stilldeveloping suburbs or the big city downtown.

Neither she nor I were deeply immersed in campus activities when our peers were passionately studying or vociferously blasting the government. W hile I found a platform for my nascent political awakening in a column in our school paper and a march to Plaz a Miranda where students from every college descended to protest signs of imminent military rule, my eye was focused on social issues in the lifestyle section rather than life-changing front page of dailies.

Martial Law came down in our sophomore year. Faced with unknowns, we were not children anymore. I worried for my father, who held no punches against the selfdeclared president-for-life in his column in the newspaper that was the first to be shut down by the regime. I remember the stillness the September morning I woke up to greet my Dad. “Marcos declared martial law,” he said in that voice reserved for sermons when he felt my grades did not meet his expectation.

I’m sure Joanne was as stunned as I was by the development. Having been born in New or , she had the option to ee to free society in the , where three siblings li ed, I know now. She chose to stay with her parents, continue studies at our college that was in the midst of Filipiniz ation from its American beginnings.

By j unior year, my clique had expanded to underclassmates who shared my propensity for fun and daring. Lord knows how we made it to graduation having skipped class and broke rules like smoking away from the lounge designated for such habits.

I can’t imagine Joanne engaging in rebellious acts. She had left school, started working, and gotten married and lived to Maryland with her ex before coming to California where her only son Reggie was born, I learned when our paths crossed again in the 1 9 8 0s in South San Francisco, where I had resumed my j ournalism in Philippine News.

Her call pleasantly surprised me, having had no recollection of one conversation with her back in the day. I was thrilled to have a classmate nearby, happy to help get a story published about her acquaintance seeking j ustice. And that’s the(C ont i nue d on page 26)

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 OPINION

December 15-21, 2022

12

y mother, ofia Rivera, was a rising movie actress (screen name loria mperial when she married my father. She was the elder sister of Mila del Sol, who later became the movie darling between 1 9 3 9 and 1 9 5 5 . After my mother quit the acting profession, she studied to become a teacher.

She became a school teacher in the same elemen- IG NA CIO T OT ING B UNY E tary school and later in the same high school where I studied. Being the wife of the Director of Prisons, and First Lady in the Prison Reservation, some would probably expect that she would pull her weight around. But no, she performed her duties like anybody else.

She was in school at least 3 0 minutes before the bell rang, often walking a kilometer and a half, unless it was raining.

She even stayed late to attend to some students who were lagging behind in their schoolwork. At night, she would still be doing her lesson plan.

Being her son, I thought I would be given preferential treatment as her pupil. I was sadly mistaken because like others who sometimes misbeha ed ne er escaped the ruler At home, she was a loving disciplinarian. For any of her misbehaving children, her weapon of choice was either the tsinelas a a Ate Nelas or the sinturon a a uya Turon ut after each corporeal punishment, she would always hug us and assure us aya o ayo pinapalo, asi mahal o ayo From her, I learned dedication to duty (despite the meager pay Teaching, to her, was not ust a ob t was a calling She believed in the importance of what she was doing. She enj oyed teaching. She became a very good, if not a great, teacher.

From her, I also learned that to be good in what you are doing, you must love it. I also learned from her fairness in dealing with others.

She was a woman of faith. I remember her gathering us, her children, for our daily prayers before we went to bed. As a member of the Catholic W omen’s League NBP Chapter, she actively solicited funds for the construction of a new church inside the reservation.

One of her former students, Romeo P. V irtusio, who later became a writer and a successful public relations practitioner, wrote in his boo ilibid growing up beneath prison walls rs ofia unye had been an actress, a ery beautiful one, before she got married to Dr. Alfredo M. Bunye, Sr. who later became Director of Prisons. In the 5 0s, Mrs. Bunye began teaching in our high school, where she became very popular beauty and brains, yes, but also because she was ind and o-boy cowboy, down-to-earth despite the fact that her husband was the highest official in the place n our class, which was nglish and iterature, she would drill us on how to try to understand the text of what we were reading there was a literal meaning and there was a meaning that you had to look closely to see and understand.

English is tricky thing, she would say, but you can do it , as long as you remember the basics, like past tense is tapos na and the past perfect is tapos na also but it happened earlier than the simple past. rs unye was particularly earnest in reminding us about the sacrifices our parents were going through to send us to school and so she would keep saying, study hard and make something of yourselves.”

Narcisa Liz ardo, a former student who later became a successful teacher herself, recalled will ne er forget what she told me when failed to finish the last uestion in our assignment and was given the grade 6 5 . W hen I appealed, she told me Narcisa, a peso minus a centa o will ne er be a peso. Think about it.” It is a quote that I posted above the blac board which discussed with my pupils on the ery first day of the school year. I was happy when after the brainstorming my students came up with this conclusion ... ‘A task started must be finished accomplished completely to achie e the goal.’ Until now that quote is posted in every classroom of the schools I handle. Thank you Ma’am for being a part of my successful teaching career.”

That was my mother, ofia unye, my teacher, my heroine.

(C ont i nue on page 27)

otariz ing documents that will be sent to the Philippines and the other member nations of the Hague Apostille Convention requires apostilles, but it’s up for signers or clients to request one, not the Notary.

An apostille is a certificate -- often attached to the A RT G A B OT MA D LA ING document by an appropriate go ernment official after it is notariz ed. W hile Notaries are not responsible for obtaining an apostille signers or clients often ask about them, so it’s helpful to understand what they are and how they work.

APOSTILLE OR AUTHENTICATION CERTIFIAT Apostilles and authentication certificates alidate the seal and signature of a Notary on a document so that it can be accepted in a foreign country. Both verify that the Notary has valid and unexpired commission at the time the documents were notariz ed.

Apostilles are used when public documents are being transferred between countries that are party to the Hague Apostille Convention in 1 9 6 1 . This international treaty streamlined the cumbersome, traditional procedure for authenticating documents.

An apostille is issued by your Secretary of State’s office or Notary commissioning agency The single apostille is the only certification needed Once prepared and erified, the apostille is attached to and sent along with the notariz ed documents. Notaries cannot issue apostilles themselves. This all happens after the notariz ation.

Authentication certificates are used for destination nations that are not part of the Hague Convention. Instead of a single apostille, the document needs several authentication certificates, including those from your commissioning agency, the U. S. Department of State, the consul of the destination country and potentially another go ernment official in the destination country. The requirements and processing time for authentication certificates will ary from country to country.

GETTING A NOTARIZ ATION AUTHENTICATED According to the U.S. Department of State, documents that may re uire authentication for use abroad include affidavits, agreements, articles of incorporation, company bylaws, deeds of assignment, diplomas, home study, income erification, powers of attorney, transcripts, trademarks, warrants, e traditions, certificates of good standing and other general business, individual and family documents. Also, parents wanting to adopt a child living in another country must have their adoption dossiers properly authenticated.

Clients or signers are responsible for requesting authentication, not the Notary. Requests for an apostille or authentication certificate are generally submitted in writing to the State’s Notary commissioning agency (usually the Secretary of tate’s office and should contain the following 1 .An explanation of why the apostille or authentication is needed.

2 . The original document, including the Notary’s completed notarial certificate The final destination of the document 4. The required apostille or authentication fee (vary by state The commissioning office determines whether the document re uires an apostille or authentication certificate, based on the document’s final destination W HAT’S THE NOTARY ’S ROLE? Notary’s role is to notariz e the document itself. Because the document is destined for another country, the notariz ation must be completed and performed properly to ensure that there aren’t any problem on the receiving end. For example, some j udges presiding over adoption cases in other countries may rej ect documents not properly notariz ed.

CAN NOTARIES PROV IDE APOSTILLE SERV ICES? ome compassionate and enterprising Notaries o er apostille services” as a way to help the elderly, veterans, physically handicapped and those who can’t ta e day o or can’t drive to the Secretary of State, Notary Public Section in Sacramento or Los Angeles to submit notariz ed documents for apostille.

The Notary does not issue the apostille. Instead, the No(C ont i nue on pa ge 27) tary provides a courier and/ or mo-

onths after the global coronavirus outbreak in 2020, the United States Department of efense o funded the establishment of a modern biosurveillance laboratory to research on emerging infectious diseases in animals, particularly on birds and hogs.

The US-DoD Defense Threat Reduction Agency TA helped set up a e- MA NNY MOG A T O partment of Agriculture-operated regional animal disease diagnostic laboratory A in Tarlac to protect li estoc and poultry, specifically from bird u and the African wine Fever that almost decimated the country’s hog population in Luz on.

The Tarlac facility is part of an integrated network of biosafety and biosecurity laboratories that aims to identify diseases prior to them spreading throughout the region and in the country and help mitigate risks.

There are fi e other A facilities in the Philippines agayan alley, ebu, agayan de Oro, a ao ity, and General Santos City. The US DRTA has been providing $25 million in funding to biosurveillance facilities in the country since 2016.

W illiam Dar, the previous government’s agriculture secretary, also said the Duterte government planned to set up a P245- million peso transboundary animal disease center at the Central Luz on State University in Muñoz , Nueva Ecij a.

But the agriculture department has not reported any progress in fighting the animal diseases as the African wine Fe er A F continues to a ect the hog population in the isayas and bird u has been detected in the locos region and in Camiguin in Mindanao.

Nothing was heard of the transboundary animal disease center, which was supposed to be funded by the ayanihan to Recover As One” or the Bayanihan 2 fund during the pandemic. t appears the bird u and A F situations in the country have not improved even after the US-funded facility was put up.

The agriculture department must reassess how e ecti e these A s are in the fight against A F and bird u in the country The ayanihan funds must also be audited to find out if these were put to good use in preventing further ASF and bird u outbrea s in the country The agriculture department, under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., should also examine the US Department of Defense program to fund a biosurveillance laboratory in the country.

Some questions had been raised over US funding on biosurveillance research in other countries after the coronavirus outbreak in W uhan, China in 2020.

For instance, the National nstitutes of ealth N suspended funding to a New Y ork-based non-government organiz ation doing research to prevent pandemic and conservation of forests, particularly in Southeast and W estern Asia.

In particular, the US terminated its research grant to EcoHealth Alliance, which focuses on studying diseases caused by deforestation and increased interaction between humans and wildlife, after it failed to turn over lab notebooks and other documents from its partner in W uhan.

In 2020, EcoHealth Alliance secured a working arrangement with the W uhan Institute of V irology, which became controversial after the coronavirus outbreak in China.

EcoHealth Alliance has done research on emerging infectious diseases such as severe acute respiratory syndrome A , Nipah irus, iddle ast respiratory syndrome , ift alley fe er, and the bola irus in Africa If there were some concerns raised in the US Department of Health’s funding of a health-related NGO research on emerging infectious diseases, there should be red ags when the Pentagon funds animal disease research at the Philippine Department of Agriculture.

It should be the US Department of Agriculture that should cooperate on research on animal diseases with the local farm sector. Or it should be the US Department of Health doing work with local health agencies.

The US Threat Reduction Agency is the Pentagon’s combat support arm to counter (C ont i nue on page 27)

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IN THE TRENCHES

A guinea pig

Health & Wealth

Basic understanding of Apostilles

SPEAKING OUT

My mother, my teacher

13 December 15-21, 2022

 OPINION

eing “craz y” is not bad, as when a young man tells his inamorata: “I am craz y about you.” eing a fool is not bad either. An Ilocano lawyer from onolulu who met an -year old irgin in aguio ity went singing in the rain together at the aguio otanical arden during the October 2 02 2 typhoon. W hat were they singing?

The lawyer’s signature song, “Fools rush in, where angels EMMA NUEL S A MONT E T IP ON fear to tread.”

Insanity is a mental illness and is curable ental hospitals abound in America Stupidity refers to being slow of mind, acting in an unintelligent or careless manner, lacking intelligence or reason, or acting senselessly erriam Webster ictionary https www merriamwebster com dictionary stupid tupidity has no cure ut its ad erse e ects in immigration cases can be alleviated by an excellent lawyer.

Father admits licking his daughter’s pussy The most disgusting case e er handled in ol ed a -something father who admitted that while he was massaging his daughter’s legs he licked with his tongue her vagina without any complaint from her daughter. For all we know, she might even have en oyed it agina is a muscular passage leading out of the body of a woman; it is an essential part of a woman’s external genitals, or vulva, which allows a woman to experience sexual pleasure le eland linic https my cle elandclinic org health body - agina “Pussy” is slang for female genitals. Donald Trump described his interactions with women as having “grab them by the pussy”.

The man was charged and con icted in a awaii court for sexual abuse. Then he was placed in deportation proceedings and charged with “murder, rape, and sexual abuse of a minor” It is an aggravated felony and there is no relief from deportation.

W e represented the man in immigration court. W e asked the immigration udge to dismiss the case We argued that lic ing a pussy is not murder. Licking a pussy is not rape because rape means sexual intercourse by force using sexual organs, and in this case there was no force and the tongue is not a sexual organ. Licking a pussy is not sexual abuse because abuse requires more than one incident and there was only one incident here. Furthermore the term “sexual abuse” is unconstitutionally void for vagueness.

W hat constitutes “sexual abuse” to one person might not be “sexual abuse” to another. Therefore, like beauty, “sexual abuse” is in the eye of the beholder. That is unconstitutional. The Immigration udge granted our motion to dismiss The epartment of omeland Security is complaining about the dismissal.

We as ed the guy why he lic ed his daughter’s pussy e said he did not know and he started to cry. W e asked why he admitted to doing it when there were no witnesses e said he did not now t is not stupid to lick a pussy. I know at least one who has done it. It is admitting it that is stupid when it is a crime in that state and no one knows it, except the pussy licker, the daughter, and God. was in aguio ity on October spent the e ening drafting a Petition to Set Aside the Conviction of the pussy licker because I found out that he was deprived of his constitutional rights to due process of law and that he was tried and convicted without being indicted by a grand ury At about pm, my legs were sha ing I thought I might have a stroke or something. Then the telephone rang and the frantic voice said: “Earthquake, earthquake. Everybody must lea e the hotel se the stairs y son, Noel, a criminal defense attorney said that the earthquake was an omen. I asked him if it was good or bad e said we will now when the udge rules on the petition which has been filed following my return to awaii belie e the earth ua e was a good omen and that the udge will set aside the conviction. usband refuses to ha e se with horny wife Two Filipinos met in the Philippines. They had sex before they got married at the instance of the woman. “Gutom” as they say in Tagalog meaning star ed After the woman petitioned the man and he arri ed in awaii, she wanted to ha e se almost e ery day The man should re oice ut he did not There are limits to a man’s se ual potency which no amount of V iagra can bolster. One evening the woman arrived home smelly from a hard day’s work at a hospital. She wanted to ha e se The man declined e told her to ta e a bath first The woman was infuriated and threw away his clothes outside the doorway. W hen a woman is horny, she is wilder than the wild bull of the pampas.

The man should have remembered that his green card was conditional for years e must please the petitioner and do her bidding, otherwise she could do anything to torpedo the relationship.

The man should have told his wife: ‘Darling, let’s take a warm shower together.” W hen taking a shower together, use a bar of soap not li uid soap , preferably ardley, to gently soap e ery part of each other’s body, especially the most intimate parts. If this erotic exercise will not result in consumma- (C ont i nue on pa ge 27)

T

Russia-Ukraine War: Will there be a truce on Christmas Day?

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don’t know if there will be a truce during the RussiaUkraine W ar, but whatever happens, the show must go on…

Christmas must go on, as the saying goes! I learned that the Ukrainians will celebrate Christmas even during their gloomiest time of the year.

It will be a Christmas celebration for the Ukrainians with the Sword of Damocles hanging over their head. Anytime, their celebrations can be disrupted, ELP ID IO R. ES T IOK O disturbed and stopped due to the war that’s still going on as Putin would li e to finish it soon during the holiday season ut they will go on with the celebrations anyway! can ust imagine how they will be able to do it remember the stories handed down to us by our parents when they spent their Christmas during W orld W ar 1 1 . They evacuated, together with about friends and relati es, to the mountainous town of ugallon, Pangasinan when the Japanese landed in the Ilocos Region.

Pangasinan is part of the locos egion so they need to find a safer place to stay. remlin says hristmas ceasefire is not on the agenda in raine ahoo News euters li ewise reported that ussia said on W ednesday it had not received any proposals about a “Christmas ceasefire in raine, from ussia, as fighting loo s set to drag on through the winter.

As ed on Wednesday whether oscow had seen proposals for a hristmas ceasefire, remlin spo esman mitry Pes o told reporters No, no such o ers ha e been recei ed from anybody This topic is not on the agenda.”

So, it seems that the Ukrainians have to spend Christmas while the war is on No ceasefire e pected but they will do it, anyway They said the war will never spoil their Christmas celebration, whatever it takes.

As the first step towards a peace deal after nearly months of war, Ukrainian President V olodymyr Z elenskiy called on Russia this week to start withdrawing its troops by Christmas.

After a series of lightning rainian countero ensi es which has seen Kyiv regain control over around half of the territory which oscow captured in the first wee s of the war, neither side has made significant territorial gains in the past month A winter deadlock, military analysts say, could set in, even as fierce fighting continues especially in the eastern rainian region of Donetsk, where Russian forces are pushing to capture the town of a hmut On Tuesday, Peskov said there would be no peace with Kyiv until Z elenskiy accepted the “realities” on the ground - namely, Russian control over four Ukrainian regions it annexed in September following “referendums” decried as coercive and illegal by Kyiv, the West and a ma ority of states at the nited Nations ut how about the realities of the war that ussia is losing the ground battle? Ukrainians had shown military superiority in pushing back the Russian troops in territories they originally occupied. W ill Putin accept this reality too?

Every year, both Russians and Ukrainians were celebrating Christmas on January 7 . This year, however, there is a move to celebrate it on December 2 5 , according to the Guardian that reported the Orthodox Church of Ukraine allowed worshippers to celebrate Christmas on December 2 5 .

I agree with the article that Ukrainians celebrating Christmas on December 2 5 , instead of January 7 , is a move away from the traditional date of January 7 and is directed against Putin. The church has traditionally observed Christmas on 7 January, at the same time as the oscow patriarchy, which has blessed Putin’s war Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox church, is a prominent Putin supporter and has said Russian soldiers who are killed will be cleansed of all their sins.

According to the Julian calendar, for centuries Ukrainians have celebrated Christmas on 7 January, the date on which Jesus was born, according to the ulian calendar ut following ladimir Putin’s invasion in February, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine is allowing its congregations for the first time to celebrate hristmas on December, in a move away from Russia and towards the west.

As I See It

he name Raul Fabella may not ring a bell with a good number of Filipinos, but make no mistake about it. W hen this National Scientist in Economics speaks, the country’s business leaders listen.

Fabella maintains a sterling reputation because he does not speak on national matters that often, but when B ET ING D OLOR he does, expect his words to be filled with a wisdom that few can equal.

It is for this reason that his statement issued over the wee end could be the final nail on the coffin of the aharli a Wealth Fund WF e calls the fund as fundamentally awed and the desperate twea ing that is ongoing as this is being written will do little to make it palatable to the business community, as well as to large swathes of civil society, the academe, the youth, and the religions sector. till, the ouse of epresentati e appears hell bent on passing the bill that creates the WF, at least on second reading before they go into recess later this month.

The fact that the sponsors of the bill thought they could get away with placing the earnings of the country’s two biggest pension funds the ocial ecurity ystem and the o ernment er ice nsurance ystem into the planned fund was their first big mista e They believed that a fund created by law could defy the Constitution which makes it perfectly clear that pension funds are owned by the members of those funds, and nobody else.

The GSIS and the SSS are solely and wholely owned by the hundreds of thousands of government and private sector employees who were made to set aside parts of their income year in and year out as a form of compulsory retirement benefit Professor Fabella added more to the anti- WF arguments by stating what should ha e been ob ious in the first place The planned multi-billion dollar fund would be placed in the hands of a group of people – all government appointees even if most would come from the private sector – who did not own those funds.

Oh, they may be SSS and GSIS members themselves, but their share would be infinitesimal as they would ust be a handful of the hundreds of thousands of members of the two fund.

I am, incidentally, a pensioner with the SSS, which is one reason it has become personal for me.

After nearly four decades as a member of the SSS, I received my pension not too long ago, initially in the form of a lump sum because did not claim my monthly benefits for a few years after I retired, then followed by a monthly pension which I have been receiving religiously every middle of the month.

The SSS also gave retirees like me the equivalent of a 13t h month pay very recently, and it was certainly most welcome. en the possibility, no matter how small, that this aharlika fund could access the funds of the SSS and then make a mess of things scares me no end. In other words, that’s my money and the politicians have no business touching even a single centavo of it. Not unless I and my fellow SSS members would agree, which I am certain we will not.

The planned board of directors of the WF would be receiving ridiculously hefty bonuses if the fund does well, and smaller yet still substantial income even if the fund does poorly, or even collapses.

Fablella, a professor emeritus at the University of the Philippines, said in an interview with one of the country’s top broadsheets that the controllers of the fund would very likely be involved in “irresponsible risk taking” which could lead to its ban ruptcy and e en spur a national financial crisis e added something that other learned men and women had earlier stated, which is that the Philippine economy does not possess any surplus funds, given its massive debt load coupled with a humungous fiscal deficit And for those who belie e that anyone who re ects the WF are political opponents of the present administration, this is not necessarily so.

Presuming that the current regime is able to recruit the best and brightest minds to handle the fund at its inception, there is no guarantee that succeeding administrations will do the same thing.

(C ont i nue on page 27)

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Stupidity, the biggest cause of immigration fiascos, but its effects are curable by excellent lawyer

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Strongest argument yet against the MWF

In an interview published by the Guardian, the church’s spokesperson, Archbishop Y evstratiy Z oria, said data would be collected to see how many worshippers attended services on the 2 5 th, which this year falls on a Sunday.

“W e don’t want to force anyone. W e understand that doesn’t resolve anything,” he said. “I personally will decide what to do after talking with my parishioners. It’s better to promote this process slowly and successfully.”

It was pointed out that the move to December 2 5 is part of a bigger national process of dismantling the symbols of Russia, the o iet nion and communism, which too o in when Putin annexed Crimea and kickstarted a pro(C ont i nue on page 27)

 BUSINESS | IMMIGRATIONS Are you retiring and still having debts?

I

f you are near your retirement age, you must act now or else you will find yourself miserable during your golden years or retirement period onsider an ruptcy as a great financial planning tool for those who are within a few years from retirement ou must prepare a financial plan for a debt free retirement so that you will en oy your golden years As yourself these uestions Will my retirement income be enough to co er my daily e penses and medical bills Will be carrying a mortgage that cannot pay during my retirement Will my long term care cost and medicines be co ered by my pension Will increases in cost of li ing and medicines be co ered by my pension On the a erage, retirement income for seniors ranges from to a month This income does not increase to co er the e er-increasing cost of li ing and medicines ong term care cost and medicines will not be co ered by the monthly pensions of seniors if they do not ha e any sa ings or pension plan There are seniors who are still carrying a mortgage and putting all their money on it in anticipation of an increase in alue of real estate This is the worst ind of money management t is unimaginable that you will be depending on your monthly pension and still owing a lot of debts The best time to plan for retirement is now f you ha e no way of supporting your daily e penses because of debts, then it is time to consider filing for hapter an ruptcy ou can discharge most of your unsecured debts by filing hapter an ruptcy any people especially those close to retirement are stressed out because of all their financial obligations ou do not ha e to put yourself in this ery miserable situation because of debts ou wor ed hard for so many years to ha e a comfortable retirement and you deser ed it ou can retire debt free if you want There is nothing to be ashamed of in filing ban ruptcy t is made into law to gi e people a chance to start fresh and be free from past obligations any millionaires are also filing for ban ruptcy for many reasons since ban ruptcy law is created uestion Will the creditors ta e away my social security pension and retirement accounts if file ban ruptcy Answer No ocial security chec s and retirement accounts such as A and are e empt from creditors up to million eniors who file ban ruptcy will come with fresh start without seeing a big percentage of their retirement income to be paid to creditors Any penny sa ed from paying creditors goes into your retirement an ruptcy asics an ruptcy will actually impro e your credit within one year because your unsecured debts are discharged Although the ban ruptcy will be in your records for years, not filing ban ruptcy will ma e your credit e en worse until most your debts are paid f you are being sued by your creditors, most money udgment can be eliminated in ban ruptcy ollection actions continue and you can be sued if you are in debt settlement hapter will eliminate all unsecured debts f you are near retirement age, you must eliminate most of your debts Note This is not a legal ad ice ou need to spea to an mmigration Attorney to analy e your personal circumstances We o er free consultation on immigration matters f you ha e immigration problems the aw Offices of rispin o ano can help you find a solution before your problem gets worse, which could lead to deportation and family separation A N N W TA F N FO FP O ou can still ta e ad antage of the ta refunds for the self employed which include days of sic lea e and days of family lea e with a ma imum refund of alifornia eal e tended to The deadline to implement the eal has been e tended to ay , That means riding in an airplane is still allowed for those without eal NApplication for Naturali ation The is now gi ing priorities to application for naturali ation The reason is ob iously to allow ualified immigrants to ote in the coming midterm and presidential election There are cases when the waiting time is only si months compared to prior years Pres iden is encouraging all ualified to file for naturali ation This is a rare opportunity that all ualified should ta e ad antage of A FO NPA WA We help our clients reco er from employers’ unpaid minimum wage and o ertime ndocumented wor ers are ualified to apply A A NT Our aw Firm successfully settled a car accident for FA AW We also handle uncontested O N O TA P O We can help you if you are under audit, need a representation with , need to reduce your ta liability or need to o er a payment plan to , TO For the month of No ember, , we recei ed appro al from two naturali ation applications, one Fianc e isa petition, two remo als of condition on residence and two ad ustment of status applications N ot e: I f y ou h av e i mmi grat i on prob l ems w ri t e u s a l et t er an d w e w i l l repl y t o y ou with no initial obligation. The Law Offices of Crispin C. Lozano can help you find a solution before your problem gets worse, which could lead to deportation and family separation.

You may request a free consultation at one of our offices in Hayward or Cerritos, CA, or by phone at 1-877-456-9266. www.crispinlozanolaw.com, email at info@ccllaw.net

December 15-21, 2022

14

ADB ups 2022 PHL growth forecast to 7.4% AN A ON T The Asian e elopment an A sees the Philippine economy growing at a much faster pace this year following its stronger-than-e pected momentum in the third uarter This is based on its Asian e elopment Outloo pdate released this wee which states that A ’s growth estimate for this year has been re ised upward to from The regional lender’s forecast is at the higher end of Philippine economic managers’ target band of for The forecast was made as the country beat the blea forecasts of economists for the uly- eptember period, recording gross domestic product P growth, slightly faster than the in the second uarter P grew by in the first three uarters of this year, dri en by robust pri ate consumption and in estment and by sustained public infrastructure spending, A said in its report, according to NN Philippines ising employment, tourism reco ery, e panding production and retail sales, and public in estment will continue to support growth, it added owe er, the Philippines may fail to eep this growth rate due to measures

being done to temper high in ation, as well as e ternal factors a ecting the local economy The P growth forecast for is re ised down to accommodate monetary tightening, a sharper growth slowdown in the ad anced economies, and continuing uncertainty arising from the ussian in asion of raine, it said The estimate in eptember was re ised to in the report Amid soaring commodity prices, the arcos administration has been shadowing the Fed’s interest rate hi es n No ember, the policy-ma ing onetary oard announced its decision to ac up the cost of borrowing by basis points bp or three- uarters of a percentage point, bumping up the ey interest rate to With higher interest rates, businesses and consumers are seen to spend less due to a more e pensi e borrowing ata from the Philippine tatistics Authority P A showed No ember’s in ation further accelerated to from the pre ious month’s , stemming from a rise in food prices and non-alcoholic be erages n ation forecasts for the Philippines are raised for , mainly in response to higher food prices, but maintained for at , it said

ON T The balance of trade in October this year incurred a deficit of billion, according to the Philippine tatistics Authority P A The country’s trade deficit in October, howe er, slowed down both month-onmonth and year-on-year basis by percent and percent, respecti ely Trade deficit in eptember amounted to billion, while October ’s deficit was at billion This, as e ports further grew in October while imports eased compared to the pre ious month Philippine e port re enues in October stood at billion, up by percent from billion worth of e ports in eptember this year t was also higher by percent from e ports of billion a year ago mports declined by percent monthon-month from billion, while yearon-year, import increased by percent from billion n October , the country’s total e ternal trade in goods amounted to billion which indicates an annual growth rate of percent from its le el in the same period of the pre ious year n eptember , its annual increase was slower at percent, while in October , it e panded at a faster rate of percent, P A noted mports shared percent of the country’s e ternal trade in October, while e ports shared percent

lectronic products remain the country’s top e ports, sharing percent billion of the total e port re enues e enues of electronics e ports led the growth of e ported products of the country with percent increase, followed by ignition wiring set and other wiring sets used in ehicles, aircraft, and ships, up by percent, and machinery and transport e uipment, with an uptic of percent Top e port destinations of Philippine products in October were ong ong billion, nited tates billion , apan million , hina million , and ingapore million eanwhile, electronic products were also the most imported goods in October, with imports amounting to billion owe er, electronics imports slipped by percent year-on-year ommodity groups with highest growth in imports last October were metalliferous ores and metal scrap, surging by percent transport e uipment, up by percent other food and li e animals, up by percent mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials, up by percent and miscellaneous manufactured articles, up by percent Top import sources for the country in October were hina billion , ndonesia billion , apan billion , outh orea million , and million

PHL trade deficit eased to 3 3 billion in ctober

15 December 15-21, 2022

 ENTERTAINMENT

James Reid sets US, Canada concert tour in 2023

Filipino-Australian actor and singer James Reid will stage a solo concert tour in Canada and the United States next year.

Reid himself made the announce-

ment in an Instagram post.

In his post, the actor-musician stated his concert bannered “Lovescene will ic o in ouston, Te as on January 29 a nd will close in Los

Angeles late February.

Other US venues for the tour include Richmond, V irginia; Asbury Park, New Jersey; New Y ork City, New Y ork; Chicago, Illinois; Seattle, W ashington; and San Francisco, San iego, and West ollywood, alifornia.

Canadian concert locations will be in Toronto, W innipeg, Calgary, and V ancouver.

This will be the first time for eid to hit the entertainment scene in North America.

The singer-songwriter’s LOV ESCENE North American Tour takes its name from Reid’s latest album.

The “lovescene” tour is based on Reid’s sophomore album of the same name which was released last October.

The album has 10 t racks which feature collaborations with American singer-songwriter Destiny Rogers and W oosung from South Korean pop rock band The Rose.

Released in October, LOV ESCENE has been promoted with two singles so far: “u & I” and its latest “Lie to Me,” which features California singer-songwriter Destiny Rodgers, also signed to Reid’s Careless indie label, Billboard reported.

Billboard also reported that W asserman will handle the tour (W asserman Music represents the singer for worldwide booking, minus the Philippines) and j oin previously announced management Transparent Arts (the company founded by illboard ot 100 c hart-toppers Far East Movement that spotlights Asian talent on a global scale).

Tickets will be available for presale through James Reid’s Bandsintown page on Dec. 14, a nd go on sale on Dec. 16. M ore information will be shared via James Reid’s social media.

The Filipino-Australian artist currently manages his own record label Careless Music.

Jodi Sta. Maria wins best actress at Asian Academy Creative Awards

Award winning actress Jodi Sta. Maria last week added another feather to her cap after she was hailed as best actress in the Asian Academy Creative Awards.

Sta. Maria, 40, who was born in Sta. Rosa, Laguna as Jodi Chrissie Garcia Sta. Maria, won for her role as a betrayed and vengeful wife in the ABS-CBN adaptation of the British series “Doctor Foster,” locally titled “The Broken Marriage V ow.”

Sta. Maria personally received the trophy for Best Actress in a Leading Role at the ceremony held in Singapore, her

mother studio, ABSCBN, reported.

The top acting priz e from the Asian Academy Creative Awards is the latest regional recognition for the Kapamilya series.

“The Broken Marriage V ow” also won Best Format Adaptation (Scripted) in Asia in the ContentAsia Awards 202 held in Bangkok, Thailand last August.

Sta. Maria represented the Philippines in the 202 Asian Academy Creative Awards as one the 16 national winners named in September.

“The Broken Marriage V ow” was hailed national winner across six categories, including Best Adaptation of an Existing Format, Best Actress in a Leading Role for Jodi Sta. Maria, and Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Z aij ian Jaranilla.

The primetime series also won Best Theme Song or Title Theme for “Gusto Ko Nang Bumitaw” by Morissette, Best Editing for Rommel Malimban, and Best Promo or Trailer.

FOR MORE INFO, CALL:

 ENTERTAINMENT

December 15-21, 2022

16

FilAm H.E.R. shows off Filipino heritage SAN FRANCISCO - Award-winning singer and songwriter H.E.R. is very proud of her Filipino roots.

The V allej o, California-born Emmy, Grammy and American Music Award winner who was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area showed this once more when she made a “heartwarming request” to bring her Filipino heritage to the limelight in the ABC special, “Beauty and the Beast: A 30t h Celebration.”

H.E.R. (Having Everything Revealed), 25, born Gabriella Sarmiento W ilson, is starring as Belle in the highly-anticipated special.

According to reports in US and Manila, the apron she wears in the opening scene bears a handpainted ancient Filipino script “Baybayin” which spells out “Bel.” Much like in the original 19 animated film, will don three iconic looks of Princess Belle for the special — the grand yellow ballgown, her pink winter ensemble, and the blue everyday garb, said costume designer Marina Toybina.

Published reports indicated H.E.R.’s eagle-eyed Filipino fans are loving the blue pinafore look more because of a special design element.

As seen in an image released by ABC, H.E.R.’s blue costume features an apron with the word “Bel” written in Baybayin embroidered on the piece.

Pinoy fans are loving the nod to Filipino heritage with a Twitter user saying, “Proud of this Bay Area Pinay and excited to see HER in BATB! ”

Costume designer Marina Toybina told V ariety H.E.R. wanted to pay homage to her Filipino roots, her mother being a Filipino.

“One day, she called me and said, ‘I want to do something important to my [ Filipino] culture.’ In my sketch, we had the apron, and it was plain. Of course, I’m using the proper textile and cotton. She had the idea of doing something with a little ribbon, but I wanted to be bold,” Toybina said.

The costume designer said she had to learn Baybayin and tried to understand how important the script is to Filipino culture.

H.E.R., is starring alongside Josh Groban in the ABC two-hour special which mixes musical performances and animation and live-action sequences.

Apart from H.E.R., another FilAm actor is also part of the special’s ensemble. Actor Jon Jon Briones, famous for his portrayal of the Engineer in “Miss Saigon” W est End revival, will bring to life Maurice, Belle’s father.

Joining them in the “Beauty and the Beast: A 30t h Celebration” are actors and singers Josh Groban as the Beast, Shania Twain as Mrs. Potts, Joshua Henry as Gaston, Martin Short as Lumiere, David Alan Grier as Cogsworth, among others.

The special also features other entertainment bigwigs, including Rita Moreno as the narrator. Jon M. Chu of “Craz y Rich Asians” is executive producing the special, with Hamish

Hamilton set to direct.

The 30t h anniversary special will air on American Broadcasting Company and stream on Disney+ this week.

In publisher reports, H.E.R. revealed her Filipino upbringing inspired her love for making music.

In a CNN Philippines’ New Day interview, she said she found her voice growing up in a close-knit family that’s supportive of her craft. .E.R. has won the 2021 Grammy Award for Song of the Y ear for her single “I Can’t Breathe,” and the Oscars 2021 winner for Music (Original Song) with the song “Fight For Y ou” from the film udas and the lac Messiah.”

“I would do music with or without accolades, with or without the recognition because it’s part of who I am.

Y ou have to love it regardless of how much success,” she said on her recent victory.

H.E.R. also noted that her mother always “kept her humble” and reminded her to “always thank God for blessings.”

She also shared some other things that kept her connected to her Filipino roots — f ood and family.

“During the quarantine I learned how to make kare-kare, and that’s my favorite,” she said.

“I grew up with my grandparents in the house. And one good thing about having a Filipino grandmother is that most immigrants would take care of their parents,” H.E.R. added.

“I had my uncle, my mother’s brother, living in the house. It’s always a full house all the time! ” (with Claire Morales True)

Dolly de Leon gets Golden Globe nomination, Oscar, too Filipina actress Dolly de Leon is in cloud nine.

This as the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for her nomination as best supporting actress in the 80t h Golden Globe Awards for her acclaimed role in the movie “Triangle of Sadness”. e eon, who romped o with the best supporting performer award at the Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA), said the Golden Globe nomination is a huge honor that she shares with other Filipino artists, reported ABSCBN’s Mario Dumaual .

De Leon thanked the two groups for recogniz ing her acting ability.

“Thank you for including me in that very short list of very talented supporting actresses,“ de Leon said in a video she sent to ABS-CBN News.

“Hindi ako sanay sa nomination na ganito. Ang sarap! Sana mas marami pa sa atin ang makatanggap ng ganitong recognition because so many of us deserve

it,” she said.

De Leon has been an international sensation ever since her acclaimed performance in Ruben Ostlund’s dark comedy “Triangle of Sadness” which won the annes Filmfest Palme d’Or best film last May. he won ra es for her fierce performance as Abigail, the Pinay cleaning lady who transforms herself as the leader of shipwreck survivors. She also recently clinched the best supporting actress nomination for the role in the Satellite Awards of the International Press Academy.

The Golden Globes, which will be handed out January 2023, is regarded as a precursor of nominations in the Oscar awards where de Leon is also one of the top contenders in her category.

ABS-CBN reported that de Leon, who struggled for many years as a supporting player in scores of tv shows and movies , said she is thankful for the Oscar nomination but said she leaves her fate to

the j urors.

“Fleeting naman lahat ito,“ she said in an ABS-CBN interview in the homecoming premier of “Triangle of Sadness” last November at Gateway Araneta City .

“Mas na appreciate ko ‘yung mga hardship na pinagdaanan ko,“ she said. “Kasi hindi ko mararating ito kung wala yon! ” De Leon is set to receive her LAFCA best performer award first wee of anuary 2023 in Los Angeles before the Golden Globe Awards. She will be seen next in the new Kapamilya series “Dirty Linen”.

De Leon has signed with Fusion Entertainment for managemen. . Dateline reported the artist management company, founded by film and marketing executives Adam Kersh and Chris Evans, will be representing de Leon “across all areas.”

“Dolly is an exceptional actress whose performance in ‘Triangle of Sadness’ was charming, funny, and thought provoking,” said Chris Evans. “She is a perfect

addition to Fusion’s list of intentional, multitalented artists and we’re thrilled to be part of her team moving forward from this Cannes breakout.”

De Leon, a self-described “bit player” in local T and film, did not win best actress but had earned raves for her part in the uben stlund film, with ariety dubbing her performance as Oscar-worthy, ABS-CBN reported..

“To be honest, I have not broken out in the Philippines. I have not. I play bit roles — lawyers, doctors, the mother of the lead, the principal of a school, or the psychiatrist,” she earlier told V ariety.

De Leon has said she hopes the buz z surrounding her portrayal would open more doors not j ust for her, but fellow “brown actors,” in the international scene.

“W e have a rich history; we have a lot of stories to tell. It would be great if [ Filipinos] were represented more in mainstream media,” she said.

17 December 15-21, 2022

 ENTERTAINMENT

Kim Chiu energized for the holiday season The holiday season is one of Kim Chiu’s most favorite times of the year because it’s when she starts decorating her house, including her much awaited Christmas tree. Growing up not having a tree has made her want to go all out and personally put one up every year.

Her theme previously was white Christmas and decked her 1 2 -foot tree with white ornaments because for her, the color white symboliz ed hope and she missed traveling to wherever there was snow.

This Christmas will be extra special because this will be the first time since the pandemic when we can all finally get together with minimal restrictions. “This holiday season is the time for get together, more reason to meet up and celebrate with friends and family, get together, exchange gifts and a lot of food! ” says Kim. “Plus, I get to have my holiday vacation! Feeling excited and body must be ready for all the happenings! ” The holidays are also Kim’s busiest time because of work commitments and proj ects she has to attend to. “I am doing series of proj ects now and that’s what makes me busy these days plus

I have j ust started my bag business and I am very happy with the result. I can’t wait for the restock and people want more of house of little bunny bags! “she adds. “I need to spark up my energy and be prepared for the coming holiday season! Feeling good! Feeling excited!

To carry herself through all this, she makes it a point to drink Berocca to help spark her energy.

Berocca boasts a unique combination of vitamins and essential minerals, like calcium, magnesium, and z inc, that work in synergy to improve your mental performance and physical energy throughout the day.

“Even if I lack sleep or have an early call time, I make sure I always have some Berocca,” Kim shared enthusiastically. “I get all the vitamins and nutrients my body needs, and it tastes great too.”

Like Kim, you can spark your energy to help you stay energiz ed and focused throughout the holiday season.

Y ou can buy Multivitamins and Minerals Berocca in leading drugstores nationwide and on Bayer Consumer’s official Shoppee and Laz ada stores.

Gary V shares cryptic tweet about health, asks for prayers and God’s miracles betes.

Netiz ens prayed for the 5 8 -year-old singer.

Some comments: “May God bless and protect you Gary V ” “Gary God is very powerful and all knowing I will pray for your healing in the mighty name of Jesus Amen.”

Gary V (Facebook) “Nothing is impossible through JESUS name who gave us strength.”

“Y ou are healed by the miraculous touch of Jesus Christ! ” Gary V alenciano posted a cryptic tweet about his health as he asked for prayers and God’s miracles.

“Lord… I’m going to need your miraculous touch to get me through tonight and the next few nights to come. Help me not lose the sense and spirit of Christmas in the middle of all@ these challenges. Kindly help in keeping me healthy at all times Lord. In Y our name Jesus I pray. Amen,” tweeted Gary V . on W ednesday, Dec. 1 4.

Currently, Gary V . is living with type 1 dia-

D O J S E L L E R O R T R A V E L

# 2 0 2 5 2 3 0 -4 0

 COMMUNITY NEWS

December 15-21, 2022

18

CHRISTMAS DAWN MASSES IN Governor Newsom Visits FILIPINO THE BAY AREA BEGIN WITH 15TH California-Mexico Border ANNUAL COMMISSIONING MASS Avila-Olmeda, to visit a migrant shelter in Mexicali. The visit was time with the 200t h anniversary of diplomatic relations between the United States and Mexico.

“On Day One of his administration, President Biden put forward a comprehensive plan focused on securing our border, ensuring Dreamers have a permanent home in our country, and helping businesses address their needs for more workers,” said Governor Newsom.

“Instead of working on real reform, the response from Republicans has been to exploit the situation at our border for political gain. California has invested roughly $ 1 billion over the past three years to support the health and safety of migrants as well as the surrounding border communities, but we cannot continue to do this work alone.

It is long past time for Republicans in Congress to engage on real solutions Photo credit O ce of Governor Avila-Ol- to meet the public safety, public health med a and humanitarian issues at our border and in our immigration system,” he CALIFORNIA-MEX ICO BORDER said.

– Governor Gavin Newsom visited the Governor Newsom and Governor California-Mexico border j ust a week Avila-Olmeda toured the Peregrino Miahead of the anticipated lifting of Title grant Shelter in Mexicali alongside mem42. bers of the United Nations’ International Governor Newsom toured a test- Organiz ation for Migration. The shelter ing, vaccination, and resource center in provides aid and shelter to migrants and California and was j oined by the Gover- asylum seekers who seek to enter the nor of Baj a California, Marina del Pilar United States.

Th e Ph ilip p in e Con s ulat e Gen eral in San Fran cis co j oin ed t h e Filip in o Cat h olic commun it y in t h e San Fran cis co Bay Area in t h e 15t h an n ual commis s ion in g mas s f or t h e simbang gabi da n masses at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assump�on in San Fran cis co on 9 December 2022.

Philippine Consul General Neil Ferrer a�ended the commissioning mass, here Consul Vanessa Bago-Llona and Vice Consul Adrian Baccay oined representa�ves of the p aris h es un d er t h e Arch d ioces e of San Fran cis co f or a p roces s ion of p arols or Filip in o Christmas star lanterns. During the mass, Rev. Fr. Dave Pe ngill blessed the parols an d commis s ion ed t h e s ame as t h e “ Ligh t of Ch ris t ,” t o be s h ared w it h t h e res t of t h e Cat h olic f ait h f ul f or t h e n in e-d ay s imban g gabi.

The simbang gabi or misa de gallo is a series of masses that is tradi�onally celebrated at da n beginning December . The tradi�on began during the Spanish colonial era w h en Ch ris t mas mas s es w ere h eld bef ore s un ris e, t o allow f armers t o h ear mas s before they set o to ork during the day. In recent �mes, an an�cipated simbang gabi is also held for nine nights star�ng December . San Francisco PCG photos

19 December 15-21, 2022

 COMMUNITY NEWS

CA Anti-Hate Organization Seeks Solutions to Hate Crimes

ACT Against Hate Alliance Works to Counter Fear and Hate California Treasurer Fiona Ma Praises Work of Law Enforcement

the World Trade enter attac Fear, howe er, is another factor that comes into play following any hate crime or terrorist attac , according to ose Following the World Trade enter attac , that fear was demonstrated by a two-year reduction in airline tra el and CALIFORNIA: The ACT Against Hate Al- related tourism Fear got the best of them people , ose liance is wor ing to find solutions to stem the rising tide of hate crimes in alifornia Part of said We must loo at ways to uell that fear i il ights Attorney, former West ollythe solution is educating alifornians about wood ayor, and recogni ed T comthe problem and its roots Another part of the munity leader ohn uran is con inced that, solution is creating a concerted response that demonstrates a culture of tolerance and accep- ust as certain groups are responsible for the rising trend of iolent hate crimes in alifortance A T Against ate Alliance AA A hosted nia, other groups must become the solution do belie e that if we lin arms, people the fourth in its series of irtual meetings today of good nature and good grace, and say there to e amine how hate crimes a ect alifornia communities and to suggest solutions Today’s are more of us than there are those who hate, presentation included contributions by alifor- we can ma e a positi e di erence, uran nia tate Treasurer Fiona a, r Adam ose, said during the AA A eeting t does me a esearch Professor with the Price chool of no good if ust stand up for atino immiPublic Policy and Terrorism pert at the ni- grants and ignore Asian immigrants or others ersity of outhern alifornia and ohn uran, t ma es more sense for me to loc arms with a i il ights Attorney and T eader, rounded out the monthly presentation We are ery happy that county district attorneys are now digging into these types of crimes and actually calling them what they are, said a during the AA A meeting This allows us to monitor what is happening and ta e steps to protect our communities a credited local community organi ations in cities li e an Francisco, for e ample, that ha e ta en proacti e steps to combat the rising trend of hate crimes in the hinatown area and elsewhere he says neighborhood patrols by ci ic organi ations li e the local ions lub, Par s Alliance, and neighborhood watch groups are ha ing a positi e impact owe er, she belie es more wor needs to be done This positi e iew of community in ol ement is shared by ose, who belie es hate crimes are no di erent from terrorist attac s in American cities and communities e pointed out that the goal of terrorist leader Osama in aden was to destroy America’s financial system by attac ing the World Trade enter in ut ose belie es it was the di erse communities that ma e up the ity of New or foiled that plan ssentially the people of New or showed the terrorists that they were going to get bac to normal and get bac to business as usual, ose said during the AA A meeting That had a great e ect on reducing the losses and countering terrorism in the aftermath of

people who are di erent but share the same goal uran, who ser ed on a alifornia ate rimes ommission in , belie es alifornia is currently going through another cycle of e tremism in politics and society, that is amplified, in part, by social media belie e we will ma e progress on this issue, uran said We may not eliminate it, but we can, as a society, ma e progress and learn how to tolerate and respect one another The next ACT Against Hate Alliance program will be held ne t month, Wednesday, anuary th at A A b ou t A C T A gai n s t H at e A l l i an c e A T Against ate Alliance was established by enator ob u and ei ei o u under their community business de elopment ad isory entity u trategies This program is made possible by a grant to u trategies from the alifornia tate ibrary as part of the top the ate Program

 REAL ESTATE

December 15-21, 2022

Should I consider a Manufactured home?

Firm sees sustained recovery for PHL real estate sector A AT T Officials of a real estate broerage firm in the country is optimistic of the continued growth of domestic real state sector gi en the reopening of the economy and the pri ate sector’s low debt le el eechu Property onsultants P chief e ecuti e officer O a id eechiu said prices are rising amid the uptrend of interest rates but demand for office and residential spaces remained high esults of the firm’s middle of ecember study show that office demand so far this year reached , s uare meters s m , e ceeding the combined demand in the past two years at , s m in and , s m in ul of the demand came from the information technology-business process management TP sector at , s m gi en the hybrid wor set-up With the return-to-wor policy e pected in , the study indicated that resumption of percent office wor for the T- P sector alone would re uire an office space demand of around , s m The firm said a , s m of li e re uirement from the T- P sector is already isible to date n terms of the impact of the rising interest rate,

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desperately ha e to buy a P irector for esearch and onsultancy oy manufactured housing ole said property de elopers are more a ected mayhome, pro e a good option anuthan the customers because the latter are gi en factured homes can be had for longer payment terms to cushion the impact of the much less than traditional stic frame houses and o er more for higher rates your money, allowing you to t’s more on the de eloper side where we will purchase some nice upgrades or be seeing a higher impact of these interest rates as a bigger home Financing may e harder to obtain, howe er, logistics in ation and interest rates impact on the pro and you may find your home’s construction cost when deli ery these products, alue going down rather than up especially when the prices would ha e been fi ed as time goes by ou’ll also need place to put your manufactured today and the construction for a certain building ahome since it won’t come with will be o er a period of four years, maybe e en fi e any land As is true of all ma or purchases, you’ll need to weigh the pros and cons of manufactured homes before deciding whether one is years he said during the same briefing option for you eechiu further said the real estate sector re- a goodanufactured omes and A ordability mains robust despite se eral economic crisis in rePerhaps the most attracti e thing about mobile homes is their price ecause they are mass produced and built on assembly lines, cent years and its impact on prices homes cost less to ma e and therefore less to buy As That’s a testament to the high sa ings rate and manufactured of eptember , the median price of a home in the nited tates the low debt le els in the pri ate sector And that’s was , epending on where you li e, the a erage price of a why, despite all these ramping up of interest rates, home can be lower or much higher omparati ely, the a erage price a manufactured home in was , anufactured home it not really caused much ha oc in the property sec- of buyers can e pect to spend at least to percent less on housing tor as far as capital alues are concerned, he said than those who opt for a traditionally constructed home This cost sa ing comes with a catch, howe er any lenders e said many people who own properties are only o er mortgages to people buying real property, which the law strong handed generally defines as land and anything permanently attached to it And thin that this trend will continue, he tic -built homes meet this ualification, but mobile homes and manufactured homes typically do not f you want lenders to iew a added

THE NUMBER ONE CHOICE FOR FILIPINO FAMILIES

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manufactured home as a permanent structure, you must permanently attach it to a basement or concrete foundation underneath it and remo e the a les oth choices create more costs but can open up financing choices While a , budget may get you a primary starter home in some parts of the country, about , will buy you uite a lu urious manufactured home Than s to a lower base price, you can often add upgrades to a manufactured home that you couldn’t a ord in a traditional stic -built house anufactured housing ma es upgrades li e a soa ing tub, fireplace or granite countertops much more attainable ou can e en s ip the e tras and add s uare footage to the house, getting a bigger li ing space for less onsider oo ie- utter oncerns Although you can add amenities to a manufactured home and twea the design a bit, e pect your choices to be somewhat limited ass producing manufactured homes allows builders to ma e homes uic ly and ine pensi ely, but it also limits your layout and design choices ou’ll ha e the ability to choose from multiple oor plans, but that is where your options will end The oor plan you choose will a ect the way the inside of your home ows, but will always ha e to fit within the home’s outer dimensions, which come in standard rectangular si es ingle-wide homes measure up to feet long and feet wide, ouble-wides, too, measure up to feet in length but are feet or more in width For e en more space, homeowners can opt for a triple-wide home p to feet long, these homes arri e in at least three pieces and get put together on-site anufactures homes gi e you some options, but if you want a uni ue and fully customi ed home unli e any other, a manufactured home isn’t a good choice for you nderstand ownsides to anufactured omes Although renting a place to li e wor s well for some people, many iew it as throwing money into a hole Paying your rent month after month eeps a roof o er your head, but it ne er pro ides any e uity or ownership uying a home, on the other hand, pro ides you with a tangible asset you can sell or borrow against This doesn’t always hold true for manufactured housing While stic homes and other parcels of real estate often appreciate, manufactured homes typically depreciate much li e a car This means that in the end, you’ll own your home, but it may not ha e much alue ome buyers combat this by buying the land their home sits on, hoping the property will appreciate e en if the manufactured home does not ou can also try to sta e o a manufactured home’s depreciation by upgrading interior finishes, building on additions and anchoring it to the land with a permanent foundation any manufactured home buyers, howe er, opt to place their home in a mobile home par n that case, you still rent the land on which it sits At the end of your time in the home, you won’t own the property and your house itself may not ha e much alue ou might be able to sell it, but you may ha e to pay someone to haul it away if you can’t find a buyer A manufactured home may ultimately lea e you feeling as if you still threw money into a hole ent ontrol A ects epairs an Francisco’s strict rent controls are another issue Although designed to help tenants renting apartments, houses and spaces for manufactured homes, rent control also limits the amount of money manufactured home par owners can charge tenants As such, many find it difficult to find the finances (C ont i nue on page 27) to repair common amenities li e

21 December 15-21, 2022

 SPORTS

Hidilyn Diaz dominates World Championships with 3 golds BOGOTA/ MANILA - Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz -Naranj o won three gold medals to rule the 5 -kilogram category of the W orld Championships of the International W eightlifting Federation (IW F) in Bogota, Colombia last week.

Diaz was immediately hailed by Philippine government and sports leaders for her latest wins.

In New Y ork, the Filipino American organiz ation Cebu Inc. conferred on Diaz an award of excellence.

Diaz also met outgoing Philippine Consul General Elmer G. Cato and other Filipino leaders.

Diaz trained in Atlanta, Georgia priority to the Bogotan event and said she nearly missed the world championship due to some medical challenges while training there.

“Nung nandun kami sa Atlanta may nangyari kasi, so medyo nawalan ako ng focus din, kinu-kwestiyon ko na kaya ko pa ba? Pero at the end of the day, nakaya naman at nagpapasalamat ako sa lahat ng Pilipino na nandito sa Amerika, kasi talagang tumulong po sila sa amin,” she said.

W hile training also in New Y ork, Diaz said she met an inspiring former Olympian, Benj amin Silva-Netto, the first Filipino to compete in a marathon e ent at the 1968 S ummer Olympics in Mexico City. n the enate, a resolution was filed commending and congratulating the country’s first Olympic gold medalist as she “continues to bring pride, j oy, glory, to the country with her yet another impressive performance in the world arena. Such accomplishment deserves commendation from the Philippine Senate.”

The Tokyo 2020 gold medalist lifted 93 kg on snatch and 1 14 kg on clean for a total of 207 kg to beat local favorite Rosalba Morales (19 kg) who got the silver and Ana Gabriela Lopez of Mexico (198 kg) who copped the

bronz e medal.

“Finally, I win at the W orld Championships. I’m so happy with that, said ia who first spent a wee at a training camp in the United States, before heading to Colombia for another week of acclimatiz ation.

The 31- year-old Diaz settled for bronz e in the 53 kg class in 2015 and 2017 worlds and in the 5 kg last year.

“It was good timing because that is the last time I will compete at 5 kg,” she told Olympics.com.

Diaz was also an Asian Games gold medalist in 2018 and in the Southeast Asian Games in 201 9 a nd 202.

“Her latest and momentous triumph as a world champion completes her remarkable gold medal haul from maj or weightlifting tournaments in her already stellar professional career,“ Estrada said in a news release.

Diaz plans to move up to 59 kg in the 2024 Paris Olympics, which would be her fifth and final stint in the quadrennial Games, after the 5 kg was dropped from the competition.

The World championships o ered ualifying points for the Paris Games.

The Senate also conferred on Diaz a Medal of Excel-

lence on Sept. 1, 2021 after her win in the Tokyo Olympics.

“To Hidilyn, you are a shining beacon of women in sports, continue to remain strong and resilient as you achieve your dreams,” the Philippine Sports Commission said last week in a statement honoring Dia The Athlete of the Y ear of the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) tried for 1 17 and 12 kg but registered no lift in both attempts.

The golds were the first for ia -Naran o at the W orld Championships, and came a year after she handed the Philippines its first Olympic gold medal She previously won golds in the Southeast Asian Games, the Asian Games, Asian Championship, the Asian Indoor and Mixed Martial Arts Games, and the W orld Cup. The W orld Championships served as a qualifying event for Diaz -Naranj o who hopes to compete in the 2024 P aris Olympics.

Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Chairman Jose Emmanuel “Noli” Eala congratulated Diaz . idilyn has pro en once again that the fire in her heart to be second to none in her field continues to burn and remains the benchmark by which every weightlifter and Filipino athlete must measure themselves against,” Eala said in a statement.

“The PSC will forever be proud of Hidilyn as the epitome of a great champion and will always provide support in her continuing quest to bring honor to our country. Mabuhay! ” he said.

Filipino weightlifters Elreen Ando, V anessa Sarno, Kristel Macrohon and Dave Lloyd Pacaldo were also competing at the W orld Championships and slots for the 2024 Olympics. Results in their events are being awaited.

Pacquiao beats South Korea’s DK Yoo, eyes Crawford, Errol Spence or Floyd next

By EDDIE an d WENDEL ALINEA SEOUL/ MANILA - W orld legend of Philippine boxing, Manny Pacquiao showed once again that he still has material in his fists as he defeated outh orea’s mi ed martial arts fighter oo in an e hibition fight held in Seoul.

Pacquiao hammered a unanimous decision after six rounds of action at the Sel Arena in the Korean capital.

Y oo, a martial artist and internet star, fought only for the second time in a boxing ring -- his previous encounter an e hibition match against former F fighter Bradley Scott.

Y oo, dubbed the “Korean Bruce Lee” in his homeland -- was no match for Pac uiao despite being significantly taller and heavier.

Pacquiao, who turns 44 this December, was the winner by unanimous decision and hinted that more appearances in the ring could lie ahead, including a possible bout against Errol Spence or Terrence Crawford.

There could also be a possible rematch with American champion Floyd Mayweather Jr., although exhibition bout only as both Pacquiao and Mayweather have both retired from professional boxing.

Of course can fight them can’t wait to fight them to see if they are real champions. I’ve fought the best and I want to try them. I’m still here,” Pacquiao said after the fight Pac uiao came from all angles and displayed his fin-

est boxing prowess, as if he did not come from retirement, as he dominated DK Y oo, published reports in Seoul and Manila stated.

The eight-division world boxing champion showed who’s boss and went all-out from the get-go, unloading multiple combinations and solid body shots to punish Y oo.

After gaining much momentum from the first two rounds, Pacquiao stepped on the gas and mixed up his combinations with powerful right hooks to the body.

It was only in the fourth round when Y oo had his short time to bounce back with a right hook but did not in ict much damage on Pac uiao Unfaz ed, the Filipino boxing legend unleashed a

classic urry of punches in the last seconds which left Y oo with a bloodied nose.

W ith Pacquiao on the cusp of winning, at least as points are concerned, the fifth frame saw some complications and downtime when Y oo pointed out that he was punched at the back of the head.

Pacquiao, who actually hit Y oo on the temple, was quick to apologiz e though but it did not stop him to continue punishing the South Korean with hefty combinations heading into the si th and final round Pacquiao was raz or-thin close to a knockout victory as he managed to score a clean knockdown midway through the sixth canto after a vicious left hook.

He followed it up with yet another multiple hits en route to what was supposedly a knockdown, but South Korean referee Jang-Sun Kim called it a “slip.”

“It’s nice to be back in the ring especially in this charity exhibition match and I’m going to continue my training to be back in shape,” said Pacquiao, who owns a professional record of 62 wins built on 39 knockouts, eight losses, and two draws.

The Filipino bo ing great, who mar ed his first fight since his UD loss to Y ordenis Ugas and his retirement last year, added that he wasn’t really surprised by Y oo’s movements.

“I can move also like that,” he said in j est.

The proceeds of the boxing match will go to the warplagued Ukraine and as well as the Philippines, to provide free housing.

 COMMUNITY NEWS

December 15-21, 2022

22

The Ethnic Media Weekly

School Districts With the Greatest Need Get Fewer Dollars, Study Shows ByPet er Sch urman n School districts that serve more Black and Latino students, low-income students, as well as English Learners are on average receiving less funding than their whiter and wealthier counterparts. Some states, including California, are bucking the trend.

Those are among the findings of a new study from The Education Trust, which also released a new interactive tool that lets users compare funding across states and individual school districts.

“W hat the research shows is that significant additional funding for underserved students is required to see the changes in achievement that we would want to see,” said The Education Trust’s Director for P-12 Data and Analytics, Ivy Morgan, who authored the study, Equal Is Not Good Enough.

Morgan spoke during a Dec. 6 media briefing highlighting the data, which looks at state and local funding in school districts across the country along three separate tracks: districts with higher numbers of Black and Latino students, higher poverty districts, and districts serving larger numbers of English Language Learners.

The study updates an earlier report from Among the findings are that schools with higher numbers of Black and Latino students on average receive 16% less than schools with fewer students in either of these two demographics. “That’s about $2,7 00 less per student — and in a district with 5,000 students, that gap could mean $13.5 million in missing resources,” the study notes.

The Education Trust’s interactive tool lets users see funding data across states and districts. Darker states are those with greater disparities.

Schools with more English Learners get on average 14% less while high-poverty schools see a gap of about 5% — or about $ 800 less than what wealthier districts receive.

W hile funding formulas vary from one

state to another, many rely on property values as a key mechanism. Districts with higher housing costs are typically able to raise far more in local funding. The study cites this as one example of how racist housing policies continue to impact communities of color, limiting their capacity to accrue wealth and see greater educational attainment.

State funding, meanwhile, which is based on enrollment numbers and is typically weighted to in ate percentages for higher-need students, more often than not fails to make up for the shortfall.

And while federal COV ID relief dollars to the tune of some $20 0 billion – doled out via Tile 1 regulations, prioritiz ing high-need districts – helped close the gap, those monies will eventually run out, lea ing districts facing a fiscal cli that could exacerbate existing inequities.

W hy school funding matters Smaller class siz es, more experienced teachers, greater resources for student counseling and AP coursework; these are among the advantages that come with more school funding.

“Black and Latino students enj oy sci-

ence, technology, engineering and math courses and aspire to go to college and pursue careers in T fields, the study notes, “but they are routinely denied access to relevant course opportunities such as AP Biology, AP Physics, and AP Chemistry.”

Fairer funding models would help address this challenge, Morgan says.

They would also lead to more dramatic educational outcomes, including “a whole grade level acceleration of learning,” according to Rucker Johnson, professor of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley. ohnson testified on the importance of equity in school funding during a January hearing in Pennsylvania, among the states with the widest gaps in funding between wealthy and low-income districts. The case centered on arguments

by Republican lawmakers that sought to separate questions of funding equity from educational outcomes.

In his testimony, Johnson drew on a 2016 study he co-authored looking at the longitudinal e ects of school finance reform from the 1970s to the 190s on individual student achievement. Among his findings were eight to months of learning gains” for students in districts with greater funding equity.

But Johnson stressed that funding equity needs to be consistent and predictable to allow districts to put in place the longterm, structural resources necessary to ensure improved outcomes for students.

States that are narrowing the gap

Louis Freedberg is the former Executive Director for EdSource, which reports on education issues in California. “W hat the Ed Trust report tells me, and this is significant, is that the ocal ontrol Funding Formula really has made a di erence in equaliz ing spending in California.”

Passed in 2014, LCFF inj ected some $18 billion in spending to the state’s public schools, at the same time reshaping how the state determined how much each district receives, looking at factors including student demographics and poverty rates.

California provides $6,738 (126% ) more per student in high-poverty schools than in schools with lower poverty rates.

“The state’s highest poverty districts now receive 126% percent more per student than the lowest poverty districts, and districts with the highest percentage of students of color receive 92% more. Just amaz ing. That is all LCFF,” said Freedberg.

California has since the 1970s prohibited the use of property taxes in school funding.

But Freedberg says what the study fails to show is how districts like Los Angeles — the nation’s second largest after New Y ork, with close to 5 million students — are coping with funding decreases following enrollment declines post-Covid.

He also stresses that money alone won’t solve the issue, suggesting that greater transparency in district spending would ensure more e ecti e use of a ailable resources.

Other states have also come farther along in closing funding gaps. The study highlights two, Maryland and Massachusetts, for putting in place funding schemes that on paper would provide close to double the amount for districts with larger numbers of Black and Latino students.

Six states, meanwhile, (Connecticut, Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, North Carolina, Rhode Island) were cited as providing between 10% and 2% less funding to these districts.

There are also a number of states where funding models approach equity in some but not all categories. New Mexico, for e ample, o ers slightly more per-student spending for high-poverty districts and those with more Black and Latino students but less for districts with large numbers of English Learners.

The study o ers policy recommendations that include things like caps on the amount that wealthier districts can raise, as well as formulas that prioritiz e student need.

“This is about getting the information out there so we can start having more nuanced conversations about inequities in school funding across schools and within districts,” Morgan said, stressing that even in states where there is more parity in funding, given the higher needs among these groups, “equal funding… is not good enough.”

23 December 15-21, 2022

 COMMUNITY NEWS

Filipino Americans candidates win in historic number in the last midterm elections Success was attained by many Filipino American candidates that aspired for various positions in the recently held November 202 midterm elections to the delight of the Filipino American community.

Latest data gathered from sources notably from the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA) showed that Filipino American candidates performed creditably well and getting elected from local to state-level positions across the country prompting warm congratulatory greetings from kababayan from all over.

“Our biggest achievement for this year’s November elections is seeing more Filipinos stepping up to run for public office epresentation matters As our fellow Filipino Americans and those from other minority communities see someone who looks like them, speaks for them, and makes decisions on their behalf, they will also feel inspired to speak up, participate, and listen,” NaFFAA’s current president and national chair, Brendan Flores, commented. “W e are excited to see progress for our community. Filipino Americans o er a uni ue type of leadership that is founded upon their deep love for their families and communities.”

Of the winners, ep obby cott remained the highest-ranking Filipino American elected official after winning the U.S. House election in V irginia’s 3r d Congressional District where he has served this district since 193. n alifornia, ob onta is re-elected as the Attorney General for the US State that is home to more than 5 00,000 Filipinos. te en aga is elected the first Filipino American in the New Y ork State Legislature aria er ania became the first Filipina American member of the North Carolina Legislature after winning at the North arolina ouse of epresentati es to represent District 41. Joining them on the east coast are re-elects Kris V alderrama, a Maryland House of Delegates member, and Marvin Lim, a state representative in District 98 in Georgia. Justin

Jones also won as a state representative for District 52 in Tennessee, and Luz Bay won at the New Hampshire House of epresentati es for tra ord ounty District 21. epresenting Filipino American state election winners on the west coast are Genevieve Mina, who will assume office in the Alas a ouse of epresentatives, representing District 19, and Erica Mosca, elected as a state assembly member for District 14 in Nevada. In Hawaii, osebella artine is elected as a member of the tate ouse of epresentati es for District 40 in Ewa, Hawaii. Joining Filipino American history makers in Hawaii are Brandon Elefante and Henry A uino, two newly elected senators in the Hawaii State Senate.

A record number of Filipino Americans won local government positions during the recently held November elections Assuming the office of ayors are ed eano of laremont ity, od ausagbual of aly ity, and elissa amoso of the City of Artesia. The three mayors are elected council members but will assume the role of mayors in 2023.

Filipino Americans are also well-represented in city council positions. Gabriel uinto was reelected, the first T council member in the history of the city of El Cerrito, CA. Other notable city council victories in California are Garry arbadillo of ilpitas ity, ay uenaventura of Daly City, Ollie Cantos and Letty Lopez -V iado of W est Covina City, Tony Daysog of Alameda City, Nikki Fortunato-Bas of Oakland City, Joanne Del osario of the ity of olma, iosdado atulac of the ity of alle o, uena or Nicolas of City of South San Francisco, David Oro of American Canyon, Charles Palmares of the City of V allej o, Cameron Sasai of the City of Pinole, Phil Bacerra of Santa Ana City, and Ditas Y amane of National City. In addition, Krystle Ang of Burbank City was elected treasurer, and Kenneth Mej ia of Los Angeles was elected as the city’s first Filipino American city controller.

In Hawaii, newcomer Tyler Dos Santos and former member of the State House V al Okimoto are both elected to the Honolulu City Council.

Several Filipino Americans also won school board elections. Thelma Boac and Jaria Jaug won at Berryessa Union School District Board in San Jose, California.

Judy Patacsil was elected as a Board Trustee for District 1 of Palomar College in San Diego County. Mike Guingona and Agnes Gonz ales also won the election to assume roles at the San Mateo County Community ollege istrict oard and owland nified chool istrict, respecti ely n addition, obert oreno won a seat on the Southwestern Community College District Board of Trustees at South San Diego County, California.

On the Judicial Level, Filipina American attorney Mari Parlade won as a District Family Court Judge in Las V egas, Nevada while lawyer Marissa Cordonlac won her bid to become the first Filipina American Hillsborough County in the tate of Florida udge oining first Filipino/ Japanese American Superior Court Judge Pelayo A. Llamas Jr. who ran unopposed in Alameda County California in June this year and will take office on anuary , It is also highly noted that young Filipinos are keeping up with their elder kababayan in making history as millennials and Generation Z Filipino Americans leading the charge among our rising generation.

History was made when 23- year-old Cameron Sasai became the youngest Filipino American council member in Pinole City, California. The 32- year-old activist and accountant Kenneth Mej ia made headlines after becoming the first Filipino American and Asian American elected to citywide office in os Angeles n Tennessee, the 26- year-old activist Justin Jones was elected state representative of District 52, becoming the youngest lawmaker in their state capitol. In Hawaii, 36- years old Filipino American Brandon Elefante will become Hawaii’s youngest state senator in the coming term.

“I am excited to see an increasing number of Filipino Americans run for public office, especially among the younger generation. I look forward to even more Filipino Americans taking that big step to lead and empower our community and strengthen our democracy. Our Filipino American community has contributed so much to America over the past century and I strongly believe that we have so much more to give as we get more involved in the civic life of our neighborhoods, states and nation. I believe Filipino Americans care deeply about others beyond themselves and believe in the importance of working with people of all backgrounds to make the world a better place. I have great hope and faith that our community will continue to ma e a positi e di erence in these challenging times and in the years to come,” former Mayor of the City of Cerritos and pioneer of the NaFFAA’s un for Office Program ar Pulido remar ed Pulido’s un for Office Program aims to connect Filipino Americans who aspire to run for public office with other Filipino Americans who currently or previously held elected office positions and one of its alumni is newly-elected Pinole City Council Member Cameron Sasai who credited mentors CA Attorney General ob onta, ercules ice ayor Ale ander Wal er- riffin, and Pulido himself for Cameron’s successful campaign.

NaFFAA also keenly observed that the record number of Millennials, Generation Z , and women Filipino Americans in government “is a sign that we are heading in the right direction. As the Filipino presence continues to grow across the United States with more than 4.2 million, we need to continue to work for a seat at a table to be part of discussions that a ect the li es of our Filipino Americans. W e hope this election will inspire the next generation of Filipino Americans to continue to rise up to become better Filipino Americans and leaders in our community.”

Captions: all pictures are gathered and provided by NaFFAA And the winners are:

 COMMUNITY NEWS

December 15-21, 2022

24

SENTRO RIZAL SAN FRANCISCO HOSTS SPECIAL WATCH PARTY OF HIT GMA TV SERIES “MARIA CLARA AT IBARRA”

SAN FRANCISCO, USA – The December rains did not deter Filipino Americans in the San Francisco Bay Area to j oin the GMA Pinoy TV watch party of the groundbreaking fantasy portal TV series “Maria Clara at Ibarra,” based on the novel “Noli Me Tá ngere” by Philippine national hero Dr. Jose P. Riz al, on 3 December 2 02 2 .

Held at the Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco’s Sentro Riz al, the hub for Philippine culture and the arts in the Bay Area, the special watch party was part of the Consulate’s commemoration this December of the 1 2 6 th anniversary of Riz al’s

martyrdom, and was held simultaneously with similar screenings in Los Angeles and New Y ork City.

Grade schoolchildren from the Filipino Education Center (FEC) Galing Bata Bilingual Program at Bessie Carmichael School in San Francisco are among those who attended the special watch party, wearing their best Filipiniana attire.

“Maria Clara at Ibarra” Creative Consultant Suz ette Doctolero, Head W riter J-mee Katanyag, and stars Barbie Fortez a (Klay), Dennis Trillo (Crisostomo Ibarra), Julie Anne San Jose (Maria Clara), Rocco Nacino (Elias) and Juancho Triviñ o (Padre

Salvi) virtually took part in the special watch party.

Apart from the 40-minute screening of some of the trending scenes of “Maria Clara at Ibarra,” the special watch party featured a mini Filipiniana fashion participated in by the audience from Los Angeles, New Y ork and San Francisco, and a talkback with the cast and crew of the show.

During the talkback, San Francisco Entertainment Commissioner and Filipino American Arts Exposition President Al Perez asked why GMA created “Maria Clara at Ibarra” only now. In response, Creative Consultant Doctolero said that the show follows a tradition in GMA of producing historical and cultural drama series for primetime TV , citing programs such as “Amaya,” “Indio,” “Sahaya,” and “Legal W ives.”

In an interview during the talkback, V ice Consul Adrian Baccay said that the special watch party of “Maria Clara at Ibarra” has allowed Filipinos and Filipino Americans, especially those who were born and raised in the U.S., to reconnect to the history, culture and heritage of their homeland.

“Maria Clara At Ibarra,” which premiered on GMA Channel 7 in the Philippines in October 2 02 2 , follows the story of Maria Clara “Klay” Infantes, a nursing student from “generation Z ” who gets transported into the setting of “Noli Me Tá ngere” and meets the novel’s characters such as Maria Clara, Crisostomo Ibarra, Padre Damaso, and Sisa.

GMA Net ork First Vice President for Interna�onal Opera�ons Joseph Francia virtually addresses the audience during the Maria Clara at Ibarra special atch p art y at Sen t ro Riz al San Fran cis co on 3 December 2022. ( San Fran cis co PCG p h ot o)

Grade schoolchildren from the Filipino Educa�on Center FEC Galing Bata Bilingual Program at Bessie Carmich ael Sch ool in San Fran cis co w alk d ow n t h e red carpet for a mini Filipiniana fashion sho , during the “ Maria Clara at Ibarra” s p ecial w at ch p art y at Sen t ro Riz al San Fran cis co on 3 December 2022. ( San Fran cis co PCG p h ot o)

Vice Consul Adrian Baccay oins the audience for a photo opportunity, at the conclusion of the Maria Clara at Ibarra” s p ecial w at ch p art y at Sen t ro Riz al San Fran cis co on 3 December 2022. ( San Fran cis co PCG p h ot o)

Filip in o American s in t h e San Fran cis co Bay Area j oin t h e s p ecial w at ch p art y of t h e GMA f an t as y p ort al s eries “ Maria Clara at Ibarra,” bas ed on Dr. J os e P. Riz al’ s n ov el “ Noli Me Tá n gere,” at Sen t ro Riz al San Fran cis co on 3 December 2022. ( San Fran cis co PCG p h ot os )

FAHAM honors 3 Fil-Am physicians The Filipino American Heritage and Arts Museum, Inc. (FAHAM) a national foundation based in Las V egas, Nevada, recently bestowed upon three Filipino-American physicians the prestigious Award for Literary Excellence, according to Salve V . Edelman, national president of FAHAM. The awardees included cardiac surgeon Philip S. Chua, MD, FACS, FPCS, who is a newspaper columnist, an author, and an international medical lecturer. His book on pre-emptive and proactive strategy in disease preven-

tion and healthy lifestyle at the DNA starting in the womb and in the crib is entitled Let’s Stop “Killing” Our Children, is listed in the US Library of Congress and on amaz on.com. Dr. Chua was a recipient in 1 9 9 6 of the Sagamore of the W abash Award, presented by then Indiana Governor, later senator and presidential aspirant Evan Bayh. Previous Sagamore awarded included President Harry S. Truman, President George HW Bush, Muhammad Ali, Astronaut Gus Grissom, David Letterman, and others.

The other FAHAM awardee was Edward E. Quiros, MD, MBA, FACS, a Hand Surgeon who practiced in New Y ork, a writer, and book author. He and Dr. Chua are both past president of the Society of Philippine Surgeons in America and editors of The Philippine urgeon r uiros was the first Asian elected president of the Ten-County Medical Society, serving as a delegate to the Texas Medical Association.

The third recipient of the FAHAM award was Cesar D. Candari, MD, FCAP Emeritus a Pathologist and a

writer and book author. He is a Diplomate in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology and the first Filipino Diplomate in Immunohematology and Blood Banking. He j ust retired from being a columnist of The Philippine Times of Southern Nevada for the past 1 2 years.

The three awardees were also officially recogniz ed with a Diploma of Distinction by US Senators Catherine M.C. Masto and Jacky Rosen and Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak.

25 December 15-21, 2022

 COMMUNITY NEWS

THE FIRST SENTRO FILIPINO HOLIDAY BAZAAR – AND ARTISANALGIFT GUIDE 2022 Sh op s mall an d un iq ue w it h t h es e local bran d s .

The holidays are here and everyone’s on the hunt for the perfect gifts for their loved ones. Make the holidays even sweeter and give a little gift of the homeland by supporting Filipino-made products this Christmas.

Come and get them all at the First Filipino Christmas Baz aar at Sentro Filipino/ San Francisco Filipino Cultural Center this Sunday, December 18 from 12pm to 6pm at 814 Mission Street, San Francisco.

Y ou will have varied choices from several artisanal entrepreneurs. Starting from Arkipelago Books, Hara, Barbara Lee Jewelry, Fili a ors, Oodaalolly hocolataes, Pilip Blu, Malaya Botanicals and Concepcion Resort W ear from Los Angeles.

To make your choices quick and sweet, we’ve rounded up 10 gift ideas for the ones you love this holiday season.

For Mom: peep toe abaca tie-knot slides, natural shell coasters and a capiz shell trinket dish to hold all her favorite things from Hara’s selection of artisanal homeware handmade by indigenous and female artisans in the Philippines. Add some sparkle to her life with a daz z ling pair of Malaya statement earrings from Pili lu or a timeless heirloom nec lace from Barbara Lee’s Filipiniana collection featuring traditional rosary-style necklaces and pearl j ewelry.

For Dad: bamboo bottle opener, peacock abalone coasters or from Oodaalally and Kasama Rum’s special rum-infused holiday collection of chocolate bars to tie it all together.

For the little ones in your life: Help the

bright-eyed babes in your life stay warm this hristmas with a children’s pu er ac et co ered in butter ies from hop oncepcion Add a green and purple sodsod banig mat hand woven by the women of the Tagolwanen tribe in Malaybalay, Bukidnon for their next playtime session and pair it with a banig utility basket to hold all their toys!

For the friend who needs some Have a friend who needs a little self care this holiday season? Help them relax with Malaya Botanicals’ Relax CBD Gift Set featuring a CBD Massage Candle, bath bomb, roll-on and massage oil Add a Oodaalally’s signature dark chocolate bar infused with calamansi for an extra dose of sweetness or Fili a or’s omething egan o For the friend who loves to travel: Give your friend with wanderlust a little taste of home with Fili a or’s pecial weet urprise Box featuring classic and much-loved treats from the Philippines Pair it with some beachy accessories for their next tropical excursion like a bright Ginhawa Tikog Fan, bohemian abaca tie- not slides and ari it isor from Hara.

For the Fashionista: Shop Concepcion’s show stopping green velvet suit, perfect for a night on the town Pair it with arbara ee Jewelry’s classic Gloria earrings to complete the look.

For the friend that loves to host: Deck out your dear friend’s next dinner party with a handwoven Inabel brocade table runner and matching set of olihiya placemats Pair it with festive Inabel napkins and Anahaw nap-

kin rings for the perfect dining experience.

For the friend who loves to read: Arkipelago Books carries books such as the acclaimed novel The Son of Good Fortune by Lysley Tenorio. Does your friend also love to cook? Try I Am a Filipino... and This Is How We oo by Nicole Ponseca iguel Trinidad.

For the teenagers and college students in your life: There’s Honey bracelet from Barbara Lee Jewelry featuring peach, cream and purple pearls.

About the Makers Hara- Hara is a conscious home and lifestyle brand that sources products handmade by women, indigenous communities, and coops in the Philippines Pictured left a Tagolwanen banig wea er from u idnon Pictured right ara founder, eesa Ocampo Barbara Lee- At Barbara Lee, every piece tells a story and that story is always filled with love. Each piece of handcrafted j ewelry is made with exceptional elements and craftsmanship Our guarantee is that each piece has been vetted by our designer and has been crafted, ad usted, and perfected by hand Pictured right: Designer and Founder Barbara ee, photographed by incent otti Oodaalolly - means oy, and its mission is to bring more smiles into the world by making the best tasting small batch Filipino chocolate in the world. Based in the innovative San Francisco ay Area, Oodaalolly is a rapidly growing AAP -owned confections brand that makes award-winning chocolate exclusively

using Philippine-sourced cacao Pictured right: Founder Hernan Lauber.

Pili lu - aims to put Filipino craftsmanship on the map while supporting the Autism community and other special needs communities with Filipino artisan-made statement pieces.

Fili a ors Fili a ors is a woman-owned small business that provides modern “pasalubong” through Filipino surprise snack boxes, gift boxes, and recipe kits. Founder Bianca Trinidad also owns Pili lu Malaya Botanicals is a woman-owned and family-operated CBD W ellness and Beauty Company on a mission to de-stigmatiz e cannabis and empower women of color to take charge of their health and healing Pictured right Founder Pia T arton Arkipelago Books is one of two of the only distributors of specialty books outside of the Philippines Additionally, the store’s collection of contemporary and historical Filipino American titles makes Arkipelago Books a leader in book distribution to libraries, educational institutions, as well as to the local and traveler alike interested in Filipino Literature, ulture, ocial ciences, Art, Poetry, istory, and more.

Shop Concepcion- W omens and Mens Resort W ear based in Los Angeles, CA. Since 2018, they produced a ready-to-wear line and work with clients to produce customiz ed designs Pictured Founder designer d oncepcion. https: / / www.etsy.com/ shop/ edconcepcion/

Overseas Filipino voters’ registration for 2025 polls starts at PHL Embassy tration, click here https: / / philippineembassy-dc.org/ overseas-absentee-voting/ The Philippine mbassy in W ashington DC conducted a consular outreach mission in Memphis, Tennessee on 2 -3 December 2 02 2 . It has been ten years since the Embassy last sent a mission to serve the Filipino community there.

During the 2 -day outreach mission, 8 6 passport renewal applications were processed and F lipinoAmericans re-acquired their Filipino citiz enship. mbassy officials met with Filipino community leaders VOTER REGISTRATION. Alan D. Benasal right of Dover, Dela are is one of the rst in Memphis to disseminate information about the EmOAV registrants for the Philippine Na�onal Elec�ons bassy’s programs and activities and to establish lines of WA N TON The Philippine mbassy in communication with the community.

W ashington DC has begun accepting applications to the Consul General Iric Cruz Arribas also administered the O erseas oters egistration in preparation for the oath of office of the new officers of the -year old F Philippine National lections r Alan enasa of o er, elaware was the first A emphis abayan roup, led by incoming President, OA registrant for the Philippine National lections Diosdado Ablan Barawid, Jr.. The FILAMemphis Kabayan roup and nity odge of the rand asonic odge in W ashington DC. of Tennessee led the group of volunteers who assisted the egistration will be conducted at the Philippine mbassy and in other Philippine foreign ser ice posts from consular team.

An estimated , Filipinos reside in Tennessee December 9 , 2 02 2 until September 3 0, 2 02 4.

For more information on the O erseas oters egis- Memphis is the second most populous city in this southern state.

Mr. Ed Arucan as approved by the Immigra�on Court f or a Waiv er of In ad mis s ibilit y in Augus t . A�y. Crispin Lozano represented him in Immigra�on Court.

 COMMUNITY NEWS

December 15-21, 2022

26

A ‘National Poisoning’ — Synthetic Drugs Flooding the U.S.-Mexico Border Synthetic drugs made in Mexico and sold for cheap in the U.S. are killing tens of thousands while fueling a growing humanitarian catastrophe. Many of the victims are young, many are homeless, and many are people of color.

That’s according to award-winning reporter Sam Quinones, author of four acclaimed books dealing with synthetic drug production in Mexico and their impact on the U.S., including the 2 021 book, “The Least of Us: True Tales of America and Hope in the Time of Fentanyl and Meth.” uinones spo e during an briefing looking at the alarming rise in meth and fentanyl addiction, linked to more than 107,000 deaths in 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“This has never happened before, where one source, the e ican traffic ing world in this case, has covered the entire country from Los Angeles to Maine… with not one, but two of these very potent and devastating drugs,” Quinones said.

‘No such thing as a long-term fentanyl addict’ A study from last year found a tenfold increase in meth use among Black Americans between 2015 and 2019.

Nationally, Native Americans and Alaska Natives are among the groups most impacted by methamphetamine use.

Quinones also noted that meth and cocaine are increasingly laced with the synthetic opioid fentanyl. He cited the case of actor Michael K. W illiams, who played Omar in the HBO hit crime series, The W ire. “He died about a year ago from cocaine. He had a cocaine problem, but the cocaine he bought was laced with fentanyl, and he died.”

Fentanyl overdoses surged 94% during the pandemic, currently killing on average some 196 Americans per day, according to reporting from the W ashington Post.

The Biden Administration recently launched a public messaging campaign, One Pill Can Kill, which seeks to warn people about the dangers of fentanyl.

W ith these new drugs, you don’t have the luxury of time, says Quinones. Unlike heroin addicts who can use for decades, the fentanyl

Upside...

and meth coming out of Mexico today are far more damaging and potentially lethal, sometimes with a single dose.

“There’s no such thing as a long-term fentanyl addict,” said Quinones. Two milligrams of the drug can kill you. And barring extraordinary intervention like multiple doses of Narcan, fentanyl is so addictive, and dosage/ pill vary so wildly that it is now among the most lethal drugs out there.

One kilogram of pure fentanyl can produce half a million lethal doses Traffic ers often cut it with lactose and other things to increase volume and the DEA says fentanyl is often mixed with other drugs like meth, heroin, and cocaine.

Straining healthcare systems Quinones spoke alongside an ER physician working in a maj or W estern city who has spent much of the pandemic treating patients addicted to meth and fentanyl. He asked to remain anonymous.

“It’s important to know that heroin and morphine, oxycodone, your typical opiates before fentanyl, are dosed in milligrams (one (From P age 11)

Colma Coun cil Member J oan n e d el Ros ario s w ears in before PNe s Today E ecu�ve Editor.

Joanne I came to know and with whom I bonded. he was starting o er ac uired certification as a egal Secretary, moved from New Y ork with her young son to the Bay Area, met her new love and now-husband Rene Malimban, started wor at a biotech firm and oined an association of Filipino American residents of the quiet little town where

thousandth of a gram), right? W hereas fentanyl is dosed in micrograms,” or one millionth of a gram, highlighting its potency, he said.

Fentanyl is often used in ER settings for patients who are bleeding and have low blood pressure.

“So, patients will get fentanyl, they’ll be high for a very short amount of time, or their pain will be treated for a very short amount of time, and then they’ll have pain again,” the physician noted. “But on the street, it’s very hard for people to use it in a way that is safe.”

Hospitals began seeing increasing cases of “opioid use disorder” around 2019 and 2020, coinciding with the pandemic, the physician noted.

W ith methamphetamine, the highly pure meth being shipped into the country by Mexico’s cartels induces psychosis in many patients that the physician says can take “weeks to months to even years to go away.”

That psychosis is playing out in growing homeless populations in maj or urban centers around the country, Quinones argues, noting meth addicts will “go to any length not to be

she relocated.

Fate chose her to be in Colma when two of its Council members came under investigation. Allies who saw her as an ideal representative of Filipino skills and savvy persuaded her to agree to file for candidacy the following elections ost olma residents concurred and re-affirmed their choice in a recount requested by the former mayor who lost the race.

Sixteen years today, Joanne del Rosario is one of two seniormost leaders of Colma, second only to Helen Fisicaro, who has served 2 8 years. Between 2 006 when she was first elected and ec , when she swore in as olma ayor for the fifth time by her husband ene minutes after she took her oath as reelected Council Member, Del Rosario has transformed into a town leader and a political force.

When she found out about the all- olunteer nonprofit I had formed to educate about domestic violence, she disclosed her experience as a survivor of intimate partner violence he oined our nonprofit as sur i or spea er, empowering people in abusive relationships by showing them how they can find healing and thri e ust as she has he has recruited her contacts to become partners supporting our education movement for healthy relationships.

Lately the grandmother to Ryden by her son Reggie from her first marriage has been ipping across the ay to babysit A second grandchild will be arriving next year, an-

separated from the drug.” He says discussions around homelessness that focus only on the shortage of a ordable housing miss this crucial point.

Hospitals, meanwhile, are struggling to cope with the in u of fentanyl and meth patients amid a surge in O , u and the respiratory illness RSV .

“W e don’t have the capacity in most ERs to put every person who comes in with methamphetamine intoxication on the 72 hours hold because we need those beds for heart attacks, for strokes, for everything else. There’s not enough capacity in health care to address this issue,” the physician said.

A ‘massive trade’ order officials ha e sei ed some , pounds of fentanyl per month since July, according to the W ashington Post. The tally represents a fraction of what is making it into the country, they say.

According to Quinones, trade along the 1,93mile border between the U.S. and e ico helps to camou age shipment of the drugs e estimates that ust around fi e percent of trucks are inspected, and that cartels ha e come up with ama ingly ingenious ways” of hiding the drugs in trucks that cross the border every day.

“The massive quantities of trade between the two countries… we j ust simply do not have the capacity to check even a moderate percentage of all the trucks coming through.”

Once the drugs are in the country, social media platforms are providing an easy channel for traffic ers to reach buyers, including young people. Quinones recalls a protest in anta onica last year organi ed by parents of children who died after purchasing fentanyl-laced pills online.

Social media apps have “become kind of like the new street corner” for drug buys, he said.

Given the severity of the crisis, something Quinones describes as a “national poisoning,” he says international collaboration between Mexico and the United States absolutely has to happen. Current interdiction programs are inadequate. “I think this has reached beyond simply a drug issue… It really has to be taken up by the State Department.”

Colma Mayor Del Ros ario w it h ( back ) Cit y Man ager Brian Dossey and Council Member en Gonzalez, from le Police Chief John Munsey, SJ Ilumin, author, Be na Santos ap, Edna Murray and City A�orney Chris Diaz.

other blessing on Joanne’s milestone year.

2 02 3 will be full with her growing family, mayorship and advocacy, and Joanne del Rosario may j ust spring a surprise with a new role suited to her productive life in public service. * * * C h eri e M . Q u erol M oren o i s E x ec u t i v e E d i t or of P h i l i ppi n es T od ay , Fou n d er- E x ec u t i v e D i rec t or of A L L I C E , C ommi s s i on er w i t h t h e S an M at eo C ou n t y C ommi s s i on on A gi n g, an d P rogram M an ager w i t h P en i n s u l a Fami l y S erv i c e t ran s port at i on program.

27 December 15-21, 2022 Social Securit y Up d at e

SOCIAL SECURITY SUPPORTS RURAL COMMUNITIES B y G . S a m so n ocial ecurity ublic A airs pecialist in the ay A rea Social Security touches the lives of nearly every American. Millions count on us — retirees who worked hard their whole lives, people no longer able to work due to disability, dependents, and survivors. As a member of the Rural Partners Network, we want to continue reaching out to rural communities.

W e make it easy for you to access our programs and services.

Our website o ers a con enient way to apply online for benefits ou can apply online for: etirement or pouse’s enefits ou must be at least years and nine months in age and want your benefits to start in no more than four months. Check out our Apply for enefits page at www.ssa.gov/ retireonline for information on how to apply. isability enefits Our disability program pays benefits to wor ers and certain family members who are “insured.” This means that they wor ed long enough and recently enough and paid Social Security taxes on their earnings. Start our online application at www.ssa.gov/ disabilityonline to begin the process. upplemental ecurity ncome pro ides monthly payments to adults and children with a disability or blindness, or people older than age , who ha e low income and resources isit www ssa go benefits ssi to begin your application online, or tell us that you want to apply or help someone else apply and we will contact you to schedule an appointment. edicare edicare is a federal health insurance program for people who are age and older, some people younger than who have disabilities, and people with end-stage renal disease. If you are not already recei ing ocial ecurity benefits, you should apply for edicare three months before turning age on our edicare enefits page at www ssa go benefits medicare tra elp with edicare Prescription rug osts tra Help helps pay for monthly premiums, annual deductibles, and copayments related to Medicare prescription drug coverage. Apply at www.ssa.gov/ extrahelp.

W e also encourage rural community leaders to encourage people to sign up for a personal my Social Security account at www.ssa.gov/ myaccount. W ith a personal my Social Security account, you can request a replacement Social Security card, verify earnings, get future benefit estimates, and obtain benefit erification letters We also pro ide sur i ors benefits to widows, widowers, and dependents of eligible wor ers This benefit is particularly important to young families with children ou cannot apply for sur i ors benefits online isit our website for more information at www ssa go benefits sur i ors If you are not able to use our online services, call our National toll-free number at - - We may be able to help by phone and, if an office isit is re uired, we can ma e an appointment to reduce the time waiting in an office W e remain committed to helping maintain the well-being and protection of the people we serve— including those in rural areas.

Please share this information with others in your local community.

Offline

(From P age 13)

Had such a fund been created by the previous Duterte regime, I am sure that it would have collapsed by this time.

Whether we admit it or not, the uterte go ernment was filled with incompetent or corrupt or clueless executives which is why the government is again mired in debt, which will take decades to pay o I have never hidden my belief that the administration of the late President Noynoy Aquino was one of the best ever, yet no such fund was set up during his six-year term.

It’s a good thing, too, as the administration that followed his completely erased the large surplus that he left behind. i e it or not, corrupt go ernment officials of any administration will find ways to siphon some of the earnings of any fund that they see as a milking cow. At the very least, the board members and e ecuti es of large funds always find ways to grant themsel es obscenely large sums of money in the form of salaries, allowances, gratuities and what not.

It would not surprise me if some members of Congress are supporting ouse bill with the goal of ha ing their spouses, sons or daughters be appointed to the planned -member board of the MW F. All of last wee , there appeared to be a concerted e ort to convince the public that the MW F was the greatest thing since sliced bread, or nutribuns. arious go ernment officials willingly ga e inter iew e tolling the benefits of our poor Third World country pretending to be a developed nation by the simple act of creating a wealth fund.

They never really addressed some of the concerns of the many critics of the fund.

Now with a national scientist in economics giving a comprehensive reason that the fund should not be created, the proponents will either ignore the good professor, or resort to weak arguments like asking the people to believe in the future of the country by supporting the fund Their worst argument is, why not give it a try?

Our experience tell us why.

The ma ority of go ernment officials cannot be trusted to handle huge sums, especially when they have no stake in it.

Fabella concludes by saying that with MW F is “wrong in principle and is thus beyond repair.”

Question: how many of our congressmen will pretend that Professor Fabella is dead wrong and say that he is probably a supporter of the political opposition?

Answer: most, which is why the very idea of scrapping the bill creating the MW F is anathema to them.

Somewhere down the road, I can hear Fabella saying, “I told you so.”

What’s Up Atty

(From P age 13)

tion, we do not know what will.

But the man was stupid. He did not ask his wife to take a shower together The wife di orced him The man did not file a petition to remo e the conditions on residence within the -year period since his wife could no longer co-sign it, is di orce was finali ed after the -year conditional residency e pired e was now deportable W orse, the wife wrote a letter to USCIS that their marriage was fraudulent and that they never had sex. The man remarried. The second wife petitioned for her husband. USCIS denied her petition reasoning that her husband’s first marriage was fraudulent and his second marriage did not cure the fraud.

We were as ed to represent him We told that the first wife’s complaint was merely the raving of a scorned sex maniac for “Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, nor hell a fury like a woman scorned.” quoting W illiam Congreve. W e demanded to cross-e amine the first wife We told that our client would show they made love almost every night. USCIS refused. W e appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals. It reversed the USCIS and ordered it to comply with our demands. USCIS approved the second wife’s petition, rather than comply with our demand.

If the man was not so stupid as to refuse a horny wife’s nocturnal advances, he would not have had to undergo all this trouble, trauma, and spend money for attorney’s fees.

Atty. mmanuel amonte Tipon was a ulbright and mithundt scholar to Yale Law chool where he obtained a aster of Laws degree specializing in Constitutional Law. He graduated with a achelor of Laws degree from the ni ersity of the hilippines.

He is admitted to practice before the . . upreme Court, ew Yor , and the hilippines. He practices federal law

Ken Go

(From P age 20)

neighborhood roadways or faltering septic systems. Manufactured home residents pay between and , a month for lot rent in the Bay area, but park owners see this money disappear quickly when making expensive community-wide repairs. Landlords can raise this rent by about or at a time, but they are often limited to doing so only between tenants, making it impossible to increase rent across the board to raise revenue. Dealing with issues like these can make life in a declining manufactured home park unpleasant. Make sure you have a safe and livable place to put your home before buying it.

Do your long term goal and math carefully before you j ump into a Mobile or Manufactured home. Thanks for your inquiries, please call en o of st nno ati e Finance or write to ennethgo eri on net A N

As I See It

(From P age 12)

Moscow uprising in the eastern Donbas region.

Taras Pshenychnyi, a professor of church history at Kyiv’s Taras Shevchenko University, said his students had spontaneously raised the topic of Christmas and were in favor of shifting it to December Pshenychnyi said: “Tradition can be progressive or regressive.

W e need to depart from Russian cultural and mental traditions.

They keep us hostage. It needs to be done cautiously, but it has to be done. Russia is using its Orthodox parishes on Ukrainian territory as an ideological weapon.”

It was reported that Kremlin politicians have portrayed the war in Ukraine as an eschatological showdown between good and evil.

Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s former president and deputy security council chair, frequently uses biblical allusions. He has threatened to finish the west in a nuclear Armageddon In his latest outburst on Friday, he said Russia’s “sacred goal” in Ukraine was to stop the Devil, or the “supreme ruler of hell”, as he called him. He dubbed Ukrainians as “a large pack of barking dogs from the western kennel”.

Pshenychnyi said he did not pay too much attention to Russia’s increasingly apocalyptic rhetoric, which includes claims Moscow is “de-Satanising” Kyiv.

“It’s one of many fakes Russia has been doing for the past eight years,” the professor said. “For ages, they have been trying to formulate some ind of image for raine esterday we weren’t a state. Today we are Satan. It’s idiotic, and from a bunch of weakminded people,” he added.

Where will it all end The con ict in raine appears further than ever from resolution. Nuclear threats, mass graves, the sense that both sides are “all in”.

However, for the Ukrainians, the show must go on! Christmas will be celebrated on ecember L O . T O O was a eteran ournalist in the hilippines and a multi-awarded ournalist here in the . or feedbac s, comments, email the author at estio oelpidio@gmail.com.

Speaking Out

(From P age 12 )

(Editor’s Note: The mother of former Press Secretary Atty. Ignacio R. Bunye was also a high school teacher in Manila of Philippine News Today editor in chief Alfred Gabot.)

In The Trenches

(From P age 12)

weapons of mass destruction (W MD), including chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and high explosives (CBRNE).

It becomes highly suspicious when a US agency tasked to counter CBRNE becomes involved in research on animal diseases in the Philippines for the purpose of fighting A F and bird u There are speculations the US Dod’s DRTA must be up to something other than bird u and A F in a e el biosafety laboratory in the Philippines. If it’s proven that the US has been conducting biological weapons research in the Philippines, then it has serious implications for the country.

First, it poses a great risk of a maj or laboratory accident that may a ect the population in nearby areas where the facility is located There had been speculations the coronavirus pandemic was caused by a biological weapons laboratory in China.

Second, it can make the country a target of US adversaries that may be interested in shutting down these facilities for potential biological warfare development.

The Philippines should not be made a guinea pig for research on weapons of mass destruction.

There should be transparency in these kinds of arrangements between the Pentagon and the agriculture department to remove doubts on the real purpose of the research on animal diseases when there is no progress made in dealing with bird u and A F in the country There are concerns the animal disease program will continue and even expand under a Marcos administration, which is seen sliding swiftly into the American sphere of in uence after si years of “close friendship” with China.

Marcos could take the blame if a maj or biological accident or an incident happened under his watch.

Bongbong Marcos should immediately order a deeper investigation into the Pentagon’s deal with the agriculture department, which he himself heads as secretary, to dispel speculations about a secret research on biological warfare program. ulitzer rize-winning ournalist anny ogato wrote this column for ressOne. h. - ditor

Health & Wealth

(From P age 12)

bile signing ser ices to deli er the notari ed documents to the state apostille agency for processing and return the paperwork to customers or clients. These are not considered “notarial acts,” so the Notary may establish any relevant service fees with the client or customer. (Source: National Notary Association, NNA pdated ulletin, No ember , Mobile Signing Services (MSS) is committed and will continue to help and assist old and new clients particularly the elderly, veterans, and those physically handicapped in the notari ation and apostille follow-up of Affida its, pecial Power of Attorney PA, Proof of ife, OF DONATION, Parental Travel Permit (PTP), Deed of Extraj udicial Settlement of Estate, DEED OF ABSOLUTE SALE and other documents needed in the Philippines and the other member nations of the Hague Apostille Convention.

For immediate help and assistance, j ust wrote or contact: MOBILE NN , adrid treet, an Francisco, A Tel or or email artmadlaing gmail com (ART GABOT MADLAING is accredited and commissioned Notary and licensed Real Estate Broker in alifornia since e is founder of MOBILE SIGNING SERV ICES, F TN FO ANT a a FITNESS FOR CHRIST) and ACAPNO Art is acti e angelist with the GOLDEN GATE CHURCH OF CHRIST in San Francisco, California USA. )

 HEALTH NEWS

December 15-21, 2022

28

Unvaccinated inbound travelers to show negative antigen result MANILA – Are you travelling to the Philippines during the holidays? If so, read this.

Travelers who are not fully vaccinated or have failed to erify their accination status must present a certified negative antigen test result when entering the Philippines, according to the epartment of ealth O The DOH said the antigen test must be taken within hours before the date and the time of the tra elers’ arrival to the Philippines.

This is for individuals ages 15 ye ars old and above.

“Failure to do this may subj ect the passenger to undergo the said test upon arri al at the airport, the O said.

Citing the current and existing protocols with reference to Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases Resolution No. 2 series of 202 2, the DOH said inbound travelers to the Philippines must present any of the following which proves

that they are fully vaccinated: World ealth Organi ation nternational ertificate of V accination V axCertPH National or state manual digital accination certificate of vaccination of the country/ foreign government Other proofs of vaccination Outbound international travelers are only required to comply with the requirements of the destination country O officer-in-charge aria osario ergeire said the vaccination cards issued by the local governments may be used in lieu of the accination certificate a cert The DOH allowed this to avoid inconvenience among traveling Filipinos.

Meanwhile, Filipinos going to other countries should confirm their accination status through their a cert As of Dec. 1 1, about 73,709,100 or 94.38 percent of

the country’s target population , , are accinated against Covid-19. A total of 21,038,386 have received booster shots out of the fully vaccinated population.

Filipinos going abroad who have yet to be issued a accination certificate a cert may use the accination cards from their local governments.

“Iyon pong vax cert natin, it is required, yes, but right now we’re accepting e en the accination card para lang hindi tayo magkaraon ng inconvenience sa pag-alis ng ating mga kababayan (Our vax cert, it is required, yes, yes, but right now we’re accepting e en the accination card, j ust to avoid inconvenience among our fellowmen lea ing the country , said ergeire during a media forum.

She made the statement to address the concerns of o erseas Filipino wor ers who are anticipating difficulty when going abroad due to the lack of a vax cert.

Column D3 A D 3 a n d th e b r a in

Heart of Hope

Studies have shown that the body relies on vitamin to sta e o heart disease, in ammation and even cancer. People with deficient itamin in their body is associated with a higher risk of dying premaPHILIP S. CHUA turely and vice versa. Lack of vitamin D also results in poor cognitive function and increases the risk for dementia.

Recent groundbreaking research led by Dr. Kyla Shea, PhD, involving postmortem multi-data analysis of the brains of 2 9 0 patient-organ donors revealed (for the first time that itamin is present in the brain tissue and a normal level of it is linked to better cognition and a lower risk for dementia among seniors. High concentration of vitamin D across the brain reduced the risk of dementia up to 3 3 percent. How this vitamin acts to help maintain a healthy cognitive function is still unknown. More studies are needed to clarify this issue. V itamin D3 (cholecalciferol is the form recommended and the dose to attain an optimal level is between 5 ,000 to 8 ,000 international units. Those with darker skin and people who rarely get exposed to the sun are the ones who most likely need vitamin D3 supplementation. Consult your physician before going on a medical regimen of any type.

F D A w a r n in g o n L A S I K LASIK stands for laser in-situ keratomileusis, is a very comm procedure for vision correction in people who are farsighted or nearsighted with astigmatism. Each year, about 5 00,000 people undergo this 2 5 -year-old procedure, -minute per eye , which costs thousands, and mostly not covered by insurance.

Last week, the FDA warned people about these possible aftermaths of LASIK procedure: double-vision, ongoing pain, dry eyes, and other complications. Some still need to wear eyeglasses following LASIK. The procedure is safe and common.

This caution will surely a ect people’s thin ing about LASIK. And eyeglasses today have wonderful pleasing and beauty-enhancing designs.

S ta tin s lo w e r s s tr o k e

Popular cholesterol-lowering statin drugs, like ator astatin ipitor or rosu astatin restor and others, appear to lower a person’s chance of ha ing the deadliest form of stroke, the one cause by bleeding in the brain, according to the j ournal Neurology. The stroke is medically termed intracranial hemorrhage, when an artery leaks and bleeds into the brain tissues. tro es is the country’s leading cause of disability and death. Statins, according to the report, are another powerful tool for stroke prevention. A healthy lifestyle, with abstinence from tobacco, a healthy diet, daily exercise, stress management, reduce the risk for stroke and other cardiovascular and metabolic illnesses.

Statins reduces fatty deposits in the arteries that harden o er time and bloc the arteries and cut o blood supply to vital organs, the brain in this case. Blockages in the heart artery lead to a heart attack. Around the world, people take statin to reduce the risk for heart attack and stroke.

466 d i e d i n a d a y W hile COV ID-1 9 seems to be easing up, wisdom dictates that people should still be concerned because as of last Monday, December 1 2 th, the 2 -week daily averages were still 6 5 ,5 2 8 cases, 3 8 ,3 3 1 hospitaliz ed and 46 8 deaths per day from COV ID-1 9 in the United States alone. In the Philippines, there were 1 ,1 1 5 cases with 2 4 death from COV ID-1 9 . W orldwide, 6 ,6 5 8 ,7 2 7 died on Monday!

Even those with the 3 rd booster (bivalent vaccines could still be infected with the newer strains ntil there is a universal vaccine against COV ID-1 9 , we should consider each new strain to be a di erent disease, in order not to be surprised why those who are already vaccinated still get infected, and why we all should still be careful and get the latest booster. Since there is a tripledemic Flu, , O - , mas ing and distancing in public places where there is a crowd is prudent, most especially those with infants at home, because RSV could be deadly for babies.

Pay attention and heed science and shun fake news and naysayers who claim vaccines and masks are useless. V accines and masks have saved billions of people around the world, multi-millions in the Philippines and in the United States. This pandemic has clearly proven that beyond any reasonable doubt.

There is still no vaccine for RSV . There is a clinical trial vaccine for adults. There is a drug to protect

premature babies and young children, paliviz umab, as a series of monthly shots during the RSV season. There is wisdom, no shame, in being cautious.

F l u r o n a t w o -p u n c h The combination of the u and corona Oinfection, Flurona, especially this winter, could be significantly ha ardous especially for seniors n a study of about 7 ,000 individuals with COV ID-1 9 , 8 percent of them had a second irus, half of those, with the u Those infected with Flurona were significantly more serious and required ventilation and more likely to die while confined This is the reason why e eryone should ha e both the O - booster and the u shot W a r n in g : B e ta C a r o te n e Diet and nutrition are vital drivers of diabetes T2 and cardiovascular diseases. Researchers found that some micronutrients like omega-3 fatty acids, magnesium, curcumin, and coenz yme Q1 0 reduced the risk for cardiovascular diseases. Folic acid reduced the risk for strokes.

They also discovered that beta carotene as food items could be beneficial but as drug supplements they are associated with increased cardiovascular risk and mortality and increases the risk for lung cancer. V itamin C, D, and and selenium had no e ects on the ris for heart stac or stroke, or diabetes, one way or the other. The American Heart Association recommends diets high in antioxidants egetables, fruits, nuts, etc ed meat is associated with higher morbidity and mortality, a shorter longevity. Processed meats are linked to pancreatic, colon, and other cancers. The study, a review of 8 8 4 randomiz ed controlled trials on 8 8 3 ,6 2 7 persons, was published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Share o P h i l i p S . C h u a, M D , FA C S , FP C S , a C ard i ac S u rgeon E meri t u s b as ed i n N ort h w es t I n d i an a an d L as V egas , N ev ad a, i s an i n t ern at i on al med i c al l ec t u rer/ au t h or, a H eal t h A d v oc at e, C h ai rman of t h e Fi l i pi n o U n i t ed N et w ork - U S A , a 5 0 1(c )3 h u man i t ari an f ou n d at i on i n t h e U n i t ed S t at es . H e i s a rec i pi en t of t h e I n d i an a S agamore of t h e W ab as h A w ard i n 19 9 6 , w h os e ot h er aw ard ees i n c l u d e: P res i d en t H arry T ru man , P res i d en t G eorge H W B u s h , A s t ron au t G u s G ri s s om, M oh ammad A l i , D av i d L et t erman . W eb s i t es : FU N 8 8 8 8 . c om an d ph i l i pS c h u a. c om E mai l : s c al pel pen @ gmai l . c om

29 December 15-21, 2022

NEWS  NATIONAL VIEWS & COMMENTS Saint Joseph in Advent

INSPIRATIONAL ARTICLE FOR THE WEEK

By TIM PEDROSA

Rivers never go reverse. So try to live like a river.

Forget your past and focus on your future. Always be positive!

W henever our life is like a life on the river, let us send our worries downstream, watch every sunset and let the current give us strength. Let us take walks on laz y days or play in the sand and make memories. Life is like a bicycle, you won’t fall o unless you stop peddling, it is all about balance. Challenge your limits but always remember life is not a race but j ourney. Life is like an arrow, we have to take a step back to propel into the future, go to our own way, focus and keep aiming. Let us always remember that difficult times will launch us into something great An arrow can only be shot by pulling it bac ward o when life is dragging us bac with difficulties, it means it is going to launch us into something great. Life is a circle of happiness, sadness, sad times, and good times. Let us have faith that good times are on the way if we are going through hard times i e a boo , life has many di erent chapters for us One bad chapter does not mean that it is the end of the entire book. Sometimes in life we j ust need a hug, not words not advice, j ust a hug to make us feel better. I have learned that to feel happy, we don’t have to expect anything from anyone. Expectations always hurt. Life is short, so let us love life, be happy and keep smiling. Let us see the brighter side of things, create our own future destiny and give it all we got.

Let us remember that God is guiding, leading and showing the way. The closer we get to God, the more we become gracious, generous humble, magnetic, attractive irresistible, charming, adorable, elegant magnificent and wonderful person et us also remember that as we breathe right now, another person takes his last. So let us stop complaining, and learn to live our life with what we have. Life is like a camera, focus on what is important, capture the good times develop from the negatives and if things don’t work out take another shot. It is not the strongest of the species that survive, or the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.

1 . Our Lady of Angels Church - 1 7 2 1 Hillside Drive, Burlingame, CA 9 401 0 2 . St. Isidore Catholic Church - 2 2 2 Clark Avenue, Y uba City, CA 9 5 9 9 1 3 . St. Andrew’s Catholic Church - 1 5 7 1 Southgate Avenue, Daly City, CA 9 401 5 4. St. Jarlath Church - 2 6 2 0 Pleasant St., Oakland, CA 9 46 02 5 . St. Isabella Church - One Trinity W ay, San Rafael, CA 9 49 03 6 . St. Catherine Church - 3 45 0 Tennessee Church, V allej o, CA 9 45 9 1 7 . Holy Child and St. Martin Church - 7 7 7 Southgate Avenue, Daly City, CA 9 401 5 8 . Parish of the Holy Infant Jesus - 3 7 05 1 Cabrillo Terrace, Fremont, CA 9 45 3 6 9 . Good Shepherd Church - 3 2 00 Harbor St, Pittsburg, CA 9 45 6 5 For more information, please contact: JR: (6 5 0) 9 5 2 -8 2 3 8

S

aint Joseph is the foster faither of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is a descendant of David, according to the Scriptures; and thus, through him Jesus, the Messiah, is also said a descendant of David. W e all know that our Lord Jesus was conceived through the power of the Holy Spirit upon Mary. It is not by human seed; but it is by God’s divine will and action that everything REV. JOSE PELAGIO A. PADIT, SThD happened in that way. W e are to go to St. Joseph to learn lessons also how we can make our j ourney of the Advent Season fruitful and meaningful before God. Although it is not by his own merit that God chose him to be Guardian and Foster Father of the Lord Jesus; yet, it must not be taken for granted that Joseph’s very being, life’s existence, behavior and motivations of his heart; he was pleasing to God. For this Advent j ourney let us take from St. Joseph this lesson: aint oseph a man of silence A man recollected and re ecti e he is not a man of impulse. He thinks over his actions; before he does them and while they are being done. I believe that is an innate for him being also a carpenter. During those times, as a carpenter, he has to think of what he has to make or build, and be actively thinking while doing what he was doing; so that, he can let the thing be built or made as he thought or pictured it in his mind. In like manner to those of moral and spiritual importance; remember, when he learned that Mary, who was betrothed already to him, was found pregnant. He did not impulsively go to Her to reproved or be angry at her; nor he impulsively left her immediately and not be seen again by Her. Rather, he was thinking and re ecting what was happening and in that silence in his heart and mind, God came to give explanation. It was in that silence and re ection that od sent the Angel to appear to him in a dream After that dream; without question, without repulsion or rebellion to God’s will, he took Mary into his home. V ery essential to note this silence and re ection we cannot ta e this e ample for granted we ha e to be people of silence in order to listen to God more rather than listen to our own noise.

In the world, people talk too much. W e argue too easily, we do not listen readily. W e talk loudly; because, we are already loud inside of us. The world is so noisy; because, that is the same noise that we proj ect from inside of us. If we are to let our Advent j ourney be fruitful, we must learn and relearn to be silent, to be composed, to be recollected and re ecti e We cannot ust be impulsi e in words and in action: to the former, we will say words which can be hurting and once it is said, we cannot un-say or un-said it; to the latter, once we have done bad deed, we have lost the opportunity to always do the good, and we cannot undo the bad deed done either. Hence, a disposition of re ecti e silence is a must to be culti ated in us We ha e to de elop the mastery of thin ing first before we act or say our words. Most often, we are not even thinking what we are about to say or do. People who are cautious with their words and deeds because, they thin and re ect about them first, we call them, wise; or people of wisdom. W isdom is a gift that makes us not only understand what we are doing or saying; but we also can know their moral and spiritual implications, how will they impact our relationship with God or make us be away from Him. That is why, a wise person may say only few words; because every word is thought of and coming from the heart to mean what it is meant for. Let us build up this silence of the heart to have mastery of over our actions and words. Moreover, St. Joseph was a man of silence; because, he was a man of prayer. A man attuned always to God. W e all know that prayer is fundamental in relationship with God; thus, in a special way during this Advent Season, let us be people of prayer; let us use our silence to talk to the Lord God. W e cannot only listen to God while in silence; but also, we can all the more know what we are supposed to do or say. W e gain insights into the best words to be said and the best actions to be done. Let us imitate St. Joseph’s silent and composed disposition; in this way, we live well our Advent j ourney and making a better or best place for our Lord Jesus in our hearts. Amen.

Aflame The Heart

LIFE IS LIKE WHAT?

31 December 15-21, 2022  NATIONAL NEWS

 FOOD & TRAVELS

 FOOD & TRAVELS

Recipe of the Week Papaitan Baka / Pinapaitan Baka I n gr e d i e n t s : 1 k. ox tripe/ innards 1/ 2 c . diluted ox bile 1 he ad whole garlic 1 t humb siz e ginger, crushed 2 t humb siz e ginger, cut into strips 1 he ad garlic, chopped 2 m edium siz e onion, chopped 1 bundl e spring onion, chopped 1 small packet, sampalok sinigang mix 2- 3 s iling labuyo, chopped 1/ 2 c . patis salt and pepper C ok

i n gp r oc e d u r e : W ash thoroughly ox innards, drain and cut into small slices, set aside liver. In a sauce pan put all innards, whole garlic and crushed ginger cover with water and boil for 15 minutes, drain and discard liquid. Rinse and add fresh water and boil for 1- 2 hours or until innards are tender. Remove from pan separate broth and keep aside. In same sauce pan sauté onion, garlic and ginger. Add innards including liver stir for 3- 5 minutes, add patis and cook for another 3- 5 minutes. Pour in broth and simmer for 10- 15 minutes, add siling labuyo, sinigang mix and goat bile (half quantity at time and taste sourness and bitterness add more if required). Simmer for another 3- 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, garnish with spring onion. Serve hot.

GIANT LANTERN FESTIVAL. Local an d f oreign t ouris t s w ill ex p erien ce again in p erson the Giant Lantern Fes�val at the Robinsons Starmills in the City of San Fern an d o, Pamp an ga on Dec. 17 , 2022.

Giant Lantern festival resumes in Pampanga

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga – The province of Pampanga, known as the lantern capital of the Philippines, is again shining bright at night with lanterns of various shapes and colors along its main streets, attracting Pampangos and residents of Metro Manila and nearby provinces.

Add to that the scores of lantern makers along the apan-O ongapo road, officially known as the Jose Abad Santos highway, and other thoroughfares peddling their traditional and modern lanterns to passers-by.

Of course, add to that also those government and big private buildings, parks and open spaces decorated with unique lanterns and various lights for the duration of the Christmas season which ends in January.

For Pampangos, especially those of San Fernando City, the “parol” or star lantern is a maj or Filipino Christmas symbol – colorful, crafted with love and aglow with the spirit of the season.

And the Christmas lantern or Parul Sampernandu in Kapampangan can never be distanced from the town which created it, the City of San Fernando. It is what San Fernando is known for. And it is what has made the city famous all over the country and even around the world.

The word parol derives from the Spanish farol, meaning lantern or light. Filipinos place much significance on the symbolism of light, the star regarded as a fount of light and a sign of hope in the predominantly Christian country in Asia.

According to the city of San Fernando, it was in 19 31 when electricity was established in the city, thus sparking the birth of the first iant antern Festival. The added illusion of dancing lights highlighted the bright colors and intricate designs of these iant anterns At this time, the lights were controlled by individual switches that were turned on and o following the best of the music n the years that followed, more improvements were introduced to the giant lanterns.

Colored plastic replaced the traditional papel de hapon.

And on December 17, Pampanga

folk and those from nearby provinces will again experience, this time in person, the pro ince’s iant antern Festi al after two years of restrictions brought on by the Covid-1 9 pandemic. ocally nown as igligan Parul, the festival will see a total of 1 0 villages battling against each other following the resumption of a regular competition at the Robinsons Starmills, PNA’s Z orayda Tecson reported.

The competitors this year are barangays Bulaon, Calulut, Del Pilar, Dolores, Pandaras, an uan, an Nicolas, ta ucia, Sto. Niñ o and Telabastagan. They will be competing for top honors as well as attractive cash priz es and other incentives which goes to the lantern makers and the winning barangays themselves.

Organiz ers said the competing barangays can win priz es worth P3 00,000, P2 00,000, and P1 00,000 for the top three larger than life lanterns, which is double of the last contest’s priz es in 2 01 9 .

The iant antern festi al will begin on the night of December 1 7 at Robinsons Starmills, San Fernando, Pampanga. The winners will also be decided on that same night. After the awarding ceremony, nightly exhibitions for the viewing public will be held from December 1 8 to January 1 , 2 02 3 for free.

Due to restrictions brought by the health crisis, the iant antern Festi al was held in 2 02 0 and 2 02 1 through a blend of digital and limited face-to-face exhibitions.

W hat makes the festival famous locally and internationally is the spectacular display of lights and designs of lanterns vying to win the coveted title of the “brightest star” of the night.

Behind the success of this annual festival are the artistic and innovative Kapampangan lantern makers.

Efren Tiodin, the oldest among the giant lantern makers at 6 4, has been crafting “parul” for the “ligligan” for more than four decades.

However, this year will be his last shot at glory in the festival.