5.30.24-6.5.24 by Philippine News Today

CHINA WARNED ON THREAT TO DETAIN FISHERS IN WPS

Marcos sees escalation of tension, AFP, PHL Navy ready contingency

By ALFRED GABOT and CLAIRE MORALES TRUE Editor in chief and Managing Editor

SINGAPORE/BRUNEI/MANILA – President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. sounded the alarm again over China’s new policy to detain Filipinos and foreigners who are alleged “trespassers” in the South China Sea, including those in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) which is part of the Philippine territory and its exclusive economic zone.

California homeless may now also will benefit from Medi-Cal

By Cesar Antonio Nucum Jr

SACRAMENTO - The California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) is making the nation’s most ambitious eﬀort to address social needs, like housing and at-home support, through health care and the homeless are among to beneﬁt from them.

Social services geared to the health of people at risk of homelessness with new programs that go well beyond the doctor’s oﬃce, like homelessness prevention, housing transition and tenancy navigation, rent and deposit aid, post-

hospitalization recuperative housing, sobering centers, day habilitation and street medicine are now included in this multi-year initiative, which provides insurance for one in three — or 15 million — Californians.

That is welcome development for someone like Zeta Flowers of Oakland, who at 80 years old is being evicted from her home in Oakland for accumulating a three-year $18,000 amount of back rent. Flowers is being asked to pay her landlord the amount due since the moratorium Zubiri

MANILA – President

Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. denied he was behind the move to replace Senator Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri as Senate President.

This as Zubiri alluded to outside forces as behind his ouster as leader of the Senate, saying he lost his post for supposedly failing to “follow instructions

from the powers that be.”

Asked to comment on this during a press brieﬁng with the Philippine media covering his state visit to Brunei, Marcos said he was not sure what Zubiri was referring to.

By Be�ng Laygo Dolor, Editor

MANILA -- Take it from the horse’s mouth. Migz Zubiri was unseated as Senate president because he allowed the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) leaks probe -- seeking to determine if now President Ferdinand Marcos Jr was a drug user during his time as senator –to continue.

Speaking in the ver-

nacular, the deposed Senate president said: “The Marcos camp was mad at me, the loyalists, because I allowed the hearings to continue for two weeks.” Zubiri said he was merely protecting the Senate as an institution and because the upper chamber of the bicameral Congress “believes in the committee system.”

fight hate, racism with affirmative action

By Gilda Balan, Correspondent

LOS ANGELES -- As former First Lady Michelle Obama famously said, “When they go low, we go high.”

ism and inspire all to move towards positive change, according to an article for NBC Los Angeles written by Tracey Leong.

The national coalition Stop AAPI Hate recently launched a multi-media storytelling campaign as part of the Asian American and Native Hawaiian Paciﬁc Islander Month.

Page 6

“I guess if you’re Senate President, the only power that be is the President. So, I’m not

The goal is for the community to act to tackle rac-

Manju Kulkarni, cofounder of Stop AAPI Hate, said: “Over centuries…our communities have experienced a lot of hate. But what we want to do is to say we’re more than victims of hate.”

Page 7

Divorce bill faces rough sailing in Senate

IN BRUNEI. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. meets Sultan Bolkiah of Brunei Darussalam where at least three memoranda of understanding (MOUs) and one le�er of intent on tourism, food security, mari�me, agriculture, and seafaring forged between the governments of the Philippines and Brunei

VP asks SC to dismiss conﬁdential funds cases

MANILA – Vice President Sara Z. Duterte-Carpio has formally asked the Supreme Court to dismiss three petitions questioning the propriety of P125 million in confidential funds in the Office of the Vice President (OVP) under the 2022 budget.

In a 16-page consolidated comment filed before the tribunal last May 10, Duterte, through her counsel, former Solicitor General

Estelito Mendoza, sought the dismissal of the petitions separately filed by Christian Monsod, Howard Calleja and the ACT Teachers Party-list.

Mendoza, in his comment, said “none of the petitions present an actual case or controversy and none of the petitioners alleged a legal demandable and enforceable right which calls for the exercise of judicial power.”

The mandate of the High Court, he said, “does not include the duty to answer all of life’s questions,” adding that “the petitions are mere apprehension and speculation about contingent funds or confidential funds, which does not constitute a justiciable controversy.”

Mendoza argued that the Court’s power “is not unbridled authority to review just any claim of constitutional violation or grave abuse of discretion.”

Elderly Fil-Am freed as SC rules on questions on his citizenship

MANILA – The Supreme Court has ordered the Bureau of Immigration (BI) and Department of Justice (DOJ) to release a 74-year-old Filipino American who has been detained for over seven years following his arrest in 2016.

I n a 3 2 - p a g e d e c i s i o n promulgated in December 2023, but made public only on Wednesday, the high tribunal ruled that Walter Manuel Prescott, who was born of a Filipino mother and American father under the 1935 Constitution, is a natural-born Filipino citizen whose rights have been violated by both the BI and DOJ.

“His only wish is to spend his remaining years in the country, which he

has always considered his home and his motherland. He deserves to be set free since long ago,” the court said in a decision penned by Associate Justice Amy Lazaro-Javier.

The case stemmed from a petition for declaratory relief with a petition for habeas corpus ﬁled by Prescott before the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC), where he sought to be declared a Filipino citizen and released from detention.

Prescott was born in the Philippines on April 10, 1950, to an American father and Filipino mother, but he was not considered a Filipino citizen because the 1935 Constitution did not automatically recognize the natural citizenship of those

born to Filipino parents, unlike the 1973 and 1987 Constitutions.

As a rule, those born under the 1935 Constitution follow the citizenship of their alien father, until they opt for Filipino citizenship upon reaching the age of majority. Prescott was issued an alien certiﬁcate of registration in 1951, but in a letter dated Aug. 26, 1977, the US Embassy informed him that he supposedly lost his American citizenship as of April 10, 1976, after overstaying in the Philippines.

In 1981, he married Maria Lourdes Dingcong, an American citizen, and in their marriage contract, he indicated his nationality as Filipino. He lived and worked in the United States until he became a nat-

uralized American citizen in 2006.

Two years later, Prescott applied to reacquire his Filipino citizenship under Republic Act No. 9225 and took his oath of allegiance. He retired in 2010 and returned to the Philippines with his wife, but in June 2012, she and a certain Jesse Troutman complained to the BI that he purportedly reacquired his Filipino citizenship illegally.

The BI recommended to then Justice Secretary Leila de Lima the cancellation of Prescott’s citizenship reacquisition and also accused him of fraudulently claiming Filipino citizenship. Prescott’s name was placed on the BI watch list, and in 2016, a warrant of deportation was issued against him.

SC orders QC trial for Quiboloy’s Davao cases

MANILA – The Supreme Court has ordered the transfer of venue of the sexual and child abuse charges against Apollo Quiboloy from Mindanao to Metro Manila.

In a statement, the high court said that pursuant to its constitutional power to order a change of venue to avoid a miscarriage of justice, the Supreme Court’s Second Division granted the request of Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla to move the venue of the two criminal cases against the religious leader from the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Davao City to the RTC of Quezon City.

In granting the DOJ’s request, the high court said it ﬁnds compelling reasons to jus-

tify the transfer of venue, noting that “the accused (is) a well-known religious leader, being inﬂuential.”

“As this could cause local biases and a strong possibility that witnesses cannot freely testify due to fear and inﬂuence of the accused, the Court found it prudent and judicious to order the transfer of the cases to Quezon City,” the SC said.

The Court directed the Davao City RTC Branch 12 to forward the entire records of the cases to the Oﬃce of the Executive Judge of the Quezon City RTC within three days from notice.

Upon receipt of the case records, the Quezon City RTC Executive Judge was directed to raﬄe oﬀ the cases among the judges in the station.

The Court further directed judges in Davao City and in other courts in Mindanao, where future related cases involving Quiboloy and his co-accused may be ﬁled, to order the transmittal of the records to the Oﬃce of the Clerk of Court of the Quezon City RTC and Metropolitan Trial Court of Quezon City.

In a letter dated April 4, 2024, Remulla requested the transfer of venue of the cases, “considering the signiﬁcance of the subject cases extends beyond the local context, touching on broader national policies, public interest, and security concerns; and the preservation of integrity of the proceedings as there is a likelihood of local biases potentially aﬀecting the trial’s impartiality in Davao City.”

NLEX toll fee hike takes effect June 4

MANILA – Motorists traveling to and from the northern part of Luzon would have to pay higher toll fees by next month.

In an advisory, the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) said it has approved the second tranche

of the North Luzon Expressway Corp. (NLEX Corp.) consolidated petitions from 2018 to 2020 for periodic toll adjustments starting June 4.

Under the new toll fee matrix, motorists traveling anywhere within the open system will pay an additional P5 for Class 1 vehicles (regular cars and sports utility vehicles), P14 for Class 2 vehicles (buses and small trucks), and P17 for Class 3 vehicles (big trucks).

The open system is from Balintawak in Caloocan City to Marilao, Bulacan while closed system covers the portion between Bocaue, Bulacan and Sta. Ines, Mabalacat City, Pampanga including SubicTipo.

The ﬁrm, meanwhile, said those traveling the NLEX end-to-end between Metro Manila and Mabalacat City will pay an additional P27 for Class 1, P68 for Class 2 and P81 for Class 3 vehicles.

In May last year, the ﬁrst tranche or 50 percent of the approved toll adjustments was implemented as authorized by the TRB.

In a separate statement, the NLEX Corp. said the toll adjustments, which followed strict compliance with regulatory procedures and underwent thorough review, were part of its approved periodic adjustments due in 2019 and 2021.

Manila Bay rehab stepped up

QUEZON CITY – The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) led the turnover of 11 units of backhoes-on-barge to local government units (LGUs) to be used for the continuing eﬀorts to clean up rivers and waterways ﬂowing out to the Manila Bay under a project worth P491 million.

Marking yet another milestone in the Manila Bay Rehabilitation project, DENR Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo Loyzaga said “it is important to remember that the health of our rivers directly impacts the health of our communities.”

“We encourage the LGUs to use these backhoes-on-barge not only for the cleanup and dredging of the waterways and

coastal areas of the Manila Bay region but also to help avert ﬂoods that threaten lives and properties in many vulnerable communities as a result of climate change,” Loyzaga said.

Recipients of the 11 units of backhoeson-barge are the local governments of Malabon, Marikina, Muntinlupa, Pasay, Pasig, Pateros, Quezon City, Taguig, San Fernando in Pampanga, Obando in Bulacan, and Bacoor in Cavite. Ironically, most of the areas have questionable reclamation concerns.

“This is made possible by the partnership forged in 2021 between the DENR and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to provide LGUs

with tools and heavy equipment to dredge and desilt waterways and collect submerged garbage as part of the continuing rehabilitation eﬀorts in this historical and valuable bay,” Loyzaga said.

“LGUs play a pivotal role in the success of the Manila Bay rehabilitation initiatives. I commend the dedication of our local leaders who have been our partners in implementing innovative solid waste management programs in their areas of jurisdiction such as the installation of trash traps and cleanup of rivers and esteros,” Loyzaga pointed out.

The Manila Bay rehabilitation was mandated by the Supreme Court (SC) in a Continuing Mandamus Order dated Dec.

18, 2008, and required DENR, DPWH among other state agencies, LGUs and two water concessionaires to clean up and rehabilitate the Bay as well as restore and maintain its waters to a safe level.

The SC order paved the way for the creation of the Manila Bay Rehabilitation Task Force in 2019 by virtue of Administrative Order No. 16, with the DENR Secretary as chairperson and department heads of the Interior and Local Government and of Tourism as vice chairpersons.

The DENR-led Task Force has 13 members from various national government agencies and from water concessionaires — Manila Water Company, Inc. and Maynilad Water Services, Inc.

EDSA road rage shooting suspect nabbed

MAKATI CITY – Authorities have arrested the suspect in the shooting of an elderly family driver in a road rage incident along the Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA) in Makati City. Murder charge was readied for ﬁling against th suspect.

Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. identiﬁed the suspect as Gerrard Raymond Yu, who was arrested in Pasig City at about 7 a.m. Wednesday.

“The arrested suspect was positively identiﬁed by the eyewitness to the actual shooting in-

cident. A follow-up investigation led to the suspect’s residence in Riverside Village, Pasig City. Intelligence operatives immediately proceeded to the location of the suspect and eﬀected his arrest,” Abalos said in Camp Crame, Quezon City.

He said a black Mercedes Benz with Plate No. DAD 9670 was also found in the suspect’s residence.

Found inside the vehicle was Plate No. BCS 77, the plate number used by the suspect when the shooting incident occurred, along with two Taurus .40-caliber pistols.

(From page 1)

Never did he tell Senator Ronald ‘Bato’ Dela Rosa to end his hearings, said Zubiri, only saying that the former should be “cautious and make sure it’s evidence-based.”

For his part, Senator JV Ejercito told local media that there was “no reason” to remove Zubiri, but the continued PDEA leaks hearings were the ﬁnal nail on his political coﬃn as Malacanang had made it clear that the president was unhappy with the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs proceeding.

Committee head Dela Rosa was also under “immense pressure from external forces…to have a change of heart,” said Ejercito.

The immense pressure could explain the actions of Dela Rosa, who despite being a close ally of Zubiri, admitted that he had been “forced” to support the move calling for the Senate president to resign last week because the camp seeking his ouster “already had the numbers.”

Dela Rosa was in tears when the Senate coup was announced, but Zubiri still said he felt betrayed as he had backed the former PNP chief’s continued hearings to determine the veracity of the PDEA report linking Marcos along with actress Maricel Soriano to the use of illegal drugs.

But because he had voted for now Senate President Chiz Escudero, Dela Rosa may be allowed to keep his committee chairmanship.

He is, however, no longer considered

Abalos said the seized ﬁrearms were brought to the Philippine National Police (PNP) Forensic Group for ballistic examination while the suspect’s paraﬃn test yielded a positive result for gunpowder nitrate.

He added that one of the seized ﬁrearms matched the recovered ﬁred cartridge case from the crime scene based on the result of the ballistic examination.

Based on the police report, a Toyota Innova with Plate No. NCV 542 driven by the victim, 65-year-old Aniceto Mateo, was traveling along EDSA’s southbound lane on Tuesday afternoon

when he got into an altercation with Yu, the driver of the Mercedes Benz, near the Ayala Tunnel. Yu allegedly pulled out a gun and shot Mateo, who died on the spot.

The suspect sped oﬀ towards Makati while the victim lost control of the vehicle, hitting several motorcycles.

Aboard the victim’s vehicle were Marites Valmorio, 47, a household worker, and a minor, who were both unharmed. They were on their way home to Ayala Alabang in Muntinlupa City. They immediately alighted the vehicle and sought help.

Pasay City judge, court clerk

suspended amid bribery allegations

PASAY CITY – The Supreme Court (SC) has ordered the preventive suspension of a Pasay City judge and a court oﬃcial implicated in a bribery scandal last week.

In a resolution, the SC En Banc initiated administrative proceedings against Judge Alberto Cansino and Oﬃcer-in-Charge/ Acting Branch Clerk (OIC-BCC) of Court Mariejoy Lagman, both detailed at the Pasay City Regional Trial Court Branch 108, for allegedly accepting P6,000,000 from a litigant in exchange for a favorable judgment in a civil case.

“To enable the Judicial Integrity Board (JIB) to conduct an unhampered formal investigation, the Court ordered Judge Cansino and OIC-Acting BCC Lagman be preventively suspended for 90 calendar days,”

part of the Zubiri camp, which late last week announced that the seven senators who voted against his removal would form a bloc, either as independents or even as part of the minority.

Should they ally themselves with the two-member minority, there will be nine senators facing oﬀ against the 15 senators who voted to remove Zubiri.

Ejercito said a decision would be made soon after the situation in the Senate had cooled down.

It is worth noting that Ejercito’s half brother, Senator Jinggoy Estrada, denied that the PDEA leaks probe was the reason for Zubiri’s ouster. Estrada assumed the post of Senate president pro tempore as a result of the change in leadership.

As of press time, it was not clear if Es-

the SC said in a statement.

According to a report from Court Administrator Raul Villanueva, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) arrested Lagman in an entrapment last week following an anonymous complaint received by the JIB via email.

After the NBI veriﬁed the information, the operation was set using ﬁve marked onethousand peso bills and about P6,000,000 in boodle money.

In addition to the money, a copy of the Order bearing the signature of the judge on the civil case was also conﬁscated.

The report stated that both the judge and court employee are now the subject of criminal investigations before the Department of Justice.

cudero would allow the PDEA leaks hearings to continue.

A known ally and loyalist to President Marcos, one of Escudero’s earliest statements upon assumption of the Senate presidency was to agree that most senators were not in favor of charter change, which analysts said was a second reason for Zubiri’s removal.

Malacanang has been insisting on changing certain economic provisions of the charter, which would allow foreigners to own real property in the country.

Critics, however, suspect that the administration or its supporters have a hidden agenda, which is to change the political provisions, allowing no term limits or even possibly changing to a federal form of government.

Zubiri...

Bohol governor, 68 others suspended for Chocolate Hills mess

QUEZON

CITY/TAGBILARAN

CITY --The oﬃce of the Ombudsman has placed Bohol Gov. Erico Aumentado and 68 other oﬃcials under preventive suspension for six months in connection with the investigation into structures at the Chocolate Hills, a protected area and geological park.

Aside from Aumentado, also preventively suspended were the following mayors and former mayors:

1. Restituto Q. Suarez III - Mayor, Municipality of Sagbayan

2. Atty. Antonino M. Jumawid - Mayor, Municipality of Batuan

3. Elizabeth M. Pace - Mayor, Municipality of Catigbian

4. Eugeniano E. Ibarra - Mayor, Municipality of Clarin

5. Norman Palacio - Mayor, Municipality of Bilar

6. Manuel G. Jayectin - Mayor, Municipality of Bilar

7. Simplicio C. Maestrado, Jr. - Mayor, Municipality of Sierra Bulleones

8. Michael Doria - Mayor, Municipality of Sierra Bullones

9. Maria Katrina Lim - Mayor, Municipality of Valencia

10. Calixto Garcia - Mayor, Municipality of Valencia

11. Dionisio Neil Balite - Mayor, Municipality of Valencia

12. Ranulfo Q. Maligmat - Vice-Mayor, Municipality of Bilar

13. Conchita T. Delos Reyes - Municipal Mayor, Municipality of Carmen

14. Ricardo Francisco A. ToribioMunicipal Mayor, Municipality of Carmen

Other officials suspended regional officers of the departments of environment and natural resources, science and technology, agriculture, the Philippine National Police, and the Office of Civil Defense, ABS-CBN and GMA News reported with other Manila media.

Several barangay oﬃcials were also among those ordered suspended.

The Chocolate Hills is considered as

one of the World Heritage Sites by the United Nations Educational, Scientiﬁc and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and was declared a protected area in 1997 by then President Fidel Ramos

The oﬃcials were placed under “preventive suspension until the administrative adjudication of this case is terminated, but not to exceed six months without pay.”

Aumentado said that he learned of the Ombudsman order on the morning of May 28, 2024 and appeared ready to comply but he asked for prayers for a just resolution of the case.

Aumentado called on capitol workers to continue serving the people with dignity, integrity, dedication, and honesty.

“I shall return,” the governor said.

Earlier, resort development at the site of Chocolate Hills, regarded a tourism signature of Bohol, received a backlash.

A viral video of a resort in Sagbayan town situated between haycock hills, popularly referred to as Chocolate Hills, drew ﬂak from netizens.

The video log (vlog) dated March 6, 2024 went viral as netizens mentioned that the construction of the resort in the area in 2023 was already met with criticism. Netizens pointed out that the commercial development is done within a protected area, a UNESCO Heritage Site, and a declared geo-park.

While most of the 1,776 haycock hills are found in Carmen town where the UNESCO marker is also mounted, the hills are spread out in neighboring towns such as Sagbayan, Sierra Bullones, and Batuan.

A Provincial Board member earlier expressed that with the way the issue has gone viral again, she surmised that nothing has really been done six months after an investigation on the alleged illegal structure nestled at the vicinity of Chocolate Hills.

Atty. Jamie Aumentado Villamor, chairman of the PB Committee on Environment, said that the Board has already sent a request to DENR to hold the commercial development in abeyance.

Villamor stressed that in September 2023, the Bohol DENR-Protected Area Management Board (PAMB) ordered a stop to the construction of structures.

However, an investigation was launched by her committee based on reports of continued construction of a swimming pool, water slides, and cottages at Captain’s Peak Resort.

SUBIC, Zambales -- Small fishers under Panatag Fisherfolk Association, a local affiliate of PAMALAKAYA in Zambales, will conduct a “collective fishing expedition”, to defy the four-month Chinese fishing ban, and as a way to exercise sovereign rights in the West Philippine Sea.

“There is no better way to assert ﬁshing rights in our exclusive economic zone

than to conduct a collective economic activity,” Ronnel Arambulo, PAMALAKAYA National Vice Chairperson said in a statement.

PAMALAKAYA said that more than 20 small fishing boats are expected to join the collective fishing expedition that will venture 20-30 nautical miles off Masinloc town starting May 30 with a sendoff mass.

AFP honors PHL, US WW II soldiers on Memorial Day

FORT BONIFACIO – The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) joined the United States Embassy and other dignitaries in the commemoration of Memorial Day, highlighting the longstanding military ties between Manila and Washington, D.C.

AFP public affairs office chief Col. Xerxes Trinidad said the event held at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in Taguig City on Sunday

honored the valor and sacrifices of the American and Filipino soldiers who fought together during World War II.

AFP chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. led the Filipino military delegation.

“Despite inclement weather, the ceremony included the laying of wreaths, a moment of silence, and firing salute and taps that echo the enduring alliance between the United States and the Philippines,” Trinidad

said in a statement Monday.

Memorial Day is a federal holiday in the United States that honors military personnel who died while serving in the US Armed Forces.

The Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, the largest of its kind in the Pacific, is the final resting place for over 17,000 American and Filipino service members.

DOH assures ample funds for emerging Covid variants

QUEZON CITY – The Department of Health (DOH) assured lawmakers that there are ample funds to prepare for the emerging Covid-19 variants, including the procurement of updated vaccine doses to protect vulnerable Filipinos.

DOH Undersecretary Achilles Gerard Bravo made the assurance during the oversight hearing of the House Committee on Appropriations after Marikina City 2nd District Rep. Stella Quimbo expressed shock over a newspaper headline suggesting a lack of preparation to protect Filipinos from the new “FLIRT” variants driving a

Marcos...

(From page 1)

sure what he is referring to. If that is a speciﬁc instance or just as a general principle, I don’t know. I haven’t spoken to him about it,” Marcos said.

Zubiri resigned as Senate President amid rumors of a coup against his leader-

wave of infections worldwide.

During the hearing, Quimbo noted the DOH’s signiﬁ cant yet underutilized funds after a presentation of the agency’s budget utilization report.

She said various funding sources, such as the quick response fund and the communicable disease program, remain largely untapped.

Bravo conﬁ rmed the availability of funds, and assured the committee of the DOH’s readiness to adjust its budget.

House Deputy Majority Leader and Iloilo 1st District Rep. Janette Garin urged preparedness for the emerging “FLIRT” variant.

ship last May 20, 2024.

A day later, Senator Chiz Escudero was elected leader of the Senate.

The President admitted that Escudero informed him of his plan to take over the Senate leadership before the ouster was carried out.

But he said he did not speak to any parties at endpoint because he was out of town, adding that he received the news that Escudero had assumed the Senate leadership when he returned to Manila from the said out-of-town trip.

“So, that’s the extent. That‘s how I was basically informed at every step of the way but it moves so quickly as well,” Marcos said.

“But of course, we knew the state of the voting. When that was still being collected, the votes were still being collected by Senator Chiz,” he said.

Asked if he still trusts Zubiri, the President responded aﬃrmatively but insisted that he had nothing to do with the change in the Senate leadership.

“It was made by the senators,” Marcos said.

“So, that does not reﬂect on my view on Senator Migz and the trust and conﬁdence that I have in him,” he said.

MEMORIAL DAY. Filipino and American service members render salute during the US Memorial Day rites at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial

Senate scorecard on divorce bill: 5-5-1

PASAY CITY – Senate President Pro Tempore Jose Jinggoy Estrada said senators are divided on the absolute divorce bill, which was already approved on ﬁnal reading by the House of Representatives.

Estrada said he, Senate President Francis Escudero, Senate Majority Leader Francis Tolentino, and Senators Joel Villanueva and Ronald Dela Rosa are against the bill.

Meanwhile, Senators Robinhood Padilla, Mary Grace Poe, Maria Imelda Imee Marcos, Juliana Pilar Pia Cayetano, and Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros are among those who are in favor.

Estrada said the 5-5 standoﬀ was the result of a “survey of his own” to know his colleagues’ thoughts on the measure.

“Well, because I thought it’s a good idea to conduct a survey because the House

Group...

(From page 1)

When the non-proﬁt was founded in 2020, its ﬁrst goal was to document the dramatic rise in anti-Asian racism at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

While the pandemic is now considered contained, anti-Asian racism continued nationwide. This year, Stop AAPI Hate created a visual anthem video that focuses on resilience, celebration, solidarity, and resistance.

In the video, David Rasavong related how his parents were forced to shut down their Thai restaurant in Fresno in 2022

passed it already on third reading, so I would just like to get their thoughts on it,” he said.

He also said the divorce bill is not among the Senate’s priorities.

When asked why he is against divorce, Estrada said the focus should instead be on easing the process of marriage annulment.

“I am a devout Catholic and there is another remedy. Meron naman annulment. Bilisan na lang ‘yung mga annulment case kasi let’s face it, medyo matagal at may kamahalan ang pag-ﬁle ng annulment (There is annulment. Just hasten the process of annulment cases because let’s face it, it takes quite a while and the ﬁling of the annulment is expensive),” he said.

Villanueva said he has read the bill and found no grounds to support it.

after racist lies about their business were circulated online.

The Rasavong family had immigrated from Laos 40 years ago.

Rasavong said: “We actually even received death threats, and that was the scary part for me because if I’m not there, what then happens?” His immigrant parents are not that ﬂuent in English, he added.

David Rasavong also experienced bullying as a child, and is hurt that he sees it still happening even if they have been US citizens for four decades now.

Villanueva said he is willing to scrutinize it further with his colleagues on how it will aﬀect the Family Code of the Philippines and the majority of Filipino Christians who believe in the sanctity of marriage.

Estrada’s brother, Senator JV Ejercito, preferred to stay neutral.

“I was raised a Roman Catholic. I understand the defense of the Church on the sanctity of marriage. But I also know that a lot of Filipino couples are trapped in loveless and unworkable marriages. It is not their fault. Sometimes things just don’t work out. I also believe that everyone deserves another chance to be happy in life,” Ejercito said.

He admitted that divorce is a “diﬃcult issue” and he is still “in the process of discernment.”

“I intend to listen, and participate ac-

He, however, refused to let hate win. He opened another restaurant to honor his parents, and called it Love and Thai.

Kulkarni said: Shifting the narrative, encouraging positive storytelling on how our communities see ourselves and how others see us…part of it, too, is the healing. That comes from talking about resilience.”

The NBC Los Angeles article says the campaign aims to showcase how people have grown “from the racial trauma to inspire actions towards justice.”

Moreso after Florida and Georgia re-

tively, in the deliberation in the Senate,” Ejercito said.

Hontiveros, who chairs the Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality, earlier said she is waiting for the Senate leadership to list her committee report in the agenda so she can ﬁnally bring to the plenary the committee report on Senate Bill No. 147 or the Dissolution of Marriage Act.

cently passed bills banning Chinese immigrants from owning property, and 33 other states have similar bills pending.

“That’s why we want folks to hear these messages,” said Kulkarni, “we want them to know some of the bad and a lot of the good, which is that it’s still in our hands to do something and to ﬁght back and engage in our democracy.”

The mission of the video campaign is to overpower hate with love and strength of the AAPI community. Filipinos and FilAms are considered an integral part of that community.

When you get a Flex Alert, reduce your power use to help ease the grid and avoid statewide outages. The more people that save their energy for later, the more likely we keep the lights on.

CHINA...

(From page 1)

China’s move was “an escalation” of tensions in the disputed region and “worrisome,” Marcos stressed during a press brieﬁng on the sidelines of his state visit to Brunei.

“The new policy of threatening to detain our own citizens, that is diﬀerent. That is an escalation of the situation. So, yes, it is now very worrisome,” Marcos said.

Earlier in Brunei, Marcos stressed to His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah of Brunei the need for nations to stand united in the face of global challenges, such as climate change and geopolitical tensions.

During the bilateral meeting, Marcos cited the need for the two countries to unite amid the changing regional and global landscape.

“The landscape of our region and of the world is changing in fundamental ways. The challenges brought by climate change, environmental degradation, and geopolitical tensions ﬁnd it necessary for nation-states to cooperate more closely and more eﬀectively,” Marcos told Sulltan Bolkiah.

During the state banquet, Marcos emphasized the need to work with ASEAN-member states and the BIMP-East ASEAN Growth Area to ensure stability in the Indo-Paciﬁc region.

This followed the action of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) of the Philippines of filing a protest against China’s fishing ban in the disputed water, saying it violated international law and undermined the country’s sovereignty and maritime rights.

The Philippines does not recog-

strengthen the PN and the AFP’s resolve to perform their mandate.

Marcos called China’s policy against perceived “trespassers” as “unacceptable,” and vowed that the Philippines will take “whatever measures” to protect Filipinos.

China reportedly empowered its own Coast Guard to detain for up to 60 days without trial foreign trespassers who will cross what it claims are its borders.

This followed the successful conduct of the Atin To Coalition civilian convoy to Scarborough Shoal.

The WPS is part of the vast South China Sea, which Beijing claims entirely as its own.

The President said the government is exhausting all remedies to bring progress in resolving the issues — to stop China’s aggressive actions and to allow Filipinos to ﬁsh in WPS. He said the government is trying mechanisms that will work for the Philippines.

“I’ve said it many times. You should try everything. You don’t know what eﬀort is going to be successful. So, as any point of contact that I can establish I will use it. And at every level, at the leaders’ level, at the ministerial, sub-ministerial, private,” President Marcos said.

nize China’s May 1 to September 16 ﬁshing moratorium as it included Manila’s maritime zones over which the Philippines had sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction.

“The Philippines called on China to cease and desist from the conduct of illegal actions that violate the Philippines’ sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction in its maritime zones,” the DFA said in a statement.

Marcos vowed to articulate the legal and geopolitical position of the Philippines on the West Philippine Sea (WPS) before the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.

President Marcos said the importance of the waterway to global trade and economy would be thoroughly mentioned in his message for the 21st edition of the dialogue.

The Philippine Navy (PN), meanwhile, said it has contingency plans in place should tensions heighten over China’s announcement of a unilateral ﬁshing ban which covers the Philippines’ maritime zones in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

“Rest assured that we have sufﬁcient contingency plans in place in the event that situations will escalate,” PN spokesperson for the WPS Commodore Roy Vincent Trinidad said in a media brieﬁng.

He said the PN, along with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), will support the “actions of the other maritime law enforcement agencies especially the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR)” that they will undertake regarding the issue.

He said China’s actions that would threaten Philippine sovereignty and territorial integrity would only

However, in 2016, the Philippines won a landmark international arbitration case against China, invalidating its ambitious claim over South China Sea— a ruling that Beijing vehemently disregarded.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. declared on Wednesday there are some sorts of a middle ground with China to ensure peace and stability in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

“Yes, of course, there are,” President Marcos told the Philippine media delegation in Brunei when asked if there are meetings or backchannel eﬀorts to resolve WPS issues.

“As long as it gives us, brings us progress in terms of resolving these. And you know, first of all, number one, to stop the aggressive actions such as water-cannoning and lasers and barrier putting etcetera. And secondly, allowing our fishermen to fish. Let’s start with that,” he added.

The President said the Philippines can embark on the next step — “to see if there is a way to resolve all these claims” and to go back to peaceful ways between the Philippines and China “and continue to try and develop” the relationship of the two countries.

“There are always, always eﬀorts at every level,” he added

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An end and a possible beginning

The trial of Donald J. Trump has just about come to an end, with his fate now resting in the hands of 12 men and women who comprise the jury, two of whom are lawyers.

This detail is important as the pair can conceivably provide valuable insights during their deliberations.

As has been stated many times in media, there are only three things that can happen. One, is that the former president will be convicted of his crimes and quite possibly serve time in prison.

Two, he can be found not guilty, giving Trump the chance to go all out in his quest for another term.

Then there is the third possibility of a hung jury, where even if one juror will not agree with the others there will be no decision. As a unanimous vote is needed to either convict or clear the ex-president, this possibility can be considered the worst of the three.

A hung jury means that another trial will have to take place, this time with a new set of jurors.

This means that precious time would have been wasted, and the uncertainty that the public has been living with since Trump was ﬁrst arraigned will be extended.

We are therefore hoping that the jury will vote unanimously, one way or another. Hopefully, the two lawyers among the 12 will help clear all legal matters and questions so that all of them can make the right decision.

In our book, the right decision is to convict the 45th POTUS. The prosecution has done its homework and presented a clear case such that a guilty verdict is the right choice.

They presented the necessary paper trail that showed that Trump was fully aware of the nature of the payments made to Stormy Daniels, and that those payments were made not to protect his family but to prevent any negative news that would have negatively impacted his bid for the presidency in 2016.

The defense, for its part, is seen to have made some serious errors, none greater than their 2nd witness whom the judge had to admonish twice.

About the worst thing that we can think of is for the jury to let Trump oﬀ on a legal technicality. Such a decision will be meaningless.

Indeed, this trial is an excellent opportunity to end the danger posed by Trump to our very democracy. He has made it clear that if elected again, he will go after his enemies using all the powers of not only the executive branch that he leads, but also of the judiciary.

A guilty verdict is not only morally right, it is also a huge nail on what should be Trump’s political coﬃn.

An end to the MAGA movement – in fact it is more cult than anything -- will send a signal to the world that the US remains an icon of democracy. It should also give the GOP the chance to lick its wounds, and seek the kind of new, no-nonsense, conservative leadership so many seek.

Just as the people of Germany and Italy regained their senses after the exit of Hitler and Mussolini to end World War ll, so too can the US realize that ridding itself of a racist demagogue is the best thing to happen in decades.

The greatest country in the world can then move forward as leader of the free world, as is its destiny.

BRISBANE, Calif. – There’s this city tucked in the bosom of San Bruno Mountain that’s buzzing with activity for every generation. You wouldn’t know unless you turned out of Interstate 101 between San Francisco and Millbrae or snaked up from Guadalupe Canyon in Daly City to ﬁnd yourself standing above lush greenery while staring at San Francisco Bay nearby and Mount Diablo across the water.

This is Brisbane. Supposedly this north San Mateo County city resembles the port city Down Under but earned its name change from its previous “Visitation City,” which echoed a nearby district of San Francisco. Pronounced “Bris-bayn” unlike the Aussie “Brisb’n.”

Another theory is that its name honors a journalist – a rare recognition of folks who really belong behind the scenes, if true.

Its leaders want you to know Brisbane is a city, not a town - though California law does not distinguish between a city and a town - and even if it has that charmingly intimate aura about it. In 1939 it labeled itself “City of Stars” because of residents’ tradition of displaying stars outside their homes during Christmas and Hanukkah.

Did they learn that from Filipinos, who oﬃcially ring in the holiday season with “parol” or lantern shaped like a star – as in the one that guided the famous three wise men to the sacred birth site? Could be. About 4,800 call Brisbane home, according to city stats, with Asian Americans accounting for the next most populous group after Whites. Median age is 48.5, household income is $115,000, media property value is $926,500, before the recent inﬂation, of course – what’s not to love?

I’ll tell you what’s endearing about this special municipality. Its leadership: They respond. Heartily.

Four years ago I rang up the Mayor, a cold call, to let her know about an aﬀordable transportation program San Mateo County-based organization Peninsula Family Service was expanding for people 70 years and older. Would she be interested in telling her residents about it, I inquired.

Mayor Terry O’Connell replied enthusiastically, oﬀered to put the announcement on the agenda for the upcoming City Council meeting. She hailed Got Wheels!, the program that provides participants up to 6 one-way rides a month at $5 each one-way ride through 12 cities in San Mateo County.

Then-Communications Manager Caroline Cheung shortly after contacted me for more information to include in a PSA on their website. Now-Assistant to the City Manager Cheung, whose employment in Brisbane spans 17 years, has been advocating for services for residents and especially so for older adults that from 7 “members,” 34 are able to get up and get around to date, free from loneliness and isolation. With encouragement and support from the City leaders. (Continue on page 20)

Rob Bonta: Attorney for the people

California’s Attorney General Robert Andres Bonta has the distinction of being the First Fil-American to be elected to the California State Legislature and to be Attorney-General of the State of California.

Appointed Attorney-General by Governor Gavin Newsom in 2021, Bonta ran for the post the next year and won handily over his Republican opponents.

“My job,” he said at a recent interview, “ is to enforce the law in Callifornia.”

Born in Quezon City, Philippines to parents Warren and Cynthia Bonta, he was barely two months old when the Bontas moved to the United States.

They ﬁrst lived in a trailer at the United Farmers Workers headquarters at Nuestra Senora Reina de la Paz near Keene, California before moving to Fair Oaks, a suburb of Sacramento.

Bonta studied at the Bon Vista High School, where he graduated valedictorian. He got his B.A. in history, cum laude, in 1995, went to Oxford for a year to study politics, economics and history, proceeded to Yale Law School, where he graduated Juris Doctor in 1998.

He was admitted to the California State Bar in 1999.

The ﬁrst and only one in the Bonta family to take up Law, Rob Bonta bared that he had always wanted to be a lawyer after reading “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

His interest in social justice and civil rights was inspired by his father who was active in the labor and Civil Rights Movement.

Though he hadn’t planned to enter the ﬁeld of politics, having worked for the ACLU, his work was cut out for him.

His private law practice had enabled him to handle cases in areas such as civil rights, crime, insurance, patent infringement, legal malpractice, contracts and frauds. He was certainly prepared to be Attorney-General of his State.

Since assuming the post, he has traveled to diﬀerent parts of the State to see for himself what his oﬃce can do to serve California families by making their lives better and improving their human condition.

Such includes stopping gun violence, ﬁghting hate, protecting civil rights, stopping transnational criminal organizations, helping victims of crime, standing up to powerful interests which hurt consumers, getting justice for workers, tackling underground economy and standing up for immigrant communities.

Bonta considers aﬀordability, housing, cost of living and public safety among his state’s biggest problems. Dubbed the “Attorney of the People,” he has striven throughout his political life to get justice for Californians.

Because of his dedication to his work, he considers balancing his work and his family his greatest challenge. Fortunately, he is married to an understanding wife, Mia, who is also a public servant, as Assemblywoman, and they have three oﬀspring: Reina, Iliana and Andres. Californians are certainly blessed to have Rob Bonta as their Attorney-General and we Filipinos are proud to call him one of our own!

CHERIE M. QUEROL MORENO

Moving forward or backward?

As a columnist and active Evangelist, I would like to share to our readers the message I delivered at the GOLDEN GATE CHURCH OF CHRIST during the Worship Services last Sunday May, 12, 2024, at 701-8th Avenue (near Golden Gate Bridge and Golden Gate Park), San Francisco, California USA.

GREETINGS & INTRODUCTION: Good morning and HAPPY MOVING FORWARD SUNDAY! Happy Mothers Day also to all the mothers. I would like to thank brother James Quitoriano for scheduling me to preach this morning to commemorate our 50th Wedding Anniversary. I would like also to express my thanks and appreciation to those who responded to my personal invitation to join our Worship Services this morning to hear the message MOVING FORWARD OR BACKWARD?

I know that Pol Medios was preparing to come but can’t make it due to health issues but he sent Lisa and Mark to be with us. We also have Brittany and Steven who drove all the way from Fresno, California and my sisters Josie M. Lewis and Luzviminda G. Madlaing who drove from Bethel Island, California. Let me thank also brother Renato Marcos for leading the selected songs and brother Dennis Chin for the Scripture Reading and all of you who are here and those online like sister Clarita Acasio in Danville, California and sister Claire Paulson In Louisiana to hear the message MOVING FORWARD OR BACKWARD?

God expects every Christian to move forward and be fruitful. How do we move forward and be fruitful? There are many ways we ca do to move forward but with the allotted time, I would like to share three ways we can do to move forward as exemplified by Ruth. 1. First, GET OUT FROM YOUR COMFORT ZONE – The book of Ruth illustrates the difference between those who step out in faith and take risks and those who give in to fear, play it safe and miss God’s best for them. The book begins with these words: “There was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem, Judah went to dwell in the country of Moab, he and his wife Naomi and his two sons (v 1 NKJV). Things went well for a while and then tragedy struck. First, Naomi’s husband Elimelech died, and she was left with her two sons, who married local girls named Orpah and Ruth, then the sons died. Overwhelmed with grief, Naomi decides to return to Bethlehem and advises her two daughters-in-law to stay in Moab and hopefully find husbands and raise families. This is where the difference shows up in the two girls. Orpah decided to stay in Moab even though it was a place of heartache and hard times. WHY? Because it’s the place she knew, it was her comfort zone. Orpah didn’t have the faith to move forward.

Ruth was diﬀerent. She was ready to get out from her comfort zone and have the faith to move forward. The rest of Ruth’s life in the Old Testament is part of biblical history.

I had a very comfortable and stable job as Assistant Regional Information Officer with the Bureau of Forestry in Dagupan City, Philippines when I decided to follow and be with my wife initially in Woodland, California on August 17, 1975. For survival, I had to work long hours in the fields sorting tomatoes at $2.25 per hour. I could have easily gone back to my comfortable job in the Philippines as I was being selected to replace the retiring Regional Information Officer but I sacrificed and persevered because I had the faith to move forward with my wife. Through God’s protection and providence, I eventually got my Real Estate Broker license and accreditation and commission as Notary Public. The rest is history.... . . .Brother Steven Prine got out from the comfort of his home in America and travelled to a third-world country like the Philippines to share the gospel annually since 2012. You heard his uplifting message last Sunday on the Power of the gospel and updates on the WE CARE Evangelism Campaign & Workshop in Luzon, Visayas and Mindaao, Philippines resulting in hundreds and thousands of conversions and baptisms)

2. Second, WALK BY FAITH AND NOT BY FEAR – The second way to move forward is to WALK BY FAITH AND NOT BY FEAR. Orpah walked by fear and went back. With obedient faith, Ruth moved forward. Here’s what she said to Naomi: “Where you go, I will go, and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.” (Ruth 1:16 ,NIV)

Ruth walked by FAITH and not by FEAR and never dwelt on the past tragedies like hard times and death of her husband. She relied completely on God’s protection and providence. WE can’t move forward if we dwell on the past.

When I followed my beloved wife here in California, I walked by FAITH and not by FEAR. Like the words of Ruth to her motherin-law Naomi, I committed and said to my beloved wife: “Where you go I will go; where you stay, I will stay; your people will be my people and your God my God.” God blessed our marriage that we just celebrated our 50th Wedding Anniversary last Sunday. May 5, 2024, Cinco de Mayo . . . . When brother Steven Prine, his wife Angela Prine, my wife Virginia Jimenez Madlaing and I ﬁrst started the WE CARE Evangelism Campaign & Workshop in February 2012, we walked by FAITH and not by FEAR.

Trump NY Criminal Case

You be the Judge

(Disclosure: I ﬁrst met Donald J. Trump on July 20, 2016 in Cleveland, Ohio, at the Republican National Convention. I was a Trump delegate from Hawai’i. After his nomination, he met with the original 500 of his supporters. I was invited. When he shook my hand, I handed him my business card, he read it, then he looked at me, smiled, and put the card inside the left pocket of his jacket. I said “God bless you, Mr. President.” God blessed him - he was elected the 45th President of the United States.

I have been admitted to practice in New York for 45 years. I have written law books and legal articles on New York law.

On April 15, 2024, me and my son Noel, a lawyer specializing in criminal defense for military service members, having served in the Marine Corps, sat in a courtroom of the New York County Supreme Court, 100 Centre St., NYC to attend the trial of former President Donald J. Trump in a criminal case. This was a historical event because it is the ﬁrst time in the history of the United States that a former President has been charged with a crime and brought to court for trial. The case is titled “People of the State of New York against Donald J. Trump”. In New York, the Supreme Court is the trial court. The highest court is the Court of Appeals).

What will be the verdict in the case? Guilty or Not Guilty, or a Hung Jury.

THE NEW YORK STATUTE

The New York statute allegedly violated by President Trump provides:

§ 175.10 Falsifying business records in the ﬁrst degree.

“A person is guilty of falsifying business records in the ﬁrst degree when he commits the crime of falsifying business records in the second degree, and when his intent to defraud includes an intent to commit another crime or to aid or conceal the commission thereof.”

THE CHARGE AGAINST TRUMP

Indictment No. 71543-23 ﬁled in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York in the case of “The People of the State of New York against Donald J. Trump, defendant” alleges:

“THE GRAND JURY OF THE COUNTRY OF NEW YORK, by this indictment, accuses the defendant of the crime of FALSIFYING BUSINESS RECORDS IN THE FIRST DEGREE, in violation of Penal Law § 175.10, committed as follows:

The defendant, in the County of New York and elsewhere, on or about February 14, 2017, with intent to defraud and intent to commit another crime and aid and conceal the commission thereof, made and caused a false entry in the business records of an enterprise, to wit, an invoice from Michael Cohen dated February 14, 2017, marked as a record of the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, and kept and maintained by the Trump Organization.”

That is the FIRST COUNT of the indictment. There are 33 other counts, for a total of 34 counts.

The only diﬀerence in the other counts is the nature of the document involved. For instance, in the second count it was “an entry in the Detail General Ledger for the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, bearing voucher number 842457, and kept and maintained by the Trump Organization.”

Source: https://manhattanda.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/ Donald-J.-Trump-Indictment.pdf.

For the complete ﬁle of the case, see NYCOURTS.GOV https:// ww2.nycourts.gov/people-v-donald-j-trump-criminal-37026.

The indictment does not allege that Trump paid $130,000 to Stormy Daniels to keep quiet (“hush”) about a sexual relationship with then candidate Trump.

The Presiding Judge is Juan M. Merchan.

THE EVIDENCE

The prosecution presented 20 witnesses. The defense presented 2.

Among the principal prosecution witnesses were: Stephanie Clifford, aka Stormy Daniels, reputed to be an actress in “adult” (pornographic) movies. She testiﬁed that she had sexual relations with Trump in the “missionary” position. She also said that she entered into a deal with Michael Cohen whereby she was paid through an intermediary $130,000 in order that she will not talk about her sexual relationship with Trump. Trump has denied publicly but not in court that she had sex with Daniels.

The other witness was Michael D. Cohen, a former “special counsel” of Trump, who admitted having given $130,000 to an intermediary of Stormy Daniels.

The alleged sexual relationship was disclosed anyway.

The defense did not present President Trump as a witness, even though he had been saying that he wanted to testify. Under the law, the defendant is not required to testify and his failure or refusal to do so should not be taken against him.

Both the prosecution and the defense have rested their case. The lawyers of both parties will make their closing arguments on May 28. The Judge will give then give instructions to the jury. The jury could start deliberations on May 29. It could take less than an hour or a number of days.

The pains of Senate President Migz Zubiri - ingratitude and betrayal

“La conﬁanza mata el hombre.”

-An old Spanish saying

The literal English translation of this Spanish saying is – “Confidence kills a man.” In my world, my saying is – Over confidence kills a man. In life, if you have no confidence in yourself, you’re not likely to achieve anything. The story of my life validates that.

Migz was doing his best to lead a fractured Senate in an equally fractured country.

His best was his initial opposition to the amendments of the Constitution on the nationalistic economic provisions aad the possibility of opening the ﬂoodgates to term extensions of the limited terms of public oﬃcials, including that of the President. Though he capitulated later, the harm has only been done.

Malacanang Maneuver: Without Malacanang orchestration, Migz could not have been ousted as Senate President. What are the possible reasons why Migz was ousted? To the trained eye, these are the probable reasons why Mig was ousted. First, he talked too much about maintaining Senate independence. Second, he was delaying the approval of the resolution on the immediate need for constitutional amendments. Third, he did not realize that he had no more control of the Senate majority. Fourth, the stance of independence is not acceptable to a President who is weak like Bong Bong Marcos. And ﬁfth, he was over conﬁdent that he could not be removed as Semate President.

Telegraphing Punches: In war, you don’t telegraph your punches. You telegraph them and you lose – that is the case of Senate President Migz Zubiri. He talked too much of independence of the Senate. While it’s true that there was no declared war between the Palace and the Senate during Zubiri’s time, from the Palace point of view, in traditional presidency, talk of independence is a case of undeclared war. And in a declared or undeclared war between the President and the Senate President – the Senate President loses because the President has more weapons and ammunitions than than the Senate President. In traditional terms – that’s the name of the game.

Constitutional Amendments: The Palace was bent on a fast passage of the intended constitutional amendments on changes in the economic provisions of the Constitution. Senate President Migz was not fast enough to respond to the Palace marching orders. These changes are the apples in the eyes of President BB who has been touring the world for foreign investments – getting nothing but pledges. BBM and his advisers must believe that these amendments are necessary to convert pledges into dollars to start economic development in the country.

Characters: SP Zubiri did not know well enough the characters of a number of his supporters in the Senate. He should have reminded himself of Sun Tzu’s fundamental rule in the Art of War – Know yourself, know your enemy; a hundred battles, a hundred victories. He did not know the traitors who betrayed him and the nature of their ingratitude. Zubiri did not know BBM and his advisers – that independence is the absolute qualiﬁcation for ouster or destruction. There lies the pain because in traditional terms, Zubiri is not in enough position to get back at them.

Over confidence: In war or political battles, you cannot afford to be over confident – that was one of Migz’ mistakes. Over confidence kills a man. Well, Migz’ ambition to climb higher in the political firmament got killed.

The Man: Migz Zubiri is a very attractive and likable man – humble, respectful, without the ﬂamboyance of the rich and famous and patriotic. He is the type of leader whom the country needs in our traditional country. But even in a traditional setting = his kind has become unwanted. Why? This country has a lot of idiocy and crookedness – and Migz Zubiri is not an idiot nor crooked. If traditional politics continues in this country the way it does –there is no future for men like Zubiri at the top.

The future: This country needs a revolutionary leader who has a vision of what the country should be – clean and lean government, a welfare state, federal and parliamentary system, a nationally controlled agro-industrial economy free from unnecessary intrusion of governments, foreign investors and useless international institutions.

We asked both brother John Quinones and sister Fely Quiniones to prepare the way for us. We

ANALYSIS

(Continue on page 20)

Migz Zubiri should look for that leader and join forces with him. The future of country and and men like Migz Zubiri is there because that future is coming whether we like it or not.

HOMOBONO A. ADAZA

“

ART GABOT MADLAING Health & Wealth

EMMANUEL SAMONTE TIPON

What’s Up Attorney

Inflation likely to settle within target: NEDA chief

PASAY CITY – Headline inﬂation is expected to remain within the government’s 2 to 4 percent target in May.

“We are still aiming for 2 to 4 percent, the target for the year. I think that we should be there,” National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said on the sidelines of the Philippine Economic Brieﬁng at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City.

Headline inﬂation settled at 3.8 percent in April, which is at the higher end of the government’s target.

“It [May inﬂation] can be lower or it can be higher than 3.8 [percent], but we expect to be in that range,” Balisacan said as PNA reported..

A report released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) also showed that analysts expect headline inﬂation to remain within the target range this year, although settling at the upper end of the target range as uncertainty lingers.

The BSP’s Monetary Policy May 2024 report showed that preliminary results of the BSP’s survey of external forecasters (BSEF) for this month showed that the mean inﬂation forecast for 2024 eased from 3.8 percent in April 2024 to 3.7 per-

cent this month.

Mean forecasts for 2025 were unchanged at 3.5 percent but were higher for 2026 from 3.4 percent to 3.5 percent.

The BSP said analysts believe that upside risks continue to dominate due mainly to supply chain disruptions.

These include elevated prices of basic goods particularly oil and food, including rice owing to supply-side pressures brought by the geopolitical conﬂict in the Middle East; adverse impact of El Niño; and potential negative eﬀect of La Niña in the second half of the year.

“Meanwhile, a few analysts cited downside risks from easing albeit still elevated food and non-food inflation, such as rice and oil; and waning inflationary pressures on prices as El Niño and base effects weaken in the near term,” the report said.

Economic managers, however, believe that rice prices will decline starting September this year.

“We expect rice prices to go down by 20 percent, maybe by September. This would entail one, increasing production and second, reducing tariﬀs,” Finance Secretary Ralph Recto said during the panel discussion at the PEB.

PSEi stocks declines on monetary outlook, peso back to 57-level

MANILA -- The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) fell on Tuesday, May 28, while the peso strengthened, returning to 57-level after hitting 58 to a US dollar the past days.

Meanwhile, the Philippine economy could grow below the government’s target for the next two years as high global oil prices and elevated interest rates dampen domestic demand, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said.

In its latest Monetary Policy Report, the BSP said the economy is projected to operate slightly below potential, which

would lead to gross domestic product (GDP) growth falling below the government’s targets of six to seven percent for this year and 6.5 to 7.5 percent for 2025.

“The projected impact of the BSP’s policy rate adjustments is likely to peak in the second half of 2024,” the central bank said. “Higher global crude oil prices and positive real interest rates could also temper domestic demand.”

On the other hand, the growth may pick up in 2025 due to stronger exports amid a better global growth outlook, the BSP said.

Is your marital situation getting worse pending green card approval?

If your marital situation is getting worse before you get your green card approval, you do not have to sacriﬁce yourself for any abuse. If abuse is happening, you need to get out of the house and seek government assistance. They provide shelter assistance and legal help. You can also ﬁle a petition for yourself as a victim of spousal abuse.

The self-petitioner must have a qualifying relationship to an abusive U.S. citizen or LPR relative as the:

• Spouse, intended spouse, or former spouse of a U.S. citizen or LPR;

• Child of a U.S. citizen or LPR; or

• Parent of a U.S. citizen son or daughter that is 21 years of age or older.

The self-petitioner must have been married in good faith (for self-petitioning spouses only).

The self-petitioner is eligible for immigrant classiﬁcation as an immediate relative or under a family-based preference category.

What evidence is required to ﬁle for VAWA?

While self-petitioners are encouraged to submit primary evidence, when possible, USCIS must consider any credible evidence relevant to the petition. The self-petitioner may, but is not required to, demonstrate that primary or secondary evidence is not available. A petition may not be denied for failure to submit particular evidence. The petition may only be denied on evidentiary grounds if the evidence submitted is not credible or otherwise does not establish eligibility.

The determination of what evidence is credible and the weight to be given that evidence is within the sole discretion of USCIS. As with all petitions and applications for an immigration benefit, a self-petitioner must remain eligible to receive a benefit under VAWA at the time of filing through final adjudication.

The Self Petitioner must prove a Qualifying Relationship

Self-petitioners must demonstrate a qualifying relationship to an abusive U.S. citizen or LPR to be eligible for VAWA beneﬁts.[13] Self-petitioners who have a qualifying relationship include:

• An abused spouse of a U.S. citizen or LPR or a spouse of a U.S. citizen or LPR whose child was abused by the U.S. citizen or LPR (self-petitioning spouse[14]);

• An abused child of a U.S. citizen or LPR (self-petitioning child); or

• An abused parent of a U.S. citizen son or daughter 21 years of age or older (self-petitioning parent).[15]

To establish a qualifying relationship, the self-petitioner must submit evidence to prove the requisite familial relationship to the abuser as well as evidence of the abuser’s U.S. citizenship or LPR status.

Abuser’s U.S. Citizenship or Lawful Permanent Resident Status

The self-petitioner’s abusive qualifying family member must generally be a U.S. citizen or LPR when the self-petition is ﬁled. There are certain exceptions, however, where self-petitioners may preserve their eligibility in cases where abusers have lost or renounced their U.S. citizenship or LPR status for a reason that was related to an incident of abuse. Changes to the abuser’s U.S. citizenship or LPR status after the self-petitioner ﬁles the self-petition do not adversely impact approving a pending selfpetition or the validity of an approved self-petition.

Primary evidence to demonstrate the abuser’s U.S. citizenship includes, but is not limited to:

• A birth certiﬁcate (or legible photocopy) issued by a civil authority that establishes the abuser’s birth in the United States;

• A copy of an unexpired U.S. passport issued initially for a full 10-year period to the abuser over the age of 18 at the time of issuance;

• A copy of an unexpired U.S. passport issued initially for a full 5-year period to the abuser under the age of 18 at the time of issuance;

• A statement executed by a U.S. consular oﬃcer certifying the abuser to be a U.S. citizen and the bearer of a currently valid U.S. passport;

• The abuser’s Certiﬁcate of Naturalization or Certiﬁcate of Citizenship or a copy of either document; or

• The abuser’s Report of Birth Abroad of a Citizen of the United States (Department of State Form FS-240).[20]

Other examples of evidence to establish the U.S. citizenship of the abuser may include a receipt or approval notice of a Petition for Alien Relative (Form I-130) ﬁled by the abuser for an immediate relative category, the abuser’s A-Number with evidence of naturalization, or information on a marriage license or certiﬁcate showing the abuser’s birth in the United States.

Primary evidence to demonstrate the abuser’s LPR status is a copy of the abuser’s Permanent Resident Card (Form I-551) or other proof from the DHS reﬂecting LPR status. Other examples of evidence to establish the abuser’s LPR status include but are not limited to:

• A copy of the pages of the abuser’s passport with visas and entry stamps showing name and immigration status; or

• The abuser’s A-Number with veriﬁcation of status.

If self-petitioners are unable to provide documentary evi-

Fil-Am from Hawaii crowned Miss USA, gets death threats, hate messages

HONOLULU -- Miss USA

S a v a n n a h Gankiewicz, a Filipino American from Hawaii, said she has received death threats and hateful messages since taking the crown in the wake of Noelia Voigt’s shocking resignation and allegations against the pageant’s CEO.

Gankiewicz, 28, said in a speech that the backlash she’s received “breaks my heart.”

“Since I’ve gotten this title, I’ve dealt with a lot of bullying and harassment, and it really does, it breaks my heart,” an emotional Gankiewicz said in a video shared on X last week.

“Sorry. I didn’t want to cry, but I just feel like it’s hard, because I wish people saw where

my heart is coming from,” she said as she wiped away tears.

“And it’s helping Lahaina and helping Maui residents and having a platform, but also showing young women.

The Fil-Am Miss USA said she’s received death threats, hate messages since being crowned Miss USA 2023 in a special coronation and celebration in Waikiki earlier this month, replacing former Miss USA Noelia Voigt after she announced her resignation on May 6.

Vo i g t , 2 4 , s a i d i n a n Instagram statement that she was relinquishing the title to focus on her mental health, but days later NBC News obtained a copy of Voigt’s resignation

letter in which she accused the pageant’s CEO of creating a toxic work environment and failing to address a sexual harassment incident she raised.

“There is a toxic work environment within the Miss USA organization that, at best, is poor management and, at worst, is bullying and harassment,” Voigt wrote. “This started soon after winning the title of Miss USA 2023.”

Voigt accused Miss USA CEO and President Laylah Rose of consistently failing to communicate, bad-mouthing her to others in the organization, and threatening to take away Voigt’s salary “for things that were never discussed with me.”

WHO announces winners of the 5th Health for All Film Festival

GENEVA---The World Health Organization has announced the official selection of this year’s winning films of its 5th Health for All Film Festival. The awards were announced today at a special event launching WHO’s Investment Round on the eve of the Seventy-Seventh World Health Assembly in Geneva. The event, opened by WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, and attended by High-Level Representatives of Member States and celebrities from the cinema and arts domain, saw winning films announced for seven different cat-

egories, while four films received special mentions from the jury. This is the fifth year of the Film Festival which received almost 1000 entries from filmmakers around the world on issues ranging from gender equity and war trauma to burnout, climate change and healthy ageing. Of these, 61 shortlisted films were judged by a panel of distinguished professionals, artists and activists, including renowned actors and advocates, Nandita Das, Sharon Stone and Alfonso Herrera; filmmaker and producer, Apolline Traoré; Olympic swimmer and UNHCR Goodwill Am-

bassador, Yusra Mardini; multidisciplinary artist, Mário Macilau; and film director, Paul Jerndal. They were joined by senior United Nations officials and WHO staff.

“WHO’s Health for All Film Festival gathers many powerful stories about a variety of health experiences from people from all over the world,” said WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “Listening to the stories of people aﬀected by health issues helps us to understand people’s lived experiences and move towards achieving better health for all.” THURSDAYS OR FRIDAYS IN MAY | 3PM - 10PM

THURSDAYS OR FRIDAYS IN MAY | 3PM - 10PM

Kathryn Bernardo wins FAMAS Best Actress award; Alfred Vargas, Piolo Pascual share Best Actor trophy

Kapamilya actress Kathryn Bernardo bagged the best actress award at the recently concluded Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS) Awards 2024 held at the Manila Hotel.

With her performance in “A Very Good Girl,”Kathryn won over Maricel Soriano (“In His Mother’s Eyes”), Charlie Dizon (“Third World Romance”), Marian Rivera (“Rewind”), Sharon Cuneta (“Family Of Two”), and Eugene Domingo (“Becky & Badette”).

Kathryn ﬁrst won a FAMAS Award, a German Moreno Youth Achievement Award, in 2011 along with Sarah Lahbati, Alden Richards, Julia Montes, and Sam Concepcion.

“Mallari” got six awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor trophy for Piolo Pascual.

Piolo shared the Best Actor trophy with Alfred Var-

gas for “Pieta”.

Kathryn personally received her trophy during the awards night held at the Fiesta Pavilion at the Manila Hotel on Sunday night.

Piolo and Vargas won over Cedrick Juan for “Gomburza,” Ken Chan for “Papa Mascot,” Dingdong Dantes for “Rewind,” and Alden Richards for “Family of Two.”

Gloria Diaz and LA Santos were named the Best Supporting Actress and Best Supporting Actor, respectively, for their roles in the ﬁlms “Mallari” and “In His Mother’s Eyes.”

Euwenn Mikaell of “Fireﬂy” won the Best Child Actor trophy, while Elia Ilano won the Best Child Actress trophy for her performance in “Ghost Tales.”

Louie Ignacio was named Best Director for his work on “Papa Mascot,” while “Mallari” took home the Best Picture award.

The FAMAS Awards is an annual awarding event organized by the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences.Here is the list of winners for the 2024 FAMAS Awards:

Best Picture: “Mallari”

Best Actor: Piolo Pascual (“Mallari”) and Alfred Vargas (“Pieta”)

Best Actress: Kathryn Bernardo (“A Very Good Girl”)

Best Director: Louie Ignacio (“Papa Mascot”)

Best Supporting Actor: LA Santos (“In His Mother’s Eyes)

Best Supporting Actress: Gloria Diaz (“Mallari”)

Best Child Actor: Euwenn Mikael Aleta (“Fireﬂy”)

Best Child Actress: Elia Ilano (“Ghost Tales”)

Best Screenplay” Enrico Santos (“Mallari”)

Best Editing: Benjamin Gonzales Tolentino (“Iti Mapukpukaw”)

Best Cinematography: Carlo Mendoza (“Gomburza”)

Best Production Design: Marielle Hizon (“Mallari”)

Best Musical Score: Teresa Barrozo (“Iti Mapukpukaw”)

Best Visual Eﬀects: “Mallari”

Best Sound: “Rewind”

Best Original Song: “Finggah Lickin’” (“Becky And Badette) Circle of Excellence Award: Vilma Santos and Christopher de Leon

Special Citation Award: Gloria Romero

Best Short Film: “Huling Sayaw ni Erlinda”

ALDEN RICHARDS & KATHRYN BERNARDO REUNITES ON NEW MOVIE

“It’s like a dream.”

This was how actor Alden Richards described “Hello, Love, Again,” the upcoming sequel to the blockbuster hit “Hello, Love, Goodbye,” wherein he stars opposite Kathryn Bernardo.

Alden will reprise his role as Ethan opposite Kathryn as Joy in the historic collaboration project between ABS-CBN’s Star Cinema and GMA Pictures.

“Hello, Love, Again” will be screened in Manila on Nov. 13 with international releases following thereafter.

“What excites me even more is, this is the ﬁrst collaboration of Star Cinema and GMA Pictures in a ﬁlm and we couldn’t be happier,” stated Alden.

“The collaboration is pushing through. Ever since we started ‘Hello, Love, Goodbye’ with actors coming from diﬀerent networks who worked together, and now for a beautiful movie to happen, even the networks are one and united for this ﬁlm,” he added.

“So, we’re happy and I waited for it. It’s like after seeing the film, over and over again. Yung pangarap na yun nasa puso ko lang in the past five years. So, finally, it happened. Dreams do come true really.”

The ﬁlm director Cathy Garcia-Sampana, who also helmed “Hello, Love, Goodbye,” attested to what Alden said, “The part two, nasa puso ni Alden, tagal na.”

The heartwarming teaser was dropped during the project announcement where Ethan and Joy meet again, against the backdrop of a snow-capped mountain.

“It was nostalgic,” the Kapuso actor said of the scene. “When we shot the teaser, I felt it like what will happen which also excites me. But of course, may takot din because the last time that I worked with direk and Kath, that was the last time.”

“And like what Kath said earlier, I don’t know how are we going to react to one another again after ﬁve years, which is more over the takot, it’s really more of excitement.”

As part of the preparations, according to direk Cathy, they conducted ocular inspections of possible set locations and did immersions and interviews about Filipinos working and living abroad in Hong Kong and Canada as part of the preparations for the ﬁlm.

On what else to expect in the sequel, Carmi Raymundo, who also wrote the first film, shared that it’s going to be “familiar but it’s different.”

“(There will be) a lot changes. Because it’s been ﬁve years from 2019. When ‘Hello, Love, Goodbye’ ended, a lot has happened in the world after. When Joy left for Canada, the pandemic happened and the world was shut down. So a lot of changes,” she reiterated.

PBBM signs ‘Eddie Garcia Law’ to protect movie, TV workers

By Jennifer T. Santos

Good news to workers in the showbiz industry.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has signed a law stemming from the demise of legendary actor Eddie Garcia.

Signed on May 24, Republic Act 11996 or the “Eddie Garcia Law” seeks protection and ensures the welfare of workers in the movie and television industry.

Leaders and members of the entertainment industry immediately hailed the new law.

Sen. Manuel Lito Lapid lauded the measure that will provide protection to the rights and ensure the welfare of movie, television and radio workers in the country.

Lapid, one of the authors of Senate Bill No. 2505, or the Eddie Garcia Law, said the the measure is a ﬁtting tribute to one of the greatest Filipino actors of all time.

The untimely death of movie and TV icon Eddie Garcia in an accident during a shooting in 2019 could be prevented. “Kinakailangan ang ligtas na kapaligiran sa shooting upang maiwasan ang sakuna, sakit o kamatayan ng ating mga kasamahan sa industriya,” Lapid said.

“Kakaiba po ang kalakaran sa entertainment industry. Normal na po ang mahabang oras ng

pagtatrabaho sa shooting. Karamihan sa maliliit nating manggagawa ay maliit lang po ang naiuuwing sahod, hindi katulad ng malalaking actor sa industriya,” he added.

Early this year, the family of the late Filipino movie icon Eddie Garcia expressed deep appreciation to Congress for passing legislation that aims to guarantee fair treatment and more protection of movie and television workers in the country.

Olivia Lagman Romero, Garcia’s long-time partner, stated in a press release that the proposed Eddie Garcia Law reﬂects what the exceptionally talented actor desired during his lifetime: ‘to enhance the local entertainment industry and uplift the lives of those working behind it.’

She remarked, “The signiﬁcant, tragic accident that led to Eddie Garcia’s untimely demise was not in vain. It served a purpose and paved the way to achieve a noble end.”

“This is Manoy’s [Garcia’s nickname] best gift and lasting contribution to the Philippine entertainment industry, which he loved and served well for 70 years,” Lagman Romero stated.

She added, “Naming it (the Eddie Garcia Law) is the most beautiful tribute and his most invaluable legacy.”

Under the law, the workers shall be protected by their employers or principal in the work-

place. The law provides for the implementation of work hours, wages and other wage-related beneﬁts, social security and welfare beneﬁts, basic necessity, health and safety, working conditions and standards, and insurance.

The protection of the movie and television workers should also be in line with the Labor Code of the Philippines or Presidential Decree No. 442 as amended, and Republic Act No. 11058 or the “Act Strengthening Compliance with Occupational Safety and Health Standards and Providing Penalties for Violations” and other applicable laws.

The new law has taken into account the gravity of the accident that caused the death of Garcia while ﬁlming on the set. It now mandates that the worker and the employer or principal shall execute an agreement or an employment contract in a language or dialect understood by both parties before the commencement of service.

“No agreement or employment contract shall discriminate against a worker who has contracts or projects with other production outfits unless exclusivity is specified in the contract, nor shall any person perform any act involving preference based on race, color, descent, national or ethnic origin, or religion, which has the purpose or effect of nullifying the recognition,

enjoyment, or exercise on an equal footing of any human right or fundamental freedom,” the law’s non-discriminatory provision stated.

With regard to hours of work, it states that they shall be based on the terms and conditions set in the agreement or employment contract and other stipulations signed with the employer or principal.

In terms of wages, the minimum wage of a worker shall not be less than the applicable minimum wage in the region where the worker is hired and wages shall be paid on time, as agreed upon in the contract, directly to the worker.

The employer or principal shall strictly adhere to the provisions of Republic Act No. 7610 as amended by Republic Act No. 9231 in the employment of minors.

All workers shall also be covered by and entitled to beneﬁts provided by the Social Security System (SSS), the Home Development Mutual Fund or Pag-IBIG Fund, and the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth).

To ensure the health and safety of workers, the law mandates the employer or principal to strictly comply with the occupational safety and health standards provided in Republic Act No. 11058 and Section 25 of Republic Act No. 11036.

New Real Estate Commission Rules Shake Up the Industry: A Win for Sellers?

For decades, the standard practice in real estate has seen home sellers paying a commission ranging from 5% to 6% to cover both the listing agent and the buyer’s agent. However, a landmark agreement from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) has ushered in a new era for real estate transactions, fundamentally altering this long-standing tradition. Eﬀective July, pending court approval, these changes promise to signiﬁcantly impact sellers, buyers, and real estate agents.

Key Changes to Buyers’ Agent Compensation

The most pivotal change revolves around how buyers’ agents are compensated. Traditionally, sellers have borne the cost of both their own agent’s commission and that of the buyers’ agent, a practice critics argue inflated home prices and stifled competition. Under the new rule, most listings will no longer specify how much buyers’ agents are paid, effectively removing the presumption that sellers are responsible for both commissions.

Additionally, buyers’ agents will now be required to enter into written agreements with their clients, known as buyer brokerage agreements. These agreements will clearly outline the services provided and the corresponding fees, which may vary from ﬁxed-fee commissions paid directly by consumers, concessions from sellers, portions of the listing broker’s compensation, or other negotiated forms of compensation.

Potential Savings for Sellers

One of the most signiﬁcant outcomes of this rule change is the potential for lower fees for sellers. For instance, in February, the average home in Southern California sold for $842,997. Under the old system, sellers would pay approximately $50,580 in commissions for both agents. However, with the new rule, if sellers are only required to pay their listing agent’s commission (typically 3%), they could save approximately $25,290. This represents a substantial reduction in selling costs, making the new rules a potential ﬁnancial boon for sellers.

Buyers’ Agents Won’t Work for Free

Despite the changes, buyers’ agents will not be working for free. Oﬀers of compensation will still be made but will no longer be communicated via the Multiple Listing Services (MLS). Compensation arrangements can take various forms, including ﬁxed-fee commissions, concessions from sellers, or portions of the listing broker’s compensation. These terms will be negotiable and must be explicitly agreed upon in the buyer brokerage agreements.

Impact on Buyers and Sellers

The new rules preserve consumer choice regarding real estate services and compensation structures. While listing brokers and sellers may still oﬀer compensation for buyer broker services, such oﬀers cannot be advertised through the MLS. This shift necessitates that buyers’ agents secure written agreements with their clients before home tours, ensuring clarity on the services provided and their costs.

Market Implications and Agent Adaptation

The new rules are likely to beneﬁt seasoned agents who have established trust and extensive networks with buyers and sellers. Conversely, newer agents, especially those working primarily as buyer brokers, may face challenges as they adjust to the new compensation

structures. Buyers might increasingly approach sellers directly, leveraging the control listing agents have over negotiations.

While the intent is to save sellers money, the real impact will depend on the dynamics of negotiation. Both sales prices and buyers’ agent commissions will become key points of negotiation, potentially leading to varied outcomes.

Conclusion

The real estate industry is on the brink of signiﬁcant change. These new NAR rules are set to reshape how commissions are structured,

oﬀering potential cost savings for sellers and introducing more transparent and negotiable compensation models for buyers’ agents. As the market adapts, seasoned agents with strong client relationships may ﬁnd themselves well-positioned, while newer agents will need to navigate a more complex landscape.

For further inquiries and assistance with real estate mortgage needs, please contact Ken Go at 1st Innovative Finance Group. Call 562-508-7048 or email kennethgo@verizon.net. CABRE 01021223 NMLS 238636.

FilAm gymnast Malabuyo books Paris Olympics berth for PHL

MANILA – It was probably the most important bronze medal of Emma Malabuyo’s gymnastics career – just enough to book her a Paris Olympics slot.

The 21-year-old Filipino-American was third overall in the individual all-around event of the Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Asian Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on Friday, PNA’s Maria Romina Austria reported.

“I’m just so overwhelmed. I’m speechless. I think I’m still shaking just hearing the news. And I’m still like, ‘Is it real?’ Like, I still can’t believe it just because it’s been such a long and arduous path to get here,” Malabuyo told Olympics.com. “I’m in shock and I can’t believe it.”

China’s Hu Jiafei (50.699 points) and Qin Xinyi (50.566) placed 1-2. Malabuyo amassed 50.398.

Teammate and fellow Oympian LeVi Jung-Ruivivar was sixth (49.166).

Malabuyo’s oﬃcial Olympic slot came just a little over a month after she fell short in the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup Series in Doha, Qatar, where she failed to land within the top two.

She remembered crying three days straight and losing faith that she’ll achieve her dream as a Team Philippines member.

“I was honestly super heartbroken. I pulled all-nighters because I just was so heartbroken and I couldn’t believe it. I was really doubting myself,” she recalled.

Among the ﬁrst to congratulate Malabuyo was her former school in the United States, the University of California, Los Angeles.

“We are so proud of our 2024 #UCLAOlympian!” UCLA

Gymnastics wrote on Facebook.

“Another day, another qualiﬁer! Extremely proud moment for the country as Emma Malabuyo qualiﬁes for the 2024 Paris Olympics,” the Philippine Olympic Committee posted.

“Ahhhh so happy,” Ruivivar wrote on her Instagram stories to accompany Malabuyo’s photo.

The other Filipinos going to the July 26 to Aug. 11 Summer Games, aside from Malabuyo and Ruivivar, are their fellow gymnasts Carlos Yulo and Aleah Finnegan; world No. 2 pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena; boxers Eumir Felix Marcial, Nesthy Petecio and Aira Villegas; weightlifters Vanessa Sarno, Erleen Ann Ando and John Febuar Ceniza; rower Joanie

Delgaco; and fencer Sam Catantan.

Yulo, meanwhile, took home four golds from Uzbekistan – vault, parallel bars, individual all-around and ﬂoor exercise.

Born in California to Filipino parents, Malabuyo was a member of the US national team from 2016 to 2019 and in 2021 where she was an alternate in the Tokyo Olympics.

In 2023, she decided to represent the Philippines.

“Just having that support from my family and representing the Philippines just means so much to me,” she said in a previous interview. “I think also the representation of my culture, that really mattered a lot to me.”

Olympic fencer Esteban builds up Paris training

MANILA – Maxine Esteban spent ﬁve days in the Philippines before ﬂying to Germany over the weekend to resume her training for the Paris Olympics.

After all the brouhaha over her naturalization in Cote d’Ivoire and eventual qualiﬁcation to the Summer Games, the 23-year-old fencer is drowning out the unwanted noise.

She is fulﬁlling a dream she has nurtured since she was eight, although she still feels “weird” wearing the orange, white and green of the country she is representing.

“Yeah, I felt sad at ﬁrst because I’ve always wanted to represent the Philippines but it is what it is,” Esteban, ranked world No. 35 in foil, told the Philippine News Agency in an interview.

She admitted she was “heartbroken” when she was dropped from the national pool by the Philippine Fencing Association (PFA).

After a tournament in Hong Kong, her Italian coach, Andrea Magro, granted her a brief vacation that allowed her to renew her sponsorship contract with a sportswear brand; watch a game of Alas Pilipinas in the Asian Volleyball Confederation Challenge Cup to support her friend from Ateneo de Manila, Faith Nisperos; grant media interviews; and spend time with her family before she sees them again in Paris in July.

She will compete in the Championnats d’ Aﬁque in Morocco on June 6, train in Poland, and join a training camp in Paris with the Japanese and French national teams in the runup to the Olympics.

Esteban tied for 83rd at the 2024 Absolute Fencing Gear FIE Foil Grand Prix in Washington, D.C., United States on March 15. Her ranking points were enough to top the Olympic qualifying race for the African continental zone.

“For all the second chances, opened windows, miraculous feats and generous provisions, thank you, Heavenly Father,” Esteban wrote on Facebook the day after her qualiﬁcation. “This is for Cote d’Ivoire, the country that embraced me, believed in me and supported me all the way, and for the Philippines, the country my heart will always beat proud of.”

Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham Tolentino also immediately congratulated Esteban through a text message sent to her father.

She initially wanted to ﬁght for her slot in the Philippine team even after her reinstallment pleas to the fencing pool were denied. In the end, she decided it was best to move on.

Esteban said Filipinos whom she encounters abroad always give her a feel of home.

“They welcome me everywhere,” she said. “They are always sweet and welcoming. Even my new teammates are nice. They remind me of my former teammates.”

Among her former teammates in the Philippines, Samantha Catantan is also going to Paris after ruling the Asia-Oceania Zonal Olympic Qualiﬁer in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates on April 27.

Catantan and 12 other Filipinos have qualiﬁed to date -gymnasts Carlos Yulo, Aleah Finnegan, LeVi Jung-Ruivivar and Emma Malabuyo; world No. 2 pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena; boxers Eumir Felix Marcial, Nesthy Petecio and Aira Villegas; weightlifters Vanessa Sarno, Erleen Ann Ando and John Febuar Ceniza; and rower Joanie Delgaco.

The PFA previously said it chose Catantan, the world No. 273, because of a better head-to-head record against Esteban. Thus, a higher chance to qualify via the Asian zone.

As in all the previous tournaments she joined in, Esteban said she will give it her all to be deserving of her slot because she knows an athlete’s career is unstable.

Emma Malabuyo (Instagram)

California...

(From page 1)

expired last July is facing the dire prospect of packing up the Oakland California home where she raised her four adopted children.

Nationally, seniors are now the fastestgrowing age group experiencing homelessness at more than 140,000 according to data from the Department of Health and Human Services National Alliance to End Homelessness. Some 17% of these seniors are facing eviction.

At the May 2, 2024 California Ethnic Media News brieﬁng by Ethnic Media Services and California Black Media, DHCS leaders, community providers and health care workers shared how an ambitious $12 billion MediCal initiative can help Californians experiencing homelessness and housing instability lead healthier lives. This is the second in a series of brieﬁngs exploring the dramatic Medi-Cal transformation that will provide services for the unhoused including stable housing navigation, rent deposit aid and street medicine.

On hand to talk on this were Policy Advisor for Homelessness and Housing, California Department of Health Care Services Glenn Tsang, Director of HOPE Program at Shasta Community Health Center (SCHC) Amber Middleton and Director UCLA Homeless Healthcare Collaborative Brian Zunner-Keating, MS,RN.

Tsang believes that talking about Medi-Cal transformation is “talking about bringing services to our unhoused members to meet them where they’re at in life.”

“Instead of asking them to navigate the bureaucracy of the clinic, we go to them at the shelter, the street, the encampment, and you connect them to housing support and health care in two ways: Enhanced Care Management and Community Supports, both launched in January 1, 2022,” Tsang explained.

Through Enhanced Care Management (ECM), unhoused or at-risk members are assigned a lead care provider who connects them to medical services at a local clinic as well as social services including transitional housing programs, and basic needs like clothing and food.

“Community Supports (CS) swim upstream to address the social factors driving adverse health,” Tsang elaborated. “If an unhoused member is constantly getting care in the ER, we treat the health conditions driving this. For instance, how can we reasonably expect an unhoused member with diabetes to store insulin if they don’t have a refrigerator or apartment? How can we help them well before, say, the amputation of a leg?”

Among the 14 CS programs under MediCal are housing transition navigation services including housing search and application help; security deposit aid; tenancy sustaining services like landlord mediation; short-term post-hospitalization housing; recuperative care; day habilitation for social skills and daily activities like using public transit; and street medicine from trusted community providers now reimbursed under Medi-Cal plans.

Tsang observed that more and more states follow California’s preventative lead in recognizing that housing is an incredible determinant of one’s health and at least 19 states are directing Medicaid funds into housing aid.

“For instance, Arizona is spending $550 million primarily to cover six months of rent for unhoused members. Oregon is spending over $1 billion on housing services including emergency rent aid, while Arkansas will spend $100 billion on housing aid,” added Tsang.

In January 2024, Tennessee, West Virginia, Montana and New York received federal approval to follow suit.

“183,000 Californians are experiencing homelessness right now, and personally, I think that that number is underestimating the total, with so many people couchsurﬁng or one family ﬁght away from being unhoused,” Tsang rued.

Middleton, for her part, advanced that what a community care worker can do through these new programs is break down barriers to the patient’s health as she discussed the challenges of expanding Medi-Cal services to California’s unhoused population, particularly those who have been harmed by or have reason to mistrust the system.

“We need to be soft on people and hard on systems that create housing and wage deﬁcits,” Middleton continued, “especially since most of us in the U.S. are one medical emergency away from being at risk of being unsheltered … Our goal is to create access points in all areas where those needing care might be, rather than waiting for things to get so bad that they’re having to seek out services.”

These access points include a clinic at the local homeless shelter, a 20-bed medical respite program with personal case managers, sixmonth short-term post-hospitalization housing, stable housing navigation and transition aid, deposit aid, tenancy support and a mobile street medicine program providing key needs like wheelchairs, medication and oxygen as well as basic needs like clothing and food.

Zunner-Keating underscored the importance of having community health workers that have “related experience of homelessness, or come from the neighborhoods we serve to build trust as not everyone is willing to accept our care right away, it’s crucial that our.” Zunner-Keating’s UCLA Homeless Healthcare Collaborative has provided over 9000 clinical evaluations to nearly 5000 individuals on the streets of Los Angeles County since January 2022.

“For many people, the best we can do is say hello, give them a warm smile and oﬀer them water, snacks and a hygiene kit for a few weeks if they’re not ready,” Zunner-Keating explained. “After a few weeks of this, or after talking to their friends who received care, they might start to open up about their needs. Our team may make connections by talking in-language, or asking if they’re Dodgers fans, or asking for help — ‘This is my ﬁrst time on this block, who’s in the neighborhood and what’s the typical day like here?’”

Glenn Tsang

Amber Middleton

Brian Zunner-Kea�ng, MS,RN

Proactive measures needed in schools to address changing climate

Eﬀects of climate change is now being felt and school authorities aside from other stakeholders had this urge for the need to act before situation gets worse as it gets hotter in many places like Southern California.

Among the more imperative things needed to be done is increasing the shade and green areas of the city, updating parks, and undertaking the long-overdue effort to change vast asphalt schoolyards into living spaces. This work also needs to consider existing structural inequities, where shade has become a fixture of privilege, and low-income communities lack sufficient parks and green areas.

Research has shown that greening schoolyards directly impacts children’s safety, health, and ability to learn. Yet, most schools in Los Angeles need more green space or shade.

On May 3, 2024, a national ethnic media brieﬁng funded in part by a grant from the Bezos Earth Fund and in collaboration with the Laboratory for Environmental Narrative Strategies (LENS) at UCLA as part of the Greening American Cities initiative was held.

Dubbed From Asphalt Jungle to Green Haven: Urgent Work for Schools and Neighborhoods in LA, speakers addressed the work that community organizations and Los Angeles School District oﬃcials are undertaking to address this problem particularly the impact in student’s health and learning of green spaces.

This story was produced by EMS in collaboration with the Laboratory for Environmental Narrative Strategies (LENS) at UCLA as part of the Greening American Cities initiative supported by the Bezos Earth Fund.

At hand to speak were Los Angeles Unified School District School Board Member, District 2 Chairman of the Greening Schools and Climate Resilience Committee of the Los Angeles Unified Board of Education Rocío Rivas, Senior Program Manager in the Office of Well-Being at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, former Associate Professor of Kinesiology at Occidental College in Los Angeles, and Certified Exercise Physiologist and Playground Safety Inspector Marci Raney, Executive Director, Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust Tori Kjer, Chief Facilities Executive, Los Angeles Unified School District Krisztina Tokes, LAUSD Chief Eco-Sustainability Officer Christos Chrysiliou and 11th-grade student at Brio College Prep in downtown Los Angeles and founder of Go Green at her school Rosemary Ruiz.

At the brieﬁng, Rivas talked on the eﬀorts they are exerting to green school in Los Angeles as they see the urgency for doing so and that the LAUSD created a Greening Schools and Climate Resilience Committee in early 2023 towards this end.

“This is the ﬁrst time that the district has a committee solely on greening schools and making our school district climate resilient. As a board

member, I am very passionate in transforming our schools, making a diﬀerence in children’s lives,” Rivas explains. “It is a wholistic eﬀort. By transforming our schools and making them greener, they’re healthier, smarter, makes them safe and feel connected.”

Among the measures we are undertaking included upgrading school facilities to improve energy eﬃciency by replacing old windows, upgrading HVAC and installing water-saving ﬁxtures; successfully passing a districtwide climate literacy resolution to integrate hands-on greening projects and climate change presentations into curricula; greening play areas in early education and elementary schools; seeking greening grants in collaboration with local community-based organizations; conducting needs assessments to identify schools that require the most support; and workshopping living schoolyard designs with parents and students.

Rainey admitted that eighteen percent of LA County youth do not have easy access to a park, a playground or a safe place to play without crime in their neighborhoods and that only 10.1% of LA County students — and 8.2% of girls — meet the aerobic and muscle-strengthening physical activity required for healthy development, while nearly 14% “experience a feeling of worry, nervousness and or anxiety daily.

These issues have major consequences for academic performance in the LA County Uniﬁed School District, where the chronic absenteeism rate is 31%.

In the district’s 2023 CAASPP test results, which look at student performance across a range of indicators, only 41.17% of students met or exceeded the state standard for English, while 30.5% of students did so for math.

“Living schoolyards with lots of trees, shade and natural barriers between play zones can help address some of these challenges. Our research shows that they lead to an increase in physical activity and healthy motor skill development. They eliminate the activity disparities between girls and boys, and help protect older students from becoming sedentary,” Rainey explained.

Rainey also added that “children who attend green schools also have lower asthma rates, higher vitamin D levels, stronger immune systems and greater volumes of gray and white matter in their brain, contributing to higher executive and cognitive function and helping with decisionmaking, emotional regulation and learning” concluding that it’s clear that living school yards can be our solution.

Tokes, for her part, disclosed that Los Angeles Uniﬁed School District (LAUSD) passed the Greening Schoolyards for All Resolution in spring of 2023 directing staﬀ to make a plan to green all schoolyards in the district at least 30% by 2035.

“This is an extremely ambitious goal because over half of LA County schools, or 485, have less than 30% green space,” Tokes admitted. “Our

playgrounds are really seas of asphalt. We have over 200 elementary schools that have less than 10% green space.”

In response, LAUSD invested nearly $500 million towards greening projects currently underway.

Chrysiliou acknowledged that knowing where to start was a challenge “but through working with community partners, we made an index of schools most in need of green equity.”

“Through a CAL FIRE grant, we’re now developing 34 projects,” Chrysiliou reported, “and we have over 100 projects right now in planning, design, and construction, thanks to partners like the California Department of Education and community coalitions.”

Among these is the Living Schoolyards Coalition formed in 2019 by the Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust to green LAUSD schools in collaboration with students and other nonproﬁts like the Trust for Public Land.

Kjer conveyed that the coalition has a priority to opening campuses to communities.

“Many of the children who most need green space live in dense apartments with not even a small patch of space to run around or learn to ride a bicycle safely. It’s diﬃcult to ﬁnd vacant lots to build new parks, but there are school campuses within walking distance of everyone in LA County,” Kjer informed. “Yet, the majority of these campuses are locked after-hours. This is why, as we think about reversing park inequities, making school campuses open and easily accessible to our communities should be a critical space for

that work.”

In speaking on behalf of students, Ruiz admitted “climate change is one of the most pressing issues of my generation, because we are the ones that will have to deal with the consequences of a lack of climate action by older generations.”

“As a low-income school, many of our students don’t have the money to buy plants, even though we bear the consequences of climate change the most,” Ruiz continued. “Go Green has also done tree-planting events on campus and we’ve given trees, especially native species, for students to plant in their own backyards. We’re currently expanding this project to schools throughout the district.

“To give students an opportunity to make an impact on this issue, we’ve maintained a community garden for over three years — ﬁrst on campus, then at the local YMCA, which gave us space to green the community,” Ruiz recounted. “It’s very hard for students in downtown LA to ﬁnd somewhere green that’s open to them, and through this vegetable and fruit garden we’ve made a space where students can take home what they grow.” Ruiz confesses that there is also a limited five years left to do something dramatic about climate change.

“About two weeks ago for Earth Day, I was at City Hall, talking to our council members about developing climate initiatives and giving them speciﬁc demands of what we need not only in our city, but in our country. Students are our future, and we need to start on this scale where they can learn about climate change and take solutions into their own hands.”

Brieﬁng par�cipants (L-R) Rosemary Ruiz, Marci Raney, Rocío Rivas, Tori Kjer, Krisz�na Tokes, Christos Chrysiliou and moderator Pilar Marrero

What’s Up Atty

(From Page 11)

The elements of the statute are: (1) existence of business records, (2) they were falsified, meaning that they did not speak the truth, (3) the accused personally did the falsification, not somebody else such as an accomplice or co-conspirator, (4) the falsification was made to commit or conceal another crime, and (5) the accused had criminal intent.

All these elements must be proved by the prosecution beyond a reasonable doubt.

The prosecution failed to establish all these elements beyond a reasonable doubt.

There is no evidence that Trump himself personally “made and caused a false entry in the business records of an enterprise”. There was no witness who testiﬁed that such witness actually saw Trump sign checks, or prepare invoices, or made entries in the business records of an enterprise.

If another person did it, there is no evidence that Trump authorized or caused such other person to do it, or that such person was an accomplice or co-conspirator. The charge is that the “defendant” (meaning Trump) himself “made and caused” a false entry. There is no allegation of a conspiracy nor an allegation that there was an accomplice or accessory to the alleged crime.

There is no evidence that Trump had criminal intent to defraud, that is to conceal the truth about what these payments were actually for. He allegedly signed the checks while he was already President. There is no evidence that he wrote on the checks’ Memorandum line “Legal expenses”. He did not sign or create the invoices submitted by Cohen nor did he prepare the documents created by the Trump Organization. The checks totaled more than $450,000. Stormy Daniels was paid only $130,000. But none of the checks was payable to Stormy Daniels. She was paid in 2016 before the election. The checks were issued in 2017.

The indictment alleges that Trump falsiﬁed business records with the “intent to commit another crime and aid and conceal the commission thereof.” This is the alleged motivation. However, the indictment did not state what was the “other crime”.

The indictment is vague and unclear and violates due process of law since an accused must know speciﬁcally what he is accused of having committed.

Did the defense move to dismiss the indictment for vagueness? Did the defense ask for a bill of particulars to specify what the “other crime” was?

The thrust (no pun intended) of Stormy Daniels’ testimony was that she had sexual relations with then candidate Trump in the “missionary” position. “The missionary position is a sex position in which one partner is on top of the other so that they’re face to face.” WebMD. See also Men’s Health, Wikipedia, Bad Girls Bible, etc. It is called “missionary” because that is how the missionaries performed sexual intercourse when they went around spreading the gospel and had sexual relations with the virgin girls whom they seduced by promising them that they will reach “heaven on earth”. It is said to be the most enjoyable position for both.

(In Stormy Daniels’ 270-page book “Full Disclosure,” that was published in 2018 (after Trump became President) under her real name Stephanie Cliﬀord, which I have read 1 1/2 times, she describes blow by blow her alleged sexual encounter with Trump, their positions –“missionary”, the duration – 2 to 3 minutes. The alleged encounter was on July 13, 2006 at Harrah’s in Lake Tahoe. She also describes his penis as having a “huge mushroom head. Like a toadstool.” At pp. 128-129. If the issue whether they had sexual relations came to a head and I were Trump’s counsel, I would ask for a physical examination of Trump to debunk Daniels’ “mushroom head” description.)

Stormy Daniels’ testimony is irrelevant and immaterial to the case.

What does it matter to the issue of falsification if their sexual intercourse position was “missionary” or “butterfly”? The issue is not whether Daniels and Trump had sex. The issue is whether Trump committed falsification by signing a check payable to Cohen after the election to influence the past election by keeping Daniels quiet before the election.

Did the defense counsel seek to exclude Stormy Daniels as a witness, or object to every question asked of her and move to strike out every answer given? Did the defense make a continuing objection to every question asked of her and a continuing motion to strike out every answer given. In fact the trial judge did not allow some questions and answers, and expressly wondered why the defense did not have more objections.

Michael D. Cohen, the second major prosecution witness, apparently wanted to seek “revenge” against Trump and to “go down and rot inside” for what he did to him. This is evidence of bias. A biased witness is not credible.

Furthermore, Cohen was convicted of perjury on December 12, 2018 at the U.S. District Court in New York, after pleading guilty to making false statements to the U.S. Congress, for which he was sentenced to 2 months in jail, and for lying on his income tax return, and making false statements to a federally insured bank, for which he was sentenced to 3 years in prison.

The rule “falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus” (false in one thing, false in everything) is a common law legal principle to the eﬀect that where a witness falsely testiﬁes about one matter such witness is not credible to testify about any other matter. Under that rule, Co-

hen’s entire testimony should have been excluded. Did the defense counsel raise this point and move to exclude Cohen’s entire testimony?

Cohen said that Daniels’ agents were pressing him to close the deal on paying her $130,000 otherwise the story would go to the newspapers. He also testiﬁed that Trump had told him to “Delay, delay, delay” until after the election. None of the checks signed by Trump was for $130,000. Stormy Daniels was not a payee in any of the checks.

Thus, it appears that Trump did not pay Stormy Daniels and did not want to pay her at all. Cohen just took it upon himself to give Daniels’ agents $130,000 from sources other than from Trump.

The ﬁgure $130,000 appears unusual. Where did Cohen get that number? Payments are usually in multiples of 50,000, 100,000, or 150,000.

CONCLUSION

You be the judge. Be fair. People ought not to love or hate others that they have not personally met. Your feeling about another human being should be based on direct evidence, not hearsay.

I consulted the Oracle of Waikiki and the Oracle predicted that the jury will acquit President Trump, giving him an advance 78th birthday gift (Trump was born on June 14, 1946). Or there will be at least one juror who will ﬁnd Trump innocent, thus resulting in a “hung jury”, since all 12 jurors must vote to convict, and the judge will declare a mistrial.

CAUTION: There is some concern about the composition of the jurors. All the jurors are reputed to be Democrats. Trump is a Republican. New York City has ﬁve governmental districts called boroughs (from “burg” which means fortiﬁed settlement). All the jurors are from Manhattan where Trump is reportedly unpopular. Why did the lawyers not pick jurors from the other boroughs like the Bronx or Brooklyn, where Trump is not that unpopular. Two of the jurors are lawyers. That is good and bad. If the lawyers know NY criminal law and procedure, and fairly apply it, they will vote to acquit Trump. If the lawyers are like a “hanging judge” who presumes that every accusation must be true, that would be bad for Trump.

Health & Wealth...

(From Page 11)

thought that our evangelism campaign & workshop will just be in the province of Pangasinan Baguio City and vicinities in the big island of Luzon. With our collective prayers, God has blessed the annual WE CARE Evangelism Campaign & Workshop exceedingly as mentioned by our sister Rose de la Cruz in our Tuesday online PRAYER Session. It’s NOW expanding to the Visayas and Mindanao as reported and updated by brother Steven Prine last Sunday. About 5,000 precious souls (and counting) obeyed the gospel in baptism since 2012. (Watch & Read Part 2 next week).

(ART GABOT MADLAING is accredited and commissioned Notary Public and licensed Real Estate Broker in California since 1981. He is founder of MOBILE SIGNING SERVIVES, FITNESS FOR HUMANITY (aka FITNESS FOR CHRIST) and ACAPINOY. Art is an active Evangelist with the GOLDEN GATE CHURCH OF CHRIST in San Francisco, California USA. He can be reached at (650) 438-3531 or (415) 584-7095 or email:artmadlaing@hotmail. com)

Upside...

That’s how public service looks like: prompt, sincere, sustained. ***

PNews Today Executive Editor Cherie Querol Moreno manages PFS’ Got Wheels! program. Visit www.pfso.org.

Brisbane

photo

to the

Immigrant’s Help

dence of the abuser’s U.S. citizenship or LPR status, they should provide some identifying information for the abusive U.S. citizen or LPR, such as a name, place of birth, country of birth, date of birth, or Social Security number. USCIS uses this information to conduct a search of DHS records to attempt to verify the abuser’s citizenship or immigration status.

An abused spouse or child of a U.S. national may also be eligible for VAWA beneﬁts, as a U.S. national is accorded the same rights as an LPR. USCIS treats a self-petitioning spouse or child of a U.S. national as a self-petitioning spouse or child of an LPR when adjudicating the self-petition.

Note: This is not legal advice and presented for information purposes only.

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

1. PETITION FOR CAREGIVERS

Our Law Firm entered into agreement with Care Home Facilities in the U.S. to process applicants for Caregivers in the US You may qualify if you six months experience as Caregivers Applicants Inside the United States or in the Philippines or other countries may qualify.

Bankruptcy Basics

We also process Bankruptcy cases.

Chris Caday Lozano, Esq. is an active member of the State Bar of California, the American Immigration Lawyers Association and San Francisco Trial Lawyers. He has practiced immigration law, bankruptcy, and income tax representation since June 1999. His contact phone is 1-877-456-9266, email: info@CCLlaw.net Website: www.crispinlozanolaw.com/ with oﬃces in Hayward and Cerritos, CA.

(From Page 12)

Veremos. Abangan.

(From Page 10)

City Clerk Ingrid Padilla, Senior Management Analyst Rose Velilla, Assistant

City Manager Caroline Cheung, Communica�ons & Digital Media Coordinator Ma�hew Ordona and Deputy City Clerk Angel Ibarra brighten up City Hall of the “City of Stars.” CMQM

LACCD Celebrates Asian Pacific Islander Desi American Heritage Month

Los Angeles, CA (May 17, 2024) –The Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) celebrates the achievements and invaluable contributions from the Asian Paciﬁc Islander Desi American (APIDA) community in this month of May.

For many years LACCD has prioritized making college more affordable, increasing access to programs that allow for transfer to a 4-year university and championing inclusivity on our nine college campuses. LACCD is home to students of many different backgrounds and we are happy to celebrate APIDA Heritage month with our students and faculty. Approximately 40% of APIDA students at LACCD pursued a transfer to a 4-year university. Almost half of the student population are first generation students and among APIDA students 25% are also first-generation students.

“I am excited to welcome in APIDA Heritage Month to celebrate our APIDA community but also spotlight the work that still needs to be done,” said Dr. Kelsey

Iino, First Vice President, LACCD Board of Trustees. “It is often overlooked that the APIDA community is made up of 40+ ethnicities, making it one of the most diverse groups in America. LACCD understands well that the APIDA community cannot be treated as a monolith and there are unique challenges and barriers each group faces in achieving higher education.” Vice President Iino is a community college graduate and has been a longtime advocate for students, serving as a signiﬁcant voice for the LACCD’s APIDA community.

Additionally, the myth that APIDA students are mostly affluent is a misnomer and could affect students that need access to financial aid to make college even possible. A recent report has noted that 1 in 3 Southeast Asians experience high levels poverty. Available programs like the Los Angeles College Promise Program helps students by providing two full years of free tuition, free laptop computers, priority registration and access to educational and financial aid counseling for first-time,

full-time students. In 2023, over 39% of APIDA students received the CA College Promise Grant and Pell Grant .

A quality degree is a strong preference among APIDA parents. LACCD is a competitive choice in pursuing a bachelor’s degree for several transfer programs. Career and Academic Pathways like STEM, Health Science, Business, Entrepreneurship & Law, and Information technology also provide students options in choosing and advancing towards a career path.

“APIDA Heritage Month for LACCD means recognizing and aﬃrming the rich diversity across all of our campuses, and ensuring a place for students to feel safe, seen, welcomed, and valued,” said LACCD Chancellor Francisco C. Rodriguez, Ph.D.

About the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) is the nation’s largest community college district, educating about 210,000 students annually at its nine colleges that serve the residents of more than 36 cities and communities

from 900 square miles of Los Angeles County. Since 1969, the district has been providing an important learning pathway for students seeking transfer to four-year colleges or universities while also offering two-year degrees and certiﬁcated training programs to Southern California’s diverse workforce in many specialized trades and professions. Learn more about our L.A. College Promise program of free tuition at OurPromiseYourPath.

The LACCD colleges include Los Angeles City College; East Los Angeles College; Los Angeles Harbor College; Los Angeles Mission College; Los Angeles Pierce College; Los Angeles Southwest College; Los Angeles Trade-Technical College; Los Angeles Valley College and West Los Angeles College.

S. CHUA

Heart of Hope

One out of three adults worldwide (more than 2 Billion of the 6.02 Billion adults out of a total global population of 8.05 Billion) have high blood pressure and about 10 million of them die each year from complications of hypertension, like heart attack and stroke, or ruptured aneurysm.

In the United States, at least 48.1 percent of people (more than 164.5 million), 18 and older, have high blood pressure, highest among blacks. Sixty-three percent of those 60 and older have hypertension.

Recent studies from the Queen Mary University of London in the United Kingdom “have identiﬁed more than 100 new regions of the human genome and more than 2,000 independent genetic signals that appear to inﬂuence blood pressure.” These data may help physicians better predict a person’s risk of developing hypertension.

There are unmodiﬁable risk factors include ethnicity (genetic) and some existing health conditions. The modiﬁable risk factors (within our control) include lifestyle: diet, salt-intake, exercise, weight, smoking, and alcohol, which could help prevent then development of high blood pressure.

Caveats: (1) Teenagers should have at least one initial blood pressure check-up. If normal, one every 3 months thereafter. If high, prompt medical consultation is recommended. Adults should have their blood pressure checked at least once a month for those normotensives (normal BP) and every day for those with severe high blood pressure on medications; every week for those with blood pressure (medically) controlled at 140 systolic/90 diastolic. If it goes higher, or with symptoms, notify your healthcare provider; (2) NEVER miss any medications. Countless people suﬀered a stroke for missing to take their BP pills, even for a day; (3) Have a regular medical check-up at least once every 6 months; (4) Eat a healthy, mostly-plant-based diet with a little red meat once a week, a lot of ﬁsh, some fruits and nuts, exercise daily, no smoking, occasional 1-2 drinks with dinner; (5) DIY stress managing with mini-vacation or

Ten million die

stay-cation.

Smoothies vs arthritis

Arthritis of the hips or knees, etc., means inﬂammation (“itis”) of those joints from natural wear-and-tear of aging and abuse. If you could see these joints, they will look red, inﬂamed, warm, and swollen, which causes the pain, just like in conjunctivitis (pink-eye) or skin infection.

Inﬂammatory food items, like the Night Shades veggies (tomato, eggplant, potato, pepper, paprika, etc.), red meat, especially processed meats, all cause inﬂammation in our body when consumed.

Independent global studies have shown that eating all types of berries (blueberries, strawberries, red berry, blackberries), pineapple, celery, broccoli, papaya, Brussel sprouts, cauliflower, mustard green, lettuce, sweet potato, are all anti-inflammatory food items; they prevent and quell inflammation.

Famous daily beverage in smoothies (even in a portable USB blender) containing pineapple and its juice plus celery, papaya, and all the berries listed above, imbibed at least two times a day eﬀectively minimize if not totally relieve joint pains after drinking the smoothies for a month, allowing discontinuance of joint pain medications. It is really amazing when you hear patients boasting they have abandoned all anti-arthritis injections, medications, gel, and cream, and are living without arthritis pains after embarking on this anti-inﬂammation smoothies.

Rice and Diabetes T2

Medical researchers discovered a “troubling link between higher consumption of white rice and Type 2 diabetes mellitus,” which is of epidemic proportion in Asia and other regions where white rice is the staple food.

The investigations are also probing into the association of diets high in sugar and fats to this most common diabetes. Worldwide, about 350 million people have Type 2 diabetes, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“What we’ve found is white rice is likely to increase the risk of Type 2 diabetes, especially at high consumption levels such as in Asian populations,” according to Qi Sun of the Harvard School of Public Health, who

added that “the link emerged from an analysis of four previously published studies, carried out in China, Japan, Australia and the United States.”

The clinical investigations involved 350,000 people followed closely from four to 22 years, where 13,000 of them developed Type 2 diabetes.

Those studies conducted in Japan and China revealed that who ate most rice (three to four servings a day) had 55 percent higher risk to develop diabetes compared to those who ate least (one to two servings a week). The part of this research performed in Australia and in the United States, where people eat less rice, the diﬀerence was 12 percent.

Are soft drinks harmful?

Yes, very, but in a subtle way, and the damage they cause takes time to show. In a previous column, we condemned all soft drinks, which I called poison “liquid candy,” to be associated with Metabolic Syndrome among those who imbibed them. The cluster of conditions in this syndrome includes central obesity leading to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, insulin resistance, diabetes, heart attack, and stroke. I have stated, and am repeating it for emphasis, that soft drinks are subtle poisons to the body, for all of us, and especially for children. In my book in the USA, Let’s Stop “Killing” Our Children, I challenged parents to stop drinking soft drinks and to dissuade their children from imbibing soft drinks, diet, light, or regular, cola or uncola. They are all unhealthy. Saying “No” with wisdom to our children is a form of love.

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

PHILIP

Recipe of the Week

Juicy Pork Chop Inihaw

Preparation time:

1 hour; Cooking time:15 minutes; Serves: 5

Ingredients

5 pcs pork chop

1 Tbsp garlic, crushed

1/2 tsp whole black peppercorn, crushed

1 Tbsp brown sugar

5 Tbsp Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce

10 Tbsp Heinz Tomato Ketchup

10 Tbsp pineapple Juice

1/2 tsp salt

Procedure

1. Marinate pork chops in garlic, crushed black pepper corn, brown sugar, Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce, Heinz Tomato Ketchup, pineapple juice and salt for an hour in the refrigerator.

2. Charbroil till done. Serve with freshly cooked garlic rice and Heinz Tomato Ketchup.

Bolinao eyes Silaki Island, home of giant clams, as tourist destination

BOLINAO, Pangasinan – More than the usual sightseeing and leisure tourism, the local government of Bolinao is eyeing to oﬀer an environmental awareness and educational tour to promote an island here as a tourism hub while sustaining and protecting the aquamarine environment.

The heart-shaped Silaki Island of this town is home to thousands of giant clams, taken-cared of in an almost 16 hectares portion of the ocean.

Tourists will also be allowed to experience personally preparing native rice cakes and dried ﬁsh and make native bags.

Bolinao tourism officer Mary de Guzman-Suarez told the Philippine News Agency that the project aims to give tourists firsthand experience on the significance of the giant clam in the ecosystem.

“We will oﬀer giant clams tour and community immersion. It includes minimuseum for the fossilized giant clams and other artifacts, mini-experience center for the community immersion, and trail for bird watching and nature photography in the island,” she said.

This is the proposed community-based project of the municipal government of Bolinao in partnership with the University of the Philippines-Marine Science Institute (UPMSI), titled The Legacy of the Sea: A Silaki Island Community-Based Tourism Project, which is the brainchild of Vice Mayor Richard Celeste.

The project proposal is one of the top ﬁve ﬁnalists in the Department of Tourism’s Tourism Champion Challenge (TCC) that aims to uplift and develop tourism destinations by fostering creative project concepts.

De Guzman-Suarez cited the importance of giant clams in ﬁltering sea water, serving as habitat for aquamarine species, and producing mineral that form coral reefs, which are vital in preserving the sea as source of livelihood for the residents.

UPMSI has been caring and breeding thousands of giant clams that include eight of the nine giant species in the country.

“UPMSI identified an area for leisure, for study, and buffer zone. We see to it the area will not be disturbed since floating docks will be placed and there will be no construction to protect the giant clam area,” De Guzman-Suarez said.

The project is also eyed to provide alternative source of income to the locals.

“We wanted tourism as alternative job for them because the residents rely only on ﬁshing,” she said in Filipino.

Construction of the jump-off point port will start in the first quarter of this year and this will be financed by the winnings from the DOT competition.

The top ﬁve TCC ﬁnalists will receive cash prizes ranging from P7 million to P20 million. The ranks of the winners will be announced on Feb. 21 this year.

(Hilda Austria/PNA)

HEART-SHAPED. Aerial view of Silaki Island in Bolinao town Pangasinan

Motorists, beware: Rainy season is officially here

It was quite a hot summer, wasn’t it? It can still get stupidly hot these days, but it has started to cool down a bit over the past few weeks. That, however, poses a new problem: the rainy season.

The onset was felt this weekend when Typhoon Aghon made landfall. Now, though, it looks like we’re really in the thick of it, as the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) has oﬃcially declared the start of the rainy season.

“The occurrence of scattered rainshowers, frequent thunderstorms, the passage of Typhoon Aghon, and the Southwest Monsoon (Habagat) over the past few days have brought signiﬁcant rains over the western sections of Luzon and Visayas signiﬁes the start of the rainy season in the country,” said PAGASA administrator Nathaniel Servando. “Moreover, the high chance of La Niña conditions to develop by the July-August-September period increases the likelihood of abovenormal rainfall conditions in some areas of the country, especially towards the end of the year.”

Get your jackets and rain-proof gear ready, people. The next few months are going to be pretty wet. Stay safe out there, folks, and stay tuned to this website for safety tips throughout the 2024 rainy season.

Rainy season has oﬃcially arrived in the Philippines, which gives us cooler weather. However, this is also the time of

the year where storms and sudden downpour happens. As such, here are ﬁve ways on how you can be a courteous motorist this rainy season.

1. Give way to pedestrians

We all know how hard it is to commute when it’s raining. Walking under the rain is one of the most challenging thing to do. Aside from trying to stay dry as mush as possible, you also need to maintain your balance due to the slippery road. With that in mind, motorists who are driving should give way to pedestrians who are patiently waiting to cross the street safely. Unlike you, they don’t have enough protection from the rain. Giving way to them would be of great help. Moreover, it wouldn’t hurt that much if you stop and let them cross, right?

2. Watch out for puddles of water

One of the dreadful sight for any pedestrian when it’s raining is a puddle of

water. Other than the hassle of walking through a dirty puddle, pedestrians are also afraid whenever there’s a fast car approaching toward the puddle. Get the picture, huh? Reduce your speed when you spot one so that you won’t create a huge splash--pedestrians don’t want to have that kind of shower, believe me.

3. Use your cars indicator lights wisely

Your car’s indicator lights or turn signals are designed to inform other motorists, even pedestrians, on which direction you want to take. Are you going to the left, or right? As such, don’t turn on your car’s hazard lights when you’re driving under heavy rainfall. It’s not a smart thing to do and it confuses other motorists. Your car’s taillights are visible enough when driving under the rain. On the other hand, using your car’s indicator lights wisely will enable pedestrians to know

where you want to go.

4. Turn on your car’s headlights

It is recommended to turn on your car’s headlights when you’re driving under sudden downpour. This is to increase your car’s visibility, which would be for your own safety and for the good of other motorists. Don’t put in in high-beam as this would lessen your visibility because the light rays from your car’s headlights will bounce back to you due to the rain.

5. Inform others

Inform other motorists and pedestrians if the road ahead is flooded. Yes, some may argue that you’re just being bibo or being too much of a good Samaritan when you do this. However, you could prevent accidents by informing others of the hazard ahead. Your fellow motorists can think of a new route upon knowing that road ahead is flooded, while pedestrians can sit out and wait for the rain and the flood to subside rather than approaching it head on.

It’s no secret that it’s more diﬃcult to get to and from your destination-both motorists and pedestrians-during the rainy season. As such, let’s not forget about the little things such as being courteous on the road. Remember to give way to pedestrians and watch out for puddles of water. You should also use your indicator lights wisely, as well as turn on your car’s headlights, and inform others if there’s a hazard ahead.