Norcal 6/1/23

1 June 1-7, 2023

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA EDITION

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Vol.62 No.42 June 1-7, 2023

NEWS AND VIEWS YOU TRUST

TEVES GETS ANOTHER 60-DAY SUSPENSION

5 more suspects in murder CA takes lead of Governor Degamo recant in stopping rise of hate crimes

By ALFRED GABOT, Editor in Chief

MANILA – The House of Representatives has voted to suspend Negros Oriental Representative Arnolfo By Gilda P. Balan, Correspondent “Arnie” Teves Jr. for another 60 days and stripped SACRAMENTO - The State him off all his committee membership over his con- of California has taken yet another tinued unauthorized absences and disorderly con- step to stop Asian hate.

The Commission on the State duct which resulted in his failure to perform his duof Hate was created to strengthen ties as House member. Page 9

FilAm NAAC founder sued, denies allegations of fraud

By Gilda Balan, Correspondent & Be�ng Laygo Dolor, Editor

Teves

ANGELES – What beAG Bonta open and hopeful ganLOS nearly two decades ago as a non-profit orin talks with President Marcos California-based ganization whose mission was to OAKLAND, California - The Filipino American top cop of the State of California disclosed he welcomes and is open to a dialogue with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. This surfaced during a virtual roundtable discussion organized by the Office of the State of California Attorney General Rob Bonta on the occasion of the month of Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI). Page 21

AG Bonta

serve low and moderate-income families and communities, and to advocate for Asian American and other under-represented communities in the areas of small business development and affordable housing, turned into a legal nightmare that supposedly earned its founder and her associates millions of dollars courtesy of the state’s coffers.

The National Asian American Coalition (NAAC) filed a lawsuit against its founder and former

the state’s efforts to arrest the rise in hate crimes and incidents, as well as to foster improved relations across California’s diverse communities.

It is part of California’s Civil Rights Depart- Page 9

Former central bank exec warns Maharlika fund to spur tax hikes

By Be�ng Laygo Dolor, Editor

Faith Bau�sta, Founder of NAAC

CEO, Faith Bautista, alleging that she headed a conspiracy intended to enrich herself at the expense of the State of California.

Once considered a champion of the community, Bautista is accused of committing fraud receiving stolen property, deceit, and negligent misrepresen- Page 8

MANILA – It is not only illtimed, but some of its provisions are downright undemocratic.

So said a retired senior executive of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP, the Philippines’ central bank), who warned that the Maharlika fund bill that was passed this week by the Senate would very likely spur the need for higher taxes.

Former BSP deputy governor Diwa Gunigundo told Page 8

Philippine debt rises to P13.91 trillion as of April FilAm cum laude graduate addresses SFSU class of 2023

P3

P22

VIEWS & COMMENTS

What you should know before applying for Naturalization

By A�y. Lozano

Page 14

SHOWBIZ

‘Eat Bulaga’ stops airing on GMA network, may move to other station?

Page 18

SPORTS

Yulo eyed for Asian Games instead of FIG world tourney Page 19

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 NATIONAL NEWS

June 1-7, 2023

2

US, Japan, PHL hold drills amid China tensions

By Jeanne Michael Penaranda MANILA – After joint Army and Navy exercises of Philippine and United States troops, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) started its first-ever trilateral maritime exercise with the United States Coast Guard (USCG) and the Japan Coast Guard (JCG) off the waters of Mariveles in Bataan facing the West Philippine Sea and South China Sea on June 1. The drills will end to June 7.

The PCG deployed BRP Melchora Aquino (MRRV-9702), BRP Gabriela Silang (OPV-8301), BRP Boracay (FPB2401), and one 44-meter multi-role response vessel, while the USCG and JCG sent USCGC Stratton (WMSL-752) and Akitsushima (PLH-32), respectively.

The exercises are not related to the country’s sea dispute with China, Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Armand Balilo said, adding it is a routine exercise between Coast Guards.

Balilo said the US and Japan both requested the joint drills.

The PCG acquired the BRP Melchora Aquino and the participating 44-meter MRRV through the Japan International

Cooperation Agency-Department of Transportation Maritime Safety Improvement Project.

The PCG said the joint maritime exercise would strengthen interoperability through communication exercises, maneuvering drills, photo exercises, maritime law enforcement training, search and rescue (SAR) and passing exercises.

The Coast Guard drills are the latest display of cooperation between the US and its allies in Asia, as US rivalry with China heats up.

Some 400 crew members on four ships will join the trilateral exercises, with Australia and India possibly participating as observers, Balilo said.

The US and the Philippines last month held the Balikatan exercises, the largest version of their flagship military exercises, using rockets and combat aircraft to simulate sinking an enemy ship as part of war games, conducted in an area also near the South China Sea. Participating coast guard personnel will demonstrate a scenario involving a suspected vessel involved in piracy.

The joint law enforcement team from the three coast Guards will carry out a

boarding inspection followed by a SAR operation.

PCG Vice Admiral Rolando Punzalan Jr. said the exercise would also improve maritime cooperation and understanding.

“The US Coast Guard and Japan Coast Guard have been assisting us in our human resource development program, particularly in law enforcement training.

This is a good opportunity to thank and

show them what our personnel learned from their programs,” Punzalan said.

The week-long exercise also involves a sporting event to strengthen the three coast guards’ camaraderie, a special interest exchange for women in maritime law enforcement, and an expert exchange for PCG personnel’s professional development.

Comelec 100% ready for Oct. 30 barangay, SK elections

MANILA – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) assured it is fully ready for the upcoming barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections in October.

“We are happy to inform the public that the Comelec is 100 percent ready to conduct the elections of the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan on October 30,” Comelec Spokesperson Rex Laudiangco said in a televised interview.

“We have already printed almost 92 million ballots that we’ll be using. All the election returns, statements of rules. And in fact, they have already been packed and ready for pre-deployment,” he said.

He added that Comelec is also set to train electoral board members by September, while the deployment of ballots and paraphernalia shall be done a few days before the election day.

The Comelec is now also finalizing the venues of the pilot testing for mall voting nationwide, he said.

“The primary beneficiaries of this mall voting will be those residing in barangays with close proximity to the malls… Our countrymen should not commute going to

the malls, it should be walking distance from their residences,” Laudiangco said.

He said they are looking at about a million mall voting beneficiaries for its pilot test.

Meanwhile, Laudiangco said that although the Comelec is in favor of conducting drug testing among barangay and SK candidates, he said requiring drug testing remains unconstitutional.

“If we can remember sometime in the 2007 elections. That part of the requirement for a negative drug testing certificate was already tried by the Commission on Elections. Unfortunately, we were brought to the Supreme Court, and the Supreme Court struck down our resolution,” he said.

In November 2008, the Supreme Court ruled the said Comelec’s resolution was unconstitutional, under the case of social justice and Aquilino Pimentel Jr. vs. Comelec.

Interior and Local Government Secretary Benhur Abalos has earlier called on aspiring candidates to undergo drug testing.

3 June 1-7, 2023

 NATIONAL NEWS

HOME SELLING? Get FREE* Home Staging Philippine debt rises BUYING? Get $3000 closing cost credit* to P13.91 trillion as of April HOME FREE Home Loan/Refi Consultation

MANILA — The national government’s total outstanding debt reached another all-time high of P13.91 trillion as of the end of April 2023, the Bureau of Treasury reported.

The total is P54.24 billion or 0.4 percent more than that of the previous month, the treasury bureau said.

The increase was attributed to the net issuance of external debt and local currency depreciation against the US dollar, it added.

Out of the total debt stock, 32 percent

was sourced externally while 68 percent were domestic borrowings, the bureau said.

The government earlier said its debtto-GDP ratio improved to 60.9 percent in 2022.

Also in April, foreign debt increased by 2.5 percent to P4.45 trillion as new borrowings exceeded payments made.

Meanwhile, local debt decreased by 0.6 percent to P9.46 trillion mainly because the government redeemed more securities than it issued that month.

14 projects eyed in 4 new EDCA sites: AFP

CAMP AGUINALDO, Quezon City – The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) disclosed 14 projects are being eyed to be constructed in the four new Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) locations earlier announced by American and Filipino defense authorities.

“On the new sites, identified na rin yung mga (already are the) projects to be constructed in those areas. So we’re looking (at) mess hall, rehabilitation of runway, construction of additional billeting facilities, acquisition of generators, installation of electrical system, (and) construction of pier with water supply,” AFP spokesperson Col. Medel Aguilar said.

He said also included are the construction of humanitarian and assistance disaster relief (HADR) warehouses, HADR hangars with electrical and water facilities, construction of billeting or barracks complete with amenities for personnel and a command and control fusion system.

He, however, did not give any details on the projects to be implemented in the four new locations.

These projects are awaiting the funding release for implementation.

Named as additional EDCA locations were the Naval Base Camilo Osias in Sta. Ana, Cagayan; Lallo Airport in Lal-lo Cagayan; Camp Melchor Dela Cruz in Gamu, Isabela; and Balabac Island in Palawan, which are aside from the existing five locations earlier picked by Manila and Washington DC. These are the Cesar Basa Air Base in Floridablanca, Pampanga; Fort Magsaysay Military Reservation in Nueva Ecija; Lumbia Airport in Cagayan De Oro; Antonio Bautista Air Base in Puerto Princesa, Palawan; and Benito Ebuen Air Base in Cebu.

Medel said projects in the five original EDCA sites already have “accomplishments.”

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 METRO NEWS

June 1-7, 2023

4

Fire volunteer yields P23-M ‘shabu’ in Parañaque buy-bust PARANAQUE CITY – Police operatives arrested a 41-year-old fire volunteer after he yielded suspected shabu with an estimated street value of P23.4 million during a drug sting in Parañaque City at dawn Saturday.

Suspect Jonnie Romo was arrested during a buy-bust operation along DETAINED. The 41-year-old suspect Jonnie Balimbing Street, Phase 3, Olivarez ComRomo, who yielded P23.4 million worth of pound, Barangay San Isidro, at 2:50 a.m., suspected shabu, during a buy-bust opera- said Southern Police District ( S P D ) �on in Paranaque City.

Director, Brig. Gen. Kirby John Kraft.

Romo yielded eight plastic sachets containing white crystalline substances suspected to be shabu, two mediumsized plastic tea bags sealed with the label “Guar Yun Wang,” one mediumsized transparent plastic sachet, a genuine P1,000 bill on top of 139 pieces of buybust money, blue-green eco bag, a brown envelope, and a weighing scale.

The seized illegal drugs have an esti-

mated combined weight of 3,450 grams, with the standard drug price amounting to P23,460,000.

The confiscated illegal drug items have been turned over to the SPD Forensic Unit for quantitative and qualitative analysis.

Kraft said drug charges would be filed against the suspect who is currently detained at the Parañaque City Police Station.

PHL, Japan sign phase 2 of MRT-3 rehab project MANILA – The Philippines and Japan have signed the exchange of notes for the 17.4 billion yen loan that would finance the second phase of the MRT-3 rehabilitation.

Signing for Japan is Chargé d’Affaires ad interim Kenichi Matsuda of the Embassy of Japan and Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo for the Philippines.

For the project’s second phase, Japan will assist the rail line’s continued maintenance and will connect it to the Common Station for passengers’ seam-

less transfer to the LRT-1, MRT-7 and the Metro Manila Subway, according to the Japan Embassy.

This project is expected to improve passenger convenience and promote the use of public transportation, contributing to sustained economic growth and reducing environmental burdens.

MRT-3 is the major elevated railway line that runs along EDSA, Metro Manila’s busiest route.

In the past, the line’s railroad and rolling stock deteriorated due to a lack of

proper maintenance, resulting in reduced transportation capacity and frequent operational problems.

Drastic rehabilitations were carried out as part of the phase 1 project, restoring the line’s safety, comfort, and high speed using Japanese knowledge and technology.

The loan’s terms and conditions include an interest rate of 0.1 percent per annum (0.01 percent per annum for consulting services) for a repayment period period. of 40 years, including a 10-year grace

NCRPO to remove TV sets in Metro police stations CAMP BICUTAN, Taguig City – (NCRPO) chief, Maj. Gen. Edgar Alan sion sets in open areas of their headquarNational Capital Region Police Office Okubo, has ordered the removal of televi- ters and sub-stations to ensure the cops on duty fully concentrate on attending to people seeking assistance from the police stations.

The five districts covered by the NCRPO are the Manila Police District, the Quezon City Police District, the Northern Police District, the Southern Police District, and the Eastern Police District.

Previously, TV sets in the lobby of police stations and police community precincts (PCPs) in the metropolis were aimed at providing the public some form of entertainment as they wait for their turn to be given assistance.

This time, the TV sets that will be removed from the lobby of police stations and community precincts will be transferred to other parts of the area, like the mess halls.

Okubo said everyone should follow instructions as inspections will continue.

He said female cops have been assigned at the station’s front desks in connection with this campaign and policy,

The Metro Manila top cop explained that the NCRPO has sufficient number of female police officers who could be tapped to be police customer relations officers, noting that the PNP allocates at least 10 percent of the quota for females.

Male officers that would be replaced, according to Okubo, will be deployed in the field in order to maximize the police presence on the streets and the communities in Metro Manila.

Okubo also ordered Metro Manila cops not to use their cell phones to send text messages or check their social media accounts while on duty.

“Minsan napansin n’yo sa isang grupo ng kapulisan, halos nakatungo lahat, di sila aware sa nangyayari [sa kapaligiran].

Delikado yun sa naka-deploy (You may have noticed that sometimes a group of policemen were all looking down at their mobile phones. It means they are not aware of their surroundings. That’s dangerous). They should be aware of the entire surroundings in their areas of responsibility,” he said.

MANILA – The St. John the Baptist Parish, commonly known as the Quiapo Church, has been elevated to the status of an archdiocesan shrine.

Manila Archbishop Jose Cardinal Advincula approved the petition by Fr. Rufino Sescon Jr., rector of the parish on the elevation.

“We hereby decree that the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene - St John the Baptist Parish (Quiapo Church), be conferred the title of the Archdiocesan Shrine of the Black Nazarene,” said the Manila archbishop in a decree dated May 10.

“By this Decree of Erection, We likewise

grant to the said Archdiocesan Shrine of the Black Nazarene all the rights and privileges as embodied in the statutes which we also approve at the same time,” he added.

The Quiapo Church’s new status was announced Wednesday during a Mass presided by Fr. Reginald Malicdem, the archdiocese’s vicar general.

In his homily, the priest noted that the parish’s declaration as an archdiocesan shrine is “long overdue”.

“But for us devotees, whether there is a formal declaration, or none is made, this church is a real shrine because here we feel the presence of God,” he said.

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5 June 1-7, 2023

 PROVINCIAL NEWS

P2-B Pier 88 in Cebu launched, seen to boost connectivity, tour-

By Jennifer T. Santos pected to accelerate economic activities now take a bus ride to experience the “unand boost tourist arrivals in the province. exploited” beaches of Camotes Islands.

In his speech, Marcos said he envi“Today, we put in place a very imporsions the launch of the P2-billion Pier 88 tant piece of that puzzle; that puzzle that project in Liloan, Cebu as an important we are trying to put together so that our piece of the puzzle in pushing for con- connectivity, not only amongst the islands nectivity, and seamless travel and interna- of the Philippines, but even amongst our tional trade. international friends and visitors and The President said the seaport project tourists, is strengthened and made easier will be a springboard for bigger undertak- and more accessible,” Marcos said. ings in the future.

“These are the important aspects that CEBU PORT. President Ferdinand R. MarAmong those who graced the event we have to attend to if we are going to cos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte attend the launch of the private sector-led were Vice President and Education SecPier 88, a smart port system in Liloan, Cebu retary Sara Duterte, Tourism Secretary province on May 27. With them are Cebu Christina Garcia-Frasco, a former mayor Governor Gwen Garcia and Speaker Mar�n of Liloan; Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista, Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Romualdez. (Alfred Frias/PNA) LILOAN, Cebu -- President Ferdi- Garcia, and local officials of the municinand R. Marcos Jr. led the launch over pality of Liloan.

With the launching of the roll-on, rollthe weekend of Pier 88, a smart port exoff port, domestic and foreign tourists can

Bulacan warehouse inspections yield P900-M cigarettes, fake goods

PLARIDEL, Bulacan – The Bureau of Customs inspected warehouses in Plaridel, Bulacan which has yielded around P900 million worth of smuggled imported cigarettes and other general merchandise, including counterfeit goods.

Customs Commissioner Bien Rubio said the operation was conducted after he issued a Letter of Authority (LOA) and Mission Order (MO), by the team

composed of Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service-Manila International Container Port (CIIS-MICP), Enforcement and Security Service (ESS) and the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on May 26.

He added that a quick inventory of the goods showed that the illicit cigarettes found already amounted to P50 million.

Plan to return to old name of Manila airport revived

transform our economy into the post-pandemic economy. So, there is much that we will achieve. There are activities of tourism, job generation, energy efficiency and sustainability,” he added, noting that the project would not only be good for Liloan and nearby islands in Cebu but also for the entire country.

The President said such kinds of projects are being discussed by member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for the longest time.

 NATIONAL NATIONAL NEWS NEWS

June 1-7, 2023

6

After heated debate, Senate passes Maharlika Investment Fund bill

By Jennifer T. Santos

PASAY CITY - Despite heated debate and some opposition in and out of the Senate, senators approved on third and final reading at 2 a.m. on May 31 the bill seeking to establish the controversial Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF), a sovereign wealth fund that the government can use to make investments.

A total of 19 senators voted in favor of the bill, while Senators Risa Hontiveros and Aquilino Pimentel objected. Senators Imee Marcos, Nancy Binay and Francis Escudero abstained.

Oppositionists to the bill pointed out that even the Norway Sovereign Wealth Fund, the “gold standard” of SFWs, suffered $164 billion losses in 2022.

Sponsored by Senator Mark Villar, the MIF seeks to establish the Maharlika Investment Corporation (MIC), which “shall act as the sole vehicle for the purpose of mobilizing and utilizing the MIF for investments in transactions in order to generate optimal returns on investments (ROIs).”

As this developed, the state pension funds will not be used as “seed fund” for the proposed Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF), President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. assured.

Marcos gave the assurance on the sidelines of the 86th anniversary celebration of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) in Pasay City.

“I perfectly agree. We have no inten-

tion of using ang pera – kukuha tayo ng pera ng pension fund (get the money from the pension fund). That’s not the (intention). We will not use it as a seed fund,” Marcos told reporters, when quizzed about the possibility of using the state pension funds as funding source for the proposed MIF. Marcos, however, noted that pension funds may invest in the MIF, if they consider it as a “good investment.”

“If the pension fund decides the Maharlika Investment Fund is a good investment, it’s up to them if they want to invest in it,” he said.

The marathon discussions that took more than 12 hours ended at around 2:30 a.m.

The Senate bill was immediately presented to the bicameral conference committee meeting which approved it over the House of Representatives version.

The Senate delegation to the bicam were composed of Senators Mark Villar, Allan Peter Cayetano, Ronald Bato dela Rosa, Sherwin Gatchalian, Francis Tolentino, Juliana Pilar Pia Cayetano and Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III. The measure was earlier certified as urgent by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. who is now reportedly expected to tackle the measure in his State of the Nation Address (SONA) when Congress re-opens this July after almost two-month break.

According to the bill, the MIF will be created through the funds which will be sourced from Land Bank of the Philip-

pines (LBP) (P50 billion), Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) (P25 billion) and the National Government (P50 billion) The contribution from the national government will come from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ total declared dividends, national government’s share from the income of PAGCOR; properties, real and personal identified by the DOFPrivatization and Management Office; and other sources such as royalties and/or special assessments.

Among the major amendments introduced to the measure was the absolute prohibition of the use of funds of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), Social Security System (SSS), Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), Pag-IBIG, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) and the Philippines Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO) in the capitalization and investments in the Maharlika fund.

A heated debate erupted in the Senate after Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) bill sponsor Senator Mark Villar blocked Senate Minority Leader Pimentel’s move to further question the proposed measure.

After more than two hours of questioning focused on the Maharlika Investment Corp., its board of directors, and details on the implementation of the investment fund, Pimentel asked Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri to suspend his period of interpellation and continue in the next session.

“I object. I think we’ve debated this extensively and I’ve answered all the interpellations. And without prejudice to the amendments being proposed, I’d like to object and move to close interpellation,” Villar said, cutting off Pimentel.

Zubiri immediately backed Villar’s objection.

Senator Mark Villar cited numerous benefits that the country will attain once the MIF bill is passed into law.

“Actually, there are a lot of benefits that we can get from the MIF. First, it would create more jobs, more infrastructure projects mean more job opportunities for Filipinos. Secondly, we will promote economic growth since better infrastructure leads to more efficient transportation, communication, and other systems. Also, this will be a vehicle to reduce poverty, this would help the government manage its budget and mitigate fiscal pressures during economic downturns as it acts as a safety net for the country.” Villar explained.

Villar also pointed out that the MIF may be used to invest on sectors such as agriculture and energy.

Pimentel III said there should be an iron-clad provision that will guarantee that pension funds will not be touched or compromised in the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) bill.

“Our workers’ hard-earned pension should be shielded from any adverse implications that could arise from the establishment of MIF,” he added.

Degamo successor dies; new Negros Oriental governor sworn in illness.

The development led Negros Oriental Vice Governor Manuel Sagarbarria to take his oath as governor before executive Judge Gerardo Pagio at the provincial session hall at around 2:30 p.m. on May 31.

Sagarbarria said his first order of the day is for local government units and government offices in the province to put OATHTAKING. Negros Oriental Governor all flags at half-staff to show sympathy to Manuel Sagarbarria takes his oath before the Reyes family.

Reyes assumed the post in March after Execu�ve Judge Gerardo Paguio Jr. in Duthe assassination of Negros Oriental Gov. maguete City .

Roel Degamo.

DUMAGUETE CITY — Just two He was elected as vice governor durmonths into office, Negros Oriental Gov. ing the May 9, 2022 elections where he Guido Reyes has died due to a terminal ran alongside Degamo.

Sagarbarria’s oath taking was witnessed by members of the Provincial Board, Capitol officials, staff, and Sagarbarria’s family.

Provincial Director Farah Gentuya of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) - Negros Oriental said Board Member Jake Reyes would become the next vice governor, replacing Sagarbarria, under the rules of succession.

Meanwhile, the two vacancies in the Provincial Board will have to be filled up by the political parties of Sagarbarria and Reyes, Gentuya said.

The new governor said he has “big shoes to fill” after the death of Reyes, who was installed almost three months

ago or shortly after the killing of Governor Roel Degamo in March.

Sagarbarria pledged to continue the programs and projects that Reyes had started, particularly giving much attention to the Negros Oriental Provincial Hospital.

Reyes, 62, died of a terminal illness at a hospital in Metro Manila.

Sagarbarria was elected Board Member of the 2nd District in the May 9, 2022 elections and became vice governor after the position was vacated by Reyes.

The new governor has ordered the flying of the Philippine flags at half-mast in honor of the late Reyes.

Philippines records 11,667 new COVID-19 cases MANILA – The positivity rate or the number of people testing positive for the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) in the National Capital Region (NCR) has decreased to 22 percent as of May 27.

This as the country recorded 11,667 COVID-19 cases last week, according to the Department of Health in itslatest case bulletin.

From May 22 to 28, an average of 1,667

daily infections were logged in the country, which is 6 percent lower compared to the previous week.

This is the 11th straight week that the number of daily cases topped 1,000, and the third straight week that the number of weekly cases was above 10,000, according to ABSCBN Investigative and Research Group.

Of the latest infections, some 105 cases

were considered severe or critical, the DOH’s latest case bulletin showed.

As of Sunday, a total of 554 cases or 10.1 percent of total COVID-19 admissions were in severe and critical condition, the agency added.

This is 14 percent higher than the prior week, or 68 admissions more than last week’s 486 cases, ABS-CBN IRG added.

At least 453 or 21.8 percent of intensive care unit beds for COVID patients were occupied. The non-ICU bed utilization rate was at 23.2 percent.

According to ABS-CBN IRG, this is the highest COVID-19 ICU bed utilization rate in 22 weeks, or since the week of Dec. 19 to 25, 2022 when the DOH logged a 20.4 percent ICU bed utilization rate.

7 June 1-7, 2023

Erwin Tulfo sworn in as newest House member

NEWEST MEMBER. Former Social Welfare and Development Secretary Erwin Tulfo takes his oath of office as partylist congressman before House Majority Floor Leader Manuel Jose M. Dalipe.

QUEZON CITY – Former Social Welfare Secretary and broadcaster Erwin Tulfo is now the newest member of the House of Representatives.

Tulfo.who was sworn in as congressman representing the Anti-Crime and Terrorism Community Development Support (ACT-CIS) party-list as fourth nominee, became the fourth member of the Tulfo clan to become member of Congress. His brother Rafael or Raffy is an incumbent senator, Raffy’s wife Jocelyn is a party-list representative, while Raffy and Jocelyn’s son, Ralph Wendel, is the duly elected representative of the second district of Quezon City.

Tulfo took his oath of office replacing outgoing Representative Jeffrey So-

riano, the third nominee of ACT-CIS, as provided under Section 16 of the Republic Act 7491.

Tulfo’s oath taking came following the dismissal of a disqualification case against him on May 25, 2023.

As fourth nominee submitted by the party-list to Commission on Elections, Tulfo is entitled to assume the seat vacated by Soriano with an unexpired term.

Soriano resigned in February.

“As I assume this role, I am mindful of the immense responsibility that comes with it. I vow to work tirelessly to uphold the interests of my constituents and to contribute to the legislative agenda of the House. I will do my best to honor the trust that has been placed upon me and

to serve the Filipino people with utmost dedication and integrity,” Tulfo said.

House Majority Floor Leader Manuel Jose M. Dalipe presided over Tulfo’s oath-taking ceremony, congratulating him on his new role and acknowledging his extensive experience in public service.

Tulfo expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to serve as a representative of the people, promising to work tirelessly to uphold the interests of his constituents and contribute to the legislative agenda of the House.

He promised to use his experience as former government official and journalist to address issues affecting the country.

Radio broadcaster killed in Oriental Mindoro

By Jeanne Michael Penaranda CALAPAN CITY, Oriental Mindoro — A radio broadcaster was shot dead outside his home in Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro on May 31, the third journalist killed in the country under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr..

Police identified the slain broadcaster as Cresenciano Bunduquin, 50. host of “Ayos Mandin” show on dwXR 101.7 Kalahi FM. The latest killing comes less than a year after hardhitting broadcaster Percy Lapid, whose real name was Percival Mabasa, was shot dead in Las Pinas City as he drove to his studio.

Colonel Samuel Delorino, Oriental Mindoro police chief, said Bunduquin was gunned down by motorcycle-riding gunmen at around 4 a.m. on May 31 near a local store at Sta. Isabel village in Calapan City.

One of the assailants died after Bunduquin’s son hit the gunmen with his vehicle as they fled the scene, investigators said.

“The remaining suspect was able to run off. The hot pursuit operation is still ongoing,” said Delorino.

Bunduquin was described as a hard-hitting broadcaster on local issues by station manager Jester Joaquin.

Bunduquin was reported to have been outspoken about a recent oil spill affecting the province, illegal gambling and politics.

A P50,000 reward awaits anyone who arrest of the suspect in the killing of Bun- Media Security (PTFoMS) announced. can give information that could lead to the doquin, the Presidential Task Force on

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 NATIONAL NEWS Former...

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local media on Wednesday, May 31, that the national government will have to compensate for the public funds to be placed in the proposed Maharlika Investment Fund in the form of either new or higher taxes.

Either that, or the government will have to resort to borrowings, from internal or external sources.

The Senate and the House of Representatives will now hold a bicameral conference to craft a single version of the controversial bill, whose two versions underwent massive changes after various sectors lambasted what were believed to be onerous provisions in the proposed law.

Said Guinigundo: “Under the one single fund concept, whatever public money is earmarked for the Maharlika Investment Fund and away from the national budget, the national government will have to compensate for that.”

To do this, the government will have to “borrow or impose higher taxes or more taxes,” he said, adding that “there is no other way.”

The House version had the country’s two biggest pen-

FilAm...

(From page 1)

tation, among others.

Bautista is also said to have turned her organization into a family business and the suit against her also included former NAAC chief executive officer Josefina Bautista (Faith’s sister-in-law), Josefina’s husband Bing Crosby Bautista (Faith’s brother), Floradema, LLC (a limited liability corporation owned by Faith Bautista), along with Nora Penaflor (NAAC’s former director of housing), and Marissa Samaco (a former independent contractor to NAAC).

The lawsuit alleges that Bautista and her associates mostly targeted the Asian American community, specifically Filipino-Americans, although a number of US Marines also fell victim to the alleged massive fraud committed by the former NAAC officials.

Some of the rank-and-file employees of NAAC were allegedly unwittingly drawn into the scheme when Bautista doled out bonuses to them for no apparent reason. They are included in the suit as unnamed (John and/or Jane) Does based on the lawsuit.

Despite the allegations, NAAC remains active but the group led by Bautista are no longer connected with the organization.

In the meantime, Paul D. Murphy serves as attorney for

June 1-7, 2023

8

sion funds, the Social Security System and the Government Service Insurance System, as the primary source of the seed money to launch the Maharlika fund, but this met with widespread complaints not only from SSS and GSIS members, but from many banking and finance experts as well.

The Senate version’s Maharlika Investment Fund Act of 2023 has the seed money coming from the Landbank of the Philippines (PHP50 billion) and the Development Bank of the Philippines (PHP25 billion) plus dividends from the BSP. In his view, the retired BSP executive said sourcing the seed money from government financial institutions can only worsen the fiscal problems of the country. Instead of addressing and mitigating the problems of high fiscal deficit and increasing level of public debt, “the Maharlika Investment Fund may, in fact, worsen it,” Guinigundo said.

One solution in sourcing the start-up capital is to cut public spending, but this will very likely depress economic growth.

Guinigundo said public spending promotes economic growth. Thus, “we don’t want to cut back on spending, especially on infrastructure and social services.”

Yet another provision of the Maharlika bill that he finds

disturbing is the proposed board of directors of the fund’s ability to bypass Congress when it comes to deciding which projects to prioritize under the budget.

This arrangement is not good under a democratic government, said Guinigundo.

Then there is the matter of timing. He said creating a sovereign fund now was ill-timed given the volatile domestic and global economic situation.

“The timing is quite off,” said Guinigundo, who also said that any country bent on having a sovereign wealth fund should have surplus funds. As many economists have pointed out, the Philippines does not have any surplus funds. In fact, the country has been resorting to deficit spending for decades and counts on such steps as borrowing or issuing bonds and other papers to keep the government operating.

Guinigundo is a respected figure in the banking community and for many years was considered as a BSP governor-in-waiting. He, however, never got the plum job because he did not have the backing needed from the Office of the President, which decides on who is given the post of BSP governor.

NAAC. Speaking through her lawyer Sean Macias, Bautista denied all the allegations against her.

Bautista, Macias said in a statement, has always acted with integrity and in full compliance with all the laws and regulations.

“She is deeply committed to serving the Asian American, Hispanic, African American as well as low and moderate-income individuals and has dedicated her career to advocating for their rights and needs,” Bautista’s lawyer said.

Macias added that his client will vigorously defend herself against the complaint’s allegations and to clear her name. “She is confident the truth will come to light through the judicial process and she will be fully vindicated from these baseless allegations,” according to Macias.

He also said that Bautista appreciates the support she continues to receive from her supporters and colleagues during this challenging time.

Daly City Vice Mayor Juslyn Manalo said she hopes “that there is a complete and thorough investigation and for those affected that they are reached out to as soon as possible.”

The lawsuit states that under Bautista’s leadership, the NAAC had “a long and successful history of providing lending and related activities to small businesses in under-served communities as well as comprehensive, government-sponsored rental, mortgage and homeownership counseling.”

It was through these counseling services that Bautista earned the reputation of being a champion of members of her community trying to live the American dream, one that began with ownership of their own homes.

It was also these same counseling services that received funding from the state that Bautista’s inner circle found a goldmine, a rich if illicit source of huge income, according to the lawsuit.

The conspiracy allegedly began when NAAC was able to take part in the government’s National Mortgage Settlement program, which provides non-profit Housing Counseling Agencies – such as NAAC – a flat fee of $750 for every counseling session that they provided.

The more counseling sessions NAAC conducted, the more money would pour into their bank account.

Each counseling session lasted one hour, on the average.

It was alleged Faith Bautista and her group had done simple pencil pushing. If they could make an easy $750 for one counseling session, then they could make $7,500 for 10 sessions, then $75,000 for a hundred sessions.

That easy income caused her group to become greedy, the lawsuit alleges. They had started charging for sessions that never took place, with people whose names were culled from various caller and voter lists.

Bautista had also found that her group could charge the state of California for other related expenses for reimbursement. By the time the illegal enterprise was discovered, Bautista and company had reportedly received more than $12,356,288.

The sum was mostly for 15,672 counseling sessions, which the lawsuit says was “absurdly impossible.”

Examples submitted for payment were allegedly downright fantastic. One counselor supposedly conducted 35 counseling sessions in one day, while another had an even more improbable and impossible 45 sessions in a 24-hour period.

That Bautista was seeking any and all sources of names was seen in their even getting a “Filipinos Under 50” list, making middle-aged Filipinos and FilAms an easy target, it was alleged. Except that the list was submitted for reimbursement even when no counselling sessions were held at all.

From that one list alone, 200 names were used to submit fake claims, or an income of $150,000, it was alleged.

In another instance, some 100 US Marines were allegedly tricked into signing forms that falsely documented reimbursable counseling sessions in order to get around 100 counseling fees, or $75,000.

And while the names of real people were used by the scammers, their addresses and phone numbers were altered, thereby making them almost impossible to trace.

This lasted for about two years before it began to unravel starting summer of last year.

By then, NAAC’s independent outside auditors were seeing red flags everywhere.

When Bautista and company sensed that their scheme had been found out, they attempted to “alter, manufacture, and destroy documents,” according to the lawsuit.

The auditors, meanwhile, had already informed the Board of Directors of the organization of their findings, which then ordered an eight-month investigation conducted by what has been described as one of the country’s leading law firms -- Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP. Their probe unearthed numerous cases of fraud and other wrongdoing.

By the end of 2022, Faith, Josefina, and Penaflor were forced out of NAAC, and Josefina was believed to have relocated back to the Philippines, but not before acknowledging that she had never performed a single counseling session.

Faith Bautista and her inner circle are accused of violating the trust of the Asian American and other marginalized communities that they were supposed to be serving.

The lawsuit states that instead of helping the community in need, they instead helped themselves to the funds made available by the state of California, which they then spent to fuel their egos “and quench their thirst for money.”

To protect NAAC from further harm, the lawsuit states that it must take “the unfortunate but necessary step of suing its own founder and her co-conspirators to force them to return every penny they siphoned from this charitable organization and to help NAAC resolve its repayment obligation to the State of California.”

Bautista’s lawyer said that no further statements are forthcoming, but not before stating that his client will “continue to work tirelessly to advance the interests” of her supporters.

9 June 1-7, 2023 Teves...

(From page 1)

This as five more suspects and witnesses in the murder of Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo and nine supporters recanted their statements but the Department of Justice remained confident it has an airtight case against the supposed mastermind, suspended Congressman Teves Jr. The development brought to at least 10 suspects and witnesses in the Degamo murder who have recanted their testimonies, including those who implicated Teves.

The latest five suspects who recanted claimed they were allegedly tortured to sign their affidavits. They are Winrich Isturis, Eulogia Gonyon Jr., John Louie Gonyon, Joric Labrador, and Benjie Rodriguez.

Lawyer Jord Valenton, legal counsel of the five suspects, said in an interview before the Manila Regional Trial Court that the recantation was

CA...

(From page 1)

ment and last week saw the commission hold its first public forum.

“The goal of the forum today is to listen,” said Commissioner Cece Feiler, although it also sought to solicit inputs on recommendations on how to achieve its aims.

Feiler is herself an immigrant to the US whose parents underwent the ultimate hate crime, the Holocaust under Nazi Germany.

Among the messages delivered during the public forum was that hate crimes and hate-related incidents are on the rise nationwide. Worse, they are also growing more violent even as prosecutions remain stubbornly low.

Data from the Department of Justice shows a near doubling of hate crimes across California in the last decade.

Candice Cho, managing director or Policy and Counsel with AAPI Equity Alliance and co-founder of the group Stop AAPI Hate, said, “Behind each data point is a person who has been targeted for hate and cho-

within the motions they filed in the court.

He said the five suspects were “tortured and coerced to execute those affidavits.”

He said the suspects, however, could not identify who tortured them as they were blindfolded, but that this happened while they were already under detention.

Last week, suspects Osmundo Rivero, Rogelio Antipolo Jr., Dahniel Lora, Romel Pattaguan, and Joven Javier recanted their testimonies.

The 10 suspects in the killing who have now recanted their previous testimonies now claim not to have any knowledge about the assassination of the governor.

The Department of Justice has tagged Teves as one of the suspects in the March 4 assassination of Governor Degamo and other killings in the province in 2019.

With the House new suspension,

Teves will now lose his post as Vice Chairperson of the Committee on Games and Amusements and a member of the Committees on Legislative Franchises and Nuclear Energy.

The Philipine National Police denied the torture claims of the suspects, adding they will have to prove their allegations.

Lawyer Villanueva, the legal counsel of Rivero, Antipolo, Lora, Pattaguan, and Javier, said the suspects were asked by the court about the alleged torture they experienced. “’Yung mga kapulisan ng Provincial Intelligence Unit ng Negros Oriental. Halos pare-pareho ang kwento nila… hindi lamang si Rodriguez, si Labrador, at Rivero na pare-parehong sinakluban ng plastic o cellophane, he said.

“Tapos ‘yung kanilang mukha nilagyan ng wet towel o kumot tapos basa yun, tapos binubuhusan ng tubig na sila ay nasu-suffocate o na-

hihirapan. ‘Tas lahat sila ay sunog ang mga kamay nila because of the alleged paraffin test conducted by the SOCO,” he added.

Meanwhile, the camp of Marvin Miranda, the 11th suspect and one of the alleged masterminds in the ploy, filed a motion to quash the case.

“In so far as our client is concerned, Marvin Miranda, we filed a motion to quash and to suppress evidence,” Atty. Reynante Orceo said.

Atty. Villanueva, meanwhile, said their camp also filed a motion to quash, a motion to remand the case to the Department of Justice (DOJ), a motion for a medical examination, a motion to suppress sworn statements, and a motion to retain his clients at the National Bureau of Investigation.

He said the DOJ was given 15 days to comment on all the motions.

The next hearing is set on July 19.

sen to share their story.”

Of the more than 11,000 reports collected

by Stop AAPI Hate since 2020, many happened to people just going about their daily lives, walking the streets, riding in public transport, or at work.

Many of the cases tracked by her organization involved non-criminal acts such as verbal abuse or bullying at school, or microaggression in t he workplace. Still, “discrimination is hate,” said Cho, and such acts can have negative side effects on both the victims and the wider community.

Victims often feel depressed, afraid, and lose a sense of belonging in society, at times transferring work, school, or neighborhoods in response.

A survey conducted last year found that half of all Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders nationwide have experienced discrimination in one form or another, but only 15 percent reported their encounters.

In 2021, California passed the API Equity Budget, which funnels $166.5 million into community and frontline groups that work to arrest the rise in anti-Asian hate. In 2022, the

state passed two bills, namely AB 1554 and AB 2282, which aim to better protect religious minorities, at the same time toughening penalties for symbolic hate symbols like cross burnings or use of swastikas or nooses.

This year, AAPI Hate is co-sponsoring the “Public Transit for All” bill or SB 434

which requires public transit agencies across California to collect survey data as a first step to ensuring ridership safety. The laws are intended to shift the burden of being safe away from individuals and onto public agencies.

Data for this story was culled from Ethnic Media Services.

Notary Public & Real Estate Broker

*Commissioned Notary Public and licensed Real Estate Broker (BRE#00635976) in California since 1981. Author, Columnist, and Member, National Notary Association (NNA)

11 June 1-7, 2023

 OPINION

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EDITORIAL

I

BBM’s folly

t is odd that President BongBong Marcos has kept silent over the Maharlika Investment Fund bill now pending in the Senate, even after he had certified it as urgent.

Earlier, the House of Representatives passed its version of the bill, but only after replacing several of its earlier provisions which were downright questionable. What followed was a moro-moro, where the lower house of the bicameral Congress fast-tracked its approval.

This was despite many questions over numerous provisions still being left unanswered.

Now, it appears that the Senate is pretty much doing the same thing. The Senate majority wants nothing more than to pass their version of the bill, with high expectations that the House version will have further amendments to jive with the Senate version.

Marcos reportedly wants to claim the bill as one of the accomplishments of his first year in office, even though it will remain nothing more than promises which may or may not be fulfilled.

It’s almost comical how some of the bill’s supporters are promising impossible-to-attain results. For one, they say the Maharlika fund will end poverty.

Sounds nice, but they do not say how this miracle will be achieved. After all, the funds for Maharlika are the same funds that are already existing in several government financial institutions.

They will just be placed in one pool, which will then be invested in big ticket projects. Or so the defenders and proponents say.

We ask, can’t those existing funds now be pooled together without the presence of a new organization, one which adds yet another layer to the already bloated government bureaucracy?

In creating a new body to administer the Maharlika fund, a number of government appointees will be tasked to handle it, and it is no secret that the government bureaucracy is already bursting at the seams with appointees, most of whom are of dubious ability or clean reputation.

During this week’s interpellation of the proposed bill, one question that was asked did not get a proper answer. What happens if the Maharlika Fund fails?

Such is not an impossibility, or even an improbability given the government’s track record with other seemingly worthy financial organizations that failed because of mismanagement.

Mr. Marcos is bent on following in the footsteps of his father, the late dictator who is also his namesake. During the regime of the now departed Marcos Sr., there were countless government-funded organizations that disappeared, but not before they became milking cows of favored friends, AKA cronies.

Even now, Marcos Jr. has made a number of dubious appointees to government owned and government-controlled corporations. He has also given the now useless title to undersecretary and assistant secretary to scores of friends who would not even be considered as middle management quality workers in the private sector.

We feel that the Maharlika fund will meet this same fate. It will be a milking cow for favored friends and relatives who will then feign illness once they get caught with their hands in the symbolic cookie jar.

The Maharlika fund has no reason for being, but it will almost certainly come into existence in the near future. All because somebody put it into Marcos Jr’s economics-challenged head that it is a grand idea. It’s not.

If a person had 10 bank accounts and merged it into one, would it make him richer, more successful? It won’t, of course. But Marcos Jr. seems to believe that combining funds from various GOCCs will magically transform the country into a First World nation.

We can only pity the fool who thinks in such simplistic terms.

F

Gathering of resource providers

or 40 years, Malou Joson Aclan tended to the sick as a registered nurse.

Three years ago she retired as care manager at Kaiser Permanente Hospital in South San Francisco to join her husband Danny who had ended his engineering career a few years earlier. Together they are now fulltime caregivers to their two grandchildren by their son Kristian and his wife Thymai, both registered nurses.

As if driving back and forth between their homes in Daly City and across San Francisco Bay in Castro Valley were not challenging enough, Malou still finds time CHERIE M. QUEROL MORENO and energy to volunteer with organizations that fulfill her desire to help.

She is a founding officer of Kaiser Permanente Filipino Association, health professionals who raise funds to give annual scholarships to gifted students. Every first Friday of the month until recently she attended Mass and fellowship devoted to the Padre Pio, her patron saint.

The daughter of an attorney in her original hometown of Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija in the Philippines, Malou comes from a family steeped in filial devotion and community service. In the last six months, for example, she has traveled at least twice to the Philippines to visit her mother, who is 95 and an inspiration to her entire brood.

In less than a week, Aclan will usher in 25 community-based family resource providers at the 14th annual Our Family, Our Future, the spring education program and resource fair staged by ALLICE Alliance for Community Empowerment, the all-volunteer nonprofit dedicated to promoting safe and healthy communities. ““This is our first in-person event and we’re grateful to be hosted by the City of South San Francisco, whose Mayor Flor Nicolas, is 2023 co-president of ALLICE,” said Aclan, who is ALLICE 2023 secretary. The event is co-sponsored by Positively Filipino, Philippine News Today and San Mateo County Behavioral Health & Recovery Services.

The event takes place 2-4 pm, Saturday, June 17, at the South San Francisco Municipal Services Building. It headlines San Mateo County Supervisor David Canepa as keynote speaker. Former Philippine Vice President Leni Robredo, founder of Angat Buhay, a PH-based nonprofit volunteer movement to uplift Filipinos, will deliver a message encouraging the bayanihan system.

Dr. Jei Africa, Director of San Mateo County Behavioral Health & Recovery Services, will present safety tips for people witnessing or directly experiencing hate attacks against Asian Americans. Tessie Madrinan, coordinator of Peninsula Family Service Peer Counseling program, will present the 9 Acts of Kindness to Empower Older Adults.

Refreshments will be served. A free raffle will be drawn immediately at the end of the program.

As one of the 14 Kumares and Kumpares, as ALLICE members call themselves, Malou keeps in touch with the team throughout the year planning outreach events to grow their movement. They attend community fairs to talk to the public about the dynamics of healthy, unhealthy and abusive relationships and how to distinguish among the three.

Aclan joined the team in 2008, immediately engaging her(Continued on page 26)

W

Upside

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Let’s talk about beauty

illiam Shakespeare once wrote: “Beauty lies in looker’s eyes, which lies and lies and lies…”

Centuries later, I am inclined to agree with him.

Different cultures have different standards of beauty.

For example, nose rings and lip rings are considered beautiful in the continent of Africa , a practice that is increasingly seen in other continents, like North America.

Fair-skinned people think darker skin is beautiful; darkskinned people aim for lighter skin, which THEY deem beautiful!

I have often wondered how judges of beauty contests are able to select the “most beautiful” among the candidates, considering their varied subjective points of view.

How is beauty measured?

Is it in terms of inches, pounds or kilos, proportions or what?

Is there a certain inexplicable quality found in one woman and not in the others?

There are people who find a slim figure beautiful; there are people who think a plump figure is more beautiful.

What YOU consider beautiful may not be so to me; what I consider beautiful may not be so to you.

External beauty, to be sure, can be gauged through measurements and proportions. Face and figure must conform to the desired measurements and proportions.

Advances in science and medicine have made it possible for natural beauty to be enhanced.

How long such beauty will last is debatable.

Physical beauty fades in time, but inner beauty that comes from a loving heart does not.

Indeed, beauty lies in looker’s eyes. How right the Bard of Avon was!

 OPINION

IN THE TRENCHES

affy Tulfo, the broadcaster-turned legislator, sounded the alarm as the Philippines faced a potential power crisis in the years ahead unless new power generation plants were built.

But the senator’s warning was not about power plants and the thinning capacity as electricity demand increased with the further opening of MANNY MOGATO the economy, ruined by Rodrigo Duterte’s mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic.

It is about China’s 40 percent stake in the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), the main artery of power transmission in the country. It delivers power from generating plants to distributors, like the Manila Electric Company (Meralco), which has the biggest consumer base with more than 7 million households.

Tulfo warned that China, which has a territorial dispute with the Philippines in the West Philippine Sea, can cripple the power supply, plunging the country into darkness and affecting households, businesses and industries.

The country could ground to a halt if the State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC), which controls 40 percent of NGCP), decides to pull the plug.

However, this is hypothetical considering that the SGCC partnership with Henry Sy Jr and Roberto Coyuito are purely commercial in nature.

In fact, SGCC has committed $9 billion to upgrade the power grid which was poorly managed and ruined by years of Communist insurgency.

There was a time in the 1990s when wide areas of Luzon were without electricity after the Communist guerrillas and other unsrupolous groups cut down transmission lines from Laguna to Bicol to sell copper wires to junk shops.

In 2001, under former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Congress passed the Epira (Electric Power Industry Reform Act) law to privatize the power sector, including the National Transmission Corporation (Transco), through Psalm (Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp.)

There were at least 10 consortiums with foreign partners who expressed interest in the power transmission business.

Psalm awarded the contract to Trinatra group led by the son of mall chain owner Henry Sy. But the Monte Oro group, led by an Arroyo friend, Enrique Razon, appealed the decision and was eventually awarded the contract together with Coyuito and the SGCC. But Henry Sy Jr eventually won the contract after buying out Razon’s 100 percent stake in Monte Oro. Since 2008, Sy Jr, Coyuito and the SGCC have been running Transco, which was changed to NGCP. The SGCC also had a stake in other power grids in Australia, Brazil, Portugal, and Greece, which led Chinese leader Xi Jinping to dream of connecting the world’s grid under China’s Belt and Road Initiative in 2015.

Actually, the SGCC was the only survivor in China’s march into strategic investments in the country under Arroyo.

Four other huge investments did not prosper, like the $329 million National Broadband Project with ZTE, the North Rail project, a network of banks, and a large agricultural project.

SGCC was under the radar until 2013 when China stepped its coercive activities in the West Philippine Sea, building artificial islands to assert its sovereignty claim based on its illegal nine-dash-line policy.

Before Tulfo started raising the issue on SGCC’s role in the NGCP, former senator Manuel Roxas II, who served in the Cabinet of the late president Benigno Aquino III, and former armed forces chief of staff Hermogenes Esperon, who was national security adviser under former president Duterte, had raised concerns on SGCC’s involvement on the power sector.

They were worried China could easily switch off the grid remotely, a scenario denied by the NGCP, which claimed the facilities are manned by 100 percent Filipinos.

Tulfo and other senators, like JV Ejercito, Sherwin Gatchalian and Risa Hontiveros, have been resurrecting the security concerns as tensions in the South China Sea and in Taiwan Straits rise, after the Philippines granted the US military access to its local bases, some facing the Bashi Channel across Taiwan.

(Continue on page 27)

12

Immigrant bride fooling around Samgyeopsal craze reaches the and how to unlove a loved one North; Bulacan mall celebrates Moms’ Day I’m a fool to want you I’m a fool to want you To want a love that can’t be true A love that’s there for others too I’m a fool to hold you Such a fool to hold you To seek a kiss not mine alone To share a kiss the Devil has known Time and time again I said I’d leave you Time and time again I went away But then would come the time when I would need you And once again these words I’ll have to say Take me back, I love you Pity me, I need you I know it’s wrong, it must be wrong But right or wrong I can’t get along Without you.

-- I’M A FOOL TO WANT YOU Lyrics by Frank Sinatra, Jack Wolf, and Joel Herron Sung by Frank Sinatra Dedicated to Ava Gardner

A

“Train yourself to let go Of the thing you fear to lose.”

--George Lucas

Filipino tearfully admitted that his young wife who had arrived less than a month ago had left him. She was talking with another man by phone when he arrived home. Grabbing her cell phone he threw it on the table. They quarreled.

But that same afternoon he bought her another cell phone. He caught her again communicating with a man. EMMANUEL SAMONTE TIPON When he arrived home one day, his wife was gone and had left her wedding ring on the bed. The wife’s relative said she moved to the mainland.

He wanted her deported. He showed a picture of his wife and another man cheek to cheek which he discovered through the internet. The next day, he said he changed his mind. He did not want to deport his wife. He said he still loved her. I provided him guidance on how to unlove someone.

A FOOL TO WANT HER Many men who claim that they really love their wife cannot give her up even if the wife has committed the worst matrimonial sin – adultery. A friend did not talk with me for a time when I suggested that he divorce his wife after he found that his wife was not faithful. When we resumed talking he said that Satan was behind his wife’s fakefulness but that Satan was no longer behind her. I was about to joke that maybe Satan was beside her now, but I held my peace. He said he did not have concrete evidence anyway that his wife was committing adultery. I was going to say that circumstantial evidence is sufficient, but again I remained silent.

As Frank Sinatra’s ballad “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” puts it “Use your mentality, wake up to reality But each time that I do just the thought of you Makes me stop before I begin Because I’ve got you under my skin.” (“get under someone’s skin” means “grow to like something”. MerriamWebster Dictionary online).

DIFFICULT TO UNLOVE SOMEONE For those who are really in love, it appears that it is difficult to part with someone you love. It is said to be worse than the death of a person you love.

Frank Sinatra despite all odds refused to “wake up to reality” in pursuing Ava Gardner whom he loved and was obsessed in winning because he had her “under his skin”. He described his lamentations and desperation by writing the song “I am a fool to want you”. He persevered and won her briefly and then lost her.

But if your loved one is not an Ava Gardner who was beautiful, a good actress, and a wonderful person, is she worth pursuing? Or should you “wake up to reality” and “use your mentality”.

If your “loved one” is an adulteress or unfaithful, is she (Continue on page 27) worth keeping? Are you the for-

V

IGAN CITY- The Samgyeopsal craze, based from what I’m hearing, is all over the Philippines so that it’s no wonder that the popular Korean food brand has found its way to this highly regarded and UNESCO-recognized heritage city.

Korean restaurants featuring the Samgyeopsal cuisine TEDDY P. MOLINA have mushroomed in many places but I’ve never been to one before.

Not until recently, when I stepped into Vigan’s Golden Baboy restaurant which is conveniently located at the Lyric Cinema building near the vast Partas bus terminal.

To say that I was satiated is an understatement. I’m sure, the same was true with my companions.

The foods which we cooked in front of us at our table were superb. Service was prompt and wonderful. The crew were snappy, they even sang happy birthday to our driver who was celebrating his birthday.

My high school classmate Ilocos Sur Governor Jeremias “Jerry” Singson who owns the restaurant wanted us to take our lunch there after a business meeting with him.

My wife and I enjoyed the lunch as did my friend and cumpadre Orkhan Usman who used to be the Administrator of the National Dairy Authority and comebacking Vigan native and historian/political anthropologist Prof. Arnold Molina Azurin.

Jerry’s Golden Baboy resto is definitely the place to be while in Vigan, nearby, or passing through.

In San Jose del Monte Mothers (as well as their hubbies who were with them) in this city north of Quezon City were given a special treat on the occasion of Mothers’ Day, with an array of sweet music from a pair of talented musicians, a saxophonist and a pianist.

It was a spectacular evening at the Starmall which staged the Mothers’ Day event gratis et amore right at the vast lobby of the mall.

The honorees of the event dubbed “My Only Mom, and Sweet MOMent,” some of whom came together with their families (husband, children and parents), were provided with covered seats.

My wife and I were there too save that there was no one else with us. Our two sons in the Philippines may have been busy elsewhere with their own families.

On the stage were Joy Cariño who held a saxophone and Judy Antonio who played the piano. Don’t be misled by their first name guys, they are both men.

The special show was also an occasion for two young siblings, Julia Erica and Janicka Erin Lorenzo, to display their singing prowess .

The crowd of Moms and their loved ones enjoyed the saxophone-piano blend of sweet and romantic music executed well by the performers and the the two girl artists’ solo performances.

Starmall’s marketing officer Justin Allan Ocampo told me there’s an upcoming performance of Joy Cariño in the next two Sundays, also at Starmall.

It was a night of nostalgia as both the pianist and the saxophonist dished out unforgettable music that the Moms and Dads could pretty much relate to.

Staging events for free may be Starmall’s payback call for their customers.

My wife and I bumped into a previous Starmall event, held also at it’s lobby. It was like a battle of the bands. There were three musical bands performing live to a jampacked audience.

I can’t recall what the occasion was. Imagine the young ones rocking as the rock bands performed.

The young ‘once’ who stopped by and remained till the show was over also had a field day joining the noise and jubilation. I saw a middle- aged security guard in the crowd. He was as thrilled as the others.

Breaking Through

Taking back control of the power grid

What’s Up Attorney

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June 1-7, 2023

13 June 1-7, 2023

 OPINION Power play?

Duterte vs Marcos?

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Benjie Fernandez: Lions International rising star

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Diliman Way

Offline

“Trust no future however pleasant he Philippine Senate Let the dead past bury its dead headed by Senate PresAct, act on the living present ident Migz Zubiri may Heart within and God o’er head” well commit its biggest mis- From A Psalm of Life take of all.

By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Zubiri has all but committed to pass the Senate version t’s all question marks of the bill creating the Maharbecause the events are lika Investment Fund. Steamsubject to many interroller would be the more apt pretations. Former President description of his planned Gloria Macapagal Arroyo action, and he simply refuses BETING DOLOR (GMA), now congresswomto recognize the serious shortan in one of the congressiocomings of the bill sponsored nal districts of the province by a neophyte senator whose only claim to fame is being the son of one of the richest men of Pampanga, was demoted from Senior Deputy Speaker in the country, and whose mother is a senator like him.

Mark Villar may be a literal babe in the woods, one who to plain Deputy Speaker. It still has his mother’s milk in his mouth. But what’s Zubiri’s is a major political move by excuse? He’s been a senator long enough, and he should know the BBM crowd with Speaker HOMOBONO A. ADAZA that he need not kowtow to the whims of Bongbong Marcos. Martin Romualdez, BBM’s Not unless he wants to seek the biggest prize of all. Not just first cousin, as executioner.

Aftermath: The political execution was bloody. It prothe Senate presidency, but the Philippine presidency.

This early, with Marcos still having five years left in his duced cataclysmic results. GMA denied, by way of a well presidency, there’s already talk of the next presidential elec- publicized press statement, that she was not planning a coup tions, and that talk centers on two probable candidates, cur- to oust and replace Romualdez as Speaker. Romualdez is no rent vice president Sara Duterte, and House Speaker Ferdi- tyro in power games. He was once upon a time Mayor of Tacloban City and congressman in one of the congressional nand Martin Romualdez.

The so-called analysts are conveniently ignoring Zubiri, districts of Leyte. He may not be President Ferdinand Edrabut the current Senate prez can mount a serious bid to be the lin Marcos, his uncle, and Governor, Member of Parliament next Malacanang occupant on one condition. He has to fully and Ambassador Benjamin Romualdez, his father, but he has understand that the legislative branch of government is co- been walking in the corridors and bedrooms of power since equal to the executive as well as the judicial branches of gov- he was a kid. And this is nothing to laugh at.

On the part of Vice-President Sara Duterte, she got headernment.

A Senate president should look upon himself as an equal lines by resigning as member of the LAKAS-CMD party.

What does this and GMA’s reaction mean? On the surface, of the president.

As such, Zubiri should listen, and listen very carefully, to it means a split in the UNITY TEAM – the group that catathe arguments presented by two senators who belong to the pulted BBM and Sara Duterte to the presidency and vicepresidency, respectively. majority. His majority.

Both President BBM and Speaker Romualdez downWhere the Maharlika bill is concerned, minority leader Koko Pimentel has been fighting the good fight to try and grade the GMA demotion as normal in the process of reorgablock the bill. Thankfully, two majority senators – Chiz Es- nization. If the great comedian, Dolphy , were alive today, he cudero and Sherwin Gatchalian – have also raised concerns will tell the duo, “Dassa lot of nonsense.”

Realignment of forces: The GMA demotion, the GMA about Zubiri’s promise to fast-track the bill.

Bongbong Marcos, it seems, wants the bill passed before reaction and the VP Sara Duterte departure from LAKAS he delivers his second State of the Nation Address in early TAO-CMD as a member tell a thousand words, just like a picture. What are the obvious meanings? First, that both VP July.

Pimentel is being supported in his opposition to the bill Sara and GMA are enraged by the GMA demotion. If that is by the only other minority senator, Risa Hontiveros. For some so – both the GMA defiant reaction and the VP Sara resignareason, even Imee Marcos has raised her own doubts about the tion from her party were done by common agreement by both Senate version of the bill, but this is very likely all for show. of them. This could only mean that they are prepared to break As for sibling senators Alan Peter and Pia Cayetano, from the UNITEAM - that is obvious. The VP Sara statement there’s no telling where they stand. The pair should be part of that both PBMM and she will continue to work together is the majority, but proclaimed themselves independents allied an exercise of transparent political pretense. In government with the majority after Alan Peter’s desire to head the power- – yes! In political maneuvering – no! Neither VP Sara nor PBBM is fooling anyone. ful Blue Ribbon committee was denied by Zubiri.

Second, the moves of both PBBM and Duterte-GMA So Mr. Senate President who could yet be Philippine president should stand his ground and give a listen to Gatchalian camps are in preparation for realignment of forces, for the and Escudero, who at the very least are saying that the upper moment for the mid-term elections in 2025, and finally for chamber of the bicameral Congress should at the very least the presidential election in 2028. It is fast becoming obvious that the PBBM camp will field Speaker Romualdez as its cantake the time to review all the provisions of the bill.

They may not agree with Pimentel that the bill will cause didate for President. Equally obvious is VP Sara Duterte will nothing but “pure misery” for the Philippines, but the lawmak- be the presidential candidate of D-GMA camp.

These explain the current political moves of these powerer named Koko has raised the possibility that it goes against ful politicians. the Constitution.

Fate of PBBM and GMA in 2025: If both will be still Specifically, in certifying it as urgent, Bongbong Marcos has forgotten –or conveniently ignored – the charter that man- alive by then, what will be the role of PBBM and GMA in dates that a bill may be certified as urgent “if it seeks to ad- the 2028 elections? PBBM will have a choice of running for Vice-President or for the Senate to eventually become Presidress a national emergency or a calamity.”

From where I sit, the only calamity I see is the second Mar- dent of the Senate. GMA has more choices – run as Vicecos presidency, whose legitimacy remains under a cloud of President of presidential candidate VP Sara Duterte or run for the Senate to become Senate President or run in her congresdoubt.

The Maharlika Investment Fund as it will be called will sional seat to become Speaker of the House of Representaonly be felt in five to ten years, according to the Senate ver- tives again. My guess though is that both PBBM and GMA sion. This therefore states quite plainly that there is no national will run for Vice-President – as it is one breath away from the presidency. emergency, except maybe the ones in Bongbong’s mind.

What if the government changers to a parliamentary sysIt is not only its opponents in the House and the Senate who have raised the fact that the country does not have the tem? What will be the roles of PBBM and GMA? Both will run for Parliament with the view to becoming Prime Minister. surplus wealth that can be placed in the proposed fund.

Intervening events: There are a number of conspiracy The country, any country in fact, can only have surplus wealth if it does not operate year after year on budget deficit. theories emerging – the most prevalent is, considering the Imagine a household where the joint income of a hus- current economic, political and international situations, there band and wife is, say, $3,000 a (Continue on page 27) will be a coup d’etat before 2025 (Continue on page 27)

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ith a short period of time, Lion Benjie Fernandez became the Governor-Elect of Lions District 4-C6 in the latest Lions International Convention held at Dublin, Pleasanton, CA last week.

With a span of only five years, normally it is 10 years, he became the District Governor. Wow, amazing perfor- ELPIDIO R. ESTIOKO mance, Benjie!

What is amazing is that he first became a member of the Milpitas Executive Lions Club in 2018. Then the following year, he became the president of the club. After that, he became zone chair, and then 2nd vice district governor, and after another year he became the 1st Vice District Governor.

Now, during the last international convention held in Dublin, he was elected Governor of Lions Int’l. District 4-C6.

My friend Benjie, that was a sensational rise for a relatively new member of Lions International, a confirmation of your long service in the community for many years. Benjie loved being a servant of the people he serves pursuant to the International Lions Club motto: “WE SERVE. Where there is a Need there is a Lion” From his Holiday Inn Dublin Hotel in Pleasanton where he was billeted with wife Luz Fernandez, Benjie said: “Thank you, Lions District 4-C6, California for a great convention. I humbly accept the honor as your Governor-Elect for 20232024.

Though I know it hasn’t been long… to lead in servicing our community. Thank you for your dedication, commitment, and for the role playing in building a future for anyone we serve. I am looking forward to be your servant leader and working alongside by all of you in the next Lions year and beyond.”

He ended up by repeating his guiding principle, actually his theme for his term this year as governor --“Service knows no boundaries”. In a phone interview, he said, “Yes, commissioner, this is my theme for my term as governor. I will launch it next week,” he said.

I had collaborative work with Benjie in the service of the community. When I was a chair of the Milpitas Library Education and Advisory Commission (LEAC), I invited him one summer, at a time of the corona virus pandemic, to be one of the judges of commission’s Essay Writing Contest 2021 for Milpitas Youth! He willingly accepted the invitation and went through the rigorous process of judging the essay entries of some 175 contestants from elementary and high school.

He shared LEAC’s idea that the contest helps students express their feelings and thoughts on a selected topic of community concern, such as tobacco awareness. Writing encourages and enhances students’ critical thinking, creative thinking and helps in organizing their thoughts and improving their communication skills.

LEAC recognizes writing essays by students will enable them to practice and perfect skills transferable throughout their learning career and into their entry to the world market.

Essay writing is very useful for students because… it is an integral part of their schooling before proceeding to the next level… even beyond college. However, writing essays is not always a simple activity, and most students sometimes end up hating such assignments. But, according to trusted and reliable service such as EssayZoo, it is essential to write essays for various important reasons such as advancing one’s career.

The contest was sponsored by LEAC, the Milpitas Library, Friends of the Milpitas Library (FOML), and the Milpitas Youth Commission (YAC). Prizes were provided by the City Council of Milpitas.

Students had two weeks to write and submit their entries.

Length of entry – 400 to 500 words; typewritten; doublespaced; Times New Roman font; 12-point type. There were two sets of winners (high school category and middle school category) with the following winner-prizes for each category: 1st Prize – $350.00; 2nd Prize – $300.00; 3rd Prize – $250.00; 4th Prize – $200.00; and 5th Prize – $150.00. Congratulations to the winners!

Judges for the high school category: Harvey Barkin, Editor-In-Chief, FilAm Star weekly newspaper; Francis Espiritu, President/Publisher, Philippine News Today weekly newspaper; Romy Morales, former daily (Continue on page 27)

As I See It

The Senate may commit its biggest mistake ever

 BUSINESS | IMMIGRATIONS What you should know before applying for Naturalization

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efore you apply for naturalization you should know your personal situation such as your immigration history and family history. There are problems many applicants encountered during the interview process. This is because they look at how you first get your green card and what actions you have made while a green card holder. Listed below are some of them: 1. Proving good faith marriage. You will be surprised that you are applying for naturalization and yet the USCIS is considering you as a green card applicant although your marriage happened ten years ago. If you obtained your green card through marriage, no matter how many years has passed, they always asked questions and documents about whether your marriage is bona fide and what joint documents support this marriage.

2. Proving family relationship if you were petitioned by your parents, siblings or as derivative of your parents. You should be able to show proof of your relationship through marriage certificate, birth certificate, divorce or death certificate, whichever documents applied to your case.

3. If you were involved is a crime, no matter how minor you think it is, they will always look for documentation if you have been convicted and if you served your sentence.

4. There are crimes that will make you deportable when applying for naturalization. This will include committing two crimes of moral turpitude or an aggravated felony. Theft is a crime involving moral turpitude. There is waiver available, and you should talk to an immigration lawyer.

5. Green card holders who obtained their green card through misrepresentation may also be sent to removal proceedings. These include those who committed marriage fraud or declared as single but actually married when they first entered the U.S. If you have this kind of problem, you need to talk to an immigration attorney to find if you qualify for a waiver of fraud or misrepresentation.

6. Failure to file and pay your income tax may also disqualify you for naturalization. If you have a payment plan agreement with the IRS and you keep paying the monthly payments, you may be able to get approved. Again you need to consult with an immigration lawyer about your situation.

7. Failure to pay child support. You may be denied if you fail to pay for child support.

8. If you stayed outside the U.S. for more than 180 days in a single year, you may be denied naturalization.

9. If you lack the required period of residency, you may also be denied.

So that you will not have a problem when applying for naturalization, you should consult with an immigration attorney to avoid possible problem along the way.

Note: This is not a legal advice IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

June 1-7, 2023

14

Marcos forms inter-agency body on inflation, market outlook

MANILA – President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has ordered the creation of the Inter-Agency Committee on Inflation and Market Outlook (IAC-IMO) in an effort to ramp up the government’s efforts to ease inflation and improve the Philippine economy.

Under Executive Order (EO) 28, which was signed by Marcos on Friday, the IAC-IMO will be co-chaired by the secretaries of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and the Department of Finance (DOF).

The Budget secretary will be the vice chairperson of the IAC-IMO, while the secretaries of Agriculture, Trade, Energy, Science and Technology, and Interior and Local Government departments will serve as members.

According to EO 28, the IAC-IMO will act as an advisory body to the Economic Development Cluster (EDC), which will now be known as Economic Development Group (EDG).

The IAC-IMO is tasked to monitor the main drivers of rising prices of basic goods, particularly of food and energy, and their proximate sources and causes.

The EO also directs the inter-agency body to assess the supply-demand situation for essential food commodities during the cropping period to allow periodic updating as new information becomes available.

The IAC-IMO is also directed to assess the possible impact of natural and man-made shocks on the supply of key food commodities, as well as to monitor the data necessary to assess food prices and the supply and demand situation.

EO 28 also mandates the IAC-IMO to facilitate regular and efficient data sharing among concerned agencies to ensure timely supply and demand situation anal1. PETITION FOR NURSES LVN AND CAREGIVERS Our Law Firm entered into agreement with nursing facilities in the U.S. to process ysis; monitor global, regional, and domestic developments and issues that may applicants for Nurses, LVN and Caregivers in the US You may qualify if you have RN or LVN license. Caregivers will need six months of caregiving experience.

Applicants Inside or outside the United States may qualify.

Bankruptcy Basics We also process Bankruptcy cases.

1. Bankruptcy will actually improve your credit within one year because your unsecured debts are discharged. Although the bankruptcy will be in your records for MANILA — The World Bank has as10 years, not filing bankruptcy will make your credit even worse until most your debts sured the administration of President Ferare paid.

2. If you are being sued by your creditors, most money judgment can be elimi- dinand R. Marcos Jr. of its full support for its goal of transforming the Philippines into nated in bankruptcy.

3. Collection actions continue and you can be sued if you are in debt settlement. a “prosperous, inclusive and poverty-free” 4. Chapter 7 will eliminate all unsecured debts. If you are near retirement age, nation by 2040.

The assurance was made when World you must eliminate most of your debts.

Bank Managing Director for Operations CAR ACCIDENTS Anna Bjerde called on Cabinet officials Our Law Firm successfully settled a car accident for $675.000. at Malacañan Palace in Manila to align the FAMILY LAW bank’s priorities with the Philippines’ develWe also handle uncontested DIVORCE. opment agenda.

ITIN and INCOME TAX PROBLEMS “The World Bank is committed to supWe can help you if you need an ITIN (Individual Taxpayer ID number) We also prepare income tax returns and if you are under IRS audit, and need a representation porting the Philippines achieve long-term with IRS, need to reduce your tax liability or need to offer a payment plan to IRS, we inclusive and sustainable growth, attain upper middle-income country status, and can help you with that. eventually become a predominantly midSUCCESS STORIES For the month of April, 2023, we received approval from USCIS for four natu- dle-class society by 2040,” Bjerde said.

During a meeting with the top Philippine ralization applications, one Fiancée visa petition, two removals of condition on resiofficials, Bjerde reiterated the World Bank’s dence and five adjustment of status applications.

If you have immigration problems the Law Offices of Crispin C. Lozano can help continued resolve to support the Marcos administration’s initiatives to ensure food you find a solution before your problem gets worse that may lead to removal.

affect prices.

The IAC-IMO is also instructed to provide timely recommendations to the EDG and relevant agencies on measures to curb price spikes and promote food security based on ex-ante supply and demand analysis.

The IAC-IMO shall submit a report to the EDG of the country’s food and energy supply and demand situation and outlook every quarter, or as the circumstances may require.

The report should include recommendations on short, medium, and long-term measures to manage inflation.

EO 28 also tasks the IAC-IMO to formulate and maintain a dashboard containing relevant information on prices, as well as the supply and demand for food and energy commodities.

Meanwhile, the new EO reorganizes and renames the EDC as EDG to ensure that the integration of programs, activities, and priorities toward sustained economic growth remains “efficient and effective.”

Under EO 28, the EDG will also be co-chaired by NEDA and DOF secretaries.

Members of EDG include the head of Presidential Management Staff and the secretaries of Agriculture, Budget, Energy, Information and Communications Technology, Interior and Local Government, Labor, Public Works and Highways, Science and Technology, Trade, Transportation, and Tourism departments.

“In view of the increasing prices of key commodities, particularly food and energy resources, the creation of an advisory body to the EDC, tasked to directly address inflation, will strengthen the EDC, and reinforce existing government initiatives aimed to improve the economy and the quality of life of the Filipino people,” EO 28 read.

World Bank vows support for PHL gov’t development agenda security, develop the agriculture sector, address climate change, digitize government services, pursue the use of renewable energy, and seek clean water and sanitation.

Bjerde stressed that the Philippine economy continues to be robust despite global headwinds.

“The post-pandemic recovery is underway in the Philippines, with strong domestic demand weathering global headwinds. Since 2022, its economy has been growing rapidly, aided by a substantial reduction in Covid-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) cases that facilitated a full economic reopening,” she said.

The Cabinet officials present during Bjerde’s courtesy call were Cheloy Garafil, Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan, Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla, Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan, and Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman.

15 June 1-7, 2023

 ENTERTAINMENT

Shane Bernabe is ‘The Voice Kids’ winner

Shane Bernabe of Laguna is the new The Voice Kids winner.

Her coach, Bamboo, a Filipino American singer and song writer whose ful name is Francisco Gaudencio Lope Belardo Mañalac, was all praises for Shane.

Bamboo was beaming with pride after his mentee, Shane Bernabe, 12, clinched the most of number of votes to emerge as the grand champion of “The Voice Kids” Philippines season 5.

Bernabe becomes the second contestant from Kamp Kawayan to win the competition throughout the fiveseason history of “The Voice Kids,” the first one being Elha Nympha in 2015.

“I am just so proud of her and all the hard work. Maraming, maraming salamat sa lahat ng bumoto para kay Shane. She’s a good girl. I am proud of her. She is dedicated to what she does.

That’s all I can ask for,” he said in an interview with ABSCBN News on Sunday night.

“It was a full circle thing to see Elha [on stage tonight too]. But of course I didn’t think of it that way. Pero it brings you back. Ilang years na rin ‘yun so it’s special.”

Manalac said he was fortunate that threechair turner Bernabe chose him to be her coach, giving him the opportunity to witness her evolution as an

artist.

“I think she’s just hungry to learn. ‘Yun ang initial na pagkabasa ko kay Shane.

She’s always sort of receptive to everything that was happening. So ‘yun ang parang evolution niya. She just kept absorbing all the information,” he said.

“Even at the end, habang nandito kami kanina in the line-up before the announcement [of the winner], I was still trying to teach her certain lines like at the end, maybe we could have added two notes. Just to emphasize lang na this is only the start of her journey so there are certain things that she can improve on. What a great start,” he added.

Amid high expectations, Manalac is confident that Bernabe will go a long way in the music industry. “‘Yun ang maganda sa kanya. She’s fearless. This whole weekend, ‘yung performances niya from ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow,’ to ‘Sino Ang Baliw,’ it’s just the range and how difficult the pieces are. They were not simple but she chose to take the hard road, the challenging road, which I like as a coach as well.”

Taking all the praises from her coach, Bernabe only has words of gratitude for Mañalac for taking her under his wing.

She said she could not wait to do another duet with him. “Ang gustonggusto ko po ay maka-collaborate ko po ulit siya,” the young singer said following their performance during the first part of the finale on Saturday.

Now that the competition is over, Bernabe is hoping her story could inspire younger people to also be fearless in achieving their dreams.

On what she intends to do with her P1-

million cash prize, she said: “Tutulungan ko po ‘yung mommy ko and magpapagawa po kami ng bahay.”

Bernabe bested Rai Fernandez from Martin Nievera’s team, and Xai Martinez from

KZ Tandingan’s team during the finale of the singing competition on Sunday.

Aside from her cash prize, Bernabe also won a recording and management contract with UMG Philippines.

 ENTERTAINMENT

June 1-7, 2023

16

Arjo Atayde’s ‘Topakk’ to be screened at Cannes’ Marche du Film Fantastic Pavilion

The Filipino film “Topakk” starring congressman actor Arjo Atayde is one of the seven films set to have a gala screening at this year’s Cannes’ Marché du Film Fantastic Pavilion.

The screening was scheduled at the Olympia Theater on May 18.

Based on the film’s official synopsis provided

by Variety, “Topakk” follows Miguel (Atayde), a security guard who was previously discharged

from the military due to PTSD. He finds himself embroiled in a different kind of war when a young woman seeks his protection against a corrupt police death squad.

“It’s my dream to show the world what pure Pinoy action cinema is all about,” said filmmaker Richard V. Somes, as quoted by Variety.

Atayde, who represents Quezon City in the House of Representatives, along with his co-actor Enchong Dee, will join Somes and the movie’s producers in Cannes.

“Dreams do come true.

See you #CannesFilmFestival,” Dee wrote on Instagram.

Aside from “Topakk,” the other films which will be screened at the new genre-focused Fantastic Pavilion are “Boogeyman: The Origin of the Myth” and “While the Masters Sleep” from Spain, “The Bystanders” and “Departing Senios” from the United States, and “Failure!” and “Sign Here” T:9.75" from Mexico.

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17 June 1-7, 2023

Coco reveals new ‘Tanggol’ as ‘FPJ’s Batang Quiapo’ begins new chapter Primetime King Coco Martin has revealed that his character in “FPJ’s Batang Quiapo,” Tanggol, will transform into a good and better person as he begins a new chapter in his life in the hit series.

Coco teased viewers to watch out for the new developments, as well as the new characters who will join the story, as Tanggol finally commits to become a better person by turning his back on his vices.

“Magsisimula na ang bagong yugto ng buhay ni Tanggol. Sa lahat ng kanyang mga natutunan sa kalye, sa Quiapo, at sa buhay, na-realize na niya na siguro panahon na para magkaroon din ng pagbabago sa kanyang buhay. Tignan natin kung ano ang magiging bagong journey ni Tanggol,” said Coco during a media conference recently.

Aside from the shift in Tanggol’s character, Coco promised an explosive episode as the lives of the different characters will finally intertwine and cause chaos among their respective groups.

Coco also expressed his appreciation to the viewers who continue to tune in from all over the world and for already making “Batang Quiapo” a big part of their lives ever since its premiere in February.

“Nagpapasalamat kami sa lahat ng taong nagmamahal at sumusuporta sa ‘Batang Quiapo’ sa simula’t simula pa. Kayo ang dahilan kung bakit naging maganda ang kinalabasan ng aming programa. Maraming, maraming salamat po sa lahat ng mga pagtulong at pagmamahal niyo sa amin,” said Coco, who serves as an actor, coproducer, and one of the directors of the series.

Meanwhile, the cast members of “FPJ’s Batang Quiapo” have been visiting viewers in their homes in different parts of the Philippines for its ‘Katok Bahay’ activity to personally chat with them about their favorite moments in the series so far.

“FPJ’s Batang Quiapo” premiered strongly in February 2023,

earning 44 million total online views in its first week alone. It has consistently hit record-breaking concurrent views online on Kapamilya Online Live and continues to be loved by Filipinos around the world as Tanggol, Mokang, Lola Tindeng, and other characters have become household names.

Don’t miss the action-packed scenes in “FPJ’s Batang Quiapo,” which is inspired by the original

story of Regal Films, on weeknights at 8 PM on Kapamilya Channel, A2Z, TV5, iWantTFC, and Kapamilya Online Live on ABS-CBN Entertainment’s YouTube channel and Facebook page. Viewers who use any digital TV box at home such as the TVplus box only need to rescan their device to be able to watch “FPJ’s Batang Quiapo” on TV5 and A2Z.

 ENTERTAINMENT

June 1-7, 2023

18

‘Eat Bulaga’ stops airing on GMA network over row with producers, may move to other station?

Is it over for the long running noontime show “Eat Bulaga” on GMA Network? Will it move to another television station?

The question is raised as the program’s popular hosts Tito Sotto, Vic Sotto, and Joey De Leon confirmed that they are leaving their partner TAPE Incorporated for former Congressman Romeo Jalosjos, the show’s producer.

The trio made the revelation on May 31, 2023 as the show stopped airing live on GMA Network.

“Simula ngayong araw, May 31 2023, kami po ay magpapaalam na sa TAPE Incorporated,” Vic said on the Facebook livestream of “Eat Bulaga.”

“Maraming maraming salamat sa inyong lahat, hanggang sa muli,” he added.

“Our thanks to Mr. Tony Tuviera for the friendship and being part of our family, and above all, to Lord God who never leaves us,” Tito Sotto shared.

The younger Sotto added, “This was

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FIESTA: Saturday, June 10

from 11am-4pm

Santa Clara County, 70 W. Hedding St, San Jose Flag Raising: Monday, June 12

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probably the hardest decision we made since 1979. We will no longer say all the things we have in our hearts but we just want to work peacefully and with respect to everyone.” The spiels ended in a group hug with the rest of the program hosts.

“Eat Bulaga” aired a replay episode on that day, but the hosts appeared on the Facebook livestream to say goodbye to the show with TAPE. “Pumasok po kaming lahat ngayong araw para makapagtrabaho, pero hindi po kami pinayagan ng new management na umere ng live,” Tito, an actor and singer and former Senate president, said.

“July 30, 1979 po nang sinimulan namin ang Eat Bulaga. 44 years na po ito ngayong taon,” he added.

Tito and Joey thanked all the advertisers and viewers who supported Eat Bulaga through the years.

Hours after the three bared their decision, GMA Network – where Eat Bulaga is being aired – released a statement, saying it is saddened by the “unexpected turn of events.”

However, it expressed optimism that the concerned parties will be able to resolve their problem.

“GMA has been the home of Eat Bulaga for many years and we still have a block time agreement with TAPE until the end of 2024 for the noontime slot,” it stated. “Together with all the Filipino fans, we pray for a smooth and swift resolution of their issues.”

In an episode of “Fast Talk with Boy Abunda” last month, TAPE chief financial officer and Dapitan Mayor Bullet Jalosjos addressed the speculations surrounding “Eat Bulaga.” He said that TVJ would stay in the show.

“Kahit baliktarin natin, hindi talaga sila pwedeng mawala, and ‘Eat Bulaga’ can’t live without TVJ, and personally, I think, TVJ also cannot live without ‘Eat Bulaga,’” Jalosjos said.

Shortly after, GMA News reported that Tito and Vic broke their silence and aired their sides of the story.

“Masagwang pakinggan sa amin ‘yung mare-retain kami,” he said.

“Para bang puwede kaming sipain, e kami nga ang ‘Eat Bulaga.’”

Tito also said that TAPE owed Vic and Joey around P30 million each. Vic confirmed earlier this month that he already received his delayed talent fee for “Eat Bulaga.”

19 June 1-7, 2023

 SPORTS

Yulo eyed for Asian Games instead of FIG world tourney

MANILA – Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino has proposed that Carlos Yulo competes in the Asian Games Hangzhou, China from Sept. 23-Oct. 8 instead of the FIG World Championships Antwerp, Belgium from Sept. 29-Oct. 8..

Tolentino made the proposal citing the top Asian gymnasts are expected to compete in the world championships, leaving

Yulo with a good chance of winning multiple medals in the Asian Games.

Tolentino made the proposal during the POC general assembly last week at the Golden Bay Restaurant in Pasay.

Yulo, he said, can rack up as many medals as he can in Hangzhou with the top Asian bets expected to be in Antwerp instead as both events will coincide.

“It’s going to be win-win for Team

Philippines in the Asian Games because all the gymnastics powerhouse countries will be competing in the world championships. So Yulo has a strong opportunity of sweeping all the events in Hangzhou,” Tolentino said.

A gold in the Asiad is worth P2 million, a silver P1 million and a bronze P400,000 based on the Expanded Athletics Incentives Act, it was learned.

The Gymnastics Association of the Philippines (GAP) has not yet made a decision on whether to accept the proposal, although GAP president Cynthia CarrionNorton previously said that Yulo will join the worlds as it is part of the Paris Olympics qualifying process.

Tolentino said there are qualifying meets like the Apparatus World Cup series from January to March next year and the Continental Championships in April and May the same year anyway.

Carreon-Norton she said during the POC general assembly that they will take into consideration Tolentino’s proposal, which according to the former Tagaytay mayor was supported by everyone present in the meeting, before arriving at a final decision.

“All the members of the POC general assembly are begging for gymnastics to consider playing in the Asian Games,” Tolentino said. “We have already asked them to look for other Olympic qualifying events. Belgium is just the first Olympic qualifying and there are many more.”

Yulo has been inserted to the “entry by name” for the Asian Games.

Four hundred twenty-six athletes have been named to the Philippine team into Hangzhou, which also includes pole vaulter EJ Obiena, another potential cinch for a gold.

“I believe he can get all the medals especially gold in the Asian Games. At the same time, the incentives he can get there are higher,” Tolentino said of Yulo. “And based on research, there are more other Olympic qualifiers by next year which is not that difficult so all POC members are begging for gymnastics to let Caloy play.”

Two Olympic qualifiers are set for 2024, the Apparatus World Cup series from January to March and the continental championships in April and May.

Juliana Gomez bags gold in Malaysia championship tourney

KUALA LUMPUR - Juliana Gomez did her celebrity parents proud again.

The comely girl bagged another gold medal in an international tournament as she ruled the senior women’s epee in the 1st FT Open Championship 2023 on Sunday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The 22-year-old Gomez bagged the gold medal by beating Sara Sofea Idongesit of Five Star Fencing Club KEDAH 15-12 in the finals.

This was her second championship in an international competition after she won the gold medal in Thailand late last year.

The young Gomez, who is a daughter of Leyte Fourth District Rep. Richard Gomez and Ormoc City Mayor Lucy Torres-Gomez, won against Xin Mynn Ho of Blade Malaysia 15-11 in the semifinal round.

Idongesit settled with the silver medal while Ho and Electra Goh of Selangor earned bronze medals.

“It was a great experience for me, and I’m happy to be able to win the gold and bring honor to the country,” said Gomez, a graduating public administration student at University of the Philippines.

Gomez, who represented the Diliman Fencing Club in the tournament, went undefeated in her first round pool by winning all five bouts to get the top seed going to the Direct Elimination.

It was the second gold medal for the reigning UAAP champion in women’s individual epee as she captured the gold in Thailand late last year.

 REAL ESTATE

June 1-7, 2023

DMCI eyes at least 5 more infra projects under Build Better More MANILA – Premier contractor D.M. Consunji Inc. (DMCI) is eyeing to participate in at least five more infrastructure projects under the “Build Better More” infrastructure program of the Marcos administration.

“Our participation would depend on the amount and type of work involved. We want to focus on projects where our core competencies can bring the most value for our country,” DMCI president and chief executive officer Jorge Consunji told the Philippine News Agency in a Viber message.

Consunji did not identify yet these infrastructure projects.

DMCI was awarded last month the South Commuter Railway Project Contract Package 2, a joint venture with Acciona Construction Philippines.

Costing over PHP28 billion, the project involves the construction of railway tracks and stations in Manila along España, Sta. Mesa and Paco, and will take roughly 4.5 years to complete.

“DMCI is still waiting for the notice to proceed from the government,” the company said.

Consunji said DMCI’s participation in the joint venture is around 35 percent.

“In addition to construction revenues, we also expect to generate collateral business for our ready-mix concrete, equipment rental and steel fabrication units,” he said.

The Nishimatsu-DMCI joint venture was also award-

ed last year the Metro Manila Subway Project (MMSP) Contract Package 102 (CP 102), and a groundbreaking ceremony was held last April 28.

The package consists of two underground subway stations—Quezon Avenue Station and East Avenue Station—and tunnels connecting North Avenue to the East Avenue station.

Based on the project design, Consunji said it would take around six years to complete the MMSP CP 102.

He said the construction of South Commuter Railway Project Contract Package 2 and MMSP CP 102 is expected to generate around 2,000 jobs.

DMCI reported to the local bourse its order book reached PHP42.4 billion in January to March period this year from PHP35.2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2022 amid signs of demand recovery.

It attributed mainly the 20-percent increase in order book during the period to the awarding of the South Commuter Railway Project Contract Package 2.

Other projects in its order book include the Dinapigue Causeway expansion, Xavier Junior High School Building, YCO Manila site early works and dredging, and hauling of lagoon in the La Mesa Water treatment plant.

Year-on-year, the DMCI order book declined by 9 percent from PHP46.7 billion owing to the completion of several projects and descoping of the North South Commuter Rail (NSCR) Contract Package 01, a joint venture with Taisei Corporation of Japan. (PNA)

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20

Stubborn Inflation is keeping mortgage rates high

W

hy are home prices not falling: Dampened affordability and low inventory impacting sales and originations while prices remain solid, for now.

Recent data suggest the glass is more than half full: a growing economy, a strong labor market, and relatively resilient first-time homebuyer demand despite poor affordability. Below we summarize key recent developments, then provide our opinion on the outlook as well as a breakdown on the topic of inflation.

Recent developments in the U.S. economy GDP grew at a 1.1% annualized rate in the first quarter of 2023, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis’ advanced estimate. That was a decline from the revised estimate of 2.6% annual growth in the fourth quarter of 2022. This represents three consecutive quarters of positive GDP growth following two quarterly declines in the first and second quarters of 2022. While many people use two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth as a rule of thumb for determining a recession, it is clear from recent economic data that the U.S. economy did not enter a recession in 2022, and at least through the first quarter of 2023 remains on the path of modest growth.

However, concerns about the future path of economic growth remain elevated. Despite the positive topline GDP growth number for the first quarter of 2023, there remains some cause for concern.

Housing continues to be a drag on the economy. Residential investment subtracted from growth again in the first quarter, marking the eighth consecutive quarter that residential investment’s contribution to GDP growth was negative. Housing has traditionally been a strong predictor of broader economic growth. Exhibit 1 (following page) shows that since 1970, every time residential investment subtracted from growth for five or more consecutive quarters, a recession soon followed.

Most of the incoming data points to a strong labor market, though there are some signs of a potential cooldown. The U.S. economy added 253,000 jobs in April, and the unemployment rate dropped to 3.4% equaling the lowest rate in more than 50 years.

Although job openings pulled back by 384,000 to 9.6 million, there is still more than one job available for each unemployed person, as indicated by the job openings to the unemployed ratio, which in March was at 1.64. However, layoffs and discharges jumped by 248,000 to 1.8 million in March, signaling that the red-hot U.S. labor market may be starting to cool off.

Economic risks remain weighted to the downside largely because inflation remains stubbornly high. Though the rate of consumer price inflation has fallen, inflation rates are still far above the Federal Reserve’s target of 2% inflation. In addition, some of the most recent inflation indicators, the Employment Cost Index and the core PCE price index came in stronger than expected.

Recent developments in the U.S. housing market Higher mortgage interest rates remain a significant challenge for the housing market in the current seasonal peak in homebuying activity in April-May. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that existing home sales fell 2.4% month-over-month and 22% year-over-year to 4.44 million units in March 2023. The housing market continues to be challenged by low inventory levels of for-sale homes. For example, NAR indicated that the months’ supply of homes available for sale was just 2.6 months, and on average properties remained on the market for 29 days in March. Additionally, Exhibit 2 shows that the total single-family homes for sale (new and existing) is near historic lows at 1.5 million units.

Little relief for inventory will come from newly constructed units. Housing starts were also down in March, with Census and HUD jointly reporting that starts were at 1.42 million in March 2023, down 0.8% month-over-month and 17% year-over-year. Cumulatively, 2023 single-family housing starts had the slowest first quarter since 2019.

Confidence in the future path of the housing market remains low, with the National Association of Home Builders reporting a Housing Market Index reading of 45 in April 2023. Anything under 50 in that index indicates negative sentiment on balance. The overall index was weighed down by a weak homebuyer traffic rating of 31, while the current sales conditions subindex was mildly positive at 51 and the future sales expectation subindex was exactly balanced between positive and negative at 50.

While transaction volumes remain low compared to a year ago, and sentiment is mixed, home prices (Continue on page 27)

21 June 1-7, 2023

 SPORTS

AG Bonta open ...

In response to the question of Philippine News Today’s publisher Francis Espiritu on whether, given the opportunity, would Bonta like to discuss or talk with present Philippine President Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos, who is believed to be coming to the San Francisco Bay Area in November, Bonta responded that he is “open to a son not being the father and try a different course and being different.”

“I know that when you share a name, as he does, there’s assumptions and presumptions and I hope that he’ll go and complete in a different direction and free himself of the reputation of his father and be someone who can lift up the people of the Philippines who needs it so much, who are wrestling with so many challenges from poverty, inequality, natural disasters, lack of necessary infrastructure, etc. there is so much that can be done by a leader who loves the people,” Bonta is hopeful.

The question posed on Bonta was an offshoot of the perception that the Marcos administration is allegedly changing the narrative that human rights (violations) never happened, and so as those land grabbing in the Philippines by politicians or anyone who has connections to the government “And so, I hope he will be that leader.

And part of being a good leader is working and building from the facts and the

(From page 1)

truth and not erasing history. History is what it is. You can’t change it. You can’t go back and change it but you can change what you go next and it is painful today when you erase the history of yesterday when people have been hurt, family members have been taken away, tortured, killed and then you say it didn’t happen. That is harmful today. So that is not something any leader should be doing,” Bonta strongly believes.

Bonta, nevertheless, is optimistic and hopeful to have a productive discussion about how to move the Philippines forward and most importantly lift up the everyday people as he himself admits he does not know what their discussion will turn out to be when they finally meet up.

In his opening remark on the virtual roundtable discussion, Bonta mentioned that he was born in the early 1970s when a dictator (President Ferdinand Marcos, Bongbong’s father) was rising to power and put at risk everything --- freedom, democracy, the rule of law, human rights and civil rights -- and his parents had to make the decision in “raising our son here (U.S.) in a place where he can grow up where we want him to with opportunity and be able to pursue his dreams.” which was probably the most important decision ever made of my life. It was made about me not by me my parents at that moment asked themselves, “is raising our son here

State of California A�orney General Rob Bonta (right) and Philippine News Today Publisher Francis Espiritu (le�)

a place where he can grow up where we want him to with opportunity and be able to pursue his dreams.”

“And the answer, unfortunately, was not (in the Philippines) because of Ferdinand Marcos and his dictatorship that led to the declaration of martial law and end to all the things I mentioned --- freedom, democracy, the rule of law, human rights and civil rights,” Bonta continued. “So my parents brought me here to California to rebuild our lives and have opportunity to a better life.”

Bonta further recalled that his parents working for the United Farmers of America as part of the incredible efforts that included Filipinos and Latinos and others fighting side by side for better rights and protections for those who fed our state and our country.

Bonta shared that, growing up, his mom Cynthia still fought for the restoration of democracy in the Philippines and for years and years, he grew up going to

protests and rallies with her until democracy was restored in 1986 with the People Power revolution.

And so, Bonta’s exposure to the fight for the rights, privileges and protections of famers in America was also in consonance with Filipinos own fight for the same purposes in his native land, the Philippines.

And his family’s experience, that forced their migration to the U.S., remained with him to this day that another Marcos is in power in the Philippines.

Asked on when the latest statistical report on hate incidents/crimes come out, Bonta answered that it may come in the next couple of months.

“It generally takes about the first half of the year to collect, synthesize, and prepare for public reporting. That is the duty of our staff. Consistent with what we have done in the last couple of years, this summer,” Bonta explained.

More and More AAPI Families Choosing CA Charter Public Schools for their Child’s Education Charter Schools are Helping Students Succeed in College, Career and Life May 18, 2023 – As student enrollment in public schools across the state continues to change, one notable trend is the large increase in Asian American & Pacific Islander (AAPI) families choosing a charter public school for their child’s education over the past decade.

According to an enrollment analysis by the California Charter Schools Association (CCSA) of California Department of Education (CDE) data, AAPI enrollment in charter public schools grew by 78 percent from 2012-2023, outpacing enrollment growth for all students (66 percent).

AAPI students now represent six percent of charter public school students in 2023, up from three percent in 2012.

These numbers suggest a growing sentiment that charter public schools provide the education options that parents and students want in a public school.

Some of the most common AAPI background of students at charter public schools include Vietnamese, Filipino, Chinese, and Korean. Charter public schools like the O’Farrell Charter School in San Diego and Yav Pem Suab in Sacramento were founded to bring high-quality educational options to AAPI communities.

“For three decades, charter public

schools across California have offered families the opportunity for their children to receive a high-quality education with the rigor and supports needed to help students enter college and succeed,” said Mr. Oliver Sicat, Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder of Ednovate Schools and a Board Member of the USC Asian Pacific Alumni Association. “Charter schools offer families the opportunity to be creative with design, curriculum, and supports to ensure students don’t just finish high school but are positioned well for what comes next: to enter college and succeed.”

Ednovate schools are a network of public, tuition-free, high-performing college prep high schools in Los Angeles and Orange County that primarily serve first-generation college-bound students.

They have a 99 percent college acceptance rate for their students.

California charter public schools are preparing students for college with focused learning content in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), global studies, language immersion, and various arts programs. As a result, charter public school students are being prepared to succeed in college, career, and life regardless of race, gender, religion, or zip code.

CCSA’s report Charter Public School Students in Focus: Asian American & Pacific Islanders found that AAPI charter school students from low-income communities outperform their traditional public school counterparts in both English Language Arts (ELA) and Math, on average. This difference is more strongly seen in ELA, where 44 percent of charter school students met or exceeded gradelevel standards, compared to only 30 percent of district students.

“Students of all backgrounds deserve educational opportunities as creative and

responsive to their varied interests as they are, and charter public schools provide successful school models that give every child the ability to achieve their own and their families’ aspirations,” said Myrna Castrejón, CCSA President and CEO. “California parents have said time and time again there need to be more highquality choices for public education to be competitive in a global job market.”

Parents interested in learning more about charter schools or to find a charter in their area may visit https://info.ccsa. org/tagalog

Harvard introduces course in Tagalog for the first time Harvard University is set to offer a new course in Tagalog, a Filipino language that is the fourth most frequently spoken language in the U.S. behind English, Spanish and Chinese.

Harvard Professor James Robson and Co-President of the

Harvard Philippine Forum, Jose Marco Antonio, join News NOW to share how the program came about and what they hope to accomplish by teaching Tagalog.

Read in NBC News: https:// apple.news/AEmWyRiTsSOuWHWXZ-GU5DQ

 COMMUNITY NEWS

June 1-7, 2023

22

FilAm cum laude graduate addresses SFSU class of 2023 (BSJ) at the San Francisco State University (SFSU) last Friday, May 26, 2023 San Francisco, California - Myron during the department’s graduation celCaringal graduated with honors, cum ebrating the SF State Journalism Class of laude, Bachelor of Science in Journalism 2023. He addressed the Class of 2023 as its student commencement speaker.

All graduates received their “World Press Pass” certifying their readiness to tell stories that change our world, according to Lino & Jennifer Caringal, proud parents of Myron.

This year’s other speakers, aside from Myron, were 2023 SF State Journalism Alumna of the Year Sarahbeth Maney (’19), staff photographer, Detroit Free Press. Maney captured one of 2022’s most memorable images for the New York Times when Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson testified at her Senate confirmation hearing with her daughter, Leila, and husband Patrick beaming from the gallery.

Carlos Avila Gonzalez (’95), San Francisco Chronicle staff photojournalist, being honored as Distinguished Alumnus of the Year, also addressed the class of 2023.

Myron is the Audience Development Intern of KQED. As an intern, he said: “I have a multimedia journalism background and am passionate about visual

By Elpidio R. Es�oko

storytelling through videography, infographics and other visualizations.”

He was the Engagement Editor for Golden Gate Xpress and Xpress Magazine. He is a transfer student at SF State majoring in journalism and minor in critical social thought. Myron is originally from Orange County, California and is currently residing in San Francisco.

He previously served as diversity editor and then as managing editor for GGX. Myron transitioned to the digital engagement side of the media industry as a current intern of KQED’s Audience Development Team.

He was the layout artist of The Urdaneta Voice (TUV), official publication of The Global Urdanetanians (TGU) based in Southern California when his dad, Lino F. Caringal, Jr. was the founding president of the non-profit organization.

Other awards received by Myron were the 2022-2023 SF State Journalism Award; the 2022-2023 Hearst Journalism Award; and placed 13th in Multi-Media Innovative Storytelling and Audience Engagement.

He was offered a position and fellowship in Pittsburgh Post Gazette in PA. After his mandatory in- person training, he can do remote work for the paper

while in San Francisco.

During his free time, Myron enjoys traveling, trying new foods, attending music festivals, and binge-watching series.

Social Security Update

10 WAYS TO PROTECT YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

By G. Samson Social Security Public Affairs Specialist in the Bay Area Identity theft affects millions of people each year and can cause serious harm.

Protect yourself by securing your personal information, understanding the threat of identity theft, and exercising caution.

Here are 10 things you can start doing now to protect yourself and your loved ones from identity theft: 1. Protect your Social Security number by keeping your Social Security card in a safe place at home. Don’t carry it with you or provide your number unnecessarily.

2. Be careful when you speak with unknown callers. Scammers may mislead you by using legitimate phone numbers or the real names of officials. If they threaten you or make you feel uneasy, hang up.

3. Create strong, unique passwords so others can’t easily access your accounts.

Use different passwords for different accounts so if a hacker compromises one account, they can’t access other accounts.

4. Never give your personal or financial information in response to an unsolicited call or message, and never post it on social media.

5. Shred paper documents that contain personal information, like your name, birth date, and Social Security number.

6. Protect your mobile device from unauthorized access by securing it with a PIN, adding a fingerprinting feature, or usA�y. Chris Caday Lozano successfully represented Myrna Orille with the USCIS for the approval of ing facial recognition. You can also add her green card.

a password and adjust the time before your screen automatically locks.

7.

Regularly check your financial accounts for suspicious transactions.

8.

Avoid internet threats by installing and maintaining strong antivirus software on all your devices—including your mobile device and personal computer. Use a virtual private network (VPN) to stay safe on public Wi-Fi. Do not perform certain activities that involve sensitive data, like online shopping and banking, on public Wi-Fi networks.

9. Protect yourself on social media by customizing your security settings and deleting accounts you no longer use. Also, double-check suspicious messages from your contacts, as hackers may create fake accounts of people you know.

10. Never click on any link sent via unsolicited email or text message—type in the web address yourself. Only provide information on secure websites.

We encourage you to create your own personal my Social Security account to track your earnings record. For more information, please read our publication, Protecting Personal Information, at oig.ssa. gov/files/21-540_Protecting_Personal_Information.pdf. Contact us if you see suspicious work activity on your record–you could be a victim of identity theft.

Please share this information with your family and friends.

 COMMUNITY NEWS

June 1-7, 2023

24

Consul General Neil Ferrer Visits National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado San Francisco, 26 May 2023 – Philippine Consul General in San Francisco Neil Frank R. Ferrer visited the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado on 19 May 2023.

Consul General Ferrer was accompanied by Consul Vanessa Bago-Llona, Honorary Consul Donna Lavigne of Colorado, Filipino American community leader Shiela DeForest, and Atty. Jay Lavigne.

They met with NREL offi cials, including Mr. Ron BeConsul General Neil Ferrer Visits Na�onal Renewable Energy nioff, NREL International Program Manager and executive Laboratory in Colorado director of the Net Zero World Action Center, which aims to accelerate the decarbonization of global energy systems; Ms. Derina Man, NREL’s technical lead on the Advanced Energy Partnership for Asia, Ms. Margaret Mann, Lead for Clean Energy Supply Chain and EV Storage Analysis, Mr. Jal Desai, a member of the Strategies & Implementation Group in the Integrated Application Center, and Mr. Akhil Magal, a project manager with the Integrated Decision Support group in the Accelerated Deployment and Decision Support Center.

Consul General Ferrer underscored the importance of energy cooperation between the U.S. and the Philippines, which has been discussed at various government levels, including

the recent official visit of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to the U.S. and during Vice President Kamala Harris’s visit to the Philippines. He noted the development of an energy resiliency program for the Philippines with the support of the U.S. The NREL team gave an overview of the NREL’s work, as well as the U.S.-Philippines energy cooperation. NREL conducts research in collaboration with partners worldwide and focuses on a range of clean energy systems, including solar energy, wind, water, geothermal, bioenergy, hydrogen, and energy efficiency. They also work on grid integration, grid modernization, clean energy transport, high-performance buildings, advanced materials, circular economy, and integrated energy systems.

L-R: Consul Vanessa Bago-LLona, Ms. Sheila DeForest, Mr. Jal Desai, Mr. Akhil Magal, Mr. Ron Benioff, Consul General Neil R. Ferrer, and Philippine Honorary Consul in Colorado Donna Lavigne.

L-R: Mr. Jal Desai of NREL and Mr. Ron Benioff, NREL Interna�onal Program Manager and execu�ve director of the Net Zero World Ac�on Center, welcome Consul General Neil R. Ferrer at NREL campus in Golden, Colorado.

IBP- NORTHERN CALIFORNIA CHAPTER CALLS ON CONSUL GENERAL FERRER ALLICE Kumares & Kumpares Alliance for Community Empowerment in collaboration with Positively Filipino, Philippine News Today, San Mateo County Behavioral Health & Recovery Services, and the City of South San Francisco invite you to our

14th Annual

A free and open-to-the-public event to promote elder care, prevent elder abuse and address Asian hate attacks 2:00 –4:00 p.m. | Saturday, June 17, 2023 SSF Municipal Services Building 33 Arroyo Drive, South San Francisco, CA 94080 WELCOME Hon. Flor Nicolas, Mayor, City of South San Francisco; 2023 Co-President, ALLICE KEYNOTE Hon. David J. Canepa, District 5 Representative, San Mateo County Board of Supervisors MESSAGE Hon. Leni Robredo, Former Vice President of the Philippines; Founder, Angat Buhay (Uplift Lives) PRESENTATIONS Safety Tips for those Witnessing or Experiencing Hate Incidences Dr. Jei Africa, Director, San Mateo County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services 9 Acts of Kindness to Empower Older Adults Ms. Tessie Madrinan, Coordinator, Peninsula Family Service Filipino Peer Counseling Program RECOGNITION Grand Agers: Aurea Cruz, Conrad Gamboa, Cynthia Bonta, Perla Ibarrientos, Peter & Estrelle Chan

Free health exams by Kaiser Permanente Filipino Association  Light refreshments will be served  Free raffle drawing follows the program; must be present to win  Family and Health Service Providers will be present to address questions: 

Adult Protective Services San Francisco, Aging and Disability Resource Center San Francisco, Asian American Recovery Services/Healthright 360, San Mateo County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services, Catholic Charities Adult Day Care Services, Colma Police Department, Community Overcoming Relationship Abuse, Daly City HART, Peninsula Family Service, Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco , Kaiser Permanente Filipino Association, National Alliance on Mental Illness, North East Medical Services, Ombudsman Services of San Mateo County, Pilipino Bayanihan Resource Center, Pilipino Senior Resource Center-San Francisco, Rape Trauma Services, San Mateo County Aging and Adult Services, San Mateo County Commission on Aging, SamTrans, Self-Help for the Elderly, Second Harvest of Silicon Valley, South San Francisco Police Department, South San Francisco Women’s Club

ALLICE is an all-volunteer nonprofit dedicated to promoting healthy interaction by education through shared resources since 2003.

Consul General Neil Frank Ferrer (6th from right) with the new set of officers of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines - Northern California. Also in photo are IBP-NorCal incoming President A�y.

Jean Serrano Kouznetzova (7th from right), Consul Jed Mar�n Llona (3rd, right) and Consul Rowena Pangilinan-Daquipil (2nd, right)

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, USA – The new set of officers of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines – Northern California Chapter (IBP - NorCal) led by Atty Jean Serrano Kouznetzova paid a courtesy call on Philippine Consul General in San Francisco Neil Frank Ferrer on 25 May 2023.

The two sides held discussions on resuming the regular free legal clinic at the Consulate where members of IBP NorCal provide legal advice to fellow Filipinos and FIlipino Americans in need of

guidance on various cases, as well as the conduct of forums tackling common legal issues facing the community, including family law and probate.

Consul General Ferrer congratulated the new officers and thanked them for their support to the Consulate General for the past years, including during the pandemic. He said that he looked forward to continuing and enhancing the partnership by resuming the joint projects between the Consulate and IBPNorCal.

 COMMUNITY NEWS

June 2-8, 2023

26

Global Peace Movement Marks a Decade of the Citizen-led Peacebuilding Efforts

Peace events that commemorate citizen-led peacebuilding efforts for a decade are organized in 89 locations across 59 countries in May. On May 25, 5,000 participants gathered at the Peace Gate of Seoul Olympic Park in South Korea, and other thousands of individuals around the world, including the United States, the United States, China, Japan, Australia, and Germany, are expected to join the events until the end of this month.

“HWPL’s 10th Annual Commemoration of the Declaration of World Peace and the Peace Walk”, the global events are held by an international NGO called Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL) affiliated with the United Nations Economic and Social Council with the joint auspices of public and private organizations in different countries.

Recalling HWPL’s peace activities for the past 10 years, Chairman Lee Man-Hee said, “Since we pledged to work together for world peace 10 years ago, we have been calling for peace all over the world. We have advocated that peace

should be taught at home and at school and that everyone should become messengers of peace. I went to the battlefield in Mindanao, Philippines, to raise the voice of peace, and they promised not to begin war again.” He also emphasized, “Everyone should be one under the title of peace and work together to create a good world and make it a legacy for future generations.

This is what we need to do in this era in which we live.”

“The Statement on the 10th Annual Commemoration of the Establishment of Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light and the Declaration of World Peace” was unveiled. The statement said that the Declaration developed into the “Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War” (DPCW) to pursue “a transition from the rule of power to the rule of law” based on principles of “democracy, justice, civil liberties, and equality, religious freedom, and responsibility.” It further said that the decade of peacebuilding achieved millions of participants joining inter-religious dialogues, peace education, peace advocacy to national leaders, and networks of youth in over 120 countries.

Through this statement, HWPL and participating organizations affirmed their commitment to institutionalizing peace through international cooperation, aligning with the UN Sustainable Development Goal 16, “Peace, justice and strong institutions.” They pledged to engage in mediation efforts, raise awareness, provide education in conflict areas, empower

PG&E and California Fire Foundation Seeking Applications for Wildfire Safety and Preparedness Grants More than $1 million in grants, public education, and outreach funded in 2022; Applications Accepted Through June 30

SACRAMENTO, Calif.— Today, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and the California Fire Foundation (CFF) announced grant opportunities for California-based fire departments and community-based organizations focused on wildfire safety and preparedness. The grant program continues a successful partnership between PG&E and CFF. Applications must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. on June 30, 2023, through the CFF website. Award notification will begin July 31, 2023.

PG&E and The PG&E Corporation Foundation (PG&E Foundation) are providing a total of $1.4 million to CFF’s Wildfire Safety and Preparedness Program (WSPP). Joining forces for the sixth consecutive year, the program’s objective is to raise public awareness about wildfire safety and deliver resources to underserved communities in high fire-risk areas.

It includes a grant program that last year awarded 66 local fire departments and community groups $730,000 in funding.

Since 2018, CFF, which administers and manages the WSPP, has awarded 265 grants to fire departments and community organizations statewide, focusing its efforts in Northern and Central California. Funding targets communities identified as having extreme or elevated fire risk as identified by the California Public Utilities Commission.

“While the unprecedented storms of this past winter helped lift the majority of California out of the decades-long drought, the unfortunate flip side is the increased potential for a later but more robust wildfire season,” said Rick Martinez, Executive Director of the California Fire Foundation. “The Wildfire Safety and Preparedness Program is a partnership with PG&E that was created to address the increasing wildfire risk. Our collaboration over the last six years has played an important role in helping local communities mitigate their wildfire risks and enhance the public’s safety.”

“PG&E and the California Fire Foundation share the same goal of ensuring that our hometowns are doing everything possible to prevent wildfires from starting. Local fire departments, agencies and community groups play such a key role in prioritizing and executing the projects that protect communities and in raising awareness about wildfire safety.

We’re grateful for our ongoing partnership with the CFF as it provides real-time benefits such as defensible space and fuel-

reduction programs as well as crucial awareness to customers in underserved communities,” said Mark Quinlan, PG&E’s Senior Vice President of Wildfire & Emergency Operations.

How the Grants Help Communities From 2018 to the present, PG&E and the PG&E Foundation have provided $7.4 million in total support for fire safety awareness through the WSPP. The charitable contribution is shareholder-funded, not paid for by PG&E customers.

Since 2018, WSPP has funded: Specialized fire equipment and personal protective equipment Defensible space and vegetation management efforts Fuel/hazard reduction programs Fire prevention and emergency preparedness education, including senior citizen wildfire preparedness programs Fire safety outreach campaigns, including 12,000 multilingual brochures targeting under-resourced communities in English, Spanish, Chinese, Hmong, and Vietnamese Partnerships with community groups in high fire-risk areas to distribute fire-safety information The WSPP develops and distributes in-language firesafety messaging targeting Spanish, Chinese, Hmong, and Vietnamese communities. These efforts include a comprehensive media campaign consisting of outdoor billboards and inlanguage television, radio, and digital ads.

The California Fire Foundation, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, aids firefighters, their families, and the communities they protect. CFF’s Firefighters on Your Side program, also supported by PG&E, provides multi-lingual, culturally relevant fire safety messaging in both digital and print forms to assist the public in staying safe.

About PG&E Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG), is a combined natural gas and electric utility serving more than 16 million people across 70,000 square miles in Northern and Central California. For more information, visit pge.com and pge.com/news.

About The PG&E Corporation Foundation The PG&E Corporation Foundation is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, separate from PG&E and sponsored by PG&E Corporation.

youth and women, and promote best practices for civil society participation.

In USA, several states are celebrating the anniversary. In San Francisco, the event was also held on May 28 at Crissy Field Park with about 100 attendees under the theme “New Decade, Making Institutional Peace Take Root.”

Various activities, such as a flash mob by the International Peace Youth Group (IPYG), promotional booths for HWPL and the DPCW, and peace walks, were held to have citizens from all walks of life participate and support the DPCW. HWPL announced its ambitious goal to garner the support of 10 million citizens through their signatures to advocate for the establishment of international law for peace. Additionally, they have organized various overseas commemorative events to foster peace within local communities worldwide. Membership registration, information about peace projects, and reading the full text of and supporting the DPCW are available on HWPL’s official website at www.hwpl.kr.

Upside...

(From Page 11)

co-workers at Kaiser Permanente to attend ALLICE twice yearly major events to take blood pressure checks for free. Soon she embraced the invitation to chair the Resource Provider Committee responsible for keeping tab of helping agencies and growing their network of contacts.

The team noted that although resource guides were plentiful from state and county human service agencies, With strong family support, Malou none was devel- Aclan coordinates ALLICE Kumares oped expressly & Kumpares’ A-List and resource for linguistic and providers. cultural competence in helping the underserved sector such as immigrant communities, populations of color and the LGBTQ+.

Out of that concern came the ALLICE resource guide or the “A-List,” a directory of over 50 public and private organizations rated for availability of languages most spoken in California and understanding of the diverse cultures within.

“The A-List is a passion project of our team,” Aclan says.

“We thank the Community of Colma, especially City Manager Brian Dossey, the City Council and last but certainly not least Mayor Joanne del Rosario, who is also a Kumare.”

For more information, visit www.allicekumares.com or see the public service announcement in this issue. *** Philippine News Today Executive Editor Cherie M. Querol Moreno is founder-executive director of ALLICE.

27 June 1-7, 2023

Offline

(From Page 13)

month, or $36,000 a year. This Mr. and Mrs. now want to set up a fund worth $300,000. Where will they get the money from? Why from borrowings, of course.

They cite as their model their very rich neighbor whose annual joint income is $1,000,000 and who have been saving their earnings for many years in such places as bonds, stocks, time deposits, etc.

They then pooled all of their resources into a wealth fund, which when invested anywhere will earn more simply because the absolute amount is quite large.

So many times it has been shown and proven that Economics 101 was a subject that Bongbong never passed. His insistence that the Maharlika fund, which he earlier said was not a priority, is the key to economic progress for the country.

He refuses to recognize that he is the Mister of the household earning only $36,000 per annum.

The majority senators are not even fully supporting Pimentel, but only asking that time be spent poring over all of its provisions.

As has been stated by its opponents, there is no guarantee that the damn fund will succeed. What if it fails? Will anyone be answerable to a failed Maharlika Investment Fund?

The answer is a big, fat no.

Since billions of dollars, ergo hundreds of billions of pesos, will be involved, it can be placed in huge investments that may eventually fail. By then, the government-appointed Board of Directors will be laughing all the way to their Swiss bank accounts, which is where they will almost definitely plunk in their mega paychecks.

Even Imee Marcos’ claim that she was nervous about the bill is worth noting. The country is still very much mired in debt, she points out, and she is unfortunately completely correct.

Koko Pimentel may be exaggerating when he says that the current version of the bill is unsalvageable, but Zubiri should at least listen to Escudero and Gatchalian. And yes, the smarter Marcos named Imee, too.

My last piece of advice to Migz Zubiri? Don’t be Bongbong’s lackey, sir. Be a man. Be a real Senate president. Do not ram that Maharlika bill down our collective throats, ok?

What’s Up Atty

(From Page 12)

giving kind?

A California Filipino asked an Ilocano lawyer to reconcile him and his attractive wife who had betrayed him. The lawyer hosted a dinner for both of them in a romantic setting. The wife complained that the husband was abusive in words and in deed. The husband promised to be loving and caring. The wife accepted him.

Later, the guy called the lawyer: “Manong, I cannot make love with my wife anymore. Every time I try to make love with her I imagine the other guy making love with her.

“It is just marrying a widow or divorcee, another guy has made love with her before,” explained the lawyer.

“But I would not want to marry any one but a virgin,” the guy responded.

“Welcome to the club,” cheered the lawyer.

HOW TO UNLOVE SOME ONE. How then do you unlove someone you love? The first thing to ask is what made you fall in love with this person? Do these reasons still exist? If not, then as the Bible says: “There is a time to stay and a time to leave.” If it is time to leave, “cut and cut cleanly,” as President Marcos was told by the Americans during the EDSA coup d’etat. Be civil and do not hurt the other person. Do not “burn bridges behind you.” You might have to return someday.

Avoid or minimize contact with her. Remove everything that reminds you of her. “Out of sight, out of mind.” Think of all the bad things that she did and balance them against the good things. Is she truly worth loving? Is she trustworthy? Is she really beautiful or are you blind? Did you really enjoy each other’s company and had fun being together? Did she show that she really loved you and cared about you? How was her bedroom performance? What did she really bring to the relationship? “She only brought her panties,” remarked a disgusted relative of a man who hesitated to give up his attractive wife. “It’s good if she had panties,” quipped a bystander.

Only the love of another woman can make a man unlove a woman. There are many fish in the ocean. Cast a bigger net. Go to a different ocean. You might think that the woman you love is more beautiful than your new find. But beauty is only skin deep. What happens if this beautiful woman’s face is blemished by an accident or disease. Would you still love her?

INADMISSIBILITY OR DEPORTABILITY OF UNFAITHFUL WIFE How do you get the immigration authorities to deport your unfaithful wife. Report the facts and let them decide under what provision of law she should be deported.

Before you ask them, divorce your wife first. Immigration authorities will ask you if she is that bad why are you still married to her.

When and where did the adultery occur? In her home country while waiting for your petition to be approved or after

she arrived in America?

Are there children who are the fruits of her adulterous relationship?

There was a young woman who went to the U.S. Embassy for her visa interview carrying a baby. The consul asked if the baby was their child with the petitioner. She said “yes”. The consul asked when the child was born? She gave the date. He asked when was the last time her husband and she were together. She gave the date. It was more than 9 months. The consul said that it could not be their child with her husband. She insisted that it was. The Fraud Prevention Unit questioned her neighbors, checked the hospital records, and grilled the woman until she finally confessed that the father was not her husband. The consul refused to give her a visa for having made false statements before a consular official.

The husband wrote to the consul that he really loved his wife and had forgiven her and to give her a visa. The consul refused.

There is relief under immigration law. But the husband’s family did not want to spend the money to help a shameless woman who might also commit adultery upon landing in America.

How do you prevent your wife from committing adultery?

There is a couple – the man was 90 and the alien wife was 60 and still very attractive – who spent every day together. The man recently joined our Creator.

It is safer for a man to marry a woman who loves him than a woman he loves.

Atty. Emmanuel Samonte Tipon was a Fulbright and Smith-Mundt scholar to Yale Law School where he obtained a Master of Laws degree specializing in Constitutional Law. He graduated with a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of the Philippines. He placed third in the 1955 bar examinations.

He is admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, New York, and the Philippines. He practices federal law, with emphasis on immigration law and appellate federal criminal defense. He was the Dean and a Professor of Law of the College of Law, Northwestern University, Philippines. He has written law books and legal articles for the world’s most prestigious legal publisher and writes columns for newspapers. He wrote the annotations and case notes to the Immigration and Nationality Act published by The Lawyers Co-operative Publishing Co. and Bancroft Whitney Co. He wrote the best-seller “Winning by Knowing Your Election Laws.” Listen to The Tipon Report which he co-hosts with his son Attorney Emmanuel “Noel” Tipon.

They talk about immigration law, criminal law, court-martial defense, politics, and current events. It is considered the most witty, interesting, and useful radio show in Hawaii. KNDI 1270 AM band every Thursday at 8:00 a.m. Atty. Tipon was born in Laoag City, Philippines.

Cell Phone (808) 225-2645. E-Mail: filamlaw@yahoo.com. Website: https://www.tiponimmigrationguide.com The information provided in this article is not legal advice. Publication of this information is not intended to create, and receipt by you does not constitute, an attorneyclient relationship.)

In the Trenches

(From Page 12)

They wanted the Philippine government to regain full control of the sensitive and strategic power sector and avoid potential complications in case a conflict erupts in the region.

Tulfo is not concocting scenarios. His concerns are valid but his proposals should be more practical and realistic.

The government cannot retake control of the grid. It is not ready to buy out the SGCC stake in the NGCP. It has to look for a white knight to replace the Chinese investment.

In the meantime, the government can take some security measures to protect the grid from potential harm.

But Tulfo’s concerns should not be ignored. China’s role in the country’s power sector has very serious security implications.

Ken Go

(From Page 20)

have gone from modest declines to modest increases in the latest data. Per the latest report from FHFA, the national Purchase-only House Price Index was up 0.5% in February after seasonal adjustment. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city Composite Home Price Index was also positive in February 2023.

There is a high degree of uncertainty around these estimates, given that the recent market volatility has been larger than usual and seasonal adjustments remain challenging in a shifting market. Signals are pointing to the potential beginnings of a return to modest growth in house prices nationally. However, our own approach to forecasting house prices remains conservative, and our corporate forecast (described below) calls for modest declines in house prices over the next two years.

Recent developments in the U.S. mortgage market In the week of May 4, 2023, the U.S. weekly average mortgage interest rate in our Primary Mortgage Market Survey® was 6.39% for the 30-year fixed. This is up 1.12 percentage points from a year ago, but down from the peak of 7.08% in the week of November 10, 2022. After peaking last fall, mortgage rates have been drifting mostly sideways staying in the range of 6 to 6.5%. This is welcome stability for the housing market that saw a record increase in mortgage rates during the calendar year 2022.

With unemployment low and household income still buoyed from excess savings relative to historical averages, mortgage performance remains good on aggregate. Per the latest National Delinquency Survey from the Mortgage Bankers Association, as of the 4th quarter of 2022 only 1.38% of all mortgage loans serviced were 90 days or more past due or seriously delinquent. Among conventional loans, less than 1% were seriously delinquent, while the rate for FHA loans was 3.39% and for VA loans was 1.75%. According to our Monthly Volume Summary for March 2023, Freddie Mac seriously delinquent rates were just 0.62%, down from 0.66% in February.

Thanks for your inquiries. Call Ken Go of 1st Innovative Finance Group 562-508-7048 or write to kennethgo@verizon.net CABRE 01021223 NMLS 238636

As I See It

(From Page 12)

field reporter; People’s Journal and book author. And Don Orozco, Sr. International Correspondent, Eagle Broadcasting Corporation; Host, Radyo Agila sa Amerika.

For the Middle School Category are: Benjie Fernandez, Immediate Past President, Milpitas Executive Lions Club; 2ndVice Governor, District, Lions International; Dr. Roman Dannug, PhD, Former PUP Dean; Rudolfo Brillantes, Former PUP English Lit. Professor; Denis Marks, Former Stage Drama and English/Journalism Professor, Evergreen Community College; and Lino F. Caringal, Jr., Co-Editor, Palaris and The Urdaneta Voice (TUV).

The collaborative effort for community service went on because every time Lions International have projects, he invites me to join him and be ja judge. He invited me to be a judge during the Lions International Peace Poster Contest 2020 – 2021. I went through the judging criteria and submitted to him scores of the contestants.

Okay, folks, the Lion superstar is here!

His installation as district governor by Lions International will be held on July 16-11, 2023 and his installation by the district will be on August 12, 2023 at Newark, Fremont, CA. Kudos to the super hero Lion-Governor-Elect Benjie Fernandez!

(Elpidio R. Estioko was a veteran journalist in the Philippines and an award-winning journalist here in the US. He just published his book Unlocking the Chain of Poverty: In Pursuit of the American Dream now available in Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Xlibris Publishing. For feedbacks, comments email the author at estiokoelpidio@gmail.com).

Diliman Way

(From Page 13)

which will cancel both the 2025 and 2028 elections. Is it possible?

The answer is yes because anything is possible no matter how remote.

Is it likely to happen – meaning probable? There are current events that show why it is probable that a coup d’etat will likely happen – sooner that we think..

First, disturbances in the rank and file both in the military and the police occasioned by reshuffle at the top; illegal drug involvement of police, military and civilian government officials; forced resignations veiled as courtesy resignations of top level officials and the problems of military and police pensions. Second, soaring prices of commodities and services, First Lady perceived interference in government and inability of the President to control her; incompetent leadership in the handling of domestic and international affairs.

Second, the clashing political ambitions of top strategic officials in government as shown in the obvious or apparent break in the UNITY TEAM demonstrated in the conduct of the top leaders of the country..

The desire to remain in power for personal and family reasons is too tempting to resist and it is the continuing habit of presidential, economic and political families here Third, both the PBBM and DUTERTE-GMA camps have the apparatus, the means, power and influence to pull a coup - considering the people of this country will accept any changes in government leadership as shown in EDSA I and EDSA 2.

Alignment of forces: The PBBM camp, on the surface appears to have an upper hand in a coup confrontation. First, PBBM as President has all the forces behind him – the whole government. Second, he has personalities who have prominently featured prominently in previous coups – Former Defense Minister and Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, Former Senator and retired Colonel Gregorio Honasan and Former Senator and retired Navy Captain Antonio Trillanes. That is quite a formidable force and not a laughing matter.

On the other hand, the DUTERTE-GMA camp, likewise, has a solid coup experience. On top of this group on matters of pulling successful coups is Former President GMA. She had a solid coup experience with the ouster of President Joseph Ejercito Estrada. With the help of the late President Fidel Valdez Ramos (FVR), they mounted a huge rally at the area where the Robinson’s Galleria is located, fronting Edsa. The support of the military was crucial to this move.

FVR was not able to convince Armed Forces Chief of Staff General ANGELO”ANGIE” REYES (CSAFP) to withdraw support from the Estrada government. A group of generals headed by the late Defense Secretary General Fortunato “Tony” Abat and Rebolusyunariong Alyansang Makabayan (RAM) Chairman General Edgardo “Abe” Abenina were trying to persuade CSAFP Angie Reyes to part ways from President but Angie refused. So Generals Abat and Abenina sought the help of a friend to persuade Angie Reyes.

For historical purposes, this is how the conversation went: Their Friend – My friends, what wind brought you here?

General Abat – We need your help.

Their Friend – For what?

General Abat – To persuade CSAFP to withdraw support from Erap.

Their Friend – Why me? I don’t know him and he doesn’t know me.

General Abat – You see, we tried to persuade him for the past six months but we could not persuade him because he thinks he is better than us as he studied at Harvard University and considers himself as a Harvard intellectual.

Their Friend - But I did not go to Harvard as I refused to apply for an offered Harvard scholarship.

General Abat – You are a UP intellectual and Angie knows that.

You are at par with him

 HEALTH NEWS

June 2-8, 2023

28

WHO launches global network to detect and prevent infectious disease threat GENEVA - WHO and partners are launching a global network to help protect people from infectious disease threats through the power of pathogen genomics.

The International Pathogen Surveillance Network (IPSN) will provide a platform to connect countries and regions, improving systems for collecting and analyzing samples, using these data to drive public health decision-making, and sharing that information more broadly.

Pathogen genomics analyzes the genetic code of viruses, bacteria and other disease-causing organisms to understand how infectious they are, how deadly they are, and how they spread.

With this information, scientists and public health officials can identify and track diseases to prevent and respond to outbreaks as part of a broader disease surveillance system, and to develop treatments and vaccines.

The IPSN, with a Secretariat hosted by the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence, brings together experts worldwide at the cutting-edge of genomics and data analytics, from governments, philanthropic foundations, multilateral organizations, civil society, academia and the private sector.

All share a common goal: to detect and respond to disease threats before they become epidemics and pandemics, and to optimize routine disease surveillance.

“The goal of this new network is ambitious, but it can also play a vital role in health security: to give every country access to pathogen genomic sequencing and

analytics as part of its public health system,” said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

“As was so clearly demonstrated to us during the COVID-19 pandemic, the world is stronger when it stands together to fight shared health threats.”

COVID-19 highlighted the critical role pathogen genomics plays in responding to pandemic threats. Without the rapid sequencing of the SARS-COV-2 genome, vaccines would not have been as effective, or have been made available so quickly. New, more transmissible variants of the virus would not have been as quickly identified. Genomics lies at the heart of effective epidemic and pandemic preparedness and response, as well as part of the ongoing surveillance of a vast range of diseases, from foodborne diseases and influenza to tuberculosis and HIV. Its use in monitoring the spread HIV drug resistance for example, has led to antiretroviral regimes that have saved countless lives.

“Global collaboration in pathogen genomic surveillance has been critical as the world fights COVID-19 together,” said Dr. Rajiv J. Shah, President of The Rockefeller Foundation. “IPSN builds upon this experience by creating a strong platform for partners across sectors and borders to share knowledge, tools, and practices to ensure that pandemic prevention and response is innovative and robust in the future.”

Despite recent scale-up in genomics capacity in countries as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, many

still lack effective systems for collecting and analyzing samples or using those data to drive public health decision-making. There is not enough sharing of data, practices, and innovations to build a robust global health surveillance architecture. Budgets that soared during the pandemic, allowing a rapid build-up of capabilities, are now being slashed, even in the wealthiest countries.

“Argentina is deeply invested in building our own country capacity in pathogen genomics and the capacity of other countries,” said Josefina Campos, Director of the National Genomics and Bioinformatics Center at ANLIS Malbrán, Argentina. “Diseases do not respect borders: a disease threat in one country is also a threat to others. We look forward to collaborating with IPSN members to achieve our common goal of preventing illness and saving lives.”

The IPSN will tackle these challenges through a global network, connecting geographies and disease-specific networks, to build a collaborative system to better detect, prevent and respond to disease threats. Members will work together in dedicated groups focusing on specific challenges, supported by funding through the IPSN to scale-up ideas and projects in pathogen genomics. By connecting countries, regions, and wider stakeholders, the IPSN will help to increase critical capacity, amplify regional and country-level voices, and strengthen their priorities.

The “Ionizer” scam Heart of Hope

As far as health is concerned, the majority, if not all, of us, want the best health minus the sacrifices needed to achieve it effectively and safely. We want to be healthy without exercising, dieting or abstaining from smoking and without disciplined alcohol intake. We want to have PHILIP S. CHUA good blood pressure and good cholesterol level without skimping on our salt and fat intake and quitting cigarettes. We want to lose weight without cutting down on our calorie intake and exercising daily.

For expediency, any pill or juice or gadget that comes along with the claim that it is good for our health becomes a “must-buy” crutch, believing it will confer upon us good health and longevity, without lifting a finger, moving a muscle, or getting off the couch and putting down the remote control and the potato chips.

Unfortunately, the manufacturers of these “health” lotions, potions, pills, juices and gadgets are mostly interested in making their bank accounts healthy, and least interested in the health of its consumer-victims. Otherwise, they won’t continue to prey on the unsuspecting public and sell their useless products, which may even have severe long-term side-effects. And organ-failure and cancer are some of those possibilities!

It is one thing to pay for a very expensive pill or juice or machine and find out years from now that it was not effective. It is another to discover years down the line that its use has caused a debilitating or deadly disease.

Now comes the water ionizer, the “ionized” alkaline water it produces, the “special drinking water.” Not only are these marketed waters and the ionizing machines

expensive, but they are, according to scientists, “medically baseless and worthless.” Most of the good effects these manufacturers claim for their products are available in healthy food items, like fish, fruits, bran, wheat, nuts, vegetables, and water purified by the most advanced multiple-stage reverse-osmosis filtration system.

It might come as a surprise to many but boiled water, minus its sediments, is safer than some of this expensive drinking water. Using the commercially available home water filtration pitcher or the below-the-sink multiplestage reversed osmosis filtration system, and then boiling the water will even double the protection. This will certainly not cost $1500-$2500 like the ionizers.

When it comes to health, there is no better guide than our modern science, where extensive and rigidly controlled laboratory testing, and double-blind, randomized, human clinical trials are the standard before any medication or device gets official approval and goes out to the market.

Anecdotal reports (usually solicited) or testimonials (usually from paid endorsers) are not scientific proofs.

These are misinformation used to market the product with some semblance of “truth.” Candidly, these are nothing but lies. If not approved by the US-FDA, RPBFAD or any other similar national health agencies, any product is a potential suspect. So, public, beware!

As far as the water ionizer is concerned, here is “the bottom line” as objectively explained in a detailed scientific paper, which aims to educate and protect the public: “Here, in a nutshell, are few basic facts that anyone with a solid background in chemistry or physiology would concur with: (1) “Ionized water” is nothing more than sales fiction; the term is meaningless to chemists; (2) Most water that is fit for drinking is too non-conductive to undergo significant electrolysis; (3) Pure water can never be alkaline or acidic, nor can it be made so by electrolysis; (4) Ground waters containing metal ions

such as calcium and magnesium can be rendered slightly alkaline by electrolysis, but after it hits the highly acidic gastric fluid in the stomach, its alkalinity is gone; (5) The idea that one must consume alkaline water to neutralize the effects of acidic foods is ridiculous; we get rid of excess acid by exhaling carbon dioxide; (6) The claims about health benefits of drinking alkaline water were not supported by credible scientific evidence; (7) There is nothing wrong with drinking slightly acidic waters such as rainwater. Body pH is a meaningless concept in this context because different parts of the body (and even individual cells) can have widely different pH value; (8) If you really want to de-acidify your stomach (at possible cost of interfering with protein digestion), why spend hundreds of dollars for an electrolysis device when you can take calcium-magnesium pills, AlkaSeltzers or Milk of Magnesia?; (9) Electrolysis devices or ionizers are generally worthless for treating water for health enhancement, removal of common impurities, disinfection and scale control.”

To protect our health and pocketbook, we must use our wisdom and due diligence.

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, later Senator, and then 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

29 June 1-7, 2023

NEWS  NATIONAL VIEWS & COMMENTS THE RIGHT TO LIVE

G

By TIM PEDROSA

od lead us where He want us to be, not where we want to be. When we are confronted with difficult decision, God always gives us better options. He guides and gives us everything: a key for every problem, a relief for every sorrow, a plan for every tomorrow. Yes, there is Someone who knows and understands our every thought and feeling, the pleasure and the pain, the joy and the sorrow. Here’s a story of a doctor who was confronted with a critical decision to abort or not a deformed unborn child in order to spare the child’s family with hardship. The child turned out to be a joy and pride not only of her family but also of many. Dr. Frederic Loomis faced a very difficult decision, should he allow the deformed baby about to be delivered to live or die. He had only seconds to decide. Dr. Loomis had delivered hundreds of babies, but this one was different. The infant lay in a breech position (feet-first, as opposed to the normal head-first position), promising at best a difficult and dangerous birth. One of its feet stretched only to the knee of the other leg. Furthermore, the child was missing a thigh. The mother, a frail person visiting the sterile delivery room for her first time, wasn’t aware of the grossly deformed child struggling to survive.

Dr. Loomis closed his eyes; at his fingertips wriggled a pitiful creature yet unborn. Would not the most loving thing be to detain the birth long enough to cause the child to be stillborn? He agonized within himself.

Will this kid not be considered a freak, a twisted burden to its delicate mother? How can I justify playing a part in such a cruel drama? Surely no one will ever know if I spare this family from inevitable pain. The doctor, through the baby’s cord, felt its heartbeat, dancing in rhythm to his own wildly racing heart. As Dr. Loomis continued to prevent the birth, he felt the normal foot pressing for passage into the world. Suddenly, he could no longer justify “playing God.” Instead, he would trust God to care for this child against what seemed to be impossible odds. Dr. Loomis delivered the infant into the world, which, he sensed, would be very unkind. In the years that followed, Dr. Loomis often second-guessed his decision. He watched the anguish of the family as desperate parents sought in vain to find some correction for their child’s deformity. Even after they moved away, Dr. Loomis continued to lament the burden that he’d saddled on the family.

The heartache, if often said to himself, was his fault. In time, however, Dr. Loomis would find peace. It came at an unexpected time and place, the hospital Christmas party. Typically, it was during the holiday season when his pain seemed most severe. He couldn’t shake the image of that unfortunate child from his mind. While the world celebrated the greatest birth ever known, Dr. Loomis obsessed over the saddest birth he’d ever known. At this particular party, the most heavenly music filled the room. The sadness seemed to dissipate as the rich tones of “Silent Night” washed Dr. Loomis’ anguished spirit. Following the concert, a woman approached him. “Doctor,” she said excitedly. “You saw her!” Dr. Loomis studied the woman’s face, wanting to recognize her but unable to recall the memory. “I’m sorry.

I should know you, but you may need to help me.” “Don’t you remember the little girl with only one good leg, seventeen years ago?” Remember....it was the one thing in his life that he couldn’t forget! In disbelief, he listened to her story. “That baby was my daughter, Doctor. And I saw you watching her play the harp tonight! She has an artificial leg. She’s doing well.”

At her Mom’s bidding, the lovely harpist walked toward them. With tears in his eyes, Dr. Loomis enveloped the girl in his arms. “Please,” he said in a tightening voice, “please play Silent Night for me one more time.”

“The young lady returned to her harp and played his request with poise and perfection. As she played, Dr. Loomis reflected on the incredible gift of life. He thought about the sanctity in every person, and he exhaled seventeen years of questions and wondering whether or not it was wise to grant a baby its life. All babies are loved by God from their conception. To take any child’s life from the day of their conception is destroying someone created in Gods image. God does not lead His children around hardship, but leads them straight through hardship and amidst the hardship, He is nearer to them than ever before. When we look back and wonder how we ever made it thru the years, we realize it’s not because we’ve been clever but because God has been wise; not because we’ve been strong but because God has been mighty; not because we’ve been consistent but because God has been faithful.

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St. Paul’s Prayer Blessing

blessing is a good word spoken over a person or a community. In Latin, blessing is “benedicere” – “bene” good, “dicere” to speak; hence, to bless is “to speak good of or about.”

Other Neo-Latin languages, like Italian: “Benedire,” “bene” good, “dire” to say, so it is “to say the good;” in Spanish: “Bendicion,” “ben” good, “dicion” from “decir” to tell or speak, so “to tell the REV. JOSE PELAGIO A. PADIT, SThD good.” A prayer for someone or about someone or something is actually a blessing; for the person praying is using good words addressed to God about that someone or something being prayed for. Imagine, if we can just be people who are easily able to say good words, we would not only feel good about each other and grow in mutual good relationships, but also we will promote prayer and blessing before God among us, who are no less than the household of God in Christ Jesus His Son. St. Paul has this prayer and blessing to the community of Thessalonica: “May the God of peace Himself make you perfectly holy and may you entirely, spirit, soul, and body, be preserved blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thess. 5:23).” This is a prayerful blessing that encapsulate what our entire life is about; that, God would deign to make this blessing happen, as those whom this blessing is given would pursue its content. St. Paul addressed himself to God as “God of peace,” peace is not to be understood here only as absence of chaos, but that God is harmony Himself, the balance of every good and perfect things or attributes in Him. Addressing God in this way, St. Paul, prays that the people too on whom he was sending his prayer and blessing may share and participate in God’s peace, harmony, beauty, goodness, joy, wellness, and everything about God. It makes sense, that St. Paul would pray, “make you perfectly holy,” in other translation, “make you be perfect in holiness,” for as God has everything in harmony and beauty in Himself as God of Peace, so holiness is a life of total integration in all that is good. A holy person is a whole person, nothing is fragmented in him, for the presence of God in him becomes the center and point of reference of all his life’s elements. As the person works on for holiness with the grace of God, he struggles against sin, which is another way of saying broken or separation. Anything broken or a separation in relation to our life with God is sin. Thus, in our journey to holiness we cannot but fight against anything that breaks us away from God, and thus, pursue anything that connects us to Him, which is another way of saying godliness or holiness. To be prayed for before God that we may be perfectly connected to Him and that all elements in our life be perfectly in harmony or synch is divine in itself; thus, such a prayer can divinize, can make holy, by God’s action and grace.

Moreover, holiness happens when the entire person becomes consistent with what divine life is. God’s life is never compatible with evil, bad, and sinful. Hence, St. Paul says: “may you entirely, spirit, soul, and body, be preserved blameless,” the whole person is the object of the blessing. God is concerned for our entire wellbeing. Salvation and sanctification are for person’s entire wellbeing. Going to heaven is not only for the spiritual soul, it is also the destiny of the body. To be blameless, to be free from sin and guilt, in body and in soul, is the purpose of salvation and our cooperation to God’s work in us. We struggle and fight against all sin and vices, as rightly so, for we cannot give God a place in us where there is something contrary to Him. This blessing of St. Paul calls on God to empower the Christians to fight fiercely in the battle against sin, at the same time allowing God to make us blameless, by the merits of His Son’s Paschal Mystery. Lastly, the purpose of holiness and being preserved blameless is to be worthy to meet the Lord; “for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Our eyes, bodily and spiritually, must be directed always at our ultimate union with God. As St. Paul himself said, “I do not run aimlessly (1 Cor. 9:26),” which means, we have to look ahead at our encounter with the Lord Jesus with eagerness.

Having this perspective in life will make us be aware at all times that life is meaningless without God, for it is Him that gives purpose, meaning, and value to everything in our life. May we live our lives in pursuit of what St. Paul’s blessing mean, and may God indeed, make us holy, preserve us blameless to be ready to meet Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.

Aflame The Heart

INSPIRATIONAL ARTICLE FOR THE WEEK

31 June 1-7, 2023  NATIONAL NEWS

 FOOD & TRAVELS

 FOOD & TRAVELS

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.

Bohol Island tagged as Philippines’ first UNESCO Global Geopark TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol Bohol Island has been recognized as the Philippines’ first Global Geopark, the United Nations’ cultural agency announced.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said Global Geoparks are “single, unified geographical areas where sites and landscapes of international geological significance are managed with a holistic concept of protection, education, and sustainable development.”

There are currently 195 UNESCOrecognized geoparks in 48 countries.

“Two UNESCO Member States join the network: New Zealand and the Philippines,” UNESCO said in a statement shared by one of the agency’s press officers, Clare O’Hagan.

Bohol Island’s Global Geopark status was announced during the 216th session of UNESCO’s executive board, which was held in Paris, France.

The Bohol Island Geopark will soon join 17 other new geoparks in the Global Geoparks Network, it said in a Facebook post.

“The Network provides a platform for international cooperation, al-

lowing global geoparks and aspiring geoparks to share best practices and enhance the UNESCO Global Geopark brand,” the group added.

In Bohol Island’s nomination along with other geoparks, UNESCO described the Philippine area as having “scenic and varied landforms and structural features.”

“The Geopark features one of the six double barrier reefs in the world and the only barrier reef in Southeast Asia,” it said.

“Bohol also boasts of highly diverse flora and fauna due to its dynamic geologic and tectonic history conserving endemic species through protected areas for the Dipterocarpacea family rainforest trees and animal sanctuaries.”

In 2013, a group of researchers from the University of the Philippines conducted fieldwork on potential geoparks in the Philippines, according to the provincial government of Bohol. The group then identified Bohol’s “geological karst and limestone landforms as a prospect.”

Bohol would later become one of the 18 nominated geoparks in 2022 “for its geological significance and scientific importance.”