Norcal 7/28/22-8/3/22

1 July 28-August 3, 2022

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA EDITION

www.pnewstoday.com

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

Vol. 61 No. 51 July 28-August 3, 2022

NEWS AND VIEWS YOU TRUST

MARCOS OUTLINES PLANS, SEEKS CONGRESS SUPPORT Proposes 19 bills for better gov’t, economy

By ALFRED GABOT, Editor-in-Chief

park destination Presidio Tunnel Tops in San Francisco has opened with US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi leading the ribbon-cutting ceremony with community leaders and Partnership for the Presidio representatives.

PHL COVID situation not getting better

By Be�ng Laygo Dolor, Editor

MANILA – First, they said the new surge in COVID infections would hit its peak around mid-July. Then they corrected themselves and said it would reach its highest point by end-

July. Now they’re not sure, only admitting that the number of new infections per day could hit 19,000 sometime in late August.

They refers to the Department of Health (DOH), which Page 8

By Jeanne Michael Penaranda

World-class San Francisco BAGUIO CITY/MANILA A powerful magnitude 7 earthPresidio Tunnel Tops opens -quake jolted Abra, Ilocos Sur and

QUEZON CITY — For the first time in his term, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. addressed the joint session of Congress on July 25 and came out with a definitive plans and programs for the country’s growth and support to the

By Jun Nucum people in his State of the Nation Address (SONA) considSAN FRANCISCO - The Offering the amazing view ered as a preview of his six-year term. Page 9 much-anticipated new national of the Golden Gate Bridge, the

SONA. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. delivers his first State of the Na�on Address (SONA) before the joint session of Congress as Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri and Speaker Ferdinand Mar�n Romualdez listen.

Big quake jolts N. Luzon, 5 dead, 64 hurt

Tunnel Tops features family picnic tables where 20 to 30 people can gather, grills, playground, easy access to wheelchair-bound individuals and soon will have food truck making it a place for the whole family to enjoy.

The culmination Page 10

many parts of northern Luzon and Central Luzon, resulting to death of at least five persons and injuries to more than 60 and damaging buildings, roads, old churches and heritage sites.

Officials said two people were reportedly killed in Benguet, one in Kalinga, one in Abra, and another one in Cagayan Page 8

Upside

Abuse rooted in colonial past

By Cherie M. Querol Moreno

SAN BRUNO, Calif. Professor Rod Daus – Magbual’s students learned about intimate partner violence or IPV’s place in RIBBON CUTTING. From fourth to le� to right, Dylan Nepomuceno, Speaker the continuum Daly City Nancy Pelosi, Presidio Trust CEO Jean Fraser and President and CEO of the of colonialism Mayor teaches Golden Gate Na�onal Parks Conservancy Chris Lehnertz join other guests as at a semes- F i l i p i n o - a - x they prepare to cut the ribbon symbolizing the opening of Presidio Tunnel Studies. Page 11 Tops.

Court upholds dismissal of P200-B case vs Marcos family

Romualdez is Speaker, Arroyo senior Deputy Speaker VIEWS & COMMENTS

SHOWBIZ

SPORTS

Reopening a deportation in absentia

Dingdong Dantes, Daniel Padilla lead FAMAS nominees

PHL lifters win 15 golds in Asian Youth and Junior Championship

By A�y. Lozano

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Page 18

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3 July 28-August 3, 2022

 NATIONAL NEWS

US remains PHL friend, partner, ally: Marcos

E N D U R I N G T I E S . M ar yK ay L o ss C ar lso n , U n i ted S tates Amb assad o r to th e Ph i li p p i n es, meets w i th Pr esi d en t F er dinand Bongbong Marcos Jr. (3rd and th from le�) at M alac añ an g Palac e i n M an i la.

MANILA – President Ferdinand “ Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has assured that the Philippines will continue to

have strong relations with the United States (US) under his leadership.

Marcos made the commitment when he received the credentials of MaryKay Loss Carlson, US Ambassador to the Philippines, at Malacañ ang Palace in Manila last Friday. “ To echo your commitment that the United States is committed to the Philippines, the Philippines is also committed to the United States, committed to the continuing relationship between our two countries in the many dimensions and the multi-faceted nature of our relationship between the US and the Philippines,” Marcos told Carlson.

Marcos said the traditional ties between the Philippines and the US continue to be “ deep and enduring.”

The Philippines and the US established formal diplomatic relations on July 4 , 194 6, the day when the Philippines gained its status as an independent and sovereign state.

The two countries have ex panded and deepened bi-

lateral cooperation in many fields, including defense and security, trade and commerce, and culture and education.

Marcos said the US will stay as the Philippines’ “ friend, partner, and an ally” . “ In the face of a very volatile global political and economic situation, it is this from the ties that we have with our friends and perhaps, the longest of those, the United States of America, we depend on those ties to keep the stability of not only our country but also the region and for that matter, the world,” he said.

US President Joe Biden earlier invited Marcos to visit the US. Marcos was given the assurance that he will have “ full diplomatic immunity” as head of state, despite a long-standing contempt order that had prevented him from entering the US. On July 1, Marcos vowed to further boost the Philippines’ relations with its allied countries, including the US, by “ ex ploring areas of mutual interest” .

Sandiganbayan upholds dismissal of P200-B civil case vs. Marcos family O C he andigan ayan has affirmed its decision in 2019 junking the forfeiture case involving illion filed against the arcoses on the family’s alleged ill-gotten wealth.

In a decision dated July 22 penned by 4 th Division Chairperson Alex Q uiroz , the anti-graft court dismissed the civil case as the government failed to prove that four properties under the control of the Marcos family were illegally acquired.

The four properties in question are the Currimao Beach House, the Romualdez ancestral house in Pandacan, Manila, the Batac Museum and the Batac Guest House.

Considering that the evidence already offered y the plaintiff during trial do not sufficiently esta lish its claims as to the properties mentioned above that are purportedly still within the Marcoses’ control, the court is constrained to deny the plaintiffs motion for recon-

sideration dated 29 December 2019 as regards the said properties,” the court said in the decision concurred in

by Associate Justices Maria Theresa Mendoz a-Arcega and Maryann Corpus-Mañ alac.

Civil Case No. 0002 involved assets recovered through compromise agreements or other related cases such as Philippine Telecommunications Investment Corporation shares, properties in Cabuyao, Laguna; Paoay, Ilocos Norte; the Sto. Nino Shrine and People’s Center in Tacloban City; the Swiss deposits; Arelma assets and properties, as well as jewelry and paintings.

In its earlier decision in 2019, the Sandibangayan dismissed the civil case for lack of strong evidence since evidence submitted to the court were mostly photocopied documents. “ Bearing in mind the rule that technical rules of procedure and evidence shall not be strictly applied to cases for forfeiture of ill-gotten wealth such as the one at bar, the Court afforded the plaintiff the opportunity to submit further evidence in support of the subject report.

Unfortunately, no such evidence was forthcoming,” the Sandiganbayan decision stated.

The case stemmed from Civil Case 0002, which was filed y the Office of the olicitor eneral against the Marcoses in 198 7 to recover 106 properties that are allegedly part of the ill-gotten wealth acquired by the family during the reign of President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. from 1965 to 198 6.

The Sandiganbayan also emphasiz ed in its decision that the Philippine government admitted in a compliance pleading

dated April 25 this year that all relevant evidences to support their case have been presented during the trial.

In December 2019, the anti-graft court’s fourth division dismissed the P200-billion forfeiture case against the arcoses for lac of sufficient evidence In the separate concurring opinion of Justice Mañ alac, the mootness of the case because the assets were already recovered in favor of the government is the proper ground for dismissal.

 METRO NEWS

July 28-August 3, 2022

4

Cabinet Ex-Lamitan City mayor, 2 others 2 new members, killed in shooting inside Ateneo; others named Basilan doctor nabbed, charged B y Jean n e M i c h ael Pen ar an d a O C former asilan town mayor and two others died in a shooting incident inside the teneo de anila niversity in uezon City on unday, uly , triggering the postponement of a College of Law graduation e ercises in which the e -mayor was supposed to attend as her wounded daughter was to graduate there. olice immediately arrested the suspected gunman, a doctor, identified as r Chao- iao umol, , a resident of asilan, who was placed under police custody he nonas olice tation identified the fatalities as osita urigay, former mayor of Lamitan City in asilan province ictor eorge Capistrano, the e ecutive assistant of urigay and eneven andiala, a security guard who tried to stop the gunman. y onday, uly , the uezon City olice istrict C filed murder and frustrated murder charges against r umol, the hilippine ational olice said umol is detained at Camp aringal and is now facing complaints for three counts of murder and frustrated murder in relation epu lic ct Comprehen-

D r . C h ao -T i ao Y umo l, Aten eo d e M an i la sh o o ti n g susp ec t, at C amp K ar i n gal, Q uez o n C i ty

sive irearms and mmunition egulation ct , violation of ew ntiCarnapping ct of , and malicious mischief amounting to , efore the uezon City rosecutors Office resident erdinand ong ong arcos r vowed a swift investigation into the Ateneo shooting incident.

This, as the President mourned with the ereaved families of the fatalities annait, reportedly urigay s daughter who was supposed to join the graduation ceremony of the chool of Law at the

$495

ret comple inside the teneo de anila niversity campus in uezon City, is undergoing treatment. e commit our law enforcement agencies to thoroughly and swiftly investigate these illings and ring all involved to justice, arcos said Marcos said he is “ shocked and saddened y the shooting incident that happened at about 2: 5 5 p.m.

Our prayers go to the graduates, their families, the teneo community, and to the residents of uezon City and asilan, Marcos said. urigay was shot while wal ing towards the lo y of one of the uildings of the school where the graduation of teneo Law students was supposed to e held he was declared dead in the hospital along with Capistrano The incident happened at about 2: 5 5 p.m. urigay s daughter annah, who was among the graduates of the chool of Law, was injured and was undergoing treatment. t press time, annah has een declared out of danger. he ational Capital egion olice Office C O said r umol, allegedly resented urigay for allowing the proliferation of illegal drugs C director rig en emus edina earlier said umol, , has a personal grudge against the slain urigay edina said the urigays had filed cy er li el cases against umol, who has escaped arrest since the issuance of eight arrest warrants in 2019. ue to the charges, umol allegedly was una le to practice his medical profession, saying that was one of his motivations for committing the crime.

MANILA – President Ferdinand arcos r has appointed new officials as he retained J. Prospero de Vera as chairman of the Commission on Higher E ducation (CHE D) with Cabinet rank and osalia illegas de Leon as ational Treasurer.

Marcos, at the same time, made official the appointment of Ca inet memer aphael erpetuo Lotilla as ecretary of the epartment of nergy O ress ecretary ri ie Cruz- ngeles said the other new appointees are: ranz osef eorge spina lvarez as cting resident, Chief ecutive Officer, and em er, oard of irectors of the hilippine ational Oil Company OC ploration Corp hilippe ones Lhuillier as m assador traordinary and lenipotentiary to the ingdom of pain, including the Canary slands edro amirez Laylo as m assador traordinary and lenipotentiary to the tate of srael mmanuel uena or alamat as ecutive irector, ational ecretariat of the ational as orce to nd Local Communist rmed Con ict LC C 5 . E pimaco Verano Densing III as ndersecretary, epartment of ducation ep d erdinand ernandez evilla as resident, hilippine u lic afety College C , which is under the epartment of the nterior and Local overnment onica rieto eodoro as pecial nvoy of the resident to the nited ations Children s und nicef le uiroz as Chairman of the overnance Commission for overnment-Owned or Controlled Corporations C

President joins INC anniversary, seeks unity

408.286.9360 408.286.9311

O C resident erdinand ong ong arcos r has called on the mem ers of the glesia ni Cristo C to join his call for unity to achieve the common goal of ringing progress to the nation arcos made the call as he joined the C in cele rating its th founding anniversary arcos, in his message, e pressed optimism that unity would prevail despite religious and political differences amitin natin ang pag a ataong ito upang tayo ay ganap na mag asundo sa a ila ng ating mga pag a ai a at hindi pagkakaunawaan. Nawa, sa ating pagbubuklod ay ma amit natin nang sama-sama ang ating mga minimithi para sa nang ayan Let us use this opportunity to stand united despite our differences and misunderstandings hope that this occasion would help us achieve our common goal for the country , he said. arcos also than ed the congregation for its efforts to help the country attain peace and order.

Lu os ang a ing pasasalamat sa inyong

pa i iisa sa pamahalaan at sa mga mamamayang ilipino sa pagtataguyod ng a utihan at apayapaan sa ating ansa at sa i a t i ang panig ng mundo am e tremely grateful for your efforts to unite with the government and the ilipino people to ensure peace and order in the country and other parts of the world , he said. arcos wished the C community a solemn and merry cele ration of its th anniversary e also hoped that the C, under the leadership of rother duardo analo, continues to grow. a ayan nawa ng ma ang inyong agapamahalang ang alahatan na si duardo analo at ang aniyang mga atuwang sa pamumuno angad o na pag aloo an sila ng iyos ng sapat na la as, arunungan, at a a aang-loo para sa higit na i auunlad ng glesia ni Cristo ay the Lord guide C ecutive inister duardo analo and other leaders of your congregation pray for their strength, nowledge and humility to serve the glesia ni Cristo , arcos said

5 July 28-August 3, 2022

 PROVINCIAL NEWS

Mayors back expanded Negros Island Region BACOLOD CITY – The 32 city and municipal mayors of Negros Occidental, including this capital city, have e pressed support for the ills filed in the ouse of Representatives for the creation of the expa nded Negros Island Region (NIR) which is composed of the two Negros provinces and Siquijor province.

The move is stated in Resolution 4, series of 2022 unanimously approved by the Negros Association of Local Chief E xe cutives (ACE ) led by its president, Mayor Javier Miguel Benitez of Victorias City. “ The re-establishment of One Negros and the inclusion of the province of Siquijor in one administrative region as an expa nded NIR is necessary for faster coordination and implementation of public programs, projects, and initiatives,” the resolution stated in a PNA report.

A copy of the resolution was made available to re-

porters during the meeting and oath-taking rites of the egros C officers at the ocial all of the rovincial Capitol here.

The resolution pointed out that an “ administrative region enjoys a degree of independence in planning, management, and administration, resulting in convenience in doing usiness etween the provinces and efficient utiliz ation of the available resources.”

It also stated that under an expa nded NIR, “ several regional government offices will e more accessi le to the people, making governance closer to the grassroots and communities, producing oon ripple effects on the peace and order, economic growth, and social development.” “ Greater economic coordination will strengthen (the) economics of scale in the provinces of Negros Occiden-

SAN CARLOS CITY, Pangasinan – Two churches in the country have been designated as minor basilica

by Pope Francis raising the minor basilicas to 21, according to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.

The distinction was awarded to St. Dominic Parish in San Carlos City, Pangasinan and the Archdiocesan Shrine of St. Anne in Taguig City.

The Pope elevates a church into a minor basilica for its architectural eauty, historical significance, liturgical renown, the presence of a special relic or work of art, or for any combination of those qualities.” he t ominic arish is the first ominican church in Pangasinan, completed in 1773.

he first site of the t ominic Church was uilt in the city in 15 8 7 as a relatively simple chapel made of bamboo and nipa. The place of worship was moved three times in the th and th centuries due to oodings in the province.

Meanwhile, the Archdiocesan Shrine of St. Anne houses a bone relic of St. Anne. iocese of asig ishop ylo u ert ergara said it is the first minor asilica of the diocese since it was established in 2003. ergara added they filed last year a -page petition to designate the Taguig-based shrine as a minor basilica. The petition contained the church’s history, liturgical services, social services, culture, and devotion.

Pope names San Carlos City, Taguig City churches minor basilicas

Plan to return to old name of Manila airport revived

tal, Negros Oriental, and Siquijor, and will consolidate separate development plans into a coherent, complementary roadmap for sustainable and inclusive growth,” the resolution added.

 NATIONAL NATIONAL NEWS NEWS

July 28-August 3, 2022

6

Sandro Marcos elected House senior majority leader

R ep . S an d r o M ar c o s Q UE Z ON CITY - This one is for the books. residential son and first time lawma er locos orte irst istrict ep erdinand le ander andro raneta arcos has een elected to enior eputy ajority Leader of the ouse of epresentatives. he -year-old neophyte solon who

studied in the niversity of London and the London chool of conomics and olitical cience, will lead a panel of veteran lawma ers headed y ajority Leader anuel ose alipe of am oanga City and eputy ajority Others elected as deputy majority leaders were ala on Lone istrict ep osephine Lacson oel, angasinan th district ep arlyn ga as, atangas th district ep Lianda olilia, uezon City rd district ep ranz umaren, and O arty-list ep ude cidre lected assistant majority leaders were Leyte rd district ep nna ictoria uazon, isamis Occidental nd district ep ancho Oaminal, arlac st district ep aime Cojuangco, Leyte th district ep ichard omez, and o icol arty-list ep aul ongalon

rior to his election as lawma er, the young arcos understudied in the ajority Leader s Office during the th Congress when his uncle, pea er artin omualdez,was ajority Leader s the ouse moves to complete its organization in the th Congress, arty List ep arcelino Li anan was named inority Leader y the lawma ers who did not vote for pea er artin omualdez during onday s election orthern amar st istrict ep aul aza said the inority loc, composed of mem ers, unanimously elected Libanan as their leader.

Li anan, a former chairman of the ouse committee on justice, a former majority leader of the Commission on ppointments, among others, assured he would perform our tas as responsi le

minority of this august cham er aza was elected as enior eputy inority Leader lected deputy minority leaders were arty-list ep ernadette errera, hilreca arty-list ep resley e esus, asilan Lone istrict ep ujiv ataman, C eachers arty-list ep rance Castro, amar st district ep tephen ames an, -O arty-list ep Le nthony olada, and n aray arty-list ep em oel lso elected as assistant minority leaders were O arty-list ep arissa agsino, orthern amar nd district ep arris Ongchuan, s arty-list ep onathan Clement alos, icol aro arty-list ep icolas nciso , a riela arty-list rlene rosas, and C artylist ep ergio agooc ennifer antos

US Secretary of Navy visits Manila, calls for PHL-US navies cooperation L nited tates ecretary of the avy Carlos del oro underscored the importance of the sustainment of cooperation etween hilippine and naval forces el oro made this remar during a courtesy call to hilippine avy ag officer in command, ice dmiral deluis ordado, at the head uarters in anila on uly long with their staffs, oth avy leaders apprised each other on matters of mutual concern, the gains of various areas of colla orations etween the two navies, as well as ways forward to sustain partnership, which enefits and promotes diplomacy, maritime security, and regional sta ility, spo esperson Commander enjo egranza said in a statement

el oro, an advocate of inclusiveness and respect, also emphasized the importance of cooperation in achieving the freedom of navigation avy chief ordado than ed the visiting ecretary for supporting the in terms of capa ility upgrade and ilateral trainings e also reaffirmed his commitment to uilding upon this momentum toward achieving common goals and promoting shared interest, egranza said el oro, the th ecretary of the avy, is in anila for an official visit is visit to the head uarters highlighted the ro ust cooperation etween the two naval forces that greatly contri utes to the furtherance of the long-standing diplomatic relations etween the hilippines and the nited tates

ALLIES. Philippine Navy ag o cer in command, Vice Adm. Adeluis Bordado (right), meets ith US Secretary of the Navy Carlos del Toro during a courtesy call at the PN h ead q uar ter s i n M an i la.

PH Navy’s frigate simulates missile firing in RIMPAC off Hawaii O OL L L he hilippine avy s frigate ntonio Luna has simulated the launching of its surface-to-surface missile armament in the ongoing im of the acific C e ercise off awaii he hilippines multi-mission capale warship also simulated the launching of its surface-to-surface missile in a simulation serial with the apan aritime elfefense orce s zumo and avy o ile ay as opponent ships, avy spo esperson Commander

enjo egranza said in a statement e was referring to the L e s C- tar surface-to-surface missile which is the primary missile weapon of the ose izal-class frigates he C- tar, which was delivered earlier this year, is descri ed as a sea-s imming surface-to-surface anti-ship cruise missile and is part of rigate c uisition Lot

forms and systems t li ewise allows them to e change est practices with and learn from the est navies in the world, egranza said e also said that the ship successfully tested its secondary guns, the mm selsan mash automatic cannon, and the cali er machine guns during the second phase of C s gunnery e ercise held last uly he s participation in C egranza said the ntonio Luna provides our sailors with e periential fired these weapons at the iller tomato learning to etter operate modern plat- target deployed y the o ile ay

eanwhile, during the surface warfare e ercise , the frigate demonstrated its a ility to detect hostile surface contacts with the em ar ed helicopter performing as an intelligence surveillance reconnaissance aircraft his year s C egan on une and runs until ugust egranza earlier said aval as roup would help develop, maintain and enhance the avy s pursuit of maritime colla oration with its counterparts through the e ercise

Bill regulating use of vapes lapses into law L he proposed aporized icotine and on- icotine roducts egulation ct, also nown as the ape egulation ill, has lapsed into law he ill ecomes a law, despite appeals from health e perts, the epartmen of ealth, and the ood and rugs dministration for arcos to veto it ecause of its provisions contradict pu lic health goals and international standards. resident erdinand ong ong arcos r allowed the ill to lapse on uly

sans his signature, ecutive ecretary ictor odriguez said in a letter sent to Congress odriguez also furnished enate resident uan iguel u iri and ouse pea er artin omualdez with a copy of the law regulating the importation, manufacture, sale, pac aging, distri ution, use and communication of vaporized nicotine and non-nicotine products, and novel to acco products he law regulates the importation,

manufacture, sale, pac aging, distri ution, use and communication of vaporized nicotine and non-nicotine products, as well as novel to acco products nder the new law, the epartment of rade and ndustry is tas ed to consult with the ood and rug dministration in setting technical standards for the safety, consistency, and uality of vape products he is also given authority to regulate the vaporized nicotine and non-nico-

tine products and their devices and novel to acco products made from to acco leaves or have nicotine in to acco he law also mandates the epartment of ealth O to prescri e guidelines on the implementation of smo ing and vaping restriction awareness campaigns t also provides protection to minors from accessing vape products y setting the minimum allowa le age for the purchase, sale, and use of such products to years old.

 NATIONAL NEWS PHL Covid... (From page 1) still does not have an appointed Secretary but only an Officer in Charge in the person of undersecretary aria Rosario Vergeire. he high figure hews closely to the pea of the original strain of CO - in , when the entire country was forced to a near standstill. he O had een citing the studies of independent thin tan OC esearch to determine the patterns of how the coronavirus was spreading nationwide after a surge was e perienced starting last month t was OC that ept pushing ac the li ely pea of infections, especially in Metro Manila. he O said this wee that the num er of daily infections could reach as high as , y ugust , depending on the vaccination and booster rates, plus the public’s compliance with minimum health standards.

Under a best-case scenario, where vaccination and booster shot numbers improve, the daily infection rates could slip to etween , and , cases daily (From page 1) Big quake...

province.

The earthquake also disrupted the Light Rail Transit (LRT) and Metro Rail Transit (MRT) operations and services by some private and government agencies and the courts in Metro Manila where the temblor was also felt prompting many to leave buildings for safer grounds.

The tectonic quake, which had a depth of 25 kilometers, struck 2 kilometers northeast of the municipality of Lagangilang in Abra at 8 : 4 3 a.m. on July 27.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered the immediate delivery of relief assistance to the victims of the strong earth ua e and was poised to y to ra and locos provinces where ocial elfare ecretary rwin ulfo ew in advance. n a press conference, ress ecretary ri ie Cruzngeles said arcos mo ilized the ational isaster is eduction and anagement Council C, the epartment of ocial elfare and evelopment , and concerned agencies and local government units (LGUs) to ensure the speedy assistance to quake victims in Abra and nearby areas. “ He (Marcos) has ordered an immediate dispatch of rescue and relief teams to Abra. The President is also co-

July 28-August 3, 2022

8

n a statement to local media, the ealth department said, “ Based on our latest projections and current trends, the number of detected cases at the national level are projected to be on a continuous uptrend, with an estimated , cases reported daily y ugust On the other hand, an improvement in vaccination and booster rates coupled with improved safety protocol standards could arrest the spread to a out , to 8 ,34 6 cases by the end of August.” he O s somewhat up eat projection ies in the face of what is currently happening in uhan, China, glo ally accepted as ground zero of the virus that first appeared in ecem er of China ordered the loc down of large parts of uhan this week, virtually causing up to a million residents to face the immediate future with no access to food or water.

The shutdown was caused by the appearance of a mere four asymptomatic cases. he O appears to e following the call of resident erdinand arcos r who said during his first tate of the ation ddress this wee that whatever

happens vis- -vis CO - , the hilippines would never again enforce lockdowns as a weapon to stop the spread of the disease. n the two-and-a-half years since CO - first appeared, it has mutated into several variants, notably the elta, then the Omicron variant Omicron then had several mutations, one of which is the BA.5 subvariant, which is considered as highly communicable and which is believed to be the cause of the present surge in cases.

As of Monday, this week, the Philippines posted , active CO - cases, of which a out percent or 2,778 were new infections.

Overall, the hilippines has had , , cases with , , recoveries and , fatalities The national government launched this week a campaign to administer ooster shots to percent of the country s eligi le population in the ne t three months One of the goals of the campaign is to vaccinate percent of the target senior citizen population, considered as one of the most vulnerable sectors to the dread disease.

ordinating with local officials there, and all agencies involved in disaster preparation and relief, equipment for use all of these have been ordered dispatch by the president, Cruz- ngeles said Marcos has also directed the telecommunications service providers to provide immediate assistance and free communication to all locations where towers have gone down “ to keep these communication channels open.” he strong ua e, descri ed y the hilippine nstitute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) as a “ major” and “ destructive” temblor, was the strongest recorded in the Philippines in years. hivolcs irector enato olidum said the ua e triggered landslides which blocked some roads and highways and cut off electric and telecommunication services olidum warned of more damages as scores of aftershocks rattled the region. n Octo er , a magnitude earth ua e struc ohol province, illing over people and triggering landslides. n , a magnitude earth ua e in the northern Philippines created a ground rupture stretching over a hundred kilometers. Fatalities in that quake in Baguio City, agupan City and ueva cija were estimated at over , and caused major damage to uildings nterior ecretary enjamin alos r said in an initial report to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at a meeting in Malacanang’s Kalayaan Hall four persons were killed in Benguet, one in Abra, and another one in Mountain Province and scores were injured. ased on the initial reports, alos said the affected regions are , , and Cordillera dministrative egion C , or provinces, cities, municipalities, and 6,75 6 barangays.

Office of Civil efense deputy director for operations ernardo lejandro said that most of the damaged houses and ridges were in C e said schools were damaged, while roads were totally closed and others were partially passa le following the quake. ational isaster is eduction and anagement Council C chairman and efense Officer-inCharge ose austino r said the agency convened emergency meetings with other regional directors and issued directives of response actions following the quake. austino, in his report to arcos, said the Office of the Civil efense OC issued two emergency alerts and warning messages in coordination with the OLC “ Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) prepared assets for mo ilization already, we are tal ing a out air assets and we could add more kung kinakailangan pa [ if needed] ,” he said.

A total of 227 aftershocks have already been recorded as a result of the magnitude 7 earthquake that jolted Abra. he hivolcs said five of these aftershoc s were felt, while were plotted or located n antay, locos ur, the historic antay ell ower almost collapsed in the quake as shown in videos that cir-

culated on social media.

The centuries-old church belfry previously served as a watchtower for the town and for the nearby capital city of Vigan during the Spanish colonial period, protecting both areas from pirates and other enemies, according to the epartment of ourism lso damaged in locos ur were the igan Cathedral and several houses and structures in igan City, a CO orld eritage ite for having preserved much of its ispanic colonial character that dates ac to the th century. n locos orte, the arrat Church, the heritage uilding of Sarrat Municipal Hall and the sinking bell tower in Laoag City were also damaged in the ua e, according to en mee arcos eanwhile, some parts of anta Catalina de lejandria parish church in Tayum, Abra caved in after the strong tremor.

The shallow but powerful quake also left a trail of damage in houses and buildings in Abra aguio City was also jolted y the ua e ut it was spared from the destruction, Mayor Benjamin Magalong said. ll is well naman dito sa aguio o reported serious injuries, including damages, no serious damage sa mga imprastraktura natin dito,” Magalong said. o casualties were also reported in the city, something that the mayor said he found “ surprising.”

Classes and wor in the entire city were suspended following the quake, he said. he Office of Civil efense OC closed ennon oad to traffic, while the arcos ighway only has one passable lane. aguillan oad, meanwhile, was still open to traffic Magalong also assured that there is enough food supply in the city, advising residents not to panic. n , aguio suffered most from the magnitude earthquake.

9 July 28-August 3, 2022 MARCOS... (From page 1) As a priority, Marcos vowed to ease the debt burden of Filipino farmers so they can improve farm productivity, help lower food prices and create jobs.

At the same time, Marcos called on Congress to enact at least 19 measures to help the people and boost the economy.

Senate President Juan Miguel Z ubiri and House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez and other Congress leaders immediately vowed to support the proposed measures. n his first and widely applauded SONA, Marcos said he will issue an ex ecutive order imposing a year-long moratorium on the payment of land amortiz ation and interest payments for land reform eneficiaries which he said was already included in Republic Act No. 11469 or the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act approved at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Marcos, who is also Secretary of Agriculture, also vowed to increase agricultural production to address high food prices.

He said the Department of Agricuture has finalized a plan to increase production through financial and technical aid for farmers during the next planting season. “ A moratorium will give the farmers the ability to channel their resources in developing their farms, maxi miz ing their capacity to produce, and propel the

growth of our economy,” he said.

Marcos also called on Congress to do its share on easing the debt burden of farmers. “ Congress must also pass a law that will emancipate the agrarian reform beneficiaries from the agrarian reform de t burden, thereby amending Section 26 of Republic Act 6657,” he said. “ In this law, the loans of agrarian reform eneficiaries with unpaid amortization and interest shall be condoned. grarian reform eneficiaries who are still to receive their land under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program shall receive it without any obligation to pay any amortiz ation,” he added.

If passed into law, this debt condonation would involve P58.125 billion, benefiting , agrarian reform eneficiaries in 1.18 million hectares of awarded lands. arcos also said , hectares of unused agricultural lands would be distributed to war veterans and their families, as well as retirees of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP).

College graduates specializ ing in agriculture will also be given this land, Marcos said. “ The call of the times is for the infusion of fresh and new blood in the agricultural sector. W e need a new breed of farmers equipped with modern agricultural technology to be able to engage and sustain scientific farming that will not

only increase farm yields but also resilience in the face of climate change,” he added.

Under his administration, Marcos said loans and financial assistance for farmers and fishers will e institutionalized gricultural producers will also be assisted in the moderniz ation of farms. scientific approach will also e used to increase agricultural output, including technologies that will make products resilient to climate change.

Marcos, at the same time, called on Congress to legislate 19 measures, including the revival of mandatory Reserve Officers raining Corps O C course, the rightsiz ing of government, budget moderniz ation, creation of a Medical Reserve Corps, National Disease Prevention Management Authority, the Philippine Center for Disease Prevention and Control, among others.

Marcos said the proposed Budget Moderniz ation law will institutionaliz e the Cash-based Budgeting System (CBS), which was adopted by virtue of E xe cutive Order signed in , to strengthen fiscal discipline in the allocation and use of budget resources.

Marcos also asked Congress to support the proposed E -Government Act which provides for the establishment of the E -Government Master Plan which shall cover all e-government services and processes.

The proposed E -Governance Act, on the other hand, aims to promote the use

of Internet, Intranet, and other Information and Communications Technology to provide opportunities for citiz ens.

Marcos also sought the passage of measures creating the Virology Institute of the Philippines (VIP) and the Department of W ater Resources (DW R).

The proposed VIP, he said, would serve as an attached agency of then Department of Science and Technology (DOST).

On the other hand, the proposed Integrated W ater Resource Management (IW RM) will be adopted as the strategic framework for national water management, policymaking and planning, once the DW R is created, Marcos said.

Marcos also called for the creation of the Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) and the Philippine Center for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), which will be attached to the Department of Health O , are also among his government s priorities.

The MRC, which will be under the Health and E mergency Management Bureau (HE MB) of the DOH, shall be composed of licensed physicians, medical students who have completed their four years of medical course, graduates of medicine, registered nurses, and licensed allied health professionals.

Marcos expr essed optimism that the lawmakers would back the Tax Package 3: Valuation Reform Bill and the Tax Package 4: Passive Income and Financial Intermediary Taxa tion Act (PIFITA).

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11 July 28-August 3, 2022

 OPINION Abuse rooted ... (From page 1) Upside

ter- ending presentation y all-volunteer ilipino merican nonprofit LL C lliance for Community mpowerment. ith the hilippines colonial past as ac drop, ausag ual opens his students eyes to generational trauma and, if unaddressed, the lasting injuries it in icts on the citiz enry. hile aus- ag ual s ilipino a tudies curriculum cites “ colonial mentality, political corruption substance abuse, domestic abuse and immigration” as the adverse conse uences of oppression, he also offers as a remedy CHERIE M. QUEROL MORENO “ Decoloniz ation provides a framework for healing, activism, organiz ing and hope,” he told author. “ My students learn about precolonial Philippine society. They are introduced to babaylan, who served as the spiritual and community leaders of their clans and challenging notions of spirituality and pre-Catholic beliefs and practices; and reciprocal connection between land, life, and nature through Kapwa, a precolonial Filipino value of shared identity.” e instructs students to develop projects that uild organization and leadership ecently they heard ideas from randon Lee, an indigenous land protector in the Cordillera Mountains in the Philippines who survived an assassination attempt by the military. They listened to leaders of the San Mateo County Filipino Mental Health Initiative about the layers of depression and an iety resulting from colonial mentality and their effort to uild a cultural center addressing those issues.

In a bold move to tackle what he concedes as a “ taboo issue” among Filipinos, Dausag ual invited LL C to uncover and rea the silence a out its e istence to stop it from happening or recurring. “ ” It is critical to start the conversation in a safe space where I can provide a historical and social contex t for violence, acknowledge the harm, understand the dynamics and power in abusive relationships and provide strategies and resources for my students,” said the Canada-born, Southern California-raised educator.

L LO L ttendees heard LL C vice president en imenez ong, a licensed marriage and family therapist, define intimate partner a use as a pattern of ehaviors used y one to maintain power and control over an intimate partner egardless of ac ground, anyone may acquire the behavior often learned from elders and role models, she said. Similarly, anyone unaware of the signs for abusive behavior and forms of abuse may unknowingly enter an a usive relationship uch relationships have lifelong effects, she stressed, tying the issue with aus- ag ual s pronouncement of the impact of colonial trauma sian and acific slander merican families suffer more than other populations from multiple a use oth y irth in and inlaws, added imenez ong, a supervisor at French Finch Youth & Family Services. She cited factors that push and pull survivors out and back into abusive relationships. Concern for personal safety pushes a survivor out and ac in, out of fear of the a user s retaliation, shame for not wor ing with the a user on making the relationship work thereby embarrassing her family, for ex ample. esides the o vious forms of a use physical and ver al - she cited digital a use, or the use of technology to stalk, harass and threaten survivors. She(C ont i nue d on page 27)

EDITORIAL

US-Saudi relations at the crossroads

F

or many decades, US-Saudi relations could be described as friendly for the most part. There were, to be sure, irritants here and there, but the two nations always recogniz ed that they had verything was fine until an merican journalist with audi roots, amal Khashoggi, was killed, with indications that it was at the behest of a key member of the Saudi ruling family.

Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman is suspected to have ordered the griz z ly crime, even after some Saudis had taken the fall by admitting their guilt. Thus, as far as Saudi ra ia was concerned, the illing of an merican journalist was a closed oo here were, however, too many uestions left unanswered pecifically, intelligence sources were adamant in saying that the de facto ruler of audi ra ia was the real mastermind behind the killing of Khashoggi. hat the illing too place in the em assy grounds of audi ra ia located in another country added to suspicions that it was a well-planned and well-ex ecuted assassination with approval from the very top. n his visit to the ingdom of audi ra ia last wee , resident oe iden had no choice but to bring up the matter which was certain to raise eyebrows of the royal family. He had to walk a diplomatic tightrope, and chances of success were not as high compared to a probability of failure.

W hat happened during the visit was not unex pected. uring resident iden s visit, the ingdom s response was for their foreign minister to refer to the killing as “ very unfortunate and abhorrent” and was something that they took “ very seriously.”

The Saudis would not allow the case to touch their ruler, so they took the opportunity to point out that the US was also guilty of similar crimes. hey cited the se ual and physical a use of prisoners at ra s u hrai prison y the military as well as the illing of alestinian- merican journalist hireen u leh in the est an n ringing up the latter, it was not lost on the media covering the iden visit that leh and hashoggi were oth wor ing journalists with roots in the region and whose reportage may have caused consternation to powerful personalities. audi ra ia s last word on the hashoggi murder was that they had investigated the case and punished the guilty parties. ndeed, iden is trapped etween the prover ial roc and a hard place here is no denying that the Middle E ast kingdom is an important ally of the US in the volatile region ut neither can the cold- looded murder of an merican citizen e swept under the rug. here is, to e sure, a custom widely practiced in the iddle ast that most mericans would find hard to stomach his is the practice of lood money, where a perpetrator of a crime can e forgiven y paying off the family of the victim This may seem like putting a price tag on the life of a human being, which is both precious and priceless cceptance of the hashoggi family of a lood money settlement may well be the tasteless end of the case. t the end of the day, - audi ties remain strong, if admittedly strained oth sides now this hey cannot afford to wea en those ties, especially in these uncertain times.

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 OPINION

July 28-August 3, 2022

s columnist, book author and active E vangelist with the OL C C O C in an rancisco, California, I am delighted to announce a BBQ Celebration & Fellowship for the first year nniversary of y ngel adio an rancisco and th year nniversary of the global My Angel Radio on uly , , am to pm A RT G A B OT MA D LA ING aturday at the CC ellowship all and y ngel adio an rancisco studio located at - th venue near olden ate ar , an rancisco, California Joining the celebration are My Angel Radio global director and ex ecutive producer E dwin Bacani and his wife Diane Bacani from l u uer ue, ew e ico, olomon e era, vangelist from the hilippines our ispanic rethren in an rancisco ay rea led y vangelist l erto odriguez Also joining are the regular participants of the various segments of the y ngel adio an rancisco li e ert upas and his wife eriam upas from O OC C O C in acramento, California as monthly spea er of the ospel arriors segment and singer for acapella singing respectively; E vangelist Francisco Aguilar and his family, another monthly speaker of the ospel arriors segment from C C O C in Oa land, California ose de la Cruz and her family as spea er for isters ct at olden ate segment and lead singer in nglish and panish for the C O egment acapella singing of favorite gospel songs and heavenly hymns in nglish, panish, agalog, locano, angasinan and Cebuano); Deborah Q uiniones Marcos and her family as regular spea er for the isters ct at olden ate segment Christine Lee, regular spea er in Chinese and nglish, for the isters ct at olden ate segment enneth ilson and his family, spea er at the O C O LL L segment ohn effrey, book author and regular speaker and interviewer for RE ADO segment allace atton, original spea er of O segment rt and irginia adlaing, lead acapella singers in agalog, locano, angasinan and Cebuano in the ACAPINOY segment; teven rine, vangelist and irector of C inistries hilippines, from LOC C C O C in urloc , California, as monthly spea er in the ospel arriors segment erry enis, u lisher ounder of O O ovement oo s u lication ervices ames uitoriano, anchor and local director of the y ngel adio an rancisco every aturday am and y ngel adio every riday am and inister, OL C C O C in an rancisco, California ister Laura from the O C C O C in an ose, California tty ohn iegand, special guest at the O segment from the L O C C O C in leasanton, California and others. he glo al y ngel adio was founded and started y vangelist dwin acani in aguio City, hilippines years ago lo al My Angel Radio has ex panded with broadcast studios in Butuan City, and Puerto Princesa City in the Philippines; and the broadcast studios in l u uer ue, ew e ico and an rancisco, California in the nited tates Live roadcast is now eing watched from onday to aturday y glo al viewers throughout the nited tates, Canada, hilippines, ong ong, ingapore, pain, ordan, ermany Italy, Japan, China, India, E ngland, France, and other countries in E urope, Middle E ast, and Asia. pisodes from the various studios include C O , C , C , he tra ile, ou ot t f you live in the nited tates and Canada, L O an rancisco is every riday and every aturday C via ace oo Live or at www y ngle adio com L O C starts at am acific pm astern W e invite our readers and the general public to join the BBQ ellowship for y ngel adio nniversaries on uly , from am at the CC ellowship all, - th venue near olden ate ar , an rancisco, California uests will not only enjoy and other delicious ethnic food but will also receive complimentary autographed copies of the oo s offered y the OO namely C su titled he inal ays on arth efore is eturn to eaven Christian orld inistry uarterly ournal mazon paper ac price is per copy - oo is L L O LO su titled ow to e ealthy motionally, inancially, hysically, e ually and piritually pages, mazon paper ac is per copy, - oo is O C O su titled acts and vidences for gnostics, theists, elievers and Christians pages mazon paper ac , , hardcover is , - oo L O su titled our asic uide nformation for uccessful nvesting in ome, Land and ncome roperty pages mazon paper ac is , hardcover is per copy, - oo (C ont i nue on pag e 27) For more informa-

I

A

Why did Bongbong abolish PACC?

O

N DAY ONE of his presidency, President Ferdinand “ Bongbong” Marcos Jr. issued E x ecutive Order (E O) No. 1, which was to abolish the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) as well as the Office of ecretary Marcos’ reason for the abolition was to achieve “ simplicity, economy, and effiP ERRY D IA Z ciency.”

In his E O, Marcos stated that to achieve “ simplicity, economy, and efficiency in ureaucracy without affecting disruptions in internal management and general governance, the administration shall streamline official processes and procedures.” ress ecretary ri ie Cruz- ngeles said there was no need to retain the PACC, saying that its powers and functions are “ not in line with streamlining.” “ First of all, its nature is investigative, which can also be conducted y the Office of the Om udsman o, usually, what they do is they gather evidence on presidential appointees and file the case with the Om udsman, she said lso, lawyer ony La i a, former dean of the teneo chool of overnment, said arcos decision to deactivate the PACC was needed, saying that its work “ can be done by the Office of the ecutive ecretary O Weaken fight against corruption ut reco elgica, CC head in , disagreed with La i a s assessment e warned that the move could wea en the fight against corruption e said that CC played a ey role especially when the eputy ecretary for Legal ffairs L has its hands full of cases to investigate “ W ithout PACC,” Belgica said, “ no one would know what is happening, most especially on corruption issues.” e reasoned that when people are not aware of corruption in the government because cases are not resolved, “ corruption will proliferate ecause no one gets penalized ndeed, without the CC, L shall ma e recommendations on matters requiring its action, to the ex ecutive secretary for approval, adoption or modification y the resident,” Marcos’ E O No. 1 said, which doesn’t really streamline the process. On the contrary, it adds ex tra steps to the process. It adds another level of administration by including the L to the e uation O o shall promulgate rules of procedure in administrative cases under its jurisdiction, provided that those promulgated by the PACC “ shall remain in force ut while L wor s against corruption, it is also handling the “ ex ternal and internal legal issues of the resident t then ecomes a uestion of priority he L has to prioritize its wor load corruption investigation versus legal issues. Ultimately, the President would have to intervene, whether to put more effort in fighting corruption or handling ex ternal and internal issues.

Justification n an attempt to justify the a olition of CC, Cruzngeles said in a press riefing asically the residential Anti-Corruption Commission… is not in line with streamlining. First of all, its nature is investigative, which can also be conducted y the Office of the Om udsman Cruz- ngeles said that the CC gathers evidence on presidential appointees and then files a case with the Omudsman owever, she pointed out that a complaint could directly e filed with the Om udsman even without the CC owever, according to former CC Commissioner anuelito Luna, the CC is not a mere duplicate of the Office of the Om udsman ecause they have differing jurisdictions e said there is coordination etween them and the Ombudsman regarding the handling of cases. f a presidential appointee with a salary grade or up, the case is usually referred to the Ombudsman; otherwise, CC handles the case, Luna said owever, the president retains the power to administratively deal with his own appointee. W hen it comes to presidential appointees, the president has the power to appoint as well as to remove or discipline.” And that’s where it becomes political.

PACC workload elgica said that from Octo er to une , the CC addressed , complaints and that criminal and administrative cases had been (C ont i nue on page 27)

PerryScope

was fortunate to witness last hursday an historical transition in Muntinlupa City. Before a crowd which filled up the ilinvest ent in la ang, ayor ufino ozanno uffy iazon too his oath shortly after pm, as the fourth city mayor of this progressive city. A few minutes earlier, Congressman Jaime R. Fresnedi took his oath, also before untinlupa C ecu- IG NA CIO T OT ING B UNY E tive Judge Myra Q uiambao, as congressman of the lone congressional district of Muntinlupa iazon later administered the oath of ice ayor rtemio revalo imundac and the elected city councilors, led

by Atty. Raul C. Corro. Corro who is acknowledged as the architect of the cityhood of Muntinlupa, is ex pected to be re-appointed as majority oor leader he other city councilors were from istrict achel rciaga, vee rciaga- adefa, aty aty oncayao, llan man Camilon, le son iaz, alentino iefes , edi resnedi and from istrict Lester aes, yan agatsing, Luvi Constantino, rlene ilapo, liot artinez, ado oldez, arissa ongavilla and un etong evilla ttendees consisted of the elected officials, their families and guests, city government personnel, former city officials, representatives from the business sector, heads of national government offices ased in untinlupa, judges and prosecutors, education officials and school principals, civic and religious groups, and various people s organizations he scenario is unprecedented he new officials are all mem ers of One untinlupa the first local political party in untinlupa officially recognized y the Comelec One untinlupa - which iazon descri ed as a local political party with clearly stated party principles and party platform of government swept the political opposition, - , last ay One untinlupa ran on a platform of e uita le service for all, inclusive policies and programs, participatory governance, responsi le, prudent and transparent fiscal management and accounta ility he success of One untinlupa, iazon said, hopefully will end politics of convenience and usher a new politics based on a shared vision for the people of Muntinlupa” .

No doubt, One Muntinlupa’s victory is attributable largely to outgoing ayor resnedi, who is leaving office with an envia le record of good governance, sound fiscal management and meaningful programs, especially in education and infrastructure iazon vowed not to s uander the gains achieved during the Fresnedi administration. iazon served five terms in Congress during which time he authored ills and resolutions ills ecame laws e also e tended assistance to , scholars, , medical assistance eneficiaries, , emergency employment eneficiaries, rolling usiness livelihood eneficiaries, and released , food pac s at the height of the pandemic e was instrumental in the construction of school uildings with a total of classrooms and the repair of kilometers of roads and drainage. iazon ac nowledged that having served a long time in Congress, he will e venturing into a new field of local governance. From being a “ tito” , who was available to assist whenever asked, he is now transitioning as a “ tatay” , who has to run the household and provide for all its needs on a daily asis e vowed to continue, and hopefully improve on, the programs of his predecessor iazon said he will pursue a -point agenda which focuses on a uhayan, alusugan, arunungan, aunlaran, apayapaan, ali asan at atarungan all ased on the sustaina le development goals he ne t three years will e a pandemic recovery period , iazon said mphasis will e placed on alusugan, arunungan and a uhayan alusugan involves the improvement of medical services, upgrade of health centers, converting at least two into “ super health centers” with capability of dealing with health emergencies, and the upgrade of the Ospital ng Muntinlupa. arunungan involves the Covid-proofing of school facilities ensuring their safety for face-to-face classes, the enhancement of the scholarship program and the conduct of training and development programs for teachers. a uhayan involves enhancement of the current livelihood and training programs (C ont i nue on page 27)

Health & Wealth

BBQ Fellowship for Global My Angel Radio Anniversary

SPEAKING OUT

Ruffy Biazon, from “tito” to “tatay” of Muntinlupa City

12

13 July 28-August 3, 2022

 OPINION

The annual dog and pony show called SONA

ust like a thief in the night, active shooters strike anytime at a time that we don t e pect them the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night - 1 Thessalonians n the case of the valde massacre in Robb E lementary chool in valde, e as, it started efore lunch at a.m. when the shooter arrived. ELP ID IO R. ES T IOK O The shooter crashed the vehicle in a ditch near the school, e ited his vehicle, fired three rounds with his - gun at two male witnesses near a funeral home and then ed he two witnesses were unharmed and they called e as ri une chool officials were caught at-footed and they didn t know what to do! t am, a lapse of minutes after the shooter left, he came back and entered the school through a back door on the northwest side of the school. According to the report, the door had een closed earlier y the teacher, ut it was either already unlocked or the lock failed to engage, which [ the teacher] could not have known because the doors lock from the outside” , the Tex as House committee reported. The report further stated that none of three ex terior doors to the building were locked, in violation of school policy.

The gunman then walked into classroom 111, which room was unlocked, according to school surveillance footage. This was corroborated by the report from the Advanced Law E nforcement Rapid Response Training Center which also determined the shooter didn’t appear to encounter a locked door.

The Tex as House committee report elaborated that the door did not lock properly and that it was a widely known fact around school. Arnulfo Reyes, the room’s teacher, had also reported the condition of the door to the school in the past. he shooter rie y wal ed out through the classroom door and then went back in, and started shooting. He shot at least 100 rounds in over two and half minutes inside rooms 111 and , which were connected one of the ullets passed through the walls and struck a teacher in nearby Room 109, who survived ccording to the e as ouse committee report, the attac er fired most of his shots and li ely murdered most of his innocent victims before any responder set foot in the building hat means, it happened within the minute-gap efore a response was made.

Based on these narratives, even without going through the whole report, we can already surmise that the school was negligent and unmindful of safety protocol. The neglect also showed that the school’s safety committee and/or the local police force were remised in their jobs in confronting an active shooter situation. s to police actions, it too them additional minutes to act on the active shooter situation when 19 students plus two teachers were already shot by the suspect. That’s a long period of time to actually engage the active shooter situation when they knew fully well that the lives of many students and teachers were at stake. There should have been no negotiations here all that was needed was to engage the shooter and save the victims ad they done that during these minutes, there should have een fewer victims not students and teachers.

Actually, it took them too long to set up a temporary command structure, which caused the delay in responding to the situation ince they already new that the local police and or district police were not capable of doing it, federal authorities who were among some officers who responded, should have asserted their authority and led the assault. remem er the movie arshals the ugitive when r ichard im le played y arrison ord was eing chased y the police and the arshals after eing framed for the murder of his wife and unjustly sentenced to death, escaped from prison to find his wife s actual iller to clear his name I know this is not an active shooter situation but what I am trying to show here is that during the chase, a temporary command structure was esta lished when the arshal played y ommy Lee ones asserted his authority y relieving the local police e didn t see this in the valde case despite the fact that they already knew that the local police could not cope with the situation due to many problems such as poor communication or no communication at all, ra- (C ont i nue on pag e 27)

erdinand ong ong Marcos Jr. has lofty ambitions for the country.

He actually outlined his plans, focusing on the economy, education and health, particularly on the long-neglected agriculture sector.

About 10 percent of the country’s gross domestic product comes from the farm sector but six years MA NNY MOG A T O under the Duterte government saw a decline in food production.

There was inadequate rice production and the hog industry was nearly decimated y the frican wine ever ome areas were also affected y the avian u, affecting the chicken and egg supply.

As Duterte focused on his drug war and campaign to defeat the Maoist-led insurgency, he forgot the economy, which was ravaged by his draconian lockdown policy to contain the coronavirus pandemic. he country plunged into recession for the first time in more than 30 years, unemployment rose to record levels and the national debt doubled in just two years to nearly 13 trillion pesos.

At the same time, there were no revenues to collect from the unemployed workers and closed businesses.

Marcos was unlucky to inherit the problems left behind by uterte galloping in ation, heavy de t urden, slow-paced economic growth and fewer job opportunities here and abroad.

Marcos recogniz ed these problems, which he blamed not on his predecessor but on the situations outside the country which were beyond the government’s control, like the conict in raine, the strengthening dollar, the rising glo al crude prices, the pandemic, and disruptions in the global supply chain.

But, Marcos remained optimistic the country could pull through all these things, summing up the state of the nation as sound Perhaps, Marcos was not talking to the 31 million Filipinos who voted him into office in ay is -minute address to a joint session of Congress was directed at foreign and local businessmen he wanted to partner with the government to continue the uild, uild, uild program of the past administration.

He wanted to focus on the country’s railway systems, airports and seaports, and a network of farm-to-market roads to help farmers bring their produce easier to the urban centers and bring down prices. The road networks could also connect local and foreign tourists to untouched destinations across the archipelago.

These are ambitious six -year plans that could entail trillions of pesos in investments, money which the government does not have at the moment and would come from borrowings and direct investments from the private sector.

He did mention several tax measures but failed to elaborate on how much these revenue measures would generate to finance his megaprojects, including specialty hospitals for the heart, lungs, kidney, and children in the regions.

Much of his ambitious projects will be completed long after he is out of office, particularly infrastructure for transportation, healthcare, education, agriculture, and energy.

Marcos’s success depends largely on the cooperation of two chambers of Congress. At quick glance, Marcos has unprecedented control of both houses with his super majority under his cousin, pea er erdinand artin omualdez and his ally, enate resident uan iguel u iri Congress would be very eager to work with Marcos during the first half of his term until ut the last half could e problematic. ome of the items in arcos s legislative agenda were ta en from uterte, li e the Land se ct, which is difficult to pass because it runs counter to the interests of most lawmakers who are wealthy landlords.

On paper, arcos appeared to have a comprehensive plan for the nex t six years. He has, perhaps, translated into a blueprint his very ambitious aspirations.

In his inaugural address three week ago, he said the ordinary Filipinos’ dreams of a peaceful and prosperous country were similar to his own dreams e has put some esh and bones into his rhetoric but some(C ont i nue on page 27)

J

F

IN THE TRENCHES

Offline

State of the Nation

As I See It

F

or starters, the P100 million spent to refurbish the Batasang Pambansa building was not only a useless expe nse, it was totally obscene. That’s a little under $2 million, and it would have cost only a tenth of that to have the place cleaned and repainted, where necessary.

But the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos, B ET ING D OLOR Jr. – who had earlier said he wanted his first tate of the ation ddress or O to be simple – demanded that the site be spic and span for this week’s event.

Not only was a huge amount that could have been used as financial support ayuda for the poorest of the poor in these most difficult of times needlessly spent, an additional cost of God-knows-how-much was also spent in having more than , police officers and soldiers ma e sure that the president would be totally untouchable.

And for what? y most accounts, unior s first O was a resounding success, as his fawning lapdogs also known as senators and congressmen who comprise a supermajority will tell you.

They said it was the greatest presidential address they had ever heard in their life. W hich is pretty much what they say whenever a new president gives the address and they want to curry favors from that chief exe cutive. s one La alle professor said, there was nothing applauda le a out the one-hour speech rue unior s O received less applause and standing ovations than the O s of former presidents Duterte, Aquino, Arroyo, et al.

I have written some speeches in the past, and good ones usually have a combination of nice sound bites coupled with words and phrases that tug at the heart strings.

But broken down to its parts, Junior’s speech was nothing more than a collection of motherhood statements that any relatively talented writer could have strung together. It had no substance. s for unior s claim that he himself wrote his O , he can either tell that to the Philippine Marines – who would not believe him anyway – or to any of his supposed 31 million voters, most of whom are still waiting for rice to retail at P20 per ilo an impossi ility or receive their share of the legendary allano gold which is a tall tale that only men and women of e tremely low elieve is gospel truth out the worst thing a out this year s O in any O of modern times, actually is the de facto fashion show that the assembled lawmakers and their families hold on the annual event.

The men don the most expe nsive barongs while the women wear all sorts of gowns that they will only wear once in their life, as to wear the same gown any other year would be considered a sin. ome years ago, a still active senator whom have grown to respect wore the most atrocious exc use of a gown imaginable. For all intents, it looked like a hot air balloon and I was e pecting her to oat off into the sunset at the end of the day m glad that enator ancy inay has changed her stylist, as her gowns in recent years have een formal and not ashy The same cannot be said of the current vice president, who wore what was supposed to be a formal dress, if she were a tribal princess. f ara uterte s goal was to call attention to herself, then she succeeded in a big way. he same can also e said of enator mee arcos, who wore what was supposed to be a formal gown, but which was a bit too colorful for the afternoon function. he was also toting something that loo ed li e a loated sex toy. I kid thee not, folks. If it was supposed to be a native bag of sorts, then whoever designed it probably has a wicked sense of humor.

I’m sure photos can be seen online, so you tell me if I’ve lost my marbles or if I speak with an element of truth.

The gents were mostly wearing barongs, which is a good thing. But almost all were obviously hand made by pricey tailoring shops. have to say that only one gentleman, freshman enator Robinhood Padilla – yes, he now wants to be known as Robinhood – had me giving him the (C ont i nue on page 27)

Uvalde massacre: A lesson for public, private schools

 BUSINESS | IMMIGRATIONS Reopening a deportation in absentia Breaking news On July 25 , 2022, the U.S. Citiz enship and Immigration ervices is e tending certain CO - -related e i ilities through Oct. 23, 2022, to assist applicants, petitioners, and reuestors nder these e i ilities, C considers a response received within 60 calendar days after the due date set forth in the following re uests or notices efore ta ing any action, if the re uest or notice was issued etween arch , , and Oct. 23, 2022, inclusive: • Requests for E vidence; • Continuations to Request E vidence (N-14 ); • Notices of Intent to Deny; • Notices of Intent to Revoke; • Notices of Intent to Rescind; • Notices of Intent to Terminate regional centers; • Notices of Intent to W ithdraw Temporary Protected Status; and otions to eopen an ursuant to C , eceipt of erogatory nformation After Grant. n addition, C will consider a orm , otice of ppeal or otion, or a orm N-336, Request for a Hearing on a Decision in Naturaliz ation Proceedings (Under Section 336 of the INA), if: he form was filed up to calendar days from the issuance of a decision we made and e made that decision etween ov , , and Oct , , inclusive n an effort to ta e the lessons learned from our pandemic posture, C has een evaluating which e i ilities can and should e e tended permanently s a result of this evaluation, the reproduced signature e i ility announced in arch, , will ecome permanent policy on July 25 , 2022.

Petition for Caregivers he priority date for Other wor ers for inal ction date is ay , , which is a out years waiting for the visa he priority date for ate of iling of djustment of tatus for those in the is now current his means that when the petition is approved an adjustment of status can e filed his process is good for those who need caregivers rrest and removal of undocumented is now up to the discretion of C officer US Supreme Court did not allow Pres. Biden to overturn the immigration policy of Trump with regards to priority in arrest and removal. Under Biden the priorities are those that involve ris to national security t is now a decision to e made y the C officer which could include arrest of anyone who is undocumented. It is time to work on your green card now.

N-4 00 Application for Naturaliz ation he C is now giving priorities to application for naturalization he reason is o viously to allow ualified immigrants to vote in the coming midterm and presidential election There are cases when the waiting time is only six months compared to prior years. Pres. Biden is encouraging all ualified to file for naturalization his is a rare opportunity that all ualified should take advantage of. otion to eopen n a sentia order of deportation f you are deported in a sentia, you can reopen the case so that you can apply for immigration relief eportation in a sentia is very common during the period efore pril , ecause so many people were deported in a sentia the law was changed to give more protection to immigrants f the reason you were deported in a sentia is ecause you did not receive the Order to how Cause and otice of earing, you can file the motion anytime that you find out that you were deported in a sentia his motion is filed within time n in a sentia order of removal may e rescinded upon motion at any time if the alien demonstrates that the alien did not receive notice in accordance with c prelso, the filing of this motion has the effect of staying the removal of the noncitizen pending disposition of the motion here is no filing fee for su mitting a motion to reopen ased on failure to receive proper notice espondent is not su ject of any pending criminal proceeding under the ct Bankruptcy Basics an ruptcy will actually improve your credit within one year ecause your unsecured de ts are discharged lthough the an ruptcy will e in your records for years, not filing an ruptcy will ma e your credit even worse until most your de ts are paid f you are eing sued y your creditors, most money judgment can e eliminated in an ruptcy Collection actions continue and you can e sued if you are in de t settlement Chapter will eliminate all unsecured de ts f you are near retirement age, you must eliminate most of your de ts CAR ACCIDE NTS Our Law irm successfully settled a car accident for L L W e also handle uncontested DIVORCE .

CO O L W e can help you if you are under IRS audit, need a representation with IRS, need to reduce your ta lia ility or need to offer a payment plan to , Success Stories or the month of une , we received approvals from C si naturalization applications, two ianc e visa petition, five removals of condition on residence and four adjustment of status applications.

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

Chris Caday Lozano, s is an active mem er of the tate ar of California, the merican mmigration Lawyers ssociation and an rancisco rial Lawyers e practices immigration law, an ruptcy, personal injury and income ta pro lems since une is contact phone is - - , email info CCLlaw net e site www crispinlozanolaw com

July 28-August 3, 2022

14

ADB raises 2022 growth forecast for PHL

L O C he Philippine economy is forecast to grow faster than initially ex pected this year, following the relax ation of coronavirus disease Covidmo ility restrictions in the country, the ex pansion of the coronavirus vaccination program, and a re ound in investment and household consumption, according to a report y the sian evelopment an The Asian Development Outlook O upplement ared the hilippine economy will grow at least 6.5 percent in , up from the an s pril forecast of percent he growth projection for 2023 remains at 6.3 percent.

Downside risks to growth in the second half of 2022 may come from sharper-than-e pected slowdowns in major industrial economies, possi le sustained elevated glo al commodity prices, and tighter financial conditions he hilippine economy s growth momentum has accelerated close to its ideal growth path,” said ADB Philippines Country Director Kelly Bird. trong domestic demand supported y a pick-up in employment and remittance in ows, private investment e pansion, and large pu lic infrastructure projects will underpin the country s recovery from the economic impact of the pandemic.”

W ider Covid-19 vaccination coverage, with adolescents among those getting inoculated, and relatively mild health impacts from the Omicron variant have allowed the government to relax restrictions starting in the first uarter of the year.

This, in turn, spurred a resumption in ex panded operations for most private usinesses, with the unemployment rate falling to near pre-pandemic levels.

The unemployment rate was at 6 percent in ay , down from percent a year earlier. n ation is forecast to uic en to 4 .9 percent and 4 .3 percent in 2022 and , respectively, on the ac of higher glo al commodity prices hese are up from s pril forecast of percent in 2022 and 3.5 percent for 2023.

The government is ex pected to sustain pu lic spending on priority infrastructure projects under the uild, uild, Build” program. Among these priority projects receiving financing are the alolos-Clar ailway roject and outh Commuter ailway roject, oth part of the orth outh Commuter ailway System that will provide safe, fast, and efficient transportation to lin etro anila to northern and southern Luzon provinces.

Veteran banker Wick Veloso elected GSIS chief C ith years of an ing e perience under his elt, ose rnulfo ic eloso has een elected president and general manager of the Government Service Insurance System y its oard of rustees during a special oard meeting last wee “ After three decades of working in an s, it s now time for me to use what have learned in international finance and an ing to contri ute to nation uilding, Veloso said. “ I now carry the responsiility of ma ing sure that the retirement enefits of government employees are well managed.”

During the turnover ceremony held at the GSIS headquarters in Pasay City, Veloso was warmly welcomed y outgoing chief olando Ledesma acasaet, GSIS exe cutives, and employees. nder the law ection of the GOCC Governance Act of 2011 or Repu lic ct , the C O chief e ecutive officer or the highest-ran ing officer provided in the charters of the government-owned or controlled corporations OCCs , shall e elected annually y the mem ers of the oard among its ranks.”

Veloso was the president and CE O of the Philippine National Bank (PNB) prior to his appointment to GSIS. During his watch, was recognized y the sian an er as the est anaged an for demonstrating exc ellence in its response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (Cov-

G S I S p r esi d en t an d gen er al man ager Jo se Ar n ulf o V elo so id-19) pandemic in 2020. t the same time, he was adjudged as the “ Best CE O” during the Asian Banker s annual Leadership chievement Awards.

Prior to working for PNB, Veloso was an international an er where he had uilt a wide networ in international finance, especially in lo al an ing and ar ets In 2012, Veloso was appointed as the first ilipino C O at C hilippines until he transferred as CE O of PNB in eloso has wor ed directly with ilipino and multinational customers especially large corporates and industry captains for many years art of eloso s wor at the ritish multinational universal an and financial services holding company HSBC was to regularly uild relationships with institutional funds and investors with usinesses and interests in the Philippines.

 ENTERTAINMENT

July 28-August 3, 2022

16

Hidilyn Diaz and Julius Naranjo are married

he country s first Olympic gold medallist idilyn iaz is married to his coach, ulius aranjo, a ilipino merican from uam idilyn and ulius were wed in an intimate ceremony decorated in gold at the t gnatius Chapel inside the hilippine ilitary cademy in aguio City eception followed at the aguio Country Clu idilyn was a radiant ride in a rancis Li iran wedding gown ccording to Li iran, idilyn s wedding gown is inspired y her eauty and ind heart

or her gown, made sure that it s her personality that comes out while she s wearing it and wal ing down the aisle, said the designer, who also designed ulius s arong ased on the patterns associated with the hilippines and uam he -year-old weightlifter from amoanga and her coach tied the not on uly , e actly a year after idilyn agged the country s first-ever Olympic gold at the ummer Olympics in o yo ho s ho in sports, usiness and government were the couple s sponsors and wedding participants owever, it was gathered that ased on

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photos shown on social media, many of those invited li e former enator mmanuel ac uiao and ice resident aria Leonor oredo were una le to join e said, told idi that we should the solem rites and cele ration ma e the anniversary of winning the first ormer senator anny ac uiao is currently in the nited tates with his family, gold medal our wedding date hat was the time when she won, that it was learned was the time when she got the spotlight r ic i elo, another sponsor, is in ow that it s a year later, it s a way for ew or City ased on her latest posts on us to cele rate nstagram tories hat s what the wedding is all a out, eanwhile, former ice resident oright Cele rating us t s also a date we redo is enjoying her vacation in ur iye will remem er forever with her daughters mong the cele rities spotted at the ctress ngel Locsin was also invited to the wedding as one of idilyn s aids of couple s wedding was the stylist Liz y he couple s athlete friends including onor, ut the apamilya actress was not sian ames gold medalist argiea le to ma e it as she cele rated her first o yo Olympics silver wedding anniversary with hus and eil lyn idal, medalist esthy etecio, and ronze medrce that same day alist umir arcial were there nother actrerss, za Calzado, who was etired as et all player lvin atrione of the ridesmaids, is currently in the for a vacation he sent her congratu- monio, idilyn s nutritionist eannette ro, former acolod ayor onico uentevellatory messages to the couple online part from o redo and ac uiao, la, and former cager Chris iu were also other wedding sponsors were irst acific present otivational spea er preacher ro o C O r anuel angilinan an iguel anchez, who was among the principal resident amon ng nvestments sponsors, came with his wife arowe anCorporation ice Chair eresita an ychez Coson, udy nn antos and hus and yan alaysia- ased ilipino singer azmin goncillo sis was among idilyn s ridesmaids Only the couple s closest cele rity friends and family gathered on uly to witness idilyn and ulius tie the not in a Catholic wedding ceremony n true idilyn iaz and ulius aranjo fashion, the newly married couple prepared the wittiest souvenir photo for the guests on their special day, ews reported ice rint hoto, the official wedding photographer of idilyn and ulius nuptial, shared a pic of the photo ooth filled with weights as an ode to weightlifting, the sport in which idilyn clinched the hilippines first ever Olympic gold Cute souvenir photo of the couple in their very uni uely thought of photo wall, said its caption, followed y two gold medal emojis ulius revealed in an interview with anila ulleD O J S E L L E R O R T R A V E L # 2 0 2 5 2 3 0 -4 0 tin it was him who called the date to add more meaning to their wedding

 ENTERTAINMENT

July 28-August 3, 2022

18

Dingdong Dantes, Daniel Padilla lead nominees for 70th FAMAS Awards Actors Dingdong Dantes and Daniel Padilla are vying for top honors in the Best Actor category of the 70th awards of the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS).

This as FAMAS announced the full list of nominees for its platinum anniversary edition to be held on July 30 at the historic Metropolitan Theater.. “ The grandest and most prestigious award giving body

recogniz ing cinema ex cellence, FAMAS will celebrate its 70th Annual Awards Night at the newly revived Metropolitan Theatre,” the organiz ation announced in a Facebook post.

The nominees are a mix of established and rising stars that also include John Arcilla, E ugene Domingo, Sharon Cuneta, and Charo-Santos Concio.

This year’s program will declare winners for 15 categories,

namely: Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, Best E diting, Best Musical Score, Best Original Song, Best Sound, Best Visual E ffects, and Best Short Film.

The full list of nominees for the 70th FAMAS awards follows: B e s t S h o r t F ilm

Tukador ni Tatang - Gabby Ramos See You George! - Mark Moneda W rite Here - Jake Muñ oz Consing Dog-E aters - Kevin Piamonte Laro - Fidel Redado est isual ects Mofac Creative W orks, Ogie Tiglao - Kun Maupay Man It Panahon

SUMMER RECYCLING EVENT 2022 www.dalycity.org

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Please be respectful of people’s choices around their health.

Saturday, July 30th 9:30am - 12:30pm

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City Hall Parking Lot 333 90th Street Daly City, CA 94015 *Proof of Daly City residency required; driver’s license or recent utility bill *If you are ill or experiencing any COVID-19 symptoms, please stay home.

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D i n gd o n g D an tes

D an i el Pad i lla

Poli Gonz ales, Gaspar Mangarin, W alter Monte - A Hard Day John Laviñ a, E dgery Mercad, Mark Victor - Arisaka Santelmo Studio - My Amanda Outpost Visual Frontier John Joseph Tan - Katips

Vince Tañ ada - Katips Jun Lana - Big Night Carlo Francisco Manatad, Jeremie Dubois, Ginacarlo Abrahan - Kun Maupay Man It Panahon Melanie Honey Q uiñ o - Nelia Kristin Pareno Barrameda, Alex Gonz ales - Dito at Doon Angie de Ramos - Dok

B e st S o u n d Albert Micahel Idioma, Alex Tomboc, Pietro Marco Javier - A Hard Day Immanuel Verona - Arisaka and Big Night Roman Dymny - Kun Maupay Man It Panahon Outpost Visual Frontier Don Don Mendoz a - Katips

est upporting Actor John Arcilla - A Hard Day on Confiado - atips Johnrey Rivas - Katips Nico Antonio - Big Night John Arcila - Big Night Best Supporting Actress E ugene Domingo - Big Night Janice de Belen - Big Night Adelle Ibarrientos - Katips B e s t O r ig in a l S o n g Manhid and Sa Gitna ng Dulo - Rans Rifol - Kun Maupay Man It Katips (Music: Pipo Cifra, Lyrics: Panahon Luz Valdez - My Amanda Vince Tañ ada) Umulan Man o Umaraw - Huling Shella Mae Romualdo - Arisaka Ulan sa Tag-araw (Rita Daniela) est irector Nakikinig Ka Ba Sa Akin - Dito at Vince Tañ ada - Katips Doon (Ben & Ben) Sa Susunod Na Ikot Ng Mundo - Law Fajardo - A Hard Day Jun Lana - Big Night Nelia (Von de Guz man) Carlo Francisco Manatad - Kun Maupay Man It Panahon est usical core Mikhail Red - Arisaka Pipo Cifra - Katips Peter Legaste, Raphael Catap - A est Actor Hard Day Dingdong Dantes - A Hard Day Teresa Barroz o - Big Night Andrew Florentino - Kun Mau- Christian Bables - Big Night Vince Tañ ada - Katips pay Man It Panahon Jerome Ponce - Katips Kettle Mata - My Amanda Daniel Padilla - Kun Maupay B e s t E d itin g Man It Panahon Law Fajardo - A Hard Day on Confiado - risa a Mark Jason Sucgang - Katips Benjamin Tolentino - Big Night est Actress Joyce Bernal, Renard Torres - My Maja Salvador - Arisaka Amanda Bienvenido Ferrer III - Kun Mau- Charo Santos-Concio - Kun Maupay Man It Panahon pay Man It Panahon Nicole Laurel Asensio - Katips est Production esign Janine Gutierrez - Dito at Doon Roland Rubenecia - Katips Sharon Cuneta - Revirginiz ed Maolen Fadul - Big Night W hammy Alcaz aren - Kun Mau- Rita Daniela - Huling Ulan sa Tag-araw pay Man It Panahon est Picture E ero Yves Francisco - Arisaka Cinematografica, lanc, uantum B e s t C in e m a to g r a p h y Films - Kun Maupay Man It PaJun Aves - A Hard Day nahon Manuel Abanto - Katips Teck Siang Lim - Kun Maupay Philstagers Films - Katips Cignal E ntertainment, OctoberMan It Panahon Carlo Canlas Mendoz a - Big train Films, Q uantum Films - Big Night Night Viva Films - A Hard Day Mycko David - Arisaka Ten17P - Arisaka est creenpla

19 July 28-August 3, 2022

 ENTERTAINMENT

Lovi Poe attends LA premiere of ‘The Gray Man’ Actress Lovi Poe attended as one of the guests of the premiere of the et i film he ray an in Los ngeles, California last wee his was reported y -C , her new studio, as she shared on nstagram a glimpse of the ollywood event which she attended ith the graymannet i showing today, m reminiscing the fun times we had at the premiere last wee , Lovi, , who is Lourdes irginia oran oe in real life, wrote on the post he movie, helmed y vengers ndgame directors nthony and oe usso, stars yan osling, Chris vans and na de rmas t follows the story of an operative court gentry osling , a a ierra i luc ed from a federal penitentiary and recruited y his handler, onald itzroy illy o hornton , entry was once a highly-s illed, agency-sanctioned merchant of death ow, ta les have turned and i is the target, hunted across the glo e y Lloyd ansen vans , a former cohort at the C , who will stop at nothing to ta e him out gent ani iranda de rmas has enty s ac and he ll need it

he other cast mem ers include essica enwic , hanush, agner oura and lfre oodard ased on the novel of the same title y ar reaney, the movie was released glo ally on et i on uly Last year, Lovi ecame officially a apamilya after signing a deal with -C Lovi was welcomed y -C president and Chief ecutive Officer Carlo atig a , Chief Operating Officer of roadcast Cory idanes, group Chief inancial Officer ic an, and reamscape ntertainment head eo ndrinal in the -C compound Lovi has teamed up with iolo ascual, who remained a apamilya, in the teleserye rema e of orean drama lower of vil which is currently shown on -C Lovi too to her witter account to than for elieving and supporting her for years have utmost respect and gratitude to the networ that has given me my roots and a heart full of memories han you for planting my dreams han you for giving it time, love and effort to water it

Jaya reunites with Regine Velasquez in US enjoy your glorious performance ou and te haron are and will e forever CO C, aya added, using the hashtag foreverfan, which -C , their studio, reported, aya, according to -C , moved ac to the nited tates in uly last year after the CO -

on t loo now ut veteran soul singer aya reunited with her est friend egine elas uez in the nited tates On nstagram, aya uploaded a photo of her and egine, who is in the nited tates with haron Cuneta for their conic concert tour inally together and am soooo happy to see you are and te haron and good to tal to your a a Ogie ulang ang oras pero gra e ang chi a di a, wrote, aya, whose real name is aria Luisa amsey agahastian o proud of you and happy to e just sit ac and

Sampaguita actor Boy Alano passes away at 81

ormer ampaguita ictures star and veteran actor oy lano has passed away on aturday, uly , , at a m , in a rented house in ampaloc, anila e was n another development, show iz lost another talented comedian with the passing of Carlos Caloy lde e was years old u ed r ean of the hilippines, Caloy was more popularly nown as Ogag gago spelled ac wards after playing the lead role in the alternative comedy on with the same title ome of Caloy s co-wor ers in the industry also wrote messages of remem rance and condolences for

pandemic too a toll on their family, especially after her hus and had to e rushed to the hospital due to a stro e fter all the challenges, aya said she left everything in od s hands and that s when she and her hus and decided to return to the

 REAL ESTATE

July 28-August 3, 2022

Student Loan Forgiveness, Task force created to go after do you qualify for it? illegal real estate practitioners S Q UE Z ON CITY – The Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) has created a tas force that will oost the fight against illegal real estate operators and colorum unregistered ro ers and agents he ational as orce on nti- llegal eal E state Practices will ex pand measures to stop illegal real estate operations to e implemented through an inter-agency panel led y and supported y partner agencies Created through oint emorandum Circular o eries of , the tas force is composed of , epartment of ustice, epartment of the nterior and Local overnment, epartment of nvironment and atural esources, Land egistration uthority, rofessional egulation Commission, hilippine ational olice, and ational ureau of nvestigation his is a testament to our partnership as we synchronize our efforts to end the fraudulent activities in the housing and real estate industry, hence, protecting home uyers and helping them in the realization of their dream to ac uire decent and afforda le homes using their hard-earned

money and lifetime savings, ecretary duardo del osario said in a statement he hilippine ssociation of eal state oards nc earlier lamented the proliferation of fa e real estate agents and ro ers who continue to unscrupulously dupe uyers despite a law regulating the practice of real estate service uring the tas force s launch over the wee end, the mem er agencies committed to colla orate and intensify further the cooperation not only in eradicating malpractices in the housing and real estate sector ut e ually important is protecting home uyers and legitimate developers accepts the challenge to ta e the lead in this campaign as we fulfill our mandate to protect the rights of uyers of su divisions and condominium projects, including memorial lots and similar real estate developments, del osario said ased on the ousing and Land se egulatory oard under residential ecree o , no real estate ro er or salesman shall engage in the usiness of selling su division lots or condominium units without eing registered

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everal ey federal student loan forgiveness and relief initiatives are a out to end t the same time, the iden administration is approaching a self-imposed deadline for deciding whether to enact broad student loan forgiveness resident Biden will have to make a decision on these initiatives very soon li ely within a matter of wee s ere s where things stand tudent Loan ause nds in ugust he pause, which has suspended payments and interest accrual on government-held federal student loans for over two years, was originally supposed to last si months ut as the country grappled with the long-term impacts of the Covidpandemic and the associated economic turmoil, resident rump and resident iden e tended the payment pause multiple times iden s last e tension is set to end on ugust O O Unlike previous times the student loan pause was set to e pire, the ducation epartment appears to e ma ing little effort to notify orrowers of the imminent return to repayment hat, com ined with ongoing economic pressure associated with the worst in ation merican families have e perienced in decades, suggests that a further e tension of the payment pause is possi le, if not li ely ut top iden officials have not tipped their hands ltimately, orrowers will need to e informed within wee s, if not days, a out the fate of the student loan pause tudent Loan orgiveness ecision y ugust resident iden and top ducation epartment officials had expr essed openness to some form of mass student loan forgiveness in recent months iden campaigned on a pledge to support , or more in federal student loan forgiveness for most orrowers, ut he su se uently e pressed reluctance a out cancelling larger amounts of student de t or relying on e ecutive action rather than Congressional legislation to implement it n pril, iden seemed closer than ever to ma ing a decision on road student loan forgiveness, suggesting that he would decide within wee s eports suggested that top officials were considering , in federal student loan forgiveness via e ecutive action, with restrictions ased on orrowers income levels ut months have since passed, and the hite ouse has not said much pu licly other than iden is still considering what to do Officials previously suggested that iden would decide on student loan forgiveness efore the end of the student loan pause iden himself appeared to confirm that last wee , telling reporters that he would decide on road student loan cancellation y the end of ugust tudent loan forgiveness programs ncome-driven repayment forgiveness he federal government offers four main income-driven repayment plans, which allow you to cap your loan payments at a percentage of your monthly income hen enrolled in one of these plans, your remaining loan alance will e eligi le for forgiveness after or years, depending on the plan hese plans are most eneficial for those with large loan alances relative to their income Only orrowers have received loan forgiveness through income-driven repayment forgiveness, according to the ational Consumer Law Center his forgiveness was made ta free retroactive to ec through the end of , as part of the arch merican escue lan owever, most orrowers will not ualify for forgiveness through income-driven repayment until the early s O tudent loan payment plan promises forgiveness, ut rarely delivers u lic ervice Loan orgiveness u lic ervice Loan orgiveness is availa le to government and ualifying nonprofit employees with federal student loans ligi le orrowers can have their remaining loan alance forgiven ta -free after ma ing ualifying loan payments ntil Oct , , the ducation epartment has e panded which payments on federal student loans count toward L through a limited waiver now, payments on L and er ins loans, late payments and payments made on any repayment plan will retroactively count as ualifying payments eacher Loan orgive(C ont i nue on page 27)

21 July 28-August 3, 2022

NEWS  NATIONAL SPORTS NEWS

PHL lifters win 15 golds in Asian Youth and Junior Championship TASHKE NT/MANILA – Vanessa Sarno of Bohol bagged three gold medals to cap the Philippines’ campaign in the Asian Youth and Junior W eightlifting Championships at the Uz bekistan Sports Complex in Tashkent City last week.

Considered as heir apparent to Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz , the 17-year-old Sarno did not disappoint as she tallied 230kg. (100kg. in snatch and 130kg. in clean and jerk) to claim the Junior women’s 71kg. category titlein the three categories, according to reports from Uz bekistan. nggi estu of ndonesia finished second with 212kg. (92-120) while Kim Hyemin of Korea placed third with 211kg. (93118 ).

Sarno’s three-gold performance gave the Philippines a total of 15 gold medals, which is the country s est finish in the tournament,PNA’s Jean Malanum reported.

The other medal winners were Angeline Colonia (2 golds and 1 silver, Youth women’s 4 0kg. category), Rose Jean Ramos (3 golds, Youth women’s 4 5 kg. category; 1 gold, 1 silver, and 1 bronz e, Junior division), Rosalinda Faustino (3 golds, Youth women’s 4 9kg. category), Rosegie Ramos (3 golds, Junior women’s 4 9kg. category)

and Prince Keil delos Santos (2 bronz es, Youth men’s 4 9kg. category).

Sarno, who hails from Barangay Bool in Tagbilaran City, had an impressive showing in May at the Vietnam Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi where she set new records in snatch (104 kg.), clean and jerk (135 kg.), and total (239kg.) to win the gold medal.

The 5 -foot-4 Sarno was crowned champion at the 2021 Asian Championships, also held in Tashkent, Uz bekistan. She pocketed the silver medal in snatch (101kg.) but took the gold medal in clean and jerk (128 kg.) and total (229kg.).

Samahang W eightlifting ng Pilipinas president Monico Puentevella sees a very bright future for Sarno. “ She’s ready for Paris 2024 but she will have to work harder and I’ll make sure of that. Yes, this is so far the best in Asian youth and juniors. In the past, even one gold by Sarno in North Korea made me happy. Now with 15 , what more can we ask? Fifteen times our anthem was played.

To all the coaches under Tony Agustin, our Board, parents, Philippine Sports Commission, and MVP Sports Foundation, salamat (thank you). But most of all, to God be the glory. Paris 2024 and Los Angeles 2028 ,

here we come. Para sa bayan ito (This is for the country),” said Puentevella, who was inducted into the International W eightlifting Federation Hall of Fame last month.

Sarno, an incoming Grade 11 student at the Bohol Institute of Technology International College, trains at the gym of former national lifters Nicolas Jaluag and his wife Liz a Danao in Dauis town near Tagbilaran City. “ I am happy that she won three gold

medals in Uz bekistan. Her success is a product of hard work,” said Jaluag, a memer of the national team coaching staff since 2012. He retired as an athlete after winning the bronz e medal at the 2001 SE A Games.

Sarno joined the national training pool after winning the 32kg. category gold medal at the 2013 Batang Pinoy National Finals in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental. Her first international tournament was an invitational in Indones

2022 Mga Pampublikong Pagpupulong ng Lupon ng mga Direktor ng VTA Inaanyayahan kang dumalo sa 2022 pampublikong mga pagpupulong ng Lupon ng mga Direktor ng VTA. Ang iminungkahing mga pagpupulong ay sa:

Pakisuyong bisitahin ang www.vta.org/board para kumpirmahin ang mga petsa at lugar ng pagpupulong, tingnan ang agenda at iba pang kaugnay na impormasyon.

Huwebes, Agosto 4. . . . . . . . . . 5:30 p.m.

Tanggapan ng Kalihim ng Lupon: (408) 321-5680 board.secretary@vta.org

Huwebes, Setyembre 17. . . . . . 5:30 p.m.

2207-2503

Biyernes, Setyembre 16 . . . . . . 9:00 a.m.

(Workshop na Pagpupulong ng Lupon)

www.vta.org • (408) 321-2300 • TTY (408) 321-2330

July 28-August 3, 2022

22

Q: Will my credit be affected if my wife enrolls only her debts but she wants to use my bank account for the program?

A: The answer is no unless you yourself stop paying your creditors. Here’s the logic. If it is only your wife who enrolls in the program, it is only her creditors who will receive a Power of Attorney and Cease and Desist letters. So if none of your creditors receive a Power of Attorney and Cease and Desist letters, and you continue to pay them on time, with the minimum or over the minimum payment, how can you e affected emem er that your credit worthiness or history will only show how timely and how much you pay your debts.

In this case the only thing necessary is to add your information as a co-applicant in the program so that your wife may use your bank account to pay into the program monthly. Your name will not be included in the Power of Attorney and Cease and Desist letters.

A client called the other day with the same situation. The husband strongly refused to be included in the application. The wife owed $ 30K in credit card debts and wanted to become debt free. W e told the wife to just open her own bank account to end the dispute but for some reason the husband was totally against that as well. I believe this issue spiraled into an argument between the two that resulted in the client ac ing out he lesson cannot help those who do not understand how we can help nor those who refuses our help due to their misconception of the program. Sometime people do it to themselves and we cannot help it.

Ating lesson, Magtanong lang po kung gusto ng tulong. Lagi kaming andito.

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W e do not use call centers which keeps your information safe. W e have a new program that reconstruct debts for half of what you would pay our competitors.

W e also provide legal assistance that keeps collectors away. W e take Federal Credit Unions, Payday loans and high interest personal loans in our program too. This is ex clusively available for Debt Aid Consulting clients. None of our competitors provide this program. You are well protected.

W e only provide Federal Trade Commission compliant programs. Go with Debt Aid Consulting!

Do not fall for marketing gimmicks saying that they have the right program for you. Most marketing companies only have one program and will enroll you in that program whether it fits you or not So beware!

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Itama po natin ang mali!

23 July 28-August 3, 2022

 COMMUNITY NEWS

Imperial County has the highest vaccination rate in California B y Jun N uc um E L CE NTRO, California - A lesser-known county in California earned the distinction of having the best vaccination rates of all counties, including more a uent and well- nown counties of Marin, Santa Clara, San Mateo, Los Angeles and San Francisco, throughout much of 2021 and all of 2022.

In virtual media meeting sponsored

by Vaccinate All 58 and E thnic Media Services, it was learned that Imperial County, which has low income and largely Latino residents has that distinction although it also accounts for the highest share of COVID fatalities per population. .

Also, Imperial County ranks second, after Marin County, in vaccinating kids -- with 71 percent of children completing the primary series. Most counties in the rest of the state have vaccination rates below 40% of children ages 5- 11.

Those who participated in the virtual meeting moderated

by E MS exe cutive director Sandy Close were Professor of E pidemiology at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and of Medicine, and member of the Division of Infectious iseases, the avid effen chool of edicine, CL r Timothy Brewer, Deputy Director for Community Health Division at Imperial County Public Health Department Rosyo Ramirez , M.P.A., E xe cutive Director of Comite Civico Del Valle, Inc. Luis Olmedo, and Imperial Valley E quity & Justice Coalition‘ s Daniela Flores M.P.A. In congratulating the Imperial County, Brewer also gave an overview of the pandemic situation in California saying that on third year of the pandemic, COVID19 has about 8 million cases in the U.S. with one million deaths so far and that 92,000 of these deaths are in California that has 9.6 million total COVID cases “ Good news is that even if it has 37% higher case rate as a whole in California, the death rates in Imperial County that has over 60,000 cases has lower death rate of under 1,000 deaths now. So even the County has more deaths before, because of the tremendous jobs done vaccinating everybody, your death rates are lower than that of the State as a whole,” Brewer said.

Brewer said that the vaccination prevented serious disease, hospitaliz ation and death that also prevented infection as the virus changes as it replicates.

Citing statistics, Brewer said that if one is unvaccinated, he is a out five times more li ely to ecome infected with COVID 2 the virus that causes COVID-19 than someone who has been vaccinated and boosted, is seven times more likely to end up in the hospital if become infected with the virus and about eight times more likely to die than someone who has been vaccinated. “ So getting the vaccine and booster are incredibly important and Imperial County should be very proud of what they have done,” Brewer said.

For her part, Ramirez admitted that Imperial County had a couple of surge throughout in the County in terms of case rate information per 100,000. “ W ith a population of around 197,000, the Covid-19 death rate per 100,000 is currently very low compared before we start vaccinating our community he first wave we had was in 2020,” Ramirez reported. “ W e have a vaccination rate of 91.7% for all residents eligible for the vaccines, 91.5% for those 18 years old and over, and 73.2% for those 5- 11 years old.”

Ramirez also disclosed the following: a) The highest case rate they had was on January 11, 2022 when that had 277.8 cases/100K when 83 9 new cases reported on January 10, 2022. The lowest case rate average they had was in April 6, 2022 when they had just 1.6/100K. Their current case rate average is 49.5 c ases/100K. b) The highest average of COVID-19 hospitaliz ed patients on a 14 -day average was on January 1, 2021 when they had 186.9 patients with a single day high of 205 COVID-19 hospitaliz ed individuals reported on December 22, 2020. The lowest14- day average of COVID-19 hospitaliz ed patients was on May 12, 2022 with just 1.7 patients. Currently they have a 14- day average of COVID-19 hospitaliz ed patients of 12.6 patients. c) The highest death rate on a 7-day average and a 7-day lag was on January 10, 2021 with 4.0 deaths/100K population with a high 10 deaths reported on January 5, 202. The current death rate is 0 deaths/100K population.

Vaccination has been the key to lower cases, hospitaliz ation and death rates after a COVID-19 Immuniz ation Provider

Adhoc Committee helped develop a vaccine prioritiz ation plan and feedback.

Those that developed messaging and outreach strategies as well as provided feedback on vaccine communications rollout was the COVID-19 Immuniz ation Communications AdhocCommittee.

For their part, the CDPH Vaccinate All 58 team convened meetings to help identify areas in Imperial County with lowvaccination rates and to focus outreach efforts which included information distri ution such as door-hangers, yers, posters, and mailers among those that participated include Public Health, ComiteCivico del Valle, Imperial Valley LGBT Center and Calexi co Neighborhood House.

As a backgrounder, Imperial County Public Health coordinated a total of clinics drive-thru, cur side, fi ed site & small-, mid-, large-scale) in 2021 aside from home visit vaccination coordination and electronic employer vaccine assessment portal for planning/coordination of clinics for vac-

cine rollout in partnership with an array of public and private organiz ations (i.e., healthcare, pharmacies, agriculture, education, faith-based, community-based, health plans, business, government, etc.)

The COVID-19 vaccine campaign of Imperial County included a campaign encouraged community members to help senior citiz ens or those that need help navigating internet/ phone/etc.. make vaccine appointments that was initiated in January 2021 with the general public as the target audience for the campaign and the promotion of vaccines for children, boosters, additional doses on the side.

The campaign was deployed using paid media such as television, radio, billboards, newspaper and was also shared on social media. The campaign also received earned media through interviews from local media. The campaign was also promoted using yer distri ution in colla oration with Catholic Charities food distribution, meals on wheels, and senior robocalls from AAA.

 COMMUNITY NEWS

July 28-August 3, 2022

24

PHL consulate holds outreach mission in Salt Lake City

C o n sul G en er al N ei l F r an k R . F er r er ad mi n i ster s th e O ath o f Allegiance to dual ci�zenship applicants at the Philippine C o n sulate G en er al i n S an F r an c i sc o ’ s C o n sular O utr eac h M i ssi o n at B Y U S alt L ak e C en ter i n S alt L ak e C i ty.

C o n sul G en er al N ei l F r an k R . F er r er ad mi n i ster s th e O ath o f Allegiance to dual ci�zenship applicants at the Philippine C o n sulate G en er al i n S an F r an c i sc o ’ s C o n sular O utr eac h M i ssi o n at B Y U S alt L ak e C en ter i n S alt L ak e C i ty.

SAN FRANCISCO - The Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco held a Consular Outreach Mission in Salt Lake City, on 16-18 July 2022 at the BYU Salt Lake Center at Triad Center, Building 3, 34 5 W N Temple Street Suite 300, Salt Lake City, Utah 8 4 18 0, providing a total of 64 6 services. he consular outreach afforded the ilipinos and il ms the necessary consular services without having to travel to San Francisco. Applicants from all over Utah and other states such as Idaho, W yoming, Oregon, and W ashington, traveled to Salt Lake City to avail themselves of services.

The outreach was co-organiz ed by the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA) Utah, with the valuable support of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on the

use of the BYU Salt Lake Center.

Consul General Neil Frank R. Ferrer led the Consulate team joined by representatives from the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Tourism to promote trade, investments, and tourism in the Philippines.

Consul General Ferrer, Consul Vanessa G. Bago-Llona, Philippine Trade Commissioner Celynne Layug, and Tourism Director oleil ropicales, too the opportunity to meet with tah Office of E nergy Development Head Matthew Anderson, as well as Utah business leaders.

This outreach is the third mission conducted by the Consulate in 2022, following its outreach in Colorado in June 2022.

Filipinos residing under the Consulate’s jurisdiction may visit pcgsanfrancisco.org/consular-

C o n sul G en er al N ei l F r an k R . F er r er meets w i th memb er s o f the Filipino American Chamber of Commerce of Utah and Utah Asian Chamber of Commerce, among other organiza�ons in Utah in a meet-and-greet event at Filipino restaurant ubo Express in Salt Lake City.

Consul General Neil Frank R. Ferrer meets ith the Na�onal Federa�on of Filipino American Associa�ons (NaFFAA) Utah o cers.

Supervisors want students empowered to call school threat response teams

FOR MORE INFO, CALL:

LOS ANGE LE S – Los Angeles County Supervisors Janice Hahn and Kathryn Barger have proposed a new education campaign that would inform local students about how to report potential threats of school violence.

The School Threat Assessment Response Teams (START) program was created in 2009 as a way to prevent school violence. In 2019, Supervisors Hahn and Barger championed ex panding the START team members from 10 to 4 2.

The teams consist of mental health professionals who respond to reports about students who may be a threat to themselves or others. “ The START program has become an important resource for schools across the County, and I believe it has helped us prevent tragedies,” said Supervisor Janice Hahn. “ But up until now, this program has mostly responded to calls from teachers and school administrators – not the students themselves. Students are often the first to notice concerning behavior by one of their classmates and we need to make sure they know what START is and how to contact them.”

Anyone can contact START and make a referral when they see warning signs by emailing START@ dmh.lacounty.gov

or calling (213) 739-5 5 65 .

Today, the Board of Supervisor unanimously approved a motion by Supervisor Hahn and coauthored by Supervisor Barger instructing the Department of Mental Health to implement an education campaign aimed at informing students about what START does, how to make a referral to START if they see concerning behavior from a peer, and ex amples of warning signs and behavior to report. “ W e need to do everything in our power to stop school violence in its tracks as early as possible,” said Supervisor Kathryn Barger. “ I am a proud co-author of this motion because that’s ex actly what it’s about – decreasing the odds that an active shooter or another act of violence will impact our county’s youth by being proactive about providing mental health services. Our youth deserve to be in a safe, secure environment that fully supports their learning and healthy development.”

The education campaign should be launched during the 2022-2023 school year. Read the full motion here: http: // file.lacounty.gov/SDSInter/bos/supdocs/171039.pdf.

25 July 28-August 3, 2022

 COMMUNITY NEWS

NaFFAA 25th Anniversary National Empowerment Conference and Anniversary Gala in Las Vegas, Nevada Aug 4-7

Jac k i e T eer

education and that’s what Jackie Teer, 25 year- class brought her to the bay area to

old, born and raised in Manila, Philippines, is the Filipino American delegate to the Miss Asian Global Beauty pageant to be held on August 13 at the Palace of Fine Arts , San Francisco. Growing up in the Philippines is where her passion for social issues such as afforda le housing as a human right and sustainability for the environment first started She knew that the only way to tackle such big worldly problems was to get a world

pursue her degree in economics at UC Berkeley. After graduating in 2019, she continued to pursue her dream of both applying her knowledge in business and market fundamentals while tackling the larger issues that first struc her as a young girl now working for the biggest commercial real estate developer on a project in downtown San Francisco which will have the largest afforda le housing project in SF to date.

W ASHINGTON, DC — After three years of not being able to meet in person for the largest gathering of Filipino-Americans in the United States, the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA) will finally hold an in-person ational E mpowerment Conference (NE C) from August 4 -7, 2022 at Harrah’s in Las Vegas, Nevada.

This year’s NE C has for its theme, “ Navigating the Present, Shaping the Future., Members from across the United States will to come together again to address critical issues impacting the community post-Covid and into the midterms, and to lay out a roadmap to build a unified vision for the community the nex t 25 years and beyond.

The NE C will highlight presentations and workshops from various Filipino Ameri-

can leaders – representing multiple generations from every corner of the United States and abroad.

According to Census 2022, Filipino-Americans are the third largest origin group of Asians in the United States, with more than 4 million Filipinos living in the country.

As Filipinos continue to grow in numbers, the conference see s to fulfill initiatives by empowering Filipino-Americans through leadership development, civic engagement, and national advocacy, said NaFFAA’s National Chairman, Brendan Flores. “ W e are ex cited to meet again in person for the upcoming NE C, as so many new challenges and opportunities have been presented since our last convening,” Flores said. “ NaFFAA looks

forward to taking this opportunity to empower our Filipino Americans to gain tools and resources for the opportunities and challenges we face today, including discussions about topics such as the LGBTQ + community, Advocacy for Filipino Veteran education, Civility, and Breaking the Bamboo Ceiling, E ntrepreneurial and E conomic E mpowerment, Career Development, Running for Office and etting Out the Vote! “ “ W e also look forward to celebrating the great success NaFFAA has had over the past 25 years at the 25 th Anniversary Gala on August 6th. I encourage FilipinoAmericans to register and join us in strengthening our Filipino-American family for our upcoming National E mpowerment Conference ,” Flores added.

 COMMUNITY NEWS

July 28-August 3, 2022

26

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ou are a tenant and do not have a account ou need to stay informed a out a affecting a friend or loved one Multiple members of your household want to e notified Customers and non-account holders interested in receiving updates about forecasted for an address where they do not receive a bill can sign up for any num er of address alerts ote, customers will automatically e enrolled to receive notifications for any home or business they have an account for Customers are encouraged to keep their contact information up to date with so they can e notified if their specific location will e impacted repare for the une pected understands that losing power disrupts lives and has been working nonstop to make its system safer while also reducing the impact of events urges all customers to plan ahead of an une pected emergency elow are a few resources that can help you pre-

pare for an outage afety ction Center ind tips and guides to staying safe during wildfires or severe weather ids mergency reparedness ccess interactive games, safety tips and quiz z es to share emergency resources with children edical aseline rogram ign up for resources available to support those

in the disa led and aging populations A b o u t P G & E acific as and lectric Company, a su sidiary of Corporation C , is a com ined natural gas and electric utility serving more than million people across , s uare miles in orthern and Central California or more information, visit pge com and pge com news

Soc i al Se c ur i t y U pdat e

APPLY FOR SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS ONLINE B yG r ac e S am s on Social Security Public Affairs Specialist in Bay

Did you know, you can do much of your business online with Social Security? This means no need to call or visit a local Social ecurity office ou can ta e your time completing our online applications and even save your progress to return to later ou can apply online for etirement or pouse s enefits ou can apply up to four months before you want your retirement enefits to start ou must be at least age 62 for the entire month to e eligi le to receive enefits f you were orn on the first or second day of the month, you meet this requirement in the month of your nd irthday f you were born on any other day of the month, you do not meet this requirement until the following month hen you re ready, apply at www ssa gov retireonline isa ility enefits ou can use our online application, availa le at www ssa gov disa ilityonline, to apply for disa ility enefits if you o Are age 18 or older; o re not currently receiving enefits on your own ocial ecurity record o Are unable to work because of a medical condition expe cted to last at least 12 months or result in death; and o ave not een denied disa ility enefits in the last days f your application was recently denied, our online appeal application is a starting point to request a review of the determination we made lease visit www ssa gov enefits disa ility appeal html upplemental ecurity ncome provides monthly payments to adults and children with a disability or blindness who have income and resources below specific financial limits also ma es payments to people who are age and older without disa ilities who meet the financial ualifications f you plan to apply for , you can tell us you want to apply and we will ma e an appointment to help you complete the application Or you can complete a large part of your application online at www ssa gov enefits ssi

27 July 28-August 3, 2022

Upside...

(From P age 11)

pointed to the practice of spell casting, as in the case of still-missing San Diego area FilAm Maya Millete, whose husband reportedly contacted purveyors online to have Maya fall in love with him again. hen that failed, he changed his instruction to he her to have her hurt enough that she will have to depend on me and need my help.” tudents listened intently as LL C umare lsa gasid, a family nurse practitioner wor ing in palliative care, depicted her e perience with that deepened her low self-esteem and feelings of inade uacy Agasid was 2 years old when her parents came to this country for her orean ar veteran father to access service-connected medical care. She was one of two Asians in a predominantly Black studentry taught by all-white teachers in the 195 0s. She did not have opportunity to discern unhealthy relationships, she said, as she shared how she married the first man she ever dated he mistoo his escalating controlling behavior for love and passion. – Adapted from original reprinted with permission from INQ UIRE R.NE T. TO BE CONCLUDE D

Ken Go...

(From P age 20)

ness. Teachers employed full time in low-income public elementary or secondary schools may be eligible for Teacher Loan Forgiveness after wor ing for five consecutive years hey can have up to , in federal direct or tafford loans forgiven o ualify, teachers must have taken out loans after Oct. 1, 1998.

4. Student loan forgiveness for nurses. Nurses shouldering student debt have several options for student loan forgiveness: Public Service Loan Forgiveness, Perkins loan cancellation, and the NURSE Corps Loan Repayment Program, which pays up to 8 5% of ualified nurses unpaid college de t u lic ervice Loan orgiveness may be the most likely option for most nurses — few borrowers have Perkins loans, and the NURSE Corps program is highly competitive. ood luc , than s for your in uiries, please call en o of st Innovative Finance 562- 5 08- 7048 or write to kennethgo@ veriz on. net CABRE 01021223 NMLS 238636

Offline

(From P age 13)

two thumbs up.

Asked where he had his barong made, Senator Robinhood told the merry men and women of the press that he bought it at good old , at the superstore s ultura section to e precise ndeed, ultura does have an e cellent selection of ilipiniana and if I ever need to wear a formal jusi or pina barong, I would either buy one there or just rent one.

And this may be the only time that I will praise Padilla, although one can never tell. E very once in a while, he spouts words of homegrown wisdom that give me cause to smile. Other times, he speaks gibberish nonsense.

If there was one SONA when a senator was wearing a totally different kind of barong, it was from decades ago when the late Senator Ramon Revilla, Sr. wore a black barong embroidered with some kind of modern albeit native design.

I looked at it for a long time, and decided that the man from Cavite had made a fashion statement that would be nearly impossible to beat.

But year after year, men and women still try to come out with a look that will be talked about for years to come, hopefully in a good way.

And this is where I have to end this with a sad note regarding the country s current first lady rs Lisa raneta arcos is her name spelled Liz a? ) wore a truly drab attire, which at least was not as ad as the monstrosity she wore at her hus and s inauguration a few weeks ago.

Back then, she wore a bright green dress that many compared to the attire worn by emergency workers worn as they try to save lives.

Lisa or Liza is no melda arcos, that s for sure ay what you will against the former first lady, ut melda was nown as the fa ulous one because she had a sense of style. Or at least the top couturiers of her time – Pitoy Moreno, Ben Farrales, Ramon Valera, et al -- fell all over themselves to gift her with the classiest gowns and dresses.

And like Robinhood, this is the only time that I will speak well of Imelda Marcos, but only her sense of style. y crystal all says that ne t year s O will e a repeat of this year s O and all the O s efore that, at least where overdressed lawmakers are concerned. up, it s nothing more than a dog and pony show of du ious entertainment value.

As I See It

(From P age 13)

dios not working or defective, facilities were defective, etc.

Once a year, sometimes twice whenever campus incidents occur, our school hold our active shooter drill.

Before the actual drill, a video presentation and lecture by security officers were held on what to do when an active shooter is on campus e learned three things One, leave the area whenever it s safe to escape two, if not safe, find a place to hide to avoid the shooter and third, if the shooter enters your area/room, be ready to defend yourself or repel the active shooter. Arm yourself with anything that could repel the shooter such as chairs, fire e tinguisher, nives, pencils, etc that are available in the classroom.

W ell, in the case of the Uvalde massacre, in regards to number one, perhaps some were able to escape and number two, students and staff were a le to hide in their rooms s to num er three, that s where the issue is ecause the situation was different o one was there to fight ac o, school officials need to do two things one, update the presentations incorporating situations present in the Uvalde case. Second, there should e an active shooter drill for police officers a joint drill maybe) specifying their role in the situation and how to establish a temporary command post identifying who will take the responsibility in situations like the Uvalde case. lso, it was reported that the gunman in uesday s elementary school massacre was a lonely 18 -year-old who was bullied over a childhood speech impediment, suffered from a fraught home life and lashed out violently against peers and strangers recently and over the years, friends and relatives said. he shooter had no police record, no gang affiliation, no mental issues and was attested to by friends and relatives that he was a good man but was often times the victim of bullying.

So, perhaps, in addition to the active shooter drill, schools need to address bullying in schools. This way, we can avoid would-be shooters and avoid them from doing these irrational and brutal things. They also need to teach students the conse uences of ullying to avoid things happening on campus.

There had been no evidence of mental health issues prior to the violence Tuesday. Investigators said there is also no evidence of a criminal record, though research is being done into whether the gunman had a record as a juvenile.

So, even parents need to be educated on how to discipline their children and how to address issues of bullying in school. This way, we can prevent these tragedies from happening.

The Senate and Congress recently passed a bipartisan gun control bill which was signed into law by President Joe Biden lately. W ere the issues in the Uvalde massacre addressed by the bill? If not, is there a way to amend the bill and insert latest remedies arising from this massacre?

W hat about banning assault weapons, raising the age to 21 to obtain such weapons? W ere these included in the bill which became a law Let the Uvalde massacre be a lesson for all schools. Schools should allocate udget for ade uate maintenance of facilities, ma e sure radios are working, repair all communications gadgets or better still, moderniz e communications structure, and emphasiz e responsibility in case of active shooter situation.

(E L P I D I O R . E S T I O K O w as a v et eran j ou rn al i s t i n t h e P h i l i ppi n es an d a mu l t i - aw ard ed j ou rn al i s t h ere i n t h e U S . For f eed b ac k s , c ommen t s … pl eas e emai l t h e au t h or at es t i ok oel pi d i o@ gmai l . c om. )

In the Trenches

(From P age 12)

thing is still lacking.

W here will his government get the much-needed funding for these programs and projects? How much money will be generated from the ta measures he had proposed In his address to Congress, Marcos forgot how he would tame in ation, reduce de ts, and stimulate the economy to raise revenues and generate jobs.

He also failed to address widespread corruption in government. About P300 billion is lost annually on corruption and the situation worsened in the last two years of the Duterte administration when money, probably borrowed from abroad, ended up in several lu ury cars and uildings owned y Chinese-Filipino businessmen from Davao City as a Senate probe later found.

Not a single person was punished and lawmakers close to Marcos refused to sign a committee record to run after the corrupt officials and private persons who enefitted from deals made out of the pandemic response. he president s eldest sister, en mee arcos, even too part in the investigation of the Pharmally deals but she appeared to e out of her rother s inner circle Marcos, the winner in the May elections, has many friends, most of them out of power for decades and would like a share of the loot. ormally, there will e con icting interests, warring factions, and jostling for positions of power.

These are the dangers Marcos faces ahead. His legislative agenda could be derailed and his lofty dreams for the country could burst like balloons and vanish in the air.

Marcos was lulled into dreamland by his 31 million votes.

He should wake up and face the realities of the heavy weight of problems ahead. If Marcos thinks this is just a walk in the park, he should be knocked off his senses The state of the nation is not sound. It is fraught with dangers. Any misstep could be fatal, he may end up like his disgraced father.

(T h e au t h or, M an u el S .

M ogat o, i s a P u l i t z er P ri z e w i n n i n g Fi l i pi n o j ou rn al ist is colu n rst ap peared i n P res s O n e. P h )

Health & Wealth

(From P age 12)

tion and ust call or or email: artmadlaing@ gmail.com * A R T G A B O T M A D L A I N G i s ac c red i t ed an d c ommi s s i on ed N ot ary P u b l i c an d l i c en s ed R eal E s t at e B rok er (D R E # 0 0 6 3 5 9 7 6 ) i n C al i f orn i a s i n c e 19 8 1. H e i s f ou n d er of M O B I L E S I G N I N G S E R V I C E S , FI T N E S S FO R H U M A N I T Y (ak a FI T N E S S FO R C H R I S T ) an d A C A P I N O Y . A rt i s ac t i v e E v an gel i s t w i t h t h e G O L D E N G A T E C H U R C H O F C H R I S T i n S an Fran c i s c o, C al i f orn i a.

Speaking Out

(From P age 12 )

and grant of interest free livelihood loans. 2. launching of upport untinlupa industries and Local ntrepreneurs L 3. further improving the ease of doing business. 4 . developing Muntinlupa lake shore area as a tourist destination. 5 . continuing to develop Muntinlupa as a SMART city through connectivity, using the latest available information and communication technology.

In order to hit the ground running, Biaz on is retaining the services of all incumbent department heads, led by city administrator ngr llan Cachuela iazon e pressed confidence that the same team which helped Fresnedi propel Muntinlupa to its position of leadership will e a le to sustain the city s growth momentum

Perry Scope

(From P age 12)

filed, individuals were sent to prison and government employees were removed from office hat s a lot of wor load and the results were impressive, which egs the uestion Can the DE SLA handle the workload without assigning additional personnel to handle them? I doubt it. And this could lead to further delays and backlog in investigating corruption case. It could then lead to a repeat of the old system before PACC was created: cases piled up from three administrations before President Duterte took over. It was only when Duterte created PACC on October 4 , 2017 that the backlog eased and corruption cases were investigated. he CC, which was created y uterte s O o in , had the mandate to “ directly assist the President in investigating and/or hearing administrative cases primarily involving graft and corruption against all presidential appointees.”

The E O stated, “ there is a need to create a separate commission [ … ] solely dedicated to providing assistance to the President in the investigation and hearing of administrative cases and complaints.”

It likewise had the mandate to conduct lifestyle checks or factfinding investigations concerning presidential appointees and other pu lic officers allegedly involved in graft and corrupt practices Going back to old problem Belgica stressed that he respects the decision of Marcos, he said he is hoping that the government will strengthen the fight against corruption f L will not get a oost, li e enough staff, we will go back to the old problem.” f the government will strengthen the Om udsman, it s etter. W hatever it is that the government will boost, resources should be increased, jurisdiction should be widened, and there should be enough staff, he said uterte s O provided that the CC shall have the power, on complaint or motu proprio on its own , and concurrently with the Office of the Om udsman, to hear, investigate, receive, gather, and evaluate evidence, intelligence reports, and information.” t s sad that arcos had to a olish CC, which had done a terrific jo in pursuing corruption cases against presidential appointees n effect, what arcos did was to go ac to the days when corrupt presidential appointees would remain untouchable only because of a slow system of investigating corruption cases, which “ makes one wonder: W hy did Bongbong abolish PACC? I can only surmise that he probably wanted his friends to know that happy days are here again.

(P erry D i az @ gmai l . c om)

 HEALTH NEWS

July 28-August 3, 2022

28

50 and up, 18-49 yrs old with comorbidities cleared for 2nd booster MANILA – All adults aged 50 years old and above and individuals aged 18 years to 49 years with comorbidities can now receive a second booster or fourth dose of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccine.

This was after the Department of Health (DOH), through the National Covid-19 Vaccination Operations Center, issued the guidelines for its nationwide rollout.

In a statement, the DOH said the rollout follows the expa nsion of the emergency use authoriz ation issued by the Food and Drug Administration, which allows certain Covid-19 vaccine brands to be used as second booster doses in the expa nded population groups.

It also follows the recommendations provided by the Health Technology Assessment Council. fizer ozinameran and oderna pi eva are the only mRNA vaccine brands that could be used as a second booster shot, which must be administered at least four months after the first ooster or the third dose

was given.

E ligible individuals may receive their second booster shot from their local government units (LGUs) or vaccination sites nearest to them.

They are advised to bring their vaccination card and a valid ID. medical certificate is not re uired, even for individuals with comorbidities.

However, medical screeners or doctors at the vaccination sites are authoriz ed to assess and determine whether an individual could or could not receive the second booster shot.

On Tuesday, the DOH launched the PinasLakas booster campaign across the country.

Vaccination activities will be conducted in schools, malls, plaz as, and places of worship under the campaign, making Covid-19 vaccines and booster shots more accessible to the people.

As for the house-to-house vaccination, concerned individuals are encouraged to get in touch with their LGUs for guidelines and schedules. “ As vaccine immunity wanes over time, we are dedicated to helping our people remain protected against Covid-19. W e are making it easier for as many of our people to avail of the primary series and boosters, including second oosters, O Officer in Charge aria Rosario Vergeire said.

Vaccination, paired with adherence to the minimum public health standards remains the “ best defense” amid the pandemic, she added.

About 71,546,355 or 91.61 percent of the country’s target population (78,100,578) are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 as of Monday.

Meanwhile, a total of 15,934,251 have received booster shots as of July 17.

COVID still kills Heart of Hope

As of 10: 28 AM (E ST), Tuesday, July 26, 2022, the total global COVID-19 cases: 576,333,448 and 6,405,539 deaths; USA - 92,339,925 , with 1,052,467; and in the Philippines – 3,75 7,762 (2360 new cases) and 60,694 deaths. On this day, there were 167,463 news cases, PHILIP S. CHUA 512 deaths, and 40,906 hospitaliz ations in the United States.

E lon Musk had COVID-19 infections twice, Dr. Fauci had his recently, and then President Biden.

China and some E uropean countries have reintroduced COVID lockdowns. W ith the dominant subvariant BA.5, which is super-contagious and deadly to some high-risk people, it is obvious the pandemic is far from over. It is wise for all of us, including those with the second booster, to continue being careful, masking in public and social distancing. E ven if others don’t. Not one has died from masking; more than 6.4 million have been killed

by COVID-19. Think about it. Just plain common sense.

Power Nap “ Most American adults sleep poorly,” according to a study by the National Sleep Foundation on 1506 adults he findings are o viously applica le to most of us in general.

Lack of sleep translates to lesser mental acuity and concentration, poorer health, greater driving haz ards, reduced productivity, and diminished sex drive.

Sleep expe rts recommend a minimum of 7 to 9 hours of sleep in 24 hours. -The survey showed that adults sleep an average of 6.9 hours a night. Three hours of sleep deprivation is enough to cause problems. eventy-five percent of adults reported they fre uently have difficulty in sleeping, li e pro lems in initiating sleep, waking up often during the night, and/ or snoring, waking up too early, and feeling unrefreshed and always tired. Many also stated that they ignored the problem, and some do not even think they actually have any sleep deficit Only a out of those surveyed stated they were able to sleep well most of the time. wenty-five percent thought their sleep pro lem had adverse effects on their daily routines he leep oundation said “ there’s a link between sleep and quality of life… People who sleep well, in general, are happier and

healthier.

The commercial world of today stretches business to 24 hours a day, with 24- hour pharmacies, restaurants, casinos, supermarkets, etc., so people tend to stay up late, watch late-night shows on television, surf the web on the internet, etc. All these reduce people’s time to sleep. And some people even need more than 9 hours of sleep to feel refreshed and rested.

This study also showed (1) Sixt y percent of adults stated they have driven a vehicle while drowsy from lack of sleep in the past year, and 4 in 10 reported they have had an accident or near accident because of tiredness or falling asleep at the wheel eventy-five percent claim their partner has a sleep problem, with snoring as the most common complaint. (3) Four out of ten of those surveyed reported lack of sleep adversely affected their se ual relationship, having lost interest in sex, having poorer performance or having sex less often.

(4) Seventy percent claimed that their physician never asked them about their sleep.

The recommendations of the National Sleep oundation and e perts in the field are a stinence from any stimulant, coffee and alcohol efore edtime, and to seek medical help if they think they are having sleep problem and/or snoring, or not getting enough rest at night.

Lack of sleep reduces the normal “ recharging time of our body battery, our energy source” causing a chain of reactions in our physiology and body chemistry. This “ lo-bat” condition leads to physical and mental stress to our system. All these alter the normal homeostasis (internal balance) within us, weakening our immune system, and increasing our risk of developing metabolic diseases, hypertension (high blood pressure), stroke, and heart attack, among others, or aggravating exi sting illnesses.

Here is where power naps come in if you have the luxur y and opportunity to enjoy one every day.

Power napping is like “ trickle-charging our battery.” A power nap is usually taken between 1: 00 PM to 4: 00 PM, the primetime, lasting between 10 minutes and 30 minutes. Many countries of the world close up shops in the afternoon and reopen after 4: 00 PM to enjoy that tradition and practice of having a power nap. However, a power nap longer than half an hour increases the risk of “ sleep inertia,” which gives one the uncomfortable groggy sensation which lingers.

For those with sleep problems, those who wake

up in the morning feeling tired and unrested should consider a Sleep Study to rule out Obstructive Sleep Apnea O , where the persons suffer from prolonged breath-holding, doz ens of times while asleep, (resulting in hypoxi a, decreased oxyge n in their system), which is treatable with Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) therapy. OSA, if untreated, increases the risk for diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, Alz heimer’s, and even cancer. CPAP does wonders for these individuals. W ithout exc eption, all those “ quickpick” devices advertised are useless, since they do not address the “ collapsing airway pathology.” CPAP keeps the obstructed airway open.

Power naps provide a healthy opportunity to reset the system and get a “ power surge” and burst of alertness and physical strength, amaz ing energy, and memory boost, which even helps in decision-making and problem-solving. Naps reduce crankiness, increase cognitive skills, performance, and creativity, and lead to a more pleasant outlook for the remainder of the day. It also reduces accidents and mistakes, lowers stress, and even lowers the risk for cardiovascular diseases.

A NASA study among military pilots and astronauts revealed “ that a 40- minute nap improved performance y and alertness nap is superior to coffee or any energy drin ecause caffeine decreases memory performance, contrary to what people think.

One must be consistent in their power nap routine, keeping a regular schedule and not napping for more than 30 minutes. Naps are most especially good and eneficial for young children and, actually, for all of us. he popular historical figures who are nappers” include, among others, Leonardo DaVinci, Napoleon Bonaparte, Thomas E dison, Albert E instein, John F. Kennedy, W inston Churchill, Ronald Reagan, George W . Bush, Salvador Dali, Margaret Thatcher, John D. Rockefeller, and Yogi Berra.

Prevent a “ lo-bat.” Trickle-charge your system daily. Take a power nap if you can. It does wonders!

P hi l i p S. C hua, M D , FA C S, FP C S, a C ardi ac Sur geon E meri t us bas ed i n N ort hw es t I ndi ana and L as V egas , N ev ada, i s an i nt ernat i onal medi c al l ec t ur er/ aut hor , H eal t h A dv oc at e, ne w s paper c ol um ni s t , and C hai rman of t he Fi l i pi no U ni t ed N et w ork - U SA , a 501( c )3 humani t ari an f oundat i on i n t he U ni t ed St at es . W ebs i t es : FU N 8.c om, T oday .SP SA t oday .c om, and phi l i pSc hua.c om E mai l : s c al pel pen@ gmai l .c om

31 July 28-August 3, 2022  NATIONAL NEWS

 FOOD & TRAVELS

 FOOD & TRAVELS

Recipe of the Week Ukoy na Dilis at Kangkong Ukoy na Dilis at Kangkong is a tweaked version of my Ukoy na Dilis recipe. On this tweaked version I fried the dilis in a bed of kangkong leaves. The basic recipe is similar exc ept for the addition of the kangkong leaves. To assemble lay several kangkong leaves in a small sauce plate this will serve as a bed for the dilis mixe d with the prepared batter. The ukoy mix ture is then slide in to hot oil for deep frying. The dish is best served with vinegar, garlic, salt and hot chili dip. Here is the recipe of my innovative Ukoy na dilis at Kangkong enjoy.

I n gr e d i e n t s : 1/2 kilo dilis, anchovy, head abd entrails disgarded 2-3 stalks spring onion, chopped 1 big bundle kangkong, trimmed cup our 1 1/2 cup cornstarch 1 tsp. baking powder 1 medium siz e egg, beaten salt and pepper cooking oil C ok i n gp r oc e d u r e : n a owl mi our and cornstarch, dash of salt and pepper. Blend in the beaten egg and 1 1/2 cups of water until a smooth batter is produced. Add in the dilis and spring onion mix thoroughly. Heat about 2 to 3 cups of oil in a wok. To assemble lay several kangkong leaves in a small sauce plate this will serve as a bed for the dilis mixe d with the prepared batter. Using a soup ladle scoop about 1/3 cup of the fish atter mi ture and pour into the kangkong bed in the small sauce plate.

Slide the ukoy mixt ure in to wok. Fry one serving at a time ip once the ottom turns to golden rown ry until crispy and golden brown. Remove from wok and drain on a paper towel. Serve with vinegar, crushed garlic, salt and pepper dipping sauce.

Puerto Princesa Subterranean River Na�onal Park (Photo by Joyce Ann L. Rocamora)

Lucban revives Pahiyas Festival, welcomes back tourists LUCBAN, Q uez on – The town of Lucban, the land of pancit habhab and colorful kiping-decorated houses, has revived the iconic Pahiyas Festival this 2022, two years since the pandemic forced most festivals in the Philippines to go virtual.

E very May 15, the agricultural towns of Q uez on province celebrate the feast of San Isidro Labrador, the patron saint for good harvest, in various ways -- the Agawan Festival in Sariaya, the Mayahon of aya as, and the ahiyas or officially the San Isidro Pahiyas Festival.

Pahiyas is dubbed as one of the country’s most colorful festivals and egins with an offering to the farmer saint, a practice derived from the early residents’ ritual of setting aside a portion of their harvests to the anito” or ancestor spirits.

Before the feast, locals in the designated streets where the procession of San Isidro will pass through decorate their houses with rice stalks, a waterfall of fruits and vegetables, and most nota ly, giant owers and chandelierlike “ arangya made from multi-colored kiping (rice wafers).

Natives believe the houses on this route will receive a blessing from the saint.

This year, over 600 houses participated in the Pahiyas, according to a PNA report.

The streets pulsate with more life in the afternoon when the grand parade starts moving with the marching band, higantes, the Parikitan winners and town’s belles dressed in white and locally-crafted long gowns.

But apart from the houses that outdo each other, also not to be missed are food stalls lining the procession route, selling various Lucbanin dishes from habhab, Lucban longganisa on stick, pilipit kalabasa” to roasted kipings.

W hile the pandemic halved the number of visitors, the festival still attracted a relatively huge crowd.

Department of Tourism-Calabarz on officer-in-charge arites Castro said in a PNA report all accredited hotels and re-

sorts in Lucban were fully booked leading to the event that other tourists were already billeted as far as Lucena, which is about 28 kilometers away from the town proper.

Some 100,000 tourists joined Pahiyas this year but still below the 200,000 visitors recorded in 2019, based on DOT data.

Side trip If you’re already in Lucban, then a side trip to emerging and exi sting desti-

nations are a must. On top of it is the Kamay ni Hesus, a pilgrimage site known for its healing masses and the 50- feet image of the Ascending Christ.

A four-minute drive from Kamay ni Hesus, you will reach the Bukid Amara where you can find a meadow-li e landscape, featuring gorgeous rows of sunowers and different inds of looms he ower garden is set against the backdrop of the majestic Mt. Banahaw, which would likely make those who grew up in the province reminisce about childhood memories on a farm. u id mara also offers a ilipino “ kamayan-style” dining inside a bahay kubo situated just beside a lake and its ower field he dishes use locallysourced ingredients, including edible owers the owners grew themselves Also, a recommended dining and coffee spot in town is Linang ni LK, a bed and breakfast owned by Chef Francis Christian Ocoma also known as Lakwatserong Kusinero.