Norcal 9/8/22

1 September 8-14, 2022

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA EDITION

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

Vol. 62 No. 5 September 8-14, 2022

NEWS AND VIEWS YOU TRUST

MARCOS TO ADDRESS U.N. IN NEW YORK Meetings with Biden, world leaders eyed after Indonesia, Singapore visits

By ALFRED GABOT, Editor-in-Chief

SINGAPORE/MANILA — After successful inaugural state visits in Indonesia and Singapore, President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.is slated to fly again, this time in New York, to address the United Nations General Assembly on PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. meets Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Sien during his inaugural state visits to the two countries. Marcos will fly next week to New York to address the September 20. Page 9 Loong United Na�ons General Assembly

DoH: Gov’t mulls extending state of calamity over Covid-19

Another hate crime victimizes 74-yr-old FilAm

By Claire Morales True

MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. has “recommended” extending the state of calamity in the Philippines due to COVID-19 until the end of the year, according to the Department of Health (DOH).

The state of calamity, set to lapse on September 12, allows local governments to implement the coronavirus vaccination pro-

gram, tap quick response funds to contain COVID-19, and control the prices of basic necessities.

Meanwhile, the country recorded 1,750 new COVID-19 cases on September 7, according to the Department of Health (DOH), raising the country’s total to 3,896,541.

Forty-nine new deaths were also recorded, raisingPage 10

By Gilda Balan, Correspondent

NEW YORK - A FilAm who was minding her own business in Manhattan, New York City was assaulted by a woman last week, leaving the victim stunned and hurt.

The Philippine Consulate General confirmed the report, saying that the victim – a FilAm senior citizen -- was walking

along Madison Avenue near East 52nd street when she was punched by another woman, who then fled.

There was no provocation for the attack and it had all the signs of a hate crime.

California and New York are the two states which have the most number of verbal Page 8

Finance secretary says helping poor Filipinos waste of funds, is jeered

By Be�ng Laygo Dolor, Editor

MANILA – The claim from a member of the Marcos Cabinet that the Philippine economy has fully recovered was met with jeers, disbelief, and observations that he was out of touch with the problems of the Filipino people.

Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno, who previously served as governor of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, said last week that the government should stop giving financial support to the poor – known as ayuda – because doing so was a “waste of public funds.”

He specifically cited Filipino households which had been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and which was receiving dole outs in various forms for the past two years.

The most recent ayuda is still being given out to students from poor families by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to the tune of P1,000 for grade school students, P2,000 for high school students, P3,000 for those in senior high, and P4,000 for college and/or vocational school enrollees.

Just how desperate poor families were was seen in the first of six consecutive Saturdays of distribution that saw near riots and slight injuries to families who had formed queues in various DSWD offices.

Two million students had applies for the cash aid, but DSWD said it could only give funds to around 400,000.

Diokno said, “On giving of ayuda in relation to the crisis, I think that should al- Page 8

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PHL govt debt nears P13 trillion VIEWS & COMMENTS

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 NATIONAL NEWS

CA confirms Garcia as Comelec chief, Nograles as CSC chair B y J en n i f er San to s MANILA – The Commission on Appointments has confirmed the appointment y resident Ferdinand arcos r. of ommission on lections omelec hairman George Garcia and ivil Service ommission S chairman arlo ograles.

Commission on Elec�ons Chairperson George Garcia le , and Civil Service Commission Chairperson arlo Nograles right . oth Garcia and ograles will remain in their posts until Fe . , .

During his deli eration, Garcia recalled the suc cessful conduct of the recent national and local elections saying it had the highest voter turnout and the fastest in the history of the hilippines. his is ut a little accomplishment on the part of the ommission on lections. was happy that was a part of the omelec at that time, Garcia told the ommittee on onstitutional ommissions and ffices chaired y Senator ynthia illar.

Garcia said he aims to surpass the achievements of grams, policies, and accomplishments of our ommis the recently concluded ay elections. sion since assumed my post, he told the . he omelec shall underta e institutional reforms in advocating for more responsive election laws at tuned to the times, esta lishing etter measures for greater transparency, and opening channels for etter engagement with our citi enry, he said.

He said the omelec will also uild its own uild ings that will house its offices at the reclaimed area in asay ity. s we stand in front of ever changing informa tion and technological landscape, omelec hopes to meet it with professional and competent personnel who will find the right alance of credi ility and ef ficiency. hese are re uired of us, and also ta e this opportunity to remind the personnel of the omelec, that we perform not ust ordinary duties ut duties mandated y no less than the onstitution, Garcia said.

Garcia was first appointed as commissioner to the poll ody in arch y former resident odrigo Duterte and was reappointed on uly y resident Ferdinand arcos r. ograles was also appointed y Duterte to chair the S on arch , too his oath on arch , and officially assumed his post as ad interim chairperson on arch .

However, he was forced to step down upon the ad ournment of the th ongress. ograles was also called and sworn in as chairper son of the S y resident arcos r. on une . n the com ined period of more than five months that have served as ad interim chair, have seen the passion and dedication of our civil servants in the S to fulfill their mandate despite the challenges posed y the pandemic. his est e emplifies the various pro

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 METRO NEWS

September 8-14, 2022

4

FilAm pharma exec abducted, killed; case solved, 11 charged

‘Poblacion Girl,’ balikbayan from US, convicted for quarantine violations

he money and the watches were rought y his driver, hristopher ancho, to the victim in South of ar et ower in onifacio Glo al ity in aguig ity that same day, investiga tors found out.

However, after r. duardo olosa received his personal elongings, his cell phone could no longer e contacted nor messages e made for his wherea outs, ar said in the com plaint. ar said that a oniag disclosed that last ug. , she re ceived a te t message as ing million pesos and if they cannot accede, threatened to send the head of Mr. Eduardo Tolosa.”

He said that a oniag continued to receive te t messages a out the ransom demand until Sept. . he family of the victim, duardo olosa, and their lawyer, Harry o ue, went to the Department of ustice for the filing of idnapping, murder, and arson cases, as endorsed y the hil ippine ational olice nti idnapping Group, through ol.

Frederic ar. olice said the victim s car, a white sports utility vehi cle, was urnt down y the suspects in San uis, ampanga. ast month, ar said Dumalanta, Gundran and ndes surrendered to the G and later divulged informa tion on their participation as well as those of others in the crime. he four confessed on their part in the a duction, adding that the victim was later murdered, urned and uried. heir respective sworn statements revealed the circum stances surrounding the idnapping for ransom and illing of victim Eduardo Tolosa, the names of their cohorts, the mastermind, and the place where they dumped and urned the ody, he said.

he a ati ity egional rial ourt ranch has a ali ayan from the nited States guilty of violating Section d of epu lic ct or the andatory eporting of otifia le Diseases and Health vents of u lic Health oncern ct and ordered her to pay a fine of , . udge aureen u io ar ue issued the verdict after Gwyneth hua pleaded guilty to the charges during onday s ar raignment. hua escaped from mandatory uar antine at the er aya Hotel and was seen dining with several ac uaintances at a restaurant in a ati ity. he complaint against hua was filed y DG ational apital egion last an. , after completing their investiga tion and esta lishing pro a le cause to file the complaint.

The Philippine National Police-Criminal nvestigation and Detection Group DG lauded the conviction of Gwyn eth hua also nown as o lacion Girl , who reached uarantine protocols in Decem er last year amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“We are elated over the release of the court s decision in the case involving Gwyneth hua. his proves the strong partnership and commitment.

B y J ean n e M i c h ael Pen aran d a CAMP CRAME, Q uezon City – Police authorities have virtually solved the case of a Filipino American pharmaceutical firm chief e ecutive officer who went missing in uly ut turned out to have een a ducted and illed y a group of at least men. he nti idnapping Group u on Field nit led y its hief ol. Frederic ar identified the Fil m e ecutive as duardo G. olosa r., president and chief e ecutive officer of Iraseth Pharma Inc. he case of olosa whose identity the withheld then was first reported in the media last month after a photo of his urnt new oyota and ruiser surfaced on social media. ar led in filing criminal complaint efore the Department of ustice against persons for murder, idnapping for ran som, and arson charges in connection with olosa s death. he respondents were identified as arlo G. adampog, easar G. adampog, David . Gundran, ohn enedict .

Dumalanta, elvin eonor ndes, elchor . ndes, ictor agodon Ferrer, drian oseph ende , ichmeld gnilan, a certain omtom, and a still unidentified male person. he hilippine ational olice nti idnapping Group conducted an investigation ased on the report of the victim s nephew, arl llan olosa, who said that his uncle went miss ing last uly . police investigation found the victim left his home in ari ina ity a oard his white oyota and ruiser at around am on uly and, later that day called raseth harma ice resident for Finance Delia a oniag to get from his vault S , , euros Singaporean dollars a ole watch, and a Hu lot watch.

Sara lauds teachers, vow to work on their needs

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SG ice resident and du cation Secretary Sara Duterte underscored her admiration and respect for the unwaver ing dedication of teachers, in cele ration of the ational eachers month. n a statement, Duterte said she highly regarded their fle i ility for the sa e of learners, citing their e tra e ort to ensure learning deliveries, in coordination with the local government units and other health au thorities since the onset of the coronavirus disease ovid pandemic. ur teachers deserve respect and ad miration for their undying dedication to guiding and helping our learners, parents, and guardians when the whole world had to shift to home learning drastically ecause

of the pandemic,” she said.

She noted that these sacrifices include their resilience after storms, earth ua es, floods, and other calamities, even those teachers in remote areas.

Hindi po iro ang mga hamon na hi naharap ng se tor ng edu asyon ngayon. lam o ang hirap, pagod, at mga sa ripi syo ng mga guro nasa pu lic school man o nasa private school, lalong lalo na ang mga nagsisil i sa mga malalayo at li li na lugar he challenge faced y the education sector is not that easy. now the teachers hard ships, e haustion, and sacrifices, whether in pu lic schools or private schools, most especially those serving in far flung and re mote areas , she added.

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5 September 8-14, 2022

 PROVINCIAL NEWS

Bayombong bishop recuperating from heart surgery nao is now recovering after undergoing a successful maast wee , the diocese reported that the year old jor operation. prelate was rushed to the hospital due to difficulty in We are glad to inform you that ishop ose lmer reathing. angalinao had a successful coronary angioplasty pro cedure. lease continue to pray for him for his speedy recovery as he is still in critical ut sta le condition, the diocese added in a Face oo post. t noted that the ishop is not accepting visitors, ut appreciates all those who wish him well.

We appreciate all the well wishers so much for showing love and prayers for our dear ishop and want ing to visit him. Please note that we cannot accept visitors as of this time as the ishop heals. We need him to rest and recover so he can heal fast and e a le to e with us all again, the post said.

B ay o mbo n g B i s h o p J o s e E l mer M an gal i n ao It also called on the faithful to refrain from calling G, ueva i caya he Diocese of the nurse’s station “so that the nurses taking care of him ayom ong reported that ishop ose lmer angali will not e pulled away from him .

Bulacan airport to push through despite veto of ecozone bill CITY OF MALOLOS, Bulacan – The construction of the New Manila international airport in Bulakan, Bualcan will still push through, G overnor Daniel Fernando said.

Fernando made the statement assuring the airport project is not a ected y the veto of the ill creating a special economic one and freeport in the illion airport eing uilt on a , hectare land in arangay aliptip, ula an this province.

Fernando said the two projects are separate entities as he agreed that more time is needed for careful study, evaluation, and review of the proposed special economic zone. ama naman at dapat ay re yuhin ito, tingnan muna at re isahin at wala naman masama sa intensyon ni angulong Ferdinand arcos r. at nirerespeto natin ang aniyang pa hayag t is right that the proposed special economic one must e reviewed, loo first and revise and resident arcos has no ad intention. We respect his statement , Fernando said.

Plan to return to old name of Manila airport revived

Fernando said he is grateful and positive a out the huge de velopments in the province.

He said that foreign investors have nothing to worry a out since ulacan has a lot to o er in terms of usiness locations.

Hindi nito maaape tuhan ang foreign investors dahil may mga site pa naman na pwedeng paglagyan ng foreign invest ments. Wala a ong na i itang dahilan para umatras sila. Still welcome sila sa ulacan his would not a ect the foreign in vestors ecause there are still sites where foreign investments can e put up. see no reason for them to ac down. hey are still welcome in ulacan , he said.

The governor also said that there is no politics involved in the President’s move.

Wala pong puliti a dito, apa anan po ng taum ayan ang layunin ng angulo here is no politics here. he resident s goal is the welfare of the people , he added.

 NATIONAL NATIONAL NEWS NEWS

September 8-14, 2022

6

Singapore names orchid after Marcos, First Lady

SING APORE – President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos have had purple orchids named after them during the second day of their trip to Singapore. he couple got a first hand loo at the Dendrobium orchid when they visited Singapore’s National Botanical G arden, the last day of their state visit.

“Dendrobium Ferdinand Louise Marcos” was described as “a robust and freeflowering orchid hy rid. t produces semi arching inflorescenc es of 50 to 70 centimeters in length that ear to well arranged flowers, with each flower measuring appro imately

centimeters in width.

The orchid’s curled sepals have a white ac ground adorned with lavender striations, while its petals are white and flushed with luish mauve.

Marcos is the latest leader to be honored under the so-called “orchid diplomacy,” a tradition of naming a new orchid species grown in Singapore after a foreign leader or celebrity.

Singapore Botanical G arden curator Whang Lay Keng said the orchid naming shows the close diplomatic ties between the two countries which will “grow and propagate ust li e the orchid.

Orchid varieties have been named after Filipino leaders and celebrities in the past, among them was former first lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos, the President’s mother.

Former President G loria-Macapagal Arroyo also had an orchid named after her.

The late president Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and his mother, the late president Corazon “Cory” Aquino, were also given similar recognition

the avy s first two fast attac interdic tion craft-missiles (FAIC-Ms) -- the BRP Nestor Acero (PG -901) and BRP Lolinato To-Ong (PG -902).

The steel-cutting for the two corvettes is e pected to start in the last uarter of this year.

As of this time, the PN has two AgustaWestland “Wildcat” AW-159 anti-submarine helicopters which are assigned to BRP Jose Rizal and BRP Antonio Luna.

These helicopters arrived in May 2019 and were commissioned in June that year.

The contract for the helicopters’ munition, mission essential equipment, and integrated logistic support is worth . billion.

The helicopters can be armed with roc ets, machine guns, missiles, torpe does, and depth charges and fitted with modern sonar systems for trac ing down submarines.

PH Navy to buy more anti-submarine helicopters MANILA – Philippine Navy (PN) flag officer in command ice dm. de luis Bordado has disclosed plans to acquire more anti-submarine helicopters to partner with their incoming major surface naval assets.

Bordado made the disclosure saying the navy earlier acquired anti-submarine helicopters for the two incoming corvettes from South Hyundai Heavy Industries.

“Yes there are plans actually, we have

only two anti-submarine helicopters, so of course, the ideal is to have one on each ship, so apat na yan, so ailangan pa rin natin ng dalawa and of course in the near future, actually (our incoming ships mas mala i ito sa ose i al FF-150 and (BRP Antonio Luna) FF-151 so there are plans to acquire more antisu marine helicopters asi ang ideal ta laga is one ship, one helicopter,” he said on the sidelines of the christening rites for

Text scams on the rise, NTC, telcos tighten security measures MAKATI CITY – The National Telecommunications Commission has ordered telcos to send warnings to the pu lic against scam te t messages that contain the names of their receivers. he order came as te t scams have been on the rise since the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, with the latest fraudulent messages containing the names of their receivers and o ering fa e o s, promises of a monetary prize, or similar money scams that lull users into giving sensitive information.

Such information can then be used by cybercriminals to log in to a person’s an account, digital wallet, or social me dia account -- resulting in both monetary and data privacy losses.

Meanwhile, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said it fully supports the proposed investigation of the Senate Committee on Public Services on the continued proliferation of te t scam mes sages.

Lt. G en. Jose Chiquito Malayo, PNP deputy chief for administration, said the police force will contribute and cooperate in the investigation as it did in the recent te t scam cases handled y its nti y

bercrime G roup.

Malayo said the PNP also supports the passage of a measure requiring the registration of S cards which is e pected to assist law enforcers in identifying culprits or scammers who use their communication devices to victimize unsuspecting individuals.

This prompted local telecommunications companies telco to crac down on the continued proliferation of scam te t messages through their partnership with the national government.

In a statement, G lobe Telecom Inc. Glo e chief information security offi cer Anton Bonifacio said the company is wor ing closely with the ational ele communications Commission (NTC) and the National Privacy Commission (NPC) to crac down against cy ercriminals and protect data privacy.

“At a time of aggressive cybercriminal activity amid growing digitalization, G lobe asserts that the public, government, and industry players, including telcos, are all victims of these illegal acts. It is, thus, a shared fight among all of us to eat our common enemy, which is cybercrime,” Bonifacio said.

To date, he said roughly P1.1 billion in capital e penditures have een spent y G lobe to boost its capabilities in detecting and loc ing scam and spam messages of both international and local origin.

Glo e also maintains a security operations center, with over 100 people wor ing tirelessly to detect attac s, reaches, and spam and te t messages, he said.

From anuary to uly, Glo e loc ed a total of million scam and spam mes sages, deactivated , scam lin ed S cards, and lac listed , S cards in addition to loc ed do mains or U RLs. On the other hand, PLDT – Smart chief information security officer ngel Redoble assured its users that there is no evidence to suggest a breach in its networ , with spam and scam messages re ceived by their users mostly sent through individual SIM cards.

“U pon scrutiny of these spam messages, we have observed that the format of the names mimics the naming conventions used in popular digital services,” Redoble said.

Leah Jimenez, PLDT-Smart’s chief

data privacy officer, said the companies continue to wor with the , the , and law enforcement agencies to help trac down cy ercriminals responsi le for these illegal activities.

“At this early stage, and pending completion of investigations, we believe it prudent to hold o on any conclusion.

Our focus should be on identifying the source of these scam messages,” Jimenez said.

In 2021, PLDT-Smart has invested nearly P3 billion to fortify its cybersecurity infrastructure to safeguard against emerging threats and vulnerabilities in telecommunications and cyberspace.

7 September 8-14, 2022

 NATIONAL NATIONAL NEWS NEWS

Gov’t debt nears P13 trillion MANILA - The Philippine government’s running debt swelled to a new record-high at P12.89 trillion, nearing the P13-trillion mark as of end-July 2022, data released by the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) showed.

The debt stock as of the end of the seventh month of the year grew 0.8% or

by P96.09 billion from the end-June 2022 level of P12.79 trillion.

The Bureau of Treasury attributed the increase to “the net issuances of domestic and external loans as well as currency adjustments.”

The end-July 2022 debt level also rose by 11% or by P1.277 trillion from the end-July 2021 outstanding debt of P11.61 trillion.

Since end-December 2021, the government debt widened by 9.9% or P1.16 trillion.

The total debt stock as of end-July 2022 was composed mostly of domestic

borrowings at 68.5% while the remaining 31.5% were foreign borrowings.

The debt-to-gross domestic product (G DP) ratio — the amount of the state’s debt relative to the size of the economy — improved to 62.1% of the second uarter of the year from . of the first quarter, albeit still above the internationally accepted “manageable” threshold.

Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno earlier said the Marcos administration is expected to borrow more than P1 trillion to plug the pro ected fiscal shortfall ne t year.

However, he had said that the debt levels seen during the Duterte administration will no longer be seen in the current regime.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. also vowed that the government would bring down the country’s debt to less than 60% debt-to-gross domestic product (G DP) ratio by 2025.

Navy gets, christens 2 Israeli missile boats

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MISSILE BOATS. O cials o the Armed Forces o the Philippines and the Philippine Navy lead the christening rites or the two Israeli-made ast a�ack interdic�on cra missiles FAIC-Ms , the BRP Nestor Acero PG-901 and BRP Lolinato To-Ong PG902 , at the Navy head uarters in Manila CAMP AG U INALDO, Q uezon City – The Philippines has procured two fast attack interdiction craft-missiles (FAIC-Ms) from Israel speaks highly of the country’s boosting further the country’s defense system, Armed Forces of the hilippines F chief of sta t. Gen. Bartolome Vicente Bacarro declared.

“The procurement of these naval warfare assets through government-togovernment mode between the Philippines and Israel demonstrates our robust diplomatic and defense relationship with other countries, grounded on our shared goal of ensuring security and stability,” Bacarro said in a statement.

Bacarro was referring to the BRP Nestor Acero (PG -901) and BRP Lolinato o ng G , the first two out of nine vessels acquired from the Israel Shipyards Ltd. for P10 billion.

He said these ships further enhance the capability of the Philippine Navy (PN) to protect the country’s national territory and interests.

“These shall strengthen our naval capability on littoral defense and maritime interdiction operations and decisively forward our Self-Reliance Defense Posture program,” Bacarro said.

The two ships were formally christened by Bacarro’s wife, Soledad, at the Commodore Divino Pier in the PN headquarters in Manila on Tuesday morning. hese patrol oats shall significant ly enhance our external and internal defense operations in terms of securing our borders against foreign intrusions, and in providing naval warfare support to our ground troops during the conduct of joint operations,” Bacarro said.

The PN’s FAIC-Ms are based on Israel’s Shaldag Mark V class-patrol boats.

Three more are slated to be delivered beginning this year while the remaining four units will be constructed at the PN shipyard in Naval Station Pascual Ledesma, Cavite City.

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 NATIONAL NEWS

September 8-14, 2022

8

Sandigan convicts 2 Nabcor execs for graft, malversation he Sandigan ayan has sen tenced three individuals to up to years ehind ars in connection with the graft and malversation charges involving the riority Development ssistance Fund D F of an astern Samar congressman. he anti graft court s hird Division convicted two former senior officials of the state run ational gri usiness orporation a cor , administrative manager Encarnita Munsod and general services unit head omulo elevo, and argie u of non govern mental organi ation Ga ay asa Development Foun dation nc. he three must also pay . million in fines su

ect to si percent annual interest until paid in full. hey willingly went along with the igno le scheme of accused eodulo o uilla y completing the act of em e ling the D F drawn funds through the implementation of a fictitious and non e istent livelihood pro ect, the court said in its Sept. deci sion. o uilla died in , reportedly after a medical operation. o accused lan avellana and ulie illaralvo ohnson, former a cor president and chief accoun tant, respectively and Ga ay asa s a. ristina i carra are at large and have standing arrest warrants.

The case began when G abayMasa was chosen as pro ect partner in for the livelihood pro ects funded y the por arrel allocation of o uilla.

Prosecutors said the transactions were in disregard of the appropriation law and done without pu lic and competitive idding as Ga aymasa was unaccredited and un ualified to underta e the pro ects.

Ga ay asa s usiness registration e pired on arch , . he charges also said certificates of acceptance and undated ac nowledgment receipts were made to ma e it appear that the fictitious supplies were deliv ered to intended eneficiaries.

ecently, an year old Filipino tourist from e u was also assaulted in ew or ity, ut the worst crime and physical assaults on sian mericans, Fil ms in was the illing of a young Filipino lawyer who was on vacation and was actually heading for the airport to head cluded. his is due to the large population of sian immi home when the care he and his mother were taking was shot at. grants who have ecome S citi ens in oth states. he lawyer was illed while his mother survived. he hilippine onsulate is now advising Filipinos Authorities were not sure if it was a hate crime or a visiting the S to remain vigilant and e ercise neces case of mista en identity. sary precautions at all times. he attac on the e uano teen was, however, con here is some indication that hate crimes are now e sidered a hate crime. ing directed towards visitors and tourists as they are less he state of alifornia has ta en the lead in trying li ely to see ustice and file charges against perpetra to stem the tide of hate crimes against Fil ms and other tors, if they are caught.

Asians and Asian Americans when it recently launched

the Stop sian Hate movement.

While hate crimes have een ta ing place for de cades, even centuries in the S, it was only lately that ver al and physical assaults against mostly older men and women of sian descent have risen to alarming lev els. he unprovo ed attac s were first noticed last year, at the height of the coronavirus pandemic. Some of the attac ers lamed the pandemic on an sian country where it first ro e out. thnic media including hilippine ews oday are ta ing an active part in the Stop sian Hate campaign, which has also een receiving growing support from government officials from oth sides of the aisle.

Another...

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Finance...

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ready be discontinued because we have actually fully recovered and ecause of the limited fiscal space. dvocacy group Foundation, however, said, Slashing funds for social protection despite the un resolved pandemic and economic crisis shows the ad ministration s insensitivity to millions of Filipinos in distress and its deliberate intent to ignore the country’s glaring pro lems.

While not agreeing with the Finance secretary, DSWD chief rwin ulfo said that hundreds of thou sands of families that had formerly received ayuda on a regular asis would no longer receive the cash enefit ne t year as they had graduated from their ultra poor status.

he hilippine Statistics uthority, however, said says that no less than million poor and . percent of Filipino families were considered poor, low income families were in dire need of emergency descri ed as those whose income is not sufficient to cash su sidies. meet their basic food and non food needs. he S figure trans lates to more than 26 million Filipinos living elow the poverty thresh old, which last year was pegged as earning less than , roughly a month. n the House of epre R ate: R N - $ 7 5 / h ou r sentatives, arty list ep France astro called L V N - $ 5 0 / h ou r Dio no s claim as alarm R ef er r al f ee: $ 2 5 / sh i f t ing.

She said the Finance chief was under the im pression that not having loc downs proved that the country had fully recov ered from the pandemic. astro said Dio no was anti poor, and had een so since when he dared say that school teachers were too am i tious in see ing a wage hi e. , meanwhile, pointed out that the pro posed national udget A davits, SP A, Deed of Absolute Sale, Etc. submitted by Malacanang to ongress is a record N otary P u b lic & R eal E state Brok er . trillion, ut cuts back on funds intended for social protection ud gets for families and chil dren, unemployment, and * C om m issioned N otary P u b lic and lic ensed R eal E state Brok er ( BR E # 0 0 6 3 5 9 7 6 ) in C alifornia housing. sinc e 1 9 8 1 . A u thor, C olu m nist, and Mem b er, N ational N otary A ssoc iation ( N N A ) Further, no additional allocations were budgeted for conditional cash trans fers, conflict a ected ar eas, the elderly, the sic , and the disa led.

WE ARE LOOKING FOR

RNs and LVNs

9 September 8-14, 2022 Marcos...

 NATIONAL NEWS (From page 1)

At the sidelines of the U N state leaders conference, Marcos is expected to meet and talk with some world leaders and possibly visit the White House in Washington D.C. for a dialogue with U nited States President Joseph Biden Jr. he arcos iden dialogue has not een officially con firmed as of press time ut sources at the Department of Foreign airs indicated that the meeting of the two lead ers will likely take place.

To recall, Marcos was invited to the White House by President Biden as early as after his inauguration on June 30 where he sent a top delegation led by the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, U S Second G entleman Douglas mho .

Su se uent visits y other S officials reiterated the Biden invitation.

Philippine Ambassador to U S Jose Manuel Romualdez, a cousin of the resident, is leading hilippine officials in preparing for the Marcos visit in U S. omualde confirmed in an interview that in a letter written by Biden to Marcos, the former has extended an invitation for Marcos and his family to “come to Washington.” his is the first time he arcos will e addressing the U nited Nations, which is basically introducing himself to the world in the Western world, especially and, and secondly, to have more economic business meetings that will bring in investments into the Philippines,” Romualdez said.

Marcos arrived on April 7 in Manila and announced that P804 billion worth of investments were pledged during his state visits in Indonesia and Singapore.

Speaking at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport , arcos said the hilippines signed a total of letters of intent and memoranda of understanding in ey sectors such as energy, e-commerce, technology, and agri-

culture.

He said he also witnessed the signing of several letters of intent and memoranda of understanding from ndone sian and Singaporean investors. hese investments if we put it all together value . billion U S dollars or P804.78 billion Philippine pesos. This will support our country s economic recovery e orts and create more jobs for Filipinos here in our country,” Marcos said.

“I actually have a more detailed breakdown of those num ers which we will include in the final report of the delegation to the country,” he added.

He also emphasized the importance of improving bilateral relations amid a time of “geopolitical turmoil and uncertainty.” n Singapore, arcos and officials of the city state reit erated the call for peace and stability in the region as they tackled issues hounding Myanmar and the South China Sea. n a statement, the Department of Foreign airs DF said President Marcos exchanged views with President Halimah Yacob and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong with regards to developments in the global arena.

Also in Singapore, Marcos invited foreign businesses to put their investments in the Philippines, describing the country as “Asia’s fastest rising star.”

Marcos made the call at the Philippine Economic Briefing at the Shangri-La Hotel where he encouraged businesses to seize the opportunities in the country, as it welcomes the future with optimism grounded on a favorable investment policy environment, sound macro-economic fundamentals, and a strong and decisive economic team.

“We are presently on a steady path to a strong recovery from the pandemic and a robust economic expansion. In the next few years, our economy is expected to outperform our regional peers,” Marcos told the participants of the gathering led y the ang o Sentral ng ilipinas S and Department of Finance D F .

“My administration is committed to establishing an even more competitive business climate conducive to highvalue investments,” he said.

The government is inviting strategic investors from the international community to take part in the Philippines’ economic resurgence, he said.

He also stressed that his administration will change the game through structural reforms to allow for wider participation in the country’s industries.

With the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act or CREATE, and the economic liberalization measures, the President pointed out that the government has expanded the space for foreign investments in joint venture opportunities for industry players employing cutting-edge technologies.

“The presentations of the economic team today will paint a clearer picture of what you can expect in the next six years. The Philippines welcomes your investments and looks forward to forging even stronger ties with the Singaporean business community,” Marcos said.

The President also told the participants that his government is implementing an eight-point socio-economic agenda that underscores its commitment through broad-based job creation, expansion of digital infrastructure, and promotion of research and development in the country.

At the same time, he said his government is pursuing the country s first ever medium term fiscal framewor , which will widen its fiscal space to allow for continued investments in public infrastructure and human capital development.

High investments in public infrastructure will be expanded by leveraging the government’s public-private partnerships mechanisms, he said.

He likewise vowed to improve interconnectivity by fast-tracking the development of railways systems, modernizing airports and seaports, and enhancing road infrastructure.

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 NATIONAL NEWS

September 8-14, 2022

10

P1.8-B sugar uncovered in Batangas warehouse; BOC steps up drive vs hoarding

S G , atangas he ureau of Customs (BOC) operatives have uncovered . illion worth of imported and local sugar stoc ed insides warehouses of the Central Azucarera Don Pedro in Nasugbu, Batangas.

Following the discovery, the BOC said there will be more inspections to be conducted in coordination with other agencies to uncover allegedly hoarded stoc s of sugar.

Commissioner Yogi Filemon Ruiz said these inspections aim to send a clear message to groups and businesses that the government is serious a out going after hoard ers.

“We aren’t stopping anytime soon, and wor ing together with di erent government agencies from the police to the military -- showed what we can do when we pour all our resources and energy into doing what we are mandated to do and what the Presi-

dent had as ed from us, he added. he continuous inspection of warehous es elieved to e storing sugar came fol lowing the unauthori ed issuance of Sugar Order No. 4, which was earlier rejected by resident Ferdinand arcos r., who con currently serves as Agriculture Secretary and chairperson of the Sugar egulatory Administration (SRA).

The order would have allowed the importation of , metric tons of sugar.

DOH...

ines flight from anila to Hong ong last Septem er had mon eypo , spo esperson ielo illaluna said.

“Ayon doon sa IATF, ang kanilang rekomendasyon ay sa pag-liberalize ng ating mask-wearing mandate and make mask-wearing outdoors voluntary across the country, ngeles said in a ala canang riefing.

Department of Health officer in charge ndersecretary aria osario ergeire said resident arcos r. has given ver al approval” to the IATF’s recommendation. nder the state of calamity, govern ment’s emergency procurement, tax exemptions for donors, price controls for D drugs and testing its, and health wor ers enefits will also cease once the state of calamity ends.

The DOH also recommended the state of calamity e tension to the ational Di saster is eduction and anagement ouncil D , which ma es sug gestions to the resident, said ergeire.

We recommended and a full council meeting was held last onday where we already resolved that the recommendations will be submitted already to the President,” she said.

Earlier, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the anagement of merging nfec tious Diseases (IATF-EID) has recommended the voluntary use of face mas s outdoors.

D H officer in charge aria osario ergeire said the optional wearing of face mas is only for low ris individuals and in low risk settings.

(From page 1)

the total num er of people in the country who succumbed to the respiratory disease to , .

In a related development, Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles, said wearing face mas s was recommended as option al” in open spaces, non-crowded outdoor areas with good ventilation.

However, senior citizens and immunocompromised individuals are “highly encouraged” to continue wearing their masks.

In another development, the country has reported four cases of mon eypo in the country, with the first three cases linked to travel.

This as a passenger on Philippine Air

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“Ni-liberalize natin ‘ yung paggamit ng masks sa outdoors pero doon sa low-risk individuals and in low risks settings meaning hindi sila matanda, hindi sila immunocompromised. And low risk setting, ibig sabihin doon sa mga area na hindi matao at saka maayos po ang daloy ng hangin (We liberali ed the use of mas s outdoors ut for low-risk individuals and in low risk settings meaning they are not elderly. And low risk setting, meaning in uncrowded areas and with proper air ventilation),” she said.

The recommendation also includes the pilot study on the wearing of mas s in doors in selected areas. he tas force noted that its implemen tation must be done in phases to ensure the population’s protection against the coronavirus.

11 September 8-14, 2022

 OPINION

Sign ‘em, Gavin

S

EDITORIAL

Careless, reckless, and dangerous

T

hese were the words that former Atty G eneral Bill Barr used to describe the actions of former President Donald Trump vis-à -vis the handling – or should we say mishandling – of very important documents that were found in MarA-Lago, and which the FBI took in a raid last month.

A good many of those documents were marked Secret and/or Top Secret and the most disturbing part was the number of empty folders that the taken during the raid.

How dangerous is this?

The possible contents of those folders are potentially mind boggling, especially if they were to fall into the wrong hands. This is no impossible scenario as Mar-A-Lago is a country club where anyone with enough money can freely enter and exit with minimal background checks, spies included.

Yes, spies.

The carelessness and recklessness of Mr. Trump is well known. He had exposed military secrets during his time at the White House, especially to the Russians, but also to allies who had no need to know.

There is an old saying from World War II – loose lips sink ships. The meaning should be clear. There are secrets that should never be exposed to the enemy, and Russia under Vladimir Putin has unfortunately come back as an enemy of the U S. It was not so under the time of Mikhail G orbachev, who passed away last week, and who carried with him the promise of a permanent end to the Cold War. Putin, who was himself a Russian spy in his younger days, had other things in mind when he assumed power. He wanted not only a strong Russia to rise, but also a return of the U nion of Soviet Socialist Republics that G orbachev had disbanded.

During his presidency, Trump also treated Putin with kid gloves, to the point that he said he believed the Russian president’s claims over and above U S intelligence sources.

Whether Putin had “something” on Trump or not has always been the subject of much conjecture. But the disappearance of potentially dangerous information gives the U S reason to worry.

The biggest fear is that the missing top secret documents may contain the names of U S intelligence operatives – spies, if you will – and may have been sold to the highest bidder among the known enemies of the U S. This includes not only Russia, but also China, North Korea, and Iran, among others.

Thousands of pages of documents that Trump had no reason to possess were recklessly left in boxes in a forgotten corner of his Mar-A-Lago home.

U nder a best case scenario, the missing documents may have lost their reason for remaining top secret, but the worst-case scenario is that they contain still top secret information, and are already in the possession of the enemies of the state.

Trump, and the Republicans who continue to defend his indefensible actions may well be committing the ultimate crime of treason, albeit unknowingly.

Indeed, Barr is correct when he says that the 45th president’s acts were dangerous.

Trump and his underlings are now trying to undermine the FBI, which only adds to his endless sins against the very government he was once sworn to serve.

Now he dreams of returning to the White House. We cannot imagine anything more careless, reckless, and dangerous than for the G OP to nominate this scoundrel as their standard bearer in the 2024 elections.

Upside

TOP AAPI Hate is urging California G overnor G avin Newsom to sign two “historic” bills recently passed by the California State Legislature that the coalition of advocacy organizations says advances its No Place for Hate policy agenda. Newsom has until the end of this month to ink his name on the proposed laws.

Here’s how Stop AAPI Hate frames the bills authored by two top state legislators who are of Asian American descent: “The Increasing Safety for Public Transit Riders Bill, SB 1161 authored by Senator Dave Min, will center the experiences of marginalized communities through the CHERIE M. QUEROL MORENO creation of a survey tool to help us understand the impact of harassment on public transit riders.

“The Expanding Civil Rights Protections at Businesses Bill, AB 2448 authored y ssem lymem er hil ing, will create a first of its ind program that motivates businesses to create safe and welcoming environments free from discrimination and harassment of customers. f passed, the o lace For Hate policy agenda will ta e promising first steps to address hate and harassment within our public transportation systems and businesses,” says the group born out of the surge of anti-Asian hate resulting from the scapegoating of sians and acific slanders in the nited States in the wa e of the pandemic.

Founding organi ations uity lliance, hinese for ffirmative ction, the Asian American Studies Dept of San Francisco State U niversity track and address hate incidences targeting AAPIs while working to combat “all forms of structural racism leveled at Blacks, Indigenous and other communities of color.”

Stop hate vigorously educates the pu lic on e ective means of advocacy.

For the two bills to get Newsom’s signature, they recommend a step from their “Advocacy Toolkit” such as calling G overnor Newsom: STEP 1: Call the following number: (916) 445-2841 STEP 2: Follow the sample call-in script below. Sample Call-in Script: Hi, my name is [ insert your name] . I live in [ city] , and I represent [ insert organization] . I would like to urge G overnor Newsom to vote yes on SB 1161 authored by Senator Dave Min and AB 2448 authored by Assemblymember Phil Ting. Harassment in spaces open to the public is harming women, girls, people of color, queer and trans people, and society as a whole. [ Optional: insert personal story] Both bills will take promising first steps to address hate and harassment within our pu lic transportation systems and businesses. Build on the success of the API Equity Budget you approved last year and help alifornia continue to lead the way in the fight against hate. urge G overnor Newsom to sign SB 1161 and AB 2448. Thank you! he coalition descri es o lace For Hate alifornia as a pioneer e ort in this country that “declares street harassment a public health problem that warrants a public policy solution to keep us safe in the communities where we live and work.”

For more information visit NoPlaceForHateCA.org. Or contact Shanti Elise Prasad or ic Gee, dvocacy anagers at hinese for ffirmative ction Stop Hate. * C he ri e M . Q ue rol M oreno i s E x ec ut i v e E di t or of P hi l i ppi ne N ew s T oday .

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 OPINION

A

s accredited and commissioned Notary Public and founder of o ile Signing Services, my eloved wife irginia imene adlaing,and drove to Sac ramento, California and submitted notari ed documents for apostille at the Secretary of State, Notary Public Section last Tuesday, August 30, 2022.

While driving back home A RT G A B OT MA D LA ING to San Francisco from Sacra mento, I received a call from my sister agdalena . Sison (when we were still in Vallejo, California) informing me that our mother just died peacefully in her sleep about 3: 30 pm. I told my sister that my wife, tsi rinidad imene uliao, tsi lisa Su ido imene and were scheduled to visit my mother on hursday, Sep tem er . . nstead of driving home to San Francisco, we pro ceeded directly to the home of my sister osie . ewis in ethel sland where my mother was ta en cared y my sisters osie and u viminda G. adlaing. y wife and arrived in the ethel sland home of my sister osie and her son Ferdinand ewis a out pm. head of us were my sister agdalena and her son Francis . Sison who drove from Santa lara, alifornia my rother Salvador adlaing and his wife rsula alon adlaing, who drove from San ose, alifornia and my niece mily adlaing and her daughter miah and uningning Payabyab, registered nurse and very close neighbor who was assisting my late mother and my two sisters.. All of us watched the lifeless body of my mother and waited until 10: 00 pm when the funeral director and sta from the S ylawn ortuary pic ed up her ody. hen, my wife and drove ac to San Francisco and arrived home a out pm. t too a while for me to sleep that night reflecting, reminiscing and remembering the colorful, unique and long life and work of my mother. es, my mother lena Sampayan Ga ot adlaing died peace fully in her sleep last Tuesday, August 30, 2022, 3: 30 pm at the age of and seven months. y mother was the second to the youngest child of my late grandfather Candido G abot and my late grandmother ecilia a ini Sampayan Ga ot who died at the age of a out . y mother had outlived all her si lings namely Se gunda G abot Asuncion, Sebastian G abot, Claudia G abot Dimoloy and Silvino G abot (all deceased). y mother was the niece of polinario a ini, one of the hil ippine national heroes called the “Sublime Paralytic” and “Brain of the hilippine evolution, according to my cousin u en a ini old client with o ile Signing Services from Hayward, alifor nia , who said that adventurous relatives of polinario a ini mi grated from Batangas to Pangasinan and married ladies of the G abot and Sampayan clan. y late father milio aguilat adlaing who died at aguna Honda Hospital due to lingering illness aggravated by the vehicular accident caused by an elderly driver)and my late mother were lessed with eight children, namely or erto Ga ot adlaing deceased , agdalena adlaing Sison, yours truly, osefina ad laing ewis, Dionisio Ga ot adlaing, ipriano Ga ot adla ing deceased , Salvador Ga ot adlaing and u viminda Ga ot adlaing.

After my wife petitioned me to come to America in 1974, I petitioned my parents who then petitioned my siblings to come to America and subsequently petitioned their spouses and extended families to come to America. Hundreds were able to come to America as a result of the petition of my beloved wife Virginia for me and su se uent petition of my late mother for my si lings. y late mother lived long enough to see some of her children retired from wor li e daughter osie . ewis, who retired from aguna Honda Hospital in San Francisco, alifornia agdalena . Sison and Di onisio G. adlaing, who oth retired from the Santa lara ounty edical enter in San ose, alifornia daughter u viminda G. adlaing, who is a out to retire from the Wor men s ompensation Fund, State of alifornia.

One of the happy memories of my late mother and late father was when they both obeyed the gospel in baptism for the forgiveness of their sins (Acts 2: 37-38). They attended regularly the Bible lasses and Worship Services at the G D G H H F H S when they were staying with us in San Francisco, alifor nia. y late mother accompanied and wal ed our young daughters Darlene and Wynema oy to their schools at the celsior District in San Francisco, alifornia.

Another very memorable event in the life of my late mother was when she too her oath as a naturali ed .S. citi en in San Fran cisco. She was one of the oldest naturali ed .S. citi ens.

Allso an exciting event in the life of my late mother was when she too her oath as dual citi en on Fe ruary , at the Social Hall of the hilippine onsulate ffice in San Francisco. t age , she was the oldest .S. citi en who had re ac uired her hilippine iti enship pursuant to epu lic ct o. otherwise nown as the iti enship etention and e c uisition ct of . fter her oath of allegiance, onsul arlyn . onastrial re quested for special picture taking with (C ont i nue on pag e 27)

O

ur country is blessed with a pool of water resources.

Yet, the problem of water supply persists.

Water is essential to irrigate agricultural lands, drive power plants, and serve the needs of industries and for household consumption. And, the growing market’s water requirements must be met anytime.

One water resource that holds immense potential is the Laguna MELA ND REW T . V ELA S CO de Bay. It is the largest inland body of water in the country and one of the largest in Southeast Asia. It has a total volume of 3.2 billion cubic meters, a shoreline of 220 kilometer an average depth of 2.5 meters. Its water comes from rivers and streams, rainwater, stormwater runo and sewage. he e isting uses of the la e include fisheries, flood control, in dustrial cooling, irrigation, power generation, recreation, and source of potable water. According to the Laguna Lake Development Authority D , an estimated , fishermen depend on the la e for their livelihood with the lake producing about 80,000-90,000 metric tons of fish a year. t is also used for flood control. he anggahan Floodway di verts floodwater from ari ina iver into the la e. s for power generation, water is pumped to the aliraya eservoir to generate electricity. Although the lake water is no longer as pristine as it used to be, Laguna de Bay is known for recreational activities such as fishing, oating and sailing. he la e also provides water to irrigate farm lands in the lake region. It is also the source of industrial cooling water and supplies domestic water supply requirement of nearby towns and portions of the etropolitan anila area.

Sadly, Laguna de Bay also serves as a huge waste sink. It has become the catch basin of industrial and domestic wastewater pollution coming from the areas that border the lake among these Laguna, i al and the etropolitan anila cities and municipalities. Solid and liquid wastes from households, agricultural areas, industries, and livestoc and poultry production are carried as surface run o through the asins of the la e. olluted water from the ari ina and asig ivers also flow into the la e.

An article from U N Environment Programme website stated that while agricultural and industrial run o contri uted to the la e s de clining health, the biggest contributor to eutrophication is human waste. Specifically the domestic waste and untreated sewage that flows into the la e daily from the more than million inha itants of the 29 towns and hundreds of informal settlements that ring its shores.” n the same article, D General anager aime oey e dina said: “Eighty per cent of the biochemical oxygen demand [ an indicator of organic pollution] is from household pollution.”

Despite this, the promise of Laguna de Bay as a vast water resource to meet the demands of nearby provinces and the National apital egion remains. etropolitan Waterwor s and Sewerage System WSS con cessionaire aynilad Water Services, nc. in formally unveiled its Putatan Water Treatment Plant that taps Laguna de Bay as alternative water source. Another treatment plant was inaugurated in . aw water uality however has a ected the facilities produc tion capacity particularly during algal blooms.

The cost of treating water sourced from Laguna de Bay is more than the cost of treating water from ma or dams. ather than in vesting additional funds to keep upgrading our treatment technology, we think the more sustainable option is to protect the lake,” aynilad resident and hief ecutive ffice amoncito S. Fer nande said. aynilad s water treatment capacity can e a ected by the varying water quality of the lake,” he added.

To ensure the sustainable use of Laguna de Bay and arrest its degradation that has resulted not only in its siltation but also in the decline of its water uality which is categori ed lass and unfit for human consumption without treatment require a holistic approach.

Add to this the need to increase the lake’s holding capacity and reforest its denuded watersheds.

A previous project involving a Belgian company, Baggerwerken Decloedt En Z oon (BDC) that was intended to dredge Laguna de Bay and increase its depth to meet global standard for harvesting la e water for purification was scrapped y the government in .

Laguna de Bay stakeholders are proposing the adoption of an action plan to rehabilitate, protect and preserve the biodiversity of Laguna de Bay and promote its sustainable development similar to that adopted in the reha ilitation of oracay and anila ay which involved the creation of a task force for the purpose.

It will be recalled that by virtue of Executive Order No. 53 signed y resident Duterte on ay , a oracay nter gen cy as Force F was created. t was mandated to facilitate the rehabilitation and ensure the ecological sustainability of Boracay Island. Its functions included to ensure that “policies on Boracay Island are consistent with relevant laws, rules and regulations, and fully implement, in coordination with relevant agencies and LG U s, such policies, laws, rules and regulations, including the Boracay Action Plan.”

(C ont i nue on page 27)

THE OUTSIDER

I

am feeling sheepish today talking about an idea of where to put your money. I have written about money matters before in this column (typically because that is what m filling my head with that wee . y motivation is di erent this time. I have been trying to tell everyone I know. Yet, it didn’t occur to me until now that I could broadcast this idea to my community.

Very rarely does an investment come along that is so compelling, it’s practically a no brainer. The least attractive thing about I-bonds right now is that an individual can only buy $ 10,000 of them every calendar year.

Here s the good part the onds on o er right now pay . . hat is an annuali ed rate that resets every six months. Yes, that is better than junk bonds, better than corporate bonds. And it’s a treasury bond! That means the U S government will redeem it when you go to redeem it (after 12 months and hopefully within 30 years) with U S dollars. he ris s related to S dollars are not ero. n fact, I am obsessed with this topic and can share a list of podcasts and one economist in particular (Saifdean Ammous) that I love on this subject.

But if you are ok with taking on the risk of owning U S Treasuries and denominating your investments in dollars, and you probably are if you are reading this, you need to put what you can in I-bonds.

You can buy them through treasurydirect.gov.

You will need to open an account if you don’t already have one. Physical/paper bonds are no longer a thing at least with I-bonds, not in terms of new issuance. Keep all the passwords and identity phrases in a safe place because there are so many of them. An individual can only buy $ 10,000 worth per year. These bonds are so popular that they put that on the home page of the website. But it will be close to October when this column is published and next year is around the corner. So you will soon be able to own $ 20,000 when you buy some more next year. If you are married, your spouse counts as a separate individuals, no matter how seamless is your union. That makes $ 40,000 for the two of you y anuary. f you have ids, you can gift them I-bonds as well.

The reason they are paying so much is that the interest on this treasury savings bond is determined by formula. Half the formula is dependent on a fi ed rate that will stay the same throughout the life of the bond. This is typically a fraction of the federal funds rate. The other part of the interest rate changes every si months. t is tied to inflation.

That is why the current I-Bond is paying 9.62% and probably why the next reset will also be some ama ingly high num er.

The interest on the I-bond is taxable at the federal level but not the state level. Interest is tax exempt if you are using the proceeds to pay for college and you (as a couple) made less than $ 154,000.

This is meant to help out the non-billionaire part of America and here it is. I would not be inclined to pu lish any investment idea in this column. For this audience, I think this is appropriate.

12

The promise of Laguna de Bay Remembering my mother Elena Sampayan Gabot Madlaing Health & Wealth

Why you should buy I-bonds

September 8-14, 2022

13 September 8-14, 2022

 OPINION Unlocking the Chain of Poverty: In Pursuit of the American Dream

Filipino-British young lady is becoming another source of pride of her Philippine heritage in U K where she has shown excellence and continues to do so.

I’m referring to Nicole Wise who attained a degree in Law and subsequently Master of Lawsboth from top and prestigious universities in Eng- T ED D Y P . MOLINA land whose requirements for admission are so tough only a few would make it. fter finishing aw, icole plunged into and completed the one-year Legal Practice course .

She is now into the Legal Training phase of her journey to become a full-pledged solicitor as lawyers are so- addressed in . For this, she oined the highly reputa le law firm lif ford-Chance LLP in London. The training takes two years and she s e pected to finish it this ne t year.

By her Mom Annabelle Bello-Wise’s account, it’s hard to get in at li ord hance ut icole who had e emplary academic performance in Law school was able to pass through the company’s wringer.

Her passion for excellence knows no bounds as, for a time, she ventured in French Law at France’s top-rated Paris Descartes U niversity where she studied for three years.

Nicole went to three top universities including two in England during succeeding stages of her Law education.

The U niversity of Warwick where she got her Law degree is among the top in and ran s nd glo ally. War wic s acceptance rate is only percent. he niversity where she finished and egal ractice ourse is ran ed fourth next to Oxford U niversity among postgraduate institutions whose alumni are in highly skilled employment after graduation. aris Descartes placed th in France and is listed among the top 500 universities in the world.

Was it her dream to become a lawyer?

May be or may be not. But her interest in the legal profession was sparked by an incident that occurred when she was years old. his involved an immigration law firm who treat ed her Mom, who was applying for naturalization, unjustly.

Mrs. Wise,a who’s married to Nick Wise, Nicole’s dad and ritish citi en, consulted the firm and paid for the consul tation fee. ccording to her mother, the firm as ed for more money which icole found a usive. he firm also sent ac her Mom’s passport to a wrong address when they knew all along, that the Wise family moved to a new place.

“As a result of this, my Mom almost lost her passport,” she said.

From then on, she promised not to let go “abuses like that especially if it happens to a Filipino.”

What are the goals she would pursue in her Law career ?

She sees herself to be a “regular solicitor“ engaged in litigation of cases involving usiness concerns and financial crimes.

Nicole also wants to pursue later on a career on policymaking and ”change the law.”

Asked how she plans to make this happen, Nicole explained that she would be joining international organizations to make reforms possible.

As a case in point, Nicole narrated how tough is U K’s immigration law. In a recent instance, she cited the case of a Filipino whose working visa has expired and his British employer no longer wished to sponsor him for its renewal.

The Filipino wanted to dodge deportation and appealed his case but failed. He wished he could stay as he could not a ord to leave his om who was ill. He told immigration of ficers that it s a tradition and part of Filipino culture for a son li e him to loo after his mother which icole said is di erent from the British culture.” “ The law does not take into account this cultural difference,“ Nicole said.

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or years, I dreamed of publishing a book on immigration that will describe how new immigrants had worked so hard to realize their goals in achieving the American Dream.

The book will serve as a model in guiding new immigrants chart their destiny in the land of the free.

So, since I went through the hard way in realizing the American Dream, I thought I must write my memoir, my book, on how, as ELP ID IO R. ES T IOK O new immigrant, struggled in the U S. My purpose is to let new immigrants now there is a way, despite all the difficulties, of achieving it. It might not be a perfect model, but it will serve as a guide for them to emulate, which is better than none… at all.

So, my book, U nlocking the Chain of Poverty: In Pursuit of the merican Dream, which came o the press on Septem er my irthday descri es how a family of seven my wife, five of my si children, and myself), despite all the odds, were able to realize the American Dream… the hard way! fter years of e orts to write it for pu lication, it finally came out! It is now available in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and X libris Publishing. he page oo is a oo of guts, survival, perseverance, tenacity, patience, strong belief in G od, persistence, spouse and family support, and challenging work. It was never an easy task, it was full of o stacles, and difficult challenges in life which we went through in achieving the American Dream.

Former California District 25 Assemblymember Kansen Chu, himself an immigrant from Taiwan, wrote the foreword of the book.

“As an immigrant from Taiwan to the U nited States for graduate studies in lectronics ngineering, find the oo nloc ing the hain of Poverty: In Pursuit of the American Dream written by Elpidio R. Estioko, a must read book for all immigrants. It serves as an inspiration, especially for those who are new and starting their families in the U S. It is a book about a Filipino immigrant, with a family of seven wife plus five of their si children, the youngest child eing four years old , who started a life in the S at the end of the th cen tury when the U S economy is beginning to fall. I can hardly imagine how he was able to do it, but after reading the book’s summary, I was convinced that challenging work and the will to survive can propel a newcomer to greater heights, even in an extremely competitive society such as the U S, as the book clearly illustrated…

The book showed that anybody with the will to survive and have faith in G od, will make it anywhere, despite the odds, so in the U S. The book explicitly illustrated that while the U S is a land of opportunities, sometimes one must have to create the opportunity… and, when it comes your way, grab it! Do not slip it from your hands! This is a lesson, among others, the book would like to impart to new immigrants.

The book is a tell-all-experience of an immigrant in the U S who raised his big family in a foreign land through thick and thin. He went through the arduous process of assimilation and immersion to be able to achieve the American Dream! ” he oo has chapters. hapters one to five showed how persevered, how I worked hard, and how I overcame challenging life experiences to be able to survive and provide food on the table, pay our bills, and provide comfort for the family. I worked odd jobs such as a cashier for a gasoline station, for Seven-Eleven, retail stores, electronics company, and sheet metal. In going to work, I must ride the bus and if I miss the bus, I must walk even during inclement weather. went through all these efore until finally wor ed for the o ap propriate to me as a professional, teaching in high school and college, and on the side, writing for two community newspapers.

Starting from hapter five to , showed how ecame success ful and how I gave back to the community as a journalist covering the Bay area, as a community leader serving the city of Milpitas and San Jose, active in projects and events for the FilAm community, my exploits travelling in key states, and serving as a volunteer election officer of Santa lara ounty egistrar of oters starting as a precinct inspector to field inspector since to present.

In the end, as I wrote in the last chapter, while success can be measured in so many ways, I would say my family and I succeeded in all aspects of our lives here in the U S. We have realized the American Dream and continued to live, no longer as dreamers, but as citizens of the U nited States of America.

While it took challenging work to realize the American Dream especially if one had a big family to raise like I did, immigrating to the U S was still the best option for every would-be immigrant who wanted to break the chain of poverty, as my book have shown.

So, the American Dream was not for lazy people. It was for people who labor and work hard for it. With all the opportunities we had, there was no reason not to succeed! We succeeded and are now enjoying the fruits of our labor.

Because I made it, that Dream will continue to live and grow in my children because of their education and good training that will serve as a solid foundation for them to have their own families and their own… destiny.

I got the same shot at success and (C ont i nue on page 27)

As I See It

ans and followers of Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. have been hoping that he would display the same kind of leadership that his father, dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos, had in his peak years, before his lupus weakened both his mind and body.

For all his many, many faults, the late strongman was exactly that – a man who was B ET ING D OLOR physically strong and mentally ready to handle the reins of the Philippine presidency.

Don’t get me wrong, folks. Ferdinand Sr. was a ruthless and corrupt leader, too. He had all the makings of being a great president, but he let his and his wife’s lust for power and wealth get the better of him.

But Senior was able to hold on to power for two decades because he had the wherewithal to stay on top even after he had lost the legitimacy to stay president.

U nder the old constitution, he was entitled to a maximum of eight years as president, on the condition that he win a second four year term legitimately, which he did.

He first unseated then resident Diosdado acapagal, e fore defeating Serging Osmena. This gave him the mandate to rule for another four years, but no more.

He had other plans, it turned out. Marcos Sr. loved the trappings of power so much that he illegitimately remained in Malacanang by declaring martial law, under the guise of saving the republic from those big, bad communists.

In fact, he and his wife Imelda were amassing wealth so huge that no one knows for sure how many billions of dollars the hilippines first and only power couple had stashed away in various places in and out of the country.

But Senior and his wife also had other plans besides keeping the power and money that came from his illegitimate presidency, which was to groom their only son to one day become president as well.

First daughter Imee might have been the better choice because she was clearly smarter than Junior. But alas, Imee had little control of her emotions as shown by her grabbing the husband of one of the country’s international beauty titlists at a fairly young age.

She would then move on to other relationships, most of which she has kept hidden from the public.

Junior, however, followed the preferred path of marrying a woman from a known and respected family, but only after spending a few wild years living the good life in Europe and the U S. Even after the family was kicked out of the country, the dream or the plan remained, and it egan y first ma ing a physical return to the Philippines, then re-establishing their political power base.

The family was focused on one thing and one thing alone, and that was for Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to assume the presidency when the time was right.

That time came in 2022, and despite indications that the presidency was theirs as a result of massive but brilliantlyexecuted cheating, it was a case of mission accomplished.

But what then?

A good many political analysts pointed out that Junior was ill-equipped to handle the Philippine presidency. He did not even have a college degree which would have shown that he was studious enough in his youth to achieve the hard task of earning an honest to goodness bachelor’s degree in anything.

It was also learned that his own father had concerns about Junior, who was considered too lazy and immature to become an e ective president.

Everything is coming to pass now.

President Ferdinand ‘ Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. expects to be given full support in his first days as chief e ecutive the traditional honeymoon period all presidents are entitled to – and perhaps it would be unfair to state that his presidency is already doomed to fail. ut there are already red flags waving all over the place.

The sugar import mess has become more complicated after Junior’s executive secretary has been revealed to have taken an active role in allowing the imports, but denying that role when it was deemed as questionable.

Junior himself was reportedly told of the planned import to ease the growing sugar shortage (C ont i nue on page 27)

Breaking Through

Fil-British lawyer and her passion Offline

His indecision will be his undoing

 BUSINESS | IMMIGRATIONS Who needs a waiver of inadmissibility?

BREAKING NEWS N-400 Application for Naturalization The U SCIS is now giving priorities to application for naturali ation . 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. res. iden is encouraging all ualified to file for naturali ation. his is a rare opportu nity that all ualified should ta e advantage of.

D reinstated res. iden reiterated to renew the D processing as of August 31, 2022 etition for aregivers he priority date for ther wor ers for Final ction date is ay , , which is a out years waiting for the visa. he priority date for Date of Filing of d ustment of Status for those in the .S. is now current. his means that when the petition is approved an ad ustment 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 officer S Supreme ourt did not allow res. iden to overturn the immigration policy of rump with regards to priority in arrest and removal. With increasing migrants at the order White House is now re uiring to deport more migrants under political pressure. t is now a deci sion to e made y the officer which could include arrest of anyone who is undocumented. t is time to wor on your green card now.

Who needs a waiver of inadmissi ility f you entered the nited States using a di erent name or committed a crime then you need a waiver of inadmissi ility under Form so that you can process your green card.

What grounds of inadmissi ility may e covered y a waiver he following grounds of inadmissi ility under the mmigration and aturali ation ct are as follows health related grounds, criminal and related grounds, immigrant membership in a totalitarian party, misrepresentation in immigration matters, smugglers, subect to civil penalty, and unlawful presence in the .S. for at least days, eginning on or after pril , , followed y departure from the .S. How long is the validity of the waiver f the waiver is granted, then, e cept for and nonimmigrant s and condi tional permanent residents, the grant permanently waives fraud or willful misrepresentation included in the application for purposes of any future immigration enefits application, wheth er immigrant or nonimmigrant. he waiver remains valid even if the person later a andons or otherwise loses status. f you are a conditional permanent resident, is the waiver also permanent in nature For conditional permanent residents, the waiver only ecomes valid indefinitely if and when the conditions are removed from his or her permanent resident status. onversely, termination of the conditional permanent resident status also terminates the validity of the waiver.

Does the waiver cover all grounds of inadmissi ility waiver applies only to the specific grounds of inadmissi ility and related crimes, events or incidents specified in the waiver application. f, in the future, the applicant is found inadmissi le for a separate incident of fraud or willful misrepresentation not already included in an approved waiver application, he or she will e re uired to file another waiver application.

S S may reconsider an approval of a waiver at any time if it is determined that the decision has een made in error. re there conditions for the grant of a Waiver to or nonimmigrant visa ap plicants f the applicant see s a waiver to o tain a fianc e visa or , the waiver s approval is conditioned upon the nonimmigrant marrying the .S. citi en who filed the fianc e petition. he waiver ecomes permanent once the marries the petitioner.

What happens to the waiver if the nonimmigrant does not marry the petitioner n general, if the nonimmigrant does not marry the petitioner, the and if applica le will remain inadmissi le for purposes of any application for a enefit on any a sis other than the proposed marriage etween the and the nonimmigrant visa petitioner.

What happens if at the time of entry, the immigration officer declares the visa holder inadmissi le ased on documentary re uirements f an applicant procured an immigration enefit y fraud or willful misrepresenta tion, the applicant may also e inadmissi le for lac of documentary re uirements at the time of entry. When an applicant is granted a waiver for fraud or willful misrepresentation, inad missi ility ased on lac of documentary re uirements at the time of entry is also implicitly waived. an you give an e ample of the a ove For e ample, an applicant misrepresents a material fact during the overseas nonim migrant visa application process. The Department of State, however, grants her a visa. Later, she applies for ad ustment of status. During her ad ustment interview, an officer discovers her misrepresentation and finds her inadmissi le for oth willful misrepresentation and failure to comply with documentary re uirements. he applicant then applies for a waiver of inadmissi ility for willful misrepresentation. pproval of the waiver has the e ect of waiving inadmis si ility for willful misrepresentation and for the lac of a valid visa at the time of entry. ote his is not a legal advice. ou should consult with an immigration attorney a out the specifics of your case. an ruptcy asics an ruptcy will actually improve your credit within one year ecause your unse cured 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 udgment can e eliminated in an ruptcy. ollection actions continue and you can e sued if you (C ont i nue on page 27)

September 8-14, 2022

14

in a ion ra e slo s o n o in A g s

Supply side factors con tinue to drive the country s inflation rate, which decelerated to . percent last ugust after a five month rise, as the ang o Sentral ng ilipinas S cited roadening price pressures. perts, meanwhile, said the glo al oil outloo remains uncertain amid the slowdown in ma or economies and other geopolitical ris s. ast month s inflation rate slowed from the previous month s . percent , ringing the average level to date to . percent, a ove the central an s percent target. ear ago inflation is lower at 4.4 percent. he ugust inflation outturn of . percent is within the S s forecast range of . to . percent, consistent with the S s assessment of elevated price pressures over the near term due to roadening price pressures, the central an said in a statement. t was the first time in si months that inflation slowed down, hilippine Sta tistics uthority chief and ational Stat istician Dennis apa said. he slight easing was mainly due to slower increases in transport fares and in the prices food and non alcoholic ev erages, especially vegeta les, meat and fish. eanwhile, the ational conomic and Development uthority D highlights the government s su sidy pro grams and its interventions to transform the country s farming and food systems to ease the impact of glo al inflation ary pressures and protect the purchasing power of Filipinos. ecovery is uneven within countries and across countries, and this results in very inefficient supply chains. his is e pected to e temporary as mar ets transition to find the new alance e tween supply and demand. he situation is made worse y the protracted ussia raine war, and the country s weather distur ances particularly a i a. hese

serve to magnify the low productivity in our agricultural sector, which needs to e supported immediately, D Sec retary rsenio alisacan said in a state ment. t is our top priority to ensure that Filipino households have sufficient and healthy food on their ta le, especially the poorer sector of the society. We will continue implementing programs that reduce transport and logistics costs to ring inflation down and to protect the purchasing power of our consumers. ost importantly, it is imperative to transform hilippine agriculture into a dynamic and productive sector to speed up our recovery and significantly reduce poverty in the country, alisacan add ed. t a related development, depreciation of the hilippine peso, which touched the level mid trade and closed at its low est ever against the nited States dollar, is e pected to ma e monetary authorities sustain their aggressive rate hi es. he local currency again slipped against the green ac and finished on day at . , the new wea est level af ter finishing at . last Friday, which reached the previous record low of . registered on Sept. , . hus, the new record high of the S dollar peso e change rate could potentially lead to more aggressive lo cal policy rate hi e, i al ommer cial an ing orporation chief economist ichael icafort said.

The local unit continues to get a hit from the general strengthening of the green ac , supported y anticipations for continued monetary tightening in the S to help address the four decade high inflation rate. he ang o Sentral ng ilipinas S policy ma ing onetary oard has increased the central an s ey rates y a total of asis points since last ay as domestic inflation rate continues to accelerate.

eso hi s ne all ime lo of Fears on the impact of the Federal eserve s tightening moves again hurt the local bourse on September , resulting in the negative close of the main inde and the further wea ening of the peso. he hilippine Stoc change inde S i slid y . percent, or . points, to , . points. he hilippine peso, meanwhile, continued its downtrend against the S dollar, hitting its all time low of . to on Septem er . t opened the day at . , a depre ciation from its . start in the previ ous session. t traded etween . and . , resulting in an average of . . olume reached SD . illion, up from the previous day s SD . mil lion.

The local currency lost 13.5 centavos to close at . versus ues day s rate of . , which was the previous all-time low. This is the fourth straight trading day that the peso hit re cord lows.

Sought for comment, G an a nila chief economist Nicholas Antonio apa noted that the depreciation of the peso is in line with other regional peers.

With inflation li ely ic ing into higher gear as we head for the winter season, central an s have dug into the sand and vowed to snu out inflation, seemingly at all costs, he said in an emailed commentary. fficials of the Federal eserve have maintained a haw ish stance, with hair erome owell signaling tight monetary policy for some time until inflation is controlled.

 ENTERTAINMENT

September 8-14, 2022

16

MYX announces new appointments for Platform Operations, Content and Programming The fastest growing platform for music and lifestyle for the next generation audience taps industry veterans Bitanga, Llanera for key roles Audience Measurement overnight ratings for August 15, “Lolong,” which aired on both G MA and G TV, posted a combined people rating of 17.3 percent – beating its new rival show Darna, which only managed to get a combined people rating of 10.5 percent (TV5, A2Z , Kapamilya Channel, and Cinemo).

Dubbed dambuhalang Le , MY Head o Pla orm Opera�ons Marlino Bitanga Right, MY Head o Con- adventure-serye bannered tent Programming Nino Llanera.

by Ruru Madrid continues The impressive showing of the hit primetime se- to earn praises for its well-crafted storyline, powerries “Lolong” over G MA-7 continues as this year’s house cast, and impressive visuals. biggest adventure-serye on Philippine primetime re“Lolong” also stars Shaira Diaz, Arra San Agusmains as the most watched on its timeslot, beating its tin, Christopher de Leon, Jean G arcia, Bembol Roco, new rival program.

Malou de G uzman, Rochelle Pangilinan, Paul Salas, Based on Nielsen Philippines’ National U rban TV Marco Alcaraz, Mikoy Morales, and Maui Taylor.

More revelations and action-packed scenes await viewers as “Lolong” enters a new chapter. Set to add more color to Ruru’s character in the series are Vin Abrenica, Thea Tolentino, Alma Concepcion, Rafael Rosell, and Lucho Ayala.

“Lolong” has also begun its series of nationwide road tours with the show’s cast and its popular crocodile character, Dakila, visiting key cities in Mega Manila and select provinces in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

The hashtag # DakSpotted has already been making rounds on social media everytime the ‘ Lolong’ crocodile mascot is seen in various areas in the country.

Meanwhile, fresh from his Korean trip for another show, Madrid is also making sure he gets to visit his fans and ond with his friend Da ila, the fictional crocodile character in the series.

Just this Monday, Madrid and the mascot dressed as Dakila went conquering the skies as they boarded an ultralight plane. Afterwards, the two enjoyed a samgyupsal food trip.

Las Vegas entertainment scene to experience LAS VEG AS, Nevada – To millions of music fans living in or regularly visiting Las Vegas, the last half of 2022 is shaping up to be a massive collective showcase of amazing music events.

The undisputed Capital of Live Entertainment is ursting with o erings from end of summer to the fall season from the likes of current heavyweights like Adele, Katy Perry, U sher, Post Malone, Kendrick Lamar, Maroon 5, and Chris Brown, to throwback iconic artists like Elton John, Shania Twain,

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

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Aerosmith, Santana, Billy Idol, and Lionel Richie, to eclectics li e the Swedish House afia, and to mega festivals that include the incredibly star-studded iHeart Music Radio Festival.

Yes, Las Vegas has it all. But wait, there’s more.

Much more.

From the Pearl of the Orient, the Philippines, comes a tour de force musical extravaganza that has entertained millions for almost three decades on ABS-CBN TFC, the most watched global Filipino media network in the world. Its evolving casts have been touring the world and performing before packed arenas and stadiums since 2013.

Come November 5, ABS-CBN and TFC will finally ring its longest running wee end variety show in the Philippines to Las Vegas. “ASAP Natin ‘ To Las Vegas” will take place at Orleans Arena.

At long last, fans in the city and nearby states can e perience the magnificent line up of world class Filipino talents in a show that has already wowed audiences in Singapore, Dubai, Los Angeles, London, New York, Toronto, Sydney, Honolulu, San Jose and Rome.

The line-up is breathtaking: OPM Icons G ary V, Martin Nievera, Ogie Alcasid, Z sa Z sa Padilla, and Regine Velasquez-Olcasid; Kapamilya Superstars KZ Tandingan, Kim Chiu, Darren and Angeline Q uinto; P-Pop Pride BG YO and BINI; Dance floor Sweethearts onifacio and yle Echarri; Phenomenal loveteam DonBelle (Donny Pangilinan and Belle Mariano); Rock Royalty Bamboo; International Rap Pinoy Superstar EZ Mil; Darna’s Lead Stars Janella Salvador and Jane De Leon; and The Supreme Actress Lovi Poe. But again, there’s more. The show promises to

be a one-of-a-kind Filipino music invasion with the following U .S.-based Filipino performers: merican dol Season finalist essica San che merican dol Season finalist Francisco Martin; Little Big Shots Season 2 Big Shot Belter Elha Nympha; The Voice Season 21 contestant Vaughn Mugol; The Voice Season 2 contestant Cheesa Laureta; World Championship of Performing Arts 2005 Champion Rizza Navales; Voice of Asia 1993 G rand Winner Dessa; NOW U nited Member Bailey May; and America’s Best Dance Crew Season 2 Finalist Brian Puspos.

And if all these aren’t enough to make the fans rush to buy tickets, “ASAP Natin ‘ To Las Vegas” also has more amazing surprise performers to be announced soon!

ASAP has sealed its reputation overseas as a ona fide Filipino musical event of international cali er. ach S show that is held a road fires on all cylinders: top-drawer celebrities, highest production values, carefully curated song and dance numbers, hard-to-match levels of performance energy and explosions of Filipino talent and pride.

As each ASAP show includes immersive experiences before the show, family fun starts at 4pm acific time with e citing vendor ooths. here is a pre show at pm acific time. With all these, fans will get more than their money’s worth.

17 September 8-14, 2022

 ENTERTAINMENT

Padilla seeks add’l protection for showbiz workers, pushes Eddie Garcia bill

Senator and actor Robinhood o in . adilla has filed a ill out lining safety measures and see ing other enefits for wor ers in the hil ippine entertainment industry to pro tect the welfare of actors and wor ers in the industry. adilla, who started in the show i industry in the s, du ed his Senate ill the ddie Garcia aw in memory of the veteran actor who died in . he ill, called ddie Garcia aw as a tri ute to the veteran ac tor, is a response to the urgent call of the mem ers of the television and movie industry for the government to provide guidelines for safe and etter wor ing conditions for the protection of the wor ers welfare in the indus try,” said Padilla, chairman the Senate committee on pu lic information and mass media. oel gco, former president of the ational ress lu and first e ecutive director of the residential as Force on edia Security, called on adilla to author a similar ill that would ensure minimum enefits for media.

In his bill, Padilla lamented that Garcia, a veteran and multi awarded actor, died following an accident on set due to supposed negligence on safety in the wor place.

Padilla said this is aside from the wor conditions in the industry in cluding long hours for shooting, low pay, stress, and overnight and over time wor . hese wor conditions pose ris s to the safety, health, and even life of wor ers. ost recent of which was the unfortunate death of r. ddie Garcia, a veteran and multi awarded actor who was met y an unfortunate accident on set due to supposed negli gence on safety in the wor place. he death of other nown personalities, Director Gil ert ere in and Directors Wenn Deramas and Francis avier asion in , were also at

tri uted to poor wor ing conditions in the industry, he noted. nder the ill, Wor ers or nde pendent ontractors W will e protected in the wor place during wor hours. hey are also entitled to enefits, safety, and fair compensa tion. ormal wor hours will e eight hours in a day, e tenda le to hours.

W s aged and up may wor more than hours provided the sign a waiver prescri ed y the Department of a or and mployment. inors cannot wor more than hours a wee . night shift premium of per cent of the W s rate will e paid for every hour wor ed etween and . here will also e ample time for rest, lasting at least hours. mployees are covered y en efits from the Social Security Sys tem SSS , ag G and hilHealth, along with retirement enefits. eanwhile, employers are to shoulder costs for the W s needs including food, water, WD friendly and gender considerate toilets, private dressing rooms, safe holding areas with emergency e its, free accom modation, and dedicated emergency vehicles. he ill also mandates the ccupa tional Safety and Health SH officer of the employee to conduct a ris as sessment of the wor place to prevent possible hazards.

On the other hand, WICs can form la or organi ations for collective ar gaining and mutual aid enefit.

For its part, the D shall esta lish a Film, elevision and adio n tertainment ndustry ripartite oun cil to act as a lin among sta eholders and to resolve potential conflicts. gco urged adilla to include me dia wor ers, similar to House ill , or the edia Wor ers Welfare ct filed y amarines Sur epre sentatives uis aymund illafuerte, iguel uis illafuerte and suyoshi nthony Hori ata, and icol Saro party list epresentative icolas n ciso.

Sana naman ay i author din ni Senator adilla itong ating na in in na panu alang atas, ang media wor ers welfare ill. ahat ng media supportive din sa ddie Garcia ill hope Senator adilla also authors a ill for media wor ers welfare. ll media wor ers are supportive of the ddie Garcia ill , gco said.

Hindi matatawaran ang ondi syon ng ating mga apatid sa media, asama ang nagtatra aho sa larangan ng peli ula at , at papalawig at pa

pala as ng demo rasya We cannot deny the contri ution of our wor ers in the media as well as in show usi ness and their roles in strengthening our democracy , gco added. he Fo S was created on ct. , through resident odrigo Duterte s dministrative rder .

It is headed by the Department of ustice and co chaired y the resi dential ommunications perations ffice, which has een renamed the ffice of the ress Secretary. em ers include the Department of a tional Defense, Department of the n terior and ocal Government, ffice of the Solicitor General, residential Human ights ommittee, rmed Forces of the hilippines, hilippine ational olice, and ational ureau of nvestigation.

Among the accomplishments of the Fo S are a hotline , creation of a uic response team, and increased online visi ility to ensure prompt response to complaints, grievances, or re uests for assistance y media wor ers receiving threats and intimidation. he multi awarded Garcia died at

age in une following an ac cident on the set of a televison series due to supposed negligence.

He hit his head after tripping on a ca le wire, fell into a coma, and suc cum ed to complications days lat er. ong hours of shooting, low pay, stress, and overnight and overtime wor are the other conditions eing encountered y entertainment indus try actors and sta .

The bill also mandates the presence of an ccupational Safety and Health officer to conduct a ris assessment on the wor place to prevent possi le hazards. mployees must have night shift di erential pay and e covered y enefits from the Social Security System, Home Development utual Fund, and hilippine Health nsur ance orporation, along with retire ment enefits. he a or department will e man dated to esta lish a Film, elevision and adio ntertainment ndustry ri partite ouncil to act as a lin among sta eholders and to resolve potential conflicts.

 ENTERTAINMENT

September 8-14, 2022

18

Kris Aquino in Texas: 5th autoimmune disease possible ang alusugan o if ust give up, the actress said.

Kris disclosed that she and her family have moved to Houston, e as where she will start her treatment, which includes chemotherapy. am grateful to e lessed to have the means for us to move to an other state, and have more tests done and go to other specialists and finally start my immunosuppressant thera py, she wrote here have een times wanted to give up, she admitted in her first n stagram post in over two months and reported y hilippines, G ews and other media in anila. ut remind myself uya im still need me mahiya naman a o sa lahat ng mga patuloy na nag darasal para gumanda ang kalusugan o it would e a shame to all those who continue to pray for my health if i ust give up, she added. he year old has een diag nosed with four autoimmune illness es – three were detected while she moved to Houston, Texas.

She previously said her conditions was still in the hilippines, while the fourth one was confirmed when she have een categori ed y doctors as life threatening. uino also ared in her latest up date that all her physical manifesta tions point to a possi le fifth autoim mune illness, although this has yet to e confirmed.

ABISO PARA SA MGA NOMINADO SA PAMPUBLIKONG KATUNGKULAN

Television host and actress Kris Aquino shared an update on her health situation on Instagram months after flying to the nited States to get medi cal treatment for her autoimmune dis eases. lready attered y four autoim mune diseases, uino said she may have een diagnosed for a fifth auto immune disease ut this is yet to e confirmed.

In her social media post, Aquino, who is seeking medical treatment in Houston, e as, admitted she contin ues to su er due to her multiple health conditions, which have resulted in fa tigue, sudden appearance of ruises all over her ody, her ina ility to tolerate solid food, among other kinds of pain.

On Instagram, Aquino also posted a photo of herself with her sons Joshua and ames im y ap r. ne t to her.

In her post, Aquino thanked her friends and family in the hilippines for their prayers. remind myself uya osh and im still need me and mahiya naman a o sa lahat ng mga patuloy na nagdarasal para gumanda

SA PAMAMAGITAN NITO, NAGBIBIGAY NG ABISO na nanomina ang mga sumusunod na tao para sa mga katungkulang nakatalaga sa ibaba, na pupunan sa Pangkalahatang Munisipal na Halalan na gaganapin sa Lungsod ng Fremont sa Martes, Nobyembre 8, 2022: Para sa Miyembro ng Konseho ng Lungsod, Distrito 2 Hihigit sa Isa Buong termino na apat (4) na taon:

Bumoto ng Hindi

Robert Daulton Desrie Campbell Keith Parker Para sa Miyembro ng Konseho ng Lungsod, Distrito 3 Hihigit sa Isa Buong termino na apat (4) na taon:

Bumoto ng Hindi

Arif Mohamed Kathy Kimberlin Jenny Kassan Para sa Miyembro ng Konseho ng Lungsod, Distrito 4 Hihigit sa Isa Buong termino na apat (4) na taon:

Bumoto ng Hindi

Bryce Beckel Yang Shao (Nakalista sa pagkakasunud-sunod ng paglabas nila sa balota bilang resulta ng random na pagbunot ng alphabet na isinagawa ng Kalihim ng Estado) Susan Gauthier, Clerk ng Lungsod/Opisyal sa Halalan PETSA:

Setyembre 6, 2022

E.C. 12110, 12111 Petsa ng Paglalathala: Setyembre 13, 2022 (Notice must publish before November 1, 2022)

Still, uino said she is grateful to have een a le to move a road to undergo more tests and start her im munosuppressant therapy.

“I was warned that the safest form of chemotherapy don t have cancer that can e used for my autoimmune conditions will ma e me lose my hair.

Hair will eventually grow ac ut permanently damaged organs won t so, dedma muna sa for now, ignore vanity, her post read.

Among the health conditions the actress has een diagnosed with is o sinophilic Granulomatosis with oly angitis G , formerly nown as hurg Strauss Syndrome, which is an inflammation of the lood vessels.

Her doctor i o Gavino earlier noted that without medical interven tion, a five year survival rate in G is a out . With treatment, it is .

Gavino added it would ta e at least months efore nowing if uino s treatments wor ed. am grateful to e lessed to have the means for us to move to an other state, and have more tests done

and go to other specialists and finally start my immunosuppressant therapy, she said as reported y G ews.

She said she didn t have cancer ut shared she will need to undergo chemotherapy as treatment and that it may ma e her lose her hair.

Hair will eventually grow ac ut permanently damaged organs won t so dedma muna sa vanity, she wrote. ris then shared their family s love and gratitude to their new friends and guardian angels in Hous ton. ris was previously diagnosed with autoimmune thyroiditis, chronic spontaneous urticaria, and the ultra rare eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis, which she said were life threatening. nfortunately all my physical manifestations are pointing to a pos si le fifth opo, pina yaw o na Kris said. ris added there have een mo ments when she wanted to give up ecause of the massive physical strain. here have een times wanted to give up ecause of fatigue and eing forever edridden the ruises all over my ody that suddenly ap pear my ina ility since Fe ruary to tolerate solid food headaches one deep pain in my spine, nees, oints in my fingers and my constant flares especially in my face that ust eep getting worse she said in her cap tion.

19 September 8-14, 2022

 COMMUNITY NEWS

Heat wave grips California; Governor Newsom extends emergency response

SACRAMENTO – With triple-digit temperatures forecasted through Friday, G overnor G avin Newsom extended emergency actions taken last week to bring more energy online and reduce demand on the grid during the record-setting heat wave across the western U .S. The prolonged heat wave is on track to be California’s hottest and longest for September and is projected to set a new record high for demand on the state’s energy grid with a load forecast of 51,276 megawatts. he state s emergency response and e orts y large energy users, energy producers and California residents has helped to prevent outages during this extreme heat event, and even greater action will be needed in the days ahead as the state faces peak temperatures.

Californians’ action to conserve energy during the Flex Alert yesterday saved 1,000 megawatts of power. We need an additional 2,000 megawatts of savings today given higher forecasts, and everyone needs to play a part. Many state buildings will power down lights and air conditioning beginning at 4: 00 p.m. to save energy.

The state has also taken other urgent actions to bring more power onto the grid, including importing energy from out-of-state, installing emergency generators and creating a Strategic Reliability Reserve.

“Californians have stepped up in a big way during this record heat wave, but with the hottest temperatures here now, the risk of outages is real. We all have to double down on conserving energy to reduce the unprecedented strain on the grid,” said G overnor Newsom. “We need everyone – individuals, businesses, the state and energy producers – to do their part in the coming days and help California continue to meet this challenge.”

The executive order extends provisions of the G overnor’s earlier emergency proclamation and executive order through this Friday to increase energy production, reduce strain on the grid and provide additional fle i ility to state agencies, energy users and utility operators.

G overnor Newsom also signed AB 2645 by As-

semblymember Freddie Rodriguez (D-Pomona), which requires counties to ensure community resilience centers can serve as community-wide assets to mitigate public health impacts during disasters, including extreme heat events, and integrate these centers into their local emergency plans.

The California Independent System Operator has called a Flex Alert for today, September 6, asking Californians to reduce their electricity consumption between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. to save power and reduce the risk of outages.

Extreme heat endangers vulnerable Californians, including our elderly and those with health concerns. State agencies and departments have gathered resources and information to help the public stay safe, cool, and connected during this heat wave, more information can be found here.

Tips for how to stay safe during extreme heat:

If you don’t have an air conditioner, go to a shopping mall or public building for a few hours.

If you must be outdoors, wear lightweight clothing and sunscreen, avoid the hottest parts of the day, and avoid strenuous activities.

Sweating removes needed salt and minerals from the ody. void drin s with ca eine tea, cof fee, and soda) and alcohol.

Check on friends and family and have someone do the same for you. If you know someone who is elderly or has a health condition, check on them twice a day. Watch for signs of heat exhaustion or heat stroke. Know the symptoms of heat-related illness and be ready to help.

Find cooling centers in your area by contacting your county or calling your local health department, or find one at ooling enters alifornia Gover nor s ffice of mergency anagement Employers who have questions or need assistance with workplace health and safety programs can call Cal/OSHA’s Consultation Services Branch at 800-963-9424. Complaints about workplace safety and health ha ards can e filed confidentially with al SH district office. al SH s Heat Illness Prevention program includes enforcement of the heat regulation as well as multilingual outreach and training programs for California’s employers and workers. Cal/OSHA inspectors will be conducting unannounced inspections checking for compliance at worksites throughout the state.

 REAL ESTATE

September 8-14, 2022

20

Why Seniors should move SEC approves Cebu Landmasters to Improve their quality of LIFE. bonds offering W

PASAY CITY – The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has considered favorably the debt securities program of Cebu Landmasters, Inc., which looks to raise as much as P8 billion from the first tranche.

In its Sept. 6 meeting, the commission en banc resolved to render e ective the registration state ment of Cebu Landmasters covering up to P15 illion of onds, su ect to the company s compli ance with certain remaining requirements. e u andmasters may o er the onds in tranches within three years.

For the first tranche, the listed property devel oper will o er to the pu lic up to illion of Se ries A bonds due 2026, Series B bonds due 2028, and Series C bonds due 2029.

The company could net up to P7.9 billion from the o er, which will e used for pro ect develop ment or capital e penditures for various real es tate projects and for general corporate purposes. he onds comprising the first tranche will e o ered at face value from Sept. to , and will be listed on the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. by Oct. 7, according to the latest timetable submitted to the SEC.

e u andmasters engaged apital or poration and China Bank Capital Corporation as joint issue managers, joint lead underwriters, and oint oo runners for the o er.

PNB Capital and Investment Corporation, apital orporation, and S apital n vestment orporation were tapped as co lead un derwriters.

THE NUMBER ONE CHOICE FOR FILIPINO FAMILIES The ONLY Place for All Your Arrangements in One Convenient Location N ew F u neral hom e with R ec eption C enter F lower Shop Beau tifu l G arden Mem orial P ark C rem ation Servic es W e transfer you r loved ones to and from the P hilippines

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hen conversations egin etween a se nior and their fam ily a out moving to a retire ment community, the topic is often met with several o ections. he most com mon objections to making a lifestyle change and the emo tions involved with the entire process.

G enerally, if the topic of making a lifestyle change comes up, something has been going on that is predicating the conversation. Maybe it is becoming apparent that the home is becoming too much to care for. Although it was the perfect size for raising a family, it is now too large for just one or two people. It may be that the senior themselves can no longer manage on their own. They are having difficulty managing their medications or ma ing meals. Things like showering or going down the basement stairs to do laundry just aren’t safe anymore.

How do you determine whether its time for your to move to a Retirement Community: 1. If you are considering a Low Maintenance Living? ven in retirement, the never ending attle against laun dry, grocery shopping, bills, and that lawn (that seems to grow twice as fast each year gets more difficult. our household responsibilities can get in the way of your bigger goals, like long term travel or spontaneous road trips.

2.

Do you want an U pscale Living?

Living in a community tailored to creating the good life has its advantages. any retirement communities have up scale amenities you would never dream of owning in your own home. Staying active as you age can help you maintain your independence longer and prevent falls or in ury. f self motivation is an issue, the fitness classes and outdoor activi ties o ered in many retirement communities may appeal to you. . re you ready to actually have a social life t s always a challenge to ma e new friends, ut it can e come increasingly tric y in retirement. f you re finding your schedule a little empty, ut want an engaging social life, a re tirement community may e the perfect fit. sually you go to one that you already know someone, then you can know and have more friends with the same interest.

4. Would you like to start Eating Healthy?

Sometimes it s hard to go to the trou le of coo ing a nu tritious meal. It’s tempting, as one blogger put it, to “Bread.

Wine. Cheese. Repeat.” Choosing a retirement community can help you opt back into daily meals that nourish the body and satisfy the soul.

5. Time to be Learning, G rowing, and Traveling for Fun? Aging doesn’t put a stop for the need to grow and explore the world around us. etirement communities can ma e it eas ier to get out and discover exciting new experiences through planned excursions and travel.

6.

You will need Personal Care Services?

As we age, there are daily tasks that just aren’t as easy as they once were. It’s not embarrassing or something to fear, it’s just the facts.

Whether you need help with house eeping or personal hy giene now, or are cognizant that one day you might, retirement communities o er the opportunity to now when that transi tion happens, you will be in good hands.

7.

Safety and Security should be important for you?

You may not need any help with your daily personal care, but that doesn’t mean that accidents don’t happen.

Household accidents and falls do occur, and if you live alone, the thought of not receiving the help you need can be daunting. In a retirement community, you can be sure there is always someone there to help!

8.

Finally do you need a driver to drive you around? etween umper to umper traffic, new roads, and that one guy” who is always in a hurry, driving can start to feel like a chore. etirement communities o er transportation to their resi dents to help them stay active in their local communities and eyond. ou don t necessarily have to give up your eys alto gether, cruise around when you feel like it, and other times let someone else worry about the new roundabout. han s for your in uiries, please call en Go of st nno vative Finance Group or write to ennethgo veri on.net S

21 September 8-14, 2022

 COMMUNITY NEWS

Obiena beats world number one in pole vault in in Brussels meet have umped higher.

Duplantis said he would aim to improve y the time of ne t Diamond eague finals in Z urich.

Asian champion Obiena, a bronze medallist at the Eugene worlds, has a personal best of 5.94m, which he vaulted at the World Athletics G ames in Oregon.

That height put the Filipino third on this season’s world outdoor list, behind Duplantis and American Chris Nilsen, who went clear at 6m dead in May. Obiena’s string of three gold medals, however, came to a halt at the ISTAF Berlin in G ermany where he bagged the silver medal in men’s pole vault on Sunday, September 4.

Obiena registered his best leap of the day at 5.81 meters to place second behind Menno Vloon of The Netherlands who cleared the 5.88-meter bar for the gold.

Bronze medalist Kurtis Marschall of ustralia also umped . meters ut i ena bagged the silver after needing only two attempts to clear the bar compared to Marschall’s three.

Obiena, the world’s third ranked pole vaulter, topped the previous three tournaments — Internationales StabhochsprungMeeting, True Athletics Classics and St. Wendel City Jump — over the past two wee s. verall, this is the si th podium fin ish for Obiena in a month.

“A few more competitions before we call it a season. Let us keep pushing and keep fighting, wrote iena on his social media account.

MANILA - Filipino Olympian Ernest J. Obiena had rare win over the world’s number one in pole vault Armand “Mondo” Duplantis at the Diamond League in Brussels last week.

This as Duplantis failed three times to hurdle 5.91 meters, falling to the mat on the third otched e ort with a gaping mouth in stunned disbelief.

Reports from Brussels stated Obiena sailed past 5.91 meters on his third attempt and shook his head in disbelief as he emerged triumphant.

“It took a lot of luck, a good day and some excellent calls to beat Mondo today,” said Obiena. t was the first defeat of a spar ling sea son that has seen the 22-year-old U S-born Swede win 17 competitions, 14 achieved with vaults over the six-metre barrier.

Those victories have seen Duplantis seal world indoor gold in Belgrade in March and world outdoor honors in Oregon in July. Both were achieved with world record vaults, of 6.20 and 6.21m respectively.

“I did a lot of things poorly technically,” said Duplantis, a meticulous perfectionist in a notoriously technically-testing discipline that needs mastery of the runway approach, proper handling of the pole and complete confidence in the e acting pro ection up wards and over the bar. t s rare for me to ump the way did.

Maybe I needed a bit of a wake-up call. I’ve got to come back next year and do something more special for the people that came out.”

Duplantis maintained that he felt he could

PHL sports commission gets ready for busy year 2023 MANILA – The year 2023 is a busy year for the sports community as the world catches up after the lockdowns triggered by the pandemic.

Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) ac s the national team in nine ma or competitions across the globe next year.

The commission proposed a total budget of more than P546 million to the Department of Budget and Management D for five of these nine sporting events to provide for the needs of the national athletes and send them to various international multisport tournaments next year.

The PSC proposed the highest budget portion of P250 million for the country’s participation in the 32nd Southeast Asian G ames in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on May 2-16, 2023.

The government sports agency expressed hope that the national athletes would surpass the previous fourth place finish in the iggest iennial multisport event in the region.

“We are hoping that the proposed budget will be approved by our country’s leaders. As a former athlete, the unwavering support of the government, along with the full backing of the Filipino people are

vital for our success,” PSC Commission- in Cambodia on June 3-9, 2023 and the er and office in charge ong oo said in a Hangzhou Asian Para G ames set on Oct. news release on Tuesday.

22-28 next year.

The budget for participation in the Coo remarked that they are “happy Asean Para G ames and Asian Para G ames and two world-level competitions of F and F F are still eing finali ed as of this writing.

The 19th Asian G ames in Hangzhou, China slated to be held from September 23 to October 8 next year, gets a P100 million budget. During the 18th edition in Jakarta-Palembang, Indonesia in 2018, Team Philippines won four gold, two silver, and 15 bronze medals.

The country is also eyeing to send the national athletes to the 4th World Combat G ames in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Oct. 5-14, 2023, with a proposed budget of P72 million, followed by the 6th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts G ames in Bangkok-Chonburi, Thailand on Nov. 17-26, 2023 with a proposed budget of P67 million, and the 2nd World Beach G ames in Bali, Indonesia on Aug. 5-15, 2023 with a proposed fund of PHP56 million.

The PSC also believes that the country’s para-athletes will continue their success and even up their game as they see action at the 12th Asean Para G ames

and proud that our Filipino athletes have reached this level and are up against the best teams in the world and we support them in any way we can.”

September 8-14, 2022

22

Q: How important is my Social Security, Social Insurance or TIB Number?

A: It’s more important than most people think. When you start employment, open a bank account, pay your taxes, apply for a credit card or a loan and many more, they always ask for the Social Security Number for the U S or Social Insurance Number for Canada and TIN for the Philippines. For purposes of this article, we will use the U S as the example.

Sometimes, I wonder if people really understand how important it is. I have seen and heard people give it up so easily as if they were just giving out their birth date. Companies go through extreme lengths to protect customers, employees and generally people’s information? They spend thousands to millions of dollars for equipment, personnel and data space in order to protect your information. nd still cy er thieves find ways to steal your information. ven the F has a tas force where all they do day in and day out is to try to find these hac ers who steal your information ust so they can profit from it.

So what can they do with it if all they are stealing is just a bunch of number? Imagine this.

Think of all your credit cards getting maxed out. Once they have all your personal information and Social Security Number, they can open new credit cards under your name and sell it in the black market so that thieves just like them can rack up the bill with all kinds of purchases. They can also sell your information so that other thieves can continue to exhaust all possible privileges from it. So please, don’t think it is just a bunch of numbers. ur whole lives are controlled y num ers. n order to have a filing system, num ers are used to organi e our information. veryday we have to deal with num ers that we sometimes don’t think how important they are but in reality has so much weight that we could loose everything if it fell into the wrong hands. Let’s not be too naive that we can just give out our Social Security number to who asks for it especially if they are in another country. We have no idea where our identity will end up next.

On the same note some clients call me and when I tried to pull a credit report, I could not anymore. It is because they already took one out or someone else did it for them. This is where I encounter problems with people who easily give out their Social Security numbers. It appears I am the last person they contacted who can help them with their problem and I am restraint from helping. Some of them even gave their number to someone in a call center. That is a very bad position to be in. Do not just give out your Social Security Numbers like it does not mean anything. now that in the hilippines people do not live y any ind of num er. ut we are already in the U S. We need to adapt to the environment we now live in. Know the laws and what is and is not important.

Ating lesson, Ingat naman tayo para di ma porwisyo.

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23 September 8-14, 2022

Care Indeed Certified as a Great Place to Work® for 4th Year Care Indeed, the Bay Area’s premier provider of home and home healthcare services for the aging, has een certified as a Great lace to Wor for the th year.

G reat Place to Work, the global authority in workplace culture, is the industry standard for identifying and recognizing excellent employee experience. They assessed Care Indeed’s employees’ feedback about their workplace experiences of trust, inclusivity, pride in the organization’s community impact, belief that their wor ma es a di erence, and feeling their wor has special meaning. All employees are surveyed, no matter who they are or what they do.

Results show that 91 percent of employees of Care Indeed say it’s a great place to work, compared to just 57 percent at the typical U .S.-based company. How did Care Indeed achieve such employee satisfaction?

“Open and direct communication is something we all collaboratively created for one another. It is important that no matter who you are, Care Indeed can allow every person to have a voice and a safe space to speak up,” said Vanessa Valerio, COO of Care Indeed, and Dee Bustos, CEO. Nurturing a great workplace culture requires leaders committed enough to devote time and attention to uniting their management and workforce in a common goal. “We hold ourselves to the same standard we expect our team to follow and respect,” said Dee Bustos and Vanessa Valerio. “We believe that to build great workplace culture, we should recognize people’s ability to make decisions that are fair, to work as a team, and to be honest even when no one is watching.”

These values illustrate their unwavering dedication to the company’s corporate values of respect, integrity,

Asian Fall Festival set at Santa Anita Park LOS ANG ELES - The Asian Fall Festival, organized by Diamond 100 Racing Club, Santa Anita Park, and various Asian groups in Los Angeles, will be held on the weekend of October 8th and 9th at Santa Anita Park.

The Asian Fall Festival will bring the long-standing Asian culture, food, and activities to Santa Anita Park through different participations from China, Japan, Korea, and more Asian countries. In addition to dozens of food experiences, there are also performances, Chinese Lion Dance, Japanese Taiko, Korea Trend Dance, etc. Children are also welcomed to experience pony rides for free.

The Asian Fall Festival will bring you together with your family and friends to experience the Asian culture and exciting horse racing.

Diamond 100 Racing Club Diamond 100 Racing Club aims to build a horse racing entertainment business platform, bringing together mainstream business elites from Asia and the U .S. to enjoy global horse racing entertainment while interacting and sharing resources and developing business opportunities.

The club will plan several events every year, and they also bring members to visit premier races in the U nited States and around the world, arrange VIP concierge services for each racecourse, and members can enjoy our facilities at Santa Anita Park on non-race days.

Mr. Tom Ludt, the club’s chief executive is personally at the helm of racing; the club also invited French and Hong Kong champion trainer Patrick Biancone as a consultant.

It is believed that with the assistance of elites in the horse racing industry, the club will achieve brilliant results. Diamond 100 Racing Club will bring unlimited opportunities to members, and the exciting and joyful horse racing entertainment activities will add extraordinary life experience to members.

Tickets and parking permits for the Asian Fall Festival will be distributed free of charge through sponsors and support units and can also be obtained by registering on the website. Do not forget to visit Santa Anita Park on the weekend of October 8th and 9th, 2022, let’s build this community festival together. We will bring an unparalleled special weekend to the community.

and excellence.

Care Indeed acknowledges that this incredible recognition wouldn’t be possible without its people.

Vanessa Valerio and Dee Bustos shared, “We wish to extend our most heartfelt gratitude to every person who helped us to be where we are right now. We promise to create a better workplace where people can continue to feel safe and recognized.”

Care Indeed continues to create a shared experience that its employees and clients are proud to champion. It nurtures a culture of CARE – compassion, authenticity, respect, and excellence. With this intact, Care Indeed is inspired more than ever to impact the people and communities they serve positively.

A b o u t C a r e In d e e d

Care Indeed was founded in 2010 by Dee Bustos and Vanessa Valerio, two nurses sharing a vision of making the world a better place for seniors and caregivers. Care Indeed is a community leader and in home care industry innovator, o ering nationally recognized programs like the CI-VR Virtual Reality Dementia Training and customizable Care Bundles.

Care Indeed has served the Bay Area community for over 12 years, including throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, o ering ovid testing, D positive care, and administering vaccinations.

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 COMMUNITY NEWS

September 8-14, 2022

24

LA County Office of Labor Equity Joins Pilipino Workers Center to Empower Workers, Employees During Labor Rights Week LOS ANG ELES - Today, the Los ngeles ounty ffice of a or uity, within the Department of onsumer and usiness airs D , oined together with the ilipino Wor ers enter W to recogni e a or ights Wee and raise awareness of the various resources avail a le to wor ers, employers, and commu nities. he event highlighted the . min imum wage for unincorporated areas in the ounty of os ngeles, urged wor ers and income earners to chec their hourly paychec stu and confirm that it is at least . , and to let the commu nity now that minimum wage laws and other wor er protections apply regardless of perceived immigration status, culture, or language. he new ffice of a or uity cen trali es the ounty s wor place and wor er safety, pro tection, and empowerment e orts. aising the minimum wage is a ig deal for our community. t will really help wor ers during this time of the D pandemic when the cost of living is already so high, said ena ui , wor er leader at ili pino Wor ers enter. ften for immigrant wor ers li e me, aside from supporting our lives here, we also help support our families ac in our homeland.

We ta e pride in having wor place safety and wor er protections as part of our charge, said D s Director afael ar a al. We appreciate every wor er, employer, and partner that is ma ing sure that os n geles ounty remains a vi rant place for all to thrive. he ilipino Wor ers enter has stood y, fought for, and defended the rights of Filipino wor ers and these e orts have resulted in outcomes that enefit the general community, said uilina Soriano erso a, the enter s ecutive Director. We encourage every wor er, and wor er protection ally to e aware of the ap

plica le wage and wor safety laws that apply to prevent financial loss and tragedy.

P i l i p i n o W or k e r s C e n t e r ( P WC ) edia contact Hannah De astro inuman , hannah pwcsc.org he ffice of a or uity was esta lished to cre ate a one stop shop for wor place safety and wor er protection concerns as we emerge from the pandemic, said ose asmad hyan, hief of the ounty ffice of a or uity. ur team will continue to ensure fair, e uita le, and dignified earning opportunities through education, compliance, and enforcement. a or ights Wee , from ug. to Sept. this year, raises awareness a out wor er protections for low wage and vulnera le wor ers through multiple events across the country in partnership with agencies, local advocacy organi ations, and .S. consulates. aising the minimum wage uplifts the dignity of immigrant wor ers li e me. t tells us that we are no longer invisi le and overloo ed. t affirms us, that our wor is essential and that we are essential. said urea

ecinto, caregiver and W mem er For more information regarding the ounty s wor place safety and wor er protections and how to report poten tial violations, contact ilipino Wor ers enter at or visit dc a. lacounty.gov. * T he P i l i pi no W ork ers C ent er (P W C ) i s a grassroots non-profit organization and worker center located in Historic Filipi not ow n, L os A nge l es , C al i f orni a, w i t h satellite offices in San Diego, and New Mexico State, United States. Founded in 1997, PWC works to address the immediate needs of Filipino workers and their families and build their leadership to take collective action on issues that most impact them. PWC organizes, educates, and mobilizes worker and immigrant Filipino communities. Through culturally and linguistically appropriate programs and services, PWC aims to build collective power in order to change non-inclusive and oppressive systems to secure the dignity, safety, and economic stability of the Filipino community. For more information about the Pilipino Worker Center please visit: www.pwcsc.org.

Since 1975, the County of Los Angeles Department of Consumer and Business Affairs (DCBA) has been the local consumer protection agency serving County consumers, tenants, homeowners, immigrants, and workers. DCBA provides a wide range of services that aim to foster a fair and dynamic marketplace and enhance the economic wellbeing of our communities. This includes investigating consumer fraud complaints, enforcing the County’s tenant and worker protections, and providing access to justice programs. More information can be found at dcba.lacounty.gov or by calling (800) 5938222.

Philippine News Today columnist’s book is now off the press P AU NAW A HI NG G I L SA NASASAAD na ang mga sumusunod na katao ay nominado para sa itinalagang mga opisina na pupunuan sa P angkalahatang Halalan sa Munisipyo na isasagawa sa Lungsod ng Saratoga sa Martes, Nobyembre 8, 2022.

P ara sa Miyembro ng K onseho ng Lungsod BU MO T O NG HI NDI HI HI G I T SA T AT LO Bill Dalton Belal Aftab Chuck P age P riya Rajaram Shastri Y an Z hao Britt S. Avrit, MMC K awani ng Lungsod, Lungsod ng Saratoga, CA P etsa: Setyembre 1, 2022 P etsa ng P aglalathala: Setyembre 8, 2022

he oo nloc ing the hain of overty n ur suit of the merican Dream written y hilippine ews oday columnist lpidio . stio o s See t is now o the press he oo , with a foreword y former alifornia District ssem ly mem er ansen hu, was pu lished y li ris u lishing and is now listed in ma on and arnes o le. t is a out a Filipino immigrant s e ploits in the S who reluctantly immigrated to the S with his wife and five of his si children at a time of declining glo al economy in the s. he oo actually captures how a family of sev en with children ages to started a life in the S with very minimal assistance from immediate family mem ers ut friends and yet succeeded in reali ing the merican Dream the hard way t also showcased how necessity played a vital role in their lives prompting them to wor harder and chased every opportunity that came their way in order to ma e a living and ring food to the ta le. he oo also e emplified how love and under standing evolved within the family that had to weather the e ects of the ailing economy to e a le to survive. ltimately, all it needed to succeed was hard wor , strong commitment, having a very supportive wife, strong elief in God, and the will to move on and pur sue one s goals.

25 September 8-14, 2022

 COMMUNITY NEWS

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26  COMMUNITY NEWS Youth facilities and features unveiled As Extreme Heat Continues to Push Electricity Demand Presidio Tunnel HigheratAcross the West,Tops State’s Grid Operator Directs Utilities to Prepare for Potential Rotating Power Outages September 8-14, 2022

The California Independent System Operator Monitors Electricity Demand and Will Determine Whether Rotating Outages Are Needed PG&E Urges Customers to Continue to Conserve Power Through 9 p.m. Today

OAKLAND, Calif. — With high temperatures continuing across California and the West, the state’s grid operator has again directed utilities including acific G as and Electric Company (PG & E) to prepare for possible rotating power outages due to the potential for electricity supply on the larger Western region grid to fall short of the increased demand.

Rotating outages are a series of controlled outages that would a ect custom ers for 1-2 hours. Rotating outages would relieve stress on the grid to help prevent more widespread power outages.

To help avert rotating outages, the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) and California utilities are strongly urging customers to continue conserving power during today’s Flex Alert until 9 p.m. tonight.

For the past week, Californians and PG & E customers have heeded the call for conservation and averted the need for rotating outages. But extremely high temperatures are being recorded around the state today so the need for afternoon and evening conservation continues.

tomers can be ready.

If electricity demand conditions do not improve, CAISO could direct PG & E and other utilities to begin rotating outages. CAISO oversees the larger power grid and balances energy demand with supply.

For purposes of rotating outages, PG & E’s service area is divided into areas called blocks. Each block is made up of several neighborhoods. Customers can visit www.pge.com/rotatingoutages or check their printed bill for details and to check if their outage block may be affected.

P P

influence normally results in lower eve ning temperatures, rather than in interior valleys that routine experience extremely hot weather.

PG & E uses outage prediction models to help determine when and where potential power outage risk could be elevated and uses the latest technology to help restore power more uic ly and efficiently during a heat wave. This includes automated equipment that “self-heals” the grid, as well as timely and accurate outage data from its SmartMeter network.

PG & E is positioning crews in areas with higher potential for heat-related outages, including coastal areas that don’t normally experience sustained hot weather. PG & E has troublemen, who are the company s first responders to an outage, and electric restoration crews working across the service area ready to respond and restore power safely and as quickly as possible in an outage. Additional troublemen and crews are on standby, and PG & E will increase staffing in response to the ongoing heat wave as needed. PG & E is mobilizing necessary materials to be able to restore power safely and efficiently.

Youth facilities and features unveiled at Presidio Tunnel Tops

As of 2: 30 p.m., the CAISO has not asked utilities, including PG & E, to implement rotating outages. However, out of an abundance of caution, PG & E has given advanced notification to appro i mately 296,287 customers to prepare for potential rotating outages this evening in case they need to take place. The CAISO supports utilities notifying their customers of potential power outages so that cus-

Widespread heat events pose unique challenges to the state’s energy grid. In addition to the energy supply concerns driving Flex Alerts, sustained high temperatures have the potential to damage electrical equipment, leading to local outages. PG & E has activated its Emergency Operations Center and is mobilizing the necessary personnel and materials to be a le to restore power safely and efficient ly.

Heat-related equipment outages can occur during periods of sustained high temperatures. Transformers, which distribute power to homes and businesses, need a period of time when they can cool down, which usually happens overnight when energy usage and temperatures drop. Heat events with sustained high overnight temperatures can put stress on transformers, causing them to fail. This is more likely to occur in area where coastal

Here are ways for PG & E customers to reduce stress on statewide power supply: Today, during the Flex Alert from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.: Set thermostat at 78 degrees or higher, health permitting: Every degree above 78 represents an appropriately 2% savings on cooling costs.

When it’s cooler outside, bring the cool air in: If the outside air is cool during the night or early morning, open windows and doors and use fans to cool your home.

Avoid using major appliances. urn o all unnecessary lights.

Avoid charging electric vehicles.

P P P Have a flashlight, radios, and fresh batteries ready. For more information on how to prepare for an emergency, visit PG & E’s Safety Action Center.

U se cooling centers to stay cool or during a power outage. Check with your city or county, or the Governor s ffice of Emergency Services list and map of cooling centers statewide.

Operate personal generators safely.

Follow the owner’s manual and perform a visual inspection before starting or operating a generator. When setting up a generator, place it on a flat, sta le surface to reduce the likelihood of it tipping over.

To prevent carbon monoxide poisoning, never operate an engine-powered generator in an enclosed space or inside a house or a tent.

A b ou t P G & E acific Gas and lectric ompa ny, a subsidiary of PG & E Corporation (NYSE: PCG ), is a combined natural gas and electric utility serving more than 16 million people across 70,000 square miles in Northern and Central California.

For more information, visit pge.com and pge.com/news.

Not cool! Gavin Newsom slammed for AC ‘double standard’ amid heatwave Democratic California G ov. G avin Newsom was slammed as a hypocrite Wednesday for wearing a fleece coat in a seemingly air-conditioned room while urging residents to “save energy” amid a historic heat wave.

“CA is experiencing an unprecedented heatwave [ sic] . This will be the hottest & longest on record for September,” Newsom said in a tweet Tuesday, as temperatures soared into triple digits in some parts of the state.

“Our energy grid is being pushed to its max. The risk of outages is real. We need everyone to double down to save energy after 4 p.m. today,” Newsom went on.

In an accompanying video, Newsom told G olden Staters to “Pre-cool your home. Run your conditioner earlier,” while wearing a ipped up lac fleece coat and baseball cap.

But critics on social media had a chilly C al i f o rn i a G o v . G av i n N ew s o m w as c al l ed a reception for what they considered a douhypocrite a er urging residents to save energy during the heat wave while wearing a ble standard.

“He’s sitting inside wearing a warm fleece coat in an air-condi�oned room.

jacket during a heat wave, telling the rest of us not to use AC,” one observer noted on Twitter.

Another blasted the gov by asking: “Why are you wearing a jacket zipped up to your neck? Is your AC too cold? ” Others wondered if Newsom was even in California at all.

“G avin, I am sweating inside my own house right now with 1/4 of the clothing on that you’re wearing in this video.

Where are you? ” one critic wrote.

Newsom spokesperson Alex Stack said the governor’s video message was filmed following the state conservation guidelines during the unprecedented heat wave.

“Pre-cooling buildings before the 4 p.m. peak demand period, and then dialing up the thermostat to 78 degrees, is how California conserved energy during this record-breaking demand and heat wave,” Stack told The Post. “The G overnor filmed this in a uilding efore p.m. where the guidance to pre-cool was fol-

lowed.”

Stack did not further comment on why ewsom needed the fleece.

Restaurant owner Gina Parker helped her employee to cool o a er eeling dizzy during the heat wave in Sacramento, Cali orrnia

27 September 8-14, 2022

Offline

(From P age 13)

that has resulted in food and drink manufacturers temporarily stopping operations, but is said to have neither approved nor disapproved of the plan.

In other words, the president has come across as providing wishy washy leadership in the middle of a food crisis.

He is mostly dependent on carefully crafted speeches that don’t say much. The days and weeks of his young presidency are passing quickly, and he still hasn’t accomplished anything noteworthy.

Worst of all, some of his appointees to top government posts have een found to have no ualifications at all, e cept being his avid supporters who donated millions to his campaign.

In letting his appointees do whatever they want to do, and taking the helm of the Agriculture portfolio even with his total lack of knowledge on how the bureaucracy works, his administration may not be doomed to total failure, but at the very least it is headed nowhere, and fast.

If he has not learned the lesson yet, he should know that a press release presidency cannot work. If he makes empty promises, his weaknesses will immediately become clear.

Let no one forget that he promised to bring down the retail price of rice to P20 per kilo. Instead of sliding to that level which would have delighted most consumers, the price of the prime commodity has steadily risen.

As acting head of the Agriculture department, he has also presided over shortages not only of sugar, but of salt, onions, rice, and flour as well.

The time is soon coming when he can no longer say, “I’m still new, guys. G imme a chance, why don’t you? ” That light at the end of the tunnel that Junior sees is actually the light of an incoming train that will hit him where he lives, sooner rather than later.

Because he is so unprepared, and also because he does not have the mental capacity to e a good chief e ecutive, or even a mediocre one, this second Marcos presidency will be just as bad or perhaps even worse than the original Marcos regime.

And we all know how that ended, don’t we?

As I See It

(From P age 12)

prosperity, and I really put in the hard work and determination to achieve the American Dream.

While the specifics of the merican Dream may e di erent for di erent people, some of the factors that routinely wor ed in my fa vor were - earn a better than average salary, have a successful family, own a home, have cars, and enjoy the prosperity well into retirement. nding the oo with a definition of ames ruslow dams, in his article American Dream in 1931: “Life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone with opportunity for each, according to ability of achievement regardless of social class or circumstances of birth.” his was another definition reminding us that it is not easy to realize the American Dream, but given the opportunity… and with hard wor , we can fully achieve the fruits and enefits ahead of us.

So, all it needed to realize the American Dream was hard work, strong commitment, having an incredibly supportive wife and children, strong belief in G od, and the will to move on and pursue one’s goals.

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 an aw ard - w i n n i n g j ou rn al i s t 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 @ es t i ok oel pi d i o@ gmai l .

The Outsider

(From P age 12)

The Manila Bay Task Force meanwhile, was created pursuant to Administrative Order No. 16 series of 2019. Among others, it is charged with ensuring that the concerned agencies and LG U s undertake appropriate measures relative to violation of environmental laws, and “improve resource management of the Manila Bay and create models of inter- LG U cooperation in ecosystem management, with special focus on the Laguna Lake and Pasig River.” Like anila ay, aguna de ay s shore land e tends across many local government units and it is essential for them to come up with a concerted e ort in the reha ilitation of the la e. he sta eholders e lieve a task force will be the right body to spearhead the endeavor.

Velasco who initiated the Annual Million Tree Challenge that aims to rehabilitate critical watersheds including Laguna de Bay supports the proposal. He emphasized the need to create a special task force that will take the lead and implement the rehabilitation of Laguna de Bay. Velasco is now Chairman Emeritus of Million Tress Foundation (MTFI).

As a step to recover from environmental degradation, MTFI is pushing for massive reforestation that will involve national and local government agencies, academe, youth, people’s organizations, non-government organizations, and the business sector. For the degraded watershed areas of Laguna de Bay, MTFI promotes the use of native tree species including bamboo for forest restoration.

“Water is our responsibility,” the late President Fidel V. Ramos once said. Left unchecked, depleting water supply would cause water stress. Let us do our part to help harness the full potential of Laguna de Bay as a water resource.

Health & Wealth

(From P age 12)

my mother. Consul G eneral Henry Bensurto, Jr. also requested a photo with my mother and congratulated her saying “Ako Ay Filipino! ” The event and the oath-taking pictures with Consul G eneral Bensurto, Jr. were published in the weekly PHILIPPINE NEWS and PHILIPPINES TODAY. January, 2019 was very memorable month for my late mother.

All her children living in San Francisco, Santa Clara and San Jose, California decided to celebrate her 100th birthday at our “bangkag” in our hometown in Binalonan, Pangasinan. Her 100th birthday was attended by hundreds of relatives and friends from Kiangan, Ifugao, Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya; children and family members from California, Arizona and Louisiana; friends and neighbors in Santo Nino and Santa Maria Norte in Binalonan, Pangasinan; relatives and friends from Manila, Q uezon City, Caloocan City, Metro Manila, Philippines. I was blessed and fortunate to share the gospel to the hundreds of attendees and guests with the help of Brent Solis, Minister of DAG U PAN CITY CHU RCH OF CHRIST in Dagupan City, Pangasinan and some brethren from BINALONAN CHU RCH OF CHRIST in Santa Maria Norte, Binalonan, Pangasinan. The special event was covered and featured in “Balitang Amianan” by G MA TV. It was also featured and published in the weekly PHILIPPINES TODAY. Through the recommendation and suggestion of Tomas Pulupul, one of my late father’s nephew and former councilor of Kiangan, Ifugao and Vice Mayor of Asipolo, Ifugao, my late mother celebrated her 101st birthday in Amduntog, Asipolo, Ifugao last January 21, . Her children and some grandchildren in alifornia flew ac to Manila and to Kiangan, Ifugao together with relatives and close friends from Manila, Q uezon City, Caloocan City and Binalonan, angasinan. he special event was attended y provincial officials of Ifugao like former G overnor Eugene Balitang, incumbent board member Joselito G uyguyon, and close relatives from Kiangan and Baguio City like school principal Joselyn P. Dupingay, Patricia Dimoloy Dulnuan and family; Jimmy and Nancy Bulong and their daughters Liezle and Yvonne P. Bulong, newly licensed and now practicing physician in the Philippines.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, my late mother celebrated her 103rd and last birthday last January 21, 2022 online.

My youngest brother Salvador “Buddy” Madlaing and his wife U rsula “Remy” Talon Madlaing prepared and ordered Souvenir red T-Shirts for the children, grandchildren and friends. Front of the TShirt was the smiling face of my late mother wearing matching hat with the words “Elena G . Madlaing, 01-21-2022 103 Years Old.” n the ac of the red Shirt Souvenir was the hilippine flag in Victory sign and John 3: 16, a very popular Bible verse. Through the magic of modern technology, ALL children, grandchildren and great grandchildren of my late mother were able to wear the Souvenir T-Shirt and participated in the singing and birthday greetings last January 21, 2022 on her actual 103rd birthday.

Those who participated online via Face Time included: our daughter Darlene Madlaing G amble, her husband Bryan G amble and son John Micheal Madlaing G amble from Keithville, Louisiana; our daughter Wynema Joy Madlaing G acusan, husband Benjamin G acusan, Jr. sons Brendon Madlaing G acusan, Jeremiah adlaing Gacusan from Glendale, ri ona her daughter osefina Madlaing, grandson Ferdinand Lewis, daughter Luzviminda G abot Madlaing from Bethel Island, California; son Salvador G . Madlaing, his wife U rsula T. Madlaing, granddaughter Mercyllena Talon Madlaing from San Jose, California; daughter Magdalena M. Sison and her children and grandchildren from Santa Clara, California; her grandson Voltaire “Ike” Madlaing, his wife Jane Fronda Madlaing and great grandchildren from Marseilles, France and Florida, U SA; granddaughter Eloisa Madlaing Refugio, her husband and son in Ontario, Canada; granddaughter Emily Madlaing and her daughter Amiah from San Jose, California; son Dionisio Madlaing and his wife Maribel Madlaing from San Jose, California; my beloved wife Virginia Jimenez Madlaing and yours truly from San Francisco, California; and numerous grandchildren and great grandchildren from Binalonan, Pangasinan and Baguio City, Caloocan City and Q uezon City in the Philippines.

My late mother surprised everybody by singing her favorite songs accompanied by her last harmonica performance during her 103rd birthday celebration globally through Face Time online. In fact, while finali ing my column, ust received a rayer in Sym pathy Card from Pol and Lourdes G adong-Medios from South San Francisco, California which says, “We will surely remember her forever for her HARMONICA Performances! May she rest in Peace! The Medios Family.”

My late mother motivated me to do “her secrets for good health and longevity” namely: 1. egular e ercise and wal ing; 2. Eating regularly fresh vegetables and fruits; 3.

Strong faith and complete trust in G od’s protection and providence.4. Avoiding Worry 5. Q uitting Bad Vices 6. Drinking 8 glasses of clean water everyday. 7. Attending Worship Services & Praying Regularly As her lasting legacy, she inspired me to write and complete my latest best-selling book “LIFESTYLE FOR LONG EITY” ( 404 pages, available in Hard-

cover, Paperback and E-Book from Amazon) subtitled “How to be Healthy motionally, Financially, hysically, Se ually and Spiritu ally.” In memory of my late mother, I am giving complimentary autographed copies of the “LIFESTYLE FOR LONG EVITY” to all families and individuals who will be attending the Funeral and Memorial Services for my mother to be announced soon. RSVP: Call (650) 438-3531 or (415) 584-7095 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 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 U S A . )

Immigrants Help

(From P age 14)

are in debt settlement.

• Chapter 7 will eliminate all unsecured debts. If you are near retirement age, you must eliminate most of your debts.

CAR ACCIDENTS Our Law Firm successfully settled a car accident for $675.000.

FAMILY LAW We also handle uncontested DIVORCE. INCOME TAX PROBLEMS We can help you if you are under IRS audit, need a representation with S, need to reduce your ta lia ility or need to o er a payment plan to S, SU CCESS STORIES For the month of August 2022, we received an approvals from the Immigration Court a waiver of misrepresentation for an immigrant in removal proceeding who entered the U .S as single but actually married. The waiver allows him to stay in the U .S. permanently. We also received approval from S S si naturali ation applications, two Fianc e visa petition, three removals of condition on residence and three adjustment of status applications.

Note: If you have immigration problems write us a letter and we will reply to you with no initial obligation. he aw ffices of rispin . o ano can help you find a solution before your problem gets worse which could lead to deportation and family separation.

C hr i s C aday L oz ano, E s q. i s an ac t i v e membe r of t he St at e B ar of C al i f orni a, t he A meri c an I mmi grat i on L aw y ers A s s oc i at i on and San Franc i s c o T ri al L aw y ers . H e prac t i c es i mmi grat i on l aw , bank rupt c y and i nc ome t ax preparat i on s i nc e J une 199.

H i s c ont ac t phone i s 1- 87456926, emai l : i nf o@ C C L l aw .ne t W ebs i t e: w w w .c ri s pi nl oz anol aw .c om/

 HEALTH NEWS

September 8-14, 2022

28

Spike in Covid cases due to BA.5 subvariant: PHL Genome Center MANILA – The Philippine G enome Center G confirmed that the current increase in o vid-19 infections is brought about by the Omicron BA.5 subvariant. n a televised pu lic riefing, G ecutive Director Cynthia Saloma said about 85 percent of the sequenced samples is composed of Omicron BA.5 subvariant.

“In the past month alone, the BA.5 po talaga ang (is really the) most predominant sample or variant that we are sequencing in the Philippines,” she said.

“Mayroon po tayong konting BA.4 and may mangilan-ngilan na (We have few BA.4 and some) BA.2.1 and very very few of the BA.2.3 which is the predominant one last January. But, all in all, we can probably say that this current wave is really the BA.5 wave,” she added.

BA.5.2 is the most common subvariant of the Omicron BA.5 subvariant detected in the country At press time, the country has detected 906 addi-

tional cases of the Omicron BA.5 subvariant of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19). n an online media forum, D H officer in charge U ndersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said at least 10 individuals from Northern Mindanao, Davao Region; Soccsksargen, and Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), have tested positive for the BA.5 subvariant. “Two hundred si ty five are from Western isayas, from the National Capital Region (NCR), 121 from the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), 97 from Cagayan Valley, 73 Central Luzon, 56 from Calabarzon, 49 from Bicol Region, 40 from Ilocos Region, 39 from MIMAROPA, 13 from Z amboanga eninsula, from astern isayas, from Central Visayas, and four returning overseas Filipinos,” she said.

Of the tally, 682 are fully vaccinated, 14 are partially vaccinated while the vaccination status of the remaining individuals are still eing verified.

Their exposures and travel histories are still being verified.

About 814 individuals are now tagged as recovered, 49 are still undergoing isolation, and the outcomes of the remaining are still eing verified. here were also additional . cases five from Bicol Region, and two each from Western Visayas, CAR, and the NCR. Nine individuals were fully vaccinated while the vaccination status of the remaining two individuals are still eing verified.

All 11 individuals are now tagged as recovered but the DOH is still verifying their exposures and travel histories.

At least seven additional BA.2.12.1 cases were also detected –four from Ilocos Region, and one each from Cagayan Valley, Western Visayas, and Calabarzon.

Six are fully vaccinated while the vaccination status of the remaining individual is eing verified.

News capsules

T

Heart of Hope

he average life expectancy in the U nited States “dropped for a second straight year from 2020 to 2021, with the COVID-19 pandemic once again playing an outsize role in the decline,” according to the U S Centers for Disease Control PHILIP S. CHUA and Prevention. This has been the lowest since 1996, dropping from 77.0 years to 76.1. The U SA had the largest drop since World War II, with a fall from 78.8 years in 2019 to 77 in 2020, and now down to 76.1. That’s a 2.7-years drop from 3 years ago! On the other hand, the life expectancy in The Philippines is 71.41 years in 2021, a surprising increase of 0.18 percent from 2020. * * * Chinese authorities have locked down Chengdu, a southwestern city with 21 million people, because of a surge in COVID-19, according to AP. Around percent of the flights to and from that city have been suspended. Those with special needs (negative test) are allowed to leave the city. If China had locked down Wuhan City when the novel corona virus was first detected there on Decem er , , this cata strophic pandemic that devastated the economies of 230 nations and areas around the globe (more than 610 million COVID-19 cases and greater than 6.5 million deaths worldwide; almost 97 million cases in the U SA, with higher than 1 million deaths; and, more than 3.9 million cases in The Philippines and greater than 62,000 deaths), could have been avoided.

It could have been contained and kept within Wuhan, preventing COVID-19 from spreading to other parts of China and to various nations around the globe. * * * he S FD has cleared the first redesigned COVID vaccines since they came out in late 2020.

This reformulated bivalent vaccine booster targets Omicron (BA.4, BA.5) subvariants, the currently predominant viruses. he fi er made version is for persons as young as 12, and the Moderna vaccine for 18 and older. These improved vaccines may be given also to those who had booster shots as long as the last shot was at least 2 months ago.

Remember, refusing the vaccines and waiting for COVID-19 infection to acquire immunity is dangerous. significant num er of people doing this have died, like the 5 talk-show hosts in the U SA, who at the last minute changed their no-vax advocacy to “hurryand-get-your-shots,” and sincerely apologized before they died. Their misinformation had, obviously, led to countless (possibly in the millions) infections and deaths. Also, natural immunity from infections is less sta le, less relia le, and not as e ective as immunity conferred by the vaccines.

Worldwide 12.6 billion doses of the COVID-19 vaccines have been administered safely, 610 million in the U nited States. Almost 8.5 million doses a day are being given globally and it would take another 9 months to achieve around 75 percent vaccination rate, to usher in “normalcy.” If the more than 50 million unvaccinated people in the U nited States get their shots now, the COVID-19 pandemic would be contained sooner. This is actually in their hands. That’s why I said in a previous column that our best weapons to defeat COVID-19 are wisdom, love of our fellowmen, and compassion, besides the vaccines, hygiene, masking, distancing, and avoiding crowds.

The newly announced reformulated shots are most welcome since COVID-19 infections still averages around 90,000 infections and 475 deaths every day.

The government is warning the people who think COVID-19 is gone that the country could see 100 million cases in the coming fall and winter. If we are having nearly 500 deaths a day now, you can imagine how many lives could be lost with 100 million cases. Life is precious. Let us protect it, since we have no spare. * * * Dementia a ects a out . million people worldwide in 2010, expected to double every 20 years. Around 6.2 million among age 65 and older have l heimer s dementia in , and seventy five percent among age 75 or older. While a severely impaired memory renders the person unaware of his environment, the pain and hardship are graver for those family members and caregivers. Taking care of these unfortunate persons is much more complex and difficult than ta ing care of a ies and infants. erson ally, if I develop severe Alzheimer’s, I would rather go fast, to save my family and friends from long-term su ering and heartaches. ut am optimistic science will discover e ective preventive measures and a mir

acle cure for this debilitating and devastating illness.

A new study showed that music therapy may improve social interactions between individuals with dementia and their caregivers, family included. It also reduces strain and distress on the part of the caregivers, whose job is tough, sometimes abused by their patients who are no longer mentally alert. Some patients with dementia/Alzheimer’s may be belligerent, confrontational, or physically abusive, not conscious of what they are doing. Hopefully, more progress in conquering dementia peeks on the horizon. * * * California legislators are considering a Bill aimed at disciplining physicians who disseminate false information or misinform people about COVID-19 infection, vaccines, etc. While other nations have criminalized misinformation/disinformation about the vaccines, the S has een wea in fighting this with scientific data, leading to vaccine hesitancy that promotes infection, the spread of the virus, and more than a million deaths.

But why zero in on physicians only? Isn’t this discriminatory against a certain profession? Anyone spreading fake news, misinformation, doctors or lawyers, or engineers, or politicians, or lay people, about the vaccines, masking, distancing, and treatment of COVID-19 (or other illnesses), on social media or on any medium, could equally kill people, and the victims not less dead than those misinformed by physicians. The law should include everyone guilty of this potentially deadly crime. If they want to mete a harsher sentence to guilty physicians, that s fine with me, because we, physicians, took an Oath to protect the health and safety of our patients. Any physician who commits a crime is a disgrace to the medical profession. But a law must be just and fair for all. All others committing the same crime should also be commensurately punished and not be exempt from justice, and go free, simply because they are not physicians.

P h i l i p S . C h u a, M D , FA C S , FP C S , a C ard i ac S u rgeon E meri t u s b as ed i n N ort h w es t I n d i an a an d L as V egas , N ev ad a, i s an i n t ern at i on al med i c al l ec t u rer/ au t h or, H eal t h A d v oc at e, n ew s paper c ol u mn i s t , an d C h ai rman of t h e Fi l i pi n o U n i t ed N et w ork - U S A , a 5 0 1(c )3 h u man i t ari an f ou n d at i on i n t h e U n i t ed S t at es .

W eb s i t es : FU N 8 8 8 8 . c om, T od ay . S P S A t od ay . c om, an d ph i l i pS c h u a. c om E mai l : s c al pel pen @ gmai l . c om

29 September 8-14, 2022

NEWS  NATIONAL VIEWS & COMMENTS

THE MOST WONDERFUL PLACES

By TIM PEDROSA

The most wonderful places to be in the world are: In someone’s thoughts, someone’s prayers and in someone’s heart.

The world is round so that love and friendship may surround it. The longer I live, the more I learn that life is not about the quantity of friends that we have but it is about the quality of our friends; that special friend is hard to find, hard to lose and impos sible to forget; and that true friends are never apart, maybe in distance but not in the heart. It is the beauty within us that makes it possible for us to recognize the beauty around us. The question is not what we look at but what we see. I have learned that if we advance confidently in the direction of our dreams and try hard to live the life we imagine, we will meet success in due time. So, rather than money, rather than fame, rather than eep on pursuing hard to feel self important, let us pursue love and truth and live honestly and with dignity. Since love grows within , so eauty grows. For love is the eauty of the soul St gustin. et us try to live in the present, launch ourselves on every wave, and find our eternity in each moment. et us not li e fools who stand on their island of opportunities and look toward another land. There is no other land; there is no other life but this. However mean our life is, let us meet and live it; do not turn away from it. t is not as ad as what we thin it is. et us scatter seeds of kindness everywhere we go. Nourish the seeds with love and encourage them to grow.

H S D S F H D W H H H H S F W W GG S F WH H S H S D S D FF GS , S F SH D FF . t is the eauty within us that ma es it possi le for us to recognize the beauty around us. The question is not what you look at but what you see. What s the whole point of eing pretty on the outside when you re so ugly on the inside eauty is eing the est possi le version of us on the inside and out. here is no definition of eauty ut when we can see someone’s spirit coming through, something unexplainable, that’s beautiful to me.

1. Our Lady of Angels Church - 1721 Hillside Drive, Burlingame, CA 94010 2. St. Isidore Catholic Church - 222 Clark Avenue, Yuba City, CA 95991 3. St. Andrew’s Catholic Church - 1571 Southgate Avenue, Daly City, CA 94015 4. St. Jarlath Church - 2620 Pleasant St., Oakland, CA 94602 5. St. Isabella Church - One Trinity Way, San Rafael, CA 94903 6. St. Catherine Church - 3450 Tennessee Church, Vallejo, CA 94591 7. Holy Child and St. Martin Church - 777 Southgate Avenue, Daly City, CA 94015 8. Parish of the Holy Infant Jesus - 37051 Cabrillo Terrace, Fremont, CA 94536 9. G ood Shepherd Church - 3200 Harbor St, Pittsburg, CA 94565 For more information, please contact: JR: (650) 952-8238

W

Recognition of God

e are wired for God. We are created y God for Himself hence, there can never be a moment in time that we will not long for Him. Even those considering themselves atheists; it does not mean that there is no sense of the divine in them; but that, they choose to consider there is no God. hey decided that God does not e ist in spite of REV. JOSE PELAGIO A. PADIT, SThD all proofs to the contrary. et, for us who profess our faith and love of God, it is to our edification that we constantly recogni e the truth that God is present and He is continually at work in our lives and in creation. Do you make yourself aware, dear reader, of the presence and wor of God in your life or in the lives of other people?

God revealed Himself in the definitive way through and in His nly Son esus hrist. esus is he mmanuel, God with us. God has ecome visi le and tangi le in our ord esus hrist this truth must always e remem ered, for this can influence greatly our prayer life, our daily endeavors, and in our relationships. So, we must recogni e God firstly, in prayer We cannot pray without eing aware of God s pres ence and wor . We pray in spirit and in truth n. . nless we recogni e God and aware of His action, there can never happen prayer and worship. rophet li ah, once was told y God to meet Him, see ings , and so, he waited there came fire, earth ua e, strong winds, etc. ut God was not in those moments then, came a gentle sound, a gentle wind, and prophet li ah ecame aware now of God s presence. So, he went outside the cave. I would like us to capture that moment in prayer li e prophet li ah. very opportunity we spend time for prayer recogni e truly there is God, pay attention to Him. his is ehavior changing principle if we will always recogni e God s presence and action during time of prayer; then, we will be enthused to pray and ma e time for prayer. he Holy ucharist, the ass, is the highest form of prayer and worship and we profess hrist esus real presence if we firmly elieve in that thus, we will e eager to go to ass. here is so much to lose without going to ass. We will starve ourselves to spiritual death when we do not feed on esus in the ucharist. ecogni ing God s presence and His work in our moments of prayer will make our spiritual life flourish and ear fruits for the glory of God. Secondly, recogni ing God s presence and action in our life can e a driving force in our human endeavors. We will e confident in all our underta ings when we are mindful of God s presence and grace for we now we are not alone. God is there to less our e orts and to multi ply the fruits of our labors. In life, we have troubles and fears; much like the disciples in the oat and seeing esus wal ing on the sea, they were terrified see t. . eter wanted to wal toward esus and was permitted to do so; but a little while after, he began to sink because he focused on the strong winds and not on hrist. n our life s endeavors, we must focus on our ord s presence and grace this way, we destroy or control our fears, an ieties and worries. When we recogni e esus is with us, we will neither panic nor frea out. ecogni ing God s presence is having power in ourselves. We can never ta e God out of our e istence and underta ings. God is the very source of everything thus, to have Him is already possessing all. hirdly, in our relationships God is also present, not as if e ternal from our human relationships, but that He is in the other, He is present in you and . he ord told us that what we do or not have done to others, we do unto Him t. this tells us, that we must recogni e Him in others. c nowledging Him in others will surely change our ways in relation to others We will e disciplined and ind in words we will behave appropriately and not be rude or thoughtless that we forget our manners can already e o ensive. here is so much good that can happen to our life when we can see or recogni e God s presence and ac tion in others and in our midst. ay we ta e to heart this lesson, and see what wonders it can do to our life and the lives around us. men.

Aflame The Heart

INSPIRATIONAL ARTICLE FOR THE WEEK

31 September 8-14, 2022  NATIONAL NEWS

 FOOD & TRAVELS

 FOOD & TRAVELS

Recipe of the Week Tokwa’t Baboy Adobo with Oyster Sauce I n gr e d i e n t s : 1kilo pork belly, cut into large cubes ig loc s firm tofu, cut into large cu e, fried 1/2 head garlic, crushed 1/2 tbsp. peppercorns 2-3 bay leaf 1/2 cup white vinegar 1/2 cup soy sauce 1/4 cup oyster sauce 1 tbsp. sugar salt to taste C ok

i n gp

r oc e d u r e :

In a large sauce pan place the pork vinegar, soy sauce, peppercorns, bay leaf and add 1 1/2 to 2 cups of water bring to a boil and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Add more water as necessary. Add in sugar continue to simmer until the liquid is reduced to half. Add in the oyster sauce and correct saltines if required. Then add the fried tofu on top, continue to simmer at low heat until most of the liquid has evaporated and has turn into an oily sauce. Serve.

INVEST IN THE PHILIPPINES. Tourism Secretary Chris�na Garcia Frasco serves as one o the panelists at the Philippine Economic Brie ng PEB held in Singapore.

Singaporean businessmen urged to visit, invest in PHL

SING APORE – Tourism Secretary Cristina G arcia Frasco urged Singaporean businessmen to visit and invest in the Philippines as it shares the country’s initiatives to fast-track the tourism industry’s recovery.

“The tourism industry of the Philippines is already on its way to recovery, with your help and with your partnership we can continue to allow tourism to be a force for good towards the economic recovery of the Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) region,” Secretary Frasco said during the Philippine conomic riefing in Singapore.

Frasco said the DOT is “doing everything” to revitalize the sector and make it a major economic pillar for the country’s post-pandemic recovery.

“We’re open, we’re ready, and we invite all of you to visit and to invest in the Philippines,” she told the businessmen at the riefing.

Among the initiatives she laid out were infrastructure development, digitali ation and connectivity, diversification of the Philippine tourism portfolio, and the strengthening of tourism governance.

She said the DOT will work with rel-

evant agencies to improve access to key destinations through improved roads, bridges, and water systems.

She announced that DOT is also breaking ground this year 10 tourist rest areas across the country.

“Overall, the outlook about the Philippines is optimistic, notwithstanding all of the difficulties that we have faced and have come into our shores and everything that has come to pass everything that the Filipino people have su ered in terms of various upheavals and calamities,” she said.

“It is by no accident that our country remains one of the most beautiful destinations in the world and top-of-mind destinations in terms of tourism,” she added.

As of Sept. 5, the Philippines has received at least 1.4 million international visitors.

The PEB in Singapore was conducted in cooperation with the Philippine Embassy Singapore and the Philippine Trade and Investment Centre Singapore, together with partner banks – BoFa Securities, G oldman Sachs, HSBC, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, SMBC Nikko, Standard Chartered Bank, and U BS