asian journal january 28, 2011 issue

The Sentinels by Davidson at Del Sur Grand Opening

Jan. 29... p 12

Happy you/Lucky you... p 11

(Continued on page 21)

Warning: The California Department of Real Estate has not examined this offering, including but not limited to the condition of title, the status of blanket liens of the project (if any), arrangements to assure project completion, escrow practices, control over project management, racially discriminatory practice (if any), terms, conditions, and price of the offer, control over annual assessments (if any), or the availability of water services, utilities, or improvements. It may be advisable for you to consult an attorney or other knowledgeable professional who is familiar with real estate and development law in the country where this subdivision is situated.

Attend the free presentations of the affordable but luxurious housing developments in the Philippines! Presented in San Diego, Hemet and Temecula. Call 619-746-3416 for reservations.

Presidio at Britany Bay, near Laguna de Bay, Sucat, Paranaque, Makati and Taguig areas

Call for schedule of presentations for

SAN DIEGO

TEMECULA

HEMET

ORANGE COUNTY

Call (619)746-3416 for brochures and reservations

Luxurious single family homes beside Alabang For brochures and other info, call 619-746-3416.

Single family homes in Antipolo; Bacoor, Imus and Dasmarinas, Cavite; Sta. Rosa

and Cabuyao Laguna; and Las Pinas

Baguio and La Union Beach properties.Single family homes in Pan-gasinan, Pampanga, Bulacan, Batangas, Iloilo, Cebu, Davao, Cagayan de Oro

Retirement or vacation homes in Tagaytay



The SM condo locations are as follows: SEA Residences - Macapagal Ave (near Mall of Asia; JAZZ - Bel-Air Makati (with 2-level SM hypermart at the grd fl oor); FIELD - Sucat Paranaque (beside SM Sucat); LIGHT - along Boni Edsa; SUN - Welcome Rotonda in E. Rodriguez Manila; BLUE - Katipunan , QC; My Place - Mother Ignacia, QC (near ABS-CBN; GRASS - North Edsa QC ( beside SM City); PRINCETON - New Manila, QC; MEZZA - Sta Mesa (near SM Centerpoint); HAMILO - Batangas City (by the beach)

Attend a Free Presentation in San Diego and

Temecula on SM Properties, condominiums

located near SM Malls

in Metro Manila.Call (619) 746-3416 for reservations.

(Continued on page 9)(Continued on page 9)(Continued on page 9)

January 28 - February 3, 2011

New HomesMsgr. Gutierrez Ogie CruzMarian Rivera Palaban

kay Cristy Fermin ... p 19

SAN DIEGO, 1/28/2011 -- The University of the Phil-ippines Alumni Association of San Diego will hold its in-duction of offi cers on January 29, 2011 at the Lutuang Best – Saladmaster, 220 W. 25th St. Ste C in National City at 12:00 p.m. To be inducted as offi -cers are President – Zenaida Estoque-Ply; Vice-President - Rita Andrews; Secretary - Edith Donaldson; Treasurer - Dina Ellorin; PRO - Aurora

UPAASD Holds Induction of Offi cersC u d a l ; Audi tor - Ador C o l -m e n a r ; Business Manager - Rudy Liporada

and Past President – Boodgie Arce. The incoming President graduated from the Univer-sity of the Philippines with a

Zeny Ply

The Philippine business community has launched an anti-corruption project that it hopes would stop government from dealing with crooks and eradicate corruption in the business arena.

Chief executives of 300 large to small companies, both foreign and local owned, have signed up with the Integrity Initiative funded by a $1 mil-

Business community launch campaign to fi ght corruption

lion grant from Siemens AG.The Makati Business Club

(MBC) and the European Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines (ECCP) have banded together to initiate this campaign, Integrity Initiative.

The project will come out with a certifi cation system for “clean” companies, which would have fi rst crack at gov-ernment projects, said Makati Business Club chairman Ramon del Rosario Jr.

Del Rosario said the cam-paign will start with certifying companies as compliant with ethical business practices. Later, government will be asked to limit its dealings to integrity-certifi ed companies.

“Once a standard is in place, there would be recog-nition. No one wants to be corrupt. It costs us money,” he said. “When the competi-tor engages in corruption, it distorts the playing fi eld.”

“Corruption steals from the poor,” said Henry Schu-macher, executive vice president of the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP).

Schumacher said because of corruption, the poor do not get the products and services they deserve.

Schumacher said Integ-rity Initiative would give

the Philippines a competitive advantage as an investment destination.

Schumacher said the Initia-tive is being rolled out under a four-year plan.

“This takes a long time. It

COMPLICATED AFFAIRS

The Movie StarBy Simeon G. Silverio, Jr.

Publisher & EditorAsian Journal San Diego

The Original and First Asian Journal in America

Chapter 2

“Call up Richard Garcellano,” Mandy told Danny who had just informed Mandy he would be extending his stay in the Philippines for a while.

Richard was a Filipino singer and comedian who had performed in San Diego a few years ago. With the help of Mandy and Danny, their friend Bobby had produced the concert. They became friends with the singer. Richard was past his prime and starred in the show simply because Filipinos in San Diego were longing for celebrities back home, even those no longer popular. Richard was not even the star of the show; rather, he was the front act of Margarita Rosales, a Filipina chan- teuse who had her own television show in the Philippines.

When the producer brought the performers to Tijuana to see the place, they had diffi culty returning to the United States because one of the band members forgot his passport. A U.S. Immigration Offi cer would not let him enter.

“But I am Margarita Rosales,” the singer naively told the offi cer. “I am very popular in the Philippines! You must let him in.”

“I don’t care,” the offi cer snapped back at her. “We don’t admit people without a valid passport, even if their companion is popu-lar.”

Everybody in the group, except Marga-rita, had a good laugh.

In the end, they had to leave the neglect-ful band member behind. Bobby was forced to retrieve the guy’s passport at the hotel where he was billeted and picked him up in Tijuana after-wards.

RICHARD DIDN’T HAVE

MUCH TO DO IN LIFE AT THAT TIME. He stayed in Danny’s apartment in San Diego for a few months after the concert and became his con-stant companion. He was becoming a burden to Danny and was about to be kicked out of the apartment when he sensed he was falling out of grace and decided to move out on his own terms. He stayed with friends in Hawaii, again wore out his welcome, and moved back to the Philip-pines.

“I’ll call Richard,” Danny told Mandy. DANNY ASKED AROUND and was able

to get the singer’s phone number.“Come over here,” Richard was en-

thusiastic to hear from his San Diego friend. “Come with me to a party to-night and I’ll introduce you to some

By Ardee Lee

The book Unauthorized History of the Filipinos by Rudy D. Liporada is now a required textbook reading

“Unauthorized History” Now a Textbook

in a Filipino history class of Southwestern College in Chula Vista. Initially serial-ized in the Asian Journal, the book was chosen by Professor Felix Tuyay for his students to complement the other resource books he uses in his Philippine history classes

“With this book,” Tuyay said to his students, “you will have a complete per-spective on the history of the Philippines.” He notes that the book touched on “hidden historical facts” about the islands which are not found or discussed in the books of earlier writers like Teodoro Agoncillo and Gregorio F. Zaide.

January 28 - February 3, 2011Asian Journal - (619) 474-0588 Visit our website at http://www.asianjournalusa.com

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Law Offices of Chua Tinsay & Vegawww.ctvattys.com

by Atty. Aurora Vega-Buzon Esq.Legal Buzz

Read Atty. Aurora Vega’s previous articles by visiting our website at www.asianjournalusa.com

By Andrew Agtagma, Esq.

With the economy strug-gling to emerge from the throes of the Great Recession, workers increasingly choose to endure improper conduct by supervisors or co-workers that would simply have been unacceptable a few years back. Jobs are hard to come by, so having any kind job is better than being out of work—even if the environ-ment is less than ideal. Nev-ertheless, the law places clear limits on inappropriate be-havior in the workplace. This article explores some of those limits.

Having practiced employ-ment law for over fifteen years, I have interviewed countless potential clients complaining of a “hostile work environment.” With multiple television shows cov-ering all aspects of the legal profession, and the ability to search the internet on every topic imaginable, the term is widely known but commonly understood.

So what is a hostile work environment? It is not enough that an employee experience harassment at work. To the surprise of many, the law

What is Workplace Harassment?

does not require civility in the workplace. More important is to discern why the harassment is taking place. Take, for ex-ample, a person who is simply a bad employee. The worker might be late on regular basis, he might send text messages to friends on the job, or he might take twice as long as other employees to finish his work. If this person’s su-pervisor watches him more closely than another employ-ee, gives a better employee more interesting assignments, or gives the person a less favorable work schedule, the employee would certainly feel “harassed.” But by itself such harassment would not violate the law. The supervisor’s behavior could be viewed as proper ways to motivate such an employee to improve his performance.

For such harassment to be illegal, an additional ingredi-ent is required: it must occur because the worker belongs to a “protected status.” The term might be unfamiliar, but the litany of protected charac-teristics is well known: race and gender, age and disabil-ity, marital status and sexual orientation, to name a few. If the employee has reason to

believe that the harassment is occurring because he belongs to one of these groups, the law protects the employee from any resulting harm.

Of course, proving the reason behind harassing conduct is easier said than done. Pitched legal battles are fought, and cases won or lost, over this issue. As recently as the 1970s or 80s, revealing the motivation behind harass-ment was relatively simple. Political correctness had not yet taken hold, and people with prejudices against certain groups would express those attitudes more openly. In today’s increasingly diverse workplaces, however, people are less likely to admit their biases, and might not even be aware of them. It is here where the adage, “Actions speak louder than words,” comes into play.

The answer is to find a pattern to the harasser’s conduct. For example, harsh language might be directed disproportionately towards a particular group. Or, maybe other groups are not spoken to as harshly. In a case sev-eral years back, a supervisor who was accused of creating a hostile work environment for women defended his actions be saying he made critical remarks to everyone, both male and female. He was a so-called “equal opportu-nity” harasser. However, the female victim showed that his remarks were more harsh when criticizing women. The harasser also used derogatory terms in criticizing female employees, but not male em-ployees. The victim prevailed because she was able to tease

out the underlying pattern in the supervisor’s behavior. Without such information, a worker’s harassment com-plaint has a poor chance of success.

Once the reason behind the harassment is determined, the next question is: How bad is the harassment? An employer will not be liable for creating a hostile work environment unless the conduct is “se-vere” or “pervasive.” Take a supervisor who is occasion-ally rude, short-tempered or grouchy because she spilled her morning coffee or is short on sleep. In that moment, an employee might feel harassed; but the law will overlook oc-casional unpleasantries. The law is less likely to tolerate a boss who is always yelling, throwing tantrums, and saying derogatory comments several times a week or more. Such behavior is closer to being “pervasive,” and thus more likely to violate the law.

But being pervasive is only one element that makes a work environment hostile In limited instances, an act is considered so severe that a single occurrence is enough to violate anti-harassment laws. For example, grop-ing a woman’s breasts, need happen only once to create a sexually hostile environ-ment. And in a classic case of racial harassment, African-American workers have sued successfully when a noose was placed on their desk or lockers. The noose is such a powerful symbol of slavery in the United States—with its history of segregation, lynch mobs, and burning crosses—that the single act was enough to violate the law.

Working in a hostile work environment means more than disliking how your boss or co-workers treat you. Hope-

fully the illustrations above give some insight into what it means for a work environment to be truly “hostile.” If you feel you are being harassed at work and are considering legal help, ask yourself these questions first:

Why do you feel you are being harassed? Is it because of your race, gender, age, dis-ability, etc?

How frequent is the harass-ment? Does it happen on a regular basis? Or do the ha-rassing comments or conduct occur only once in awhile?

How severe is the harass-ment? Does the harassment consist of blatantly racist or sexist acts or comments, for example, or does it consist of petty slights?

After giving these ques-tions some thought, if you feel that you are the victim of a hostile work environment, the next thing to consider is how to respond. The answer to this question will be the topic of a future article.

Atty. Andrew Agtagma works closely with the Law Firm of Chua Tinsay and Vega (CTV) and its clients to provide counsel in his areas of expertise, which include em-ployment law, personal injury, and general civil litigation. He owns and manages Law Center in San Mateo, CA. The information presented in this article is for general information only and is not, nor intended to be, formal legal advice nor the formation of an attorney-client relation-ship. Call or e-mail for an in-person or phone consulta-tion to discuss your particular situation and/or how they may be of service to you. Andrew Agtagma, Esq.: (650) 589-5700, [email protected]; CTV: (415) 495-8088; (619) 955-6277.

Juan Vargas tapped for State Senate leadership rolesVargas to Chair Banking

and Financial Institutions Committee and serve on Education and Joint Rules Committees, among others

SACRAMENTO, CA (January 25, 2011) – The State Senate Rules Commit-tee today confirmed President Pro Tempore’s decision to tap Juan Vargas for important leadership roles in the Cali-fornia State Senate. Vargas, a freshman Senator, was con-firmed to serve as Chairman of the Banking and Financial Institutions Committee earlier this month, and confirmed to serve on the Education and Joint Rules Committees, among others, today.

A complete list of Senator Vargas’ committee assign-ments are listed below:

EducationBusiness, Professions and

Economic DevelopmentBanking & Financial Insti-

tutions (Chair)Public Employment and

RetirementAgricultureJoint Committee on Rules Vargas represents the

40th California State Senate District which includes the southern portion of San Diego County, portions of Riverside County, all of Imperial Coun-ty, and California’s entire US/Mexico border. Vargas rep-resented the 79th California State Assembly District from 2000 – 2006 and served on the San Diego City Council from 1993 – 2000. -- Janine Pairis, District Director, Office of Senator Juan Vargas, 40th Senate District, 637 3rd Ave. Suite A-1 Chula Vista, CA 91910 (temporary address)http://sd40.senate.ca.gov/

Asian Journal - (619) 474-0588 Visit our website at http://www.asianjournalusa.comJanuary 28 - February 3, 2011

Imperial Valley holds March for Life 2011 on 38th Anniversary of Roe v Wade

Parishioners of St Marys Parish in El Centro, CA joined pro-life supporters across the nation on a March for Life \to remember the right to life of the unborn. Jan 22nd marked the 38th Anniversary of Roe vs. Wade. Fr Ed Horning, St. Mary’s pastor, and Dr Gamboa in lower photo, on right (Photos by Dr. Ed Gamboa)

Families and children joined the march from the Main Court-house to St. Mary’s Church, El Centro, California on Saturday 1/22

(SAN DIEGO) Jan. 25, 2011 – Barona Resort & Casino will usher in the “Year of the Rabbit” during a two-week celebration. From Feb-ruary 3-17, players can win a share of more than $65,000 in cash prizes and “Hong Bao” or free cash on the casino floor, enjoy authentic Asian cuisine and experience cul-tural dance performances.

“Barona is excited to cel-ebrate this wonderful annual tradition with our players,” said Maylette Garces, execu-tive director of casino mar-keting. “To create even more excitement on the casino floor and bring good fortune in the Year of the Rabbit, we’ll be giving away free cash and of-fering exciting Hot Banks and drawings.”

Barona’s celebration be-gins on February 3 at 7 p.m. with the traditional lion and dragon dance, a blessing to bring good luck. To create a fun atmosphere for slot and table game players, twelve $1,000 random Hot Banks will be drawn between 6 p.m. and midnight to each split $1,000. Eight qualified Club Barona players will win thou-sands in cash, including an $8,000 first place prize, when Barona’s VIP drawing takes place at the Hayloft stage at 9 p.m.

From February 3-17, Club Barona players will have the opportunity to earn one entry for every 500 Club Barona myPOINTS toward a casino-wide drawing on February 17 at 9 p.m. Eight participants

Barona jumps into the Year of the Rabbit with

good fortune for playersCelebration Includes $65,000 in Giveaways, Lucky

Foods and Exciting Performances

will be selected to join the emcee on the Hayloft stage to receive a cash prize ranging from a $20,000 grand prize to a $500 consolation prize. To conclude the event, twelve $1,000 random Hot Banks will also be offered on Febru-ary 17 from 6 p.m. to mid-night for all carded players.

Barona’s own Chef Ringo Lau, who trained at Hong Kong’s elite Nine Dragons Culinary School, has cre-ated special selections for the two-week celebration in both the Ho Wan Noodle Shop and Sage Cafe restaurants. These specials will also be available on the casino floor through Gameside Dining.

“We wanted to create dish-es that were authentic to the many countries that celebrate Chinese New Year,” said Chef Lau, who also worked at a number of other high-profile restaurants at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, The Mirage Las Vegas and the Sheraton Hong Kong prior to joining the culinary team at Barona.

The authentic Ho Wan Noodle Shop will offer a four-course menu for $48.88, which includes Shrimp Dumplings, Chicken Corn Soup, Vietnamese Style Basil Lobster and Eight Treasures Sweet Congee.

The 24-hour Sage Café will feature special a la carte items to mark the Year of the Rabbit such as Peking Duck, Chicken Soup in Young Co-conut, Braised Sliced Abalone with Oyster Sauce, Chinese

Broccoli and Sausage and Sweet Bird’s Nest Soup.

About Barona Resort &

Casino

Barona Resort & Casino, a AAA Four Diamond rated property, blends the best of San Diego’s leading resorts with the gaming excitement of Las Vegas. LEED® Gold Certified by the U.S. Green Building Council, Barona is San Diego’s leading destina-tion resort featuring 400 guest rooms and suites all with

beautiful views of the Barona Valley, a variety of award-winning dining options, the AmBience Day Spa, a full-service events center and the 18-hole championship Barona Creek Golf Club, rated the 3rd best resort course in Califor-nia by Golfweek magazine. For Barona Resort & Casino reservations and information, visit www.barona.com, or call toll free 888-7-BARONA (722-7662). You can also join Barona on Facebook, Twitter and the Barona Casino blog.

January 21, 2011 (San Diego, CA) – In celebration of the Lunar New Year, The San Diego Asian Film Foun-dation (SDAFF) is proud to announce its next quarterly screening of an award-win-ning documentary, LAST TRAIN HOME, at 7pm, Wednesday, February 23, at the Hazard Cen-ter UltraStar Cinemas Mission Valley.

Noted as one of the top 10 films of 2010 by the New York Times and Entertainment Weekly, LAST TRAIN HOME shows the real-life drama of the Lunar New Year holiday in China, where cities are plunged into chaos as 130 million migrant workers jour-ney to their home villages for the holiday. This mass exodus is the world’s largest human migration - an epic spectacle that reveals a country tragi-cally caught between its rural past and industrial future.

Wednesday, February 23,

2011 | 7:00PMEst. Running Time: 87

Top critics film Last Train Home screens in San Diego for Lunar New year

minutesIn Mandarin / English

SubtitlesUltraStar Cinemas Mission

Valley, 7510 Hazard Center Drive San Diego, CA 92108

SDAFF members get a

discounted rate of $6. General Admission tickets are $8.

For more information and to order pre-sale tickets, please go to: www.SDAFF.org.

The mission of the San Di-ego Asian Film Foundation is to connect audiences with the Human Experience through the Pan Asian media arts. In doing so, we help build a cultured and compassionate society.


by Dr. Ofelia Dirige Founder, President & CEO Kalusugan Community Services

Contemporary Asian American Issues

Read Dr. Dirige’s previous articles by visiting our website at www.asianjournalusa.com

Perspectives

ASIAN JOURNALThe first Asian-Filipino weekly in Southern CaliforniaAn award-winning newspaper, it is San Diego’s most

widely circulated Asian-Filipino newspaper!

Ashley SilverioAssistant Editor

In Pursuit of ExcellenceEugenio “Ego” Osin, (1946 - 1994)

Joe Cabrera, (1924 - 1996)Soledad Bautista, (1917-2009)

Dr. Rizalino “Riz” Oades, (1935-2009)

The Asian Journal is published weekly and distributed in all Asian communties in San Diego County. Publication date is ev-ery Friday of the month. Advertising deadline is Thursday prior to publication date at 5 p.m. For advertising rates, rate cards, or information, call (619) 474-0588. Subscription by mail is available for $50 per year (56 issues). The Asian Journal is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts and photographs but welcomes sub-missions. Entire content is © 2009 copyrighted material by Asian Journal. Materials in this publication may not be reproduced without specific permission from the publisher.

Genevieve SilverioManaging Editor

Simeon G. Silverio, Jr.Publisher & Editor

Miles BeauchampAssociate Editor

Santi SilverioAssociate Publisher

At Large...

Miles is Assistant to the Dean and Assistant Professor in the Shirley Hufstedler School of Education at Alliant International University where he teaches new media and diverse writing courses. He has been with the Asian Journal since the 1990’s.

by Miles Beauchamp

Human beings have a taste for the sweeter things in life, things like sugar. We seem to be born with this desire for sugar, and sugar-like sub-stances. Newborn babies like sweetness and the preference never seems to leave.

I’ve started thinking a lot about sugar lately because I have two children – a boy

and a girl. They’re wonderful kids and all but they do have a fondness for pretty much any-thing with enough sugar in it. And how much is “enough?” Oh, enough to make an adult’s jaw ache I would imagine.

The sweeter it is, the better they like it. However, my wife and I, being mom and dad, can’t simply give in and

hand them the keys to the candy store as it were. No, we have to be grownup about it and limit their intake of sugar-filled products. Which leaves us, of course, with hav-ing to sneak it while we watch TV after they go to bed.

I’ve become interested in just how many products contain sugar – and not just the ones you would imag-ine. Tens of thousands of items contain sugar or other sweeteners. It’s difficult for a parent to limit the amount of sugar their kid consumes (es-pecially when you’re hooked on it yourself).

Just for the heck of it, take a look at just a few of the “sweeter” things in life:

* Cookies* Cakes* Ice cream and all of the

things you make with ice cream, like sundaes, shakes, cones, etc

* Milk chocolate* Fruit* Sherbet* Donuts* Pancakes* Waffles* And then there is candy.

Ah yes, candy. There are can-dy bars like Hershey’s, pea-nut butter cups like Reese’s, packages like M&M’s, and more than a hundred others. But beyond the bars, there is specialty candy like See’s and Godiva and the candy made in small, exclusive shops. And to be honest here, I am a candy-holic. If it says the word “candy” anywhere at all on the wrapper I’ve probably tasted it – or am eating it right this very moment. I admit it, I rather like candy…okay, I’d swim in chocolate if I could.

To continue

* Popsicles

* Jelly, jam, and marma-lade

* Peanut butter* Soft drinks

Wait, wait, wait. Hold on there. Was that peanut butter? Ah, yes. Peanut butter and a whole lot of other things you wouldn’t think of also have sugar in them. Things like:

* Salad dressings (almost all of them)

* Some crackers and chips* Pickles* Bread* Mayonnaise* Ketchup* Some prepared mustard* A few spices* Barbecue sauce

In fact, most all of the sauces, marinades, and condi-ments have either sugar or salt in them. Some have both...and some have both to huge degrees.

* Some alcoholic bever-ages have added sugar

* Sweet rolls (i.e. cinna-mon, apple, strawberry, etc)

* Pies (including both fruit and every other kind of filling you and Marie Callender can think of)

* Some fruit juices* Many “health” foods and

drinks. In the case of health foods and drinks the name is simply disguised. Remem-ber, anything ending in “tose” (like fructose) is simply a sugar.

Sugar surrounds us, it is everywhere. In the things we drink, in the foods we eat, in the dressings we put on the foods we eat, there is sugar in one form or another.

But please understand me, I’m not here crusading against sugar. I eat enough of it to stock my own candy store,

after all. The only thing I’m saying is be aware. Be aware of what you are ingesting, what you are buying, what you are feeding your fam-ily. It’s okay to eat and drink sugar, but you shouldn’t do it to the extent that it will affect your health in the future. And you certainly shouldn’t shove sugar at your kids to get them to be quiet or to behave them-selves (things I’ve seen par-ents do over and over again). That doesn’t mean you deny

them sweets, you just give it to them in moderation and not as reward.

You may have seen the lat-est information out now about obese kids. More and more of our children are overweight. Parents need to be aware of what they do with food to attempt to keep that from hap-pening. It may be too late for the adults (but I certainly hope not) to change their patterns of eating sweets, but we can influence our kids.

All about sugarThis is the sweet stuff

PATIENT PROTEC-TION AND AFFORDABLE CARE ACT (PPACA)

A federal statute that • was signed into law by Presi-dent Obama on March 23, 2010.

Along with the Health • Care and Education Reconcil-iation Act of 2010 (signed into law on March 30, 2010)

Is a legislative effort to • overhaul the current market-driven U.S. health care system by offering a patient-centered and highly affordable health care coverage to millions of Americans in the United States.

MAIN POINTS

The law includes a large number of health related pro-visions to take effect over the

Health Care Reform and Immigration Impact on

API CommunityPresented by:

Maria Theresa CalimagAccess, Inc.

2612 Daniel Ave.San Diego, CA 9211

As part of San Diego Asian/Pacific Islander Community Health Network to develop leadership among the API communities

in San Diego County to voice their opinions and take action to protect their rights to access health care.

next four years such as :

Making health cover-• age affordable

Expanding eligibility • of Medi-Cal beneficiaries

Subsidizing insurance • premiums;

Prohibiting denial of • coverage/claims based on pre-existing conditions

Establishing health • insurance exchanges

Providing incentives • for businesses to provide health care benefits

Reforming the insur-• ance market to protect con-sumers

PUBLIC OPTION

A term used for a • government-run health care coverage or insurance.

President Barrack Obama

The way this will work • is very similar to the Medicare system that is currently being offered to adults.

HEALTH INSURANCE EXCHANGE

A marketplace offering • affordable high-quality health insurance options, a one-stop shopping that will enable you and your family to find a plan that is right for you. It pro-vides relief to:

Families who have no • insurance or do not get ad-equate insurance at work and cannot afford to buy it in the costly individual rates or,

Small businesses that • cannot afford small group health insurance.

For workers at big • companies with group cover-age, you can keep what you have with new protections against unfair insurance regu-lations that could limit your coverage if you get sick.

And if you lose your • job, move or decide to leave that company, you will know that there will be high-quality affordable health insurance options available for you on the exchange.

INDIVIDUAL MAN-DATE

Everyone is required • to have health insurance be-

ginning 2014.There are certain ex-•

ceptions imposed.At this point, we only •

have timelines of when fed-eral government is planning to put into place the new law.

The state of California • has not released any official stand or guidelines how to implement this new federal law.

PENALTY

The new reform im-• poses a penalty on individuals who remain uninsured even though they can afford health insurance if coverage costs less than 8 percent of their income.

The penalty:• is a fixed •

dollar amount (ris-ing from $95 to $695 from 2014 to 2016) or

a • percentage of income (rising from 1 percent of income to 2.5 percent of income from 2014 to 2016), which-ever is larger.

IMPACT ON API COM-MUNITY

MEDI-CARE

Q: Will my benefits be cut?A: No, your guaranteed

Medicare benefits will not be cut. Additional benefits will be added such as: preventive services like cancer screen-ings at no cost substantial reduction in prescription drug

prices if you fall into that gap in coverage known as the “donut hole”.

Q: Will I be able to keep my doctor?

A: Yes. Health insurance reform will not affect the choice of doctors you have today and it won’t affect your relationship with your doc-tor. The legislation aims to increase the number of prima-ry care providers, giving you greater access to doctors than you have today.

Q: Will my quality of care be affected?

A: Yes, for the better. It will improve the quality of care, prevent medical com-pli- cations, and save

money.Creates

incentives for that relies on teams of pri-

mary care doctors, special-

ists, and nurses working together to coordinate and monitor care more effec-tively.

Ex: track prescrip-tions, avoid duplication of treatments/tests, reduce avoidable and harmful readmissions, cut down on medical errors, and

prevent healthcare acquired

Q: My prescription drug spending will push

me into the donut hole this year. What

relief will I get?A: Seniors who hit the gap

in Medicare prescription drug coverage known as the donut hole will be provided

with a $250 rebate in 2010. Seniors in the donut hole will receive a 50 percent discount on prescription drugs. Medi-care share of costs will in-crease to get rid of donut hole.

Q: When does my free preventive care start and what does it cover?

A: NOW. There is also a new annual wellness visit that provides a personalized prevention plan services, ncluding a health risk assess-ment, will be provided under Medicare.

Q: What is the reinsurance program for early retirees that are available to employers?

A: The reinsurance pro-gram provides financial assistance to employers who provide health insurance cov-erage to retirees from age 55 to 65 and would not otherwise be eligible for Medicare. The program reimburses insurance plans for 80 percent of retiree claims($15,000 and $90,000.) Payments received by the plans must be used to lower the costs for enrollees – retir-ees as well as active workers – in the employer plan.

The program begins in 2010 and is effective until January 1, 2014.

SMALL BUSINESS OWNER

You won’t be required to provide health insurance to your employees, but if you choose to, new tax credits will make covering your employ-

ees more affordable. You will also have access to a new insurance exchange to find the best deal, and the entire process will be simpler.

Q: Will I be required to provide coverage that I can’t afford?

A: No. Tax credit available to help cover premiums that small businesses pay. This tax credit can cover up to 35% of the premiums a small business pays to cover its workers. In 2014, the rate will increase to 50%. insurance companies will no longer be permitted to base the cost of coverage on health status so there

Q: Will I be able to pool with other small businesses to buy coverage?

A: Yes, but not until 2014. Beginning in 2014, reform will create state-based health insurance exchanges that pool small businesses and their em-ployees. The pool will spark competition, offer the same types of private insurance choices that the President and Members of Congress will have.

Increased purchasing pow-er and competition will make premiums more affordable.

The exchange will also reduce administrative costs for your businesses and your employees, enabling them to easily and simply compare the prices, benefits, and quality of health plans.

Q: Will my employees be able to buy coverage if I can-not afford to provide it?

A: Yes. Employees at small businesses that don’t offer coverage can get tax credits to purchase coverage.

Q: Will my taxes go up to pay for the cost of covering the uninsured?

A: No. Your business taxes will not go up. Instead, you may be eligible for new tax credits to help offset the cost of covering your employ-ees.

Q: What is the small busi-ness tax credit and how do I know if I am eligible?

A: Effective January 1, 2011, tax credits are available to qualifying small businesses that offer health insurance to their employees. So if your business qualifies for a tax credit, you are eligible right now.

About 4 million small businesses will be eligible to receive tax credits if they provide insurance.

The tax credit is worth up to 35 percent of the premiums your business pays to cover its workers -- 25 percent for nonprofit firms. In 2014, the value of the credit will increase to 50 percent -- 35 percent for nonprofits.

Your business qualifies for the credit if you cover at least 50 percent of the cost of health care coverage for your workers, pay average annual wages below $50,000, and have less than the equivalent of 25 full-time workers (for example, a firm with fewer than 50 half-time workers would be eligible).

The size of the credit de-pends on your average wages



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Your Key to the Filipino Community

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Work Visas/Green Cards thru Employment• Family Visas• Student, Trainee, Tourist, Investors, Visas • Reinstatement of Petition • Deportation Defense• International Adoption• Appeals, Motions to Reopen/Reconsider• Battered/Abused Spouse• I-601 Waivers (Hardship)• Consular Support in Manila•

IMMIGRATION (619) 819-8648Speak directly with an Attorney

The Law Offi ces of SUSAN V. PEREZ offer the following services:

We also handle ALL PHILIPPINE cases and have an offi ce in Manila to service your needs there.

*Susan Perez is a licensed attorney both in the State of California and the Philippines. She has eighteen (18) years of combined experience in both jurisdictions in the areas of Immigration, Family, Appellate, Juvenile Dependency, Civil, Criminal, Labor, Contracts, Tax, and Business Law. She is also admitted to practice before the Ninth Circuit of the Court of Appeals, and the District Courts of Southern California and Central District of California.

Nagsasalita ng Tagalog asin Bicol.

By Appointment only from 9:00 to 5:30, Monday thru Friday.

San Diego Office: Manila Office:625 Broadway, Suite 1015 Suite 2502-A East TowerSan Diego CA 92101 Philippine Stock Exchange CentreTel. No. (619) 819-8648 Exchange Road, Ortigas Center, Pasig CityFax No. (619) 923-9555 Tel. Nos.: (632) 687-2565 / 687-9851 Email: [email protected] Fax No.: (632) 687-2565

Atty. Susan V. Perez

Visit our website: www.law-usimmigration.com

"Se Habla Espanol"

by Atty. Susan V. Perez

Immigration 911

Read Atty. Susan Perez’s previous articles by visiting our website at www.asianjournalusa.com

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An alien who is likely at any time to become a public charge is inadmissible and ineligible to become a law-ful permanent resident of the United States. Also, an alien can be removed from the United States if he or she be-comes a public charge within fi ve years of entering the United States from causes that existed before entry. Public charge means an alien who is likely to become dependent on the government for sub-sistence. The law requires all family-based visa applicants to submit the affi davit of sup-port as a condition for avoid-ing the public charge ground of inadmissibility. An affi da-vit of support is required in some employment-based visa applications such as when an I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker, is fi led.

There are four require-ments to avoid the public charge ground of inadmis-sibility: (i) the petitioner in the family-based petition must submit Form I-864 or I-864EZ; (ii) the sponsor must be either a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident, at least 18 years old, and do-miciled in the U.S.; (iii) the sponsor must show that his annual income is at least 125 percent of the Federal poverty guideline; and the sponsor must agree to provide support to maintain the sponsored alien at an annual income that is not less than 125 percent of the Federal poverty income

The affi davit of supportline, reimburse any federal or state agency that provides a means-tested benefi t to the sponsored alien, agree to submit to the jurisdiction of any Federal or State court for enforcement of the affi da-vit, and inform USCIS (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services) of any change of address.

If the sponsor could not satisfy the fi nancial require-ment through proof of in-come, he could submit proof of signifi cant assets. The as-sets could be owned by either the sponsor, the sponsored immigrant or a member of the household. The value of the assets must be at least three times the shortfall between the sponsor’s income and the required amount in the pov-erty guideline. Further, these assets must be readily con-verted into cash within one year. Examples are bonds, real estate, and personal prop-erty such as vehicle. In the case of vehicle, the sponsor must own more than one and the vehicle must be in work-ing condition.

If the sponsor cannot show suffi cient income or assets, the next step is to get a joint sponsor. A joint sponsor could be anybody. He does not need to be a related to the principal sponsor by blood or consanguinity. If later on, the joint sponsor changes his mind and withdraws his I-864, the sponsor needs to fi le a


As the Bamboos Sway

Read Rudy Liporada’s previous articles by visiting our website at www.asianjournalusa.com

by Rudy D. Liporada

I dreamt my daughter will become a millionaire.

She is still dreaming to be one. To be more emphatic, she is dreaming to be free.

Freedom is a much ma-ligned word today when it comes to the line “financial freedom”. It is so abused by almost every outfit that sells insurance, vitamins, mineral drinks, or anything that may even come from the nooks of Timbuktu and supposed to magically enhance one’s life in terms of health and general well being. And if one joins, so the dream goes, one could also line one’s pocket with wealth and become financially free. With a product being pitched and with a compli-cated calculation on income, one is led through a maze of networks towards the so called financial freedom.

Many of those outfits have come and gone. They had and have the freedom to do so.

After five decades, Amway had stayed and still going strong. Yes, those that sell soap are still around and are in their fiftieth year of now selling a dream. And they are not just into soap. They are in the beauty lines, in the healthy drinks lines, the vitamin enhancing life lines. Name what Wal-Mart has, more than likely they have it or some-thing generically similar to it. They are also partners with brand products and services – Best Buy, Home Depot, etc.; and chains of hotels, rental cars, etc.

What is amazing is Amway is not the main outfit. It is just the source outfit. World Wide Dream Builders is the catalyst for one to dream and Amway provides the logistics for one to realize one’s dream.

The marketing question is simple. Why buy a bottle of water from a supermarket when you can buy it from yourself? If you buy said

To sell soap, sell a dream

bottle from the store, you are also paying for the efforts that brought that bottle from the source to the shelf. You are paying for the production, the loading into a truck, the driver of the truck, the unloading to a destination, the shelving, the city services and rental of the store, and the cash clerk at the end of the line. You might even dole out a tip for a baggage boy that would cart products towards your car.

Yes, why buy from the store when you can buy from your Amway store. With only Amway as the producer and source, the product is mailed directly to your home and since you are an Independent Business Owner of Amway, you make a profit from your purchase and others who you also attract to dream as Am-way Independent Business Owners.

If you are going to buy anything and Amway has it, why not buy from yourself? Why not invest in yourself since you are already buying these things anyway? You need laundry soap? Buy it from yourself. You need mas-cara? Buy it from yourself. You need energy drink while driving? Why buy from the gasoline station? Buy it from yourself.

With this simple formula, my daughter was hooked.

But the market mechanics was not all.

World Wide Dream Build-ers have a battery of speakers with CDs and books writ-ten on how to become mil-lionaires in Amway. They themselves, called Diamonds, Rubies, Platinums, etc. are proof of success in the busi-ness. They flaunt their wealth – cars, yachts, mansions, vacation places - in videos.

My daughter brought us with a grandnephew once to a meeting in one of the Dia-mond’s mansions situated on

top of a hill overlooking 360 degrees the environs of San Diego. There must be ten bedrooms in that house. There is a swimming pool with SPA on a veranda making the dis-tant lights of San Diego like twinkling stars at the distance. There is a sports room with a billiard table. My daughter and grandnephew go “in two to three years, I will have one of this.”

What a dream.

My daughter is only eigh-teen and I will not hold her against her dream. After all, after working for and retiring from the State of California, I have no mansions, yachts, planes, or estates to flaunt. This Diamond said that after only nine years with World Wide Dream Builders he had that mansion built. Not to mention having his other acumens.

Besides, my daughter’s room is no longer peppered with Bob Marlowe’s portraits and other teenage idols. Her walls are now a collage of islands, mansions, planes, and others that only millionaires could afford – an outpouring of her dreams. Besides she does not plan parties where her friends could just drink and dance. She organizes dis-cussions and meetings to pres-ent what World Wide Dream Builders could bring forth to those who want to be finan-cially free. Besides, she also promised to place me under her wealthy wings when I am already old and feeble. I could almost hear her say, “You are not going to a home for the aged, Dad. If you do, it is one that is owned by us.”

Wealth appears to her as bliss.

Once in a while she gets retorts like “Well, happiness does not only come with money.”

To which my daughter retorts back “Well, that is true but I would rather be happy than many who are miserable because they lack the money.”

Truth of the matter is I was happy when she engaged in Amway. I was thinking that with the sales skills she would learn, she could transfer those to our personal business. Now, however, I am inclined to believe that she has designed her own niche and I am still happy. This is better than her doing drugs and the like. Moreover, she has her goals set. Should her perspectives change, I believe that the ride,

till it lasts, will have served a positive effect in her.

After all, if I know how to engage people, I attribute this to my younger days of selling Tambula (raffle) tickets during my elementary days, ad spots for publications and radio during my high school, and closing contracts to publish business brochures and run-ning ad campaigns while in college. I did not even have a dream then like my daughter.

My only regret is that when I arrived in the US twenty-four years ago, an Amway representative approached me and my wife. We did not have the meager money to afford the initial kit. I was not also impressed and haughty. Me, a middle management person in the Philippines and a lecturer in advertising, sell soap? No way. Besides, Amway orders then were ordered through the tedious writing of prod-ucts on order forms. Now, the products are in line with high technology. Maybe, just maybe, if that representative’s presentation was highlighted with a dream and I was then wide awake to dream, I could be, by now, a Diamond with a mansion on top of a hill.

Oh! Well, I will leave to dreaming to my daughter. If she will persist, that is the Amway to go.

By the way, if you would want to talk to my daughter - only about Amway, please - call her at 805-816-4807. I as-sure you that, in her youthful voice, she would tell you that the Amway of old has evolved into a more dynamic Amway that would carry on for you, dreamers, for more decades to come.

and the number of employees you have. The full credit is available to firms with aver-age wages below $25,000 and less than 10 full-time equivalent workers. It phases out gradually for firms with average wages between $25,000 and $50,000 and for firms with the equivalent of between 10 and 25 full-time workers.

INSURANCE THROUGH WORK

Keep your doctor and plan if you like it, but your plan will be strengthened and you’ll be protected from insurance company abuses.

Q: Will my premiums / costs go up because of health

reform?A: No. According to the

independent and non-partisan Congressional Budget Of-fice, people who get coverage through their employer today will likely see lower premi-ums.

Reform will lower premi-ums by reducing administra-tive costs, increasing com-petition between insurance companies and creating a larger pool of insured Ameri-cans.

And remember, the cost of doing nothing is high. In ten years, health care spending for each employee at an average big company will be $28,530.

Q: Will my coverage at work change?

A: No. If you like the health plan you have, you will be able to keep it.

What the bill will do is strengthen the coverage you get at work by making it easier to understand and add-ing some clear rules to rein in the worst insurance company abuses.

Language explaining what’s in your plan will have to be simple and clear so that you know what your benefits are and what’s covered.

Insurance companies not allowed to place a lifetime limit on the amount of care they pay for.

And in some cases insur-ance companies with exces-sive overhead costs will required to give you a rebate.

Q: What are you going to do about all the confusing forms I have to fill out?

A: Make it simple.

Health reform will require plans to use clear and plain language on insurance forms so that you can easily under-stand what benefits and what doctors are covered in your plan. And, it will standardize forms to reduce the confusing and overwhelming paperwork that all Americans have to confront today.

Q: What consumer protec-tions will I get this year?

A: There are consumer protections available to you now in 2011.

Insurance companies are now required to spend most of your premium dollars on your care, not on profits and overhead -- 80%in the group market and 75%in the indi-vidual market -- and rebate any excessive overhead to enrollees. Also, insurance companies that jack up rates will have to disclose requested premium increases publicly. If rate increases are found unreasonable, the insurer may be prohibited from competing for your business in the new state-based exchange begin-ning in 2014.

INDIVIDUAL PLAN

Q: Will I pay more than I am paying today?

A: No. If you buy coverage like

you have today on your own, premiums are expected to drop by 14 to 20 percent. If you get coverage through your job, premiums could decline by up to 3 percent.

In addition, many Ameri-cans buying coverage in the individual market will qualify for tax credits that reduce their premiums by an aver-age of nearly 60 percent – and they will get better coverage than what they have today.

Q: Will I have to pay high-er co-pays and deductibles?

A: Highly unlikely. Health insurance reform

will limit what you have to pay out of pocket, a protection that does not exist today. And for the first time, no one will be required to pay more than a set percentage of their income on health care coverage. And, if you like the coverage you have today, you can keep it.

PARENT

Q: I’m a parent, how will reform affect coverage for my children?

A: You will be able to get coverage for your child if he or she has a pre-existing condition, and adult children will be able to stay on family policies until age 26.

It’s illegal for health insur-ance companies that cover children to deny coverage to your child based on a pre-ex-isting condition. This applies to all new employer plans, new plans in the individual market, and existing employer plans.

Insurers required to • permit children to stay on family policies until age 26. This applies to all plans in the individual market, new em-ployer plans, and existing em-ployer plans, unless your adult child has an offer of coverage through his or her employer. This requirement will take effect the next time your plan comes up for renewal, if it hasn’t been already.

Adult children who • are on their parents’ plan, who lost coverage when they graduated from college will have the option of rejoining their parents’ policy in the new plan.

Those whose parents • work at self-insured com-panies will also be eligible if they do not have an offer of employer-sponsored in-surance. Both married and unmarried dependents qualify for this dependent coverage.

Beginning in 2014, • children up to age 26 can stay on their parent’s employer plan even if they have an of-fer of coverage through their employer.

Health Care Reform and

Immigration Impact on API

Community(Continued from page 4)



Using Lines of Credit in your BusinessBy Paul Johnson, Union Bank, N.A.

As an entrepreneur running a smallbusiness, there may be times whenyou need to access short-termworking capital to help addressimmediate business expenses. Abusiness line of credit may offer theconvenience of accessing cash withouthaving to apply for a loan each timeyou need it.

A business line of credit can help addressimmediate business needs such as increasedcash flow, working capital, seasonal purchases,new inventory, trade discounts or carryingaccounts receivable. This method allows abusiness owner to borrow money against aline of credit as needed using a checkbook orcredit card. It differs from a standard loan inthat the borrowing may be done over a periodof time, and interest is paid only on theamount of money that is withdrawn. As themoney is repaid, it becomes available for youto use again.

Interest rates are typically variable rates tiedto a specific index. If the index goes up,interest rates will raise with it, which canmake budgeting monthly payments difficult.Payment schedules require a minimumpayment that can vary monthly, based on theamount that has been drawn in the previous30 days. Depending on the loan agreement,

interest only may be due or the bank mayrequire interest plus a portion of the principalevery month. The amount repaid may bemade available for other cash needs withoutrequiring additional credit approval. Fees,such as an initial processing fee, are typicallycharged and the bank may charge a fee foreach draw that the business makes on the lineof credit.

The line of credit can either be secured (theloan is backed by collateral which the lendercan claim if you default on your credit line),or unsecured (does not require collateral).Because an unsecured line of credit poses agreater risk to the lender, the credit limitoffered is typically less than that of a securedline of credit.

It may be wise to use a business credit linesparingly, as defaulting can result in the lossof your business or bankruptcy. It should beused strictly for business purposes, and shouldnot be tapped into for personal expenses.

Before seeking a business credit line, establisha solid credit and payment history, as onefactor lenders look for is businesses with asteady financial record for at least 24 months.

If you are considering using a line of credit foryour business, Union Bank offers options tohelp your small business thrive.1

For more information contact:

San Diego Business Banking6010 El Cajon BoulevardSan Diego, CA 92115Paul JohnsonBusiness Development Officer(619) 229-6467

The foregoing article is intended to provide general information abouthow to using business lines of credit and is not considered financial ortax advice from Union Bank. Please consult your financial or tax advisor.

Paul Johnson is a Business Development Officer for the San DiegoBusiness Banking division of Union Bank. Union Bank, N.A., is a full-service commercial bank providing an array of financial services toindividuals, small businesses, middle-market companies, and majorcorporations. As of September 30, 2010, the bank had 397 bankingoffices in California, Oregon, Washington and Texas and twointernational offices. UnionBanCal Corporation is a wholly-ownedsubsidiary of The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd., which is asubsidiary of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. Union Bank is aproud member of the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG,NYSE:MTU), one of the world's largest financial organizations.

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By Dr. Cesar D. Candari41st in a series of articles

The 21st anniversary and annual convention of the APPA was scheduled for July 30, 1992 in Orlando, Florida. We already knew that the Executive Director, Dr. Alex Cueto, was running for Presi-dent-elect.

“Run Cesar Run” was the chant of my supporters. I would, I would, if I believed that it was the right thing to do for our association and for the Candari family. Certainly, I would do so. I think it would be absurd not to consider it.

The LEADERSHIP AL-LIANCE FOR APPA RE-FORMS AND PROGRESS (LARP) was organized by a group of highly-prominent leaders of APPA. They were former senior officers and former presidents of the APPA in the Alliance group. I did not ask for the formation of this alliance but I felt profoundly honored and trusted.

In a meeting in early summer of 1992 at the Hyatt Hotel in Chicago, Illinois, the group invited me to attend the caucus.

A few minutes before that meeting, Dr. Renato Ramos, former President of APPA, current chairman of the Far Eastern University DNR School of Medicine Alumni Foundation, and the top orga-nizer of LARP, requested me to have a very personal one-to-one talk with him. I started by telling him that APPA was in a state of turmoil and its existence was in jeopardy because of the crisis in leader-ship, the politics of division, the blatant disregard of our

From Antique to America: Memoirs of a Filipino American Doctor More storm and rain are coming!

Constitution and Bylaws by its previous and current lead-ers, and the strong apathy and mass dissolution of its mem-bers. “It is a moribund and dying association,” I said to Renato. I further stated, “Why should one possibly take over the helm when the boat is sinking?” Dr. Ramos bluntly responded: “ If you love APPA, which many of us do, let us save it from extinction and we can do it.” This was the very statement that had in-fluenced my decision to accept the challenge to run for Presi-dent Elect of the organization. I did realize that for love of APPA, we had to work from within to uphold the prin-ciples upon which the APPA was founded. I therefore had my decision to run, with the APPA’s revitalization foremost in my mind. Was it possible? Later, I expressed my feelings to the group saying that with their strong endorsement and support I was very optimistic that we could win the election and that the leadership alliance must be together then and in the future for the turning point of APPA. Needless to say, I needed their continued support now and then.

Immediately after the meet-ing, I wrote a letter to every-one who was present in the recent caucus meeting at the Hyatt in Chicago. I expressed my sincere gratitude for their total support of my candidacy for the President -elect of APPA. Indeed, I was grateful for the high confidence and enthusiasm they had ex-pressed. Without the group’s affirmative support and plan of action, my decision to seek the presidency would not have

been possible.I foresaw that this was

going to happen in the forth-coming election. The political arena, undoubtedly, had the ala-Philippine style campaign-ing.

But let’s talk about the three most important factors on how to win an election--Philippine style:

1. You must have organiza-tion

2. Command votes 3. Most importantly, lots

and lots of moneyI foresaw that this was

going to happen in the forth-coming election, and it did. The political arena, undoubt-edly, had the ala-Philippine style campaigning. The LARP members, my supporters — were abysmally concerned with apprehension that this year’s elections might be with all kinds of shenanigans. They were listless throughout the campaign that could be an early dagger to my legacy.

This was exactly what I loathed in that election. With the one-man-one vote being introduced for the first time after APPA’s 20 years of exis-tence , Cueto and I vigorously campaigned across the nation among Filipino-American physicians. Volumes of fly-ers and letters were sent to APPA members as well as prospective ones. However, since Cueto was the Execu-tive Director at the time, he had all the factors of the Philippine-style election at his fingertips: access to the list of current members and control of the APPA office, etc.; had the command votes from the larger number of UST alumni in the U.S.; and finally, he had

lots of money to spend. For your information, and God is my witness, I never spent a cent to pay the dues of the members of APPA and then wooed them for their vote in the election. C’mon, we are in America; politics like this never happens among our American colleagues.

Once again the eyes and ears of Filipino communi-ties in America were focused on the physicians’ behavior before, during, and after the convention. Needless to say, the Fil-American doctors were considered to be the commu-nity’s role models, inspiration and pride.

Meanwhile, the two legal lawsuits brought by its own members against APPA were dismissed. As I mentioned previously, I was a witness for the plaintiffs who testified that there was an existing Rules of the House of Delegates that was ratified at HOD’s meeting in 1989 in Las Vegas.

On July 15, 1992, two weeks before the election, the President sent letters to the Electoral College and mem-bers of the APPA accusing me of testifying against APPA. The accusation was false, rep-rehensible, and defamatory!

I received the letter late and responded to it immediately on July 24, 1992, but there was not enough time for the members of APPA to receive it in due time. It was a political conspiracy to defame my per-son without allowing me time to refute and clarify the false accusation before the election.

I responded to the Presi-dent’s accusations by saying:

“We certainly have more than enough of mutual recrim-inations that have had no no-table effects except to assure the erosion and progressive decline of this association.

“The above accusation is inaccurate and shrewdly worded to mislead the APPA

members to smear my char-acter as a candidate for APPA President-elect. Politically motivated, his letter neverthe-less is malicious and overtly implies character assassina-tion. I did not testify against APPA ! I testified against the statement of the President of APPA and the President elect, who also testified under oath, so help them God, that there were no rules of the House of Delegates and therefore there were no violations in the 1991 elections. According to the testimony given, “…the presi-dent professed to be unaware of the Rules of Delegates or that there were any such rules…”

“My testimony was to de-fend the integrity of the House of Delegates and the Rules. For many years we labored so hard to formulate and imple-ment them, to preserve the rule of law so necessary but so wanting in our association. My role in the case was to testify and perform my duty as an APPA officer of good standing. I served as a mate-rial witness on the issue of whether or not there exists the RULES OF THE HOUSE OF DELEGATES in the APPA.”

You will notice that I did not name names to clarify the problem. No vengeance. I was neither hurt or angered. To repeat the idiom, that’s water under the bridge, I have chosen instead to be cheerful and deem it best to concen-trate more on the finer aspects of my existence. I’ll let the readers be my judge on how sincere and honest I have been in the deliverance of my du-ties and in my pursuit of the American Dream.

(To be Continued)

To order this book, “From Antique to America: Memoirs of a Filipino American Doc-tor”, call (619) 474-0588.

MILITARY

Q: Will I lose my benefits with TRICARE?

A: No. You will not lose your benefits with TRICARE.

TRICARE will continue to be available for all eligible servicemen and women, and their families.

The reform enables • those who are covered by TRICARE to meet the shared responsibility requirement for individuals to have insurance and exempt members of the uniformed services and de-pendants from being assessed penalties.

The Secretary of • Defense would continue to maintain sole authority over the system and for enhanc-ing the quality and access for all eligible members of the uniformed services.

NATURALIZED CITI-ZEN

Naturalized citizens • will have the same access and requirements for health care coverage as U.S. born citizens. They are subject to individual mandate.

Citizenship status • must be verified prior to pur-chasing from state insurance Exchange – proof of citizen-ship will be verified by Social Security Administration

Citizenship status • must be verified to be eligible for Medicaid and other public health programs.






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*Member, California State BarLicensed to practice before the US Federal District CourtSouthern California and California Supreme Court

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*Former San Diego Regional Coordinator for U.S. Immigra-tion Amnesty for Catholic Community Services, Catholic Diocese of San Diego

*Legal Advisor, Los Chabacanos of Cavite CityAssociation, Inc., San Diego, California

*Juris Doctor law degree, University of San Diego (1985),Diploma; Oxford Institute on International and Comparative Law (USD), Oxford, England (1984);Bachelor Degree, University of Southern California (1983);Montgomery High School, San Diego (1979)

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Paranaque City - Couples For Christ-ANCOP Tekton Foundation Inc. once again took a giant step in achieving its mission of answering the cry of the poor.

ANCOP entered into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Paranaque City government and the Rotary Homes Foundation Inc. to develop a 4.2-hectare city government property into what will be called as Rotary Homes Village Phase 2, which is located along the C5 Exten-sion road near Ninoy Aquino International Airport. The signing ceremony was held last January 13, 2011 at the Luk Foo Hot Pot restaurant in Paranaque City.

Signing the agreement were Mayor Florencio “Jun” M.

CFC-ANCOP to Open Rotary Homes Village for Release

Signing of the Memorandum of Agreement. Among those in photo, L-R, are Paranaque Mayor Florencio “Jun” Bernabe, Jr., Isidro Garcia of Rotary Homes Foundation and Ricky Cuenca, ANCOP Chairman and Chief Execu-tive Officer. Standing 2nd from right is Rollie Balanza, CFO, ANCOP U.S.A. Others in photo are members and employees of the three signing organiza-tions.

the next five to seven years, as well as the implementation of the various programs of AN-COP in values formation, edu-cation, health, and community development. This village will be the new home of those who have been living almost all of their lives along the banks of the Paranaque River.

In his message during the short program, Sid Garcia said that Rotary International always reassures partner-ships, particularly those that lead to the transformation and improvement of society and mankind. He also noted that Rotary Homes Foundation Inc has truly become international because of this partnership with ANCOP International on this project.

Mayor Jun Bernabe ex-

pressed appreciation to all the partners of this project. He said the project came at a very opportune time since his ad-ministration is always seeking out partners who could help the poor residents of city have their own homes.

In his response, Ricky Cuenca stated that ANCOP is privileged to be part of this project as ANCOP is a global network addressing poverty mainly in the Philippines. He committed the full support of CFC, ANCOP and its partners for the complete success of the Rotary Homes Village Phase 2.

Bernabe, Jr. for the Paranaque City government, Isidro “Sid” Garcia for Rotary Homes Foundation, and Ricky Cuen-ca, Chairman and Chief Exec-utive Officer of CFC ANCOP Tekton Foundation, Inc. The ceremony was witnessed by key officials of the Paranaque City government, ANCOP International, Rotary Homes, different Rotary Clubs, and CFC South B Sector.

The project involves the es-tablishment of Rotary Homes Village Phase 2 under the care and management of ANCOP. It will involve the construc-tion of at least 1,500 homes in

by Genevieve Tagudin-Silverio

In Perspective

Read Genevieve Tagudin-Silverio’s previous articles by visiting our website at www.asianjournalusa.com

If you are looking for an alternative experience for the weekend, try out a workshop hosted by Our Mother of Confidence, San Diego, CA at 3131 Govenor Dr, San Diego CA. The topic brings back memories of your lost child-hood, for the seniors in all of us, with the topic: ‘Getting to Know Your Guardian Angel’. The workshop will be held on the 29th of January, 2011 from 9:00am to 4:00pm.

Ginnie Curran, a volunteer for the parish, was taking calls and wait-listing people from different parishes on Monday when I called. This is one of the workshops in South-ern California to be given by Father Hampsch, CMF, a member of the Claretian Mis-sionaries, and a sought-after speaker who has been active in the Charismatic Renewal Movement for the last 36 years. Noted for his teach-ing and healing services, his popular books (17) and his 95 booklets are often used as discussion material for study groups and for small group home retreats.

Here are a few excerpts from his writings:

On Grace. Like a dona-tion to a street beggar, grace is given to us by God gratuitous-ly. There is no way we could earn it, even if we wanted to, and no way we could deserve it (see Eph. 2:7-9). Yet we have a say in how it affects us: we can use it, misuse it, refuse it, or lose it. Seeing a street beggar carelessly losing the money given him, or wast-ing it on drugs or liquor, is a

The Signs of Our Timesdisappointment to the donor. The obligation of fostering God’s precious gift of grace was the rationale of Paul’s impassioned exhortation: “We urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain” (II Cor. 6:1).

On Prayer. Our heavenly Father wants us to “receive” his love more eagerly than we seek to receive what we peti-tion. His love yearns for us to be happy, more than we yearn for that ourselves; moreover, his love is the very reason why he is even accessible for our petitioning; and further-more, his love is the reason why he grants our request (or chooses to give us something better instead). All these as-pects of his love unfortunately fade into the background of our prayer, because t¡here is more urgency than fervor in our petition. In our urgency to get what we want, we are focused on”what” we’re pray-ing for, rather than the one “to whom” we are praying.

On Guardian Angels. Yes, you do indeed have a personal guardian angel. And the full acknowledgement and realiza-tion of that truth would utterly transform the life of anyone, just as the many angelic appa-ritions mentioned in the bible transformed the lives of those who saw them. Either seeing or truly believing that you have the awesome privilege of a personally assigned guard-ian angel would convince you, for instance, that there is no such thing as solitary confinement; the loneliest widow in the world would no longer languish in loneliness

or self-pity; those tempted to lust would find it unthinkable to sin in the presence of their heavenly companion; those tempted to discouragement or despair would be re-invigorat-ed by the radiant presence of their angel companion, etc.

According to Father Hamp-sch, “Angels are referred to in Scripture more than 300 times. In general, angels are ministering spirits (Heb. 1:14), and as the Greek word for angel (aggelos) signifies, their primary ministerial role is acting as messengers (2:2). For those angels assigned to us individually as guardian angels, their main function seems to be that of guarding and protecting us: “He will command his angels...to guard you in all your ways, ...so you will not strike your foot...”etc. (Ps. 91: 11-12).”

It has been ten years since I last attended one of Fr Hamp-sch’s workshops in another parish in Los Angeles. The topic then was about inner healing, most specifically of the family. It was shortly after my mother died in January 2001 only a few weeks af-ter she was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. The upcoming workshop would give me a chance to reconnect with others and relish the op-portunity to learn more about our unseen companions, the guardian angels.

***

Ginnie Curran had a laugh when I spelled out my last name for her, “Silverio” -- that’s SILVER with an IO at the end.” It’s probably a sign of the times. Being in debt seems to be in everyone’s vocabulary, endowing the name with an unintended new meaning in the Great Reces-sion.

“We’ll take you off the wait list as soon as we get the check,” she explained.

I paused waiting for an

explanation. Was the event booked? I wondered.

“Okay, I’ll come now,” I replied instead, thinking how silly it must sound to say IO at the end of one’s name when you are about to settle a bill.

“Oh no. I’m not at the parish. I am doing this from home in my pajamas,” Ginnie replied. It was again another sign of the times. I almost forgot. People can now work from any place. You could take your pick of Starbucks, the local library, on the road, any WiFi station, a friend’s MiFi signal and so forth.

Even my husband, the telecommuter, takes a short trip to the office downstairs to begin his day switching between surfing the web and updating his yahoo groups, typing up an article and doing QuickBooks, all from the con-venience of home. He figured early on that he could con-trol the business in the same manner as pushing buttons on a remote to surf channels on television.

One wonders what the next big change will be.

As I look at the signs of change around me, I also could not help but think about the things that do not change; and consider what one gains from dwelling on them.

Food and travel guide Anthony Bourdain of No Res-ervations, after a trip through ancient sites of Peru and India said it best, “The more I see and learn of the world, the less I know and the smaller I become. That is probably what wisdom is about. ”

Bourdain was probably speaking of cultures but he also touched on life and the human condition.

It is probably the paradox of modern time. Familiar technologies that allow us to leapfrog and multi-task can also keep us from sensing something more rooted, hid-den, yet fundamental as ex-pressed in the events around us.

***

Like an elephant in the room we have learned to ignore, spiritual truths are changeless and tend to blend into the background until someone brings them to the fore of our consciousness.

That someone this week-end was Joseph M. Tabigue, C.R.S.P., the new Filipino pastor of Our Lady of the Rosary Church in Little Italy who spoke powerfully of the evils of abortion in the context of the lives of Andrea Bocelli, the famous Italian tenor, and Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI. According to Fr. Tabigue, the mothers of these men were both told by their physicians that their in-fants were defective and that abortion was an option.

It wasn’t the sermon I expected that pleasant morn-ing but this was a slice of the



degree in Mathematics ’71 and Diploma in Statistics ’75 and currently an appointed Liason Officer of the UNIVERSITY of the PHILIPPINES ALUMNI ASSOCIATION in AMERICA (UPAAA). She is a Senior Soft-ware Engineer at Union Bank and is married to James F. Ply.

Join the simple induction of UPAASD officers and some dancing, karaoke, games & op-portunity drawings. Food and refreshments will be provided by the association & members who volunteered to bring Des-serts, Soda & Side dishes. Ven-ue courtesy of Lutuang Best - Saladmasters Office and music will be provided by Jim & Zeny Ply.

For more information con-tact the following: Edith Don-aldson ([email protected]), Zeny ([email protected] or (619) 934-4833)) or Boodgie ([email protected]) or cell (619) 245-5091))

Dear Atty. Karagdag,

Twenty years ago, our parents borrowed some money from our aunt in the Philippines. When our parents died, they left us a property in Manila and also the loan they got from our aunt. Now, our aunt who is staying in the Philippines is forcing us to sign a deed of sale to transfer the property to her suppos-edly as payment for the loan. Although there was no promissory note or any other written agree-ment, we do not deny the loan. In fact, our parents had wanted to pay the loan in full but, for some reasons, my aunt refused to accept pay-ment. We now realize that she is after the property, but it would be very unfair to us be-cause the loan was only for a hundred thousand pesos while the property is now worth mil-

Can our aunt force us to give her our house?

lions. My aunt tells us that the price difference will answer for the interest on the loan.

Is it true that our aunt can force us to give her the house? What about the interest on the loan, how much should it be? What should we do about the property left to us by our parents?

Pompie

Dear Pompie,

First of all, it is important to know that a

property can be made to answer for a

loan when it is used as security for the

loan, such as when you get a mortgage loan from the bank. The bank will make you sign mortgage papers which say that in case you fail to pay the loan, the bank can foreclose on the property and sell it to satisfy the loan. Philippine

law also requires that the real estate mortgage—as well as all other transactions involv-ing real property--- should be in writing and notarized. You said that the loan transaction between your parents and your aunt was not in writing. From this alone, it is clear that the property cannot be made to answer for the loan.

Another situation when a property can be made to answer for a loan is in case of levy and execution of a court judgment. Obviously, this scenario does not apply to your case.

We even doubt if your aunt can still run after the loan because twenty years has al-ready elapsed. Collection may be barred by prescription of action which basically means that you cannot sue after a certain amount of time has elapsed. Article 1145 of the Civil Code of the Philippines provides that an action based on an oral contract, such as your parents’ loan, must be commenced within six years. Your aunt may also be barred by laches, which is the legal term for inactivity or disin-terest to pursue a claim for a long time.

As regards the interest pay-ment, Philippine law says that no interest is due unless there is a written agreement. Article 1956 of the Civil Code of the Philippines provides that “No interest shall be due unless it has been expressly stipulated in writing.” This means that, assuming your aunt is not barred to collect on the loan (perhaps under the theory of unjust enrichment), she still cannot collect any interest. In other words, the maximum amount that she could get

from your parents’ estate is one hundred thousand pesos.

Now, to your last question on what to do with the prop-erty. Since it is still in your parents’ name, it is always a good idea to transfer it to the heirs, who we assume include you and your siblings. If your parents left a last will, it must be presented in court for pro-bate. Otherwise, you may file an intestate petition in court where you can mention the loan for the purpose of dis-carding it altogether or, if you want to, to force your aunt to accept payment for one hun-dred thousand pesos only. We don’t think an extra-judicial settlement of estate is an op-tion because it requires you to declare that your parents had not left behind any debts, and

declaring so may expose you to charges of perjury.

Sincerely,

Atty. Karagdag

Announcement : Consul-tation in Manila

We will be in Manila for three weeks in February. If your loved ones are interested in consulting with us there, please tell them to contact our Manila office at 522-1199 or 526-0326 to set an appoint-ment.

Atty. Rogelio Karagdag , Jr. is licensed to practice law in both California and the Philippines. He practices immigration law in San Diego

and has continuously been a trial and appellate attorney in the Philippines since 1989. He travels between San Diego and Manila. His office address is located at 10717 Camino Ruiz, Suite 131, San Diego, CA 92126. He also has an of-fice in the Philippines at 1240 Apacible Street, Paco, Ma-nila, Philippines 1007, with telephone numbers (632)522-1199 and (632)526-0326. Please call (858)348-7475/(858)536-4292 or email him at [email protected]. He speaks Tagalog fluently. Articles written in this column are not legal advice but are hypotheticals intended as general, non-specific legal information. Readers must seek legal consultation before taking any legal steps.

Read previous articles by visiting our website at www.asianjo-urnalusa.com

by Atty. Rogelio Karagdag, Jr.Member, State Bar of California & Integrated Bar of the Philippines

Phil - Am Law 101

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Gen Silverio

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UPAASD Holds Induc-tion of Officers

(Continued from page 1)


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Philippine Stories

Read Sim Silverio’s previous articles by visiting our website at www.asianjournalusa.com

by Simeon G. Silverio Jr.

of my movie star friends.”It was an opportunity for

a good time the free-spirited Danny could not refuse. They went to a penthouse of a movie producer and met some celebrities. To Danny’s disap-pointment, Margarita Rosales could not even remember him. Neither did she remember the incident at the Tijuana-San Diego border.

“Forget her,” Richard dismissed her reaction. “She’s getting old.”

Margarita’s singing career lasted for 30 more years. It was Richard who was not able to launch a comeback and had completely lost his past glory.

“LOOK AROUND AND

SEE which movie stars here you might want to date,” Richard told Danny.

Like a kid in a candy store, Danny eagerly surveyed the room. He focused his eyes on a tall, pretty and mestiza movie star who was already in her mid thirties. Looking like a Spanish aristocrat, she was separated from her actor hus-band who was watching their kids. He remembered seeing her revealing photo in a center spread of a local version of Playboy.

“How about her?” Danny told Richard pointing at her

COMPLICATED AFFAIRS

The Movie Star(Continued from page 1) direction with his protruded

lips.“Menchie Reyes?” Richard

asked.“Yes.”Richard walked across the

room and talked to Menchie. Menchie looked at Danny and smiled. She saw a handsome balikbayan in him.

“Give me your address and she will meet you there. She doesn’t want to be seen with a man to avoid any scandal,” Richard told Danny when he returned.

Danny left the party and took a cab to Jockey Diaz’ condo in Ermita where he was staying.

“WATCH OUT FOR

MENCHIE REYES,” in his eagerness, Danny told the se-curity guard at the door of the building. “She’ll be coming over to see me.”

Right away, Danny regret-ted his big mouth. He was worried Menchie might not come as she promised, and he would look like a fool to the guard and his friends. None-theless, he prepared the studio room, spraying an air fresh-ener and cleaning up the clut-ter. He was very excited as he eagerly waited for his beauti-ful visitor. After an hour, he grew so impatient he could

not concentrate on the televi-sion show he was watching. He was convinced she would not come. He was about to call it a day when the doorbell rang. It was Menchie.

“HAVE YOU BEEN

WAITING FOR ME?” she asked.

He could smell the perfume in her body and alcohol in her breath.

“Yes,” he quietly said.He had learned long ago

when he started conquering the affections of the women not to show much interest. That trick would intrigue the women and prevent them from turning him down at first, and he would eventually win them over.

“Do you want something to drink?” he wanted to break the ice.

“Yes,” she replied.Danny regretted asking the

question when he realized he had nothing to offer. It was not his condo unit but that of a friend who was allowing him to temporarily stay there.

“What do you want?” he nonetheless asked her.

“Do you have cham-pagne?” she asked.

“No,” he replied.“How about wine?” she

asked again.“I am sorry, I don’t have

any wine,” he answered.“How about beer?”“No.”“What do you have?”It was clear she was get-

ting annoyed. He put on the charming face that many of the girls he had met before loved.

“Water,” he answered.Danny looked straight at

Menchie’s eyes, waiting for a reaction. He knew the first one to blink lost. To his relief, Menchie laughed. Danny decided to come clean. He confessed that the place was

his friend’s condo, and he was just allowed to stay there.

“But you own a chain of restaurants in San Diego, right?” the girl asked him.

He was about to say “no” when he realized he might be pushing his luck. He instantly knew it was the information, meaning lies, Richard told Menchie about him. It was one of the reasons, besides his good looks, that prompted her to see him.

“Of course,” he replied.“How did you know Rich-

ard?” she asked.Danny was fast to the

draw.“I produced his shows

there,” he lied.He could see Menchie, the

movie star, was impressed.“And I can also produce

your show,” he continued the charade.

She was pleased.“Do you think people will

pay just to watch me?”He could sense some

insecurity in her despite her attractive looks.

“If you dance naked, they would,” Richard thought. But he didn’t dare to say this to Menchie.

“Why, are we going to charge them?” he asked in-

stead.Menchie was aghast, but

realized he was joking. She hit him on the shoulder. He knew the ice was broken.

“Of course they will,” he said, seriously this time. “You are very popular there. You are very attractive. Why do you think I asked to meet you tonight?”

“Tama na nga iyang pam-bobola mo, mag-umpisa na tayo (Stop pulling my legs, let’s start), Menchie said smil-ing.

She excused herself and went to the bathroom. Danny shed off his clothes and lay under the sheets, eagerly waiting for her to come out. When she reappeared, she was wearing just her underwear and went under the sheets with him.

“Aren’t you going to turn off the light?” she asked.

“No,” he answered. “I want to see your entire beauty.”

The long night was about to start when they heard a noise outside the terrace. It was the security guard, peek-ing through the glass door and the curtain to see a piece of the action. - AJ

(To be continued)

by Harvey S. Keh

Heroes create heroes.This was the theme of this

year’s Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) awards given annually by the Junior Cham-ber International (JCI) Philip-pines to young Filipino lead-ers who have accomplished considerable, tangible results to be of service to others and in pursuit of excellence.

Past awardees of this pres-tigious award include the late Senator Ninoy Aquino, busi-ness tycoons Manuel Pangili-nan and Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, DILG Secretary Jes-se Robredo, boxing champion Manny Pacquiao, international news broadcaster Rico Hizon and the world-renowned per-former Lea Salonga.

Since the award was first given out in 1959, more than 400 inspiring Filipino leaders from different sectors have been honored.

For this year’s batch of awardees, of which I was very fortunate enough to be part of, 10 young Filipino men and women were given the TOYM by no less than President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III

President Benigno Aquino III shares the stage with The Outstanding Young Men of the Philippines (TOYM) winners for 2010 after the awarding ceremony in Malacañang’s Rizal Ceremonial Hall on Monday [GMA News]

Celebrating modern day Filipino heroes

in simple ceremonies held last Dec. 13, at the Malacañang Palace.

As one of the awardees, I was overwhelmed to be in the company of great Filipinos who have selflessly given a big part of themselves in the service of our nation.

One of the awardees was my good friend, Bam Aquino who even during our college years at Ateneo de Manila University was already dedi-cated to a life of genuine pub-lic service.

Aquino one of the founders of the successful social en-terprise, Hapinoy, which has helped thousands of sari-sari store owners earn more by devising a system that would allow them to purchase the

products that they sell directly from the supplier.

More importantly, Aquino and his colleagues at Hapinoy have helped uplift the qual-ity of life of so many Filipino families since the extra money that they now earn is used to provide education and health-care to their families.

CNN Hero Efren Peñaflor-ida was also part of this year’s batch of awardees and I find his story as the most inspiring of us all.

As early as 16 years old, Kuya Ef, as he is known to most people, had already started the Dynamic Teen Company (DTC), using the Kariton Klasrum to teach il-literate children in Cavite to read and write.

Since it started, DTC has already helped thousands of young people attain a better life. In fact, Kuya Ef even mentioned to me that he is always inspired whenever he sees that many of their former students go back to help in the program by serving as volun-teer tutors.

What is even more inspir-ing about Kuya Ef is that he didn’t use a single centavo for his personal needs from the US$ 100,000 prize he got from CNN last year. Instead he used majority of the funds for the construction of their learning center in Cavite that will be able to provide regular tutorial classes to more under-privileged students in Cavite.

Truly, Kuya Ef is showing what it is to be a true Filipino hero.

Jun Yupitun takes the lead as this year’s awardee in the field of entrepreneurship and harnessing information tech-nology to help uplift the lives of Filipinos.

Yupitun is a licensed elec-tronics and communications engineer, a graduate of De La Salle University (DLSU). For the last 10 years, he has been working towards developing innovative call center solu-tions that will help make gov-ernment transactions easier.

A sterling example of his good work would be the establishment of the Na-tional Statistics Office (NSO) hotline wherein Filipinos no longer need to queue up for several days just to be able to get a copy of their birth or marriage certificates.

In yet another project, Yu-pitun was also instrumental in working with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in institutionalizing the DFA Ex-press Passport Delivery that has helped many OFWs save time and money. Yupitun has shown that when used prop-erly, information technology can make lives easier for all of us and in the end, address many social problems in our country today.

Aside from them, other TOYM awardees for this year include, Juan Edgardo “Son-ny” M. Angara for Govern-ment Service (Legislative); Therese “Gang” T. Badoy for Alternative Education and Youth Leadership; Alan Peter S. Cayetano for Government and Public Service (Public Accountability and Transpar-ency;) Maria Rachelle R. Gerodias for Arts and Music (Classical); Edsel Maurice T. Salvana for Medicine and Social Activism; and Beatrice “Bea” P. Valdes, Fashion De-sign and Entrepreneurship.

The author is director for Youth Leadership and So-cial Entrepreneurship at the Ateneo School of Government (ASOG). Comments are wel-come at [email protected] and you can follow me at Twitter, http://www.twitter.com/harveykeh


Spiritual Life

Read Monsignor’s previous articles by visit-ing our website at www.asianjournalusa.com

by Msgr. Fernando G. Gutierrez

Lower Your Nets Balintataw

Read Virginia Ferrer’s previous articles by visiting our website at www.asianjournalusa.com

by Virginia H. Ferrer

MalungkotAno nga ba ang ibig sabihin ng salitang malungkotito ba ang nararamdaman kung ang puso’y kumikirotna tila ba ang lahat ng tao s akin ay nagdaramotng kahit kaunting pagtinging pilit kong inaabot.

Ang luha sa iyong mga pisngi’y lungkot ang katumbasmarahil ay sa paglayo ng isa mong nililiyagpero nararapat lamang na dapat mo iyang ilabasang lungkot na nararamdaman , sige iyong ibulalas.

Lamunin kang tiyak ng lungkot sa ‘yong pag-iisatila mga halkhak na sa iyo’y tumutuligsawalang katapusan itong sa iyo ay gagamabalakaya’t halika na at sa amin ay makipagsaya.

Kung ikaw ay nasawi sa tinatawag mong pag-ibigtalos ko ang sakit at hapdi na nasa iyong dibdibdadamayan ka namin dito maniwala kapatidsapagkat hindi ito ang katapusan ng daigdig.

Kadalasan talaga ay mapagbiro ang tadhanamay dumarating sa iyo na iba’t ibang balitamayroong malungkot at may ‘di kapanipaniwalaang mga ito ay pagsubok huwag kang mabahala.

©2010 Virginia H. Ferrer. All rights reserved.

About the Author: Virginia H. Ferrer is a Filipino Language Teacher at Otay Ranch High School in Chula Vista.

Joke of the week: Tak-ing up painting, an asylum inmate worked for weeks on his masterpiece. When he finally showed it to his asylum doctors, they were stunned. The canvas was entirely blank. “It’s lovely,” said the psychiatrist, “but, er … what is it?” “Why,” he proudly replied, “it’s a painting of the exodus from Egypt.” “I see,” said another doctor. “Actually, what I don’t is the Red Sea.” “Ah,” said the inmate, “it’s been parted … driven back, as it says in the Old Testament.” “And the Israelites?” “They have already passed through.” “And what about the Egyp-tians?” demanded another. “Are you blind?” said the art-ist, growing indignant. “They haven’t arrived yet.”

Scripture: First Reading: Zephaniah 2: 3–3: 12-13. At the height of its military strength in 663 BCE, the As-syrian power conquered the Israelites. During this trying time, while the powers-that-be in Judah and Jerusalem: the priestly and royal authorities try to hold everything to-gether, the prophet meanwhile tells the people to seek humil-ity to gain God’s protection. Second Reading: 1 Corin-thians 1: 26-31. Some in the Corinthian church claim supe-riority because of their stature and wisdom. St. Paul reminds everyone that no human be-ing should boast before God. Gospel: Matthew 5: 1-12. The material want in the first reading has been transformed by the evangelist to mean spiritual wisdom. Hunger for bread and thirst for drink has been elevated to the level of righteousness.

Reflections: Beatitude is a literary form that is com-mon in both the Old and New Testament. Its Latin origin is the participle beatus which means happy, lucky or bliss-ful. It is distinguished from the passive participle bene-dictus meaning blessed. The Beatitudes in today’s Gospel are in the passive, because out of respect for the blessed divine name the Israelites avoid saying the name of God. The Beatitudes are used only of God who is the origin of happiness and blessing, whereas the adjective blessed is used only of human beings

to signify a state of happiness. The Beatitudes are congratu-latory statements of what is happening here and now, and will find their final fulfillment before God’s presence in the future.

In our society, when we are asked about ourselves, we normally answer with what we do, with our function in the community, such as priest, dentist, driver, chef, and so forth. Today’s Gospel passage shows us that what is more important is not what we do but who we are: blessed by God. Thus, we are blessed, lucky, and happy, because of God.

Our society seeks happi-ness and fortune from abun-dance of earthly goods, power to control, and freedom from suffering and pain. Most people inflate their ego with material possessions, invest-ments, and bank accounts. The more we have the luckier and happier we are. That is not so. We know that those who have acquired fame and fortune are still unhappy and are looking for peace of mind and heart.

Today’s letter of St. Paul echoes the Gospel: God chose those whom the world consid-ers absurd to shame the wise. He singled out the weak to shame the strong. He chose the low and despised, who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who were somebody; so that mankind can no boasting before God. True happiness can only be found in Jesus Christ. The Sermon on the Mount may seem impossible, but Jesus assures that if we humbly surrender ourselves to him we will be truly blessed. Lucky you!

In America each year the petrol companies give away more than a hundred million maps, for free. It all started back in 1895 when the “Chi-cago Times Heralds” outlined for spectators the route of a Chicago-to-Waukegan auto-mobile race. From then on, even in our time of GPS, mo-torists began to ask for maps of routes between cities. The maps showed the best routes, the detours, the condition of the highway, and points of interest along the way. Come to think of it. The Beatitudes do the same in life. The Beati-

tudes are our “road maps” to heaven!

Thanks to the folks who have made my birthday celebrations more happy and memorable. Primarily my gratitude goes to my sister, Fellie Barlahan, who orga-nized on Jan. 30th a gathering of my nephews and nieces, to Karen Yu who tendered a surprise party last Sunday (Jan. 23rd), to Shirley Hunter who gave a birthday bash on Jan. 29th, to Siony Cruz

Happy You/Lucky You

whose good heart made pos-sible another party on Jan. 24th, and to Beth Antiporda who planned another get-together on Jan. 29th. Thanks to all well-wishers. May your “tribes” prosper tremendously, be blessed abundantly, and be well always!

Quotation of the week: “The more we live and try to practice the Sermon on the Mount, the more shall we experience blessing.” Martin Lloyd-Jones.

by Patti Maguire Armstrong

Back in the days that I was working on being the bravest per-son on the planet, there was not much I was afraid to try. I even

parachuted out of an airplane the week before I was sched-uled to leave for the Peace Corps in Micronesia. One of my favorite things to do with like-minded friends was to backpack through mountains where we had to tie our food up in trees at night so the bears wouldn’t get it (only lost food once). But there was one thing I would NOT do. I refused to see the movie The Exorcist or anything of its ilk. No, jump-ing out of a plane alone at 3,000 feet was a piece of cake compared to sitting on the ground watching anything that had to do with the devil.

Then, last month, I accepted an invitation to go to Los An-geles to participate in a press junket in January for the movie The Rite starring Anthony Hopkins and also to interview the actors at a press conference afterwards. “Sure, I’ll go!” I responded, remembering how much fun the last junket was. But after getting off the phone, I began also to remember that I had never actually become the bravest person on the planet. I was still afraid of scary movies, particularly anything connected to the devil. That evening, my son, Luke warned, “Mom, you aren’t going to like it.” My husband agreed, “It’s a psycho/drama. You hate those kinds of movies.” When I told my sib-lings, my brother Brian emailed me. “Have you looked at the trailer? Good luck with that.”

What was I thinking? But then, I did something that took away my fear. I interviewed three exorcists. My intent was to write a series of articles on exorcism to go along with the movie review. After talking with them, my fear evaporated. The bottom line is staying close to God and His sacraments protects us from evil and fills us with grace. What especially uplifted me and drove away the fear was to hear each exorcist and also a bishop state that the sacrament of confession is more powerful than the rite of

Be Not Afraid of the Devilexorcism. The sacraments con-fer grace on us while the rite of exorcism is a blessing that moves a person towards grace. Yes, I decided, I could go see this movie after all.

Startling Reality

The movie, The Rite (in theaters Jan. 28) starring Anthony Hopkins, follows the training of an exorcist in Rome. It was inspired by the book The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist, in which journalist Matt Baglio followed Fr. Gary Thomas of the United States. Fr. Gary’s bishop asked for someone to volunteer as an exorcist for the diocese and Fr. Gary accepted. He took a class about exorcism at the Pontifi-cal University in Rome, but his real training was under the tutelage of an experienced Ital-ian exorcist. It was there that Fr. Gary assisted during eighty exorcisms.

An increased practice of the occult in Europe is believed to be responsible for an increase in possessions. The Pope John XXIII Community Association puts that number at fourteen million or twenty-five percent of Italians involved in the oc-cult.

Fr. Gary was initially star-tled by the reality of the pos-sessed: demonic voices, speak-ing languages they don’t know, taking on a reptilian appear-ance, vomiting bizarre things, and other extreme manifesta-tions. Although it was more extreme than anything he had expected, Fr. Gary stated, “I am

not afraid to confront someone with a demonic attachment. Without Christ, they are more powerful than me but, with Christ — he [Christ] is more powerful. In reality, God is the ultimate power. It is important to say that. They are not equal adversaries.”

When Fr. Gary Thomas returned from Rome, he started a new assignment as a parish pastor. “I didn’t tell anyone, ‘By the way your new pastor is an exorcist’, but my second day on the job, the secretary came in and told me, ‘There’s some-one here about an exorcism!’”

In short order Fr. Gary had to assemble quickly his “healing” team. This is some-thing new among modern day exorcists: the use of a deliver-

ance team for support. It typi-cally includes people willing to pray, and a physician, clinical psychologist and psychiatrist. It is a help and support for the exorcist to rely on members of his team for prayers and to screen people for possible mental illness.

Fr. Gary stated that the com-mon signs of possessions are behaviors that have no logical explanation such as fluency in a language a person never studied, ability to know secrets they had no way of knowing, extraordinary strength, and an aversion to sacred objects such as the crucifix. “The exorcist is the ultimate skeptic,” Fr. Gary explained. “An exorcism only



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EntertainmentMovies to Watch

(Following are movies now showing or soon to be shown in San Diego.)

by Simeon G. Silverio Jr.

3492810/28/09

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ABS-CBN, Philippines’ largest media organization, proudly announced on Friday its five-year partnership con-tract with Binibining Pilipinas Charities Inc. (BPIC), the organizer of the prestigious Binibining Pilipinas pageant. Alongside this announcement is the presentation of 2010 Miss Universe Runner-up Ma-ria Venus Raj as the newest Kapamilya artist.

Present in the contract signing were Charo Santos-Concio, ABS-CBN President and COO, Cory Vidanes, ABS-CBN Channel Head, Linggit Tan , ABS-CBN Head of TV Entertainment

A back-to-back, ‘major, major’ announcement…

ABS-CBN welcomes two new Kapamilyas!

Miss Universe Runner-up Maria Venus Raj

Venus Raj and ABS-CBN signing Photo by Ryan Ramos.

Production, Stella Marquez-Araneta, Chairperson of BPIC, Conchitina Bernardo and Pitoy Moreno, members of the BPIC executive board, Sienna Olaso, BPIC Director for Marketing and Romy Tan, BPIC Head of Finance and Ms Venus Raj, 2010 Bb Pilipi-nas Universe.

In line with this “major, major” partnership, the Ka-pamilya network also takes pride in airing the much-awaited 2011 Binibining Pilipinas pageant in March. Now the Philippine’s most prestigious beauty competi-tion can be watched not only in the country, but from all over the world through ABS-CBN’s The Filipino Channel (TFC).

This year, BPCI rigorously screened and interviewed 90 applicants nationwide. And only 24 of these talented, gor-geous and statuesque ladies who can maintain poise and presence of mind amidst pres-sure will battle it out for the esteemed crowns. With a rep-utation of mounting the best productions in the country, ABS-CBN Special Projects team headed by Chit Guer-rero and Kapamilya director Johnny Manahan will spear-

head this glamorous parade of beauties.

Aside from honing the country’s best flag bearers for various international competi-tions such as the Miss Uni-verse and Miss International pageants, BPCI, through its founding chairman Stella Márquez-Araneta, has been active in nation-building, providing skills training, educational workshops, mis-sion work and other relevant services for the marginalized sectors of society. With the annual pageant as its main source of funds, BPCI tries to bring the message of hope and love across the nation.

Meanwhile, 2010 Miss Universe Runner-up Maria Venus Raj feels very proud to be part of the Kapamilya network. Before she signed a contract with ABS-CBN, she was special guest of some of the media giant’s special proj-ects such as the 2010 Bayan-ing Pilipino Awards and the ABS-CBN Christmas Special, and a stint as a “hurado” in one of the network’s leading talent shows, Showtime.

“I’m extremely honored to become part of the country’s biggest network. I’m proud to be a Kapamilya,” said Raj.

When we think of ‘60s revolutionaries, the women of Dagenham don’t fit the clichés—but these feisty, funny factory girls shook their world with spirit and courage, and achieved lasting social change (yes, even the grannies were “girls” to the men of Ford management and their own labor union). Based on a true story, Made in Dagenham portrays a decisive moment in that decade of upheaval, when the fight for equal rights and pay at the Ford Dagenham car plant was led—unexpectedly—by ordinary working-class women with one foot in the kitchen, one foot on the factory floor, and ears glued to the pop coming over the radio and telly from far-off London (19 kilometers and a world away). Throughout the campaign, the women of Dagenham rely on their humor, common sense and bravado to stand together, take on their bosses and face an increasingly belligerent local community. Daring to stand up and push boundaries, they changed the rules of the game not only for fac-tory workers but also for the rights and expectations of women everywhere. Directed by Nigel Cole (Calendar Girls) and starring Sally Hawkins (Happy-Go-Lucky), Miranda Richardson, Bob Hoskins, Geraldine James, Rosamund Pike (An Education), Andrea Riseborough and Rupert Graves. www.sony-classics.com/madeindagenham/#/home/

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My wife tells me that I write better when the topic is politics as opposed to my last article describing my Las Vegas stranding and my cor-responding luck.

So here I am writing again about politics which also means listening to and dis-cussing with my barber who has always given me the clos-est thing to a public pulse.

Last night President Barack Obama delivered his second State of the Union address. My barber and I listened to it with utmost interest and great expectations. Expectedly, the delivery was excellent, inspir-ing and of course, devoid of too many details. After all, if the devil is in the details, there is no better way than to avoid it.

I like the speech. First of all, it reiterates our demo-cratic beliefs as a nation. Ours is a robust one and that despite our differences, “the noise and rancor of our public debate…. in a country where every race and faith and point of view can be found, we are still bound together as one people.” That America is the “fi rst nation to be founded for the sake of an idea -- the idea that each of us deserves the chance to shape our own destiny.“ And as the American people wanted, Republicans and Democrats would and should work together.

Secondly, also as expected of an inspiring and optimistic

Winning the Futureleader, President Obama de-scribed the State of the Union as “poised for progress…..the stock market has come roaring back……Corporate profi ts are up….The economy is growing again.” As a result of the tax cuts and of both Democrats and Republicans working together, “Ameri-cans’ paychecks are a little bigger today. Every business can write off the full cost of new investments that they make this year….will grow the economy and add to the more than one million private sector jobs created last year.”

But he could not divorce himself from the reality that the unemployment rate is still high and that more jobs have to be created. Because the budget defi cit is too large and the sovereign debts too high, we now see the need for greater reduction programs.

He also recognized that the world has changed. And that change has infl icted pain which he saw “in the shut-tered windows of once boom-ing factories, and the vacant storefronts on once busy Main Streets…in the frustrations of Americans who’ve seen their paychecks dwindle or their jobs disappear – proud men and women who feel like the rules have been changed in the middle of the game.”

Thirdly, the speech. in bringing forth the real-ity that both the State of the Union and of the World have

changed, proposed specifi c steps to meet the challenges of today and fulfi lling our obli-gations to “win the future.”

“Winning the Future” is a phrase I fi rst encountered during the tenure of former Philippine President Fidel Ramos who also incorporated it into one of his speeches and used it as the title of one his books. I know this because I was part of the law and lobby fi rm that represented the inter-ests of the Philippines and of the Ramos government at the time.

Yes, indeed! It is all about winning the future. I like President Obama’s action steps for an effective and effi cient strategy to beat the competition: “Out-Innovate, Out-Educate and Out-Build.”

Innovation and new revo-lutionary technologies have had exponential effects in our socio-economic and politi-cal lives. Indeed, they “have transformed the way we live, work and do business.”

Drawing from the past, President Obama suggested our own generation “Sput-nik Moment” – a moment when we surpassed Russia in reaching the moon by invest-ing in better research and innovation. He says, “We’ll invest in biomedical research, information technology, and especially clean energy tech-nology -- an investment that will strengthen our security, protect our planet, and create countless new jobs for our people.”

I am a proud descendant of a School Principal (my mother) and a School District Supervisor (my father), and a member of a clan (Gal-lang Maynigo) that produced over a hundred teachers. I also have a graduate degree in edu-cation to go with my back-ground in philosophy, busi-ness and law. That’s why for me, the best part of President Obama’s speech is his recog-nition of the role of education and teachers in his drive to win the future.

He says, “In South Korea, teachers are known as “nation builders.”

Here in America, it’s time we treated the people who educate our

children with the same level of respect. We want to reward good teachers and stop making excuses for bad ones. And over the next 10 years, with so many baby boomers retiring from our classrooms, we want to prepare 100,000 new teachers in the fi elds of science and technology and engineering and math. In fact, to every young person listen-ing tonight who’s contemplat-ing their career choice: If you want to make a difference in the life of our nation; if you want to make a difference in the life of a child -- become a teacher. Your country needs you.”

To out-build the competi-tion, President Obama wants us to achieve, among others, the following goals: 1) Give 80% of Americans access to high-speed rail within 25 years; 2) Provide next genera-tion high speed wireless cov-erage within fi ve years; 3) By 2035, 80 percent of America’s electricity should come from clean energy sources.

My teacher-parents used to quote to me very often an Asian philosopher who said, “if you want to plan for a year, plant corn; if you want to plan for 30 years, plant a tree; if you want to plan for 100 years or more, plant men.”

President Obama’s speech was about “winning the future”. To achieve it, “plant men and women” we must!

By Christian E. Weller, Jaryn Fields, and Folayemi

Agbede

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Center for American Progress released a report today entitled “The State of Communities of Color in the U.S. Economy” outlining how U.S. households in general, but communities of color in particular, were severely hurt by the recession. According to the authors, communities of color experienced larger losses than whites and will have to climb out of a deeper hole to regain the level of economic security they had before the crisis as the economic recovery deepens and the labor market recovers.

The authors analyzed data from the last business cycle and found that:

* Substantial differences in economic security exist by race and ethnicity. The unemployment rate for African Americans, for instance, was 15.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010, compared to 12.9 percent for Latinos, 7.3 percent for Asian Americans, and 8.7 percent for whites.

* Homeownership rates tell a similar story. In the third quarter of 2010, the homeownership rate for African Americans was 45.0 percent. The homeownership rate for Latinos was 47.0 percent, and the homeownership rate for whites was 74.7 percent.

* Racial and ethnic differences have worsened or stayed the same during the recession and recovery. Unemployment rates rose faster for African Americans and Latinos than for whites while homeownership rates fell faster. Trends for poverty rates, health insurance coverage, and retirement savings also show widening gaps by race and ethnicity throughout the recession and recovery after 2007.

* Economic security losses during the recession and recovery exacerbated the already weak situation for African Americans. They experienced declining employment rates, rising poverty rates, falling

The State of Communities of Color in the U.S. Economy

Report looks at how well communities of color are faring in 2011

homeownership rates, and decreasing health insurance and retirement coverage during the last business cycle from 2001 to 2007. The recession that followed made a bad situation much worse.

* The recession and recovery quickly eliminated the modest gains that Latinos had seen during the last business cycle. Latino homeownership rates in 2010, for instance, were again close to their levels in 2001 even though Latino homeownership rates had risen from 2000 to 2007.

The main lessons from the data are threefold. First, all families struggled with the prolonged economic and labor market slumps, regardless of race or ethnicity. Second, economic differences by race and ethnicity remained intact during the crisis, meaning that communities of color went into a deeper economic hole than whites. Third, the most recent economic downturn quickly translated into a lot of economic pain for communities of color since they had seen few gains, either with respect to jobs, earnings, or both, during the preceding business cycle. The data suggest that communities of color face continued structural obstacles to gain the same economic opportunities as white families, even during good economic times.

This implies three policy lessons. First, policymakers need to pay continued attention to the weak labor market to ensure there is a rising tide that can lift all boats. Second, policies intended to create more jobs need to include provisions that particularly target communities of color. Third, policymakers need to put in place policies that go beyond the immediate need for job creation for everybody to help erase differences in economic security and opportunity by race and ethnicity.

This policy brief on the state of communities of color as we enter 2011 includes a specifi c list of policy recommendations from our colleagues at the Progress 2050 project to address these policy lessons.

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Street Poetry

Read about Michael’s upcoming book of poems “Crushed Violets” by visiting our website at www.asianjournalusa.com

by Michael R. Tagudin

©2010 Michael R. Tagudin. All rights reserved. About the Author: Michael R. Tagudin Educated as an engineer in the Philippines, the City of Los Angeles employee hopes his legacy of poems will provoke a dialogue about the human condition. He is donating the proceeds from the book “Crushed Violets” to the “Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking (CAST)”, a non-profit that provides public awareness and advocacy efforts against human trafficking in the City of Angels. To learn more, visit www.castla.org. To help, call the CAST 24 hour hotline 888.KEY.2.FRE(EDOM) or 888.539.2373. Contact [email protected] for more information about ordering the book “Crushed Violets.”

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LifestyleRead J’Son’s previous articles by visiting our website at www.

asianjournalusa.com

by Joe Son

Generally, most people believe in the saying, that the moment you were born, destiny is already imprinted on you and whether you like it or not, you are destined to be who you are. On the contrary, on this high-tech age, some people may attest that destiny can be transformed through hard work and perseverance on individual’s goodwill and well being.

Nobody ever expected that a simple little girl who lived with her family in the most primitive way from a small town with dirt roads passable only by bicycles, pedicabs, motorcycles and carabao laden carts, no water and electricity systems in Sierra Bullones, Bohol; and a towns people who seemed contented on what they have and do not even care to change their lifestyle. She should be in-strumental of what it is today, now a booming town and a tourist attraction.

She was no different from other dreamer’s and believed that pursuing higher education was the only way to fulfill her ambition, despite against all odds. She firmly believed when one is determined, one will make it. To her, being the eldest of eight children of a large and poor family, she had to double time and should work hard to get the much needed education. After high school, she worked on the Chemistry Department and joined PHI OMEGA SIGMA Fraternity and Sorority for good networking in the future on her way to college and beyond. She do believes, hard work always bear success.

Back then, when Engr. Dahan was a second grader in her hometown, during the inauguration of their town bridge she was tasked to put a lei of the guest speaker, non-other than Vice President Fer-nando Lopez, she recalled that she was trembling with fear but overcame her feeling with the thought that she should put the lei on him for the good of her town and people.

Difficulties and hardships

Dreams do come true

were not enough obstacle for her to stop, she finished and passed the board exam in Civil Engineering, thus, Engr. Lilia Dahan was well known in the construction business in the Philippines and the United States, particularly here in San Diego, prior to her retire-ment in 2002 and fulfilled her dream come true by build-ing herself, the exotic, Bohol Paradise Hill Resort in Sierra Bullones, Bohol.

Engr. Lilia Dahan earned her vast experience in govern-ment contracts on bridges, piers, conveyors, roads, tele-phone lines, and construction business including subdivi-sions and high rise buildings in the Philippines while work-ing with a US based MUL-MAC Construction Corpora-tion (Mulvehey, MC Millan). After a while, with a partner, in mid-80’she ventured into a construction business on private contracts for condo-miniums and residential build-ings in the Philippines which blasted her career.

Life was not all fame and glory for Engr. Dahan, least she expected she lost her husband in an accident leav-ing her a month old baby girl and took her a lot of time to move on and bear the bur-den by herself to bring her family back to the limelight. Through her business associ-ates and Fraternity brothers and sisters, the early 80’s was a rough road with her joining the crusade of then President Fidel Ramos and Senator Juan Enrile and the late President Corazon Aquino through the

infamous bloodless revolution in EDSA against the strong-man, the late President Ferdi-nand Marcos.

Just like some peace loving Filipinos, she and her family left the Philippines in 1986 and adopt the United States as their second country, leav-ing the motherland in chaos. Those that were able to leave the country were lucky, be-cause after the revolution, so many changes have occurred and people were restless. Her family stayed in San Diego, USA, since then. In the coun-try that has given most Filipi-nos a second home and a piece of the American dream. Engr. Dahan met wonderful people and became active in busi-ness and civic organizations, she joined the CEBOLEY, USA (Cebu, Bohol, Leyte) and worked as a real estate agent long enough to learn the trade until 2002 and decided to retire for good early, in her hometown in Bohol.

Today, Bohol has emerged as a tourist destination. Engr. Dahan hopes for her ka-babayans to be able to see possibilities and opportuni-ties. Engr. Dahan believes that tourism is booming on this island, some 5 yrs. Back, there were only 5 flights a week, now there are 7-8 flights a day, a clear manifestation that tourism is alive, and people there no longer live the primitive way. Thus, BOHOL PARADISE HILL RESORT was born and employs local talents and some part time jobs for those students living close to the resort. This is her little way of helping those who helped themselves.

With all her blessings, it’s just fitting for her to give back and share back home. She would like to extend her thanks and heartfelt gratitude through the members of the PARADISE VALLEY IN-TERNATIONAL MEDICAL MISSION (PVIMM), like Joe Nicolas, Joe Marasigan, the

late Dr. Manaig and all the active members of PVIMM, at least 32 foreign doctors, nurses, dentist and pharmacist served her people in Sierra Bullones, Bohol. These volun-teers took their time, talents, energy and resources to help her less fortunate kababayans. The missionaries stayed at Bohol Paradise Hill Resort for 3days, courtesy of Engr. Lilia Dahan.

She thanked God for all her blessings and for her family, relatives and friends and all those who gave their helping hand in one way or the other with the support of some CEBOLEY, USA members special mention to Cora and late Mike Macalos, Lisa and Efren Macalos, Yani and Rolly Escalera, my sisters Freda, Fely, Terry, Chanda, Vergie and brothers Ondoy, Ver and Richard Dahan who gave financial support and to my only daughter Lea Mae.

Engr. Dahan said, “No words can describe my in-debtedness to all the volun-teers who made the medical mission possible and the people of Sierra Bullones, Bohol are grateful and wished for you to come back once more. I am also inviting San Diegans to visit Bohol Para-dise Hill Resort including the management and staff of Asian Journal, to see the pride

of Sierra Bullones, Bohol. For reservations contact, Engr. Lilia Dahan, Bohol Para-dise Hill Resort, Matin-ao, Sierra Bullones, Bohol. For

more info, please call, tel. no. (38) 527-1084, cell no. 09298758787 or e-mail [email protected].


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Food for thoughtRead previous articles by visiting our website at www.asian-

journalusa.com

A man came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find his 5-year old son waiting for him at the door.

SON : ‘Daddy, may I ask you a question?’

DAD : ‘Yeah sure, what it is?’ replied the man.

SON : ‘Daddy, how much do you make an hour?’

DAD : ‘That’s none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?’ the man said angrily.

SON : ‘I just want to know.. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?’

DAD : ‘If you must know, I make $20.00 an hour.’

SON : ‘Oh,’ the little boy replied, with his head down.

SON: ‘Daddy, may I please borrow $10.00?’

The father was furious, ‘If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I work hard everyday for such childish behavior.’

The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door. The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy’s questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money?

After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think:

Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $10.00 and he really didn’t ask for money very often. The man went to the door of the little boy’s room and opened the door.

‘Are you asleep, son?’ He asked.

‘No daddy, I’m awake,’ replied the boy.

‘I’ve been thinking, maybe

A small touching story mainly for professionals...

I was too harsh on you earlier’ said the man.

‘It’s been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here’s the $10.00 you asked for.’

The little boy sat straight up, smiling. ‘Oh, thank you daddy!’ He yelled.

Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills. The man saw that the boy already had money, he started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his father.

‘Why do you want more money if you already have some?’ the father grumbled.

‘Because I didn’t have enough, but now I do,’ the little boy replied.

‘Daddy, I have $20.00 now. Can I buy an hour of your time?

Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you.’

The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little son, and begged for his forgive-ness.

It’s just a short reminder to all of you working so hard in life. We should not let time slip through our fingers without having spent some time with those who really matter to us, those close to our hearts..

Remember to share that $20.00 worth of your time with someone you love.

If we die tomorrow, the company that we are working for can easily replace us in a matter of days...

But the family & friends we leave behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives.

And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more into work than into our family.

Remain Blessed!!!

When I first met Heidi Mendoza, she impressed me as an ebullient and high-spirited person. I have gotten to know Heidi because she is a member of the board of advisers of EHEM, an anti-corruption program based in the Ateneo School of Govern-ment where I am Dean. She has also worked in the past as a resource person for the Affiliated Network on Social Accountability—East Asia Pacific which is also based in AsoG. I was impressed with the excellence and profession-alism that characterized her work as a public accountant and an advocate of good gov-ernance. But what I really like about Heidi is her sense of humor and readiness to laugh, including at herself. Until lately, she has never betrayed any hint of the emotional turmoil within her. But behind this woman is an indomitable and resolute spirit that would shame even the strongest and most courageous amongst the men in this “macho” society of ours.

Heidi Mendoza had a promising career as a public accountant. An expert in the field of audit, investigation, and fraud examination, she was employed by the Com-mission on Audit, holding responsible positions in the Commission for the bet-ter part of her professional career. Everything was go-ing well for Heidi when in September 2004 she was requested by then Ombuds-man Simeon Marcelo to lead a group tasked to conduct fraud investigation involving the Armed Forces of the Philip-pines fund mess, particu-larly in the office of then AFP Comptroller, General Carlos Garcia. Despite the physical and emotional strain not to a small measure caused by uncooperative and, at times,

Heidi Mendoza, an unlikely heroinehostile government officials, she continued with the inves-tigation. Along the way, her team unearthed suspicious bank transactions and docu-ments that could only mean anomalous transfers of AFP funds. Among others, Heidi had proof of anomalies related to managing funds from the United Nations intended to support our soldiers in peace-keeping missions abroad. When asked in an interview by ABS-CBN’s Ces Oreña-Drilon whether she has the smoking gun against Garcia, she quipped that while she is not a lawyer, her solid 20 years experience from the COA, including her trainings in financial and fraud inves-tigation, gives her the con-fidence in the evidence they have gathered.

Heidi detailed these anomalous transactions in her testimony as the main state witness for the plunder case against General Garcia in the Sandiganbayan where she testified from 2007 to 2009. She also provided the documentation to support her testimony. For two long years, Heidi silently and without fanfare attended and testified in the hearings (16 of them). Most of the time, only her husband was there to give her moral support. By that time, the public and most of media had lost interest in the case. Unlike in the case of other whistleblowers who exposed anomalies committed by high profile personalities, there were no civil society to drum up interest, no media to record, and no security except for some representatives from the church when ironically, a case of this magnitude would have triggered a media-frenzy and stirred the interest of even the most apathetic. After all, rumors of massive corruption in the AFP have long been the

fodder of news reports and subject of investigations for as long as I can remember. And more so because, we are all witness to the hapless condi-tions of our soldiers who go to battle without decent equip-ment.

Heidi is one who would rather shy away from the limelight, narrate her piece of the story before the Sandigan-bayan and be done over with it. She wanted to return to her disrupted normal life as soon as possible. But it was not to be. When the government prosecutors defended a plea bargain that allowed a former military comptroller accused of plunder to go free on bail, saying the case against retired Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia was “deficient” from the start, she decided last week to break her silence and come out in the open if only to dispel the misperception that all govern-ment workers are corrupt. To be able to do this, she decided to resign from a well-paying and professionally respected position in the Asian Devel-opment Bank where she had gone to work after resign-ing from the Commission on Audit. Ironically, her work in the ADB was to promote and work for good governance in the Philippines. When I asked her why she was resigning from her ADB post, Heidi responded with a rhetorical question—“How could I work on good governance anywhere and keep silent about the Gar-cia case?”

Heidi Mendoza is a woman on a mission. But behind the courage and the commit-ment, the strains to herself and her family (who are all very proud of her) are taking a toll. Like most witnesses in similar cases, there is always fear, apart from the very real and distinct physical risk they face every day that they would

succumb to pressure and their efforts be rendered futile without significant support, whether moral, spiritual or financial. In many instances, whistleblowers, who may be key to solving a case, buckle under the weight of and suc-cumb to intense pressure that goes with the expose or in this case, testifying against powerful individuals. But it is when an individual would unflinchingly risk everything for a noble cause despite tremendous adversities that he or she may be regarded as a hero or heroine. And to me, Heidi is one such person. As she said in the ABS-CBN in-terview, “I risked my life, my entire family and my career simply because, I would like to tell my fellow Filipino and to all others here and abroad, hindi lahat ng tao sa gobyerno magnanakaw, hindi lahat ng Pilipino ay natatakot man-indigan laban sa korupsyon (Translated loosely: Not all government employees are thieves, not all Filipinos are afraid to speak out against corruption).

Indeed, corruption is the blight of our country. It erodes the moral fabric of the society and aggravates the poverty of our people. How ironic and tragic it is that, when we final-ly have a President committed to the straight and narrow path of good governance, we end up seemingly hopeless against something like the Garcia case. I cannot believe that President Benigno Aquino III cannot do something about this, including finding ways to supporting our unlikely hero to make sure that she is not left alone to the mercies of those who are angered by her testimony. I cannot also believe that we, ordinary citi-zens, are all that powerless as well before evil and injustice. After all, Heidi Mendoza has shown the difference courage and commitment make and it is a lot.


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Light &Shadows

Read Zena Babao’s previous articles by visiting our website at www.asianjournalusa.com

by Zena Sultana Babao

By joining a Toastmasters International Club you will embark on a journey that will greatly improve your life! Two weeks ago, I wrote an article entitled “Become a Public Speaker with TI.” This week I would like to tell you more about Toastmasters International.

The Mission of Toastmas-ters International

“Toastmasters International

is the leading movement de-voted to making effective oral communication a worldwide reality.

Through its member clubs, Toastmasters International helps men and women learn the arts of speaking, listening and thinking – vital skills that promote self-actualization, enhance leadership potential, foster human understanding and contribute to the better-ment of mankind.”

The Mission of the Club

“The mission of a Toast-masters Club is to provide a mutually supportive and posi-

Join us at Toastmasters International!

tive learning environment to which every member has the opportunity to develop com-munication and leadership skills, which in turn foster self-confidence and personal growth.”

How TI works

The Toastmasters program is not a college course, trade school, or other formal course in public speaking. You’ll find no instructors, professors, or classrooms. No one’s work is graded and no tests are administered.

In Toastmasters, members learn by studying the manuals, by practicing public speaking, and by every member helping one another. Learning takes place in the club environment. Club meetings are workshops where you study and practice communication and leader-ship skills with others who are there for the same reason as you are. You learn by doing!

During Club meetings, you’ll build “quick thinking” skills as you give one-to-two-minute impromptu speeches on general subjects during

Table Topics. You’ll intro-duce speakers, conduct meet-ings, and perform other roles that will give you plenty of practice in a variety of com-munication experiences. But your greatest learning will come from preparing and pre-senting prepared speeches on the projects in the manuals.

There are two training tracks in the Toastmasters program: Educational, to build your communication and public speaking skills; and Leadership, to build your leadership skills.

Educational Training

The first two manuals that you will use are the Compe-tent Communication Manual and the Competent Leadership Manual. In the Competent Communication manual, there are 10 speech projects, each designed to develop speaking skills one step at a time. Every project builds upon what you’ve learned in the preceding project, so it’s better to present the projects sequentially.

As a new member, you’ll begin with “The Ice Breaker” speech. Since it will be your first speech before the club, it will be based on an easy sub-ject – yourself. In subsequent speeches you’ll learn the importance of organization, speech purpose, proper word usage, body language and vo-cal variety. You’ll also learn how to do research, use visual aids, speak persuasively, and inspire others.

Most of your talks as a new member will be only 5-7 minutes long. This gives you enough time to develop your topic while still keeping club meetings to a reason-able length, but the principles you will learn in a 5-7 minute speech apply to a 40-minute formal address or a two-min-ute impromptu speech.

You’ll learn to speak with confidence, clarity, persua-siveness and enthusiasm.

An evaluator who is also a club member will give you verbal and written feedback on every speech you pres-ent. The evaluator provides a personal opinion of your talk, pointing out your strengths and weaknesses, and offering suggestions for improving your next speech.

Evaluations have one purpose: to help you become a more effective speaker. Eventually, as you gain more experience, you will evaluate the speeches of others.

After you finish the Com-petent Communication (CC) Manual, you can begin refin-ing and enhancing your basic speaking skills in the Ad-vanced Communication pro-gram. The Advanced Commu-nication program is divided into three: Advanced Com-munication Bronze (ACB); Advanced Communication Silver (ACS); and Advanced

Communication Gold (ACG). The advanced program

consists of 15 manuals with five speech projects for each manual. That’s a total of 75 more speeches.

Some advanced manuals focus on career-related pre-sentations, such as public rela-tions and technical speeches, while others address topics such as interpersonal commu-nication, humor and storytell-ing. You choose the manuals to complete and the skills you want to learn.

The highest level that you can attain in Toastmasters is DTM or Distinguished Toast-master. I became a DTM in 2007. It may take you a few years but it’s worth it!

Leadership Training

You’ll learn more than just communication skills in TI. You’ll build leadership skills when you complete the ten projects in the Competent Leadership project like listen-ing skills, critical thinking skills, giving feedback, time management, planning and implementation, organizing and delegating, developing facilitation skills, motivating people, mentoring, and team building.

And then you’ll learn more about leadership by finish-ing the Advanced Leadership Bronze and Silver Projects as well as the Successful Club Series and the Leadership Excellence Series.

You can develop addi-tional skills by serving as a Club officer, formulating and implementing plxans to help the club members’ needs. You may also complete the High Performance Leadership program, working on a lead-

ership project related to your personal or professional life.

When you have more experience in Club leader-ship, you can go up the ranks by serving as an officer in the Area, Division, District, and Regional levels. And finally, you can become an officer in the International level. A few years ago, the International President of TI was Johnny Uy from Cebu City, Philip-pines.

How to Start

It’s easy! If you want to visit any of the 130 clubs in San Diego, please contact this writer, who is also the Presi-dent of Fil-Am Toastmasters Club 9493 at: [email protected]. Or call my cell (619) 316-5742. Fil-Am Toastmasters Club 9493 meets every Thursday at 6:30 P.M. at I-HOP (International House of Pancakes) in Plaza Boulevard, National City, right across from Jolibee and Sizzler’s, and near Seafood City.

truth, served strong and not watered down to suit one’s taste.

It wasn’t until I left for the library, logged on the com-puter network, and listened to Andrea Bocelli sing Con Te Partire and Nessun Dorma that I truly absorbed what the words from the pulpit meant about the scourge of abortion. For here was one blind artist

whose singular talent truly opened my eyes and ears to the beautiful score of life. The priest went on to say that abortion has claimed more lives that all the wars (WI, WII, Korea and Vietnam) combined.

How easy it is too for one, exposed to prevailing idea about a woman’s right to her body, to forget that we are here because our mothers made a choice for life.

***

There are so many myster-ies to explore in this life. It took the music of Bocelli to remind me of the big picture. It is a picture one cannot overtly see in the computer, nor a smart phone, nor on television but -- like all time-less truths -- only in the heart.

And when it comes to the heart, one could always use some help.

Perhaps we could begin again where we left off in our childhood and the stories of angels. They are with you, Fr Hampsch writes: It would be unthinkable to culpably ignore or neglect such an awesome personal and personalized gift from God, given to guard you “in all your ways” in your ups and downs, in your wak-ing and sleeping hours, when you’re alone or with others, in your joys and in your suffer-ings, in your successes and your failures. “Make yourself familiar with angels,” urges St. Frances de Sales, “and be-hold them frequently in spirit; for without being seen, they are present with you.”

For information about the workshop, call Ginnie Curran at 1-858-546-0300 any time.

The Signs of Our Times



SAN DIEGO, 1/28/2011 -- There’s an old adage that “History is written by the winners.” In a newly pub-lished book “What I Leave With You” - 52 sixth, seventh and eighth grade students at O’Farrell Community School in San Diego, weave together the rich cultural and ethnic fabric of their Encanto neigh-borhood, in the honored tradi-tion of Studs Terkel.

Computer teacher Ray Kinne, spent one semester with the students who inter-viewed an important adult in their life and listened to their inspiring, and sometimes, heartbreaking stories. This project was modeled after the StoryCorps Project, with Cox Cable and The Neighborhood Unity Foundation providing the seed money to get the book published by Infinity Publishing.

“This writing project was the brainchild of Mr. Kinne and San Diego City Councilman, Tony Young (41st District), a former O’Farrell Community School teacher,” said Dr. Jonathan Dean, Executive Director at O’Farrell. Mr. Kinne has turned middle school students into accomplished authors with this book, and the entire San Diego community should embrace their success.”

“I purchased a dozen digi-tal recorders, and worked with the students to develop ques-tions for the audio interviews. Students could choose to interview anyone 25 and older - a relative, respected adult, or neighbor.

Since Encanto is ethni-cally diverse, many of the interviews were conducted in Vietnamese, Tagalog, Laotian,

52 O’Farrell Students Among Those To Be Honored At The City Of San Diego’s 45th

Annual Local Authors EventSomali, Spanish, Amharic,

and Khmer. The students then translated the stories into English, and edited the final written product,” said Kinne.

A special preview recep-tion for the authors will take place January 28, 2011 at the 45th Annual Local Authors Exhibit, from 6:30 8:30 pm at the Central Library located downtown at 820 E Street, San Diego, CA, 92101. The book will be on exhibit through the month of Febru-ary at the Central Library as well as the Valencia Park/Mal-colm X Library and Perform-ing Arts Center, 5148 Market Street, San Diego CA 92114. Books may be purchased for $13.95 on line at major retailers such as Amazon.corn, Barnes&Nobele.com and all proceeds will provide funding for future writing projects.

“There arc but a handful of projects across the country that still provides a traditional ‘hard copy’ printing of teen writing. What I Leave With YOU is more than an outlet for the millennial generation’s voice (which it is) and more than an insight into the special world of these kids (provides voice as well); this book IS an oral history that is a snap-shot of a particular time and place, a history through the eyes of extraordinary youth with singular perspective. You don’t have to be old to be attentive; you don’t have to be degreed to be wise. What Ray Kinne and Tony Young have done is nothing less than provide some validation and permanence to the dreams and revelations of our treasured young writers,” noted Dr. Dean.

The Law that Matters

Read Atty Bautista’s previous articles by visiting our website at www.asianjournalusa.com

by Atty. A. Erwin Bautista

Will IRS Hold Turbotax or You Liable for Alleged Faulty Tax Software?

Question: I prepared my own tax return and it con-tained a deduction which was later disallowed by the IRS, can I make the software com-pany pay for the deficiency in tax because of their faulty software?

Answer: The U.S. Tax Court will not even allow a taxpayer to interplead a soft-ware company in a tax defi-ciency case so there is no way the software company will be responsible.

The case of alleged faulty Turbotax software.

Spouses Alfonso J. and

Elena L. Diaz Del Castillo prepared their own tax return using Turbotax which con-tained a deduction for charita-ble gifts which was disallowed by the IRS.

The U.S. Tax Court in Al-fonso J. and Elena L. Diaz Del Castillo, Petitioners v. Com-missioner of Internal Revenue, Respondent in T.C. Memo. 2006-165 dated August 14, 2006 described how the soft-ware was used by a taxpayer like the Del Castillo’s.

“The Turbotax software programs are designed so that a taxpayer’s responses to questions, ostensibly, are automatically placed onto ap-proved forms, and the tax due

Income Tax: Self Prepared Income Tax Return

or overpaid is automatically computed. The promotional material on the software pack-aging states that it “double-checks for overlooked deduc-tions, missing information and entries that could trigger an audit * * * [and] [e]ven gives you personalized advice as you go.” By this methodology, petitioners provided answers to Turbotax’s questions and were able to produce and print a copy of their return, which they signed and submitted to respondent for filing.”

In the process of their tax preparation the Tax Court fur-ther described what happened in the preparation “Petitioner’s Turbotax generated Federal return contained an $8,448 de-duction of a charitable contri-bution carryover on line 17 of Schedule A, Itemized Deduc-tions, labeled “Gifts to Char-ity” “Carryover from prior year”. Petitioners were not entitled to deduct an $8,448 charitable contribution from prior years. Petitioners believe that the $8448 online 17 was caused by a faulty software in the Turbotax product.

What were petitioners’ contentions to avoid the tax liability?

Continuing from the case, “Petitioners’ contend, alterna-tively, that they are not liable for the deficiency under any of the following three theo-ries: (1) The statutory notice

of deficiency is invalid; (2) respondent is contractually estopped from determining a deficiency for the 2001 tax year; and (3) the manufacturer of the software used by the pe-titioners to prepare their return was responsible for the defi-ciency, and petitioners should be allowed to interplead and make the software manufac-turer a responsible party in this proceeding.”

The petitioner’s do not contend that they were en-titled to the deduction, in-stead in the Court’s opinion they made a collateral attack, contending alternatively, that respondent’s (IRS) deficiency notice ($2,327.40) was in-valid because the IRS sent an amount lower than the actual deficiency in it’s 30 day notice ($1,153.23), or that respondent agreed to a lesser deficiency because the peti-tioners Del Castillo’s’ paid the lower amount contained in the 30 day notice, or that the tax preparation software manufac-turer is liable because of faulty software.

Did the Court agree to the Del Castillo’s contentions that Turbotax was liable?

The Court held as to the first contention that the notices that may precede the statutory notice of deficiency during the administrative portion of the controversy are generally irrelevant to establishing the deficiency amount. It held that the deficiency notice was adequate and valid.

On the second contention the Court held that payment of the $1,153.23 set forth in the 30-day letter does not, by itself, rise to the status of constituting a binding agree-ment between petitioners and respondent.

On the last contention that Turbotax was at fault and should be held liable for the deficiency the Court held itself without jurisdiction to join Turbotax, an unrelated

third party to an individual taxpayer’s deficiency proceed-ing who do not assert they are entitled to the $8,448 contri-bution deduction.

What should taxpayers

do to avoid mistakes in tax preparation?

Seek the services of a

professional tax preparer. The U.S. Tax Court will not excuse any tax deficiency based on alleged faulty tax software.

In fairness to Turbotax, our office initially used the Pro Series made by Intuit which is the maker of Turbotax and we never encountered any prob-lems. It’s a matter of ease of use or taste that we changed to another tax software. We have since used Tax Slayer which has not given our clients any problems as well.

It’s not too late to go to your tax professional to have your return prepared and filed or reviewed if you already filed your return.

What you can do is come to our office to have your tax return prepared or have your return reviewed for any mistakes and we will gladly amend them to avoid any tax deficiency or get the maxi-mum refund you are entitled to receive.

(We invite readers to set up their initial consultation with The American Legal Center, PC. Atty. Bautista practices Immigration, Bank-ruptcy, Personal Injury, Family Law and Income Tax Prepara-tion/Audit Representation. He obtained his law degree from Western State University, Ful-lerton, CA and his Bachelor of Arts Degree from the Univer-sity of the Philippines. He can be reached at his Los Angeles Office (213) 365 7690 at 3435 Wilshire Blvd., Ste. 2700, LA, CA 90010 or at his San Diego Office (619) 474 7755 at 550 E. 8th St., Ste. 11, National City, CA 91950)

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Laughing MatterRead previous articles by visiting our website at www.asian-

journalusa.com

Showbiz Watcher

Read Ogie Cruz’s previous articles by visiting our website at www.asianjournalusa.com

by Ogie Cruz

This is for all the Filipinos out there, and those who are lucky enough to have Fili-pino friends, those who have Filipino spouses and those who have Filipino next door neighbors. The story goes like this:

The elderly Foreigner lay dying in his bed. While suffer-ing the agonies of impending death, he suddenly smelled the aroma of his favorite food, Filipino Lumpia.

Gathering his remaining strength, he lifted himself from the bed. Leaning against the wall, he slowly made his way out of the bedroom, and with even greater effort, steadying himself against the walls with both hands he inched his way to the kitchen. With labored breath, he leaned against the door frame and gazed into the kitchen. Were it not for death’s agony, he

A Filipino storywould have thought himself already in heaven. For there, spread out upon waxed paper on the kitchen table were liter-ally hundreds of his favorite food, LUMPIA.

Was it heaven? Or was it one final act of heroic love from his devoted Filipino wife of sixty years, seeing to it that he left this world a happy man? Mustering one great final effort, he threw himself towards the table, landing

on his knees in a crumpled pos-ture. Painfully, he reached up with his right hand and weakly groped on the table surface until he felt the oily warmth of one of his rolled favorite dish. His arthritic fingers wrapped around one, gingerly picked it up and brought it down. His parched lips slowly parted and as he slowly

brought to his mouth, the wondrous taste of that lumpia already overwhelmed him, seemingly bringing him back to life. The aged and withered hand trembled on the lumpia, when he was suddenly smacked with a spatula by his wife.

“Git out of here!” she shouted. “dis are por your puneral!”

Marian Rivera

Tahimik lang noon si Mar-ian, kahit ilan beses pa siya name-mention sa mga blind items ni Cristy Fermin via “Juicy” show sa channel 5.Min-san pa nga tahasang sinasabi ni Ate Cristy na hindi niya gusto ang ugali ni Marian at sinasabi rin na sa taong ito e malalaos ang naturang talent ng Kapuso station.

Pero iba na ngayon ang situation,palaban na ang Marian kung dati maraming reporters ang nagtatanong sa kanya about mga bad comments sa kanya ng nasabing Tv host, no com-ment lang siya at hindi talaga sumasagot sa mga intriga.

Sa kanyang Facebook page, doon niya nilalabas lahat ang galit niya kay Ms. Fermin na talaga namang nakakaa-gaw pansin.Sabi pa nga niya, pinakasinungaling, walang kredibilidad at nababayarang Tv host/ Columnist sa Pilipinas si Cristy Fermin with matching apploaded picture of Ms. Fer-min na may sungay at mahaba ang dila, na parang demonyita ang dating ng naturang picture.Takenote ,nilagay pa niya ito sa facebook page ni Shalala na kasamahan naman ni Cristy sa “Juicy”.

Mas mabuti pa raw si Shalala at puro totoo ang mga sinasabi nito about blind items, hindi raw kagaya ni Ate Cristy

Marian Rivera palaban kay Cristy Fermin!!!

na puro gawa-gawa lang ang mga blind items at kapag hindi nabibigyan ng datung,tinitira raw niya ito.Kesyo si Shalala raw ay kinaiinggitan na ni Ms. Fermin dahil nakakaaliw daw ito sa mga manonood kaya minsan bina-block niya raw ito para hindi na gaanong maka-pagsalita.

Na mention din doon ang name ni Nadia Montenegro, na dating nakaalitan ni Ate Cristy sa “D Buzz”. Aprroved daw siya sa sinabi ni Ate Nadia niya na kung si Cristy Fermin lang ang magiging katulad ng Nanay niya o mga nanay sa mundo,mas mabuti pa raw na maging ulila kaysa maging nanay niya ang isang Cristy Fermin.

Maraming followers si Mar-ian sa kanyang Facebook page, kaya sa mga sinusulat niyang bad comments sa nasabing Tv Host nakakakuha siya ng maraming kakampi at puro tira ang inaabot ni Ms. Fermin na halos hindi mo na makain.

Ginagamit na ni Marian ang social network na Facebook para makaganti siya sa mga panlalait na ginagawa sa kanya ng naturang Tv Host ng channel 5.Ganon din ang ginagawa ni Chokoleit, sa twitter naman ito bumabanat at pati rin si Pok-wang , twitter din.

Samantalang si Tita Sward-

ing naman na isang showbiz announcer ng DZRH, ki-nakampihan at pinagtatanggol naman ang lahat na tinitira ni Cristy.Galit din kasi itong si Tita Swarding sa mga gawain ni Ate Cristy na paninira sa mga artista, sa katunayan nga magka-textmate ngayon sila ni Pokwang.

Abangan na lang natin ang ilang maaanghang na pahayag pa ni Marian in print naman ,against Cristy Fermin.

GIMIKERANG KRIS AQUINO,NABUKING ! Usap-usapan ang ginawang gimik ni Kris sa showbizlandia nang minsan dumating daw ito sa ABS-CBN na naka-Taxi lang. Siempre laking gulat ng mga tao sa naturang istasyon dahil sa agaw eksena na ginawa niya na naka-taxi lang.

Ang dahilan daw ni Tetay ay nasiraan daw siya ng sasakyan kaya yung driver naiwan doon.Kaya naman awang-awa ang mga tao na nakakita sa kanyang pagdating na nag-iisa at nag-alala ng husto.

After 10 minutes dumating naman ang kanyang driver na mukhang hindi niya naturuan kung ano ang isasagot kung sakaling may magtanong sa kanya, at tungkol sa pagkasira ng luxury car ni Kris.Alam n’yo ba na itinanggi ng driver na nasiraan sila, sa labas lang daw ng kapamilya network si Kris sumakay ng taxi at doon lang daw sa kanto.

Kaya maraming nagulat sa isinagot ng driver ng kapatid ni Pres. Noynoy, yun pala gu-mimik lang ang lola nyo para mapag-usapan.Hay Kris kailan ka ba magbabago?

Samantala, nagkabati na pala sila ni Ruffa Guttierrez nang minsan magkitakita sila sa isang lugar at nandun din sina Ai-Ai Delas Alas at Diether Ocampo, na nakasaksi ng mga pangyayar-ing pagkikita nina Kris at Ruffa.

Pero anu itong nababa-lita ngayon Kris,kesyo kayo na raw ni Diether at lagi raw kayo magkasama sa ibat-ibang lakaran? Puede pa kami mani-wala na sila na nga,pero si Ted Failon na nachismis din kay Ms. Aquino,imposible ang sagot naming.Bakit kamo, kailangan pa bang i-explain kung anu ang mga type ni kris na lalaki?

IBINULGAR ANG YAMAN NINA PACMAN,CHARICE AT ARNEL ! Si Manny Pacquiao

raw ay may total asset na 70mil-lion Dollars,si Charice Pem-pengco naman ay may kabuuan na 12 Million Dollars at si Arnel Pineda naman ay 15 Million Dollars.

Maraming nagtataka at kung bakit mas malaki ang yaman ni Arnel kumpara kay Charice ganong mas marami namang recognition si Charice na na-tamo sa Amerika at mas sumikat ito.

Dahil daw ito sa kontrata na pinirmahan ni Arnel Pineda sa grupong sinalihan niya sa Amerika, samantalang si Charice daw ay hindi naman ganon ang naging kontrata.Yung sa Glee naman e minsan lang naman ito lumabas pagkatapos nawala kaagad sa mga sumunod na episodes.

SINO ANG NAGSASABI NG TOTOO, 24 ORAS O TV PATROL? Last January 26, mi-yerkules parehong nagulat kami sa balita ng Tv Patrol at 24 Oras etoy tungkol sa kaso ni Cong. Ronald Singson sa Hongkong.

Ang sabi sa balita ng Tv Patrol, aaminin na raw ni Cong. Ronald Singson ang tungkol sa drug trafficking case samantalang sa 24 Oras, ang ulat ay hindi raw siya isang drug trafficker.O dib a,magkasalungat ang kanilang balita?

Tiyak may nagkamali sa ulat na yun, hindi lang namin matiyak kung Tv Patrol o 24 Oras.Sabi nga ng mga kaibigan naming mga showbiz reporters din, si Cong. Singson lang ang makakapagsabi kung sino ang tamang report sa dalawa.

Alam kaya ito ng pamunuan ng dalawang higanteng istasyon sa Pilipinas ang ABS-CBN at GMA, tungkol sa balitang ito na napuna namin na may pagkasa-lungat ang balita ng dalawang magkalabang news programs?

NAKIKIRAMAY KAMI SA PAMILYA NI LOIDA VIRINIA.Si Loida Virinia kasi ay kasamahan namin sa Baton Rouge Louisiana na nagtuturo at siya ay namatay on the spot dahil sa isang car accident nung last last Monday Martin Luther King Day.

Kasama niya ang isang catholic priest galing sila ng Lafayette at pauwi na sa Baton Rouge ng bandang hapon.Sa I-10 ito nangyari isang interstate na daan,may iniwasan silang gumigitgit sa kanilang way sa taranta nung pare nalipat ito sa kabilang lane at doon sila nasa-pol ng isang 10-Wheeler Track.

Dead on the spot si Loida, samantalang ang pare na siyang driver ay nasa malubhang kala-gayan.Nandito na sa Amerika ang asawa kararating lang para asikasuhin ang mga papeles para iuwi ang bangkay ni Loida.Nakakalungkot ang nangyari sa aming kasamahan, ang buhay talaga hindi mo alam kung kailan ka kukunin ng may likha.Nakikiramay po kami.


Sim,

I’m waiting to see how this new story turns, Danny appears to be the compadre of one of your main characters from your last series. This story must be leading up to the current genera-tion as Danny would now have to be in his late 50’s or 60’s as as Cliente closed about 50 years ago.

I remember through-out the 1950’s and early 60’s my grandfather and his three brothers would frequently go to Caliente on Sundays after mass, and then stop by our Chula Vista home and share a little of their earning with my brothers and I, on their way home to their respective homes in North Park. Those were the years long before 805 and during the earlier years, prior to HWY 5, they would travel down Broad-way (still called National Ave in those days), which was just a block away from our home. My grandfather and his brothers remained very close thoughout their lives, being second gen-eration Germans and not being introduced to English until their second year of school by the nuns. They each died at about age 70 and with each death that branch of the extended family lost all contact with the others.....

Looking forward to the twist and turns of your story.

Richard

Letters to the EditorRead previous articles by visiting our website at www.asian-journalusa.com

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WASHINGTON, DC - Arqiva has secured a five-year contract renewal to provide international distribution services for ABS-CBN Inter-national, the largest Filipino multimedia company in the US. The multi-continent deal involves delivering ABS-CBN’s eight-channel bouquet

Arqiva to deliver ABS-CBN bouquets throughout Europe and the US

Philippine multimedia company renews Arqiva’s contract for distribution to European and US DTH markets, including fiber, uplink and satellite capacity

to DTH platforms in Europe and their North American pro-gramming to US DTH opera-tor DIRECTV.

“We have been transmit-ting ABS-CBN’s European bouquet since 2005 and their DIRECTV bouquet since 2006. With this new contract, ABS-CBN continues to en-

trust us to seamlessly deliver their content into two major international markets,” said Jon Kirchner, EVP, Arqiva Broadcast & Media. “With our global infrastructure, Arqiva is able to distribute content onto any platform, anywhere in the world, sim-plifying the distribution solu-

tion for ABS-CBN and other international broadcasters.”

The ABS-CBN feeds are delivered to Arqiva’s Los Angeles Teleport as single multiplexed, encoded streams. The European feed is sent via Arqiva’s dedicated fiber net-work to the London Teleport and uplinked onto Arqiva’s AB-3 European DTH capac-ity.

The North American pro-gramming is sent via Arqiva’s dedicated fiber link directly to DIRECTV’s Los Angeles Broadcast Center.

“ABS-CBN’s mission is to reach and serve Filipinos worldwide. This requires the formation of an inter-national distribution with a very extensive and complex network, one that integrates services from a lot of suppli-ers. We renewed our contract with Arqiva for our European and Middle East distribution due to the proven scope and strength of their infrastructure in this part of the world,” said ABS-CBN Global Ltd COO Raffy Lopez.

Free New Books for Kids

27th Annual Chil-dren’s Book Party

Celebrating 27 Years Donating New Books To Children, To Help

Them Build Their Own Home Library, Over One Million Books

Given Away!!! SAN DIEGO -- Attention parents and kids from grades K-12, you are invited to the 26th Annual Children’s Book Party; this fun and popular event is free and open to the public. Each child will receive two free brand new books to call their own!Date: Saturday, April 30,2011Time: 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.Place: Organ Pavilion in Bal-boa Park For more information or to volunteer, call Roosevelt Brown at (619) 266-4118 or cell at (619-8047992

Tenants Together, Califor-nia’s statewide organization for renters’ rights, conservatively estimates that in 2010, at least 38 percent of residential units in foreclosure in California were rentals, directly affecting over 200,000 tenants, most of whom were displaced from their homes.

Key 2010 research findings highlighted in the report in-clude:

At least 38 percent of homes in foreclosure were rentals.

More than 200,000 Cali-fornia renters were directly affected by home foreclosures in 2010 alone, most of whom have been displaced from their homes.

From 2009 to 2010, the foreclosure rate for single family-homes decreased almost 10 percent while the foreclosure rate for apartment buildings

More Than 38 Percent of Foreclosed Properties in California are Rentals

with 5 or more units increased almost 30 percent.

The massive displacement of tenants across California remains, first and foremost, a problem caused by banks, with an estimated 79 percent of fore-closed properties acquired by financial institutions.

According to Gabe Treves, Program Coordinator at Tenants Together and author of the re-port, “Tenants remain innocent victims of a foreclosure crisis they did nothing to create. Year after year, banks needlessly displace hundreds of thousands of rent-paying tenants from their homes, often in violation of tenant-protection laws.” Califor-nia tenants can reach the Tenant Foreclosure Hotline toll free at 1-888-495-8020 or submit an online intake form at www.ten-antstogether.org/hotlineintake to get a call back from a counselor.

March 2011Call (619) 746 - 3416


substitute joint sponsor so the applicant will continue to be eligible. The affidavit of support is not required if the immigrant had worked in the United States and was cred-ited with a total of 40 qualify-ing quarters, as defined by the social security law. Even if the immigrant was not autho-rized to work, but has a social security number and contrib-uted to SSS, the contributions should be counted towards the 40-quarter qualifying require-ment.

The I-864 affidavit of sup-port is a contractual obliga-tion. As such, the sponsored immigrant can sue the sponsor to enforce the agreement to maintain the immigrant at a certain income level and state courts have jurisdiction to enforce the affidavit of sup-port. In addition, should the immigrant obtain SSI (Social Security Income), TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), institution-alization for long-term care or other means-tested benefit, the government can seek reim-bursement from the sponsor. The “means-tested” benefit does not include health care benefits such as Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, health centers, and pre-natal cares. It also does not include Food Programs such as food stamps, WIC (the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Wom-en, Infants and Children), school meals, or other food assistance. Other programs that do not give cash such as public housing and child care are also not included in the “means-tested” benefit.

The obligation of the spon-sor who executes the affidavit of support takes effect when the foreign national becomes a permanent resident of the

United States. The liabilities of the sponsor terminate when the immigrant becomes a U.S. citizen, the sponsor or im-migrant dies, the immigrant earned 40 qualifying quarters in accordance with the social security law, the immigrant abandoned his legal perma-nent residence status, or the immigrant is deported or removed from the U.S. Take note that divorce does not relieve the sponsor from his obligations under the affidavit of support. In case of death of the sponsor, the estate is not relieved from liability for any reimbursement obligation that arose before the death.

In addition to the financial obligations, the sponsor has to notify USCIS of any change of address of the immigrant. It has been held that the spon-sor continues to be liable on the affidavit of support even if he or she has been declared bankrupt. An agreement between the sponsor and the immigrant that the immigrant will reimburse the sponsor in the event the sponsor is held liable by the government on the affidavit of support is not enforceable for being contrary to public policy. The spon-sored immigrant may waive the sponsor’s obligations under the affidavit of support in a divorce proceeding, but the immigrant may not waive this on behalf of the govern-ment. The sponsor can be held liable under the affidavit of support despite the fact that he is paying alimony to the sponsored immigrant. Pay-ment of alimony reduces the sponsor’s financial obligations under the affidavit of support but payment of child support does not.

We welcome your feed-back. If you have any im-migration questions, please feel welcome to email me at [email protected] or call 619 819 -8648 to arrange for a telephone con-sultation.

The affidavit of support


Author Rudy D. Liporada (right) presenting his Unauthor-ized History of the Filipinos to a largely Filipino American class at Southwestern College while Professor Felix Tuyay looks on. Prof. Tuyay said that he is using the book as a required textbook reading so his students would have a complete perspective on the Philippines’ past. The book was published under the auspices of Amazon.com. Liporada also wrote Unholy Allied Mountains and A Russian Poker. The Unauthorized History and Unholy Al-lied Mountains were initially serialized in the Asian Journal.

happens after everything else has failed. Most of the time, we are dealing with mental health issues.”

Increased Activity Msgr. John Esseff has been

an exorcist in this country for 53 years of his 57-year priesthood. According to him, abortion, and the fact that many people no longer believe in the devil, is increasing the power of evil. He also pointed to the growth in occult and New Age practices as likewise increasing the amount of demonic activity in this country.

Fr. Gary agrees with that assessment. “Usually, the ones that come to me realize they opened the door to the occult and something came in that they did not expect.”

In response to the need for more exorcists in this country, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) held a two-day gathering on the exorcism ministry this past November in Baltimore. More than fifty bishops and over sixty priests attended. Bishop Thomas John Paprocki of Springfield, IL, chairman of the bishop’s Committee on Canonical Affairs and Church Governance spearheaded the event that addressed that fact that there are too few exorcists and they are feeling overbur-dened. “The conference was to help educate and motivate bishops and priests to pro-vide this ministry in their own diocese,” he said. “There was an overwhelming expression of gratitude and desire for follow up,” Bishop Paprocki reported. “Some priests exchanged telephone numbers and made connections for support and training.”

The training of an exorcist is an elusive term for there is no specific course or book that transforms a priest into an ex-orcist. Most learn from others in an apprentice-like fashion. Exorcism was established as a rite with specific prayers in 1614 and revised by the Vati-can in 1998. The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines it as the “liberation from demonic possession through the author-ity which Jesus entrusted to his Church.” Canon law requires a priest to have the permis-sion of his bishop to perform it. This puts the full weight of the Church behind him. But in cases where an exorcism is not warranted because there is not full possession but rather ob-session or oppression, there can be a deliverance from demonic harassment through prayers, the sacraments, and sacramentals.

Making the Right Choices

The good news according to Msgr. Esseff is that possessions are very rare. “The ordinary activity of Satan is tempta-tion; that is his M.O. (mode of operation). In the last two peti-tions of the Our Father, Jesus teaches us to pray, ‘lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.’ It refers to Satan himself and his activity.”

Fr. Patrick (not his real name) was mentored by Msgr. Esseff and works as a parish priest. Like most exorcists in this country, the fact that he is an exorcist is not advertised. There is a risk it would detract from his daily responsibilities as a priest.

According to Fr. Patrick, exorcism is not magic. “People need to be ready to accept those graces. They have to renounce the occult or the evil in their lives. I can pray over someone but if they are still in tune with the occult, they are still going to be influenced with it.”

Bishop Paprocki explained, “The devil is something people need to be aware of, but his usual activity is temptation. The remedy that the Church offers from her treasures is the sacraments, devotions, bless-ings, prayers, and holy water; that is the normal work of the priest.”

He contends that we need

not fear the devil, but we need to steer clear of him and remain close to God. Bishop Paprocki said that people should also be aware of the consequences of their choices, particularly with the occult. “Possession is a relationship between a human being and a fallen angel. That is something that people enter into freely. They open a door and enter into a relationship. After a while the relationship goes sour and it is not always that easy to get out of. Some-times, it can take awhile for that relationship to be broken,” he said. “But if you live a sac-ramental life, you don’t need to worry about the devil.” Bishop Paprocki stated that the sacra-ment of confession is more powerful than an exorcism. “An exorcism is a help toward grace but the sacraments offer grace.”

I had never heard it put that way before, that the sacraments are more powerful than an exorcism because they confer grace on us. As Catholics in the United States, most of us have easy access to the Mass where we can receive Jesus in Holy Communion and we can readily receive forgiveness and grace through the sacrament of Confession.

After talking to these dedi-cated and courageous servants of God, their trust in His almighty protection rubbed off on me. I am still not a huge fan of scary movies, but I am not afraid to watch this one now. (At least it beats jumping out of a plane these days.) If you are wondering whether I will recommend The Rite for others to see, stay tuned for the movie review later this week.

Patti Maguire Armstrong is the mother of ten children including two Kenyan AIDS orphans. She is a speaker and the author of Catholic Truths for Our Children: A Parent’s Guide (Scepter) Stories for the Homeschool Heart and also the children’s book, Dear God, I Don’t Get It!” (Bezalel). She was the managing editor and co-author of Ascension Press’s Amazing Gracebook series. Her website is RaisingCathol-icKids.com.

Be Not Afraid of the Devil(Continued from page 11)

Presenting the book, Lipo-rada told the largely Filipino American class that “when you might discuss items in this book with your parents, you might find them saying that ‘we did not learn that in

“Unauthorized History” Now a Textbook


school’”. He also noted that “history is often written from the perspectives of the victors in a conquest. The history I learned in the Philippines was derived from a curriculum fashioned by the American colonialists at the turn of the century. It would be inappro-priate for them to project the atrocities that occurred at the time that the Philippines was being pacified by America.” He added that “in America, at that time, Mark Twain was only one among the few writ-ers who reported and criti-cized America for massacres that its troops incurred in the Philippines.”

Among the issues tackled in the book are why Filipinos referred to as slaves from the east, should Douglas MacArthur be venerated as a hero, should Jose Rizal be considered the national hero, why going to America a norm among Filipinos, and others.

“When we studied his-tory back home, it was more on who, where, and when,” Liporada said. “I believe the most fundamental question is ‘why’.” When we find the answer as to why, maybe we would be able to appreciate more why your parents are here in the United States as nurses or navy service men; why Filipino domestic work-ers are all over the world and why there no domestic helpers from other third world coun-tries in the Philippines.”

Liporada is a graduate of the University of the Philip-pines. He lectured in feature writing in Zambia, Africa

before migrating to the United States. He also wrote Unholy Allied Mountains and A Rus-sian Poker with Amazon.com.

Professor Tuyay had been teaching Filipino history in Southwestern College for the last three years.

For more information on the Unauthorized History of the Filipinos, one can call Li-porada at 858-722-1465. One can also order a copy of the book at Amazon.com.

is not enough that CEOs sign up for the Initiative. They have to walk the talk, with zero tolerance for bribery,” Schumacher said.

He added that if one has integrity, one pays the proper taxes and takes care of people and of the environment.

Aside from MBC and ECCP, groups supporting the Initiative include the Manage-ment Association of the Phil-ippines, American Chamber of Commerce of the Philip-pines and Coalition against Corruption

Schumacher said Integrity Initiative was started by the European Chamber of Com-merce in late 2009 because it was “upset about the lack of integrity that led to the global financial and then economic crisis in 2007/2008.”

(Story courtesy of Malaya)

Business community

launch cam-paign to fight

corruption(Continued from page 1)


Now Available:

Tawa’t Tula ng mga Piling Katatawanan

By Joe Cabrera

A Collecton of Jokes Written in Pilipino Verse

$10.00 a copy

Call Asian Journal San Diego619-474-0588

By Bea Bianes and Glenda O’ Grady

This is the 4th year our church Corpus Christi and St. Anthony of Padua has helped over 200 families with the out-reach program.

Our volunteers sacrificed time, talent and treasure for the glory of God. This pro-gram is unique in that it seeks to be fairly anonymous to those who will receive the gifts, that is the children. Only the parents come to The Christmas store. They pick out the gifts and we do the rest, wrapped and readied. All of this is done at no cost to the participants. The many volun-teers and supporters will never get to see the smile on a little girl’s face as she opens up her gifts or the tears in a mom’s eyes watching her son get excited on Christmas morning. This experience is reserved for the moms and dads; the way it should be.

This program is made pos-sible because of the Generosi-ty, love and caring for those in need by two parishes; Corpus Christi Catholic Church In Bonita, CA. and St. Anthony

The goal of the annual Christmas Outreach Program is simple: Help struggling families to feel SPECIAL

and APPRECIATED by God.of Padua Catholic Church in National City, CA. Numerous businesses and stores donated many of the gift items. In addition to their chosen gifts, each family received a food gift card , a meal(Provided by L&L Hawaiian Barbecue), a blanket for each child , a wreath for their door(Provided by Holiday Foliage) and transportation in some cases.

We “Thank” God for all the volunteers and those who donated gifts or monetary assistance. You made this an incredibly special event for one and all.

Most of all we thank our wonderful priests for helping so many families in this spe-cial way. This includes, Father Patrick J. Mulcahy, Parish Priest of Corpus Christi Catholic Church in Bonita and Father Edmundo Z Suarez, Parish Priest of St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in Na-tional City. Corpus Church in National City . Corpus Christi also wants to recognize Ms. Glenda O’ Grady for her tire-less work and dedication to this monumental project of love.

Sa lahat ng bathala at dilag, si Iris – ang Reyna ng San-daigdig na Kulay o Reyna ng Bahaghari - ang siyang lipos ng hiwaga sa kanyang ka-pangyarihan at kaningningan. Tinatangkilik siya ng ilaw at lakas o biyaya ng buhay na dulot ni Apolo at siyang “kalaro” ng Langit na laging bughaw at ng Tubig na sinasa-lamin nito sa loob ng walang katapusang Tag-araw ng Buhay at Panahon ng Pamu-mulaklak ng Kabataan.

Marami ang nagmimith-ing Dioses sa dilag ni Iris. May iba’t ibang taglay na kapangyarihan, balani, at baluting kaakibat sa katauhan, nguni’t ni sino man ay wa-lang makatawag man lamang sa kanyang pansin, sa mula’t mula pa. Lahat ay umasa sa kanyang pagtingin at pag-papala, hanggang sa maging

ganap na alipin, isa na rito si Hermes, na nagkapakpak na tuloy ang mga paa upang maging mabilis sa pagsunod sa kanyang mga pita, sa lahat ng panahon, pagkakataon, at lahat ng saglit sa buong buhay niya . . .

Paano’y talagang si Iris ang “bukal na hiwaga” ng lahat ng kulay, na nagdudu-lot ng sining sa daigdig. Ang daigdig na walang kulay, tuyot, at hubad sa tulain ay magiging ganap na patay na planeta kung walang kulay. Datapuwa’t dahilan kay Iris na sadyang may isang ba-haghari ng iba’t ibang kulay na nakabalantok sa himpa-pawid, na ang magkabilang dulo’y mahiwagang nakaan-gat sa langit at sa di matarok na hanggahan ng lupa, di kalayuan sa tinatawag na “guhit-tagpuan” ng daigdig ay nagkabuhay, nagkaroon ng kahulugan, at nangyari tuloy na magkatao ito, hanggang sa umunlad at makilala ang dalawang uri ng Paraiso, pag-katapos, ng daan-daang taon, ang Paraisong Nagmaliw, na nakita lamang sa guniguni ng isang dakilang Milton.

Kaya nga’t buhat nang umusbong ang isang hamak na ugat, na nagmula sa isang mahiwagang binhi ng Kata-lagahan, iyang halama’y umunlad at yumabong din; datapuwa’t kasabay ng pagya-bong na ito ay ang pagkaka-roon ng likas na kulay ng kanyang mga sanga at dahon, na “hango” at “hiram” sa kulay na nasa bahaghari ng dakilang Iris.

Ang bunga ng kahoy, na makikilala sa kulay kung hi-law o hinog na’y mahiwagang biyaya rin ng Katalagahan, na “ibiniyaya” naman nang lipos ng kababalaghan ni Iris, sa tulong ng kanyang balag na “bukal” ng kulay. Kaya’t ang mga unang tumao sa iba’t ibang panig ng daigdig, lalo na sa kagubatan, kabilang na rito ang mababangis na hayop at taong-bundok, ay nakakilala agad kung alin ang bungang-kahoy na maaaring mapakinabangan at maaaring makapagdulot pa ng pagkain sa kanila. Kasabay niyan, ay napagtiyak din naman nila, na ang mga dahon ng kahoy, sa taglay na kulay nito, ay

Iris – Ang Reyna ng Sandaigdig na KulayKuwento ni Alberto Segismundo Cruz

maaaring mabatid agad ang lagay ng panahon at halu-migmig. Kung luntian at nasa yamungmong, ang taglilim at panahon ng kasariwaan ay patuloy; datapuwa’t kung abuhin na at nangalalanta na, nangangahulugang mainit ang singaw ng panahon kundi man nananalasa ang matinding init ni Apolo, na nagpaparamdam sa ubaning Lupa ng kanyang lakas at kapangyarihan.

Gayon din naman, si Iris, sa pamamagitan ng kanyang mahiwagang kapangyarihan, ay naaaring magpabatid, kapagdaka, sa paghihilamos lamang ng langit, alalaong baga, kung umuulan man, wa-lang ibig na sabihin ito kundi ‘’naghihilamos’’ lamang ang kaayaayang mukha ng lan-git, matapos na maglamay sa buong magdamag sa pagtang-kilik sa mga anak ng liwanag

sa kandungan ng gabi. Ang mga anak na ito’y walang iba kundi sina Buwan at mga Bituin.

Subali’t matapos ang mahabang pa-nahon ng pag-inog ng daigdig at takbo ng mga pangyayari, ang pag-iisa ni Iris ay kanyang di-namdam. Maaaring mayaman siya sa kulay at kaningnin-gan, maaring may mga alipin siyang Dioses, na pangu-nahin na si Hermes, na nauutusan niya nang kasing-bilis ni Kidlat, datapuwa’t ang puso niya’y laging tumitibok nang masasal.

Sa wakas, saman-talang nakasandig siya sa pagkakatulog nang di-sinasa-dya sa tabi ng kanyang mahi-wagang balag, walang anu-ano, sa gitna ng karimlan ay parang may biglang napunit na dakilang bagay sa Langit-Silangan. Nagulantang siya at kinusot na mabuti ang kan-yang magagandang mata, na nanghiram ng luningning sa mga bituin, sa pag-aalaalang baka iyon ay isang kaaway o isang makapangyarihang mandirigama na nagnanais na umagaw sa kanya.

Hindi rito natapos ang kanyang agam-agam at sikdo ng dibdib. Kasabay ng pag-kahawi ng dilim ay parang isinaboy sa kanya ang san-daigdig na halimuyak buhat sa pabango ng mga bulaklak-gubat, kasabay ang marikit na awit ng mga ibong nagpalipat-lipat sa mga sanga ng kahoy at ng lagaslas ng tubig sa dako roon, sa kabila ng kakapalan ng kakahuyan, na para bagang lumilikha ng isang marikit na kundiman ng pag-ibig na kailan man ay hindi pa niya naririnig sa buo niyang buhay.

Lalong tumibok nang masasal ang kanyang puso. Hindi siya makatatagal. Hindi maaring di isuko ang kapang-yarihan ng kanyang pagka-bathala sa gayong gayuma ng lalong makapangyarihang la-kas at balani, na humihikayat sa puso niya.

Umiibig si Iris. Umiibig ang Reyna ng Bahaghari. At nang unti-unti nang mahawi ang durungawan ng Langit-Si-langan na magdamag na may lambong na luksa ng Gabi, ay nakilala niya si Bukang-Liwayway, ang bunsong binatang Prinsipe ng Walang Maliw na Liwanag, na tiyak na magmamana ng buong kaharian ni Apolo sa buong panahon ng Katagarawan at Walang Maliw na Pagtanglaw sa Daigdig.

Walang anu-ano’y narinig niyang may isang tinig na nangungusap, na sa bawa’t bahagi’y sumasaliw man din ang musika ng Katalagahang kangi-kangina lamang ay kan-yang naulinigan.

-- Iris! Reyna ng lahat ng Kulay, ibig kong maging alipin mo sa habang panahon. Kung ako’y magiging mara-pat, nais kong maging him-

layan ang iyong bahaghari. ---- Sino ka? -- ang usisa ni

Iris, na lipos ng panggigilalas, bagaman naaakit na ganap ang kanyang puso. --

-- Sino pa? Kung hindi si Prinsipe ng Walang Maliw na Liwanag. -- At narama, kapagdaka, ni Iris na ang kan-yang sinapupunan ay nagka-ilaw, kasabay ng pagsaboy na muli ng mahiwagang hal-imuyak sa kanyang paligid.

-- Paano ko matitiyak ang katapatan ng iyong pag-ibig, kung ang iyong ama’y kai-langan pang magpasiya? – tanong sa di-kawasa ni Iris.

-- Sa pag-ibig ay dalawa lamang ang nag-uusap. Puso lamang na tumitibok ang nagsasalita. Kaluluwa lamang ang nakababatid - ang sa dala-wang kaluluwa ng sumusuyo’t sinusuyo! -- anang Prinsipe ng WalangMaliw na Liwanag. . .

-- Kay tamis mong mangu-sap! Bukas din mababatid mo ang aking katugunan. Uutusan ko sa iyo si Hermes, na isang tunay na bayani ng pag-ibig. Inibig niya ang maging alipin kong utusan sa habang pa-nahon, huwag lamang na marinig niya sa aking labi na siya’y hindi ko iniibig baga-man siya lamang ang maaar-ing makipaghabulan sa kidlat at makahuli ng aking mga kalapating tagapaghatid ng sariling damdamin sa apat na sulok ng himpapawid. --

-- Maghihintay ako, kung gayon! Sa oras ding ito! -- At nagtangkang humalik ang Prinsipe ng Walang Maliw na Liwanag sa Reyna Iris o Rey-na ng Bahaghari. Sa pagkakat-aong yaon, ang sandaigdig na kulay ay lalong kuminang: Gumanda wari ang kagubatan, sa biglang pagba-bagong-damit ng mga punong-kahoy, halaman, at mga bunga nito. Gayon din ang pakpak ng mga ibon, paruparo, saka ang langit, tubig, at ka-lawakan. Lalong naghari ang “kagan-dahan” ng daigdig sa balat ng lupa, at nag-aanyaya mandin ang Katalagahan sa kabataan. Kaya’t biglang-bigla na lamang bumalantok ang bahaghari. . . Pula, dilaw, luntian, bughaw - mga sali-gang-kulay na naging tulay kapagdaka, na ang isang dulo ay nasa isang panig ng langit at ang kabilang dulo’y nakahangga naman sa isang mahiwagang pook ng lupa, na diumano’y siyang katu-tuklasan ng walang maliw na kayamanan.

Nang masdan ng mga taong-bundok ang balantok o bahaghari sila’y nagpanak-buhan. Akala nila’y babala na iyon ng isang wakas, kundi man tanda ng isang masamang panahon. Nagpanakbuhan sila at sa mga lunday na nasa baybay-dagat ay nag-unahang magsisakay; nguni’t walang anu-ano’y bumuhos ang malamig na ulan – maninipis na hilatsa ng sutlang ulan – na bumasa sa kanila at sa hiwaga ng lamig nito’y nagkaroon sila ng panibagong dilidili.

Nagsibalik uli sila sa daan upang mapanunghan ang isang maliwanag na katangha-lian. Nakita nila, higit sa dati, ang dilag ng kanilang paligid. Nasamyo ang kailan man ay hindi nila nasasamyong hang-ing may pabango ng mga bu-laklak-gubat. Saka nadinig pa ang kailan man ay hindi nila naririnig na musika ng Kata-lagahan: ang marikit na awit

ng mga ibon, ang lagaslas ng batis, ang bru-bru ng dahon, ang dampi ng mayuming alon sa pasigan, saka ang langitngit ng kawayanan, sa dako roon, na sa kanilang humahangang paningin ay walang iniwan sa malantik na baywang ng isang hadang nagsasayaw sa kagu-batan.

Ang mga nagsipamayang ito sa kabundukan at mga kinapal sa lupa na di pa naka-sisinag ng kahi’t bahagyang liwanag ng kabihasnan ay parang nahihikayat na lu-mapit sa mga punong-kahoy, halaman, batis at ilog; at noon nila natuklas, sa unang pagkakataon, na kailangan ang pagtatangkilik nila upang manatili ang mga biyayang nasabi ng Katalagahan na siyang makapagpapatuloy sa kanila sa kabuhayang kasi-yasiya roon.

Nasinag nila sa bughaw, nguni’t maliwanag na tubig, ang naglangoy-langoy na isda, napagkilala nila ang mga dahon ng kahoy na maaaring maging panlunas sa mga kara-mdaman, natuklasan nila ang bukal nang walang maliw na kabataan, (sapagka’t dalisay na maiinom), saka natagpuan din naman nila ang ilang uri ng hayop na maaari nilang pakinabangan at maaari pang makatulong sa gawain.

Anopa’t ang sumunod na ikot ng daigdig sa Orasan ng Palad, na maikli lamang sa mga taong-bundok ay maitata-la na nang kung ilang daang taon, hanggang sa matutuhan nila ang gumawa ng tahanan buhat sa mga kahoy at iba pang sangkap ng kagubatan at magsipagpatulo ng pawis, samantalang sumisikat ang araw, na nagpapasigla sa ka-nilang katawan.

Datapuwa’t sa orasan ng mga Dioses, lalo na sa kay Iris at sa Prinsipe ng Liwanag,

ay nagdaan lamang ang maghapon at isa pang magdamag upang sila’y magka-watasan na gaya nang kanilang pinagkasun-duan.

Sa buong liwanag ng araw na du-lot ni Apolo, ang Prinsipe ng Walang Maliw na Liwanag, ay nagtapat sa kanyang ama. Ipina-hayag ang laman ng dibdib at

ang dahilan ng pagnanais na makita uli si Iris – ang Reyna ng Sandaigdig na Kulay.

--Talaga pong iniibig ko si Iris! – pagtatapat ng Prinsipe ng Walang Maliw na Liwa-nag.

--Hangal! – ani Apolo.-- Ibig mong sabihing

isusuko mo ang Liwanag natin, na siyang biyaya ng lakas at buhay sa daigdig, sa isa lamang bahaghari ng mga kulay? –

-- Wala po sa isip ko ang isuko ang ating kapangyari-han. Puso ko po ang nagpasi-ya na ako’y umibig sa kanya hangga’t ako’y Prinsipe ng Liwanag at habang nagiging tungkulin ko ang pumunit sa Kortina ng Gabi sa Langit-Silangan. --

-- Ah! Talagang hangal ka, anak ko. Ngayon pa lamang ay napaaalipin na ang iyong kaluluwa kay Iris. Walang utang na loob. Malaon na akong may balak na ipagtapat sa iyo na ang hirang ko ay si Aurora. Mahabag ka kay Aurora na sa pagbabangon mo pa lamang sa Langit-Silangan ay nagsasabog na ng mga bulaklak sa iyong daraanan. Kahabag-habag siya . . . --

-- Ngun’t, ama ko. Na kay Iris po ang aking puso! -- mat-igas na pahayag ng Prinsipe ng Liwanag.

-- Kung gayon ang ibig mo, kailan man, anak ko, ay hindi matutupad ang inyong nais, sapagka’t hindi maaaring paalipin ang Liwanag – ang

biyaya’t lakas ng daigdig – sa kalipunan lamang ng mga kulay. --

-- Ama ko! – Sa kulay po nagkakahulugan ang buong daigdig. Nakilala ang bulaklak sa kanilang iba’t ibang kulay. Dumilag sila at lalong nag-ing mapanghalina, bukod pa sa mga bunga ng kahoy, ay lalong nagkahalaga, sapagka’t nabatid ng mga kinapal sa lupa ang kahalagahan ng isa’t isa sa kanilang buhay at kabu-hayan. --

-- Minsan lamang akong magpasiya, anak ko, -- ani Apolo.

Hindi na nakapangusap pa ang Prinsipe; at walang anu-ano’y narinig niya ang tinig ni Hermes na nag-usisa:

-- Ako po ang alipin ni Iris – ng aking Reyna. Ibig pong mabatid ng Kanyang Sang-haya kung magaganap ang inyong salitaan. --

Napipi ang Prinsipe ng Walang Maliw na Liwanag. Napatungo sa lupa, at naluha.

Lalaki ang Prinsipe ng Walang Maliw na Liwanag. Nguni’t lalaki man ay natutu-han din ang lumuha. Nalaglag ang mga patak ng luhang ito. Naging hamog sa mga bulak-lak . . .

. . . Samantalang si Hermes, na mabilis pa noon kaysa Kidlat ay nagbalik sa Reyna ng Bahaghari at ini-hatid ang malungkot na balita.

Tugon ng Prinsipe ng Walang Maliw na Liwanag ay hindi nabigkas ng bibig. Nasabi sa kanyang luha. Madarama pa nga sa labi ng mga bulaklak. Lalo na ng mga bulaklak sa kagubatan!

Noon din ay nagdalang-poot si Iris. Poot na may himig-panibugho. Batid niya ang lihim ni Apolo: Ang nais

nito sa kanyang bunsong prin-sipe upang makaisang-dibdib si Aurora.

Kaya’t sa ilang saglit lamang ay nag-utos na kay Hermes upang makipaghabu-lan sa Kidlat. Pinakilos ang mga panginorin sa himpa-pawid. Pinapagdilim ang langit kahi’t katanghalian at nasa karurukan si Apolo. Nagluksa man din pati mga dahon at nagtungo ng ulo ang mga talulot at bulaklak. Noon din ay nagsala-salabat ang kidlat sa kalawakan. Narinig ang nakakabingaw na kulog. Nahintakutan ang daigdig!

Kaya’t mula na noon ay nangupas na ang maraming kulay. Kulay sa mga dahon at bulaklak. Nagbago na ng lakad ang mga pangyayari. Namatay na ang sigla ng buhay. At, ang Tag-araw at Tag-ulan, ay sumasapit sa pana-panahon. Naging tiyak din naman ang Tadhana: ang mga bagay at kinapal sa lupa na walang maliw ay nagmaliw na ri’t napatakda sa Kanluran ang paghihingalo ni Apolo. Nguni’t patuloy ang ganyang takbo nga ng mga pangyayari. Saka ang lalong malungkot ay nalalanta na ang mga bulaklak kundi man nangungupas ang mga kulay . . .

-- Ay! -- buntong-hininga ng Reyna ng Sandaigdig na Kulay.

-- Ay! – ang tugong bun-tong-hiniga rin ng Prinsipe ng Walang Maliw na Liwanag sa Langit-Silangan.

Nguni’t kailan man ay hindi na natupad pa ang kanilang pangarap, kaya’t ang Reyna ng Bahaghari ay naging patrona na lamang ng mga alagad ng sining, lalo na ng mga batikang alagad ng D’Vina.


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To:

From: Eugene De Leon

Herewith is proof of your classified ad for publication in the Asian Journal. Please proofread i t and fax back the correction if any or call us for your approval. The ad is tentatively scheduled to be published in the

issue of the Asian Journal if we receive your approval on time. At $4 per line

lines, it costs

$______.00 to be paid upon your receipt of the invoice and tear sheet. Thank you.

Fax #

If approved please sign and fax back to

(619) 474-0373

__________________

Asian JournalFirst Asian Weekly Newspaper in Southern California & San Diego’s Most Widely Circulated Asian-Filipino Newspaper

550 East 8th Street, Suite 6, National City CA 91950 • Tel. (619) 474-0588 • Fax (619) 474-0373

01/28/10

L Escamilla

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PUBLIC NOTICE OF AVAILABILITY OF A DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT/ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE SAN DIEGO REGIONAL BEACH SAND PROJECT II

The San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG), as lead agency, has prepared a Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) of 1970 statutes (Cal. Pub. Res. Code § 21 et seq., as amended) and implementing guidelines (Cal. Code Regs., Title 14, § 15000 et seq. (1998)).

The Regional Beach Sand Project II (RBSP II) would place sand on up to 11 of the region’s eroding beaches. A similar project was completed in 2001 and was built as a pilot project. The proposed project would dredge sediment (beach quality sand) from three offshore borrow sites and place the material at up to 11 receiver sites from Oceanside in the north to Imperial Beach in the south.

The Draft EIR/Environmental Assessment (EA) evaluates the environmental impacts associated with project implementation. Additionally, the draft EIR/EA includes the analysis of project impacts associated with Geol-ogy and Soils, Coastal Wetlands, Water Resources, Biological Resources, Cultural Resources, Land and Water Use, Aesthetics, Socioeconomics, Public Health and Safety, Structures and Utilities, Traffic, Air Quality, Noise and Climate Change. No significant environmental impacts were identified..In accordance with §15105 of the CEQA Guidelines, this public notice officially notifies the general public, public agencies, and interested individuals and organizations that a 45-day public review period will begin on January 26, 2011. Written comments regarding the adequacy of this Draft EIR must be received by March 14, 2011.

Comments should be addressed or e-mailed to: Rob Rundle, SANDAG, 401 B Street, Suite 800, San Diego, CA 92101; [email protected]. Please include the name of a contact person.

Hard copies of the EIR/EA and associated documents are available at the following locations during normal business hours: SANDAG office, participating jurisdictions, and local libraries. The Draft EIR/EA can be found at www.sandag.org/shoreline. For more information on the Draft EIR/EA or on public meetings held the first week in February, please contact Rob Rundle at (619) 699-6949.

To:

From: Eugene De Leon

Herewith is proof of your classified ad for publication in the Asian Journal. Please proofread i t and fax back the correction if any or call us for your approval. The ad is tentatively scheduled to be published in the

issue of the Asian Journal if we receive your approval on time. At $4 per line

lines, it costs

$______.00 to be paid upon your receipt of the invoice and tear sheet. Thank you.

Fax #

If approved please sign and fax back to

(619) 474-0373

__________________

Asian JournalFirst Asian Weekly Newspaper in Southern California & San Diego’s Most Widely Circulated Asian-Filipino Newspaper

550 East 8th Street, Suite 6, National City CA 91950 • Tel. (619) 474-0588 • Fax (619) 474-0373

01/28/10

Tala Pinones

1x4x1040

Research Analyst

The Research Analyst will assist with the design, implementation, and analysis of various studies that support agency projects, programs, and policy initiatives in criminal justice, public safety and health, transportation, land-use planning, economics, and demographics. Qualifications: a bachelor’s degree in criminology, sociology, regional planning, demography, economics, or a related field, and one to three years of data compilation and/or research experience, preferably in an applied research environment. Three limited term positions are avail-able. SANDAG offers competitive salaries and benefits. Visit www.sandag.org/jobs or call (619) 699-1900 for information. Closes: February 11, 2011. EOE.

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Not eligible for Medi-• care, non-emergency Medic-aid, or CHIP.

Entitled to continued • eligibility under current fed-eral law for emergency care and emergency Medicaid if low-income.

Entitled to continued • eligibility under current fed-eral law for non-emergency health services at community health centers or safety-net hospitals.

CHILDREN OF UN-DOCUMENTED PARENTS

Citizen or lawfully • present immigrant children are eligible to purchase “child-only coverage” from the state insurance Exchange,

Citizen or lawfully • present immigrant children are eligible for tax credits that reduce premiums and cost-sharing reductions

Citizen or lawfully • present immigrant children are eligible for Medicaid or CHIP.

IMMIGRATIONDOMESTIC VIOLENCEVerbal, Physical, Emotion-

al and Sexual abuse towards your partner. Signs include hitting, choking, isolating, criticizing, saying no to sexual advances and still forced to do sexual acts.

VAWA:VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT

Self-petitioning process passed in 1994. Men are also

qualified to VAWA so long as they meet the criteria for VAWA. It is not exclusive for women.

Generally immigrant victims of domestic violence who have a pending petition under VAWA can receive full coverage Medi-Cal. If they are undocumented (have not yet filed a VAWA petition or do not qualify); they already qualify for emergency Medi-Cal for pregnancy. Many pregnant immigrant women who are victims of DV by their USC or LPR spouse will likely qualify for VAWA to ac-cess full coverage Medi-Cal.

Q: Who qualifies for VAWA?

A: Those who can show they were abused by spouse, parent or a child 21 and over, who is a U.S citizen or legal permanent resident (Green Card holder).

Q: How to win a VAWA petition?

A: Requirements for a suc-cessful VAWA petition are:

Must have resided • with abuser.

Abuse does NOT • NEED to have taken place in the U.S.

Must have a good faith • marriage to US Citizen or legal permanent resident.

Suffered battery and/• or extreme cruelty during the relationship.

Good moral character• Declaration•

For information about public health benefits already available to VAWA eligible applicants, please see website http://www.vawahealthaccess.com.

RESOURCES

Health Care Reform Website: www.healthcare.gov

San Diego Asian and Pa-cific Islanders Community: www.sdapi.org

ACCESS, Inc (VAWA applications): www.access-2jobs.org

DOMESTIC VIO-LENCE:

YWCA of San Diego – 24-Hour Domestic Vio-

lence Hotline: (619) 234-3146Domestic violence and

Sexual Assault Hotline, San Diego County and Center for Community Solutions

-24 Hour Toll Free Cri-sis Clinic (888) DV LINKS (385-4657)

Crisis House, El Cajon Re-source Center (619) 444-1194

South Bay Community Services Resource Center 24 Hour Hotline (800) 640-2933 or (619) 420-3620

For EMERGENCIES, Dial 911

HOW TO FIND THE

REPRESENTATIVE OR SENATOR FOR YOUR AREA:

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/findyourreps.xpd

Click on this website and enter your zip code to find out the names of the members of Congress representing your area.

Senate Members Repre-senting CA

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D)Local office contact info:Office of U.S. Senator

Dianne Feinstein750 B Street, Suite 1030 San Diego, CA 92101 (619) 231-9712 phone (619) 231-1108 faxWebsite: feinstein.senate.

govSen. Barbara Boxer (D)Local office contact info:Office of U.S. Senator Bar-

bara Boxer600 B Street, Suite 2240San Diego, CA 92101(619) 239-3884 phone(202) 228-3863 faxWebsite: Boxer.senate.gov

House of Representatives Congressional Districts in San Diego

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-49)Represents part or all of the

following areas: Fallbrook, Lake Elsinore, Oceanside,

Perris, San Diego, Temec-ula, Vista, Julian, Wildomar, Valley Center

Website: issa.house.gov

1800 Thibodo Road, #310 Vista, CA 92081 Phone: (760) 599-5000 Fax: (760)599-1178Rep. Brian Bilbray (R-

50)Represents part or all of

the following areas: Carlsbad, Del Mar, Encinitas, Escon-dido, San Diego, San Marcos,

Solana Beach, Fairbanks Ranch, Lake San Marcos, Rancho Santa Fe.

Website: bilbray.house.gov

462 Stevens Avenue, Suite 107 Solana Beach, CA 92075 Phone: (858) 350-1150 Fax: (858) 350-0750

Rep. Bob Filner (D-51)Represents part or all of

the following areas: south-ern half of City of SD, Chula Vista, National City, southern border of San Diego County, all of Imperial County

Website: www.house.gov/filner/

333 F Street, Suite A Chula Vista, CA 91910Phone: (619) 422-5963Fax: (619) 422-7290 1101 Airport Road, Suite DImperial, CA 92251 Phone: (760) 355-8800 Fax: (760) 355-8802

Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-52)

Represents part or all of the following areas: Alpine, Borrego Springs, El Cajon, La Mesa, Lemon Grove, Poway, Ramona, and Santee.

Website: www.hunter.house.gov

1870 Cordell Ct, Ste 206 El Cajon, CA, CA 92020

Phone: (619) 448-5201 Fax: (619) 449-2251

Rep. Susan Davis (D-53)4305 University Avenue

Suite 515 San Diego, CA 92105 Phone: (619) 280-5353 website: www.house.gov/su-sandavis/

HOUSEKEEPING/COOKING- Experience with

young children- References required

- LIve-in or Live-out- Del Mar Heights

Call 858-943-1580

HELP WANTED


Community

By Ardee Lee | SAN DIEGO, 1/27/2011 -- By acclamation, members of the Baguio City As-sociation of San Diego decided to extend tenure of most of the officers of the Association to 2011 to 2012. Lalaine Velasco who took over the presidency has been acclaimed to continue with the office. Julius Sinlao continues to be vice-president for operations; Edith Donaldson, secretary; and Pura Gordon, treasurer. The acclamation was held November 6, 2010 at the Lutuang Best office at National City.

The Association is composed of natives and former residents of the City of Pines. In the words of Fredz Madriaga, audi-tor and property custodian of the association, “anybody who had gone up Zigzag Road could be a member of the association.” Thus, even transient students in the various colleges and univer-sities of the City could be mem-bers. The association dedicates itself as a melting group where members renew their spiritual identification with the City that

had been part of their lives where relationships are renewed, reinvigorated, or built. At least once a year, during its Arbor Day picnics, this dedication is accomplished.

The association also identi-fies projects with which they could give back to Baguio City. Its recent notable project was the sending of fire gears to the Sunshine Firefighter Volunteers. The gears were donated by the San Diego Firefighters upon the arrangement of Fred Gallardo.

Other officers retained were Rebecca Reclusado, assistant treasurer; Rudy D. Liporada, PRO; Rico Bona, assistant PRO. Board of Directors retained were Audie Amaranto, Pete Tanglao, Ed Matulac, Art Teodoro, Cesar Almonte, Chris Ares, and Lilian Ares. New officers elected were Mackee Stephenson, vice-pres-ident for administration; Gary Caguioa and Martius Prado, marshalls; Laida Vasudeo and Dolly Masadao, directors.

Induction of officers is set for February 19, 2011 at Holiday Inn by the Bay.

Baguio City Association extends tenure of officers

Members of the Association. At center, front, is Lalaine Velasco. (Photo by Martius Prado)

by Manny Paez and Bobby Rigoroso

Last January 14, 2011, the Pili-pino American Shippers Associa-tion of balikbayan box industry in California had their meeting at the Manila Forwarder office in Eagle Rock Blvd, Los Angeles, CA.

The event was attended by Philippine Trade Representative Hon. Archimedes Gomez who mentioned the complaints the Phil-ippine Department of Trade and In-dustry has received due to unscru-pulous balikbayan box company providers. He also assured that the Philippine government will do its part in regulating the industry.

Various ideas was exchanged to protect the consumers and the industry itself both in the USA and Philippine –side.

On the Philippine-side, the governing agency of the balik-bayan box industry is Philippine Department of Trade and Industry’s Philippine Shipper’s Bureau. The Philippine Government has no recourse against balikbayan box companies who fails to deliver if the company is not accredited by PSB. It can only order a “cease and desist to operate order “, which will be too late for the consumers.

The solution to this, as per discussion, is that US-based companies should open their own operations in the Philippines. This however, is unfair to those compa-nies who are just starting up. Open-ing a freight forwarding business in the Philippines or in any part of the world is capital intensive.

One solution that was brought up was that Philippine-based companies who will accept the balikbayan box cargoes of a foreign principal must post a bond to effect clearing and deliveries of balik-bayan boxes if the foreign princi-pal failed to pay their Philippine counterpart.

One of the reasons why a balikbayan box is not being cleared thru customs or not being delivered is because the US or any foreign

company fails to pay their Philip-pine counter part. These have been prevalent due to cut-throat com-petition, offering low prices even beyond ones cost.

On the US-side, regular speak-ers will be invited to educate all of the members in various US Gov-ernment regulations and opportuni-ties. This will include US Home-land Security, US Department of Commerce, US Small Business Administration, US Internal Rev-enue Service, State Fund, OSHA, among others.

Although there was a last minute change in the location of the meeting which was originally scheduled at FACLA , this did not stop more than 30 balikbayan box industry movers and shakers to attend.

It is notable to state that Mr. Joel Longares of Atlas Shippers and Mr. JP Carino of Forex were both in attendance and provided pointers and tips for everyone.

One of the points that was agreed upon was the weight limit of balikbayan boxes. For safety and government regulation ( OSHA and Worker’s Comp ) purposes, balikbayan boxes and jumbo boxes from customers should weigh less than 150 lbs., The term “ buhat-able” can be used to put humor in implementing this weight restric-tions. The whole group will reject such heavy shipments.

As an alternative, heavy items can be split into various boxes and not just one. It is also notable to remind the consumers that there is a Philippine Bureau of Customs balikbayan circular restriction of sending items that is more than 12 of a kind.

For a complete list of illegal and or restricted items for shipping, please visit:http://www.manilafor-warder.com/restrictions.html

Next PASA meeting will be on February 23, 2011 at 5 PM sharp in FACLA located at 1740 W Temple St, Los Angeles. CA. All balik-bayan box company executives are encouraged to attend.

PASA – Pilipino American Shippers Association, Bringing back the

Integrity of Balikbayan Box Industry

APAC Roundtable Meeting with City Council President Tony Young

Jasmine Seafood RestaurantConvoy Street, San Diego, California

Wednesday, February 16, 2011, at 6:00 PM

AGENDA6:00 pm Welcome and Introduction - Dr. Allen Chan & Mitz Lee re Update on Redistricting

Commission of the City of San Diego 6:10 pm Roundtable discussion with City Council

President Tony Young - Presentation of Proposed District Maps

6:45 pm Preparation for the February 3 & 17 Commission hearings --

a. Support current Proposed Map – Rancho Penasquitos, Mira Mesa, Miramar Base and Kearny Mesa area; b. Organize Speakers

Other Matters/ AnnouncementsUpdate on State Redistricting – Prop.11 Community Events

Note: Redistricting Commission Scheduled Hearings:Thursday, February 3 at 4:00 pm, City Administration Building,

Committee Room, 12th floor; Thursday, February 17 at 4:00 pm, City Administration Building, Committee Room, 12th floor

asian journal january 28, 2011 issue

Documents