January 16-31, 201422

January 16-31, 201444

Alert leads to timely release for Fil-Am kidnap victimANTIOCH, California. The

AMBER alert may have led to freedom for seven-year-old Nat-alie Calvo hours after she was forcibly taken from her mother on the evening of Jan. 3 as they returned home from a trip to the grocery.

The girls mother, Gina Calvo, said she tried to fi ght the lone abductor but backed off when he pulled out a gun. She reported the incident and an AMBER alert (Americas Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response) was immediately put out on radio, TV, cable, satellite

and internet stations, emails and text messages.

Police arrested David Allen Douglas, 43, who had shad-owed the girl and her mother when they were shopping at the Walmart in East Bay. When they got home, Douglas, who police described as Filipino, made his move.

The abduction happened at 6:45 p.m. and Natalie was found at about midnight after law enforcement received a tip from the AMBER alert. Police were able to fi nd Natalie in Douglas car at a downtown marina.

The seven-year-old was

reunited with her family after

the traumatic experience. She suffered no injuries from the incident.

The fi rst few hours after a child is kidnapped is the most critical in rescuing them. The longer a child is gone after an abduction, the less their chances are of survival.

Natalies father Eric told ABS-CBNs Balitang America that his daughter is just rest-ing. Some of Natalies friends dropped off letters for her.

Im really glad youre home and youre safe, Brianna, a friend of Natalie, said.

Natalies abduction has left the community here worried for their own safety. Nakakatakot, kasi yung Walmart na pinang-galingan nila, namimili din kami doon eh. Tapos yung fact na sinundan sila dito, eh, ibig sabi-hin, kahit kanino, puwedeng mangyari yon, said Dennis Her-rera, a neighbor in the Balitang America report.

Of course Im really con-cerned because I dont want this to happen to any other kid. But Im glad they caught him, Syl-vester Williams, a neighbor, said.

Fil-Am labor activist to head Asian American councilWASHINGTON D.C. Labor

activist Gregory Cendana has been elected to head the execu-tive committee of the National Council of Asian Pacifi c Ameri-cans (NCAPA), a coalition of 31 national organizations.

Cendana is also the execu-tive director of the Washington-based Asian Pacifi c American Labor Alliance (APALA). He is the fi rst Filipino and the fi rst openly gay NCAPA chairperson.

The coalitions execu-tive committee will spearhead its efforts in achieving greater policy presence and impact for Asian-American, Native Hawai-ian and Pacifi c Hawaiian com-munities.

Cendana and the rest of the executive committee members

will serve two-year terms and are expected to lead the coalition in advancing Asian and Pacifi c Islander interests in America.

I [am] truly humbled to be elected as the next NCAPA chair, Cendana said in an Asian Journal article.

We, as a council, are in a unique political moment and are poised to make some major advancement for our commu-nity. With new resources, we have been building our capacity over the last couple of years and are ready to take it to the next level, he said.

The other newly elected offi -cers include Asian Americans Advancing Justice Executive Director Mee Moua (vice chair of programs), Japanese Ameri-

can Citizens League executive director Priscilla Ouchida (vice chair of membership), National Asian Pacifi c American Wom-

ens Forum executive director Miriam Yeung (vice chair of com-munications and development), Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund executive director Jasjit Singh (secretary), and National Coalition for Asian Pacifi c American Community Development executive director Lisa Hasegawa (treasurer).

According to Cendana, his election to chairmanship means there will be an additional plat-form to help connect the history, struggle and experience of the Filipino community with others in the AANHPI community.

Aside from the Filipino

agenda, Cendana said he would also like to advocate for such critical issues as the comprehen-sive immigration reform, federal recognition of Native Hawaiians, increase in the minimum wage, and passage of the Employee Non Discrimination Act.

As the NCAPA is a mem-bership-based coalition of more than 30 national organizations, Cendana encourages Filipinos to engage in one of the member groups, like APALA and the National Federation of Filipino American Associations. A full list of these groups can be found on NCAPAonline.org.

Young Pinay motorist killed by drunk driver

BAKERSFIELD, Ca.

Family, friends and co-workers

of a 22-year-old Filipina respi-

ratory therapist are mourning

her death after she was killed

in a hit-and-run accident with

another driver who was report-

edly drunk last January 3.

The report on local ABC

News station identifi ed the

victim as Princess Almonido-

var, who worked as a respira-

tory therapist at San Joaquin

Community Hospital.

The report, which quoted

Bakersfi eld Police, indicated

24-year-old Alex Rubio was

speeding when his vehicle col-

lided with Almonidovars vehi-

cle in the intersection of Ming

Ave. and New Stine Road at 3

a.m.

Almonidovar, who

had right of way, was killed

instantly.

Police said after the acci-

dent, Rubio ran from his vehi-

cle, but was apprehended. He

was later charged with driving

under the infl uence of drugs

and alcohol, felony hit and run,

felony vehicular manslaughter,

and resisting arrest.

There is a memorial fund

set up for Princess family at

Kern Schools Federal Credit

Union for Princess Flores

Almonidovar Account #42352.

San Joaquin Commu-

nity Hospital, where she had

been employed for only 18

months, issued this statement:

Although she worked at our

hospital for just a short time,

Princess was loved by her co-

workers and a shining exam-

ple for young people working

toward a career in health care.

She will be missed by everyone

here at San Joaquin Community

Hospital. During this diffi cult

time, we extend our thoughts

and prayers to Princess family

and friends as they deal with

the full force of this tragedy.

Natalie Calvo

Gregory Cendana

Princess Almonidovar

Ambassador Jose L. Cuisia Jr. with members of the Vietnamese commu-nity who turned over almost $20,000 they were able to raise for victims of Typhoon Yolanda, including $1,000 raised by 10th grader Francis Nguyen from a paper crane folding fund-raising project. Nguyen along with friends Chieu Le, Teresa Do, and Kali Gabriel got their families, neighbors, and friends to fold a thousand paper cranes for Filipino children in typhoon devastated areas. A dollar was donated for each crane made. (Philippine Embassy Photo by Majalya Fernando)

January 16-31, 2014 5

PH seeks duty-free access to US for goods from typhoon-hit regionsWASHINGTON, D.C. If it

really wants to help the Phil-ippines rise from the devasta-tion of super typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), the countrys chief envoy here said the United States can grant preferential trade con-cessions that can spur economic activity in affected communities.

Similar to what the United States did following the Haiti earthquake, the Philippines is looking at possible trade prefer-ence for products from Haiyan-affected areas, Cuisia said at a talk before the Center for Stra-tegic and International Studies (CSIS) on Jan. 8.

He said the Philippines is looking at arrangements that will allow duty-free access for a limited period of time for a lim-ited number of products coming from the affected areas, mostly in the Central Visayas.

In his presentation, Cuisia again expressed his appreciation to the US government and the American people for the gener-ous assistance extended to the Philippines in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan.

The typhoon, one of stron-gest in recorded history, killed 6,183 people dead, affected 2.6 million families and displaced

930,000 others. Another 28,626 people were injured and 1,785 people remain missing.

He said, the total US assis-tance package from the US gov-ernment alone is estimated at around $85 million and covered food aid, shelter materials, clean water, and hygiene education and supplies for affected families as well as protection for vulner-able populations.

This amount includes the $25 million in additional aid announced by Secretary of State John Kerry during his visit to Tacloban in December. The US Chamber of Commerce Typhoon

Haiyan Corporate Aid Tracker has also reported over $51.8 mil-lion-worth of business pledges to support recovery efforts.

There is much work to be done, and in the spirit of the alli-ance and partnership we have shared, we continue to count on your invaluable assistance, Ambassador Cuisia said, adding that at least $8.2 billion is needed for the Reconstruction Assis-tance on Yolanda Plan that the Philippine government unveiled last month.

He said priority needs include shelter, food, debris removal, water systems and

access to sanitation facilities.

Other priorities include liveli-

hood, public health services,

education and national protec-

tion capacity.

The forum entitled US

Response to Typhoon Haiyan

in the Philippines was hosted

by CSIS and Abbott, and moder-

ated by Murray Hiebert, Deputy

Director and Senior Fellow and

Ernest Bower, Senior Adviser at

the Sumitro Chair for Southeast

Asian Studies of CSIS.

January 16-31, 2014 7

January 16-31, 2014 9

January 16-31, 20141818

January 16-31, 2014 19

Fil-Am whiz, SnapChat partner turn down $3-B buy-out offerWASHINGTON D.C. The

founders of Snapchat, reputedly the hottest private messaging application in the United States right now, has reportedly turned down a $3-billion offer from Facebooks Mark Zuckerberg.

Twenty-three-year old Evan

Spiegel and 25-year-old Bobby Murphy, whose mother is from the Philippines, are the brains behind the popular photo mes-saging app where pictures, videos, text and drawings sent to friends disappear within 10 seconds theyre opened. It is esti-mated around 450 disappearing photos are sent through Snap-chat every day.

According to Forbes maga-zines estimate, there are cur-

rently 50 million people using Snapchat, with an average age of 18.

Spiegel and Murphy were recently featured in Forbes mag-azines 2014 30 Under 30, a list of young individuals who are changing the world.

The two met while they were students at Stanford University in California. Murphy was a mathematics and computational science major, while Spiegel was in the product-design program.

In an interview with Forbes magazine, Murphy said they werent cool, so we tried to build things to be cool.

Murphy and Spiegel fi rst worked together to develop an online software called Future Freshmen, but it didnt take off.

For their next project, a fellow Stanford student and friend, Reggie Brown (who would later sue the company for ownership), came up with sug-gestion for an app to send disap-pearing photos.

Spiegel decided to tap Murphy, who had just gradu-ated, to develop the app.

While Spiegel is the good-looking, outspoken public face of Snapchat (hes on the cover of Forbes magazine), Murphy, the chief technology offi cer (CTO), is the brains who developed the app.

Little is known about

Murphy, who was described by Forbes, as the son of state employees from Berkeley, adding that his mother had emi-grated from the Philippines.

Id describe him almost like a monk, David Kravitz,

Snapchats fi rst employee, told Forbes. I dont think Ive ever seen him upset.

While Snapchats profi le is rising, it now faces challenges, such as Browns lawsuit against Spiegel and Murphy for oust-

ing him from the company; and

a recent attack by hackers that

allowed usernames and phone

numbers of users to be compro-

mised.

Pinoy actor fi nds Hollywood niche playing tough guys

HOLLYWOOD. In the great tradition of the Filipino character actor, Marcus Nativi-dad has found a niche playing tough guys on TV and the big screen, including a recent stint on the popular Hawaii Five-O series and action fl icks opposite the likes of Dolph Lundgren and Danny Trejo.

They actually fl ew me to Hawaii. I just couldnt believe it. I was just in disbelief, it was just so exciting. It was really a dream. Just working with some big stars like Alex OLoughlin and great director Joe Dante, hes a big director here in LA, Natividad said in an interview by ABS-CBN North America Bureaus Yong Chavez aired on The Filipino Channel (TFC).

He played the character Tom Akuna as a guest star in the updated version of Hawaii Five-O that is familiar to many Filipinos here and in the Philip-

pines. Natividad was born and

grew up in Manila before migrating to the United States in 1990.

He studied Psychology and Criminology at Glendale Col-lege in California, and worked for various companies in New York City and Los Angeles,

California over the past two decades. I was in the corporate world for a long time, wearing suit all the time, and trying to beIt wasnt really like me, he said.

He was hired as an extra when a friend took him to the set of Jackie Chans movie Rush Hour 3. He said he stopped because doing extra work wasnt paying the bills, you see, so I was really frustrated.

But the lure of the enter-tainment world proved irresist-ible and after a visit to the Phil-ippines in 2010, he realized this was what he really wanted to do and started taking bit parts beginning in 2011.

He slowly found his niche portraying tough guys. When I shaved my head, I got more tattoos, my agent said, Marcus, you know what, get more tat-toos. You can be good playing bad guys.

Bobby Murphy

Marcus Natividad

January 16-31, 2014 21

The passing of these restrictions on other countries fi shing activities in disputed portions of the South China Sea is a provocative and potentially dangerous act, US State Depart-ment spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Jan. 9.

But Chinese Foreign Minis-try spokeswoman Hua Chuny-ing said last week that the rules were simply technical revi-sions of existing laws govern-ing the resource-rich waters off Chinas Hainan province.

China is a maritime nation, so it is totally normal and part of the routine for Chinese prov-inces bordering the sea to for-mulate regional rules according to the national law to regulate conservation, management and utilization of maritime biological resources, said Hua.

She said foreign govern-ments complaints that Bei-jing is courting trouble spring from ulterior motives.

The latest maritime dispute among the neighbors with over-lapping claims to islands and resources in the busy East Asian waterways has ratcheted up ten-sions in the region, coming less than two months after China proclaimed an Air Defense Iden-tifi cation Zone over disputed

islands in the East China Sea. Under the ADIZ, foreign

aircraft fl ying through the zone are required to fi le fl ight plans with Beijing, although the United States, Japan and South Korea have fl own military air-craft through the region without getting Chinas permission.

The ADIZ covers a cluster of tiny islets in the East China Sea that China claims as the Diaoyu and Japan as the Senkakus.

The State Department noted China has not offered any explanation or basis under inter-national law for these extensive maritime claims.

Psaki said it is the long-standing US position that all sides avoid unilateral action that raises tensions and under-mines the prospect for a diplo-matic or other peaceful resolu-tion of differences.

The Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila issued a state-ment Jan. 10 saying the unilateral Chinese exertion of control over the fi shing grounds escalates tensions, unnecessarily compli-cates the situation in the South China Sea, and threatens the peace and stability of the region.

Taiwan declared that it doesnt recognize the proclaimed access rules as valid, and Viet-

nam called the Beijing power play illegal and groundless.

Vo Van Trac, Vice Chairman of Vietnam Association of Fish-ery, said their fi shermen strongly oppose Chinas rules and will continue fi shing in areas in the South China Sea where Vietnam also claims sovereignty.

The rules will obviously have an impact on our fi sher-mens lives. We will ask our fi shermen to keep fi shing. We will tell them those areas [in the South China Sea] that are within our sovereignty. The most important thing right now is to reassure them about that, Vo said.

The revised rules stem from actions taken by authorities on the island of Hainan, the Chinese province closest to the sea where areas are also claimed by the Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia.

A year ago, Hainan authori-ties announced enforcement procedures that allow its police to board foreign ships not autho-rized to enter the area and to seize the vessels, fi shing equip-ment and catch. Penalties for unauthorized access can also result in fi nes exceeding $80,000, the provincial rules state.

Analysts warn that the run-ins could result in accidents or miscalculations that could fur-

ther heighten tensions among Asias leading powers.

China has virtually annexed Scarborough Shoal, about 130 miles of the main Philippine island of Luzon. The Chinese call it Huangyan Island and com-plain that the Philippine Navy has been harassing its fi shing boats there.

Ever since a naval stand-off in 2011, China has banned Phil-ippine fi shing boats from sail-ing to the Shoal, which they call Panatag Shoal.

The South China Sea and coastal passages from Malaysia to Russia are of vital economic interest to all who ply the ship-ping lanes used to ferry more than $1.2 trillion in goods annu-ally between the United States and its Far East trading partners.

The US has declared the freedom of navigation in the South China Sea as a vital strate-gic interest while China says its sovereignty in what it considers as territorial waters is a core interest.

Chinas increasingly ambi-tious assertions of sovereignty also refl ect a power play with Washington, which continues to wield infl uence and professes commitment to defend long-time allies in Tokyo, Seoul and Manila.

Sam Bateman, a senior

fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, said in a Voice of America interview that if Bei-jing were to follow through with the restrictions, there is a good chance of heightened tensions.

But he says it would be dif-fi cult for China to enforce the policy because of the massive effort needed to patrol the area.

Bateman said, This is not just surface ships, but also air surveillance of the area, because normally maritime surveillance and fi shery surveillance of that nature is primarily carried out by air and then you use surface vessels to respond to any suspi-cious sighting.

Bateman, a retired rear admiral in the Royal Australian Navy, says the regulations go beyond anything acceptable under the International Law of the Sea, making China vulner-able to legal challenges.

I think if China tried to start enforcing the regulation, and particularly if it arrested a vessel, it would run fairly quickly into a legal dispute, which frankly I dont think China would have any chance at all of winning, said Bateman.

China riles US, PH... from page 1

set their agenda for the year, at a resort on Marylands Eastern Shore on Jan. 29-31.

Boehner reportedly reiter-ated to Republican colleagues that he was not ready to negoti-ate using the Senates immigra-tion overhaul bill, politico.com revealed. He reportedly told them that issue is a political football thats not going away.

In a separate report on The Wall Street Journal, Rep. Matt

Salmon (R-Ariz.) echoed that sentiment. This is an issue we have to deal with and I continue to believe that, he reportedly told Boehner.

Party elders have warned that the GOP could lose substan-tial support if the party as per-ceived as the stumbling block for immigration reforms, especially with elections looming and the growing political clout of the Latino community.

Republicans have reason to be concerned after onetime tea party darling Sen. Marco Rubios (R-Fla.) numbers tumbled after supporting a sweeping immigra-tion overhaul with a pathway to citizenship. Many facing pri-mary contests are wary about embracing immigration reforms.

Still, its unclear whether a lawmakers stance on immigra-tion will actually matter in a pri-mary.

It depends where you are. I know in my delegation, theyre

not concerned about primary challengers over immigration, said Kentucky Rep. John Yar-muth, a Democrat. On the other hand, I think Texas matters.

Yarmuth was part of the House bipartisan group with two Texas Republicans (Sam Johnson and John Carter) that privately negotiated for months on a com-prehensive immigration bill but disbanded in the fall. After a backlash back home during the August recess about their work on immigration reform, the two

announced they were quitting the group.

Immigration policy is abso-lutely one of the biggest concerns for conservatives in the coming years, and it will defi nitely be a make-or-break issue with can-didates, conservative Madison Group policy director, Daniel Horowitz wrote in an email. Whereas a few years ago, this issue was basically dormant, it is now something we feel all our candidates must get right.

GOP sets principles ... from page 1

Like the majority of other states, we need to act on the con-sensus of the business commu-nity and health care industry to accept funding that will expand health care coverage, save rural hospitals, and spur job creation, McAuliffe said.

He also commended legis-lators for reaching a bipartisan compromise on ethics reform prompted by the ongoing state and federal investigations into thousands of dollars in gifts and loans outgoing Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell and his family received from Jonnie Williams, the former CEO of dietary sup-plement maker Star Scientifi c Inc.

He said he will ask lawmak-ers to enact the strongest pos-sible new ethics rules to hold all Virginia elected offi cials to the highest of standards.

McDonnell bid farewell to

lawmakers last Jan. 8, apologiz-ing once more for the gift scan-dal that tarnished an otherwise sterling performance that helped the Commonwealth post major economic gains in the wake of crippling political stalemate in Washington, the sequester and lingering effects of the recession.

McDonnell reiterated that hed broken no laws and gave no one special treatment. But he conceded in the speech to assem-bled members of the state House and Senate that his actions left an adverse public impression.

He said he was deeply sorry for the pain he had caused the state. He is currently facing federal and state investi-gation although he has not been charged with any crime.

McDonnell focused much of his address on Virginias eco-nomic growth, saying the state logged a net gain of 177,000 new

jobs on his watch. He claimed his strong economic steward-ship also helped boost the state governments reserves from $295 million to more than $1 billion.

He also cited the fi rst major overhaul of the states highway and transit funding scheme since 1986 as another achievement together with lawmakers - secur-ing billions of dollars in funding for projects in the coming years.

I hope history will treat him kindly and with the respect and honor he deserves, said Sen. Walter Stosch, R-Henrico.

I thought the apology was heartfelt and it was appropri-ate, said state Sen. A. Donald McEachin, D-Henrico. As some-one who believes in redemption, I hope the people of Virginia will join me and others in forgiving him.

And while McDonnell appears to retain his popular-ity in the legislature, McAuliffe must still try to win them over.

But some say his surprisingly pragmatic start has at least some conservatives warming to him, even as they remain staunchly opposed to his top agenda: expanding Medicaid under the federal health-care law.

McAuliffe has surrounded himself with appointees with long track records in state gov-ernment. Among them are holdovers from the McDonnell administration, including Health and Human Services Secretary Bill Hazel and Finance Secretary Richard D. Brown, who started in state government in 1971.

For any incoming governor to keep some experienced hands around is a very wise thing to do, said Del. Mark Sickles (D-Fairfax).

Standing on the south por-tico of the state Capitol designed by Thomas Jefferson, McAu-liffe told a crowd that included former President Bill Clinton and former US Secretary of State Hill-

ary Clinton, Common ground doesnt move towards us, we move towards it.

The days festivities started with a prayer breakfast and fol-lowed by a parade in downtown Richmond, an open house at the Executive Mansion and the inau-gural ball.

McAuliffe unsuccessfully sought his partys nomination for governor in 2009.

He spent the next four years touring Virginia and campaign-ing, then won his fi rst elective offi ce by narrowly defeating Republican Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli. The Syracuse, N.Y., natives ticket mates also won, giving Democrats their fi rst sweep of Virginias top three statewide offi ces in 24 years. Mark Herring was sworn in as attorney general and Ralph Northam as lieutenant governor.

McAuliffe takes over ... from page 1

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