A VIDEO of a priest in the Philip-pines riding a hoverboard and singing at a Christmas Eve Mass went viral,

with millions of shares on Facebook and Buzzfeed, and over 200,000 views on YouTube.

The unnamed priest was reportedly suspended by the Diocese of San Pab-

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L O S A N G E L E S

MM I D W E E K

E D I T I O N w w w . a s i a n j o u r n a l . c o m

1210 S. Brand Blvd., Glendale, CA 91204

w w w . a j d i g i t a l e d i t i o n . c o m

Tels: 818.502.0651 • 213.250.9797 • Fax: 818.502.0858 • 213.481.0854Also published in: • Orange County/Inland Empire • Northern California • Las Vegas • New York/ New Jersey

DATELINEUSAFROM THE AJPRESS NEWS TEAM ACROSS AMERICA

January 2-5, 2016

Volume 26 - No. 1 • 4 Sections – 32 Pages

ANOTHER year has passed and many events happened so quickly that many people tend to forget. As 2015 closes, the Asian Jour-nal Editorial Team pooled together the top stories that made it to the front pages of our six editions.

Pope Francis graces the PhilippinesWhen Pope Francis visited the Philippines

in January for a four-day trip, at least two mil-lion Filipinos waited on the street to watch him ride away in his non-bulletproof “Pope-mobile.” After 20 years, Pope Francis was the third leader of the Catholic Church to visit the country, and came to personally show sympa-thy for the thousands who were killed after Su-per Typhoon Yolanda in late 2013. The pope was reportedly impressed with the hospital-ity of Filipinos, with whom he met at various places in the Philippines, including the Mall of Asia Arena, Tacloban and Leyte.

Mamasapano massacreOn January 25, special forces were massa-

Filipino and Fil-Am newsmakers of 2015

FILIPINOS/Filipino-Americans have been very active this year, bringing in recognition to our community and excelling in their respective fields.

In Philippine politics, the race for the highest position in the country is just as noisy. With more presidential candidates bringing their platforms, issues and drama, no one can be sure who among them would really win.

With the end of this year, we look forward to what the Filipi-nos, Fil-Am community and the Philippines can do. For now, the Asian Journal Editorial Team gives you the top Filipino/Fil-Am newsmakers of 2015.

The best mistake: Miss Philippines Pia Wurtzbach

is Miss UniverseHalf Filipina, half German ac-

tress and Miss Philippines Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach, 26, took

home the crown for Miss Uni-verse 2015 on live television on Sunday, December 20th at the

ILOILO CITY — The remains of three persons suspected to be the biological parents of Sen. Grace Poe have been exhumed on Guimaras Island on Wednesday, Dec. 30 to gather speci-mens for DNA testing.

As this developed, cash reward for informa-tion leading to biological parents of Poe has gone up to P355,000 after a ship captain and a doctor promised to give a total of P55,000 to anyone the can provide “solid” information on Poe’s parents.

This is in addition to the P300,000 reward ear-lier offered by retired labor judge Jesus Nograles

Remains of Grace Poe’s possible biological parents exhumed

MANILA — Vice President Jejo-mar Binay on Wedsday, Dec. 30, called for an end to vindictiveness and selective justice as he hoped for a more compassionate and respon-sive government in 2016.

“I pray that the New Year will ush-er in a new hope that the era of vin-dictiveness and selective justice will soon end,” he said in his New Year’s Day message.

Binay, a presidential candidate ac-cused of amassing ill gotten wealth

Binay calls for end to vindictiveness, selective justice

WITH six months left in office, President Benigno Aquino III on Tuesday, Dec. 29 touted his achieve-ments during his term in his last

New Year message as the country’s leader.

“I join all Filipinos as we bid fare-well to a historic 2015 and expectant-ly look forward to a peaceful, pros-perous 2016. Our country’s soaring

Aquino, Filipinos ‘look forward to a peaceful, prosperous 2016’

BY the end of April of next year, a driver’s license may no longer be sufficient identifica-tion for domestic travel in certain states.

The Transportation Security Administra-tion (TSA) is expected this week to decide whether to begin enforcing a decade-old law mandating that states abide by federal

TSA may soon reject some state driver’s licenses for domestic travel

A SYRIAN-based leader linked to the Paris attacks that killed 130 people was among 10 Islamic State leaders killed in the past month in targeted air strikes by a US-led coalition.

US Army Colonel Steve Warren, a spokes-man for the US-led military campaign against the Islamic State (also known as ISIL and ISIS), said Charaffe al Mouadan, who was

US o�cial: IS leaders linked to Paris attacks killed in US-led airstrikes

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by FRANCES MANGOSINGInquirer.net

by HELEN FLORESPhilstar.com

by NESTOR P. BURGOS, JR.Inquirer.net

by ALLYSON ESCOBARAJPress

Filipino priest suspended after riding hoverboard during Christmas Eve Mass

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Video goes viral

FROM THE FRONT PAGE

Rodriguez Jr., who is based in Bacolod City, Negros Occiden-tal.

Cemetery workers as well as family members exhumed the skeletal remains of Victoria Ro-driguez and two males at the Ba-rangay East Valencia cemetery in Buenavista town, according to a source privy to the exhuma-tion.

Bone samples were taken be-fore the remains were reburied.

DNA samples were also taken from nine persons (six from Ro-driguez family members) and three from the family of the sus-pected fatheron Tuesday.

The samples will be taken to Manila within today (Wednes-day) to supplement DNA sam-ples earlier taken from three members of the Rodriguez fam-ily.

Siblings of Victoria have claimed that Poe could be the baby of Victoria who was brought to Iloilo City and even-tually adopted by celebrity cou-

ple Fernando Poe Jr. and Susan Roces.

On Monday, Maritime captain Eduardo Gargaratino and Dr. Karen Ambito-Galvan offered a total of P55,000 to anyone the can provide “solid” information on Poe’s parents.

This is on top of the P300,000 reward earlier offered by Jesus Nograles Rodriguez Jr., (no rela-tions to the Rodriguez siblings).

“I know that the amount I am contributing is not much, but this represents my family’s ear-nest hope that Senator Poe finds the identity of her true parents and perhaps living blood rela-tives here in Iloilo or wherever they are really from,” Gargari-tano, a native of Guimbal town in Iloilo, said in a statement.

Gargaritano, who is out of the country, could not be reached through his mobile phone and email.

He will shell out P25,000 while Galvan will give P30,000 for a total of P355,000 including the amount offered by Rodriguez,

according to the statement.The Commission on Elections

has ordered the cancellation of Poe’s candidacy for president in next year’s elections on citizen-ship and residency issues.

But the Supreme Court on Monday issued a temporary restraining order stopping the enforcement of Poe’s disquali-fication.

“It’s a small amount. I really don’t what to make a big deal about it because we only want to help Senator Poe and put and end to all the questions,” Galvan told the INQUIRER in a tele-phone interview.

The physician from Aklan province is hoping that those with knowledge on the truth of Poe’s lineage will come out.

“Who knows? It’s been a long time already and there’s a need to find closure,” Galvan said.

Galvan said she wanted to help Poe because her father Basilio Gambito ran for the lone con-gressional seat of Aklan in 2004 under the ticket of the late actor Fernando Poe Jr., the senator’s adoptive father.

She also ran but lost in Aklan’s gubernatorial race in the 2007 elections under the Partido ng Masang Pilipino.

In the statement, Galvan said she would suggest to Rodriguez “to open a bank account where the reward money volunteered thus far can be held in escrow until such time that a deserving informant is found.”

“We will leave it to Judge Ro-driguez and his friends when and where they will open the es-crow account,” she said.

Reached by phone for com-ment, Jose Rodriguez said he was unaware of the reward offer of Gargaritano and Galvan but welcomed other voluntary cash reward offers to help Poe iden-tify her biological parents.

“Why not? It’s their own mon-ey and as long as its from the heart,” he told the INQUIRER, adding that opening a bank ac-count for reward offers is a “very laudable project.”

But Rodriguez, 76, said he did want to be involved in the col-lection of reward offers or the opening of a bank account for that purpose.

“I’m not accepting donations because I’m not a mercenary,” he said. ■

Remains of Grace Poe’s possible…t

during his stint as Makati City mayor, has repeatedly criticized what he claimed was “selective justice” under the Aquino admin-istration.

Binay and his allies have hit Malacañang’s alleged double standard in enforcing orders to suspend officials involved in anomalies.

He said that 2016 has been

Binay calls for end to vindictiveness…t designated as the Holy Year of

Mercy by Pope Francis.“As Pope Francis declared,

the Holy Year is a response to the world’s need for a ‘revolu-tion of tenderness’ from which ‘justice and all the rest derives’,” he said.

The Vice President said he also prays that every Filipino will reap the benefits of economic progress under the new adminis-

tration. “A new hope that we will have a government that is just and compassionate and respon-sive to the needs of the poor and needy.”

“All of our so-called economic achievements mean nothing if these are not felt by everyone,” he added.

Binay also urged the elector-ate to choose competent leaders “who will build a truly benevolent nation that respects the dignity of all Filipinos,” and has vowed to be a “unifying leader” if he gets elected president in May.

‘House to remain united, fo-cused in 2016’

Meanwhile, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said yesterday that the House of Representatives will remain “united and focused on serving the highest welfare and interests of the Filipino people” in 2016 despite the limited time left for the 16th Congress.

Belmonte pledged to maxi-mize the remaining workdays to deal with significant business.

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cred after encounter with rebel troops.

Forty-four members of the Philippine National Police-Spe-cial Action Force (PNP-SAF) were killed in Mamasapano, Ma-guindanao following a clash with armed fighters from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and Bangsamoro Islamic Free-dom Fighters. The PNP-SAF’s objective was to pursue Zulkifli Abdhir — also known as Marwan Usman — and Basit Usman as part of Oplan Exodus; they were successful in killing the former. The deaths of the PNP-SAF of cers ignited debate on the pro-posed Bangsamoro Basic Law, which will be the foundation of a new autonomous entity called Bangsamoro.

Fight of the century: Pacquiao loses to

MayweatherAfter months of hype sur-

rounding the long-awaited “Fight of the Century” between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweath-er, Jr., many boxing fans and Filipinos were left disappointed, as the People’s Champ failed to tarnish Mayweather’s undefeat-ed record last May. Pacquiao later revealed that he suffered a shoulder injury and was denied a request to get an injection for it the night before the fight. Over 30 lawsuits seeking refunds were filed, claiming that the fight was a fraud and that Pacquiao should have disclosed his injury.

The reign of terror: Paris attacked twice, mass shooting

in San BernardinoGunmen killed 17 individuals

in Paris throughout a three-day attack that began on Jan. 7 at the office of Charlie Hebdo, a week-

ly provocative French satirical magazine that typically features cartoons of the Prophet Muham-mad. The attackers were two brothers who were born, raised and radicalized in Paris. The

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brothers were shot dead by po-lice three days after they fired shots at Charlie Hebdo.

Paris was again the site of mul-tiple terrorist attacks on Nov. 13, coordinated by the Islamic State extremist group. Explosions oc-curred outside of the Stade de France, the national sports sta-dium, where an anticipated soc-cer match between Germany and France was taking place. Several street shootings and bombing at-tacks also occurred at four popu-lated outdoor plazas, where a 23-year-old American student from Cal State Long Beach was killed. The worst massacre of the night was a mass shooting at the Bata-clan music hall venue, where the Eagles of Death Metal was per-forming to a crowd of over 1,000 people. Three men entered the hall and opened fire. The deadly attacks, which reportedly left at least 129 people dead and 352

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Planet Hollywood Resort & Ca-sino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Wurtzbach’s final crowning did not go without drama and a surprise ending when show host Steve Harvey accidentally an-nounced Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez Arévalo as the win-ner, but backtracked a few mo-ments later to proclaim Wurtz-bach as the true Miss Universe. Wurtzbach was born in Stuttgart, southwest Germany, and grew up in Cagayan de Oro. A winner of Binibining Pilipinas and Miss Universe-Philippines beauty pageants, she attended second-ary school in Quezon City, culi-nary arts school in Metro Manila, and speaks Tagalog, English, and German. On the live Miss Uni-verse stage, Wurtzbach publicly shared her support of US military presence in the Philippines, and told viewers, “I want to show the world—the universe, rather—that I am confidently beautiful, with a heart.” Since her crowning, she has also apologized to Miss Co-lombia and to her supporters for the confusion that happened.

Jason Day wins PGA Championship

Filipino-Australian golfer Ja-son Day in August won the Pro-fessional Golf Association (PGA) Championship golf tournament where he defeated Jordan Spi-eth, the world’s No. 1 golfer. Day now ranks as the No. 2 golfer by the Official World Golf Ranking. He holds an average of 10.9398 points and a total of 437.59 points. Philippine Communica-tion Secretario Herminio Coloma said the Philippines is proud of Day, whose mother hails from Visayas.

Robert Murphy, Fil-Am co-founder of Snapchat

among world’s youngest billionaires

A young Fil-Am, Robert “Bob-by” Murphy, 26, is on Forbes’ list of world billionaires for 2015. Co-founder of the popular social me-dia app Snapchat with his frater-nity brother Evan Spiegel, both Stanford students, Murphy has a net worth of $1.5 billion—mak-ing him the second youngest dol-lar billionaire in the club, Forbes reported. He has an estimated stake of at least 15 percent in the business. Murphy now serves as Snapchat’s chief technology of-ficer, developing prototype and infrastructure for the app.

Judge Julian Recana sworn into LA County Superior Court

Julian C. Recana became the

Filipino and Fil-Am newsmakers…t

newest Fil-Am judge in Los An-geles County in August, follow-ing his appointment by California Gov. Jerry Brown in July. Recana has served as deputy district at-torney in the Long Beach Court-house for 11 years and has been with the County District Attor-ney’s Office since 1999, seeking justice for victims of crime and u

murder. His father, Hon. Judge Mel Red Recana, was the first Fil-Am judge in the US when he ap-pointed 34 years ago. There are over 2,000 judges in the state of California — 11 of them Filipino-American, nine of whom serve in LA County, and only one father-and-son duo, the Recanas.

wounded, prompted French President François Hollande to declare a state of emergency and that France is “at war.” He further said that France is com-mitted to “destroying” the Is-lamic State group, and France has launched airstrikes in ISIS territories’ Iraq and Syria. While several of the gunmen have been killed or detained, police are still on the search for others involved with the ISIS-coordinated at-tacks.

Terror hit close to home when on Dec. 2, a practicing Muslim couple entered the Inland Re-gional Center in San Bernardino, California, and opened gunfire in a room full of county health em-ployees who were celebrating a holiday party. Fourteen people were killed and 21 injured in the attack, which officials later learned was premeditated, and it became the deadliest incident of gun violence in 2015.

The radicalized husband and wife, identified as 28-year-old Syed Rizwan Farook and 27-year-old Tashfeen Malik, were killed hours after the rampage in a shootout with a police. Farook was also an employee for the San Bernardino County Public Health Department. Investigators be-lieve the attacks were radical-ized because of their organized nature, the weapons used, and the couple’s recent travel to and from Saudi Arabia. Upon search of the couple’s home and elec-tronic devices, officials discov-ered that Malik advocated jihad in secret messages with friends, and had also pledged allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State. FBI said that both attackers were “homegrown violent extremists” who acted on their own, inspired by the actions of foreign terrorist groups like ISIS.

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Following the attacks, as well as deadly massacres by ISIS members in Paris, The Obama ad-ministration announced changes to the visa waiver program that allows millions of immigrants from 38 countries into the US ev-ery year without a visa, for stays of 90 days or less if they meet certain requirements. The pro-gram will include more stringent screenings at airports and secu-rity restrictions and watch lists for suspect individuals. Repub-lican presidential front-runner candidate Donald Trump has also called for a controversial ban on all Muslims entering the United States, arguing that it “cannot be the victims of horrendous attacks by people that believe only in ji-had, and have no sense of reason or respect for human life.” Mean-while, Republicans in Congress announced that they would not take immediate action to bring up new gun control legislation in the wake of the San Bernardino attacks, saying it was “unconsti-tutional” to deny the right to bear arms, but wanted to focus on an overhaul of the country’s mental

health system..Philippines hosts

APEC summit With the theme “Building In-

clusive Economies, Building a Better World,” this year’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit gathered promi-nent heads of state and business leaders from member states and territories in Manila. The Philip-pine government allotted P10 billion in hosting the annual meeting of the 21-member Asia Pacific economies. Held on Nov. 17-20, the global leaders—which included Pres. Barack Obama and Chinese Pres. Xi Jinping—discussed some of the region’s most pressing issues including economic integration, trade lib-eralization, sustainable growth and international security par-ticularly in the South China Sea. Milestones of the APEC Summit include the agenda for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), the adoption of the APEC Strategy for Strengthening Quality Growth, which will guide member economies in undertak-

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Joel Jacinto honored by Mayor Garcetti as LA Board of Public Works CommissionerIt was a historic occasion for

the Fil-Am and Asian Pacific Is-lander (API) communities when Joel Jacinto, executive director of the Search to Involve Pilipino Americans (SIPA) was confirmed as the new Los Angeles Board of Public Works Commissioner last August 11.

Jacinto’s appointment makes him only a handful of Asian Americans who have served in such a capacity. LA Mayor Eric Garcetti said that he selected Ja-cinto as Commissioner because of the difference he has made in his community and to help or-ganize the API community so it can “have the muscle inside City Hall to get things done.” Garrett also said that Jacinto has an in-fectious way of bringing people

together, and a belief in pushing his community and the larger community forward.

With his appointment, Jacinto took a two-year leave of absence as executive director of SIPA, but will remain involved in the orga-nization.

PH presidential candidatesNext year’s Philippine presi-

dential election could be one of the most interesting in history, considering who the candidates are and the drama they bring into the race.

Frontrunner Senator Grace Poe, who was leading the polls for next year’s presidential elec-tion was disqualified by the Com-mission on Elections (Comelec). Two Comelec divisions had disqualified Poe, who led vot-ers’ preference polls, for failing to meet the 10-year residency requirement for a presidential candidate, citing her certificate

of candidacy (COC) for senator in 2013. Poe said she erred in the COC. Poe’s disqualification case, however, was junked by the Sen-ate Electoral Tribunal, although Supreme Court justice members ruled that Poe was not a natural-born citizen. As provided in the 1987 Constitution, only natural-born Filipinos are allowed to as-sume the presidency.

On Dec. 29, the Supreme Court (SC) amended the temporary re-straining orders (TROs) against the Comelec’s decision to dis-qualify Poe candidacy. The pri-vate petitioners of the disqualifi-cation cases against the senator and the poll body are given ten (10) days from notice to file their comments. Oral arguments are

Filipino and Fil-Am newsmakers…t

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SEAFOOD CITY 1

ing robust, comprehensive, and ambitious structural reforms over the next five years and the approval of the APEC Services Cooperation Framework, which underscores the importance of the services sector, which makes up approximately two-thirds of the GDP in the APEC region.

Juan Ponce Enrile granted bail

In a 8-4 vote on Aug. 18, the Philippine Supreme Court grant-ed Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile’s plea to post bail in connection with his plunder trial over his alleged in-volvement in the P10 billion Prior-ity Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), also known as the pork barrel scam. Enrile is accused of plunder for allegedly pocketing P172 million in commissions in the PDAF scam. He was under hospital arrest at the Philippine National Police General Hospital since July 2014, before his ap-peal was granted. The high court cited “humanitarian reasons” for granting the 91-year-old senator his temporary liberty.

Supreme Court rules for same-sex marriage

A divided Supreme Court made a landmark decision in June by ruling in favor of same-sex mar-riage, making the United States the 21st country in the world to legalize this nationwide. The de-cision, which also applies to US territories, allows married same-sex couples to have the same le-gal rights and benefits as married heterosexual couples.

US Marine Joseph Pemberton found guilty of

murdering Jennifer LaudeJoseph Scott Pemberton, the

US Marine Private First Class charged with murder for the death of Filipina transgender Jeffrey “Jennifer” Laude in Oc-tober 2014, was found guilty on Tuesday, Dec. 1 in the Philip-pines, where he will remain in prison.

Pfc. Pemberton, who was on a break after taking part in joint military exercises in Subic Bay, was charged with the homicide of Laude, whom he reportedly strangled to death in the hotel room they had checked into in Olongapo City, near the former US naval base. The young Ma-rine first testified that he was in-toxicated at the time of Laude’s death, and that he became en-raged after discovering Laude was a man, which led to a fight in the room and prompted a defensive chokehold. The Olon-gapo City Regional Trial Court threw out Pemberton’s defense that he merely rendered Laude unconscious in a chokehold, and that someone else had strangled and drowned her n the toilet bowl after he had left the scene. Pemberton has been charged with murder but was convicted of the lesser offense of homicide, which does not require mali-cious intent. The court found no treachery, abuse of strength, or cruelty on the part of the Marine soldier. Sentenced for six to 12 years, Pemberton will be held by the US-controlled Bureau of Corrections, guarded by the Philippine National Police, and has been ordered to pay more than 4.5 million pesos ($95,350) to Laude’s family. He can still appeal against the verdict and sentence. ■

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scheduled on Jan. 19, 2016. Davao City Mayor Rodrigo

Duterte, considered as the dark horse from Mindanao, finally filed his COC in December, after months of denying his intention to run for president. Duterte en-tered the presidential race under the Partido Demokratiko Pilipi-no-Lakas ng Bayan, or PDP-La-ban, as the substitute of anti-cor-ruption advocate Martin Diño, who withdrew his certificate on October 29. Diño named Duterte as his possible replacement. He withdrew from the Davao City mayoral race and has been sub-stituted by his daughter, Sara Duterte (who was also a former Davao City Mayor). As of press time, surveys have showed Du-terte as a top contender for the country highest post in spite of criticisms about his vigilante style of leadership.

Wanting continuity on his “tuwid na daan” administration, Pres. Benigno Aquino III tro-duced former Interior and Local Government secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II as the presiden-tial candidate of the ruling Lib-eral Party in next year’s Philip-

pine elections. Roxas vowed to continue the reforms made by the Aquino administration and to never stray from the “tuwid na daan” or straight path platform of the Aquino government. Despite the President’s backing, Roxas still trails behind leading presi-dential candidates Poe, Duterte and Vice Pres. Jejomar Binay based on recent surveys.

Probably one of the most intel-ligent presidential candidates, Senator Miriam Defensor San-tiago announced her intention to run last October, with Senator Bongbong Marcos as her running mate for Vice President. Nota-ble for having served in all three branches of the government—ju-dicial, executive and legislative—she ran in the 1992 presidential elections but lost.

Initially polled highly among expected presidential candi-dates, Binay’s charisma towards the masses—especially in the City of Makati—is what will pull people to vote for him. Despite of the number of corruption cas-es filed against him and his fam-ily, Binay remains a frontrunner with his promise to alleviate the lives of the Filipinos. ■

Filipino and Fil-Am…t

economy, robust democracy, and magnified presence on the global stage not only promise a great start to the coming year but also highlight the Philippines’ ongo-ing narrative of resurgence un-der the Daang Matuwid (straight path),” he said in a statement.

Aquino also took another jab at the Arroyo administration, saying that he assumed office five years ago when it was full of “despair and uncertainty.

“I am filled with pride by how far we have come since we be-

gan our journey in 2010. Just a little more than five years ago, we faced a future full of de-spair and uncertainty; reports of plunder, mismanagement, and corruption dominated our headlines. Today, progress, op-portunity, and growth fill news about the Philippines both here and abroad,” he said.

Aquino said the successes of his administration were achieved because of Daang Matuwid, or what he described as “the straight and righteous path.”

This path “transformed dam-

aged public agencies into stron-ger, more transparent, and re-sponsive institutions; turned a demoralized government work-force into dedicated civil servants; galvanized an apathetic populace into active, empowered nation-builders; and reinvigorated a slug-gish business sector into a major driver of economic growth.”

“Indeed, the Daang Matuwid is a roadmap that will catapult us into First World Status and make us a $1-trillion economy by the year 2030,” Aquino cited.

He said this righteous path

should also guide voters in the coming 2016 presidential elec-tions.

“The same thought should guide us as we choose our lead-ers this coming election: to main-tain the upward trajectory of our growth and keep our nation on the Daang Matuwid. As long as we bear in our hearts and minds the welfare of our people, we will realize our inherent great-ness and usher in a Philippines that we can proudly bequeath to the coming generations,” Aquino added. ■

Aquino, Filipinos ‘look forward to a peaceful…t

“We will never renege on our constitutional mandate to promote good governance and protect the national interest and our people’s welfare, despite the time constraint now faced by the 16th Congress,” he said.

Congress will resume session on Jan. 19 and go on a break in February to give way to the electoral campaign. It will re-sume session in May, but a sig-nificant portion of lawmakers’ work will be taken up in can-vassing votes.

Despite time constraints, Bel-monte expressed confidence that priority bills including the Bangsamoro Basic Law, the pub-lic-private partnership (PPP) bill and the amendments to the eco-nomic provisions of the Constitu-tion would be passed within the term of the 16th Congress.

When Congress adjourned for the Christmas break last Dec. 16, he summed up the collective per-formance of the House as focused

on quality and responsive legisla-tion rather than on quantity.

He also thanked his colleagues from the majority coalition, mi-nority and independents, for their cooperation and collective efforts in facing squarely the challenges of governance reforms and na-tional development.

“We have been mindful of the demands and imperatives of our time as we have supported com-petitiveness-raising, job genera-tion and more sustainable devel-opment through the policies we have enacted,” Belmonte said.

While noting that serious chal-lenges were faced during the year 2015, the Speaker confi-dently surmised that the passing year’s positive developments out-weighed them, stressing that we have “a House united and focused on serving the highest welfare and interests of our people.”

He said the 16th Congress was able to enact nearly 100 laws since 2013. (With report from Paolo Romero)

Binay calls for end to…t

linked to suspected Paris attack ringleader Abdelhamid Abaaoud, was killed on Dec. 24.

“We will continue to hunt ISIL leaders who are working to recruit, plan and inspire at-tacks against the United States of America and our allies,” War-ren said, adding that others had plans on further attacking the west.

Warren did not provide details on whether or not Mouadan was specifically planning on attacking the United States, although he said Islamic State terrorists gen-erally have “eventual designs” on attacking America, FOX News

reported.Other leaders reportedly killed

this month were Abdul Qader Hakim, who assisted the mili-tants with external operations and was linked to the Paris at-tack network, the ISIS emir of Kirkuk Province in Iraq, an ISIS commander and executioner, an ISIS deputy financial emir and a “forgery specialist” linked to the Paris attack network.

“We are striking at the head of the snake,” Warren said at a press briefing, according to NBC News. “We haven’t severed the head of the snake, and it’s still got fangs.”

The impact of the air strikes

on Islamic State leadership can be seen in recent battlefield vic-tories against the group, Warren said, according to Reuters. On Sunday, Dec. 27, the Iraqi army declared its first major victory against the Islamic State when it captured Ramadi, a provincial capital west of Baghdad that ISIL gained control of in May.

“Part of those successes is attributable to the fact that the organization is losing its leader-ship,” Warren said.

Operations are underway in the cities of Mosul and Fallujah, Warren said, which are still con-trolled by the Islamic State. (Ag-nes Constante / AJPress)

US o�cial: IS leaders linked to Paris attacks…t

standards when issuing driver’s licenses.

Since the agency took over airport security in 2001, it has al-lowed travelers to board domes-tic flights with a valid US driver’s license. However, after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Congress ap-proved the Real ID Act in 2005 requiring that citizens undergo a stricter process to obtain the identification.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which runs the TSA, said it will release a specific schedule this week outlining if and when airports in noncompli-ant states will start refusing driv-er’s licenses for domestic travel. The exact date of the schedule release is unclear, although offi-cials have said it would be issued before the end of 2015.

Thus far, 22 states have com-plied with the law; 19 have re-ceived an extension through October 2016 to comply; four are under review; and five are deemed noncompliant.

Although many states – includ-ing Maine, Missouri and Mon-tana – do not participate in Real ID, they issue licenses that abide by many of the standards set by the federal government. For this reason, many states have either received extensions to comply with the law or are considered in compliance.

Should the agency decide this week to enforce the law, the ear-liest it would take effect would be by the end of April, as it would provide 120 days notice before enforcement begins. Addition-ally, it would only apply to people in a handful of states. The DHS

may also decide to postpone its decision, a DHS spokeswoman said, according to CNN.

Once the law is enforced, trav-elers who do not possess a com-pliant type of identification will be required to present another type of government-approved identification, like a passport.

“This is a game of intimidation being played out between Con-gress and the federal government and state governments, with or-dinary citizens being squeezed in the middle,” Edward Hasbrouck, a privacy advocate with the Iden-tity Project, told The New York Times.

Some states that have resisted implementing the more stringent standards cite privacy concerns. Among requirements of the Real ID Act include that licenses be equipped with “machine read-

TSA may soon reject some state driver’s licenses…t

able” technology, such as a chip or magnetic strip, that will hold all personal information. Further-more, the data should be made electronically available between states, and possibly to federal authorities.

“You create more risk when you connect databases,” Marc Rotenberg, president of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, told the Times. “One vul-nerability becomes multiple vul-nerabilities.”

Some states have approved legislation prohibiting motor ve-hicle departments from following the federal law.

“The federal government has

quietly gone around and clubbed states into submission,” said Warren Limmer, a Minnesota state senator and one of the au-thors of a 2009 state law prohibit-ing local officials from complying with the federal law, according to the Times. “That’s a pretty heavy club.”

Other states opposed to the law say it is too expensive, with the government estimating the pro-gram to cost $3.9 billion. Some critics cited a 2006 study that puts the price tag of enforcing the law at $11 billion throughout a five-year period.

Hasbrouck told the Times he doesn’t believe the government would risk refusing travelers who are unable to show proper identi-fication card at airports.

“There is an impasse,” Hasb-rouck told the Times. “There has been a standoff for more than a decade now. The feds have lim-ited powers to coerce the states in this case.”

Some experts also wonder whether the agency will actually enforce the law in the coming year, given it has been unen-

forced for the last decade and because it could result in a num-ber of problems for travelers. For instance, fliers may be able to board in one state with a driver’s license, but need another form of identification to return home if they fly to a noncompliant state.

States fall under the following categories:

Compliant: Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Ver-mont, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

Extension received: Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Loui-siana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, New Hamp-shire, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Ore-gon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas and Virginia.

Noncompliant: Illinois, Min-nesota, Missouri, New Mexico, Washington.

Under review: Alaska, Califor-nia, New Jersey and South Caro-lina. (Agnes Constante / AJPress)

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SAN FRANCISCO – A Filipino American retired police officer from Bakersfield, California, was shot to death outside a ca-sino in Chandler, Arizona, on Christmas Eve.

Frank Pascua, 52, was shot three times outside the Wild Horse Pass Hotel & Casino on the Gila River Indian Community on Thursday shortly before 9 p.m.

The Gila River Police Depart-ment is searching for 47-year-old John Albert Campos Sr. The FBI is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to Campos’ capture. Authorities warned that he is armed and must be considered dangerous.

Police believe that suspect Campos and the Pascua did not know each other and that the lat-ter confronted the suspect who was trying to steal a car. The sus-pect allegedly hijacked a vehicle, but the driver was left unharmed.

Pascua was taken to a hospital where he succumbed to his inju-ries. Police had earlier detained a 25-year-old suspect, Frank Rox-as, and released his picture, but he was cleared and released. ■

Retired Fil-Am cop shot dead in Arizona, suspect at large

lo, Laguna on Tuesday, Dec. 29 for the stunt, which many users said was a creative way to en-gage the congregation, and “put the human face back into the church.”

Some reports have identified the priest as Fr. Albert San Jose of Our Lady of Miraculous Med-al parish in Laguna, according to the Philippine Star.

“Last December 24, 2015, before the final blessing of the Christmas Eve Mass, as a way of greeting his parishioners, the priest sang a Christmas song, while going around the nave standing on a hoverboard. That was wrong,” the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Pablo said in a statement posted to Facebook. “The Eucharist de-mands utmost respect and rev-erence. It is the Memorial of the Lord’s Sacrifice. It is the source and summit of Christian life. It is the Church’s highest form of worship.”

“Consequently, it is not a per-sonal celebration where one can capriciously introduce some-thing to get the attention of the people.”

t

Filipino priest suspended after riding hoverboard during…Members of the congregation

took a handful of videos of the incident, where people appear to clap wildly as the priest be-gins his journey via hoverboard, rolling down the aisle like an expert.

The diocese said the priest’s actions made the service about him instead of Christ, reported USA Today.

The officially unnamed priest said the incident was a “wake-up call,” and has since apolo-gized for his behavior, according to the diocese. He “will spend some time to reflect on this past event.”

“The act of going around on a hoverboard distracted the faith-ful, and was not necessary to get the Christmas message across,” commented Fr. Jerome Secilla-no, public affairs committee ex-ecutive secretary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Phil-ippines.

Reactions to his suspension were mixed. Many believers said they would pray for him, and oth-ers agreed that the hoverboard was a fun way to engage the crowd.

“While maintaining the solem-

nity and reverence during the Mass is INDEED utmost impor-tant and all praise and attention be devoted to our Lord during Mass, NEW and CREATIVE ways are surely encouraged in order to keep the congregation awake and intuned…I see no wrong in the priest’s actions, especially since it allows him to interact and reach out to the congregation ef-ficiently, with the help of the hov-

erboard,” commented Richmond Fandino on Facebook.

Said Sheila Crisostomo, “While very aware of what hap-pened, and the sanction that was given to the priest, I will try to react as I think any good brother should, and that is to pray for him and wish him well so he doesn’t feel abandoned. Let us be merciful just as the Father is merciful.” ■

PROSY ABARQUEZ-DELACRUZ, J.D.

Rhizomes

OPINION FEATURES

MY dear friend, Sluggo Rigor, editor and publisher of FilAm Bul-letin in Seattle, reacted to one of my columns, “May Angal: Circa 2016,” which was about the cal-lousness and insensitivity of the Aquino administration in the face of clear instances of incompetence and impunity in PNoy’s nearly six years of governance.

Stirred by what I wrote, Sluggo was prompted to send me his own column that enumerated more in-stances of unrepentant kapalpakan and kamanhiran – in effect, daring the citizenry, “May angal? Any complaints?”

I promised him that I would use his piece in Street Talk. Here it is:

It is this time of the year when expatriates in the U.S. become melancholic and feel more homesick. The only way expats get feedback on what is hap-pening in the land of their forefathers is through the magic of technology. TV news and the Net provide us with enough facts that tend to show how much suffering and deprivation the old homeland is going through. (After reading Greg Macabenta’s stirring column he had titled “May Angal?!”, here are my humble rejoinders.)

Realizing my limited capacity at grasping the en-tire context of developments back home, I merely ask: Would it be relevant for us expatriates to list down issues, concerns, worries, sentiments, heart-aches and the like that we absorb from media? Since key parties in the political arena in the Philippines are again busily positioning themselves, I guess this would be an opportune time to ask the present lead-ers who are on the saddle about the following both-ersome issues (that have been pointed to by media and by critics during their watch).

1. The monstrous traffic snarls that paralyze the premier city and suburbs. ( If Metro Manila were a human being, it would have long died of arterio-sclerosis. Even fire trucks remain helpless as blocks upon blocks of houses burn! )

2. Warehouses filled with rotten rice that are shown being thrown away while poor families go hungry!

3. The bloody Maguindanao massacre is going on its sixth year! Will the savage killers ever be prosecuted? (How should we answer non-Filipino friends who ask?)

4. Air traffic in the NAIA are known as one of the most congested in the southeast Asian region, not to mention the cases of hooligans preying on unsus-pecting airline passengers who go through NAIA. And the pathetic management of land transporta-tion traffic coming and going through the place.

5. The awful case of that Japanese SUV that is placing everyone on the road at risk because re-ports of uncontrolled acceleration have not been addressed decisively by incompetent government

bureaucrats. In more caring coun-tries, the manufacturer-distributor should be canned immediately! The safety of the tax-paying citi-zenry should be paramount. As usual, Trade Department officials are slow in responding to this anomaly!

6. Billions of dollars that were contributed by nations around the

world for the Yolanda Typhoon victims are report-edly held up somewhere while scores of victims continue to suffer. The true account remains mud-dled after more than two years!

7. The Bureau of Corrections is the last place any-one would suspect where wrongdoing is commit-ted. There have been scores of reports about spe-cial treatments but what takes the cake are weapons found and drug-dealing behind bars! Funny thing is that the Man in Malacanang does not seem to be bothered at all! (No one has offered to resign nor taken responsibility. They run for public office in-stead!)

8. Reports of rigged up biddings in the procure-ment of Armed Forces materiel like helmets, rifles, helicopters, combat gears, etc. What is the truth here? (As an army brat, I care about the institution that my dear father had served with utmost dedica-tion!)

9. Pension funds of GSIS for retirees and aging old soldiers under PVAO are reportedly dwindling and irregularities on invested reserves remain un-explained.

10. Mass transit in Metro Manila under the MMDA and the Department of Transportation are featured daily by cable TV from the Philippines and there are always reports of break downs of trains, poor maintenance, questionable contracts. We see the faces of poor commuters and motorists and wonder when the responsible government officials will begin responding?

Well...go ahead and say that we have no more business commenting on the old homeland as we are now citizens of another land. Yet we thank media for bringing right into our living room the utter desperation, the anger, the hunger, admin-istrative mismanagement, indifference, non-en-forcement of laws, grinding poverty that exist in this time and era in the land of our birth. Come to think of it...they said in 1985 that if Marcos goes, the country will be better off. Well, people got rid of him. Guess what? There is ample time to now compare the brands of leadership and quality of life elements...purely detached of course from po-litical undertones.

After all is said and done...we are still homesick and long so much for the old homeland to be led one day soon by more competent, more caring, more engaged Filipinos.

Sluggo Rigor’s ‘May Angal III’

GREG B. MACABENTA

Street Talk2015 was a surprise. With a

newborn apo this year, I was not sure how my writing would be affected, as my husband and I became co-caregivers with her paternal grandma. My apo turned out to be my muse, as you, our loyal readers. The well-read arti-cles reflected that our readers val-ue good teachers, young beauty queens, gifted artists, young student leaders, highly skilled and multi-awarded chefs, and life lessons.

1. Imelda Cledera RodriguezTeaching with passion and purpose “Who is the kid who needs me the most?” That

question animates her teaching throughout the day and on Sunday afternoon, when she writes her les-son plan, she is thinking of the “deaf, old lady in the back of the classroom, who I need to reach.”

Each morning, she greets her potential scholar with a smile and a personalized good morning to each student, acknowledging who they are, by name. By recess, she reminds them to wash their hands and before they go home, she thanks them for a productive day.

In her class, she has identified 5 to 10 are criti-cal synthesizers, who are smart but impatient. By teaching them the art of patience, she gets them to become effective teachers to the other students, “the gifted takes over the class in explaining the concepts they quickly learned.”

She makes everyone realize that she is noticing the good in the students and if a student is “calling out” a classmate, she reminds them that “he has feelings too” and the complainant whispers to her ears what he has done. Students then become more responsible and those who were formerly late an hour and a half, gets to class much earlier. Not only does she shape the attitude, she develops the skills for them to have a solid foundation of knowledge, with the parents very much aware of the students’ progress daily and weekly.

2. Juanne Elisha AquinoFrom church cantor to beauty queen Entering the pageant was supposed to be a sum-

mer activity, or Juanne would have simply enrolled back at Los Angeles Community College. “When I joined, I was intimidated by young women who have joined fashion shows, who were hapa (mean-ing half Filipino and half white), I was simply a dark-skinned, brown Pinay. I have not joined pageants, like others did and I have not joined public events like some had, though I had been in school plays,” she said.

With that first struggle, “my mom, Dindin remind-ed me that God gives everyone beauty. You cannot compare their beauty with you as God gives you

your own unique kind of beauty.” For this writer, Dindin’s reminder was reminiscent of the Apostles and the Blessed Virgin Mary who received individual flame over their heads on Pentecost Sunday, a metaphoric reminder that “each of us receives that gift which is most appropriate to us. The gift of the Holy Spirit is not generic. It is

personal and intimate.” The rest is history, as her beauty came through,

her poise, her humility, her talent, her sweetness, she became the top scorer to be the Bb. Pilipinas-USA 2015 titleholder with several more titles: Bb. Philippine Airlines, Best in Evening Gown and Best in Talent.

3. Nilo AlcalaAn emissary for music An Asian Cultural Council grantee, Alcala is a re-

cipient of a Billy Joel Fellowship at Syracuse Uni-versity where he earned a master’s degree in music (majoring in composition) and received the Irene L. Crooker Music Award.

He recounted how sounds “came to him” for a composition called “Dancing Delusions.” “I got to a dead-end at 2 am. I slept then, woke up at 4 am from a dream with a full orchestration in my head: the flute, the violin, the marimba, the cello, the percussion, the whole chamber ensemble. I pro-ceeded to notate the music on my software. I could sense that I should not take 100 percent credit for it. I believe that any creative product, any art form, any good thing comes from something or someone larger than the artist — a Divine source,” he said.

But, at Syracuse University, his professors taught him not to simply depend on inspiration. He was trained to be consistent and disciplined in the craft. “Our teachers trained us to have various composi-tional technique as tools, and to treat composing as we’re fishing. Not all days would be productive but we should just show up to work anyway, like a regu-lar job,” he said, joking that he will treat himself to ice cream once his composition is completed.

4. Lean AlejandroRemembering a short life well spent He had many reflections, perhaps foreshadowing

how he needed to make the most out of what turned out to be a very brief life. Lean died at the age of 27. He had grand stories to tell — stories of how he persuaded folks to change their perspectives, while organizing students and many others, to lift martial law, to restore democracy and human rights in the Philippines, during the Marcos’ dictatorship from 1972 to 1986.

And his story took us to the Lords of the Rings.

The 2015 Rhizomes articles that resonated with readers

HERE’S positive news at the end of the year: the Philippines, for the first time since 2007, is not included in the 2015 list of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists.

Out of the list, but…

This, however, is mainly because the motive for the seven murders this year targeting Philippine jour-nalists has not yet been established to be work-related. And the motive has not been established because the cases have not been solved. In August alone, three journalists were killed within a span of two weeks.

The failure to catch perpetrators or send gun-men and murder masterminds to prison is the reason why the Philippines continues to rank high in the Impunity Index when it comes to the kill-ing of journalists. In taking the country out of this year’s list of the “World’s Most Deadly Countries for Journalists,” the New York-based press free-dom watchdog Committee to Protect Journalists pointed out that motives for the seven murders still have to be determined. The CPJ has been compil-

ing records of journalist killings since 1992.

This year, the terrorist attack that killed 11 people, mostly

cartoonists of the satirical newsweekly Charlie Hebdo in Paris put France second only to conflict-torn Syria on the list of the world’s most danger-ous places for media workers. CPJ is still verifying reports that up to 35 journalists had been killed or were missing or being held captive by Islamic State militants in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.

It has been pointed out many times that every unsolved murder encourages more attacks. Impu-nity reigns when murderers believe they can get away with their crime. Nations are measured by their response to such threats to press freedom. So far the Philippine response has been disappoint-ing. (Philstar.com)

Guest Editorial

uu

Hope sure springs eternal among Filipinos, as revealed by the results of the Fourth Quarter 2015 Social Weather Survey.

The SWS survey results showed that 92% of adult Filipinos entering the coming year with hope, and only 8% with fear. This would compare with 93% who entered the year 2015 with hope, and only 7%.

The survey was conducted by the Social Weath-er Station (SWS) from December 5-8, 2015 using face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults (18 years old and above) nationwide, 300 each in Metro Ma-nila, Balance of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. Ac-cording to SWS, the area estimates were weighted by National Statistics Office medium-population projections for 2015 to obtain the national esti-mates.

The SWS report further explained that Filipinos’ hope in the coming year has always been high, “starting at 87% when SWS first surveyed it in 2000. It went to 88% in 2001, reached record-high 95% in 2002, and eased to 90% in 2003, 81% in 2004, and 85% in 2005. It ranged from

91 to 92% from 2006 to 2008, and fell to 89% in 2009. It re-covered to 93% in 2010, and has since then been at 90s lev-els, reaching as high as 95% in 2011.”

More revelations from the SWS Survey:

Hope in the coming year is widespread in all areas.

The 1-point change in the national score was due to a 3-point increase in Metro Manila, offset by small declines of 3 points in Mindanao, 3 points in Balance Luzon, and 1 point in the Visayas.

Hope in the coming year rose by 3 points in Metro Manila, from 91% in 2014 to 94% in 2015, the highest since 96% in 2011. It has been at 90s level since 2010 for this area.

However, it fell slightly by 3 points in Mindanao, from 91% in 2014 to 88% in 2015. This is similar to 89% in 2010 and 87% in 2009. It also fell by 3 points in Balance Luzon, from 96% in 2014 to 93% in 2015. It has been at high 90s levels since

2006.It hardly changed in the Visayas,

moving from 91% in 2014 to 90% in 2015. It has been at 90s levels in 9 out of 10 surveys since 2006.

Hope in the coming year steady in class E:

Compared to last year, hope in the coming year fell slightly in all classes except class E.

It hardly changed in class E, moving from 87% in 2014 to 88% in 2015. This is 6 points below 94% in 2013, but similar to 89% in 2012.

However, it fell by 3 points in class D, or the masa, from 95% in 2014 to 92% in 2015. It has been above 90s in 9 out of 10 surveys since 2006.

It fell by 2 points in class ABC, from 95% in 2014 to 93% in 2015. It has been above 90s levels since 2008, reaching as high as 100% in 2012.

Hope in the coming year high in all educa-tion:

Though slightly lower compared to the past two

years, hope in the coming year remained wide-spread in all education.

It fell by 4 points among college graduates, at from 95% in 2014 to 91% in 2015. This is 7 points below the 98% in 2013.

It hardly changed among high school gradu-ates, moving from 94% in 2014 to 93% in 2015. This is 2 points below 95% in 2013.

It fell by 3 points among elementary graduates, from 94% in 2014 to 91% in 2015. This is 2 points below the 93% in 2013.

It stayed at 89% among non-elementary gradu-ates from 2014 to 2015, down by 3 points from 92% in 2013.

How about you, kababayans in America? DO YOU FEEL HOPEFUL ABOUT 2016?

* * *

SWS Poll: Filipinos optimistic about 2016. How about you?

GEL SANTOS-RELOS

The Fil-Am Perspective

From halfway across the globe, many expats now begin to understand why Bongbong is gaining in most forecasts.

I would like to thank Sluggo for this incisive write-up. Remarkably, latest public opinion polls in the Philippines indicate that most Filipinos are looking forward to 2016 with optimism and high

hopes. Perhaps it is because of the inherent resil-iency of our people and, maybe, it is also because of the prospect of the end of Aquino’s governance of incompetence and insensitivity.

May their hopes and expectations come true. Here’s wishing our readers a Happy, Prosperous and Peaceful New Year. (gregmacabenta@hot-mail.com)

Sluggo Rigor’s ‘May Angal…t

He loved it so much that J. Uy of the Philippine In-quirer, Sept. 19, 2007 wrote: “ I (Lidy) introduced him to the ‘Lord of the Rings.’ But he didn’t tell his friends that he got it from me. Macho kasi,” said the feminist firebrand, (Lidy) chuckling at the memory of her husband, Lean.

Lean spoke in layered volumes, disclosing at times his dilemma, using the Lord of the Rings anal-ogy: “Does the fellowship have what it takes to com-plete its task, or will the powers of evil overcome those of good leaving behind a world ravaged by the rage of Sauron, the Dark Lord?“

The Dark Lord of course, he was insinuating in the context of the Marcos dictatorship — a regime that instilled fear among Filipinos. Former Presi-dent Marcos was known for unreasonably sending the opposition in prison, stifling the media, and tak-ing ownership of key industries.

Lean was then aspiring to run for Congress, at a young age of 27. As a student leader, he at-tracted legions and inspired crowds. He got along with everyone — the poor, the middle-class and the wealthy elite. He was welcomed in the mansions of the rich, in churches, even in a humble slum dwell-ing. He inspired folks with simple words and with his abundant humor.

He had a knack for creating slogans spontane-ously: “ The struggle for freedom is the next best thing to actually being free,” or “ In The line of fire is a place of honor.”

5. Hannah IgnacioOn looking for signs of love Frances and 9-year-old Hannah both had pink

colors on their clothes. Hannah sat closer, as if to seek comfort from her mom. “My mom is the best mom. She does a lot of cool stuff with me. She makes me warm breakfast – scrambled eggs with salsa, banana bread with butter, bacon, sometimes lots of fruits and vegetables. My favorite thing is homemade crepe. She has special fillings on the crepe –strawberries, nutella, and even a straw-berry on the whipped cream. She drizzles the top with chocolate syrup. She does not make me sad, not a lot.”

Hannah’s eyes sparkle as she describes her mom, while Frances is noticeably touched, as she has just heard a glimpse of both Matthew John and Hannah share their loving feelings, with depth, “She encourages me a lot. When I am having trou-ble with homework, she helps me. Directions are hard to understand and mom helps me. You had to find a spelling word but the words weren’t really words, they were bunch of letters put together. I did not get that plainly as words, mom had to help me understand that [the] homework [is about] finding the words.” How many words did you find, I asked? “They were bunched up, but I found one word per spelling line, five to six words, one of them was a really long one, favorite.”

From that gifted cue, I asked if she was mom’s or dad’s favorite. “I am both. I am mom’s favor-

ite.” How does that make you feel, and Hannah re-sponds: “It feels good. It makes me happy to know I am her favorite and I feel her love.” What would you tell other children who do not feel their mom’s love, I asked? “Look for love signs, even though they do not feel their mom’s love, I am sure that their moms love and care for them, look for the signs.”

6. Romy DorotanPalates sing and give thanks On Sept. 2015, Purple Yam was named one of

Michelin’s Best 133 New York Restaurants for 2016. As if that was not enough, on Sept. 7 to 13, 2015, Purple Yam-Brooklyn’s chef, Romy Dorotan became a guest chef at De Karpendonkse Hoeve, a Michelin star restaurant in Netherlands, along with the upcoming chefs of Purple Yam – Malate. Both restaurants have innovative menus, using organi-cally sourced produce, meats, fish, seafood, grains and heirloom rice.

On October 30, 2015, four Los Angeles-based artists, along with two friends from New Jersey, and a jewelry designer from Florida, were greeted warmly by Chef Romy Dorotan. We had no idea what our chef’s meal would be like. It was a journey of about 12 hours from Los Angeles to Brooklyn, traversing land, busy airports, airspace, and busy freeways. Famished, we were ready for our palates’ adventure into the wild unknown of organic pro-duce, fresh meats, fresh seafood and a skillful chef imagining how our food should be, closer to the raw state of freshly harvested from Mother Earth.

It is a minimalist restaurant, decorated with split bamboo, superimposed on one another, forming a 3-D wall sculpture. The patio was equally simple, with grown bamboo and lights, giving one a feeling of being home. Chef Romy delighted our palates. From each course he served, the smells, the array of colors and the out-of-this-world flavors took us to a palate satiation summit. One of our favorites was the Cordillera Mountain wild rice, fried with garlic and bagoong. Another was the sea bass sinigang with fresh guavas, pechay, radish, fresh tomatoes, and the artsy flavorful salad of pomegranate seeds, suha, ampalaya, sorrel leaves and radicchio, topped with a light dressing.

Happy New Year to you all! I cherish you, our readers -- you are the very reasons I write and here’s to you for a robust, prosperous 2016! More water to our reservoirs, prosperity, good health and goodwill to all!

* * *

The 2015 Rhizomes articles that…t DATELINE PHILIPPINES

POPE Francis has condemned the recent attacks by a breakaway Muslim rebel group that killed at least nine civilians in Mindanao, calling the acts “senseless.”

The pontiff’s feelings were relayed to Cotabato Archbishop Orlando Cardinal Quevedo in a telegram sent on Monday, Dec. 28 by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

“The Holy Father was deeply saddened to learn of the sense-less killing of innocent people in Mindanao, and he sends con-dolences to the families of those who lost their lives,” the state-ment said.

The Pope, who visited the Philippines in January, said he was saddened by the attacks and asked all believers “to reject vio-lence in the name of God.”

The pontiff is also hoping that security and safety “will be es-tablished” in the troubled region “so that dialogue, tolerance and peace may enable each person to live free from fear.”

Pope Francis also called on the faithful to join him in praying for the victims and their families.

In simultaneous attacks, the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) killed seven farmers and two other ci-vilians in the provinces of Sultan

Pope condemns BIFF attacks on civilians

Kudarat, Maguindanao and North Cotabato on Christmas Eve.

Malacañang last night affirmed Pope Francis’ call for “peace and security through dialogue and tolerance” in the aftermath of the killing of innocent civilians by the BIFF.

Presidential Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma, in a statement, said “government troops are conducting intensive operations to protect the citizens from such attacks.”

Responding Army soldiers also killed four rebels in the Sultan Kudarat attack.

The BIFF broke away from the mainstream Moro Islamic Liberation Front in 2010 due to disagreements over the peace deal with the government to end up the long decades of turmoil in Mindanao.

Even though the BIFF has ceased its attacks for the past two days, the military will continue its pursuit of those responsible for the deaths of the nine civilians.

The Armed Forces of the Phil-ippines also urged residents af-fected by the BIFF attacks in Mindanao to remain vigilant and alert should atrocities happen again.

Col. Restituto Padilla, AFP spokesperson, vowed that law enforcers would give justice to the nine civilians killed in a se-ries of offensives in villages in Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat and North Cotabato.

“Our troops remain on high alert along with our policemen. Law enforcement operations will continue to pursue the criminals behind these killings; they are being hunted down continuous-ly,” Padilla told a press briefing at Camp Aguinaldo.

Apart from the civilian casual-ties, five BIFF rebels were also killed in the attacks on military detachments in Mindanao.

The AFP noted that for the past two days, there was no harass-ment or offensive in the areas previously attacked by the BIFF.

Majority of the civilians at-tacked on Christmas Eve and succeeding days were Christian communities. (With reports from Julie M. Aurelio and Jerry E. Es-planada)

by TINA SANTOSInquirer.net

CABANATUAN CITY, Nueva Ecija — Mary Jane Veloso, the condemned Filipina in Indonesian death row, is welcoming 2016 with high hopes that “sooner or later she will be totally free and meet her young boys again,” a private lawyer pursuing her case said.

Edre Olalia, secretary general of the National Union of People’s Lawyer (NUPL), said members

Mary Jane Veloso still hoping for freedomof an Indonesian women’s group visited Veloso at her detention on Christmas eve.

”She is in good condition,” Olalia said based on feedback from the women’s group.

But Olalia said no one can tell if there would be any breakthrough in the human trafficking case that the National Bureau of Investiga-tion (NBI) filed against Veloso’s

alleged recruiters — Ma. Cristina Sergio and Julius Lacanilao.

Veloso was sentenced to death for smuggling heroin in Indonesia.

She was scheduled for execu-tion but was granted temporary reprieve on April 29, 2015 fol-lowing the surrender and eventu-al arrest of Sergio and Lacanilao. (ManilaTimes.net)

MALACAÑANG on Tuesday, Dec. 29 called on Filipinos all over the world to abide by the laws of other countries, following the exe-cution of overseas Filipino worker Joselito Zapanta in Saudi Arabia.

“We call on all Filipino nation-als to abide by the laws of their countries of work and residence,” said Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma.

Zapanta was executed on

After Zapanta’s death, Palace calls on Filipinos to follow int’l laws

Tuesday for the murder of his Sudanese landlord over rent. The victim’s family refused to execute an Affidavit of Forgiveness in ex-change for blood money.

The family previously demand-ed P48 million, but only P23 mil-lion was raised for Zapanta.

Coloma noted that Zapanta’s execution “could not be fore-stalled under the laws of Saudi Arabia” despite the Philippine government’s efforts.

“The government extends its sympathy and condolences to

the family of Joselito Lidasan Za-panta. Despite efforts to preserve his life, appeals for compassion and forgiveness were unheeded and his execution could not be forestalled further under the laws of Saudi Arabia,” Coloma said.

“Government will continue to ex-tend all the necessary support and assistance to our citizens working or residing abroad, through our diplomatic posts,” he added.

Zapanta was survived by his father, mother, sister, and two children ■

by YUJI VINCENT GONZALESInquirer.net

CHINA seemed unhappy with the group of young Filipino pro-testers who landed in a Philip-pine-claimed island in the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea)

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said in a statement on Monday that China was “strongly dissatisfied with the actions and words of the Philippine side.”

Less than 50 protesters, most-ly youth, sailed for Pagasa Island last Thursday and arrived on Sat-

China ‘strongly dissatis�ed’ over young protesters on Pagasa Island

urday, despite lack of encourage-ment from the government and the military due to security and safety reasons. They were joined by former Marine officer Captain Nicanor Faeldon and will stay there for three days.

Originally, the group “Ka-layaan Atin Ito” aimed to bring 10,000 youths in a month-long protest from November 30 to De-cember 30 on different islands in the Spratlys. The act’s purpose was to show their stand against China’s sweeping expansion in the South China Sea.

However, China maintained its “indisputable sovereignty” over the islands.

“China has indisputable sover-eignty over the Nansha Islands, Zhongye Island being a part of it. We once again urge the Phil-ippine side to withdraw all its personnel and facilities from the Chinese islands and reefs it is illegally occupying and stop doing anything that undermines regional peace and stability and weighs against the relations between China and the Philip-pines,” Lu said. ■

by FRANCES MANGOSINGInquirer.net

MANILA — Davao City Mayor Rodrigo “Rody” Duterte is deter-mined to neutralize half of the es-timated 3,000-5,000 drug lords operating in the country during his presidency, his running-mate Senator Alan Peter Cayetano said on Monday.

Speaking in his Sunday televi-sion program, “Gikan sa Masa,

Duterte vows to neutralize drug lords within half a year if elected

Para sa Masa,” Duterte said the drug problem in the country has worsened to such a degree that it has become a threat to national security.

“In some places in the country, the drug menace has become so bad that drug users have resorted to paying for drugs not with cash but with goats and livestock,” Duterte said.

“In three to six months, ev-erything has to stop. Corruption,

drug, criminality. You are op-pressing the Filipinos, and I hate it,” Duterte added, referring to criminals.

Cayetano said his tandem with Duterte has a comprehen-sive plan and stategy as well as the political will to win the war against drugs. Part of the strate-gy, he said, calls for the dual task of disciplining and improving the salaries and benefits of the police and other law enforcers.

“Under a Duterte-Cayetano government, minimum take home pay for law enforcers will be at P 50,000-60,000 plus allow-ances. We will also impose harsh punishment for ‘bantay salakay’ law enforcers. We will leave no excuses for corruption nor sleep-ing on the job,” Cayetano said.

Meanwhile, Cayetano said they received reports that big drug syndicates based in Lu-zon, Visayas and Mindanao have linked-up to put up a united front against their electoral campaign.

“We will not be cowed. We will hit them where it hurts the most. We will strike at the belly of the beast. We will bring the war to their doorsteps,” Cayetano said.

“For the sake of our families’ safety and the future of our chil-dren, Mayor Duterte and I will end this social menace. Hindi na pwede ang pateka-teka. Sawa na tayo sa pamedya medya. Pa-nahon na para sa matapang na solusyon at mabilis na aksyon laban sa salot na droga sa ating bansa. To our growing support-ers, stay calm. Change is com-ing,” Cayetano added.

Cayetano said that before Duterte entered the political pic-ture, the issue of illegal drugs was not in the front and center of the electoral agenda.

“With Duterte running as president many look forward to him to end the country’s growing drug problem,” said Cayetano. ■

by MIKE FRIALDEPhilstar.com

MANILA — Vice President Je-jomar Binay praised overseas Fil-ipino workers (OFWs) on Tues-day, Dec. 29 for propping up the economy and compensating for the massive underspending of the Aquino administration.

Binay, former presidential ad-viser on OFW concerns, said the remittances of workers helped drive the economy through do-mestic consumption of their families.

“Their purchase of goods us-ing the money sent to them by their relatives abroad gener-ates economic activity and that means profits for businesses and revenues for the government,” he said.

Remittances reached $20.6 billion from January to October, a 3.67 percent increase from the same period last year, the Bang-ko Sentral ng Pilipinas said.

Last year, OFWs sent a record high $24 billion to the Philip-pines, which accounted for al-most a tenth of the country’s gross domestic product.

Binay, however, said if he wins the presidency next year, his administration would work to increase domestic jobs to lessen

Binay lauds OFWs for propping up economythe number of Filipinos working abroad.

He said his administration would focus on strengthening the five biggest creators of em-ployment, which are agriculture, manufacturing, mining, business process outsourcing and export to provide more jobs.

“We can then say that we’ll go abroad because we wanted it and not because we were forced to do so,” he said.

The Vice President said he would continue and improve the financial literacy programs of-fered to OFWs “to teach OFWs’ families to invest, and not to merely spend the money sent home.”

The Philippines is the third-leading recipient of remittances in the world after India and Chi-na. About 12 million Filipinos work abroad.

Job recruiters warned the people of a sharp decline in the deployment of Filipino workers abroad in 2016 with the imple-mentation of the government’s no placement fee policy.

Many recruitment agencies also face possible closure as a result of the new policy, recruit-ment leaders said.

The Philippine Overseas Em-ployment Administration (POEA),

recruitment officials said, has drafted the resolution prohib-iting agencies from collecting placement fees to conform with the laws of some countries that ban the collection of such fees.

“The new POEA policy will discourage private sector partici-pation in the government’s over-seas recruitment program and force them out of business,” the recruiters said in a statement.

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Bal-doz said she directed the POEA to come out with the list of coun-tries that prohibits the collection of placement fees.

Under the proposed resolution, private employment agencies are prohibited from charging directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, any fees or costs to workers.

Private recruitment agencies could only collect direct costs of deployment such as airfare, medical fees, processing and visa fees.

“The new policy runs counter to the business of the recruit-ment agencies whose main in-come are the service fees and placement fees of the workers,” they explained.

But POEA chief Hans Cacdac said the adoption of the no place-ment fee policy is still under dis-cussion. ■

by HELEN FLORESPhilstar.com

MANILA — Ten brand new vessels from Japan will be de-livered to the Philippine Coast Guard starting next year until 2018.

Some of these ships will be as-signed to the West Philippine Sea to augment those being used for search and rescue operations.

The first three vessels would start arriving every other month in the second half of next year, five more by 2017 and the re-maining two in 2018, according to Coast Guard officer-in-charge Rear Admiral William Melad.

“Our intention is to deploy these multi-role response vessels (MRRV) to the different districts,”

PCG to get 10 ships from Japan starting 2016he said. “We would assess which district needs an immediate ves-sel and we will give priority to that district... We would see if there is a need to add ships to the West Philip- pine Sea.”

Melad said the deployment of more ships to the West Philippine Sea was not in response to the territorial dispute with China.

The Coast Guard is also taking into consideration that the ves-sels to be deployed in the West Philip- pine Sea should be bigger than 40 meters to withstand the big waves and strong winds dur-ing typhoons, Melad said.

“These 40-meter vessels would be used for security, law enforce-ment and for search and rescue,” he said. “These are multi-role vessels so these could perform

several functions such as prevent illegal fishing and anti-piracy pa-trol.”

The acquisition of the 10 ves-sels from Japan is covered by the Maritime Safety Capability Im-provement Project.

It was awarded by the Depart-ment of Transportation and Com-munications to the Japan Marine United Corp.

It is being implemented as an official development assistance project, via a tied loan extended by the Japan International Coop-eration Agency (JICA).

The loan facility covers P7.373 billion out of the total project of P8.807 billion.

The balance would be covered by the Philippine counterpart of P1.434 billion. ■

by EVELYN MACAIRANPhilstar.com

DATELINE PHILIPPINES

Happy Holidays!

EducationEmpowerment of the youth is an issue that Senator Bongbong Marcos has always been passionate about. In fact, it was the very fi rst law that he authored as a neophyte congressman in 1992 that established the Philippine Youth Commission.

Emphasizing that EDUCATION is central to nation-building, Senator Marcos has fi led the following bills to to improve the state Senate Bill No. 3106. Public School Teachers’ Salary Upgrading Act.of education in the country:

Noting that the minimum salary of Philippine public school teachers remains incomparable with the salary for other professions and even at borderline of the poverty threshold, Senator Marcos fi led Senate Bill No. 3106 which seeks to raise the compensation of public school teachers from Salary Grade 11 or approximately P18,000 a month to Salary Grade 15 or approximately P25,000 a month.

Senate Bill No. 2531. Teachers Education Act of 2010.

Believing that the quality of a nation’s educational system is dependent on the quality of its teachers, Senator Marcos authored this act mandating continuing education for teachers in all levels of education for both private and public schools.

Senate Bill No. 2532. First Class Public Schools and Libraries Act of 2010.

This bill seeks to continuously improve and upgrade public schools and libraries across the nation pursuant to the constitutional and statutory mandates of prioritizing education.

Senate Bill No. 2188. Moratorium on the Creation or Conversion of State Universities and Colleges Act of 2010.

This is an act imposing a 3-year moratorium on the creation of new state universities and colleges to allow Congress and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) time to assess and upgrade existing state colleges and universities to competitive levels.

Senator Marcos also continues to support numerous efforts for the improvement and expansion of educational programs in various parts of the country, including the massive scholarship program that he implemented as Governor of Ilocos Norte.

Former President Ferdinand Marcos has the legacy of achieving one of the greatest agricultural outputs among past presidents of the Philippines. It was during his presidency that the Philippines saw the Golden Age of Agriculture.

Inspired by this legacy of his father, Senator Bongbong Marcos has also been a staunch advocate of using agriculture as the key to economic development.The Province of Ilocos Norte saw the exponential growth of rice and corn production as well as livestock output under the leadership of Marcos.Toward this end, Senator Marcos has fi led the following bills to promote nationwide growth:

Senate Bill No. 14. National Irrigation Program of 2013.

This bill aims to establish a progressive and effective irrigation method to accelerate agricultural production. It mandates the expedition of irrigation development programs and to irrigate ninety-fi ve (95%) of irrigable lands nationwide, within a period of three (3) years from the effectivity of this Act.Senate Bill No. 1863. Anti-Rice Wastage Act of 2013.

This bill aims to discourage rice wastage by allowing customers to order less than one cup of rice. The bill makes it unlawful and penalizes restaurants, hotels, inns and other eateries if they refuse to serve orders of less than a cup of rice.

Senate Bill No. 112. National Seeds Production Act of 2013.

This bill aims to establish a continuing national program for the production of hybrid and other quality seeds.

Senate Bill No. 409. Philippine Soybean Authority Act of 2013.

This bill seeks to create the Philippine Soybeans Authority and promote the cultivation, production, processing, marketing and distribution of soybean products.

In 2012, Senator Marcos defended the interests of tobacco farmers against unreasonable and disproportionate increase in the excise taxes on tobacco products, as this measure could effectively destroy the livelihood of the farmers and the rest of the tobacco industry.

Sen. Bongbong Marcos strongly believes in tourism as an instrument for economic growth.

One of his achievements as Governor of Ilocos Norte was making the province a major tourist destination not only for local but also for international tourists. This was achieved through infrastructure development as well as constant marketing, with then-Governor Marcos personally making visits to China, where he forged a Sisterhood Agreement with Shandong Province specifi cally to increase the number of Chinese tourists to Ilocos Norte.

He believes that increased public spending and strategic investments in tourism development and promotion will result in long-term benefi ts, especially in terms of job generation and increased income for local governments.

The windmills of Bangui, for instance, built under Marcos’s leadership, are now regarded as a tourist attraction, aside from being an alternative source of energy.

Believing that infrastructure development is integral to tourism development, Senator Marcos has fi led Senate Bill No. 3201, “An Act Creating the Laoag International Port Authority”. This bill recognizes that the Laoag International Airport is the only international airport in Northern Luzon and therefore vests the Port Authority with suffi cient powers to accelerate its development into a world-class facility. It hopes to encourage direct fl ights to Laoag, resulting in an increased number of visitors from China, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea.

Agriculture Tourism

This ad was paid for by BBM-USA 2016.

Happy Holidays!Happy Holidays!Happy Holidays!

SEAFOOD CITYREGULAR AD

FP

2015 in showbiz: Top 6 Pinoy TV moments of the year

SHOWBIZ&STYLEJOURNAL

by LOUIE JON SANCHEZ Philstar.com

MANILA—There might be little need to argue about this year’s top Pinoy television mo-ment in 2015.

Finally, after 42 years, the Philippines has come home with the Miss Universe crown, but it did not go that way immediately at first. Minutes after Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach quietly slipped back to take her place as first runner-up. and after the three-minute queen Ariadna Maria Gutierrez basked into the limelight of her supposed win, the anticlimactic announce-ment commenced. Holding the card, host Steve Harvey started apologizing and correcting his mistake.

MOONLIGHTING

by MYLAH DE LEON

BBM-USA: A quest for a legacy

House to probe MMFF furor

A FEW Ilocanos together gath-ered one Tuesday night, around six until over just before midnight, while the hardcore stayed up till 2 am. The spirit of Ilocandia joined us that night as medicinally ingest-ing cognac, to keep our feet warm as we yearn for that Marcos Era of hope and redemption, universal acceptance and recognition.

We were inspired to top one another with story after story of such days of freedom fighting and fun making. Ilocanos revered the late President Ferdinand Marcos because he was quite simply a great man, because of his courage, his integrity, love of country and his legacy.

BBM-USA Chair Ferandico Gonong Jr. led the movement from then on.

In a calmer light of day, it oc-curred to us, brethren and sistren in this trade that indeed, our be-loved Sen. Bongbong Marcos can start a career, any career. There is

by DJ YAP AND GIL CABACUNGAN

Inquirer.net

IF Sen. Grace Poe was given the chance to contest her disquali-fication from the 2016 presidential race, why couldn’t producers of “Honor Thy Father” appeal its elimination from the Best Picture award?

That in a nutshell was the cry of actor and Laguna Rep. Dan Fernandez, who on Monday, Dec. 28 asked his colleagues in the House of Representatives to investigate the controversial disqualification of the Eric Matti thriller from the Best Picture race in the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF).

His colleagues agreed. Quezon City Rep. Winston Castelo, chair of the House committee on Metro Ma-

nila development, said he would conduct a probe of the disqualifica-tion of “Honor Thy Father” on the eve of the awards night.

Ticket swappingCastelo said Congress would

also probe reports that tickets for the top grosser, GMA Films’ “My Bebe Love” were swapped with the Star Cinema’s “Beauty and Bestie” to show higher box office receipts for the latter.

In the latest hullabaloo involv-ing the scandal-plagued film fest, Fernandez, a cast member of the disqualified movie, filed a House Resolution asking Congress to launch a formal probe into the decision of MMFF organizers to remove “Honor Thy Father” from contention for top film honors.

“Honor Thy Father” was dis-qualified by the MMFF executive

not the slightest difficulty getting started. Everyone wants him, his name is Marcos.

The disadvantages are equally remarkable—people expect a lot from him; in fact, too much. He must be good because if he is not, he takes umbrage. If he is good, people take it for granted, whether it’s his credit or due to his name, whether he succeeds or not—it’s because of his inherited surname.

You only have to look at his everyday load: what the senator has done and accomplished to know how proud of him his sup-porters are.

Now, who is Chairman Fer-nandico Gonong Jr.? We already know that he founded the BBM-USA with his own fortune. Why are sterling things said about him? Why did he choose to start the little suppressed flames into

a conflagration about Sen. Bong-bong’s plans and goal? What made him choose and lead the Fil-Ams here in the US at a time when politics not only has already reared its ugly head but is now blood sport?

“Senator Marcos has spent a lifetime in and around politics. Frankly, he burns with ambi-tion—yearning to make his mark. He never behaved selfishly to do so,” said Gonong.

“Many men with ambition are willing to step on and even trample over others in their climb, but Sen. Marcos never did that! He had great ambition, but he never wronged anyone in order to get ahead. We love him most, for what he hated: injustice, bigotry, pomp-ously, snobbery and hypocrisy.”

BBM-USA Chairman Gonong’s motto: Do right and risk the con-sequences.

committee from the Best Picture contest supposedly for not dis-closing that it had been previously screened at another movie festival, the Cinema One Originals Film Festival.

“Honor,” which stars actor John Lloyd Cruz, had been a last-minute addition to the roster of MMFF qualifiers after the withdrawal of

the producers of another film, “Hermano Puli,” in October.

At the MMFF awards night on Dec. 27, the romantic comedy “Walang Forever” took home the top prize.

Matti, who was conspicuously absent at the ceremony, won Best Director for “Honor,” which

Functional food helps prevent diseaseby CHING M. ALANO

Philstar.com

AFTER all that holiday binging (there’s still New Year and Chinese New Year, of course), it’s time for our yearly New Year’s Resolution, on top of which is probably the big fat promise to lose weight (as in New Years past). People seriously looking to lose weight are turning to today’s hottest superfood secret: turmeric! An ancient spice known as yellow ginger, it is its active ingredient curcumin that studies suggest helps with weight loss. How? As obesity, today’s biggest problem in the US, is associated with low-grade inflammation in fat tissues, curcumin works by reduc-ing the body’s production of sev-eral significant pro-inflammatory chemicals, such as in fat tissues, thus reducing obesity and all other obesity-related health problems. (Note: There are as yet no definitive studies done in humans.)

You’re probably familiar with turmeric as that ingredient that gives Indian curry its color and flavor. Well, the slightly bitter and slightly peppery curcumin does not only add spice to Indian (or Asian) cooking but also adds life as this natural detoxifier and powerful antioxidant has been used in Ay-urvedic and Chinese medicine for ages to prevent over 500 diseases, including cancer.

Obviously taking center stage is the so-called functional food. Didn’t the Father of Medicine Hippocrates write, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”?

Biolife News Service writes, “The focus is on the so-called ‘functional’ ingredients in food and beverage to aid in the prevention or palliative treatment of chronic prevalent diseases, among them obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and arthritis.”

And then there’s cinnamon bark, which our friend Angelo Songco of Healthy Eats Organic Store & Cafe happily unearthed while visiting Plataran Borobudur’s beautiful hillside property. Its local name iskayumanis, meaning sweet wood. Exuding a nice aroma and flavor, cinnamon is normally used in dishes to balance flavor. But more than that, Angelo learned that this yummy, crumbly sweet topping you find on muffins is actually a wonderfully healthy spice.

“One of the concoctions has

even found its way in our minimart shelves — the cholesterol-lowering cinnameric tea which combines this spice with another healthy herb turmeric,” Angelo shares.

Some of cinnamon’s health ben-efits are as follows:

• Body warmer. Cinnamon warms up the body, especially in wintertime. In China, it also helps persons with influenza or fever.

• Fiber and mineral source. Cin-namon has trace amounts of fiber and mineral for the body’s com-plete nutritional needs.

• Antibacterial medicine. With so many bacteria around us, cin-namon helps boost our immune system. To prevent disease, simply put a little bit of the bark into tea, and take either by itself or com-bined with ginger.

• Reduces rheumatism. Daily consumption of cinnamon can re-duce or even cure rheumatism.

• Helps control diabetes mellitus. Cinnamon has antioxi-dants to help control diabetes by balancing insulin levels and body digestion.

• Prevents blood clotting. Cin-namon prevents blood from clot-ting by producing the anti-inflam-matory acid arachidonic.

• Balances hormone. For women especially, cinnamon can reduce the testosterone hormone and increase the progesterone hormone.

• Helps prevent a heart attack. Because of its anti-inflama-tory properties, cinnamon is also quite effective in preventing a heart attack. It can also protect the heart from bacteria or even infections

that could disturb the function of the heart.

“We have cinnamon in limited supply at Healthy Eats,” Angelo informs us.“Try to get the actual bark or cassia sticks rather than the ground or powdered to reap more of its health benefits.”

Ever heard of coco syrup? You’ll go loco over this eco model farm — the five-hectare Lao Integrated Farms in Davao planted to lots and lots of coconut trees. “Our partner merchant Donnabelle supplies us with their wonderful products co-cosyrup, al din seasoning, instant herbal teas and more,” says Angelo. “Now a model in organic farming, their coconut syrup, produced from coconut flower sap, is harvested at an interval of four to five hours.”

Angelo names some of the healthy benefits of coconut as follows:

• It’s been established that coconut food products boost the human immune system and heal a lot of illnesses.

• As a food sweetener, it’s low in glycemic index of 35.

• It’s recommended for proper control and management of diabe-tes mellitus, heart disease, and for the maintenance of weight.

• It can reduce postprandial blood glucose and insulin, and improve overall blood glucose and lipid concentrations in normal, as well as in patients with diabetes mellitus.

• It’s guaranteed 100-percent chemical free.

Hmmm ... Excuse me while I pour some coco syrup on my pancake!

House to probe MMFF...also received a number of other awards.

No due processIn Monday’s briefing at the

House of Representatives, the producer, Ronald Stephen Monte-verde, decried what he said was the lack of due process in the decision to disqualify his film from the Best Picture category.

“I was shocked when we re-ceived a letter on Dec. 26 through e-mail informing us of our disquali-fication for our nondisclosure of the screening of the film at Cinema One,” he said.

He said it was unfair: “There was no way we could appeal.”

“And who could we call on Dec.

26? No one called us. If we dis-obeyed the rules, there was plenty of time to call us,” said Monteverde, son of prominent film producer Lily Monteverde, who herself had cried foul over controversies in the MMFF in past years.

Monteverde’s lawyer, Agnes Maranan, said the MMF executive committee had offered the slot vacated by “Hermano Puli,” but at the time, “Honor” had already committed to premiering at Cinema One on Nov. 8.

But under the rules, she said, MMFF entries could “have two premieres provided these are non-revenue,” meaning there would be no commercial screening.

Maranan said Monteverde had

2015 in showbiz: Top 6 Pinoy TV...The rest, of course, is history,

and Wurtzbach, in her gown of dazzling blue, claimed what was rightfully hers.

The win was momentous, even made more memorable because of the circumstances. For millions of Filipino viewers who set aside Miss Universe live airing days yearly and have been used to our beauties just placing in the top 5 for the past few years, it would have been just another year. The organizers were also very quick to fix things up. Later photographs showed that almost immediately, a cameraman was deployed to catch Wurtzbach’s reaction. The readiness of the production staff, so to speak, made the faux pas look staged. Some in social media speculated it was, with the intent of making Miss Universe trend and reclaim a particular relevance as global culture.

Harvey’s mea culpa went viral in social media too, especially after he made another blunder of mispelling the Philippines and Co-lombia—and this again, showed why this Miss Universe moment deserves to be above all else, one for the books.

Television does not, and could not exist on its own nowadays, and social media indeed plays a vital part in continuing its dis-course. For some, it might be merely a matter of perpetration, of extending viewership and media visibility. It however could also be read as another platform for media decoding, especially that social media users are not only empowered to comment, express their sentiments by way of emojis, or create memes to, say, poke fun at Harvey, much less access materials not made available by television, like backstage events.

Almost all of Pinoy television’s notable moments were fired up by social media, and the platform made these moments not only exciting but more engaging for viewer-social media users who enrich the moments with more cultural meaning.

It would have been Eat Bulaga’s

“AlDub” phenomenon which had taken the top spot. As television events, both Miss Universe and “AlDub,” so speak, follow the same mode of high social media usage. Eat Bulaga, ever reliant on ratings for long, banked on the millions of tweets it garnered to reiterate the phenomenal fol-lowing of its “Kalyeserye” couple Alden Richards and Maine Men-

doza.The mere fact that it employed

Mendoza, erstwhile Dubsmash queen and Internet sensation, illustrates how it values social media as a game changer in the media landscape. It wanted to expand its constant following, and subsequently gained mileage in social media, where a supposed

written the MMFF organizers about the earlier screening in a letter as early as Nov. 5, along with a letter from Cinema One attesting to the fact that its exhibition would be nonprofit.

“This was admitted by the MMFF. We sent them a signed let-ter from Reality Entertainment and Cinema One—one, that it would be exhibited, and two, it’s nonrevenue, because there was no ticket sales,” the lawyer said.

“But the voting for Best Picture occurred before Dec. 25. The awards night was Dec. 27. We were disqualified after the juror voting. So draw your own conclusions about the timing,” she said.

Malacañang said it would not step into the controversial issues hounding the 2015 MMFF.

G. TÖNGI

The Global Kababayan

Programming of Kababayan Today, January 4 - January 8, 2016

JAN. 4 - The new year is about setting intentions and keeping them. Fil-Am Wellness Coach Anna Marie Cruz shares her tips to achieving a balanced life.

Jan. 5 - Live Immigration Call-in Show with Aquino & Loew. Call us with your immigration ques-tions at 3:30pm if you are in LA.

Jan. 6 - Midweek News Up-dates from the Asian Journal

and Real Estate Buzz with Mia McLeod.

Certified personal trainer Ross Lopez, who has a very impres-sive clientel list, shares tips on how to get started with simple excercises to blast fat!

Jan. 7 - Regina Santos, per-sonal coach, pilates instruc-tor and author of “Running in Heels” shares why coaching can help you achieve your goals this 2016.

Jan. 8 - G Tongi’s favorite gym buddy Jean Lagwatan guests on

Kababayan Today to share how to get competition ready.

***

2015 in showbiz: Top 6 Pinoy TV...“AlDub” nation rose and grew. This same AlDub nation of mil-lions was said to have catapulted Wurzbach’s online campaign that consistently placed her on top of the favorites.

The genre of the institutional show also transformed by adapt-ing social media modes and cut-ting down portions into digestible parts for the millennial audience known to have short attention spans. Watching Eat Bulaga today is like watching a compendium of social media footage, the highlight of which is a split-screen romance where the audience and their re-actions are part of the spectacle. The television spectacle has been successfully de-centered, the space democratized.

Another television moment that defined 2015 was the Alma Moreno interview with Karen Da-vila over ANC. Perspectives vary since some people believe that the actress should not have expe-rienced such embarrassment. She was, after all, running for Sena-tor very earnestly, with prayers to guide her and some years of local government service in her portfolio. While others were for-giving (in the same way that they were forgiving of Wurtzbach’s US bases position in that fateful Miss Universe question) some had to weigh in and say that people run-ning for public office need to face tough questions concerning their politics and platforms.

The Moreno fiasco may have yielded sarcastic social media memes containing her reserva-tions in many issues, as well as her espousal of the use of pills (with an exclamation point, as in pills!) and always turning the lights on for couples as means of population control, but it did open discussions relevant to the upcoming national elections.

There was also the Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather fight, which was discussed extensively in social media, but made his-tory when it was broadcast in the country across all major television networks—definitely a first and a notable one. For the first time, competition appeared to have been set aside by networks to expand viewership, all in support of the boxing legend.

The outcome may not have been as positive as that of Miss Universe’s, but Wurtzbach, over Twitter, made a promise to her countrymen: “Kalma lang guys. Ako bahala. Babawi tayo sa Miss Universe!!!” That drew flak be-cause Filipinos generally have a distaste for overconfidence. She however delivered seven months after the fight, with poise, grace, and helpful faith in herself. The US bases answer was accept-able by usual beauty contest standards—though politically problematic, as many think—but not really that convincing. Except that she really delivered her words very clearly, and to the point. The twist in the format—a first in many years—proved to work to her advantage. She was asked the question all Filipina beauty queens—from barangay pageants (gay and female) to the national

ones—know to answer by heart: why should you become Miss Universe?

Wurtzbach was merely like answering a question from Boy Abunda in The Buzz, which folded up this year, and whose last episode also deserve to be listed in this year’s notable television moments. Filipina beauty queens are trained to think fast and intelligently for make or break questions, and Abunda basically perfected the craft of time-pres-sured questioning in his endur-ing career on television. The end of The Buzz’s long reign on air basically spelled death for the showbiz talk show genre, which reemerged on television after the 1986 revolution, and after people seemed to have gotten tired of public affairs shows. With con-viction, Abunda announced that “hindi mamamatay ang showbiz talkshow”. He said those words, waxing ironic, which sounded more of a dirge considering the folding up of another institutional talkshow, Startalk. Startalk was soon replaced with CelebriTV, which was more of a game show than a talk show.

Did it die, really, that long, lamented genre? There’s still Tonight with Boy Abunda, and before that Aquino and Abunda Tonight. It must be undergoing some reinvention. It had to take a Willie Revillame, whose return to television this year must also be considered notable, to un-settle it.

Meanwhile, the most moving among TV events, which may also be argued to be the moment of

moments was the Papal Visit. Fili-pinos fell in love with the aston-ishing, unpredictable, and storm-treading Pope Francis when he visited last January. Seen on TV, almost all of his moments were touching—his gestures, his every wave to the swelling crowd, his words. The highlight of the visit was the trip to Yolanda-stricken Tacloban, almost cancelled fol-lowing the threat of a storm. The trip’s itinerary was shortened instead, and the insistent Pope greeted the crowd during his homily with, “It’s late, but I’m here nonetheless.” His decision to speak from his heart, by way of his native Spanish, endeared him, not only to people who were soaking wet from the rains, but also to people who followed his visit on television. He reminded all Filipinos to have faith and keep the resilience, things Wurtzbach also embodied in her years of pursuing the dream of the elusive crown.

Social media was filled with the beauty queen’s struggles, which was accentuated by her three years of joining Binibining Pilipinas. Wurtzbach’s story is the Filipino story, after all, and it has proven to be weatherproof time and again. Her slight episode with the Spanish-speaking Colombian queen struck as very uncanny, considering how for some, Pope Francis’s Spanish turns easily reminded of colonial rule.

For a lot of observers, it reeked of colonialism too, and our over-dependence on American inter-vention, that answer that Wurtz-bach gave in the penultimate interviews. She clearly knew she was in American space, and she confidently—and if it may be said, astutely—responded. Ages of participating in Miss Universe may have made us competent enough in this game, which has of course invited a lot of critique, especially from feminist groups from time immemorial.

Apart from the said expansion of televisual discourse, social media has enabled us to textualize this event in real time by letting us read the transcript of our queen’s answer, or watch her clips over and over again, aside from reliv-ing that anticlimactic moment. It gave us a chance to read through her words, albeit speculatively, and see that mentioning Amer-ica’s historical colonialism may actually be double edged.

The pageant may be a very serious matter for many Filipinos, but it should not be forgotten that it remains to be a game, a space for play and signification, rightly described by one in social media as also a “game of thrones”. It is neoliberal, it is colonial, it objecti-fies women as well as celebrates them, it is all sorts of culture, global and local, that need to be decoded in a more engaged way.

‘Stop the fan wars’: Iza Calzado happy for Maine Mendoza’s MMFF award

MANILA—Iza Calzado does not mind that Maine Mendoza bested her for an acting award.

The ABS-CBN actress took to social media to congratulate and defend Maine for her Best Supporting Actress award at the recently concluded 41st Metro Manila Film Festival Gabi ng Parangal.

Some netizens questioned the MMFF after the “Eat Bulaga” mainstay bested Iza of “Haunted Mansion,” theater actress Kim Molina of “Walang Forever,” Lotlot de Leon of “Buy Now, Die Later” and Nova Villa of “All You Need is Pag-ibig” for the acting award.

But Iza urged fans to stop the

“fan wars” over Maine’s win in the MMFF and said she liked Maine “from the first dubsmash video I saw of hers.”

When a follower asked if she questioned the MMFF awards night results, Iza said: “Nope… Only felt bad abt HTF.”

She is referring to “Honor Thy Father,” the MMFF entry that was disqualified from the Best Picture category of the film fest.

Maine herself addressed the criticism she anticipated she will receive from netizens for her act-ing award in a tweet on Monday, hours after her win.

The “Kalyeserye” star is cur-rently on vacation in Japan. (Phil-star.com)

Solenn Heussa� marries in Argentinaby MARC JAYSON CAYABYAB

Inquirer.net

SORRY, men. Sexy actress Solenn Heussaff got hitched in Argentina, marrying her long-time non-showbiz partner Nico Bolzico.

Heussaff posted on her Insta-gram account (@solennheusaff) a photo of her and her lucky husband.

She used the hashtags “Espe-

ranza” and “Argentina.”Fellow actress Isabelle Daza

also took to SnapChat to announce the newly wed couple: “Mr. and Mrs. Bolzico.”

Heussaff and Bolzico had been together for over two years be-fore their engagement last Dec. 2014.

A report said the marriage was also attended by Georgina Wilson and Anne Curtis, girlfriend of Heussaff’s brother, Erwan.

Albert Martinez: Season not the same without LiezlUNLIKE in the past, Albert Mar-

tinez and his children spent Christ-mas this year differently. You know why. His wife Liezl is gone.

“During past Christmases,” Al-bert told Funfare, “it was Liezl who fixed the house and prepared the dinner.Parang spectator lang ako, parang guest lang ako. Now, it’s all me and the kids. We celebrated with our house staff. We missed Liezl’s touch.”

For the past few years, Albert recalled that he and Liezl, togeth-er with their children (Alyanna, 30; Alfonso, 29; and Alyssa, 23), would spend noche buena at the house of Tonyboy Cojuangco and Gretchen Barretto. Same thing this year except that Albert didn’t stay long and went right home after dinner that followed the midnight Mass.

“Usually,” added Albert, “from the Cojuangcos we would drop by the homes of my family (the Marti-nezes) and then Liezl’s family (the Muhlachs) and go home early in the morning. Not this time because I missed Liezl terribly. The feeling was not the same.”

Neither was Albert in the mood to buy gifts for his children.

“I just gave them cash so they buy whatever they wanted.”

Liezl’s absence was felt even more intensely when Albert heard Have Yourself a Merry Little Christ-mason the radio, Liezl’s favorite Christmas song.

“That song made me cry,” admitted Albert, “especially the line…through the years we all will be together, if the fates allow…That line is so touching, di ba? We re-ally don’t have control over what the fates have in store for us. That reminded me not just of Liezl but also my mom (who also succumbed to cancer). How sad! But we did feel Liezl’s presence. We knew that Liezl was with us.”

by RICKY LOPhilstar.com

This time last yearby ANGEL JAVIER CRUZ

Philstar.com

LAST Dec. 30, 2014, the event dubbed as The Royal Wedding marked a new beginning in the lives of Dingdong Dantes and Marian Rivera.

In 2007, they first worked to-gether on GMA Network’s Fili-pino adaptation of the Mexican telenovela Marimar, which was warmly received by the viewers. Their onscreen chemistry would later on transform into an off-screen romance that Filipinos all over the world followed until that eventful December day exactly a year ago.

As 2015 began to unfold, many took notice of the life of Philip-pine showbiz’s royal couple. The constant question was whether they would start a family or con-tinue pursuing what they did best, which is acting.

In March, after a short Valen-tine’s break, Dong returned as Fr. Jericho “Kokoy” Evangelista in the primetime soap Pari ’Koy. Fresh on the heels of the Pope Francis’ visit, the series instantly took the hearts of Kapuso viewers, with its plot twists and turns, revolving around the lead character.

Seemingly blessed by the character he portrayed in the soap, Dingdong’s life with Marian was also slowly being blessed. By April, the couple confirmed that Marian was pregnant with their first child. The news resonated all over showbiz, with everyone ea-gerly awaiting any news updates

that the couple would give.Marian’s pregnancy was thank-

fully not a complicated one be-cause by July, she joined the new Sunday noontime show of GMA, Sunday PinaSaya. She gamely pitted her comedic talents with the other headliners of the new Sunday noontime program like Comedy Queen Ai-Ai delas Alas, Jose Manalo, Wally Bay-ola, Alden Richards and Barbie Forteza, among others.

So as not to keep her on her toes (literally), her main segment called Judge MD required her to be seated most of the time.

She eventually had to sit out the succeeding episodes in prepara-tion for the coming of their bundle of joy. And on Nov. 23, Maria Letizia Gracia Dantes, their little angel was born.

Just days after the birth of Baby Zia, Daddy Dong flew to France to attend the 2015 Paris Climate Change Conference together with President Benigno Aquino III and other National Youth Com-mission (NYC) officials. He is the NYC’s Commissioner-at-Large.

Dingdong began his speech with, “My name is Jose Sixto Dantes III and I come from an ar-chipelago that knows an average of 22 typhoons a year. On paper, I am a commissioner representing the youth of the Philippines but in my heart, I feel like I am really just representing my daughter Maria Letizia who is seven days and 20 hours old today.”

In an interview with GMA

News’ 24 Oras, Dingdong related that just the thought of going home every day to be with Mar-ian and Zia excites him after a tiring day at work. “What they’re all saying is true, that the tiredness is all gone.”

As for Marian, she described the coming of Zia as an indescrib-able feeling. When interviewed by phone patch on GMA 7’s Sun-day PinaSaya, she said, “Thank you Lord at binigyan Niyo ako ng napakasayang biyayang walang kapantay talaga.”

This Christmas is without a doubt the best one so far for Dong and Yan. After all, 2015 brought new life and love to Mr. and Mrs. Dingdong Dantes and most definitely, we will see more of them in 2016.

It was Albert’s first Christmas without Liezl (who lost her battle with cancer last March 14) and his last Christmas with Alyanna as a single girl. Alyanna is getting mar-ried to her boyfriend, banker/fash-ion photographer Roy Macam, next year. The sweethearts began going steady after they met (and matched) at work. Roy proposed to Alyanna recently.

“He did it during their trip to Mt. Everest,” said Albert who first met his future son-in-law in 2007. “Not at the peak but at the base. I saw the video of his proposal. Roy surprised Alyanna who didn’t have any idea. Lumuhod si Roy and offered Alyanna an engagement ring, saying, ‘Will you marry me?’ Alyanna screamed, ‘YES!!!!’ So,” Albert added with a laugh, “wala nang atrasan, hindi ko na mababawi ang anak ko.”

The sweethearts want to get married in Rome and Albert advised them to have it after July because his contract with ABS-CBN (for the teleseryes FPJ’s “Ang Probinsyano” and “All Of Me”) is expiring around that time. Both are on extended run.

Teased that his two other chil-dren might beat him to the altar, Albert conceded, “To be honest, I’m not even thinking of that; it doesn’t

cross my mind. Walang makaka-match kay Liezl. Mahirap makakita ng katulad ni Liezl; mahirap to fill her shoes.”

Albert described 2015 as a bit-tersweet year.

“The first six months were the saddest in my life,” was how Albert summed it up. “And the next six months were the most successful, with two high-rating shows.”

Turning 55 in April next year, Albert has learned how to adjust to the times.

“When I turned 50,” said Albert, “I told ABS-CBN management that I was ready to do much older roles.”

He doesn’t look his age, does he?

“Kasi hindi ko inaabuso ang katawan ko,” shared Albert. “It was Liezl who took good care of me. I eat healthy; I drink lots of water. I owe my nice complexion to The Belo Medical Group. I work out. I get as much sleep as I can despite my tight schedule. I shoot for ‘Probinsyano’ M-W-F and ‘All Of Me’ T-TH-S.”

After Liezl’s first death anniver-sary (babang-luksa), Albert and the children will have to decide what to do with Liezl’s personal things which have remained intact, untouched.

SEAFOOD CITYADVERTORIAL

FPFC

SEAFOOD CITYFOOD SERVICE

FPFC

COMMUNITYJ O U R N A L

ATTY. ROBERT REEVES RAFAEL TORRES, IIIAND NANCY MILLER

Your ImmigrationSolution

CHILDREN who come to the United States unaccompanied are among the most vulnerable types of persons to arrive in the United States. These children are sometimes all alone and of-ten have suffered mistreatment or abuse in their home country, which prompts them to take the extraordinary risk of traveling to the United States without an ac-companying adult or parent.

About 15 years ago, Congress drafted legislation which led to the creation of Special Immi-grant Juvenile Status (“SIJS”) as an avenue to United States Citizenship for unaccompanied children. About 8 years later, the William Wilber-force Trafficking Victims Protec-tion Reauthoriza-tion Act of 2008 (“TVPRA”) was enacted, which provided addi-tional protections for unaccom-panied children, including ex-panded qualifications for SIJS.

In order to qualify for SIJS, the child must be under 21 years of age and must be physically present inside the United States at the time of filing, cannot be married (either at the time of fil-ing or at the time a decision is made on the child’s application), and must have an order from a state court in the United States with the following findings: 1) that the child is a dependent of the court or was legally placed in the custody of a state agen-cy, private agency, or a private person; 2) that it is not in the best interest of the child to be returned to their home country; and 3) that the child cannot be reunited with 1 or both of the child’s parents due to abuse, neglect, abandonment, or simi-lar basis under state law. If the

Help for children in need of legal statuschild is granted SIJS, the child is immediately eligible to adjust to Lawful Permanent Resident Sta-tus, as well receive employment authorization, and eventually may apply to become a Citizen of the United States.

Securing the state court or-der is a complicated process, but one that can be managed by a knowledgeable and expe-rienced immigration attorney. The process can become espe-cially complicated if the child is able to reunite with one of his or her parents, but not the other, or if one of the parents is deceased. As the rules indicate,

the child only has to show that reunification with one parent is not viable.

However, some courts have been reluctant to issue the need-ed order if a child is living with one of his or her parents and the other parent is deceased. This situation iscommonly re-ferred to as “Single-Parent Spe-cial Immigrant Juvenile Status.” Just a few months ago, the Cali-fornia Court of Appeal issued a decision in the case of Eddie E. v. Superior Court, in which the Court found that a parent’s death in and of itself does not disqualify the child from seek-ing SIJS. The Court clarified that the relationship between the deceased parent and child prior to the parent’s death should be reviewed. Ultimately, the Court found that if a parent abandoned their child prior to the parent’s death, theparental abandonment of the child does

not end with the parent’s death, but is instead cemented as the ultimate form of abandonment. It is important to note that if the child is granted SIJS, the child will never be able to enter a pe-tition as an immediate relative of the other parent.

An unfortunately common sce-nario is the following. A mother gives birth to a child, and the father abandons both mother and child shortly thereafter. The single mother leaves her home country to come to the United States in order to seek oppor-tunities to provide for her child. The father dies, cementing his

abandonment of his child for-ever. The child then eventually travels to the United States to reunite with the mother. In this basic sce-nario, the child would likely be able to estab-lish that reuni-

fication with one of his parents is not viable due to abandonment and neglect despite the fact that the father is deceased.

There are many other scenar-ios which would allow a child to qualify for SIJS. In order to find out if a child you know may be qualified to seek SIJS, consult with a knowledgeable and expe-rienced immigration attorney.

***

“ The process can become especially complicated if the child is able to reunite

with one of his or her parents, but not the other, or if one of the parents is

deceased. As the rules indicate, the child only has to show that reunification with

one parent is not viable.”

ATTY. RAYMOND BULAON

Minding Your Finances

ATTY. KENNETH URSUA REYES

Barrister’s Corner

IN a divorce proceeding, people sometimes have a mis-conception that the only assets or properties that have to dis-close assets and properties sit-uated in California. Even worst, sometimes parties even think that since an asset or property is situated in a different coun-try or state, that property is not community property and not subject to division in California

Disclosure and characterization of overseas assets in divorcefamily court. One has to un-derstand the general commu-nity property presumption in California. Property acquired before marriage is the acquir-ing spouse’s separate property, as is property obtained during marriage that can be traced to a premarital acquisition. Family.Code. § 770(a). Rents, issues and profits” of separate prop-erty are separate property. All property acquired during mar-riage and before separation, other than by gift or inheri-tance, is presumptively com-munity property. Family Code §§ 760, 771(a), 772; Marriage

of Bonds (2000) 24 C4th 1, 12, 99 CR2d 252, 258; Marriage of Lehman (1998) 18 C4th 169, 177, 74 CR2d 825, 828.

Pursuant to Family.Code. § 760, community personal or real property is consistently defined no matter where situ-ated. Family Code §760 de-fines “Community property” as “Except as otherwise provided by statute, all property, real or personal, wherever situated, ac-quired by a married person dur-ing the marriage while domi-ciled in this state is community property.” As such, out-of-state community property is commu-

CHAPTER 13 is the section of the US Bankruptcy Code that al-lows individuals in the United States to reorganize their financ-es. If you are having difficulty paying your debts (credit cards, medical bills, personal loans, tax-es, late mortgage payments and property taxes- all kinds of debts) due to insufficient income, don’t despair. Chapter 13 may give you the relief that you need so that you can get back on track as quickly as possible. Let me explain.

We all know how difficult it is to catch up once you start falling be-hind on debt payments. If you’ve experienced a reduction in in-come (example: reduced income from employment - or business, if you’re self-employed), Chapter 13 allows you to pay back your creditors over a 3-5 year period based only on the amount of your surplus income every month, not based on how much you owe. In Chapter 13, you also don’t need to worry about losing any assets you may have because you will keep everything and lose noth-ing. And if you are in business, you will be allowed to continue running your business as usual.

Any type of bankruptcy filing, including Chapter 13, immedi-ately stops all collection actions against you. That means no more annoying creditor calls, collec-tion letters and no marshals at your door. A lot of people in debt are afraid to even answer their phone or open their mailbox be-cause they don’t know how to re-

Chapter 13: How you can pay creditors only what you can a�ordspond to bill collectors who are harassing them for payment.

If you are about to lose your home in foreclosure, Chapter 13 also allows you to keep your home while including all your back mortgage payments in your debt consolidation. You pay zero percent on credit cards and all un-secured debts and in most cases, the amount you owe on all these debts are significantly reduced, sometimes to zero, depending on your income. The portion of your unsecured debt (or all of it) that is not paid through your Chapter 13 plan is wiped out at the end of your repayment plan.

Once the court approves your proposed Chapter 13 plan, there is nothing more that creditors can demand of you. They are bound by the terms of the ap-proved plan and cannot ask for more money. Your bankruptcy attorney can review your month-ly living expenses with you, ana-lyze your income and help you propose a realistic payment plan that you can afford.

In most cases, Chapter 13 is a far better alternative than try-ing to pay debts on your own or hiring a debt management com-pany. This is because in Chapter 13, you cannot be sued by your creditors as long as you remain under court protection. And if you are being represented by an attorney, all creditor communica-tions go to your attorney so that you do not have to deal with your creditors directly. Warning: You

may see a lot of companies pro-moting “debt settlement or debt management services”. They usually tell you that their services are better than filing for Chapter 13 because you can avoid bank-ruptcy and it looks better on your credit. Don’t fall for this lie. A lot (not all) of these companies are scammers who tell you want you want to hear, take your money and then fail to deliver on their promises. They often tell you that they have “lawyers” on staff that can defend you if you are ever sued by creditors. The reality is that they don’t and if you end up hiring one of these companies, you will be in worse financial shape than before. They will take your money most of the time and end up doing nothing. I know, because a lot of people who have come to my office tell me about their unpleasant experiences with a lot of these companies.

I offer a free office consultation to help you with debt problems if you are struggling financially and don’t know what to do. Call Toll-Free 1-866-477-7772 to schedule an appointment to see me. I have offices in Los Angeles, Cerritos, Pasadena & Valencia.

* * *

Dear Attorney Tan,I ENTERED the US in 1998 as a crewman. I have recently mar-

ried a US citizen and would like to get a green card. However, I have heard that since I entered as a crewman, I cannot adjust my status to a permanent resident. Is this true? --Lost on Land

Dear Lost on Land,Under INA Section 245(c)(1), a person who enters the US as a

“crewman” is generally barred from adjusting his status to perma-nent residence. However, analysis of this issue must begin with determining whether you are actually a “crewman,” who is barred from adjustment.

A “crewman” is defined as a person “serving…in a capacity re-quired for normal operation and service on board a vessel, …or aircraft, who intends to land temporarily and solely in pursuit of his calling as a crewman and to depart from the United States with the vessel or aircraft on which he arrived or some other vessel or aircraft.” INA Section 101(a)(15(D). A “crewman” under this definition is assigned a “D” visa classification, but is often issued a dual C-1 transit/ D crewman visa. Because of this, a common misperception exists that a C-1 visa classification is designated for crewmen, and that a person who entered the US under a C-1 clas-sification is by definition a “crewman,” therefore barred from adjusting his status to permanent resident. However, it is important to keep in mind that if a person entered on a C-1 transit visa, he may not be a “crewman” and may be eligible to adjust status. Further, the facts of a particular case regardless of letter classification of one’s visa upon entry may also be considered. If you entered on a C-1 transit visa, or under circumstances that do not fit the definition of a “crewman,” you may be eligible to adjust status.

If you are considered a “crewman” under the above definition, you can still file for adjustment of status to permanent residence and get a green card in the US if you are covered by INA Section 245(i). To be covered under INA Section 245(i), one must be the beneficiary of a visa petition or la-bor certification filed on or before April 30, 2001. If the petition was filed between January 14, 1998 and April 30, 2001, physical presence in the US on December 21, 2000 is also required.

If you are not covered under INA Section 245(i), and are considered a “crewman” under the above definition, you would need to obtain your immigrant visa at a foreign consular post. Traditionally, persons who were unlawfully present in the US for more than 1 year, and who had to obtain their immigrant visa at an overseas US consulate were subject to an unlawful presence bar from returning to the US for 10 years. That person would be able to seek a waiver of the unlawful presence bar after leaving the US, but if denied, he would be left outside of the US, and away from his family for 10 years. However, under the Provisional Waiver program, you can apply for and get a decision on the waiver of the unlawful presence bar without leaving the US. If the waiver is approved, you can leave the US with some assurance that you will obtain your immigrant visa at the US consulate post and quickly return. Spouses and minor children of US citizens are eligible for provisional waiver relief.

* * *Darrick V. Tan, Esq. is admitted to practice law in California and Nevada. Mr. Tan is a grad-

uate of UCLA and Southwestern University School of Law. He is a member of the Consumers Attorney Association of Los Angeles and is a former member of the Board of Governors of the Philippine American Bar Association.

Permanent residence for crewmen

nity property for all purposes, including intraspousal man-agement and control fiduciary obligations. It does not matter if the property is located in an-other state or another country.

For the same reason, the parties to a divorce case is re-quired to disclose all property, separate and community, in-cluding those outside the state. During the marriage, the par-ties’ fiduciary duties require full and accurate disclosure of true and full information affecting community property transac-tions. FamilyCode. §§ 721(b), 1100(e). In addition,

disclosure duties arise upon separation in anticipation of dissolution, nullity or legal separation. The post-separation disclosure duties extend to all assets and liabilities in which either party has or may have an interest or obligation, regard-less of community or separate property characterization, and to current earnings, accumula-tions and expenses. These du-ties “arise without reference to any wrongdoing.” Family.Code. §§ 721(b), 2100(c), 2102(a)(1); Marriage of Feldman (2007) 153 CA4th 1470, 1475–1476, 64 CR3d 29, 33; Marriage of

Brewer & Federici (2001) 93 CA4th 1334, 1342–1344, 113 CR2d 849, 854–855. Parties to a divorce case has a duty to provide full and accurate dis-closure of all assets and debts including those in other states and other countries. Failure to disclose could result to certain legal consequences to the non-disclosing parties including sanctions and attorney’s fees. If you are contemplating a di-vorce and you own assets and properties outside the state or country, its best to retain the representation of an experience

u

ATTY. C. JOE SAYAS, JR.

Protecting Employee & Consumer Rights

THE year 2015 has been an interesting time for employment law, with the legislature and the courts defining additional pro-tections to employees. The fol-lowing are some of the new laws that may interest our readers:

Employers Must Now Provide Paid Sick Leave to Employees

On or after July 1, 2015, most employees working in California for 30 or more calendar days within a year are entitled to paid sick leave. This applies to most temporary, part-time, and full-time employees. Such employees may begin using accrued sick leave on the 90th calendar day of employment. Employees accrue one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked. Or, in-stead of accrual, employers can immediately provide 24 hours or 3 days of paid sick leave at the beginning of each calendar year or anniversary date.

On-Call Employees Not Free to Leave Work Premises Must Be Paid for Sleep Time

In the case of “trailer guards” at construction sites who were required to spend the night at their jobsites in residential-type trailers, but who were considered “on-call” and unpaid, the Califor-nia Supreme Court ruled that the security guards’ on-call hours should be paid as hours worked. An employee who is subject to an employer’s control, even though they’re not “working” during that time, still must be paid. And, unless a sleep exemption ap-plies, the employer must include “sleep time” in the calculation of hours worked for employees with 24-hours shifts.

Piece-Rate Employees Should Be Paid Separately for Rest Breaks

For piece-rate employees, employers must include in their paystubs an item stating the to-tal hours of compensable rest

Year 2015 in review: Developments in employment laws

periods, the rate of compensa-tion, and the gross wages paid for those periods during the pay period. The paystubs must also show the total hours of other nonproductive time (e.g., waiting time), the rate of compensation, and the gross wages paid for that time during the pay period. Em-ployees should be paid for rest periods and other nonproductive time at or above specified mini-mum hourly rates, aside from their piecerate pay.

More Protections for “Temps” and Subcontracted Employees

Effective January 1, 2015, California employers in nearly all industries will be held account-able for their labor contractor’s failure to pay wages, or provide adequate workers compensation benefits, to workers. If the em-ployer has the “right to control” the workers provided by the con-tractor, then the client employer is a “joint employer” and will be liable for any employment law violations.

Right to Control Workers is Major Test of Independent Con-tractor Status

In the case of FedEx drivers who were misclassified as ‘inde-pendent contractors,’ the federal Court of Appeal ruled that the principal test of an employment relationship is whether the per-son to whom service is rendered has the right to control the man-ner and means of accomplishing the desired result. Since drivers must wear FedEx uniforms, drive FedEx-approved vehicles, groom themselves according to FedEx’s appearance standards, deliver packages as directed by FedEx, and obtain FedEx’s consent re-garding delivery routes and hir-ing of other persons to help per-form their work – the court found that such “necessary control” by FedEx over the drivers is “pow-erful evidence” that the drivers should be classified as employ-

ees. Additional Leave for Preg-

nant Employees ClarifiedIn the case of Sanchez v. Swis-

sport, Inc., the appellate court clarified that an employee who has taken all 29 1/3 weeks of leave under the pregnancy law and California Family Rights Act, but still cannot return to work be-cause of disability, is still entitled to reasonable accommodation from the employer, including ad-ditional leave, under the Fair Em-ployment and Housing Act, if the additional leave would allow the employee to go back to work at the end of the leave.

Gender Pay EqualityBeginning January 2016, an

employer shall not pay employ-ees at wage rates less than the rates paid to employees of the op-posite sex for substantially simi-lar work, and performed under similar working conditions, even though employees may have dif-ferent titles or work at different sites. If differences in wages ex-ist, the difference must be legally justified based on one or more of the following factors: a seniority system, a merit system, a system that measures earnings by quan-tity or quality of production, or a bona fide factor other than sex, such as education, training, or experience.

REVERENDRODEL G. BALAGTAS

To Live With Faith

SOME friends invited me to go out with them for breakfast after a Simbang Mass. I accept-ed their invitation without hesi-tation so that I could spend time with them before Christmas. I haven’t seen them or talked to them for a long time.

They have been my friends since my early years as a priest. I remember that I frequently visited their home and shared meals with them.

At breakfast that morning, we reminisced about our young-er years and talked about our hopes for the future. We shared, laughed and joked about just every topic that came to our minds: church, vacations, fami-lies, politics, the Philippines, and so forth.

We stayed at the restaurant for almost two hours enjoying our conversations and time to-gether. And although we had disagreements on certain views, there was no doubt that we felt the warmth of our friendship and longed for more reunions and visits later.

As we were driving back to their home, I reminded them about the message of my hom-ily that morning. “It’s the simple things in life like the time we spent together this morning that give us joy,” I told them. “It’s the ordinary, small stuff and details

A New Year’s re�ectionthat bring life and meaning into our lives.”

Indeed, I felt that our reunion was another fine Christmas gift. It was not anything big or expen-sive, but it touched my heart. It was ordinary, yet profound and meaningful.

God acts in small things and uses ordinary events and places to show his marvelous works. In the First Reading of the Mass that day, Micah said that God would deliver a people not from a powerful class, not from an important city of Jerusalem but from Bethlehem Ephrathah, a small town of a clan of Judah.

God uses simple and ordi-nary circumstances, such as the birth of a child as a solution. And the child will not grow up to be a conquering warrior, but a shepherd who will gather the flock and heal their wounds. The shepherd’s small, simple and or-dinary works will reach the ends of the earth!

Mary’s visit to Elizabeth was an ordinary visit, but it was filled with grace. Even the baby in Elizabeth’s womb leaped for joy.

Truly, the simple things we do for others such as our visits to the sick, our help to poor rela-tives, our thoughtful Christmas cards, and our telephone calls to family members and friends in the faraway lands touch hearts. The simple gestures of kind-ness, compassion and care we show to fellow employees, the smiles on our faces, and the dai-ly prayers we say bring peace

and harmony in life. Our fidelity to our daily duties and prayers transmit wholeness in our selves and relationships.

Absolutely, it’s not just big plans and big projects that make the world go around. It’s also the small and simple things and details we do for the benefit of other people.

The world thinkers may laugh at these trivial matters. But like the mighty kings and governors during the birth of Jesus who could not believe that a little child born on a stable could re-deem the world, they too would be surprised at seeing the power of small, simple and ordinary people, things, events, and cir-cumstances of life.

And so, for this new year, let’s not just think big; let’s think small. For it’s the small details, the ordinary things and the daily acts of love and kindness that we do for our loved ones and other people that bring love and joy to the world!

Happy New Year!* * *

family law attorney.***

***

Disclosure and characterization…t

THE Philippine College of Commerce High School Labora-tory Batch 1966 (now Polytech-nic University of the Philippines) will be celebrating its Golden Ju-bilee from February 20-21, 2016 in Manila, Philippines.

According to the President of the PCCHS Batch ‘66 Alumni As-sociation, Roland Atienza, about fifty-five (55) batchmates from Australia, Canada and the United States have confirmed attendance to the Homecoming and fifty (50) from the local Manila chapter.

Activities lined up for the Gold-en Jubilee Celebration are as fol-

Philippine College of Commerce High School Laboratory Batch 1966’s Golden Jubilee

lows: February 20, 2016 -- 6:00pm-

12:00am Formal Program/Din-ner at the Banahaw Ballroom, The Legend Villas, Mandaluyong City, Philippines February 21, 2016 -- 8:00am - 9:00pm

- Visit the ANAWIM Home for the Abandoned Elderly, Montal-ban, Rizal Province (Fellowship/Lunch/Donate basic needs of the elderly)

- Tour of Manila (Former PCCHS in Lepanto, Intramuros Tour (old churches and Cathe-dral, Rizal Park, Fort Santiago)

- Dinner/Cultural Show, at

Barbara’s, IntramurosFebruary 22, 2016 - BREAKUP

GROUP (To Palawan, Laguna and respective hometown prov-inces of the guests)

For inquiries, please con-tact the following members of the CORE group: Lourdes T. Flores, email: lulutflores@yahoo.com; Agnes T. Sule, cell: 09165567000, email: su-leagnes@yahoo.com; Roland Atienza, cell: 09062947156, e m a i l : a t i e n z a 8 @ y a h o o .com; Rebecca T. Sayed, cell: 09064032624, email: rebecca.sayed@yahoo.com ■

People and Events

ATTY. LAWRENCE YANG

Debt Relief

Americaalendar of EventsacrossC

ADVERTISE YOUR EVENTS!PRE-EVENT AND POST-EVENT

GO DEEPER. GO WIDER. LET THE WORLD KNOW.CALL ASIAN JOURNAL: (818) 502-0651DISPLAY AD SIZES AT SPECIAL RATES

FOR NON-PROFIT GROUPS

Attention all graduates of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines and the Philippine College of Commerce: join us in our FIRST GLOBAL REUNION being organized by the Polytechnic University of the Philippines Alumni Association, USA Inc. scheduled on May 27-29, 2016 (Memorial Day Weekend) at the New Orleans Hotel in Las Vegas, NV. We promise a weekend of fun-filled activities, of friendship and camaraderie as we reminisce our best memories during our high school and college days. There will be lots of entertainment, singing and dancing and photo opportunities with your classmates and friends.

For more information, please contact any of the following: Loi Herrera at 562-544-8210 or loiherrera@yahoo.com; Monette Santillan-Rivera at 818-970-8317 or Monette_santillan@yahoo.com; Rose Mejia at 323-997-3838 or Rosemariemejia@kw.com; Marissa Sugay-Palanca at 818-281-7460 or marispalanca@yahoo.com; Rose Maghari at 661-794-8906 or rmaghari@gmail.com; Sally Mendoza at 323-695-0235 or sally.mendoza616@yahoo.com; Honeylette De Leon at 562-480-5743 orhoney@worldclassfreight.com; Virginia Herbito at virginiaherbito@gmail.com; Connie Acosta at 323-854-5303 orconnieacosta1@att.net; Violeta D. Cristobal at 310-880-5808 or vee@cristobalcpa.com; Jun Mapoy at 323-627-5326 or jcmapoy@yahoo.com.

All are cordially invited to the Feast of Santo Niño de Cebu on Saturday, January 9, 2016, from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm at St. Bernard Catholic Church in Bellflower, California, organized and sponsored by the Santo Niño de Cebu Association of Southern California, Inc., a non-profit religious organization. The Eucharistic Celebration will be presided by the Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles, His Excellency Bishop Oscar A. Solis at 10:00 am followed by the traditional procession of the image of Santo Niño de Cebu, fiesta lunch and Sinulog pres-entations. Food and financial donations are welcome, and all donations are tax deductible. For further information, you may contact the association President, Danny C. Diluvio at (323) 252-4991 or email at: dannydiluvio1@gmail.com.

Fr. Jose Joseph Parathanal of Holy Trinity Parish, San Pedro District, Archdiocese of Los Angeles, invites all to join Fr. Joseph Parathanal’s Pilgrimages to EASTERN EUROPE, OL-GUADALUPE/Colonial Mexico, and INDIA. During the journey, pilgrims will pray to God for healing of body, mind and spirit especially for healing of the world from violence, terrorism and climate changes. Trip dates are: Divine Mercy/Infant Jesus of Prague/Austria/Hungary/Medjugorje (Eastern Europe) April 17- April 30; OLGuadalupe and Colonial Mexico - June 20 - June 27; and Mother Teresa/St. Thomas/St. Alphonsa/St. Euprasia/St. Chavarra (India) - Sept. 15 - Sept. 29, 2016. For more details and pilgrimage information, please contact Bernadette at bcorp1114@hotmail.com or call 323-344-1548 & 323-547-6618.

Santo Niño Cruzada USA, with the participation of the Cathedral Knights of Columbus and a Sinulog group, is inviting everyone for a holy mass to celebrate the 29th anniversary of the Feast of Santo Niño, the Divine Infant Jesus, at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown Los Angeles (555 W Temple St, Los Angeles, CA 90012) on Sunday, January 17, at 3:30pm. The main celebrant is Monsignor Kevin Kostelnik, with Father David Gallardo as concelebrant. For more information, please contact any of the following offic-ers: Romy & Tess Esturas (213-387-9682), Rey & Tess Edpao (818-469-7292), Lilia Figuracion (626-394-2661, Carmen Estrada (213-413-2881), Fe Montana (323-218-1587), Ester Paredes (213-864-1149), Fe Reyes (213-413-5286), Laurie Dolorfino (213-407-0097), and Cherry Guerrero (213-632-2096).

CLIENT is part owner of an S corporation. Business started 15 years ago. It imports and distrib-utes high value items such as appliances and furniture. It has several retail outlets. Last week, it lost a civil case where a judgment for $1.0M was awarded in favor of plaintiff for breach of contract. The business has no money to pay the judgment. What can the plaintiff do with the judgment? It can enforce the judgment by placing a lien on all assets of the company such as receivables, in-ventory, bank accounts and other assets. Any asset in the name of the company can be attached and sold to satisfy the judgment. For a relatively small business like this, a $1.0M judgment that is being enforced can create chaos and literally bring the business to its knees! Any person engaged in business can tell you that this is the way it is. Judgment credi-tor can get all of the assets of the business and sell them for cash until the $1.0M judgment is paid in full. And until the judgment is paid in full, the unpaid balance incurs 10% annual interest. So even if the business paid back $100,000 in the next 12 months, at the end of next year, it would still owe $1.0M.

So what can client do as part owner of this business? Client can file a Chapter 11 for the busi-ness if client wants to continue doing the business. The Chapter 11 reorganization will allow the business to present a plan to the court that stops the enforcement of the judgment, or prevent the enforcement of the judgment. It is preferable, in fact, necessary to file the Chapter 11 before the judgment lien attaches to the

Client chooses between chapter 11 and chapter 7 because of $1.0M judgmentassets of the company. If the judgment lien has already at-tached to the assets of the busi-ness, the nature of the judgment claim changes from unsecured to secure. This change in status can make or break the Chapter 11 case. A Chapter 11 plan can propose partial or even no pay-ment to unsecured creditors. But the plan has to pay secured creditors in full. Therefore, the difference in cost to the busi-ness is $1.0M if the judgment is secured. If the judgment is unsecured, the business can get away with paying only a partial

of the $1.0M, for instance, 5% or $50K, or even nothing if the plan proposes zero distribution to unsecured creditors.

If client no longer wants to continue doing business, the best option is Chapter 7. In Chapter 7, all claims against the company, including the judgment of $1.0M will be filed in the bankruptcy case. All assets that the business has legal or equitable title to will constitute the bankruptcy es-tate under administration of the trustee. The trustee will sell all of the viable assets to convert them to cash. Whatever cash is gener-ated will be used to pay all credi-tors. All creditors in the same class will get equal treatment in payment of dividends. So, if the judgment lien is secured, the $1.0M will have priority over all the unsecured claimants. For example, after selling all inven-

tory and collecting all receivables plus cash in the bank, the bank-ruptcy estate has $300K of cash. First the trustee will pay himself for services rendered and the trustee will pay his lawyers. Let’s say trustee and his legal fees is $200K. The $100K left will be paid to the judgment lien holder because it is secured. Since there is nothing left, the unsecured creditors will get nothing.

Client, who is part owner of the business and the other owners of the business, can walk away from the business without any person-al liability on their part (unless they signed personal guaran-

ties). Then can thereafter start another business by establishing a new company and start fresh with a new busi-ness that has no liability.

If this business is profitable, ex-cept for the prob-

lem with the $1.0M judgment, client should choose Chapter 11, and he should do so before the judgment becomes a lien on the business assets. If this business is not profitable, client should choose Chapter 7 so he can get rid of a business that is losing money and so that he can forget about the $1.0 M judgment and start fresh anew.

“Jesus Christ is the same yes-terday, today, and forever.” He-brews 13:8

“ If client no longer wants to continue doing business, the best option is Chapter 7. In Chapter 7, all claims against the company,

including the judgment of $1.0M will be filed in the bankruptcy case.”

THE first-ever solo concert of the reknown singer/actor fea-tures music by Canseco, Cruz and Cayabyab

OPM music fans have a lot to be excited about in “An Intimate Night with Miguel Vera”. To be held at the Knotts Berry Farm Hotel on February 12, Vera has prepared a program of roman-tic Filipino songs, perfect for Valentine’s Day. Joining him are vocalist Annie Nepomuceno and soprano Kit Navarro. All three artists are known as excellent singers, thus the audience is surely in for an entertaining eve-ning of music.

Vera and his guests shall per-form love songs by iconic com-posers Ryan Cayabyab, Willy Cruz and George Canseco. Backed by a live band, one can expect to hear classics such as “Ngayon

Miguel Vera honors OPM Icons in February 12 Valentine concert

At Kailanman”, “Kastilyong Bu-hangin”, and excerpts from Cay-abyab musicals such as “Katy” and “Noli Me Tangere.” Willy Cruz’s best known hit is “Never Ever Say Goodbye.”

The smooth-voiced Vera, known for his dynamic tenor vo-cals, is an established theatre ac-tor, having appeared in lead roles in the Philippine, Hong Kong and Singapore runs of Cameron Mc-Intosh’s “Miss Saigon” as Thuy, an in Filipino Musicals, written by such greats as Ryan Cay-abyab and National Artist Bien Lumbera, staged in The Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Tang-halang Pilipino. Vera is also a recording artist having released three albums which contained the hits “Nais Ko”, “Narito Ang Puso Ko” and the Aldub-inspired song “Dahil Nandito Ka.”

The three performers recently appeared in leading roles in the US staging of “Noli Me Tangere” at the Cerritos Perfoming Arts Center and the Aratani Theatre. Joining them are singer Patricia Arca plus surprise guests. Mu-sical direction is by Yoyong Na-lasa.

Beat the rush and get your tickets now by calling (714) 814-0412 or (818) 913-329. Tickets are $40 each. The show starts at 8pm at the Knotts Berry Farm Hotel located at 7675 Crescent Ave, Buena Park, CA 90620.

The event is sponsored by Asian Journal, The Law Offices of Jemela Nettles, GMA Pinoy TV, Music Arts Events, World Finance Group, Philippine Ten-nis Academy, Adidas, Uniqlo, iDance Studio and MPE Marisse Panlilio Entertainment. ■

ROSEMEAD, California — High school seniors who have their sights set on becoming engineers and plan to study sci-ence, technology, engineering or math (STEM) in college still have time to apply for Edison In-ternational’s $1.2 million Edison Scholars Program.

The deadline is Feb. 1. Each year, Edison Inter-

national, the parent com-pany of Southern California Edison, awards 30 high school students in SCE’s service terri-tory a $40,000 scholarship paid over four years. Since 2006, Edi-son International has awarded $5.3 million in scholarships to 520 Edison Scholars.

“We strongly encourage high school seniors from SCE’s ser-vice area who will be pursuing STEM studies in college to apply for the Edison Scholarship,” said Tammy Tumbling, SCE’s direc-tor of Philanthropy and Commu-nity Investment. “We know that the costs associated with STEM

Still time to apply for $1.2-M Edison Scholars Program

education are high and can be a deterrent for underserved, low-income students. That’s why we offer 30 scholarships — so we can help a greater number of stu-dents realize their dreams.”

Applicants must have a 3.0 GPA or above and either live in or attend public or private high schools in SCE’s service area. High school seniors must demonstrate financial need and plan to be a full-time undergrad-uate student majoring in elec-trical engineering, mechanical engineering, civil engineering, computer engineering, industrial engineering, computer sciences/info system, environmental en-gineering or environmental sci-ences at a four-year college or university.

Students from underserved communities and ethnic minori-ties are especially encouraged to apply.

To apply and get additional eligibility information, students are encouraged to go to: scholar-

sapply.org/edisonscholars. Scholarship recipients will

be announced in April. Edison Scholars may also be eligible for summer internships at SCE after completing their second year of college.

Edison International’s sup-port of charitable causes such as the Edison Scholars Program is funded entirely by Edison Inter-national shareholders. SCE cus-tomers’ utility bill payments do not fund company donations. In addition, dependents of Edison International employees are not eligible for the Edison Scholars Program.

About Edison InternationalEdison International (NYSE:

EIX), through its subsidiaries, is a generator and distributor of electric power and an investor in energy services and technolo-gies, including renewable ener-gy. Headquartered in Rosemead, Calif., Edison International is the parent company of Southern Cal-ifornia Edison. ■

Feast of Santo Niño de CebuALL are cordially invited

to the Feast of Santo Niño de Cebu on Saturday, January 9, 2016, from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm at St. Bernard Catholic Church in Bellflower, Califor-nia, organized and sponsored by the Santo Niño de Cebu As-sociation of Southern Califor-

nia, Inc., a non-profit religious organization.

The Eucharistic Celebration will be presided by the Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles, His Ex-cellency Bishop Oscar A. Solis at 10:00 am followed by the tra-ditional procession of the image of Santo Niño de Cebu, fiesta

lunch and Sinulog presentations. Food and financial donations

are welcome, and all donations are tax deductible. For further information, you may con-tact the association President, Danny C. Diluvio at (323) 252-4991 or email at: dannydilu-vio1@gmail.com. ■

&MARKETPLACESHOWROOM

Business Quote of the Week“The reality is that business and investment

spending are the true leading indicators of the economy and the stock market. If you want to know

where the stock market is headed, forget about consumer spending and retail sales figures. Look to business spending, price inflation, interest rates, and

productivity gains.” - Mark Skousen, economist and investment analyst

Yearender: Not a banner performance, but trade and investments still exceptional in APEC year

New UN guidelines put consumer �rstby VOLTAIRE PALAÑA

Manilatimes.net

ATTY. MICHAELGURFINKEL, ESQ

ImmigrationCorner

THERE has been much unde-served criticism and condemna-tion hurled at USCIS and consul-ar officers over issuing a fiancée (K – 1) visa to the female terror-ist in the San Bernardino shoot-ings. I would like to offer my defense of those officers, as I do not believe the USCIS and con-sular officers should be faulted. However, I believe the actions of the terrorist couple are horrible and indefensible.

First, the primary purpose of the vetting or investigative pro-cess for K – 1 visas is simply to determine if it is a bona fide/love relationship-- not to determine if an applicant is a terrorist. There are many other governmental agencies whose primary func-tions are to monitor and root out terrorism, including the CIA, FBI, NSA, Armed Forces, to name a few. Apparently, none of these other agencies found anything in this couple’s back-ground, such that there were no negative entries in our govern-ment’s computer database. Are

You can’t water-board �ancées at the US embassy!we expecting USCIS or consular officers to take over the func-tions of these other agencies?

Second, there has been much criticism leveled against USCIS and consular offices on whether there was enough evidence in this couple’s file to establish they had “met in person,” as re-quired by the K – 1 regulations. According to one Congressman, there was insufficient evidence. Again, the “meet in person” re-quirement deals with whether or not the relationship is bona fide, and does not, in any way, pro-vide any indication that either party is a terrorist or a supporter of terrorism. In fact, the regula-tions provide that a couple does not necessarily need to meet in person if it would cause hard-ship or because of religious pro-hibitions. In this case, their file indicated the husband obtained a special visa to Saudi Arabia to attend the Hajj (pilgrimage) in Mecca, and his fiancée was also there at the same time. He even produced that Saudi visa. The Husband claimed they met in person at her relative’s house on October 3, 2013. Therefore, there was evidence of the peti-tioner meeting the fiancée while attending a holy pilgrimage, so

why would there be suspicions of them lying about the in-per-son meeting?

Third, there was extensive/overwhelming evidence this was a bona fide relationship. She entered the US, they mar-ried within 90 days, she filed for adjustment of status, they went through another interview in the US, with finger printing and se-curity background checks, and even had a child together. That appears to me to have been a bona fide, good faith relation-ship for K – 1 purposes.

Fourth, after the San Bernardi-no massacre, it was discovered that before she entered the US, the female terrorist posted pri-vate messages on Facebook un-der a pseudonym (false name) to friends, expressing her support for Isis. However, at the time she applied for her visa, it was not our government’s policy to check applicants’ social media, e-mails, text messages, Twitter accounts, or the like in adjudi-cating petitions or visa applica-tions. Can you imagine the time and resources that would now have to be expended by US-CIS and the State Department to scour all of the social media accounts, whether for fiancée

visas or even for a visitor visa? Moreover, there probably would have been an uproar over pri-vacy concerns had this shooting not occurred, and it was discov-ered the government was going through visa applicants’ social media content.

Fifth, if USCIS and consular officers will now be required to conduct the extensive back-ground investigations (that their critics are demanding), then the processing time for visas (whether K – 1 or even visitor’s visas) could take a year or more. Should we also investigate the background of the petitioner’s and beneficiary’s relatives? What if a fiancée has a brother who posted a pro–Isis message on his Facebook account? Should her visa be denied? What about the increased cost for visas? It would cost thousands upon thousands of dollars in extra pe-tition and visa fees for this type of intensive background investi-gation for visa applicants. And once they enter the US, should we make all aliens report month-ly or quarterly with ICE or FBI, and have their e-mails and social media constantly monitored?

Finally, when applying for a fiancée visa, the applicant must

provide NBI\police clearance, police certificates from all for-eign countries where they have lived for at least six months, their name and fingerprints are run through several criminal databases, all of which came up with no “hits” for the female terrorist. In addition, question-naires applicants fill out in con-nection with their visa interview ask if they are coming to the US to “engage in terrorist activi-ties,” if they are a member “of a terrorist organization,” and if they intend to provide “support to terrorists or terrorist organi-zations.”

Of course, they are going to answer “no” to these questions. And there was nothing in this couple’s background that even the CIA, FBI, NSA, or other of our governmental agencies (specifically tasked with the job of monitoring terrorists), could discover or input into USCIS or consular officer’s computers. Therefore, it would seem the only way we could have uncov-ered their terrorist background in a reasonably timely fashion would have been to water board her at the US Embassy (or at her adjustment interview). But bear in mind that there was a known

terrorist who was water boarded over 80 times by seasoned inter-rogators, who could still not ex-tract valuable information from him.

In conclusion, in hindsight, this K – 1 visa should not have been issued, but unless we equip USCIS and consular of-ficers with crystal balls, time machines, or water boards, they cannot be blamed for the holes in our system.

* * *

by RICHMOND S. MERCURIO Philstar.com

MANILA—It was a year that would be best remembered for the Philippines’ hosting for the second time of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit since the regional forum composed of 21 member economies was estab-lished in 1989.

Though the week-long leader’s summit in November may well be this year’s economic highlight for

the country, 2015 offered more than just the joy of seeing US President Barack Obama share the spotlight with Filipina salt lamp inventor Aisa Mijeno and the thrill of getting up close and personal with popular APEC lead-ers Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Numbers may not show a ban-ner year for trade and investments

THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) welcomes the new United Nations Guidelines for Consumer Protection (UNGCP) as an opportunity to put consum-ers at the center of business and development.

The UNGCP was first adopted in 1985, serving as a blueprint for con-sumer protection around the world. It is believed to have guided the de-velopment of consumer protection in more than 100 countries.

“The DTI accepts the United Na-tion General Assembly’s adoption of the revised UN Guidelines for Con-

sumer Protection,” Victorio Mario Dimagiba, officer-in-charge for the DTI secretary and undersecretary for the DTI Consumer Protection Group (CPG), said on Tuesday.

The revised guidelines were adopted through a resolution issued on Dec. 22 in New York City.

The highlights of the revised guidelines include:

• First comprehensive revision of the United Nations Guidelines for Consumer Protection (UNGCP) since 1985 addresses gaps in finan-cial services, privacy, energy, travel and tourism;

• Access to essential goods

Peso gains vs dollar, ends 2015 at P47.06:$1by MAYVELIN U. CARABALLO

Manilatimes.net

THE peso capped 2015 at a stronger level against the US dol-lar, on Tuesday, Dec. 29 hitting a five-week high on profit taking.

The currency gained 10 centa-vos to close at P47.06 to $1 from its P47.16 finish on Monday, the strongest since November 25 when the peso stood at P46.97.

Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. chief market strategist Jonathan Ravelas said the local currency gained on profit taking as investors took into consideration the greenback’s weakness against the yen.

On Tuesday, the dollar lost

some steam against the yen, dip-ping 0.1 percent to 120.26 yen.

Ravelas added that remittances from overseas Filipino work-ers also pushed the dollar-peso exchange rate stronger to close 2015 to P47.06 from lows of P47.49 early in December.

“This is short of my P46.70 yearend target or off by 0.77 per-cent,” he said.

The peso opened at P47.11 to $1 at the Philippine Dealing System before trading between P47.04 and P47.16. Total transac-tions rose to P372.75 million from P280.75 million on Monday, Dec. 28.

Yearender: Not a banner performance...this time around, but both the gov-ernment and private sector agree it was another exceptional year for the country.

“The overall trade and invest-ment climate in the country in 2015 was generally positive and is slowly improving. Macroeconomic management continued to support stronger business activity,” Ameri-can Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines Inc. and The Arang-kada Philippines Project senior advisor John Forbes said.

The inflow of foreign direct investments (FDIs) has taken a plunge earlier in the year but is expected to finish the year close to the record $6.2 billion in 2014, while Philippine exports have also

New UN guidelines put consumer �rstand services, and the protection of vulnerable and disadvantaged consumers are recognized as new consumer legitimate needs;

• The updated UN Guidelines can play an important role in achieving the Sustainable Develop-ment Goals (SDGs) by protecting and empowering consumers in developing nations;

• Consumers International, the world federation of consumer organizations, calls for govern-ments to update their consumer protection policies in line with the new UN Guidelines and challenges businesses to ensure their practices are compliant.

The guidelines give govern-ments, business and civil society high-level guidance on issues including the recognition of new consumers’ legitimate needs, promotion and protection of con-sumers’ economic interests, stan-dards for the safety and quality of consumer goods and services to redress and coordination of enforcement efforts between con-sumer protection agencies around the world.

When implemented globally, the revised guidelines would ex-tend protections for consumers everywhere.

“Recently, both the Senate and the House of Representatives un-der the Committees on Trade and Industry have been deliberating on the amendments to the Consumer

BPOs, e-commerce to boost PH logistics marketby MARICOR ZAPATA AND

CATHERINE TALAVERAManilatimes.net

AFTER putting the Philippines on the world map, giving impe-tus to the mushrooming of office buildings even outside the capital city, and enlivening a consump-tion-driven retail industry, this time, Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), with an active e-commerce, may soon prop up the country’s logistics industry.

“Logistics should be one of the most exciting spaces for in-vestment, Colliers anticipates, as capital—once almost exclusively local—starts to cross borders in greater volume,” property consul-tant Colliers International said in its global outlook for 2016. “Business process outsourcing has put the Philippines on the map, resulting in large demand for purpose-built facilities there.”

“The technology sector, espe-cially e-commerce operators, will be one of the most active groups in Asia due to sustained growth in their business in the region,” said David Hand, Colliers’ chief executive officer for Asia Pacific. “A lack of supply of land has been holding back the availability of brand-new warehouses for both occupiers and investors in the logistics sector.”

As such, Hand said, people would likely see in 2016 more occu-piers partnering with private-sector developers to create built-to-suit facilities.

“The logistics sector in Asia looks very exciting in terms of expansion into new locations for development, and the adoption of innovative business models by vari-

ous players in the market,” reported Colliers.

It said the completion of trans-portation infrastructure projects, such as road and railway links and port facilities expansions in the region, would result in more inland spots for logistics activity.

“All these are expected to trigger the faster development of logistics real estate, in tandem with Asia’s on-going infrastructure development,” said Colliers Industrial Services in China. “The massive ‘One Belt, One Road’ project implemented by China to link up various nations from Asia to Europe is expected to forge ahead in 2016, moving from the stage of desktop blueprints to concrete action.”

Colliers added that the growing e-commerce in the region also plays a role in luring in demand for the logistics sectors.

It cited China’s Alibaba as an example, when its “Single’s Day” internet shopping festival posted a record $14.3 billion in sales on Nov. 11, 2015, which is more than four times the volume of sales on Black Friday and Cyber Monday in the United States combined.

In a separate report by CBRE, another global property advisory firm, e-commerce firms and third-party logistics (3PLs) were cited as the major drivers of leasing demand for logistics in Asia in the third quarter of 2015.

“While distribution networks continue to be modernized and online retail continues to expand, generally stable domestic consump-tion is supporting retailer demand for logistics space in the region,” CBRE said.

CBRE said demand for logistics

space in Asia Pacific remained solid in the third quarter despite the more subdued economic outlook in most markets.

But looking forward, Colliers said the “development of logistics facilities in Asia has largely lagged demand, leading to sustained demand for high-quality logistics space in 2016.”

Colliers said the lack of land supply for logistics development in the region has prevented develop-ers from bringing more brand-new logistics warehousing facilities for occupiers and investors into the market.

Colliers said it sees more global funds entering the market in 2016, as the region shows potential for growth, contrary to the past, where investment sales was largely driven by local capital.

“From a regional perspective, we expect to see more cross-country mergers and acquisitions, allowing investors to expand at a much faster pace,” Colliers said.

It noted that a solution to the lack of land for logistics development is for funds, occupiers and operators to create partnerships.

“To get around land-supply con-straints, we envision the formation of creative partnering arrange-ments or joint ventures between funds, occupiers and operators,” Colliers said.

The company cited China, as an example, where occupiers and investors are looking to partner with state-owned-enterprises to secure more resources.

“Lured by attractive yields, more long-term investment funds will invest back in Asia in 2016,” con-cluded Hand.

dwindled and the Philippine Ex-porters Confederation Inc. believe the country would be lucky to see a flat growth in terms of merchan-dise exports by year-end.

The Philippine economy is still expanding faster than most South-east Asian economies but gross domestic product (GDP) growth has been below target.

Despite external volatilities and bottlenecks at the national level, European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines president Guent-er Taus said the local economy and investment environment have somehow remained competitive.

“While GDP growth was less than forecasted, mainly due to gov-ernment underspending and there has been a fall in FDI due to exter-nal and internal factors, the reality is that the Philippines has contin-ued to register high growth rates and, most importantly, businesses remain happy with the returns on investment and available business opportunities,” Taus said.

“The Philippines posted another year of strong economic perfor-mance and growth. I believe the trade and investment climate in this country has significantly im-proved every year under the cur-rent administration, and the results of the policies and reforms put in place speak for themselves. The opportunities for trade and invest-ment in the Philippines – for both foreign and domestic business – are abundant and will increase provided the Philippines stay on its current path,” added Nordic Busi-ness Council Philippines president Bo Lundqvist.

For the local business groups and foreign chambers, the adop-tion of much-needed legislation in 2015 such as the Philippine Competition Law, the Amendments to the Cabotage Law (Foreign Ships Co-Loading Act) and the Tax Incentives Management and Transparency Act (TIMTA) set the foundations for a fairer, more com-petitive, and transparent business environment.

The signing of the 10th Regular Foreign Investment Negative List by President Aquino in June was also seen as an important step taken by the Philippine govern-ment as it liberalized multiple pro-fessions previously reserved solely for domestic workforce.

“The country’s strong banking system, improvement in credit rating, controlled inflation, gover-nance and fight against corruption made a big impact,” Management Association of the Philippines president Francisco del Rosario Jr. said.

“The government’s accomplish-ments for 2015 included the lack of major corruption scandals that have plagued many previous ad-

ministrations, increased spending on physical and social infrastruc-ture, budgetary and spending reforms, and sound monetary policy and foreign exchange man-agement, among others,” Forbes added.

Such improvements did not go unnoticed by major global rat-ings agencies as they elevated the standing of the Philippines in sev-eral competitiveness rankings.

Of the global competitiveness indices tracked by the National Competitiveness Council (NCC) to measure the country’s perfor-mance, the Philippines in 2015 made gains in eight of the reports including the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index, Economic Freedom Index, WEF Global IT Report, WEF Travel and Tourism Report, and the WIPO Global Innovation Index.

The country’s ranking, however, dropped in three reports including the World Bank-IFC Ease of Doing Business Report.

In general, NCC co-chairman Guillermo Luz said economic management of the country has generally gotten good marks and been rated highly by almost all global ratings agencies.

“We are encouraged by the efforts thus far. The collaboration between the government and the private sector has been extremely high, one of the main reasons why we have had progress in so many fronts,” Luz said.

In terms of bilateral agreements, the Philippines has also made great strides in 2015.

The US in July renewed the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program when President Obama signed the Trade Prefer-ences Extension Act of 2015. The renewal of the US GSP program was seen to boost the access of Fili-pino exporters to the US market.

The 1996 World Trade Organi-zation (WTO) Information Technol-ogy Agreement has likewise been expanded, providing huge benefits to the Philippines in terms of im-proved productivity and market ac-cess, particularly for the electronics and semiconductor industry.

The European business com-munity, in particular, was satisfied to see the conclusion of the scoping exercise for the European Union-Philippines Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and the ongoing FTA nego-tiations with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) group of countries.

“As 2015 comes to an end, these developments set forth a promising note for future bilateral trade and investment with European coun-tries,” Taus said.

But while there may be plenty of gains, the Philippines also had

Act of the Philippines to update the areas of consumer protection as it applies to e-commerce, motu pro-pio cases powers by the DTI, and increasing penalties for violation of the Consumer Act,” Dimagiba said.

Key additions in the new UN-GCP are:

Recognition of access to es-sential goods and services, and the protection of vulnerable and disadvantaged consumers as new consumer legitimate needs;

New guidance on e-commerce, parity of treatment between online and offline consumers and protec-tion of consumer privacy;

New guidance on financial ser-vices, public utilities, good busi-ness practices and international cooperation;

A new Intergovernmental Group of Experts (IGE) on consumer protection law and policy to moni-tor the implementation of the guidelines, serving as a forum for exchange.

The UNGCP is a powerful tool to help governments implement many of these goals. Adequate consumer protection can directly support the achievement of SDGs relating to ending hunger and encouraging healthy diets by supporting access to safe, affordable and nutritious food; to health and well-being by protecting consumers from unsafe products that cause illness or injury, and expanding access to effective pharmaceuticals.

Yearender: Not a banner performance...its share of missed opportunities in 2015 which collectively could have significantly improved the country’s attractiveness as a busi-ness destination.

Local business leaders see the country’s infrastructure, which is seen as still lagging behind accept-able standards, as the main culprit for the slower progress.

Foreign chambers, meanwhile, pointed to the lack of decisive-ness on some of the key investor-friendly legislation pending in both the Senate and Congress.

The groups said adopting busi-ness friendly policies such as mak-ing the changes to the economic provisions of the Constitution, a comprehensive tax reform, amend-ments to the Foreign Investment Negative List and amendments to procurement processes should have increased the country’s com-petitive edge.

“To become a truly attractive business destination, the Philip-pines must remove some of the

hindrances to foreign investment that are currently party of the constitution, restrictions to for-eign ownership being one of the priorities. As mentioned earlier, while the current administration has done a very good job in remov-ing red tape and corruption, there is still much work to be done in this area,” Lundqvist said.

“We see these pending legisla-tions as lost opportunities for the Philippines to fully take advan-tage of the possibilities which increased Asean Economic Inte-gration brings. Furthermore, many of these reforms are integral to any potential future EU-Philippines FTA agreement or TPP partner-ship. Effectively, the Philippines has lost valuable time in preparing for these trade agreements,” Taus added.

Moving forward, the Philippine government is headed into 2016 cautiously as the Department of Trade and Industry will start the year minus Secretary Gregory Do-mingo— who has announced his

resignation in September—and a new administration set to enter by mid-year.

Still, hopes remain high by the business community for the Philippines in 2016 with a general sentiment of bullishness.

“If we get the right president by preserving our strong economic gains and focusing on inclusive growth and improving peace and order we should be able to main-tain a 6.5 percent GDP growth,” Del Rosario said.

“I’m confident in our outlook for next year. It is optimistic because we see the level of cooperation is extremely high. Generally, if we can maintain the collaboration between the government and the private sector the way we have seen it, we will improve in our rankings,” Luz said.

Foreign chambers are also opti-mistic moving into next year with expectation of around six percent GDP growth, low inflation, and a predictable foreign exchange rate.

What to do when you are involved in a road crashCALL it an accident, traffic col-

lision or a road crash – whatever the nomenclature, it can happen to anyone. One of these days it can happen to you, if it hasn’t already.

What should you do if the car you’re driving gets involved in a road crash? AAP Vice president Johnny Angeles, who has been driving for more than 50 or 60 years, offers these tips when you find yourself in a fender bender in the Philippines:

Check your and your passen-gers’ physical condition. If you are conscious, check your own condition and that of your pas-senger/s, if any. If you and your passengers are fine, get out of the vehicle and check the other party’s situation. If anyone is injured, do not try to do anything that you are not familiar with. Seek assistance from professionals and authorities like the Philippine National Police (117), or call the nearest hospital’s emergency room.

Check the surroundings. You have to be sure of your own safety before seeking justice. There have been reports that victims are delib-erately bumped by other drivers to force them to stop. Before alighting from your vehicle, make sure that you are aware of the possible dan-ger within your vicinity. So whether you are the aggrieved party or not, it is wise to get the attention of the traffic authorities.

PH sin tax collections reach P16 billion in Nov.by PRINZ MAGTULIS

Philstar.com

MANILA—Excise tax collections from tobacco and alcohol continued their uptrend in November on the back of higher product volumes as companies frontloaded supplies ahead of a further hike in levies by January.

On Tuesday, Dec. 29 the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) said the so-called “sin” taxes went up 39.58 percent to P16.298 billion last month.

This brought the 11-month tally to P123.641 billion, up 25.96 percent from same period a year ago, and rising further from a fresh record set during the first 10 months.

Comparable absolute values were unavailable and could not be secured.

In a text message, BIR Commis-sioner Kim Jacinto-Henares refused to attribute the increase in sin tax collections to higher consumption as a result of supply frontloading, which she said is a “natural phe-nomenon.”

“For as long as the rate keeps on increasing annually, companies will always frontload,” Henares said.

“We have always said that the increase in tax rate will compensate for the slowdown in increase in volume,” she added.

Based on BIR figures, volume of cigarettes rose by 25.22 percent in November and more than a tenth for the first 11 months.

Factory supply and imports of fermented liquors and wines also increased 0.96 percent and 58.62 percent in November, respectively. They were up 1.33 percent and 33.9 percent so far this year.

Only the volume of distilled spirits and compounded liquors posted a decline in monthly and year-to-date figures, data showed. They were down 2.28 and 4.78 percent, respectively.

“Collection will continue to increase as the rates are adjusted four percent annually and of course, volume will increase (taking into consideration population growth alone),” Henares pointed out.

Signed by President Aquino in 2012, Republic Act 10351 in-creased excise levies in tobacco and alcohol products in what the administration said is a health measure meant to deter smoking and excessive drinking.

While there was an increase in tobacco and liquor volumes, Henares said this should not be considered as a sign that the sin tax reform is failing.

Sunrise Ford: quality, integrity, and experienceSUNRISE Ford is a family-owned

business located in the Valley/North Hollywood area for over 30 years, since 1973. With integrity, experi-ence, and leadership, we promise our customers top-notch, award-winning customer service that will keep them coming back and refer-ring for more.

We offer best price, best se-lection, and vehicle warranties among the best in the industry. All Ford factory vehicles come standard with a 3 year/36,000 mile bumper-to-bumper warranty, 5 year/60,000 mile powertrain, and 24-hour roadside assistance for 5 years/60,000 miles. We have a wide selection of new and used models in our inventory, including the new Ford Escape, Ford F-150 XLT, and the 2016 Ford Fusion, with 0% APR for 60 months. We also have hybrid energy-efficient and electric vehicles, such as the C-MAX Hybrid and Ford Focus Electric. Our hand-picked, pre-owned vehicles also go through a rigorous 120 point certification process, giving you the best in quality.

We offer 0% finance on most of our vehicles, with markdowns on all of the remaining 2014 models and discounted the 2015s in stock. We also sell discounted pre-owned vehicles in order to make room for newer models.

Our dealership has a Special Fi-nance Department that is dedicated to assist customers with challenged or zero credit get into a vehicle. As a family-owned business, we treat our customers like family, understanding and taking care of their needs and building lasting

relationships.We look for clients with credit

challenges, even those with bank-ruptcy, repossession, divorce, or a low credit score. Sometimes, these clients have been from dealership to dealership, oftentimes being declined. However, our dedicated team is here to help, with bonus cash offers and our Special Finance Directors who work with over 80 different banks. Our management has a personal relationship with the lenders, allowing Sunrise Ford to get special, exclusive rates and finance deals.

We understand our customers’ needs and we promise, no matter the situation, to help them get their purchases financed smoothly.

For 15 years running, Sunrise Ford has been named a top volume sales/ESP performance dealer, among the Top 60 out of 3,600 dealerships nationwide. Our North Hollywood and Fontana locations are among the Top 5 in California.

Lulu Villamor, the Fil-Am Special Finance Manager at Sunrise Ford, promises customers an easygoing, enjoyable car-buying experience with no pressure, during and after the sale.

“I specialize in helping custom-ers with rough credit who have been declined at other dealerships get into a vehicle to help them reestablish and get back on their feet,” Villamor says. “I have helped customers with an open bankruptcy get into a vehicle and left in tears of joy. I love working with customers that need our help because it gives me a warm feeling when we get them into a vehicle and to see how

Never move your vehicle un-less instructed by authorities. Road crashes cause traffic when they occur on major thoroughfares. With all the honking and angry drivers yelling you to move your ve-hicle, you will be tempted to simply give in to their demands. However, unless told by traffic personnel, do not move your vehicle.

On the other hand, some traffic officers urge the drivers involved to take photos that will help the investigating authorities to figure out how the incident happened. Take photos of your own with your cell phone to support the claim for damages that you may file later.

Stay calm when talking to the other party. After a collision, the parties involved usually immedi-ately blame each other. Nothing will be resolved if you yell and argue angrily with the other party or with the investigating police. Stay cool, calm and collected.

Look for a witness, if any. Since a road crash usually results in a “your-word-against-mine” situa-tion, look for a witness or witnesses who can help the investigators determine the driver responsible for the accident.

Inform the insurance company where your vehicle is insured. If your car is covered by comprehen-sive motor vehicle insurance, be sure to inform them about the inci-dent at the earliest possible time.

All documentation and discus-sions should be done in front of authorities. To ensure that every discussion and documentation would be followed religiously (e.g. settlements, filing of complaints, insurance claims, among others), these should be done by the par-ties involved in the presence of the authorities Documents, such as the traffic incident report, should be signed by both parties, if so advised. (ManilaTimes.net)

happy they are.” “The salespeople in my depart-

ment have our customers concerns first, and we work together to give the best customer service possible. We understand that situations hap-pen in life, and you just need a help-ing hand to get back up. At Sunrise Ford, we are that helping hand. We dedicate our time to help you get the right car loan for you.”

“Kababayans, I am the right person here to help with financial problems and situations, to get you into a vehicle that you can both afford and enjoy.” Please contact Ms. Villamor at (818) 623-5216 / lvillamor@sunriseford.com, or our Finance Director Ralph Pagan at (818) 554-7254.

Visit our website www.sunris-efordnoho.com or call Sunrise Ford at 888-260-6391 to set up your appointment and drive home in a new car TODAY!

Longo Lexus o�ers the ultimate conveniences in customer amenities

WE all know that the process of buying a car is not just as sim-ple as buying a new pair of shoes at the mall. It is a long process that involves careful comparison between vehicle models, review-ing the car’s specifications with regards to the needs of the buy-er, and of course, the negotia-tions for the financing packages and promos.

As such, it is very important for Longo Lexus that its custom-ers are supremely comfortable and well-pampered if they are going to make that important decision of which Lexus they will drive home.

As a car dealership, there are many reasons why Longo Lexus has been an Elite of Lexus dealer since 1992. One of those reasons includes the ultimate conve-niences that they offer in cus-tomer amenities. As one of the leading Lexus car dealerships, Longo Lexus provides not only pre-sales conveniences, but also noteworthy post-sales services.

Longo Lexus is known for the unique amenities that they offer to dealership customers.

One of those unique amenities include an on-site Auto Club of Southern California (AAA) cen-ter. The AAA branch offers DMV services, airline, car, and hotel reservations, discounted movie and local attraction tickets, AAA membership application process-ing, OnBoard Teen Safe Driver Program, auto and home insur-ance, and more. Sign up at our AAA branch in Longo, and you’ll receive a special $13 discount off the original membership price.

Aside from from the on-site AAA branch, Longo is also the first dealership in the US to of-fer Verizon Wireless and Verizon Wireless Neighborhood services on-site. Offering the latest tech-nologies in telecommunications, mobile accessories, and services, Longo’s on-site Verizon branch makes it even more convenient for customers to stay connected with the world. Our Verizon Wireless Premium Retailer is open from Monday to Friday, 7am-7pm; Saturday, from 7am to 5:30pm; and Sunday, from 8am to 4pm. Please call (888) 811-5201.

While waiting for your car to come out of our premium car-care service lines or while you’re going through our wide inven-tory of luxurious Lexus vehicles, you can enjoy a quick bite at Sub-

way or a nice re-freshing drink at Starbucks.

If you want to pamper your car, you can also shop at the Lon-go Lexus Parts Boutique, which carries a wide selection of gen-uine Lexus parts and accessories for your vehicle. With over 31,000 parts and acces-sories in stock, you’re sure to find what you’re looking for.

The after-sales services of a dealership is just as important as the pre-sales amenities. And it these after-sales services that make buying a vehicle at Longo Lexus a truly rewarding experience.

We offer complimentary loaner vehicles for your use while your car is in our service center. For inquiries, on our loaners, please call our coordinators at 1-800-597-0813.

For your convenience, we also offer complimentary shuttle ser-vice to take you to your office, home, or even the mall—basically anywhere within a 15-mile ra-dius—while your vehicle is being serviced.

If you don’t have time to make the drive to our dealership, our Longo Lexus Mobile Service Van and Truck can provide routine maintenance services, such as oil changes and tire rotations, right at your home or office. Appoint-ments can be made up to 6 months in advance.

Similarly, if your service require-ments need the car to be physi-cally present at our Longo service center, we offer complimentary flatbed truck pick-up and delivery of your vehicle to and from our dealership. Our Longo Lexus Mo-bile Service Van and Truck, and our complimentary flatbed truch pick-up and delivery service are exclusively for cars that are pur-chased from Longo Lexus, and are located within 60mile radius from Longo.

Please call 1-800-597-0813 to schedule your appointment.

Also, for every service appoint-ment, each vehicle receives a com-plimentary car wash in our Longo Lexus Car Spa.

For our clients who wish to use other cars, aside from those among our fleet of loaner Lexus cars, they can avail of the services of our Enterprise Rent-A-Car offices.

With two branches on the Longo Premises, Enterprise is ready to address all your car rental needs. Please call (800) 969-6519 for more information.

We understand that life’s daily grind requires our customers to be always on top of everything while keeping up with an on-the-go lifestyle. Which is they are more than welcome to work at our Longo Business Center where they can work on our com-puter terminals, free of charge. We also offer complimentary Wireless Internet Access (Wi-Fi) to our customers throughout the facility. This is particularly useful for our customers with mobile devices, laptops, and tablets.

While you wait for your car to come out of our service center, your kids can enjoy and have a good time at our Children Play Area, where we offer video games and other activities for the young ones.

Longo Lexus customers will also be offered complimentary use of our iPads while they are waiting for their vehicle.

For more information on our Longo Lexus Guest Services, please log on to www.longolex-us.com/GuestAmenities or call (626) 539-2956.

Longo Lexus is located at 3530 North Peck Road, El Monte, CA 91731.

Longo Toyota delivers world class experienceBEING the premiere

Toyota retailer in the na-tion, Longo Toyota aims to deliver a truly world-class experience to our guests on every transaction, ev-eryday.

It all starts with our friendly and welcoming staff, a clean and mod-ern environment, and a wide range of services to make your visit pleasant and convenient. Here are some of our key amenities at Longo Toyota:

Auto Club of Southern California (AAA)

In November 1999, Longo Toyota became the first automotive dealer-ship in the US to have the Auto Club on its prem-ises. For 14 long years, our Auto Club branch has served countless satisfied Longo customers with its wide array of services

Today, our on-site branch offers DMV servic-es, airline, car and hotel reservations, discounted movie and local attraction tickets, membership pro-cessing, OnBoard Teen Safe Driver Program, and more. Sign up at our Longo Toyota branch and get $13 off the origi-nal membership application price. Located in our new car showroom, our AAA branch is open Mondays thru Saturdays, from 11am to 7pm.

Verizon Wireless Premium RetailerLongo Lexus is the first car dealership in the

US to provide Verizon Wireless and Verizon Wireless Neighborhood services on-site. Our Verizon branch offers the latest in telecommu-nications, mobile devices, accessories and ser-vices. We also offer complimentary cellphone charging stations for our customers. Our Ve-rizon retailer is located inside our parts retail center. Our Wireless Playground is open Mon-day-Friday, 7am-7pm; Saturday, 7am-5:30pm; and Sunday, 8-4pm. Please call (888) 623-2133 for more information.

Starbucks and SubwayWhile waiting for your car to come out of our

car-care service lines, you can enjoy a quick bite at Subway or a nice refreshing drink at Starbucks. We offer healthy dining options with Subway’s wide variety of sandwiches, salads, and wraps.

If you’re thirsty and you’re looking for that quick coffee fix, you can grab a refreshing Ha-zelnut Macchiato or a smooth Caramel Frappuc-cino at Starbucks. Offering only the finest cof-fee specialties, teas, juices, and assortment of pastries, there’s something for everybody at our on-site Starbucks branch.

Both our Subway and Starbucks branches are available for catering services.

Enterprise Rent-A-CarLongo Toyota also has two Enterprise Rent-

A-Car offices on its prem-ises. One is located adja-cent to the Service Drive in the Pre-Owned Vehicle Showroom, and the other is in the Collision Repair Center. Customers are welcome to utilize the En-terprise rental services, re-gardless of whether or not they leave their vehicle in Longo for any car service.

Complimentary Vehicle Delivery Service

Longo Toyota also offer complimentary vehicle de-livery service. Our delivery service is available 6 days a week, Monday thru Sat-urday, anywhere within a 60-mile radius of Longo Toyota.

Longo Toyota Parts and Accessories Department

You can also shop at the Longo Toyota Parts and Accessories Department, which carries a wide se-lection of genuine Toyota parts and accessories for your vehicle. With thou-sands of parts and acces-sories in stock, we defi-nitely have whatever it is you’re looking for. Our

boutique also carries a selection of Ray-Ban and Oakley sunglasses, women’s and men’s apparel, and so much more.

Shuttle ServiceFor your convenience, Longo Toyota offers

complimentary shuttle service while your ve-hicles are being serviced. Our shuttles can take you to virtually anywhere within a 15-mile ra-dius of Longo Toyota – be it your home, work, the mall, or even the parlor! Anywhere!

An engaging stayWhile we understand that our customer’s

time is precious, we realize that many of them may need Internet connectivity at all times. As such we are more than happy to provide FREEWiFi throughout our facility, and FREE use of our great business center. In our business cen-ter, we provide a quiet setting where our guests can work on our computers or on their own lap-tops.

We also provide free use of an iPad for Longo guests who are waiting for their vehicles. Our Guest Check-in representative will be more than happy to arrange this for you.

If you decide to bring the kids to the dealer-ship, boredom will never be a problem. We also offer a variety of video games and DVDs just for kids so that they can also enjoy their visit to Longo Toyota.

For more information on our Longo Toyota Guest Services, please log on to http://www.lon-gotoyota.com/dealership/amenities.htm.

Longo Toyota is located at 3534 North Peck Road, El Monte, CA 91731. Call (800) 617-4516 to set up your appointment.

FOR RENTEMPLOYMENTEMPLOYMENT

FOR SALE

SERVICES

AFTER more than 40 years in business, Robertson Honda is launching a new Fast, Hassle Free, One Simple Price concept that completely eliminates the agonizing hours of haggling typi-cally involved in buying a car.

While it normally takes any-where between four to six hours until a car buyer is finally driving away in their new vehicle, Robert-son Honda’s new hassle-free pro-gram takes two hours at most.

Throughout the past year dealership listened to its custom-ers, who indicated they desired a shorter, simpler and less stressful process for purchasing a vehicle. Taking this into account, Robert-son decided to implement a ne-gotiation-free pricing policy that applies to all its vehicles, new and used. It provides customers with one simple price that is clearly posted on all vehicles both at the dealership and online.

Prices are competitive and based on the actual sale prices of vehicles in the market, as well as third-party resources, including edmonds.com and KBB.com.

“We found that the ‘traditional’ car buying process has been the same for over 50 years,” said Mary Jo Gomez, customer relations manager at Robertson Honda. “We decided to be differ-ent and be better.”

The new policy has also elimi-nated the need for traditional car salespeople paid by commission. Instead, the dealership is staffed by product specialists who are paid a salary with a bonus based on the units sold and customer sa“For us, it does not matter if a vehicle is $10 or $1,000,000. Product specialists will be paid the same. Their sole purpose is

Robertson Honda introduces Fast, HassleFree, One Simple Price car buying policy

to find the right vehicle that best fits the customer’s needs and especially their budget,” Gomez said.

Specialists have undergone rigorous training to ensure the vehicle buying process goes as smoothly as possible by provid-ing absolute transparency to customers.

The first step they take in fulfill-ing this goal is assessing the needs and wants of each customer. Then, they throughly explain the car buying process to facilitate a comfortable experience. Finally, they find the vehicle that best fits buyers’ needs and budget.

Customers who have experi-enced Robertson Honda’s new concept have expressed great satisfaction with the process.

“Through testimonials, we found that not only did customers leave the dealership feeling happy and relaxed, they also referred a friend or family member,” Gomez said.

Satisfaction is and has always been the top priority at Robertson, which is what inspired the dealer-ship to roll out a more time- and cost-efficient car buying policy.

“We believe this new innova-

tive way to purchase a vehicle will enable us to focus more on customer service,” Gomez said.

Those who visit Robertson will also be able to meet its sales manager and team leaders for any questions and concerns, a type of encounter that is uncom-mon at traditional car dealership. Customers who participate in the new program will also be offered a two day/200 miles exchange policy: if a customer finds that a vehicle does not entirely satisfy their needs, they will have two days/200 miles to exchange it with something else.

Robertson was the 11th Honda dealership to open its doors in the United States. It has been serving the Los Angeles community for more than 45 years and welcomes the opportunity to continue serv-ing the needs of the Southern Cali-fornia region with its Fast, Hassle Free, One Simple Price policy.

Sales Hours: Monday through Saturday, 8:30am to 9pm and Sunday 9am to 9pm.

Visit Robertson Honda today at 5841 Lankershim Boulevard, North Hollywood, CA 91601. For more inquiries, you may call (855) 411-6006.

Keyes Toyota: Your top car dealership choice in San Fernando Valley

FOR folks living in the San Fernando Valley, it can be quite easy or quite difficult in picking the car dealership where you will buy your next car from. With a whole host of dealerships lining up the valley, customers can easily get lost in the woods, trying to pick out the dealership that’s right for them.

With regards to Toyota cars, one particular dealer-ship comes to mind when it comes to convenience, com-fort, excellence, and custom-er satisfaction: Keyes Toyota.

For over half a century, Keyes Toyota has served the San Fernando Valley, ad-dressing all the automotive needs of Angelenos across 13 car franchises. With dealer-ships located conveniently near major residential hubs, customers are assured of a supreme buying experience in the pleasant and comfort-able show rooms at Keyes dealerships!

With the widest selections of automobiles across Los Angeles, Keyes can help you find the car of your dreams. Family owned and operated, Keyes dealerships are all com-mitted to providing the most excellent service available to ensure customer satisfaction. Factory-trained technicians and sales professionals are all ready to address your auto-motive needs.

At times, prospective buy-ers may have difficulties in securing approvals for car financing. Thankfully, Keyes Toyota has a number of pro-

mos and programs to help first time buyers, new graduates, military veterans, and all other clients facing financial difficul-ties.

For many Filipinos, Toyotas are really their automobiles of choice for the family. Toyota’s reliable, dependable, and eco-nomical cars perfectly suit the needs of the Filipino family. Pinoys, who prioritize the fam-ily’s comfort above everything else, can find the right van or SUV that can comfortably seat five to seven passengers.

According to Keyes Toyota, any car you choose is sure to be a gas saver, perfect for those who value car economy above all else. Aside from that, customers can rest easy, know-ing that they are covered with Toyota Care.

Factory-trained Toyota techni-cians will help fulfill your main-tenance obligations and help improve your Toyota’s value and performance. Toyota Care

will keep track of your mainte-nance history, and will also de-liver timely reminders for your scheduled maintenance.

Rene Pascual, another sales professional for Keyes Toyota, he personally loves Toyota cars because of their wide variety of car models—from sedans, vans, trucks, pick-ups, and hybrids. In serving the Filipino community, Pas-cual also finds that having this wide selection of cars gives the Filipino family the chance of finding the right car to match their comfort and budget. Pascual fluently speaks Tagalog, Cebuano, and Ilonggo.

Popular Toyota models among Pinoys include the Co-rolla, Camry, Sienna, and the Prius.

However, the Camry is one of the most recommended car for Pinoy buyers. The Camry is loaded with features that Filipinos look for in their cars: spacious seating, up-to-date technology, and overall per-formance.

The Filipino Keyes Con-nection of Rene Pascual and Sammy Estrella are all com-mitted to excellence and cus-tomer satisfaction. With the full support of Keyes General Sales Manager Sam Kassis, Boni, Rene and Sammy can ensure that the Pinoy fam-ily will get the best deals at Keyes Toyota.

Give them a call today at (800) 575-1153 or better yet visit them at 5855 Van Nuys Blvd. in Van Nuys.