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Volume 10 – Issue 18 • 16 Pages

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APRIL 29-MAY 5, 2016

DATELINEUSAfrom the AJPress NEWS TEAM AcroSS AMEricA

Registered voters in New York and the neighboring states covered by the consulate have an option to mail their ballots or bring them personally to the polling place at the Kalayaan Hall Annex of the Philippine Center. Photo shows members of the Board of Election Inspectors checking and verifying every ballot that they receive. AJPress photo by Momar G. Visaya

NeW YorK—Consul General mario L. de Leon, Jr. lamented the low turnout of voters so far for the 2016 Philippine national elections as he urged registered voters who have received their ballots to cast their votes early. After 19 days of voting, only 3,500 ballots have been received so far by the Philip-pine Consulate General, represent-ing 13.4% of the total figure.

the consul general also re-ported that they finished mailing

all 26,000 voting packets to regis-tered voters on monday, April 25.

“I am now calling on every-one who has received their vot-ing packets to mail their ballots back to us early to meet the may 9 deadline,” ConGen de Leon ap-pealed. “And for everyone who has not received their ballots by this weekend, check our website (www.newyorkpcg.org) and look if your name is on our list of re-turned-to-sender ballots.”

All ballots, whether mailed in, dropped off at the polling place or through personal voting – must

be received by 5:00 a.m. on may 9, 2016 to coincide with the close of voting in the Philippine at 5:00 p.m. on the same date.

the consul general said that bal-lots received after 5:00 am will be considered stale.

Learning curves“this is the first time that Us

posts are using the Automated election system (Aes) so may learning curve doon, and the first learning curve is the mailing,” ConGen de Leon said. “We expect all registered voters to receive their packets by the end of this

week.”there was a backlog in terms of

mailing the packets to the regis-tered voters because the consulate ran out of envelopes. the Commis-sion on elections (Comelec) esti-mated that about 20% of the total voters would walk in, so they sent out fewer envelopes.

Another issue that Congen de Leon raised is the growing num-ber of voting packets that were re-turned to sender.

“We now have more than 800 ballots that were returned for a

Consul General urges Fil-Am community to exercise their right to vote, mail their ballots early

BALANGA, Bataan—Davao City mayor rodrigo “Di-gong” Duterte on thursday admitted that he had sev-eral bank accounts, including those at the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) branch on Julia Vargas Avenue in Pasig City containing P17,000 and below P50,000.

the presidential hopeful denied, however, that he had millions of pesos in his accounts and challenged sen. Antonio trillanes IV to execute an affidavit detail-ing how, when, where and for what purpose did he obtain the information that he had P227 million (not P211 million as earlier reported) in the BPI Julia Var-gas branch.

“I have many deposits in many banks. But I will ask

Duterte says his money in bank runs to thousands

Consul General Mario L. De Leon, Jr. Is calling on registered voters who have already received their voting packets in the mail to mail their ballots ahead of time, as Consul Kerwin Tate looks on. Including this weekend, voters have 10 days remaining to cast their ballots. AJPress photo by Momar G. Visaya

foLLoWING the Us supreme Court’s hearing on President Barack obama’s ex-ecutive orders on immigration, Us rep. Dina titus on friday, April 22, held a press confer-ence that highlighted the nation’s need for comprehensive immigration reform.

titus specifically touched on how the policies would benefit undocumented immi-grants and the state of Nevada.

“It’s been years since the senate passed a bipartisan bill,” said titus, who represents Nevada’s first district, at her Las Vegas Dis-trict office. “the house refuses to take it up, we have protested, we have fasted, we have signed discharge petitions, all in hopes of getting that legislation passed because

Rep. Titus, immigrants call for immigration reform after SC hearing

sAN frANCIsCo—And now they are down to nine. this is the sad reality facing the number of surviving filipino World War II (WWII) veterans who were able to attend the recent Prisoners of War Day.

“out of the 17 we had last year when we commemorated the 73rd anniversary (of the fall of Bataan), now we only have nine. most of them are 90-years-old, they may not last too long and that is the sad part,” lamented American Legion Bataan Post 600 Com-mander rudy Asercion, also the National federation of filipinoAmericans Association region VIII Chair.

“In 2002, I hosted an event with over 600 veterans. then in celebration 60th an-

Fil-Ams keep memory of WWII vets alive as ranks dwindle

WIth a little over two weeks to go before the national and local elections, property analysts have weighed in on how each of the Presidential candidates will af-fect the real estate sector.

“I was very disappointed with the candidates as they neglected

Property sector momentum sustained even after elections

by Tessa R. salazaRInquirer.net

former Chief Justice renato Corona has passed away, the supreme Court’s Public Information office (sC PIo) confirmed friday, April 29.

the sC PIo said the fam-ily of the former chief justice has informed them.

Chief Justice maria Lourdes sereno has already ordered that the flag in the supreme Court and all courts nationwide be flown at half-mast to mourn the passing of the former Chief Justice.

Information from the fam-ily said Corona succumbed to cardiac arrest at 1:48 a.m. April 29. his family appeals for prayers.

Corona served as Chief Justice from may 17, 2010 to may 29, 2012. he was the 23rd Chief Justice of the supreme Court. n

Former Chief Justice Corona passes away

by TeTch ToRRes-TupasInquirer.net

sArANGANI rep. and senato-rial hopeful manny Pacquiao said he was not alarmed by reports that the Abu sayyaf group has planned to take him hostage to attract the attention of the Islamic state (Is).

In an interview in Los Baños, Laguna where the United Na-tionalist Alliance (UNA) took their campaign on thursday, Pacquiao said he was surprised but he re-mains confident that his muslim brothers and sisters would not do

Pacquiao shrugs off Sayyaf threat: Our Muslim brothers won’t do that

DIWAtA-1, the Philippines first mi-crosatellite, has started its duty as the country’s eye in the sky after it was suc-cessfully deployed into space Wednes-day night.

It was released into orbit at around 7 p.m. from the Japanese experiment module (Jem), nicknamed “Kibo,” where it was housed since it reached the International space station (Iss) late last

month.the Japan Aerospace exploration

Agency (Jaxa), in tsukuba space Center, said the deployment of Diwata-1 marks the first foray of a 50-kg (size of a “balik-bayan box”) class satellite from the Jem.

Acknowledging this historical mile-stone, Jaxa noted that “the deployment of the microsatellite combines the only

such a thing on the internationally renowned boxer.

“Noong una kong narinig iyan nagulat ako kasi kaibigan na-man natin lahat especially ang mga kapatid nating muslim at tinutulungan natin lahat ng mga nangangailangan ng tulong,” Pac-quiao said.

“hindi ako naniniwala na gaga-win iyan ng ating mga kapatid na muslim,” he added.

Pacquiao said the report com-pelled him to beef up his security to protect his family from the al-leged threats.

“Bali, may mga security naman tayo at dinagdagan natin iyong security pati sa mga bata at pami-lya,” Pacquiao said.

“Naniniwala naman kami na ang Panginoon ay gagabayan kami at saka hindi namin maisip iyan dahil kaibigan naman namin ang lahat. Ang ginagawa namin is tumutulong sa mga mahihirap na tao especially ang mga brothers natin na muslim,” he added.

Pacquiao said that the alleged plot should have been told to him by President Aquino much earlier

PH’s first microsatellite Diwata-1 now in orbit to observe weather patterns

the housing sector in their policy platforms. Not one of the presi-dential candidates highlighted the importance of the housing sector in their platforms. most of the rhetoric focused on public infrastructure, technology, peace and order and employment but there were no specific mention of an integrated, compelling and in-

Diwata-1, the Philippines’ 50-kg microsatellite, has been deployed into orbit. It will observe Earth and climate change. Photo from astronaut Tim Peake’s Twitter account

by MoMaR G. VisayaAJPress

by Niña p. callejaInquirer.net

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by MaRc jaysoN cayabyabInquirer.net

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Corona was the 23rd PH chief justice and the first member of the High Tribunal to be impeached, and later dismissed, in its history.

APRIL 29-MAY 5, 2016 • NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY ASIAN JOURNAL http://www.asianjournal.com • (212) 655-5426A�

him to make a statement under oath where and when he got it, for what purpose and how. File a case and I will open the ac-counts,” Duterte said.

He dodged the question if he

Duterte says his money in bank runs...PAGE A1 t

From the Front Page

EARLY VOTERS. Members of media cast their votes at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) office in Intramuros, Manila on Thursday, April 28. Journalists, soldiers and policemen who will be deployed on May 9 are allowed to vote earlier than regular voters. ManilaTimes.net photo by Russell Palma

variety of reasons, whether they moved to a different address or the machine was not able to read the address,” Mr. de Leon said. “We came out with an advisory on our website that says if their name appears on our list, they can go to the consulate and cast their votes personally.”

Low Turnout“Wala pa sigurong politi-

cal implications yung overseas vote simply because it doesn’t have an impact so far, kasi nga mababa ang turnout,” ConGen de Leon explained. “We’re on

Consul General urges Fil-Am community to…PAGE A1 t

Members of the Board of Election Inspectors verifying each ballot that arrives at the consulate either by mail or personal drop off.

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DFA cuts by half target turnout for overseas voting

Consul Kerwin Tate shows the containers for the ballots cast at the Philippine Consulate General in New York. AJPress photos by Momar G. Visaya

was confirming the existence of the bank account at the BPI Ju-lia Vargas branch.

“I have an account at BPI, but the deposits are not that big,” Duterte said, noting one has about P17,000, and the other

below P50,000. “That was big then, but I spent it.”

He said the accusation that he had P227 million in his bank account was impossible.

Duterte is facing an accusa-

SEGUIS, who chairs the Over-seas Voting Secretariat of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), said heads of embassies and consulates have yet to ex-plain the decimal votes in their respective jurisdictions.

Asked whether ambassadors and consul generals have re-sponded to the DFA memo on the decimal turnout of votes, Seguis said they are “very silent” about the very low voter turnout.

Filipinos in America remain the least enthusiastic to vote in the May elections as the voters turn-out is still the lowest at 15,656 or 5.68 percent of 275,729 regis-tered voters.

Filipino workers in Arab and African countries showed the highest enthusiasm with 90,372

voters turnout or 15.22 percent of the total 593,772 registered voters.

In terms of percentage, Fili-pinos in the Asia Pacific, par-ticularly those in Hong Kong and Singapore, have the highest vot-ers turnout with 73,766 or 21.39 percent of the total 344,848 reg-istered voters.

In Europe, the voters turnout reached 20,468 or 12.66 percent of the total 161,718 registered voters.

Meanwhile, Philippine Ambas-sador to Saudi Arabia Ezzedin Tago renewed his call to Filipino voters in the oil-rich country to cast their ballots before the May 9 deadline for overseas voting.

He noted that enthusiasm among Filipino voters is high on the social media but it has not translated into high voters turn-out in voting centers in Saudi

Arabia.“I was initially encouraged by

the fervent enthusiasm of many Filipinos about this year’s nation-al elections as represented on social media. Unfortunately, in-creased activity on social media does not elect national leaders. I challenge all overseas voters to go out and cast their votes as soon as possible and before May 9,” said Ambassador Tago in a statement issued by the DFA.

The Philippine embassy in Moscow has allowed Filipino overseas voters to cast their bal-lots there even if they were regis-tered in Hong Kong.

The new Commission on Elec-tions rule provides that all Fili-pino registered overseas voters with active status may vote in any of the embassies and consulates near their current residence or work. n

by EstrElla torrEsInquirer.net

that figure.“If the total reaches to around

400 to 500 thousand, then that could be crucial specially to the senatorial race, for those who are in the tenth to twelfth posi-tions,” he said. “But will it mat-ter to the presidential or vice presidential levels? We’re not sure.”

Swing VoteThere are 1,376,067 regis-

tered overseas voters (land-based and seafarers), according to data from the Department of Foreign Affairs-Overseas Vot-ing Secretariat (DFA-OVS). Of this figure, 275,689 come from North and Latin America, with an estimated 180,000 coming from the United States.

The Philippine Consulate Gen-eral in Los Angeles leads the list of U.S. posts with 55,000 voters, followed by San Francisco with 46,000 and Washington, DC with 28,000.

The Philippine Consulate Gen-eral in New York, which covers the northeast states of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Dela-ware, Maine, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont, has about 26,000 reg-istered voters.

The consulates of Chicago and Honolulu round up the list with 13,000 and 9,000, respectively.

Middle East and Africa leads the list of overseas voters with 593,834, followed by Asia Pacif-ic Region with 344,857. Europe has 161,687 registered voters.

The month-long voting for overseas voters began on Satur-day, April 8. n

the 18th day of voting and so far we only have about 192,000 total out of the 1.38 million reg-istered voters.”

It is the first time that the overseas voters list reached more than a million.

In 2013, there were only 737,759 voters and of that fig-ure, only 113,209 cast their bal-lots for a low turnout of 15.35%. The turnout was higher in the 2010 presidential polls with 26% casting their votes.

Consulate officials are hop-ing that Filipinos will turn out in droves next week to increase

(212) 655-5426 • http://www.asianjournal.com NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY ASIAN JOURNAL • APRIL 29-MAY 5, 2016 A�From the Front Page

HIGHWAY PROTEST. Drought-hit farmers who have been occupying stretches of the Koronadal-General Santos highway since Saturday. Like the farmers of Kidapawan, they are asking the government to provide them food rations to mitigate the impact of heavy crop losses caused by the dry spell. Philstar.com photo

Duterte says his money in bank runs...PAGE A2 t

and in secret.“Sa akin lang, kung iyan ang

talagang intelligence report dapat sinabi sa akin nang sikreto at hindi i-aannounce at sabihin sa akin in advance. May doubt pa rin ako pero di naman natin binabalewala. I doubt na magagawa yan ng mga brother Muslims natin,” Pacquiao said.

Aquino first revealed the al-

leged plot of the Abu Sayyaf to abduct Pacquiao and presiden-tial sister Kris Aquino after the bandits beheaded Canadian John Ridsdel.

Aquino said the Abu Sayyaf, whose leaders pledged allegiance to the IS, also planned to execute him and stage bombings in Metro Manila to attract the attention of the international terrorist group

Pacquiao shrugs off Sayyaf…PAGE A1 t

stitutional housing plan that can change the industry for the bet-ter,” lamented Enrique M. Sori-ano III, Ateneo program director for real estate and senior adviser for Wong+Bernstein Business Advisory.

Monique Cornelio-Pronove, CEO of Pronove Tai International Property Consultants, asserted: “Regardless who among them wins, the real estate market will continue its upward trajectory as the economic fundamentals of the country remain strong. The current administration leaves be-hind a healthy fiscal reserve that the new administration must now spend to build more roads, rail and improve as well as add more airports and ports around the country. We have a robust young population with a median age of 25 years that has the capacity to spend, and this drives the retail market. The services sector con-tinues to expand, thus providing employment to our graduates. We have the confidence of the international community and the

challenges we face on infrastruc-ture provides a lot of opportunity for investments. Whoever wins the election, the real estate mar-ket will continue to be in good stead.”

Claro dG. Cordero Jr., Jones Lang LaSalle Philippines as-sociate director and head of research, consulting and valua-tion, said: “Our view is that real estate will continue to project an upward growth trajectory re-gardless of who will sit in office after the elections. The property indicators and demand drivers, specifically, the BPO industry and the remittances coming from overseas Filipinos, will continue to flow and pump prime the con-sumer industries and positively influence the growth of new in-vestments in the country. While the general direction will be the same, the rate of growth might just be different as each candi-date will need to deal with their respective issues that might sidetrack the prioritization of ur-gent laws and policies to create a more favorable real estate invest-

ment environment.” World’s top economies“If the next President and the

new set of leaders address more effectively corruption, criminal-ity, climate change, poverty, pollution, too much politics, the police, housing, healthcare, agri-culture, armed forces, transpor-tation, traffic, infrastructure and incompetence, the Philippines will be in the top 20 economies of the world by 2021 when we cel-ebrate 500 years as a Christian nation, adopting western civiliza-tion with our Asian Filipino cul-ture,” enumerated architect and urban planner Felino Palafox Jr., National Real Estate Association chair and Palafox Architecture Group Inc. president.

Palafox added: “We hope and pray the next President will have visionary leadership, strong po-litical will, will listen and apply good planning, good design, and good governance. He or she must not be intellectually and integrity challenged. He or she must have the skills and the heart to lead and manage the Philippines well into the 21st century.”

“Grace Poe and Rodrigo Duterte both requested us advice on urban planning. Jejomar Bi-nay and Mar Roxas asked for my support. All of the four have good platforms. I will vote for the one who has the heart and the skills to address (national) issues,” said Palafox.

“Clearly, the property sector has been on a long and sustained momentum. It has always been a pillar and a major contributor to the country’s economic growth. It also directly benefits 52 major

Property sector momentum sustained even…PAGE A1 t

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PROOF, HE SAYS. Vice presidential candidate Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV shows members of the media a brown envelope which purportedly contains details of bank accounts that, the senator said, belong to presidential aspirant Rodrigo Duterte and his three children. Inquirer.net photo by Lyn Rillon

The mayor and his running mate, Sen. Alan Peter Cayeta-no, last month signed a waiver allowing the public to scruti-nize their bank accounts and even challenged their rivals to do so.

The waiver, however, was said to be not valid and could not apply to the mayor’s ac-count with BPI.

Duterte said his BPI accounts were put up since he was a con-gressman.

Asked if he declared the BPI accounts in his SALN, Duterte replied: “Yes. It was listed un-der the ‘other accounts.’” He denied he had a joint account with his daughter Inday Sara.

In his speech before local officials of Bataan led by Gov. Albert Garcia, Duterte said the attacks against him had been stepped up.

“It (the election) is going to be dirtier and dirtier. There are a lot of exchanges of accusa-tions,” Duterte said.

“I could have him killed. I could have him killed. (But) I don’t kill political enemies. I only kill criminals,” Duterte said. n

tion from Trillanes, a vice pres-idential candidate, that he did not declare the deposits in his account at the BPI Julia Vargas branch in his statement of as-sets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) in 2014.

In a speech before the country’s business leaders on Wednesday, Duterte called Trillanes’ allegation “fabricat-ed” and the senator a “danger-ous man.”

“Believe me, that’s garbage. You can check with the bank. You go there,” Duterte earlier said.

The mayor insinuated that Trillanes had obtained the bank information illegally.

“He made the accusation. He should do it properly. I am ready to open the bank accounts,” the tough-talking mayor said when asked about Trillanes’ chal-lenge to meet him on Julia Var-gas Avenue at 11 p.m. on May 2.

Trillanes could face charges for breaking the bank secrecy law, which prohibits banks from giving personal and account in-formation about their clients.

uPAGE A5Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte

APRIL 29-MAY 5, 2016 • NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY ASIAN JOURNAL http://www.asianjournal.com • (212) 655-5426A� Dateline USa

FACES OF DROUGHT. Farmer Celestina Tongco (left) gazes despondently at her withered corn crops in Bohol province. The drought ravaging the island-province of Bohol did not just affect farmlands but also sources of drinking water, especially for residents of mountain areas. Inquirer.net photo

air lock and robot arm in the ISS used in ‘Kibo’ operations, which, in the future, is expected to be one of the important means to meet the launch needs of microsatellites.”

The microsatellite was released by the JEM Small Satellite Orbital Deployer at an altitude of 400 kilo-meters from the earth’s surface.

Its mission is to capture photos and images from its main payload consisting of high precision tele-scope, spaceborne multispectral imager and wide field camera.

The telescope produces high resolution imaging for observing large-scale weather patterns while the imager is used for monitoring bodies of water and vegetation.

The camera, on the other hand, is used in observing large-scale weather patterns.

Diwata-1 is historic as it is de-signed, developed and assembled by Filipino scientists.

Aside from the microsatellite’s use in disaster-response mecha-nisms, agriculture and tourism, among others, it also marks a mile-stone in the country’s developing space program and a testament

that local scientists can make their own microsatellite.

“The Diwata-1 might be a small satellite, but it represents the dreams and aspirations of the Philippines, as far as making space technology work for the Filipino,” said Joel Joseph Marciano, direc-tor of the Advanced Science and Technology Institute of the De-partment of Science and Technol-ogy (DOST), in a press conference at the Tsukuba Space Center.

“A lot of kids in the Philippines before [would] think of space as part of science fiction. But what this means is that for our young engineers and scientists in the Philippines, given enough sup-port, can actually achieve what first-world countries are doing with technology,” Fidel Nemenzo, vice chancellor for Research and Development of the University of the Philippines-Diliman, added.

Meanwhile, Philippine Ambas-sador to the United States Jose Cuisia, Jr. said the launch of Di-wata-1 is “not only a giant leap for Philippine science and technolo-gy. It could also provide Philippine policy makers with the scientific

data and information needed to formulate policies relating to di-saster mitigation, agricultural pro-ductivity, and management of land and water resources.”

Diwata-1 is expected to be in orbit for approximately 20 months and will be imaging the country twice daily.

Along with the microsatellite development is the installation of the satellite ground receiving sta-tion, named Philippine Earth Data Resources Observation (Pedro).

Located in Subic, Zambales, Pe-dro is tasked to receive Diwata-1 imagery, including other images from selected commercial satel-lites.

Another space-related facility under construction is the UP-Dili-man Microsatellite Research and Instructional facility which will be the hub of training for future space technology research and develop-ment activities.

Philippines’ second microsatel-lite, Diwata-2, will be deployed in late 2017 or early 2018.

The two microsatellites and the ground station are part of a three-year P840.82-million microsat program. (Michael Joe T. Delizo/ManilaTimes.net)

PH’s first microsatellite Diwata-1...PAGE A1 t

Federation of Philippine American Chambers of Commerce, Inc. (FPACC) President Emeritus and Founder Yolanda Ortega Stern.

Justin Iselin, Rudy Asercion and U.S. Army Sgt. (ret.) Pelagio Valdez lead a moment of silence after the wreath-laying ceremonies at the Filipino Veterans Education Center. Inquirer.net photos by Jun Nucum

Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps cadets with surviving Filipino World War II veterans and their supporters led by Rudy Asercion (in barong sixth from right) and Philippine San Francisco Consulate Deputy Consul-General Jaime Ramon Ascalon (in barong fourth from right) at a reception after the Bataan Day commemoration.

niversary of the Leyte landing in 2004, 384 veterans were present,” Asercion added.

The recent event coincided with the 74th Commemoration of Fall of Bataan at the Filipino Veterans Education Center in War Memorial Performing Arts Veterans Build-ing in San Francisco. There may no longer be surviving veterans who can join future anniversary events.

“And that is the reason why we should let then know that we are beholden to them and we owe them a debt of gratitude. It is very, very important that they know before they all expire,” Asercion stressed.

It is also very important for the mostly Filipino high school student cadets of the San Francisco Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) to meet, greet and inter-act personally with the veterans they’ve only heard of and seen in television programs featuring them.

Sixteen-year-old JROTC Cdt. 1Lt. Janet Quan of Lowell High School intimated that seeing the veterans in person made her more determined to get involved in help-ing out them and the services that they need in her own way.

“I read a book When the Rain-bow Goddess Wept (by Cecilia Manguerra) about what happened in the Philippines,” shared Quan, “and seeing the veterans especially how they are now, makes every-thing so very real.”

Senior high school student James Chan admits that prison-ers of war (POWs) and missing in action (MIAs) were terms he had barely heard before.

“These veterans made sacrifices to make sure that their children could have better lives in the future,” Chan stated. “I just feel very grateful for what they have done for us. I am just grateful to see them, who inspired me, in person.”

Hearing these statements from the students, Asercion disclosed that the veterans education center will have lectures where historians like Alex Fabros would be invited speak to high school kids.

Division Regimental Command-er of more than a thousand guerril-

las in Batangas City, Colonel Aqui-lino Delen, who also spent 44 years as a teacher, was also glad that the JROTC cadets were there.

“It is a big thing for us to be heard from directly by these high school students in commemora-tions and recognitions in events like this. We thank them that they feel honored to see us personally and we are glad that they appreci-ate us,” Delen uttered.

Luzon de Guzman was a young girl from Tarlac in the Philippines during the WWII. “I was crying when they showed videos of what happened during those days,” she said. “I really will not forget the Death March which was the most painful thing to happen to them during that time. My cousin who was a colonel was among the marchers and caught malaria but survived the march.”

Marjan Philhour, who is running to be the first Filipino American San Francisco supervisor, noted that the as Filipino Americans grow in number and make its presence known in the community through invaluable contributions, it is so important to remember where they came from and what the veterans did for freedom.

“As a candidate for supervisor of San Francisco, I want t make sure that I always keep with me the val-ues, hard work and honor that the manongs and the manangs who came before me fought for that I can instill them in my children,” Philhour said.

Federation of Philippine Ameri-can Chambers of Commerce, Inc. (FPACC) President Emeritus and

Founder Yolanda Ortega Stern narrated the historic timeline of Asia and the rest of the world from 1521-1898 to the events im-mediately after the Fall of Bataan on April 9, 1942.

“I had an uncle who was a survivor of the Death March but died without being recognized and without ever getting any ben-efits due him. He kept waiting in vain for him to be recognized and given the benefits that he so fully deserved,” Stern.

Philippine San Francisco Consu-late Deputy Consul-General Jaime Ramon Ascalon’s grandfather sur-vived in the Bataan Death March but was never recognized by the U.S. government as a veteran.

“Even as some of them have not been recognized and given their benefits, we are glad that there are organizations that are helping them,” said Ascalon. “Hopefully, before they pass on, they can get the benefits that are due to them.” n

Fil-Ams keep memory of WWII vets alive as…PAGE A1 t

it would bring families ... out of the shadows [and] into the main-stream, keep families from being separated and take away that fear that any minute you could be de-ported.”

Central to the discussion were the programs Obama announced in late 2014, which would have deferred deportation for more than four million undocumented immigrants in the United States. One of the programs, Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA), would provide temporary relief from deportation and legal work authorization for three years with the possibility of renewal. The other would have expanded a 2012 program aimed at immigrant youth brought to the country as children, called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

Twenty-six Republican states in the nation filed a lawsuit led by Texas that led to a temporary in-junction on the programs. Also in support of it is Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt.

Titus said that the Supreme Court, which currently has eight members after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February, is likely to issue a 4-4 decision on the case and will probably make the ruling in late June. Such a split would keep the programs blocked, but would not set a legal precedent, she said.

Titus said these programs would be beneficial to Nevada, where 8 percent of the population and 10 percent of the workforce is un-documented, according to a 2015

analysis from the Pew Research Center. Additionally, the programs would result in an anticipated gain of $1.3 billion in wages and a $2.5 billion increase in the state’s GDP.

During the conference, some immigrants, including Filipina Maria Perez, shared their stories about how America’s immigration policies affects them.

Perez’s daughter, Jessica May, is currently protected under DACA and was able to work as a field organizer on Democratic presi-dential candidate Hillary Clinton’s campaign trail.

“Thankfully, we got her pa-pers,” Perez said. “She got denied first. All of my children including me are denied. We went here [le-gally].”

Perez’s family has been in the United States for 13 years, two of whom are unable to pursue col-lege due to their legal status.

“I was born basically and then I moved here, and then I learned how to speak English. I don’t even know my Tagalog that well and I consider myself more of an Ameri-can than Filipino.” said Perez’s 19-year-old son Christian Perez, who graduated from high school in 2014.

Also affected by the nation’s im-migration policies is Aida Lopez, who has resided in the United States for more than 15 years. Her husband was deported in 2014, kidnapped and never found. She has four US citizen children, one of whom is protected under DACA.

Lopez is also currently under a “stay” that expires next month, after which time Immigration and Customs Enforcement can choose

Rep. Titus, immigrants call for immigration…PAGE A1 t

NOMINATIONS for the 2016 Presidential Awards are still on-going! The Awards seek to honor and recognize overseas Filipinos and organizations who best exem-plify the time-honored Filipino val-ues of pakikipagkapwa (empathy), pagtutulungan (cooperation), and pagkakaisa (unity).

Four hundred thirty-seven (437) overseas Filipino individuals, or-ganizations and foreign partners have been conferred with the Presidential Awards.

There are four categories to which an individual or organiza-tion may be nominated, namely:

• Lingkod sa Kapwa Pilipino (LINKAPIL) Award – This award is conferred on Filipino associations or individuals for their exceptional or significant contribution to re-construction, progress, and devel-

opment in the Philippines;• Kaanib ng Bayan Award – This

award is conferred on foreign in-dividuals or organizations for their exceptional or significant contri-bution to Philippine reconstruc-tion, progress, and development, or have significantly benefited a sector or community in the Phil-ippines, or advanced the cause of overseas Filipino communities;

• Banaag Award – This award is conferred on Filipino individu-als or associations for their signifi-cant contribution to advancing the cause or promoting the interests of overseas Filipino communities; and

• Pamana ng Pilipino Award – This award is conferred on Over-seas Filipino individuals who, in exemplifying the talent and indus-try of the Filipino, have brought

the country honor and recognition through excellence and distinction in the pursuit of their work or pro-fession.

The CFO Awards were institu-tionalized in 1991 under E.O. 498, issued by former President Cora-zon Aquino, to help identify and recognize those who have selfless-ly supported relief, rehabilitation, and/or development programs in the Philippines.

Nominations must be submitted on or before May 27, 2016 to the Awards Committee at the Philip-pine Consulate General, 447 Sut-ter Street 6th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94108. For rules on filing out of nominations, nomination forms, evaluation forms and other infor-mation about the awards, please visit www.cfo.gov.ph or email presidentialawards@cfo.gov.ph. n

Call for nominations to the 2016 Presidential Awards

Joined by immigrants, Rep. Dina Titus on Friday, April 22 held a press conference that highlighted the nation’s need for comprehensive immigration reform. AJPress photos by Robert Macabagdal

to deport her. But with no criminal background, Lopez is not an en-forcement priority.

“If she were to be deported, here are her four children who are US citizens. What would happen to them? Would they go back with her? Would they stay here without their mother? It’s just an unten-able situation,” Titus said.

Should the Supreme Court not decide in favor of DAPA and ex-panded DACA, Titus said she is still calling for immigration reform.

“ I mentioned that it’s economi-cally wise as well as being person-ally humane and socially impor-tant if we pass this and we brought these folks out of the shadows and into the workforce,” Titus said.

“Strong families build strong communities and when we threat-en those families or divide those families or keep them from reach-ing their potential, we are only hurting ourselves,” she added. (Agnes Constante/AJPress)

(212) 655-5426 • http://www.asianjournal.com NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY ASIAN JOURNAL • APRIL 29-MAY 5, 2016 A�Dateline USa

FOR CONTINUITY. Liberal Party (LP) chairman President Benigno S. Aquino III receives a warm welcome from the locals during the meeting with local leaders and the community at the Cebu Provincial Capitol Grounds in Cebu City on Wednesday, April 27. Malacañang photo by Robert Viñas

industries. On top of that it has services as a major component. Every house constructed has a direct contribution to the growth of steel, wood, labor and financ-ing. But no one highlighted the importance of the sector. And it’s not a good sign,” said Soriano.

Soriano shared his observa-tions on the five candidates.

“A solid accomplishment initi-ated by Roxas was the creation of the IT and BPO industry. He authored RA 8756, encourag-ing multinational companies to establish headquarters in the Philippines through incentives. Clearly, a major segment that has contributed significantly to the sustained growth of the current real estate market. Roxas’ sup-port for the BPO sector helped this industry become a key driver in the residential and commer-cial sector. Roxas proposes an adequate, affordable and acces-sible housing program, complete

with basic necessities.” No housing planSoriano said that Poe has no

housing plan in her 20-point platforms. “She highlights in-frastructure and technology as pathways to growth but no men-tion of a housing policy that can be the centerpiece of her admin-istration,” said Soriano.

Soriano said that Duterte “is looking at the creation of busi-ness and economic hubs to host major industries and their facto-ries, patterned after Singapore and Hong Kong to stem the tide of unemployment.”

“The closest connection to real estate was his avowed mis-sion to revive the Philippine steel industry. Foreign investments: Infrastructure gaps, whether in the countryside or in key urban centers, shall be prioritized and substantially filled, or at least ini-tiated, during his term. He has no specific program on housing and real estate,” said Soriano.

Soriano said that Miriam De-fensor Santiago “highlights pub-lic infrastructure to help facilitate rapid economic growth.”

“Some of her plans would be to develop: Mixed-use government centers with adjacent residential, commercial, and entertainment facilities in the National Capital Region and in the 17 regions. One major project per region and per province. Still no men-tion of an institutional housing program,” said Soriano.

Soriano said that Binay’s plans include accelerating infrastruc-ture development, and invest more in infrastructure.

“Under a Binay presidency, his goals are to strengthen sub-stantially the sectors of agricul-ture, manufacturing, tourism, BPO, and exporting—which are the five biggest job generators. Again no specific housing initia-tives despite his almost five years as chair of the HUDCC,” said So-riano. n

Property sector momentum sustained even…PAGE A3 t

US forces last year challenged the excessive maritime claims of 13 countries throughout the world including the Philippines, China, Vietnam, Malaysia and Taiwan, the Pentagon said.

In a report released on Mon-day, it said a US Freedom of Navigation (FON) program was implemented actively every year against excessive maritime claims by claimants in every re-gion of the world in support of the Defense Department’s global interest in mobility and access.

The FON program encom-passes all of the rights, freedoms and lawful uses of the sea and airspace available to all nations under international law.

The report provided a summa-ry of excessive maritime claims challenged by US forces in fiscal year 2015 from Oct. 1, 2014 to Sept. 20, 2015.

Eight of the 13 countries chal-lenged were Argentina, Indone-sia, India, Iran, Libya, the Mal-dives, Nicaragua and Oman.

The other five have compet-ing claims to parts of the South China Sea, including the West Philippine Sea.

China’s excessive maritime claims were listed as excessive straight baselines, jurisdiction over airspace above the exclusive economic zone (EEZ), restriction on foreign aircraft flying through an air defense identification zone (ADIZ) without the intent to enter national airspace, domestic law criminalizing survey activity by foreign entities in the EEZ; and requiring prior permission for innocent passage of foreign mili-tary ships through territorial sea.

The Philippines was cited for claiming archipelagic waters as internal waters and Vietnam for excessive straight baselines and requiring prior notification for foreign warships to enter its ter-ritorial sea.

Taiwan was faulted for requir-ing prior notification for military

MEMBERS of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Australia agreed to step up cooperation in maintaining peace and security in the disputed South China Sea just as China announced plans to build an outpost in Scar-borough shoal, 230 kilometers off Zambales province.

Foreign assistant secretary Hellen de la Vega, who heads the Asean affairs, welcomed Australia’s “desire to deepen engagement with the Asean and regional partners,” describing it as a “positive” development “in maintaining rules based on re-gional order.”

She said the 28th Asean-Aus-tralia Forum held recently in Can-berra focused on the importance of peace, security, stability and freedom of navigation and over-flight in the South China Sea.

De la Vega said the Asean and

THE Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) urged the United Kingdom and the United States to present a balanced and objective assessment of the security situa-tion in the Philippines following travel advisories issued by the two countries.

“The Department has been ad-vised of the contents of the new travel warnings issued by the UK and US governments. We ac-knowledge that it is the preroga-tive of these governments to issue advisories that aim to protect the welfare of their nationals abroad, which they have been doing for the past few years,” the DFA said in a statement.

The DFA has similar protocols on the issuance of travel adviso-ries.

“We note the changes made to the warning, in particular the specific reference made to certain

DFA to UK, US: Assess PH security situation objectivelyby Pia Lee-Brago

Philstar.com areas in the country instead of the usual generalized advisory,” the DFA said.

The US issued a travel warning to its nationals to avoid all non-es-sential travel to the Sulu archipel-ago and southern Sulu Sea, and to exercise extreme caution when traveling to Mindanao due to con-tinued terrorist threats, insurgent activities and kidnappings.

The US State Department up-dated the foreign travel advice warning US citizens about the high threat of kidnapping of in-ternational travelers, increased threat of maritime kidnappings against small boats in the Sulu archipelago and violence linked to insurgency and terrorism there.

US citizens are advised to defer non-essential travel through the southern Sulu Sea region from the southern tip of Palawan, along the coast of Sabah, Malaysia and the islands of the Sulu archipelago,

up to Zamboanga City.The State Department asked

US nationals to continue to exer-cise extreme caution if traveling to certain regions and cities in Mindanao.

It warned about separatist and terrorist groups that continue to carry out attacks and kidnappings against civilians, foreigners, po-litical leaders and Philippine se-curity forces in Mindanao.

The British government on Wednesday issued a similar travel warning, citing “a high threat from terrorism, including kidnap-ping.”

The Foreign and Common-wealth Office advised against all travel to southwest Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago be-cause of ongoing terrorist activity and clashes between the military and insurgent groups. The FCO advised against all but essential travel to the remainder of Mind-anao for the same reasons. n

ASEAN, Australia affirm stand vs ChinaAustralia also “agreed that dis-putes should be resolved peace-fully, including full respect for legal and diplomatic processes, and without resorting to the threat or use of force, in accor-dance with universally recog-nized principles of international law, including the 1983 Unclos (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea).”

Earlier, Senior Associate Jus-tice Antonio Carpio said China would suffer loss of reputation if it chose to ignore the world’s call to stop its military buildup in the South China Sea.

Carpio said that, by next month, the Permanent Court of Arbitra-tion in The Hague would issue a decision on the Philippines’ case to nullify China’s nine-dash line.

“China will have no choice but to adhere to the ruling of the ar-bitration court because of world pressure,” said Carpio in a forum hosted by Pimentel Institute of Leadership and Governance at

Club Filipino in Greenhills.“We will use the ruling to rally

the world (to make China) com-ply with the arbitration court de-cision,” said Carpio.

The lead Philippine lawyer to the arbitration case said the Phil-ippines should also prepare for “an intergenerational struggle” to compel China to adhere to the court ruling.

Later this year, China report-edly would start construction on the contested shoal as it sought to project its power across the South China Sea.

Scarborough shoal lies within the Philippines’ exclusive eco-nomic zone.

In 2012, a tense two-month standoff took place between the Philippine Navy and Chinese ves-sels in Scarborough.

After the Philippine ships with-drew, the Chinese Navy stationed patrol vessels in the area, effective-ly taking control of the shoal, and drove away Filipino fishermen. n

by estreLLa torresInquirer.net

Ambassador Cuisia poses for a group photo with the students and members of FIND District VI after a very successful Merienda at the Catholic University of America (CUA) on 24 April 2016. Ambassador Cuisia thanked the Filipino-American youth for their support to the Embassy’s advocacies and initiatives, especially to the Merienda that served as an avenue for youth engagement in the past 5 years.

or government vessels to enter its territorial sea and Malaysia for requiring nuclear-powered ships to enter its territorial sea and requiring consent for mili-tary exercises or maneuvers in the EEZ.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Aus-tralia underlined the importance of maintaining peace, security and stability and freedom of navi-gation and overflight in the South China Sea.

At the 28th ASEAN-Australia Forum held in Canberra last April 21 and 22, ASEAN and Australia agreed that disputes should be resolved peacefully, including full respect for legal and diplo-matic processes, and without resorting to the threat or use of force, in accordance with uni-versally recognized principles of international law, including the 1982 UNCLOS.

The Philippines, led by Assis-tant Secretary Helen de la Vega of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA)-Office of ASEAN Affairs, participated in this year’s forum that was co-chaired by Australian Gary Quinlan and Country Coor-dinator Aung Lynn of Myanmar.

During the dialogue, ASEAN and Australia reviewed the status of political security, economic and socio-cultural cooperation in support of ASEAN’s Vision 2025. Both sides committed to deepen existing cooperation as they pre-pare for the 1st biennial ASEAN-Australia Summit in September 2016 in Laos.

The DFA said there was an extensive discussion on regional and international developments.

De la Vega said “the Austra-lians want to deepen engage-ment with ASEAN and regional partners would maintain a rules-based regional order.”

Both sides concurred that the regional architecture must contin-ue to evolve as an ASEAN-centric and rules-based order and agreed to explore further joint action un-der ASEAN-led mechanisms.

ASEAN and Australia are both

keen to advance ASEAN-Austra-lia connectivity.

Both sides welcomed the cre-ation of the ASEAN-Australia Council, which is taking a lead in promoting women’s economic empowerment and educational exchanges.

Japanese ship visitAnother Japanese warship

made a port call in the Subic Bay Freeport yesterday, underscor-ing the increasing visits of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) vessels amid the strengthening of defense coop-eration between the Philippines and Japan.

The Japanese helicopter car-rier JS Ise docked at the Alava Pier for a four-day goodwill visit and maritime training and coop-eration between Japanese and Philippine Navy personnel.

The ship carries four helicop-ters and has 360 officers and men, headed by Capt. Masaki Takada.

JS Ise’s visit to Subic is the third time that JMSDF ships made a port call in the country this year.

Two warships, Uraga and Takashina of the JMSDF Mine-sweeper Division 51 under the command of Capt. Toshiro Takai-wa, visited Manila on March 2.

The ship visits took place af-ter the two countries signed an agreement for Japan’s transfer of defense equipment and technol-ogy to the Philippines.

Submarine ship Oyashio (SS-551), along with two destroyer ships, also visited Subic on April 3.

The ship visits, according to Japanese and Philippine Navy officials, aim to enhance “the al-ready strong relationship” of the Philippine Navy and the JMSDF and promote regional peace and stability.

It also aims to enhance mari-time cooperation, according to Philippine Navy Capt. Lued Lin-cuna, director of the Naval Public Affairs Office. (With Pia Lee-Bra-go, Bebot Sison)

US challenges 13 states’ sea claimsby Jose KatigBaK

Philstar.com

Pacquiao shrugs off Sayyaf…PAGE A3 tand gain access to the funds of the jihadists.

The president said government forces were able to thwart the Abu Sayyaf’s plans.

Ridsdel was one of four people abducted by the Abu Sayyaf on the Island Garden City of Samal

bearer Vice President Jejomar Binay said he is one of those pro-tective of Pacquiao who recently placed third in the opinion poll results.

“Lagi ako nasa kaliwa tinitig-nan ko dahil sa Pacman yata ito at nagbigay ng malaking istorya sa Pilipinas,” Binay said of Pacquiao, his lone senator bet who has a big chance of securing a seat in the Senate. n

island off Davao City in Septem-ber 2015.

His head was found wrapped in a plastic bag on the streets of Sulu on Monday, April 25.

The terrorist group earlier de-manded a P300-million ransom for each of the hostages.

For his part, UNA standard

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OpiniOn Features

For the manipulators of the SWS data, only 5 percent “re-jected votes” were needed to bring Binay’s ratings to 14 in the most recent poll.

In contrast, a survey from April 21 to 23 by a major pollster commissioned privately (which is expected to be released pub-licly soon), but which did not use SWS’s method of polling through ballots but by the standard way of the interviewer writing down the respondents’ replies.

It also does not seem coin-cidental that when SWS used this new method of polling, Ro-bredo’s rating jumped from 19 percent in March to 26 percent in April. The 5 percent rejected votes in the April poll were likely those for Marcos and Francis Escudero, which explains why the two candidates’ steady rat-ings – Marcos’ even surged from

19 percent in December to 26 percent in March – were broken only when the SWS used its new method of polling, and rejected 4 to 5 percent of the ballots.

Roxas and Robredo obviously have made manipulated polls as a major part of their electoral strategies, since without these to project that surveys from reputable pollsters show their political support, massive cheat-ing on May 9 elections would be so obvious – far from the polling results – as to provoke public outrage.

The use of ballots and SWS’ power to reject certain ballots is not the only new way it employs for its polls, which is obviously intended to pull down Binay’s ratings. In a previous column (“The SWS mobile ‘survey’ and an Indonesian tycoon’s poten-tial, crucial role in our elections,

April 10, 2016), I exposed that the SWS’s new type of polling it calls the “SWS-Bilang Pilipino Mobile Survey” isn’t at all a le-gitimate poll since it involves a permanent panel of about 750 respondents, whose views the SWS collects through their SMS messages via cellphones pro-vided by the Indonesian-owned PLDT.

Only the SWS and PLDT know the cellphone numbers of these respondents and one easy way of manipulating this panel’s re-sponses would be to send them messages favorable to a certain candidate, before they even re-ceive the question which candi-date they prefer.

SWS’s partners in these two very questionable polling meth-ods are entities both controlled by the Indonesian tycoon An-thoni Salim: Smart Communi-

cations in the “Bilang Pilipino Mobile Survey” and the newspa-per BusinessWorld in the ballot-based polling, in which the SWS rejects certain ballots.

It is certainly not coincidental that in both of these two ques-tionable polls, Binay’s ratings were pulled below Roxas’ at 15 percent in the “Mobile Survey’s” on April 13, and 14 percent in the ballot-based April 18 pur-ported “poll.”

In contrast, the other major firm PulseAsia, which uses the standard method of getting re-sponses in its April 12 -17 poll, reported Binay as staying in third place in the contest, with a 19 percent rating.

Roxas’ and Robredo’s rivals should demand that the Come-lec investigate what could be the biggest propaganda scheme of this election. (ManilaTimes.net)

“Today is a historic day,” Secre-tary-General Ban Ki-moon Ban told reporters following the opening cer-emony of the signing event. “This is by far the largest number of coun-tries ever to sign an international agreement on a single day.”

The Paris Climate Agreement will give way to a global economy that will be powered by low-car-bon, climate-smart growth. It has already begun to impact private sector operations and investments, demonstrating that climate action can improve per-formance, leverage new market opportunities, and be a gateway to growth and innovation.

“In Paris, there were also four initiatives that were launched: the International Solar Energy Al-liance, the development plan for renewable ener-gy, the innovation mission with President Obama, and finally the high-level coalition to set a price for fossil fuels and coal,” French President Francois Hollande said as he vowed to make France a role model in implementing the contents of the Agree-ment.

The Paris Climate Agreement will come into force once 55 countries responsible for 55 percent of the world’s greenhouse gases have ratified it, including the world’s top polluters, the US and China. Alto-gether, the 175 signatories account for 93 percent of global greenhouse gases, according to the World Resource Institute.

It took years of negotiations be-fore countries agreed to limit global temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius, while pursuing ef-forts to keep temperature rise to 1.5

degrees. The Paris Agreement mandates regular meetings every five years, starting in 2018, to re-view progress, and to consider whether it is neces-sary to increase ambition.

Regarded as a poster child for climate change, the Philippines along with under-developed nations were also present during the signing to encourage governments to keep the promises they gave in Paris.

Sen. Loren Legarda, Champion for Resilience of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), led the Philippine delegation in calling on nations to immediately ratify the Agreement and stressed the need to target the more ambitious but safer 1.5 de-grees Celsius warming limit.

“The 1.5 degrees Celsius warming limit should not just be an aspiration; we must do everything not to go beyond that, because the 1.5 degrees Cel-sius goal is a matter of survival. We have already breached the 1 degree Celsius mark and look at what has happened to vulnerable nations like the Philippines,” Legarda said.

Legarda explained how the Philippines, one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change, has been affected by extreme weather events caused by

Philstar.com photo

Initiative

Editorial

BALITANG AMERICA: Duterte, Roxas top Fil-Am online poll after last debate

Gel SantoS-ReloS

The Fil-Am Perspective

FOLLOWING the last presidential debate hosted by ABS-CBN, The Fili-pino Channel’s daily newscast “Bali-tang America” asked its viewers: “If the elections were held today, would you vote for to be the next president of the Philippines?” The result of the April 25 online poll revealed Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte still top-ping the field of candidates, with 54 percent vote among the viewers who participated.

Former DILG Sec. Mar Roxas placed second, getting 32 percent, followed

by Sen. Miriam Defen-sor Santiago with 8 percent.

It seems Sen. Grace Poe has lost much enthusiasm among kababayans, getting only 5 percent. Vice President Jejomar Binay remains at the bottom of the pack with only 1 percent of the vote.

Duterte’s dominance in the Fil-Am poll -- despite his controversial rape statement that the mayor [Duterte]

should have been the first to rape the beautiful Austra-lian woman killed in Mindanao -- is also echoed in the most recent Pulse Asia survey conducted in the Philippines dur-

ing the period April 16-20, before the last debate.

The Pulse Asia Pulso ng Bayan na-tionwide survey shows Duterte is still leading the race to Malacanang with

35 percent vote, followed by Sen. Grace Poe with 23 percent — a 12 point margin.

Former DILG Sec. Mar Roxas came in third with 17 percent, followed by VP Jejomar Binay with 16 percent vote. Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago garnered 2 percent.

With less than two weeks before the Philippine national election, will Duterte keep his lead? Will the de-bate prove to be a game changer and put Poe back to the top position, or will Roxas surge to be number

one after his debate performance? ABANGAN!

Meantime, watch The Filipino Chan-nel’s Balitang America town hall, to be participated in by community lead-ers supporting each candidate. This will air on Sunday, May 1, at 5pm.

* * *Gel Santos Relos is the anchor of TFC’s “Balitang America.” Views and opinions expressed by the author in this column are are solely those of the author and not of Asian Journal and ABS-CBN-TFC. For comments, go to www.TheFil-AmPerspective.com, https://www.facebook.com/Gel.Santos.Relos

RiGobeRto D. tiGlao

Commentary

IN honor of Earth Day last Friday, April 22, international political, business and civil society leaders from 175 countries gathered at the United National Headquarters in New York for the historic signing of the Paris Climate Agreement, a global initiative to ensure a sustainable future for billions of people around the world through climate action.

the warming climate. Typhoon Ketsana in 2009 ate up 2.7 percent of the country’s GDP; while the coun-try has yet to fully recover from the damage and ef-fects of the November 2013 Supertyphoon Haiyan. At present, farmers and farming communities have been suffering from the drought caused by the ex-tended El Niño affecting the Philippines.

Following the historic signing, the world must now embrace this broader challenge and step up

efforts to combat climate change. This problem is multi-faceted and its mitigation will require action from multiple fronts.

We are not oblivious to the advent of climate change. While we cannot undo the damages done, we are still capable of decelerating the rate of the effects of climate change and produce a desirable future for the planet altogether. Every one is simply responsible. (AJPress)

Has SWS been rigging its surveys to boost Roxas’ and Robredo’s ratings?

IT seems so, or the Social Weather Station’s collation of data has fallen under the con-trol of Manuel Roxas and Leni Robredo’s operatives, so that in the past two surveys their voter-preference ratings have inexplicably surged, while those of Vice President Jejomar Binay and Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. have fallen.

This could be done because of SWS’s new polling method, which would allow votes for presidential candidate Binay and vice presidential contender Marcos, Jr. – whose ratings have dropped for a reason – to be re-jected on grounds, as the SWS itself describes it, of “invalid markings.”

Only in its last two surveys did the SWS adopt this new method, which it had never used before (not in its 2010 polls), for deter-mining how many of its respon-dents choose particular candi-dates.

Instead of the standard pro-cedure of the pollster writing down the name of the candidate the respondents say they will vote for (and therefore, accept-ing these at face value), the new method asks the respondents to mark their choice in a ballot, pri-vately, and put it in a container.

On the surface, this appears to be an appropriate method. But in reality, it merely mimics how election cheating has been undertaken for decades in this

SWS suddenly changed its polling method, and Binay’s ratings plunged.

country. This is done during the counting of the ballots, with the votes for the candidate who is being cheated declared invalid or are rejected. At least, in the low-tech way of counting ballots in the past, candidates were al-lowed to put in place their own poll-watchers who could raise a protest every time a certain vote for their candidates was reject-ed.

The counting of the “ballots” by the SWS, though, takes place in hidden rooms, with no third-party observing the process.

In its new method of polling, ballots with “invalid marks,” SWS itself explains, are rejected. It has not explained what quali-fies as an “invalid” mark, how-ever. It has neither reported its process for counting the ballots nor disclosed which candidates were chosen in such rejected ballots.

The number of such rejected ballots is not insignificant: 7 per-cent in its March 30 to April 2 survey and 5 percent in the April 18 to 20 polling. (This excludes the 3 percent of respondents in the two surveys who replied that they had not decided whom to vote for.)

It does not seem coincidental then that when SWS used this new method of polling, and 7 percent and 5 percent of bal-lots were rejected, Binay’s rat-ings plunged from 24 percent in early March to 20 percent in late March, and to just 14 percent in the last poll conducted in early April.

If the 7 percentage points of “rejected” ballots in the March 30 – April 2 poll were for Binay, his ratings would not be at 20 percent but at 27 percent, at par with Duterte’s.

(212) 655-5426 • http://www.asianjournal.com NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY ASIAN JOURNAL • APRIL 29-MAY 5, 2016 A�

Dateline PhiliPPines

SLIDEFEST. Last April 16 and 17, 2016, over 9,000 people flocked to Filinvest City, Alabang, for a weekend of worry-free fun under the sun. Thousands came to slip, slide and experience Nivea Slidefest. The Nivea Slidefest featured big, bouncy inflatables that look like a giant obstacle course. Philstar.com photo

MANILA—Vice President Je-jomar Binay reiterated his chal-lenge to fellow presidential can-didates to allow the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) to look into their bank accounts, as well as those of their spouses and children.

The United Nationalist Alli-ance (UNA) standard-bearer yesterday made the call follow-ing reports that presidential frontrunner Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte did not declare in his Statement of Assets, Li-abilities and Net Worth (SALN) some P211 million he allegedly deposited in a local bank.

Last month, Binay signed a waiver allowing the AMLC to open his and his family’s bank accounts.

The waiver also stated that Bi-nay was willing to submit himself to a lifestyle and government ser-vice and performance check.

UNA communications direc-tor Joey Salgado said if the Vice President’s rivals really have nothing to hide, they should sub-mit themselves to AMLC probe.

Salgado also urged Binay’s op-ponents to release their SALN and income tax returns.

Binay dares rivals to waive rights to bank secrecy

by Helen FloresPhilstar.com

“Sadly, none of them respond-ed,” he said.

Salgado said Duterte’s camp had earlier claimed that the mayor had signed a waiver that would allow his bank accounts to be examined.

Last March 14, Duterte and his runningmate Sen. Alan Pe-ter Cayetano signed a manifesto stating that they “pledge to open all our bank accounts in local and foreign currencies both here and abroad in the interest of trans-parency and accountability.”

“But Duterte now refuses to sign a waiver for the AMLC to

look into the existence of a joint account in the Bank of the Philip-pine Islands he allegedly shared with his daughter Sara Duterte,” Salgado said.

“Is this (waiver) only a press release?” he said.

AMLC already investigated Binay’s bank accounts.

Last year, the body secured an order from the Court of Appeals to freeze the 242 bank accounts linked to Binay, his son dis-missed Makati City mayor Junjun Binay and his purported dum-mies, which allegedly contained P11 billion since 2008. n

Vice President Jejomar Binay

MANILA—The headless body of a man who looks like a Cau-casian, believed to be Canadian John Ridsdel, has been turned over to the Canadian embassy.

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Ri-cardo Marquez said the headless body, which was found in Baran-gay Gata, Talipao in Sulu, was flown to Heritage Park in Taguig yesterday morning.

Marquez said police Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) conducted the autopsy on the body at the Heritage Park.

Ridsdel was one of four hostag-es held by the Abu Sayyaf since last September.

The kidnappers had issued a ransom deadline that lapsed Monday. His severed head was found in a plastic bag along a street in Jolo town.

On Wednesday, a headless ca-daver of a Caucasian male was found in Talipao but authorities have yet to confirm if it was Rids-del’s.

There was no indication that the victim was beheaded in the area where it was found “due to the absence of blood stains in the scene,” according to a police in-vestigator.

Ridsdel was among four hos-tages taken by the Abu Sayyaf in Samal Island last September.

The three remaining hostages – fellow Canadian Robert Hall, Norwegian Kjartan Sikkengstad and Filipina Maritess Flor – are still being held by the bandit group, along with other foreign-ers, including 14 crewmen of an Indonesian tugboat. Four Malay-sian seamen are also being held.

President Aquino has prom-ised to devote his remaining days in office to crushing the Abu Sayyaf. Fourteen bandits have been killed in continued shelling of their stronghold in Jolo since Tuesday, a military spokesman said.

The American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (AmCham) yesterday condemned the murder of Ridsdel.

“AmCham extends its deepest condolences to the Ridsdel fam-ily, friends and others close to

Headless body turned over to Canadian embassyby CeCille suerte Felipe

Philstar.comthis remarkable man,” the group said in a statement.

AmCham said Ridsdel was well known to the American business community in Manila, where he was based for many years.

“He was a strong believer in the development of the Philip-pines, to which he contributed as the senior executive of a mining company known for its highly re-sponsible practices,” AmCham said.

“John Ridsdel had decided to retire in the Philippines. He made many friends among many nationalities and loved to sail among the islands from his base at Puerto Galera. It was when he responded from his boat moored on Samal Island to a call for help from a neighboring boat that he was seized,” it said.

AmCham joined the call on the government to bring the killers of Ridsdel to justice and to im-plement policies that will bring improved security and peace and development to areas in Mind-anao where the Abu Sayyaf and other criminal elements operate.

Officials, on the other hand, are discussing coordinated naval patrols on its southern maritime borders with Indonesia and Ma-laysia to protect shipping after attacks and kidnappings by Is-lamist militants.

Foreign Secretary Jose Rene Almendras said the government is proposing separate but coordi-nated patrols to identify safe cor-ridors where ships can travel.

Indonesia last week called for joint maritime patrols with the Philippines and Malaysia. Joint patrols would involve ships from the three navies patrolling to-gether and crossing into each other’s territorial waters.

Officials from the three sides are due to meet in Jakarta on May 5 to discuss cooperation.

“The issue is safety and secu-rity,” Almendras said.

“It’s called coordinated pa-trols, we’ll do our patrols and they will have their own patrols in their own territorial waters so there will be no more threats to the movement of ships, including the kidnapping of sailors.”

Two Indonesian coal ports have blocked ships from leaving for the Philippines and Malay-

sia’s eastern Sabah state due to security concerns.

The growing frequency of maritime attacks has affected coal trade between the Southeast Asian neighbors – Indonesia, the world’s largest thermal coal exporter, and the Philippines, which relies on Jakarta for 70 percent of its coal imports. n

CEBU CITY—Less than two weeks before the May 9 elec-tions, President Benigno Aquino III was back in Cebu, the province with the most number of voters, to campaign for the administra-tion standard bearer, Mar Roxas, and running mate, Rep. Leni Ro-bredo, and slammed their rivals as the one with a foul mouth, the one who stole and another whose health status was hidden from the public.

Mr. Aquino graced the proc-lamation rally of Bando Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan at the Provincial Capitol grounds on Wednesday, April 27.

“When I retire from politics in 64 days, I would need someone to sustain the gains of Daang Matu-wid (Straight Path),” he addressed the Cebuano crowd of more than 7,000 as of 4 p.m. according to police.

President Aquino said he had already done what the other can-didates had promised in the cam-paign.

If there were things that need-ed improvement, he said Roxas and Robredo were the right pair to continue what was started.

The President said his admin-istration constructed 7,900 pub-lic school classrooms in Cebu,

Aquino slams one with a foul mouth, one who steals and one who keeps secrets about health

by ViCtor silVaInquirer.net

among the 185,000 classrooms that the national government has been targeting to build.

Mr. Aquino reminded Cebua-nos that his administration in-creased the province’s budget allocation for infrastructure proj-ects to P38.4 billion.

He said that if Roxas would not succeed him, the new president might take a left turn or a U-turn from the Daang Matuwid (straight path).

Although he did not name any names, he criticized some of Roxas’ opponents, including one for having a foul mouth, one for stealing, and one for being se-cretive on health issues. (Survey front-runner Rodrigo Duterte has been widely criticized for cussing and dropping a rape joke in pub-lic; Vice President Jejomar Binay has been swamped with graft and corruption complaints; and Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago, who has been battling cancer, has been questioned on her health status.)

“There aren’t any qualified oth-er than Mar and Leni,” said Mr. Aquino.

President Aquino left immedi-ately after his speech.

Roxas told supporters they should show the rest of the coun-try that decency, goodness and respect would reign in the elec-tions. n

APRIL 29-MAY 5, 2016 • NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY ASIAN JOURNAL http://www.asianjournal.com • (212) 655-5426A�

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peopleevents

artsculture

entertainmentapril 29-May 5, 2016

by MoMar G. Visaya /AJPress

2The Asian Journal NEW YORK / NEW JERSEY APRIL 29, 2016

An Asian Journal Magazine

GettinG to KnowMinerva tantoco, new YorK citY’s

chief technoloGY officerAs a young woman, Filipino

American Minerva Tantoco thought she knew what she wanted to become: a doctor. Little did she know, a class subject on her way to achieve that dream opened her eyes to reality and made her realize what her real passion in life is – technology.

It was 1984 and Tantoco was on her sophomore year and she had a game plan, to focus on her studies and be the best brain surgeon she could be. A course on neuropsychology derailed that plan, for the better.

“One of our projects required using a computer to do some statistical analysis,” she recalled. “Once I touched my hands on the keyboard and saw that you could make things happen, you could actually study how the brain works using artificial intelligence, that was why I decided right then that I was going to do computing stuff.”

And the rest, as they say, is herstory.

Fast forward to 30 years later: Minerva Tantoco made New York City history in 2014 by becoming the city’s first ever Chief Technology

Officer and was tasked to lead citywide effort to make New York City the most technology-friendly and innovation-driven city in the world.

Back storyBorn in the Philippines, Tantoco

moved to Flushing, New York with her family when she was four years old.

“I just turned four when we arrived from Manila and I was only speaking a little bit of Tagalog. I learned English from sesame street so if people tell me ‘You don’t sound Filipino’ and I tell them ‘Yeah, because my accent is Big Bird’,” she told members and friends of the Filipino American Democratic Club of New York.

A proud product of the New York public school system, Tantoco said she used to travel for two hours each way to go to school at Bronx High school of science. she spent those long hours making her homework and reading up on assignments.

“In 1984, it was not a thing, not a thing for anybody, certainly not young Filipina women,” referring to courses on computers

said.” It’s a great path to the middle class. On average, tech jobs pay $65,000 a year. That’s a lot for a starting salary.”

According to the CTO, the U.s. Department of Labor predicts by 2020, the United states will have 1.4 million tech jobs available in this country and only 29% of those are on track to be filled by the current pipeline.

Tantoco said that the creation of the first-ever CTO role was part of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s platform when he was running for Mayor.

“ It was a recognition – not only of the importance of technology in government but technology in the future of New York City itself and it is that kind of dual role and recognition that there needs to be a nerd in city hall. And I’m very proud to say, I’m that nerd,” she said laughing.

she is proud to be a part of the de Blasio cabinet, and shared that of the senior leadership in the current administration, 58% are held by women.

“I have two Filipina sisters who hold very important roles within the administration,” Tantoco proudly told the audience.

Maria Torres springer, the first-ever female President of the New

York City Economic Development Corporation, an organization that helps direct dollars for economic development, and Commissioner Carmelyn Malalis of the Commission on Human Rights, who also left the private sector to join the government.

“All of us have lumpia together whenever we can,” Tantoco quipped.

nYc’s tech agendaThe Mayor’s tech agenda can

be divided into three parts: talent, access and innovation, according to the CTO.

The number one thing that tech companies need to grow is engineering talent.

“NYC’s tech sector is growing, the venture capitalist funds between 2014-15 went up 62%, it is now close to eight billion dollars,” she shared.

In 2014, the city launched the Tech Talent Pipeline, the first of its kind, $10 million pilot program to connect employers with qualified folks who they train in things that employers like Twitter and AOL are looking for.

Tantoco said that while most people have broadband internet at home, 22% or as many as 1 in 4 New Yorkers do not have this access.

Continued on Page 5

� AJPress�photos�by�Momar�G.�Visaya

and technology. “And for those of you with Filipino parents would understand – to leave on your junior year and move to the west coast to start a software company in 1985.”

Tantoco moved to silicon Valley where she co-founded technology startup, Manageware Inc, which was successfully sold five years later.

“You can imagine the many heart attacks that my parents had but they’re proud of me now, it all worked out. I did go back for my final semester. I started a company, got it going, went back for my final semester, wrote my thesis, graduated

cum laude, then went back to the startup in California,” she said, adding that her last semester was “a little crazy” with her going to class and having phone calls with clients and working with an engineering team from 3,000 miles away.

since then, Tantoco has led emerging technology initiatives including artificial intelligence, e-commerce, virtualization, online marketing and mobile applications. she holds four Us patents on artificial intelligence and workflow systems.

tech JourneyAs the city’s CTO, Tantoco is

a sought after speaker who gets invited by various corporations to talk and deliver speeches.

At the FADCNY meeting, she apologized for her hoarse voice brought about by the numerous speaking engagements she had that week.

she said she always talks about her own journey and encourage young people to consider a career in technology which she says is broad enough to accommodate everyone.

“The path of technology, the future of the economy is all digital, and whether you are a coder or not, technology has so many opportunities for everyone,” Tantoco

Minerva�Tantoco�delivers� a� speech�before�members�of� the�Filipino�American�Democratic�Club�of�New�York�

�Tantoco�during�Internet�Week�2015�event�held�at�the�Metropolitan�Pavilion.�

3The Asian Journal NEW YORK / NEW JERSEY ApRil 29, 2016

An Asian Journal Magazine

Atty. MichAel

Gurfinkel, eSQ

ImmigrationCorner

Monette

AdevA MAglAyA

ImmigrantLiving: 101 and Beyond

Dear Atty Gurfinkel:I HAVE been a green card holder

for many years. Several years ago, I was convicted of a crime. I served the sentence and even had the conviction expunged (or “erased” from my record.) I would like to take a brief vacation to the Philippines to visit my family and friends. Do you think I will encounter any problems with US Immigration when I return?

Very truly yours,T.W.Dear T.W.:Under US immigration laws,

if a non-citizen, including green card holders, commits certain types of crimes, that person could be considered inadmissible (not entitled to enter the US) or removable (deportable). There have also been many changes to our laws that have reclassified certain crimes as “aggravated felonies,” (which are very serious crimes), and those changes were made retroactive (or will apply to past convictions).

Even if the crime was committed years ago, it could still come back to haunt the person. This is true even if the conviction was expunged, as there have been Court and Board of Immigration Appeal decisions stating that an expungement will not erase the fact that a person was “convicted” of the crime.

Therefore, if a non-citizen ever committed a crime that makes him “inadmissible” or “removable,” that person most definitely will encounter problems if he leaves the US and later tries to return. He could be denied admission to the US and sent immediately back, or he could be put in removal proceedings and detained (or held in custody in a prison) until his case is over, which could take months or years.

The reason is that if a green card holder with a criminal record seeks to re-enter the US, the Immigration Inspectors at the airport (Customs and Border Protection) have access to his entire record, including the person’s immigration history and criminal record. This is especially the case after 9\11, when law

Immigrants with criminal convictions should not leave the US or apply for citizenship without making sure it’s ‘safe’enforcement agencies throughout the country are sharing their databases.

The person’s entire criminal history may now be a part of DHS’s database. The record pops up on the Immigration Inspector’s computer screen, and the person finds himself in a lot of trouble, including being detained and placed in removable proceedings.

I have come across several cases involving immigrants with old convictions, who made the mistake of taking a brief vacation outside the US. When they tried to return to the US, they effectively “woke up” the Immigration Inspectors, who were now alerted to the fact that the person is inadmissible or removable. Had they not left the US, the situation may have never come to the attention of DHS. However, by taking a brief trip, they mistakenly brought themselves to the attention of DHS, and face a lifetime of disaster. The same is true in applying for citizenship: your criminal record will come to light, as you must be fingerprinted, and questions on the form as about past crimes.

While there may be hope for some of these people, through “waivers” (or forgiveness) and appeals to their removal, is it really worth taking the chance? I don’t think any trip outside the US is worth the risk of being placed in removal proceedings.

I know that some people with past convictions will try to argue, “but I was already able to visit the Philippines after my conviction, and was able to return. So that must mean that everything is OK, and I won’t encounter problems

the next time I travel.” I would say that such a person may have just been lucky the last time he traveled. Just because you were lucky the last time, does not mean your “luck” will hold out forever.

I want to be clear that non-citizens with certain convictions are removable even if they never leave the US. However, leaving the US simply increases the risks of bringing your situation to the attention of the DHS and hastening your possible permanent removal.

So, don’t take chances. And if you should ever get that “knock on the door” from DHS because of an old conviction, I would strongly recommend you immediately seek the advice of a reputable attorney, who can analyze your situation, and determine if you could qualify for any form of relief from being removed, such as waivers or legal challenges to your conviction or removal.

* * *Michael J. Gurfinkel is licensed, and an active

member of the State Bar of California and New York. All immigration services are provided by, or under the supervision of, an active member of the State Bar of California. Each case is different. The information contained herein including testimonials, “Success Stories,” endorsements and re-enactments) is of a general nature, and is not intended to apply to any particular case, and does not constitute a prediction, warranty, guarantee or legal advice regarding the outcome of your legal matter. No attorney-client relationship is, or shall be, established with any reader.

WEBSITE: www.gurfinkel.comCall Toll free to schedule a consultation for

anywhere in the US: (866)—GURFINKELFour offices to serve you: LOS ANGELES

· SAN FRANCISCO · NEW YORK · PHILIPPINES (Advertising Supplement)

A HUSBAND’S 30-YEAR-OLD “SECRET” ALMOST DERAILED THE FAMILY’S GREEN CARDS ON AN ENCORE EPISODE OF “CITIZEN PINOY!” Leading US immigration attorney Michael J. Gurfinkel (right) was able to revive Alice’s (center) petition by her US citizen father, after it was terminated due to the petitioner’s death. The family was then eligible to get their visas years ahead of schedule by using the priority date of Alice’s Lebanese husband, Andre (left). But Andre refused to come to the US because of a “secret” he had kept for 30 years, preventing him from going back to the US. Atty. Gurfinkel worked “miracles” to resolve the mystery behind this fascinating success story, on an encore episode of “Citizen Pinoy” – on Sunday, May 1 at 6:15 pm (PST) on TFC.

ERRATUM:In the column of Atty. Michael Gurfinkel for the week of April

11-16, the Visa Bulletin for May 2016 contained an error. The Visa Issuance Date for the First Preference (Unmarried sons and daughter of US citizens, over 21 years of age) should be OCT. 1, 2004 and not July 1, 2004 as previously printed. Asian Journal regrets any confusion this error may have caused.

DEPENDING on your persuasion, God or the devil is in the details.

Much of the big things in our lives are bound up by documents —your marriage contract, your divorce papers, your real estate holdings, your lease and anything else that requires the agreement between two or more parties.

Take credit cards for example. A business writer once compared a credit card to that wicked witch’s house made of cookies and candy in the old story of Hansel and Gretel. As the story goes, these children who were abandoned in the woods by a cruel stepmother and a feckless father, were snared by the witch who found them to be too scrawny for her tastes and decided they should be fattened up first with carbs before she

would bake them as the main entree.

The credit card company pitch is sugary sweet as the witch’s house and all too familiar by now: zero or low interest rate, nada annual fees, cashback points, and rewards galore. But take a moment to read the disclosures. No credit card company is in business for your sole pleasure and fiscal health.

As prescribed by law, the disclosures are all there. It may tell you that the zero or low interest rate is simply introductory for a short period of time, or that the advertised rate applies to you only if you do a balance transfer from another credit card, or that if you get a cash advance, the rate is higher and the stiff penalties that

may apply if you slip up with your payments. You will get the real picture of the credit card offer.

Get a magnifying glass and read and comprehend the disclosures, usually written in fine print at the bottom or back of all legally binding documents before you sign or commit to a responsibility. If you’re not up to the task of getting through all the tedious legalese and mounds of gobbledygook thrown in for good measure by legal eagles who crafted the contract probably to confound you, by all means ask for help from those who know and can be trusted, even if you have to pay to get that advice before making a decision particularly when it involves big ticket items

The big print giveth and the small print taketh away. — Unknown

Continued on Page 6

The big print, the small print

ethnicities (literally the blacks and the whites) patronizing my songs will be harmoniously unified with my music serving as the main cohesive element. ‘Black & White’ actually covers the whole spectrum of my music.”

“Frankly now, I could clearly identify the status where I stand and envisage where my career path is taking me. I could feel a different kind of compelling energy within… with the coming of this new-fangled project,” the singer added.

It’s but fitting and proper to bring to mind that Eric’s ‘Dreams’ music video was something worth watching…fully loaded with pulsating beat that was even more enlivened by his impeccable vocals and hip-gyrating moves. Truly infectious! His was a perfect creation of pure hard work and dedicated ingenuity by somebody who never underwent any formal musical training.

Just like internationally famous brilliant self-taught artists-musicians Noel Gallagher (former construction worker who learned to play the guitar at thirteen and eventually became lead guitarist of famous British band Oasis), Jimi Hendrix (who was extremely poor as a child to even own a guitar), Eric Clapton (three-time Rock and Roll Hall of Famer who started playing an acoustic Hoyer guitar at 15), David Bowie (influential pop music writer and lead guitarist of

Rolling Stones), and the recently demised Prince (the charismatic icon who changed the rock music with the fusion of his various music styles that defied all stereotypes).

Eric G, himself, is mighty proud to yell to the whole world that everything he knows about the musical and recording processes are the outcome from being scrupulously self-taught. His firm tenacity and persevering commitment to his craft earned for him the contentment and success that he currently enjoys.

Listening to Eric’s music makes one marvel at the unparalleled vocal and technical skills of the Fil-Am musician. Little did they know that his humble beginnings and excruciating journey were enormously compacted with tons of sacrifices sans any option to admit failure.

The unassuming singer could amazingly play the piano like a virtuoso and the saxophone like a pro. Even without formal schooling, Eric could read notes, edit songs digitally, and wax recordings. A graphic designer on his own merit, he single handedly conceptualized, designed, and printed his three album covers and jackets.

“I started with a Pre-Audio Interface (an M-Audio that you plug to the computer) and since I accumulated every single gadget and recording equipment

4The Asian Journal NEW YORK / NEW JERSEY ApRil 29, 2016

An Asian Journal Magazine

BoBBy T. yalong

On thePEP FrontPeople, Events, Places

Continued on Page 7

FILIPINO-AMERICAN singer-composer-songwriter and record producer Eric Garzon, simply Eric G to music aficionados, is enthusiastically walking on cloud nine with the forthcoming release of his latest (actually, his third) self-produced album, ‘Black & White’ smugly loaded with six original tracks, two Tagalog and four English ditties, that took him two months to finish.

“Why just six and not eight which is the normal stuffing of an album?” I casually queried without any intention to sound intimidating.

“I intentionally wanted it to be minimal but with such tremendously interesting impact. I came to realize that other cuts aren’t given due promotion since the focal concentration are mainly set on the carrier single or on the succeeding track… sayang naman ang ibang pinaghirapan kong composition,” he replied.

With the two Tagalog songs in the album, “Jack en Poy” (written in Taglish which is a

Eric G encapsulates his musical journey in ‘Black & White’rock-paper-scissor game similar to coin flipping, drawing straws, or throwing dice) and “Sarap Ng Buhay” (zest of life… which is purely in straight Tagalog with an ala-Apo Hiking Society tempo), Eric hopes that these will further provide his singing career the much-needed boost particularly among his Filipino fans.

“Last year when I went to the Philippines for a brief break while simultaneously on a keen scrutiny of the current music trend I came to discover that the Filipino audience, despite the proliferation of diverse music genre and the advent of fresh talents, still clamors for what is truthfully OPM (Original Pilipino Music)… which serves as sort of a wake-up call for me. I’ve been in the business for decades and never gave that idea some thoughts,” he shared.

“When I returned home I started to mold the foundation of the new genre I have to embrace and concentrate on. It was fortunate of me to be bilingual ... proficiently versed both in English and Tagalog… and that gave me an edge to solely devote my focus

on my new project.”But why ‘Black & White’ of all

titles? Hmmm, another case-in-point inquiry.

There was a brief pause in Eric’s part seemingly trying to grasp the right words to validate and rightfully defend the title he stamped on his latest album. And just when I was to shoot my follow-up question, the ever smart songwriter enthusiastically verbalized the accurate rationale crowding his mind.

“Well, aside from the fact that ‘black and white’ has been synonymous or associated with extremities, white for good, innocent and pure while black for dark, hidden and unknown, the title specifically encapsulates the entirety of my struggle as an independent artist… from my self-effacing beginning to eventually discovering the trail that leads to my vision and gradually attaining the very essence of what I have toiled for,” he explained.

“Just to put it bluntly, isn’t it that when one reaches a certain point where every single doubt and fear was ironed out and you

want to attest its validity, you put it in ‘black and white’,” was Eric’s strong pronouncement while sounding persuasive… maybe in his polished manner to convince me… unsuspectingly aware I was already on his side even during the initial stage of his logical analysis.

And in the course of our exchange of thoughts came another valid justification why he named his most recent album, ‘Black & White.’

“After the voluminous input regarding the justification of the ‘Black & White’ title, I’m pretty certain that this one will practically leave some profound thoughts: that hopefully, the diverse

Eric G performed live in a beauty pageant Eric G’s ‘Black & White album cover

Eric gladly obliges to signing autographs for fans.Passionately fashionable and sharply donned for a show.

The urban pop artist- songwriter with Pop Diva Kuh Ledesma and her daughter Isabella

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5The Asian Journal NEW YORK / NEW JERSEY ApRil 29, 2016

An Asian Journal Magazine

Actress-tV host Kris Aquino on thursday confirmed the alleged plot by bandit group Abu sayyaf to kidnap her and cited this as the reason for not renewing her contract with broadcast network ABs-cBN.

the plan to kidnap Kris and boxing icon Manny Pacquiao was disclosed by President Benigno Aquino III on Wednesday, April 27.

Kris requested that her statement be published verbatim.

“Marinel- I was taken by surprise by the Malacañang statement. I wasn’t warned it would be made public. I had a 4 a.m. call time today for a tVc shoot and my sister Viel sent me the PDI front page.

“Honest truth, I was made aware of this plot late February, early March. My sisters tried to shield me because they didn’t want me to have more fear than necessary. If you recall, my sons and I left in March to go abroad for three weeks. the health reasons I cited weren’t fabricated because the stress coming from the threat had caused my BP to constantly elevate to higher than 150/110.

“I didn’t renew with ABs cBN because of this threat. that was a painful decision, but I needed to make that judgment call so as not

Kris Aquino: Abu kidnap plot reason for not renewing ABS-CBN contract

by Marinel CruzInquirer.net

to expose others to harm. It was that serious that I walked away from a new two-year contract for a job I’ve loved for 20 years. I informed my bosses the pertinent facts, but not full details from the intelligence reports, and they kept what I was allowed to relay to them under wraps. I was told to strictly keep the news contained and I obeyed. And I am grateful for the respect I was shown.

“And to their credit, everybody closest to me – both coworkers, relatives and friends – kept quiet to protect me and because they knew this was a

matter to be taken seriously with utmost precaution.

“We left Palm sunday and returned for my endorsement work commitments second week of April. You can check my IG (Instagram) feed from March onwards – there have been very few location specific posts, and since our return, the two boys (her sons Josh and Bimby) and I have been living with PNoy.

“If you’ll use this text – I hope I am quoted verbatim. I read and re-read my text to you four times to make sure I didn’t reveal more than what I have knowledge of and what is safe to share.”

It’s all work for Gerald Anderson this year as he stars in a series of projects this 2016.

After the success of his recent film “Always Be My Maybe” with Arci Muñoz, Gerald will star in another movie and a tV series which will be both directed by Dan Villegas.

For the movie, he’ll star with Bea Alonzo, although its theme and title are yet to be announced.

As for the tV series, he’ll star with Jake cuenca and Yen santos, which is a sports-themed series.

“Na-excite ako, kasi I got into the sport last year,” he said about the tV series in an interview on Wednesday, April 27. “so sabi ko kay Jake kanina, kapag narating mo ‘yong finish line it’s so good kahit pagod na pagod ka na. Iba ang fulfillment, and ‘yong feeling na ‘yon gusto namin ma-feel ng mga manonood.”

He’ll give life to the character of Bata, a guy who grew up in the province and will eventually be introduced to the “rich man’s sport” triathlon.

He said that they aim to inspire people from the rural areas to keep dreaming and aim high despite their status in life.

the Kapamilya actor is just thankful he’s given the chance to

Gerald Anderson is all work this year as he prepares for a series of projects after the success of his recent film “Always Be My Maybe.” Inquirer.net photo

Gerald Anderson gears up for movie, TV seriesby JoyCe JiMenez

Philstar.com

inspire people through his shows.“‘Yon po ang pangarap ko. Lagi

ko sinasabi, kahit anong role basta makapagbigay ng inspiration sa tao and nangyayari kaya sobrang thankful ako,” he said.

“Kapag nakapagbigay ka ng inspiration sa tao mas grabe ‘yong fulfilment sa sarili mo. Kapag nakaka-inspire ka at maraming natutuwa walang kapalit ang fulfillment,” he concluded.

Getting to Know Minerva Tantoco...One of the biggest tech projects

in the city so far is the conversion of the street payphones into wifi hotspots.

“It is one of the first projects I took on when I came on board. It happened very quickly,” tantoco revealed. the project is now on third Avenue and eighth Avenue and they’re going to reach the Bronx by July.

Over the next several years, the city will have a minimum of 7,500 of those hubs as they turn old payphones to free wifi hotspots with speeds of 100 mbps and some

of them will have gigabit speeds.“It’s a clever re-use of existing

infrastructure,” she said. “We New Yorkers are a creative people.”

the project will use advertising on the hotspots to sustain the free service. this is unique because it will generate – at minimum, $500 million for the city, just in the first ten years, according to tantoco.

It will also have a 911 button for emergencies, a tablet that visitors can use and one doesn’t need coins anymore to make phone calls using the tablet itself. there’s also a headphone jack for privacy if the

users want to use it.And for the third agenda

– innovation.“I run the Mayor’s office on

tech and innovation. Our goal is to make New York city the most tech-friendly and innovative city in the world. Piece of cake, right?” she said with a hearty laugh.

As ctO, tantoco directs the Mayor’s Office of technology and Innovation, with responsibility for the development and implementation of a coordinated citywide strategy on technology and innovation and encouraging

From Page 2

collaboration across agencies and with the wider New York city technology ecosystem.

In partnership with other senior administration officials, she engages with stakeholders in the tech sector and help encourage more public participation in government.

“Minerva is an experienced technologist with vision and technical expertise to make New York city the number one center for tech and innovation in the country, and I am thrilled to have her join my administration,” Mayor de Blasio said in 2014 when she announced tantoco’s announcement.

the self-described ‘Queens girl’ has gone a long way from

the nerd who used to travel two hours each way to school. Now, she’s on top of her game, leading the technology and innovation portfolio of one of the most, if not the most techonologically-forward and advanced metropolitan cities in the world.

“If you have the talent and the access to education, there are great opportunities in tech. there is hope here for many immigrants, people of color, women, because the truth is - those jobs are out there,” tantoco told us in closing.

And that is why it was important that the role of ctO be filled by, not just a woman, but this woman from Flushing, Queens.

“How do you participate in the digital economy, how do you find a job, an apartment, do your homework, if you do not have internet access at home. For us, broadband access is like the water and electricity of a hundred years ago. It’s an essential part of being a part of the digital economy,” she said. “this administration has several initiatives to expand broadband access and by 2025 to provide free or affordable broadband access to every New Yorker.”

Kris Aquino: “I didn’t renew with ABS CBN because of this threat. That was a painful decision, but I needed to make that judgment call so as not to expose others to harm.“ Photo from Kris Aquin’s Instagram account

6The Asian Journal NEW YORK / NEW JERSEY ApRil 29, 2016

An Asian Journal Magazine

Julia Montes was blushing when asked why she’s repeatedly linked to friend and former co-star Coco Martin. Inquirer.net photo

Julia Montes can’t help but blush when asked about the real score between her and Coco Martin.

The two have been linked with each other since they starred in the TV series “Walang Hanggan” in 2012.

“Hindi ko po alam. Hindi po dapat babae ang sasagot,” she replied when asked why they’re consistently linked to each other, during the press conference of “Doble Kara.”

“Busy pa po kasi ako. Focus muna po ako sa work,” she added. “Hindi ko nga po alam kung ano ako pag-uwi ko, Kara o Sara, so do’n muna po ako mag-focus ngayon.”

after the press conference, Julia was asked more about the real score between her and Coco.

“‘Yong communication hindi naman po naputol,” she said. “Super iba lang ang communication namin ngayon.”

When asked what’s different with their communication, Julia

Julia on real score with Coco: Hindi dapat babae ang sasagot

by Joyce JimenezPhilstar.com

blushed and replied, “‘Wag po talaga ako, ‘wag na ako. Siya na lang po tanungin n’yo ng mga tanong n’yo.”

The Kapamilya actress is just happy that “ang friendship namin strong, and i can say na kung sino mapagkakatiwalaan ko, relax ako, komportable ako, siya talaga.”

Julia is now busy with the next season of the afternoon series “Doble Kara” as the twins Kara and Sara enter the word of motherhood.

This is the reason Julia said she can’t schedule a cameo in Coco’s primetime series “ang Probinsiyano.”

aParT from Mel Chionglo’s “iadya Mo Kami,” two more independently produced Filipino movies brought home awards from a film festival in the united States.

King Palisoc’s crime drama, “Tandem,” won the Silver remi in the Suspense/Thriller category of the 49th Worldfest Houston international Film and Video Festival, held recently in Texas. The Kapampangan film, “ari: My life With a King,” directed by Carlo Enciso Catu, won the Bronze remi in the First Features section.

“Tandem” stars JM de Guzman and Nico antonio were both nominated for best supporting actor, while “ari” lead actor ronwaldo Martin also got a nod for rising male star. aiko Melendez was nominated for best supporting actress for “iadya Mo Kami,” which won a Silver remi in the Spiritual section. (Bayani San Diego Jr./Inquirer.net)

2 more Filipino films win in Houston film fest

JM de Guzman (left) and Nico Antonio in “Tandem”

Ronwaldo Martin in “Ari: My Life With a King”

to completely build my own recording studio in the basement. Constant operations on a hit and miss basis led me to finally perfecting what i wanted and needed to come up with,” he said.

With success comes altruism. With accomplishment comes selflessness and sharing.

Eric G doesn’t close his doors for those who wanted to get a share of what he has resplendently achieved. He affably gives pointers, techniques, and even composes for up-coming singers who also dream of getting far where he’s gone. Singer-performer apple Viñas,

Eric G encapsulates his musical journey...

The big print, the small...From Page 3

and your fiscal health.We all need to have just a

smidgen of cynicism every time we come across a message that sounds just a tad too good to be true. We must remember that in advertising messages, contracts, binding agreements as well as in anything else that promises something in exchange for something, “The big print giveth and the small print taketh away.”

For big ticket items, hold off making a purchase decision until you have shopped the market and done the research and have asked yourself the question and answered truthfully that what you are buying is what you really need. The incessant barrage on television, the print media, on radio, the internet and the billboards along the roadways for you to buy can boggle the sanest of minds. The sales events, even during recessionary times, are unending and alas, you will finally come to the conclusion that you will run out of money long before the malls and the discount stores run out of merchandise and sales events.

The point is that with all

WCOPa (World Championship of Performing arts) grand winner lianna Santa ana, and promising talent Jessica Delos Santos are just some of the artists that have recorded in his studio.

a prolific talent with a munificent heart, Eric was compelled to compose “One Cause, One love” following the massive devastation brought about by Typhoon Sendong (international code name Washi) that hit southern Philippines in December 16, 2011.

The urban pop artist’s benevolent ways did not escape the country’s Pop Diva Kuh ledesma’s awareness that she

couldn’t help but commended on the singer’s innate spirit of voluntarism and compassionate advocacy: “Eric is an epitome of pure passion and dedication to his God-given talents. i pray the world discover his heart of gold. Blessings!”

incidentally, Eric G’s ‘Jack N Poy’ single is due for release on June 1 with the entire album slated to follow soon. To be updated with Eric’s schedule of performances, please feel free to visit his website: www.ericgsounds.com.

For comments and suggestions, please email to: gemini0646@yahoo.com

From Page 4

the available information at our fingertips, being resourceful and persistent in researching values, prices and reviews among peers in the internet can help us in negotiating a price that we are comfortable paying for and can live with.

a savvy car buyer must come armed with information, prepared to respectfully yet persistently dicker his way at the negotiating table specially if his credit score is excellent, has some down payment ready and has some other bargaining chips in his arsenal. if not, walk away.

The art of the deal is all about negotiating from strength, using leverage, toughening it out and having the chutzpah to walk away.

There is too much noise and confusion in the american cultural mainstream media that blurs what in the beginning may have been a sharp and clear distinction of your own personal needs and wants. like everybody else, expect to be confused. Mercifully, anything electronic can be zapped and you have the option to tune out whenever you choose.

infomercials are

unpretentiously straightforward in going for the jugular. These are full-blown shows, from a half hour to an hour, that have been proven to be effective mass marketing tools. The sophistication with which a specific type of consumer is reached by precisely targeted direct mail pieces and e-mail pieces have reached unprecedented levels as giant data bases track information swirling about in cyberspace about you and the likelihood that you fit the profile of a prospect for a certain product.

The technological age we live in has made it possible to find out about anything under the sun with just a few keystrokes. The media and the internet provide rivers of information that often overwhelm. These have become the most effective tools to gain a share of the mind and heart of consumers to ultimately affect thought and behavior patterns.

How we use just a few pieces of critical genuine information to arrive at a wise decision is what matters in the long run.

* * *Nota Bene: Monette Adeva Maglaya is SVP of Asian Journal Publications, Inc. To send comments, e-mail monette.maglaya@asianjournalinc.com

TiME really flies so quickly. Paul Victor ireton was just an ordinary teenager when i met him with his younger bother, Nathan. Fast forward to 12 years later, Paul and his wife Miriam invited me to a five-day seminar and convention hosted by the World Finance Group (WFG) in las Vegas. The evening was jam-packed and i witnessed how the couple turned their life around and became successful entrepreneurs. Paul is now the CEO of his company and living a very comfortable life.

Paul was chosen as one of the speakers along with the honorable 66th united State Secretary of State, Condoleezza rice. it was held at the MGM grand arena with a full house of 25,000 thousand attendees and guests. He shared his story, experience, strength and hope, with convictions and honesty. This story proves that each of us has a purpose in life and things happen for a reason. You need to give it your all, do not give up on your dreams, and believe in yourself and most all in God. i was given an opportunity to be part of this amazing couple’s career in the early stages of their life. The story of the young lovely couple Paul and Miriam ireton.

The inspiring story started in 1997, when Paul first came to the uS. Back then, he already had the burning desire to get ahead, being in a situation where they lived in a one-bedroom apartment, with his single mom and siblings. Paul was always looking for ways to help out his mom. He used to work at Papa John’s Pizza as a delivery guy, while selling TFC cable and attending Mt. San antonio for college.

“i wasn’t making enough! so one day, i picked up a penny saver and saw an ad for a $10 per hour marketing job for a real estate company,” Paul shared.

He started there, got involved in real estate from 2000-2005. He then came across a company in the financial service business, where he also met beauty queen (Mutya ng Pilipinas) and top model, Miriam Chui.

“We were both recommended to work for this company!” Paul said. mMiriam was introduced to the business with Paul. He trained her and that’s how they eventually they fell in love. They got married

Paul and Miriamireton: No substitute for hard work

Paul and Miriam Ireton with their kids Nicholas, Sebastian, Troy and Sharlene.

six months later. i am honored to be one of their wedding sponsors.

They had a baby the following year. Their baby suffered complications after the birth, which were not covered by their health insurance. it resulted to a credit card debt of more than 40K, not to mention the multiple car and a couple of home payments. The couple looked good on the outside but were dying in the inside. They were hungry for answers to get out of that challenging situation. Paul and Miriam grew tired of being broke.

With God’s grace, they came across a business that thought them how to make and save more money. One thing they found out is that they were not in control of money. Money was controlling them from their fears—worrying and stressing over what bill to pay first.

“i remembered one time when i filled up my car with gas and i received a phone call from my wife telling me that because i filled up my car with gas, she can’t buy diapers and milk for my son,” Paul shared. “it is heartbreaking. But i know that this part of life makes us realize that you are in control of your own destiny, to believe and trust the lord.”

Now the couple has a life of peace and harmony. Paul said his family will never have to worry about money ever again. Now

they are both very successful and continue to save and make money. They have built a business that serves families: to give them financial strategy and education for their household, have more meaningful conversations with there loved ones, and because money is not issue. Money is only an issue when you don’t have any. They have a mission driven to help families get ahead financially.

“all the blessings come when your heart is in the right place. “a man or woman is lazy till something catches their heart,” Paul said.

The couple is inspired by helping individuals like me, who is in need of financial knowledge and support securing my future. Paul and Miriam are so blessed to have beautiful kids, Nicholas, Sebastian, Troy and the princess of the family, baby Sharlene.

To Paul and Miriam, i wish you all the best and may God bless you and your family.

***Monet Lu is a Marikina-born, award-winning

celebrity beauty stylist with his own chain of Monet Salon salons across Southern California and Las Vegas, Nevada. Ultimately, Monet is known as an all-around artiste who produces sold-out fashion and awards shows as well as unforgettable marketing campaigns. Monet is also the founder of the revolutionary all-natural beauty products such as Enlighten, your solution to discoloration. To contact Monet, please visit www.monetsalon.com or email him at monetsalon@aol.com

By Monet Lu

info@asianjournalinc.com

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7The Asian Journal NEW YORK / NEW JERSEY ApRil 29, 2016

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Pilgrimages to Eastern Europe, Mexico and IndiaAmazing Pilgrimages for the Jubilee Year of Mercy! All are welcome to join Fr. Joe

Joseph of Holy Trinity Church for the spiritual and fun-filled experiences of EASTERN EU-ROPE (April 17- 30): Poland, Czech., Austria, Hungary, Medjugorje; COLONIAL MEXICO/OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE (June 20 - 27): Mexico City, Theotihuacan, Puebla, Tlaxcala, Ocotlan, Xochimilco, Guanajuato, San Miguel De Allende, Guadalajara, San Juan De Los Lagos, Cristo Rey, Zapopan, Tonala; and INDIA (September 15 - 29): Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Kolkata, Kerala. For more pilgrimage information and detailed flyers, please contact Berna-dette at bcorp1114@hotmail.com OR call 323-344-1548 & 323-547-6618.

APRIL — SEPTEMBER

PUP/PCC to hold 1st Global ReunionAttention all graduates of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines and the Philip-

pine 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 entertain-ment, 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 orloiherrera@yahoo.com; Monette Santillan-Rivera at 818-970-8317 orMonette_santillan@yahoo.com; Rose Mejia at 323-997-3838 or Rosemariemejia@kw.com; Marissa Sugay-Pal-anca at 818-281-7460 or marispalanca@yahoo.com; Rose Maghari at661-794-8906 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 or connieacosta1@att.net; Violeta D. Cristobal at 310-880-5808 orvee@cristobalcpa.com; Jun Mapoy at 323-627-5326 or jcmapoy@yahoo.com.

MAY 27-29

COSC celebrates 27th Anniversary The Candonians of Southern California (COSC), under the leadership of their newly

elected president, Mrs. Elizabeth Gacula Singh, will celebrate their 27th Anniversary on April 30 at the Doubletree Hotel-Monrovia (924 W. Huntington Dr., Monrovia). Music will be provided by The Midnight Motion Band. For questions and those interested, please email thecandoniansofsocal@gmail.com.

APRIL 30

Community Mini Health & Resource FairMay is Hepatitis Month, and Asian Pacific Liver Center has teamed up with Asian Pacific

Health Care Venture to offer Hepatitis B screenings at the Community Mini Health & Re-sources Fair on Saturday, May 7, from 9am to noon. The event will feature an educational awareness workshop to promote Hepatitis B prevention as well as blood pressure screen-ing, blood sugar checks and various community resources. The fair will take place at Center of Hope, 2707 W. Temple St., Los Angeles, California 90026. For more information, contact Perla Santos (323) 664 3880 Ext. 341 or email psantos@aphcv.org.

MAY 7

FALEO KamayanThe Filipino American Law Enforcement Officers Association (FALEO), a 501c(3) non-

profit organization, along with Pastor Chef, a graduate of Le Cordon Blue College of Culi-nary Arts, have come together to host an event that samples some traditional and popular dishes from his restaurant. Guests will receive an exclusive experience, as the restaurant is not open to the general public during the time of the event. The event will be a clas-sic taste of Filipino cooking where utensils are optional. Menu items will include chicken adobo, pancit, lumpiang Shanghai, crispy pata and bangus. Tickets are $20 for FALEO members and $30 for general guests. Proceeds will benefit FALEO-LA’s Annual Scholarship program. Seats are limited and those who do not pre-pay may not have a seat. For reserva-tions, please contact Arlene Herrero at (213) 435-8700.

Philippine election forumAn informative forum regarding the Philippine election will take place at Eagle Rock

Lutheran Church from 10am to noon. A representative from the Philippine embassy and representatives of presidential candidates Rodrigo Duterte, Grace Poe, Mar Roxas and Jejomar Binay will be there to answer questions regarding their party. The church is located at 5032 North Maywood Ave, Eagle Rock 90041.

JUNE 4

Missionary Society of St. Columban Dinner-DanceThe Missionary Society of St. Columban will hold its annual dinner dance event on June

4th, 6PM, at the Friendship Auditorium (3201 Riverside Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90941). Or-ganized by the Dancing for the World, an affiliate of the Columbans, will celebrate the “Year of Mercy” to echo and emphatically support the call of Pope Francis’s Jubilee Year. This year is very important to be responsive to the call of the church and be faithful to the mission of God because God is by nature merciful. Thanks to the many dedicated missionaries, priests, sisters and lay missionaries who responded to the call of God and live among the poor to make a difference and allow God’s mercy to flow into the hearts of those they minister. For more information, please visit www.columban.org. The Dancing for the World event on June 4 is also an opportunity to meet supporters, donors and friends to thank them for their valuable contribution to the Columban mission. Event will include delicious food, ballroom dancing, and fabulous raffle prizes. (For this year, the first prize will be a cruise for two to Mexican Riviera. The second prize is a Flat screen TV. The third prize is a Tablet.) There are many amazing prizes available for all lucky winners. The dinner dance ticket is $40.Reserve your tickets now or before May 15. For information and tickets please contact Carmencita Enriquez (213) 880-5075 or Ariel Presbitero (323) 691-5262, or at: 2919 Moss Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90065. Thank you in advance on behalf of the Missionary Society of St. Colum-ban and the Dancing for the World committee members. Please continue praying for all Columban Missionaries all over the world and the success of this event.

Piyesta Pinoy BolingbrookPlease join us on Saturday, June 4 for the 3rd Philippine Fest Celebration (Piyesta Pinoy

sa Bolingbrook) at the beautiful Bolingbrook Performing Arts Center (375 W. Briarcliff Rd. Bolingbrook, IL). This year’s event will include a variety of food vendors, business, merchan-dise, and non-profit organizations, as well as hours of dance, games, and musical entertain-ment, including special guest performances. The Philippine American Cultural Foundation (PACF) is proud to promote and share our rich Filipino cultural heritage and traditions in America. Your participation and support are always valuable and critical to the survival of PACF and its programs. For more information, or to volunteer, perform, exhibit, or donate, please visit www.piyestapinoy.net, or email Piyestpinoy@gmail.com.

Santacruzan in ManhattanWhen: May 14, 2016 (Saturday)Everyone is invited to join the Santacruzan in Manhattan on May 14 at the Alphabet

City, St Brigid & St Emeric Catholic Church (located at 119 Ave B bet 7 & 8 St. NY 10009).1pm-3pm - Novena & Eucharistic Celebration3pm-4pm - Street Procession (Reyna’s & Sagala’s Parade4pm-5pm - Presentation of Participants5pm-6pm - Fellowship

MAY 14

NEW YORK – The Philippine Independence Day Council, Inc. (PIDCI) crowned Mrs. Kalayaan 2016 at a glittering Sunday afternoon soiree at the Astoria World Manor here.

The Mrs. Kalayaan 2016 title winner is Dhelma Lopez who will reign during New York’s many-months, multi-event commemoration of the 118th anniversary of the declaration of Philippine Independence along with the winner of the Diwa ng Kalayaan (Spirit of

Independence). Lopez won over five other

Mrs. Kalayaan contestants who came away with the other prestigious titles handed out annually by PIDCI since 2012.

The other contenders and the places and titles they won were Leony Doller Rodrigues for first runner up winning the title Mrs. Kalayaan Filipino-American; Trifonia Brecio, second runner up with the title Mrs. Kalayaan Philippines; Marian Reyes Zourzoukis for third

runner up and the title Mrs. Kalayaan Luzon; Donna Nuguid San Pablo for the title Mrs. Kalayaan Visayas; and Rosario Abejar for the title Mrs. Kalayaan Mindanao.

The Mrs. Kalayaan contest was introduced into the months-long, major-events line-up of commemorative events in the yearly celebration of Philippine Independence in 2012 and it has enjoyed much success in the milieu of community “Mrs.” beauty contests.

PIDCI crowns Mrs. Kalayaan 2016Dhelma Lopez Mrs. Kalayaan 2016

Leony RodriguezMrs. Kalayaan Filipino-American Trifonia Brecio

Mrs. Kalayaan Philippines

SAN DIEGO—UPAA-NY is bestowed the honor of Distin-guished Service Award for an Alumni Chapter and will receive the award during its 2016 Alumni Homecoming at Bahay ng Alumni slated on June 25, 2016 in Uni-versity of the Philippines, Diliman Quezon City. This recognition serves as seal of approval from the mother organization for championing education among our Filipino Youth, which has been the organization’s main focus.

UPAA-NY has been actively raising funds for Scholarship since 2004. As of 2015, they have raised nearly $180,000 with the help and support of all UP Alumni in the U.S. and their friends and families. Some of its key projects are AdoptAScholar, AdoptA-School, Memories of Alumni Abroad (2008) and Memories.. A Legacy Gift (2012) Memories being a coffee table book series. All proceeds of these projects were donated to UP with Deed of Donation signing with three

past presidents of UP namely Dr. Dodong Nemenzo (2000), Dr. Emerlinda Roman(2006) and Dr. Pascual (2012) with its current President Carmencita Quesada-Fulgado, PhD.

To date, there is one scholar in each of the eight UP Campus Diliman, Manila, Los Banos, Baguio, Cebu, Visayas, Mind-anao and Open University…and there were 24 students who have received their hard earned diploma with the needed help from this scholarship fund. Its mission is to continue the end-less cycle of helping deserving students reach their goals to receive their UP diploma. With this endowment fund, UPAANY envisions that good education can be accessible to all. And that number will only continue to grow as years pass by because only the interest is being used to fund the scholars.

Also a recipient of 2015 Most Outstanding Alumni Organiza-tion during the 18th UPAAA General Assembly, Convention

and Reunion in San Diego, CA last October 10, UPAANY was recog-nized by its colleagues in North America for its contribution to our Alma Mater and for being an active organization helping out not just our countrymen back home but also in their local com-munity.

The legacy of Giving Back continues with Book 3 Memo-ries...Your Legacy. Your Gift which aims to increase the endowment fund by sharing everyone’s story in the third and last installment of this coffee table book. This compilation of success stories from people who value educa-tion as key to their success will be a gem of stories about ambition, determination, learnings, success and giving back. It’s a piece of heirloom that will continue to give beyond our lifetime. UPAA-NY invites you to be part of this story and give back. Space is still available, your memories can make a difference to UP students and enable them to become fel-low alumni.

UP Alumni Association-NY to receive an award from mother organization, UPAA Diliman

Pia Wurtzbach took some time off and had a helicopter date with her suitor “sexiest doctor” Dr. Mike. Twitter.com photo by Dr. Mike

OH nothing, just Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach having a helicopter date with physician Mikhail Varshavski.

The physician popularly known as Dr. Mike posted a photo of him and Wurztbach before their helicopter ride on his Instagram account.

“Yesterday, helicoptering around,” he said on the caption. Based on his hashtag, this is his “staycation” with the beauty queen, whom he is courting.

The physician has been vocal of his feelings for Wurtzbach, especially when he posted on his Twitter account a message for her, when she

Pia Wurtzbach goes on ahelicopter date with Dr. Mike

by Joyce JimenezPhilstar.com

passed on the BB. Pilipinas- Universe crown.

This is despite Wurtzbach

telling him that her priority is her duties as the crowned Miss Universe.

Nadine: James has shown me what true love isCERTIFIED “Otwolistas” (“On the Wings of Love”

fanatics) will definitely rejoice when the movie of their idols, James Reid and Nadine Lustre, “This Time” (Viva Films) hits cinemas on May 4. It’s a celebration of summer romance and all the giddiness that comes with it. Amid the election frenzy, the feel-good movie serves as a much-needed breather. The JaDine tandem reminds us that we must let love complete and not complicate our life.

Here’s my tête-à-tête with Nadine:How has James redefined love for you?He is showing me what real love is—[that is, by]

loving me wholeheartedly and by being trustworthy.What stage is your relationship with James in?We used to call each other partners in crime when

we were just best friends. Now that we are officially together, our friendship and love have deepened.

How do you and James handle misunderstandings?

We are both honest and transparent, so we just talk things over. We are also both open-minded, so we listen to each other. So far, we have not had any major misunderstanding.

Would you rather stay in a love team or go solo as an actress?

It’s fun to be in a love team, but eventually I also want to try to make it as a solo actress.

Aside from being in a love team, James and I both have solo careers as recording artists.

Nadine Lustre and James Reid

by Joyce JimenezPhilstar.com

8The Asian Journal NEW YORK / NEW JERSEY ApRil 29, 2016

An Asian Journal Magazine