Volume 10 – Issue 7 • 16 Pages

We’ve got you covered from Hollywood to Broadway... and Online!

FEBRUARY 12-18, 2016

DATELINEUSAFROM THE AJPRESS NEWS TEAM ACROSS AMERICA

BUCKLE up, folks.The May 9 general elections

will likely end up as the wildest, down-to-the-wire political con-test this politics-obsessed coun-try has ever seen. And we’re just talking about the presidency.

There are no runaway favor-ites in this year’s mad scramble for Malacañang. The most re-cent survey shows four presi-dential candidates have a real-istic chance of winning while another is a sentimental favorite who’s running for the third time but who should’ve won at her first crack.

Pundits interviewed by the Inquirer consider this a make-or-break election for Sen. Grace Poe, Vice President Jejomar Bi-nay, Liberal Party (LP) standard-bearer Mar Roxas, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, and Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago. Win-ning is everything and the only thing in politics, and defeat could probably mean curtains down for his or her political career.

So what’s at stake for losers in these elections?

This will probably be the last bus ride to Malacañang for three senior citizens—Binay, 73, Duterte, 70, and Santiago, 70. But Edmund S. Tayao of the Uni-

u

by GIL C. CABCAUNGAN JR.Inquirer.net

MANILA— Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario will join President Aquino at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations-US summit next week.

US President Barack Obama will host the leaders of the 10-member ASEAN on Feb. 15 and 16 at Sunnylands in Rancho Mirage, California, Foreign Affairs spokesman Charles Jose said.

The summit aims to build deeper partnerships that the US has forged with ASEAN since 2009 and further ad-vance Washington’s rebalance to Asia and the Pacific.

The US and the ASEAN have worked toward stability, prosperity and peace in Southeast Asia for nearly 40 years.

The event will provide leaders a forum to strengthen

Aquino, Del Rosario to attend ASEAN-US summit next week

AS the political campaign sea-son unfolded, Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle lashed out at the hypocrisy of some peo-ple who promote themselves un-der the guise of “charity.”

In his Ash Wednesday homily at the Archdiocese of Manila chapel in Intramuros, Tagle lamented that even charity, supposed to be a path to closer union with God, could be used for selfish interests.

He did not mention politicians, but the reference was obvious when he spoke on the first day of Lent, when Catholics had their foreheads marked with ash.

Trump, Sanders win New Hampshire Primary

OVER half a million voters cast ballots on Tuesday, Feb. 9 in the New Hampshire primary, a large turnout across the small Northeastern state.

Businessman Donald Trump and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders had decisive victories for the nation’s first primary, paving the way to success for the two outsider party candidates in the election.

Trump benefitted from an unusually large field of candidates that split the vote among more traditional politicians, reported the New York Times--including former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who came in second.

According to exit polling data, Trump ran strongest among Republican voters who were worried about immigration, the fate of the economy, and the threat of a terrorist attack

Denver Broncos defeat Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50

Fil-Am Jordan Norwood makes history for longest punt return MILLIONS of Americans tuned in on Sun-

day, Feb. 7, as the Denver Broncos beat the Carolina Panthers 24-10 to win Super Bowl 50.

Playing at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, the Broncos showed off their supe-rior defense, gaining four turnovers — two of which resulted in touchdowns. Meanwhile, the Panthers struggled to ride on the momentum of their nearly undefeated season record.

Many analysts noted that Panthers’ quarter-back Cam Newton, who was named the 2015 NFL Most Valuable Player (MVP), had an off night, failing to adapt to the Broncos’ rush. He was sacked seven times during the game.

During the second quarter of the game, Broncos’ wide receiver Jordan Norwood —

In Ash Wednesday message, Tagle slams hypocrisy of politicians

A DAY before the official launch of the cam-paign period, Liberal Party (LP) vice presiden-tial candidate Leni Robredo has won the sup-port of a prominent and powerful personality, former President Fidel V. Ramos, according to her staff.

In a news release Monday, Feb. 8, the Ro-bredo camp announced that Ramos had offi-cially endorsed the candidacy of Robredo fol-lowing a visit to Ramos’ office in Makati.

The candidate’s publicist provided photos of the visit Monday morning, including one showing the former President raising Robre-do’s arm.

There was, however, no word on whether the 87-year-old Ramos would do the same for Robredo’s running mate, LP standard-bearer Mar Roxas.

In December, Ramos reproached Roxas and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte for their pub-lic spat, advising the presidential candidates to start acting like a president, if they wanted to

Ramos throws support behind Leni Robredo, but is mum on Roxas

MANILA—Authorities in Iraq’s Kurd-ish region have assured the Philippine embassy that they would facilitate the repatriation of the remains of 13 Filipi-no workers who perished in the fire at a hotel in Erbil last Friday, Feb. 8.

Charge d’Affaires Elmer Cato of

the Philippine embassy in Baghdad said Kurdistan regional government’s Minister of Health Rekawt Rashid Karim and Minister of Labor and So-cial Affairs Mohammad Qadir assured embassy officials on Monday that the regional government would do every-thing possible to facilitate the repatria-tion of remains.

“The embassy said it normally

takes from two weeks to a month to repatriate remains from Kurdistan. But Kurdish officials are really going out of their way to help us bring our kababayans home so that they could be with their families as soon as pos-sible,” Cato said.

Embassy officials inspected the scene of the fire at Capitol Hotel.

Investigators said faulty wiring at

the basement of the hotel where the Filipinos were working triggered the blaze.

The victims, all female, were suffo-cated by the smoke while trying to find their way out.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said yesterday the embassy is in discussion with representatives of

Iraq vows speedy repatriation of remains of OFWs in hotel �re

u

u

u u

u

u

by TINA SANTOSInquirer.net

by PIA LEE-BRAGOPhilstar.com

by PIA LEE-BRAGOPhilstar.com

by CARLA GOMEZ AND DJ YAPInquirer.net

FROM THE FRONT PAGE

versity of Santo Tomas’ Depart-ment of Political Science said that “win now” was also the mantra of Roxas who, albeit still middle-aged at 58 years old, could not afford to lose a national election back-to-back, especially coming off from the bitter defeat in what was supposed to be a cakewalk to the vice presidency in 2010.

“It will surely be a big blow not only to his political career but also to his morale. But more than that, losing also means that the proverbial endorsement power of an Aquino may now be diluted,” Tayao said.

Most to loseAkbayan Rep. Walden Bello,

who is seeking a Senate seat, said that among the five candi-dates, Roxas and Binay had the most to lose.

Bello said that a Roxas defeat would not only have personal consequences, it would also mean payback lawsuits against LP members for their purported indiscretions in the last six years, particularly Budget Secretary Butch Abad and President Aqui-no.

“If Mar loses, expect the pros-ecution of Butch Abad for DAP (Disbursement Acceleration Program) and the President for DAP and Mamasapano. Abad will probably end up in jail but it’s unlikely that the Office of the Ombudsman and the Sandigan-bayan will convict Aquino. Abad will most likely fall on his sword for his boss on DAP,” Bello said.

For Binay, Bello said winning Malacañang was like getting a “get out of jail free card” because he was expected to be impris-oned for his alleged deals while he was mayor of Makati City.

Tayao said Duterte and Poe had the least to lose in these elections.

“Mayor Duterte has declared a number of times he would re-tire after this, win or lose. His daughter who is equally revered in Davao, Sara Duterte, may very well sustain their hold on the city. On the other hand, losing may be taken to mean a local fig-ure will have to start with a lower position, say at the Senate before running for President for one to get a chance,” Tayao said.

Poe has the least at stake in the race because she still has three years remaining in her senato-rial term, unless she loses her citizenship case in the Supreme Court.

Wild, wild electionsThese elections, however, will

not be for the faint-hearted.Ako Bicol Rep. Rodel Batocabe

said that these would be the most unpredictable elections ever not only because voter preference was so dispersed, but because of the variables that had yet to unfold in the next three months before Election Day.

Batocabe cited the Supreme Court’s decision on whether to allow Poe to run; the health is-sues hounding some candidates; the final shift in political alli-ances; and the final candidates of big-money financiers.

The LP political affairs chief, Caloocan Rep. Edgar Erice, said Poe’s disqualification case due to questions on her citizenship and residency issues would be a “game-changer” in the elec-tions.

With so much unpredictability, Batocabe said this year’s elec-tions were bound to be the most expensive ever as each presiden-

tial candidate would go all out in their ad spending on television, radio, print and social media be-cause most of them believe they have a chance to win it all.

Batocabe said the Commis-sion on Elections (Comelec) had all but guaranteed this spending bonanza when it allowed candi-dates to use up to 120 minutes of TV airtime and 180 minutes of radio ads for each station when previously these were computed on an aggregate basis for all sta-tions.

Hotbed of intrigueAdding more drama in this

year’s campaign is the lack of solid political alliances where a presidential candidate has one running mate and a solid ticket of senators, he said.

This year’s elections have be-come a hotbed of intrigue with numerous combinations of presi-dential and vice presidential can-didates (Grace-Leni, Binay-Chiz, Duterte-Bongbong) and senators backed by multiple presidential candidates, such as former Sen. Miguel Zubiri who was endorsed by Poe, Binay and Duterte.

Another factor in the hurly-burly elections is the continued ascent of the Marcos family back to power 30 years after they were booted out of Malacañang. Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has made the vice presidential race as interesting as the presi-dential race. President Aquino has taken note and this could provide more impetus to person-ally campaign for the LP people.

The “daang matuwid” coali-tion spokesperson, Marikina Rep. Romero Quimbo, is sure of one thing: If all five presidential candidates finish the race, the

t

“This is why Jesus said when you give alms, don’t be noisy about it. Don’t have a barrage of photos taken when you’re donat-ing to the poor. That’s the work of hypocrites who only want people to say ‘Wow, look at him, he’s re-ally charitable, he’s helpful to oth-ers,’” he said in Filipino.

The cardinal warned that doing acts of charity contrary to its true meaning is like rubbing salt in the wound.

“Charity that doesn’t think of others, giving donations, giving alms but calling attention to one-self is not charity. It is an insult to the recipient,” he stressed.

He added that this kind of alms-

giving could bring a person far-ther from God.

Tagle reminded the faithful that real generosity of spirit was doing something for someone without their knowledge.

He tackled some concerns such as poverty and environment but reserved his more impassioned words for ordinary people whose struggles are worsened by some people’s “selfish” thirst for pow-er.

“There will be a lot of char-ity work in the days to come but how many will be true service? Or these may just be self-promotion,” Tagle said.

According to him, Lent is a sea-son for reconciliation with God.

This invitation, he said, rings out to Christians to take the Lenten call to conversion seriously.

Tagle also emphasized the message of the Gospel reading in which Jesus rereads the three works of mercy—almsgiving, prayer, and fasting.

He stressed that fasting goes beyond reducing one’s food in-take.

“Fasting is not dieting. It’s giv-ing, almsgiving, sharing,” he said.

Tagle reminded Catholics that Lent is a time for renewal, with special attention to the suffering of others and helping them.

He said one way to help was by supporting the archdiocese’s Pon-do ng Pinoy and the Fast2Feed of Hapag-Asa, a program aimed at feeding hungry and malnourished children. ■

In Ash Wednesday message...t

cooperation on political security and economic issues under the new US-ASEAN strategic part-nership, which was launched in November 2015 in Kuala Lum-pur.

Del Rosario has resigned for health reasons effective March 7.

President Aquino accepted his resignation, according to Execu-tive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr.

The DFA is mum on Del Rosa-rio’s replacement. ■

Aquino…t

get the job.Her staff said the widow of In-

terior Secretary Jesse Robredo asked Ramos for advice on run-ning her campaign.

“In the meeting, Ramos shared his campaign experience in 1992 and offered Robredo some advice on how to woo voters as she vis-its different parts of the country starting tomorrow (Tuesday),” according to the news release.

According to her staff, Robre-

do told Ramos: “I came here to ask for your support.”

The former President was quot-ed as having replied: “You’ve al-ways had it. You didn’t even have to come.”

Meanwhile, Robredo was the keynote speaker at the opening of Zonta International District 17 Area 3 meeting at Sugarland Ho-tel in Bacolod City on Friday.

She said a nation that is ruled in justice and fairness is busi-

Ramos throws support…t

u

the 13 Filipinas with regard to the cost of repatriation and pos-sible financial assistance to the families.

“It is actually the responsibility of the employer to shoulder the cost of repatriation should death occur during contract of employ-ment,” Foreign Affairs spokes-man Charles Jose said.

The embassy is in touch with authorities and hospitals to issue the documents needed to support

the repatriation of the remains.“The embassy is really work-

ing hard to have the remains repatriated to the Philippines at the earliest possible time,” Jose said.

The embassy said on Monday that all 13 Filipinas killed in the hotel fire in Erbil in northern Iraq have been identified.

The DFA did not disclose the identities of the victims.

“As a matter of policy we don’t disclose the identities,”

t

u

Iraq vows speedy repatriation of remains …Jose said.

On the other hand, the Over-seas Workers Welfare Adminis-tration (OWWA) will be helping in the immediate repatriation of the remains of the 13 overseas Filipi-no workers (OFWs) from Iraq.

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Bal-doz said she ordered OWWA to facilitate and fast-track the deliv-ery of welfare assistance to the families of the 13 Filipinos.

According to Baldoz, the fami-u

lies of the victims who are mem-bers of the OWWA would receive the mandated benefits.

Legal heirs of OWWA mem-bers who perished in accidents are entitled to death and funeral benefits of P220,000.

The dependents may also avail of OWWA scholarships, such as the OFW Dependents Scholar-ship Program which provides P20,000 per year for a course leading to a baccalaureate or as-sociate degree in a state college or university.

“They may also avail of the Education for Development Scholarship Program, which pro-vides P60,000 per school year

for courses leading to a four-to-five year baccalaureate course in any college or university; or the Education and Livelihood Assistance Program for survi-vors of deceased OFWs consist-ing of P5,000 expense subsidy for elementary, P8,000 for high school, and P10,000 for college (per school year) and livelihood assistance of P15,000 for the sur-viving spouse,” she said.

For non-OWWA members, the DOLE’s National Reintegration Center for OFWs is ready to ex-tend assistance.

Meanwhile, the 13 Filipino workers that were injured in the earthquake that struck Taiwan last Saturday have been dis-

t

winner will not be the choice of the majority of the voters.

“Judging from all the survey numbers coming out, it’s abso-lutely anybody’s ball game. And certainly, it’s a race down to the wire. Everyone agrees that who-ever wins this, will be a minor-ity President. At the onset, he will be immediately faced with a mandate challenge. A minor-ity President will only succeed if he’s a unifier—someone who will be acceptable to the supporters of other presidential candidates,” Quimbo said.

“Only Mar fits that bill—no record of corruption, consensus builder, a great courtier of op-ponents. It would be a shame to throw away all the country’s accomplishments in the last six years if we end up voting for a minority President who’s polar-izing and divisive,” he added.

Valenzuela Mayor Rex Gatch-alian said that Poe, should she win, would be willing to work with everybody in moving her programs forward.

Compromises“Naturally, because of her in-

dependent status she will not have incumbent party mates to boast off. Despite this, she will reach across the aisle working with all organized political par-ties to make her programs for the people turn into reality. Running as an independent, Senator Poe enjoys the advantage of making her government inclusive—be-ing able to cross party lines to get things done,” said Gatchal-ian, Poe’s spokesperson.

“It’s ‘tayo rather than kami’ or breaking the traditional mold of only being able to work within the confines of your political party. Senator Poe will be able to transcend the restrictive tra-ditional concepts of governance through political parties,” Gatch-alian said.

But Bello said that any Presi-dent would find a way to make compromises, just like in the past.

“I think there has never been a minority President in this coun-try since whoever is elected has been able to use the tremendous powers of the President to imme-diately construct an overweening majority. This is a great flaw here since the traditional way of con-structing majorities on personal and political grounds will pre-clude the kind of coalitions based on common stands that are so necessary today. This personal-ist-political compromises are

what derailed ‘daang matuwid,’” Bello said.

Whether majority or minority President, Bello said the coun-try’s new leader would have to tackle head on the next admin-istration’s biggest problems—a spurned Muslim Mindanao still licking its wounds from the non-passage of the much-hyped pro-posed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) and a discontented popu-lation increasingly left out of the spoils of the country’s rising economy.

“If the next admin does not prioritize the BBL bill and pass it within the first year, I expect the MILF (Moro Islamic Libera-tion Front) to return to combat, if only to outflank BIFF (Bangsam-oro Islamic Freedom Fighters) and Isis (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria), which would reap tremen-dous political advantage from the failure of the BBL. Expect Isis to convert not only the whole of Mindanao but the whole country into a battleground as they seek out US troops to draw into bat-tle,” said Bello.

Bello said the next President would have to act quickly on en-suring inclusive growth or risk being hobbled by “conservative economic management that will hesitate to undertake more fun-damental reforms like legislating security of tenure for workers and more aggressive agrarian re-form and is stuck with the highly inadequate CCT (conditional cash transfer).”

But Bello is not keeping up his hopes that this year’s elections would end up differently from previous versions.

“I am afraid none of the presi-dential candidates realize the enormity of the problems we face demand solutions outside the coordinates of traditional politics and the winner will most probably reign in the same old way until it’s too late. The failure of Aquino is not only the failure of a politician who was out of his depth but also the failure of the politics he was socialized into,” he said.

Eradicating povertyThe United Nationalist Alli-

ance president, Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco, said the Vice President was clear on what was at stake in the elections: “It’s not about Binay or any of the other candidates, it’s about eradicating poverty.”

Tiangco brushed aside fears that Binay would be a vengeful leader and hound the adminis-tration officials who persecuted

him. “Binay still considers P-Noy a friend and the friendship should not be affected by politics. P-Noy is assured to be accorded what is due him as a former President,” Tiangco said.

Tiangco said a Binay presi-dency would ensure the indepen-dence of the Office of the Om-budsman and the Sandiganbayan and that these entities would not be used against political oppo-nents or to protect allies. ■

Ramos throws support…ness-friendly.

“Investment in integrity and good governance makes huge business sense,” she said, add-ing that good governance is ac-companied by jobs, growth and less poverty.

“We might have attracted some attention in the last four years, and became the new dar-ling of emerging markets, but unless we sustain our reforms on the governance plane, that atten-tion will once again fizzle out and we will go back to square one,” Robredo said.

“This campaign for good governance and this kind of public service that aims not to leave any Filipino behind have become my work as I try to fill my husband’s shoes,” she said, as she stressed the need to em-power people.

Since she became a represen-tative of Camarines Sur, Robredo said she had brought in billions in funding for infrastructure and social services to her district us-ing innovative means to source money within the bureaucracy and from private-public partner-ships. ■

t

t

charged from hospital, Jose said, citing a report from the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO).

“We received a report from our representative office there, MECO, that they were informed by relevant Taiwanese authorities that there were actually 13 Fili-pinos who sustained very minor injuries during the earthquake. All these 13 have been given ap-propriate immediate attention and treatment and all discharged from the hospital,” Jose said in a press briefing.

Jose, however, said MECO still has to independently verify the number of Filipinos who sus-tained minor injuries. ■

Iraq vows speedy repatriation of remains …

in the US. It was also his first win among first-time voters in a Republican primary.

According to exit polls, 45 percent of Republican voters said they preferred a president with political experience, such as Kasich or Bush.

However, with more than 80 percent of New Hampshire pre-cincts reporting, Trump received 35.3 percent of the overall vote, around 100,406 total, and 30-40 percent of the vote among many demographic groups. Trump also beat out four Republicans, who each received less than 20 percent of the overall vote.

On the Democratic side, Sand-ers beat out Hillary Clinton by over 55,000 votes, with 60.4 per-cent to Clinton’s 38 percent.

Sanders’ win proved a painful

rejection of Clinton, who was known to reflect the views and have a good relationship with New Hampshire voters, particularly women. The state supported her husband in 1992, while Bill Clin-ton was on the path toward the Democratic nomination, and in the general elections of 1996.

However, Sanders’ rhetoric on a liberal political agenda and greater regulation on Wall Street drew larger support from vot-ers, including young people and women.

“Together we have sent a mes-sage that will echo from Wall Street to Washington, from Maine to California,” Sanders said. “And that is that the government of our great country belongs to all of the people, and not just a handful of wealthy campaign contributors and their ‘super PACs.’”

It was a surprise to both parties, while many believed voters would stick to their roots embracing more experienced candidates like Clinton or one of the Republican lawmakers. However, disastrous debate performances have af-fected some campaigns, including Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who stood out during the Iowa cau-cuses but slid rapidly towards the fifth and last place in the primary as final results were tallied.

The opposition to Trump and Iowa Caucus winner Ted Cruz is divided, CNN said, and the GOP race remains crowded.

After doing poorly in the polls, both Carly Fiorina and Chris Christie also dropped out of the presidential race on Feb. 10.

The former HP executive prom-ised to “continue to serve in order

Trump, Sanders win New Hampshire…t

u

to restore citizen government to this great nation so that together we may fulfill our potential,” while New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie came in sixth place, reflecting that he had not “an ounce of re-gret” for the experience in New Hampshire.

“I have won both elections that I was supposed to lose and I have lost elections that I was supposed to win,” Christie said on Tuesday night. “And what that means is you never know, and it’s both the magic and the mystery of politics that you never quite know when which is going to happen--even when you think you do.” (Allyson Escobar/AJPress)

Trump…t

who is a quarter Filipino — set a Super Bowl record with a 61-yard punt return.

Norwood received the punt at the Broncos’ 25-yard line and ran it down the right sideline all the way to the Panthers’ 14-yard line. Though Norwood’s run was unable to secure a touchdown, Denver earned a field goal that put them ahead 13-7.

The previous record was a 45-yard return by 49ers wide re-ceiver John Taylor in Super Bowl XXIII against the Cincinnati Ben-gals.

At 39 years old, Peyton Man-ning of the Broncos became the oldest starting quarterback in Super Bowl history. Manning, whose 18-year career includes includes two Super Bowl titles and 200 career wins, is expected to retire, though he has yet to announce that decision. He is also the first quarterback to win a Super Bowl with two different teams, winning Super Bowl XLI with the Indianapolis Colts.

“You know, I’ll take some time to reflect,” Manning said during a post-game interview. “I have a couple of priorities first. I want to go kiss my wife and my kids, I want to go hug my family. I’m going to drink a lot of Budweiser tonight. I promise you that. I’m going to take care of those things first, and say a little prayer to thank the man upstairs for this great opportunity. I’m just very grateful.”

For six tackles, 2.5 sacks and two forced fumbles — leading to defensive and offensive touch-downs — Broncos outside line-backer Von Miller was named

MVP following the game. Sunday marked the Broncos’

third Super Bowl title in fran-chise history.

”We had our opportunities. There wasn’t nothing special that they did. We dropped balls. We turned the ball over, gave up sacks, threw errant passes. That’s it. They scored more points than we did,” Panthers quarterback Newton said after the game.

Aside from the game itself, the most-anticipated part of the game was the halftime show, featuring Coldplay, Beyonce and Bruno Mars. Against a colorful backdrop, Coldplay delivered a medley of their hits, but guest stars Beyonce, performing her new song “Formation,” and Bru-no Mars, singing and grooving to Uptown Funk,” stole the show.

Miss Universe Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach — who was reporting as a special correspondent for “Inside Edition” — praised Be-yonce on Twitter, saying “From Queen to Queen, @Beyonce you owned the show! –Pia.”

Super Bowl 50 was the third-most-watched television program in the United States with 111.9 million viewers, falling short to beat the viewership records from the last two years. (AJPress)

Denver Broncos defeat Carolina Panthers in…t

PRESIDENT Barack Obama sent Congress his eighth and fi-nal budget of his presidency on Tuesday, Feb. 9. The proposal includes a spending record of $4.1 trillion on a number of ini-tiatives, from a new war on can-cer to combating global warming to fighting growing threats from Islamic State militants.

“While it is important to take stock of our progress, this Bud-get is not about looking back at the road we have traveled. It is about looking forward and mak-ing sure our economy works for everybody, not just those at the top,” the President states in an emailed fact sheet on the 2017 fiscal year budget. “It is about choosing investments that not only make us stronger today, but also reflect the kind of country we aspire to be--the kind of country we want to pass on to our chil-dren and grandchildren.”

The proposed spending plan applies for the budget year that begins Oct. 1, just three-and-a-half months before he leaves of-fice, according to the Associated Press. It addresses issues such as climate change, healthcare, op-portunities for small businesses and students, as well as national and economic security.

Obama already faces heavy fire from the GOP-controlled Congress, which is not expected to approve the proposal, and has called it “dead on arrival.”

Overall, Obama’s budget would increase taxes by $2.6 tril-lion in the coming decade-- near-ly double the $1.4 trillion in new taxes Obama sought and failed to achieve in last year’s budget.

Congressional Republicans have already said they will ignore the proposal, rather than engage in another round of “fiscal brinks-manship” with the president, said the Washington Post.

“President Obama will leave office having never proposed a budget that balances — ever. This isn’t even a budget so much as it is a progressive manual for growing the federal government at the expense of hardworking Americans,” said House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis).

GOP lawmakers said Obama’s proposal to impose a $10-per-barrel tax on crude oil--in order to bring in an additional $319 bil-lion in revenue--had “no chance

Obama sends Congress record $4.1 trillion 2017 �scal budget

PASADENA, Calif. — The Na-tional Labor Relations Board (NLRB) found merit to allega-tions that two Asian American registered nurses were illegally terminated from Huntington Me-morial Hospital in this city.

The nurses, Allysha Almada and Vicki Lin, were joined by city officials and community leaders to applaud the labor board’s de-cision at a press conference on Thursday, Feb. 4.

“…The first emotion I felt hear-ing about the NLRB ruling was a state of shock and then it easily turned into elation,” Almada, a 28-year-old Filipino-American nurse told the Asian Journal. “It’s an, us versus them, David versus Goliath, kind of situation. Here we are, we’re going up against a large community hospital that has millions of dollars to essen-tially spend fighting us when that money should be going to patient care. We’ve seen them direct money and funds from patients into fighting organizing efforts. This definitely feels that yes, we were in the right.”

Almada and Lin, both of whom were working in the intensive care unit, were terminated in August of last year, after spear-heading a union organizing drive under the California Nurses As-sociation/National Nurses United (CNA/NNU) and publicly speak-ing about deteriorating condi-tions (i.e. short staffing and inad-equate supplies) at the hospital.

Registered nurses at the hos-pital began organizing with CNA/NNU in May 2014, but many voted against representation the following year after they were allegedly intimated to do so by hospital officials.

“When this [firing] first hap-pened, I felt very hopeless. I was very scared and I didn’t know what to do,” Lin said.

The union filed an unfair labor practice charge with the NLRB challenging the dismissal last year, which the labor board re-sponded to on Friday, Jan. 29 by siding with the nurses.

Lin added, “what happened to me can happen to anyone and that’s why we need union rep-resentation to protect our rights along with our patients. Nurses need job protection. We need someone to advocate for us, so we can advocate for our patients.”

In a statement emailed to the Asian Journal, Huntington Hospi-

National labor board rules in favor of �red Fil-Am nurse

of congressional approval.” The administration announced they would use the money to fund billions of dollars in alternative transportation programs as part of the president’s efforts to deal with global warming.

Ryan also pledged that House Republicans would produce a budget that does reach balance in coming weeks.

“In 2016, we will make it our goal to pass all 12 appropria-tion bills through regular or-der,” Ryan said back in Decem-ber, laying out his plans for the year ahead. “This hasn’t been done since 1994--but it’s how Congress ought to operate so that we can better protect the taxpayer dollars and make our place the true representative body that it is.”

Even with the increased taxes, Obama’s budget projects sharply higher deficits in the near future, totaling $9.8 trillion over the next decade. Last summer, Obama’s baseline forecast a deficit of $8 trillion over the next decade.

Much of the deficit problem stems from the surge in spend-ing on benefit programs like Social Security and Medicare, whose budgets are predicted to soar with the retirement of mil-lions of baby boomers.

The budget sees the economy growing at a 2.6 percent rate this year, although administration of-ficials noted that projection was finalized in November, before re-cent stock market slide. Inflation would remain low, registering a 1.5 percent gain this year.

Obama’s new budget projects a deficit for the current 2016 budget year of $616 billion, which is sharply higher than the latest forecast by the Congressio-nal Budget Office (totaling $544 billion).

Republicans have long com-plained that Obama has failed to attack the chief cause of future deficits. Previous Obama bud-gets did propose such things as slowing the automatic infla-tion increase for Social Security. However, the President aban-doned those proposals when it became clear that Republicans were opposed to his suggestions to raise taxes on the wealthy in order to benefit programs for the working poor.

On Tuesday, White House of-ficials expressed their goal to obtain bipartisan support for a number of Obama’s initiatives, such as the effort to combat her-oin and opioid addiction, fund a “moonshot” initiative to cure cancer, and expand tax credits for the working poor.

Other elements of his proposal include ideas to appeal to Demo-crats: increasing Pell Grants for college students from low-in-come backgrounds; bolster funds for the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commod-ity Futures Trading Commission; funding the Treasury’s State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI); and renewing incentives for GOP-governed states to join the expanded Medicaid system, established under his landmark health care law.

Separately, Obama has also proposed $1.8 billion in emer-gency spending to combat the Zika virus, on top of the $1.1 tril-lion catchall spending bill that passed in December.

The budget also pledges to in-crease military spending to fight terrorist threats, and help make Americans safer. It includes in-creased support (around $19 bil-lion) for cybersecurity, upgrading computers across government agencies in the wake of last year’s major federal hack, which compromised the personal infor-mation of 21 million Americans.

“The budget that we are re-leasing today reflects my priori-ties and the priorities I believe will help advance security and prosperity for America for many years to come,” Obama told re-porters at the White House. ■

tal’s spokesman Derek Clark said the union’s flyers and statements have been filled “with patently false information.”

Responding to allegations that the nurses were fired for union-izing, the hospital asserted that it was because the pair violated employment policies.

“We stand by our decisions and course of actions – and be-lieve they are in accordance with employment laws, our employ-ment practices and in the best interests of maintaining patient safety and providing the high-est quality of patient care,” Clark said, adding that the hospital looks “forward to a resolution in our favor from the NLRB.”

Each week, the union has also gathered signatures from mem-bers of the Pasadena community in support of the nurses’ rein-statement, and has attempted to deliver them to the hospital CEO.

“I am grateful and humble that so many people feel strongly about our cause and want to sup-port us that they are willing to sign a petition or willing to come out to our delegation,” Almada said.

Since her firing, the Fil-Am has continued to advocate for nurses’ rights and quality patient care. In October, she attended the White House Summit on Worker Voice, where she briefly met President Barack Obama. She also spoke at a press conference alongside Democratic presidential candi-date Bernie Sanders and met with the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO).

Though Almada is currently

working at another hospital in Los Angeles, she is fighting to get her job back at Huntington Hospital.

“It is definitely a point to be made in that…me coming back to the hospital could show nurs-es — not only at Huntington, but throughout the world — that when we stand together, when we organize [and] when we have a strong collective voice, we can accomplish a lot,” she said.

Tessie Costales, a Fil-Am regis-tered nurse at Kaiser LA Medical Center and CNA leader, called on hospital leaders to abide by the NLRB’s announcement.

“I couldn’t believe what they did to these two nurses. They built a case just to instill fear in the nurses and they made [Al-lysha and Vicki] guinea pigs to show nurses not to vote for the union… I think Huntington lead-ers should respect the ruling of the NLRB. They did not find any merit on the case,” said Costales. “Delays would only mean a waste of resources.”

She also called on the local Fil-Am community to join in on any rallies and sign petitions on be-half of the nurses.

“Although this unfortunate event happened to us, our vic-tory is so important to show that when you have the backing of thousands of nurses — behind you, standing up for you…[and] your federally protected rights — it is powerful and impactful. To-gether as a community, together as nurses, we will win this fight. We will win justice and we will make Huntington a better place and a better asset to the city of Pasadena,” Almada said. ■

by CHRISTINA M. ORIELAJPress

by ALLYSON ESCOBARAJPress

DATELINE PHILIPPINES

MANILA—Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV posted P10,000 bail on the libel case that former Makati mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay Jr. filed against him on Tuesday, Feb. 9.

Shortly after arriving from the US, he went to Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 142 before 11 a.m. and met with Judge Dina Pestaño Teves in her office.

Teves had ordered the arrest of Trillanes after the Department of Justice found probable cause to indict him for libel.

Trillanes told reporters after the meeting with Teves that he had posted bail to show that he would face whatever case Vice President Jejomar Binay would hurl against him.

“These are his tactics,” he said in Filipino. “He is using his influ-ence and power to frighten and confuse his political opponent.”

Trillanes said the libel case that former mayor Binay had filed against him is a form of harassment coming from Vice President Binay who is now run-ning for president.

“He (Binay) is not yet presi-dent,” he said in Filipino. “More so when he becomes president, he would use his office to pin down his opponents.”

Trillanes said he is not cowed by the libel case and he vowed to fight it in court.

“We will have different rem-edies to resolve this harassment suit,” he said in Filipino.

“Nevertheless, we shall stand

Trillanes posts bail for libel case �led by Mayor Binayby MIKE FRIALDE

Philstar.com

against it. We will not back out. I will be more encouraged to ensure that the Binays would no longer hold any post.”

Trillanes said his lawyers are still readying his motion for re-consideration to be filed with the DOJ.

He is comfortable having the libel case tried in a Makati court where he was previously tried for coup d’etat over his alleged participation in the Oakwood Mutiny and for the Manila Pen-insula siege, he added.

Critic of Binay or DuterteTrillanes said he would serve

as critic of a president Binay or Rodrigo Duterte if he is elected vice president.

In an interview with Mike En-riquez over radio dzBB , Trillanes said he doesn’t expect to get any government post in a Duterte or Binay administration.

“We have different views,” he said.

“So we will be watching abus-es and excesses he would be committing, particularly on the curtailment of basic liberties,” he said of Duterte.

Trillanes cautioned voters against being swayed by Duterte’s anti-crime campaign promises.

Despite his 28 years in govern-ment service, Duterte has failed to stamp out illegal drugs in Davao City, he added.

Trillanes said Duterte has also sanctioned extrajudicial killings to fight criminality.

“When he becomes president what can he do?” he asked. “Give license to the police to just kill anybody. That’s always

the possibility. We should not be swayed by his boastful words.”

Trillanes said he would be closely watching all of Binay’s dealings in case Binay becomes president and he is elected vice president.

His victory would be nothing if he wins as vice president and the next president is corrupt, he added.

Therefore he has included in his campaign advocacies to con-vince the people to pick the right president.

Trillanes said he has nothing against Liberal Party standard-bearer Manuel Roxas II and People’s Reform Party presiden-tial candidate Miriam Defensor-Santiago.

His group is throwing its sup-port behind the presidential candidacy of Sen. Grace Poe, he added.

Trillanes said if he wins the vice presidential race, he is open to working with either Roxas, Santiago or Poe if one of them is elected president.

“I think we can cooperate and work together,” he said.

“But for the two, Binay and Duterte, we will be watching them for their excesses.”

It is his duty to expose their excesses for the public to know and for Congress to decide if it warrants impeachment proceed-ings, he added.

Trillanes said he is just doing his duty by exposing alleged anoma-lies of Binay, just like what they did at Oakwood in 2003 against the Arroyo administration.

A BIRTHDAY greeting sent via text message, followed by good-natured ribbing about a possible blowout, landed presidential as-pirant Sen. Grace Poe a personal invitation to President Aquino’s 56th birthday celebration on Monday, Feb. 8.

This was the backstory gathered by the Inquirer from several sourc-es who squashed speculations that Poe gate-crashed the party held on the eve of the proclamation rally of candidates running for the country’s top political posts.

A Palace source said Poe texted the President a birthday greeting on Feb. 8, and followed this with the usual teasing be-tween friends: “Hindi ka ba magpapakain? (So, are you giv-ing a treat?)”

In response to Poe’s text mes-sage, Mr. Aquino invited her to his party that night, his last as the country’s chief executive.

Poe herself shrugged off the buzz about her being at Mr. Aquino’s birthday bash, and said they remain good friends despite being from rival political parties.

“I went to his party because we’re friends. Whenever there

Pres. Aquino invited Grace Poe to his birthday party

by NIKKO DIZONInquirer.net

are special events in the Palace, he would always invite me,” Poe told reporters in a press confer-ence in Toledo City, Cebu prov-ince, Wednesday morning.

The birthday party, held at the Presidential Security Group (PSG) compound in Malaca-ñang, featured Japanese food and entertainment provided by the PSG band.

‘Secret candidate’Present at the celebration were

the President’s sisters, their fami-lies and relatives, as well as close friends, Cabinet secretaries, key government officials, Mr. Aqui-no’s anointed, Liberal Party (LP) standard-bearer Mar Roxas, and his running mate, Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo.

When Poe arrived, she greeted the President and shook his hand but did not join him at his table, the source said, adding that Mr. Aquino and the senator did not really talk much at the party.

Roxas did not seem to mind his rival’s presence at the party. “He just enjoyed the program,” one source said.

The LP wooed Poe to be Rox-as’ running mate, but she chose to stick it out with close friend and running mate, Sen. Francis Escudero. The administration

party later settled for Robredo, the widow of Mr. Aquino’s and Roxas’ good friend, the late Inte-rior Secretary Jesse Robredo.

One of the Inquirer sources dis-missed talk that Poe’s presence at the President’s birthday celebra-tion was an indication that she was Mr. Aquino’s “secret candi-date” in the May elections.

“He has no secret candidate. He was just (being) a gentleman who invited Senator Grace to his party because she had texted him and needled him about a birth-day treat. The President then replied, ‘We’re having a party, come over.’ And so she did,” the source added.

If she was the President’s secret candidate, she was not aware of it, Poe said, adding that she and Mr. Aquino respect each other and do not take their differ-ences in opinion personally.

In fact, it was the President himself who opened doors for her when he appointed her to chair the local movies’ ratings and censors board.

“In our last conversation, I showed him how grateful and how inspired I was with his words about making the straight path our personal responsibil-ity,” Poe said. ■

ILOILO CITY—Senatorial can-didates of the ruling Daang Ma-tuwid coalition twitted Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte for say-ing he would free former Presi-dent Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo from hospital detention should he be elected as the country’s next president.

“It’s for the courts, not the sit-ting president, to decide,” former Justice Secretary Leila de Lima told reporters before the procla-mation rally of Liberal Party stan-dard-bearer Mar Roxas here on Tuesday.

“If he wins, he would be the

Courts, not President, to decide on Arroyo case, Duterte told

by MARLON RAMOSInquirer.net

president and as chief executive, he [should be] the first to enforce the law and the first to respect the independence of our judicia-ry,” she said.

De Lima, who had been at odds with Duterte for promoting extrajudicial killings of alleged criminals in Davao, argued that only the Supreme Court and the Sandiganbayan have the author-ity to decide on Arroyo’s fate.

De Lima, also a former Com-mission on Human Rights chair, joined Roxas, his running mate Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Ro-bredo and the rest of the LP-led coalition’s senatorial aspirants in wooing voters in Capiz and Iloilo provinces on the first day of the

three-month campaign period.Arroyo, 68, had been in hospi-

tal detention at the Veterans Me-morial Medical Center in Quezon City since October 2012, after she was indicted for plunder over the purported misuse of P366 mil-lion in intelligence funds of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.

The high court recently or-dered a temporary stop to her trial pending the resolution of her certiorari petition.

In his visit to Pampanga last week, Duterte said he would work for Arroyo’s release from detention if he wins the May elections because the evidence

u

IT WAS “victory enough,” ac-cording to his son, that other pres-idential aspirants were adopting his lifelong advocacy: the rights of Filipino workers here and abroad.

Three days after quitting the presidential race, OFW Family Club Rep. Roy Señeres Sr., cham-pion of migrants and the Filipino working class, died of cardiopul-monary arrest on Monday, Feb. 8 after a prolonged bout with diabe-tes, his son said. He was 68.

Hans Christian Señeres said his father, a former ambassador to the United Arab Emirates and former chair of the National Labor Rela-tions Commission (NLRC), had complained of exhaustion in recent weeks, prompting his hospitaliza-tion at St. Luke’s Medical Center in Taguig City and the subsequent withdrawal of his candidacy in the May 9 balloting.

But his death at 8:07 a.m. on Monday still came as a deep shock to the family.

“He went into cardiac arrest at 4 in the morning. Then we lost him at past 8,” he told the Inquirer on the phone. “It’s still just sinking in,” Christian said.

The party-list lawmaker left be-hind his wife and six children.

Señeres, who spent his first term in Congress advocating the welfare of OFW (overseas Filipino worker) families, career diplomats, poor workers and government em-ployees, announced his candidacy in October as the standard-bearer of Partido ng Manggagawa at Magsasaka.

His platform centered on labor and migrant rights and inclusive growth.

In a statement explaining his decision to quit the presidential race, Señeres said he was advised by his doctor to avoid the rigors of the campaign.

“I [withdraw] with the blessings of my family and upon the recom-mendation of my doctor who has advised me to avoid stress due to my long-standing diabetes to pre-vent the complications thereof,” his statement read.

Christian said his father had seemed quite vigorous when he first announced his candidacy.

Señeres, labor rights champion, dies; 68by DJ YAPInquirer.net

“He was healthy. He was totally active,” he recalled.

But in the months afterward, Se-ñeres’ health began to fail him. “In my last conversation with him, he told me he was not feeling well,” his son said.

Señeres studied political sci-ence at University of Santo To-mas in 1967, and earned his law degree at San Beda College four years later.

His lifetime advocacy for labor rights began when he served as officer, in various capacities, at the Department of Labor and Employ-ment from 1972 to 1975.

Later, he was appointed labor attache in the United Arab Emir-ates under the Fidel Ramos presi-dency, until he was transferred to Washington, DC, with the same post, in the early 1990s. Then he returned to the United Arab Emir-ates as ambassador, serving there until 1998.

Señeres headed the NLRC in 2000 under then President Joseph Estrada, until he quit in 2005, in the mass protests against the Ar-royo administration.

As congressman, he authored at least 30 bills, many of which pushed for reforms to provide legal and health care assistance to migrant workers, including a

proposal to establish “OFW fam-ily help desks” in all local govern-ment units.

His remains will be buried at Manila Memorial Park in Para-ñaque City.

Malacañang on Monday con-doled with the Señeres family.

“We sympathize with his fam-ily. He was the lead advocate of the rights of workers as head of the NLRC and as Ambassador to the Middle East,” said Presidential Communications Secretary Her-minio Coloma Jr.

A senatorial candidate, Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez, said Se-ñeres would be remembered for his compassion for the plight of workers.

“He is a man of strength and exemplary deeds. His passing is a great loss to Congress and to all the people who know him,” Ro-mualdez said in a text message.

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said the Filipino labor sector lost a champion in Señeres.

“He is a great loss to our over-seas Filipino workers’ community having spent most of his life in championing their concerns as well as those of the labor sector,” the Speaker said in a statement. (With reports from Maricar B. Bri-zuela and Gil C. Cabacungan)

u

OPINION FEATURES

AFTER the Iowa Caucuses and before the New Hampshire primary, a new national poll re-veals the sentiment of the Amer-ican people on where they want this nation to be stirred moving forward through the presidential elections.

On the Democratic front, Frontrunner Hillary Clinton has reportedly planned on shaking her campaign to stop the momentum that has been favoring Ver-mont Senator Bernie Sanders steadily and increas-ingly in the past year. From leading Sanders by 50 percent just a year ago, Clinton’s lead has now shrunk to a virtual tie as revealed by two major national polls.

A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll shows Clinton lead-ing Sanders 48-45 percent, while a Quinnipiac University poll reveals Clinton leading 44-42 per-cent, both gaps within the margin of error.

After winning Iowa by just 0.3 percent, Clinton is expected to lose in New Hampshire, if polls are any indication. In the final CNN/WMUR tracking poll, CNN reports that it remains Bernie Sanders’ primary to lose, with the Vermont senator hold-ing a 26-point lead over Hillary Clinton, with 61

percent for Sanders versus 35 per-cent for Clinton.

While I monitor the exit polls in New Hampshire as of the press time, CNN has projected Sanders as the winner of the primary elec-tion in the state and Clinton has reportedly conceded. With po-tentially record-breaking turnout, enthusiastic voters are eager to

make their voices heard in this election. Clinton won in New Hampshire when she ran

against Obama in 2008. What should Clinton do to stop Sanders’ momentum?

On the Republican side, the latest Quinnipiac University National poll reveals Donald Trump still leads the GOP presidential pack among Republi-can voters nationwide, with 31 percent. He is fol-lowed by Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas with 22 percent and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida with 19 percent. Dr. Ben Carson has 6 percent, with 9 percent un-decided and no other candidate above 3 percent.

Heading to New Hampshire, Donald Trump continues to lead the Republican race on the eve of the vote with 31 percent, according to the final CNN/WMUR tracking poll.

CNN reports that trailing behind Trump, Florida

Sen. Marco Rubio earned 17 percent support -- with-in the margin of sampling error of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz at 14 percent, but significantly ahead of the fourth and fifth place can-didates in the poll, Ohio Gov. John Kasich (10 per-cent) and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (7 percent). Carly Fiorina stands at 5 percent, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at 4 percent and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson at 3 percent.

Exit polls revealed that Democratic voters are looking for the candidate who is honest and who cares about them, more than electability and experience.

Meanwhile, Republican voters want a candidate who is not part of the establishment, as more than half of them say feel betrayed by and are dissatis-fied with how the Republican party has done its job over the years.

Will it be 2008 again for Hillary Clinton? Will

Donald Trump continue to lord over the other GOP candidates moving forward?

ABANGAN!* * *

GEL SANTOS-RELOS

The Fil-Am Perspective

ACCORDING to the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) the incidence of pover-ty in the Philippines in 2014 was 25.8 percent. This includes individu-als earning less than P1,755 a month or a family of five earning less than P8,778 a month.

This begs the question: If only one-fourth of our population lives in pov-erty, does that mean that three-fourths do not?

Noted economist and former Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno had some-thing to say about that in a piece he wrote in Business World in March last year, referring to the poverty threshold set for 2012:

“The real poverty picture may be worse than what the official statistics suggest. In 2012, the poverty thresh-old was P18,935 per year, P1,578 per month, or P52.60 per day. That’s the height of absurdity! I challenge public officials to survive on P52.60 per day for even a week.”

For those residing in the US, it is not easy to appreciate the relative value of what people earn in the Philippines. Conceivably, because of the much low-er cost of living here, what may appear to be meager minimum wage earnings locally can actually buy more goods and services than the minimum wage in the US.

It was in this context that I took note of Diokno’s commentary and decided to probe this issue further. What, in fact,

is the true picture of poverty in our coun-try?

Our home in Para-ñaque happens to be right across the creek from a squatters’ area (pardon me, I mean, an informal settle-ment) called Creek

Drive. Thus, I have easy access to the pulse of non-rich folks.

I hesitate to refer to them as “poor” because of the government’s definition of poverty.

We have known many of the squat-ters (oops, informal settlers) in Creek Drive for years. Before they called the place by that name, they used our home address for their correspondence. Let-ters from the province were delivered through us by the post office. My former ad agency driver, Jun, built a shanty and raised a family there. He now makes a living driving his own tricycle.

Jun earns from P800 to P1,000 a day from plying his tricycle route. That’s a monthly income of over P20,000, for himself alone, not counting that of his wife who is a grade school teacher and that of his son, also a tricycle driver. In other words, they are well above the poverty threshold, as defined by the economic managers.

But recently, Jun developed a lung infection and couldn’t drive his tricycle. Not covered by Philhealth and with-out any savings to afford medicine, his health deteriorated. Fortunately, being close to the family, we gave him some financial assistance and he managed to

get medical treatment. He is recovering now and could be well on the way to once again being “non-poor” (a term used by government numbers crunch-ers).

But even if Jun and his family manage to stay above the official poverty line, he is painfully aware that they are, in truth, poor and are vulnerable to the ravages of cruel circumstances -- no matter what the economic managers say.

Randy, a relative, earns P17,800 a month as a truck driver for a tire com-pany and his wife Kaye makes P11,500 a month as a department store sales girl. They live rent-free in quarters above our garage (the living area is as large as an apartment and more spa-cious than a condominium studio). Be-cause they don’t have to pay rent and they only have one child, who is in the grades, they are technically almost mid-dle income, based on the classification of the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB). They certainly are well above the government-defined poverty threshold.

But don’t tell that to the couple. Af-ter the usual deductions from their pay slips and considering the cost of trans-portation, food and utilities, they have very little left on payday and hardly any-thing set aside for emergencies. And when their daughter graduates from high school, it will be a struggle send-ing her to college.

Nene does our laundry once a week and also services several homes in the subdivision. For her labors, she earns over P10,000 a month. Based on the government’s definition of poverty,

Nene is not poor. But when her mother fell ill and needed oxygen, she couldn’t afford the cost of one that was mecha-nized and had to make do with manual pumping. That was not good enough to save her mother’s life.

Whatever the economic managers might say, Nene rues the fact that her mother would still be alive, if they were not, in fact, poor.

Grace, a niece whom my wife and I are sending to nursing school, gave me interesting findings derived by her class from households in a slum area in San Dionisio, a barangay in Parañaque. The survey was part of their course re-quirement.

Out of 54 families interviewed, 24 earn below the official poverty threshold. The rest technically qualify as non-poor because they earn above P11,000 a month. But try telling them that they are not poor and they will think you are being sarcastic.

Frankly, the government statistics are an exercise in denial and delusion. But the people are not being fooled. They know that they are poor. They can see it in the faces of their children whom they cannot afford to send to school. They can feel it in their empty stomachs and in the ailments that they must suffer because they cannot afford health care.

Those living in Mindanao and the ru-ral areas know that they are even more impoverished than the government will acknowledge. And they are keenly aware that all the talk about a booming economy does not include them and is mainly benefiting the wealthy few.

With the presidential elections only a few months away, the candidates have begun to woo the electorate in earnest. And, as suitors always do, they are all promising to make life more blissful for the Filipino masses and the future brighter for their children.

Three of the candidates have enunci-ated their main appeals to the voters in relatively clear terms, with the bottom line being a happier, more contented citizenry and a more progressive Phil-ippines.

Liberal Party standard bearer Mar Roxas is waving the flag of econom-ic gains through clean governance, expressed as “Tuwid na Daan” (or Straight Path). Davao City Mayor Ro-drigo Duterte is vowing to create a pro-gressive Philippines by killing criminals and stamping out corruption in govern-ment. Vice President Jejomar Binay is focusing on poverty and is promising to solve it by creating jobs and income opportunities for everyone, not just the rich.

The two other candidates, Senators Grace Poe and Miriam Defensor-San-tiago, are vaguely promising all or most of the above without really underscor-ing their primary pitch.

Which promise will resonate most effectively with the masses? The resi-dents of Creek Drive and San Dionisio have this to say:

“Lahat ng pangako nila ay maganda. Pero alin ba ang magiging laman ng sikmura?”

Translation: “All the promises are good. But which one can fill our stom-ach?” (gregmacabenta@hotmail.com)

What is the true picture of poverty in our country?

GREG B. MACABENTA

Street Talk

AND so it begins. Filipinos are in the throes of election fever as the campaign period for the upcoming May national elections officially began on Tuesday, Feb. 9. With 18,053 elective positions at stake, qualified voters in the Philippines and abroad have in their hands, the power and responsibility of ensuring candidates for public office are the most qualified for the respective positions.

Campaign season

On a national scale, Filipino vot-ers will declare who to fill the presi-dential, vice presidential, 12 senato-rial and 80 party-list representation seats. The local elections involve voters to elect district representatives (Congress members), provincial governors, vice governors, provincial board members, city and municipal mayors, city and municipal vice mayors, and town council members.

The promotion of people’s interests will be on top of political junkets once again. Issues such as criminality, high prices, unemployment, housing shortage, overpopulation, and the poor justice sys-tem are still expected to headline each candidate’s platform.

Vice President Jejomar Binay launched his presi-dential bid at the Welfareville compound in Manda-luyong City “to be with the Filipino poor.” Leading the opposition party, United Nationalist Alliance (UNA), Binay’s camp said that the vice president chose to be with those “have been left behind and continue to struggle with poverty, hunger and un-employment. Because he wanted to share with the masses his vision of a nation where rich and poor share the benefits of economic growth.”

Binay was joined by his running mate Sen. Gregorio Honasan II, and UNA’s candidates for

senators including Manny Pacquiao, former Special Action Force (SAF) director Getulio Napeñas, Parañaque councilor and actress Alma Moreno, Princess Jacel Kiram, labor lawyer

Allan Montaño and broadcaster Rey Langit.Sen. Grace Poe, who promises a “gobyernong

may puso (government with a heart),” led her po-litical party to Plaza Miranda in front of the historic Quiapo Church in Manila. Still facing disqualifica-tion over citizenship and residency issues, Poe said that just like an ordinary Filipino, her life is full of drama.

“With all my heart and strength, I will uphold and defend programs of a compassionate gov-ernment, our aspirations for the Filipino family, our hopes for the country and our children. The next three months will be a grueling journey for candidates and voters,” Poe promised her sup-porters.

The ruling Liberal Party and its standard-bearer Mar Roxas and running mate Rep. Leni Robredo kicked off their campaign in Roxas City, Capiz. The tandem vowed to continue Pres. Benigno Aquino III’s “daang matuwid (straight path)” policy. Aqui-no was also present during the campaign rally and appealed to the public on why his bets are deserv-ing to be elected.

Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte brought his team to Tondo, Manila. The no-nonsense presi-dential aspirant promised his kababayans that he will curb corruption and the proliferation of illegal drugs, and vowed to prioritize education and ag-riculture.

Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago and Sen. Bong-bong Marcos went north, to the latter’s hometown in Batac City, Ilocos Norte. Santiago vowed to go after people who were involved in the Priority De-velopment Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel

scam, while Marcos insisted on unity among Fili-pinos.

The next three months will be a grueling journey for both candidates and voters. It will test political aspirants on how they can engage the public to support their causes and grant them their previous votes. On the other hand, it will be the voters’ un-dertaking to identify all social, political, economic and environmental issues that are hounding the country and choose wisely who will best offer the solution for them. (AJPress)

Editorial

New national poll: Trump leads, Clinton and Sanders in a virtual tie

against her was weak.But former Sen. Panfilo Lac-

son, a longtime tormentor of Ar-royo and her family, reminded the Davao City mayor that the custody of an individual under-going trial should be with the judiciary and not the executive department.

Lacson, who is trying to regain

Courts, not President…

“It’s an obligation as a former soldier,” he said.

“We saw an anomaly and we exposed Gloria Macapagal-Ar-royo at the expense of our free-dom and physical safety. But the thing was, we did our obligation as soldiers. We stood by it.

“At the end of the day, are we right with our exposés. Okay, even if you will not vote for me, my question is, are we right on our exposés against Vice President Binay or are we just making up all these accu-sations?”

Trillanes, who is seeking the vice presidency as an indepen-dent candidate, told reporters that he would be holding his proclamation rally today in Gen-eral Santos City where he enjoys a strong following.

Binay to also post bailMeanwhile, former Makati

mayor Binay Jr. and his 22 co-re-spondents in the criminal cases to be filed against them in con-nection with the allegedly over-priced Makati City Hall Building II would have to post a total bail bond that could reach P10.120 million to avoid detention once the complaints reach the Sandi-ganbayan.

Each of them will need at least P440,000 for the four graft, six falsification of public documents and five malversation of public funds cases they would face.

Last week, the Office of the Ombudsman said it has found probable cause to proceed with the filing of the criminal charges against Binay and his co-respon-dents.

Each graft charge carries a bail of P30,000 per count, falsification of public documents P20,000 per count and malversation of public funds P40,000 per count.

The anti-graft agency has yet to elevate the cases to the Sandi-ganbayan but it is expected to do so within the week.

Once filed, the cases would be raffled off to a division of the anti-graft court which, after ju-dicial determination of probable cause, may issue arrest war-rants and hold departure orders against the accused.

Respondents in Sandiganbay-an cases sometimes opt to post bail ahead of the issuance of ar-rest orders against them.

Construction of the P2.2-bil-lion Makati City Hall Build-ing II was completed in five phases plus one design phase that spanned the terms of Vice President Binay and his son as mayors.

Investigation allegedly re-vealed that no public bidding was conducted prior to engaging the services of a project designer as the procurement process was allegedly manipulated to ensure the award of contract.

During the building phase, city

officials colluded with Hilmarc’s Construction Co. to manipulate the outcome of five “public bid-dings” for the purpose of ensur-ing that the contractor would be awarded the contracts, accord-ing to investigators of the Office of the Ombudsman.

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales said the criminal cases against Vice President Binay will have to wait until after his term expires since he has immunity from suit, being an impeachable official.

Trillanes favors EDCATrillanes told dzBB the En-

hanced Defense Cooperation Agreement with the US will af-ford the Filipino soldier psy-chological comfort of having a security blanket in the face of growing tension in the West Philippine Sea.

“We will be having a security blanket or psychological comfort with the presence of the US forc-es in light of the West Philippine Sea issue,” he said.

Under EDCA, US troops and their equipment are allowed to position equipment inside key Philippine military camps in Min-danao, the Visayas and Luzon.

Trillanes said the Philippines has not acquired new military equipment for the last 12 years.

It is only under the term of President Aquino that military equipment were acquired, he added. ■

Trillanes posts bail for libel…t

his Senate post, said a detained person’s freedom “should not be made a campaign promise or a commitment of a presidential candidate.”

“We need to respect the ju-risdiction of the court trying the case of anyone, be it Arroyo or my former fellow senators who are detained now,” he said.

“It should be the court which

t

MANILA—A study conducted among mobile networks in the world showed that those operating in the Philippines are among the worst performing in terms of 4G LTE (fourth generation long-term evolution) network.

Latest data from OpenSignal, which crowd sourced data from millions of smartphone users across the world, showed that the Philippines has the seventh slowest LTE network among 68 coun-tries.

The report said the Philippines has an aver-age download speed of six megabits per second (Mbps) in the last quarter of 2015. It was ahead of Bolivia, Puerto Rico, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Costa Rica and Iran.

The Philippines also ranked fourth in terms of those that have the least time coverage, with an average of 43 percent. Only Ecuador, Costa Rica and Sri Lanka had less coverage among countries

covered by the study.“Time coverage measures the proportion of

time users spend connected to a particular net-work, whether they’re indoors or out, on the move or standing still. We represent time coverage as a percentage, so if an LTE network has 80 percent time coverage, that means its customers, on aver-age, can get an LTE signal 80 percent of the time,” the report said.

The data was based on information culled from users of Globe and Smart, the two telecommunica-tions companies that offer LTE in the country.

According to OpenSignal, Smart had a download speed of seven Mbps and a time coverage of 38 percent.

Globe, meanwhile, had a download speed of four Mbps and a time coverage of 48 percent.

Singapore topped the list in terms of download speed with an average of 37 Mbps among three networks, while South Korea had the highest time coverage, with an average of 97 percent also among three networks offering LTE services. ■

PH LTE speed among world’s slowest, says studyby JANVIC MATEO

Philstar.com

PH expecting Hague ruling vs China by Mayby PATRICIA LOURDES VIRAY

Philstar.com

MANILA—Outgoing Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosa-rio on Wednesday, Feb. 10 said that the Philippines is expecting the final ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration on its case against China by May.

In January 2014, the Philip-pines filed an arbitration case against China before the inter-national tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands to invalidate the latter’s excessive claims in the South China Sea.

“We hope that the decision will come out before May. We don’t know what the chances of that might be but it looks doable from where we sit,” Del Rosario told members of the press

Del Rosario also expressed his concerns over China’s aggressive activities in the disputed sea that undermine the territorial claims of its smaller neighbors.

Last month, Manila protested China’s test flights on Kagitin-gan Reef in the West Philippine Sea. Foreign Affairs spokesper-

son Charles Jose said that Chi-na’s action was provocative and restricts freedom of navigation and overflight in the disputed sea.

China, however, insisted that the flights conducted by its air-

craft fall completely with its sov-ereignty. Beijing accused the Manila of having ulterior motives with its claims.

Del Rosario will step down as Foreign Affairs Secretary on March 7 due to health concerns. ■

should decide if they could be temporarily or permanently freed,” he added.

Reelectionist Senate President Franklin Drilon said Duterte being a former state prosecutor himself certainly knew that only the court may grant Arroyo’s liberty.

“But because Duterte said that during his campaign in Pampan-ga, it’s expected,” said Drilon, who is also a former justice sec-retary. ■

www.evaair.com Find us on:*EVA Air reserves the right to modify, terminate or otherwise amend offer.

Manila

Vancouver

Cebu Taipei

*6/week starting March 27, 2016

7/week

7/week

21/week

Toronto

Seattle

New York

San Francisco

Los Angeles

Houston *starting March 26, 2016

The Best Link to Cross the

Flights A Week63

Itinerary Departure Dates Economy Class

New York - Taipei - Cebu

Starting from

USD650

Starting from

USD1,260

Price includes taxes and fuel surcharges. Ticket must be issued by 02/29/2016.

This offer is valid for flights Mon - Thurs only. A surcharge may apply for weekend travel. Seats are limited. Please book flights in advance. Restrictions Apply.

Please contact your local travel agency or EVA website www.evaair.com.6/1/16 – 7/31/16

Daily

3/26/16 - 5/31/168/1/16 - 12/11/16

12/25/16 - 12/31/16

CEBUNEW YORK TAIPEI

peopleevents

artsculture

entertainmentFEBRUARY 12 - 18, 2016

VALENTINE’S DAY 2016 SPECIAL FEATURE

*Images used on the cover are stock photos only and do not represent actual people who are involved in online dating or relationships that resulted from online dating. Photos cannot be used in any other

by MALOU LIWANAG-BLEDSOE/AJPress

An Asian Journal Magazine

Before the Internet became a household name, dating and courtship went through normal stages. That is, you meet people in person, go on a date and if it worked out, then you go on to a more committed relationship.

Today, some still manage to do it the conventional way. However, technology has found a way to bring romance and relationships to many — through their computers. Some still have reservations about the possibility of meeting “the one” through this manner. Of course, this is understandable due to the fact that you shouldn’t believe anything—or anyone—you read and meet online.

Love online anyone?Since the explosion of the

Internet in the 1990s, it was used immediately for online dating. Even before the Web itself was created, newsgroups, bulletin boards, and forums were somewhat unintentionally used to post personal ads, just like the ones in newspapers. People who were online met with others with similar interests and would go on to meet in person. Chat rooms were o�ered by Internet service providers and heavily advertised these features. Although technically limited, it spurred a dating culture to many who were just starting to get acquainted with the technology.

However, the �rst major dating website was the combination of Kiss.com and Match.com, both registered by the same person in 1994 and 1995 respectively. Other dating sites also existed, but

Continued on Page3

Press enter for love: Romance & relationships in the digital age

focused on international dating slanting towards the “mail order bride” services. By 1996, Yahoo listed 16 dating websites, including the then popular Friend�nder.com and OneandOnly.com.

The movie “You’ve Got Mail” in 1998 starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan brought Internet dating some cultural boost. Though their characters didn’t really meet on a dating site and the movie wasn’t about online dating, the story showed how the Web can bring people together.

With its popularity and growing public acceptance,

Match.com and OneandOnly.com were bought

by Ticketmaster Online-Citysearch for an

undisclosed sum. Major Internet players like—Yahoo and AOL—upped their game and started to develop their personal/dating section. Others followed suit during the dot-com boom in the late 90s and early 2000s.

The dot-com crash in 2001/2002 brought a lot of the frenzy and sites to an end. However, it also changed the online world. For dating sites, the change came more from the launch of social networking sites like Friendster and MySpace in 2002, and Facebook in 2004. The mentality was that the idea of online social networking carried a much smaller stigma than online dating sites, as it was used by those who are not seeking a partner at all.

Still, with the social networking

wave, online dating has continued to thrive. According to Online Dating Magazine, nearly 20 million people visit at least one online dating site every month, and 120,000 marriages every year take place due to that.

Finally, the public’s perception of online dating is changing and the stigma of �nding a partner online has been slowly lifting due to the popularity of social networking. Although the majority of marriages still meet through more traditional means, nearly everyone on the Web has met someone or made a friend online. And in this fast-paced world, people �nd it a lot harder to make time to meet and date people in person. Why would they, when all one has to do is log on and click?

Connections: Couples who have found love online

In time for Valentine’s Day, the Asian Journal asked a few couples how they found their signi�cant others online & how they’ve made the relationships last.

First impressions aren’t always importantPat Bolognese and Arleah Baingan-Bolognese

Met through: Filipino�nder.com in 2005Courtship: Chatted on and o� for a year, then regularly for

another year. Dated for seven years before getting married.Married: April 14, 2014 in Orchard Park, NY

Son: Zavi was born on April 3, 2015 in Bu�alo, NY

First time meeting:P: “We �rst met

in 2007. Not much changed the �rst time we met but the second time was when things really exploded.”

A: “He told me he liked me right away. I thought he was a nice guy.”

Challenges in their relationship:

A: “There were many challenges to this kind of set-up (long distance relationship). Physical togetherness is very di�erent from just seeing each other on-cam. Second, there is an issue of trust. You really don’t know what your partner is doing. He/she can say one thing and do another. It is di�cult to verify a person’s claims when you are so far from each other and your means of communication is mostly online. I missed going out on ‘real’ dates. I get paranoid at time when he wasn’t online on our usual chat schedule.”

P: “Some of the challenges are that things can be misunderstood...There are also times that outside things like tra�c or weather, that a�ect timing (like if you were supposed to chat at a certain time but the MRT was late or tra�c was heavy and one was late. I wouldn’t know anything about a MRT breakdown and Arleah would not know about a tra�c problem here so one may think something is wrong). Also, not being able to actually go on dates is very di�cult.”

Advice for those who want to try online dating:

A: “Online dating is not for everyone. I might suggest it to my friends who are open-minded, those who are not afraid to take chances, because it is a very challenging set-up. If you are the clingy or jealous type, like you want your boyfriend/

partner to report his/her every move, this may not be for you. There are so many people online who are just out there to have fun and take advantage of those who are gullible enough. Also, it is easier to lie when you’re online. It’s important to get to know each other, take your time and check their background. It’s a personal decision.

“Finding, keeping and staying happy with ‘the one’ is probably life’s biggest adventure. If there’s opportunity to meet and get to know new people, try it and take advantage. Give it time. Do your research. Trust your instinct. Ask a lot of questions.”

P: “ You can only date online if you are patient and understanding and accepting that things don’t always happen as they are planned. It is di�cult but not impossible. I would tell someone that wants to date online that they should talk to someone that has when they have issues. I would never tell someone not to. I would tell them to just take it slow and to be careful. There are many men that just want to have fun and many women that just want money. If you take it slow, you will be able to tell if the other person is serious.”

by MOMAR VISAYAAj Press

THE New York Times Travel Show, the largest and longest-running trade and consumer travel show in North America, ended a couple of weeks ago on a high note. The attendance to the show this year was the highest in nine years and the second most attended New York Times Travel Show ever.

Almost 30,000 people trooped to the Jacob Javits Convention Center over the weekend when the show was on, despite near-freezing weather. There were more than 500 exhibitors, including the Philippine Department of Tourism, an annual supporter of the travel show.

This year, the tourism department showcased the Tourism Promotion Board’s newest campaign, ‘Visit Philippines Again 2016’, an o�shoot of the successful ‘Visit Philippines Year 2015’ project.

Consul General Mario De Leon, Jr., accompanied by Ms. Eleanor De Leon, Philippine Department of Tourism New York (PDOT-NY) Representative Michelle Cristalle Dy-Vera, as well as Consul Felipe Carino III, welcomed prospective travelers visiting the Philippine booth to learn about the latest tourism packages. Also in attendance were Ms. Zeny Pallugna and Mr. Joey Chanco of PDOT-NY and Ms. Daniella Usmanova representing Philippine Airlines.

A three-day event for travel enthusiasts, the New York Times

‘Visit the Philippines Again 2016’DOT encourages tourists to revisit PH

Travel Show boasts of exhibitors representing over 150 countries. The event showcases products like exploring domestic and international hot spots, familiar favorites and under-the radar crowd-free escapades.

The travel show features, among others, the Travel Industry Conference, consumer seminars, and an interactive exhibition including more than 500 exhibitors from Africa, Asia, Australia/South Paci�c, Canada, the Caribbean, Europe, Latin America, Mexico and the United States. In addition to discounts and special o�ers, the show provides educational seminars and live entertainment for families, individuals, couples and seniors.

Consul General Mario De Leon lauded the e�orts of the Philippine Department of Tourism and PDOT-New York which are actively promoting attractive travel packages to mainstream travelers as well as Filipino-Americans in cooperation with US travel operators and international air carriers. There were several outstanding travel packages to o�-the-beaten-path destinations in the Philippines that are widely popular among American retirees and younger generation Filipino-Americans that can be marketed extensively, he added.

PDOT-New York’s Ms. Michelle Dy-Vera is upbeat for the tourism and travel industry

in the Philippines this year. She said that her o�ce is aiming to expand partnerships and develop cooperation with US travel operators and agents, mainstream organizations, including air carriers, to include travel packages to the Philippines in their promotional e�orts and publications as well as encourage a side-trip to the Philippines for American travelers to Asia. She found this year’s attendees to the Travel Show with increased interest on the Philippine tourism destinations.

In order to further promote the campaign in New York, TPB through the DOT have placed ads on the Gray Line double-decker buses that bring NYC tourists to the various landmarks and destinations in the city.

2016 promises to be another good year for Philippine tourism as global publications continue to recommend the county as a must-visit destination.

National Geographic picked the Philippines as one of their top destinations for 2016, along with Burgundy, France; Glasgow, Scotland and Hokkaido, Japan. Cebu and Boracay made it to this year’s ‘Best Islands’ survey of Conde Nast’s Traveler magazine readers who unanimously voted for Palawan to be the best island in the world for the second year in a row.

“Visit the Philippines Again 2016”

The campaign was launched

by the Department of Tourism Secretary, Ramon R. Jimenez, Jr. last November at the World Travel Market 2015 held in The Gherkin in London. The campaign aims to attract more visitors from all over the world to the Philippines and encourage them to return this year for more fun and feel-good adventures.

As a kick-o� to the campaign, the Philippines hosted the ASEAN Tourism Forum on 18 – 25 January 2016 at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City. Similar to Visit Philippines Year 2015, other exciting activities have been lined up to sustain the interest of the traveling public.

Among the major events being showcased are Madrid Fusion Manila 2016 in April for foodies, the MTV Music Evolution 2016 in May for music-lovers and the 2016 Ironman 70.3 Asia-Paci�c Championship in August for sports and outdoor enthusiasts.

Major musical acts such as Madonna and Andrea Bocelli have scheduled concerts in Manila as well.

As of October 2015, the Department of Tourism has recorded a total of 4,226,489 international tourist arrivals to the Philippines from January to October 2015. The �gure is an 11.13% increase from the same period of the previous year.

Advice for those who want to try online dating:

C: “Again, don’t expect romance right away—or at all. Start with be-ing friends, because it’ll help you know the person on the other side better. It is not for everyone.”

M: “I’ve never really dated online, and I don’t know if I would consider ours as one. I keep calling our story as ‘no expectations,’ because that’s how it was, really. Also, be cautious and careful. Chances are, you’ll come across some sleazy person who only wants either money or naked pic-tures of you. Stalkerish it may seem, try to do some research on the per-son—that’s what Facebook and Google are for.”

An Asian Journal Magazine

Continued on Page 7

ATTY. MICHAEL

GURFINKEL, ESQ

ImmigrationCorner

EACH month, the Visa O�ce of the State Department publishes, in the Visa Bulletin, the priority dates for that particular month, for the various family and employ-ment based categories. A priority date is a person’s “place in line” for a visa, meaning immigrant visas (or green cards) would be available for persons whose prior-ity date is earlier than the cut-o� date listed below. If your priority date was “current,” but later ret-rogressed (or “moved backwards” and became unavailable) before your immigrant visa was issued (or before you adjusted status in the US), you would have to wait until it becomes current again.

Beginning last October 2015, the format of the Visa Bulletin changed, in that a new column was added, called the “Application Filing Date.” If a person’s priority date is earlier than the Application Filing Date, they can already �le for adjust-ment of status and work authoriza-tion (provided they are otherwise eligible and USCIS indicates on its website it will use the Application Filing Date for that month). This could allow people to obtain work authorization much sooner than before, where they had to wait for the priority date to be current (in the Visa Issuance Date column) in order to both �le for adjustment and be eligible for a green card.

* * *

From Page 2

Chris Bledsoe and Malou Liwanag-BledsoeMet through: Yahoo Messenger in November 2007

Courtship: No actual courtship. Friends on and o� for a year.Married: February 5, 2010 in Redwood City, CA

First impression about each other:

Malou: “It was a little weird. He just popped out of my Yahoo Mes-senger and said hi. He seemed nice so I chatted with him. We were on-line friends o� and on for a year. I wasn’t looking to date anyone. But my mom thought he looked like a ‘gangster’ (laughs).”

Chris: “I don’t know how I found her online (or I forgot). She seemed nice, she just moved to the US and she was still adjusting to the culture and missed her friends. I told her to give it some time.”

First time meeting:M: “The �rst meeting we planned

didn’t push through so we set up an-other one. We refused to call it a date and saw it as a friendly meeting. Just as he promised, he hugged me. He was very sweet.”

C: “She was cute and small. I thought she was really funny. I picked her up at her apartment. We went to the beach, walked around,

talked about the Philippines and Spongebob Squarepants and got sandwiches at a local deli. There were no expectations of romance or putting on your best clothes—it was just a simple but really nice day.

Challenges in their relationship:C: “After the �rst date we knew we

wanted to see each other again. I lived on the other side of the Bay that time and had crazy work hours. Also, both of us were going through some personal matters that needed to be dealt with.”

M: “We tried to see as much as we can and just as he said, there were personal matters in our re-spective lives that we needed to �x. Another thing was I was avoiding the stigma of having met someone online and how other people viewed it (I have a friend who does online dating, and tries to ask money from men). Also, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to stay in the US after my work visa ex-pires.”

No Expectations

The March 2016 priority dates

Connections: Couples who have found love online

PROF. ENRIQUE M. SORIANO

The KiteRunner

MANY attempts have been made to pro�le the Asian Entrepreneur. But I found an easier way to spot them — just check their family name.

The fact is enterprises and entre-preneurship in the Asian context is usually tied up with kin or family.

In the Philippines, the term “Asian entrepreneur” has not been around for long but trading is nothing new.

Inspiring Filipino-Chinese entrepreneursThe Chinese and Malay traders have made their presence known through-out Philippine history even before the Spanish came.

Their trading continued even in the presence of the Spanish con-quistadores. The Spanish o�cials’ aristocratic lifestyle was completely dependent on the Galleon Trade for hundreds of years.

This Galleon Trade brought Chi-nese silk and porcelains to Europe via Mexico and European luxury goods and Mexican silver via Manila.1

Getting to know the Filipino-Chinese entrepreneurs

The Chinese in the Philippines make up only 20 percent of the coun-try’s total population but they are a

force to be reckoned with.Most Chinese in the Philippines

are business owners and their lives center around the family business that are usually small and medium enterprises. These family businesses play a signi�cant role in the Philip-pine economy. A handful of these entrepreneurs run large companies and are respected as some of the most prominent business tycoons in the country.

Chinese Filipinos attribute their success in business to frugality and hard work, Confucian values and their traditional Chinese customs and traditions. They are very busi-ness-minded and entrepreneurship

Continued on Page 6

An Asian Journal Magazine

To places less traveledby MARY MAY PORTEZ

AJPress

CAN a region long overcast with unfavorable razzmatazz unveil its true wonder? Behind the prejudice and infamy, Mary May Portez follows the road less traveled to discover Northern Mindanao’s underrated beauty. From Camiguin’s rustic je ne sais quoi to Misamis Oriental’s burgeoning craft industry, traveling has never been this inspiring. Capping it o� with an adrenaline rush from Cagayan de Oro’s sundry of adventure feats, Mindanao is a revelation waiting to be unraveled.

CAMIGUINThe �rst thing you need to

know is that Camiguin is an island of volcanic origin located 120 kilometers southeast of Cebu and 90 kilometers north of Cagayan de Oro. This pear shaped, volcanic island houses more volcanoes than its actual towns, with Mount Hibok Hibok as the only active volcano that is expected to erupt every �fty to sixty years—its last recorded activity was back in 1950. During lent, devotees would walk around the island and trek up to the old volcanoes in observance of the Panaad festival which is similar to a traditional Walk of Penitence done by Catholics reliving the way of the cross. Second, that as Northern Mindanao’s leading tourist destination, Camiguin is a sell short of natural beauty; from springs to sandbars, everything about this island is nothing short of inspiring.

Where the water never runs dry

One interesting fact about Camiguin is that the water resource comes from several natural springs scattered across the island. Faucets are never closed to keep the pipes

from bursting with over�owing water. You will be surprised that your tap water tastes almost like San Pellegrino, minus the carbonated �zz.

Exploring the island, you will �nd a number of hot and cold springs like the Sto. Niño Cold Spring Resort in Catarman that is popular among the locals for its perennial crystal clear, cool waters; the Ardent Hot Springs Resort in Mambajao that also o�ers a quaint lodging options for anyone who wishes to stay overnight; and the Bura Soda Water Swimming Pool in Catarman that is best known for its medicinal purposes. The iconic sunken cemetery in Catarman is a historical site as well as a tourist attraction.

Of heritage sites and historical ruins

Flooded down below sea level during the volcanic birth of Mt. Vulcan in 1871-1875, the gravesite was commemorated by a huge cross erected in 1982. Diving beneath the massive, white cross, you will marvel over the eerie sight of coral laden epitaphs and tombstones. Its neighbor church, the Old Catarman Church, or the Gui-Ob church, still stands with only a few of its surviving ruins and bell tower saved from the mentioned volcanic eruption. Masses are still celebrated in the open passage of the old church.

Sandbars, white sand, and lofty falls

You will be greeted by a number of friendly vendors selling kiping when you reach Katibawasan Falls. This addictive treat is a local delicacy made from grounded sweet potato rolled into thin disks and fried over regular cooking oil. Drizzled with

caramelized coconut milk, this snack is popular among locals and tourists to munch on as you trek along your destination. Light, sweet, and cheap, kipings are as distinctive as lanzoses are to Camiguin.

Katibawasan and Tuasan falls are Camiguin’s most celebrated natural wonders. Cascading a few hundred feet from the ground, these falls are not your typical commercialized tourists spots. Natural and extremely breathtaking, both these falls o�er a simpler, yet inspiring way to enjoy nature.

The Mantigue Island lies near the port area of Camiguin. With a �ne, white sand and clear blue waters, this island is one of the best-kept gems of the province. Still subtly popular, there are only a few private and local lodgings in the island. Unlike the White Island sandbar that is smaller in scale, Mantigue o�ers a more convenient stay for an overnight trip.

CAGAYAN DE OROWith literal reference to gold,

the early inhabitants of this city were depicted to have gold gossamer in their hair. Cagayan de Oro, or Karay han de Oro that roughly translates to rake gold, is a city believed to have been copious with natural resources, especially gold. Flourishing to be one of Northern Mindanao’s tourist spots, Cagayan de Oro continues to attract tourists as well as local

and foreign investors. From the world-famous ziplines and river rafting sites, this city is not just a hub for adventure tourism, but a heaven for a culture and nature-rich wanderlust.

St. Augustine CathedralBuilt in 1845 by the

Augustinian friars, this cathedral is the main Catholic church and seat of the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro. Its centuries old stained glass windows were donated by the American Catholics from New York, USA.

Nature trail at Mapawa Nature Adventure Park

Better than any imprint, the nature park in Mapawa o�ers a tree planting experience for a good cause. Help plant mahogany trees or explore the ecological park.

The Ranch House o�ers an a�ordable bed and breakfast package for a group of �ve, or more. Other activities include river trek, horseback riding, bon�re, camping, and canyoneering.

Museum Walk at Museo de Oro:

Revisit the past at the Museo de Oro museum. Showcasing the ethnohistory of Northern Mindanao from Prehistoric time, exhibits include fossilized remains of the stegodon found in Laguindingan, Misamis Oriental; items used during the Spanish period; ornaments and pieces of jewelry used by the tribes that inhabited the area; weaponry; and a detailed painting depicting the Myths of Creation of selected ethnic communities pertaining to the creation of the universe.

MISAMIS ORIENTALFrom the word misa which is

a Spanish word for mass, Misamis was originally part of Cebu. The earliest settlers in this area were believed to be Negritos and were later joined by the Malay people with various blends of Mongolian characteristics. In 1929, it was divided into two provinces, Misamis Oriental and Misamis Occidental. Now known as the Gem of Mindanao, it is the region’s foremost center or trade and development.

CebuWith a swath of historical

landmarks and ubiquitous places for food grubs, Cebu has long ushered its way into the hearts of foreign tourists and locals, alike. Popular for its pristine beaches and a buzzing business district, it’s not quite surprising to �nd new set of adventures in this queen city. From the �ower capital Balamban to Cebu’s very own shoe (and chicharon) capital Carcar, its not just about lechon anymore. Read on.

Whale shark (butanding)watching in Tanawan, Oslob

Despite having to endure the blazing sun without sunblock (the use of sunscreen creams and sprays are strictly prohibited to protect the whale sharks from digesting potentially harmful chemicals), the whale shark encounter will leave you breathless and agape with wonder. We recommend to skip the boat ride and dive right into the waters to swim with the butandings for a more unforgettable experience.

SimalaClinging on the upper

Lindogon area in barangay Simala in the town of Sibonga, this grand,

baroque style church was built by the congregation of Marian Monks of Eucharistic Adoration in 1998. The very image of the Virgin Mary brought from Pampanga was believed to have shown miracles during an epidemic that have killed many in the said community. Other claims are of the image’s shedding tears of blood, while the sundry of petition letters displayed along the halls are con�rmation of the church’s promise to grant miracles to the faithful.

Historical walk along ArgaoComparable with Vigan’s Calle

Crisologo, the town of Argao is a charming window to Cebu’s rich history. Known to have one of the most well preserved cabacera (town center) in the country with traces of the Spanish and early American in�uences on the majority of its coral stone structures, Argao is a quaint sanctuary of culture, food, and craftsmanship.

The 250-year old rococo-baroque church of St. Michael the Archangel. Completed in 1788, the interior paintings depicting di�erent scenes from the bible were painted by the renowned Visayan artists Canuto Avila and Raymundo Francia in the early 20th century.

Diving and Snorkeling in Nalusuan and Hilutungan

Yes, among other remarkable diving spots in Cebu, these two are among the burgeoning diving spots because of its Marine Reserve and its accessibility to nearby resorts like the Bluewater Resort in Sumilon Island. (This article was �rst published in the December 2015 issue of Balikbayan Magazine)

SERVICESEMPLOYMENT EMPLOYMENT

FOR SALE

An Asian Journal MagazineSearch for Top Model of the World PH 2016 is on

THE search is on for the next Top Model of the World (TMW) Philippines.

Top Model of the World is the largest and most prestigious international model and pageant compe-tition for vibrant young women. It combines fashion, modeling and pageantry as its main components.

This 2016, the search is open to quali�ed candi-dates from Asia, Australia, Canada, Europe, the Mid-dle East, the Philippines and the United States.

The event is expected to draw attention and par-ticipation from Filipino communities across the globe, particularly from Southern California, North-ern California, the US East Coast and US Midwest, the aforementioned countries, Italy and New Zealand.

In the US, pageant and fashion veterans Trini Fo-liente and Cora Soriano of Pageantry Global, Inc. are behind the screening of potential candidates.

Foliente, who has been a pageant promoter since the 1980s, said she has witnessed pageants help boost the self-con�dence of young women. It’s also a phenomenon Soriano has seen, which is why she said she supports and is fond of pageantry.

“The transformation of the personality is what we need for them to succeed because if you are very con�dent ... you can go anywhere,” Soriano said.

As a young girl, Soriano shared she was often told she was beautiful. Frequently hearing that helped her build self-con�dence, and it’s something she makes an e�ort to tell young girls, regardless of their physical appearance.

“The compliments help. And that is related to the pageantry because if [they] feel like [they’re] beau-tiful ... it will help them tremendously in their lives,” Soriano said.

Some former pageant candidates Foliente has helped throughout her years in the industry have gone on to secure careers as actresses in Hollywood, as well as various positions in the medical �eld. She

credits successes like these to the women’s involve-ment in pageantry, which she said boosts their self-esteem.

Coinciding with the search for the next Top Mod-el of the World (TMW) Philippines is the launching of the 2016 Top Model of the World (TMW) Philip-pines in the greater Melbourne area to be lead by its partner and cooperator, “Face Australia Promotion & Management.” Face Australia is a leading pageant operator in Australasia and the Oceania.

The much-awaited national pageant will be a pio-neering launch, as most pageant and model searches in the Philippines are done in Metro Manila. It will be the ‘�rst’ of such a renowned national event to be en-tirely launched outside the Philippine.

The grand coronation of the Top Model of the World (TMW) Philippines will be held on July 9 in Australia.

The winner of the competition will represent the Philippines in the forthcoming Top Model of the World 2016 pageant.

Requirements for young women to join the TMW pageant is as follows:

- Minimum height 5’7”- Must have Filipino lineage- Must be between the ages of 18 and 25- Must be bubbly with a pleasing personality- Must be single, have never been married and

have no childrenFor more information, please contact:USA: Pageantry Global, Inc.Trini Foliente(818)455-2132Cora Soriano (213)999-1993tmwusacanada@gmail.comAustralia: faceaustralia@gmail.comCanada: ipenevents@gmail.comPhilippines: tmwasia@gmail.com

Tips on �nding love on the Internet

BY MONET LU

I OFTEN hear (and use) the idiom-atic phrase, “Wear your heart on your sleeve.” It is often thrown at someone who is bent on concealing his or her true feelings. And since we live in a world �lled with mysteries and false pretenses, many can relate to the phrase. The phrases’ pervasiveness is so casual, it found its way to the lyrics of di�erent songs by known artists: from Ringo Starr to Eminem to Carrie Underwood. But did you know the story behind this casual expression?

It’s been said that in the Middle Ages, young men and women drew names to see who their Valentine would be. To do this, they would wear the name pinned to their sleeve for one week so that everyone would know their supposed true feelings. This etymology made me wonder how uncomplicated it must be like to just go around declaring your search for true love and actually �nding it. On second thought, isn’t this the basic principle of internet dating? So it is possible to meet your true love by clicking the right button – rather, pro�le?

The answer to that question was served to me by one of my clients who told me her cyber-love story. I did her hair and makeup and it has been customary for me to know a little bit about my clients. Actually, I didn’t even insist or pry. She was very enthusiastic to tell me how she met her then cyber-prince. She told me how they met on Facebook, fell in love, met personally and got mar-ried – now they have a 4-year-old kid. All of that because she happens to be one of those who applied the ba-sic principle of the old days: “to wear your heart on your sleeves.”

“You have to be very speci�c with what you want. I was so speci�c in my description. I said I wanted to be

with a Chinese guy, earning an aver-age income and so on…”, my client ad-vised as she recalls the fond memories she had when she decided to start her (online) search for “forever.” I was kind of skeptic, imagining how vulnerable I’d be if I were to be as open as she claimed but hey, who am I to argue with a happily married woman with an adorable child?

But just in case there are others out there who are like me – careful and cautious to a fault – It wouldn’t hurt to pay attention to these advice I gathered from my client, as well as from those I know who have worn their hearts on their sleeves and suc-ceeded in �nding true love. Here are 3 tips on �nding love on the Internet.

1. BE SPECIFICJust like what my client told me,

you have to know what you want and state it in 250 characters or less. Most relationships end because neither parties know what they want out of the relationship or one of them just aren’t interested in knowing. Su�ce to say that all relationships should start with a basic understanding of what you really want. It doesn’t have to be as detailed, not to mention overboard, as knowing how many children you want or the layout of your love nest. But it would be a good start to know what you want in a re-lationship – and know who or what type of person you want to have that relationship with.

2. BE HONESTNow this deals with what kind of

person they expect to have a rela-tionship with. Don’t be afraid to tell something interesting about you like your obsession to peanut butter or your love-hate relationship with your neighbor’s dog (on second thought, you can leave that last part out – ani-mal lovers are adorable). You can be open about yourself without sell-ing yourself out. Just remember, it is better to be yourself than to pretend

someone you are not.3. INCLUDE A WELL-WRITTEN

INTRODUCTION AND A GOOD PIC-TURE

And when I say, “well-written,” I mean grammatically correct. It doesn’t have to be an autobiogra-phy. A twitter-like intro would be enough but make sure it is not �lled with typos and wrong tenses. When in doubt: google it. The picture has to be recent. I am not one to judge those who love to use �lters and photo editing apps but please make sure it’ll still look like YOU, the real ‘I-woke-up-like-this’ You.

Tinder, Hinge, Match.com., You name it, these dating apps are ev-erywhere. And while some (like my client) have found their true love via the internet, not everybody end up in the same happy ending. As much as I wish otherwise, some people can be misleading – or worse, psycho kill-ers. So take the necessary precaution. I agree that we should once in a while wear our “hearts” on our sleeves (or post in on the web), but it would save you a ton of heartaches if you proceed with caution. Good luck and Happy Valentine’s Day!

An Asian Journal Magazine

Philippine-New York Jaycees sets induction ceremony

David DiMuzio: A Pinoy-at-heart American

IT’S always fascinating to listen to or watch a foreigner faultlessly sing-ing Tagalog songs. Aside from the uplifting feeling of unexplainable pride inevitably induced by the situ-ation, it indubitably gives the alien tongue the opportunity to com-municate e�ciently through music which the world relentlessly consid-ers the universal language.

Take the case of the pretty Russian model-singer Anna Rabtsun who could e�ortlessly sing Gloc9’s “Sire-na” or YouTube user xxxthunrrbltxx who posted a cover of Parokya Ni Edgar’s “Buloy.” Then there’s Jeremy Smith who recorded another Parokya Ni Edgar hit single, “Mr. Suave,” fully donned in Barong Tagalog complete with mustache; American Joseph Collins singing “Pusong Bato” for his Filipina wife; Mexican international actress-singer Thalia rendering “Nan-dito Ako;” and a lot more who proud-ly posted on social media their vocal achievements in Tagalog.

Eartha Kitt brought the Visayan song “Waray-Waray” to an interna-tional level, Lindsey O’Connor of England emotionally rendered “Sana Maulit Muli” sans a single foreign ac-cent, while a Latina sang “Kahit Ma-puti Na Ang Buhok Ko” like a bona-�de born Pinay.

But even before the advent of the internet, international recording artists had already professed their admiration for Tagalog songs like the immortal 1938 Miguel Velarde, Jr.’s composition, “Dahil Sa Iyo,” which was waxed by Jerry Vale (1963), Julio Iglesias (1973), Nat King Cole (1964), The Everly Brothers, and The Letter-men (from their all-Tagalog album which included “Ikaw,” “Hindi Kita Malimot,” and “Sapagka’t Kami Ay Tao Lamang”).

Even international choral groups had chosen Tagalog songs for their prestigious performances: a Cana-dian choir and the Brown University Chorus �awlessly delivered “Rosas Pandan,” a group of Norwegians did “Pusong Bato,” an American choir

BOBBY T. YALONG

On thePEP FrontPeople, Events, Places

even took “Paru-Parong Bukid” to a classic level, and Illinois Rip Chords chose “Dahil Sa Iyo” as its competi-tion piece.

What exactly is there in the Filipi-no songs that made foreigners not only fall in love with them but also satiated their emotional impulses by singing the songs from the heart?

“Tagalog songs are deeply com-municative and expressive. There’s the genuine outpouring of personal sentiments and relatable human emotions while expressing the pu-rity of self-professed love, longing, pain, and even desperation,” ex-plains international singer-songwrit-er, composer David DiMuzio who’s moniker became a familiar �xture in the local music scene after having recorded and posted on YouTube a voluminous number of Pinoy pop songs.

An Italian by ethnicity and an American by birth (a 4th generation American from North Carolina), Da-vid was a high school dropout but that didn’t thwart or led him way-ward since he was determined and focused to succeed in the career he loved most -- songwriting.

“I’m more of a songwriter than a singer,” he admitted. But it wasn’t until he was 21 when he performed professionally at a wine bar although he already wrote songs when he was barely 9 years old.

“I didn’t �nd it late to start a ca-reer at 21. I guess it was just the right time since I’ve mellowed and was made stern by the experiences I encountered during my formative years,” the multi-talented singer-performer opined.

Possessing a considerable vision-ary approach to life, David exempli-�es a true-blooded Aquarian (hav-ing been born on February 8) who is, in a nutshell, full of fairness sans discrimination and innately imagi-native.

Since communication is essentia-lin his singing career David deemed it right to choose a language that could stimulate interest and mag-netize curiosity while performing…and he chose Tagalog.

“You might be surprised…but I’m one-fourth Pinoy,” he voluntarily ad-mitted. “Actually, my grandmother from my father side was a Filipina!” And punctuated his revelation with a grin of pride accompanied with a shoulder shrug.

David knows exactly that one easy sure�re way to win his Filipino audi-ence was by speaking the language �uently and delivering his music with such spontaneity the very man-ner how a Pinoy does. He successful-ly transcended the language barrier and its contextual intricacies with keen attention to his accustomed schwa resonance and aspirated �nal

THE Philippine-New York Jaycees Inc., will hold its 53rd Annual Induction of Board of Directors, O�cers and Advisers on Feb 27, 6:30pm, in Renaissance Hotel, 130 East, 57th Street, New York, New York.

In October last year, the general membership elected Stevenson Van Derodar as its 53rd LOM President after having been an active member for six years. Derodar previously served positions as Director, Membership Services Vice President and International A�airs Vice President.

The event dubbed as “The Heart of Impact: 2016 JCI Philippine-New York Induction Ball and Presentation of members,” will have a special celebration featuring Ballroom Dancers, Live Music and some surprise guests. The event will expectedly hold a ceremonial exchange of authority between Chairman of the Board Immediate Past President and New York State Vice President Margaret Quimosing and (LP) Stevenson Van Derodar, Current President will symbolize the new beginning for the organization and a continuation of a leadership tradition. The ceremony will be highlighted by the turnover of

the chain to the newest leader while Past Presidents of the organization gather to light candles in support of the new mandate.

This year, the chapter is hopeful to achieve its 6 Banner projects of the year including: A Heart for the Homeless, The Search for the Outstanding Young New Yorker, Icons of Impact, Bingo Social Against Malaria, UN Summit Meet and Greet and the creation of Associate Membership and JCI Philippine New York Juniors. There are as well numerous exciting projects in various areas of development to further the mission of JCI in creating positive change.

JCI Philippine-New York is a New York City-based local chapter that has been serving our community for over 50 years and is proud to have more than 5,000

members who have joined the chapter through the years. These members contributed to the chapter’s rich history and continued on to become community leaders, successful businessmen, government o�cials, accountants, teachers, lawyers, doctors and many other professions.

For over 100 years, Junior Chamber International (JCI),

where Philippine-New York Jaycees is a chapter, has been working to provide young people throughout the globe development opportunities that empower them to create positive change. A membership-based nonpro�t organization of young people ages 18 to 40 in 5,000 communities and more than 100 countries around the world, JCI alumni boast leaders such as Bill Clinton, Howard Hughes, Hubert Humphrey, Ko� Annan, Taro Aso, and Prince Albert of Monaco. Each JCI Member shares the belief that in order to create lasting positive change, we must improve ourselves and the world around us.

Among the other elected members into o�ce for installation: Executive Vice President: Romainne De Guzman Luis; Vice President for Individual Development: Carlos Cabrera; Vice President for Community Development: Alex Drogeanu; Vice President for International A�airs: NYSJC Gov Reggie Rosales-Torrejon; Vice President for Membership Services: Brian Tajo; Directors: Lorraine Camacho, Elizabeth Espinar, Wendy Kwan and Alelie Jean C. Tolentino; Treasurer: Leilanee Olaño and

“T” sounds which aren’t applicable in Tagalog words.

Who was to be credited for his leaning towards Tagalog songs?

“It was actually a Filipino singer-songwriter and multi-intrumentalist River Maya frontman Rico Blanco who in�uenced me to concentrate in Tagalog songs. I watched one of his shows in Makati…. Oh, before I forget, I’ve already resided in the Philippines for three years,” David confessed. “We became friends and learned a lot from him. But I have to say, my father had the earliest in�u-ence on me… he’s also a singer.”

So far, to date, David is mighty proud that he has more than a hun-dred Tagalog songs that he painstak-ingly mastered with some he has �t-tingly given English interpretations.

David has already recorded four albums: the �rst two in English, one under Star Records, and eight Taga-log songs being recorded with Eng-lish version. David’s avid followers could view most of his personal re-cordings and videos in YouTube and that increases his growing fan base.

“I’m actually concentrating on recording more Tagalog songs after having recorded Chinese and Indo-nesian songs and maybe, Japanese. I always make it a point to squeeze into my schedule a visit to the Philip-pines every time I have performances around Asia. It felt great to be recon-nected with my friends in Manila, sa-vor the native cuisine, and enrich my Tagalog vocabulary.” David said.

From among the many Filipino songs he has learned and recorded, David picked two that he consid-ered the best he has done with the most ful�lling results: River Maya’s “Himala” and Noel Cabangon’s “Kan-lungan.”

“Every culture has a di�erent and distinct music style and the Philip-pines had its own uniqueness that is easy to fall in love with. Tagalog songs are plaintive and haunting with poignantly lingering melody. The lyr-ics are poetic and mostly expressing supplication, elegiac pleas with the composite elements of soulful emo-tions. It’s easy to relate as well as to impart,” David candidly dispensed his thoughts while verbally sounding like under the Pinoy spell.

His memorable stint in the Philip-

pines in 2009 gave him the chance to collaborate with top Filipino tal-ents like Yeng Constantino, Mikey Bustos, Moymoy Palaboy, Nyoy Vo-lante, Rhap Salazar, Yassi Pressman, among others. His original composi-tion, “Naiisip Mo Ba?,” has incredibly received almost 5 million views.

When queried how long does it take him to fully master a Tagalog song, the Italian-American with a Pinoy heart instantaneously replied: “Before it used to take a couple of days or even a week for me to fully master the lyrics and the melody but lately, a day or two would be just right since I was already familiar with the �ow of the musicality and mean-ings of every word in the song.”

With regards to how his Filipino audience react to his Tagalog-load-ed repertoire: “The Filipinos in Amer-ica are more appreciative than those who are in the Philippines. Here, they �nd it something special and far from the ordinary compared to oth-ers who seemed less impressed.”

It was astounding to learn that David isn’t only a virtuoso on guitar, the ukulele, bass guitar, and even the piano but he’s got another skill with the use of props far from the musical instruments he used to han-dle and play.

“I was one time a world cham-pion juggler,” he openly revealed to my amazement. “I bested a little more than a hundred contestants in 2001.”

That victory landed him a job as the youngest, at 18, headline performer in the history of Disney, Royal Caribbean, Holland America,

Princess, Cunard, and Norwegian Cruise Lines that took him to sev-enty-seven countries around the world. At times David incorporates his juggling expertise with his sing-ing performances.

Incidentally, having tasted (and tested) gastronomic creations from di�erent kitchens, one expects Da-vid to be already a skilled cook but read on what he has to say:

“I don’t cook. What are restaurants around for? But I know what tastes best and what ingredient seems to be lacking in a dish,” he frankly said. “And I am very partial with coco-nut…anything with coconut milk.I love laing (taro leaves cooked in coconut milk), guinataang langka (young jackfruit with coconut milk), and gising-gising (green beans with ground pork or chicken in coconut milk).”

Noticeably, David has totally em-braced his Filipino traits and com-fortably adjusted his palate to every Filipino native dish with coconut. And to test his consistency, we dare asked him his favorite drink which he immediately replied without qualm: “Buko!”

The name David DiMuzio will, unquestionably, go down in the an-nals of the Philippine entertainment history as a multi-faceted performer, achiever, cultural ambassador, and inspirational icon whose clever deeds are as rich as his imagination with a heart as unadulterated as a genuine Pinoy.

For comments and suggestions, please email to: gemini0646@ya-hoo.com.

Continued on Page 7

Vic-Pauleen’s rocky path to the altarby ALLAN POLICARPIO

Inquirer.net

THEIR lips met not without a little humor. Before lifting the veil of his bride (Pauleen Luna), the groom (Vic Sotto) turned his gaze to the people inside the church, and pulled a face. He dabbed his wife’s lips with a �nger, and tasted it, sending the couple into a �t of giggles. Then, at last, the TV host-comedian leaned for-ward for the kiss, with the crowd erupting into cheers.

The embrace that followed, however, was di�erent. It was long and touching, with Vic and Pauleen patting each other’s backs and mouthing the words, “I love you,” as the song “When I Fall in Love” came on. Vic, who’s usually reserved, was misty-eyed after, fanning his eyes with his hand to hold back the tears.

It was, the couple related, one of the wedding’s most “emotional moments”—one that had memo-ries �ooding back. “When we hugged, the years �ashed back, everything we’ve been through,” Pauleen, looking radiant in her Francis Libiran gown, told report-ers, more than an hour after they tied the knot at St. James the Great Parish in Muntinlupa City, last Saturday, Dec. 30.

The path to the altar was, undoubtedly, a rocky one for Vic, 61, and Pauleen, 27. For almost �ve years, the couple have had to parry incessant negativity from critics denouncing their relationship, mostly because of their 34-year age gap—this was emphasized by the fact that Pauleen was once a contestant in the noontime show “Eat Bulaga’s” “Little Miss Philippines” segment.

Pauleen was called, among many other things, a gold dig-ger—a comment she found most unfair.

“It wasn’t easy, but … things ended up well,” said Pauleen, who walked down the aisle with her mother, Chat, and father, Eugenio.

Another hurdle was getting the blessing of Vic’s children, Danica and Oyo (with Dina Bonnevie), Paulina (with An-gela Luz) and Vico (with Coney Reyes), some of whom had initial misgivings about their dad’s May-December romance. But after several talks with his children, Vic and Pauleen eventually received their blessing.

Vic also turned emotional during the homily when the o�-ciating priest, Fr. Je�rey Quintela, thanked the actor-host’s children for “giving their father a chance to prove that he could be a good husband again.”

Meet the new Mr. And Mrs. Vic Sotto ManilaTimes.net photos

is highly valued and encouraged among the young.

We can trace the roots of the Chinese in the Philippines to either the Fujianese or Cantonese dialect groups of the Han Chinese ethnicity. Most pure-blooded Chinese in the Philippines come from the province of Fujian in China and are called Fu-jianese or Hoklo.

Mixed Chinese people who have either Malay or Spanish (or both) an-cestry are called Chinese mestizos. During the Spanish times, they were legally classi�ed as Mestizo de Sang-ley as printed on their community tax certi�cates.

A number of Chinese mestizos have surnames that re�ect their heritage, mostly two or three syl-lables that have Chinese roots. They use the full name of a Chinese ances-tor and provide a Hispanic phonetic spelling.

The Chinese mestizos are some-times called Chinoy or Tsinoy, al-though this term is more accurate for pure-blooded Chinese-Filipinos. However, the Chinoy is not to be mistaken for chinito, a term used to describe physical characteristics — slanted eyes — rather than de-scribing ethnic origin or cultural ori-entation.

Inspiring Filipino-Chinese entrepreneursIn contrast with the mixed blood-

ed Chinese mestizos, few Chinese Filipinos are plantation owners. This is partly due to the fact that it was only until recently that the Chinese in the Philippines became Filipino citizens. The law prohibited them from owning land.

These days, most Chinese Filipi-nos are urban dwellers. At least 50% of them live within Metro Manila, while the rest reside in the major cit-ies of the Philippines such as Cebu, Iloilo and Davao. They can be found everywhere.

The famous Filipino entrepre-neurs are mostly Chinese

Eight out of the most famous Filipino entrepreneurs are business-men whose families emigrated from Mainland China to the Philippines before World War II when the econ-omy was strong.

Some sought out regular employ-ment and others set up small busi-nesses. Although each took a di�er-ent approach, there is one common denominator among them before they became famous Filipino en-trepreneurs — unparalleled work ethic.

While there are other factors that contribute to their achievements, such as being frugal, a good �nan-cial sense, and a strong network

of fellow Chinese businessmen for support, the collective image of these famous Filipino entrepre-neurs working hard and diligently has stuck in the minds of budding entrepreneurs in the Philippines. Indeed, if one wants to be a suc-cessful entrepreneur, there is much to learn from the Chinese Filipino entrepreneurs.

In my next article, I will provide an overview of the most famous Fili-pino entrepreneurs, mostly Chinese with a few mestizos. We have a lot to learn from these icons of the local business scene.

* * *

From Page 3

“We’re happy for the support of Vic’s family. It was an an-swered prayer,” Pauleen added.

The reception was held at the nearby Filinvest Tent, which was tastefully decorated with white �owers, crystal charms and light �xtures. Dinner for about 250 guests was catered by Bizu.

The festivities featured the couple dancing silly in a fun dance number to the ditties, “Dessert” and “Hotline Bling,” and exchanging wedding vows, among other things.

“Sanay ako sa mga dyowa lang, sa syotitay, syota, mga �ing! Masarap pala sabihing, ‘asawa ko,’” Vic jested, eliciting laughter. But turning serious, Vic once again thanked his kids for understanding him, saying, “I won’t waste the respect and love you give me.”

Pauleen, on the other hand, thanked her husband for “stick-ing it out and �ghting for me.” “You made me see that true love knows no age, no boundaries,” she said.

An Asian Journal Magazine

Liza Soberano and Enrique Gil announce their latest TV venture, ʻDolce Amoreʼ

ONE of prime time TV’s hit love teams, Liza Soberano and Enrique Gil, seems to be returning to the demands of a nightly drama series at the perfect time in their personal lives—that is, if the latter’s promise is to be kept.

This week, the showbiz press corps eagerly reminded the young and good-looking pair behind 2015’s highly successful prime time series “Forevermore” on ABS-CBN that Enrique had said he would start courting Liza when she turned 18. The beautiful Filipina-American came of age on January 4, and they will be spending lots of time again as they star in the same network’s newest teleserye, “Dolce Amore,” which begins airing on February 15.

Replying in a roundabout way, Enrique told the press that he and Liza are “in a happy place” at the moment and that he sees no need

for labels so long as they are, like he said, “happy.”

“Hindi pa siguro ngayon . . .” he added when pressed to say whether he will court his screen partner or not. “Marami pang kailangang i-prioritize.”

The pair, who launched their new show at the ABS-CBN headquarters with the powerhouse cast, was more generous talking about “Dolce Amore.”

This time, they portray two young wandering souls, each in search of who they really are, while suddenly brought together by destiny.

“It’s a project I think almost everyone will be able to relate to. It’s about �nding your identity and �nding love, and the story is just so fun and uplifting,” said Liza.

Liza plays Serena, a young girl raised in Italy by her adoptive

parents. Though she lives a good life, she cannot shake o� the feeling that an important part of her identity seems to be missing—the truth about where she came from.

Bearing the same struggles is the character of Enrique, Tenten, who grew up in an orphanage su�ering from the pain of his real parents’ rejection. A hardworking “raketero,” Tenten takes on di�erent jobs to help his adoptive family.

“It’s a ‘peasant meets a princess’ kind of feel. It’s a very light teleserye, the kind that we all love—much like ‘Forevermore,’” shared Enrique.

Liza said that fans should expect her team-up with Enrique to level up in terms in terms of emotions, since they are both more open to experimenting with their characters at this junction in their careers.

Perfect timing for LizQuen’s teleserye comeback

From Page 3

No BoundariesBy ALLYSON ESCOBAR

AJPRESS

Mark & PJ Met through : Tinder in 2014

Love is when the person is your other half, no matter the distance

Mark Bautista, 24, and his girlfriend of over a year, Precious Joy aka. “PJ,” 22, met on the social dating app Tin-der in 2014. The location-based appli-cation, which connects to Facebook, matched Mark and PJ up as a pair while the two were both working in Manila, where Tinder culture is large and thriving. After just a few weeks on Tinder, Mark asked PJ for co�ee, and the rest was history. The two made it o�cial after just a few weeks of dating.

“My friends would always make fun of me for using the app [Tinder], but then I showed it to them and soon they were using it too,” Mark, a videographer now based in Southern California, laughed.

When he and PJ began dating, it was apparent from the start that the both of them were going to leave to the US to launch their careers individ-ually. Back home in the Philippines, they hardly saw each other because of PJ’s frequent visits to her family in the northern province of Isabela. They communicated frequently, and when they did see each other, it was as if no time had passed.

Soon, long distance began to run its course. Mark obtained his visa and went to California to continue his career, while PJ took up a tem-porary position in Colorado, working for hotel management, before she went back home to Manila for work in December 2015. Mark remained in Southern California with his fam-ily. Despite nearly a day’s time di�er-ence, the two have always made it work, with the help of communica-tion and technology, mutual respect, and maturity.

“We’re really private about our re-lationship, and it’s one of the factors that’s kept us going. No one’s going to bother you. We’ve gotten a lot stronger as a couple, especially after this �rst year.”

The two were also able to see each

by TESSA MAURICIO-ARRIOLA

ManilaTimes

John Lloyd and Bea spotted in Balesin?

FROM blog sites to soccer moms’Viber groups, the supposed sighting of “perfect on screen couple” and noted actors John Lloyd Cruz and Bea Alonzo in the exclusive island resort of Balesin has been ablaze since last week, sending fans of the 14-year-old blockbuster movie tandem into sheer excitement.

“Finally!” typed a thirty-some-thing mom of three in her all-girls’ Viber group, though sadly adding she felt bad for Angelica Panganiban and Zanjoe Marudo, John Lloyd and Bea’s erstwhile signi�cant others.

“But kilig ako for Popoy and Basha!” she typed just as quickly, and obviously with glee. Popoy and Basha are the pair’s iconic roles in the box-o�ce record-breakers “One More Chance” in 2007, and its sequel, “A Second Chance,” which was just released in November 2015.

Another mom agreed, and with her very own contribution to the uber showbiz Viber session revealed she saw Angelica in a co�ee shop of a posh mall last weekend “not looking too happy” as she drank her co�ee and smoked her cigarette all by her lonesome.

Given all the excitement—and bits of commiseration—could it be true that the most awaited reel-to-real life coupling in Philippine

showbiz has �nally happened?Let’s take a look back at the

events that led to John Lloyd and Bea’s supposed Balesin Island sight-ing.

On January 14, DJ Mo Twister tweeted that a TV reporter disclosed over his podcast Good Times with Mo that John Lloyd and Bea are indeed a item, and that “an overlap-ping” had taken place in their respec-tive relationships with Angelica and Zanjoe.

While all four celebrities kept quiet about the rumour—with the two men very much in the news at the time as John Lloyd went to Con-gress for a Metro Manila Film Festival Probe, and Zanjoe’s promos for his new teleserye, “Tubig at Langis” on ABS-CBN—it was only the latter part of the month that admission and con�rmations were �nally made on the alleged break-ups.

On January 20, Zanjoe admitted to host Boy Abunda on his late night ABS-CBN talk show that he and Bea had ended their �ve-year relation-ship. The actor refused to further details on why they parted ways.

In no time, netizens began tweeting sightings of the on-screen couple �nally together in real life, �rst dining in a Tagaytay restaurant, and now in Balesin, as collated by www.adobotalk.ph on January 30 and February 3, respectively. Another blogsite www.allaboutjuan.info also

reported similar posts from social network users.

Last Thursday, Feb. 4, DZBB radio anchor Arnold Clavio joined in the gossip fest as he told listeners he was looking a photo of John Lloyd and Bea in matching hats at the exclusive resort as sent by his source.

Clavio even related the same source as saying that while “the girl” was more discreet in giving away that she and her leading man are in-deed an item, the two celebrities will in fact make an o�cial announce-ment on their status very soon.

If life has indeed imitated art, then all that is left is to wish these two talented actors the best of luck in making everything real—�nally.

To borrow a line from a popular song in the ʻ80s, have Bea Alonzo and John Lloyd Cruz decided to ʻmake it real?ʼ

From Page 6Auditor: Marjerie Rosales-Taway.

Presidential appointments to be inducted as well include Alumni A�airs Head: Mel Rodriguez; International Outbound Missions Liaison: Olga Maria Czarkowski; Tambuli Editor-in-Chief: Joe Valdez; Chaplain and Communications Advisor: Addie Adams; Presidential Admin Sta� Aprille Aquino; Media Network O�cer Christopher Fallarme; Board Secretary: Robert Fernandez and Chapter State Directors: Carolyn Joyce Agustin Peña & John Sohn.

This year’s presidential advisers include JCI Sen/PP Richie Rillera; JCI Sen/PP Antero Martinez; JCI Sen/PP Jocelyn Bernal-Ochoa; JCI Sen/PP Vivian RL Velasco and USJC Amb/PP Bel Molina (50th).

This year’s board advisers include JCI Sen/PP Sergs Estrada; JCI Sen Penn Baluyut; JCI Sen/PP Richie Rillera; JCI Sen/PP Rene Goicochea; USJC Amb/PP Nicanor Luna; JCI Sen/PP CriCri Ramos; NYSJC Gov/PP Krizteen Concepcion; NYSJC Gov/PP Christina Corcuera; JCI Sen/PP Gary Abasolo; PP Victor E. de Leon; PP Elaine Magalona; NYSJC Gov/PP Almor Dayoan and Past President Zultan Bermudez.

Philippine-New York Jaycees...

Connections: Couples whohave found love online

other last year, sharing their love for travel while visiting the East Coast; Canada, New York, New Jersey, and Washington DC. It was a rare mo-ment for the two to be face to face, in a relationship rooted and sustained in online digital communication.

“We connect mostly through Face-book, Viber, and Skype--we Skype almost every single day, at the same time, while I’m going home and she is on her way to work,” Mark shared. “As a long-distance couple, commu-nication is the thing that will really hold us together.”

The couple also sends each other surprise gifts for birthdays and holi-days, despite being oceans apart, and they have many future travel plans in mind, including a grand tour of Asia.

“You need to bond by doing things together, and learn from each other. We love to travel; she loves photog-raphy, I love video. She teaches me cooking--for example, when she was in Colorado we were on Skype, and she taught me how to cook while on camera. Those are our dates. And we are very similar--she’s the girl version of myself.”

Mark and PJ hope to settle to-gether in the US someday, but for now, they will continue to pursue their careers and work on growing themselves. They continue to com-municate every day.

“Respect and communication. That’s key. You need to be mature enough to know what’s right and wrong, and to be understanding of one another’s situations,” Mark shared. “Now, after a whole year--I’m proud to say we are making it.”

Lending support to their latest endeavor for TV are ABS-CBN heartthrob Matteo Guidicelli, Cherie Gil, Ruben Maria Soriquez, Edgar Mortiz, Rio Locsin, and Kean Cipriano, with Sunshine Cruz, Andrew E, and Frenchie Dy. (ManilaTimes.net)

An Asian Journal Magazine