UMAYAM TO PPP-USA MEMBERS:STEAL PWD COPIES; TRASH THEM

VOL. 2 NO. 2 • 16 PAGES • 26.5K CIRCULATED IN LOS ANGELES/ORANGE COUNTIES AND INLAND EMPIRE FOLLOW US @PinoyWatchDog • LIKE US PinoyWatchDog • SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2012

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Joel Bander, Attorney at Law, P.C. Criminal/ Civil /Wage and Hour25 Years of Litigation Success | Call 213 873 4333 | Downtown L.A.

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► By Rene Villaroman | Managing Editor

► By the PinoyWatchDog.com Investigative Team arna UMayaM, the beleaguered chair-person of Philippine Children’s Charities, Inc. (PCCI) and or-

ganizer of the much-maligned

Pres. Benigno S. Aquino III, iSynerji President Melissa Salvador and Island Living Chairman Radjie Caram share a laugh at the 38th Phil Business Conference.

An E-mail obtained by PWD details Umayam’s order to trash copies of PinoyWatchDog.com

100 Outstanding Filipino ameri-cans in the USa (100 OFaUSa), ordered members of the Press Photographers of the Philippines-USa (PPP-USa) to steal copies of PinoyWatchDog.com newspa-

pers on June 21 in anticipation of PWD’s publication of irregulari-ties related to the conduct of the 100 OFaUSa dinner event held in July. Some officers and mem-bers of PPP-USa have long been

Photo Credit: Radjie Caram

Photo Credit: Department of Tourism PHDOT

OS anGELES – Pristine landscape, unique culture, and a warm, welcoming and English-speaking

The Philippine islands: A paradise rediscovered

► By David Casuco | PWD Contributing Writer

OS anGELES—PinoyWatchDog.com has named robbie Fabian of aBS-CBn

Foundation International as the first ‘Dog of the Year’ winner for exemplary acts of courage, integrity and trans-parency as a civic leader, it was announced by atty Joel Bander and rene Villaro-man, founders of this fort-nightly newspaper.

Bander and Villaroman were inspired by the self-less and courageous deci-sion made by Mr. Fabian and the board of directors of the aBS-CBn Founda-tion International when they pulled out from participating in the 100 Outstanding Fili-pino americans in the Unit-ed States (100 OFaUSa), a dinner award event organ-ized by Ms. Darna Umayam, the beleaguered chairper-son of Philippine Children’s Charities, Inc.

Mr. Fabian’s last minute decision to pull out from the

PinoyWatchDog.com names Robbie Fabian of ABS-CBN

Foundation the first ‘Dog of the Year’ Award recipient

Gaganda ka kay Gandi

I will be forever grateful to the PinoyWatchDog family for your gen-erosity in choosing me as your awar-dee. I accept this award on behalf of the staff, donors, volunteers, advisers and community liaisons of aBS CBn Foundation International whose ded-ication and commitment to the cause of helping less fortunate Filipinos around the world inspire me every day. This is also for my colleagues at The Filipino Channel for making me feel welcome in redwood City and for always making aBS CBn Global feel like a family. Through them I learned the true meaning of kapamilya. and to raffy Lopez, COO of aBS CBn and Board Chairman of aBS CBn Foundation International, for his fair-ness, compassion, and trust in the foundation’s work. From him, I saw true leadership in action. Lastly, I accept this award on behalf of the children and poor families the Foundation is privileged to serve. From them I learned that strength is measured not just in our ability to fight life’s vicissitudes but in our unwavering capacity to keep hope alive even in the darkest hours. For me, they will always be “top dog”.

Fabian acceptance statement

perceived by PWD as avowed sympathizers of Ms. Umayam’s.

This revelation surfaced last week when PWD finally was able to obtain the e-mail dated

“The Bladed Hand: The Global Impact of FMA”

President Aquino: “I believe in the mark of a truly revitalized society”

anILa -- I felt the promise of the fu-ture of the Philip-pines when I heard President aqui-

no’s keynote speech to the 38th Philippine Business Conference and Exposition (PBCE) last Octo-ber 11 where he stated “I believe in the mark of a truly revitalized so-ciety, and true public services, and demand nothing less from their fu-ture leaders.”

► By Melissa Salvador P-noy said, “In this way, we can be certain that the Philippines will continue to notch achieve-ment after achievement, towards the realization of our aspirations of shared success.”

The conference last October 9-11 was organized by my dear-est and closest friend atty. Miguel Varela, President of Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Indus-try (PCCI), the largest and leading voice of business organizations in the Philippines. The conference was held at the home of high so-

ciety and political intrigue, Ma-nila Hotel, with the theme, “One. Global. Filipino. Investments and Governance, Pillars of Economic Growth.” I left this action-packed conference feeling it could have been, in President aquino’s words “the results of our commitment to balance prudent spending, and re-forms to increase competitiveness.”

Varela said that “the theme of this year’s 38th PBCE, highlights the crucial roles investments and

people – these and more summed up the fascinating picture of the Philippines at the aSTa Travel and Trade show recently at the L.a. Convention Center.

Easily the most ubiquitous exhibitor in the asian group, the

8PinoyWatchDog.Com2 Saturday, October 20, 2012

Leading contenders for Philippine President DILG Secretary Mar Roxas and Vice President Jejomar Binay join with iSynerji President Melissa Salvador to enjoy PinoyWatchDog.com

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governance play in promoting the growth of commerce and industry and in creating the conditions to at-tain sustainable and inclusive eco-nomic development, where all deci-sion makers, industry stakeholders, business chambers, industry asso-ciations and foreign delegations, distinguished government officials and high-profile businessmen from all over the country, contributed to the creation of a more competitive business and investment environ-ment to further propel the country into becoming a key player in the regional and global investment arena,”

The level of excitement was high at this high-level event among the Philippine’s government and business elite to promote collabo-ration between public and private entities to address critical issues about business and economy; and to foster camaraderie and network-ing opportunities for government officials, business leaders, along with meeting so many fellow at-eneans from all over the country with excellencies and members of the diplomatic corps and foreign delegations.

Meeting and seeing so many important and energetic figures in our country’s government and busi-ness sectors at one time was over-whelming, as if it were the acade-my awards of Filipino Governance and Business. Most of those leaders were very approachable. President Benigno aquino is humble, mod-est and has a sense of humour. (Did you see the picture of us on the front page?) Vice-President Je-jomar Binay is not snobbish at all

and joked freely with me (He is running for President, too!). DILG Secretary Mar roxas is guapo. (See the picture of us together -- but alas, he is recently married.) Governor Gwendolyn Garcia of Cebu is so-ciable. Lots of movers and shakers and they remain humble. Quite re-assuring for all Filipinos depending on the leadership of our govern-ment and business community.

Guest of Honor and Keynote Speaker President Benigno S. aqui-no III received a warm welcome and concluded the session of the conference. In President aquino’s speech, he stated that the growth of Philippine economy this year has been robust. He stated that the average Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth for the first semester of 2012 has exceeded expectations at 6.1 percent. He believes that the country will be able to achieve this year’s projected GDP growth of 5.0 – 6.0 percent. The President also noted that the 2011 debt-to-GDP ratio was marked at 50.9 percent which is lower than the 52.4 per-cent recorded in 2010.

I felt the strong spirit among these visionaries who still believe that they can design and create a better future. Everyone aims to find realities and sustainable solutions to the most pressing business and economic issues. How good is the dream that one does not need to go abroad to feed his family! Business and government leaders will work hand-in-hand towards building a better future for Philippines.

This conference made me proud that I have decided to stay home with my family and use the fruit of my M.B.a education at at-

eneo de Manila to prosper in my own country.

I learned how local government units are really reforming their bu-reaucracies to become friendly and compete for investments. PCCI is activating its agreements with the chambers around the world to help the government in promot-ing investments in Philippines. Our business leaders undertook a significant strategic government roadmap planning to reframe some measures ranging from anti-smug-

gling, rice production, energy suffi-ciency, housing, and association of Southeast asian nations economic integration are some of the meas-ures to sustain the economy. The approved eleven (11) point reso-lutions which contain the govern-ment’s roadmaps of programs and its corresponding completion dates were given to President aquino for proper government action.

Indeed, the Philippines is the world BPO market leader and the world’s best country in business

English. I am able to thrive here in the Philippines with my own com-pany, iSynerji Global, providing a multitude of outsourcing services.

It is the PBCE’s goal to inspire unity under the flag of account-ability, integrity and transparency among all stakeholders and attain a globally competitive Philippines. and hence, PinoyWatchDog.com was also well received there as demonstrating the new Philippines, and the new Filipino concerned

President Aquino: “I believe in the mark of a truly revitalized society”From Page 1

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EditorialPinoyWatchDog.ComSaturday, October 20, 2012 3

is published fortnightly by Tanod Bayan, Inc.,

mailing address at 1247 Arapahoe Street, # 7,

Los Angeles, CA 90006, Telephone Number

(213) 261-7467 and e-mail address at

editor@pinoywatchdog.com

Alfonso Gaerlan Aquino Rene Villaroman

Dionesio C. Grava

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& Vics Magsaysay

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It must be remembered that the revolution against Spain failed be-cause the Katipunan broke into two factions and that, as rizal saw it, the struggle did not have the sup-port of the rich and the “Illustrados” of Philippine society. Earlier, even before the “cry of Balintawak”of august 24, 1896, Bonifacio had been sending emissaries to Dapi-tan, where rizal had been exiled, like Emilio Jacinto, Macario Sakay, and Dr. Pio Valenzuela, to solicit his support for an armed revolt, but he was adamant in his stand for a peaceful struggle, and instead cau-tioned them that the Filipino is not yet ready for a national uprising. Ensuing events saw the execution of rizal and the following year in 1897, the Boni-facio brothers were executed for treason by their rivals, headed by Gen. Emilio aguinaldo of the Magdalo faction of the Katipu-nan. Later in the year, the insur-rectos capitulated to their Spanish rulers, and agui-naldo and his generals went on ex-ile to Hongkong after getting paid the amount of 400,000.00 pesos as settlement. Then when the Filipino exiles thought they can restart the revolution with the aid of the amer-icans who was at war with Spain at this time, the Spaniards had another thing in their sleeve. They ceded the Philippines to the United States by way of the Treaty of Paris of 1898 and got paid the amount of 20 mil-lion dollars. and the United States got the Philippines, lock, stock and barrel.

The revolution against Spain claimed the lives of these two he-roic personalities under different circumstances. rizal was accused of rebellion, among others, in con-nection with the revolution and

The Greatest Filipino Who Ever Lived

am writing this issue of my column as a member of the Order Of The Knights Of Rizal, and, as such,I would like to reply to the challenge of an esteemed colleague from the staff of PinoyWatchDog.com,

Atty. Alma Luna-Reyes, as to why she considers Supremo Andres Bonifacio of the Katipunan, who led the armed re-volt against Spain in August of 1896, her National Hero. You see, I joined the Order Of The Knights Of Rizal out of love and admiration for my hero, Dr. Jose Protacio Rizal, who I consider to be the greatest Filipino who ever walked the surface of this Earth, and, therefore, I cannot let passed un-answered any challenge against the level of patriotism and heroism Rizal nurtured for his beloved country, for which he suffered martyrdom at the hands of his Spanish tormen-tors, with his execution on the cold morning of December 30, 1896. The accusations against him, for which he met his fate, were even connected with the revolution, of which he only approved as a last resort, and openly predicted as doomed to fail in its present state. It is in the context of this situation- a violent revolution versus a peaceful resistance- that gives us insight about the heroism of these two men. However, I sub-scribe to the truth of the maxim: The Pen is mightier than the Sword.

was perceived to have inspired the struggle for freedom through his writings, particularly his two novels: the noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. Bonifacio was a tragic figure, although stubborn and hotheaded. He never won a battle, because he lacked military training. When his leadership was questioned by his rivals from the Magdalo faction of the Katipunan in that fateful Tejeros Convention, his temper immediately hit the roof and denounced all his rivals and in-sisted that they defer to him being the Supremo. That was his undo-ing, which later led to his execution as a traitor. The historian, rafael

Palma, contends that the revolu-tion of Bonifacio is a consequence wrought about by the writings of rizal, and that although the armed upris-ing produced an immediate out-come, the pen of rizal generated a more lasting achievement.

The struggle for Philippine independence

during the american colonization of the islands started with the en-actment of the Philippine Organic act of 1902 by the Congress of the United States, and its passage may be attributed to the poem of Dr. Jose P. rizal--MI ULTIMO aDIOS. When the bill was being discussed in the House of rep-resentatives, one of its sponsors, representative Henry Cooper, a Democrat from Wisconsin, recited the English translation of the poem and interjected about the poet: “Un-der what clime or what skies has tyranny claimed a nobler victim?” This clearly referred to the martyr-dom of Dr. Jose P. rizal. The said law created the Philippine Legisla-

little over two years into his administration, Presi-dent Benigno Aquino III is reveling in the limelight of a rosy economic future for the Philippines, helped in no small measure by the nation’s steady economic

performance this year. In a speech before a conference of the country’s business organizations and chambers of com-merce on October 11, the President declared that these ro-bust economic gains have been the product of a winning strategy by his administration. Aquino said that these gains were the result of his administration’s commitment to bal-ance proactive fiscal management, prudent spending, and reforms to encourage competitiveness.

The President told the business leaders and captains of industries that one of the hallmarks of his economic strategy is accelerated infrastructure development to fully realize the status of the Philip-pines as a viable investment destination. These infrastructures are the improved roads and bridges and the newly created transporta-tion hubs in various regions of the country. On top of increased in-frastructure development, aquino said that the Philippines’ greatest advantage as a nation is the people. “Ultimately,” aquino said, “we want a capable and empowered citizenry who can fill job openings and contribute to our agenda of inclusive growth.”

“a virtuous cycle has been ignited in the Philippines,” he told the business conference. He said that through reforms founded in good governance, integrity, and accountability, government has been able to level the playing field, giving rise to increased investor confi-dence.

The Philippines’ economic growth for the first semester of 2012 reached 6.1 per cent, exceeding expectations, and giving the gov-ernment hope that it could easily achieve its target growth rate of 5.0 to 6.0 per cent GDP at the end of this year.

This accelerated economic growth has even caught the eyes of business analysts abroad, and has labeled the Philippines a “new tiger” both in the Southeast asian region and globally.

It is our hope that these captains of industries and their businesses would pour back more of their earnings into the economy to give the government more revenues to spend on projects that benefit all 95 million Filipinos, like infrastructure development, health, educa-tion, and social services. These revenues would enable the Filipino people to become empowered consumers, skilled workers and fu-ture participants in what the President termed “inclusive growth.”

A robust Philippine economy helps empower

Filipino consumers

OpinionPinoyWatchDog.Com4 Saturday, October 20, 2012

A

We can say now that barber shops and pondahans in the bar-rios and remote barangays will be alive again. years ago, I was amused listening to our folks in the barrio during their discus-sions. Most often than not this, led to fistfights and misunder-standing in defending their candi-dates or “manoks.” a candidate’s visit to the barrio was a most awaited event during which the folks can wear their old ramie or khaki pants to shake hands with the politicos trying to court them for their votes. at times, there was instant baptism in order to make the candidate a compadre, or a kasalan.

Ka Juan always said “Pag ha-lalan tayo ang hari, kanya kailan-

Election Fever is Here; Send in the ClownsFTER the deadline of candidates’ registration set by the Commission on Election in the Philip-pines, Filipinos back home were not surprised to see the same usual smorgasbord of candi-

dates that made our election, national or local, the most coveted event. For a while it gives the common tao some-thing to talk, discuss and most of all, watch with gusto be-cause it gives them the happiest moments in their lives, the most humorous “fiesta” in our government affairs, star-ring children or families of those in office already, crimi-nals trying to cover-up their crimes through running for elective positions, comedians, movie actors and actresses, and any Tom, Dick and Harry who thinks he can be the messiah our people are waiting for to uplift their liveli-hood and give antidote for poverty and hunger.

gan samantalahin na natin. Pag naupo na ang mga iyan, adios patawarin hindi na tayo makikila-la.”

In the Philippines we have no shortage of candidates. What we do not have is a pool of think-ers or qualified ones. Iyong mga nag-aral para magsilbi hindi para mangurakot o magnakaw sa ka-bang-yaman ng ating bayan.

years ago, during the time of then Senators Claro M. recto or Eulogio rodriguez, candidates running for offices were well re-spected; not only for their demea-nors but also in having reliable degrees making them perfect can-didates for office. Lawyers have the most appeal to the voters; fol-lowed by engineers, professors

and holders of related professions which can be used in their search for elective positions.

We seldom heard about dy-nasties; families running for all the available elective positions in their towns; no bold stars or actors and actresses; no children who cannot even interpret the Constitution; nor bold stars want-ing to be called.”consejala, chair-man or mayor.”

recently we read the names of candidates forced by their parents in the government to run for of-fice; the “kabits” or paramours of government officials; the wives, sons or mothers-in-law of some candidates. Even bold stars and beauticians. May panaderong nanalo dahil ang ibinabato sa

mga tao habang nangangampanya ay pan de sal, hopia, ensaymada at empanada.

and that is what makes elec-tion back home a comedy. Kahit na sino gusting humabol. Isang senador na hindi maka-pag Eng-lish para makipag-usap sa mga sugo ng ibang karatig na bansa ang nagsabing kakanta na lamang daw, o kaya si bold star ay kekem-bot na lang daw sa ballroom ha-bang naruruon ang mga panauhin.

Senator Miriam Santiago made an expose of the fat allow-ances and community or devel-opment funds of our politicians; from senators, representatives, congressmen, governors, may-ors down to barangay chairmen. no wonder the Philippines is a poor country and could hardly move forward. The coffers of the government are emptied already the moment the elected officials asked for their allowances and budgets, sans liquidations or pa-perwork. and that’s the reason why every time there is a calam-ity in the Philippines, government officials immediately make SOS overseas calls to Filipinos abroad for assistance.

It’s a shame, but in the real world, one among the causes of our poor economic developments for lack of budget is the govern-ment money siphoned to the offi-cials in the forms of funds and al-

lowances which literally become their pocket money.

This situation will contin-ue to exist unless the Filipinos gather their acts together and re-frain from being victims of these clowns. Do not vote for abnormal individuals, whose only qualifica-tions to be elected are their par-ents’ influence and their wealth.

This coming election, we have enough of the clowns to choose from. and in order to pick the best, simply shout and say “Send in the clowns.”

More on Pampanga’s Won-der Woman, Gov “nanay” Baby Pineda

a reader from Pampanga called to say that Wonder Woman had devoted also her time on en-dorsing sampaguita culture, bam-boo planting, carabao raising, goats distribution in the barrios and a focus in improving tourism projects for Pampanga.

We heard that among Panlilio had filed his candidacy against Gov Lilia Pineda. From the grapevine, this last act of among Panlilio totally banned his return to priesthood.

We remember among Pan-lilio did not even endorse PDCC during his short-lived term as governor of Pampanga. I cannot address him as governor because he lost the recount of the govern-ment position.

F► Words and photos by Dionesio G. Grava

IrST the good news: There has been a steep climb in the number of registrants for Over-seas absentee Voting

(OaV) within the jurisdictional area of the Los angeles-based Consulate General of the Philip-pines.

When the registration process was started in 2003 the registrants reached a total of 402. The current registration period from Oct. 31, 2011 has seen that number rise to 29,639. at the rate registration is growing and if sustained, in 5-15 years we may have 100,000 regis-trants, said the consulate officer-in-charge, Deputy Consul Gener-al Daniel r. Espiritu. registration ends in the last day of this month.

Unfortunately, however, the eagerness of countrymen to par-ticipate in Philippine elections through OaV registration has not been matched with identical at-titude in the voting itself. Only a very few actually voted, OIC Espiritu said.

That in essence is the justifi-cation for House resolution no. 2807 filed by Batangas Represent-ative Hermilando I. Mandanas. It urges the Philippine Commission on Elections, the Department of Foreign affairs, the Overseas Workers Welfare administration, the Philippine Overseas Employ-ment administration and other national line agencies, civil soci-eties and political parties to un-dertake activities to encourage all qualified Filipino voters to regis-ter and vote during the 2012 na-tional Elections.

Congressman Mandanas was

Batangas Rep. Mandanas in LA for OAV, dual citizenship talksat a scheduled meeting with com-munity leaders and members of the press held at the Conference room, Philippine Consulate Gen-eral, evening of October 18. He arrived in Los angeles the previ-ous day and will be going next to San Francisco and other places for the same objective: To get the Filipinos overseas active in the voter registration process es-pecially that there is only a short time left to do so.

“I have filed a bill regarding this (voter registration) that’s why I’m gathering information in aid of legislation,” the congressman said. Overseas Filipinos are not expected to go to the Philippines for the purpose of attending con-gressional hearings that’s why he has to come here instead, he said.

ApathyOIC Espiritu agreed that there

is still a need to encourage coun-trymen to come to the consulate and register in order to be able to vote in the coming Philippine election. He said: “We still want that more will register. We want to maximize the number of reg-istrants. It is their sacred right, their sacred duty. The only way they can influence the events in the Philippines is by participating in elections. at least they have a voice to select the kind of leaders they want. We are continuously exploring how to expand the op-portunity for our people to par-ticipate. We are already doing the outreach. Hopefully we can also do more outreach.”

Espiritu also voiced out the need to involve community lead-

ers to disseminate the informa-tion and educate the people about OaV. But most of all, he said, there is a need to break the apathy of our people regarding elections although he clarified that it is not only in Philippine elections that our people don’t participate.

“Even when they are already american citizens, they still don’t participate in elections here. We really have to break this negative attitude because without voting, we won’t acquire the voice nec-essary in the fight for our advo-cacies that would benefit our countrymen,” he said and add-ing that American officials know that while there are many of us, many don’t register/vote and that fact translates into a tiny voice in community affairs.

There was also a discussion about the possibility of voting on-line. It would be a great develop-ment if realized. However, there are still technological and legal barriers to overcome. It’s okay as far as the U.S system is con-cerned because the government is interconnected. your biometric data here, for exaple, is shared by the DMV, Homeland Security, Pentagon, FBI, civil registry and other major agencies of the gov-ernment. We don’t have that kind of infrastructure in the Philip-pines.

Some discussants noted that some factors discourage prospec-tive registrants. One of them is the requirement for registrants to signify intent to return to the Philippines. It would be best if such a requirement is eliminated. However, it was noted that no

Congressman Hermilando I. Mandanas (middle), joins Daniel R. Espiritu (left), OIC of Philippine Consulate-LA, and Vice Consul John G. Reyes in a discussion about voter registration and other issues with community lead-ers and members of the press.

registrant has so far been cited for violating that constitutional mandate. Vice Consul John G. reyes also informed that the re-quirement is only for immigrants. It does not apply to dual citizens, he said.

Dual CitizenshipEspiritu bared that the con-

sulate has a list of 31,000 dual citizens. There is a misconcep-tion, he said, that it is illegal to have dual citizenship. “The truth is that under U.S. laws, you will only lose your american citizen-ship if you execute an affidavit explicitly renouncing it. It is okay to acquire foreign citizenship like the Philippines provided you don’t renounce your american citizenship. Taking the oath to re-acquire one’s Filipino citizenship does not require a denunciation of U.S. citizenship.”

There are decided cases rel-evant to the issue of dual citi-zenship, among them: Schneider v. rusk, 377 U.S. 163 (1964);

afroyim v. rusk, 387 U.S. 253 (1967); and action and Deltamar v. rich, 951 F.2d 504 (2nd Cir. 1991).

rep. Mandanas said that it is important to find ways to im-prove the dual citizenship law; how to educate the Filipinos to make them appreciate that voting is a right; and to inculcate the idea that involvement in the voting process is a way of participating in good governance in the Philip-pines.

The legislator said that citi-zenship allows one to own prop-erties without restrictions in the homeland. Many have gone back to the Philippines for that pur-pose and because of the finan-cial downtrend in the U.S. OIC Espiritu chimed in: “Malaki-laki rin ang marating ng sahod mo o kaya SSI duon sa Pinas (your pay or SSI would go a long way in the Philippines). He also informed that there is an agreement between the Philippines and the U.S. to prevent double taxation on incomes.

PinoyWatchDog.Com 5Saturday, October 20, 2012

President Aquino: “I believe in the mark of a truly revitalized society”

From Page 2about accountability, integrity and transparency!

PHILIPPInES is the rIGHT place. FILIPInOS are the rIGHT people. now, it is the BEST TIME to InVEST in the Philippines.

“This is the most bullish con-ference because businessmen are more inspired now than ever be-cause of the assurance of the Presi-dent. We can move on now and

compete,” PCCI President Varela said.

I commend the leaders and members of Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, headed by its President atty. Miguel Varela, Chairman antonio Lopa, Chairman alfredo yao, Honorary Chairman Edgardo Lacson, Honorary Chair-man Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr, Honor-ary Chairman Donald Dee, Dr. Jose “Titoy” Pardo, Dr. Francis Chua, its

distinguished members and offic-ers of PCCI, on the occasion of the 38th Philippine Business Confer-ence and Exposition. MaBUHay!

Melissa Salvador earned Mas-ter in Business Administration from Ateneo de Manila Universi-ty. She is the President of iSynerji Global (www.iSynerji.com) and Digital Strategist of PinoyWatch-Dog.com.

n one of her responses regarding allegations of wrongdoings, Darna Umayam made much of the fact that PinoyWatch-

Dog used to have good words for her. In an email blast, for example, she said: “Mr.al aquino wrote once that I was a pillar in the community and Mr Larry Pelayo wrote ‘Comes now Darna, a different breed who works and help people…’”

In another Ms. Umayam said: “In closing I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for all the help and support you have ex-tended to the 114th Philippine Inde-pendence Day and also to the 100 Outstanding Filipino americans in the USa. your presence and sup-port is highly appreciated. Thanks.” That was addressed to this writer.

It is my conviction as a Chris-tian to presume good faith on fel-lowmen. Having heard of her sup-posed selfless services for charitable causes, I saw no reason not to give her that presumption. Then there was that kilometric biography she disseminated when she pursued an elective post in the Filipino ameri-can Community of Los angeles (FaCLa), which unfortunately she lost. I thought then that she’s one amazing Filipina-american worth emulating. There’s no reason to be-lieve anyone of her stature would purposely lie on a personal sheet no one requires of her in the first place.

In some of her other messages Ms. Umayam wrote that her chil-dren are used to reading good things about her in the newspapers. as Filipinos, “Let us not put each other down, but instead let’s help each other.” Ms. Umayam contradicted herself when she later alleged that PinoyWatchDog had always been against her.

as journalists, it is our duty at PinoyWatchDog to diligently seek out subjects of news stories. It is what journalism is about. On her part as a public personality, it is her duty to be transparent and provide ready access to official documents so that the people may know. re-garding her fundraising, the IrS requires that documents be widely available for public inspection. Un-fortunately she had not been forth-coming in our discussions regard-ing the ‘Outstanding’ event as well as of another fundraising in 2009. She might have considered them cute but her responses to legitimate questions were pockmarked with ambiguity, contradictions, untruth-fulness and other fallacies. Pre-sumption of good faith withdrawn.

I wrote her initially that I am a community reporter who had to so-licit her side of the developing con-troversy about the 100 Outstanding Filipino americans in the USa, of which she was the project director, spokesperson and one-woman eve-rything. “Like you,” I said, “I have

A matter of character ► By Dionesio C. Grava a role to perform. Unlike you, I

have no other option in this assign-ment if I have to remain loyal to my calling.”

The second part was a dig on her claim of privacy. There’s no law forcing anyone to render vol-untary fundraising service to the community. She could have opted out from our inquiries anytime by reverting to being an ordinary person. I reminded her then: “re-garding your claim of privacy, I be-lieve your event 100 Outstanding Filipino americans in the USa is a matter of public interest/concern. Additionally, ‘A person may, by his own activities or by the force of circumstances, become a public personage and thereby relinquish a part of his right of privacy to the ex-tent that the public has a legitimate interest in his activities. (Gertz v. robert Welch, Inc., supra, 418 U.S. 323, 351 [41 L.Ed.2d 789, 812].)”‘

The following is from an old Supreme Court dictum: “the inter-est of society and the maintenance of good government demand a full discussion of public affairs. Com-plete liberty to comment on the conduct of public men is a scal-pel in the case of free speech. The sharp incision of its probe relieves the abscesses of officialdom. Men in public life may suffer under a hostile and unjust accusation; the wound can be assuaged by the balm of clear conscience. a public officer should not be too thinned-skinned with reference to his offi-cial acts. Only thus the intelligence and dignity of the individual be exalted.’

Ms. Umayam and her awards

I recalled being invited to her house the first time — per IRS, the house being the declared site of her non-profit organization is a public place — in connection with another story I was following up which re-portedly was settled out of court. The first thing she did was show me her trophy room, the wall of which was covered with plaques. Indeed it was impressive. However, given the above-cited uncertainties in her statements as well as her refusal to clarify columnist Bander’s finding that the UST Cum Laude claim in her bio is allegedly not supported with fact, I had come to doubt whether all those awards were real.

Integrity, moral uprightness, character. Without them nothing matters, according to one saying. Certainly there are other traits es-sential for one to achieve success such as belief in oneself, persever-ance, determination and intelli-gence. But man has also a soul that has a conscience. Success and titles gained through deceptive means are things that your conscience would rather do without. as the scriptures say, “For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and loses his own soul?”

I beg indulgence for sound-ing sanctimonious if only to vent regarding some critical postings in a Facebook forum about this ‘Outstanding’ thing. That includes someone masquerading as Diego Silang who reportedly posted my photo with the caption “Scammer”. Scammer? Where and when did this supposed scam happened? Who are the supposed victims? That’s what’s wrong with some people: they are ‘courageous’ de-nouncing someone or something but only behind the cloak of ano-nymity.

More recently Ms. Umayam sent the following: “My husband and I are not afraid of you. Who do you think you are, what kind of life are you leading. you use your pen for something really bad and nega-tive. That is the work of a person with manic depression psychosis. I researched on this.”

as I said, it is my obligation as a journalist to help ferret out the truth of a reported money-generat-ing scheme that has been going on for several years. We have to per-sist on this issue because, accord-ing to Thomas Paine, “a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right.”

Here is one lady who single-handedly started a so-called na-tional search for outstanding Filams with zero funds, no public announcement or press releases, no committee of jurors and be-cause the organization she was af-filiated with — the Philippine Press Photographers-USa — has no 501 c(3) status, she allegedly hijacked the Philippine Children’s Charities, Inc. to do the fundraising without the authority of its owners. She said awardees were not required to pay but we got hold of documents showing that they had to cough up at least $1,100 each. and a Filam she used to work with in a previous organization alleged that there were also irregularities there.

In a short time more than 80 “Distinguished Honorees” were gathered and presented to the public in the OFaUSa event last March. She claimed that “There were 285 recommendations to this project however, we chose 100 best of the best.” Supposedly the 100 best of the best in the USa but lo and behold! Most of them were from the Los angeles area and nearby vicinities. More troubling, many were personal friends of the organizer and reportedly included even two of Ms. Umayam’s teen-age children. What a character?

Ms. Umayam said that the awardees deserve to be called out-standing because they will be do-nating to a charitable cause. Then why not call them Distinguished Donors or whatever title appropri-ate with that situation? The ficti-tious Diego Silang (some suspected he could be adrian Lecaros, one of the awardees) justified the name because in the Philippines, he said, beauty competitions are given nice-

sounding irrelevant titles even if in truth they are just money schemes. Going by that assertion, was the 100 Best of the Best Outstanding Filipino americans in the USa no different from Filipina beauties vy-ing titles for a price?

as already mentioned in a pre-vious article, aBS-CBn Interna-tional’s Bantay Bata was reported saying that Ms. Umayam com-mitted to donate $7,000 only out of the expected huge proceeds. In good sense aBS-CBn later turned down the offered, if insulting, amount of donation. a substitute

charity whose local head, Tony Olaes, was among the ‘awardees’ reportedly accepted the donation and even promised a counterpart amount from his own pocket to be donated to Bantay Bata. Until now organizers refused to provide proof of delivery of the publicized donation. aBS-CBn reportedly has not received the supposed counterpart money for Bantay Bata. additionally organizers have not released the names of awardees to the public supposedly for their own protection. Protec-tion from what?

I

M IGUEL Varela is an ateneo de Ma-nila Law School graduate and the renowned cor-

porate lawyer and management practitioner in the Philippines, holds noteworthy positions in various public and private insti-tutions. Mr. Varela is the Presi-dent of Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the largest business organization in the country, and the Chairman of Employers Confederation of the Philippines, the largest associa-tion of employers in the country.

Varela has been a member of Megaworld Corporation‘s Board of Directors since 2006. He is a Director of Manila Bulletin and an erstwhile President, Director of ausphil Tollways Corpora-tion, Director of nPC alliance Corporation, Vice Chairman of richmonde Hotel, Trustee of Philippines Trade Foundation, Chairman of Pribadong Institusy-on Laban sa Kahirapan (PILaK), Chairman for International and Trade affairs of the PCCI, Chair-man of the Philippine association of Voluntary arbitration Founda-tion (PaVaF), Vice Chairman of Philippine Dispute resolution Center, Inc. (PDrCI), Vice Presi-dent of the International Labor Organization Foundation, Com-missioner and Corporate Secre-tary of the Streetwatch Commis-sion and Foundation for Crime Prevention, Vice President of ateneo Law alumni Foundation, Director of the Makati rotary Club, an accredited international arbitrator of the Paris-based In-ternational Court of arbitration, member of the Philippine Bar association, Commissioner of the Consultative Commission on Constitutional reform and a Lifetime Member of the Philip-pine Constitution association (PHILCOnSa).

Varela is the recipient of vari-ous awards and citations such as San Beda College’s Outstand-ing alumni award for Business Leadership, and San Beda Hall of Fame awardee, Presidential Medal of Merit for Outstanding Service to the republic of the Philippines, Tamaraw Leadership award, Katipunan Leadership award and Leadership award from ECOP, PCCI and aSEan Productivity Organization. He was also conferred by the Central Luzon State University with the degree of Doctor of Humanities

Business Leader Miguel Varela

(honoris causa), with Her Excel-lency, President Gloria Macapa-gal arroyo presiding at the Con-ferment rites, and by the Eulogio “amang” rodriguez University of Science and Technology with a Doctorate in Business Technol-ogy (honoris causa).

Varela is an active member of the aSEan Confederation of Employers, and the Management association of the Philippines.

Varela served as Member (representing Employer and In-dustry Sector) of the Board of Di-rectors of the Technical Education and Skills Development authori-ty (TESDa); Member (represent-ing Management) of the national Manpower and youth Council; Commissioner (representing the Business Sector) of the national Labor relations Commission; Commissioner (representing em-ployers) of the Social Security System; Commissioner (repre-senting employers) of the Em-ployees’ Compensation Commis-sion; Commissioner (representing employers) of the Occupational Safety and Health Board; and Di-rector of the national Economic Council (now national Economic and Development authority) from 1967 to 1972.

Varela was a Philippine Del-egate (representing employers) to the International Labor Con-ference; head delegate, member, and participant in various interna-tional activities, such as the Phil-ippine Business Delegation on the Presidential Visits to Malaysia, China, Singapore, Brunei, Indo-nesia, Japan, USa, new Zealand, and Hong Kong; the aSEan Conference of Employers’ Top Management; Top Management Forum on role of new Ventures; Free Trade and Social responsi-bility; and aSEan Employers Symposium. He is also the Philip-pine representative to the aPEC Business advisory Council; and the East asia Business advisory Council (EaBC).

About Miguel Varela

Atty. Miguel Varela, the renowned corporate lawyer and management practitioner in the Philippines, is the President of Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI). PCCI hosted the 38th Philip-pine Business Conference and Exposition last Octo-ber 9 – 11 at posh Manila hotel.

PinoyWatchDog.Com Saturday, October 20, 2012 6

From Page 1

►By Dionesio C. Grava

June 21, 2012, which Ms. Uma-yan sent to officers of PPP-USA, which stated,

“Dear fellow PPP-USA:

I have emailed all awardees, because PinoyWatchDog is writ-ing an article about the event, They asked me several questions and I answered them. Dionisio Grava is writing it. I warned Grava just to write on positive note.

Just watch for the article to come out. If there is something negative, we collect newspaper and thrown it in garbage. Let us help each other and do it”

This email was forwarded to then active members of the PPP, some of whose members have long been suspected by the PinoyWatchDog.com investiga-tive team of also being active in the theft of the newspapers. among those directed by Umay-am to steal the newspapers and throw them away were long term Umayam supporters, including Vilma Hernandez, Irwin and nita Jazmines, Bobby Crisostomo, Bobby Saddul, Sid Guerrero,

Ding Carreon and anthony Cas-tillo. PWD received numerous reports of Crisostomo boasting of stealing the newspapers, as well as reports that Hernandez, Jazmines and anthony Castillo were involved in the internet smear campaign against PWD af-ter the exposes first appeared.

all of these PPP members were sent emails from the PWD Investigative Team seeking com-ment on their roles in stealing PWD newspapers. However, none of them have responded to these emails.

In PinoyWatchDog.com’s September 8, 2012, print edition

Umayam To PPP-USA members: Steal PWD copies; Trash them

numerous witnesses discussed personally observing Umayam stealing the newspapers. See http://www.pinoywatchdog.com/darna-umayam-caught-stealing/. While that article discussed that the PWD Investigative Team had seen the email, it had not, until recently, actually obtained a copy of the email that is now being shared with our readers.

On July 22, 2012, Umayam sent an email to PWD Sr. Col-umnist Joel Bander stating “I will not make an appeal to the community to stop stealing your Pinoywatchdog. I was about to do it to put a stop on all this. But you still continue to hit me below

the belt. I will just do what I think is right.” In that same email exchange, Umayam stated “I won’t stop at noth-ing. The war has just begun.” See related story at http://www.pinoywatchdog.com/anti-semitic-rants-and-sup-port-for-newspaper-thiev-ery-from-darna-umayam/

Bander said that the Los angeles Police Department (LaPD) has assigned two detectives to investigate fur-ther, and that he is contact with them. California Penal Code Section 490.7 makes it a crime to take more than 25 free newspapers if the purpose is to deprive others the opportunity to read or enjoy the newspaper. “ad-

Anthony Castillo

Vilma Hernandez Irwin Jazmines

Bobby Crisostomo Bobby Sadul

Sid Guerrero Ding Carreon

Darna Umayam

mittedly,” Bander said, “there are worse crimes out there, so we will be patient while the LaPD moves ahead with its investigation.”

Previous PWD investigations of Umayam revealed that she even stole the 501(c) (3) charity, Phil-ippine Children’s Charities, from the Philippine Consulate’s 2009 Kalayaan Organizing Committee. http://www.pinoywatchdog.com/umayam-hijacked-pcci-non-profit-from-independence-day-commit-tee/ There are also reports that Umayam has issued a financial

statement to some of her ‘awardees’ but preliminary, unsubstantiated reports indicate bloated expenses. However, at press time PWD does not have a copy of this report.

“This email well demonstrates Umayam’s criminal mind” PWD Executive Editor al aquino said. “How can a community leader put in writing to steal a community paper because the articles are not positive about them? and th e PPP, why didn’t those characters speak up when she announced her theft plans?”

Darna to the PPP: “If there is something negative, we collect newspaper and throw it in garbage.”

awards event on July 26, and the Foundation board’s deci-sion to decline a donation to the Foundation’s Bantay Bata project came to the fore after Ms. Umayam anti-Semitic statement against PWD Sen-ior columnist and founder and that proved to be the last straw in the Foundation’s decision to pull out from the awards event and to decline PCCI’s planned donation to Bantay Bata.

The ‘Dog of the Year’ award stemmed from the newspaper’s avowed commit-ment to total and unbridled press freedom, and its advoca-cy for transparency, truthful-

ness and courageous community service. PWD’s editorial board, which consists of President and Executive Editor al aquino, Founder and Senior Column-ist Joel Bander, co-founder and Managing Editor rene Villaro-man, Editorial Ombudsman Larry Pelayo and Chief of reporters Diony C. Grava are unanimous in their vote for choosing Mr. Fa-bian as the first ‘Dog of the Year’ award recipient.

Joel Jacinto, Director of Search to Involve Pilipino ameri-cans (SIPa), said, “robbie Fabi-an’s act of turning down the funds was an extraordinary act of prin-ciple, and I applaud him for look-ing through the lens of was giving the money. as a fundraiser, it is

never easy to turn down money. Hats off to robbie Fabian. Pinoy-WatchDog.com has made a good choice.”

“He did not hesitate to make a judgment,” opined Mutch Carino, another community leader. “He was not inhibited to be a whistle blower; not afraid to use integrity and transparency as his standard operating procedure. If I were voting, Fabian would get my vote.”

arnel Dino, a concerned citizen and community advocate said: “Interesting choice. as I think about it, I cannot think of anyone else more appropriate to receive the award.” Producer-di-rector Vic Perez said, “He is truly a man of virtues, and I respect the

PinoyWatchDog.com names Robbie Fabian of ABS-CBN Foundation the first ‘Dog of the Year’ Award recipient

From Page 1guy.”

The low-key corporate execu-tive Fabian, who was informed about his selection of PWD’s first ‘Dog of the Year’ recipient this week, played down the an-nouncement, saying, “I have been cautioned in the past about ac-cepting awards. However being named PinoyWatchDog.com’s ‘Dog of the Year’ is a great honor. I am very pleased to be the first recipient.”

Fabian, has served as Presi-dent of aBS-CBn Foundation International since 2009. He is a candidate for a Master’s Certifi-cate in Business administration, Marketing and Economics from Boston University’s School of Management. In 1992, he was

Director of Development of the Shanti Project in San Francisco, the first AIDS edu-cation and direct services or-ganization in the US. He has also served, from 1992 until 1996, as Director of Devel-opment at KQED, Inc., a San Francisco Public Broadcast-ing Service and national Pub-lic Radio (NPR) affiliate. He served as Vice President for resource Development of the Galef Institute, an education think tank, then he organized his own consulting business named J. robbie Fabian De-velopment Consulting, and began his presidency at aBS-CBn Foundation Internation-al in 2009.

PPP Members Directed by Darna to Steal

PinoyWatchDog.ComSaturday, October 20, 2012 7

CommunityLA schools embark on anti-obesity, healthy food program

► Words and photos by Dionesio G. Grava

The teenager came to the U.S. with his parents in 1999 and had visited his birthplace, Quezon City, four years ago. He still speaks the mother tongue and “com-fortable with the food of my country.” “My country” being the Philippines. More than 100 Filipinos attend the Bravo Middle Magnet High School in Los angeles, he said. He and another Bravo student, Kristina Galstyan, were in the panel that morn-ing to offer the youth’s per-spective about the school district’s new program to improve the eating habits of students.

The Los Angeles Unified School District (LaUSD) takes on child nutrition be-

yond lip service and goes the extra length to make food not only good for the health but acceptable to the palate of kids. The second largest school district in the U.S. is making improvements to school lunches in ways that students consume familiar-looking food without know-ing that it had been modified to carry extra nutrients.

It is a wellness pro-gram intended to achieve a win-win goal on both the kids’ well being and for the school. The district is bank-ing on a study that well-fed students are less likely to dropout; and that they are more focused in their studies and perform better through-

RESSED for an answer, the young Filipino American conceded that the food was okay as far as he was concerned. However, in a talk with

PinoyWatchdog later, Karl Pascasio reiterated his reservations. He wished there were more choices such as, for example, Filipino food.

out the day. The motto being better eating, greater learn-ing. That would do well for the academic standing for the school -- in addition to the fact that greater attend-ance means more revenues for it.

Then there is the mat-ter of overweight and obese students. Kidsdata.org gives an alarming information re-garding the rate of the prob-lem on school children. It says that the impact extends beyond the individual’s social and physical health problems to being a burden to medical care costs. It is also being carried to adult-hood. In today’s news, for example, reuters says that “Between 2000 and 2010,

the proportion of americans who were severely obese - at least 100 pounds overweight - rose from 4 percent to al-most 7 percent.”

There is a study indicat-ing that many factors may contribute to the growth in childhood obesity such as “junk” food, large portions, soda consumption and less exercise. LaUSD takes pride in the fact that in 2005 it pioneered the banning of soda and chips in the school vending machines. The dis-trict also has done away with MSG, palm oils, trans fats — and introduced whole wheat, brown rice and vegetarian entrées. In the current food program students are offered

the option of meat or meat alternate, fruit, vegetable, green bread and dairy.

A media briefing was held recently at the new-man nutrition Center in Los angeles under the auspices of the new america Media

(naM) to familiarize mem-bers of the press of the dis-trict’s nutrition in Schools program. Participants also had the opportunity to ob-serve the processes involved in the lunch preparation. The event was supported by The California Endowment.

David Binkle, interim di-rector of LaUSD Food Ser-vices Division (FSD), bared that the school program de-signed to increase awareness of childhood obesity and encourage healthy eating habits is immense in scope. The FSD provides approxi-mately 650,000 meals every day served to 80 percent of the student populace who qualify for the free food. It

is funded by the U.S. De-partment of agriculture and, according the Binkle, the system is such that the more kids are served, the more is the program funded.

a fact sheet indicates that currently the newman nutrition Center, the FSD’s packaging facility, prepares 220,000 of the meals every day and distribute them to satellite kitchens. Overall, it says that 500,000 kids are served daily in more than 1,100 different schools.

normandie nigh, CEO of a World Fit for Kids (WFK), expressed excite-ment about the progress of

the program, which she de-scribed as remarkable and a model for the other schools in the country. She added that a healthy student will be able to focus more in her\his studies and excel academi-cally in school. She urged teachers and parents to pro-vide healthy food to the kids instead of candy or dough-nuts and other junk food.

Victor Carranza, a su-pervisor of FSD, said that it is crucial that everyone get involved because the job of encouraging kids to eat is very challenging and re-quires collaborative efforts from everyone. He was re-

Typical treats

A couple of trucks used to deliver more than 1,100 packed lunch to 500,000 kids dail

From left: Filipino American Karl Pascasio, student; Victor Carranza, food service supervisor; Kristina Galstyan, student; Sandy Close, NAM executive director; David Brinkle, interim direc-tor of FSD; and Normandie Nigh, CEO of WFK.

sponding to information that some teachers object to food being served in classrooms because it would cut into the teaching time.

The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids act of 2010 (HHFK) is intended to help transform school food envi-ronment in order to promote better nutrition and reduce obesity. The law constitutes the first major changes in the food program in over 15 years and considered important to the 32 million students who eat a school lunch and 12 million who eat a school breakfast each school day.

Food handlers make the commitment to deliv-er healthy and delicious food to their wards.

Rick Zalenwski, food production manager, shows off the packaging facility.

P

8PinoyWatchDog.Com8 Saturday, October 20, 2012

n mid-Septem-ber the space shuttle Endeav-our piggybacked

on a specially modified 747 jet as it left the Kennedy Space Center on a cross-country flight to Los angeles. It made

► Words and photos by Dionesio C Grava

End of a remarkable space saga

low flyovers past NASA centers in Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, the White Sands Test Facil-ity near Las Cruces, new Mexico, naSa’s Dryden Flight research Center at Edwards air Force Base in California, naSa’s

ames research Center at Moffett Field, California, and various landmarks in

Photo shows Endeavour in front of Airpark Hotel in Manchester Av., Inglewood.

The five-story high spaceship towers over a gas station on the side of a busy street.

IAn object of allure, the Endeavour. Here a pair of uniformed cops could not a allow an awe-some photo opportunity to go unexploited.

and around San Fran-cisco, Sacramento and Los angeles.

It marked the end of an era of 25 missions over 20 years, total-ing 299 days in space that had seen, among others, a space walk to rescue a stranded com-munications satellite, building and outfitting the International Space Station and a repair mis-

sion to the Hubble Space Telescope.

after a few days stay inside a hangar at the Los angeles International airport the shuttle literally inched its way through busy streets past enthusi-astic crowds and business-es and public buildings at a stop-and-go 2 mph. along the way years-old trees had to be cut down and light posts and

other hindrances moved momentarily where it became obstacles to the immense wingspan.

The historic tour made a scheduled stopo-ver at The Forum before starting the final stretch of its plodding journey. Finally it reached its destination to start a grand new role -- the centerpiece at the Cali-fornia Science Center.

“The Bladed Hand: The Global Impact of FMA”

T

9PinoyWatchDog.ComSaturday, October 20, 2012

E &Artsntert inment

Ignacio admitted he had no background in filmmaking. However, this film was wonder-fully edited and can be claimed as a true documentary. It takes us back to how and when FMa started then it flashes to masters training their students to shots of historians talking about FMa as it blazes into fight scenes- be it movies or masters fighting with students.

The Bladed Hand was filmed around Cebu, Baguio, Bacolod, Batangas, Hongkong, Moscow, Oakland, San Diego, Honolulu and Los Angeles. This film attempts to reveal and educate audiences the impact of our native art and that this is one of the Philippines’ greatest export but not much is known about it. Thus, comes this documentary. and, it was a success.

The ara-tani theater was packed with Mas-ters, martial art students and teach-ers and those who are avid in the martial arts. a sprin-kling of martial art celebrities such as Cynthia rothrock, one of the best martial arts/action film star in the world who also holds 5 Black Belts in various martial disciplines at-tended. Gracing the red carpet as well was Jeff Imada (friend

Movie:

► A film review By Bernie Cortes-Kimmerle

He Bladed Hand, a documentary had its first screening on October 12, 2012 at the Aratani Theatre at Tokyo Town, Los Angeles. The filming of this documentary took three years in the making according to its producer – Jay Philip Ignacio. He wrote, directed and produced this inspiring documen-

tary about a lost art - Eskrima/Kali/Arnis (known as Filipino Martial Arts-FMA), resurrected by masters. Mr. Ignacio spoke before the screening and told us his story of why and how he was inspired into making this documentary, the financial challenges he encountered (since he was pretty much on his own) and how he now cherishes the fruits of his labor, along with his co-producer, Sonny Sison.

of Brandon Lee –he also cho-reographed the fights in Lee’s final film – The Crow). Imada,

a well known fight choreographer who uses FMA for fight scenes trained un-der Dan Inosanto whom Bruce Lee trained and lived with.

The Bladed Hand, shows how Bruce Lee’s 1973 movie “Enter the Dragon” paved the way and opened the doors for FMa. Ig-nacio inter-

viewed many mas-ters, and we learn, in the film, that after Lee trained with Dan Inosanto, FMa techniques

were the choice of fight chore-ographers for use in Hollywood Films because of its graceful movements. FMa’s techniques are used in many movies world-wide including Hollywood, in the military and law enforcement agencies in the US, Moscow. In 2009, the Philippine Govern-ment finally passed the law that FMa now is the national sport through the lobbying of masters and celebrities. This fact is not even known by our 1st to 3rd Fil-am generations.

The documentary – The Bladed Hand, has a raw, jagged edge to it – much like a blade. In-depth interviews of the origi-nal arnis masters were shown and their rivalries amongst each other was portrayed. Most of the filming took place on loca-tion – we can see how simple the Filipino Masters lived, how they trained their students and pro-vided insight to the art of arnis and Eskrima. We learn in this film that Arnis is an indigeneous martial art –originally a blade fighting art but popularly ac-cepted as a stick fighting system.

However, the FMa system is known worldwide as

Here are the next screenings:

The Bladed Hand - USa screening schedule for 2012 October 18 - San Diego, Ca - Ultra Star Cinemas Mission Valley Hazard Center 7510 Hazard Center Dr #100, San Diego 8 PM - call 6195748684October 28 - Minneapolis, Mn - Pepitos Parkway Theater - 6 PM November 3 - new york, ny - Philippine Integrated Martial arts academy 11 aM anthology Film archives - Court Theater 32 Second avenue ny November 11 - Washington DC - Cinema arts Theatre - 9 aM 9650 Main Street, Fairfax, Va 22031- Contact Jhun_Occidental@yahoo.comNovember 14 - new york, ny - International Film Festival Manhattan 1 PM Quad Cinemas 34 West 13th St, new york

“Kali.” The Bladed Hand is a suc-

cess on its own because the audience cheered, clapped at certain scenes and when it was revealed that one of the original masters died poor in the Philip-pines, in an unmarked grave, one

can feel the stunned silence of the audience. The audience was also educated as to the genesis of FMa , its global impact and that FMa is one of the Philippines’ greatest cultural export.

The Bladed Hand showed the importance of recognizing that FMa has been used for 30 years. More importantly, it shows that this art is from the Philippines

– our own. In one part of the movie, a foreigner was training defense techniques to policemen in Manila and even the police had no idea that they were being trained an art that is their own – Filipino Martial arts.

This film featured FMA

luminaries such as SGM Diony Canete, SGM Cacoy Canete, Guro Dan & Diane Inosanto, Guro ron Balicki, GMs Ising atillo, nick Elizar, remy Presas and many more.

For those devoted to the mar-tial arts, this is a movie to see. Mr. Ignacio deserves a standing ovation of this endeavor.

Jeff Imada and Sylvester Stallone(courtesy of Jeff Imada Pictures)

Ignacio & Hamada on the Red Carpet (Photo by Bernie C. Kimmerle)

Jay Ignacio – Writer, Director, Producer of The Bladed Hand (Photo by Bernie C. Kimmerle)

Cynthia Rothrock –Martial Arts Actress (Photo by Bernie C. Kimmerle)

PinoyWatchDog.Com Saturday, October 20, 2012 10

From Page 1

Department of Philip-pine Tourism flaunted picture-perfect natural attractions of the islands emblazoned by the “It’s More Fun in the Philip-pines” catch phrase. The six-man PDoT-La staff spearheaded by PDoT Director Mary anne Cuevas-Lim and Em-manuel Ilagan, deserve all the glory, honor, and power. They had to walk the extra miles to promote the Philippines

(more fun spells paradise over there). PDoT-La staff responded splendidly to the exceptionally frenetic weekend. They were shuf-fling from the ASTA event to the local Phil-am Expo at nearby West K Hall, where another tourism booth had to be populated. But it was the mainstream aSTa expo where the DoT was more fixated.

“The Philippine DoT-Los angeles certainly is doing a wonderful job in

north america and be-yond,” observes a Fil-am who saw a big Boracay billboard along Las Vegas Blvd. “These guys should be lauded and recognized for their great effort of promoting Philippine tour-ism.”

Meanwhile, there is no gainsaying that DoT’s ‘It’s more fun in the Philip-pines’ drive in Los angeles got an excellent traction.

On any given day one goes around L.a., chances

The Philippine islands: A paradise rediscovered

now, following its dis-crimination tracks is Lucy Liu’s reported racial slurs(?) with Filipinos. In a TV in-terview at “Late Show with David Letterman” promot-

are one will be reminded of the sun, the sea, and the sand of the unspoiled beaches of the Philippine islands. On moving buses and light trains, a picture of people leisurely canoe-ing over the shallow reefs of Palawan is just as gor-geous as it is inviting. On that advertisement, the DoT’s punch line read: “Commuting. It Is More Fun in the Philippines.”

Inside the Metro trains, Philippine tourism ads are a common sight. “More Fun” billboards by the freeways and byways are as ubiquitous as the Dodg-er blues. and on televi-sion, “More Fun” ads ap-pear in Mandarin, Korean, and English. Over in Santa Clarita, a county 30 miles north of L.a., a group of Fil-am golfers were wait-ing to tee off for the aPO monthly golf tournament. and guess what the guys are looking forward to: a golf safari in the Phil-ippines, because playing golf is a lot more fun in the Philippines,” says Fil-am amateur golfer Lino E.B. Pangilinan, parroting the DoT’s very popular catch phrase. “Over there you play with caddies and um-

brella girls. now, tell me why golf can’t be more fun in the Philippines.”

“It is an inspired move to vigorously push the “It’s More Fun in the Philip-pines” promo in the South-land using L.a. as the fo-cal point of the campaign,” says Filam travel/tourism writer Justin Orola. “as a journalist, I believe that where L.a. goes, so goes Southern California.”

Launched early this year, the new Philippine tourism campaign is de-signed to lure tourists seeking for a perfect tropi-cal escape. In a recent in-terview with the Oxford Business Group, Tourism Secretary ramon Jime-nez said that the campaign is “the most competitive campaign that the Philip-pines has ever utilized. It focuses on the strengths of the Philippines as a desti-nation. I believe that the Philippines is not just a place that has to be seen, it is a place to be experi-enced, because the Filipi-nos complete the experi-ence.”

Jimenez added that “Filipinos are known worldwide for their capac-ity for caring and comfort

– one need only look at the proportion of Fili-pinos operating in the global nursing and hos-pitality industries. By connecting this positive image of the Filipino to the country, we are hop-ing to reform the image of the Philippines abroad and to give the country’s people more of a direct connection to the suc-cess of the industry.’’

“We have set the am-bitious target of 10 mil-lion visitors by 2016, which we feel is mean-ingful to the country’s economy,” Jimenez said.

now that everybody seems to be jumping into the “It is more fun in the Philippines” band-wagon, it looks like the DoT has it made for this year, and that makes the job of attaining the 10 million visitors arrival target in 2016 well, a lot more fun.

(The author writes travel-tourism, sports, and spirituality for the Pinoy WatchDog, exam-iner.com, and Mabuhay News Service. email him at davecasuco@gmail.com)

TFrue

alseOR ???

►By Vince Concepcion

Racial Discrimination Rules the day with Pinoy Former Beauty

Queen Dindi Gallardo, Lucy Liu!

Entertainment & Arts

HAT the crap is going on here? Have you heard of what happened to New York based former beauty queen Dindi Gallardo in her former workplace? Here’s the rub. Dindi Gallardo (now Joanna Gallardo-Mills)worked as an executive coordinator for Frank Miller, the writer of the comics Sin City and The Dark Knight Returns. She reported that she was put into a very hostile working environment by Frank Miller and by his girlfriend Kimberly Cox. Kimberly was reported to throw the phone at Dindi, destroyed her printer with a hammer, and smeared feces in her work station. In other words she was put to hell by the Batman

writer’s girlfriend. She is seeking damages for discrimination and anguish.

W

ing the film “Elementary”, she said she exercises in-doors because she gets re-ally dark and she would look “a little Filipino” and it doesn’t match. She got a lot

of negative feedback online with Filipinos saying she just slipped a discriminatory remark against Filipinos. I heard she apologized for this statement but a lot of Pinoys got very disturbed.

anyways, while all of these are going here in the US, our chismoso reporters told me that they spotted in La Martin nievera at Disn-eyland in anaheim and aiai de las alas in americana in Glendale.They are here to support aBS-CBn Founda-tion International‘s Bantay Bata and Sagip Kapamilya in a show –The King and aiai. More power for you great guys for helping a

good cause.Back home in the Philip-

pine Islands, good news for Pinoy movies. Box Office hits are movies “This Guy’s in Love with U Mare” star-ring Vice Ganda, Toni Gon-zaga and Luis Manzano. What I heard is it’s raking beaucoup bucks – hundred million already in its 5th day? Wow. and with GMa Films, the Dingdong Dantes and Lovi starrer movie thriller “Tiktik: The aswang Chronicles” raked in 10 mil-lion in its first day! Another wow!

More Chismis next is-sue as we continue to enjoy showbiz newsbreaks!

Dindi Gallardo

Vice Ganda

Lucy Liu

WL

PinoyWatchDog.ComSaturday, October 20 , 2012

Client care news

My View

11

► By Angel Y. Dayan | CPa, Ea, aBa, aTa

From Page 3

HO knows if you could be in trou-ble with this? The Lenders

realize its effects and thus throws you a “curse,” like a devil on the tail. But it is the tax accountant who could really analyze this best on a troubled real estate. But how much of it could be taxed de-pends upon your tax bracket and some available options of escape in the law. These forms1099-a, S, and C,the lenders may issue cannot be ignored. you will need some help. The IrS has all the information from these reports captured in their computer system. In an ap-propriate time and manner later, usually rather late, the IrS writes a letter proposing taxes from these forms you received from your Mort-gage Lenders. a Property in trouble such as a Foreclo-sure, abandonment, normal Sale, Short-Sale, even Bank-ruptcy all result to these special forms 1099. It may come to you in a series if you have several mortgage debts and real estate, and/or some unsatisfied private credit obligations. When people receive these forms, their tax consequences are real and need to be addressed. Wait-ing for time to deal with it causes more problems. If you will ask me, it should have been the first thing to have been looked at before any real estate decision was

Troubling Tax Forms 1099 From Lenders

WWW.TaXWOrK.COM

made. But then as always it appears we accountants would be the last one to be consulted with. Unfortunate-ly, we CPas are not treated an important resource prior to any critical real estate transaction decisions until tax time trouble comes. It is the realtor who gets the first trust, paid real commis-sions but who knows noth-ing about tax consequences and does not even care. Only a few clients would have that prudence or care to pre-consult a CPa. When these troubling 1099 form come, it could be tax “payback time,” according to tax law if you have made some bad deci-sions you thought were right.yes, it is understandable you had to make some tough choices but not checking the rules is irresponsible and it breeds tax consequences that are financially harmful. In most cases, it is too late to unwind. Good lessons are learned.

During the good days of real estate, refinancing the loan and cashing out from this transaction offered a lot of fancy enjoyment. Those were the real property glory days. I have seen the pro-ceeds of the refinanced loans used for the casinos, travel or vacation, paying off the car, getting remarried, paying children’s school tuition, in-vested in another real estate purchase, other than to im-prove, repair, or maintain the refinanced property that the

government expected. The last one listed here in most cases never got done at all. This is one problem. There are tax consequences that may hang on your head for up to 10 years if you do not avail of some available op-tions in the law to solve this problem.

The critical ques-tion asked of the Mortgage Lender by the IrS is: Is the borrower “personally liable” on the loan? The response to this question affects the tax computations for the troubling tax form. you will find the answer to this ques-tion in a separate box of the 1099 form. It is a tax ques-tion more than anything else when the money on real estate has failed. The other surprising consequential question is: Is a real estate abandonment or foreclosure considered “a deemed sale” of the property with poten-tial capital gains tax? The answer is, yes, and it truly surprises people.There are tax troubles from the tax Forms-1099 the Lenders give.

Please call me at (213)-365-1040 if you have any ques-tion or need an appointment to solve this problem. My name is angel y. Dayan, CPa, Ea, aBa, aTa, a Professional Tax remedy Consultant on real Estate transactions. I focus on taxes and problem resolution. You can find my background on my website at www.tax-work.com

OS ange-les, Oct. 11, 2012 -- Oc-tober has been desig-

nated as Filipino ameri-can History Month. In celebration of this event, the Echo Park Community Group (EP-CoG) in collaboration with the Los angeles City Public Library is launching the Philip-pine Heritage Collec-tion at the Echo Park Public Library. This col-lection will be the foun-dation of the literary, historical, and cultural documentation of the Filipino-american and Philippine experience. The “story” or “expe-rience” will also high-light the contributions and sacrifices made by Filipino americans as immigrants to this land and will showcase liter-ary works of local Fili-pino authors especially those writing about their Filipino american

Echo Park Library to Launch the Philippine

Heritage Collectionexperiences and the devel-opment of Historic Filipino Town. Future programs will include book talks and signings, lectures and cul-tural presentations.

an open house open to the public will be held from 11 aM to 3PM on October 27, 2012. The program will feature two Keynote speak-ers – Cathy Serafica Dele-on and Greg Villanueva. Cathy Serafica Deleon is the Branch Manager of the Los alamitos-rossmoor Library of the Orange County Public Libraries. She will speak about the importance of libraries to our community and what a historic phenomenal event this is – the establishment of Philippine Heritage Col-lection in the Los angeles Public Library. Greg Vil-lanueva is an Echo Park native and successful ar-chitect, and who brought up the idea of a Philippine Heritage Collection as part of the Echo Park Library. He will share the reasons that sparked the creation

of the collection. Mi-chelle Magalong of the MyHiFi group will pre-sent a Filipino-american Historical Perspective. a number of local Filipino american authors will also be attending. Linda nietes of Philippine Ex-pressions Bookshop, a mail order bookshop in Palos Verdes, http://philippineexpressions-bookshop@wordpress.com (310) 514-9139 will be on hand with books for purchase or donation to the collec-tion. The Echo Park Li-brary is located at 1410 W. Temple Street, Los angeles, 90026.

Co-chairs of this event are EPLCoG Board members Caroline Lorenzo and Jose Sigala. also on the EPLCoG Board are Joselyn Gea-ga-rosenthal, President; Lisa Baca-Sigala, Treas-urer; Carlene Bonnivier, Secretary; Dr. Marc Caratao; Cora Marte; Isa Meksin and ramona Souza.

ture and appointed two del-egates to the U.S. Congress, extended the U.S. Bill of rights to Filipinos, and laid the foundation for an au-tonomous government ran by Filipinos and eventual in-dependence. The Jones Law of 1916, the Hare-Hawes-Cutting Law of 1933 and the Tydings-Macduffie Law of 1934 became the enabling acts that assured the Fili-pinos of independence and sovereignty. Finally, on July 4, 1946, under the Treaty of Manila, the United States fi-nally granted, or shall we say restored, independence and sovereignty to this “Pearl of the orient seas” of Dr. Jose P. rizal.

The political philosophy of rizal for a peaceful resist-ance was the primary reason

the Taft Commission chose and recommended him as the national hero of the Phil-ippines, which prompted the historian renato Constan-tino to comment that rizal was a U.S. sponsored hero. That singular honor and rec-ognition by the U.S. Insular Government during the co-lonial period was perhaps the most helpful act that kept alive the topic of freedom and sovereignty. and after 1946, there were these two republic acts of the Phil-ippine Government which bestowed recognition to the national hero, Dr. Jose P. ri-zal, namely: ra 646(1951) providing a charter to the Order of the Knights of ri-zal, as a public law corpora-tion of the republic of the Philippines and constituted to uphold the teachings and

ideals of Dr.Jose Protacio ri-zal to the end that Filipinos may emulate and follow his examples; ra 1425 (1956), requiring all high school and college curricula a course in the study of the life, teach-ings and writings of Dr. Jose Protacio rizal. This act was popularly known as the no-li-Fili law during my college days.

However, despite the lack of any official declara-tion from the Philippine gov-ernment explicitly proclaim-ing them as national heroes, rizal, along with Bonifacio, remain admired and revered for their role in Philippine history. Heroes, according to historians, should not be legislated. Their apprecia-tion should be better left to academics. acclamation for heroes, they felt, would be recognition enough.

The Greatest Filipino Who Ever Lived

PinoyWatchDog.Com12 Saturday, Octobe 20, 2012

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► Words and photos by Dionesio C. Grava

E n T I S T ry is not an easy profession. I believe I have earned the

right to make that statement. all day long you deal with disgruntled insurance com-panies, patients who expect to leave your office looking Hollywood-ish and the de-pressing effects of a strug-gling economy. all these juggled while your backs are arched and your eyes squinted. It is nonetheless a rewarding profession and I can’t imagine myself doing anything else.

Fresh out of college I came to the land of milk and honey in the early 90s. Since I didn’t have the license to practice yet, I did what most foreign dentists were doing, work as a dental assistant. This gives you a foot-in-the-door so to speak… establish connections, learn the tricks of the trade and most of all, prepare for four board ex-ams that menacingly stared me in the eyes. Then there of course was the promise of a bi-monthly check in my pocket.

To be an assistant is not a walk in the park. you need to please three entities: the den-tists, the patients and your co-workers. Have you been in a dental office where a procedure is performed with little or no words exchanged between the dentist and the assistant? That and to be able

to deliver health care while being a few steps ahead of the dentist takes remarkable experience and know-how. a dental assistant has the artis-tic skills of a craftsman, the charm of a musician and the patience of a contestant in front of Simon Cowell. They have contributed immensely to the dental profession but have never really basked in its glory since the spotlight is almost always focused on the guy with the DDS after his name. For this reason, nobody would argue with me that dental assistants are the unsung heroes of den-tistry.

In our desire to impart knowledge and contribute to the profession by produc-ing more of these healthcare workers, we established the Los angeles School of Dental assisting. as a Da for about four years and cur-rently as a general dentist in Los angeles, I have unique perspectives of the profes-sion from two avenues. I know what dentists expect and I know how assistants feel. This gives me the chance to address both issues in our classroom and clinic. Further, we believe that with dedication and com-mitment to a two-evening per week class, the course could be completed in just three months at a fraction of the cost that other schools charge. not a lot of facilities expose students to hands-

on clinical experience in an actual dental office setting, another item we place in the student’s bag.

Dental assistants are here to stay. It is not a dead-end job. I have had dental assistants who are now col-lege teachers, office manag-ers and hygienists enjoying fruitful careers. In Orange County alone, the projected job growth up to the year 2016 is 33.5%, the 11th fast-est-growing occupation from 2006 through 2016, accord-ing to the EDD.

as dentists become more and more dependent on their invaluable services, the posi-tion only gets more and more etched into the work force. I have always admired people who would work hard and earn an honest buck. Das are a classic example of this breed. So, the next time you visit your dentist, please show your appreciation to the dental assistant. you can never thank these people enough. Besides, they’re the ones who put the toothbrush in your goody bag!

Dr. Fernando de la Pena is the director of the Los an-geles School of Dental as-sisting and the administrator of the De La Pena Dental Group located at 2701 Bev-erly Blvd. Los angeles, Ca 90057. Their contact info: (213) 389-6211 www.lo-sangelesdentalassistant.com and www.lasersandbraces.com.

► By Dr. Fernando de la Pena

Unsung Heroes of Dentistry

T T O r n E y Joel Bander greets some-one at an event. He humbly in-

troduces himself as “Joel” without any fanfare of being an attorney or his association with this newspaper. and now, working with him over a year on our PinoyWatch-Dog.com inevitably some-one chimes in and says “this is attorney Bander.” The person just meeting Bander says “oh, I have heard so much about you, now I final-ly get to meet you.” Bander meekly smiles, understand-ing but perhaps not fully appreciating the high regard Filipinos have for ‘personali-ties.’

While attorney Bander has been a litigator for over 25 years he has only been a journalist for about a year. I have wondered, how is he able to deal with both the legal and journalism worlds at the same time. an impor-tant part of the answer lies in Bander’s life before law school being a well paid po-litical consultant right out of college.

“I went to school in Washington, D. C.,” Bander said, “because I wanted to be involved in politics.” In

1974, when Bander started college, was the end of a vi-brant era in america. The Vi-etnam War had waned down and richard nixon just re-signed the U.S. Presidency. Bander went on to become a american University Col-lege Democrat during the 1976 election campaign and graduated in 1977 with de-grees in both political sci-ence and economics.

“How did you graduate with two degrees in three years?” I asked. Similar to my experiences with Bander, he was a man on the move, taking classes over two sum-mers to be able to graduate a year early.

after graduation, Bander was a political consultant for the aFL-CIO, helping to defeat an anti-labor bal-lot referendum in Missouri. He was then immediately hired as legislative analyst by the United Mine Work-ers of america’s Legislative Department (1978-1981), being quickly promoted as a lobbyist because he was eas-ily able to understand energy and environmental legisla-tion. He also coordinated po-litical events throughout the coal producing regions of america.

“If you want to learn pol-

itics in the life of rough and tumble,” Bander said, “then work for a labor union.”

Because Bander under-stood public policy devel-opment so well and made good verbal presentation he was often called upon to be a press spokesperson for the union when the union’s chief press officer was on the road. Bander recalls that once at a Labor/Energy conference he had organized the president of the union was fast asleep from drinking heavily the night before when he was supposed to be giving the keynote address that Bander had drafted. “Getting him out for the speech was a part of politics they cannot teach in school,” Bander laughed. “So handling issues of Fili-pino politics and media are not all that different.”

In 1985 Bander received his law degree from north-western School of Law at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon (1985) where he won his school’s national Wagner Labor Law Moot Court Competition and represented the law school in the national competition in new york City. He passed the bar examination on his first take in 1985 and started his own law firm in 1987.

“I saw the law as a way to make some money and have

more stability,” Bander said. But not before another po-litical stint working against Proposition 51, an insurance initiative, in 1987. although hired as a fundraiser, Bander quickly was being used as a radio spokesperson and in training elected officials how to debate the issues.

In 1997-1998 Bander came out of his ‘political re-tirement’ to organize the 300 day occupation of “Equity Villlage’ for Filipino World War II veterans. Bander was then called the ‘Mas-termind of Equity Village’ advising veterans to chain themselves to the Macar-thur statue, wrap themselves in the american Flag and pronounce they would not leave until Congress passed an Equity Bill. The Equity Cause was immediately on Cnn and other networks af-ter never being on the main-stream before. Bander also organized the Equity Cara-van, where hundreds of vet-erans descended on the U.S. Capitol.

“We obtained about 120 sponsors in a week or so, if I remember correctly,” Bander remarked.

Bander says there are many parallels between law and public relations/politics. “you want to get as many facts as you can, and then

present the sharpest, cleanest argument with fewest com-plications to convince either of your adversary, the judge, the jury or the public, that your cause is virtuous.”

In his 25 years of prac-ticing law Bander has di-rected numerous class action lawsuits in the area of wage and hour litigation, and han-dled litigation as diverse as personal injury, legal mal-practice, criminal defense, employment, civil rights and home mortgages. He has successfully handled numer-ous cases before Federal, State, Civil, and Criminal Judges and has participated in hundreds of arbitrations and trials. Bander has also handled thousands of immi-gration cases, but now lim-its his practice in that area

to ‘difficult’ cases. “At this stage in life and my experi-ence I want to be challenged. For instance, an immigrant accused of a crime. That is much different than doing a standard Labor Certifica-tion.”

The wage and hour liti-gation cases bring Bander to his working roots, represent-ing working people. But he states, “I can litigate almost anything. It is really a mat-ter if it is worth it to litigate.” Bander also enjoys defend-ing criminals, particularly immigrants. “after handling so many immigration cases I know that area of law pretty darn well.”

Bander is married for 28 years and his only son is an electrical engineering stu-dent at U.C.L.a.

Joel Bander is enjoying twin careers in litigation and advocacy journalism► Rene Villaroman | Managing Editor

Bander greets Antonio Villaraigosa at Equity Village 1997

“Thirty three years be-fore the pilgrims arrived in new England and 20 years before the founding of Jamestown in Virginia, Fili-pinos marked the beginning of 425 years of their rich his-tory in america,” said act-ing Consul General Daniel Espiritu at a Los angeles City Hall event celebrating Filipino american History Month on Oct. 12 (Saturday in Manila).

PinoyWatchDog.ComSaturday, October 20, 2012 13

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Huh? How did it happen? I am no longer a Filipino? “and that’s irrevocable,” a smart aleck behind me butted in. “That is, if you understand what irrevocable means.”

“I’m not sure, sehr, the last time I look, that darn word has taken a new form.”

I saw some people cry during the oath-taking; but the obvious and dominant feeling of the natu-ralization applicants that morning was pride, and understandably so. To be a citizen of this great na-tion is, undoubtedly, an utmost privilege. I was trying to figure out why some people get teary-

America is in the heartOMENTS before I swore to the Stars and Stripes and everything for which it stands, court workers punched a hole on my green-card; then after the ceremony they kept it

in exchange of a certificate that certainly says I am no longer a Pinoy. An awkward move, but it has to be taken. That’s the price we immigrants pay if we were to live in America free from that mortifying alien tag that hangs like a Damocles sword over our heads.

eyed; maybe they had a difficult journey, maybe the passage was blissful, or maybe they were just overwhelmed by the thought that, now, america dwells in the heart.

There I was in the middle of a huge hall stoic, solemn, sacro-sanct – doing the motions of natu-ralization. But when the judge mentioned something like human beings are essentially the same; they value freedom, first and foremost, and that is why they come to america. That hit me real hard. I instantly felt a lump in my throat. Sure, the Philippines is also into this great experiment called democracy, but over there

real freedom belongs only to the oligarchs and the moneyed few. The Philippine bureaucracy is seriously flawed; it is still of the few, by the few, and for the few. and, as a journalist, that makes me a “dead-man-walking” each time I write the truth that upsets the high and mighty. you bet every Filipino who recognizes this sad truism is entitled to cry. Indeed, we can’t blame them if

they seek to live some place else where the rule of law applies to everyone.

The Filipinos came in second in number, next only to the Mexi-cans, who composed the major-ity of the 4,437 applicants. The Vietnamese and the Chinese were third and fourth respectively; then follow the rest of the world. Looking at the mosaic of faces from different parts of the globe, I couldn’t help but wonder if the Pinoys will be able to keep sec-ond spot “when the roll will call up yonder.”

On my way out, a lady behind me was hollering unashamedly: “now I can petition my mother, my sister, my dog!” I was at a dif-ferent dimension. I was “speak-ing in tongue” as extreme hun-ger consumed me. no, I’m sure I was singing a funeral dirge to a departed numeral alien. “Bay-ankopatawarin mo ako…”

The aroma of roasted onion and hotdog coming from Figuer-oa Street whip up my hunger

even more. The usually desolate grounds of the L.a. Convention Center suddenly came alive with enterprising hawkers selling citi-zenship certificate jackets, pins, U.S. flags, t-shirts, Americana mementos, and anything patriotic.

I was looking for a good spot around the L.a. Live and ready to take my lunch — two packets of choco pie and a bottle of chilled-turned-lukewarm water — when my son, who works in nearby downtown L.a, called to say he is buying lunch for me. That was my first meal as an American – a generous serving of chicken tor-tilla soup and harvest green salad. Starting that day, I became a citi-zen and a human being, and no longer a numeral alien; I buried that old self in the deep crevices of the L.a. Convention Center.

now, I can browse, without trepidation, at those supermarket tabloids with photoshop-rendered images of aliens talking to Bill Clinton or the “resurrected Elvis.” (davecasuco@gmail.com)

LOS anGELES – Most americans know that on Oct. 12, 1492, Italian explor-er Christopher Columbus landed in the West Indies, marking what history books describe as his discovery of the americas.

But it remains an obscure fact to many that nearly a century later, on Oct. 18, 1587, the first Filipinos in america landed in Morro Bay, California.

Filipino Americans celebrate 425 years of history

► By Nimfa U. Rueda | Photo credit by Benny Uy“It’s important that we

promote awareness of this rich history and the many contributions of Filipinos to american society.”

Espiritu received the City of La’s proclamation of Oc-tober as Filipino american History Month and attended day-long festivities spon-sored by the Los angeles Filipino association of City Employees (LaFace). The event highlight was the first

Turn to Page 16

Fil-am Heritage achieve-ment awards program hon-oring those whose excep-tional contributions have helped shape Fil-am history.

“We’d like to keep alive our Filipino heritage and show how it has enhanced the american experience and contributed to this nation’s legacy of diversity,” said

Sports WorldPinoyWatchDog.Com Saturday, October 20, 2012 14

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His alleged unauthorized usage of the Chamber’s name has forced its President, Vic Mercado, and a past Executive Direc-tor, Joe arciaga, to issue disclaimers in connection with his non-membership in the chamber.

On October 9, Mercado found himself forced to issue the following advisory:

We regret to advise all our associ-ates and friends that Mr A. Lecaros who is claiming to be an authorized representative of Fil-Am Chamber of Commerce, LA is not currently an of-ficer of the chamber club nor author-ized to represent the club.

We hereby advised A. Lecaros to refrain from claiming such falsehood so that further misconceptionor em-barrassment could be avoided.

We appreciate your cooperation on this matter.

Vtruly yours,Vick Daza MercadoChamber Prez

Lecaros Still Misrepresents His Chamber Relations Despite Leaving Under a Cloud

► By Atty. Joel Bander | Senior Columnist

Mercado advised that the Chamber felt compelled to issue this statement after Edith Fuentes, a candidate for the Glendale City Council issued a widely released email informing ‘Friends and Kababayans’ about a September 2012, initial meeting of a new association ‘Fil-Am Coalition’ and an upcoming meeting in October 2012, followed by a list of attendees and their associations. The Chamber’s concern arose because apparently adrian Lecaros designated the ‘Fil-Am Chamber of Commerce LA’ as the organization he represented.

“What is this guy’s problem?” one board member wishing not to be identi-fied by name said to me. “Adrian has not even been to a Chamber meeting since 2011 since he refused to answer the investigative charges.” The board member was referring to ten separate de-tailed charges against Lecaros, including allegedly performing actions not within the scope of board membership, such as using the Chamber for his own personal

gain, negotiating sponsorships with-out board approval, disruptive actions regarding the administration of the Miss Beauty of the Philippines 2011 Pageant, causing loss of revenue and goodwill to the Chamber, and seeking to monopolize the obtaining of sponsors for Chamber events.

Lecaros failed to appear at the Chamber’s Investigative Committee after two opportunities to discuss the charges without any response. “He never came around anymore and that was the end of it,” said Chamber Investigative Chairman James Dullas.

Indeed, as part of that ordeal Lecaros’ went so far as to state in an august 13, 2011 email to board members that “I too am an original founder of the chamber! The fact remains that when we started almost ten years ago I was the first sec-retary!!!” Chamber President Emeritus noel Omega stated that Mr. Lecaros was not the first secretary of the Chamber.

PinoyWatchDog.com has previously reported that in December 2011 Leca-ros stated under oath that he had been in the United States for ten years with the commentary of one observer “that would have meant that as a new immi-grant adrian went straight to creating a Chamber of Commerce. How could that happen?” See http://www.pinoywatch-dog.com/former-fil-am-chamber-investi-

gative-committee-chairman-speaks-out-about-adrian-lecaros/

Out of this newest Lecaros-Chamber incident a number of community mem-bers contacted me, feeling concerned about Edith Fuentes’ association with Lecaros and questioning her judgment in the upcoming city council election cam-paign. In an email to me, Ms. Fuentes said

“Mr. Lecaros is not a part of my campaign for Glendale City Council core group. He is not in any shape or form giving me advice. I first met Mr. Leca-ros just before my endorsement party at noyPitz restaurant last June. That makes him a 4-month acquaintance.”

However, Fuentes continued “not in any of our 2 Coalition meetings, did Mr. Lecaros mention that he is a Fil-am Chamber of La Board or Director or Officer or that he is there representing the Chamber or making a decision for the Chamber.” I then asked in a return email if “that If that is true, how is it the designation of being the Chamber’s representative appears in your email? He had to tell someone at some time. Each person in attendance has designations. There must be some genesis.”

at the time this story went to press Ms. Fuentes did not respond directly to the question, preferring to meet in person to discuss these issues.

DRIAN Lecaros, who recently lost his bid for a California Assemblyman position in the 46th district, has continued to misrepresent his terminated membership with the Filipino-American Chamber of Commerce – Los Angeles. He has

also continued to use the name of the FACC-LA in a supporting role to the candidacy of Edith Fuentes, who is running for a Councilmember position in the Glendale.

Saturday, September 22, 2012

PinoyWatchDog.Com Saturday, October 20, 2012 16

Cora aragon Soriano, LaFace president.Similar proclamations have also been

passed in other cities with a large Fil-am population, including new york and Carson, California, where month-long festivities, exhibits and programs are being held to pro-mote awareness of Fil-am history, culture and heritage.

“It is imperative for Filipino-american youth to have positive role models to instill in them the importance of education, com-plemented with the richness of their ethnic-ity and the value of their legacy;” the City of Carson proclamation said.

In alaska, Fil-ams kicked off their cele-bration recently at the alaska State Museum, where a special exhibit featured Filipino his-tory and culture and a reception dinner show-cased Filipino cuisine.

In Los angeles, a dozen of Southern Cali-fornia’s top Fil-am artists are featuring some of their best creations at the La City Hall’s Bridge Gallery in an exhibit titled, “UGaT: Filipino american roots.”

Eliseo art Silva, one of the artists and exhibit curators, said the show “represents a wealth of creative endeavors that reflect the rich diversity of the Filipino american com-munity.”

The other artists featured in the exhibit,

which runs through Oct. 26, are Jun aquino, Vics Magsaysay, rafael Maniago, Maryrose C. Mendoza, Mat relox, Manila ryce, ro-dolfo Samonte, Joseph Santarromana, Bi-envenido “Boi” Sibug, Magoo Valencia and reynaldo Zipagan.

among the Fil-am Heritage achieve-ment awardees from Los angeles are Silva, publisher Cora Oriel, TV host Jannelle So and actor Bernardo Bernardo.

From Page 13

Filipino Americans celebrate 425 years of history