asian journal february 25, 2011 issue

Through the Eye of a Needle... p 11

The story of two masters... p 10

(Continued on page 6)(Continued on page 6)

(Continued on page 7)

With these distinctions, aside from many other more tourist attractions to see and experience, Gallaghar says, “the new country to explore in Asia is the Philippines.”

The Irish Times, which was established in 1859, is Ireland’s quality daily newspaper with news reports coming from throughout Ireland and from a comprehensive network of foreign correspondents, as well as sports and business coverage, features and arts sections, lifestyle, jobs and property.

Each issue contains well-

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February 25 - March 3, 2011

Zena BabaoMsgr. Gutierrez Ogie CruzJobert Sucaldito

hinahamon si John Lapus!!! p 15

The Philippine economy, as measured by the gross domestic product (GDP), expanded by 7.3 percent in 2010, the highest in 24 years. The growth was achieved on the back of a strong foreign trade performance and elec-tion spending.

The last time the domestic economy grew at this pace was in 1986 following the restoration of democracy in the country after a bloodless People Power revolution that catapulted President Benigno S. Aquino III’s mother, Cora-zon C. Aquino to power.

The strong economic growth came during a period of peaceful political transition for the Philippines as Aquino easily won the presidential elections in May last year to succeed former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as the nation’s leader.

Year-on-year comparison showed that GDP for 2010 grew by leaps and bounds as against the dismal 0.9 percent GDP performance in 2009, the country’s lowest in 11 years as the Philippines struggled amid the global fi nancial crisis.

“From a low base in 2009, signifi cant economic develop-ments both from the supply and demand sides charac-terized output expansion in 2010. For instance, economic activities were geared toward higher value-added activi-ties as industry outpaced the services and agriculture sec-tors,” Socio-economic Plan-ning Secretary and National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Director General Cayetano Paderanga said.

Market players, on the other hand, traced the good economic performance to the trust and confi dence in the new leadership. “This is an extension of the optimism that has followed the new gov-ernment,” Radhika Rao, an economist at Forecast Pte in Singapore, said.

Aside from the optimism, Rao said the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) managed to maintain benign infl ation that has contributed to better spending trends and positive

Philippine economy expands at its fastest pace in 24 yearsCOMPLICATED AFFAIRS

For Love and MoneyBy Simeon G. Silverio, Jr.

Publisher & EditorAsian Journal San Diego

The Original and First Asian Journal In America

Chapter 6

The seven-year verdict caught Mindy by surprise. It dashed her hopes of migrating to the United States and joining her parents in California. She thought that by marrying Danny, an

American citizen, he could petition her and get her a permanent resident visa in the United States in a mat-ter of months. Now she had to wait seven long years before her missing husband could be declared dead or no longer part of her life for her marriage to be annulled. Only then could she marry Danny, be petitioned by him, and migrate to the United States.

For days, she pondered her di-lemma. She desperately wanted to live in the United States by hook or by crook. Her parents, who were permanent residents, after her U.S. Navy brother had petitioned them, were getting old; she wanted to see and take care of them before they passed away. But they could not petition her and her daugh-ter because she was too old. She had tried several times to get a tourist visa and planned to stay in the U.S. illegally with her daughter; however, the U.S. authorities would not believe she could afford to travel as a tourist con-sidering she had no documents to prove her ownership of substantial assets. The fact she had parents who were permanent residents and receiving govern-ment assistance was a red fl ag for the authorities: they believed she would stay in America illegally and be a burden to society, especially since she had few job skills, little experience and limited education. This was why she thought of marrying Danny to get her permanent resident status. However, her irresponsible, albeit missing, husband still haunted her and blocked her and her daughter’s path towards a bright future.

“Iwa- nan mo na iyang si Danny (Leave Danny),” her sis-ter Digna urged her. “Wala ka palang mapapala

diyan (You cannot get anything from him after all).”

“Si Ate naman, noong araw gus-tung gusto mong

pakasalan ako noong

The Philippines was recently cited as the “country to explore” in 2011 by Ireland’s leading newspaper, The Irish Times.

The daily broadsheet based in Dublin, Ireland, said the Philippines’ pristine beaches and fi rst-class diving sites were the main reasons the country was chosen over other well-known tourist attractions in the region.

In an article published in T.I.T’s January 8, 2011 weekend supplement entitled “What’s Hot for 2011,” writer Alanna Gallagher was all praises for two “stand-out yet accessible” tourist attractions to visit in the Philippines: the islands of Cebu; and Boracay island in Malay, Aklan.

“It (Cebu and Boracay) offers fi rst-class diving and beaches like Thailand had 20 or 30 years ago before it was over-developed,” Gallagher’s article read.

Irish Times hails RP as country to explore in 2011

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By Andrew Agtagma, Esq.

With the economy strug-gling to emerge from the throes of the Great Recession, workers increasingly choose to endure improper conduct by supervisors or co-workers that would simply have been unacceptable a few years back. Jobs are hard to come by, so having any kind job is better than being out of work—even if the environ-ment is less than ideal. Nev-ertheless, the law places clear limits on inappropriate be-havior in the workplace. This article explores some of those limits.

Having practiced employ-

What is Workplace Harassment?

ment law for over fifteen years, I have interviewed countless potential clients complaining of a “hostile work environment.” With multiple television shows cov-ering all aspects of the legal profession, and the ability to search the internet on every topic imaginable, the term is widely known but commonly understood.

So what is a hostile work environment? It is not enough that an employee experience harassment at work. To the surprise of many, the law does not require civility in the workplace. More important is to discern why the harassment is taking place. Take, for ex-ample, a person who is simply a bad employee. The worker might be late on regular basis, he might send text messages to friends on the job, or he might take twice as long as other employees to finish his work. If this person’s su-pervisor watches him more closely than another employ-ee, gives a better employee more interesting assignments, or gives the person a less favorable work schedule, the employee would certainly feel “harassed.” But by itself such harassment would not violate

the law. The supervisor’s behavior could be viewed as proper ways to motivate such an employee to improve his performance.

For such harassment to be illegal, an additional ingredi-ent is required: it must occur because the worker belongs to a “protected status.” The term might be unfamiliar, but the litany of protected charac-teristics is well known: race and gender, age and disabil-ity, marital status and sexual orientation, to name a few. If the employee has reason to believe that the harassment is occurring because he belongs to one of these groups, the law protects the employee from any resulting harm.

Of course, proving the reason behind harassing conduct is easier said than done. Pitched legal battles are fought, and cases won or lost, over this issue. As recently as the 1970s or 80s, revealing the motivation behind harass-ment was relatively simple. Political correctness had not yet taken hold, and people with prejudices against certain groups would express those attitudes more openly. In today’s increasingly diverse workplaces, however, people are less likely to admit their biases, and might not even be aware of them. It is here where the adage, “Actions speak louder than words,” comes into play.

The answer is to find a pattern to the harasser’s conduct. For example, harsh language might be directed disproportionately towards a particular group. Or, maybe other groups are not spoken to as harshly. In a case sev-eral years back, a supervisor who was accused of creating a hostile work environment for

women defended his actions be saying he made critical remarks to everyone, both male and female. He was a so-called “equal opportu-nity” harasser. However, the female victim showed that his remarks were more harsh when criticizing women. The harasser also used derogatory terms in criticizing female employees, but not male em-ployees. The victim prevailed because she was able to tease out the underlying pattern in the supervisor’s behavior. Without such information, a worker’s harassment com-plaint has a poor chance of success.

Once the reason behind the harassment is determined, the next question is: How bad is the harassment? An employer will not be liable for creating a hostile work environment unless the conduct is “se-vere” or “pervasive.” Take a supervisor who is occasion-ally rude, short-tempered or grouchy because she spilled her morning coffee or is short on sleep. In that moment, an employee might feel harassed; but the law will overlook oc-casional unpleasantries. The law is less likely to tolerate a boss who is always yelling, throwing tantrums, and saying derogatory comments several times a week or more. Such behavior is closer to being “pervasive,” and thus more likely to violate the law.

But being pervasive is only one element that makes a work environment hostile In limited instances, an act is considered so severe that a single occurrence is enough to violate anti-harassment laws. For example, grop-ing a woman’s breasts, need happen only once to create a sexually hostile environ-ment. And in a classic case of racial harassment, African-American workers have sued successfully when a noose

was placed on their desk or lockers. The noose is such a powerful symbol of slavery in the United States—with its history of segregation, lynch mobs, and burning crosses—that the single act was enough to violate the law.

Working in a hostile work environment means more than disliking how your boss or co-workers treat you. Hope-fully the illustrations above give some insight into what it means for a work environment to be truly “hostile.” If you feel you are being harassed at work and are considering legal help, ask yourself these questions first:

Why do you feel you are being harassed? Is it because of your race, gender, age, dis-ability, etc?

How frequent is the harass-ment? Does it happen on a regular basis? Or do the ha-rassing comments or conduct occur only once in awhile?

How severe is the harass-ment? Does the harassment consist of blatantly racist or sexist acts or comments, for example, or does it consist of petty slights?

After giving these ques-tions some thought, if you feel that you are the victim of a hostile work environment, the next thing to consider is how to respond. The answer to this question will be the topic of a future article.

Atty. Andrew Agtagma works closely with the Law Firm of Chua Tinsay and Vega (CTV) and its clients to provide counsel in his areas of expertise, which include em-ployment law, personal injury, and general civil litigation. He owns and manages Law Center in San Mateo, CA. The information presented in this article is for general information only and is not, nor intended to be, formal legal advice nor the formation of an attorney-client relation-

ship. Call or e-mail for an in-person or phone consulta-tion to discuss your particular situation and/or how they may be of service to you. Andrew Agtagma, Esq.: (650) 589-5700, [email protected]; CTV: (415) 495-8088; (619) 955-6277.

informed background analysis and assessment of the events of the day, and diversity of debate in the daily opinion columns.

Alanna Gallagher is a freelance journalist who contributes to publications such as the Irish Times and Sunday Times. She has also recently started her own weekly e-zine (electronic-magazine), The Weekly Edit, which gives Alanna’s top picks in fashion, beauty, interiors, and things to do that week.

“You’ve attended full moon parties in Thailand and roasted your bones in Denang on China Beach in Vietnam but the new country to explore in Asia is the Philippines.

“It offers first-class diving and beaches like Thailand had 20 or 30 years ago before it was over-developed. Fly to Abu Dhabi and on to Manila.

“There are two stand-out yet accessible names to drop: the islands of Cebu; and Boracay. Cebu is where Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan first planted the Cross of Christianity in the name of Spain in 1521.

“A nine-night package including seven nights BB at the five-star Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort and Spa (on Mactan Island just off the coast of Cebu) and two nights, room only four-star Park Lane Hotel, Hong Kong costs €1,679pps. This price includes return flights with Cathay Pacific via London and Hong Kong to Cebu and is valid from May 5th to June 16th through Trailfinders.”

(Story courtesy of the Philippine News Agency)

Irish Times hails Phl as country to

explore in 2011(Continued from page 1)

Asian Journal - (619) 474-0588 Visit our website at http://www.asianjournalusa.comFebruary 25 - March 3, 2011

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Who may fi le an I-130 petition? Number one in the list is immediate rela-tive, which is defi ned as the spouse, parent, and unmarried children under 21 years old of USC’s. All other qualifying relationships fall within the preference category such as: 1) F-1 or unmarried sons and daughters of USC; 2) F-2A or spouses and children of LPR; 3) F-2B or unmarried sons and daughters (over 21 years old) of LPR; 4) F-3 or married sons and daughters of USC; and 5) F-4 or brothers and sisters of USC. The intending immigrant is called the ben-efi ciary. The term “deriva-tive” includes the spouse and

Immigrating to the U.S. through a family member

unmarried children under 21 of the principal benefi ciary in the preference category. For example, Maria is married and has two minor children. Maria’s USC father fi led an I-30 on behalf of Maria. Ma-ria is the principal benefi ciary under the F-3 category while Maria’s husband and minor children are derivative benefi -ciaries. Maria’s USC father needs to fi le one Form I-130 only and need not fi le a sepa-rate petition for the derivative benefi ciaries. When Maria’s visa becomes available, the derivative benefi ciaries can immigrate with Maria provide they continue to have that relationship at the time Maria immigrates and at the time the derivative benefi ciaries im-migrate. If the minor children are over 21 years old by the time Maria’s visa becomes available, they can no longer immigrate with Maria sub-ject to the rules on the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA). Different rules apply in the case on immediate relatives. The petitioner needs to fi le separate petitions for the im-mediate relative and deriva-tives. For example, Maria has a U.S. citizen son. The USC son must fi le separate peti-tions on behalf of Maria, her husband, and children. If the husband does not qualify as stepparent, he should wait un-


by Dr. Ofelia Dirige Founder, President & CEO Kalusugan Community Services

Contemporary Asian American Issues

Read Dr. Dirige’s previous articles by visiting our website at www.asianjournalusa.com

Feeling a bit of the mid-winter blues? Need a change of scenery or a blast of ex-citement? Well lucky you, because exotic and exciting festivals continue around the world throughout the year. Party your way through Rio de Janeiro during Carnaval, master your elephant polo skills at the Jaipur Elephant

Festivals Around the WorldYou don’t have to wait until December for your next

holiday celebration

Festival in India, or dance to the rhythms of traditional Ethiopian beats in one of the most diverse music festivals in Africa.

Samba Down the Streets of Rio de Janeiro at Car-naval

Follow the rhythms of Rio

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Guests can recover from all of the merrymaking with a day on the famed Copacabana beach, or ride a cable car to the top of Sugar Loaf Moun-tain and board a train up the mountain of Corcovado to see the magnificent and legendary Christ the Redeemer statue, one of the new Seven Won-ders of the World.

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“India’s Splendor” journey can channel the magnificence of the royal India of the past while riding these stately animals and watching them compete in elephant polo matches and races. Held during Holi, the festival of colors, the Elephant Festi-val also features processions of the regal creatures adorned from tusk to tail with vibrant colors and glittering gold trin-kets, as well as lively dancers performing traditional Indian folk dances. Guests are also invited to hop on one of the gigantic creatures to throw

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Drink Tea with Mongo-lian Nomads at the Naadam Festival

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Introduction

As a Filipino American, I was taught at a young age that education is the key to a good job and a comfortable lifestyle. In this age, a higher education seems to be asso-ciated strongly with wealth. More importantly, education is the key to a door of endless opportunities and constant learning. I was oblivious to this reality at that time be-cause I was more focused on getting my cursive down to an art. But as I grew older I began to see how education played a significant role in my life and how it especially affected me as a member of the Asian community. With-out education, I was told that all my friends would leave me behind and I would be stuck in the bottom. This was of course a scare tactic my mother would use against me if I seemed to be slipping in school. Yet beyond what I have grown to know, I was

Asian American issues in education: A lesson within a struggle

GUEST WRITER: MYLEEN ABUAN

Growing up, I was social but, never was the type to open up. So my closest friends were never close

enough I suppose to them I was emotionless…. “T” of Magnetic North “Drift Away”

unaware of the handful of stereotypes that were associ-ated with Asian Americans as a whole, and could never understand why others would think such things.

Elementary and High School: From transitional struggles to a common ground.

The first thing I would like to address that seems to be such a common misconcep-tion is that Asians are highly intelligent. My parents were extremely adamant about me getting a good education. I can recall several nights as a young girl crying because I was scolded about having untidy penmanship or doing bad in math. Whoever came up with the idea that ALL Asians are smart were defi-nitely misled. From kinder-garten to 6th grade, I struggled so much with my grades and friendships because of the events that happened in my

education. I began at a Catho-lic school and finished grades three to six in a public school. The transition was rather dif-ficult for me to grasp because these two systems were highly different from each other.

In Catholic school, I seemed to be the definite outsider with only one good acquaintance that I can re-member. Socio-economically, friends have already been es-tablished, leaving me to figure out where I fit in. If I re-member correctly, I was only befriended because my dad or my sister would always bring me lunch. I obviously thought their friendship was a wel-coming gesture towards me but it would die down when the food was gone. I would be left alone once more. The teasing and ridicule got to the point where I could not withstand it any longer that I ceased being silent. I fought back. That unfortunately landed me in suspension.

After three years in Catho-lic school, I transferred to a public school where making friends was easier than it was to pass a math test. This time, my challenge was not fit-ting in but rather, making the grade. I recall spending count-less afternoons with my teach-ers anxiously waiting to see my grades on the test we took that day, and the results usu-ally ended up with me in tears. I guess you could say it took me three years to finally reach some sort of balance between maintaining friendships and my grades. Luckily, I passed my elementary and was pro-moted to seventh grade. From that point on, I seemed to have found my niche in education, at least up until high school.

Middle school and high school were the biggest highlights in my academic career. For the most part, I was averaging in at least A’s and B’s in all my classes (I still hold on to my belief that not all Asians are smart but rather determined to find their common ground among them-selves and others in school.) I was also very active in school activities, especially in the marching band. I remained friends with those I grew up with in the second half of elementary school and I also had my cousin by my side through the years. To be hon-est, I felt as though nothing or no one can bring me down from academic bliss. And then college came……

College: Learning to walk again

As I took my first step onto San Diego State University (SDSU), I thought I knew exactly what I wanted. I was going to be a nurse (definitely not my plan but rather the plan to make my mom happy as many Filipino children such as myself would have done) and ace all my classes. I was so confident in my-self that I took on a full time academic load which included two sciences, as well as a part time job that I held for almost four years. Sounds like a plan right? Well, if you know me well enough, you know that I did not follow this path but ventured on another one instead.

Today, I am a 5th year Public Health Major at SDSU. I have been through two switches in majors, all different programs in the

health care sector. I am un-fortunately not a 4.0 student, but I am passionate in what I do. Although my parents had certain hopes and dreams for me, they have made it clear that they are proud of me no matter what. At this point, I do not have a definite plan as to where I was to devote the rest of my energy to, but I do know that I’d love to get my Master’s while working for the City of San Diego. Once again, I will never know what will happen until it has begun.

Conclusion

At this point in my life, college is like learning how to walk again because you want to just start running but you stumble, humbling yourself to the actualization that perhaps reaching your goal is not as easy as you have perceived it to be. So as a Filipino Ameri-can having overcome many obstacles as well as finding myself with new challenges, it is safe to say that I have learned a lesson through my educational struggle, and will continue to learn for a long as I live and am able.

***

Myleen Abuan is a senior student at SDSU majoring in Public Health. She was a student of Dr. Dirige in Asian Studies 310, “Contemporary Issues in Asian American Communities.” She is pres-ently an intern with Opera-tion Samahan’s Asian Pacific Islander (API) Community Health Network.

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A celebration of the coun-try’s vibrant melting pot of diversity, the festival is an exciting manifestation of Sey-chellois and Creole identity through music, dance, cuisine and crafts, offering visitors a colorful week of the sounds, flavors and fragrances of these fascinating islands. Travelers can try their hand at the tantalizing sega, a tradi-tional dance accompanied by guitars, drums and even synthesizers, and tempt their taste buds with a variety of traditional Seychellois foods including creamy curries, bright flavorful chutneys and fresh grilled fish. This colorful week of fragrant flavors and fun is celebrated on Mahé, Praslin and La Digue Islands.

Expand Your Musical Horizons at 1,000 Stars Festival in Arba Minch, Ethiopia

Set in Arba Minch in the

heart of the Rift Valley in Ethiopia every December, The Festival of 1,000 Stars is a spectacular experience for travelers with a passion for music. Guests can dance to the diverse beats of a more than 1,000 performers, repre-senting over 56 ethnic tribal groups from southern Ethio-pia.

The three-day music festival is a relaxed, informal affair featuring dynamic songs and dances celebrating the diversity of these tribes.

Perspectives

ASIAN JOURNALThe first Asian-Filipino weekly in Southern CaliforniaAn award-winning newspaper, it is San Diego’s most

widely circulated Asian-Filipino newspaper!

Ashley SilverioAssistant Editor

In Pursuit of ExcellenceEugenio “Ego” Osin, (1946 - 1994)

Joe Cabrera, (1924 - 1996)Soledad Bautista, (1917-2009)

Dr. Rizalino “Riz” Oades, (1935-2009)

The Asian Journal is published weekly and distributed in all Asian communties in San Diego County. Publication date is ev-ery Friday of the month. Advertising deadline is Thursday prior to publication date at 5 p.m. For advertising rates, rate cards, or information, call (619) 474-0588. Subscription by mail is available for $50 per year (56 issues). The Asian Journal is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts and photographs but welcomes sub-missions. Entire content is © 2009 copyrighted material by Asian Journal. Materials in this publication may not be reproduced without specific permission from the publisher.

Genevieve SilverioManaging Editor

Simeon G. Silverio, Jr.Publisher & Editor

Miles BeauchampAssociate Editor

Santi SilverioAssociate Publisher

At Large...

Miles is Assistant to the Dean and Assistant Professor in the Shirley Hufstedler School of Education at Alliant International University where he teaches new media and diverse writing courses. He has been with the Asian Journal since the 1990’s.

by Miles Beauchamp


In a previous article, we wrote about the case of Tommy, a retired U.S. mili-tary man who suffered from cancer. Having lost all hope, he decided to spend his last few years in the Philippines without bothering to wait for his American citizenship. After a few years of overstay-ing outside the United States, he miraculously got cured and started a family, but lost his immigrant status in return, which was a very small price

to pay in return for many bonus years of profound hap-piness.

But Tommy desired to regain his immigrant status so that his wife and children can also have a chance at a better life in American. He himself had that chance, coming to the U.S. as an immigrant in 1995. In 2000, he joined the U.S. Navy and remained in active military duty until 2003 when he received a medical discharge for being diagnosed with cancer.

The U.S. embassy had told

Non-immigrant military finally got his citizenship

Tommy that he already lost his immigrant status because he had been away for more than a year (immigrants will lose their status if they stay for one year or more outside the US). Tommy considered applying for a returning resident visa which allows immigrants who have over-stayed outside the U.S. to regain their immigrant status. But in a consultation with us, we found out about his situ-ation and advised him that

he had the better option of applying for U.S. citizenship. We explained to him that Sec. 129 of the Immigration and Nationality Act allows mem-bers of the U.S. armed forces who served honorably for any period of time, even for one day, during specifically desig-nated periods of hostilities to be eligible for naturalization. The period starting Septem-ber 11, 2001 until the present is considered as a period of hostility. Since Tommy served from 2000 until 2003, he was eligible.

Tommy did as we advised. After some initial difficulties, the U.S. embassy granted him a one-time visa to enter the United States for his natural-ization interview. There was some confusion on what visa to give him since his green card had not been officially revoked (yet he could not use it in entering the U.S.). The embassy wanted him to first forfeit his immigrant status and then apply for a tourist visa. We explained that there was no need to do that since Tommy was going to the U.S. for the sole purpose of attend-ing his naturalization inter-view.

The days leading to the interview date was very tense for Tommy. Understandably, he was worried about a lot of things, including his failure to pay taxes in recent years, which we said was excusable because he was not earning enough money. In the end, he finally got his citizenship. Now, we are working on bringing his wife and kids to join him in Guam.

Atty. Rogelio Karagdag , Jr. is licensed to practice law in both California and the Philippines. He practices im-migration law in San Diego and has continuously been a trial and appellate attorney in the Philippines since 1989. He travels between San Diego and Manila. His office address is located at 10717 Camino Ruiz, Suite 131, San Diego, CA 92126. He also has an of-fice in the Philippines at 1240 Apacible Street, Paco, Ma-nila, Philippines 1007, with telephone numbers (632)522-1199 and (632)526-0326. Please call (858)348-7475/(858)536-4292 or email him at [email protected]. He speaks Tagalog flu-ently. Articles written in this column are not legal advice but are hypotheticals intended as general, non-specific legal information. Readers must seek legal consultation before taking any legal steps.

Washington, D.C., 2/15/2011 —The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Department of Justice (DOJ) today announced the execution of seizure warrants against 10 domain names of websites engaged in the advertisement and distribu-tion of child pornography as part of “Operation Protect Our Children”—a new joint operation between DOJ and DHS’ U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to target sites that provide child pornography.

“Each year, far too many children fall prey to sexual predators and all too often, these heinous acts are re-corded in photos and on video and re-leased on the Internet,” said Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napoli-tano. “DHS is committed to working with our law enforcement partners to shut down websites that promote child pornography to protect these children

Joint DHS-DOJ “Operation Protect Our Children” Seizes Website Domains Involved in

Advertising and Distributing Child Pornographyfrom further victimization.”

“For all its positive impact, the Internet has also unfortunately cre-ated a new way for child predators to commit their inexcusable crimes,” said Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Division. “The production and distribution of child pornography wreak havoc on innocent lives. With these domain seizures, we are taking our fight against child por-nography to websites that facilitate the exchange of these abusive images.”

This enforcement action was spearheaded by ICE’s Cyber Crimes Center (C3), under a nationwide ICE initiative to identify, investigate and arrest those who prey on children. Individuals attempting to access the seized websites will now find a banner notifying them that the domain name of that website has been seized by

federal authorities.“Operation Protect Our Children”

leverages the resources of ICE Home-land Security Investigations, the DOJ Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) and the DOJ Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section to investigate and prepare seizure warrants against the domain names of websites that host child pornography.

ICE encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE. Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, at 1-800-843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com.

For more information, visit www.ice.gov.

Read previous articles by visiting our website at www.asianjo-urnalusa.com

by Atty. Rogelio Karagdag, Jr.Member, State Bar of California & Integrated Bar of the Philippines

Phil - Am Law 101

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PhilippineStories

Read Sim Silverio’s previous articles by visiting our website at www.asianjournalusa.com

by Simeon G. Silverio Jr.

tao, binubugaw mo pa ako sa kanya, ngayon itatapon mo na lang siyang parang basura (Before you wanted him to marry me, you were even pimping me to him; now you want to dump him like trash),” Mindy told Digna.

“Papaano, hindi ka naman pala niya madadala sa Amer-ica kaagad (Because he won’t be able to take you to America right away),” Digna replied.

“But it’s not his fault. It was the fault of my good-for-nothing husband.”

“I don’t want you to make the same mistake again by getting deeply involved with somebody who cannot help you. Look at me. I got in-volved with Diaz, and it was too late when I learned he was married and had three other girlfriends.”

“Why don’t you leave him?”

“Who would support my son and me? It’s too late for us. You should make your move now before it also be-comes too late for you.”

Mindy realized Digna was right. She was speaking from experience, her own and that of Mindy’s. Although Mindy had a budding affection for Danny because he was charm-ing and good-looking, she knew she must be practical enough for her and her daugh-ter’s sake. She could not be financially dependent on him

(Continued from page 1)

COMPLICATED AFFAIRS

For Love and Moneyas Digna was with Jockey Diaz because Danny’s hospi-tal equipment business was unstable. Besides, Danny was a gambler, and judging from his previous divorces and in-fidelities, he was not the ideal and responsible family man whom every girl would want to marry.

“WE NEED TO GO.”It took Mindy almost a

month to muster enough cour-age to tell Danny her decision.

“Why?” Danny was sur-prised.

“We could not get married now, and I would be committing adultery if I continue to stay with you without the sanctity of matri-mony.”

Mindy was lying. She had been committing adultery ever since she was sixteen years old, sleeping with the various boyfriends she had through the years. Yet, she did not feel guilty at all. Although she was baptized as a Catholic, she had not been practicing her religion. In fact, she had not gone to Church other than the occasional wed-ding of family or friends.

Danny could not do any-thing but let her go. He was the last person to go after a girl. Because of his charm and good looks, it was easy for him to squire women. Be-sides, he had no feelings for his former lovers and had nev-er formed emotional attach-ments to all his girlfriends, including his wife. People would say he was a playboy who was skilled at court-ing women. Some men folk envied him; others, including women, were impressed with

him. What people did not real-ize was that any man could be a playboy and win the affec-tion of those he fancied. All he had to do was exert the effort; however, non-playboys had emotions and ethics and did not want to be emotionally hurt. They were fine with only one woman in their life be-cause they could not bear the sufferings and complications an infidelity might bring.

DANNY RESUMED HIS LIFE AS A PLAYBOY AND GAMBLER. He hung out with Jockey Diaz and benefit-ed from the inside information on which horse was expected to win in a horse race. Danny didn’t find it necessary to pay women for sex. He was not choosy. Even if a girl was not pretty, he would seduce her and have sex for free. He was having the time of his life, free of any responsibility like financially supporting his children. Unlike other fathers, he did not care to see his chil-dren and did not feel guilty about his absence. He did not wonder what they were doing

when he was lying in

bed at night. He did not care whether they were sick or do-ing well in school. In fact, he realized he had something that could make it easier for him to make money: his Ameri-can citizenship. Some of his friends had married women who wanted to get a perma-nent residence visa in the U.S. in exchange for finan-cial rewards. The going rate at that time was $20,000.00 plus expenses. In addition, he could get as much free sex as he would want. After the girl got her green card in America, they would just wait for an-other six months and file for divorce. The girl would go on with her quest for her Ameri-can Dream while Danny

would be free to marry again--for money.

He was contemplating this option, especially when he was having financial hard-ships. Newspapers had ex-posed the rigging of the horse races, and his friend Jockey Diaz did not have an opportu-nity to throw a race with his cohorts, thereby winning a sure thing.

“Let’s lay low for a while,” Diaz told Danny. “Mainit ang mga mata ng mga autoridad (The hot eyes of the authority are focused on us).”

“Papaano, patay na ang delihensiya natin (What now, our scam is dead)?”

“No, we will resume it later. Magpalamig lang tayo (We will just wait for things to cool down).”

“How could we resume if the authorities already sus-pected our scam?”

Diaz laughed hard.“You are so naive,” he told

his friend. “The authorities are also with us. That reporter who was trying to expose the anomalies just wanted a big-ger bribe. Why do you think

this racket had been go-ing on for years?”

Since he was not sure when

their scam would resume, Danny thought

of accepting the proposal of a girl who offered to pay him

to marry her. He was about to

call her when he heard a

knock at the door. It was

Mindy and her

daughter, Vicky. They had their suit-cases with them.

“I want us to stay together again,” she said.

“But you cannot have your marriage annulled yet. How can I marry you and petition your migration to the United States? We would have a long seven-year wait ahead of us.”

Danny was cool to Mindy’s return, especially since he knew he could be with another girl and even earn $20,000.”

“I don’t care,” she said. “I want us to be with you.”

“Why?” he asked.“Because I love you.”Danny was overwhelmed.

The expression of love warmed his heart. For the first time, compassion prevailed over his greed. He forgot about the other girl and her $20,000 offer. Unknown to him, however, love was not the reason why Mindy re-turned. – AJ

(To be continued)

consumption.BSP Governor Amando M.

Tetangco Jr., so far, kept infla-tion below 5 percent in the past 21 months while holding the benchmark rate at a record low since July 2009.

“We had already incor-porated a higher Q4 2010 growth rate than the official government target in our forecast exercise. So for pur-poses of our forecast path, the higher than market expecta-tion GDP growth would not necessarily throw this off. In-flation remains manageable,” Tetangco said.

“There is sufficient li-quidity in the system to fund further growth. As long as the unwinding of funds kept with the BSP is orderly and such funds are channeled to pro-ductive uses, this should not necessarily be inflationary,” Tetangco added.

Paderanga said the robust economic performance for 2010, which is well within the forecast of 7 to 7.4 percent, implies that the domestic economy could be on its way to a higher growth trajectory.

“We are happy to note that the 2010 economic perfor-mance bolsters confidence that the economy is on a path of strong recovery,” said Pad-eranga.

Malacañang is confident that the country’s quick economic growth will be sustained in the coming years due to the government’s ongo-ing social programs, overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) remittances, and foreign direct investments.

“First, the conditional cash transfers (CCT) and our social services, we’re bank-ing on that to help keep our consumption buoyant; sec-ond, we continue to expect remittances from abroad; and third, we continue to expect to have more direct investments from investors outside of the country,” Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said in a press briefing.

“All these three things tak-en together, we expect to help keep a healthy economy,” she added.

Paderanga noted that from a strong start of 7.8 percent in the first quarter, GDP growth sustained its momentum dur-ing the next three quarters of 2010 – 8.2 percent in the sec-ond quarter, 6.3 percent in the third quarter and 7.1 percent in the fourth quarter.

A broader measure, the country’s gross national prod-uct (GNP) in 2010 grew by

7.2 percent on account of the 6 percent growth in net factor income from abroad otherwise known as dollar remittances from overseas Filipino work-ers (OFWs). Compensation income from abroad grew relatively slower as the peso strengthened in 2010.

It was noted that OFW remittances overseas have not taken a hit after the global fi-nancial crisis and these things contribute to strong domestic demand.

The National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) cited the global economic re-covery as a major contributor in the strong performance by helping to boost exports and revive key industries.

“The global economic recovery which resulted in record growth rates of foreign trade… contributed to an eco-nomic performance in 2010 that well surpassed the gov-ernment’s target of 5.0 percent to 6.0 percent,” NSCB, in a statement, said.

Renewed global demand for Philippine exports allowed industrial growth to acceler-ate to 8.3 percent in the final quarter of 2010, up from 3.8 percent during the same pe-riod the previous year, NSCB said.

Better weather towards the end of the year helped the struggling farming sector, pulling up the agriculture sec-tor to a growth of 5.4 percent in the final three months of the year after storms and drought led to negative growth in the previous four consecutive quarters, NSCB said.

Only two typhoons hit the country compared to seven in the last quarter of 2009. The full-year agriculture, fishery and forestry (AFF) produc-tion remained subdued due to the lingering effects of the El Nino weather phenomenon in the first half of 2010 and contributed a negative 0.1 percentage point to GDP.

Other growth drivers include the services sector, which contributed 3.5 percent-age points to GDP growth, boosted by the strong perfor-mance of trade and private services. This was comple-mented by flourishing domes-tic investment, strong growth of business process outsourc-ing, hotels and restaurants, wholesale and retail trade, and import and export trade.

(Story courtesy of Manila Bulletin’s Edu Lopez, Chino Leyno and Madel Sabater)

Philippine economy expands at its fastest

pace in 24 years(Continued from page 1)


Care) is a world-wide move-ment among Filipinos abroad and in the Philippines with the purpose of building sustain-able communities to end poverty in the country. Since its inception as a minis-

try of Couples for Christ, GK has seen its fan base grow to include people from all walks of life. It enjoys endorsements from local citizens and lead-ers in business and govern-ment, becoming the one com-mon cause that has managed to galvanize even the most entrenched rivalries. Among its strongest supporters are the Filipinos abroad, especially in America, a group with a com-bined clout that is keeping the Philippines awash in remit-tance income in spite of the tough economy. In 2011 alone, Filipinos abroad remitted an astonishing $18 billion to the country. Its last two summits present

the credentials of its success in both east and west, with a message that has captivated a multitude of minds and hearts from the revered halls of learn-ing, in Harvard University, to, the universities of one of the leading economies of Asia, in Singapore.

“Bayani” or Hero

On the ground, Gawad Kal-inga is about engaging people who understand the mission. Tony Olaes, a San Diego

native who built a GK Village in Cavite where his parents are from, challenges his own generation with a simple idea about who they could be: “HEROES WANTED: Let’s

come together in the true spirit of Bayanihan and build a na-tion of our dreams.”

Facebook

The “GK Bayani Challenge 2011” event has even gained a following on Facebook.Camero-Bagsic, GK coordi-

nator, who created the group on Facebook, said it would help keep participants and anyone interested on the same page. “This FB group is specially tai-lored for the GK Bayani Chal-lenge 2011 candidates and/or attendees from San Diego, CA (and friends of attendees from other parts of the world).” The official invitation to the

event is available on the of-ficial GK1World website at www.gk1world.com. The GKBuild, as the Gawad

Kalinga home-building pro-gram is called, gives partici-pants a chance to give of them-selves through the “bayanihan spirit”, which is the Filipino value of cooperation and shar-ing. The idea appeals especial-ly to young Filipino Ameri-cans and other expatriates who want to know something about themselves and the country they came from. The experi-ence goes beyond the elements that make up a house. By help-ing build community and by constructing colorful, hollow block-and-mortar houses with the poor, participants come away with a deeper apprecia-tion of the culture and the peo-ple, and themselves. “The GK Bayani Challlenge

for this year highlights not only building houses and villages, but also helping repair public schools, island greening, tak-

ing care kids of different ba-rangay and building farms to feed families for life.” “It’s like an island make-

over,” as Camero-Bagsic de-scribed. The GK San Diego Team will

be joined by volunteers from Manila and other parts of the Philippines. GK Teams from other US cities and parts of the world are also checking in. Adding to the interest are a

few culinary and fitness chal-lenges for tourists and locals alike. GK San Diego Team Leader JoAnn Camero-Bag-sic has listed several exciting events that participants can look forward to, among them, the bayanihan race and the master kusinero challenge. She briefly describes these events:“Master Kusinero (chef).

Kusineros will need to cre-ate the best dishes using lo-cal ingredients from Bantayan Island; they will also need to present it in a unique way. This event is only open to the first 20 Kusinero to register. The top three Kusineros that will present the best tasting dishes and presentation will be awarded.”“Bayanihan Race. Teams will

participate in a unique and fun race around the Island of Bantayan. They will be asked to do certain activities that will develop their Bayanihan spirit and discover further the essence of Nation Building. This will also test each team member’s physical strength, endurance and mental readi-ness. The race is open to only the first 20 teams to register for the Bayanihan Race. Each teams will be compose of 5 people and they will need to work as a team to finish the task given to them ahead of the

other teams. Activities will be composed of the four elements Earth, Water, Fire and Wind. The first 3 teams that com-pletes the whole race with the least amount of time will be awarded.”The letter from the event or-

ganizers reads as follows:

The Bayani Invite

Dear Bayani, Since 2006, GK has staged the

GK Bayani Challenge, a 5-day test of courage, endurance and love for country where teams of 15 people go on an adven-ture to plant hope on ground by building a community and fostering friendships that are critical to peace. This year, on April 4-9 in Ban-

tayan Island, volunteers from

all over the world will gather once again for the Bayani Challenge. The event dubbed as, ”Kalinga sa Bayan,” is a call for every Filipino to be a nation builder. True to this spirit we are taking this year’s Bayani Challenge to the next level of raising up the island of Bantayan – more lives to be changed, to bring hope to oth-ers, to build sustainable com-munities. We invite you to take part

in this inspiring and exciting event. Join us as an individ-ual or form a group of 15 (or more) for this year’s 2011 GK Bayani Challenge. Register online at www.gk-

1world.com and choose from the following activities to take part of: KALINGA SA BAYAN :

BANTAYAN ISLAND, Cebu 1. Building of homes Expe-

rience building a house from laying its foundation to attach-ing its roof, painting and land-scaping. 2. Paraisong Pambata Fun

and learning with children aged 6 to 10 years old and par-ticipate in feeding program, story-telling, games, conduct-ing Sports Clinic for the chil-dren. 3. School Build Refurbish and

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up the farm’s infrastructure such as fences, compost sheds & family plot markers. 6. Health Build Up: Needs

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hard day’s work the volunteers will be treated to various beach competitions like Dodge ball, Beach volleyball, Beach soc-cer, Frisbee and Pinoy games. These are fun activities that foster team work and good sportsmanship. Blogging Rights Day Sharing

of experiences and stories of heroism that inspire. Empowerment Talks After-

dinner talks and sessions to process the experience and Harness the heroism in every-

one for nation building. Fellowship Night Brings

together the volunteers for a night of celebration and com-mitment. Plus this year we will be host-

ing a series of KALINGA SA BAYAN SPECIAL EVENTS: BAYANIHAN RACE Teams

will compete in a unique race around the island. MASTER KUSINERO The

team who cooks the best dish using an endemic ingredient from the island will be reward-ed a prize. CONCERT To culminate the

event, we will have festivities that include bands and other activities to celebrate a suc-cessful Bayani Challenge. This year’s Bayani Challenge

will prove to be an exciting one with all the different activities happening simultaneously on the island. Hurry and register now at

www.gk1world.com as slots are on a first come first serve basis. For inquiries you may contact Franz Josef Hipol at +639178888596 or email [email protected]. See you in Bantayan! Sincerely,Kat Atillo, Event Head, GK

Bayani Challenge 2011; Ray-mond Dimaiwat, Event Head, GK Bayani Challenge 2011; Jose Mari Oquiñena, Head of Operations Gawad Kalinga -- AJ, Joann Camero-Bagsic

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LAS VEGAS, Nevada – Insisting he never used illegal substance in his entire fistic career, eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao on February 12 told boxing fans at the MGM Grand here “my power is natural” during the Las Vegas leg of the kick-off press conference of his May 7 fight against Shane Mosley.

“You have to believe me that my power is natural,” the 32-year-old Pacquiao declared in answer to the question of a male boxing fan during a press conference at the Grand Arena which was opened to public.

“I never used any medicine because my power is natural,” he reiterated. “I am strong.”

Pacquiao (52-3-2, 38 KO) and Mosley (46-6, 39 KO) hit this city, known as gambling capital of the world, for pro-motional tour of their mega fight to be held in the same arena which will end in New York February 14.

Pacquiao, meanwhile, assured boxing fans there will be no distractions in his preparations against Mosley despite his schedules in Phil-ippine Congress.

He also nixed reports he is planning to run for Philippine president. “My job is to con-tinue boxing and attend to my responsibilities in Congress and I have no plan to run for president,” he said.

Pacquiao also dismissed reports that he would hang up his gloves soon.

“I will not yet retire after my fight with Mosley,” he promised.

Even before his fight against Mosley, promot-ers were already starting to

(Speech delivered at the Philippine Embassy

Commemorating the EDSA Event on Thursday, February

24, 2011)

First let me thank Corina or Bubbles as I call her casually for inviting me to be a speaker in tonight’s event. I was intro-duced as Ben Maynigo. What I sometimes like about being a speaker is that critics are forced to listen not just to Ben but also to another ego which is mine-mine-ego (Mayn-igo). Having lived in America for so long, I have accumulated many friends - in school, work, Facebook, Twitter, My Space and other community-based organiza-tions. My friends in the black community call me Ben My Negro and those in the His-panic community call me Ben Mi Amigo. In the most recent Christmas, my friends in com-mon with those of Ambassador GAA were happily greeted with Mali-GAAng Pasko at MAYNIGOng Bagong Taon!

The first President of the United Nations General As-sembly and former Secretary of Foreign Affairs Carlos P. Romulo once said, “I am a Fili-pino – inheritor of a glorious past, and hostage to an uncer-tain future. As such, I must prove equal to a two-fold task – the task of fulfilling my obliga-tions of the past, and the task of meeting my responsibilities of the future.”

I too am a Filipino. Also

People Power Revolutionan inheritor of a glorious past but unlike Romulo I am not a hostage to an uncertain future. In this evening’s affair, I also have a two-fold task – that of relating to you some portions of our glorious past and how they relate to yesterday’s and today’s tomorrow.

The remote and the recent past was really all about “bub-bles” – Economic and Political Bubbles that blew up. From perceived stability and trans-formed them into temporary crisis hoping to attain longer-term prosperity.

Economically, we heard, read and /or experienced the DOT.COM bubble, the Mort-gage bubble and what they call the “Bailout” bubble.

Politically, we had the Sta-bility bubble represented by the dictatorships from both the Left and the Right..

If you Google People Power Revolution or if you go to Wikipedia.com and search for People Power, you would find out that it is pretty much identi-fied with the EDSA Revolu-tion that deposed the 20-year dictatorial regime of Marcos in the Philippines. You would discover that along the Epifanio de los Santos boulevard other-wise known as EDSA, gathered hundreds of thousands of Filipi-nos, young and old converged, first, to protest the fraudulent Presidential elections and sec-ond, to support the defection of then General Fidel Ramos and Defense Secretary Juan Ponce

Enrile and their military fac-tion. It was a great demonstra-tion and display of the utmost desire and fearless dedication of the sovereign people to obtain democracy as opposed to dicta-torship.

Filipinos should be very proud of this glorious historic past. Even prouder because it became a model for other dictatorships that transitioned to democracy subsequently, either from the Left such as some Eastern European countries like Poland, Hungary, East Germa-ny, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Romania, etc. or from the Right such as some Asian and Latin American countries like Tai-wan, South Korea, Chile, Peru, Guatemala, etc.

The People Power Revolu-tion in the Philippines was a political bubble bound to burst. It was delayed for a long period of time because of the wrong perception by policy makers that Stability was preferred over Democracy.

Marcos became President of the Philippines in 1965. He was deposed more than 20 years later. Perceptively, the struggle for a more democratic Philippines started and ended during his dictatorial regime. My involvement was for the entire period. From being a Student Council President and co-organizer of the largest rally for Constitutional Reforms in front of the Philippine Congress which was followed by what is now known historically as First Quarter Storm and the Battle of Mendiola; to escaping as a UN-registered political refugee by kumpit or pump boat via South-ern Mindanao, reaching the small island of Sabah, Malaysia after several days and nights evading the chasing pirates, and lived there for several months until paroled into the United States by then President Jimmy Carter. We arrived in the United States on March 3, 1977.

I immediately joined the Movement for a Free Philip-

pines and chaired the com-mittee that organized the first rally and march to the DuPont Circle where we had a lived-in picket for several days and nights; a Death of Democracy March parading a coffin marked “Democracy” accompanied by a Marching Band; and a mock trial which culminated in the hanging and burning of Marcos’ effigy.

The struggle continued for several more years by question-ing and lobbying against the policies of the US government in supporting dictatorships under the guise of Stability. The opposition to fascist and com-munist regimes gave birth to a group called The Democracy International. Its first President was then former Senator and former Foreign Affairs Secre-tary Raul Manglapus who was also the head of the Movement for a Free Philippines.

When Ninoy Aquino was re-leased from detention for heart surgery in Houston, he joined our cause after his recovery until his decision to go back home. He was assassinated as he was being escorted by sol-diers going down the plane.

This gave birth to several more groups both in the Philip-pines and the U.S.A. - the JAJA (JUSTICE FOR AQUINO, JUSTICE FOR ALL), the ATOM (August Twenty One Movement), the NAM (Ninoy Aquino Movement) and many others.

The continued pressure from the groups, pro-democracy gov-ernments and the media eventu-ally forced Marcos to call for SNAP Presidential Elections. The opposition chose Cory Aquino as Marcos’ opponent. The common knowledge was that Cory won and that Marcos cheated massively.

This prompted continuous protests which culminated in the now EDSA Revolution. Marcos’ control over the mili-tary had to be neutralized and this became a reality with the defection of then Deputy Chief of Staff General Fidel Ramos and Secretary Juan Ponce En-rile and their followers.

While this was happening in the Philippines, our groups in the US were busy demonstrat-ing at the White House and con-vincing Embassy and Consulate staffers nationwide to defect in favor of People Power.

My assignment was to see and talk to then Consul General Raul Rabe in Honolulu, Hawaii. He did not need convincing. Before I could even talk to him he had already scheduled a press conference announc-ing his defection. The rest is history.

Yesterday’s tomorrow is today. And today we are wit-nessing what is unraveling in the Middle East. As my article stated, “from dictatorship to de-mocracy, by demonstration and display of desire and dedica-tion, expect no defeat.”

Tomorrow is you. The future is in the hands of the young – in your hands. As one political prisoner once said, “The future lies in the hands of those who are strong enough to give rea-sons for living and hoping.”

My power is natural -- Pacquiao

Manny Pacquiao

negotiate for his possible showdown versus Floyd May-weather Jr.

Mosley, for his part, said his fight against the Filipino best boxer pound-for-pound “will make me shine and I will shine again.”

The former protégé of the Golden Boy Promotion owned by his one-time victim, Oscar De La Hoya, refused to make predications but claimed he is unfazed by being tagged as underdog.

The two-hour press con-ference was arranged by Top Rank chief Bob Arum who announced that the May 7 event will be distributed at SHOWTIME Pay-Per-View.

“As everyone knows we’ve been in the land of Cow-boys for our last two fights, but I live in Las Vegas and I thought it was time to come back to the place which is the capital of boxing. I think boxing needs Las Vegas and Las Vegas needs boxing. This is like boxing’s version of the Super Bowl,” Arum said.

Some 3,000 fans watched the press conference and about 20 of them were al-lowed to ask questions.

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As the Bamboos Sway

Read Rudy Liporada’s previous articles by visiting our website at www.asianjournalusa.com

by Rudy D. Liporada

After General Angelo Reyes was accused of stealing one hundred fifty million pesos from the Philippine coffers, he committed suicide. His act triggered a flurry of debates which would not just abate soon. While he escaped justice if he was guilty, he also failed to clear his name for he could no longer deny what he was accused of.

While being branded as hon-orable at an extreme, he is be-ing slugged as a coward at the opposite extreme. In between the spectra are gray discussions justifying his act, condemning it but still praising him; even blaming his accusers or the system that brought about his downfall.

In the aftermath of his shoot-ing himself at his heart, the Catholic Church held a mass in his honor, the military gave him a total of 40 gun salutes, and he was buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

All these presupposes that he is not guilty of what he was accused of.

But what if he is? No longer Reyes’ fault

I would no longer fault him for what the Catholic Church, the Armed Forces of the Philip-pines, and Philippine Govern-ment accorded Reyes after his death. I would fault them for, perhaps, dabbing more salt unto his wounded heart if he could still be found guilty.

The act of the Catholic Church

First, on the act of the Catholic Church, at least three friends told me that we, the living, could not judge Reyes’ suicide because judgment should be left to God. I might be wrong but I told them that God has already judged him. The bible does not condone sui-cide. No matter how one looks at it, suicide is taking a life. It is murder. The bible is clear on this: Murder is one if not the most grievous of sins. Only God has the right to take back what He was created.

One also should place seri-ous doubts on the genuine faith of a Christian who professes to be a Christian when he commits

Reyes, the Church, AFP, and the Philippine Government

suicide. Losing hope is not ex-actly a Christian trait. Whatever happened to trusting in God and having faith that He will allevi-ate one’s trials? Suicide is not only giving up on one’s suffer-ings. It is giving up on God.

For this reason, the Catholic Church, historically, has not accepted in its premises and its cemeteries those who commit suicide. In a not so parallel case, during the Spanish re-gime, not accepting to give a Christian burial to a Catholic even sparked the longest revolt in Philippine history during that era. Dagohoy incited the Bo-holanos to revolt when Father Gaspar Morales refused to give a Christian burial to his brother. Ironically, the brother did not even die from suicide. He was chasing a fugitive who went against Christianity.

When the Catholic Church offered a high mass for Reyes, what message is this religious institution sending?

The Armed Forces of the Philippines

Upon his death, the officials of the AFP closed ranks on him. They buried him with the highest honors, complete with 40 gun salutes. These, in total disregard of whether or not he was a thief.

They condemned Lt. Col. George Rabusa and Col. Antonio Roy Lim not only for ratting on Reyes and other Gen-erals who, according to Rabusa and Lim, misused military funds. Misused of funds was collaborated on with the testi-mony of former Commission on Audit auditor Heidi Mendoza who, in one of her testimonies, alleged that a $25M dollar check from the United Nations for the military is unaccounted for. Now Senator Antonio Tril-lanes IV did not also attend the latest Philippine Military Academy reunion because “maiinit pa” (it is still hot). Tril-lanes participate in two coups designed to ventilate corruption in the military for which he was incarcerated. The ranking of-ficer graduates of the Philippine Military Academy condemned the whistle blowers who broke the Academy’s Omerta Code against Mistahs (senior gradu-ates).

This reminds me of a friend’s story at the height of the Muslim conflict in Mind-anao in the early 70s. He was a fresh lieutenant graduate of PMA. In the height of a battle, he said that he almost shot his coronel commander because the latter was selling guns to the enemy. Omerta, however, got a better hold on him because the coronel was a Mistah.

Generals are also compar-ing Reyes to the late US Ad-miral Jeremy Boorda who shot himself on the chest because other US officers charged that he bedecked himself with med-als of valor, they say he did not earn. He shot himself claiming he was dishonored. AFP gener-als are saying that Reyes did the same to preserve his honor. The difference in the honor question is: on Boorda, it was an act of claiming for personal grandeur (if ever) and he left a suicide note; on Reyes, it was grand thief with money that could have been used for the people if not for military personnel. And Reyes did not leave a suicide note. What Reyes left were scribbles preparatory to answer-ing a journalist he reluctantly wanted to interview him. The scribbles were on generic say-ings about honor, integrity, and responsibility; nothing about denying what he was being ac-cused of.

Those who were accused with Reyes still deny any mis-deeds. Yet finances could not be accounted for. These gener-als and other members of the staff at the highest levels praise Reyes. Indeed, there is honor among thieves.

The Philippine Govern-ment

President Noynoy Aquino al-lowed Reyes to be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (He-roes’ Cemetery) at the request of the military. What if Reyes would later on be found guilty? Will they exhume his body and transfer it to a none Christian burial ground? If the president kowtowed to the military, is the military running supreme over the civilian government?

In light of Reyes being ac-corded the honors, Bong-bong Marcos is now also requesting that his father, former President Ferdinand Marcos, be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. Marcos is still being preserved in a crypt in his hometown in Ilocos.

If Reyes would be proven guilty and not exhumed, it would only be logical that Mar-cos should also be buried at the Heroes’ cemetery.

Let the real heroes buried there rise from the dead if they care to protest.

I. Si Judith Linares — ang

dalagang katanawan ng Araw at kangitian ng Buwan — ay dumating na sa panahon ng kanyang pagpa-pasiya. Kinakailangan na niya ang humirang ng isang”makakasalo sa ligaya at makakahati sa hilahil”, palibhasa’y ganap na ang kanyang pagka-ulila, at sa harap ng malak-ing kayamanang naiwan sa kanya ng mga magulang, bukod sa ibang kapakanan at negosyo, sadyang kai-langan ang magkaroon siya ng isang matapat at tunay na katulong.

Nguni’t si Judith ay nakagigiliw sa dalawang binatang sadyang nan-gunguna sa talaan ng kanyang mga tagahanga. Kung sino sa dalawa a’ng kanyang hihirangin ay siyang suliraning hindi niya makayang mapagpasiyahan agad. Ilan nang gabing nagiging paksa ito ng kan-yang malalim na pag-iisip, subali’t inaabot siya ng bukang-liwayway sa pagdidili-dili, kahi’t nasa himlayan. O! Suliranin ng pag-ibig!...

Ang dalawang binatang “napipi-sil” ng dalaga ay tumutugon sa mga pangalang Walfrido Ma. de Dios at Dante Corazon. Kapuwa makisig, mabait, masunurin, nagtapos sa kolehiyo ng kanilang pag-aaral at kapuwa may katangian sa sarili, dili iba kundi ang pagiging ma-nanalumpati ng una at ang pagka-manunulat naman ng huli.

Subali’t may isang kapintasang masasabi sa dalawa: kapuwa sila mahirap, at dahilan diyan ay ki-nakailangan ang maghanap-buhay, sa tunay na kahulugan ng katagang “hanapbuhay”. Si Walfrido ay naglilingkod sa isang sangay sa batasan samantalang si Dante naman ay sa isang pahayagang pang-araw-araw.

Ang suliranin, sa palagay ni Ju-dith, ay pabigat araw-araw, lalo na’t nadarama niya ang pagpapakilala ng tunay na pagtingin sa kanya ng dalawang binata, na gayong magka-basangal at sadyang magkalaban sa larangan ng pag-ibig ay kung bakit napakamapitagan sa harap niya at bawa’t isa ay nagbibigayan upang huwag mapasukal ang kanyang loob.

— Mga maginoo! — iyan ang lihim na nasasambit ni Judith kung nagdaraan sa kanyang matamang pagsusuri ang katauhan at ugali ng dalawang nagsisigiliw na binatang nasabi.

II.

Nang mabuksan ang sobre na

kinasisidlan ng testamento ng nasir-ang ama ni Judith ay saka lalo itong naniwala na talaga nga palang isang suliranin ang kanyang pag-aasawa. Sapagka’t sa isa sa mga tadhana ng testamento ay hinihingi na siya ay pakasal sa tunay na iniibig niya at sa sandali lamang na maisakatuparan ang kanilang pag-iisang dibdib

maaaring magkabisa sa kagana-pan ang paglilipat ng karapatan sa mga ari-arian ng nasira.

At, bukod sa mga pangyayaring iyan, sa tuwi-tuwi nang magkakau-sap si Judith at saka ang isang ale nito at isa pang pinsang dalaga, ang laging iniuukilkil sa kanya ay ang pag-aasawa yamang siya ay nasa sapat nang gulang.

— Nguni’t paano, tiya? Wala pang napagpapasiyahan ang aking puso, — Palagi niyang nasasambit sa kanila.

Canario ng Kanyang Pag-ibigMaikling Kuwento ni Alberto Segismundo Cruz

— Oho! itong batang ito!... — nasasabi na lamang ng kanyang ale.

— Ikaw nga naman!—katlo na-man ng pinsang dalaga ni Judith.

— Mahirap ang ako ay magtapat sa inyo. Hindi ninyo ako mapapani-walaan, nguni’t idinadalangin ko na makatuklas ako ng paraan upang makapagpasiya ang aking puso na nasa isang mahigpit at maselang na suliranin ngayon.

— Siyanga sana, iha, at nang napapayapa na tayo...

Hindi na magsasalita pa si Judith sa panig na ito ng kanilang pag-uusap. Hindi na, sapagka’t napapalarawan na naman sa kan-yang isipan ang dalawang binatang nagkaroon ng pitak sa kanyang puso. Dalawang binatang natatangi sa lahat ng mga nagsisipag-ukol ng pag-ibig sa kanya. Dalawang mag-kabasangal, nguni’t magkaibigan sa pagbibigay-pitagan at pagpapa-halaga sa kanyang sanghaya.

Saka niya magugunita ang bang-git ng bawa’t isa, kung nagpapaalam na sa pagdalaw.

— Judith, idadalangin ko ngay-ong gabi ang katiwasayan mo sa pamamahinga at ang pagsisinaya sa lalong matitimyas na pangarap, — sabi ni Walfrido.

— Nakatanod ang aking gunita sa iyo at harinawang mailigtas ka sa lahat ng panganib at kalungkutan! — ani Dante naman.

Matitimyas na pangungusap. Mga bigkasin ng labing ibinubunsod ng mga pusong nagmamahal...

III.

Isang umaga ay nagising si

Judith na maligayang-maligaya. Halos hindi pa nakapag-aagahan at ni hindi pa man nahahalinhan ang mga tuyot na bulaklak sa kanyang “florera” ay tinipa na ng dalaga ang mapuputing teklado ng kanyang “Winkleman”... at noon ay umalin-gawngaw ang isang bahagi ng likha ni Liszt sa buong kabahayan.

— Maagang nagising ngayon si Judith!—pamanghang saad ng kanyang ale.

— Opo, — patunay ng utusang babae ni Judith.

— Si Judith ay tumutugtog ng piano, — sabi naman ng kanyang pinsang dalaga.

— Oo, oo, tila nakapagpasiya na si Judith; nakapagpasiya na! Salamat sa Diyos, patuloy ng ale ng dalaga.

Paano’y talagang may nasa isip si Judith. May isang bagay na nabalangkas siya sa kanyang pag-iisip na sa palagay niya ay lulutas sa kanyang suliranin.

— Tumawag ako kagabing hating-gabi sa Ina ng Awa at ako ay kinahabagan. — pahayag ni Judith sa kanyang mga kasambahay na tuwang-tuwa. — Matapos na ako ay makapagdasal, — patuloy niya, — ay nakatulog na ako agad. Nangarap ako at kay gandang pangarap. Ako raw ay nagpasiya na humingi o hu-miling ng isang handog o alaala sa dalawang itinatangi ng aking puso na siyang makapagpapakilala ng walang maliw na pag-ibig.

—Mainam na balak,—sabi ng pinsang dalaga ni Judith.

At, napabuntong-hininga na la-mang ang ale ng dalaga sa isinalay-say na pangarap nito.

IV.

Kinabukasan ay dalawang liham

ang inihanda ni Judith, nguni’t dala-wang kalatas na nagsasaad ng iisang bagay. Iniuukol niya ang mga liham na ito sa dalawang binatang nangin-gibig sa kanya at siyang itinatangi niya sa maraming nagsisihanga at sumasamba sa kanyang sanghaya. Ganito ang isinasaad ng kalatas na iniukol niya sa bawa’t isa:

“Bagama’t nalilihis sa isang

magandang kaugalian, ay hinihingi ko sa iyo na ako ay pag-ukulan mo ng isang alaala. Nababatid kong iniibig mo ako, nguni’t kailangan na ang pagibig ay makilala hindi sa pangungusap ng labi lamang kundi sa layunin ng kaluluwa at sa tunay na mithiin ng pusong may panata. Limang araw ang ipagkakaloob ko sa iyo upang magawa ang iyong pagpapasiya.

“Sumasaiyo.“Judith”Binasa ng dalawang binata ang

liham ng dalaga, na nangangatal ang mga kamay. Hindi maubos-maisip ng dalawa kung ano ang tunay na layunin ni Judith sa kalatas. Kung sila ay sinusubok o sila ay binibiro lamang ay siyang hindi ngayon ma-watasan ng dalawang nagsisimpan ng tapat na pag-ibig sa dalaga.

Nguni’t naroon na ang liham at kinakailangan nila ang magpasiya. Ang limang araw ay maikling pa-nahon upang malutas ang suliranin. Kailangan ang mag-isip, maglamay sa pag-iisip, upang maging mara-pat ang alaalang ipagkakaloob sa dalagang pinipintakasi at pinapanata ng kaluluwa.

Si Walfrido ay napatungo sa Escolta, makalabas sa kanyang pinapasukang tanggapan at hinanap sa mga basar at almasen ang lalong mahalagang bagay na maaaring maipagkaloob kay Judith.

Ganito rin ang ginawa ni Dante, at sa isang panulukan ng daan ay nagkasalubong pa sila, bagama’t hindi nababatid nino man na ka-puwa sila tumanggap ng liham ng dalaga na iisa ang inilalahad.

Hindi naglaon at dumating din sa dalaga ang sandaling pinananabi-kan niya, dili iba kundi ang pagha-hatid ng mga handog o alaala ng dalawang matapat na namimintuho.

Isang tanging mensahero ang naghatid ng alaala ni Walfrido. Nanginginig ang mga daliri na binuksan ni Judith ang isang kahita na anaki ay busilak, matapos na dahan-dahang maalis ang balot na “cellophane” nito.

Isang pabango: isang “perfume” na may taglay na kabantugan sa hal-imuyak at sa kahinhinan ng sangkap na mga “esencia”. Ito rin ang paban-gong karaniwang ginagamit ng ating dalaga. Nguni’t ano kaya ang bagay na nasa loob ng maliit na botelyang iyan ng pabango? Ah! isang ilang-ilang — ilang-ilang — na sa malas ay sadyang inilubog sa “likha ng

Kimiko”.“Ilang-ilang! Iyan ang alaala

ko sa iyo, Judith; pagdamutan mo na — anang mga talatang nakatitik sa tarheta ni Walfrido — “Oo, iyang bulaklak na iyan na habang nalalan-ta. At habang nauunsiyami ay lalong bumabango at humahalimuyak naman, gaya rin ng aking pag-ibig na, habang sinusubok ng iyong pagmamaramot at pinagsusungitan ng palad ay lalo namang bumabango at humahalimuyak sa aking dibdib! Pabango? Ah, iyan ay lumilipas,



Spiritual Life

Read Monsignor’s previous articles by visit-ing our website at www.asianjournalusa.com

by Msgr. Fernando G. Gutierrez

Lower Your Nets Balintataw

Read Virginia Ferrer’s previous articles by visiting our website at www.asianjournalusa.com

by Virginia H. Ferrer

©2010 Virginia H. Ferrer. All rights reserved.

About the Author: Virginia H. Ferrer is a Filipino Language Teacher at Otay Ranch High School in Chula Vista.

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Nasaan na nga ba?Nasaan na nga ba itong dating malawak na dagatna pinagkukunan ng isdaang aming ipinapangatng mga halaan, batotoy at pati alimasagsiyang pampatawid ng buhay sa aming mahihirap.

Nasaan na ba ang tabing dagat na aming pasyalansa maghapong lapaguran pampagaan ng katawanhabang iyong pinapanood ang paglubog ng arawnawala na nga ito, tingnan mo na lan sa larawan.

Nasaan na nga ba ang ikinabubuhay ni Tatangsampu ng kanyang pamilyang siya ang inaasahanpangarap niyang pag-aralin ng ‘di lumaking mangmangnaglaho ang kanyang ambisyon ng ganuon na lamang.

Nasaan na ba ang laruan nitong mga bataang magpatintero at magpiko sa buhanginang basamalapad at libreng lugar, ‘di masakit kung madapasa likod-bahay ka na lang, kung may kapirasong lupa.

Nasaan na nga ba ang mga biyayang ito ng Diyosna sa ating nilalang ay masayang ipinagkaloobna walang nagmamay-ari at walang maghihimasokdahil sa malalaking buwayang dito’y nakapasok.

(Ito po ay hinaing ng tulad kong tubong-Paranaque)

Joke of the week: Do you believe in life after death?” the boss asked one of his employees. “Yes, sir,” the clerk replied. “That’s good,” the boss said. “After you left early yesterday to go to your grandmother’s funeral, she stopped in to see you.”

Readings: First Read-ing: Isaiah 49:14-15: This divine comfort of the people and compassion for them is illustrated by what follows in 49:14-16a. Zion is seen here as a mother (as in 66:6-16; cf. 50:1; 54:6) and, for all the comfort that this earthly mother of Israel can bring to the people, God’s comfort and compassion is unsurpass-able and ongoing Second Reading: 1 Cor. 4:1-5: In this passage that is full of judi-cial language, Paul speaks positively abut God’s judg-ment and warns those who would judge others within the Christian community. Behind Paul’s comments lies a strong concern for unity. Paul emphasizes that Chris-

Prayer for the Healing of Your Family Tree

Rev. John H. Hampsch, CMF

Heavenly Father, I come before you as your child, in great need of your help. I have physical health needs, emotional needs, spiritual needs, and interpersonal needs. Many of my problems have been caused by my own fail-ures, neglect and sinfulness, for which I humbly beg your forgiveness, Lord. But I also ask you to forgive the sins of my ancestors whose failures have left their effect on me in the form of unwanted tendencies, behavior patterns and defects in body, mind and spirit. Heal me, Lord of all these disorders.

With your help I sincerely forgive everyone especially living or dead members of my family tree, who have di-rectly offended me or my loved ones in any way, or those whose sins have resulted in our present sufferings and disorders. In the name of your divine Son Jesus and in the power of his Holy Spirit, I ask you, Father to deliver me and my entire family tree from the influence of the evil one.

Free all living and dead members of my family tree, including those in adoptive relationships, and those in extended family relationships from every contaminating form of bondage. By your loving concern for us, heav-enly Father, and by the shed blood of your precious Son Jesus, I beg you to extend your blessing to me and to all my living and deceased relatives. Heal every negative ef-fect transmitted through all past generations, and prevent such negative effects in future generations of my family tree.

I symbolically place the cross of Jesus over the head of each person in my family tree and between each generation; I ask you to let the cleansing blood of Jesus purify the bloodlines in my family lineage. Send your protective angels to encamp around us, and permit Arch-angel Raphael, the patron of healing to administer your divine healing power to all of us even in areas of genetic disability. Give special power to our family members’ guardian angels to heal, protect, guide and encourage each of us in all our needs. Let your healing power be released at this very moment, and let it continue as long as your sovereignty permits.

In our family tree, Lord, replace all bondage with a holy bonding in family love. And let there be an ever-deeper bonding with you, Lord, by the Holy Spirit, to your Son, Jesus. Let the family of the Holy Trinity per-vade our family with its tender, warm, loving presence, so that our family may recognize and manifest that love in all our relationships. All of our unknown needs we include with this petition that we pray in Jesus’ precious Name. Amen.

St. Joseph, Patron of family life, pray for us.Claretian Teaching Ministry

20610 Manhattan Place Suite 120 Torrance CA 90501Tel: 310.782.6408 Fax:310.782.8892

www.claretiantapeministry.org

Feb. 27, 2011: 8th Sunday

The Story of Two Masters tian ministry and corporate existence must reflect a unity formed by the gospel, a unity threatened by an atmosphere in which people usurp or deny God’s right to judge. Keep in mind that Paul’s wants to mend divisions and call Christians back to a proper understanding of their place in God’s scheme. The Corinthian church was beset by petty rivalries and widening divi-sions (see 1:10–11; 3:1–4), and one of the ways in which disunity manifested itself was through the distinctions that the Corinthians were drawing among themselves. Moreover, some in Corinth were dismis-sive toward Paul and all too eager to make judgments of their worth relative to him. In response, Paul defends himself from their attacks and also attempts to reorient the Corinthians’ views of them-selves.

Paul expresses palpable frustration with the Corinthi-ans. In naming his and Apol-los’s identity as “servants”

and “stewards,”, he avoids more forceful terminology that might have reasserted their authority. Paul regards himself and Apollos as models or exemplars for the Corinthi-ans. A Greek word for servant was a general term desig-nating one who assisted or provided service to someone else. The word for steward usually refers to the top-rank-ing slave (in some cases, a freedman) in a Greco-Roman household, and is typically responsible for such admin-istrative matters as managing finances, procuring goods, and overseeing the work of other slaves. Both words imply a subordinate role, and Paul understands them specifically to indicate service provided in relationship to Christ and “God’s mysteries.”

The church at Corinth was a challenging blessing for Paul who organized the con-gregation but soon discovered that cultural influences and spiritual immaturity, pre-vented the young church from fully appreciating the work of God through Christ and its responsibility to become a relevant witness. He then presses the truth of the mat-ter by challenging the church not to become preoccupied by status, position and tem-poral power. In verses 3-5, Paul confronts the superficial spirit of judgment exhibited by some in the Corinthian church. Gospel: Mt. 6:24-34: Christ proceeds to illustrate the necessity of laying up treasures in heaven from a well- known fact, that a ser-vant cannot serve two masters at the same time. To the inter-ests of one he would adhere, the other he would neglect. This is a law of human nature. The supreme affections can be fixed on only one object. So, says Jesus, the servant of God cannot at the same time obey him and be avaricious, or seek treasures supremely on earth. One interferes with the other, and one will be, and must be surrendered.

Reflections: The Bat’s Mis-take - Aesop speaks in one of his fables about a time when the beasts and fowl were en-gaged in war. The bat tried to belong to both parties. When the birds were victorious, he would wing around telling that he was a bird; when the beasts won a fight, he would walk around them assuring them that he was a beast. But soon his hypocrisy was dis-covered and he was rejected by both the beasts and the birds. He had to hide himself, and now only by night can he appear openly. One is our Master, even Christ. Serve Him!—Sunday School Times

Matthew Henry illustrates how these two masters are in diametric opposition to one another.

GOD says: “My son, give me thy heart.’’ MAMMON says: “No, give it me.’’

“Be content with such things as ye have.” “Grasp at all that ever thou canst.”

“Defraud not, never lie, be honest”

“Cheat thine own Father, ’’and just in all thy deal-

ings.’’ if thou canst gain by it.”

“Be charitable.’’ “Hold thy own: this giving undoes us all.’’

“Be careful (anxious) for nothing.’’

“Be careful (anxious) for everything.’’

“Keep holy thy sabbath-day.’’

“Make use of that day as

well as any other for the world.’’

“Thus inconsistent,” ac-cording to Henry, “are the commands of God and Mam-mon, so that we cannot serve both. Let us not then halt between God and Baal, but choose ye this day whom ye will serve, and abide by our choice.”

Quotation of the week: Whoever has bread in his basket and says, “What am I going to eat tomorrow?” only belongs to those who are little in faith. Judaism.Talmud, Sota 48b

IRS Open Houses for Feb. 26 & Mar. 26 to Help Taxpayers

SAN DIEGO — Taxpayers

who may have difficulty sched-uling a visit to an IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center during nor-mal weekday business hours can visit various Southern California offices and the Las Vegas office on Saturday, Feb-ruary 26 and Saturday, March 26, 2011, between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m to get tax assistance.

The IRS will host two Sat-urday Open Houses during the income tax filing season to provide free assistance to taxpayers who need help get-ting information required to file their tax returns. Help with account questions, such as col-lection or examination issues, is also available during Open House. In some instances vir-tual assistance will be offered, taxpayers will be assisted over the telephone by IRS employ-ees who are working in other offices around the country.

“We know some people are facing challenging economic times and we want to provide extra assistance on these Sat-urdays,” said IRS Spokesman Raphael Tulino “Our goal is to help them get what they need from the IRS.”

The following Southern California and Nevada offices will be open:

Long Beach, CA - 501 • West Ocean Blvd., Long Beach, 90802San Bernardino, CA – •

290 North “D” Street, San Bernardino, 92401San Diego, CA – 880 •

Front Street, San Diego, 92101Santa Ana, CA – 801 • Civic Center Dr. West, Santa Ana, 92701

Las Vegas, NV – 110 • City Parkway, Las Ve-gas, NV 89106

In addition to the

normal array of ser-vices, limited help preparing tax forms is available on a first-come, first-served ba-sis in most locations.

More than 35,000 taxpayers attended similar Open House events last year. In ad-dition to Southern Cal-ifornia and Nevada, IRS is offering assis-tance at 96 other loca-tions around the coun-try. A complete listing

of local offices and those open on Saturday is available on http://www.IRS.gov.


Very affordable fees.

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Light &Shadows

Read Zena Babao’s previous articles by visiting our website at www.asianjournalusa.com

by Zena Sultana Babao

Jesus said in the Bible, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God.”

What does this aphorism or saying mean? Is the phrase “the eye of a needle” just a figure of speech, or is it a physical location as some people believe? What, in your opinion, was Jesus telling us?

Jesus’ words that it is easier for a rich man to en-ter heaven than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle reflect an idea found in early rabbinic writings. Other words to that effect could also

Through the Eye of a Needle

Jesus said in the Bible: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of the needle than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God.”

Jesus also said: “I am come that they may have life, and they may have it more abundantly.”

Nativity Door: The entrance to the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem cited as the probably source of the apocryphal story of a very small gate known as the "Eye of the Needle".

be found, not only in the New Testament of the Holy Bible, but also in the some early writings such as:

The Talmud (Jewish civil and ceremonial traditional law): “They do not show a man a palm tree of gold nor an elephant going through the eye of the needle.”

The Midrash (Hebrew commentary) in the Old Testament’s Song of Songs or Song of Solomon: “The Holy One said, ‘open for me a door as big as a needle’s eye and I will open for you a door through which may enter tens and camels.’”

The Quran, holy book of Islam: “To those who reject our signs and treat them

with arrogance, no opening will there be of the gates of heaven, nor will they enter the garden until the camel can pass through the eye of the needle …”

A photo of the entrance to the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem has been cited as the probable source of the apocryphal story of a very small gate, known as the “Eye of the Needle”, that allowed access to a walled city when the main gates are closed. However, a Bible resource called “Tools of the Bible”, says that there is no archaeo-logical or historical support for the common idea that the ‘needle’s eye’ was a small pedestrian gate in the city wall through which camels had to kneel to enter.

Whether or not there ex-isted a physical place called “Eye of the Needle” is not the issue here. In my opinion, what Jesus was telling us is this:

It is impossible for a camel to go through the tiny eye of a needle as it is equally impos-sible for those who trust in riches instead of God to enter into His Kingdom. I think that our Lord Jesus Christ was warning us, his followers, not to put our trust in riches.

I am not saying that money or riches is evil. Neither does

the Bible. What is not good is the “love of money” forsaking all else. Total allegiance to the Lord is! Money is impor-tant, no doubt about it. Vast sums of money change hands every day in a global economy that affects every man, woman and child on this Earth.

It is how we view money that’s at issue here.

People hold divergent views about money. Some view it as the root of all evil and believe that poverty brings us closer to God. Oth-ers accept the health-and-wealth concept that Christians are almost automatically destined to become financially successful if not fabulously wealthy.

Let’s take the middle ground! God is not opposed to riches. After all, He is the originator of all our financial blessings! Jesus Christ, the Son of God, talked about free-dom from economic want: “I am come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” Abundant life includes financial riches, as well as peace of mind.

However, the followers of God who want to make money but continue to follow God must avoid certain spiritual traps. It becomes easy, as a person accumulates worldly goods, to view money – rather than God – as a source of pro-tection and stability.

According to the apostle Paul, “Those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many fool-ish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greedi-ness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”

In this passage Paul elabo-rates on the perspective to-ward wealth that Jesus Christ had given many years earlier. In speaking of a Christian’s proper priorities, Jesus said, “You cannot serve God and mammon.” The English “mammon” is translated here from a similar Aramaic word that means riches, especially riches that turns one’s atten-tion away from God.

While recognizing that people have physical needs, Christ emphasized that our priority must always be God. Jesus taught us that we must “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added …”

Jesus explained that eter-nal life is a spiritual issue of paramount importance. The wealth of a man is not intrinsi-cally wrong … what is wrong is man’s misplaced priorities and his improper attachment

to material wealth. Keeping priorities straight

can be quite a challenge, es-pecially to some people who have been blessed with too much. It is good to remember and practice Christ’s instruc-tion: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven … for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

People can be prejudiced about money. Sometimes the wealthy despise the poor, and sometimes the poor despise the rich. It happens, though it should not be the case! Hence, the popular concept nowadays of redistribution of wealth! But what is popular

is not always right, and what is right is not always popular.

Since money is a tool that can be used for good or evil, it is important that we under-stand how it should be used. God reveals that He is the cre-ator of heaven and earth, and as such, everything belongs to him. In Exodus, God said, “… all the Earth is Mine.” We are just taking care of everything for God!

God expects spiritual and humanitarian work from all of us. Just as we work to sustain us physically, we must also work for a greater spiritual purpose. Of course we can-not earn salvation by human efforts, since salvation has already been freely given to us by Jesus’ death on the cross. -zsb

til Maria gets her LPR status. got married to a USC and has a minor child from previous relationship. The USC must file separate I-130 petitions on behalf of Maria and her minor child.

Where to file the I-130 Petition. The place of filing depends on the residence of the petitioner and beneficiary. If the petitioner and alien beneficiary are both resid-ing abroad, they may file the I-130 petition with the nearest U.S. consulate. In the case of Philippines, the petition may be filed with the U.S. embassy in Manila. This applies to USC petition for his or her spouse or children. If the pe-titioner resides in the United States, the I-130 petition is filed with the Chicago lock-box. If the beneficiary resides abroad, the approved peti-tion will be forwarded to the

Immigrating to the U.S. through a family member(Continued from page 3) National Visa Center (NVC).

The NVC will then transmit the file the petition to the ap-propriate U.S. consulate once the priority date is current. If the beneficiary resides in the United States and the I-130 petition is filed with adjust-ment of status, the USCIS retains the file and the local USCIS office will adjudicate the adjustment of status.

The second step in the process is the interview. If the beneficiary is residing abroad, the interview is conducted at the consulate. In the case of marriage petition, the inter-view is conducted to deter-mine the validity of marriage. The parties should be ready to prove the relationship through pictures, letters, and affidavits of friends and relatives. If the beneficiary is residing in the United States, proof that the parties are living together and of commingling of funds such as joint lease contract, joint

bank account, and joint life, health and auto insurance. Situations that may raise suspicions that the marriage is fraudulent include: big age differences and the fact the parties are not living together. The interview is not as dif-ficult when the qualifying relationship is parent-child.

The third step is the adjust-ment of status or consular pro-cessing. The USCIS or con-sular officer will determine if the applicant is eligible to adjust status or obtain a visa. If the applicant entered the United States without inspec-tion, committed a crime, used illegal drugs, or made false claim to U.S. citizenship; he or she will not be eligible to adjust or get a visa unless he or she applies for a waiver. In the case of false claim to citi-zenship, waiver is generally not available.

The fourth step is the in-spection and admission by the Customs and Border Protec-tion (CBP). For applicants who received their immigrant visa at the consulate, the last and final step is presenting themselves at the port of entry for inspection and admission. The fact that the alien is hold-ing an immigrant visa is no guarantee that he or she will be allowed entry to the United States. The CBP has the right to make a separate determi-nation that the applicant is eligible for admission to the United States. The alien must remain eligible for admission as an immigrant at the time of entry to the United States. If the intending immigrant’s visa is based on marriage, he or she must remain married to the petitioner at the time of entry. If the alien is holding a visa for unmarried son of a USC, he or she must remain unmarried at the time of entry. If the intending immigrant commits a crime after his or her visa was issued, he or she may be denied admission to the United States.

We welcome your feed-back. If you have any im-migration questions, please feel welcome to email me at [email protected] or call 619 819 -8648 to arrange for a telephone con-sultation.

Reach the lucrative Asian Pacific Islander

Market by advertising in the Asian Journal!Call (619) 474-0588


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Due to expected wet weather, there will be no Trol-ley Renewal construction this weekend, February 25-27. All stations will be open and Trol-leys will operate on a normal weekend schedule.

Construction is scheduled to resume March 4. Start-ing at 9 p.m. there will be no Trolley service between the Palm Avenue and H Street Trolley stations. Southbound Trolley service will terminate at the H Street Trolley Station and resume at the Palm Av-enue Trolley Station. Stations will reopen for the start of service on Monday, March 7.

Two bus services will be available for riders this week-end:

Trolley Shuttles• will serve the Palm Avenue, Palomar Street and H Street Trolley sta-tions. This shuttle will run in both directions. Trolley Express• will operate non-stop be-tween the 24th Street and San Ysidro Trolley stations in both direc-tions.

These bus services will run every 8-15 minutes during normal Trolley service hours. Regular Trolley service will resume in time for the start of service on Monday, February 27. Trolley tickets, day passes, or monthly passes are required to board the Trolley Shuttle and Trolley Express bus ser-vices. No tickets are sold on board these buses.

Please note that this schedule is subject to change without notice. MTS appreci-ates riders’ patience during construction.

When complete, the Blue Line will be transformed with new station platforms, pas-

No Trolley Stations Closed This Weekendsenger shelters, new low-floor trolleys, next arrival informa-tion and more.

The construction schedule for March is:

March 4-6• : Blue Line closed between Palm and H Street. March 11-13• : Blue Line closed between Palm and E Street. March 18-20• : Blue Line closed between Palomar St. and 24th Street. March 25-27: • Blue

Line closed between Palomar St. and 24th Street.

MTS encourages riders to expect delays and give them-selves extra time when travel-ing.

Riders can find out more information online at www.sdmts.com/TrolleyRenewal.asp or by calling the hotline at 619.557.4533. During week-end closures, station ambas-sadors will be at the closed stations to direct and help riders.

President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III bested other heads of state for his communications platform of promoting transparency and accountability.

He received the PublicAf-fairsAsia’s Gold Standard Award for Political Communi-cations.

Aquino won over Lee Kuan Yew, Minister Men-tor and first Prime Minister of Singapore; Ambika Soni, India’s Minister of Informa-tion and Broadcasting; British Prime Minister David Camer-on; ASEAN Secretary Gen-eral Dr. Surin Pitsuwan; and Indonesian Politician Anas Urbaningrum.

PublicAffairsAsia Execu-tive Director Craig Hoy said: “These awards celebrate the achievements of corporations, governments and NGOs and identify those professionals, consultancies and governmen-tal figures who are driving this important process of engage-ment and partnership in Asia Pacific.”

PublicAffairsAsia is a

PNoy’s anti-corruption slogan wins Asian award

President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III

network of senior government relations, public affairs and corporate communications professionals operating across the Asia Pacific region.

The group gave credence to Aquino’s “Kung Walang Cor-rupt, Walang Mahirap” line that he has been trumpeting since the elections.

In fact, Aquino had made sure that this would be brought into the public con-sciousness, it said.

Aquino had even capital-ized on different platforms to bring this to the public. His communications team, for example, made sure of the government’s presence in the Internet.


EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Feb.14, 2011 – DIRECTV, the world’s most popular video service, con-tinues to expand its leadership in the Filipino market with an ad campaign that’s sure to delight Filipino-Americans all over the country. The campaign is set to launch February 14, 2011.

Jake Lopez, a 26-year-old re-cent immigrant from Manila and an aspiring actor, will star in a series of ads that puts the Filipi-no’s upbeat spirit right on center stage. Born and raised in the Phil-

DIRECTV Goes “Steady” with its Filipino Subscribers

ippines, this is Jake’s first major endorsement deal and he couldn’t be any happier with appearing in DIRECTV’s commercials. He is especially excited about this new campaign because the television spot also features Filipinos from all walks of life.

“That’s what makes this cam-paign so different, and a break-through from all the Filipino ads that are shown here in the U.S.,” said Lopez. “I’m really proud to be a part of this project.”

Jake, together with an all-Fili-pino cast, will star in a television commercial, as well as print ads that are slated to come out in Feb-ruary. This campaign promises to be one that has never been done before for the Filipino community here in the U.S. and will certainly reinforce DIRECTV’s leadership as a provider of premium Filipino entertainment and a company with a global vision.

DIRECTV is the leading pro-vider of premium Filipino TV entertainment with 10 television channels: TFC, GMA Pinoy TV, GMA Life, Cinema One Global, ABS-CBN News Channel, Ka-pamilya Channel, MYX, Gem Net, DZMM and DWRR.

In addition to its diverse Fili-pino content, DIRECTV also of-fers access to over 285 channels, including popular channels such as CNN, Discovery Channel, The Travel Channel, The Food Net-work, Animal Planet, Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon.

DIRECTV also provides ac-cess to more than 160 full-time HD channels, blockbuster films in 1080p HD quality, and is the first TV provider to bring dedicated HD 3D content to its customers. DI-RECTV also offers a leading-edge experience with innovations such as its Whole-Home DVR Service, which allows customers to have the freedom to record, watch and delete shows from any HD receiv-er in their home using just a single HD DVR. Customers can receive more information on package se-

lections or learn how to sign up by calling DIRECTV’s Filipino cus-tomer service at 1-800-982-5553.

The DIRECTV International platform delivers a wide variety of new programming in multiple foreign-languages, including Korean, Vietnamese, Filipino, Spanish, Russian, Hindi, Telugu, Bengali, Mandarin, Cantonese, Portuguese and Greek, to emerg-ing ethnic markets throughout the United States.

About DIRECTV

DIRECTV (NASDAQ: DTV) is the world’s most popular video service delivering state-of-the-art technology, unmatched program-ming, the most comprehensive sports packages available and in-dustry leading customer service to its 27.6 million customers in the U.S. and Latin America. In the U.S., DIRECTV offers its 19.1 million customers access to over 160 HD channels and Dolby-Digital® 5.1 theater-quality sound (when available), access to ex-clusive sports programming such as NFL SUNDAY TICKET™, award winning technology like its DIRECTV® DVR Scheduler and higher customer satisfaction than the leading cable companies for ten years running. DIRECTV Latin America, through its subsid-iaries and affiliated companies in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Ven-ezuela, Colombia, and other Latin American countries, leads the

“EVEN THE RAIN (TAMBIEN LA LLUVIA)”… A Spanish film crew arrives in Bolivia to make a film about

Columbus in the New World. Idealistic director Sebastian (Gael García Bernal, The Motorcycle Diaries) wants to denounce the injustices of the past, focusing on exploitation of the indigenous people. Practical producer Costa (Luis Tosar, Cell 211), working on a tight budget, has chosen Bolivia, one of Latin America’s poorest countries, to stand in for Santo Domingo because extras will work

for only $2 a day. After an open casting call almost degenerates into a riot, Sebastian hires outspoken Daniel (Juan Carlos Aduviri) to play the rebel Indian leader. But when the locals begin demonstra-tions against a multinational’s plans to privatize

water—even the rain—Daniel is in the thick of them, endangering the film’s shooting schedule. The thought-provoking screenplay by Paul Laverty (The Wind That Shakes the Barley) cunningly paral-lels the Spanish conquest of the Americas with the modern spread of capitalism. This fascinating mixture of past and present, fiction and fact, features spectacular scenes of the period film within a film. Directed by Icíar Bollaín (Take My Eyes). (Fully subtitled) www.eventherainmovie.com

This film is Not Rated by the MPAA.

Running time 104 minutes.Exclusive Engagement Opens Friday, February 25th

Landmark’s Hillcrest Cinemas3965 Fifth Avenue, Suite 200 – (619) 819-0236

DIRECTV Celebrates the Filipino Spirit with a New Ad Campaign for 2011, Featuring Members of the Community

pay-TV category in technology, programming and service, deliv-ering an unrivaled digital televi-sion experience to 8.5 million customers. DIRECTV sports and entertainment properties include three Regional Sports Networks

(Northwest, Rocky Mountain and Pittsburgh) as well as a 65 percent interest in Game Show Network. For the most up-to-date informa-tion on DIRECTV, please call 1-800-DIRECTV or visit directv.com.

EntertainmentMovies to Watch

(Following are movies now showing or soon to be shown in San Diego.)

by Simeon G. Silverio Jr.


Most peoples New Year’s resolution are mostly geared on losing weight and getting healthy, more than getting rich and famous, knowing the fact that recent statistics showed more than 50% of young Americans across the nation are growing obese. If it seems impossible, perhaps you should consider getting more serious in food intakes to prevent from heart disease and protect your-self against any form of cancer.

A drastic change of lifestyle should be of the essence. This is simply, observ-ing a strict eating habit of low-calorie, highly nutritious foods, especially vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds and beans. These basic whole-some foods based on studies contain phytochemicals that protect against toxins and are necessary to maximize hu-man health and lifespan and prevent this burden of chronic disease that;s weighing down our society with medical trag-edies and economic costs.

My cardiologist rec-ommends eating unlim-ited amounts of raw veg-gies, cooked greens,beans, legumes, tofu, fresh fruit and other non-starchy vegetables. In addition. you can enjoy one serving per day of starchy veggies or whole grains, nuts, and seeds and slice of avo-

Let’s talk healthy in 2011cado or a choice of two good bite size dark chocolate which new studies indicate this is good for the heart especially for women. However, my doctor said, “During the first six weeks no dairy and ani-mal products, between-meal snacks, and dried fruits and juice.”

As an advocate of Ka-lusugan, Healthy Eating Campaign program based in National City, re-cent studies indi-cates that Ameri-can diet is about 25% of calories from animal prod-ucts and about 60% from pro-cessed foods. This

contains a very small amount of natural plant vegetation, approximately around 10%. But about half of that 10% is white potatoes. Berries, seeds, green vegetables and tomatoes make up less than 5% only on American diet.

Processed foods, typi-cally those packaged snacks, sweets, and pre-made meals are void of cancer figthing antioxidants and phythochem-icals. Returning to natural, whole foods, fresh greens, produce, nuts, seeds, legumes and fruits is the only key, that is back to basics in achieving optimal health and could put a major, major, cure on the problem of the on-going war of cancer.

776,016 reads

LifestyleRead J’Son’s previous articles by visiting our website at www.

asianjournalusa.com

by Joe Son

Everyone can take steps to improve their memory, and with time and practice most people can gain the ability to memorize seemingly impossible amounts of information.

Whether you want to win the World Memory Championships, ace your history test, or simply remember where you put your keys, this article can get you started. Scientists believe that exercising your brain can create a ‘cognitive reserve’ that will help you stay sharp as you age.

1. Convince yourself that you do have a good memory that will improve. Too many people get stuck here and convince themselves that their memory is bad, that they are just not good with names, that numbers just slip out of their minds for some reason. Erase those thoughts and vow to improve your memory. Commit yourself to the task and bask in your achievements — it’s hard to keep motivated if you beat yourself down every time you make a little bit of progress.

2. Keep your brain active. The brain is not a muscle, but regularly “exercising” the brain actually does keep it growing and spurs the development of new nerve connections that can help improve memory. By developing new mental skills—especially complex ones such as learning a new language or learning to play a new musical instrument—and challenging your brain with puzzles and games you can keep your brain active and improve its physi-ological functioning.

3. Exercise daily. Regular aerobic exercise improves cir-culation and efficiency through-out the body, including in the brain, and can help ward off the memory loss that comes with aging.

Exercise also makes you more alert and relaxed, and can thereby improve your memory uptake, allowing you to take

Food for thoughtRead previous articles by visiting our website at www.asian-journalusa.com

How To Improve Your Brainbetter mental “pictures.”

4. Reduce stress. Chronic stress, although it does not physically damage the brain, can make remembering much more difficult. Even temporary stresses can make it more diffi-cult to effectively focus on con-cepts and observe things. Try to relax, regularly practice yoga or other stretching exercises, and see a doctor if you have severe chronic stress.

5. Eat well and eat right. There are a lot of herbal sup-plements on the market that claim to improve memory, but none have yet been shown to be effective in clinical tests (although small studies have shown some promising re-sults for ginkgo biloba and phosphatidylserine). A healthy diet, however, contributes to a healthy brain, and foods containing antioxidants—broccoli, blueberries, spinach, and berries, for example—and Omega-3 fatty acids appear to promote healthy brain func-tioning. Feed your brain with such supplements as Thiamine, Vitamin E,Niacin and Vita-min B-6. Grazing, eating 5 or 6 small meals throughout the day instead of 3 large meals, also seems to improve mental functioning (including memory) by limiting dips in blood sugar, which may negatively affect the brain.

6. Take better pictures. Often we forget things not because our memory is bad, but rather because our observational skills need work. One common situ-ation where this occurs (and which almost everyone can re-late to) is meeting new people. Often we don’t really learn people’s names at first because we aren’t really concentrating on remembering them. You’ll find that if you make a con-scious effort to remember such things, you’ll do much better. One way to train yourself to be more observant is to look at

an unfamiliar photograph for a few seconds and then turn the photograph over and describe or write down as many details as you can about the photograph. Try closing your eyes and pic-turing the photo in your mind. Use a new photograph each time you try this exercise, and with regular practice you will find you’re able to remember more details with even shorter glimpses of the photos.

7. Give yourself time to form a memory. Memories are very fragile in the short-term, and distractions can make you quickly forget something as simple as a phone number. The key to avoid losing memories before you can even form them is to be able to focus on the thing to be remembered for a while without thinking about other things, so when you’re trying to remember something, avoid distractions and compli-cated tasks for a few minutes.

8. Create vivid, memorable images. You remember infor-mation more easily if you can visualize it. If you want to associate a child with a book, try not to visualize the child reading the book – that’s too simple and forgettable. Instead, come up with something more jarring, something that sticks, like the book chasing the child, or the child eating the book. It’s your mind – make the images as shocking and emotional as possible to keep the associa-tions strong.

9. Repeat things you need to learn. The more times you hear, see, or think about something, the more surely you’ll remem-ber it, right? It’s a no-brainer. When you want to remember something, be it your new coworker’s name or your best friend’s birthday, repeat it, either out loud or silently. Try writing it down; think about it.

10. Group things you need to remember. Random lists of things (a shopping list, for example) can be especially difficult to remember. To make it easier, try categorizing the individual things from the list. If you can remember that, among other things, you wanted to buy four different kinds of vegetables, you’ll find it easier to remember all four.

11. Organize your life. Keep items that you frequently need,

such as keys and eyeglasses, in the same place every time. Use an electronic organizer or daily planner to keep track of appointments, due dates for bills, and other tasks. Keep phone numbers and addresses in an address book or enter them into your computer or cell phone. Improved organization can help free up your powers of concentration so that you can remember less routine things. Even if being organized doesn’t improve your memory, you’ll receive a lot of the same ben-efits (i.e. you won’t have to search for your keys anymore).

12. Try meditation. Research now suggests that people who regularly practice “mindful-ness” meditation are able to focus better and may have better memories. Mindfulness (also known as awareness or insight meditation) is the type commonly practiced in Western countries and is easy to learn. Studies at Massachusetts Gen-eral Hospital show that regular meditation thickens the cerebral cortex in the brain by increasing the blood flow to that region. Some researchers believe this can enhance attention span, focus, and memory.

13. Sleep well. The amount of sleep we get affects the brain’s ability to recall recently learned information. Getting a good night’s sleep – a minimum of seven hours a night – may improve your short-term memo-ry and long-term relational memory, according to recent studies

conducted at the Har-vard Medical School. 14. Build your memorization arsenal. Learn pegs, memory palaces, and the Dominic System. These tech-niques form the foundation for mnemonic techniques, and will visibly improve your memory.

15. Venture out and learn from your mistakes. Go ahead and take a stab at memoriz-ing the first one hundred digits of pi, or, if you’ve done that already, the first one thousand. Memorize the monarchs of England through your memory palaces, or your grocery list through visualization.

Through diligent effort you will eventually master the art of memorization.


Laughing MatterRead previous articles by visiting our website at www.asian-

journalusa.com

The Comfort Suites Mira-mar (formerly the Qual-ity Suites) has just completed renovations and now offers new and exciting amenities in addition to those guests have always enjoyed.

The Comfort Suites Mira-mar now offers these amenities to all guests

Newly renovated rooms• Complimentary News-• paperComplimentary full hot • breakfastFitness Room• Heated Pool and Spa• Complimentary Busi-• ness Center, open 24 hours a dayComplimentary wireless • and wired internetComplimentary parking• Complimentary cable, • including: HBO, ESPN, CNN, HLN, NATGEO and more. Pay mov-ies are also available including movies cur-rently in theatres.

Our full hot breakfast includes: Plain omelets, om-elets with cheese, scrambled eggs, hard boiled eggs, bacon, sausage and ham. Hot, freshly made to order waffles, biscuits and gravy. Assorted selection of cereal and flavored oatmeal. Variety of baked options from toast and bagels to flavored muffins. Healthy fruit selection including apples, bananas, and oranges. Tea, coffee, hot choco-late, variety of fruit juices.

Our Happy Hour is: Mon-day – Friday 5:30pm – 7:30pm and features beer, wine and a selection of finger foods in our newly remodeled lounge.

The Pool, Fitness Center and Spa are: open from 6am – 10pm and encased in our seren-

Come See the All New Comfort Suites I-15 Miramar

ity themed courtyard.All rooms on the prop-

erty (with the exception of our Handicap Accessible rooms) are full, spacious suites (with living room) with a wet bar, sitting area, work desk, two televisions, couches with pull out beds and brand new com-fortable mattresses.

This is one of few Comfort Suites in San Diego and is conveniently located off of the I-15 freeway, within walking distance and a short drive of Edwards Cinemas, Best Buy, Buca Di Bepo, Panara Bread, Old Navy, Trader Joe’s, Chuck E. Cheese and more. There is also a Denny’s restaurant and Pizza Hut located in our park-ing lot.

The Comfort Suites Mira Mesa also provides a compli-mentary shuttle service within a 5 mile radius of the property and is priced at a competitive rate for a further distance.

As a Choice Hotel, the Comfort Suites Mira Mesa also provides a free membership program, Choice Privileges, which allows you to earn points based on every dollar you spend. These points are re-deemable at over 5,500 proper-ties throughout the US, Canada,

Europe, Mexico, Australia and the Caribbean. Points can also be redeemed for gift cards (over 350 merchants) and air-lines rewards.

Corporate rates are also available to local businesses. For group or negotiated rates please contact sales depart-ment at 1.858.444.2594 or fax 1.858.444.2588

The Comfort Suites Mira-mar is located at 9880 Mira Mesa Blvd. San Diego, Ca 92131. For general reservation please call 1.858.530.2000, our fax is 1.858.530.0202.

Showbiz Watcher

Read Ogie Cruz’s previous articles by visiting our website at www.asianjournalusa.com

by Ogie Cruz

Catholic Cup Of COFFEE! Four Catholic men and a

Catholic woman were having coffee.

The first Catholic man tells his friends, “My son is a priest. When he walks into a room, everyone calls him ‘Father!”

The second Catholic man chirps, “My son is a Bishop.

When he walks into a room people call him ‘Your Grace!”

The third Catholic gent says, “My son is a Cardinal. When he enters a room every-

Coffee Conversation! one says ‘Your Eminence!”

The fourth Catholic man then says, “My son happens to be the Pope. When he walks into a room people call him ‘Your Holiness!”

Since the lone Catholic woman was sipping her coffee in silence, the four men give her a subtle, “Well....?”

She proudly replies, “I have a daughter; slim, tall, 38D breasts, 24” waist, 34” hips. When she walks into a room people say... “My God!!....

Stop your foreclosure. Stop your transfer sale.Join the Class Action Lawsuit.

Call Bert at (858) 231-0925 or Teresa (619)327-9765. E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]

GENESIS & ASSOCIATES

Laman ngayon sa mga Tv at pahayagan ang tung-kol sa pagdidimanda ni John Lapus sa showbiz writer and announcer na si Jobert Su-caldito.Eto tungkol sa sinulat ni Jobert sa isang pahaya-gan na nagwala ang host ng “Showbiz Central “ sa isang bar sa Quezon City.

Kesyo lasing daw si John kaya ganon ang inasal nito at muntik na raw mabug-bog kung hindi napigilan ng ilang tao roon. Pero pilit na sinasabi ni Lapus na walang pagwawala na nangyari, at iresponsable raw yung balita sa isang pahayagan na sinulat ng DZMM anchor.

This time raw hindi na papayagan ni John tungkol sa mga paninirang puri na ginagawa sa kanya ni Jobert, kaya magdidimanda siya para rin daw ito sa mga siniraan din ng naturang writer na sina Direk Wende Ramas, Marian Rivera,Candy Pang-ilinan at Vicky Belo.Mismo sa Tv show niyang “Showbiz Central “ ina- announce ni Mr.

Jobert Sucaldito hinahamon si John Lapus!!!

Lapus ang pahayag niya about sa dimanda.

Mariing sinabi naman ni Jobert, na hindi siya nasindak sa anumang naging pahayag ni John,instead hinamon pa niya ito na ituloy ang dimanda sa kanya.Dahil mapapahiya lang daw si John kung hindi niya ito itutuloy.

“Ready na kami sa pag-sasampa ni John Lapus ng kaso against me, nasa akin ang ibang witnesses sa case.Hindi lang pala si Kiko ang magsasalita in our side, may ilang boys ang nakahandang magsalita.Masaya ito at la-labas lahat ang baho ni John Lapus,”dipensa ni Jobert.

Si kiko, ito yung binastos diumano ni John at binibili ng pera para makuha ang lalaki na nababalitang boyfriend daw ni Shalala ( isa sa mga hosts ng “Juicy”).Tinanggihan daw ito ng lalaki kaya nagwa-la si John.At ang usapan daw ng lalaki at ni John ay nai-re-cord, kaya ito raw ang mati-bay na ibidensiya na hawak ngayon ni Jobert.Pambabastos

Jobert Sucaldito

John Lapus

daw ng naturang showbiz host sa mga lalaki kapag ito nala-lasing.Nagpapresscon na rin daw si Jobert at pinarinig diu-mano ang recording na siyang nagsisilbing ebidensiya.

Sabi pa nga si Jobert,maghanda raw si John ng sandamakmak na maga-galing lawyers dahil ready na raw siya to face him in court.”Gusto niya ng pub-licity dahil may pelikula siya sa ngayon, We’ll give him the publicity that he needs.”pagmamalaki pa ni Sucaldito.

Dito natin malalaman kung sino sa kanila ang nagsasabi ng totoo kung matutuloy talaga ang dimanda.Napanood na natin ang side ni John sa kanyang show sa GMA 7, puwes eto naman ang mga pahayag sa amin ni Jobert Sucaldito through facebook.Mas kilala namin si Jobert, at talagang palaban ito , kapag totoo ang pinaglalaban nito, wala talagang uurungan ito.

Sabi pa nga niya, napa-god daw siya sa kata-type sa facebook para maipaliwanag niya ang kanyang side tung-kol sa issue.Pero teka Jobert, bakit kaya hindi ito binabalita ng “SNN” at ang nagbalita lang tungkol dito ay ang “TV Patrol”. Bakit kaya?

SARAH GERONIMO NAGSALITA NA ABOUT RAYVER CRUZ ! Nagsalita na si Sarah sa mga sama ng loob niya kay Rayver Cruz, na matagal na niyang ipinaglaban sa kanyang parents pero ang lalaki raw ang sumuko lang.

Alam naman natin na pinagbawalan ng parents ni Sarah ang panliligaw sa kanya ni Raver, mismong yung ama ni Sarah ang kumausap kay Rayver.Pinahayag pa nga ni Sarah na hindi man lang pinaglaban ng lalaki ang pag-iibigan nila.Mismong si Judy Ann Santos ang iniyakan ni Sarah tungkol sa bagay na ito, lalo pa ng magpaalam ito na mas pinili niya si Cristine Reyes.Aminado Ang singer na

naapektuhan siya sa paglayo sa kanya ng binata, na mukhang inamon na rin niya na talagang minahal niya ito.

Pero matindi naman ang pahayag ni Rayver na hindi niya ginamit si Sarah para mapag-usapan lang, minahal daw niya ang singer kaso magulang nito ang pinagba-bawalan siya.

Samantalang nag-alala naman ang parents ni Sarah sa mga nangyari dahil talaga raw naapektuhan ang kanilang anak.

Ngayon lang nagsalita si Sarah tungkol sa kanila ni Rayver,na matagal na niyang tinatanggi na naging sila noon.Puwes abangan na lang natin ang mga comments ni Cristine Reyes sa mga revela-tion ni Sarah Geronimo.

Samantala, anu itong na-karating sa amin na nagbanta raw ang Kimerald fans na papatayin daw nila si Sarah Geronimo ? May gagawin kasi na movie sina Sarah at Gerald Anderson, ayaw kasi

ng fans ni Kim at Gerald na mabaling ang pagtingin ni Gerald kay Sarah kaya nag-banta na naman ito.

Sabi nga ni Mo twister sa “Juicy” puro lang banta ang mga iyan, ni ipis daw wala pang napapatay ito, puro salita lang ang lahat.Ewan ba nam-ing at dapat pinaghuhuli yang mga Kimerald fans na ‘yan dahil sobra kung makapag-banta lalo na noon kay Bea Alonzo.

RAMONA REVILLA IKAKASAL NA SA NO-VEMBER 4. Nakausap namin kamakailan ang sexy star na si Ramona Revilla, nandito pala siya ngayon sa Amerika sa may Colorado.

Pinagmamalaki niya sa amin ang kanyang pagpapak-asal sa Nov. 4 sa Pilipinas sa Shangri-la sa kanyang partner na isang amerkano.Sa kasa-lukuyan daw ay mga paghah-anda na silang ginagawa ,pero mas gusto raw niyang mag-ing pribado ang lahat kaysa maging showbiz ang naturang event.



i wanted to...i wanted to annihilate!annihilate the opposition!because i am...i am...i am...the i...having evolve through the

eons...eons of time beyond...beyond

recollection...the unknown...nothing more than random

variablesvariables incline to obey con-

stant principleslike you...the unknown...

with you...you are..with out form...with out substance...a recollection of the pastrepeated realized for real in the present tensethe present tense of my here and nowthe present being the past becomingthe future nothing else...like you...a random state of variablesi wanted to...i wanted to...i wanted to annihilate the oppositionopposition to randomness of variablesput order in my universeto make the unknown the knownfor youeverything should be constantme being the iwanted to annihilate the randomness...randomness of you...not being constant!

(619) 474-0588

Street Poetry

Read about Michael’s upcoming book of poems “Crushed Violets” by visiting our website at www.asianjournalusa.com

by Michael R. Tagudin

©2010 Michael R. Tagudin. All rights reserved. About the Author: Michael R. Tagudin Educated as an engineer in the Philippines, the City of Los Angeles employee hopes his legacy of poems will provoke a dialogue about the human condition. He is donating the proceeds from the book “Crushed Violets” to the “Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking (CAST)”, a non-profit that provides public awareness and advocacy efforts against human trafficking in the City of Angels. To learn more, visit www.castla.org. To help, call the CAST 24 hour hotline 888.KEY.2.FRE(EDOM) or 888.539.2373. Contact [email protected] for more information about ordering the book “Crushed Violets.”

There’s The Rubby Conrado de Quiros

from Philippine Daily Inquirer

EVEN AS P-Noy prepares for his 100th day in office, something has been happening under his nose to make one wonder if he knows what his subalterns are doing. Or about his determination to compel them to hew to the daang matuwid rather than the daang baluktot.

CrookedThat is the way his budget secre-

tary, Butch Abad, has been allocating budgets to various offices. Either he is possessed of sheer inspiration or sheer madness. Particularly mind-boggling are these two cases.

One is the amount of money he wants to lavish on Ricky Carandang. This was reported last week, but was lost in the haze or blaze of other news. Carandang is one of the two commu-nications secretaries, the other being

Sonny Coloma. Carandang handles the messaging and Coloma handles the operations, or so their designa-tions say they should. Given his duties, Carandang proposed a budget of P80 million for his office. Figuring that was too lush, Executive Secre-tary Jojo Ochoa cut it down to P50 million. Now here’s the wonder of it. Abad didn’t just defend Carandang’s original budget, he jacked it up all the way to P200 million! That was what he submitted to Congress.

Two is the amount of money he is willing to give the Department of In-terior and Local Government and De-partment of Social Welfare and De-velopment and the amount of money he is willing to take from everybody else. Other offices have taken huge cuts in line with P-Noy’s policy of austerity, the DILG and DSWD have gotten huge hikes in line with his subalterns’ desire for prosperity. Look at the contrast: The key shelter agen-cies submitted a budget of P11.649 billion, but Abad recommended only P5.641 billion, or a 51.7 percent cut. At the same time, he raised the DILG budget to P86.9 billion from P65.6 billion, a 32.7 percent hike, and the DSWD’s budget to P34.3 billion from P15.31 billion, an eye-popping 123.4 percent hike.

What’s wrong about this?Let me count the ways.One, if I recall right, the DILG

and Communications figured promi-nently in the bungling of the hostage crisis. The DILG gave the police bad guidance and Communications gave the President bad advice. It not only left a lot of dead bodies, it left a black mark on the country and its President. Now, if I were the secretary of health or education, why shouldn’t I allow a plague to riot and ignorance to flour-ish just so I can find favor with my budget secretary?

Two, how in God’s name can the budget secretary know more than the communications secretary what he actually needs? I’ve heard of bud-get secretaries telling departments heads, “No, what you’re asking is too much.” This is the first time I’ve heard of a budget secretary telling a department head, “No, what you’re asking is too little, let’s double it. No, that’s not enough, let’s triple it. No, that’s still not enough, let’s quadruple it.”

Three, while at that, why on earth would you need P50 million, let alone P200 million to formulate or craft the President’s messages? All you need is a PC or laptop, and a little transporta-tion money and allowance to hang around in places where you might get to feel the public pulse. Those places do not include hotels and posh res-taurants, where you might feel only a private pulse. Best to follow the trail of journalists: Cheap bars and smoky joints have a way of yielding precious insights. Or giving a sense of life in

the streets.Four, a good amount of the

money that is going to the DILG and DSWD—P6 billion—they have earmarked for housing projects. So the brilliant logic here is this: Take money to build houses from an office tasked with housing and give it to an office that has nothing to do with housing to build houses. The irony was not lost on Edgardo Angara who wondered why anyone would want to give a job to anyone without a core competence in it—at great cost to the taxpayer.

Dinky Soliman, social welfare head, says her department has the vital task of tending to the needs of the poor, so that you talk against the DSWD, you talk against the poor. What arrant nonsense. What is this, the work of the other departments has nothing to do with the poor? You produce food, you help the poor. You fight crime, you help the poor. You educate minds, you help the poor. The last especially so since it teaches the poor how to fish rather than gives them fish. It gives the poor dignity rather than gives them alms. Efren Peñaflorida has done so much more for the poor than Soliman, and he never had billions. All he had was a pushcart.

Quite apart from that, why limit the DSWD’s and DILG’s forays into housing? Why not give them money to build schools too, to build clin-ics too, to recruit crime fighters too, indeed to do the things the other de-partments are doing? Surely the poor need those too? In fact, why not make the DSWD and DILG super-bodies and collapse everything into them? In fact, why not just abolish the other departments?

Five, the DSWD and DILG are headed by Dinky Soliman and Jesse Robredo who are friends of Balay and HUDCC by Vice President Jejomar Binay who is an enemy of Balay. That is really all there is to it. That is the only reason Abad feels free to be gen-erous with the one and stingy with the other. Which is all very fine, except for one thing: That is not his money

.That is the people’s money. That

is the taxpayers’ money. That is our money.

That is how cronyism starts, with the people in power favoring a few friends, saying they are better than others, they are more capable than others, they are smarter than others. That is how corruption starts, with the people in power proposing that what is good for them is good for the na-tion, what makes them richer makes the nation richer. That is how way-wardness starts, that is how the vine withers, that is how hope is dashed on the rocks.

The daang baluktot is lovely, dark and deep. Heaven help P-Noy remem-ber he has promises to keep.

Chaos


Read Romeo Nicolas’s previous poems by vis-iting our website at www.asianjournalusa.com

Ni Romeo Nicolas

Mga Tulang Tagalog

AMERASIAN CUISINE

Housing and Real Estate

Sundalo Ng PilipinasKaawa-awang sundalo nitong mahal nating bansa,Nagdurusa’t naghihirap, sa DIGMAANG bale wala.Ng dahil sa kakulangan ng sandatang siyang akma,IBINULSANG mga kwarta, OPISYAL ang nangalaga. Ang sandatang dapat sana’y panlaban sa ABUSAYAP,KINURAKOT ng marami at nuon ay nagpasarap.Ngunit ngayong si Mendoza, malinaw na nagpahayag,Lumabas ang mga GANID na ‘di man lang nasisindak. Dumarami yaong BUKOL, ‘yan ang sabi sa SENADO,Ang lahat ng nasa LUNGGA, lalabas din, paniguro.Hindi ko lang matitiyak o ‘di kaya’y masiguro,Kung lahat ng MASASANGKOT, tutuloy sa KALABOSO. Kung KULUNGAN LANG NG MANOK, hahantong ang lahat-lahat,At ang DRAMA’y PAGANDAHIN, haluan ng tuwa’t iyak,Mabuti pang tapusin na, sayang lang ang mga oras.Mga MORAL ng SUNDALO, naghihintay, maitaas.

Batikos No. 7Ni: Romeo S. NicolasBocaue, Bulacan

San Francisco, CA (Vocus/PRWEB) February 16, 2011

Union Bank, N.A. today announced the offering of a new, fully amortized 30-year fixed-rate home loan* to better meet the needs of its customers looking to buy a new home or refinance an existing mortgage with loan amounts up to $5 mil-lion. This mortgage is available for the purchase or refinancing of one- to four-unit residential properties and includes primary residences, vacation homes, and investment properties.

“We are pleased to expand our portfolio with this new 30-year jumbo fixed-rate mort-gage, which reflects our contin-ued commitment to providing mortgages to homeowners in the markets that we serve,” said Executive Vice President James H. Francis, Union Bank’s head of consumer lending.

In addition to the 30-year loan, Union Bank also offers 20-year and 25-year terms in its current jumbo fixed-rate product portfolio. To learn more about the new Union Bank 30-year jumbo fixed-rate mortgage loan visit http://www.unionbank.com/mortgage or call 1-866-UB-

Union Bank Launches New 30-Year Jumbo Fixed-Rate Mortgage

Union Bank, N.A. today announced the offering of a new, fully amortized 30-year fixed-rate home loan to better meet the needs of its customers looking to buy a new home or refinance an existing mortgage with

loan amounts up to $5 million.

LOANS.About UnionBanCal Corpo-

ration & Union Bank, N.A. Headquartered in San Fran-

cisco, UnionBanCal Corporation is a financial holding company with assets of $79.1 billion at December 31, 2010. Its primary subsidiary, Union Bank, N.A., is a full service commercial bank providing an array of financial services to individuals, small businesses, middle-market com-panies, and major corporations. The bank operated 401 banking offices in California, Washing-ton, Oregon and Texas, as well as two international offices, on December 31, 2010. UnionBan-Cal Corporation is a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd., which is a subsidiary of Union Bank is a proud member of the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG, NYSE:MTU), one of the world’s largest financial organizations. Visit http://www.unionbank.com for more infor-mation.

*Loans subject to credit and collateral approval. Financing available for collateral located in CA, OR, or WA. Restrictions may apply. Terms and conditions subject to change.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued the Mortgage As-sistance Relief Services (MARS) Rule on November 19, 2010, which will protect homeowners from deceptive mortgage relief and foreclosure rescue companies. As a result of the recent mortgage and foreclosure crises, scammers claiming to provide mortgage modification and relief services have targeted vulnerable hom-eowners throughout the country.

“The Lawyers’ Committee commends the FTC on this Final Rule and extends sincerest appre-ciation to the FTC for its efforts to create a regulatory framework that will hinder the unfair and decep-tive practices that are proliferating in the exploding mortgage assis-tance market,” said Fair Housing and Fair Lending Senior Counsel Yolanda McGill.

As of January 31, 2011, com-panies that offer to help homeown-ers get their loans modified or sell them other types of mortgage assistance relief services are no longer allowed to charge up-front fees.

Federal Trade Commission Issues Final Rule to Protect

Struggling Homeowners from Loan Modification Scams

Federal Trade Commission Issues Final Rule to Protect Struggling Homeowners from Loan Modification Scams

History of Mortgage Assis-tance Relief Services (MARS) Rule

Bogus operations falsely claim that, for a fee, they will negoti-ate with the consumer’s mortgage lender or servicer to obtain a loan modification, a short sale, or other relief from foreclosure. Many of these operations pretend to be af-filiated with the government and government housing assistance programs.

In response to a notice of pro-posed rulemaking, Mortgage As-sistance Relief Services (MARS), 75 Fed. Reg. 10707 (proposed Mar. 9, 2010), the Lawyers’ Com-mittee for Civil Rights Under Law, in its role as a leader of the Loan Modification Scam Prevention Network (LMSPN), a coalition of public and private local, state and federal organizations, submitted a comment letter to the FTC. The Lawyers’ Committee urged the FTC to enact a rule that would ad-dress the following issues, among others:

Prohibit MARS providers • from collecting advance fees;Ensure MARS providers • confer an actual benefit on consumers before demand-ing and collecting compen-sation; andNarrowly tailor any • exemptions granted to at-torneys, which will ensure that the rule’s prohibitions focus on those who act in concert with scammers, and not legitimate legal services providers.

On November 19, 2010, the Federal Trade Commission issued Final Rule 16 C.F.R §322 (begin-ning on p. 166), also known as the Mortgage Assistance Relief Services (MARS) Rule.

Summary of Final MARS Rule

The Final Rule, among other things, would:

Ban Advance Fees: MARS • providers are prohibited from collecting advance fees until they have provided consumers with a written offer from their lender or servicer that the consumer decides is acceptable, and a written docu-ment from the lender or servicer describing the key changes to the mortgage that would result if the consumer accepts the offer. The companies also must remind con-sumers of their right to reject the offer without any charge.

Restrict Representations by • MARS Providers: MARS provid-ers are prohibited from making false or misleading claims, such as, (i) misrepresenting the likeli-hood of obtaining relief, (ii) direct-ing homeowners to stop communi-cating with their lenders, and (iii) falsely claiming an affiliation with the government.

Mandate Disclosures in Adver-• tisements and Consumer Com-munications: MARS providers must inform homeowners that (i) homeowners could potentially lose their home and damage their credit rating if they stop making mort-gage payments, (ii) homeowners can stop doing business with the MARS provider at any time, and (iii) the MARS provider is not affiliated with or approved by the government.

Prohibit Knowing Collabora-• tion Among Scammers: It is a violation of this Rule for a person to provide substantial assistance or support to any MARS provider when that person knows or con-sciously avoids knowing that the provider is engaged in any act or practice that violates this Rule.

Regulate Certain Attorney Con-• duct, Including Fee Collection: Attorneys are generally exempt from the Rule if they meet three conditions: they are engaged in the practice of law, they are licensed in the state where the consumer or the dwelling is located, and they are complying with state laws and regulations governing attorney conduct related to the Rule. To be exempt from the advance fee ban, attorneys must meet a fourth requirement - they must place any fees they collect in a client trust account and abide by state laws

and regulations covering such ac-counts. This will enhance existing restrictions that already prohibit attorney scammers from sharing legal fees for MARS-related ser-vices with non-attorneys, forming partnerships with non-attorneys in connection with offering MARS, or aiding MARS providers in engaging in the unauthorized prac-tice of law, i.e., providing legal services without a license to do so.

All provisions of the Rule except the advance-fee ban will become effective December 29, 2010. The advance-fee ban provisions will become effective January 31, 2011. The Final Rule applies only to entities within the FTC’s jurisdiction under the Fed-eral Trade Commission Act, which excludes, among others, banks, savings and loans, federal credit unions, common carriers and entities engaged in the business of insurance.

Penalties

Anyone violating the new MARS Rule “with actual knowl-edge or knowledge fairly implied on the basis of objective circum-stances that such act is unfair or deceptive and is prohibited by such rule” is liable for civil penal-ties of up to $11,000 per violation. The FTC obtains such penalties by filing a suit in district court. In addition, the FTC may sue any person who violates a rule (irre-spective of the state of knowledge) for injury caused to consumers by the rule violation.

State attorneys general or any other officer of a state authorized by the state also may bring an action pursuant to this Final Rule. However, there is no private right of action under this Final Rule.

Lawyers’ Committee and LMSPN Provide Valuable Data to FTC for Final Rule

The Lawyers’ Committee and the LMSPN collect data on loan modification scam activity into its national database for use by en-forcement officials. The Lawyers’ Committee also analyzes the data on a monthly basis and dissemi-nates a report (sample) to a wide range of local, state and federal enforcement agencies, including the FTC.

The Statement of Basis and Purpose (SBP) accompanying this Final Rule refers to LMSPN data in support of the following points:

Types of Promises Scam-• mers Are Making to Consum-ers: The FTC staff reviewed 100 complaints in our database, and concluded that “[loan modifica-tion scammers] also commonly represent that there is a high likelihood, and in some instances a ‘guarantee,’ of success.” (SBP p. 19, n. 75).

Advance Fees Harm Consum-• ers as Loan Modification Scams Remain Prevalent: “In addition to past law enforcement actions, the significant and growing number of consumer complaints about MARS providers strongly suggests that they are continuing to fail to deliver the results they promise. For example, one coalition of government and private groups that collects consumer complaints

regarding MARS received 3,461 consumer complaints against MARS providers between April and August of 2010.” (SBP p. 85-86, n. 294).

The FTC’s Refusal to Grant a • Blanket Exemption to All At-torneys: “The record shows that a substantial number of attor-neys have engaged in the types of deceptive and unfair conduct the Rule prohibits. For example, approximately 22 percent of the complaints that a coalition of government agencies, nonprofits, and service providers has received from consumers about loan modi-

fication fraud involve some form of attorney participation.” (SBP p. 126-7, n. 438).

In this time of unprecedented rates of foreclosure affecting millions of households, a dispro-portionate number of which are minority households, loan modi-fication scams compound these losses in communities already suffering because lax oversight permitted predatory lending practices to push so many minor-ity homeowners past the brink of sustainable homeownership.


Health

Diabetes and heart disease have increased rapidly in the last decade, and are fueled by an epidemic of obesity. The Metabolic Syndrome is a group of disorders that occur at the same time and are linked to a higher risk of diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. The Metabolic Syn-drome is diagnosed when 3 of the following factors are pres-ent: high blood pressure, high glucose (blood sugar), high triglycerides, low HDL (good, protective) cholesterol, and abdominal obesity (belly fat).

One of every 4 Ameri-can adults has the metabolic syndrome, and the risk in-creases after age 40, and among selected ethnic groups. Dr. Happy Araneta showed that almost half (41%) of Filipinas in the UCSD Fili-pino Women’s Health Study had the metabolic syndrome, compared to 25% among Caucasian women, and 37% among African-American Women. Among Filipinas, the most common components of the metabolic syndrome were high blood pressure, high trig-lycerides and low HDL cho-lesterol. The findings have been published in medical journals, including Diabetes Care and Obesity Research.

Previous studies have shown that eating a healthy diet and regular exercise can reduce the risk of diabetes and heart disease, however maintaining these behaviors

UCSD study testing the benefits of yoga and stretching among adults at risk for diabetes and heart disease

can be hard for some people. Gentle forms of exercise such as yoga or active stretching might be a useful alterna-tive. A study at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) showed that after 10 weeks of yoga, there was a trend towards reduced blood pressure, a significant increase in energy level and a trend towards improved well-being and stress. These results were published by UCSF profes-sor, Dr. Alka Kanaya, in the journal Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders.

UCSD is collaborating with Dr. Kanaya and UCSF to determine if stretching or restorative yoga will improve the health of adults with the metabolic syndrome. The Practicing Restorative Yoga or Stretching for Metabolic Syndrome (PRYSMS) is fund-ed by the National Institutes of Health. Unlike standard exercise interventions which emphasize aerobic activity, the stretches and yoga poses in the PRYSMS study encour-age gentle exercise for relax-ation and stress reduction.

According to Dr. Araneta, “We enrolled over 120 par-ticipants last year, but we are seeking more participants for our final wave of classes.” Participants must be between the ages of 21 and 65, over-weight, underactive (exercise less than 150 minutes per week), available to partici-pate for one year, and have

either high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes or prediabetes, or had diabetes during pregnancy (gestational diabetes). Unfortunately, those taking diabetes medications or who practice yoga or pilates regularly are not eligible.

Participants will receive free yoga or active stretch classes near the UCSD cam-pus in La Jolla, yoga and stretch accessories, a DVD for home practice sessions, and $50 after completing each of 4 required clinical visits. To determine if there are improvements in blood pressure, glucose, cholesterol and inflammatory markers associated with heart disease and diabetes, participants will be required to attend a clinical visit every 3 months. Salivary cortisol (a stress hormone) will also be mea-sured to assess stress levels. Measures of abdominal fat, by CT scan, will be performed to determine if yoga or stretch is effective in reducing harmful belly fat.

To learn more about the PRYSMS study, please visit our website, which includes a video of the proposed yoga/stretch poses. http://coe.ucsf.edu/scor/prysms/

If you have friends or family members who might benefit from this gentle life-style intervention, please ask them to call (858) 534-8118 or email: [email protected].

ScienceDaily (Feb. 21, 2011) — New research shows people who have used am-phetamines such as benze-drine and dexedrine appear to be at an increased risk of developing Parkinson’s disease, according to a study released February 22 that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 63rd Annual Meeting in Honolulu April 9 to April 16, 2011.

Benzedrine and Dexedrine are amphetamines often pre-scribed to increase wakeful-ness and focus for people with

Using Amphetamines May Increase Risk of Parkinson’s Disease, Study Suggests

attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and narcolepsy, a disorder that can cause exces-sive daytime sleepiness and sudden attacks of sleep. They are also used to treat traumatic brain injuries.

The study involved 66,348 people in northern California who had participated in the Multiphasic Health Checkup Cohort Exam between 1964 and 1973 and were evaluated again in 1995. The average age of the participants at the start of the study was 36 years old. Of the participants, 1,154

people had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease by the end of the study.

Exposure to amphetamines was determined by two ques-tions: one on the use of drugs for weight loss and a second question on whether people often used Benzedrine or Dex-edrine. Amphetamines were among the drugs commonly used for weight loss when this information was collected.

According to the study, those people who reported us-ing Benzedrine or Dexedrine were nearly 60 percent more likely to develop Parkinson’s than those people who didn’t take the drugs. There was no increased risk found for those people who used drugs for weight loss.

“If further studies confirm these findings, the potential

risk of developing Parkinson’s disease from these types of amphetamines would need to be considered by doctors before prescribing these drugs as well as be incorporated into amphetamine abuse programs, including illicit use,” said study author Stephen K. Van Den Eeden, PhD, with the Di-vision of Research at Kaiser Permanente Northern Califor-nia in Oakland, Calif.

Van Den Eeden explained that amphetamines affect the release and uptake of dop-amine, the key neurotransmit-ter involved in Parkinson’s disease. He explained that more research needs to be completed to confirm the association and learn more about possible mechanisms.

The study was supported by Kaiser Permanente North-ern California.

ScienceDaily (Feb. 21, 2011) — Once likened to a confusing tower of Babel, speaking more than one language can actually bolster brain function by serving as a mental gymnasium, according to researchers.

Recent research indicates that bilingual speakers can outperform monolinguals--people who speak only one language--in certain mental abilities, such as editing out irrelevant information and fo-cusing on important informa-tion, said Judith Kroll, Distin-guished Professor of Psychology, Penn State. These skills make bilinguals better at prioritiz-ing tasks and working on multiple projects at one time.

“We would probably refer to most of these cognitive advantages as multi-tasking,” said Kroll, director of the Center for Language Science. “Bilinguals seem to be bet-ter at this type of perspective taking.”

Kroll said that these find-ings counter previous conclu-sions that bilingualism hin-dered cognitive development.

“The received wisdom was that bilingualism created con-fusion, especially in children,” said Kroll told attendees Feb. 18 at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington D.C. “The be-lief was that people who could speak two or more languages had difficulty using either. The bottom line is that bilin-gualism is good for you.”

Researchers trace the source of these enhanced multi-tasking skills to the way bilinguals mentally negotiate between the languages, a skill that Kroll refers to as mental juggling.

When bilinguals speak with each other, they can easily slip in and out of both languages, often selecting the word or phrase from the language that most clearly expresses their thoughts. However, fluent bilinguals rarely make the mistake of slipping into another language when they speak with some-

Juggling Languages Can Build Better Brains

one who understands only one language.

“The important thing that we have found is that both languages are open for bilin-guals; in other words, there are alternatives available in both languages,” Kroll said. “Even though language choices may be on the tip of their tongue, bilinguals rarely make a wrong choice.”

This language selection, or code switching, is a form of mental exercise, according to Kroll.

“The bilingual is some-how able to negoti-

ate between the competition of

the languag-es,” Kroll said. “The specula-tion is that these cog-nitive skills

come from this juggling of

languages.”Kroll’s sympo-

sium at the meeting included distinguished lan-guage scientists who have investigated the consequences of bilingualism across the lifespan. Ellen Bialystok, Dis-tinguished Research Professor of Psychology at York Uni-versity, Toronto, was instru-mental in demonstrating that bilingualism improves certain mental skills.

According to Bialystok, the benefits of bilingualism ap-pear across age groups. Stud-ies of children who grow up as bilingual speakers indicate they are often better at per-spective-taking tasks, such as prioritizing, than monolingual children. Experiments with older bilingual speakers indi-cate that the enhanced mental skills may protect them from problems associated with aging, such as Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

Researchers use MRIs and electroencephalographs to track how the brain operates when it engages in language juggling. They also use eye-movement devices to watch how bilinguals read sentences. When a person reads, the eyes jump through the sentence, stopping to comprehend cer-tain words or phrases. These distinctive eye movements can offer researchers clues on the subtle ways bilinguals comprehend language com-pared to monolinguals.

Kroll noted that the en-hanced brain functions of bilinguals do not necessarily make them more intelligent or better learners.

“Bilinguals simply acquire specific types of expertise that help them attend to critical tasks and ignore irrelevant information,” Kroll said.

ScienceDaily (Feb. 19, 2011) — When studying relationships, psychological scientists have often focused on how couples fight. But how they recover from a fight is important, too. According to a new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, couples’ abilities to bounce back from conflict may depend on what both partners were like as infants.

Researchers at the University of Minnesota have been follow-ing a cohort of people since before they were born, in the mid-1970s. When the subjects were about 20 years old, they visited the lab with their romantic partners for testing. This included a conflict discussion, when they were asked to talk about an issue they disagreed on, followed by a “cool-down” period, when the couples spent a few minutes talking about something they saw eye to eye about.

Although the cool-down period was included just to make sure the researchers weren’t sending the couples away angry, Jessica E. Salvatore, a Ph.D. student at the University of Minnesota, noticed some interesting things about the couples’ communication styles during this recovery time. “As part of another project where we looked at how couples fight, I would often catch a few minutes of this cool-down period,” she says. Salvatore noticed that some couples had in-tense conflicts, but made a perfectly clean transition to chatting about something they agreed on. In other couples, one or both partners seemed “stuck” on the conflict discussion and couldn’t move on.

With Sally I-Chun Kuo, Ryan D. Steele, Jeffry A. Simpson, and W. Andrew Collins, all from the University of Minnesota, Salvatore embarked on a closer look at what happens after a conflict supposedly ends. By looking back at observa-tions of the participants and their caregivers from the 1970s, when they were between 12 and 18 months old, the researchers discovered a link between the couples’ conflict recov-ery behaviors and the quality of their attachment relationship with their caregivers. People who were more securely attached to their caregivers as infants were better at recovering from conflict 20 years later. This means that if your caregiver is better at regulating your negative emotions as an infant, you tend to do a better job of regulating your own negative emotions in the moments following a conflict as an adult.

The researchers also found that there is hope for people who were insecurely attached as infants. “We found that people who were inse-curely attached as infants but whose adult romantic partners recover well from conflict are likely to stay together,” remarked Salvatore. “If one person can lead this process of recovering from conflict, it may buf-fer the other person and the relation-ship.” The health of a relationship can be salvaged if one person can quickly disengage from conflict and avoid dwelling on negative thoughts and emotions.

How Couples Re-cover After an

Argument Stems from Their Infant

Relationships

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To:

From: Eugene De Leon

Herewith is proof of your classified ad for publication in the Asian Journal. Please proofread i t and fax back the correction if any or call us for your approval. The ad is tentatively scheduled to be published in the

issue of the Asian Journal if we receive your approval on time. At $4 per line

lines, it costs

$______.00 to be paid upon your receipt of the invoice and tear sheet. Thank you.

Fax #

If approved please sign and fax back to

(619) 474-0373

__________________

Asian JournalFirst Asian Weekly Newspaper in Southern California & San Diego’s Most Widely Circulated Asian-Filipino Newspaper

550 East 8th Street, Suite 6, National City CA 91950 • Tel. (619) 474-0588 • Fax (619) 474-0373

02/25/10

Liz Escamilla

11x4x10440

CITY OF SAN DIEGOEngineering & Capital Projects Department

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALFOR

PS2 Power Reliability and Surge Protection (H115417)

The City of San Diego (City) is requesting proposals from highly qualified civil engineering firms for consultant services for PS2 Power Reliability and Surge Protection (H115417).

It is the policy of the City to provide equal opportunity in its civil engineering professional services contracts. Toward this end, proposals from small local businesses, disadvantaged businesses and disabled veteran, women and minority owned businesses are strongly encouraged. Prime consultants are encouraged to provide subcon-sultant opportunities or joint venture with these firms. The City endeavors to do business with firms sharing the City’s commitment to equal opportunity and will not do business with any firm that discriminates on the basis of race, religion, color, ancestry, age, gender, sexual orientation, disability, medical condition or place of birth.

This project has a voluntary Small Local Business Enterprises (SLBE) / Emerging Local Business Enterprises (ELBE) Participation Level (SLBE/ELBE) goal of 20%. SLBE/ELBE goals are achieved by contracting with SLBE and ELBE firms as defined in the following website, http://www.sandiego.gov/eoc/boc/slbe.shtml. At-tainment of the SLBE/ELBE goal is strongly encouraged, but strictly voluntary.

The City of San Diego will ensure that full access to programs, services, meetings and activities comply with Section 504, Title V, of the Rehabilitation Act and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) 1990, Public Law 101-336.

In-depth knowledge and a strong understanding of the local environment, and a local presence for interfacing with the City’s project management staff are essential to the successful completion of this project. The proposal must address the consultant’s knowledge and understanding of: the City and other local agencies’ regulations and policies; local environment; and local building codes and other criteria. The proposal must also address how the consultant plans to interface with the City’s project management staff and the consultant’s workforce in San Diego County.

All proposals submitted must be in full accord with the Request for Proposal (RFP) which can be obtained by requesting the RFP via email from John Mendivil, Consultant Services Coordinator, at:

[email protected] of San Diego, Purchasing & Contracting Department

1200 Third Avenue, Suite 200San Diego, CA 92101.

When requesting the RFP, please refer to the specific project title and number, PS2 Power Reliability and Surge Protection (H115417). For questions about RFP procedures please call John Mendivil at (619) 235-5855.

A pre-proposal meeting will be held on Thursday, March 17, 2011, 9:00:00 AM, at Bridgepoint Building, Wada - Large Conference Room 8A, 600 B Street, San Diego, CA 92101. It is strongly recommended that all inter-ested parties attend. For more information, assistance, to request an agenda in alternative format, or to request a sign language or oral interpreter for the meeting, please contact Chisti Dadachanji, at 619-533-4648 at least five working days prior to the meeting to ensure availability.

Proposals are due no later than 5:00 p.m. Friday, April 1, 2011, at the location stated in the RFP. This RFP does not commit the City to award a contract or to defray any costs incurred in the preparation of a proposal pursuant to this RFP. The City reserves the right to accept or reject any or all proposals received as a result of this RFP. The City also reserves the right to revise this RFP, including but not limited to the pre-proposal meeting date and the proposal due date. If the City revises the RFP, all RFP holders of record will be notified in writing by the City.

SUmmARY SCOPE OF SERvICESPump Station 2 receives wastewater from the Greater San Diego area and pump it to Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant before being disposed into the ocean as clean water per the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Guidelines. Because of its important function, EPA states that there should be a third source of electric power independent from San Diego Gas & Electric, for surge protection (water hammer) that causes breakage on the force mains if there is a loss of electric power. This third onsite power generator will be for surge protec-tion and also to meet EPA guidelines for power reliability. The Public Utility Department, Engineering Project Management prepared a Business Case Evaluation (BCE) with different alternatives for power reliability as well as for surge protection.In Phase A of the project, the selected Consultant will evaluate these alternatives together with their own design alternative(s) if any, based on the feasibility and from the economic point of view. Based on this information, the Consultant will prepare a Technical Memorandum (TM) documenting all findings and recommendations. In Phase B of this project, the Consultant shall provide the engineering tasks required for the design and construc-tion management of this project. The remainder of the Scope of Services is contained in the Request for Proposal for PS2 Power Reliability and Surge Protection (H115417), as Exhibit A to the Draft Agreement.

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Si Arnel Pineda ang napili niya na kumanta sa kanyang wedding day, kaya naman pinipilit niyang makontak ang naturang singer.

Kahit daw nandito na siya sa Amerika mas miss pa rin niya ang buhay sa Pilipinas, iba raw talaga ang buhay compare dito.Dalawang indie movies ang nagawa pala niya noon bago siya tumulak amerika, although every 3 months daw umuuwi siya ng bansa para hindi raw siya ma-bored dito.

Ang name-miss daw niya ang buhay sa Pilipinas pero hindi ang showbiz, depende kung may kukuha sa kanya kapag uuwi siya para gumawa movie, ok naman daw sa kanya ‘yun.Ang mas nami-miss niya ang mga nonshow-biz friends niya.

Aminado si Ramona na stable na ang buhay niya financially, may mga busi-ness siya sa Pilipinas at may magandang trabaho ang asawa niya rito sa Amerika.Tinanong namin siya kung nababalitaan

Jobert Sucaldito hinahamon si John Lapus!!!(Continued from page 15) niya yung mga dating sexy

stars na naghihirap sa ngayon, matapos ang kanilang era.Pero iba ang katayuan ni Ramona, Donya pa rin ang Ramona at super sexy pa rin hanggang sa ngayon.

Kung gusto nyong makita aming sinasabi, hanapin lang ang kanyang Facebook page.

NASAAN NA SI MARI-CEL SORIANO ?Marami ngayon ang naghahanap sa premyadong aktres na si Maricel Soriano, pagkatapos na mawala ang show niya sa channel 5 biglang laho rin daw ang beauty nito sa show-biz landia.

Siya ngayon ang laman ng mga blinditem at chismis sa mga showbiz reporter, may balita kasi na hindi kaganda-han patungkol sa kanya na dapat niyang linawin.

Kesyo desperado raw siya dahil sa pagkawala ng kanyang ina na namayapa, at wala pang nakakakita kanya ng mga taga-showbiz kung nasaan na siya.

May mga blinditems tung-

kol sa kanya pero sana hindi ito totoo, pero maraming taga showbiz na nagpapatunay na totoo.

Sabi pa nga ng isang taga-showbiz na isang personalidad ,sana hindi na nila nai-touched ang tungkol doon kawawa naman yung tao.Hindi na rin namin sasabihin kung tunkol saan ang blinditem na ‘yun, kahit kami hindi makapani-wala.

Kayo ba dito sa Amerika, nakita ‘nyo ba si Maricel Soriano ?

nguni’t ang pabango ng ilang-ilang ay siyang pabango ng kaluluwa — ng pusong may wagas at tapat na panata!”

Parang pinagtiyap ng pag-kakataon, hindi naglaon, ay dumat-ing naman ang alalala ni Dante. Sa malas ay isang malaking balutan ito; nguni’t nang mapalapit ang nasa-bing bagay na taglay din ng isang mensahero, ay natunghan niya ang mga titik na ganito: “Pag-ingatan at may buhay!”

Noon ay kaharap ng ating dalaga ang lahat halos ng mga kasamba-hay niya. Nanginginig din ang mga daliri ni Judith nang kalagin na ang tali ng malaking balutan, at...

— Dios ko! — ani Judith. — Isang haula! Isang “canario” — ang

Canario ng Kanyang Pag-ibigMaikling Kuwento

ni Alberto Segismundo Cruz


marilag na ibong mang-aawit!At, ang ibong nakasanghap ng

hangin at halimuyak ng bulaklak sa lagwerta ng dalaga ay nakadama wari ng pagkalugod. Gaya ng isang bilanggo, nasa likod man siya ng mga rehas na bakal... ay nadama rin niya ang mabining simoy ng hang-ing malaya!

Aywan kung himala nga ng Diyos, ang “canario” ay umawit noon... nagparinig ng kanyang mga notang malaong itinatago sa lalamunan.

Anong lambing na awit! Anong timyas na mga notang wari ay ibig sumama sa pakpak ng dapit-hapon!

At, nang matapos sa pag-awit ang “canario” ay saka pa lamang namataan ni Judith ang

tarheta ni Dante. Anang mga talatang nakatitik sa tarhetang iyon:

“Maaaring mamatay ako, nguni’t ang aking kaluluwa... ang aking mga tula... ang mga awitin ng aking malungkot na buhay... ang bugtong na pag-ibig na siyang tanging ya-man ng aking kabataan... ay nasa kaluluwa ng kinapal na ito ng Diyos na siyang tatanod, sa pagtatangkilik ng Maykapal, sa iyo at siyang mag-paparinig ng mga awiting walang kamatayan ng aking puso!”

Gaputok man ay hindi nakapag-salita si Judith. Napansin ng lahat na pumasok ito sa kanyang silid na kin-

aroroonan ng Ina ng Awa, at noon din ay lumuhod na sa mga mata ay nangingilid ang luha. Nakapagpasi-ya na ang puso ni Judith! At minsan pang naipadama sa pagkakataong yaon na sadyang may mga dakilang sandali sa buhay ng tao. Si Judith ay umiibig at tumutugon sa pagibig na inihahandog ni Dante.

Makatarungan ang Tadhana! Ang buhay ay isang pangarap, at ang magandang pangarap ni Judith ay lumutas sa kanyang suliranin. Kung ang pag-ibig ay buhay, ang buhay ay sadyang nauukol sa pag-ibig. Ang mga batingaw sa isang

purok ng Maynila ang nagbalita ng katotohanan — ang mga batingaw na naging paksa ng isang estropa sa walang kamatayang tula ni Edgar Allan Poe: “Ang mga Batingaw” — May Ikinakasal!

At, walang iba kundi si Judith at si Dante na nag-isang palad sa harap ng dakilang dambana ng Pag-ibig. At, ang pag-ibig na hindi mapa-ghiganti ay siyang lalong dalisay at mapagpatawad: si Walfrido Ma. de Dios ay isang abay, na siyang kauna-unahan pang nag-ukol ng “Maligayang bati” sa dalawang nag-ing mapalad na kampon ni Kupido.

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An amazing image was captured Jan. 16 at the baptism of Waylon Chastant at St. Anthony Church in Lafitte. As Father John Ryan poured holy water on Waylon’s forehead, Jan Fallo, the baby’s aunt, snapped a picture, capturing theshape of a rosary and, more subtly, what looks like a veiled woman at the top of the circle. “We’re not good at taking pictures,” said Monica Chastant, Waylon’s mother, right. “Usually you see pictures of the floor or bright lights – that’s us. My sister was actually holding the camera up in the air with her left hand, just hoping to get a shot.” The family discovered the image while reviewing the pictures at a post-baptism re-ception. Said Chastant: “My husband (Hal) said, ‘I think it looks like a rosary.’ This has never happened to me. Maybe we just need to ponder Mary.” -- Photo reprinted from the Clarion Herald, Official Newspaper of the Diocese of New Orleans, 2/19/2011

The Save Palawan Movement launched the “No to Mining in Palawan” signature campaign last February 3 in the hope of put-ting an end to mining activities in Palawan, known as the Philippines’ Last Ecological Frontier.

The campaign aims to raise ten million signatures to deliver a strong message to the Philippine and Palawan governments so that they would finally say no to mining in Palawan and help protect one of the Philippines’ last remaining treasures.

Present at the launch were ABS-CBN Foundation Managing Director Gina Lopez, Puerto Princ-esa, Palawan Mayor Edward Hage-dorn, “running priest” Fr. Robert Reyes, environment leaders Clem-ente Bautista (Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment) and Atty. Jose Andres Canivel (Philip-pine Tropical Forest Conservation Foundation), and Rhodora Angela Ferrer of the Catholica Educational Association of the Philippines.

They were joined by Kabang Kalikasan ng Pilipinas (WWF-

Puerto Princesa Mayor Edward Hagedorn, AFI Man. Dir.Gina Lopez, Gerry Ortega’s daughter Mika, Fr. Robert Reyes and Atty. Gerthie Mayo-Anda call for the banning of mining in Palawan.

10 million signature campaign launchedSAVE PALAWAN MOVEMENT SAYS NO TO

MINING IN PALAWAN

Philippines) president Jose Lorenzo Tan, country director for Conservation International Romy Trono, Atty. Gerthie Mayo-Anda of Environmental Legal Asistance Center, executive director of Palawan NGO Network Inc. Atty Bobby Chan, Tanggol Kalikasan executive director Atty. Rolly Bisquera–Sheen, Alyansa Tigil Mina national coordinator Jaybee Garganera, Firefly Brigade project manager Isabel Bunao, and various leaders of the environmental move-ment in the country.

The ten million signature campaign came about after the killing of Dr. Gerardo “Doc Gerry” Ortega, a civic leader who cham-pioned the protection of Palawan’s rich biodiversity and an outspo-ken critic of mining operations in Palawan.

Palawan has 40% of our coun-try’s remaining mangrove areas, 30% of our coral reefs, at least 17 Key Biodiversity Areas, two UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and eight declared protected areas. Palawan has an unmatched variety

of species of flora and fauna. Nev-ertheless, the Palawan ecosystem is fragile, given the island’s narrow shape and its thin layer of topsoil that is prone to erosion, which makes it unfit for mining.

Mining has been taking place in the province, despite Republic Act No. 7611, or the Strategic Environ-mental Plan for Palawan, that states that all types of natural forests, areas above one thousand (1,000) meters elevation, peaks of moun-tains or other areas with very steep gradients, and endangered habitats and habitats of endangered and rare species should be fully and strictly protected and kept free of human disruption.

Moreover, both the granting of mining permits and new applica-tions are increasing, even in core protection zones. Old-growth forests are being cut down, water sources are being polluted, ances-tral lands are being taken over, and communities’ pleas are being ignored.

In many areas of Palawan, the communities have already made their stand against mining by showing that ecotourism, based on the protection of precious natural resources, can provide the people with the livelihood they need for development. Many leaders also believe that Palawan can develop and achieve economic progress without the devastating environ-

mental destruction caused by mining.

Doc Gerry, who also served as project manager for the ABS-CBN Foundation, dreamt of a Philip-pines where natural resources are protected and nurtured. As he was always quoted to say, “Di kailan-gan sirain ang kalikasan para ma-pakinabangan.” The Save Palawan Movement hopes that through the campaign, Doc Gerry’s dream will live on and eventually be fulfilled.

Filipinos from all walks of life are invited to sign the petition below and to ask their family and friends to do the same. For more information on the Save Pala-wan signature campaign and Doc

Gerry’s dream, visit the website http://www.no2mininginpalawan.com . For inquiries and support, send e-mail to [email protected] or fax to: 632-4152227.

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Sea of Cortez is only a step away from Ventana del Mar Beach & Golf Resort in San Felipe, BC

Visit the affordable, eco-friendly beach resort community of Ven-tana del Mar in San Felipe, Baja California. Attend onsite presenta-tion and overnight tours hosted by RMAC for the weekends of March 5-6 and March 26-27, 2011. Please RSVP by calling 619.851.9547. (photo by carlossg, Flickr)

asian journal february 25, 2011 issue

Documents