asian journal nov 5, 2010

Vox Populi Vox Dei: Got it?...p 19

The Case of the Seven Husbands and the One Bride. ...p. 15

(Continued on page 5)


PROMISED LAND

LetterThe letter was tucked inno- cently in Ditas’ handbag.

Romy was looking for coins to be used in his office vend-

ing machines and peeked into the bag. Ditas was taking a shower at that

time, preparing to go to work.It was unsealed, addressed to Di-tas’ mother in the Philippines, with

postage and was ready to be mailed. Dis-respecting his wife’s privacy, Romy

took out the letter and read it.

By Simeon G. Silverio, Jr.Publisher & Editor

Asian Journal San DiegoThe Original and First Asian Journal in America

See page 11

Pusikit na karimlan . . .. . . pagkatapos ay isang

maliit na anag-ag ng liwanag . . na lumaki nang lumaki hang-gang sa lumawak at masaklaw ang boong “telon”!

Ang paghahalili ng dilim at liwanag ay “naganap” sa mukha ng puting tabing ng tanghalan... Kaya’t kinusot ko ang aking mga mata at nang maititig na muli ay nahawi na sa wakas ang “telon”. Napatambad sa mata ng madla ang isang marikit na tagpo sa pusod ng kagubatan, samantalang ang gasuklay na buwan ay naliligiran ng mga bituin.

At sa gitna ng tanghalan ay biglang napakita ang buhay na larawan ng mapaghimalang si Pavlova kundi man ng lalong marilag na Syd Charisse sa makabagong sining sa harap ng dambana ni Terpsikore.

-- Ang “ballerina”! -- na-mutawi sa aking labi, sa gitna ng paghanga at pag-ibig.

Dilag ng BalletMaikling Kuwento ni

Alberto Segismundo Cruz


Isang malambing na himig ng musika ang aking narinig. At, ang mananayaw na nasa tanghalan ay naging tunay na “hada” sa aking paningin. Ang dulo ng mga daliri ng kanyang mga paa na siyang nakasayad lamang sa hapag ay waring may gulong na tu-

mataas at bum-ababa sang-ayon sa kumpas. Hindi nakikita ang mga daliring iyan, sapagka’t natatago sa ku1ay-rosas na sapin ng may magagandang hugis niyang paa. Nguni’t para ko rin ngang namamasid, katulad ng

pagkaguni-guni ko sa magan-dang hubog ng kanyang binti at hita... na sanhi sa damit na rosas na sutlang nakakapit sa kanyang katawang parang nilalik ng isang esku1tor ay walang iniwan sa tangkay ng isang alehandriya ...

Matalinghaga wari, nguni’t siyang katotohanan. Siya ang tinatawag na Dilag ng “Bal-let” - ang “ballerina” na na-kikipaghabulan sa paruparo, sa mapuputing kalapati, at nang

ga- bing yaon -- ayon sa tagpo’t diwa ng dulang yaong isinisi-walat sa indak, kilos

at galaw ng mga bisig at katawang katugon ng mga

nota ng musika -- ay “nakiki-paghabulan” sa mga bituin sa

langit.Nguni’t “ballerina” man

siyang nagpapaindak pati sa puso ng nanonood ay babae ring anak ni Eba, sa katotohanan. Sapagka’t babae ay maaaring maging larawan ng tunay na

November 5 - 11, 2010

Ben MaynigoMsgr. Gutierrez Ogie CruzHow true? Nora Aunor

isang caregiver sa California????... p. 21

Warning: The California Department of Real Estate has not examined this offering, including but not limited to the condition of title, the status of blanket liens of the project (if any), arrangements to assure project completion, escrow practices, control over project management, racially discriminatory practice (if any), terms, conditions, and price of the offer, control over annual assessments (if any), or the availability of water services, utilities, or improvements. It may be advisable for you to consult an attorney or other knowledgeable professional who is familiar with real estate and development law in the country where this subdivision is situated.

Attend the free presentations of the affordable but luxurious housing developments in the Philippines! Presented in San Diego, Hemet and Temecula. Call 619-746-3416 for reservations.

Presidio at Britany Bay, near Laguna de Bay, Sucat, Paranaque, Makati and Taguig areas

Call for schedule of presentations for

SAN DIEGO

TEMECULA

HEMET

ORANGE COUNTY

Call (619)746-3416 for brochures and reservations

Luxurious single family homes beside Alabang For brochures and other info, call 619-746-3416.

Single family homes in Antipolo; Bacoor, Imus and Dasmarinas, Cavite; Sta. Rosa

and Cabuyao Laguna; and Las Pinas

Baguio and La Union Beach properties.Single family homes in Pan-gasinan, Pampanga, Bulacan, Batangas, Iloilo, Cebu, Davao, Cagayan de Oro

Retirement or vacation homes in Tagaytay

By SOPHIA DEDACEGMANews.TV

(Update 2 – 8:39 p.m.) Su-preme Court Associate Justice Mariano del Castillo, who was recently exonerated by his col-leagues from allegations that he plagiarized portions of a ruling on World War II comfort women, is facing another ac-cusation of plagiarism.

This time, the website pinoymoneytalk.com has claimed that Del Castillo’s April 8, 2010 ruling that granted permission to Ang Lad-lad to participate in the May 10 elections as a party-list group allegedly contained plagiarized portions from at least three sources.

Reached for comment, Supreme Court spokesman and administrator Jose Midas Mar-quez said the high tribunal will only tackle the matter when the latest plagiarism allegations are brought to the court formally.

The Supreme Court justices are on recess until November 16, and GMANews.TV could not reach Del Castillo’s office for comment.

In a text message, Marquez said: “Admittedly, this second allegation is only a ‘prelimi-nary’ study. It is suggested that before serious allegations like these are hurled, especially at this time, they be results of deliberate and thorough consid-eration, as they add nothing but further confusion to the present situation.”

The table below prepared by GMANews.TV compares the portions pointed out by pinoymoneytalk.com with the original text allegedly copied by Justice del Castillo in his ponencia about the Ang Ladlad case without proper attribution.

A ponencia is a decision written by a magistrate, also called the “ponente” of the rul-ing or decision.

Reacting to the allegation, Marquez said: “As it is, it ap-pears that the alleged plagia-rized phrase has been used in a thousand other writings without citation, and has become a gen-erally accepted principle of law. Be that as it may, the further issuance of a statement on the matter shall be stayed, until this issue is formally brought before the Court.”

For his part, UP law profes-sor Harry Roque Jr. pointed out a total of eight portions in the Ang Ladlad ruling that may have been plagiarized from other sources as well. The first three are similar to GMANews.

SC Justice faces another accusation of plagiarismby Manuel F. Almario

ML Political Detainee and Spokesman, Movement for

Truth in History

Are we developing a national amnesia over the legacy of Martial Law, the 38th anniversary of which we marked last September 21?

In his column (Mapping the Future), titled “Martial law as a management tool”, published by the Philippine Daily Inquirer last Sept. 27, Mr. Fernando Martin O. Pena wrote: “But after some 21 years in the field of man-agement, [I have come to believe] that maybe there is some truth to the success of Martial Law as a management tool.”

He was echoing Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. who told abs-cbnNEWS.com that “objective indicators” such as “the poverty rate, the Philip-pines international status and the government’s financial situation” showed that the

Developing Amnesia on Martial Law

country “was in better days” when his father, President Ferdinand Marcos, Sr., was in power (1966-1986).

Amnesia, for an indi-vidual is bad. For a nation, it is worse. Lest our people, because of present difficul-ties, develop an undeserved nostalgia for the Marcos

Ferdinand Marcos Sr.

Attend a Free Presentation in San Diego and Temecula on

SM Properties, condominiums located near SM Shoemart Malls in Metro Manila from December 8 to December 14, 2010.

Call (619) 746-3416 for reservations.

The SM condo locations are as follows: SEA Residences - Macapagal Ave (near Mall of Asia) JAZZ - Bel-Air Makati (with 2-level SM hypermart at the grd floor) FIELD - Sucat Paranaque (beside SM Sucat) LIGHT - along Boni Edsa SUN - Welcome Rotonda in E. Rodriguez Manila BLUE - Katipunan , QC My Place - Mother Ignacia, QC (near ABS-CBN) GRASS - North Edsa QC ( beside SM City) PRINCETON - New Manila, QC MEZZA - Sta Mesa (near SM Centerpoint) HAMILO - Batangas City (by the beach)

November 5 - 11, 2010Asian Journal - (619) 474-0588 Visit our website at http://www.asianjournalusa.com

10717 Camino Ruiz, Ste. 122 San Diego, CA 92126Cosmetic and Restorative Dentistry• State-of-the-Art Technology and Sterilization• Digital X-rays and Massage Dental Chairs• Caring and Friendly Staff• Affordable Fees• Military Dependents Welcome• Evening and Weekend Appointments Available• New, Walk-in and Emergency Patients Welcome• Most PPO Plans Accepted•

Email: [email protected] Phone: (858) 566-6099

Open: Monday – Friday 9am – 6pmSaturday 8am – 2pm

Credit Cards AcceptedZOOM!

Exam, Digital X-rays & Cleaning *

*Over $200 in savings, in the absence of gum disease, new

patients only.Limited time offer.

$3499Reg. $238 Towards Any

Dental Service$550 or more

Cannot be combined with insurance.

Limited time offer.

$10000

In Offi ce Teeth WhiteningIn Just an Hour!

Limited time offer.

$29899Reg. $600

Law Offi ces of Chua Tinsay & Vegawww.ctvattys.com

by Atty. Dennis ChuaLegal Buzz

Read Atty. Dennis Chua’s previous articles by visiting our website at www.asianjournalusa.com

Effective November 23, 2010, the fi ling fees being imposed by the US Citizen-ship and Immigration Services to process immigration appli-cations and petitions will be adjusted.

It will now be more ex-pensive to fi le a petition for a relative. A petitioner who would like to bring his/her spouse, children, parent, or sibling will have to pay a fee of $420 compared to the current fee of $355.

An employer who would like to petition a foreign worker for a work-ing visa will now have to pay a fee of $325. While employers fi ling for im-migrant petitions for their employees will now have to pay $580 compared to the current rate of $475.

For persons who will be fi ling an application for adjustment of status, they will have to pay a fee of $985 plus a biometrics fee of $85. Under the current fee sched-ule, applicants for adjustment of status need only pay the amount of $930 and a biomet-rics fee of $80.

Individuals who would like to obtain a certifi cate of

naturalization if they derive their citizenship through their parents will have to pay the fee of $600 compared to the current fee of $460.

Other applications affected by the increases are as fol-lows: Work permit applica-tions will increase from $340 to $380. Request for premium processing will increase from $1,000 to $,1225. An I-751

Joint Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence will increase from $465 to $505. Individuals who would like to apply for a re-entry permit or advance parole will now have to pay a fee of $420 compared to the current fee of $305.

However, there are certain petitions and applications which will not be affected by the fee increase. The fi ling fee for an application for natu-

ralization will remain at $595. But, with the increase of the fee for biometrics services from $80 to $85, an applicant for naturalization will end up paying more. With the fee increase, an applicant for naturalization will now have to pay $680 compared to the current fee of $675.

The USCIS has reduced the fi ling fees for certain ap-plications and petitions. A petitioner for a fi ancé petition will be paying the amount of $340 instead of the current fee of $455. Applicants for an extension or change of nonim-migrant status will be paying a reduced fee of $290 instead of the current fee of $300.

Applicants and petitioners affected by the fee increases may want to take advantage of the current fees by fi ling their applications and petitions before the fee adjustments go into effect on November 23, 2010.

Atty. Dennis E. Chua is a partner in The Law Firm of Chua Tinsay and Vega (CTV) - a full service law fi rm with offi ces in San Francisco, San Diego and Manila. 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 relationship. The CTV attorneys will be holding its regular free legal clinic at the Max’s Restau-rant in Vallejo, California on November 29, 2010 . Call or e-mail CTV for an in-person or phone consultation to dis-cuss your particular situation and/or how their services may be retained at (415) 495-8088; (619) 955-6277; [email protected]

USCIS fi ling fees increasing again...

San Francisco — Eight nonprofi t health-sector ex-ecutives are being recognized with The California Wellness Foundation (TCWF) Sabbati-cal Program Award at a lun-cheon ceremony recently in San Francisco. The leadership support program – now in its eighth year – provides eight organizations with grants of $35,000 each to cover salary and other expenses during their executive directors’ sab-baticals, which last a mini-mum of three months.

The eight executives receiving the 2010 sabbati-cal award are: David Ashby, New Morning Youth and Family Services in Placer-ville; Joan Benoît, Native American AIDS Project in San Francisco; Paula Cohen, Mendocino Coast Clinics in Fort Bragg; Margaret Diaz, Victor Valley Domestic Vio-lence, Inc./“A Better Way” in Victorville; Gloria Flaherty, Lake Family Resource Center in Kelseyville; Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Community Coalition in Los Angeles; Abdi Mohamoud, Horn of Africa Community in San Diego; and Clare Mounteer, Monterey County Rape Crisis Center in Monterey. Profi les of the honorees can be ac-cessed at www.CalWellness.org in the Leadership Recog-nition Program portal.

“Executive directors at nonprofi t health and hu-man service organizations in California continue to face

Health sector nonprofi t executives receive 2010 TCWF Sabbatical

Program AwardFoundation Funding Supports Eight Nonprofi t Health Organizations With

$35,000 Grants To Cover Chief Executives’ Paid Time Off

diffi cult challenges to meet ever-increasing demands for services in a funding environ-ment that has been deeply impacted by the economic recession,” said Gary L. Yates,

TCWF president and CEO. “The Foundation developed the sabbatical program to prevent burnout, promote the health of these executives and provide an opportunity to strengthen these organiza-tions. We are pleased to rec-ognize these eight dedicated individuals.”

The program was created to support nonprofi t leaders and seeks to improve the long-term effectiveness of health-focused nonprofi ts by provid-ing their executives with the rest they need to continue to direct their organizations’ missions. Each organization receives $30,000 to cover its leader’s salary during the sabbatical, plus an additional $5,000 to cover expenses related to the professional development of managers and staff who will assume extra responsibilities during their leader’s absence. Each of the 2010 sabbatical honorees has served in the nonprofi t sector for at least 12 years, and most have worked in their current roles as lead executives of health-focused organizations for many years without a sig-nifi cant break.

“These executives have worked selfl essly for years in the nonprofi t health sector, with little time for

rest, refl ection or rejuvena-tion,” said Sandra J. Martínez, TCWF program director. “By recognizing their leadership and supporting their organiza-tions during the sabbaticals, the Foundation is helping the safety net improve the health of diverse California commu-nities, now and in the future.”

The California Wellness Foundation is a private inde-pendent foundation created in 1992 with a mission to im-prove the health of the people of California by making grants for health promotion, wellness education and dis-ease prevention. The Founda-tion prioritizes eight issues for funding: diversity in the health professions, environ-mental health, healthy aging, mental health, teenage preg-nancy prevention, violence prevention, women’s health, and work and health. It also responds to timely issues and special projects outside the funding priorities. Since its founding in 1992, TCWF has awarded 5,828 grants totaling more than $735 million.

Room for rentPrivate Parking

Quiet areacall

(619) 746-3416

Asian Journal - (619) 474-0588 Visit our website at http://www.asianjournalusa.comNovember 5 - 11, 2010

President Benigno Aquino III bumped into legendary Hol-lywood actor Robert Redford during the President’s private dinner with the Philippine Business Delegation at Benihana sushi bar, New York City. Jay Morales / Malacañang Photo/ PNS

by Ellen Tordesillasfrom MALAYA

Visiting Italian Lawyer Gabriella Citroni, in a forum marking the International Day of the Disappeared (which was actually last Monday) at the University of the Philip-pines, said a person disappear-ing does not follow logic.

“People are born, they live and they die. They don’t disappear,” she said. But it happens. In the Philippines the practice is more known as “salvaging” a cruel play on the word that means “saving”.

Citroni, a professor at the University of Milano-Bicocca, has been active in the United Nations effort to ratify and eventually implement the Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances.

She said Enforced Disap-pearances start with depriva-tion of liberty, followed by concealment or denial of the victim.

In searching for the disap-peared kin, relatives often are met with questions by law en-forcement authorities, “Who is he? Is there such a person?”

“Can you think of a much worse human brutality than someone telling you that your loved one never existed”, she asked.

Yesterday’s forum was

Unsilenced

Italian Lawyer Gabriella Citroni

also the launching of the film documentary “Unsilenced” about desaparecidos in the Philippines.

“Unsilenced”, directed by King Mark Baco took off from the case of six workers of PICOP (Paper Industries Corporation of the Philip-pines) in Agusan del Sur who disappeared after they were picked up by soldiers belong-ing to the 62nd Infantry Bat-talion of the Philippine Army on October 14, 2000.They were Joseph Belar, Jovencio Lagare, Romualdo Orcullo, Diosdado Oliver, Artemio Ayala, and Arnold Dangki-asan.

Ten years have passed.

One, Cpl Rodrigo Billones, has been convicted in 2008. The other officers have not made been made accountable for their crime and have, in fact, been promoted.

FIND and AFAD lauded the refusal of the families the PICOP 6 to be silenced. “With the growing support from the Philippine Alliance of Hu-man Rights Advocates, AFAD and other kindred groups, the families are more inspired to pursue the fight to its final resolution, “ they said.

The two groups said the International Day of the Disappeared “was an occa-sion to revisit the chronicles of courage and self-sacrifice of the desaparecidos which re-mind us that the commission of involuntary disappearance particularly against suspected enemies of the state persists with impunity.

“The abominable global offense, a State-perpetrated violence, has spawned viola-tions of practically all hu-man rights. Precious lives are snuffed out, civil liberties curtailed voices of protest and resistance muffled amidst a chilling culture of impunity.

“Putting an end to enforced disappearance poses a great challenge to human rights advocates and defenders. Far greater is to successfully com-pel states to sign and ratify the International Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappear-ance and ensure that enforced disappearance constitutes a criminal offense in their stat-ute books.

“Learning from the Phil-ippine experience, it is pos-sible to enact special laws criminalizing human rights violations. In November last year,t he Philippines enacted Republic Act No. 9745 or the Anti-Torture Law.Lamentably, the proposed law defining and penalizing enforced or in-voluntary disappearance still awaits congressional impri-matur even as the Convention remains unsigned.

AFAD and FIND ap-pealed to President Aquino as well as the leaders of Timor Leste, India, Indonesia, Pakistan,Thailand and Nepal to take the lead in the signing

and ratification of the Conven-tion.

To date, the Convention has 83 signatories and 19 state parties (India is a sig-natory but not a state party. TheNetherlands is reported to have virtually reserved for the 20th slot that will mark the Convention’s entry into force.

The joint statement asked: “Shouldn’t AFAD’s mem-ber organizations’ respective states and other Asian states race to be the 20th state party and show the world that they are sincere in upholding hu-man dignity and human rights more particularly the right not to be disappeared?”

Room for rentPrivate Parking

Quiet areacall

(619) 746-3416


Bill’s Corner

Read Bill Labestre’s previous articles by visiting our website at www.asianjournalusa.com

by Bill Labestre, MBA

LAW OFFICE OF

A. Erwin Bautista Active Member, State Bar of California

Bankruptcy

Immigration

Personal Injury

Income Tax

Mortgage Renegotiation 550 East 8th Street, Ste. 11 National City, CA 91950

Tel: (619) 474-7755 Fax: (619)474-0051

Los Angeles 3435 Wilshire Blvd., Ste. 2700

Los Angeles, CA 90010 Tel: (213) 365-7690 Fax: (213) 365-7691

Preparation of Return Audit Representation IRS Problems

SAVE your home Reduce your monthly payment Avoid Foreclosure

STOP Foreclosures, SAVE Your Home STOP Wage Garnishment, Attachments STOP Levies, Creditor Harassments

Deportation Defense/Appeals Family Petition, Working/ Visas Naturalization/Citizenship Greencards, Section 245 (i) “Amnesty” Handling of Difficult Cases

Auto Accidents Slip and Fall Wrongful Deaths

A Erwin Bautista Attorney-at-law

[email protected]

San Diego

Currently, it gets tougher for a small business to keep on going. Unemployment is still high and temporary benefits may not be extended. People are holding tight to whatever money they have and careful of their spending ways.

To attract customers, large discounts are offered by some retailers. Sellers of large items adjusted their mark-ups to move their inventories. It is a buyers market for those with sufficient liquid assets. Buying on credit is not that easy anymore since banks and other lenders tightened the lending requirements.

There are plenty of vacant office and store spaces around the county. Many Real Estate offices have shut down. Others moved their offices to their homes. Many were forced to reduce number of employees. Everybody is hoping for the economy to bounce back so people can shop again.

In the Filipino market, it’s a bonanza for customers of cargo shipping businesses. Very stiff competitions have created lower prices in ship-ping those balikbayan boxes. Newcomers lured customers by offering very low prices or giving some extra amenities. The cutthroat competition is good for most customers but very bad for the entire ship-ping business. Why can’t they offer better and quality ser-vices instead?

Good and loyal custom-

Discount Seekerers don’t mind paying extra if the service is reliable and fast. Instead of killing each other’s business why can’t these cargo people form a union and charge uniform rates. Why would you ruin your healthy back for a few lousy dollars?

When it comes to asking for a discount, nobody beats a Filipino customer. By nature it comes out automatic espe-cially if the business is owned by a Filipino immigrant. Somehow it’s a different story when a business belongs to a non Filipino. Now, it is fixed price.

There are cases in which a Filipino customer asked for a discount because of referrals made to friends and families. Can’t you just refer a business because you were satisfied with the quality of product or service? Referral fees were very common during the real estate frenzy. Customers were demanding shares of their Agent’s commissions and fees.

It’s important to un-derstand the behavior of the target market for your busi-ness. You have to advertise but, learn what will work for you. As a service provider, you have to be patient and a quick learner on how to sell yourself. The word of mouth is your main advertising me-dium. Do a good service and client remembers but, do a lousy job and client will never forget.

Good business owner learned from their past mis-

takes. Do not repeat what did not work for you. Let your quality service or products do the talking. Offering a lower price or fee will attract cheap-skates. It can also be per-ceived as low quality product or service.

You can never satisfy ev-ery customer. Those who paid you less will waste most of your time. Good and loyal cli-ents do not ask for discounts but, they do expect quality service. They will advertise your business so in return you’ll try to deliver your best. Raise your fees and you will rid of your headaches.

kagandahang pinaka-kaluluwa ng sining. Sa kaluwalhatian ng isang tunay na alagad ni Terpsikore ay naniwala akong siya ay isinugo ng Tadhana upang magbalik ang isang panahong mabulaklak sa buhay ng isang kinapal sa lupa, lalo na sa isang lalaki.

Bagamang may bahagya siyang “make-up” ay hindi rin maikukubli sa aking pagkilala kung sino siya. Sa palagay ko, wala man siya sa tanghalan at hindi niya nilulu-walhati ang sining ni Pavlova ay gayun din siya sa akin – siya ang Mutya kong Kakilala – na habang dumaraan ang mga araw ay lalo namang nalalapit sa aking puso.

Paano’y kaugnay ng isang “kahapon” ang kasalukuyan. Ang ibig kong sabihin ay kaugnay ng katotohanan ng “ngayon” ang mga pangyayaring wari’y likha ng mga guniguni’t pangarap ng kabataan ng isang nakalipas . . .

Noo’y isa siyang paslit na katulad ko. Sila lamang mag-anak -- ang mga Olivera – ang pinaka-malapit naming kapit-bahay sa Gulod.

Siya si Amelia, ang marilag na batang babae na ipinanganak na hindi makalad. Kung sinuri man ng mga manggagamot ang kan-yang kalagayan, ang mga alagad na ito ng karunungan sa pang-gagamot ay naniniwala nang mga araw na yaon na wala silang lunas na mailalapat. Kaya naman, ang

Dilag ng BalletMaikling Kuwento ni

Alberto Segismundo Cruz

mag-anak na Olivera ay nangha-wak na lamang at umasa sa mga hilot at mga katas ng dahon o ugat ng kahoy sa kabundukan na siyang inilalanggas o ipinapahid kung minsan.

Nag-aral si Amelia sa isang bahay-paaralang pinakamalapit, ngunit kinailangan siyang pang-kuhin habang daan, matapos na maibaba sa isang karitela ng kanyang mahal na ama, si Mang Ponso, ang kilalang tahur sa lalawigan. Sa paaralang iyan ay nagkakilala kaming mabuti ng batang hindi makalakad, at hindi miminsang naging mabisang katu-long ako sa kanya, gaya halim-bawa kung nakikidala sa akin ng mga aklat.

Nagdaang paganyan ang mga pangyayari sa takbo ng buhay namin hanggang sa kami’y makarating sa isang tanging

paaralang pinamamahalaan ng isang samahan ng mga guro at mangangalakal sa Gulod at mga karatig sa bayan ng Kamyas. Sapagka’t ganap na ang aming isip ni Amelia, kaya’t malawak-lawak na rin ang paksang napag-uusapan namin. May mga hapong kulimlim ang araw na kaming dalawa ay nanana-tili sa bakuran ng paaralan at sa lilim ng isang malabay na punong-mangga ay nag-uusap - pag-uusap na sumasak-law sa sanlibo’t isang pangarap ng kabataan.

-- Mely, ano ang pangarap mo? – usisa ko.

-- Hindi ako nangangarap! -- malambing niyang-tugon na ikinindat pa ang magagandang kilay.

-- Hindi maaari iyan, -- ang puna ko. -- Naglilihim ka sa akin.

-- Kung gayon ay sasabihin ko sa iyo! -- pagtatapat niya.

-- Ibig kong kung ako’y lumaki at ganap na gumaling ay makapagdulot ako ng aliw sa madla! -- ang pahayag niya.

-- Amelia, hindi kita ma-watasan! – wika ko.

-- Meynardo, -- malambing niyang pakli sa akin. – Ibig kong ako’y maging isang artista - isang alagad ng sining. Ang dinaramdam ko nga lamang ay kailan ko pa kaya maigagalaw ang aking mga paa, binti at hita na katulad ng ibang kinapal, -- saka namula ang magaganda niyang mata.

-- Huwag kang malungkot, Amelia,-- payo ko sa kanya – kung ano ang kahilingan sa Diyos ay siyang ibibiyaya sa sinumang hu-mihiling, kung karapat-dapat.

At siya’y napangiti. Saka hinawakan ang kanan kong kamay, na para bagang nagpapasalamat sa narinig.

-- Nakangiti ka na, Amelia, -- sabi ko. -- Lalo kang maganda kung nakangiti at pinipigil na pu-matak ang luha sa iyong mata.

Hindi na tumugon pa si Ame-lia.

Nagdaan ang maraming taon.Ako namang si Meynardo

lamang, kung tawagin ng aking kababata, ay tinangay na rin ng ka-palaran sa kung saan-saang dako. Hindi ko natapos ang aking karera, kahi’t gayon ang nais ng aking mga magulang, sapagka’t ninais ko ang maging manunulat na la-mang. Isang hangarin sa buhay na ikinapoot sa akin ng mga bathala ko sa lupa. Kaya’t ako’y naging isang manunulat sa isang pahaya-gan. Nang una ay sa isang bayan o lunsod sa Timog. Pagkatapos ay napabalik na rin ako sa Maynila, at sa tinagal-tagal ng panahon, ay napabilang sa “staff” ng isang malaking pahayagan sa pangulong

lunsod na ito ng Kapuluan.Sapagkat ako’y dalubhasa sa

pagsulat ng mga balita sa sining, lalo na sa dulaan at opera, kaya’t ako ang laging sinusugo ng aming patnugot sa anumang pagtitipon o “palabas” ng lipunan -- ng mataas na lipunang sumasamba kay Taya o kay Terpsikore.

Nariyan ang aking pag-ibig. Ang puso kong makata ay laging nakakatagpo ng magandang sala-misim sa malambing na tinig ng isang mang-aawit. Ang diwa kong mapangarapin ay nakatatanaw ng maluwalhating pangitain sa maririkit na talon ng dulang itina-tanghal sa maayos at masining- na pagtupad ng mga mandudula o artista. Ako rin ang unang lumikha ng mga salaysay o puna sa mga nagsisiganap na ito sa tanghalan, kabilang na ang bod-a-bil.

Datapuwa’t nang dumating sa Pilipinas ang makabagong sining ni Pavlova ay lalong nahaling ang aking puso. Bumili ako ng isang aklat na galing sa Estados Unidos, sa tulong ng isa kong kaibigang nag-aara1 doon. Lahat ng napa-palam ay nauukol sa tinatawag na “ballet” o sa “ballet dancing”. Kaya’t lalo kong nawatasan ang teknisismo ng sayaw na ito na nakagiliwan kong lubha, lalo na ang isinisiwalat na kasaysayan ng sayaw na kung tawagin ay “Dying Swan”.

Sa katotohanan ay ako lamang ang tanging manunu-lat sa sining na na-katagpo ng maiinam na pagkakataon sa pagtupad ng tungku-lin, sa kapakanan ng pahayagang pinaglil-ingkuran. Nakilala ko ang maririlag na bathala na tinatawag nating “mataas na lipunan”; naka-biruan ko ang lalong maririlag na artista; nakasulatan ko at natatawagan sa tele-pono ang sinumang naisin kong maka-sulatan o makatawa-gan; anupa’t naging bantog ako at naging pulot at gata ako ng

kadalagahang alagad ng sining, kabilang na rito ang nabibilang hanay ng “amateur”.

Sa kabila ng lahat nang ito, ay hindi pa rin ako nasisiyahan.

Nasa gitna ng malinaw na batis na masasalukan ng inumin ay nauuhaw pa rin; nasa gitna ng dulang ng masaganang pagkain ay waring nagugutom pa rin; at ipinaduruyan ang puso sa mga biyaya ng mapagpalang salamisim ng buhay ay tila inaabot rin ng luksang anino ng dalamhati’t pag-aalinlangan!

Paano’y may hinahanap, may pinananabikang makatagpo at makausap. May nawalang hiyas na nawaglit nang kung ilang taon at siyang tinutunton at binabakas-bakas sa landas ng isang bagong panahon. O! malupit na hagkis ng lumipas . . . masaklap na apdo ng Kahapong dumadalaw sa kasalu-kuyang panahon ng kabalintunaan sa buhay!

--Meynardo! – nasabi ko sa aking sarili. -- Kung kailan ka tumanda ay saka ka pa nabaliw. Akala ko’y mag-iisa ka na habang buhay. Hindi mo na kailangan ang Pag-ibig. Saka ngayon ay nagha-hanap ka na naman. Baliw, baliw ka, Meynardo.

----------------

Isang hapon ng Hunyo ay naparaan ako sa dulaang “Zorilla”. Kinailangan kong makapanayam ang tagapangasiwang Italyano ng isang kompanyang nagtatanghal. Nais kong mabatid ang palatuntu-nan sa boong panahon ng pag-tatanghal ng “compania” rito sa Maynila.

. . . At himala ng mga himala! Sa pagitan ng mga likmuan o sa isang pasilyo ay natuklasan ko ang isang bagay na parang itinuro sa akin ng Tadhana.

Isang sapin sa paa ng isang

“ballerina”!Ito kaya ay kangino? Ito

kaya’y nauukol sa isang maka-bagong Sinderela? Ari kaya ito ng . . . isang marilag na artista?

Ibig ko sanang ipagkaloob sa “empresario” ang bagay na aking napulot. Nguni’t nagkaroon ako ng isang tanging pagnanais na maiabot ko sa kinauukulan ang sapin sa paa. Naisip kong lalong tumpak na sabihin ko ang ganito, kung sakali.

-- Sinderela, narito ang nauu-kol sa iyong magagandang paa . . . Ipaubaya mo sanang ako na ang magsuot at pagkatapos ay pabayaan mo na ring mailagda sa mapuputi mong paa ang halik ng aking pag-ibig.

Hindi nagkabula ang aking baIiw na hangad at pagnanais. Nakilala ko ang “ballerina” o ang “dilag ng ballet” nang kunan ko ng “interview” sa silid ng Metropole Hotel.

At nang magpasalamat siya sa akin ay ipinahayag ko nga ang nasa unahan nito.

-- Hindi kayo matandain, -- ang wika niya.

-- Hindi nga po, sapagka’t tu-matanda na akong lubha sa hanap-buhay kong ito, -- saad ko naman.

Napahalakhak ang dilag.At, sa harap ng “empresario”

ay halos inibig ko nang usisain ang aking kapanayam. Paano’y parang kilala ko siya. Waring siya’y

si . . . Nguni’t paano? Malala-bas ang usapan namin at malalayo sa aking tunay na layon. Saka ka-harap ang dayuhang nangangasiwa sa palabas sa dulaan. Lalalabag ako sa magandang asal.

Nguni’t dumating ang gabi ng mga gabi. Nang itanghal ang kaunaunahang “ballet” sa Pilipinas ay saka ko napaghulo kung sino ang Luwalhating iyon ng Sining.

Ibig kong sumigaw sa tang-ing likmuang inihanda sa akin ng “empresario”. Ibig kong lumapit na noon pa lamang sa nagsasayaw. Datapuwa’t hindi ko mapagwari kung paano nangyari ang gayon. Diyata’t ang isang dalagitang lumpo ay maging malakas at matipuno saka naging isang tang-ing mananayaw pa sa tanghalan - naging isang tunay na alagad ni Pavlova, pagkatapos?

Hindi naglaon natanggap ko ang “kasagutan”.

Matapos na maibaba ang tabing sa huling tagpo ay iniabot sa akin ng utusan ng Dilag ang palatuntunan. Ang pangalang “Zita” ay may mariing guhit ng lapis at sa ibabaw ay maliwanag ang nakasulat, “Amelia”.

-- Siya! Diyos ko! – at ako ay sumugod sa silid ng dulaan na parang nakalimot sa aking sarili.

-- Amelia! -- ang sigaw ko.-- Oo ako nga – malambing

niyang wika – Natatandaan ko ang iyong sinabi:

“Kung ano ang kahilingan sa Diyos ay siyang ibinibiyaya sa humihiling, kung karapatdapat.”

At nahagkan ko ang kanyang mga kamay . . .

-- Mahaba rin ang naging kasaysayan ng aking paglulungga-ti upang ako’y gumaling. Nguni’t ipinagsama ako sa Europa ng aking aleng masalapi at sa tulong ng Diyos at ng isang “especialista” roon ay gumaling din ako. Pag-katapos ay nagpakadalubhasa ako sa sining na aking pinakagigiliw.

-- Salamat sa Diyos! -- aking naibulong. – Dumating din sa wakas ang anghel ng aking buhay at pag-ibig . . .

-- Nguni’t . . . -- ang wika niya. – Saka inilantad sa aking mga mata ang isang sinsing sa maganda niyang daliri.

--May-asawa ka na? -- tanong ko nang boong pagdaramdam.

Ngumiti siya, namula ang mga mata at lalo siyang gumanda katulad ng dati, kung pinipigilan ang pagpatak ng bugtong na luha sa mga mata . . .

-- Oo, Meynardo! Ang “empre-sario”. . .

Noon nagdilim sa akin ang maliwanag at dating masayang daigdig.

$50

(Continued from page 1)


Cox Communications San Diego Asian Journal - 1/8th page.(4.25" x 7.9375") AdGLJ#28-10

DUE: MONDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2010

ISSUE DATE: FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2010

SPORTS SECTION

S A T U R D A YNOVEMBER 13

www.cox.com

On Cox Digital Cable Channel 501To order use your Digital Cable remote controlAvailable in HD on Channel 1798

FOR FIGHT UPDATES GO TO TOPRANK.COM AND HBO.COM

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 13 • 6PMLIVE ON PAY-PER-VIEW • COWBOYS STADIUM

PRESENTED BY TOP RANK, INC. IN ASSOCIATION WITH COWBOYS STADIUM.©2010 HBO Pay-Per-View®, a Division of Home Box Office, Inc. and Top Rank, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

HBO PPV®, HBO® and related channels and service marks are the property of Home Box Office, Inc.©2010 iN DEMAND L.L.C. All rights reserved. iN DEMAND is a service mark of iN DEMAND L.L.C.

Card subject to change. Some restrictions apply.

Left to right: Selvaratnam Sinnadurai, country representative of International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC);Jesus Tirona, BDO Unibank advisor to the board, Jose Tale, chairman of Couples for Christ (CFC); Gwendolyn Pang, secretary general of the Philippine Red Cross (PRC); Teresita Sy-Coson, chairperson of BDO, Hon. Romeo Estrella, municipal mayor of Baliuag, Bulacan; Ricky Cuenca, CEO of CFC-ANCOP Tekton Foundation Inc.; Nestor Tan, president of BDO and Maureen Abelardo, managing trustee of BDO Founda-tion.

BANCO DE ORO PARTNERS WITH CFC/ANCOP TO PROVIDE VALUES FORMATION SEMINARS TO RESETTLED TYPHOON VICTIMS IN BALIUAG, BULACAN

MANILA - In commemo-ration of the fi rst year anni-versary of typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng, BDO Unibank through it social responsibil-ity arm, BDO Foundation, donated two parcels of land with a total area of almost 8,500 square meters located at Barangay Hinukay, Bali-uag, Bulacan to its LGU as resettlement site for typhoon victims in this municipality and those living in the danger zones along the Angat River.This project is in partnership with the International Federa-tion of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) through the Philippine Red Cross(PRC) who will fund and build over one hun-dred twenty fi ve transitory houses, the LGU of Baliuag who will do the site develop-

BDO partners with IFRC, PRC, LGU of Baliuag and CFC-ANCOP Tekton in building a

resettlement site in Baliuag, Bulacanment and planning and the CFC-ANCOP (Couples for Christ-Answering the Cry of the Poor) Tekton Foundation who will provide the values formation program of the benefi ciaries.

During the recent signing ceremony of the Deed of Donation (DOD) and Memo-randum of Agreement on Usufruct (MOA), BDO Chair-person Teresita Sy-Coson reiterated the bank’s role in the recovery and rehabilitation phase of last year’s disas-ter after also being actively involved in relief operations.

It is the fi rst private partnership of IFRC for disaster mitigation especially in the area of shelter.

Present in the signing of the Deed of Donation and Memorandum of Agreement

on Usufruct were Teresita Sy-Coson, chairperson of BDO, Nestor V. Tan, presi-dent of BDO; Maureen C. Abelardo, managing trustee of BDO Foundation; Selva-ratnam Sinnadurai, country representative of International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies; Gwendolyn T. Pang, secretary general of the Philippine Red Cross; Hon. Romeo M. Estrella, municipal mayor of Baliuag, Bulacan; and Ricky Cuenca, CEO of CFC-AN-COP Tekton Foundation Inc.

The market value of the property donation is P8.5M but the project cost is ex-pected to reach about P17.5M after the site development and construction of the transitory houses.

This is the second BDOF

resettlement site for ty-phoon victims. The fi rst is in Calumpit, Bulacan, in part-nership with another inter-national humanitarian agency, CRS (Catholic Relief Service) through the Diocese of Malo-los and the municipality of Calumpit.

The signing ceremony, held at The Anvil, BDO Cor-porate Center South Towerrecently is part of BDO and its Foundation’s goal of build-ing homes for the homeless in sustainable communities.

(Above photo and article were prepared by BDO).

SC Justice faces another accusation of

plagiarismTV’s list (see chart), with an ad-ditional fi ve points. (Click here for PDF fi le of Roque chart, or here to view his original blog post.)

Vinuya vs Executive Secre-tary ruling The Supreme Court recently cleared Del Castillo of plagiarizing the ruling on comfort women.

The sources of Del Castillo’s alleged “borrowed portions” of the ruling without proper at-tribution were:

“A Fiduciary of Theory of Jus Cogens” by Evan Criddle and Evan Fox-Decent; “Break-ing the Silence on Rape as an International Crime” by Mark Ellis, and “Enforcing Erga Om-nes Obligations in International Law” by Christian Tams.

Ten of the 15 SC justices voted to clear Del Castillo, saying his researcher had no “malicious intent” when she “accidentally deleted the foot-notes” attributing the contested portions to the three foreign sources.

“Microsoft Word program does not have a function that raises an alarm when original


materials are cut up or pruned. The portions that remain sim-ply blend in with the rest of the manuscript, adjusting the footnote number and removing any clue that what should stick together had just been severed,” the Supreme Court added.

In a dissenting opinion, however, Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno said the court’s ruling will set a dangerous precedent because it will make “malicious intent” a necessary element to constitute plagiarism.

“Unless reconsidered, this Court would unfortunately be remembered as the Court that made ‘malicious intent’ an in-dispensable element of plagia-rism and that made computer-keying errors an exculpatory fact in charges of plagiarism, without clarifying whether its ruling applies only to situations of judicial decision-making or to other written intellectual activity,” said Sereno. – VVP/YA/HS/JV, GMANews.TV


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

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

Ever go to a store of one sort or another, buy some-thing, and then when you got it home and unpacked it a piece of paper fell out? You know that piece of paper; it usually says something like Inspected by followed by either a name or number. Of course you have, we all have.

My question is this: just

Quality AssuranceJust who are all these people who assure the quality

of the products we buy?

who are these people? Now I realize that sounds simplistic, but think about it. Have you ever met someone who said that his or her job was dishes inspector? Under their name on their business card, does it read Inspector 47?

This all came about be-cause at work today I opened a new file cabinet and a small

piece of paper fell out. The paper read: QUALITY AS-SURANCE NOTICE. Under-neath that was The quality of this product was inspected with care by: Under that was a line with the name of a man typed in. Finally, There was this: Please include this no-tice with any correspondence concerning this product.

Is a job at risk?

So let us say that there was a problem with your new file cabinet (there wasn’t with mine, it was fine). You bought it, took it to wherever you needed it, removed it from the box and got ready to put files into this quality file cabinet.

All of a sudden, as you opened a drawer, you real-ized that the tracks that hold the files were all missing. The cabinet looked good, the drawers all opened quietly, but there was no was to hang your hanging folders. So, what do you do?

Of course, you start look-ing around for something that gives information on how to contact the company. You find that on the back of the cabinet, something that says it was made with (pick your term) pride, excellence, the customer in mind, etc, etc. There is a phone number there and you decide to use it.

Who do you call? Sure you call the manufac-turer, but then what? Do you complain to the innocent per-son who answers the phone? Do you ask for a supervisor? A manager? The president of the company who, by gosh, should be there taking calls like these?

Nope, you decide to ask to speak to the inspector, the per-son who, with his or her own hands and eyes, inspected your filing cabinet.

Now, tell me. Does this person really exist? Is she or he really there? Does this person stand on the assembly

line, day after day and in-spect? Probably yes. There has to be inspectors, right? These inspectors have names, right? So there is a very good chance that the person who inspected your cabinet is there right now, still inspecting away.

Here is what I want to know. If something gets by an inspector does that inspec-tor get in trouble? Is this person’s job at risk? Does the company count how many problem calls they receive? Of course. And then they know who let those problems slip by. Have you ever met someone who was fired as a quality assurance inspector? Me, either.

What makes a good in-spector?

Are there special things that make an inspector good at the job? Could a robot do an inspector’s job? Maybe, may-be not. But right now, while some things are inspected by computer or robot, many oth-ers simply cannot be. I would imagine that the inspector of my file cabinet was a human, simply because something was left out of it. You know how we humans are.

But have you ever noticed that all these “Inspected by” notices are not really in the right places? Sure, pants or shirts or even TVs are good things to have inspected, but the things that I want inspect-ed are, I think, much more important. For instance, who is inspecting the ice cream at 31 Flavors? I’ve never had a bad ice cream there – that inspector must be doing a good job. Now this is a job I could really sink my teeth into (sorry, but I couldn’t resist).

Who is inspecting paper clips and toothbrushes? Who is looking after the socks, or even more important, who is inspecting underwear?

Here’s something else, who is inspecting all the bags of

charcoal that gets sold over the warm summer months? What would happen if some-one got a bad bag of char-coal and took it to the family picnic? Would it burn too fast or not at all? Have you even once thought about this? I didn’t think so! And yet there we blindly go on sunny week-ends, buying bag after bag of the stuff ever-confidant that our burgers, steaks and fish will cook up just fine.

Who inspects sugar? More than that, who inspects ar-tificial sweetener? Sure, it might look pure and all, but how could you be sure of how it tasted if you didn’t test the occasional batch of it? And wouldn’t that get old after awhile?

I know an inspector we re-

ally need, a film and TV show inspector. Not one inspecting for nudity or violence, but someone inspecting for qual-ity. Actually, never mind. If we had a film and TV qual-ity inspector there wouldn’t be very much at all to watch. There’s an “Inspected By” person who looks at this col-umn every week. The pub-lisher and editor usually take a peek at it before publishing - sure they trust me, but hey, I am just me after all.

Here is a final thought on the subject (I promise): Who inspects the Inspected by notice included with the product? And where was that notice? Can it ever stop? Well yes, actually, it can stop. It can stop right here.

Kalusugan Community Services (KCS) will be celebrating the 8th anniversary of the founding of the Filipino American Wellness Center (FWC) on November 13, Saturday, from 11 AM to 3 PM at the Holiday Inn in National City. This year’s theme is “Moving Forward” and the speaker is Ms Melanie Cohn, San Di-ego County Childhood Obesity. Her topic is, “Health Reform: It’s Poten-tial Impact on Health and Wellness.” The public is invited to listen to her talk and also observe KCS’s progress and operation to see why its leader-ship role is a model for “Health and Socio-Cultural Empowerment.”

In all the years that KCS has been operating it has been in the leader-ship role, pioneered many programs, and assisted the community in grant writing and organizing socio-cultural health programs. It is in the cutting edge of new technology and ideas. KCS’s exceptional achievement, longstanding excellence, outstanding leadership and contributions have advanced the health and social-well-being of diverse communities in San

Organizational Leadership in Focus Leadership in an organizational role involves establishing a

clear vision and sharing or communicating that vision so that others will follow. KCS has established a clear vision and mission

and we know that the community has followed in its footsteps.

FilAm Wellness Center in National City KCS staff and board members

Diego, California, nationally and in-ternationally. We have learned many lessons working with the community and we are sharing it with you.

DEFINITION OF LEADERSHIP

My favorite definition of LEAD-ERSHIP is “the process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task.” It can also be defined as the art of motivating an individual or group of individuals to act towards achiev-ing a common goal. Leadership in an organizational role involves a) establishing a clear vision and b) sharing or communicating that vision so that others will follow. KCS has established a clear vision and mission and we know that the community has followed in its footsteps. This article will detail ten characteristic of successful organizational leader-ship. Individual leadership will be published in the next issues.

TEN TRAITS OF A SUCCESS-FUL ORGANIZATION

A. Solid Historical Founda-tion- An organization should be founded on the principles of public health, business and collaboration. KCS was founded in 1992 as Project Kalusugan. It came about in response from a call from the California Department of Health Services to minority groups in 1990 to develop a coalition for the purpose of closing the gap in health status between the

mainstream and minority groups. The FilAm organizations in San Diego (SD) consisting of the Council of Philippine American Organizations (COPAO), Operation Samahan, and SD Graduate School of Public Health responded to the call, submitted a proposal, and was funded. The agencies were represented by Paul Ones, Pat O’Brien, Joel San Juan, Dr. Ofelia Dirige & Dr. Riz Oades. Thus, KCS was born.

It became a 501 (c) 3 or non-prof-it organization in 1995 and changed its name to KCS. Its mission is to improve the health and well-being of Filipino Americans (FilAms) and other underserved group through promotion of positive changes in life style. Since then it has expanded its programs and activities, staff, and garnered funding to approximately $3.5 M. In 2002, the FWC opened its doors to the public and has been implementing a comprehensive program consisting of Community Service, Advocacy, Research and Training (CART). Its main activities are dissemination of information, screening and referral, nutrition & physical activities, health education workshops, and intergenerational cultural activities.

B. Scientifically based pro-grams- Our programs follow a logical sequence of assessment, implementation, evaluation and dissemination of findings/results. We conduct an assessment of the community’s needs and use this as a basis for implementing programs. Assessment is done through literature review, focus groups, community forums, and written surveys. The program implementation consists of formulating goals, objectives, activi-ties, and the budget.

We constantly do evaluation every step of the way to see whether plans are being followed and some activities need to be changed. We

do a pre and post tests after our workshops to determine changes in knowledge and attitudes. We also do outcome evaluation to see any changes in behavior such as improve-ment in eating habits and increase in physical activity. We seriously consider the evaluation results and change our program accordingly. After completion of the project, we report the findings to the community and health professionals.

C. Strong community support- KCS is strongly supported by the FilAm and other communities as shown by their participation in our activities, financial support, and volunteerism. They believe in the mission of the organization and are involved in the assessment, planning and implementation of pro-grams. They devote a portion

of their time and energy to supporting this only FilAm community center in SD. They are proud to showcase the Center to visitors and use it for their meetings and events. We have 10-20 volunteers each year from the community and students from the high schools, colleges, and universi-ties. We recognize them every year at the annual anniversary celebration of KCS.

D. Continuous board development- KCS currently has 18 Board of Directors and 13 Board of Advi-sors. The Directors are drawn from all ages, ethnicity and backgrounds with a mix of different skills and experience. This year we recruited many younger ones so they can be trained to take over the leader-ship in the years to come. We constantly recruit new board

members to replace those whose terms have expired and weed out the inactive ones. New board members are given orientation. Board members meet quarterly and are given in-service training at least twice a year to update their knowledge and skills. Topics include “How to be an effective board member”, “Fundraising”, “Philanthropic Leadership”, “Branding, ““Sustainability & Succes-

sion Planning”, and “How to recruit & train volunteers.”

E. Constant media presence- KCS activities and programs are always featured in the media due to the writings of the late Dr. Riz Oades and currently by Dr. Dirige. They write news about the organization and feature articles on health and other issues that are published in the Asian Journal once a week. News

articles are also published by other ethnic local papers such as Filipino Press, Asian Reader, Mabuhay News once a month. Check the previous is-sues of Asian Journal for the articles published.

F. Extensive collaboration with Filipino American (FilAm) and mainstream organizations- KCS staff networks or collaborates with more than 100 FilAm and main-stream organizations to extend its resources & not duplicate services. This includes FilAm organizations such as COPAO, the umbrella organi-zation; township and regional orga-nizations such as Baguio Association and the Bicol Club; student groups such as AB Samahan & Kaibigang Filipino; alumni groups such as UP Alumni Association; business groups

as Mabuhay Alliance & FilAm Chamber of Com-merce; media; businesses such as restaurants and grocery stores; schools; and government groups.

Mainstream organiza-tions include American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, Ameri-can Diabetes Association, SD Dietetic Association and various universities/colleges.

G. Flexibility or adaptability to current challenges- KCS conducts Strategic Planning every three years to review its mission and plan goals and objectives for the next years ahead. It keeps us with current trends in health and threats from the envi-ronment and adapts its structure and programs in line with these changes. Thus, we stay in the cutting edge of progress, new developments and technology.

For example, due to budget cuts, our constant problem is diminish-ing resources. Government fund-ing cuts have affected our budget tremendously as this source has dried up. We are always faced with lack of resources every time a grant is completed. This challenges us to think how we can conduct our programs with very limited resources. We cope with this situation using different methods. We diversify our funding sources to depend not only on grants (public & private) but also corporate sponsorships, individual donations, endowments, fundraising activities (concerts, healthy eating extravaganza), and business ventures such as Melaleuca and Salad Master. We also manage our resources more efficiently, lay off personnel, recruit more volunteers, and collaborate with more agencies.

I. Recognition of KCS over the years for its accomplishments. Because KCS have done excellent

services, it has received numerous awards throughout the years. In 2005, it received the Asia Heritage Award for Health and Medicine and in 2008 for Excellence in Community Service. Also in 2008, it garnered the Harold Freeman Award for Commu-nity Outreach with Minority Popula-tions given by the American Cancer Society and the Community Service to Minority Populations awarded by the SD County Coalition for Chil-dren and Weight. It is important to receive these awards to show to the community that the works of KCS is acknowledged not only by the FilAm groups but also by the mainstream population.

J. Excellent individual lead-ership- KCS was founded by two professors from San Diego State University with differing but comple-mentary backgrounds. The late Dr. Riz Oades, Founder and President of KCS, was Professor of History and Asian Studies, columnist in the Asian Journal, and had extensive knowl-edge of the FilAm community and organizational development. Dr. Ofe-lia Dirige, Co-Founder and current President/CEO, was a Professor of Public Health and currently teaches in the Center for Asian Studies, a columnist in the Asian Journal, and have been working with the FilAm community for more than 20 years. Mr. Paul Ones, Co-Founder, three times President of COPAO, brings in his expertise in community outreach and development.

Current Program Managers have graduate academic degrees, i.e., Emma Abutin, RN, MPH and Demy Din, MPH. Our Administrator, Rhod Resella, is a retired director of Product Quality Assurance (Environ-mental Health & Safety) and Divi-sion Ethnic Officer for L- Commu-nications. Hermie Abutin, Assistant Administrator, retired from the U.S. Navy, Fleet Exam Group, Pacific Fleet. In our current BOD, five have doctoral and five Master’s degrees; and in our BOA eight have doctoral degrees and 4 have Master’s degrees.

To be continued: Individual Leadership

***

YOU ARE INVITED TO:

KALUSUGAN COMMUNITY SERVICES

8TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FOUNDING OF THE

FILIPINO AMERICAN WELLNESS CENTER

“MOVING FORWARD”

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2010

11:00 AM TO 3:00 PMHOLIDAY INN NATIONAL CITY

(700 NATIONAL CITY BLVD, NATIONAL CITY, 91950)

LUNCH BUFFET ($50.00/person)Speaker: Ms Melanie Cohn, San

Diego County Childhood Obesity.“HEALTH REFORM:

POTENTIAL IMPACTS ON HEALTH AND WELLNESS”

Networking, Induction of Board Members

Progress Report from the President/CEO

“VIDEO: Remembering Dr. Riz Oades”

For Information call Rhod Resella (619) 399-6204 or

Chris Feraro (619) 477-3392



Tuloy PoKayo

Tel: (619) 477-5643 • Suite # 5

V i e t n a m e s eNoodle House

Permanent Make-up and Skin Care

TESS R. REYESREALTOR

(619) 477-4173 • FAX: (619) 477-4819CELL: (619) 252-8377

MEDICAL CENTEREDNA M. BAY, R.P.T.(619) 474-3294 • Suite 14

Nesty and Elvie Arbulante(619) 477-1666 • Fax (619) 477-1690Specializing in Women’s Clothing and Gift Items

SUITE 10

ELVIE’SBOUTIQUE

Bernardita N. Lizan, D.M.D.

550 E. 8th St., Ste. #12National City, CA 91950

Tel. (619) 477-7570

San Diego

Asian JournalLJ Printing

(619) 474-0588 - Asian Journal(619) 474-1878 LJ Printing

Fax: (619) 474-0373Suite # 6

Quality Custom Framing

Manny I. MiclatOwner

(619) 477-2010Suite # 7

NOBLE PREMIUMS, INC.GENERAL SUPPLIES/INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTS

“Excellence through Quality and Service”Phone: (619) 477-4387

550 E. 8th Street, Suite #1

(619) 336-1880 Of fice(619) 575-2598 Home(619) 336-1891 Fa x

600 E. 8th St., Suite #1

ED PASIMIORealtor - Broker

ROSE PASIMIORealtor - Owner

OLD SCHOOLHOUSE SQUARE

Gra

phic

sby

The

Filip

ino

Pre

ss

“Your Little Manila Shopping Center”

550 East 8th Street Suite 3

AMY’SHAIR SALON

550 East 8th St. #16 (619) 477-1795

MabuhayTailoring & Cleaners

DYNAMICProperties & Investments

(619) 336-0761 • Ste. 15FULL SERVICE SALON • OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK

Hair design • ColoringNail service • Perms

General Dentistry

Law Offices ofA. Erwin Bautista

Attorney at Law

550 E. 8th St. #11National City, CA 91950

(619) 474-7755 • Fax (619) 474-0051

24 HOUR REMITTANCETel: (619) 336-1112

Hours: 9-6 M to F • 9-1 Sat.

LUCKYMONEY

Specializing in: Military Uniforms,Embroidery Name Plates and Patches

and Mounting Medals

– Produce, Seafood, Meat –Open 7 Days a Week • 8:30 am - 7:30 pm

(619) 477-7954

WORLD-CLASS REALTY, INC.Ellen Nobles-Sexsion

Tel: (619) 336-4885

��

�

� �

�

�

�

�

�

�

�

ACCEPTING RESERVATIONS FORBANQUETS UP TO 100 PERSONS, CALL (619) 477-8512

• C L O S E D O N M O N D AY S •

Fried Chicken and Filipino Cuisine None Can Compare.

Comevisit us!

Tuesdays & WednesdaysBUY ONE & GET ONE

50% OFF ONFRIED CHICKEN

from 11:00am to 2:00pm ONLY**Some Restrictions apply. Void on holidays and special days like Valentines Day, Christmas Day, Father’s Day etc.

MELINDA S. CASASOwner

(619)474-9640 • 550 E. 8th St. #17

MSC Physician Billing Services, Inc.

500-600 E. 8th St. National City, CA 91950 (7-Blocks East of I-5)

(619) 474-2300

MANANSALAINSURANCE AND FINANCIAL SERVICES

• BOOKKEEPING • TAX PREPARATION •• NOTARY PUBLIC •

LOURDES B. MANANSALAAGENT/ BROKER/REALTOR

TEL: (619) 477-9709RES: (619) 428-4191

SUITE # 2

COIN LAUNDRYFluff & Fold

(619) 477-8613

Filipino Desserts & Turo-TuroSuite #9 (619) 434-6255

Pan-de-sal Bakery& Barbeque

Coming soon!Expansion &Frozen Yogurt

Coming soon!Expansion &Frozen Yogurt

600 E. 8th St., Suite # 3

Of fice: (619) 477-0940Fa x: (619) 477-1024email: [email protected]

Your Key to the Filipino Community

NEW!

Work Visas/Green Cards thru Employment• Family Visas• Student, Trainee, Tourist, Investors, Visas • Reinstatement of Petition • Deportation Defense• International Adoption• Appeals, Motions to Reopen/Reconsider• Battered/Abused Spouse• I-601 Waivers (Hardship)• Consular Support in Manila•

IMMIGRATION (619) 819-8648Speak directly with an Attorney

The Law Offi ces of SUSAN V. PEREZ offer the following services:

We also handle ALL PHILIPPINE cases and have an offi ce in Manila to service your needs there.

*Susan Perez is a licensed attorney both in the State of California and the Philippines. She has eighteen (18) years of combined experience in both jurisdictions in the areas of Immigration, Family, Appellate, Juvenile Dependency, Civil, Criminal, Labor, Contracts, Tax, and Business Law. She is also admitted to practice before the Ninth Circuit of the Court of Appeals, and the District Courts of Southern California and Central District of California.

Nagsasalita ng Tagalog asin Bicol.

By Appointment only from 9:00 to 5:30, Monday thru Friday.

San Diego Office: Manila Office:625 Broadway, Suite 1015 Suite 2502-A East TowerSan Diego CA 92101 Philippine Stock Exchange CentreTel. No. (619) 819-8648 Exchange Road, Ortigas Center, Pasig CityFax No. (619) 923-9555 Tel. Nos.: (632) 687-2565 / 687-9851 Email: [email protected] Fax No.: (632) 687-2565

Atty. Susan V. Perez

Visit our website: www.law-usimmigration.com

"Se Habla Espanol"

by Atty. Susan V. Perez

Immigration 911

Read Atty. Susan Perez’s previous articles by visiting our website at www.asianjournalusa.com

“MURA NA. MABILIS PA”

A.C.E.associated consolidators express

balikbayan boxes directNVOCC#17753NF

Sub-agents and co-loaders are welcome - We accept credit cards. Subject to Terms & ConditionsPrices are subject to change withoout notice * Subject to peace & order in some parts of the Philippines.

*Subject to weather conditions, typhoon, fl oods & other calamities. * Palawan, Puerto Princesa & Mindoro. Calapan Only.

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA HEADQUARTERS PHILIPPINE VILLAGE CENTER

4515 Eagle Rock Blvd. Ste. 133 Los Angeles, CA 90041(323) 258-0087 (323) 258-0089

For box pick-up and inquiries, please call:

Billy Spring Valley

(619) 384-6438 (619) 784-1006

Carol (RP Engineer, Inc.)National City

(619) 245-1539 1-877-490-1004NORTHERN CALIFORNIA HEADQUARTERS

1273 Industrial Parkway Unit #290 Hayward, CA 94544Satellite Offi ces: Las Vegas and Phoenix, Arizona

SUPER SALEDROP-OFF ONLY

NO REPLACEMENT BOX

REGULAR BOX (23” x 20” x 17”)(Kalookan City, Quezon City, Malabon, Pasig, Mandaluyong, San Juan, Muntinlupa, Makati, Marikina, Pasay, Paranaque, Las Pinas, Navotas, Pateros, Valenzuela, San Jose Del Monte)

METRO MANILA

$35Regular Box

$40 $45 $50LUZON

VISAYAS

MINDANAO

PICK - UP (EVERYDAY) + FREE STRAPPING PROMO VALID UNTIL September 30, 2008

METRO MANILA$40 PICK-UP ONLYNO REPLACEMENT BOX

REGULAR BOX (23” x 20” x 17”Regular Box

$45 $50 $55LUZON

VISAYAS

MINDANAO

Carol RP Engineer, Inc.

833 E. 8th St., National City, CA 91950

Billy

Spring Valley552 Felicita Ave., Spring

Valley, CA 91977

DROP-OFF LOCATIONS:

“MURA NA. MABILIS PA”

A.C.E.associated consolidators express

balikbayan boxes directNVOCC#17753NF

Sub-agents and co-loaders are welcome - We accept credit cards. Subject to Terms & ConditionsPrices are subject to change withoout notice * Subject to peace & order in some parts of the Philippines.

*Subject to weather conditions, typhoon, fl oods & other calamities. * Palawan, Puerto Princesa & Mindoro. Calapan Only.

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA HEADQUARTERS PHILIPPINE VILLAGE CENTER

3420 Verdugo Road Los Angeles, CA 90065(323) 258-0087 (323) 258-0089

For box pick-up and inquiries, please call:

Billy Spring Valley

(619) 384-6438 (619) 784-1006 1-877-327-8900NORTHERN CALIFORNIA HEADQUARTERS

1273 Industrial Parkway Unit #290 Hayward, CA 94544Satellite Offi ces: Las Vegas and Phoenix, Arizona

SUPER SALEREGULAR BOX(23” x 20” x 17”)

(Kalookan City, Quezon City, Malabon, Pasig, Mandaluyong, San Juan, Muntinlupa, Makati, Marikina, Pasay, Paranaque, Las Pinas, Navotas, Pateros, Valenzuela, San Jose Del Monte)

METRO MANILA

$45Regular Box

FREE REPLACEMENT BOX + PICK - UP (EVERYDAY) + FREE STRAPPING PROMO VALID UNTIL November 30, 2010

SAN FRANCISCO - LOS ANGELES - SAN DIEGO - LAS VEGAS- PHOENIX

$50 (Rizal Province, Bulacan, Batangas, Cavite, Laguna, Quezon Province, Bataan, Zambales, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac, Pangasinan, San Mateo, Antipolo, Angono, Cainta)

4550 (Rizal Province, Bulacan, Batangas,

Cavite, Laguna, Quezon Province, Bataan, Zambales, Nueva Ecija,

luzon 1(Baguio, La Union, Benguet, Abra, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Isabela, Cgayan Valley, Quirino, Nueva Vizcaya, Bicol, Camarinez Sur, Camarinez Norte, Sorsogon, Albay, Marinduque, Catanduanes)

San Juan, Muntinlupa, Makati, Marikina, Pasay, Paranaque, Las Pinas, Navotas, Pateros, Valenzuela, San Jose Del Monte)

San Juan, Muntinlupa, Makati, Marikina, Pasay, Paranaque, Las Pinas, Navotas, Pateros, Valenzuela, San Jose Del Monte)

(Rizal Province, Bulacan, Batangas, Cavite, Laguna, Quezon Province,

(Baguio, La Union, Benguet, Abra, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Isabela, Cgayan Valley, Quirino, Nueva Vizcaya, Bicol, Camarinez

luzon 2

anywhere in visayas

$55 anywhere in mindanao

$60$60

FREE REPLACEMENT BOX + PICK - UP (EVERYDAY) + FREE STRAPPING PROMO VALID UNTIL November 30, 2010

50 Bataan, Zambales, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac, Pangasinan, San Mateo, Antipolo, Angono, Cainta)San Mateo, Antipolo, Angono, Cainta)

Quirino, Nueva Vizcaya, Bicol, Camarinez Sur, Camarinez Norte, Sorsogon, Albay, Marinduque, Catanduanes)

anywhere in visayasvisayas

$5555 anywhere in anywhere in anywhere in mindanaomindanaomindanaomindanao

$6060

60metro manilaJUMBO BOX (24” X 18” X 24”)Outside Metro Manila, Visayas & Mindanao, please call for pricing.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (US-CIS) denied the employment-based immigrant visa petition fi led by SRL on behalf of Maritess. The denial was reversed on appeal and the petition was approved. SRL is engaged in food process-ing business that sells frozen whipped topping products to wholesalers, retailers, and food service distributors. SRL wanted to employ Mari-tess permanently in the United States as a Quality Assur-ance Manager/Research and Development Specialist. The Director of USCIS denied the petition because Mari-tess was not qualifi ed for the position. The Director said Maritess does not possess a U.S. bachelor’s or higher degree in food service. The specifi c issue on appeal was whether Mari-tess’ Ph.D. in agriculture and forestry specializing in dairy technology qualifi es for the position of food technolo-gist. A food technologist is in charge of researching and developing dairy and non-dairy-based food products and for which a bachelor’s degree or equivalent in food science

Filipino Wins Appeal for Denial of His Work Visa

is required.In the labor certifi cation

fi led by SRL, it indicated that the qualifi cations for the posi-tion are: 1) Four-year bach-elor’s degree in food science; and 2) two years experience in the job offered or as a re-search scientist. The records show that Maritess graduated from University of the Philip-pines Los Banos (UPLB) with Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture and Master of

Science degree in Animal Science. She also has a Ph.D. in dairy technology from the University of Melbourne. Maritess cre-dentials were evaluated by an accredited evalu-ation agency, which found that her Bachelor of Science degree

and Master of Science de-gree in Animal Science from UPLB as being the equiva-lent of a Bachelor of Science degree in Animal Science from a regionally accredited educational institution in the United States. The evaluation does not state that Maritess possesses a foreign equivalent Bachelor’s degree in food science and the labor certifi -cation, as certifi ed, does not demonstrate that SRL would


BergHOFF, a designer and manufacturer of kitchen and tableware, celebrated in 60 plus countries around the world, with a yearly turnover of over $250 million. The company has become one of the most important players on the international kitchen and tableware scene.

BergHOFF, a designer and manufacturer of

kitchen and tableware

Neo cookware and wok

Mixing bowl shown with grater, 2 design awards

BergHOFF offers a com-plete spectrum of products in 9 categories: cookware, flatware, knives, porcelain, hotel, electrical devices, barbecue items, lifestyle and accessories, all uniquely de-signed and desired across the continents. Started in Europe, the brand became an instant success in Germany. The rest of the world would follow in

no time. A fair in Moscow initiated the penetration of the Russian market years ago. Now a leading kitchenware chain in the Ukraine and Poland BergHOFF has over 3,000 points of sales dotting the globe.

Every year (for the past many years), BergHOFF has held special event shows in

various US locations, for the sole purpose of mov-ing the excess factory runs, overstocked dealer buys and excess inventory from retail-ers. Sometimes the packag-ing is not so perfect but the product still is, and unused new in the box. This also allows us to clear valuable space in our many warehouses as well as provide the fuel to continuously expand our fast growing, ever changing

product line. These sales are only held in the United States, and offer a tremendous oppor-tunity to enjoy top of the line products at affordable prices.

In the year 2000, a new chapter was written when the company’s first in-house designed products were produced and marketed. The choice to solely offer in-house designs and to work with a company-based design de-partment has earned several design awards from Red Dot Design Awards, the IF De-sign Award and Designpreis Deutschland Award, Good Design Award 2008, as well as environmental awards for the EarthChef line. By start-ing the EarthChef project for example, we support local sustainability projects world-wide and renew our commit-ment to use natural resources in a responsible way.

The most interesting out-come from our design team is that we are able to fill a number of private label orders for very exclusive companies that sell waterless cookware direct to the consumer. These buyers have high demands for something better and we are able to please them indirectly with our high standards of production.

The high functional and

Neo Cookware Red Dot Award winner

aesthetic value has charmed cooking fanatics all over the world as well as international design experts. Continue to look for only the best from this stellar company. People in the USA that have attended one of the clearance events near them have become true followers of the brand. They have demonstrated a customer loyalty as no other since all products at these shows are

backed by full customer serv-ice and warrantees, even at the inventory clearance events, where many products are liquidated for as low as... or below manufacturing costs!

Look them up when they are in the area and be amazed of the opportunity buys.

Cook healthy, live healthy, be healthy... on our one Earth! We look forward to keep on serving you in the future!

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 Slavary & Trafficking (CAST)”, a non-profit that provides public awareness and advocacy effforts 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.”

1341 East 8th St. Suite D National City, CA 91950

Dr. Art PalaganasDr. Aleli Amos Palaganas

Lumineers

Please call for appointment

(619) 474-8441

Restorative Dentistry

COUPON $32.00

INCLUDES:Oral Exam• Cleaning/Polishing• (In the absence of gum disease. • Necessary X-rays• New patient and wtihout insurance•

FREE CONSULTATION

COUPON: $10.00 OFFTowards complete upper

or lower denture

1 HOUR ZOOM TEETH WHITENING

$225.00

EXTRACTION (BUNOT)$60.00

Regular extration only.

COMPLETE DENTURES UPPER OR LOWER$700.00 Regular complete

dentures only

After the RainAfter the rain

everything so clearforever so far

so widein space

forever clearthe sky above

picture perfect sunthe moon and stars

so beautiful last nightthis morning

I said greetings for youpaying homage to new born time

today I bleedmissing you

in this beautiful morninga beautiful morningmorning like this!

accept a degree in a field other than food science. To determine whether a benefi-ciary is eligible for a prefer-ence immigrant visa, USCIS must ascertain whether the alien is, in fact, qualified for the job specified in the labor certification. USCIS will not accept a degree equivalent or unrelated degree when a labor certification expressly requires a candidate with a specific degree. USCIS will not and should not ignore the term of the labor certification, nor it may impose additional requirements. In this case the labor certification expressly requires a bachelor degree in food science.

USCIS uses evaluations by credentials evaluation orga-nization of a person’s foreign education as an advisory opinion only. In this case the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) gave less weight to the evaluations because they were inconsistent. The AAO reviewed the Electronic Da-

tabase for Global Education (EDGE) created by AACRAO (American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers. EDGE is a web-based resource for evaluation of foreign educa-tional credentials. Authors for EDGE are not merely ex-pressing their personal opin-ions. Rather, they must work with publication consultant and a Council Liaison with AACRAO’s National Coun-cil on Evaluation of Foreign Educational Credentials. Ac-cording to EDGE a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree from the Philippines and a Ph.D. from Australia repre-sent a comparable amount of education in the United States. The AAO noted that the Department of Labor (DOL) categorized the position of-fered under Food Technologist and Food Scientists, which generally require a graduate or master’s degree. The of-fered position’s duties include research projects on develop-ing non-dairy based foods and formulating and developing new products that may in-clude non-dairy/dairy-based products. Maritess’ special-ized graduate work and Ph.D. thesis involved dairy tech-nology, specifically, “studies on chemical, enzymatic and physical characteristics of re-constituted UHT milk: effects of raw milk and powder stor-age”. The AAO said Mari-tess Ph.D. rendered her aptly qualified for the position. It further said: “The benefi-

Filipino Wins Appeal for

Denial of His Work Visa




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

NEW PATIENT CLEANING

$40WITH THIS COUPON (Regular $115)

Includes full mouth exam, necessary x-ray & cleaning

This offer is for new patients without insurance.

Dear Atty. Karagdag,

Due to youthful indiscre-tion, I became passionately involved with my girlfriend while still in my second year in high school. The girl’s par-ents forced me to marry their daughter in their bid to protect their family’s honor. My own parents, bound by traditional beliefs, agreed. As a result, I got married at the very young age of 15, but it was made to appear in our marriage con-tract that I was already 16 years old. That was in 1987.

Our parents decided that it would be better if my wife and I returned to our respec-tive families and continued with our studies. As a result, we really never lived together as husband and wife. We drifted apart such that by the time we entered college, we stopped seeing each other.

After being alone for decades, I have finally fallen in love with a woman with whom I want to spend the rest of my life. She is based in the United States. We plan to get married in the Philippines, and then she will petition me so we can be together. Some-body advised me that my first marriage is void because I was underage, and that I can get married again anytime since my first marriage is considered as non-existent. Is this true?

Igor

Dear Igor,

Thank you for your let-ter and the chance to explain current Philippine laws and jurisprudence on the issue of void marriage and remarriage.

By legal definition, some-thing that is void, like a contract or title, is deemed to have never taken place at all. It produces no legal effect, creating neither rights nor ob-ligations. Thus, for example, if you agree to buy marijuana, that contract is void because the object of the contract is illegal. The seller cannot force you to pay him nor can you force him to sell. The contract is void without you going to court and asking the judge to declare it as such.

Your marriage at the age of 15 in 1986 is void. The prevailing law at that time was the Civil Code, which says that marriages contracted under the ages of sixteen and fourteen years by the male and female respectively, even with the consent of the par-ents, are void from the begin-ning (Article 80).

Can you apply the same ra-tionale to a void marriage? In other words, can you go ahead and remarry without first voiding your first marriage? We must qualify our answer in view of shifting decisions of the Philippine Supreme Court.

The current rule in Philip-pine marriages says no, you cannot remarry right away because you must first get a final court decision declaring your first marriage as void. This rule has been in effect since August 19, 1986 when the Philippine Court decided the case of Wiegel vs. Judge Simpio-Dy, 143 SCRA 499. Before Wiegel, the Philip-pine Supreme Court, in some cases, ruled that there was no need to get a prior court deci-sion.

Am I free to remarry if my first marriage is void?

To stabilize the judicial system, the Family Code of the Philippines, which took effect on August 3, 1988, included a provision under Article 40 that “The absolute nullity of a previous marriage may be invoked for purposes of remarriage on the basis solely of a final judgment declaring such previous mar-riage void.” In simpler terms, this means that if your first marriage is void, you need a final court declaration that it is void before you can remarry. Otherwise, your second mar-riage is void. Please note that the requirement is “for pur-poses of remarriage” only.

Since the Wiegel decision, the Philippine Supreme Court has consistently ruled in a cat-ena of cases that a prior final court declaration that the first marriage is void is needed to validate a second marriage. The only time that the Court deviated from this position was in the 1997 case of Apiag vs. Cantero, 268 SCRA 47. In that case, the Supreme Court became a bit lenient to respondent judge who was already of advanced age and had served the judiciary for 32 years. The Supreme Court said that since the judge con-tracted his second marriage (in the 1950s), way before

the Wiegel decision and also before the Family Code, there was no need for him to get a prior court declaration that his first marriage was void. In other words, the Court noted that there was no definite law and jurisprudence yet at the time the judge contracted the second marriage. Notably, the Supreme Court never looked back at Apiag since then.

Since you are still intend-ing to contract a second mar-riage, you must first secure a final declaration from the Regional Trial Court in the Philippines declaring your first marriage as void. You cannot claim exemption under the Apiag decision.

Sincerely,

Atty. Karagdag

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 fluently. Articles written in this column are not legal advice but are hypotheticals intended as general, non-spe-cific legal information. Read-ers must seek legal consulta-tion before taking any legal steps.

By: Father Shay Cullen

No wonder that the new Philippine “Aquino adminis-tration” made anti-corruption its main drive against pover-ty. “If there is no corruption, there will be no poverty”, says President Noynoy Aqui-no. This was the slogan that won him the election. It’s so true and yet the solutions are still so hard to find and reform is seemingly impos-sible to achieve at this time with many corrupt politicians and their cronies still in posi-tions of power and influence. They are entrenched and are opposing and thwarting the efforts of Aquino to fight corrupt practices. The jugger-naut of greed is hard to stop.

The Manila Times where this column is published car-ried the front page headline - RP remains “Highly Cor-rupt”. It quotes Transparency International, the prestigious non-government organiza-tion that monitors the ethi-cal practice of governments and corporations around the world. The Philippines has improved this year but has a long long way to go. It ranked a low 141st in 2008 in the ranking out of 178 countries but has come up to 134th this year. Denmark, Singapore, New Zealand ranked first place with iden-tical scores 9.2 out of a top score of ten. The Philippines scored a dismal 2.4.

The question is can the Aquino Administration deliver reform and reduce corrupt practices? There has to be a “complaints center” where people can report and make a complaint without having to go through the complicated process of filing administrative charges when

The Struggle Against Corruption

they are being victimized by local bureaucrats or inspec-tors. Last week, the Preda Children’s home installed all the necessary fire protec-tion equipment and complied with all the improvements and requirements suggested by the fire inspectors. But still they would not issue the fire certificate, waiting for something. We had to threaten to file administrative charges to get it issued. The pervious year, they wanted us to refill the fire extin-guishers at their designated refilling station or would not issue the certificate. The fire marshal had to step-in and resolve the problems. Small issues indeed but it shows how things are.

On the national scene there is an epic struggle brewing. Despite the bright hope and trust placed in the Aquino administration to bring about a reasonably clean and corrupt-free rule, there is still a fierce struggle going on behind the scenes. The shocking and sad reality is that this so-called demo-cratic nation of vast mineral resources, with a population

of 93 million intelligent, generally well-educated, reli-gious, friendly, hard working, lovely, but very poor people; mired poverty is ruled by a corrupt power-grabbing elite of about 200 vastly wealth families and their corpora-tions.

This small elite of wealthy people and corporations, masquerades as a paragon of church-going virtue. The corrupt elite is like a rapa-cious T-Rex dinosaur, at times dressed-up as a cuddly stuffed toy that has misled and manipulated the elector-ate with empty promises, vote buying and cheated in elections but this year that did not work as before.

The most recent village elections of thousands of

local government officials, (many are representatives of the elite at the village level,) has been no better.

It is through force and fear the few dominate the many. Corruption was allowed by the ruling elite among the higher officers of the police and military and they were brought into the ring of cor-ruption and in return they have to defend themselves and their masters. As a result, we have seen death squads and assassination teams kill over a thousand social crit-ics, community organizers, opponents and even priests, pastors, and journalists that have been stabbed, tortured and shot to death in the past ten years. A truth commission to investigate these violations

of human rights is needed to bring an end to impunity. Only by holding those ac-countable for crimes can there be a just society.

The idealistic and upright members of the military rose up in protest and staged sev-eral failed attempted coups to end the corrupt practices of the last Arroyo administra-tion. They have been granted an amnesty by President Aquino. This is a time of opportunity for good people of integrity to work for fair-ness and honesty, to take a stand for justice, truth and good clean governance. It’s a time to unite efforts, hopes, resources and talent to work for a just and equal society.

President Benigno Aquino III believes that the Philip-pines has achieved a momen-tum in its fight against corrup-tion as the country’s ranking in Transparency Interna-tional’s (TI) 2010 Corruption Perceptions Index slightly improved by 5 notches.


By Frank Wenceslao

A Filipino expat in Hong Kong told me in Manila of a rumor circulating among his fellow expats that Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and hus-band left for Hong Kong two days after her term ended on June 30, 2010 to stay there indefi nitely after the Chinese Government granted asylum to their chosen close associ-ates, children and them.

An UNCAC signatory, the Chinese made it clear they won’t intervene when GMA et al. are sued for violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and US laws enforcing the UNCAC such as fraud, money laundering, racketeering, foreign corrupt practices, conspiracy, etc. The Chinese conditions for grant-ing asylum were only when GMA et al. are persecuted by the Aquino administration. Being investigated and sued

Asylum for GMA in China?

Gloria Macapagal Arroyo

for graft and corruption is not political persecution. Appar-ently, the Aquino DOJ saw through the plan and acted justly and fairly to GMA et al.

At about the same time a Filipino American anthropolo-gist joined Pamusa’s volun-teers (who wish to be anony-mous because of sensitive

positions they hold). He told me his decision stemmed from a belief the Philippine Truth Commission has now what it takes to effectively fi ght graft and corruption with Pamusa lobbying US federal agen-cies enforcing the UNCAC’s and international agreements’ anticorruption tools.

He said President Aquino should nonetheless put his heart and mind in PTC’s success by naming himself “Anticorruption Czar” and allow Chairman Davide 24/7 access to him. As has hap-pened recently a big hole in fi ghting G&C can be cre-ated by a virtually unknown agency, Anti-Money Launder-ing Council, when its lawyer made a ridiculous excuse in a Senate hearing for fail-ing to run after jueteng lords because nobody has fi led a complaint. It’s as if he hasn’t heard of acting motu proprio when there is evidence the Anti-Money Laundering Law was probably being violated.

Pamusa’s new volunteer

pointed to that incident as highlighting the ethnocentrism of Filipino lawyers. He said it’s one of the diffi cult prob-lems besetting the country and causing judicial proceedings to take too long such as when the courts cherry-pick to give due course to baseless mo-tions on questions of law and facts.

This reminds me of my libel case against the late Art Borjal which I won in the RTC and Court of Appeals. A retired SC justice congratulat-ed me and said Borjal won’t probably appeal to the High Court because of its policy that on question of facts, the CA’s decision was fi nal.

But surprise, surprise! The High Court gave due course to Borjal’s appeal and the lower courts’ decisions were reversed. Every lawyer I knew could only explain that the reversal stemmed from the majority of justices’ fear of Borjal’s column whose mali-cious use caused the libel suit on the fi rst place.

Ethnocentrism is the law-yers’ tendency to differentiate between the in-group (them) and outsiders often leading to pride, vanity, beliefs of one’s own group’s superiority, and contempt of outsiders.

Lawyers’ ethnocentric bias is better explained when Rep. Edcel Lagman and other GMA’s allies fi led a SC peti-tion on the grounds the PTC’s creation goes against the Philippine Constitution be-cause it violates the separation of powers since the body has quasi-judicial function.

Only Congress has the power to create such a body, Lagman said. Yet, they were silent when GMA created similar commissions.

Another claim that defi es logic and shows contempt to non-lawyers is Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago’s statement the evidence gathered by the PTC will not stand in court. Yet, in her sponsorship speech for UNCAC’s Senate ratifi ca-tion, she said the convention was part of the law of the land

as though passed by Congress and approved by the Presi-dent.

It’s as if she didn’t real-ize that for the PTC to be effective, the UNCAC will be invoked often to bypass local defense counsels’ dila-tory tactics. Defense counsels should realize sooner rather than later that delaying litiga-tion is to their clients’ detri-ment because if their cases are brought to foreign juris-dictions such as in the USA they will be jumping from the “frying pan to the fi re.”

How could PTC’s evi-dence not stand in court when almost always it’d be coming from the DOJ or Ombuds-man; the BIR on tax eva-sion; AMLC on anti-money laundering law violation; and other Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act violations that could extend to the Anti-Plun-der Law as the case may be? All of which is in accordance with Sec. 10, EO No. 1, which I quote as follows:



LAW OFFICES OF

E.B. ALEJO“20+ Years Experience”Been living in San Diego since 1977

Attorney is available daily on regular business days at the San Diego Offi ce

*Member, California State BarLicensed to practice before the US Federal District CourtSouthern California and California Supreme Court

*Author,”How to Apply for the US Tourist Visa” as listed by worldwide bookseller Amazon.com Bookstores

*Former San Diego Regional Coordinator for U.S. Immigra-tion Amnesty for Catholic Community Services, Catholic Diocese of San Diego

*Legal Advisor, Los Chabacanos of Cavite CityAssociation, Inc., San Diego, California

*Juris Doctor law degree, University of San Diego (1985),Diploma; Oxford Institute on International and Comparative Law (USD), Oxford, England (1984);Bachelor Degree, University of Southern California (1983);Montgomery High School, San Diego (1979)

*Born in the Philippines (Cavite)

For your convenience, walk-ins acceptedespecially between 2:00pm – 8:00pm

Business days Monday to Friday

IMMIGRATION LAW • DIVORCE • WILLS & TRUSTS • CRIMINAL DEFENSE • BUSINESS LAW • CREDIT/DEBT DISPUTES and PROBLEMS • WAGE & HOUR VIOLATIONS •

UNEMPLOYMENT APPEALS • WORK CONTRACTS • LANDLORD – TENANT DISPUTES • BANKRUPTCY ASSISTANCE • FORECLOSURES • TAX PREPARATION

FAIR PRICES/COURTEOUS AND FRIENDLY SERVICE

We can accept the following on a Contingency Basis (CASE BY CASE BASIS):

AUTO ACCIDENT or PERSONAL INJURY • WRONGFUL TERMINATION • SEXUAL HARASSMENT/HOSTILE WORK

PLACE • WORK DISCRIMINATION (Racial, Age, Gender, Disability)

240 Woodlawn Avenue, Suite 11, Chula Vista, CA 91910Convenient location and plenty of free parking;

Near Chula Vista trolley station. Nagsasalita kami ng Tagalog

For free consultation call (619) 203-5782

We can help you stop worrying about your legal problems.

Also Featuring:Debt Negotiation

Bankruptcy AssistanceLoan Consolidation

2340 E. 8th St., Suite H, National City, CA 91950 (Near Friendship Manor)

619-470-2558 We Speak Tagalog & Spanish

Walk - In & Emergencies welcomeOpen: Mon - Fri 9am - 7pm

Saturday & Evening Appointments Available

We accept most insuranceMost insurance cover 100% of initial visit

Service Offered:Preventive and Restorative Dentistry• Porcelain crowns and bridges• Cosmetic bondings & veneers• Partial and complete dentures• Valpast / Removable Non-Metal Partial •

DenturesTooth Extractions• Root canal treatment• Gum treatment• Teeth whitening - in offi ce or take home kit•

Military Dependents WelcomeSenior Citizens Discount

Zero Interest Payment Plans

Gentle & quality dentistry for children and adults

Rossana T. Alfonso, DDS

New Image Dentistry

FREECONSULTATION!!!

FREETeeth Whitening(Take Home Kit worth $200)

With CompleteDental Treatment

Coupon $aver

Coupon $aver

New Client Special

Zoom 1 hr. Teeth Whitening

$29900*Reg. $600.00

$3500*DENTAL EXAM & CLEANING

(or insurance payment)

Reg. $160.00

INCLUDES:A Full Oral Examination• Individual Diagnosis & •

ConsultationAny & All necessary X-rays• Plus: One Thorough Cleaning & •

Polishing*Does not include periodontal treatment in

adsence of gum disease

Mira Mesa Dental Care 6755 Mira Mesa Blvd. Ste. #142

San Diego, CA 92121

Tel: (858) 457-7747 Fax: (858) 457-0731

Chapter 32

(Editor’s Note: To read the previous and weekly install-ments of this series, visit www.asianjournalusa.com. Once there, click the “News and Features” heading, then click “Promised Land by Simeon G. Silverio, Jr.” title to see the list of all chapters of ‘Prom-ised Land’. Click the title of the chapter you want to read and the article will appear.)

The letter was tucked in-nocently in Ditas’ handbag. Romy was looking for coins to be used in his offi ce vend-ing machines and peeked into the bag. Ditas was taking a shower at that time, preparing to go to work.

It was unsealed, addressed to Ditas’ mother in the Phil-ippines and was ready to be mailed with postage. Disre-specting his wife’s privacy, Romy took out the letter and read it.

In it, Ditas wrote:

“Dear Nanay,How are you doing? Have

you been taking your medicine and going to your doctor’s appointments? Don’t worry about my brothers Mario and Lucio. They are old enough to live their own life and seek

PROMISED LAND

Lettertheir own future. I am glad they had been accepted to work as merchant marines. That would mean better pay for them and a better life, although I understand your worry because they would be working outside the country and far away from you. I will make sure you won’t be alone and somebody will take care of you. I will hire a private nurse and a maid to help and accompany you. God will-ing, I may be able to visit you soon. Just take care of your-self and stay healthy.

Don’t believe the tsismis (rumor) of our balikbayan (re-turnee from abroad) townmate that I am being mistreated by my husband Romy and his parents. It is far from the truth. They love me so much and had been taking care of me. In fact, during my last birthday, Romy brought me to Los Angeles to visit Disney-land, the Universal Studios and showed me around town. He is a perfect husband and I could not ask for more.

I have more good news. You are now a grandmother. Romy found his fi ve-year old child named “Mikaela” and we have adopted her as our own. She is very beautiful. Sabi nga ng mga kasamahang kong Pilipina sa trabaho,

puwede ko daw dalhin diyan at gawing artista (My Filipina co-workers said I can take her to the Philippines to become a movie star). And you know what? Kapangalan pa siya ng Tatay (She is father’s name-sake). That is why I sincerely believe she’s a gift from heav-en, given to us through Tatay’s intercession. We know because of his ailment, Romy can’t give me a child.

Take care and stay healthy. May awa ang Diyos na balang araw magkakasama uli tayo (God will have pity and pretty soon, we will be together again).

I love you, Nanay.

Ditas

Romy quietly put back the letter inside the envelope and placed it in Ditas’ bag. All day, he was besieged by guilt for his maltreatment of his wife. He did not expect Ditas to lie so he would look good to her mother. She even claimed he brought her to Disneyland and Universal Studios when in fact he hasn’t brought her anywhere since she landed in America. In contrast, her cous-in Isabel was brought by her husband Albert everywhere the minute she arrived at the airport. And the maltreatment Ditas had been receiving from him and his parents had been continuous since day one.

He remembered the time when he was growing up. Di-tas, his neighbor, had been the object of his affection since high school. But she would have nothing to do with him. He had no ambition then. He was always hanging out with friends. When Ditas told him “she would never marry him even if he was the last man on earth”, he felt hurt and left town. He eventually joined the U.S. Navy, and when he returned, he found Ditas in a dire predicament. She needed

money to take care of her sick mother, and through the prodding of her relatives, she was forced to marry him. At fi rst he thought that was good enough for him. But her hurt-ful statement “she would not marry him even if he was the last man on earth”, kept ring-ing in his ears despite the fact she was now his wife and he could take the liberty of feast-ing on her body whenever he pleased. For him, it was not good enough. He could not erase in his mind the belief she married him not out of love but out of necessity. This was despite the fact she lived up to her marital vow of being a loyal wife, one who would attend to all his needs as long as she lives and be his partner for life.

What added to his resent-ment, although it was not Ditas’ fault, was the medical fi nding he could not bear a child because of the venereal disease he contracted in pa-tronizing prostitutes in nearby Tijuana. This feeling of inadequacy and his perceived lack of love from his wife had made him very insecure, prompting him to be belliger-ent. Instead of showering his wife with love, he maltreated her so she could feel the pain in his heart. In spite of this, however, Ditas had remained a faithful and sacrifi cing wife. And now, she was even covering up for his fault by lying to her own mother and telling her he had been a good and loving husband all along. Moreover, the fact that she willingly took in and loved his own daughter as her own made Romy feel so guilty and ashamed of his behavior.

“Sana anak mo siya, para mabuo na ang pamilya natin (I hope she’s your daughter so we can complete our family),” Romy could remember Ditas telling him after they left the Social Welfare Offi ce.

All along, he thought Ditas would eventually resent his abuses and give up on the marriage. Her letter proved to him she’s in the marriage for the long haul, till death do them part, as they pledged in their marital vow.

AS USUAL, ROMY WENT OUT DRINKING with his friends that evening. It was a Friday night and they planned to bar hop and hopefully pick up girls for a one night stand. But he felt uneasy and uncomfortable. His thought was not with the pretty white woman trying to engage him in a conversa-tion. It was with Ditas and how she had sacrifi ced so much for him and his parents. And there he was, enjoying himself and unmindful of his responsibilities as a husband, and in fact, also as a father. At around eleven in the evening, he could not ignore his guilty feeling anymore. He told his friends he would go home.

“Why? It’s still early. I thought we will drink and have fun till tomorrow morn-ing?” Alex, his partner in crime asked him.

“I don’t feel well,” he ex-cused himself.

He went straight home and found their apartment dark. Everyone had retired to bed.

He quietly opened their room and in the dark, he saw the shadows of his wife and daughter sleeping on the fl oor. He removed his shoes and street clothes and instead of going to bed, he got his pillow and placed it beside Ditas who was lying sideways, hugging his daughter. He laid down beside her and put his arm around her waist. Ditas was awakened as she felt his arm and his breath behind her ears.

“I love you,” he whis-pered to her. “I love you very much.”

Ditas was surprised. She thought she was dreaming.

Romy had not uttered those words since they got married. He had not been that intimate with her. Even when he made love with her, he seemed distant and aloof, sometimes belligerent. She didn’t say a word.

“I’m very sorry. I’m very sorry for what I have done to you. I’ll make up for my bad behavior,” Romy continued.

Ditas could not believe what she heard. He must be drunk, she told herself as she could smell beer in his breath.

“Will you forgive me?” Romy asked her as he lifted his head to see her face.

Ditas looked at him. She still was not sure if he was joking.

“Will you?” he asked again.

“There’s nothing to for-give,” she fi nally answered,

“I know you may not be-lieve me now, but I will make you happy from now on,” her husband promised.

Ditas was pleased with the words coming from his mouth but she was not expecting much. She still thought his behavior was infl uenced by alcohol, and the next day, he would go back to being the same old Romy.

But Romy was sincere this time. He was determined to be a model husband and a loving father, as Ditas de-scribed him in her letter to her mother. - AJ

(To be continued)

(Editor’s Note: To read the previous and weekly install-ments of this series, visit www.asianjournalusa.com. Once there, click the “News and Features” heading, then click “Promised Land by Simeon G. Silverio, Jr.” title to see the list of all chapters of ‘Promised Land’. Click the title of the chapter you want to read and the article will appear.)

PhilippineStories

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

by Simeon G. Silverio Jr.


JOB NO CLIENT DESCRIPTION PROOFER SCREEN PROOF # DATE TIME OPERATOR

CYANBLACK MAGENTA YELLOW

010461 IW Group Inc McRib 1418 Print Ad (Filipino Mech E) C Proof 100 1 10-21-10 8:00 PM RT

FILE NAME:

Max Den. 240 Indesign: CS4 Photoshop: CS4Illustrator: CS4Quark:

McRib_Ad_Filipino_Mech E_13x21.indd

Stock: Newsprint

McRib_Ad_Filipino_Mech E_13x21.indd 1 10/21/10 8:20 PM


1. Inday: “Ate, kailangan daw ipa-EXTRAY ulo ni junior?”

Mother: “Gaga anong EX-TRAY?”

Inday: “Ano pu ba talaga ati?”

Mother: “CT SKULL!! Bobo!”

2. Bahay ng mag-asawa pinasok ng killer....

Killer: “Bago ko patayin lahat ng biktima ko ay kini-kilala ko muna.

Ikaw Mrs, ano pangalan mo?”

Mrs: “Inday po.” Killer: “Napakagandang

pangalan, kapangalan mo nanay ko.

Hindi na kita papatayin. Ikaw Mr, ano pangalan mo?”

Mr: “Pedro po, pero my friends call me ‘Inday’.”

3. Teacher: “Juan, give me colors that start with letter M, except

maroon!” Juan: Hhmmm...

Tawa MunaMaitim! Mapute! Maputla! Madilaw! Mukhang berde! Mejo asul! Mamink-mink! 4. Mag-ama nakasakay sa

barko habang bumabagyo... Anak: “ Tay ! Natatakot

po ako. Parang lulubog ang barko!”

Tatay: “Tanga! Ba’t ka matatakot di naman atin ito!”

5. Misis: “Inday, napansin mo ba ang barong ni sir mo lagi na

lang may lipstick?” Maid: “Opo nga ma’am!

Mukang niloloko na ‘tayo’ ni sir ah!!!”

6. Jr: “Nay, nagloko ba si lolo noong buhay pa sya?”

Mom: “Pag namatay ako, tatangungin ko sya sa langit.”

Jr: “ Eh kung nasa hell si lolo?”

Mom: “Tatay mo ang magtatanong! “

Unholy Allied Mountains

The book “Unholy Allied Mountains” by R.D. Liporada is available from Amazon.com.

By RDLiporada

Publisher’s note: The com-plete novel serialized here is on Unholy Allied Mountains by RDLiporada. For those

who would want to procure a copy of the book online, go to unholyalliedmountains.

com. In the previous chapter, the NPAs explain to an Igorot

tribe why they are fighting the Philippine Government as

NPAs.

Chapter 8 (Thirteenth of a series)

Chico

Long, long ago even before Chidlawan’s ancestors were born and the mountains were younger, there lived a chief called Chico. He is the great-est of all the chiefs in the mountains. His good looks enamored him to many wives. The tattoos that told the countless wars he won snaked over his huge chest and arms.

It used to be that the Igorots could not sprout rice or any crops because the mountains were steep and no flat lands could be found. The forests did not also bear enough fruits. There were no boars, birds, nor deer.

Chico asked the anito gods what they should do, saying, “What should we do so we do not go hungry?”

The anitos, through voices through the clouds, replied “Tell your people to carve the mountains into payyews. These will be the fields where you could sprout rice and other plants.”

“But how could we make payyews when the mountains are steep,” Chico wondered.

“Carve the faces of the mountains into flat lands re-tained by walls of stones.”

“But, how…?”“It starts with the first

stone from below the moun-

tains.”Though reluctant, but obe-

dient, Chico obeyed, saying, “if it is your wish, then I will follow.”

So, Chico called the other chiefs of all the villagers for a gimong and told them what the anitos have ordered them to do.

Invariably, the chiefs and other villagers resisted, saying “That is impossible. There is no way we could carve these mountains into payyews.” Even his sons called Chico foolish.

In his desire, however, to save his people and wanting to fulfill his promise to the anitos, Chico started, alone, to carve the mountains. He car-ried upon his shoulder a stone and then another from below the river up the mountains. After several days, stone after stone, slab after slab, a wall rose to as high as a tree.

After several more moons, Chico carried more stones up the mountains and more walls rose to as high as trees.

Seeing the walls and seeing the persistence of their father, his sons changed their hearts and began to help him. Soon, many more walls filled the faces of the mountains. Soon, there were enough walls which retained a flat land for Chico’s family. They started to plow the land and were able to sprout rice from the field.

Seeing Chico’s harvest, the other chiefs stopped calling him foolish. They enjoined their tribes to help carve the mountains. Soon, terrace upon terrace rose like ladders with which one could climb to the skies. Soon, flat lands were all over the faces of the moun-tains which sprouted golden bushels of rice that sparkled with the gleaming sun.

Birds came for the scraps of grain and they carried, too, seeds for trees to grow to make the forest thick. Fruits dangled from every branch and boars and deer became aplenty. The river also teemed with fishes silver and gold.

And the people, too, made tapoy wine from their harvest-ed rice and drank to celebrate their blessings.

Chico thank no end the anitos who had advised him well on what he should do to save his people. He even raised a cup of tapoy in their honor. “Thank you, great ani-tos for all your blessings.”

After so many, many moons, however, because there was so much food, the people became lazy. Why should they work when food were just there to be picked? Soon, they did not do any-thing else but drink tapoy the whole day and night of their lives.

They drank until the anitos got worried.

They got worried that they called on Chico.

“Warn your people,” the anitos told Chico. “They have to stop drinking and work. Otherwise, someday, all your blessings we will get back.”

Chico promised, “I will do as you say.”

Chico, however, was drunk when he made the promise. He forgot his promise. He even forgot that the anitos spoke to him. He did not warn the people and, with them, just kept on drinking tapoy and being lazy day and night.

The anitos got very angry and decided to punish the people. They sent their forces to sow scourge all over the mountains. Thunder roared and lightning zoomed to set trees ablaze. Charred, the trees tumbled to the ground with all their fruits scattering to be molded into rottenness. The boars and deer fled into more friendly forests far, far away.

Torrents of rain pounded with snorting winds. Rice stalks, drenched, waved good-bye as they drowned in the tempest.

Then the sun scorched the earth with all its might that the earth cracked dry. So an-gered was the sun that it even dried the river and all the fish wiggled themselves to their last gasps.

Swiftly, the once endowed land turned into a barren

misery.With all the hunger and

thirst, Chico remembered the anitos. Seeing the misery of the people, he pleaded with the gods. “Oh! Great ones, please forgive us from our transgressions and show us the way to make amends.”

But no voices from the anitos through the clouds were ever heard again.

Realizing that all was his fault, Chico cried and cried. He cried every day and every night. He never ceased to cry until he gasped his last.

And even in his grave, he cried.

His crying finally melted the hearts of the anitos. They felt his remorse and his love for his people that sent him to forever cry.

One day, from the grave of Chico, a tear sprang from be-neath the earth. The tear was followed by more tears which turned into a spring. The spring turned into a stream that soon rumbled into a river – the Great Chico River.

Once again, the land became fertile. The forests be-came thick with fruits and the boars and deer came back.

And so it was that Chico became the Great Crying Anito – the source of life, the giver of life, the creator of life on the face of the earth.

Chapter 9

Many moons passed and the NPA’s have come and gone into the village of Sam-ang. He tolerated them for they showed no harm to the people. They even helped with the harvest and repairs of pigpens. They even had this magic needles they called akupuntyur that they stuck into body parts and helped cure pains. Children loved to hear their stories. One of them even helped him and he could have died if he had not. To bad, he had to leave with-out taking one his daughters as a wife.

Sam-ang had been told that Alinew and another comrade had gone down from the vil-lage to the river way far down the foot of the mountains that day to bathe and wash their tattered clothes. From the river, looking up, the village huts appeared to be mere dots against a montage of green lush and the cloudy sky. On the foreground were the wind-ing rice-terraces, the edges of which, served as the narrow cobblestone stairs to the skies.

Close to the close of day, where the clouds became thicker foreboding strong rain, Alinew observed villag-ers coming from the opposite bank wading through the knee deep river, crossing to their side of the bank. After crossing, they climbed up the

winding rice-terraces towards the village atop the mountain. Alinew had observed that they reeked of tapoy native wine.

Alinew remembered be-ing told the night before that there was a canao feast at the neighboring village and everyone was invited includ-ing the NPAs. Alinew’s squad, not sure of the security situa-tion at that village, graciously declined.

Much later when drop-lets of rain began to trickle, Alinew saw Sam-ang stagger-ing from the opposite bank. He must be just drank from the feast, Alinew told himself. But as the chief started to cross the river, he made so in a loud splashing manner until he just tumbled down. Alinew and his comrade rushed to the chief. His head was immersed in the water and was gurgling like he was going to drown. By his leg, blood was oozing, percolating with the river. By now, other villagers were also coming from the opposite bank and were also rushing towards the chief.

Alinew lifted the chief and carried him across the river. By the time they started to climb the terraces, the rains smashed down in torrents. At the chief’s hut, he was incoherent - maybe from the tapoy or because he had become feverish from his gushing wound. Alinew im-mediately fetched for his bag which contained a first aid kit. He cleaned and bandaged the wound. When he left the hut, the chief was soundly asleep

snoring past the raging rain.At midday the following

day, the chief had Alinew called to his hut. He was thankful that Alinew, the NPAs saved his life. If not for Alinew and the NPAs he could have drowned, his wound, which he did not know how he got in his drunkenness, could have been infected, and, because of the rains, he could have even per-ished due to high fever.

From then on, the NPAs were always welcome in his village. He also called for all his daughters. Perhaps, Alin-ew would want to marry any of them?

One of them was Zeny.

Yes, the whispers of the mountains seem to have lied about these NPA’s. They seem not to be those that hurl babies up unto the air to be pierced with pointed sticks as they fall down. They seem not be those that turn old men and women into salt because they become burdens to the leav-ing.

Yes, Sam-ang tolerated the NPA’s for they were respect-ful. They were more often gone than there anyway. Be-sides they had guns.

(To be continued)

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


By Dr. Cesar D. Candari29th in a series of articles While Filipino Americans

have made strides numerical-ly, their sense of community and of larger identity remain elusive. An elusive dream is a goal or vision we would like to achieve or fulfill but always just out of our grasp no mat-ter how much we struggle to reach it. Although there are clear signs that we Filipinos in America, as a group are slowly beginning to coalesce, many remain rooted in ethnic identities. The obstacles to drawing them together range from language, places of origin in the provinces and Islands of the Philippines and continuous political rivalries. We always say there is only one Filipino. Yet, our unity, harmony, and progress in this country remain to be an elu-sive dream. How often we see rifts in our leadership devel-oping to internecine confron-tations between leaders. We see it everywhere. It is hap-pening within our midst.

It has frustrated the efforts of some Fil-Am leaders, who don’t benefit from the sense of solidarity often found in black and Latino communities. Asian Americans, especially Filipinos are more divided than blacks and Hispanics at the polls and often struggle at getting recognized nationally.

But many leaders insist that unity is the only way Fil-Americans will get their concerns met.

From Antique to America:Memoirs of a Filipino

American Doctor1985: Unity an Elusive Dream

Filipinos living in the United States today seem to be blessed and contented peo-ple. Is our hope for unity still and elusive dream? We have achieved success and afflu-ence. We have the drive and the talent, the fortitude and the fiber to turn this dream into reality. Almost everyone has a good paying job, a fine home, a car or two in the garage and a little savings for the rainy day. Because of our diverse backgrounds, we Fili-pinos in America have suc-cessfully established societies of social, cultural, scientific, professional and humanitar-ian organizations scattered throughout every nook and cranny of this country.

Here in San Diego, we are witnessing a ubiquitous presence of associations under the umbrella of the Council of Pilipino American Organi-zations (COPAO). These are accomplished, firstly because of our common roots, the Fili-pino blood that is warm and brilliant red gushing in our vascular system. Secondly, we have the ability to be recog-nized and attain some degree of success and prestige in this country.

As the fastest growing Asian, we have many ad-vantages going for us. We Filipino-Americans are begin-ning to yield considerable influence. As we work toward our common goal of progress and advancement in the com-munity, our unity and num-bers should lead us to greater

political and economic power. While the city government is now reaching out to minority groups for participation and representation and while we are given these opportunities, we must not “miss the boat.” Our image in America must be solid, based on our unity. This is the time to speak as one.

I believe it is important to understand that basically we are an ethnic minority. We must, therefore, use our skills, experience and exper-tise to promote our heritage, improve our image in the community and our place in American Society. We must establish a political clout whether we like it or not. Politics play a major role in the American way of life. The appointments of Filipinos in city positions are events that should stir us and be utilized as “Pinoy”(Filipino) arousal to rally on, to get involved, to be active in our community organizations, in politics and in mainstream America. It is about time we relearn the true meaning of Bayanihan (help-ing one another). We must forge a structure under which we unite. We can no longer practice luxury of influence.

As flexible and ingenious people, we should never give up this struggle for unity. Despite our interpersonal problems, I do believe our people reside in our pride, love, passion, and compassion for one another. The bonds that hold us together are our strength of purpose and love

of family. We are the ultimate and supreme arbiter of our fate. There is a subtlety in the ways we do that is not evident in other foreigners. As a people, we are endowed with the freedom to rise above ourselves. Filipinos are pas-sionate people and history has shown that they have the capacity to channel their emotional and physical energy toward defined objectives. Believe me, I have this serene confidence we can do so and this reality shall long endure with the passing of time. I am a Filipino and I am darn proud of it. The burden of unifying the Filipinos , at least here in San Diego, is ours to bear. As the saying goes: “the destiny rests on what we do today and plan for tomorrow.” Filipino San Diegans, how do we get there?

As of this writing, there is an estimated 200,000 Filipi-nos in San Diego and indeed one of the highest concentra-tions in the United States

In every opportunity I had of sharing and enlightening the Filipino-American com-munity, the subject of unity was always in my speeches. I was invited by the Philip-pine American Community of San Diego County as a guest speaker on the death anni-versary of Dr. Jose Rizal, the Philippines’ foremost national hero.

1992: VIRTUES OF DR. JOSE RIZAL

Excerpts of my speech: …….I have thought of an

appropriate and timely subject to speak to you in this very significant occasion of com-memorating Dr. Jose Rizal who gave his life for our be-loved country, the Philippines, four scores and 15 years ago. I could speak of many in-teresting subjects about our national hero -- Dr. Rizal as a physician, Rizal as a poet, a linguist, and philosopher how-ever; tonight I finally chose to

speak of Dr. Jose Rizal as our champion of DEMOCRACY, FREEDOM and UNITY. To begin, allow me to share with you an event in our history of how we, Filipinos, came about to know democracy and freedom thru our forefathers and thru Dr. Rizal. Among men of wisdom and legendary heroes, Jose Rizal stood tall with Demosthenes of Greece who shouted against the Macedonian conquest, with Victor Hugo of France who defended the Magna Charta, with Abraham Lincoln of the United States of America who abolished slavery. Jose Rizal bravely exposed and fought the repressive Spanish rule and paid with his life that very day of December 30,1896, three hundred years after the Spanish domination of our country.

We commemorate this event tonight not only to showcase the bravery and wisdom of Rizal who died for our country but also to reaf-firm our love for freedom and democracy….

… Several years ago, we gained our indepen-dence from the United States of America. This was the product of our natural quest for freedom that we inher-ited from our forefathers, the courage and wisdom of Lapu-Lapu, and the bravery and nationalism of Dr. Rizal. I suppose no one in this room tonight ever dreamed those forty years later after that Independence Day celebration in Luneta that you and I shall be here in San Diego talking about this great history. We have so far enjoyed the bless-ings of not only the freedoms and democracy of our adopted country, America, but we are also blessed with the oppor-tunities, achieved success and affluence in our lives.

However, as the story goes, one day, not too long ago, we lost our freedom

during the Marcos dictator-ship. It lasted for almost 20 years. But because of our inherent love for democracy, because of the legacy of Dr. Jose Rizal, we rediscov-ered Democracy once again through Ninoy Aquino in the 1986 historical EDSA revolu-tion. However, let me remind you, ladies and gentlemen, that achieving and restoring democracy is not enough. We must also have economic free-dom; we must have economic power and justice for our countrymen. This was what Dr. Jose Rizal stood for.

Ladies and gentlemen, I was in the Philippines a few weeks ago for a medical mis-sion in Albay and Camarines Sur. The following were my personal observations.

The Philippines, our country, as we know today is burdened not only with political and social conflicts but foremost is its economic problems. Our countrymen cry for economic freedom, cry for justice, cry for law and order, as much as they cry for rice and fish. The population is trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty and exploitation. The recent calamities of nature that devastated our country…the earthquake, the Mt. Pina-tubo eruption and the recent typhoons…were all crippling maladies that raised havoc against our economic recov-ery. And while the people now enjoy Democracy, the specter of poverty is in the slums of Manila; the shards of destitu-tion litter our cities. Hunger, disease, pollution, and con-gestion in the city are appall-ing. I say to you, our country-men cannot live by restoring the freedoms and democracy alone. What they also need are economic justice and econom-ic power. Dr. Jose Rizal had meant it that way.

We are now living in (Continued on page 15)

(619) 474-0588


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

Naniniwala Ako (4)Naniniwala akong marami ka pang magagawakahit bukambibig mong hindi mo na makakaya pakahit lagi mong sinasabing ikaw ay mahina naalam ko ang kakayanan mo sa ‘kin, maniwala ka.

Naniniwala akong talos mong ang pananagutan sa anumang gagawin at sa anumang susuunganmayroong matutuwa, tiyak mayroong masasaktanwalang tayong magagawa sadyang ganyan ating buhay.

Naniniwala akong pagtitimpi ay kailangansa mga pagkakataong may ibang nararamdamamsampung beses dapat paulit-ulit pag-isipandahil baka sumabog ka na tulad ng isang bulkan.

From Antique to America:Memoirs of a Filipino

American Doctor1985: Unity an Elusive Dream

©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.


Joke of the week: Call-ing on a rabbi to challenge him on a point, a European skeptic was doubtful about an apparent inconsistency in the Bible. He said, “It puzzles me. When God tested Job, he took everything from him, but left him his wife. Why?” Coun-tered the rabbi, “The answer is simple. After God finished testing Job, he returned to him twice what he had taken away. If Job’s wife had also been re-moved, he would have had to give him two wives. And such a penalty not even God dared to inflict on him.”

Scripture: First Reading: 2 Maccabees 7: 1-2, 9-14. Though belief in the resur-rection came up late in the Old Testament, yet today’s passage explicitly affirms such faith in the afterlife. The seven Maccabean brothers were arrested and tortured to death during the persecu-tion under the Greek king Antiochus IV. The brothers died for love and faithfulness rather than worshiped and offered sacrifices to the gods. Their mother attributed her sons’ courage not to her influ-ence but to “the creator of the world, ordaining the process of birth and presiding over the

origin of all things, who in his mercy will most surely give you back breath and life.” Second Reading: 2 Thessalo-nians 2: 16-3:5. The author, faced with the problem of the delay of the second coming, assures the Thessalonians that a complete transformation of the present life will surely occur at the resurrection. Gospel: Luke 20: 27-38. Deu-teronomy 25: 56 spelled out the requirements of levirate law: “if a man died without a son, the deceased man’s brother was required to marry the widow.” The son born out of that marriage was consid-ered the dead man’s son who carried his name and inherited his property. The Sadducees who did not believe in the res-urrection wanted to show the absurdity of such belief by cit-ing the levirate marriage and the case of the seven husbands or brothers and the wife in the afterlife.

Reflections: The Saddu-cees believed only in what was written in The Torah. The oral Torah that was held by the Pharisees was completely rejected. Since according to the Sadducees there is nothing written about the resurrection in the Torah, it should not be

The Case of the Seven Husbands and the One Bride

accepted. In most ancient cultures it

was very important to con-tinue the progeny of a man so that a widow left without a son had a right to marry her dead husband’s brother. For the ancients, death occurred when the breath of God is taken away from a person. The only thing that persists existing is a person’s name. In order to perpetuate man’s existence, a son was needed to carry on his dead father’s name.

Dismissing the Sadducees’ absurd question, Jesus an-swers by saying that the resur-rection is a transformation of the present life, and that there is no need for a marriage or a son to carry on the dead man’s name. Resurrection makes marriage in the afterlife irrel-evant. The levirate law does not make resurrection absurd; rather the resurrection makes marriage in the afterlife ab-surd.

We live in a world that is threatened by many upheav-als and man-made disasters, such as AIDS, war, poverty, hunger, and ethnic cleansing. Like the seven brothers in the first reading, our families too are faced with so many prob-lems that are moral, social, psychological, and physical. It is believed that one of the brothers was skinned alive; another had his tongue cut out and his body dismembered. Throughout their ordeals, they never lost hope that God will raise them up, because he is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who continue living even after their death. This too is the sure foundation of our faith that is guaranteed by the Scripture, that he is the God

Mother of Perpetual Help, Woman of Eternal Hope, you wordless gaze tells me so much about you. Your know-ing eyes look upon me with tender love. While your left hand supports the Child Jesus, your right hand is read

to receive me. Just as Jesus feels the beating of your heart, so you encourage me to draw close to you and to lead a life of hope and holiness. Just as His sandal will fall on the ground, through you intersession may God help me as I stumble and fail. Never let me be parted from you and your Son, Jesus.Lady of love, you in-vited me to place my hand where Jesus fin-

gers touch yours - near a heart of endless hope - so that I may be united with you in prayer here on earth and joined forever with you in heaven.

Novena to Saint Jude

Oh Holy St. Jude, Apostle and Martyr, great in virtue, rich in miracles, near Kingsman of Jesus Christ and faithful intercessor of all who invoke your special patronage in time of need. To you I have recoursed from the depth of my heart and humbly beg, to whom God has given special great power, to come to my assistance in my present, in return I promised to make your name known and cause to be invoke. ( Say 3 Our Fathers, 3 Hail Marys and 3 Glorys for nine consecutive days, publication must be promised.) St. Jude, pray for us all who invoke your aid. (This novena has never been known to fail. Florida Calinaya

Jennifer JoquinoJose Raquion

Josefina CalinayaErlinda Young & Family

Florida CalinayaJennifer Joquino

Jose RaquionJosefina Calinaya

Erlinda Young & Family

of the living and who cannot be overpowered by the force of death. No matter what one goes through in life, with self, with others in the family or in the community, never lose hope, because God “will most surely give you back breath and life.” St. Paul exhorted the Thessalonians with the kind of hope and encourage-ment that the brothers mani-fested amidst their sufferings which they considered as nothing because they believed that the “King of the world will raise us up to live again forever.”

Quotation of the week: “Love means to love that which is unlovable, or it is no virtue at all; forgiving means to pardon the unpardonable, or it is no virtue at all; faith means believing the unbeliev-able, or it is no virtue at all. And to hope means hoping when things are hopeless, or it is no virtue at all.” G. K. Chesterton.

America but why is it impor-tant that we talk about the Philippines this Rizal Day? It is because what is good for the Philippines is good for every Filipino wherever he is. While we concern ourselves with helping our countrymen and their ills, we must also develop our Filipino American community here in its eco-nomic, political, and social as-pirations in this country. There is much to be done if we are to forge our Filipino Ameri-can Community into a strong, cohesive force that can speak with one voice on matters that concern us all. I’d like to convey to you that though subtle it may be, discrimina-tion in this country still exists. It is true everywhere, in every profession and in our jobs. We must not remain fence sitters and mere gripers of discrimi-nation.

But first, we must rise

above the divisive elements of our Filipino heritage. We must simply learn the true mean-ing of Bayanihan, (working together) the embodiment of what a true Filipino like you and I should be and what Dr. Rizal is all about, and thereby build a solid and strong Filipino-American commu-nity. I have to underscore unity among us to strengthen our culture and achieve empowerment in many of our endeavors. As we work toward our common goals of progress and advancement in our respective communities, there is no question that our unity will lead us to greater political empowerment. We are the fastest growing Asians in this county. But we must continue to build our image. This is our time to speak as one. We must therefore use our skills and our experience and expertise to promote our

heritage just as what your association is celebrating this evening…Rizal Day…and improve your image in the community and our place in American Society. Despite our interpersonal problems, I do believe that our strength resides in our pride, passion, compassion and love for one another, in our strength of purpose and our love of family. My appointment to a city commission signifies that we are gaining recognition and parity with our American counterparts.

On the other hand, the Filipinos in America must also be prepared to fully support and assume leadership roles in achieving the inevitable des-tiny of the Philippines. This is a responsibility that every Filipino must take.

(To be continued)


747,006 readson www.scribd.com /asianjournal

GE, Century Ink $100-M Medical Tourism Project

Present at the MOU Signing on Sept. 23, 2010 at the Sofitel Hotel in New York City were (seated) Century Properties Chairman Jose E.B. Antonio and GE Technology Infrastructure Vice Chairman and CEO John Rice with (standing, from left) the Department of Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima, Presi-dent of the Philippines Benigno S. C. Aquino III and the Department of Energy Secretary Jose Rene D. Almendras. GE has announced its partnership with leading Philip-pine real estate developer Century Properties for the creation of a US$ 100-million world-class outpatient medical-IT building in Makati City, Philippines. The project will rise in a one-hectare IT park accredited by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority at the 3.4-hectare Century City, the firm’s flagship mixed-use development in Kalayaan Avenue, Makati.

Philippine real estate developer Century Properties, and US corporate behemoth General Electric, through its subsidiary GE Healthcare, are joining forces for the creation of a US$ 100-million state-of-the-art medical-information technology building in Makati City.

The project will rise in a one-hectare IT park ac-credited by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority at the 3.4-hectare Century City, the firm’s flagship mixed-use development in Kalayaan Avenue, Makati.

The project is expected to generate 3,000 jobs during its construction and 5,000 jobs upon the start of operations, which is estimated to be in the latter part of 2013 or early 2014.

Present at the MOU Signing on Sept. 23, 2010 at the Sofitel Ho-tel in New York City were (front, shaking hands) Century Properties Chairman Jose E.B. Antonio and GE Technology Infrastructure Vice Chairman and CEO John Rice with (standing, from left) the Depart-ment of Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima and President of the Philippines Benigno S. C. Aquino III . GE has announced its partnership with leading Philippine real estate developer Century Properties for the creation of a US$ 100-million world-class outpatient medical-IT building in Makati City, Philippines. The project will rise in a one-hectare IT park accredited by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority at the 3.4-hectare Century City, the firm’s flagship mixed-use develop-ment in Kalayaan Avenue, Makati.

The outpatient medical arts building is envisioned to have the latest technology and equipment that will enable doctors to practice their disci-plines with great ease, as well as provide fast and convenient services to local patients and medical tourists. The building will house clinics of doctors specializing in various dis-ciplines of medicine; floors devoted to diagnostic equip-ment and services; rooms for aesthetic procedures; post-recovery suites; cafes and restaurants; and spaces for other service providers in health, wellness and preven-tive medicine.

The GE and Century Prop-erties partnership was marked by the signing of a Memo-randum of Understanding (MOU) on September 23 at

the Sofitel Hotel in New York City. Present at the signing were GE Technology Infra-structure Vice Chairman and CEO John Rice and GE Vice President and Senior Counsel Karan Bhatia with Century Properties Chairman Jose E.B. Antonio. President Benigno S. C. Aquino III, Department of Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima and Department of Energy Jose Rene D. Almen-dras. The signing took place during President Aquino’s trip to the United States to attend the United Nations General Assembly and Philip-pine roadshow for business to attract foreign investors to the Philippines.

GE expressed optimism and confidence in the Philip-pines and its growing medi-cal tourism industry. “We are optimistic that this assistance of providing advanced medi-cal equipment, best practices and technological solutions will not only boost medical tourism in the Philippines, but also improve the standards of outpatient medical services in the country and make this ac-cessible to more people,” said GE Technology Infrastructure Vice Chairman and CEO Mr. John Rice.

“It is a privilege to work with GE Healthcare for this project in the interest of promoting the Philippines as a top medical tourism destina-tion with globally competi-tive standards for outpatient medical services. By provid-ing the right venue with the right technology and systems, doctors may now put up clin-ics and provide the best care possible for people the world over,” added Mr. Jose E.B. Antonio, CEO and Chairman of Century Properties.

Medical tourism is a rap-idly growing industry in the Philippines, which can fully benefit from the establishment of new and technologically-advanced medical facilities such as Century Properties’

medical-IT building project. With currently about 30-mem-ber hospitals, clinics, well-ness center and resorts, the Philippine Medical Tourism industry registered gross rev-enues of $350 million since its establishment in 2006. By 2015, the Department of Tour-ism expects a $3 billion profit, with as much as 1,000,000 foreign patients arriving annu-ally. Research also shows that the Philippines has an even bigger potential in attracting medical tourists because of its culture of hospitality, quality healthcare services, compe-tent medical practitioners, and cheaper medical treatments of as low as 70% as compared to other Asian countries.

Headquartered in the Unit-ed Kingdom, GE Healthcare is a $17 billion unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE). GE Healthcare provides transformational medical tech-nologies and services that are shaping a new age of patient care.

With expertise in medical imaging and information tech-nologies, medical diagnostics, patient monitoring systems, performance improvement, drug discovery and biop-harmaceutical manufactur-ing technologies, GE helps clinicians around the world re-imagine new ways to pre-dict, diagnose, inform, treat and monitor disease, so that patients can live their lives to the fullest. GE will also assist Century Properties by provid-ing value added services such as training and development in line with GE best practices.

GE also recently launched a $250-million equity fund that will invest in companies globally that have innovative diagnostic, IT, and life scienc-es technologies aligned with the initiative’s strategic objec-tives of providing deliver bet-ter healthcare to more people at lower cost. To find out more about GE and GE Healthcare, visit http://www.ge.com/.

Century Properties Inc. is a leading Philippine firm with 24 years of experience in real estate marketing, real estate development and property management, with more than 60 projects in its portfolio. As a developer, its major proj-ects include the the Essensa East Forbes in Fort Bonifacio, Global City in Manila. Visit http://www.century-properties.com/

Century City Develop-ment Corporation (CCDC) is a subsidiary of Century Properties Inc. and is focused on mixed-use developments with high-rise condominiums. CCDC’s flagship project is the 3.4-hectare Century City in Kalayaan Avenue, Makati, that will comprise luxury resi-dential towers, a one-hectare IT park, and a retail center.

SAN DIEGO, Nov. 01, 2010 - On Thursday, November 18, Oceanside’s weekly Sunset Farm-ers Market will be serving up holiday cheer along with its tradi-tional spread of fresh produce and international food. From 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., Sunset Market (located at Tremont Street and Civic Center Drive) will be host to San Di-ego Gas & Electric’s (SDG&E) annual LED Holiday Lighting Exchange. To help North County residents save energy and money this holiday season, SDG&E is offering complimentary light-emitting diode bulbs (LEDs) to Sunset Market customers.

Amid hundreds of juried vendors, arts and crafts exhibits and live entertainment, SDG&E customers will be able to ex-change up to three strands of incandescent holiday lights for an equivalent number of energy-effi-cient, multi-colored LED holiday lights. As an added bonus, the 15 foot strands of lights come with an eco-friendly reusable bag. Participation in the exchange is easy; customers simply need to bring their old lights and present a copy of their current SDG&E bill or their California ID.

“We are happy to host these lighting exchange events with our community partners,” said Mark Gaines director of customer programs for SDG&E. “It’s a

SDG&E’s LED Annual Holiday Light Exchange Kicks off at Oceanside’s

Main Street Sunset MarketWeekly farmers market offers sustainable twist to

savvy consumers

great opportunity to spread a little holiday cheer while helping our customers conserve energy and save money on their electric bill.”

SDG&E’s annual holiday lighting exchange events continue to draw more energy-conscious customers. Last year, more than 6,400 customers exchanged some 17,275 strands of lights. That is nearly triple the numbers of cus-tomers and lights than 2007.

Compared to traditional incandescent holiday lights, LED lights can save customers up to 90 percent in holiday lighting costs. LED lights are cool to the touch, reduce fire risk, and are safer for use both inside and out-side the home. They also shine brighter and last up to 100 times longer than incandescent holiday lights.

The Oceanside event is the first of SDG&E’s seven lighting exchanges with the final tak-ing place on December 4, at the 33rd annual December Nights in Balboa Park and in Chula Vista at the 49th Annual Starlight Parade. SDG&E will have booths set up for SDG&E customers to attend and exchange their lights while supplies last.

To learn more about the SDG&E LED Holiday Lighting Exchanges in San Diego County please visit www.sdge.com/LEDs.


GOP Takes Back CongressDemocrats win California

Light &Shadows

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

by Zena Sultana Babao

It’s also a big NO for the legalization of marijuana.

The American people’s dream of “firing Pelosi” was realized when a new Speaker of the House was announced today – House Minority Leader John A. Boehner of Ohio.

In his speech addressed to the American people after Election Day, Boehner hum-bly expressed, “Let’s start right now by recognizing that this is not a time for celebra-tion. This is a time to roll up our sleeves and go to work.”

That’s the way to go – the country’s good before every-thing else!

But I’m certain that the

Incoming Speaker of the House John Boehner of Ohio giving the thumbs-up sign after Election Day.

Congressman Duncan D, Hunter, 52nd Congressional District, a clear winner in this race.

San Diego Council Mem-ber Carl DeMaio who led the opposition to Prop D with an overwhelming No by voters.

GOP rank and file is celebrat-ing because it has clearly taken back Congress with the election of 57 new Republican representatives to the House. They are hoping that Wash-ington has gotten the message that this administration must be doing something wrong.

In the Senate, 5 new Republicans were added: Pat Toomey, Pennsylvania; Marco Rubio, Florida; Rand Paul, Kentucky; Mike Lee, Utah; and Ron Johnson, Wisconsin.

In a press conference at the White House Wednes-day morning, President Obama promised to work with the GOP to achieve big goals. He said, “Let’s talk about politics later.” Let’s hope that POTUS is true to his word about forgetting politics as of now and focus on what is

good for our country.

California winners Here in the Golden State,

Democrats won big as Cali-fornia showed that it is still a Democratic stronghold. Proof is the election result – most of the winners are Democrats!

Governor: Jerry Brown (D); Secretary of State: Debra Bowen (D); State Controller: John Chiang (D); Attorney General: Kamala Harris (D); Insurance Commissioner: Dave Jones (D); State Trea-surer: Bill Lockyer (D).

Board of Equalization: District 1, Betty Ye (D); Dis-trict 2, George Runner (GOP); District 3, Michelle Steel (GOP); District 4, Jerome Horton (D).

Democrat Senator Barbara Boxer held on to her seat with

53% over GOP opponent Carly Fiorina in a well-con-tested race. In the California State Assembly, the follow-ing won: District 36 – Joel Anderson (GOP), Dist. 38 – Mary Wyland (GOP), Dist. 40 – Juan Vargas (D), Dist. 66 – Kevin Jeffries (GOP), Dist. 73 – Diane Harkey (GOP), Dist. 74 – Martin Garrick (GOP); Dist. 75 – Nathan Fletcher (GOP); Dist. 76 – Toni Atkins (D), Dist. 77 – Brian Jones (GOP); Dist. 78 – Marty Block (D); and District 79 – Ben Hueso (D).

For U.S. Representatives, the following won: District 49 – Darrell Issa (GOP); District 50 – Brian Bilbray (GOP); District 51 – Bob Fil-

ner (D); District 52 – Duncan Hunter (GOP); District 53 – Susan Davis (D).

Here’s the result of the State Propositions: Prop 19 – Legalize Marijuana, overwhelming NO; Prop 20 – Congressional Redistrict-ing, Yes; Prop 21 – Vehicle License Surcharge, No; Prop 22 – Prohibits State Distribu-tion, Yes; Prop 23 – Suspend Air Pollution Control Law, No; Prop 24 – Repeal Busi-ness Tax Liability, No; Prop 25 – Simple Majority to Pass Budget, Yes; Prop 26 – 2/3 Vote for State/Local Fees, Yes; and Prop 27 – Eliminate State Redistricting Commis-sion, No.

Local Election Results In the local front, here

are the winners. San Diego City Council: District 6 – Lorie Zaft; District 8 – David Alvarez; County Board of Supervisor: District 4 – Ron Roberts; District 5 – Bill Horn; National City Mayor – Ron Morrison; National City Council – Mona Alvarado-Ri-os and Luis Natividad; Chula Vista City Council: Patricia Aguilar.

Here’s the result in the school races. Sweetwater Union High School: Seat 5 – Arlie Ricasa, Seat 3 – John McCann, and Seat 1 – Jim Cartmill; Southwestern Com-merce College: Seat 4 – Nor-ma Hernandez, Seat 2 – Terri Valladolid, and Seat 5 – Tim Nader.

Among the local proposi-

tions, it’s an overwhelming and definite NO as far as rais-ing taxes is concerned. Prop D would have raised the sales tax in San Diego from 8.75 cents to 9.25 cents to gener-ate $102-million for the city’s general fund.

Mayor Jerry Sanders, in conceding Proposition D’s failure, said: “The voters have spoken. While I am disap-pointed in the outcome, I re-spect their decision and I will do everything in my power to implement the outcome in a way that minimizes the impact on residents of San Diego.

Councilman Carl DeMaio, who led the opposition to Prop D, said, “By defeat-ing Pro D, San Diegans have issued a mandate for reform and change in city govern-ment.” DeMaio said he plans to release a plan today (Fri-day, Nov. 5, 2010) to close the city’s fiscal year 2010 budget shortfall without cuts to police and fire services.

“With the rejection of Proposition D, it is now time for the Mayor and City Coun-cil to put aside all differences and work together as a team to implement reforms in the city’s budget, reforms in the city’s pensions, implement managed competition and do the things that are necessary to move our city past this crisis,” DeMaio told KUSI in an inter-view election night.

It was also a big No for Prop H, the Telecommuni-cations Users Tax of Chula Vista.

dictatorship, let us straighten the record.

Poverty rose during mar-tial law. In his Pulitzer prize-winning book (IN 0UR IM-AGE, America’s Empire in the Philippines), American journal-ist Stanley Karnow wrote: “A World Bank study estimated that the proportion of people living below the poverty line in cities [RP] had risen from twenty-four percent in 1974 [two years after the ML procla-mation] to forty percent in 1986 [the year Marcos was ousted]. The countryside was no better.”

Between 1982 and 1986, real wages of unskilled laborers in metropolitan Manila declined annually at 5.8 percent, and those of skilled laborers at 5.2 percent. Agricultural wages also declined at the same rate, ac-cording to James K. Boyce, as-sociate professor of economics at the University of Massachu-setts in the book, The Political Economy of Growth an Impov-erishment in the Marcos Era.

Income inequality worsened. Charles C. McDougald, in his book, The Marcos File, said that in 1980 the top 12.9 percent of the Filipino population received 22.1 percent of total income, while the bottom 11 percent just received 16.6 percent. In 1983, the gap widened. The top 12.9 percent now received 45.5 percent of total income, while

the bottom 11 percent received only 6.4 percent. This situation persists and has possibly further deteriorated.

On the financial situation, the peso-dollar official ex-change rate was P3.90 to the dollar in 1966 when Marcos became president. It fell to P20.53 to the dollar in 1986. The Philippines’ foreign debt rose from $360 million in 1962 to a whopping $28.3 billion in 1986, “making the Philippines one of the most heavily indebt-ed countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America,” said Boyce. This heavy debt, constituting more than one-half of the pres-ent $55 billion external debt, is now helping cost our govern-ment more than 40 percent of the nation’s budget to service.

On our foreign relations, Karnow observed: “… the U.S. foreign policy experts also perceived that the longer Marcos’s excesses continue, the faster the Communist in-surgency would spread … So his profligacy, corruption and repression presented a potential danger to America’s strategic interests.” America’s view of the Marcos regime was widely shared throughout the world, especially in the Western coun-tries. That is certainly one of the reasons that the U.S. moved decisively to help overthrow the Marcos regime. His ouster was celebrated worldwide as a triumph of democracy.

By all standards, political and social, it is absolutely clear that the Marcos 20-year regime from 1966 to 1986 was a total national disaster.

Developing amnesia on Martial Law



A long time ago, there was a huge apple tree. A little boy loved to come and play around it every day. He loved the tree top, ate the apples, took a nap under the shad-ow...He loved the tree and the tree loved to play with him. Time went by.......

The little boy had grown up and he no longer played around the tree everyday. One day the boy came back to the tree and he looked sad. “Come play with me,” the asked the boy. I am no longer a kid, I don’t ‘ play around trees any-more.” The boy re-

plied, “I want toys. I need money to buy them.” “Sorry, but I don’t have money.....but you can pick my ap-ples and sell them. Then you will have money.” The boy was so excited. He grabbed all the apples on the tree and left happily. The boy never came back after he picked the apples.

The tree was sad.. One day the boy returned and the tree was so excited. “Come and play with me” the tree said. I don’t have time to play. I have to work for my family. We need a house for shelter. Can you help me? “Sorry but I don’t have a house. But you can chop off my branches to build your house.” So the boy cut all the branches off the tree and left happily. The tree was glad to see him happy but the boy never came back since then.

The tree was lonely and sad. One hot summer day, the boy returned and the tree was so delighted. “Come and play with me!” the tree said. “I am

so sad and getting old. I want to go sailing to relax myself. Can you give me a boat? “ “Use my trunk to build your boat. You can sail far away and be happy.” So the boy cut the tree trunk to make a boat. He went sailing and never showed up for a very long long time.

Finally, the boy returned after he left for so many years. “Sorry, my boy, but I don’t have anything for you anymore. No more apples for yo u....” the tree said”. “I

don’t have teeth to bite” the

boy re-plied.

“No

more trunk

for you to climb on” I am too old for

that now” the boy said. “I really can’t give you anything.....the only

thing left is my dying roots” the tree said with tears. “I don’t need much now, just a place to rest. I am tired after all these years.” The boy re-plied “Good! Old Tree Roots is the best place to lean and rest on.” “Come, come sit down with me and rest “ The boy sat down and the tree was glad and smiled with tears......

This is a story for every-one. The tree is our parents. When we were young, we loved to play with Mom and Dad...When we grew up, we left them...only come to them when we need something or when we are in trouble. No matter what, parents will always be there and give ev-erything they can to make you happy. You may think the boy is cruel to the tree but that is how all of us are treating our parents.

Love your parents, no mat-ter where they are....

Because Electronic Pass-ports (ePassports) will be issued instead of the Machine Readable Passports (MRP) formerly issued, the Philip-pine Consular Outreach Program in National City originally scheduled for November 6, has been post-poned to November 13 and 14, 2010 at the COPAO Cen-ter, 832 “E” Avenue, National City, CA 91950. Service hours will be from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

The consular outreach pro-gram is being undertaken in cooperation with the Council of the Philippine American Organizations of San Diego County, Inc. (COPAO) under the sponsorship of Western Union.

The following consular services will be rendered:

1. Applications for Elec-tronic Passport (ePassport) (Cost: $60), to be returned to the applicant by mail at an additional cost of $6.

2. Applications for the retention and re-acquisition of Philippine citizenship pursu-ant to Republic Act 9225 or Dual Citizenship Law (Cost: $50). Oath-taking will be scheduled on the same day for qualified applicants.

3. Applications for Report of Marriage & Birth (Cost: $25) will be accepted but this will be processed in Los Angeles and returned to the applicant by mail at an addi-tional cost of $6.

4. Notarization of docu-ments (Cost: $25) will be accepted but this will be processed in Los Angeles and returned to the applicant by mail at an additional cost of $6.

STRICTLY BY AP-POINTMENT ONLY (by following the applicable scheduling steps below) AND WITH COMPLETED DOCUMENTS ONLY. NO WALK-IN APPLICANTS WILL BE ENTERTAINED. Please do not show up earlier than 30 minutes prior to your appointment time.

1. Appointment Sched-uling Steps for ePassport Applicants

a. Visit the Philippine Consulate website (www.philippineconsulatela.org) and download and accomplish the ePassport application form; and,

b. No later than 8 No-vember 2010 or until we receive 160 applications, whichever comes first, send an advance copy of the com-pleted ePassport application form and data page (bearing the name and photo) of the expired or expiring passport to the Consulate by fax (213) 639-0990. Thumbprints and signature must be affixed and all pertinent data on the

Consular Outreach postponed to

November 13 - 14, 2010application form must be completed. INCOMPLETE FORMS WILL NOT BE PROCESSED.

Note: 1. Personal appearance is

required in all cases (includ-ing applicants who are 65 years old and above and mi-nors who are below 18 years old).

2. Do not bring passport pictures. Passport pictures are to be taken by the Consulate.

3. The applicant must wear decent attire (no sleeveless and/or collarless attire) and without eyeglasses/colored contact lenses.

4. No facial piercings al-lowed.

2. Appointment Schedul-ing Steps for Dual Citizen-ship Applicants

a. Visit the Philippine Con-sulate website (www.philip-pineconsulatela.org) and print the Dual Citizenship Applica-tion form;

b. Complete the Dual Citizenship Application form; and,

c. No later than 8 No-vember 2010, send an ad-vance copy of the completed Dual Citizenship application form and supporting docu-ments to the Consulate by fax (213) 639-0990. Other than the thumbprint and photo which will be done on site, all pertinent data on the application form must be completed. Otherwise, incomplete forms will not be processed.

Note: 1. Oath-Taking will be

scheduled on the same day for qualified applicants.

2. Applicants should take their oath as Dual Citizens in DECENT ATTIRE. The Consulate shall refuse oath-taking to applicants wearing inappropriate outfit such as: Sleeveless shirts, Skimpy clothes, Shorts

Sandos, Slippers.

3. Appointment Schedul-ing Steps for Report of Mar-riage (ROM) & Birth (ROB)

a. Visit the Philippine Con-sulate website (www.philip-pineconsulatela.org) and print the ROM or ROB form;

b. Complete the ROM or ROB form; and,

c. No later than 8 Novem-ber 2010, send an advance copy (one set only) of the completed form and support-ing documents to the Consul-ate by fax (213) 639-0990. Incomplete forms will not be processed.

4. Appointment Schedul-ing Steps for Notarization of Documents

a. No later than 8 Novem-ber 2010, send an advance

copy of the document to be notarized to the Consulate by fax (213) 639-0990.

Information FOR ALL APPLICANTS

The Consulate regularly updates the appointment schedule posted on the web-site as they receive the com-pleted applications.

Once the names of the applicants are posted on the website schedule, all appli-cants are required to PER-SONALLY APPEAR dur-ing their appointment time for data verification, finger printing and photo/signature capture and must bring all original documents.

The final list of all ap-

plicants with pre-processed applications will be posted at the Consulate’s website (www.philippineconsulatela.org) by 11 November 2010.

All applicants are advised to transact their business directly with Consulate of-ficials and not through travel agencies.

Contact Information For information on

consular matters, interested parties may wish to call Mr. Eric Sierra at 1-213-637-3028. Regarding the schedule and venue call Fred Gallardo of COPAO at 619-850-0825.

Public Relations, COPAO-San Diego

Tel # 619-477-4090

ENGLEWOOD, COLO., Oct. 28, 2010 – The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) today announced that consum-ers can now send money trans-fers from nearly 70,000 West-ern Union Agent® locations in 27 countries directly to Globe Telecom and Smart Communi-cations mobile subscribers in the Philippines.

In addition, consumers in six countries can visit www.

Mobile Money Transfers Now Available from Nearly

70,000 Western Union Agent Locations in 27 Countries

Send from participating Agent locations, wester-nunion.com in 6 countries directly to the Philippines

westernunion.com to send funds online using a credit or debit card directly to Smart Communications or Globe Telecom subscribers’ “mobile wallets,” or accounts tied to their mobile phones.

Globe Telecom currently has 24 million subscribers, of which 1 million are enrolled in its GCASH mobile wallet service; Smart Communications has more than 45 million, of which more than 8 million are en-rolled in Smart Money.

To send a Western Union Mobile Money Transfer to a Globe GCASH or Smart Money accountholder, con-sumers can simply visit a participating Western Union Agent location in 27 countries or a Western Union website in Australia, Ireland, New Zea-land, Switzerland, the United Kingdom or the United States. The transaction is completed just like a traditional money

transfer, except that the sender provides the receiver’s mobile phone number and the funds are received in the receiver’s “mobile wallet” instead of be-ing paid out in cash.

“The Western Union Mobile Money Transfer service is a key part of our multi-channel strategy to offer our consum-ers numerous ways to send and receive money,” said Khalid Fellahi, Western Union’s Head

of Mobile Transaction Servic-es. “By continually expanding the number of locations where overseas Filipino workers can send funds to their loved ones’ mobile phones, we believe we are making it more convenient for our consumers in the Phil-ippines to receive funds how, where and when they want.”

More than half of the 70,000 send locations are in the United States, and more than 12,000 are in the U.K.

Western Union also offers the Mobile Money Transfer service in Kenya with Safari-com; in Malaysia with Maxis; and in South Africa with Absa Bank. The company also recently announced an agree-ment with EnStream in Canada and has agreements with Zain (Airtel) in Africa and Orascom in the Middle East and with the State Bank of India, the Tuni-sian Post and with the Bank of Commerce & Development (BoCD) in Libya.

About Western Union The Western Union Com-

pany (NYSE: WU) is a leader in global payment services. Together with its Vigo, Orlandi Valuta, Pago Facil and West-ern Union Business Solutions branded payment services, Western Union provides con-sumers and businesses with fast, reliable and convenient ways to send and receive mon-ey around the world, as well as send payments and purchase money orders. The Western Union, Vigo and Orlandi Valu-ta branded services are offered through a combined network of approximately 435,000 agent locations in 200 countries and territories. In 2009, The West-ern Union Company completed 196 million consumer-to-con-sumer transactions worldwide, moving $71 billion of principal between consumers, and 415 million business payments. For more information, visit www.westernunion.com.

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

journalusa.com

Survive ACritical Illness

Without a

Financial Crisis

A critical illness can mean lost income, unreimbursedmedical expenses, caregiver costs—extra stress at a timewhen you can least afford it. American General Life andAccident Insurance Company (AGLA) has critical illness

coverage that supplements your existinghealth insurance so you can focus on important

things—like getting well.

AGLA, the critical difference when itcomes to your peace of mind.

The underwriting risks, financial and contractual obligations and support functionsassociated with products issued by American General Life and Accident Insurance

Company (AGLA) are its responsibility. American International Group does notunderwrite any insurance policy referenced herein. AGLA does not solicit

business in the states of New York and Wyoming.© 2009 All rights reserved.

Gen Silverio

CA License # 0G86915

Agent

San Diego, CA 92018

Phone: 619.851.9547

2650 Camino del Rio N, # 205

Gen Silverio, Agent619.851.9547#0G86915

Tess de la Pena, Agent619.565.4633

#0G48375

The Apple Tree


The voice of the people is the voice of God. Sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority ema-nates from them.

The people’s voice is heard through elections. Their sov-ereign powers are exercised directly through people’s initiative or propositions and indirectly through their elected representatives.

Vox Populi Vox Dei: Got it?

U.S. House Speaker-elect John Boehner of Ohio

The recently held elections gave some very interesting results. In general, the people handed power to the Repub-licans and Tea Partiers in the House and to the Democrats in the Senate.

Under the U.S. Constitu-tion, the House is granted the exclusive powers to initiate revenue bills, impeach offi-cials, and elect the President in Electoral College dead-locks.

The Senate in turn is granted the exclusive powers to give consent to treaties as a precondition to their ratifica-tion, to give consent or con-

firmation of appointments of Cabinet secretaries, federal judges, other federal execu-tive officials, military officers, regulatory officials, ambas-sadors, and other federal uniformed officers. It is also empowered to conduct the trial of federal officials im-peached by the House.

Of course, aside from their exclusive powers, the two Congressional bodies are together empowered to legis-late on other matters benefit-ing the people provided that the President signs the passed bills into law. If the President vetoes them, it takes 2/3 votes of the House and the Senate voting separately to override the veto. This means that the President’s legislative power is really equivalent to 2/3 votes minus 1.

Recognizing the above-mentioned Constitutional

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada

mandate, and considering that the Republicans were given control of the House and the Democrats the Senate, what then were the voices shouted by the people?

It might be advisable to look at the surveys prior to the elections as well as the exit polls on issues that are of concern to the people. These issues should be read and analyzed together with the election results.

The issues brought out during the campaign were taxes, deficit, social security, healthcare, financial regula-tions, Afghanistan, energy and global warming, Start Treaty, and education. According to exit polls conducted by the Edison Institute and published by CNN and the Associated Press, 62% of the voters name the economy as their most im-portant issue this year. Ranked as a distant second is health care being named by 19%, illegal immigration follows at 8% and Afghanistan at 7%.

Worth mentioning and resulting from the exit polls is that the respondents were unhappy with everyone in government, from President Obama to Congress and that they have a similar view of the Democrats and the Repub-licans – NEGATIVE.

The Democrats got a posi-tive opinion of 43% from the voters but a negative one of 53%. The Republicans were given thumbs up by 41% but thumbs down also by 53% from the voters.

How do we read the elec-tion results and the exit polls as expression of the will of the American people?

The Republican-controlled House is expected to initi-ate revenue bills that would reduce taxes, spending and correspondingly, deficits. It is also expected to initiate bills that would try to help the economy and encourage job creation. The Bush tax cuts are expiring. Both parties are in favor of extending the tax cuts for couples earn-ing not more than $250K or for singles earning not more than $200K. The Republicans would fight for extending tax cuts for everybody including earners of more than $250K. There would be disagreements between the parties.

The American people’s mandate is for the parties to compromise. The people ex-pect both to find ways to work together.

The Democratic-controlled Senate is expected to give full attention and review of the revenue and economic bills initiated by the House. It is likewise expected that it would have its own proposals. The voters want the Senate to accelerate confirmation of President Obama’s federal appointments be they judges, ambassadors, military offi-cers or other federal officials. Treaties like the START (Stra-tegic Arms Reduction Treaty) which was entered into be-tween U.S. and Russia should be given greater attention. Again, there would be dis-

agreements between parties.The American people’s

mandate is also for the parties to learn how to work together and seek to compromise.

The art of RECONCILI-ATION of bills by the House and Senate shall be tested and displayed for the benefit of the sovereign American people.

In more specific terms, the mid-term elections also

Republican Ohio Cong. Steve Austria

brought some special results that affected Filipino-Amer-icans. My barber particu-larly mentioned two elected Filipino-Americans who won overwhelmingly. Republican Ohio Congressman Steve Austria got reelected as a member of the new House catapulted by the historic Re-publican tsunami. Democrat Maryland State Delegate Kris Valderrama also got reelected with tremendous support from Filipinos in coalition with other minorities. She won de-spite opposition from her own State Senator and the party machine in both the primaries and the general election. She was however endorsed and supported by the AFSME (American Federal, State, and Municipal Employees) Union, the winning Maryland Gov-ernor, Senate President and Speaker.

In California and in Ne-vada where Filipinos are

Democrat Maryland Delegate Kris Valderrama

dominant among Asians, the former is partially credited for the victories of Governor-elect Jerry Brown and Re-elected U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer of California and Nevada’s Senate Majority Floor Leader Harry Reid.

By giving the Republicans some major powers includ-ing some exclusive ones, the people correspondingly also gave them major responsibili-ties. They have two years to

show how they would exer-cise the given powers to meet their responsibilities.

The Democrats in the Sen-ate are given another chance within a longer period to show how they would work with President Obama and the Re-publicans both in the Senate and in the House.

Will all the parties con-cerned listen to Vox Populi Vox Dei? We will know in the next two years.

(619) 702-3051

$50

Anong pag-ibig mayroon ka?Nang ang pag-ibig sa puso ay unang sumibolAng mahiwagang damdamin ay hindi matukoySa murang isipan na wari ay buhul-buholKatanungan sa sarili’y walang maihatol. Dulot ng pag-ibig kung magkaminsa’y ligaligHatid ay kalituhan sa musmos pa ang isipKung ito ay aarukin palad nang maliripNg mga di pa talastas inog ng daigdig.

Ang pag-ibig kapag labis tunay na masamaLalo kung sa sariling mataas ang paghangaAng tingin sa iba’y maliit at alipustaAng kahihinatnan kaibiga’y mawawala.

Mayroong pag-ibig na di dapat ikarangalPagsuyo ng magsing-irog na kubli’t panakawKung tahasang susuway sa utos ng MaylalangMagagantimpala’y parusa ng Kalangitan.

Ang pag-iibigan kung ito ma’y walang basbasAt sa batas ng Diyos ay hindi lumalampasSa pagtitingina’y walang ibang hinahangadKundi yaong kabutihan at banal na paglingap.

Pag-ibig ng magulang ay napakadakilaPagka’t sila ang sa atin ay nagbigay-palaNararapat na suklian nang may pagkukusaBukal ang pagsuyo, sa pagkukunwari’y wala.

Ang pag-ibig sa kapwa lalo na sa kaawayKung wariin ay sadyang kay hirap matultulanNguni’t iya’y kautusan ng Poong MaykapalKapag nagampana’y kapuri-puring lubusan.

Mayroon pa kayang sa bayan ay umiibigNg tulad ng bayaning buhay ay ibinuwis?Kung may nalalabi pa’y tumingala sa langitBaka rin may matagpuan pangala’y magsambit.

audele09-30-10

Male & Female Yorkie Pups needs

a good new home for adoption

contact me if you are interested on

[email protected]


Housing and Real Estate

EVELYN SALAZAR D.D.S.FAMILY & COSMETIC DENTISTRY

(619) 426-2040 We Speak

Tagalog

Offi ce Hours: Monday to Friday 9:30AM to 6:00PM

Saturday 9:30AM - 3:00PM

1339 3rd Avenue, Chula Vista, CA 91911 across Seafood City, Chula Vista

EXTRACTIONS (Bunot) $60

For new patients without insurance Limited time offer only

GET ACQUAINTED OFFER!$39 Reg. $125

$25 for childrenIncludes: A full oral examination, Necessary X-Ray Cleaning (in absence of

existing periodontal disease)Plus FREE Toothbrush and ToothpasteFor new patients without insurance Limited time offer only

TEETH WHITENING( Special 1 Hr.) In Offi ce Whitening“ZOOM” as seen on TV $289

EVELYN SALAZAR D.D.S.

For patients without insurance, Limited time offer only

Looking For A Gentle Dentist?

• Personalize Attention• New and Modern Offi ce• Most Insurance accepted• Payment Plans (Zero Financing)• Digital x-ray (very low radiation) • Cosmetic (Veneers-lumineers)• Crown and Bridge, Dentures• Children and Adult Braces

from

COMPLETE DENTURESUPPER OR LOWER 750$

For new patients without insurance Limited time offer only

Medical Insurance Accepted

SAN DIEGO (Oct. 26, 2010) – On Oct. 15, Brook-field Homes announced an unprecedented year-end sale on new homes from Carlsbad to Scripps Ranch to Chula Vista. Ten days into the sale, 10 homes have been sold, according to the leading San Diego home builder.

Brookfield Sells 10 Homes In 10 Days

“With extraordinarily low interest rates and incentives, buyers are moving quickly to purchase a home before year-end,” said Lora Heramb, vice president of sales and market-ing for Brookfield Homes San Diego/Riverside. “Ten sales in 10 days is a clear indica-tor that the demand for new homes is strong in San Di-ego.”

Brookfield is reporting four home sales at Cordova at Windingwalk in Chula Vista, three at Mahogany at Old Creek Ranch in San Mar-cos, two at Rockrose at The Foothills in Carlsbad, and one at Serenity at the Estates at Stonebridge in San Diego.

“These specials are go-

ing fast,” said Heramb. “It’s very exciting to see so many people visiting our sales of-fices, and taking advantage of these incredible deals.”

With homes ranging from amenity-rich condo-miniums priced from the mid $300,000s, to luxury homes on pool-sized homesites in the

high $800,000s, Brookfield is offering year-end savings and incentives across the board.

New home neighborhoods now selling include:

With two sales in 10 days and strong interest in the remaining homesites, Rock-rose at The Foothills features eco-savvy new homes in Carlsbad priced from the high $500,000s. San Diego’s most energy-efficient new homes, the single-family detached homes at Rockrose have ap-proximately 2,116 to 3,167 square feet and three to four bedrooms. As part of their year-end sale, Brookfield is offering up to $50,000 in sav-ings and a new low tax rate of 1.21 percent at Rockrose. For

more information, visit the sales office at 3538 Glen Ave. in Carlsbad or call 888-284-8861.

With three homes sold in 10 days and continued home-site reservations, Mahogany at Old Creek Ranch in San Marcos is located just east of Carlsbad and offers homes value priced from the high $500,000s. Mahogany’s one- and two-story single-family detached homes have 2,410 to 3,875 square feet and three to five bedrooms. As part of their year-end sale, Brookfield is offering up to $74,000 and a new low tax rate of 1.17 percent at Mahogany. For more information, call 888-559-7734 or visit the sales office at 1756 Burbury Way, San Marcos.

With one recent sale and move-in ready homes near sell-out, Serenity at The Estates at StoneBridge in San Diego offers spacious, single-family detached homes within the Poway Unified School District. With pricing starting from the high $800,000s and open-space vistas, Brook-field’s Serenity homes span approximately 4,040 to 4,759 square feet and have five or six bedrooms. As part of their year-end sale, Brookfield is offering up to $85,000 in sav-ings at Serenity. For more in-formation, call 888-572-5861 or visit the sales information center at 14426 Old Creek Road, San Diego.

With a limited supply of move-in ready homes remain-ing, Trellis at Windingwalk in Chula Vista features two-story, single-family detached homes with prices starting in the mid $400,000s. Trellis has four floor plans ranging from approximately 2,361 to 2,620 square feet and with four to

five bedrooms. Brookfield is now offering up to $37,000 in savings and a new low tax rate of 1.66 percent at Trellis as part of their year-end sale. For more information about Trellis, visit the model homes at 2346 Trellis Street, Chula Vista, or call 888-520-3599.

With four homes sold in 10 days and demand still strong, Cordova at Windingwalk offers six floor plans ranging from approximately 1,638 to 2,024 square feet. Priced from the mid $300,000s , the two-story attached homes have three or four bedrooms, 2.5 or three baths and two-car attached garages. As part of their year-end sale, Brookfield is offering up to $35,000 in savings and a new low tax rate of 1.60 percent at Cor-dova. For more information, call 888-553-3018 or visit the sales office at 1822 Casa Morro Street, Chula Vista.

All tax rate examples based on specific home pricing; actual tax rate will increase or decrease based on the actual sales price of the new home. Please visit www.brookfield-SD.com for more details.

Brookfield San Diego Builders, Inc. builds new homes in San Diego and Riverside counties. Brookfield currently is building in the master planned communities of The Foothills in Carlsbad, Windingwalk in Chula Vista, The Estates at StoneBridge east of Scripps Ranch in San Diego, and Old Creek Ranch new homes in San Marcos. The company also has sig-nificant land holdings in Riverside County. For more information about Brookfield communities and to learn about the company’s signature construction differences, visit www.brookfieldsd.com.

SAN DIEGO (Oct 27, 2010) – Leading San Diego homebuilder Davidson Com-munities has returned to the Del Sur master-planned community to complete the build-out of The Sentinels, one of the most architectur-ally distinctive new home neighborhoods in San Diego County.

Davidson Communities Now Building The

Sentinels at Del SurFour fully appointed model homes now available for sale

Davidson is now selling four fully appointed model homes that range from 2,794 to 3,296 square feet with three to four bedrooms and 3.5 to 4.5 bathrooms, priced from the $800,000s. Designed by Scheurer Architects, the four furnished models were mer-chandised by Design Line Interiors of Del Mar.

The Sentinels are built in clusters of eight homes on the perimeter of an interior plaza and are elevated to capture breezes and views found within the microclimate of the San Dieguito River Val-ley. Designed to reflect rustic European villages and located along Tuscan-like hilltops within Del Sur, the Sentinels floor plans feature private in-terior courtyards and inviting rear patios that set the scene for elegant indoor/outdoor liv-ing and entertaining.

Davidson, who also built Del Sur’s Kensington neigh-borhood, is planning a grand opening for The Sentinels in early 2011. Construction on the first phase of 17 new homes will commence this year, with first move-ins avail-able next spring. These homes will range from 2,772 to 3,329 square feet.

“The architecture of The Sentinels was first unveiled at Santaluz, just a mile south of Del Sur,” said Bill Da-vidson, president of the Del Mar-based homebuilding firm he founded in 1978. “Buyers who missed that opportunity are excited to find a new gen-eration of The Sentinels now

on the market.”Three of the four floor

plans at The Sentinels feature downstairs master suites, a popular feature with multi-generational families and those who may be welcoming grown children back home.

The sales office at The Sentinels is located at 15682 Beltaire Lane and is opened

daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information, email [email protected] or call 858-756-4283.

Homes at the Sentinels by Davidson at Del Sur are within walking distance of neighborhood parks with pools, playgrounds, picnic

areas and barbecues. Located within the Poway Unified School District, Del Sur is also convenient to two new schools, Del Sur Elementary and Del Norte High.

“We’re thrilled to be build-ing again at Del Sur, which we consider to be an extraor-dinary, one-of-a-kind commu-nity,” said Davidson.

Del Sur is located in the coastal hills of North County, just a few miles from the coast. The community is widely known for its com-mitment to sustainable build-ing practices and innovative energy and water efficient features. The Del Sur Ranch House, San Diego’s first LEED Platinum building, is located at 15455 Paseo Del Sur in the city of San Diego.

Building award-winning new homes in San Diego for over 30 years, Davidson Com-munities information is avail-able online at www.Davidson-Communities.com.

ciary’s education correlates to the education required by the position. Thus, the beneficiary does possess a degree in the correct field for the position as her degree in agriculture and forestry with specialization in dairy technology has prepared her to perform the required job duties of food technolo-gist for the petitioner. DOL’s standardized occupational standards support the prem-ise set forth by the petitioner that food science is a broad field, encompassing numer-ous specialty degrees, such as the beneficiary’s credentials. The beneficiary does have a United States baccalaureate degree or a foreign equivalent degree to food science and meets the requirements of the labor certification, and, thus, does qualify for preference visa classification.”

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.

Filipino Won Appeal for

Denial of His Work Visa



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

Ni Romeo Nicolas

Mga Tulang Tagalog

Sayang!!!Hindi nila ikakaila na sila ay nagmahalan,Tanging sila’t sila lamang ang syang tunay na may alam.Dahil kapwa musmos pa lang at mura pa ang isipan,Pigil, upang patatagin ang tunay na pagmamahal..

May mga pagkakataong kamay niya’y tangan-tangan,Dalaga’y ‘di umiimik, si binata, nasisiyahan.Noon nila napagtanto ang pag-ibig pala’y ganyan,Ang ligayang nadarama parang walang katapusan.

Ligaya sa bawat saglit kapag sila’y magkapiling,Nanatiling ito’y lingid, sa puso ay sila pa rin.Kapwa sila nagsasalo sa ligayang nililihim,Sa tamis ng mga ngiti, pasulyap na mga tingin.

Ibang-iba ang panahon noong sila ay bata pa,Kahit mga kaibigan ay ‘di alam na sila na.Kadalasa’y naguusap yaong puso’t mga mata,At ang kilos bakas namang, pinong PINOY, FILIPINA.

Kapag may pagkakataong sarilinin yaong oras,Para bagang ang paligid, sampagita’t mga rosas.Kapwa naging maligaya at tuloy na nangangarap,Upang maging gabay nila pagsumapit yaong bukas.

Dumating rin ang panahong nagtumibay ang damdamin,Higit itong tumatamis, pagmamahal ‘di mapigil.Upang mabigyan ng linaw, nadarama’y pagtibayin,Sa maikli’t munting liham, umamin na, nagtapat din.

Gumaang ang pakiramdam, wala na rin ang pangamba,Inangkin din ang paligid sa sandaling kapiling sya.At ang lahat ng pangarap, sadyang para sa kanila,Patuloy na tinutupad upang maging maligaya.

Ganyang ganyan yaong buhay, buhay Pinoy, Filipina Nasimulang pagmamahal inasahang tuluyan na.Sa pagtagal ng panahong sumalunga sa problema,Ngayo’y kapwa NASASAKTAN, naiwan na NAGIISA.

From: Collection Of Love PoemsRomeo S. Nicolas

TOTOO KAYA ITONG nakarating sa amin, na ku-makalat ngayon sa LA California na isang caregiver ngayon ang trabaho ng nag-iisang Superstar na si Nora Aunor sa California USA?

Ayon sa mga pinoy na na-kausap namin, sa Simi Valley daw ito nagtratrabaho bilang caregiver at isang artistang American na halos kasing edad nito ang kanyang pinag-sisilbihan, pero still uncon-firmed report pa rin.

Minsan pa nga raw, nagka-car pool pa daw ito papunta sa Simi Valley California na galing ito sa Santa Monica, kung saan siya nakatira.Sabi pa ng mga chismosang pinoy sa amerika, one on one na-man ang trabaho ng Superstar at super yaman naman ang inaalagaan nito, ibig sabihin mataas ang nagiging salary ni Ate Guy.Basta kami, hindi pa rin kami naniniwala sa chismis na ito, although wala namang masama maging Caregiver sa amerika dahil malaki naman ang kita.Sabi nga namin bukas ang column na ito sa anumang pahayag ng nag-iisang Superstar, dagdag pa nga ng mga pinoy na na-kausap namin sasamahan pa raw kami para makita si Ate Guy.

Matagal na rin kasi, na hindi naming nainterbyu si Ate Guy kaya interesado rin kami na makausap siyang muli para sa pagbabalik niya sa Pilipinas para gumawa ng movie.Im sure miss na miss na siya ng mga Noranians sa bansa natin, maging kami miss na rin naming siya ma-panood muli sa movie o isang tv show.

Naalala pa naman namin ang kwento ni Ate Guy noong nag-guest siya sa “Citizen Pinoy” ng TFC with Atty. Gurfinkel, natuto daw siyang sumakay ng tren mag-isa noong nagsisimula pa lang siya dito sa Amerika at hindi pa siya American citizen noon.Halos naiiyak pa nga ang Superstar sa mga revela-tion niya sa naturang show at ganon na lang ang pasasala-mat niya kay Atty. Gurfinkel nang makuha niya ang kan-yang greencard sa tulong nito.

Basta kami, excited kami na makausap muli ang Su-perstar at isulat ang mga adventures niya dito ngayon sa Amerika.Anu kaya ang masasabi ng mga Noranians

How true? Nora Aunor isang caregiver sa California????

tungkol sa balitang ito, e karamihan pa naman sa kanila ay ka-facebook ko at lagi nilang pinakikita ang kanilang pagmamahal sa Superstar sa pamamagitan ng pag-post ng mga songs at movies dati ni Ate guy.

BABALIK NA DAW SA TV PATROL sina Korina Sanchez at Noli De Castro, ito ngayon ang usap-usapan ngayon sa showbiz.Sina Karen Davila at Julius Babao naman ay tsugi sa naturang

ang petition na TRO ng chan-nel 2 para pigilan ang show ni Mr. Revillame, mas pinaboran ang pagpapatuloy ng nasa-bing show ni Willie sa Tv 5, kaya tuloy ang ligaya ng mga tagahanga ng naturang show.Siempre hindi rin patatalo ang ABS-CBN, kailangan nila gumawa ng paraan para hindi matalo ang Tv Patrol.Abangan na lang natin ang announce-ment ng kapamilya network sa pagbabalik nina Noli de Castro at Korina Sanchez.

Pero anu pa itong nabali-taan namin na hanggang De-cember na lang daw ang Eat Bulaga sa GMA 7, at lilipat na raw ito sa channel 5. Kaya pala hindi maibigay ng Tv5 ang lunchtime slot sa show ni Willie Revillame dahil papa-sok ang grupo nina

Joey Deleon at Vic Sotto.

Mas bongga raw ngayon ang channel 5 compare sa GMA 7 ,mas mataas daw ang bayad kung sa mga sweldo ng talents ang pag-uusapan. Although hindi naman GMA 7 ang producer ng Eat Bulaga, but still yung suporta raw na puedeng ibigay sa naturang show ng Kapatid Network ang hindi matatawaran.Yes, malaking kawalan sa naturang network kung totoong lilipat na ito sa channel 5.To think na sinasabi ni Willie na malapit na mapanood ang channel 5 international kagaya ng TFC at PinoyTv.Pwes abangan na lang natin pagbabago ulit at paglilipat sa ibang channel ang mga programs na ito.

NAKAKATUWA NA-MAN ANG BLIND ITEM NI Ms. Cristy Fermin sa Juicy ng channel 5, halatang si Pokwang ang tinutukoy ng nasabing blind item.Hindi raw kumita ang last concert ni Pokwang sa Music Box dahil nakarma daw ito dahil sa walang utang na loob daw ito sa isang TV host na tumulong sa kanya.

Hindi raw totoo ang press releases ni Pokwang na dinumog ang concert nito sa naturang lugar, kahit sabihin pa na maraming guest ito ng mga guapong kapamilya talents.Tama lang daw ang taong nanood, kung baga sa business hindi lugi pero wala rin kinitang malaki.Bawi lang daw ang puhunan para sa concert na pinagmamalaki ni Pokwang.Nasa ibang bansa ngayon ang komendyante at doon kasama niya muli sina Piolo, Sam at John Lloyd para sa isang concert.Tiyak kung nandito si Pokwang , im sure pipiyok yan at hindi sasang-ayon sa sinabi ni Ms. Cristy Fermin.

Nora Aunor

Dapat kasi kay Pokwang,ginalang na lang niya si Willie Revillame para maganda ang vibes sa kanya ng mga pangyayari.Kahit kami parang nawalan kami ng ganang panoodin na si Pok-wang dahil sa mga nangyari noong nawala ang Wowowee sa channel 2.Hanga pa na-man kami sa kanya, kaya lang kumampi ba naman kay Kris Aquino noong panahon ng election at ipinakita pa niya sa camera.Puede naman na tahi-mik na lang siya kung ayaw niya sa kandidato ni Willie, kung baga respeto man lang sa kasama mong host sa naturang program.

Pero natutuwa kami ngayon sa Win na Win, dahil ang sumasalang talaga ay ang apat na hitmakers na sina Rico J Puno, Rey Val-era, Nonoy Suniga at Marco Sison, mukhang nakuha nila ang timpla ng kagaya sa Wowowee.Buti na lang at hindi puro si Pokwang ang pumapapel sa show,nabigyan ng mahabang time ang apat, na siyang alas ngayon ng channel 2 sa kanilang pantan-ghaling show.Marami na ring mga pinoy dito sa Amerika ang natutuwa sa apat,pero sabi nga nila inaantay pa nila muli ang pagbabalik sa tv ni Willie Revillame dito sa Amerika.

BINABATI PALA NAMIN ANG ORGANIZATION NG PSORPHIL, sa pamamahala ng aming friend na si Josef De Guzman na overall chair-man ,maging sa bagong tatag niyang PsorAsia. Si Dr. Lorna Fernandez-Frez naman ang president of PsorAsiaMD.Kailan nainterbyu si Josef sa morning show ng chan-nel 5, about the organization.Psorphil exists to encourage psoriasis patients and non patients,doctors and sup-porters connect, advocate, research and support people who have psoriasis.Wala sil-ang members dito sa Califor-nia, kaya yung mga interesado , hanapin nyo lang ang grupo sa kanilang website o kaya tawagan nyo na lang ako dito sa Asian Journal .

Sa aming kaibigan na si Ms. Stargazer ng DZMM, inaantay pa namin ang inyong vibes para sa amin. At least hindi pa kami nakakalimutan ng pamosong announcer ng radio ng DZMM.Kamakailan lang lumabas siya sa Hallow-een episode ng XXX, im sure napanood nyo siya sa TFC. Nakakapanindig balahibo talaga ang naturang episode.Basta inaantay pa namin ang vibes nyo tungkol sa aming buhay here in America.

Korina Sanchez at Noli De Castro

show, kaya kung napapansin nyo wala ngayon ang dalawa at ang sabi ay nasa ibang bansa at nagbabakasyon.

Pero ang lahat na ito ay chismis pa lang at wala pang konpirmasyon para sa kanil-ang istasyon.Ang dahilan daw ay para lalong tapatan ang Willing Willie ni Willie Revil-lame na umaalagwa rin sa rat-ing.Mahigpit kasi ang labanan ngayon sa rating ng Tv Patrol , 24 oras at show ni Willie sa channel 5, halos parepareho lang ang rating nila at hindi nagkakalayo.Kaya marahil minarapat ng channel 2 na gawing mas mabigat ang casting, ibinalik sina Noli at Korina, na tiyak mas magan-dang kombinasyon.

Alam nyo naman na denied

Room for RentNo smoking. No drugs.

Close to all.$400 per month plus utilities

Call: (619) 746-3416

Showbiz Watcher

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

by Ogie Cruz


MAKE $400 IN ONE WEEKEND: $12 per hour + Bonus

SALES EVENT WORKERS NEEDEDAt: Ramada Conference Center San

Diego/Kearny Mesa4 days – November 11-14

Email: [email protected] 727-853-3366 (call from 10am-3pm)

Now Available:

Tawa’t Tula ng mga Piling Katatawanan

By Joe Cabrera

A Collecton of Jokes Written in Pilipino Verse

$10.00 a copy

Call Asian Journal San Diego619-474-0588

AMERASIAN CUISINE

TulaSerye ng Pag-ibig

Ika-4 na Yugto

NAANTALANG PAGTATAPAT! Ilang araw ang lumipas sa isipa’y di mapuknatAng larawan ng diwata na kaniyang napangarapSa totoong buhay ang nasa ay matagpuang ganapAng binibining sa sarili’y laging bumabagabag. Kinaumagahan isang araw ay may nasulyapanIsang dalaginding kung kumilos ay may kayumianMga mata’y nangungusap kawangki ng bathalumanBinuhay sa kanyang diwa ang tunay na kaanyuan. Ano nga at napagtantong siya na ang hinahanapAng diwata sa panaginip na kanyang nililiyagSa langit ay napatingala’t nasambit ay salamatAng malaong pinipita’y nakita na rin sa wakas. Walang pagsidlan ng nag-uumapaw na kagalakanSa puso ay bumalot at nagpasigla nang lubusanKung paanong sasabihin sa dilag na natagpuanSa nangyaring panaginip s’ya ang Reynang itinanghal. Lumapit-dili na mapagpasiyahan ang gagawinKagat-labi at naumid kataga’y anong hirap sambitinAng kadunguang naghahari’y gamundong suliraninSaloobin ay masabi sa babaeng sakdal hinhin.

Atubili pang dumais upang pakay ay ipagtapatKinalma ang katauhan at nagkunwang mayro’ng gilasNa tila buo ang tapang na ang nais ay ihayagNguni’t ‘naig na kimi salita’y di naibulalas. Nabuo sa isipang ang balak ay ipagpalibanNapagwaring di pa marahil na ito’y ipaalamBaka kung agad-agad magdulot ng kabiglaananMaghinala at ipalagay na kathang-isip lamang. Gaano man kabigat sa kalooba’y kinikimkimAng pagkaantala ng sana’y dapat na babanggitinDito niya naalala ang magandang tagubilinDi dapat magpadalus-dalos sa ano mang gawain. audele10-18-10

BookshelfRead previous articles by visiting our website at www.asian-journalusa.com

“Duty to Extend Assistance to the Commission. – The departments, bureaus, offices, agencies or instrumentalities of the Government, includ-ing government-owned and controlled corporations, are hereby directed to extend such assistance and cooperation as the Commission may need in the exercise of its powers, execution of its functions and discharge of its duties and responsibilities with the end in view of accomplishing its mandate. Refusal to extend such assistance or coopera-tion for no valid or justifiable reason or adequate cause shall constitute a ground for disci-plinary action against the re-fusing official or personnel.”

There is evidence to sug-gest that Lagman and other Arroyo allies went to the SC to jettison the PTC after see-ing it was just a matter of time that GMA et al. would get their comeuppance for making the Philippines and her ad-ministration the most corrupt in our history actionable not simply under Philippine laws but also when the UNCAC and other international agree-ments kick in.

GMA et al. seemed to have opted for reciprocal favors of appointing the Chief Justice and most associate justices after the Chinese Govern-ment reneged on an earlier understanding to grant them asylum.

What are their options? GMA et al. should step up and start negotiation with the PTC on their ill-gotten wealth in the Philippines. By authority of the PTC and the power of attorney of DOJ pursuant to above-quoted Sec. 10, EO No. 1 that may be granted Pamu-sa, GMA et al. can negotiate settlement of their illicit assets in the US or other foreign jurisdictions with us.

Pamusa has already filed with the FBI charges of cor-ruption against GMA et al. by an authority granted by the USDOJ. Any negotiation in the US will therefore involve Pamusa.

Hopefully, this will be followed by current and other former government officials, their close associates and fam-ily members, private business-men and individuals from the Marcos era to the present that have amassed illicit assets from the proceeds of corrup-tion, evaded taxes on illegal income, and make a clean slate of their unexplained real estate, securities, and other acquisitions locally and over-seas.

Such gestures will spur productive activities and eco-nomic development to help the poor and GMA et al. may yet establish lasting legacy they took for granted while in power and, thus, deserve the gratitude of President Aquino and the Filipino people.

Asylum for GMA in China?


You Gotta Have Waby Robert Whiting

Product DetailsPub. Date: March 2009Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing GroupFormat: Paperback , 416ppSales Rank: 192,830

Series: VintageISBN-13: 9780307455970ISBN: 0307455971Edition Description: OriginalSynopsisA hilarious, informative, and riveting account of Japanese baseball and the cultural clashes that ensued when Americans began playing there professionally.

In Japan, baseball is a way of life. It is a philosophy. It is besuboru. Its most impor-tant element is wa—group harmony—embodied in the proverb “The nail that sticks up shall be hammered down.” In this witty and incisive book, Robert Whiting gives us a close-up look at besuboru’s teams, obsessive ritualism, and history, as seen through the eyes of American play-ers who found the Japanese approach—rigorous pregame

practices, the tolerance for tie games, injured pitchers en-couraged to “pitch through the pain”—completely baffling. With vivid accounts of East meeting West, involving Babe Ruth, Ichiro Suzuki, Bobby Valentine, Japanese home run king Sadaharu Oh, and many others, this lively and com-pletely unique book is an utter gem and baseball classic.

Publishers WeeklyThe ``wa’’ one must have is the group harmony that is the essence of Japanese baseball. According to PW , ``this interesting comparative study of the sport as it is played on both sides of the Pacific concentrates on the American stars who have gone to play in Japan.’’ Photos. (Oct.)

Rules of Vengeance by Christopher Reich

Product DetailsPub. Date: August 2009Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing GroupSold By: Barnes & NobleFormat: NOOKbook (eBook) , 320ppSales Rank: 2,866Series: Jonathan Ransom Series , #2File Size: 2190 KBISBN-13: 9780385530309ISBN: 0385530307SynopsisA riveting sequel to the New York Times bestseller Rules of Deception that confirms Christo-pher Reich as the master of the espionage thriller.Months after foiling an attack on a commercial jetliner, Doctors Without Borders physician Jona-than Ransom is working under an assumed name in a remote

corner of Africa while his wife, Emma, desperate to escape the wrath of Division, the secret American intelligence agency she betrayed, has vanished into the netherworld of international espionage. Both look forward to sharing a stolen weekend in London—until an ambush on a convoy of limousines turns their romantic rendezvous into a ter-rorist bloodbath. In the aftermath, Emma dis-appears and Jonathan is ap-prehended by the police and threatened with life imprison-ment unless he helps secure his wife’s capture. Faced with an impossible decision, Jonathan makes a daring escape. On the run, herealizes that his only op-tion is to become a spy himself in order to track down Emma and discover the true nature of the conspiracy she appears to be masterminding. In the process, Jonathan begins to realize that all along he’s been a pawn in a high-stakes game of internation-al intrigue and one-upsmanship far beyond his imagining.


Rooms for RentNo Smoking,

No Drugs. In a quiet National City residential

neighborhood. Call 619.746-3416

I buy Diabetic Finger Stick Test Tapes.

Call (619) 543-8904

Leave a message. Speak slowly and I will call you back

TONY’S HANDYMAN SERVICEBathroom remodeling, tile,

concrete, painting, fence, patio covers, flooring, laminate &

Plumbing. Free Estimate.Call Tony (619) 906-6698

Caregiver/Reliever needed for 6-Bed RCFE

elderly facilities in San Marcos and Oceanside

Experience preferred.Must be legal resident.

Call Leo(619) 252-2929

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

11/05/10

L Escamila

10x4x10400

CITY OF SAN DIEGOEngineering & Capital Projects Department

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALFOR

Two (2) As-Needed Cultural Resources Consultants for Citywide Engineering Programs and Projects (H115307 AND H115317)

The City of San Diego (City) is requesting proposals from highly qualified cultural resources firms for consultant services for Two (2) As-Needed Cultural Resources Consultants for Citywide Engineering Programs and Projects (H115307 and H115317).

It is the policy of the City to provide equal opportunity in its cultural resources 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] City 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, Two (2) As-Needed Cultural Resources Consultants for Citywide Engineering Programs and Projects (H115307 and H115317). For questions about RFP procedures please call John Mendivil at (619) 235-5855.

A pre-proposal meeting will be held on Wednesday, November 17, 2010, 10:00:00 AM, at Engineering & Capital Projects Department, Bridgepoint Building, Wada - Large Conference Room 8A, 8th Floor, 600 B Street, San Diego, CA 92101. It is strongly recommended that all interested 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 James Bajet, at 619-533-5112 at least five working days prior to the meeting to ensure availability.

Proposals are due no later than 5:00 p.m. Friday, December 10, 2010, 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 con-ference 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 SERvICESTwo (2) Consultant firms shall each provide As-Needed Cultural Resources Consultant Services to support the City of San Diego’s Engineering & Capital Projects (E&CP) Department with various engineering, as well as operations and maintenance programs and projects. Local and state funds shall be used and the Consultant shall provide services to ensure planning and permitting activities remain in compliance with jurisdictional regulations (local, state, and federal), and related expenditure guidelines. The remainder of the Scope of Services is contained in the Request for Proposal for Two (2) As-Needed Cultural Resources Consultants for Citywide Engineering Programs and Projects (H115307 and H115317), as Exhibit A to the Draft Agreement.

To:




lines, it costs


Fax #


(619) 474-0373

__________________



11/05/10

Mike Sigman

5x4x10200

Small Business Team Building EventsMeet with Shortlisted Prime Contractors

To Get Involved

Kiewit/Sundt will be holding (4) Four outreach events where you can meet with the Short Listed Prime Contractors. These Contractors are preparing to bid on the balance of the construction

packages for the Contract 2 Landside Improvements Portion of The Green Build Project at the San Diego International Airport and want you to be a part of their team

Bid packages to post on November 15th, 2010.

DIFFERENT TRADES WILL MEET AT DIFFERENT SESSIONSVisit www.san.org/greenbuild to view a map and a full listing of what trade

meets at which scheduled timeLocation: NTC Promenade

McMillan Companies Event Center2875 Dewey Road

November 19, 201010:00am to 12:00pm1:00pm to 3:00pm

November 18, 201010:00am to 12:00pm1:00pm to 3:00pm

American General Life and Ac-cident Insurance Company

(AGLA) offers custom-designedinsurance and annuity programsfor your life, your business,

your family:• Universal Life

• Whole Life Insurance• Term Insurance

• Annuities• Critical Illness Coverage

• Disability Income Insurance

AGLA, your choicefor peace of mind.

YourInsurance

YourCHOICEThat’s Our Promise.

The underwriting risks, financial and contractualobligations and support functions associated withproducts issued by American General Life andAccident Insurance Company (AGLA) are itsresponsibility. AGLA does not solicit business

in the states of New York and Wyoming.

© 2009 All rights reserved.

Gen Silverio

CA License # OG86915

Agent

San Diego, CA 92018Phone: 619.851.9547

2650 Camino del Rio N

Classified AdsLive-in Housekeeper/

Nanny for a Filipino family in Poway.

Please call Bob at (858) 382-8983

To:




lines, it costs


Fax #


(619) 474-0373

__________________



11/05/10

Debbi Snaith

4x4x10160

Notice of Intent to Adopt a Mitigated Negative Declaration

The San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) as Lead Agency pursuant to the California Environ-mental Quality Act (CEQA) intends to adopt a Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) for the Sabre Springs/Penasquitos I-15 Transit Center Parking Structure Project located adjacent to Sabre Springs Parkway between Carmel Mountain Express Drive and Ted Williams Parkway (State Route 56) in the Community of Sabre Springs within the City of San Diego.

Based on an Initial Study, SANDAG has concluded that the project described above will not have a significant effect on the environment. CEQA requires this notice to disclose whether any listed toxic sites are present at the project site. The project location does not contain a listed toxic site compiled pursuant to Government Code §65962.5.

The draft MND, Initial Study, and supporting documents may be reviewed or obtained at SANDAG, 401 B Street, Suite 800, San Diego, CA 92101. The documents can also be viewed on SANDAG’s Web site at www.sandag.org/notices.

The public review period starts on November 3, 2010, and ends on December 2, 2010. Written comments on the adequacy of this MND must be received by SANDAG at the address below by December 2, 2010. The SANDAG Transportation Committee is expected to consider adoption of the MND at their January 7, 2011, meeting.

Please send your comments to Rob Rundle, SANDAG, 401 B Street, Suite 800, San Diego, CA 92101 or via e-mail to [email protected] or fax to (619) 699-1905. Please include the name of a contact person.

Date: November 3, 2010

Looking for Part Time Caregiver in

Elderly Care Facility7 a.m. to 11 a.m.Call Natalie at:760-696-6595

CBP Officers Seize Truck

with Marijuana Filled Tires

SAN DIEGO – U.S.

Customs and Border Protec-tion officers at the Otay Mesa cargo facility seized 269 pounds of marijuana hidden in the tires of a tractor pulling a trailer.

On October 25, an officer referred the 1976 Kenworth tractor and trailer for an inten-

OTAY MESA, Calif. – U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Otay Mesa port of entry seized cocaine worth $470,000 on Sunday night.

On October 31, at 9:20 p.m. a team of CBP officers were inspecting vehicles waiting in line at the Otay Mesa border crossing, when a narcotic detector dog alerted to the rear of a 2007 Nissan Altima.

A member of the port of entry’s Anti-Terrorism and Contraband Enforcement Team (A-TCET) assisted the narcotic detector dog handler to inspect the vehicle his dog had singled out. The officer discovered a specially built compartment in the vehicle’s trunk and center console.

CBP officers extracted 18 packages filled with cocaine, with an aggregate weight of 47 pounds.

The officers arrested the driver, a 51-year-old male Mexican citizen and legal

CBP Seizes Almost Half a Million Dollars Worth of Cocaine

permanent resident of Comp-ton, Calif.

Officers turned the driver over to Immigration and Cus-toms Enforcement agents for processing.

CBP officers seized the vehicle and cocaine.

sive examination.During the inspection, a

narcotic detector dog alerted to the truck. Officers then discovered 44 packages of marijuana hidden in the tires of the tractor.

The marijuana has a street value of $134,500.

CBP officers arrested the driver, a 39-year-old male, Mexican citizen and resident of Tijuana, Mexico. Officers placed an immigration hold on the driver to initiate re-moval from the country at the conclusion of the criminal proceedings.

The driver was turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents for pro-cessing.

CBP seized the narcotics and vehicle.


Kalusugan Community Ser-vices (KCS) will be celebrating the 8th anniversary of the founding of the Filipino American Wellness Center (FWC) on November 13, Saturday, from 11 AM to 3 PM at the Holiday Inn in National City. This year’s theme is “Mov-ing Forward” and the speaker is Ms. Melanie Cohn of the San Diego County Childhood Obesity Initative. Her topic is, “Health Reform: It’s Potential Impact on Health and Wellness.” The public is invited to listen to her talk and also observe KCS’s progress and operation to see why its leadership role is a model for “Health and Socio-Cultural Empowerment.”

The purpose of the event is to celebrate the progress of “mov-ing forward” by KCS, launch our new website, induct the current Board of Directors, introduce staff and recognize volunteers, and reminisce the memories of our late Founder and President, Dr. Riz Oades. It is also a time to renew old friendships and make new ones. There will be silent auction, traditional and modern Filipino music, delicious food, handouts, books and others.

Major sponsors for the event are: The California Endowment, Operation Samahan, National Asian American Coalition (for-merly Mabuhay Alliance) and San Diego Institute for Community Development. Government of-ficials invited were Congressman Bob Filner, Assembly Member Marty Block, Council Member Tony Young, and Mayor Ron Morrison. Robert Ricasa will be the emcee and Dennis-Michael Broussard, Event Coordinator. Entertainment will be provided by the Professionals led by Nita Barrion.

The program will consists of welcome address by Wai-Ling Rubic, current Board Chair; power point presentation on the “High-lights of KCS-2010” and introduc-

KALUSUGAN COMMUNITY CELEBRATES THE 8TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FILAM

WELLNESS CENTER

tion of staff by Dr. Ofelia Dirige, President and CEO; induction of Board of Directors by Mayor Ron Morrison; recognition of Volun-teers and giving of certificates by Assembly member Marty Block; launching of KCS website by Jen Amos, SDSU intern; and a video presentation on Dr. Riz Oades’ life at KCS” produced by Bea Estrada, sister of Dr. Oades.

Networking will start at 11:00 AM with drinks and chips being served. Book exhibits of current publications such as, “Global Fili-pino Cuisine: Healthy Recipes” written by Dr. Ofelia Dirige, the late Dr. Riz Oades, and Dr. Aurora Cudal will be available. There will also be a silent auction of the Eco-Quest equipment and Melaleuca, a private company specializing in delivering wellness through envi-ronmentally safe products. Lunch buffet will be served consisting of fresh green salad, grilled salmon, teriyaki beef, fried rice, steamed vegetables, fresh fruit, and cake.

Volunteers to be recognized are: Cynthia Ambulo, Jen Amos, Lydia Duro, Adoracion Felicitas, Alice Legaspi, Ben Macayan, Paul Ones, Leony Pamintuan, Bette Poblete, Evelyn Resella, Fe Riv-ero, Bessie Samson, Dr. Harrod Suarez, Victor Paz, and Paul Va-len. FilAm Fest volunteers include Virgil Yalong, Kat Contemprato, Liz Dela Cruz and Ferchil Ramos.

There is still a chance to put an ad in the souvenir program by sending your check of $100 for a one-page ad; $75 for half page; $40 for a quarter ad; and $30 for a business card. Deadline is No-vember 8. Title sponsor is $5,000; Platinum $2,500; Gold $1,000; and Silver, $500.Tickets are $50/person and prepaid by paying cash, check or credit card. To get tickets, call Rhod Resella at (619) 477-3392 or (619) 399-6204; or Chris Feraro (619) 477-3392.

TOPIC: HEALTH REFORM: IMPACT ON HEALTH AND WELLNESS

Seafood City 18th Annual Fiesta Filipiniana Mexicana Karaoke Competition • Saturday, Oct. 23, 2010

Grand Finals Winners

Adult Champion, from left, Lou Ward, Bryan Wright (First runner-up) and David Dean (Second runner-up).

Emcee Tyrone Posada with Senior Champion Art Gramata, Edgar Casil (Second runner-up) and Armand Rasing (First run-ner-up) with emcee Rowie Messina.

Teen Champion Daniel Orina (left), Joseph Kabiling (First runner-up) and Emily Talampas (Second runner-up).

Kids’ Cham-pion Katriz Trinidad with her trophy. First runner-up is Shaliyah Ruelos and the second runner-up was Shela Perez.

Y o u n g con tes tan t s having a good time at the show.

Photo Credit: Filipino Press Staff