asian journal oct 1, 2010

Trance... p. 11

God makes everything wonderful in his time

...p. 16

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(Continued on page 16)





PerryScopeBy Perry Diaz

Little did Rico E. Puno

realize that when he joined the administration of his longtime friend president Be-nigno “P-Noy” Aquino III, he would find himself the target of the Department of Justice’s investigation concerning the Luneta hostage crisis and also accused of receiving payola -- or protection money -- from gambling lords. What the hell happened?

Less than three months ago, Puno was as virtual unknown in Philippine gov-ernment and politics. He was one of P-Noy’s closest friends and they share a common interest as gun enthusiasts.

“Shooting buddies” So, it did not come as a

surprise when P-Noy asked his trusted “shooting buddy” to work for him. And what a better place to put him than in a plum position oversee-ing the 120,000 gun-toting policemen of the Philippine National Police (PNP).

Puno’s appointment as undersecretary of the Depart-ment of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) was made before P-Noy could decide on his choice for secre-tary of DILG. To fill the void, P-Noy took over the top post at DILG temporarily while he was mulling over whom to appoint from a pool of three candidates. With himself as ad interim secretary and Puno overseeing security matters, the “shooting buddies” were ready to roll.

A few days later, P-Noy appointed former Naga City Mayor Jesse Robredo as DILG secretary. How-ever, he made it clear that his “point man” for the “Interior” -- security matters – side of DILG would be Puno; thus, limiting Robredo to the “Local Government” side of DILG. It effectively split DILG into two agencies. Al-

Double Whammy Hits Puno

By Dr. Cesar D. Candari24th in a series of articles

We stayed for two days in Cebu and proceeded by plane to Cagayan de Oro City, Mis-amis Oriental. We stayed at the VIP Hotel. Immedi-ately that morn-ing, we drove to Iligan City and that evening we heard on the news about the killer earthquake in Luzon that I had narrated above.

The following day, we were at the “Island of Para-dise”. Camiguin Island is a well-known tourist resort in the northern part of Mindan-

From Antique to America: Memoirs of a Filipino

American Doctor Sojourn to Camiguin Island, Part 2

ao. From Cagayan de Oro, it took us one hour to drive to a small town where a ferry-boat brought us to this island resort. The boat ride took us

another hour to get there.After landing at the pier

in Barangay Benoni, we rented a passenger jeep to

Si Comet at si TwinkleIsang maikling kuwento ni Percival Campoamor Cruz

October 1 - 7, 2010

Mike TagudinMsgr. Gutierrez Ogie CruzCristy Fermin Tinira si Boy Abunda dahil sa issue about Mariel and Toni!!!... p. 18

FilAm Fest 2010 is Saturday Oct 2, 2010. Tak-en by Andre Gonzalez. Bambu DePistola perform-ing in front of the FilAmFest 2008 audience.

by Katherine Contemprato

SAN DIEGO - On Tuesday, FilAmFest Day was declared to be on Oct. 2 in front of the city council board members by Councilman Todd Gloria of District 3 who was standing in for Councilman Tony Young of District 4.

The Filipino

FilAmFest is just around the corner!!!

American Arts & Culture Festival, popularly known

as “FilAmFest”, will be on

40 Years of Beauty...... 40 Years of Grandeur...... 40 Years of Thrill expresses not only the theme for PASA-CAT, but it speaks of the as-tounding milestone to which San Diego’s premier Fili-pino-American performing arts group has so success-fully reached. PASACAT Philippine Performing Arts Company will again grace the stage, in their major production, known as the Extravaganza. PASACAT will embark on an ambitious concert itinerary by holding two days of performances: Oct 9, 2:00 pm and 7:30 pm at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido, & Oct 16, 2:00 pm and 7:30 pm at the Lyceum Theatre, Horton Plaza, San Diego.

In showing of the dance company’s organizational prowess, PASACAT recently spearheaded the Philip-pine Dance Gathering and Workshops-V this past August 25-29, 2010. One-hundred twenty participants

PASACAT Celebrates 40th Anniversary at Extravaganza October 9 & 16

representing twelve dance companies from three coun-tries assembled at the beauti-fully designed Jacobs Center Celebration Hall, to immerse themselves in cultural learn-ing. The Dance Gathering

Photo: by Greg Penetrante: PASACAT singing Musika composed by Ryan Cayabyab

Photo by Delfin Perena: PASA-CAT in Bagobo, a dance from the highlands of Mindanao.

Photo by Delfin Labao: PASA-CAT in Sayaw Sa Bangko a heart-stopping dance on top of 7-stacked benches.

Photo by Anamaria Labao Ca-bato: PASACAT Rondalla appren-tices to make their Extravaganza debut. L-R Front: Cody Goniea, RJ Wallace, Lupe Macario, Briana Rull L-R Back: Martin Calderon, Vic Concepcion, Rommel Castro, Glen Batuyong (standing)

BERTO’S plan was to arrange a fake accident with Mang Teban and his wife Aling Munda

as passengers in a car.“Isn’t it illegal? We might get caught.”

“That’s why it’s called ‘easy money’, it’s illegal.”

“We might get hurt.”“You won’t. We’ll just claim you’re inside the car but actually you’ll be outside when it is deliberately rear-ended by one of our

accomplices.”“It might be dangerous.”

“You and your wife will get $3,000 each, $6,000 in all.”

“Okay, with that amount, nothing is dangerous.”

PROMISED LAND

Scam!

By Simeon G. Silverio, Jr.Publisher & Editor

Asian Journal San DiegoThe Original and First Asian Journal in America

See page 12

Iniluwal sila, magkapatid na magkakambal at kapuwa babae, ng kanilang ina sa kandungan ng puting-puting buhangin sa dalam-pasigan ng Brookes Point sa Isla ng Palawan sa Pilipinas. Sila’y dala-dala ng ina sa sinapupunan sa loob ng tatlong buwan at nang sila’y isilang na ay kinailangang matulog at magpalaki pa sila sa init ng yakap ng buhanging pinag-iwanan sa ka-nila sa loob ng dalawang buwan.

Bumalik sa dagat ang ina na ang pakiramdam ay nabawasan ang kanyang pasanin sa buhay. Sa dagat ay muling nagpalakas at ninamnam

ang buhay na malaya; sa dagat na siyang tahanan, pook na laruan at libangan, ang pinagmumulan ng ki-nakaing maliliit na isda at halaman.

Panaka-naka ay tumutuntong siya, pati na ang kanyang mga katulad, sa lupa upang doon ay makatikim ng init mula sa sikat ng araw; sila’y lumilibot sa kalupaan, humuhukay ng mga lungga, nag-sisiksik sa pagitan ng mga bato, at naghahanap ng mga bulate o kulisap na makakain. Oo, sila’y mga nilikha na may kakayahang mabuhay sa dagat man o sa lupa.

October 1 - 7, 2010Asian Journal - (619) 474-0588 Visit our website at http://www.asianjournalusa.com

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by Atty. Aurora VegaLegal Buzz

Read Atty. Aurora Vega’s previous articles by visiting our website at www.asianjournalusa.com

Interesting immigration statis-tics, facts and trends from various sources:

Number of Immigrants

- According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2008 American Community Survey, there were 37,960,935 foreign born in the U.S in 2008 – that’s 12.5 % of the total U.S. population.

- Of the 37.9 million immi-grants, 1.7 million are Filipinos, making us the 2nd largest immi-grant group in the U.S. after the Mexicans.

Top 10 Countries of Origin

- Mexican-born immigrants accounted for 30.1%; Philippines 4.4%; India 4.3%; China (exclud-ing Hong Kong and Taiwan) 3.6 %; Vietnam 3%; El Salvador 2.9%; Korea 2.7%; Cuba 2.6%; Canada 2.2%; and Dominican Republic 2.0%.

- Immigrants from these 10 countries make up 57.7% of all immigrants in 2008.

States With Highest Immi-grants

- In 2008, the top 5 US states by the number of immigrants were California (9,859,027), New York (4,236,768), Texas (3,887,224), Florida (3,391,511), and Illinois (1,782,423).

- The top 5 with the high-

Immigration facts and statistics

est percentage of immigrants versus total state population were California, home to 9.86 M (representing 26.8% of total state population); New York - 4.23 M (21.7%); New Jersey - 1.72 M (19.8%); Nevada – 490,717 (18.9%); Florida - 3.4 M (18.5%).

- West Virginia has the least number of immigrants with 23,273 which is 1.3% of its total state population.

Top 10 US Counties With

Most Immigrants

- In 2008, the top 10 counties by the number of immigrants were Los Angeles County, Califor-nia (3,470,000); Miami-Dade County, Florida (1,196,000); Cook County, Illinois (1,117,000); Queens County, New York (1,087,000); Harris County, Texas (988,000); Kings County, New York (938,000); Orange County, California (904,000); San Diego County, California (663,000); Maricopa County, Ari-zona (651,000); and Santa Clara County, California (650,000).

Racial Composition

- Of the 37.9 M immigrants in the U.S., 48.9% reported their race as white; 8.1% were African American; 23.7% were Asian; 17% as some other race and 1.5% reported having 2 or more races.

- 46.9% of the 37.9 M immi-

grants reported Hispanic or Latino origins. (According to the Census Bureau, “Hispanics or Latinos” are not a racial category – they include people who identify themselves as Spanish, Hispanic, Latino which also includes Mexi-can, Puerto Rican, Cuban. “Other Spanish/Hispanic/Latino” include those from Spain, Central & South America & Dominican Republic).

Workforce

- More than half of all immi-grant workers in the U.S. civilian labor force were born in Latin America and more than a quarter were from Asia.

- The 3 states with the most immigrants among its workforce is California (34.6 %), New York (27.1 %) and New Jersey (25.4 %). The state with the lowest is West Virginia (1.6 %).

Income & Poverty

- Between 2000-2008, there were 5.97 million immigrants living in poverty in the U.S., an increase of 9.1%, from 5.47 mil-lion. The U.S-born population in poverty increased by 15.2% in the same period.

- At the national level, 16.0% of immigrants lived below the poverty line compared to 12.8% of U.S-born in 2008. Immigrants in New Mexico were more likely to live in poverty (25.1%), while those in Alaska were least likely (7.3%).

- Noncitizens were more likely to live in poverty (20.9%) than naturalized citizens (9.5%).

Education

- In 2008, there were 31.9 mil-lion immigrants age 25 and older - 27.1% had a bachelor’s degree or higher, while 32.5% lacked a high school diploma. Among the 168.2 million U.S.-born adults age 25 and older, 27.8% had a bach-elor’s degree or higher, and only 11.7% did not have a high school diploma.

- More than 1.4 million college-educated immigrants (or 1 in 5) are unemployed or working in unskilled jobs such as dishwashers, security guards, housemaids and taxi drivers - a phenomenon known as “brain waste.” California (340,000 immi-grants), New York (185,000), and Florida (139,000) had the most brain waste.

- Immigrants accounted for 45.7 % of low-educated (no high school diploma) workers and 15.4 % of college-educated work-ers ages 25 and older. California ranked 1st both for the highest low-educated immigrant workers (78.0 %) and the highest college-educated immigrant workers (30.2 %).

- Highly skilled immigrants contribute to the economy through innovation and entrepreneurship and produce a surplus for public coffers by paying more in taxes than they take out in services.

Read more immigration facts and statistics in our next articles.

Sources:

U.S. Census. Bureau’s 2008 American Community Survey

Terrazas & Batalova, “Fre-quently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immiration in the US”, 10/2009, Migration Policy Institute

Batalova, Fix & Creticos, “Uneven Progress – The Employ-ment of Skilled Immigrants in the U.S.”, 10/2008, Migration Policy Institute

Atty. Aurora Vega-Buzon is a partner in Chua Tinsay & Vega, A Professional Legal Corporation (CTV) - a full service law firm with offices in San Francisco, San Diego and Philippines. The infor-mation presented in this article is for general information only and is not, nor intended to be, formal legal advice nor the formation of an attorney-client relation-ship. Call or e-mail CTV for an in-person or phone consultation to discuss your particular situation and/or how their services may be retained at (415) 495-8088; (619) 955-6277; [email protected]

Sat. on Paradise Valley Road in between Woodman & Gilmartin from 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Festival Director, J.R. Melchor, said it is important to receive a proclamation to rec-ognize FilAmFest Day because, “our community has earned and deserves this recognition.”

“It acknowledges all the hard work that the FilAmFest Or-ganizing Committee (FAFOC) members and its many partners have tirelessly contributed over the year,” Melchor added.

“The recognition helps to make the unprecedented ac-complishment of gathering so many members of the Filipino community and their friends and family in Celebrating the Baya-nihan Spirit.”

This year’s festival theme is Celebrating the Bayanihan Spirit. “Bayanihan spirit” is a Filipino term that refers to a nation, town, or community working together to achieve a common goal. It is reminiscent of Filipinos in the villages car-rying a bahay kubo, or nipa hut, from one place to the next. In essence, the job cannot be done single-handedly.

Last year the event drew over 15,000 people and this year the FAFOC is planning for 20,000 people to attend the event and logistically planning for 100+ vendors.

This year, the FilAmFest’s main headliners include You-Tube sensation Gabe Bondoc, American Idol season seven finalist Ramiele Malubay, hip hop artist Bambu, female emcee Hopie Spitshard, and hosting the event is actor, model, and singer Michael Copon from One Tree Hill and comedian/magician Justin Rivera.

To enhance the cultural expe-rience of the festival attendees this year, the Kuya Ate Men-torship Program of San Diego

FilAmFest is just around the corner!!!

(Continued from page 1) (KAMP SD) will be hosting a cultural program that will have cultural performances all day, cultural workshops, Philippine American history articles, and information on Filipino heroes in history. There will also be a photo booth for the Bayanihan spirit.

In addition, more programs include a youth (by AF3IRM) and children’s program (by Gawad Kalinga), senior program (by Kabataang Maka-Bayan), health and wellness program (by Operation Samahan), and educa-tion program.

The FilAmFest is a fun filled family friendly event that will be a great experience for all generations.

This year’s FilAmFest spon-sors include title sponsor Barona Casino, Kalusugan Community Services, Councilmember Tony Young of District 4, Council-man Carl DeMaio of District 5, Commission for Arts & Culture City of San Diego, City of San Diego, San Diego County, Op-eration Samahan, Pinoy Street Team Gear, Comerica Bank, Sempra Energy, The Sand-castle Inn, and Dr. Aguilar from American Dental.

Our community partner-ships understand the importance of engaging the community to Celebrate the Bayanihan Spirit. Council of Philippine Ameri-can Organizations (COPAO), Philippine Nurses Association, PASACAT Philippine Perform-ing Arts Company, SAMAH-AN Filipino American Arts and Education Center, Festival of Philippine Art & Culture- FilA-mArts (FPAC), Asian Cultural Festival, the Emilio Aguinaldo Foundation Philippine Indepen-dence Day Festival, San Diego Padres, and Gawad Kalinga are some of FilAmFest’s commu-nity partners.

For more information, please visit www.FilAmFest.org.

Asian Journal - (619) 474-0588 Visit our website at http://www.asianjournalusa.comOctober 1 - 7, 2010


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

Once upon a time of-fices were furnished with real wood. After a few years it tended to get scruffy look-ing and worn, but the wood held up. In executive offices the wood did not get as worn looking, it just stayed impres-sive.

Then, after World War II office furniture made dramatic changes. Metal was in. Steel office furniture was the way to go if you wanted the latest in

Decorating officesChanging tastes in today’s business climate

contemporary office design.A friend of my father, in

the late 1940s decided to start an office furniture company. He saw what was happen-ing with business with all the returning soldiers and knew that office furniture was the way to go.

So he and a partner started a company making desks and chairs out of steel. At first they kept it simple but over the years expanded to filing

cabinets, other office furnish-ings, executive tables and much, much more. Manufac-turing steel office furniture made these two gentlemen very rich men.

One of the partners is dead now – has been for a number of years – and the other partner has semi-retired (I say semi-retired because al-though he is over eighty years old, he still can’t help but go in occasionally and poke around). The two partner’s sons are running the show now with all sorts of grand-kids working there as well. One of the good things about a family owned business is that there can be jobs for all those family members.

Like I said, the business made the partners very rich men and the kids have done pretty darn good there as well. It was simply seeing the need for a high quality product and then giving it to people in a friendly, timely way. But tastes started changing and even being one of the nation’s premier steel office furniture manufactures can’t help when change starts happening.

Changing tastes

Over the past 60 years or so since WWII ended, tastes in how we want our offices furnished have made dramatic changes. We have gone from heavy wood to just steel being the main product to adding plastic, fake wood and, for the very expensive, real wood again. Manufacturing compa-nies had to change right along with those tastes or they went out of business. And a good many companies did go out of business.

More than that, furniture styles and office designs have made changes as well. Modu-lar systems have come into our offices. With modular systems shipping costs went down and central factories

could send their products around the world. Again more companies went out of business.

And then…and then… something came along called pressed board. Lighter than solid wood, cheap to manu-facture (read great use of wood scraps) easy to as-semble, convenient to ship, this product revolutionized the office furniture industry. No one particularly liked pressed board furniture, or having to assemble it, but they loved the prices.

And now desks are made from pressed board, shelves are made from it, and modu-lar walls are created from it. Pressed board is nothing except wood by-products such as shavings, sawdust, and chips being forced together under tremendous pressure with a binding agent (fancy term for glue). Over that is layered a plastic covering that looks like wood and presto, wood-looking office furniture cheaper and lighter than any-thing before. This hurt other industries, but when money matters very little else does.

So with modular designs, pressed board and plastic, decentralized shipping, for-eign competition in high-end furniture products as well as the more inexpensive, well, an entire industry changed, changed, and good grief, changed again (I say good grief, because the manufac-turers couldn’t keep up with it all). It coasts a tremendous amount of money to tool up and then re-tool a manufac-turing plant and changes in the entire structure of manu-factured products are horren-dously expensive. Too often, because of competition, those expenses couldn’t be passed on to the distributors and final purchasers.

The office of tomorrow

If today’s office is modu-lar systems made of pressed board, plastic, steel and vinyl, how will tomorrow’s offices be furnished? There is no real wood in offices anymore ex-cept in the highest executive offices and boardrooms. Steel is far too heavy and expensive to use. We seem to be left with the pressed stuff, plastic and vinyl. Or maybe not. Maybe, the office of the future won’t be an office.

You’ve all read about tomorrow’s offices being anywhere you want thanks to computers. That’s partially true, but there will still be offices. We still have to work together, learn together, and conduct business together for many things. Furniture will still be used. What will it be? Will it be something that looks like it came from the Jetsons? Will we grow

our furniture? Nothing like organic furniture!

Yes, steel furniture is more or less gone. User-friendlier, natural-looking fur-nishings are what is being used now. The office is a better place because of that – it feels warmer, friendlier, less cold and sterile. This is good since we spend more time there than we ever have. So, are we going forward or falling be-hind in quality of life? A bet-ter place to be yes, but we’re there more and let’s face it, even thought it’s better than before, it’s still an office.

Now personally, I like my office, but I’d still rather be home than at the office. Well, okay, most of the time. To be honest, there are those occa-sions when I’m giddy with happiness to be able to get the heck out of the house and head to work. Daily.

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...

Read Miles Beauchamp’s previous articles by visiting our web-site at www.asianjournalusa.com

by Miles Beauchamp

Guest Writer: Masami Iizuka

Being a Japanese American or simply an Asian-American, I faced many challenges and difficulties due to my cultural background and appearance. I accepted to live with stereo-types and racism, I adapted to it as I faced it at such a young age. I wouldn’t say that those experiences were all negative because it made me a stronger person and at times, I would use it to my advantage. After living in America all these years, I love my life in the US and will continue to live here the rest of my life.

Introduction: After the Chinese, the Jap-

anese were the second group of Asians that were recruited to work in the U.S. as labor-ers from 1880 to 1924. Unlike the Chinese, they were able to bring their wives or families with them so they were able to establish Japanese American communities. The early pio-neers were called “Issei” and the children born to them are “Nisei”. Children of Nisei are called “Sansei”.

The history of immigra-

The positives and negatives of being a Japanese American in the U.S.

tion of the Japanese is more similar to the Jewish, Italian and other white ethnic groups than to other Asian groups in that majority are third or higher generation Americans. They are the most assimilated of the Asian groups and this may be to the high rate of inter-marriage among them. Not being white, Japanese Americans continue to face discrimination as with other

Asian groups and not allowed to fully merge into main-stream American society.----- Pyong Gap Min.

My name is Masami Ii-zuka. I am a Japanese- Amer-ican who was born and raised in the United States. Having to be a Nisei, I have expe-rienced both the negatives and the positives of being an Asian-American living in

America. I would like to talk about myself and my family’s immigration background and the experiences that my fam-ily had gone through over the years.

MY BACKGROUND: First, I would like to tell you about my background. I am currently a student at San Di-ego State University (SDSU). I am twenty-four years old and work at a restaurant as a sushi chef. I was born and raised in San Diego and have been living in the states all my life. I would be considered a Nisei because my parents are both Japanese. I had at-tended American schools like any other American children would from elementary to high school, but also attended a Japanese school. This Japa-nese school is a once a week Saturday school allowing chil-dren like me to be exposed in both American and Japanese school and education at the same time. Even though I had to go to school on Saturday,

the experience and the educa-tion has been such a blessing. I also loved play-ing sports and I have joined many sports teams and recreational camps throughout my childhood.

MY FAM-ILY LIFE: About my family, I have one older sister and loving parents. My sister is three years older than me and she is also a Japanese-American who had lived all her life in the States. She too had attended the same Japa-nese school as I did and had graduated from the University of Southern California. She works at a bio-tech company

and is having a great career lately. My parents are both Japanese citizens who were born and raised in Japan. My father came over to the states when he was twenty-three pursuing his career as a chef. He was sent to New York, Hawaii and eventually to San Diego where he met his wife. My mother on the other hand, had come to America for education. She was only twenty years old at the time, but she wanted to see life in America. She graduated from college and worked at an antique shop for quite a long time. Currently, my parents own two Japanese restaurants in San Diego. It is a family owned business which had been successfully running for over twenty-four years.

Both my parents are Japa-nese citizens who were even-tually granted a green card to live in the United States. Both of them have been living in America for over thirty-five years. These days, earning a green card or visa to live in the States is difficult or takes a very long time to be granted due to the strict policy ever since the 9-11 terrorist attack, however during my parents time it was fairly easy. My father has immigrated to America due to his work. He was sent from Japan to work as an elite chef in restaurants located in New York and Ha-waii. He had a working visa then adapted to life in Ameri-ca being granted a green card by applying for it every year. My mother had obtained a green card by marrying to my dad who already had one. My sister and I are American citi-zens because we were born in the United States. As we all know, if you were born in the soil of the United States, you are considered a citizen of the United States.

GROWING UP: While growing up in America, I had experienced many stereotypes and felt racism in certain incidents especially during my elementary school years. Many of the students made fun of me that I had small eyes. When we take a group picture, some of the students would yell out, “Open your eyes, Masa!!” just to tease me. I know that many of them were just teasing me and jok-ing around so I would laugh it off but it still was a sensitive issue to me.

As I am much older now, I know how kids are very immature and child-ish but I remember when I had a really difficult time eating lunch with my friends. My mother would cook me delicious homemade Japanese food and pack it in my lunchbox; however all my friends or kids around me would say hor-rible remarks like, “EWWW” “Disgusting” just because it smelled and looked new to them. I was so embarrassed to even open my lunchbox. I was humiliated to a point that I didn’t want to eat Japa-nese food and got mad at my mother for making lunch.

As I look back now, I re-ally felt sorry for my mother who had probably made my lunch with a lot of love, yet her son would get mad at her for it. I sometimes threw away my lunch or even skipped lunch just so my friends would not make fun of me again. Due to this, I also felt embarrassed for being Japanese. Growing up to high school, I had somewhat over-come this problem because more students at those ages are intrigued by diversity and new cultures. Some kids were actually really interested in Japanese food and the yummy snacks that I would always have that were only imported from Japan. I actually was able to make friends through those interests and felt happy that I could share the Japanese culture to anyone who was interested.

Other than the culture, I had felt many stereotypes throughout my life. As an ex-ample, people would perceive Japanese people being good at drawing, or being good at math of which I am not. Also, many people would think that I would only eat sushi and that sushi is the only Japanese food there is. I had to laugh and tell many of my friends or simply people that I’ve met who told me those kind of stuff that it is just a stereo-type.

Being a Japanese American or simply an Asian-American, I had faced many challenges and difficulties due to my cul-tural background and appear-ance. More than accepting to live with stereotypes and racism, I was more adapted or used to it now since I faced it at such a young age. I wouldn’t say that those experiences were all negative because it definitely made me a stronger person and at times, I would use it in my advan-

tage. After living in America all my life, I love my life in the United States and pursue to live here for the rest of my life.

***

Masami Iizuka is in his senior year at SDSU major-ing in Japanese, with minor in Asian History. He is a student of Dr. Ofelia Dirige in AS 310, “Contemporary Issues in Asian American Communi-ties.”

***

ANNOUNCEMENTFILAM FEST“CELEBRATING THE

BAYANIHAN SPIRIT”

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The Department of Home-land Security (DHS) is adjusting the fee schedule of U.S Citizen-ship and Immigration Services (USCIS). According to USCIS the adjustment was necessary to fully recover the cost of ser-vices provided and to maintain adequate service. DHS increased the fees by a weighted average of 10 percent. The new fees are effective on November 23, 2010. Applications or petitions mailed,

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postmarked, or otherwise fi led on or after November 23, 2010, must include the new fee.

This table summarizes the cur-rent USCIS Fee Schedule and the adjusted fees.

DHS received hundreds of comments following the publica-tion of the proposed fees. One comment stated that the proposed fees will cause undue burden on families seeking to be reunited


(Continued from page 1)

(619) 474-0588

was honored to have Cherry Ylanan and Raul Nepomuce-no, Jr., of the Ramon Obu-san Folkloric Group (ROFG) of Manila, Guro Danny Ka-landuyan, of the Palabuni-yan Kulintang Ensemble, and Joel Jacinto, Program Director of Kayamanan Ng Lahi share their in-depth knowledge of Philippine arts. Being reinvigorated by excite-ment and camaraderie from the gathering, PASACAT goes into full Extravaganza prepa-ration.

Joji Ramirez-Castro, a thirteen year veteran of the Bayanihan Philippine National Dance Company, will demonstrate her choreo-graphic acumen through the performance cast, as they will feature a beautiful artistry and technical brilliance of the movements and sounds of Philippine folk art. PASACAT has been widely regarded as an organization that fosters youth involvement, and since July, the all-volunteer cast has had weekly rehearsals of twelve to twenty hours, at the PASACAT Center in National City.

The two-hour production will present a repertoire of traditionally based Philippine dances, music and song from the Cordillera or Mountains of Luzon and Mindanao, the aristocratic era during the Spanish regime, the coastal regions of Mindanao, and the barrios of lowland Luzon and central Philippines. The repertoire will be skillfully performed by a cast of twenty young women and ten young gentlemen ages fourteen to forty-two. Among the cast, five women and one gentle-

man will experience their first Extravaganza.

The program will open with the captivating dances of Mindanao. The vibrant jeweled tone-colors used in costumes provide a rich presentation that is contrasted by the resounding throng of various brass instruments, agung and kulintang. PASA-CAT will perform the popu-lar Singkil. Kasingkil (the original name) is derived from the word singuel and refers to the brass bell bracelet worn around the ankles. Philippine National Artist, Francisca Reyes Aquino author of the 1960 book Philippine Folk Dances-Volume Five, de-scribes Singkil as a Maranao fan dance performed by only women from Lanao del Sur, Mindanao. Only women of royalty would be accompa-nied by a lady in waiting who holds a beautifully beaded umbrella over the head where ever she travels.

In the 2002 book release, Sayaw (meaning dance) fur-ther describes Singkil through the Darangen epic where diwata, a form of nymph or fairy, caused an earthquake as a joke on Princess Gandingan who gracefully hurdled for her life through the shaking grounds and rocks. Prince Bantugan was enamored by her grace and followed her in the same fashion.

Other dances include Bailes de Tambourine, new to the PASACAT repertoire, a historical portrait the effects of Spanish colonization, Phil-ippine elitism and aristocracy, Elegantly dressed gentry uti-lize the sounds of the tambou-rine to enhance this dance of European flair.

PASACAT Celebrates 40th Anniversary at Extravaganza

October 9 & 16

In stark contrast is the presentation of Pagdiwata as celebrated by the Tagbanua people of Palawan. The Ba-baylan, a high priest is at the central figure of this annual ritual, and is considered to be the most power and influ-ential among the Tagbanua. The Pagdiwata is an expres-sion of thanksgiving for boun-tiful harvests and offering of prayers for the sick and dead.

The women of the Cordil-lera show their strength and grace as they balance stacks of clay pots, called Banga, which is used to store daily supplies of food and water. Women would gather together and traverse the mountainous terrain to fetch their goods

The mimetic and occupa-tional dances of the Philippine are always crowd pleasers with the Pandangao Sa Ilaw (dance of the lights) and the heart-stopping Bangko, where performers dance atop seven stacked benches.

Live musical accompani-ment always enriches any performance and the Rondalla provides the ambiance of the old and new Philippines. The Rondalla is a string ensemble of instruments originating from Spain which include the bandurria, laod, octavina each strung with 14 strings played in similar fashion of the mandolin. They are ac-companied by guitar and bass.

PASACAT is proud to have six new Rondalla apprentices to play for twenty-two dances and songs. The new members include Martin Calderon-22, Cody Goniea-9, Daniel Mac-araeg-10, Carlo Nepomuce-no-15, Brianna Rull-11 and R.J. Wallace-12. They have been studying the Rondalla since July, 2009, under the guidance of rondalla practitio-ners Anamaria Labao Ca-bato, Rommel Castro, Glenn Batuyong and Lupe Macario. The Rondalla is also, subject



Bill’s Corner

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

by Bill Labestre, MBA

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Next to our house, the second most expensive item we normally purchase is our vehicle. We needed it to go to work and to travel since it’s quite difficult to rely on mass transportation here in San Diego County. For most of us, it is a thing that we must have. If you want complete inde-pendence in this country, you must learn how to drive.

As immigrants in the U.S.A. we learned that having a car is a necessity. After ar-rival, our first priority was to get a valid Driver’s License. Never rely on your spouse or relatives to drive you around forever. If you are healthy and able to read signs, you should learn how to drive a car.

Normally our very first car was a used one and same thing for our children. It does not make sense driving a new car when you still struggle how to park right. A new car is quite expensive to insure and may cost you a lot of money. As you become more experienced and make more money, then you may be able to buy a new one.

Shopping for new or used car is not an easy task. You must do your homework first before venturing to a Car Dealer’s lot. Car Salesmen are well trained or experienced to figure out your weakness. You may end up driving home a car you don’t really need. How many of us bought cars after only visiting one car dealership? There are many car buying guides available for free on the internet. Bring your spouse or somebody when shopping to get a sec-ond opinion. It is just a ve-hicle remember? Don’t fall in love with it. Be practical and buy what you can afford.

Unless you bought a “Lem-

The Mechanicon”, a brand new car should have no major troubles during the first few years. Of course, the dealership wanted you to keep coming back. If you bought or leased a luxury car, a simple maintenance may cost you big bucks. When the mechanic opens your car’s hood, he can only see big dollar signs. It’s like opening your mouth to a dentist. You will go home with a lighter wallet.

You may need help from a good mechanic when buying a used car. I wished I learned from my father who was a mechanic. Now I have to rely on others to fix my cars. We can always do simple things for our cars to keep it running okay. A regular oil and filter change should be done and try not to use cheap gas. Wash and wax often then always clean the interior too.

Finding a good and hon-est mechanic is not easy. Just because he can speak your dialect does not mean he can be trusted. To depend on the car dealers service shops can be very expensive. You may have to ask around for good referrals. Look for somebody who has been in the business for a few years and licensed to do the job. Once you found a decent one, stick around for your regular maintenance. He may not be perfect but, if he honors his word, keep him.

There are good Filipino auto repair shops around. There are also awful Filipino customers who shop around for bargains.

I was fortunate to know Mang Ben Jingco years ago. He owns and operates BJ Auto and Body Repair @ 1338 Roosevelt Avenue in National City. He takes care of my cars.

to the long and sometimes grueling rehearsal hours to capture the chemistry between dancers and musicians.

Cody started playing the violin at the same time as the bandurria. His father Cliff was surprised at his son’s preference to practice the ban-durria more and has memo-rized many of the pieces. “I like learning a totally new instrument like the bandur-ria, but I am more excited to play the traditional Philippine music.”

Rounding out the perfor-mance, PASACAT incorpo-rates contemporary songs to

give the full glimpse of Philippine artistry. A favorite is Musika by Ryan Cay-abyab, which expresses the message of the youth holding the key to music and how we should open our minds to dif-ferent types of music.

PASACAT not only edu-cates its members with the history and descriptions of the dances, but is also known for its camaraderie and fam-ily atmosphere. Aileen Basto Abutin, PASACAT dancer from 1979 to 2008, brought her children Alex, 16 and Nikki, 14 to learn the dances in the Junior Dance Program, in 2005. “I didn’t think they were going to want to stick

around. But after meeting and dancing with the other dancers, they really feel like family. I left it up to them to be a part of it (PASACAT). It was their decision.”

Marvin Calderon, Jr, 20, and a student at SDSU shared, “I have a background in performing, particularly in singing, but being with PASA-CAT brings performance to a different spectrum of in-tensity. I love Philippine folk dance, that is why I am drawn to PASACAT, and also, the strong family-like ties devel-oped in the dance group. This is my second family. Hon-ored to be take part of the Extravaganza because it is my first time doing such a perfor-mance, but also, I am in the right moment in history when I get to celebrate PASACAT’s accomplished history.”

Forty-years is a milestone and for the PASACAT 40th Anniversary Extravaganza, the bonds just keep getting stronger while bringing the classroom to the dance floor for all generations of Filipino-Americans.

PASACAT’s Extravaganza is funded in part from the County of San Diego Com-munity Enhancement Fund-Supervisors Greg Cox and Ron Roberts and the Horton Plaza Theatre Foundation.

Reserved seat tickets are $18-$25 and may be purchase at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido, 800-988-4253 and the Lyceum Theatre, 619-544-1000. For more information on PASACAT, call 619-477-3383 or email, [email protected].


PASACAT Celebrates 40th Anniversary at Extravaganza

October 9 & 16


731,844 Readson www.scribd.com /asianjournal

PhilippineStories

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

by Simeon G. Silverio Jr.

Chapter 27

(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.)

“Gusto ninyo ho bang kumita ng pera (Do you want to make money)?” the voice at the other end of the line sounded familiar to Mang Teban, Romy’s father.

“Sino ‘to, Berto (Who is this, Berto)?” asked Mang Teban.

Berto was the Filipino guy who arranged for Mang Teban and his wife to get motorized wheel chairs through their social security benefits. Since they didn’t actually need those wheel chairs but were prescribed to them through the connivance of a Filipino physician, they sold them to Berto who shipped them to the Philippines.

“It’s good you have not forgot-ten me,” Berto laughed as he talked.

“How can I forget you? You’re manna

Promised Land

Scam!from heaven. What will be our money-making scheme this time?”

“Let me go over there and discuss the details with you.”

BERTO’S plan was to arrange a fake accident with Mang Teban and his wife Al-ing Munda as passengers in a car.

“Isn’t it illegal? We might get caught.”

“That’s why it’s called ‘easy money’, it’s illegal.”

“We might get hurt.”“You won’t. We’ll just

claim you’re inside the car but actually you’ll be outside when it is deliberately rear-ended by one of our accom-plices.”

“Delikado ata iyan (It might be dangerous).”

“You and your wife will get $3,000 each, $6,000 in all.”

“Sige, basta ganyang halaga, walang deli-delikado (Okay, with that amount, nothing is dangerous).”

THE FAKE ACCIDENT WAS

ARRANGED three days later. The head of the syndicate was somebody who they did not know but familiar to a person they know.

“Taga saan ka (Where are you from)?” Mang Teban asked him in an attempt to break the ice.

“From Gagalangin, Ton-do,” he answered.

“I know somebody who was also from there,” the old man said. “Do you know Isa-bel Mendoza?”

The guy just smiled. Of course he knew her. He was Lando, the ex-boyfriend of Isabel. But he just ignored the question.

“Okay, here’s the plan,” Lando told everybody. “We will go to an isolated area in Otay Mesa. With nobody to see it as a witness, the second car will rear end the first car while the latter is stopped on a corner. The driver and the passengers will then go inside the first car. We will call the police and once they are there, you will all pretend that you are hurt. We will use the police report to file a claim against the insurance of the second car. All of you will go to sessions of physical therapy for one month. Afterwards, we will collect money for damages.”

“What if the doctor notices that we were not actually hurt?”

“He won’t because there is no way any doctor could contradict you when you insist you are hurt. Beside, the doctor is with us. He gets one-third of the claim, my office gets one-third and you get the last third,” Lando explained

to everyone.“It’s easy,”

Mang Teban said smiling. “Matutupad na din ang pangarap

kong mag-ing artista,

katambal ko pa

ang aking leading lady (My ambition to be an actor will be fulfilled with my leading lady as my partner).”

He then winked at his wife who approvingly smiled at him.

The fake accident was staged in no time. When the police came, Mang Teban and his wife Aling Munda gave an Academy Awards perfor-mance.

“I can’t move,” Mang Teban com-plained. “My neck hurts.”

The para-medics put a neck brace on him, placed him on a stretcher and into an ambulance. He, his wife and the drivers of both cars were brought to the nearest hos-pital. Mang Teban and the others were trying hard not to laugh. They were later re-leased from the hospital after a routine examination. The next day, Lando brought them to a Filipino doctor who was to give them daily physical therapy for a month.

“Ang tagal naman (It’s long),” Mang Teban com-plained after a week of therapy. “Puwede ba pipirma na lang kami sa log book at pretend we had the month-long therapy (Can we just sign in the log book)?”

Lando had encountered similar clients before. They were too lazy to do the re-quired daily routine but ex-pected to get the money.

“Okay, but you have to give us $500 each from the money you will get,” he told the old couple.

“How much are we sup-posed to get?”

“Around $3,000 each.”

“Di $2,500 na lang ($2,500 only) if we do not go every-day to the clinic?”

“Yes.”“Okay,” Mang Teban

agreed. “It’s a better deal than we miss our classes at the casino.”

The couple was asked to sign the log book twenty

times, covering the remain-der of the one month therapy.

“Bakit may laktaw ito (How come there are spaces in between)?” Mang Teban asked as he looked at the places where he was supposed to sign.

“So that nobody will notice that you didn’t come here every day. The other patients will sign in those spaces. There would be a continuous list.”

Mang Teban was im-pressed.

“Ang galing ninyo ah (You’re good),” he compli-mented Lando.

“We thought of every-thing,” Lando proudly told him.

“You must be making a lot of money,” Mang Teban com-mented.

“More than enough to shower my girlfriend with money.”

Mang Teban didn’t know that Lando was referring to Isabel, the girl from Ga-galangin, Tondo whom he pretended not to know when earlier asked by the old man.

AFTER A MONTH, the couple was brought to the law office where Lando worked to receive their checks.

“Ang dali lang pala (It’s

easy),” Mang Teban said. He and his wife, Aling Munda were very happy for they will have a lot of money to spend at the casino.

“Puwede bang magpa-aksidente uli (Can I have an accident again)?” he asked.

Lando smiled at the greedy old man.

“We’ll wait for while, baka mahalata tayo (we might get noticed).”

All the people who worked in that office already had fake accidents and were able to collect compensations from the insurance companies.

“If you know of anybody who had an accident, refer him to me. I will give you a $300 referral fee,” Lando told the couple.

“Are you a lawyer?” Mang Teban asked him.

“No, I am not. But I work for a lawyer who signs every-thing and makes sure we are not caught.”

The couple was very pleased. On their way home aboard Lando’s car, the latter could not help but tell his se-cret to the two. He became so close to them that he wanted them to be more impressed with him.

“Do you remember the Isabel Mendoza from Ga-galangin, Tondo whom you asked me about the first time we met?” he asked.

“Yes,” Mang Teban re-called.

“She’s my girlfriend.”Mang Teban was surprised.“Then you are the one

caught with her in a motel by her husband?” he asked Lando.

Lando didn’t expect the old man to know about the inci-dent. He thought Mang Teban was just a mere acquaintance of Isabel and would not be privy to the scandal. Now he was forced to admit it.

“Yes.”“Ang hina mo naman,

bakit ka nagpahuli (You are



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

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

Phil - Am Law 101

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ASIAN JOURNAL, 10/01/2010 -- Fr. Ben Beltran, who was recognized recently as a national MDG Warrior Awardee at the Philippine Consulate in New York, will be coming to San Diego, Cali-fornia for a speaking engage-ment with the local FilAm community on Thursday, October 21, 2010 at a yet-to-be-confirmed venue.

He will be conducting a dialogue with organizations and local Filipino Americans who support and share his platform on poverty reduction in line with the Millenium Development Goals (MDG) of the country.

MDG GoalsThe Millennium Develop-

ment Goals (MDGs) are a set of eight time-bound, concrete and specific targets aimed at significantly reducing, if not decisively eradicating poverty, by the year 2015.

According to the United Nations Development Pro-gramme, extreme poverty re-fers to the proportion of popu-lation or families living below the subsistence or food thresh-old. As of 2003, the proportion of people with incomes below the subsistence threshold was 13.5 percent (10.2 %) of all Fil-ipino families), down from the baseline figure of 24.3 percent (20.4 % of all Filipino fami-lies) in 1991. This represents a decline of 0.90 percentage point each year. At this annual rate of decline, the Philippines is on track in meeting its target of halving the proportion of people below the food thresh-old. The MTPDP 2004-2010 has set a higher target in terms of proportion of families be-low subsistence threshold at 8.98 percent in 2010.

Fr. Beltran on MDG Goals for Poor of Tondo

Speaking to local support-ers from New York, Fr. Bel-

Philippine MDG Warrior Awardee Fr. Ben Beltran, SVD, plans talk in San Diego on poverty reduction

tran said, “The topic of the talk I am going to give here on Thursday is on how to achieve the Millennium Development Goals for the million residents of Tondo, what resources we need, and how to replicate it for the whole country. I would also like to ask for help from the Filipino communities for two projects - the setting up of the Veritas Institute for En-trepreneurial Leadership so that women can be profession-ally trained to set up their own businesses and mentored by experienced businesswomen (one-year course) and for the Sandiwaan Center for Learn-ing’s computer-based program for out-of-school youth which has now a livelihood compo-nent. These two will be the lead projects to achieve the Millen-nium Development Goals for Tondo.”

Local SupportAurora Cudal of the Fili-

pino Press and Genevieve Silverio of Asian Journal met over lunch this week with Bel-tran-supporter Blessie Trott, who in the past have hosted the Children of Mother Earth Con-cert performers from Tondo, to discuss the venue and outreach efforts to the local community. The Children of Mother Earth is a performance troupe com-prised of youth from the city dumpside in Tondo, Manila. It was formed by Fr. Beltran to uplift the plight of local scav-engers and their children. Its goals is to raise public aware-ness of the plight of the poor and environmental steward-ship.

For more information about the programs, please email Fr. Ben Beltran, SVD, at [email protected]. To help orga-nize the event contact [email protected].

To learn more about the UNDP MDG platform, visit www.undp.org.ph.

Do you still remember the case of the Confused Wife, who was petitioned by her husband as his fiancée? They were forced to resort to filing a fiancée petition because the U.S. Embassy in Manila de-nied the previous Form I-130 that the husband filed for her. It found that their marriage was void under Philippine law. The husband divorced his first wife while he was still a Filipino citizen. The U.S. Embassy said that Philippine law governs and, hence, the divorce was not valid. So, we filed the Form I-129F Fiancee Petition which the USCIS ap-proved.

But the story did not end there. While process-ing her papers, we stumbled

The Fiancee Wife (Part 2)on another dilemma. What name should Confused Wife use – her maiden name or her mar-ried name? Since she is a fiancée (and hence single), she should be using her maiden name, right? However, all her records indicate her married name, more particularly her passport. She tried ap-plying for a new passport with

the Department of Foreign Affairs, but the DFA refused to give her a new one under her maiden name, since she already has a passport under her married name.

Then, there was also the question on how to fill out her K-1 visa application. Fortunately it has an entry for “other names used”. So, with the help of our support staff in Manila, she filed the elec-tronic application. She put her maiden name on top, and her married name under the “other names used”. The online form

she used was DS-160 Non-

Immigrant Visa Electronic Application, which is now the single form used for all non-immigrant visa applications. Before, fiancées used both the DS-156 and DS-156K forms.

Up to the time of her U.S. interview, Confused Wife was worried that she would be required to get a new pass-port under her maiden name. The only way the DFA would allow this was for her to first get a Court decree voiding her marriage. Sure, her court peti-tion would be granted, but it would entail time, effort and

expense to do that. She was in a hurry to reunite with her husband/fiance and their only son in the United States. She simply could not afford another

delay.Her interview appoint-

ment took almost the whole day. In the morning, she was screened by a Filipino assis-tant who commented, regret-tably and rather inappropri-ately, that she should have a court decree of nullity. This scared her to death. She was crying while having lunch with our support staff who stood by outside the embassy just in case Confused Wife would need further assistance. She was given another moral boost and told to just focus on what we prepared for. (I was in Manila a week earlier and had the chance to personally brief her. I stressed on her that it was the U.S. Embassy who said that her marriage was void, so there should be no more need for a court decree).

She went back for her interview re-energized and, some three hours later, she stepped out of the embassy grounds all smiles. She hap-pily told our staff that the consul commented that the fiancée petition was the right move. The consul who had interviewed her during the previous I-130 visa applica-tion was also around to assist in explaining the facts of her case to the new consul. As regards the court decree of nullity, it was not even men-

tioned during the interview.Atty. Rogelio Karagdag

, Jr. is licensed to practice law in both California and the Philippines. He practices immigration 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 or email him at [email protected] for your free consultation. He speaks Tagalog fluently. Articles written in this column are not legal advice but are hypotheti-cals intended as general, non-specific legal information.


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PNS -- THE once very popular Viva Hot Babes has disbanded, but most of them have gone solo in the pur-suit of their showbiz careers. One of them is Maricar dela Fuente, a member of Viva Hot Babes Batch 3.

Maricar now wants to em-bark on an acting career, but of course she’ll still accept singing stints. In fact, she will be the featured performer at the Majestic Club Casino (at the second fl oor of Networld Hotel, Roxas Blvd. corner Bu-endia Ave.) in its Father’s Day presentation on June 14.

For this special show, her fi rst at the club, Mari-car has prepared an excit-ing repertoire of love songs, among them “Valentine” and “Breathless,” two of her favorite songs; “Hey!” “Crazy for You,” “Saving Forever for You,” “Cry,” “The Climb,” “Forget About Me,” “Through the Fire,” and “Careless Whis-per” among others.

During her two-year contract with Viva Entertain-ment, Maricar also recorded a single in the Viva Hot Babes album, and appeared in some movies, among then “Reyna,” “Room 213,” and “Sumpa.”

Maricar goes solo

Maricar dela Fuente

She was also in the sex videos “Erotica,” “Pinoy Kamasutra, 1,” “Men of Provoc,” “Dance Latina” and “Hot Babes Gone Wild.”

On TV, Maricar appeared in “Sana’y Wala Nang Wa-kas,” “OK Fine, What-ever,” “Wattamen,” “John en Shirley” and “Everybody Hapi.”

Maricar has also appeared in some sexy pictorials in men’s magazines like FHM and Red Mag. She is also a commercial and print ad model.

Movies to Watch(Following are movies now showing or

soon to be shown in San Diego.)

by Simeon G. Silverio Jr.

Heartbreaker Is your daughter madly in love with a total loser? Is your

sister engaged to a brutish lout? Is your best friend dating a jerk? One man can help the situation. His name: Alex Lippi (Romain Duris, Molière, The Beat That My Heart Skipped). His profession: Breaking up couples. His method: Seduction! Within a few weeks Alex agrees to transform any husband,

fi ancé or boyfriend into an ex, in exchange for a handsome fee based on his success-ful reputation. Surveillance, phone taps, false identities and a devastating smile are only a few of the many tools he uses to carry out his as-signments. But please note, Alex does have ethics. He

only breaks up couples where the woman is unhappy. So why accept this next job? His target is Juliette (Vanessa Paradis), a beautiful, young and free-spirited heiress. In ten days, she is scheduled to marry the man of her dreams. But Alex has been hired by her father (Jacques Frantz) to carry out a “mission impos-sible” style seduction during which our high-fl ying heart-breaker may discover that when it comes to love, there is no such thing as a perfect plan. Directed by Pascal Chaumeil. (Partially subtitled) www.ifcfi lms.com/fi lms/heartbreaker

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Everyone has rights.We are committed to protecting everyone from humantrafficking regardless of a person’s immigration status.

They can be any age, gender or nationality.They could be human trafficking victims.

Please help them by calling 1-866-347-2423

www.dhs.gov/humantrafficking

Do you know people who have been forced or coerced to work in prostitution, domestic servitude or other types of labor?

►Were they recruited for one purpose but forced to engage in some other job?

►Have their passports or IDs been confiscated?►Are they held against their will?

►Can they socialize and have friends?►►Have they been threatened with

arrest or deportation?


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*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)

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Also Featuring:Debt Negotiation

Bankruptcy AssistanceLoan Consolidation

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.”

Trance

Caught in your own tranceof your own here and nowyou ignore me!i dancedance for youevery secondevery movementi am energy manifestedin all there islife force of the universe!transfixed in every atomevery moleculeplaying the same gamegames of eternity broadcast to youin the real here and now theaters theaters of your mind alwaysalways coming soonbut soon really is foreveralways herealways nowgames of eternitybeing playedplayed for youforever!

not good, why did you let yourself be caught)?”

Lando felt insulted.“But I allowed it,” he

proudly confessed. “In fact I was the one who called the husband so that he would break up with his wife.”

“Ang galing mo pala (Then you are good).”

“But don’t tell anybody about it,” Lando warned the old couple. “It’s our closely-guarded secret.”

“We won’t,” the old man promised.

BUT MANG TEBAN COULD HARDLY WAIT to break his vow. That evening, he immediately told his son Romy what Lando admitted to them. They were then having their dinner at the apartment.

“Can you believe that guy?” Mang Teban said. “He doesn’t have high education but he is very cleaver. I am sure he will come up with more money-making schemes for us.”

Unknown to them, Ditas was cleaning the kitchen near-by. She was shocked by what she heard: that it was Lando himself who called Isabel’s husband so that they would be caught. - 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 ‘Prom-ised Land’. Click the title of the chapter you want to read and the article will appear.)

Promised Land

Scam “Jueteng” is an illegal num-bers racket patronized by many Filipinos, mostly the poor.

It is said that the Spanish colonizers introduced the game in the 1800s. By 1900s, it was controlled by migrant Chinese until the locals took over.

To play jueteng, a bettor picks two digits between the numbers 1 and 37. For one’s bet to win, the numbers should be drawn consecutively. A bet of P1 can win P800 depending on the number of bettors and location.

Variations of the game include “tumbok” and “sahod” (betting on the order of the numbers drawn), “pompiang” (betting on the same number), “casas” (betting on three num-bers) and “deretsa” (betting on one number and any number equal to or lower than one’s chosen number).

Draws make use of para-phernalia similar to those used in bingo, although sometimes, the winning combinations are provided by the jueteng finan-ciers.

The major players involved in jueteng are the banker (also the financier), the operator or maintainer, the checkers or watchers and the accountants.

A “kabo” operates one or many cells of a jueteng syn-dicate in a given area. He looks after the bets collected by “kobradors” and passes the winnings back to them for distribution.

An operator oversees a big-ger area composed of different cells. He makes sure that the interests of the banker, who finances the operations, are protected.

The numbers racket gener-ates about P38 billion in annual gross sales for operators, who pay protection money to police, military and government of-ficials.

The kabo and the operator each get 10 to 15 percent of the gross collections and winnings. Another 30 percent is set aside for the police and other public

Jueteng and other illegal numbers racketsofficials.

In July, retired Archbishop Oscar Cruz, announced at a news forum that his group, Krusadang Bayan Laban sa Jueteng, had identified “more than 30” active jueteng lords, and that he would provide Lo-cal Government Secretary Jesse Robredo the names to help the government eliminate the il-legal numbers racket.

Cruz also lamented that jueteng was very pervasive in the Luzon provinces of Batan-gas, Pampanga and Pangasinan.

Swertres

Illegal “swertres” is based on the popular three-digit lotto introduced by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), which has mid-day, afternoon and evening draws, in the Visayas.

In the PCSO version, play-ers buy tickets at official lotto outlets and choose any three number combinations for P10 each. A bettor can win P4,500 while those who won the bet in the “rambolito” portion could win P750.

In the illegal version, bettors give their bets to ushers. Win-ning combinations are based on the official PCSO swertres draws. However, in the un-regulated version, a P10 bet on the three numbers could win P5,000, higher than the prize money offered by the PCSO.

Aside from swertres, the illegal numbers game “last two” is also popular in South-ern Mindanao. In last two, which gets its winning numbers from the last two digits of the PCSO’s lotto results, a P10 bet would win P700 or P600.

Masiao

“Masiao” refers to the il-legal betting that use jai-alai results as basis for winning. It was highly popular in the Visayas and Mindanao in the 1980s and 1990s at the height of the jai-alai games played in

Manila, and weakened with the closure of jai-alai frontons.

The introduction of PCSO’s swertres, however, became a new basis for playing masiao, reviving the illegal game in the Visayas, including Cebu City, Bohol, Eastern Visayas, Northern Mindanao, Southern Mindanao and Caraga.

In the masiao version, a peso wins P400 while in a PCSO outlet, a peso wins P450. Both use the same results of the PCSO draw.

One can place a bet of P1 in the masiao version, way smaller than the P10 minimum in the PCSO outlet. This makes masiao more popular among the poor.

Other forms

In the Western Visayas, forms of illegal gambling in-clude the “daily double,” video karera, “first two” and “last two,” which are all based on the results of the Small Town Lottery (STL).

First launched in 1987, STL was initially expected to stamp out jueteng. But because both have similar betting mechanics on two-number combinations, STL was used as a front by jueteng operators.

Because of its link to jueteng operators, STL was halted in 1990.

The Arroyo administration revived STL in 2005 and is being promoted by the Aquino administration with the aim of stamping out jueteng.

Lotteng

“Lotteng,” another illegal numbers game, is popular in Catanduanes. It is based on the first two numbers of the daily lotto draw.

Lotteng and “bookies,” which refer to unlicensed STL outlets, also exist with jueteng in Batangas and Laguna.

Sources: www.pcso.gov.ph, Inquirer Archives


Business and Finance

A major Thai conglomerate intends to expand its presence in the Philippines by invest-ing an initial US$ 45million in the hogs feeds sector, it was reported by the Philippine embassy in Bangkok.

The Charoen Pokphand Foods, fl agship company of the CP Group of companies and one of Thai-land’s biggest conglomerates, is setting up pig farms and facili-ties manufactur-ing feeds for hogs, according to ambassador to Thailand Lin-glingay Lacan-lale.

The ambassador had a meeting on July 19 with Senior Vice President Pinij Kungvankil of the Charoean Pokphand Foods at the em-bassy.

Kungvankij sought the embassy’s assistance in facilitating the implementa-tion of their projects in the

The International Mon-etary Fund upgraded anew the Philippines’ economic outlook for this year after the stronger-than-expected economic growth in the fi rst quarter of the year.

The IMF projected the Philippines will grow by six percent this year, up from the revised forecast of 3.6 percent last April.

The multinational lender originally ex-pected the country’s GDP to expand by 3.2 percent this year.

The new GDP forecast is the higher end of the revised GDP growth target of fi ve percent to six percent recently adopted by the Cabinet-level Develop-ment Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC).

Economic managers through the DBCC was forced to revise the government’s original GDP growth target of 2.6 percent to 3.6 percent this year after the GDP growth zoomed to its fastest level in almost two years at 7.3 per-cent in the fi rst quarter from 0.5 percent in the same quar-ter last year.

Despite the upgrade, the Philippines is still expected to be the laggard in terms of growth among Southeast Asian countries this year. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN-5 is now expected to grow by 6.4 percent instead of 5.5 percent this year.

The IMF’s revised GDP

IMF raises Philippines economic growth to 6%

growth forecast for the Phil-ippines is slower than Thai-land’s seven percent that was revised upwards from 5.5 percent, Malaysia’s 6.7 per-cent that was revised upwards from 4.7 percent, Vietnam’s 6.5 percent from six percent,

and Indonesia’s six percent.In all, IMF expects coun-

tries in the Asia Pacifi c Re-gion including China, Japan, India, Australia, and New Zealand to grow by 7.5 per-cent instead of seven percent this year on the back of buoy-ant exports and strong private domestic demand.

“Asia’s strong recovery from the global fi nancial crisis continued in the fi rst half of 2010, despite renewed tension in global fi nancial markets. First-quarter GDP outturns were generally stronger than anticipated at the time of the April 2010 World Economic Outlook, and high-frequency indicators suggest that eco-nomic activity remained brisk during the second quarter,” the IMF said.

On the other hand, newly industrialized Asian econo-mies (NIEs) including Hong

Kong, Singapore, Korea, and Taiwan are expected to post a GDP growth of 6.7 percent this year.

“Both NIEs and ASEAN economies are expected to grow by about 6.5 percent in 2010, as a result of surging exports and private domestic demand, before moderating to 4.75 percent and 5.5 percent, respectively, in 2011,” IMF stated.

The multinational lender, however, believes that growth

would slowdown next year due to the impact of the debt crisis in Europe.

For 2011, the IMF said the GDP of the Philippines would grow by four percent but would still be slower compared to Vietnam’s 6.8 percent, Indonesia’s 6.2 per-cent, Malaysia’s 5.3 percent, and Thailand’s 4.5 percent. The growth of the ASEAN-5 would ease to 5.5 percent next year.

Thai food fi rm to invest $45 million in RP expansion

Philippines, said Lacanlale, who shared that she is grateful “that a global food player will have a presence in the Philip-pines.”

Through the investments, the group will bring in tech-nologies that have made Thailand the biggest exporter

of white shrimp in the world,” Kungvankij told Lacanlale.

The CP Group of com-panies set up the Charoen Pokphand Foods Philippines Corporation, whose feed

mills manufac-ture shrimp and fi sh feeds for local market.

The Philippine Board of Investments has already approved the awarding of incentives to CP Group and construction of their facilities is expected to start within the year.

Founded in 1921, the CP Group has investments in

animal feeds production, food processing, aquaculture, mo-torcycle manufacturing, retail-ing, real estate, plastics and telecommunications. The CP

group employs over 250,000 people in Thailand and its overseas businesses.

(Story courtesy of Gloria Baylon of PNA)

GOODLETTSVILLE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dollar General (NYSE: DG) is offering customers more than everyday low prices during the upcoming holiday shopping season. This year, Dollar General is giving cus-tomers the chance to win $1 million, among other prizes, in the “Country Million” sweepstakes. Country music star Gretchen Wilson is help-ing Dollar General promote the sweepstakes, which kicks off in Dollar General stores Oct. 3 and runs through Dec. 15, 2010.

“Our customers rely on us every day for convenience and value,” said Rick Dreiling, Dollar General’s chairman and CEO. “This sweepstakes will add a little extra fun and excitement to our customers’ shopping experience, while giving them the opportunity to win some big prizes.”

Through the “Country Million” sweepstakes, Dol-lar General will be awarding more than 5,500 prizes. The grand prize winner will re-ceive a trip to Nashville, Tenn. and $1 million. Other prizes that will be awarded through the sweepstakes include cash, Gretchen Wilson CDs and

Dollar General Gives Customers Chance to Win “Country Million”

Country star Gretchen Wilson helps Dollar General award thousands of prizes, including $1 million

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BALINTUNANG BANDILA…isang pamahiin!

Bakit ba bibigyan ng masamang kahuluganAng ating bandilang mali ang pagkakalagayNa ang kulay pula ay napunta sa ibabawAt ang napailalim ay yaong kulay bughaw?

Itong pangyayari wika ay hindi ginustoSapagka’t ang nag-ayos ay isa lamang taoNa mayron ding pagkakamali dito sa mundoDi tulad ng ating Diyos, tunay na perpekto.

An’ya kapag ang bughaw ay napailalimanMay mangyayari sa bansa, bantang kaguluhanDi dapat maniwala ‘sang pamahiin lamangAt dapat na iwaksi sa bawa’t kalooban.

Kahit na nga salungat doon sa kagustuhanNa ang watawat ay lumakdaw sa panuntunanDi ito pahiwatig ng masamang kapalaranIsa lamang salagimsim na dapat iwasan.

Hindi ba’t karaniwan nang tama ang paggamitSa araw-araw na ito ay isinasabitSigalot sa ating bansa katanunga’y bakitHindi nagwawakas patuloy na nananaig?

Tumpak man o namamali ang paggamit nitoAy walang katuturan kung walang pagbabagoMarapat gawi’y pag-isahin ang PilipinoSugpuin ang hidwaan ng Muslim at Kristyano.

audele09-29-10

Last weekend, we were in Akron, Ohio to act as Primary Sponsors at the wedding of Rafa Pargas and Courtney Kiel. Rafa is the son of Maris Malvar Pargas who was a classmate of my wife in elementary, college and grad school, and of Roy (Hutch) Pargas, who is a computer science professor at Clemson University. Courtney, who was born and raised in the Akron area, is the daughter of Bob Kiel, an executive of UNISYS and a former high school Varsity basketball coach, and Debbie Kiel, a retired teacher.

It was a beautiful and fun wedding. The wedding plan-ner is the father of the bride. He not only spoke his “words of wisdom” but delivered with much love in deed and in ac-tion.

It was a blending of two cultures. That’s why the father of the groom had to reiterate his advice to his son that since he represented the “macho” Filipino, he must look straight into the eyes of his bride, and then firmly, strongly, and authoritatively say, “You are the boss.”

This is really a recogni-tion by Roy that based on his observation, exposure and experience, if you marry a Fil-ipina or an American woman, you have to be ready to be Vice-President, or if you want

Courtney and Rafa

Worrier, Warrior, Wealthier, Worthier

another position, Assistant Treasurer.

Featured first even before dinner was the beautiful wed-ding cake. It was designed, and baked by the Chef of Dis-ney World who is a friend of the bride’s family. I jokingly told the other guests at our table that the friend was asked earlier if he could really bake Courtney’s wedding cake. And her answer was, “Piece of cake.”

Marriage, indeed, is a wonderful “institution”. The only reason why many, like my barber, do not want to get married is because they do not want to live in an “institution”. Marriage also requires full commitment – to the extent that some couples become insanely committed to each other. They say that there is a similarity between marriage and insanity. In both cases, there is commitment to an institution.

Having been married for about four decades, I was asked by my barber as to what

The Wedding Cake

could be a major factor for a long, enduring and lasting marriage. I said, “Compro-mise.”

Example: my wife and I decided to go out one eve-ning. I wanted to go to a movie and she wanted to go see a play. We presented our respective reasons, listened carefully, and then as mature adults, entered into a Solo-monic compromise: we went to see a play.

My first cousin, Father Vic Arenas Maynigo, who offici-ated our wedding, those of my youngest sister, Mila, my eldest daughter, Tanya, and several nieces and nephews, used to say that you usually obtain three rings in marriage: first, the Engagement Ring; second, the Wedding Ring; third, the SuffeRing.

Akron, Ohio. The last time I talked and wrote about it was when LeBron James decided to leave his Cleveland team to join Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami. (See article, “King James and King George: Being Royal, Loyal and Real”).

“Destiny”, they say, “is not a matter chance but a matter of choice. It is not to be await-

Bosh, Wade and James

ed but it is to be achieved.” Our new God daughter, Court-ney, has chosen her destiny. She is temporarily leaving Ohio to join Rafa in Virginia to achieve such destiny.

George Steinbrenner of Cleveland left for New York and eventually bought the New York Yankees; John Glenn of Cambridge, Ohio left for outer space and came back a hero; Neil Armstrong of Wapakoneta, Ohio went to the moon;

Actors Bob Hope and Clark Gable, of Cleveland and Cadiz, respectively, and actresses Halle Berry and Catherine Bach of Cleveland and Warren, respectively went to Hollywood; Kathleen Sebelius of Cincinnati became

governor of Kansas and then U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services; Donna Sha-lala of Cleveland also became U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services;

William Howard Taft of Cincinnati became U.S. Presi-dent and Chief Justice; Roger Ailes of Warren is now Presi-dent of Fox News; James M. Cox of Jacksonburg founded Cox Communications; Larry Flynt of Cincinnati pub-lishes Hustler; Ted Turner of Cincinnati founded Turner Broadcasting and CNN; and Jack Warner of Youngstown co-founded Warner Bros. Stu-dios. Gloria Steinem, founder of the Women’s Liberation Movement also hails from Toledo, Ohio.

One of my first major jobs in the U.S. was as Administra-

Halle Berry

tion Director and Comptrol-ler of the National Associa-tion of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB). Founded in 1947, NAREB is one of the most powerful Black-controlled organizations in the country. Through this group, I learned all about minority business development issues. I reported directly to the President James Haynes. He was the best Chief Executive I have ever been exposed to. He was not only a good planner, orga-nizer, leader and controller; he

was an inspiring teacher who trained a group of younger male and female leaders who eventually succeeded him as President of the national asso-ciation. Most importantly, he is from Cleveland, Ohio.

While in Akron, I could sense from people there that they were quite disappointed with the departure of LeBron James. This prompted me to do a little research and I found out about the above-mentioned celebrities who



Unholy Allied Mountains

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 last chapter, Ding Romualdez takes a plane trip to the Philippines so he could see his former classmate, NPA

Commander Ronald.

Chapter 5 (Eighth of a series)

They were now 40,000 feet above the Pacific.

“Anything to drink?” the tall Filipina stewardess asked Ding.

“Red wine, please,” Ding replied.

He always had red wine, the best among the spirits for the heart and, for him, during flights. It will dull his senses for the long sonorous 11-hour straight flight from Los Angeles to Manila with a brief refueling in Honolulu.

As the stewardess went about taking other orders be-fore she does fetch his drink, Ding marveled at how he could now get a drink of red wine for free. Well it was part of his fare but nonetheless still free. This kind of drink nor any kind of drink way back then in his homeland was beyond his means. This kind of drink nor any kind of drink is still beyond the means of so many poor in the Philippines.

Even the cheapest spirits were beyond their means. Yet, most of the poor manage to drink and drink they do. In their poverty, they would do patak-patak, everyone con-tributing a peso or two until they could afford a bottle they would share. And they drink not only to dull their senses but they drink to dull their senses completely out of sense. They drink at every given opportunity for they have lost hopes to gain better

opportunities for their given lives. They drink to escape the harshness of reality only to bring about further harsh-ness in the real lives of their own families. They drink to escape the miseries of poverty only to wake up deeper in poverty.

“Here you are,” the stew-ardess said as she demurely handed Ding’s red wine.

“Thank you,” he said. He took a sip and an-

other until, when he finished, his senses were dulled.

Languorous, Ding, woke up and became aware again of the droning sounds of the airplane. There was the bit-ter taste in his mouth of one who just came from the deep oblivion of sleep. Three rows near him, a pair of stewardess was already clanking down the aisle with their service trolley dishing out meals to the passengers.

He was not sure if he was hungry. He does not know what mode of hunger his stomach should be if he was hungry at all. Inside the plane with the darkness outside, his body did not give him a sense of time.

“Chicken or beef?” the stewardess asked him when they have reached his row.

“Chicken, please.” Ding flipped down the tray behind the seat in front of him.

“And your drink?”“Red wine, please.”The stewardess handed

him a plastic rectangular plate blanketed with an aluminum foil. She poured wine unto a plastic cup and handed it over to him.

“Thank you very much.” He lifted the aluminum foil that covered his meal. The chicken was over a mound of rice. There was a vegetable salad at one corner of the plate enclosed in a 2 x 2 inch plastic container. Another contained a certain kind of chocolate cheese cake. Anoth-er plastic contained a plastic spoon, fork and knife; a pinch of salt and pepper; sugar for coffee or tea later on; and a small plastic capsule for the Thousand Island dressing for the salad.

Ding took a sip of the red wine to induce his appetite for he did not feel like feast-ing on what could have been a marvelous meal for a whole family in a corner slum any-where in Manila. Ding fin-ished the salad and ate half of the chicken and the rice. The cheese cake was too sweet.

In spite of the wine, he just

could not finish the meal and those left on the plate could have been worthy as a com-plete meal for another family in a corner slum anywhere in Manila.

If only there was a way these left over food could be thrown to those slum dwell-ers, Ding would have done it.

But there was no way and Ding had carved his feelings

about being emotional about it. Concrete conditions negat-ed any way that he could do anything about it. There was no sense in thinking and being emotional about it. His heart was still there, he was still for the poor but since he could not do anything about it, he just had to accept it.

He just had to accept that he was and is a petty-burgis. He just had to accept that he was and is blessed and cursed as a petty-burgis. He was blessed because by belong-ing to the middle class in the Philippines, his family was far above slum-dwelling circum-stances. His parents were able to send him to school and jockeyed him to higher posts in life. He was cursed because in the academe, he was able to understand the social circumstances that brought about the existence of slum dwellers. He was further cursed because in this under-standing of these circumstanc-es, he wanted to change the circumstances, fought for it but weakened in the fight that sent him back to his bless-ings of a petty-burgis. Unlike the workers and the peasants who remain steadfast in the struggle because they have nothing to go back to, he had

a comfortable bed to go back to when he was confronted with the reality of the harsh-ness of struggle.

When the stewardess col-lected his left over food, he requested for another cup of red wine. After it had been handed to him, he took a sip. He reached out for the ear-piece to would connect him to the plane’s piped in music. He inserted the pin into the receptacle by his arm rest and plugged his ears with the phones. After flicking on a

channel that fun-neled oldies mel-low melodies into his soul, he gulped the rest of the red wine. Adjusting the pillow on his back and cover-ing himself with a plane provided blanket, he dulled and lulled himself, content and invok-ing the blessings on being a petty-burgis even if he was only flying on economy class.

Chapter 6

“Business?” asked the immi-gration officer at the Manila Inter-national Airport.

“Visit rela-tives,” replied Ding.

The immigration officer stamped Ding’s passport and waved him off.

Ding lugged his bag and went directly to the claim area to retrieve his balikbayan boxes. He would have them sent to his brother, hoping to be able to see him after the mountains so he could dis-tribute the gifts to relatives himself.

After retrieving his boxes from the baggage carousels, he proceeded to the customs line where officers in white shirts and blue pants uniform were busy opening boxes and bags inspecting whatever the new arrivals might have brought with them. Beyond the lines, the new arrivals were busy laboriously repack-ing strewn cloths, canned goods, soap and other pasalu-bongs into the opened boxes and bags that were thoroughly inspected by the custom of-ficers.

When it came to Ding’s turn, he handed his passport and declaration paper to the officer. The officer smiled and discreetly pocketed the five dollar bill that Ding had inserted in his passport. The officer nodded him through without opening his boxes nor his bag.

After customs, Ding started to crane his neck as he panned through the placards held by greeters who were among the sea of people awaiting the new arrivals to pop out of the terminal. There it was, in bold red letters printed on a yel-

low cartolina, the placard sign shouted Ding.

“You don’t remember me, do you?” chided the woman who held the placard. She was dressed in a blue power dress like managing an office or something, complete with matching shoes and bag. Her hair was well coiffured.

The lines on her face were not enough to cover the pret-tiness of her face. Her im-ages of being in denims and t-shirts with headbands on her hair during their activist days flashed into Ding’s mind. “Chona?”

“It been a long time, Ding,” she said as she mo-tioned him outside of the terminal grounds to the park-ing lot.

“You look so different, so elegant.”

“I am on training on some-thing here. I am very uncom-fortable with these cloths but I have to put up with the looks.”

“So, how is Ronald?”“We’ll talk more in the

car.”“What about my boxes?”“Didn’t you say you want-

ed them sent to your brother?”“Yes.”“Someone else would take

care of them.”The car was a white Toyota

Lancer with tinted windows. Not at all flashy but must have been lent by a sympathizer who did not even know where it might be going today, Ding said to himself if he remem-bers how the movement oper-ated.

“Ding, this is Fred,” said Chona referring to the man on the driver side as they slid at the back seats. “And this is George.”

“Mabuhay ka, Kasama,” said George who was on the passenger side.

Ding has not heard that kind of greeting – wishing him well – among comrades for the longest time. These Fred and George must be comrades even if Fred and George may not be their real names. They are young, may-be in their middle twenties and meekly looking whom one would not suspect to be revolutionaries. He did not see any but he felt, he knew, that

they were armed. Partisans, he muttered to himself.

“Sorry, Ding,” said Chona who was with him at the back seat. “You will have to stay here in Manila for tonight. You will fly to Baguio tomor-row. And, you know how it is. I have to blindfold you.”

“I understand.”Unlike in the earlier days

of the revolution, a kasama could know where he was going especially in the urban areas. Right after Marcos had declared Martial Law, a mem-ber of the central committee was captured. His life threat-ened and his wife threatened to be raped, he succumbed to the tortures and led the enemy to thirty-three underground houses all over Manila and the Islands. Some of those captured also succumbed and more trails of comrades were captured. For over a period of three months, the fire trail of capturing blazed by the traitor led to at least thirteen con-firmed deaths of comrades, at least twenty missing, and a hundred incarcerated with their own brand of tortures to tell.

The traitor was eventually executed, shot by partisans when he thought, appear-ing confident, that he could already roam anywhere in Manila where, he apparently thought, the tentacles of the movement could no longer reach him.

Assessing the experience, kasamas would only now know where UG houses are on a need to know basis.

As Chona tightened the blindfold behind his back, Ding also shuddered at the thought that, at one time, long time ago, the enemy had also blindfolded him.

When the engine of the car started, Ding also heard the tapping on what appeared to be a cell phone.

(To be continued)

Quintin R. Ramil, Jr.Editorials - BALIK-TANAW by Dr. Romy V. Protacio, PhDHeading: Lani Oteyza: The Story of a Cinderella

Opinion:-------Thank you for the article on Lani Oyteza. I believe we are

of the same vintage. I personally met Lani in San Diego in the early 70’’s. Al

and Lanie were friends of my cousin, Manuel Biglang-awa and Lani was

even the maid of honor in the wedding of Roger Biglang-awa and Tessie Galang in

Vallejo.

Letters to the EditorRead previous articles by visiting our website at www.asian-journalusa.com

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


(Continued from page 5)or maintain legal status. USCIS response was filing fees are usu-ally relatively small portion of the overall cost of travel, legal expenses, relocation, and other expenses incurred in immigrating to the United States. In addition, the fees are necessary for USCIS to recover the cost of work associ-ated with the processing of the case. If USCIS does not impose the necessary fees, it could signifi-cant delay immigration, an impact which can be far more of a burden on a family than the proposed change in filing fee. USCIS said the increases were not significant and USCIS does not believe that the increases will significantly influence a decision of a family member to petition for a family member to join him or her in the United States. I’ve known lots of immigrants and U.S. citizens who delayed the filing of petitions

for their family members because they cannot afford the filing fees. This is especially true now that the U.S. economy is not doing well and some if not most of them are unemployed.

DHS determined that the fee for application for naturalization should remain at its current level of $595. USCIS receive praises

for not increasing the fee for natu-ralization.

We welcome your feedback. If you have any immigration ques-tions, please feel welcome to email me at [email protected] or call 619 819 -8648 to ar-range for a telephone consultation.

The new USCIS filing fees will take effect November 23, 2010

By Noel Pangilinan

NEW YORK CITY -- New York City Mayor Mi-chael Bloomberg declared Sept. 19 Bayanihan Cultural Festival Day, saying that the festival has played “a key role in promoting Filipino heritage in the United States.”

Only on its second year, the Bayanihan Festival, organized by the Philippine Forum, has already earned the support of several New York City officials and the Fili-pino American community in Queens, NY.

Aside from Bloomberg, two city council mem-bers, a state senator and the city comp-troller lauded the Bayanihan festival for introducing the rich cultural heri-tage of the Filipinos to the larger immi-grant community in the city. They also gave recognition to the Philippine Forum for its ser-vice to the Filipino American community.

Some 4,000 Filipinos and Filipino Americans attended the whole-day festival on Sept. 19 at the Hart Play-ground, in the heart of the Fil-ipino community in Queens. Among the five boroughs of New York City, Queens has the largest Filipino popula-tion.

In his declaration, Bloomberg said the Bayani-han Cultural Festival “has al-ready become one of the East-ern Seaboard’s most popular Filipino cultural festivals.”

“This festival is a ter-rific opportunity for Filipino Americans to showcase their contributions to our city’s economic and cultural suc-cess,” Mayor Bloomberg said.

Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer, one of the major supporters of the festival, commended the Philippine Forum for consistently pro-viding assistance and advo-cacy to the Filipino American community in Queens and throughout New York City.

New York City mayor declares Bayanihan Day

“Their efforts to foster soli-darity and cooperation among the different immigrant com-munities have made them an indispensable asset to New York City,” said Van Bramer in his commendation.

Aside from Van Bramer, Council Member Daniel Dromm and State Senator Jose Peralta attended the Bayanihan festival and de-livered short messages. New York City Comptroller John Liu sent a member of his staff to present a plaque of appreci-ation to the Philippine Forum for its untiring dedication to

help the Filipino American community.

The city’s commissioner for immigrant affairs, Fatima Sharma, also congratulated the Philippine Forum, saying its “efforts add to the mosaic of immigrant culture through-out the five boroughs.”

The Philippine Forum said it is honored by Mayor Bloomberg’s declaration of Bayanihan Day and the commendations from city and state officials. “This is a recognition of the Filipino community’s contribution to New York City’s economic growth and cultural diversity,” said Robert Roy, co-executive director of the Philippine Forum.

At the Bayanihan Festi-val, the Filipino crowd was treated to an all-afternoon, non-stop cultural festival that featured songs, dances and performances mostly by New York-based artists.

Among those who per-formed were the Benguet, Ifugao, Bontoc, Apayao and Kalinga (BIBAK) Northeast;

Bukidnon Kaamulan sa Amer-ika; the Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment (FiRE); AnakBayan NJ/NY; Kabalikat Domestic Workers Support Network; Bayanihan Kultural Kolektib; Filipino American Senior Association (FASA) of Bushwick-Ridgewood Senior Center; Kinding Sindaw, Phil-ippine United Students Orga-nization (PUSO) of SUNY-Stony Brook; Terpsichorean of Queens; Sandata; Vambudo Martial Arts; Kadena; Def Case; Paul the Magician; TaosPuso; Broadway perform-ers Ester Barroso and Tess Paras; and many others.

There were also a lot of people, even non-Filipinos, who availed of the free health screening and free immigra-

tion consulta-tions offered by the festi-val. Roy of the Philippine Forum said Bayanihan Day is not only a day for celebra-tion. “It is also a day for service,” he said.

The Phil-ippine Forum is a not-for-

profit organization that pro-vides training, education and advocacy to people of Filipino heritage. It aims to make Filipinos in the United States aware of their roots, rights and responsibilities.

Among the sponsors of this year’s Bayanihan festival were Taste of Asia, Filipino Times and Asian Review, Jol-libee, Red Ribbon, Western Union, and Manila Gorilla.

For more information on how to participate in next year’s Bayanihan Day, contact the Philippine Forum at 718-565-8862 and look for Julia or Cling. Or visit bayanihanfes-tival.com or email [email protected]

The Bayanihan Filipino Community Center is located at 40-21 69th St., Woodside, New York City.

(Noel Pangilinan is the Executive Editor of Queens7.com, a hyperlocal, online news site for immigrant com-munities in Queens, New York)

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

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09/24/10

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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

Now Available:

Tawa’t Tula ng mga Piling Katatawanan

By Joe Cabrera

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Call Asian Journal San Diego619-474-0588

the town of Mambojao. The road was passable, asphalted, and single-laned. The sur-roundings were lush green trees and other vegetations hugging the edge of Bohol Sea where coral reefs abound-ed.

Apparently, Camiguin was teeming with natural wonders that were conducive to diverse activities, affectionate folks, and nostalgic sceneries with a romantic aura. Camiguin is a pear-shaped island that still shows evidence of volcanic eruptions from Mt. Hibok-Hibok in the not-too-distant past.

We stopped at the De-

From Antique to America: Memoirs of a Filipino

American Doctor Sojourn to Camiguin Island, Part 2


5,000 square feet and shaped like a dumbbell. People said it was once a rounded islet but one night an unknown boat anchored by and sucked almost all the white sands. This beautiful, serene place was surrounded by the blue, knee-deep warm water. We took a little swim until some of the native fishermen landed nearby and brought with them their fresh catches.

We checked in at the Caves Resort. After dinner that evening our guide suggested that we go to the Ardent Hot Spring, six kilometers up in the wooded mountains using a four-wheel-drive jeep that she borrowed from the depart-ment. A female tourist from Germany and a local male guide came along with us.

Due to the recent rains, the rugged terrain uphill was al-

most impassable but we man-aged to reach the spring in 30 minutes. The spring was in its natural setting of hot water that flowed into a lagoon, a six-foot deep Olympic-size swimming pool. The pool was well lighted but the surround-ing jungle was pitch dark. The distinct chirps of crickets and other insects filled the air.

The water percolated through one’s skin in a most invigorating manner at 92 degrees, dilating the superfi-cial veins of the subcutis. The soothing effect was difficult to describe. This water was not-ed for its therapeutic effects on various bodily ailments and on one’s soul. This was

Port in Benoni Lagoon

partment of Agriculture in the town of Mambojao and introduced ourselves. A pretty secretary-receptionist was kind enough to volunteer as our guide. It was impressive to see old houses in town that were remarkably well-preserved despite the fact that they dated back to the 18th hundreds.

We took a tricycle that was the common means of trans-portation in town. Our first agenda was to visit the differ-ent beach resorts. A two-kilo-meter trip using a motorized banca to a nearby uninhabited white island was exciting. The islet was no more than

a once-in-a-lifetime swim in the middle of the night, out of nowhere, and in the ambience and aura of a romantic jungle environment. We were not concerned about our safety that evening. Fortunately, we were told later that there were no NPA’s (terrorists) on the island.

The following day, prior to returning to Cagayan de Oro City, we stopped at the Beno-ni Lagoon. Here, one could catch fish, crabs, and prawns and gather shells and have them cooked to one’s liking. A floating shaded raft, paddled by local boys, could be rented for 20 pesos an hour while

enjoying lunch. And that was exactly what we did.

There is no comparison to the joy and invigorating vaca-tion that I had experienced in this island. In the past few years my wife and I visited Paris, France, and Rome and the Vatican City in Italy, but this island resort in the Philip-pines is still more awesome to me. It seemed like heaven to me.


©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.

Tulad ng Sabi KoTulad ng sinabi ko nuon darating ang tag-ulangrasya ng Diyos sa atin ay laging n’yang ibibigaymga halaman tuyot na iyan muling mabubuhayang pag-asa sa buhay hindi ka dapat mawawalan.

Tulad ng sinabi ko sa ‘yo muling hahalimuyakmasasamyo na naman natin mababangong bulaklakna waring nagsasabi na huwag kayong mabagabagmaghintay lamang kayo at ulap ay magliliwanag.

Tulad ng sinabi ko ay muli tayong aaliwinn’yang mga ibong paroo’t parito sa papawirinmabibighani kang tiyak sa mga huning malambingsabay kampay ng bagwis ikaw ay mapapatingin.

Tulad ng sinabi ko ‘wag mawawala ang pag-asasa buhay nating ito na napakaraming pangambapagsubok lamang ito kung hanggang saan ba ang kayakaya huwag tayong magpapatalo, huwag tutumba.

Tulad din ng sinabi ko hindi ako iiwananat sa iyong piling lamang ako sadyang nakalaanmagkasama nating pakikinggan himig ng kilyawanat sasamyuin, lalanghapin bango ng kalikasan.

Joke of the week: In the Italian district of Brooklyn a middle-aged man stopped in church, knelt before the statue of St. Anthony, and uttered this complaint, “St. Anthony, you no solva my problem. Two years I pray. You no solva my problem. I give you one more day. Tomorrow I come in, and if you no solva my problem, I gonna take you away from your stand.” The janitor, who was work-ing in the sacristy, heard him. He replaced the big statue of the saint with a small one, only about a foot high. Next day, our man returns, sees the small statue, and exclaims, “Hey, little Tony, wheresa your poppa?”

Scripture: First Reading: Habakkuk 1: 2-3; 2: 2-4. The prophet Habakkuk lived in the last half of the seventh century before Christ. The evil within Judah is equal to the evil outside it: the Babylo-nian army is ready anytime to attack Judah and Jerusalem. The prophet prays for deliver-ance from oppression within and the impending gloom from outside. He feels that the Lord does not listen to his pleadings. The Lord responds that he will answer the proph-et’s petition according to the divine plan and in his own pace and time. Even when all things seem to be against all odds, the prophet is taught to have faith. Second Reading: 2 Timothy 1: 6-8, 13-14. Many biblical scholars believe that the author of the Pastoral Epistles, though belonging to the Pauline corpus, is not Paul himself but the apostle’s disciple who wants to per-petuate Paul’s teaching in the Pauline tradition that ad-dresses concretely a pressing problem within the Christian community. Timothy and all the successors to the Pauline ministry are encouraged not to merely keep the tradition, but also to unleash the Spirit’s power by sharing it with oth-ers. Gospel: Luke 17: 5-10. Discipleship is not doing extraordinary things, such as

God makes everything wonderful in his time

moving mountains from one place to another. Discipleship involves faith that does ordi-nary things extraordinarily. When the missions have been accomplished, a true disciple does not expect any recom-pense.

Reflections: Before to-day’s Gospel passage, Jesus demands his followers to for-give others without counting the cost. Because of this tall order, the disciples asked the Master, “Increase our faith.”

The very essence of faith is not encountering something that has been made up, but that there is something that meets us that we can ever imagine. This has happened in a very unique and mysterious way: God humbled himself in Jesus Christ, making himself so small to manifest to man-kind his immense love. Faith, though it has comprehensible elements, is never simply knowledge. That faith is not simply an assent of the mind has been demonstrated by the first reading from the prophet Habakkuk. Faith involves our whole existence, letting go of ourselves and letting God in.

Faith grows by leaps and bounds. Faith matures by suffering and doubts. It is healthy to realize that one’s faith increases amidst threats and oppositions. It is natural for faith to encounter skepti-cism and unbelief. Because faith lies beyond what is demonstrable and knowledge, God’s love is not refutable. However, for anyone who does not have faith, God’s love becomes questionable amidst war, terrorism, dis-ease, famine, and violence in the world. God’s answer to Habakkuk’s prayer, “The vision will not disappoint, it will surely come, it will not be late,” is also his response now to people’s doubts about his love.

Love is like a fire. For fire to continue burning, there should be enough woods, and so too is love. Love grows when it is expressed in ac-tions. This is also true with

faith. Our burning faith in God lives when it is shared with others. The Pauline author of the second reading exhorts Timothy to unleash the power of the Spirit that he had received when the Apostle Paul imposed hands on him. The author wants us also to share the power of the Spirit through witness of a Christian life and blessing of our fam-ily members as we pray and impose hands on them that the same Spirit too will inflame them and become more wel-coming to God’s grace in their lives.

Quotation of the week: “Faith always implies the dis-belief of a lesser fact in favour of a greater. A little mind often sees the unbelief without see-ing the belief of a larger one.”

Oliver Wendell Holmes.

came from Ohio but made good somewhere – Moon, Outer Space, Hollywood Stars and Worldwide Web. All of them recognize their roots and somehow made their home-towns proud.

In my high school class in the Philippines, 7 of the top ten honor students plus more left our hometown and now live in the United States and Canada. All are doing extremely well. Of the 90 million Filipinos, 8 million live and work in several coun-tries temporarily leaving their hometowns and more often than not, their families to pro-vide for themselves and their families a brighter future.

In facing the challenges in this material World, a hard Worker usually start as Wor-rier, then a Warrior, becoming Wealthier and ultimately a lot Worthier.

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Light &Shadows

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

by Zena Sultana Babao

3507 S. Maryland Parkway Suite A.Las Vegas, Nv 89169 (702) 608 2527

Las Vegas Branch

“What will Congress do about your taxes?” is the title of an article that just came out in The Kiplinger Letter, a well-re-spected Washington D.C.-based weekly print and online periodi-cal that publishes timely, person-al finance advice and business forecasts. You and I are taxpay-ers, so that is a question we all want the answer to.

Written by Mary Beth Frank-lin, Senior Editor, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, the article says that the last minute action, or inaction, of Congress may affect our year-end tax moves. I don’t know anything about tax laws or taxation per se. How-ever, I know that every time tax season comes, it’s really hard on the pocket, especially during these trying times!

You may or may not agree with everything the article says, but it’s worth a read, and so here it is:

“Uncertainty on Capitol Hill is making everyone’s life miserable. Congress’s inability

What Will Congress Do About Our Taxes?

to decide on what to do about the expiring Bush-era tax cuts means that we probably won’t know what will happen to next year’s tax rates until after the November elections. In the meantime, review your options so that you’ll be ready to act once Congress does.

President Obama wants to keep current tax breaks in effect for lower-and middle-income taxpayers but favors reinstitut-ing higher rates for the wealthi-est 3% of Americans – those whose incomes exceed $200,000 ($250,000) for married couples).

Ironically, while the Obama plan would raise taxes on the highest income earners, some pretty well-off taxpayers would enjoy a five-percentage-point rate cut on some of their in-come. That’s because the 28% bracket (which now ends at about $170,000 for singles and $210,000 for couples) would have to be expanded to accom-modate the president’s defini-tion of middle class. So some

income now smacked by the 33% rate would drop into the 28% bracket.

Congressional Republicans argue that current tax rates should be extended for every-one, noting that many of the taxpayers targeted for tax hikes are small-business owners and that higher taxes on them could derail the economic recovery. Extending the current tax rates for all taxpayers would cost $3.3 trillion over the next ten years, compared with the $2.2 trillion if they were extended for all but the rich, according to the Pew Economic Policy Group.

The more time Congress spends arguing over what to do about the Bush tax cuts, the more likely it is that the law-makers will ultimately kick the can down the road by extending current tax rates for everyone for a year or two to buy time to work on more-permanent tax reform.

But anything could happen during a likely post-election lame-duck session. If political gridlock sets in, the Bush tax cuts could actually expire on schedule on December 31, and everyone’s taxes would be up in 2011. (Remember, almost no one believed Congress would actually let the estate tax expire at the end of last year … but it did.)

Without congressional action this year, everyone will feel the pain of higher income taxes in 2011. The lowest 10% tax bracket would disappear, mean-ing everyone would pay higher rates on more of their income. The marriage penalty that forced

some dual-income couples to pay more tax on their combined income than they would have owed if they had remained single would be reinstated. The end of the Bush tax cuts would also cut the child tax credit in half, from $1,000 to $500 per child.

Higher-income taxpayers would face bigger tax bills as rates increase and as limits on itemized deductions and per-sonal exemptions, which disap-peared in 2010, come back into play next year. In addition to increased capital-gains rates, qualified dividends would revert to being taxed at ordinary-in-come rates as high as 39.6%.

A more immediate prob-lem is what will happen to the alternative minimum tax (AMT) and a host of other expired tax breaks, such as a choice between deducting either state sales taxes or state income taxes, which will affect the 2010 tax returns than Americans file next spring.

The AMT disallows personal exemptions and many of the de-ductions that taxpayers count on to reduce their tax bill. Without an annual fix to raise the AMT exemption level, an estimated 25 million Americans will be hit by the alternative minimum tax in 2010, compared with five mil-lion last year.

But we expect that Congress will muster the votes to patch the AMT for 2010, as it has each of the past several years, and revive the tax breaks, too. Will they get around to it before the IRS prints the 2010 tax forms for next year? Stay tuned!”

By Noel Pangilinan

Not even a tornado can dampen the indomitable spirit of Filipinos in New York.

Just three days after a rare but destructive storm devas-tated a large part of Queens in New York City, more than 4,000 Filipino Americans came out and came together to celebrate the Bayanihan Cultural Festival on Sunday, Sept. 19.

“It was a great show of community spirit,” Julia Camagong, co-executive edi-tor of the Philippine Forum, the festival’s organizer, said. “The Filipinos’ willingness to take part in a community ac-tivity despite a recent calam-ity is proof once more of our resilience as a people,” said Camagong, who also teaches

Tagalog classes at the Col-lege of Mt. St. Vincent in the Bronx.

Maricris Taeza, managing editor of Queens7.com, the hyperlocal, online news site for Queens immigrants, said the events leading to the cul-tural festival reminded her of

how Filipinos back home cope with storms and typhoons. An average of 20 typhoons visit the Philippines every year.

“In the Philippines, espe-cially in the provinces, right after a storm has passed, families come out to survey the damage and start repairing what needs to be fixed. But no matter how bad the damage was, it never prevented them from preparing for the town fiesta,” said Taeza, who hails from Los Banos, Laguna.

Thousands of trees in Queens were uprooted by the tornado on Sept. 16; many falling on streets and blocking roads, some falling on houses and cars, and several more causing power lines to trip.

But the Filipino Ameri-cans in New York will not be denied their day. They trooped to Hart Playground in Wood-side, Queens on Sept. 19 to take part in the second annual Bayanihan Cultural Festival.

Despite storm, Filipinos celebrate Bayanihan Day in New York

The festival kicked off with an interfaith service concelebrated by a Catholic priest, a Protestant minister and a Muslim layman. Prayers were said in the different Philippine languages, honor-ing the diverse cultural heri-tage of Filipinos. During the offertory, a mini-bahay kubo, or Philippine nipa hut, was carried to the makeshift altar, signifying the community’s offering of solidarity and will-ingness to help, in the tradi-tion of the Filipino bayanihan spirit.

Hilda Mantalaba of St. Sebastian Parish Church, who helped prepare the interfaith service, said she received a lot of positive feedbacks from people who attended the service. “They said it was very beautiful. They liked the

message of the sermons.”After the interfaith ser-

vice, the Filipino crowd was treated to an all-afternoon, non-stop cultural festival that featured songs, dances and performances mostly by New York-based artists.

Among those who per-

formed were the Benguet, Ifugao, Bontoc, Apayao and Kalinga (BIBAK) Northeast; Bukidnon Kaamulan sa Amer-ika; the Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment (FiRE); AnakBayan NY/NJ; Kabalikat Domestic Workers Support Network; Bayanihan Kultural Kolektib; Filipino American Senior Association (FASA) of Bushwick-Ridgewood Senior Center; Kinding Sindaw; Phil-ippine United Students Orga-nization (PUSO) of SUNY-Stony Brook; Terpsichorean of Queens; Sandata; Vambudo Martial Arts; Kadena; Def Case; Paul the Magician; TaosPuso; Broadway perform-ers Ester Barroso and Tess Paras; and many others.

“It’s my first year attending the Bayanihan Festival, and I’m amazed by the diversity of performances in the event, said Alayne Luistro, a student from Baruch College in Man-



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Showbiz Watcher

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

by Ogie Cruz

Noong nakaraang show ni Cristy Fermin sa ‘Juicy’, walang takot na sinabi niya na naghuhugas lang ng kamay ang Manager at talent dahil sa interview ng ‘The Buzz’ kay Mariel Rodriguez,last Sunday.

Sa mga hindi nakakaalam, ang manager po ng nababali-tang bagong asawa ni Robin Padilla na si Mariel ay walang iba kundi si Boy Abunda.

Ayon na rin sa obse-basyon ng Tv host na si Ate Cristy, wala naman daw nasagot sa mga tanong na dapat sagutin ni Mariel nang ma-interview ito sa ‘The Buzz’,parang wala namang nangyari between her and Toni Gonzaga.To think na naging malaking issue ito, at mismong si Toni ang nagsalita na masama ang loob niya sa dati niyang kaibigan.Pero still walang sustansiya ang naging pahayag ni Mariel.

Eto rin ang palaisipan at kung bakit naging absent si Ms Gonzaga last Sunday sa ‘The Buzz’.Para hindi niya madinig kung anumang pali-wanag ang gagawin ni Mariel

Cristy Fermin Tinira si Boy Abunda dahil sa issue about Mariel and Toni!!!

at siempre kakampihan na-man ito ng kanyang manager na si Boy Abunda, tanong lang namin ito.

Pero ang nakakagulat diretsong pagtira ni Cristy Fermin kay Boy Abunda sa ere, anu kaya ang say ni Kuya Boy Abunda tungkol sa bagay

na ito?Samantala

ang dami na-mang naka-kaaway ngay-on ni Mariel nadagdag pa sina Kirs Aquino at Luis Manza-no.Anu na ba ang nangyari kay Mariel, pinagtutulun-

gan ba siya, at ganito kanega siya sa ngayon?

Sa wakas nakausap na naming ang pamosong Ph-sychic na si Madam Suzette Arandela (ang favorite na-manghuhula ng aming kapatid sa panunulat na si Alex Datu), nandito pala siya ngayon sa Los Angeles California.

Ayon kay Madam Suzette, ang pagbabalik daw ni Willie Revillame sa Tv5 ay talagang dadaan daw ito sa butas ng karayom pero tiniyak niya na hindi sa October 10, 2010 ang initial telecast nito sa chan-

nel 5, mauurong ito dahil sa dimanda ng ABS-CBN na

inihain.Kaya malamang daw na yung may-ari ng ABS-CBN at ABC 5, na magkausap para maayos ang lahat.Mag-kakaroon daw ito ng ‘Buy Out of Contract’, at tiniyak ni Madam bilyon –bilyon ang lalabas na pera sa usapan na ito ng dalawa.

Mauudlot lang ang initial telecast nito ,pero matutuloy din ito sa nasabing kapatid Network.

Pero natuwa naman kami kay Madam Suzette, dahil hinulaan din niya kami,magiging pabalik-balik daw ako sa Amerika, which mean magkakaroon ako ng green card, hindi masama.

NAKAKATUWA naman ang bagong kapatid channel 5, umaarangkada na sila sa ere at kamakailan lang nanguna sila sa panglinggo at pangsabado na mga palabas.

Takenote tinalo nila ang ABS-CBN at those days, ayon na rin sa survey ng Nielsen International, at pang-una na-man ang GMA 7.

Hindi pa nag-uumpisa ang show ni Willie na siyang

inaabangan ng tao Channel 5, di lalo na silang aarang-kada ng husto kapag nandyan na ang ‘Wiling Willie’ na malaman sa October 10 ang simula nito.Eto na rin ang simu-la nila parang mag-ing Global kagaya ng TFC at Pinoy Tv.Nakakakabuti naman at may iba

pang channel na kalaban ng dalawang networks, GMA at ABS-CBN.Laking tulong din sa kanila si Ms. Cristy Fermin na may dalawang show sa kapatid network at siempre nandyan din sina Amy Perez dahil sa kanyang show na ‘Face to Face’ at ‘Tarantadong Pinoy’ naman ni Ryan Agon-cillo.Pero teka,bakit sabi ni Tita Swarding sa DZRH hindi daw siya naniniwala ng top rating ang ‘Juicy’, kung top rating daw ito at bakit wala raw itong gaanong commer-cial, pwes pakiesplika Ate Cristy ang banat sa inyo ni Tita Swarding.

BINABATI pala namin ang aming ka-Facebook na lagging binabasa ang aming sinusulat lalo na si Jay Ellema na dati naming student sa CCP , si Susan Raymundo ng Cen-tral Colleges of the Phils. At si Benny Andaya ng Showbiz na Showbiz ng DZME. Maram-ing-maraming salamat po!

The Seany Foundation • aims to set new record200+ people in the SD • Hall of Champions sup-porting one cause

WHAT: Raising funds for local pediatric cancer research and patient care projects, The Seany Foundation’s Everything is Pos-sible Celebration has a $150,000 goal to reach this year. The fundraiser boasts catering by Jef-frey Strauss/Pamplemousse Grille, entertainment by Ruby Summer, an opportunity drawing and silent/live auctions. Tickets are $125/person, $1250 per table of ten. RSVP at 800-794-8282 or online. Monies raised will go directly toward pediatric cancer research and patient care projects. Projects include:

Sean L. Robins Pediatric On-cology Fellowships and Clinical Trials at Rady Children’s Hospital San Diego (RCHSD) and UCSD

Seany Teen Room in the oncol-ogy wing of the new patient care pavilion of RCHSD, scheduled completion in Summer 2010

Seany Music Program- to be implemented in the Seany Teen Room beginning Fall 2010

Seany’s Sponsor-a-Kid Pro-gram- invites young cancer pa-tients and their families from local children’s hospitals to attend our special blockbuster movie screen-ings free of charge

Sean Lewis Robins Endowed Research Fund for Pediatric Sarcoma at Moores UCSD Cancer Center

WHEN: Sunday, October 10, 2010 5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m

WHERE: San Diego Hall of Champions, 2131 Pan American Plaza, San Diego, CA 92101

WHY: 1 in 300 children will be diagnosed with cancer before the age of 20. Over 40,000 children and teens across the US are undergoing active cancer treat-ment. More children die of cancer than from aids, asthma, diabe-tes, cystic fibrosis and muscular dystrophy combined. Our govern-ment provides severely inadequate funds for childhood cancer re-search, especially sarcomas. Some progress is being made, but all too painstakingly slowly for those anxiously awaiting a cure. Chari-ties such as The Seany Foundation must make up the difference to find better treatments and cures for these diseases.

MORE ABOUT THE SEA-NY FOUNDATION:

The Seany Foundation was inspired by the passionate life and spirit of Sean Lewis Robins, who, after being diagnosed at age 16, battled Ewing’s sarcoma for nearly seven years. The Seany Founda-tion continues his courageous battle through its philanthropic endeavors. It is dedicated to funding research to help find cures for pediatric cancers, especially sarcomas, and to improving the quality of life for children and teens battling cancer, right here in San Diego. For more information, please visit http://www.theseany-foundation.org.

$150,000 in one night for pediatric cancer research “When nothing is certain, everything is possible.”


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

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

Ni Romeo Nicolas

Mga Tulang Tagalog

There was a man, who had worked all his life, had saved all of his money, and was a real miser when it came to his money.

Just before he died, he said to his wife...’When I die, I want you to take all my money and put it in the casket with me. I want to take my money to the afterlife with me.’

And so he got his wife to promise him, with all of her heart, that when he died, she would put all of the money into the casket with him.

Well, he died. He was stretched out in the

casket, his wife was sitting there - dressed in black, and her friend was sitting next to her. When they fi nished the ceremony, and just before the undertakers got ready to close the casket, the wife said,

Mga Tusong MatsingHeto na nga, heto na nga, ‘di na sila mapakali,Mga TUSONG MATSING tila balak ‘wag pahuli.Balisa ang mga kilos, ganung noon kay aarte,Ngayon sila’y alisagang ang utak ay NATORETE.

Heto na nga, heto na nga, saan ba ang ‘tago ninyo?Saan kayo magpupunta ngayong bago ang Pangulo?Sa maraming mga taong nangurakot sa gobyerno,Huling-huli kayo ngayong matanggalan ng trabaho.

Hindi lang yan kung sakali, handa na rin ang kulungan,Kung kayo ay nagkasala, dapat kayo’y parusahan.Kayo na rin ang dahilang ‘di umunlad itong bayan,Nang dahil sa SARILING TIYAN, nauunang NABASBASAN.

Tapos na ang mga araw na kayo ay nagpasasa,Pasasa sa lahat-lahat na sa dukha’y walang awa.Ang PALASYONG mga bahay, mga taong inalila,‘Daming kotse kinoleksyon sa KURAPSYONG tiba-tiba.

Panigurong tanggal kayo sa posisyong inyong taban,Kasama rin ang maraming nagsisilbi nyong galamay.Hindi na nyo makakayang daanin sa mga dasal,‘Pagkat kahit si SATANAS, magagawa’y matuwa lang.

‘Daming taong naging TUSO sa sarili nating bayan,Parang MATSING sa paglundag sa tinamong mga yaman.Ang lahat ng KAALYADONG iisa ang SINASAYAW,Sa baluktot na pananaw, dyan kayo huhusgahan.

TUSONG MATSING ang araw nyo’y unti-unting nabibilang,Ang tagumpay sa kaso nyo’y mahirap na malusutan.Ang butas na ginawa nyo ay ‘di SIMPLE at OK lang,Kungdi butas na sinlawak, sinlaki ng ating bayan.

Kaya kayong TUSONG MATSING, dumating na ang araw nyo,At MAPAGLALALANGAN DIN ‘pagkat ‘di na makatakbo.Ganyang-ganyan yaong MATSING na ang kamay nasa BAO,Sa pagtakas ay mabagal, heto, heto, HULI KAYO!!!!!!

Batikos # 5Romeo S. Nicolas

The Obedient Wife‘Wait just a moment!’

She had a small metal box with her; she came over with the box and put it in the casket. Then the undertakers locked the casket down and they rolled it away.

So her friend said, ‘Girl, I know you were not foolish enough to put all that money in there with your husband.’

The loyal wife replied, ‘Listen, I’m a Christian; I cannot go back on my word. I promised him that I was go-ing to put that money into the casket with him.’

‘You mean to tell me you put that money in the casket with him!?!?!?’

‘I sure did,’ said the wife. ‘I got it all together, put it into my account, and wrote him a check.... If he can cash it, then he can spend it.’

though Puno administratively reported to Robredo, P-Noy was just a phone call away. It was an “arrangement” that gave comfort to P-Noy know-ing that his “shooting buddy” would take a bullet for him should things go wrong.

Indeed, Puno must really be enjoying his new role keep-ing an eye on police matters. He was on top of the world. Then, suddenly the world turned upside down… and all hell broke loose!

Luneta bloodbath At 10:00 AM on August

23, 2010, Rolando Mendoza, a dismissed senior inspector in the Manila Police Department, hijacked a tourist bus carry-ing 25 Chinese tourists from Hong Kong. Eleven hours later, after a botched rescue operation by an “elite” SWAT team, eight tourists were mur-dered by the hostage-taker and the hostage-taker was fatally shot by police sniper fi re.

The incident put P-Noy in an awkward and embarrassing position for being “invisible” during the hostage-taking episode which was televised worldwide. His leadership was questioned and many believed that he failed the fi rst test of his presidency. Also “invisible” were Puno and then PNP chief Jesus Verzosa who, in the midst of the hos-tage crisis, fl ew to Cagayan de Oro to attend a “function.” Robredo was around in the pe-riphery but was not involved directly in the negotiation with the hostage-taker.

In the aftermath of the Lu-neta bloodbath, a “lynch mob” in the administration singled out Robredo for the fi asco and tried to “hang” him. But Ro-bredo defended himself saying that he was “not in the loop,” claiming that it was Puno who was given sole authority and responsibility over police mat-ters.

Consequently, P-Noy ordered Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to conduct a fact-fi nding investigation and promised that “heads will roll.” De Lima then formed the Incident Investigation and Review Committee (IIRC), which included Robredo and three others.

Jueteng payola exposed Then, in an unrelated inci-

dent on September 11, 2010, retired Archbishop Oscar Cruz dropped a “bombshell” right in front of Malacañang Palace alleging that two trusted aides of P-Noy were each receiving P2 million monthly payola from jueteng lords. While he refused to name names saying that he would do it at the right forum, ABS-CBN published

Double Whammy Hits Puno(Continued from page 1)

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the names of the two offi cials who allegedly were receiving jueteng payola: DILG Un-dersecretary Rico Puno and just retired PNP Chief Jesus Verzosa. ABS-CBN’s sources claimed that Puno and Ver-zosa were receiving as much as P5 million a month given in tranches --every 8th, 15th, 22nd, and 29th of the month.

Last September 15, P-Noy told reporters, “I still have confi dence in him [Puno] but I will talk to him as soon as I get back to Manila and I’ll ask him about these allegations and see what his responses are.” Puno denied the allega-tions. However, he indicated that he was willing to resign his post or be reassigned to spare P-Noy from further embarrassment.

P-Noy also said that his offi cials are now looking into the jueteng scandal and was just waiting for their report. He also revealed that investi-gators are looking into the al-leged involvement of Verzosa and the new PNP chief Raul Bacalzo.

Last September 17, the IIRC completed its work and submitted its recommenda-tions to P-Noy. The report cited 12 persons and three networks. Puno and Verzosa were named in the report. In a press conference prior to his departure for the United States, P-Noy said, “The report is recommendatory in nature. I have forwarded it, and its recommendations, to a legal team composed of the Executive Secretary and the Chief Presidential Legal Counsel to make a thorough review of the IIRC’s recom-mendations.” He added that he’ll study their fi ndings upon his return and then make his decision.

Last September 21, the Senate started its own fact-fi nding investigation on the jueteng payola issue. Called to testify, Archbishop Cruz identifi ed Puno and Verzosa as the recipients of “national jueteng payola fl ow.” Cruz also named the following as suspected jueteng lords in their areas: Pampanga gover-nor Lilia “Baby” Pineda; Paul Dy in Isabela; retired general Eugene Martin; Baguio May-or Mauricio Domogan; Danny Soriano in Cagayan; a retired general Padilla (involved in Pasay, Parañaque, Muntinlupa and San Pedro); Pangasinan governor Amado Espino; and, a certain Boy Jalandoni in Bacolod. Pineda is married to the reputed “Jueteng King” -- Rodolfo “Bong” Pineda -- who was investigated by Congress in 1998, 2000, and 2005. However, nothing came out of those investiga-tions.

Double whammy

The hostage crisis and the jueteng payola scandal hit Puno like a double whammy. While he is presumed inno-cent until proven guilty in a court of law, it’s the opposite in the court of public opin-ion; that is, he is guilty until proven innocent. It all boils down to perception and in politics perception is reality.

The bottom line is: The jueteng payola scandal could be the defi ning moment of P-Noy’s presidency. For as long as jueteng thrives, his mantra,

“Kung walang corrupt, wa-lang mahirap” (No corruption, no poverty), would be hollow and meaningless. Either he eradicates jueteng -- as he promised during the campaign -- or jueteng would spell doom to his anti-corruption crusade.

At the end of the day, Puno can protect his “shoot-ing buddy” by falling on the sword. That would be a noble act. That is also the price of true friendship.


Kay ganda ng kanilang daigdig. Ang buong paligid ay sariwa at malinis. Malalago ang mga puno at buhay na buhay ang mga halaman. Tila pulbos sa kapinuhan ang bu-hangin, kulay pula ang lupa at tila mo mayamang-mayaman sa mga sangkap na nagpapa-tayog at nagpapalakas sa mga puno at halaman. Ang tubig sa dagat ay napakamalinaw at ang ugoy ay tahimik. Malinaw na maaaninag ang mga isda at isdang-bituin na nananahan sa ilalim ng dagat. Bihirang marating ng tao ang maliit na paraisong ito. Malayo ito sa mapanirang pakikialam ng tao sa kalikasan.

Paglipas ng dalawang buwan, ang dalawang bagong silang ay lumitaw mula sa taguang buhangin, nagmasid- masid, lumakad nang maingat sa buhangin at pagkatapos ay lumusong sa dagat. Ito na ang simula ng buhay na walang tulong mula sa magulang o kanino man.

Isang araw ay pinukaw ng ingay ng isang bangkang may motor ang katahimikan sa Brookes Point. Hila-hila ng bangka ang isang lambat at tangay ng lambat ang ano mang lamang-dagat na mad-aanan nito. Sa kasamaang-palad ay napabilang ang dalawang kadidilat pa lamang ang mga mata na magkapatid na kambal sa mga natangay ng lambat.

Sa malaking lungsod ng Maynila ay dumating ang mga nahuling isda at lamang-dagat at doon sa isang malaking gusali ay pinili sila at pinaghi-wa-hiwalay ng mga mang-gagawa. Nagpasalin-salin sila sa iba’t ibang pook, sasakyan, at kamay hanggang sa ang magkakambal ay humantong sa isang pet shop sa loob ng isang university campus.

Biglang naudlot ang pamu-muhay nila sa karagatan, sa kagubatang-pulo, na murang-mura pa ang kanilang diwa; di na nila makikita at matututu-han pa ang paraan ng pamu-muhay sa pusod ng kalikasan. Ano ba ang malay nila sa mga nagaganap na pangyayari? Maaring lito sila sa nakikitang mga pook at di kilalang mga mukha, o sila’y musmos pa at di pa kayang kilalanin ang pagkakaiba ng likas na tah-anan sa kapaligirang hiram lamang.

Nagkataong kaarawan ni Miki nang araw na iyon. Isa sa mga bumati sa kanya ay ang kaibigang si Rowena. Bilang regalo ay iniabot ni Rowena kay Miki, sa loob ng isang plastic bag na may tubig, ang magkakambal na galing pa sa Palawan. Tuwang-tuwa si Miki sa re-galo. Nang araw ding iyon ay bumili siya, sa tulong ng ama, ng isang bahay na salamin na paglalagyan sa dalawa.

Si Miki ay freshman stu-dent ng music sa unibersidad, labing-limang taong gulang at batang mabait sa mga hayop. Nakapag-alaga na siya ng isang kuneho na sa kasa-maang-palad ay nabuhay nang kung ilang buwan lamang.

Tamang-tama na dumating ang magkakambal sa buhay ni Miki sa panahong kailangan niya ng kaibigan at kalaro. Naging “ina” siya ng mag-kakambal na siyang naging pinagmumulan ng kanilang pagkain, tubig, araw, prutas, halaman, laruan at ano pa mang magpapasaya at magpa-pasigla sa kanila. Sa tuwing mage-ensayo ng violin si Miki ay doon siya tumutugtog sa harapan ng magkakambal na tila sila ang kanyang masugid na tagapanood.

Nang dumating ang mag-kakambal ay isang pulgada lamang ang kanilang haba; samakatuwid ay kasing-haba sila ng hinlalaki ng isang taong may edad. Sa paglakad ng panahon ay lumaki nang lumaki ang dalawa hanggang sa sila’y maging kasing-laki ng isang buong kamay ng

isang taong may edad.Sa paglakad ng panahon ay

nabuo rin ang balak ng mga magulang ni Miki na man-gibang-bayan ang buong mag-anak. Lilisanin ang Pilipinas at maninirahan sa California. Sa araw ng kanilang pag-alis ay ipinagkatiwala ni Miki ang kanyang dalawang alaga sa isang tapat na kaibigan. Nagkataon na ang bahay ng kaibigan ay may maliit na fishpond sa kanilang bakuran at iyon ay naging angkop na angkop na pansamantalang tahanan ng magkakambal. Naging napakabait din at napaka-maalaga ng kaibigan at ng nanay niya kung kaya’t ang mga alaga ni Miki ay nag-patuloy sa paglaki at nagka-roon ng buhay na maginhawa sa panahon ng paghihiwalay.

Paglipas ng isang taon ay hindi maiwasan na bumalik sa Pilipinas si Miki at ang kan-yang ama upang sunduin ang mga naiwang alaga. Nguni’t natuklasan nila na hindi pala ganoon kadali ang maglabas ng alagang hayop mula sa Pilipinas at hindi rin ganoon kadali ang magpasok sa kanila sa ibang bansa. Katulad ng tao na nangingibang-bayan, kailangan nila ng mga pape-les. Mahalaga na patunayan sa pamamagitan ng mga papeles na ang maglalakbay na alaga ay hindi nabibilang sa mga endangered species o ang mga nilikha na kakaunti na lamang ang bilang at nanganganib na mawala na sa balat ng lupa. May batas ang Pilipinas at pati na ang ibang bansa na upang mabigyan ng kaligtasan ang mga hayop na pambihira na ang dami ay hindi sila maaaring ilayo sa kanilang likas na tahanan maliban na lamang kung may pahintulot mula sa gobyerno.

Nilakad ng ama ni Miki na magkaroon ng lahat ng mga papeles at permiso upang maisama sa Amerika ang mga alaga. Samantala ang ina na-man niya na nasa California ay nilakad na magkaroon din ng mga papeles mula sa panig ng California at nang ang mga alaga ay makapasok sa Cali-fornia. Kinailangan din na ang magkakambal ay magkaroon ng sariling tiket at “upuan” sa eroplano.

Sa wakas ay nalunan sa eroplano ang mag-ama kasa-ma ang mga alaga patungo sa Amerika.

Pagbaba ng eroplano at pagbubukas ng pinto nito ay naganap ang isang nakatutu-wang pangyayari. Sinalubong sila na tila mga celebrities nang dumating sa Los Ange-les Airport.

Sa pintuan pa lamang ng eroplano ay nakaabang na ang isang pangkat ng customs of-ficers na naatasang tumanggap at maghatid sa reception area ng customs sa mga dumating mula sa Pilipinas.

Inaabot ng labing-apat na oras ang paglalakbay sa eroplano mula sa Maynila hanggang sa Los Angeles. Mula sa eroplano hanggang sa welcome lounge ng airport, inaabot ng isa o isa’t kalahat-ing oras pa ang pagpila at paghihintay sa immigration-counter at pati na sa customs at ang pagkuha ng bagahe sa carousel.

Sa immigration ay tinit-ingnan ng mga officers ang passport at visa ng dumarat-ing. Dito tinitiyak na ang visa ay tunay. Na ang taong may

hawak ng visa at ng passport ay siya ring tao na nasa retrato at sa mga dokumento.

Tanong ng officer, -- How long are you going to stay in the U.S.? –

Ang karaniwang sagot ay, -- One month, -- kahi’t na ang balak ng tao ay maghanap ng trabaho at huwag nang buma-lik sa Pilipinas.

-- Are you going to live with your relatives? – dagdag pa ng immigration officer.

Sa niloloob ng tinatanong, -- Ano ba ang pakialam nitong buwisit na ito? – Pero sasagot siya ng ganito,

-- No, Sir. I don’t have rel-atives in California (kahi’t na dito nakatira ang tatlo niyang kapatid, siyam na pinsan, at dalawang tiyo).

-- How much dollars do

you carry on you? – ibig ding malaman ng officer. Kung kakaunti ang perang idede-klara ng tao, iisipin ng officer na baka walang pambayad ang tao sa otel at baka magiging kargo siya ng estado. Kung marami naman ay baka isipin na siya ay isang smuggler o di kaya ay drug dealer. Kailan-gan ay di hihigit sa sampung libong dolyar ang idedeklara niya. – Sasagot ang tao ng, -- Three thousand dollars cash. And I have a couple of credit cards. –

Okay, lusot na ang tao sa immigration. Susunod ay pipila naman siya sa customs counter. Dito ibig malaman ng mga officers

Itinatanong ng officer kung may dala ang tao na galing sa Pilipinas na bagoong, mang-ga, tuyo, balut, white flower . . .

Ang sagot ng tao ay -- wala, wala, wala, wala, wala

-- . . . Ang bagahe ng tao ay idinadaan sa x-ray machine at doo’y matutuklasan ng of-ficer na nagsinungaling ang tao sapagka’t lima sa limang bagay na sinabi niya na hindi niya dala ay naroroon pala sa loob ng maleta! Ikukulong siya panandalian sa isang kuarto at doon ay tatanungin ng iba pang bagay at pagkata-pos ay pagbabayarin ng multa na umaabot sa $200. Samanta-la ay naghihintay ang kanyang tatlong kapatid at siyam na pinsan sa arrival area at inip na inip na sa kahihintay.

Masuwerte si Miki at ang kanyang tatay dahil sa sila ay sinalubong mula sa pintuan ng eroplano at sinamahan pa patungo sa reception area ng mga customs officers. Hindi na sila pumila, hindi na sila natanong, hindi na sila na-inspeksyon.

Sa reception area ay ibig makita ng mga officers ang dala-dalang alaga ni Miki. Inilapag ni Miki ang mag-kakambal na alaga sa isang mesa, habang nakapaligid dito ang mga officers, na sabik na sabik na matunghan ang mga alaga.

Sari-saring paghanga ang nabitiwan ng mga officers, lalo na ng mga babae, nang lumabas mula sa isang basket ang magkakambal na alaga. – Wow! Oh my gosh! Unbe-lievable! They’re pretty! How cute! –

Tanong ng isang officer – And who is Comet? Itinuro ni Miki si Comet. – So, that other one, is Twinkle! They’re lovely –

-- So they both have the same surnames? – tanong pa ng nasabing officer, habang

ang ibang officers ay aliw na aliw na nanonood at nakikinig sa nagaganap. Sagot ni Miki – Yep, they’re both Cruzes, after our last name. –

Tinatakan ang papel ng mga alaga, samantalang ang mga dokumento ng mag-ama ay bahagya nang tiningnan; at sinamahan sila papalabas sa restricted area. Nakalabas sa airport ang mag-ama, tangay sina Comet at Twinkle, sa loob lamang ng beinte minu-tos. Iba na ang may kasamang mga celebrities.

Si Comet at si Twinkle ay mga pagong na ang uri ay red eared sliders – ibig sabhihin ay may guhit na pula ang gilid ng kanilang mga ulo at ma-husay silang magpadulas mula sa mga bato patungo sa tubig. Nang dumating sa Amerika sina Comet at Twinkle sila ay tatlong taong gulang. Um-aabot sa pitong pung taon ang haba ng buhay ng mga pagong na ganito ang uri. Kung aabot sa ganoong edad ang dalawa, bunga ng mabut-ing pag-aalaga ni Miki, ay baka sa bandang taong 2070 ay makatatanggap pa sila ng mga retirement benefits kung sakaling magkakaroon ng retirement benefits ang mga alagang hayop sa Amerika pagdating ng nabanggit na taon.

Ang mga pagong ay mabubuting alaga sapagka’t napakagaganda nilang pag-masdan na lumalangoy sa tubig. Sila’y matatalino rin sapagka’t nakakikilala sa mga tao at marurunong humingi ng pagkain at kung papaano mag-pa-cute. Sila’y mahuhusay gumamit ng mga laruan at mga tuntungan na inilalagay sa kanilang aquarium. Higit sa lahat, sila’y matatahimik, matitipid sa pagkain (hindi kailangang pakainin nang araw-araw), at maaaring iwa-nan na walang bantay. Mga katangian na hindi maihaha-mbing sa mga katangian ng aso o pusa.

Mapapalad na mga nila-lang sina Comet at Twinkle. Masasabing maginhawa ang kanilang pamumuhay dahil sa natatanggap na mataas na uri ng pag-aalaga mula sa kanilang tagapag-aruga. Ang kanilang paglalakbay mula sa pulo na kinasilangan hang-gang makarating sa California ay maituturing din na pam-bihira at may uring first class - sa pamamagitan ng eroplano at may welcome committee pa sa airport.

Ang karamihan sa mga hayop na hinahango sa kanil-ang likas na tahanan at inilili-pat sa di kinabihasnang lugar ay dumaraan sa maraming paghihirap. Hindi pagmama-hal kundi negosyo ang pakay ng mga naglilikas sa kanila mula sa kagubatan o kapuluan patungo sa mga lungsod na kung saan sila ay ipinagbibili bilang mga pets. Sana ay matutuhang igalang ng mga negosyante ang karapatan ng mga hayop na maging ligtas sila sa paghihirap at panganib.

Minsan ay namasyal sa Monterey Park si Miki at ang tatay niya at doon ay nakakita sila sa isang chinese super-market ng laksa-laksang soft-shell turtles na buhay pa, nag-sisiksikan at patong-patong sa malalamig na kulungan, at

naghihintay sa tiyak na malu-pit na kapalaran. Sila’y nagig-ing pagkain na inihahalo sa sabaw ng mga instsik. Awang-awa si Miki sa mga pagong at kung maaari lamang ay ibig niyang bilhin silang lahat, iuwi sila at alagaan o di kaya ay palayain sa dagat.

Sa kuwentong ito ay mala-laman na may pitak sa puso ng tao na nauukol sa pagma-mahal sa mga hayop. At ang

Si Comet at si TwinkleIsang maikling kuwento ni Percival Campoamor Cruz


sukli naman ng mga alaga sa nag-aalaga sa kanila ay ang walang maliw na katuwaan, katapatan, at ang pagkakaroon ng pusong-bata.

Sa kuwentong ito ay mala-laman din na hindi lamang tao pala ang nangingibang-bayan. Tao man o hayop ay sumusunod sa tawag ng kapalaran, naglalakbay, nag-babago ayon sa hinihingi ng pagkakataon at ng paligid.

By: Father Shay Cullen

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon delivers his address at the Millennium Development Goals Summit at the United Nations in New York, 20 Sep 2010

In the year 2000, the United Nations set eight goals to reduce by half the number of people living in dire poverty worldwide. The achievements and failures in the past ten years were reviewed a few weeks ago by world leaders meeting in The UN headquar-ters in New York.

The setting of the goals were welcomed by develop-ment workers and all people working to reduce world hun-ger and poverty as a great step forward when the governments of the developed and rich na-tions in the 1990’s had forgot-ten the billion people that were starving and two billion barely surviving on two dollars a day. That was a time when global-ization spread and too many people believed the dictum: “to get rich is glorious” and “greed is good”, “love yourself and forget the rest”.

They forgot the most important values of all - equal-ity, justice and freedom from hunger and the teaching of Jesus of Nazareth, “love your neighbor as yourself” and “act towards others as you would want them to behave towards you”. Well, that forgetfulness and the pursuit of selfishness have led the world to the brink of economic disaster. World hunger, child mortality, HIV-AIDS were spreading and something had to be done. The millennium goals were the outcome of vigorous lobbying and social action by people of conscience concerned about world poverty, hunger, and illiteracy.

While there have been spectacular achievements in several developing countries such as Ghana, where hunger has been cut by 75% and child malnutrition has been halved, likewise in Ethiopia where famines were regular devastat-ing catastrophes, the reports show only 40% of the people go hungry from a high of 71% in 1990.The Philippines has made little progress in meet-ing the goals and government statistics are questioned as to veracity.

In Vietnam, there have been spectacular changes as the poverty rate dropped hugely and child mortality and malnu-trition is down. Millions more children in Africa are going to school now and child mortality has dropped significantly. The availability of clean water has jumped also and the goal set

The Millennium Development Goals to Reduce Poverty

to halve the number of people without water will be met. Many more achievements can be found in the reports submit-ted to the UN.

While the dreams of many are being met basic and simple needs as they are, they are basic human rights anyway; but it’s too early to dance for joy. The hopes and dreams of billions are still waiting to be realized. They just await the chance and opportunity to get out of poverty by getting a job and being paid a living-wage for working hard for 12 hours a day at backbreaking labor for example.

True development will come when the internal in-equality and exploitation, cor-ruption and bad government within the developing coun-tries themselves are greatly reduced. These terrible social inequalities, the poverty of the urban poor, the indigenous people and the social evils that exploit the poor have to be seriously addressed. Criminal activities like trafficking of persons is largely ignored in several developing countries or even aided and abetted by corrupt police or govern-ment officials. Corruption and bloated government payrolls of ineffective employees doing nothing all day besides look-ing in desktop mirrors or wall mounted televisions set are setting back progress and caus-ing untold suffering and harm, especially to children.

The dream of 13 year-old Maria, who was taken from her poverty-stricken rural vil-lage, sold to brothel in Manila and raped and made pregnant by a sex tourist, was that her baby, John Paul, who was saved from forced abortion, would have a happier child-hood than she had.

When rescued by Preda so-cial workers and now safe, she told the therapist, “My hope is for John Paul, my baby, I hope that life will be happier and more beautiful for him and he would not be poor like me.”

Maria speaks for almost an estimated million children in Asia that are sexually- abused and government lets it happen. The real goals of the millen-nium such as social justice and 50% reduction in poverty will not be achieved when there is government inaction, corrup-tion & incompetence prevails. In the Philippines, there is great hope that the new admin-istration of President Aquino will turn this around. All people of good will need to act in a just and right way to end corruption and see justice done especially for abused children. [email protected]

$50


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

journalusa.com

Sometime this year, we taxpayers will again receive another ‘Economic Stimulus’ payment.

This is indeed a very exciting program, and I’ll explain it by using a Q & A format:

Q. What is an ‘Economic Stimulus’ payment ?

A. It is money that the federal government will send to taxpayers.

Q. Where will the govern-

ment get this money ? A. From taxpayers. Q. So the government

is giving me back my own money ?

A. Only a smidgen of it. Q. What is the purpose of

this payment ? A. The plan is for you to

use the money to purchase a High-definition TV set, thus stimulating the economy.

Q. But isn’t that stimulat-ing the economy of China ?

A. Shut up. Below is some helpful

advice on how to best help the U.S. Economy by Spending your stimulus check wisely:

Stimulus* If you spend the stimu-

lus money at Wal-Mart, the money will go to China or Sri Lanka .

* If you spend it on gaso-line, your money will go to the Arabs.

* If you purchase a com-puter, it will go to India , Taiwan or China .

* If you purchase fruit and vegetables, it will go to Mexico, Honduras and Guate-mala ..

* If you buy an efficient car, it will go to Japan or Korea .

* If you purchase useless stuff, it will go to Taiwan

* If you pay your credit cards off, or buy stock, it will go to management bonuses and they will

hide it offshore. Instead, keep the money

in America by:1) Spending it at yard

sales, or 2) Going to ball games,

or 3) Spending it on prosti-

tutes, or 4) Beer or 5) Tattoos. (These are the only Amer-

ican businesses still operating in the U.S. .. )

Conclusion: Go to a ball game with a

tattooed prostitute that you met at a yard Sale and drink beer .

The Law that Matters

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

by Atty. A. Erwin Bautista

Can you change your country of chargeability to come to the US sooner?

Question: I am single Filipino citizen when my US Citizen Mother petitioned me in 2001. I am now a British citizen having been married to one. Is there a way I could immigrate sooner?

Answer: Yes, you can request the Citizenship and Immigration Services, Na-tional Visa Center or the US Consulate to change your country of chargeability to that of your accompanying spouse’s country of United Kingdom whose visa demand is not over subscribed unlike the Philippines, so you can immigrate sooner.

What is country of chargeability?

The country to which a beneficiary or applicant’s permanent resident visa will be charged is the country of chargeability. Because of the per country annual quota for immigrant visas, there is a limit as to the number of immigrant visas that can be issued to nationals of different countries. This is usually the country where one was born. You can be a British Citizen but you have been born in the Philippines then your country of chargeability would still be the Philippines.

Citizens of countries such as China, India, Mexico and Philippines suffer severe backlog so that having a derivative, cross or alternate chargeability will be very helpful in immigrating sooner.

How does derivative, cross and alternate charge-ability works?

As an example, your situa-

Immigration: Priority Datestion will be helped if you will use your spouse’s country of birth, the United Kingdom as your country of chargeability. With a priority date of Sep-tember 1, 2001 for a married daughter of a US Citizen your petition will be current now because the priority date being processed in Britain are those petitions filed on September 1, 2001 according to the Visa Bulletin for the month of July 2010.

Unlike if you have no opportunity to change your country of chargeability you will still have to wait around 7 years, more or less, because the priority date being pro-cessed for the Philippines are those petitions filed on May 1, 1993.

So you see how many years of waiting you could save if you have the ability to change your country of chargeability. You would be able to shave off 7 years of waiting time.

Another example would be if your British husband is the one petitioned by his parent, can you accompany him to the US when his priority date becomes current or do you have to wait for your country of birth’s priority date even if you are just a derivative ben-eficiary? The answer is you can avail of your husband’s country of chargeability so you can immigrate with him to avoid separation of imme-diate relatives. This may be unfair to other British born beneficiaries of lesser catego-ry classification because you will be taking away from their quota; nevertheless it is neces-sary to promote family unity.

If you or anyone you know is in this kind of situation consult your attorney now, you may have an opportunity to immigrate sooner.

[We invite readers to call Atty. A.Erwin Bautista to

set up your initial consulta-tion. Atty. Bautista obtained his law degree from Western State University College of Law, Fullerton, CA and his Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of the Philip-pines. Atty. Bautista practices Immigration, Bankruptcy, Family, and Personal Injury Law and Income Tax Prepara-tion. Call his office at (619) 474 7755 in San Diego at 550 E. 8th St., #11, National City, Ca 91950 and at (213) 365 7690 in Los Angeles at 3435 Wilshire Bl., Ste. 2700, Los Angeles, CA 90010.]

hattan. “There seemed to be a performance for everyone who attended, but no matter how different each perfor-mance was from the others, the artists were united by their desires to share their Filipino culture to others. From rap-pers to dancers, each has his or her own way of saying ‘I am a Filipino.’”

Eliseo Art Silva, an award-winning Filipino art muralist who led a day-long mural painting at the festival, said the Bayanihan festival is dif-ferent from the other festivals he had been to.

“From the first cultural per-formance involving BIBAK from Northern Philippines to the last performance of the Kaamulan festival from Southern Philippines- the fes-tival highlighted the present-ers of Filipino culture directly from their primary sources, and not the usual packaged folk dancers,” he said.

“The festival succeeded in engaging the neighborhood in the most meaningful way; while at the same time con-vincing most everyone to join in the dancing, uncommonly seen in other festivals. Other festivals would choose west-ernized celebrity performers as headliners and seldom

would risk placing folk art and artists as the main draw,” said Silva, a graduate of the Philippine High School for the Arts and who has painted more than 20 murals in Se-attle, California, Philadelphia, Maine and the Philippines.

The Bayanihan Cultural Festival, aside from gathering Filipinos in a grand fellow-ship, is also the Philippine Forum’s way of introducing the rich cultural heritage of the Filipinos to the other im-migrant communities and to New York City as well. But on Sept. 19, not only did the Filipinos put their culture on display; they also showed one of their most admirable traits – their resilience in the face of adversity.

(Noel Pangilinan is the Executive Editor of Queens7.com, a hyperlocal, online news site for immigrant com-munities in Queens, New York)

Despite storm, Filipinos

celebrate Bayanihan Day

in New York(Continued from page 17)

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Call (619)

474-0588


Rooms for RentNo Smoking, No Drugs . In a quiet National City residential neigh-

borhood. Call 619.656.0409

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, fl ooring, laminate & Plumbing

Call Tony (619) 906-6698

You may also inquire about AGLA Careers at Booth 27 Asian Journal near Skate

Park at FilAm Fest 2010 on Saturday Oct 2nd

Reach the lucrative Asian Pacifi c Islander

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

Classifi ed AdsChief Cook

Functions include Recipe Development, Menu Planning, Kitchen Management,

Raw Material Purchasing, Quality Control, Experience in Commercial Kitchen and

knowledge in FilipinoCuisine; Locations in National City or

TemeculaFull-time position with benefi ts are

available. No weekends off.Please fax your resume to 888-841-1662 or

contact Nora at 619-477-7071

“MOVE IN SPECIAL” First Month Free with $99 Deposit OAC with a 12 month lease.1BED 1BATH $775--$885 (OAC) 2BED 1BATH $950--$1015 (OAC). Free Parking, Air Conditioning, Fully Equipped Kitchen, Ceiling Fans, Large Closet Place, Cable ready access, Pool/Spa, On Site Laundry, Pet Friendly (Cats & Dogs weight limit of 25lbs at full maturity, breed, and size restrictions apply). Call 619-258-8314 for more information or email us at [email protected]. To apply online, visit our website sdrenting.com

(619) 702-3051

You may also inquire about AGLA Careers at Booth 27 Asian Journal near Skate

Park at FilAm Fest 2010 on Saturday Oct 2nd

’ tt z W ’ 15 1 q .

V 2 1 2 619 89 23

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

asian journal oct 1, 2010

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