L A S V E G A S

JANUARY 28-FEBRUARY 3, 2016

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Volume 27 - No. 4 • 2 Sections – 16 Pages

DATELINEUSAFROM THE AJPRESS NEWS TEAM ACROSS AMERICA

Binay reunites with Aquino in state banquet for Japanese imperial couple

Roach still ‘bothered’ by Mayweathervs Pacquiao �ght, wants rematch

by ALLYSON ESCOBAR /AJPress

AT THE REOPENING OF THE MAMASAPANO INVESTIGATION

by CHRISTINE O. AVENDAÑOInquirer.net

THE line of command in the Armed Forces of the Philippines was paralyzed the day 44 elite troopers were massa-cred in Mamasapano a year ago.

Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, seeking to prove an alleged failure of leadership, Wednesday, Jan. 27 said President Benigno Aquino III had “compart-mentalized” the Mamasapano opera-tion on Jan. 25, 2015, that left out the existing police and military hierarchy, immobilizing ground commanders at the critical moments and leading to the massacre of the Special Action Force (SAF) commandos.

Enrile said at the reopening of the Senate inquiry into the slaughter of the

A homecoming �t for a queen

Miss Universe Pia Wurtzbach returns to the Philippines

FANS lined the streets of Manila to Makati City as Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach, the newly-crowned Miss Uni-verse 2015, traveled by float in her homecoming parade on January 25.

The float traveled for more than three hours from the Sofitel Philippine Plaza Ho-tel in Manila, down Roxas Boulevard to Ayala Avenue in Makati City. At one point

it rained, but the weather did not stop adoring Filipi-nos hoping for a selfie with the beauty queen from at-tending.

With thousands of sup-porters present, Wurtzbach smiled and waved a Filipino flag to the crowd, wearing her signature crown and a teal dress by Filipino de-signer Albert Andrada with

House panel approves bill exempting PiaWurtzbach from taxes

by AJPRESS

THE Philippine House of Representatives Com-mittee on Ways and Means approved a bill on Tues-day, Jan. 26 exempting Pia Wurtzbach from paying taxes on her earnings as the reigning Miss Universe.

House Bill 6367, filed by Reps. Rufus Rodriguez of Cagayan de Oro and Maxi-mo Rodriguez Jr. of Abante

Mindanao party-list, was unanimously passed in the committee.

“In view of the tremen-dous achievement of Kagay-anon Ms. Pia Alonzo Wurtz-bach and for bringing pride and honor to the Philippines by winning the 2015 Miss Universe pageant, it is only right that all her winnings

by NIKKO DIZONInquirer.net

VICE President Jejomar Bi-nay stepped inside Malacañang Palace for the first time on Wednesday night, Jan. 27 after severing ties with President Be-nigno Aquino III last year.

Binay and his wife, Elenita, attended the state banquet

hosted by President Aquino for Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko.

At one point during the din-ner, the microphone picked up President Aquino introducing Emperor Akihito to Binay.

“The Vice President,” the President said, as the Emperor and Binay shook hands, with a

wall of white orchids as back-drop.

Mr. Aquino introduced the Empress to Binay afterwards.

The Emperor and Empress flanked President Aquino at the table, while Binay sat on the Empress’ left.

Binay is now the opposition

MANILA—If there’s one person who is still finding it hard to move on from Manny Pacquiao’s loss to Floyd Mayweather in boxing’s richest fight ever, it is Freddie Roach.

For Roach, that fight could have ended differently had Pacquiao not injured his right shoulder in training.

“That [Mayweather-Pacquiao] fight really bothers me,” the be-spectacled trainer said in a report by Keith Idec of NorthJersey.com.

by DINO MARAGAYPhilstar.com

Roach is expected to arrive in the Philippines next week to open Pacquiao’s training camp for the Filipino icon’s fight with Timothy Bradley in April.

It’s a fight – something Pac-quiao insists would be his last – that Roach is confident of win-ning.

Nevertheless, the multi-award-ed cornerman admitted still be-ing haunted by the ghost of the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight in Las Vegas last year.

“I haven’t even watched it again because I’m just so [ticked] off about [it], because I thought

A 65-year-old Fili-pina was allegedly stabbed to death by her husband of 35 years on the morn-ing of January 18 in Oahu, Hawaii.

Melita Fajo-tina died from stab wounds to her neck and was found in her home in Aliama-nu, Oahu at around 5:43 am, reports said. The Honolulu medical examiner’s office declared her death a homicide.

Filipina fatally stabbed in Hawaii

Filipino in Virginia Beach wins $1-Mfrom Powerball

WHILE most people were closely watch-ing the national Powerball lottery drawing live on television on Wednesday, Jan. 13, an 82-year-old Filipino man from Virginia Beach, Va. was not one of them.

It wasn’t until he checked online when he realized he had a winning ticket.

Teofilo Mesina won $1 million – before taxes – from the record $1.5 billion jack-pot, after correctly picking five numbers. He missed only the Powerball number.

“Not many people win that kind of mon-ey,” Mesina told The Virginian-Pilot on Jan. 19, as he claimed his prize.

Mesina bought his ticket from a 7-Eleven at Lynnhaven Parkway and Salem Road in Virginia Beach.

“I would buy just sometimes,” he said. “I played a mix of my own numbers, and some computer pick numbers.”

His numbers – 04, 08, 19, 27 and 34 – were selected from significant dates for

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FROM THE FRONT PAGE

SAF troopers after they had killed Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan, that the planning and execution of “Oplan Exodus” were left only to Alan Purisima, the then suspended chief of the Philippine National Police, and Getulio Napeñas, the director of the Special Action Force (SAF) who had been sacked.

In a meeting in Malacañang’s Bahay Pangarap on Jan. 9, with Napeñas, Purisima and Supt. Fernando Marquez, the President gave the go ahead that Interior Secretary Mar Roxas and then the PNP officer in charge, Deputy Di-rector General Leonardo Espina, be informed of the operation “time on target” when the SAF troopers were on the ground.

Purisima also later said he would take care of informing Gen. Grego-rio Pio Catapang Jr., the then Armed Forces chief of staff on the day of the operation to get Marwan.

Enrile berated Catapang for not responding fast enough to help the trapped SAF men. He was irked at Catapang at first when he asked the number of military troops sent to aid the SAF men and the former AFP chief replied by saying this could be answered by Maj. Gen. Edmundo Pangilinan, commander of the 6th Infantry Division.

“For heaven’s sake, you are the chief of staff. If we are at war with China, and that is what you do, this country is doomed,” Enrile said.

Eight blundersHe said this compartmentaliza-

tion was among eight blunders that the Chief Executive committed in the planning and execution of Oplan Exodus, the code for proj-ect Marwan, and these were “at the center” of the Mamasapano debacle.

Saying he was out to seek justice for the dead and survivors in the bloody clash with Moro rebels after Marwan was killed, Enrile blamed Mr. Aquino for the Mamasapano debacle as he pointed out the role the President played in the police operation.

After the seven-hour hearing of the Senate committee on public order, Enrile said he focused on the President’s role, responsibility and accountability in the Mamasa-pano episode because this was not discussed in the earlier hearings of the committee chaired by Sen. Grace Poe.

He said he had “established” the President’s role in the operation, and that Wednesday’s hearing was enough.

Asked on the possible liability of Mr. Aquino, he said that this will be up to the courts if this reaches them. “Let the law enforcement people do the job in the future,” Enrile said.

Fulfilling promiseIn his opening statement, Enrile

said that he was just fulfilling his promise to the wounded SAF sur-vivors who were confined at the

PNP General Hospital in Camp Crame, Quezon City. Enrile was detained there on a plunder case against him in connection with his alleged misuse of pork barrel funds but was released on bail in August last year.

“I am doing this so the people will know the national leaders who failed them because of ineptness and lack of leadership. I am doing this for truth and for no one else,” he said.

FacilitatorEnrile was able to confirm from

Napeñas that Mr. Aquino, along with Purisima, Napeñas and Mar-quez, had discussed the details of Oplan Exodus, including the capture of Marwan dead or alive, on Jan. 9 at Bahay Pangarap.

Napeñas also said the President did not object or comment to his proposal on the usage of time on target or the manner of cooperation of the SAF with the military. He confirmed to Enrile that he asked Mr. Aquino that they would coor-dinate with the military only after the assault force was on the target location and that the Chief Execu-tive did not object or comment.

Asked by Enrile what his role was at that meeting, Purisima—who was then suspended by the Ombudsman on a graft case—said he was a “facilitator.”

Enrile pointed out that President Aquino was “never heard” during the 12 hours of the firefight.

Based on the text messages that Purisima sent the President on the police operations, including the groups that the SAF groups were engaged with at that time, the Chief Executive was “fully informed about the ongoing operations,” Enrile said.

Interviewed by reporters after the hearing, Enrile said he did not agree that President Aquino was misinformed by Napeñas as he noted that the Palace has a massive intelligence fund for them not to know the real score.

Napeñas, for his part, told re-porters that Enrile was able to show President Aquino’s role in the police operation as he insisted that the Chief Executive had the final say in the approval of Oplan Exodus.

Enrile told Napeñas that Presi-dent Aquino “compartmentalized” or agreed to compartmentalize Oplan Exodus to himself and Puri-sima and Napeñas agreed.

“When I say compartment of Oplan Exodus, I mean the Presi-dent intentionally, deliberately and actually confined and arrogated unto himself full knowledge, com-mand and control and strategic decisions. The President excluded all others, including members of the Cabinet… he left it to himself and his trusted men,” he said.

Enrile asked Purisima if he un-derstood what he meant by com-partmentalization that the Presi-dent did on the police operations. He replied by saying that Oplan Exodus was “crafted by the PNP SAF and our part is informatory.”

“That’s your defense,” Enrile said of Purisima, adding that Presi-dent Aquino “excluded everyone else.’

A homecoming �t for...traditional butterfly sleeves. She stood elegantly on top of a deco-rative float with her parade band, surrounded by police escorts.

The parade was one of the nearly week-long homecoming in the Philippines, which will end in a grand parade and show at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City on Jan. 28. Wurtzbach told press that she would also be advocating for HIV awareness and testing, as well as disaster relief, while visiting her home country and attending to her duties as Miss Universe.

Wurtzbach also visited Malaca-ñang Palace, home of President Benigno Aquino III, and paid a courtesy call to the President, Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada and

House panel approves bill exempting...and prizes be exempt from any form of taxes and duties,” the bill read.

The tax break measure came in response to Bureau of Inter-nal Revenue (BIR) Commissioner Kim Henares’ statement that Wurtzbach has to pay taxes for her winnings. The BIR earlier said that the winnings should be subjected to a maximum 32 per-cent tax.

“I am aware just like any em-ployee that I have to pay taxes. I have never (missed it) when I was with ABS-CBN, Binibining Pilipinas. When I start working in

the Philippine Senate. “We’re erasing the image that

Filipinas are not palaban [fight-ers], because in fact we are,” she said following the visit. “We go out there and we’re brave and fearless…much more different than what people think we used to be. I think that speaks on how modern we are now.”

She also confirmed her appear-ance as a special correspondent at this year’s 50th Super Bowl between the Denver Broncos and the Carolina Panthers on Febru-ary 7.

“I see it as a great compliment. It is a great way of me connecting to more people and being recog-nized, not only as Pia and as Miss Universe, but as a Filipina,” she said, according to CNN Philip-

pines.Wurtzbach, 26, is the Philip-

pines’ first Miss Universe in 42 years, since Margarita “Margie” Moran-Floirendo was crowned in 1973.

Last year, beauty queen Fili-pinas also took over the pageant scene with Trixie Maristela’s victory in the Miss International Queen, Ann Lorraine Colis’ win in Miss Globe, Angelia Ong’s big success in the Miss Earth, Leren Mae Bautista’s high accomplish-ment in Miss Tourism Queen of the Year International, and Wurtz-bach’s renowned triumph in the Miss Universe.

“It’s good that we’re finally get-ting the recognition that I think we deserve,” Wurtzbach said.

the US, I’d be doing that as well,” Wurtzbach previously said of her intentions to pay taxes, accord-ing to Inquirer.

The measure is expected to be submitted for plenary approval.

The prizes covered under the measure include: her year-long salary, accommodations in a New York apartment for the duration of her reign, living expenses, wardrobe and personal services, among others.

In addition to her one-year salary, Wurtzbach brought her $300,000-crown — made of 18k gold, diamonds and blue sap-phire — back with her to the

Philippines. Wurtzbach said the crown was given on loan and cannot be subjected to tax by the BIR, according to GMA News.

Joined by her mother Cheryl Alonzo Tyndall, Wurtzbach also received the congressional med-al of distinction on Tuesday after-noon.

“I know you have our coun-try in mind when making laws. On that note, we have the same inspiration, the Philippines. So let’s continue confidently work-ing with a heart for the Filipino people,” Wurtzbach told 173 House members before receiving the House medal.

Roach still ‘bothered’ by Mayweather-Pacquiao �ght...Manny could’ve won that fight. … Manny thought he won the fight anyway, but I think he could’ve done a lot more,” Roach contin-ued.

Pacquiao’s last-minute request to use anti-inflammatory injec-tions was denied by the Nevada Athletic Association, which super-vised the fight. Roach once again

recalled Pacquiao complaining of pain in his shoulder during the fight.

“But when he came back after the fourth round and said, ‘My shoulder’s shot,’ I said, ‘Well, do the best you can,’” said Roach.

The trainer couldn’t hold back from expressing his desire for a rematch between Mayweather and Pacquiao, saying the lure of

money would be hard to resist.“He [Pacquiao] still thinks he

won the fight, but I don’t. And I would like to get that one back,” Roach added.

“I did ask [Pacquiao’s promoter] Bob [Arum] if it [Mayweather rematch] was a possibility and he doesn’t think so,” Roach said. “But the way they both spend money, maybe they will fight again.”

Binay joins Aquino in state banquet...leader after breaking ties with Mr. Aquino, a longtime political ally, in June last year, saying he was fed up with the administration allies’ attacks against him.

He had expressed disappoint-ment that President Aquino had not defended him.

Binay is the leading presidential contender in the May elections.

Meanwhile, Emperor Akihito on Wednesday night said the Japanese people “must never forget” the loss of Filipino lives caught between the battles of Japan and the United

Filipina fatally stabbed in...Police arrested her husband,

Isagani “Sonny” Fajotina, on Tuesday, Jan. 19 on suspicion of second-degree murder, but he was released pending further in-vestigation.

The case is being investigated by detectives as a murder-attempt-ed suicide. Isagani Fajotina — who relatives said suffered from mental health problems — remains hospi-talized at Queen’s Medical Center with a self-inflicted stab wound. He is expected to survive, police said.

Isagani, a Vietnam War veteran, and Melita Fajotina moved to Ha-waii from the Philippines. The re-tired couple previously worked at Queen’s Medical Center where he

Filipino in Virginia Beach wins $1-M...loved ones, he said. (A friend was born in April, the fourth month of the year, so he chose number 4.)

When Mesina looked at the numbers, he first thought he was misreading. He checked with his wife, Irene, then other fam-ily members to make sure he had won.

“I was shocked; I couldn’t be-lieve it,” Irene Mesina said.

Including Messina, there were 72 $1 million winners -- 12 of whom are from California -- and eight $2 million winners. More than 635 million tickets were sold for the drawing.

“I finally called my son when I realized the numbers matched,” he told Virginia’s WTKR News Channel 3. “The next day, I talked to a financial advisor so I can de-cide how to handle my winnings. I wanted to win the whole thing, but I’m lucky because I won a mil-lion!”

States in World War II.The emperor made the statement

as he raised a toast for the continu-ing strong relations between Japan and the Philippines at the state ban-quet hosted by President Benigno Aquino III for the imperial couple at Rizal Hall in Malacañang Palace.

“Last year, Japan marked the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. During this war, fierce battles between Japan and the United States took place on Philippine soil, resulting in the loss of many Filipino lives and leaving many Filipinos injured. This is

something we Japanese must never forget and we intend to keep this engraved in our hearts throughout our visit,” Emperor Akihito said.

The 82-year-old royal also praised President Aquino for his “sagacious and distinguished leadership” that made the Philippines achieve a “steady development as a vital member of the Asian community.”

President Aquino led a toast for “the strategic partnership of our two nations (which) serve as a firm cornerstone for peace, stabil-ity, and progress in our part of the world.”

was a janitor and she was a nurs-ing assistant.

Several relatives, including a daughter and two grandchildren, and tenants live in the couple’s home. There were a few witnesses to the fatal domestic violence, ac-cording to police.

“I couldn’t understand cause the sister-in-law was screaming in Filipino and the daughter was just screaming, running out here wait-ing for the cops,” Wiiu Wilson, a tenant, told Hawaii News Now.

The suspect’s sister-in-law also suffered a minor cut on her neck after trying to intervene, reports said.

“There was one other individual who was injured when she at-tempted to intervene, but she was

treated and she’s in good condi-tion,” said Lt. Phillip Lavarias of the Honolulu Police Department.

A recent study presented by lawmakers found that 30 percent of fatal domestic violence cases in Hawaii involved Filipinos.

“What stood out for me was the level of over-representation of D.V. related deaths within the Filipino community,” state Rep. Della Au Belatti, chairwoman of the House Health Committee, said according to Hawaii News Now.

The study noted that most of the women killed previously sought help or contacted agencies, such as law enforcement, the prosecu-tor’s office, courts and health care providers. (Christina M. Oriel / AJ-Press)

Three winning tickets in Florida, California and Ten-nessee will share the largest prizes in the $1.5 billion jackpot.

W e d n e s d a y ’ s drawing marked the first time a tick-et matched all five numbers and the Powerball since the jackpot began on Nov. 7 at $40 mil-lion. The pot had been rolled over 20 times before win-ners emerged dur-ing Wednesday’s drawing.

Mesina is retired from work-ing in a sign shop, where he bent glass. After claiming his prize, pre-sented by the Virginia Lottery’s deputy director Randy Wright, he told reporters that he doesn’t any

NEW YORK—The great bliz-zard of 2016 unloaded 26.8 inch-es of snow, the second biggest snowfall in New York City his-tory, almost breaking the record set in 2006.

According to unofficial totals reported by the National Weather Service, the historic blizzard now ranks among the biggest snow-falls in the city’s record books, missing the record by a tenth of an inch.

Communities across the north-east United States began digging out from the blizzard on Monday, Jan. 25.

“This weekend, Mother Na-ture sent us the second largest snowfall since 1869 – and hun-dreds of our tireless workers rose to the challenge to keep our city safe,” said New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. “New Yorkers should continue to use extreme caution when walking and driv-ing. When shoveling, remember to stay safe, and do not overexert yourself.”

Because of the predicted snow-fall, a travel ban was imposed in New York City, including Long Island. New Jersey Transit, the Long island Rail Road and the Metro North trains were also shut down as major roads, state highways and railways were cov-ered with feet of snow.

Under the ban, only emer-gency vehicles were allowed on the streets. Drivers who ignored the order faced heavy fines and license points. Even the public was warned not to go outside.

“If you want to go really quick-ly to someplace near your home, stay with your kids – adult super-vision necessary,” de Blasio said on Saturday, Jan. 23. “This is a vastly intensifying storm and it’s slippery, it’s gusty. I, as a parent, wouldn’t let my kids out of my sight.”

Many New Yorkers heeded warnings to stay home, but not after going to Central Park to snap a few photos and enjoy the blanket of snow covering the en-tire park.

Among them were Fil-Ams Marilen Clemente and Nina del Rosario who both live in the city’s Upper East Side neighbor-hood and a few blocks away from Central Park.

“I went to Chinatown and bought water and ingredients for sinigang on Friday,” Clemente told the Asian Journal. “I also readied water in a pail and other

New York, other states dig out after epic blizzardby MOMAR G. VISAYA

AJPress

containers in case there’s elec-tricity and water shortage. I also made sure my phone was fully charged.”

Shortly after noon, Clemente and del Rosario went to Central Park to take some photos.

“I was more excited than scared,” Clemente said. “But of course, we were careful and we were hoping that no one gets in-jured.”

By 2:30 pm, it was announced that only emergency vehicles were allowed on the streets and by 4:00 pm, anyone caught walk-ing around the city would be subject to a ticket and possible arrest. It was also around this time when the travel ban was im-posed. The ban was lifted early Sunday morning.

The blizzard of 2016 affected more than 60 million people as the storm’s effects stretched from Georgia to Massachusetts. According to Weather.com, elev-en states have declared states of emergency.

In Leesburg, Virginia, the snowfall was also as historic.

With almost four feet of snow burying parts of the state, many private company employees were not able to report for work on Monday because of unplowed roads.

Carol del Pilar-Boado, a bank-er, was one of them. The bank where she works is running on two-hour delays because of em-ployee shortage. Out of their

35 branches, only six were able to open, including the branch where she works.

“I’m not sure if the roads will be plowed by Tuesday, other-wise, I’d still be working from home,” she told the Asian Jour-nal.

Boado and her family were prepared for the arrival of bliz-zard Jonas. They stocked up on food and the basics – eggs, wa-ter, bread and milk. She said she also marinated lots of meat, and on Friday, she cooked four Fili-pino dishes.

“We were a little worried about losing power because we do not have a fireplace and it is freez-ing,” she added. “But we have flashlight batteries, lanterns, extra blankets in case we lose power.”

Louise Bejer, a lawyer in mid-town Manhattan, had no chance to prepare.

“I worked late on Friday eve-ning and I got home past mid-night, by then there were already flurries,” she said. She was not that worried, though since she always keeps supplies in her apartment, from canned goods, frozen meats and fish in the freezer, bottled water, matches and candles.

“I think the most preparation I did was I made sure that all of my gadgets were charged so if we lose power, I could still work,” she said. (Momar G. Visaya / AJ-Press)

plans yet for how he will spend the money, except to pay off his mort-gage first.

As an occasional lottery player, Mesina is not done trying his luck.

“Of course, [I’ll] win some more money,” he said. (Allyson Escobar/AJPress)

Bayan seeks FBI’s help to uncover US role in Mamasapano

PH calls for international action vs terrorism

AN overseas chapter of mili-tant group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) has filed a Freedom of Information (FOI) Act request before the United States’ Federal Bureau of In-vestigation (FBI) in a bid to uncover the supposed involve-ment of American forces in the ill-fated Mamasapano operation last year.

Bayan’s announcement of the filing on Wednesday, Jan. 27 co-

lorin said in a statement.“We are filing this Freedom

of Information Act request with the FBI because the Filipino and American people have the right to know the full truth about this botched mission,” she said.

Bayan-USA’s request asks for documentation on the FBI’s involvement in the operation, in-cluding internal correspondence between the FBI Los Angeles Field Office and Philippine au-thorities on Marwan’s appre-hension; manuals or guidelines used by US agents in training the SAF to execute the opera-tion; responses to the requests of the Philippine government for assistance in the evacuation of casualties in the aftermath of the operation; results of the FBI Laboratory’s analysis of Marwan’s DNA; and provision of any monetary award to the SAF or Philippine authorities for the identification of Marwan’s DNA.

Citing official reports by the National Bureau of Investigation and the Senate, Ellorin said the US involvement in the operation previously called “Oplan Exo-dus” became clear as proven by the presence of six Americans at the Tactical Command Post for the mission, and an American who “ordered a Philippine Major General to fire artillery.”

In a sworn testimony, former SAF chief Getulio Napeñas previously said Marwan’s tissue sample acquired by the SAF was forwarded to FBI agents in General Santos City.

In the probe’s reopening on Wednesday, Napeñas said the US government, through the Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines, aided the SAF in terms of “real-time intel-ligence support, training, equip-ment, humanitarian support through medical evacuation and investigation.

Ellorin said it would be “sense-less” to give the US military increased access to Philippine territory under the controversial Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (Edca) if the US gov-ernment would not admit “any wrongdoing” in the operation.

“The US has dodged account-ability for the Mamasapano carnage and countless more military-related crimes against the Filipino people, but (US President Barack) Obama and (President Benigno) Aquino continue to push for the imple-mentation of the Edca,” she said.

incided with the reopening of the Senate inquiry on the botched police operation that left 44 Spe-cial Action Force troopers and several others dead in the hunt for international terrorist Zulkifi bin Hir alias Marwan.

“Over 60 Filipinos died and witnesses also saw the body of an American at the covert US-de-signed Mamasapano operation one year ago, yet the US has still not come clean about the extent of its role in the carnage,” Bayan-USA chair Bernadette El-

by YUJI VINCENT GONZALESInquirer.net

Report: Humans to lose 5 million jobs to robots by 2020

by AGNES CONSTANTEAJPress

BY the year 2020, humans are expected to lose a net of 5.1 mil-lions of jobs to robots and artifi-cial intelligence, according to a report from the World Economic Forum (WEF).

In the report, 15 economies that make up 65 percent – about 1.9 billion workers – of the total global workforce were surveyed. About 7 million jobs will be lost while 2 million will be gained due to technological change in these developed and emerging nations.

Robots have already begun taking over manual labor and jobs, such as cashiers, that in-volve redundant tasks.

However, smarter machines are also jeopardizing more skilled occupations.

“As entire industries adjust, most occupations are undergo-ing a fundamental transforma-tion,” according to the report. “While some jobs are threatened by redundancy and others grow rapidly, existing jobs are also go-ing through a change in the skill

sets required to do them.”Jobs in every industry would

be displaced, according to the report. But the effects would vary and the most at-risk jobs include data processing and administra-tive jobs. Latest findings say that two-thirds of anticipated losses will probably be in the office and administrative sectors.

A Business Insider report states that humans could also lose nine jobs to robots: phar-macists, lawyers and paralegals, drivers, astronauts, store clerks, soldiers, babysitters, rescuers (the article notes that robots are able to search areas that are inac-cessible to humans), and sports-writers and other reporters.

CNN cited a Bank of America study stating that there is a 90 percent risk or more of the fol-lowing jobs being replaced: bak-ers, butchers, tour guides, tax collectors, telemarketers, insur-ance sales agents, retail sales-people, clerks, accountants and pharmacy technicians.

That report also stated that ro-bots will likely be performing 45 percent of manufacturing tasks

by 2025, compared to just 10 percent today.

“To prevent a worst-case sce-nario – technological change ac-companied by talent shortages, mass unemployment and grow-ing inequality – reskilling and upskilling of today’s workers will be critical,” the authors wrote. “It is simply not possible to weather the current technological revolu-tion by waiting for the next gen-eration’s workforce to become better prepared.”

Jobs involving much social in-teraction, empathy and intuition are least likely to be replaced by technology, according to CNN. Among these occupations in-clude teachers, artists, mental health care workers, police and detectives, and social workers.

Women are projected to be disproportionately affected, with more than five jobs lost for every one gained throughout the next five years, versus one job gained per three lost for men. This is due to the low participation of women in the science, technol-ogy, engineering and mathemat-ics fields.

WITH terror attacks across the world becoming bolder and in-discriminately targeting civilians, there is greater need for nations to close ranks to fight terrorism “in all its forms and wherever they may occur,” a statement from Ma-nila addressed to the international community said.

“The Philippines and the Fili-pino people stand in solidarity with other peace-loving countries and individuals in expressing deep concern on the continuing

by PIA LEE-BRAGO Philstar.com

terrorist acts happening in many parts of the world, which are in-discriminately targeting innocents and civilians,” the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said in a statement.

The DFA issued the statement in the wake of terror attacks across the globe, including in major urban centers like Paris and Istanbul.

A new UN action calls for a comprehensive approach to combating extremism, includ-ing taking systematic preventive steps to address the underlying conditions that drive individuals to

radicalize and join violent extrem-ist groups.

The UN Plan of Action to Pre-vent Violent Extremism appeals for concerted action by the in-ternational community and cites critical elements for its success in-cluding good governance, rule of law, political participation, quality education and decent jobs and full respect for human rights.

The action plan provides more than 70 recommendations to UN member-states to prevent the further spread of violent extrem-ism stemming from “poisonous ideologies.

PH seas rising fast, according to US study

MIAMI—The amount of sea level rise that comes from the oceans warming and expanding has been underestimated, and is likely about twice as much as previously calculated, German re-searchers said Monday, Jan. 25.

Sea level rise was also found to vary substantially from place to place, with the rate around the Philippines “five times the global rate.”

The findings in the Proceed-ings of the National Academy of Sciences, a peer-reviewed US journal, suggest that increasingly severe storm surges could be anticipated as a result.

Sea level can mount due to two factors — melting ice and the thermal expansion of water as it warms.

Until now, researchers have believed the oceans rose between 0.7 to one millimeter per year due to thermal expansion.

But a fresh look at the latest satellite data from 2002 to 2014 shows the seas are expanding about 1.4 millimeters a year, said the study.

“To date, we have underesti-mated how much the heat-related expansion of the water mass in the oceans contributes to a global rise in sea level,” said co-author Jurgen Kusche, a professor at the University of Bonn.

The overall sea level rise rate is about 2.74 millimeters per year, combining both thermal expan-sion and melting ice.

Meanwhile, sea level on the US West Coast is largely stable because there is hardly any ocean warming in that area, said the findings. (ManilaTimes.net)

DATELINE PHILIPPINESBinay camp belittles Senate probe:No credible, admissible evidence

by JEROME C. ANING, TARRA QUISMUNDO

Inquirer.net

Bongbong to DOJ: Explain delayin resolving Mamasapano case

THE CAMP of Vice President Jejomar Binay on Tuesday, Jan. 26 belittled the findings of the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee, saying that after 25 hearings it was unable to prove the corruption allegations against Binay.

Binay’s political spokesperson Rico Quicho said the final hearing Tuesday “highlighted the obvious’’ as “no credible and admissible evidence has been presented to support the outrageous allegations against the Vice President.’’

“The hearings were just a waste of time and resources of the Sen-ate,’’ Quicho said in a statement he issued after the almost three-hour hearing.

The Senate subcommittee con-cluded its hearings Tuesday after more than a year of inquiry into allegations that Binay and his family had amassed illegal wealth through projects and programs under the city government and under him as Vice President.

The subcommittee submitted last year a partial report recom-

mending plunder and graft cases against Binay in connection with construction of the Makati City Hall Building II.

No-showBinay did not participate in the

proceedings of the subcommittee and lashed out against senators for the way they treated witnesses from the city government and cer-tain agencies under him.

In a statement, Quicho also claimed that key witnesses, par-ticularly lawyer Renato Bondal and

former Makati City Vice Mayor Er-nesto Mercado, had “no personal knowledge whatsoever on the issue they testified on.’’

He belittled Bondal for basing his testimonies “from newspaper clippings from a biased newspa-per,’’ in reference to the Inquirer.

In the case of Mercado, he said the former vice mayor just retold “lies’’ he had been saying since last year.

“The rest of the ‘testimonies’ are just political rhetoric from a vice presidential candidate lagging

behind in the surveys,’’ Quicho said of Trillanes.

Evidence against VPBinay’s camp also belied

Trillanes’ claim that the folders that the Vice President had presented in a television ad were actually evidence against Binay.

Joey Salgado, Binay’s media affairs head, said that the folders were submitted by the Makati City government to show cooperation in the Senate and that the contents showed that “all transactions and

projects are transparent and in compliance with established rules and procedures.’’

He said senators had admitted they were not able to read all the documents, adding this was not a surprise considering that the sena-tors had prejudged the matter even before the start of the hearings.

Salgado also said the photo of folders used in a TV ad of Binay were taken last year and showed these were in a store room “gath-ering dust.’’ (Christina Avendaño/Inquirer.net)

Supreme Court hearing gives Poe hope‘Impossible’ requirement for foundlings cited

IF THE COURT upholds the “impossible” requirement for a foundling to prove his unknown parentage, generations of Filipino foundlings will suffer the unin-tended consequences.

Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno had this to say in her 20-minute interpellation of Alexander Poblador, counsel of presidential candidate Grace Poe, a foundling now facing challenges to the status of her citizenship and qualification for public office as the senator fights to remain in the running for the nation’s top post.

Sereno Tuesday, Jan. 26 under-scored the magnitude of any deci-sion the high court would make on Poe’s challenge to her disqualifica-tion, saying generations of found-lings would be affected by how the court would rule on the case.

Sereno zeroed in on who should carry the burden of proof that Poe is not a natural-born Filipino and hence not qualified to seek public office—the reason the Commission on Elections (Comelec) had voted to disqualify her from the May presidential election.

For Sereno, compelling a found-ling to prove his or her unknown parentage was an “impossible condition,” and that upholding such a requirement would betray the presumption in Philippine adoption laws that a foundling is a Filipino.

“We have to be careful that we’re not held by a rigid reading of what we consider as a failure to enumer-ate foundlings. We are going to create unintended consequences, the difficulties of which are not only going to be visited on your client but on so many foundlings in this country,” said Sereno, the last justice to ask Poblador ques-tions in three-hour oral arguments Tuesday.

Profound implication“The implication is very pro-

found, not only for your client. I would put a blinder on who your client is and just focus on the impli-cation on foundling rights, who are being required by the position of petitioners to prove an impossible condition,” Sereno said.

She sought to establish how the country’s laws on domestic and international adoption carried the presumption that foundlings in the Philippines were in fact Filipinos, hence Philippine courts had juris-diction over them.

By mere title, she noted that Republic Act No. 8552 is called “An act establishing rules and policies on the domestic adoption of Filipino Children, and for other purposes.”

“Meaning foundlings are cov-ered by rules on the adoption of Filipino children,” Sereno said.

Republic Act No. 8043 is titled “An act establishing the rules to govern intercountry adoption of Filipino children and for other purposes,” and also spells out rules

on the intercountry adoption of foundlings in the Philippines.

“The legislature itself accords foundlings the presumption of citizenship,” Poblador said.

Under the country’s adoption laws and the civil code, Poblador

said, “no court can assume jurisdic-tion of the foundling if foundling is not presumed Filipino.”

Sereno said that while the law may at times be “silent, obscure or ambiguous,” courts were tasked to issue rulings based on legislative interpretation so that justice would be upheld.

“The law intends for justice and right to prevail. So the point of us making sure that justice prevails is not a vox populi requirement. I disagree with that. It is a duty which justices are required to observe be-cause it is even statutorily required of us in keeping with our mandate under the civil code and inherent functions we are exercising as a court,” Sereno said.

“I’m very interested because there are parents now who want to adopt. What this court is going to say will speak to them… Whether we find it strictly by saying that the

by PATRICIA LOURDES VIRAY Philstar.com

MANILA—Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Tues-day, Jan. 26 called on the Depart-ment of Justice (DOJ) to explain the delay in filing charges against the suspects for the death of 44 Special Action Force commandos in Mamasapano, Maguindanao last year.

“The DOJ owes it to the family of the victims, and to the public in general, to explain why a year after that tragic incident no formal charges have been filed in court against those responsible,” Mar-cos said in a statement.

Marcos added that the DOJ can submit to the Senate a report on the status of the case even if they

are not formally invited to testify in the hearing.

Acting Justice Secretary Em-manuel Caparas earlier assured that the agency will come out with a resolution soon.

Marcos said that former Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and the National Bureau of Investigation should also assist the Senate in identifying the cause of delay in the progress of the case.

President Benigno Aquino III earlier expressed his dismay over the slow progress of the justice system in the country during the commemoration of the first anniversary of the Mamasapano incident.

“Gaya ninyo, ako man po ay naiinip sa bagal ng pag-usad ng

sistemang pangkatarungan sa ating bansa. Ika nga: Justice de-layed is justice denied,” Aquino said.

Optimistic Filipinos at record high -SWSby YUJI VINCENT GONZALES

Inquirer.net

FILIPINOS’ personal optimism on the quality of life has surged to a record high during the last quarter of 2015, pollster Social Weather Stations (SWS) said.

The SWS survey showed that 45 percent of Filipino adults were expecting their quality of life to improve in 2016, while only five percent said otherwise.

This resulted in a net personal optimism of “very high” +40, breaking the previous record of

+37 in March last year.Malacañang welcomed the

SWS survey results, saying that a record-high optimism among Filipinos would encourage the administration to continue its reform efforts.

“Encouraging results such as (this) continue to inspire us in government to serve our Bosses better. By aiming for growth that is not only sustained but also in-clusive, the Aquino administration ensures that national progress translates to concrete benefits for

our people,” presidential spokes-person Edwin Lacierda said in a statement.

“Over the past five years, such a policy has led to advancements in education, healthcare, and other social services, including the sustained expansion of our Con-ditional Cash Transfer (CCT) pro-gram. During the next elections, we trust that the Filipino people will vote to continue our upward trajectory along Daang Matuwid, and help make the Filipino dream possible for many generations to come,” he added.

Lacierda said the percentage of “optimists” rose to 38 percent from September, the highest in 28 years.

The same survey also showed that 39 percent of Filipinos ex-pected the economy to get better in the next 12 months, 9 percent higher than the data in the previ-ous quarter.

Those who expected the econ-omy to deteriorate, meanwhile, dropped from 12 percent to 8 percent.

Thirty-one percent of respon-dents said their quality of life im-proved over the past 12 months, up from 29 percent in the previous quarter.

SWS said the survey has sam-pling error margin +/- 3 points for national percentages.

OPINION FEATURESIT has been a year since the bloodbath between the Philippine

National Police-Special Action Force (PNP-SAF), and elements of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Bangsamoro Islamic Free-dom Fighters (BIFF) and private armed groups in Mamasapano, Ma-guindanao. That fateful Sunday on Jan. 25, 2015 left 44 elite police-men and 19 Moro rebels dead.

Recurrence

The government’s failure to suc-cessfully resolve the Mamasapano encounter has become emblematic of persistent dangers that affect ev-eryone. Criminal charges have been filed against 90 commander and members from different Moro entities, but justice has yet to be delivered for the victims’ kin.

Justice department spokesman and Undersecre-tary Emmanuel Caparas said the agency is aware of the cry for justice for the families of the slain policemen and vowed to have a resolution soon.

“The DOJ continues to do what it needs to do so that it can deliver justice to all parties involved. Let’s just say the authorities are moving as quickly as they can, as responsibly as they can, as judi-ciously as they can so that justice may be deliv-ered,” Caparas said.

Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile ini-tiated the resumption of the Senate investigation into the Mamasapano encounter and vowed to im-plicate Pres. Benigno Aquino III for his active and direct involvement in the planning and preparation of the botched “Oplan Exodus.”

For Sen. Bongbong Marcos, the reopening of the Senate investigation will address the govern-ment’s unfulfilled promises and the continuing

cries for justice of families of the 44 slain SAF commandos.

“No case has been filed in court to prosecute those responsible. We owe it to the families of the SAF heroes to resolve these issues

and the Senate investigation will allow us the op-portunity to do that,” Marcos said.

Earlier, Aquino admitted that he believes that the resumption of the Senate investigation is fu-eled by politics and an attempt to put blood on his hands.

“We all know that the campaign period is com-ing soon. Among our opponents, they see that this has been the greatest burden I have had since I took office. Perhaps, they are trying to take this opportunity,” Aquino said, alluding to his admin-istration’s rivals.

Meanwhile, on the first anniversary of the Ma-masapano encounter on Monday, Jan. 25 Aquino awarded the fallen SAF troopers with medals to honor their their gallantry during the operation that resulted in the death of Zulkifli Abdhir (also known as Marwan), who was one of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation’s most wanted terrorists.

“On this day, we are gathered to honor the val-iant efforts of the Philippine National Police Spe-

Editorial

cial Action Force. Together with the whole nation, we whole-heartedly recognize them for their ser-vice. To our valiant SAF: Thank you so much for your heroism to promote peace,” Aquino said in Filipino after presenting the posthumous awards to the fallen SAF troopers’ families. The President also assured them of the government’s assistance and vowed justice over the killings.

Another victim of the Mamasapano encounter is the fate of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law

(BBL). The peace pact made between the national government and Muslim rebels in the country—meant allow comprehensive growth and develop-ment in the southern region—has been gaining headway, and an expected passage in the legisla-ture was already underway, until the Mamasapano tragedy occurred.

Depending on the outcome of the Senate in-vestigation, the future of the peace and stability in Mindanao will remain in a precarious balance.

THE United States’ role in Oplan Exodus that killed an in-ternational terrorist but led to the worst massacre of Philippine troops in recent history must be established if we are to under-stand and put closure to this na-tional tragedy brought upon us by this incompetent president.

A report by the respected Los Angeles Times on the episode, published September 2015 or af-ter months of investigative work, depicts our government and the military as puppets that US spe-cial forces de facto directed as part of its international war on terror.

According to the LA Times re-port, US special forces trained the police commandos, gave them high-tech equipment, “fer-ried them around” using air-craft flown by US contractors, pinpointed where Marwan was hiding, provided photographic aerial maps to the site, and even provided “real time” intelligence while the operation was being undertaken using drones.

Indeed, Zulkifli bin Hir, aka “Marwan,” a Malaysian, wasn’t really high in the Philippine po-

Did Aquino expect the US to save the SAF, as they did his mother in 1989?

RIGOBERTO TIGLAO

Commentary

IN less than a week, the race to the White House takes off in Iowa for both the Democratic and the Republican parties. The voters of this state and all the others, as scheduled perhaps until sum-mer, will head to the polls and choose the can-didate who they believe will best represent the principles, vision and advocacies of their party.

The developments of the week preceding the February 1 Iowa caucuses headlined so many un-expected twists and turns many were not expect-ing in the past six months.

The Bush brand did not seem well for Jeb Bush, who many thought would be the frontrun-ner for the GOP, but six debates later and the entry of billionaire real estate mogul and reality TV star Donald Trump has shaken and perhaps redefined what “conservative” means for the Re-publican Party.

Donald Trump has been perceived as someone embracing more liberal principles, and yet he has emerged to be the candidate most likely to be the nominee of the Republican Party. Trump dominated the recent CNN/ORC poll with 41 per-cent of Republican voters nationwide saying they

will vote for the billionaire. CNN further reported that more than two-thirds believe he will win the party’s nomination.

Trump has beaten candidates in the polls who were more tra-ditional Republicans embrac-ing conservative principles with strong ties to evangelical Chris-tians. According to CNN, the nearest competitor, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, got 19 percent support in the poll.

The CNN/ORC poll revealed that no other can-didate hit double-digits. Florida Sen. Marco Ru-bio landed at 8 percent, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson at 6 percent, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush at 5 percent, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at 4 percent, and the rest at 1 percent or less.

In the Democratic Party, the latest Fox News Poll shows frontrunner Hillary Clinton’s national lead among likely Democratic primary voters has narrowed -- 49 percent to Sanders’ 37 percent.

In Iowa, the Fox news poll reveals Clinton with 48 percent support to Sanders’ 42 percent and

former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley’s 3 percent. Sanders remains the frontrunner in New Hampshire, the first primary state after Iowa with a 56 per-cent to 34 percent advantage over Clinton.

The surge of Bernie Sanders in the polls over time has been fueled by the support of the

younger voters who see the 75-year-old senator as the candidate who can bring real change in America, with his “democratic socialism” prin-ciple.

This is different from the Soviet Union kind of socialism, and Sanders defined it in the recent Democratic town hall meeting in Iowa:

“What democratic socialism means to me is that economic rights, the right to economic secu-rity, should exist in the United States of America,” said Sanders, who calls himself a “democratic so-cialist.” He said the term means that government listens to the middle class as much as it listens to the rich, and that government helps students

have access to college. “Creating a government that works for all of us, not just a handful of peo-ple on the top. That’s my definition of democratic socialism.”

The CNN-sponsored debate highlighted how each candidate differentiated themselves from each other, with Clinton perceived as the more “experienced” candidate while Sanders high-lighted that aside from his experience and pre-paredness for the highest post in the nation, he has the better judgement to be President.

We will know by February 1 who among the candidates in both parties will have the wind be-hind their backs heading to New Hampshire. And we will see if another billionaire, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, will join the race as he has been seriously thinking of doing so.

Abangan!* * *

Surprises ahead of the start of presidential election primaries and caucuses

REP. JOE HECK

Commentarylice and military’s order of battle, as he was believed to have been given refuge by the MILF for his huge financial donation to the insurgents, but only on condition that he didn’t undertake his ter-rorist activities in Mindanao.

It was the US who designated him as “HV1” (high value target no.1) here as an international terrorist linked to its archenemy Al-Qaeda, with the FBI putting a $5 million bounty on his head; this was mainly because he was believed to have supplied the bombs in the 2002 Bali attack, and had trained Islamic terror-ists around the world in bomb warfare. The US also wanted to prove that nobody can escape the long arm of its law: Marwan was indicted in August 2007 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Cali-fornia.

Former police colonel Getulio Napeñas, then commander of the Philippine National Police Special Action Force that under-took the mission, testified in the Senate hearings on the massacre last year:

One of the Americans ordered (Army 6th Infantry Division com-mander Maj. Gen. Edmundo) Pangilinan to fire the artillery. However, Pangilinan refused and told him “Do not dictate to me what to do. I am the commander here!”

Why would an American dare order an army general to fire ar-

tillery if he had no commanding role in the operation?

There were several pieces of evidence of US involvement in the operation disclosed in the Senate hearings: testimonies of a local mayor and an SAF trooper that they saw drones circling the battle field, Napenas’ disclosure that there were six Americans at the operation’s command post, and his explanation that a Feder-al Bureau of Investigation officer was waiting at General Santos City airport to whom a SAF offi-cer gave Marwan’s severed fin-ger right after the operation, for DNA testing in an FBI laboratory in the US.

There was in fact photo evi-dence of US involvement: News-paper photos of Caucasians tend-ing to and loading the wounded on a helicopter on the day of the massacre. The chopper’s mark-ings are clearly visible. Why didn’t the Senate establish who or what agency or what country operated this helicopter? Like meek colonial subjects, the Sen-ate and the press shirked away from finding out why that heli-copter was there pre-positioned for the operation.

How can we pretend to be a sovereign nation when Oplan Exodus was almost entirely an American operation, from which it swiftly distanced itself from when it resulted in 44 of our elite police troops massacred?

A �nancial aid application process that works for students, families

ALL around the Las Vegas Val-ley, high school seniors are mak-ing important decisions about where to continue their educa-tion next fall. As the father of a college freshman, I know this is an exciting time. But preparing for post-secondary education can also be a daunting task when families start to think about costs and financial aid.

Unfortunately, there are many flaws in our student aid application process. This is why I recently joined a bipartisan group of colleagues from the Hose Committee on Education and the Workforce to introduce H.R. 3177, the Simplifying the Application for Student Aid Act. This bill will help address the numerous roadblocks Ne-vada families face when going through the financial aid appli-cation process.

Many students’ and parents’ first introduction to the head-ache that has become the fi-nancial aid process begins with completing the Free Applica-

tion for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Students are encour-aged to complete the FAFSA in January if they wish to register for fall classes. It may seem as though getting ahead of finan-cial aid applications and filling them out early is a good idea, however it’s not that simple. The FASFA form is 10 pages long and includes over 100 questions on topics such as income, expenses, family size and assets. It also requires submissions of income tax data from the previous year, which is often unavailable at the time students are asked to begin filling out their applica-tions. Sometimes the process is so frustrating that students and families give up, thereby disqualifying themselves from receiving much needed aid.

Our bill will make applying for financial aid much easier for students and parents. First, it will allow the use of family income data from two years prior to the date of FAFSA application as opposed to just one year. This way students can easily apply in January and get a portion of the col-lege-preparation stress out of the way early. Next, this bill will make filling out the FASFA form easier than ever. It will directly link the online FAFSA

form to a family’s income data available through the Internal Revenue Service. That way, many of the over 100 FAFSA questions will be automatically filled in, not only increasing speed but accuracy. Finally, this bill will allow more time for student aid administrators and institutions to verify reported income data, thus strengthen-ing the overall integrity of the application process and ensur-ing that your tax payer dollars are going to those who truly need the aid.

Applying for financial aid is a necessary part of post-secondary education for many Nevada families but it does not need to be so overwhelm-ing. The Simplifying the Ap-plication for Student Aid Act provides a significant step towards making this process quicker and easier. I am de-termined to get this legislation passed in the 114th Congress because it should not be such a hassle to ensure that our children are able to receive financial support for the edu-cation they deserve.

GEL SANTOS-RELOS

The Fil-Am Perspective

SC hearing gives Poe...language is silent—so the right of foundlings is completely silent—or will resort to interpretation, not only statutory construction, but judicial interpretation, and administrative practices in order that a just and right ruling will result,” Sereno said.

Enough evidenceAssociate Justice Marvic Leonen,

picking off where he left during the first hearing on Tuesday last week questioning Poblador, reiterated that those seeking the senator’s disqualification never presented any evidence that she was a for-eigner, and thus she was presumed a natural-born Filipino eligible to seek the presidency.

Leonen questioned whether evidence was presented in the Comelec enough to prove that Poe was a natural-born Filipino citizen, considering that the proceedings at the poll body were summary in nature, meaning there were no hearings.

Poblador admitted that Poe’s foundling certificate and decree of adoption were not enough to prove that one of the senator’s parents were Filipinos.

The lawyer, however, reiterated Poe’s position that she is natural-born based on presumptions under both domestic and international laws, to which Leonen replied, “Maybe to some of us it is too iffy, too ambiguous, too tenuous a link.”

The justice also asked Po-blador to discuss in the memo-randum to be submitted to the court on whether a foundling can be given a natural-born Fili-pino citizenship just because the foundling was found on Philip-pine territory.

On the residency issue, Pobla-dor said the senator lived in the Philippines since birth, except for some 14 years when she was in the United States.

He also agreed with Leonen that the constitutional provision requiring a 10-year residency “im-mediately preceding the election” for presidential candidates did not say that the 10 years must be continuous.

Question of loyaltyThe justice said that if the pur-

pose of the 10-year residency rule was for the candidate to be familiar with the conditions in the country, then there may not be a reason for Poe not to be so since she lived most of her life in the Philippines and that because of technology

PH drops 10 notches in global corruption index

It is the American role in the Mamasapano operation that ex-plains what had been a mystery to me. This is something that can’t be discussed, for some flimsy national-security reason, only in closed executive sessions in the Senate. The nation, the loved ones and relatives of the massacred SAF 44, deserve to know the truth.

Where could this President — who had never really shown himself to be really decisive and courageous — find the guts to pretend to command Oplan Exo-dus, even asking his close friend Police Chief Alan Purisima – in

spite of Purisima’s having been sacked a month before — to be his “executive officer?”

From the Americans, who assured him that, short of having American boots on the ground, they were on top of Oplan Exodus. The Americans probably told him: “We’ll do all the work. Just be in Zamboanga City to congratulate your troops for a job well done.”

As the operation unraveled, Aquino was still probably hop-ing for the American military to somehow turn things around. After all, the Americans saved his mother at the last minute in

1989, when US Phantom jets swooped from Clark Air Base to force down the RAM rebels’ T28 Trojans (the so-called “Tora-To-ras”) that were bombing Mala-canang, and thereby defeating that coup that had nearly won.

This time around, of course, no US fighters swooped down on Mamasapano. The kind of drones the US sent were unarmed.

This president could be guilty not only of criminal negligence but treason, for letting a foreign power undertake a military op-eration within our country, one that resulted in 44 SAF troopers massacred.

such as the Internet, she could have been familiar with what is happen-ing in the country.

Leonen also challenged the premise that the reason for im-posing a natural-born citizenship requirement on candidates for President was to assure their loyalty to the country, asking if there ever was a scientific finding proving that non-natural-borns are not or less loyal.

He pointed out that a child born in Hawaii of parents who are Philip-pine citizens could theoretically run for president of the United States, although it would be up to Ameri-can voters to decide to vote for the child when he runs for the office in the future.

Justices Antonio Carpio and Teresita Leonardo-De Castro fo-cused on Poblador’s citation of international law in declaring that foundlings like Poe had the right to be citizens of the country where they are found.

Carpio pointed out that the 1930 Hague Convention cited by Pobla-dor could not have been construed as international law applicable in the Philippines at the time the 1935 Constitution was enacted, saying that the convention only took effect in 1937 when the required 10 states ratified it.

Incremental actsCarpio asked if Poblador could

submit the income tax returns submitted by Poe in 2005 and 2006 while De Castro asked the lawyer to submit to the court the basis used by the Bureau of Immigration in declaring Poe as a natural-born citizen.

Justice Presbitero Velasco asked Poblador on the lawyer’s assertion that Poe’s decision to reestablish her residency in the Philippines was a “series of incremental acts.”

“Relocation is difficult. There are steps which must taken in totality,” adding that the elements of reacqui-sition of domicile—physical pres-ence, intent to stay and no intention to return to previous residence were all present in Poe’s case.

Justice Mariano del Castillo, on the other hand, asked Poblador about his position that it should be up to the people to decide Poe’s qualifications in the elec-tion.

“You say vox populi vox dei [but] isn’t the Constitution also the voice of the people?” he asked, to which Poblador said the Constitution provided elections in which the people could continue to make their decisions.

Eucharistic Congress calls for love, compassion for the poor

by EDU PUNAY, KRISTINE QUINTAS Philstar.com

A MASS, celebrated in a humble plaza to show the message of hope, kicked off the 51st International Eucharistic Congress in Cebu City on Sunday, Jan. 24.

Yangon Archbishop Charles Maung Cardinal Bo, who was sent by Pope Francis to represent him in the weeklong event, said in the homily that the Eucharist and the poor are inseparable as he noted that 20,000 children die every day, about 90,000 a month or 10 mil-lion a year due to starvation and malnutrition.

“In our world, where there is a shortage of hope, mankind needs to hear the message of hope in Christ Jesus,” said Cebu Arch-bishop Jose Palma in a post on the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) news website.

He added that since the Con-gress is an event of hope, Cardinal Bo wants to show this message by interacting with those who languish in prison and spending time with a number of Cebu’s poor children.

Bo visited the Don Bosco Train-ing and Youth Center, established by his Filipino confreres to reach out to poor children and out-of-school youths, and a vocational school in Barangay Pasil, which is identified as one of the city’s most depressed areas.

Palma also said Pope Fran-cis tapped two priests – Marvin Mejia and Dominic Bar Bu – for “special pontifical missions” that he did not specify.

In the mass celebrated at the Plaza Independencia, Cardinal Bo reminded everyone that all humans are equal before the Eucharist.

“Today, we have gathered from various backgrounds, the rich and the poor, the noble and the blessed, aristocrat and the servant, but when you approach the altar, the Eucharist strips you of all your social stages. You are equal among equals in an unequal and uncaring world,” he said.

At least 1,500 priests, 200 bishops and 10 cardinals concel-ebrated the mass with Archbishop Palma presenting the Holy Bible given by Pope Francis as a gift. Authorities estimated the total at-

MANILA—The Philippines ranked 95th out of 186 countries in the Corruption Perceptions Index for 2015, 10 notches lower than its rank in the previous year.

Transparency International re-ported that the Philippines scored 35/100 in the latest survey.

The survey covered 186 coun-tries in 2015 and 175 countries in 2014. The index corruption shows the relative degree of corruption

by ranking countries.“This year’s index ranks 186

countries/territories by their per-ceived levels of public sector corruption,” Transparency Inter-national said in a statement.

The Philippines shared the 95th spot with Armenia, Mali and Mexico.

Denmark topped the list fol-lowed by Finland, Sweden, New Zealand, Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, Singapore and Can-ada. Germany, Luxembourg and United Kingdom are tied at the 10th spot.

Meanwhile, North Korea and Somalia were deemed as the most corrupt among the countries surveyed.

Also at the bottom of the list were Afghanistan, Sudan, South Sudan, Angola, Libya, Iraq, Ven-ezuela, Guinea-Bissau and Haiti.

Transparency International reported that 68 percent of the countries worldwide have a seri-ous corruption problem.

“Not one single country, any-where in the world, is corruption-free,” Transparency International said.

by PATRICIA LOURDES VIRAY Philstar.com

tendees at 400,000.Palma said the Eucharist is

the primary source of renewal, center of community and hope of glory.

Did Aquino expect the US to save...

VEGAS&STYLEJOURNAL

Dante Basco: Creating stories & opportunities in entertainment for Asian Americansby AGNES CONSTANTE

AJPress

IT’S a Wednesday afternoon at The Honor Bar in Beverly Hills, where Filipino-American actor Dante Basco decides to order a crispy chicken sandwich with no tomatoes for lunch. Wednesdays happen to be one of his three des-ignated workout days during the week—the other two are Monday and Friday—and he’s knocked out his exercise for the day in the morn-ing before his midday meal.

While waiting for his food, Basco picks up his cell phone to respond to an email. He leads quite a busy life in which he wears many hats: he’s also a creative consultant, producer, poet, writer and speaker. He even carves out time to play

video games online and use social media, both of which are ways he communicates with his fans.

“The more you communicate, the more you build this relationship. The way I look at my whole online life is an ongoing conversation I have with fans ... and it’s kind of like you’re talking to a collective group,” he says.

One of his favorite ways to inter-act with fans is by answering ques-tions in the middle of the night on Tumblr, a blogging platform used widely by younger generations. Some questions he has been asked include what his favorite snack is, his favorite Filipino food, his favor-ite non-computer game hobbies, and others pertaining to life choices and heartbreak.

“I don’t think everyone really understands how old I am,” says the 40-year-old actor. “[My fans] ask me for a lot of advice. I think in a lot of ways I’ve become like a cool uncle or older brother figure talking to [them].”

Basco’s acting career has spanned over 25 years, longer than the lives of many of his younger followers. He’s no stranger to the big screen and television, with film-ography including the iconic role of Rufio in the 1991 movie “Hook” and the voice of Zuko in the popular Nickelodeon animated television se-ries “Avatar the Last Airbender,” for which he has become well-known among the younger generation.

In 2000, the Fil-Am actor played

Follow Dante Basco:

Wordpress: dantebasco.wordpress.com/

YouTube: youtube.com/user/thedantebasco

Twitter: @dantebascoTumblr: rufiozuko.tumblr.

comFacebook: facebook.com/

OfficialDanteBascoInstagram: @dantebasco

Snapchat: @rufiozuko

Kathryn Bernardo:‘We need someoneto give our generation a wake-up call’

by STEFAN PUNONGBAYAN Philstar.com

MANILA—Kathryn Bernardo is game, all day long. That’s exactly what she told me when I asked her for a one-on-one following her coronation as the latest face of a top haircare brand. We’ve all seen her grow in front of the camera. We hardly could have predicted that she was destined to be one of the most sought-after actresses and crushes ng bayan.

Apparently, the Teen Queen always leaves room for her royal subjects. She fixes her blush-hued dress and silky hair, and beckons me to sit with her on her throne — a fuchsia and white sofa — eager to tell me the tales of her victory. Love her or hate her, she has managed to rule while having fun. She is, after all, Kathryn Bernardo and not Kathryn Bernardon’t.

Philstar.com: This year, you’re pushing 20. What have you learned so far from your reign as the Teen Queen of Philippine showbiz?

Kathryn Bernardo: A lot, actually,

How Patricia & Rob keep marriage intact

Anne Curtis on viral Jasmine-Erwan photo: This is a non-issue

In a field where most mar-riages don’t last (so many pres-sures, so many temptations and so many intrigues, you know), Patricia Javier and Robert “Rob” Walcher III are among the very few exceptions. They celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary on Dec. 27 last year. At the start, some cynics predicted that the east-meets-west union wouldn’t last. The couple has proven them terribly wrong.

Asked how they keep their marriage intact, Patricia told Funfare in an exclusive interview, “I don’t know how to fight in Eng-lish. It takes time for me to decide what to say. And by the time I’m about to open my mouth, wala na ang galit ko.”

That’s a joke.“Seriously,” continued Pa-

tricia, “give-and-take kami. We compromise. We meet halfway on some issues. Rob is patient and understanding. Simple lang. Mabait na tao siya, sobrang maka-pamilya.”

A chiropractor, Rob is part-German and part-Scot who grew up in the States (Reno, Nevada) while Patricia is a homegrown actress-singer raised on Filipino custom. Luckily, they didn’t suffer from culture shock. They instill the best of both cultures in their children Robert IV, eight years old, and Ryan.

“We train them to be punctual in everything, always American time and never Filipino time,” said Patricia, “and to be independent. We teach them Filipino values such as respect for elders, ‘yung pagmamano, and to say ‘po’ and ‘opo.’”

They were two right people who met at the right time. She was free and so was he. They met in San Diego, California, introduced to each other by their mutual friends Dr. Benjamin Camacho, and Melinda and Romy Casas.

“It was perfect timing,” re-called Patricia. “It didn’t take time before Rob began courting me.

by RICKY LO Philstar.com

Before I knew it, we were going steady already.”

But when Rob proposed mar-riage, Patricia said that she devel-oped cold feet.

“Ang daming pinagdaanan bago natuloy ang kasal,” laughed Patricia. “I had my wedding gown made in the Philippines but it got lost on my way to the States. I thought that was a bad sign until I found out that my gown was misplaced at the Customs.”

It helps that they are both Christian who put God at the center of their marriage.

“Rob didn’t used to be religious and I was able to influence him,” said Patricia. “Dati, he didn’t go to church as often as he should. Malaking factor na pareho kami ng religion.”

After living for years in San Diego where Rob ran chiroprac-tic clinic and Patricia resumed her rudely-interrupted career as a singer, the couple decided to settle down in the Philippines.

The Dec. 27, 2015, event was a celebration of both their 10th wedding anniversary and their happy homecoming. Joining them

were their close friends, including (as principal sponsors) the late German “Kuya Germs” Moreno, Cavite Rep. Lani Mercado, Bernie and Ernesto Leyva, Melinda and Romy Casas, and Dr. Ann and George David.

The event organizer was Kris-tine Rose Cruz of Krissybey Events Management. Other credits: Su-sie Bonaobra and Bing Cris-tobal (gowns), Wilfoto (photo and video), Joane Quimio (hair and make-up), Dawn Escarte of Rojo Flowers (florist), Acoustic After Class (reception band), Studio 22 (might’s and sounds), Bente Dos Akustik (ceremony band), Sweet Solutions (cake), Jeff Quinquileria of Walkabooth (photo booth), Wedding Digest Philippines (souvenirs), Red Veil (candy buffet), and Janne Rabe and Phoebe Walker (emcees).

The reception was held at Patrick’s Café at The Paris Beach Club of Azure Urban Resort & Residences, catered by Lady Lynn Catering Services.

“We are here to stay,” said Patricia. “Enjoy na dito ang mga bata.”

MANILA—“It was all an inside joke,” this is how Anne Curtis described the photo of her sister Jasmine Curtis-Smith and Erwan Heussaff hugging each other, which went viral on social media on Tuesday, Jan. 26.

On her Twitter account, the Kapamilya actress said that the photo was “wrongly screencapped” from her private social media account.

Anne was sad that the people “reacted maliciously” about the photo and that “such viciousness is being thrown to the people I love.”

She then clarified that “nothing happened, we are all fine. I’m lucky that Erwan treats Jasmine as his own sister.”

In the end, Anne said that it’ll be the last time she’ll talk about the issue and asked the public to “stop say-ing awful things about my sister & boyfriend.”

Solenn on Tuesday also reacted on the viral photo by posting a photo of her and Erwan hugging.

“OMG!!!!! Nakakaloka sila!!!! Magkapatid sila!! Soo groosss! At tignan niyo shirtless pa si solenn!!! Full of malice!!!!,” she said in the caption. (Philstar.com)

especially in 2015. Mas kilala ko na ang sarili ko, I think. I feel that I’m stronger and more mature now. Like, kung may problema, I handle things differently.

Were there any struggles, pres-sures and perks?

Of course, nandiyan ‘yan. Hang-gang ngayon, hindi mawawala ang pressure. I think it’s a good thing, though, kasi yun ang motivation ko. Ngayon, sa every project, sa every show na ginagawa ko, nandoon pa rin yung pressure na kailangang it’s better than my last work.

I take it that, as a teen actress

and a former child star, you’ve had and will always have a big-ger share of grown-up problems than most of us. Plus, you have to constantly stay pretty. How do you cope with, say, Metro Manila traffic, given your ultra-fast-paced lifestyle?

’Wag kang magpaapekto sa stress. Sobrang stressful ng pagig-ing actress — maingay at mabilis ang lahat — pero ang secret dun ay dapat diyan ka lang, kalmahin mo ang sarili mo, planuhin mo kung paano mo magagawa ang schedule for the day, and you’ll get through it.

Do you keep a playlist handy to help you deal with it? Who are your top five musicians?

Usually kapag nase-stress ako, I listen to Michael Bublé, Norah Jones, Jack Johnson, John Mayer, and of course, Taylor Swift.

How would you describe your relationship with your peers, Liza and Nadine? What can you say about the apparent rivalry among the three of you and among your respective fan bases?

We all work for the same station, so I don’t think dapat lagyan ng malice o kulay. Kaming tatlo, we’re very okay. Wala naman talagang

Meryll Soriano: No to abolition of MMFF despite ‘injustice’by ALLAN POLICARPIO

Inquirer.net

FOR Meryll Soriano, the conten-tious disqualification of “Honor Thy Father” from the best picture category in the recent Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) turned out to be a blessing in disguise, after the incident sparked discussions and became a catalyst for possible changes in the annual event.

“It was disappointing because we worked hard and were pas-sionate about the project. We felt that there was injustice, but things happen for a reason—and in this case, perhaps because some things needed to be brought to light,” Meryll told reporters at a press conference for GMA 7’s new TV series, “That’s My Amboy.”

The exclusion of “Honor”—ap-parently due to its exhibition in other festivals prior to MMFF—prompted Rep. Dan Fernandez, also a cast member, to bring the matter to Congress.

“I’m happy that there was a stir, and I’m proud to be part of this movement. It’s high time to point out that something’s wrong,” Meryll said, adding that she feels heart-ened that a lot of her colleagues in

the industry feel the same way.“It was great to see that even

people who weren’t part of our film trooped to Congress to show their support. We were very pleased with how things went,” related the 33-year-old artist, who also main-tained that she wasn’t upset about losing the best actress award—for which she was touted as a strong contender—to Jennylyn Mercado of “#WalangForever.”

“A trophy is an acknowledgment of your talent, but the only thing that saddened us was our film’s disqualification,” stressed Meryll, who has always made it a point

to be part of independent movies “to feed my soul.” “It’s my goal to be part of projects that I can be proud of.”

Asked about her thoughts on some critics calling for the MMFF’s abolition, Meryll said: “To stop it completely would be sad, because many people look forward to the festival—it’s a great platform to see local films without competition from their foreign counterparts. An overhaul, however, is much needed.”

Despite the controversy, the ac-tress remains optimistic that things would eventually turn out for the better. Personally, she said she’d love to see local movies in general get better distribution deals and given ample screening dates.

“We have to support our own. I’m hoping for more awareness among moviegoers about the dif-ferent genres the industry offers,” she said.

Meanwhile, Meryll, who now plans to focus on acting after studying in London for the past four years, said she was thrilled to be back on TV and doing comedy, especially after working on such a dark and “heavy” film.

Kathryn Bernardo:‘We need someone to... isyu sa amin, it’s just that ibang tao lang siguro ang gumagawa.

And haters? Can you give us tips on shaking them off?

Walang artistang walang hater. Ganun naman, eh. It comes with the package. Just ignore them. It’s the best revenge. Kapag hindi mo sila pinansin, wala silang makukuha sa ‘yo.

Moviegoers were abuzz re-cently about the controversy that was the MMFF. From where you’re sitting, if you could change a few things about the current entertainment landscape, what would they be?

Bigyan ng chance ang lahat ng tao, hindi lang yung dahil mas kilala ang isang tao o kaya related siya

kanino man. Sana the entertain-ment industry would open more doors for these people na talented pero hindi nabibigyan ng oppor-tunities.

What’s your dream role? Like, what would be the wildest project you’d do if you had anything to choose from?

Action! I’d like to take on ac-tion roles. Yun yung gusto ko kasi nakapag-drama na ako, romcom, horror, so yun na lang ang kulang.

We millennials have been obsessing about having a genera-tional identity. Do you think we really need to hail someone to be the “voice” of this generation?

I think aside from having some-one speak for us, we need someone

to give us a wake-up call. Kasi iba na talaga ang generation natin. We’re very advanced because of technology at dahil sa lahat ng nakikita natin ngayon. Sometimes it’s good. Sometimes kailangan lang nating matutunan kung paano i-balanceang lahat para hindi tayo maging pabigat o masabihang spoiled at entitled, at ma-prove na kaya nating makatulong especially with the many resources we have nowadays.

What’s in store for Kathryn Bernardo in 2016?

Well, right now I’m still doing Pangako Sa ‘Yo. After that, I’ll be working on a movie with DJ. Yun ang abangan niyo. Surprise na ang iba.

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITYSouthern Nevada Regional Housing Authority

340 North 11th Street, Las Vegas, Nevada 89101Phone (702) 922-6060

Position Title:Director of Public Housing and Affordable Housing

Announcement No.:16-005

OVERVIEW: Under the direction of the Executive Director, the Director of Operations/Affordable Housing is responsible for the ongoing operations of the Housing Authority’s Public Housing and Affordable Housing Division. The Director is responsible for running a professionally managed division by ensuring compliance with PHAS for Public Housing and with compliance with Best Practice for Affordable Housing. The Director is

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS/DUTIES: For a list of all essential job functions/duties, minimum

HOW TO APPLY: Applicants must submit complete Employment Application, with updated Resume attached, www.snvrha.org or picked up

and submitted to the Southern Nevada Regional Housing Authority, 5390 E. Flamingo Rd., Las Vegas, Nevada 89122, or by calling (702) 922-1636, TDD (702) 387-1898. An incomplete Employment Application and/or

will not be accepted after the closing date.

Applications must be received in the Human Resources Department by 5:00 p.m. on the closing date. Applications become the property of the Housing Authority and will not be copied or returned.

DEPARTMENT: OPERATIONS/AFFORDABLE HOUSINGSALARY RANGE: $76,510 - $122,313 per annum

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS OPEN TO ALL INTERESTED CANDIDATESOPENING DATE:CLOSING DATE: Until Filled

Box A Smile delivered smiles to 3,000 children over the holiday season

THE busy holiday season was made extra special with the ac-tivation of Box A Smile, LBC’s Christmas Gift-Giving activity dur-ing which smiles were delivered to 3,000 underprivileged children in various communities. With the invaluable assistance of Project Pearls, the Box A Smile gift-giving events were a success, drawing volunteers both from the LBC & Project Pearls communities.

Project Pearls, a volunteer, non-government agency headed by Melissa Villa, gathered children in the various communities of Help-ing Land/Newland, Tondo, Manila, Lubusang Alyansa ng Katutubong Aeta ng Sambales (LAKAS) in Botolan, Zambales, and relocated residents of Ulingan now in Ba-rangay Batia, Bulacan. A total of 3,000 children were treated to a Christmas party with games and prizes, lots of dancing and singing, and of course, food and drinks.

With these events, an over-whelming sense of community and camaraderie was felt throughout, in keeping with the spirit of giv-ing, the true spirit of the holiday season. Over 3,000 donor partici-pants from the US were engaged, and co-sponsors likewise provided much-needed assistance for the events.

LBC volunteers from various

departments and areas partici-pated in the gift-giving activities: from the principals, executives, and their children, to warehouse personnel, associates and front-lin-ers, delivery associates and teams. The LBC family came in full-force, some employees dressed as Santa Claus, enjoining the children and all present that it is indeed FAMILY that truly makes the holiday season special and memorable.

“LBC has been a very important partner for Project PEARLS. LBC USA has generously provided assistance to Project PEARLS in transporting in-kind donations to Manila from United States. Be-cause of this, we are able to provide

to hundreds more children in the communities we serve mainly in

Dante Basco: Creating stories & opportunities...

the role of Ben Mercado in “The Debut,” a landmark film for the Filipino community where his character struggles between his family’s Filipino traditions and his American dreams.

“Being able to represent for the community in that way and for it to be as impactful as it was, [I’m] super proud of that,” Basco says of the movie.

Also featured in “The Debut” were Basco’s brother, Darion Bas-co, and Filipino actors Gina Alajar and Tirso Cruz III.

“[That movie] really connected me w/being Filipino in a real way.

“And if you watch it today, it still means something to people. So this is Filipinos doing it in America. I’m as proud of that as anything,” he says.

Working toward elevating Asian Americans in entertain-ment

In addition to acting, Basco con-tinues his creative journey these days in ways that help elevate Asian Americans in entertainment. In late 2013, he helped found an Asian American arts collective in Downtown Los Angeles called We Own the 8th. The collective meets on the eighth of every month and is meant to curate, educate and inspire the next generation of content creators, including sing-ers, writers, actors and YouTube personalities.

“One of the first questions I asked was, why are we, as Asians, the most affluent ethnic com-munity in America, yet the least represented in media? Why? It’s on us. We need to educate ourselves about the importance of us telling stories, the importance of us. Be-ing affluent is cool: we eat at nice restaurants, we drive nice cars, we live in good neighborhoods. For all intents and purposes we’ve kind of achieved the American Dream, but we’re invisible within what the cloth of American media is. And for us to be just happy enough with us just being here is not good enough,” Basco says.

Another way he’s working toward boosting opportunities for Asian Americans in media is through a production company he established a few years ago with a partner called Kinetic Films, which is focused on creating projects for Asian American Pacific Islanders (AAPI). The company has so far produced three films starring AAPI YouTube stars, all of which have been sold and done well. A fourth project involving Filipino-American YouTube singer AJ Rafael is also underway.

“We’re on the right track. People are very impressed with us as an indie company, creating as much product as we have, being able to sell the product. We haven’t bro-ken through any crazy monetary boundaries yet, but we’re building an audience. Now that’ll also help inspire that if my company is doing this, there’s also got to be a lot of other companies that can do this,” Basco says.

The Fil-Am actor has expressed interest in creating a self-sustain-able system where Asian Americans put out 10 to 15 independent films per year so that the community can expect to see about one per month, and so AAPI creatives involved in the process continually improve at their respective crafts.

“A historical film, horror film, teenage comedy, let’s keep it go-ing. No one’s going to like all of them, but they’re going to like one of them,” he says, and the really good ones will carry over to the mainstream.

Basco himself has taken a hand at writing, having co-written one of the films produced under his Kinetic Films called “Hang Loose,” which came out in 2012.

More recently, during the holi-

days, he spent some of his time off working on an original play he wrote called “Midnight Makeout Session.” The play ran in December of last year and depicts the lives of friends in Los Angeles attempting to find a way to get back to a time of romance and magic in life that they’re missing.

Inspiring others and finding inspiration through speaking & observing

Basco’s success in the entertain-ment industry is demonstrated in the longevity of his career as an ac-tor, as a poet who began the venue that inspired Def Jam Poetry and in his having started a band in the ‘90s that ran for a decade long, among a number of other feats.

He also travels across the coun-try speaking at prestigious post-sec-ondary institutions including Duke University, Princeton University, the University of Pennsylvania, Uni-versity of California campuses and Brown University.

But it’s ironic, Basco says, be-cause while he never attended a four-year college, he speaks at colleges where he talks about his career and his own story.

“I didn’t go to regular college, but I grew up in LA and I under-stand the education I got on the sets of Hollywood, the streets of Hollywood, graduating high school, starting a poetry venue out of my living room, that venue becoming inspiration to Def Jam Poetry on HBO, and [that] now being the biggest open mic in the country ... having the career I’ve had, these are all college,” he says.

Although his own life did not

include four years at a university, speaking at colleges allows Basco, as an artist, to live the experience vicariously through engaging with students and touring the campus while he’s there. In conversing with today’s generation, he learns about their thoughts, fears, hopes, and what it feels like to receive an acceptance letter to an ivy league institution.

“I don’t know a lot,” he says, “but I write what I see.”

Basco notes that he is infinitely curious, able to talk to anybody and that people he sees or meets may sometimes wind up in his future creations.

“I can talk to anybody. I can talk to a plumber about being a plumb-er. I really want to know. I can talk to an eyeglass maker about making

eyeglasses because I insatiably want that interesting information. Even stupid information. It’s all important to somebody, and why? There’s a connection. I don’t know why. But all those details make great stories.”

As Basco continues to cre-ate with his community in mind, he holds a strong opinion about Asians making their own stories in America.

“If you ask people still to this day, ‘Who’s a famous Asian you can think of?’ I guarantee you 99 per-cent are going to say Jackie Chan. Nothing against Jackie Chan, and it’s not the industry’s fault. It’s just that we have to, as a group, make more product, because at the end of the day in this town, product wins. Talking doesn’t win, raging, being mad... what product can you make? That’s what wins. So that’s what I’m trying to instill in the next generation.”

After all his accomplishments and as he achieves even further success, the Fil-Am actor says life has become less about him person-ally and more about lending a hand to the community, something he’s doing through his production com-pany and We Own the 8th.

“Once you’ve acquired some success, you’re able to drop a lot of ego and see the importance of helping others and the group. Whether the group is the produc-tion company I’m a part of, the community at large, the world, or the Asian American community or the Filipino community, there’s a lot of room for us to help out and help grow things,” he says.

Westernunion.com presents the Fourth Annual Las Vegas Spring Festival Parade

LAS VEGAS—The Fourth An-nual Las Vegas Spring Festival Parade presented bywester-nunion.com will be held on Feb-ruary 13 at 11 a.m. in downtown Las Vegas. The theme this year is “Celebration of the Year of the Monkey,” and the parade will again feature local businesses, organizations, marching bands, drill teams, and dance groups. Parade participants will show-case their talent and creativity with the most extravagant floats in vibrant colors to commemo-rate the rich history of the most important holiday of the Asian community.

The parade route will start at the intersection of Fremont and 11th Street and will end at the entrance of Downtown Container Park at Fremont and 7th Street. Immediately after the parade, there will be a parade after-party at Container Park from Noon until 6 p.m. Container Park is proud to sponsor the family-friendly celebration fea-turing Lion Dance blessings, the Hunan Provincial Song and Dance Theatre Company from China, cultural dance perfor-mances, martial arts, fashion shows, and more! There will be complimentary lantern-making

stations sponsored by Palm East-ern throughout the festival. All entertainment is free and open to the public.

Best band, float, and prizes will be awarded at the Dragon Fest Dinner to be held in the fall.

Applications for parade par-ticipants and complete details about the parade can be found athttp://www.cnyinthedesert.com/.

Learn more about Western Union at www.westernunion.com.

Aquino approves privatization of IBC-13

LOS ANGELES — Asian Ameri-can Business Roundtable (AABR) announced that it was launched to promote the growing promi-nence of Asian American ex-ecutives throughout the US and capitalize on Asia’s continuing emergence as an engine of global economic growth. As part of the launch, AABR will bring together the most accomplished, forward-thinking Asian American inno-vators and entrepreneurs, many of whom have been honored as “Outstanding 50 Asian Ameri-cans in Business,” at its first multi-day Summit, in partnership with The Venetian Las Vegas, on January 29-30, 2016 (www.aa-businessroundtable.org).

“Asian Americans have a unique understanding of both Western and Eastern cultures and business practices, which can be crucial in helping compa-nies identify untapped business opportunities, reach new mar-kets and operate cross-cultur-ally,” said John Wang, President of Asian American Business De-velopment Center, which formed AABR. “We are launching this Summit to leverage the collec-tive knowledge, experience and networks of recognized industry leaders, and enable access to their unprecedented source of business intelligence and ability to enhance global relations.”

The Summit, Taking Risks and Changing the Game, will discuss issues of social and eco-nomic appeal, as well as game-changing strategies to inspire personal development and cor-porate growth. Key speakers to date include: Mehmood Khan, Vice Chairman and Chief Scien-tific Officer, Global R&D, Pepsi-Co; Phyllis Campbell, Chairman, Pacific Northwest, JP Morgan Chase; Jon Spector, President and CEO, the Conference Board; and Maggie Hsu, Chief of Staff to Tony Hsieh, Zappos. The Sum-mit will address current national and global business challenges as well as key growth strategies, focused on the following topics:

Asian American Business Roundtable gathers unprecedented group of industry leaders for multi-day summit

PepsiCo, JP Morgan Chase, and Zappos Among Key Speakers to Address Global Business Challenges and Help Foster Asian American Leadership in US, the Venetian Las Vegas to Host “Taking Risks and

Changing The Game” Summit January 29-30, 2016

1. Bringing New Talent into the C-Suite and Boardroom

2. Building Social Networks and an Innovation Marketplace

3. Retaining High Ability Women Innovators

4. Successful International Business Alliances

“The Asian American Busi-ness Development Center does an incredible job of recognizing the contributions of Asian Amer-icans in the business commu-nity, and we are grateful to part-ner with them in bringing this new concept to our Las Vegas resorts,” said George Markanto-nis, president and chief operat-ing officer of The Venetian, The Palazzo, and Sands Expo. “We hope this new annual Summit will become a leading platform for knowledge-sharing among key executives and leaders in the Asian-American community.”

Through its Summit, AABR

seeks to increase the visibility and presence of Asian Ameri-cans in US business, address na-tional and global business chal-lenges of the 21st century, and develop a mentorship program to groom future generations of Asian American business leaders. AABR also looks to as-sist global corporations seeking to expand in Asia, as well as Asia-based companies seeking US partnerships.

Tickets and sponsorship op-portunities

Tickets and sponsorship op-portunities for the Asian Ameri-can Business Roundtable Sum-mit are now available. For more information, please contact Xiao-tang Huang, at (212) 966-0100 or xiaotang@aabdc.com, or visit www.aabusinessroundtable.org.

AABR Summit is taking place January 29-30, 2016 at The Vene- tian, Las Vegas.

PRESIDENT Benigno S. Aquino III has approved the privatization of Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation (IBC-13) based on the recommendation of the Gov-ernance Commission for GOCCs (GCG).

The privatization rationalizes the State’s portfolio in the Com-munications Sector in view of the overlap with PTV-4, which is al-ready sufficient to address market failures in the private broadcast industry, such as providing pro-grams with social value but are not considered profitable. This comes in the wake of the recent revitalization of PTV-4 mandated by Republic Act No. 10390 which identified the privatization of IBC-13 as one of the sources of funding the increase in PTV-4’s capital.

IBC-13 was also in financial distress–operating at an aver-age net loss of P45.26 million from 2010 to 2014 and receiving operational subsidies amounting to P23.56 million in 2015. The privatization should pave the way for the infusion of additional capital to revitalize the network, which will also be able to operate with more flexibility as a private entity.

The privatization of IBC-13 will

be done through public bidding with an estimated floor price of P1.977 billion. A committee com-posed of representatives from GCG, the Presidential Communi-cations Operations Office (PCOO), and IBC-13 shall implement and conduct the said process.

Since GCG’s establishment in 2011 as the central advisory and oversight body for ensuring the active exercise of the State’s ownership rights in GOCCs, it has abolished 22 nonperforming GOCCs and classified 25 more as

inactive or nonoperational.IBC-13 started out in 1960

as a private company known as Inter-Island Broadcasting Corp., and then was sequestered by the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) in 1986 as part of the recovery of ill-got-ten wealth. It has been one of 2 networks considered as GOCCs aside from Philippine Televi-sion Network, Inc. (PTV-4). The State also has a minority share in Radio Philippines Network (RPN-9).

Bulacan and Tondo, Manila.“When they informed me that

they would like to partner with Project PEARLS for a gift-giving for 3,000 children, I was very grateful and humbled, not to mention, I was jumping up and down from excite-ment because this is the first time we are able to provide Christmas gifts to over 1,000 children.

LBC BOX A SMILE would not have been possible without the kind assistance of co-sponsors and do-nors who heeded our call to action. Namely, Mc Donald’s Philippines, LDL Marketing, Inc., Children’s Hour, Belo Essentials, Adriatic Manufacturing Corp., Agron and United Laboratories, Inc. Media Partners in the US included: Asian Journal, Philippine News, Week-end Balita, Filipino Press, Fil-Am Inquirer, Philippine Weekly, One Philippines, Fil-Am Courier, Manila Mail and Filipino Star; in Canada: Philippine Canadian Inquirer and Atin Ito. We thank all our co-spon-sors, and volunteers, and likewise our customer participants for help-

Box A Smile delivered smiles to 3,000...

ing LBC make this possible, and bring smiles to 3,000 children.

* * *LBC Express, Inc. is the Philip-

pines’ market leader in payments, remittance, courier products, mail, parcels and, cargo logistics. Through a global presence in over 30 countries in Asia-Pacific, North America, the Middle East and Europe, LBC Express’ network of 4,400 locations, partners, and agents is growing steadily, and commits to moving lives, busi-nesses, and communities in the Philippines and across the globe.

Founded in 1945 as a brokerage and air cargo agent, LBC Express pioneered time-sensitive cargo delivery and 24-hour door-to-door delivery in the Philippines. Today, it is the most admired and trusted courier, cargo, and remittance service of millions of Filipinos, an iconic and global Filipino brand. LBC can move it for you: visit us at www.lbcexpress.com, or call telephone +632 8585 999 (Metro Manila), 1 800 10 8585 999 (Pro-vincial), and follow LBCExpress (Facebook and Twitter).

SERVICES

EMPLOYMENTEMPLOYMENT FOR SALE

ATTY. ROBERT REEVESBEN LOVEMANNANCY E. MILLER

Your ImmigrationSolution

Deferred Action program to receive Supreme Court review

ON Tuesday, Jan. 19 the US Su-preme Court threw a life-line to the Obama administration’s deferred action programs known as DAPA and expanded DACA (Deferred Action for Parents of US citizens and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, respectively) agreeing to hear the case in this Court term. Of course, the Court’s decision to hear the case is just a first step and is not an indication that the Court will overrule the lower court decisions or allow DAPA to be implemented.For those hoping that DAPA and expanded DACA will be implemented, we continue to urge that you explore all options available as many other changes to the immigration landscape have opened new pathways to residency and other benefits over the last

several years.For months the DAPA and

expanded DACA programs have taken one legal hit after another and looked in peril of fading with the end of the Obama presidency. However, the United States’ high-est court agreed to hear the case and could potentially invalidate an injunction issued in 2015 by a US District Court Judge in Texas which has to date blocked imple-mentation of the program which could benefit millions of families with undocumented family mem-bers.

Importantly, the decision by the Supreme Court to hear the case was made in time so that the Court could receive briefs and argument from the parties and is-sue a ruling by June of 2016 prior to the November elections. Many Republican candidates have indi-cated in no uncertain terms that they would immediately rescind the program if elected. However, November is a long time off and

election results are unknown and unknowable at this time. Further, even assuming a Republican wins the presidency, rescinding benefits from the parents of US citizens could be a costly and unpopular move and could prove easier said than done.

While many immigration group advocates rejoiced in the Supreme Court’s decision to hear the case, they did so cautiously. The groups and the immigrants they represent are all too aware of the fact that the Supreme Court’s decision to hear the case is a far cry from a victory in this matter and that the Court could still uphold the lower court’s rulings which have to date prevented the programs from being implemented. In the meantime potential beneficiaries of these programs should seek professional assistance from ex-perienced immigration attorneys to assess what other options might be available and to ensure that if the programs go in to effect that

they will be ready. The programs in question, if

implemented, could benefit mil-lions of persons across the United States. The programs were con-ceived to be implemented as a form of executive action known as prosecutorial discretion. Existing regulations enable beneficiaries of prosecutorial discretion who are granted deferred action to ap-ply for and receive employment authorization. The DAPA and DACA programs aimed to provide deferred action to millions and thereby provide a route to work authorization and a way out of the shadows and away from a living in fear of deportation.

Specifically, DAPA would pro-vide a three-year work authoriza-tion and potentially the ability to later apply for travel authorization. To qualify you must have: (1) a US citizen or permanent resident son or daughter (of any age) as of No-vember 20, 2014; (2) continuous presence in the US since before

January 1, 2010; (3) physical pres-ence in the US both on November 20, 2014 and at the time of making the request for DAPA. Applicants must also not be considered a priority for removal. The DACA program would be expanded by the elimination of the upper age limit of 31 and by bestowing eligibility to applicants arriving in the United States before January 1, 2010 whereas before eligibility required arrival before June 15, 2007. If the Supreme Court allows the programs to be implemented it is likely that the Obama Adminis-tration would roll out the programs as quickly as possible to beat the November election cycle.

The benefits that the DAPA and expanded DACA programs could achieve for the affected people, their families, and for the United States as whole are tremendous. However, there is no indication of which way the Supreme Court will rule and those who are waiting for a decision on the case would be

well-served by seeking the advice and assistance of a reputable and experienced immigration attorney to explore options for obtaining benefits at this time under exist-ing laws. Many new programs and changes to old ones have been implemented in the last several years and may provide a route to residency or employment authorization where none existed before.

MONETTEADEVA MAGLAYA

ImmigrantLiving: 101 and Beyond

AMID all the hype about cli-mate change, global warming and all junk science made pos-sible by manipulating data to support predetermined results to advance a political global agen-da, we all need to step back, take a deep breath and SEE THE BIG PICTURE.

The Big Bang Theory claims that out of gas and dust, the uni-verse was born 13.2 billion years ago in a spectacular explosion. The solar system where our tiny, fragile, magnificent earth orbits was born only in the last 4.5 bil-lion years.

Life, in the form of single celled organisms began on earth 3.4 billion years ago and man began to walk the earth just a few million years ago. How does one fathom the unfathomable? One brilliant writer drew a more readily comprehensible parallel about the existence of human life as we know it, in this way. If the time frame of 13.2 billion years were to be thought of as a 24-

Seeing the big picture “Get out of yourself and out of the house, preferably in the countryside with less arti�cial sources of light on a moonless, cloudless, velvet night and gaze at the stars in the heavens. Fall in love with your own life all over again.”hour day, human life only began

the last two or three seconds just before midnight.

Our planet earth, with its sat-ellite moon, is the third rock from the sun — an ordinary, garden variety, midsize yellow star — only one of two billion stars in an ordinary, garden variety spiral shaped galaxy called the Milky Way.

Scientists estimate that our sun has enough fuel in its belly to burn for another 9 billion years at current brightness before it dies. There was a time when men thought that the Milky Way comprised the entire universe. Now we know better. Galaxies huddle together to form clusters and superclusters and our galaxy — the Milky Way — is only one of a small group of about 20 gal-axies orbiting in our tiny neck of the woods of the visible cosmos. Scientists now claim that there are perhaps 125 billion galaxies.

Edwin Hubble — for whom the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) was named — theorized that the universe is still expand-ing. In 1993, the Hubble tele-scope has been able to turn out stunning photographs of about

40 billion other galaxies orbit-ing in space in a universe that is perhaps, boundless. Since then, that telescope, the extension of the human vision into the vast-ness of the universe, has con-tinued to astound even the most cynical among us. It has photo-graphed the existence of an-other 1,500 galaxies, previously undiscovered. In 1997, the Hub-ble showed evidence of a black hole bigger than the sun’s mass — 300 million times at least.

A few astronomers even theo-rize the distinct possibility that there is not just one universe but the existence of multivers-es. The concept and the imag-ery of watching the night skies particularly on clear, moonless nights boggle the mind and strains the limits of the human imagination.

Man has been sending out probes to find some other forms of life comparable to hu-man life in the outer reaches of space but have found noth-ing convincing — as of yet. And while we search and probe for other life forms, we know that absence of evidence does not mean evidence of absence.

What is the point of bring-ing up this cosmic canvass that seems little to do with our mind, body and spirit? The point is this. It has taken billions of years in a universe so incredibly vast — it staggers the human imagina-tion — for anyone born on earth to be given the wondrous gift of life the Creator of the Universe is giving each one of us — whether we deserve it or not — a gift that puzzles us no end.

One thing is certain, there is nothing on earth more precious than life itself. Looking at the big picture makes us see how infini-tesimally tiny we are in the grand scheme of things, most times, how laughably insignificant our concerns are, how trivial our pur-suits, how fearfully short and del-icate life is and how utterly fool-ish to throw away the minutes and the hours in useless, useless fretting and worrying.

Next time you feel over-whelmed with tension, worry and ill health and seriously thinking of giving up — as you are perhaps tempted to do

while you figure out the com-plexities and parry with the slings and arrows of your life — do what the wise among us have done — sometimes out of sheer desperation. Look heav-enward. Get out of yourself and out of the house, prefer-ably in the countryside with less artificial sources of light on a moonless, cloudless, vel-vet night and gaze at the stars in the heavens. Fall in love with your own life all over again. Thoreau was right when he said that the darkness reveals the heavenly lights.

Carl Sagan, the noted astrono-mer who began researching the origins of life beginning in the nineteen fifties made his mark in astronomy and cosmography showing that Venus is too hot, Mars is too cold and our won-drous planet, the Earth, a tiny blue and white marbled dot, a mere iota, in the vast expanse of the cosmos — just right, for human life. We live in the tiny sliver of the Goldilocks zone with liquid water.

To the question of whether we are alone, there are, as yet, no answers. Unfazed and un-daunted by the silence of galac-tic neighbors to earthly probes by radio telescopes beamed into outer space, listening for signs of intelligent life, similar to ours perhaps with a mind-body-spirit connection as well, somewhere in deep space, Sagan wrote:

“It says something about the rarity

and preciousness of life on this planet.

The flip side of not finding life on another planet

is appreciating life on earth.” If the earth with all its beauty

and abundance and the vast ex-panse and majestic glory of the heavens themselves cannot im-press upon thinking, feeling man the fragile and utterly precious nature of his own life, it is doubt-ful anything ever will.

* * *

PROF. ENRIQUE SORIANO

Kite Runner Faith and Pinoy pride: Outperforming and Outhinking the giants

“FIGHTING multinationals was very tough. At first, everyone thought I was crazy. They told me, how would I survive this? True enough, it’s by the grace of God that I’m still here in the toothpaste industry after 20 years. God is good,” – Cecilio K. Pedro

In our fast-paced, hectic world we all need a daily dose of faith, hope and love. Stories of heroic struggle against odds, survival and eventual triumph have always inspired people, given them hope, courage to fight, and egged them on to persevere.

When you read inspiration-al rags-to-riches stories, you’ll start to see a few common threads. Hard work, passion, determina-tion, and drive are all common elements of these stories. Sur-prisingly, obstacles, failure, and incredible odds are also elements of these stories. In almost every case, the main character of the story would never have been expected to achieve so much in a single lifetime. These individuals, however, overcame tough odds, surpassed difficult obstacles, and laughed in the face of failure.

“Things aren’t always what they seem.” If you have faith, you just need to trust that every outcome is always to your advan-tage. You might not know it until some time later. I am sure Cecilio Pedro’s story would ignite your never-say-die spirit and inspire you to become all that you can be. His company, Lamoiyan Corpora-tion, is the manufacturer of Hapee toothpaste, the first homegrown toothpaste in the Philippines.

I first had the opportunity to exchange notes with Cecilio more than a decade ago when he was our speaker in an ATENEO MBA Roundtable meeting with fellow Professors. Then a little more than a year ago, we had the rare opportunity to share stories when we were both invited as resource speakers in a Family Business Conference at AIM. Knowing the man up close and listening intently to his inspiring story gave me goose bumps in a positive way and today I want to share his story. Reflecting upon it, the key to success is the owning of the family’s devotion to the busi-ness, its resilience in coping with disappointment, and the intensity of its long-term commitment to the business. That in a nutshell best characterizes the country’s

Toothpaste King. It is my fervent hope that family

business owners and visionaries can learn so many lessons about Cecilio’s values, faith, tenacity and vision for his company.

Cecilio Kwok Pedro is an en-trepreneur who made it to the top after his failure back in 1985. His principle is much grounded and to quote this man of humility, he once said, “We are competing against the giants. Without faith

and without the intervention of the Divine, it is really difficult to survive in this industry.”

Twenty-five years ago, people thought Cecilio Pedro was crazy for competing head-on with global toothpaste brands Colgate and Close Up.

Faith will give you courage, courage will give you faith

Before he went head-to-head with Colgate and Close Up, the

Americaalendar of EventsacrossC

ADVERTISE YOUR EVENTS! PRE-EVENT AND POST-EVENTGO DEEPER. GO WIDER. LET THE WORLD KNOW.

CALL ASIAN JOURNAL: (818) 502-0651DISPLAY AD SIZES AT SPECIAL RATES FOR NON-PROFIT GROUPS

The Infant Jesus of Prague Apostolic Group is celebrating 32 years of service and prayer, and will hold its 32nd annual 9-hour Novena and Mass in honor of the Divine Child Jesus on Saturday, January 30, at Saint Joseph the Worker Church (19855 Sherman Way, Winnetka, California). The Novena starts at 7:00am with Mass following at 3:20 pm. Based in San Fern-ando Valley, the Apostolic Group aims to promote the Gospel message of Jesus and spread devotions to the Infant Jesus. For more information, please contact Leo Nevada at (818) 633 3926 or visit www.IJPAG.com.

Prof. Enrique Soriano, ASEAN Family Business Advisor and book author will be deliver-ing a talk on Philippine business and franchising opportunities on February 1st at the Philip-pine Consulate in New York and on February 4th in Boston. Free admission but reservations required. This is a wonderful opportunity for kababayans to learn about owning a busi-ness while still working in the US. This event was put together by BKP, a US based social enterprise group helping Filipino children to read their way out of poverty; the Philippine Consulate in New York, and the Harvard Philippine Forum.

The Filipino American Chamber of Commerce of Greater LA (FACC-GLA) is hosting a FREE workshop for aspiring entrepreneurs or business owners in need of a small loan. This free workshop and consultation will include beverages and hors d’oeuvres. Please join us at FACC-GLA (5121 Van Nuys Blvd, Suite 205 Sherman Oaks, CA 91403) on Thursday, January 28. For more information, please contact FACC-GLA president Leo Maranan, 818-290-0577.

Eagle Rock High School invites the community to International Baccalaureate Open House Tours, from 8-10am during the spring semester on Friday, February 5; Friday, March 11; and Friday, April 1. Eagle Rock Junior/Senior High School serves students in grades 7-12, and was the first school in the LAUSD to be authorized to offer the prestigious Inter-national Baccalaureate (IB) Middle Years Programme (grades 7-10) and the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (grades 11-12), a project-based program for concept and content-based learning to promote global mindedness and service to others. The IB Open House is open to all interested students, and will include an introductory presenta-tion in the ERHS library, followed by campus tours, classroom visits, and a short question-and-answer period. To register for the Open Houses, please visit www.erhs.la, and click on the “IB Open House Registration” link. Please email Mylene Keipp mylene.keipp@lausd.net for more information. We look forward to your visit!

Both The Grove in Los Angeles and the Americana at Brand will transform into a grand celebration of cheer and good fortune on Saturday, January 30 from 2:00 – 5:00pm with two Chinese New Year parades, including traditional lion and dragon performances, Chi-nese and Korean folk dancers, and a special appearance by cast members from the comedy TV series “Fresh Off the Boat” at The Americana. Guests can also enjoy traditional lantern décor, calligraphy artists, face painters and craft activities for kids, gourmet food and cultural bites, special shopping offers and surprise gifts (including cash prizes or gift cards) in lucky red envelopes, from now until Feb. 8. The dancing fountains at both properties will turn red for Lunar New Year, and the event will conclude with a final parade. Share your photos of the event by tagging #LunarAmericana and #LunarGrove.

The wonders of Pegan diet

PHILIP S. CHUA,MD, FACS, FPCS

Health@Heart

WE are what we eat and drink, philosophically and medically. Diet plays the most significant role in our health and longevity -- more than genetics and exercise in most instances. Food provides us nutrition and also stimulates and controls the natural production of hormones, electrolytes, and other chemicals, good or bad, depending on our mood and what we ingest. Our body chemistry determines how we think, act, and behave, the same way prescription and illegal drugs influence our psyche and demeanor.

Literally, the foods we eat and the liquids we drink are digested and metabolized into chemicals in the body. The various chemical reactions that follow are reflected in the person’s thinking, feeling, mood, disposition, and judgment --- all of which eventually affect health and longevity.

While exercise and our personal attitude also stimulate chemical reactions in our system, for this discussion we will concentrate on the effect of diet.

Diet determines lifeWhat we have at the end of our

forks and spoons on most days determines what bodily chemistry takes place inside our body. Accord-ing to the 2013 study in the Journal of the American Medical Associa-tion, “diet ranks as the single most important factor when it comes to premature death and diseases.”

For example, occasionally eat-ing chocolates or one’s favorite decadent snack stimulates the secretion of the happy hormones, resulting in a sense of joy and sat-isfaction, which is a positive state of mind. Some of the major vital hormones are:

Serotonin: The happiness hor-mone regulates the mood, prevents depression and makes us feel happy. This substance can also be triggered by exercise, exposure to sunlight, or by eating foods rich in carbohydrates.

Endorphins: Also known as feel-good hormones, they reduce your anxiety and sensitivity to pain. It is also released during exercise.

Melatonin: The hormone se-creted by the pineal gland that controls our circadian rhythm for normal sleep cycle. Now in a pill, it helps fight jet lag.

Ghrelin: Gherlin is a relaxing hormone that lowers stress and

anxiety. Hunger triggers the release of this hormone. So, it is best not to eat a lot to full satiety where the Ghrelin level would fall. To maintain a good level of Ghrelin, push your-self away from the table when you are less than full, which is a healthy habit, anyway.

Dopamine: Dopamine induces mental alertness. The lack of or reduced level of dopamine causes lack of attention and concentration and leads to bad moods. Eating foods rich in protein stimulates the secretion of dopamine.

Phenylethylamine: This sub-stance results in the feelings we get in the early stages of a relationship or love, and the good feeling fol-lowing ingestion of chocolates and products from cocoa beans.

Adrenalin/Epinephrine: This is the substance secreted in a fright, fight, or flee situation when we face a catastrophe or an emergency. It prepares the body, sharpens our senses, and tones the muscles, ready for combat.

The “ideal” diet?Medical science and nutrition

continue to evolve in man’s quest for the “ideal diet” and the foun-tain of youth that would lead to the healthiest body and the maximum longevity potential of every person. Several diets have emerged, such as: low-fat, low-carb, the Atkin’s diet, South Beach, Mediterranean, Paleo, and now the Pegan diet.

The Atkin’s Diet emphasizes a low-carb diet and has allowed more meat and is generous about calories, unlike the South Beach diet, a low-carb diet that restricts red meat. Both advocate liberal amounts of vegetables, legumes, fruits, nuts, olive oil, and whole grains. The vegan diet prohibits any food from animals, limiting its diet to mainly vegetable, fruits, nuts, and legumes.

The Paleo diet is heavily focused on meat, a diet mimicking the diet of our Paleolithic cavemen ances-tors of 10,000 years ago, who laboriously hunted for their food and ate berries and nuts, but not many vegetables because there was no agriculture then.

The Pegan diet combines the best of the paleo and vegan diets to provide balanced, sustainable, easy-to-follow daily eating habits. While the Paleo diet is heavy on red meat as the main event, the Pegan diet makes meat only a side dish, with the large portion of vegetables, legumes, nuts, fruits, olive oil, as the main dish. Scientifically, the Pegan diet appears to combine all the good features of the Atkin’s, South Beach, Mediterranean, Vegan and

Paleo diets into one, with calorie-counting, which makes sense.

A fascinating trendIt is easy to notice nowadays that

the human civilization is trending toward the past, the original old-fashioned natural ideas and ways of living, except in the continuously evolving world of technologies. Women’s dresses, for instance, used to cover their bodies from the neck all the way down to their feet; but now the clothing has plunging low-neck lines, baring part of their breasts, and skirts up to mid-thigh, reminiscent of the cave woman’s bare-breasted past.

The popular addicting soft drinks of the past, like Coca Cola which was introduced in 1896 to practically all households, like other soft drinks that followed, are now gradually waning in sales. Purified water and its various forms are today gaining popular-ity around the world. We seem to be going back to the past, and the trend is more natural and healthy. We are today also zeroing on ecology by curtailing man’s abuse of Mother Earth to manage global warming and save the only hospitable planet we know. And so goes the trend in our diet to maximize health and longevity. People are more health conscious today, thanks to the various media, especially the internet.

Anyway, besides the benefits of daily exercise, abstinence from tobacco and moderation in alco-holic intake, the bottom line of diet is the obvious evidence-based medical recommendation that all refined and processed foods, and soft drinks are toxic to our bod-ies and responsible for the major diseases killing us today, including cancer. Low carbohydrate, low to moderate lean-meat (preferably fish and chicken), generous portions of vegetables of all kinds and colors, nuts, and other high-fiber foods, are healthier for us.

The only ingredients in the recipe we need to add are our wisdom, personal responsibility, and resolve.

Please visit philipSchua.com Email: scalpelpen@gmail.com.

***

ATTY. MARIA RITA REYES-STUBY AND BERNADETTE BRETANA

Immigration Corner

The ‘Grace Poe’ dilemma

THE issues surrounding the presidential candidacy of Senator Grace Poe will not seem to die down. Whether it is purely an honest attempt to search for the truth and comply with constitu-tional requirements or a political ploy to keep her out of the race, the issues are worth the Supreme Court’s valuable time to adjudi-cate on what could be a landmark case in Philippine jurisprudence. Grace Poe has filed her certificate of candidacy for president of the Philippines. The election is set for May 9, 2016. Her qualifications for the office has been challenged and the Commission on Elections has barred her from pursuing her candidacy. Her case is now before the Philippine Supreme Court (SC). The SC has issued TROs (Tempo-rary Restraining Orders) to stop the COMELEC from implementing their orders. The oral arguments is set for January 19, 2016. She appears to be a viable candidate, otherwise, there won’t be too much controversy as to whether or not she is qualified to be the next president of the Philippines.

Perhaps, for the first time in Philippine history, the birth history of a candidate for the highest elect-ed office of the land has opened the gate to numerous issues based on domestic and international law.

The 1987 Philippine Constitution provides, among others, that a candidate for president should be a natural-born citizen. This is where the problem lies. Unlike in the United States where the bases of citizenship by birth are both the ‘jus soli’ principle (right to birth-place) and ‘jus sanguinis’ (right of blood), the Philippines anchors its birth laws solely on ‘jus sangui-nis’. A natural-born citizen of the Philippines, therefore, should have Filipino citizen parent/parents at the time of birth, in order to be con-sidered as such. It does not matter where the child was born. Grace Poe was registered as a foundling. Under Philippine law, a foundling is defined in the Civil Registration law (R.A. 3753) as “a deserted or abandoned child found, with par-ents, guardian or relatives being unknown or a child committed to an institution, with unknown facts of birth and parentage.” The Phil-ippine Supreme Court, in the past, has had occasion to rule on who is a “foundling” in accordance with the above quoted statute. While the definition is not in dispute un-der the facts of the present presi-dential case, the issue of whether being a “foundling” at birth casts doubt on a candidate’s citizenship and therefore qualification for the office being sought should be considered of utmost importance and novelty. For Grace Poe to be qualified to run for the presi-dency, she has to prove that her parents are Filipino citizens when she was born. This is somewhat impossible but maybe doable due

to technological advancements in DNA testing. Electing a president is different from custody battles or inheritance issues where blood-lines are challenged. It is an issue imbued with a public interest. Her qualification to run for president of the Philippines is a legitimate issue which should be tackled by the Philippine Supreme Court.

The issue of particular inter-est in our column is Grace Poe’s travel history to the United States before she filed for her candidacy. Such fact goes into the issue of compliance with the citizenship requirement as well as proving one’s 10-year residency, another vital requirement in order to be qualified to run for president. She admittedly came to the United States and became a naturalized American citizen in 2001. In 2006, she applied for dual citizenship under R. A. 9225 otherwise known as “Citizenship Retention and Re-acquisition Act of 2003” to retain her Philippine citizenship. When is one considered to have changed her oath of allegiance to a country or will this issue even be relevant to one’s becoming the President of the country that she has at one point in time, renounced citizen-ship to?

Faith and Pinoy pride: Outperforming...two multinational toothpaste brands were Pedro’s only custom-ers. His first company, Aluminum Container Inc., sold aluminum toothpaste tubes to these foreign firms from 1978 to 1985.

“At that time, I was thinking that toothpaste is something that everyone uses. And multinational firms will be here for the long term, so I thought it was a safe business,” he said.

All was going well for his company until plastic toothpaste tubes were invented. Both Colgate and Close Up decided to switch to plastic tubes in 1985, forcing Pedro to close shop.

“I never thought that they would switch to plastic tubes. My business got in trouble when they left,” he lamented.

Relying on a few customers

was Pedro’s biggest mistake yet. Money stopped coming in, and he was left with millions of aluminum tubes.

Deeply mired in debt, he could have committed suicide had it not been because of his deep faith in God’s power and mercy. He turned his crisis into opportunity when he opted to compete with Colgate despite its being a mul-tinational. With faith, guts and hard work, he put up a “David vs. Goliath” type of fight. When his sales started to dent Colgate’s, they offered to buy him out but he answered, “I don’t think you can afford my price.” Lamoiyan has now captured 30% of the market and still growing.

Now, Hapee toothpaste tubes and sachets are selling like hot-cakes in the Philippines, making his company, Lamoiyan Corpora-

tion, the country’s first home-grown toothpaste empire. (To be continued)

* * *

BY MONET LU

The radiant glow of a beautiful bride

“THE radiant glow of my bride is simply breathtaking.” This was what people have told me about beautiful actress Joyce Jimenez, and countless other brides that have trusted me to be part of their very special day. Even after many years of making brides shine on their wedding day, I still have this important task—to master perfection and pursue my passion to continuously update my knowl-edge in the latest styles in make up and hairstyle, like the new “ 3D illusion technique 2016.” My styl-ists and I have done weddings so many times that they have become second nature to us.

If you have been doing this as long as we have, I think you reach a certain level of proficiency. It is my passion, and I am still so excited to apply the skills that I gained after all these years of being in the beauty industry. I employ highly proficient hair and makeup artists as my part of my team. We work together in unison to create a per-fect makeup look and style for the whole bridal entourage. Timeless elegance starts with perfection.

Personalized service is a key element in my profession and ex-perience, especially for brides who are still deciding on a look they want to wear on the big day. It’s important that the bride commu-nicates how she wants her overall look to be. It’s her day and she should be the center of attention. As experts, we can make recom-mendations and perhaps improve on her raw ideas but ultimately it is up to the bride.” From our vari-ety of personalized service menu, brides may opt for salon-caliber makeup and hair service from the comforts of their own home or hotels. More than this, brides can also count on me and my crew to dish out useful tips on the essential pre-wedding must-knows, such

WGU Nevada o�ers $240,000in Teach Nevada Scholarships

Nonprofit, online university to award up to 20 full-ride scholarships to individuals interested in teaching career

NEVADA—To help alleviate Nevada’s teaching shortage, WGU Nevada is partnering with the Ne-vada Department of Education to offer up to 20 full-ride scholarships to residents with a desire to pursue a career in teaching.

In 2015, the Nevada Department of Education provided $240,000 to WGU Nevada as part of the Nevada Legislature’s Teach Nevada Schol-arship Initiative. Individuals inter-ested in applying are required to complete WGU Nevada’s Alternate Route to Licensure program for el-ementary and secondary teaching. The ARL program is an acceler-ated pathway for individuals who already hold a bachelor’s degree but do not have a teaching license. After successful completion of the accelerated program, students will have completed a series of rigorous courses, in-person observations, and clinical experiences in a public school classroom that prepares them to be highly effective teachers. To learn more about the scholar-ship, please email scholarships@wgu.edu.

“WGU Nevada has a nationally-recognized teaching program, and we are very pleased to be helping the state as a whole with its aggres-sive strides to gain new teachers here,” said WGU Nevada Chancel-lor Dr. Spencer Stewart.

Winning scholarship recipients will be awarded $3,000 per term, not to exceed a total of $12,000 per student. Scholarships are avail-able to new students who possess a bachelor’s or master’s degree in a non-education related field from an accredited university. Unlike traditional schools, WGU Nevada starts new terms on the first of every month, so it’s never too late to begin the journey. To be considered for

one of the Teach Nevada Scholar-ships, prospective students must be officially admitted to WGU Nevada. This is a competitive program and scholarships will be awarded based on an applicant’s academic record, financial need, readiness for online study at WGU Nevada, current competency, as well as other con-siderations.

WGU Nevada’s parent univer-sity—Western Governors Univer-sity—has long been recognized as a national leader in teacher education. In 2014, the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) named WGU’s secondary teacher education program number one in the nation. In addition, WGU is the largest producer of math and sci-ence teachers in the country.

WGU Nevada uses an innovative approach to learning called com-petency-based education, which measures learning rather than time spent in class. Students earn their degrees by demonstrating mastery of the subject matter they need to know to be successful—real-world competencies developed with em-ployer input. Designed to meet the needs of adult learners in Nevada, competency-based education al-lows students to take advantage of their knowledge and experience to move quickly through mate-rial they already know so they can focus on what they still need to learn. Faculty members work one-on-one with students as mentors, offering guidance, support, and individualized instruction. While WGU Nevada’s degree programs are rigorous and challenging, com-petency-based learning makes it possible for students to accelerate their programs, saving both time and money. For more information about WGU Nevada, visit nevada.

wgu.edu. For more information about

WGU Nevada’s Teach Nevada Scholarship and Alternative Route to Licensure program, please visit http://nevada.wgu.edu/arl.

About WGU NevadaWGU Nevada is an online, non-

profit, competency-based university established to expand Nevadans’ access to higher education through-out the state. Formed through a partnership between the state of Nevada and nationally recognized Western Governors University, WGU Nevada is open to all qualified Nevada residents.

Degrees are granted under the accreditation of Western Governors University, which is accredited through the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NW-CCU). Teachers College programs are accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), and nursing programs are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE)*.

In addition to WGU Nevada, there are five other WGU state-based, state-endorsed universities: WGU Indiana, established in June 2010; WGU Washington, estab-lished in April 2011; WGU Texas, established in August 2011; WGU Missouri, established in Febru-ary 2013; and WGU Tennessee, established in July 2013. For more information, visit the WGU Nevada website, nevada.wgu.edu, or call 877-214-7005.

*Western Governors University offers nursing programs that are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (One Dupont Circle, NW, Suite 5380, Washington, DC 20036, 202-877-6791).

as choosing the perfect gown, the placement of the tiara, skin care and other details.

One suggestion would be light makeup, which is very soft, glow-ing and flawless. The aim is to look like you are not made-up. The natural, timeless look never runs out of style, nor do the dra-matic smoky eyes -- so that when a bride looks back at her wedding pictures, she will be reminded that she wore a style that never ages. I have been grooming beautiful brides from all over Southern & Northern California, Nevada, the East Coast and even as far as Europe. Budget is never an issue, as I give personalized and reasonable prices depending on the bride’s need and location. We understand that price is always a big consideration when it comes to choosing your hairstylist and makeup artist. There are other salons out there who charge lower than Monet Salons, but the im-portant question to ask is: “Will I be happy with the outcome?” Brides should choose talent and

expertise over budget. My team of makeup artists and hairdress-ers boast of extensive training and experience both in the Philippines and in the United States. We have three locations in Panorama City and Winnetka, California. All are full service salons that specialize in hair and makeup for weddings, debutante balls, and other special occasions. For the full service menu and a complimentary con-sultation, visit www.monetsalon.com or call (213)216-4923 and ask for me. I would love to be of service to you.

Actress Joyce Jimenez and her groom Ely

Fiesta Filipina celebrates opening of its third branch

FASFOS trains Vita volunteer tax preparersReady to serve for 2016 tax season, Jan. 29 – April 17, 2016THE tax season begins on

January 29, 2016 and ends on April 17, 2016. Fil-Am Scholar-ship Foundation and Outreach Services (FASFOS) partners with NFTC & IRS in the implementation of the Vita Program in Southern Nevada and Pahrump community. FASFOS’ Vita Site remains at the lobby of Seafood City Supermar-ket located at 3890 S Maryland Pkwy, Las Vegas, NV 89119. Free income tax preparation starts on Jan. 29, 2016 and ends on April 17, 2016, days of service are Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 1pm until 6pm.

It provides assistance to low-moderate income individuals and families ensuring that they seek and receive tax credits which they are entitled to based on their fam-ily structure. The VITA PROGRAM allows the NFTC and its group of non-profit organizations to fulfill the mission of contributing to the long term financial stability and strengthening of neighborhood and communities.

FASFOS Vita tax preparers had been trained and certi-fied during the training dates of January 16, 22 & 23, 2016. The training took place at the

ACRC/FASFOS office at 2270 S Maryland Pkwy, Ste 212, Las Vegas, NV 89109. Trainers were Felipe Danglapin and Minerva Honkala assisted by the more experienced and returning Tax Preparers German Eusebio and Myra Picache. The group of IRS Certified Tax Preparers finished the courses with a total of 20 hours (theory & hands on). Those who got certified were: Felipe Danglapin, Mi-nerva Honkala, German Eusebio, Myra Picache, Maria Ramirez, Jason Quino, Linda Caampued, Lourdes Espino, Rosette Loga-

log, Jorge Rodriguez, Andrew Harris, Victoria Martinez, Vio-leta Horn, Asela Engel, Jeffrey Mania and Sandra Vallejo.

Requirements: Taxpayer’s income: $58,000 & below, valid photo ID/driver’s license, So-cial Security cards/ITINS of all

including dependents, all tax documents: W-2, 1099, Form 1095-A, (Health Insurance Cover-age ) Unemployment, SS Benefit Statement, daycare payment re-cords, daycare provider’s Tax ID number, Voided check if you want direct deposit of refund. If filing

jointly, both spouses must be present and sign the return.

FASFOS VITA will prepare: fil-ing single, married filing jointly, head of household, qualifying widow(er). Walk-ins only. For inquiry, call or text Minerva, 7028028159.

FIESTA FILIPINA—the home of your favorite Lutong Pam-panga—makes your Pinoy din-ing experience extra special by offering three locations for you to enjoy its specialties includ-ing Crispy Pata, Lechon Kawali, Pork and Chicken BBQ, Beef Kaldereta, Dinuguan and Pork Sisig.

On Friday, Jan. 22, Fiesta Filipina celebrated the opening of its southeast Branch at 8545

W. Warm Springs Rd., Las Vegas. The branch was formally opened to the public on Saturday, Jan. 23. For inquiries, please call (702) 776-7733.

Fiesta Filipina was founded by Ernie and Dory Guevarra who hail from Pampanga. The couple migrated to the United States and settled in San Francisco. Dory has always had a passion for cooking, which made the couple decide to open Fil-Am

Cuisine in Sept. 1995. They be-came known in the area for their delicious BBQ. The Guevarras opened Fiesta Filipina Cuisine in Las Vegas in Dec. 2001 and the second branch in Henderson in Oct. 2010.

Make your plate full with Fi-esta Filipina’s other specialties such as Pancit Palabok, Fried Boneless Bangus (milkfish), turon (banana fritters), Beef Caldereta, Dinuguan, Lechon

Kawali, and more! Southwest Branch3310 S. Jones Blvd. (corner

Desert Inn)Las Vegas, NV 89146Tel: (702) 252-00664; Fax

(702) 252-5154Henderson Branch2980 St. Rose Parkway Ste.

120 Henderson, NV 89052Tel: (702) 476-1122; Fax: (888)

509-8916. AJPress photos by Robert Macabagdal