March 15, 2013

Vol. XXII, No. 9

Online: www. manilamail.us

March 15, 2013

21 freed Pinoy peacekeepers to remain in Syrian border

UNITED NATIONS - The 21 Filipino United Nations peacekeepers who were seized by Syrian rebels and released unharmed March 9 after four days of captivity said they will stay in their posts. Philippine Ambassador Olivia Palala, UN and Jordan ofcials welcomed them on their arrival in Amman, Jordan where they had a traditional military feast at a Jordan Hotel. The feast is called boodle ght, a military-style mess hall eating with hands and table laden with food placed on banana leaves. UN Secreary General Ban Ki Moon welcomed the release after tense negotiations. President Aquino and their relatives in the Philippines also expressed joy over their release by a Syrian rebel group ghting the regime of Bashar Assad. The unarmed peacekeepers were delivering water and food to other UN peacekeepers in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights when they were seized by the Syrian rebels calling themselves the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade. The were held in Jamlah, which was less than 2 kilometers from Jordan.

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The 21 freed UN peacekeepers are welcomed by PH envoy in Jordan.

The Bachelor picks Filam as soul mate

The invasion of Sabah by followers of a Sulu Sultanate threatens to unravel the friendly relations between the Philippines and Malaysia as refugees from the ghting reported hundreds of Filipinos being rounded up and subjected to human rights violations. On March 10, Malacanang condemned the reported abuses on Muslim Filipinos at the hands of Malaysian police as unacceptable. Speaking on state-run

Sean drops on his knees as he asks Christine to marry him. Photos and story on page 20.

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Sabah police roughs up a suspected follower of the Sulu Sultanates army in Sabah.

MD cops hunt driver who killed Filam nanny

WASHINGTON D.C. Friends of 53-year-old nanny Marlyn Eres Ali are calling on the driver of a vehicle that struck and killed her last month to give up. Ali, a Filipino American, had just disembarked the L8 bus at a stop along Connecticut Avenue in Wheaton, Md. and was crossing its intersection with Randolph Road when she was struck on the southbound lane of Connecticut Avenue by the unidentied driver of a late-

OFWs sue Louisiana shipyard

WASHINGTON D.C. - An activist group is accusing the Grand Isle Shipyard in Louisiano of alleged trafcking of about 500 overseas Filipino workers. The National Alliane for Filipino Concerns (NAFC) said the OFWs have since 2008 been hired from the Philippines with the promise of visas, pay above $16 an hour and quality jobs as welders, scaffolders and pipetters. But they said that since their arrival there, the workers were paid only $5 an hour for working up to 14 hours a day, up to seven days a

Marlyn Eres Ali model Toyota Corolla between 7 and 8 oclock in the evening last

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Members of the NAFC stage demonstration in Louisiana in support of Pinoy workers.

1st PH-born judge P6

Hirono les vets bill P8

Chinoy billionaires in Forbes P10

Rodeo in Masbate P17

Noli coming to NY P19

March 15, 2013

DC lawyer to press case vs China sea claims

WASHINGTON D.C. - The American lawyer who will represent the Philippines in its case in the UNs arbitral court against Chinas sweeping territorial claims over the South China Sea believes it (Beijing) cant avoid the courts forever. China has rejected the Philippine decision to bring the case to arbitration under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) saying it preferred bilateral negotiations than the arbitral court. But the Philippines nevertheless has decided to pursue the case even without Chinas participation. Paul Reichler, a partner in the Foley Hoag law ofce here, said in an interview posted last week on foreignpolicy.com, that the Chinese are very smart people. And I think they might come to understand that in the long run their best interests are served by being a responsible member of the international community. Reichler called Chinas decision not to participate in the arbitration unfortunate. He said they are squandering an opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to the international legal order, to show respect for its procedures, and to agree to be bound by its rules. Had they seized this chance, they would have proven that they are not only a great power, but a responsible one, he was quoted on foreignpolicy.

Manila Mail has new volunteer cartoonist

Angelo Lopez, a wellknown cartoonist and member of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists, has volunteered to provide editorial cartoons for the Manila Mail, a 22-year-old Filipino American publication in the greater Washington D.C. area. This will be the rst time since its founding that the Mail will have its own volunteer cartoonist. Ever since Angelo was a child he has drawn on any scrap of paper he could get a hold of. while attending San Jose State University, his college paintings were heavily inuenced by the humorous illustrations of Peter De Seve and the 1930s muralists Thomas Hart Benton and Diego Rivera. He graduated with a degree in Illustration. Since graduating college, he has illustrated 5 books: Two Moms the Zark and Me by be an opportunity to show its true colors. Reichler has spent over 25 years representing various countries in disputes with other countries or private companies. He has a reputation, according to foreignpolicy.com, of being a giant slayer for his track record of winning cases against the United States, Russia and Britain on behalf of smaller Johnny Valentine in 1993; Night Travelers by Sue Hill in 1994; vale Public Library, all in the San Francisco Bay Area. He has had art shows at Gallery Saratoga and the Sunnyvale Art Gallery. Angelo Lopez has had cartoons published in Tikkun Magazine, the Palo Alto Daily News and Z Magazine. From April 2008 to May 2011, Angelos cartoons were regularly published in the Tri-City Voice, a weekly newspaper that covers the Fremont, Hayward, Milpitas, Neward, Sunol and Union City areas in California. Since December 2011, Angelo does a regular weekly political cartoon for the Philippines Today, a Filipino American newspaper based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Angelo is married to Lisa Reeber. They enjoy hiking, taking walks in quirky neighborhoods and watching movies. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), among others. Reichler had previously represented the Philippines in a dispute with foreign investors. China announced it was stepping up shery patrols there as well as the other disputed areas. Wu Zhuang, head of the South China Sea Fishery Bureau, said the patrols were their top priority this year.

Paul Reichler com. The Philippines claims the Scarborough Shoal and some islets on the Spratlys which are within its 200-mile economic zone under UNCLOS. The Spratlys are also being claimed by China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei. He noted that China will feel the pressure from an unfavorable ruling even if it doesnt participate. Reichler noted that China has denounced imperialism and violations of the UN Charter and the arbitration could

Angelo Lopez Cherubic Childrens New Classic Story Book Volume 2 for Cherubic Press in 1998; Tweet If You Love Jesus: Practicing Church in the Digital Reformation by Elizabeth Drescher in 2011; and Click 2 Save: The Digital Ministry Bible by Elizabeth Drescher and Keith Anderson in 2012. Angelo has painted murals for Lester Shields Elementary School in San Jose, the Berryessa branch of the San Jose Public Library, and the Sunnynations like Nicaragua, Georgia and Mauritius. He is counted as an expert in litigating land and maritime boundary disputes, including Bangladesh vs Myanmar before the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea, Nicaragua vs Colombia in the International Court of Justice, and Guyana vs Suriname in international arbitration under the United Nations

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BSP and Ayala Museum Tours. Out-of-town tour of Taal Vista Hotel in Tagaytay with lunch and esta activities. Extension and Post Tours July 12-15 (additional cost) Laoag-Vigan, Dive Certication Package, Southern Luzon Golf Tour, Davao-Legaspi, CebuBohol, Iloilo-Bacolod, KaliboBoracay, Puerto Princesa, Camsur-Legaspi. Participating travel agencies: Travel Wise, 240 899 9890. ofelia@travelwise.com Travel House 301 460 7320 travhouse@comcast.net Alpha Travel 301 907 8688 alphatravel@verizon.net For more details, visit ACGTDT.com or Philippine embassy cultural section 202 467 9398/9378 fax no. 202 467 9417 cultural@philippinesusa.org

Launch of Ambassadors Tour of PH set March 19

The Philippine embassy and the Department of Tourism-NY will launch the 8th Philippine Ambassadors, Consul Generals and Tourism Directors Tour of the Philippines at the Romulo Hall of the Philippine embassy at 6 p.m. on March 19. The tour will be held from July 9 to 12 at $682 per person, double occupancy, the Philippine embassy said. Airfare is $ 1,995 (subject to change, depending on airline and travel dates) with round-trip ticket from Washington D.C. to Manila and 4-night stay at EDSA Shangrila Hotel , Ortigas, Pasig city. Daily breakfasts, lunches and dinners with cultural show and entertainment. Wreath-laying ceremony at the Rizal Park, audience with President Benigno S. Aquino III followed with lunch at the Malacanang Heroes Hall. Running tour of Manila and Makati area,

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OTTAWA - Canada plans to eliminate a backlog of stale immigration applications that were made prior to 2008 to enable immigrants whose skills are in greater current demand to enter the country faster. Some Canadian employers have complained that backlogs have hobbled the immigration system and made it unable to respond nimbly to demand for foreign workers in higher growth sectors like video-gaming and the oil patch. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said Canada now plans to return almost all of the 300,000 foreign skilled worker applications that were led before February 27, 2008, along with their C$130 million ($130 million) in fees. Some have been waiting for a decade or more. Observers said thousands of Filipinos are included in the applications that are to be junked. This came as the Citizenship and Immigration Canada announced changes to the Federal Skilled Worker Program to take effect on May 4, 2013. While the ofcial launch of the program and its laws are not yet ofcial, there are key elements that have been proposed. In order to qualify for a Canada Immigrant Visa, professional applicants must: Have at least one year of continuous full-time work experience in the past 10 years; Pass a minimum threshold of language ability in English or French; Attain at least 67 points based on Canadas immigration selection factors. To accumulate the required 67 points the following summarizes the selection factors: 1. Education: Secondary and post secondary completion is an important part of demonstrating one can be economically established in Canada. Flaherty said the scrapping of the backlog would make the system faster and more efcient. We will ensure it is designed above all to strengthen Canadas economy. As a result we will be better able to ll gaps in our labor force, Flaherty told the House of Commons in his budget speech. It is an irony that national unemployment is running at more than 7 percent while certain industries face labor short-

March 15, 2013

Canada may scrap 300,000 immigrant applications

Canada has traditionally welcomed high numbers of immigrants. The country lets in 250,000 people a year and as well as investors and entrepreneurs. The government allows 75,000 skilled workers to immigrate each year. In 2008, Ottawa started fast-tracking new applications by skilled workers but it quickly had to put a cap on those in order to be able to work through those still in the queue. As a result of the measures announced, it will be able to raise the number of applications it fast-tracks, with a planned eventual turn-around time of six months. It had already told those in the backlog that they were welcome to withdraw their applications and reapply under the new rules. But if their skills are now in less demand, their chances of acceptance will also be lower. The budget also announced somewhat less developed plans to revamp the rules under which investors can immigrate. Previously, they were required to invest large sums of money with Canadian governments. But the intention now is to require them to invest directly in the economy.

File photo shows hundreds of Filipino immigrants arriving in Canada. ages, but such employers may be looking for people with certain skills not found among most of the unemployed. But someone who applied in 2001 may not have the skills needed in 2012, and if she or he was 42 when they applied would now be 53 and have fewer working years. because of its below-replacement birth rate it will eventually rely on immigrants for any growth in its labor force. It has a total backlog of one million would-be immigrants, about 460,000 of whom are skilled workers. Also in the backlog are applications by family members of recent immigrants,

3 Filipinos convicted in CA for importing weapons

LOS ANGELES - Three Filipino men were convicted have been convicted for illegally importing a grenade launcher, mortar launcher, rocket-propelled grenade and other military-grade weapons to the United States. Sergio Syjuco, 26, Cesar Ubaldo, 27, and Arjyl Revereza, 26, were arrested January last year after they were caught selling the weapons to an undercover Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent in a sting operation conducted in the Philippines. They were convicted after a four-week trial by a federal jury in US District Court in the Central District of California, said the Justice Departments Criminal Division and the FBIs Los Angeles Field Ofce in a joint announcement. On Jan. 12, 2012, the three men were charged with importing weapons to the US without a license in violation of the Arms Export Control Act. At sentencing, scheduled on June 9, the three men will face a maximum potential penalty of ve years in prison and a $250,000 ne for conspiracy to import a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, a mortar launcher, an M203 single-shot grenade launcher and 12 Bushmaster machine guns, as well as explosives including mortars and grenades. The trial evidence also showed the defendants had also illegally imported into the United States the highest level military body armor. The weapons, which were tracked by authorities during shipment, landed in Long Beach, California, on June 7, 2011, where they were seized by the FBI. In a controversial twist, the defendants lawyer accused the undercover FBI agent of spending US taxpayer dollars on prostitutes for himself and others during the 8-month investigation in the Philippines in 2010. Deputy Federal Public Defender John Littrell led a motion September last year asking the judge to toss the indictment against his clients as he accused the FBI agent of outrageous government misconduct. The agent, who wasnt identied in court documents, paid up to $2,400 each time he went to brothels with Syjuco and others to reward them for their work to secure weapons to ship to the US without a license, court documents show. US government attorneys denied the allegations but acknowledged in court documents that the agent sought nearly $15,000 in reimbursements for entertainment and other expenses related to the investigation. Bill Lewis, assistant director in charge of the FBIs Los Angeles Field Ofce, said in a statement that the undercover agent and his family endured true hardship during this lengthy trial, during which he was accused of unfounded illegal activity. The investigation was conducted by agents and investigators of the FBI, the US Secret Service and the Philippine National Bureau of Investigation. Deputy Chief Kim Dammers and trial attorney Margaret Vierbuchen of the Criminal Divisions Organized Crime and Gang Section prosecuted the case.

Reporters interview detained Filipinos facing charges in LA. weapons into the United States, as well as 20 years in prison and a $1 million ne for the importation of all the weapons, excluding the 12 fully automatic Bushmaster rearms, according to a joint statement issued by Lewis and Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman. In addition, Syjuco and Revereza will face a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a $1 million ne for the importation of all the weapons and ve years in prison and a $250,000 ne for the importation of the 12 fully automatic Bushmaster rearms. According to the evidence presented at trial, the defendants conspired to sell the weapons to the undercover FBI agent posing as a buyer in the Philippines who planned to arm drug dealers in Mexican drug cartels and Mexican Maa gang members. In November 2010, Ubaldo introduced the undercover agent to Syjuco, who supplied the weapons, and Revereza, a police ofcer in the Philippines Bureau of Customs who facilitated the shipment of the illegal weapons. The weapons included

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NEW YORK - Another topnotch Filipino-American attorney is poised to make history as the rst Philippine-born Superior Court judge in the State of New Jersey, the Filam weekly Filipino Reporter said. It said Carlia Magpantay Bradys appointment had a smooth sailing on late last month before the 13-member judiciary committee of the State Senate in Trentons State House. She will become the only Filipino-American judge to join the current roster of 360 New Jersey Superior Court judges once her conrmation is upheld by the full State Senate sometime this month. I am thrilled because this is a huge honor to serve the people of the State of New Jersey, said Brady, 41, a registered Democrat, in an exclusive interview with the Reporter. The Filipino Reporter story continued: It has always been my dream to serve my community and the State of New Jersey, said the U.S.-educated lawyer, who was nominated by Gov. Chris Christie. And everybody has been extremely supportive of me and has extended good wishes. Brady, a divorcee from Woodbridge, N.J., is an accident and personal injury partner at a prestigious Lawrenceville law rm, Stark & Stark, specializing in litigation. The Reporter said shell be the second Filam to serve in the state Superior Court after retired Judge Patricia Medina Talbert, originally from Hawaii, who served in Essex County Superior Court. Brady was born in San Carlos City, Negros Occidental to Oscar Magpantay, an accountant in the Philippines and now a retired New Jersey factory worker; and Ophelia Salvador Magpantay, a high school educator who is now a retired teacher for the handicapped. The family settled in New Jersey in 1976 when Brady was only six. She became a naturalized citizen at the age of 14.

March 15, 2013

NJ names PH-born lawyer Superior Court judge

that you become a good judge, you know, Filipinos (laughs). As a judge, Brady said she intends to be very fair, rofessional, patient and understanding to litigants. You could expect that my courtroom, when youre in it, will provide you with a fair day in court, she said. Bradys Filam colleague, lawyer Michael Angulo, said Brady stands a very good chance of being conrmed given bi-partisan support for her nomination in the Senate, as well strong support from the governor. She has passed all of her background checks with ying colors and no one has objected to her nomination, Angulo told the *Reporter.* Carlia Brady is an exceptional attorney with a solid trial work experience, noted Angulo. She possesses sharp intellect, level temperament, and an objective viewpoint critical to be a successful judge. She will be a tremendous asset to the Superior Court. Angulo himself became the toast of the Filam community a few years ago when he was named assistant counsel to the New Jersey governor. He later served as executive director with the New Jersey Higher Education Student Assistance Authority and is currently practicing higher education law. Brady, according to Angulo, is passionate about community involvement having participated in numerous legal outreach panels hosted by the Filam community, recently with the Philippine Community of Southern New Jersey. She was a also a board member on the Asian Pacic American Lawyers Association of New Jersey and has encouraged other Asian-American lawyers to become leaders in the profession.

Carlia Magpantay Brady She has a younger brother, Ian Magpantay, a scientist. My parents were very proud and very happy when they learned about the appointment, Brady recalled. They prayed over me and told me, may God guide you

Among Asians, Filams have lowest poverty level

WASHINGTON D.C. Filipinos had the lowest poverty level among all ethnic groups in the United States in the 20072011 period, according to the ndings of the American Community Survey (ACS) released Feb. 20, 2013. Federal poverty level for that period was set at $15,510 for a couple while Health and Human Settlement level was set at $22,350 for a family of 4, $11,170 for singles, $15,130 for a couple and $23,050 for a family of 4. ACS said only 5.8 percent or 146,113 of the 2,517,885 Filipinos were under the poverty level in 2011 compared to 15 percent (206,241) of the 1,378,839 Koreans and 14.7 percent (228,381) of the 1,554,143 Vietnamese. It said Asian Indians, which has overtaken Filipinos as Number 2 among the Asian immigrant population after the Chinese, had the same percentage of 8.2 in the poverty level. Overall, however, Asians were much better than Hispanics and Blacks American Indians and native Alaskans had the highest poverty rate in the United States, 27 percent, during the recession and economic recovery, followed by African Americans at 25.8 percent, the Census Bureau said. From 2007 through 2011, 14.3 percent of the countrys population had incomes below the poverty level, the report on race and poverty said. Nationally, 42.7 million people or 14.3 percent of the U.S.

population had income below the poverty level. The report said that for the Asian population, poverty was estimated at 8.2 percent for both Asian Indians and Japanese. Higher rates were found for Vietnamese (14.7 percent) and Koreans (15.0 percent), and lower rates were found for Filipinos (5.8 percent). As a whole, Hispanics had a rate of 23.2 percent, or 9 percentage points above the national rate. Within that group, though, rates followed a steep range, with Cubans having the lowest at 16.2 percent and Dominicans the highest of 26.3 percent. Overall, however, the national poverty rate for Asians, 11.7 percent, and whites, 11.6 percent, were below the overall national poverty rate. The poverty level between Asians and Whites is 11.7 percent to 11.6 percent , respectively. The ACS is conducted every month with income data collected for the 12 months preceding the interview. The 5-year

estimates are period estimates. They represent the characteristics of the population and housing over the specic data collection period. Poverty status is determined

by comparing annual income to a set of dollar values called poverty thresholds that vary by family size, number of children, and the age of the householder. If a familys before-tax money income is less than the dollar value of their

threshold, then that family and every individual in it are considered to be in poverty. For people not living in families, poverty status is determined by comparing the individuals income to his or her poverty threshold.

US warns citizens on sex with minors in PH

WASHINGTON D.C. The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) warned Americans abroad that they can be prosecuted for engaging in sexual acts with minors wherever they may be. Americans, with twisted overseas travel plans to engage in child sex tourism, may think they are beyond the reach of US law enforcement, said Special Agent Eric McLoughlin, who led the ICEs Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) participation in a raid on a Subic, Zambales bar that resulted in the arrest of Arthur Benjamin of Texas. The operation was featured in an ABC News Nightline report. Benjamin was caught on camera bragging about his underage Filipina girlfriend and operating the Subic bar that allegedly served as a front for prostitution and employed minors. HSI is one of the lead federal law enforcement agencies that identies, investigates and arrests child predators and sexual offenders worldwide a priority investigative area. They have a presence in 48 countries around the world. Millions of American citizens travel abroad on a regular basis. While the vast majority of them are law abiding, some commit sexual crimes against minors in foreign countries. Each year, over a million children are exploited in the global commercial sex trade. Child sex tourism involves people who travel from their home country to another and engage in commercial sex acts with children. Child sex tourism is a shameful assault on the dignity of children and a form of child abuse and violence. For the minors involved, these acts have devastating consequences, which may include long-lasting physical and psychological trauma, disease, drug addiction, unwanted pregnancy, malnutrition, social ostracism and possibly death, the ICE statement read. Benjamins arrest was a cooperative effort of the Philippines National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), HSI and a halfway house for young female victims run by Fr. Shay Cullen. The US Ambassador in Manila Harry K. Thomas Jr. had earlier claimed that 40 percent of American men visiting the Philippines go there for sex.

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PH nurses in US angry over Villars comment

WASHINGTON D.C. Filipino nurses in the United States called on authorities in the Philippines to shut down substandard nursing schools amid the uproar spawned by a derogatory comment from an aspiring senator. Former Rep. Cynthia Villar wife of one-time presidential candidate Sen. Manny Villar stirred the proverbial hornets nest when she said nurses dont need to be that good as she justied trying to block a government crackdown against sub-standard nursing schools in 2005. Ang sinasabi namin sa kanila na actually hindi naman kailangan ng nurse na matapos ang BSN (Bachelor of Science in Nursing). Kasi itong mga nurses, gusto lang nilang maging room nurse, (What we tell them, actually nurses dont need to complete the BSN. Our nurses only want to be room nurses) Villar said in response to a question from political science professor Winnie Monsod at a candidates forum (shes running for a Senate seat in May). That drew nearly universal condemnation from Filipino nurses in the Philippines and abroad. Victoria Navarro, president of the Philippine Nurses Association of America (PNAA) one of the most inuential Filam organizations in the US has offered to work more closely to educate Philippine lawmakers. Her ignorance is an embarrassment, said lawyer Arnedo Valera, a coexecutive director of the Virginia-based Migrant Heritage Commission (MHC). Filipino nurses have become of the Philippines top exports that generate tens of millions in dollar remittances every year. Their skills are sought after in virtually every corner of the world, something that Navarro attributed to the bachelors degree preparation of nurses in the Philippines that is at least 4 decades ahead of developed and industrialized nations. In 2005, more than half of the 21,500 foreign trained nurses who passed US nursing licensure examinations were educated in the Philippines. The quality and caliber of Philippine schools of nursing must be of the same standard, if not better, with our international peers, the Texas-based PNAA declared in a statement At his 1st State of the Union address since being re-elected, President Obama honored Fil-Am nurse Menchu de Luna Sanchez of New York Universitys Langone Medical Center who orchestrated the evacuation of 20 at-risk infants at the peak of Hurricane Sandy that devastated New York and New Jersey. Sanchez, in a Facebook post, said her fellow Filipino nurses were hurt by the Villar comments even as she appeared to question Villars qualication to run for Congress (yung mga ganung tao hindi natin nilalagay sa puwesto). While everybody is admiring the professionalism and dedication of our nurses in the US, Ms. Villar is degrading them, Valera said.

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WASHINGTON D.C. - Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) has introduced her rst bill as a United States Senator that would fast track the reunication of Filipino World War II veterans with their families. Chances for its approval remains high today because of the current bipartisan efforts to pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill. Similar bills have been led by the late Sen. Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii), and Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) but failed to win the approval of Congress. Filipino American Associations and veterans groups, including the American Coalition of Filipino Veterans, hailed Hironos timely action. The long-overdue legislation, which has been the priority of Hawaiis congressional delegation for many years, could gain new life as the Senate drafts and marks up immigration reform legislation. This legislation underscores Hironos immigration reform approach of bringing families together and assisting communities whose voices arent often heard in Washington. Immigration reform should reect our values and these are the types of ideas I will be working to include in the nal legislation, said Hirono. Our nation can never fully repay the debt we owe the Filipino World War II veterans who bravely served and sacriced alongside were not granted citizenship. As a result, the veterans who came to the United States could only sponsor their children by ling a petition and getting in line. The backlogs affecting Filipino immigration applications are over twenty years in some cases, and these veterans, now in their 80s and 90s, have had to wait in the U.S. without their children for many years. Hirono has a key perch to inuence immigration reform legislation as she sits on the both the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration that will mark up immigration reform legislation. The American Coalition of Filipino Veterans estimates that 20,000 sons and daughters of U.S. Filipino World War II veterans will directly benet from Hironos legislation. The group lauded her efforts. We applaud Sen. Hironos great decision in reintroducing the Filipino Veterans Family Reunication bill, Eric Lachica, Executive Director for the American Coalition of Filipino Veterans said. The Hirono bill will keep the approved immigration petitions and hopes of our Filipino American World War II heroes alive after they fade away. We are glad Senator Hirono con-

March 15, 2013

Sen. Hirono les bill to reunite Filvets families

tinues to ght for the legacy of Senators Akaka and Inouye for their Filipino comrades. Salamat po! Mabuhay Senator Hirono. Eliminating the immigration backlog for the families of Filipino World War II vets has long been a priority of Hawaiis delegation. Hawaii Congresswoman Colleen Hanabusa will introduce the bill in the House of Representatives.

NY Filam leader gets prison term

NEW YORK Filipino American community leader Rene Ballenas is currently serving one year at Rikers Island after he pleaded guilty on March 5 to two counts of second degree grand larceny. His lawyer told The FilAm he could be out in eight months on good behavior. From the courtroom, Ballenas was promptly taken to the Eric M. Taylor Center at 10-10 Hazen Street in East Elmhurst. The EMTC is one of the 10 jails comprising the Rikers Island complex. It is described as a facility for male adults and adolescents. He accepted his responsibility and hopes to move forward with his life when he gets out, his lawyer Oscar Michelen told The FilAm. The Manhattan District Attorneys Ofce charged Ballenas, founder of the Team United Maharlika Foundation with taking more than $7,000 worth

Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) Americans in the critical South West Pacic Theatre. The brave servicemen who are still with us, now in their eighties and nineties, should not have to wait any longer in order to be reunited with their children. As the Senate dives into immigration reform legislation, I will be working very closely with my colleagues to include these types of ideas in the nal proposal. Thousands of Filipino veterans were granted citizenship in recognition of their service to the United States in World War II. Their children, however,

Rene Ballenas of valuables from the Childrens Cancer & Blood Foundation ofces on East 38th Street. The criminal complaint states that on September 1, 2012, Ballenas knowingly entered and remained unlawfully in a dwelling with intent to commit a crime therein; the defendant stole property and the value of the property exceeded three thousand dollars.

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of Virology and Immunology of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene; Professor Gem Daus, an awarding public relations and events executive. Moderators were John Austin of the United States Naval Academy and Jacquelyn Piansay of Townson University, while Margaret Lacson-Ecarma served as master of ceremonies. This is the second forum the embassy co-organized with the Filipino Inter-Collegiate Networking Dialogue of District VI, which is currently headed by Selina Lara of George Washington University. More than 200 attended last Sundays event. Last year, around 200 students attended the forum held at Georgetown University.

Become involved, Cuisia tells Filam students

WASHINGTON, D.C.-The Philippine Embassy in Washington D.C., and the Filipino InterCollegiate Networking Dialogue of District VI held the second Merienda with Ambassador Cuisia Youth Forum at the Catholic University of America on March 3, 2013. The forum, which is a project of Ambassador Jose L. Cuisia, Jr. and his wife, Ma. Victoria, was held at the Universitys Pryzbyla Center and was attended by Filipino and Filipino-American college students in Washington, D.C. and surrounding areas. The forum focused on Preparing for the Workforce and Community Engagement. In his remarks, Ambassador Cuisia called on young Filipino American professionals and university students to become involved and to advance the interests of their broader communities. We feel that it is important for us to reach out to (the younger generation) and learn more about (them) as the future leaders of the Filipino American community and a critical resource in the dynamics of Philippine-US relations, Ambassador Cuisia said. He noted rst and second generation Filipinos in America have contributed much to the

Consular outreach in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

Student leaders preside at the Merienda with the Ambassador meeting at Catholic University recently. growth of the United States and urged the Filipino American youth to become an even stronger force in society. The forum panelists included Associate Justice Maribeth Rafnan of the Superior Court for the District of Columbia; Sonia Aranza, President of Aranza Communications, a consulting practice specializing in Cross-Cultural Strategies, Diversity and Leadership; Dr. Maria Paz Carlos, a trained virologist with a focus on infectious diseases and who currently serves as Chief of the Division winning adjunct faculty member of the University of Maryland Asian American Studies Program where he teaches Filipino American History and Biography, Asian American Health, and Asian American Sexualities; Angela Lagdameo, a 2012 recipient of the Philippine American Foundation for Charities Dakila Award for Public Service, Ms. Lagdameo is the Director of Policy and Planning for Marylands social services agency, the Department of Human Resources; and Ireene Leoncio, is ABS-CBN Internationals incomThe Philippine Embassy in Washington, D.C., in cooperation with the Center for Florida Alliance Goodwill and Advancement (CFAGA), Philippine-American Association of South Florida (PAASF), Philippine American Society of Palm Beach (PAS), Philippine American Nurses Association of Southeast Florida (PMASEF), will conduct a consular outreach mission in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida on: Schedule: 21-22 March 2013 (Thursday & Friday), 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon and 1:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. Venue: New River Civic Center, #60 Weston Road, Sunrise, Florida 33326 Services To Be Rendered: * Processing of applications for issuance or renewal of Philippine passport Processing of authentication/acknowledgment of legal documents Processing of applications for Reports of Births and Marriages Administration of oaths to former Filipinos under the Dual Citizenship Law on 22 March 2013 (Friday) at 2:30 p.m. Send the e-mail request/ application for appointment to the Embassy e-mail address: wdcpeconsular@gmail.com

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MANILA - The 238,000 overseas Filipino workers who were earlier removed from the ofcial voters list by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) will be able to cast their ballots on May 13 after all. Heeding the clamor of the OFWs that they be given more time to communicate their intention to vote, the Comelec issued a resolution extending the period of ling of the manifestation of intent to vote until the last day of voting for overseas Filipinos, or until May 13. Comelec Chair Sixto Brillantes Jr. explained that the en banc decision, promulgated on March 5, virtually reinstated the 238,557 overseas Filipinos to the qualied voters list after their failure to meet the deadline to le their intent in December 2012. In effect, we are reinstating the list of those whom we deleted in a previous resolution now, they can reactivate it by the act of coming out and voting, he said. In an earlier resolution, the Comelec en banc gave those who failed to vote in the past two elections until Dec. 21 last year to le their manifestation of intent to vote in the May 13 balloting in order to be retained in the National Registry of Overseas Absentee Voting (NROAV). Under the law, failure to vote for two consecutive national elections is a basis for removal from the Comelec voters list. But out of the 238,557 OFWs who were given the last chance to be retained in the NROAV, only 40 responded to the Comelec call. According to Brillantes, after discussions with representatives of overseas Filipinos, the Comelec decided that showing up to vote on May 13 will be considered as the act of activation so that those who want to partici-

March 15, 2013

Comelec reinstates 238,000 disenfranchised OAVs

Comelec Chair Sixto Brillantes Jr. pate in the elections will not be disenfranchised. The automatic reinstatement of these voters will bring to more than 900,000 the number of total Filipino absentee voters in the upcoming elections, a huge leap from 2010s roughly 580,000 overseas voters. Under the en banc resolution, the overseas voters who wish to cast their ballots will be required to present themselves at the post where they are registered and sign in the overseas

File photo shows consular ofcers attending to absentee voter registrants. voting form that will be provided. The Comelec en banc also ordered the election bodys allocation committee to allot ballots equivalent to 20 percent of the registered voters in a post where postal voting is adopted. No additional allocation shall be made for posts adopting personal and automated voting considering that the ballots allocated for them is sufcient to cover the voter turnout, it stated.

PH senate bets ignore 900,000 overseas voters

WASHINGTON D.C. Why are Philippine senatorial candidates in the May 13 midterm election ignoring the some 900,000 overseas voters in their campaign? This is the question that many Filipinos in the US and around the world are asking as the date draws near for overseas voters to start casting their votes on April 13, a month in advance of the May 13 election in the Philippines. Many of those intending to vote are not even aware of how many candidates are running, the political parties involved, their platforms and the list of candidates. The Philippine embassy in Washington D.C. has thus far not issued any guidelines for the voting. Perhaps its still waiting for instructions from the Commission on Elections in Manila. The Comelec has only released a sample of the ballot that will be used in the voting. In the Middle East, where there is also a big concentration of eligible Filipino voters, many do not even know the background of the candidates, the platforms of each party, the list of candidates, etc. Meanwhile, Partylist group Migrante has urged all senatorial candidates to hold campaign sorties to give weight to overseas absentee voters. Let OFWs hear your platform of governance and stand on specic issues that directly and indirectly affect the OFWs and the Filipinos in general Be it known that we will exercise our right to vote and will actively participate in the May 2013 elections, said John Leonard Monterona, regional coordinator in Middle East. He said PNoy Team and UNA, as well as independent candidates and party-list groups, will not take migrant workers for granted that make up the OFWs vote as a whole. Well, 700,000 absentee voters is a huge vote that could swing Senatorial positions between 6th to 12 placers. Even a single vote could make a difference, so how much more the 700,000 plus absentee voters abroad, said Monterona. OFWs Vote is a solid vote like that of the Solid North from Ilocandia or Ilocanos and the INC vote (or Iglesia ni Cristo), who are believed to vote as one. He said overseas workers as bread winners wield economic power to inuence their dependents and kin to vote for their senatorial candidates. We will endorse other senatorial candidates who will take a stand for OFWs rights and welfare and who are willing to ght side-by-side with us on issues that directly and indirectly affect our sector and the Filipinos in general.

Gordon hits killing of leader of Pablo survivors

MANILA - UNA Senatorial candidate Richard J. Gordon has condemned the killing of a Typhoon Pablo survivor who led the recent string of protests in Davao City and in Compostela Valley. Gordon stressed that the killing of Cristina Morales Jose by still-unidentied motorcycle-riding men on Monday night only manifests the governments failure to protect and ensure the welfare of the Filipino people. This girl lost her house, she lost her livelihood, she can no longer plant bananas, so she is hungry. I do not condone the looting of relief goods in the DSWD Davao ofce but I condemn the killing of an unarmed woman. Has the society gone so bad that innocent and helpless people are killed and the perpetrators just get away? the former senator said, Being born poor, she had no opportunities in life, she probably lost her possessions, she had no security because she lost her home and is seeking justice and now because the government has done nothing, she also lost her life. The government was unfeeling of her plight. She represents people who were murdered and those who have been denied justice, he added. Gordon stressed that the government could easily address the rising number of murders committed by motorcycle-riding tandems, and proposed a solution that would deter them from committing crimes while on motorcycles. As I have been saying, we should resize the license plates issued for motorcycles.

March 15, 2013

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parties also signed the Terms of Reference for the Independent Commission on Policing (ICP) prepared by the Technical Working Group or (TWG) on Normalization. The ICP is the body that shall submit recommendations to the peace panels on the police force for the Bangsamoro pursuant to the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB).

PH, MILF sign road map for Bangsamoro

MANILA, Philippines - The 36th round of Formal Exploratory Talks between the negotiating panels of the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, ended late last month with the signing of the annex on Transitional Arrangements and Modalities (TAM) that details the road map toward the creation of the Bangsamoro. According to the Ofce of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process or (OPAPP), the

Honor for AAPI heritage awardees

The White House Champions of Change series spotlights ordinary citizens who are demonstrating extraordinary commitment to their community, their country, and their fellow citizens. Across the country, Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacic Islander women are doing extraordinary things to create a more equal, safe, and prosperous future. In business, the arts, civil rights, health, and so many other elds, AAPI women are helping to improve the lives of their fellow Americans. This May, on the occasion of AAPI Heritage Month, the White House Ofce of Public Engagement, White House Council on Women and Girls, and White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacic Islanders will honor a small group of AAPI women as Champions of Change. And we want your help! Members of the public are invited to submit nominations online until Friday, March 29, 2013. A small group of AAPI women who represent diverse experiences and backgrounds will be honored as Champions of Change and invited to the White House for an event in early May. Click here to nominate an AAPI woman as a Champion of Change before Friday, March 29, 2013 (Note: Under Theme of Service please choose AAPI Women Leaders) If you have any questions or concerns, please contact AAPI@ who.eop.gov. For the latest news on this and other efforts by the Obama Administration to engage the AAPI community, please sign up for updates. Tina Tchen is Chief of Staff to the First Lady and Executive Director of the White House Council on Women and Girls. Ruchi Bhowmik is Deputy Cabinet Secretary.

12
MANILA - Eleven tycoons from the Philippines, majority of them Chinese Filipinos (Tsinoys or Chinoys), made it to Forbes Magazines 2013 roster of richest people on the planet. Leading the pack is still Henry Sy and family whose group dominates local retailing,residential and mall development, and banking. Filipinos even joke that if war erupts between China and the Philippines over the Spratlys,

March 15, 2013

Chinoys dominate list of PH billionaires

the countrys economy will be in jeopardy. In fact some doubts the Chinoys loyalty to the Philippines. The number of Philippine tycoons that made it to the elite club swelled from only six in 2012 as the buoyant local stock market boosted wealth valuations of local tycoons. Lucio Tan, Enrique Razon Jr., Andrew Tan and Roberto Ongpin are still on this years list. The new members this year are David Consunji and family, George Ty and family, Lucio and Susan Co, Robert Coyiuto Jr., Tony Tan Caktiong and family and Andrew Gotianun and family. Sy remained the countrys wealthiest man with an estimated net worth of $13.2 billion, followed by Lucio Tan with $5 billion. Sy, whose SM group is a household brand in the Philippines, ranked 68th richest globally while the latter ranked 248th. Razon, who is in international port terminal operations through agship International Container Terminal Services Inc., was the countrys third wealthiest man valued at $4.9 billion, followed by Andrew Tan with $3.95 billion, Consunji at $2.8 billion, Ty at $2.6 billion, Co at $2 billion, Coyiuto at $1.6 billion, Tan Caktiong at $1.4 billion and Gotianun and Ongpin both at $1.2 billion. The 2013 Forbes list has 1,426 billionaires across the globe on its roster with an aggregate net worth of $5.4 trillion. Mexican telecom magnate Carlos Slim is still the wealthiest man on the planet, followed by Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Amancio Ortega of Spanish retailer Zara.

Henry Sy

Lucio Tan

March 15, 2013

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March 15, 2013

Filam savant says Metro Manila sinking

MANILA - Dr. Kelvin Rodolfo, professor emeritus of the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences of the University of Illinois, says Metro Manila is subsiding rapidly several inches every year due to overextraction of groundwater by the rapidly growing population. In a forum held at Club Filipino in San Juan city, Rodolfo, also said the reclamation project in the Manila Bay where several multi-billion-dollar casinos are being built was not a good idea because of the land subsidence that we are experiencing now. The professor also announced the detection of a fault line by satellite radar near the cities of Caloocan, Malabon and Navotas. Dr. Rodolfo said the reclamation is not a good idea. He said extending the shoreline will raise the water level at least 10 times faster than the rate due to global warming. Liquefaction, according to him, is the most deadly hazard during earthquakes. Rodolfo is a corresponding member of the Philippine National Academy of Science there are many observations needed to explain why there is subsidence and relate it to fault,

Cops, AFP troopers face murder raps

MANILA Philippine authorities said on March 6 that dozens of police and military personnel would be charged with murder for summarily executing 13 people in a gambling turf war in Atimonan, Quezon in January. The accused police, including a top ofcer, initially reported those slain in Atimonan were members of a criminal gang who engaged them in a gunbattle after ramming through a security road block. But after media reports showed that among those killed was a local illegal gambling lord, as well as ve police and military ofcers who were protecting him, President Benigno Aquino ordered an investigation. The victims were summarily executed and all indications point to a rubout (slang for execution), said Aquinos spokeswoman, Abigail Valte, quoting a 64-page report by the justice department recommending the charges. Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said 21 police ofcers and 14 members of a military unit, who are currently in custody, conspired to eliminate Vic Siman, the slain head of a lottery racket known as jueteng. Jueteng is an underground lottery known to generate many millions of dollars that are often used to nance campaigns by corrupt local politicians, who are known to control private armies or employ policemen as personal bodyguards. De Lima said the ambush was planned and led by Superintendent Hansel Marantan, a senior police ofcer who was protecting a local rival of Siman. The apparent objective of the operation was to kill all the victims. The checkpoint (was set up) to kill Vic Siman and company. There was no shoot-out, she told reporters. Some of the victims were already slumped on the ground or were surrendering when still red upon by operatives. De Lima said the accused police and military ofcers also tampered with the crime scene and conspired to cover up the crime.

Dr. Kelvin Rodolfo and Technology along with the Department of Science and Technology. Director Renato Solidum, of the Philippine Volcanology and Seismology, said parallel studies are being made. Phivolcs has been doing interferometry also he said. With Rodolfo in the panel were Cultural Center of the Philippines chairman of the board Emily Abrera, architect Paulo Alcazaren and environmental lawyer Galahad Pe Benito.

March 15, 2013

March 23 (Saturday) 5pm. Filipino Ministry of Northern Virginia, Fil Am Youth Mass: Come, Follow Me with Fr. Randy Gonzales, CICM. Guest Speaker: Fr. J.D. Jaffe. Contact: Choir: CFC/Youth for Christ. Venue: Missionhurst Chapel. 4651 North 25th Street, Arlington, VA 22207. RSVP requested due to limited space. Salu-salo after the Mass. Contact: filipinoministry@catholicweb.com or Ed Tiong 703-403-5624 April 6 (Saturday) 6:00pm12:00am,. Philippine Nurses Association of Metropolitan, D.C. Inc. Induction of Officers. Hilton Springfield, 6550 Loisdale Road, Springfield, VA 22150. $65 pre-paid, $70 at door. Contact: Nora Mendoza at 703-765-8474 or norrad79@verizon.net. April 27 (Saturday) Filipino American Basketball Association (FABA) FundraisingTrip to Atlantic City. Meeting Places : (a) 6:45am Springfield Mall in front of JC Penny parking lot (b)7:30am Clarion Hotel , 6400 Oxon Hill Rd Oxon Hill,MD. $50.00 per person with $20.00 back from Ballys. Breakfast and drinks will be provided. For information and reservations contact: fabayouth@gmail.com or Agnes Espeleta 240.441.9377. May 11 (Saturday) 12:00noon-4:00pm. Asians for Mary Annual Pilgrimage, includes a 60 Filipino man/ woman choir for the event. Basilica Shrine of The Immaculate Concepcion, Upper Church. 400 Michigan Ave., Washington, DC 20017. Contact: Jacinta Mascarenhas terjac@hotmail.com. Details to follow. May 18 (Saturday) 6:0011:30pm, Feed the Hungry, Inc. Spring Shindig. Fort Myer Community Center, McNair Road, Fort Myer, VA. Contact: Mila Nazal 301 288-7010 May 26 (Sunday) Miss Teenage Philippines Pageant, Inc. Annual Coronation and Ball. Hyatt Regency Crystal City, 2799 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, VA 22202. Contact Trini Padama-301-705-8550 . May 29- 31 PAFC Philip-

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pine Festivals Brown Strokes on White Canvas Art Exhibit. Opening reception Wednesday, May 29 at 6:30pm. Location Romulo Hall, Philippine Embassy. Contact: Julian Oteyza at julianoteyza@gmail.com or 703.969.5469 June 15 (Saturday) 6:00pm12:00pm. Philippine Independence Gala Ball. JW Marriott Washington, DC. Continues the tradition of celebrating Independence Day with Philippine Embassy dignitaries, the FilAm community, special guests. Contact: Nanette Carreon at NSuyat1681@aol.com. June 30 (Sunday) PAFC Philippine Festivals Community Picnic and Sports Fest. Fun and food, games for children and sports for grownups plus a cultural show and a band marathon pull the community together. Tucker Road Recreational Park, Fort Washington, MD Contact: Mya Talavera at myatalavera@aol.com. July 27-28 (Sat-Sun) Asian Festival with Philippine Village at Fairfax Government Center. Cultural performances and food from different Asian countries; product and service booths, childrens area and more. Contact: Bing Branigin at mcbranigin@ aol.com.

March 16 (Saturday) 6:00pm. Filipino Organization of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) Philippine Culture Night, Catholic University of America, Pryzbyla Great Room, Catholic University of American, 620 Michigan Ave, N.E. Washington, DC 20064. March 16 (Saturday) 10:00am-3:00pm. Filipino American Institute of Accountants Tax

Assistance at the IRS VITA Program. If you worked and have gross income of $51,000 or less in 2012, you qualify for free income tax preparation with electronic filing. Tagalog-English translation assistance available. Fairfax Skill Source Center, 7611 Little River Turnpike, Suite 300 West, Annandale, VA. Contact: info@ faia-metrodc.org. to find out what documents to bring.

Tuba makers son is top PMA grad

FORT DEL PILAR, Baguio City- The son of a poor tuba maker in Davao del Sur province is this years top cadet of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) and receive the Presidential Saber from President Benigno lieutenant. PMA Supt. Ireneo Espino, who presented the top 10 cadets to the media on March 11, said that this years graduates are composed of 105 men and 19 women. Besides the Presidential Saber, Laneja will also receive the Philippine Army Saber, Academic Group Award, Computing and Information Sciences Plaque, Army Professional Course Plaque, Jusmag Award, General Antonio Luna Award and Spanish Armed Forces Award. Cadet First Class Maryam Dinamling Balais, 22, will be awarded the Vice-Presidential Saber, Philippine Navy Saber

Cadet First Class Jestony Arman Lanaja Aquino 3rd on March 17. Cadet First Class Jestony Arman Lanaja, 22,will lead 124 members of Class Pudang Kalis, which stands for Pusot Diwa ng mga Kawal ng Lahing Nagkakaisa, or Soldiers with Heart and Honor, Unied in Strength. Lanaja said that his father Antonio gathers coconut sap that is made into tuba. His mother Erlinda, who is unemployed, looks after his siblings, one of whom is a deaf-mute. Lanaja hopes to help his family once he starts getting his salary. He will be joining the Army as a second

Cadet First Class Maryam Dinamling Balais and other awards, while Cadet First Class Prolen Atchico Bonacua, from Valenzuela City, will get the Secretary of National Defense Saber and President Emilio Aguinaldo Saber.

16 Around DC in Pictures

March 15, 2013

The 10th Asian Festival will be held this year at the Fairfax County Government Grounds on July 27 and 28, 2013. George Duangmanee, Asian Festival founder and Over-all Director, said, this years Asian Festival will be bigger and better, adding that it will be held in partnership with the Fairfax County Government. Fairfax is home to so many Asian American, and we would like to share our unique culture and tradition, he said. Photo shows, from left, Bing Branigin (publicity and promotion), Janine Underwood and Donny Weed, (directors, USTA, Virginia), David Lee,(AF Sponsorship and Marketing,) and Hung Nguyen, Fairfax County ofcial. The Asian Festival Executive Committee met with representative of the Fairfax County Ofcials last March March 7, to discuss the 2013 partnership.

Mr. Nestor and Mrs. Nelly Villanueva celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary in Virginia Beach, Virginia last March 2. The renewal of vows was held at the United Methodist Church, Chesapeake, Virginia. Photo shows, seated from left, Nestor and Mrs. Nelly Villanueva. Also in photo are Roy and Naomi V. Estaris, Titus and Nerissa V. Turner, Mark and Nanette V. Sandberg, and NJ and Ginger Villanueva. Grandchildren: Alex Fitzwilliam, Josh Fitzwilliam,Jacqueline Estaris, Rudi Estaris, Haley Turner, Darius Turner, Kylie Sandberg, Addison Villanueva, and Spencer Villanueva. Reception was held at the Philippine Cultural Center, in Virginia Beach. Family and friends from Hawaii, California, Maryland, and Virginia enjoyed the sumptuous Filipino buffet, champagne toast, and dancing. (Bing Cardenas Branigin)

Ofelia Kirlin (second from left), a government procurement and contracting specialist, recently held a private birthday celebration at her home in Manassas, Virginia. Among her guests were, from left: Michelle and Andy Flood and Fred Paras.

From left are Joe Montano, Democratic National Party of Virginia, Consul Emil Fernandez, Philippine Embassy, and Leonard Tengco, School Supervisor, Virginia Beach, at the Salu-Salo brunch meeting held at a restaurant in Arlington, Virginia, last March 9. Tengco was the inspirational speaker at the breakfast meeting attended by various leaders of the community to launch the 2013 Philippine Festival Events. (Bing Cardenas Branigin)

Ador Carreon, Chairman of the Board, Philippine American Foundation for Charities (PAFC), thanks guests at the Salu-Salo Brunch held at a restaurant in Arlington, Virginia, March 9. Carreon invited community leaders to be volunteers in the various Philippine Festival activities 2013. ( Bing Cardenas Branigin)

Bing Branigin meets new Election Commissioner Grace Padaca in Manila.

Filams get Hepatitis-B tests in D.C.

Text & photo by Maurese Owens
The Hepatitis-B Washington, DC Initiative conducted a screening for Hepatitis-B among Filipino Americans in the Washington, DC area last February 23 at the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Assocation in Chinatown. The Philippine American Foundation for Charities, Inc. (PAFC) together with the Philippine Nurses Association of Metro DC (PNAMDC), Bicol Assn of Metro, DC. (BAMDC), and Caregivers of Home Health Services (CHHS) were cosponsors and reached out to the Filam community to get themselves screened. Among the Filipino Americans who underwent the screening were Alfonso de Jesus of Rockville, Maryland and Ellen Carag of Stafford, Virginia. They know that Hepatitis B (HBV) is called the silent killer because it does not have any symptoms. The only way to know that you have HBV is to get a simple blood test. The presence of HBV can cause liver damage and/or liver cancer. Asians and Native Hawaiians have the highest incidence of the disease, more than any other groups in the U.S. Dr. James Suh, a physician in the Washington, DC areas, was on hand to give educational information about Hepatitis B. He said chronic hepatitis B is estimated to affect over 2 million people, over half of them are Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and other Pacic Islanders. Thats why it is important for this population to get screened. If they dont have chronic hepatitis B, they should get vaccinated. Vaccination is the best way to protect against the disease. Many Filipinos however were puzzled why they had not heard of the urgency to get screened. One said that her doctor had never mentiond the need for it. Jane Pan, head of the project agreed that there was need for more education among health professionals and the Asian Community. This health project was sponsored by the D.C. Mayors Ofce of Asian and Pacic Islanders Affairs, the Hepatitis B. Initiative of Washington, D.C. , and the D.C. Department of Health.

Volunteers from different ethnicities came to help. Filams who volunteered are, seated from left, Marissa Usman, president of PNA; Nancy Ceniza, PAFC Director, Aylene Mafnas, PAFC president, Joe Mafnas and Conrad Aquino (CHHS). Behind, third from left is Nora Mendoza, incoming president of PNA, Angelica Dizon and Rosa Pool, both of CHHS. Jane Pan, executive director of the Hepatitis-B Washington, DC Initiative is directly behind.

March 15, 2013

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A Rodeo Arena in Masbate, Philippines?

Text and photos by Bing C. Branigin
MASBATE, Philippines Masbate is known as a political hot spot during Philippine election. But not known to many Filipinos is that Masbate is the home of the biggest rodeo in the Philippines. According to Maloli Espinosa-Supnet, prime mover of the Rodeo Masbateno, this is the only part of the country that you can experience to be a cowboy or cowgirl. The 20th National Rodeo Finals will be held on April 9 to 14, 2013. Competion includes bull riding, casting down of large cattle for two and four person team, four person carambola, steer wrestling, whip cracking,lassoing on a horseback and bulldogging. Participants includes Central Bicol State University, University of the Philippines, Los Banos, Benget State University, and other cowboy and western enthusiasts. The ve-day event starts with a parade of hundreds of cattles from the different ranches of Masbate, horses, street barn dancing, culinary/and beer graden. Hotels and restaurant business owners are getting ready for the thousands of tourists expected to attend the annual festival. Masbatenos for their part would rather be known for the best place for wrestling cattle and Rodeo Capital of the Philippines and not a hot spot for political killings. More and more Masbatenos are now returning home to help rebuild their place. Yes, Masbate is in the heart of the Philippines. The island is surrounded by blue pristine water and white sands, rivers, lakes, water falls, mountains, caves,and many more. So if youre too afraid wrestle a cattle, or lassoing one, try walking to the more one kilometer of bamboo boardwalk, climbing up a mountain retreat, crawling to a rocky and discovering a river, milking dairy cow, picnic in the middle of the ocean, shing and diving. Yes, theres something for everyone to do in the Island of Masbate.

Masbate Rodeo Arena, the only complete and xed Rodeo Arena in the Philippines, equipped with rodeo chute, bull riding chute, roping chute, seating capacity with evening lights.

18 U.S. News Briefs

NEW JERSEY - The Jersey City Council late last month approved a resolution proposing to allow undocumented children lei) who went to the University of South Carolina Upstate on a student visa and joined the Army as a medical worker. She is one of several hundred immigrants with temporary visas whose specialized skills make them eligible for a Pentagon program that repays service in uniform with an accelerated path to citizenship. The Army began the program on a trial basis in 2009. Maj. Carol Stahl, the programs manager, said it reopened in September 2012 and since then has enlisted 451 linguists with 28 different languages, 19 dentists and three physicians.

March 15, 2013

NJ Filipino dreamers may get college aid

slow aircraft, said Jervin of his accomplishments. His parents are very proud of their sons achievements. Initially they were uneasy for Jervin to be ying an aircraft at his young age, but after seeing what he can do, they were easily astonished. They have always emphasized the values of patience. Jervin is very determined to make his piloting dreams a reality. So far he has own a total of three hours since his rst ight in mid-January. of Uptown, Martin said, Her four workshops at the Uptown Arts Center included seniors, children, shelter residents, art enthusiasts and neighborhood artists. [Ive] never worked with such a mixed group of people all in one class, Martin said. Bringing them all in together at

Pinoy dreamers demonstrating in NJ. to qualify for in-state tuition and access to state nancial aid at New Jerseys public colleges and universities. The resolution was jointly sponsored by Filams Councilman-At-Large Rolando R. Lavarro, Jr. and Ward C Councilwoman Nidia Lopez. Outside, DREAM Act immigrants, activists and church leaders chanted Undocumented, unafraid up and down Grove Street fronting the City Hall building. Later, the DREAMERs were ushered inside City Hall to make their statements. A dozen DREAMers gave powerful testimonials at the public hearing which ended with a unanimous city council vote in favor of the resolution. Resolution J declares that Jersey Citys local government supports the Tuition Equity for DREAMers bills and urges the state legislature to pass two bills that would allow almost all New Jersey high school graduates access to InState Tuition rates, regardless of immigration status and access to state nancial aid at New Jerseys public colleges and universities for anyone with a high school diploma or GED from an educational institution in New Jersey regardless of immigration status.

Canada cops hunt Pinoy caregiver

Jannelle So honor scholar. In 1998, she was nominated to the Top 10 Most Outstanding Students of the Philippines. In Los Angeles, she took up a certicate course in print and broadcast Journalism at UCLA. TORONTO - Canadian authorities are searching for a 46-year-old Filipino man wanted in the death of a 78-year-old widow last November. Toronto

Filam student dies practicing PH dance

TEXAS - Baylor University ofcials in Texas conrmed the death of 18-year-old Filipino American Kevin Signo while practicing traditional dances with the schools Filipino student association early this month. Signo, a pre-biology student, reportedly did backip and landed on his head, according to KCEN-TV in Waco, Texas. University ofcials say the freshman was taken to Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center Saturday, and was pronounced dead early Sunday, March 3. Local reports say the Signo family plans to endow a scholarship in Kevins name.

AAPIs grow faster than other groups

WASHINGTON D.C. -Between 2000 and 2010, the AAPI population grew faster than any other racial group in the country, increasing by almost 50 percent nationwide - four times faster than the total U.S. population. The Texas AAPI community has topped that statistic, growing more than 70 percent over the past 10 years. The White House AAPI Initiative works to increase access to and participation in needed federal services and protections for these and other populations. Fernando and Mrs. de Castro police have issued a warrant for rst-degree murder for Fernando DeCastro in connection with the murder of Manijeh Bostani-Khamsi. Authorities found Bostani-Khamsis body in her high-rise apartment in Toronto on November 17, a day after De Castro cleaned her apartment. Police said the septuagenarian lived alone and there were obvious signs of trauma to her body. Police believe DeCastro and his wife, who had been in Canada for the past ve years, purchased plane tickets to the Philippines and left the country three days after the murder took place. Police said the Filipino couple worked as housekeepers and were well-known in the area. DeCastro also worked with elderly clients as a health-care provider, he added. They believe robbery was the motive. Authorities believe DeCastro is in hiding somewhere in the southern part of the Philippines. The justice department will request for extradition of the couple to Canada.

Trisha O. Martin one time is pretty interesting. Martin is experienced working with communities to create art that highlights local problems: the 2012 Columbia College graduates thesis exhibit, Breathing in City Clouds, featured Bridgeport youth creating multi-media works about the effects of coal red power plants in the community. The goal of that project, she wrote, was to foster art as action where people create art to communicate an issue that is important to the community.

Only Pinay seen on US TV daily

LOS ANGELES - Jannelle So is the only Filipina immigrant seen on American TV every day. She has made a name for herself in Southern California as the Host/Producer of SoCals rst and only daily show for and about the Filipinos, Kababayan LA for which her hard work was recognized by different prestigious Filipino organizations such as Search to Involve Pilipino Americans (SIPA) and Filipino-American Library. She also lends herself to other nonprot organizations in Southern California as event emcee and as keynote speaker. Prior to migrating to the U.S. Jannelle was an accomplished media practitioner in the Philippines where she had a six-year print and broadcast journalism career, which includes coverage of top local and international events. She has covered the last ten ghts of Philippine boxing pride Manny Pacquiao. So holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication Arts. She graduated cum laude and was awarded second honors of the whole graduating class from Miriam College, Inc., Philippines, where she was an

Pinoy kid, 12, ies solo in CA

LOS ANGELES - Jervin Barcenas, 12, a student of Saint Anne Catholic School in Santa Monica, CA, ies solo in a piper plane and hopes to obtain his

School to be named after Filam heroes?

UNION CITY, CA - The Alvarado Middle School will soon get a new name. The New Haven Unied School Districts board has decided to rename the school and among those being considered are Filam activists Larry Itliong and Philip Vera Cruz. A hearing was held March 5 to decide which names to adopt. The name of Itliong/Vera Cruz is considered on top of the list. Members of PASE (PilipinoAmerican Society for Education), Kaisahan, Filipino Advocates for Justice, the Filipino American Chamber of Commerce of Union City, and students of the Tagalog and Filipino Heritage Studies classes from James Logan High School made statements to the School Board in favor of what could potentially be historic since there is no other school in the United States that carries the names of these two heroes. One out of three Union City residents are Filipinos.

US Army fast tracks citizenship

WASHINGTON D.C. Immigrants with temporary visas but who have language, medical specialties get on fast track to US itizenship with the Army, according to the Associated Press. Recruit Carolyne Chelulei, 23, of Kenya plans to join the Army to train as a psychiatrists assistant is one of those who will a fast track to citizenship. She recently lled out documents in the Army recruiting ofce in Spartanbur, South Carolina. AP said that while Congress debates immigration policy, the Army is offering a fast path to U.S. citizenship for some legal immigrants if they can ll certain critical jobs. Chelulei (cheh-LU-

Jervine Barcenas pilots license soon. His dream of becoming a pilot materialized when he turned 12 and his parents - Mervin and Jerty Barcenas, made him take lessons at Skyward Aviation Flight School in Santa Monica as a birthday gift. From then on, it was love at rst ight. The piper plane is very easy to y because its a

Filam artist shows paper, book art

CHICAGO - A young Filipino-American artist steeped in grassroots activism recently led Uptowns contribution to Ten Thousand Ripples, a public art project designed to highlight unity through diversity. Trisha Oralie Martin, 29, a California native and Bridgeport resident, specializes in paper art and book art. Noting the varied population

March 15, 2013

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to introduce new audiences to the musical genius of one of our national artists. The organizers asked for the support and blessing of De De Leons Noli opera was, however, not the rst Filipino opera ever written. That honor belongs to Sandugong Panaginip, a 1902 work with a libretto grounded in its approach, said Bernardo. We want to appeal to a diverse audience and make the opera more attractive and affordable to the younger demographic

Noli to be staged for 1st time in East Coast

By Randy Gener
NEW YORK, New York A landmark opera based on the great novel by the Philippine national hero Dr. Jose Rizal will be staged in full orchestral splendor for the rst time in the East Coast. At a recent town hall hosted by the Philippine Center, a committee of Filam New Yorkers, led by philanthropist Loida Nicolas Lewis and Consul General Mario L. de Leon Jr., announced that Noli Me Tangere: The Opera the operatic retelling by Felipe Padilla de Leon of Rizals 1887 novel with a libretto by Guillermo Tolentino will alight at the Sylvia and Danny Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College in New York in October 2013. The East Coast premiere of Noli Me Tangere: The Opera will be Friday Oct 4 (Gala Night), Saturday Oct 5 and Sunday Oct 6 Matinee at the Sylvia & Danny Kaye Playhouse (695 Park Ave, New York, NY 10021). Nothing happens in the world if it does not happen in New York, said Nicolas Lewis. Here is a Filipino who has created a world-class opera based on Rizals Noli. It will be sung by a diverse cast in the Filipino language. The town hall meetings aim was to foment grassroots engagement and Filam community support in the tri-state New York area. So Nicolas Lewis enlisted Aida Bartoleme of the Foundation for Filipino Artists, which promotes Philippine arts and culture in New York, as well as Jose L. Ramos, chapter commander of the Order of the Knights of Rizal. Karrel Bernardo, a baritone, and Rogelia Peaverde Dr., a tenor, sang two popular De Leon songs (Sapagkat Mahal Kita and Akoy Pilipino), accompanied by Michael Dadap (guitar) and Dr. Rene Dalandan (piano). The Philippines has now shed its title as Sick Man of Asia and is now considered a rising star, said Nicolas Lewis. Our mother country is now number 3 around the world in Growth Domestic Product for 2012. We

Seated Aida Bartolome, Loida Nicolas Lewis, Consul General Mario L. de Leon, Michael Dadap. Standing L-R Jose L. Ramos, Dr. Angie Cruz, Randy Gener, May Pamana, Gerri Gaddi, Karrel Bernardo, Dr. Rene Dalandan, Deputy Consul General Tess Dizon De Vega. extended a $1-billion loan to the International Monetary Fund to stabilize the economy of our former colonial master Spain. It is time for us Filipino Americans to show the world that we are a cultured people. This ambitious staging of the Noli opera promises to be a milestone in almost every respect. It comes at the heels of the 75th year of the proclamation of a national language based on the Tagalog dialogue on December 30, 2012. That date also marks the 100th year since the remains of Rizal were reinterred in the Luneta monument. Consul General Mario de Leon added this Noli opera is ground-breaking because it celebrates the birth centennial of the prolic Felipe Padilla de Leon (no relation), who was born on May 1, 1902. Said ConGen De Leon: While most of us are probably familiar with his more popular songs such as Noche Buena, Payapang Daigdig, and Pasko na Naman all classic Filipino Christmas songs this is an opportunity to know more about the artistic legacy of Maestro de Leon. I hope we will all support this endeavor which aims Leons two sons: Felipe Padilla de Leon Jr., the new chairman of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts in the Philippines, as well as Bayani Mendoza de Leon, a composer and ethnomusicologist, who spoke of their late father via Skype. Bayani noted that the Noli has been translated into different languages, made for lm and for television, and has been adapted to a musical. His father worked closely with Tolentino, who was obsessed with the novel, to recast into a distinctively Filipino opera using the European opera genre. DeLeon and Tolentino then followed it in 1970 with an opera version of El Filibusterismo, the sequel to Noli Me Tangere. Both novels are credited for satirizing and exposing the social ills of Philippine colonial society under corrupt Spanish rule. Rizals martyred execution was entirely attributed to his work as a writer. Because of its Rizal provenance, De Leons Noli opera has enjoyed a longer life than most Filipino operas. Completed in 1950, it has been performed in 1957, 1987 and in 2011 to celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of Rizal.

Mrs. Loida Nicolas Lewis with the women leaders of UniPro L-R Iris Zlun (VP), Rochelle Ocampo (President), Kristina Joyces Director of Staff and Development), Suzette Briones, MD Chairperson). by Pedro Paterno and music by Ladislo Bonus. The difference is that Sandugong Panaginip was a one-act Tagalog opera made up of ve scenes, while De Leons Noli opera was written with two acts, making it the countrys rst full-length grand opera. The complete Noli opera has rarely been fully staged with a full orchestra. Until last year, it has never received a major production in the United States. Most Noli productions are either concert versions or musical vignettes that rework the sociopolitical relevance of several indelible characters (usually women, such as Maria Clara and Sisa). Past efforts to fully stage the Noli opera in the U.S. had come to naught. De Leons opera eventually had its U.S. debut in May 2012 under the auspices of Chicagos da Corneto Opera. Bernardo, a Chicago-based opera singer, his producing partner Gerardo Gaddi and Michael Dadap, who will serve as music director, hired an emerging playwright/director, May Nazareno, to ensure that the New York staging incorporates the issues young Fil-Ams face today. The vision we have for New York is to make it more realistic and while creating an interest among mainstream opera enthusiasts. Today, we are facing different faces of oppression caused by greed, poverty and intolerance, said Dadap. Rizal was Gods messenger to awaken us all. De Leons opera version from the novel is a vehicle serving as a powerful reminder that we Filipinos must not forget the struggles of our race. Over a century later, Rizals words and wisdom still ring true. Members of the Fil-Am community are being invited to support or invest in this culturally signicant production. For more information about the Noli opera, please contact Aida Bartolome of the Foundation for Filipino Artists Inc. (646.415.1853; lartists@gmail.com) and Karrel Bernardo of KGB Productions (312.404.9016; kgbpro1722@ gmail.com). Randy Gener, the curator/ organizer of Filipino MundoNYC (www.meetup.com/FilipinoMundo-NYC), is a New Yorkbased editor, writer, dramaturg, artist and the only Asian-American recipient of the George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism. Gener was engaged by the Noli opera committee to serve as the emcee of this Philippine Center town-hall meeting.

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Sean Lowe, 28, a successful Dallas businessman and entrepreneur who is The Bachelor 2013 on ABC, has picked a Filipino American girl as his soul mate. During the nale of the 17th season of The Bachelor on March 11, Lowe selected Christine Ligaya Mejia Quiechi, 26, to make a woman feel special and, as a life-long Texan, he holds Southern values close to his heart. He wants to propose once, be married once and live a faithful family life, like his parents, who have had a loving 35-year union. These are the same Filipino values that Christine has learned a visual designer at Amazon and professional vegan food blogger. The family moved from Washington D.C. to Washington State when Gaya was 14 years old and she went to Roosevelt High School in Seattle. (Her Twitter: @clmgiudici, Instagram: @catherinegiudici Her mother divorced her father in 2002 because he was, according to the National Enquirer, a violent man and abusive of his daughters. He now lives in Taiwan but Catherine keeps in touch with him. In their trip to meet Catherines family, the two clicked whenever they were alone together in Seattle. When it was time to meet her family, Catherine taught Sean the proper way to greet her Filipino grandmother (by touching her hand to his forehead. He nailed it.) and then warned him that her mother and sisters might be a little harsh on him. Catherines family certainly didnt take Sean and Catherines relationship at face value and they questioned both of them intensely, seeming to doubt the TV dating process and the possibility that any of the feelings could be real. It seems Catherine went onto The Bachelor as a lark, doubting she would connect with some random guy on TV, and her sisters seem con-

March 15, 2013

The Bachelor picks Filam as soul mate

Catherine is shown in front row along with 24 other contestants at the beginning of the 17th season.

Sean and Catherine appear during the nale of the show March 11. a pretty Washington D.C.-born lass over Lindsey Lenter, a school teacher who is also from Texas. Originally, there were a total of 25 contestants. At the nale, both Sean and Christine said that unlike other Bachelor shows, their love is for real. They said they would soon select the date for their wedding, with full TV coverage. A real romantic, Sean loves from her mother, Cynthia, who is from Pangasinan. Talking about herself, Catherine said: I also grew up with my mothers terse reminder: You may be the only brown person in the room, but dont forget you are Filipino. Catherine, who proudly calls herself Gaya, (for Ligaya which in Tagalog means happiness), has two other sisters named India and Monica. She is

Catherine with her mom, Cynthia Mejia (right) and a family friend. cerned that shes come back a true believer. Catherines mom didnt give Seans theoretical marriage proposal her blessing. At the nale, Sean told Christine: I knew from the beginning that you were someone I wanted to be around, he began. I just had no idea my feelings would turn into what they did. I think the world of you and I miss you every time we have to say goodbye. I miss you. I dont want to say goodbye anymore. And with that, Sean dropped down on his knee and asked her the question shed been dying to hear. Catherine, will you marry me? And she said: Yes.

March 15, 2013

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by Rajah Mudah Agbiruddin Kiram, Sultan Bantilan Esmail Kiram II, Datu Alianapia Kiram, Datu Phugdal Kiram and Datu Bagurddin Kiram. own people. A bizarre border drama ensued as the Malaysian police immediately surrounded their un-invited guests. Sabah as part of Philippine territory citing Section 2 of Republic Act 5446: The denition of the baselines of the territorial sea of the Philippine archipelago as provided in this Act is without prejudice to the delineation of the baselines of the territorial sea around the territory of Sabah, situated in North Borneo, over which the Republic of the Philippines has acquired dominion and sovereignty. What is unfortunate is that Aquinos propaganda machinery has consistently missed its mark, as its ofcial pitbull, Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda twatted I dont know where Senator Gordon is getting his legal knowledge but the law that he is invoking has already been repealed by the new baselines law (referring to RA 9522). Manila Times columnist Rigoberto Tiglao returned the twat to Lacierda by asserting he is lying, ignorant or plain dimwitted. Afrming Gordon, he claried that on July 16, 2011, the Supreme Court unanimously upheld RA 5446 in its decision GR#187167, Petitioners argument for the invalidity of RA 9522 for its failure to textualize the Philippines claim to Sabah is also untenable. Section 2 of RA 5446, which RA 9522 did not repeal, keeps an open door for drawing the baselines of Sabah. Another clown sucking up to the president is Cabinet Secretary Rene Almendras, If you had a house and then somebody comes in armed, how would you react. Tiglao reduced his analogy to absurdity If you leased your house and your tenant refuses to give it back to you and brandishes his arms, how would you react? Tiglao also assailed Team Pnoy senatorial reelectionist Chiz Escudero: As has been his style, he has pursued Aquinos playbook but tries hard to appear not to be his factotum when he said that the Sabah claim is a personal issue involving the Sultan of Sulu. Its a private right and a private claim. This baboon cannot however say that Sabah is part of the Philippines much like pissing on our legs and telling us that its raining. The Ateneo Human Rights Center expressed its disappointment on the BS Aquinos dismissive treatment of the incident when BS Aquino threatened the Sultanate and the Royal Security Force that if they choose not to cooperate, they will face the full force of the law. The Center said, The government has exhibited insensitivity to the root cause of the incident and an impaired (sic) knowledge of the historical, cultural, political and personal

Bangsamoro crescent rising in South

By Ado Paglinawan Special to Manila Mail
An old Tausug saying goes An kusog ko, ha raayat ku, translated to English as Our power comes from our people! What Ferdinand Marcos and his 20-year rule failed to complete, that is the liberation of Sabah from the Malaysians, Jamalul Kiram III is achieving in a ash of events, acting in the name of the Sultanate of Sulu and without support from the government of the Philippines. As a result, two heads of state feebly crams to consolidate foothold in their respective governments - Prime Minister Najib Razak who is facing Malaysian parliamentary elections this June and President BS Aquino who is presently campaigning for a clear majority in both houses of Philippine Congress for local and senatorial elections a month earlier in May. if she was the most visible one of the dignitaries who made it to Kuala Lumpur to witness its aborted signing. The embassy row in Washington DC however understands that this is just one of the United States pre-staging strategies to transfer its security impetus from the Middle East where it has experienced great setbacks and massive budget reversals, to Southeast Asia in view of a recent series of low-level maritime confrontations in disputed waters in and around the South China Sea, but covertly in search of partners for cheaper Almighty oil. Najib Razak was just more than willing to go along with the deal with the MILF rst with Arroyo and now with Aquino, thinking it would buffer any retaliation of the larger and more potent MNLF whose chairman Nur Misuari whom the Malaysian government repatriated back to the Philippines in 2001 to be incarcerated until 2008 while using the same single stone to push back further into oblivion the claim of the Sultanate of Sulu to Sabah.

Nur Misuari with Sultan Jamalul Kiram III and their wives. Shedding light on why Aquino is scandalously tardy in his appreciation of the Muslim concerns in the very county he heads, former Washingtonian Amina Rasul, now leading advocate for women and Muslim rights in Manila, blamed that Marvic Leonen, who the president peddled to the public as a genius and expert in Filipino Muslim affairs and later on appointed to the Supreme Court, miserably shortchanged all Filipino-Muslims with his haphazardly crafted Framework, She said: the late Muhammad Esmail Kiram ofcially transferred the Sultanates sovereignty over Sabah to the Philippines on Sept. 12, 1962, through a written instrument signed by himself and Foreign Affairs Secretary Emmanuel Pelaez, after the Ruma Bechara (literally House of Talk, equivalent to Council of Advisers or Cabinet) passed a resolution authorizing the same. By assigning its sovereign rights, Razul said that the Sultanate however retained proprietary rights over Sabah, subject to a provision in the same Ruma Bechara resolution that in the event the government fails or refuses to protect its sovereignty and proprietary claims, the Sultanate of Sulu reserves the right to prosecute its claim over Sabah, in whatever manner it can think of. Randy David writing for the Inquirer noted, The invasion led by the brother of the current Sultan is clearly an attempt to shove the issue into the faces of the two governments (Philippines and Malaysia), neither of which relishes being dictated upon by the heirs of an archaic sultanate. A messy end to this impasse could stoke ethnic resentments and needlessly iname nationalist sentiments. Mel Sta. Maria, resident legal analyst of InterAksyon TV5, wrote: The context of this action of the Sultan of Sulu and his followers is beyond question. It is not a power grab. It is a reassertion of their historic, legal and moral right to be in Sabah It was for them the pursuit of a noble cause. But President Aquino, who may be credited to have already sold-out to Malaysian best interests as early as the signing of the Framework Agreement, appeared more concerned about saving face before his foreign patrons rather than being wise. Last February 26, BS Aquino called for a press conference where he appealed to the Sultan in an even more bizarre manner, These times require you to use your inuence to prevail on our country to desist from this hopeless cause. The statement immediately drew all kinds of retort from every media organization in the country. Mel Sta. Maria issues a rejoinder that hopeless cause may be construed as lost cause that implies surrender, capitulation or even abandonment of interest.

LETTERS LOST
Sultan Kiram III had sent the Philippine president three letters since he was inaugurated last July 2010, which BS Aquino admitted had been lost in what he termed as bureaucratic maze. Intelligence reports that from what Manila coffeehouses are ltering today indicate that communists of Saul AlinskyAkbayan orientation in the present Aquino cabinet, with the names of both Teresita Deles and Ronald Llamas surfacing, deliberately lost in transit the letters of the Sultan. These two yellow celebrities, Llamas as national security adviser and Deles as presidential adviser on the peace process, are in control of all negotiations with insurgency groups. Civil society was therefore taken in complete surprise when in an obvious display of classic damage control Secretary Albert del Rosario confessed that one letter was marooned in his Department, albeit conveniently alleging receipt before he took ofce. Instead of placating the coffee habitus, it reminded them how the Americans, in collaboration with the British, recently fast-tracked the signing of the Framework Agreement for a Bangsamoro Entity with a faction of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) the Maguindanao-based Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). The Framework was merely an edited redux of the Memorandum Agreement for Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) that the Supreme Court had already declared as unconstitutional under the Gloria Arroyo administration sending then US Ambassador Kristie Kenney to puke an abrupt disavowal even

PULAU PANGKOR
What is not being said here is that after the late Benigno Aquino Jr. exposed President Marcos covert plan in the late 1960s to send Tausug commandos to Sabah acting as trojan horses to seed insurgency there, Malaysia began training, arming and nancing its own insurgent proxies beginning with the MNLF rst and then the MILF, in its island of Pulau Pangkor, to sow low intensity warfare in southern Philippines, prominently in the Muslim dominated areas in Mindanao. Abaraham Julpa Idjirani, secretary-general and spokesman of the Sultanate of Sulu, said The Framework Agreement was consummated without any mention of the historic and sovereign rights of the Sultanate over Sabah. We thought that President Aquino gave weight to ancestral domains, we were utterly wrong. Even before thrice corresponding with the incumbent administration, Idrijani added that the Sultanates desire and intentions to be part of the Peace Process was expressed in an April 13, 2009 letter to former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. The heirs, completely left out of the peace process and feeling betrayed, moved towards their own unication late last year, forgetting personal and policy differences and deciding to proceed with the Sabah claim on their own, superseding a 1962 accord with the government of the Philippines. The once feuding royals who joined Jamalul Kiram III, were led

STANDOFF
Thus on February 11, 2013, Sultan Jamalul Kiram III issued a royal decree dispatching more than 200 of its Royal Security Force in speedboats from Sumunul Island in TawiTawi, under the leadership of his younger brother Crown Prince Rajah Mudah who announced upon arrival in the village of Tungduao at Lahad Datu in Sabah their intent to reclaim their homeland: We come in peace. We are not here to wage war. This is not an act of aggression but a journey back home. We will never bring war to our own territory, much less to our

BASELINES
UNA senatorial candidates Richard Gordon and Mitos Villareal said the president may be impeachable for betraying public trust. Villareal was graphic: If Sabah is a hopeless cause, then it means Aquino is not ghting for our sovereignty despite the fact that we have a legitimate claim... Gordon said the president violated a law recognizing

Continued on page 22

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Bangsamoro crescent... from page 21
dimensions of our aspirations of our Tausug brothers and sisters Indeed (it) may have unduly alienated citizens who have hitherto exhibited loyalty to the Philippines. Jovito Salonga, one the greatest Philippine legal luminary and chairman-emeritus of the Liberal Party, who is still alive. SALONGA CHRONICLES On March 30, 1963, Salonga rebuked Noynoys uncle the late Senator Lorenzo Sumulong who berated the Philippine claim to Sabah led by President Diosdado Macapagal a year earlier on June 22, 1962. Salonga issued the following historiography: In 1704, in gratitude for help extended to him (by 600 Tausugs) in quelling a rebellion, the Sultan of Brunei ceded North Borneo to the Sultan of Sulu. Over the years, the various European countries, including Britain, Spain and the Netherlands, acknowledged the Sultan of Sulu as the sovereign ruler of North Borneo. They entered into various treaty arrangements with him. In (January 22) 1878, a keen Austrian adventurer, by the name of Baron de Overbeck, having known that the (Sultanate) was facing a life-and-death struggle with the Spanish forces in the Sulu Archipelagotook advantage of the situation and persuaded the Sultan to lease to him, in consideration of a yearly rental of Malayan $5,000 (roughly equivalent to a meager US$1,600), the territory now in question. The contract of lease read: (2) all the territories and lands being tributary to us on the mainland of the island of Borneo(5)but the rights and powers hereby leased shall not be trnasferrable to any nation, or company of other nationality, without the consent of their Majestys government. Salonga continued Overbeck later sold out all his rights under the contract to Alfred Dent, an English merchant, who established a provisional association and later a company, known as the British North Borneo Company, which assumed all the rights and obligations under the 1878 contract. This company was awarded a Royal Charter in 1881. A protest against the grant of the charter was lodged by the Spanish and the Dutch governments and in reply, the British government claried its position and stated in unmistakable language that sovereignty remains with the sultan of Sulu and that the Company was merely an administering authority. In 1946, the British North Borneo Company transferred all its rights and obligations to the British Crown. The Crown, on July 10, 1946just six days after Philippine independence asserted full sovereign rights over North Borneo, as of that date. Shortly thereafter former American Governor General Francis Burton Harrison, then special adviser to the Philippine government on foreign affairs, denounced the cession order as a unilateral act in violation of legal rights. Salonga summarizes: Our claim is mainly based on the following propositions: that Overbeck and Dent, not being sovereign entities nor representing sovereign entities, could not and did not acquire dominion and sovereignty over North Borneo; that on the basis of authoritative British and Spanish documents, the British North Borneo Company, a private trading concern to whom Dent transferred his rights, did not and could not acquire dominion and sovereignty over North Borneo; that their rights were as those indicated in the basic contract, namely, that of a lessee and a mere delegate; that in accordance with established precedents in international law, the assertion of sovereign rights by the British Crown in 1946, in complete disregard of the contract of 1878 and their solemn commitments, did not and cannot produce legal results

March 15, 2013

power occupying the land of our people? I am totally against that, with all my soul. I hope the President will be properly advised. I hope he will recant. Otherwise we wont forgive him. I understand there is an attempt even to arrest the Sultan. Let them do that. The country will be in total chaos if they do, I promise you, the founding MNLF chairman said. Despite United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon call to an end in violence and the start of dialogue among all parties to resolve the three-week old conict in Sabah, Malaysian troops have hyped the death toll and are searching houses and terrain for armed members of the Sultanate. Civilians in the affected areas have started to relocate seeking refuge away from conict, with some Filipinos not having proper immigration papers sailing back to TawiTawi. Meanwhile, Nur Misuari and the MNLF, with the blessings of the Sultanate of Sulu could declare a Bangsamoro State comprised of the ARMM territories and Sabah, and apply with the United Nations for selfdetermination. As a new nation is born, Christians all over Mindanao could also discuss a JointRule of Mindanao, Sulu, Palawan, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi, including Sabah. So Bangsamoro could go for its own sovereignty and with Sabah would be very viable. As the amputation of the Philippines becoming more apparent, the rest of the Philippines ought to denitely respond proactively to prevent it. BS Aquino could be overthrown before the 2016 elections and a civilian-military junta established to immediately negotiate peace and reunication with a real Bangsamoro de facto State. A new Constitution is crafted providing for a midstream between the Spanish autonoma and the federal forms, as new structure models. As Sabah declares its own independence from Malaysia, following Brunei and Singapore to meet its own manifest destiny, the Philippines graduates into a vibrant tiger economy and stability is restored to the region. Allahu Akbar! ___________ ADO PAGLINAWAN was the backdoor negotiator of the Philippine Government Peace Talks with the Moro National Liberation Front and Cordillera Peoples Liberation Army in 1987, while serving as special assistant of Ambassador Emmanuel Pelaez and press officer of the Philippine Embassy from April 1986 to February 1994. After his diplomatic posting, he acted as a private strategic public relations consultant to various clients between Washington DC and Manila, notably to Richard Gordon as Chairman of the Subic Bay Management Authority from 1995-98 and as Secretary of Tourism from 2001 to 2004, and Luisito Lorenzo as Secretary of Agriculture from December 2002 to July 2004. As a freelance journalist, he has been writing extensively for yahoo groups and social media since 2003 and publishes two eMagazines, HeadsUp for faith, family and life since 2007 and The Philippines Soberano since 2012.

FOOLHARDY?
BS Aquino has also called the Sultanates incursion into Sabah as foolhardy against which Kiram III fumingly replied: Is it foolhardy to defend the patrimony of your nation? To ght for what is right? To sacrice the lives of 235 people for the sake of truth? Spawning more faux pas of the government, Interior Secretary Mar Roxas and Justice Secretary Leila de Lima likewise showed their own share of incompetence. Roxas said that the government of Malaysia will not even bother talk to the Sultanate, against which the Sultan argued Is he now the spokesman for Malaysia? Is it that hard for the Philippines and Malaysia to sit down and talk to us settling this issue amicably? De Lima, for her part, implied that there are some saboteurs who swayed the Sultan and funded his drastic action, against which Kiram III responded, I pledge to our Holy Quran that this aspiration to ght for what is rightfully ours, is a unilateral act of the Sultanate. Please do not insult our sacrice by saying we can be swayed. The Ofce of the Press Secretary also carelessly shot column feeds, one digested by Ellen Tordesillas using the Gloria Arroyo bogey to confuse the issues. The newshens blog The Inbox, picked up by Yahoo News, said that Malacanang believes the occupation of Lahad Datuis really meant to sabotage the peace talks with the MILF, implicating Arroyos former national security adviser Norberto Gonzales. In fact, she ate the red herring thrown by Malacanang, It is easily believable because Gonzales has deep network in Muslim Mindanao and is close to Nur Misuari It has only been more than two years, and the Razak-Arroyo conspiracy pushing for the MOA-AD through the Supreme Court where it perished by only a single vote, has been forgotten. As earlier said in this article, this cost Nur Misuari seven years of incarceration as a political prisoner for seven years without the benet of an arraignment or trial. Arroyo and Gonzales, rst as his national security adviser and later as defense secretary, also completely ignored both the MNLF that Misuari leads and the Sultanate of Sulu from the peace process. Yet the incumbent president does not really have to go very far to get to conrm the Sultans lucidity despite appearance of a helpless diabetic. Aquino can ask

PROGNOSIS
My prognosis is that the situation will denitely worsen and develop a mind of its own before it becomes better and manageable. As we speak, Moro insurgency has been implanted in Malaysia. Incursions not just by the Tausugs, but eventually by the MNLF and even the Abu Sayaff will incessantly fester Malaysia, as the Royal Security Army is reinforced, ushering in a semblance of a civil war in Sabah. The BS Aquino government is doomed, as the real Bangsamoro crescent rises, and with Sabah at that! When Filipino Muslims - Maguindanaoans, Maranaos, Lumads and even former Christians who have become Balik Muslims - are placed in an awkward position of not coming to the aid their besieged brothers in Sabah, the MILF too will join the fray, blasting the Aquinos Framework Agreement to smithereens. With a good portion of Mindanao engaged in the war, Malaysia could retaliate using its more superior navy and air force against Philippine territory dragging the Christian population of Mindanao into the escalation. The temptation to Kuala Lumpur unleashing a genocide or ethnic cleansing of nearly a million Filipinos in Sabah could bring about unmitigated human rights atrocities spreading as far as Sarawak, magneting the Indonesians to possibly revive a konfrontasi with Malaysia. In the same way that Marcos was deposed, the territorial and border disputes could bring about the fall of Najib Razak and his political party and the ascent of oppositionist Anwar Ibahim ushering in democratic reforms to the Malaysian Federation and peaceful negotiations with the Moros and the Sultanate of Sulu.

REPROBATE
Up to this writing, Aquino still insists on being reprobate. Instead of focusing on the Sabah standoff, he has joined his Team Pnoy senatorial candidates in their hustings for the May 2013 elections, taking his talking points directly to diminishing crowds. When he issued yet another ultimatum to the Sultanate and his Royal Security Army last March 1- Surrender now without conditions or face consequences, Aquino irresponsibly sent a strong signal to Prime Minister Najib Razak that the Philippine government will not act even if the Malaysians massacre the Filipinos in Sabah. Princess Jaycel Kiram, daughter of Sultan Kiram III, was quick to respond, The Royal Security Army will never surrender because they are prepared to die for a cause. To the Filipino Muslim, the issue is one of Honor above Life. Her mother Fatima Celia Kiram adds What is profoundly important among our men in Sabah is that they are ghting for their rights and honor. The Malaysians could wipe them out but the problem wont go away, they would be replaced by others and generations more to come. As Jacel was about to wrap up a press conference, Nur Misuari, himself could no longer swallow the presidents traitorous language when he told reporters at the house of Sultan Kiram III at Taguig City, What the president has done is very bad. It is unbecoming of a head of state, to be siding with the enemy of his own people. And for what reason is he (Aquino) aligning this country with Malaysia, a colonial

March 15, 2013

23
10 Sultanate followers who were captured during a police raid on Agbimuddins group in Tanduao village in Lahad Datu town on March 1, but the Malaysians have not responded, Hernandez said. Bagong Alyansang Makabayan pressed the government to protest the brutal crackdown on Filipinos in Sabah or its silence might be understood as a tacit approval of the Malaysian governments mail-sted response to the intrusion. The reported ordeal of Filipinos in Sabah has prompted at least 93 civil society groups in the Philippines and Malaysia to call for a humanitarian ceasere to ensure the safety of noncombatants. The appeal is addressed to President Aquino, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and Jamalul. UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon has also called for a truce. The groups also called for the setting up of safe zones where humanitarian organizations could help people eeing from the violence in the territory. The Philippine Navy on Sunday reported that 400 refugees had been stranded on Taganak Island (Turtle Island) since Saturday night, waiting to be rescued. Navy Capt. Rene Yongque, commander of Naval Task Force 62, said the refugees, all from Sandakan, reached Philippine waters in wooden boat past 7 p.m. Saturday. One refugee, Amira Taradji, spoke of how Malaysian police conducting sweeps of villages in search of the sultans followers rounded up Filipino men, made them run as fast as they could, and shot them. One of the men killed in Sandakan was Taradjis brother Jumadil. Even Filipinos with immigration papers were being rounded up and thrown into jails, Taradji said. Some who tried to avoid arrest by showing their papers were shot, she said. Seventy-nine people, including Tausug and Orang Suluk (people who originated from Sulu), were rounded up on March 8 in police sweeps of villages to ush out supporters of Jamaluls attempt to retake Sabah from Malaysia. Hundreds of Filipinos eeing Sabah have been stranded in the Turtle Islands, according to Capt. Rene Yongque, commander of the Philippine Navys Task Force 62. He added they were deploying additional ships in the area to assist other evacuees. Theyre worried the rough seas could pose a danger because most of the available boats in the area are small and made from wood. The Turtle Islands are just 40 kilometers (about 24 miles) from the Sabah coast, but 540 kilometers (335 miles) to the Tawi-Tawi provincial capital in Bonggao. On the other hand, President Aquino has tasked the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to look into a possible conspiracy that led to the Sabah incident. The agency has already summoned several civil society personalities, including Pastor Boy Saycon who is secretary general of the Council of Philippine Affairs (COPA) that is one of the Presidents support groups.

Sabah crisis strains... from page 1

dzRB radio on Sunday, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said abuses against Filipinos in Sabah came despite the earlier assurance of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak that the rights of the 800,000 Filipinos in Malaysia would be protected. On March 11, Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas 2nd met with Ismael Kiram, brother of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram 3rd, to discuss the possible disengagement of the sultans followers in Sabah. Our discussion on nding a solution to this problem is broad, there are some messages they want to convey to the President. Lets say its about disengagement, Roxas told reporters. But Malaysia has stressed the Sultans followers must rst surrender to police and lay down their arms. Roxas said that the main concern now of President Aquino is the safety and welfare of some 800,000 Filipinos in Sabah some of whom are being rounded up on suspicion of supporting the Sultans followers. Meanwhile, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is verifying news reports based on the accounts given by Filipinos eeing violence sparked by the intrusion of the followers of Sultan Jamalul Kiram III into Sabah.

Interior Secretary Mar Roxas with Ismael Kuram. One refugee, Amira Taradji, spoke of how Malaysian police conducting sweeps of villages in search of the sultans followers rounded up Filipino men, made them run as fast as they could, and shot them. One of the men killed in Sandakan was Taradjis brother Jumadil. Even Filipinos with immigration papers were being rounded up and thrown into jails, Taradji said. Some who tried to avoid arrest by showing their papers were shot, she said. Seventy-nine people, including Tausug and Orang Suluk (people who originated from Sulu), were rounded up on March 8 in police sweeps of villages to ush out supporters of Jamaluls attempt to retake Sabah from Malaysia. Thirty-three more, including four women, were arrested March 10 morning on suspicion of aiding the intruders, including providing them with security information.

Filipinos suspected of supporting the Sultanates men are rounded up by Sabah police. The Semporna police chief, Firdaus Francis Abdullah, said the suspects, all foreigners, were detained at Bakau. He did not say if the foreigners were Filipinos, but Bakau has many Filipino residents. Malaysian police chief Ismail Omar reported that a teenage boy was shot dead and a man was wounded by security forces in the bushes in the battle zone. Sixty-one people have been killed in ghting since the intrusion led to violence on March 1, including 53 Filipinos and eight Malaysian policemen. The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said Malaysia has not responded to its request for updated information about Filipino casualties in the ghting between Malaysian msecurity forces and followers of Jamalul led by the sultans brother Agbimuddin. The Philippines has asked Malaysia to be given access to Philippines, said Terry Valen, chair of the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns. The advocates plan to bring the stories of the Grand Isle Shipyard workers when they go to Washington DC and meet with legislators next month. They said the only way human trafcking and modernday slavery to stop is for the federal government to step up and sanction companies perpetrating them. They also want President Obama to eliminate what they call the exploitative guest workers programs as part of immigration reform. While in Louisiana, Valen and other activists held a protest against Grand Isle Shipyard and the workers recruiters , after more details of ill-treatment and discrimination of the Filipino workers were revealed. government forces leave the area. Then they said they would be used as human shields against Syrian attacks. Then they said they were their honored guests and held for their own safety. Earlier, a spokesperson of the US Department of State, Victoria Nuland, assailed the Syrian government for shelling the area, She also warned the rebels that the kidnapping was not good for their reputation and that they need to immediately release these people.

OFWs sue Louisiana... from page 1

week, and sometimes up to four months straight with no overtime pay. The activists alleged the workers also suffered from unreasonable deductions in their pay that went into housing as they were made to pay up to $3,000 per month for a bunk bed. The JFW said that while a number of the Filipino workers have decided to sue the shipyard, about 160 have chosen to stay silent. Meanwhile, ABS-CBN Balitang Amerika said the Filipino workers who led a class action against the shipyard petitioned the court to cite it in contempt. Court records obtained by Balitang America show that since the order, Grand Isle Shipyard has allegedly intimidated the Filipino workers, by reportedly ignoring or denying their requests for employment certications and verications. Those who led the lawsuit claim they are also being threatened with job abandonment and deportation. Grand Isle Shipyard has earlier led a separate motion to modify a protective order with sanctions, alleging that some of the workers violated a court order by providing interviews to media. The activists also claimed that the company held the workers tax refunds. They said several dozen of them have now been granted T-visas. As victims of human trafcking, this vindicates the stories theyve been telling about how theyve been recruited and trafcked from the

MD cops hunt driver... from page 1

Feb. 26. Friends said she took that route like clock-work on her way home at the 3800 block of Elby Street, where she shared an apartment with Violy Mangubat, a member of the El Shaddai Catholic Charismatic group of St. Stephens church in DC. Authorities called on possible witnesses, either from the L8 bus that Ali took or pedestrians in the area when the hit-and-run happened. The Montgomery county police is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the identication and arrest of the culprit. Detectives are requesting that anyone with information concerning this collision or the vehicle and driver involved in it, to contact the Collision Reconstruction Unit at (240) 773-6620. If he or she is listening, please contact us and turn yourself in, I promise you will be treated fairly, dont make a bad decision a lifelong nightmare. Ms. Ali and her family deserve closure in this matter, Police Capt. Thomas Didone appealed to the driver. Family and friends held a candle light vigil on Feb. 27 near the bus stop where she would have stepped down on her way home. Ali left a teenage son, Reonimar Eres Salibay. She hailed from Davao City and was born to parents Felix and Amelia Eres. Relatives revealed she had just recently taken her oath as a naturalized American citizen. She was working as a nanny for the two children of the Daly family in Tenleytown, DC. They considered her more as a family member than an employee, according to Grace Valera, executive director of the Migrant Heritage Commission (MHC) that has been aiding Alis relatives. Her current employer promised to help but with the exorbitant cost of repatriating her remains back home, Valera explained, they need additional contributions to send her remains back to Davao and give her a decent burial.

21 freed Pinoy... from page 1

Army Maj. Dominador Valerio, who was among the captives, talked to his military commander in Manila and remained in high spirits. He said tell my wife Im OK. The 21 were members of the 326 Filipino contingent in the Golan Heights are part of the UN Disengagement Observer Force (Undof) that was set up to monitor a ceasere in 1974, seven years after Israel captured the plateau and a year after it pushed back Syrian troops trying to recapture the territory. Asked if the incident would prompt the Philippines to withdraw its peacekeeping personnel, military spokesman Col. Arnulfo Burgos said the Filipino deployments would continue although assessments would be made to better safeguard the peacekeepers in increasingly hostile areas. After seizing the peacekeepers, the rebels demanded Syrian

24 Entertainment

March 15, 2013

NOVA Pinoys get unexpected movie treat

ALEXANDRIA, Va. Even without being advertised, Pinoys still got wind that a Filipino movie was being shown here and dutifully ocked to see it. The AMC theater at the Hoffman Center along Eisenhower Blvd. showed A Moment in Time featuring one of the countrys hottest new love team -Coco Martin and Julia Montes, who built a loyal fan base thru the tele-novela Walang Hanggan. A Moment in Time has emerged as one of the Philippines biggest money-makers, raking in over P57 million during the Valentines Day stretch last month. It has cemented Martins reputation as top box ofce draw. Martin, who rst gained notice in independent movies before shifting his attention to TV, A Moment in Time is now his biggest movie hit so far. His previous movie, Born to Love You, which also marked the screen debut of singer Angeline Quinto, grossed an estimated P53.9 million during its entire run last year. The 31-year-old actor will be seen again in Juan dela Cruz which pairs him with one-time love interest Erich Gonzales. Last January, Martin confessed that he had courted Gonzales after their rst lm together, Noy, in 2010.

Aerosmith coming to Manila; fans balk vs tickets

First the good news: Steven Tyler and the Aerosmith will be performing for the rst time in the Philippines. The bad news, at least for some, fans will have to shell out a princely sum to watch the show. The multi-awarded Aerosmith rock band will perform at the SM Mall of Asia Arena on May 8. Manila was made part of their 2013 world tour to promote the bands latest album Music from Another Dimension. No sooner did SM begin selling tickets when social media lit up, as Filipinos expressed frustration over the ticket prices which starts at P2,600 (about $63) for general admission. The upper box section tickets runs to P15,000 ($365) and VIP seats cost P20,000 ($487) which can take a huge bite out of Filipinos who on the average earn the equivalent of $5,900 a year. Dear Aerosmith, do you know that the Philippines is a third world country? Your ticket prices are absurd! said twitted Christine Lavina. Friday morning heart attack cause of Aerosmith ticket prices, said Viva Gonzalez. The ticket prices are reportedly higher than those charged for Jennifer Lopezs concert last November. Filipino fans of all ages remember the bands latter hits such as I Dont Wanna Miss a Thing, which is included in the soundtrack of the movie Armageddon, starring Bruce Willis and Tylers daughter, Liv. Older fans, on the other hand, remember the bands Dream On from a 1973 album

Coco Martin and Julia Montes Gonzales has largely kept mum on her relationship with her non-showbiz boyfriend, who is 10 years her senior. They have been a couple for over two years now. For his part, Martin has been romantically linked to actress Montes who is turning 18 on March 19. Martin will play a major role in her fairytaleinspired debut party. Siyempre ready, the actor said, referring to his part in the celebration. Excited dahil alam ko excited siya para sa birthday niya. Siyempre na-e-excite din ako na maging escort niya. Asked on his gift for his onscreen partner, he added, Pinag-iisipan ko pa eh. Mahirap eh, kasi kumbaga, Im sure meron na siya halos lahat. Bahala na kung ano ang maisip. In earlier interviews, Martin had expressed his intention to court Montes once she turns 18. He preferred to keep mum, however, when asked Thursday on his plans to woo the actress. Aside from the regular showing in cinemas across the Philippines, A Moment In Time now has an exclusive pay-per-view on The Filipino Channel (TFC) in all Middle East countries except in United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar and Bahrain. In this area, the movie was also shown at AMC Loews Cinema Rio 18 in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

Steven Tyler and Aerosmith. as well as the hit Dude (Looks Like a Lady) from 1987 and Janies Got a Gun from 1990. Tyler will also likely be remembered as a judge for two seasons of American Idol. He was a huge fan of the FilipinoMexican contestant Jessica Sanchez, who ended up a runner-up in the previous season. Tyler and song-writing partner Joe Perry headline this years class of inductees into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Singer Tyler and guitarist Perry wrote Dream On, Walk This Way and Love in an Elevator since the band formed in 1970 and went on to win four Grammy awards. Aerosmith was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001. The induction ceremony will take place on June 13 in New York.

Filam knocked out from Idol

Alaska Fil-Am Adriana Latonio was voted off American Idol after what judges said was a poor song choice. After Angie, Amber, and Kree, I would just say that you work a little bit and come back next year, judge Nicki Minaj said. I think the song was too big for you. Latonio had sung Destinys Child Stand Up For Love. It was sharp contrast to her previous weeks performance, when she chose Aretha Franklins Aint No Way that was enough to push her to the semi-nals. Two other Fil-Ams Bridget Jett Hermano and Bryant Tadeo earlier failed to make the Top 20. Im a little worried that wasnt the best song choice for you, chimed fellow judge Keith Urban. At 17, Latonio was the youngest of the female nalists (she was just 16 when she auditioned). She has ample time to try again next year like others whove moved up the ladder last week. Latonio said she was proud to represent Alaska. It was the rst time any singer from the state made it to the American

Regine ready to lose voice for another baby

Regine Velasquez wants a child even if it means losing her stomach into the esophagus. Treatment usually involves lifestyle changes and medication. Surgery is recommended in 10 to 20 percent of cases. I dont feel bad about this. Im more than thankful that I had Nate, Velasquez averred. Should I lose my voice though of course I pray I wont its okay. Ive been singing for a long time, anyway. Ive had so much fun doing it and Ive helped my family, too, she added. Today, her life revolves around her Nate. When he was younger, she said it breaks her heart to see Nate cry when he sees her leaving the house. Now, I just ask the yaya by phone about his every activity during the day. Velasquez is re-uniting Alcasid, Pops Fernandez and Martin Nievera for a reprise of their Foursome concert at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City on March 16. It will feature Gary Valenciano as guest performer.

Ogie Alcasid and Regine Velasquez. million-peso voice. Shes admitted to having a condition called acid reux, which started shortly after giving birth to Nate, her 1-yearold son with singer-songwriter Ogie Alcasid. In an interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer, she said pregnancy can irritate her stomach and throat which made it virtually impossible to sing. Acid reux is a symptom of mucosal damage caused by gastric acid coming up from the

Adriana Latonio Idol semi-nals. Her talents are apparently well known in the large Fil-Am community in Anchorage, fronting for visiting stars from Manila including Erik Santos in 2008 and Sheryn Regis in 2009. Shes a student at the East High School in Anchorage and reportedly topped the Great Alaskan Vocal Competition in 2010 and was 1st runner up in Alaskas Got Talent in 2011. The American Idol Top 10 contenders are Lazaro Arbos, Janelle Arthur, Curtis Finch Jr., Candice Glover, Kree Harrison, Amber Holcomb, Paul Jolley, Angela Miller, Burnell Taylor and Devin Velez.

March 15, 2013

25

When debt collectors play hardball

QUESTION: I am behind in paying some bills and Ive been receiving harassing phone calls from a couple of debt collectors. Is there any law that governs debt collection practices in the U.S.? ANSWER: Yes. In 1978, in the face of abundant evidence of the use of abusive, deceptive, and unfair debt collection practices by many debt collectors, the U.S. Congress enacted the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) (see 15 U.S.C. 1692 et seq.). The FDCPA provides debtors with a means for challenging payoff demands, and for determining the validity and accuracy of asserted debts. More importantly, the FDCPA establishes ethical guidelines for the collection of consumer debts. In particular, it prohibits abusive collection tactics that harass debtors or invade their privacy. Currently, the FDCPA generally applies only to third-party debt collectors. It is not intended to cover the conduct of the original creditor. Under the FDCPA, a debt collector is someone who regularly collects debts owed to others. This includes collection agencies, lawyers who collect debts on a regular basis, and companies that buy delinquent debts and then try to collect on them. The FDCPA covers personal, family, and household debts, including money that the debtor may owe on a personal credit card account, an auto loan, a medical bill, and his or her mortgage. Some states, such as California, have enacted consumer protection laws that provide broader coverage than the FDCPA, and they may include the conduct of the original creditor within their coverage. The FDCPA permits states to enact consumer protection laws that exceed the requirements of the FDCPA. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) enforces the provisions of the FDCPA. QUESTION: What are some of the protections accorded to debtors by the FDCPA? ANSWER: The FDCPA has very broad consumer protection provisions. For example, while a debt collector may contact you by phone, a debt collector may not call you before 8 A.M. and after 9 P.M., unless you expressly agree. He may not call you repeatedly or use the phone to harass you. He may not use obscene language, make negative comments about your character, or make fied Distressed Property and Short Sale Expert, (SFR) Short Sales and Foreclosure Resource. For more info, visit her website at www.jprealdeal. com or call her at 571-432-8335 or

Making an offer
Whooooaaa!!! Buyers are everywhere!!! It is that time of the year again where buyers are excited and hunting for their new home. They say it happens every year as most families searching for homes wait until before school ends and looking to close before schools starts. That is understandable. Some say because of the spring weather when it is so conducive to search for homes and warmer right after hibernating inside due to the cold weather of winter. Whatever the reasons are; it is always good news to the housing market. Chances are for homebuyers; this may not be good news. Some of you may have put in a couple of offers already but only to nd out from your agents that your offer was not chosen. I offered full price just with some closing help, what is wrong with my offer? Sounds familiar? Lets make it simple. Always remember the Law of Supply and Demand. There were only three homes for sale in the neighborhood and buyers ock in the same area to buy a house. What do you expect? Its a bidding war out there. Now, how can you make the offer appealing to the seller and their agent? Yes, I included the agent because they play an important role and big inuence on the sellers decision. They are professionals and the sellers trust their expertise and negotiating powers. As a listing agent, there are three things I look rst in an offer which I considered rst impressions; offer price, closing cost help and earnest money deposit. Imagine you are trying to create an impression and the last thing you want is to turn them off. Chances are they will not even look on the rest of the offer. To help you out as a buyer; rst, offer a full price or little bit more. Be careful in more because you have to make sure it will be appraised in the fair market value unless you have extra cash to come up with the difference or the seller will give in. If you do not need closing help, dont ask for it!! One percent earnest money deposit is standard but sometimes if that is the only edge the other offer has, you may want to go higher than 1%. Be cautious with contingencies or conditions, nancing and appraisal contingencies are standards and protect your interest as a buyer. Nothing wrong with these unless you are a cash buyer. I highly recommend home inspection or other inspection that will determine the condition of the house. These maybe for informational purposes only but not a condition. I suggest bring an inspector with you before making on offer just to have an idea but you have to offer fast because the property maybe under contract within a day or two. Its your call. Take the minor cost like termite inspection; usually cost $30. Some sellers prefer their own title company, deal with that. Most title companies match other companies cost; ask for their fees. You dont want minor things to be a deal breaker. Ask your agents to talk to the listing agent before making an offer so he/she maybe able to detect some signs what the sellers are looking for aside from the sales price like move out dates, rent backs, title companies. These are minor but if you know what they are looking for, your agent can discuss that with them and you know you already have an edge even before putting an offer. These are just some initial pointers as to how your offer will get noticed by the seller and their agent. Last but not the least; listen to your Realtor!!! You may have bought a house before or your family and friends tell you different thing will just not help at all!! They may have some good advises but when it comes to putting an offer, trust your Realtor. They know the present market, they know what will work and will not work in the present situation. Be exible if you can. Not all buyers can be exible of course especially with the nancial budget and all that. The best way to deal with it is to wait until school starts or look for homes when it is less likely buyers are out there. You have a better chance of getting good deals and closing help rather than to compete with a property where there are multiple offers. Note: Jocelyn Porteria is a Realtor licensed in V She A. earned a designation of ABR, GRN Accredited Buyer s Specialist and GREEN Designation, CDPE Certi-

religious or ethnic slurs. He may not call you at work if he knows that your supervisor does not allow such calls. If you are represented by an attorney, the debt collector must call your attorney and not you. If you dont have an attorney, the debt collector may contact other people, but only to nd out your address, your home phone number, and where you work. Other than to obtain your location and contact information, a debt collector generally is not permitted to discuss your debt with anyone other than you, your spouse, or your attorney. The FDCPA requires debt collectors to be truthful. For example, a debt collector may not claim to be an attorney or a government employee when he is not. He may not send you documents that look like legal papers when they are not. He may not say that you committed a crime. He may not falsely represent that he operates or works for a credit reporting company. He also may not misrepresent the amount you owe. He may not use a false company name. He may not give false credit information about you to anyone, including a credit reporting company. The FDCPA prohibits deceptive and threatening practices. For example, the debt collector may not tell you that he will garnish your wages or sell your property if it is not legal to that. He may not say he will sue you if he doesnt intend to sue you. He may not say that you will be arrested if you dont pay your debt. He may not threaten you with violence. In addition, the FDCPA prohibits unfair practices. For example, a debt collector may not collect any interest, fee, or other charges on top of the amount you owe unless the contact that created your debt, or state law, allows the additional charge. He may not deposit a post-dated check early. He may not threaten to take your property unless it can be done legally. QUESTION: Can a debt collector go after my wages or bank account to satisfy my debt? ANSWER: As a general rule, a creditor or its debt colemail at realdealconsulting@yahoo. com for a free confidential evaluation of your individual situation, property value, and possible options. She is also an accredited agent of

lector must le a collections action against you in court in order for them to collect on your debt. If they win, the court will enter a judgment against you. The judgment will usually state the amount you owe and allow the creditor or debt collector to obtain a garnishment order against you. The garnishment order typically will order a third party, such as your bank, to turn over funds from your account to satisfy the debt. A garnishment order may also require your employer to withhold a portion of your compensation to satisfy your debt. Many federal benets are exempt from garnishment for the purpose of satisfying consumer debt. For example, Social Security benets, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benets, Veterans benets, certain survivors and disability benets, and certain retirement benets, are exempt from garnishment. QUESTION: Can I sue a debt collector if I feel that he has violated the FDCPA? ANSWER: Yes. You have the right to sue a debt collector in a state or federal court within one (1) year from the date the debt collector violated the FDCPA. If you sue and you win, the judge may require the debt collector to pay you for any damages that you can prove you have suffered because of the debt collectors illegal collections practices, such as lost wages and medical bills. The judge may also require the debt collector to pay you up to $1,000 even if you cannot prove that you suffered actual damages. You can also get reimbursement for your attorneys fees and court costs. The FDCPA also allows class action lawsuits. For example, a group of aggrieved debtors may sue a debt collector and recover money for damages up to $500,000, or one percent (1%) of the debt collectors net worth, whichever is lower. A. Enrico C. Soriano, Esq., is the managing member of Axxis Law Group, PLLC (www.axxislaw. com). The answers and discussions provided in this column do not constitute legal advice, and no attorneyclient relationship is created hereby. You should consult a competent attorney for further assistance. Ayala Land, SM Residences and Century Properties in the Philippines.

26

March 15, 2013

EVELYNS MILKFISH SISIG

Here is my own version of milksh sisig in time for the Easter Season. Fresh frozen boneless milksh is available in any Asian stores. The amount of lemon juice depends upon personal preference. If tuna is used as a substitute, use the freshest you can nd. browned. Add the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Mix in the hot peppers and red bell pepper and toss carefully with a non-stick ladle. Add the mayonnaise and spring onions at the last minute of cooking. Serve hot or chilled. Chefs Tips: In choosing frozen milkfish, the flesh should look fresh - reddish and not grayish. Thaw the milkfish under cold water. Never leave the fish in room temperature to thaw. Remove the excess water from the fish flesh by wiping with paper towels before dicing. Editors Note: Master Chef Evelyn: 100 Most Influential Filipina Women in the U.S., 2009, Filipina Womens Network; MHC Most Outstanding Migrant Award in Culinary Arts, 2011; PAFC Dakila Special Achievement Award, 2011; Owner/Chef, Philippine Oriental Market & Deli, Arlington, Virginia; Founder and President of CHEW (Cancer Help Eat Well) Foundation, a 501 (c) (3) public charity formed to help and cook pro-bono for Filipino-Americans who are afflicted with cancer and other serious illnesses; Culinary writer; Member, Les Dames dEscoffier International, Washington DC Chapter; Member, International Cake Exploration Society, Member: Culinary Historians of Washington, D.C.; Master Chef, French Cuisine and Patisserie, Le Cordon Bleu, London.

Ingredients:
2 frozen boneless milksh 3 tablespoons vegetable oil 1 large onion, peeled, nely chopped 1 or 2 hot peppers, sliced diagonally crosswise (optional) Juice of 1 lemon salt and pepper to taste 2 tablespoons chopped red bell peppers 2 tablespoons mayonnaise half cup chopped spring onions

Methods:
Scrape out the meat of the sh and discard the skin then dice into half inch. Heat the vegetable oil and sweat the onions until soft and transparent. Add the milksh and cook until almost caramelized and lightly

FRUIT CAKE RECIPE

This is a very good recipe. Youll need the following: a cup of water, a cup of sugar, four large eggs, two cups of dried fruit, a teaspoon of baking soda, a teaspoon of salt, a cup of brown sugar, lemon juice, nuts, and a bottle of whisky. Sample the whisky to check for quality. Take a large bowl. Check the whisky again. To be sure it is the highest quality, pour one level cup and drink. Repeat. Turn on the electric mixer, beat one cup of butter in a large uffy bowl. Add one teaspoon of sugar and beat again. Make sure the whisky is still okay. Cry another tup. Turn off the mixer. Break two leggs and add to the bowl and chuck in the cup of dried fruit. Mix on the turner. If the fried druit gets stuck in the beaterers pry it loose with a drewscriver. Sample the whisky to check for tonsisticity. Next, sift two cups of salt. Or something. Who cares? Check the whisky. Now sift the lemon juice and strain your nuts. Add one table. Spoon. Of sugar or something. Whatever you can nd. Grease the oven. Turn the cake tin to 350 degrees. Dont forget to beat off the turner. Throw the bowl out of the window, check the whisky again and go to bed.

GOOD DENTIST
A couple of old guys were golng when one said he was going to Dr. Taylor for a new set of dentures in the morning. His friend remarked that he had gone to the same dentist a few years before. Is that so? the rst said. Did he do a good job? Well, I was on the course yesterday when the fellow on the ninth hole hooked a shot, he said. The ball must have been going 60 miles per hour when it hit me in the stomach. That, he added, was the rst time in two years my teeth didnt hurt.

man and apologized. Im very sorry. I didnt mean to come on so strong. How long did you have arthritis? I dont have it Father. I was just reading here that the Cardinal does.

PROBLEMA NGA
Isang mahusay na accountant si Juan at nag-a-apply ng trabaho sa isang maliit na kumpanya. May-ari: (Mukhang problemado) Ahhh....Mr. Juan dela Cruz, please come in and have a seat. Alam mo, talagang kailangang-kailangan kong isang mahusay na accountant katulad mo dahil lumalaki itong kumpanya at dumadami ang problema. Gusto ko siya na ang bahalang lumutas sa lahat ng problemang nancial ng kumpanya. Handa akong magpasuweldo ng isang daang libong piso kada buwan. Nagulat at natuwa si Juan dahil sa laki ng suweldong ibibigay. Juan: Kung gayon po, handa ko pong akuhin ang kahit anong problemang nancial meron kayo. May-ari: Sige, tanggap ka na at pwede ka nang mag-umpisa bukas. Juan: (Tuwang-tuwa) Sir, nagtataka lang po ako kung bakit kaya niyong magpasuweldo ng ganoong kalaking halaga gayong maliit lang po itong kumpanya ninyo? May-ari: Yan ang una mong problema lulutasin! Q: Ano naman ang sinabi niya nang ipanganak ka?

NABUHAY
Namatay si Susie, mga 55 years old, at nakaharap si Lord. Lord: Naku, iha pasensiya ka na at nagkamali si San Pedro. Hindi ka dapat nandito. Ibabalik kita sa lupa. Susie: Salamat, po Lord. Ilang taon pa po ako mabubuhay? Lord: May 30 years ka pa bago mamatay. Nabuhay ulit si Susie at dahil matagal pa siya dito sa lupa, naisipang magpa face-lift para matanggal ang mga kulubot at magmukhang bata siya. Wala pang dalawang linggo, sa kamalasang palad ay nasagasaan siya at namatay na naman. Nakaharap ulit niya si Lord. Susie: Lord, bakit po sabi Ninyo sa akin may 30 years pa ang itatagal ng buhay ko. Bakit po ngayon narito na naman ako? Lord: Ha? Pasensiya ka na, iha. Hindi ka kasi namin nakilala, eh!

NAGHIHINGALO
Bago mamatay si Mr. Wong ay isa-isa niyang tinawag ang kanyang pamilya. Mr. Wong: Akyen junior ndyan ba? Junior: Dito po! Mr. Wong: Akyen panganay ndyan ba? Panganay: Dito po! Mr. Wong: Akyen anak na babae ndyan ba? Anak: Dito po! Mr. Wong: Akyen asawa ndyan ba? Asawa: Honey, andito ako! Mr. Wong: Walanghiya! Dito kayo lahat! Wala tao tindahan!

ARTHRITIS
A man who smelled like a distillery opped on a subway seat next to a priest. The mans tie was stained, his face was plastered with red lipstick, and a half empty bottle of gin was sticking out of his torn coat pocket. He opened his newspaper and began reading. After a few minutes, the disheveled guy turned to the priest and asked, Say, father, what causes arthritis? Mister, its caused by loose living, being with cheap, wicked women, too much alcohol and a contempt for your fellow man. Well Ill be. the drunk muttered, returning to his paper. The priest, thinking about what he had said, nudged the

Q&A
Q: Ano ang sinabi ni Satanas nang ipanganak ako? A: Lintek! Isa na namang anghel ang ipinanganak.

March 15, 2013

27

Whew!

T
Going Stateside

hirty eight (38) years ago I rst stepped on US soil. In another 6 years (2019) I will have been here three times as long as Ive lived in my native Philippines. Happy Anniversary of sorts to me . ***********

February 24, 1975

It had been nine months since I said goodbye to Mitch. Hospitals across the US were in desperate need of medical personnel - doctors and nurses - in the mid-seventies. Administrators or their representatives actively scouted for us, personally going to different Philippine cities, ready with offers of positions. He went to the Evangelical Deaconess Hospital in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he earned the Most Outstanding Intern Award for the year. His description of a peaceful life and the friendly Milwaukee natives convinced me to seek employment in America. I was accepted by the Beth Israel Hospital in Newark, NJ as a staff nurse. My eyes widened at the offered salary of $10,000 plus change per year. I was going to be rich! However my rst impression of America was unattering. I looked out from the hospital van that met us at the airport. What greeted me looked like a war zone. Buildings were burned and boarded up. I was unaware of the riots that raged through that city in the summer of 1967. After eight years, Newark still bore the scars of that painful period. Progress was slow to arrive in that battered city. Had it only been a day since I said goodbye to my relatives at the Manila International Airport? It looked as though a whole barrio came out to bid me goodbye. The whole Dupax contingent was there. My lolo beamed with pride. My lola was her usual quiet self. Everyone wanted a picture taken with me. I was going stateside. With my wide brimmed hat and sunglasses, I felt like a celebrity. It was bitterly cold that

day in February 1975 when we landed at Newark International. The trees were bare of leaves and looked like grim scarecrows with outstretched arms ready to pluck me. No kapres (legendary tree sentinels) hiding behind those trees for sure. The scene lled me with misery. I wanted to crawl back to the plane. I wanted to go home. What have I done? I was ushered in to a dark room as soon as we arrived at Beth Israel Hospital. I groped for the light switch and tried unsuccessfully to will the empty socket to life. There wasnt even a light bulb. The room was small, square. The gloom matched the sadness I felt. I felt the bile rise up from the pit of my stomach and stumbled to the sink. I turned my head to survey the room as the memory of the past couple of days came rushing back. I dragged myself back to the cot by the far wall, gave in to exhaustion once again. I cried myself to sleep. My tears adding to the mystery stains on the uncovered pillow. ********* That introduction to America was neither glamorous nor exciting. It took a decade before the strangeness disappeared. Americans are candid and direct, quite opposite to the roundabout way Filipinos deal with conversations. But Americans are generous and patient. They bend over backwards to accommodate other cultures and religions. And here in America you can rise to heights limited only by your own imagination and energy. I am proud to be an American. I take it as a personal affront when my America is rebuked mercilessly. The time has long passed when I viewed this country merely as my chance for advancement and opportunity. She has sheltered and nurtured me. My husband and I have a comfortable life here. Our children enjoy the freedom to follow their dreams. Going stateside opened up a world of joyful possibilities for me. Thank you America.

hank goodness we were spared. It could have been a disastrous winter storm week for us Metro Washingtonians if the extended weather forecast did really happen. The eight to twelve inches of snow could have had another adverse impact on our normal daily undertakings household chores, work, social connections and community activities. Still fresh from my mind was the windstorm fury of mid last year which caused a huge tree to be uprooted and impacted a sizable hole on our roof. The insurance company, of course, took care of the reconstruction expenses, but the projects whole process that ensued was draining. The calls, meetings, paper work, negotiations, arrangements with the insurance company estimator and with the reconstruction project manager were endless. The whole project was nally done after three months. What a relief! But, in realty, everything was not ne and dandy nor back to normal yet after the completion of reconstruction. Discarding the damaged items, shopping for replacements and putting all the unaffected stuffs in the two reconstructed rooms back to their appropriate places required a lot more time to accomplish all areas of concern. This was a reality experience for us- my husband and me. What a big job! Back to the wind storm of last week, I constantly watched the updates on TV weather news. In anticipation of power outage based on past experience, like a Boys Scout (or a Girl Scout), I got ready a number of necessities when stuck at home like: Easy to eat foods for at least three days, one burner portable stove, water in the kitchen and bathroom, thermos bottle for hot water, ash lights, portable radio and ample batteries and a bag of coarse salt for our front door steps and importantly, fully lled the gas tanks of our two cars. As noticed, a truck parked on the main street of our subdivision was all ready to plow the ice and spread the salt. With all these preps, I still could not sleep peacefully worrying about the tall trees that surround our house where heavy snow and ice could cause the trees and big branches to break and fall on our roof again. I was worrying much more than the concerns of school closings the next day. Bless the innocence of the children for constantly waiting for the closing news, getting ready with their sleds and plans to make snowmen on their yard. The parents have additional worries on late opening, early closing or denite closing of schools. Of course, these were the least concerns of most seniors and retirees. They are alright as long as they feel

warm and cozy at home with hot coffee, cocoa or tea. God bless them also. The next day, lo and behold, there was power and TV news. The front yard and top of our cars had scanty snow. At noon time snow fell heavier but briey and did not stick to the ground. There were mixed comments in the TV about the outcome of the winter storm warnings the previous day. Honestly, I did not mind all the preps that I did at all. It was better to be prepared but did not happen than to get caught unprepared for lack of proper warnings. The meteorologists reported what they read on the satellite and radar machines the previous day and nevertheless, it was not their fault if the atmospheric activities and weather situation changed its course. They stood rm on their report. It could be a case, which happened in the past, of damn if you do and damn if you dont. However, the predictions in other areas in Maryland, DC, Northern Virginia and West Virginia were accurate and I was just thankful that we were spared. With the welcome outcome of the winter storm warnings, we were able to do the chores and projects that we wanted to accomplish at home, even errands to nearby super marts and pharmacy. In the Filipino community, tuloy din ang ligaya ng mga leaders with their scheduled events, activities and happenings here and around DC, MD and VA. The details were in the Calendar of Events in the past issue. The following were some of these events that should have been cancelled if not for the winter storms change of course: The Filipino American Institute of Accountants with its Tax Assistance at the IRS VITA Program complete with its TagalogEnglish translation assistance3/1; the Tutubi Bands Luau Night at VFW McLean- 3/1; Filipino Heritage Night in the NBA East Coast at the Wizards vs Nicks Games sponsored by Filipino American Basketball Association- 3/1; Julian and the Tutubi Band at the Filipino American Cultural Center in Oxon Hill, MD- 3/2; Filipino Ministry of Northern Virginia Mens Group Fact vs, Fiction: Knowing & Loving Your Catholic Faith at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Herndon- 3/2; SaloSalo with Tapsilog Breakfast for

Volunteers/Supporters sponsored by the Philippine American Foundation for Charities, Inc. at Bistro 7107 in Crystal City, Arlington- 3/9; Filipino Ministry of Northern Virginia Lenten Retreat for Adults and Youth at Missionhurst Chapel in Arlington, VA- 3/9; and some others. It would have been unfortunate if above events were cancelled knowing that it will not be easy for the community leaders to look for other dates and venues. Everyone is thankful that these events went on as planned. After being in hiatus from community involvement for some months while our house was being reconstructed, I attended the PAFC Salo-Salo with Tapsilog Breakfast event on March 9. It was nice to be with my old colleagues again and see enthusiastic new faces supporting the organization. At the well-attended event, self- introduction was in order with party afliation cited. Each was given the opportunity to say brief comments or message to all and could choose the committee they would like to serve from the provided list of events for 2013. The Salo-Salo was started about three years ago with specic objective of reaching out to the different organizations and inviting all leaders to work together and support each other in pursuit of serving the community. This latest PAFCs Salo-Salo held at Bistro 7107 Restaurant in Crystal City was indeed a success. The Tapsilog Breakfast was consist of Pritong Bangus instead of Tapa (Beef), Sinangag (fried garlic rice) and Itlog (Scrambled eggs) with Pandesal, cut-up fruits, coffee and a variety of fruit juice. The owner of the Bistro is Manny Tagle who also has a pastry shop in Vienna, VA, called Sweet City Pastry. The restaurant will fully and ofcially be in operation by the end of March. But the most important hat that Manny is wearing was that of being the brother of the popular and wellliked Philippine Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle. The Cardinal is currently in Rome, Italy participating in the election of the new Pope who will succeed Pope Benedict XVI after his stunning resignation last month. Manny is in Rome now to give support to his brother and by the time hes

Continued on page 31

28 Editorial

March 15, 2013

Sabah-Poetic Justice?
When the British colonial government was forming the Federation of Malaysia in 1963, the heirs of the Sultan of Sulu and the Philippine government objected to the inclusion of Sabah (North Borneo). They said the Sulu Sultanate merely leased Sabah to a British- owned business company. When the federation was formed, the sultanate revoked the lease and turned Sabah over to the Philippine government. The British rejected the claim and proceeded to include Sabah in the federation. When the Philippines under President Marcos continued to aggressively pursue the claim even after the federation was formed, Malaysia armed and supported a secessionist movement in Mindanao. This group was later called the Moro National Liberation Front led by Nur Misuari. The MNLF served as Malaysias counterfoil to the Philippines increasingly assertive claim to Sabah. The rebellion continued even after Marcos was ousted by the People Power revolt in 1986, When President Fidel Ramos succeeded President Cory Aquino, an agreement was forged with the MNLF. The accord led to the creation of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). But a splinter group broke away from the MNLF and formed the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). The claim to Sabah, meanwhile, became dormant. When President Joseph Estrada took over, he supported the MNLF and tried to eliminate the MILF by force. It failed and the rebellion continued. Estradas successor, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, daughter of the former president, continued to support the ARMM while agreeing to let Malaysia broker a peace pact with the MILF. Her successor, President Benigno S. Aquino III, pursued the peace talks. When the peace accord with the MILF was inked this year, Nur Misuari and his MNLF were left out. So were the heirs of the Sultan of Sulu. And the ARMM is now in limbo. MILF is silent about this development and President Aquino is now being assailed for abandoning the claim and siding with Malaysia in the current standoff. Anti-Aquino forces may be instigating the invasion of Sabah to destabilize his administration. But Nur Misuari and the MNLF may be using it to obtain a place in the Malaysian-brokered peace pact by reviving the Sabah claim.

Manila Times

Pope Tagol?
If Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle becomes the new Pope, some Americans and other foreigners might have a hard time pronouncing his family name. In the US, even broadcasters do not bother to nd out how to pronounce it. For instance, one TV anchorwoman said Cardinal Tagol is being pushed to be the next Pontiff. Tagle is pronounced as Ta-g-le. *** I smell a dead rat, dead rat! screamed a man in a quiet apartment complex. Everybody was alarmed. But not the Pinoy who was frying toyo and tinapa. *** Girl texts her friend: my bfs mad cuz I slept 4 2 hours while he waited out in the cold? Y get mad when he has my key? *** How much is the Philippine government paying a Washington D.C.based lawyer to pursue its case against China in the arbitral court of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) over its claim of the Scarborough Shoal and Spratlys? Any case before this court is fruitless unless the other party agrees to arbitration. Suntok sa buan. *** WELCOME TO THE 21st CENTURY! *Our Phones ~ Wireless *Cooking ~ Fireless *Cars ~ Keyless *Food ~ Fatless *Tires ~ Tubeless *Dresses ~ Sleeveless *Youth ~ Jobless *Leaders ~ Shameless *Relationships ~ Meaningless *Attitude ~ Careless *Wives ~ Fearless *Babies ~ Fatherless *Feelings ~ Heartless *Education ~ Valueless *Children ~ Manner-less *Women ~ Bra-less Despite all these, our hopes are still ENDLESS. *** Mr. Tsismoso, I guess you are a senior citizen and need this kind of message: As I was lying in bed pondering the problems of the world, I rapidly realize that I dont really give a rats tail. Its the tortoise life for me! 1. If walking is good for your health, the postman would be immortal. 2. A whale swims all day, only eats sh, drinks water, and is fat. 3. A rabbit runs and hops and only lives 15 years. 4. A tortoise doesnt run and does nothing, yet it lives for 450 years, and you tell me to exercise?? I dont think so. And heres a brief prayer for you: God grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked, the good fortune to run into the ones I do, and the eyesight to tell the difference. Now that Im older heres what Ive discovered: 1. I started out with nothing, and I still have most of it. 2. My wild oats have turned into prunes and all-bran. 3. I nally got my head together, and now my body is falling apart. 4. Funny, I dont remember being absent-minded. 5. Funny, I dont remember being absent-minded. 6. If all is not lost, where is it? 7. It is easier to get older than it is to get wiser. 8. Some days, youre the dog; some days youre the hydrant. 9. I wish the buck stopped here; I sure could use a few. 10. Kids in the back seat cause accidents. 11. Accidents in the back seat cause kids. 12. Its hard to make a comeback when you havent been anywhere. 13. The only time the world beats a path to your door is when youre in the bathroom. 14. If God wanted me to touch my toes, hed have put them on my knees. 15. When Im nally holding all the cards, why does everyone want to play chess? 16. Its not hard to meet expenses . . . theyre everywhere. 17. The only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth. 18. These days, I spend a lot of time thinking about the hereafter . . I go somewhere to get something, and then wonder what Im hereafter. 19. Funny, I dont remember being absent-minded. 20. DID I SEND THESE TO YOU BEFORE..........??????

March 15, 2013

Opinion 29

The boy and the wolf

M
Tagle, Tengco & Tapsilog

t may be hard to imagine a nonwhite person leading the 1.2 billion-strong Catholic denomination, but not to Filipinos who have been giddy with anticipation ever since Philippine Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle was mentioned as a potential pope. And why not? After all, a predominantly white country like the U.S. found a way to elect its rst black president. And so can a global church thats always been led by white men. Its time for change, the argument goes. Much like the reasoning behind Obamas campaign. But theres a major difference, The Washington Post points out: American presidents are picked by voters, while popes are chosen by cardinals led by the Holy Spirit. In that case, we can only hope and pray (assuming my prayers as a Methodist are considered) that the Holy Spirit will move the 115 cardinals, who are mostly old, white men from Europe. I was still in Manila when I heard the news of Pope Benedicts resignation. In the days that followed, Manilas newspapers were lled with idle speculation. These conjectures became more serious when an Italian expert on Vatican politics reportedly noted that Cardinal Tagle had a crack at being pope. Among his assets: He had balance, a trait that no less than Pope Benedict himself nds appealing. Citing the possibility of Tagles rise to the papacy, Columnist Conrado de Quiroz jokingly suggested that Pope Chito would be an appropriate name. You never know, Quiroz continued. Stranger things have happened. Traditions are there to be broken, continuities are there to be discontinued. We had our own brush with Father Chito more than 20 years ago while he was still a student at Catholic University. Members of Tanghalang Pilipino remember him very well as one who regularly showed up at our cultural events, composing songs for our groups cultural presentations, notably Bayan Ko, Bumangon Ka, and sharing his delightful sense of humor in conversations and private chats. Who would have imagined hed be Manilas Archbishop someday, let alone a

Cardinal? The Voice of Youth. We were reminded again of Father Chitos Washington DC days at a community gathering one recent Saturday. As it happened, the Philippine American Foundation for Charities (PAFC) hosted a Salu-Salo (get-together) at Bistro 7107, a new restaurant in Arlington, Va. owned by Manny Tagle, the brother of Father Chito. We were told Manny was in Rome to provide his brotherly services. Just in case. The inspirational speaker for Saturdays event was Leonard Tengco, newly-elected member of the Virginia Beach School Board. Only 30 years old, the articulate and charismatic Tengco has all the makings of a successful politician, someone who just might make it all the way to the U.S. Congress someday. Or the White House. You never know. Stranger things have happened. Like Tagle, Tengco could very well surprise us. All he needs are enough voters to elect him, not cardinals moved by the Holy Spirit. He showed his winning ways by garnering half a million votes in his rst-ever campaign for public ofce, running on a non-partisan platform that called for greater emphasis on early childhood education. In his remarks, he bemoaned the bickering and in ghting among community leaders in the Virginia Beach/Hampton Road area and the personal grudges among old men who are tone deaf to how their behavior is affecting and alienating the youth. He appealed for cooperation and coalition-building with other ethnic groups in order to have a greater voice in public policy. And he was forthright in stating his pride as a Filipino American, in celebrating the legacy of his ates, titos and manongs. Breakfast, Pilipino-Style. Free food never fails to attract a crowd. Especially if its tapsilog. Thats what the 60 or so community leaders, guests and their families feasted on that Saturday while listening to Tengco at the Bistro thats owned by the brother of Cardinal Tagle. The receptive audience included dozens of young people, many of whom were volunteers in Teng-

arch 1st came and luckily for America, Pres. Obamas prognostication of economic tidal wave brought about by sequestration never materialized. Down the road, there will likely be some repercussions, but not the dreadful catharsis that Obama wants us to believe. A group of students from Iowa produced a video asking the administration to lift the ban on White House visit sayingthe White House is our house, please let us visit. The White House blames cuts to the Secret Service resources for the closure of the White House visits by the public. According to reports, the annual cost of the public visits is around $9 million dollars. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) also released hundreds of detained undocumented aliens on the pretext of saving resources due to budget cuts. Critics suspect that administration is bent on showing the public that sequestration brings real pain and major disruption in services as they have warned. The attempt by congressional Republicans to give the admin-

istration exibility in shufing budgeted funds to efciently prioritize spending was turned down by Democrats. While the DHS and White House are sending a message to the public of the price to pay for forced economizing, the Department of State was on a charitable mood with the peoples money. It granted Egypt $250 million in foreign aid. The school children from Iowa must be scratching their heads in bewilderment. That $250 million would be more than enough to cover the Secret Service salaries of $84 million with a lot more to spare for the DHS to pay its ofcers to keep troublesome aliens off the streets. Why did the sequester episode turn Pres. Obama as the boy who cried wolf? The socalled automatic budget cut otherwise known as sequester is just a puny $85 billion which is approximately 2.2% of a $3.6 tril-

lion budget. According to people in the know, only $40 billion of the $85 billion is actually authorized to be spent in this scal year with the balance spread out in the next few years. So you are talking about roughly 1.1% of the budget. A drop in the bucket? Now we know why Pres. Obama was talking about demons and monsters that never came. He was hoping that scaring the people about the dire consequences from the automatic cuts would take the budget cutting side off in the debate to resolve the runaway budget decit and federal debt. His way is to tax, ostensibly from the rich. More taxation without signicant reduction in spending however will not make a dent on the federal debt now exceeding $16 trillion. The tax increase on the rich that Congress passed two months ago only generates

Continued on page 31

Sabah misadventure

Continued on page 31

hile doing a special report about USfunded projects in Sarangani (yes, Manny Pacquiaos adopted hometown), we chanced upon a couple of shermen on a pristine stretch of white sand beach talking in a dialect I didnt recognize. My guide explained they were Indonesians who had settled in the province and just kind of melded into the community. They had no papers but kept out of trouble. They worked hard and were helpful to the people, the guide someone from the capitol explained. Some have married the local women and started families there. Such is the reality of life in southern Mindanao, I was told, where the porous southern backdoor have deed efforts to pen people according to nationalities. Trade and migration have dictated life here for centuries. The authorities have been remarkably tolerant towards them, leading to the rise of ourishing communities thats spawned both opportunities and dangers for the receiving countries. So when over a hundred Filipinos, part of a self-styled (and partly armed) Royal Army of the Sultanate of Sulu, landed in

Sabah a month ago some media outlets dismissed it as a ploy to generate attention. That is until the invasion dragged on and led to bloody skirmishes that left about 40 people dead between Filipinos and Malaysians. Jamalul Kiram III claims to be the rightful sultan and sent his followers to Sabah to assert the sultanates sovereignty over the mineral-rich but relatively isolated region of Malaysias Borneo Island. The last sultan to be ofcially recognized by the Philippine government was Mohammad Mahakuttah Kiram in 1986 (the monarchy itself was dissolved during the American colonial era in 1917). Jamalul III is only one of four claimants to the throne of the sultanate. Established in 1457, the sultanate held sway over the Sulu Sea and territories that are now part of either the Philippines or Malaysia or Indonesia, and played a crucial role in the spread of Islam in Mindanao and

other parts of the Philippines. And because of this, the Kirams still wield considerable inuence over their constituents. The clan has struggled to regain its relevance through association with political groups. They cavorted with Marcos and have wagered their future with rising political forces, including those that ousted former President Estrada and helped catapult President Noynoy Aquino to power although there was little sign as the crisis evolved that he was aware, much less acknowledged this. I have seen the opposition use the sultanates clout to offer an image of a broad coalition for their political causes. They were able to mobilize warm bodies (mostly from the Muslim villages in Quezon City and Taguig) for mammoth demonstrations in Metro Manila. They received and dispensed favors on behalf of Filipino Muslims. And the

Continued on page 31

30
By J.G. Azarcon, Esq.

March 15, 2013

VISA PRIORITY DATES FOR THE PHILIPPINES MARCH 2013

HIV removed FAMILY-SPONSORED PREFERENCES First: Unmarried sons/daughters Oct. 10, 1998 as ground for of US citizens Second: inadmissibility A: Spouses/minor children of permanent residents: Nov. 22, 2010 Sulu. Sultan. Sabah. Solo.

MANILA he sudden arrival four weeks ago of followers of the sultan of Sulu in Sabah in North Borneo has now resulted in a number of deaths. Further deaths may ensue before the problem is resolved. The incident has now embroiled the governments of the Philippines and of Malaysia and the sultan in a fresh controversy over the long-standing dispute over Sabah, which is a physical part of Malaysia that is claimed by the Philippines. The sultans move has caught the Philippine government by surprise, provoking anger from President Benigno Aquino III, whose administration is currently scrambling to make heads or tails of the sultans actions. No doubt, the sultan of Sulus solo move is causing the President a huge migraine. The Philippines claim over Sabah has been on the back burner for many decades. Past presidents since Ferdinand Marcos have not pursued the claim actively because of its ticklish implications. Centuries ago, land bridges connected many of the southeast Asian territories. What was to become the Philippines was connected to what was to become Malaysia and also what is today Indonesia. In that context, Borneo, which includes Sabah, was physically connected to southern Philippines. The then sultan of Borneo gave Sabah to the sultan of Sulu in the 19th century as a reciprocal gesture for a favor from the sultan of Sulu -- the latter supported the sultan of Borneo in a dispute against a third party. That is the basis for the claim -- up to today -- of the sultan of Sulu over Sabah, which the Philippine government supports, although subsequent Philippine administrations havent pressed the claim against Malaysia. Because of this dormancy of the claim, the succeeding sultans of Sulu have grown impatient over the years over the Philippine governments inaction in pursuing the claim. And this impatience has now led to the current incursion of followers of the sultan into Sabah and the resulting deaths among elements of the sultans group and Malaysian police.

In the ensuing back-andforth between the Philippine government and the sultan, the issue has become murky. The sultan calls his followers move -- under his direction -- a homecoming of his people to their homeland. Someone in his group even called the arrival of his followers in Sabah an excursion, instead of an incursion, meaning a picnic or outing of people in their own land. Media reports here have variously labeled the move an invasion or a takeover. Malaysia calls it an illegal occupation and has given the intruders an ultimatum to leave Sabah. President Aquino has called on the sultan, Jamalul Kiram, to bid his followers to go back to Sulu before many more lives are lost in skirmishes between the sultans people and Malaysian police. (In a later development, the government of Malaysia had sent ghter jets to bomb the area where the sultans followers were holed up. While the strafing had caused some deaths, it looked more like an action to scare the sultans followers than to inict carnage.) There is a mysterious element in the drama. President Aquino has oated the suspicion that a still-unidentied group is behind Kirams sudden move to claim Sabah. The suspicion revolves around former Philippine President Gloria Arroyo, who has been the target of Mr. Aquinos drive to make former government ofcials pay for their alleged crimes of plundering the nations coffers and other offenses. The President has declined at presstime to formally state that Mrs. Arroyo is behind, or at least is nancing, Kirams adventure into Sabah. But news reports say that Mrs. Arroyos then national security adviser, Norberto Gonzales, had been in touch with Kiram and the presumed conclusion is that Gonzales and his former boss, Mrs. Arroyo, had prodded Kiram to make his move. This makes the plot thicken. Kirams family is said to be in dire nancial straits and is, therefore, not capable of bankrolling an adventure involving

n November 2, 2009, the Health and Human Services (HHS) published a nal rule removing Human Immunodeciency Virus (HIV) infection from the list of illnesses that make a foreign national inadmissible to the United States. This rule became effective on January 4, 2010. After this date, authorized civil surgeons should no longer test an individual for HIV when examining a foreign national for immigration purposes. Before the change, HIV was one of the illnesses that could bar an alien from entering the U.S. HIV sufferers had to seek a discretionary waiver. Aliens whose medical certicates reveal HIV positive no longer have to worry about denials based on this ground of inadmissibility if their applications are pending as of January 4, 2010. Adjudications after this date will be based on the new law and will not even consider HIV as a mate-

B: Unmarried sons/daughters 21 years of age or older of permanent residents Jun. 08, 2002 Third: Married sons/daughters of citizens Sep. 15, 1992 Fourth: Brothers/sisters of citizens Jul. 15, 1989 EMPLOYMENT-BASED PREFERENCES First: Priority workers Current Second: Professionals holding advanced degrees or persons of exceptional ability Current Third: Skilled workers, professionals Sep. 01, 2006 Other Workers Sep. 01, 2006 Fourth: Current Certain Religious Workers Current Fifth: Employment creation/ (Million or half-million dollar investor) Current
rial fact in the application. They are not required to seek a waiver even if the application was led before January 4, 2010. With respect to those who were denied admission before January 4, 2010 by reason of their being HIV positive as indicated in their medical report, they are entitled to le a motion to reopen or reconsider if their cases were denied after July 2, 2009. Ordinarily, a motion to reopen requires that it be led within 30 days of denial. In this situation, the USCIS will waive the 30-day deadline. If the application was denied before July 2, 2009 solely because of aliens HIV positive test, the alien has the right to le a new application and the USCIS will consider the case under the new HHS rule.

Let the ill-fed pay

Continued on page 31

n grimy post ofce steps, anked by cartoons and plastic bottles, scavenger Raul prepared Sunday breakfast: green mangoes plus salt. Kain tayo, sir, he called when we passed to mail a letter. Dine with me. Raul is 55, but looks 80. Blind in one eye, he limps in discarded slippers. Hand-me-down clothes ap on a frame sapped by too many altanghaps.: breakfast ( almusal ), lunch ( tanghalian ) dinner ( hapunan ) rolled into one. We itched to prod Raul: Ask Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and, Ramon Revilla. Did you include me in P194.7million doled from your pork barrel to bogus NGOs?. Commission on Audit documents how legislators shoved millions to a shell Pangkabuhayan Foundation Inc, then ipped to a bogus ZNAC Rubber Estate Corp (ZREC). Amounts squandered: Estrada -P106.7 million; Enrile -- P74.69 million; Revilla -- P9.7 million. This foundation deployed

multiple tax identication numbers.. They claimed no liabilities, but their Quezon City ofce was padlocked for failure to pay rent. PFI president, Petronila A. Balmaceda vamoosed. . Fund balance equaled total assets --- to the last centavo, auditors marveled.. How did it operate without any ofce equipment, furniture and xtures, essential in day to day operations? Raul never heard of these scams.. So, we zipped our lips and instead cast about for some cash . Hed breakfast on something other than salted green mangoes, this Sunday morning at least. But what about breakfast Monday ? And how many other Rauls are there? This January, Social Weather Stations reported : 3.3 million families went hungry in the last quarter of 2012 . Thats a mil-

lion families fewer than in the previous quarter. .Still, hunger knows no friend. Estrada, Enrile and Revilla insist they were conned. Enrile claimed ignorance of the recipient of his pork. What I designated were local government units. And I do not know why ZREC had to transfer the money to Pangkabuhayan Foundation whatever that is Revilla scrubbed his hands too. Sure, he identied projects under the agriculture departments program for Basilan. When an NGO asks for our help to assist countrymen caught in the armed conict in Mindanao , we had no second thoughts. We set aside funds for them, especially since it was the Department of Agriculture thatd implement the project. I do not recall the name

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unteers. And the continued buzz of Tagle having a crack at being pope is reason enough to rejoice that Filipinos once again may be making yet another valuable contribution to the world. This time to the global church. Send your comments to jonmele@aol.com region of the Philippines. The Muslims have been wanting to secede from the predominantly Catholic nation for a long time and nally, after so many failed negotiations over decades, a permanent agreement may be in sight to create a functioning autonomous Muslim region in Mindanao. For this, the Philippine government, while not abandoning its claim over Sabah, is not too keen to displease a friendly neighbor at this time. Mr. Aquino has bade Sultan Kiram to call back his followers before any further and bloodier consequences take place in this mysterious and seemingly illplanned takeover or homecoming in Sabah, a land long ago claimed to be owned by the sultanate of Sulu. This solo move by the sultan is fraught with danger for his followers and peril for the Philippines relations with Malaysia. Not after blood has been drawn. He prepared like a general but when the battle came, he proved not to be. Mistakes were committed, starting with President Aquino himself who seriously miscalculated the grievances and needs of the Sulu sultanate. Jamaluls mistake was to listen to people with murky motives, prone to push for grandiose gestures and allow his own desperation to put people who believe in him in harms way. Malaysia could have resolved this another way but her leaders are likely clouded by a tight election just around the corner. We only hope that this doesnt spill over to the estimated 800,000 Filipinos in Malaysia most of them living as undocumented immigrants in Sabah. Malaysia has already conducted three harsh crackdowns since 2002, separating families and disrupting lives, and this misadventure could just lead to another one.

Tagle, Tengco... from page 29

cos campaign and just as excited about Pope Chito. It was a warm, sunny day a welcome change from the cold, wintry days of February. You can sense that Spring is just around the corner. The season of new beginnings is here. And its just as well. PAFC is poised to launch its events for the year with promising prospects of young blood leading the way. A tapsilog breakfast was just the right come-on to jump start it. A Tengco talk was just the right message to inspire the vol-

Whew!... from page 27

back to our community, a new Pope has been elected Cardinal

Tagle?

Let the ill-fed pay... from page 30

of that foundation, blandly declared former agriculture secretary, now Bohol congressman Arthur Yap.. He also passed the buck Senators and congressmen, then and today, are allowed to endorse coops to undertake projects using their PDAF. They must account for the funds.. Theyre all honest men, as the Iberian shepherd wailed. But my cloak is still missing..Is that because the senators played deaf? Wala ng bingi ditto sa mundo gaya nang ayaw makikinig, the Tagalog proverb says. There are none so blind as those who refuse to see. Malacanang provided an unsolicited reminder. As senator, President Benigno Aquino III, in December 2009, voted against the budget --- precisely because it allocated P340 million from legislators pork kitty to a corporation recommended for dissolution since December 2003. Guess who? Who else but ZNAC Rubber Estate Corp.. Why and how could funds have been allocated to a corporation subject for dissolution?, then Senator Aquino said. He shredded then Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap excuse: Thered been no Department of Finance notication that ZREC had been blackballed. We cannot simply dismiss suspicions of duplicity and corruption, Aquino insisted. The 2009 COA report already agged warnings about ZREC. Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez included ZREC on a list of 36 underperforming government-owned and -controlled corporations. .Rodriguez recommended its abolition in a bill that he led in the House. From 2008 to 2013, the Senates Maintenance Operating and Others Expenses kitty bolted from P759 million to around $40 billion a year in additional revenue. If the administration does not have the appetite to do meaningful cuts, it should at least not embark on new spending. It dees common sense to create a new gigantic social program like Obamacare when Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are currently hurtling towards insolvency. And Pres. Obama is not done yet. Now he is proposing to provide free kindergarten education for all. What cuts? He is like the captain of a leaking boat who takes on more passengers before he could plug the hull. Pres. Obama seems determined to mold America into a European model- big government, high tax and heavy on P1.57 billion, not subject to audit. In the face of public fury, the Senate agreed to accounting as the 15th Congress ends. Its coffers were drained anyway. We need to unmask those who beneted from this scheme, Senator Jinggoy Estrada now demands. The Senate should investigate this scam. . Hold it right there, senator. Estradas pork barrel was dissipated. Like it not, Jinggoys role is under question. And the rst thing to do is dispel the slightest doubt . That demands Estrada & Co must inhibit themselves from any Senate probe, lest of all, one called by themselves. Otherwise, theyll be suspect, prober, judge and acquittal artist rolled into one. Estradas statement on the need to unmask those who beneted from this scheme, already implies self absolution. A whitewash is the last thing this country needs from Estrada & Co. Jinggoy was linked to payoffs from jueteng operators during the short-lived administration of his father, Inquirer notes. Remember former AFP chief of staff Angelo Reyes who committed suicide? Estrada relished ridiculing Reyes, at public hearings, for receiving pasalubongs from AFP on his retirement. Jinggoy however slurped unabashed into MOOE kitty that underwrote P1.6 million Christmas gifts from Enrile. Estrada and 17 other friendly senators didnt return them. Alas, the injury we do and the one we suffer are not weighed in the same scales, Aesop says in one of his Fables. Instead, the bill for such scams will be fobbed on people like Raul the scavenger. ( Email: juan_mercado77@ yahoo.com ) social spending. The excesses of the socialist model are bearing down now in nancially troubled Greece, Spain, Italy, France, Portugal and even Great Britain. If we have to learn from Europe, the right lessons however should be imported from the small Scandinavian countries of Sweden, Denmark and Norway. According to the Economist, these Nordic countries have prospered by pivoting to the right, turning back from its past tax and spend philosophy. They have cut taxes and focused on balancing their books. They have even reworked their pension system. Dear Barack, you like the European look? Dont recycle failure. Try the new look.

Sulu. Sultan. Sabah... from page 30

several hundreds of men, some armed, landing in Sabah to claim it as belonging to the sultan of Sulu. How could he afford such an expensive undertaking, some have asked. Adventures like this one often arent as simple and straight-forward as they are portrayed to be. One doesnt have to be a Frederick Forsyth, John Grisham or Ian Fleming to know that these escapades are complicated. And often dark and murky. When this is all over, all kinds of post-mortems and endless analyses will follow. But we may never know the whole truth behind it. For now, the invasion or homecoming -- whatever it may truly be -- is causing a lot of concern in the Philippines and in Malaysia. The Observers take on this is that the sultan of Sulus move is untimely, ill-advised, futile and, ultimately, may be deadly. Only a national government can negotiate any land dispute between sovereign nations. And, even though the dispute pertains to local territory, the claimants must still go through the national government. All such claims must be properly and exhaustively coordinated with the government before any moves, especially irretrievable ones where all sides cannot back down as in this case. This is what has annoyed President Aquino -- the sultans sudden move without the governments imprimatur. And the suspicion that former President Arroyo may have plotted with the sultan to go on such an adventure which may in turn have a destabilizing effect on the Aquino administration. One other factor that has Mr. Aquino in a foul mood is that Malaysia has been instrumental in the current talks between the Aquino administration and the Muslim community to forge a lasting peace in the Mindanao

Sabah misadventure... from page 29

Kirams still held a certain allure; the presence of a sultan or princess often lent weight to a high society parched for royalty. But all these only masked the steady slide of the Sulu monarchy. They have been largely neglected. They pale for instance to the relative grandeur of the Sultanates of Lanao. This reportedly prompted Jamalul III to bewail that he was the poorest sultan in the world. President Aquino earlier revealed the sultan relied on government charity to pay for his dialysis treatment. This made the groups expensive expedition to Sabah all the more intriguing. At least two boats were hired to ferry the Royal Army to Lahad Datu, according to Malacanang. They apparently used Bonggao in Tawi-Tawi as a staging point. They carried weapons and ammunition that although easy to come by in that part of the country, still required a modicum of logistical capability. Members of the sultans army appeared to be organized and prepared enough to communicate directly with leaders in Manila even after ghting erupted. It required research, planning and possibly, even surveillance of their objective. In short, this was not a spontaneous excursion to Sabah. But when Malaysian forces attacked the Filipinos, Jamalul III declared a unilateral ceasere and demanded the other side follow suit. You dont call time out as the enemy is already driving a dagger down your throat. Both Manila and Kuala Lampur had given him ample time and opportunity to back down. If his goal was merely to draw attention, he should have taken the cue. If it was his intention to transform his followers into martyrs, their blood should have sparked a larger upheaval but you dont call time out.

The boy and the wolf... from page 29

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