Orange County/Inland Empire -- October 23 -- 29, 2015

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Volume 22 - No. 42 • 2 Sections - 16 Pages october 23-29, 2015

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DATELINEUSAfrom the AJPress NEWS TEAM AcroSS AMEricA

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Infrastructure and transportation projects make Ph ripe for investment

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In this photo provided by the Philippine Air Force, houses and rice fields are inundated by floodwaters in northern Philippines on Tuesday, Oct. 20. Tropical Storm Lando (international name Koppu) finally blew away from the main northern Philippine island, after leaving several dead over the weekend and forcing tens of thousands of villagers into emergency shelters and destroying rice fields ready for harvest. Photo by Staff Sgt. Roldan L. Medina, Philippine Air Force - PIO 410th

‘Vice President’ Marcos eyes Labor or DOTC

Typhoon ‘Lando’ the most destructive this year

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by Jefferson AntipordA ManilaTimes.net

by Julie M. Aurelio And Jerry e. esplAnAdA

Inquirer.net

ALthoUGh it has weakened into a low pressure area, “Lan-do” is the most destructive ty-phoon to hit the country so far this year, leaving behind more than P7.3 billion in damage to agriculture and infrastructure, and at least 41 lives lost.

“so far, for this year, Lando is the worst in terms of the casualties and the damage it caused. We hope this will be the last,” said romina mara-sigan, spokesperson of the National Disaster risk reduc-tion and management Council

(NDrrmC.)typhoon Lando (internation-

al name: Koppu) was the 12th storm to batter the Philippines this year. When it first struck the east coast of Luzon on sun-day morning, its gusts reached 210 kilometers an hour, making it the second strongest storm to hit the country this year.

As of thursday, oct. 22 the low pressure area was spotted 240 km east of Basco, Batanes.

of the damage recorded all over Luzon, P6.43 billion was accounted for by agricultural crops and P902.39 million by infrastructure.

so far, the agency has con-firmed 41 deaths in Luzon, 78

injured and five still missing.In its update, the NDrrmC

said the typhoon affected 1,242,239 persons in the Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Bicol, metro ma-nila and the Cordillera Admin-istrative region (CAr).

of the affected people, 113,584 are still in 455 evacu-ation centers.

so far, local authorities, the Department of social Welfare and Development and non-government units have given P23.21 million worth of assis-tance to the affected families.

Blackout, floodingProvince-wide power out-

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DOJ: If found guilty, Pemberton must serve sentence first before deportation

by tetch torres-tupAs Inquirer.net

NeWLY appointed Justice secretary Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa assured that the depor-tation order for a Us marine fac-ing trial for the death of filipina transgender Jennifer Laude will not be immediately implement-ed.

Caguioa explained that a for-eigner cannot be deported until the cases against him pending

in Philippine courts have been decided, and if a foreigner is found guilty of the charges, he has to serve his sentence first before he could be deported.

he said the murder case filed against Lance Corporal Joseph scott Pemberton for the alleged murder of Laude is still pending before the olongapo regional trial Court.

“hence, Pemberton is under

CreAtING jobs for millions of filipinos will be the focus of sen. ferdinand marcos Jr., if he is given an op-portunity to serve the country as Vice President.

to effectively carry out his mission, marcos said, he would choose to lead the Department of Labor and em-ployment (DoLe) if the next President will allow him to pick a Cabinet position.

According to the senator, lack of jobs is one of the biggest problems facing the country and it is the role of the government to provide the people employment to free them from poverty.

section 9, Article II, of the 1987 Philippine Consti-tution states, “the state shall promote a just and dy-namic social order that will ensure the prosperity and independence of the nation and free the people from

Remittance firm survey reveals many Filipinos working in the US are overqualified for their jobs

by Agnes constAnteAJPress

most filipino workers living in the United states are overquali-fied for the jobs they do, accord-ing to respondents of a survey conducted by international mon-ey transfer firm transfast.

In a survey of 400 Philippine natives who remit money back home from the United states,

more than 80 percent said they possess more skills than what is required in their jobs; 72 percent said workplaces in America are more stressful than those they experienced in the Philippines.

Yet 93 percent of survey par-ticipants said they believe there are still more opportunities in their Us jobs than those in the Philippines.

“What I have achieved here in

the Us, is a lot,” said respondent Joanna Loresto, 47, of san ra-fael, California. “I just left my job and I’m so fortunate I could go wherever I want to, and employ-ers will hire me. owning a home, buying any car I want – I’m proud of it. I can give my son the best education. I have three siblings in the Philippines and a lot of cousins, and I’m thankful that I

WAshINGtoN, DC—the Philippine government is al-locating increased resources to infrastructure improve-ment and expansion, open-ing up numerous opportu-nities for investment in the Philippines.

opportunities for doing business in the transport and infrastructure sectors was one of the main top-ics during the second leg of the 4th Philippine Private sector-led Investment road-show in Dallas, tX on 21 oc-tober 2015.

some 165 participants including senior executives from American Airlines, flu- Ambassador Jose L. Cuisia, Jr. delivers his Opening Remarks at the Dallas/Fort

Worth forum of the 4th Private Sector Led Investment Roadshow held at the Hyatt Regency DFW Airport. PAGE A3

American Cancer Society recommends women undergo mammograms later and less frequently

the American Cancer society on tues-day, oct. 20, announced new guidelines for mammograms, recommending that women with an average risk of breast can-cer begin getting mammograms annually at age 45.

the organization, which has long taken an aggressive approach to screening for the condition, also recommended that once women reach the age of 55, mammograms continue once every other year. Addition-ally, the society no longer recommends clinical breast exams for breast cancer screening among average-risk women at any age, as these have not been shown to save lives.

the society’s new guidelines, published

Obama to leave US troops in Afghanistan past his term

fACING increasing pressure both at home and abroad, President Barack obama has made his decision regarding the state of American troops in Afghani-stan.

obama on thursday, oct. 15, pledged to keep Us troops in the region throughout the end of his presidential term, halting initial plans for withdrawal and abandon-ing his often-stated promise to end the Us’s longest war before he leaves office.

Under the new plan, the United states will keep 9,800 service members in Af-ghanistan through most of 2016. the number of troops would be reduced to 5,500 beginning in 2017, assuming the next president stays on the same course, said the Los Angeles Times.

White house aides said obama was confronted daily with problems caused by the collapse of Us-trained security forces in Iraq, where he has been forced to send

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Sen. Bongbong Marcos

Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton

october 23-29, 2015 • oc/Ie ASIAN JoUrNAL http://www.asianjournal.com • (818) 502-0651 • (213) 250-9797A�

From the Front Page

Typhoon ‘Lando’ the most destructiuve...PAGE A1

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Residents move through streets full of mud and flood waters in Cabanatuan City on Tuesday, Oct. 20 after Typhoon Lando battered the northern part of the country earlier this week. Philstar.com photo

ages remain in the provinces of Ilocos Sur, Quirino, Nueva Viz-caya, Aurora, Quezon, Kalinga and Mountain Province, as well as five cities and 86 towns.

Sixteen passengers, three mo-torized bancas, and four rolling cargoes are still stranded be-cause of rough seas.

Since hitting land on Sunday, Oct. 18 the NDRRMC has moni-tored 765 flooding incidents in the provinces of Pangasinan, Isabela, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Bu-lacan, Pampanga, Zambales, Ca-gayan and Benguet.

Floods and landslides caused 101 roads and 11 bridges in northern and Central Luzon to be impassable, while 18,758 houses were damaged.

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) placed Lando’s damage to na-tional roads, bridges and flood control facilities in five Luzon re-gions at P927.71 million.

In a report, DPWH Bureau of Maintenance Thursday said that damage to flood control projects alone amounted to P435.56 mil-lion.

Central Luzon topped the list with damage reaching P448.96 million, including more than P218 million worth of flood con-trol facilities and P145 million in damaged bridges.

Region III was followed by CAR with P209.24 million; Ca-gayan Valley, P201.63 million;

Ilocos, P67.35 million and Bicol, P520,000.

The DPWH also reported that as of Thursday morning, sections of 39 national roads in northern and Central Luzon remained closed to vehicular traffic due to landslides, floods, sunken road-ways and fallen electric posts, trees and other debris.

Twenty-five of these roads are in CAR while the remaining 14 are in Central Luzon.

The closed thoroughfares in-clude Kennon Road and three other roads in Baguio City—Le-garda Road, Western Link Cir-cumferential Road and Military Fort Road.

Also impassable to all types of vehicles are eight roads in Ben-guet province; five in Tarlac; four

each in Kalinga and Pampanga; three in Mountain Province; two each in Abra, Apayao, Ifugao, Bulacan and Nueva Ecija; and one in Aurora.

Dalton Pass now openThe DPWH office in Cagayan

Valley said the landslide-prone Dalton Pass in Nueva Vizcaya had been cleared and opened to two-way traffic on Wednesday morning.

DPWH Director Nerie Bueno in Cagayan Valley told the In-quirer that the regional office had “prepositioned road-clear-ing equipment and field person-nel who will promptly respond to rescue and clearing operations along national highways and bridges in the region.”

Contacted by phone, Bueno

recalled that on Oct. 19 evening, “massive landslides took place in Barangay (Village) Villa Flores in Sta. Fe, Nueva Vizcaya, causing road closure and traffic buildup.”

However, the “road sections were promptly [cleared] and opened to traffic at 8:30 a.m. the following day,” she said.

Later that day, an undisclosed number of vehicles were stalled in Sta. Fe after three trailer trucks broke down in separate locations in the municipality.

“This led some undisciplined motorists to counterflow on both lanes, causing traffic buildup,” said Bueno.

The DPWH field staff “coor-dinated with the provincial gov-ernment in controlling the situa-tion.”

Remittance firm survey...can be the one helping out.”

Respondent Ruben Espiritu, 56, of Garner, North Carolina also called the US the land of oppor-tunity with many jobs available, but pointed out that the Philip-pine economy is improving.

“People who come here for work are playing vital economic roles by contributing to the US economy and also adding to the GDP of their home country when they send money back to family and friends,” said Transfast CEO Samish Kumar.

The remittance firm conduct-ed the same survey with respon-dents across all nationalities,

‘Vice President’ Marcos eyes...poverty through policies that provide adequate social services [and] promote full employment, a rising standard of living and an improved quality of life for all.”

“Siguro kung mayroon akong hihingin na portfolio, palagay ko gusto kong makatulong sa DOLE [If there is a portfolio I will ask for, I want to help DOLE],” Mar-cos said in a television interview on Wednesday, Oct. 21.

Marcos is the author of Senate Bill 1862, which seeks the cre-ation of an inter-agency council for the creation of jobs.

The council will serve as the overall advisory and coordinat-ing mechanism that shall design policy program directions for all job creation endeavors in the country.

It will be composed of 15 heads of different government agencies with the secretary of the Labor department as chairman.

The proposed measure re-mains pending before the Senate Committee on Labor, Employ-ment and Human Resources De-velopment.

Marcos noted that 90 percent of jobs come from the private sector, the reason why the gov-ernment should lay down an enabling environment to encour-age growth of the private sector, particularly small and medium

noting a number of similarities with Filipino immigrants. How-ever, there were differences in responses about how much immigrants were expecting to earn versus what they expected (37 percent of overall immi-grants said they were making what they expected, while 61 percent of Filipinos respond-ed as such), and where they planned to retire (18 percent of all immigrants said they intend to retire in their home country, while 53 percent of Filipinos said they plan on retiring in the Philippines; 31 percent of Fili-pinos said they intend to retire in the US).

PAGE A1 enterprises (SMEs).SMEs, he said, are the big-

gest contributor to the country’s economy and has played a major role in employment generation.

Marcos suggested that the government embark on busi-ness-driven infrastructures, lead in the research and development and provide appropriate training and access to credit facilities.

The senator said if DOLE is not available, the Department of Transportation and Communica-tions is also an important govern-ment agency that needs focus.

Marcos expressed confidence that he could contribute toward solving pressing problems facing the department, including traffic jams in Metro Manila and lack of mass transport system.

In an earlier interview, he noted that while the Philippines has an existing light rail system that could help ease the traffic in urban areas, it is plagued not only with serious safety and reli-ability issues, poor maintenance and overcrowding but also alle-gations of corruption.

The next administration, Mar-cos said, should expand the transportation infrastructure.

A study conducted by the Ja-pan International Cooperation Agency said the country is losing P2.2 billion a day because of traf-fic jams.

DOJ: If found guilty, Pemberton...the jurisdiction of the trial court and the deportation order issued by the BI cannot be implemented during the pendency of the trial on the case,” Caguioa said.

Earlier, the Bureau of Immi-gration (BI) ordered Pember-ton’s deportation for being a risk to public interest and an undesir-able alien.

The BI based its resolution on the filing of murder case against Pemberton.

Citing Memorandum dated Nov. 24, 2014, the BI said “a foreign national is undesirable if he commits an act constituting a criminal offense punishable by imprisonment of one year or more.”

PAGE A1 “In this case, respondent was charged before the Regional Trial Court, Branch 74, Olonga-po City for the crime of murder. Obviously, such serious criminal offense carries a penalty of more than one year. Thus, the case of Pemberton falls within the am-bit of the said Operations Order. He is therefore presumed to be undesirable,” the resolution stated.

While Pemberton is still pre-sumed innocent considering that the court has yet to rule on the evidence presented by the both parties to the murder case, the BI said in deportation proceed-ings, “even an iota of evidence that an alien is unfit to remain in the country is sufficient.”

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American Cancer Society recommends women...in the Journal of the American Medical Association, come after it thoroughly examined research data questioning the benefit of yearly mammograms for women in their 40s.

“We’re moving to an era where people are recognizing the limi-tations of screening tests,” said Dr. Nancy Keating, professor of health care policy and medicine at Harvard Medical School who wrote an editorial accompanying the new recommendations. “For many years, we convinced ev-erybody, including doctors, that mammograms are the best tests and everyone has to have one. But now we’re acknowledging that the benefits are modest and the harms are real.”

The recommendations only ap-ply to women who have no per-sonal history of the condition or known risk factors based on fam-ily history, genetic mutations or other medical problems. Women who have a genetic risk for the condition are advised to begin undergoing the exam sooner.

The move reflects shifting at-titudes in cancer screening. Six years ago, the cancer society spoke out against a federal task force that suggested most wom-en could wait until the age of 50 to begin screening for breast cancer. They said postponing mammograms would result in in-creased deaths among women.

“Despite some face validity in the idea that younger women, who often have more aggres-sive cancers, might benefit from shorter screening intervals, the actual clinical effects and impor-tance remain uncertain,” Keating wrote in an editorial.

Breast cancer is among the top

Obama to leave US troops in Afghanistan...additional troops and warplanes to combat the growing militants in the Islamic State, and did not want to risk a similar scenario in Afghanistan.

“As your commander in chief, I believe this mission is vital to our national security interests in preventing terrorist attacks against our citizens and our na-tion,” Obama said in a White House appearance last Thurs-day, insisting that he was “not disappointed” in the decision, but “absolutely confident” that this was the right move for the country.

He emphasized that US’s com-bat mission in Afghanistan is over, and the remaining troops will stick to pursuing potential terrorist threats, and helping Af-ghans.

In May 2014, Obama said it was “time to turn the page on a decade in which so much of our foreign policy was focused on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.” He also promised to with-draw the last American troops from the former country by 2016.

Obama said that he continues to oppose the idea of “endless war.” But he also said that a longer-term American presence in Afghanistan was “vital to the security of the US, and a country that is beset by the Taliban their allies from Al Qaeda, and mili-tants from the Islamic State,” ac-cording to the New York Times.

“Our commitment to Afghani-stan and its people endures,” said Obama, flanked by Vice President Joe Biden and other top military leaders. “I will not allow Afghanistan to be used as safe haven for terrorists to at-tack our nation again.”

However, he also acknowl-edged that security remains fragile, and the risk of death of American troops being in the country is still very likely, though far fewer than during

Infrastructure and transportation...or Corporation, Rio Grande Pa-cific Corporation, Texas Instru-ments, World Affairs Council and heads of the Fort Worth Cham-ber of Commerce and Greater Dallas Asian American Chamber of Commerce.

Members of the Manila busi-ness delegation agreed that the Philippines is serious in improv-ing its infrastructure to meet de-mands of the country’s economy. This is reflected in the govern-ment’s increased budget alloca-tion to infrastructure projects in order to meet population and economic demands.

According to Mr. Ronaldo El-epaño, 1st Vice President for Business Development Inter-national at DM Consunji, Inc., the 2015 Budget invests 569.9 billion pesos in strategic infra-structure projects. Infrastructure outlays for this year represent 4 percent of the country’s GDP, a 28.95 percent increase in allo-cated budget from the previous year.

Additionally, 287.8 billion pe-sos is earmarked for transport infrastructure projects including road, maritime, air, and railway transport. Of this amount, 53.1 billion will go to agricultural in-frastructure which includes ir-rigation, farm-to-market roads, and fishery infrastructure.

The growing population is a major driving force in infrastruc-ture expansion. According to Mr. Juan Olondriz Peña, President of RAJI INC., population growth and the expansion of the metrop-olis demands that infrastructure development extend to places outside Metro Manila. a

“The Philippines has a popula-tion of approximately 100 million people, growing at an average rate of 1.8 to 2.3 percent annu-ally. The main population center is in the Metro Manila area and within the next six to eight years, Greater Manila will extend as far North as Angeles City in Pam-panga, to Lucena City, Quezon Province in the South, and to Batangas City in the West with a radius averaging 80 kilometers from the center of Manila,” said Mr. Peña.

He added, “Looking at the po-tential growth of Greater Manila to include the outlaying prov-inces North, South & West of Greater Manila, the Philippine government needs to focus and fast track the infrastructure proj-ects that will support the project-ed growth of both the population and its economy.”

killers of American women. This year, more than 200,000 new cases are predicted and more than 40,000 deaths as a result are expected in the United States.

The society said it set changed its recommendation for annual mammograms at age 45 because that’s when a woman’s risk for breast cancer spikes. By the time women reach age 55, when most have passed menopause, tumors are usually less aggressive and grow at a slower rate. Additional-ly, changes in breast tissue make it easier to read mammograms.

Overdiagnosis was another result of mammograms that re-searchers in a separate study found, which means women re-ceived unnecessary treatment and procedures, and underwent emotional distress. Younger women have more dense breast tissue and mammograms be-ginning at age 40 could result in false positives. One study re-vealed that a number of women suffer intense anguish after be-ing called for a follow-up mam-mogram because a radiologist saw something suspicious, NBC News reported.

Most women overestimate how much mammograms actu-ally help, Lisa Schwarts, a profes-sor of medicine at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice in New Hamp-shire, told NBC News. The ex-ams decrease the risk of death from breast cancer by anywhere between 15 percent to 40 per-cent, depending on studies con-sidered.

“About 85 [percent] of women in their 40s and 50s who die of breast cancer would have died regardless of mammography screening,” Keating said. “More

sophisticated screening tests that confer a greater reduction in breast cancer mortality would likely decrease breast cancer mortality much more than ex-panding screening mammogra-phy for women in their 40s and 50s.”

Wender said he hoped the changes would put an end to de-bates and confusion about mam-mography, The New York Times reported, but others doubt they would bring clarity.

“I think it has the potential to create a lot of confusion amongst women and primary care provid-ers,” Dr. Therese Bevers, medical director of the Cancer Prevention Center at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, told the Times.

Other groups still recommend that women begin undergoing mammograms earlier, includ-ing the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, which suggests annual mammograms begin at age 40. Similarly, the American College of Obstetricians and Gy-necologists recommends the test every one to two years between the ages of 40 to 49, and once per year after that. Furthermore, it suggests annual clinical breasts exams starting at age 19.

But the most important thing, most groups agree, is that wom-en to discuss their risk for breast cancer with their doctors and de-cide what she’s most comfortable doing, according to NBC News.

“A woman should make a per-sonal decision as whether she should start screening before age 45 but we clearly recommend that by age 45 all women should start regular screening every year,” Wender told NBC News. (Agnes Constante/AJPress)

the height of the war. So far this year, 25 Americans have been killed overseas.

The decision—which was reached after what White House officials called an “extensive, lengthy review”—ensures that Obama will leave office next year going back on his seminal promise to responsibly end the military involvements started by his predecessor, George W. Bush, by keeping troops in the Middle East.

Critics have said that the pres-ident is conveying a message of “weakness” to potential danger-ous adversaries, such as terror-ist groups and militants.

The Taliban are now spread through more parts of the coun-try than at any point since 2001, according to the United Nations. Last month, they seized the northern key city of Kunduz and held it for more than two weeks before withdrawing.

Noting these dangers, Obama said, “In key areas of the coun-try, the security situation is still very fragile, and in some areas, there is risk of deterio-ration…after 2017, American forces will remain on several bases [in Afghanistan] to give us the presence and the reach our forces require to achieve their mission.”

“In part, it’s the actual day-to-day interactions [between US

advisers and Afghan troops] that matter,” said Melissa Dalton, a former Pentagon official, adding that the presence of US troops would help fortify training ef-forts for Afghan soldiers, and provide political and psycholog-ical benefits to the nation.

It “demonstrates the US is not walking away” from a situation that remains “very rocky terrain and uncertain,” Dalton said.

Critics said Obama’s actions did not go far enough to con-front Al Qaeda and other threats in Afghanistan.

Soon-to-retire House Speaker John Boehner said in a state-ment that he was “glad the administration finally admits President Obama’s arbitrary political deadlines are ‘self-de-feating.’”

It’s what we were dreading…I do think I retain hope some-where inside of me [that the war will end] because I think I have to,” Mary Hladky, whose son is in the National Guard after serv-ing in the Army for several years and in Afghanistan, told the International Business Times. “But it’s just terrible what we’re doing to our men and women who serve. It’s really sad--very, very sad.”

“What it’s actually doing is helping [the Islamic State group],” Hladky continued. “Ev-erything we do just helps them and it hurts us. We’re not mak-ing progress, so why do we do the same thing? To us, it’s very, very frustrating.”

“As in Iraq, the situation in Afghanistan had deteriorated by the time Obama inherited it, making the conflict difficult to end,” said Gordon Adams, pro-fessor emeritus of International Relations at American Univer-sity. “And there’s no evidence that keeping a large US military presence in either country would have brought stability.” (Allyson Escobar /AJPress)

Philippine Port Authority sta-tistics show an overall increase in cargo throughput or the average quantity of cargo and passengers that can pass through Philippine ports.

According to Mr. Peña, the in-crease in cargo throughput pres-ents numerous private sector opportunities for the expansion of port facilities and railroads, specifically projects at the Port of Batangas, Port of Abra de Ilog in Mindoro Occidental and Port of Calapan in Mindoro Oriental. Expansion of the three ports will benefit Metro Manila, Bulacan, Pampanga, Bataan, Zambales, Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, the Cagayan Region, Southern Ta-galog Islands, Quezon Province, and the Bicol Provinces.

Philippine National Railways is also working on providing an improved, sustainable railway system running from Manila to Legazpi that will provide a rail service to carry cargo to and from Manila International Con-tainer Terminal, North Harbor, and Batangas. This will also open up even more investment opportunities for the private sector.

The mentioned multi-billion peso infrastructure and transport projects, along with an estab-lished Public-Private Partner-ship Program and a government dedicated to battling corruption, make the Philippines ripe for in-vestment.

The conference in Dallas is the second leg in a three-city Private Sector-led Investment Roadshow and was made possible with the cooperation of the Philippine Consulate General in Los Ange-les and the Philippine-American Chamber of Commerce in Texas, led by its Executive Director, Mr. Gus Mercado.

The Manila delegation was well received by the audience from the Dallas Fort Worth Area. Break-out sessions during the conference were also well at-tended, leading to continued dialogue among participants and members of the Manila delega-tion.

Other members of the Manila business delegation led by Dr. Bernardo Villegas, Visiting Pro-fessor at IESE Business School in Barcelona and Professor at the University of Asia and the Pacif-ic, includes Mr. Engelbert Cama-sura, Partner at Ward Howell In-ternational Consulting Firm; and Mr. Jose Mari Mercado, Presi-dent and CEO of the Information Technology & Business Process Association of the Philippines. The delegation was accompanied by Ambassador Jose L. Cuisia, Jr.; Consul General Leo Herrera-Lim; and Honorary Consul Ethel Mercado, outgoing President of the Philippine American Cham-ber of Commerce.

The delegation will head to Se-attle for the final leg of the road-show on 23 October.

Dr Bernardo Villegas, Head of the Private Sector Delegation, delivers his presentation entitled “The Philippines: The New Tiger of Asia” at the 4th Private Sector Led Investment Roadshow held at the Hyatt Regency DFW Airport on Wednesday, Oct. 21. Photos courtesy of Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles

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Pres. Barack Obama


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Dateline PhiliPPinesComelec can’t stop early poll campaigning

Arroyo camp sees high court TRO a turning point in plunder case

by Sheila CriSoStomo Philstar.com

by leila B. Salaverria Inquirer.net

MANILA—Due to a Supreme Court (SC) ruling in Novem-ber 2009, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) cannot do anything about candidates who campaign before the start of the official campaign period next year.

According to Comelec Chair-man Andres Bautista, premature campaigning is no longer in the statute book because of the SC’s decision on the Comelec vs. Pen-era case.

Bautista said the SC ruling had superceded the election laws, which used to consider election-eering outside of the campaign period as an election offense.

“If you look at the decision of the Supreme Court on the Pen-era case, you can only engage in prohibited campaign acts during the campaign period. Essential-ly, before that, you are free to do anything,” he noted.

The Comelec was planning to come up with guidelines for ac-tivities that are allowed and not allowed in the wake of the Pen-era ruling.

Bautista maintained that a draft had been formulated but it does not prohibit campaigning activities.

“What we are saying is that there is a void in the law,” he added.

“I think the call is on Congress to be able to come up with a law that would spell out with clarity which actions are allowed from

According to Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista, premature campaigning is no longer in the statute book because of the SC’s decision on the Comelec vs. Penera case.

THE CAMP of President Glo-ria Macapagal-Arroyo expressed hope that the recent Supreme Court order stopping her plunder trial for 30 days in order to reex-amine her petitions could be a “turning point” in the Pampanga representative’s battle against what she claims is her illegal de-tention since 2012.

Malacañang, on the other hand, reacted to the high court order by saying that while they had hoped to see the trial completed before the Aquino administration ends, it respected separate judicial pro-cesses.

Early this week, the high court suspended the celebrated plunder trial and asked the Sandiganbayan to explain within 10 days why it denied the former president’s peti-tion for a demurrer of evidence or a ruling on the sufficiency of the prosecution’s evidence to warrant a plunder charge. It is also set to review the denial of Arroyo’s bail petition.

A United Nations working group had reportedly issued an opinion early this month that Arroyo’s con-tinued detention was “arbitrary” and violative of human rights.

In a statement, Arroyo counsel Laurence B. Arroyo said: “We are thankful for the (Supreme Court’s) status quo ante order. We are hoping that this development will mark the turning point in our legal battle.”

Arroyo brought her case to the

Supreme Court after the San-diganbayan First Division denied her plea for bail and a demurer of evidence in connection with the alleged plunder of P366 million in intelligence funds from the Philip-pine Charity Sweepstakes Office from 2008 to 2010.

“We have raised important is-sues before the SC, including whether the Sandiganbayan re-de-fined the meaning of plunder when

it denied GMA’s bail application,” said Arroyo’s lawyer. Many of her coaccused have already been freed.

Another member of Arroyo’s legal team, Lorenzo Gadon, said that the high court order was time-ly because it apparently softened the stance of the Sandiganbayan, which allowed Arroyo to seek medical treatment for her worsen-ing illness. (Inquirer.net)

WADING THROUGH. Residents of Barangay Pasig in Candaba, Pampanga ford deep floods while others hold on to ropes to avoid being swept by swirling floodwaters. Some barangays in the town remain submerged even if typhoon Lando had already left the country on Wednesday, Oct. 21. ManilaTimes.net photo by Russel Palma

Cayetano still hoping for a Duterte runHOPE springs eternal for those

who want Davao City Mayor Ro-drigo Duterte to seek the presi-dency, including Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano who wishes to be his running mate.

Cayetano is keeping his fingers crossed that the reluctant Duterte would still run, citing the mayor’s supposed recent statements.

Cayetano quoted Duterte as saying in a gathering last Sunday that only the Lord could say if he would become President.

“Meaning he’s open and he’s leaving it up to the Lord,” Cay-etano told a forum at the Kamun-ing Bakery.

He also disclosed that Duterte supposedly said that there was still December for him to run by substituting for another candi-date. The deadline for substitu-tion is on Dec. 10.

Option availableThe option is available to PAGE A7

this period until the campaign period and which should not be allowed,” he added.

The SC ruling upheld the provi-sions in Republic Act 9369—the Poll Automation Law—that “any person who files his certificate of candidacy (COC) shall only be considered as a candidate at the start of the campaign period” and that “unlawful acts applicable to a candidate shall be in effect only upon start of the campaign pe-riod.”

Under manual elections, the campaign period starts on the day after the last day of filing of the certificate of candidacy (COC).

But since the automation of elections in 2010, the filing of COC was pushed forward to al-low the Comelec to pre-print the names of the candidates, posi-tions and polling precincts on the ballots.

For the May 9, 2016 elections, the campaign period for presi-dent, vice president, senators and party-list groups runs from Feb. 9 to May 7, while for local positions it will be from March 5 to May 7.

Duterte after a member of the PDP-Laban filed a certificate of candidacy for President.

Cayetano also said he and Duterte talked on the phone after the deadline for the filing of the COC lapsed. They are expected to meet in a few days for further discussion.

Duterte told him he really had no ambition to become President and could not see why people could not understand his deci-sion.

But Cayetano said he told the mayor it was not that people did not understand, they just could not accept that he would not run because they believe in his com-petence so much.

If ever Duterte would be per-suaded to change his mind, Cay-etano said this should not be seen as a sign of weakness or flip-flop-ping on the mayor’s part.

It would not be a flip-flop be-cause Duterte never vacillated between running or not running, and had consistently said he did

not want to seek the presidency. If ever he would run, such a deci-sion by the mayor would also be a result of public clamor.

More people thankful“More people would say ‘thank

you’ rather than be angry if he

Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano


OpiniOn Features

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PAGE A7

Philstar.com photo

Editorial

ON my recent visit to the Phil-ippines, I found myself sharing a case of beer with the vice-mayor of a small provincial town, along with some of his ward leaders. The in-sights that they provided on grass-roots politics could be of interest to social media pundits who may be of the impression that their post-ings on Facebook and Twitter will influence the results of the coming presidential elections.

If you recall the “million people” anti-pork barrel gathering at the Luneta many months ago, fueled mainly by a social media activist, you are probably one of those who believe that your daily online com-mentaries on the political scene are helping “educate” the bobo-tantes out there in the provinces and your clever insults and memes are helping erode the SWS and Pulse Asia rankings of the candi-dates you dislike.

Well, okay, mass action was enough to make Noynoy Aquino budge on the PDAP issue, but it fell way short of gathering a million and way short of the im-pact that social media had on the Arab Spring.

On the other hand, who can argue against the power of Face-book and Twitter, considering the 25 million tweets generated by

Insights from a small town politician

GreG B. MacaBenta

Street Talk

AFTER the five-day filing of certificates of candidacy (COCs), from October 12-16, the Commission on Election (Comelec) reportedly re-ceived 130 applications from Filipino presidential aspirants.

Chosen one

As granted by the law, these ap-plications were accepted. Howev-er, not all these aspirants will make it to the ballot as the Comelec win-now the grain from the chaff.

When asked about the high turnout of people wanting to be the next Philippine president, Com-mission on Elections (Comelec) reiterated its pro-visions on “nuisance candidates.”

Citing the Omnibus Election Code, Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez told the media that the poll body has the authority to reject the COCs of individuals who make a mockery of the election system; those who seek to confuse voters through similarity of names between candidates; and those who have no bona fide or good faith in running for office.

While the filing of COCs appeared to be a circus, Malacañang said that the high turnout of presi-dential hopefuls “attests to the dynamism of our democracy and reflects the desire of well-mean-ing Filipinos to actively participate in the electoral process.”

“Come election time, we expect our bosses to exercise sound judgment in their selection of fu-ture leaders of the country,” Communications Sec-retary Herminio Coloma Jr. said.

A presidential wannabe only needs to meet five requirements: a natural born Filipino; a registered

voter; must be able to read and write; 40 years of age at the day of the elec-tion; and must have resided in the Philippines 10 years before the elec-tion is held.

From the 130 names tossed in the ring, only few will make it to the next cut. And when election time is over, one will be named the 16th President of the Republic of the Philippines.

Four are expected to make it through to the de-liberation process, those who have the machinery, resources and potential to launch a nationwide campaign. They are Liberal Party (LP) standard-bearer Manuel Roxas II, Vice President Jejomar Binay of the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA), independent candidate Sen. Grace Poe and Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, who will be running under her People’s Reform Party.

Meeting the requirements is easy, winning the Filipinos’ approval is the hard part. Instead of working double time on increasing popularity and gaining plaudits, current leaders and those aspir-ing for a public post should do more groundwork and to do more for the people.

Whether wanting to be a president is wise or not, this ambition will adhere to the requirements of due process. Eventually, it is the Filipino voters who will decide if this dream can turn into reality.

Getting the job done is no cakewalk either. As

defined by the Constitution, the president is the Head of State and Head of Government, and func-tions as the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. As chief executive, the president exercises control over all the executive departments, bureaus and offices.

It is every Filipino’s undertaking to identify these duties and responsibilities. When the winner is declared, they are expected to transcend from the latest poll results and staunch existing political mentality, and aid the next leader in utilizing them for the next six years. (AJPress)

IT is very heartwarming to see and hear how very engaged kababayans in America have in-creasingly been when it comes to what is going on in the Philippines. Despite the distance away from the Motherland, most of us -- especially those who still have family living there -- still care about what is going on in the country.

There are Fil-Ams who may have challenges paying their own bills, yet they feel obligated and compelled to send money to their families because they know if they are remiss in helping out, their loved ones would not be able to survive. Many of these Fil-Ams lament that if only there are more and better employment opportunities back home, then their families would not be very dependent on them financially. If only…

That is why news about corruption and incom-petence of those in public office infuriate a lot of kababayans in America. The Internet, social me-dia and ABS-CBN The Filipino Channel’s daily newscast “Balitang America” have provided these kababayans the platform to help them voice out their concerns and opinions about the political situation in the Philippines. However, we can do more to effect change in the Philippines. This is through exercising the right to suffrage.

Filipino citizens residing abroad, or those who

may have already naturalized cit-izens of other countries but have come dual citizens, can vote -- and these votes will count. There may have been very low turnout in the past election cycles, but again, because of the power of the Internet, social media, and global broadcast organizations like ABS-CBN, more and more kababayans are now compelled to register as Overseas Absentee Voters (OAV).

There have been some flaws and loopholes in Philippine election laws that discourage more kababayans outside of the country from participat-ing in Philippine elections, but with the advocacy of Filipino community leaders abroad, especially from the United States, these laws have been chal-lenged and amended so more of global Filipinos can cast their sacred and consequential votes.

One of these advocates is Atty. Ted Laguatan, an active Fil-Am leader based in San Francisco, California.

Laguatan filed a petition before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) -- on behalf of US Pinoys for Good Governance (USPGG), Global Filipino Diaspora Council (GFDC), European Network of

Filipinos in the Diaspora (ENFID) and thousands of overseas reg-istered voters — requesting the Comelec not to disenfranchise about 167,000 registered vot-ers who failed to consecutively vote twice. As a result, Laguatan sent “Balitang America” the good news: the Comelec had a meeting en banc to consider such petition

and came out with a very positive resolution.The resolution stipulates that on May 27, 2013,

Congress amended RA 9189 of the Overseas Ab-sentee Voting Act of 2003, replacing it with RA 10590 and making it mandatory and not discre-tionary for the Comelec to deactivate overseas registered voters who fail to vote twice consecu-tively.

Affirming the arguments presented by Lagua-tan in the petition, the resolution recognized the clamor of overseas voters not to disenfranchise them for failing to vote twice. This resolution also affirms the importance of the right of suffrage of every Filipino, wherever they may be.

Laguatan reported that the final policy decision, which was approved unanimously, extends the date for reactivation from Oct. 31, 2015 to Dec. 9,

2015. It also made reactivation a very easy pro-cess. Just mail, fax or email the Comelec before this date and the deactivated overseas voter can still participate in the May 2016 elections.

Laguatan enthused: “Registered overseas voters now have exceed-

ed the one million mark and with time continue to grow in numbers. They can be a real force for good. In general ORVs [Overseas Registered Vot-ers] cannot be bought nor coerced by goons. They are also better informed. As such, they tend to vote for the best candidates in terms of integrity and competence. They can change the quality of our national leadership with their votes and the votes of their relatives in the Philippines whom they help and who will follow their directions on which candidates to vote for. This is one way in which we can change the political culture in the Philip-pines, have good honest non-corrupt leaders and create a better life for Filipinos everywhere in the world.”

* * *Gel Santos Relos is the anchor of TFC’s “Balitang America.” Views and opinions expressed by the author in this column are are solely those of the author and not of Asian Journal and ABS-CBN-TFC. For comments, go to www.TheFil-AmPerspective.com, https://www.facebook.com/Gel.Santos.Relos

Fil-Ams can help decide who will be the next Philippine president

Gel SantoS-ReloS

The Fil-Am Perspective

the AlDub phenomenon of GMA Network’s Eat Bulaga? That has certainly brought home the point that the Internet can have a tre-mendous impact on average folks.

But does that power extend to politics? Not quite.

According to my drinking bud-dy, the small town vice-mayor, down at the grassroots the magic word is “mobilization.” That’s a euphemism for vote-buying.

The cost of running for pub-lic office, at least in my friend’s hometown, can drive the likes of Grace Poe, with her supposed halo of honesty and integrity, to steal from the public coffers upon being sworn into office (or allow her big business funders to do it). I’m afraid the situation isn’t very much different anywhere else in the Philippines.

There’s one more fallacy that the “electoral reformists” need to swallow. A presidential campaign is a Big Money Game and the King of Kurakot or Potentate of Plunder is not necessarily the one being relentlessly investigated by the Senate and crucified on TV and the dailies.

In a recent story in Philippine Star, Paolo Romero wrote: “Some P45 billion in lump sums under the so-called Bottom-Up Budget-ing (BUB) provisions in the budget program for this year and for 2016 will be used to boost the presiden-tial bid of Manuel Roxas II, an op-position lawmaker said yesterday.

“Kabataan party-list Rep. Terry Ridon raised the issue during plenary debates on the proposed budget of the Department of the

Interior and Local Government (DILG), which Roxas headed until last month. ‘There is a reason why Roxas has been going around the country in the past months to pro-mote BUB and even inaugurate BUB projects in the past months,’ Ridon said.”

That, according to my drinking buddy, is just one part of “mobili-zation.” Manny Villar’s fabled war chest in the 2010 campaign (said to be at P3.5 billion) is chicken feed compared to that of Roxas. If you think that spending the people’s money for a presiden-tial campaign isn’t kurakotand plunder, then you must be like the monkey who sees, speaks and hears no evil.

Several decades ago, on a trip to Leyte, I happened to have a ca-sual conversation with someone who had just run for congressman and had lost. He was furious at the way his opponent – who had won – had bribed voters to the tune of P100 per head. I was about to shower him with sympathy but did a double-take when he added that he could only afford to give P50.

Well, these days, P100 won’t win you a congressional seat any-more, said my drinking buddy. He recalled how he had to spend one million pesos when he ran for vice-mayor the last time. And he just barely won. How a vice-may-or of a third class municipality can justify spending a million for a po-sition that officially pays peanuts may be explained by the fact that the potential unofficial earnings

Being Filipino American in the GOP

Ron Falconi, MayoR oF BRunSwick,ohio

Commentary

DR. Jose Rizal, a national hero of the Philippines, placed a high value on civic involvement wher-ever he was, whether it be the Philippines or travelling around the world. He wanted the Phil-ippines to be more involved in shaping its destiny and wanted the people to have more control of their government – ideals similar to those of the Republi-can Party. As we celebrate Fili-pino American History Month, I reflect on my Filipino heritage and the values I share with the Republican Party and Rizal’s words from the 17th century, which still ring true today.

I was born and raised in north-eastern Ohio as the son of two Filipino immigrants who came to America in the 1960’s in search of the American dream. My par-ents taught me the importance of God, family, hard work, and self-reliance. Growing up dur-ing the Reagan Revolution, I found a home in the Republican Party because I realized that the values my parents taught me were also the bedrock principles of the party. Ever since I attend-ed my first political gathering, this Party has always made me feel welcomed, accepted, and included. Over my lifetime, I

have worked with three differ-ent Republican Party County organizations in two different states, but no matter where I go, my friends from the Party are more like my family. The Grand Old Party (GOP) has always encouraged me to be involved in the political process because we share the same common principles. The GOP continues to stand for a strong national defense, lower taxes, religious values, and of course, smaller government.

As the mayor of Brunswick, Ohio, a town of approximately 35,000 people, I am proud of my heritage. My wife was born and raised in the Philippines. We raise our two teenage kids with the same values that have been taught to us. We work hard, go to church, and contribute back to our community. These val-ues are not only Filipino values or Republican values, but more importantly they are also Ameri-can values. Even though we speak Tagalog at home and eat Filipino food, we are Americans first, and we celebrate these core principles that are shared across cultures, across traditions and in my Party.

Recently, Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus spoke on the importance of the role that Filipino Americans play in our society as well as the great con-tributions they have made to our country. The RNC continues to engage and build meaningful relationships with Filipino com-

munities across the country, and encourage them to get involved in our political process as we continue to build upon the American dream.

I believe that Dr. Rizal’s words and actions of greater civic en-gagement have a direct impact on how our communities move forward and thrive. Recently, I addressed the National Fed-eration of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA Region 3 East) and talked about further-ing our community’s political involvement. At the Knights of Rizal International Conference last year in Greater Cleveland, I spoke about leadership and how it affects our Filipino communi-ties here in America. There is a need for greater participation of the Filipino American com-munity in the political life of our cities, townships, states, and even our federal government in Washington. The GOP can help us get there.

As we celebrate Filipino Amer-ican History Month this October, I ask all of you to be open to the message of the GOP. As Ameri-cans of Filipino descent, we share similar beliefs and values, and we want a better tomorrow for our children. The GOP is an inclusive party made up of many different kinds of people with diverse backgrounds and is the best vehicle for turning our country in the right direction. It is my home – and it can be yours too. I ask all of you to join our Party and help us to restore the

PAGE A7

OC/IE ASIAN JOURNAL • OCtObER 23-29, 2015(818) 502-0651 • (213) 250-9797 • http://www.asianjournal.com A�Dateline PhiliPPines

Being Filipino American in the GOPAmerican dream.

***Ron Falconi began his term as Mayor

of Brunswick in 2014. Originally, he was appointed to the Council at Large seat in 2008 among a group of 14 applicants. He successfully defended the seat and won a full term in 2009.

Falconi was born and raised in northeastern Ohio. He received his diploma from Padua Franciscan High School. He went on to receive his Bachelor of Arts degree from John Carroll University, where he majored in

Insights from a small town politicianare more than peanuts.

I asked him what the going rate was these days in his hometown. According to him, it’s P50 per vot-er if you’re running for councilor, P100 to P150 if you’re a candidate for mayor or vice-mayor, P500 if you want to become a congress-man and as much as a thousand if you are aiming for the presi-dency.

“A ward leader usually ac-counts for about a dozen voters,” my friend continued. “When he attends a meeting called by the provincial coordinator of a candi-date, he is expected to bring home the ‘mobilization.’ Otherwise, he will lose face as well as his cred-ibility.”

Now, that’s just for buying votes. The cost of maintaining the campaign machinery is an-other thing altogether. In an ar-ticle for Bulatlat, Karl G. Ombion and Max Cordero, related how an independent activist group in Ba-colod computed the expenditures of a trapo or traditional politician running for congress or for mayor in the province.

“Payroll accounts for the high-est expenditure of politicians,” the article stated. “As many as 6,000 ward leaders are maintained by trapos. Ward leaders consti-

political science with a concentration in international studies. Subsequently, he received his law degree from the University of Akron, and he has a license to practice law in this state. He was also admitted to practice in the US District Court – Northern District of Ohio, and the US District Court – Western District of Pennsylvania. In addition to that, he has represented clients in the US Immigration Court and before the US Citizenship and Immigration Service. He operates his own law practice and does a majority of his work in Cuyahoga and Medina counties. He has been active in the community. He

was a former member of the Brunswick Board of Zoning Appeals, and served on that board from 2004 to 2007. Falconi is also active at St. Ambrose Church, where he is a lector and is also a former bingo team participant. He served as the government liaison officer for the Fairway’s Homeowners Association. He also has served as a Guardian ad Litem in both Medina and Cuyahoga Counties. Ron has been married to his wife, Genevive, since 1998, and they have two (2) beautiful children. They have lived in Brunswick since 2001. Ron’s interests include history, travel, and singing.

tute the backbone of election campaign organizations. They are the campaigners in the puroks or barangays (villages) where they live. They receive a minimum of P2,000 per month for three months prior to the election. This alone costs P12 million per month or P36,000,000 for three months.” The article broke down the “mini-mum expenses” of a candidate in Bacolod, on top of the budget for ward leaders, and that added up to more than P73 million.

What happens if you don’t have enough funds for “mobilization”?

“Don’t bother to run,“ was the reply. “Or run to lose.”

That last statement reminded me of a certain senator who has insisted on running for vice-presi-dent even while his survey ratings have been pitifully low. “He’s sure to lose,” said one commentator. “But he will win.”

What the commentator meant, of course, was that the senator-cum-VP aspirant is expected to make a neat sum from contribu-tions from businessmen and the usual election bettors, namely, gambling lords and assorted rack-eteers. So, even if he loses, he still wins. Besides, he won’t have to give up his Senate seat.

I asked my drinking buddy if the improved political awareness

of the provincial voters, due to the extensive reach of network TV and the Internet, will have any influ-ence on their voting preferences.

“Of course that will influence their votes, TV particularly,” he replied. “But the mobilization will have a greater influence.”

“Does it mean that whoever has billions in his campaign chest is a sure winner?” I pressed.

My drinking buddy hastened to clarify the point. “The big spend-ers have a major advantage,” he said. “But the voters could also accept the money from one can-didate but vote for somebody else.”

“And why would they do that?”“There’s one thing that works

as well as mobilization,” he ex-plained. “And that is the personal touch. When a candidate actually goes out of his way to personally talk to the voters, that could neu-tralize the influence of money. ”

And then he added: “People also don’t forget being told ‘Baha-la kayo sa buhay niyo!’ and ‘Buhay ka pa naman, hindi ba?’”

“But an opposition candidate will still have to provide mobiliza-tion,” I clarified.

“Siyempre,” was his reply. “But, at least, it will cost him less.” ([email protected])

PAGE A6

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Cayetano still hoping for a Duterte runchanges his mind,” Cayetano said.

“Mayor Duterte sees Davao City as his family. If he begins to see the whole country as his family as well, there might be an opening for him to consider run-ning,” he added.

According to Cayetano, it was important for him that Duterte

join the race for Malacañang. There are many good candi-dates, but Duterte is the only one who can offer something “game changing” and of a different per-spective, he said.

He also said that his and Duterte’s plans for the country jived.

Duterte advocates federalism, while Cayetano bats for the de-

centralization of national govern-ment offices.

But in case Duterte does not be-come a substitute and completely shuts the door on the presidency, Cayetano said he would still run for Vice President.

In case Duterte does run but chooses another bet to be his running mate, Cayetano said he would still support the mayor.

Disqualification case file against Manny Pacquiao due to absenteeism

MANILA—Citing his “pattern of absenteeism” at the House of Representatives, a man filed a dis-qualification case against senato-rial aspirant and Saranggani Rep. Manny Pacquiao at the Commis-sion on Elections (Comelec),

In a two-page petition received by the Comelec late Wednesday, the petitioner, a certain Ferdi-nand Sevilla of Barangay La Paz, Makati City, asked the poll body to disqualify Pacquiao, and declare him a nuisance candidate, calling the boxing champion a “non-seri-ous and a nuisance” candidate.

Pacquiao was among the buzz-er beaters who filed last Friday, Oct. 16 his certificate of candi-dacy (COC) for senator in the 2016 elections under the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) of Vice President Jejomar Binay.

“Respondent Pacquiao, who has not retired from professional boxing, cannot guarantee he will avoid absenteeism and will con-scientiously attend to his mandat-ed task of legislating if elected to the Upper Chamber of Congress,” said the petition.

“Pacquiao’s filing of COC for Senator in the upcoming national elections, therefore, comprises a

PAGE A5

Palace shrugs off report ranking AFP as ‘world’s 6th worst army’

NOTING that the administra-tion remains committed to its promise of rejuvenating the Phil-ippine military, Malacañang on Thursday, Oct. 22 downplayed a report which ranked the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) as the world’s sixth worst army.

Reacting to the list released by “We Are The Mighty,” a group of former US soldiers, Communica-tions Secretary Herminio Coloma said more AFP modernization projects are underway.

“Sa simula’t sapul ay kinilala ng Aquino administration ang kahalagahan ng pagpapahusay sa mga kagamitan ng ating San-datahang Lakas,” Coloma said.

“Binanggit ni Pangulong Aqui-no sa kanyang huling State of the Nation Address na sa ilalim ng kasalukuyang pamamahala, mayroong total of 56 projects sa AFP Modernization Program

ang naipatupad at nakumpleto, kumpara sa 45 doon sa mga proyektong naisagawa noong mga nakaraang administrasyon,” he added.

“We Are The Mighty” named AFP as the sixth worst army in the world, behind Costa Rica, Iraq, North Korea, Eritrea, and Nigeria.

The group said the Philippine Navy and Air Force “are still nearly 60 years old and its ships are old US Coast Guard cutters.”

But Coloma said the “big-tick-et items” being acquired by the government for the military were concrete proofs of its moderniza-tion efforts.

Among these assets, Coloma said, were two navy frigates worth P18-billion, three air sur-veillance radars worth P2.68-bil-lion, six close air support aircraft worth P4.97-billion, two units of long-range patrol aircraft worth P5.98-billion, multipurpose at-tack craft project worth P864.32-

million, night fighting system worth P1.116-billion, two C-130 aircraft worth P1.6-billion, two naval helicopters worth P5.4-bil-lion, and lead-in fighter trainer jets ammunition worth P4.47-bil-lion.

“Batid po natin na sa kasalu-kuyan hinihintay ‘yung delivery ng isang squadron—parang isang dosena yata ‘yon—na mga fighter jets na galing sa Ko-rea. Kaya makikita natin ‘yung kongkretong manipestasyon ng ibayong pagsisikap na gawing moderno ang ating Sandatah-ang Lakas at ito ay pinapatu-nayan sa pamamagitan ng pag-kuha ng mga pinakamodernong kagamitan na gagamitan ng ating army, navy, at air force,” Coloma added.

The AFP modernization pro-gram is still under fire as Presi-dent Benigno Aquino III has yet to sign the national defense strat-egy plan two years after the bill was signed into law.

by Yuji Vincent Gonzales Inquirer.net

sheer and shameless mockery of the election process,” it added.

However, although the petition against Pacquiao had been re-ceived by the poll body, as of press time, the Office of the Clerk of the Commission has not docketed the petition due to Sevilla’s failure to pay the filing fee of P10,100.

Based on Comelec Resolution No. 9523, no petition shall be docketed unless the requirements have been complied with.

In his petition, Sevilla cited the House of Representatives’ re-cords showing that out of the 70

session days from Jan. 20 to Dec. 17, 2014, Pacquiao had the most number of absences with only seven days present.

In 2013, Pacquiao incurred 60 absences out of 168 session days, Sevilla added.

“While Pacquiao was con-sistently absent to train for his boxing bout, shoot his television programs, or shoot hoops in bas-ketball games, he was denying his constituents representation,” said Sevilla.

“He has failed to fulifill his mandate, as well as produce rel-evant, significant and meaningful legislative proposals…. He has wasted time, money and other re-sources the government allocated to his staff operations during his two terms as Saranggani’s lone House representative,” the peti-tioner added.

In a recent television interview, Pacquiao said he would give his full focus on being a senator should he win in the 2016 elec-tions.

Recognizing the much bigger responsibilities that a senator would handle, Pacquiao vowed to work harder in the upper cham-ber. (Inquirer.net)

Saranggani Rep. Manny Pacquiao


the asian journal entertainment magazineoctober 23-29, 2015

sfc11.5 x 20roger

may 30-june 5, 2014www.asianjournal.com

2

october 23-29, 2015 2

3 Philippine islands declared as the best in the world by Condé Nast Traveler

Lea Salonga, a triple treat in Broadway comebackby Ruben V. nepales

Inquirer.net

LOS ANGELES—Lea Salonga sings, acts and dances for the first time on Broadway—and kisses her former boyfriend in real life onstage—in Allegiance. It’s a triumphant return of the Philippines’ multiawarded international performer to the Great White Way. Almost 25 years since she debuted as Kim in Miss Saigon, Lea comes back as a triple threat and does so with aplomb.

Crediting her “many years of living life, performing all over the world and just being a more fully realized human,” the Tony and Olivier winner looks like she’s having the time of her life on the Longacre Theatre’s stage. Whether spiritedly dancing the swing or belting soaring songs in her solo Higher and duets with ex-boyfriend Michael K. Lee, This Is Not Over and Nothing in Our Way, Lea exhibits maturity in this new chapter in her Broadway career.

The artist who also played Fantine and Eponine in Broadway productions of Les Miserables is a performer on top of her game in her sixth visit to the world’s preeminent theater district located in Manhattan.

Allegiance, which had its world premiere at the Old Globe Theatre

in San Diego, California on Sept. 19, 2012, spotlights a shameful chapter in American history —how the US government rounded up and detained Japanese-Americans in internment camps during World War II.

Marc Acito, Jay Kuo (who also wrote the music and lyrics) and Lorenzo Thione’s book personalized the issue by telling the story of the Kimura family whose life was upended during the war.

The musical, directed by Stafford Arima, was inspired by the experiences of George Takei (who toiled and persevered for many years to make Allegiance a reality) as a child living in an internment camp in the swamps of Rohwer, Arkansas.

In the first role that she originates on Broadway since Kim, Lea is Kei Kimura, which she also played at the Old Globe—the sister of Sammy (portrayed by Telly Leung and George in his younger and older years, respectively) whom she helps raise when their family is detained in a camp in Wyoming.

All bundled up after a recent preview performance, ready to meet the fans who have been excitedly waiting outside, Lea met us backstage. She looked flushed

Allegiance is more personal than any other Broadway show I’ve done. The stakes are so much higher because this is part of my husband’s and daughter’s history. This is something I need to do for them.

How has “Allegiance” evolved from its original run in San Diego to Broadway?

Oh… it has grown by leaps and bounds. So many songs were thrown out since then while new ones were written during the last New York lab in 2013 and for the Broadway production in 2015. Jay Kuo was obviously very busy. Kei also becomes a more active participant in the resistance movement and many of the revelations made during the end of the San Diego version are clarified.

We also now have a brand-new finale. We are on Week 3 of previews which means another week of changes.

Do you and George compare notes about tweeting and posting on Facebook?

Actually, we don’t talk about social media very much when

we’re together.What’s it like to sing—and

kiss—your ex-boyfriend onstage?It’s much easier than anyone

would think! Michael and I have only the deepest respect for one another. We dated about 15 years ago so our relationship is ancient history. We’re in Allegiance as actors and professionals and approach it as such. But we do have a lot of fun working together and our chemistry is genuine. There’s plenty of trust that goes between us and ultimately that’s what chemistry is. We watch each other’s back. That’s important for a tandem to work.

Can you talk about how your fan base hasn’t stopped growing over the years?

Needless to say, I’m very grateful for the love being showered on the show and on all of us.

I have The Voice of the Philippines and The Voice Kids (airing on TFC outside of the Philippines) to thank for exposing me to a wider audience which seems to be the same audience coming to Allegiance.

from the standing ovation and cheers that she and her Allegiance castmates—including George, Telly, Katie Rose Clarke, Michael, Christopheren Nomura and Greg Watanabe —had just received.

When Lea, beloved to this day as the singing voice of Jasmine in Aladdin and the title character in Mulan, stepped out of the gates, the assembled crowd broke into cheers. Trailed by a bodyguard, the judge-coach of the Philippines’ version of The Voice and The Voice Kids signed autographs and posed for pictures. Even Ligaya, who stood by and was patiently waiting for her famous daughter, was besieged by fans.

Allegiance preview performances are ongoing with the official opening night set on Nov. 8. More information is available at www.AllegianceMusical.com.

The following are excerpts from our interview with Lea, who lives in Manila with her husband, Japanese-Chinese-American Rob Chien, and their 9-year-old daughter, Nicole.

How different are you from the Lea who appeared onstage at the Broadway Theatre for the first time in 1991?

I’d like to think that because of the last many years of living my life, performing all over the world and just being a more fully realized human, how I approach my work when creating a role is different. I’m more apt to argue and stand my ground than when I was 19 or 20, when I felt my job was to just do what I was told and sing as well as I can.

Now, I’m more open to discussing, arguing, fighting for something I believe in, as long as it’s all in the spirit of collaboration. And thankfully, the environment “Allegiance” fostered was a safe one for all of that.

You do a full on dance in this play. How do you prepare and sustain the energy that’s required by this role?

I just think it’s funny that only now do I get to sing, act and dance… at the age of 44! It’s crazy! All I could do to prepare was to just rehearse all the choreography and do it over and over. Many hours of clean up and self-practice… and making sure I eat just enough for the show.

For the benefit of George’s fans, what’s he really like as a person?

He is one of the most charming and intelligent and funniest people I’ve ever met. The wide vocabulary, that distinctive voice and his laugh! His presence can fill any room and it does.

How does George, a pioneering Asian-American actor, inspire you since you yourself blazed the trail for Filipino talents on the global stage?

I don’t think about whatever I’ve done when I’m in the room with him because he truly was one of the very first who blazed the trail for the rest of us. Being around him is so special, and the impact he’s had… given how many Asian actors there are in the show… it’s safe to say our careers are possible due to people like him. Imagine George making his Broadway debut at the age of 78.

How does “Allegiance’s” story of racial discrimination and segregation resonate with you as an Asian performer and person?

First, the discrimination. After I won my Tony award, I thought things would be easy as far as finding work was concerned. I was wrong. I’ve been told that I couldn’t audition for roles because of my race. The awards couldn’t help in that department which was eye-opening.

I’m thankful to Cameron Mackintosh for taking that chance on me, casting me as Eponine and later on, as Fantine. He saw my talent and not the color of my skin.

Second, because I’m married to a Japanese-American, doing

The Kimura family, all glammed up for Vanity Fair shoot: Telly Leung, George Takei (center) and Lea Salonga. Photo courtesy of Luke Fontana

Lea meets fans at the stage door after a performance. Photo by Ruben V. Nepales

MAYBE it shouldn’t come as a surprise to us but according to Condé Nast Traveler the best island in the world is right here in the Philippines. Palawan topped the list of the Best Islands in the World Awards category in this year’s Condé Nast Traveler Reader’s Choice Awards. Also in the list are Cebu and Boracay at no. 19 and no. 15, respectively.

Garnering an overall ranking of

by OliVia estRada Inquirer.net

Why Richard Gomez decided to run for mayor againMANILA— Richard Gomez,

who is running for mayor in Ormoc City in the 2016 elections, said he initially did not plan to enter politics again.

“Actually wala naman talaga akong plans to run in the next elections. I decided lang the night before the last day of filing,” he said during the press conference of his upcoming ABS-CBN show You’re My Home on Wednesday, Oct. 21.

He first tried his luck in politics when he ran for senator in 2007 but lost. In 2010, he was disqualified to run as congressman as he failed to establish the required residency in Ormoc.

This is the second time that

Richard will be vying for the position of mayor in Ormoc City. He first ran in 2013 but lost to incumbent mayor Edward Codilla.

Next year, the two will be up against each other again as Codilla seeks for his reelection.

“Walang gustong tumakbo na mayor, so I stood up, I took the challenge. Hindi ko puwede iwanan si Lucy,” he added.

Lucy will vie for reelection as Ormoc’s representative and will be pitted against Violeta Codilla, wife of the province’s incumbent mayor.

Richard reunites with Dawn Zulueta in the upcoming TV series You’re My Home, which will air on November 9. (Philstar.com)

85.937, Palawan beat out famous and historical destinations like Mykonos, the British Virgin Islands, and Bali. It is also the second time the island topped the said list, getting the honor at last year’s awards as well. In the write-up, Condé Nast notes how tourists are mainly attracted to the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River, one of the new seven natural wonders of the world.

Boracay got a rating of 80. 856 and was commended for its

beautiful sunsets along with its booming nightlife. On the other hand, Cebu got a rating of 80.404 along with praises for its beaches, shopping areas, and food spots.

The awards also include different categories that rank the best hotels, resorts, and cruise lines around the globe. Votes were taken from 128,000 travelers who were also asked for their comments and ratings before each list was narrowed down to the top 20 picks.

Palawan topped the list of the Best Islands in the World Awards category in this year’s Condé Nast Traveler Reader’s Choice Awards.

Richard Gomez

october 23-29, 2015 3www.asianjournal.com

8th ‘One Kapamilya Go’ in the US comes to historic Oracle Arena on Oct 25

OAKLAND— Come this Sunday, October 25, the storied halls of Oracle Arena in Oakland, California—the home of 2015 NBA Champions Golden State Warriors, the largest NBA arena in California and a premier entertainment venue—will not only be filled with just hardcore basketball enthusiasts or the fanatics of giant performing artists like U2, Madonna, Janet Jackson, Justin Bieber, One Direction or Katy Perry, all of whom have performed in the arena; for the first time ever in history, a Filipino company will bring an all-Filipino cast for one of the most anticipated Filipino events in the US this year: the concert festival, One Kapamilya Go 2015 sa Oracle Arena.

Produced by ABS-CBN International’s The Filipino Channel (TFC), a global brand that offers, among others, the world’s most widely distributed premium and on demand channel showing Filipino content on multiple platforms, One Kapamilya Go sa Oracle Arena is bringing the main cast of the the top-rating Philippine romantic drama TV series, Pangako Sa ‘Yo (The Promise), namely, the most widely followed young Filipino loveteam of Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla known as “KathNiel”, and respected, popular actresses Jodi Sta Maria, Angelica Panganiban and actor Ian Veneracion. Joining them are supporting castmates who have caught viewer attention for their comic skills: Thou “Takong”Reyes and DJ Jhaiho “Coring”. The “TFC Live Experience” of the teleserye, Pangako Sa Yo, is also layered with a “Galing ng Filipino” showcase featuring international musical powerhouse icons and singing champions, Charice, Morissette and Erik Santos.

Back-to-back giant Filipino events during Fil-Am History Month

“We are proud and pleased with what TFC has offered the Filipino community in the US

ABS-CBN TFC’s ‘Pangako Sa Yo’s’ Kathryn Bernardo, Daniel Padilla, Jodi Sta Maria, Angelica Panganiban, Ian Veneracion, Thou “Takong Reyes”, DJ Jhaiho “Coring” with Charice,

Morissette and Erik Santos promise grand family fun and big surprises

this October which is Filipino American History month,” said Ricky Resurreccion, ABS-CBN North America Head of Ad Sales, Trade Marketing and Events and Project Head of One Kapamilya Go. “After delivering the historic Philippines vs the World boxing event at StubHub Center last October 17 with ALA International and ABS-CBN Sports + Action, where our Filipino boxing heroes defeated all their opponents in stirring fashion and raised the flag of “Pinoy Pride”, we now bring the live action to the San Francisco Bay Area to continue making new history, this time with the 8th edition of One Kapamilya Go in the US where this event brand started before it went global.

This time, we celebrate by holding this event in a venue where the biggest and brightest sports and entertainment acts have performed. One Kapamilya Go and TFC’s fans and subscribers will be in very good company.”

From audience to cast member: A TFC live experience

For One Kapamilya Go this year, TFC North America made

sure that this is not the usual concert and festival with booth activities, games and prizes. All those elements are present, but there is so much more.

• My Inamorata “We want to have a dynamic

interaction and engagement with our audience, most of whom are avid followers of Pangako Sa ‘Yo. So, one of the activities we came up with is the ‘My Inamorata’ contest,” said Resurreccion.

He continued: “Essentially, we encourage ladies to come in their most elegant Amor Powers attire. Ten will be called on stage and one of the 10 will be chosen by Amor de Jesus-Powers (Jodi Sta Maria) and Claudia Zalameda Buenavista (Angelica Panganiban) as recipient of the Inamorata necklace. This lucky winner will also be serenaded by Eduardo Buenavista (Ian Veneracion) himself. It’s a live experience, and the contestants will feel like they’re part of the cast.”

• King Teen Fan Some of those who posted

their fan photos on social media with heartthrob Daniel Padilla with the hashtag

#DanielRocksOKGo have been selected and will be featured on a video wall during his performance at One Kapamilya Go.

• Launch of TFC live App in the US

One of the most anticipated activities at the event is the launch of the TFC Live App in the US. Using one’s mobile phone, tablet or laptop, One Kapamilya Go attendees can go to kapamilya.com/tfclive, click the Event and check out the Event Splash Page, continue then log in or create an account. Once registered and validated, the attendees will have access to coupons below.

• myRemit and StarKargo Be one of the first 100

attendees to present a digital coupon at the TFC Padala Booth and receive a special gift bag.

• ABS-CBN Mobile SIM Attendees can save $3.99 in

shipping and handling fees when they buy an ABS-CBN Mobile SIM and present this coupon.

• Pangako Sa ‘Yo Attendees can present this

Model from Nueva Vizcaya crowned Miss World Philippines 2015

Miss World Philippines 2015 Hillarie Daanielle Parungao. Inquirer.net photo by Armin Adina

By Agnes ConstAnte AJPress

A FILIPINO-CHINESE model and children’s health advocate from Nueva Vizcaya was crowned Miss World Philippines 2015 during a pageant held at the Solaire Resort Casino in Paranaque City on Sunday, Oct. 18.

Hillarie Danielle Ang Parungao, 24, beat 25 other candidates to represent the Philippines in the Miss World 2015 competition to be held on Dec. 19 in Sanya, China. In addition to winning the crown, she took home several special awards, including: best in swimsuit, best in sports challenge, best in fashion runway and best in long gown.

Parungao also excelled in the question and answer portion of the competition during the Top 13 semifinals and Top 5 finals.

“My philosophy always relies on compassion which can open doors to challenges in life. In compassion, we get to understand people, and in understanding people, we become a better society,” she said, according to Manila Bulletin.

“Let us not forget why I will be on stage, and that is so I can get a bigger platform (the crown) to speak and do more for the children.”

In an interview with Philstar,

Parungao, who placed third runner-up when she represented the Philippines in the Miss Asia Pacific World pageant last year, said she entered the pageant because she believed it would open more opportunities for her and allow her voice to be heard.

“[I] have an advocacy and I really want to focus on that. And I was looking for a better venue for that. A better venue for me to have a voice and what would be [better] than Miss World Philippines,” she said.

The 5’7’’ beauty queen recently started a program, “Katuwang: A Fight Against Child Mortality,” which aims to eliminate child mortality by spreading awareness on health needs and issues facing children. She has so far organized volunteers in informing families about proper nutrition intake and carrying out regular physical tests of children, Manila Bulletin reported.

Additionally, in September, she put together a fun run to raise funds for health programs for children.

The first, second, third and fourth princesses of the pageant were Marita Cassandra Naidas, Mia Allyson Howell, Maria Vanessa Wright and Emma Mary Tiglao, respectively.

Continued on Page 4

Gary Kelly

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Horizon Family Dental Group: Family-owned, community-trusted As a unique, family-owned

and operated dentistry, at Horizon Family Dental Group we understand the importance of full health. With over 60 years of dental knowledge combined, our dentists are well-trained, experienced, and sensitive to the needs of families, providing comprehensive, patient-centered care from head to toe--not just their teeth.

Dental treatment can be costly--we provide in-house interest free payment plans, and accept all types of PPO insurance. We also do home visits! We understand that there is a person attached to every tooth, and that our patients are people, not dollar signs. At our office, we are committed to providing the best care for each and every one of our patients, as though they were our own family members.

Dr. Myoli Landig received her extensive training and graduated from the University of the Pacific Arthur A. Dugoni school of Dentistry, and recently joined the family business to help her parents, Dr. Hector Z. Landig, and Dr. Yolanda Herrero-Landig.

“What I love most about my job is being able to help people and make meaningful connections. Whether it be a patient in pain, suffering from low self-esteem, inability to eat, etcetera, as a dentist I have the distinct opportunity to help people. Taking the time to chat and getting to know our patients can create bonds beyond the dental chair,” said Dr. Myoli, who is inspired by her family’s work ethic, and also hopes to open her own solo practice in the future.

Along with helping patients, the Landigs often make medical mission trips to the Philippines, helping to serve the great dental needs of their own community.

According to the American Dental Association, roughly 50% of children ages 5 to 9 years old have at least one cavity or filling. Is your child one of them?

Poor oral health can negatively

Dr. Miyoli H. Landig, Dr. Yolanda Herrero-Landig and Dr. Hector Z. Landig

affect a child’s self-esteem, lead to absences from school, impact the ability to eat, and cause unwanted shifting of permanent teeth. If left untreated, oral cavity infections can be life-threatening. Visiting the dentist regularly is the quickest way to prevent these issues! We recommend seeing our patients at least twice a year for regular check-ups and cleanings.

Don’t be afraid to visit your family dentist, who can recognize these issues!

At Horizon Family Dental, we offer general family and esthetic dentistry: diagnostic, preventative, periodontics (deep cleaning), restorative (fillings, crowns, bridges), root canals,

prosthodontics (partial and full dentures), oral surgery (tooth extractions including wisdom teeth), and smile designs (including but not limited to veneers, crowns, in-office and take home whitening).

We also have holiday specials for Zoom whitening, $100 off Zoom in-office and take home whitening, with added incentive for referrals.

Visit your family dentist today! Parents, bring your kids in today for a FREE consultation with Dr. Myoli Landig at one of our convenient locations in Diamond Bar (909-396-5161) and Panorama City (818-920-3959).

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Bookshop celebrates Fil-Am History MonthRAnCHO Palos Verdes—

Marissa Aroy, an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker will show her documentary film The Delano Manongs: Forgotten Heroes of the United Farm Workers on saturday, October 24, 2015.

sponsored by Philippine Expressions Bookshop, the 30-minute film chronicles the untold story of Filipino farmworkers who instigated one of the biggest labor struggles in American history - the Delano Grape strike of 1965. Led by Larry Itliong, Philip Vera Cruz and Pete Velasco, the Manongs (a Filipino term of respect for an older man), helped create the United Farm Workers Union (UFW). While the movement is known for

Cesar Chavez’s leadership and considered a Chicano movement, Filipinos played a pivotal role. Filipino labor organizer, Larry Itliong, a cigar-chomping union veteran, organized a group of 1500 Filipinos to strike against the grape growers of Delano, California, beginning a collaboration between Filipinos, Chicanos and other ethnic workers that would go on for years. The film will start at 4pm and will end with a Q & A.

Visit http://laapff.festpro.com/films/detail/delano_manongs_forgotten_heroes_of_the_2014 and the facebook page of Marissa Aroy at www.facebook.com/marissa.aroy?fref=ts.

Also part of the program is a book talk at 5pm by Bay Area author Patty Enrado who will

be signing her book, A Village in the Field. A debut novel, it is an intricately detailed story of love, loss, and human dignity spanning more than eight decades and sweeps from the Philippines to the United states.

In the vein of The Grapes of Wrath, the book pays tribute to the sacrifices that Filipino immigrant farm workers made to bring justice to the fields. www. indybay.org/ newsitems/2015/08/22/18776504.php Visit the facebook page of Patty Enrado: www.facebook.com/penradowrites.

At 6pm, a feature-length documentary called Remembering Our Manongs will be shown. Produced by six Filipino American women, it explores the local history and culture highlighting the Filipino immigrants of mostly single young men who settled in sonoma County beginning in the 1920s. The manongs’ story is one of tenacity and endurance coupled with an extraordinary sense of community. In the film, their inspirational story is told by surviving family members, descendants of former employers, and other key figures in sonoma County. This was the project of the Filipino American national Historical society, sonoma

County Chapter, and their website is http://fanhssonoma.org/index.html

The event is free and open to the public. since seats are limited,

RsVP is requested. Call (310) 514-9139 or email Linda nietes-Little: [email protected]. The venue is the Croatian Cultural Center which is located at 510 West 7th street corner Pacific Avenue, san Pedro, CA where Philippine Expressions Bookshop has a showroom for art, books and culture. The showroom is open by appointment only.

An ongoing community outreach program of the bookshop, the two films inaugurate the Historical Film series of Philippine Expressions Bookshop who plans to show regularly films relevant to the history and culture of Filipinos and Filipino-Americans as teaching tools for the younger generation. The bookshop is dedicated to Filipino Americans and Filipinos in the diaspora who are searching for their roots. It was established in 1984 and this year, it celebrates thirty-one years of service to Filipinos in the diaspora.

PO Box 2401, Palos Verdes Peninsula, CA 90274. (310) 514-9139. Em-ail: [email protected] or [email protected].

Blog: philippineexpressionsbookshop.wordpress.com Website: philippineexpressionsbookshop.com FC: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Friends-of-Philippine-Expressions-Bookshop/117114331642340?ref=ts.


8th ‘One Kapamilya Go’ in the US comes...coupon and avail of the free photo op that captures the fun and colorful ambience of Casa Corazon at the Pangako Sa ‘Yo booth.

• TFC.tv Present this digital coupon

and get the chance to win a free exclusive mobile gadget from TFC.tv at its booth.

• ABs-CBn sports + ActionBooth visitors here can get

coupons that grant them access to a photo opportunity with the Golden state Warriors’ 2015 nBA Championship trophy with the Warrior girls from 4pm-5pm.

• TFC@theMovies Present this digital coupon

and get 30% off the romantic novel turned star Cinema movie, One More Chance.

• The Cast Party Those who registered at

http://www.kapamilya.com/tfclive from October 19-25 automatically gets a raffle entry. A winner will be drawn on October 25 during the pre-show. The winner can bring 4 friends to attend the Cast Party of One Kapamilya Go.

One Kapamilya Go sa Oracle Arena is made possible by the following: presenting partners Law Offices of Michael Gurfinkel Inc., Philippine Airlines, Financial Rescue LLC, DIRECTV, Asian Journal and MX3; sponsors

Jollibee, LBC, Google Philippines, Remitly, Law Offices of John C. Ye, sMDC, Mega sardines, Mang Tomas, Datu Puti, Magnolia, Puregold, Xoom, Western Union, Mama sita’s, Amaia, Avida, Century Properties, Megaworld International, Cherry’s salon & Cosmetics; Microtel by Wyndham, Lorins Patis, MoneyGram, Transfast, Debt Aid Consulting, Mangga Unlimited, FimAm star, Inquirer.net, Philippine news, Manila Mail and Manila-U.s. Times.

For more information on One Kapamilya Go sa Oracle Arena and how to purchase tickets, visit http://www.tfc-usa.com/okgo/


From Page 3

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ErniE D. DElfin

The Metamorphosis 12 simple things Filipinos can

do to help PH progress morally, economically and politically

(Part 2 of 2)”Thus also faith by itself, if

it does not have works, is dead.” - James 2:17

6. If you are an employee, be the best employee you can be, and if possible have a second job, to be able to sAVE for your future, to ensure that your own children will have a better future. Be ambitious and choose your role models wisely. Be an entrepreneur like your employer, while you are young. Many business owners you met, especially the Chinese nationals, started their businesses even at the bottom of the pyramid, like collecting or buying and reselling empty bottles or scrap iron and anything. Many years later they own the only hardware store in town!

7. If you are a priest or a clergy, teach the real meaning of the beatitudes, and not just literally. For example, when Bible says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” The meaning is not to be poor literally but oftentimes poor people use the Bible as their crutch or justification that it is okay to be poor! God never wanted his children to be poor, but they are given the free will to be poor or to be rich, materially or spiritually.

8. Be the best neighbor you

can be. Perpetuate the bayanihan spirit, one of the most enduring and beautiful traits we Filipinos have and this trait must last forever!

9. Be proud to be a Filipino despite the shenanigans of many of our leaders. If the Philippine society is likened a huge bucket of water that is polluted by a few drops of ink or impurities (graft and corruption) let us demand a stop of adding more more ink or impurity into the bucket. Instead, let’s pour more buckets of clear unpolluted water continuously for months or years, may be, and soon the water in the bucket becomes clean and pure too!

10. Continue to believe in the goodness of the Filipino -- with the family and its culture: being happy, flexible, compassionate, and yes, can manage to laugh and smile despite the natural calamities like during Yolanda, happening around him!

11. To all the OFWs and Filipina nannies all over the world, teach and influence your “alagas” -- the young babies of your masters -- to learn our language, our songs and culture and to love their nannies as their surrogate mothers too. Who knows that in the future when these toddlers become adults and become the kings or prime ministers of their

country, the Philippines can be one of beneficiaries of their love and affection because of you!

12. Be bold to fight for what is right, even though you are in the minority. And, if you are a true leader, you should and you must be able to scold or reprimand your people if what they are doing is not right. (I am so pleased and proud of this rare leadership quality of my cousin, Mayor Boying Alarcio of our town of Laoac Pangasinan, whom I personally witnessed him scolding his constituents, when he believes his people did wrong! May your kind of a leader, multiply, my dear Mayor!)

Last, but not the least, have faith in Divine Providence that eventually will lead the triumph of Good over Evil. so, let us do our best to be good all the time, even though nobody is looking as God sees everything. sooner or later we get the reward of our good works. The law of Karma, I believe, is still real!

As a postscript, I strongly recommend the movie War Room. serendipitously, the movie parallels the theme of this column that I started before hand.

Mabuhay ang Pilipino! Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!

* * *Email: [email protected]: www.gkerc.org

Monette

AdevA MAglAyA

ImmigrantLiving: 101 and Beyond

(First of 2 parts)FEss up J. K. Rowling. That

scene in one of the harry Potter books where eerie sounds and strange occurrences caused by a ghost in residence were coming from — of all places— the toilet stalls, in hogwarts is not all that original. Because it happened years ago, not as fiction but as part of reality — my reality, that is.

Just for kicks during my halcyon days as a full-time working /full-time grad student at the university of the Philippines long ago, I had agreed to act as medium for a séance or a hypnotic session to conjure or call the spirit or spirits that were causing a disturbance. I took over from another medium in a previous session weeks earlier conducted by a Jesuit priest from the Ateneo, Fr. Bulatao. There were repeated paranormal disturbances at the old building where I worked, a stone’s throw from the Institute of Mass Communication (now called by another name) where I was a grad student at night while working during the day as a full time research associate of what was then the Institute of Environmental Planning, now called the school of urban & Regional Planning. That haunted building has been razed and there stands a newer multi-story building.

At night, the custodian claimed that when all the rooms were locked up and no one was inside, there were eerie noises that would make the hair on the back of one’s neck stand on end. The occurrences were so frequent and so disruptive, ignoring them and pretending life was normal was no longer an option. someone finally did something about it and called on Fr. Bulatao to help shed light on the mysterious goings-on at the institute. I simply avoided the rest rooms and steered away from isolated areas of the building and never stayed in the building past sundown.

Professor Cynthia Turingan

The curious case of stephen C. Davis: A ghost story

“…Quite plainly, there are things in this world that cannot be defined, completely understood and pegged in a nice, neat box …”

was the first medium. under hypnosis, she revealed that an American soldier, an enlisted man, by the name of stephen Davies (his name was spelled with an e in the surname) was murdered at the location right smack dab where the building stood. Details of a murder story flowed out of her like a gusher. But then it came to an abrupt halt when the door to the room where the session was being held, for no apparent reason, suddenly burst open. The medium snapped out of the hypnotic trance feeling extremely limp and exhausted as though she had traveled many miles across a desert without water. I stood up and with a nonchalant shrug of my shoulders calmly closed the door.

Dissatisfied with the aborted session, the group decided to hold another. Professor Turingan was unavailable for the next session and I was drafted to act as medium, a role which I accepted on a lark and a dare.

There was a thunderstorm raging outside but I don’t remember much of what I said when I went on a trance. I do remember feeling very light, as though weightless, while someone gently whispered things to my ear. Later, I learned that under hypnotic suggestion, I was instructed to go back to 1945, the year that the medium revealed when the alleged murder of the American soldier occurred.

I described the place as I saw it — an open field, a moonless night, quonset huts and a heavy sense of foreboding in the air. During the session, the same stephen Davies revealed the name of his murderer. he said he

was hit on the head by a piece of wood while he was out on patrol one night and was robbed of his money. The ghost revealed details about his murderer: his assailant’s name, the exact address where he lived, describing him as an old man by that time, languishing in jail for other crimes he committed and that the house where the murderer used to live on J.P. Rizal street in Makati was eventually destroyed by fire.

he was asked about the name of his wife and where she lived, questions upon questions which the ghost said were “not important” but pressed further, he said that his wife had remarried and pleaded not to bother his wife anymore. he said that he was not the only spirit hovering in the area and that there were many others. Asked about how he felt, he said that he was lonely and that he just wants to be remembered. Over and over again, he said he wanted to be remembered. he ignored questions about his past brushing them aside for the one thing he wanted — that he be remembered. his bones, he said, lay scattered and mixed with the soil in the same area which was leveled years earlier by a bulldozer. The ghost of the dead soldier requested that a mass be said on a sunny day in his remembrance — a request the group readily granted him. shortly after, the eerie occurrences seemed to stop. (To be continued)

* * *Nota Bene: Monette Adeva Maglaya is SVP of Asian Journal Publications, Inc. To send comments, e-mail [email protected]

GOLDEN. Babes and Doy Ordoyo celebrated their 50th-golden wedding anniversary last October 10 St.Peter’s Italian Church. A reception followed at the Casa Italiana in Chinatown, DTLA after the renewal of vows. The wedding party and program followed. Shown in photo are the Caratao Family (Dr.Mark, Rosalie and Rosemarie), Perla Santos and the Ordoyo couple.

TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE AT TICKETMASTER.COM AND IN THE FOLLOWING OUTLETS:

TAMBULI, CARSON310.549.4251


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