Asian Journal April 23-30, 2010

A Complicated Affair

His Trophy Wife

You what?

Philippines becoming “Eye Care” center of Asia

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

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It was the beginning of their whirlwind courtship. Albert was so engrossed in winning her over that he did not think of the consequences of marrying a girl from a different culture. “Wait till they see my girlfriend now,” he told himself as he imagined showing off the beautiful Hispanic girl to his relatives and friends in their barrio (village) in the Philippines.

By Simeon G. Silverio, Jr.Publisher & Editor

Asian Journal San DiegoThe Original and First

Asian Journal in America

See page 13

April 23 - 30, 2010

Miles BeauchampMsgr. Gutierrez Community

(Continued on page 17)

Now and then, the present and eternity

Philippine Scene


Basi vendors in Pagudpod, Ilocos Norte wait for inter-ested buyers along the road for their locally made vinegar, salt bags and garlic. PINOY GOONZALES/ PNS

The country is fast becom-ing the hub for high-technolo-gy eye care in Asia.

Through the years, Filipino eye doctors reputation for a special form of eye surgery called LASIK has grown.

LASIK surgery. It’s an acronym for Laser-Assisted in Situ Keratomilieusis, is a blade-less surgical procedure that corrects hyperopia (far-sightedness), myopia (near-sightedness) and astigmatism.

It does this by reshaping

the cornea using laser. Blood-less and painless, the proce-dure is finished in just a few minutes. More importantly, recovery is almost instanta-neous. Patients can usually go back to their normal routine the very next day.

This done on their eyes so they can stop wearing glasses or contact lenses and lead normal, more active lives.

You no longer have to go abroad to undergo this revolu-tionary refractive procedure. There is now a modern, well-equipped eye care center in the country that does LASIK surgery as well as the best US eye hospitals at just about half the cost!

American Eye Center (AEC), which opened its second branch in Makati’s Greenbelt 5 last month, has, in fact, been doing LASIK sur-geries – and other modern eye care procedures – for almost 15 years now.

Dr. Jack Arroyo, AEC’s chief executive officer, per-formed the first LASIK surgery in the Philippines in 1995. Having done over 20,000 LASIK surgeries since then, he is undeniably the most experienced refractive expert in the country.

“There is no need for anyone in the country to go to the United States for refrac-tive surgery,” Dr. Arroyo says. “Our ophthalmologists at AEC can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the best in the world.”

He leads a team of 14 other

Baguio Ethnic Rock Rocks Santee

Parshooters Club members participating - Front row: Lito Parani, Amor Garingo, Johnny Luna, Ed Madriaga, Matt Mazon (President), Gus Martinez, Ted Delunas (Cham-pion), Ruben Caballa, and Nestor Gamboa. . Standing- First row: Armando Bareno, Rino Belisario, Frank Gutierrez, Lito Ferrer, Vic Oropilla, Andy Velbis (Sec/Treaurer), Ben Cueto, Romy Quinto, Ed Bassig, Bob Navales and Jun Calalay. Last row: Joe Toquero, Te Calaustro (Vice President), Santi Rabanal, Raul Gonzales, and Art Buangan (Tournament Director). See story on page 15.

Parshooters play First Major Open

Project Concern International’s California Border Healthy Start

celebrates successful H1N1 outreachBy Ashley Silverio

Local families from Project Concern International’s (PCI) California Border Healthy Start (CBHS) gathered last Saturday to celebrate the success of the Community Mitigation H1N1 Pandemic Preparedness Project,

CBHS ambassadors, participants and community leaders gather during Saturday’s celebration at their National City office.

a widescale effort to reduce the impact of the H1NI virus in San Diego County.

“We now have more people in our community who know about what to do about the H1N1 virus” said CBHS Project Direc-tor Dr. Maria Lourdes Reyes, addressing a crowd of program

ambassadors, participants, and community leaders. “They now have a very important tool.”

In partnership with the San Diego County Department of Health and Human Services and the Council of Community Clin-ics, CBHS trained twenty ambas-sadors to outreach and educate

local families about H1N1 prevention and education as part of the Community Mitigation H1N1 Pandemic Preparedness project. The ambassadors were select CBHS participants, some of whom were working mothers, long-time local residents, and

Page 2 April 23 - 30, 2010 AAsian Journal - (619) 474-0588 Visit our website at http://www.asianjournalusa.com

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

journalusa.com

Charlotte, North Carolina. A lawyer purchased a box of very rare and expensive cigars, then insured them against, among other things, fire. Within a month, having smoked his entire stockpile of these great cigars and with-out yet having made even his first premium payment on the policy the lawyer filed a claim against the insurance com-pany. In his claim, the lawyer stated the cigars were lost “in a se-ries of small fires.” The insurance company re-fused to pay, citing the obvi-ous reason, that the man had consumed the cigars in the normal fashion. The lawyer sued.. And WON! (Stay with me.) Delivering the ruling, the judge agreed with the insur-ance company that the claim was frivolous. The judge stated nevertheless, that the lawyer held a policy from the company, which it had war-ranted that the cigars were insurable and also guaranteed that it would insure them against fire,without defining what is considered to be unac-

Best lawyer story of the year, decade and probably the century

ceptable fire and was obli-gated to pay the claim. Rather than endure lengthy and costly appeal process, the insurance company accepted the ruling and paid $15,000 to the lawyer for his loss of the cigars lost in the “fires”. NOW FOR THE BEST PART. After the lawyer cashed the check, the insurance company had him arrested on 24 counts of ARSON!!! With his own insurance claim and testimony from the previ-ous case being used against him, the lawyer was convicted of intentionally burning his insured property and was sentenced to 24 months in jail and a $24,000 fine. This is a true story and was the First Place winner in the recent Criminal Lawyers Award Contest. ONLY IN AMERICA! NO WONDER THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES THINK AMERICANS ARE NUTS !!!!!

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Bill’s Corner

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

by Bill Labestre, MBA

SAN DIEGO, CA. - April 15, 2010 The time has come to revive the South Bay Multi-Cultural Fair in Chula Vista. On April 24th from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Otay Ranch Town Center (2015 Birch Rd., Chula Vista, CA 91915), Prime Motivation, a local non-profit organization, will re-establish the tradition of the South Bay Multi-Cultural Fair after years of hiatus. The event has been structured to reflect the diversity found among residents living in Chula Vista and the surround-ing southernmost parts of San Diego County.

“A multi-cultural event is long overdue for Chula Vista and the South Bay region. In a community that is diverse as ours, it is important to em-brace the cultural diversity of our neighbors, and to create a sense of unity amongst our youth,” said Executive Direc-tor of Prime Motivation, Ed Arguelles.

The South Bay Multi-Cultural Fair was established as local community members recognized the need for an event that raised awareness about the rich culture of the different ethnic communities in south San Diego.Impact-ing the cities of Chula Vista, National City, Coronado and Imperial Beach among others, the South Bay Multi-Cultural Fair will unite the different cultures that comprise these various local communities. Exposing the community to cultural diversity and the arts, the fair aligns with Prime Mo-tivation’s purpose of outreach-ing to the local youth and

South Bay Community activists revive multi-cultural fair

Local non-profit organization seeks to unify the community through culture and art

community. Various groups in the

community have been invited to participate in the South Bay Multi-Cultural Fair. The Pacific Islander Festival, the San Diego Asian Film Fes-tival, the U.S. Census 2010, as well as many other local organizations are taking an ac-tive role in the event. Guests are invited to enjoy arts and crafts, food tasting, cultural history, and live performances by PASACAT, the Philippine Performing Arts Company, He’ali’is Polynesian Revue, Poly Nation, and Kutturan Chamoru Performers. Eat-ery such as Tabe BBQ, San Diego’s premiere mobile cuisine that serves gourmet Asian fusion tacos, and Ono’s Cafe, that serves other tropi-cal Asian fusion favorites, will also allow fair-goers the opportunity to try a variety of delicious, ethnic foods.

Community leaders and local residents in Chula Vista have welcomed the South Bay Multi-Cultural Fair with open arms, and are enthused to hold the event in the area. “I am excited to experience this year’s South Bay Multi-Cultural fair in Chula Vista, and hope it can become an an-nual celebration of the unique qualities of our community,” said Chula Vista Mayor Cheryl Cox.

Prime Motivation is still accepting applications for exhibitors, performers and food vendors. For more in-formation about how you can participate, please call 619-422-0254.

Life may seem too boring for some of us but, is it really? Whatever you have done or ac-complished in your lifetime may look insignificant to you but, it may have affected somebody else. If you could stop compar-ing yourself to others, you may be the great person you wanted to be. Too bad most people won’t say what we really are until after we breathe our last gasp of air. It is easy for a lot of people to forget all the good things you have done for them. Make one mistake and you might be the talk of the town for a while.

Most of us will never be rich or famous and some may never reach their goals. It’s how we live our lives and how we look at life that can make a big dif-ference. It is normal to want so many things in life and it’s up to us to figure out what we really need to be happy and satisfied. As years go by, we should have learned from our mistakes and gained wisdom along the way. Material things that we own will change with time but those good intangible things we have done can last forever. It may sound like a simple advice from you and yet it did change some-body’s life. It could be a kind gesture or a nice smile from you that made someone’s day a lot better.

We could also try to keep our marriage last forever until death do us part. We can learn how to live less stressful lives. There is no such thing as a perfect life so stop pursuing it. Life is how we make it and our past can guide us to a better future. Maybe, sometime there is really a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow but, what’s wrong with a pot of

Keep It Simple silver?

Some of us came to America with nothing much except hope to find better lives. It was a grind at first, living pay check to pay-check but, after some time we managed to get ahead. We spent less than what we made and lived much simpler lives. Then, most of us got married and have children. We needed bigger liv-ing space, bigger cars and bigger credit. All of a sudden we owe more than we make and the bills never stopped coming.

As our family income in-creased with time, our taste for better things in life also im-proved. We wanted to have nicer homes and stuff. We dined out more often and our waistlines and hips got bigger.

Marketing in America is so great that people kept buying things they don’t really need but just wanted to own. More people are trying to keep up with the lat-est gadgets. Some became so de-pendent on it that they can hardly function right without their cell phones, PDA’s or laptops. We are used to fast food, fast service, fast communication and fast credit approval that we used our money so fast, we’re broke.

We may need to keep up with technology but do we really need to absorb all that stuff? Why not take the family to a park or the beach to have fun together with-out taking all those gadgets? We can play real games and com-municate face to face and not send text messages which lower our IQ in spelling. Soon our kids can’t do math without their gadgets. Old timers can still keep their lives simple without the cell phones, PDA’s, laptops and yes, can find their destinations without using GPS devices.

Page 3Asian Journal - (619) 474-0588 Visit our website at http://www.asianjournalusa.comApril 23 - 30, 2010 A


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©2010 Michael R. Tagudin. All rights reserved.

About the Author: Michael R. Tagudin Educated as an engineer in the Philippines, the City of Los Angeles em-ployee hopes his legacy of poems will provoke a dialogue about the human condition. He is donating the proceeds from the book “Crushed Violets” to anti-human traffi cking efforts in the City of Angels. Contact [email protected] for more information.

Street Poetry

Read about Michael’s upcoming book of poems “Crushed Violets” by visiting our website at www.asianjournalusa.com

by Michael R. Tagudin

fees that come with it is a positive step, but some banks are using scare tactics to frighten customers out of declining these costly charges. At least one marketing fi rm is actively promoting ser-vices aimed at helping banks “maximize fee income” by discourag-ing opt-outs.Banks should reduce • and simplify their fee schedules, create com-mon metrics to allow easy comparisons between institutions, and allow customers the option of signing

up for overdraft protec-tion only for essential expenses such as rent or mortgage payments and utility bills.

“Overdraft fees are still too high and too confusing, and some of the marketing tactics being used to keep custom-ers from opting out of these fees are truly shocking,” said report author Preeti Vissa, Greenlining’s community reinvestment senior program manager. “We hope the banks will clean up their act volun-tarily, but if they don’t, the Federal Reserve Board needs to step in.”

Poem No. 38

There is no such thing as a gardenWhere everything is in its proper orderWe have created the illusion of a gardenThe truth is only the laws of the jungle prevails“- In chaos there is order!What we mortals perceived as chaosIs nothing more than our limited perceptionOf the Divine at play!We can only awe and gasp at the fearful splendorManifested at its handiwork!We cannot do anythingBut watch and observe, surrender our willAnd appreciate both the awesome beauty and horror............of life!

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Tax and Housing Tips

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by Roz Fortin, Fortin Realty & Investments, Real Estate Broker/Realtor® DRE 01861288 / Tax Pro

Tel no. 619-957-7762; 619-488-2225; Fax no. 619-474-4852

Many of us are familiar with short sales, a process where a third party purchases a home for less than what is owed on the property. Short sales have helped stimulate the real estate market in recent months and they generally allow the homeowner to avoid the devastating effects of foreclosure.

Short Refi nance is a little-known program designed to help homeowners who are up-side-down on their mortgage by having the note re-written at below market value. This means instant equity for the homeowners and a reduction in their monthly loan payment by 25-60 %, plus of course allowing them to stay in their homes.

There are two processes involved in a short refi nance: a principal negotiation and a refi nance. A principal negoti-ation results to a short pay-off, where the lender agrees to ac-cept less than the full amount owed. The refi nance results to a new FHA-insured loan that is written at below market value.

Short Refi nanceBuilding equity with upside-down mortgages

This program will general-ly help responsible homeown-ers who are current on their mortgage yet are saddled with a heavy mortgage on a low-value property. Not all ho-meowners will qualify under this program as they will have to meet FHA loan guidelines, and not all lenders will allow a short pay-off even if the homeowner qualifi es.

Why would the lenders al-low a short pay-off? Banks today are taking massive losses on foreclosure and short-sale properties and even on loan modifi cations. A short-refi nance will allow the banks to “clean-up” their situ-ation by getting a property off their books plus it gives them an infusion of cash which in-creases their ability to invest in other opportunities. Banks are in the lending business, not the real estate business.

We advise homeowners who want to avail of this program to work only with reputable companies. Like the loan modifi cation busi-ness which spawned scams and illegal activities, the short

refi nancing program can also be exploited by unscrupulous individuals.

For more information about this program, please contact our offi ce at 619-957-7762 or visit our website fortinrealty.com.

Roz Fortin is the broker/owner of Fortin Realty & Financial Services. He is a real estate, tax, and fi nance

practitioner servicing the San Diego area. For free con-sultation, call 619-957-7762 or email your questions to [email protected]. Fortin Realty Investments, an affi li-ate, helps homeowners avoid foreclosure by offering short sale, short refi nance and other loss mitigation solu-tions.

BERKELEY, CALI-FORNIA -- Over the next few months, banks will be required to have customers

opt-in to overdraft protection and the stiff fees that come along with it, but a new report released today by The Green-lining Institute fi nds that these fees continue to be excessive and confusing, while some banks seem to be using scare tactics to discourage cus-tomers from opting out. The report, which includes a new

New Report Finds Bank Overdraft Fees Excessive, Confusing

New Comparison of California Bank Fees Released as Banks Use Scare Tactics To Dissuade Customers From Opting Out of

Fees; Fed Urged to Require Reforms If Banks Don’t Act

comparison of the overdraft fees and policies of major California banks, urges banks to voluntarily reduce and

simplify their fee structures, and asks the Fed to require such changes if banks do not act voluntarily.

Key fi ndings and recom-mendations include:

Fees wildly vary be-• tween banks, and can generate shockingly high charges. At one bank, a few dollars in overdrafts in one day can generate $161 in fees, while at some institutions the same overdrafts would result in no fees at all.Many banks still use • a practice known as “reordering charges” -- processing the larg-est transactions fi rst in order to maximize the overdraft fees charged.Confusion about fees • and policies is com-mon, even among bank employees, and may push some consumers toward services such as payday lenders and check-cashing busi-nesses whose costs are actually much greater, but which may be sim-pler to understand.A new rule requiring • that bank customers “opt-in” to overdraft protection and the stiff


Individuals who are in the country unlawfully and who would just like to leave the country may request for voluntary departure. The US government has viewed the grant of voluntary departure as a privilege given to individ-uals who wish to avail of this relief. Since the grant of vol-untary departure is a privilege, the government can dictate the terms of the grant of voluntary departure.

The re-quest may be made before the US De-partment of Home-land Se-curity if a person has not been put in re-moval/de-portation proceedings. If the person has been issued a Notice to Ap-pear and is now in removal/deportation proceedings before the Immigration Court, the request for voluntary de-parture should be made before the Immigration Court.

A person who is not in removal proceedings may be granted up to 120 days by the Department of Homeland Se-curity if the person agrees to

Voluntary Departure As An Alternative to

Deportationleave the country at his own expense instead of being put in removal proceedings.

Once a person has been put in removal proceedings, he may request for voluntary departure either before the proceedings are completed or at the conclusion of the proceedings as a primary or alternative relief.

If voluntary departure is requested during the initial

stages of removal proceed-ings, the Immigration Court may grant a person up to 120 days within which to leave the country voluntarily. The person must show that he has the proper travel document to leave the country and that he has or will be able to make travel arrangements for his departure.

If voluntary departure is requested at the completion

of removal proceedings, the immigration court can grant the individual no more than 60 days to depart the country voluntarily.

There are however, severe consequences if a person fails to leave the country within time period specifi ed for vol-untary departure. The person who fails to leave may be sub-jected to a monetary fi ne of up to $5,000 and will be barred for ten years from seeking any other relief such as adjustment of status, change of status, cancellation of removal and voluntary departure.

Since the penalties for failing to depart within the period of time specifi ed in the grant for voluntary departure are quite severe, a person must carefully consider the consequences of a voluntary departure order before opt-ing to request for the relief of voluntary departure.

Atty. Dennis E. Chua is a partner in The Law Firm of Chua Tinsay and Vega (CTV) - a full service law fi rm with offi ces in San Francisco, San

Diego and Manila. The information presented in this article is for general information only and is not, nor in-tended to be, formal legal advice nor the formation of an attorney-client relation-

ship. The CTV attorneys will be holding regular free legal consultations at the Max’s Restaurant in Vallejo, Califor-nia. Call or e-mail CTV for an in-person or phone consul-tation to discuss your particu-lar situation and/or how their services may be retained at (415) 495-8088; (619) 955-6277; [email protected]

RAPID CITY, S.D., April 7 /PRNewswire/ -- The ink is barely dry on the health care bill but indi-viduals should act now to prepare for major tax hikes and possibly higher interest rates, which could increase borrowing costs and require the need to reallocate some investment assets. That’s the call from fee-only fi nancial planner Rick Kahler, president of the larg-est fi nancial planning fi rm in the seven-state Midwest region, Kahler Financial Group.

“Even though the bill is still a few years from implementation, it’s not too soon to consider several fi nancial planning strategies now to mitigate signifi cant tax increases for the wealthy and the potential for increased borrowing costs for earners of all income levels,” Kahler advises.

Strategy 1: High-income tax-payers should accelerate as much income into 2010 as possible. This will help offset the health care bill’s 2013 Medicare payroll tax increase from 1.45 to 2.35 percent for single taxpayers earning more than $200,000 and couples earning over $250,000. Additionally, these same taxpayers will see a new 3.8 percent Medicare tax on invest-ment income, including dividends, capital gains and rental.

Currently dividends and capital gains are taxed at 15 percent. But in 2011 dividends for high earn-ings increase to 39.6 percent and capital gains taxes rise to at least 20 percent. Add the new Medicare tax and rates climb to a maximum of 43.4 percent for dividends and 23.8 percent for capital gains.

Strategy 2: Taxpayers with high accumulated earnings in C-corporations should take earnings as dividends in 2010, and pay the 15 percent tax before it more than doubles in 2011 and practically triples in 2013.

Strategy 3: Taxpayers who own S-corporations should take as much as possible in salary and as little as possible in dividends to

Financial Planning Steps Needed Now to Prepare for Health Care Bill Outcomes

take advantage of the lower Medi-care tax on salaries.

Strategy 4: “Some investors may want to shift from investments generating high dividends or inter-est to those generating tax-exempt or tax-deferred income, such as municipal bonds,” Kahler says, “or investors should defer more in-come through employer-sponsored retirement plans or annuities.”

Strategy 5: Kahler believes health care costs will exceed the bill’s original estimate, which means the government could incur more debt to pay the higher costs. “That will put upward pressure on interest rates so individuals at all income levels should refi nance any personal, mortgage, or business loans to fi x the interest rate as long as possible,” he says.

Strategy 6: Kahler also suggests investors reallocate some of their investments to assets that have little reliance on corporate profi ts, such as absolute return, commodi-ties, cash equivalents, or managed futures.

“Other personal fi nance conse-quences individuals need to pre-pare for may include higher insur-ance premiums, policy restrictions, tax on the uninsured and extended coverage for children,” Kahler predicts. “These are just a few of the fi nancial planning issues I’m expecting from health care reform. More revisions are possible so it’s important to pay attention dur-ing the upcoming months to plan for the impact health care reform is likely to have on our fi nances, businesses and lifestyles.”

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by Dr. Ofelia Dirige Co-Founder and Director, Kalusugan Wellness Center

Contemporary Asian American Issues

Read Dr. Dirige’s previous articles by visiting our website at www.asianjournalusa.com

Of all the things in all the world, one of my least favorite is

birthdays. To be more spe-cifi c: my birthday. I just don’t like them. And for all you people who say, “It beats the alternative.” Well, how do you know? The alternative might be great.

Anyway, last week was my birthday - I had another one of the dreaded things. But actually, this one wasn’t too

You what?A warm night, a glass of wine, and things can happen

bad. The week before we had a celebration for all the April birthdays in my family (there are a few of us) so mine was watered down a bit. I could celebrate other people’s birth-days rather than my own. And then this week, on the actual day, things were pleasant.

My daughter (with some help of course) made a cake, the gifts were simple and thoughtful, and the day was low-key and enjoyable. Later

that evening we went to din-ner.

And that’s when the trouble started.

I decided to have glass or two of wine with dinner. We were at Olive Garden (perhaps not gourmet Ital-ian cuisine, but with kids its great). And somehow the con-versation turned to ear-pierc-ing. My daughter had hers pierced a few weeks ago and, well, it got brought up. And that was when she said, “Daddy, why don’t you have an ear pierced?”

And then my son piped up with yeah, dad! And fi nally, to add more to the raucous noise, my wife added her two cents worth. She reminded me that I’ve talked about it in the past. When we went to the San Diego County Fair I would see the piercing booths and threaten to have it done. But I never did; the thought of having it done there didn’t exactly set well. Too many people, too dusty, too noisy, too, well, everything.

But now we weren’t at the fair, we were at Grossmont Center. After dinner we wandered over to Claire’s. And Claire’s is a big company - more than 3000 locations around the world for good-ness sake. How can a com-pany get that large without me even knowing what it is? I suppose had I ever gone in one I would be more familiar with them but they didn’t sell things that I ever needed...until that evening.

They’re in the U.S., the U.K., Japan and beyond. They’ve done over 80 million ear piercings over the past 25 years. Did you get that? 80 million ear piercings. So what was I so worried about? Well I wasn’t worried - I wasn’t worried at all. Of course, it might have been the wine...

And then I was inside the store. And then I was talking to a very friendly person who was show-ing me earrings. And then my six-year-old daugh-ter was helping me de-

cide on an earring. And then I was in the chair. And then I felt a pinch and then it was over. Well big woo.

That was astonishingly easy. And now I have an earring. Me. An earring. Me. Well.

My daughter absolutely loves to tell everyone she sees that daddy has a new earring. She says I can borrow one of hers. I decline - hygiene and all - and tell her why. She shrugs and says okay. But it’s fi ne if I ever change my mind. I thank her.

I suppose getting an earring is better than getting a new Porsche. I suppose. Nah, who am I kidding here? An earring is cheaper than a new Porsche so if you’re going to do something crazy on a birthday it perhaps makes more sense. But better? No way.

An earring? I’d like to blame the earring

on the two glasses of wine. But no, two glasses of wine wouldn’t get a puppy goofy

enough to put in an earring. Is there a reason for me to

wear an earring? No. Is there a rereason for any man to wear an earring? Of course not. Is there a reason for any one on the planet to wear one? Not at all. But that’s not the point. Women wear them, men wear them, kids wear them, pirates have always worn them (my daughter thinks it makes me look like a tough, mean pirate. That works for me.

There isn’t a good reason to wear an earring except perhaps as a fashion thing or simply for the heck of it. And that’s my reason - simply for the heck of it (and because my daughter thinks it’s fun). That’s good enough for me.

I catch myself looking in mirrors occasionally when I walk by. I’m not used to see-ing it yet. But every time I see it I like it more. Yep, I actu-ally do like this thing.

The earring has never hurt (beyond the pinch when it went in), and is easy to take care of (for the fi rst six weeks or so I’m supposed to leave it in, twirl it a bit and put antiseptic on it. Well heck, I can do that). What could be easier?

So far the only real problem has been when I get out of the shower and towel off my hair. Because I don’t feel the earring or anything, I tend to forget about it and the towel yanks it around a bit. Then I feel it. But other than that, it’s been perfect. I hate to write that because I don’t want to jinx myself or something and have my ear fall off, but it’s a risk I’ll just have to take. And I am learning to dry my hair much more gently.

So now I have an earring; my daughter is ecstatic, my son thinks I’m a teeny, tiny bit cooler (not cool, you understand, just a bit closer to cool), and I’m having fun. Not a bad birthday at all, as these things go.

Perspectives

ASIAN JOURNALThe fi rst Asian-Filipino weekly in Southern CaliforniaAn award-winning newspaper, it is San Diego’s most

widely circulated Asian-Filipino newspaper!

Ashley SilverioAssistant Editor

In Pursuit of ExcellenceEugenio “Ego” Osin, (1946 - 1994)

Joe Cabrera, (1924 - 1996)Soledad Bautista, (1917-2009)

Dr. Rizalino “Riz” Oades, (1935-2009)

The Asian Journal is published weekly and distributed in all Asian communties in San Diego County. Publication date is ev-ery Friday of the month. Advertising deadline is Thursday prior to publication date at 5 p.m. For advertising rates, rate cards, or information, call (619) 474-0588. Subscription by mail is available for $50 per year (56 issues). The Asian Journal is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts and photographs but welcomes sub-missions. Entire content is © 2009 copyrighted material by Asian Journal. Materials in this publication may not be reproduced without specifi c permission from the publisher.

Genevieve SilverioManaging Editor

Simeon G. Silverio, Jr.Publisher & Editor

Miles BeauchampAssociate Editor

Santi SilverioAssociate Publisher

At Large...

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

by Miles Beauchamp

Part 1

Kalusugan Community Services started this year by recruiting many volunteers to work at the Center. The reason is that we are in a period of transition due to the passing away of our Founder and President, Dr. Riz Oades, and we needed help to con-tinue our programs. We also completed one of our major grants and since funds were low, we needed volunteers to assist us to get back on our feet, recover, and start all over again. I was overwhelmed when the call for volunteers was sounded and I had many old and new KCS friends who came wanting to volunteer their time.

We had in-service training for the board and KCS staff several years ago on “How to organize a volunteer pro-gram”. We needed to refresh our memories on this topic so last Saturday, we invited Ms. Melissa Pregill, founder of Ci-pher, a marketing communica-tions business, to conduct a workshop on “Volunteer Pro-grams- That Work”. Melissa has been our consultant twice; fi rst, when she conducted a

Volunteerism: The way to fi nd purpose, meaning

and fulfi llment in life workshop, “How to be an Ef-fective Board Member,” and also when she facilitated our “2007-2010 Strategic Plan-ning”. She will again be our moderator for the upcoming “Strategic Planning 2010-2013” that will be held May 15 at the Center. We would like to share with you her recommendations on :

VOLUNTEER PROGRAMS- THAT

WORK

by Melissa Pregill

Volunteers are under-recognized assets. Consider this: they have an obvious strong personal interest in the work, they don’t ask to be paid, often they become the

most committed board mem-bers, and in large measure they become signifi cant future fi nancial donors.

So build a program that identifi es their interests and expertise, gives them consis-tent, respectable work, devel-ops, recognizes and rewards them, and suitably honors their service. Treat them like gold.

Let the Community Know • You Need Volunteers. Through e-newsletters, a gen-eral message on your website, or a direct mail solicitation. And it can be a continuous re-quest at board meetings, social occasions, whenever there is an audience who can help you announce the need throughout the community.

Develop a Volunteer Pro-• gram. That includes policies, systems, procedures, forms, methods and techniques, so that you don’t handle issues and people differently over time, which leads to wasting valuable effort and sending unintended mixed messages.

Qualify Them Carefully• . As you would for any posi-tion. Determine if there is a genuine motivation, if they are passionate about the mission, if they indeed have the time to devote to volunteer work (a major reason why many volunteer programs fail).

Educate Them About • Your

Mission and Their Role. Up-front information about the work the organization does and what their roles and responsibilities will be in sup-porting that work. Often vol-unteers quietly become bored

or disillusioned because they don’t know what they are sup-posed to be doing, and most often, won’t ask.

Keep a Watchful Eye• . Re-member, volunteers are often out in the community as am-bassadors, so some thoughtful oversight is in order, espe-cially if they quietly become disgruntled. One unhappy volunteer can spread ugly and damaging gossip faster then light speed.

Find Ways to Reward and • Acknowledge Them Pub-licly. As for anyone with the organization, salute their suc-cesses privately and in public, perhaps holding an annual volunteer event with gifts and certifi cates that declare their time and accomplishments. Give-aways throughout the year are good too: grocery store gift cards, movie tickets, and the like.

Help Them Grow• . For those that show the interest and capacity, let them develop new skills, which will require close watch to see when they are ready. Many programs just ask people to do the same thing all the time, leading to boredom and disappointment.

Are They Board Material• ? Often, the most committed board members come from the volunteer pool. They know the organization, have demon-

strated their loyalty, and now just need to know what board service entails.

If They Leave, Find out • Why and Stay in Touch. Sometimes, volunteers will just fade away, not showing up for activities they agreed to support, not returning phone calls. Perhaps something has happened in their personal or professional life that they won’t announce, so a private visit or phone call will convey the respect and concern they deserve. If they don’t want to participate anymore, gracious-ly ask why, wish them well, and stay in touch in case their circumstances improve.

Dedicated and Faith-ful Volunteer KCS Board Members

I would like to introduce some of our volunteer Board of Directors who had faithful-ly served as board members through the years:

Paul Ones- one of the

Founders of KCS who repre-sented the Council of Philip-pine American Organizations (COPAO) in 1992 when KCS was fi rst organized. He was three times President of COPAO and has been an active member of the KCS board since then. Paul retired from the U.S. Navy and now goes back and forth between the US and the Philippines to vacation in his handsome property in Cavite close to Tagaytay.

Nita Barrion- one of the most faithful and generous board members since the in-ception of KCS. She is Direc-tor of Barrion Group Homes for the Developmentally Disabled in SD County and is an active board member of the Samahan Senior Center in Market Street. She is a singer with a beautiful voice and ac-tive in many FilAm organiza-tions in the community. That’s why she is well-known.

Sal Flor- is a graduate of San Diego State University and works as Counselor for the Educational Opportunity Program at SDSU. He helps many minority students enter SDSU and advises them when they have problems. Sal is also the adviser of AB Sa-mahan, the student organiza-tion at SDSU, and has been instrumental in the success of the organization. He plans to retire at the end of the spring semester but will continue his involvement with KCS as a board member.

Bette Poblete- one of our board members who was recruited within the last 5 years. She is one of our most faithful and generous board members. She is also very articulate, speaking her mind when needed. She is a retired CAO Secretary and Contracts Administrator for SD County. She and her husband Alby go on cruises frequently with her children and grandchildren.

Ben Macayan- one of the most vocal members of the board. For being vocal he may have offended many people but perhaps he does not mean to, so please forgive him. He was a former member of the Samahan FilAm Heritage As-sociation. He is retired from the U.S. Navy and Custom and Border Protection, U.S. Immigration Offi ce. He plays golf and lives with his wife, Tess, and children.

(To Be Continued)

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Our Immigration laws de-fi ne child to include “a step-child, whether or not born out of wedlock, provided the child had not reached the age of eighteen years at the time the marriage creating the status of stepchild occurred.” Sev-eral cases have evolved and helped clarify the defi nition of “stepchild.” In January 2010 another case was decided by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), which helped clarify the defi nition of “step-child”. In this case the for-eign national was convicted of a crime and the Immigra-tion and Customs Enforce-ment (ICE) initiated removal proceedings against him. The foreign national raised as de-fense section 240A(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). This provides for cancellation of removal and adjustment of status to that of lawful permanent resident for those aliens who can estab-lish the following: i) physical presence in the United States for continuous period of not less than 10 years preceding the date of such application; ii) good moral character dur-ing the 10-year period plus no conviction for certain offens-es; and iii) removal from the United States would result in exceptional and extreme un-usual hardship to the foreign national’s U.S. citizen or LPR (legal permanent resident) spouse, parent, or child. The

A Step parent is a Qualifying Relative in

Deportation CasesImmigration Judge found the foreign national removable and denied his application for cancellation of removed under INA section 240A(b). On appeal, the foreign national argued that the Immigration Judge committed error in not considering his stepfather as a qualifying relative in evaluat-ing the hardship that would re-sult from his removal from the United States. With regard to the hardship, the Immigration Judge noted that the foreign national has a U.S. citizen stepfather who has been mar-ried to the foreign national’s mother for more than 20 years. The Immigration Judge did not consider the stepfather as a qualifying relative.

The BIA held that in the context of adjudicating visa petitions, they have long held that once the steprelationship has been established, a step-parent remains a parent, even if the stepchild has married or over 21 years of age, provided the marriage creating the relationship continues to exist. The BIA also held that they have followed this reasoning for purposes of determining hardship to family members in the context of considering eligibility for discretionary relief. The BIA concluded that a stepfather who quali-fi es as “parent” under our immigration laws at the time


An Unauthorized History of the Philippines

Seventeenth of a SeriesBy Rudy D. Liporada

In the first series, the author stated that history is written by those who have the time to interpret events based on their perspectives and believed by those who do not know better. In the subsequent series, the author traced why Spain and the United States came to the Philippines and why the Filipinos failed to see their economic intentions; and how they subjugated the Filipinos.

Filipino Uprisings during the American Regime

While the landed elite were evolving to reign over the Philippine Government, the Filipino workers and peasants were left on their own. While the Spanish Crown did not even lend an ear to the mere reform clamors of the ilustra-dos, the American colonialists promised the Filipinos inde-pendence when the Filipinos would have been trained in self government. The landed elite then began to accept the American colonialist’s subtle benevolent assimila-tion euphemism. After all, as conduits to the realization of the imperialists’ designs – dumping the Philippines with surplus finished products and making it as a source of cheap raw materials, they stood to gain in the colonial order of things.

Thus, the elite, from the start of American colonialism, sang praises to the benevo-lence of America, identifying what benefits them during the regime as also beneficial for all Filipinos. This was in con-trast to the ilustrados during the Spanish regime who used the oppression of the workers and the peasants to ventilate their need reforms. Sub-tly, and largely through the American controlled educa-tion, the elite permeated into the masses’ consciousness that the American colonialists liberated the Philippines from Spain, that America is the greatest nation on earth, that Filipinos are the little brown

brothers of the Americans, and that the Filipinos will be given freedom when the Filipinos already know how to govern themselves.

However, the basic conflict between the capitalists and the workers on one hand and the landlords and the peasants on the other hand remained if not worsened. To reiterate, for the US the dump their surplus products, they needed local compradors. These compradors would eventually help American businessmen establish local manufactur-ing or production plants apart from bridge companies where dumped products are com-pletely processed or chan-neled through. These would also involve those who would initially process raw materials before they are shipped for manufacture in America or established local processing plants.

American capitalists or their local entrepreneurs have to maximize their profits. Maximization would involve paying the least for labor which they would squeeze to the maximum. This would lead workers to wallow in low pay under the most stringent conditions.

On the same account, the landed elite would have to maximize production of raw materials at the least cost. This would entail paying the peasants at the lowest possible pay or, though usurious prac-tices, not paying them at all.

Nonetheless, under the circumstances, in the absence of ilustrados of old using the oppressed plight of the masses for reforms during the Ameri-can regime, the workers and peasants still held sporadic revolts during the American colonial period. Devoid of ilustrado ventilations, howev-er, most of the uprisings took the form of illiterate move-ments mostly tainted with quasi-religious hues.

Uprisings during the American Colonial Regime

Renato Constantino writes: “Urban workers in Manila also began to organize. By the twenties, unrest erupted in strikes in the city and violent rising occurred in the country-side. Many new organizations were formed: some secret, some open, many of them radical and seditious in nature. The worldwide economic crisis of the late twenties and early thirties further depressed the living standards of the masses and drove them to desperate vilonce on the one hand, and to affiliation with more radical organizations on

the other.”

The Colorums

Colorums in the 1920’s were organizations character-ized by religious fanaticism, their membership were mostly from the peasantry and the urban poor.

Tainted still strongly with folk Catholicism combined with vestiges of ancient traditional beliefs and super-stitions, the members hinged their beliefs on hero worship by messiahs who strongly articulated their means of redemption no matter how su-perficial from the perspective of those more educated.

Those in Tarlac colorums worshipped Jose Rizal and Apo Ipe Salvador who they believe will resurrect to liberate them. They also have amulets called anting-anting which made them invincible against bullets.

Those in Surigao also be-lieved the Jose Rizal will rise from the dead and will then be president of the Philippines whereupon, he will confiscate all the lands of non-colorum members and distribute them to the members. Their anting-antings would allow them to rise from the dead after five days should they be felled by the bullets of the enemy.

These beliefs would show that, in their poverty and ignorance, they would cling to anything that promises them alleviation from their state of oppression.

And these beliefs led them to incite unrest and armed uprisings like in Tayug,

Pangasinan, Iloilo, Negros Occidental and many other provinces.

Although, the landed elite and the government consid-ered the sporadic uprisings as merely led by fanatics and members to be just ignora-mus, the Philippine Constabu-lary gave them no quarters and massacred thousands of colorum members in the simple guise that they were mere illiterate bandits and crazy fanatics.

The Evolution of the Communist Party of the Philippines

Although the Ameri-can colonialists needed the landed elite and slowly as-similated them, the United States attempted to solve the land-tenure problems of the peasants. Large parcels of Church-owned land that had been expropriated by the Spanish in the sixteenth cen-tury and given to the Church were confiscated for public sale. Sincere the effort might have been, only few Filipinos, mostly also from the landed elite, had the resources and capability to purchase these.

Most of those who at-tempted to buy these lands without enough resources fell victims to usury if not fraud done by corrupt local officials more interested in graft than in helping the peasants.

Under the circumstances, landlords grew richer while the peasants found it increas-ingly harder to repay loans from the landlords. With the prevailing relationships, a peasant’s initiative was stifled, his productivity remained low, and whatever profits he made went toward paying his landlord.

By the middle of the 1930s, 80 percent of Luzon’s peasants were hopelessly in-debted to their landlords with no expectations of being able to pay. In Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Cavite, Tarlac, Bataan, and Laguna, only a few peas-ants tilled their own lands. The vast majority were ei-ther tenants or hired labor. In Pampanga, 70 percent of the peasants were tenants. Annual income for a farmer during this time was only 120 pesos, about $65.

The inability of the gov-ernment to provide a solution to the plight of the peasants should be understandable in the light of the fact that it is the landed elite, developed by the American colonialist, who controlled the govern-ment. It is against their nature to propagate laws that would emancipate the peasants for it would mean going against the maximization of profits inter-est of the landed elite from the production of their lands. To emphasize: anything good for the peasantry would lessen the

profits of the landlords.This would set the stage for

the peasantry to realize that there would be no recourse to alleviate their plight except through armed revolution and the embryo of communism evolved in the Philippines.

Foreign Communist In-fluence

At the outset of the 1900s, there was a worldwide inter-est in communism spawned by Russia and China. In 1920, the Third International, or Communist Internationale, convened in Canton, China. This coincided with the grow-ing agrarian unrest in the Philippines. After the Inter-national meeting, Harrison George, an American com-munist, joined Isabelo de los Reyes, Dominador Gomez, Crisanto Evangelista, and Antonio Ora, to establish the core of a communist party in the Philippines. In May 1924 they founded the Kapisan-ang Pambansa ng mga Mag-budukid sa Filipinas (KPMP), or National Peasant’s Union in Nueva Ecija Province.

On the 34th anniversary of the 1896 Katipunan Revolt, 26 August 1930, Crisanto Evangelista announced the establishment of the Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas, the Communist Party of the Phil-ippines (PKP). On November 7, he outlined the principles for the Philippine communist movement: to mobilize for complete national indepen-dence; to establish commu-nism for the masses; to defend the masses against capitalist exploitation; to overthrow American imperialism in the Philippines; and to overthrow capitalism.

According to Amado Guer-rero, “The establishment of the Party marked the initial attempt to integrate the theory of Marxism-Leninism with the concrete conditions of the Philippines; and draw the most advanced activists of the worker and peasant movement into the vanguard party of the Philippine revolution. The leadership and membership came mainly from the work-ers’ ranks.”

Two years after, after a huge rally in Manila, the Philippine Supreme Court declared the PKP illegal. Evangelista and other leaders of the Party were imprisoned, charged with sedition. Other PKP members went under-ground and began to fight against landlords on behalf of the peasants. Landlords were murdered, farm animals slaughtered, and many fields were burned.

Due to the growing unrest, President Quezon instituted a land reform measure, set-ting a 30 percent limit on the amount of a tenant’s crop

that could be collected by the landlord. Although, lauded, this reform was ignored by landlords, courts, and the government.

With the leadership of the PKP in prison, in 1932, Pedro Abad Santos organized the Socialist Party of the Philip-pines (SPP). He was able to develop a peasant movement larger than the Communist Party especially in Central Luzon. To mitigate the grow-ing rallies and peasant un-rests, Quezon tried to have Crisanto Evangelista help him. He released him from prison together with Taruc, Lava, and Delos Reyes after securing their pledge to be loyal to the Philippine Gov-ernment.

The CPP and SPP, how-ever, would merge in 1938 resulting in a stronger bind between workers, largely concentrated in Manila, and the peasantry of Central Lu-zon. The CPP merger would then continue organizing and would constitute a pivotal role in the struggle against foreigners despite its lack of experience in armed struggle and based mainly in the city. The invigorated merger, with

Evangelista at the helm, openly proclaimed the com-munist doctrine and spread from Central Luzon to Bataan, Zambales, and to the islands of Cebu, Panay, and Negros.

The PKP’s struggle con-tinued until 1941 when the threat of Japanese invasion loomed over the country. As one of the line Comintern’s line was to be anti-fascism, which characterized the Japanese at that time, the PKP offered to support the Commonwealth in a united front against the Japanese. President Quezon, however, disgusted with Evangelista for his not honoring his pledge to be loyal to the Common-wealth government earlier, refused the offer.

On the eve of the war with Japan, the peasants remained in a social and economic sta-tus whereby the landed elite disregarded their plight and with the government inutile to their cause.

Coming in these series:

Should General Douglas McArthur be a venerated hero?

The Outbreak of the Japanese-American War

What really happened dur-ing the Bataan Death March

Statistics shows that al-most 90 percent of the Fili-pinos are literate giving us the edge in the international employment. It is as if the educational system was pat-terned to make Filipinos serve the needs of the world.


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

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

Phil - Am Law 101

Why is it, that despite the widespread condemnation not only in the Philippines but all over the world, justice seems elusive for the massa-cre victims of Maguindanao? We are speaking of course about the recent pronounce-ment from Philippine Justice Secretary Alberto Agra that two prominent personalities will be dropped from the case, namely suspended Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and Maguindanao Vice Gov. Akmad Ampatuan.

We accede that the DOJ Secretary has the power to review and overturn his subor-dinates’ resolutions indicting these two politicians. What bothers many of us are the timing and haste by which the justice secretary (no caps intentional) made his pro-nouncement.

First, the case is now in Court and the Judge (caps intended) has already issued a warrant for the arrest of Zaldy Ampatuan and Akmad Ampat-uan. What this means in legal terms is that the Court has already found probable cause to hold them to stand trial for the murder, nay massacre, of the 57 unarmed civilians. Let us explain that we have three standards of evidence in a criminal case. It starts with “reasonable suspicion” which the police needs to arrest a person. Then, the prosecutor (called district attorney in the U.S.) needs “probable cause” to charge the person in court. Upon being charged, the per-son becomes known as an “ac-cused”. The Court will make its independent evaluation of the evidence submitted by the prosecutor and decide if there really is “probable cause”. In the affirmative, the Court issues a warrant of arrest. Then, the case goes to trial. The Court needs proof beyond reasonable doubt to convict the accused, which means that the accused should be acquit-ted if there is reasonable doubt that he is guilty.

Only three months ago, the Philippine Supreme Court ruled in Lee vs. KBC Bank, G.R. No. 164673 (January 15, 2010) that the trial court’s de-termination of probable cause prevails over that of the sec-retary of justice. In that case, the secretary of justice asked the trial court to withdraw the charges against the accused. The trial judge agreed and dismissed the case. On review,

Elusive Justicethe Supreme Court said that the trial judge should not rely on the secretary’s recom-mendation, but must make his own determination if probable cause exists in the case. The Supreme Court also said that the defense raised by the ac-cused should be scrutinized in a full-blown trial. This ruling may as well apply to the pres-ent controversy.

Second, in our experi-ence as a trial attorney in the Philippines (21 years and still counting), we have very seldom encountered a situ-ation where the DOJ would make haste in exonerating an accused who is already stand-ing trial in Court; certainly never when public opinion is strongly against it. The pro-cess to convince the DOJ to reconsider its decision is long and tedious. Most times, the case is already well into the trial before the DOJ would be able to act. Our friend and for-mer classmate Assistant Chief Prosecutor Richard Fadullon was correct in wondering how Agra was able to review all the documents in the case is such a short period of time. And, why the strange interest in giving preferential attention to this relatively-newer case, when so many older cases had been awaiting the secretary’s review?

Third, the reason given by Agra to drop the two Am-patuans sounds like a mere excuse than a legally-justified argument. He says that they presented an alibi proving that they were not in Maguin-danao when the massacre was planned and executed. Trite as it may sound, let us repeat that any law student will tell you this -- alibi is the weak-est defense. Anyway, granting that the two were not there, modern technology would have still afforded them the opportunity to plan the mas-sacre and even carry it out. Hasn’t Agra heard of skype, email, chat or even the cellu-lar phone? Any of them would have enabled Zaldy and Akbar to take part in the dastardly crime even from a distance.

Fourth, Agra claims that Malacanang did not know of his decision but brags that its silence indicates its approval. Doesn’t he realize that this braggadocio only further sinks him and in the process takes down his boss with him into the quicksand of public ridi-cule? If the president agrees with his unpopular decision,

isn’t this bad for her politi-cally? Anyway, who would ever believe that the presi-dent didn’t know his decision beforehand in a seriously, seriously politically-sensitive case? He is just acting DOJ secretary and, being an act-ing bagito, Agra would not dare undertake a monumental move without the go-signal from his boss. Agra should realize that her boss cannot protect him, and neither can he protect her.

Fifth, the timing. This is election time and as ev-eryone in the know will tell you, there is one particular part in the Philippines where Malacanang always gets all the votes. Upon the collapse of the Ampatuan regime, the Mangudadatus have taken over the reins. Significantly, days before Agra’s pro-nouncement, the Manguda-datus declared their support for Noynoy Aquino. Now, people believe that there is probably only one chance to beat Noynoy and that is by cheating him. Obviously, the best way to cheat him and get the best number of votes is to do this in the old, traditional, proven way – do it in Mind-anao. But, with the Mangu-dadatus openly giving their support for Noynoy, this will be an impossible task. Mala-canang must bring the Am-patuans back. Amusingly, in a funny twist, Andal Ampatuan, Jr. also declared his support for Noynoy but everyone is taking this as a joke.

The Philippine leader-ship has once again shown its callousness and moral decadence. Fortunately, there remain many redeeming factors that assure us – par-ticularly those who plan to come back and retire in the Philippines – that it is still worth living there. Kudos to the Philippine media, to our brave judges and prosecutors, and most especially to every Juan dela Cruz who will let his conscience decide come election day.

Atty. Rogelio Karagdag , Jr. is licensed to practice law in both California and the Philippines. He practices immigration law in San Diego and has continuously been a trial and appellate attorney in the Philippines since 1989. He travels between San Diego and Manila. His office address is located at 10717 Camino Ruiz, Suite 131, San Diego, CA 92126. He also has an of-fice in the Philippines at 1240 Apacible Street, Paco, Ma-nila, Philippines 1007, with telephone numbers (632)522-1199 and (632)526-0326. Please call (858)348-7475 or email him at [email protected] for your free consultation. He speaks Tagalog fluently. Articles written in this column are not legal advice but are hypotheti-cals intended as general, non-specific legal information.

FRANKLIN, Tenn. (April 20, 2010) - In response to strong consumer demand, Nissan North America, Inc. (NNA) began taking reserva-tions for the Nissan LEAF zero-emission, all-electric vehicle today, April 20. The reservation process is a first step in securing a place on the list to purchase or lease a Nissan LEAF. The Nissan LEAF begins rolling out to select markets in December, and will be widely available in 2011.

In the United States, more than 115,000 people have formalized their interest in driving a Nissan LEAF by signing up for more infor-mation on NissanUSA.com. These registrants will be given priority in the reserva-tion process. Consumers must be registered on NissanUSA.com by the end of today in or-der to be eligible for the early reservation process. Reserva-tions will open to the general public on May 15.

“Early interest in the Nis-san LEAF has been highly encouraging,” said Brian Carolin, senior vice president, sales & marketing, NNA. “People from across the coun-try have raised their hands to be among the first to drive home a Nissan LEAF. Con-sumers are pledging broad support for the first affordable electric vehicle for the mass market.”

RESERVATIONS

Nissan LEAF reservations begin April 20

- Pool of 115,000 registrants gains first priority -

Priority reservation instruc-tions will be sent to early registrants by email between 1-6 pm EDT on April 20. The email will include an exclusive link enabling each person to start the reservation process.

Through the link, the • customer will create an account, configure his or her vehicle, and answer questions to complete a driving profile. Consumers will be • asked to pay by credit card a $99 reserva-tion fee, which is fully refundable. After placing a reserva-• tion, a customer will be able to indicate a preferred dealer. Consumers who re-• serve a Nissan LEAF will receive confirma-tion numbers. Nissan will provide individual updates for their reser-vations by June 30.

Reservations are limited to one per household.

Consumer inquiries about the reservation process can be answered at the Nissan LEAF call center, 1-877-664-2738.

April 20 also marks the date for the debut of a new website on NissanUSA.com to support the launch of the Nissan LEAF. The website will continue to serve as a resource about the most up-to-date information for the Nis-san LEAF, including upcom-ing special events.

Including the $7,500 fed-eral tax credit for which the Nissan LEAF will be fully eligible, the consumer’s after-tax net value of the vehicle will be $25,280. The Manu-facturer’s Suggested Retail Price *(MSRP) for the 2011 all-electric, zero-emission Nissan LEAF is $32,780. Ad-ditionally, there is an array of state and local incentives that may further defray the costs, and increase the benefits, for owning and charging a Nissan LEAF. For example, a $5,000 statewide tax rebate is offered in California; a $5,000 tax credit in Georgia; a $1,500 tax credit in Oregon; and carpool-lane access in some states, in-cluding California. The lease price for the Nissan LEAF begins at $349 per month

In North America, Nissan’s operations include automotive design, engineering, consumer and corporate financing, sales and marketing, distribution and manufacturing. Nissan is dedicated to improving the environment under the Nissan Green Program 2010, whose key priorities are reducing CO2 emissions, cutting other emissions and increasing recycling. More information on the Nissan LEAF and zero emissions can be found at www.nissanusa.com. MSRP excludes applicable tax, title and license fees. Dealer sets actual price. Prices and specs are subject to change without notice.

What’s in a name? Well, that’s up to the public to decide - at least in the case of one very cute 8-month-old koala at the San Diego Zoo. The online naming opportunity leads up to the San Diego Zoo’s Koalapalooza event, Jan. 15-18, a celebration of all things Australian, including its animals.

Born May 8, this unnamed female koala joey weighs just over a pound and has a real “princess” attitude, keepers say. But, her short life hasn’t always been easy. One morning in November, koala keepers found the joey on the ground. At that point, she should have been in her mother’s pouch for another three or four weeks. Keepers gently put the joey on her mother’s stomach and the joey climbed back into the pouch by herself. Veterinarians say the joey is doing well and is now too large to fit in her mother’s pouch. The nameless joey can be seen clinging to her mother’s back and

Public invited to name San Diego Zoo’s Minature Marsupial as part of Koalapalooza

stomach. She is expected to nurse for another three months but has started eating eucalyptus on her own.

Female koala joeys can be ex-pected to stay with their mothers for up to 18 months before they are fully independent. This joey is likely to be the last for Orana; the 14-year-old mother is getting past joey-bearing age.

The public can help name the joey by going onto the San Diego Zoo’s Web site, www.sandi-egozoo.org. The names must be Aboriginal, or reflect the koala’s Australian heritage in some way. The Zoo’s koala keepers will review the entries and determine five finalists, based on popularity and suitability. Those finalists will be voted upon by Zoo guests dur-ing Koalapalooza, Jan. 15-18. The winning name will be announced on the last day of Koalapalooza, Jan. 18.

In addition to the Name the Joey contest, Koalapalooza will

highlight other native Australian animals and feature regional mu-sic and food. The koala celebra-tion will be the first of three Zoo Discovery Days in 2010. The two others will be Reptilemania in September and Festival of Flight in November.

The 100-acre San Diego Zoo is dedicated to the conservation of endangered species and their habi-tats. The organization focuses on conservation and research work around the globe, educates mil-lions of individuals a year about wildlife and maintains accredited horticultural, animal, library and photo collections. The Zoo also manages the 1,800-acre San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park, which includes a 900-acre na-tive species reserve, and the San Diego Zoo’s Institute for Conser-vation Research. The important conservation and science work of these entities is supported in part by The Foundation of the Zoo-logical Society of San Diego.


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Light &Shadows

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

by Zena Sultana Babao

How do you react when life throws punches at you? What do you do

when life knocks you down? Do you just roll over and die, or do you get up and say, “Life is what we make it!”

According to best-selling author M. Scott Peck in his book The Road Less Traveled, “Life is diffi cult. This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths. Once we truly know that life is diffi cult – once we truly understand and accept it – then life is no longer diffi cult. We transcend it!”

How we react to life is our choice. Sooner or later misery comes knocking at our doors in the form of an illness, marital problems or fi nancial diffi culty. We all experience events that de-plete our energy, drain our spirit, and undermine our courage. These are what Shakespeare wrote about as “the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.”

How we face these slings and arrows determines the strength of our character. The true worth of a person is measured, not by how he or she acts when things are in control, but how he or she reacts when things are beyond control.

I would like to share with you the stories of two men and one woman who were knocked down by life. Both men are ministers and the woman was a hero of the civil rights movement here in America. I know one of the men very well because he is my brother. The other man was the founder of the Church of Today in Warren, Michigan.

My brother was in his second year of engineering at the Uni-versity of Nueva Caceres in my hometown in Naga City when he was accidentally shot by one of his friends, another engineering student. The bullet lodged in his brain, so the doctors in Naga City operated right away but were unable to extract the bullet.

The doctors told us that my brother would die if the bullet is not extracted within two hours. Or if he lived, he would be a vegetable.

At that time I was working as a correspondent for the Philippine News Service (later renamed Philippines News Agency). I immediately called Romeo Abundo, our General Manager, and informed him about the problem. I asked him to send within the hour a plane to airlift my brother to Manila.

My general manager, a very caring person, said that not only would he send a plane but he would also have an ambulance waiting at the airport, and expert neurosurgeons ready to operate on my brother at the UST (Uni-versity of Santo Tomas) hospital. To make a long story short, my brother is alive and well. He transcended his problem! He didn’t waste his time asking “Why me, Lord?” He placed his trust in God. And us his family did everything we could to help solve the problem. As Jesus said in the Bible, “Ask and it shall be given to you. Seek and you shall fi nd. Knock and the door shall be opened.”

Before my brother was oper-ated on, he promised to the Lord that should he live and have a normal life, he would give up engineering and become a minister instead. He became the fi rst Christian minister in our family, and is now a bishop with the United Church of Christ in the Philippines. Following his footsteps, another brother of ours also became a minister.

The second story is about

Life Is What We Make It!Jack Boland, the founder of the Church of Today in Warren, Michigan. He died of cancer. But a few weeks before his death he invited his congrega-tion, friends and family to his “living funeral.” Usually when someone dies, the loved ones left behind gather together to honor

the dead. This “liv-ing fu-neral” was not to honor Bo-land, but for Boland to share

his feelings about life and death.Knowing that his days were

numbered, Boland selected the theme “If not now, when?” for his living funeral. He said in his speech, “While we are still in this world, we must live beyond ourselves, reach beyond our-selves, and give to the world.”

A few weeks later, his health deteriorated, and he died. I believe that the message he left behind is this: Take life on, face the challenge, and do whatever you can in the remaining time you have on earth.

The third story is about a fi ercely courageous woman named Rosa Parks. One day in 1955, she stepped onto a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, and stepped into the pages of history. She refused to give up her seat to a white person, as she was legally required to do. Her one quiet act of civil disobedience sparked a fi restorm of controver-sy and became the rallying point of the civil rights movement here in America.

To all of us, Parks was a persistent symbol of human dignity and calm strength. It is that dignity and strength that we all admire. She was a shining example of a person who had overcome adversity, and she inspired us with her story. Along with inspire, she gave hope to even the least of us to be brave and serenely calm when crunch time comes.

The stories of these three remarkable people remind us that we can face and overcome the challenges of life. With faith and strength of will, no amount of problems or diffi culties can ever bring us down. We will always rise up to the challenge and prove to the world that “Life is what we make it.”

2010 Census Slogan in TagalogHuwag kalimutang kunin ang sulat mula sa

Census at sagutan ang mga tanong. Sampung sandali sa sampung tanong.

Pangalan - Vryan Co11th Grade - Otay Ranch High School

By Rudy D. Liporada

The musical sounds of Igorot gongs reverberated at Second Wind, a bar at Santee, San Diego County last April 17, 2010.

But that’s not all. The rhythmic primitive

sounds intertwined with the

Baguio Ethnic Rock Rocks Santee

modern technocratic blares of electric guitars, keyboards, and percussions blending into chords and chorals of an evolving Cordillera Ethnic Rock. It was Montanosa mu-sic from the far-fl ung corners of the Cordilleras transported overseas to the very heart of San Diego, California with the trimmings of ala-Michael Jackson electric glitz and beats.

And it can’t be beat for that night was transformed into a grand bonding of Igoro-ts and Baguoites, who fi lled the bar to the rafters as they gyrated their disco moves the Igorot Canao way to the bouncy ethnic laden songs of brother and sister Bobby and Mackee Carantes. With Bobby on the vocals and elec-trifying on the lead guitar and with Mackee strumming the rhythm with her backup vo-cals, they rocked the bar with former Baguio and Cordillera residents, who came not only from Beverly Hills and farther north in Oxnard and San Fran-cisco but from as far as New Jersey and Canada.

“This is really nostalgic but refreshingly different,” exclaims Lilian Ares on top of the glaring music. Lilian who attended the affair with her husband, Cris, is a past president of the Baguio City Association of San Diego.

The night at Santee fea-tured Bobby’s signature song, “I Miss the Old Baguio,” a song that has drawn nostal-gic listeners because of these lyrics: “The winding road amid pine scented mountains/

sunfl owers golden like the foggy hills/ the cobweb of a cold February morning/ jew-eled dragonfl ies overfl owing springs.”

“But this is not re-ally something new,” Bobby would later say. “Although the term Ethnic Rock came into print and broadcasted only in

1994, we were already into it a little bit earlier.” He was referring to their band, Bag’iw which had evolved as early as the 1970’s. Baguio City derived its name from a moss prevalent in the city called bag’iw and the group decided their name to be appropriate for their kind of rock – from their roots. Bobby and Mack-ee are of the Ibaloi tribe from Benguet.

Following a group of

Baguio residents who called themselves Salidum-may (name lifted from an Igorot

ethnic medley) who could be said to be predecessor of eth-



Presidents l-r Lilian Ares, past president of Baguio City Association of San Diego; Rudy D. Liporada (author), immediate past president; La-laine Velasco, current presi-dent.

nic rock, the Bag’iw band of Bobby and his brother, Reuel, played a number of concerts featuring the genre and it took roots since they started to be aired in L.A. 107 in Metro Manila and 89.5 FM in Bagu-io City in 1994. The novelty of incorporating Cordillera in-struments like gongs, solibaos and bamboo buzzers produced a harmony of modernized hinterland music.

“I believe we are able to express genuine Cordillera

experience in the modern set-ting,” says Bobby. In contrast, according to critics, this genre was handled “very much un-like certain other groups that merely sugar-coated their ma-terial with the sound of indig-enous instruments…Bag’iw was able to communicate genuine Igorot concerns and aspirations…not to mention that we were able to reach out to a younger generation and make a slowly fading ethnic music more palatable to them. Through Ethnic Rock music, Bag’iw made a bold step to chart a different path to that of performers of the more easily accepted mainstream music.”

In 2009, with Reuel experimenting with main-stream Top 40 music, Bobby released a solo album titled, Bladegrass a collection of ten songs in the ethnic tradition of which Bag’iw was the precur-sor. One of the songs, entitled, Ethnic Rocks, addresses ethnicity and its importance. Obviously, it expresses one’s pride in ethnic roots and lamentations on ceilings im-posed upon it by society. The song was composed over an interactive concept. Mackee also was on backing vocals while other musicians beat the gongs to the rhythm of the pattong (lifted from a Bontoc tribal war dance ritual gong music to encourage courage and strength as the Bontocs stalk their enemies of old).

Bobby says, “I feel that our cultural music is now be-ing underappreciated because of the slew of modern music. I, personally, believe that the ritual of native music is the soul of our ethnic past and should not be lost. At least with harmonizing modern music with our traditional musical instruments, we are preserving, no matter how it may become remnant, the soul of our music, of our past. And we are able to transfer it to our Igorot youth, accord-

ing to their modernized taste, no matter how distant they maybe like in the USA.”

Dubbed We Miss the old Baguio, the mini concert at Second Wind was co-sponsored by the BIBAK San Diego and the Baguio City Association of San Diego. It was coordinated by Lalaine Uveros, current president of the Baguio City Association; and Julius Singlao, vice-pres-ident.

Aside from the Ethnic Rock renditions of Bobby and Mackee, other erstwhile Baguio City folksingers also belted out a musical quilt that was prevalent in the City during the 60’s-80’s scene. Among those who partici-pated were Banjo Romawak, Richard Arandia, Hec Cruz, Alan Del Rosario, Danny Tangalin, Jojo Napay, Meggs Meru, Elmer Hull, Chat Coloma-Aban, Pendong Aban, Tom Hogue, Dave Ken-dall, Mark Evans, and David Ambasing.

The Cordillera Mountain Ranges, intimately dubbed Cordi or The Cordilleras is home to Igorots known as Benguets, Bontocs, Ifugaos, Kalingans, and Apayaos. Proud indigenous peoples of Montanosa in Northern Luzon, they were the last to be subjugated in Luzon by the Spanish and American colo-nialists. The formal liberation of the Philippines from the Japanese was also signed in Camp John Hay, Baguio City, Benguet Province, in Sep-tember 3, 1945, a day after Japanese General Tomoyuki Yamashita was cornered in Kiangan, Ifugao. To date, some gongs in the hinter-lands of Montanosa are still adorned, as handles, with jaws of Japanese soldiers. Philip-pine Liberation Day is now annually celebrated during the first week of September at the Balboa Veterans Museum in San Diego.

Baguio Ethnic

Rock Rocks Santee

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(Continued from page 10)

SAN DIEGO-Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the ar-rests of a doctor and two employees operating a “com-plex, multi-level scheme” that bilked more than $200,000 from low-income patients and government agencies by over-charging and prescribed pain medication to individuals who had no medical need for it.

Beginning in 2007, the three individuals arrested Wednesday perpetrated their scheme to defraud state and federal health insurance pro-grams and patients in the San Diego area.

“These individuals oper-ated a complex, multi-level fraud scheme,” Brown said. “Today’s arrests are a result of the cooperative efforts of state and federal law enforce-ment to take this dirty doctor off the streets.”

The individuals arrested today include Dr. Moham-med Tarek Kady, 55, Mario Ramirez Zarco, 31, and Ana Audelo, 23, all three from Chula Vista.

All three individuals were charged with violating Cali-fornia Penal Code sections 182(a)(1), 182(a)(4), 487(a), and 550(b)(3) for conspiring to cheat and defraud, to com-mit grand theft, and commit insurance fraud.

In addition, Kady was also charged with:

- One count of violating California Welfare and Insti-tutions Code section 14107(b)(4)(A) for Medi-Cal fraud

- Five counts of violating California Penal Code section 487(a) for grand theft

- Three counts of violating California Penal Code section 550(a)(6) for insurance fraud

- Seven counts of violating California Health and Safety

Three Arrested in Sophisticated Medi-Cal Fraud And ‘Doctor Shopping’ Ring

Code section 11153(a) for il-legal prescribing

- One count of violat-ing California Labor Code 3700.5(a) for failing to obtain worker’s compensation for employees

- Special Allegations of theft, including theft in excess of $100,000.

The arrests are the result of a cooperative effort between Brown’s office, the San Diego District Attorney’s Insurance Fraud Task Force, the Fed-eral Bureau of Investigation (FBI), San Diego Health Care Fraud Squad and San Diego Organized Crime Squad, the California Department of Industrial Relations, and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Tacti-cal Diversion Squad.

In February 2009, an Anthem Blue Cross investiga-tor reported Kady’s pediatric office in Chula Vista was unlawfully charging fees to patients enrolled in state and federal health insurance plans.

Two of Kady’s employees, Mario Zarco and Ana Audelo, unlawfully charged patients $50 to $500 for assistance in enrollment in state and fed-eral health insurance cover-age. Kady himself unlawfully charged patients an additional $200 to $300 fee to examine their newborn children in the hospital.

Investigators estimate that Kady unlawfully charged more than $60,000 for servic-es to individuals and families enrolled in state and federal health insurance coverage.

Brown’s investigation also showed Kady frequently traveled out of the country for several weeks at a time but continued to charge for his services at his Chula Vista office. Reimbursement claims

indicate Kady charged more than $160,000 for services when, in reality, he was out of the country.

In addition to overcharg-ing for services and charging for services never performed, Kady prescribed pain medica-tion to individuals without any justifiable medical pur-pose, enabling patients appar-ently “doctor shopping” for drugs. Kady wrote prescrip-tions for opiates, including the narcotic, Vicodin, and codeine cough syrups to drug addicts abusing the drugs and illegally selling them. On seven DEA sting operations, most recently last month, Kady prescribed narcotics without medical justification.

Kady’s patients were instructed to fill their pain medication prescription at one San Diego pharmacy. An employee at the pharmacy became suspicious after doz-ens of individuals attempted to fill prescriptions, written by Kady, at the pharmacy each Friday. The investigation revealed Kady and the phar-macy owner had a quid pro quo arrangement in which the pharmacy would kick back some $3 per prescription.

According to the Medical Board of California, Moham-med Tarek Kady was licensed as a physician in December 1997. He is a family practi-tioner with board certification in Pediatrics, and maintained two clinics, one in Chula Vista and one in San Diego.

If convicted of all charges, Kady faces as much as 20 years in prison. Zarco and Audelo face up to 6 years in prison if convicted of all charges.

“The Drug Enforcement Administration is commit-ted to keeping the San Diego

community safe from doctors who enable the abuse of pre-scription drugs”, says Special Agent in Charge Ralph W. Partridge. “The suspension of Doctor Kady’s controlled substance privilege is an im-portant step toward ensuring accountability of those who supply controlled substances illegally”.

A copy of the complaint filed in San Diego Superior Court is attached. Photos of the defendants are also at-tached.



“P ara, mama (stop Mister),” Isabel told the jeep-ney driver when they reached the corner of Quezon Blvd. and Claro M. Recto Avenue. The jeepney was about to turn right on Quezon Blvd. to-wards downtown Quiapo. Isa-bel had to walk straight from the intersection to reach her school. She handed a one-peso bill to a passenger seated at the middle of the row who in turn passed it on to the person seated behind the driver. The driver reached back to get the fare. He put the money in a wooden box attached to the dashboard and passed the change back. It traveled the same way until it reached Isabel.

Walking along the side-walk, Isabel smelled the mouth-watering aroma of the newly-cooked chicha-ron bulaklak (deep fried pork intestine), a favorite of Filipinos, but a high choles-terol snack. It is best eaten when piping hot and dipped in vinegar sauce, the mildly hot oil trickling down the throat as one munches on the delicious morsel. The eatery along that sidewalk served the best chicharon bulaklak in the country. It is called “bulaklak” because the intes-tine, once fried, looks like a flower, the English translation

A Complicated AffairHis Trophy Wife

of its name. On the corner was the Roman Cinerama, the first and only wide-screen theater in the country. It was owned by the politically-powerful Roman Family of Bataan Province. For more than a year after its opening, it

showed the epic movie, “How the West Was Won”.

Once she reached Morayta Street, Isabel crossed the street and turned right to-wards her school.

“BAKIT NANDITO KA (Why are you here)?” Isabel asked her boyfriend Lando who was waiting for her at the school gate when she was done with class at about four in the afternoon.”

“Why, don’t you want to see me?” he asked, smiling. “I want to take you on a date today.”

“My parents will be waiting for me.”

“We won’t be late.”

He held her hands and led her across the street. They went inside the Little Quiapo Restaurant popular for its special halo-halo (sweets with shaved ice and milk) topped with ice cream.

“Mukhang kumita ka ng malaki (You seemed to have earned a lot of money),” she told him.

He just smiled. They had a lively talk and she laughed at his jokes as they ate their halo-halo. When they were done, Lando looked at the bill handed to him by a waiter and reached for his wallet in his back pocket. He was quiet for a while. Finally, he told her: “Can you spare me with some change? My money is short.”

Isabel felt insulted and em-barrassed. She felt bad be-cause she realized that the boy

she was going out with could not even afford to buy her a snack. When she realized that he was serious, she grudgingly took out a ten-peso bill from her wallet.

“Baon ko ito sa tatlong araw (this is my allow-ance for three days),” she said without looking at him.

He tried to amuse her as they waited for the waiter to give her the change, but she could

not be consoled. Once she got the money, she stood up and hurried outside the restau-rant. Lando tried to catch up with her, but she walked fast toward Quezon Blvd. where she would catch her jeepney ride home.

“Wait, I thought we’re going to watch a movie?” he asked.

She stopped and with a sharp glaring look at him, asked: “Do you have money?”

He shook his head and said, “Maybe you could advance it. I will pay you back later.”

That was the last straw. She turned around and walked

Philippine Stories

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

by Simeon G. Silverio Jr.


USS Midway Museum • 910 N. Harbor Drive • San Diego, CA 92101 • (619) 544-9600 • www.midway.org

Honoring Freedom in AmericaOn the 35th Anniversary of April 30, 1975

The Program • Welcome by USS Midway Museum• Raising of American, Republic of

Vietnam Flags• National Anthems• Moment of Silence• Memorial Wreath Presentation• Memorial Ceremony

Special Guest Speakers:• Lawrence Chambers, Captain of the

USS Midway, 1975• Commander Vern Jumper, Air

Boss of the USS Midway, 1975• Recognition of Refugees• Recognition of USS

Midway Sailors• Opening of Operation

Frequent Wind Exhibit• Vietnamese Entertainment

Tickets: $20 which includes regular museum admissionand a special Commemorative Lapel Pin.

They go on sale Feb. 26, 2010 at www.midway.orgor at the Museum’s ticket booth.

The USS Midway is located at 910 North HarborDrive, San Diego, CA 92101. More information

at www.midway.org or call (619) 544-9600.

Travel packages available atwww.midway.org/OFW

Free Shuttle Transportation

Available Pick-ups fromSan Diego three locations, directto the USS Midway and back.

Locations:· 2160 Ulric Street (Linda Vista Library)

· 54th Street & El Cajon Blvd. (Wesley United Church)

· Black Mountain Rd. & Mira Mesa Blvd. (Lucky Seafood)

Pick-ups at 9 a.m., 10, 11, 12, 1, and 2 p.m.

Returns at 9:30 a.m., 10:30, 11:30, 12:30, 1:30, 2:30 and 3:30 p.m.

At 12 noon on April 30, 2010Flight Deck of the USS Midway MuseumSan Diego, California


Spiritual Life

Read Monsignor’s previous articles by visit-ing our website at www.asianjournalusa.com

by Msgr. Fernando G. Gutierrez

Lower Your Nets Balintataw

Read Virginia Ferrer’s previous articles by visiting our website at www.asianjournalusa.com

by Virginia H. Ferrer

License # 01113433

PersonalPrayer to the Holy Spirit

Holy Spirit thou make me see everything and show me the way to reach my ideal. You who give me the divine gift to forgive and forget the wrong that is done to me and who are in all instances of my life with me. I, in this short dialogue, want to thank you for everything and confirm once more that I never want to be separated from you no matter how great the material desires may be. I want to be with you and my love ones in your perpetual glory, Amen. A Person must pray this 3 consecutive days without stating one’s wish will be granted no matter how dif-ficult may be. Promise to publish this soon as your favor has been granted.

Naty

NakakalungkotAyaw manding humiwalay sa aking isipanang kahindikhindik na kapinslaanmalagim na trahedyang nangyari sa ating bayanat ikinasawi ng maraming kababayan.

At sa inyong nilalang na mapagsamantalamga taong mahihina ang siyang kinakayailagay sa isipan na ang bawa’t pasiyahuwag naman sanang kamatayan ang ibunga.

Pakinggang mabuti daing ng mga kapatidbuksang maluwag ang puso ng iyong mariniggawaing masama baka sa iyo’y bumaliknakakalungkot naman kung buhay ang kapalit.

Joke of the Week: The pastor joined a local group in his community. Some of the members of his congregation made up the nametags for the group. When they came to his, they decide to play a little trick by labeling his occupa-tion as “Hog Caller.” When the pastor saw what they had put on his nametag, he re-plied, “They usually call me ‘Shepherd of the Sheep,’ but I suppose our members know themselves better than I do.”

Scripture: First Reading: Acts 13: 14, 43-52. The Acts of the Apostles tells us how the early Christian community lives after the Easter events. Today’s passage narrates the preaching of Paul and Barna-bas at Antioch in Pisidia. Discipleship is not easy. Their preaching receives varied reactions. A number of Jews and Gentile converts to Juda-ism accept Christianity; others refuse to believe in what the apostles are preaching and incite the people to oppose the apostles. So the apostles now turn to the Gentiles. Second Reading: Revelation 7: 9, 14b-17. The New Testament faithfully connects the im-age of Jesus as shepherd with that of the Lamb who lays down his life for his sheep. It is therefore fitting that dur-ing the Church’s celebration of the Easter season, she presents Jesus not only as the Good Shepherd but also as the Lamb of God whose death and blood wash away our sins. Gospel: John 10: 27-30. In John’s Gospel, Lamb and Shepherd are one image; the One who leads the flock

Now and then, the present and eternity

is also the One who is led to his sacrificial death. Today’s gospel passage concentrates on the relationship between the shepherd and the sheep. Following the Good Shepherd is not easy, but the sheep are assured that they are already participating in eternal life and nobody can take them out of his hand.

Reflections: Today’s gospel selection is set against the background of the Feast of Dedication or Hanukkah of the Jewish Temple. There is no holier place on earth for the Jews than the Jerusalem Temple, because it is a sacred symbol of God’s presence among his people as well as of their identity as a nation. It is understandable why the Jews were outraged when An-tiochus Epiphanes, one of the 13 Seleucid kings of Syria, desecrated the Temple. He set up a pagan altar in the Holy of Holies of the Temple, confis-cated the sacred vessels, and offered sacrifices to the Greek god, Zeus. He just did not do those abominable acts but also did forbid the Jews from prac-ticing their religion under pen-alty of death. In retaliation, Mattathias together with his sons led an army against the pagan king. After the death of his father, Judas Maccabeus continued the struggle for the people’s independence and possession of the Temple. Af-ter their stunning victory over the pagan army, Judas puri-fied the Temple. This event is called the Feast of Dedication, Hanukkah, and is annually observed by all Jews.

The repossession of the

Temple is a time of great cel-ebration because it is an assur-ance that God could be with his people again. Also, the lost identity of the Hebrews as God’s people has now been recovered. When Jesus told his disciples that he and the Father are one, he clearly declares that the function of the Temple as symbol of God’s abiding presence with his people has ended and has now been transferred to him. To meet Jesus is to meet God. To follow Jesus is to share in eternal life that he has won for us by his death and resur-rection. This is indeed the gift of Easter, a new and eternal life with Jesus in the king-dom with his Father. This is a promise for those who remain faithful as his disciples.

This story is told about the news of Wellington’s victory over Waterloo. The news was brought by sailing ship to the south coast o England, and by semaphore it was wigwagged over land toward London. Finally the message reached the roof of Winchester Cathe-

dral, “Wellington defeated.” A heavy fog covered the land-scape and the signals from view. The sad news relayed to London, plunging the citizens into a deep gloom. In a short time, the fog lifted and the re-mainder of the message came through, “Wellington defeated the enemy.” Quickly the news raced on, lifting the gloomy hearts from sadness to joy. Similarly, that is the picture of Good Friday’s, “Christ defeated” to Easter’s more complete, “Christ defeated the enemy.”

Quotation of the Week: “Love is the result of love, it is intrinsically valuable. I love because I love; I love in order to love. Love is a valuable thing only if it returns to its beginning, consults its origin and flows back to its source … when God loves, he wishes to be loved in return, assuredly he loves for no other purpose than to be loved. He knows that those who love are happy in their love.” St. Bernard of Clairvaux.

By: Father Shay Cullen

It was his idealism, his commitment to saving the earth and his love of nature that brought Gensun Agus-tin, 30, of Buguey, Cagayan, Northern Luzon, the Philip-pines, to an early and un-natural death at 4 PM last 1 March 2010. He was laid in his beloved earth, the earth that had given him life and for which he had fought and died as a campaigner for the protection of the environ-ment. Earth Day ought to be a remembrance day for all those who have given their lives to save and protect the land and the people whose lives depend on it.

Gensun loved the sea, the sand and the mountains and when he saw the sand and the beaches of Buguey being seri-ously damaged by the extrac-tion of huge volumes of black

The Earth, Where the Brave Are Buried

A LEADER of an antimin-ing group in Cagayan, he was gunned down on his way home by two men in Buguey town.

sand and the precious black magnetite, he acted to save them. The sands are being ex-cavated and shipped in barges to waiting Korean ships off the Cagayan shore with the connivance of a powerful political clan in the province. We dare not speak or write the name lest another hail of bul-lets will end this writer’s life too as it did that of Gensun as he rode his motor bike home that fatal day. Two men riding another motorbike overtook him and opened fire. A beau-tiful mind, heart and spirit were wiped out, ended by the evil-doers in greedy pursuit of perversity and power.

Magnetite mining consists of scooping the black sand with bulldozers, payloads and trucks, or sometimes dug up by paid workers or villagers with spades and wheel bar-rows. Environmentalists fear that the extraction of mag-netite, which binds the sand together, will undermine the entire beach structure and

raising sea levels and rag-ing typhoons that will cause massive erosion. They can see that with the beaches lowered the sea will rise inland flood-ing the rice fields with salt water and covering roads and destroying bridges, schools and houses.

There is something per-verse happening when a very physical part of the Philip-pines itself, its beauty, its en-vironment, its heritage is dug-up by a powerful family and shipped out to a foreign land to enrich a single family and the business people of Korea and when the protectors of the earth are shot and killed. The brave Mayor of Buguey, Ignacio Taruc, for whom Gensun worked, leads an anti-mining organization and has been threatened and harassed himself when he protested the destruction of the beaches and their fragile ecosystems.

Another brave anti-mining environmentalist Ricardo Ganad was brutally murdered in Oriental Mindoro last 10 February and many others throughout the Philippines. Since 2001, over 800 murders of human rights and environ-mental advocates have taken place. Many of them were connected to anti-mining campaigns.

Those most affected are the indigenous people who have retreated to their ances-tral mountain domains as land grabbers encroached on their lowlands. These ingenious

people struggle to survive and preserve their traditional way of life and customs. They are under increasing pressure by mining companies owned in many cases by wealthy co-lonial era families backed by foreign mining interests. The rich families control the Con-gress and make laws for their self-interest and their foreign cronies. The 1995 Mining Law is an example and they have military forces to impose their will. Unjust as the 1995 Mining Act is, condemned by the Philippine Bishops, and many international develop-ment organizations, mining is spreading into the ancestral lands and bulldozing over the rights of the Filipino people who suffer the landslides, pollution of rivers and coastal areas, the destructive logging, the loss of habitat and rain forest.

Well that’s what we are up against on Earth day in the Philippines - the willful destruction of our beauti-ful coasts, fish stocks, hills, mountains and rivers with nothing but loss and dire pov-erty for most of the affected Filipinos. But take heart, there is a strong resistance but it is met with deadly forces. But please join and support the thousands of brave environ-mentalists in the Philippines and around the globe working, living, and dying for their just cause - saving and preserving the Earth. It’s the only one we’ve got.


The Parshooters of San Diego played the First of round of the 2010 Sampaguita open at the Sea n Air Golf Course at North Island, Mar 23, 2010 and the fi nal round at the Miramar Memorial Golf Course at the Miramar Marine Air Station, Mar 30, 2010. There were (54) entries par-ticipated on the fi rst round but (28) players made the cut and move on to the fi nal round. Ted Delunas was crowned the Open Champion with a solid scores of 68-68 = 136. Lunch and Award presentation was held at the Chinese Supper Buffet in Miramar road. This is the fi rst of the four Major Tournaments the Parshooters will be playing this year. Their next Major Tournament will be The Banaue Open, The San Miguel Open and The Mabu-hay Open.

Results of the Sampaguita Open

Ted Delunas 68-68 = 136 Joe Tuquero 79-69 = 146 Lito Ferrer 71-66 = 137 Gus Martinez 68-79 = 147Raul Gonzalez 71-68 = 139 Amor Garingo 77-70 = 147

The Parshooters played their First Major Open

Matt Mazon, President and Ted Delunas 2010 Sampaguita Open Champion).

Johnny Luna 75-65 = 140 Nick Sunga 76-71 = 147Arman Bareno 71-69 = 140 Nori Gamboa 77-71 = 148Bob Navales 71-70 = 141 Lito Parani 76-73 = 149Ed Madriaga 71-69 = 141 Matt Mazon 75-74 = 149Santi Rabanal 75-67 = 142 Doming Abella 74-75 = 149Art Buangan 75-67 = 142

Jim Esperon 81-68 = 149Rino Belisario 71-72 = 143 Ted Calaustro 72-79 = 151Flor Villegas 67-76 = 143 Ed Bassig 75-77 = 152Nest Mendiola 68-76 = 144 Andy Velbis 77-75 = 152Romy Quinto 74-71 = 145 Jun Calalay 73-80 = 153Ruben Caballa 78-68 = 146 Nick Abrenica 77-78 = 155

A Complicated AffairHis Trophy Wife

faster. As soon as she boarded a jeepney, she saw Lando walking along side. The jeep-ney was moving slowly as it picked up other passengers.

“Can’t you even pay for my fare back home?” he asked.

She wanted to ignore him, but eventually took pity of him and motioned him to get inside. She realized that she would have no future with her deadbeat boyfriend and resolved to call Ditas, her cousin in the America to look for a U.S. Navy boyfriend for her just like what her parents wanted.

ALBERT LOOKED AT HIS WRISTWATCH as he waited for his lawyer in front of the Family Court Build-ing in downtown San Diego, California. After a few more minutes, the lawyer walked out, waiving pieces of papers at him.

“Liberation, baby!” he shouted. He handed the pa-pers to Albert and declared: “You’re free!”

Albert was happy. The papers proved that his Mexi-can ex-wife Teresa had mar-ried her boyfriend in Tijuana, Mexico. He, Albert, was no longer obligated to pay her alimony.

TERESA LOOKED LIKE A MOVIE STAR the fi rst time he saw her at a bar in Tijuana three years ago.

“Dito pala sa Mexico, ordinar-iong tao lang, mukhang artista na sa Pilipinas (Here in Mexico, ordinary people can look like a movie star in the Philippines),” commented Jerry, a friend who accompanied him for a good time in the town across the bor-der of San Diego,. The movie stars in the Philippines had mes-tiza looks just like many senori-tas with Spanish blood and little of the indigenous Indian lineage in Tijuana.

“Can I buy you a drink?” Albert asked Teresa as he approached her and her two friends.

He was lucky. Teresa could speak English and they were able to communicate.

She smiled and said “yes”. “Si?” he wanted to humor her.She smiled again. “Si,” she grinned.It was the beginning of their

whirlwind courtship. Albert was so engrossed in winning her over that he did not think of the consequences of marrying a girl

from a different culture. “Wait till they see my girl-

friend now,” he told himself as he imagined showing off the beautiful Hispanic girl to his relatives and friends in their bar-rio (village) in the Philippines.

When he was still among the jobless farm boys in their area with no foreseeable bright future ahead of him, he could hardly get a date among the local girls who wanted college students from the big city as boyfriends. After he had joined the U.S. Navy, he had suddenly become a valuable commodity. Girls who used to ignore him got interested, inviting him to their homes when he was on vaca-tion, and treating him to a feast; their mothers butchering the fattest spring chicken for dinner and their fathers taking out their prized possession of lambanog (native wine) as they questioned him about life in America. But none of the girls interested him anymore. Now that he had a taste of American life, his standards went up. The pretty barrio girls whom he hopelessly pined for before as if they were unreachable stars had become

uninteresting to him. Whereas before they saw through him, it was now the reverse. He now saw through them.

It was too late when Albert realized his mistake. After he had successfully petitioned Teresa and she had obtained her U.S. permanent resident status, she ceased to be an obedient wife. Before, she would prepare his dinner and clean up after him, just like the ideal wife of his dreams. But Albert found out what a piece of green card could do to his marital life. Suddenly, her relatives were staying longer in their apartment. As residents of Tijuana, they had passes that allowed them to come back and forth to the United States. Teresa got a job as a hairstylist and lived an independent life espe-cially when Albert was deployed overseas for six months time.

The clash of two cultures, Fili-pino and Mexican, had taken its toll. He got tired of the enchi-ladas, tacos, burritos and other Mexican dishes she prepared. He longed for the native Filipino dishes he grew up with. Te-resa would not let him cook his favorite adobo and tuyo as they would stink the house. When he brought her to the Philippines, Teresa refused to stay and sleep in their house in the barrio.

“It is hot and there are lizards on the ceiling,” she complained.


Children of Mother Earth Concert in San Diego grosses $19,203. Father Ben Beltran, SVD, (in white shirt) shows the check presented by the Escon-dido Host Lions Club on Wednesday, April 20, 2010. The check represents the donations raised during the Children of Mother Earth Concert at Jasmine Restaurant for the 4-11 Earth Day event in San Diego, CA. Flanking Fr. Beltran is Blessie Trott (left) of Kalmia Printing in Escondido and Gen Silverio (right) of the Asian Journal. Fr.Andre, SVD, looks on.

The check is net of the cost of dinner. The generous and enthusiastic residents of San Diego packed the restaurant to full capacity. Local priest Fr. Cecilio Moraga of St. Elizabeth Seton in Ramona and local parishioners were among the avid supporters along with GK, Mabuhay Alliance and FACE, and other Filipino American organizations. Tony Olaes of Gawad Kalinga and Dr. Chan of Jasmine Restaurant also weighed in to make the event a memorable, well-attended concert. It was the troupe’s most suc-cessful 2010 U.S. concert beating the turnout in Las Vegas, Los Angeles and other West Coast destinations.

The next scheduled presentation of the Children of Mother Earth will be held on Sunday, April 25, 2010 at 4:00 pm at the Corona Civic Theater, 815 W.Sixth Street, Corona, CA 92882. Call Fred Capinpin at 951.667.0552 or email [email protected]. Admission is $15 for adults and $10 for children under 12. To learn more about the Children of Mother Earth, contact Blessie Trott at 1.858.837.2322 or email [email protected].

Children of Mother Earth Concert in San Diego grosses $19,203

The next day, she packed her bags and ordered him to take her to a hotel in the big city.

“May nagawa ba kaming masama sa asawa mo (Did we do something wrong to your wife)?” his mother was worried.

Albert could not give her a satisfactory answer. He was embarrassed before his relatives and friends. But leaving was a better alternative than seeing Teresa throw tantrums during their intended two-week stay. He

did not even get an opportunity to show off his beautiful wife to his friends and the girls who used to look down on him in the barrio.

“Mayroon ho siyang kaibig-ang Pilipina na asawa din ng U.S. Navy sa San Diego na nagbabakasyon sa Maynila. Gusto niyang makita (She has a Filipina friend who is married to a U.S. Navy serviceman in San Diego and is spending her vaca-tion in Manila. Teresa went to

see her),” he explained lamely.He knew that his mother would

not buy it, but like any lov-ing mother, her son’s interests came fi rst. She pretended to understand her daughter-in-law’s disrespectful behavior.

“Kaya pala (I see),” she sadly muttered. - AJ

(To be continued)


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

journalusa.com

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Restorative Dentistry

This is why I didn’t show up for work yesterday. I was cleaning out my wife’s grandpa’s cellar and found 12 bottles of his home-bottled grape wine under the steps. My wife told me to empty the contents of each and every

bottle down the sink, or else. I agreed to do the unpleasant task.

I withdrew the cork form the first bottle and poured the contents down the sink, with the exception of one glass, which I drank. I extracted the cork from the second bottle, did likewise, and drank one glass, just to check the taste to see if the old fellow knew his wine making. He did.

I then opened the third bottle, and poured it, too, down the sink, but not until drinking one full glass to check the purity. It was very good. I did this, also with the fourth bottle. One glass for myself, and the rest down the sink. I pulled the bottle from the cork of the next, and drank one sink out of it and threw the rest down the glass. I pulled the sink out of the next glass and poured the cork from the bottle, then corked the sink with the glass, bottled the drink and drank the pour.

When I had everything emptied, I steadied the house with one hand, counted the bottles, corks, glasses and sinks with the other, which were 29, and as the house came by I counted them again, and finally had all the houses in one bottle, which I drank. I felt so foolish that I couldn’t go upstairs and congratulate my wife to tell her what a great winemaker her grandpa was. I will do that after climb-ing the basement steps the next time they come by.

Office work***

Junior had just received his brand new drivers license. To celebrate, the whole family trooped out to the driveway and climbed into the car for his inaugural drive. Dad im-

mediately headed to the back seat, directly behind the newly minted driver. “I’ll bet you’re back there to get a change of scenery after all those months of sitting in the front passenger seat teaching me how to drive,” said the beaming boy to his old man. “Nope,” came

dad’s reply, “I’m gonna sit back here and kick the back of your seat while you drive, just like you have been doing to me for sixteen years.”

***

Two old ladies have played bridge together for many years, and naturally they have gotten to know each other pretty well. One day, during a game of cards, one lady suddenly looks up at the other and says, “I realize we’ve known each other for many years, but for the life of me, I just can’t bring it to mind... would you please tell me your name again, dear?” There is dead silence for a couple of minutes, then the other lady responds, “How soon do you need to know?”

***

You know there are starv-ing people in those third world countries, and you’re just wasting that food. Then package it up and ship it to ‘em if you’re so concerned you dumb shit!

***

A man went to apply for a job. After filling out all of his applications, he waited anx-iously for the outcome. The employer read all his applica-tions and said, “We have an opening for people like you.” “Oh, great,” he said, “What is it?” “It’s called the door!”

East meets West when the 2010 ABA Friendship Games comes to San Diego April 25. The double-header will feature the Philippine Na-tional Basketball Team, Smart Gilas, playing the San Diego Surf professional team of the American Basketball Associa-tion and the Philippine Na-tional Youth Team playing the San Diego Ballers, an all-star under 17 AAU boys team.

20110 ABA Friendship games double-header hits San Diego April 25

--Tickets on Sale for Philippine National Basketball Team verses San Diego Surf --

The American Basketball Association Friendship Games marks the entry of the Philippine National team, Smart Gilas, to the ABA league; they are the second international team to enter the league.

A limited number of tickets to the San Diego international face-off game are available and can be purchased in ad-vance at SDSurfHoops.com.

These Friendship Games, presented for the first time in the U.S., will begin in San Diego and continue with four more double-header events with ABA and AAU teams playing the Philippine teams in Los Angeles and Riverside through April 30.

Smart Gilas, 2012 Olym-pics bound, comes with a towering roster including three 6-foot-11 and two 7-foot players. The San Diego Surf recently returned from Chengdu China, having played an equally tall lineup with two starting seven-footers on the Beijing Aoshen Olympian Team.

The Surf will field two 7-foot-2 players among its team of veteran pro players.

Point guard, Willie Hall, the team’s assist leader, finished last season with the Surf after playing in Europe on the Romanian team. Guards 6-foot-5 John Clark and 6-foot-4 Terry Menefee were recently named to the 2010 ABA All-Star Team and given an Honorable Mention respec-tively. The team’s two vet-eran 6-foot-7 forwards, Aaron Hands and Greg Clark, have

played several years in the ABA including an outstand-ing past season with the Surf. Terry Mason, with 33 years coaching experience, includ-ing three years in the pros, heads the Surf.

The San Diego Ballers will play the Philippine Na-tional Youth Team in the first game of the double-header. Coached by Glenn Espanto and assistant Earl Camatcho, the team comes to the court with 6-foot-1 junior guard Alex Perez as the third lead-ing scorer nationwide in pre-season play this past year. Also in the play will be D.J. Hicks, a 6-foot-3 senior for-ward, who averaged 13 points and 10 rebounds in pre-season play and Darreon Tolliver, a 6-foot-6 senior, who averaged 7 points and 13 rebounds in the San Diego County East-ern League and was also an all-star player at the Seniors

Game.Both games will be played

at the HourGlass Arena at Miramar College, starting at 5:15 p.m. with the pro teams taking the court at 7:30. For

more information or to pur-chase tickets, visit SDSurf-Hoops.com. To register for mobile updates from San Diego Surf, text, SDSurf to 53137.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C., April 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On this 40th anniversary of Earth Day, the call to action is aimed at indi-viduals, not just government. That’s the view of Dedee DeLongpre Johnston, director of sustainability at Wake For-est University, who is issuing a call to action for Earth Day 2010.

“On the first Earth Day in 1970, the focus was on grass-roots political action to bring attention to the environment and the degradation of earth’s systems. Now, our focus is on the broader concept of sus-tainability and the im-me-diate actions that are neces-sary in order to pre-serve our qual-ity of life,” DeLongpre Johnston said. “It’s a way of look-ing at what’s going on in the world and acknowledging that most humans are acting in a way that’s not in our own best interest.”

While the environmental movement recognizes that nature itself has intrinsic rights and humans should act as good stewards of nature’s bounty, sustainability also takes human needs into ac-count and recognizes that our economic prosperity and way of life are at stake. “It’s not about the environmental movement versus sustainabili-ty,” said DeLongpre Johnston. “Sustainability can be seen as an evolved way of think-ing about the environmental

Earth Day Is a Call to Action for Humankind

movement and an acknowl-edgment that human beings can’t prosper without healthy and intact natural systems.”

In keeping with the focus on sustainability for Earth Day, DeLongpre Johnston is challenging people of all ages to make April 22 a Day of Action by adopting at least one of 10 lifestyle changes with the greatest potential for impact.

10 Actions to Radically Reduce Your Carbon Foot-print

1. Walk, bike, or carpool - Forty percent of

all trips are two miles or less;

90 percent of those

trips are taken

by car. If one out of 10 people switched to an alter-native form of

transporta-tion, CO2 emis-

sions would drop by 25.4 million tons per year.

2. Get an energy audit - Slightly more than 20 percent of all energy is consumed in homes. A home energy au-dit is the first step to assess how much energy your home consumes and to evaluate what measures you can take to make your home more energy efficient.

3. Weatherize your home or office - For every $1 spent on weatherization, $1.80 is saved over time. Weatheriza-tion can reduce energy bills by 32 percent, and weather-ized households save an aver-age of $218 per year on their energy bills.

4. Buy energy efficient appliances - It’s a good idea to replace older, inefficient ap-pliances with energy efficient ENERGY STAR(r) qualified



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

journalusa.com

858

Now Hiring Drivers

LA JOLLA, Calif. (MMD Newswire) April 20, 2010 -- In Pursuit of Longitude: Magellan and the Antimerid-ian by André Rossfelder aims to prove that Magellan’s true story is significantly different than the one usually thought of or told and even more cap-tivating.

“Ferdinand Magellan is widely known and studied, yet his image can be misleading,” says Rossfelder. “Magellan was not the first circumnavi-gator. In fact, neither his mis-sion nor even his intent was to sail around the world.”

In In Pursuit of Longitude, author Rossfelder reminds readers that Magellan’s strict instructions were only to lay a Spanish claim to the fabled Spice Islands, or the Moluc-cas, in Indonesia.

Charles of Spain had endorsed his proposal to find the southern strait rumored to exist through the New World and to cross the unex-plored face of the earth and confirm that these treasure islands were on Spain’s side of the Antimeridian, the line separating the Portuguese and Spanish domains. Accord-ing to Rossfelder, this meant Magellan and his crew had to ascertain their position within two degrees of longitude by sole means of dead reckoning after sailing across some 200 meridians of uncharted waters - an extraordinary feat. Ma-

New book reveals real story of Ferdinand Magellan’s

famed voyage

gellan’s credibility was sup-ported by years of experience as a Portuguese knight who fought in India and South-east Asia, but while posses-sion was the king’s goal, the navigator harbored his own aims to search for and claim governorship of the gold-rich Luçoes, now the Philippines. “Success within reach, he died in a vain combat; his true vic-tory lay elsewhere,” explains Rossfelder.

With the fifth centennial of Magellan’s voyage rapidly ap-proaching, Rossfelder intends to dispel several widely ac-cepted ideas about Magellan’s voyage and validates new, im-portant facts. Rossfelder also employs survivors’ accounts of the Pacific crossing, an in-depth analysis of the course as logged by Magellan’s pilot

Francisco Albo, an extensive bibliography and an index to complete the book. “At the heart of this book is the study of genius and how one man navigated with amazing con-fidence and precision to the far side of the world through storms, intrigues and mutinies and forever changed maritime history,” Rossfelder says.

In Pursuit of Longitude: Magellan and the Antimerid-ian is available for sale online at Amazon.com and other

channels.

About the Author

André Rossfelder, an award-winning writer and marine geologist, served in the French Resistance and was a paratrooper cadet in World War II. He was awarded the French Mili-tary Medal and the War Cross. He earned a Master of Science and a doctorate in geology and has ex-plored North Africa and the Mediterranean. After emi-grating from France to the United States, he pursued marine research for thirty

years, first on the deep ocean and then in the subtropical Pacific where he conducted mineral exploration surveys of more than sixty atolls and islands. He is a fellow of the Explorers Club and a member emeritus of the Marine Tech-nology Society. In addition to a number of scientific and technical papers and several patents, he has published in French four novels, an essay, a geological treatise, and a volume of recollections. The Academy Goncourt awarded him one of France’s most prestigious literary prizes in the historical novel category. Now retired, he resides with his wife in La Jolla. In Pursuit of Longitude: Magellan and the Antimeridian is his first book in English.

Project Concern International’s California Border Healthy Start

celebrates successful H1N1 outreachcommunity members.

Starting in December 2009, the ambassadors went door to door, at times with their children and spouses in tow, to raise aware-ness about the H1N1 virus. CBHS is part of a statewide initiative to promote H1N1 pre-paredness among households.

Ambassador Maria Angelica, who conducted the highest number of H1N1 learning ses-sions and is a mother of three, admitted that outreaching was a difficult task. “At first it was hard,” she said, “but people became interested and had a lot of questions.”

Over 500 individuals, the ma-jority of whom were non-native speakers of English, participated the H1N1 Preparedness project. Half of the participating house-holds were vaccinated, and half of those were vaccinated after visits from ambassadors.

CBHS targeted underserved areas with the poorest birth outcomes and highest levels of poverty in San Diego County and focused their efforts on preg-nant women. The H1N1 virus is particularly harmful to pregnant women, because infection leads to health complications and even death.

CBHS worked with the Coun-cil of Community Clinics to increase the access to health care among their target demographic. Joe Rocha, a Council of Com-munity Clinics representative in charge of Emergency Pre-paredness, attended Saturday’s celebration.

For him, the initiative struck a personal note. Saddened after seeing people gathered around the Super Dome in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Rocha recognized the importance of emergency education.

“My major objective is to cre-ate low cost ways for people to be prepared,” he said. He has helped develop and distribute emergency preparedness book-lets in San Diego households.


CBHS Project Director Dr. Maria Lourdes Reyes addresses the crowd.

In order to effectively outreach in the community, the ambassa-dors completed various train-ing sessions and endured some closed doors once they got out in the community. But as the trust began to build, so did the results.

Surveys showed that H1N1 knowledge, prevention, and vac-cinations grew sharply among project participants said Dr. Reyes.

As for the ambassadors, there

was a positive change as well. “I hope that deep down inside, you know that you made a differ-ence… because you empowered you community,” said H1N1 co-ordinator Connie La Fuente, who helped train the ambassadors. “Your education never stops.”

It was clear that many of the attendees felt empowered. Adriana Ramirez joined CBHS in 2008 and was the first doula to assist in the birth with the pro-gram. After earning her certifi-cate as a Promotora with CBHS, she started a catering business.

“It is very important that the program continue so that we can reinforce the knowledge in the community,” she said. She also catered the event of over 40 at-tendees.

In March, Dr. Reyes and a handful of ambassadors present-ed the outcomes of the project to

funders and government repre-sentatives in Washington D.C.

Despite gaining tremendous ground through the project, many feel that their work is not done, especially because H1N1 remains a community health threat. “When I heard on TV that one woman died from H1N1, [it] made me feel sad,” said doula Rosalia Palomarez, “We still have work to do. I now have the voice to come and tell people about H1N1.”

The CBHS project of Proj-ect Concern International was one of only two 4-year border awards made in 2007 by the U.S. Department of Health and Hu-man Services, Health Resources

and Services Administration Ma-ternal and Child Health Bureau. Now, PCI is leading a consor-tium of more than 80 agencies that are transforming the deliv-ery of perinatal health care in underserved populations of San Diego County with substantially less access to quality health care than the rest of the county.

Project Concern International (www.ProjectConcern.org) is a San Diego-based health and humanitarian organization dedi-cated to building healthy com-munities by preventing disease, improving community health, and promoting sustainable de-velopment. With over 47 years of experience, Project Concern International reached more than 4.5 million people in 2008 through life-saving programs in Asia, Africa, and the Americas.


Community News

Reach the lucrative Asian Pacifi c Islander Market by advertising

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

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

Ni Romeo Nicolas

Mga Tulang Tagalog

Dito Lang Sa PilipinasKung natatandaan ninyo, “massacre” sa Maguindanao,Na ang nasasangkot ay ang mga Ampatuan.Bukod sila ay VIP at manok ng MALAKANYANG,KUYOG silang ISANG DUGO, mahirap na MAIBUWAL.

May BASBAS din si Pangulo kaya SUNGAY AY HUM-ABA,

Sinuwag ang KASAYSAYANG, unang-una sa ‘ting bansa.Abogado na tataban, nagsiurong na SUMUBA,Laking takot na MASALANG ang pamilya’y MAPASAMA.

Ngunit mayrong lumilitaw, abogadong MATATAPANG,Sinisikap maabswelto itong LINTIK NA KRIMINAL.Ang KASO ay lumuluwag habang ito’y nagtatagal, Ganyan dito sa bayan ko, sa bayan mo, sa ‘ting bayan.

Masdan ninyo an larawan nitong mga Ampatuan,Masasaya, nakangiti na hindi maintindihan.‘Di ba sila natatakot sa ginawa na “HEINOUS CRIME”?O, sadya na walang puso, NASANAY LANG SA PAGPA-

TAY.

Ito nga ang aking kutob sa simula nitong kaso,“Easy” ising paglilitis ng MAKUPAD NA HUSGADO.At ang laging hinahanap, PUWANG upang masiguro,LUTONG MACAO na husgahan, itong kaso, ipanalo.

Ang kaso ng mga BUWITRE sa sarili nating bansa,Ay batay sa HIGPIT KAPIT sa kapwa nya MASASAMA.Daig nila yaong LINTA, pag pinaso, nagwawala,TULOY KAPIT pa rin sila, pagkat KUWARTA ay SA-

GANA.

Masdan ninyo at tila ba, dalwang BUWITRE ang lalaya,Katulad ng nasabi ko, sa PINAS lang NAGAGAWA.Mga taglay nilang BASBAS ay totoo, ‘di HIMALA,Ang TANGENGOT na paghusga, kabayan ko, heto na nga.

Bago tuluyan kong iwan itong munting SIMPATIYA,Nais ko na idagdag rin, KAAWAY NG MAGSASAKA.Itong si JocJoc Bolante na ang kaso’y nabinbin pa,Tumatakbong Gobernador, do’n sa Capiz na bayan nya.

Hoy! COMELEC gumising ka, ano itong KABALBALAN?Ang may kaso, pwede pa lang kandidato sa halalan.Kung sabagay, may sundalong nag senador sa KULUNGAN,Bilib ako sa bayan ko, ang MABAHO, hinahalal.

Bilib ako, bilib ako, hindi kayang mapantayan,Nasa atin ng lahat, TALAMAK NA KAPINTASAN.HUGAS KAMAY naman minsan, kaunting linis sa ‘ting

bayan,Baka itong ating BATIK, maging TATO sa isipan. Kapag ito’y naging TATO, magdasal ka aking bayan,Ang pag-asa’y MALABO NA, makaahon sa putikan.Lahat tayong “MADLANG PEOPLE’, LUBALOB sa kahi-

rapan,Ang biyayang hihintayin, naroon sa MAYAYAMAN.

Batikos ni: Romeo S. Nicolas Bocaue Bulacan 4/19/2010

Rooms for RentNo Smoking, No DrugsIn a quiet residential

neighborhood of National City

Call 619.656.0409

Broker Associate, Weichert Realtor Elite (858-829-5452)

by Ligaya Cruz

Real Estate/Mortgage Tips

Are you thinking of purchasing a “fi xer-upper” home but don’t know where to get the money for the repairs? Or maybe you want to renovate your primary residence?

A FHA 203k is a rehabilitation mortgage loan where a borrower can purchase or refi nance a home and ask for addi-tional mon-ies for repairs or reno-vations in one loan - one loan means only one month-ly pay-ment. A potential buyer can purchase a home without coming up with monies after closing to make repairs and improvements. The loan allows fi nancing of homes that need repairs commonly known as a “fi xer upper”. After closing, the renovations begin and once completed this “fi xer” becomes a home of your dream.

The loan also gives potential buyers a great opportunity to purchase a home at an amazing price and create an instant equity once renovations are completed. Existing homeowners may also take advantage of this type of loan in order to renovate or re-pair their primary residence.

Repairs and renovations allowed includes: foundation repairs, roofi ng, interior/exterior paint, fl ooring, remodeling of kitchen/bath, upgrade of central

Renovation Loan – FHA 203k - What is it? “Fixer Upper” home purchase?

heat/air, repair termite or mois-ture damage, energy effi ciency improvements, landscape and many more.

Luxury improvements are not allowed: Installation of pools, hot tub or whirlpool, satel-lite dishes, barbecue pits, tennis court.

The process is simple. The approval is similar to a regular mortgage loan approval where clients are approved based on income, assets, debt and credit. The only added requirement is a contractor’s report delineating the work (repairs, renovation) that needs to be performed and the estimated costs to complete the work. The consultant’s reports are submitted for review to the lender. A rehab account is created for underwriting approv-al. Once underwriter approves the loan, funds are disbursed as work is completed and inspected until the rehab work is com-plete. This is a great way to add property value and revitalize the neighborhood. So if you are thinking of buying a “fi xer” this loan is for you.

As this year’s Philippine Independence Day rapidly approaches, the Aguinaldo Foundation looks forward to celebrating with a series of events beginning with the Phil-ippine Independence Fair in Mira Mesa and celebrating the Fifth Annual Philippines-Ca, USA Beauty Contest, culminat-ing with the awarding of the Emilio Aguinaldo Leadership Award.

The first event will be the Philippine-American Festival to be held on Saturday, June 12, 2010 from 10am to 6pm at the Mira Mesa Recreation Park, 8575 New Salem St. San Diego, CA 92126. It will be a day of fun, fi lled with cultural shows, exhibits, displays, busi-nesses and food booths, for everyone of all ages. It’s a great way to meet neighbors, and to support our local businesses, schools and community groups. Booth rentals are still avail-able for sponsors, advertisers, vendors, businesses and other organizations.

The second event is an ongo-ing competition that is open to all candidates of Filipino descent. The Aguinaldo Foun-dation is currently accepting applications and candidates for the Mrs. Philippines-CA, USA, Miss Philippines-CA, USA, Miss Teen Philippines-CA, USA and Little Miss Phil-ippines-CA, USA. Females between the ages of 3 and 65 years old are encouraged to join. The winners will be

Aguinaldo Foundation Celebrates Filipino HeritageNew Members are Welcome and Encouraged to Participate.

Now accepting applications for Offi cer’s Open Positions.

crowned at the Coronation Din-ner and Dance at the San Diego Westin Hotel.

The third event will be the An-nual Philippine Independence Grand Ball and the presentation of the Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo Leadership Award. During this night, we are proud to recognize individuals of any race who has gone above and beyond in sup-porting the Filipino community. This night is meant to celebrate the Philippines independence from Spain and to appreciate those who have continuously served and assisted the Filipino community here in the United States. Nominations are open to all individuals who have been actively supporting the Filipino community.

With these events and other activities, the Aguinaldo Foun-dation, a non-profi t organiza-tion, and its members hopes to raise funds towards building a Philippines historical, cultural Performing Arts Center & Mu-seum in San Diego. New mem-bers and affi liates are always welcome. For more informa-tion regarding the foundation and the events, please contact Celeste Jacob at 858-531-0750, Zeny Ravelo at 858-484-2277 or send an e-mail to the [email protected].

If you’d like more informa-tion about this topic, or to schedule an interview with Celeste Jacob, please call 858-531-0750 or e-mail Celeste at [email protected]

ARE YOUR MORTGAGE PAYMENTS TOO HIGH? Foreclosure is not your only opti on

FORECLOSURE NIGHTMARES? A short sale may end your sleepless nights.

Call me today. I’ll be happy to explain all your opti ons so you can make an informed decision about what is right for you and your family.

Ligaya Cruz,

Broker Associate/Realtor

DRE#01486032

Weichert Realtor Elite

E-mail: ligaya.cruz@yahoo.

com

Cell: 858-829-5452



14897 Pomerado Road Poway, CA 92064(Right next to The Original Pancake House

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FOR SALEHouse & lot

250 sqm 5 BR + 2 apartment unitsProject 6, Quezon City

$180,000.00Condo Unit + parking 2 BR

$120,000.00Call:

Sol Sanchez (619) 764-0768 Vic Sanchez (619) 737-6840

Los Angeles, CA – On March 18th, 2010, the Cali-fornia Office of the Patient Advocate hosted a media roundtable exclusively for Asian American reporters at the Asian Pacific American Legal Center in Los Angeles. At the event, representatives from Office of the Patient Advocate, The Pacific Busi-ness Group on Health and the Asian Pacific American Legal Center provided reporters with an overview of how well California’s largest HMO’s and medical groups met national standards, language assistance and patient rights. The Office of the Patient Advocate also unveiled the Asian language versions of the 2010 Health Care Quality Report Card and a new Chi-nese language online tool that will help consumers compare health plans.

The 2010 Health Care Re-port Card showed six out of the nine largest HMOs im-proved in their patient satis-faction ratings. At the same time, California continues to lag on some critical indica-tors of good care. The Report Card rates the nine largest commercial HMOs in the state which cover nearly half of all Californians.

“I am encouraged to see that more health plan members are satisfied with the services from their health plans than last year,” said Office of the Patient Advocate Director Sandra Perez. “It’s critical that Californians have the information and tools avail-able to receive the best value for their health dollars. This information is also helpful to the health plans in their efforts to improve the services and

New Ratings on HMO and Medical Groups Released

by State of California Show Increase in Patient SatisfactionOfficials unveil first-of-its-kind online tool to com-

pare health plans

programs that they offer.”Specific findings in the 2010

Edition of the Health Care Quality Report Card include:

•For the first time, some health plans received four-out-of-four stars for patient

satisfaction. Kaiser Per-manente Southern Califor-nia, PacifiCare and Western Health Advantage all received four-star ratings from their members.

• Kaiser Permanente South-ern California is the first HMO health plan to receive four stars in both meeting national standards of care and member satisfaction.

• Three HMOs – Aetna Health of California, Anthem Blue Cross and Cigna HMO – showed improvements in both meeting national standards of care and member ratings.

• The ratings of the other three HMOs – Blue Shield of California HMO, Health Net of California and Kaiser Per-manente Northern California – remained the same.

“This year’s Report Card shows some overall improve-ment in clinical care, but also highlights specific areas where health plans need to provide better care,” said Per-ez. “For the 18 million Cali-fornian’s who rely on HMOs for their health care, knowing how their health plan rates on various indicators will help them make better health care decisions.”

Areas needing improvement in the screening and/or treat-ment of certain health condi-tions include:

• Colorectal cancer screen-ing rate has seen strong improvement in the past five years, but the absolute rate is still 57 percent.

• Chlamydia screening has also seen significant increases over the past five years, but the average rate is still only 40-50 percent.

• Almost 50 percent of com-mercially-insured children continue to wrongly receive antibiotic drugs for condi-tions such as sore throats, for which these medications don’t work.

• About 60 percent of patients needing continuous mental health services receive that follow-up care.

Other areas where clinical data measures show improve-ments:

• Screening tests (blood sugar) for patients with diabetes have shown steady Improvement over the past decade and now average about 90 percent.

• Cholesterol screening rates of patients with cardio-vascular disease have also steadily increased and now average about 90 percent.

To help make it easier for Californians to choose a health plan and maximize the care they receive, the Of-fice of the Patient Advocate introduced an innovative new feature on its Web site, opa.ca.gov, which allows con-sumers to compare health plans based on the services they offer and how they rate in key areas. The new on-line ‘Compare Health Plans’ feature, which is currently available in Chinese, allows consumers to compare the health services and programs that plans provide in four categories of programs or services that help health plan members: 1) get fit and stay well; 2) take care of a health problem (addressing 15 dif-ferent health conditions); 3) use a personal health record; and 4) learn rules to see doc-tors. This new tool provides Californians even greater information when choosing the best health plan for them-selves and their families.

In addition to the annual Report Card, the Office of the Patient Advocate offers other resources to guide consumers to better health care. These include health worksheets

on making the most of doctor visits, choosing a doctor , a Guide on “How to Use Your Health Plan”, information on patient’s rights, and instruc-tions for reporting problems or complaints with your health insurance plan or the Help Center. All of these resources can be found on the Office of the Patient Advocate Web site, opa.ca.gov.

The Office of the Patient Advocate is an independent office in state government that informs Californians about their rights and responsibilities as health plan members and teaches them how to get the most out of their health care. For more information about the Health Care Quality Re-port Card or to see the detailed ratings, visit opa.ca.gov. Cop-ies of the Report Card can also be obtained by calling 1(888) 466-2219.

First of two Sessions Features “Bone” by Fae Myenne Ng

SAN DIEGO – The San Diego Public Library is proud to announce an Asian Pacific American Heritage Month book discussion series. This inaugural year, the focus will be placed on Fae Myenne Ng’s novel, Bone, and Lê Thi Diem Thúy’s The Gangster We Are all Looking For. Dr. Lisa Lowe, an Asian American literature professor at UCSD, will facilitate the discus-sions, which take place at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, May 3 and Monday, May 24 respectively, in the Wangenheim Room of the Central Library, located at 820 E Street in downtown San Diego.

Bone is a profoundly moving and critically acclaimed novel in which Fae Myenne Ng takes readers into the hidden heart of San Francisco’s Chinatown, to a world of family secrets, hidden shames, and the lost bones of a “paper father.” The author’s portrait of the Leong family’s ev-eryday heroism has made Bone an immediate classic of contem-porary American life.

The Asian American Book Discussion is the second install-

SAN DIEGO, CA – San Diego will be experiencing a cultural festival in recognition of Asian Heritage Month at the upcoming Asian Cultural Festival of San Diego, tak-ing place on Saturday, May 8, 2010 at the NTC Park at Liberty Station in Point Loma. Sponsored by Barona Resort & Casino, this festival will unite the communities of San Diego in celebration of the diversity of Asian and Pacific Islander cultures, ethnicities, and peoples in San Diego!

The festival will have a main stage of entertainment with a variety of talent, and two other performance ar-eas focusing on martial arts, cultural dances, and cooking demos! There will be country exhibits, with fun educational facts and cultural displays showing the beauty of these cultures. As San Diego’s lead-ing casino resort destination, Barona Resort & Casino is

San Diego to celebrate Asian Heritage Month at Asian Cultural Festival

Cultural Performances, Cooking Demos and More Set for May 8 Festival

proud to be the title sponsor of this year’s festival. Barona has a long history and tradition of supporting civic and commu-nity events.

In addition to the entertain-ment and culture, this festival will have three important workshops meant to serve the community. The three free workshops will focus on 1)foreclosure prevention, 2) computer literacy for the el-derly, and 3) an arts and music mentorship program for the

Central Library Hosts Asian American Book

Discussion Seriesment of the Library’s American Book Discussion Series, al-lowing a brief exploration of literary works that demonstrate our shared experiences; the importance of such works is evident. Look for a continuation of the series, which also includes literature about and by Ameri-can Indians, Latino and African Americans, women and, still, others who have created this history of America, throughout the year.

Read the books and take advantage of this unique op-portunity to read and discuss the works with a scholar. Library card holders may pick up cop-ies of the book at the first floor reference desk of the Central Library or place “holds” on the titles at any of our facilities or online with their library ac-count and PIN to have them sent to a San Diego Public Library branch.

Learn about other events at the San Diego Public Library’s Central Library and 35 branches, find links to numerous additional resources, or search for materials in the Library’s catalog online at www.sandiegolibrary.org.

youth as conducted by 4C The Power.

Presented by the Mabuhay Alliance, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, this will be one of the major events during Asian Heritage Month. The Mabuhay Alliance is a re-source and service provider to underserved communities for home ownership retention and small business growth and development.

Please contact us at [email protected] or visit www.asianculturalfestivalsd.com for more information or to get involved with the Asian Cultural Festival of San Diego.

For information about Ba-rona Resort & Casino, visit www.barona.com, or call toll free 888-7-BARONA (722-7662).


Halalan na namanHalalan na namansa Pilipinas kong mahal, Maraming masasayamayroon ding nalulumbayBakit sa ganitong labananwalang magulang, kaibigan o kapatid manPagkatapos ng halalanmayroon pa ring tampuhan.

Mga kandidatong sa gastusa'ywalang humpayBigay dito lagay duonkahit saan mapunta,Mga botante nama'y masasayakapag nabibigyanHanggang sa malimutankinabukasan ng bayan.

Pagdating ng bilanganmayayama'y laging lamangPagkat maraming batang nauutusan,Walang kwenta kung makapataybasta husto ang bayaranBatas walang anoman pagkatlaging panalo ang mayayaman.

Sa mga nanalo kapag naluklok naPangakong binitiwan ay limot na.Parang bulang naglaho sa hangin napuntaPagkat sarili at pamilya siyang inuuna.

Ating tandaan at itanim sa isipanAng pagboto'y sandata ng mga mamamayan.Dito' pantay pantay lahat ng may karapatanBoto' isa lang mayaman o dukhamay pinag-aralan o wala.

Di man dapat mabanggitsakit ng bayang mahalDapat ipagunita sa ating mga kababayan,Uugit ng pamahalaan piliin sng tunayPagkat sa kanila nakasalalaykinabukasan ng bayan.

Hanggat nalalapit halalang nabanggitPag-isipang mabuti at itanong sa sarile,Sino ang dapat mamuno at siyang manungkulan Sa bayan naligmak sa dusa't pighati Kapag ito'y nangyari sa tunay na buhayHindi sa pangarap di rin sa hinagap,Sa mga kabataang pag-asa ng bayanAting maiiwan ligaya habang buhay.

Pete G. CortezSan Diego, California

The author finished his Political Science at the University of Santo Tomas. Transferred to the Lyceum of the Philippines for his Law Degree but decided to stop when he got married. He was always the Class President during his High School days.

He was elected Barangay Council Member in Sta. Rosa, Laguna where he moved after getting married. He was appointed Barangay Chairman when the Chairman died. He moved to Apalit, Pampanga where he was Municipal Secretary until he was appointed President of the Pampanga Municipal Secretary league.

Read Pete Cortezs’s previous poems by visiting our website at www.asianjournalusa.com

Ni Pete Cortez

Tulang napapanahon

Rooms for RentNo Smoking, No DrugsIn a quiet residential

neighborhood of National City

Call 619.656.0409

specialists who provide medi-cal and surgical services at the Center. Aside from their AEC practice, these doctors also teach at the University of the Philippines, Ateneo and other residency programs.

Established in 1995 at the old Medical City in Pasig, the AEC moved to Shangri-la Plaza in Mandaluyong in 2000 where it grew from a LASIK-refractive facility to a fully operational stand-alone diagnostic, therapeutic and ambulatory surgical center ca-pable of performing cataract, glaucoma, retina, muscle, corneal transplant and oculo-plastic surgeries.

The Center also has a long-time partner in SPEX, a modern optical shop that is owned and managed by the father-and-son tandem of Dr. Gil Divinagracia and Dr. Timothy John Divinagracia. SPEX offers a wide range of lenses and spectacles, includ-ing top-of-the-line signature brands.

With SPEX as its partner, the AEC is truly a one-stop shop for world-class eye care services.

And during this summer season, eye doctors reminded the public on taking extra care of their eyes.

Ophthalmologists said

Philippines becoming “Eye

Care” center of Asia

eyes were the soul of a per-son’s body. “It’s also the best part of a woman’s body. And it’s also the “focal point” when you want to know the truth,” they said.

Here are practical eye care tips from the opthalmologists:

Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables. Fruits and veg-etables are rich sources of nutrients such as beta carotene needed by the eyes.

Take plenty of vitamins. Vitamins and supplements help ensure that our eyes get the proper dose of the nutri-ents they require to function properly. Have adequate rest. Well-rested, unstrained eyes work more efficiently.

Exercise regularly. Work-ing out improves blood circulation. This is also the

only time your eyes are sure to receive enough oxygen.

Drink at least eight glasses of water a day. Drinking lots of water flushes out waste from the body that can help avoid puffiness in the eyes.

Don’t rub the eyes. Do not rub and blink instead or flush with water when dust gets in your eyes. Rubbing your eyes can irritate them, leaving them red and stinging.

Wear sunglasses. Sunglasses aren’t only created to make you look cool. Wearing sunglasses actually protect your eyes from sunrays which can cause heavy damage to the eyes.

Visit your eye doctor at least once a year. When going for a visit, you don’t only get checked if you still have a 20/20 vision.

The eye doctor also examines you for other eye problems and also makes an assessment of what you need to keep your eyes in good condition. (From Good news Philip-pines)

(619) 702-3051

Yesterday, California Pub-lic Employee Retirement Ser-vice (CalPERS), the nation’s largest pension fund, adopted a policy to ban investments in real estate deals that are pre-mised on displacing tenants. According to the new policy, “CalPERS will not participate in private real estate invest-ment strategies that rely on or result in eliminating rent-reg-ulated housing units, convert-ing such units to market rate units, or raising rents above regulated levels as determined by the appropriate governing authority.” The CalPERS’ board overwhelmingly ap-proved the policy, with only one board member voting in opposition.

“This is a major milestone in our campaign to stop in-vestments in predatory real es-tate schemes that displace ten-ants from their homes,” stated Dean Preston, Executive Director of Tenants Together, California’s statewide organi-zation for renters’ rights.

Tenants Together, in con-junction with the East Palo Alto Fair Rent Coalition, has been leading a campaign to stop CalPERS from invest-ing in “predatory equity” deals that seek to generate short-term profit through the displacement of tenants. Predatory equity is a particu-larly nasty form of real estate investment in which investors pay more for rent-regulated housing than can be justified by the actual rental income at the time of purchase, as part of a plan to force rent-regulat-ed tenants out of their homes and replace them with higher-rent tenants or purchasers. It is a business model premised on the displacement of ten-ants.

Since 2008, Tenants To-gether has urged CalPERS to adopt “predator-free” investment criteria. Tenants Together launched its cam-paign to stop pension funds from investing in predatory equity deals after learning that CalPERS had invested $100 million in a scheme led to generate short term profits in the City of East Palo Alto by driving out tenants liv-ing in rent controlled hous-ing. Organizers soon learned of huge investments ($500 million from CalPERS) in a similar scheme in New York City. These schemes displaced thousands of tenants and did great damage to CalPERS’ reputation as a socially re-sponsible investor. Tenants Together has been publicly critical the pension fund’s in-volvement in these evictions.

The predatory equity schemes not only harmed tenants, but also proved to be bad investments on purely economic terms. CalPERS lost every dollar invested in these speculative deals, including $100 million in East Palo Alto and $500 million in New York City. In repeated letters to CalPERS and in testimony before the CalPERS board, tenant advocates had predicted the collapse of these investments.

In February 2010, Assem-blymember Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) introduced AB 2337, the Socially Re-sponsible Investment Act, to ban predatory equity invest-ments by the state’s public employee pension funds. Preston praised Ammiano’s leadership on the issue: “As-semblymember Ammiano deserves enormous credit for championing this bill to ensure that public employee pension funds stop invest-

CALPERS bans real estate investments that

displace tenants Major Milestone In Campaign to Cut Off Funding

to “Predatory Equity” Schemes

ing in predatory schemes that displace renters.” Tenants Together is co-sponsoring the legislation, along with the Fair Rent Coalition. The bill will be heard in the Assembly PERS committee on April 21, 2010.

“CalPERS’ investment partner evicted me and my neighbors for no good rea-son,” said Christopher Lund, Communications Director for the Fair Rent Coalition. “It’s shameful that public employ-ees are having their retirement funds used to throw residents of East Palo Alto out of our homes. I’m very pleased that CalPERS is taking this step to prevent these investments in the future.”



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Request for Proposals (RFP)Enterprise Reporting Solution Development, Delivery and Installation

The Automated Regional Justice Information System (ARJIS), a joint powers agency administered by the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG), is soliciting proposals from qualified firms for the development, delivery and installation of an enterprise criminal justice reporting solution for its ARJIS Enterprise, a re-gional information-sharing system utilized by over eighty local, state and federal law enforcement agencies.

A non-mandatory pre-proposal meeting will be held on Thursday, May 6, 2010, from 10 AM to 12 PM in SANDAG’s Board Room at 401 B Street, Suite 800, San Diego, CA 92101.

Proposals are due by 12 PM, June 15, 2010.

A copy of the RFP can be accessed from the SANDAG Web site at: www.sandag.orgor by contacting Paul Anderson at [email protected] or (619) 595-5639.

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Notice of Preparation – Programmatic Environmental Impact Report for the 2050 Regional Transportation Plan

The San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) will be the Lead Agency and will prepare a Program-matic Environmental Impact Report (EIR) in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) for the 2050 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP).

SANDAG needs to know your views or the views of your agency as to the scope and content of the environmen-tal information that will be addressed in the EIR. Due to the time limits mandated by state law, your response must be sent at the earliest possible date, but no later than 30 days after the date of this notice. Written and oral comments also will be taken at the public scoping meetings listed below. The RTP establishes regional transpor-tation policy for the San Diego region and addresses all forms, or modes, of transportation. The RTP identifies the facilities and programs that will be needed to meet travel demand through the year 2050.

A series of public scoping meetings have been scheduled throughout the region. All workshops will be held from 4 p.m. to 7 p m. on the following dates:

April 26 - Escondido City Hall Mitchell Room, 201 N. Broadway, Escondido, CA 92025April 27 - Loma Verde Recreation Center, 1420 Loma Lane, Chula Vista, CA 91911April 28 - Tri-City Medical Center Wellness Center, 6250 El Camino Real, Carlsbad, CA 92009May 3 Bayside Community Center, 2202 Comstock Street, San Diego, CA 92111May 6 - Ronald Reagan Community Center, 195 East Douglas Avenue, El Cajon, CA 92020

Please send your comments to Rob Rundle, SANDAG, 401 B Street, Suite 800, San Diego, CA 92101 or via email at [email protected]. A full copy of the Notice of Preparation for the 2050 RTP EIR can be found at www.sandag.org/2050RTPEIR. Please include the name of a contact person.

Date: April 19, 2010

Fi st sian Weekly N wspaper in S uthe n C l or i & Sa Die o’s Mo t W

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Notice of Preparation – Environmental Impact Report for theSouth Bay Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Project

The San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) will be the Lead Agency and will prepare an Environ-mental Impact Report in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) for the South Bay Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Project.

SANDAG would like to know your views or the views of your agency as to the scope and content of the en-vironmental information that will be addressed in the EIR. Due to the time limits mandated by state law, your response must be sent at the earliest possible date, but no later than 30 days after the date of this notice. Written and oral comments will also be taken at the public scoping meeting listed below. The planned South Bay BRT project is a 21-mile, rapid reliable, high-frequency transit service between the Otay Mesa Port of Entry and downtown San Diego via eastern Chula Vista. The proposed BRT project is projected to be in service in 2014. SANDAG will be soliciting input on alternatives to the proposed routing at a public scoping meeting scheduled at the following time and location:

When: Wednesday, April 28 from 4:00 p m. to 8:00 p.m.

Where: Heritage Elementary School 1450 Santa Lucia Road, Chula Vista, CA 91910

Please send your response to Rob Rundle, SANDAG, 401 B Street, Suite 800, San Diego, CA 92101 or via email at [email protected]. Please include the name of a contact person.

The Notice of Preparation may be reviewed or obtained at SANDAG, 401 B Street, Suite 800, San Diego, CA 92101 A full copy of the Notice of Preparation for the South Bay Bus Rapid Transit EIR can also be found on the SANDAG website at www.sandag.org/SBBRTEIR.

Date: April 20, 2010

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CITY OF SAN DIEGOStorm Water Department

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALFOR

As-Needed Environmental Monitoring Professional Services (H105099)

The City of San Diego (City) is requesting proposals from highly qualified biological services firms for As-Needed Environmental Monitoring Professional Services (H105099).

It is the policy of the City to provide equal opportunity in its biological services professional services contracts. Toward this end, proposals from small businesses, disabled owned businesses, women owned businesses, firms owned by African-Americans, American Indians, Asian-Americans, Filipinos, and Latinos, and local firms are strongly encouraged. Prime consultants are encouraged to subconsult or joint venture with these firms. The City endeavors to do business with firms sharing the City’s commitment to equal opportunity and will not do busi-ness with any firm that discriminates on the basis of race, religion, color, ancestry, age, gender, sexual orienta-tion, disability, medical condition or place of birth. This project has a voluntary Subcontracting Participation Level (SPL) goal of 15%. SPL goals are achieved by contracting with any combination of Minority Business Enterprises (MBE), Women Business Enterprises (WBE), Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBE), Disabled Veteran Business Enterprises (DVBE) or Other Business Enterprises (OBE) at the prime or subcontractor level. Definitions of MBE, WBE, DBE, DVBE and OBE are contained in the Request for Proposals (RFP). Attainment of the SPL goal is strongly encouraged, but strictly voluntary.

The City of San Diego will ensure that full access to programs, services, meetings and activities comply with Section 504, Title V, of the Rehabilitation Act and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) 1990, Public Law 101-336.

In-depth knowledge and a strong understanding of the local environment, and a local presence for interfacing with the City’s project management staff are essential to the successful completion of this project. The proposal must address the consultant’s knowledge and understanding of: the City and other local agencies regulations and policies; local environment; and local building codes and other criteria. The proposal must also address how the consultant plans to interface with the City’s project management staff and the consultant’s workforce in San Diego County.

All proposals submitted must be in full accord with the Request for Proposal (RFP) which can be obtained by requesting the RFP via email from John Mendivil, Consultant Services Coordinator, at:

[email protected] of San Diego, Purchasing & Contracting Department

1200 Third Avenue, Suite 200San Diego, CA 92101.

When requesting the RFP, please refer to the specific project title and number, As-Needed Environmental Monitoring Professional Services (H105099). For questions about RFP procedures please call John Mendivil at (619) 235-5855.

A pre-proposal meeting will be held on Thursday, May 6, 2010, 2:30:00 PM, at Comerica Bank Building, Wada - Large Conference Room 8A, 600 B Street, San Diego, CA 92101. It is strongly recommended that all interested parties attend. For more information, assistance, to request an agenda in alternative format, or to request a sign language or oral interpreter for the meeting, please contact Ruth Kolb, at 858-541-4328 at least five working days prior to the meeting to ensure availability.

Proposals are due no later than 5:00 p m. Friday, May 28, 2010, at the location stated in the RFP. This RFP does not commit the City to award a contract or to defray any costs incurred in the preparation of a proposal pursuant to this RFP. The City reserves the right to accept or reject any or all proposals received as a result of this RFP. The City also reserves the right to revise this RFP, including but not limited to the pre-proposal conference date and the proposal due date. If the City revises the RFP, all RFP holders of record will be notified in writing by the City.

Summary Scope of ServicesThe Storm Water Department is responsible for the development and implementation of rules and regulations that affect urban runoff and storm water discharges into and from the City’s storm drain system. Projects for this Request for Proposals (RFP) are designed to address questions regarding the Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) Permit conditions, Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs), Area of Special Biological Signifi-cance (ASBS), Clean-up & Abatement Orders (CAOs), and other regulatory actions that impact the City’s storm drain system. Tasks range from preparing plans, conducting monitoring, analyzing data, performing modeling, attending meetings, preparing reports, preparing recommendations, and providing presentations. These projects will address a variety of pollutants of concern, such as metals, pesticides, bacteria, PCBs, organics, and others as needed. Matrices that can be included in a project are water, sediment, air, toxicity, bioassessment, and benthic community assessments. The evaluation of these matrices are used to identify sources of pollution, evaluate the trends, determine strategies, and propose solutions to improve water quality in a scientifically-based, cost effective manner. Information from these projects will be used to present the City’s position in regards to the development of regulatory policies, Basin Plan amendments, and other regulatory documents. The remainder of the Scope of Services is contained in the Request for Proposal for As-Needed Environmental Monitoring Professional Services (H105099), as Exhibit A to the Draft Agreement.

appliances. In some cases, in-stant rebates are available for refrigerators, freezers, clothes washers, and dishwashers.

5. Power down and unplug electronics - Many appliances continue to draw a small amount of power when they are switched off. In the av-erage home, 75 percent of the electricity used to power home electronics and appli-ances is consumed while the products are turned off.

6. Buy local -In addition

Earth Day Is a Call to Action for Humankind

(Continued from page 16) to the reduced transportation footprint of local economic activity, buying local has a strong multiplier effect in the economy. A 10 percent change in purchasing from national chain stores to locally owned businesses each year would create 1,300 new jobs and yield nearly $200 million in incremental economic activ-ity.

7. Invest in Durable, Re-usable Products - As one example, the manufacturing of bottles to meet the Ameri-

can demand for bottled water requires more than 1.5 mil-lion barrels of oil each year, enough to fuel 100,000 cars for that year. Each year over 500 billion disposable bags are consumed worldwide (1 million every minute). De-creasing the number of dis-posable products in your life decreases the carbon footprint of manufacturing, transporta-tion, and disposal.

8. Eat local and in season - The average meal travels any-where between 1,200 to 2,500

miles from farm to plate. A basic diet of imported ingre-dients can require up to four times the energy of an equiva-lent locally-sourced diet.

9. Plant an organic garden - Research suggests that the conversion of 10,000 small- to medium-sized farms to organic production practices would store carbon in the soil equivalent to taking 1,174,400 cars off the road. Planting and maintaining a garden recon-nects us with the true value of food.

10. Conserve water - Up to 30 percent of a household energy footprint can come from moving water from its source to the home. A faucet that is dripping just one drip per second will waste about four gallons of water in just one day or 1,400 gallons in a year. The average household could conserve water by 34 percent per year by installing water-efficient fixtures and appliances.


ATTORNEYSAbano Ashley 225 Broadway #2100 San Diego, CA 92101 (619) 702-4444

Alejo Law Office240 Woodlawn Avenue Ste. 14Chula Vista CA 91910 (619) 203-5782

Bautista Law Office 550 East 8th Street, Suite 11 National City, CA 91950 (619) 474-7755

Chua, Tinsay & Vega Law1901 First Avenue, Suite 142San Diego, CA 92101(619) 955-6277

BAKERIESBread Deluxe1420 E. Plaza Blvd., Suite D1National City, CA 91950(619) 474-2624

Lisa’s Dessert & Bakery2720 E. Plaza Blvd.National City, CA 91950(619) 472-8718

CAREGIVERSHorizons Adult Care 1415 e. 8TH ST. # 5 National City, CA 91950 (610) 474-1822

CARGO FORWARDERSA.C.E. Cargo4515 Eagle Rock Blvd., Ste. 133Los Angeles, CA 90041(877) 327-8900

Alas Cargo 3126 East Plaza Blvd. National City, CA 91950 (619) 470-1023

CASINOSGolden Acorn Casino 1800 Golden Accorn Way Campo, CA 91906 (619) 938-6000

Sycuan Casino 5469 Dehesa Rd. El Cajon, CA 92019 (800) 272-4646

DANCE STUDIOTony SalamatBody Arts Center Dance & Mu-sic259 Broadway St.Chula Vista, CA 91910(619) 426-9423

DENTISTS Alfonso, Rossana 2340 E. 8th St., Suite H National City, Ca 91950 (619) 470-2558

Dr. Evelyn Salazar Dentistry1339 3rd AvenueChula Vista, CA 91911(619) 426-2040

Largoza Dentistry 1040 Tierra Del Rey # 207 Chula Vista, CA 91910 (619) 482-1992Lazaga Myrna E. DMD 914 E. 8th Street Ste. 208 National City, CA 91950 (619) 477-0570

Library Plaza Dental Center 13132 Poway Rd. Ste. B

Poway, CA 92064 (858) 486-2925

New Image Dentistry2340 E. 8th St., Suite HNational City, CA 91950(619) 470-2558

Saldana, Ronaldo 665 H St., Ste. E Chula Vista, CA 91910 (619) 422-7252

DRIVING SCHOOLS

Aguilar Driving School 2371 Forest Meadow Court Chula Vista, CA 91915 (619) 482-1488

Perez Gerry 6985 Westleigh Place San Diego, CA92126 (858) 689-8985

FOOD MARTSSeafood City Supermarket1420 E. Plaza Blvd. National City, CA 91950

(619) 477-6080

STAFFING AGENCIESBay Staffing & Home Care Services, Inc.550 E. 8th St.,National City, CA 91950(619) 474-9300

TAX SERVICESGeneral Tax & Financial Services550 E. 8th St. Ste.11National City, CA 91950

Classified Directory(619) 474-77-55

TRAVEL AGENCIESHappy Sun Travel & Tours310 W. Carson St. #202Carson, CA 90745(619) 477-3998

S & S Travel Agency 9128 Danube Lane San Diego, CA 92126

of the removal or deportation proceedings is a qualifying relative for purposes of estab-lishing exceptional and ex-tremely unusual hardship for cancellation of removal under INA section 240A(b). The foreign national fell squarely under the definition of “child” because he was only 15 years old when the stepfather be-came his parent.

In a case pending before the Immigration Court, Jose was charged with fraud both in obtaining his immigrant visa and in entering the United States. What hap-pened was when his mother petitioned for him back in 1980, Jose was single. His mother was a green card holder and never applied for U.S. citizenship. When his visa became available in 1990, he was already married. His petition was automatically revoked when he got married because there is no category for married son or daughter of legal permanent residents. Knowing this, Jose declared that he was single during his interview at the U.S. embassy in Manila, Philippines. When he entered the United States in 1992, Jose presented his visa as “single son of a legal permanent resident”. When Jose applied for citizenship in 1997, the immigration authorities conducted an investigation and found that he committed fraud twice: 1) when he obtained his im-migrant visa by representing himself as single when in fact he was married, and 2) when he entered the United States by presenting his invalid visa. The adjudication officer en-dorsed the case to ICE, which initiated the removal proceed-ings against Jose. At the time of the Master Calendar hear-ing, Jose’s mother has died

but his stepfather was alive. Can Jose use his stepfather as a qualifying relative and ask the court for discretionary waiver under INA 237(a)(1)(H) as relief? I believe “yes”. To be eligible for a waiver under INA section 237(a)(1)(H), a person must first estab-lish that the applicant is the spouse, parent, son, or daugh-ter of a U.S. citizen or LPR. In accord with the above deci-sion of the BIA, the stepfather qualifies as a “parent” under our immigration laws and, therefore, is a qualifying rela-tive under INA section 237(a)(1)(H). Unlike cancellation of removal under 240A(b), 237(a)(1)(H) does not require the foreign national to show exceptional and extremely unusual hardship. However, the foreign national, needs to show that he or she is a person of good moral character and there are favorable factors that outweighed the adverse fac-tors. Family reunification is a key consideration in whether to grant a waiver. Other fa-vorable factors include resi-dent of long duration in this country, particularly if com-menced when the applicant was young; evidence of hard-ship to the alien or his family in the event of removal; evi-dence of stable employment; the existence of property or business ties; evidence of value and service to the com-munity; and other evidence of person’s good moral char-acter. Adverse factors to be considered include the nature and underlying circumstances of the fraud or misrepresenta-tion involved and whether the fraud was a one-time incident or ongoing; the nature of seriousness, and recency of any criminal record; and other evidence of bad character or undesirability.

We welcome your feed-back. If you have any im-migration questions, please feel welcome to email me at [email protected] or call 619 819 -8648 to arrange for a telephone consultation.

Stepparent is a Qualifying Relative in

Deportation Cases(Continued from page 7)


Documents

Asian Journal April 23-30, 2010