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DECEMBER 24-30, 2015

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DATELINEUSADATELINEUSAFROM THE AJPRESS NEWS TEAM ACROSS ASS ASS MERICMERICME ARICARIC

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Fatal crash on Las Vegas Strip leaves dozens injured

by Rby Rby UDY SUDY SUDY ANTOSPhilstar.com

Thousands of OFWs arrive in PH for Christmas

“I WANT to show the world – the universe, rather – that I am confident-ly beautiful, with a heart.”

Those were the words of Miss Phil-ippines Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach, 26, who took home the crown for Miss

Host Steve Harvey mistakenly announces wrong name, creates confusion and controversy

Universe 2015 on live television Sun-day, Dec. 20 at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Ne-vada.

“To be a Miss Universe is both an honor and a responsibility. I will use my voice to influence the youth and to raise awareness to certain causes,

like HIV awareness, that is timely and relevant to my country which is the Philippines,” she said, during the fi-nal question-and-answer portion of the night.

In true beauty pageant fashion, the final crowning did not go without

by ALLYSON ESCOBARAJPress

by ALLYSON ESCOBARAJPress

Hit-and-run suspect was honored for turning her life around

MANILA—The Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminals 1, 2 and 3 are busy coping with the arrival of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), including those from Afghanistan, in time for the traditionally joyous Christmas and New Year celebrations.

Many of the OFWs in Afghanistan were earlier hesitant to come home this season after the Philippine

LAKEISHA Holloway, the 24-year-old woman accused of de-liberately driving onto a packed sidewalk several times through a crowd of pedestrians along the Las Vegas Strip on Sunday, Dec. 20, was publicly honored for turning her life around from homelessness to a government job.

“Boy, have I come a long ways,” Holloway says in a 2012 video by the Portland Opportu-nities Industrialization Center, which helps at-risk youth with

education and career training, according to CNN. “I was a scared little girl who knew that there was more to life outside of crime, drug addiction, lower income, alcoholism, being un-dereducated--all of which I grew up being familiar with.”

Everything changed on the night of Dec. 20, when police reported a fatal incident on Las Vegas Boulevard, steps away from the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino where the 2015 Miss Universe pageant was taking place before a live audience.

Binay regains lead in latest Pulse Asia presidential poll

by ARIES JOSEPH HEGINAInquirer.net

VICE President Jejomar Binay has trumped former presidential prefer-ence poll frontrunners Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and Senator Grace Poe to become the leading can-

didate to succeed President Benigno Aquino III in 2016, the results of the latest Pulse Asia survey revealed.

The survey, which was conducted from December 4 to 11 with 1,800 respondents nationwide, revealed that 33 percent of respondents would vote for Binay.

“If the May 2016 elections were held during the survey period, 33 percent of Filipinos would elect Vice-President Jejomar C. Binay as the country’s next president. Two Two Tcandidates find themselves sharing second place – Davao City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte (23 percent) and Senator Grace S. Poe (21 percent),” Pulse Asia said.

Binay topped the poll among re-spondents in the National Capital Re-gion (30 percent), Balance Luzon (34 percent) and Visayas (34 percent).

Duterte got the votes of Mindanao

Duterte-Marcos is the new ‘AlDuB’

by IZA GABRIELLE IGLESIASManilaTiames.net

LABOR groups and people supportive of OR groups and people supportive of ORthe candidacy of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Saturday, Dec. 19, said they have repack-aged the tandem as “Team AlDuB.”

A take from the phenomenal noontime show love team between Alden Richards and Maine “Yaya Dub” Mendoza, popular-ly known as “AlDub,” the political “AlDuB” refers to Alyansang Duterte-Bongbong.

Bongbong is Marcos’ nickname.Duterte, the feisty mayor whose certifi-

Overseas Employment Ad-ministration (POEA) issued a work or OFW-deployment ban on the country, ac-cording to Manny Geslani, spokesman for the Samah-ang Pilipino in Afghanistan (SPA).

Geslani added that the OFWs had second thoughts because they may not be able to go back to work if the ban continues.

At the terminals, many returning OFWs are seen filling up the arrival and

Clinton, Sanders, O’Malley take stage in �nal 2015 Democratic presidential debate

SIX days before Christmas, the three Democratic presidential candidates faced off in New Hampshire for the final Demo-cratic presidential debate of 2015 and of-cratic presidential debate of 2015 and of-cratic presidential debate of 2015 and offered their opinions on issues such as ter-rorism, gun control, healthcare and foreign policy.

Hosted by ABC, the two-and-a-half hour debate took place Saturday, Dec. 19, in New Hampshire where Vermont Sen. Ber-nie Sanders holds the lead, despite former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s signifi-cant national lead. Former Maryland Gov.

First Filipino to get Pearl Harbor attack news dies in California

C A R S O N , C a l i f . — T h e first Filipino to receive the ca-blegram mes-sage about the Japanese Impe-rial Forces’ at-tack on the USNaval Base on Pearl Harbor on December 7,

FROM THE FRONT PAGE

drama and a surprise ending when show host Steve Harvey, a comedian and talk show person-ality, accidentally announced Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutier-rez Arévalo as the winner, but backtracked a few moments lat-er to proclaim Wurtzbach as the true Miss Universe.

“I have to apologize,” Harvey said on live television, as a tear-ful Miss Colombia smiles and flashes her crown. “The first runner-up is Colombia. Miss Universe 2015 is…Philippines.”

The cameras showed the speechless, stunned face of Wurtzbach, who was standing towards the back with the oth-er top third finalist, Miss USA Olivia Jordan from Oklahoma. Wurtzbach hesitantly came for-ward to be crowned, while Har-vey apologized again and told the Filipina-German actress and model to take her first walk as the new Miss Universe.

“I will take full responsibility for this. It was my mistake. It was on the card,” Harvey im-mediately said, flashing the card onscreen as the show’s credits began to roll. “Horrible mistake, but the right thing. I could show it to you right here. Please don’t hold it against the ladies…it was still a great night.”

Fellow Colombian Paulina Vega, last year’s winner, had no choice but to awkwardly un-crown Arévalo and hand the title over to Miss Philippines, who was dressed in a stunning blue evening gown by Filipino de-signer Albert Andrada.

“I’d like to apologize whole-heartedly to Miss Colombia and Miss Philippines for my huge mistake. I feel terrible,” Harvey tweeted not long after the show. “Secondly, I’d like to apologize to the viewers at that I disap-pointed as well. Again it was an honest mistake. I don’t want to take away from this amazing night and pageant. As well as the wonderful contestants. They were all amazing.”

The public was in a laughable uproar after Harvey’s original tweet – “I want to apologize em-phatically to Miss Philippians and Miss Columbia” – misspell-ing both countries’ names was swiftly deleted.

The official Miss Universe Twitter account also released a statement, calling the incident a direct result of “human error,” and apologized to each contes-tant, their families, and fans.

“The excitement of live TV was evident tonight on The Miss Universe stage with over 10 mil-lion live fan votes tabulated. Un-fortunately, a live telecast means that human error can come into play. We witnessed that tonight when the wrong winner was ini-tially announced.”

“Everything happens for a reason,” said Arevalo in a video message later posted by the Miss Universe account. “I’m happy for all what I did to [reach] this dream.”

At a post-pageant press con-ference, Wurtzbach shared her sentiments about the crowning. “I felt calm when I was called first runner-up, because I felt like it was fate. But when they announced that I was Miss Uni-verse, I had mixed emotions. I was happy because I really wanted to win, but felt sad for Miss Colombia,” she said, ac-cording to Inquirer.

“I was confused,” she told En-tertainment Tonight. “I wasn’t sure what was going on.”

Pia said she even tried to reach out to Miss Colombia af-ter the show, to apologize, but “I couldn’t get near her, as she was surrounded by the Latin Ameri-can contestants. She was cry-ing and then there was a crowd around her, the girls who were comforting her. I was actually very close to her already, but I decided that maybe it was bad timing to do it now--to apologize to her for what happened. So maybe I’ll do that in the future.”

“I won Miss Universe based on the judges’ vote…it’s not as if

I took the crown from her,” she added. “I had to ask [them] many times, ‘Did I really win? Am I re-ally Miss Universe? Are you go-ing to take the crown from me now?’ And they said, ‘No, you’re really the winner.’”

“It’s a very non-traditional crowning moment, isn’t it? Very…2015,” Wurtzbach later said, laughing.

The 26-year-old Wurtzbach was born in Stuttgart, a large city in southwest Germany, and grew up in Cagayan de Oro. She attended secondary school in Quezon City, as well as culinary arts school in Metro Manila, and speaks Tagalog, English, and German.

She appeared in several TV and film roles under Star Magic Talent, going by the stage name Pia Romero. Known for her de-termination and strong person-ality, Wurtzbach has been train-ing for beauty pageants since late 2012. She competed in several competitions including Binibining Pilipinas and Miss Universe-Philippines, winning the title as successor of Mary Jean Lastimosa.

After three tries at the Binib-ining Pilipinas crown, Pia also hoped that her fans worldwide can learn from her story.

“Wow, what an honor it is to represent our country in the most prestigious pageant ever. This may very well be the high-light of my life. Absolutely no regrets,” she said in an earlier Instagram post, the night before the big show.

“Of course most importantly, I hope I inspired you. Never give up on your dreams and be-lieve that dreams do come true! Walang susuko! Ang Pilipino, palaban (No giving up! The Fili-pino is a fighter),” she wrote, ac-cording to Rappler.

The following day after her win, the pageant queen posted a stunning photo with her crown and sash, with the caption: “42 years of drought and now it fi-nally reigns. Mabuhay! Maram-ing salamat po sa inyong lahat!”

When asked by Harvey about US military presence in her home country, Wurtzbach gracefully responded, “I think that the United States and the Philippines has have always had a good relationship with each other. We were colonized by the Americans and we have their culture and our traditions even up to this day, and I think that we’re very welcoming with the Americans. And I don’t see any problem with that at all.”

Filipinos react, Colombia in uproar

On the Internet, the announce-ment was met with mixed reac-tions: shock, anger, excitement, and an abundance of humorous memes.

“Our Miss Philippines didn’t get her shining moment,” a fan said on Facebook. “It feels like she and our country were robbed of the winning moment,

Fatal crash on Las Vegas Strip leaves...The crash left one person dead, identified as 32-year-old Jessica Valenzuela. Dozens (at least 35 people) were reported injured, with multiple persons in critical condition.

“The videos obviously show intention,” said Nevada Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo in a press conference on Dec. 21. Vid-eos from bystanders show Hollo-way driving her 1996 Oldsmobile sedan into the sidewalk, smash-ing into pedestrians, some of whom fought back by jumping onto the car. Holloway drove off from the scene and parked at a nearby hotel, the Tuscany Suites and Casino, before speaking with the valet/a security officer, admit-ting what she had done and tell-ing them to call the police.

A 3-year-old toddler was dis-covered in the back seat, appar-ently Holloway’s daughter. The child was in good condition and is now under the care of child services, Lombardo said.

Metro Police Deputy Chief Brett Zimmerman denied initial reports that suggested the involvement of gunshots. “The preliminary investigation indicates [Hollo-way] jumped the curb just south of Paris Hotel, striking numerous pedestrians, before continuing north on Las Vegas Boulevard. The vehicle hit pedestrians in two separate locations—just before Paris and then in front of Paris,” Zimmerman said.

Holloway will be charged with murder with a deadly weapon (her car) and other charges related to the incident, which occurred at 6:38 pm on Sunday evening, reported USA Today. She also faces charges of leaving the scene of the accident, as well as child abuse or neglect.

Charges could be filed as early as Tuesday [Dec. 22], said Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson. Holloway is being held without bail at Clark County De-tention Center.

In the arrest report, Holloway said she lived in Oregon and had been visiting Las Vegas for about a week, apparently living out of

her car and parking it at garages throughout the city. After her ar-rest, Holloway told police she was in a “stressful period” that day, “where she was trying to rest/sleep inside her vehicle with her daughter, but kept getting run off by security of the properties she stopped at.”

“She ended up on the Strip, ‘a place she did not want to be,’” the report quotes Holloway as say-ing. “She would not explain why she drove onto the sidewalk but remembered a body bounding off her windshield, breaking it.”

“We are treating this as an intentional act,” said Metro Po-lice homicide Lt. Dan McGrath, according to the Las Vegas Sun. Lombardo said Monday that he did not believe the incident was terrorism-related, but the depart-ment is “still working through it. We are not 100% ruling out the possibility of terrorism.”

Investigators said Holloway had run out of money and that she and her daughter had been living in the car. They believed she was headed to Dallas to find her daughter’s father after they had a falling out.

However, a family representa-tive said that Holloway was not homeless, had a job, and came from a loving family. The repre-sentative declined to comment on what could have prompted the incident.

Holloway’s cousin, LaShay Hardaway, described her as “an overachiever” and “a hard-driven young mother” who spent long hours designing clothes and do-ing her best to support her young daughter, reported LA Times. “She’s never been homeless.”

“She was such a great kid while she was a part of our program,” said a youth employment staff member at Portland OIC, the non-profit that honored Holloway just years before.

Antonio Nassar told the Sun he had just walked out of Planet Hollywood when he saw the car roar onto the sidewalk, careening into pedestrians. It also briefly dragged a young boy, he said. “By the time I looked over to the

right, all you could see was [her] driving away, and people were bouncing off the front of the car,” Nassar said.

The sound of the car hitting people was like “watermelons falling on the sidewalk,” he add-ed. “It was chaotic. I was running down the street saying, ‘Move! Move! Get out of the way!’”

Another bystander, Justin Co-chrane, said he and two other people had just sat down for din-ner when the car began speeding onto the sidewalk.

“It was mayhem and it was very intentional,” Cochran told CNN. “People were flying. It was a sound I will never forget. It (the car) wasn’t hitting cars, it was hit-ting people. I’m shaken still.”

Clark County Fire Department spokesman Jeff Buchanan said six victims were transported to Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center and University Medical Center in critical condition. At 11:15 pm, authorities listed those six in stable condition. Victims also were sent to Spring Valley Hospital, according to Metro Police. Four victims were treated and released, including members of Oregon’s Pacific University wrestling team, who were in Las Vegas for a tournament.

The case eerily mirrored a fatal incident from ten years ago, when the driver of a stolen car deliberately plowed into pedestrians on the Strip, killing three people and injuring a dozen others. Stephen Ressa of Rialto, California, pleaded guilty but mentally ill and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

In her video from 2012, Hol-loway said she was homeless in high school and nearly failing all her classes. Through the help of the Portland non-profit program, she graduated with a B+ average, went on to college and started working with the United States Forest Service.

“Today, I am not the same scared girl I used to be,” she says in the video. “I’m a mature young woman who has broken many generational cycle(s) that those before me hadn’t.”

First Filipino to get Pearl Harbor attack news...1941 has died of a lingering ill-ness here, according to a report by Guerrero Coloma of North-boundAsia.com.

Simeon Marcos Dumlao, 93, of Laoag City, died on Decem-ber 9; he was born on March 28, 1922.

Dumlao in 1941 was a 19-year-old radio operator of Mackay Radio and Telegraph Co., with offices at the Trade and Com-merce Bldg. along Juan Luna Street in Binondo, Manila.

Dumlao was on the night shift on December 8 (Philippine time) when he received the cablegram at about 3:00 in the morning, when more than 100 Japanese airplanes bombed the US Navy installations at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii, starting the war with the United States.

In an interview with the North-boundAsia.com reporter early this year, Dumlao recalled that his speaker monitor suddenly became alive with an urgent message.

“I automatically switched on the tape recorder and inserted a half-inch wide white paper on the typewriter on which the encrypted message, in Morse code, was printed and encod-ed,” he said.

The message was addressed to the Associated Press, inform-ing their reporters about the Jap-anese surprise military attack. Dumlao said a series of press re-leases addressed to other press offices in Manila followed.

His fingers froze and became numbed and he could not type out the messages. “So I asked the traffic clerk to massage my

fingers, which he did, to calm me down,” Dumlao said.

The three telegraph compa-nies operating in the Philippines at that time used short wave ra-dio as medium of transmission of cablegrams, telegrams or ra-diograms, to and from interna-tional points.

Mackay Radio merged with Globe Wireless and Press Wire-less to become what is now Globe Telecom, where Dumlao retired in the late 1980s.

Dumlao, a guerrilla officer in Ilocos Norte during World War II, died at the Harbor UCLA Medical Center. He is survived by his brother Tony, his wife, Ana Julian Miguel, 89, and five children, all professionals work-ing in Canada, the US and the Philippines; and several grand-children. (Inquirer.net)

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Queue of Donaire foes getting longerBinay regains lead in latest Pulse Asia...respondents as 43 percent said they would vote for him as presi-dent.

Binay also retained his hold in Class E where 42 percent of the respondents said they would vote for him in next year’s polls. He also got the highest votes from Class D with 30 percent.

Binay used to be the uncontest-ed leader in presidential prefer-ence polls until corruption allega-tions caused his ratings to slip.

In fourth place is administration bet Manuel “Mar” Roxas II with 17 percent, and Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago is fifth with four percent.

In the vice presidential race, Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero remains the frontrunner with 29 percent of respondents saying they would vote for him in next year’s elections.

Trailing him is Senator Ferdi-nand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. with 23 percent of respondents saying

that they would vote for him.Senator Alan Peter Cayetano

is third with 18 percent and Ca-marines Sur representative Leni Robredo obtained 14 percent.

Meanwhile, Senator Gringo Ho-nasan and Antonio Trillanes IV got single-digit numbers: Honasan with nine percent while Trillanes had four percent.

Pulse Asia said that “no re-ligious, political, economic, or partisan group influenced any of these processes.”

Thousands of OFWs arrive in PH...luggage conveyor areas as they wait for their balikbayan (re-patriate) boxes and checked-in baggage that are usually filled with pasalubong (a gift or sou-venir brought home by a Filipino who travels).

SPA chairman Roberto Tabaloc said they are thankful to POEA administrator Hans Cacdac for not enforcing the ban in time for Christmas, pointing out that the deployment ban earlier caused confusion among Filipinos in

Duterte-Marcos is the new...cate of candidacy as a substitute candidate for President of PDP-Laban was recently accepted by the Commission on Elections, topped a recent pre-election survey, dislodging Sen. Grace Poe. Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano is Duterte’s running mate.

Marcos, son and namesake of the late President Ferdinand Marcos, is running for Vice Presi-dent as an independent and is in tandem with Sen. Miriam Defen-sor-Santiago.

“We are volunteer groups, we do not have anything to do with the campaign line of Duterte-Cayetano and Miriam-Bongbong because there are two tandems here. It was not started from just one group. This Team AlDuB was made by several groups, we are just trying to unify to solidify the win of Mayor Duterte and Sena-tor Bongbong,” Col. Jose Pallarca said.

According to Terry Tuazon, secretary-general of Lakas Mang-gagawa Labor Center, one reason they have chosen the two be-cause both are against contrac-tualization, outsourcing and the so-called 555 labor scheme.

“They have pronouncement that they are against this. Sabi nga natin ang manggagawang Pilipino ang producers ng wealth ng ating bansa, sila yung nagpa-patakbo ng ating lipunan. Pero sila din yung uri sa ating lipunan

na pinapabayaan ng ating gobyer-no,” Tuazon told the media.

“During the regime of Presi-dent Marcos, he gave benefits during Labor Day. It only stopped during the leadership of President Corazon Aquino until today, kaya sa palagay namin si Bongbong ang kaniyang plataporma ay na-katuon sa pagkalinga, pagasikaso at pagbibigay benipisyo sa ating working class,” he added.

Tuazon said he was jailed three times during Martial law for he was an activist, however, he is now campaigning for Marcos be-cause people should now move forward.

“Let’s give Bongbong a break to lead the Philippines. Yung kasalanan ng ama ay hindi na-man pwedeng kasalanan din ng anak. Hindi ako nagtanim ng galit. Ang kailangan ng ating bayan ay isang leader na kayang disiplinahin hindi lang ang mga mahihirap kundi pati na yung mamamayang umaa-buso sa taas at yung military na abusado. Kaya ako naniniwala na ang tandem duterte-marcos ay people’s choice,” Tuazon said.

Pallarca, meanwhile, said that they are tired of hearing leaders who are full of excuses and who are blaming past administrations. He said that it is about time that leaders who will assume in the of-fice have the responsibility to be accountable and who will make

solutions for the problems ahead and the problems to be inherited in the past administration.

“Kung hindi nila lalapatan ng solusyon ay dapat hindi po natin dapat sila iboto. Si Mayor Duterte lang ang nagsabing ‘When I as-sume command, wala na akong problema sa nakaraan, gagawan natin ng solusyon’. Si Bongbong naman also stood by his prinici-ples,” Pallarca said.

On the other hand, Atty. Raul Lambino, who was the spokes-man of former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, said he start-ed supporting Duterte as early as April 2014 when the mayor start-ed going on a nationwide speak-ing tour purportedly to campaign for a shift to the federal form of government.

“Hindi na ako nagpatumpik-tumpik pa dahil sa pagkakakilala ko kay Mayor Duterte sa husay sa pamumuno sa Davao City. Yung pag suporta ko naman kay Senator BongBong bilang pan-galawang pangulo ito po ay com-mitment naming mga taga Norte and Central Luzon, hindi bababa ng 90 percent ay naniniwala kay Sen. Bongbong Marcos,” Lam-bino said.

Lambino cleared that he is not a Marcos loyalist, in fact he was anti-Marcos when he was young-er, but according to him he have seen huge difference between Senator Marcos and the regime of President Marcos.

Kabul and the US bases.He added that many of the

OFWs in Afghanistan posted in their Facebook accounts the joy and happiness of being able to fly to Manila and fly back to their job sites.

Tabaloc pointed out that many OFWs look forward to spending time with their families and loved ones, and to share in the Filipino Christmas tradition of Simbang Gabi (dawn mass), hanging bright and colorful lanterns, and partaking of the sumptuous

lechon, kaldereta, puto-bumbong and bibingka.

Giant international contractors and the Afghan government are hiring more Filipinos for the mas-sive development projects aided by the USAID, EU Commission, the World Bank and the Asian De-velopment Bank, Tabaloc said.

Most of the Filipino workers in Afghanistan are recruited in Dubai by companies that prefer Filipinos because of their ability to speak English and read engi-neering plans.

Clinton, Sanders, O’Malley take stage...Martin O’Malley also participated in the debate.

During the early stages of the discussion, Sanders apologized to Clinton for a breach of voter data – which is typically shielded by a firewall from other opponents – involving at least one campaign aide.

“This is not the type of cam-paign that we run, and if I find anybody else involved in this, they will also be fired,” the sena-tor said.

Clinton then thanked Sanders for the apology and the debate pressed forward without much time spent on the breach.

“Now that, I think you know, we have resolved your data, we have agreed on an independent inquiry, we should move on. Be-cause I don’t think the American people are all that interested in this,” she said.

Foreign policy and terrorismTerrorism consumed the first

half of the debate, and all candi-dates agreed that air strikes on ISIS were necessary, as well as a Sunni army to fight jihadi fighters on the ground.

Clinton expressed support for sending special operations forces

to Syria. And when asked if she would shoot down a Syrian mili-tary aircraft or Russian airplane, she responded that she didn’t think it would come to that point.

“We are already de-conflicting air space.

“I am advocating the no-fly zone because I think it would help us on the ground to protect Syr-ians; I’m also advocating because I think it gives us some leverage in our conversations with Russia,” she said.

Sanders was much more skep-tical about American involvement beyond bombing, and said the US cannot fight the Islamic State and the Assad regime simultaneously.

“I worry too much that Secre-tary Clinton is too much into re-gime change and a little bit too aggressive without knowing what the unintended consequences might be,” Sanders said.

In his opening statement, O’Malley addressed the issue by saying the United States would only defeat ISIS “if we hold true to the values and the freedom that unites us, which means we must never surrender to them terrorists, must never surrender our Ameri-cans values to racists, must never surrender to the fascists pleas of

billionaires with big mouths.”Gun controlFollowing an ISIS-inspired

mass shooting in San Bernardino earlier this month, the former Sec-retary of State also said she does support Republican front-runner Donald Trump’s idea that arming more Americans will make citi-zens safer.

“Guns, in and of themselves, in my opinion will not make Ameri-cans safer. We lose 33,000 people a year already to gun violence. Arming more people to do what I think is not the appropriate re-sponse to terrorism,” Clinton said.

Sanders cited that more than half of the population in Vermont – a state with virtually no gun control – owns guns, but said he believes there is a consensus on sensible gun safety regulations.

“Who denies that it is crazy to allow people to own guns who are criminals or are mentally un-stable? We’ve got to eliminate the gun show loophole. In my view, we have got to see that weapons designed by the military to kill people are not in the hands of ci-vilians,” he said.

O’Malley cited his own track

by MARC ANTHONY REYESInquirer.net

SUDDENLY, everybody wants a piece of Nonito Donaire Jr. Donaire’s former stablemate, Russian-Mexican Evgeny Gradov-ich, has joined the list of boxers seeking to challenge the newly crowned World Boxing Orga-nization super bantamweight champion.

Gradovich, who like Donaire also trained under former Trainer of the Year Robert Garcia, told boxing scene.com he’s willing to go down to 122 pounds to gain a crack at the Filipino star.

Apart from Cesar Juarez, the Mexican whom Donaire recently decisioned for the title, and sev-eral top challengers in the WBO, the “Filipino Flash” is also being called out by the undefeated 24-year-old American Jessie Magdaleno.

Gradovich has been fighting as full featherweight (126 lb)

and recently won on points over Aldimar Santos, after losing to Lee Selby via technical decision last May.

However, the 29-year-old Gra-dovich (20-1-1) will have to slide down in weight and fight first at 124 lb.

“I want my next fight at maybe

124 pounds to test it out and if I feel as good as I think, then I will go to 122 where there are more opportunities for me,” he said.

The 33-year-old Donaire also realized he was not fit as feath-erweight after he absorbed a knockout loss to Nicholas Walters last year at 126.

shame!”“It was a horrible mistake that

hurt both [Colombia and Philip-pines], because Miss Philippines didn’t get her time to shine. And that’s devastating to Colombia, to have that taken away right when you thought you won,” said Mariel Camiling from Chino Hills, CA.

Immigration activist Jose An-tonio Vargas tweeted: “WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!?!?” and later, “Imagine if [Steve Har-vey] DID NOT correct his mis-take because he feared the re-action??”

Broadway star Lea Salonga also chimed in, “Mabuhay ka, Pia Wurtzbach! Congratula-tions! We have something to smile about! This high is going to last us awhile!”

Salonga also said: “I shall re-frain from the #MissUniverse host-bashing today. He takes full responsibility for the error and in the end, he righted the wrong. Let’s keep it classy, ev-eryone.”

Philippines presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda commented Wurtzbach for her poise and grace throughout the competition and during the an-nouncement. “In the first few moments of the original an-nouncement, she showed tre-mendous poise and control, and even more tremendous gra-ciousness when the real verdict was finally announced,” Laci-

Clinton, Sanders, O’Malley take stage...record when responding to the is-sue, saying he was the only candi-date on Saturday’s stage that ap-proved comprehensive gun safety legislation with a ban on combat assault weapons. However, he said he would not confiscate semi-automatic rifles that an estimated seven to 10 million Americans currently own.

Government programs and the middle class

Contrasts emerged between Sanders and Clinton when it came to addressing domestic issues. Clinton vowed she would not raise taxes on the middle class, spe-cifically those making less than $250,000 annually.

“That is off the table as far as I’m concerned,” Clinton said. “That is a pledge that I am making.”

She said the cost of paid leave could be covered by increasing taxes on the wealthy.

However, Sanders said Clinton’s plan would exempt everyone but 2 to 3 percent of American families, and it would rule out the possibil-ity of any new programs similar to Social Security, which are funded by national taxes.

“She is disagreeing with FDR on Social Security, LBJ on Medi-care, and with the vast majority of progressive Democrats in the House and the Senate, who are fighting to end the disgrace of the United States being the only ma-jor country on Earth that doesn’t provide paid family and medical

erda said.Past winners, including Mar-

garita “Margie” Moran-Flo-reindo, the last Filipina Miss Universe crowned in 1973, also criticized the incident.

“It robbed [Pia] from the glory of that moment, of the excite-ment and waiting to be called Miss Universe and hearing the rejoice of all the Pinoys watch-ing it. That was the most unfor-tunate part of the whole contest. Unfortunate, but she won. That’s all that matters really.”

Another former Miss Universe Philippines, Gloria Diaz, told TV Patrol that Harvey should pay a fine of “$100,000, to Miss Co-lombia and to the Miss Universe [Wurtzbach].” Diaz won the title in 1969.

Other Filipinos were not hap-py with certain aspects of the re-sults, arguing it was a “shallow victory.”

Arturo P. Garcia, national coordinator of Justice for Fili-pino American Veterans (JFAV) said in an email, “We respect-fully disagree to the statement of winner of Miss Universe Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach for saying that ‘the Philippines and the US have always had a good re-lationship.’ Injustice and racial discrimination in America still prevails. It is due to the fact that until today, 250,000 Filipino-American soldiers who served this country in WWII had their benefits exclusively rescinded by the US, and remained un-

recognized and denied of their rights and benefits as American soldiers…Colonization is the ex-ploitation and oppression of a people. Historically, the US has subjugated the people of the Philippines through plunder, rape, and genocide.”

“We have not won. Our win-ning is very shallow for our peo-ple still fighting for true inde-pendence, freedom, and justice. We understand Ms. Wurtzbach for [in] her mind she ‘won,’ but at the expense of the great patri-otic and brave heart of all patri-otic Filipinos,” he added.

“I’ll tell you what I think I’d do…I’d make ‘em a co-winner; it’d be very cool,” Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (who was cut off from NBC in June amid controversial comments, and later sold the Miss Universe and Miss USA pageants to WME/IMG), told Matt Lauer on the Today Show.

In Colombia, celebration turned to anger just moments later as the real results were an-nounced. “They took away her crown” and “the shortest reign in history” was voiced on Twit-ter, and the hashtag #Respect-theCrown became the country’s top trending topic. #Colombia-zoned was also trending on so-cial media.

“I was watching Miss Universe with my family. We started a huge celebration when they said Colombia had won the Miss Uni-verse title for the second straight year,” said Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos, according to Radio Nacional. “They put the crown on [Arévalo’s] head. The photos are there to prove it. To me, as a Colombian, she is still Miss Universe.”

Fil-Am Jenine Nerecina from Northridge, CA expressed her overall excitement, pride and joy for her country. “When I first heard that Pia won, I couldn’t believe it. I was filled with ex-citement and pride that the Philippines is gaining deserving recognition. I am so proud that in these modern times Filipinos are actually making a difference, and that the world is finally see-ing it!” she exclaimed.

“Humility is one of the most important attributes in our culture, and Pia showed that throughout the competition,” Nerecina added. “It feels amaz-ing to be a part of this moment because this is going to be a part of history!”

leave,” Sanders said.The senator discussed his own

proposal for paid leave, which he said would cost the average household just $1.61 per week.

“Now, you can say that’s a tax on the middle class. It will pro-vide three months paid family and medical leave for the working families of this country. I think, Secretary Clinton, $1.61 a week is a pretty good investment,” he said.

Donald TrumpSanders and Clinton also agreed

they dislike Republican front-run-ner Donald Trump.

Sanders said Trump’s popular-ity reflects Americans’ fears of another terrorist attack and put it in the context of stagnant wages, increasing inequality and wide-spread disaffection with the po-litical process, according to The New Yorker.

“Somebody like a Trump comes along and says, ‘I know the answers. The answer is that all of the Mexicans, they’re crimi-nals and rapists. We’ve got to hate the Mexicans. Those are your en-emies. We hate all the Muslims, because all of the Muslims are terrorists. We’ve got to hate the Muslims.’ Meanwhile, the rich get richer,” he said.

Clinton called Trump, who sug-gested a controversial ban on all Muslims entering the United States, a powerful tool for the Is-lamic State.

“He is becoming ISIS’ best re-

cruiter. They are going to people showing videos of Donald Trump insulting Islam and Muslims in or-der to recruit more radical jihad-ists.”

Steve Elmendorf, a veteran of Democratic presidential and con-gressional campaigns, said focus-ing on Trump was a good strategy for the democratic candidates.

“He provides a useful foil to re-mind Democrats what the stakes of the election are,” Elmendorf, who is supporting Clinton, told The Wall Street Journal.

Even if Trump doesn’t win the nomination, Elmendorf told the Journal that “it’s in the Demo-crats’ interest to make the Repub-lican Party own him.

Winners and losersVarious publications had differ-

ent takes on who won Saturday’s debate.

The New Yorker magazine said there were no winners; Washing-ton Post political reporter Chris Cillizza said Clinton won, while Sanders and O’Malley lost; in an opinion piece, Fox News contrib-utor Douglas Schoen wrote that Clinton won, executing a “mas-terful strategy,” while O’Malley lost.

“The former secretary of state was the only one on stage Sat-urday night who looked like she could step into the presidency tomorrow,” Cillizza wrote, cit-ing that her knowledge was evi-dently significantly greater than her opponents, and that she often focused on the differences be-tween Democratic candidates and Trump rather than disagreements between members of her party.

Cillizza pointed out that O’Malley attempted to portray Sanders and Clinton as old Washington politi-cians and highlight that he was the youngest candidate. However, Cillizza said this made him appear too scripted and forced.

Schoen wrote Clinton was “the most balanced candidate on how she’d manage the economy.”

He also wrote that Sanders was “completely sincere and passion-ate, showcasing his major selling points.”

While O’Malley has experience, Schoen said he is not appealing to voters.

“[O’Malley did] his best, but flopped on a number of issues. He took swipes at both Clinton and Sanders that won’t resonate with viewers and voters,” he wrote.

Separate from the issues dis-cussed, Cillizza said there was no justification for hosting the final debate less than a week before Christmas.

“Unless the goal is to ensure that said debate is lightly-watched and, therefore, any mistakes made by the presumptive frontrunner are lessened,” he wrote on “The Fix,” a political blog for the Post.

Republican National Commit-tee Chairman Reince Priebus ex-pressed a similar view.

“It’s clear the Democrat es-tablishment worked hard to bury their debate on a Saturday night just days before Christmas, when few would be watching, in order to prevent the American people from seeing Hillary Clinton’s re-cord of dishonesty and her role as the architect of the Obama ad-ministration’s failed strategy for confronting radical Islamic terror-ism,” Priebus said in a statement.

The final debate came less than two months before the Iowa cau-cuses and the New Hampshire primary. (Agnes Constante / AJ-Press)

A HISTORICAL moment for Filipino-Americans in the United States took place Friday, Dec. 18, when a middle school in Union City, California was officially re-named in honor of Fil-Am labor leaders Larry Itliong and Philip Vera Cruz.

Alvarado Middle School is now officially Itliong-Vera Cruz Middle School, and is believed to be the first school in the nation named for Filipino Americans.

“We’re very honored,” Johnny Itliong, the son of Itliong, told the Asian Journal on behalf of his family. “We’re also honored to have Philip Vera Cruz’s name alongside Larry’s even though they didn’t see eye to eye on many occasions. But they both stood up for the rights of people, first and foremost of their Filipino broth-ers and sisters, the manongs, and then for all others.”

Itliong and Vera Cruz were key leaders who helped organize the United Farm Workers union in the 1960s and led Filipino farm-workers who were the first to walk out in the Delano Grape Strike on Sept. 8, 1965.

“I think it’s so important that we recognize Larry Itliong and Philip Vera Cruz [who] inspire all of us to be change makers that we need in our community, our state our na-tion and our world,” state Assem-blyman Rob Bonta said during the school’s dedication ceremony on Friday.

Although the renaming of the school gives recognition to Itliong and Vera Cruz, Johnny acknowl-edged that there were others who helped them.

“There were many other Filipino

labor leaders and union organizers who stood and fought with my dad ... it wasn’t just my dad and Phil-ip. It was also Andy Imutan, Pete Velasco and there were many oth-ers,” he said.

Talks of naming a Union City school in honor of Filipino-Ameri-cans date back to 1992, said Joe Angeles, who is part of a coali-tion that urged the school to be renamed, according to the Contra Costa Times.

“We had two schools named Al-varado: Alvarado Elementary and Alvarado Middle. Alvarado Ele-mentary has more history; it’s one of the first elementary schools in the area,” Angeles said, the Times reported.

Though Itliong and Vera Cruz primarily worked in the Central Valley advocating for the rights of farm workers, Angeles said Itliong spent some time organiz-ing in Union City and worked with some residents from the area in the 1960s.

Approval for renaming the school came from a split 3-2 de-cision in 2013 by the New Haven Unified School District board. Some wished for the school’s name to remain Alvarado, which was in honor of 19th-century Mexican governor Juan Bautista Alvarado. Others said he was already well-represented in Union City, with an elementary school, two streets, a park and a neighborhood bear his name, according to the Times. The issue resulted in staged dem-onstrations and full school board meetings.

In the neighborhood surround-ing the middle school, 38 percent of residents are Filipino-American,

Union City middle school renamed in honor of Fil-Am labor leaders

said Joe Angeles, who is part of a coalition that urged for the renam-ing of the school, according to the Times.

Renaming the school is esti-mated to cost $60,000. The bulk of the price tag, $57,440, will be covered by Alameda County Su-pervisor Richard Valle, state Sen. Bob Wieckowski, Assemblyman Bill Quirk, and Bonta.

Separately, an overpass in San Diego that intersects State Route 54, which is known as the Filipino-American Highway, was also set to be renamed in honor of the labor leaders to the Itliong-Vera Cruz Memorial Bridge.

“These [renamings] are huge strides for our Filipino community to be recognized in American his-tory, and we are basically indebted to the manong generation, [which] has made our lives much better,” Johnny said.

In June of this year, Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill des-ignating October 25 -- Itliong’s birthday -- as a day dedicated to recognizing the late labor lead-er’s contributions to the state of California. (Agnes Constante / AJ-Press)

DATELINE PHILIPPINESAfter �ling cases against Poe, David wants Duterte disquali�ed

by ROSETTE ADEL Philstar.com

Gov’t starts rehabilitation after ‘Nona,’ ‘Onyok’

MANILA—After a slew of peti-tions against Sen. Grace Poe, political aspirant Rizalito David on Monday, Dec. 21 filed a petition be-fore the Commission on Elections to drop Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte’s bid for the presidency.

In the petition, David opposed Duterte’s substitution for Partido ng Demokratikong Pilipino-Lakas

ng Bayan’s former standard-bearer Martin Diño, saying the presidential aspirantis making a mockery of the rules of law by filing his candidacy outside the given period.

“It is respectfully prayed of the Honorable Commission to grant due course to this petition and to declare the substitution of Martin Diño by Rodrigo Duterte for Presi-dent as null and void, as well order the cancelation of his [Duterte]

by PATRICIA LOURDES VIRAY Philstar.com

MANILA—Government agen-cies are coordinating to deliver relief goods and work on the early recovery of areas affected by tropi-cal cyclones “Nona” (international name Melor) and “Onyok” the past week.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC) said Monday that an estimated P59.9 million worth of relief assistance was provided to affected towns in regions III, IV-A, IV-B, V and VIII as of Friday.

The Department of Social and Welfare Development (DSWD) provided P51.3 million while local government units and non-government organizations gave P8.1 million and P463,050, re-spectively.

Some 37,145 families or 175,168 persons are residing in 536 evacu-ation centers while 38,601 fami-lies or 192,028 persons stay out-side evacuation centers in regions affected by Nona.

DSWD Undersecretary Vilma Cabrera assured that relief op-erations will continue despite the ambush of government trucks carrying relief goods for typhoon victims in Samar provinces last week.

Meanwhile, 32,914 families or 143,097 persons have been affect-

ed by Onyok, which has weakened into a low pressure area.

Some 3,240 families or 12,585 individuals have been staying in 87 evacuation centers since Friday in the Caraga region due to Onyok.

DSWD Secretary Corazon “Din-ky” Soliman assured that the de-partment will continue to provide

resources in affected areas until the needs of victims have been met.

President Benigno Aquino III declared a state of national calam-ity last Friday, Dec. 18 following the aftermath of Nona which hit the Visayas and Bicol regions.

The proclamation will remain in effect until lifted by Aquino.

certificate of candidacy for not hav-ing been validly seasonably filed,” David’s petition read.

The petitioner argued the Com-elec can use as evidence Duterte’s errant and late submission of his certificate of candidacy.

“Since the Commission is in pos-session of the certificates of candi-dacy filed by Duterte and Dino, the petitioner earnestly pleads that it take judicial notice of the same for purposes of this petition,” David’s petition stated.

“I cannot play deaf and blind to these circumventions, otherwise the integrity of the Commission will be put into question,” he added.

David, a defeated senatorial candidate in the 2013 elections, was recently declared a nuisance candidate for presidency. Earlier this year, he filed a disqualification case against Poe, then a frontrun-ner in presidential preference surveys, before the Senate Elec-toral Tribunal to question her citizenship.

On December 17, the Comelec accepted Duterte’s presidential candidacy without prejudice to other disqualification cases filed against him.

Dept. of Tourism surprises PH’s 5 millionth visitorMANILA—Department of Tour-

ism (DOT) officials on Monday, Dec. 21 dawn surprised the 5 millionth person to visit the Philippines this year.

Tourism Assistant Secretary Alan Canizal and Undersecretary Benito Bengzon Jr. warmly welcomed and greeted the lucky Filipino-American female tourist at the Ninoy Aquino International Terminal 2.

The lucky visitor, 23-year old New York-based Gabby Grantham, received a bouquet of flowers from the DOT officials which caught her by surprise.

Canizal said that Grantham will also be receiving a package tour with hotel accommodation as a prize for being the 5 millionth visi-tor in the Philippines.

“I thought I was in trouble,” Grantham said.

It was Grantham’s second time to visit the country while the last time was when she was still seven years old.

Grantham, born to a Filipino mother and American father, flew via Philippine Airlines flight PR103 and landed in Manila at 3:48 a.m.

She planned to visit her grandpar-ents in Cebu and explore Palawan in her two-week stay in the country.

Meanwhile, Canizal said the next to be welcomed and rewarded will be the 6 or 7 millionth foreign tourist.

Bengzon described welcoming the 5 millionth visitor as a very significant event.

“This milestone is a result of the collaborative and sustained efforts of all partners in tourism industry,” Bengzon said.

He said that motivation to push

harder is better than the head-count.

“The fact that we have crossed the 5 million mark is that we are already in the big league,” Beng-zon said.

“This will allow us to compete more strongly against other des-tinations in the region. After the 5 millionth mark the next will be 5 millionth,” he added.

DOT eyes to have 5.2 million tourist arrivals before 2015 ends and aims to double the visitors by 10 million next year.

by ROSETTE ADEL Philstar.com

Duterte: I won’t debate with Number 4DAVAO CITY—Mayor Rodrigo

Duterte said a debate with Manuel Roxas II would be possible only if the administration candidate im-proves his rankings in surveys.

“If he wants a debate with me, maybe he should make it to No. 2 in the surveys. He wants a debate but he is No. 4… he should at least improve his ratings first,” Duterte said.

Duterte made this condition before entering into a debate with Roxas.

Roxas had earlier challenged Duterte to a debate on different is-sues affecting government.

But Duterte said any debate with Roxas would not make sense if the Liberal Party presidential candidate is faring poorly in the survey ratings.

The two had been in a word war since earlier this month.

The word war turned into a slapping challenge and even to the point of a possible gun duel.

The proposal to debate came out after cooler heads prevailed upon the two presidential aspirants.

“Ayaw ko, mayabang siya (I don’t want to, he is arrogant),” Duterte said of Roxas who said the peace and order situation in Davao City is a myth, which the mayor did not take lightly.

Duterte retorted by saying Roxas is not a graduate of the Wharton School of Economics, contrary to his claims regarding educational background.

Duterte stressed he is not so keen on debating with Roxas whom he described as a liar.

“He is a liar. I do not want to de-bate with him,” Duterte added.

Mar chides DigongRoxas, on the other hand, chided

Duterte for refusing to accept his challenge.

“Perhaps those are the words of a person who backs down. It was he who challenged me to a slapping match. I said I am ready but what did he say? He refused. I challenged him to a fistfight. He also refused. He challenged me to a debate and now I accepted but he refused again,” Roxas said in a chance interview in Leyte.

“What do you call that?” he added.

by EDITH REGALADO Philstar.com

Duterte said he would only get into debates once the campaign period starts.

Duterte vowed to do away with lavish oath-taking ceremonies should he win the presidency.

“I will take my oath not in Luneta

but in my office at Malacañang to avoid traffic congestion. No lavish dinners, invited guests will have to eat first, only soft drinks and water will be served,” Duterte said

Duterte said he would invite a

OPINION FEATURES

BOO CHANCO

Demandand Supply

I WOULD like to apologize to everyone I have called an idiot for believing that Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte deserves to be president of the Philippines in spite of his womanizing, his potty-mouth and his homicidal bluster.

On reflection, there is in all of us a kind of idiocy that causes us to resort to extreme options in the face of intractable problems or se-vere aggravations. Call it jumping from the frying pan into the fire. Call it suicidal or masochistic. Or call it something we will regret in hindsight. But at the point in time that the idiot in each one of us is ticked off, who the hell cares.

Sluggo Rigor, who publishes and edits the Filipino-American Bulletin, a newspaper in Seattle, Washington, must have thought that I myself had reached the tip-ping point, when I wrote a column item entitled, May Angal!!!??? Circa 2015.

“May angal?” is Tagalog for “Any complaints?” which is what the neighborhood toughie tells you to your face when he bullies you, knowing you can’t do any-thing about it.

My piece was a litany of in-stances of impunity, incompe-tence and insensitivity on the part of the Aquino administration that have left the citizenry hurling un-printables at the President and his key officials. In each instance, this

Duterte’s way isn’t the best way

GREG B. MACABENTA

Street Talk

THE Commission on Audit had been, even through martial law, one of the most prestigious agen-cies of our Republic, its reputation untainted by graft or partisanship.

With just a few months remain-ing for this inglorious Administra-tion, the COA will be left as another institution damaged by President Benigno Aquino 3rd, who has turned it into a political weapon.

Even in this rather late stage of the electoral game, this yellow re-gime is using the COA for its po-litical ends, as in a report mysteri-ously leaked the other day alleging unliquidated funds of the Office of the Vice President. The next day, of course, as if on cue, was another accusation against Binay by former Makati vice mayor Renato Bondal – yes, the same accuser whose alle-

RIGOBERTO TIGLAO

Commentary

COA: Another institution Aquino damaged

GIVEN the unsure situation the world is facing today, we are looking for some sort of a sign this Christmas—something that could calm our fears about what lies ahead. Times may be difficult, but Christmas and its spirit of love, faith and hope will always endure. It’s that time of the year—when war, conflict, political differences, disputes and ill wishes come to a grinding halt, replaced by warm tidings of love, hope, peace and generosity.

Christmas wish

For Pres. Benigno Aquino III, “this is the time for reunions. This is the time to bond with each other and also commune with God, and we are re-energized for all of the challenges in the coming years.” Aquino wishes Filipinos to have a peaceful, clam and optimistic Christmas celebration.

Meanwhile, Pres. Barack Obama and the first family arrived in Hawaii on Saturday, Dec. 19 to celebrate their annual Christmas vacation. But be-fore heading to Hawaii, Obama and First Lady Mi-chelle stopped by in Southern California to console the loved ones of the victims of the San Bernardino shooting, where a married couple opened fire on the husband’s co-workers at a workplace holiday party. At least 14 people were killed in the shoot-ing.

“You had people from every background, every faith. Some described loved ones who had come to this country as immigrants, others who had lived in the area all their lives, all of them extraordinarily proud of the work they were doing to keep people healthy and safe” Obama shared. “As difficult as this time is for them and for the entire community,

they’re also representative of the strength and the unity and the love that exists in this community and in this country.”

With less than a year left in office, Obama vowed to focus on the US-led campaign to defeat IS. “Since taking this office, I’ve never been more optimistic about a year ahead than I am right now,” he said. “And in 2016, I’m going to leave it out all on the field.”

Earlier this month, Obama also listed down the top 10 things that happened in 2015.

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Not just for spreading holiday cheer—but also for list makers. You’ve got wish lists; Santa’s list; and of course, a blizzard of year-in-review lists. So I de-cided to get in on the action,” Obama said.

Among the country’s recent achievements in-cluded in the President’s list are the positive per-formance of the economy, more Americans getting health coverage, and the US-led campaign on cli-mate change and terrorism.

The President said that it’s been a good year and that he is confident of bigger things in the new year.

Editorial

“And the number one reason I’m optimistic go-ing into 2016: It’s you—the American people. All of this progress is because of you—because of workers rolling up their sleeves and getting the job done, and entrepreneurs starting new businesses. Because of teachers and health workers and par-ents—all of us taking care of each other. Because of our incredible men and women in uniform, serv-ing to protect us all. Because, when we’re united as Americans, there’s nothing that we cannot do,” Obama concluded.

So as we look for answers, and as we try to search for Christmas and its true meaning in these troubled times, we must be reminded that our fo-cus should not be on what we don’t have today. Christ was born in a manger, with hardly any pos-sessions. And yet His birth is a symbol of hope for all Christians.

Christmas is also about sharing more than mate-rial things. It is embracing its true meaning, and knowing that it should always be in our hearts. (AJPress)

administration’s response – or the message communicated by its in-action - has been the equivalent of, “May angal???!!!”

Sluggo was so upset himself that he suggested launching a contest that would urge Pinoys in the Philippines and overseas to submit “May angal???!!!” in-cidents attributable to the Aquino government. In fact, Sluggo start-ed it off with his own long list. I promised him that I would use his piece in one of my columns.

At any rate, the kind of frustra-tion felt by Sluggo Rigor and I and many otherwise intelligent folks has stirred the inherent idiots in us. Some have already succumbed to their idiocy as shown in the lat-est Pulse Asia and SWS surveys on presidential preferences.

Even assuming that the surveys were flawed, the emergence of Duterte as the first choice even among socio-economic classes ABC (who are supposed to be more financially well off, better educated, more enlightened and

better informed) cannot be dis-missed. These folks are fed up and don’t care if Duterte is Beelzebub himself. As far as they are con-cerned, he will at least solve their problems - and let the devil take care of the rest.

They seem to think that Duterte is offering not one silver bullet but an arsenal of silver bullets that will – if we are to follow their logic – extinguish criminality in all its permutations (the drug menace, particularly), cleanse the govern-ment of graft and corruption, infuse the bureaucracy with com-petence and efficiency, provide the business sector with a safe and secure environment in which to grow their enterprises and, as a result, create job opportunities which will, in turn, bring about the much-sought inclusive prosperity that will guarantee a bright future for every Filipino family.

This fantasy is naïve and ob-viously born out of desperation and Duterte has been milking it, vowing to make it all come true over people’s dead bodies. Take it or leave it. To use an American idiom, it’s Duterte’s way or the highway.

Blinded by their frustration, they fail to see that Duterte’s way will bring the country to the edge, where vigilante justice is the norm. They also fail to see that there are other ways to achieve their elusive

goals without giving the funeral parlors a windfall.

Duterte’s admirers have even likened him to Lee Kwan Yew, conveniently overlooking the fact that Singapore never resorted to extra-judicial killings even while being authoritarian and very tough in dealing with official graft and corruption, sending bureau-crats to jail if perceived to be living beyond their legitimate means.

Lee Kwan Yew and his new government also set an example of strict morality, civility and ur-banity – a stark contrast to the vulgarity and low-life bluster of Duterte.

Duterte’s fans and admirers talk about “the need to enforce disci-pline” among the citizenry, for-getting two things: (a) they them-selves make up the citizenry and should learn to discipline them-selves without a gun being cocked at their temples, and (b) there is a difference between a disciplinar-ian and an executioner.

As Mayor of Olongapo, Dick Gordon was a disciplinarian. He enforced the kind of civic disci-pline – including traffic discipline - that we in America automatically observe, like making a full stop at stop signs, even in the dead or night or in the middle of no-where.

An online write-up about Gor-don as Mayor of Olongapo states: “When Dick Gordon was first elected, Olongapo was known as ‘Sin City’ for the rampant pros-

titution and rowdy night clubs in its infamous Red Light District, populated by GIs from the US na-val base in nearby Subic. Under his leadership, Olongapo became a ‘model city’ through his inno-vative programs such as raising police accountability through ID systems, proper health and sani-tation, waste management and the strict observance of color-cod-ing in public transport.”

And then, of course, there’s Gordon’s unmatched track record of raising Subic from the ashes and converting it into a bustling Freeport – through volunteer ef-fort and not at the point of a gun.

Vice-presidential candidate Leni Robredo was right when she reminded Duterte that Naga City, under her late husband, Mayor Jesse Robredo, was considered one of the most business-friendly and livable cities in the Philip-pines, with poverty and unem-ployment significantly lower than the national average, with a suc-cessful housing program that al-leviated rampant squatting, and with greatly improved levels of literacy and sanitation.

Did Robredo have to do it with a death squad? Not at all. He ap-plied governance by consensus, empowering the citizenry through the Naga City People’s Council. For his sterling performance, Ro-bredo received the 2000 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Govern-ment Service.

Indeed, without belittling his

achievements in Davao City, Duterte does not have a monop-oly of effective governance. There are many others who have either matched or surpassed his perfor-mance without being vulgar and homicidal, from Albay governor Joey Salceda to former Marikina Mayor Bayani Fernando, to former Puerto Princesa Mayor Edward Hagedorn, to Iloilo Mayor Jed Mabilog, who ranked 5th among the Top Ten World Mayors in 2014.

Vice-President Jejomar Binay who was Mayor of Makati for over two decades, was ranked 4th among World Mayors in 2006, and managed a deficit-free government throughout his entire tenure while providing education-al, health care and other social services that became the template for other progressive local execu-tives. And during the incumbency of Mayor Junjun Binay, Makati was one of twenty world cities that matched the stringent 37120 ISO certification in 2014, and one of only nine rated platinum. The certification was given to Makati by the International Organiza-tional Standards of Geneva, Swit-zerland, for meeting 98 out of 100 indicators intended to measure a city’s social, economic and envi-ronmental performance.

With due respect to those who are completely sold on Duterte, his way is not the only way – nor is it the best. (gregmacabenta@hotmail.com)

gations have been proven false, yet hogged the headlines of the Phil-ippine Daily Inquirer’s front pages for 44 nearly consecutive days. (See http://www.manilatimes.net/inquirer-vs-binay/155669/) It’s the familiar flurry of accusations for a vilification campaign.

I had been asked in the com-ments section of my column why I haven’t written much about the al-legations against Binay. My simple answer is: Why should I, when the Philippine Daily Inquirer, which claims to have the biggest circu-lation (Manila Times is just no. 4 among the broadsheets) seemed to have found as its newest cause this year the demonization of the Vice President? Why should I help it in its project, which could have been undertaken for not-so-noble reasons?

I am not only talking about its news sections. Columnist Solita Monsod, its most widely read col-umnist, must have written over 50 columns against Binay, with many of the occasional contributors try-ing to show off, unsuccessfully, their polemical skills to vilify the

candidate. Fair play, I say, so I have presented the other side to the al-legations, most of which, I think, had been indisputably debunked as pure lies. And these lies, the Ombudsman insists, should be in-vestigated in the courts.

For example, both the Securi-ties and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Department of En-vironment and National Resources (DENR) records showed that the Batangas estate belonged to a Chi-nese-Filipino businessman, and not to Binay. The Makati Build-ing II’s costs were comparable in terms of price per square feet to Senate President Franklin Drilon’s Iloilo Convention Center, or to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) branches in three provinces, which all had the same contractor. Binay’s “crime” is his inarticulate-ness or his campaign staff’s inef-ficiency in debunking and burying the corruption allegations against him.

But back to the COA. It was as-tonishing that former chair Grace Pulido-Tan claimed, when she

u

God and sinners reconcile

PALO ALTO, Calif—The choir was singing a medley of Christmas Carols in a recent Sunday service I attended and there it was… a line in one of the songs that captures the real essence of Christmas: God and sinners reconcile. That’s a great reason to be joyful and yet I have never understood the importance of that line for as many years as I had been singing that Christmas carol.

Indeed, sin has separated God from sinful man.... from the disobe-dience at the Garden of Eden to that day in Sinai when the recently rescued Israelites decided to build a golden calf to worship.

In Psalm 90, Moses described how sin angers God: “We are consumed by your anger and terrified by your indignation. You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence…Who knows the power

of your anger? For your wrath is as great as the fear that is due you.”

Yet, God’s anger is tempered by His love for us. And that’s why Christmas happened.

I had been struggling for an explanation of the very basis of our Christian faith — why the Son of God must suffer the pain and the indignity of death on the cross to bring salvation to all of us. He who can turn water to wine, multiply the five loaves of bread and two fish to feed 5000 people and make the dead Lazarus rise can surely defend Himself from the Jewish leaders and the Roman soldiers... perhaps blind them as what happened to Saul, who was persecuting Chris-tians, on the road to Damascus.

But Christ had to follow the will of the Father. His mission of redemption must be accomplished and that requires the cross.

God abhors sin. God’s sense of justice makes it impossible for him to simply ignore sin. And Isaiah 59:2 declares: “your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.”

Because God so loves us, he has

provided a way for sinful men to approach Him. As was explained by Pastor Peter Tanchi in a CCF service, God’s solution to this separation between God and man is the shedding of blood.

During a visit to the Holy Land, we went to a site where they have a replica of the Tabernacle, which has the Ark of the Covenant within the Holy of Holies. The Ark rep-resents the presence of God.Only the high priest approached God by entering the inner room, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people have committed in ignorance. He sprinkles the blood of unblem-ished animals on the mercy seat (Hebrews 9:6-7).

But when Christ appeared as our high priest, He entered God’s presence through His own blood. Once and for all time. He obtained eternal redemption for us.

Remember the scene at the Cru-cifixion at the moment of Christ’s death as recounted by St Luke: “darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, for the sun stopped shining. And the

Duterte: I won’t...small crowd of selected guests, which would include representa-tives from the military, the police and only a few other government officials.

He said he will hit the ground running on his first day of office.

Duterte is facing a disqualifica-tion case before Commission on Elections (Comelec) regarding the substitution made on Martin Diño.

Diño withdrew his candidacy under the PDP-Laban party and Duterte later substituted for him.

A Comelec division allowed the substitution of Duterte as PDP-La-ban presidential candidate although the Davao mayor still faces disquali-fication petition.

The Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL) offered its party to Duterte to substitute for Augusto Syjuco who was disqualified as a nuisance candidate, according to lawyer Oliver Lozano. Lozano said the KBL is offering its draft unity accord to Duterte.

COA: Another...stepped down, at the pork-bar-rel investigations what her legacy was: the pork-barrel exposés. How on earth could she claim that, given the fact the probe had been ordered undertaken by her pre-decessor who was appointed by President Arroyo, and when most of those investigated under her administration, and charged, were opposition figures like senators Enrile, Estrada, and Revilla?

Pulido-Tan herself said two years ago that a special audit was also being undertaken to investi-gate the pork-barrel funds released during Aquino’s Administration, from 2010-2012.

The report had been completed and I myself viewed a TV report in 2013 by broadcast journalist, An-thony Taberna, about that inves-tigation. A camera even panned a copy of the actual report.

Two years after it was complet-ed, COA hasn’t released the report. And she has the gall to claim that she did her part in Aquino’s anti-corruption crusade?

Is it because the COA itself re-ceived P143.7 million in 2012 from President Aquino’s scandalous “Disbursement Acceleration Plan” (DAP), which the Supreme Court has ruled unconstitutional? Or was it because Pulido-Tan has been angling for a position in the Su-preme Court when it announced a vacancy in 2012? (Aquino, instead, appointed Marvic Leonen, who is as inexperienced in legal practice as the Chief Justice is. Is Tan still hoping she will be the last Aquino appointee in April 2016, when Jus-tice Martin Villarama retires?)

In the past, those appointed by Presidents as COA chair and mem-bers were people of unquestion-able integrity, without the slight-est taint of partisanship, such as Teofisto Guingona (chair 1986 to 1987), Eufemio Domingo (1987-1993), Celso Gangan (1994-2001), Guillermo Carague (2001-2008) and Reynaldo Villar (2004-2008), who ordered the special pork-bar-rel audit. It had also been a tradi-tion for the other two members of the commission to be appointed among the COA’s veteran audi-tors, especially for those who spent their entire professional career in the agency.

Contrast that to Aquino’s ap-pointees to the COA:

• A nearly retired Heidi Men-doza – who had vowed to pin down Binay on corruption charges many years ago, jumping several pay levels – was appointed as one of the three COA commissioners. It was Mendoza who provided Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales, when she testified in Chief Justice Renato Corona’s im-peachment trial, with grossly false analysis that artificially bloated his bank accounts. For that monu-mental fabrication that whipped up a mob against the Chief Justice, she, together with Carpio-Morales, should have resigned their posts.

• Jose A. Fabia was appointed a COA member in 2014. Who is he? The Director-General of the Philippine Information Agency since Aquino assumed office, up until 2012, when he reached the government’s retirement age. He replaced a former Liberal Party Cadiz City mayor Rowena Guan-zon, who served only a year, since she was given what Aquino thinks is a more important task, as Com-mission on Elections member. (I am hopeful, though, that Guanzon, at the end of the day, would live up to her lofty principles.)

• Aquino in March appointed Michael G. Aguinaldo as COA chair. Aguinaldo was the Deputy Executive Secretary for Legal Af-fairs of the Office of the President since Aquino assumed office, and reportedly his classmate in their Ateneo days.

Isn’t that, in his hubris, Aquino’s way of practically telling the coun-try: “The COA, one of my favorite political weapons, has been at-tached to the Office of the Presi-dent”?

It is a wasteland of damaged in-stitutions that Aquino will be leav-ing us with when he steps down in office a few months from now. (Manilatimes.net)

curtain of the temple was torn in two…” The curtain symbolizes the separation of sinful man from God. When it was torn in two from top to bottom, separation ended because man was redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, once and for all times.

It all makes sense now. That nativity scene predicted by the prophet Isaiah is the expression

God and sinners reconcileof God’s love for us despite our sinfulness… God sent his only Son to be born as man on Christmas Day…unblemished by sin, to be the ultimate sacrifice, so that by Christ’s death and resurrection, we are given hope for eternal life in heaven.

The prophet Isaiah: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned…”

This is the story of Christmas. It is the story of our redemption. It is God’s way of ending our separa-tion from Him. And because Christ was born to us on Christmas Day, we have that hope for eternal life that once was beyond our reach because of sin.

On Christmas day, God and sin-ners reconciled. Hark the herald angels sing… glory to the new born King. A real joy to the world, indeed!

A Merry and Blessed Christmas to everyone! (Philstar.com)

SEAFOOD CITYFPFC

VEGAS&STYLEJOURNAL

Kris bares why President’s romance with Wurtzbach failed

Gloria Diaz wants Miss Universe host slapped with hefty �ne

THE host of the Miss Universe 2015 coronation night who an-nounced the wrong winner of the pageant should pay a fine, said the 1969 Miss Universe winner Gloria Diaz on Monday, Dec. 21.

“He should pay a fine of 100 thousand dollars to Ms. Columbia and to the Ms. Universe,” Diaz said in an interview with TV Patrol, referring to Steve Harvey.

During the coronation night on Sunday, Dec. 20, Harvey mixed up the result of the pageant as he announced that Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez won the Miss Universe but later apologized as Miss Philippines Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach was the rightful win-ner.

Meanwhile, Margie Moran, the 1973 Miss Universe, said she “felt sorry for both candidates.”

But Moran said Wurtzbach was the rightful winner because she exceled in the question and answer portion,

“She answered very well. She’s very confident,” Moran said in an interview with TV Patrol.

As for Diaz, Wurtzbach’s vic-tory was “amazing,” ending a title drought of 42 years for the Philippines which last won the crown in 1973.

“Forty-two years, that’s a long time. It’s amazing,” she said.

Weighing on Wurtzbach’s an-swers during the question-and-answer portion, she said her first answer was “easy.”

“The first answer for me was easy, playing to the Americans. That’s fine, of course I love Ameri-ca. Take me with you,” Diaz said.

During the question-and-an-swer portion, Wurtzbach was

asked on her stand on the rees-tablishment of US military bases in the country.

Citing the shared history of the Philippines and the US, Wurtzbach said that the Philippines is “very welcoming” to the Americans.

“I don’t see any problem with that at all,” she said.

During final question and an-swer portion, all the candidates answered the question: “Why should you be the next Miss Universe?”

Wurtzbach, who was the last to answer, said that she wants to lend her voice to certain causes such as HIV/AIDS awareness and youth issues.

“I want to show the universe that I am confidently beautiful with a heart,” she said.

Diaz said Wurtzbach’s sec-ond answer was “really very inspired.

The Philippines last took home the crown in 1973, courtesy of Margie Moran. It was a short wait after the first victory of Gloria Diaz in 1969. (Inquirer.net)

“I DON’T think she liked Noy,” said Presidential sister Kris Aquino when asked why her brother’s relationship with Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach didn’t prosper.

In an interview on Monday, Dec. 21 the younger Aquino said she and her sisters liked Wurtz-bach since the time she was rumored to have been dating President Benigno Aquino III.

“All of us kaming mga sisters, from before pa, we liked her, noong naru-rumor that they were dating. Because one, she could have easily denied [that they were dating] because that was the time na ‘yung SAF big deal, and Noy was being hit left and right. But she spoke up for him. Kaya sabi ko ay matapang

itong girl na ito,” she said.Kris was referring to the

Mamasapano clash that left 44 members of the elite Special

Action Force of the Philippine National Police, 23 Moro rebels and several civilians.

“But I don’t think she liked Noy,” she added, drawing laugh-ter from the media.

The younger Aquino believed that Wurtzbach treated her brother well but the beauty queen was focused on her prepa-ration for the Miss Philippines and Miss Universe.

“I think she entertained him but the thing is, you can tell from her character na single-minded. Kinailangan na ito ang focus ko muna,” she said.

The actress-host congratu-lated Wurtzbach, admitting that she was impressed with how she answered during the question-

Pinoy superstar artist to draw Star Wars comicby RICK OLIVARES

Philstar.com

MANILA—The adventures of beloved characters from a galaxy far far away are now being drawn by someone not too far away.

Filipino comic book artist Leinil Yu, who has drawn such high-profile comics such as Civil War and Wolverine for Marvel, Superman: Birthright for DC, and Superior under Icon to name a few, will be working on the Star Wars comic beginning February 2016.

“I think my coming onboard is very timely,” said Yu who was all smiles as fans crowded the Prom-enade Hall in Greenhills for Star Wars Saturday, December 19. “I was supposed to do a Han Solo book then they (Marvel) switched me over to the main Star Wars series. But before I could really begin work on Star Wars, they asked to do the Darth Vader An-nual. Now I didn’t know that the Darth Vader Annual was coming out during the opening week for ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ so that made it pretty cool.”

Yu admitted to be an old-time Star Wars fan and the new pen-ciling gig is a dream come true for him. “Drawing Star Wars is something I said yes to immedi-ately. Why not? Who doesn’t love Star Wars? You’re talking about Han Solo, Darth Vader, the cast and crew that we grew up with in the main book. What is not to like? However, if they asked me

to do a Jar Jar Binks mini-series that’s another thing.”

Han Solo, arguably the most popular of the Star Wars charac-ters, is Yu’s favorite. Yet the artist admitted that he hasn’t gotten a full grip on all the characters just yet. “It’s one thing to enjoy them on film as a fan and it’s another to draw them. I just started work-ing on the characters so I haven’t figured them out. You can say that I am still getting to know the characters better. It usually takes me a couple of issues before I get into the groove of the book I am working on. But so far, I like drawing Han and everyone. The cast is so diverse it’s fun for me. It’s also a test to what I can do with this icon of a franchise.”

“It’s being solicited for Febru-ary but I am still working on it. It’s

harder because it’s the Christmas season.”

Regarding “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” Yu said he loves it. “I love it. I had high expecta-tions because it is JJ Abrams. But I have some reservations as a fan though. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it and look forward to watching it again.”

Star Wars Saturday was orga-nized by Filbar’s and the alliance of pop culture stores thoughout Manila.

The Star Wars franchise re-turned to Marvel this 2015 when Disney purchased Lucasfilm Ltd., ending close to two decades run under Dark Horse Comics. It was Marvel that originally published Star Wars concurrent to the original film’s release in May of 1977.

Filipino designer’s fashion from trash showcased in Washington

WASHINGTON, DC—A young artist whose creative works are inspired by a love for the environment was featured at a celebration of Philippine design, textiles and fashion at the Philip-pine Embassy.

Francis Sollano, a 28-year-old visual artist and self-made social entrepreneur from Cebu, is making waves on the inter-national fashion scene with his innovative pieces made from “upcycled” trash, part of the “trashion” movement whidh is mobilizing communities, women and youth.

Sollano traveled to Washing-ton, D.C. to showcase his work and share his story during a talakayan and exhibit entitled “From Waste to Hip: A Creative Paradigm” on December 14 at the embassy.

Featured in the exhibit were dresses, bags, dolls, jewelry and sculptural pieces made from re-cycled trash such as plastic bags, PET bottles, drinking straws and sticker paper.

“Tonight’s event is in support of the Philippine and global vi-sion on sustainable development and climate change adapta-tion,” said Ambassador Jose L. Cuisia. “Francis and the Youth for a Livable Cebu are showing us the way from Waste to Hip. Upcycling is the new wave of sustainable fashion. It produces beautiful and original works from what are often considered waste materials.”

Cuisia said further: “I want you to think of the significance of displaying these crafts that represent not only a means of livelihood but also a labor of love and expression of creativity in the midst of material scarcity,” said the Ambassador.

Sollano was inspired to make fashion from trash three years ago while driving home in heavy rain.

“While I was driving, my car’s carpet started to wave. It was then that I realized that it was flooding after just a few minutes of rain. Aside from the kids bath-ing in the flood rain, garbage was also all over the place. It was a painful picture. I immediately felt the urge to do something about it in the way I feel most comfortable—trashion,” said Sollano.

He added, “It was never a difficult decision to choose trash as material. It is painful to see

garbage littered all over our cities, much worse seeing Fili-pinos throw their garbage in the streets as if our country is a huge trash bin. I wish to re-ignite a culture that truthfully values our environment and to take respon-sibility over our waste. It would be a very beautiful country to live in with products that speak the language of the earth.”

Creating fashion and art piec-es from trash is no longer a solo endeavor for Sollano. Through a partnership with the non-profit Youth for a Livable Cebu (YLC), local communities have become an integral part in Cebu’s trash-ion scene.

“I can recall my childhood playing with candy wraps and turn them into trinkets. It was when I joined YLC that I started to take trashion seriously. YLC, as a youth group, advocates for sustainability and part of its programs is upcycling. I saw this as a wonderful platform to introduce my art pieces and network with commercial estab-lishments,” said Sollano.

Women also play an active role in the production process. According to Sollano, trashion has allowed the women of the community to not only earn an income but also to rediscover their worth.

Artist and social entrepreneur Francis Sollano explains his craft.

“During one of our evalua-tions, we found out that most women felt happier because they had found a new sense of worth in themselves, that they are able to contribute in their

community and produce designs that are beautiful for the world to own. Instead of having a rou-tinely lazy day, the women now enjoy creating trashion. Money has become secondary,” said Sollano.

Although trashion is a fairly new concept, Sollano believes there is a lot of potential for it to become a thriving industry.

“The future of trashion is very promising, most especially with the new consciousness that the upcoming designers bring with them. There are also fashion brands that have started to adopt the same principles of upcycling. For our brand, we hope to preserve its aesthetic with its products as pieces of art while we aim to grow its reach in different regions across the globe,” said Sollano.

YLC is the youth arm of the Movement for a Livable Cebu (MLC). Started in June 2012, the MLC is a network of young professionals and volunteers collaborating in creative and sustainable ways to make Cebu a better place to live in.

Earlier this year, the embassy featured Philippine hand-woven fabric and the grand dame of Philippine fashion, Patis Tesoro. From Waste to Hip: A Creative Paradigm caps off 2015 as a year of Philippine textiles, design and fashion.

Talakayan sa Pasuguan is the embassy’s ongoing forum series which serves as a venue for the discussion of timely and relevant issues that affect the Filipino American community. (Inquirer.net)

Kris bares why President’s romance with...and-answer portion.

“She answered so well,” Kris

said, referring to Wurtzbach’s answer on her stand on the reestablishment of US military

bases in the country.Citing the shared history

of the Philippines and the US, Wurtzbach said that the Philip-pines is “very welcoming” to the Americans.

“I don’t see any problem with that at all,” she said.

The TV-host said she agreed with Wurtzbach’s answer.

“I agree with her. Because in a world where China is so strong we need them. Let’s be honest. Kailangan natin sila and let’s be friendly with them, di ba?” she said.

During final question-and-an-swer portion, all the candidates answered the question: “Why should you be the next Miss Universe?”

Wurtzbach said that she wants to lend her voice to certain causes such as HIV/AIDS aware-ness and youth issues.

“I want to show the universe that I am confidently beautiful with a heart,” she said.

Aquino said she was inspired by Wurtzbach’s answer.

“Ang galing niya, gusto ko siya,” she said. (Inquirer.net)

‘A Second Chance’ now highest-grossing Filipino �lm of all timeTHIRD time may be the charm

but “A Second Chance” has the glam.

John Lloyd Cruz and Bea Alonzo’s romantic drama is now the highest-grossing Filipino movie of all time, raking in P566 million worldwide as per Star Cinema executive Roxy Liquigan.

Liquigan posted the announce-ment via Instagram with the straightforward post “now the highest grossing Filipino movie of all time” together with the movie’s poster. A simple hashtag #P556M-Worldwide was the icing.

A Second Chance beat the previ-ous record holder “The Amazing Praybeyt Benjamin,” one of the entries in the 2014 Metro Manila Film Festival starring comedian Vice Ganda, by a whopping P100 million. (Inquirer.net)

Former ‘PBB’ housemates Tommy, Miho now a coupleby JOYCE JIMENEZ/Philstar.com

MANILA—Former “Pinoy Big Brother 737” housemates Miho Nashida and Tommy Esguerra are now officially a couple.

On the episode of “It’s Show-time,” on Saturday, Dec. 19, Tommy asked Miho if she could be his girlfriend.

Before she gave her answer, Miho appreciated Tommy’s ef-forts to win her heart and how he proved that his feelings are real.

“No’ng una sa totoo lang, hindi ako naniniwala sa ‘yo dahil siyempre ‘PBB,’ show ‘yon, e. Madaming camera,” she said to Tommy. “Tapos pagkatapos ng bahay ni Kuya, ito nasa labas na tayo, nasa outside na tayo ngayon kala ko magbabago ka, magbabago ang isip mo.”

“Pero nakikita ko naman sa araw-araw na hindi ka nman nagbago,” she added.

Tommy first confessed his feel-

ing for Miho when they were still inside the “PBB” house.

She also thanked him for valu-ing her mom and her daughter Aimie.

“Ang pinakamasaya kong ginawa mo, e, inalagaan mo ang mommy ko, si Aimie, ‘yong mas binibigyan mo siya ng respeto pa kaysa sa akin,” she said.

“‘Yon ang nagustuhan ko sa iyo,” she then stated, which made Tommy face light up with hope until she finally said “yes” to his question.

As if he still cannot believe, Tommy confirmed, “Sigurado ka, hundred percent? Hindi para sa show? Walang pressure dahil maraming tao?”

“Hindi ko inisip ‘yong pres-sure, hindi ko inisip ‘yong taong bayan, basta ‘yong sarili ko lang ang inisip ko,” Miho replied.

In the end, Tommy gave her a promise ring.

Piolo, John Lloyd among 2014’s top taxpayersMANILA—Seven celebrities

are in the top 50 individual tax payers list of Bureau of Internal Revenue for year 2014, accord-ing to the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

Boxing icon Manny Pacquiao is second in the list with P210.30 million in regular income taxes paid. Presidential sister and TV host Kris Aquino ranked sixth spot for having paid P54.53 mil-lion in taxes.

Also in the list is “Your Face Sounds Familiar” judge Sharon Cuneta, wife of Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pagilinan with P49.12 million regular income taxes paid.

Kapamilya actors John Lloyd Cruz and Piolo Pascual are also in the list with P37.70 million and P26.42 million in income taxes paid, respectively.

Anne Curtis-Smith is also one of the top 50 individual tax payers

with P 31.47 million in taxes.Vic Sotto landed on the 45th

spot with P 27.00 million in taxes paid.

Some of the personalities

included in the top 500 list of individual tax payers are Derek Ramsay, and GMA executives Felipe Gozon and Gilbert Duavit Jr. (Philstar.com)

John Lloyd Cruz and Piolo Pascual are among the top 50 individual income taxpayers in 2014, according to the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

by RYAN MARK Philstar.com

Being second choice for Walang Forever... Jericho: Not an issue

AlDub takes Cebu by storm

by MARIO E. BAUTISTA Philstar.com

MANILA—Jericho Rosales is happy to have an entry once again in the annual Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF).

“The first time I had an entry was in 2000, Star Cinema’s ‘Tang-ing Yaman,’ which won Best Pic-ture,” he says. “This was followed by ‘Bagong Buwan’ in 2001, ‘Baler’ which I did for Viva in 2008, ‘Yes-terday Today Tomorrow’ for Regal in 2011 and now, ‘Walang Forever’ for Quantum Films.”

Did he have second thoughts about accepting “Walang For-ever” that was originally meant for JM de Guzman? “No, it was never an issue. I believe every-thing happens for a reason. I’ve long wanted to do a light drama like this with touches of comedy, so I consider this an answered prayer and I want to thank the Lord for granting my request,” he says. “Even if I were the third or fourth choice, I won’t let go of the opportunity to do this project, which happens to be a Metro Manila Filmfest entry also. I really enjoyed doing this film with Jen-nylyn Mercado who I get to work with for the first time.”

He was praised to high heav-ens by Jennylyn during their presscon. When asked about him, she declared: “He’s one of the best leading men I’ve worked with. He’s a great actor and nice to everyone. He treats even the staff and the crew with care and concern, at siempre, maalaga siya sa kapareha niya, especially in our love scenes.”

What can Jericho say about this? “What else but thank you,” he says. “But Jen herself is a joy to work with. Napakagaan niyang kasama. We clicked right away on the set on the very first day of shooting. Truth is, when I’d see her billboards then, I was wishing that we’d be given the chance to work together someday and here it is, nagkatotoo na.”

What can he say about Jen’s

acting? “She’s the best. We both won in a contest on TV. She in ‘StarStruck,’ and me in Mr. Pogi of ‘Eat Bulaga.’ She can be called the Rom-com Queen after doing hit romantic comedies, but in fairness to her, she’s also good in doing our dramatic scenes. Ito kasing ‘Walang Forever,’ it’s not just a rom-com, marami rin itong dramatic scenes and she’s also good in all of them.

“I play Ethan, her former boy-friend, an information technology expert who works abroad. We broke up because she thinks I’m so self-centered. Then I come back to her life, woo her again, she gives me a second chance, then things go wrong again for us, which is why she believes that in a relationship, walang forever.”

What does he think are their chances against younger love teams like AlDub, JaDine and KimXi who are also starring in MMFF entries? “I believe in our movie. Our director, Dan Villegas, is very good. He has fresh, great ideas on how to come up with a crowd pleaser. Last year, he surprised everyone with “Eng-lish Only Please,” which won

awards and was also a box-office blockbuster due to positive word-of- mouth endorsement from satisfied viewers. I won’t be sur-prised if Walang Forever would follow the same route. We’re all happy with our movie. I think it will spread like wildfire that it’s worth watching and it will have long legs at the box-office.”

Jericho got married to model-TV host Kim Jones in May of last year. When do they intend to have kids? “As of now, we don’t have any plans. We’re doing a lot of traveling together to enjoy each other’s company. When you have a baby, that would be hard to do. So having kids would have to wait.”

He has romantic scenes with Jennylyn in “Walang Forever,” won’t Kim get jealous? “No, she’s very secure with me. She knows my heart belongs only to her and that when I kiss my leading ladies, it’s just part of my job as an actor. I’m only doing it to be effective in my work and she already knew that even before she married me. Actually, she’s excited to watch the movie and she thinks there’s kilig factor and good chemistry in my team-up with Jennylyn.”

MANILA—The inclement weather brought about by ty-phoons Nona and Onyok proved to be no match to the drawing power of the phenomenal love team of Alden Richards and Maine “Yaya Dub” Mendoza. Thousands welcomed the duo as they barnstormed the cities of Cebu and Davao last week to bring “Eat, Bulaga’s” Kalyeserye and to promote their first movie together “My Bebe Love.”

An estimated crowd of 10,000 trooped to Brgy. Lorega in Cebu City last Dec. 17 just so they could have a glimpse of the phenome-

John Arcilla aka Heneral Luna: I am a Filipino �rst, an actor second

THEATER stalwart John Ar-cilla has skyrocketed from semi-obscurity to, at the very least, semi-fame, thanks to the left-field success of the historical biopic “Heneral Luna.”

His feral performance as the hot-blooded revolutionary hero Antonio Luna has made him a recognizable public figure, spe-cially when he goes out wearing Luna’s trademark handlebar moustache and military uniform on speaking engagements.

“Gusto nilang murahin ko ang mga barumbadong opisyales ng gobyerno,” says a bemused Arcilla, who’s happy to oblige his adoring public. Luna has become a touchstone of sorts for society’s discontents—from government corruption to the incompetence of public officials. And for many Filipinos, it seems, Arcilla is Luna.

In fact, he’ll be reprising the role in the coming Gregorio del Pilar biopic. Far from rebelling at being so typecast, Arcilla hopes to sustain the momentum of nationalist sentiment following the success of “Heneral Luna.” The best part about being fa-mous, he says, is that it gives him a platform for expressing his thoughts and opinions on social and political issues.

Arcilla, who turns 50 next year, spent his formative years in Baler, Aurora, where his parents took refuge during the martial law years. At age 7, he began to show an interest in the stage, and joined the Philippine Educa-tional Theater Association (Peta) while still in high school. He earned a degree in Mass Com-munication from St. Joseph’s College of Quezon City, and was a scholar of the Actors’ Work-shop Foundation under Laurice

Guillen and Leo Martinez.It was with Tanghalang Pili-

pino, the resident theater com-pany of the Cultural Center of the Philippines, that he got his stage legs, eventually graduating to lead roles. Since then he’s gone from strength to strength, expanding his range to include roles in film and television.

In 2012, he bagged a small part in the big-budget Hol-lywood thriller “The Bourne Legacy.” The following year he starred in “Metro Manila,” a Brit-ish independent film which was entered in the 86th Academy Awards and earned Arcilla a best supporting actor nomination in the British Independent Film Awards.

Before all that, however, he was an activist, going to the barrios to teach children of peasants and laborers as a “cul-tural worker.” He broke with the orthodox Left when it opted out of People Power in 1986. Since then he has chosen to follow his own path toward social and

political change.Outside the stage and screen,

Arcilla runs an environmental non governmental association called Care and Protect Life on Earth that he started in 2003. He also put up a community animal shelter called Stray Home, an outlet for his love for animals. (Arcilla shares his home with nine poodles, a Belgian Malinois and a Siberian Husky, and has an almost psychic connection with his pets.)

Though Arcilla’s current suc-cess has been decades in the making, there’s no denying that “Heneral Luna” has been a career breakthrough. Hopefully, the convergence of Arcilla’s art and his activism can continue in the future.

“I am a Filipino first… before I am an actor,” he says when asked about how he plans to choose future roles. “Makakatu-long ba ako sa enlightenment ng audience o hindi? Makakatulong ba ako sa pag-evolve ng society o hindi?” (Inquirer.net)

Gov. Vi still goes to marketSHE may be one of the few

highly successful actors-turned-politicians, but Star for All Seasons Vilma Santos Recto, who is in her final term as Lipa governor, still does the marketing for her family.

Wife to former senator Ralph Recto and mom to college student Ryan Christian and TV host Luis Manzano, Gov. Vi endearingly made this revelation just before she mounted her final “Voices Songs and Rhythms” [also an acronym for Vilma Santos-Recto] talent search at this year’s Ala Eh Festival.

In reply to a question why she decided to run as Representative of the Lone District of Lipa when she was previously offered to be the vice presidential running mate of former DILG Secretary Mar

Roxas, the beloved governor said, “Maraming nga pong nagulat na hindi ako tumakbo ng pagka-vice president, pero nagpapasalamat po ako sa mga nagtiwalang kakayanin ko umakyat sa national level. Kaya lang, hindi ko kasi ma-imagine na pag tayo ay palarin na wala nang tatao sa bahay!

“Maniwala po kayo at sa hindi, ako pa rin po ang nag-ma-market-ing para sa bahay, at gusto ko pa rin na pag may nangyari sa anak ko, makakatakbo ako sa kanya.

“Maganda naman po ang rating ni Ralph [who is running for the senate anew], kaya mas gusto ko na po na isa lang sa amin ang nasa national level, because I still believe that the family is the most important unit of society.” (ManilaTimes.net)

non that is AlDub, the love team of Alden Richards and Maine “Yaya Dub” Mendoza. The tandem top-bills the Juan for All, All for Juan segment of “Eat, Bulaga” with the famous trio JoWaPao (Jose Manalo, Wally Bayola and Paolo Ballesteros).

There were some Cebuanos who went to the area very early, hoping to become part of the seg-ment’s popular Sugod Bahay. But many were already contented that they had finally gotten the chance to see Alden and Yaya Dub in person for the first time. The Cebu City Traffic Office, on the other hand, declared a “comfortable” traffic flow since the barangay

where fans and onlookers stayed to see the celebrities is located in an interior portion of the city.

At the mall show later that day to promote “My Bebe Love”—AlDub’s first film with Ai-Ai delas Alas and Vic Sotto, who in turn jokingly called their tandem as AiSing—a limited audience of 800 were al-lowed to watch the program at the SM Seaside Sky Wall. Only those who were able to purchase items on Dec. 16 or 17 worth P500 or a movie card worth P250 were allowed to enter. A throng of fans, however, patiently and eagerly waited outside the venue, hoping for even a quick glance of their idols.

GIFT GIVING. On Thursday, Dec. 17, the Asian American Group (AGG) distributed more than 900 toys for the students of Marion E. Cahlan Elementary School in North Las Vegas. “What you and the Asian American Group are doing for our school is truly amazing. We are so truly grateful. I look forward to many more years working with the Asian American Group.” Corey Holden, counselor of the elementary school said. Leaders of the Asian community and AAG board members joined the gift giving to “children who will grow up and realize that we all have to share and give in this world by helping a fellow human being and the Asian community will take the LEAD,” shared Mike Vaswani.

AJPress photos by Robert Macabagdal

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We invite you be a part of our annual celebration of an old-time Filipino Christmas tradi-tion, Simbang Gabi, a project of the Filipino Catholics of Saint Paul the Apostle Ministry. Simbang Gabi (meaning “Night Mass”) will occur each morning for 9 straight days, starting December 16 to 25, with Mass starting at 5:30am. Everyone is welcome to celebrate the joyful upcoming birth of Jesus Christ! Light breakfast will be provided after each mass at the Maher Hall of St. Paul the Apostle Church (14085 Peyton Dr, Chino Hills, CA 91709). We are currently in need of volunteers to help serve breakfast or assist us in serving at the Mass as ushers or Eucharistic ministers. We gladly accept and encourage individual or group volun-teers. Please spread the news and invite your friends to this joyous community gathering. If you are interested in helping please call any of the following; Tara Villavicencio - (909) 210-4891, Emily Jiao - (909) 248-8791, or Rick Jiao (909) 248-8790.

The Filipino-American & ethnic parishioners of the Church of the Good Shepherd of Beverly Hills will celebrate “Simbang Gabi 2015” on Tuesday, December 22, at 7:00 pm. Everyone is invited to come and celebrate the special Advent Mass in the parish, in conso-nance with the observance of the tradition by the Filipino Ministry of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The theme of this year’s Simbang Gabi is “Jesus our Savior, empower our families to be better stewards of your creation” –translated in Pilipino as “Jesus aming Tagapaglig-tas, bigyan mo ng kapangyarihan ang aming Pamilya na maging mas mahusay na tagapanga-laga ng iyong nilikha.” Most Reverend Bishop Oscar A. Solis, the first Filipino Bishop in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and currently the Head of the San Pedro Pastoral Region, will be the main celebrant, with other priests including Fr. Ed Benioff to concelebrate with the Bishop. Special guests include the Philippine Consul General of Los Angeles, Leo Herrera-Lim, and his wife, with music from the Philippine Chamber Singers of Los Angeles. A catered and potluck reception follows after the Mass at the Church Hall.

The Class of 1965 of the Pampanga High School will hold “TULA ampong SAYA,” its 50th Anniversary Reunion, this coming December 29-30, in San Fernando Pampanga, Philippines. All 1965 graduates of the Pampanga High School (PHS), formerly the Jose Abad Santos High School (JASHS), and their spouses are welcome to all scheduled events. Admission is free. The celebration will begin with BISPERAS on December 29 from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm, enjoying fun games, old music, and togetherness at the DIASPORA FARM RESORT in Santa Barbara, Bacolor, Pampanga. On December 30, from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm, join us for KAPI-YESTAN, a provincial fiesta luncheon featuring familiar Kapampangan dishes, at the Mulang Galang orchard in San Antonio, Mexico, Pampanga. The evening of Dec. 30 will conclude with TERAKAN, a gala dinner-dance from 6:30 pm to 12 midnight, at the Fortune Hongkong Seafood Restaurant in the San Fernando, Pampanga. Enjoy a fun evening of dancing to the retro music of Decadas and the mellow songs of folksinger Jerry. Class ‘65ers, please join us in celebrating our 50th Golden Anniversary! Full details on preparations, events and venues can be found on “TULA ampong SAYA,” on Facebook. For donations, interest in the 50th Anniversary Reunion souvenir memory book, highlighting the successes of individual Class ‘65ers and the accomplishments of the PHS Class ’65 Foundation, Inc., please contact the ju-bilee reunion organizing committee in the Philippines: Joseph Deang (0927-228-8588); Erlie Aquino Estandarte (0929-219-0248); Corazon Cunanan (0939-118-2888; 0926-660-35540); Cecille Morales Bernas (0932-509-2646); and Marcial Morales (0918-915-9095); and Dan Galang 0929-427-9308; 045-966-0764). In the US and Canada, please contact Dan Galang at (510) 487-5551 or at (510) 648-1047.

All are cordially invited to the Feast of Santo Niño de Cebu on Saturday, January 9, 2016, from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm at St. Bernard Catholic Church in Bellflower, California, organized and sponsored by the Santo Niño de Cebu Association of Southern California, Inc., a non-profit religious organization. The Eucharistic Celebration will be presided by the Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles, His Excellency Bishop Oscar A. Solis at 10:00 am followed by the traditional procession of the image of Santo Niño de Cebu, fiesta lunch and Sinulog presentations. Food and financial donations are welcome, and all donations are tax deduct-ible. For further information, you may contact the association President, Danny C. Diluvio at (323) 252-4991 or email at: dannydiluvio1@gmail.com.

Santo Niño Cruzada USA, with the participation of the Cathedral Knights of Columbus and a Sinulog group, is inviting everyone for a holy mass to celebrate the 29th anniversary of the Feast of Santo Niño, the Divine Infant Jesus, at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown Los Angeles (555 W Temple St, Los Angeles, CA 90012) on Sunday, January 17, at 3:30pm. The main celebrant is Monsignor Kevin Kostelnik, with Father David Gallardo as concelebrant. For more information, please contact any of the following officers: Romy & Tess Esturas (213-387-9682), Rey & Tess Edpao (818-469-7292), Lilia Figuracion (626-394-2661, Carmen Estrada (213-413-2881), Fe Montana (323-218-1587), Ester Paredes (213-864-1149), Fe Reyes (213-413-5286), Laurie Dolorfino (213-407-0097), and Cherry Guerrero (213-632-2096).

Fr. Jose Joseph Parathanal of Holy Trinity Parish, San Pedro District, Archdiocese of Los Angeles, invites all to join Fr. Joseph Parathanal’s Pilgrimages to EASTERN EUROPE, OL-GUADALUPE/Colonial Mexico, and INDIA. During the journey, pilgrims will pray to God for healing of body, mind and spirit especially for healing of the world from violence, terrorism and climate changes. Trip dates are: Divine Mercy/Infant Jesus of Prague/Austria/Hungary/Medjugorje (Eastern Europe) April 17- April 30; OLGuadalupe and Colonial Mexico - June 20 - June 27; and Mother Teresa/St. Thomas/St. Alphonsa/St. Euprasia/St. Chavarra (India) - Sept. 15 - Sept. 29, 2016. For more details and pilgrimage information, please contact Bernadette at bcorp1114@hotmail.com or call 323-344-1548 & 323-547-6618.

Attention all graduates of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines and the Philippine College of Commerce: join us in our FIRST GLOBAL REUNION being organized by the Poly-technic University of the Philippines Alumni Association, USA Inc. scheduled on May 27-29, 2016 (Memorial Day Weekend) at the New Orleans Hotel in Las Vegas, NV. We promise a weekend of fun-filled activities, of friendship and camaraderie as we reminisce our best memories during our high school and college days. There will be lots of entertainment, singing and dancing and photo opportunities with your classmates and friends.

For more information, please contact any of the following: Loi Herrera at 562-544-8210 or loiherrera@yahoo.com; Monette Santillan-Rivera at 818-970-8317 or Monette_santillan@yahoo.com; Rose Mejia at 323-997-3838 or Rosemariemejia@kw.com; Marissa Sugay-Palanca at 818-281-7460 ormarispalanca@yahoo.com; Rose Maghari at 661-794-8906 or rmaghari@gmail.com; Sally Mendoza at 323-695-0235 or sally.mendoza616@yahoo.com; Honeylette De Leon at 562-480-5743 or honey@worldclassfreight.com; Virginia Herbito at virginiaherbito@gmail.com; Connie Acosta at 323-854-5303 or connieacosta1@att.net; Violeta D. Cristobal at 310-880-5808 or vee@cristobalcpa.com; Jun Mapoy at 323-627-5326 or jcmapoy@yahoo.com.

ATTY. ROBERT REEVESDEVIN M. CONNOLLYNANCY E. MILLER

Your ImmigrationSolution

What to know before you go

DEPARTING the Uni ted States when you are not a US citizen can lead to serious problems upon your attempt to return. This is true for both lawful permanent residents and for non-citizens with pending applications or non-immigrant visas.

Many lawful permanent resi-dents mistakenly believe that a green card guarantees their re-admission to the US after traveling abroad. Not true. Everyone seeking entry into the US is subject to inspection. If questions of inadmissibility arise during these inspections, the non-citizen can be placed in secondary inspection or in Removal Proceedings where the alien will have to fight to remain in the US and keep his lawful status.

There are many reasons why a person already granted per-manent resident status may face problems when attempting to return to the US. One common reason is based of the amount of time the alien has spent outside of the US. Attending school, working abroad, caring for an elderly relative, are all possible reasons for remaining out of the US for an extended period of time. The issue is one of intent. Did they intend to aban-don their permanent resident status or did they always intend to continue to live in the US? The question is one of fact and must be resolved by sufficient persuasive evidence submitted by the alien.

To help reduce the risk of be-ing charged with abandonment, the permanent resident who foresees being out of the US for an extended period of time should obtain a re-entry permit. The re-entry permit may allow a resident to remain outside of the US for up to 2 years while main-

taining permanent resident sta-tus. This travel document must be applied for before departing the US and is usually granted for a 1 or 2 year period of time. However, while the re-entry per-mit makes admission at the end of the period of absence more likely, it is not a guarantee that the green card holder will be re-admitted as a lawful permanent resident. Again, the question is one of intent and the evidence provided to show proper intent is essential.

A special immigrant return-ing resident visa (SB-1) may be-come necessary if the resident failed to obtain a re-entry permit before leaving or remained out-side beyond its expiration date. The SB-1 is issued by consular officers at a US Embassy. It will only be issued if the resident is able to clearly demonstrate that he or she always maintained the intent to reside in the US. They must also demonstrate that the cause of their protracted stay outside of the US was beyond their control. Consular officers begin their analysis by assum-ing that one who intended to remain a permanent resident would have applied for a re-en-try permit prior to departing the US. And it is the alien’s burden to persuade the officer that her conclusion is incorrect.

Another reason why a green card holder might be refused admission is a prior criminal conviction. Crimes of a seri-ous nature (and sometimes even those that might not seem serious) may result in a refusal of admission. At that point, the alien could be paroled into the United States and given a chance to fight for their green card status in Immigration Court. Resolution of this po-tential problem might include obtaining a waiver of inadmissi-bility or naturalizing (if eligible) prior to departing.

A person with a pending application for permanent resi-dent status who did not obtain advanced parole before she left

will be deemed to have aban-doned her application. So, advanced parole is essential if one wishes to travel out of the country and continue to pursue her application for a green card.

Advanced parole is also necessary in order to avoid incurring the 3-10 year unlaw-ful presence bars for having remained in the US in unlawful status beyond a period of time. The Board of Immigration Ap-peals has ruled that aliens who travel on advanced parole are not considered to have departed the US and, therefore, have not triggered these bars.

A non-citizen who entered the U.S. on one type of visa (such as a visitor’s visa) and then changed status (to student or H1B etc) may be required to apply for a visa in that new cat-egory at their US Consulate in order to return to the US.

Those in removal proceed-ings or with existing removal orders invoke a whole different set of problems that are not ad-dressed in this article.

Anyone without US citizen-ship should keep in mind that re-entry is not guaranteed. It is the non-citizen’s burden to show that they are eligible for admission. Give yourself the best chance of making your readmission to the US unevent-ful. Consult a knowledgeable and experienced immigration lawyer before you go.

The uninvited celebrant: Where’s the birthday boy?

PHILIP S. CHUA,MD, FACS, FPCS

Health@Heart

WHEN international celebrity Marilyn Monroe, in her sexy tight-fitting gold gown that hugged her shapely figure, sang “Happy Birthday, Mr. President,” in May 1962, the attention of the world was momentarily focused on her. But John F. Kennedy, 45, was still center stage. After all, he was the honoree and the man of the hour.

During this season, jolly old Santa Claus -- with his famous white mustache, beard, and long curly hair, red baggy outfit and winter black boots -- is given the glory. Every year, he gets the honor. Men, women, young and old, and children of all ages, have accepted him as the symbol of Christmas itself --- holiday cheers, gifts, food, and merriment. He appears to have a monopoly of the reverence and the spotlight is mostly on him all throughout the festivities.

It almost seems that without Santa Claus, there would not be any reindeer, sleigh, stockings, gifts, or even Christmas itself. Ask any child, and that would invari-

ably be the answer you get. Santa Claus is very important during this holiday. Without him, there won’t be any Christmas. There won’t be any gifts. He is, after all, the bearer of gifts from the North Pole. That’s what the children are led to believe -- unintentionally I am sure, but nonetheless that’s the subliminal vibe they get from adults as they grow up in very this materialistic world where priorities are some-times twisted.

Everything during the Christ-mas season, including our con-versations and greetings, is about Santa -- the parties, food, drinks, gifts, and all the material things we can buy in this highly commer-cialized world. Many of us hardly talk to our children and amongst ourselves about the true meaning of Christmas, the Birthday Boy, the celebrant Himself. About His wonders, His greatness, and His ultimate sacrifice for us.

Are we off track focusing too much on ourselves, the material and earthly things and too little on the sacredness of Christmas?

Yes, I think we are, and, sadly, most inappropriately. We seem to have lost our focus. Jesus, the

celebrant, is often relegated to the background, even forgotten during His own birthday party. Shopping, food and merriment preoccupy and overwhelm everybody’s minds during this holiday. The honoree, the Main Event, the very reason why we are celebrating in the first place, is no longer on the center stage. Sometimes, I feel that we have even neglected to invite Him to His own party. In many cases, He is nowhere to be found, be-cause He may not be a conscious priority on our minds during this busy and festive occasion. The sheer joy of the celebration and the loud “Ho! Ho! Ho!” seem to have drowned Him out. We seem to be missing the significance and the holiness of it all.

Isn’t it time to put the birthday Boy back on center stage, where He belongs, and to honor Him in the right spirit? After all, this is His party. And we are only His guests.

To one and all, a Very Merry CHRISTmas, and to our Santo Nino in the manger: Happy Birthday, and thank you for the gift of life and for blessing us once again with the

MONETTEADEVA MAGLAYA

ImmigrantLiving: 101 and Beyond

Christ is still the reason for the season

“He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it

under a tree.” -Roy L. Smith

LEST we forget, Christ is the reason for the season. The generosity personified by the iconic Santa Claus figure comes from the love of God who sent His only begotten Son as a gift to the world. We need to refocus with laser sharp accuracy on what is truly important about the season.

So say Merry Christmas in-stead of Happy Holidays if you agree. Those who wish to stay politically correct will say Happy Holidays or Season’s Greetings. Businesses who cater to all de-nominations and do not wish to “offend” will stay the course of political correctness. It’s a mat-ter of survival these days given the cultural climate.

But take heart, it seems the pendulum is swinging. Soon the scourge of political cor-rectness in our time and all its dark assaults on morality, truth and goodness will go the way of the dodo.

The weather is highly unusual in most parts of the world this year but if you tune in to sky watchers’ websites and yahoo news segments devoted to sci-ence, the heavens are putting out spectacular light shows seen during midnight and the early morning hours.

If you live in Los Angeles, go check out the schedule at the Griffith Park Observatory. Tune out of the internet. We live too much in our heads gawking, gaping tethered to our phones. We become virtual slaves to our ipads and our computers — our eyesight becoming progressively weak, our derrieres getting big-ger, our muscles getting flabbier and sadly, our lives becoming predictably boring. We fail to see the big picture.

We need to stop living virtual lives. We need to CHOOSE TO REALLY LIVE with all our senses and marvel at the heavens. If you live in areas with very little light pollution or you can find a group of friends who love to watch the night sky with their telescopes on higher ground, bundled up like Eskimos for the frigid hours of the night and early morning hours with their thermos full of hot cocoa, you can really feel the velvet grandeur of the night skies around this time of the year.

At no other time during the

year is the line, “Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.” more appropriate to ponder than at Christmas time when all the splendors of the world around us, if we look carefully and listen well, take on special meaning.

Christmas is a time for re-membrance of things past, most-ly the good ones. We ought to edit out and leave the unwanted footage of those memories that are best left forgotten on the cutting room floor.

Above all, it is a time to say “THANK YOU”, a time to draw lessons from the year just past in order to use a new and fresh supply of God’s gift called TIME, given in equal measure to all men, rich or poor, from one glorious day to the next.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

* * *

Heart Evangelista reacts to online bashersIN this day and age of social

media, it isn’t easy to be a ce-lebrity. More so to be a celebrity and married to a politician vying for the second highest position in the land.

Heart Evangelista acknowl-edged the fact when she and her husband Senator Chiz Escu-dero took the hot seat on Winnie Monsod’s Bawal Ang Pasaway on GMA Network, adding that she has gotten used to the negative

comments she reads online.Active on Facebook and In-

stagram, Heart confessed, “In the beginning, it drove me crazy. Especially ako sanay ako sa social media. I’m very active [online], so nung umpisa nakikita ko lahat. But my husband advised me na wag ko nalang daw pansinin ang mga bashers.”

She quickly added, “Pero siy-empre bilang asawa or bilang kaibigan din, parang nasasaktan

ako para sa kanya. Hindi ba? So I have learned to let go. Eventu-ally, siguro, you get immune din to what they throw at him or even to me.”

Heart continues to be active in showbiz via projects on GMA Network, but has declared she will be active in campaigning for her husband in 2016. Escudero is cur-rently leading in surveys among the vice presidential candidates. (ManilaTimes.net)

Mother Lily still shakes, rattles & rollsby RICKY LO

Philstar.com

REGAL Matriarch Mother Lily Monteverde couldn’t help but be emotional when she and five other industry icons were honored by the Directors Guild of the Philip-pines, Inc. (DGPI) recently.

The five others were Susan Roces (actress, represented by grandson Bryan Poe-Llaman-zares at the event), Romy Vitug (cinematographer), Ricky Lee (scriptwriter), Kidlat Tahimik (indie film movement) and Lore Reyes (with directing partner Peque Gallaga who wasn’t able to make it).

Thanking the directors and sharing the honor with them, Mother Lily credited the directors for helping make Regal Films a formidable pillar of the industry. Name a director and chances are that he has worked with Regal — Mike de Leon (Sister Stella L, etc.), Lino Brocka (Adultery, etc.), Ishmael Bernal (Relasyon,etc.), Mel Chionglo (Nasaan Ka Nang Kailangan Kita?, etc.), Marilou Diaz-Abaya (Boystown, etc.), Maryo J. delos Reyes (Diosa, etc.),

Peque Gallaga (Scorpio Nights, etc.), Gil Portes (Beautiful Life), Joel Lamangan (one of the Mano Po movies, etc.), Erik Matti (one of the Mano Po movies, etc.), Joey Javier Reyes (My Monster Mom, etc.), Joey Gosiengfiao (Tempta-tion Island, etc.), Mario O’Hara (Shake, Rattle & Roll, etc.) and Elwood Perez (Bilangin ang Bituin sa Langit, etc.), among others.

Mother Lily was criticized for her pito-pito style of movie-mak-ing (films shot in seven days) and ably acquitted herself by launch-ing the careers of Lav Diaz (Ang Kriminal ng Bo. Concepcion) and Jeffrey Jeturian (Sana Pagibig Na). Most of today’s finest actors started as Regal Babies (Maricel Soriano, Gabby Concepcion, Dina Bonnevie, Albert Martinez, et al).

“Without you,” continued Mother Lily, still addressing the directors, “there would not have been classic movies and New Age films even today’s young genera-tion enjoys.”

In a manner of speaking, Moth-er Lily continues to shake, rattle and roll (as the title of her previ-ous 13 MMFF entries aptly put it). Her company’s 2015 MMFF entry,

Haunted Mansion directed by Jun Lana, stars newcomers Janella Sal-vador, Marlo Mortel and Jerome Ponce, together with Sharlene San Pedro, Ingrid dela Paz, Devon Se-ron, Eliza Pineda, Phytos Ramirez and Paulo Gumabao.

At the movie’s recent presscon, Mother Lily delivered a short speech, saying (quoted verba-tim): “Marami ang nagtatanong kung bakit hindi Shake, Rattle & Roll ang entry niMother Lily sa Metro Filmfest. It’s because I believe so much in Haunted Mansion. I believe so much in my newest babies, Janella, Marlo and Jerome. First time I visited the set in Bulacan. Natakot ako! Nakakakilabot! Di ako makatulog! That’s how scary the movie is. Pati si Mother Lily,na-shake, na-rattle at nag-roll…!”

Mother Lily ended her DGPI acceptance speech this way: “Producers an directors, not to mention actors and production people, share one body, one soul, one mind and one goal. That is, to create more films that will not only entertain but will put Philippine Cinema at par with the world’s best.”

by ARMIN P. ADINAInquirer.net

MISS World Philippines Hilla-rie Danielle Parungao scored a Top 10 finish and topped the “Multimedia” event in the 2015 Miss World pageant held at the Crown of Beauty Theater in Sanya, China, on Saturday, Dec. 19.

Prior to the final cut to the Top 5, Parungao ranked fourth in the Miss World “leaderboard” based on points she earned from the preliminary events.

In the Miss World pageant, all delegates undergo a series of preliminary activities, where they earn points to help boost their chances of bagging the title.

Aside from bagging the Multi-media Award, Parungao also fig-ured highly in the “Top Model” and “Beauty With A Purpose” events, the latter with her char-ity project called “Katuwang” which aims to curb infant and child mortality in depressed communities.

The 24-year-old nursing grad-uate from Nueva Vizcaya also sustained the Philippines’ strong running in the global tilt, which was ignited by Gwendoline Ruais’ first runner up finish in 2011.

In 2013, Megan Young gave the Philippines its first victory in the London-based global tilt. Queneerich Rehman finished in the Top 15 in 2012, while last year’s representative Valerie Weigmann cracked the Top 25.

For the pageant’s 65th stag-ing this year, the crown went to Spain’s Mireia Lalaguna Royo, a 23-year-old Pharmacy student from Barcelona. She also re-ceived the “Top Model” award.

Russian delegate Sofia Ni-kitchuck, who ranked first in the Top 10 leaderboard, finished second. Indonesia’s Maria Har-fanti, who topped the “Beauty With A Purpose” race, placed third.

Jamaica’s Sanetta Myrie and Lebanon’s Valerie Abou Chacra rounded up the Top 5.

Guyana’s Lisa Punch, who performed a song number dur-ing the coronation ceremonies, topped the Talent competition, while Namibia’s Steffi Van Wyk scored the highest in the Sports and Fitness challenge.

Vietnam’s Trn Ngc Lan Khuê

earned the highest public votes and was included as the 11th finalist through her People’s Choice Award. She also topped the World Fashion Designer Dresses contest.

Young was tapped to host the pageant for the second year in a row, along with returning host Tim Vincent and Angela Chow.

This year’s competition had 114 delegates.

Lalaguna’s victory marked the first-ever win for a Spanish contestant.

Not present was Miss Canada, Chinese-born Anastasia Lin, who had been prevented from boarding her connecting flight to Sanya from Hong Kong last month after China refused her a visa.

Lin is an outspoken critic of Chinese religious policy and a follower of the Falun Gong meditation practice, which was outlawed by China in 1999.

She said that after she won the Canadian title, Chinese se-

curity agents visited her father, who still lives in China, in an apparent attempt to intimidate her into silence.

China has hosted the com-petition seven times, starting in 2003, part of its attempts to project a more modern, outgoing image. However, the controversy over Lin’s attendance illustrates the authoritarian communist government’s determination to do so on its own terms, regard-less of the cost to the country’s reputation.

Neither Beijing nor the Lon-don-based Miss World Organi-zation has commented on the controversy.

It was the second consecutive year that outside events intruded on the competition. Last year’s contest in London was marred by the murder the month before of Miss Honduras and her sister in that country.

The first Miss World contest was held 64 years ago in Brit-ain.

Miss Spain wins Miss World 2015PH bet reaches top 10, wins multimedia evemts

The uninvited celebrant...privilege of being invited to your celebration.

***Looking backAs the year comes to an end,

there seems to be a natural sense that inspires us to reflect on the past. Please allow me to take you back on a virtual time machine to a decade and nine years ago.

My first Heart to Heart column in Cebu Daily News came out June 18, 1998, about four months after its maiden issue rolled out of the press on February 8, 1998, as a new Philippine Inquirer pub-lication. Cebu Daily News has progressed a lot over the years to its current premier status, one that I am very proud of as a CDN writer.

Less than three months earlier, on November 21, 1997, my cardiac surgery team and I performed the first standard open-heart surgery at the Cebu Doctors’ (University) Hospital, where the heart was stopped and a heart-lung machine was used while doing the bypass. On June 8, 1999, we did the beat-ing-heart off-pump coronary artery bypass (OPCAB), the first in the Philippines, a procedure now be-ing done as a routine. The patient was a 68-year-old American retiree in Cebu and he had quadruple bypasses.

Mayor Mike Rama once labeled me “an adopted son of Cebu, a Cebuano at heart” (although I was a Tagalog/Pampangueno/Chinese born in Manila), because I shuttled almost every other month from Chicago or Las Vegas to Cebu to do heart surgery at the Cebu Doctors’ University Hospital, fly-ing more frequently to Cebu than most Cebuanos in the USA. I was tickled pink with that privilege and distinct honor, especially because

I have always had a special place in my heart for the great people of Cebu, even before I visited Cebu for the first time in 1996.

In December 2010, I retired from the chairmanship of the CDUH Cardiovascular Surgery, a position CDUH President and Chairman, Dr. P. V. Larrazabal, Jr., had appointed me to in 1997. The rapid progress of CDUH and its various colleges and satellite hospitals has impressed me to no end. I am very proud and grateful to have been a part of CDUH and its fantastic staff and employees.

Time has flown by so fast. In those 13 years of my life in Cebu, I was blessed with a lot of friends and patients, who I frequently think of with fond remembrances. I now visit Cebu about once or twice a year, while on our annual medical missions in the Philippines. Those happy memories I shall cherish each day as they provide me warmth in the winter of my life.

On this holiday, I wish to greet all my friends, past patients, my fellow members of the Cebu Daily News Family, the CDUH Family, readers of my column, and all the other wonderful people of fabulous Cebu a blessed Christmas and a new year filled with love, good health, peace, prosperity, and time to enjoy them.

God bless. See you next year!!***

Iñigo Pascual takes a big stepby BOY ABUNDA

Philstar.com

RIGHT before 2015 ends, Iñigo Pascual is taking a big step forward in his career as he stars in his first-ever teleserye, “And I Love You So (AILYS).”

It is major for him, not just be-cause it’s his first regular TV show, but also because he won’t have his father Piolo Pascual around as part of the cast. Piolo is busy working on his own show, “Written in Our Stars,” also under Dreamscape Entertainment, which will debut in 2016.

Iñigo is very excited over his teleserye debut where he shares acting credits with other talented young stars in Julia Barretto and Miles Ocampo. Also in the cast with them are some more senior actors, including Angel Aquino and Dimples Romana.

They have already taped several scenes, and Iñigo says that so far, the experience has been “amaz-ing.” He had a hard time in the beginning, though, because he was used to the way things are done in the movies, where only a few scenes are filmed a day. In television, it can sometimes go up to 30-plus sequences a day, so the pace is much faster.

Thus, he had to adjust. “Having a hard time was part of it, especially in the beginning,” confesses Iñigo. “It was very fast-paced, I was just so used to the whole movie set-up na ilang beses tina-take ang isang scene. So medyo na-shock ako na parang ang bilis. Yon na ‘yon? I had to really come prepared every time kasi sobrang dami naming

sequences na tatapusin in such a limited time so that was the main challenge for me.”

His father has been a big help. From watching him, Iñigo has slowly gotten used to how things are done on television. “Just watch-ing him, visiting him on the set, seeing the way he is even off-cam, the way he focuses on his role and the way he gets into his character, is something I’m lucky that I get an inside scoop on for free — that I’m able to see that and use that as well.”

And yet Iñigo is clear on one thing, which is that he doesn’t want to be seen as just an exten-sion of his father. Not because he’s ashamed or shy about it, but because he wants to carve his own identity as an actor. “Of course, I want to be different,” he says. “I

want people to say I’m Iñigo Pas-cual, and not just the son of Piolo. Kukunin ko yung mga ginagamit niya at ginagawa niya, but at the same time I want to come up with my own way of acting and going through things.”

But through the years, there is so much that he has learned, even just from watching his dad. “How professional he is (is one thing),” says Inigo.

And yet it wasn’t until recently that Iñigo felt the showbiz bug had really taken a hold of him, and that he was here to stay. Now he’s pretty much decided on settling in the country to make this a career.

All he knows now is that he has fallen in love with the craft of act-ing, and that from this point on, it’s going to be a big part of his future.

BY MONET LU

‘Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas’

WHEN malls start playing Christmas songs all day long, you know: Christmas is knock-ing at your door. One of the holiday anthems often played is the song, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” by Judy Garland. But not everyone knows the story behind this song. Time Magazine Contributor, Wook Kim wrote: “The original lyrics for this lovely holiday song—written for the 1944 musical ‘Meet Me in St. Louis’—were too depressing for the movie’s famous star and director. ‘Meet Me in St. Louis’ tells the story of a close-knit fam-ily living in St. Louis in the early 1900s. The family is devastated when the father announces that they will soon be moving to New York City—the news hitting his daughters especially hard. In a memorable scene towards the end of the film, Esther (played by Judy Garland, five years after ‘The Wizard of Oz’) tries to console her younger sister Tootie (Mar-garet O’Brien) with a song. ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’ was supposed to paint a picture of fragile hope and optimism.”

I am no “Grinch” but learning about the surprising twist behind this lovely Christmas song gave me some form of relief that I am normal. After all, there could be a reason that I somehow turn mel-ancholic when I hear that song. The same is true for some people whose loved ones have passed on, and those who will be celebrating Christmas alone (they usually call themselves ‘loveless’ or in our native language, ‘samahan ng malalamig lang pasko’). Whatever their reasons are for not ‘having a merry little Christmas,’ it does not stop me from sharing some of the little ways other people can ignite that holiday cheer.

While many people find it hard to be excited about Christ-mas, many are full of reasons to celebrate and be filled with the Christmas Spirit. And you can sense it in them the moment you step into their homes or get in the car. They seem to have trans-formed their homes into a mini

Christmas concert, and their cars into a Christmas-themed party van. In light of that, as my first tip, I suggest you listen to good Christmas songs – and there are a ton of them! Among my all-time favorites are Nat King Cole’s Christmas music, “Wonderful Christmastime” by Paul McCartney, “White Christ-

mas” by Bing Crosby, “Happy Christmas (War is Over)” by John Lennon, “Frosty the Snowman”, All I Want For Christmas is You by Mariah Carey, “Jingle Bells”, “Christmas Lights” by Coldplay, and of course, Michael Buble’s Christmas medley. Also, if you have satellite TV, watch the music channels as they play Christmas songs.

Some people love to have a Christmas songs playing in the background while they do other things, while some watch some great classic Christmas movies. Whatever tickles your Christmas-fancy – go for it. Christmas is also a great time to get in touch with family and friends. Call or email friends whom you have not talked to in a while – you have a reason to now because, well, “It’s Christmas!’

If you have time and some hid-den creativity that is waiting to be unleashed, decorate as much as you can with ornaments, Christ-mas cards, strings, ribbons, candy canes and more. You may also send out Christmas cards! Visit your neighborhood craft store and indulge yourself in making personalized Christmas cards. I speak from experience when I say these are the most effective stress relievers you can treat yourself to on the holidays. Speaking of stress, one very effective way to de-stress this holiday and make a “merry-little-happy-Christmas home” is by de-cluttering. Make sure everything is clean and un-cluttered. By doing so, you feel more at peace and homey. Partner that moment with a white pep-permint mocha latte and you feel like sitting on Santa’s lap with a wish list in hand.

The best way to feel the Christ-mas spirit is by giving. Donate your time and/or money to those in need. Think of your less fortu-nate relatives or that homeless person you often see across the street. Try to do something good for another person -- it can be from holding the door to taping some quarters on to a vending machine with a note. And of

course, give gifts! It doesn’t have to be expensive, but it would be a lot more special if you person-alize it.

In closing, everyone can have a ‘merry little Christmas’ espe-cially when you can help them have one.