MANILA, Philip-pines–Makati pro-

curement officials trapped a rival of a favored sup-plier in an elevator for 20 minutes to ensure that the competitor would be late in submitting bid docu-ments, a former head of the city’s General Ser-vices Department told the Senate hearing on the alleged overprice of the Makati City Hall Build-ing II on Thursday.

Mario Hechanova, who worked for the Makati government for 19 years and was involved in procure-ment, recalled that this supplier, whom he did not name, was with his mother at the time and was pale and “shaking in fear” after the elevator ordeal. Hechanova said he felt sorry for the supplier and regretted what he

WASHINGTON - Hispanic lawmakers and immigration advocates harshly criticized President Barack Obama’s decision to delay

executive action on immigration and vowed to keep pressuring him to make bold changes. Democratic Representatives Luis Gutierrez and Tony Cardenas on Sunday accused Obama of playing politics the day after the president said he would wait until after November’s congressional elections to change policy on immigration.

The announcement marked a reversal for Obama, who publicly promised to act by the end of summer. “Playing it safe might win an election,” Gutierrez said on ABC’s “This Week” program. “But it almost never leads to fairness, to justice and to good public policy that you can be proud of.”Senate Democrats at risk of losing their seats in the November elections pressed the White House to hold off an executive order. Though many immigration advocates have been pushing hard for the White House to ease up on de-portations of undocumented immigrations, wariness among the broader public began to build this summer, fueled by Republican accusations that executive ac-tions would mark an overstepping of Obama’s authority.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Pacific Gas and Electric Co. must pay

a record $1.4 billion in fines and other penalties for more than 3,700 violations of pipeline safety laws leading up to the deadly San Bruno natural-gas explosion, two admin-istrative law judges said Tuesday. The California Public Utilities Commission judges levied a $950 million fine against PG&E for keeping shoddy pipeline records, violating safety rules and failing to make legally required gas-system adjustments before the September 2010 blast that killed eight people and destroyed 38 homes. They also ordered the company to refund $400 million it received from customers but failed to spend on safety improvements in the de-

cade before the blast. PG&E must also pay $50 million in other costs, including an audit of changes it has made to its gas lines since the di-saster, the judges said. “The penalties adopted in today’s decision send a strong message to PG&E, and all other pipeline operators, that they must comply with mandated federal and state pipeline safety requirements or face severe consequences,” said Judges Amy Yip-Kikugawa and Mark Wetzell. They said they wanted to put utili-ties on notice that breaking the law “will result in a fine that is not sim-ply a ‘cost of doing business.’ “

$2 billion cost

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Larger iPhone and smartwatch unveiled Story on page 2

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(Cont. on Page 8)

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President Barack Obama

TRENDINGJoan will be missed: ‘She wasn’t done’- page 13

Salceda calls for Binay

impeachment

MANILA – Albay Gov-ernor Joey Salceda

broached on Monday an idea that some people may have had in mind all along: Impeach Vice President Je-jomar Binay over the alleg-edly overpriced Makati City parking building. Given that accusations are piling up in a Senate inquiry that has diverted public at-tention from more urgent issues, Salceda said the pru-dent thing to do was to file an impeachment complaint against the vice president. The impeachment process would “put a closure’’ to the issue and refocus atten-

tion on urgent issues such as countryside economic growth and urban traffic woes, Salceda told a press forum at the Diamond Hotel in Manila. Besides, the Senate hearing on the allegedly overpriced P2.28-billion, 11-story building was expected to lead to the filing of an im-peachment complaint, the outspoken governor said. And Binay should be open to the impeachment process,since President Benigno Aquino III himself faced im-peachment complaints that were eventually junked by

(Cont. on Page 10 )

Military base in West Philippine Sea? China skirts query Story on page 6

Hispanic lawmakers, activists vow more pressure

Albay Governor Joey Salceda and Vice President Jejomar Binay

Homes burn in a neighborhood off of Sneath Lane after an explosion, Sept. 9, 2010, in San Bruno, Calif.

‘Makati building contracts rigged’

(Cont. on Page 8 )

THEFT OF FREE NEWSPAPER IS A CRIME IN THIS STATE.

PAGE 2Sept 11, 2014 - Sept 17, 2014 The San Francisco PostLOCAL

Man struck by Muni in SFSAN FRANCISCO -- A man was taken to the hospital in critical condition in San Francisco on Monday morning after he was struck by a Muni light-rail train, a San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency spokesman said.Muni spokesman Paul Rose said the man suffered head and facial injuries when he was struck by the side of the T-Third train near the intersection of Third Street and Carroll Avenue at about 5:10 a.m.The crash caused delays because northbound Third Street was blocked. The SFMTA set up a bus bridge from

Sunnydale Avenue to Williams Avenue. Service was restored by 7:30 a.m.

Larger iPhones and smartwatch unveiled

CUPERTINO, Calif. (AP) - For the first time in years, Ap-ple’s iPhones weren’t the star of the show. Apple unveiled a smartwatch on Tuesday, a wearable device that marks the company’s first major en-try in a new product cat-egory since the iPad’s debut in 2010. The move is significant because of re-cent questions about whether Apple still has a knack for i n n o v a t i n g following the 2011 death of co-founder Steve Jobs. The device’s introduction upstaged the company’s two new, larger iPhones, which won’t just have bigger screens; they’ll have a new, horizontal view-ing mode to take advantage of the larger display. The iPhone 6 will have a screen measuring 4.7 inch-es, while the iPhone 6 Plus will be 5.5 inches. In both cases, app developers will be able to design apps that can be viewed differently when the phone is held hori-zontally. Apple also introduced a system for using the phone to make credit card pay-ments at retail stores.Apple is turning to the past as it lays out its future. The company is holding the event at the Flint Center for the Performing Arts, the same venue where Jobs un-veiled the industry-shifting Mac computer 25 years ago. The Cupertino, California, venue is near Apple’s head-quarters. As for the iPhones, which still represent the main source of Apple’s profits, larger models should help the company compete with Android devices. Here’s what unfolded at Tuesday’s event:

LARGER iPHONES The iPhone 6 will have a 4.7-inch screen, while the iPhone 6 Plus will be 5.5 inches. The screen resolu-tion on the Plus version will

be sharper than previous iPhones, at 401 pixels per inch rather than 326. With the larger screen comes a new horizontal view of the home screen. Usually, icons are stacked vertically, even when the phone is turned horizontal-ly. App developers will also have new tools to rearrange their content to take advan-tage of that larger screen. The new phones aren’t as big as Samsung’s latest flagship phones - 5.1 inches for the Galaxy S5 and 5.7 inches for the Note 4 - but they will be large enough to neutralize a key advantage Samsung and other Android manufacturers have had. Notably, Samsung’s Note phone isn’t getting bigger this year. Last year’s Note 3 was 5.7 inches. Instead, Samsung is emphasizing other hardware features, such as a sharper screen. It’s also releasing a model with a curved edge to display weather, time and other in-formation on the side of the phone. Apple says the new phones will be faster and have bet-ter battery life than previous versions. The phones will also have a new sensor, the

barometer, to estimate how much you’ve climbed stairs, not just how far you’ve walked or run. Of course, some people still use their phones to ac-

tually make calls. When there’s poor cellular re-c e p t i o n , people will be able to make regu-lar calls over Wi-Fi. The hand-off between the two net-works will be seamless. In the U.S., this feature will initially be available through T-

Mobile. The resolution on the cam-era is staying at 8 megapix-els, while rival Android and Windows phones have been boosting that. The S5, for instance, is at 16 megapix-els. However, the megapixel count is only one factor in what makes a good photo. Apple says it is putting in new sensors for better shots. Apple is also improving a slow-motion video feature by allowing even slower shots. The camera will be able to take 240 frames per second, double what’s in last year’s iPhone 5s. Nor-mally, video is at 60 frames per second. The new phones will start shipping in the U.S. on Sept. 19, with advance orders to begin this Friday. Starting prices will be comparable to those in the past - $199 with a two-year contract for the iPhone 6 with 16 gigabytes of storage. However, the step-up models will have double the memory than before - $299 for 64 gigabytes and $399 for 128 gigabytes. The iPhone 6 Plus phones will cost $100 more at each con-figuration.

Advanced water purification facility wins WateReuse Project of the Year Award

On Monday, Sept. 8, the Santa Clara Valley Water District received the “Project of the Year Award – Large” from the WateReuse Association at its annual national symposium in Dallas, TX. Director Dennis Kennedy and COO Jim Fiedler accepting the award in Dal-las, TX. According to the association, the Project of the Year Award recognizes projects whose significance and contributions to the com-munity continue to advance the water reuse industry. In its award letter, the as-sociation wrote that “Santa Clara Valley Water District has demonstrated continued dedication to the water reuse community, and the WateRe-use Association gratefully acknowledges the contribu-tions you have made.” The association’s award recognizes the comple-tion of the water district’s new water reUtility man-ager Crystal Yezman giving a tour of the SVAWPC.cycling facility, the Silicon Valley Advanced Water Purification Center. Located in northern San José off Zanker Road, the facility produces up to 8 million gallons a day of highly purified water. It is the largest facility of its kind in Northern California. The new facility uses three advanced technologies to

purify water which has already undergone two levels of quality wastewater treatment, sourced from the San José-Santa Clara Regional Wastewater Facility (RWF). At the new purification center, the water goes through microfiltration, reverse osmosis and ultravio-

let light to produce water that is so pure, it is expected to match drinking water quality. Instead of going to the bay, this water is distributed via the regional “purple pipe” re-cycled water system, delivered by South Bay Water Recycling (SBWR), and used for in-dustrial cooling towers, golf courses and car washes, throughout San José, Milpitas and Santa Clara. Approximately 750 customers of the SBWR program are now enjoying the enhanced recycled water, which has a lower level of total dissolved solids. This helps re-duce chemical use and maintenance costs for industrial users, and is easier on some plant species because it reduces salt buildup.En-trance to the Silicon Valley Advanced Water Purification Center.

In addition, the facility is helping to raise awareness and support for advanced treatments that render water of such a high quality that it can be used for additional purposes, including future drinking water supplies. Today, recycled water meets about 5 percent of the county’s total water demands. By 2025, the water district hopes to double that number. The new puri-fication center is one important step to reaching that goal.

11 hurt as bus crashes into Richmond houseRICHMOND -- A commuter bus was hit by a stolen car and smashed into a Rich-mond home as a mother and two small children sat inside Friday eve-ning, sending 11 people to the hospital but none with serious injuries, police said. The driver of the stolen Honda learned he was being followed by police and sped up at about 6 p.m., police told the Contra-Costa Times. The AC Transit bus tried to get out of the way but clipped the car and smashed into the side of the house, police said. A photograph from KGO-TV showed the right front of the bus crashed through a window and overturned a couch and other furniture. The three people inside the home — the

mother, a 3-month-old baby and a 5-year-old girl — were taken to a hospital with minor injuries, police Lt. Andre Hill told

several media outlets. The bus missed the baby, who was sitting alone in a bouncy chair in the living room, by just a few feet.“It could have been a whole lot worse,” Hill told the San Francisco Chronicle. Eight people from the bus including the driver were also taken to the hospital,

but their injuries were not serious. Hill said police were searching for the driver of the stolen car and took a passen-ger, the driver’s younger brother, into cus-tody. Richmond is located about 15 miles northeast of San Francisco. San José Hosts Medicine Disposal Events

for National Pollution Prevention WeekSAN JOSE, Calif. - Disposing of medicine in a manner that protects your family’s health and the environment is the local theme at four events planned by the San José Environmental Services Department in honor of National Pollution Prevention Week, beginning September 13. In addi-tion to collecting unwanted medicines, event goers can exchange their glass mer-cury-containing thermometers for digital thermometers (while supplies last) as well as enjoy activities focused on pollution prevention.The events also mark a new Don’t Rush to Flush campaign in partnership with the California Product Stewardship Council, the County of Santa Clara, and the Santa Clara Valley Water District. The campaign

emphasizes medication disposal practices that protect public health and the environ-ment. In 2015, this partnership will provide Santa Clara County residents with 50 more per-manent drop-off sites for convenient and secured disposal of medicines. San José and county staff will be installing medica-tion disposal bins in pharmacies, hospitals, and law enforcement agencies throughout the county. The bins are partially funded by a grant from the Water District’s Safe, Clean Water Program. Proper disposal helps keep pharmaceuticals out of water-ways and better protects children and pets from accidental consumption by removing unused medicines from the home.

Wardens track down mountain lion that attacked 6-year-old boy

SAN JOSE -- Two wardens and a federal tracker from the U.S. Department of Agri-culture spent Sunday night sleeping near a Cupertino trail, looking for a mountain lion that attacked and injured a 6-year-old boy over the weekend. The boy, who suffered his injuries to his head and neck, was reported to be in “good” condition on Monday morning at Valley Medical Center in San Jose, accord-ing to hospital spokeswoman Joy Alexiou. California Dept. of Fish and Game Lt. Pat Foy told NBC Bay Area on Monday morn-ing that the agents slept in the dirt with their guns, looking to find the mountain lion and kill the animal if they found it. By Monday morning, they had not found the big cat. The cat’s gender and age is unknown.

“It’s a matter of public safety,” Foy said, explaining why wardens were out to kill the mountain lion. “Even after the attack, the tracker did find evidence to suggest that the lion actually followed the family back down to their car when they were trying to get the child to safety. That’s indicative of extreme, dangerous behavior.” He added that wardens also want to get a rabies sample from the lion’s brain, since the animal had clawed and bit the boy. Foy said mountain lions often come back to the attack site to hunt again.At this point, Foy said it appears as though there is only one mountain lion involved, but he did say there are “tracks all over the place,” so he’s not sure if there could be more.

TECHNOLOGY

iPhone 6 and smartwatch

PAGE 3Sept 11, 2014 - Sept 17, 2014The San Francisco Post NATIONAL

Are you eligible for Chapter 13 bankruptcy?Chapter 13 Bankruptcy is a reor-

ganization of your debt while paying back your outstanding debt to creditors. Chapter 13 is Bankruptcy intended for an individual or family with a regular income. The first and main requirement to file for Chapter 13 bankrupt-cy is that any individual who files must have a source of income to repay. Even if you are self-employed or operate an unincorporated business you may qualify. Chapter 13 allows you to keep all of your properties, and to set up an affordable payment plan with the Bankruptcy Trustee. The payment plan is typically 3-5 years. At the end of the payment plan, most unsecured debts are considered paid in full.

Chapter 13 Limitations There are debt limits for Chapter 13 bankruptcy. There must also be no Chapter 13 bankruptcies in the last 2 years or no Chapter 7 bankruptcies in the last 4 years. There cannot be any Chapter 13 bankruptcies that have been dismissed by the court within the previ-ous 180 days either.

How Does Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Works? In Chapter 13, the amount of repayment plan is based on your income and paid back in either a 3 or 5 year plan. To determine the period of repayment, your in-come shall be compared to the state median income. If your income is lower than the median, your payment plan period is 3 years, and if your income is higher than the median, it will be a 5 year plan. In Chapter 13, you are required to file a repayment plan that lists your current creditors and how much you intend to repay them. All secured debts and the delin-quent amount must be specified. Debts that are con-sidered high priority such as federal taxes, child sup-port or alimony must be paid back in full. The amount of money left over will then go to unsecured debts. Within 180 days a confirmation hearing is held. This hearing determines whether the court approves your proposed repayment plan. If the court agrees with the plan, then it will become a legal obligation through an order of the court. After completing the repayment plan

any debt left over will be discharged by the court. In addition to the general requirements

listed above, the repayment plan must pass three tests: 1. It must be delivered in good faith. 2. Unsecured creditors must be paid at least as much as if a Chapter 7 bankruptcy had been filed. Gener-ally, this is the value of all the non-exempt property you own (please refer to California bankruptcy exemp-tions). 3. All disposable income must be paid into the plan for 3-5 years.

Bankruptcy Basics1. Bankruptcy will actually improve your credit within one year because your unsecured debts are discharged. Although the bankruptcy will be in your records for 10 years, not filing bankruptcy will make your credit even worse until most your debts are paid.2. If you are being sued by your creditors, most money judgment can be eliminated in bankruptcy.3. Collection actions continue and you can be sued if you are in debt settlement.4. Chapter 7 will eliminate all unsecured debts. If you are near retirement age, you must eliminate most of your debts.5. Bankruptcy will stop foreclosure actions. If your trustee sale date is 10 days before, you can still file for bankruptcy.6. If your salary is being garnished, you have a court case about debts or you are being harassed by credi-tors, bankruptcy can stop garnishment, court cases, harassing creditors and eliminate the debt.7. Bankruptcy is cheaper, faster and safer than debt settlement which has no guaranteed success. 8. Preserve your health, eliminate stress and live a happy life by eliminating your debts which is the root of all problems. Crispin Caday Lozano is an active member of the State Bar of California, the American Immigration Lawyers Association and the National Association of Consumers Bankruptcy Attorneys. He specializes in immigration law and bankruptcy law. He earned his Juris Doctor at Western State University College of Law in Fullerton, California. He is also a Certified Public Accountant, and a Bachelor of Business Administration Cum Laude graduate.

By Atty. Crispin C. Lozano

BANKRUPTCY Q&A

BEIJING -- President Barack Obama’s upcoming visit to China represents an “important milestone” in US-China relations, the top White House na-tional security aide said Monday at a meeting with offi-cials in Beijing. National Secu-rity Advisor Susan Rice’s trip comes at a turbulent time in US foreign policy and just two weeks after Washington accused a Chinese fighter jet of buzz-ing one of its surveillance planes. It also comes ahead of a one-on-one summit between Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping that is being planned to coincide with the US lead-er’s visit to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Bei-jing in November. Obama “views this visit as an impor-tant milestone in the development of our important relationship,” Rice said at the opening of her meeting with Chinese State Councillor Yang Jiechi and Chinese ambassador to the US Cui Tiankai. “The president asked me to travel here -- even as there are many other issues on our shared global agenda -- because of the priority he attaches to

US-China relations,” she added. Yang said that he looked forward to discussing “China’s core interests and major concerns”, as well as working to “constructively manage our differ-

ences on sensitive i s s u e s to en-sure that the US-C h i n a relation-ship will continue to move

forward”. The trip -- which is also expected to include meetings with Xi and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi -- is Rice’s first to China as national security ad-visor. It is intended as a signal that, despite being pulled into a new conflict in the Middle East against the Islamic State and being consumed by a showdown with Russia over Ukraine, Washing-ton remains committed to its policy of reorienting US power to Asia. Rice is in Beijing after China told the US to end air and naval surveil-lance near its borders, which it said was damaging relations between the Pacific powers and could lead to “un-desirable accidents”.

Obama’s China trip a milestone — Rice

NEWPORT—US President Barack Obama out-lined plans on Friday for a broad international coalition to defeat Islamic State extremists in Iraq and Syria, but they received a cautious response from European allies.Speaking at a NATO summit, Obama said the United States would also try to involve Middle Eastern allies in a strategy to counter the jihadists, who have overrun large swathes of territory.“It’s not going to happen overnight but we are steadily moving in the right direction and we’re going to achieve our goal,” Obama said.The president said regional involvement was “ab-solutely critical”, although the State Department added that there were “no plans” for military co-ordination with Iran in the fight.“We’re going to degrade and ultimately defeat ISIL,” Obama added, using the previous name of the Islamic State, which has claimed responsibil-ity for videos showing the beheading of two US journalists.The executions appear to have been carried out by the same British-accented militant, who also threatened to kill a UK hostage unless American air strikes in the regions are halted.Iraqi Kurdish forces and Shiite militias on Friday discovered mass graves containing 35 bodies after retaking the town of Sulaiman Bek from jihadists.Along with Iraqi military troops, they broke a months-long jihadist siege of the town of Amerli last Sunday and retook Sulaiman Bek the follow-ing day in the first major successes for the federal government since the crisis began.Obama said he was “confident” a coalition was being formed, with US officials saying the plan was to have a strategy in place by the start of the United Nations general assembly later this month.He said there was “unanimity” among NATO members that the group “poses a significant threat”, although many cautioned that any action hinged on the formation of a new Iraqi govern-ment.

US urges coalition vs IS

KINGSTON, Jamaica -- A developer presumed dead with his wife in a private plane crash near Jamaica had an “uncanny instinct” for revitalizing properties and an “incalculable” impact on his western New York home-town’s resur-gence from c r u m b l i n g industrial cen-ter to trendy d e s t i n a t i o n for young professionals, friends and c o l l e a g u e s said. Laurence Glazer, 68, bought up dozens of properties in Roch-ester, on the shores of Lake Ontario, in-cluding landmark buildings belonging to the manufacturing giants Xerox Corp. and Bausch + Lomb. He converted abandoned factories into loft apartments and turned a shuttered hospital into offices. Glazer had a way of “taking properties that were dead and breathing life back into them at a time when people were really skeptical about the ability to do that,” Heidi Zimmer-Meyer, president of Rochester’s Downtown Development Corp., said Saturday. The U.S. Coast Guard said Glazer and his wife Jane were on a single-engine turbo-prop Socata TBM700 that flew on its own for 1,700 miles before running out of fuel and slamming into the sea off Jamaica’s northeast coastline. The couple apparently was incapacitated. Rescue crews said Saturday they could no longer see debris spotted Friday evening by a military aircraft drifting roughly 24

miles off the coastal town of Port Antonio in a stretch where the water is up to 6,500 feet. A 154-foot U.S. Coast Guard cutter and a helicopter crew aided in the search Saturday.

Laurence and Jane Glazer, the founder of household-products cata-log company QCI Direct, were both experienced pilots. They were flying to Naples, Florida, near where Glazer’s develop-ment company, Bucking-ham Properties, also has interests. Duffy, the former may-or of Rochester, said the Glazers “possessed two of

the brightest minds in business.” Their son, Rick, refused to confirm his parents were killed, saying “we know so little” about the crash. Air traffic controllers were last able to contact the pilot of the Glazers’ plane at 10 a.m., about 75 minutes after it took off from the Greater Rochester International Airport.Fighter pilots sent to shadow the plane saw its windows frosting over and the pilot slumped over but breathing. One of the pi-lots speculated that the pilot was suffering from hypoxia, or oxygen deprivation. Cases of unresponsive pilots are unusual and often attributed to insufficient cabin pressurization that causes the pilot to pass out, aviation safety expert John Goglia said. A 1999 Learjet crash that killed pro-fessional golfer Payne Stewart and five others was attributed to cabin depressur-ized that caused all aboard to lose con-sciousness.

Developer dead in mystery crash revamped a New York city

China’s economy to overtake US as world’s largest by 2024NEW YORK -- Global industrial data and analysis company IHS said China is poised to overtake the United States as the world’s largest economy by 2024 due to a rise in consumer spending.IHS said China’s gross domestic product (GDP) was ex-pected to hit US $28.25 trillion, or more than the US $27.31 trillion of the United States, as consumer spending in the country is set to almost quadruple from 2013 to 2024.China is currently the world’s second-largest economy but IHS said the country’s share of world GDP will rise to 20 percent in 2024 from the current 12 percent.“Over the next 10 years, China’s economy is expected to re-balance towards more rapid growth in consumption, which will help the structure of the domestic economy as well as growth for the Asia Pacific as a region,” IHS Asia chief economist Rajiv Biswas said.China’s rise as the world’s largest economy will be fueled mainly by consumer spending, which IHS forecast to rise at

yearly average rate of 7.7 percent in real terms.Based on IHS’ forecast, China’s consumer spending will increase from US $3 trillion to US $11 trillion in 10 years.Biswas added that science, technology and innovation are some of the sectors that wll be crucial in transforming the country’s economy in to a higher value-added economy from the low=cost manufacturing export driven economy over the past 30 years.The three sectors are among the key topics that will be discussed during the World Economic Forum’s upcoming Meeting of the New Champions in Tianjin, China,The forecast of IHS on China’s consumer spending bodes well with the central government’s effort to institute re-forms that will change key growth factor for the country’s economic growth. Analysts and economists said that the re-forms promised by the Chinese government can transform the country’s economy if delivered on time.

Developer Laurence Glazer

PAGE 4Sept 11, 2014 - Sept 17, 2014 The San Francisco PostOPINION

For many years now, the Phil-

ippines has been confronted with the nagging problem of power shortages, and every time it becomes so critical as to threaten the economy and the people’s daily lives, politicians always call for the granting of emergency pow-

ers to the President to avert the crisis. The problem with such emergency powers is that, by its very nature, solutions are often tempo-rary in nature, like patching potholes after a flood. After another heavy rain, the potholes are back to be patched up again with asphalt. That’s what would probably happen if President Aquino were granted emergency powers to avert the crisis of daily blackouts in Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon. Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla warned last week that the country will face an energy crisis next year, especially during the summer months of March to May, when demand peaks, with rotating brownouts that could last weeks. Demand for power supply has been rapidly in-

creasing because the economy is expanding. Sup-ply is hardly keeping pace. The gap between de-mand and supply will worsen next year because of the maintenance shutdowns of some plants, and the delay in the construction of committed pow-er plant projects that were expected to come on stream in 2015. The threat of drought is a reality that could further lower water levels in dams and drastically cut down hydropower supply. Added to this is the fact that the Malampaya natural gas facility off Palawan will be shut down for sched-uled maintenance from March to April, adversely affecting supply of fuel to power plants in Luzon.The blackouts would mean some businesses could shut down for days, resulting in possible lay-offs of workers and losses for the economy. It could also mean the sudden increase of prices of goods and services. Petilla, who has refused to endorse the use of emergency powers in the past, reneged this time and said only the granting of special powers to President Aquino would avert an energy crisis.Under Petilla’s plan, the government would buy or rent diesel or gasoline-powered generator sets and power plants without bidding during the emergency period. Petilla and Sen. Serg Osmena, the biggest backer of moves to grant the President emergency powers and chairman of the Senate en-ergy committee, admit that it would cost the gov-ernment a lot of money and the power produced would be very expensive. Opponents of the emergency power proposal point out that the experience under Ramos, who was granted emergency power during his term to avert a major power crisis, should caution propo-nents on the fallacy of emergency powers. Ramos allowed independent power producers (IPPs) to construct power plants with no-bidding contracts that had a “take or pay” provision that guaranteed the government would buy whatever the IPPs produced, even power that were not used. Napocor’s debts ballooned, and the government had to shoulder the bill, triggering the onset of a fiscal crisis and the rapid rise of power rates. Analysts suggest that the government should take a long-term look at the problem instead of depending on band-aid solutions as proposed by Petilla. Such short-term solutions, according to Dr. Giovanni Tapang of the University of the Phil-ippines, only highlights the short-sightedness of the Aquino administration’s response to the power crisis. Tapang suggests that the government should take a second look at the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) that barred the government from building new power plants and fully left the generation of power generation to the hands of the private sector. “In surrendering government’s power to generate power to private corporations, we have lost -- as Petilla and company discovered -- our capacity to direct our long-term growth. It will always be de-pendent on the whims, and profit margins, of the corporations,” Tapang added. Almost 13 years to the day after its passage on June 8, 2001, only one power plant has been built by the private sector, and the gap between supply and demand grew wider, and consequently, the price of electricity soared even higher. Obviously, EPIRA has failed in its twin objectives of increas-ing power generation while lowering prices. I agree with Tapang that the government should scrap EPIRA, or at least amend it, to allow the government to reassume the responsibility of gen-erating power. “We can start by stopping the privatization of its remaining power assets. It should also start buying back the transmission lines now solely controlled by the private National Grid Corporation of the Philippines. In the generation sector, it should re-nationalize the power plants it previously sold to private companies and to reinvest heavily into power generation again,” Tapang said. If the government could squander billions to non-critical expenses using pork barrel funds from the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) and the Disbursement Acceleration Pro-gram (DAP), it should be able to find money for the building of these plants. For starters, it should use the billions in Malampaya funds for the pur-pose it was created – to improve the country’s power supply situation – and not divert the money to some lawmakers’ lousy projects or to fund elec-toral campaigns. (Cont. on page 10)

Political will, not emergency powers

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After an-n e x i n g

Crimea using masked men in military uniforms with no insignia, Putin found himself in a tight spot when the U.S. and her west-ern European allies im-posed sanc-

tions against Russia. Denying what was obviously an invasion into Ukrainian ter-ritory, Putin pretended to play the role of a “peacekeeper” between the pro-western Ukrainian government and the pro-Russian separatists in southeast Ukraine. But how can he achieve peace when Russian troops masquerading as separatist Ukrainians us-ing Russian heavy weapons are roaming around shooting at Ukrainian government forces? What became apparent was that Putin in so many words had declared his intention to assert Russian domination over Eastern Europe – or what he referred to as “near abroad” – just like the days of the Soviet Union or, nostalgically, the glorious era of the Czarist Russian Empire.

“Greater Novorossiya” Today, Putin is faced with the prospect of a reinvigorated North Atlantic Treaty Or-ganization (NATO), his old nemesis, which has now expanded to 28 countries includ-ing 12 former Soviet client states. But Putin has nobody to blame but himself for the revitalization of NATO as a force in the geopolitical affairs of the western hemi-sphere. It is interesting to note that for more than two decades after the dismem-berment of the Soviet Union, the acronym “NATO” took a new meaning: “No Action, Talk Only.” Now, with Putin rearming Russia like never before, a repeat of “Mu-nich Appeasement” will not be allowed to happen again. And when Putin mentions “Novoros-siya,” it sends shivers down the spines of leaders of the “near abroad.” The term “Novorossiya” – New Russia -- is the czar-ist-era name for Ukraine’s Russian-speak-ing southeast, which Putin is now eyeing as his next conquest. But Putin’s sight goes beyond the boundary of czarist Novoros-siya. Recently, he has been using the term “Greater Novorossiya,” which includes a wide swath of contiguous territory from Russia’s western boundaries to the borders of Moldova and Romania.

“Pax Russica” In 2005, Putin said that the collapse of the Soviet Union was a tragedy for Russians.

“First and foremost it is worth acknowl-edging that the demise of the Soviet Union was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century,” he said. It did not come as a surprise then that Putin had put Ukraine in his crosshairs. But Putin’s incursion into Ukraine and his dream of a “Greater Novorossiya” came at a most inopportune time: the biennial sum-mit meeting of NATO. The summit, held in Wales, brought together 60 world lead-ers, including NATO allies and partners.

Ceasefire While Ukraine’s new and dynamic presi-dent, billionaire-turned-politician Petro Poroshenko, was making a strong pitch for NATO’s assistance to stop Putin’s assault on Ukraine, he was also negotiating for a ceasefire with Putin by phone. A ceasefire was agreed upon and the fighting stopped; however, NATO leaders were skeptical about it. And true enough, less than 24 hours after the ceasefire took hold, fight-ing renewed in the government-held city of Mariupol, strategically located on the north coast of the Sea of Azov. If Mariupol fell to the pro-Russian rebels, it would open up a corridor from Russia to Crimea, which begs the question: Was this part of Putin’s grand design to create “Greater Novoros-siya”? As the Ukrainian Interior Minis-ter said, “Are you surprised that Putin is treacherous?”

“One for all, all for one” But the game-changer that came out of the summit was NATO’s decision to create a new rapid response force to counter Rus-sian aggression. It will have headquarters in Eastern Europe and a “spearhead” force consisting between 4,000 and 5,000 troops who would be in place to respond to any crisis, including Russian invasion, within 48 hours. The reinvigoration of NATO from the doldrums of the post-Soviet Union era is a healthy sign for the “near abroad” states that live in constant fear of Russian ag-gression. With large populations of ethnic Russians and Russian-speaking people, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are easy prey to Russian invasion. But with U.S. President Barack Obama reminding Putin that an “attack on one is an attack on all,” Putin should never in his megalomaniacal moments ever think of invading a NATO country. Indeed, Putin’s Russia is no different from the evil empire of the defunct Soviet Union. At the end of the day, the re-emer-gence of NATO bodes once again that the good shall prevail over evil. The ultimate question is: Would NATO al-low Russia to dismember Ukraine with the creation of “Greater Novorossiya”? Time will tell. (PerryDiaz@gmail.com)

PERRY SCOPEBy

Perry Diaz

�e re-emergence of NATO

As in the last presidential

elections, cor-ruption will be the main issue in 2016. The presi-dential candidate to be chosen by President Aquino would promise to continue the alleged reforms started by the current adminis-tration while the opposition candi-

dates, except perhaps the supposedly lead-ing contender Vice President Binay, would claim that the Aquino administration is just as corrupt, if not more corrupt, as the Arroyo administration and promise, too, to clean up the government. Binay would not criticize the Aquino ad-ministration for failing to curb corruption despite his many promises to follow the “daang matuwid” and establish a society where “kung walang korap, walang mahi-rap” is the norm. Why? Because Binay owes the Aquino family for junking Mar Roxas and supporting him in 2010. How can Binay bring up the issue of graft and corruption when he and his family are themselves mired deep in corruption charg-es from their nearly three decades of reign over Makati? It would be foolhardy for him to bring up the issue of corruption because his opponents would be very happy to revive those corruption scandals involving alleged rigged bidding, overpriced projects, kick-backs, unexplained wealth, etc. As what have been rumored in political circles since Binay started topping surveys, his opponents, including those now sitting in

Malacanang, would start the demolition job on the Vice President two years before the election by reviving the cases against him and his wife involving allegedly anomalous transactions during their respective reigns as mayor of the wealthiest city in the country. It is not surprising then that the corruption charges against Binay’s wife, former Mayor Elenita Binay, have been revived in court; that the Senate, led by two potential presi-dential rivals Senators Alan Cayetano and Antonio Trillanes IV, is grilling his son, cur-rent Mayor Junjun Binay, on the allegedly overpriced Makati car park building and, of all things, overpriced cakes; and that former allies in Makati have now become whistle-blowers against him. Binay, who has enjoyed excellent approval and trust ratings since Day One of the Aqui-no presidency, will soon start to feel the pain of dropping popularity as his good friend, President Aquino, has been experiencing since the pork barrel scandals exploded in his face. The voters will have to be more circumspect about electing people who promise every-thing and deliver nothing. We saw how we were deluded into electing politicians who we thought would deliver our people from poverty and yet conspired with their fellow politicians to rob the people blind. We have seen that popularity does not transform to good leadership when we elected Joseph Estrada and Benigno S. Aquino III to the presidency. We have seen that being con-tent with anybody but Estrada had led us to nine years of darkness under Gloria Maca-pagal Arroyo. We have to remind voters to look beyond popularity and promises in electing our of-ficials. We can’t afford to bring to Mala-canang another corrupt and incompetent politician.

Moment of truth for Binay

MY HUMBLEOPINION

By Atty. Crispin C. Lozano

BAGHDAD -- US warplanes have carried out five strikes on Islamist insurgents menacing Iraq’s Had-itha dam, witnesses and officials said, widening what President Barack Obama called a campaign to curb and ultimately defeat the militants. Obama has branded Islamic State (Isis) forces an acute threat to the west as well as the Mid-dle East and said that key Nato al-lies stood r e a d y to back W a s h -i n g t o n in action a g a i n s t t h e g r o u p , w h i c h h a s seized expanses of northern Iraq and eastern Syria and declared a border-blurring religious caliph-ate. The leader of a pro-Iraqi govern-ment paramilitary force in western Iraq said the air strikes wiped out an Isis patrol trying to attack the dam – Iraq’s second biggest hy-droelectric facility that also pro-vides millions with water. “They (the air strikes) were very accurate. There was no collateral damage ... If Islamic State had gained control of the dam, many areas of Iraq would have been se-riously threatened, even (the capi-tal) Baghdad,” Sheik Ahmed Abu Risha told Reuters. The aerial assault drove Isis fight-ers away from the dam, according to a police intelligence officer in the vast western province of An-bar, a hotbed of Islamist insur-gency. The US military said in a state-

ment that the strikes destroyed four Isis Humvees, four armed vehicles, two of which were carry-ing antiaircraft artillery, a fighting position, one command post and a defensive fighting position. All aircraft left the strike areas safely, the Pentagon said. The strikes were Washington’s first reported offensive into Anbar

since it started attacks on Islamic State forces in the north of Iraq in August. Almost three years after US troops withdrew from Iraq and 11 years after their invasion that top-pled Saddam Hussein, the war on Islamic State is drawing Washing-ton back into the middle of Iraq’s power struggles and bloody sectar-ian strife. US defence secretary Chuck Ha-gel said the strikes on the Sunni Muslim insurgents had been car-ried out at the request of the Shi’ite Muslim-led central government in Baghdad. “If that dam would fall into (Is-lamic State’s) hands or if that dam would be destroyed, the damage that would cause would be very significant and it would put a sig-nificant, additional and big risk into the mix in Iraq,” Hagel told reporters during a trip to Georgia’s capital, Tbilisi.

PAGE 5Sept 11, 2014 - Sept 17, 2014The San Francisco Post WORLD BRIEF

BEIRUT - The mother of a Lebanese soldier held captive by the militant Islamic State group said photographs posted online Saturday purporting to show his beheading appeared to be real. Zeinab Noun said her 20-year-old son, Abbas Medlej, was “sacrificed” after sup-porters of the militant Sunni group posted im-ages appearing to show a captured Lebanese soldier before and after he was beheaded.“My son was sacri-ficed,” said Noun, clutching a passport-sized photo of her son, a handsome, smooth-faced young man. Medlej would be the second captive Lebanese soldier killed by the Islamic State group, underscoring the grave challenges that face the ill-equipped Lebanese military as it fends off an unprecedented jihadi threat from Syr-ia-based militants. About two dozen more members of the country’s security forces remain held captive by the militants. They were seized in August when several Syrian rebel factions, including the Islamic State group and al-Qaida linked Nusra Front, overran the Leba-nese border town of Arsal, killing and kidnapping soldiers and policemen in the most serious spillover yet of the neighboring civil war. The Syrian civil war has inflamed sectarian tensions between Lebanon’s Sunnis and Shiites - with Sunnis gen-erally backing the rebel groups and Shiites supporting the government of President Bashar Assad. The Iranian-

backed Lebanese Shiite militia Hez-bollah has actively fought on the Syr-ian government side. Local media had reported that ne-gotiations were underway, with the militants demanding cash and the re-lease of Islamists being held in Leba-

nese detention. A statement posted by supporters of the Islamic State said Medlej was killed after he tried to escape. Medlej hailed from a large Shiite clan from the eastern Lebanese city of Baalbak. His mother vowed revenge on rival Sunnis. “We have to take our revenge from those apostates,” she said. The captured soldiers and police are from Lebanon’s many religious sects: the first soldier beheaded by the group, Ali Sayid, was a Sunni Muslim. The militants are also hold-ing Christian soldiers and other Sunni Muslims. Families of the captive soldiers have blocked highways and held demon-strations to pressure the Lebanese government to push harder for the release of the men. There are also fears for the safety of the more than 1 million Syrian refugees who are now in Lebanon as rage grows over the beheadings.

Ebola toll reaches 2,000 as hopes for vaccine rise

The death toll from the Ebola epidemic has climbed above 2,000, the World Health Organisation said, as it voiced hopes a vaccine could be available in Novem-ber. The deadly virus has claimed 2,097 lives out of 3,944 people infected in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, since emerging last December, the UN’s health organ said after a two-day crisis meeting in Geneva. Nigeria has recorded another eight deaths out of 22 cases. At least 30 more people have died in a separate outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Results from safety trials for two prototype vaccines should be known in November, the WHO added. “If proven safe, a vaccine could be available in No-vember 2014 for priority use in health-care workers,” it said in a statement. Earlier Friday, UN chief Ban Ki-moon set the goal of stopping the worst-ever outbreak of the disease within six to nine months. The “next few weeks will be crucial,” Ban said in New York, adding this was an “international rescue call.” The meeting in Geneva gathered more than 150 ex-perts in drug research, epidemiology, ethics, regulation and financing. “In view of the urgency of these outbreaks, the inter-national community is mobilising to find ways to ac-celerate the evaluation and use of these compounds,” the WHO said.

Islamic State beheads 2nd captive Lebanese soldier

NATO allies agree to take on Islamic State threatNEWPORT, Wales - The U.S. and 10 of its key allies agreed Fri-day that the Islamic State group is a significant threat to NATO countries and that they will take on the militants by squeezing their financial resources and going after them with military might. With the Islamic State militants spreading across eastern Syria and northern and western Iraq, President Barack Obama noted that the moderate Syrian rebels fighting both the group and the government of Bashar Assad are “outgunned and outmanned.” In addition to the action pledged by fellow NATO leaders, he pressed Arab allies to reject the “nihilism” projected by the group.. The new NATO coalition will be able to mount a sustained effort to push back the militants, Obama said. The U.S. secretar-ies of State and Defense, meeting with their counterparts at the

international gathering, insisted the Western nations build a plan by the time the U.N. General Assembly meets this month. “I did not get any resistance or pushback to the basic notion that we have a critical role to play in rolling back this savage organi-zation that is causing so much chaos in the region and is harming so many people and poses a long-term threat to the safety and security of NATO members,” Obama said at the summit conclusion. “So there’s great conviction that we have to act, as part of the international com-munity, to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL, and that was extremely encouraging.” Laying out a strategy for Iraq, Obama hinted at a broader military campaign, likening it to the way U.S. forces pushed back al-Qaida along Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan, taking out the group’s leadership, shrinking its territory and pounding at its militant followers. To do that, the U.S. used persistent airstrikes, usually by CIA drones.

TAX CORNER

Are you, your spouse or a de-pendent heading off to col-

lege? If so, here’s a quick tip from the IRS: some of the costs you pay for higher education can save you money at tax time. Here are several important facts you should know about education tax credits: American Opportunity Tax Cred-it. The AOTC can be up to $2,500 annually for an eligible student. This credit applies for the first four years of higher education. Forty percent of the AOTC is re-fundable. That means that you may be able to get up to $1,000 of the credit as a refund, even if you don’t owe any taxes. Lifetime Learning Credit. With the LLC, you may be able to claim a tax credit of up to $2,000 on your federal tax return. There is no limit on the number of years you can claim this credit for an

eligible student. One credit per student. You can claim only one type of education credit per student on your federal tax return each year. If more than one student qualifies for a credit in the same year, you can claim a different credit for each student. For example, you can claim the AOTC for one student and claim the LLC for the other student. Qualified expenses. You may include qualified expenses to fig-ure your credit. This may include amounts you pay for tuition, fees and other related expenses for an eligible student. Refer to IRS.gov for more about the additional rules that apply to each credit. Eligible educational institu-tions. Eligible schools are those that offer education beyond high school. This includes most col-leges and universities. Vocational schools or other postsecondary schools may also qualify. Form 1098-T. In most cases, you should receive Form 1098-T, Tuition Statement, from your school. This form reports your qualified expenses to the IRS and to you. You may notice that the amount shown on the form is dif-ferent than the amount you actu-

ally paid. That’s because some of your related costs may not appear on Form 1098-T. For example, the cost of your textbooks may not appear on the form, but you still may be able to claim your textbook costs as part of the cred-it. Remember, you can only claim an education credit for the quali-fied expenses that you paid in that same tax year. Nonresident alien. If you are in the U.S. on an F-1 student visa, you usually file your federal tax return as a nonresident alien. You can’t claim an education credit if you were a nonresident alien for any part of the tax year unless you elect to be treated as a resident alien for federal tax purposes. To learn more about these rules see Publication 519, U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens. Income limits. These credits are subject to income limitations and may be reduced or eliminated, based on your income.

Al Maglan is a CPA licensed in Cal-ifornia and Nevada. You can contact him @ 510 432 7438. You may e-mail tax questions at amaglan@aol.com or tax-saverspro@gmail.com.

Back-to-School Tax Credits

by: Alvin C. Maglan, CPA

US air strikes push Isis back from strategic Iraqi dam

Iraq welcomes US plan for coalition against jihadistBAGHDAD — Iraq on Saturday welcomed US President Barack Obama’s plan for an interna-tional coalition against jihadists as a “strong mes-sage of support”, after repeatedly calling for aid against the militants. Obama outlined the plan at a NATO summit Friday for a broad coalition to defeat the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group, which led an offensive that overran chunks of five Iraqi provinces in June and also holds significant territory in neigh-boring Syria. International concern has been building over IS, which has carried out numerous atrocities includ-ing killings, kidnappings and attacks on minori-ties in areas it controls in the two Arab states. But the beheading of American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, which IS claimed, have sparked significantly more outrage in the West than its other abuses, providing increased impetus for action. On Saturday, the United Nations Secu-

rity Council added further pressure, condemning the “heinous and cowardly” murder of Sotloff and saying that IS “must be defeated.”The United States has sent military advisers to Iraq and launched a campaign of air strikes against the jihadists, while it and a string of other countries have promised arms for Iraqi Kurdish forces battling IS militants. It carried out two more strikes on Friday and Saturday with a “mix of attack, fighter and re-motely piloted aircraft,” the US military’s Cen-tral Command said in a statement. The strikes destroyed four Humvees, one ar-moured personnel carrier and two trucks belong-ing to IS fighters, according to CENTCOM. The American strikes raised to 133 the total car-ried out across Iraq since August 8, at least some of which, such as attacks on Humvees.

The San Francisco PostPAGE 6Sept 11, 2014 - Sept 17, 2014 HOMELAND

MANILA — Insisting that it has the right to do so, Beijing barely answered reporters’ questions on why it is building islands in South China Sea areas claimed by the Phil-ippines. Asked about BBC’s coverage of the large-scale reclamation work in the waters, China Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Hua Chunying said that China “asserts in-disputable sovereignty” over Spratlys group of islands and adjacent waters. “China’s activities on relevant islands and reefs of the Nansha Islands fall entirely within China’s sovereignty and are totally justifiable,” Hua said in the transcription of the press conference on Tuesday. Hua also indirectly answered a question on whether the islands being build on the contested area is for business or military purposes. “As far as I know, the construction work China does on relevant islands is mainly for the purpose of improving the working and living conditions of people stationed on these islands,” she said. On Tuesday, the British media firm re-leased a special report on China’s Island Factory near the Philippine-claimed Mabi-ni (Johnson South) Reef amid the United States’ push for a moratorium on provoca-tive activities in the disputed strategic wa-

terway. The BBC report noted China’s massive dredging work the past months and present-ed footage of new islands being constructed through reclamation. “What exactly they’re building here, no one is really sure. They may just be mak-ing a bigger island. They may be building a new port here. But there are some reports, especially from the Philippine government, that this is where [China] is going to build [its] new air base,” BBC journalist Rupert Wingfield-Hayes said in the report broad-cast globally. Hua was asked how come the purpose of the islands is for the improvement of lives when there are no inhabitants yet. She only responded, “I have already answered your question.” In June, the Department of Foreign Affairs released aerial photos of the development of China’s reclamation work from March 2012 to March 2014 in what the Philippines con-siders part of its 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone. Manila also lodged a diplomatic protest on the reclamation work, which was similarly condemned by the United States as poten-tial threats to the freedom of navigation and overflight in the major trading route.

Military base in West Philippine Sea? China skirts query

MANILA - Lawyer Ely Pamatong, the self proclaimed commander of the so-called United States Allied Freedom Fight-ers of the East (USAFFE), vowed yester-day to retake islands occupied by China in the disputed Spratlys in the West Philip-pine Sea. “The last days of my life will be devoted to retaking occupied Philippine territo-

ries,” Pamatong told The STAR in a tele-phone interview from his base in Arayat, Pampanga. Pamatong was referring not only to the Chinese held areas in the Spratlys but also the Malaysian occupied Sabah.Pamatong said he tried to coordinate with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to allow his supposed paramilitary group to retake the islands but they were pre-vented from going into the disputed terri-tories. He claimed that his group is composed of former military men that are capable of retaking the Chinese occupied areas in the Spratlys. Pamatong, however, clarified that al-though the three arrested suspects in the aborted bombing of the Ninoy Aquino In-ternational Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 are USAFFE members, the leadership of the group has nothing to do with the alleged plot to conduct bombings in Metro Ma-nila. “They were framed up,” he said without elaborating. Lawyer Oliver Lozano is counsel for de-tained bombing suspects Grandeur Geur-rero, Emmanuel San Pedro and Sonny Yo-hanon. Lozano said that the aborted NAIA bomb-ing was part of a plot creating a scenario to justify the declaration of marital law.A source claimed a Malacañang official met with Pamatong to discuss the so-called “destabilize me” move in Metro Manila. Pamatong, however, denied meeting with Aquino or any of his Cabinet members, saying that the last time he met the Presi-dent was when he was still a senator while they were at National Bookstore in Quezon City.

Pamatong vows to reclaim China-occupied territories

MANILA --While the Supreme Court has declared some acts under the Disburse-ment Acceleration Program (DAP) uncon-stitutional, the effects of the ruling may be short-lived. On Monday, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. assured that the bill, “An Act Clarify-ing the Definition of Savings and Related Concepts and the Use and Release of the Unprogrammed Fund in the Appropriations Laws and Validating the Implementation Thereof by the Executive Branch,” submit-ted by Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad to the House last August will be passed after the House of Representatives passes the P2.606-trillion national budget for 2015. “We will pass the savings bill after we pass the budget,” Belmonte said. While Belmonte assured the passage of the “curative” bill, he emphasized that “it needs refinements.” But Navotas Rep. Tobias “Toby” Tiang-co, secretary general and spokesman of the opposition United Nationalist Alliance (UNA), urged Congress not to pass Abad’s bill.“If we still respect the institution of the House of Representatives, the only thing we have to do is shred it at once,” he said.

Deputy Majority Leader and Citizens Battle against Corruption party-list Rep. Sherwin Tugna said before the passing the measure, the Lower Chamber should ensure that the proposal “conforms with the 1987 Constitution and the Supreme Court ruling on DAP.” Earlier, the SC declared the following g acts and practices under DAP unconstitu-tional:1. Withdrawal of unobligated allotment from implementing agencies and declara-tion of withdrawn allotments and unre-leased appropriations as savings prior to end of fiscal year and without complying with the statutory definition.2. Cross-border transfers of savings of ex-ecutive to augment appropriations of other offices outside of the Executive.3.Funding of projects, activities and pro-grams not covered by any appropriation in General Appropriations Act. In a separate interview, Iloilo Rep. Jerry Treñas cited the need for Congress to rede-fine savings “so that the Executive can move fast to implement projects in order to ensure continued pump-priming programs of the government to maintain economic growth in view of the SC decision on the Disburse-ment Acceleration Program (DAP).”

Abad bill seeks to save DAP

Aquino blames GMA for MRT messMANILA - President Aquino blamed former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo again on Monday, this time for the problems concern-ing the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) and the Light Rail Transit (LRT). “There is a problem. But it is a problem that should have less problems attached to it, if certain things were done before we took over,” he said in a chance interview at the SM Mall in Davao City. The President also noted that the light rail systems are “re-ally old.” The LRT Line 1, which runs from Ba-claran to Monumen-to, was built some-time in 1981 while MRT Line 3 (MRT-3) along EDSA was constructed in the mid-90s. Aquino said the MRT 3 was original-ly built for 300,000 commuters, but as many as 500,000 are now using it on a daily basis. He assured the public that the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) is “on top of the situation” and steps are being undertaken to address the problems.He did not respond when asked how long will MRT and LRT commuters have to bear with

the glitches in train operations, saying he still has to hold a meeting with DOTC Secretary Emilio Abaya. He lamented that the efforts of his adminis-tration to address the problems by purchasing more coaches were only met with criticism. “So sabi ko nga, hahabaan niyo iyung fran-chise ninyo, tataasan natin iyung rate… (but) the increased rates will be met by a lot of

resistance by the com-muting public,” he said, lamenting that ex-tended franchises have a trade-off of higher fares. “We are in govern-ment, can purchase it, why shouldn’t gov-ernment purchase it? Tapos nung nagka-purchase, kung anu-anong isyu na naman iyung lumabas na influ-ence peddling, etc,” he added. Meanwhile, Abaya said a total of 11 proj-ects worth around P10

billion are underway to improve the opera-tions of MRT-3. He said the biggest project is the P3.76-billion MRT-3 capacity expansion project involving the acquisition of 48 brand new trains that was awarded to CNR Dalian Lo-comotive and Rolling Stock Co. of China.

Metro Rail Transit (MRT) disaster

Aquino submits draft Bangsamoro bill to Congress

MANILA - After months of delay, Presi-dent Benigno Aquino III on Wednesday morning turned over to Congress leaders the much-awaited final draft of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL). In a ceremony in Malacañang, Aquino personally endorsed the draft BBL bill to Senate President Franklin Drilon and House Speaker Fe-liciano Belmonte Jr. The draft BBL was scheduled to be sub-mitted to Congress last May, but it was delayed due to some differences from the government peace panel and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). “Mahaba at ma-busisi po ang pros-esong ito dahil nga inilatag natin ang bawat detalye ng pagpapatupad ng ating adhikain para sa Bangsamoro,” Aquino said in his speech. “Tinitiyak ko po sa inyo: Pinanday ang Bangsamoro Basic Law upang maging makatwiran, makatarungan, at katanggap-tanggap sa lahat, Moro man, Lumad, o Kris-tiyano,” he added. Aquino and MILF Chair Al Haj Murad met last week to clarify and resolve the issues in the draft BBL, Presidential Communications

Operations Office head Herminio Coloma Jr. said. The BBL embodies the comprehensive peace agreement signed last March by the

MILF and the gov-ernment peace panel to end the decades-long armed conflict in Mindanao. The bill intends to create a new Bangsamoro politi-cal entity that will replace the Autono-mous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). It will stipulate the power-sharing and wealth-sharing arrange-ments between the national government and the new political entity. In a statement, government peace panel Chair Miriam Colonel-Ferrer said the proposed BBL provides that the Bangsamoro govern-ment shall be parlia-mentary in form.

“This institutional design would allow for a broader base of political representation and participation in governance. It would com-pel the formation of competitive and sus-tainable political parties in the region,” the professor said. Ferrer said the Bangsamoro government will enjoy significant powers over and above the powers granted to the ARMM today.

President Benigno Aquino III, center, watches Moro Islamic Liberation Front chief nego-tiator Mohagher Iqbal, 2nd left, and Presiden-tial adviser on the peace process, Secretary Teresita Quintos-Deles, left, turning over the Draft of the Bangsamoro Basic Law to House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte, right, and Senate President Franklin Drilon, partly hidden, dur-ing ceremonies at the Malacanang Presiden-tial Palace in Manila on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2014.

Sometimes, for lack of guidance from an experienced immigration attorney, ap-

plicants for immigration benefits, includ-ing those seeking K-1 or K-2 visas, makes a fraudulent action or willful misrepresen-tation. In these cases, the applicants are re-quired to file Form I-601 or Application for Waiver of Ground of Inadmissibility.

Q: What grounds of inadmissibility may be covered by a waiver?

A: The following grounds of inadmis-sibility under the Immigration and

Naturalization Act (INA) are as follows: health-related grounds, criminal and re-lated grounds, immigrant membership in a totalitarian party, misrepresentation in immigration matters, smugglers, subject to civil penalty, and unlawful presence in the U.S. for at least 180 days, beginning on or after April 1, 1997, followed by departure from the U.S.

Q: How long is the validity of the waiv-er?

A: If the waiver is granted, then, except for K-1 and K-2 nonimmigrant’s and

conditional permanent residents, the grant permanently waives fraud or willful mis-representation included in the application for purposes of any future immigration benefits application, whether immigrant or nonimmigrant. The waiver remains valid even if the person later abandons or other-wise loses LPR status.

Q: If you are a conditional permanent resident, is the waiver also permanent

in nature?

A: For conditional permanent residents, the waiver only becomes valid in-

definitely if and when the conditions are removed from his or her permanent resi-dent status. Conversely, termination of the conditional permanent resident status also terminates the validity of the waiver.

Q: Does the waiver cover all grounds of inadmissibility?

A: A waiver applies only to the specific grounds of inadmissibility and related

crimes, events or incidents specified in the waiver application. If, in the future, the ap-plicant is found inadmissible for a separate incident of fraud or willful misrepresenta-tion not already included in an approved waiver application, he or she will be re-quired to file another waiver application. USCIS may reconsider an approval of a waiver at any time if it is determined that the decision has been made in error.

Q: Are there conditions for the grant of a Waiver to K-1 or K-2 nonimmigrant

visa applicants?

A: If the applicant seeks a waiver to obtain a fiancé(e) visa (K-1 or K-2),

the waiver’s approval is conditioned upon the K-1 nonimmigrant marrying the U.S. citizen who filed the fiancé(e) petition. The waiver becomes permanent once the K-1 marries the petitioner.

Q: What happens to the waiver if the K-1 nonimmigrant does not marry the

petitioner?

A: In general, if the K-1 nonimmigrant does not marry the petitioner, the K-1

and K-2 (if applicable) will remain inadmissible for purposes of any appli-cation for a benefit on any basis other than the proposed marriage between the K-1 and the K nonimmigrant visa petitioner.

Q:What happens if at the time of entry, the immigration officer declares the

visa holder inadmissible based on docu-mentary requirements?

A: If an applicant procured an immi-gration benefit by fraud or willful

misrepresentation, the applicant may also be inadmissible for lack of documentary requirements at the time of entry. When an applicant is granted a waiver for fraud or willful misrepresentation, inadmissibil-ity based on lack of documentary require-ments at the time of entry is also implicitly waived.

Q: Can you give an example of the above?

A: For example, an applicant misrepre-sents a material fact during the over-

seas nonimmigrant visa application pro-cess. The Department of State, however, grants her a visa. Later, she applies for ad-justment of status. During her adjustment interview, an officer discovers her misrep-resentation and finds her inadmissible for both willful misrepresentation and failure to comply with documentary requirements. The applicant then applies for a waiver of inadmissibility for willful misrepresenta-tion. Approval of the waiver has the effect of waiving inadmissibility for willful mis-representation and for the lack of a valid visa at the time of entry.

SUCCESS STORIES

1. On September 9, 2014, we received an approval from Immigration Court of ad-justment of status for a client who was pre-viously denied an asylum.2. On September 8, 2014, we received an approval from USCIS of Form I-601A pro-visional waiver for two clients.3. On September 5, 2014, we received an approval from USCIS for Fiancée visa based on same sex petition.4. On September 4, 2014, we received an approval of DACA for a client who has problem in her birth certificate.5. On August 28, 2014, we received an approval of green card based on spousal abuse.6. On August 25, 2014, we received an approval of green card based on same sex marriage with big age difference..7. On August 1, 2014, we received an ap-proval of waiver of joint filing of I-751 based on spousal abuse. With the approval she was granted permanent residence.8. On July 21. 2014, we received an ap-proval of green card based on marriage that was initially denied due to inconsistencies in interview response.9. On July 19, 2014, we received an ap-proval of I-751 removal of condition on residence waiver based on battered spouse.10. On June 11, 2014, we received an ap-proval from USCIS of green card under Violence Against Women Act.11. On May 12. 2014, we received an ap-proval from USCIS of green card under the

same sex marriage law and the corresponding waiver of certain mis-

representation.12. On April 21, 2014, we received an ap-proval of green card after the denial was appealed to the Board of Immigration Ap-peals.13. On March 31, 2014, we received an approval of green card for a client under Violence Against Women Act.14. On March 25, 2014, we received an-other approval from the Immigration Court for waiver of misrepresentation for a client who entered the U.S. as single but actually married.15. On January 24, 2014, we received an-other approval for waiver of misrepresen-tation from the Immigration Court for an alien who entered as single but actually married.16. On January 14, 2014, we received an approval from USCIS of a green card un-

der law on Registry for a person who has been in the U.S. since before 1972. 17. On January 6, 2014, we received an ap-proval of waiver of misrepresentation from Immigration Judge for a client who entered as single but actually married.18. On November 21, 2013, we received an approval from USCIS for adjustment of status under SAME SEX MARRIAGE.

Crispin Caday Lozano is an active member of the State Bar of California, the American Immigration Lawyers Association and the National Association of Consumers Bankruptcy Attorneys. He special-izes in immigration law and bankruptcy law. He earned his Juris Doctor at Western State Univer-sity College of Law in Fullerton, California. He is also a Certified Public Accountant, a Real Estate Broker and a Bachelor of Business Administra-tion Cum Laude graduate. He has offices in San Francisco, Hayward, San Jose, and Cerritos, Cali-fornia. You can contact him at 1-877-456-9266. Email questions to crispinlozano@gmail.com/. Visit our website at www.crispinlozanolaw.com.

Do you need a fraud waiver?By Atty. Crispin C. Lozano

PAGE 7Sept 11, 2014 - Sept 17, 2014The San Francisco Post IMMIGRATION

PAGE 8Sept 11, 2014 - Sept 17, 2014 The San Francisco Post

Combined with $635 million in pipeline upgrades that PG&E has already been ordered to absorb, the company’s total cost of San Bruno penalties and improvements will top $2 billion, commission officials said in a statement. In addition, PG&E has paid $500 million in lawsuit settlements with blast victims and their survivors, and faces a potential $1.13 billion fine in a criminal case brought by federal prosecutors. The state-ordered penalties would be paid by PG&E’s shareholders, not the company’s customers. However, customers are still liable for cover-ing $1 billion in safety upgrades that PG&E has agreed to make but were not covered by Tuesday’s ruling.PG&E had hoped to escape a state fine altogether and have the pipe-line improvements alone serve as its penalty. The judges dismissed that idea, even though it would benefit customers by transferring some of the $1 billion in safety upgrades to the company.

“PG&E’s proposal that all penalties be used/invested in pipeline

safety, while creating a windfall for ratepayers, would not effectively de-ter it from committing further viola-tions,” the judges said. “Indeed, such an outcome would not even be con-sidered an appropriate penalty, since PG&E has always been required to invest in pipeline safety.” The judges’ ruling is final unless one of the parties in the San Bruno case or one of the utilities commis-sion’s five members challenges it within 30 days. If that happens, the matter would go before the full com-mission, whose members are ap-pointed by the governor.

No word on appeal PG&E officials issued a statement that did not say whether they would appeal. “We are accountable and fully accept that a penalty is appropri-ate,” the statement said. “We have respectfully asked that the commis-sion ensure that the penalty is rea-

sonable and proportionate and takes into consideration the company’s investments and actions to promote safety. Moreover, we believe any penalty should directly benefit pub-lic safety.”San Bruno Mayor Jim Ruane said he was concerned that the judges hadn’t ordered PG&E to spend more on safety improvements, and that the penalty may be disproportionately weighted toward fines. “There is an extraordinary amount in the fine that does not go directly into safety of the pipelines in the ground,” Ruane said, “and that’s un-fortunate.” He said the city is “extremely dis-appointed” that the nearly $1 billion fine amounts to a “payday” for Gov. Jerry Brown and the state’s general fund. “We can’t see the benefit of putting this money in the general fund and not on public safety,” he said. City officials also were disappoint-ed that the judges did not impose an outside safety monitor on PG&E, Ruane said.

(Cont. from page 1... PG&E FACES)

had done. “But I was just a sol-dier who had to follow orders.” He said none of the procure-ment personnel had questioned the prac-tice of rigging the bidding. “That’s our practice in Makati. That is what we do,” he said. He also said officials fixed the bidding for the controversial P2.3-billion Makati parking building and other projects to favor Hilmarc’s Construction Corp. on the instructions of then Mayor Jejo-mar Binay, now Vice President. Even the contrac-tor of the allegedly overpriced P2.28-billion Makati parking building on Thursday admitted it was not claiming it was world-class.

Hilmarc is the general contractor

of the 11-story building that was constructed from 2008 to 2013.

“The contractor doesn’t make a claim it’s world-class,” Hil-marc’s assistant vice president

for legal Rogelio Peig said when asked by Sen. Alan Peter Cay-etano to define world-class. Cayetano asked the most me-ticulously researched and mer-

ciless questions during the hear-ing. He praised Pieg for his honesty and said the lat-ter’s admission flew in the face of claims by Vice President Binay, who was mayor when the building began construc-tion, that this was world-class. When Sen. Aq-uilino Pimentel III, blue ribbon s u b c o m m i t t e e chair, pressed him to be more categorical if Hil-

marc’s built a world-class build-ing, Peig said: “As I said, we can’t make that claim.”

(Cont. from page 1... MAKATI BLDG)

MAKATI RIGGING WITNESS Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, beside Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, grills witnesses, including Mario Hecha-nova (at right), during a Senate hearing on the allegedly overpriced Makati City parking building. RAFFY LERMA

PAGE 9Sept 11, 2014 - Sept 17, 2014

The San Francisco Post

PAGE 10Sept 11, 2014 - Sept 17, 2014 The San Francisco PostHEALTH & FITNESS

I could not emphasize the importance of hydrating yourself. Water is an integral

part of our bodies. It makes up to 75% of our entire body. It has 5 basic functions from carrying essential nutrients to our cells, it removes waste from our bodies, breaks down what we eat, regulates our body temperature and effective lubricant for our joints. Water is the center of our life. Without it, you will essentially die af-ter 3 to 5 days.

Dehydration can make you fat and sick. I bet you don’t even know it. accord-

ing to an article written by the Mind Un-leashed here are 11 reasons why the lack of water is making you fat and sick.

1. Fatigue - Dehydration causing the en-zymatic activity to slow down. That re-

sults on being tired and fatigue.

2. Asthma and allergies - when you are dehydrated, your body will restrict air-

ways as a means to conserve water.

3. High cholesterol - you body will pro-duce more cholesterol when your dehy-

drated

4. Bladder and kidney problems - if your dehydrated, you can not flush out the

toxins and acid waste in your body. Its a haven for bacteria causing your bladder and kidney to get easily infected.

5. Constipation - the lack of water will cause your body to draw water from

your colon.

6. Joint pain or stiffness - Need water to lubricate your joints.

7. Weight gain - lack of water will make you think your hungry.

8. Premature aging - your skin gets wrin-kly when you don’t drink enough water.

9. High blood pressure - the blood is mostly composed of water. If your de-

hydrated, your blood pressure will go up

10. Skin disorder - Lack of water impairs the removal of toxins in your skin caus-

ing all types of skin diseases.

11. Digestive disorder - water helps di-gest our food that we eat. Lack of it can

cause ulcers and other stomach problems.

Keep a water bottle constantly by your side at all times. Drink even if your

not thirsty.

Sources:http://themindunleashed.org/2014/09/11-reasons-dehydration-making-sick-fat.html

About the contributor:John Pangan is a Certified

Personal Trainer, Champion Natural Bodybuilder and the co-founder of Bfitandlive web-site. For more diet and excercise tips, email john@bfitandlive.com. Download the bFitandLive Free-book at www.bfitfreebook.com.

Dehydrated? Well it can make you fat and sick

For Aquino and our national leaders, it should not be a matter of getting emer-gency powers, but of gathering the politi-cal will to really solve the problem. Many of the country’s problems could have not

worsened as much had our leaders – past and present – really buckled down to work and stopped thinking about politics after elections. (valabelgas@aol.com)

(Cont. from page 4... THE NUCLEUS OF THE MATTER; POLITICAL WILL...)

The importance of a good night’s sleep can’t be un-derstated – sleep well and you wake up alert, energized and ready for the day. But ac-cording to a new study published in the journal Neurology, a poor night’s sleep doesn’t just start your day off poorly – it might also cause your brain to shrink. Researchers from Oxford University studied 147 adults, admin-istering two MRI brain scans over the course of three and a half years; they

also had participants fill out a questionnaire about their sleep habits. The research-

ers found that people who had sleep difficulties had a more rapid decline in brain volume, which could up their risk of Alzheimer’s

disease and dementia. While the study is alarm-ing, the researchers make

a point to note that it’s unclear that the poor sleep actually caused the brain shrinkage – in fact, say, it could be the other way around. However, that’s not a gamble one ex-pert recommends you take. “While the study isn’t de-finitive … try to get a better sleep,” Andrew Lim, a neurologist at To-

ronto’s Sunnybrook hospi-tal who was not involved in the study, said.”I wouldn’t wait 20 years to see if the study was right or not.”

Poor sleep may shrink your brain

the House justice commit-tee, he said.The complaints against Aquino stemmed from the voided Disbursement Ac-celeration Program and the Enhanced Defense Co-operation Agreement with the United States.“We’re interested in the results of the investiga-tion. But if you ask me — a lad from the province who regularly travels to Manila — from a cosmo-politan point of view, my judgment call is really for that (for Binay) to be im-peached,’’ Salceda said.“The accusations are so gross. And therefore I’d rather go to the impeach-ment process so the vice president can be cleansed,’’ he added. “That’s the cor-rect process.’’After all, the senators, in-cluding Alan Peter Cay-etano, have presented suf-ficient information on the allegations of overpricing, and it was up to the House

to take up any com-plaint if this is filed, Salceda said.

Until an impeachment complaint is filed, he said, the blue ribbon sub-com-mittee could go ahead with its inquiry, he said.The vice president, who has made no secret of his plans to seek the presiden-cy in 2016, has dismissed the inquiry as a forum to vilify him since he enjoyed high approval ratings.The blue ribbon sub-com-mittee intends to formally invite Binay to its hearing on the building that began construction in 2007 when he was mayor of Makati.His son, Makati Mayor Je-jomar “Junjun’’ Binay Jr., has defended the cost of the building that experts said was too high com-pared to plush hotels and residential high-rises in the city. The younger Binay had claimed the building was expensive because it “world-class” and a “green building.’’Buhay Rep. Lito Atienza

defended Binay and said the Senate inquiry should give way to the impeach-ment process.“Why should Vice Presi-dent Binay— the vice president of the land who is impeachable; if he has committed a crime, he’s impeachable — go to a forum where the investi-gators are declared candi-dates: Senators Trillanes and Senator Cayetano?’’ Atienza told the forum.“He has poor common sense if he goes there to be pilloried and prosecuted,’’ he added.Cayetano, also a guest at the forum, rejected the idea of him filing an impeach-ment complaint since the senators sit as judges at impeachment trials of im-peachable officials.Ahead of the Senate in-quiry, the vice president’s daughter, Sen. Nancy Bi-nay, had suggested that the accusers file an impeach-ment complaint against her father. She said this was the “proper process.’’

(Cont. from page 1... SALCEDA)

REITREMENT GET TO KNOW THE FACES AND

FACTS OF DISABILITYPerhaps the most misunderstood Social Security program is disability insurance, often referred to as SSDI. Some people mistakenly think that beneficiaries are “on the dole” and getting easy money for minor impairments. That’s not the case. There are two ways to under-stand the truth about disability. One is by looking at the facts. The other is by get-ting to know some of the people who make up the many faces of disability.

We have some of the strictest requirements in the world for disabil-ity benefits. The Social Security Act sets out a very strict definition of disability. To receive a disability benefit, a person must have an impair-ment expected to last at least one year or result in death. The impairment must be so severe that it renders the person unable to perform any substantial work in the national job market, not just their previous work. SSDI does not include

temporary or partial disability benefits. Because the eligibility requirements are so strict, Social Security disability beneficiaries are among the

most severely im-paired people in the country and tend to have high death rates. In addition, Social Security conducts a periodic review of people who receive disability benefits to ensure they remain eligible for disability. Social Security also aggressively works to prevent, detect, and prosecute fraud. Social Security often

investigates suspicious disability claims before making a decision to award benefits—proac-tively stopping fraud before it happens. These steps help to ensure that only those eligible have access to disability benefits.Americans place a high premium on self-suffi-ciency, but it is reassuring to know that Social Security disability insurance is there for those who need it the most.

Democrats worry that an executive action could cause them to lose control of the Senate in November. Gutierrez, a member of the Congressional Hispanic Cau-cus and a passionate advocate of immigration reform, said he had called Obama and White House officials after hearing the executive action would be delayed. He said he expects to meet with administration of-ficials this week on the issue. Cardenas, who is also part of the Hispanic Caucus, said of Obama: “we all are frustrated with him right now because he’s taken way too long to take his executive actions.” “I don’t like what the presi-dent’s advisers may be tell-ing him. I can only speculate that they’ve encouraged them to wait. I would prefer he do it now,” Cardenas told the CNN’s “State of the Union”

program. Immigrant ad-vocacy groups also criticized

the delay. “The president’s latest bro-ken promise is another slap to the face of the Latino and im-migrant community,” Cristina Jimenez, managing director for United We Dream, said in aUnited We Dream asked supporters on social media to use the hashtag, “#deporterin-chief,” to urge Obama to pull back from deporting undocu-mented immigrants.The Senate last year passed a sweeping immigration bill that would have provided a path to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented im-migrants within the United States. But the bill stalled in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.Republican opponents of the Senate bill have labeled it “amnesty” for people who en-tered the country illegally.

Obama made clear in an in-terview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he still planned to take action on immigration but said he would work to build support for such steps.He said the surge of unaccom-panied minors flooding across the southern border became a concern for many Americans and influenced the broader de-bate over immigration.“And you know, the truth of the matter is that the politics did shift midsummer because of that problem,” Obama said in the interview, which was taped Saturday and aired Sun-day.“I want to spend some time, even as we’re getting all our ducks in a row for the execu-tive action, I also want to make sure that the public under-stands why we’re doing this, why it’s the right thing for the American people, why it’s the right thing for the American economy,” he added.

(Cont. from page 1...LATINOS FURIOUS)

AROUND TOWN PAGE 11Sept 11, 2014 - Sept 17, 2014The San Francisco Post

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KADOK’s MILPITAS. Ricardo “KADOKS” Tejada, owner of the Bay Area’s fastest growing chain of retaurants known to everyone as KADOK’s recently was a gracious host to Sta Lucia Land Exec-utives ed by their President Exequiel Robles ( accompanied by his 2 lovely sisters and some friends) together with James Aguila, Chief Operating Officer, Gabby Gancayno, Real Estate Broker,Beth Reyes together with Kadoks and SFPost’ Don Orozco. Kadoks’s Milpitas is located at 1466 N Mil-pitas Blvd, CA 95035 with telephone number 408-262-9909.

TALENTED NIKKA. Nikka Magahis, lovely daughter of Nick and Babes Magahis of the City of Roseville blurted such a powerful song and vallet number and also played the piano in the recent debut celebration of Kathleen Maniquis. Photo shows from left Nikka, Babes, Nick, Boyet Alcomen-dras, Brian and Nerissa Avery and Thei Orozco enjoying the festivities and the program.

Philippine Embassy

A n n o u n c e s S c h e d u l e for Overseas Voting The Philip-pine Embas-sy in Wash-ington, D.C. is pleased to announce that qualified Filipinos may register as

Overseas Voters for the May 2016 Phil-ippine elections on September 13 and 14, 2014 at the Embassy booth during the 11th Asian Festival at the Rosecroft Raceway in Fort Washington, Mary-land. Qualified Overseas Voters are all citi-zens of the Philippines, who are abroad or will be abroad during the voting pe-riod, at least 18 years of age in the day of the elections, and not otherwise dis-qualified by law. Registrants should appear in person for the capture of biometric informa-tion and bring their Philippine pass-port, Identification Certificate (for dual citizens), or, in their absence, docu-ments that would warrant the issuance of a Philippine passport (birth certifi-cate, etc.). For questions, please send an email to embassy@phil-ippinesusa.org.

SAN FRANCISCO PASSPORT AGENCY HOSTS PASSPORT DAY The San Francisco Pass-port Agency will open its doors on Saturday, Sep-tember 20, 2014, from 9:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. for a special Passport Day. On Passport Day, no ap-pointments are needed to apply for a passport, and customers can request rou-tine or expedited service. To reduce waiting times on September 20, custom-ers are encouraged to com-plete applications online at travel.state.gov and bring their completed, unsigned forms to the agency.U.S. citizens must pres-ent a valid passport book when entering the United States by air. U.S. citizens entering the United States from Canada, Mexico, the

Caribbean and Bermuda at land borders and sea ports of entry must present a passport book, passport card, or other travel documents approved by the U.S. government. More information on how to apply for a U.S. passport, including neces-sary documents and fees, is available at travel.state.gov. U.S. citizens may also obtain passport information by phone, in English and Spanish, by calling the National Passport Information Center toll-free at 1-877-487-2778.

THE STATE OF REAL ESTATE IN THE PHILIPPINES Sta Lucia Land, Incorporated, a pio-neer in Real Estate investment will have its Chief Operating Officer Mr James Aguila discuss with the officers, members and guests of the Filipino American Chamber of Commerce of Santa Clara County in the various op-portunity of investments in Real Estate. Mr Aguila, who is here promoting the positive business climate of real estate has an office located at 1613 South Main St Suite 102, Milpitas, CA will render the discussion on September 25 at his office. Everyone is invited to come. Everyone is also encouraged to bring with them plenty of business cards and network with the rest of the participants.

Things you need to know

LET’S HAVE COFFEEBy

Don Augusto Orozco

Honda’s Statement on President Obama’s Decision to delay action on Immigration Reform

Washington, D.C. – Congressman Mike Hon-da (D-CA17) released the following statement about President Barak Obama’s announce-ment that he will not take executive action on Immigration Reform until November While I am extremely disappointed that President Obama will not take executive ac-tion to fix our broken immigration system un-til after this November’s midterm elections, I am more disappointed that such an action is needed in the first place. Over a year ago, the Senate passed a comprehensive immigration bill that would bring relief and justice to the over 11 million undocumented people in this country, as well as add $1 billion to our econ-omy. Speaker John Boehner and the House Republicans leadership have refused to let us vote on a House version of this bill. I know that we have enough support from sensible Republicans to pass this much-needed legis-lation. In my role as Immigration Chair of the Con-gressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), I spoke earlier this week with the White House about the urgent need to fix our broken immigration system. I reminded them

that there are 11 million people waiting for relief and justice, including nearly 2 million Asian families sitting in the backlogs for fam-ily-based visas. Some family members spend almost 24 years waiting to reunite with their families. I also reminded the White House that Asian Americans are a growing constituency that has proven to be pivotal in close races, and that reuniting families is a consistent pri-ority for our community. Last week, I visited the US/Mexico border near McAllen, Texas, and saw firsthand our need for Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR). Our facilities there are overburdened by the amount of children and adults they need to process. With CIR, we would institutional-ize greater resources and provide the system with the needed amount of lawyers, judges, and officers to help those who are coming to America to escape dangerous condition in their own countries. This will speed justice for these immigrants while still protecting our border efficiently. Our immigration system is in dire need of reform. Where Republicans have failed, the President must act and he must act quickly.

Groundbreaking for Mother Teresa Center

On September 13, 2014, Bishop Barber will celebrate with the parishioners of St. James the Apostle Parish, located at 34700 Fremont Boulevard, Fre-mont, CA 94555, the groundbreak-ing for their Mother Teresa Center. The Center will house meeting rooms and space for Parish Ministry activities and especially for the Faith Formation Program. The Fes-tivities will begin at 2:00pm with enter-tainment and continue at 3:00pm with the Groundbreaking Ceremony and at 4:00pm with fellowship and refreshments. Please come and join the proud parishio-ners of St. James in rejoicing in a dream

come true. Various fund raising activities were undertaken in the past four years to

realize this vision under the leader-ship of Fr. Antony Vazhappilly. With the motto “Little Drops of Water Makes an Ocean”, Fr. Antony was able to inspire parishio-ners and non-parish-ioners alike to sup-port the campaign to raise money to build a necessary addition to the facilities of the church. On behalf of Fr.

Antony and all the supporters of St. James the Apostle Catholic Church, we would like to thank you and we pray that God continue to bless you and your families abundantly.

ANA and ANDY @ 50. Who would believe that the couple has been together for 50 years? Well the lovely Ana and Andy Andres celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in the fabulous city of Las Vegas. Both Andy and Ana are pillars of the Filipino American Chamber of Commerce of Santa Clara County.

PAGE 12Sept 11, 2014 - Sept 17, 2014 SPORTS The San Francisco Post

Gilas edges out Senegal in OT for first win in 40 years

SEVILLE, Spain – Gilas Pilipinas, down and out, won’t just fade away quietly in its FIBA World Cup return, beating Senegal, 81-79, in overtime to gift the country its first win in 40 years in the global meet. After couples of heartbreaking loss-es, the Nationals took their turn to break a heart with a stirring triumph reminiscent of their brave, proud per-formance at home versus Korea that became their ticket for a first World Cup appearance in 36 years. Like in Manila in the finest hour of their 2013 FIBA Asian Champi-onship glorious ride, the Filipinos fought and won a battle in the crunch with their naturalized player helpless on the bench. With Andray Blatche out on fouls in the last 1:55, the Filipinos defied the odds versus the tall, athletic and sweet-shooting Senegal side, giving the country their brightest moment in world basketball for ages. Gilas could have broken into the knockout stage had it salvaged at least one of its close losses to Croatia, Ar-gentina and Puerto Rico. The loss could relegate Senegal to fourth seeding in Group B competition of this world meet, playing a top seed

from another group in the Round of 16.Junmar Fajardo, Ranidel de Ocampo, Gabe Norwood, Jimmy Alapag and LA

Tenorio were the gallant quintet doing the job in those fateful last two min-utes that had the Filipino crowd roar-ing no end.Fajardo scored underneath on an assist by De Ocampo then Ocampo, Fajardo and Alapag strung up six straight free throws as Gilas zoomed ahead, 77-71, to stay, thus, achieving its goal of pull-

ing off at least a win in its WC come-back. It’s the first win by the Philippines in

the world meet since the Bogs Ador-nardo-led Phl quintet chalked up two wins for a 13th place finish among 14 participants in the 1974 edition of the world joust in Puerto Rico.Coach Chot Reyes and the team went up to the gallery at the end of the game, celebrating like they won the championship. “We’d shown that we belong, we’d shown that we can compete. Now we’ve shown we can win,” said Reyes. “From the start, we knew our best chance to win is against Senegal. We became a victim of our success with our near upsets (against Croa-tia, Greece and Puerto Rico),” said Reyes.Blatche was a huge force for Gilas

before fouling out, coming through with 18 points and 14 rebounds against five errors.Alapag put up another shining perfor-mance with 18 points including three treys while Fajardo delivered his big-gest performance with 15 markers and nine boards.

KIA Sorento team manager Eric Pineda re-vealed that Filipino boxing sensation and now the ballclub’s playing-coach Manny Pacquiao will indeed play when they make their PBA debut next month. According to Pineda, the PBA has already scheduled KIA to play on opening day against fellow newcomer Blackwater Sports set on Oct. 19 at a venue to be announced. “Gusto niya kasi first game ng KIA against Blackwater. He will coach and he will play. He has confirmed already and committed with Commissioner (Chito) Salud that he will play,” said Pineda. Pacquiao returns home today from the United States, where he recently completed

a 12-day promotional tour for his upcoming 12-round welterweight title bout opposite New Yorker Chris Algieri on Nov. 23 in Macau. Pineda said Pacquiao will immediately handle KIA’s practice session. Pineda said KIA just had a meaningful start regarding their own training camp when they surprised crowd favorite Brgy. Ginebra San Miguel in a tuneup game last Friday at the CCF Gym in Ortigas. “Buo na ‘yung team namin. We had our first tune-up against Ginebra. Fortunately, nanalo kami. First game of the team natapat kami Ginebra though siyempre wala sila (LA)

Tenorio and Japeth (Aguilar). But still, it’s a good confidence-booster for my players because most of them are young,” said Pineda. Journeyman and former Ginebra player Reil Cervantes led KIA to a 73-71 victory over the Gin Kings. It was both teams’ first tune-up session of the off season. Cervantes got ample support from former Global Port point guard LA Revilla, who had 15 markers. Ginebra, meanwhile, was led by incoming sophomore Greg Slaughter with 23 points, while new recruit Joseph Yeo added 11.

Pacman to play in PBA openerMyanmar deals Azkals 2nd straight finals heartbreaker

MANILA -- Lightning struck twice for the Philippine Azkals. Barely recovered from their numb-ing bridesmaid finish in the AFC

Challenge Cup, the Azkals suffered another heartbreak as they bungled their title drive in the PFF Peace Cup 2014 at home, dropping a 2-3 setback to Myanmar in extra time Saturday night. “It’s a big disappointment really to lose two finals in the space of three months. It’s really hard to take espe-cially here at Rizal, seeing the other team jumping around and celebrat-ing,” said skipper Rob Gier after the Azkals failed to exorcise the ghost of their 0-1 defeat to Palestine in the Challenge Cup finale last May with a conquest at Rizal Memorial. The Azkals positioned themselves on the verge of a third consecutive Peace Cup crown after seizing a 2-1 lead off Phil Younghusband’s 70th minute pen-alty kick and maintaining it going to the late stages of the first 90 minutes.But the Burmese pounced on a free-kick off a foul by Misagh Bahadoran to knock in the equalizer, a header by sub Min Min Thu in the second minute of stoppage time that stunned the crowd and spoiled their looming celebration.Soo Min Oo, another sub, delivered the

killer blow in extra period and tapped it in at the 100th minute, putting the Azkals on the backfoot and desperate to go for the game-tying goal or even

snatch it. The Pinoy booters switched to 3-5-2 in the sec-ond half of extra time, even send-ing keeper Roland Muller into the Myanmar goal at one point to join a set piece late in the match. Sportshub ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sec-tionmatch: 1 “Obviously I hate losing, especially losing in finals.” said coach Thom-

as Dooley, who went 0-for-2 now in championship matches. “I don’t think it was a great game for us and I think we didn’t step up to the level we can actually play. I don’t know exactly why.” Myanmar needed just eight minutes to draw first blood, with Kyaw Ko Ko firing a shot from way out that hit the crossbar, ricocheted on the side post and went in. Daisuke Sato connected from long range in the 49th to knot the count and Younghusband provided the go-ahead cashing in on the penalty kick won by Patrick Reichelt 21 minutes later. Then they faded. “We could have maybe wasted time like they (Myanmar) did in overtime or I should have brought in fresh legs before (the) 90 minutes (mark),” said Dooley. It’s back to the drawing board for the Azkals, who are training their sights on the AFF Suzuki Cup dia-dem in November. But first, they have to learn to “play their best” in the biggest game of ev-ery tournament.

REAL ESTATE

As the summer winds down, typically, so does house-hunting activity. But the first readings from August, which came in this week, point to continued growth in housing demand as the year progresses. On the manufacturing front, Markit’s U.S. manufacturing index grew in August to 57.9 based on strength in new orders in exports and in higher levels of produc-tion and employment. In a similar vein, the closely watched ISM manufac-turing composite index increased to 59.0 from 57.1 in July. These two readings show that the manufacturing sector is indeed recovering, and that should bring em-ployment and wage gains down the road. The rest of the economy is also showing continued improvement, as reflected in the ISM’s non-manufacturing index. That com-posite rose 0.9 points to 59.6, from 58.7 in July. Those measures of manufacturing and services led to high expectations on em-

ployment metrics for August. But the em-ployment readings were not quite as strong as economists had expected. The initial nonfarm growth in jobs came in at only 142,000, after a 212,000 increase in July and a 267,000 jump in June. The August reading broke our streak of

6 months of 200,000+ new jobs, but the long-term trend remains strong, and the growth in employment continues to be in sectors with higher average wages. In ad-dition, average hourly earnings rose 0.2%, as expected.

Finally, mortgage rates remained largely unchanged, at levels lower than one year ago. For those who can qualify, rates con-tinue to be at once-in-a-lifetime levels. Next week will bring more employment data for August and an initial read on Sep-tember consumer sentiment.

Continued growth seen for UShousing market

The Philippine Azklas Simone Rota reacts after a missed attempt on Myan-mar’s goal during the finals of the Peace Cup at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium in Manila on Saturday. Myanmar ended the Philippine Azkals’ two-year reign in the Peace Cup with a 3-2 win.

BALTIMORE-- The star running back Ray Rice has been released by the Baltimore Ravens and in-definitely suspended by the National Football League, over a video that appears to show him assaulting his then-fiancee in an Atlantic City ca-sino. The moves came hours after the celebrity news site TMZ released a video that appeared to show Rice knocking Janay Palmer unconscious with a single punch. In February, the same site released a video that showed Rice dragging Palmer out of the elevator, by her underarms, before dropping her face-down, her dress up and her feet still in the el-evator. Palmer and Rice have since married. Rice had been playing under a five-year, $40m contract extension that he signed in July 2012. On Monday afternoon, an NFL spokesman said: “[Commissioner] Roger Goodell has announced that based on new video evidence that became available today he has in-definitely suspended Ray Rice.” After the release of the second video, on Monday morning, observ-ers asked how much the NFL had

known about the incident, and when it had known. The first TMZ video and the fall-out from it prompted widespread criticism of Rice and the NFL – in

July, after an investigation, the league suspended the player for two regular season games. Further press criticism, over the relative brevity of that ban in contrast to lengthy bans handed out for drug-related trans-gressions and other misdemeanors,

prompted a turnaround in the NFL’s policy on employees convicted of do-mestic violence offenses. Under the amendments to the league’s policy announced by Goodell, players convicted in inci-dents of domestic violence face an automatic six-game suspension with-out pay; second offenses will bring lifetime bans. A range of factors, in-cluding whether a child was present, whether the victim was pregnant and whether firearms were involved, can lead to a longer initial suspension. On Monday, debate centered around whether the league and police, who investigated the incident before Rice agreed not to contest a charge of ag-gravated assault, had ever had access to the new TMZ video. Rice was sentenced to a pretrial diversionary program, approved by a New Jersey prosecutor and superior court judge, and his case did not come to court. In a statement to TMZ, an NFL spokesman said: “We requested from law enforcement any and all informa-tion about the incident, including the video from inside the elevator. That video was not made available to us and no one in our office has seen it until today.”

NFL suspends Ray Rice over domestic violence accusation

LOS ANGELES -- A Chinese home builder is poised to invest $1 billion into the U.S. hous-ing market, starting with two developments in California and one in New York. The venture, by Nanjing company Landsea Group, could signal the beginning of a wave of Chinese investments in single-family homes in the U.S., part of a larger influx of Chinese money. Landsea — which builds about 12,000 houses a year in mainland China and also develops in Hong Kong and Germany — comes to the U.S. amid signs that the red-hot market at home is cooling off. Building costs in China have soared in recent years, and lately prices have started to fall in many cities. “The Chinese housing market is slowing down. In the U.S., it’s coming up,” said John Ho, managing director of the company’s U.S. subsidiary, at a celebration Thursday at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.“We saw an opportunity to diversify.” Landsea is starting with three projects: 187

units — mostly single-family homes — in Simi Valley; a town house development in Dublin, Calif., near San Francisco; and a condo build-ing across the Hudson River from Manhattan in Weehawken, N.J. Its U.S. operations will be based in Pasadena, designing and developing homes but using local contractors and materials to build them. The move represents one of the first entries by Chinese developers into the vast U.S. single-family home industry.“This visit marks the advent of Landsea as an American home builder,” said Chairman Tian Ming, who spent 12 days touring the com-pany’s three U.S. sites. “We have already es-tablished our presence in Asia and Europe, but there is no better housing market than the U.S.” Chinese investors have been pouring money into U.S. real estate in recent years, seeking bargain opportunities and a haven for their cash. A recent report by Rhodium Group, which tracks Chinese foreign investment, found $600 million in Chinese spending on U.S. real estate in the second quarter of 2014.

Chinese builder to invest $1B in US housing market

Ray Rice

Gilas Pilipinas guard Jimmy Alapag cel-ebrates during the Philippines’ game against Senegal in the 2014 FIBA World Cup in Se-ville, Spain late Thursday.

PAGE 13Sept 11, 2014 - Sept 17, 2014The San Francisco Post SHOWBIZ

Joan will be missed: ‘She wasn’t done’Fellow “Fashion Police” panelist Kelly Osbourne in a statement: “I’m completely heartbroken by the loss of my beloved Joan. Not only was she my boss, she was and will always be my teacher, therapist, closest friend, inspiration and the only grandmother I ever knew. Laughter will be difficult for a while but when I’m sad, lonely or upset, all I will have to do is think of Joan and a smile will cross my face… I will miss you deeply and will always hear your voice in my head saying, ‘My dar-ling, get out there and be you!’” Comedian Sarah Silverman in a tweet: “My heart is torn in half. She wasn’t done.” Barbra Streisand in a statement: “I first met Joan Molin-

sky, that was her real name, when I was 17… we were both in an off-off-Broadway show called ‘Driftwood.’ She was a real character then and now. I am so upset by her passing. She was too young and had too much to do still.” Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a state-ment: “She was proud of her Jewish heritage. She was a vocal supporter of the State of Israel. We will miss her deeply and we send heartfelt condolences to her family.” Comedian-actress-writer Amy Poehler in a statement: “What a full life! Every woman in comedy is indebted to her. She was there at the beginning and funny to the end. RIP, Joan.”

Gretchen, Richard shine brightest at Star Magic Ball

Barretto and Gomez, both industry veterans, were named “Stars of the Night” at the event, while Julia Bar-retto and Paulo Avelino took home both “Best Dressed” awards. Celebrity couple John Lloyd Cruz and An-gelica Panganiban were named “Couple of the Night” in the event at-tended by over 200 lo-cal celebrities. Among those who went to the star-studded event were Coco Mar-tin, Julia Montes, Kim Chiu, Xian Lim, and teen stars Daniel Pa-dilla, and Kathryn Ber-nardo. Couples Gerald An-derson and Maja Sal-vador, Jericho Rosales and Kim Jones, Bea Alonzo and Zanjoe Marudo, Yeng Constan-tino and Yan Asuncion, also walked down the red carpet. A trio of senators -- Grace Poe, Chiz Escu-dero, and Sonny Angara --also graced the ball, which aims to celebrate ABS-CBN’s talent management company.

Richard Gomez & Gretchen Barretto at the 20th Star Magic Ball

Julia Barreto “Best Dressed” in Star Magic BallMANILA, Phil-ippines – It’s all about the red car-pet at these types of big celebrity events, and that’s especially true at this year’s Star Magic Ball. Perhaps more than the results of the awards and the songs that were given, the true star of the night was the fashion. Who wore what de-signed by whom? Paulo Avelino and Julia Bar-retto were the of-ficial winners of the night’s Best Dressed male and female award. Julia took home the Best Dressed award in the eve-ning’s program, cinching the vic-tor in this volu-minous gown by Rajo Laurel.

Boy Abunda breaks silence about his healthTELEVISION host Boy Abunda has finally spoken up about his medical condition, re-vealing the real reason behind his long ab-sence from his talks shows “The Buzz” and “Aquino and Abunda Tonight.” In an exclusive interview aired on “The Buzz” on Sunday, Abunda revealed what re-ally happened to him. “Maraming salamat sa inyong pagdalaw dito sa aking tahanan, thank you. I look for-ward to this interview. May mga panahon sa ospital parati kong sinasabi, kailan ko ulit masasabing: Magandang hapon, Pilipinas at sa buong mundo, welcome to ‘The Buzz.’ But I’m glad to be back.” “Maraming mga taong nagtatanong: Ano ba talaga ang sakit ni Boy? Parang, ang tagal-ta-gal, parang nakalabas na siya sa ospital, pero bakit hindi pa siya lumalabas sa telebisyon. Ano ba talaga ang kuwento?”“Hindi po ako naospital mula nung ako ay nag-umpisa maghost sa telebisyon. Kaya naiintindihan ko bahagya kung bakit maram-ing tao ang nasindak na ako ay nagkasakit.”Abunda then went on to describe why he was sent to the hospital. “Bumigay na ho talaga ako. Sobrang sakit po ng aking ulo. Ayon sa nurses na aking kasama, ayon sa aking mga nagbabantay, nagdeliryo ho ako. Nagkombulsyon ho ako. Ang sabi sa akin, nag0chi-chill daw ako so-bra, sobrang-sobrang chill, nakakatakot daw akong panoorin. Tapos kinakagat ko daw ang aking dila, I was gnashing my teeth, I was biting my lips, so I was bleeding.” “Meron palang pagkakataon sa buhay ng isang tao, mga kaibigan, that, sobra kang hina, that you are so helpless. Ibinigay ko sa Diyos ang aking buhay, at ibinigay ko sa mga doktor, ang aking buhay.” “Kahit anong test, kahit anong test, I’m open, sabi ko sa aking doktor, to any test. So lahat ho ‘yun pinagdaanan, dengue, tipus, typhoid, HIV, hepa, lungs, liver, kidneys at marami pa pong iba.” After undergoing several tests, doctors found an abscess in Abunda’s liver. “Nakita nila na meron po akong abscess,

nana, sa aking liver. Ang ginawa po nila sa akin, nag-aspirate po sila. Gumamit po sila ng pagkalaki-laki, at pagkahaba-habang karayom, pero hindi ko po tiningnan ‘yun, naramdaman ko lamang.” “Pinasok po ako dito, hanggang ngayon masakit pa po ito, dito, pumasok po ‘yun, ultrasound guided po ito, dumaan po sa ribcage, hanggang narating po iyong liver. Na-aspirate ‘yung ibang nana. Pero hindi po lahat ‘yun. Kaya mga three days pa, meron po akong pig tail na tinatawag, na iniwanan nila para i-drain ‘yung natirang nana sa ak-ing liver.” “Gaano karaming abscess ang nakuha sa aking atay? 300 ml.” Abunda narrated that it was difficult for him at the hospital. “May mga araw, hindi ko po mabilang, ang blood extraction na ginagawa po sa aking ka-tawan, hinang-hina po ako. Ang sakit, sakit, sakit, sakit po ng aking nararamdaman. For the first time, kahit naroon ‘yung mga mahal ko sa buhay, kahit naroon si Bong (Quintana, his longtime companion), naroon ‘yung mga nurses, naroon ‘yung aking kapatid, for the first time in my life, doon ko po naramdaman ‘yung ...may episode ho pala, na ikaw lang at ang Diyos, and you are stripped na- ked of ev-

erything.”

first time in my life, doon ko po naramdaman first time in my naramdaman first time in my

‘yung ...may episode ho pala, na ikaw

‘yung ...may pala, na ikaw

‘yung ...may

lang at episode ho lang at episode ho

ang Diyos, pala, na ikaw ang Diyos,

pala, na ikaw

and you lang at and you lang at

are stripped ang Diyos, are stripped ang Diyos,

na- ked of evare stripped ked of evare stripped

-erything.”

Julia Barreto in Rajo LaurelBilly Crawford apologizes for precinct incidentSINGER and TV host Billy Crawford has apologized for the incident on Sunday morning which led to his detention at the Taguig City police headquarters.Admitting that it was really his fault, Crawford, in an interview with DZMM, said he already said sorry to the police officers if he had said any derogatory state-ments. “It was my fault pero wala akong nasaktan, wala akong tinulak, wala akong tinamaan kundi ‘yung salamin,” he said.“To be honest with you, I don’t see anything wrong with what I did. It was my fault for actually being aggressive. Buti na lang it didn’t happen in a bar, it didn’t happen anywhere else. It hap-pened in a precinct. The reason why is because I knew for a fact I needed to be in a controlled environment. So as I said, I really apologize to the officers if I said anything derogatory or anything else,” he added. Crawford, who admitted to have been drinking, ex-plained that he went to the police station because he was “stressed out by certain situations.”

“You know when we are under the influence of alco-hol, you just don’t really fake it. I don’t come from a background na to hide or to fake anything. It’s an ag-gression. I’m just really exhausted. I’m stressed out by certain situations. We try to be the best we are. We are not perfect. Ibig sabihin ng ‘Ayaw ko makasakit,’ I’m

getting the aggression,” he said. “And usually for me, when I’m angry, I’m not plastic. If there’s someone that speaks derogatorily to me or anything, reresbak ako. It’s my protection. That’s one of the reasons why I went to the prison and said, ‘Just please ar-rest me.’ Kasi I do not want to be drunk roaming around or making a fool out of myself which I am right now. That was it,” he added.Crawford said he immediately calmed down when he was hand-cuffed. Unfortunately, he broke one of the precinct’s sliding doors.

“When they put the handcuffs on me, I calmed down. When I sat down, I just… ewan ko. Ito ba ‘yung pa-hinga na sinasabi ko na gusto ko,” he said. “I can’t contain myself if I’m under the influence of alcohol. Sasabihin ko nga that was the only thing that was wrong for me. I just really apologized.”

Heart prays for parents to be at her wedding

Despite the negative reports about Heart Evangelista and Sen. Chiz Escudero’s wedding, the Kapuso bride-to-be prefers to focus on something more personal. “Siguro, bago ko problemahin ‘yung mga ibang bagay na naga-nap, iniisip ko muna kung darat-ing talaga ‘yung Daddy ko tsaka ‘yung Mommy ko sa kasal ko. ‘Yun na muna siguro ‘yung iniisip ko,” she shared on Startalk. Heart reconciled with her parents Reynaldo and Cecile Ongpauco in time for her engagement to her senator-boyfriend. She said she has invited her par-ents to her wedding but she cannot

confirm yet if they will walk her down the aisle. “Only time will tell us kung tal-agang pupunta sila. Nagpe-pray-pray muna ako,” Heart said. The power couple continue preparations for their wedding on February 15, 2015 in Balesin. Just recently, Heart and Sen. Chiz were involved in a con-troversy involving another ce-lebrity couple’s wedding which reportedly got bumped off in their favor. “Syempre, it’s very stressful to plan a wedding pero at the same time ine-enjoy ko din siya, she admitted. Heart Evangelista and Chiz Escudero

PAGE 14Sept 11, 2014 - Sept 17, 2014 CLASSIFIED The San Francisco Post

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HOROSCOPEAries March 20 - April 18Some new information could come your way that causes you to focus on a new interest, Aries. It’ll set your mind traveling to faraway places and times. You may also meet some new people who are highly educated, from foreign lands, or both.Taurus April 19 - May 19You could have some intense dreams tonight, Taurus. You might find that they bring inspiration for creative projects, perhaps for redecorating or otherwise beautifying your home. Gemini May 20 - June 19A welcome communication from a business or romantic partner could arrive today, Gem-ini. This could generate a lot of enthusiasm on both your parts and do wonders for your relationship or for whatever business you do together.Cancer June 20 - July 21Today is a good day to ask for a raise or con-sider other ways to increase your income, Cancer. Superiors will be in a receptive mood and likely feeling more benevolent than usu-al. The facts may differ from what you read or hear. Wait about a week before deciding. Leo July 22 - August 21You should be feeling especially romantic and sensual now, Leo, and you might draw admiring glances from those around you - even strangers. Your passion is high, so this is an excellent day to plan a romantic evening. Virgo August 22 - September 21Strange, passionate stirrings could find you wanting to escape from civilization with a lover, Virgo. This is a great day for it. At least plan a quiet evening at home with your special someone.

Libra September 22 - October 21Interesting communications from friends could center on possible world developments or maybe some juicy gossip about people you know, Libra. Enjoy yourself, but don’t take ev-erything you hear at face value.Scorpio October 22 - November 20Today you might earn corporate kudos, Scorpio, for all signs indicate that your imagination is flying high and can be put to work to increase your job effectiveness. You might even earn a promotion or increase in salary. Sagittarius November 21 - December 20Your mind is likely to be going a thousand miles an hour. Ideas for imaginative and in-novative projects may come faster than you can possibly turn them into reality. Write them down. You may not have time to work on them now, but you will later.Capricorn December 21 - January 18You may have strange dreams and vivid premonitions today, Capricorn. Your intu-ition and telepathic faculties are operating at a high level. You could think of someone who later phones or drops by. There’s also a tendency to be too paranoid.Aquarius January 19 - February 17Today you could be feeling warm and friend-ly toward everyone. You might be involved in social events or receive invitations to future parties. You’ll probably have a great time and make some new friends.Pisces February 18 - March 19Relations with people on the job should be warm, Pisces, and this could do wonders for your career. Take nothing at face value. All may not be as it seems. Someone has issues with you that render him or her untrustworthy.

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Down1. N.A.A.C.P.,e.g.2. Luke’s twin sister in “StarWars”3. Slugger Wil-liams and others4. Common tie score in soccer5. W.W. II grp.6. Keebler worker7. Sidelong glance8. Seal hunter9. “You fell for it!”10. Thrown from the saddle11. Offspring12. It flows past Chalons13. Pinnacle18. Resin used in ointments22. Mafia thing24. Diplomat’s gift25. Bach piece27. “For ___ jolly good...”28. Did a takeoff on29. Four on a sundial30. Gossipy woman31. Introductions35. ___ II (Gil-lette razor)36. Nickname for grandma37. Ugandan despot Idi39. Fish that swims upright41. Pull up dande-

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PAGE 15Sept 11, 2014 - Sept 17, 2014The San Francisco Post AUTOMOTIVE

DETROIT -- General Motors CEO Mary Barra said Ca-dillac will launch a CTS sedan with vehicle-to-vehicle communication technology in about two years, as GM looks to establish itself as a leader in the connected-car space.Barra said Cadillac also in about two years will intro-duce a system on another Cadillac model that will al-low hands-off driving -- with the vehicle taking over the braking and steering in certain driving conditions -- in a system GM now calls Super Cruise.The semi-au-tonomous driv-ing feature will be offered as an option on “an all-new Cadil-lac that’s going to enter a seg-ment where we don’t compete today,” Barra said in pre-pared remarks for a speech to the Intelligent Transport Systems World Congress here on Sunday.Both the vehicle-to-vehicle feature on the CTS and the semi-autonomous system on the unidentified Cadillac will be introduced for the 2017 model year, GM said.GM said the vehicle-to-vehicle technology on the CTS could prevent some crashes and improve congestion by transmitting basic information such as location and speed between vehicles, alerting drivers to an impend-ing hazard. The system could warn of a vehicle five spots ahead on the highway braking hard, for example.

But GM executives acknowledge that its capabilities will be limited until a significant number of vehicles are equipped with technology allowing them to talk to one another. It likely will be the first automaker to offer a vehicle-to-vehicle communication system on a produc-tion vehicle.“If nobody else by two years from now puts V2V on a vehicle, the first car off the line will be waiting for another CTS to talk to,” John Capp, director of GM’s

global safety strategy, told reporters ahead of Barra’s speech.More following suit?Capp said GM hopes its announce-ment in part will accelerate the de-velopment of federal regulations and rules regarding vehicle-to-vehicle communication and will prompt oth-er automakers to add similar systemsIn her prepared remarks, Barra said GM wants to be “at the vanguard” of the evolution of vehicle-to-vehicle capabilities, and described the first production version of the technology on the CTS as “starting the conversa-tion.”“The sooner the industry puts a criti-cal mass of V2V-equipped vehicles

on the road, the more accidents we’ll prevent,” Barra’s prepared remarks said.Barra said that the Super Cruise technology would allow a driver to let the car do most of the work in both high-way driving and congested conditions. “You can let the car take over and drive hands-free and feet-free through the worst stop-and-go traffic around,” Barra said. “Having it done for you -- that’s true luxury.”Barra said that a system to allow fully autonomous driv-ing likely won’t be ready “until the next decade.”

GM to launch Cadillac CTS with vehicle-to-vehicle tech in 2 years

Mazda splurges on MX-5 Miata debut and celebration

TOKYO -- Mazda is a tiny carmaker on a shoestring budget.So nothing attests more to the import of the MX-5 Mia-ta’s debut this past week than the company’s big splurge on a laser-lit, smoke-machined three-continent, simultane-ously live-streamed global reveal. For the glitzy kickoff on Wednesday in Japan, Mazda rented a cavernous audito-rium at Tokyo Disneyland. Mickey was a no show. But 1,200 Miata owners and wannabes were, for a first peak at the new car. Miles of Mia-t a s jammed t h e p a r k -ing lot outside, t r a n s -f o r m -ing the t a rmac i n t o f l a s h c r o w d m u -seum of hundreds of MX-5s from every model year, in every configuration and color. The reveal itself was over the top, by Mazda’s normally modest standards. The pain-fully drawn out buildup fea-tured a Star Wars-esque light show, thundering music and billowing dry ice, as the can-dy apple red next-gen proto-type emerged from the floor. Similar scenes were beamed in live from launch parties in Monterey, Calif., and Barcelona, Spain, where it was 3 a.m.Thanks Day Mazda billed the event as a Thanks Day to celebrate the 25th anniver-

sary of the brand’s emblem-atic two-seat roadster.They thanked fans by giving them the first public viewing of the fourth-generation re-design of their dream car. Typical of the turnout: Emiko Takahashi, whose family has two first-genera-tion Miatas. A white one for her, a black one for her hus-band. Their quandary: They now have three kids.“Five people can’t fit in two Miatas. That’s why we need another one,” she jokes, add-ing that she’s “85 percent” sure the family will trade up when the redesign arrives

next year. At the end of the event, the Mazda MC led the entire au-ditorium of screaming fans in a synchronized fist pump to chants of “Mazda Road-ster!”It wasn’t all fever and fun, however. Another big no show was Mazda CEO Masamichi Kogai, originally scheduled as the guest of honor for his most iconic nameplate.

A hybrid that you can hot rod. That’s what Lexus has in mind for the 2015 GS 450h Hybrid with the new F Sport performance package. The sedan can rocket from zero to 60 miles per hour in 5.6 seconds, its main attraction being that it gives V-8 performance with a six-cylinder engine. GS hybrid gets 31 miles per gallon in combined city and highway driving. To underscore the car’s road prow-ess, the sport package substitutes the 18-inch wheels for 19-inchers, with

wider wheels in back, to make it appear more powerful and fast. The package also has other touches to make the car appear racier, like a new front and rear valance, tuned adaptive variable suspension and a 16-way power sport seat. There’s also aluminum trim, pedals and door scuff panels.

Lexus proves a hybrid can still be a hot performer

PAGE 16Sept 11, 2014 - Sept 17, 2014 The San Francisco Post