asian journal april 22 - 28, 2011 issue

Aklan Gov. Carlito S. Marquez visits San Diego .. p 18

The Resurrection: A Mediated Presence .. p 11

(Continued on page 19)

Opening of U.S. H-1B cap season to kick off hiring of foreign workers


Pinay nanny of Prince William invited to Royal Wedding


Easter at the VaticanArriving at the Threshold of Hope

(Continued on page 6)(Continued on page 6)

Apl.de.Ap


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Happy Easter to all!

As I sit in front of my com-puter, staring at the blank screen while attempting to write my column for the week, I realize I have no more Easter stories to tell. Naiku-wento ko nang lahat (I have told everything)! From my experiences during Holy Week as a youth in our province in the Philippines to the Easter tradi-tions here in the United States, our readers can now recount them with closed eyes. I suddenly remembered, however, that during a few memorable days in the year 2000, we spent Easter at the Vatican.

My family and I went to London, Paris and finally Rome on a two-week European tour. On the last leg of our trip, we arrived in Rome on a Good Friday; for lunch, we were ushered into a local tavern near St. Peter’s Square.

The atmosphere was festive with many tour-ists in the Square. Unwittingly, we ate a sand-wich filled with cold cuts of Italian preserved meat. It was too late before we realized that it was Good Friday; eating meat during that day was a no-no for us Catholics. Everybody, it seemed, was doing it in a place called the center of the Catholic world: the Vatican. If ever this practice were to be strictly enforced, I expected to have it be here, the seat of the Papal Throne, more than anywhere else in the world. The Ital-ian meat did not even taste that good; I guess one requires an acquired taste to enjoy it.

In the Philippines, people strictly follow the “no meat” rule. Whenever our clan spent our Holy Week vacation in rule. Whenever our clan spent our Holy Week vacation in our barrio in Plaridel, Bulacan, my aunt would purchase our barrio in Plaridel, Bulacan, my aunt would purchase

sacks full of oysters from the nearby fishing town of Hagonoy for our Good Friday feast. Mrs. sacks full of oysters from the nearby fishing town of Hagonoy for our Good Friday feast. Mrs. Rosa Tirol, the owner of El Centro Hotel and Resort where we stayed in Boracay last January, Rosa Tirol, the owner of El Centro Hotel and Resort where we stayed in Boracay last January,

Tourists flock to St. Peter’s Basilica in RomeTourists flock to St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome

Threshold of the Millenium.Threshold of the Millenium. Pope Pope John Paul II, who will be beatified on John Paul II, who will be beatified on May 1st, enters the doors of St. Peter’s May 1st, enters the doors of St. Peter’s Basilica on Easter Sunday in the JubiBasilica on Easter Sunday in the Jubi--lee Year 2000, AD. lee Year 2000, AD.

“Easter at the Vatican” is reprinted from the April 16, 2006 issue of Asian Journal San Diego. (Note: In observance of Good Friday and Holy Week, we are reprinting this article and postponing the publi-cation of Chapter 14 of the on-going series “Complicated Affairs” by the author next issue.)

By Simeon G. Silverio, Jr.By Simeon G. Silverio, Jr.Publisher & Editor in ChiefPublisher & Editor in ChiefAsian Journal, the original Asian Journal, the original and first Asian Journal in and first Asian Journal in California and the USACalifornia and the USA

By Alex P. Vidal/PNS -- US-based companies may resume hiring foreign workers in specialty occupations as the United States Citizenship Immigration Services (US-CIS) announced the opening of H-1B fiscal year 2010 cap season.

Foreign workers that re-quire theoretical or technical expertise in specialized fields such as scientists, engineers, or computer programmers can avail of the H-1B program to be used by American employ-ers, announced the USCIS.

The USCIS uses the infor-mation provided in Part C of the H-1B Data Collection and Filing Fee Exemption Supple-ment to determine whether a petition is subject to the 65,000 H-1B numerical limi-tation (the “cap”).

Some petitions are exempt from the cap under the ad-vanced degree exemption provided to the first 20,000 petitions filed for a benefi-ciary who has obtained a U.S. master’s degree or higher, USCIS explained.

The current annual cap on the H-1B category is 65,000.

USCIS said not all H-1B non-immigrants are subject to this annual cap. Up to 6,800 visas are set aside from the cap of 65,000 during each fis-cal year for the H-1B1 pro-gram under the terms of the legislation implementing the U.S.-Chile and U.S.-Singa-pore Free Trade Agreements.

Unused numbers in this pool are made available for H-1B use for the next fiscal yea

“We will begin accepting H-1B petitions that are sub-ject to the FY 2012 cap on April 1, 2011. You may file an H-1B petition no more than 6-months in advance of the requested start date,” USCIS announced.

Petitions seeking an FY 2012 H-1B cap number with an Oct. 1, 2011 start date can be filed no sooner than April 1, 2011, it added.

USCIS stressed that peti-tions of those who request a start date for a FY 2012 cap-subject H-1B petition prior to Oct. 1, 2011 or submit a cap-subject petition prior to April 1, 2011, will be rejected.

From Good News Philippines -- Araceli Piccio, one of Prince William’s former nannies has been invited to his royal union with Kate Middleton in April.

The Bacolod native received one of the almost 2,000 invites distributed last month for the much-awaited wedding that will take place at the Westminster Ab-bey in London.

Araceli’s presence in the oc-casion will put her in the same venue with other royal figures, political leaders, and celebrities including power couple David and Victoria Beckham.

Prince William might also

fulfill a vow he made to Araceli when he was 16: “When I get married, I will take you back.”

April 22 - 28, 2011

Conrad Reloj, Jr.Msgr. Gutierrez Ogie CruzABS-CBN Na Alarma: Pag-

Balik ng Show Ni Willie With Pokwang Na !!!.. P 16

Apl.de.Ap gives back to Angeles community

Araceli Piccio

Filipino artist breaks world record in Sotheby’s art auction

From Good News Philippines -- From Los Angeles, California to Angeles, Pampanga — with love.The world-renowned Filipino member of the Grammy Award-winning band Black Eyed Peas Apl.de.Ap is giving back.He has been officially chosen as the special ambassador for education of the Ninoy and Cory Aquino Foundation (NCAF) Edsa People Power Movement. And he has two-pronged proj-ects in his original hometown of Sapang Bato village in Angeles City, Pampanga province.

Apl.de.Ap (whose acronym stands for his real name Allan

Pineda-Lindo jr. of Angeles, Pampanga) launched a library, a computer room, and a music room at his former alma mater Sapang Bato National High School, as well as his own music library and studio at the Holy Angel

Filipino artists Ronald Ventura, Andres Barrio-quinto and Jon Jaylo stole the thunder from oth-er Asian artists in the recently con-cluded Sotheby’s Spring 2011 sale of Modern and Contemporary Southeast Asian Paintings in Hong Kong.

Total sales fetched a stunning HK$108 million / US$13.8 million, tripling pre-sale esti-mates.

The star of the auction was the world record sale for any Contemporary Southeast Asian Painting at auction and

Ronald Ventura

April 22-28, 2011Asian Journal - (619) 474-0588 Visit our website at http://www.asianjournalusa.com

(Continued from page 1)

The following must be complied to ensure that a petition is properly filed:

-Complete all sections of the Form I-129 petition, including the H Classification Supplement to Form I-129 and the H-1B Data Collection and Filing Fee Exemp-tion Supplement. Form I-129 with a revision date of November 23, 2010, or later will be accepted.

-Original signatures, preferably in blue ink, are required on each form.

-Include a signed check or money order with the correct fee amount.

-Ensure that all required docu-mentation and evidence is submit-ted with the petition at the time of filing to ensure timely processing.

Petitioners must submit a certified Department of Labor (DOL) LCA (Form ETA 9035) at the time of filing your petition. A copy of the LCA is acceptable.

USCIS said it encourages peti-tioners to keep DOL LCA process-

ing times in mind when preparing the H-1B petition and plan accord-ingly. If the LCA certified by DOL is for multiple positions, petitioners must provide the name and USCIS case receipt number of any alien who has previously utilized the LCA.

Petitioners should ensure that they have signed the LCA prior to the LCA being submitted with the peti-tion to USCIS.

Petitioners must submit evidence of the beneficiary’s educational degree at the time of filing. If all of the requirements for the degree have been met, but the degree has not yet been awarded, the following alternate evidence may be submit-ted: A copy of the beneficiary’s final transcript; or a letter from the Registrar confirming that all of the degree requirements have been met (if the educational institution does not have a Registrar, such letter must be signed by the person in charge of the educational records where the degree will be awarded).

If a petitioner is indicating that the beneficiary is qualified based on a combination of education and expe-rience, he must provide substantiat-ing evidence at time of filing.

University in Angeles.Rafael Cojuangco Lopa, president

of the NCAF and executive director of the corporate-led Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP), also an-nounced Apl.de.Ap’s new role at the NCAF.

Apl.de.Ap revealed that his music li-brary and studio at Holy Angel would be furnished with musical instruments, interactive software programs, and various other materials designed to make learning in music more dynamic and engaging for university students.

At his former high school in Sapang Bato, the Black Eyed Peas member said he would provide a library as well as computer and music rooms. This, he said, would help raise the academic achievement levels of student and address the high dropout rates in the schools, especially among Aetas in the community.

The music library and studio at Holy


Apl.de.Ap gives back

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What to Do If You Are Experiencing Problems at Work (Part 2)

GMA could save Mikey, wife and others?


Opening of U.S. H1-B

By Frank WenceslaoPamusa’s excom has decided to

seek the Former Senior Government Officials’ (FSGOs) support and co-operation to lobby President Aquino for government reforms and give “teeth” to his anti-graft and corrup-tion program (AGCP) fast becoming a toothless 800-lb tiger. The program is too big and wide-ranging for the DOJ alone or even with an efficient Ombudsman to carry out without our proposed Presidential Task Force Against Graft and Corruption (PTF-AGC) under the Office of the Presi-dent in lieu of the truth commission to coordinate, assemble and synthe-size evidence of unexplained income, tax evasion, smuggling, money laun-dering, domestic and foreign corrupt practices, and other violations of law each concerned agency can dig up.

Had there been PTFAGC, the sum total of evidence would’ve been col-lated and related to probable charges stemming from above culpabili-ties and not just tax evasion against Cong. Mikey & Ma. Angela Arroyo. The tax evasion evidence should’ve been shared with the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLA), Bang-ko Sentral and perhaps Pamusa with regards to violation of U.S. laws after the BIR “discovered the PhP73.8 tax evasion that the Arroyos bought real estate properties, motor vehicles, jew-elry, clothes and other personal items from 2004 to 2009, which Arroyo declared in his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) for the years 2002 to 2009 but failed to pay tax on the income spent for the acquisitions.” Said agencies aside the BIR should’ve added their evidence

to broaden and strengthen the charg-es in court and eventual trial.

At this juncture, let it be clari-fied the much publicized recovery of $132,000 from the sale of Gen. & Mrs. Jacinto Ligot’s California property was initiated by a private complaint filed by our volunteer le-gal counsel, Atty. Roman Mosqueda, under RA 6713 for perjury and false declaration of the statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) and RA 1379 for forfeiture of unlawfully acquired property with the U.S. Dis-trict Court for the Central District of California (Southern Division), Santa Ana, CA. If the case were handled by justice department lawyers it could be pending up to now while the only DOJ’s real participation was the U.S. court giving due course to the case pursuant to the US-PH Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty signed when Sec-retary Leila de Lima was probably in high school.

LEGAL BUZZ by Atty. Andrew Ag-tagma | SAN DIEGO, 04/22/2011 -- This article continues my discus-sion on steps that you can take if you have problems at work, and common mistakes to avoid.

Previously, I explained that an employee needs to bring a com-plaint with the federal Equal Em-ployment Opportunity Commis-sion or equivalent state agency. However, an employee whose case has the best chance of success will have taken several other steps be-fore reaching this point.

Preparation is essential. If one is to prevail in holding an employer liable for workplace discrimina-tion, preparation entails gathering evidence. Timing is critical when it comes to evidence gathering. Oftentimes prospective clients will come to me after they have just been fired or otherwise left their employer. In my initial meeting, I ask for various documents, includ-ing an employment handbook, for example. Many of these clients will say they no longer have access because these documents were at the office, or on their work com-puter.

The lesson is that evidence gath-ering is best begun before an em-ployee is separated from work. It is rare that employees are completely blind-sided and caught unaware when they are terminated or suf-fer a similar “adverse action.” If it happens, I usually ask clients to

reach out to a former co-worker for assistance. If they do not have such help, it leaves them at a disadvan-tage.

A cautionary note: I do not rec-ommend taking an employer’s proprietary information or stealing company property. Doing so can backfire because it would give the employer a legitimate reason to fire an employee, even if a discrimina-tory motive is also involved.

So what kind of “evidence” should an employee gather? Evidence comes in the form of either oral testimony or physical evidence—i.e., documents. Most people view oral testimony as inferior to physi-cal evidence, but many cases only have oral testimony.

As it applies to employment cas-es, evidence “gathering,” therefore, takes the form of identifying wit-nesses. Employees will start hav-ing a sense of how strong their case is by identifying the witnesses to key events. If the only witnesses are the employee and the person ac-cused of wrongdoing, the case will boil down to which witness is more credible. But if there are other wit-nesses who are willing to testify as to what happened, the chances of prevailing increase dramatically.

The key is not that there are other witnesses, but that at least one of these other witnesses is willing to testify. A recurring problem in em-ployment cases is that a co-worker does not want to become involved.

Understandably, many fear that their jobs might be at stake, and are reluctant to jeopardize it. Over the years I have come to admire more and more those witnesses who come forward to do the right thing—too often I have seen cli-ents’ cases fall apart because their former colleagues turned their backs on them.

Because of the problem with re-luctant witnesses, documentary evidence takes on even greater sig-nificance. If a meeting takes place, I encourage employees to follow up the meeting with an e-mail or similar writing to document what was said. If the employer changes stories later on, this document can be used to show the inconsistency.

There are other steps employees can take to improve the chances that their employment case will prevail. Unfortunately, space prevents me from discussing all of these ideas in detail. Besides the ideas already discussed in this article, perhaps the best thing to do is consult with an experienced attorney at the earliest possible opportunity. Taking these steps do not guarantee success, but will go a long way towards achiev-ing the best possible outcome.

Atty. Andrew Agtagma is a gradu-ate of U.C. Berkeley (Boalt Hall) School of Law. He works closely with the Law Firm of Chua Tin-say and Vega (CTV) and its clients to provide counsel in his areas of expertise, which include employ-ment law, personal injury, and general civil litigation. He can be reached by phone at: (650) 589-5700, or e-mail at: HYPERLINK “mailto:[email protected]” [email protected]. CTV is a full service law firm with offices in San Francisco, San Di-ego and Manila. The information presented in this article is for gen-eral information only and is not in-tended as formal legal advice, or to serve as the basis for an attorney-client relationship. CTV can be reached at: (415) 495-8088; (619) 955-6277.

Affliate, Law Offices of Chua Tinsay & Vega www.ctvattys.com

by Atty. Andrew Agtagma, Esq.

Legal Buzz

Read Atty. Agtagma’s previous articles by visiting our website at www.asianjournalusa.com


Asian Journal - (619) 474-0588 Visit our website at http://www.asianjournalusa.comApril 22-28, 2011

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Bukod pa sa pinananabikang saya, meron pang:

Beginning April 22 at 9 p.m., there will be no Trolley service between the Bayfront/E Street and 12th & Imperial Trolley sta-tions. Southbound Trolley service will terminate at the 12th & Impe-rial Transit Center and resume at the Bayfront/E Street Trolley Sta-tion. All stations will reopen for the start of service on Monday, April 25.

Two bus services will be avail-able for riders:

Trolley Shuttles will stop at each closed station, at E Street, 24th Street, 8th Street, Pacific Fleet, Harborside, Barrio Logan and 12th & Imperial. This shuttle will run in both directions.

Trolley Express will operate non-stop between the E Street and

Blue Line Closed from Bayfront/E Street to 12th & Imperial this Weekend

12th & Imperial Trolley stations in 12th & Imperial Trolley stations in both directions. both directions.

The bus services run every 8-15 minutes during normal Trolley ser-vice hours. Regular Trolley service will resume in time for the start of service on Monday. Trolley service may resume earlier if construction is finished. Listen for train an-nouncements on Sunday evenings.

Trolley tickets, day passes, or monthly passes are required to board the Trolley Shuttle and Trol-ley Express bus services. No tickets are sold on board these buses.

When complete, the Blue Line will be transformed with new sta-tion platforms, passenger shelters, new low-floor trolleys, next arrival information and more.

The construction schedule for the next three weekends is:

April 22-24: Blue Line closed be-

Express bus service changes to serve between Bayfront/E Street and 12th & Imperial

tween E Street and 12th & Impe-rial

April 29 – May 1: Blue Line closed between E Street and 12th & Imperial

May 6-8: Blue Line closed be-tween E Street and 12th & Impe-rial

MTS encourages riders to ex-pect delays and give themselves extra time when traveling.

Riders can find out more in-formation online at www.sdmts.com/TrolleyRenewal.asp or by calling the bilingual hotline at 619.557.4533. During weekend closures, station ambassadors will be at the closed stations to direct and help riders.

MTS encourages riders to ex-pect delays and give themselves extra time when traveling.

By L.Enriquez, Otay Mesa Cham-ber of Commerce, SAN DIEGO, 4/12/2011 -- Plans Under Way for Innovative Bus Rapid Transit Sys-tem in Otay Mesa

A modern regional transit system that will provide an alternative to personal cars will soon come online in the eastern part of the South Bay, providing residents with rapid and reliable access to work and activ-ity centers in a region of San Diego County currently underserved by public transportation.

The South Bay Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system will provide high-fre-quency transit service that links the Otay Mesa border crossing to down-town San Diego via eastern Chula Vista. It will serve major activity and employment centers in San Di-ego and the South Bay and provide

Plans Under Way for Innovative Bus Rapid Transit Sys-tem in Otay Mesa

direct access to destinations such as the Otay Ranch Town Center.

The South Bay BRT project is be-ing planned and built by the San Diego Association of Governments. It will be paid for by TransNet, a regional voter-approved half-cent sales tax for local transportation.

The Metropolitan Transit System will operate South Bay BRT when it goes into service in 2014.

Stations along the 21-mile route will be enhanced with upgraded shelters and platforms to ease board-ing. They also will feature real-time “next-bus” signs. Catering to to-day’s digitally connected commut-ers, buses may also offer Wi-Fi In-ternet services.

Cutting-edge “smart card” tech-nology will expedite fare collection on South Bay BRT. The reloadable Compass Card replaces paper tick-ets for most riders by allowing them to electronically store transit passes, then use a pass by tapping the card on a specially designed validator or farebox.

Modern, comfortable vehicles will utilize dedicated transit-only lanes, allowing them to avoid traf-fic congestion. The route will have a minimum number of stops, de-creasing travel times. Service along the South Bay BRT corridor will be provided every 10-15 minutes with

the quality and reliability of light rail.

The South Bay BRT will follow a long-planned transit route. Vehicles will travel north on State Route 125 from the Otay Mesa border crossing, then west through eastern Chula Vista, head north on Interstate 805 and then go west on State Route 94 to downtown.

“The South Bay BRT will intro-duce regional transit service to the eastern part of South Bay, where none now exists,” said Jennifer Wil-liamson, SANDAG project man-ager. “It will help alleviate traffic congestion in the growing region and streamline the commute from the Otay Mesa border crossing to downtown.”

“The South Bay BRT will introduce regional transit service to “The South Bay BRT will introduce regional transit service to the eastern part of South Bay, where none now exists,” said the eastern part of South Bay, where none now exists,” said Jennifer Williamson, SANDAG project manager. Jennifer Williamson, SANDAG project manager. Jennifer Williamson, SANDAG project manager.


by Dr. Ofelia Dirige Founder, President & CEO Kalusugan Community Services. www.filamwellness.org

Contemporary Asian American Issues

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

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Ashley SilverioAssistant Editor

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

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

Dr. Rizalino “Riz” Oades, (1935-2009)

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

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Simeon G. Silverio, Jr.Publisher & Editor

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Miles is Assistant to the Dean and Assistant Professor in the Shirley Hufstedler School of Education at Alliant International University where he teaches new media and diverse writing courses. He has been with the Asian Journal since the 1990’s.

by Miles Beauchamp

Perspectives

Unmasking the Meaning of Easter

By Gasat Belo

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“ I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live even though he dies; and whoever livesand believes in me will never die”---John 11:13

The meaning and significance of Easter is not obvious or can never be discovered as one goes

around anywhere one finds Eas-ter decorations. Ask a downtown crowd about Easter and the greater majority could tell you about Egg Hunt and Rabbit eggs, and family gathering for dinner.

Maybe a handful would know its relationship to Christ’s resurrec-tion.

Unmasking Easter is removing the myths that describes the cur-rent practices – the bunnies, the eggs and the whys! By removing the myths that are promoted in the commercialization of Easter we can then face the real Easter which is the crucifixion and the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead!

Easter Origins: The origins of some beliefs/myths about Easter go back to ancient times, not long after the great flood associ-ated with Noah. According to the Bible, it was in the city of Babel that the people created a tower in order to defy God. Up until that time all the people on earth spoke one language. The building of the Tower of Babel recorded in Genesis 11, led God to confuse their tongues to keep them from being unified in their false beliefs. As people moved to other lands, they took with them their pagan practices.

The Easter bunny and the Eas-ter egg associated with today’s celebrations can also be traced back to those practices of the peoples in the ancient world. The prolific nature of rabbits have long been associated with fertil-ity and its goddess Ishtar (Easter

is a derivative).

According to the gospels (Matthew, Make, Luke & John), Jesus, the true Messiah prom-ised in the Old Testament was crucified (died on the cross) and resurrected from the dead. These two events that can never be separated, happened during the celebration of the Jewish Pass-over. Why can’t Jesus’ death and resurrected be separated? Resur-rection can only follow death! It is clear from the four gospels that Jesus literally died and liter-ally rose again from the dead.

Since the disciples of Christ were Jews, “Resurrection Day” (now commonly referred to as Easter) was celebrated with the traditional Jewish Passover. As

the message of the Gospel or the good news of Christ spread to non-Jewish nations or to people who knew not of the Passover celebration, parts of the pagan rites of Easter gradually became assimilated into the Christian church and soon Easter replaced “Resurrection Day.”

The true meaning of Easter: But what is the true message of Easter? There is life after death! In the creation story we discover that our first parents, Adam and Eve, committed the mother of all errors (sin) by doing their own thing instead of following God’s command. They disobeyed God and that one act of disobedience (sin) distanced themselves from God. With that disobedience all creation, including those of us in

the 21st century are living under judgment of God – separation from God or missing the very best that God has intended.

The God who created us in order to satisfy the judgment that separated us from Him sent His only son, Jesus Christ (Christ means Messiah) to bring us back into right relationship with Him.

If the death and resurrection of Jesus is about anything, you could call this the “mother of all do-overs”. God created us in His own image so we may have fellowship with Him. But Adam the first human God created by his disobedience cause human-ity’s separation from God. To restore the lost relationship God our Creator sent His only son Jesus - the perfect do-over. The

cross represents the worst that could happen; human beings killed Jesus. The crucifixion ends in death, but on resurrec-tion morning Jesus, the sinless son of God becomes the supreme do-over when He rises from the tomb, showing that God can con-quer even the grave. The resur-rection of Christ opens the hope of eternal life with God.

Easter to the believer should be a more important event than Christmas. Easter centers on the death and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah. True followers of Christ center their thoughts this time of the year on what it means to celebrate “Resurrection Day.” The power of the death and res-urrection of Jesus Christ trans-formed lives and civilizations

and continues to do so around the world today. As individu-als are properly related to God through Jesus Christ, lives are transformed and so is the world around them. Churches, even those with few regular attend-ees are full on Easter Sunday as many people try to connect and recollect the real meaning of the event!

The challenge of Easter: How about you -- is “Easter” getting unmasked in your life experi-ence! True celebration of “Res-urrection Day” is a total person immersion involving, the heart, the body and the soul. The good news of Jesus’ death and resur-rection demands commitment that results in a total makeover of one’s being. If the meaning of Easter has become clearer to you, do something about it. Make this momentous holiday an eventful one with a firm a determination to invite God to become more actively at work in the totality of your daily life.

“ We will never experience the completeness of our ultimate selves in this life. Not until after death. For most people in this world, this would be a terrify-ing thought. But not for God’s children. Rather than looking ahead with alarm or fear, the prospect of reaching out the pin-nacle when we are in our heav-enly home in the company of our heavenly Father should fill our hearts with joyful anticipation. Especially when we understand that Jesus himself has gone on ahead to prepare us for a special place. He is looking forward to our coming. (Kay Marsall Strom).

What Easter means to me…Dr Dirige

Easter is such a memorable experience for me as this was around the time when my mother passed away, April 4, 1991. That was 20 years ago. It was the be-

ginning of the Gulf War. She cel-ebrated Easter as usual by going to church, cooked a dish for the potluck and invited my sister and I to church. That time my sister, Julie was the organist at a Baptist Church and she regularly went to church. A few days after that, my mom passed away and ended her bout with cancer. In 1994, three years after her death, my dad fol-lowed her. He also died around Easter time. Thus, when Easter comes, I remember both of them. I buy an Easter lily to grace my dining table as a reminder that they are now in heaven, a beauti-ful place, and that someday I will meet them again.

With the passing of my dear friend and colleague, Dr. Riz A. Oades, it is also a sad time for me, his family, friends and espe-cially the staff/board of Kalusug-an Community Services. People may think that this is the end for us all but our hope for tomorrow is in the Lord who will continue to give us joy and fulfillment in life. It is comforting to know that we will see our loved ones again in heaven.

The song below comforts us this Easter knowing that:

“Because He (Jesus) lives, we can face tomorrow,

Because He lives all fear is gone;Because we know He holds the

future,And life is worth living, just because

He (Jesus) lives.”

HAPPY RESURRECTION DAY TO ALL!!!

About Gasat Belo

Gasat Belo, was a former pas-tor and director of the Interna-tional Student Ministry. He has retired and now lives in Seattle, Washington with his wife, Perla Belo, also a retired minister and member of KCS’s Board of Advi-sors. He has two children, Na-than and Ariele, and two grand-children, Ezekiel and Jaedon.

Southern California’s Largest Asian Film Show-case Runs April 28 – May 7, 2011 and will present 180 films from over 20 countries featuring world premieres, sneak reviews, a James Wong Howe

Retrospective, the C3 Digital Conference and a compelling line-up of documentaries and nar-ratives focusing on the voices of Asian Ameri-cans and Asian peoples from around the world

As Southern California’s largest and most prestigious film festival of its kind, the LAAPFF launches the celebration of Asian Pacific Heritage Month through this year’s slate of 180 films from both Asian Pacific American and Asian international directors from 20 countries.

Over the past 27 years, the Festival has presented over 3400 films and shorts by Asian American and Asian international artists. This year, 32

feature films and 148 shorts will be showcased throughout the 10-day fest. The Festival will showcase many returning filmmakers and pro-ducers who continue to make films and still hold true to their own voices as exemplified by our Opening Night, Closing Night and Center-piece galas.

The latest action-thriller from VC/LAAPFF alum Justin Lin, FAST FIVE, kicks the Festival off into high gear on Thursday, April 28, 2011 at the DGA at 7PM. The latest film in the blockbuster series built on speed stars Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jor-dana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Matt Schulze, Sung Kang, Gal Gadot, Tego Calderon, Don Omar, Elsa Pataky, Joaquim de Almeida and Dwayne Johnson. Released by Universal Pictures, FAST FIVE is the third film in “The Fast and the Furious” series for Lin, who debuted his first solo feature film at the Festival with

2002’s groundbreaking BETTER LUCK TOMORROW.

From veterans to new voices who are breaking through, the Festival turns a spotlight on new filmmak-ers Wesley Chan, Ted Fu and Philip Wang aka Wong Fu Productions with their own curated festival program – WONG FU PRESENTS FAST FORWARD on Saturday, April 30 at the DGA at 8:30 PM . These filmmakers have been mak-

ing viral videos since 2003 even before You Tube existed. Now in 2011, through the constant embrac-ing of new methods of creating and distributing their work, these innovative artists have created their own path outside Hollywood’s traditional means. Wong Fu Produc-tions now has millions of followers from around the world and boasts of 600,000 subscribers on You Tube where fans experience their work.

The LAAPFF is proud to invite Wong Fu Productions to curate this outstanding program that celebrates their work while defining who they are and showcasing why they are an inspiration to millions of fans.

Join WONG FU and friends as they share their work, from humble beginnings to present day main-stream achievements. Discussion with Wong Fu, Kevumba, Ryan Higa, Freddie Wong, Chris Dinh and others will follow presentations.

World Premiers

World Premieres at the LAAPFF continue to be some of the most sought after programs, and this year the Festival will unspool six brand new, never before seen works. These include:

WEDDING PALACE – A romantic comedy directed by Christine Yoo; written by Yoo and Robert Gardner; and starring Brian Tee, Margaret Cho, Kang Hye-jung, and Steve Park – Friday, April 29, 8:00 PM DGA THE LULU SESSIONS – A docu-mentary directed by S. Casper Wong and written by S. Casper Wong and Luara Minnear – Saturday, April 30, 7:30 PM DGA ENFORCING THE SILENCE – A documentary directed and written by Tony Nguyen – Saturday, April 30, 5:00 PM Sunset 5 HEART BREAKS OPEN – Drama directed by Billie Rain; written by Rain and Basil Shadid; and starring Maximillian Davis and Brian Peters – Monday, May 2, 9:15 PM CGV BANG BANG – Drama directed and written by Byron Chan aka Byron Q; starring David Hunyh, Jessika Van and Walter Wong – Tuesday May 3, 9:00 PM CGV AMONG B-BOYS – A documentary directed by Christopher Woon – Wednesday, May 4, 9:15 PM CGV Closing out the Festival is the Los Angeles premiere of the Taiwan hit film LOVE IN DISGUISE from director Leehom Wang and starring Wang with the outstanding Joan Chen and Crystal Liu Yi-fei (The Forbidden Kingdom). The film is produced by long time VC/LAAPFF alum Cherry Sky Films and will premiere as our festival closing night gala on Thursday, May 5 at 7PM at the CGV Cinemas. Director Wang and cast members will be in atten-dance.

“LOVE IN DISGUISE, our clos-ing night gala film, continues our theme of returning alums and the celebration of our artists continuing to make works whether it be through directing or producing,” says Shinae Yoon, VC Executive director. “Joan Huang and Cherry Sky Films have become a very important company for our filmmakers. Founder of Cherry Sky Films, Huang, started her involvement with the VC family as a Festival volunteer straight out of college nearly 15 years ago. And

now, she and her company continue to make films that include a majority of works from our Asian American directors. We are proud and encour-aged that Cherry Sky Films contin-ues to succeed and we look forward to celebrating them throughout the fest.”

One of the ongoing objectives of the LAAPFF is to support and present the best of Asian American filmmakers. This year, these films include many filmmakers who are based in the US, but are filming both in the US and overseas:

FAST FIVE – Justin Lin SAIGON ELECTRIC – Stephane Gauger WEDDING PALACE – Christine Yoo ALMOST PERFECT – Bertha Bay-Sa Pan LIVING IN SEDUCED CIRCUM-STANCES – Ian Gamazon WHERE THE ROAD MEETS THE SUN – Mun Chee Yong ONE KINE DAY – Chuck Mitsui HEART BREAKS OPEN – Billie Rain BANG BANG – Byron Q BOY – Taika Waititi

The Festival is proud to partner with the Directors Guild of America as the main screening venue during the Festival’s Opening Weekend. This state of the art theater is where the Festival will screen its Opening Night Film as well as the Center-piece Presentation.

This year, the Festival welcomes a new screening venue sponsor – CGV Theaters– 621 S. Western Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90005. This amazing venue is situated north of Wilshire Boulevard in Koreatown and will serve as our second half Festival screening space hosting our Closing Night Gala Film and special screenings beginning Monday, May 2.

Presented By Visual Communications


by Atty. Susan V. Perez

Immigration 911

Read Atty. Susan Perez’s previous articles by visiting our website at www.asianjournalusa.com

Work Visas/Green Cards thru Employment• Family Visas• Student, Trainee, Tourist, Investors, Visas • Reinstatement of Petition • Deportation Defense• International Adoption• Appeals, Motions to Reopen/Reconsider• Battered/Abused Spouse• I-601 Waivers (Hardship)• Consular Support in Manila•

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Adopting a Child from the Philippines

IMMIGRATION 911 by Atty. Susan V. Perez | SAN DIEGO, 4/22/2011 -- Donna is native of the Philippines. She became a naturalized U.S. citizen recently. Before she immigrated to the United States in 2004, she has been the guardian of Marilyn since her birth. Marilyn is the daughter of Donna’s sister. Marilyn was born out of wedlock. Her parents aban-doned her since she was one year old. Marilyn is now 15 years old. Donna wants to know if she can adopt Marilyn in the Philippines and file Form I-130 to petition for her.

On November 16, 2007, the President ratified the Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercoun-try Adoption (“Hague Adoption Convention”). The Hague Adop-tion Convention (HAC) entered into force in the United States on April 1, 2008. HAC applies to any case in which a U.S. citizen who is habitually resident in the United States seeks to accord immediate relative status upon a child who is habitually resident in a HAC coun-try other than the United States based on an adoption occurring on or after April 1, 2008. The Philip-pines is a HAC country.

USCIS may not approve a Form I-130 that is filed by a U.S. citizen who is habitually resident in the United States on behalf of an adopted child who is a ha-bitual resident of HAC country, unless the U.S. citizen completed the adoption of the child before April 1, 2008. If the U.S. citizen adopted the children from a HAC country on or after April 1, 2008, a Form I-130 may be approved only if the U.S. citizen establishes that, at the time of the adoption, either the U.S. citizen was not habitually resident in the United States; or the child was not habitually resident in the other HAC country. In our case Marilyn is a habitual resident in the Philippines. Can Donna be considered to be NOT a habitual resident in the United States?

A U.S. citizen is deemed to be “habitually resident” in the United States if he or she is domiciled in the United States, that is, if he or she actually lives in the United States with the intent to maintain that residence for indefinite future. A U.S. citizen is also deemed to be “habitually resident” in the United States if he or she is domiciled abroad, but the U.S. citizen plans to take either of the following ac-tions before satisfying the 2-year residence and custody require-ments that would permit the child to immigrate: i) establishing a domicile in the United States on or before the date of the child’s admission for permanent residence (and, therefore, will be living with the child in the United States after the adoption); or ii) bring-ing the child to the United States temporarily to obtain the child’s naturalization. Thus, a U.S. citizen will be deemed to be “habitual resident” in the United States if the citizen seeks to bring the child to the United States as a direct conse-quence of the adoption.

Take note that under our regu-lations, a U.S. citizen will be deemed, for purposes of adjudicat-ing a Form I-130, NOT to have been habitually resident in the United States at the time of the adoption if the citizen completes the two-year custody and joint resi-dence requirement by living with the child outside the United States. In this situation, the adoptive par-ent may file a Form I-130 instead of following the Hague Adoption Convention procedures.

Going back to Donna’s case, she completed the two-year joint residence requirement but not the two-year legal custody require-ment because she has not legally adopted Marilyn. The two years legal custody is counted from the time the adoption decree becomes final. If Donna were to go back to the Philippines and live there for at least two years to complete the legal custody requirement, USCIS may adjudicate the Form I-130 pe-tition without following the HAC

procedures. The adoption, how-ever, has to be finalized before Marilyn’s 16th birthday.

We welcome your feedback. If you have any immigration questions, please feel welcome to email me at HYPERLINK “mailto:[email protected]” [email protected] or call 619 819 -8648 to arrange for a telephone consultation.

The Beacons of HopeBy Fr. Shay Cullen at the Preda

Center, Upper Kalaklan, Olon-gapo City, Philippines. e-mail: [email protected] | OLON-GAPO, 4/19/2011 -- The little boy, 6 years old, was bawling and crying when being egged on by the TV show host to gyrate as a “Macho” sex dancer to the hoots and laughter of an insen-sitive audience unaware that it was child abuse. It is just one more incident of a child being sexualized and exploited for the entertainment and allurement of adults. Children are frequently dressed up as adults, complete with make-up and lipstick or paraded in bikinis in so-called beauty contests. It is a desensi-tization of the child and erosion of their natural modesty, moral values and right to privacy. It is grooming them to be victims of sexual exploitation and abuse. Just take a look at Youtube Kids Dancing at Hip Hop competi-tion - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72IT-V6kcBs. They perform sexually-suggestive dancing.

The episode of the 6 year-old boy has been called abuse but the audience, parents, and the host of the show did not see it that way. This is some indication of the low level of awareness of child abuse among the general popula-tion. Children’s rights groups, the media, church leaders, gov-ernment human rights agencies have since spoken out against it. Advertisers have pulled out and the show has been suspended for two weeks. It earned as much as 9 million Pesos (US$210,000, £128,000) daily for TV5 headed by Ray Espinosa.

Last 9th April 2011, the in-cident got front page headline and wide coverage in a leading broadsheet and other publica-tions. Good and laudable as this reaction from the media and concerned agencies and show-biz celebrities, yet nothing but silence greeted the discovery of three street children victims of a most heinous crimes, hogtied, tortured to death, and dumped in a drainage canal in Zamboanga city earlier this month, the ex-ception being a short report in a local newspaper and a national daily that gave it 6.5 column inches. It is not an isolated inci-dent as it is happening in many cities but it is usually covered up or ignored. These crimes are allegedly done by police with knowledge and support of local politicians.

The Philippine media has a huge responsibility to maintain a high level of coverage on human rights and the dignity of people. What passes for entertainment on television shows can demean the intelligence of the Filipino people and even news reporting can overlook serious priorities and trivialize important events and human rights violations or even ignore them.

It may be the fear factor that has reduced investigative report-ing considering that 142 journal-ists have been assassinated in the Philippines during the past three decades. Courageous reporters and newspapers have bravely ex-posed corruption and violations of human rights and have paid the price, they were assassinated themselves. Much more has to be done to expose the killers and

the violence against children. A recent study has revealed that seven out of ten Filipino children in elementary school suffer some form of violence - verbal, physical, psychologi-cal or sexual. But even more serious violence is also a daily occurrence - child trafficking, sex slavery and all forms of child abuse are seldom reported by the media. It has become a common place and apparently not newsworthy.

The good thing that lifts up our spirits is the fact that thou-sands of child rights advocates all over the country are rally-ing, protesting and working to protect children and develop public awareness and action to curb child exploitation and abuse.

The present Secretary of Justice Leila De Lima and Social Welfare Secretary Dinky Soliman are beacons of hope. When she was chairperson of the Commission on Human rights, Secretary De Lima tried to investigate the sum-mary executions done by the Davao Death Squad but she was blocked at every effort to uncover the corpses and inves-tigate. Even a judge opposed her investigation. We hope too that the present chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights, Loretta Ann P. Rosales, will open an investigation in the children murdered in Zam-boanga.

There has been little reaction from media, church or civil society, to the brutal torture




Our Life and Times

by Simeon G. Silverio Jr.Read the series Complicated Affairs by Sim Silverio by book-

marking the link www.asianjournalusa.com/complicatedaffairs

Arriving at the Threshold of Hope

even advised me not to visit that paradise island during Holy Week.

“It is like a Roman feast and marked with debauchery,” she said. “Tourists flock to this resort for fun, not meditation. No solemn music but heavy rock and roll tunes. Though seafood is aplenty, people would rather feast on roast pigs even on Good Friday.”

A pious woman, she felt guilty enough to ask her priest what to do when her guests requested meat dishes on this occasion. However, I do not remember what the priest advised her on the matter of religion and tour-ism profit.

I remember an office mate from some years ago, when I was still part of the work force, once brought a ham sandwich for lunch one Good Friday. After I reminded her of our custom, she rationalized: “Di bale, nasa Amerika na naman tayo (That is alright, we are already in Amer-ica),” as though God exempts those living in the United States from the Church’s Teachings.

But that was not the end of my story on eating meat on Good Fridays.

That evening in Rome, we were brought to an authentic Italian res-taurant. You know, the kind with dingy rooms, tables made of thick uneven wood, and wood benches to sit on instead of chairs. It was a packaged excursion, and the wait-ers served us a plateful of assorted meat dishes.

“But it is Good Friday,” I protested. After explaining it was against our religion to eat meat on that particular day, the head waiter replaced our food with hard and bland tasting calamari, while our

tour mates feasted on the meat dishes of the day. Again, I was surprised modern-day Italians do not follow the rule to the letter, especially compared to the more pious Filipinos (at least during Holy Week!), whom the Europe-ans colonized and Christianized.

St. Peter’s

Earlier that day, we went inside St. Peter’s Basilica to pay our re-spects and say our prayers, though we spent most of the time gawk-ing around, taking pictures, and soaking in the experience.

I never expected to have an audience with Pope John Paul II then, for those privileges are only for the VIPs and the ultra-religious who have served and sacrificed so much for the Church. But what do you know? All of a sudden, people around us got excited and congre-gated in one area of the Church.

“The Pope is here!” my wife told me, pushing my daughters to be ahead of the receiving line. It was too late for me to react; before I knew it, I was behind a big flank of people. I saw the tip of the Pope’s headgear, his big scepter passing through over the heads of people in front of me. All I could do was raise my camera up high like a periscope and click for pictures. Fortunately, I got good shots as well as quite a few glimpses of the Pontiff with my own eyes.

It was not the first time I had seen the Pope in person. The first time was when he visited the Philippines during the 1970s. No, I did not wait and stand for hours to be part of the Papal Mass held at the Rizal Park. Rather, I was nonchalantly walking along Rizal Avenue near Tayuman Street in Manila; all of a sudden, the Pope’s motorcade whizzed through. It

turned out the Pope held a mass for the poor people in Tondo. Imelda, the infamous First Lady of the dictator Marcos, covered the sight of the squatter shanties with a huge façade with drawings of buildings and nice homes like the movie sets at the Universal Stu-dios in Hollywood. I saw the Pope rode in the Popemobile, standing and waving at me. Okay--at us, the pedestrians along the way. The third and last time I saw the Pope in person was when he celebrated the Easter Sunday mass at the Vatican Square two days later.

Memorable sights

Some memorable sights in Rome include the ruins of the Coliseum, the Aqueduct, the world famous Trevi Fountain, which was the inspiration for the song and movie, “Three Coins in the Fountain,” and the humongous and antique churches, which seem to be built on every block. I won-dered why there were so many of them when one in every parish is good enough in other parts of the world. And why so big when a medium-sized one should be big enough to house the congregants who attend mass? I learned in the old days, churches were offered as gifts to God; therefore, the grander and the bigger they were, the more God was deemed honored.

Then there were the museums in Rome. I cannot recall if we saw the works of Leonardo da Vinci like the “Mona Lisa” and the “Last Supper” at the Louvre’s Museum in Paris or the Museum in Rome. But the highlight of our visit was craning our neck at Michelangelo’s paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. It was supposed to be the “mo-ment,” the rare occasion one was supposed to soak in and enjoy. A moment to be captured in time—that is, until we heard muffled shrieks in one of the rooms of the museum. It turned out the top Filipino comedian Dolphy and his son Vandolf were on another tour, and the other Filipinos in our group caught a glimpse of them and got excited. Dolphy and Vandolf preferred over the Sistine Chapel by their fans? It would be a great and unexpected honor for the comedians indeed!

Tivoli

The next day, our group spent Holy Saturday visiting the town of Tivoli (spelled “I lov it” back-wards), where we saw a park with hundreds of water fountains atop a hill overlooking an Italian town. If you think it would not be possible, you should see it to believe it. The afternoon was free, and we were able to explore the area and do what seemed to be unthinkable: enjoy gelato in the middle of a Roman Square alongside thou-sands of tourists.

Easter Sunday was supposed to be the end of the tour when everybody was to fly back home. I do not know if the tour organizer was stupid or a masochist. Leave Vatican City on Easter Sunday, the highlight of the Holy Week? My family and I opted to stay another day and pay extra fees for our hotel accommodations. When we woke up that day, we were sad-dened upon realizing we were the only ones left. The people we had met, traveled and became friends with for two weeks were all of a sudden gone. I was left alone with my family and our spirits sank. We recovered our composure and decided to enjoy the extra day with or without our tour mates. We took a cab to attend the Easter Sunday Mass at the Vatican Square; just like in any other big cities in the world, the Italian taxi driver gave us an unexpected tour that ended up with an extra charge.

Everybody was trooping to the site of the mass. All of a sudden, the surroundings looked exactly like what we see on television on such occasion. The Pope said mass in Latin as flags of various nationalities were waved ev-erywhere. When the Pope said his Easter greetings in different languages, we cheered loudly with a handful of other Filipi-nos upon hearing him utter the words “Maligayang Pasko (Merry Christmas)”. Easter Sunday, as my mother would tell us, is the day of Christ’s rebirth; hence, it is con-sidered as another Christmas Day.

It was the year 2000, which the

Easter Sunday at the Vatican

Church declared a Jubillee Year to mark the Second Millennium of the Birth of Jesus Christ. Tradition has it that if one passes through the gate of Saint Peter’s Basilica during that year, his sins would be absolved, and he would be as-sured of going to Heaven. I passed through that gate several times with my family that year. But I am not counting on this being all we need to receive salvation--for it would be too easy. I continue to pray and be pious, hoping against hope that when my time comes, I will deserve to be in the Kingdom of God. - AJ

Angel University would be accessible to the general public as well as to the students of Sapang Bato high school.

The primary organizer of the Apl.de.Ap education projects are the Ayala Foundation and its affiliate Philippine Development Foundation or PhilDev, formerly the Ayala Foundation USA, a public charity registered with the US Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization.

As a bridge between US-based Filipino communities and individu-als like Apl.de.Ap to connect with Philippine-based social development institutions, PhilDev has focused on strategic philanthropy and gift-giving in the areas of education, science, and technology.

Victoria Garchitorena, president of the Ayala Foundation and PhilDev, revealed that Apl.de.Ap’s school projects, through Ayala affiliate FHL and its MyLibrary Project, would aim to improve Philippine literacy and develop the Filipino youth’s musical abilities.

She said FHL’s initiatives through MyLibrary aimed to support the national government’s targets through the Department of Education (DepEd) to establish a library in each barangay or village in partnership with corpo-rate donors and the local government units.

Before the Black Eyed Peas mem-ber’s school projects, MyLibrary last year put up two projects with oil giant Chevron.

The other organizers include the 57-75 Education Reform Alliance, a consortium of private sector institu-tions aiming to “reverse the education crisis” through focused interventions and school-community actions.

The 57-75 movement is composed of the Ateneo Center for Educational Development, the Foundation for Worldwide People Power, the League of Corporate Foundations, the Syner-geia Foundation, the Philippine Busi-ness for Education, and PBSP.

The number 57 indicates the cur-rent situation of the Philippine public education system as the national aver-age score in percentage points among public elementary school students in the National Achievement Test (NAT), while the number 75 symbolizes the state of education which the country would at least want to achieve in five years, albeit commonly known as the passing mark.

Organizers said the reversal of the numbers 57 and 75 also symbol-izes the campaign of “turning things around,” even in the way that the stakeholders support the public educa-tion system. Also present was Cecille Alcantara, a 57-75 founding member and president of both the LCF and the Coca-Cola Foundation.

Addressing the shortage of class-rooms, Apl.de.Ap said he is willing to “share my talent and time” to give back to the community.

“It is important to give back, and given the opportunity, I would do the same thing (all over again),” he said. “What goes around comes around.”

At the school where he once studied in Sapang Bato, around 20 teachers were serving 600 students with an average NAT score of 51 percent, way below the passing rate.

The Ayala Foundation and PhilDev said they are hoping that Apl.de.Ap’s music facilities would support the delivery of quality relevant education, serving as extensions of the classroom and being channels for lifelong learn-ing, with workshops and trainings as part of their programs.

With expected completion by February 2012, other project com-ponents to come are teacher training modules and a mentor program from Holy Angel for students and teachers of Sapang Bato high school, as well as an endowment fund for the Apl.de.Ap scholarship program. -- (Story courtesy of PNA)


Apl.de.Ap gives back

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

Mga Tulang Tagalog

by Romeo Nicolas

Marami ang nagagalit kapag bansa’y binatikos,Na para bang makabayan na ang utak ay BALUKOT.‘Di ba sila na-alarmang una tayo sa KURAKOT,Magaling lang na magdrama, sa SAMA at walang takot. Masdan na lang ang iyakan sa kabayan na binitay,Libo-libong nagtitipon, lahat sila’y nagdarasal.At sa takdang oras na ring tinakda ang kamatayan,Pumanaw rin yaong tatlo, may aral bang natutuhan? Ganyang-ganyan tayong lagi kapag mayrong pangyayari,Ang reaksyon ay mabilis ngunit lagi namang huli.At si P Noy nagsalita, puspusan na at pursigi,Na ang ugat nitong DROGA, hulihin na’t masakote. Paano ba magigising ang ahensya ng gobyerno,Kung hayaang magsitulog kahit kalat na ang gulo?Ang AFP at PNP, nangungunang PILIPINO,Sobrang KURAP sa gawain, pupurihin ko ba ito? Sana naman maging patas, kaisipan nating lahat,Ang masama ay masama sa mabuti ay palakpak.Kung ayaw nyong mabatikos, ayusin ang inyong yapak,Sa tanyag na Tuwid Na Daan, magsumikap na tumahak. Bato-bato po sa langit, ang tamaan huwag magalit,Liksyon lamang ang lapit ko at ‘di naman namimilit.Kung konsyensa ay tanggap na, magdildil ng kanin, dilis,‘Di ko kayang kapatid ko, bawat isa, nagtitiis. Linawin ang ating isip, magtulungan tayong lahat,Bawat isa’y alalayan lalo’t lumilihis na ng landas.Linangin ang kaisipan, disiplina’y ipamalas,Upang mga kababayan, matuto na at umangat. ‘Wag magalit kung sakaling kayo’y aking matamaan,Mga puti’t ibang lahi, wala silang pakialam.Mayrong ibang bansa namang “happy” sating kalagayan,Ginagawa naman tayong SANGKALAN sa KASAMAAN. Hoy! KABAYAN, gising naman, BATIKOS ay kailangan,Sa utak na laging tulog kailangan nyong mabuhayan.Kung AKALA’Y hahayaan sa sistemang MALI NAMAN,Kailangan mo ay HAGUPIT, kung BATIKOS ito’y kulang. Bato-bato po sa langit, pulutin ang ‘gandang aral,Ang tamaan, wag magalit, ‘pagkat ito’y kabutihan.Isipin lang kung matupad tahakin ang TUWID NA DAAN,Ang lahat ng kalahi mo ang tiyak na may PAKINABANG.

Tula ni: Romeo. S. NicolasBocaue, Bulacan4/18/2011

Galit Sa Batikos

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TAWA’T TULA NG MGA PILING KATATAWANAN

By Joe Cabrera

A Collection of Jokes Written in Pilipino Verse

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As millions of baby boomers in the United States rapidly approach old age, experts predict the number of long-term care patients will double over the next 30 years. What does that mean for you? It means that if you don’t have a long-term care plan in place, you and your family may have to face some tough choices down the road. Read on to learn why a long-term care plan is critical for every baby boomer.

A booming generation

Between the years of 1946 and 1964, the United States experienced an unprecedented baby boom. More than 76 million American babies were born during that relatively short 18-year span. Representing a dispro-portionate 28 percent of the U.S. population, the baby boomer gen-eration will certainly make waves as they sail into retirement. By 2050, the youngest surviving baby boom-ers will turn 85. That will raise the population of people 85 and over by a whopping 300 percent. Because the majority of people need some form of long-term care by the age of 85, the long-term care system will be overrun with baby boomers by 2050. On top of that, Americans are living increasingly longer lives. Recent es-timates give a healthy 65-year-old

man a 24% chance of living to at least 90 and a healthy woman a 35% chance of living that long. While this is great news, the longer we live, the more likely we are to suffer from a long-term care event. What does all this mean for you? It means now is the time to put a plan in place.

The hefty price tag

If you or a loved one suffers from an illness that requires long term care, get ready for some sticker shock. A year-long stay in a nursing home can cost between $40,000 and $80,000 or more. While prices vary by state and the type of care required, one thing is consistent across the board when it comes to long term care: it’s phenomenally expensive.

Just take a look at the average costs of long-term care in the U.S.:

$5,566 a month for a semi-private nursing home room

$6,266 a month for a private nurs-ing home room

$2,968 a month for care in an as-sisted living unit

$19 per hour for a home health aide

While this may not seem like a huge expense, these costs can quick-ly add up and eat away at your nest egg. For example, let’s say you hire a home aide to assist your husband just

three times a week for four hours. At $19 an hour on average, that would come out to $228 a week. That adds up to nearly $12,000 a year. Unfortu-nately, Medicare does not cover these exorbitant long-term care expenses. To top it off, informal home care is simply not a realistic option for most families these days. After all, most children of baby boomers are strug-gling to balance their own work and family life. They simply don’t have the time or resources to care for sick parents. This is why it’s critical for each and every family to plan ahead for a potentially expensive long-term care event. Without the proper pro-tection, such an event could devas-tate a family’s finances.

The simple solution

How can boomers handle the sky-rocketing costs of a potential long-term care event? The answer is sim-ple: long-term care insurance (LTCI). Without LTCI, a nursing home stay or another long term care event could devastate your family’s finances. Be-cause LTCI covers many of these expenses, this valuable insurance will not only protect your finances-it will also help you to maintain your current standard of living if you or spouse requires long-term care.

Even the affluent need coverage

Let’s say you and your wife are 65, and you have $2 million in liquid as-sets, not including your home. With that much cash, you probably assume that you’d have more than enough funds to cover a 5-year stay in a pri-vate nursing home room. However, you’ve forgotten to factor in a few additional costs of self-insuring for long-term care:

Inflation: The ever-increasing rate of inflation could quickly magnify the cost of long-term care. What


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Why LTC Planning Is Essential for Boomers

It’s through private complaint that Pamusa proposes to do in the search and recovery of Filipinos’ and their co-conspirators’ illicit assets from the proceeds of corruption by enter-ing into a MOA with a power of at-torney with the DOJ and/or PCGG to which De Lima has yet to explain her opposition. Another important as-pect to take note about the recovery of $132,000 is the Philippine Gov-ernment had practically incurred no expenses compared with PCGG’s ex-penses of $9.5 million legal fees paid to foreign lawyers and $2.3 million for foreign travels of the commis-sion’s officials and staff for 9 months from Jan. to Sept. 2010 when man-agement changed.

FilAm lawyers that had home prac-tice are wondering if De Lima, wit-tingly or unwittingly, doesn’t file tax evasion cases directly in court

when the BIR’s findings are based on documentary evidence that in and itself is prima facie evidence requiring no DOJ investigation. The cases are delayed by DOJ’s inves-tigation enabling respondents and defense counsels to bribe corrupt DOJ investigators and prosecutors, fake counter-evidence, and weather down a case to be dismissed for lack of evidence or delay the trial u000000000000000000000000ntil the next corruptible DOJ administra-tion takes over. It is thus doubtful if De Lima could file in court the 38 tax evasion cases and more to come as well as long pending cases at least to pressure the accused to pay back tax-es and settle their cases before Presi-dent Aquino’s 6-year term ends.

The truth of the matter is only when former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and ex-FG step up and sur-render their ill-gotten wealth after proper accounting that could prob-

ably save Mikey and wife from im-prisonment in the New Bilibid Pris-on or in a U.S. federal prison. This would include Dato Arroyo and wife, ex-FG’s brother Ignacio, their other immediate family members and close associates. The latter might turn state witnesses though to save themselves such as ex-Executive Secretary Ed-die Ermita, Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, Jocjoc Bolante, ex-Pagcor chair Efraim Genuino, ex-GSIS pres-ident Winston Garcia, Benjamin Aba-los, Romulo Neri and several others.

The remaining problem delaying the above is De Lima has probably convinced the President who gave way to her wish to await the Supreme Court’s reconsideration of its rul-ing on the truth commission which is now dead and redundant and will further delay fleshing out his cam-paign slogan “Kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap.” De Lima report-edly would hire more DOJ investi-gators and prosecutors. She should instead recommend the creation and put the new hires in the PTFAGC to bind together (ala walis na tingting) the totality of evidence to expand the charges against the Arroyos and

others culpable for G&C under the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (RA 3019) or Anti-Plunder Law (RA 7080), RA 1379 on forfeiture of unlawfully acquired property, Anti-Money Laundering Law (RA 9160) and RA 6713 for perjury and false SALN. Any combination thereof can be strengthened by a tax evasion case because of RA 20010 that allows the BIR to exchange information with foreign counterparts such as the U.S. Internal Revenue Service whether or not Filipinos have evaded Philippine taxes currently or before immigrating to America, or Australia and other countries for that matter to tighten the noose around the necks of those involved in G&C. That includes Her-minio Disini who thinks he is now untouchable in his Austrian castle.

All of which is why Pamusa’s vol-unteer counsels believe the govern-ment can collect from John Gokon-gwei’s group of companies past due government obligations for defraud-ing the DBP in misrepresenting the Universal Robina Corp.’s flour mill (formerly Universal Corn Products’) was intended to mill corn grits (Ce-buano’s staple) to circumvent the ban then because of excess flour milling capacity that diverted precious forex from necessary and preferred indus-tries.

Gokongwei is singled out for DOTC Secretary Ping de Jesus to stop the reported sale of Digitel to PLDT for P69.2 billion ($1.6 billion) and hold this amount to pay JG com-

panies’ government obligations.The informant emphasizes that

Digitel is one of the companies spun off by that “technically-smuggled” URC flour mill enabling Gokongwei with exponential growth to expand into banking (PCIB and Far East Bank), property development and re-tail merchandising (Robinson Land), telecommunications (Digitel and Sun Cellular), airline (Cebu Pacific), pet-rochemical, etc. Under his holding and flagship company, JG Summit, Gokongwei engaged in securities trading and overseas investments in China, Southeast Asia and USA.

Let me emphasize, moreover, that DBP was defrauded of foreign re-served for necessary and preferred industries; hence, it’s automatically converted to a commercial loan with interest rate of at least 16%, fines, plus interest on interest compound-ed. Moreover, if URC didn’t pay the forex installments due the machin-ery supplier it couldn’t obtain after the other local flour millers found out he circumvented the ban against new flour mills, the DBP was com-pelled to advance forex payment and should’ve enabled it to charge ex-traordinary high interest rate and fines for Gokongwei abusing the bank.

The PCGG should therefore issue a writ of sequestration of Gokongwei’s companies because they grew out of Marcos’ favors and the dictator al-most surely had equity interest in them. This could only be the reason Gokongwei was able to ignore other

flour millers’ protest, get away from DBP’s sanction and continue to this day the highly profitable operation of URC flour mill which like Lucio Tan’s and others’ companies are part of Marcos’ ill-gotten wealth.

Forensic audit will enable Secre-tary Purisima to stop further violation of law and holding the Philippine economy a hostage by Gokongwei,. Tan, Henry Sy, Emilio Yap, Ralph Nubla’s heirs, the Go’s – founding family of Equitable Bank, and many others. When retributive actions both in the Philippines, U.S. and maybe China are taken against Chinese Fili-pino targets, which should include Imelda Marcos & Children, Benja-min “Kokoy” Romualdez & Chil-dren, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo with Husband & Children, Geronimo Ve-lasco’s heirs and others with illicit as-sets from the proceeds of corruption, the President can therefore govern ef-fectively and start bringing back the Philippines to its former greatness.

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Health

MANILA, Philippines – Many of us love to take papaya for breakfast. The ripe fresh pear-shaped papaya with rich orange or bright yellowish color. For its sweetness and for its vitamin C content.

Little did I know until recently, based on information taken from the internet, that papaya, reportedly called the fruit of the angels, by Christopher Colum-bus – has fantastic health and curative benefits. Beyond what many of us know.

Let me share with you some in-formation taken from the internet about the deliciously sweet pa-paya that is available year-round in our country – to encourage us to eat fresh papaya fruit rather than canned fruits.

• Do you know that papaya which reportedly originated in Southern Mexico and Costa Rica was brought by the Spaniards to Manila in the mid-16th century? Today, papaya is grown not only in the Philippines but in other places as well like China, India, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Brazil, Peru, Venezuela, Central and Southern Africa, Australia and in some Pacific Islands;

• Do you know that papaya contains arginine which is essen-tial for male fertility? It is ironic that many in the male gender avoid eating papaya because they are wrongly informed that papaya lessens their sex drive;

• Do you know that papaya is good for many digestive disor-ders and improves poor diges-tion? Papain is the enzyme in papaya that helps the body digest protein and starchy carbohydrate like wheat gluten/bread/cereals. This being so, those with celiac disease (a condition that damag-es the lining of the small intes-

Papaya – the fruit of the angelstine and prevents it from absorb-ing parts of food; the damage is due to a reaction to eating gluten, which is found in wheat, barley, rye, and possibly oats) should be encouraged to eat papaya. Papain is being extracted from papaya (unripe papaya has more papain content than the ripe one) and used as health supplement.

Papaya, one of God’s gift to man has surprisingly a beneficial tonic effect in the stom-ach

and intes-tines.

Thus, curing stomach ailments and indigestion.

• Do you know that papain is used to treat sport injuries and also trauma and allergies?

• Do you know that aside from Vitamin C, papayas are rich sources of beta carotene, folic acid (folates) vitamin B and fla-vonoids, soluble fiber potassium, magnesium, and pantothenic acid – all of which help prevent different kinds of cancers in organs and glands and improve cardiovascular health and cure other diseases. Low folates, for example is reportedly related to Alzheimer’s disease;

• Do you know that papaya is low in sugar and is therefore good for diabetics;

• Do you know that papaya juice helps relieve infections of the colon and prevents nausea (including morning sickness and motion sickness);

• Do you know that papaya

juice has inflammatory proper-ties due to its enzymes papain and chymopapain? Also, papaya hastens the recovery of one suffering from burns. Unknown to many, chymopapain is being used in the treatment of slipped spinal disc and pinched nerves;

• Do you know that papaya reduces the external and inter-nal inflammation of diseases worsened by inflammation like

asthma, arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and

osteo-ar-

thri-tis;

• Do

you know that pregnant women are being advised to avoid papaya because it is a uterine stimu-lant (stimulates labor pains by increasing the intensity and fre-quency of uterine contractions).

Also, people with the so-called “latex allergy” should consult their doctors before taking papaya because of possible al-lergic reaction to certain foods like fruits. In layman’s terms, latex allergy is allergy to natural rubber latex – like elastic bands, rubber/latex gloves, balloons, clothes, shoes, and other things that contain natural rubber latex.

There are some people with latex allergy who may also have an allergic response to some plant products like fruits (latex-fruit syndrome). Fruits (and seeds) like bananas, pineapple, avocado, mango, and strawberry

should therefore be avoided by those with latex-fruit syndrome. Likewise, those taking blood thinning medication on a regular/maintenance basis (like aspirin) should consult their doctors before taking papaya because the fruit has anticoagulant proper-ties;

• Do you know that the skin of papaya is an external treatment for wounds;

• Do you know that the black seeds of papaya with a peppery flavor is edible and are used not only to expel worms but also used in the treatment of cirrho-sis of the liver due to different causes like alcoholism and mal-nutrition. Not many know that a tablespoon of juice extracted by grinding the seeds and mixing it with 10 drops of fresh lime juice taken once or twice daily for a month is already being used as a treatment of a patient suffering from cirrhosis. As an antihelm-

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intic (drugs that expel parasitic worms from the body), the pa-paya seeds are chewed and swal-lowed (2 teaspoon of seeds) after each of the 3 principal meals;

• Do you know that as a home remedy for throat disorders like inflamed tonsils for diphtheria – the fresh juice of raw papaya mixed with honey is used also as a treatment;

• Do you know that among the cancers treated by papaya is colon cancer? Simply because

the fiber in papaya is able to bind itself with cancer-causing toxins in the colon and the fiber can dis-tanced the cancer-causing toxins from the healthy colon cells;

• Do you know that some culinary aficionados rub slices of green papaya over tough meat to make the meat more tender? Es-pecially in the rural areas where the pressure cooker (tenderizer) is an expensive cooking utensil which the rural folks cannot af-ford.

ScienceDaily (Mar. 20, 2011) — The numbers are, well, depressing: More than 2 million people age 65 and older suffer from depression, including 50 percent of those living in nursing homes. The suicide rate among white men over 85 is the highest in the country -- six times the national rate.

And we’re not getting any younger. In the next 35 years, the number of Americans over 65 will double and the number of those over 85 will triple.

So the question becomes, how to help elderly depressed individuals?

Researchers at UCLA turned to a gentle, Westernized version of tai chi chih, a 2,000-year-old Chinese martial art. When they combined a weekly tai chi exercise class with a standard depression treatment for a group of depressed elderly adults, they found greater improvement in the level of depression -- along with improved quality of life, better memory and cognition, and more overall energy -- than among a dif-ferent group in which the standard treatment was paired with a weekly health education class.

The results of the study appear in the current online edition of the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.

This is the first study to demon-strate the benefits of tai chi in the management of late-life depression, and we were encouraged by the results,” said first author Dr. Helen Lavretsky, a UCLA professor-in-residence of psychiatry. “We know that nearly two-thirds of elderly patients who seek treatment for their depression fail to achieve relief with a prescribed medication.”

In the study, 112 adults age 60 or older with major depression were treated with the drug escitalopram, a standard antidepressant, for approxi-mately four weeks. From among those participants, 73 who showed only partial improvement continued to receive the medication daily but were also randomly assigned to 10 weeks of either a tai chi class for two hours per week or a health edu-cation class for two hours per week.

All the participants were evalu-ated for their levels of depression, anxiety, resilience, health-related quality of life, cognition and im-mune system inflammation at the beginning of the study and again four months later.

The level of depression among each participant was assessed using a common diagnostic tool known as the Hamilton Rating Scale for De-pression, which involves interview-ing the individual. The questions are designed to gauge the severity of depression. A cut-off score of 10/11 is generally regarded as appropriate for the diagnosis of depression.

The researchers found that among the tai chi participants, 94 percent achieved a score of less than 10, with 65 percent achieving remission (a score of 6 or less). By com-

Tai Chi Beats Back Depres-

sion in the Elderly, Study

Shows



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

Phil - Am Law 101

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You Cannot Sell Your Future Inheritance

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The Beacons of Hope


Dear Atty. Karagdag,

As in the case of many Filipinos, not everyone in our family was able to immigrate to the United States. Only my two siblings and I were able to come with our parents on a petition filed by my aunt. Our eldest brother was left behind because he was over 21 and already married. It was heartbreaking to leave him in the Philippines and this feeling of sadness turned into guilt as years went by. While my siblings and I were able to finish our studies and found good jobs here in the U.S., our kuya and his family toiled hard in order to survive. At first, we sent them money every month but we soon realized that it would be better for them financially and emotionally if they have their own business. So, when we were already financially established, we decided to put up a small business for them. We bought a couple of brand new taxi units which we paid in cash. Our kuya was supposed to drive one of the units

himself and to rent out the other to our cousin at a low boundary, so the units wouldn’t get dilapidated. The plan worked out well during the first few months. We were hoping that the income would be more than enough for our kuya and his family to live a comfortable life.

What we didn’t know was that our kuya had been addicted to gambling. He frequented the cockpits as well as the casinos. He incurred huge debts to sustain his vices. He mortgaged the two taxi units and issued postdated checks to his creditors. Because he was too busy with gambling, he was not able to drive the taxi himself. He also imposed a very high boundary for the units that they soon became dilapidated. He lost his taxi units when the creditors foreclosed on the mortgage. But that was not the end of it. Since the taxi units were already dilapidated, they commanded only a small price when they were auctioned. He still has huge debts that remain unpaid. When one of his creditors

threatened to sue him for bounc-ing checks, he was forced to sign a certain document entitled Waiver of Hereditary Rights and Interests Over a Real Property (Still Undivided) pertaining to a waiver of his heredi-tary share over our parents’ property in Quezon City. This property is quite large and valued at no less than 10 million pesos. It is our parents’ only remaining property in the Philippines and they really feel bad at the pros-pect of losing it since they plan to re-turn to the Philippines next year and live there. The creditor has threatened to subdivide our parents’ property to

get our kuya’s one-fourth share. Is there any way we can fight the case and protect our parents’ property?

Worried brother

Dear Worried Brother,

There is a particular provision in Philippine law that addresses your concern. Article 1347 of the Civil Code provides that no contract may be entered into upon a future inheri-tance except in cases expressly autho-rized by law. For the inheritance to be considered “future”, the succession must not have been opened at the time of the contract. A contract may be classified as a contract upon future in-heritance, prohibited under the second paragraph of Article 1347, where the following requisites concur:

That the succession has not yet been opened.

That the object of the contract forms part of the inheritance; and,

That the promissor has, with respect to the object, an expectancy of a right which is purely hereditary in nature.

In your brother’s case, there is no question that when he signed the Waiver of Hereditary Rights and In-terest Over a Real Property (Still Un-divided), succession to either of her parent’s properties has not yet been opened since both of them are still living. With respect to the other two requisites, both are likewise present considering that the property subject matter of your brother’s waiver con-cededly forms part of the properties that he expects to inherit from your parents upon their death and, such expectancy of a right, as shown by the facts, is undoubtedly purely heredi-tary in nature. It constitutes a part of your brother’s future inheritance from your parents, which cannot be the source of any right nor the creator of any obligation between him and his creditors. (Philippine Supreme Court, Ferrer vs. Diaz, G.R. No, 165300, April 23, 2010).

So, in other words, the creditors cannot go after your parents’ property under the Waiver of Hereditary Rights and Interest Over a Real Property

(Still Undivided). However, since your brother still owes them money, the creditors have other ways of run-ning after him, including carrying out their threat of suing him for bouncing checks. Be also mindful that, God forbids, if your parents die, your brother’s inheritance will be consid-ered present inheritance. In that case, his creditors may be able to run after his share in the Quezon City property, not under the Waiver of Hereditary Rights and Interest Over a Real Prop-erty (Still Undivided), but perhaps by way of attachment or execution of judgment.

As we always advise those who write and call us, you and your broth-er should consult with a competent attorney for proper legal advice.

Sincerely,

Atty. Karagdag

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

parison, among participants who re-ceived health education, 77 percent achieved scores of 10 or less, with 51 percent achieving remission.

While both groups showed im-provement in the severity of depres-sion, said Lavretsky, who directs UCLA’s Late-Life Depression, Stress and Wellness Research Pro-gram, greater reductions were seen among those taking escitalopram and participating in tai chi, a form of exercise that is gentle enough for the elderly.

“Depression can lead to serious consequences, including greater morbidity, disability, mortality and increased cost of care,” Lavretsky said. “This study shows that adding a mind-body exercise like tai chi that is widely available in the community can improve the outcomes of treat-ing depression in older adults, who may also have other, co-existing medical conditions, or cognitive impairment.

“With tai chi,” she said, “we may be able to treat these conditions without exposing them to additional medications.”

Other authors on the study includ-ed Lily L. Alstein, Richard E. Olm-stead, Linda M. Ercoli, Marquertie Riparetti-Brown, Natalie St. Cyr and Michael R. Irwin, all of UCLA.

Funding for the study was pro-vided by the National Institutes of Health, the General Clinical Research Centers Program, the UCLA Cousins Center at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Hu-man Behavior, and the UCLA Older Americans Independence Center.

Link: http://www.sci-encedaily.com/releas-es/2011/03/110316131122.htm

Tai Chi Beats ...(Continued from page 8)


Gawad Kalinga E-Rotary Club Charter Members Meet in Cerritos, CA. Facebook friends and GK supporters gather at the first general membership meeting of the Global Kalinga e-Rotary Club, held in Cerritos last April 6, 2011. Ray Carlson (center, in tie), who is seated next to Ernie Delfin of Fountain Valley, CA, spoke inspiringly about the “Entrepreneurship Training Course for Filipino YOUTH”, (nicknamed “EDSA Course) the flagship project of the E-Rotary Club in the Philippines. Also in attendance are the other speakers of the evening: Jun Perez, a past District Governor of Makati District 3830, Past Club presidents Rene Fruto of Rancho del Chino RC and Frank Adamo of Cerritos-Artesia Rotary Club.

SAN DIEGO, CA – The second annual Asian Cultural Festival of San Diego (ACFSD) is the main outdoor family event for all things Asian to kick off Asian Heritage Month. On Sunday, May 1st, ven-ture out to NTC Park at Liberty Sta-tion and you’ll enter the excitement of celebrating over a dozen cultures and ethnic groups that make your best bowl of noodles in Mira Mesa, a filling dim sum brunch on Convoy Street, or provide a veggie super-mall in Linda Vista. Besides good grub and cheap eats, there’s more to San Diego’s growing minority population.*

ACFSD, along with the county’s established community organiza-tions, have brought together an

2nd Annual Asian Cultural FestivalMartial Arts, Cultural

Performances, Cooking Demos, and more at

Asian Cultural Festival

amazing presentation of a country’s people and culture for parents and children alike to experience. This year’s festival brags of enough food, performing arts and talent to substi-tute a dream trip to Asia. In one day, you can explore:

Two stages of cultural and con-temporary performances will show-case a variety of thrilling spectacles:

Sharp moves from the Jing Insti-tute of Marital Arts, Filipino percus-sion by the Pakaraguian Kulintang Ensemble and Bang uh Rang B-boy crew to name a few.

Cultural Row – featuring Thai-land, Japan, China, Korea, Phil-

ippines, Myanmar, Indonesia, and more!!! Each booth features traditions, artifacts, history, fashion and resources to become involved. Learn from the rich historical dis-plays and be consumed in the ethnic pride that will make you seem like a native at your next visit to Convoy.

Food booths for you to nibble •as you enjoy the shows on the grass lawnKids Crafts Area•Live Cooking Demos includ-•ing celebrity chef Cathlyn ChoiFashion show•Raffle for 2 roundtrip tickets •from Southwest Airlines and other giveaways

Visit www.asianculturalfestivalsd.com for entertainment updates and more information or to get involved with the Asian Cultural Festival of San Diego.

The festival is sponsored by Barona Resort and Casino, Sharp Health Care, American Red Cross, COPAO, Asian Journal and Asian Reader. Presented by the Na-tional Asian American Coalition, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, and produced by Silk Road Productions.

Source: http://www.libertystation.com/wordpress/blog/2nd-annual-asian-cultural-festival-marks-beginning-of-asian-heritage-month

Visit www.asianculturalfestivalsd.com for entertainment updates and more information or to get involved with the Asian Cultural Festival of San Diego.

The festival is sponsored by Barona Resort and Casino, Sharp Health Care, American Red Cross, COPAO, Asian Journal and Asian Reader. Presented by the Na-tional Asian American Coalition, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, and produced by Silk Road Productions.

Source: http://www.libertystation.com/wordpress/blog/2nd-annual-asian-cultural-festival-marks-beginning-of-asian-heritage-month

San Diego Residents: Mail this coupon to Asian Journal 550 E. 8th St., #6, National City CA 91950 for a chance to win a raffle for a 3-Month, FREE Unlimited International Calling Plan to the Philippines and the US from VONAGE. (Limit 1 entry per name)NAME: __________________________________ADDRESS: _______________________________EMAIL: _________________________________PHONE 1:_________________________________PHONE 2: ________________________________I understand that the VONAGE set-up requires a phone & an internet connection. __ YES, I have an internet connection. __ NO, I do not have a connection.

Winner to be announced in May 6th, 2011 issue of Asian Journal.

Entries Must be Received by 5/2 Monday

“Job Creators & Entrepreneurs Training” for Philippine Youth: A Flagship Project of the New Global Kalinga e-Rotary Club

“If you give a man a fish, he will have a meal for a day, but if you teach him how to fish, he will have a meal for a lifetime!” ---- Anonymous

THE METAMORPHOSIS by Ernie Delfin | FOUNTAIN VALLEY, CA, 4/22/2011 -- Ear-lier this year, a few Rotarians in California with some of their businessmen friends started dis-cussing the possibility of forming an E-Rotary Club, a movement that has been formally approvedby Rotary International last year. Current RI regulations provide

that a Rotary district can sponsor a maximum of two E-Clubs. As a result of numerous emails, Skype and Face Book communications,the Global Kalinga e-Rotary Club (GK e-RC) was conceived in February 2011, that is scheduledto be chartered (born) some-time this summer during the RY 2011-12, to be sponsored by the Rotary Club of Loyola Heights, of District 3780 (Quezon City), Philippines, to become the first E-Rotary Club in the Philippines.

To date, we have almost 40 peo-ple, predominantly Filipinos bothresiding inside and outside the

Philippines, like in the USA, Can-ada, Europe, and who signified interest to become charter mem-bers. A good number of them who are from Southern Califor-nia have been meeting monthly as a Rotary Club and are excited to launch this “Job Creation En-trepreneurship Training Course in the Philippines” designed espe-cially for the youth. The website that is now being developed that will showcase Youth Entre-preneurs Training as its flagship project.

Unlike a traditional Rotary


Community


Spiritual Life

BalintatawRead Virginia Ferrer’s previous articles by visiting our website

at www.asianjournalusa.com

by Virginia H. FerrerRead Monsignor’s previous articles by visit-

ing our website at www.asianjournalusa.com

by Msgr. Fernando G. Gutierrez

Lower Your Nets

©2010 Virginia H. Ferrer. All rights reserved.

About the Author: Virginia H. Ferrer is a Filipino Language Teacher at Otay Ranch High School in Chula Vista.

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Joke of the week: An old preacher was dying. He sent a message for his banker and his lawyer, both church members, to come to his home. When they arrived, they were ushered up to his bedroom. As they entered the room, the preacher held out his hands and motioned for them to sit on each side of the bed. The preacher grasped their hands, sighed contentedly, smiled, and stared at the ceiling. For a time, no one said anything. Both the banker and lawyer were touched and flattered that the preacher would ask them to be with him during his final moments. They were also puzzled; the preacher had never given them any indication that he particularly liked either of them. They both remembered his many long, uncomfortable sermons about greed, covetousness, and avari-cious behavior that made them squirm in their seats. Finally, the banker said, “Preacher, why did you ask us to come?” The old preacher mustered up his strength and then said weakly, “Jesus died between two thieves, and that’s how I want to go.”

Scripture: First Reading: Acts 10: 34a-37-43. Peter’s sermon is about the presence of Jesus through those assembled at the Eucharistic meal. He reminds them of salvation that was turned down by Israel, and of his life and suffering that culminates in death. In the end, Christ’s resur-rection is the Father’s vindica-tion of Jesus and of everything that he had stood for. Second Reading: Colossians 3: 1-4. God’s victory over death is seen in the resurrection of Jesus. Bap-tism means dying and rising with Christ. Though the resurrection of all believers is not yet fully realized until the second coming of Christ, yet its consequences must be morally and fully lived now. Gospel: John 20: 1-5. The history of encounters with Jesus is a movement from “no faith”

The Resurrection: A Mediated Presence

Easter Sunday:

towards faith: Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman and the royal official. Now, at the near end of Jesus’ story, there are three more encounters in faith: the Beloved Disciple, Mary of Magdalene, and the story of the doubting Thomas.

Reflections: As embodied human beings we have to fulfill the needs of our sens-es: to hear, to touch, to smell, to taste, to see. This point was humor-ously stressed by this story. When a new building had to be constructed on Vatican grounds, the architect submitted the plans to Pope John XXIII, who shortly afterward returned them with these three Latin words written in the mar-gin: Non sumus angeli, meaning, “We are not angels.” The archi-tect and his staff couldn’t figure out what the Pope meant, until finally someone noticed that the plans did not include bathrooms.

The resurrection of the Lord is mediated to the disciples through different events: the empty tomb, the cloths rolled up in a separate place, the joy of Mary, the frantic excitement of the disciples. All of these speak loudly and clearly of the Risen Lord’s mediated presence. Jesus’ coming into our world is a medi-ated and incarnated presence. He who is invisible became visible when he assumed our human nature.

As Jesus’ resurrection is mediated to us through the disciples who first experienced

his risen life through incarnated events, it is also our task to wit-ness through, with, and in people and events to this wondrous miraculous event. Real Easter message cannot and should not be encapsulated in one space and time. Easter is for all seasons and people.

The disciples and others like Mary Magdalene who had witnessed his incarnated risen life were given a special knowl-edge and were commanded to proclaim what they believed in based on what they had seen and experienced. We too have the same task and commissioning to proclaim this Easter joy at all times for all people.

Tidbits: The Fellowship of Merry Christians encourages churches and prayer groups to celebrate “The Easter Laugh” – God had the last laugh on the devil when He raised Jesus from the dead – with Easter Monday

and Bright Sunday, the Sunday after Easter (Divine Mercy Feast).

Easter Mon-day tradi-tionally was celebrated as a “Day of Joy and Laughter” in Catho-lic, Ortho-

dox, and Protestant countries. Needless to say, everyone is encouraged to be happy and laugh loudly at Easter liturgical services.

A BLESSED EASTER TO ONE AND ALL! MAY THE RISEN LORD BLESS YOU.

The Feast of the Divine

Mercy is on May 1, the Second Sunday of Easter. The novena starts on Good Friday. Please check with your parish about the activities in celebration of this important feast day.

Sabi ng Diyos hawakan ko itong dalawang kahonat sa itim na kahon kalungkuta’y duon ibaonat sa gintong kahon nama’y magagandang alaalaang aking ilalagay upang lagi akong sumaya.

Katulad ng isang batang masunurin sa magulangsinunod ko ang tagubilin ng Panginoong mahalang mga sandaling tigib ng ibayong kalungkutanitong itim na kahon ang siya ko ngang pinagsidlan.

At sa isa pang kahon na ang kulay naman ay gintomaliligayang sandali ay duon ko itatagomga kahong hinabilin lagi kong pinagmamasdanmay ibig sabihin kaya ‘to sa aking katauhan?

Subalit napansin ko sa pagdaan ng mga arawitong kahong kulay ginto ay bumibigat ang timbangsubalit kahong kulay itim ay walang pagbabagokatulad pa rin siya nuong unang mahawakan ko.

Nasabik akong malaman kung ano ba ang dahilankaya’t nagpasiya akong ang kahong itim ay buksansubalit sa aking natuklasan ako ay nagulatkahong aking binuksan ang ilalim pala ay butas.

(May karugtong)

Dalawang Kahon (1)

Quotation of the week: “Christianity had died many times and risen again, for it has a God who knows the way out of the grave.” G. K. Chesterton

Why LTC Planning is essential


costs $200 today could cost as much as $1,000 20 years from now.

Taxes: If you’re forced to sell an asset that has appreciated in value or take an IRA distribution to cover the cost of long-term care, you’ll probably face some hefty tax conse-quences.

Lost investment opportunities: If you end up paying out of pocket for long-term care for five years, you’ll lose out on other investment oppor-tunities.

When you factor in these additional costs, it turns out that the real cost of long-term care for you and your wife would be much more expensive than you realize. This is why everyone stands to benefit from long-term care insurance-even affluent seniors.

Gain peace of mind with LTCI

Without LTCI, the cost of a nurs-ing home stay or a home health care aide could wreak havoc on your fi-nances and whittle away at that nest egg you’ve worked so hard to build. Don’t burden your loved ones with this kind of emotional and financial strain. Create a long-term care plan today to save your family a lot of heartache and stress tomorrow.

If you want to discuss your long-term care insurance options, con-tact Jerry Salcedo at 877-260-7104 to evaluate your unique situation and help you customize an effective plan.


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San Diego News

The President and the Board of Directors of COPAO cordially in-vite you to come meet and listen to Ms. Tina Monzon-Palma, Program Director of Bantay Bata 163 at 1:00 p.m. on SUNDAY, May 8, 2011, at the COPAO Center, 832 E Avenue, National City. This is a part of Ban-tay Bata 163 US Caravan 2011.

Learn about the scope of programs

Tina Monzon-Palma Heads Bantay Bata Caravan to San Diego, May 8th -- COPAO

and services that Bantay Bata pro-vides for needy Filipino children. In its 14 years, Bantay Bata has grown from a 24/7 Hotline and Rescue op-eration to a nationwide Child Hel-pline. It has expanded into Shelter and Rehabilitation, Scholarships, Medical, Feeding, Community Out-reach and Advocacy for Filipino Children. Snacks will be served.

Golf Invitational to Benefit Rotary Anti-

Polio CampaignPARSHOOTERS Club of San

Diego Names 2011 Invita-tional After it’s Top Player

Femie Villaflores Cupit

National City, CA- The Parshoot-er’s Golf Club a local, nonprofit golf association, founded in 1993, will be hosting the Femie Villaflores Cupit Golf Invitational on Tuesday, May 03, 2011 at Chula Vista Municipal Golf Course located at 4475 Bonita Rd. Bonita, CA 91902. Followed by an Award and Ceremony for all of the participants and guest at Ben’s Restaurant 1615 Sweetwater Rd. Na-tional City , CA 91950 on lunch for a good cause buffet all you can eat @ $15.00. Lot’s of raffle drawings and prizes.

The Parshooter’s Elite Club of San Diego plays every Tuesday with a tournament within the member’s name in different golf courses lo-cated in San Diego and the only golf club that supports charitable cause to any nonprofit organization. Parshoot-er’s pride on Femie Villaflores Cupit Golf Invitational is to be a part of the program to eradicate polio, each member’s of the club voluntarily bind themselves committing $25.00 to complete a hole sponsorship of $200.00. The elite golf club’s enjoys their innovative weekly tournaments and enjoy camaraderie with their great memories of being together. Parshooter’s brings joy and pride as a golfer.

The Femie Villaflores Cupit Golf Invitational’s Title Sponsor the Mon-teluce Tagaytay by Major Properties Inc. builds a self contained commu-nity with one, two and three condo hotel. Hole Sponsors supported by Security Business Bank of San Di-ego, Liberty Tax Service of National City, Western Union, Bens Restau-


If you've seen someone using their phone like a grocery store scanner, they're not crazy. They're using a QR Scanner (downloaded from the Android Market-place) and they're scanning a QR Code - like the one on the left, which coinci-dentally takes you to our free mobile security app! Link: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.webroot.security&rdid=com.webroot.security

QR Code for Free Security App for your Android Phone from Webroot

--Brings National Speakers and Dozens of Local Microfinance Re-cipients to Showcase the Impact of Microloans on Businesses--

SAN DIEGO, 4/15/2011 -- Em-bracing continued local interest in the microfinance industry, and the past two years of excellent support in previous summits, several partnering local microfinance organizations are coming together again to produce the third-annual San Diego Microfinance Summit on Thursday, April 28, from 8:15 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice at the University of San Diego.

Sponsored by Citibank, this year’s summit will be highlighting both the local, as well as international work by San Diego’s microfinance institu-tions. Opportunities to get involved

Third Annual San Diego Microfinance Summit April 28

in microfinance will be provided, as well as hearing from national industry experts from the ACCION Network and KIVA during the keynote panel.

Gina Harmon, CEO of ACCION Network, will give the keynote ad-dress along with Giovanna Masci, regional director of the Americas of KIVA, moderated by Claudia Viek, CEO of CAMEO. The keynote will focus on the history, current state and the future of microfinance in the United States. Additionally, small business owners who have received loans from the Foundation for Wom-en, International Rescue Committee, CDC Small Business Finance and ACCION San Diego will share how access to capital has improved their businesses and lives.

In addition to national speakers, lunch will be provided by local ca-tering restaurateurs whom are also local microfinance clients featuring food from around the world. During the lunch buffet, there will be a lo-cal entrepreneur marketplace where other microfinance clients will sell their products and services. Among the expected

vendors will be artisans, jewelers, bakers and craftsmen. There will be

two breakout sessions in the after-noon to help attendees delve further into microfinance, including current industry trends locally and nationally, alternative microfinance models and a panel designed to help students pre-pare for a career in the industry. The summit will close with a catered net-working reception.

The Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice is located at the University of San Diego at 5998 Alcalá Park. For directions and parking information, visit http://peace.sandiego.edu/about/directions.html.

Early bird registration is available at $38 for the general public and $12 for students and is currently open at http://sdmicrofinance.org/the-sum-mit/. Registration after April 15 is $50 and $20.

The San Diego Microfinance Alli-ance is the producer of the first San Diego Microfinance Summit, and is a consortium of local microfinance practitioners, donors, students and educators committed to collaborating and raising the profile of microfinance in the San Diego region.

For more information, visit http://sdmicrofinance.org/. For more infor-mation on KIVA, visit www.kiva.org For more information on the ACCION Network, visit www.accionusa.org. For more information on CAMEO, visit www.microbiz.org

Head to Barona Resort & Casino on Saturday, May 7 at 6 p.m. to watch box-ing superstar and WBO welterweight champion Manny “Pac Man” Pac-quiao take on former three-division champion “Sugar” Shane Mosley live on pay-per-view.

Pacquiao, known as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, is the first boxer in history to win ten world titles and

Watch Pacquiao Defend His WBO Title Against Mosley at Barona Resort & Casino On Saturday May 7 At 6 P.M.

first to win in eight divisions.

Barona Resort & Casino is located at 1932 Wildcat Canyon Road in Lakeside.

For more infor-mation, visit www.barona.com or call 619-443-2300.


An Englishman’s View of the Philippines

AMERASIAN CUISINE

Del - Chit RiveraProprietor

289 E. Orange & Melrose Chula Vista, CA 91911

(619) 426-7804(Alongside Seafood City Supermarket)

Pary Trays - Fast Food - Food to go - Lechon

Light &Shadows

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

by Zena Sultana Babao

Christianity is all about Truth, Faith, Love, Justice, and Charity

Matthew Sutherland, a British jour-nalist stationed in the Philippines, wrote two hilarious articles over ten years ago pertaining to his take on Filipino culture. The two articles are combined here in into one under “Matter of Taste.” This amusing piece has been published in The Mindanao Examiner and in several Filipino blog sites, and has been widely circulated in emails.

You might have read a “Mat-ter of Taste” before, but it’s good to revisit it - because it’s not just funny, but insightful and true. And I highly recommend it for releasing stress. LOL!!

Matter of Taste by Matthew Sutherland

I have now been in this country for over six years, and consider my-self in most respects well assimilated. However, there is one key step on the road to full assimilation, which I have yet to take, and that’s to eat BALUT.

The day any of you see me eating balut, please call immigration and ask them to issue me a Filipino passport. Because at that point there will be no turning back! BALUT, for those still blissfully ignorant non-Pinoys out there, is a fertilized duck egg. It is commonly sold with salt in a piece of newspaper, much like Eng-lish fish and chips, by street vendors usually after dark, presumably so you can’t see how gross it is.

It’s meant to be an aphrodisiac, although I can’t imagine anything more likely to dispel sexual desire than crunching on a partially formed baby duck swimming in noxious fluid. The embryo in the egg comes in varying states of development, but basically it is not considered macho to eat one without fully discernable feathers, beak and claws. Some say these crunchy bits are the best. Others prefer to drink the so-called ‘soup’, the vile, pungent liquid that surround the aforementioned feathery fetus … excuse me; I have to go and throw up now. I’ll be back in a minute.

Food dominates the life of the Filipino. People here just love to eat. They eat at least eight times a day. These eight official meals are called, in order: breakfast, snacks, lunch, merienda, merienda cena, dinner, bedtime snacks and no-one-saw-me-take-that-cookie-from-the- fridge-so-it-doesn’t-count.

The short gaps in between these mealtimes are spent eating Sky Flakes from the open packet that sits on every desktop. You’re never far from food in the Philippines. If you doubt this, next time you’re driving home from work, try this game. See how long you can drive without seeing food and I don’t mean a distant restaurant, or a picture of food. I mean a man on the sidewalk frying fish balls, or a man walking through the traffic sell-ing nuts or candy. I bet it’s less than one minute.

Here are some other things I’ve noticed about food in the Philippines:

Firstly, a meal is not a meal with-out rice – even breakfast. In the UK, I could go a whole year without eating rice. Second, it’s impossible to drink without eating. A bottle of San Miguel isn’t just the same without gambas or beef tapa. Third, no one ventures more than two paces from their house without baon (food in small container) and a container of something cold to drink. You might as well ask a Fili-pino to leave home without his pants on. And lastly, where I come from, you eat with a knife and fork. Here, you eat with a spoon and fork. You try eating rice swimming in fish sauce without a knife.

One really nice thing about Fili-pino food culture is that people always ask you to SHARE their food. In my office, if you catch anyone attacking their baon, they will always go, “Sir! KAIN TAYO!” (Let’s eat!”)

This confused me, until I real-ized that they didn’t actually expect me to sit down and start munching their boneless bangus. In fact, the po-lite response is something like, “No thanks, I just ate.” But the principle is sound – if you have food on your plate, you are expected to share it, however hungry you are, with those

who may be even hungrier. I think that’s great!

In fact, this is frequently even taken one step further. Many Filipi-nos use “Have you eaten yet?” (“KU-MAIN KA NA?”) as a general greet-ing, irrespective of time of day or location.

Some foreigners think Filipino food is fairly dull compared to other Asian cuisines. Actually lots of it is very good: Spicy dishes like Bicol Express (strange, a dish named after a train); anything cooked with coconut milk; anything cholesterolic frenzy of a good old-fashioned LECHON de leche (roast pig) feast. Dig a pit, light a fire, add 50 pounds of animal fat on a stick, and cook until crisp. Mmm, mmm … you can actually feel your arteries constricting with each succes-sive mouthful.

I also share one key Pinoy trait --- a sweet tooth. I am thus the only foreigner I know who does not com-plain about sweet bread, sweet burg-ers, sweet spaghetti, sweet banana ketchup, and so on. I am a man who likes to put jam on his pizza. Try it!

It’s the weird food you want to avoid. In addition to duck fetus in the half-shell, items to avoid in the Philippines include pig’s blood soup (DINUGUAN); bull’s testicle soup, the strangely-named “SOUP NUM-BER FIVE” (I dread to think what numbers one through four are); and the ubiquitous, stinky shrimp paste, BAGOONG, and it’s equally stinky sister, PATIS.

Filipinos are so addicted to these latter items that they will even risk ar-rest or deportation trying to smuggle them into countries like Australia and the USA, which wisely ban the im-portation of items you can smell from more than 100 paces.

Then there’s the small matter of the purple ice cream. I have never been able to get my brain around eat-ing purple food; the ubiquitous UBE leaves me cold.

And lastly, on the subject of weird food, beware that KALDERE-TANG KAMBING (goat) could well be KALDERETANG ASO (dog) …

The Filipino, of course, has a well-developed sense of food.

Here’s a typical Pinoy food joke: “I’m on a seafood diet.” “What’s a seafood diet?” “When I see food, I eat it!”

Filipinos also eat strange bits of animals --- the feet, the head, the guts, etc., usually barbecued on a stick. These have been given witty names, like “ADIDAS” (chicken’s feet); “KURBATA” (either just chicken’s neck, or “neck and thigh” as in “neck-tie”); “WALKMAN” (pig’s ears); “PAL” (chicken wings); “HELMET” (chicken head); “IUD” (chicken in-testines); and BETAMAX” (video-cassette-like blocks of animal blood). Yum, yum. Bon appétit!

WHEN I arrived in the Philip-pines from the UK six years ago, one of the first cultural differences to strike me was names. The subject has pro-vided a continuing source of amaze-ment and amusement ever since. The first unusual thing, from an English perspective, is that everyone here has a nickname. In the staid and boring United Kingdom, we have nicknames in kindergarten, but when we move into adulthood we tend, I am glad to say, to lose them.

The second thing that struck me is that Philippine names for both girls and boys tend to be what we in the UK would regard as overbearingly cutesy for anyone over five. Where I come from, a boy with a nickname like Boy Blue or Honey Boy would be beaten to death at school by pre-adolescent bullies, and never make it to adult-hood. So probably would girls with names like Babes, Lovely, Precious, Peachy or Apples. Here, however, no

one bats an eyelid. Then I noticed how many people

have what I have come to call “door-bell names.” These are nicknames that sound like –well, doorbells. There are millions of them. Bing, Bong, Ding, and Dong are some of the more com-mon. They can be, and frequently are, used in even more door-bell-like com-binations such as Bing-Bong, Ding-Dong, Ting-Ting, and so on. Even our newly appointed chief of police has a doorbell name Ping. None of these doorbell names exist where I came from, and hence sound unusu-ally amusing to my untutored foreign ear.

Someone once told me that one of the Bings, when asked why he was called Bing, replied, “because my brother is called Bong.” Faultless logic.

Repeating names was another nov-elty to me, having never before en-countered people with names like Len-Len, Let-Let, Mai-Mai, or Ning-Ning. The secretary I inherited on my arrival had an unusual one: Leck-Leck. Such names are then frequently further re-fined by using “squared” symbol, as in Len2 or Mai2. This had me very confused for a while.

Then there is the trend for parents to stick to a theme when naming their children. This can be as simple as making all names begin with the same letter, as in Jun, Jimmy, Janice, and Joy.

More imaginative parents shoot for more sophisticated forms of asso-nance or rhyme, as in Biboy, Boboy, Buboy, Baboy (notice the names get worse the more kids there are – best to be born early or you could end up being a Baboy).

Even better, parents can create whole families of, say, desserts (Ap-ple Pie, Cherry Pie, Honey Pie) or flowers (Rose, Daffodil, Tulip). The main advantage of such combinations is that they look great painted across your trunk if you’re a cab driver.

That’s another thing I’d never seen before coming to Manila – taxis with the driver’s kids’ names on the trunk.

Another whole eye-opening field for the foreign visitor is the phenomenon of the “composite” name. This in-cludes names like Jejomar (for Jesus, Joseph and Mary, and the remarkable Luzviminda (for Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, believe it or not.)

That’s a bit like me being called something like “Engscowani” (for England, Scotland, Wales and North-ern Ireland.) Between you and me, I’m glad I’m not.

And how could I forget to mention the fabulous concept of the randomly inserted letter ‘h’. Quite what this device is supposed to achieve, I have not yet figured out, but I think it is de-signed to give a touch of class to an otherwise only averagely weird name. It results in creations like Jhun, Ljenn, Ghemma, and Jhimmy.

How boring to come from a country like the UK full of people with names like John Smith. How wonderful to come from a country where imagina-tion and exoticism rule the world of names.

Even the towns here have weird names; my favorite is the unbeliev-ably named town of Sexmoan (ironi-cally close to Olongapo and Angeles). Where else in the world could that re-ally be true?

Where else in the world could the head of the Church really be called Cardinal Sin?

Where else but the Philippines!

TAKE IT FROM MY BAR-BER by Benjamin Maynigo | MCLEAN, VA, 4/22/2011 -- Perusing the files and historical documents that I have in my pos-session, I pretty much decided to write in some detail about the fake medals of Marcos. This would be a follow-up of some articles that I had al-ready written earlier and also in response to the Marcos fam-ily’s insistence and the majority of the Philippine Congress-men’s resolution urging P-Noy to approve the burial of Marcos as a hero at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

It would still be consistent with our Christian Faith because I would be reminding the Fili-pino people the truth about a historical distortion that could be perpetuated if left untold and unchecked. It would also be in the interest of justice and for the sake of new and fu-ture generation of Filipinos.

But somehow, this Holy Week reminded me about my priori-ties in life. Yes, I would still be Christian. Yes, I would still be writing about Truth, Faith, Love, Justice and Charity. Yes, I should instead be writing about the week’s celebration of Christ’s Resurrection, most specifically, EASTER – its factual origin and its meaning. It would be positive, loving, faithful, informatively truthful and most especially charitable as I postpone to an-other day my planned Marcos essay.

Easter’s Origin

My readings tell me that the feast day of Easter was originally a pagan celebration of renewal and rebirth. It honored the pagan Saxon goddess Eastre. When the Saxons were converted to Chris-tianity by early missionaries, and since the feast fell around the same time as the traditional memorial of Christ’s resurrec-tion from the dead, the latter was merged with the pagan celebra-tion.

The other pagan roots of Easter actually date back to ancient times. It has something to do with Nimrod, the grandson of

Noah (known for the Global Flood and the ARK). When Nim-rod died, his wife, Queen Semi-ramis deified him and created a religion in his name. Semiramis’ had an illegitimate son, Tammuz. She convinced her people that the latter was actually Nimrod reborn. Since the people were

“looking for the promised savior, they were also persuaded to believe that Tammuz was that savior, even that he had been supernaturally conceived.”

Semiramis herself was wor-shipped as the goddess of fertil-ity. As such, she was called in several places as “Ishtar, Ashtur and yes, EASTER.”

As Christians, we are very fa-miliar with the events during the last days of Jesus Christ’s mortal life leading to His resurrec-tion starting from Palm Sunday when He rode triumphantly into Jerusalem where He was greeted warmly by the crowd; Holy Monday when He overturned the tables of the moneychangers and freed the animals to be slaugh-tered; Holy Tuesday when the Pharisees tried to trap Him into making a blasphemous remark; “Spy Wednesday” when Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus by reveal-ing to the chief priests where Jesus could be captured; Maundy or Holy Thursday when the Last Supper was held; Good Friday when the crucifixion happened at the top of the Calvary hill outside the walls of Jerusalem and correspondingly His death; and Holy Saturday or the eve of Easter which marked the end of the 40 day Lenten season.

We Christians, by Faith, be-lieve and know that these events actually happened. They were

EASTER: Reconciliation, Resurrection, Rebirth, Renewal

recorded in the books of history, the Holy Bible, and in religious ancient archives. It is indeed hard to imagine how a finite and mortal being could possibly en-dure the pain and suffering that Jesus endured on the cross.

This is why in certain Chris-tian nations like the Philippines, some people display there Chris-tian faith by reenacting Jesus Christ’s suffering. They actually undergo crucifixion and flagella-tion like Him as public penance or penitential acts.

My mother used to say, “Ev-eryone in the course of their lives will have a cross to carry. It could happen early, in the middle, or later in one’s life, but it will happen.”

My father followed this up by saying, “There are no such things as failures. There are only suspended successes.”

This is true not only because we were created in God’s im-age but more so because we are

encouraged, motivated, inspired and actually “destined” to mirror His life as true Christians. Who was it who said, “Destiny is not a matter of chance but a matter of choice. It is not to be awaited; it is to be achieved”?

Easter Sunday

While it is true that part of the mortal life of Jesus Christ was about pains, sorrows, and suf-ferings, it was as true that it was full of wondrous and glorious moments, a happy and joyful ending, and an absolutely and infinitesimally bright future.

How else would you describe the numerous miracles, the inspi-rational sermons, the knowledge transfers, the networking, the wedding receptions, the unlim-ited supply of wine, bread and fish, the life stories of various people touching His life, and of course, the Resurrection and the Ascension?

His story should also be our story. Cleansing ourselves through the Sacrament of Recon-ciliation, we atone for our sins; we carry our crosses and expect a rebirth and renewal of our lives, not unlike the resurrection of Jesus Christ, for a joyous and happy ending.

Yes, Easter really means Reconciliation, Resurrection, Rebirth, and Renewal.



The Law that Matters

Read Atty Bautista’s previous articles by visiting our website at www.asianjournalusa.com

by Atty. A. Erwin Bautista

How you can get a greencard even if your USC spouse died.

Question: My U.S. Citizen spouse died without ever filing a petition in my behalf and my minor children, can I still get a greencard for myself and my children?

Answer: Yes, you can under the Oc-tober 28, 2009 DHS Appropriations Act of 2010. If your spouse died before that date you have until October 28, 2011 to file and if on or after October 28, 2009 you have 2 years to file.

How does DHS Appropriations Act of 2010 affect widow/er without pending cases?

On October 28, 2009 President Obama signed into law the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2010 specifically section 568(c) which allows for adjustment of status of widows or widowers of U.S. Citizens.

Section 568 (c) reads as follows:“(c) Relief for Surviving Spouses- (1) IN GENERAL- The second

sentence of section 201(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1151(b)(2)(A)(i)) is amended by striking `for at least 2 years at the time of the citizen’s death’.

(2) APPLICABILITY- (A) IN GENERAL- The amendment

made by paragraph (1) shall apply to all applications and petitions relating to immediate relative status under section 201(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1151(b)(2)(A)(i)) pending on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.

(B) TRANSITION CASES- (i) IN GENERAL- Notwithstanding

any other provision of law, an alien described in clause (ii) who seeks im-mediate relative status pursuant to the amendment made by paragraph (1) shall file a petition under section 204(a)(1)(A)

Immigration: Humanitar-ian Reinstatement

(ii) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1154(a)

(1)(A)(ii)) not later than the date that is 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act.

(ii) ALIENS DESCRIBED- An alien is described in this clause if—

(I) the alien’s United States citizen spouse died before the date of the enact-ment of this Act;

(II) the alien and the citizen spouse were married for less than 2 years at the time of the citizen spouse’s death; and

(III) the alien has not remarried.”The law allows for the adjustment

of status to legal permanent resident of widow/er even if their marriage is less than 2 years and even if there was no petition filed in their behalf prior to the death of their U.S. Citizen spouse. Previously prior to the enactment of this law only widow/er married for 2 years with their U.S. Citizen spouse can adjust their status.

The law applies to those widow/er who present in the U.S. or residing abroad.

How, when and where will widow/er file petition?

These widow/er will have to file Form I 360 in order that they can adjust their status together with their minor children. They should send it to the Vermont Service Center.

The Form I-360 should be filed on or before October 28, 2011 if the US Citi-zen spouse died before October 28, 2009 but the widow/er can file within 2 years of the death of the US Citizen spouse if the death occurred on or after October 28, 2009.

Is Form I-751 Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence needed to be filed?

(Continued on page 18)(Continued on page 19)

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Club, GKe-RC will meet in cyber-space through the various elec-tronic social tools, such as the internet, Face Book, Twitter, Face Book etc. However, the members of the GKeRC who reside in the Orange County and southern part of LA County decided also to meet once a month with a full-pledged Rotary program with excellent speakers and relevant interesting topics are discussed.

In its first general member-ship meeting that was held in Cerritos California on April 6, 2011, the District 5300 Chair of Vocational Services, C. Ray Carlson spoke inspiringly about the Entrepreneurial Education of the Youth that has proven very successful in their district as well as in Northern Europe and even in Nigeria. After his presenta-tion, the charter members present unanimously agreed that this entrepreneurial education project can be its first Philippine proj-ect and can be the GK e-Rotary Club’s flagship project. The Southern California members are now planning to raise the goal of $10,000 as “seed” money to make it $30,000 with Rotary matching funds by late summer. With the guidance of experienced Rotary Clubs Past presidents like C. Ray Carlson and Gary Clark from the Altadena Rotary Club, Rene Fruto from the Rancho del Chino Rotary Club and Ernie Delfin, a past Asst. Governor of District 5320 and a past New Genera-tions Director of Newport Irvine Rotary Club, this youth entre-preneurship training, nicknamed “Entrepreneurial Development for SocioEconomic Advancement “EDSA” Course, promises to have a great potential to inspire and develop some college or high school students to becoming en-trepreneurs . A group of 4-5 businesspeople, led by a Rotarian from the United States and Canada can travel to the Philippines as a Rotary Vocational Training Team, like the very popular Group Study Exchange (GSE) team, going into

another country and vice-versa.The focus of EDSA Course is to

bring this proven Rotary entre-preneurship training program to the Philippines. We believe that the climate in the country is right for it to succeed because of high literacy rate, and that there is a great dearth of jobs that can absorb all these hundreds of thousands of college graduates, a sad predica-ment that forces them to seek any kind of jobs in other countries, just to earn money for themselves and their families. We believe that Education + Entrepreneur-ship Equals Economic Empower-ment. With qualified mentors and role models, EDSA Course will encourage and teach the skills and habits necessary to become suc-cessful entrepreneurs. We hope that by 2020, or even earlier, GK e-RC will be able to help reverse the migration of many Filipinos to other lands while stimulating the local economy to help build the country to become a more progressive nation.

The long term objectives of this “EDSA Course” will be to:

1. Create businesses that will provide employment opportunities to the hundreds of thousands or e millions who will graduate but will find no job opportunities.

2. Provide jobs and liveli-hoods to the vast number of exist-ing unemployed.

3. Develop pride in the citizenship for hard word and achievement.

4. Promote high business ethi-cal standards in the business and professional community.

5. Develop successful young business leaders and business entrepreneurs who will in turn be creating jobs.

6. Build knowledge, attitudes, skills and habits in entrepreneur-ship among the youth who will in turn promote a better and produc-tive society.

The GK e-Rotary Club wishes the community at large to support us by their prayers and/or finan-cial contribution to complete the Rotary Foundation requirement to meet the seed money which is approximately a third of the total

“Job Creators & Entre-preneurs Training” ...Letters to the Editor

Read previous articles by visiting our website at www.asian-journalusa.com

Lani Oteyza, CinderellaName: soulfulfilEmail: [email protected]: Editorials - BALIK-TANAW by Dr. Romy V. Protacio, PhDHeading: LANI OTEYZA: THE STORY OF A CINDERELLAOpinion:That was a beautifully written article. I briefly dated her son and

was priviledged enough to spend quality time with ms. Oteyza..so resillient and graceful..she was a business saavy...I was able to ac-company her with some of charity work..bless her heart..she’’s truly a good human being..with lots of advice to share..not to mention very spiritual.

Name: briethnerEmail: [email protected]: News & Features - Bill’s Corner - Bill LabestreHeading: MY HOMETOWNOpinion:I grew up hearing this story from my parents who are from Ajuy.

Come holy week, this story was narrated with enough mystery to make one hang on to his dear mother for a sound sleep. So famous was this tale that it was made into one segment of a very famous movie franchise (shake, rattle and roll...the number I can’’t remem-ber). Last night, due to a power blackout, with nothing to do, I was surrounded by my young cousins while recounting the story. As always, it was a box office hit. Don’’t really know if this is true but I am foreseeing an american remake of this classic tale. (Calling hol-lywood!)

Indi na malimatan na istorya sa tanan na illongo :)

My Hometome: Ajuy

Name: Irma C. YuEmail: [email protected]: Editorials - BALIK-TANAW by Dr. Romy V. Protacio,

PhDHeading: MARIA CARPENA: NIGHTINGALE OF ZARZUELAOpinion:I would like to thank you for your article regarding my great great

grandmother Maria E. Carpena. Hoping u can attend future events for her . By

the way I’’m Irma C. Yu, president of Museo de Maria Carpena, Inc. Tnx again and God Bless!

Maria Carpena, Nightingale

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CALL 619.474.0588 ASK FOR OGIE CRUZ.


Lifestyle

Read J’Son’s previous articles by visiting our website at www.asianjournalusa.com

by Joe Son

Happy birthday, Vincent Ryan and thank you for your interest-ing and informative e-mail on the benefits of eating bananas and be rest assured that I am sharing

your information to all our rela-tives and my friends in San Diego. Vincent Ryan is my nephew in the Philippines, who read my articles from the Asian Journal on the internet, who praised about the grand reunion write-up of Julian Ortiz and his daughter after 48 years. He made a good research on the benefit of eating bananas, when his friend had once knee problem and could not stand up and walk without cruthces for almost a month, who was only advised by his doctor to eat some bananas and take low dose of ibuprofen.

Research has proven that just two bananas provide enough energy for strenuous 90-minute workout. That is why bananas is the number one fruit with the world’s lead-ing athletes. But according to the studies, energy isn’t the only way a banana can help us fit. It can also help overcome or prevent a substantial number of illnesses and conditions, making it a must to add to our daily diet.

Bananas contain three natural sugars; sucrose, fructose and glu-cose combined with fiber. A banana gives instant, sustained and sub-stantial boost of energy. According to a survey undertaken by people who was suffering from depres-sion, many felt much better after eating bananas. This is because bananas contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin, known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier. Same survey also say, this is also good for PMS, you can forget the pills and just eat bananas. The vita-min B6 it contains regulates blood glucose levels, which can affect a woman’s mood. Bananas are also high in iron, therefore it can stimu-late the production of hemoglobin in the blood and so helps in cases of anemia.

This unique tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium yet low in salt, making it perfect to beat blood pressure. So much so, the US Food and Drug Administra-tion has just allowed the banana industry to make official claims for the fruit’s ability to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke. Research has also shown that the potassium-packed fruit can assist learning by making pupils

more alert as proven by about 200 students in high school who were helped through their exams by eat-ing bananas at breakfast, break and lunch in a bid to boost their brain power.

Contrary to the general belief, be-ing high in fiber, including banana in the diet can help restore normal bowel action, helping to overcome the problem

without resorting to laxatives. One other benefit the study found is the quickest way of curing hangover by making a banana milk shake, sweetend with honey. The banana calms the stomach and with the help of the honey, builds up

depleted blood sugar lelvels, while the milk soothes and re-hy-drates your system. Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you suffer from heartburn, try eating a banana for soothing relief. Snacking on bananas between meals helps to keep blood sugar levels up and avoid morning sick-ness.

More benefits of eating bananas according to the sudy are: the high content of bananas in vitamin B that help calm the nervous system, the use of banana as a dietary food against intestinal disorders because of its soft texture and smoothness,

it is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in over -chronicler casesand it also nu-etralizes over acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach, eating bananans as part of a regular diet can cut the risk of death by strokes by as much as 40%, and bananas can even help Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) sufferers because they contain the natural mood enhancer tryptophan.

Many other cultures see bananas as a cooling fruit that can lower both the physical and emotional temperature of expectant mothers. Pregnant women are advised to eat bananas to ensure their baby is born with a cool temperature.

Bananas can also help people trying to give up smoking. The B6, B12 they contain, as well as the potassium and magnesium found in them, help the body recover from the effects of nicotine withdrawal. Banana as a potassium rich miner-als helps normalize the heartbeat, sends oxygen to the brain and regulates your body’s water bal-ance. When we are stressed, our metabolic rate rises, thereby reduc-ing our potassium leveles. These can be rebalanced with the help of a high-potassium banana snack.

Researchers found pressure at work leads to gorging on comfort food like chocolate and chips. They found that obese persons were more likely to be in high-pressure jobs. The report concluded that, to avoid panic-induced food cravings, we need to control our blood sugar levels by snacking on high carbo-hydrate foods every two hours to keep levels study. Banana is highly recommended instead as the best snack fruit. Not only the banana is fruit is useful, even the inside of a banana skin, for mosquito or ant bites try rubbing the affected areas with it. Many people find it amaz-ingly successful at reducing swell-ing and irritation. You can even use the banana skin by rubbing it directly on the shoe (any color) and polish with a dry cloth for a good shine.

So, banana is really is a natural remedy for many illnesses. When you compare it to apple it has four times the protein, twice the carbo-hydrate, three time the phosphorus, five times the vitamin A and iron, and twice the other vitamins and minerals. It is also rich in potas-sium and is one of the best value foods around, so maybe its time to change the phrase, “A banana a day keeps the doctor away.”

Joe [email protected] Diego, CA

Bananas... Amazing Fruit!

Showbiz Watcher

Read Ogie Cruz’s previous articles by visiting our website at www.asianjournalusa.com

by Ogie Cruz

ABS-CBN Na Alarma : Pagbabalik Ng Show Ni Willie With Pokwang Na !!!

SHOWBIZ WATCHER Ni Ogie Cruz | SAN DIEGO, 4/22/2011 -- Wala pa ring malinaw kung kailan babalik ang show ni Willie Revil-lame matapos na magdisisyon sila na itigil muna pansamantala dahil na rin sa mga kontrabersyal na nangyari.

Lumaki kasi ang issue pati ang ABC News sa Amerika naibalita rin ang nangyari, pero alam nyo ba sa pagbabalik ni Willie via “Willing Willie” gagawin na itong noontime show ng channel 5?Ibig sabihin magiging katapat muli ito ng “Eat Bulaga” at “ Happy Yippe Yehey” kaya naman naalarma raw ang ABS-CBN dahil babalik ito sa dating time noon ng “Wowowee”.

Isang pang pagbabago sa show ay this time kasali na muli si Pok-wang sa naturang show,yes umalis na sa kapamilya network ang na-turang komedyante at nasa chan-nel 5 na diumano.Habang ang Tv5 ay abala sa renovation ng studio na kung saan gagawin ang natur-ang show na gagawin ng pangtan-ghali.

Pukpok doon at roon kuwento pa ni Ms. Cristy Fermin, kaya na-man naghahanda na nga siya kung kailang Monday magsisimula ito dahil hanggang ngayon lihim pa rin pero isinawalat na namin kung anung pagbabago ang mangya-yari.

Ibig din sabihin tuloy na tuloy na rin ito para sa US Tour ng nasa-bing programa dahil mapapanood na kasi ito rin sa U.S. via Tv5 In-ternational na tiyak ikatutuwa ng mga senior citizens lalo na sa Cal-ifornia.Hindi pa rin kami sigurado kung masasali rin si Valerie Con-cepcion pero ang malinaw nasa Tv5 na rin ang naturang aktres at active na rin na lumalabas sa mga shows ng Happy Network.

Tahimik na rin si Sen. Kiko Pan-gilinan after na tinira rin nito ang naturang host na si Willie na so-brang yabang, hindi lang namin alam kung bakit.Binawi na rin ni Mr. Revillame na ididimanda niya ang mga tweet against sa kanya na kinabibilangan nina Lea Salonga,

Jim Paredes, Leah Navarro,Aiza Seguerra.Mukhang tahimik na rin ang iba pang ahensiya ng goby-erno na nagbantang iimbestigahan ang naturang show, dahil hang-gang ngayon wala pa namang re-sulta.

AJ PEREZ ILILIBING NA SA TUESDAY APRIL 26 !!!Nakak-abigla ang nangyari sa sumisikat ng young actor na si AJ Perez na namatay dahil sa aksidente sa isang banggaan.

Hindi namin naabutan ito nung nasa pilipinas pa kami nang mag-simula ito mag-artista, kaya wala kaming personal na interaction sa naturang personalidad kung gaano ito kabait kapag offcam.Although sabi na rin sa mga ka-facebook naming mga showbiz reporters din, mabait na bata raw ito.

Dito na sa amerika namin nak-ilala si AJ Perez via “Sabel” show sa TFC at sa isang horror movie na napanood naming, sayang yung bata dahil nakikita namin na malaki ang chance niya na lalo pang sumikat balang araw kaya lang inagaw kaagad siya ni kama-tayan.

Sa Tuesday na ang libing ni AJ April 26, 9am ang mass sa Christ the King at ang kanyang hul-ing himlayan sa Manila Memo-rial Park sa Paranaque.Kaya yung mga pinoy dito sa California na uuwi sa Pilipinas, may chance pa rin kayong makita ang kanyang bangkay allowed naman sa Public viewing.

Ang huling balita pa namin,ididimanda raw ng ama ni AJ yung driver ng naturang van ng ABS-CBN dahil mabilis daw talaga ito magpatakbo ng sasakyan kung hindi raw ito nag-overtake sa isang trailer bus siguro buhay pa rin si AJ na napuruhan sa bandang utak ang pagkabangga kaya dead on arrival.Si Christopher Bau-tista ang driver ng naturang van na sinakyan ni AJ at ama naman ay si Gerardo Reyes.Basta kami nakikiramay na lang kami ang buong Asian Journal sa pagyao ni

AJ Perez, may you rest in peace.

CHARICE ON GLEE AGAIN !!! Kumalat ng husto ang bagong youtube ni Charice kung saan kasali siya ulit sa isang episode ng Glee.Na freak out nga daw ito nang malaman niyang kakantahin niya ang “All by myself” ng kan-yang idol na si Celine Dion.

Ayon nagpiesta sa facebook ang nasabing pagkanta ni Charice ng naturang show, siempre tuwang tuwa na naman ang mga kaba-bayan natin sa birit ni Charice.Ewan lang namin kung kailan ito ipalalabas sa Tv, kung baga pati-kim lang ang lahat pa lang ito.

PILAR PILAPIL NAKALIG-TAS SA TIYAK NA KAMA-TAYAN DAHIL UMARTE NA PATAY NA SIYA !!! Alam nyo ba na umarte palang patay na ang premyadong aktres na si Pilar Pi-lapil nang sila atakihin nang di kilalang mga tao.

Sabi nga ng aktres, umarte si-yang patay na kaya binuhat siya papalabas sa kotse at inihulog sa isang daan.Kung hindi raw niya ginawa yun baka tuluyan na si-yang pinatay ng mga carnapper, para walang witness dahil hang-gang sinusulat namin ito hindi pa rin nakikita ang kasama ni Ms. Pilapil na kinuha ng masasamang loob.

Laking pasasalamat naman niya sa diyos at buhay pa rin siya.Mabuti naman at ligtas na ang pre-myadong aktres at beauty queen.Ang buhay talaga minsan hindi na rin ligtas, dahil na rin sa pag-nanakaw ng iba at pati buhay mo ay makikitil makuha lang nila ang kanilang gusto.

ANGEL LOCSIN MAINITIN ANG ULO SA SET NG IMOR-TAL !!! Nagtataka ang maram-ing kasamahan ni Angel Locsin nagiging mainitin ang ulo nito sa shooting ng Imortal to think na nababalita na maganda naman ang relasyon niya kay Phil Younghus-band.

Lagi nga nakikita silang mag-kasama sa isang date, kung tu-tuusin iisipin mo ng magdyowa na ang dalawa.Ang bilis nga ng pangyayari, kailan lang nag-ask ng date ang manlalaro ng football e ngayon mukhang sila na nga.

Pero ang tanong ng marami bakit mainitin ang ulo ni ni Angel Locsin, minsan yung nagma-make up sa kanya sa set nasisigawan pa niya.

Bakit kaya to think na in love naman siya?

Paki esplika nga Angel?

Novena 2011 April 22 - April 30 -- Jesus asked that the Feast of the Divine Mercy be preceded by a Novena to the Divine Mercy which would begin on Good Friday. He gave St. Faustina an intention to pray for on each day of the Novena, saving for the last day the most dif-ficult intention of all, the lukewarm and indifferent of whom He said:

“These souls cause Me more suffer-ing than any others; it was from such souls that My soul felt the most revul-sion in the Garden of Olives. It was on their account that I said: ‘My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass Me by.’ The last hope of salvation for them is to flee to My Mercy.”

In her diary, St. Faustina wrote that Jesus told her:

“On each day of the novena you will bring to My heart a different group of souls and you will immerse them in this ocean of My mercy ... On each day you will beg My Father, on the strength of My passion, for the graces for these souls.”

The different souls prayed for on each day of the novena are: DAY 1 (Good Friday) - All mankind, especially sin-ners; DAY 2 (Holy Saturday) - The souls of priests and religious; DAY 3 (Easter Sunday) - All devout and faith-ful souls; DAY 4 (Easter Monday) - Those who do not believe in Jesus and those who do not yet know Him; DAY 5 (Easter Tuesday) - The souls of sepa-rated brethren; DAY 6 (Easter Wednes-day) - The meek and humble souls and the souls of children; DAY 7 (Easter Thursday) - The souls who especially venerate and glorify Jesus’ mercy; DAY 8 (Easter Friday) - The souls who are detained in purgatory; ; DAY 9 (Easter Saturday) - The souls who have become lukewarm.

The Chaplet of Divine Mercy may also be offered each day for the day’s intention, but is not strictly necessary to the Novena.

First Day“Today bring to Me all mankind, es-

pecially all sinners, and immerse them in the ocean of My mercy. In this way you will console Me in the bitter grief into which the loss of souls plunges

Me.”Most Merciful Jesus, whose very na-

ture it is to have compassion on us and to forgive us, do not look upon our sins but upon our trust which we place in Your infinite goodness. Receive us all into the abode of Your Most Compas-sionate Heart, and never let us escape from It. We beg this of You by Your love which unites You to the Father and the Holy Spirit.

Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon all mankind and especially upon poor sinners, all enfolded in the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. For the sake of His sorrowful Passion show us Your mercy, that we may praise the omnipotence of Your mercy for ever and ever. Amen.

Second Day“Today bring to Me the Souls of

Priests and Religious,and immerse them in My unfathom-

able mercy. It was they who gave me strength to endure My bitter Passion. Through them as through channels My mercy flows out upon mankind.”

Most Merciful Jesus, from whom comes all that is good, increase Your grace in men and women consecrated to Your service, that they may perform worthy works of mercy; and that all who see them may glorify the Father of Mercy who is in heaven.

Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon the company of chosen ones in Your vineyard -- upon the souls of priests and religious; and endow them with the strength of Your blessing. For the love of the Heart of Your Son in which they are enfolded, impart to them Your power and light, that they may be able to guide others in the way of salva-tion and with one voice sing praise to Your boundless mercy for ages without end. Amen.

Third Day“Today bring to Me all Devout and

Faithful Souls, and immerse them in the ocean of My mercy. These souls brought me consolation on the Way of the Cross. They were a drop of consola-tion in the midst of an ocean of bitter-ness.”

Most Merciful Jesus, from the trea-sury of Your mercy, You impart Your graces in great abundance to each and

all. Receive us into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart and never let us escape from It. We beg this grace of You by that most wondrous love for the heavenly Father with which Your Heart burns so fiercely.

Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon faithful souls, as upon the inheritance of Your Son. For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, grant them Your blessing and surround them with Your constant protection. Thus may they never fail in love or lose the trea-sure of the holy faith, but rather, with all the hosts of Angels and Saints, may they glorify Your boundless mercy for endless ages. Amen.

Fourth Day“Today bring to Me those who do not

believe in God and those who do not know Me, I was thinking also of them during My bitter Passion, and their fu-ture zeal comforted My Heart. Immerse them in the ocean of My mercy.”

Most compassionate Jesus, You are the Light of the whole world. Receive into the abode of Your Most Compas-sionate Heart the souls of those who do not believe in God and of those who as yet do not know You. Let the rays of Your grace enlighten them that they, too, together with us, may extol Your wonderful mercy; and do not let them escape from the abode which is Your Most Compassionate Heart.

Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon the souls of those who do not believe in You, and of those who as yet do not know You, but who are enclosed in the Most Compassionate Heart of Je-sus. Draw them to the light of the Gos-pel. These souls do not know what great happiness it is to love You. Grant that they, too, may extol the generosity of Your mercy for endless ages. Amen.

Fifth Day“Today bring to Me the Souls of those

who have separated themselves from My Church, and immerse them in the ocean of My mercy. During My bitter Passion they tore at My Body and Heart, that is, My Church. As they return to unity with the Church My wounds heal and in this way they alleviate My Passion.”

Most Merciful Jesus, Goodness Itself, You do not refuse light to those who seek it of You. Receive into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart the souls of those who have separated themselves from Your Church. Draw them by Your light into the unity of

the Church, and do not let them escape from the abode of Your Most Compas-sionate Heart; but bring it about that they, too, come to glorify the generosity of Your mercy.

Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon the souls of those who have separated themselves from Your Son’s Church, who have squandered Your blessings and misused Your graces by obstinately persisting in their errors. Do not look upon their errors, but upon the love of Your own Son and upon His bitter Passion, which He underwent for their sake, since they, too, are enclosed in His Most Compassionate Heart. Bring it about that they also may glo-rify Your great mercy for endless ages. Amen.

Sixth DayToday bring to Me the Meek and

Humble Souls and the Souls of Little Children, and immerse them in My mercy. These souls most closely resem-ble My Heart. They strengthened Me during My bitter agony. I saw them as earthly Angels, who will keep vigil at My altars. I pour out upon them whole torrents of grace. I favor humble souls with My confidence.

Most Merciful Jesus, You yourself have said, “Learn from Me for I am meek and humble of heart.” Receive into the abode of Your Most Compas-sionate Heart all meek and humble souls and the souls of little children. These souls send all heaven into ecstasy and they are the heavenly Father’s favor-ites. They are a sweet-smelling bouquet before the throne of God; God Himself takes delight in their fragrance. These souls have a permanent abode in Your Most Compassionate Heart, O Jesus, and they unceasingly sing out a hymn of love and mercy.

Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon meek souls, upon humble souls, and upon little children who are enfolded in the abode which is the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. These souls bear the closest resemblance to Your Son. Their fragrance rises from the earth and reaches Your very throne. Father of mercy and of all goodness, I beg You by the love You bear these souls and by the delight You take in them: Bless the whole world, that all souls together may sing out the praises of Your mercy for endless ages. Amen.

Seventh DayToday bring to Me the Souls who es-

pecially venerate and glorify My Mercy, and immerse them in My mercy. These souls sorrowed most over my Passion and entered most deeply into My spirit. They are living images of My Compas-sionate Heart. These souls will shine with a special brightness in the next life. Not one of them will go into the fire of hell. I shall particularly defend each one of them at the hour of death.

Most Merciful Jesus, whose Heart is Love Itself, receive into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart the souls of those who particularly extol and venerate the greatness of Your mer-cy. These souls are mighty with the very power of God Himself. In the midst of all afflictions and adversities they go forward, confident of Your mercy; and united to You, O Jesus, they carry all mankind on their shoulders. These souls will not be judged severely, but Your mercy will embrace them as they depart from this life.

Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon the souls who glorify and venerate Your greatest attribute, that of Your fathomless mercy, and who are enclosed in the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. These souls are a living Gospel; their hands are full of deeds of mercy, and their hearts, overflowing with joy, sing a canticle of mercy to You, O Most High! I beg You O God:

Show them Your mercy according to the hope and trust they have placed in You. Let there be accomplished in them the promise of Jesus, who said to them that during their life, but especially at the hour of death, the souls who will venerate this fathomless mercy of His, He, Himself, will defend as His glory. Amen.

Eighth Day“Today bring to Me the Souls who are

in the prison of Purgatory, and immerse them in the abyss of My mercy. Let the torrents of My Blood cool down their scorching flames. All these souls are greatly loved by Me. They are making retribution to My justice. It is in your power to bring them relief. Draw all the indulgences from the treasury of My Church and offer them on their behalf. Oh, if you only knew the torments they suffer, you would continually offer for them the alms of the spirit and pay off their debt to My justice.”

Most Merciful Jesus, You Yourself have said that You desire mercy; so I bring into the abode of Your Most Com-

passionate Heart the souls in Purgatory, souls who are very dear to You, and yet, who must make retribution to Your justice. May the streams of Blood and Water which gushed forth from Your Heart put out the flames of Purgatory, that there, too, the power of Your mercy may be celebrated.

Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon the souls suffering in Pur-gatory, who are enfolded in the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. I beg You, by the sorrowful Passion of Je-sus Your Son, and by all the bitterness with which His most sacred Soul was flooded: Manifest Your mercy to the souls who are under Your just scrutiny. Look upon them in no other way but only through the Wounds of Jesus, Your dearly beloved Son; for we firmly be-lieve that there is no limit to Your good-ness and compassion. Amen.

Ninth Day“Today bring to Me the Souls who

have become Lukewarm, and immerse them in the abyss of My mercy. These souls wound My Heart most painfully. My soul suffered the most dreadful loathing in the Garden of Olives be-cause of lukewarm souls. They were the reason I cried out: ‘Father, take this cup away from Me, if it be Your will.’ For them, the last hope of salvation is to run to My mercy.”

Most compassionate Jesus, You are Compassion Itself. I bring lukewarm souls into the abode of Your Most Com-passionate Heart. In this fire of Your pure love, let these tepid souls who, like corpses, filled You with such deep loathing, be once again set aflame. O Most Compassionate Jesus, exercise the omnipotence of Your mercy and draw them into the very ardor of Your love, and bestow upon them the gift of holy love, for nothing is beyond Your power.

Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon lukewarm souls who are nonetheless enfolded in the Most Com-passionate Heart of Jesus. Father of Mercy, I beg You by the bitter Passion of Your Son and by His three-hour ago-ny on the Cross: Let them, too, glorify the abyss of Your mercy. Amen.

Diary, Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, Divine Mercy in My Soul (c) 1987 Congregation of Marians of the Immacu-late Conception, Stockbridge, MA 01263. All rights reserved. Used with permission. Read more: http://www.ewtn.com/de-votionals/mercy/novena

The Divine Mercy Novena


From Antique to America:Memoirs of a Filipino American Doctor

Mission 2001 - Led by the PresidentThe following paragraphs are my

comments:

It was concluded as an unprecedented labor of love when the PARADISE VALLEY LIONS CLUB (PLVC), District 4-L6 returned from a recent medical, dental and optical mission to the Philippines. The principal spon-sor of the mission was the PARADISE VALLEY HOSPITAL (PVH), AD-VENTIST HEALTH of National City. Approximately 5,500 patients were seen in consultations and treatment in the depressed areas of the provinces of Bulacan, Nueva Ecija and Bataan. The missionaries served about twenty-five Barangays from February 27 to March 7, 2000. Specifically, the medical campsites were in barangay Cabu (in Cabanatuan City), Talavera, N.E. and Orion, Bataan.

I, as president of PVLC, and Dr. Edu-ardo Manaig, chairman of the medical mission, organized the mission. This is a regular yearly undertaking of the Par-adise Valley Lions Club whose mission statement is to help alleviate the physi-cal ailments and health problems of the needy, the poor and indigent popula-tions of the Philippines.

The PARADISE VALLEY HOSPI-TAL (PVLH) Adventist Health donated $10,000 cash to this mission. Because of their belief in the noble objectives of the Lions medical mission, Mr. Terrance A. Hansen, the president and CEO of PVH, was altruistic in his desire to help the club and its leaders. Other sources of funds were from monies generated by the fundraising activities of the Club…wine-tasting at my home, luau at Dr. Manaig, Christmas party and val-entine jam sessions…that netted more than $28,000 dollars.

During this medical mission, the Club transported about $500,000 medi-

cine and medical supplies to the Philip-pines medicines that were donated by different drug companies. In addition, the club purchased about $9,000 worth of medicines.

The medical mission had a busy and hectic schedule. The missionaries trav-eled from one place to another covering hundreds of kilometers to get to a medi-cal site. They talked to hundreds of the sick children and adults who presented a myriad of needs that could be enu-merated here. They performed blood tests for blood sugar, hemoglobin and CBC with differential. ECG was a very popular request. Most of the illnesses that the medical group saw were typical of poverty caused by malnutrition and inadequate sanitation. Many anemic patients and upper respiratory infec-tions and EENT problems were seen in the pediatric populations.

The missionaries ignored the sum-mer-like hot weather in the Philippines. Some worked to the point of intense exhaustion due to dehydration. Despite the physically exhaustive endeavor, the experience was gratifying for everyone. Those non-medical volunteers were highly commendable.

The project could not have been a success without the undying support of Juliet Quan of Sister Lions Club – Va-lenzuela United Lions. Dr. Manaig led the planning, fundraising, and gather-ing of medical supplies and medicines, and packaging. Indeed, members of the PVLC expended tremendous time and effort.

Realistically, any endeavor of this mammoth proportion, no matter how meticulously planned, may entail some minutia of oversight, but in the final analysis, these were dwarfed by the historic event of the medical mission. The PVLC medical missionaries are all volunteer groups who spent their own

money for air transportation and other incidentals in this mission.

“We received some recognition of the PVLC after the 2001 medical mis-sion. I stated that it is not only to give recognition to the missionaries but also to celebrate our accomplishments with high pride. I am proud that the PARA-DISE VALLEY LIONS has always been outstanding in many ways. It has excelled in almost every endeavor in helping others in our community and even around the world. This recent medical mission to our home country was outstanding and a huge success. You gave all you can, showing no lim-its to your dedication, kindness, sym-pathy, charity, compassion and genuine love for others. Indeed, these are mo-ments for self-glorification, moments to be remembered and appreciated. To the many fellow missionaries…you are the best! Your work was a tremendous success.

Best of all in this medical mission was when each and every one of us worked together in great harmony in the spirit of teamwork and our ability to work together toward a common vision. And at the end of the day, we could say it is more blessed to give than to receive. It is not what we have done for ourselves that is really worthwhile, but rather it is what we have willingly accomplished for others, even at the expense of our personal comfort. The recent medical mission was terribly exhausting. Yet, this did not deter your spirit, and the tireless work went on.

As your president who led this medi-cal mission, (and I am extremely proud to be your leader) I salute all of you. You are to be congratulated for your ef-forts in carrying the tradition of PLVC of selfless dedicated service to our less fortunate brothers and sisters, for pre-serving unity in this club, and for giv-ing your best to serve in the spirit of true Lionism. This evening, one of our officers LION Dr. Manuel Puig, a spe-cialist in ophthalmology, will highlight another PV Lions milestone project. Please watch.

Finally, I wish to say to congratulate Dr. Manaig, our mission chairman, and the rest of the officers and members of PARADISE VALLEY LIONS whose unselfish dedication and unquestion-able loyalty, quality and integrity are beyond reproach. They have made the PLVC a pioneering and distinct group of committed Lions in helping the needy around the world and in our community.”

In addition to the medical mission, the Paradise Valley Lions Health Fair on October 29, 2000 was considered a

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

journalusa.com

10 Quotes About Breathing EasyInhale. Exhale. Repeat. The

simple act of breathing is surely the most natural, primal, and universal human experience. It’s also, if you are striving for mind-fulness and peace in your life, one of the most challenging and even intense personal practices. Explore this col-lection of quotes to inspire you to stay with your breath, and see where it takes you.

“Life is not mea-sured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.”

-- Hillary Cooper“Breath is the bridge which

connects life to consciousness, which unites your body to your thoughts.”

-- Thich Nhat Hanh“I took a deep breath and lis-

tened to the old bray of my heart: I am, I am, I am.”

-- Sylvia Plath“There is one way of breathing

that is shameful and constricted. Then, there’s another way: a breath of love that takes you all the way to infinity.”

-- Rumi“The breath must be enticed or

cajoled, like catching a horse in a field, not by chasing after it, but by standing still with an apple in one’s hand.”

-- B.K.S. Iyengar“Listen, are you breathing just

a little and calling it a life?”

-- Mary Oliver

“Fear is excitement without the breath.”

-- Fritz Perls, M.D.

“A lifetime is not what is

between the moments of birth and death.

A lifetime is one momentBetween my two little breaths.The present, the here, the now,That’s all the life I get.I live each moment in full,In kindness, in peace, without

regret.”-- Chade Meng, Taoist poet“Learn how to exhale, the in-

hale will take care of itself” -- Carla Melucci Ardito“He lives most life whoever

breathes most air.” -- Elizabeth Barrett Browning

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huge success. The theme was “Build-ing a healthier community”. It was held at the Boys and Girls Club building in National City. The tireless efforts of the members especially Dr. Manaig, the project chairman, contributed to the project’s success. There were pharma-ceutical booths and other health-related exhibits; free medical exams such as eye screening, diabetic eye exams and podiatry exams, and bone density, hy-pertension, blood sugar and cholesterol tests. Close to 1,000 attendees, mem-bers of the mainstream community in-cluding Hispanics were present. Mayor George Waters and Lion International zone chairman John Kirk and his lady were the honored guests.

This project was successful as an ex-cellent meeting ground for the health-care industry and the public it serves.

I am very proud to say that our mem-bership in the PVLC had been rein-vigorated with quality members; spirits are high and the enthusiasm great. The health information services the commu-nity with monthly seminar programs of educating the people about understand-ing their health, prevention of diseases and treatment became a popular de-mand by the public.

Before elected as president of PV Li-ons Club, I was asked by my townmates in Pandan, Antique (at the reunion meet-ing coinciding with the joint municipal and religious fiesta) to chair the Pandan Antique Foundation. I was also elected as a member of the board of operation of the Samahan clinic, which I found-ed with two other Filipino physicians some twenty-six years ago. Therefore, many things were going for me during this retirement period.

Now, what about PVLC? Of course, it was a commitment. I was reelected president for another term. It was at this time when, inspired by the humane vi-sion of Lions Club International called “Saving Sight”, we embarked on a mis-sionary journey to reach a new dream. We were venturing to establish a part-nership in the underprivileged areas of the world for the purpose of reducing blindness. Along the way, we would ac-quire a state-of-the art portable ocular laser and support equipment, train local personnel, educate the population, and perform laser surgery. Dr. Manuel Puig, a prominent ophthalmologist practicing in San Diego, was the main proponent of the project. He is a close friend, my personal physician, and also a member of the Paradise Valley Lions Club.

In my inaugural speech, delivered af-ter I was reelected for another term at a Hawaiian luau party in the residence of Dr. and Mrs. Ed Manaig, I had this to say:

“I am delighted to see many of our friends and supporters who have come out of their way to be with us this eve-ning. It is significant that this beautiful summertime in this backyard pool of our great host, that we celebrate once more our accomplishments, another special occasion where we articulate our dreams and visions. And so this evening, I will speak about our dreams. I am so proud of the achievements of Paradise Valley Lions Club in the past year and even prouder of the dreams and visions that we entertain for tomor-row.

When my fellow Lions re-elected me as their leader to carry PLVC’s banner once again, I accepted the responsibil-ity with a greater resolve to carry on the steady course of our club in implement-ing our “We Serve” motto. About a year ago, there was this dream that came about in this club. A dream to acquire a laser – an instrument to support the popular theme of Lions International, an association recognized around the world as the Knights of the blind in the Crusade against Darkness, the Helen Keller Challenge.

The price tag of the laser instrument is beyond our reach; nevertheless, we go on hoping, working and dream-ing. We would like you to know, dear friends and supporters, that in less than a year we are almost there. We only need a few thousand dollars more to reach our goal. This eye instrument, to be described to you by the Commit-tee Chairman Dr. Manuel Puig, will be able to treat many diseases related to eyesight which is preventable and reversible. By having this instrument available, we will serve our community and others in the poor countries where we will conduct our medical missions yearly. I am therefore making this ap-peal to all of you…help us spread the word. We need your financial help and moral support.

I am proud to say that our member-ship has been invigorated with quality recruits, the spirit of enthusiasm is high and the total involvement of members in each project has been spontaneous. Fellow Lions, I am very proud of you and I want to thank every one of you for your support. We take pride in our ac-complishments and look forward to the challenges before us with confidence.”


(619) 474-0588



Humanitarian Reinstatement

As the Bamboos Sway

Read Rudy Liporada’s previous articles by visiting our website at www.asianjournalusa.com

by Rudy D. Liporada

Who Killed John Lennon And Michael Jackson?

AS THE BAMBOOS SWAY By Rudy D. Liporada | SAN DIEGO, 4/22/2011 -- I recently saw The US vs. John Len-non in DVD. It is about David Leaf’s provocative documentary produced in collaboration with Yoko Ono which examines John Lennon’s grow-ing involvement in antiwar efforts from 1966 to 1976 and the US gov-ernment’s attempts to silence him. The film which picks up Len-non’s story as he sheds his Beatle identity to adopt the role of a peace activist features interviews with Carl Bernstein, Walter Cronkite, Mario Cuomo and Angela Davis, among others.

The movie depicts John Len-non being anti-Vietnam War and resigned President Richard Nixon and FBI head honcho J. Edgar Hoover castigating those anti the war to be unpatriotic.

I believe that if Lennon was alive today, he would be in the forefront of the anti-war move-ment to end the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and, recently added, Libya. George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and those White Hawks would be too happy that Lennon is so dead.

This leads to the contention of the movie The US vs. John Lennon that the Beatle was not plainly killed by a disturbed individual. The movie strongly insinuates that Lennon was as-sassinated by political forces in the government which are jingo-ists and who would profit from the wars at the expense of the American people (who taxes pay for the war and whose children are used as fodders for the wars).

This reminded me of a song, aside from Revolution, writ-ten by John Lennon. A Work-ing Class Hero, written by the Beatle, clearly shows his attempt to identify with the downtrod-den.

As soon as your born they

make you feel small, By giving you no time instead

of it all, Till the pain is so big you feel

nothing at all, A working class hero is some-

thing to be, A working class

hero is something to be.

They hurt you at home and they hit you at school,

They hate you if you’re clever and they despise a fool,

Till you’re so fucking crazy you can’t follow their rules,

A working class hero is something to be,

A working class hero is something

to be. When they’ve tortured and

scared you for twenty odd years, Then they expect you to pick a

career, When you can’t really function

you’re so full of fear, A working class hero is some-

thing to be, A working class hero is some-

thing to be. Keep you doped with religion

and sex and TV, And you think you’re so clever

and classless and free, But you’re still fucking peas-

ants as far as I can see, A working class hero is some-

thing to be, A working class hero is some-

thing to be. There’s room at the top they

are telling you still, But first you must learn how to

smile as you kill, If you want to be like the folks

on the hill, A working class hero is some-

thing to be. A working class hero is some-

thing to be. If you want to be a hero well

just follow me, If you want to be a hero well

just follow me.

Who killed Michael Jackson?

In the same vein, the

Hawks would be glad that Mi-chael Jackson is now dead.

In an article written by Bryan Monroe, he quotes MJ pleading to a close friend: “Don’t leave me; they’re trying to kill me.”

Monroe also says that “Dick Gregory, the civil rights activ-ist and natural health proponent who had been an advisor to Jackson for years, told me that the singer was often concerned for his own privacy and safety. In the days before Jackson’s 2005 trial ended, Gregory was abruptly called to come and look after Michael’s deteriorating health. The once-regal superstar was noticeably exhausted, dehy-drated, worn out.

“Michael’s mother sent word to me, come quick,” Gregory recalled to me two days after Jackson died. “When I got there, Michael told me, ‘Dick, don’t leave me, they’re trying to kill me.” He never said who “they” were.

Those pro-war would soon be happy that the voice of Michael Jackson was forever silenced. In his last songs, MJ had shown that he was becoming anti-war. If he continued to develop in his sentiments, he could be an effective face to the muscle up the movement against the war in Iraq, Afghanistan, and, again, recently added, Libya.

Consider some of the lines in MJ’s song They Do Not Really Care About Us (sang in a martial march beat). Interpreted, it could depict those recruited for the Armed Forces of the US, used by those who profit in the wars, paid with taxes of the US citizens, and killed but who cares? Only those loved ones of those who died care.

Consider some of the lines of the song:

Skin headdead headEverybody gone badSituationaggravationEverybody allegationIn the suiteon the newsEverybody dog foodBang bangshot deadEverybody’s gone mad….Jew meSue me…Don’t you black or white meAll I wanna say is that…Tell me what has become of

my lifeI have a wife and twochildren who love meI am the victim ofpolice brutality, nowI’m tired of being the victim of

hateYou’re raping me of my prideOh, for God’s sakeI look to heaven tofulfill its prophecy...…Throw your brother in jail…Tell me what has become of

my rightsAm I invisible because you

ignore meYour proclamation promisedme free liberty, nowI’m tired of bein’ the victim of

shameThey’re throwing me in aclass with a bad nameI can’t believe this is theland from which I cameYou know I do really hate to

say itThe government don’t wanna

see…But if Roosevelt was livingHe wouldn’t let this be, no, no….But if Martin Luther was

livingHe wouldn’t let this be…

It is really academic if the US government or its agencies had any hand in the killing of John Lennon or Michael Jackson. The fact remains, that with them dead, the anti-war movement right now has no veritable faces to hang their slogans on.

By the way, I am also wonder-ing, with the non stop spiral of soaring gas prices of gasoline and the consequent increase in prices of goods and services – with no increase in pay and non job availability – when the US citizens will be angry enough to swarm D.C. with protests. Or is it Patriotic to just accept things as they are no matter how bad?

There will be no necessity to file Form I-751 Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence because those widow/ers who will obtain permanent residence are not subject to conditional permanent residence, hence Form I-751 need not be submitted.

Will you still be covered if you remarry?

If you remarried after the death of your US Citizen spouse you are not eligible for this benefit. Also if you divorced or are legally separated from your U.S. Citizen spouse at the time of death you will not be eligible for the benefit.

Should you or anyone you know is in a similar situation consult an attorney to find out if you will qualify for this benefit.

[We invite readers to call Atty. A. Erwin Bautista to set up your initial con-sultation. Atty. Bautista obtained his law degree from Western State University College of Law, Fullerton, CA and his Bachelor of Arts Degree from the Uni-versity of the Philippines. Atty. Bautista practices Immigration, Bankruptcy, Fam-ily, and Personal Injury Law and Income Tax Preparation. Call his office at (619) 474 7755 in San Diego at 550 E. 8th St., #11, National City, CA 91950 and at (213) 365 7690 in Los Angeles at 3435 Wilshire Bl., Ste. 2700, Los Angeles, CA 90010.]

Around Town

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

by Conrad Reloj, Jr.

AROUND TOWN By Conrado Reloj, Jr. [email protected] | SAN DIEGO, 4/22/2011 -- The Aklan Association of San Diego County, Inc. welcomes Governor Carlito Marquez and First Lady Elizabeth to a dinner party held last Saturday at the residence of Willy and Nenia Coching in Candlelight Hills, Escondido, California.

The governor expressed his thanks for Willy’s outstanding introduction, the warm welcome and camaraderie of the general membership of the Aklan As-sociation of San Diego County led by its President, Hedelyn I. Pfander and the Aklanons here in San Diego County and vicinity.

Marquez then relayed the good news that Aklan has now ranked first amongst provinces in Western Visayas in terms of revenue generation from eco-nomic enterprises, as reported by the Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF); Aklan also ranked second in real property collection efficiency in the whole Western Visayas. As shown on the records in 2010, Aklan with an annual target of P35,390,000, was able to collect in year 2010 P178,705,384.83 through its efficient collection program.

Marquez said that he is happy

to report the successful busi-ness development of Aklan in its agricultural production of rice, coconut and producing the best pina (pineapple) & pina fibers, as well as the tremendous income generated in tourism. With the influx of tourists in Kalibo which

Aklan Gov. Carlito S. Marquez

peaks during the annual Ati-Atihan celebration, easily makes Boracay Island the top holiday destination in the Philippines.

He mentioned new entries of major tourism investors in the province of Aklan starting with the establishment of a multi-bil-lion resort and leisure complex in the province as the entry of the Akean Resorts Corporation in partnership with Alphaland Corporation.

Marquez said the investors have started Phase I of their multi-billion-peso development of a 500-hectare property in Ma-lay and Nabas into a world-class complex which would include polo and equestrian facilities, water villas, water sports, and residential estates that will enhance the attractions in in neighboring Boracay Island

Also in the works includes

Aklan Gov. Carlito S. Marquez visits San Diego April 16, 2011

Guests at Aklan Dinner Party in Escondido: 1. L.to R. Lynne Q. Wilson, Sally Bautista, Chef Hernani Depositar, & Gov. Marquez; 2. L. to R. Reine Reloj, Hedelyn I. Pfander, Lynne, Sally, & Lilian Mationg;4. Standing L. to R. Hernani Depositar and guest, Non-ato & Elsa Navarra, Mrs. Sarabia, Nenia Coching; Seated: Felipe Mationg, Patty Cordova, , Lena Sarabias, Beth & Carlito Marquez; Front: Willy Coching


Golf Invitational to benefit Rotary CAREGIVER NEEDED

FULL-TIME, 24 HOURS IN ENCINITAS

CALL 760.917.5734

Looking for Cook and Helper to run Asian Store

and Food-to-Go. Call 619.749.4362

or cell 619.203.4695. Ask for Joanna (Mon-Sat)

rant, Myrna Reyes, International Alliance Golf Club, American Gen-eral Life and Assurance Company, Rotary Club of San Diego Paradise Valley, elite member’s of Parshoot-er’s on the hole Nori Gamboa, Ed Bassig, Bob Navales, Jim Esperon, Ed Hernandez, Flor Villegas, Popo Bautista, Art Buangan, Andy Velbis, Matt Mazon, Armando Bareno, Gus Martinez, Ted Delunas, Doy Lon-ganila, Jim Quintania, Joe Tuquero, Nestor Mendiola, Jun Calalay, Leo Jamora Joe Ico, Nick Abrenica, Ted Calaustro and Rino Belisario. Award and Raffles Sponsor’s by Support-ing Alternative Solutions, La Maze Restaurant, Valmar Printing, Loreta Mendigo, Beth Antiporda, Billy Vil-laflores, Tess Reyes, Golf Mart and the Cupit’s. With special sponsorship participation of Award Masters en-graving all the Crystal Bowl Trophies and Ms. Nedy Lao for the printing of lunch tickets. Breakfast by Bread De Lux. Registration Gift supported on special give away price by Mr. Vic Oliqiano. The said charitable golf event supported by media partners Philippines & Asian Report, National City Times, Asian Journal and Fili-pino Press.

By playing and or sponsoring Fem-ie Villaflores Cupit Golf Invitational you can make a big difference to help Rotary achieve a polio-free world.

Please contact Parshooters Club of San Diego Tournament Director Mr. Art Buangan @ 619-818.5638 email [email protected] for more informa-tion regarding the Golf Tournament. For more details of the event please call Femie V. Cupit @ 858-220.5487 email [email protected]. Website [email protected].

Filipino artist ..

Fondly called “Miss Lillie” by Prince William’s mother no less, Princess Diana, Araceli served as part of the royal household staff until she resigned a few years af-ter Princess Di’s untimely death in 1997.

She was also the nanny of Prince William’s brother, Prince Harry.

Araceli is the only Filipina in the royal household as well as “the first Filipina ever to have been employed by the Royal Family.”

Araceli, a nurse who had a part-time stint at ITV-4, got hired

Pinay nanny of Prince William


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Aklan Gov. Carlito S. Marquez ...

the building of a marina, with a modern and air-conditioned waiting lounge, berthing fa-cilities, and the installation of a floating pier to make boat-board-ing safer and more convenient.

Several new charter flight from Taiwanese carriers started offer-ing direct charter flights from Taichung to Kalibo, Aklan

China Airlines (CAL) also introduced direct charter services to the Philippines. Taiwan’s

project costs. We estimate that with $30,000 total project costs, we can train about 1,000 students, that is a just about $30.00 per student over a 3-4 week period of intensive training, including the formulation and evaluation of the students’ business plans.

Please become partners with us and enable the Filipino New Generation YOUTH to become…. JOB CREATORS, not just job seekers; ENTREPRENEURS, not just employees.

Contact any of the Implemen-tation team:

Ernie Delfin at 714 742 1365 Email: [email protected]

C. Ray Carlson at 626 797 5462 Email: [email protected]

Gary Clark at 626 710 6110 Email: [email protected]

Rene Fruto at 909 628 92576 Email: [email protected]

Bessie Kruis Email: [email protected]

Email: Writer at [email protected] or [email protected]

(619) 702-3051

“Job Creators & Entre-preneurs Training” ...

LIBRO NG MAIIKLING KUWEN-TO. MAAALIW KAYO SA PAGLA-

LARAWAN SA ATING LAHI AT SINILANGANG BAYAN.

“MAY BAGWIS ANG PAG-IBIG” ($12.00 including shipping), a 206-page collection of short stories written in Tagalog by Percival Campoamor Cruz and Alberto Segismundo Cruz.

The stories depict Philippine characters, lores, adventures and misadventures. Love is the predominating theme of the stories portrayed in many different ways.

Ten of the stories were written by the son, Percival Campoamor Cruz, a more modern expression of the themes explored by the father, Alberto Segismundo Cruz, in the ‘50s up to the ‘70s. Percival’s main story, “May Bagwis ang Pag-ibig”, touch on environmental and political disaster in a Spratly Island-like locale. The environmental/political issues were woven with a love story and the lives of common people living in a remote island. In the real world, a concern exists that there could be a nuclear confrontation in the South China Sea between China and the U.S. China maintains that the Sea is within its territory, while the U.S. insists that the Sea is international waters.

The rest of the stories portray the failures and successes of Filipinos who chose to live in foreign lands, the poor people’s helplessness in the Philippines, and timely issues like the UFO and gay marriage.Story titles: “Ang Kaibigang Alien” – a Filipino scriptwriter in Laguna Beach had a friendly encounter with an alien. “Ang Siyam na Buhay ni Felizardo Cabangbang” – a Fil-Am veteran was born lucky he could not die.“Ang Babaeng Robin Hood” – a beautiful, contemporary Filipino woman does her civic work in her own inimitable way. “Ang Singsing” – the battle of good and bad in the mind of a jeweler “Ang Balikbayan Box ni Doray” – Remember Pandora’s Box? It was the source of all evil.“Tatay Ko ang Nanay ko” – Gender changes are now acceptable; “My Way” – a karaoke singer makes it big in the U.S.A.

The eleven stories of Alberto that fi rst came out in weekly literary magazines, such as, Liwayway, Bulaklak, Kislap, Tagumpay, Aliwan, Silahis - media icons in the Philippines - dwell on the timelessness of honesty, honor, respect for tradition, purity of love, surmounting life’s challenges, and the like.

The stories relive the times when magazines and comics regaled the public before tv became popular; and more importantly, preserve for posterity the Tagalog Language’s beautiful prose and vocabulary now threatened to extinction due to lack of use. Alberto’s stories dwell on the timelessness of honesty, honor, respect for tradition, purity of love, surmounting life’s challenges, and the like. Story titles: “Rosa Malaya” – she saved a stranger due for execution in an old Tagalog kingdom “Makinis at Bughaw ang Kabibi” – long before “Little Mermaid” and “Finding Nemo”, Alberto made a deep sea anemone tell a story “Si Myrna at si Miss Gautier” – teenage love with a twist “Ang Dilag ng Ballet” – a lame girl became a ballerina

“THE MAIDEN OF ILOG-PASIG” ($12.00 including shipping), a 215-page collection of short stories written by Percival Campoamor Cruz in Tagalog and with English translations.

Lead story is a take on the beloved Ilog-Pasig and interprets the famous song, “Mutya ng Pasig”, in a light very different from previous interpretations. Other stories: “In Memory of Maria Lorena Barros” – memorializes a contemporary, real-life, Filipino heroine Enteng Kuryente – a man impervious to electricity “Sa Kaharian ni Raha Buwaya at Prinsesa Waling-Waling” – a folkloric explanation of what a “Manananggal” is “Ang Kakaibigang Katangian ng Tiyanak” – a folkloric explanation of what a “Tiyanak” isThis book features guest writers and their works:Amado V. Hernandez, Philippines’ National Artist for LiteraureAlberto Segismundo Cruz, one of the Philippines’ best 50 writersEfren Abueg, consist winner in the Palanca literary contestAntonio B. L. Rosales, a wellknown Tagalog writer

TO ORDER THE BOOKS: Go online at www.amazon.com. Put Percival Campoamor Cruz in the search box Or Send a check to JAREL CRUZ1731 N. Glenoaks Bld., Burbank, CA 91504 Tel. 818 568 2426 - [email protected]




after she met a lady who was in charge of recruiting candidates for the royal household.

Working for Princess Diana, her husband Prince Charles and their two sons was something that Araceli enjoyed.

She recalled that Princess Di used to ask her to wake her up in the morning. She also recounted the warmth and generosity of the Royal Couple, never for-getting the birthdays of their staff and giving them gifts with personalized cards, as well as hosting “barbeque parties” where Princess Di and Prince Charles bonded with their staff.

Araceli is currently in Lon-don working under a different employer. -- (Story courtesy of Ricky Lo of the Philippine Star and Rowena Sanchez of Manila Bulletin)

No. 1 carrier, launched charter services to Cebu from Taipei and Kaohsiung and now -Boracay.

Gov. Marquez invited the Aklanons to come home and visit Aklan next year in time for the Ati-Atihan celebration 2012. “The Annual Balikbayan celebration is especially reserved for all Aklanons and guests from abroad, as our way of saying thank you to our unsang heroes who provide dollar remittance and monetary support to your families back home in Aklan.”

for the artist Ronald Ventura. The thought-provoking piece – Grayground by the Filipino artist sold for HK$8.4 million / US$1.1 million.

There was strong interest in impor-tant and top quality artworks, proved by active participation in the room and over the phone throughout the sale, which led to numerous artist records, including Hendra Gunawan, Andres Barrioquinto, Samsul Arifin,

Nguyen Gia Tri and Indieguerillas.MOK Kim Chuan, Sotheby’s Head

of Southeast Asian Paintings said, “Today’s total of HK$108 million set a record for a sale of Southeast Asian Paintings at Sotheby’s, established numerous artist records, and proves that quality pieces fresh to the market continue to be coveted.

Our strong results both for estab-lished names and for younger artists making their first appearance at auc-tion demonstrate a market in a healthy state of expansion. The top price of HK$16,340,000 paid for Indonesian artist Hendra Gunawan’s Penari Ular (Snake Dancer) came after an ex-tended bidding battle and was many multiples of the pre-sale estimate, setting a record for the artist.

The most extraordinary bidding competition of the day was for Fili-pino artist Ronald Ventura’s Gray-ground, a tour de force of hyperreal-

ism and graffiti, was competed for by at least 15 bidders.

Bidding opened at HK$300,000 and after around 50 furious bids, Grayground eventually sold at an astonishing price at HK$8.4 million / US$1.1 million, which is over 24 times its high estimate to a phone bidder, setting a record for the artist and for any Contemporary Southeast Asian Painting at auction.

The previous record for Contem-porary Southeast Asian Painting was achieved by Sotheby’s Hong Kong when I Nyoman Masriadi’s The Man from Bantul (The Final Round) sold for HK$7,820,000 / US$1,000,725 in October 2008.

Filipino artist Jon Jaylo who was making his first appearance at auction, also made a big splash. HK$275,000 was paid for A Song for Alice (est. HK$60,000), which shows the value of auction for top new pieces.

asian journal april 22 - 28, 2011 issue

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