MANILA, Apr 20 (Mabuhay) – The Armed Forces of the Philip-pines on Monday called on China to stop its reclamation activities in the West Philippine Sea.

“We are amazed at the pace that China is reclaiming the area. It’s fast, but I hope it’s not furi-ous,” AFP chief Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. said.

Latest satellite photos pub-lished Thursday show China has made rapid progress in building an airstrip suitable for military use in contested territory in the Spratly Islands in the West Phil-ippine Sea, and may be planning another.

IHS Jane’s Defense Weekly said March 23 images from Air-bus Defence and Space showed work on the runway on reclaimed parts of Fiery Cross Reef (Kagit-ingan Reef) in the Spratly archi-pelago, which China contests with the Philippines, Vietnam, Malay-sia, Brunei, and Taiwan.

In a press conference on Mon-day, Catapang said China’s “ag-gressiveness” in its reclamation activities in the area is raising worries, particularly because the said structures have become

“massive.”“We have compelling reason

to raise our voice and to tell the whole world of the adverse ef-fects of China’s aggressiveness that has created tensions not only among the countries that have overlapping claims in the area, but also among countries around the world who are using the in-ternational sea lanes in the West Philippine Sea for trade and com-merce,” he said.

He added: “Not that [the struc-tures are] bigger, it’s really wor-risome because [you have to ask], ‘What’s the purpose of this?’”

Furthermore he said, “Some countries have reclaimed areas, but not that big. Unfortunately, the size of this (China’s) reclama-tion makes us wonder what’s the intention of this.”

Of particular concern, Cata-pang said, is China’s possible rec-lamation of the Mischief Reef.

“If China reclaims Mischief Reef, we’ll be cut off. It will chal-lenge the Ayungin Shoal that we’re claiming,” he said.

Catapang said: “We call on China to stop its reclamation ac-

See RECLAMATION, page 12

Vol. 4. No. 30 LOS ANGELES Wednesday - Tuesday, April 22 - 28, 2015

Alessandrais Pacman’s

‘MommyD’

See PAGE 10W W W . U S A S I A N P O S T . C O M

At a media briefi ng in Camp Aguinaldo on Monday, April 20, AFP chief Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. shows the latest satellite images of massive reclamation activities by China in the disputed islands in the West Philippine Sea. Catapang said China’s ‘ag-gressiveness’ in the area is raising worries, particularly because the said structures have become ‘massive.’ Catapang has called on China to stop its reclamation works in the area. (MNS photo)

Beijing, China, AFP – China is rapidly building an airstrip on an artifi cial island in disputed South China Sea waters, recent satel-lite pictures show, potentially ramping up tensions with several Southeast Asian neighbours.

Fiery Cross in the Spratly Is-lands was little more than a reef when China began land reclama-tion works to turn it into an island in late 2014.

Now satellite images taken last week by DigitalGlobe and shown on the website of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and In-ternational Studies (CSIS) show the runway – estimated at 3.1 kilometers (1.9 miles) in total –

more than one-third complete, it says.

When in operation, it says, it will be able to “accommodate al-most any type of aircraft that Chi-na would want to land”.

“Before this construction China lacked the refueling and resupply capabilities to reach the southern part of the South China Sea,” it added.

“While they have not yet been built, Fiery Cross should be big enough to accommodate hangar facilities for Chinese aircraft.”

Pictures taken less than four weeks earlier showed two sections of 468 meters and 200 meters

By Mynardo MacaraigManila, Philippines | AFP |

Monday 4/20/2015 – The Phil-ippines voiced alarm Monday about Chinese “aggressiveness” in disputed regional waters as it launched giant war games with the United States that were part-ly aimed as a warning shot to Bei-jing.

Philippine military chief Gen-eral Gregorio Catapang released what he said were satellite pho-tos of intense recent Chinese con-struction over seven reefs and shoals in the Spratly archipelago

Manila, Philippines | AFP | Saturday 4/18/2015 – The US Pacifi c Command has banned its troops in the Philippines from bars and nightclubs, a spokesman said Saturday, with the trial un-der way of a US Marine accused of murdering a transgender Filipina he met in a bar.

Thousands of American and Filipino soldiers will on Monday kick off 10-day annual military exercises, according to Captain Alex Lim, a spokesman for the US forces, but there will be strict con-trols on their free time.

“There is a 10 pm curfew. The

restrictions include no bars and clubs,” he told AFP.

He also said that US soldiers will only be allowed to eat meals “in the vicinity of their place of dwelling,” for example at their hotel.

Lim would not say why the restrictions were imposed but conceded they came after a US serviceman was arrested for the murder of a transgender Filipina he met in a bar in October after taking part in military exercises in the Philippines.

US Marine Private First Class

Hong Kong, China | AFP | Monday 4/20/2015 – A senior Hong Kong politician is under fi re after she accused some Filipina domes-tic helpers of seducing their male employers, in comments branded “racist” and “offensive” by critics.

There are 300,000 maids in Hong Kong, mostly from the Philip-pines and Indonesia, with concern growing among rights groups over their welfare following a string of abuse cases.

But lawmaker Regina Ip, a close adviser to the city’s leader Leung

The eagerly-anticipated May 2 welterweight unifi cation showdown in Las Vegas prom-ises to be the most lucrative fi ght in boxing history. “I am very excited,” Pacquiao said Wednesday at the Wild Card gym in Hollywood. “My training and my conditioning is good. I can feel it. I am ready.” Photo: Benny Uy

By Greg HeakesLos Angeles, United States |

AFP | Thursday 4/16/2015 – Man-ny Pacquiao pronounced himself ready to fi ght Floyd Mayweather, saying he’s willing to engage the unbeaten American in the middle of the ring if that’s what it takes to win.

The eagerly-anticipated May 2 welterweight unifi cation show-down in Las Vegas promises to be the most lucrative fi ght in boxing history.

“I am very excited,” Pacquiao said Wednesday at the Wild Card gym in Hollywood. “My training and my conditioning is good. I can feel it. I am ready.”

Pacquiao says that is why he is training harder and with more

drive and determination than for any other fi ght in his career.

“I know this is one of the big-gest fi ghts ever in boxing,” he said.

“I am not saying it is the big-gest, because that would be in-sulting to the other fi ghts that have been done already.

“But it is one of the biggest.”Pacquiao defended his aggres-

sive style after Mayweather, 38, on Tuesday called the 36-year-old Filipino superstar a “reckless” fi ghter whose careless actions leads to knockouts.

Pacquiao said boxing fans ap-preciate a fi ghter who comes to box and put on a good show.

“Reckless fi ghter, that is how

Los Angeles, United States, AFP, Thursday – Tickets for Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao’s long-awaited super-fi ght will cost between $1,500 and $7,500, organizers said Wednes-day, but it is unclear how many will go on sale to the public.

Seats at the May 2 bout in Las Vegas promise to be one of the hottest tickets of the sporting de-cade, with the MGM Grand capac-ity limited to 16,800 people.

Many tickets are expected to be distributed to high-rollers and A-list celebrities desperate to be seen at a fi ght billed hyperboli-cally on Wednesday as the biggest

MANILA, Apr 20 (Mabuhay) – Deposits in the Philippine bank-ing system grew by 12 percent to P8.5 trillion last year from P7.6 trillion in 2013, the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) re-ported on Monday.

The insurer said the increase in deposits may be attributed to the expansion of branch network across all bank types.

“As of end-2014, total banking offi ces (head offi ces and branches) stood at 10,041, an increase of 9.3 percent from 9,184 banking of-fi ces in 2013.

“Rural banks had the fastest expansion rate of 18.2 percent from 2,132 in 2013 to 2,519 in 2014, followed by thrift banks at 7.5 per-cent from 1,791 to 1,925. Commercial banks, on the other hand, grew by 6.4 percent year-on-year from 5,261 to 5,597,” the PDIC said.

PDIC data showed 90.1 percent or P7.7 trillion of the total de-posits were held by commercial banks, 8.2 percent or P699.9 billion by thrift banks, and 1.7 percent or P144.5 billion by rural banks.

Of the total deposits P1.9 trillion or 22.2 percent are insured by PDIC under the Maximum Deposit Insurance Coverage (MDIC) of P500,000 per account.

WEST SEA OF THE PHILIPPINES (Oct. 22, 2014) The Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Antietam (CG 54) transits in formation with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer JS Sazanami (DD 113), middle, and the Republic of the Philippines frigate Gregorio Del Pilar (PF 15). Thousands of American and Filipino soldiers will on Monday kick off 10-day annual Balikatan military exercises, according to Captain Alex Lim, a spokesman for the US forces, but there will be strict controls on their free time, but the US troops are not allowed to go bar hopping while in Philippine shores. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman David Flewellyn/Released)

AFP to China: Stop reclamation activities

China building runway in disputed South China Sea: reports

PHL voices China alarm as US war games begin

HK politician rapped for ‘racist’ remarks on maids’ sex lives

No bar, no fun for US troops in PHL

Pacquiao eager to trade blows with Mayweather

Mayweather-Pacquiao tickets to cost up to $7,500

Bank deposits up 12% to P8.5 trillion in 2014

See RUNWAY, page 12 See PHL VOICES, page 12

See HK POLITICIAN, page 12

See PACQUIAO, page 12 See MAYWEATHER, page 12

See NO BAR, page 12

See BANK DEPOSIT, page 12

1-877-35-NOPAY(1-877-356-6729)818-334-5445818-552-4500

Visit www.usasianpost.com Wednesday - Tuesday, April 22 - 28, 2015 THE US ASIAN POST2

Members of various environmental groups band together to call on Canada to take back its waste in a gathering in Quezon City on Friday. The groups decried shipments of garbage from Canada that have been languishing at a Philippine port for more than a year now. (MNS photo)

MANILA, Apr 20 (Mabuhay) – The Philippine embassy in Ja-karta is working hard to bring the family of Filipino drug convict Mary Jane Veloso to Indonesia.

Veloso is facing execution for drug traffi cking. She was caught in Yogjakarta in 2010, carrying nearly 3 kilos of heroin.

Philippine Ambassador to In-donesia Maria Lumen Isleta says Veloso was originally recruited to work in Malaysia, but when she arrived there, she was told that the employer wasn’t available.

Veloso was then asked to go to Jakarta and was supposedly giv-en luggage containing the drugs.

“Of course we’ve been trying

to exhaust every avenue. Our lawyers are working on a second appeal. We’re also using the dip-lomatic approach- asking (Presi-dent) Widodo to grant clemency. He denied it the fi rst time but we’re hopeful,” she said.

The ambassador also issues a warning to Filipinos aspiring to work in Indonesia.

She says human traffi cking has become a base for drug traf-fi cking.

“Yun mga lumalabas na house-hold workers, minsan may in-aabot sa inyo siguro na may ibang laman. That’s good enough for them to be charged in court,” she said. (MNS)

MANILA, Apr 18 (Mabuhay) – Malacañang on Saturday reas-sured the family of Mary Jane Veloso, the Filipina on death row in Indonesia for a drug-related of-fense, that the government will continue to appeal for her until the last possible moment.

Deputy presidential spokesper-son Abigail Valte such assistance this has been the policy of the gov-

ernment not only for Veloso but for other overseas Filipino work-ers.

“Patuloy pa rin, patuloy pa rin yung (pagtulong) natin. You’ve seen how we have exerted efforts, not just in this particular case, but in cases of mga kababayan natin na naililinya sa death row, talagang hanggang (sa) hul-ing sandaling pwedeng umapela

ay ginagawa natin yan para sa kanila,” she said on government-run dzRB radio.

She said the Philippine embas-sy continues to make representa-tions in behalf of the Philippine government and also in behalf of Veloso’s family.

Veloso faces execution in Indo-nesia for a drug-related offense. (MNS)

MANILA, Apr 20 (Mabuhay) – Employees of the Court of Ap-peals on Monday reported for work in white shirts to protest Senator Antonio Trillanes’ allega-tion that justice is for sale at the appeals court.

The appelate court’s white-clad employees were noticeable at Monday’s fl ag-raising ceremony, which was also attended by CA justices, including Presiding Jus-tice Andres Reyes Jr.

“Ang panawagan namin ay sana ipakita ang evidence. Hindi naman kami against sa intention [ni Trillanes] to clean ang hudi-katura. Ang gusto lang namin ay idaan ito sa proper forum. Hindi pa-interview ka na lang sa me-dia,” Amiel De Vera, president of the Association of CA Employees said.

De Vera said allegations of cor-ruption in the judiciary should be brought before the Supreme Court, which he said has the “dis-ciplining power” over members of the judiciary.

“May mga empleyado at jus-tices rin na mababait. Sa damage na nangyayari, nasasama na pati ang maliliit na empleyado,” De Vera said. He said “almost all” of the CA’s around 1,200 employees wore white today.

He said they all their members were told about the White Shirt Day in a memo sent out Friday.

In a resolution calling for a

Senate probe on the alleged “jus-tice for sale” system in the appe-late court, Trillanes cited “reli-able sources privy to the matter” in alleging that CA Associate Jus-tices Jose Reyes Jr and Francisco Acosta each received P25 million in bribes to stop Makati Mayor Junjun Binay’s suspension on March 16.

Trillanes also accused the two CA justices of receiving an addi-tional P5 million each after issu-ing a writ of preliminary injunc-tion to stop Binay’s suspension indefi nitely.

De Vera said they would con-tinue wearing white shirts until the issue is resolved.

The CA’s regional offi ces in Cagayan de Oro City and Cebu, as well as CA employees in Ba-guio for the summer session, have likewise been encouraged to wear white shirts, De Vera added.

Asked why his group chose white, De Vera said they had to think of another color because they had already donned black and red shirts in protest of Presi-dent Benigno Aquino III’s call to clip the powers of the judicary amid the debate on the Disburse-ment Acceleration Program last year.

“Ngayon siguro ang ibig sabi-hin naman ng white is transpar-ency, purity of the courts, and for the insulation of the institution,” said De Vera. (MNS)

MANILA, Apr 21 (Mabuhay) – Amid reports of a possible Rox-as-Poe tandem in 2016, Senator Grace Poe on Tuesday said there has been no formal offer for her to run as the Liberal Party’s vice presidential bet in next year’s elections.

Poe, an independent allied with President Benigno Aquino III’s Liberal Party, kept mum on the possibility of becoming the running-mate of Interior Secre-tary Mar Roxas, the party’s pre-sumed standard-bearer.

“There had been no formal of-fer from them,” Poe said in a text message.

Poe made the remark when asked to comment on LP mem-ber Caloocan Rep. Edgar Erice’s statement that the party has been wooing her since November to run alongside Roxas in 2016.

“I cannot comment on the pos-sibility [of a Roxas-Poe tandem] because Secretary Mar himself has not publicly declared his in-tentions,” Poe said.

Roxas has so far been tight-lipped on his political plans for 2016, saying in past interviews that he would rather focus on his work in the Department of Interi-or and Local Government (DILG).

Poe, the daughter of the late actor Fernando Poe Jr., who ran and lost in the 2004 presidential election, received the highest number of votes in the 2013 sena-torial race.

Her ratings in presidential surveys have been steadily ris-ing over the past few months, a period that included her leading Senate investigations on issues such as the bloody encounter in Mamasapano between elite police commandos and Moro rebels.

A recent Social Weather Sta-tions survey showed that Poe has narrowed the gap between her and leading presidential contend-er Vice President Jejomar Binay, who was ahead by only fi ve per-centage points.

When asked whether she is also considering running for president given her high survey ratings, Poe said her ratings only encourage her to work harder as senator.

“The survey results inspire me to continue doing my work and to uphold what I believe is right and for the good of our countrymen,” she said. Malacañang has said Aquino will announce his party’s standard-bearer in June.

Meanwhile, Makati City Rep. Mar-len Abigail Binay on Tues-

day said her father is a “unifying leader” and will become a “unify-ing president” if elected in 2016.

The Vice President has been vocal about his plan to run for president in 2016 and said the allegations of corruption against him are all part of a plan to derail his presidential bid.

In a statement, Abi dismissed as inaccurate a newspaper report attributed to her which stated that “the Binays will not forgive their critics if Vice President Je-jomar Binay gets elected to the presidency.”

Abi clarifi ed she wasn’t speak-ing on her family’s behalf when she said in a television interview that she can’t forgive their critics.

She said a transcript of her interview with Pinky Webb on ANC will show that she was only speaking for herself when she answered the host’s question on whether she can forgive Senator Antonio Trillanes IV for his at-tacks against her family.

Abi said: “It was an emotional moment for me; I was speaking from the heart. I only expressed my true feelings about Sen. Trillanes, who has been throwing baseless and accusations at our family with reckless abandon.”

MANILA, Apr 20 (Mabuhay) – On the heels of bribery allegations by Senator Antonio Trillanes IV against two Court of Appeals jus-tices, another one of their colleagues is also under fi re for a separate issue - this time for allegedly being biased in a case involving the Harbour Cen-ter Port Terminal Inc. in Manila.

In a 26-page motion, One Source

Port Support Services asked CA As-sociate Justice Danton Bueser to “voluntarily inhibit and/or disqual-ify himself from further handling the case.” One Source accused the justice of bias and partiality in favor of businessman Reghis Romero II, who is at the center of the dispute on the ownership and management of the port.

On Dec. 1, 2014, a Pa-sig City regional trial court allowed One Source Port Services to manage and op-erate HCPTI. Romero ele-vated the matter to the CA Second Division, of which Bueser is a member, which eventually stopped the Pa-sig court’s order through a temporary restraining or-der last January.

After issuing the TRO against the Pasig court’s order, the CA division next issued a writ of preliminary injunction two months later, or last March. Both the TRO and the injunction were written by Bueser, said One Source.

One Source noted that Bueser was always the “ponente” or the one who writes the decision in all cases involving the HCPTI. “It should be emphasized that in all these resolu-tions above, and despite the many changes in the composition of the Justices issuing said resolutions, Justice Bueser remained a constant signatory,” One Source’s motion noted.

“Because of the casual violation of the private re-spondent’s basic right to due process as a result of the issuance of the afore-said resolution, private respondent could not help but lose its trust and con-fi dence that it can still obtain a fair treatment in this case, unless Associate Justice Danton Q. Bueser totally inhibits himself in this case,” the company added in its motion.

PHL embassy plans to bring Veloso’s family to Indonesia

CA employees wear white vs Trillanes’ ‘justice for sale’ claims

CA justice accused of bias, asked to inhibit from port terminal case

Palace reassures Veloso family of govt help until last possible moment

Poe: No offer from LP yet to run for VP

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OPINIONBy Joel Guinto

Manila, Philippines | AFP | Saturday 4/18/2015 – Thousands of American and Filipino soldiers on Monday will kick off expanded wargames, show-casing a deepening defense alliance as alarm bells ring over China.

The 10-day exercises in the Philippines are an annual affair between the longtime allies, but this time they will involve double the number of sol-diers as last year in a sign of their expanding mili-tary partnership.

The Philippines is seeking more US military and diplomatic support to fend off China’s increasing forcefulness in its bid to assert sovereignty in dis-puted areas of the South China Sea.

In an interview with AFP last week, Philippine President Benigno Aquino said the two militaries operating side-by-side should offer a “deterrent as-pect to any entity, be it a country or Islamic radi-cals”.

Aquino insisted the Balikatan (Shoulder-to-Shoul-der) wargames starting on Monday were not di-rected at China, pointing out they were annual ex-ercises, but he discussed at length the Philippines’ reliance on the United States.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario also said last week the Philippines planned to ask Washington for extra help in containing China.

“We are, at this point, seeking additional sup-port from the US in terms of being able to take a stronger position, in defending our position, which is to uphold the rule of law,” del Rosario told local broadcaster ANC.

Beijing claims sovereignty over most of the stra-tegically important South China Sea, including areas just off the coasts of other Asian nations, us-ing vague demarcation lines that fi rst appeared on Chinese maps in the 1940s.

The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have overlapping claims.

China has sought to expand its presence in dis-puted parts of the sea in recent years, including by taking control of a shoal that is a rich fi shing ground within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.

It has also embarked on giant reclamation works on reefs and islets, turning some into islands ca-pable of hosting military aircraft landing strips.

‘Elbowed aside’ The Philippines has been the most vocal of the

rival claimants to express alarm over China’s moves.

In his interview with AFP, Aquino warned that the world should fear China’s actions in the South China Sea.

US President Barack Obama also expressed con-cern this month, criticising China for “using its sheer size and muscle to force countries into sub-ordinate positions”.

“Just because the Philippines or Vietnam are not as large as China, doesn’t mean that they can just be elbowed aside,” Obama said.

China has repeatedly insisted it has sovereign rights to the contested areas, so criticism of its rec-lamation and other activities in the area are base-less.

The US has been looking to re-build its military presence in the Philippines, a former colony where it had naval and air bases until the early 1990s, as part of Obama’s “pivot to Asia”.

The two nations, bound by a 1951 mutual defense treaty, last year signed another pact that would al-low more US forces in the Philippines, although the Supreme Court in Manila still needs to ratify it.

Even without the implementation of the new pact, more than 12,000 soldiers from both sides will be involved in this year’s Balikatan exercises, double last year’s number.

On Tuesday, marines will conduct beach land-ing exercises from a naval base facing the South China Sea just 220 kilometers (140 miles) from the Philippine-claimed shoal that China has con-trolled since 2012.

Aside from the naval base, live fi re and disaster response drills will also be held in various military camps outside Manila.

US-PHL wargames start under China’s shadow

MANILA, Apr 20 (Mabuhay) – As it called on Chi-na to stop its reclamation activities in the disputed South China Sea, the Armed Forces of the Philip-pines on Monday said the “massive” constructions being done in the region are causing extensive dam-age to the environment there.

At a press conference, AFP chief Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. said, “China’s claim that its activi-ties have not caused damaged to the ecological envi-ronment in the area is not acceptable.”

“Massive Chinese reclamation activities are caus-ing irreversible and widespread damage to the bio-diversity and ecological balance in the West Philip-pine Sea,” he said.

Included in the damage is the destruction of 300 hectares of coral reef systems, which “is estimated to lead to economic losses to coastal states valued at $100 million annually.”

Catapang also pointed out that China “has toler-ated environmentally harmful fi shing practices by its fi shermen” at Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough/Panatag Shoal).

Bajo de Masinloc lies 124 nautical miles from Ma-sinloc, Zambales, and 472 nautical miles from Chi-

na’s nearest land mass of Hainan province.“These bad fi shing practices are violations under

the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Convention on Biodiversity, and the Convention on International Trade,” he said.

He also said they are “saddened” by reports that China drove away Filipino fi shermen there, as well as in other reclamation sites.

“It denies our people of their own fi shing areas that are their sources of livelihood,” he said.

He pointed out, however, that escorting Filipino fi shermen back to these fi shing areas is “more civil-ian in nature” and will primarily be led by the Phil-ippine Coast Guard.

“In the future, we need to help our fi shermen get back there... the Coast Guard will have to escort them. [Sending the] gray ship unnecessarily pro-vokes the other side,” he said.

Also on Monday, the AFP called on China to “stop its reclamation activities” in the West Philippine Sea. Catapang said China’s “aggressiveness” in its reclamation activities in the area is raising worries, particularly because the said structures have be-come “massive.” (MNS)

By Ivan CouronneWashington, United States | AFP | Sunday

4/19/2015 – Barack Obama is weak and Ronald Reagan exuded power, Republicans say. But while conservative White House hopefuls revere the 1980s president as a foreign-policy icon, oversimplifying Reaganism may mask nuances of his diplomacy.

Appreciation for the ex-president, who died in 2004, is nothing new. Buttons and posters bearing his countenance are common at conservative gath-erings.

Nostalgia peaks at the launch of each presidential campaign, as candidates jostling for prime position invoke his popular legacy.

Reagan is the most admired Republican leader of the post-Second World War period. According to pollster Gallup, 61 percent of respondents in 2013 rated him as outstanding or above average, behind only Democrat John F. Kennedy who received 74 percent.

“Reagan’s election and my grandfather’s alle-giance to him were defi ning infl uences on me politi-cally. I’ve been a Republican ever since,” wrote Mar-co Rubio, who last Monday launched his presidential campaign along themes emblematic of the man long known as “the Gipper.”

“Ronald Reagan was... arguably one of the best presidents for foreign policy,” opined Wisconsin Gov-ernor Scott Walker who is exploring a White House run.

Ex-Florida governor Jeb Bush, who could become the third Bush to win the White House, said when he cut his political teeth in the 1980s it was the Rea-gan doctrine of “peace through strength” that domi-nated.

Bush, Rubio, Walker and 2016 candidates Sena-tors Ted Cruz and Rand Paul all use—and sometimes overplay – the Reagan card, calling for a return to the “shining city on a hill” that Reagan invoked a generation ago.

Unconcerned with sounding anachronistic, they say they want to counter Iran, push back against Russia and defeat the Islamic State extremist group much like Reagan brought the Soviet Union to its knees.

Negotiating with the enemyThe Reagan who entered the White House during

the Cold War was an unrepentant anti-Communist. He pledged a strong military, sweeping aside the

“detente” strategy embraced by predecessors in order to repel the Soviet threat in nations like Nicaragua and Afghanistan, where his administration fi nanced the Contras and the mujahideen, respectively.

But after his 1984 reelection, Reagan changed. He met with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev

and negotiated a historic US-USSR agreement to re-duce nuclear arsenals.

“He was infl exible about ends, but fl exible about means,” Philip Hughes, briefl y a member of Rea-gan’s National Security Council, told AFP.

“Despite his deceptively simple exterior, Ronald Reagan is a very complicated fi gure,” he added.

“Ronald Reagan isn’t a religion,” and candidates should not claim the “defi nitive interpretation” of the man.

It would also be dangerous to compare the 1980s to 2015, Hughes warned.

The monolithic Soviet menace was different from the current nature of multiple and decentralized threats, often tinged with Islamist radicalism.

Republican candidates have mostly rejected the international nuclear accord Washington and oth-er powers are hammering out with Iran, blasting Obama for yielding excessive concessions.

They promote a Reaganesque alternative: boost military spending enough to intimidate the Iranians into accepting US preconditions for negotiations.

“One of the things that these Republican can-didates are missing is that Ronald Reagan always believed that even though the Soviet Union was our enemy, we could negotiate with them, we could resolve issues like the nuclear issue while other is-sues we still disagreed on,” said John Bradshaw, ex-ecutive director of the National Security Network, a Democratic-leaning think-tank.

When Reagan offi cials started negotiating with the Soviets, “neoconservatives... were horrifi ed,” he said.

Reagan also differed from the current crop of con-servative candidates in a key way.

The former California governor notably entered the White House in early 1981 accompanied by an extensive network of advisors, experts and offi cials ready to implement his policies from Day 1.

According to Hughes, none of the dozen current Republican contenders has such a Rolodex; only top Democrat Hillary Clinton has a comparable net-work.

Washington, United States | AFP | Saturday 4/18/2015 – US President Barack Obama said Sat-urday that climate change poses the world’s biggest single threat.

“Today, there’s no greater threat to our planet than climate change,” Obama said in his weekly ad-dress, which had an environmental theme to mark Earth Day on April 22. “Climate change can no lon-ger be denied, or ignored,” he added, noting that 2014 was the hottest year on record.

The United States is the second largest green-house gas emitter after China, and Obama has pledged to reduce US climate pollution by 26-28 per-cent from 2005 levels by 2025.

“This is an issue that’s bigger and longer-lasting than my presidency,” Obama said.

“This is the only planet we’ve got. And years from now, I want to be able to look our children and grandchildren in the eye and tell them that we did everything we could to protect it.”

Obama said he would travel to the Florida Ever-glades, a region known for its tropical wetlands, on Wednesday to talk about the ways in which climate change affects the economy.

“Rising sea levels are putting a national treasure – and an economic engine for the South Florida tour-ism industry – at risk,” Obama said of the famous wetlands.

Obama, who has made the fi ght against climate change one of his priorities, hopes to help seal a global deal at an international climate conference in Paris in December.

By Robert MacphersonWashington, United States, AFP – Hackers could

exploit infl ight entertainment systems to fatally sabotage the cockpit electronics of a new generation of airliners connected to the Internet, a US govern-ment report warns.

It comes weeks after a co-pilot crashed his Ger-manwings A320 into the French Alps killing all 150 on board, prompting talk of airliners one day being 100 percent automated.

Infl ight cybersecurity is “an increasingly impor-tant issue” that the Federal Aviation Administra-tion (FAA) is just starting to address in earnest, said the audit and investigative arm of the US Congress.

“Modern communications technologies, includ-ing IP connectivity, are increasingly used in aircraft systems, creating the possibility that unauthorized individuals might access and compromise aircraft avionics systems,” the Government Accountability Offi ce (GAO) report said.

In the past, the electronics used to control and navigate aircraft – known as avionics – have func-tioned autonomously, said the GAO.

“However, according to FAA and experts we spoke to, IP networking may allow an attacker to gain re-mote access to avionics systems and compromise them,” the GAO said.

In theory, fi rewalls ought to protect avionics “from

intrusion by cabin-system users, such as passengers who use infl ight entertainment systems.”

But four cybersecurity experts told the GAO that fi rewalls, being software components, can be hacked and circumvented “like any other software.”

The FAA, the aviation authority of the United States, has yet to develop regulations to make “cy-bersecurity assurance” for avionics part of its pro-cess for certifying new aircraft.

FAA offi cials told the GAO however that cyberse-curity is an increasingly important concern and that it is shifting its certifi cation focus to address it.

‘No evidence this has occurred’Gerald Dillingham, a co-author of the GAO re-

port, said the issue particularly affects a new gen-eration of Internet-connected aircraft that includes the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Airbus A350.

To date, he told AFP, there is no sign that any “bad actors” have successfully planted a virus or malware into an avionics system.

“We don’t have any evidence that this has oc-curred and we are hoping that raising this question will make it less likely to occur,” he said.

Last month’s Germanwings crash, in which the captain was reportedly locked out of the cockpit by his co-pilot, raised the specter of robots one day tak-ing the place of humans at the controls to prevent a deadly repeat.

AFP: Damage from China’s reclamation in West PHL Sea irreversible, widespread

Reagan still GOP’s reference point for White House seekers

Obama says ‘no greater threat to planet than climate change’

Infl ight entertainment exposes airliners to hackers: US report

Visit www.usasianpost.com Wednesday - Tuesday, April 22 - 28, 2015 THE US ASIAN POST4

Los Angeles, 15 April 2015 – The Los Angeles Filipino commu-nity and business leaders paid a courtesy call to Consul General Leo Herrera-Lim on 10 April 2015.

The Filipino community and business organization leaders informed Consul General Her-rera-Lim about recent organiza-tion program partnerships and events. They also announced that registration is now open for a FREE SEMINAR on How to Apply for Jobs in the City of Los Angeles in tandem with How to

Land a Contract in the City of Los Angeles presented by the Los An-geles Filipino Association of City Employees (LAFACE) and Pilipi-no Workers Center (PWC), orga-nized by Pinoy Town Hall (PTH).

This event, sponsored by Phil-ippine National Bank Remittance Center Inc. (PNBRCI) will be held on Saturday, 25 April 2015, at the PWC Community Room 153 Glendale Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026.

A complimentary Filipino lunch will be available to all at-tendees who will be registering

online.Event Details are shown be-

low:• Date: Saturday, 25 April

2015• Time: Sign-In 9:00am,

Seminar 9:30am• Location: PWC Commu-

nity Room, 153 Glendale Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026

• Cost: FREE• Registration: :WWW.PI-

NOYTOWNHALL.COM/REGIS-TERNOW

or call (855) 746-6984 Ext. 801. Contact: Cynthia

Photo above shows: (from left) PNB Global Filipino Banking Group Head Benjie Oliva, Pilipino Workers Center Executive Director Aqui Soriano-Versoza, Consul General Leo Herrera-Lim, Los Angeles Filipino Association of City Employees President Linda Gra-nados, Pinoy Town Hall Global Marketing Head Malou Villacisneros, PNB President and CEO Ricky Villacisneros.

Consulate meets with community, business leaders to access opportunities in LA

The U.S. Citizenship and Im-migration Services (USCIS) has announced the expansion of myE-Verify services nation-wide. myE-Verify is a one-stop shop for employees to create and maintain secure personal ac-counts and access features for identity protection.

“Since its inception, E-Verify has provided employees with valuable online tools and resourc-es regarding the employment eli-gibility verifi cation process,” said USCIS Director León Rodríguez. “myE-Verify signifi es a signifi -cant step forward for added trans-parency, features, and identity protection.”

myE-Verify gives workers a free and secure way to participate in the E-Verify process by access-ing features dedicated for em-ployees, including Self Check and the Employee Rights Toolkit. For added security, individuals will have their identities verifi ed through Self Check, in order to create a myE-Verify account.

myE-Verify introduces the fol-lowing services now available na-tionwide:

myE-Verify accounts – Allows employees and job seekers to set up free and secure personal ac-counts to manage the use of their information in E-Verify and Self Check.

Self Lock – Allows individuals to lock their social security numbers to prevent unauthorized or fraud-ulent use within E-Verify. Users can proactively protect their iden-tities from being used by others to illegally gain employment. Self Lock is available only to myE-Verify account holders.

myResources – A section of the myE-Verify site that contains in-formation in multi-media formats to educate employees about their rights and the responsibilities of employers in the employment eli-gibility verifi cation process.

myE-Verify accounts and Self Lock were previously released in 21 states and the District of Co-lumbia. USCIS plans to roll out additional myE-Verify services fo-cused on employees and job seek-ers in the future.

E-Verify is the free web-based service from the U.S. Depart-ment of Homeland Security used by nearly 590,000 employers to verify the employment eligibility of persons they hire.

For more information on E-Verify, visit the www.dhs.gov/E-Verify, or for myE-Verify visith-ttp://www.uscis.gov/mye-verify. For more information about US-CIS and its programs, please vis-it www.uscis.gov or follow us on Twitter (@uscis), YouTube (/uscis) and the USCIS blog The Beacon.

USCIS expands myE-Verify used in hiring workers

LOS ANGELES – As thou-sands prepare nationwide for the largest mobilization ever of low-wage workers calling for $15 an hour on April 15, workers from every corner of Los Angeles, com-munity, faith and business lead-ers – all part of the Raise the Wage coalition – are planning to march and rally in Los Angeles.

The national day of action comes as momentum and the number of L.A. workers calling for increased wages continues to grow. On April 14, thousands of caregivers and their supporters will march and rally urging Los Angeles County Supervisors to put home care workers on a path-

way to $15 an hour.With demonstrations happen-

ing in dozens of cities, nowhere is the Fight for $15 more relevant than in Los Angeles, where more than 700,000 are paid less than $15 an hour. Raise the Wage and others have been advocating for a minimum wage increase to $15.25 an hour with earned sick days and enforcement provisions.

In advance of the April 15 na-tional day of action, Raise the Wage co-conveners Rusty Hicks and Laphonza Butler issued the following statements:

Laphonza Butler, co-conve-ner of the Raise the Wage Co-alition and president of SEIU-

ULTCW and SEIU California: “LA is at the forefront in the ef-fort to raise the wage to $15.25. We have the opportunity to lift millions of families out of poverty nationally and the brave people in LA who work in restaurants and carwashes, as caregivers and healthcare providers, who cut our hair and help us at the bank are leading the way. No one should have to work two or three jobs to be able to provide for them-selves and their families. We will all benefi t, as will our economy, when everyone has enough mon-ey to cover the basic necessities. $15 is what people need to sur-vive.”

Report fi nds creative job opportuni-ties across a variety of industries in La County are not limited to people with a bachelor’s degree

A new study released by the Los Angeles County Arts Commis-sion fi nds that while half of the 79 creative occupations in LA County re¬quire a bachelor’s degree or more, nearly half of them, require less. The report – Creative Work: How Arts Education Promotes Ca-reer Opportunities Beyond the Arts – takes a closer look at data from the US Department of Labor about these creative occupations that do not require a bachelor’s degree, to fi nd out what kind of jobs they are and how they compare to jobs that require at least a bachelor’s degree.

The full report can be found here.

The report looks at creative employ¬ment through the lens of creative occupa¬tions, those that require some kind of creativity on the job but may be found in a va-riety of industries, from aerospace to construction to education to arts and entertainment. The 2014 Otis Report on the Creative Economy found 198,110 people working in 79 creative occupa¬tions in LA County. Nearly one-third of these creative occupations only require a high school diploma.

Additionally, the report found that the top two work activities of those occu¬pations that both do

and do not require a bachelor’s de-gree are the same: Getting Infor-mation and Thinking Creatively. For 20 creative occupations that do not require a bachelor’s degree, more than one-third of all Califor-nia employment in those jobs is in LA County; and on-the-job training opportunities are far more preva-lent among those occupations that do not require a bachelor’s degree compared to those that do. The study found that half of the occu-pations that do not require a bach-elor’s degree have median annual earnings higher than median earn-ings across all occupations in LA County.

“Of course we know the benefi ts of going to college are signifi cant,” states Laura Zucker, Executive Director, LA County Arts Commis-sion. “Those creative occupations that require a bachelor’s degree do pay more than those that do not. However, the reality is that not all high school graduates will continue on to college immediately. With this study, we know there are cre-ative occupations offering viable job opportunities that pay living wages, even for those students who do not continue directly to college after high school.”

With these creative occupations so highly concentrated in LA Coun-ty, the report recommends efforts to prepare young people to enter those occupations should begin in the K-12 system.

New York, United States, AFP, Wednesday 4/15/2015 – Thou-sands of demonstrators, including many fast-food workers, protested in New York on Wednesday demanding a minimum wage of $15 an hour to escape poverty in America’s largest city. Fast-food workers held strikes in more than 230 American cit-ies, joined by airport, construction and child care staff, as well as people working in education, organizers said, calling it the largest mobilization of underpaid workers in the US. Between 10,000 and 15,000 took part in the New York protest, they said.

Pedro Gamboa, 58, is a baggage handler at JFK airport who works 40 hours a week and wakes up at 3 a.m. to do it – earning $10.10 an hour.

“It’s not enough. You have to be a magician to survive on that,” said the Guatemalan-born family man. “Once you pay your bills, there is nothing left in your pockets.”

In New York, a fi rst protest began at around 6:00 am outside a McDonald’s outlet in Brooklyn.

In Manhattan, fast-food workers were joined by students and activists, spreading out on the sidewalk outside another McDon-ald’s to demand better salaries, an AFP photographer said. They held up placards proclaiming: “Why poverty,” “Fight for 15” and “Because the rent won’t wait.”

Workers say they are fed up with pay that does not come close to keeping them out of poverty and the threat of retaliation from employers hostile to them joining or forming unions.

On April 1, McDonald’s said that it was raising hourly pay to $1 above the local offi cial minimum wage for 90,000 employees in company-owned restaurants, and would offer them paid time off.

The increase, however, does not apply to 660,000 employees working for restaurants owned by franchises, which comprise 90 percent of the 14,000 McDonald’s outlets across the United States.

Angelenos call for $15.25 minimum wage Arts Commission releases report analyzing creative occupations in Los Angeles County

New York protesters demand $15 minimum wage

Los Angeles, United States | AFP | Friday 4/17/2015 – Pub-lic health authorities in Califor-nia announced Friday the end of a measles outbreak that has struck at least 131 people since it was declared in December.

No new measles cases have been reported for two 21-day in-cubation periods, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) said in a statement.

“We are pleased this outbreak is over,” said CDPH director Karen Smith, who nevertheless warned that it could reappear in the state at any time.

“The best defense for protec-tion against the highly infec-

tious measles is vaccination,” she said.

The outbreak began at a Dis-ney theme park, and researchers have said it was able to spread because not enough children were being vaccinated.

Measles is a highly contagious disease that causes a rash and fever, and can lead to complica-tions ranging from brain damage to hearing loss and blindness.

In rare cases, it can result in death.

Nationwide, 159 cases of mea-sles have been reported since January 1 in 18 states and the District of Columbia, the fed-eral Centers for Disease Control

says.Besides California, the hard-

est hit states have been Illinois, Washington, Nevada and Ari-zona, according to data on the CDC website.

While not endemic to Califor-nia, the CDPH said measles can circulate “when a contagious, infected person enters the state and exposes others.”

Two doses of the MMR vac-cine are more than 97 effective in preventing measles, it said.

But many parents have re-fused to let their children be vac-cinated, fearing a link between MMR and autism – a link that experts have discredited.

California declares end to measles outbreak

THE US ASIAN POST Wednesday - Tuesday, April 22 - 28, 2015 Visit www.usasianpost.com 5

From left to right: Bobby Rimas, UCLA Pilipino Alumni Scholarship Director, Trish Eusala, UCLA Prep Student Coordinator, and Dr. Jeffrey Mariano of Kaiser Permanente

On Saturday, April 11th at the UCLA Carnesales Commons’ Venice Room, the UCLA Pilipino Recruitment and Enrichment Program (PREP) and the UCLA Pilipino Alumni Association pre-sented a panel of Pilipino profes-sionals who graduated from or taught at UCLA. Panelists in-cluded professionals in the fi elds of education, nursing, engineer-ing, entertainment, and medicine. UCLA Pilipino Alumni Chair Roselyn Castro moderated the panelists as they offered prospec-tive students and their parents in-sights and advice relating to their experiences as undergrad and graduate students, the challenges they encountered, their accom-plishments, and how they entered into their professions. One of the panelists, Dr. Jeffrey Mariano who recently became a Partner at Kaiser Permanente Hospital in West Los Angeles, indicated that “the students and their parents and families are inspirations to

me and countless others. Educa-tion is key!”

Patricia “Trish” Eusala, UCLA PREP Student Coordinator, who spearheaded the event, ensured that the panel ran smoothly and warmly answered questions from prospective UCLA students and their families before and after the event. Bobby T. Rimas, the UCLA Pilipino Alumni Scholarship Di-rector, spoke with students and their families immediately after the event to discuss details re-garding available scholarships through the UCLA Pilipino Alum-ni / Lovell Sevilla Scholarship Program.

The UCLA Pilipino Alumni / Lovell Sevilla Scholarship Pro-gram usually culminates in the awarding of the UCLA Pilipino Alumni Endowment Scholarship at UCLA Pilipino Alumni’s an-nual scholarship benefi t, which is scheduled to take place at the UCLA James West Alumni Cen-ter on May 2nd.

Utility wins “Large Utility Water Pro-gram” category for its WaterSmart Program

Glendale, CA – April 15, 2015 – Glendale Water and Power (GWP) has won the California Mu-nicipal Utilities Association (CMUA) Resource Effi ciency Award in the Large Utility Water Program cat-egory for its water-use effi ciency program in partnership with Wa-terSmart Software. WaterSmart’s technology marries behavioral sci-ence and data science to help water utilities engage customers, improve operational effi ciency, and save money.

Every year, the CMUA Resource Effi ciency Awards honor California’s publicly owned utilities that are on the forefront of innovative wa-ter programs. Given the chronic drought the state fi nds itself in, these awards have never been more important. A leading util-ity in the effort to improve wa-ter-use effi ciency, Glendale Wa-ter and Power has saved more than 23 million gallons of water in just a 4-month period through the WaterSmart Program.

“Glendale has a consistent track record of innovation. We are always looking for proven and verifi able technologies to better engage our customers,” said Steve Zurn, General Manag-er of GWP. “As we enter a fourth consecutive year of drought we must help reduce consumption and secure water supplies for the long-term needs of our custom-ers. The WaterSmart program has been a tremendous asset in helping us achieve that objec-tive.”

The Glendale WaterSmart Pro-gram delivers Home Water Reports (HWRs) to residential customers that include individualized recom-mendations to reduce their water use. The reduction in household water consumption in turn helps the utility reduce future capital expen-ditures. “Glendale Water and Power deserves to be recognized for their leadership in water-use effi ciency,” said Robin Gilthorpe, CEO of Wa-terSmart. “While many utilities are focused on expensive and time con-sumption water projects, Glendale has chosen to fi ght the drought with a cost-effective technological solu-tion that delivers measureable re-sults in a matter of months.”

About Glendale Water and Power

Glendale Water & Power (GWP) is the City of Glendale’s water and electric utility. GWP provides wa-ter to 33,744 customers in Glendale, California. The city-owned utility also generates, transmits, and dis-tributes electricity to 85,358 resi-dential, commercial, and industrial customers. www.GlendaleWater-AndPower.com

About WaterSmart Software WaterSmart Software helps wa-

ter utilities educate and engage their customers to save water and money. WaterSmart offers a turnkey, cloud-based engagement, analytics, and behavioral water effi ciency solution that helps utilities save water - up to 5 percent - in as little as twelve months.

Pilipino professionals give advice to UCLA-bound students

Los Angeles, United States, AFP – Experts have discovered a World War II US aircraft carrier that is “amazingly intact” despite languishing on the bottom of the Pacifi c for more than 60 years.

The ship is upright, listing only slightly and may even have an plane inside

The former USS Independence is resting in 2,600 feet (800 me-ters) of water off California’s Far-allon Islands with its hull and fl ight deck very well preserved and clearly visible, scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmo-spheric Administration (NOAA) said Thursday.

There also appears to be a plane in the hangar bay of the vessel, the lead ship of its class of light aircraft carriers that were vital during the American naval offensive in the Pacifi c.

“After 64 years on the seafl oor, Independence sits on the bottom as if ready to launch its planes,” said James Delgado, chief scien-tist on the mission and maritime heritage director for NOAA’s Of-fi ce of National Marine Sanctuar-ies.

“This ship fought a long, hard war in the Pacifi c and after the war was subjected to two atomic blasts that ripped through the

ship. “It is a reminder of the indus-

trial might and skill of the ‘great-est generation’ that sent not only this ship, but their loved ones to war.”

The carrier is one of an esti-mated 300 wrecks in the waters off San Francisco and the deepest known shipwreck in the sanctu-ary, the NOAA said.

Independence operated in the central and western Pacifi c from November 1943 to August 1945 and later was one of more than 90 vessels assembled as a target fl eet for atomic bomb tests in 1946 in the Marshall Islands.

Damaged by shock waves, heat and radiation, Independence sur-vived the tests and returned to the United States.

It was moored in San Francisco until age caught up with her and she was towed out to sea for scut-tling in January 1951.

Independence was found as part of a two-year NOAA mission to locate historic shipwrecks in the Gulf of the Farallones Nation-al Marine Sanctuary and nearby waters.

Experts last month used an autonomous underwater vehicle, Echo Ranger, made by Boeing, to survey the Independence.

‘Amazingly intact’ WWII aircraft carrier found in bottom of Pacifi c

Glendale Wins Resource Effi ciency Award from the California Municipal Utilities Association

By Ed RameCora Manimbo is the Philippines’ fashion guru

for indigenous fabric couture. Her name resonates highly in the fashion world both in the Philippines and abroad. Her directory of clientele is impressive as she cater to the royalties, tycoons, politicians and business people. Her beautiful beaded and embroi-dered clothes are highly in demand among her pedi-greed clientele especially among the royalties.

Sometime in 1997 she started designing Filipini-ana dresses and she captured the imagination of ev-ery fashion afi cionados who attended her shows. By sheer talent and excellent craftsmanship, the news about her exquisite works spread rapidly. The Phil-ippine consulates in the US took notice of her works and had made her a designer of choice to feature Philippine arts and fashion during their numerous events.

Ms. Manimbo’s romance with Philippine fabrics paid well. She put authentic Philippine fashion at the fore in world fashion. Her works are timeless and her talents are endless.

Complimenting the fashion collection of Ms. Manimbo is Oscar Atendido’s jewelry. His art is fi li-gree jewelry which are delicate works in metal like silver, copper and gold. Filigree work found its ways to the Philippines thru the Belgian missionaries. Before the programs was phased out in schools like the St. Louis University in Baguio City, Oscar be-lieved that this kind of art is worth saving.

His creative mind may somehow been started with his curiosity on his mom’s jewelries. His inter-est was piqued on how those intricate jewelries were created as he gaze at them in great amazement. So now Oscar has made it his own art.

Cora and Oscar has wowed audiences from differ-ent parts of the world like Moscow, Honolulu, The MIddle East and United States. Their works were like coffee and cream that works so well together. Their creations were so enhanced by both the ma-terials they use and the incredible amount of talent they so passionately put in each ensemble to create a perfect match that so pleases to the eyes.. Seeing

Fashion designer Cora Manimbo highlights The Sister City LA Makati Oscar Atendido Filigree Jewelry complement her designs

their works together is like seeing a fabled collection of Philippines’ rich heritage both in culture and arts.

Cora Manimbo and Oscar Atendido are really ambassadors of Filipino arts and culture. The fash-ion show is the highlight of the Los Angeles-Makati Fundrasing Gala to be held at the Omni Hotel at downtown LA. 251 South Olive ST, LA CA 90012 Cocktails will start at 5Pm, Dinner at &PM

Major sponsors of the event are FoodTrients, Island Pacifi c, Image Spa MD, Leelin Bakery and Café, Virgilia Productions, Filipino Heritage Festi-val, Law Offi ces of Joe Sayas, Lydia and Jessie Al-fonso, Weekend Balita, US Asian Post, Asian Jour-nal Inc, Balikbayan Magazine. Please call Vic at 818-458-9258 for inquiries or Trini at 818-455-2132 for tickets.

The name Cora Manimbo (rightmost) resonates highly in the fashion world both in the Philippines and abroad. Cora’s (right-most) directory of clientele is impressive as she cater to the royalties, tycoons, politicians and business people. Compli-menting the fashion collection of Cora is Oscar Atendido’s (left-most) jewelry.

Visit www.usasianpost.com Wednesday - Tuesday, April 22 - 28, 2015 THE US ASIAN POST6

If you are interested in seeing Lani Misalucha live at Pechanga Resort & Ca-sino, then perhaps this is your lucky day. Pechanga Resort & Casino announced a raf-fl e contest, which will giveaway two pairs of tickets to Lani Misalucha’s Concert at the Pechanga Theater on May 22, 2015 at 8:00 PM.

The raffl e contest will begin on April 11 and will be ongoing until April 29. Entry forms can be submitted via email at adver-tising@balita.com and put LANI as subject. Your entry form should contain your com-plete name, age and phone number.

Participants must be over 21 years old and must also be California residents with a valid form of identifi cation. Contestants will be asked to answer the two (2) trivia questions about Lani Misalucha.

If the contestant submits the correct an-swer, their names will be entered in the raffl e drawing to win tickets for themselves and a lucky guest of their choice.

What was Lani Misalucha called since she arrived in Las Vegas in 2004?

What is the name of the Hawaiian troupe performing with Lani Misalucha in Las Ve-gas?

To join this raffl e contest, please visit one of the following websites: www.usasianpost.com and www.balita.com or get a copy of The US Asian Post and Weekend Balita. You have to answer the trivia questions and send your answers via email. You will be entered into the May 1, 10 a.m. drawing at the Balita Media, Inc. offi ce in Glendale, CA.

The winners of the contest will be con-tacted via phone or email immediately af-

ter the raffl e drawing. The winners will be able to claim their tickets through will-call at the Pechanga Theater on May 22, 2015. Lastly, winners will be announced in Balita Media’s weekly publications, The US Asian Post and Weekend Balita.

Come and experience it all at Pechanga Resort and Casino located at 45000 Pechan-ga Parkway, Temecula, CA 92592.

For more information, call 1-877-711-2946 or visit www.Pechanga.com.

Get free tickets to see Lani Misalucha at the Pechanga Theater

\LOS ANGELES, C.A., April 14, 2015 – We are pleased to announce that Filipino-American, Jojo Aguilar, is returning as the Master of Ceremony for the 2014 FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics World Champion-ships in St. Louis, Missouri on April 22-25, 2015 at the Edward Jones Dome.

More than 10,000 high school students from around the globe will travel to compete their custom-built robots and put them to the test.

FIRST is non-profi t organization which produces robotics competition around the world exposing students K-12 to the excit-ing opportunities in science, technology and engineering fi elds through robotics.

“After being the Master of Ceremony for the FIRST Robotics Los Angeles Regional Competition during the last six years and hosting the World Championships the last three years, being invited back to host an-

other world championships is very exciting for me,” says Aguilar.

FIRST Robotics Competition Director, Frank Merrick, recently said of Aguilar’s performance as Master of Ceremonies, “He was high energy all weekend long, hit all the right notes and kept tuned in to the spectators.”

“Jojo easily gained the respect and ad-miration of competing students and other event workers at the competition in an atmosphere of signifi cant pressure,” says FIRST Production Developer, Blair Hun-dertmark.

FIRST Robotics Competition combines sports excitement with the rigors of science and technology.

Under strict rules, limited resources, and time limits, teams are challenged to fundraise, design a brand, exercise team-work and build and program robots to per-form tasks against competitors.

Fil-Am to host World Championship Robotics Competition St. Louis, Missouri

THE US ASIAN POST Wednesday - Tuesday, April 22 - 28, 2015 Visit www.usasianpost.com 7

MOTORING

Long Beach, United States | AFP | Monday 4/20/2015 – New Zealand’s Scott Dixon won the Indy-Car Series Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Sunday, beating runner-up Helio Castroneves of Brazil for his 36th career Indy car victory.

Castroneves nearly overtook Dixon for position after making his last pit stop, but Dixon fended off the chal-lenge and then drove away from Castroneves, beating him to the fi nish line by 2.2 seconds.

Dixon’s 36th win moves him ahead of Bobby Unser for fi fth on the series’ all-time race winners list. It was also his fi rst win in Long Beach and the 98th Indy car victory for team owner Chip Ganassi Racing.

Prior to Sunday, Dixon’s best fi nish in eight starts at Long Beach was fourth fi ve years ago. He had placed 11th, 12th, 18th and 23rd in the previous four starts in southern California.

“This is huge. I love the event, but as far as coming here and doing well it hadn’t been on that list,” Dixon

said. Juan Pablo Montoya, who won earlier this season

in St. Petersburg, placed third, followed by France’s Simon Pagenaud, who is in his fi rst season with Pen-ske. Dixon’s Ganassi teammate, Tony Kanaan, fi nished fi fth.

“The guys did a great job in the pits. It was just per-fect. At the end of the day, second place is not bad,” said Castroneves.

Dixon, driving the No. 9 car, started third in the 80-lap race, but he passed Montoya, on the opening lap.

Sebastien Bourdais, Josef Newgarden, Marco An-dretti, Carlos Munoz and Sebastian Saavedra placed sixth through 10th, respectively. It was the fi rst IndyCar start this season for Saavedra.

Montoya remained atop the championship stand-ings, but Castroneves trimmed his teammate’s lead to just three points. Kanaan climbed to third in the rank-ings, 26 points behind.

2015 LONG BEACH GRAND PRIX HIGHLIGHTS: Dixon won the 2015 Long Beach Grand Prix Sunday after overtaking pole-sitter Helio Cas-troneves in the middle of the race and never looking back. Dixon held off late challenges from Castroneves and Juan Pablo Montoya and recorded his fi rst career win at Long Beach. Photos: Phillip Ner

(Relaxnews) – One of the world’s biggest oil and gas companies is collaborating with one of the world’s most respected automotive designers, Gordon Murray on a project exploring the future of personal mobility.

Dubbed Project M and offi cially announced on Thursday, the collaboration aims to design, develop and build an ultra-effi cient, ultra-compact city car, albeit one that is powered by a traditional internal combustion engine. Shell describes the car, which will be unveiled in concept form in November, as a simple global city car that will “work brilliantly whether you are in a city where mass-motoring is a relatively new thing or already a century-old.”

For Murray, the project is clearly a chance to fur-ther his own work into the topic. In 2010, he unveiled something called the T25, an ingenious ultra-compact city car that sat three in a triangular formation and

which used a revolutionary manufacturing process that reduced weight and materials without compro-mising strength or rigidity.

The iStream system, as it was called, also allowed the basic three-seat platform to take on many different forms and shapes based on the motoring need, mean-ing that the creation of a whole range of different cars would be simple and affordable.

Although this is now offi cially a Shell project, it ap-pears that it shares many elements with the T25.

Of the project, Murray himself says that it’s a chance to explore future personal mobility needs: “I think the Shell car is really important. We can look to the future and see where we should be going not just with materials but in terms of design philosophy and other technologies and take a holistic look at where the future car is going.”

TORRANCE, Calif., Apr 16, 2015 – The award-win-ning Honda Accord Hybrid, boasting the highest EPA city fuel economy rating of any four-door sedan sold in Amer-ica1, was named to Kelley Blue Book’s KBB.com annual list of the 10 Best Green Cars for 2015, its second straight appearance on the KBB.com green car list. The industry experts at Kelley Blue Book praised the Accord Hybrid’s stellar fuel economy ratings and excellent value proposi-tion.

“Eco-minded drivers looking for a new ‘green’ vehicle with low CO2 emissions don’t have to look further than the fun-to-drive and fuel-effi cient Accord Hybrid,” said Steven Center, vice president of the Environ-mental Business Development Offi ce at American Honda Mo-tor Co., Inc. “Recognition from the trusted editors at Kelley Blue Book is proof positive of the progress Honda has made develop-ing increasingly cleaner vehicles over the last 40 years.”

The 2015 Honda Ac-cord Hybrid is designed for outstanding fuel ef-fi ciency and fun-to-drive performance and boasts EPA fuel economy rat-ings of 50/45/47 mpg (city/highway/combined). The Accord Hybrid’s two-mo-tor hybrid system, part of an expanding lineup of Honda EarthDreams Technology powertrains, seamlessly blends elec-tric-only, hybrid and en-gine drive modes along with powerful regenera-tive braking to provide highly responsive, refi ned and fuel-effi cient perfor-mance in a wide range of driving situations.

“The Honda Accord is one of the best values in the American auto mar-ket, and we expressed our admiration for the model by naming it our Kelley Blue Book Best Buy in the hotly contested midsize car category,” said Jack Nerad, executive market analyst and executive editorial director for Kel-ley Blue Book’s KBB.com. “So when you take all that goodness – fun-to-drive, great ergonomics and stel-lar reliability – and add a sophisticated powertrain that has a 50 mpg fuel economy rating, you have a very compelling proposi-tion.”

KBB.com’s honor adds to the growing list of prestigious awards for

A showcase of top Honda vehicles now ongoing at Norm Reeves Honda West Covina

Dixon wins Long Beach IndyCar

Oil giant Shell is building a concept car

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the Honda Accord Hybrid that include being named About.com’s “Best New Cars of 2015” and Green Car Journal’s Green Car of the Year. The Accord Hybrid also earned a TOP SAFETY PICK rating by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and a 5-star Overall Vehicle Score by the National Highway Traffi c Safety Administration (NHTSA)2.

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Visit www.usasianpost.com Wednesday - Tuesday, April 22 - 28, 2015 THE US ASIAN POST8

Los Angeles – There are ap-proximately 29 million Americans age 20 and older that have diabe-tes and almost one third of those are at risk for vision loss because they do not know they have the disease.

“This is a tragedy waiting to happen because people with dia-betes can develop diabetic reti-nopathy, a degenerative disease of the retina (the sensitive area at the back of the eye), which affects 5.3 million Americans age 18 and older,” said Dr. Jeffrey Sage, an ophthalmologist in Los Angeles.

More than one third of those di-agnosed with diabetes do not ad-here to vision care guidelines by forgoing a dilated eye exam every year. So, as part of November’s Diabetic Eye Disease Awareness Month, ophthalmologists across the country are urging Americans with diabetes to get a dilated eye exam this year, and every year. Pregnant women with diabetes should have an eye exam in the fi rst trimester, since diabetic eye disease can progress rapidly dur-ing pregnancy.

The longer a person has diabe-tes, the greater the risk for devel-oping diabetic retinopathy. How-

ever, diabetic retinopathy does not only affect people who have had diabetes for many years, it can also appear within the fi rst year or two after the onset of the disease. For some people, diabet-ic retinopathy is one of the fi rst signs of the disease.

High blood sugar levels can weaken blood vessels in the eye’s retina causing them to leak blood or fl uid. This causes the retina to swell and can lead to vision loss. Blood sugar fl uctuations can also promote growth of new, fragile blood vessels on the retina, which can break easily and leak blood

into the vitreous (the clear, jelly-like substance that fi lls the cen-ter of the eye.) This can blur vi-sion and lead to permanent vision impairment. High blood pressure and smoking can further damage blood vessels as well.

What are the signs to look for? “Fluctuations in blood sugar lev-els can temporarily affect vision, so it’s sometimes diffi cult to know if a serious eye problem is develop-ing,” says Dr. Sage. “That’s one of the reasons strict control of your blood sugar is so important. If you notice a vision change in one eye, a change that lasts more than a day or two or changes not associated with fl uctuations in blood sugar, call your Eye M.D. promptly.” If you’re diagnosed with diabetes, be sure to schedule a complete di-lated eye exam once a year or as often as your Eye M.D. suggests. Don’t smoke and keep your blood sugar under control through diet and exercise.

Eye health care is provided by the three “O’s” – opticians, optom-etrists and ophthalmologists. It is the ophthalmologist, or Eye M.D., who can treat it all – eye diseases and injuries, and perform eye sur-gery.

Millions at risk for blindness due to diabetes

(Relaxnews) – Good eating hab-its could ward off obesity, says Tanda Kidd, an associate professor of human nutrition and extension specialist at Kansas State University who has made kids the focus of much of her research.

What’s more, she says, a balanced diet could foster success in life, for studies suggest it improves concentra-tion, alertness and keeps emotional and physical health in check.

And yet, aggressive marketing of fatty snacks and sugar-laden drinks has made it hard for parents to encourage healthy eating habits in kids who are craving the junk food they see adver-tised day by day.

Giving in should not occur as a reward for good behavior or school achievements, says Kidd.

“Eat your veggies, Dad,” she says, emphasizing that children’s food habits come from their par-ents, so eating together is impor-tant for kids to watch parents making wise choices about what, when, where and how much to eat.

It’s important to know what your children are eating when they’re in school or at friends’ houses, accord-ing to Kidd, adding that it’s perfectly acceptable to ask a school or daycare center what’s on the menu.

According to Kidd, TV encourages mindless eating, and should be strictly limited in favor of active play.

At present, there is no specifi c phys-ical activity recommendation for chil-dren ages 2 to 5, but active play should be emphasized, says Kidd.

Kidd advises parents to avoid put-ting overweight children on a diet be-cause this could lead to eating disor-ders down the road.

Tackle the problem by encouraging

physical activity and offering healthy foods, says Kidd.

Parents and children should cook together, go grocery shopping together, and parents should teach children to read food labels, she says.

Comparing costs and nutrition in-formation of products in the grocery store can offer valuable lessons, ac-cording to Kidd.

Planting a garden together could give your child an appreciation for vegetables, she says, adding that it also provides quality time spent as a family.

The pressure is on parents, accord-ing to a recent study that says positive changes in children’s eating habits and weight loss depend on the progenitor’s readiness.

That study, which was published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutri-tion and Dietetics, concluded that 62 percent of the 202 parents they worked with were ready to make household di-etary changes, but only 40 percent were ready to encourage increased physical activity, leading by example.

Give your child an appreciation for vegetables, says an expert in children’s nutrition. ©Maryna Pleshkun/Shutterstock.com

Teach children how to read food labels and more advice from a nutritionist on raising healthy eaters

SAVE THEPLANET

(Relaxnews) – They say prevention is better than a cure and this is cer-tainly true when it comes to anti-aging regimes as brands are increasingly launching a slew of new creams and ranges aimed at fi ghting off wrinkles before they show up in young women.

This week UK retailer Boots’ in-house brand No 7 is launching its new “Early Defence Skincare” range, which has been specially de-signed for women aged 20-35 who don’t need to worry about anti-ag-ing just yet, but wish to keep young skin looking younger for longer. Consisting of Day, Night and Eye Creams, the series has been designed as a ‘stepping stone’ to help in the tran-sition from everyday skincare to pro-actively delaying the signs of ageing.It features the brand’s patent-pending daily protection technology, ‘Double Defence’, which works in combination with UVA technology to protect skin from the sun and environmental stress. The technology contains a combination of ginseng and mulberry to combat su-

peroxides produced as a result of expo-sure to sunlight or pollution, vitamin C and lipochroman and Vitamin E which are effective against singlet oxygen, an incredibly damaging free radical pro-duced by UVA exposure. The creams also contain rice peptides and alfalfa, which are effective inhibitors of age-accelerating enzymes (MMPs) in the skin.

“Protecting your skin from the sun and environmental stress is really im-portant, particularly if you want to proactively delay the signs of ageing,”

says Dr Mike Bell, Skincare Scientifi c Advisor for Boots UK. “With Double Defence technology we have cre-ated a powerful and broad-spectrum antioxidant complex which has been designed to neutralize damaging free radicals that cause the skin oxida-tive stress, helping you to keep your skin looking younger for longer.”Women in their twenties and thirties are becoming an increasingly important target for beauty brands when it comes to anti-aging. L’Oreal Paris has proven that it’s never too early to start protect-ing skin with its Youth Code range of night and day creams, aimed at women aged 25-35 who want youthful-looking skin.

Additional launches in recent years aimed at the demographic include Shi-seido’s Ibuki range, designed to help skin resist the stresses of daily life, and Nuxe’s Nirvanesquerange of “First wrinkle creams” for a pre-emptive ap-proach to anti-aging.

No 7’s Early Defence Skincare range is available online at Boots.com.

No 7 Early Defence Night Cream. ©No 7. All rights reserved.

Anti-wrinkle creams increasingly target bright young things

(Relaxnews) – When it’s been concentrated, an extract of maple syrup weakens harmful bacteria, reducing their resistance to anti-biotics, according to a new study at McGill University in Canada.

Making microbes more sus-ceptible to being overcome by antibiotics could cut down on the amount that’s necessary to fi ght them, say the research-ers.

Increasing antibiotic use is thought to be contributing to the burgeoning antibiotic resistance crisis, which has become a major public health concern on a global scale.

The key ingredient in the extract is phenol, an acid-rich compound that’s a common component of plants that pro-tects them from pathogens in-cluding insects.

Maple syrup is made from the sap of the North Ameri-can maple tree, which makes it an excellent source of these natural pathogen-killing com-pounds.

The research team pur-chased the maple syrup sam-

ples they worked with at local shops in Montreal, and kept it frozen until the beginning of each experiment when they extracted the part that’s rich in phenols.

In the study, the extract was put to the test against notorious bacteria in-cluding sometimes-deadly E. coli and

Proteus mirabailis, which is a common culprit behind urinary tract infections.

The extract was mildly effective in combatting the bacteria by itself, but when paired with antibiotics it was signifi cantly effective, according to the study, which was publishedin the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

The combination destroyed entire communities – called biofi lms – which build in stubborn infections such as those that occur in the urinary tract for patients wearing a catheter.

“We would have to do in vivo tests, and eventually clinical trials, before we can say what the effect would be in humans,” says Professor Nathalie Tufenkji of McGill. “But the fi ndings suggest a potentially simple and effective approach for re-ducing antibiotic usage.”

The research team says the extract affects the bacteria’s gene expression, snuffi ng out those linked with resis-tance and virulence.

Professor Tufenkji’s previous re-search includes studying cranberry extracts that could potentially go up against bacteria.

At present, her team is working on how to use the extract to fi ght infection and disease.

Produced from the sap of North Ameri-can maple trees, maple syrup may contain natural antibacterial elements. ©shutterstock/Daniel Wiedemann/shut-terstock.com

Maple syrup emerges as potential hero in antibiotic resistance crisis

An extract from broccoli sprouts has been demonstrated to protect mice from oral cancer and was suc-cessfully tolerated when taken by a small group of human volunteers.

It’s said to be a safe, natural molecule that works by protect-ing the oral lining upon which oral cancers form.

The next step, say members of the research team at the Univer-sity of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) where the experiment was conducted, is a human clinical trial for which they plan to recruit those at risk for head and neck cancer recurrence.

“People who are cured of head and neck cancer are still at very high risk for a second cancer in their mouth or throat, and, unfor-

tunately, these second cancers are commonly fatal,” says lead author Julie Bauman, M.D., M.P.H., co-director of the UPMC Head and Neck Cancer Center of Excellence. Research conducted in China sug-gests cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage and garden cress have a high concentration of sulforaphane that can neutral-ize the effects of environmental carcinogens.The mice in Dr. Bau-man’s lab were predisposed to oral cancer, yet the sulforaphane reduced the number of them who fell ill. She then treated 10 healthy volunteers to a smoothie contain-ing fruit juice and sulforaphane-rich broccoli sprout extract.

They experienced no side effects and in observation of the lining of

their mouths indicated the extract was absorbed and helped bolster the at-risk tissue.

The human clinical trial would involve 40 participants who have undergone head and neck cancer and been treated.

In the trial, capsules containing broccoli seed powder will be used instead of the smoothie.

“We call this ‘green chemo-prevention,’ where simple seed preparations or plant extracts are used to prevent disease,” says Dr. Bauman. “Green chemoprevention requires less money and fewer re-sources than a traditional pharma-ceutical study, and could be more easily disseminated in developing countries where head and neck cancer is a signifi cant problem.”

Broccoli sprout extract could help prevent cancer

THE US ASIAN POST Wednesday - Tuesday, April 22 - 28, 2015 Visit www.usasianpost.com 9

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Visit www.usasianpost.com Wednesday - Tuesday, April 22 - 28, 2015 THE US ASIAN POST10

DCH Toyota’s proud Filipino Fleet: (From left) Phillip Rivera, Filipino Department Man-ager Loyd Aler and Teddy Villafuerte. DCH Toyota of Torrance is located at 2909 Pacifi c Coast Hwy Torrance, CA 90505. You can reach Loyd Aler or his fellow kababayans, Sales & Leasing Consultants Phillip Rivera and Teddy Villafuerte at 1-888-311- 0102 for the best deals in town.

“Sisterakas” co-stars Vice Ganda and Kris Aquino have addressed speculation that they are not on good terms, supposedly after a misunder-standing involving the come-dian’s idea to come up with a blog and signature shirts.

Vice Ganda said, “Alam mo, hindi namin alam kung kani-nong addict nanggaling ‘yan... Hindi ko alam kung ano ang intensiyon ng mga tao, pero nakakadiri lang. Ang tanda-tanda namin para mag-away sa T-shirt… Ano kami, mga bata?”

“We share everything. Kris

and I, we share everything,” he said.

The “It’s Showtime” co-host was referring to rumors that Aquino went ahead a business idea that Vice Ganda had sup-posedly shared with her.

Aquino recently re-launched her offi cial website with more blog content, categorized into family, travel, home, kitchen, reading, fashion and faith.

According to Vice Ganda, he even called Aquino to ask her what they should tell re-porters about the rumor, since even they were confused as to how it started.

In fact, the comedian point-ed out, he was among the fi rst to get in touch with Aquino and her son, Bimby, after their minor road accident last Wednesday. Vice Ganda had just landed in Manila from the United States when he learned of the incident early Thursday.

On Instagram, Aquino shared a photo of fl owers Vice Ganda had sent her and Bimby, who co-starred with the comedian in “The Amaz-ing Praybeyt Benjamin,” and thanked him for being her “fi rst caller of the day.” (MNS)

Alessandra de Rossi thought it was “genius” idea to cast her in the role of Manny Pac-quiao’s mother, Dioini-sia Pacquiao or Mommy D, in the biopic “Kid Ku-lafu.”

De Rossi agreed that she has similarities with the popular “Pac-Mom.” Playing her, however, admittedly proved to be challenging for the 30-year-old actress.

“Nakakatawa ako nang bonggang-bong-ga,” she said, when asked how she reacted when she was offered the role. “Feeling ko napaka-genius nung na-kaisip. Kasi si Mommy D, ‘di ba, seryoso na nakakatawa. May pag-ka ganoon din ako, eh, ‘yung mahirit, malikot.”

According to de Rossi, while she did not meet Mommy D personally, she studied a footage of her interview to get her mannerisms and speech patterns right.

Explaining her ap-proach to the role, she said: “Ang ginawa ko, parang halu-halo ng caricature, abstract and realism, para naman ma-feel lahat.”

Asked what she learned from portray-ing Mommy D, de Rossi said she realized the im-portant part that moth-ers play in shaping the character and future of their children.

“Kung ano ang isang tao, iyon lahat ay dahil sa kung ano ang nanay natin. Totoo naman, eh,” she said. “Kung ano si Manny ngayon, kung bakit siya winner, kung bakit siya champion, dahil tinuruan siya ng nanay niya na magdasal nang bongga-bongga, at naging istrikto ang par-ents niya.”

“Kid Kulafu,” which was released Wednes-day in cinemas nation-wide, was directed by Paul Soriano and fea-tures teen actor Buboy Villar as a young, strug-gling Pacquiao. (MNS)

Vice Ganda, Kris address rumored rift

What Alessandra learned from being Mommy D

Alessandra de Rossi

THE US ASIAN POST Wednesday - Tuesday, April 22 - 28, 2015 Visit www.usasianpost.com 11

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MAYWEATHERFrom page 1

tivities and to be mindful of its re-sponsibilities as a claimant state and an important member of the international community.”

He said the military will “con-tinue with our modernization pro-gram to put up a credible defense force for our territorial defense.”

The AFP also said it fi nds un-acceptable China’s denial that its reclamation activities have not caused harm to the environment is unacceptable. (MNS)

were under construction, CSIS said, demonstrating the speed of the works.

On Wednesday, defense jour-nal IHS Jane’s reported that pic-tures taken by Airbus Defence and Space on March 23 showed a section more than 500 meters long and 50 meters wide.

China claims nearly all of the South China Sea, on the basis of lines on Chinese maps published of the fl ashpoint South China Sea.

“We have compelling reasons to raise our voice to tell the whole world the adverse effects of Chi-na’s aggressiveness,” Catapang told reporters, describing the rec-lamation and construction activi-ties as “massive”.

He said this was causing con-cern “not only because it would deter freedom of navigation, but also due to its possibility of mili-tary purposes”.

China claims sovereignty over most of the resource-rich and strategically important sea, in-cluding areas close to other Asian nations, using vague demarcation

lines that fi rst appeared on Chi-nese maps in the 1940s.

The Philippines, Vietnam, Ma-laysia, Brunei and Taiwan have overlapping claims. China has expanded its presence in disputed parts of the sea in recent years by embarking on giant reclamation work on reefs and islets, turn-ing some into islands capable of hosting military aircraft landing strips.

In an interview with AFP last week, Philippine President Benig-no Aquino said the world should fear China’s actions in the disput-ed sea, warning they could lead to military confl ict.

In efforts to deter China, the militarily weak Philippines has encouraged longtime ally the US to increase its presence on Filipi-no soil and coastal waters through expanded and more frequent war games. This dovetails with US plans to re-build its military pres-ence in the Philippines, a former colony where it had naval and air bases until the early 1990s.

The Balikatan (shoulder-to-shoulder) war games are the big-gest annual exercises between the allies, which signed a defence treaty in 1951 committing each to come to the others’ aid in the event of external aggression.

people like me and love me,” Pac-quiao said. “Fans like an exciting fi ght. Our sport is called boxing, people like a boxer.”

Pacquiao was speaking in Hol-lywood at the fi nal news confer-ence he is giving before he heads to Las Vegas for the fi ght at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino.

The boxer said he doesn’t need a blockbuster fi ght with May-weather to defi ne his legacy, that winning titles in eight divisions has far exceeded his expectations.

“My entire career defi nes my legacy. Everything I have done in boxing,” he said. “I have had some great, great accomplishments and achievements in my career.

I won titles in eight different weight divisions.”

His hall-of-fame career has

bout in boxing history.The clamor for tickets makes

it likely that the number actually going on general sale is relatively small compared to other fi ghts held at the venue.

Interest in May’s bout was re-fl ected in the 600 media who at-tended Wednesday’s Los Angeles press conference between the two boxers, the only press event scheduled before the week of the fi ght.The fi ght is also likely to smash pay-per-view records, with cable networks expected to charge around $100 per household for ac-

HK POLITICIANFrom page 1Chun-ying and tipped as a future chief executive, cast the maids as marriage wreckers.

In an op-ed article in Chinese-language newspaper Ming Pao on Friday, Ip told how jilted expatri-ate wives had complained to her that their maids had led their hus-bands astray. “I have received com-plaints from expatriate women... that Filipina domestic helpers se-duce their husbands,” Ip wrote. “I could only tell them that under the current laws it is quite diffi cult to regulate,” she said. Ip said she had learnt of “families wrecked because of relationships between Filipina maids and male employers”.

“Rather than reporting improp-er behavior by local employers, should we pay more attention to Filipina maids becoming sexual resources for foreign men in Hong Kong?” she questioned.

In her article Ip linked her the-ory to the recent case of a 15-year-old girl, with a British father and Filipina mother, who fell from a luxury apartment block in an ap-parent suicide earlier this month.

NO BARFrom page 1Joseph Scott Pemberton is now being tried for the crime in the Philippine city of Olongapo.

Activist groups have seized on the incident to attack the de-fense alliance between the Unit-ed States and its former colony, staging frequent street protests against the presence of US forces.

However the Philippines, which has one of the weakest mili-taries in the region and which has a seething territorial dispute with China over parts of the South Chi-na Sea, has been seeking greater defence support from the United States in recent months.

Around 96.6 percent of all de-posit accounts are estimated to be fully insured while 3.4 percent have balances in excess of the MDIC and are partially insured up to P500,000 only, the insurer said.(MNS)

BANK DEPOSITFrom page 1

cess to the bout.“It transcends boxing for sure

and will probably transcend sport,” said television executive Ken Hershman of HBO Sports, describing it as the “single largest boxing event of all time.”

Veteran fi ght promoter Bob Arum said the showdown would be a rare chance for boxing to shine on a global stage.

“Major events like the Super Bowl or even the Olympics get worldwide attention,” Arum said.

“It’s been rare that worldwide attention focuses on a boxing match. Believe me, the entire world will be watching this great event unfold.”

Arum last month said he ex-pected the fi ght to be the most lu-crative in history.

“I would say that Joe Frazier is turning over in his grave,” Arum said in an interview. “And Mu-hammad Ali is looking on in dis-belief.”

surpassed anything he could have imagined when he got into sport after someone told him he could earn 100 pesos (about $2) for a fi ght.

The 12-year-old used the mon-ey from that fi rst decision victory to buy rice for his poverty-strick-en family in the Philippines.

“I don’t want to boast and talk about the eight different weight divisions, but that accomplish-ment is amazing. Beyond my ex-pectation,” he said. “When I start-ed boxing, I never imagined it.”

Pacquiao spoke to a small group of reporters in the basement of the Wild Card gym in Hollywood.

He then went upstairs to the main gym for a workout in front of a standing-room only crowd of photographers and television cameras.

Pacquiao began his workout with a shadow-boxing session

without gloves. Wearing a grey t-shirt with

the words Team Pacquiao on the back, he worked out on his own for several minutes, while trainer Freddie Roach watched from the corner as the throng of media pressed up against the outside of the ring.

Pacquiao said the fi ght would have never seen the light of day if he hadn’t agreed to a 60/40 split of the purse, with Mayweather get-ting the bigger share.

He sought, but failed to get Mayweather to agree on a $5 mil-lion penalty for anyone who fails a drug test in the buildup to the fi ght.

Mayweather had previously accused Pacquiao of using perfor-mance-enhancing drugs, which became one of the stumbling blocks that helped scuttle previ-ous negotiations.

Although police said there were no suspicious circumstances around the fall, the teenager’s mother Herminia Garcia – a for-mer domestic helper – and her British businessman father, Nick Cousins, were arrested.

Garcia was charged with over-staying her visa and “neglect” of an unnamed 14-year-old child. Cous-ins is on bail for neglect and abet-ting the overstay, but has not been charged.

Ip cites their case as a “refl ec-tion” of what she describes as “abnormal relationships” between maids and employers.

The Philippine consulate ex-pressed concern about what it called Ip’s “unfortunate choice of words” but said they did not refl ect the feelings of the city’s people at large.

In a statement it said the more than 173,000 Filipina domestic helpers had a positive impact on the families they worked for and the city’s economy as a whole.

“Discrimination should have no place in any society, most especial-ly Hong Kong which prides itself as Asia’s World City,” it added.

in the 1940s and locking it into disputes with several Southeast Asian neighbors.

Its island-building in the Spratlys, also claimed in whole or part by the Philippines and Viet-nam among others, has been seen as part of an attempt to assert its territorial claims by establishing physical facts in the water.