Asian Journal June 3, 2011 edition

I did it! I did it! I did it!That very special time of year, graduation .. p 11

Ascension Sunday: (“Con te partirò”) It’s Time

to Say Good-bye .. p 17

Honest NAIA porter returns $5600, afraid of karma

GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc (The Philippine Star) | May 13, 2011 -- Former Armed Forces comptrol-ler General Carlos Garcia can soon rejoin his family in America. This, after the Sandiganbayan upheld Mon-day his plea bargain from P303-million plunder to lesser offenses. Sentencing would be mere formality. Garcia need not serve any minute longer behind bars. He has been out since December on P30,000 bail for each of two misde-meanors, for the court even then already had accepted the

plea deal.Had he been found guilty of plunder, Garcia would have gone to prison for life. But the Ombudsman let him plead guilty to mere direct bribery and

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June 3 - 9, 2011

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Chronology of the Marcos Plunder

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Tina Santos, PDI | MA-NILA, 6/3/2011 -- A porter at the Ninoy Aquino Internation-al Airport (NAIA) who found a bag that contained $5,600 in cash returned it to its rightful owner.

Manuel Audis Jr. decided to promptly return the money to its owner despite having money issues, especially hav-ing to pay the hospital bills of his father who recently suf-fered a stroke.

The money, equivalent to over P200,000, would have been more than enough to pay for the hospitalization.

“I’m afraid of karma,” Audis, who has been working as a porter at the airport for the past seven months.

A resident of Sunvalley in Pasay City, Audis was work-ing at the Naia Terminal 1 arrival area at around 5 p.m. on Monday when a male pas-senger called his attention to a maroon bag that had been left on a pushcart.

A check of the bag showed its owner to be Vlama Kasan Bailon, a Filipino worker who had just returned from Jordan.

Audis said he was walking toward the information coun-ter to page Bailon when he saw a woman running toward him.

At the airport’s Police Intelligence and Investigation Division, an overjoyed Bailon counted the money in her bag and found it intact.

Asked if he was given any reward for his honesty, Audis said it was enough that Bailon had thanked him.

He admitted, however, that he immediately thought of his 65-year-old father at the sight of the money.

Manuel Sr., who recently suffered a stroke, has been confi ned at Pasay City Gener-al Hospital for almost a month now.

Mindy thought she could

ignore Danny’s infi delity. The mere thought of the cheat-ing couple, Danny and his girlfriend Margie, was enough to make her blood boil in anger. Al-though Danny did not fail in his re-sponsibilities to her – he still provided

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the same allowance and all her immediate needs as before – her anger had never subsided. Eventually, the thought of migrating to the United States re-entered her mind.

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by Thelma Ruales-Grana on Wednesday, May 25, 2011 at 4:44am | TOKYO 6/03/2011

Tony Meloto received the Nikkei Asia 2011 Award for Regional Growth in Japan

Your excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, good morning. I’m deeply honored and grateful for the Nikkei Asia Award for Regional Growth which I am receiving from some of the most distin-guished leaders in Japan, starting with Mr. Ryoki Sugita, Chairman, Nikkei Inc.; Mr. Shoichiro Toyoda, Honorary Chairman, Nip-pon Keidanren (Japan Business Federation) and

Tony Meloto’s Acceptance Speech for Nikkei Asia Award for Regional Growth

Dr. Yasuhiko Torii, Ex-President, Keio University, Regional Growth Prize Selec-tion Sub-Committee Leader.It is my great honor to receive this award with outstanding citizens of Asia - Dr. Wu Maw-Kuen of Taiwan, winner for Science, Technol-ogy and Innovation and Mr. Bao Ninh of Vietnam, winner for Culture.I am receiving this award on behalf of the countless vol-unteers of Gawad Kalinga including my wife and daugh-ter who are with me today, and good friends and big GK supporters, his excellency Ambassador Manuel Lopez and Consul General Sulpicio Confi ado and his wife.

Japan is a big inspiration for me as the fi rst country in Asia to rise from poverty through hard work, honor and heroism. The March 11 earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan has also shown the world their capacity to rise from tragedy through solidarity and sacrifi ce. Our people are capable of the same heroism to rise from tragedy and suffering based on my experience with Gawad Kalinga volunteers


General Carlos Garcia

September 1976, the Marco-ses bought their fi rst property in the U.S. - a condo in the exclusive Olympic Towers on Fifth Avenue in New York . Five months later they would also buy the three adjoin-ing apartments,


paying a total of $4,000,000.00 for the four and using Antonio Floirendo’s com-pany, The Aven-tures Limited in Hong Kong, as front for these purchases.

October 13, 1977. Today, after addressing the

Page 2 June 3 - 9, 2011Asian Journal - (619) 474-0588 Visit our website at http://www.asianjournalusa.com

Honest NAIA porter returns $5600, afraid

of karma(Continued from page 1)

(Continued from page 1)

by Jean S. Tinsay, Esq. (Reprint-ed from 4, Feb 2011)

The enactment of Public Law 111-83 on October 28, 2009 provides relief to many surviving relatives some who have waited many years only for their visa petitions or applications to be re-voked or denied upon the death of their qualifying relative (in most cases the U.S. citizen or perma-nent resident petitioner). Last December 16, 2010, the USCIS issued the long awaited Policy Memorandum providing guidance on the implementation of Public Law 111-83.

The new law permits the approv-al of a visa petition or adjustment of status application and related applications even if the qualifying relative dies provided the alien seeking the immigrant benefits meet the following requirements: (i) the alien resided in the United States when the qualifying relative dies; and (ii) continues to reside in the United States on the date his or her petition or application is decided.

The Policy Memorandum defines residence as “a person’s principal, actual dwelling place in fact, without regard to intent.” The new law does not require the alien to show the he or she was, or is, residing here lawfully.

When does it apply? Public Law 111-83 applies to any visa petition or application adjudicated on or after October 28, 2009 even if the visa petition or application was filed and the qualifying rela-tive died before October 28, 2009. The law allows the approval of

a pending visa petition or ap-plication, despite the death of the qualifying relative provided the alien seeking the benefit meets the requirements mentioned above.

How about immigrant petitions filed and approved before October 28, 2009 where the qualifying relative dies? The long standing regulation is that approved imme-diate and family-based preference immigrant petitions are automati-cally revoked by the death of the petitioner or the beneficiary. However, according to the USCIS Policy Memorandum, the USCIS in light of Public Law 111-83, will consider a request for humanitar-ian reinstatement of an approved immediate or family-based preference immigrant petition which was deemed automatically revoked by the death of the peti-tioner or beneficiary even if the death that resulted in the automat-ic revocation of the petition was prior to October 28, 2009. This is not the case with employment-based petitions which are still deemed automatically revoked upon the death of the petitioner or beneficiary.

For visa petitions or ap-plications filed and denied prior to October 28, 2009 due to the death of the qualifying relative, the US-CIS will allow the alien to file an untimely motion to reopen the visa petition or application that was denied before October 28, 2009 and present new evidence of the qualifying relative’s death, proof of residence when the qualifying relative died and proof of the alien continued residence in the United

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Surviving Relatives Of De-ceased Petitioner, Part III


by Father Shay Cullen, PREDA | OLONGAPO, 6/3/2011 --

What turned a cheerful, fluffy-haired teenager into the world’s most wanted terrorist who evaded capture for ten years? In one opinion, it was a belief, an idea, a fundamentalist ideology that took over the life of Osama Bin Laden and led him into waging “holy war”. He and his followers were convinced that by terrorist acts of violence, the Arab world would rebel against their pro-western dictators and tyrants and establish Islamic states of the strictest kind. So he build up a terrorist organiza-tion, Al-Qaida, and going against everything that true Islam taught, they tortured, bombed, killed, maimed and committed mass murder. They brought down the twin-towers, bombed trains and buses and killed innocents and yet there was no mass uprising. Al-Qaida remained an extrem-ist group that attacked Western and Islamic states like Pakistan where as many as 30,000 people have been killed.

It took the self-sacrificing im-molation of a poor street vendor who had suffered enough harass-ment and humiliation and the confiscation of his vegetable cart by corrupt police to ignite the long buried anger and frustra-tion of the Tunisian people and eventually, in a few months, the people of the Middle East. One after another, they courageously took to the streets in mass pro-tests, marches and demonstra-tions to bring down the dictator and win the most cherished freedom of all - the freedom of choice. They did it non-violently, just waving fists and shouting for change. They stood unarmed, bravely against batons, tear gas and live bullets to win their right to choose the way they want to live and elect whom they want to govern them. They wanted democracy.

The Courage of Non-Violence

In the Middle-East, the Arab people have risen up with an unquenchable desire for freedom and dignity. That is what drives them to the streets and keeps them there with courage and bravery to face down the guns and tanks. In Syria, as I write, scores of people are being shot and hundreds of bodies pile up. They have been brutally killed by the Syrian army to keep a ter-rorist loving dictator and family dynasty in power. The slaughter of civilians in Syria and Libya is indeed a great crime against humanity.

The ideology of death, hate, revenge and holy war that is the driving force of Al-Qaida was ignored by the peaceful, non-violent people-power mass uprising that has swept aside the pro-western tyrants of Tunisia and Egypt and is challenging the rulers of Bahrain, Yemen, Syria and Libya. It is of immense relief to all other peace-loving nations that the people’s movement for freedom is not driven by reli-gious extremism. Should extrem-ists ever come to power in a country like Pakistan, which has nuclear weapons, that would be a matter of grave concern. The reality is that most of the protes-tors are true Muslim believers and they have no interest in extreme Islamic ideology. They have chosen non-violence. It must be like a knife in the heart of the Al-Qaida movement. The people are calling for democracy and a more open moderate Mus-lim society, not a strict Islamic state.

Osama Bin Laden was por-trayed as the self-sacrificing holy warrior that his followers and most of the world believed to be heroically enduring the hardship of the battle-field somewhere in the mountains and caves along the rugged and harsh Afghani-stan-Pakistan border. Instead of risking his life for the cause, he

“Honestly, I thought of my fa-ther and his condition but I knew I wouldn’t forgive myself and I would forever be bothered by my con-science if I had kept the money. I know it’s wrong,” he added.

He said he also thought of the situation as a test of his character.

“It’s as if fate was testing me. But I knew that the money wasn’t meant for me so I should return it to its owner. Besides, someone worked hard for that money,” Audis said.

Although he knows he will not be able to pay for his father’s hospi-talization, he said he was certain that his father would be proud of him.

Audis said that they were forced to borrow money from loan sharks to support his father’s medication.

“But it’s okay, I know he’s [Man-uel Sr.] happy because I did the right thing. I know God will help us get through this,” he added. - From Good News Philippines -- (Tina Santos of the Philippine Daily Inquirer)

UN General Assembly, Imelda celebrated by going shopping and spending $384,000 includ-ing $50,000 for a platinum bracelet with rubies; $50,000 for a diamond bracelet; and $58,000 for a pin set with diamonds.The day before, Vilma Bautista,

one of her private secretaries, paid $18,500 for a gold pendant with diamonds and emeralds; $9,450 for a gold ring with diamonds and emeralds; and $4,800 for a gold and diamond necklace.

October 27, 1977The Marcoses donated $1.5 mil-

lion to Tufts University in Boston, endowing a professorial chair in East Asian and Pacific Studies at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. The students and pro-fessors discovered this and forced the school to reject the donation. To save face, the Marcoses were allowed to finance several semi-nars and lectures.

November 2, 1977. Still at her shopping spree, Imelda paid $450,000 for a gold necklace and bracelet with emeralds, rubies, and diamonds; $300,000 for a gold ring with emeralds and diamonds; and $300,000 for a gold pendant with diamonds, rubies, and thirty-nine emeralds.

July 1978. After a trip to Rus-sia, Imelda arrived in New York and immediately warmed up for a shopping spree. She started with paying $193,320 for an-tiques, including $12,000 for a Ming Period side table; $24,000 for a pair of Georgian mahogany Gainsborough armchairs; $6,240 for a Sheraton double-sided writ-ing desk; $11,600 for a George II wood side table with marble top - all in the name of the Philippine consulate to dodge New York sales tax.

That was merely for starters.

Chronology of the Marcos

Plunder


States. The Policy Memoran-

dum makes it clear that any other eligibility requirements or bars to approval of a petition or applica-tion are not changed by the new law. For example, an affidavit of support executed by the qualify-ing relative is normally required in immediate and family-based preference immigrant petitions. The death of the qualifying rela-tive does not excuse the alien from such a requirement. However, the alien will be allowed to submit an affidavit of support from a substi-tute sponsor.

Atty. Jean S. Tinsay is a partner in The Law Firm of Chua Tinsay


Page 3Asian Journal - (619) 474-0588 Visit our website at http://www.asianjournalusa.comJune 3 - 9, 2011

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IMMIGRATION 911 by Atty. Susan V. Perez. -- This article will deal with a situation where a conditional perma-nent resident and a U.S. citizen spouse are legally separated or have initiated divorce or annulment of marriage, but the marriage has not been legally termi-nated. A foreign national who obtained conditional legal permanent resident status through marriage to a U.S. citizen must file a petition to lift the condition within 90 days before such status ex-pires. Under our immigration laws, the U.S. citizen spouse must file the petition jointly with the foreign national spouse. This means the foreign national and U.S. citizen spouse must both sign the peti-tion to lift the condition. This joint filing can be waived when the foreign national entered the marriage in good faith, but the marriage was terminated by divorce, annulment or declaration of nullity. The foreign national needs to attach the de-cree of divorce or annulment when filing the waiver of joint filing.

What if the marriage has not been ter-minated or the divorce or annulment has not been final when the time to file the waiver is due? The foreign national still needs to file the waiver based on termi-nation of marriage. But since no decree of divorce of annulment is attached to the waiver, the immigration officer will issue a “Request for Evidence” (RFE) with a response date of 87 days. If the divorce or annulment is finalized before the 87the day and the foreign national provides the immigration officer with a copy of the decree, in addition to other evidence of good faith marriage, the im-migration officer will lift the condition and issue a permanent greencard. If the foreign national fails to respond to the RFE or to establish eligibility for the waiver, the immigration officer will deny the waiver and issues a Notice of Termination of Conditional Status. Fur-thermore, the immigration officer will refer the case for the issuance of No-tice to Appear. If removal proceedings are initiated, the foreign national will have the opportunity to prove eligibility

When Marriage Breaks Apart Before The Permanent Greencard Is Issued

for the waiver before the immigration judge.

There are instances when the U.S. citizen signs the petition to lift the con-dition despite the fact that divorce or annulment proceedings have been ini-tiated. In such a case, the immigration officer will grant the joint petition pro-vided the U.S. citizen spouse attends the interview and the immigration officer is convinced that the marriage was entered in good faith. The immigration officer may not deny the joint petition to lift the condition solely because the couple is separated or divorce proceedings have been initiated. The immigration officer will issue an RFE with a response date of 87 days. The RFE will require the foreign national to submit a copy of the decree of divorce or annulment along with a request stating he or she would like the joint filing treated as a waiver petition. If the foreign national submits a copy of the decree, the immigration officer will decide the case as a waiver of joint filing based on termination of marriage. The immigration officer will determine if there is sufficient evidence to establish that the foreign national en-tered the marriage in good faith. If the foreign national fails to submit a copy of the decree of divorce or annulment or fails to establish that the marriage has been terminated, the immigration officer will conduct an interview to determine if: the marriage was valid, the marriage was entered in good faith, the marriage has not been terminated, and no fee (other than the attorney’s fee) has been paid for the filing of I-130 or I-129F. If the immigration officer finds that one or more of these facts is not true, the case will be referred to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to initiate removal proceedings against the foreign national. We welcome your feedback. If you have any immigration questions, please feel welcome to email me at [email protected] or call 619 819 -8648 to arrange for a telephone consultation.

by Atty. Susan V. Perez

Immigration 911

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

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By Marissa Acierto | SAN DI-EGO - On May 29, 2011, House of Pacifi c Relations (HPR) International Cottages in Balboa Park celebrates the on going 75th Anniversary celebration every week on a Sunday.

HPR highlights on that Sunday was the celebration of ethnic food. Many food booths were out there with tents selling their favorite cuisines from different countries. In particular, many lo-cals and tourists commented and said, “Did you try the lumpia?” The lumpia was a hit because every corner as you pass, the comment was the same thing. A word out was on the ‘lumpia’. Whatever you did that day, ‘lumpia’ was a must.

Lumpia is a fave among Filipino’s and other ethnicity. It consist of crispy egg roll usually

House Of Philippines Celebrates 75th Anniver-sary In Balboa Park: The Lumpia Was A Hit

the size of a cigar and contains chopped up carrots, bamboo shoots, onions, garlic, salt and pepper. A choice of shrimp, pork or beef can be added and soy sauce for fl avor wrapped up in a thin wrapper. It is then deep fried in oil. A side choice of sweet and sour sauce can be added for a dip.

The HPR consists of 32 national groups in which they own small cottages in Balboa Park. Each cottage displays each country’s culture, traditions and history. The cottages are open to the public every Sunday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Refreshments are served and donations are welcome.

On Sunday, a free event will be held on June 12, 2011 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. a stage will be outside of the International

Cottages and will commemo-rate Philippine Independence Day. The House of Philippines will feature the Samahan Dance Company. One of the Philippine professional dance company in San Diego county.

HPR promotes advocacy for peace, goodwill and understand-ing to exemplify the 32 nations and ethnicities. The 501(c)[3] is a non-profi t organization founded in 1935 to bridge the understanding between groups in the United States.

The House of Philippines is a shared cottage with the House of France.

A partition is used to divide the cottages. For further info www.houseofthephilippines.org. -- Courtesy Photo by Marissa Acierto/SCCPress.com

Sycuan Casino is proud to celebrate Filipino Independence Day on Sunday, June 12th by offering seated table games players $4,000 in cash draw-ings. Entries begin at 3pm on June 12th and players can earn double entries at all $25 tables. Seated Pai Gow play-ers will also receive FREE baseball hats, while supplies last, and

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Charlotte Bryhn featured in the billboard

Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood.

The campaign on the com-pany’s website urged Norwegian fans to send their poster entry in what it called as a chance to win their “15 seconds of fame.”

Bryhn was not even aware that her dad sent an entry until she got a call from a representative of Solo informing her that she

would be the fi rst Norwegian whose face would be featured in their billboard in the states. She

also got a case of the Solo softdrink.

“It was funny, my family and friends also thought so,” Bryhn told ABS-CBN News on how she reacted to the unex-pected call.

Although she does not expect that this exposure would

necessary open doors for a career in Hollywood, she neverthe-less thinks it would be “exciting if something comes up in the future.”

She also pointed out that the feat is not really a big deal say-ing “it was just a contest, and I was only randomly selected. Lucky that this one includes my picture,” she added.

Bryhn was born to Filipina-Norwegian Eden Celso, whose family hails from Samar. Celso is married to Tommy Bryhn. She has a younger sister,Christina.

Far from chasing the American dream, Bryhn is more focused on her sports studies as freshman at Frogn High School in Drøbak,

a city located along the Oslof-jord and is known as the winter harbour of Norway.

Hollywood has to wait, at least for now.

(Story courtesy of Macel Ingles of ABS-CBN Europe)


CommunityShowbiz Watcher

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

by Ogie Cruz

SHOWBIZ WATCHER By Ogie Cruz | SAN DIEGO, 6/3/2011 --

Meryl Streep is widely re-garded as one

of the most talented and respected actresses of the modern era of American movie industry, while Vilma Santos is the Phil-ippines’ most awarded actress and longest Box Office Queen in the Phil. Industry will be together

Vilma Santos & Meryl Streep In A Movie? Together?

in one big movie?

Bigatin diba, kung masasama ang dalawang premyadong ac-tress ng dalawang bansa ?Tiyak isang big budgeted movie ang kailangan dito at isang malak-ing movie production ang dapat gumawa nito.

Puede di ba kung magsasama silang dalawa sa isang movie, tiyak marami ang aabang sa na-turang movie, lalo pa kung ang

istorya ay itutuon sa buhay ng mga Pinoy sa Amer-ica, lalo na dito sa San Diego California na halos kasama ng mga kano ang mga pinoy sa kanilang everyday of life?

Kaya naman nai-confirm namin

sa isang pamosong

Vilmanians na si Eric Nadu-rata sa nakita naming picture sa Facebook na kasama ni Gov. Vi si Meryl Streep, kung totoong masasama isang movie ang da-lawa. Yun pala creation lang ito ni Eric, at wish niya na magkasa-ma ang dalawang hinahangaan niyang dalawang actress pero wala talagang offer si Ate Vi to do a movie with international

niya sa Star Cinema.

Im sure nakita na rin ni Ate Vi ang picture na ito,itong hiling ng mga Vilmanians na makasama ng kanilang idol si Meryl Streep sa isang movie balang araw,tiyak aabangan ito ng marami.


Vilma Santos and Meryl Streep

Jolina Magdangal

Fidel Gives FilAm Faire a Thumbs Up! Fidel Ramos, Former Presi-dent of the Philippines, (left) and Merle Ferrer, COPAO President, (right) at Kimball Park

respected actress Meryl Streep.

Maganda ang idea kung mag-kakasama ang dalawa sa isang big movie,pero sabi nga namin , hindi totoo ang balita.Ang totoo raw ay may ang offer kay Ate Vi sa Kapatid Network Tv5, para sa isang movie,tv show at Tv Commercial pero ayon daw sa Star For All Seasons ang prior-ity muna niya ang commitments

Philippine Faire Beauties. Mrs. Philippine Faire 2011 Katrina Gaffud Benfer (left), 2010 Miss Philippine California beauties (center) and a caravan of Filipina women (right) shows the beauty of strength in numbers.


COPAO Philippine Faire 2011AS THE BAMBOOS SWAY By Rudy D.

Liporada | NATIONAL CITY, 6/3/2011` -- I would like to use my column at this time to thank the Council of Philippine Ameri-can Organizations – San Diego (COPAO) for bestowing upon me the honor of being the executive chair, leading the various committees that made the Philippine Faire – 2011 possible.

The privilege actually started a while back when I was requested to post my name for nomination for the position of vice-president for operations for CO

Faire-2011 Wrap Up and the ‘Dapat’ Brigade


Proud to be of service to the modern Filipino heroHappy Independence Day to the Filipino community

© 2011 Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. All rights reserved. Member FDIC.

522701

13" x 10.5"

4C

522701 13x10.5 4c.indd 1 5/13/11 1:06 PM


Light &Shadows

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

by Zena Sultana Babao

Why do we ex-ist? Is there a reason, a pur-

pose, for our life? These questions have baffled the greatest thinkers and phi-losophers down through the ages. We ponder the meaning of life. A child naturally won-ders, “Where did I come from?” As adults we ask, especially in our twilight years: “Is this physical life all there is? Does my life have a purpose?”

Think about your own ex-istence. Can you see the purpose for your own life with its ups and downs, its mixture of joys and sorrows? Do you sense lasting value in its toil, challenges and uncertain-ties?

Just why were you born?

The answers to these ques-tions are discussed in the publication “What is Your Des-tiny?” published by the United Church of God, an International Association which has ministers and congregations throughout much of the world.

This church trace its origins to the Church that Jesus founded in the early first century. Their commission is to proclaim to the world the gospel of the coming Kingdom of God and to teach all nations to observe what Christ commanded.

Three thousand years ago, the publication says, King David considered the apparent insignificance of human beings when compared to the vastness of the night sky. As a shepherd, David had spent many nights outdoors gazing at the star-stud-ded expanse overhead. Notice the thoughts he recorded in

Psalm 8:3-4: “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?”

David wondered why, con-sidering the magnificent and vast universe, God is so concerned with human beings and their fu-ture. He realized that, within the larger scope of the vast heavens, we can appear to be insignificant. Yet he perceived that, in the plan of the great Creator God, no part of God’s physical creation even begins to compare with His purpose for human beings.

Understanding that only God can reveal His purpose for creating us, David continued his reflection on the destiny of man: “For you have made him a little lower than the angels, and you have crowned him with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all

things under his feet, all sheep and oxen – even the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea that pass through the paths of the seas.” (Psalm 8:5-8)

David was reflecting on the dominion God gave man-kind at creation, to rule over all the earth. He realized that God has granted people the capac-ity to manage a significant part of His creation – our planet and its wonders. But he knew that much more was to come.

David’s words in Psalm 8 explain the more that was to come. Indeed, as David gazed at the celestial grandeur overhead, he may well have recalled God’s amazing proclamation given through Moses that “the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host

of heaven … the Lord God has given to all the people under the whole heaven as heritage. (Deu-teronomy 4:19)

This is astounding to contemplate! These verses reveal that man was created to share dominion with God over the entire created universe. Yet this is only one aspect of an even greater reality.

In all of God’s physical creation, He made only mankind in the image and likeness of Himself. He gave only mankind dominion or rule over the cre-ation. Mankind is unique within the creation of God. And God has planned for us an unfathom-able destiny!

The apostle Paul said of God’s marvelous plan, “This message was kept secret for centuries and generations past, but not it has been revealed to his own holy people.” (Colos-sians 1:26)

Throughout the ages the overwhelming majority of people have failed to grasp the amazing future God has in store for those who develop a proper relationship with Him. As the apostle Paul put it: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has prepared for those who love Him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9)

The Scriptures tell us that our destiny can exceed every-thing we could imagine in our wildest dreams!

A prophetic passage gives us our first clue to our fantastic future. Speaking of the resurrec-tion of the dead, it tells us that a time is coming when “many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to

everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” It adds: “Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.” (Daniel 12:2-3)

This is just a hint of the amazing future God has planned for us

– to live forever, shining in glory like the stars!

The Scripture reveals that our only hope for eternal life is being resurrected from the dead in a transformed body just as Jesus was. The Bible also makes it clear that being resurrected to immortality comes only through the gracious mercy of God: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)

Eternal life is the gift God has in store for those who turn from the way of sin and begin obeying God from the heart.

XXX

Eternal Life, Amazing Destiny

Dear Vice President Binay:

Please allow me to express formally my opposition to the burial of Marcos at the Libingan Ng Mga Bayani.

I oppose it because:

First, the letter and spirit of existing laws and implement-

ing rules prohibit such a burial. Please read: HYPERLINK “http://benmaynigo.blogspot.com/2011/03/marcos-to-be-or-not-to-be-lnmb.html” http://ben-maynigo.blogspot.com/2011/03/marcos-to-be-or-not-to-be-lnmb.html

Second, his Presidential and dictatorial regime has been marred with violations of human rights, crimes against humanity, crimes involving moral turpitude and economic plunder. Please read: HYPERLINK “http://ben-maynigo.blogspot.com/2011/03/marcos-to-be-or-not-to-be-lnmb-part-ii.html” http://benmaynigo.blogspot.com/2011/03/marcos-to-be-or-not-to-be-lnmb-part-ii.html

Third, he brought dishonor and shame to the Filipino people by falsely claiming awards and medals he never earned and for alleged heroic exploits in historic battles in Bataan and Kiangan, Mt. Province that never hap-pened. Please read:

HYPERLINK “http://asianjo-urnalusa.com/marcos-fake-med-als-redux-part-ii-p10766-168.htm” http://asianjournalusa.com/marcos-fake-medals-redux-part-ii-p10766-168.htm and

HYPERLINK “http://ben-maynigo.blogspot.com/2011/05/marcos-fake-medals-redux-part-iv.html” http://benmaynigo.blogspot.com/2011/05/marcos-fake-medals-redux-part-iv.html

Fourth, he further shamed the Filipino people by falsely claim-ing for reparation and back pay benefits which the U.S. Court of Claims and U.S. military investi-gators ruled as “fabrications….., falsifications…. malicious crimi-nal acts”. Please read:

HYPERLINK “http://asianjo-urnalusa.com/marcos-fake-med-als-redux-part-iii-p10829-168.htm” http://asianjournalusa.com/marcos-fake-medals-redux-part-iii-p10829-168.htm

Fifth, I join other patriotic Fili-pinos and freedom-loving men and women of the world who are standing and speaking up on the

Letter to BinayLibingan Ng Mga Bayani Series

right side of history. Please read: HYPERLINK “http://benmaynigo.blogspot.com/2011/05/is-marcos-hero.html” http://benmaynigo.blogspot.com/2011/05/is-marcos-hero.html

Sixth, I agree with what the last 4 Phil-

ippine Presidents before PNoy did – NO LNMB!

Seventh, I hope that genuine na-tional hero Ninoy Aquino’s efforts in proving that Mar-cos was no hero during the darkest hours of Martial Law were not in vain. Please read: HYPERLINK “http://globalbalita.com/2011/marcos-a-hero-not-for-ni-noy/” http://global-balita.com/2011/marcos-a-hero-not-for-ninoy/

In the last Vice-Presidential elec-tions, the message from the Filipino people was clear. They wanted somebody to help PNoy continue the unfinished revolu-

tion which his father Ninoy and

mother Cory envisioned for our country.

You were chosen because as columnist Jose Montelibano asked, “First, which Vice-Pres-idential candidate would take a bullet for Noynoy? Second, which Vice-Presidential can-didate would take a bullet for Noynoy even if it meant giving up the chance to succeed

him?”

Recommend-ing or decid-ing not to bury Marcos at the

Libingan ng mga

Bayani is nowhere near the equivalent of “taking a bul-let” for PNoy. It fact, as I have shown above, it is the right legal, political, moral and patriotic thing to do.

By doing so, you will be join-ing fellow-freedom fighters in re-affirming the right side of history and in reasserting old Filipino values worthy of “emulation and inspiration by this generation and the generations still unborn”.

In God We Trust,

Benjamin G. Maynigo5/24/2011

Pre-Martial Law Era. Ferdinand Marcos on the cover of TIME magazine, Oct. 21, 1966 issue titled “Two Decades of Independence in Asia.” He subsequently declared Martial Law in 1972 which sent the country down a path of corruption and plunder.

Philippine Vice President Jejomar Bi-nay is poised to sign a bill this week al-lowing Marcos to be buried in the Libin-gan Ng Mga Bayani (LNMB).

Get the best results for your CLASSIFIED AD via Asian Journal’s online+digital+print

editions. Call 619.474.0588


Get the best results for your CLASSIFIED AD via Asian Journal’s online+digital+print

editions. Call 619.474.0588

SACRAMENTO, CA (June 1, 2011) – Yesterday, the State Senate voted unani-mously in support of Senator Vargas’ Senate Bill 718, which would authorize the County of San Diego and counties across the State of California to offer a confi dential internet system for report-ing instances of elder abuse. SB 718 is now headed to the State Assembly.

“The Senate’s unanimous vote in favor of establishing a confi dential internet reporting system brings us one step closer to ensuring that our seniors’ voices are heard and abuses are not overlooked,” stated Senator Vargas (D-San Diego). “With this system, we can arm our dependent adults and seniors’ with an effi cient and effective tool for reporting and preventing future abuse.”

Currently, mandated reporters, such as licensed health practitioners, must report instances of abuse in a timely manner. Due to the high volume of callers and a recent decrease in personnel due to budget cuts, there can be a lengthy wait

State Senate Unanimously Supports Vargas’ SB 718

before a call is answered on the county’s main elder abuse reporting phone line which handles calls from mandated reporters and the general public. In November 2010, it was determined that 27 percent of callers hung up rather than waiting on the line to report abuses, leaving seniors and dependent adults at further risk of abuse.

The secure internet system would require that mandated reporters provide the same information as required in writing or over the phone. This service would be made available at no addition-al cost to the State of California.

Vargas represents the 40th California State Senate District which includes the southern portion of San Diego County, portions of Riverside County, all of Imperial County and California’s entire US/Mexico border. Vargas represented the 79th California State Assembly District from 2000 – 2006 and served on the San Diego City Council from 1993 – 2000.

SB 718 would authorize counties to establish confi -dential internet reporting system

DEL MAR - Devocean which was one of the fi rst Asian Ameri-can and Pacifi c

Islander band in San Diego County will be playing in the Del Mar

Fairgrounds on June 11, 2011 on Saturday from 1 p.m. up till 2:30 p.m. on the Ford Paddock Stage.

Devocean Plays For Del Mar Fair,

One Of The 1st Asian American

Band In SD County

Los Angeles, 9 May 2011 – The Philippine Consulate Gener-al in Los Angeles will be closed to the public on Monday, 20 June 2011, a special (non-working) day to commemorate the 150th Birth Anniversary of Philippine National Hero, Dr. Jose P. Rizal, pursuant to Presidential Proc-lamation No. 154 signed on 26 April 2011.

Regular consular services will resume on the following working day (21 June).

In emergency cases, the Duty offi cer can be reached at tele-phone number (213) 268-9990.

Philippine Consulate

Holiday Notice – 20 June 2011

by James Gesmundo

NEW YORK – “Aming li-gaya na pag may mang-aapi, ang

Gawad Kalinga Center for Social Innovation to Launch in New Yorkmamatay ng dahil sa iyo (`Tis our joy, when there be oppres-sors, to die because of thee).” The words of the Philippine National

Anthem, Lupang Hinirang, ring truest these days. While the country does enjoy a de-mocracy squeezed from the blood and cries of its heroes, it faces the biggest oppressor today – poverty. And this is the joy of Gawad Kal-inga; to be in the forefront of the battle against that which claims not only the fl esh and blood of Filipi-nos, but also their

dignity, identity and spirit.Gawad Kalinga USA will launch

the Center for Social Innovation (GK CSI) in the Philippine Center at 556 5th Avenue, New York on June 2, 2011 from 6 pm to 9:30 pm. Gawad Kalinga USA is a 501 (c) (3) not-for-profi t organization dedicated to working together with Gawad Kalinga Philippines to end poverty in the Philippines by 2024. The Center for Social Innovation is a development ini-tiative that aims to promote social entrepreneurship by engaging the Gawad Kalinga network.

“The fi rst phase in nation build-ing is to promote social justice,” said Tony Meloto, founder of Gawad Kalinga. “We do this by building the infrastructure, homes, villages, communities of people who should live like people, not dogs.”

Indeed, to date, Gawad Kal-inga, since its inception in 2003, has built 2,000 villages all over the Philippines. These villages represent around 60,000 fami-lies, pulled out of the slums into respectable living conditions.

“But we cannot stop here,” continued Meloto. “The next phase has to address the issue of sustainability. How do we ensure that these families will have food on the table? That is where social artistry comes in.”

The aim of GK CSI is to promote social enterprises in the Philippines by utilizing the resources available in the Gawad Kalinga communities. There are a couple of businesses today in the GK CSI framework, like the En-chanted Farms in Angat, Bulacan which supports business training, manufacturing of organic food and personal care products, and social tourism. This site in Bulacan is just the fi rst in the 24 planned sites for GK CSI all over the country.

“I envision having products made from the Philippines that will be able to compete with global brands,” affi rmed Meloto. “While these businesses create

social impact, these are also very profi table ventures with payback periods of 5 years or less.”

The launch of GK CSI in New York will focus on these business proposals that leverage heavily on the established Gawad Kalinga community plat-forms. Mr. Meloto will be the guest speaker together with the president of GK CSI in the Philippines, Frank Lester Chiu.

GK CSI will be critical to the ultimate aim of Gawad Kalinga to end poverty by 2024. This noble aspiration has been supported heavily by politicians, sports fi g-ures and celebrities.

“You cannot go wrong when you have the support of the two most powerful persons in the Philip-pines, President Noynoy Aquino and Vice President Jejomar Binay. You also have the support of the most famous Filipino in the world, Manny Pacquiao,” asserted Meloto.

Pacquiao did wear yellow gloves during his last fi ght with Shane Mosley as a sign of support to Gawad Kalinga and his commit-ment to fi ght poverty.

“I am just the most trusted man in the Philippines, and that matters a lot in promoting social enter-prises,” said Meloto.

In fact, last February, 2010, Reader’s Digest Asia Trust Poll ranked Tony Meloto #4 in the list of Philippines’ Most Trusted, only behind Rosa Rosal, Lea Salonga and Jessica Soho.

For more information and to RSVP for the event, please call Maricel Lo (718) 558-5858 or Beth Ramirez (201) 993-4842.

sent children to their deaths as suicide bombers and young men by their scores to die for nothing. He was discovered in the luxury of a fortifi ed mansion in a rural town of Abbottabad, 150 kilo-meters North East of the capital Islamabad, so much of a heroic warrior.

What has to be addressed of course is the grave social injus-tices under the cruel regimes of the Arab dictators. It was their greed and cruel oppression that Bin Laden used to justify his ter-ror attacks. The Western nations wrongly coddled and made deals with these tyrants to advance their own strategic and economic interests in the Middle-east - primarily oil. Now they have to do all to support the people’s struggle against their oppressors and help them achieve freedom and peace.

The Courage of Non-Violence


Social Entrepreneur of 2010. Mr. Antonio P. Meloto, Chairman of Gawad Kalinga Community Development Foundation (GK), was named the Social Entrepreneur in the recent Entrepreneur Of The Year Philippines 2010 awards banquet. Presenting him the award were Ms. Vivian Gee (right), East Asia Head of Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, and Br. Jun Erguiza (left), President of De La Salle University. With the support of volunteers and sponsors, GK has transformed poverty-stricken areas into safe and progressive GK villages. It has also encouraged livelihood and self-suffi ciency among GK village residents.

Corporate Citizen Globe joins GK. GK Ama-lia village residents in Tarlac present their boun-tiful harvest of organic vegetables to GK Chair-man Tony Meloto (far left) and Globe Community Relations Head Jeffrey Tarayao (3rd from left).


Culture and Arts

PASACAT Open Enrollment PASACAT PERFORMANCES

June is Philippine Independence Month and with that PASACAT will perform throughout the County for various celebratIons.

6/2 12pm Recital Hall, Balboa Park for the Fil-Am Employees of the City of SD

6/4 4pm Petco Park, Multicultural Night with the Padres

6/5 2pm St. Rita’s Church Bazaar6/11 11pm Philippine Festival, Mira Mesa Park6/11 11pm Skyline Hills Library, San Diego6/12 5pm, 7pm, 9pm Barona Casino6/16 2pm Americans for the Arts Conference,

Hilton by the Bay6/17 1 pm Americans for the Arts Site Visit at the

Jacobs Center Court6/18 1pm Sto. Nino Fiesta, St. Charles, Imperial

@[1558218098:Beach6/30 11am Asian Pacific Heritage Day, Navy

Region Southwest Broadway Complex

RONDALLA WORKSHOPS

Mondays, 630 - 730 pm July 11,18,25, August 1, PASACAT Center, 102 East 16th Street, National City, CA 91950

For more info call 619-477-3383.CONTACT

Anamaria Labao CabatoPASACAT Executive [email protected]

PASACAT is accepting new students Wednesdays, 5pm & 6pm at the PASACAT Center, 102 East 16th Street, National City, CA 91950 For more info call 619-477-3383.

and beneficiaries.

With the rise of Asian economies including Taiwan and Vietnam where my co-awardees come from, I’m con-fident that my country will also rise by building communities and creating a massive platform for productivity and prosperity to end poverty.

It all started for me in my search for answers about poverty in my country. 1. Why is the Filipino a squatter when there


Tony Meloto’s Acceptance Speechis so much land in the Philip-pines? 2. With his creativity and talent, why is he content to live in shanties and other subhuman dwellings? Both questions drove me sixteen years ago to look for answers in the biggest slum area in the country then—Bagong Silang in Caloocan City, where Gawad Kalinga was born. It was the template that spawned over 2,000 intentional communities nationwide with direct impact on the lives of 1 million Filipinos from the most marginalized and vulnerable sectors.

Although it is our public image, Gawad Kalinga is not

just about homes. Our work is nation-building with a clear objective to bring the Philip-pines out of poverty within one generation. The platform is basic and simple: land for the land-less, homes for the homeless, and food for the hungry. They resonate with the most funda-mental human aspirations: land, for roots and security; home, for cover and comfort; and food, for sustenance and nurture.

These seeds were planted in the first seven years of our journey and form part of the Social Jus-tice phase, the first of three in the movement’s roadmap to 2024. And so as we continue build-ing on these foundations, our

movement also enters the Social Artistry phase. Where Social Justice is about healing, restoring and rebuilding, Social Artistry

is about excelling and pushing the boundaries of the initiative through designer communities, towns, cities, even whole prov-inces.

Heralding this phase is the launch of our Center for Social Innovation (GKCSI). Concret-izing the concept of Bayanihan Economics or the economics of sharing, GKCSI will create Filipino-owned brands of afford-able, high-quality products that use Philippine-grown ingredients to improve the lives of the Fili-

pino poor. GK CSI is the village university for the rising Filipino that will mold a new generation of social entrepreneurs.

Our approach to excellence takes after our strategy in building homes: impact, scale and sustainability. We start by building the template that we are calling the GK Enchanted Farm. The Enchanted Farm is our Sili-

con Valley for social enterprise and our Disneyland for social tourism.

The third phase of nation building for us is the building of big industries, mainstreaming medium and big social enter-prises, building a strong middle class and creating opportunities at home so our people will not abandon their families to seek jobs abroad.

Key to all of this and some-thing we will always go back to is social justice. We will always

Thai food has become the favorite of many ever since it has been introduced to mainstream America. San Diegans will have a treat with the opening of Koon Thai Kitchen. This new restau-rant promises to share its pas-sion for authentic Thai food and amazing flavor and quality to its diners.

As its grand opening special, Koon Thai Kitchen offers a “free meal”. After paying for his first meal, a customer can get his next meal for free up to the dining value (before tax) from June 10 to 30, 2011 as a gift card. The offer is for dine-in only and not

Koon Thai Kitchen offers “free meal” for its grand

opening specialvalid with any other offers. The Koon Thai Kitchen advertise-ment published in this page must be presented to avail of it. In ad-dition, grand opening gift cards must be redeemed by July 31, there is a limit for one card per person and gift cards do not have cash value.

Koon Thai Kitchen’s lunch special menu starts at $5.45 and promises delicious food and great value.

Koon Thai Kitchen is located at 3860 Convoy Street, # 102, San Diego, CA 92111 with Tel. No. (858) 514-8111. Visit its website at www.koonthaikitchen.com for more information.

remind ourselves who we are fighting for. In fighting for the poor, we are fighting for our children. If we neglect the poor, our children will inherit a coun-try that will not provide them opportunities for a better life, a country where there will be no guarantee of food on their table or safety in the streets, a country that they will be ashamed of.

This is why Gawad Kalinga has also recently inspired and spearheaded a legislative initia-tive that institutionalizes the Gawad Kalinga way of caring and sharing. Dubbed a signature piece of legislation, the Volun-teerism for Nation Building Act of 2011 has convinced lawmak-ers from different party lines and leaders from different institu-tions to sponsor and vote for new forms of public-private partner-

Jolibee is one of the corporate partners of GK with a GK Village in Butuan, Agusan, Mindanao.



ASIAN JOURNALThe fi rst Asian-Filipino weekly in Southern California

An award-winning newspaper, it is San Diego’s most widely circulated Asian-Filipino newspaper!

Ashley SilverioAssistant Editor

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

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

Dr. Rizalino “Riz” Oades, (1935-2009)

The Asian Journal is published weekly and distrib-uted in all Asian communties in San Diego County. Publication date is every Friday of the month. Adver-tising deadline is Thursday prior to publication date at 5 p.m. For advertising rates, rate cards, or information, call (619) 474-0588. Subscription by mail is available for $50 per year (56 issues). The Asian Journal is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts and photo-graphs but welcomes submissions. Entire content is © 2009 copyrighted material by Asian Journal. Materi-

Genevieve SilverioManaging Editor

Simeon G. Silverio, Jr.Publisher & Editor

Miles BeauchampAssociate Editor

Santi SilverioAssociate Publisher

At Large...

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

by Miles Beauchamp

Perspectives

by Dr. Ofelia Dirige Founder, President & CEO Kalusugan

Community Services. www.fi lamwellness.org

Contemporary Asian American Issues

The Obama administration is about to ditch the Food Guide Pyramid, that symbol of healthy eating for the last two decades. In its place, offi cials are dishing up a simple, plate-shaped symbol, sliced into wedges for the basic food groups, half fi lled with fruits and vegetables, one quarter grains and one quarter protein or meat. It is called by the American Institute for Cancer Re-search as “THE NEW AMERICAN PLATE.”

This concept will be easier to fol-low than the Food Guide Pyramid.

The fi rst fi ve articles on the Di-etary Guidelines gave an intro-duction to the guide, weight control, foods to avoid and foods to increase more. How can we put all these ideas together so that it makes sense? This chapter in the guide gives some sug-gestions on four healthy eating patterns that we can follow to incorporate the recommendations. These patterns are not rigid prescriptions but rather options to accommodate your cultural and personal preference in eating, food costs and availability.

These eating patterns meets your nutrient needs and stays within the calorie limits so as

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER: A Healthy Eating Pattern

Sixth of a Series on Dietary Guidelines

not to gain weight. It has also been studied and researched to reduce risk of chronic diseases and provide other short and long term ben-efi ts. These healthy eating patterns are the USDA Food patterns, lacto- ovo vegetarian or vegan adaptations of the

USDA food pat-terns, DASH

Eating Plan, and the

Mediter-ranean

diet.

These dietary patterns have a high unsaturated to saturated fatty acid ra-tio, high dietary fi ber and potassium content and low in sodium

These diets have several things in common:

Increased amounts of: vegetables, fruits, beans & peas, whole grains, fat-free and low fat milk and milk products, and oils.

Decreased amounts of solid fats, added sugars and sodium.

Less red and processed meats and more seafood.

The USDA Food Patterns and its vegetarian variations were devel-oped to assist individuals carry out the Dietary Guidelines. Vegetarian style eating patterns have been as-sociated with lower levels of obesity and blood pressure, reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, and lower total mortality. The DASH Eating Plan was designed to help individu-als prevent high blood pressure and other risk factors for heart disease. The Mediterranean diet is practiced by a large number of cultures and agricultural patterns in countries that border the Mediterranean Sea so there is no one eating pattern. It has also been shown to reduce heart disease risk factors and heart disease and lower rate of mortality.

This article will feature the USDA food pattern as this may be the most common and easier to follow for Fil-ipino Americans (FilAms) than the other three. The next issue will be the DASH Eating Plan as many Fil-Ams suffer from high blood pressure and heart disease. Vegetarianism is not very popular among FilAms as generally they are meat eaters or “carnivorous” so the vegetarian plan will not work for them except from members of some religious groups that ban the eating of meat. The Mediterranean diet may be strange for some due to high intake of olive oil, nuts, and wine.

THE USDA FOOD PATTERN

This pattern shows the daily amounts of foods, in nutrient-dense


Old Food Pyramid (top) and The New American Plate (bottom)

Well, moms and dads, that time of year has

fi nally arrived. Gradua-tions are here. The faces look so smart and learned. The eyes sparkle and the step has a pronounced

I did it! I did it! I did it!That very special time of year,

graduationbounce. These women and men have graduated!

From where did your daugh-

ter or son graduate; was it from pre-school to kindergarten, or from elementary to middle school? Or, perhaps, your child went from middle to high school. Could it be that this week your son or daughter fi nally graduated

from high school? Or, just possi-bly, your child is now graduating from college.

From wherever your child is graduating, it is defi nitely a big deal. “Look at me, mom! Look at me, dad! Look at me, world! I graduated; I can do this!”

Watching the faces

This past week I sat through another graduation: the Alliant International University Class of 2011. Picture it: The parents, siblings, friends and relatives near and distant have taken their seats. There is a soft murmur as people talk while getting ready for “that moment” to arrive. And then it does.

The graduates march in to the music of “Pomp and Circum-stance” with gowns waving, caps on, and all eyes on them, many tearing up.

Then come the faculty and administrators. Everyone is still standing as we go up the aisle - many parents with a slight “whew” in their eyes with those tears.

We take our seats on the dais and the speeches start. The wel-coming speech, the commence-ment speech and more. The soon-to-be-graduates are rest-less, nervous, and excited. Who wouldn’t be?

I look out into the audience of former students and recognize so many. Some shoot me covert peace signs with their fi ngers or smile and nod. I’m going to miss you.

Here’s a secret about the faculty sitting up there looking so dignifi ed: many of us have been through these graduations ten, twenty, thirty times. And we still like being there. We still get misty-eyed during those special moments when a student gives us a slight wave. And yes, oc-casionally, we may text someone or play a game on our phone if the speaker is droning on too long - just like you’re doing in your seats.

I .like to look at the faces in the audience. Those of the stu-dents and their guests. I watch

the faces because there on those faces are etched pride, hope, belief in the future and dreams come true.

And then it starts. The awards, the diplomas, the handshakes, the photos, the tears. There isn’t anything else quite like those ceremonies because it’s the cul-mination of years of dedicated hard work and sacrifi ce.

Graduating from a university

is not an easy thing. Accord-ing to Huffpost, quoting “a new study from Harvard and the Asian Develop-ment Bank, 6.7 percent of the world’s popula-tion are college degree-holders.” Did you get that? Only 6.7%. A bachelors degree is hard to get. A masters degree is much harder and a doctorate is unbelievably diffi cult. And it is always worth it. Always.

Success

I like graduations, they are wonderful success stories. There are, after all, many things that can hinder an education. Just a few of the obstacles that can get in the way of a complete edu-cation include poverty, health problems, lack of motivation, peer pressure, drugs, violence, unplanned pregnancy, and lack of a role model. Yet millions of people around the world are

graduating this month. Millions more who raised these indi-viduals are seeing their own hard work pay off.

This is serious

Graduations are never taken lightly. The world of the graduate will never again be the same. Some of the people with whom great and wonder-ful friendships were forged will

never be seen again. Many people will change careers while others will start new ones. Some are continuing with education while others are fi nally (fi nally!) fi nishing.

Girls and boys came to an

Graduating from a university is not an easy thing. According to Huffpost, quoting “a new study from Harvard and the Asian De-

velopment Bank, 6.7 percent of the world’s popula-tion are college degree-holders.” Did you get that? Only 6.7%.

elementary school as children and left as adolescents. Oth-ers came as adolescents in high school and are leaving as adults. All are leaving a bit wiser, a bit more mature, and will never look at themselves in quite the way they did before they graduated.

We all made a difference Sometimes we hear about

the impact a teacher had on a student. Well you know what? I have never met a teacher whose life was not changed by their students, either.

Here is something you might think about. At some point in the distant future you will think wistfully about a teacher. Per-haps that instructor smiled at you during a depressing morning; maybe she truly made algebra not just understandable, but so much fun that you made com-puter science your career. Might be that he taught you what good writing actually looked like; or she helped you further your own understanding of the cosmos. Maybe he just took the time to hear you.

This is the interesting part: that teacher you may think about years from now will have also thought about you. You have had an impact on your school and on your instructors. And for myself, I thank you. I am a bet-ter person for knowing you, for teaching you, for learning from you. To the graduating class at Alliant International Univer-sity, and indeed every graduate around the world, you have my congratulations and my grati-tude. Now the world is yours, treat it well.


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Entertainment

COPAO Philippine Faire2011

Showbiz Watcher



Jolina Magdangal

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TAGUMPAY ANG PHIL-IPPINE FAIRE 2011 SA KIMBALL PARK LAST MAY 28,2011 !!! Yes Festival of Festivals ang nangyari sa com-memorate the 113th An-

niversary of Philippine inde-pendence na pinamunuan ng COPAO (Council of Philippine American Organization of San

Diego).

Parada ang unang nag-pasaya sa mga pinoy ng San Diego na nilahukan ng ibat-ibang schools at mga personalidad na kilala sa nasabing lugar, pati yung mga Beauty Queens kasali rin.

First time lang namin ito napanood,at siempre agaw pansin sa amin dito yung nag-parada ng mag-isa para irep-resenta ang mga Veterano at yung para sa kultura ng Pinoy na “Ati-atihan” na nag-iisa rin pumarada.Hindi rin pahuhuli ang mga Pinoy-American students ng ibat-ibang schools na pinagma-malaki nila ang kanilang pagig-ing pinoy kahit pa sabihin na dito na sila lumaki at nagkaisip pero pusong pinoy pa rin.

Although hindi namin nakilala ang pumunuan ng COPAO, pero napakalaking presentasyon ang kanilang nagawa para sa mga pinoy dito sa SD California para ipagdiwang ang Philippine Inde-pendence Day.

Dumating ang Former Pres. Fi-del V. Ramos na bumilib sa mga Pinoy dito at sa nasabing grupo, na biniro pa nga niya na hindi “Siopao” kundi “Copao”. Game na game si Pres. Ramos maki-pagbiruan sa mga tao, picture



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As the Bamboos Sway

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

by Rudy D. Liporada

COPAO. Although it was an honor, I knew that the position’s shoes were too huge to fi ll. I was also caught fl at-footed, when after accepting the nomination and acquiring the post, I was asked if I was ready to commence with the Philippine Faire – 2011.

“What?”“Oh! Yes, as VP-Operations, you

automatically chair the affair.”It was not merely an affair. It

was a two pronged function – The Filipiniana Night on May 14, 2011 and the Festival of Festivals on May 28, 2011.

“Kaya mo yan,” they said. You can do it.

“Kaya ko kung tutulong kayo,” I said. I can with all the help you can give.

They gave it all. Time, effort, money – that they could have spent for their family members, work – all for the sake of the community.

Nonetheless, we basically started the second week of February when we took our oath of offi ce late because we had to wait for the executive vice president-elect Myra Lopez to come back from the Philippines.

Some said we were very late because in the previous years, they started with the likes of November the year before.

So we were late and I did not even know where to start. The most expert who have been im-mersed in the Faires for ages, Fred Gallardo, had to be on vacation in the Philippines. Who would I asked advice or directions from?

Manang Auring Cudal, chair for the Faire – 2010 came to the fore. She handed me a compilation outlining what they did the previ-ous year.

That set my initial bearing. Committees needed were outlined in the compilation and the fi rst to form was the steering committee with Ate Merly Ferrer, COPAO president as chair and I and Myra, and Arnel Encabo as members. I also requested Ate Rita An-drews, former COPAO president; Fred Gallardo, former executive vice-president; and Julio De Guz-man, former Faire chair; to be consultants. Arnel had to be there because in the swirl of all things, as treasurer of the COPAO, he held the grease that facilitated every move.

At the initial meeting of the steering committee, we out-lined the committees akin to last year’s and plugged in people who we know would want to perform and called people who we had to confi rm if they would want to do the tasks. Everyone we plugged and called did not hesitate to vol-unteer.

The Filipiniana Night

Although the committees were set and we met every Tues-days, the initial pressing activity was on the Filipiniana Night.

Before leaving for the Philip-pines because her mother died, Nedy Lao, chair of the Filipiniana Night, managed to reserve the use of Town and Country Hotel for the function. With Nedy gone, the brunt of the committee’s task fell on Myra, her co-chair. It was a blessing that Julio De Guzman assisted her for the formulation of the program. Jun Mataban did most of the leg work for the awards. Rita Andrews, Paul and Nita Manning, Au Liporada, Nita Barrion, Becky Reclusado, Pressy Garrovillas, and Josie Rabela assisted on the wings and would soon be on hand for the canvass-ing.

But I attribute the hardest work to Myra who even had to tell me often “gutom ako, Rudy. May makakain ba riyan?” She would be lucky if I had left over sinigang at my Saladmaster offi ce whenever she became hungry after chasing candidates for the popularity pag-eant, organizing dinner and raffl e tickets, and other nitty-gritty stuff. She would also say “naku ubos na ang minutes ng cell phone ko. Ikaw na lang ang tumawag, Rudy” whenever her cell phone minutes are already down and would re-quest me to call whoever.

Although we voted to have a Little Mr. Philippines, we did not manage to have a candidate. So, we ended up having Katrina Benfer as Mrs. Philippine Faire – 2011; Jaime Dianne Hann, Miss Philippine Faire; Marifel Lopez, Miss Teen Philippine Faire; Nel-lie Sison, Mrs. Friendship; Rizza Macaoay, Miss Friendship; and Lalaine Uvero, Mrs. Unity.

With everything on a rush mode, Blessy Trott with James Buen-camino donated the dinner ticket cost with the raffl e tickets on a huge discount.

The coronation night was full of glitter and sounds with Celso Magaspac’s Mabuhay DJ on tow. A new component was Al Cen-deno’s video taping the coronation program. Rev. Julius Obregon and Jun Mataban serenaded the Faire personalities. By some of stroke of my wanting to share the limelight, I also rendered Manny Pacquaio’s now favorite song which he has a duet with Dan Hill – ‘Sometimes When We Touch’ – as a surprise number at a lull during the opening program. My wife, Au, my only forgiving fan said that’s the best rendition of a song I ever did.

My wife also served with Rema-rie Dinogan, Nita Barrion, Ludy Luevanos, and Lita Sebastian with

others in the Hospitality and Ush-ering committee.

Festival of Festivals

After the Filipiniana Night, we had to go back to the draw-ing board to fully gear up for the Festival of Festivals which would feature and depict the different fes-tivals held in the Philippines. The meetings were no longer limited to Thursday nights as committees met separately to iron out the booth and parade participations. All aux-iliary committees now focused in coordination with the FilAm Fest Organizing Committee headed by Dennis Michael and which handled the booth, parade, Festival program, and logistic committees. By now the countdown to May 28 was on a daily basis – exactly two weeks after the Filipiniana.

In all these meetings, the secre-tariat with Belen Mateo, Renato del Prado, and Drew Amarao made sure that the COPAO offi ce was ready. Meriendas were served, pa-perworks were prepared, etc. Ate Rita also dished out my favorite, her brand of chocolate fudge.

Earlier Ate Sally Idos, Parade Co-chair, coined the Faire’s theme – Bridging Generations, recognizing that there is a great divide between the young and old generations of Filipino Americans in the USA. After preparing the groundwork for the high school participation in the parade, Ate Sally and Kuya Salvador had to go home to the Philippines. Solidify-ing the student arrangements rested on Ate Dolly Balane. The bulk of the parade organization from be-ginning to the end was coordinated by Joyce Temporal, Parade Chair. In spite of her mother being sick, she attended meetings and made sure that even signage for cars and other tiny items were in place. She even coordinated her husband, Tony Ricasa, who coordinated the road and parade from preparations of the assembly to the fi nish. I have to say that they are an awe-some couple.

On the fi nale Tuesday meeting, Ditas Yamani, former COPAO executive director and who would be one of the emcees during the Festival program announced a sur-prise. “Fidel Ramos is joining us in the festivities.” While honored, we were plastered with issues of him overshadowing the Grand Marshall Mary Jo Bernardo Aragon, the Philippine Consul General in Los Angeles and added security mea-sures for which the National Police was poised to increase temporary use permit fees. “No,” Ditas would say later on. “He will not be in the parade; just in the program at Kimball Park. And no! I already spoke to the police and the mayor. Since Ramos is a former head of state, added security is really not needed but the police will add anyway without charging more on our TUP fees.”

Whew!

Another new thing to me was teleconferencing with the market-ing arm of GMA television which is bent on getting a bigger market share here in San Diego. By this time, Fred Gallardo was already back from the Philippines and with the veteran that he is, his inputs greatly added to mine, Ate Merly, Myra, Manang Auring, and Virgil (of FAFOC) in securing JayR Sillona and Jolina Magdangal to grace the program on May 28,

2011. After inking the memoran-dum of agreement, Dino Dinogan would be assigned to take care of the logistics of picking up the GMA party from LAX and have them lodged at the Clarion Hotel in National City.

Posters by now were fl ying with-in the community. The press media was also in frenzy with Manang Auring as chair of the Publicity committee. Supporting the com-mittee as photographers were Zen Ply and Emil Buencamino.

The eve of the 28th really proved to me how volunteers willing to work to the wee hours just to have the Festival to the fore. Joyce and Tony Ricasa did not sleep any-more, fi nalizing line ups on the as-sembly line, parade and programs. Ditas stayed on line with me even after her picking up Ramos and having a meeting with him up to midnight so we could fi nish print-ing the program with all necessary corrections. Earlier at 4:30 in the afternoon, I proved to myself how hard working George Alfonso was doing the canopy transport and set-ting them up for almost fi ve years in a row – without any fanfare or seeking recognition. It could be backbreaking, too, as I lifted just several of them from the COPAO offi ce to Kimball Park (transport-ed, of course with George’s truck).

While I was manning the CO-PAO post with Belen Mateo, Re-nato Del Prado, Myra Lopez and printing the program, volunteers were working the Kimball Park with the stage decors and canopy set ups. There was Fred and Cyd Gallardo with Boodgie Arce and Pressy. There was Cris Ferraro with the FAFOC and other name-less volunteers. There was also the Beta Sigma Fraternity with Glenn Abille and Robbie. The FAPOC leadership consisted of Dennis Michael, J.R. Melchor, Liz, Marla, Virgil Yalong, Michael David, Jamie Diokno, Dante, Ferchil Ramos, and many other volunteers (who would please forgive me for not knowing or remembering your names for there were so many of you). With the canopies and stage set up and Celso Magaspac’s music equipment set up, security secured by Ricky Reclusado made sure that everything was secured for tomorrow’s affair.

Then the parade and program for the Festival of Festivals came on May 28, 2011. As far as I was con-cerned the hardest job was over. As far as I was concerned it was over. The execution was the easy part. Tony Ricasa and Joyce Temporal were at the assembly area by 5:30. The FAFOC volunteers were at the Kimball Park, too. The police barricaded the streets at 6:30. Students started to trickle at the 99 Cents Store assembly line which was facilitated by Manny Doria.

At precisely 9:00 a.m. the parade commenced with Grand Mar-shall Consul General Aragon and COPAO President Merly Ferrer at the helm. National City, County and Congress offi cials were fol-lowed by the Faire beauties, past and present. Participating schools included Eastlake High School depicting the Paraw Regatta; Otay Ranch, Panagbenga; Sweetwater, Obando Fertility Rites; Morse, Alinsangan; Montgomery, Pin-tados, Olympian, Parol Festival; Bell Middle School, Sinulog; and Challenger Middle School, Pahiyas. Marching bands joining also included the Montgomery High School, Morse High School with the JROTC Color Guard, and the Granger Middle School. The PASCCO, Lions, and other organi-zations also paraded like the others down 12th St., Kimball Way, D St. unto Kimball Park.

There were booths, booths, and more booths at the park where the program started at 11:00 coor-dinated by Virgil Yalong. Ditas Yamani, Salvador Idos, and Fresas Flores did the superb job of being emcees.

I opened the ceremonies with the following remarks: One hundred thirteen years ago, Katipuneros led by Andres Bonifacio rose in arms in the Philippines, declaring no more to tyranny, no more to slavery, no more bondage. It was in March 16, 1521 when foreigners trampled upon the Islands’ sacred shores and string a colonial rule that span for over three decades. After the Katipunan commenced the revolt in August 1896, the Philippine Flag was fi rst hoisted

Faire-2011 Wrap Upand the ‘Dapat’ Brigade

under the azure skies in June 12, 1898. This is why we are celebrat-ing today.

The program started with procla-mations, remarks from personali-ties including President Fidel V. Ramos.

The program included Rizen Beingz, Pakarugalan, Kulintang Ensemble, Hollywood Music, Charisma Kain, Rising Stars of RC Delmor, and Bell Middle School. The highlight, of course, was the Freedom to Party by GMA featuring JayR Sillona and Jolina Magdangal.

The COPAO scholars were also presented under the auspices of Dina Ellorin, Severino Ramos, and Ray Monzon.

With so many at the park, a fi rst aid station was manned by Crisa-bel Ramos and Famela Ramos.

The program was formally closed by Myra Lopez with an invitation to next year’s Faire – 2012.

The winners for the raffl es are the following: Elena Wilson, Iced Tea maker; Eddie Enriquez, Food Storage Pack; James Buencaminio, Coffee Maker; Myself, Blender; Myra Lopez, Toaster; Lalaine Uve-ro, Electric Fan; June Olson, Leah Merit, Loida Laroza, and Damiana Escoto, $50.00 gift cards; Ma. Rowena Bartolome, $200.00 Cash; Lalaine Uvero, $300.00; Lions, $500.00 Cash; and Benny Valerio, the Grand prize of $1000.00 Cash.

To everyone, thank you for partaking in the celebration. My special thanks also to Denden, Bert Samson, Manong Julian and Manang Fe Lomahan for manning the Lutuang Best – Saladmaster booth so I could attend to my function as executive chair of the Philippine Faire – 2011.

Mabuhay.

and Vega (CTV) - a full ser-vice law fi rm with offi ces in San Francisco, San Diego and Manila. The information presented in this article is for general information only and is not, nor intended to be, formal legal advice nor the forma-tion of an attorney-client relation-ship. The CTV attorneys will be holding regular free legal clinics at the Max’s Restaurant in Vallejo, California. Call or e-mail CTV for an in-person or phone consultation to discuss your particular situation and/or how their services may be retained at (415) 495-8088; (619) 955-6277; [email protected]


Surviving Relatives ...

ships that is top in the priority of our new government under President Benigno Aquino.

All these ideas spring from the conviction that no Filipino should be a squatter in his coun-try that has enough land, and no Filipino should be hungry in his country where natural resources are abundant. The goal is simple: to transform the attitude of poor communities from survival to suffi ciency, from suffi ciency to abundance; and to transform the attitude of the rich from philan-thropy to social enterprise.

And the challenge remains: go and make every existing Gawad Kalinga site productive and help open new ones. Make the fi elds bloom with beauty, turn our bar-ren lands into fi elds of abun-dance, make every brand fl y, and every Filipino a giver of life.

Just like Japan, through hard work, honor and heroism, Filipinos will end poverty in the Philippines.


Tony Meloto’s Ac-ceptance Speech



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

Phil - Am Law 101

As we have been repeatedly re-minding our

readers, committing immigration fraud has dire consequences, usu-ally leading to eventual removal (deportation) from the United States. In most cases, the fraud is discovered after several years when the immigrant and his or her family have already established their roots here and removal would result to extreme hardships for them and their loves ones.

Our story today is based on an actual case which we have just successfully completed. Robert (not his real name) was petitioned by his immigrant father about twenty years ago under the F-2B category as an unmarried son of an immigrant parent. In 2004, he was finally

YOUR SINS ARE FORGIVEN(Immigration Fraud

Cured by Waiver)interviewed by a consular officer in the U.S. Embassy in Manila. He was bringing with him his two young sons as derivative beneficiaries.

Robert presented his docu-ments to the consular officer, including a marriage index from the National Statistics Office which certified that he was still unmarried. After a few minutes, the officer shook Robert’s hands and told him to just wait for his immigrant visa in the mail. The visa did arrive and two weeks later, Robert and his two kids were on board a plane en route to San Francisco.

Every immigrant who enters the United States goes through a port of entry. There, the immigrant presents his visa and other legal documents. Usu-ally, it takes about three hours for the immigration officer to process his papers, while his welcomers anxiously wait for him to come out. Robert and his two kids underwent the same procedure. Robert presented the F-2B visa that had been recently issued to him by the U.S. em-bassy in Manila.

After a year, Robert filed a Form I-130 petition for Di-anne, the mother of his two sons. He was petitioning her as his spouse under the F-2A category (spouse of an immigrant). Noth-ing was heard from the USCIS for a long time. Finally, in 2008, Robert received a rejection no-tice telling him that his petition for Dianne had been denied.

Worse, Robert also re-ceived a Notice to Appear. Now, this is a very scary document because it tells you that the U.S. government wants you deported. Frantic, Robert contacted our office.

It turned out that at that time Robert was interviewed by the U.S. embassy in Manila, he was truthfully a single person. So, the NSO marriage index that he presented was genuine. He also told the truth to the consular officer that he had remained unmarried.

However, Robert got married the very next day after his embassy interview. He hon-estly thought that he was already free to get married because the consular officer already shook his hand. Actually, Robert cannot anymore say no to Dianne who insisted that they already get married so she could have some hold on Robert, especially so as he was bringing their two sons with him to the United States.

So while Robert technically did not commit any fraud during the embassy interview, he did so when he presented the F-2B visa to the immigration officer at the San Francisco airport. This is because the visa was only for an unmarried person, when in fact he was already married at that time. The USCIS noticed the fraud when they reviewed the Form I-130 petition for Dianne

because it contained the date of their marriage. The eagle-eyed officer saw that it took place before Robert was admitted to the United States.

Fortunately, there was a way out for Robert, and it is referred to as the Section 237(A)(1)(H) waiver. This waiver is available only to immigrants who meet certain criteria. First is that he or she must be the spouse, parent, son or daughter of a U.S. citizen or immigrant. Second is that he must be in possession of an immigrant visa. Third is that, but for the fraud, he or she was admissible to enter the United States.

Robert seemed to have problems with the first and sec-ond requirements. There was an argument that his F-2B visa was not an immigrant visa at all, be-cause it was meant for an unmar-ried person which Robert was not. However, this argument was long rejected by the courts in several cases. On the other hand, Robert’s parents are already dead, so he seemed not to have met the requirement of being a son of an immigrant. Again, the issue was already resolved by the courts which ruled that a person remains to be the son or daughter of his citizen or immigrant par-ent even if the parent is already dead. Thus, Robert is statutorily eligible, but he still needed to get the court’s discretionary ap-proval.

The clincher, so to speak, was for Robert to admit his mistake. This is what the judge and the government attor-ney are looking for – a genuine expression of remorse and an attempt to rehabilitate one’s self from his or her past mistake. This is where many respondents fail as self-preservation instinc-tively induces them to insist on their innocence despite irrefut-able evidence of the fraud or misrepresentation. Robert readily admitted his mistake and was able to convince the judge and the government attorney that he was sincerely sorry for what he had done and that he is exerting his best efforts to be a better per-son. In the end, it was easy for them to forgive him for his sins.

Atty. Rogelio Karagdag , Jr. is licensed to practice law in both California and the Philippines. He practices immigration law in San Diego and has continu-ously been a trial and appellate attorney in the Philippines since 1989. He travels between San Diego and Manila. His office ad-dress is located at 10717 Camino Ruiz, Suite 131, San Diego, CA 92126. He also has an office in the Philippines at 1240 Apacible Street, Paco, Manila, Philippines 1007, with telephone numbers (632)522-1199 and (632)526-0326. Please call (858)348-7475/(858)536-4292 or email him at [email protected]. He speaks Tagalog fluently. Articles written in this column are not legal advice but are hy-potheticals intended as general, non-specific legal information. Readers must seek legal consul-tation before taking any legal steps.

Showbiz Watcher

doon at picture roon ang nang-yari.Naglambitin pa nga si Pres. Ramos sa bintana ng kanyang sasakyan para mapagbigyan lang niya sa picture taking ang ibang pinoy.

Nakausap pa namin siya, at biniro pa kami na lumalaki raw ang tiyan namin siempre naging conscious tuloy kami sa aming figure at iwasan na ang pagkain ng maraming kanin sa susunod na mga araw.By the way ,nandun din ang booth ng ibat-ibang Fili-pino foods and products, nakila-hahok din ang ilang mexicano at siempre present din ang booth ng Asian Journal kung saan nandun kami with Ric Mendoza.

Nakausap din namin ang mga beauty titlist na pumarada na sina Ms.Frances Pascua na Ms. Philippines California National 2010,Ms. Devah Urbanovitch Ms. Phils. California Regional 2010 at si Ms. Huliana Payraza-glu Ms. Philippines California Cities 2010.

Dumating din ang mga kapuso stars, (pero teka bakit walang mga kapamilya stars) na sina Jo-lina Magdangal , Jay R Sillona at Ms. Philippines International na si Krista Kleiner na nagkaroon sila ng moment para sa kanilang mga fans,autograph,signing at chika chika.Nagbigay rin ang ba-wat isa ng mini concert na nag-pasaya ng husto sa mga pinoy.

Muntik pa nga na hindi naming nalapitan si Jolina nung araw na yun, mahigpit kasi ang security sa kanila na kahit sabi nam-ing sa Asian Journal kami still pinapipila kami para kumuha ng picture.Buti na lang may tumu-long sa amin ang chairman ng Copao.Maraming salamat kay Chairman Merly Ferer, at least nalaman nila na importante na mai-report namin ang importan-teng event kagaya nito.

Nakilala naman kami ni Jolina, sabi pa nga niya lumipat na raw sila ng Daddy niya ng bahay at kinuha pa nga niya yung news-paper na Asian Journal dahil mention namin siya sa aming column.

Grabe nga ang hatak ni Jolens sa tao sa San Diego, siya talaga ang star of the show na pinag-kakaguluhan ng husto.Kaya lang sa dami ng tao hindi na kami masyadong makarinigan pero alam namin may kagagawin si-yang isang teleserye na pagsasa-mahan nila ni Claudine Barretto sa GMA with Marvin Agustin na tiyak aabangan ng kanilang fans.

Super cute din at pinagkagu-luhan din ang magkasintahan na sina Jay R at Krista,magaling din sila humatak ng tao at very kalog si Ms. Philippines Inter-national, siempre kinilig naman ang mga girls sa mga kanta ni Jay R.

Marami kaming pictures sa naturang event na talaga namang tinutukan namin last Saturday.Congratulations sa COPAO!!!


facilitating money laundering. He also has returned P135 million of the loot, but kept some P128 mil-lion withdrawn within four days in October 2004 before the court could freeze his bank accounts. Having complied with this slight condition, the court approved with finality the questioned plea deal.The Sandiganbayan will set a

sentencing hearing. Direct brib-ery merits imprisonment of eight to 12 years; facilitating money laundering, four to seven years. But the court by option can keep Garcia free under the Indetermi-nate Sentence Law. It can deem as time served the six years he was detained — November 2004 to December 2010 — for court martial and non-bailable plunder. It can also forgo the minimum eight-year term for bribery. In two recent bribery cases the Sandigan-bayan sentenced a state prosecu-tor and a labor arbiter to four and three years, respectively.

Garcia can rejoin family


Health

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ScienceDaily (May 31, 2011) — How do people who speak more than one language keep from mixing them up? How do they find the right word in the right language when being fluent in just one language means knowing about 30,000 words?

That’s what science has won-dered about for decades, offering complicated theories on how the brain processes more than one language and sometimes theoriz-ing that bilingualism degrades cognitive performance.

But University of Kansas psycholinguist Mike Vitevitch thinks that complicated explana-tions of how the brain processes two or more languages overlook a straightforward and simple explanation.

“The inherent characteristics of the words -- how they sound -- provide enough information to distinguish which language a word belongs to,” he said. “You don’t need to do anything else.”

And in an analysis of English and Spanish, published in the April 7 online edition of Bilin-gualism: Language and Cogni-tion, Vitevitch found few words that sounded similar in the two languages.

Most theories of how bilingual speakers find a word in memory assume that each word is “la-beled” with information about which language it belongs to, Vitevitch said.

But he disagrees. “Given how different the words in one lan-guage sound to the words in the other language, it seems like a lot of extra and unnecessary mental work to add a label to each word to identify it as being from one language or the other. “

Here’s an analogy. Imagine you have a bunch of apples and or-

Bilingualism No Big Deal for Brain, Researcher Finds

anges in your fridge. The apples represent one language you know, the oranges represent another language you know and the fridge is that part of memory known as the lexicon, which contains your knowledge about language. To find an apple you just look for the round red thing in the fridge and to find an orange you just look for the round orange thing in the fridge. Once in a while you might grab an unripe, greenish orange mistaking it for a granny smith apple. Such instances of language “mixing” do happen on occasion, but they are pretty rare and are easily corrected, said Vitevitch.

“This process of looking for a specific piece of fruit is pretty efficient as it is -- labeling each apple as an apple and each orange as an orange with a magic marker seems redundant and unneces-sary.”

Given how words in one language tend to sound different from words in another language, parents who speak different languages should not worry that their children will be confused or somehow harmed by learning two languages, said Vitevitch.

“Most people in most countries in the world speak more than one language,” said Vitevitch. “If the U.S. wants to successfully compete in a global economy we need people who can com-municate with potential investors and consumers in more than one language.”

Vitevitch is an associate profes-sor of psychology at KU and an associate scientist with KU’s Life Span Institute.

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materi-als provided by University of Kansas.


PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER: A Healthy Eating Pattern

forms to eat from the five major food groups and subgroups. It also includes allowance for oils and lim-its the number of calories from solid fats and added sugars. It is similar to the DASH and Mediterranean diets.

SUMMARY: The USDA food pattern is an example of a healthy eating plan that one can follow. One has to know her/his estimated caloric level by looking at Appendix 6 of the Dietary Guidelines. Appen-dix 7 will translate the caloric level into food groups and the amounts recommended. Then one can divide the food groups and plan a menu for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack. The Dietary guidelines can be ac-cessed at HYPERLINK “http://www.dietaryguidelines.gov” www.dietaryguidelines.gov. For more information visit HYPER-LINK “http://www.health.gov/

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by CESAR D. CANDARI, MD, FCAP EMERITUS

The changes in immigration policies in this country as we have seen have indeed harmed the continued influx of pro-fessionals, doctors, lawyers, engineers, nurses, and others. The previous fifth preference category, others, has virtu-ally disappeared. Why is that? Reality check says it is the fear of competition, the economic competition imposed by the professional immigrants. Now as we grow older and finally retire questions are being raised. Who is going to follow our footsteps? Are we the disappearing breed of professionals in this country?

As of now, it is believe there is no shortage of physicians in the U.S. However, there are some states that expect short-age in physicians in year 2020 and those Filipino doctors who became nurses with working vi-sas, and with no immigrant visas that are available right now, may be they shall have a chance to become doctors again. Another visa available is the J-1 Visa in all states where there are medi-cally underserved areas or health professional shortage areas. Those physicians in the tempo-rary worker visa or H-1B, is an alternative to J-1 visa, which is a two-year residency program in the U.S. In order to obtain the H-1B status, the physician must pass all parts of either the FLEX,

WHEN YOU DREAM IT, DO IT

Are We the Disappearing Breed of Fil-Am Profes-

sionals in This Country - Doctors and Nurses?

the NBME, or the USMLE ex-aminations. Upon completion of their residency programs, these physicians are able to obtain H-1B visas and permanent resident status through employer sponsorship. Others are able to immigrate to the U.S. through close relatives who are U.S. citi-zens or permanent residents. To Filipino doctors who are seeking employment in the US should bear in mind that there are spe-cial licensing requirements, and because of this they must start planning before the completion of medical school. Getting an H-1B visa is not always easy and even getting H-1B status is not free from problems. For further assistance, consult your immi-gration lawyers.

About seven decades ago, the Philippines gained its indepen-dence from the United States of America. This was a product of our natural quest for democracy and freedom. No one, I sup-pose, ever dreamt that thirty to forty years later or so, after that Independence Day, that you and I shall be here in America enjoy-ing the freedom of this beautiful country and be blessed with op-portunities and achieved suc-cess and affluence in our lives. We are indeed very fortunate if we compare ourselves with our colleagues in the Philippines, who are still yearning to come to America.

We all came to this country



Spiritual Life

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Joke of the week: A preacher found three little boys sitting on a curb playing hooky from school. “Don’t you want to go to heav-en?” he admonished them. “I sure do,” two of the boys answered, but the third replied, “No sir.” “What’s the matter? You mean

Ascension Sunday: (“Con te partirò”) It’s

Time to Say Good-bye.you don’t want to go to heaven when you die?” “Oh, when I die!” exclaimed the youngster. “Of course I do, when I die. I thought you were getting up a crowd to go now.”

Scripture: First Reading: Acts 1: 1-11. This passage pres-ents a few important themes: a) Christianity depends primarily upon God’s free action, it comes directly from God and is not dependent on any human action or ritual; b) God’s kingdom is not about some earthly dominion but the coming of the Holy Spirit; c) rather than wasting their time, be-ing over zealous, and concerned in computing about the end of the world, Christians should spend their remaining time to witness to Jesus; d) just as Elisha received a double portion of Elijah’s spirit in seeing him taken up in flam-ing chariot, so too the Apostles received the Spirit in witnessing Jesus taken up in a cloud. Second Reading: Ephesians 1: 17-23. The author prays three things for his readers: a) to know the hope of their calling; b) to realize the riches of God’s glory among the saints; c) to marvel at the great-

ness of God’s power. Gospel: Matthew 28: 16-20. In this pas-sage, Matthew summarizes three important themes of his Gospel: a) the Father bestows upon Jesus a supreme and universal author-ity; b) the disciples will share with all, especially the non-Jews, their discipleship; c) Jesus is truly the “Emmanuel” (God-with-us) who abides with the church from the time of its birth until the end of time.

Reflections: Today is the Solemn Feast of the Ascension of the Lord. The apostles witnessed that the Lord for whom they had left family and profession was leaving them. They felt happy for him, because he was going back to his Father, but sad, because they did not know what to do from now on. He assured them that he would be with them until the end of time, but they could not reconcile that promise with what they are experiencing now: he is leaving them!

Though absence makes the hearts grow fonder, yet saying good-bye is always a hard thing to do. Saying good-bye is always a daily routine; it is an essential part of life. We say good-bye to childhood to welcome new life cycles, such as adulthood and old age. We bid good-bye to places that are familiar to us to settle at a newly found residence. We end with a good-bye our many years of employment to face the much expected time of retirement. We end our day’s work by saying good-bye to our co-workers. Say-ing good-bye involves emotional, psychological, physical, social, and even spiritual elements. No wonder why good-bye is not an easy thing to do!

Jesus bade good-bye to his followers. At the same time he promised them that he would not leave them alone, he will be with them until the end of time. It is always true: when a door closes, another one opens; when some-body departs, another one arrives. With Jesus’ ascension the Holy Spirit descends upon his disci-ples. Nobody is left alone to fend for himself; there is always help that fills up the space left vacant by someone departing. This help could be another person, another work, another activity, or another ministry.

Bye, bye, birdie. The carpet layer had been working hard all day installing wall-to-wall carpet. When he noticed a lump under the carpet in the center of the living room, he felt his shirt pocket for his pack of cigarettes,

by Michael H. Brown, Spirit Daily | 4/22/2011 We have asked this previously: Do you let other people define you? Do you let them tell you who you are -- or are supposed to be? Does your self-perception change according to who is around? If so, they may be impinging on your mission. Likely, they are also impinging on your happiness.

Your mission is your destiny. It is the "you" at your holiest. It is the you at your happiest. It is the you at your closest to God and your best -- reaching full poten-

God Has A Great Plan For Everyone And It's Stymied When Others Tell Us Who

We Aretial away from the confines of others. God has a great plan for you. Do you realize that? And are you letting others affect it?

People label us. They put a tag on us. And too often, it sticks. We start to believe the way we're perceived. We let the judgment take hold. They perceive us based on assumptions, false first impressions, or old information. Folks keep us in a box. They limit us. They seek their own comfort in trying to form us as

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MaskaraMasdan ang mga gusaling humahalik sa kalangitanat sa hihip ng hangin ay kasabay silang dumuduyanhindi ba’t napakagandang tanawin hayan iyong masdanhuwag ka na lang sisilip pa duon sa dakong likuran.

Mamasyal sa gabi’t tingnan ang makikislap na ilawmapapahangang tunay ang mga turistang namamasyalpero subukan mong pumasok sa looban nina Islawkislap ng awa’t kahirapan ang sa iyo ay dudungaw.

Naaamoy mo ba ang maraming tindahan ng pagkainsa kaliwa at sa kanan talagang ikaw ay gugutuminpero paano ko nga kayang pagkain ay lulunukinkung makikita kong mga pulubi’y sa ‘kin nakatingin

Sa loob ng mall ay hindi magkamayaw ang mga taosa iba’t ibang tindahan sila ay paroo’t paritomayroong namimili, mas marami ang nag-uusyosokaya ingat ka pare, laganap ‘tong mga mang-ootso.

Ganito na ba ngayon bayan nating minamahalmagarang maskara lang pala ang sa mukha’y nakatapalmaipagmamalaki ba natin ang ganitong larawankumilos naman kayo mga kapatid na nahalal.


their marriage, for she was not officially divorced from her first husband, who had abandoned her and was nowhere to be found. They had to wait seven years for him to be declared officially dead or missing so the mar-riage could be annulled. After the long wait, she and Danny remarried, this time, officially. By that time, however, she lost interest in going to the U.S. She was living comfortably in the Philippines. After hearing reports that in America, one had to work their butt off every day to survive, she realized she wanted to stay. She was a stay-at-home mom in the Philippines with no worries where the food money came from. Danny was getting a $1,400 pension from his deceased ex-wife in addi-tion to his business income. In the Philippines, that amount of money was more than enough to live comfortably. Moreover, her parents returned to the Philip-pines after getting into trouble for committing welfare fraud in America. They were part of the reasons why she wanted to mi-grate to the U.S., as she wanted to be with them in their old age. Now that they were back in the Philippines, that reason was eliminated.

This time, however, it was not the attraction of the “land of milk and honey” that was luring her to migrate. She desired to leave the Philippines where her husband continued his relationship with his girlfriend Margie for the sake of their baby.

“I-file mo na uli ang petition namin (File our petition again),” she told her husband. “Gusto ko nang lumayas sa impyernong pamumuhay dito (I want to leave this hell-like living situation).”

“Hindi ako puwede doon. Matanda na ako at hindi na ako puwedeng magtrabaho (I cannot be there. I am already old and can no longer work),” Danny told her. “Besides, I have my business here.”

Mindy’s constant naggings forced Danny to acquiesce to her demands. Danny was sup-posed to return to the Philippines afterwards “to take care of his business.”

“Baka naman pagbalik mo makipagkita ka na naman sa kulasisi mo (You might see your girlfriend once you return).”

Mindy knew it was an empty threat. Whether she liked it or not, she knew there was no way she could stop Danny from see-ing Margie and their baby. But she had to show him that she assumed Danny’s relationship with Margie was completely over, an assumption both knew to be false.

Their teenage daughter Carol also wanted to migrate to Amer-ica. She was an ambitious girl who wanted to study and live in the United States. After all, she was considered an American citi-zen despite having been born and raised in the Philippines. Under the law, she acquired the citizen-ship of her father, a naturalized American citizen. Carol was also eager to see her half-siblings, the children of her father from his first marriage whom she met the first time her father had brought her to America. Like her mother, she wanted to live as far as her father’s girlfriend and her baby, although the baby was Carol’s half-sister.

THE PLANNED TRIP UP-SET DANNY’S BUDGET. He needed money for the plane fare

for the three of them. He found a solution in one of the frequent customers of his club, Mando.

“Pare, baka gusto mong sumos-yo dito sa club (Pal, you might want to invest in this club as a partner),” he told Mando while drinking with friends. “Tutal, lagi ka naman dito at malaki ang ginagastos mo (Anyway, you are always here and are always spending so much every time).

“Bakit, akala ko ba malakas itong club mo. Bakit kailangan mo pa ng partner (I thought your club is doing well. Why do you need a partner for)?”

Danny told him the truth.“I need money to bring my

family to the U.S.”“So you are going to abandon

your business?”“No, I will return to manage it

with you.”“Does it have liabilities?”“I owe P150,000 to the land-

lord.”“How come you incurred that

much debt?”Danny explained that a year

ago, he took somebody in as a partner. He let him manage the business but did not know that rent bills were not being paid. When Danny found about it, his partner simply quit, taking with him whatever money he could get. Danny had to slowly pay off the debt lest he be evicted.

Mando accepted the offer and gave Danny the money for plane fare and other expenses. He owned a business recruiting ap-plicants for seamen positions to be placed in ships abroad. Every time a group of seamen received their orders to travel to their place of employment abroad, he would give them a despedida (send-off parties) that turned out to be drinking sprees among men - at the applicants’ expense of course. Since Danny’s club was near Mando’s office, it had become their favorite haunt. As part-owner, Mando knew he could generate enough business for the club and enjoy his drink-ing habit, sort of having his beer and drinking it too!

Mando could freely operate the business while Danny was away. The only condition Danny asked was for his girlfriend Margie to manage the club. She could be his eyes and ears while he was abroad. Danny was sure Mar-gie would look after his inter-est since she was the mother of his child and, in a way, his life partner.

DAYS BEFORE DANNY’S DEPARTURE, Margie met two new customers at the club who wanted to buy the business.

“Would you be interested?” Margie asked Danny.

“No,” Danny replied.“But they are willing to offer

one million pesos,” Margie insisted.

Danny thought this was too good to be true. He had doubts, but the thought of receiving one million pesos for the business was enticing enough. He could pay off his debts to his landlord and partner with plenty to spare. Danny could put up another business and continue to earn a living in addition to his pension.

“Okay,” Danny agreed. “Talk

to them. I am very busy as I am leaving in three days. Just let me know what happened.”

The next day, Margie reported: “They wanted me to go with them to a town in Cavite to meet the financiers.”

Danny got excited. The thought of earning a windfall from a business he was thinking of giv-ing up gave him high hopes.

“Then go!” Danny told Margie.Danny was at the airport with

Mindy and Carol waiting to board the plane when he got a frantic call from Margie. He moved away from Mindy to take the call, afraid his wife would know he was still in touch with his girlfriend.

“Danny, help me,” Margie cried. “I am in jail!” – AJ

(To be continued)

(Editor’s Note: To read the pre-vious and weekly installments of this series, visit www.asianjour-nalusa.com. Once there, click the “Editorials” heading, then click “Complicated Affairs by Simeon G. Silverio, Jr.” title to see the list of all previous chapters of the series. Click the title of the chapter you want to read and the article will appear.)

Our Life and Times

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

marking the link www.asianjournalusa.com/complicatedaffairs

Margie’s Predicament

COMPLICATED AFFAIRS


Paraphrasing the words of the first President of the United Na-tions General Assembly, Carlos P. Romulo, an Ilocano from Camil-ing, Tarlac;

“I am an Ilocano – inheritor of a glorious past and hostage to an uncertain future. As such, I must prove equal to a two-fold task – the task of fulfilling my obliga-tions of the past, and the task of meeting my responsibilities of the future.”

There is nothing wrong with regionalism. It is a localized version of nationalism or love of one’s race. It was not surprising therefore that Ilocanos who belong to the so called Ilocano Race or Ilocano Nation have developed a strong affiliation by identifying ourselves either as GI (Genuine Ilocano) or as FBI (Full-Blooded Ilocano). It is also no wonder that in action as well as in national elections, we always manage to act solidly and / or project a Solid North.

When Marcos declared Martial Law and made himself a dictator, many Ilocanos remained strong supporters and loyalists primarily because they were beneficiaries of his regime and secondarily, because he was their Ilocano “son of a bitch” – nasirib (shrewd or wily) and “naisahan and mga kalaban.” (Put one over his op-ponents).

That is why a friend was sur-prised when he found out during Martial Law that I was an avid critic of Marcos. I explained to him that being an Ilocano does not necessarily mean pro-any Ilocano or pro-Marcos. I went on to explain how the battle was drawn using the political spectrum analysis during Martial Law.

On the extreme left, I said, was Jose Ma. Sison, an Ilocano UP professor who founded the Ka-bataang Makabayan (KM), led the Communist Party of the Philip-pines and the New People’s Army.

The Christian Left was led by Ilocano rebel priest Fr. Conrad Balweg , a Catholic priest who began his revolutionary career defending the ancestral land rights of the Tinggians, of Abra Province in the Cordillera Mountains of Northern Luzon, against govern-ment-backed mining operations. Abandoned by the Church and hunted by the government, he went underground and joined the Communist Party of the Philip-pines/New People’s Army. He is the Philippines’ Fr. Camilo Torres

Heroes Ilocanos can be proud of

who espoused the Theology of Liberation and a comrade of Latin America’s Che Guevara.

Left of Center were Raul S. Manglapus and Sonny Alvarez of the Movement for a Free Phil-ippines (MFP), President and Secretary General, respectively. The former was an Ex-Senator and Foreign Affairs Secretary who hailed from Tagudin, Ilocos Sur while the latter was a Delegate to the Constitutional Convention who came from Santiago, Isabela.

While the MFP continued to light the fire of freedom abroad ala Propaganda Movement, an-other Ilocano who was based in Mindanao, former Constitutional Convention Delegate and ex-Mayor of Cagayan de Oro Nene Pimentel was leading the left of center group called PDP-Laban as a major opposition force in the Philippines.

In the Center of the political spectrum was another Ilocano - Bishop Francisco Claver. He draft-ed the 1986 Philippine bishops’ statement that is believed to have triggered People Power that was to unseat Ferdinand Marcos and pave the way for Corazon Aquino’s in-stallation as president. The Catho-lic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) described him as “one of the strongest defenders of civil rights among the bishops at the height of Martial Law.” He was one of the greatest exponents of Post-Vatican II Reforms and Gandhi’s non-violent method.

On the right, away from the Cen-ter were General Fidel Ramos, an Ilocano from Asingan, Pangasinan and Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile, another Ilocano from Tuguegarao, Cagayan. Of course, while both were staunch allies of Marcos, they eventually withdrew their support from him and joined the People Power Revolution.

Of course, on the extreme right was dictator/fascist Ferdinand Marcos and his Ilocano generals led by his Chief of Staff Ilocano Fabian Ver.

Based on this analysis, I have shown that not all Ilocanos were so bad that they blindly and sol-idly supported a dictator who actu-ally robbed them blind – of their civil rights and their bright future.

Ilocanos should not be despaired by the discovery that Marcos was a fake hero. There are other Ilocanos we should be proud of. Not only those who openly and bravely opposed Marcos during the darkest hours of Martial Law but, most especially, written in the history books were Ilocano heroes

worthy of emulation and inspira-tion.

Just to mention a few: .Fr. Jose Burgos, an Ilocano priest and martyr of the GOMBURZA fame; Fr. Gregorio Aglipay, another Ilo-cano who founded the Aglipayan Philippine Independent Church; General Antonio Luna, an Ilocano general who served with fellow Ilocano General Emilio Agui-naldo; General Artemio Ricarte, a general from Batac, Ilocos Norte who was considered the father of the Philippine Army and who never took an oath of allegiance to the U.S. government; Diego Silang, another Ilocano revolution-ary; his wife Gabriela Silang, who was considered one of the bravest Ilocana revolutionist; and Juan Luna a great Ilocano painter, older brother of Antonio who worked with Rizal in the Propaganda Movement.

In Presidential politics, there were other Ilocanos we should be proud of. I particularly admire Ramon Magsaysay from Zambales who was an auto mechanic, a for-mer Congressman, an Ex- Defense Secretary who broke the back of the HUKBALAHAP movement, and started to dismantle the pri-vate armies of political warlords. He was the Ilocano President who proclaimed that “those who have less in life must have more in law. His life was cut short in a plane crash.

He was a genuine World War II hero. When Bataan fell in 1942, Magsaysay escaped to the hills, organized the Western Luzon Guerrilla Forces, and was commis-sioned captain on April 5, 1942. For three years Capt. Magsaysay operated under Col. Merrill’s famed guerrilla outfit and saw action at Sawang, San Marcelino, Zambales. Magsaysay was among those instrumental in clearing the Zambales coast of the Japanese prior to the landing of American forces together with the Philippine Commonwealth troops on January 29, 1945.

Manglapus’ “Mambo, Mambo Magsaysay” was the song that VERITAS radio continuously played to keep the people at EDSA awake and going.

Another Ilocano President was Elpidio Quirino. Born and raised in Vigan, Ilocos Sur, he was a lawyer who became a Congress-man, a Senator, Senate President Pro-Temp, Secretary of Finance, Secretary of Interior, Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Vice-President and eventually, President.

He was also a genuine World War II hero. During the Japanese Occupation, he refused to join the puppet government of Jose Laurel. Instead, he became an underground leader of the Filipino resistance movement against the Japanese. He was captured and imprisoned by the Japanese mili-tary police in Fort Santiago, and his wife, two daughters and a son were murdered by the Japanese forces. This is in stark contrast to Marcos whose father was executed by Filipino guerrillas for collabo-rating and propagating Japanese causes.

Few Ilocanos know it but President Carlos P. Garcia was actually an FBI and a GI. While he was born and raised in Bohol, his parents were both from Bangued, Abra. Under the principle of Jus Sanguinis, (by virtue of blood) he was a natural born Ilocano. He was a teacher, poet, orator, top-notch lawyer, Congressman, Gov-ernor, Senator, Vice President and Secretary of Foreign Affairs. He was also a guerrilla leader during World War II. He was known for his “Filipino First” policy, which put the interests of the Filipino people above those of foreigners and of the ruling party. He was also unbeatable in Chess.

President Fidel Ramos is still alive but I am already predict-ing that history will treat him kindly. An Ilocano from Asingan, Pangasinan, he is known to have captured the loyalty of the military from Marcos during the EDSA Revolution. As President his economic policies and infrastruc-ture development projects almost brought the Philippines to Tiger or Dragon status.

Fernando Poe, Jr. who was cheated out of the Presidency by Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, was a GI/FBI from San Carlos, Pangasi-nan. He is considered a hero both in reel and real life, Ironically, GMA is part Ilocano because of her mother Eva.

There are other Ilocano heroes in history, in the Philippine Revolu-tion, in the two World Wars and in other fields of endeavor. Many are in the books, most are unknown. And many are still alive.

The bottom line is, there is no dearth of HEROES from the Ilo-cos that Ilocanos can be proud of!

A week later she spent $2,181,000.00 in one day! This in-cluded $1,150,000 for a platinum and emerald bracelet with dia-monds from Bulgari; $330,000 for a necklace with a ruby, diamonds, and emeralds; $300,000 for a ring with heart-shaped emeralds; $78,000 for 18-carat gold ear clips with diamonds; $300,000 for a pendant with canary diamonds, ru-bies and emeralds on a gold chain.

After New York, she dropped by Hong Kong where a Cartier representative admitted it was this Filipina, Imelda, who had put together the world’s largest collec-tion of gems - in 1978.

May 1979 The Marcos couple celebrated their twenty-fifth wed-ding anniversary in a party that cost $5,000,000.00 There was a silver carriage drawn by eight white horses.

November 23, 1978 A house was purchased at 4 Capshire Drive in Cherry Hill , New Jersey (actu-ally near to Philadelphia where Bongbong was taking courses at that time) for use by servants and Bongbong’s security detachment. The Marcoses did not neglect their annual real estate purchase. During this year and next year, 1979, they purchased two proper-ties - one at 3850 Princeton Pike, Princeton - a 13-acre estate for use by daughter Imee as she attended Princeton.

The other was a house at 19 Pendleton Drive in Cherry Hill for use of Bongbong and under the name of Tristan Beplat,

erstwhile head of the American Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines .

April 1979 in two days in New York this month, Imelda spent $280,000 for a necklace wet with emeralds and diamonds; $18,500 for a yellow gold evening bag with one round cut diamond; $8,975.20 for 20-carat gold ear clips with

twenty-four baguette diamonds; $8,438.10 for 18-carat gold ear clips with fifty-two tapered ba-guette diamonds; and $12,056.50 for 20 carat gold ear clips with diamonds.

June 1980. For $1,577,000.00 in New York Imelda buys Webster Hotel on West 45th Street . She rewards Gen. Romeo Gatan as a limited partner. Gatan arrested Ninoy at the beginning of Martial Law.

The insurgents’ ranks grew by twenty percent a year. . Meritori-ous officers in the armed forces experienced low moral due to Marcos’ penchant for promoting friends over more deserving of-ficers.

February 16, 1986. In Fe’s records of monies paid out during Marcos’ last campaign, one unusu-ally large item was authorized by “FL” (First Lady) and paid to Assemblyman Arturo Pacificador on this day. A few days later, two carloads

of men drove into San Jose , the provincial capital of Antique.

Evelio Javier, head of Aquino’s campaign, was watching the votes


Plunder(Continued from page 2)

being counted when the men opened fire and killed Evelio after he was still able to run through town but finally got cornered in a public toilet where he was gunned down in front of shocked townspeople. Pacificador was later convicted of the murder.

February 25, 1986. Marcos fled the Philippines leaving behind a foreign debt of $27 billion and a bureaucracy gone mad. “Cash advances” for the elections from the national treasury amounted to Php 3.12 billion ($150 million). The Central

Bank printed millions of peso bills, many with the same serial number. Sixty million pesos in newly printed bills were found in a vehicle owned by Imelda’s brother Bejo in the Port Area of Manila, and another Php 100 mil-lion aboard the MV Legaspi also owned by Bejo Romualdez.

How massive and humongous a loot Marcos took can be deduced from the known losses he left behind. The known losses he left at the Central Bank included $1.2 billion in missing reserves and $6 billion in the Special Accounts.

Imelda charged off most of her spending sprees to the PNB or Philippine National Bank which creatively wrote off her debts as “unresponded transfers”.

Ver also used PNB funds to finance his “intelligence” opera-tions.

The known losses at the PNB amounted to Php72.1 billion.

At the DBP, the losses Marcos

left behind totaled Php85 billion;at the Philguarantee, it was Php

6.2 billion ;and at the NIDC or National

Investment and Development Corporation (NDC) - the losses amounted to Php 2.8 billion.

These losses were primarily due to cronyism - giving loans to cro-nies that had little or no collateral, whose corporations were under-capitalized, whose loan proceeds were not used for the avowed purpose, and where the practice of corporate layering was common, i.e. using two or more companies with the same incorporators and officers, whereby one company which gives the loan owns the company which obtains the loan, or similar arrangements.

The cronies enjoyed their close-ness to Marcos. With him they formed a Grand Coalition. They participated in the exercise of dictatorship. But Marcos owned them. The wealth of the cronies belonged to him. Because of the free rides taken by Imelda, Marcos and the cronies, the Philippine Air-lines was in debt by $13.8 billion.

The conservative Grand Total for losses Marcos left behind (and therefore the kind of loot he grabbed and hid) amounted to $17.1 billion. The Central Bank, the PNB, and other financial institutions badly need an audit. The special review (not regular audit because there seems not

To be continued


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they want us to be, in the way that makes them most comfort-able (and superior) -- instead of the way God made us.

This especially happens with those who have known you the longest. A trial! We do this to each other all the time. Those who are closest to us often can't accept who we have become -- our development, especially our spiritual development.

They feel threatened. They may be afraid of losing your friendship. They may feel it will change the relationship. Or, they're afraid they won't be able to keep up. They may be jealous.

Yet, you can't let others project their emotions on you. We want to grow. We want to change for the better. Everyone is here on earth precisely for that purpose -- to evolve into a great and pure vessel for God. Do we allow that transformation? Or do we give into the labels? Throughout life, we are to shed old skin and progress as increasingly glorious "butterflies." Others will resist that because they aren't used to the butterfly, or are envious.

People label us as dumb or ambitious. Or lazy. As partiers. As selfish. As too strong, or too weak. As prideful (when we are

just being confident). Who do you think you are, we can hear them thinking.

They often want us to remain in the slot we were in when they first met us and just as often they define you on past transgressions -- taking no note of the way you have shed bad habits through the mercy of Jesus.

That's because they don't see -- nor do they try to see -- through His eyes. They categorize you. They cast you into a role, a mold. You're in a file in their "fil-ing" cabinet. They have stereo-typed you. Don't play the part. Look at the way the Pharisees defined Jesus. Look at the way no one believed He was Who He really was until the resurrection (and still many denied Him).

Usually, when this happens, people are seeing something in you that reminds them of someone else and suddenly you are that someone else -- often a negative someone else.

Bible-thumper. Religious fanatic.

"Holier than thou."Don't let negatives be spoken

over you. When that occurs, it's like a curse. Shrug it off as soon as it tries to alight on your shoulder (or take its place on your forehead like a barcode). Sometimes, people just keep holding onto something that is not you and sometimes, we have to prune acquaintanceships because their time has passed. Perhaps unknowingly, they try to hinder your spiritual develop-ment. Don't worry about popu-larity contests.

God Has A Great Plan For Everyone And It's Stymied

When Others Tell Us Who We Are



to have been any - there are no records anyway) did not uncover Imelda’s spending - her name never appeared - and Ver’s intel-ligence fund. The review gave no hint of theft or missing money, only “downward adjustments” and “proposed adjustments” to “deficiencies” and “shortages of money”.

February 26, 1986. A few hours after the Marcos party landed in Honolulu, their luggage arrived - 300 crates on board a C-141 cargo jet. It took twenty-five customs officers five hours to tag the bags and identify the contents. The process was videotaped because of all the money and jewelry found inside.

There were 278 crates of jew-elry and art worth an estimated US$5 million. Twenty-two crates contained more than Php27.7 million in newly minted currency, mostly hundred-peso denomina-tions worth approximately US $1,270,000. 00 (It was illegal at that time for anyone to depart the Philippines carrying more than Php500 in cash.)

There were other certificates of deposit from Philippine banks worth about US$1 million, five handguns, 154 videotapes, sev-enteen cassette tapes, and 2,068 pages of documents - all of which were impounded by Customs.

The Marcos party was allowed to keep only US$300,000.00 in gold and $150,000.00 in bearer bonds that they brought in with their personal luggage because they declared them and broke no US customs laws.

There were 24 one-kilo gold bars fitted into 2 0$17,000 hand-tooled Gucci briefcase with a solid gold buckle and a plaque on it that read, “To Ferdinand Marcos, from Imelda, on the Occasion of our 24th Wedding Anniversary.”

February 1986. When Marcos departed the Philippines, the losses in the three Central Bank accounts surpassed Php 122 billion (more than $6 billion). The big bulk of losses was attributed to the RIR account mainly due to two items: forward cover and swap contracts.

Forward cover referred to for-eign exchange provided by the CB at a fixed exchange rate to im-porters of essential commodities. Swap contracts referred to CB’s receiving foreign exchange from banks in exchange for pesos at the prevailing rate with a promise to deliver the foreign exchange back to them at an agreed future date. There was no mention of losses due to CB transactions in gold or foreign exchange.

February 28, 1986. On this day, Jim Burke, security expert from the US Embassy, was tapping on the wooden paneling in Imelda’s abandoned Malacanang bedroom when he heard a hollow sound. It was the walk-in vault. Inside were thirty-five suitcases secured with locks and tape.

They contained a treasure trove of documents about Swiss bank accounts, New York real estate, foundations in Vaduz , and some notepaper on which Marcos had

practiced his William Saunders signature. They also contained jewelry valued at some US$10.5 million.

March 16, 1986. Did Marcos steal any gold from the CB? The CB always refused to comment. Why?

Today, the LA Times reported that 6.325 metric tons of gold was unaccounted for in the Central Bank. Between 1978, the year Marcos ordered all gold produc-ers to sell only to the CB, and end 1984, the Bureau of Mines reported that 124,234 pounds of gold were refined. But the CB reported receiving only 110,319 pounds during this same period.

That left a difference of 13,915 pounds (6.325 metric tons).

March 1986. Jokingly refer-ring to themselves as the Office of National Revenge, a vigilante team led by Charlie Avila and Linggoy Alcuaz received a tip in the morning that Marcos’ daughter Imee had kept a private office in the suburb of Mandaluyong at 82 Edsa. They obtained a search war-rant, then rushed to Camp Crame to pick up some soldiers.

After devising a plan, they boarded four cars and drove to the premises, arriving around mid-night. The soldiers scaled a fence and sealed off the area. Avila , Alcuaz, and their men moved in and found documents in cardboard boxes, desks, and filing cabinets. Gunfire could be heard outside but it didn’t deter the search.

The documents revealed the names of offshore companies and overseas investments of Marcos and his cronies - a late link in the paper trail that had been started abroad by the teams of Avila, Steve Psinakis, Sonny Alvarez, Raul Daza, Boni Gillego, and Raul Manglapus.

March 09, 1986. A Greek-Amer-ican, Demetrios Roumeliotes, was stopped at the Manila International Airport before he could leave with eight large envelopes stuffed with jewelry that he admitted belonged to Imelda - valued at US$4.7 mil-lion.

March 15, 1986. Ernie Maceda, Minister of Natural Resources, revealed today that some 7 to 14 tons of Philippine gold are sold to the Binondo Central Bank annu-ally and then smuggled to Sabah , Malaysia - this gold being part of some 20 tons produced by 200,000 panners all over the country. Maceda’s query was whether part of the gold they produced was siphoned to the “invisible gold hoard of Ms. Imelda R. Marcos.”

“We deliver to the Central Bank,” the miners said. “If it hap-pened (the siphoning), it happened in the Central Bank.”

Is it true that Marcos propagated the Yamashita myth to hide the fact that he looted the Central Bank, that its gold bars were melted down and recast in odd-size bars to make them look old (how does gold look old, any-way?). Marcos claimed that he “received the surrender of Gen. Yamashita” after a battle with his guerrilla outfit.

History has recorded that Yamashita surrendered to Lt. Co. Aubrey Smith Kenworthy and that there was no battle. Yamashita’s peaceful surrender had been ar-


Plunder(Continued from page 18)


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Street Poetry

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

by Michael R. Tagudin

©2011 Michael R. Tagudin. All rights re-served. About the Author: Michael R. Tagudin Educated as an engineer in the Philippines, the City of Los Angeles employee hopes his legacy of poems will provoke a dialogue about the human condition. He is donating the proceeds from the book “Crushed Violets” to the “Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking (CAST)”, a non-profit that provides public awareness and advocacy efforts against human trafficking in the City of Angels. To learn more, visit www.castla.org. To help, call the CAST 24 hour hotline 888.KEY.2.FRE(EDOM) or 888.539.2373. Contact [email protected] for more information about ordering the book “Crushed Violets.”

If you let others define you, you won't reach true happiness because you won't reach the destiny the Lord has assigned to you. Every single person on earth is equally important in God's mysterious, incomparable Plan. And no one on earth sees even a fraction of it. Our "ge-niuses" have no clue when it comes to His perspective (unless they take the Christian perspec-tive). Renounce their labels. Remain in faith. Move upward always. Don't look back at past worldliness; you'll only stumble. Forget about what once enticed you (and kept you in that box). Forget about the way others per-ceive you and remain steadfast in how the Lord sees you.

We're all equal, and God has a plan of greatness for every one of us. He made us to be great. Joy comes with greatness as or-dained by the Lord -- the great-ness of motherhood, the great-ness of being a great janitor, the greatness of a life lived for oth-ers. It is labels -- and our accept-ing those labels -- that prevent us from achieving bigger spiritual things. Go for the greatest "you." Go for the best you can be -- no matter what others around you think. Rest in the Lord. Remain in Him. Worry about pleasing Him only. Gravitate to the inte-rior "you" that is most familiar to you, and maintain the real you no matter how others try to perceive you and cause you to misperceive yourself.

Source: www.spiritdaily.com [resources: Announcing a retreat for New Jersey-Philadelphia area and Father Degrandis' books]

God Has A Great Plan For Everyone And It's Stymied

When Others Tell Us Who We Are


Read Romeo Nicolas’s previous poems by visiting our website at www.asianjournalusa.com

Mga Tulang Tagalog

by Romeo Nicolas

Marami ang nalulungkot sa balitang kumalat na,Na ang kaso ng PABAON ay malamang magtagal pa.Sa dami ng masasangkot, MAJOR, MAJOR na prob-lema,Inako ng isang taong ang PABAON maantala. Ngayong wala na si A.R., paano na, paano na?Saan kaya ihahantong ang usiging parang DRAMA?Hindi kaya magmatigas ang SANGKOT at bawat isa,Tanggihan ang akusasyon at matapos ang SARSU-WELA. Sana naman’y ‘wag lumabo ang lahat ng pag-sisikap,‘Di na muling maulit pa, GENERAL na puro PAL-PAK. Magbago na, magbago na, ayusin na ang palakad,Na ‘di laging sa SALAPI, mga MATA, dumidilat. Payo ko lang sa sino mang mamahala sa AFP,Na sa lahat ng “Tansaction”, ang “cash money” ‘wag isali.Nararapat na gamitin, “document” nang ‘di mahuli,At kung TSEKE, “documented”, ang nag-issue at nagtabi. Sa panahong “computerize”, mahirap na ang man-daya,Na tanggihan ang halagang, ‘di tinanggap, ‘di ginawa.Lumundag mang parang ASO, sa pagtanggi sa masa-ma,Huli rin sya’t WALANG SABLAY, sa PABAON, siya na nga. Katulad ng mga kaso, ang nasangkot may tungku-lin,Kung sila’y NAGSAPAKATAN, ‘ tagal itong malili-him.Ganyang-ganyan ang katulad, ng HALALAN dito satin,Buti na lang, tinanggap na, “computer’ na ang gami-tin. Ang “PABAON”, kahit kailan sa Militar ay ‘di angkop,Lalo’t ito’y KAKALTASIN sa sundalo’t buwang SA-HOD.Pati ARMAS na bibilhin, napahinto, kinurakot,Ngayon, heto, at TINUBOS, sa PABAON ay natakot.Batikos No. 8Romeo S. Nicolas2//10/2011

Tinubos Na Pabaonand sure enough, they were gone. He wasn’t about to undo all his hard work for a pack of cigarettes, so he got a two-by-four and tamped down the lump until it was smooth. He packed up his tools and carried them to the truck. Then two things hap-pened simultaneously. He saw his cigarettes on the front seat, and the lady of the house called to him, “Have you seen my parakeet anywhere?”

Truly, saying good-bye can be devastating when we don’t have the right attitude. This kind of negative attitude is exemplified by the following quotes: “Where is the good in goodbye? Mer-edith Willson, The Music Man (Thanks, Thomas). “Goodbye, goodbye, I hate the word. Soli-tude has long since turned brown and withered, sitting bitter in my mouth and heavy in my veins.” R.M. Grenon.

However, a more positive understanding of goodbye is shown in the following quotes: “Goodbyes are not forever. Good-byes are not the end. They simply mean I’ll miss you until we meet again!” Author Unknown. “Don’t be dismayed at goodbyes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. And meeting again, after moments or lifetime, is certain for those who are friends.” Richard Bach. “We only part to meet again.” John Gay. “Missing someone gets easier every day because even though it’s one day further from the last time you saw each other, it’s one day closer to the next time you will.” Author Unknown. “Absence diminishes little pas-sions and increases great ones, as the wind extinguishes candles and fans a fire.” Francois Duc de la Rochefoucauld. “As contraries are known by contraries, so is the delight of presence best known by the torments of absence.” Al-cibiades

Quotation of the week: “Christ has no body now on earth, but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours; yours are the eyes through which is to look out Christ’s compassion to the world, yours are the feet with which he is to go about doing good, and yours are the hands with which he is to bless us now.” St.Teresa of Avila.

Ascension Sunday: (“Con te partirò”)


from all walks of life, of differ-ent professions, and with differ-ent perspectives and ambitions. We have struggled. Many of us have won in our struggles with flying colors, even exceeding our American counterparts. The rewards have been numerous. However, let us not be trapped into a state of complacency sim-ply because we are doing well. There will always be challenges out there. There is no doubt that

the contribution of the Foreign Medical Graduates and the For-eign Nursing Graduates in the health system of this country is substantial. Let no one disregard this.

I truly believe we must concern ourselves to helping our country, and even more to our unfortunate colleagues who can never find decent careers in the Philippines.

While we concern ourselves in helping our countrymen and their ills, we must also develop our Filipino American commu-nity in its political clout in this country if we are to be effec-tive in fighting oppressive and adverse policies. There is much to be done if we intend to forge our Filipino American commu-nity into a strong, cohesive force that can speak with one voice on matters that concern us all.

For Filipino nurses: With the worldwide aspiration to go to the US competing at each other, we can only imagine that the backlog (retrogression) of US Visa will continue to be a major hindrance for many Filipinos to go to the States. The only real hope in the horizon is the passing of the US Emergency Nursing Supply Release Act of 2008 or HR 5924.

The retrogression continues to be the reasons why no visas for competent nurses applying for work in the US are available, thus resulting to delay in their employment overseas.

The retirement of registered nurses (RNs), compounded by the increasing demand for health care services account for the large vacuum in such shortage.

As an organized grouped of Filipino American doctors and Filipino American nurses, we have a purpose for being. That purpose is no less than to help assure our survival as medical and nursing practitioners, as respectable human beings, to be given the opportunity without bias, to flourish and to achieve our maximum potential. The Philippine Nurses Association could make representations directly to the American Nursing Association and express their

Are We the Disappearing Breed of Fil-Am Professionals in This Country - Doctors and Nurses?(Continued from page 16)


(Poem No. 15)

Sometimes I feel like an idiot Talking to the phoneThat nobody really answers.But it ‘s okayIts alrightIt does not really matterIf hearts are like wallsThat does not feelI just wanted to be like a taggerLeaving my statementAcross its faceThat once upon a timeI was with youIn lust and loveAlways wanting to beTogether forever.

Tagger


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specific charity involved.9. I won’t be able to be there

when my car is scheduled to get picked up by the towing com-pany. What should I do about the title and the keys?

No worries. Just let us know ahead of time if you won’t be able to be there when your car

is towed and make sure that

you

leave the title and the car

keys in the vehicle.10. I want to donate!

Where can I get more informa-tion?

Fantastic! Contact your favor-ite charity today! For a more de-tailed account of the car donation process, check out the our article outlining the 5 steps to donate a car.

Auto Action Sports 12160 CommunityRoadPoway CA 92064 (858) 486-4380 Auto Marketing/Mossy Nissan 2700 National City Blvd.National City CA 91950 (619) 474-7011/858-490-6910 Auto Rossy 225 W San Ysidro Bl. San Diego CA 92173 (619) 690-1335

Auto Spot 1001 National City Blvd.Natinal City CA 91950 477-7766 Auto Villa 6935 North Avenue Lemon Grove CA 91945 (619) 667-3801 B & J Auto Sales 696 Broadway Chula Vista CA 91910 (619) 422-7810 Balboa Volvo 8029 Balboa Avenue San Diego CA 92111 (619) 279-2424 Ball Auto Group2001 Naitonal City Blvd.National City CA91950 474-6431 Ball Honda/Oldsmobile 1935 National City Blvd.National City CA 91950 (619) 474-6431 Ball Motors 1807 National City Blvd.National City CA 91935 (619) 477-2141 Ball Oldsmobile-Honda-GMC-Mitsubishi1935 National City Bl National City CA 91950 (619) 474-6431 Bankers Auto 121 W. Plaza Blvd. National City CA 91950 (619) 477-2191 Bayside Auto 9555 Distribution Avenue San Diego CA 92121 (619) 235-6614 Beach Motor Cars 942 Palm Ave Imperial Beach CA 91932 (619) 429-3355 Best Auto Buy 301 W Plaza Bl 28th St. National City CA 91950 (619) 477-6210

Auto Dealers’ DirectoryBills Quality Cars 1040 National City BL National City CA 91950 (619) 474-2600 Blackmore Auto Brokers 2560 Main St. Suite E Chula Vista CA 91911 (619) 423-5760 BMW Cunningham 875 El Cajon Blvd. El Cajon CA 92020 (619) 440-3394 BMW of San Diego 5090 Kearny Mesa Road San Diego CA 92111 8-580-560-5050 Bob Baker 5500 Paseo Del Norte Carlsbad CA 92008 (760) 438-2200 Bob Baker 5515 Car County Dr Carlsbad CA 92008 (760) 431-3050 Bob Baker Ford730 Camino Del Rio North San Diego CA 92108 (800) 721-8419 Bob Baker Isuzu National City Blvd. & 22ndNational City CA 91950 (619) 474-8816 Bob Baker Jeep5515 Car Country Drive Carlsbad CA 92008 (760) 431-3050 Bob Baker Lexus 1000 Arnele Avenue El Cajon CA 92020 (619) 440-5398 Bob Baker Subaru Group 5500 Paseo del Norte Carlsbad CA 92008 (760) 431-3150 Bob Baker Toyota 591 Camino Dela Reina Ste 1105 San Diego CA 92108 (619) 287-2400 Bob Baker-Cadillac 5215 Car Country Drive Carlsbad CA92008 721-2544 Bob Baker-Ford730 Camino Del Rio N. San Diego CA 297-5001

Bob Stall Chevrolet Geo7601 Alvarado Road La Mesa CA 91941 (619) 460-1311

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

urnalusa.com

1. Ever wonder about those people who spend $2.00 apiece on those little bottles of Evian water?

Try spelling Evian backwards: NAIVE

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* 2. Isn’t making a smoking sec-

tion in a restaurant like making a peeing section in a swimming pool?

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* 3. OK..... So if the Jacksonville

Jaguars are known as the ‘Jags’ and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are known as the ‘Bucs,’ what does that make the Tennessee Titans?

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* 4. If 4 out of 5 people SUFFER

from diarrhea does that mean that one enjoys it?

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* 5. There are three religious

truths:a. Jews do not recognize Jesus

as the Messiah.b. Protestants do not recognize

the Pope as the leader of the Christian faith.

c. Baptists do not recognize each other in the liquor store or Hooters.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* 6. If people from Poland are

called Poles, why aren’t people from Holland called Holes?

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* 7. If a pig loses its voice, is it

disgruntled? *~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~* 8. Why do croutons come in

airtight packages? Aren’t they just stale bread to begin with?

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* 9 Why is a person who plays

the piano called a pianist but a person who drives a race car is not called a racist?

* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* 10. Why isn’t the number 11

pronounced onetyone?

Ponderisms*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* 11. If lawyers are disbarred and

clergymen defrocked, doesn’t it follow that electricians can be delighted, musicians denoted, cowboys deranged, models deposed, tree surgeons debarked,

and dry cleaners depressed? *~*~*~*~*~*! ~*~*~*~* 12. If Fed Ex and UPS were

to merge, would they call it Fed UP?

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* 13. Do Lipton Tea employees

take coffee breaks? *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* 14. What hair color do they put

on the driver’s licenses of bald men?

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* 15. I was thinking about how

people seem to read the Bible a whole lot more as they get older; then it dawned on me ... they’re cramming for their final exam.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* 16. I thought about how moth-

ers feed their babies with tiny little spoons and forks, so I won-dered what do Chinese mothers use? Toothpicks?

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* 17. Why do they put pictures of

criminals up in the Post Office? What are we supposed to do, write to them?

Why don’t they just put their pictures on the postage stamps so the mailmen can look for them while they deliver the mail?

*~*~*~*~! *~*~*~*~ *~* 18. If it’s true that we are here

to help others, then what exactly are the others here

for? *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* 19. You never really learn to

swear until you learn to drive!*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* 21. Ever wonder what the

speed of lightning would be if it didn’t zigzag?

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*



(619) 474-0588

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

journalusa.com

Doc: Iha, mukhang pumapayat ka at hinang hina pa. Sinunod mo ba advice

ko na 3 meals a day?Girl: Diyos ko! 3 meals a day

ba? Akala ko 3 males a day eh!!!

***

Lalake: Pag tayo na, magkasa-ma na nating haharapin

ang mga problema.Babae: Pero wala naman akong

problema..Lalake: Kasi nga, hindi pa

tayo. Wag ka excited!!

***

May nagpapa-translate sa akin ng signage sa tagalog: “Emer-gency Exit”

ang sabi ko, “MADALING LABASAN...? Tama ba? Parang bastos ata.

***Mr: Hon, buksan mo ang pinto!Mrs: Sori, hindi pwede. Wala

akong suot.Mr.. (tumawa) ok lang. Wala

akong kasama.Mrs: Ako, meron!

***

Tip for a long life:Wag mo isusulat name mo sa

condolence book pag dumalaw ka sa patay. Kasi

pagkatapos ng libing nagkakaron ng raffle kung

sinong susunod..... .***

Guro: Pedro late kana naman..Pedro: Late po kasi relo ko.Guro: Problema ba yun. E di

i-advance mo.Pedro: Sige po.Guro: Oh, saan ka pupunta?

Tawa Muna!Boy: uwian na po!

***Mrs: Kung alam ko lang di

sana ako nagpakasal sa iyo! ABS ka!Mr: Anong ABS?Mrs: Alak, Babae, Sugal!!Mr: Eh ikaw CBN!Mrs: CBN?Mr: Chismosa, Bungangera,

Nagger!.

***May dalawang lalaki sabay nag

jogging:Guy 1: Pre, doctor ako.. Kaya

ako tumatakbo kasi HEALTHconscious ako! Ikaw pre?Guy 2: Snatcher pre! WEALTH

conscious ako.

***

Bakit binaril ng bobo ang girl-friend nya?

Kasi sinubukan nya kung totoong

FIRST LOVE NEVER DIES!

***Pasahero: Mama, dahan-dahan

lang po. Alalahanin nyo napalaging nakasunod sa atin ang

disgrasya!Drayber: E, kaya ko nga

binibilisan para di tayo abutan!

***(sa isang turo-turo):Customer: Manang, meh lan-

gaw sa arrozcaldo ko!Tindera: Hello! Sa halagang

P5.00 anong ini-expect mo....manok?*

***Tom: Alam mo pare, my new

wife is a sex object!Jerry: Wow! Maganda pala ang

napangasawa mo pre!Tom: Hindi naman. But every-

time I want to have sex,

Lifestyle

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

by Joe Son

One of the best part of a retired per-son is to be his

own boss and control his own time in thoughts, in words and in deeds, but the worst part is the state of ennui.

You should have to think of something to make your remaining years more produc-tive, useful and fulfilling. Some people resort to be more active in volunteer jobs whether in the best interest of the community or the church, while others may go into politics or buisness and may also resort to frequent travels, cruises and vacations. Well, of course, there may be others who choose to live in a simple but perfect retirement place with his families to enjoy in gardening or farming chore.

At least retired few good men in the likes of Tom Malunes, Pete Lopez, Titong Vinluan, Ponce Cortez, Alex Soriano and Tony Magno thought of associ-ating themselves and initiated in meeting regularly over a cup of coffee in Christy’s Donut in Palm Avenue in the corner of Picador, but eventually moved in the east side of Palm Avenue in the KFC location and finally decided to vacate in a more

convenient facility of the Mc Donald’s nearby and named themselves as the Mc

Buddies. From then, since mid-90’s Mc Buddies became a byword in southbay San

Diego and now a favorite pastime for retirees, families and

3W’s of the Mc Buddies

friends. Spring has sprung and summer

is coming but the Mc Buddies withered all San Diego seasons and will still be in Mc Donald’s being welcomed through the courtesy of the ever sweet-smil-ing store manager Nydia Flores, assisted by her cute and lovely first manager Anna Moreno, the courteous and accommodating Marcia Delgadillo with their service-oriented and friendly staff. The Mc Donald manage-ment provided its auspices exclu-sively for the use of Mc Buddies members for regular daily meet-ings and special occasions like birthdays, anniversaries and the likes upon prior request.

Last May 14 was a memorable day for Mc Buddies members

who once again held a traditional annual potluck picnic at the park across the Mc Donald’s facilities

in Palm Avenue enjoying the crispy roast pig (lechon) jointly donated by Al Francisco and Joe Nicolas plus the delicious “Kal-dereta” again donated by the

generous Al Francisco. The re-cent picnic was well attended by

satisfied members,families and friends daring the noontime cold spring winds of San Diego wea

ther. Another get-together party is now cooking-up by the mem-

bers waiting for the consensus of the entire membership, which will be most likely on a Christ-mas celebration.

What is the Mc Buddies?

These are a group of socio-civ-ic minded people, mostly retired military personnel supported by their spouses, families and friends who regularly meet over a cup of coffee or breakfast and discuss on health, retirement, social security benefit issues and others. Since the inception of Mc

Buddies it is now presently mushrooming to a record high of fifty six active members. Mc Buddies is noted for extending help to fellow retirees in terms of

benefits and its strong ties, cohesiveness and camaraderie among members, unlike other groups in other coffee shops.

Where is the Mc Buddies? Mc Buddies hold its regular daily meetings from about six to eleven in the morning at the Mc Donald’s in Palm Avenue just by the exit of south 805. Mc Donald’s is like a second home of its members, and it is a more convenient and safe place to find its members if you missed their individual residences. You may even leave a message to

any member or on the counter for any Mc Don-ald cashier as long as you specify the name of Mc Buddies members dur-ing morning shift.

Why the Mc Buddies?

The Mc Buddies is a unique group. This may be the only orgnization in San Diego to withstand the leaps and

bounds of a big membership without direct officers running the organization, but just the consensus of the entire member-ship. Mc Buddies are also sup-porting other civic and charitable organizations like the Samahan Seniors of Fava Hall in Market St., CEBOLEY USA, Dagupan Association, Fil-Am Seniors at Tooma Park, Knights of Colum-bus of Saint Jerome chapter and others who associations who solicit Mc Buddies support.

The all smiles of Mc Buddies members who grazed the last picnic in May 14, 2011 at the park across Mc Donald’s in Palm Avenue by the exit of south 805.


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

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

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

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

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views and concerns. This is why it is very important to take ac-tive roles in our local, state, and national organization. Let us be recognized and our voices heard. Therefore, I urge each and every one of you to be active in your association. We in the commu-nity should dismiss all reserva-tions concerning the capabilities of our associations. We must resolve our past and current jeal-ousies and conflicts among the members of the community and overcome the apathetic Filipino syndrome to rise in the American mainstream by any means.

Finally, I’d like to share with you this consoling note: even if restrictions for our professions to enter as immigrants to this country are now behind us, we now have a second generation

of Filipino Americans who are in college, nursing and medical schools, they will carry our heri-tage of which we have preserved.

If we instill in our children and

in our grandchildren the trea-sured tradition of our culture, they will always be proud as Filipinos. If we share with our children and our grandchildren the rewards and satisfaction of being in our profession, we will be encouraging them to follow in our footsteps. In this manner, there will always be a continuing supply of Fil-Am doctors and nurses in the U.S. to preserve our traditions and ideals. This scenario, if accomplished, will be a great day, and you and I can be very happy and proud of our organizations continuing in perpetuity.

Are We the Disappearing Breed of Fil-Am Professionals in This Country - Doctors and Nurses?(Continued from page 20)


Documents

Asian Journal June 3, 2011 edition