US assistance for Typhoon Odette tops P1-billion
PH thanks the US for additional $19-M assistance to Odette victims DEPARTMENT of Foreign Affairs Secretary Teddy Locsin, Jr. has expressed his gratitude to the United States government for its $19 million relief assistance, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Philippines, to Typhoon Odette (internationally known as Typhoon Rai) victims. This additional…
LA County reaches more than 20,000 new cases in midst of variant surges
AHEAD of the new year, Los Angeles County reported over 20,000 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, December 30, 2021 in one of the highest daily case counts of the pandemic. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer reported 20,198 new COVID infections, three times the number of cases from a week ago. The new cases bring…
Covered California deadline approaches as omicron variant underscores benefits of health insurance
SACRAMENTO — With the rapid spread of the COVID-19 omicron variant across the state, Covered California is urging uninsured and eligible individuals to act now so that they can have comprehensive health care coverage for all of 2022. Coverage is critical to both getting needed preventive care and covering the costs of unforeseen care. The…
Former US Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid remembered for impact on Nevada politics, championing Filipino WWII veterans
NEVADA residents and community leaders are remembering Harry Reid, the former U.S. Senator majority leader who was the state’s longest-serving member of Congress, who died this week at the age of 82. Reid died on Tuesday, December 28 at home in Henderson, Nevada, after a “courageous, four-year battle with pancreatic cancer.” “Harry was a devout…
Mayor Gloria, local leaders celebrate minimum wage in city reaching $15 per hour
SAN DIEGO – Continuing his efforts to support working families in San Diego, Mayor Todd Gloria joined local leaders and workers on Thursday, December 16 to celebrate the minimum wage increase reaching $15 an hour, which becomes effective Jan. 1, 2022. Mayor Gloria authored the City’s Earned Sick Leave and Minimum Wage Ordinance, which originally…
[COLUMN] Queries from you
IS Omicron deadly? There were almost 230,000 COVID-19 cases last Monday, December 27 and more than 80 percent of them Omicron. There were 823 new deaths that day, 836,605 total deaths (almost 73.8 million total cases) in the United States since the pandemic started. Omicron is more severely contagious and appears (NOT for certain yet)…
[COLUMN] Catch an encore episode of Part 2 of Citizen Pinoy’s very first virtual Q&A on US immigration — AXG: Abunda and Gurfinkel
Asia’s King of Talk, Boy Abunda, and U.S. immigration attorney, Michael J. Gurfinkel, lead the discussion in the first virtual forum where Atty. Gurfinkel provides answers and relevant information to viewers’ immigration questions. Nico, from Quezon City, Philippines, would like to know if the name difference on his passport and his birth certificate will be…
[COLUMN] Did you marry a non-Filipino?
WHEN a person is petitioned by a family member or employer, they are ordinarily processed for their immigrant visa or green card based on the priority dates of their country of birth, not their current country of citizenship/nationality. Therefore, if a person was born in the Philippines, but is now a citizen of another country,…
Jumping at midnight, driving away evil spirits: Filipino traditions to welcome the new year
THE New Year has always been a countrywide celebration that is nothing short of fun, dynamic, and loud. Filipinos love to welcome the new year with as much fanfare as they can, partaking in traditions they believe will help in making the new year better, happier, and more bountiful for them. Here are some of…
Los Angeles County expands COVID-19 testing capacity to meet holiday surge demand
THE Los Angeles County Department of Health Services is delivering urgent expansion of the county’s free COVID-19 testing services amidst holiday demand. Demand for COVID-19 testing is steadily increasing as County residents rush to get tested before gathering with loved ones and as a direct result of LA County’s surge in new cases. The expansion…
CDC shortens recommended COVID-19 isolation time to 5 days
THE Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is shortening the recommended time for isolation from 10 days for people with COVID-19 to 5 days, if asymptomatic, followed by five days of wearing a mask when around others. The change is motivated by science demonstrating that the majority of SARS-CoV-2 transmission occurs early in the…
[COLUMN] Vaccines for children ages 5-11 available – get them vaccinated and keep them safe
By Dr. Jay Yeh, Medical Director, Pediatric Echocardiography Laboratory, UC Davis Health Last month, COVID-19 vaccines became available for 5- to 11-year-olds, and that could not have come at a better time. With new variants like Delta and Omicron, health experts know that COVID-19 has not gone away. Protecting our children against the virus should…
[EVENT] Celebrate the feast of Santo Niño on Jan. 16, 2022 at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels
An archdiocesan celebration ON Sunday, January 16th, 2022, the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels (555 W. Temple Street, Los Angles) will celebrate 500 years of Philippine Christianity and 35th Anniversary of the Feast of Santo Nino. This year’s theme is” Gifted To Give.” Fr. Rodel Balagtas, Pastor of Incarnation Church in Glendale and…
MOTHER Movement holds fundraising drive for Typhoon Odette relief
SOME guests and members of the global MOTHER Movement pose for a souvenir photo during the Dec. 20 Christmas fundraising drive to raise money and send relief goods for the organization’s members who were impacted by Super Typhoon Odette. At the height of the typhoon, founder and president of the international group Perla Santos organized…
[COLUMN] Planned obsolescence
NOW is a good time to ponder about the end. It is a grim thought, I admit, but it seems appropriate when taking stock of the year about to be filed away in some cosmic memory bank. Long ago when my daughter was a young girl and while driving one day on the freeway headed…
Covered California deadline approaches as omicron surge underscores benefits of health insurance
SACRAMENTO — With the rapid spread of the COVID-19 omicron variant across the state, Covered California is urging uninsured and eligible individuals to act now so that they can have comprehensive health care coverage for all of 2022. Coverage is critical to both getting needed preventive care and covering the costs of unforeseen care. The…
Slow but steady rise in eviction filings – no ‘tsunami’ yet
By Pilar Marrero/Ethnic Media Services SINCE the federal moratorium on evictions ended in late August, court eviction filings by landlords have increased across the country, particularly in cities with the lowest local and state protections. So far, there is no sign of the “tsunami” of evictions predicted a few months ago. The federal moratorium on…
[COLUMN] Christian Bables wins best actor at MMFF, ‘Big Night’ wins best picture
IT was a fruitful night for “Big Night,” as it won a bevy of awards at the recent Metro Manila Film Festival 2021’s Gabi ng Parangal. The Jun Robles Lana-directed film won best picture, best director (Lana), best screenplay (Lana) best actor (Christian Bables), best supporting actor (John Arcilla), best cinematography (Carlo Canlas Mendoza), best…
Omicron and a collapsed health care system: this is how COVID closes 2021
Almost two years after COVID-19 pandemic started, 270 million people have been infected with the virus and 5.3 million have died worldwide. Cases in the United States exceed 50 million, while more than 800,000 Americans have lost their lives. As the planet grapples with the deadly Delta variant, new challenges appear with the arrival of…
[COLUMN] What is a ‘hardship’ discharge in Chapter 13?
CHAPTER 13 is a reorganization of your financial affairs where you pay a portion of your debts over 36 months or 60 months depending on where your household income is. If it’s over the state median for the same size family as yours following current government statistics, then it’s 60 months. If not, it’s 36…
[COLUMN] Are you feeling buried under a mountain of debt?
ARE you facing a mountain of debt and don’t know what to do in order to avoid getting buried? Debt problems can wreak havoc on your personal life in many ways. And left unsolved, they can spill over into other areas of your life, causing problems not only at home but maybe even at work…
[COLUMN] K-1 Fiancé(e) Visa: Getting your significant other to the united states
SEVERAL options exist for a U.S. citizen to bring his/her foreign-national fiancé(e) to the United States. One popular option is to marry the fiancé(e) in the country in which he/she resides, and file an I-130 immigrant petition, with the fiancé(e) to undergo consular processing for an immigrant visa when the I-130 petition is approved. However,…
[COLUMN] ‘Managers’ may still be owed overtime
PAMELA Ruben-Knudsen and Marnine Casillas were employed as Client Service Managers by Arthur J. Gallagher and Co., a brokerage firm. Client service managers are salaried and considered exempt from overtime. However, their primary task is to coordinate between producers, clients and insurers to process insurance applications and renewals. Pamela and Marnine do not manage or…
[COLUMN] Do I have to disclose my Bitcoin to my spouse in my divorce case?
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency has become popular lately as a new store of value. It is decentralized and not subject to regulation in any jurisdiction. It can be stored in a digital wallet or hard drive. Due to its lack of regulation, it is easy for one to assume that it is not necessary to…