THE Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) is complex, confusing, and can be extremely frustrating. During my 40 years of practicing law, I always encounter cases where a child may have been petitioned many years before their 21st birthday, but by the time their visa is available (or priority date is current), they have aged out….
MANUEL PINEDA MACAPINLAC, M.D., Ph.D. at 90 years old joined his Creator at 6:06 a.m. on March 6, 2021. Dr. Macapinlac was born on January 2, 1931 in Minalin, Pampanga. He earned his medical degree at the University of the Philippines in 1955. He went on to study biochemistry at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee,…
503 incidents in first 2 months of 2021 alone; 7.9% of total reports came from Fil-Ams, Stop AAPI Hate finds NEARLY 3,800 hate incidents have been self-reported by Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) — including approximately 8% of reports coming from Filipinos — across the country since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, according…
Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Democratic leaders are urging President Joe Biden to nominate Filipina American Nani Coloretti to lead the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) amid concerns over the lack of AAPI representation in his Cabinet. This comes after controversial pick Neera Tanden, who is Indian American, withdrew her nomination as budget…
A San Francisco man was arrested and charged with a hate crime for attacking and sexually assaulting a Filipina American woman in a Caltrain station in San Jose last week, the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office said. The victim, a 26-year-old Filipina medical worker named Tiffany who didn’t want her last name released, told…
A NEW COVID-19 variant called P.3 has been found in the Philippines, the country’s Department of Health (DOH) confirmed Saturday, March 13. “The (Philippine Genome Center) previously detected 85 cases with a unique set of mutations, including both E484K and N501Y mutations. Upon verification with the Phylogenetic Assignment of Named Global Outbreak Lineages (PANGOLIN), the…
ON top of its general community quarantine status, Metro Manila has implemented a curfew until the end of March in an effort to curb the recent spike in COVID-19 cases in the capital region. The curfew, which took effect on Monday, March 15, will be observed daily from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. It will…
“Vanity of vanities; ALL is vanity.” — From Ecclesiastes (Continued from last week’s issue …) Poor Echo! Her heart broke into a million little pieces. Beauty and light dissolved into darkness for her until nothing held any meaning. Refusing food and drink, Echo grew pale and consumptive and faded away, leaving only her far-off voice…
LOS Angeles County this week gave the green light for several businesses and activities to operate indoors, including restaurants, gyms and movie theaters, as it moved into the less restrictive red tier under California’s reopening plan. As of Monday, March 15 — a year after the county’s first COVID-19 related health order — restaurants could…
Island Pacific is a supermarket chain that caters to all communities however considers the Filipino American and Asian American as their biggest demographic of loyal shoppers. With the current anti-Asian American hate crimes proliferating in this pandemic, Island Pacific stands united to protect and serve the Asian American communities against bigotry and hate due to…
MOST debt problems don’t go away and solve themselves. They are there when you go to bed at night, and they’re still there when you get up in the morning. They can cause a lot of ulcers, sleepless nights, stress and even physical sickness. As a bankruptcy attorney for the last 22 years, I have…
By Bernard J. Wolfson / Kaiser Health News As you surely know, this country’s COVID vaccination effort has been plagued by major birth pangs: registration snafus, poor communication, faulty data and a scant supply of vaccine — all exacerbated by inequitable allocation, alleged political favoritism and unseemly jockeying for shots. Still, over 100 million shots…
CALIFORNIA has announced the launch of a statewide COVID-19 rent relief program, intended to help income-eligible households pay rent and utilities, both for arrears and future payment. Supported by the Federal Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, the CA COVID-19 Rent Relief provides financial assistance to income-qualified tenants experiencing housing instability and provides rent reimbursement to…
POPE Francis on Sunday, March 14 led a Holy Mass commemorating the 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines. Held at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, the Mass was attended by several members of the Filipino Church including Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, and Cardinal Angelo De…
THE Catholic Church does not have the power to bless same-sex unions despite their “positive elements,” the Vatican said Monday, March 15. The Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith (CDF) issued a formal response to a question about whether the Church has the authority to bless gay unions, answering “negative.” Signed by Cardinal Luis…
YES! President Joe Biden has announced that by May 1, ALL adults in the United States will already be eligible to be vaccinated against COVID-19. This is made possible by the government’s expedited procurement of vaccines to help save lives and protect us as we safely move toward “normalcy” and build our life and our…
March Madness is upon us and sports fans across the country are excited after missing out on the tournament last year due to the pandemic. A total of 68 men’s college basketball teams will be in Indianapolis to duke it out for the championship. For DeRohn “DJ” Mitchell, Jr., a Black and Filipino American guard on the…
Including those with disabilities, certain health conditions STARTING this week, approximately 4.4 million more Californians are eligible to get vaccinated against the coronavirus. As of Monday, March 15, individuals who are 16 to 64 years old with disabilities and certain high-risk health conditions can sign up to receive their vaccine. Conditions include: • Cancer, current…
SUPPORTERS of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte are urging him to run for the second-highest post in the country in the 2022 elections. Several members of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) partylist have signed a resolution urging Duterte to seek the vice presidency. “It is recognized by leaders and members that with President Duterte’s…
R&B singer-songwriter H.E.R. took home “Song of the Year” at the 2021 Grammy Awards on Sunday night, March 14 for her single “I Can’t Breathe.” The 23-year-old artist released the song last summer in response to the killing of George Floyd and the protests for racial justice. “We wrote this song over FaceTime,” H.E.R. said…
A Filipino American Uber driver was reportedly subjected to racist comments by a passenger at the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) earlier this week, according to a viral video. The incident comes in the midst of an uptick in racism and violent attacks against Asian American communities in the United States. The driver’s sister, Chelle…
IN his first primetime address marking the one-year anniversary of the coronavirus pandemic, U.S. President Joe Biden condemned the “vicious” and “un-American” attacks on Asian Americans. Speaking to the nation from the White House on Thursday, March 11, Biden acknowledged the divisiveness deepened during the pandemic, from refusals to wear masks to hate incidents and…
All American adults to be eligible for vaccines by May 1 Hours after President Joe Biden signed his massive $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill on Thursday, March 11, he delivered his first primetime address unpacking the toll of the COVID-19 pandemic and declared what he called a “war footing” approach to beating the virus. Nearly…
A YEAR after the start of the coronavirus, Los Angeles County announced that indoor operations will resume anew for key sectors like restaurants, movie theaters and gyms starting Monday, March 15. This announce comes as the county moves into the state’s less restrictive red tier, meeting the threshold to reopen key sectors. Starting Monday, restaurants…
LA County Supervisor Kathryn Barger and other officials discuss the reopening of elementary schools in the county AMONG the most contentious issues of the coronavirus pandemic, the push to re-open in-person K-12 classes and other educational institutions may have finally reached an agreement among school district officials, teachers and parents. The Los Angeles Unified School…
THE United States, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and the Philippine Department of Education (DepEd), have signed a new, P4.8 billion assistance agreement to improve basic education outcomes in the Philippines. The five-year bilateral agreement will deepen the commitment between the USAID and DepEd to help children and out-of-school youth acquire the…
“I confess that when I hear some speeches by someone responsible for public order or a government, I am reminded of Hitler’s speeches in 1934 and 1936. They are typical actions of Nazism, which with its persecutions of Jews, gypsies, people of homosexual orientation, represent a negative model ‘par excellence’ of a throwaway culture and…
THE LIGHT at the end of the long dark tunnel in the war against the coronavirus pandemic is now bursting through and leading us to the path toward defeating COVID-19 and helping our families and our nation rebuild our lives and livelihood back better. Help is on the way as President Joe Biden signed the…
