Couples get divorced for various reasons. California is a no fault state. The reasons why a couple is getting divorced are often irrelevant to the issues of the family law case. Divorce is often a difficult and negative experience for most families. However, getting divorce may have some unintended benefits in the immigration law arena….
THE first client is 82. He is married. “What’s the problem?” I ask. He says that he owes about $15,000 of credit cards and his wife owes about $10,000 of cards. Together they owe $25,000. He says he doesn’t know how much longer he has before he dies but it doesn’t appear like they can…
To stop feeling resentful and angry about the holiday restrictions, we may need to empathize with those who suffer and grieve from the effects of this pandemic. WE’RE all struggling during this pandemic — struggling that does not seem to end. We all wish that we can celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year without any…
COVID-19 did not magically disappear. It did not miraculously go away in the spring nor in the summer. COVID-19 is, in fact, surging uncontrollably and we are losing the war against the coronavirus. FACTS: On Thursday, November 19, the United States hit a new record high of 187,428 new cases in one day alone. A…
Donald Trump, outgoing president of the United States, has 65 days left in his term as president (as of this writing), but knowledgeable quarters believe that he may have already gone on “bereavement leave – the kind of leave people take when someone in the family dies. Trump probably feels that he has lost something more precious to…
Excerpted from AMBOY: Recipes from the Filipino-American Dream © 2020 by Alvin Cailan. Photography © 2020 by Wyatt Conlon. Reproduced by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved. Serves 6 The first time I met Auntie Cita, she brought this dish as a gift for my parents. It looked different from any other bibingka…
THE damage caused by the recent typhoons in the Philippines could result in an estimated loss of P90 billion in the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said on Wednesday, November 18. “I think our initial estimate is that it will shed off something like a 0.15 percentage point…
Non-essential businesses and personal gatherings are prohibited between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. beginning Saturday, November 21 SACRAMENTO – In light of an unprecedented, rapid rise in COVID-19 cases across California, Governor Gavin Newsom and the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) on Thursday, November 19 announced a limited Stay at Home Order requiring generally that non-essential work,…
NEVADA could soon see new measures to slow the spread of COVID-19, Gov. Steve Sisolak said on Wednesday, November 18. This comes as the Silver State hit 127,875 cumulative positive cases and 1,288 more patients hospitalized, surpassing records set back in July. “My administration is exploring all mitigation options available to get this under control,…
The respiratory risks of this unsettling time seem to multiply before our eyes. Coronavirus continues to spread and sicken thousands – yes, even teens.1 2 And this year’s wildfires caused extreme pollution.3 It’s important to remember, now more than ever, that vaping can weaken lung function. In fact a new study finds that vaping is…
MALACAÑANG on Thursday, November 19, said Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte will not be apologizing to Vice President Leni Robredo following his recent tirades against her. Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque maintained that Duterte was “justified” for his outburst, insisting that the Chief Executive did not say anything wrong. He also cited the recent blunder of Defense…
PHILIPPINE President Rodrigo Duterte declared the entire Luzon under a state of calamity after three successive typhoons battered the country’s largest island. In a taped speech aired on Tuesday night, November 17, the Chief Executive revealed that he signed the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC)’s proposal to place Luzon under a state…
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has revised the civics portion of the naturalization test. In its news release on Friday, November 13, the USCIS said it has updated the civics test as part of a decennial update to ensure that the exam remains as an instrument that comprehensively assesses applicants’ knowledge of American…
PHILIPPINE Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez on Tuesday, November 17, affirmed the strong ties between the Philippines and the United States. During a virtual event hosted by the Los Angeles World Affairs Council, Romualdez noted that the Philippines and the U.S. have one of the oldest military alliances in the Asia Pacific…
ALL Nippon Airways (ANA), Japan’s largest 5-Star airline for eight consecutive years, resumed its service from Tokyo Narita International Airport to Manila Ninoy Aquino International Airport (MNL) in October. This provides a same-day connection for our passengers flying between San Francisco International Airport (SFO) and Manila via Tokyo Narita. The flights depart from SFO on Mondays,…
IN a previous article, I wrote on how Joe Biden has been declared the winner of the 2020 presidential election, and has proposed sweeping changes and reforms to our immigration laws and policies, including possible amnesty for Dreamers and/or the approximate 11 million other undocumented immigrants in the U.S. Although these changes and reforms are…
PHILIPPINE President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday, November 17, lambasted Vice President Leni Robredo for supposedly questioning his absence during the onslaught of Typhoon Ulysses, calling her “dishonest.” “I would like to just give a caution to the vice president. She made a blunder, a big one, and she practically lied, making her incapable of truth,”…
With global remittances reaching the new highs the Philippines remains as one of the top recipients with more than $34 billion sent by Pinoys home globally. Nearly a third, $11 billion is sent back to the Philippines annually from the US, according to the Pew Research Center. With such a staggering sum of money being transferred…
THE U.S. is weeks away from rolling out COVID-19 vaccines, but pandemic experts say the challenges of vaccinating people will be acute, especially in communities of color. “Vaccines don’t save lives: vaccinations do,” said Dr. Ashish Jha, Dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, speaking at a Friday, Nov. 13 briefing organized by…
PHILIPPINE President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday, November 16, signed Administrative Order No. 35, granting active hazard duty pay and special risk allowance to COVID-19 medical frontliners. Under the order, national government agencies, government-owned or -controlled corporations and local government units are authorized to grant active hazard duty pay up to P3,000 per month to pandemic…
THE death toll for Typhoon Ulysses (international name: Vamco) has reached 73, the Philippines’ National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported on Tuesday, November 17. Of the additional deaths this week, two were recorded in Cagayan Valley, and four in Central Luzon. On Sunday, the NDRRMC reported that 22 deaths were from Cagayan…
FOREIGN investors planning to enter the Philippines must first secure an investor’s visa before they can be allowed entry to the country, the country’s Bureau of Immigration (BI) clarified on Monday, November 16. Foreign nationals holding visas under Executive Order No. 226 or the Omnibus Investments Code, and those with a Special Investor’s Resident Visa…
THE Trump administration’s rules limiting applications and renewals for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program are invalid, a federal judge ruled over the weekend. Judge Nicholas Garaufis of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York ruled on Saturday, November 14 that the suspension of DACA, which protects some 650,000…
Newsom considers curfew as the state experiences ‘the fastest increase’ of virus cases AFTER months of economic reopenings that allowed residents to partake in public life again, California is approaching yet another shutdown period as Sacramento has downgraded three-quarters of the state’s counties to the strictest pandemic restrictions, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced this week. Newsom…
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday, November 14, expressed his gratitude for the United States’ support of the Philippines’ response to the coronavirus pandemic. “President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, in a speech read by the Secretary of Foreign Affairs Teodoro Locsin Jr, first expressed his gratitude to the United States for its generous assistance of state-of-the-art ventilators…
