“To recover for past lost earnings, a person must prove the amount of income or earnings that he/she has lost to date.” DEAR Attorney Tan, I was driving home and was at a complete stop when another driver rear-ended my car. I was not feeling well after the accident, as my back seemed very tight…
THE clients are a husband and wife in their mid-60s. I asked them if they have started receiving social security benefits, and sadly they told me that they migrated less than 10 years ago so have not yet contributed at least 10 years to social security. They have contributed for eight years and need two…
GENERALLY, in California, property acquired by a spouse prior to marriage is considered separate property under family code section 770 while those acquired after marriage are considered community assets under family code section 760. How do you characterize real property purchased prior to marriage but with the mortgage principal paid down using community income or…
HAPPY 4TH of July! Today, we celebrate the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America, which we now call our home in our adoptive country. As History.com chronicled: “The Fourth of July—also known as Independence Day or July 4th—has been a federal holiday in the United States since 1941, but the tradition of Independence…
A Long Beach, California woman at the center of recent viral videos was arrested on Friday, July 3 in connection with a separate 2019 incident during which she reportedly assaulted a Filipina American inside a mall restroom. Lena Hernandez, a 56-year-old retired social worker, was taken into custody on Friday, a day after charges for…
By Ritchel Mendiola and Rae Ann Varona / AJPress PHILIPPINE President Rodrigo Duterte has signed the controversial anti-terrorism bill into law on Friday, July 3, despite local and international concerns about the measure’s potential effects on free speech and opposition in the country. Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque and Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea confirmed the signing,…
FORMER Vice President Joe Biden and former Guam Governor Eddie Baza Calvo, a surrogate for President Donald Trump, participated in a virtual presidential town hall on Saturday, June 27 to answer questions and address concerns of the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community. The town hall was organized by APIAVote, a national nonpartisan group…
A Filipino father with sons in the U.S. Army was among the individuals who became a new citizen during a naturalization ceremony on Thursday, July 2 attended by Vice President Mike Pence. Two days before the country celebrated the Fourth of July holiday, 16 immigrants from 12 countries, including the Philippines, were present at the…
THE Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs on Thursday, July 2, recorded 108 new cases of the coronavirus among Filipinos abroad, which brings the total number of infected individuals to 8,614. “Today, the DFA reports an increase in new confirmed COVID-19 cases among Filipinos abroad, mostly in Asia and the Pacific and the Middle East. This…
Malacañang on Thursday, July 2, announced that the controversial anti-terrorism bill is now with the Office of Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea for final review. “Wala na po sa lamesa ng Deputy Executive Secretary for Legal Affairs, nailipat na po ‘yan sa tanggapan ni Executive Secretary for final review (It is no longer on the desk…
FILIPINO FOOD MOVEMENT’S ‘SAVOR FILIPINO’ SUMMIT WITH its goal to create a framework in order to innovate the business of Filipino cuisine in the time of the pandemic, the Filipino Food Movement held a virtual summit called ‘Savor Filipino’ on Monday, June 29. The meeting was attended by almost a hundred people across the globe,…
GOV. Phil Murphy stopped the supposed reopening of restaurants in the state this week for a few reasons, among them the violations in some restaurants that have opened for Phase 2 a couple of weeks ago soaring infection rates from the states that have reopened across the country. New Jersey allowed outdoor dining on June…
Island Pacific Supermarket, with locations in California and Nevada, is the first Filipino supermarket chain to offer online shopping with same-day grocery delivery in the United States. As phases continue to reopen in California and Las Vegas, the grocery chain is taking even more precautions to keep our community safe amidst the coronavirus pandemic. Island…
By Martin Santiago, Broker-Associate PRICES for existing homes rose 4.7% compared with April 2019, up from 4.6% in the previous month, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index. But home sales have rebounded quickly and dramatically, with signed contracts on existing homes in May making the strongest monthly jump since Realtors began…
THE World Health Organization on Tuesday, June 30, clarified that it did not say that the Philippines had the fastest rise in COVID-19 cases in the Western Pacific Region. According to WHO Country Representative to the Philippines Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe, the WHO does not compare countries or make assessments based on countries’ performance. “It is…
STARTING July 1, countries in the European Union (EU) will open their borders to nonessential travelers from 15 countries that are deemed to have the coronavirus under control. The Philippines, as well as the United States, did not make the cut in the list. EU countries will begin lifting the travel restrictions at the external…
THE San Francisco Assessor-Recorder’s Office, headed Carmen Chu, will host a Digital Family Wealth Forum on Saturday, July 18 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Zoom to help families gather information and plan for their financial future in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. This was revealed during a Zoom press conference organized by…
COVID-19, like many diseases known to man, infectious or not, afflict each one of us according to our individual discipline and behavior. With almost 10.5 million COVID-19 cases and more than half a million deaths worldwide – greater than 2.6 million in the USA with around 230,000 deaths, and about 36,500 cases in the Philippines…
DEAR Atty. Gurfinkel: My sister petitioned me in 2001 in the F-4 category, (brother/sister of a U.S. citizen) when my child was still a baby. Recently, the priority date became current. We paid all the fees and submitted all the forms on behalf of my family, including my child, who is now over 21. At the…
THE United Nations’ human rights chief on Tuesday, June 30, appealed to President Rodrigo Duterte to “refrain from signing” the controversial anti-terrorism bill as it “heightens concerns about the blurring of important distinctions between criticism, criminality and terrorism.” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet also noted that human rights defenders have been routinely…
TWO Filipina American commissioners have been reappointed to five-year terms on Los Angeles boards that handle critical infrastructure programs and utility services for the city’s 4 million residents. The LA City Council unanimously voted for Jessica Caloza to serve five more years on the Board of Public Works, while Susana Reyes will continue with the…
WHEN the coronavirus hit Los Angeles County, John Eric Swing, the newly appointed executive director of Search to Involve Pilipino Americans (SIPA), led a food delivery project for seniors and families in Historic Filipinotown. Swing, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who joined the non-profit organization in 2015 and served as its director of small business…
THE Philippine Department of Health on Tuesday, June 30, recorded 1,080 new cases of the novel coronavirus in the country, which brings the official tally of infected individuals to 37,514. Of the number, 858 were fresh cases, while 222 were late cases as the agency continues to clear its backlog of unvalidated cases. The DOH…
AFTER a World Health Organization report said that the Philippines recorded the fastest rise in coronavirus infections in the Western Pacific region over a two-week period, Malacañang has been on the defensive to disprove the findings. Data from the WHO showed that between June 16 and June 27, the country registered 8,143 infections — the…
Custody and visitation orders are not affected by stay at home orders or other order restricting movement issued by a governmental entity that arises from the COVID-19 pandemic. THE COVID-19 Pandemic has changed our lives almost overnight. Not only has it changed our lives in terms of our daily routine, jobs, lifestyle, but also our…
THE word “bankruptcy” is packed with all sorts of negative emotional triggers. It sounds bad — even dirty. It’s embarrassing. (What if people find out?!) People paint ugly pictures of what their lives will look like post-bankruptcy. But it’s not true. Bankruptcy is an opportunity to close one chapter of your life and open a…
