THE major holiday of the spring season is this Sunday, April 12, marking the end of Holy Week (Mahal na Araw). But instead of heading to church, participating in a neighborhood egg hunt or having a large fiesta with relatives, Filipino American families are navigating how to celebrate Easter in this era of social distancing….
Adrien Salazar knocked on hundreds of doors ahead of the New Hampshire primary and organized #FilipinosforBernie gatherings in Oakland and Los Angeles leading up to Super Tuesday this past March. Salazar was one of the thousands of Filipino Americans across the country who rallied behind Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, actively shared his platform on social…
PRESIDENT Trump signed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act on March 18 to provide paid leave for workers and tax credits for small and midsize businesses to recover the cost of providing Coronavirus-related leaves. A recent IRS new release identified new credits for paid sick leave and child care. Paid sick leave credit For an…
Virus cases reach over 8K, with 500 Asians testing positive LOS ANGELES County officials on Friday, April 10 announced that the stay-at-home order will be extended until at least May 15 as new incidences of the novel coronavirus continue to be reported in the region. The previous directive, which was announced a month ago, was…
HAPPY Easter! This year’s celebration of Holy Week and Easter is unprecedented for all of us Christians, for we could not gather as a community to hold masses and services in our churches. It’s because of coronavirus pandemic that prohibited us from any public gatherings. Indeed, COVID-19 interrupted Lenten, Holy Week, and Easter celebrations all…
Garcetti expresses support for AAPI community, condemns uptick in COVID-19-related discrimination The City of Los Angeles has increased worker protections and requirements for “non-medical essential” employees across the city, Mayor Eric Garcetti announced in a press briefing on Tuesday, April 7. Effective Friday, April 10, the new order requires employees at grocery stores, drug stores,…
THE fight against the COVID-19 Pandemic has wreaked havoc on our economy. As a consequence of shutting down the global economy, businesses are forced to lay off a lot of workers. If you have an existing child support or spousal support obligation (court order) and you are laid off from your job causing a major…
FOR us Catholic Christians, Easter means the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ three days after His agony and death in the cross — the fulfillment of the prophecy in the scriptures that the Messiah will come and live among us — the Son of the living God who would be the savior of…
Around 440 Filipino seafarers who worked on several ships in the United States returned to the Philippines on Friday, April 10 amid the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The individuals were among those onboard the the Norwegian Pearl, Sky, and Sun cruise ships, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said in a release. A total of…
THE dangerous coronavirus has brought the economy to a screeching halt. With no work and no paychecks, millions of homeowners are now wondering how they’re going to be able to keep their homes. It’s beginning to feel like 2008 all over again. If there’s any comfort in all this madness, everyone is in the same…
The Philippine Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Friday, April 10, urged Filipinos to reflect on how they can help the government in addressing the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the country. “Let this Lenten Season be a time for us to reflect on how we can all be part of the…
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 and stiff. I took some days off from work. After a week, I contacted the other driver’s insurance to report the…
INSTACART is one of the largest grocery delivery services in the United States. Instacart allows its customers to shop their local grocery using a mobile app or the website. The virtual shopping cart is filled out by an Instacart worker, called a “personal shopper,” who goes out to buy the groceries at the grocery store…
BOTH Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 trustees are now implementing the new procedure required by the U.S. Trustee for social distancing to avoid spreading the virus. The lockdown and social distancing certainly make a lot of sense. Wearing face masks also makes a lot of sense. I now ask clients to wear a mask and…
IPINAHAYAG ng USCIS noong Abril 1, 2020 na ang mga H-1B cap-subject petition para sa fiscal year (FY) 2021 na napili sa mga nag-electronic registration ay maaari nang i-file. Kasama sa H-1B cap-subject petition ang mga visa numbers na may “statutory cap” na 65,000 na empleyado bawat FY, pati na rin ang karagdagang 20,000 “master’s…
Hopefully, none of our readers is positive for COVID-19. Nonetheless, I suggest that each one of us should think positively — meaning, we should consider ourselves positive for the disease. If that doesn’t make sense, believe me, it’s one effective way to prevent the spread of COVID-19. If we consider ourselves as possible carriers of…
The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs on Thursday, April 9, announced that 13 more Filipinos abroad have contracted the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), bringing the official count of overseas cases to 607. According to the agency, the additional cases are from the Americas, Asia Pacific, and Europe. The DFA also reported four new fatalities, raising the death…
THE Department of Health on Thursday, April 9, recorded 206 new cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in the Philippines, bringing the official count to 4,076. The agency also announced 21 new deaths, raising the death toll to 203. On the other hand, 28 new patients recovered from the virus, bringing the total number of…
President Rodrigo Duterte said he would consider selling government assets as a “ast resort” to generate funds to help address the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in the country. “What is the endgame? We will run out of money. I’ll sell all the property of the government. That Cultural Center of the Philippines, PICC [Philippine International…
AMONG the highest number of casualties in this global public health crisis are on the front lines and since the coronavirus outbreak across the globe began, over 100 doctors and nurses around the world have died. In the 10 states covered by the Philippine Consulate General in New York, the reported number is less than…
In light of the coronavirus pandemic, Filipino Americans around the country — particularly small business owners and those in the health care field — are trying to navigate how to survive on a daily basis. Fil-Am restaurants, which have been staples in their communities for years and have even garnered awards and mainstream attraction, are…
CALIFORNIA’S number of coronavirus cases is nearing 17,000, as of Wednesday, April 8. The amount of positive cases stands at 16,957, based on figures from the California Health and Human Services Agency. Of those cases, 2,714 are in the hospital and 1,154 are in intensive care units. The leading county with the most cases is…
The Philippine Department of Labor and Employment will be receiving P5 billion in additional funding for programs designed to help formal sector workers affected by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The aid package for formal sector workers was approved by the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases through Resolution No….
ON April 2, 2020, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that if an alien failed to maintain lawful status (or went out of status) as a result of his or her attorney messing up and missing a filing deadline or providing wrong advice, there could still be hope or relief for that alien: “When…
FOLLOWING our columns about COVID-19 the past several weeks in this paper since the Wuhan outbreak, we received dozens of questions from our readers, which we have organized, consolidated, and answered below: I am confused, mask or no mask? If you do not have to go out, stay home, which is the safest sanctuary from…
FIFTEEN Filipino tycoons landed on Forbes’ 31st annual ranking of the world’s billionaires, with former Senator and real estate tycoon Manuel Villar leading the pack. Forbes said this year’s roster was made up of 2,095 billionaires across the globe, noting that it was 58 fewer than those recorded in 2019, and 226 fewer than just…
WE are back to work. The Department of Homeland Security, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) updated its list of essential services during the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis and expressly included residential real estate. Since Governor Newsom’s order incorporates this list, the order now includes residential and commercial real estate, including settlement services, as essential services…
