Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday, June 7, ordered the authorities of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) to hold officials accountable for allowing fraudulent payments that led to a P154-billion loss. “The president directs the management of the PhilHealth to institute criminal actions against those officials and employees who wittingly or unwittingly allowed such…
IF you’ve accumulated more credit card debt than you can handle, you may get this sick feeling in your stomach not knowing what to do about it. As a bankruptcy attorney, I find that this type of debt is the number one cause of financial problems that could lead to bankruptcy. Not because you’re making…
The dispute regarding Senate chairmanships for the 18th Congress was deemed “95 percent resolved,” according to Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III on Thursday, June 6. Sotto said that there are only a few committees left for discussion and resolution following a dinner meeting at Senator Manny Pacquiao’s residence in Dasmariñas Village, Makati on Wednesday,…
OFTEN I would remind people that we, Christians, worship a triune God. In essence, this means God is one, but eternally exists as three distinct persons: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I would tell them that as much as it is difficult to grasp this dogma of our faith, it’s how God, according to…
Despite city and county housing initiatives, influx of people becoming homeless has stunted progress Homelessness in Los Angeles has been a Sisyphean issue for the last several years, and despite keen efforts from lawmakers, a new staggering report on the homeless county shows unyielding immovability. The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) released a report…
Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas on Thursday, June 6 denied being in a meeting with people allegedly plotting to overthrow the government of President Rodrigo Duterte. The archbishop’s defense comes after Peter Joemel Advincula, the man who introduced himself as “Bikoy” in the “Ang Totoong Narcolist” video, spread those claims. According to Villegas’ statement released on…
“The FBI investigates the scam and tells the client they can get their money back if the money is still in the account.” THE first clients are business partners who happen to be married to each other. They run a business that has been very profitable before President Donald Trump instigated his trade wars. From…
WHENEVER I suffer lesions of depression that I allow others to mercilessly inflict on me, nothing beats my reflections of the Malacanang Press Lounge where some of my fondest thoughts still reside. I consider this as my favorite “rescue” fantasy. The press lounge is a place generally actively filled with cigarette smoke and profanity. It…
SEVERAL options exist for a US 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,…
Remember the old saying? “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” They watch out for pickpockets. I momentarily forgot this valuable piece of advice and, as a result, lost my wallet to a beggar in the center of the Catholic faith. Fortunately, my credit cards and driver’s license were in another pocket. But the…
DR. Sheila Hudson worked as a Senior Associate Athletics Director and Title IX Coordinator for California State University, Los Angeles. She filed a lawsuit against her employer, alleging retaliation after complaining about the sexual harassment of young female employees by the athletic director. Dr. Hudson alleged that the director used “degrading, sexist names such as,…
by Roxie Hammill THE leaders of Pathway Church on the outskirts of Wichita, Kan., had no clue that the $22,000 they already had on hand for Easter would have such impact. The nondenominational suburban congregation of about 3,800 had set out only to help people nearby pay off some medical debt, recalled Larry Wren, Pathway’s…
by Phil Galewitz EASTON, Pa. — Walk into a big-box retailer such as Walmart or Michaels and you’re likely to see MCS Industries’ picture frames, decorative mirrors or kitschy wall décor. Adjacent to a dairy farm a few miles west of downtown Easton, MCS is the nation’s largest maker of such household products. But MCS…
ANG U classification ay nagbibigay ng nonimmigrant status sa mga dayuhang biktima ng “qualifying criminal activity”. Noong naging batas ang Victims of Trafficking and Violence Prevention Act of 2000 na siyang naglikha ng U nonimmigrant status, ang layunin nito ay protektahan ang mga biktima ng mga ilang krimen dahil ang mga biktima ay naglakas-loob na…
KICK off summer and Philippine Independence Day festivities this weekend with a two-day celebration of Filipino American culture and talent at Los Angeles’ MacArthur Park! After a year-long hiatus, FilAm ARTS — the multi-award winning community organization that mounted the annual Festival of Philippine Arts and Culture (FPAC) for over a quarter century — returns…
THE United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) office in Manila will shut down as part of the Trump administration’s decision to cease operations of the agency’s 23 international locations. The Manila office will permanently close on July 5, and has stopped accepting new applications and petitions since May 31. “The U.S. Embassy in Manila…
DEAR Atty. Gurfinkel: I am a U.S. citizen, and petitioned my sister and her family in 1995. It has now been almost 25 years, and nothing seems to be happening on the case. Should I just keep waiting until the USCIS or NVC contacts me? Or is there something else I can be doing now?…
“Will you marry me? She asked him” (Let me introduce to my readers a bit of a background on the ‘Once Upon A Time’ Series that I am launching in this edition and will be running from time to time. Stories have a power and influence to touch the heart that a cut and dried…
ON June 4, 2019, CBS News reports that House Democrats passed its latest version of the DREAM Act, called the DREAM and Promise Act of 2019. The bill will be sent to the Republican-controlled Senate. What the DREAM and Promise Act of 2019 proposes. The proposed bill would: • Grant young undocumented immigrants who came…
Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs), which are considered the fastest-growing minority group, are encouraged to participate in the upcoming 2020 Census despite concerns about privacy and language barriers. During a panel at the Asian American Advertising Federation’s (3AF) annual summit, stakeholders discussed the importance of AAPI communities filling out the questionnaire — such as…
The United States State Department on Friday, May 31, issued a policy that requires visa applicants to provide the details of their social media accounts including their usernames, previous email addresses and phone numbers. In an article from Rappler, the U.S. embassy’s visa application portal was revised to cover the “social media identifiers” that would…
EVERY year, Filipinos both in the Philippines and abroad celebrate Philippine Independence Day on June 12, also known as “Araw ng Kasarinlan” or “Araw ng Kalayaan.” In the Philippines, it is observed with a day off from work and classes. Meanwhile, the celebration across the United States often takes form in parades and festivals filled…
H.R. 6 would give millions of undocumented youth and other eligible immigrants under TPS and DED a path toward permanent resident status On Tuesday, June 4 Democratic-led House of Representatives passed legislation that would eliminate deportation proceedings against certain undocumented immigrants — including youth identified as DREAMers — and grant them permanent residence status for…
Philippine Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III announced that the Consulate in Los Angeles will soon get its own overseas labor office during a recent town hall meeting with the local Filipino American community. “Pretty soon, upon the instruction of your consul general, we are going to put a Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) here. You…
Malacañang assured the public on Monday, June 3, that it would oppose any move by the kin of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos to block the sale of the jewelry trove labeled as the “Hawaiian Collection.” Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo earlier announced that Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte gave his go-signal to sell the Marcos jewelry and…
