FIRST of all, let me wish everyone a MERRY CHRISTMAS! We celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The divine became human as an expression of God’s love for humankind. Now what, pray tell does the title legal financial plastic surgery mean? Is this something hard to imagine? Not really. Plastic and…
DEAR Attorney Tan, I recently married a US Citizen, who is my second husband. He has filed an immigrant visa petition and green card application for me. My husband recently received from USCIS a Notice of Intent to Deny the petition that he filed on my behalf. The Notice indicated that the immigrant visa petition…
HERE are some important laws that were created or that took effect in California in 2018 to continue to protect employees: CA Supreme Court Tightens Laws on Independent Contractor Misclassification The Supreme Court ruled that a worker is properly considered an independent contractor to whom employment laws does not apply only if the hiring entity…
IN my last column, I shared with you simple tips on clearing energies in your homes. Here are more tips to keep energies of your house positive. I always practice the 4 S’s: SOUND, SMOKE, SALT and SPIRITUALITY. Let me guide you how to use them. Sound Sound disturbs the soundwaves within an area. When…
AS Christmas season passed by, we looked at the photos of families and friends we shared on Facebook and Instagram and expressed a profound sense of gratitude to God. Thank God that we were able to push through another Christmas gathering. Thank God for siblings, nieces, nephews, and other family members who drove or flew…
Allow Your Emotions to Drive Your Trades: Remember the internet dot-com bubble in the 1990s? Many of these companies lacked fundamentals. Investors, afraid of missing out, joined the buying frenzy. And lost. Malo. What to do: Take emotions out of the equation when buying or selling stocks. Don’t fall in love with a stock. Don’t…
NEW Year’s Day – that arbitrary date in the calendar that compels us to take stock of ourselves and evaluate whether our loves, lives and careers are progressing in the ways they should. It is also a time to pause and reflect on the laughter and tears of the past year and what has been…
Irregularities in tone, poorly-written female characters and a frustratingly unexplained murder are two of the major pitfalls of the official Philippine entry to the Academy Awards “Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.” -Psalm 95:1 In veteran Filipino filmmaker Chito S. Roño’s latest…
“MAY you have all that you need, because the sharing of gifts is our exercise of security in the abundance the Almighty gives us constantly. May you constantly find reasons to feel joy, and to share that joy, thus making it grow exponentially. We were all created to find joy, and share that joy with…
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) on Friday, December 28 placed the Mayon Volcano on Alert Level 2 — indicated a moderate level of unrest — as it continuously spews out ashes. “Alert Level 2 currently prevails over Mayon Volcano. This means that Mayon is at a moderate level of unrest,” Phivolcs said…
Discussions on the link between social media use and mental health are nothing new, but researchers at the University of Pennsylvania for the first time conducted a study based on experimental data that connects the causal relationship between social media use and mental well-being. What they found was that simply limiting social media use could…
Trump approval rating drops amid Christmas season shutdown After federal funding expired for one-fourth of the U.S. government on Saturday Dec. 22, which triggered a partial government shutdown, 25 percent of the country’s federal workforce remains in limbo. The third shutdown of the Trump administration began when negotiations between top Democrats in Congress and the administration…
With winds reaching up to 50 mph, the Camp Fire, which started in early November, blazed through over 153,000 acres and nearly 14,000 residences in Northern California. Aside from becoming the most destructive fire in the state’s modern history, it also proved to be the deadliest with a death toll of 86. Roughly 27,000 people…
MEMBERS of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and New People’s Army (NPA) gathered on Wednesday, December 26 to commemorate the 50th founding anniversary of the CPP-NPA. As the members proceed with their parade, press conference and cultural presentations, supporters of the movement were notably absent. Officials said that military threats made them opt…
IN light of Ako, Bicol Representative Rodel Batocabe’s murder this week, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the increase of the reward from P30 million to P50 million for any information. “The reward is at this time P30 million. I’m raising the ante. I’m putting it at plus P20 to P50,” Duterte said during a chance…
The fight for the World Boxing Association (WBA) welterweight title on January 19, 2019 between Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao and American challenger Adrien Broner will still push through despite the latter’s recent arrest in Broward County, Florida. Broner was reportedly arrested for failing to appear before the court on his case back in December 2017….
Malacañang said on Friday, December 28 that the Philippine government is prioritizing the implementation of tougher security measures after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that aviation security at Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) was not up to par with international security standards. Philippine Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said on Friday that…
Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Delfin Lorenzana admitted that the country’s issues with China over the West Philippine Sea will be best resolved through President Rodrigo Duterte’s strategy of not provoking China. “China is on my mind every day because of what they are doing in the West Philippine Sea. I wish I could…
A recent study revealed that the majority of Filipino jobseekers — students and fresh graduates — have to go through additional training to become work ready and employable. The Philippine Talent Map Initiative conducted by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) showed that 31.7 percent of job seekers or a total of 18,928 have…
The communist insurgency in the country is dismissed by Malacañang as a “failed rebellion” on Wednesday, December 26, as the the rebel group celebrated its 50th founding anniversary. The statement was made by presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo who criticized leader Jose Maria “Joma” Sison’s previous comment about the Philippines’ deterioration under President Rodrigo Duterte. “The…
DEAR Attorney Gurfinkel: I’ve been told by friends that having an attorney handle your immigration case is a sign that you are “guilty” or not entitled to the immigration benefit. After all, if you’re entitled or eligible, then why do you need an attorney? I thought my immigration case was simple and straightforward, and I…
NEW Year, new resolutions, new life. For some of you, the New Year is a time for reflection, and to realize that changes are needed to be able to lead and live the life you’ve always wanted to lead. Sometimes, divorce happens. The following seeks to address or clarify some common misconceptions about divorce. “What…
What triggers hunger and satiety? The urge to eat (hungry or not) is, to a large extent, controlled and regulated by hormones in our body. And these hormones fluctuate depending on how much sleep we get, what types of food we eat and how much calories we take in, and on how much physical activities…
China’s first infrastructure project here in the Philippines, a drug rehabilitation center, took less than a year to finish, according to Sarangani Governor Steve Solon. The P350-million Chinese-funded Soccsksargen Dangerous Drug Abuse Treatment and Rehabilitation Center (DDATRC) had its groundbreaking on January 12. It was then turned over last week to the provincial government, which…
A NEW Gallup survey revealed that the young Filipino population will possibly decrease by about 9 percent due to migration as more job opportunities open abroad for the talented Filipino residents. According to the data from the Potential Net Migration Index (PNMI), Gallup Inc. said that the Philippines has a PNMI score of a contraction…
