PPC holds Induction & Inaugural Ball and Holiday Celebration
The Pangasinan Presidents Club (PPC) USA, club of past presidents of towns and cities organizations from Pangasinan, held its second Induction & Inaugural Ball and Holiday Celebration last Saturday, December 15, 2018 at the Best Western/Grosvenor Hotel in South San Francisco, California. Jose S. Esteves, former mayor of Milpitas, California, inducted the incoming executive officers,…
Fixing the energies in your home (Part I of II)
AFTER talking about negative energies/entities and how to protect against them, let us now move towards clearing our own homes. The home is where we stay, eat, sleep and spend time with family. This sacred space should always be kept positive and sacred. As much as possible, good energies must dwell longer in this abode…
Warren Buffett’s five lessons for ordinary investors
LET’S learn some tips from the greatest investor of all time – Warren Buffet, the Oracle of Omaha. 1. Be greedy when others are fearful and fearful when others are greedy. • Buffett offered this advice during the recession in 2008. • At that time, stocks were plummeting which he said was the best time…
Do you have too much debt?
HOW can you answer a question like this? Let’s comment about debt. The Bible says that one should neither be a lender or a borrower. It does not seem to recommend the assumption of debt. Otherwise, it should say that there’s nothing wrong to be a borrower, but not a lender, or vice-versa. But the…
Reinstatement for surviving beneficiaries of an I-130 petition filed by a deceased relative
DEAR Attorney Tan, My US Citizen mother filed an I-130 immigrant petition on my behalf, which has a priority date in February 2000 and which has been approved. She filed the I-130 petition after I came to the US in 1999 as a tourist from the Philippines. Since my arrival, I have lived in the…
Managers, supervisors and administrators are not automatically exempt from overtime
A GROUP of Assistant Branch Managers, who worked for JPMorgan Chase in California, sued the bank in a class action claiming they were misclassified as exempt employees. Because of the misclassification, the employees claimed they were denied overtime payment, and they were not provided meal and rest breaks. In order to obtain more facts about…
Get out of debt safely and legally
ARE you sick and tired of being in debt and having bad credit? Do you want to start over but simply don’t know where to begin? Is filing bankruptcy an option for you or are other options available? These days, you are constantly bombarded with advertising from companies and other professionals offering you their “solution”….
Dr. Erlinda Grey on the human splendor of medicine
THIS piece began as an act of friendship. It was conversation-interview supposed to draw a portrait of Dr. Linda Grey without physical features. Everyone knows this already: to describe her wouldn’t be telling anything new. Last Wednesday, at a gathering of seniors and the Fil-Am community and family services, they were not concerned about…
Spotlight on Filipina journalist Maria Ressa: One of ‘The Guardians’ of truth honored as Time Magazine ‘Person of the Year’
TIME Magazine’s Person of the Year 2018 honored journalists worldwide who have been harassed, imprisoned, or even killed just because they were doing their sacred responsibility of reporting the truth so that people may be better informed. They are the “guardians” of truth who have courageously been seeking the truth behind every story, despite intimidation,…
The Grinch who took Christ out of Christmas
“And so it came to pass that a choir of elves appeared in the night sky singing, ‘We bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people for on this night Santa Claus is coming to town.’” Can you imagine the Christmas story being told this way? Well, that’s exactly how…
Jose Antonio Vargas: From Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist to an American author and immigration reform advocate
“My mother wanted to give me a better life, so she sent me thousands of miles away to live with her parents in America — my grandfather (Lolo in Tagalog) and grandmother (Lola). After I arrived in Mountain View, Calif., in the San Francisco Bay Area, I entered sixth grade and quickly grew to love…
Trillanes leaves PH for US and Europe trip
Senator Antonio Trillanes IV has reportedly left the country for trips to the United States and Europe on Tuesday, December 11, via an EVA Air flight at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1. The senator presented all the necessary documents before the immigration officers at the airport as he proceed to his flight….
House seeks Diokno ouster over 2019 budget irregularities
The House of Representatives on Wednesday, December 12, adopted a resolution calling for the resignation of Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno to quit his post. This is a day after he was summoned for a “question hour” on the irregularities of the proposed 2019 budget. Minority Leader Danilo Suarez filed Resolution 2365 that “urged the office…
Lorenzana: Paolo Duterte’s ouster list is ‘fake news’
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on Tuesday, December 12, called the list of people allegedly conniving to unseat President Rodrigo Duterte posted by former Davao City vice mayor Paolo “Pulong” Duterte as “fake news.” “The first time I saw that posting: I said it’s fake news. I still maintain that is fake news,” he told reporters…
Study: Asian American students have highest amount of unmet financial aid need
Asian Americans remain the fastest growing population in the U.S., but recently released data by the U.S. Department of Education shows that Asian American students have the largest gap between the cost of college and what they must pay—a gap advocates are labeling as unmet need. “This further illuminates how the Asian ‘model minority’ myth…
New FCC rules might block proposed text message tax in California
A California commission’s proposal to tax text messages met with strong pushback This week, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) filed a proposal for a statewide “texting tax” that, if passed, would go into effect next month. The new surcharge — which is currently presented as less than 7 percent — would not tax per-text…
Pacquiao pushes for tobacco tax to aid healthcare bill
Senator Manny Pacquiao on Wednesday, December 12, reiterated his call to increase the excise tax on tobacco products to P60 per pack as he pushed for the Senate Bill No. 1599 to aid in the universal health care (UHC) bill. According to Pacquiao, the increase in the excise tax will help reduce the number of…
US ‘coldness’ preventing Duterte from visiting Washington
Malacañang on Wednesday, December 12, said the “coldness” in the United States is stopping President Rodrigo Duterte to visit Washington even after the return of the Balangiga Bells. “What I know is he really doesn’t want to go to the U.S. apart from whatever reasons he has in mind. He cannot stand the temperature, the…
Jollibee takes full control of Smashburger
U.S.-based burger chain Smashburger has been fully acquired by Jollibee Foods Corp. following the purchase of its remaining stake in the Filipino-owned fast-food chain for $10 million (P526 million). Jollibee first acquired Smashburger with an initial stake of 40 percent, which was later raised to 85 percent back in February. Jollibee, in a regulatory filing…
PH among ‘least generous’ nations in Southeast Asia
A REPORT from Gallup’s “The World’s Most Generous” index revealed that Filipinos are among the least generous people in Southeast Asia in terms of donating money to a charity, volunteering their time to an organization, or helping a stranger or those in need. According to the report involving 146 countries, the Philippines had a score…
Duterte on Ressa’s TIME cover: ‘You can have it’
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday, December 13, alluded to the awarding of Rappler’s CEO Maria Ressa as TIME Magazine’s “Person of the Year” during the birthday celebration of former Senator Manny Villar. “Time of the what, Time of the magazine, Time – ‘Woman of the Century’ and all, inyo na ‘yan (you can have it),”…
Travelogue: (FIRST of 4 parts) Discovering the less known gems of Croatia, Slovenia, and Montenegro
STEPPING outside of our shell to be free from the monotonous grind allows us to enhance our lives, stimulate our dormant mind, and enables us to welcome unfamiliar faces and places. Constant travelers would often say that the world is a book and those who do not travel read only a page… and that being…
USCIS could waive marital interviews on petitions to remove conditions (Form I-751)
STARTING on December 10, 2018, the USCIS could waive (or not require) an interview for a married couple seeking to remove conditions on a conditional green card. Generally, when a U.S. citizen petitions a spouse for a green card, and the spouse receives their green card within two years of the date of marriage, they…
Filipino Christmas, a big hit in New York
CHRISTMAS celebration the Filipino way is in full swing in New York as the lobby and glass windows of the Philippine Center along the bustling Fifth Avenue in mid-town Manhattan showcase a colorful collection of traditional parols (Christmas lanterns) and nativity scene. Thousands of New Yorkers and tourists pass by the Philippine Center everyday and…
