TO be inducted into the Order of the National Artists of the Philippines (Pambansang Alagad ng Sining ng Pilipinas) is, doubtless, the apex of one’s achievements in the Arts, specifically, in the fields of Music, Dance, Literature, Visual Arts, Film and Broadcast and Architecture or Allied Arts. Of course, like any activity involving the selection…
Located in the foothills of the San Gabriel Valley and east of Pasadena, California sits Sierra Madre, which gives off a small town atmosphere reminiscent of somewhere in the middle of the country. The city’s main street is quaint and charming with local restaurants and shops and residents tend to know each other on a…
The Department of Tourism (DOT) warmly receives Forbes.com‘s citation of the Philippines as one of the hottest spots in Asia this year. The article entitled “The 5 Spots In Asia That Are Booming With Tourists In 2018”, underscored the country’s improved connectivity and infrastructure as the factors for the increased tourism interest. Forbes.com aligned the Philippines with the continent’s…
A STEPPARENT may file an immigrant petition for a stepchild even without the stepparent having to legally adopt the stepchild. However, before a stepparent may be able to file an immigrant petition for a stepchild, the stepparent–stepchild elationship should have been created before a stepchild turns 18 years old. This means that the stepparent and the…
This is a story of a gynecologist as he related in MedScape: “When I began experiencing chest pain that was different from my usual heartburn symptoms, I denied I could possibly be having a heart attack, but chewed four baby aspirins just in case. Of the more than 350,000 individuals who experienced an out-of-hospital cardiac…
THE client is 50 years old and divorced. She owns her residence by herself. Ex-husband quitclaimed the house to her in the divorce and she agreed to buy him off payable when able. She has two children who live with her, so her homestead exemption is $100,000. The problem is that her equity in the…
“Any use use other than as your principal residence is nonqualified use. This includes vacation home, renting it out, vacancy and allowing someone’s living in it.” (Part 1) You may exclude from gross income gain from sale of principal residence under Internal Revenue Code Section 121. 1. You may be able to exclude gain of $250,000…
The program that protects the roughly 700,000 young immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children was declared “dead” by President Donald Trump on Monday, April 2. His comment was among a series of tweets that raised new questions on what would become of the said undocumented young immigrants known as “Dreamers.” “DACA is…
Quiboloy’s lawyer denies the allegations of human trafficking The FBI is conducting an investigation into the Hawaii chapter of Filipino televangelist Apollo Quiboloy’s church on accusations of “aggressive fundraising” and possible human trafficking. As first reported by Hawaii News Now, the investigation is centered around Felina Salinas, the business manager of the Waipahu chapter of the Kingdom…
Trump admin to revoke Obama-era vehicle pollution standards, sparks outrage from CA leaders The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) confirmed plans on Monday, April 2 to loosen the nation’s current standards for fuel economy which they consider “too high.” If allowed to take effect, the Obama administration regulations would have required car manufacturers to double the…
Sogo Cares program of HotelSogo supports Oplan Mayon: Save Humanity, a three- day relief operation and medical mission conducted in Brgy. Anoling and Brgy. Tagaytay Camalig, Albay last March 16-18, 2018 with the help of 105 volunteers from different organizations. Almost 800 families benefited from this activity. The Oplan Mayon: Save Humanity program, aims to…
A fast-moving initiative for peace and hopefully, the beginnings of rapprochement, is underway in the Korean Peninsula between the two separated Koreas, North and South. We hope it is to be followed by a larger three-way Summit with the U.S., most likely in April or May between the two Korean leaders, potential Nobel Peace Prize…
BEING in debt can be pretty depressing. I understand how you feel. When you’re drowning in debt, you may feel that your situation is hopeful and you have no motivation to even plan for your future. Your self-esteem may be shot. You may be experiencing anger, depression, guilt, or a combination of all three. You…
MANILA, PHILIPPINES – Some one million visitors, local and foreign tourists alike, traveled to the Walled City of Intramuros for the observance of the Holy Week. The Department of Tourism (DOT) and its attached agency, the Intramuros Administration (IA), welcomed the visitors with a series of events to promote the Walled City as a holistic…
DAVAO CITY –The Philippines scored yet another tourism marketing coup with its successful hosting of the Alveo IRONMAN 70.3 triathlon on Sunday in this premier Mindanao city, the hometown of President Rodrigo Duterte. Thousands of people welcomed and cheered over 2,000 competitors in the different categories of this prestigious international sporting event that featured 21 world champions,…
PHILIPPINES (March 23, 2018) – This April on AXN, magic hits the streets while thrilling adventures continue to unfold. Explore the world of underground street magicians in the magic show Don’t Blink; and America’s favorite hero embarks on her most dangerous mission in the new season of the drama thriller Quantico. Don’t Blink Don’t…
COL Financial kicks off its annual Investor Summit to teach Filipinos how to manage their portfolios better COL Financial recently held its first COL Investor Summit targeting customers actively managing their portfolios. The event brought together local and global investment professionals, who shared their insights on their respective fields of expertise. Riding out the volatile…
Amidst criticism sparked by the Cambridge Analytica scandal that was revealed roughly two weeks ago, Facebook announced a number of privacy changes it was making to ease concerns over how it handled its users’ personal information. These changes will be the first since Facebook founder and chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg last week publicly pledged…
New health center vows to provide a wide range of health services for the city’s growing homeless population Though the city of Los Angeles has gone through several administrations that have tried to tackle the rampant homelessness problem, the recently passed Proposition HHH is vowing to take that fight more seriously than in the past….
The Philippines is monitoring the reported combat drills conducted by China in the South China Sea. This, according to Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, following a recent Reuters report that said Beijing was holding exercises in a large “show of force” off Hainan Island in the South China Sea. “Of course. Our Navy and Air…
The Liberal Party (LP) is pushing for a “resistance” coalition in the 2019 elections to prevent any possible “slide to authoritarianism and anti-democratic rule.” In a statement released Tuesday, March 27, LP President Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan stressed the need for a “strong” opposition coalition “to ensure that our democracy remains vibrant.” The LP, he…
The client is 50 years old and divorced. She owns her residence by herself. Ex-husband quitclaimed the house to her in the divorce and she agreed to buy him off payable when able. She has two children who live with her, so her homestead exemption is $100,000. The problem is that her equity in the…
INGRID Avendano, Roxana Lopez, and Ana Medina are female Latina software engineers employed by Uber, a multi-billion dollar company that provides on-demand transportation and food delivery services globally. The engineers sued Uber, on behalf on themselves and all aggrieved employees in California, accusing Uber of violating California’s Equal Pay Act for failing to provide equal…
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,…
IF you lose an IRS audit, you have two choices: pay or appeal. Your decision depends on how you feel about the fairness of the auditor, amount of assessment, cost of defense, and extending or ending your misery with the IRS. • What is the role of Appeals? • Are Appeals Officers independent? • Do…
Balitang America has confirmed that one of the kids who died when a 19-year-old man opened fire using an AR-15 war weapon in Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida on Valentine’s Day was of Filipino descent. Her name was Carmen Schentrup, a beautiful and intelligent senior high school student whose Filipina lola, Florenda…
California law on the nature of spouses’ rights and obligations with respect to management and control of community property has evolved over the last thirty years from less stringent “good faith” standards to heightened “confidential duty” and “fiduciary duty’ standards. Under current law, the duties owed between spouses in transactions between themselves are the same…
The 2020 Census is underway with only two years left to go, and for Asian Americans, the upcoming census is being seen as either an opportunity for being accurately counted, or a chance to be improperly represented. The decennial census looks to find population changes and other information of who makes up the United States,…
Dear Attorney Gurfinkel: My aunt owns a care home, and wants to petition me as a caregiver. However, I was told that employers cannot petition relatives for green cards through labor certification or PERM. Is that true? Or is it possible for relatives to petition other relatives for employment-based green card? Very truly yours, MJ…
Why do cardiac surgeons stop the heart during surgery? The conventional technique in coronary bypass surgery includes, among other elaborate procedures, arresting the heart in order for the surgeon to have a quiet (non-beating) and “bloodless” field to do the delicate stitching connection on the tiny (size of a round toothpick) arteries on the surface…
