How does a woman feel when she turns 70? Does she feel fulfilled, empty, or missing something? Is she flooded by a voluminous reflection of her past? Knowing the “end” is eminent, will she feel remorseful and start to repent and save her soul? Does aging give her downheartedness and depression? One of the well-loved…
PRESIDENT Donald Trump is fiercely opposed to family “chain migration” and wants to limit family petitions to spouses and minor children of green card holders or U.S. citizens. He wants to eliminate petitions for parents (IR), married (F-3) and adult single children (F-1), and siblings (F-4) of U.S. citizens, and adult unmarried children of green…
I JUST moved to California last month, and I’d like to file for divorce. Can I file now? To file for divorce in the State of California, the person filing (called the “Petitioner”) must first meet the jurisdictional requirements: (i) residence in the state of California from the past 6 months; and (ii) residence in…
OUR team from Las Vegas and other states just completed our annual medical missions, first in Alaminos, Laguna (February 4-8), followed by another in Kamay ni Hesus Pilgrimage Center in Lucban, Quezon, (February 8-12). The following morning after we returned to Manila on February 12, my wife, Farida, and I, took a cab to San…
For Susan Gross-Niedermeyer, a realtor in Phoenix, Arizona since 1989, there is no better place to be a resident, tourist, pilgrim, visitor, or investor than at Lombard By The Bay. “Lombard By The Bay is in Montemaria where natural beauty is beyond compare,” she answered when asked why she bought a penthouse unit with the…
Push for Entrepreneurship” will be celebrated during induction gala ON the eve of welcoming a new president and a new board for 2018-2019, a revolutionary upheaval of the cultural mindset will be officially launched by the Filipino-American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Los Angeles (FACC-GLA). The “Push for Entrepreneurship” movement is the brainchild of incoming…
Part 1 WHAT you need to know when your loved one dies or when you die? What is meant by Final Form 1040, filing of Form 1041 and Form 706? • Final Form 1040: When you die your final year ends with the date of your death. Your Final Form 1040 income tax return is…
I left the Philippines for the U.S. 50 years ago and had my last vacation five years ago. Things have changed for the better — especially in the area of discipline — shades of the first few years of the Marcos regime. Here are my impressions from the outside looking in at people’s behaviors under…
(Part 3 of 3) *Remarks of Hon. Jose de Venecia – Former Speaker, Philippine House of Representatives; Founding Chairman and Chairman of Standing Committee, International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP); Co-Founder, Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA); Chairman, International Association of Parliamentarians for Peace (IAPP); Special Envoy of the President to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)…
ENOUGH! This is the battle cry of Americans following the massacre of 14 students and three staff members in Parkland, Florida — one of the worst in U.S. history — and just another in the series of many mass shootings that have killed students and civilians in just a few years. President Donald Trump and…
THE client is a young senior in his early 60s who took an early retirement last year. He owes $15,000 of credit card debt and nothing else. He has a community property house that is fully paid with a current market value of $500,000. Fortunately for the client, he did not refinance his fully paid…
JAMES Pearl was hired in 2002 by the Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation. In 2006, he was promoted as a wastewater collection supervisor. In 2011, he was transferred to an office in Reseda. Pearl complained, alleging that it was retaliation for his complaint about a fellow worker’s misconduct. Pearl filed a discrimination complaint with California’s…
HERE’S a list of tax provisions of the Tax Cut and Jobs Act affecting individuals like you and me. 1. The new Tax Cut and Jobs Act keeps seven tax brackets with six of them at lower rates. Most of us will benefit from the new rates, even if the press says the opposite. 2….
ON June 26, 2013, the US Supreme Court struck down section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) as unconstitutional in the landmark case US. V. Windsor. The BIA shortly thereafter issued a decision in Matter of Zeleniak holding that DOMA is no longer an impediment in recognizing same-sex couples under the immigration and…
MOST people don’t talk about their debts because they find that conversation embarrassing. They can talk to their friends and family about everything else but when it comes to the subject of how much debt they are carrying, most people would not divulge any information. It makes them very uncomfortable. So what happens is that…
IN a moment of pique, I recently posted on social media that I always thought Harry Roque, spokesman of President Rodrigo Duterte, was “marunong” (intelligent). And I added: “Bobo pala.” (It turns out, he’s dumb.) I’m taking that back. I don’t think Roque is dumb. His academic credentials are impressive and so is his track…
IN the wake of one of the deadliest mass shootings in the United States — committed by a white 19-year-old with an AR-15 assault rifle, killing 14 students and three school staff members in Parkland, Florida — survivors, their families, students from other schools around the country, and stricter gun laws and regulations advocates protested…
Trust in God is what we need to face the hardships and incomprehensibility of life. It’s what Abraham in this Sunday’s First Reading manifested to us. He trusted in God’s inscrutable command. “Take your son Isaac, your only one, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. There you shall offer him up…
DEAR Attorney Gurfinkel: I was petitioned in November 2006 as a single adult child of my immigrant (green card) parent, in the F-2B category. I waited many years, and in November 2017, the embassy scheduled my interview for January 2018. I went ahead and had my medicals, paid all the fees, and submitted all the…
“ Moreover, USCIS will not accept or approve applications for Advance Parole request from DACA recipients” DEFERRED Action (DACA) renewals. Due to a Federal Court order, the U.S. Immigration and Citizenship Services (USCIS) has resumed accepting requests to renew a grant of deferred action under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Until further…
In the book on disease prevention at the cellular (DNA) level, entitled, Let’s Stop “Killing” our Children, I have highlighted tobacco and alcohol as the two major causes of most maladies known to man, including cancer. Besides those two risk factors, I pointed out that other unhealthy lifestyle behaviors and habits immensely contribute to the…
ONCE again, Las Vegas has become the place to ring in the Lunar New Year. On Friday, February 16, guests were treated for dinner, a show and a one-of-a-kind shopping experience at Fashion Show Mall. The event featured a variety show performed by artists from tianjin, China, and a fashion show by Saks Fifth Avenue….
(Part 2 of 3) *Remarks of Hon. Jose de Venecia – Former Speaker, Philippine House of Representatives; Founding Chairman and Chairman of Standing Committee, International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP); Co-Founder, Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA); Chairman, International Association of Parliamentarians for Peace (IAPP); Special Envoy of the President to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)…
AMERICA celebrated Presidents’ Day last Monday, February 19, but there was something, someone missing — a real president with moral leadership in the White House. The events leading up to Presidents’ Day just exposed more of the character, or the lack thereof, of the 45th president of the United States. Fourteen young high school students…
Each month, the Visa Office of the State Department publishes, in the Visa Bulletin, the priority dates for that particular month, for the various family and employment based categories. A priority date is a person’s “place in line” for a visa, meaning immigrant visas (or green cards) would be available for persons whose priority date…
Q: I have just entered the work force and I work in the service industry on 12-hour shifts. My supervisor says I am entitled to one 30-minute lunch break and two rest breaks of 10 minutes each. A co-worker said it should actually be two lunch breaks and three rest breaks because we work 12…
IN previous editions of this article, the process of obtaining permanent residence through marriage was explored. Discussion of that procedure began with the supposition that the couple was married, and continued with the various steps to ultimately gain permanent residence. In many cases, however, a problem exists in even getting to the point at which…
THE Tax Cuts and Jobs Act saves the student loan interest deduction and keeps tuition waivers for graduate students tax-free. It also expands 529 savings accounts to include private K-12 education. Let’s discuss further. 1. American Opportunity and Lifetime Learning credits remain the same: Both American Opportunity Credit and the Lifetime Learning Credit remain the same….
A LOT of people who don’t have a clue about how bankruptcy works are sometimes too quick to judge others who find bankruptcy as their only option to get out of debt. These people think that filing bankruptcy is something they will never do because it is ‘wrong to run away from your responsibilities’. This…
On April 7, at the historic Presidio in San Francisco, surviving Filipino World War II veterans or their next of kin living in Northern California, will receive bronze replicas of the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian award conferred by the United States. The original gold medal (not to be confused with the Congressional Medal…
