MANILA – Any conditions on assistance the Philippines may receive from a foreign aid agency must be aligned with the policies of President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration, a Palace official said. Malacañang issued the statement on Sunday, August 20 after Washington-based Millennium Challenge Corp. (MCC) announced that the Philippines is among the candidate countries to receive…
LAST August 2, 2017, the Trump Administration endorsed new legislation called “Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment (RAISE) Act” that would change the system of granting legal permanent residency. The act was introduced by Senators Tom Cotton (R-AR) and David Perdue (R-GA). (This is not a law yet. The bill must be approved by both…
MAYRA Casas and Julio Fernandez worked as sales clerks for Victoria’s Secret in California. Victoria’s Secret required them to follow two shift schedules: 1) the traditional shift which required them to show up at the store at the scheduled time; 2) the Call-In shift, where they were required to first call their manager two hours…
AFTER losing an IRS audit, you can either pay or fight. If you choose peace and quiet—pay. If you choose to fight—go to appeals. Here are 10 tips on how to prepare for the appeals conference: 1. Research the issues at hand. Read the most current cases to counter older cases that the agent may…
DO you want to simplify your life, reduce stress and regain control over your financial future? If you are one of the millions of people in this country who are drowning in debt, maybe you are feeling a sense of urgency and desperation about your situation but don’t know what to do. A lot of…
QUESTION: I want to open up my own company. Can you let me know some specifics? For example, I have a friend from Iran. Can he get an E-1 or E-2? A: As for E-2s, Iranians can apply for that type of visa anywhere. Question: Are there any restrictions where the money comes from for…
PRESIDENT Donald Trump has been in office for only 30 weeks but his self-inflicted wound coming from his statement that counter-protestors share the blame with the hate groups — the White supremacists, Neo-Nazis, the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), and the “Alt-Right” — during their fatal clash on August 12, may be the worst in his…
Uncertainty over the future of health care continues As a way to cool down the health care contention in Washington, the Trump administration on Wednesday, August 16 decided to continue to fund key health care subsidies to insurers through the month of August. Previously, the president has threatened to end the reimbursements paid to insurers…
Satellite images released by a Washington-based think tank confirm the reported presence of Chinese vessels near Pag-asa Island in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea). Images taken on Sunday, August 13 by the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) show that nine Chinese fishing vessels and…
This year marks the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)’s 50th anniversary as well as the regional bloc’s 40th anniversary of its partnership with the United States. ASEAN — which is comprised of the Philippines, Brunei, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar, Cambodia, Singapore and Indonesia — seeks to promote regional peace and stability to accelerate…
ATHLETES from the Philippine National Police (PNP) represented the country and brought home medals in the World Police and Fire Games (WPFG) in Los Angeles, California. In taekwondo, PO1 Eva Claire Santiago from Cagayan assigned at the Regional Public Safety Batallion (RPSB) Camp Bagong Diwa, garnered two gold medals. “I’m so happy that Team Pilipinas…
DFA: 4 Irish citizens of Filipino descent among injured The Philippine government on Friday, August 18 condemned the terrorist attack in Barcelona, Spain that left at least 13 people dead and dozens injured. “The Philippines condemns in the strongest terms this disturbing act of terror perpetrated by extremists against innocent men, women and children in Barcelona,”…
DUE to insistent public demand, I finally had the time to put up a piece for summer beauty tips. Today, I give you a special treat by answering some of the frequently asked questions regarding skin and hair care during the summer season. Question #1: How do I keep my skin looking radiant despite the…
Finally, the much-awaited summer event in the northeast is over…the month-long preparations were worth spent for…and the tensioning pressures were alleviated with finality. What a relief! The recently concluded three-day Fiesta in America celebration left an unprecedented score as it strongly proved the Filipinos’ high sense of value for everything and anything Philippines. Their innate…
Finally, the much-awaited summer event in the northeast is over…the month-long preparations were worth spent for…and the tensioning pressures were alleviated with finality. What a relief! The recently concluded three-day Fiesta in America celebration left an unprecedented score as it strongly proved the Filipinos’ high sense of value for everything and anything Philippines. Their innate…
The Philippine government is “plumbing new depths of barbarity” after President Rodrigo Duterte’s so-called “drug war” reached its highest single-day death toll this week, human rights group Amnesty International (AI) said on Thursday, August 17. Thirty-two alleged drug offenders were killed at the province-wide “one time, big time” simultaneous bloody raids in Bulacan on Wednesday,…
MANILA – The country’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 6.5 percent in the second quarter of 2017, according to the data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Thursday, August 17. While the figure is lower compared to the 7.1 percent growth in the same period last year, it is higher than the…
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…
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 tepchild elationship should have been created before a stepchild turns 18 years old. This means that the stepparent and the…
While terrorism is holding peace hostage around the world today, a more rampant but under the radar killer is on the loose and becoming more widespread, wiping out lives, as the medical community helplessly battles this pandemic situation of super bugs resistant to all drugs we currently have. Being at the mercy of these powerful…
MANILA – Senators Richard Gordon and Vicente “Tito” Sotto III claimed there is no sufficient evidence proving the involvement of President Rodrigo Duterte’s son Paolo in the smuggling of P6.4-billion worth of shabu from China. Photos showing the younger Duterte together with Kenneth Dong—the alleged middleman of the smuggled shipment—were presented during the resumption of…
Hippocrates, the father of Western medicine, once said, “let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food.” These words still hold true today. Yet, with various opinions on diet and exercise, and new foods frequently being dubbed superfoods, it can be tough deciding which advice to take. The Asian Journal got insight from Philippine-based…
The drug menace in the country cannot be fixed in a single term, Philippine President Rodrigo admitted, saying that even the competent United States has been struggling against it. Duterte won the May 2016 presidential elections with a vow to completely crush the illegal drugs trade in the country. In a forum last week, the…
MANILA – Senator Antonio Trillanes IV and Bureau of Customs (BOC) Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon had a heated exchange during the resumption of Senate inquiry into the entry of P6.4-billion worth of smuggled shabu from China. During the Senate’s third hearing on Tuesday, August 15, Trillanes, who was the first interpellate, asked Faeldon if there is…
The Philippine government on Monday, August 14 called on the United States and North Korea to “desist from threats and military action” that may escalate nuclear tensions between countries. In a media conference, Philippine Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella also urged Washington and Pyongyang to conduct talks and put an end to any further missile tests…
The Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) is planning to file a second impeachment complaint against Philippine Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Andres Bautista. Earlier this week, former Negros Oriental Representative and current VACC member Jacinto Paras requested the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) for copies of documents related to the allegations made by Bautista’s…
In the U.S., Filipinos have access to fresh malunggay leaves from their backyards, Filipino/Asian groceries, or farmers markets. But in the winter, malunggay is not readily available or if you can find it in at Seafood City, it is prohibitively expensive. Often we have to wait until the following spring or use substitutes such…
by Imee Ong-Maghanoy “THOSE who know, do. Those that understand, teach.” – Aristotle When people ask me why I do what I do, I always tell them that my calling is in helping people achieve their health and beauty goals, but what I look forward to every day is seeing them take the first step….
EVEN as children, we know all too well that sugar is in our favorite chocolates, candies and other food high in glucose, which can be detrimental to our health and well-being. Through the years, our relationship with this sweet, edible, crystalline carbohydrate continues to be a paradoxical one and, in a sense, perverse. As we grow older,…
IT is exhausting to try and break an endless cycle of unhealthy habits. Come to think of it, you work long hours on weekdays that you’re so drained by the end of the week so instead of hitting the beach or trekking the mountains in some laid-back town to loosen up, you choose to sleep…
