THE latest Human Rights Watch (HRW) report says Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte may be held responsible for the extrajudicial killings in his war on drugs, which has claimed the lives of about 7,000 people involved in the drug trade since he took office last July. HRW says these sanctions may be considered “crimes against humanity.”…
The president wears a prestigious crown. The protocol, the linguistics, circumlocution are intimidating at first, but then becomes a second language. There is something about the aura of president that makes everyone behave in a reverential manner. Everyone, including his innermost circle, which consists of lifetime friends ceases to perceive him in high respect. This…
Robert “Bobby” Murphy named one of the youngest billionaires in the world The introduction of the smartphone in the mid-2000s and the genesis of the start-up business culture ushered in a new wave of entrepreneurs who are making billions through technological innovations. One of those billionaires is Filipino-American Robert “Bobby” Murphy, who, along with business…
The 60s and 70s gave a rapid emergence of boy bands not only in the US and European countries but in Manila, principally. Since music is said to be the universal language, then I would have to say band music, being earsplitting, crashing, and thunderous, has enormously set its trending outcry-style to effectually communicate and…
WITH the election of Donald Trump as president, and his pledge to fulfill his campaign promise of enforcing immigration laws (with news reports of immigration raids throughout the country), many people are anxious and\or terrified about their future in the US. Many of my clients have been calling asking whether they have to open the…
WHAT is OPCAB? OPCAB stands for off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery, which is the most popular minimally invasive heart bypass operation today, one that is done on a beating heart. Conventionally, a coronary bypass is done on an arrested heart (chemically-induced cardiac arrest to allow for a quiet field) with the patient connected to a…
THE screws are tightening on both sides of the Pacific, pretty much like the garote that snuffed the lives of the Tres Martires, Padres Burgos, Gomez and Zamora. Sooner or later, some necks are going to snap. In America, the screws are being tightened around the neck of President Donald Trump, with calls for his…
DONALD TRUMP has been the president of the United States for a little more than a month now, and when asked in a TV interview how he would rate himself, he said he would give himself the grade of “A” for achievement. However, he acknowledged how bumpy the first month had been and said because…
SOME say that a governance needs a good opposition to bring out the best in itself. Will this hold true for a government that is marred by a political rumble where supremacy is tested and egos are displayed? The three great departments of the Philippine government—the Executive (President), Legislative (Senate and House of Representatives) and…
In a CNN report written by Paolo Taruc on September 21, 2015, the Philippines emerged as one of Southeast Asia’s fastest growing economies with an average gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of 6.2% per year from 2010 to 2014. The figure represents the highest growth in nearly four decades, according to the National Economic and Development Authority…
“DO not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself.” — (Matthew 6:34) It’s not easy to let go and allow God to take charge of our lives. “It’s easier said than done,” we always say. It’s because we want to control the situations and be clear about the decisions of our lives. The Scripture…
I’ve been asked several times who my favorite actresses are. I remember that my answer would always include this young award-winning actress—who is also famous for her class and good heart—Bea Alonzo. Entertainment, like everything else, evolves as culture changes over the years. And I say this with love toward my friends in the industry:…
Client filed for Chapter 7 without lawyer in 2008 did not get discharge CLIENT is 65 and a widow. Wanting some male attention, I guess, she posted her picture on the Internet. She looks much younger in the posted picture. She showed me the picture. She looked like she was 48. But she said that the…
COREPOWER Yoga (CPY) owns a chain of yoga studios throughout the country, including at least thirty-one studio locations in California, and offering yoga classes throughout the day. CPY operated a “Yoga for Trade” (YFT) program where studio managers scheduled yoga students for shifts during which they cleaned and performed other project-based work at the…
QUESTION: What is a ‘revocable’ Living Trust? Answer: A ‘revocable living trust’ for a single person (including a typical “survivor’s trust” that is revocable by the surviving settlor as described in) will provide for distributions to the settlor during the settlor’s lifetime. When a single settlor holds the revocation power and is also entitled to…
IF you’ve accumulated a lot of debt and something has happened in your life that’s made it difficult to pay your bills, you are not alone. After almost 18 years of practice as a debt relief attorney, I know that bad things can happen to good, honest and decent people. If you are going through…
Located off the Harvey Drive exit of the 134 freeway in Glendale, California is FuJi Buffet & Grill, an all-you-can-eat fare that gives you a taste of different Asian regions—without a steep price tag. Enter the restaurant and you’ll be greeted by sleek, modern interiors. The dining area itself is expansive, so you’ll surely be…
As if the war that President Donald Trump has been waging against the news media is not enough — calling those news organizations critical of him and his policies “fake news” — now the administration through the Office of Press Secretary Sean Spicer has “fired ballistic missiles”, so to speak, against the Fourth Estate, by…
THE classic symbol of justice is a lady with a blindfold holding weighing scale that are perfectly balanced. The blindfold and the balanced scales denote impartiality. One would expect that the Secretary of Justice and our country’s lawmakers, the members of the legislature, fully understand and appreciate the symbolism. However, current developments and the actuations…
Dancing, aside from singing, is another performing art form Filipinos are well-adept with. Being an extra variety of emotional interpretation through body locomotion, dance had been an effectual tool of social interaction with a compelling visual implementation of religious and cultural aspects, and an efficient method of self expression. Ballet, being a classic dance form,…
They were evenings that mixes serious adult past time. Not exactly the kind of topic one wants to pursue after what seems to be a lifetime being under the weather. Startled by beautiful old faces, lived, groomed and puckered as they maybe, hair grizzled; these glossy contemporaries at the Silver Lake Adult Health Center showed…
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…
THE body is a wonderful natural chemical factory. Whatever we eat, drink or apply to our body is absorbed and automatically transformed into energy (fuel) or to various hormones and substances that control our total bodily function, including thought processes, mental state, behavior, and cellular responses and reactions. Medications and drugs we take are likewise…
Two major requirements under the Surface Transportation and Veterans Health Care Choice Improvement Act of 2015: 1. The estate executor or others required to file an estate tax return Form 706 after July 31, 2015, should provide Form 8971 and Schedule A to the IRS to report the final estate tax value of the property…
THIS may be one of the most unsettling weeks for kababayans who are living and working in the United States without legal status as the Trump administration unveiled new guidelines to be implemented by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). These provisions make good on Pres. Donald Trump’s campaign promise to deport the almost 11…
AS Filipinos commemorate the 31st anniversary of the EDSA (People Power) revolution this year, they are not called to dramatize the wrongdoings of the past. Instead, they should do so with a critical understanding of the aspirations and the historical realities that made this movement the catalyst for a democracy that most Filipinos enjoy today….
This is about the one who cannot speak, whose drop of life is only a cluster of cells that has scarcely begun. The one who is silent and without opinion who can’t even help the woman who has helped conceive it. The one whose only existence began by chance — perhaps by a mistake or…
IN just his third season with the National Basketball Association (NBA), Los Angeles Lakers guard Jordan Clarkson has already made a name for himself as a viable asset for the franchise. The 24-year-old belongs to a crop of Filipino Americans who have broken the glass ceiling in the U.S. in fields such as arts, sports,…
IT was said to be one of the most ambitious agendas ever laid out by a president in years. During President Donald Trump’s first few days at the White House, he took several actions: from motioning to repeal Obama’s signature health care law to renegotiating trade deals to suspending immigration from terror-prone regions. As far-reaching…
“YOU shall not bear hatred for your brother or sister in your heart…Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against your people. You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Leviticus: 17-18) More and more, we seem to live in a polarized world as we experience wide differences in views on politics and religion among people. This…
