10 tips on dependents and exemptions
• YOU may claim exemptions for yourself, your spouse and your dependents. • Dependents must have a Social Security number (TIN is not good enough). • Exemption amount is $4,000…
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Is bankruptcy my only option to get out of debt?
ARE you being harassed by your creditors day and night due to unpaid bills? If you are, you know that this is a pretty unpleasant experience. You may feel scared,…
Homeless rights prevail in LA City Council
THE Los Angeles City Council approved settlement fees for two cases involving homeless people, together totaling $950,000, according to a Los Angeles Times report. Deliberated in a closed meeting, lawmakers…
One last dance: My deepest sympathies to the victims of Orlando massacre
It would have been like any other Sunday morning on June 12 — one where I wake up knowing that life is good and that everything is exactly how it…
Honor thy father
My father is the kind of man I’ve always dreamed of: kind to the weak, fierce to the arrogant, generous to those who loved him, ruthless to those who will…
Rasmin Diaz: ‘Singing is a therapeutic passion… An antidote for loneliness…’
After being cleverly introduced, she elegantly sashayed her way on to the stage as the spotlights fully revealed her anonymity from behind the velvet curtain. Simple but tastefully garbed in…
SUMMER KICKOFF COOKOUT WITH YOU EAT NOW + MAKOSSA + POT June 18th daytime party in the heart of LA with Filipino food, booze, & dancing!
Los Angeles, California: You Eat Now! is collaborating with Makossa Cookout and The POT Bar to kickoff this summer’s party season on Saturday, June 18 at 3:30pm at The Line…
Miss Philippines Earth 2016 is from Puerto Princesa, Palawan
The new Miss Philippines Earth 2016 has been crowned last Saturday, June 11 at UP Theater in Diliman, Quezon City. Standing out amongst 45 other candidates from all over the…
Avoiding an affidavit of support (Form I – 864) by working 40 quarters (10 years)
FAMILY based petitions and some employment-based petitions (where a relative owns a 5% interest in the petitioning company) require the petitioner to submit an affidavit of support (Form I –…
California divorce: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
ALL we need is love, says a love song. Love will keep us alive, says another. Unfortunately, real life is not a three-and-a-half minute power-ballad love song. Love and marriage…
Plastic water bottles
About 50 billion plastic water bottles are consumed around the world each year. This does not include the billions of other plastic materials littering the globe, chocking our environment in…
Advancing the cause of education
(Publisher/Editor’s/OpEd Editor’s note: The following is part of the statement released by the author about her acceptance of the offer from President-elect Rody Duterte to make her Secretary of Education….
Top of their class: Pinoy celebrities who graduated with honors
Celebrities have a busy life — shooting schedules, appearances, concerts, red carpet premieres — that people assume they have no time to go to a regular school. But there are…
Treat dad to a lavish feast at Cafe Sierra
Father’s Day weekend is just around the corner, and Cafe Sierra’s Father’s Day Weekend Bash is the perfect way to celebrate your old man’s special day. Cafe Sierra is known…
Academic regalia: Origin of the graduation gown
A complete account of the origin and background history of the graduation gown would fill a book. But to make a very long story short, the early academic dress in…
Tax consequences of debt discharge
DURING and after the recession, many borrowers who were financially distressed lost their homes and had their loans cancelled. It was a relief to have their debts reduced or forgiven,…
Terror attack
GRIM news of insurgency and terror attacks are thrust onto international headlines every day. Although modernization demolishes geographical barriers and moves the world toward an amalgamated economy, clashes among cultures…
The gift of service
There is in all work of service a deep soul — something that has called those who participate in it and sustains it. Tangible and visible, whose objects had been…
The gospel and theology of mercy
NO one is ever late for God’s mercy and forgiveness. This contention is what Pope Francis has always reflected on in all his actions and words, especially in promulgating 2016…
Senior seeks relief from $40K credit cards
Business owner seeks to discharge $100K credit cards used to buy business; Clinton beats Trump to become first woman president of America CLIENT is 65 and recently widowed. Her husband…
Health insurance enrollment periods
THE government is more lenient to people with low-incomes and assets in the sense that they can get Medicaid (Medi-Cal in California) anytime of the year. That leniency to get…
How to apply for Filipino WWII Veterans Parole Program
(Part 2) IN an earlier article, I discussed about the Filipino World War II Veterans Parole Program (“FWVP”). The FWVP allows certain family members of Filipino World War II veterans…
New law aims to increase minimum wage to $15 by 2022
ON January 1, 2016, the minimum wage in California became $10.00 per hour. Most employees in California are entitled to be paid at least the minimum wage. On April 4,…
Should you employ your children this summer?
IF you run your own business, consider employing your children this summer vacation. Employing your children gives you a triple benefit: 1. It teaches your children the virtue of work…
Need to file bankruptcy and rebuild your credit?
A LOT of people in need of debt relief are often hesitant to file bankruptcy for fear that it will ‘ruin’ their credit and that they will never be able…
The sizzle’s nice, now let’s taste the steak
Jess Matubis, who has worked under more Philippine presidents at close quarters than most broadcast journalists, recently posted the following blog by president-elect Duterte’s Agriculture Secretary- designate, Manny Piñol: “NO…
These Filipino celebrity dads make fatherhood so adorable
They say, “Anyone can be a father but it takes a real man to be a dad.” As Father’s Day approaches, I would like to pay tribute to all the…
Hollymont Castle is ready for more Chopin concerts
Hollywood—Peerless on its grace and splendor with changes subtle and grand, noble and patriotic this unending testimony of class, tradition and old world elegance has left even the most eloquent…
Julee Ann Marie Bourgoin: ‘Beauty could be a blessing, an asset, and a curse…’
As beauty authorities often say: “A beautiful woman has the most probability to explore every possibility but failure sets in the absence of an excellent head on her shoulders.” Realistically,…
Filipino bakery workers win $15.2-M case against employers, awarded T visas
FILIPINO workers, who prevailed in a yearlong legal battle against the owners of a French bakery in Southern California, now have temporary authorization to live and work in the US….