AN action under the DVPA (Domestic Violence Protection Act) seeking a restraining order often is necessary to protect parties from abuse or domestic violence perpetrated by the other spouse or significant other. At times, it is effective in preventing harm to one of the parties. At the same time, this process is sometimes…
YES, you can be. Terrible, but it happens. In a landmark case, the Supreme Court held that a conviction for willfully filing a false tax return is a deportable offense under our immigration laws. It reached the same conclusion with respect to a conviction for aiding and abetting in the preparation of a false return….
PERHAPS you’ve considered filing bankruptcy but in the back of your mind, you have one or two questions that you’ve always been afraid to ask. In counseling thousands of people over the years in my practice as a bankruptcy attorney, I have found that most people have the same fears and concerns about bankruptcy. From…
WHEN Sen. Grace Poe conceded on the day of the May 9 election after the numbers showed it would be mathematically impossible for her to overtake the lead of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and that she placed third after former DILG Sec. Mar Roxas, many kababayans in the Philippines were surprised. Surely this is…
I am struck by women who are no longer young. At the same time, startled by the beauty of their old faces. Lived, grooved and puckered as they may be, their hair grizzled; they make their glossy contemporaries at any senior center seem parodies of women. They show that they have lived and have…
IN commemoration of Mother’s Day, labor organizations, domestic workers and their advocates demonstrated Monday, May 9, at Los Angeles City Hall’s South Steps to support a bill that would make overtime pay permanent for domestic workers. Members of the California Domestic Workers Coalition, which seeks to advance dignity and respect for domestic workers and their…
The phenomenal invasion of British boy bands during the mid-60s had inevitably clouded and unsuspectingly misted up the predominant supremacy of the then most idolized musical entertainers, balladeers, crooners, and vocal groups relentlessly topping the US Billboard chart. It was a perceptible sign of an impulsive musical revolution that altered the landscape of music and…
There is no question that diet plays a very important role in health and the development of cardiovascular diseases, metabolic illnesses, and some forms of cancer, especially of the gastrointestinal tract. One particular diet—one high in saturated fat and cholesterol, and low in fiber—consisting mainly of red meats (pork, beef, non-skim dairy products, etc) and…
BEGINNING on June 8, 2016, certain family members of Filipino World War II veterans may apply to come to the US (through “humanitarian parole”) and wait in the US until the priority date on their family based petition becomes current. This program, announced on May 9, 2016, is called the Filipino World War II Veterans…
FOREIGN professionals wishing to immigrate to the US (as permanent residents) may do so under 3 general classifications: • 1st Preference (EB1) – extraordinary ability foreign professionals; outstanding researchers and professors; and multinational executives and managers known as “priority workers” • 2nd Preference (EB2) – foreign professionals with advanced degrees and professionals of exceptional ability…
IN celebration of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (APAHM), utilities company Southern California Edison (SCE) on Friday, May 6, awarded business and community partners for their contributions to energy efficiency and the greater Asian American community. “Having this celebration helps us recognize the importance of this community’s contributions to Southern California, to the nation,” said…
C’MON, just a day after the elections: Who remembers the platforms of the five presidential candidates, the topics they discussed in three presidential debates, or even their campaign slogans? The more than 15 million Filipinos who voted for Duterte were not really voting for this 71-year old man, who for 22 years has been Davao…
EIGHTY ONE PERCENT turnout among registered voters in the Philippines is a reason enough to celebrate in a country that has complained about apathy among Filipino people, who have much to complain about lacking in the will and push to do something to do something about the problems that beset the nation. After more than…
THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) proudly announced on Monday, May 9, that of the 54.4 million registered Filipino voters, about 40 million or 81.62 percent exercised their right of suffrage. This year has seen the fastest transmission of election returns since the automated poll was introduced in 2010. At 10:50pm on Monday, the transmission rate…
THERE are situations in both Divorce and Child Support cases where the Summons and Petition resulted to a default against one party for failing to respond on time. In certain situations, the defaulted party failed to respond on time because he or she did not even know that he or she was served with a…
All of Los Angeles County’s sufferings come through the doors of the emergency room. Accidents, shootings, heart attacks, beatings, rapes, suicides—just as gory and heart-stopping when I was covering the police beat for People’s Tonight of The Journal Group in the Philippines, before I defected to Hollywood. Stories that would make you clasp your chest…
A FILIPINO federal security officer suspected of fatally shooting three and wounding three others was arrested Friday, May 6, the Associated Press reported. Eulalio Tordil, 62, is linked to shooting victims at mall and supermarket on Friday, less than 24 hours after he allegedly shot his estranged wife, Gladys Tordil, 44, in the parking lot…
“It’s not the first “prominent/wealthy family” inheritance battle waged nor will it certainly be the last, but the on-going estate litigation of Potenciano ‘Nanoy’ Ilusorio’s heirs has emerged as one of the longest, nastiest, most public, no-holds-barred litigious family feuds in Philippine history or in the annals of jurisprudence.” That is how the Ilusorio Family…
THESE Filipino-American beauties prove they are ‘confidently beautiful with a heart’ and with brains. Danielle Nicole Viray Dahl Aesthetic Skin Care’s endorser, Danielle is a sophomore at San Fernando Valley Academy, a member of The National Honor Society and Beta Club and is currently on the varsity volleyball team. In addition to her social and…
“MAY the eyes of your hearts be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call… – (Ephesians 1:18)” What is an “enlightened heart”? This question is what we should ask one another and ourselves as we celebrate Ascension Sunday. For it seems that an “enlightened heart” is what each of…
One gets rid of debt, while the other attempts to collect monies lent I GOT my senior’s week last week. Two different seniors, both over 80 came to see me for different reasons. The first was 83. He was in good health, just a little stooped. Still works full time and receives social security. Wife…
FOR married couples who are contemplating bankruptcy, one of the primary concerns they have is whether or not they can file singly. Stated otherwise, if you are married, can you file Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy without your spouse? Yes, you can. Actually, you have three (3) options as to your status when filing…
MS. Olivares worked as a dental assistant for Colton Dental Group (CDG) which is owned by dentist, Sam Dason. In May 2011, Dason told Olivares that employees from his San Bernardino office would be attending a dental convention in Las Vegas and invited her to come. After confirming that her coworker, Karen, can join her,…
DON’T let this happen to you! A client of mine said he never saw it coming. Everything he ever wanted in life, he always purchased on credit. The “pre-approved” credit cards just kept coming in the mail and he never said NO to any of them. Buy now and pay later, why not? As long…
1. YOUR legal marital status is determined as of December 31 of each year. Even if you were married for the previous 364 days if you were divorced on the 365th day of the year, you are considered unmarried for the entire year. 2. You can file single only if you receive a final decree…
“MABUHAY ang NPA!” Rodrigo Duterte has exhorted in his speeches. And Jose Maria Sison, Communist Party of the Philippines and New People’s Army founder has acknowledged Duterte’s promise that if he becomes president, the NPA will have one foot in Malacañang. Said Sison: “Sabi niya, kapag ako ang presidente, isang paa ng NPA nasa Malacañang…
I COULD not believe my ears when I heard Pres. Benigno Aquino III say in a television interview that he is working on an alliance among presidential candidates so they could come together and work out something to defeat Philippine Presidential Election front-runner Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte. It seemed as though Aquino was lifting…
The most demanding view of motherhood is this romanticized notion: that no woman is complete or fulfilled unless she has kids. In addition to this, the world’s view about motherhood is that she must remain the best primary caregiver of her children, devote her entire physical, emotional and intellectual well-being 24/7. This old perception…
Employment standards needed AMID a rising demand for domestic work and an unprecedented elder boom, a new report from the UCLA Labor Center has found that an estimated 2 million households in California hire domestic workers for childcare, house cleaning and home care services. The report, “Profile, Practices and Needs of California’s Domestic Work Employers,”…
CALIFORNIA Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday, May 4, signed into law a package of bills that changes the state’s legal smoking age from 18 to 21, among other new regulations. The legislation makes California the second state in the nation, following Hawaii, to raise its smoking age to 21. “[These laws] will save countless lives,…
