ACCORDING to a new CNN/ORC International poll, Donald Trump is not leading among US voters after all. The poll, which sampled at least 1,000 telephone interviews with American adults between Feb. 24-27, and included at least 920 interviews among registered voters, concluded that both of the remaining Democratic candidates for president easily beat out Republican…
Aquino’s afflictions Undying hatred of the “Marcos past,” unreasoning fear of a “Marcos-friendly future,” and total rejection of any suggestion from any source that Filipinos had begun to rethink the real value of Martial Law and Ferdinand Marcos’ real standing among Philippine Presidents are among the saddest afflictions of President B. S. Aquino 3rd. These…
I have decided to prioritize this timely article related to the Year of the Fire Red Monkey hoping our dear readers can use the information as a good reference point in dealing with family members and business owners in the areas of relationships and growth. At the start of any new year everyone is filled…
Young client seeks chapter 7 relief for $$70K credit card debt Business owner files chapter 7 as losses mount CLIENTS are spouses who own and run a business together. They own an S-corporation that has been in business for 20 years. They have 10 employees. An S-corporation, as distinguished from a C-corporation, is one…
(Nurse fired for reporting safety issues awarded $1 million verdict) Q: I WORK in a company where a supervisor bullies employees into working long hours without extra pay, threatening to fire them if they refuse. I complained about this to HR. Last week, one manager told me in secret that there will be lay-offs in the…
1. DO not boast about how you got away with undeclared income or manufactured deductions. Ever heard of whistleblowers? They earn rewards of 15% to 30% of your assessments. If you have a tendency to be creative, keep it to yourself. Just shut up. Better yet, stop being creative. Remember the law of averages. Remember…
SLEEPLESS nights. Stressed out. Worried about the future. Always broke. This is what most people are going through when they are considering bankruptcy in order to get out of debt. The word “bankruptcy” often produces negative feelings because some people equate it with failure. But nothing can be further from the truth. Bankruptcy is not…
WHAT was billed as a debate among the candidates in the May presidential elections turned out to be a race against the clock for each speaker and an occasional exchange of light jabs. It wasn’t really much of a “debate” as typified by the war of innuendos and insults in the US between the Republican…
I WONDER if Manny Pacquiao anticipated such strong backlash regarding his controversial interview, wherein he compared gays and lesbians to animals. If you have not heard or read what he actually said, here is the quote: “Kasi para sa akin ito lang, common sense lang. Makakita ka ba ng any animals na lalaki sa lalaki…
How strange is this demented feeling when I realize that I have spent agonizing days before a pen and a notebook, with nothing better to do but jot down notes at random. I rap out sentences and it does not help me think, but only eases my crabbed heart. I wish a notebook could laugh….
JESUS, can we drink the cup that you drink or be baptized with the baptism with which you are baptized? Can we really do this? Can we accept failures? Can we accept imperfections in people, in church, in government and in business? Can we forgive and understand those who annoy us, who do not share…
AN Uber driver was charged Monday, Feb. 22, for six counts of murder, two counts of assault with intent to commit murder and eight charges of using a firearm while he committed a felony. Jason Dalton, 45, randomly shot six people at three locations in between fares while moonlighting as an Uber driver in and…
UNDER new provisions of a law signed by President Barack Obama this week, federal officials will enforce an 86-year-old ban on importing goods that were produced by children or slaves. “This law slams shut an unconscionable and archaic loophole that forced America to accept products made by children or slave labor,” said Sen. Ron Wyden…
A LITTLE over a week after a Chinese American former NYPD officer was found guilty of second-degree manslaughter and official misconduct in a November 2014 death of an unarmed black man, Asian Americans across the country rallied to protest his conviction. Thousands of protesters on Saturday, Feb. 20, demonstrated in more than 30 cities to…
AN updated study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) found that undocumented immigrants who reside in California collectively paid almost $3.2 billion in state and local taxes in 2013. The nationwide analysis released on Wednesday, Feb. 24, entitled Undocumented Immigrants’ State and Local Tax Contributions, concluded that the Obama administration’s executive actions…
AFTER having immeasurably lived life, deservingly attained what she desired, and contentedly enjoyed the vast reward of what she has painstakingly toiled for, it is only but fitting and appropriate that Rose Pantoja Javier recognizes the seven decades she has profitably journeyed with a grandiose celebration to mark her noteworthy milestone. Although turning 70 could…
There have been 20 countries in the post-war era that had peaceful “revolutions” similar to our ESDA uprising in 1986 – more accurately, nonviolent, extra-constitutional regime changes, especially transitions from dictatorship to democracy. Thirteen of these were the so-called “color revolutions,” said to have been inspired in some way by the EDSA “Yellow Revolution.” But…
MEMBERS of the yellow tribe will mark today the 30th anniversary of what they call people power revolt. Hopefully, their numbers will be small enough to confine themselves to a road which is perpendicular to the 23.8-kilometer Epifanio delos Santos Avenue (EDSA, formerly called Highway 54. The restriction may be justified by the fact that…
WE wrote about the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issuing a public alert on June 1, 2009 for consumers to “stop using Hydroxycut Products, dietary supplements used for weight loss as fat burners, as energy-enhancers, as low carb diet aids, and for water loss under the Lovate and MuscleTech brand names.” While this…
THE recent BusinessWorld (BW)-Social Weather Station (SWS) presidential preference survey, conducted from February 5 to 7, tells us that Vice President Jejomar Binay is ahead of the pack with a 29 percent rating. While this is lower than the 31 percent that he got in the January 8-10 BW-SWS reading, one could conjecture that Binay’s…
DAN Duggan, the President of Duggan’s Serra Mortuary, heads the list of March birthday celebrants. He will be celebrating his birthday on Easter Sunday, March 27. Duggan’s Serra Mortuary is highly trusted by Filipino-Americans in the Peninsula, especially during their most trying times as they honor and pay respects to their loved ones who…
MARRIAGES are usually governed by the laws of the place of celebration. In the Philippines, the Family Code deals with the validity, invalidity, and termination of local marriages. Despite these laws, some people “invent” their own marriage laws, based on gossip, rumors, hearsay, or statements from friends, relatives or barangay captains. However, this can be…
WITH all the news surrounding Immigration, noncitizens cannot lose sight of current programs still in place for those who are eligible. For example, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, first initiated in 2012. Many young individuals have already taken advantage of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which was first announced…
1. HEALTH COVERAGE. Information Reporting. The provider of your health coverage is required to send Form 1095-A, 1095-B, or 1095-C with list of individuals included in your family health coverage in 2015. Health Coverage Tax Credit. Has been reinstated retroactive January 1, 2014 (expired end of 2013), pays 72.5% of qualified health insurance premiums for…
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…
FIL-AM Aries Dela Cruz spearheaded an online petition for Nike to drop the Philippines’ Pambansang Kamao Manny Pacquiao as its endorser after the boxing congressman compared people in homosexual relationships to animals. Now, this kababayan from New Jersey is getting death threats online. The harassment and threats are reportedly not only aimed at Dela Cruz,…
30 YEARS ago—on Feb. 25, 1986—the People Power Revolution on EDSA trampled the 20-year-old dictatorship of former Pres. Ferdinand Marcos. For the generation who witnessed this peaceful uprising, the echoes of the People Power Revolution reverberated not only in the air, but in the consciousness of the Filipinos who were awakened to their senses about…
Getting old is a natural thing and no one should not be afraid of the natural— trees, animals age, and everything that is alive. I am not afraid to look old. I don’t know indifference, I ignore bitterness. If something unpleasant happens to me, I put it behind. Women of that certain age are in…
IN the last two years, the US economy saw its fastest decline in unemployment since the 1980s and concluded its best years of job growth since the 1990s, according to the 70th annual Economic Report of the President. The most recent version of the report, released Monday, Feb. 22, by the Council of Economic Advisers,…
DAYS after Nike dropped its endorsement contract with Manny Pacquiao due to his controversial remarks on same-sex couples, the Filipino boxer has reportedly begun negotiating new deals with other sports apparel companies. “There are several already now in the pipeline,” Pacquiao’s business manager, Eric Pineda, told Agence France-Presse without identifying the companies. “They [the Pacquiao…
