The third Emirates lounge in the United States was officially unveiled on Wednesday, March 18, at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). After more than two years in the making and an investment over $6.2 million, the new lounge, located on the sixth floor at LAX, is now available exclusively to Emirates first and business class…
In corporate America, life can get hectic. But for 20 years, Allison Kim, thrived in that work environment as a civil engineer in transportation. She would arrive at her office between 7 to 8 am and put in 12 to 15 hours on a daily basis. Throughout her career, she has worked on land development…
LOS ANGELES – Community leaders, activists and political leaders in the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community and Los Angeles County on Thursday, March 19, gathered in Downtown LA’s Chinatown to demonstrate support for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton if she chooses to run for president in 2016. “We want to send a very…
State water board approves new conservation regulations AS California enters its fourth year of drought, Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative leaders on Thursday, March 19 proposed legislation to accelerate more than $1 billion in drought-relief spending. “We need to get the money out the door now for shovel-ready projects and existing water programs that only…
Search to Involve Pilipino Americans (SIPA) held its 43rd anniversary awards and benefit dinner on Thursday, March 12 at the Sheraton Universal Hotel. A Filipino-owned restaurant called the Park’s Finest was among the awardees, receiving the business achievement award, or “Kalampusan.” The popular eatery, tucked along Temple Street near the 101 freeway, was founded by…
Automaker Honda announced Thursday, March 19, the addition of nearly 105,000 vehicles to its increasing number of recalls due to defective driver’s side air bags. Vehicles added to the list include about 89,000 Pilot SUVs from the 2008 model year, 11,000 Civics from 2004 and 5,000 Accords from 2001. At least five deaths deaths worldwide…
Retail giant Target will raise the minimum wage next month for all its employees to $9 per hour. Target’s announcement signifies the growing competition for lower paid workers, as unemployment has declined to 5.5 percent and consumer confidence has risen. It also comes as labor groups pressure retailers and fast-food restaurants nationwide to boost workers’ pay, calling…
In every connubial set-up, regardless of creed, religion, color or orientation, the state of muliebrity has always considerably been on the paramount level of recognition and in high esteem simply because the revered status of a woman as a potential quintessence of motherhood is unquestionably the defining line that separates her from man. But what…
The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) allows an alien spouse of a US citizen or green card holder to self-petition if they have been battered or subjected to extreme cruelty. The purpose of this law is to prevent the citizen or green card holder petitioner from holding the person “hostage,” either through physical or mental…
For many families, tax season is the time of the year when people will have a large sum of money available to spend on things that normally would be out of financial reach. Many families look forward to the extra cash to purchase new items for their home, take vacations, etc. Some will use the…
Under INA 101(a)(43)(A), sexual abuse of a minor is an aggravated felony. A conviction for an offense classified as an aggravated felony would disqualify an alien from most immigration benefits or relief. A common problem is how to determine whether a state conviction constitutes an aggravated felony within the meaning of INA 101(a)(43)(A). Recently, in…
In corporate America, life can get hectic. But for 20 years, Allison Kim, thrived in that work environment as a civil engineer in transportation. She would arrive at her office between 7 to 8 am and put in 12 to 15 hours on a daily basis. Throughout her career, she has worked on land development…
The City of Fullerton was sued Wednesday, March 18, over an at-large election system that Asian-American advocates say harms a certain community’s voting rights. The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Southern California (ACLU SoCal), Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Los Angeles (Advancing Justice – LA), the Law Office of Robert Rubin, and Sidley Austin,…
Alzheimer’s Disease is an ailment more dreaded and feared than most illnesses, including cancer. The mere thought of losing ones mind, of having a brain with less capacity than of a helpless newborn, is very scary, to say the least. The severe stage of dementia robs the victim of all thought processes, memories, and intelligence,…
Actress Liezl Sumilang Martinez died in her sleep last March 14 at the Medical City in Pasig City, after a long batter with cancer. She was only 47 years old. Showbusiness has always been in Liezl’s blood. The daughter of veteran actors Amalia Fuentes and Romeo “Bobby” Vasquez (who is based in California), she…
The City of Fullerton was sued Wednesday, March 18, over an at-large election system that Asian-American advocates say harms a certain community’s voting rights. The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Southern California (ACLU SoCal), Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Los Angeles (Advancing Justice – LA), the Law Office of Robert Rubin, and Sidley Austin,…
LENT is a season of Christ’s teachings which are presented self-righteously, mournfully, nasally, coldly, feebly, flamboyantly, blandly in a thousand pulpits across the nation. If I were asked the rationale of my faith, I’d say: First, I believe in a grand universal order and meaning, and in a power that is both greater than us…
Though epidemiologists have not yet identified the original source of the Disneyland measles outbreak in December, which has since spread internationally, researchers now say that parents who refuse to vaccinate their kids are probably to blame. With simple math, researchers were able to show that the vaccination rate among people who were exposed to the…
JUDICIAL reform remains to be an important policy issue in the Philippines. The institution is still haunted with problems relating to corruption, incompetence, delay in the administration of justice and access to justice by the poor. The current situation in Makati City is not helping resolve such a herculean task. Tension enveloped the city after…
Is the President and Commander-in-Chief Benigno Aquino III “ultimately responsible” for the botched Mamasapano anti-terror operation that claimed the lives of at least 60 people, including 44 elite Special Action Force troopers last January 25? This was the question that begged to be answered throughout the investigations conducted on Oplan Exodus, the mission to neutralize…
THE current focus of Malacañ ang and Congress is the crafting of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) which has been denounced by detractors as a means of carving out a portion of the Philippines as a sub-state for the Bangsamoro or Moro nation. The BBL has, on the other hand, been presented by its sponsors…
CONSIDER the common divorce scenario where the divorce judgment provides primary custody of the children to one spouse while the other spouse only gets visitation. The parties begin to file separate tax returns. What are the tax consequences of the non custodial parents with regards to claiming the children in his or her return? A…
A 17-year-old Fil-Am, Christian Rasner, is in critical condition after a brutal beating from two unidentified men in a shopping center parking lot on Wednesday, March 11. The beating took place in the parking lot of the Westfield Valley Fair Mall in San Jose, Calif. The suspects’ whereabouts and identities are still unknown. Rasner is…
House Republicans on Tuesday, March 17 unveiled a $3.8 trillion budget plan for next year which effectively breaks tight budget limits on military spending, but promises bigger cuts to social programs, such as food stamps and Medicaid. The spending plan by Budget Committee Chairman Tom Rice (R-GA) pads both the Pentagon and State Department accounts…
A FILIPINO couple from Las Vegas was sentenced last week on one felony count of a pattern of mortgage lending fraud, Nevada Attorney General Adam Paul Laxalt announced Monday, March 16. Alex Soria, 69, and Sonia Rodis, 55, were each sentenced in a mortgage assistance scam that misrepresented to homeowners a fraudulent mortgage elimination program…
A UNION-backed group is seeking to hold McDonald’s Corporation accountable under federal rules for worker-safety violations at its franchised restaurants, expanding a continuing labor effort to reduce historical protections for companies operating under franchise arrangements. The group, Fast Food Forward, backed by the Service Employees International Union, announced Monday a series of complaints it has…
LOS ANGELES—Who said downtown LA only gets crowded when the Lakers are playing? Last Wednesday, the only game in town was when boxing superstars Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao were in this city. Like a heady bouillabaisse, there is more to the who did it, to whom. It is more than trading blows, where…
IT’S Lent, a season of repentance, a longing to go to Confession to prepare for Easter. So, during this penitential season, a Facebook friend sent me a message to ask me what would it take to have a good Confession. I responded back by suggesting to him to make a good examination of conscience. I…
Ready For Fight Of The Century LEADING up to the May 2 bout, both Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. have agreed to undergo rigorous drug testing. US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) Chief Executive Travis Tygart announced that his agency will be authorized to conduct unannounced in- and out-of-competition blood and/or urine tests on Pacquiao and…
THE death toll from West Africa’s Ebola outbreak has passed 10,000, according to an updated tally released by the World Health Organization on Thursday, March 12. Since reports first emerged in March 2014, the deadly hemorrhagic fever has spread throughout the region, killing thousands including doctors and volunteers from different countries, including the US, who…
