CLIENT presents his financial problem as follows. It’s quite interesting and unusual. Client registered a partnership with his younger brother, each owning 50% of a retail business 20 years ago. The business did very well until recently due to increased competition that slowly crept up over the years. Then disaster struck. A fire occurred in…
YOU plan to sell an apartment building that you purchased 10 years ago at $300,000. It is now worth $800,000. You want to sell but are worried about potential taxes. And rightly so. Your tax preparer computes capital gains and gives you a combination of good and bad news. The good news: the capital gain…
Q: SEVERAL weeks ago, I was diagnosed with a medical condition that required me to go to my doctor every week for treatment. I had informed my supervisor about my need to take 2-4 hours off work every week for a limited period of time. Last week, HR told me I had too many absences….
FROM what I’ve witnessed in the last 15 years as a bankruptcy attorney, debt problems can put a huge stress on any marriage. When couples are going through a financial crisis, they are often deeply frustrated with one another especially when they are not on the same page as to what they need to do…
If you have been thinking about marketing your company or brand, you have probably heard these buzz words: paid media, owned media, and earned media. You might be asking yourself “What is the difference?” It is mind boggling trying to understand what is going on in marketing these days. Last month, we discussed paid media—referring…
Thanksgiving is when people take a step back and reflect on all of the wonderful things and events to be grateful for, and to give thanks to those people who played such a key role in helping us achieve them. At this Thanksgiving, I would like to once again give thanks to all of the…
IT has been five years since the ignominy of a conscious and premeditated crime, where 58 people (32 of them were media workers) were slaughtered on a hill top in Solio Masalay Barangay Salmon in Ampatuan Maguindanao, in what is now acknowleged as the worst incident of electoral violence in recent Philippine history. Yards and…
ON Thursday, Nov. 20, administrators of the University of California approved tuition increases of as much as 5 percent over the next five years, despite protests from both undergraduate students and faculty, and open criticism from California governor Jerry Brown and other state legislators. The 14-7 vote from the Board of Regents marks the end…
LOS ANGELES – As many as 200,000 Medi-Cal recipients, mostly non-English speakers, will be shocked to learn they could lose their health care benefits by the end of this month. In Los Angeles County, close to 100,000 families with Medi-Cal will get termination notices before Thanksgiving. The notices will be the first of several waves of terminations…
RETAIL jobs can often involve erratic schedules – ones that are changed at the last minute and ones that are not set in advance. But soon, San Francisco retail workers may say goodbye to such unpredictability and receive more stable employment conditions. In a unanimous decision, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, November…
Three injured; gunman dead GUNSHOTS rattled a peaceful, crammed library at Florida State University early Thursday morning, injuring three as hundreds of students barricaded themselves between bookshelves before police encountered and killed the gunman outside. According to officials, one of the injured is in critical condition at Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare. Another patient, Nathan Scott, was…
(and ends up a winner in both) “…Love has to cry…But need not die… Heart has to sigh…the test of time… We’re at the afterglow…and ‘though we both do know How far we are from the dawn… That second golden dawn…when love is true Still I’ll wait…I’ll wait for the second dawn and you…” Such…
The November elections have come and gone. The Republican Party has regained control of Congress. A passage of immigration reform seems more contentious than ever. Many immigrant advocate groups continue to urge meaningful reform in our broken immigration system. On November 12, 2014, the Obama Administration announced that it will unveil a comprehensive immigration plan…
RETAIL jobs can often involve erratic schedules – ones that are changed at the last minute and ones that are not set in advance. But soon, San Francisco retail workers may say goodbye to such unpredictability and receive more stable employment conditions. In a unanimous decision, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, November…
Former President Bill Clinton suggested that President Barack Obama has the legal authority to issue an executive order that would influence immigration. “As far as I can tell every president in the modern era has issued some executive orders affecting immigration, so I think it—I imagine he’s on pretty firm legal footing,” Clinton said at…
It surprises people to learn that dentists are often first to discover health conditions like HIV, diabetes, and some forms of cancer. In part, that’s because we typically see you more often than your physician does. THERE are more bacteria in your mouth right this minute than there are people on this planet. Thoughtful dental…
In most cases, in order for a person to adjust status (obtain a green card) in the US, the person must prove he or she was “inspected and admitted” by an immigration officer at the airport or border (port of entry). This means that the person presented himself to an immigration officer who reviewed his…
CONGRATULATIONS to ABS-CBN President and CEO, actress and TV personality Charo Santos-Concio for being awarded the Gold Stevie Award in the Female Executive of the Year in Asia, Australia or New Zealand category last Nov. 14 at the Marriot Marquis Hotel in New York. The Stevie Awards for Women in Business honors female entrepreneurs, executives,…
The culture in the practice of medicine today in general has been assailed by two new studies that highlighted “over diagnosis and over treatment for ailments that might never seriously impact a person’s health.” TIME reported that these are big problems worldwide. The researches, which were published in The British Medical Journal, consider this “a…
The US Senate fell one vote short Tuesday of approving construction of Keystone XL, a pipeline that would have provided a means for crude oil transportation from Alberta, Canada to the US Gulf Coast. Along with all 45 Republican senators, 14 Democrats voted in favor of the measure. The final tally was 59 to 41….
Who travels without getting acquainted with the place’s specialty? In Bohol, the best restaurant to introduce you to the Boholano cuisine is quietly hidden atop a limestone cliff on one end of the Alona Beach – Amorita Resort’s The Saffron. The person behind your soon-to-be-lovely dining experience? The charismatic executive chef of the restaurant, Raphael…
THERE are unresolved cases of extrajudicial killings in the Philippines that have become emblematic of persistent dangers that threaten everyone. The government’s underwhelming efforts to successfully alleviate crimes against members of the media and other social critics have created an environment of insidious impunity. Despite the commitment by authorities and other organizations to find effective…
A WHILE back, I wrote about the dilemma many Filipinos face as they raise their young children in America. Many of us who grew up in the Philippines shared the common experience of “tough love” — our parents used corporal punishment to discipline us, and help us respect authority and conform to the rules of…
WHEN Noynoy Aquino blunted a Tacloban businessman’s complaint that he had been threatened by looters at the height of the Yolanda disaster, by declaring, “You are still alive, aren’t you?” – or words to that effect – one could excuse that and attribute it to a bad presidential temper in the face of thousands of…
CALL it the pompous sickness—the spell which hushes the household, with its desert-like stillness felt through its innermost chambers. One in a world unto herself, her own theater. It is a severe fit of indisposition, under the name of a fall from dignity (or careless demeanor), amounting to a deposition that made me a prisoner…
Democrats unanimously selected Nancy Pelosi to serve as their House leader once again on Tuesday, November 18, marking her seventh two-year term. “It is humbling and it is prideful to be elected leader by your caucus,” she said following the announcement of her victory. Pelosi’s right hand, Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) was also re-elected, maintaining his…
Pope Francis has officially announced that he will visit the US in September 2015. On Monday, the Pope made the announcement at Vatican City’s Synod Hall, during an international conference on the complementarity of man and woman. “I wish to confirm, if God wills it, that in September of 2015 I will go to Philadelphia…
A SURGEON who treated patients in Sierra Leone died of Ebola on Monday, November 17. Dr. Martin Salia, became the second person to die of the disease in the United States. Salia, 44, worked as a general surgeon at Kissy United Methodist Hospital in Sierra Leone. It is unknown where he contracted the virus, but…
Statewide bus tour campaign launched LOS ANGELES —Covered California, the state’s implementation of the Affordable Care Act, has launched a bus tour campaign to spread awareness about health care options. On Friday, November 14, the bus stopped in Los Angeles at Grand Park in front of City Hall. More than 1 million Californians received insurance…
Statewide bus tour campaign launched LOS ANGELES —Covered California, the state’s implementation of the Affordable Care Act, has launched a bus tour campaign to spread awareness about health care options. On Friday, November 14, the bus stopped in Los Angeles at Grand Park in front of City Hall. More than 1 million Californians received insurance…
