10 strategies during an IRS appeals conference

YOU have just lost an audit and have decided to bring your case before the appeals office of the IRS. You have learned the basics of the appeals process and how to prepare for the conference from previous articles. Let me now give you 10 strategies as you face the Appeals Officer: 1. Respect the…

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Presenting a compelling case for prosecutorial discretion

WITH the USICE Prosecutorial Discretion program under way, thousands of cases pending before the US Immigration Courts and Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) are ripe for review to determine whether such cases should be terminated or administratively closed and the Respondents in those proceedings should be allowed to stay and work legally in the US….

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The Street Sweeper

WHAT a noble trade, the sweeper’s trade. It consists of sweeping the filth we produce, of making our existence less infected. Mindless and ungrateful are those who use the word sweeper in a disparaging way, who do not understand how extraordinary and how precious the sweepers are. We would die of stench and shame and…

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The world as my tabernacle

REMEMBERING Barbara Brown Taylor’s book, “An Altar in World,” I caught myself saying to a friend as we were driving along California coast that the world is my “tabernacle.”  By these words, I was referring to my favorite form of prayer. Absolutely, I like to pray inside a church, before the Blessed Sacrament, or in…

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Jericho Rosales echoes at the 2014 Fiesta in America

The road to success has always been hurdled with enormous encumbrances and impediments to test one’s endurance and capability to survive. We’re all brought to this world destined to bear what’s in store for us. The critical challenge for continuous existence only extenuates after putting in an empowering amount of persuasive assiduousness and wholehearted dedication…

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There is hope in the world of immigration court cases

Not a week goes by that our office receives inquiries as to whether a comprehensive immigration reform, or any type of immigration reform, is likely to happen soon.  As immigration attorneys, we are hopeful that the government will come up with a workable solution for many concerned and hardworking aliens.  But until such solution takes…

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Sam Milby still looking for the right girl

ATTENTION girls—handsome actor, model and singer Sam Milby is available, single and still searching for the right girl.  Mind you, he is not just looking for a one-night stand, or a temporary relationship.  He is in fact looking for a more permanent, long-term thing. In an interview with PEP.ph last July 7, Sam admitted that…

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PAPC launches 3rd Annual Plaridel Awards

South San Francisco—The Philippine American Press Club, U.S.A. (PAPC) proudly announced that they are now accepting submissions to the 3rd Annual Plaridel Awards excellence in Filipino American journalism. The Plaridel Awards was established in 2012 to acknowledge and celebrate the contribution of outstanding writers and publishers in the Filipino American community, as they chronicle the…

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Brotherhood

THE Philippines will not be a free and independent country that it is today if it wasn’t for the groundwork laid out by a valiant organization formed more than a century ago. On July 7 1892, Filipinos formed Katipunan or Ang Kataastaasang, Kagalanggalang, Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan (KKK) ng mga anak ng Bayan…

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Buying up ballots

IF YOU haven’t heard of BUB, you will be seeing a lot of its effects in the next several months leading up to the 2016 elections — P20.1 billion worth of effects. BUB is supposed to stand for Bottom Up Budgeting, which, in turn, is supposed to mean allocating funds according to the needs of…

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Are you facing financial stress and anxiety?

AS WE continue to go through turbulent economic times, a lot of people are in a state of panic and anxiety. Thousands of families are overwhelmed with the difficult choices and situations that they face. The questions that I am often asked are: “Will my family’s increasing debt load result in bankruptcy?” “What happens if…

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T’was that river

Where fishermen tossed their rods, where women laundered cloths and washed dishes, where children jumped off a bridge—that was Pasig River. Pasig River was a major source of food and water. It was a center for livelihood which made its banks a favorite site for residences of the rich. In fact, even the government elevated…

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The daughter I could never have

THE apple that fell far from the tree…one I could only dream of—a perfect newshen. God’s little pencil. I would have taught her to begin each work by having a real and passionate curiosity about how people behave in the infinitely various situations they find themselves in. To be aware that no art can be…

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Sterling trial gets underway after delay

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A neurologist testified Monday that Donald Sterling likely has Alzheimer’s disease as a trial over the $2 billion Los Angeles Clippers sale finally got underway. Dr. Meril Sue Platzer testified that she was hired by Sterling’s wife, Shelly Sterling, to evaluate him and made the diagnosis based on imaging tests and…

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Despedida Bienvenida for Filipino Clergy

The Filipino-Americans of Northern California Organization (FANCO) honored some Filipino priests with a despedida-bienvenida party at the Ignacio Community Center in  Novato last June 22.  The Catholic Archdiocese of San Francdisco made some reshuffling of its Filipino personnel. From l-r: Fr. Honesto Gile Jr, former administrator of Our lady of Loretto in Novato, will go…

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Alagad ng Sining

If there is a topic both sophisticated enough to be the talk over a hotel table or common enough to be heard along the hallways of a wet market, it would be: “Philippine’s Superstar, to be or not to be a National Artist?” If ever the circumstances permit, Nora Cabaltera Villamayor, popularly known as Nora…

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An evening at the opera

I CAN never quell stirs of fascination, dread and longing when the house lights dim and the curtain parts, but the enjoyment of an opera can begin, not with the rise of the curtains, but with the first bars of the overture. To understand and enjoy the opera is the recognition of certain irreconcilable differences…

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INA 237(a)(1)(H) waiver for misrepresentation

INA 237(a)(1)(H), commonly known as the fraud waiver, provides relief to lawful permanent residents (LPR) and battered spouse self-petitioners in removal proceedings. To understand this waiver, we must first examine some related provisions. Under INA 212(a)(6)(C)(i), an alien is inadmissible if he has previously obtained or attempted to obtain a visa, other documentation, admission or…

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