“I INVOKE my right against self-incrimination.” These were the only words squeezed out of Janet Lim-Napoles, the suspected mastermind of the P10-billion Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF or better known as the pork barrel) scam, when she faced the Senate Blue Ribbon committee’s investigation into the alleged misuse of public funds in November last year….
THIS year marks a very important milestone for ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation, the media company that produces Balitang America — a daily newscast which delivers news about Filipinos and for Filipinos in North America. The Filipino Channel (TFC), the international division of ABS-CBN, is celebrating its 20th year of serving Filipinos worldwide. TFC is the first…
ASIAN-Americans living, working and attending school in California should be a major force to be reckoned with in terms of its collective purchasing power and intellectual power. As a community, Asian-owned businesses continue to be one of the strongest segments of California’s economy. According to the latest census data, the number of U.S. businesses owned…
YOU are probably familiar with a principal and agent arrangement. The most common is where a person designates another to be his agent for a general or specific purpose using a power of attorney. The principal allows the agent to bind the principal in certain transactions making the principal legally liable for the acts of…
THE US House of Representatives has ignored a call to pass immigration reform over the past two years, opting to politicize the issue. As a result, the Boehner-led House has done absolutely NOTHING, even as the Senate passed its Comprehensive Reform Bill, S. 744, last year. In the meantime, the Obama Administration has taken several…
Summer (in the Philippines) is here and everyone is already excited to plan those much-anticipated vacations. Other than visiting the country’s breathtaking tropical islands, joining festivals is also one the country’s best highlights. So here are some of the local festivities to check out this season: Obando fertility rites May 17-19 | Obando, Bulacan Despite…
LOS ANGELES – The Philippine Consulate General wishes to inform the Filipino-American community on the assumption of Hon. Leo M. Herrera-Lim, a career diplomat as the new Philippine Consul General in Los Angeles with jurisdiction over Southern California, Southern Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. Consul General Herrera-Lim arrived on April 17, 2014 after serving…
Every fight evokes memories, and usually a story. After so many fights and so many stories, after all the fame and fortune that boxers have incurred and all the belts fastened around their waists, fighters are linked like a chain. However, legacies are in line, because the purse money is not. It’s called financial disparity….
Chinese, Hindi, Japanese, Khmer, Korean, Tagalog, Thai, Vietnamese Added to State Voter Registration Site Contact: Bruce Mirken, Greenlining Institute Media Relations Director, 510-926-4022; 415-846-7758 (cell) SACRAMENTO – California’s system of online voter registration – launched in English and Spanish in 2012 – has now been expanded to allow voters to register online in eight additional languages:…
Most visitors to the US enter without any problems. However, some encounter more scrutiny and are denied admission due to violation of immigration laws. In this article, we’ll examine different situations where aliens are denied admission and the implications of these incidents on their future immigration applications. Expedited removal, withdrawal of application for admission, voluntary…
In a square jungle that is the boxing arena, good stories are good stories, regardless of who tells them. Whatever your story conveys, you know what it feels to have been there. Palms wet and throats dry, we cobble juicy pieces of fistic delights, with foibles and fallibility. We have vivid, immediate and firsthand experiences…
With the many significant events that occurred on April 12, 1944 (a Wednesday), the NYC premiere showing of the American feature film based on Lilian Hellman’s play at the Fulton Theater, “The Searching Wind,” overshadowed the rest of the occurrences mainly due to its lead stars Robert Young, Sylvia Sydney and Ann Richards who were…
IF YOU fail to file on time or pay on time, penalties kick in. Here are 10 reasonable causes to abate (forgive) penalties for late filing or late paying: 1. Tax returns were mailed on time. A return used to be considered filed on time if it is postmarked on or before the due date. …
BY RATING Decision dated January 8, 2014 (mailed March 13, 2014), the US Department of Veterans Affairs, through its Pension Management Center in St. Paul, Minnesota, granted a Marine Corps Veteran during the Korean Conflict Era, aid and attendance monthly pension of $1,715.00 starting December 1, 2013. Indeed, the Author filed Marine Corps Veterans claim…
(Are you paid for all hours worked?) THE cheer squad for the Oakland Raiders, the Raiderettes, recently sued their employer for back wages and reimbursements. The lawsuit claims that the football team withholds pay from the employees until after the football season is finished and does not pay for hours worked outside the games. The…
THE H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows business professionals to work in the United States for a specific amount of time. The purpose of the H-1B visa is to give US employers the opportunity to hire foreign professionals if a US citizen or resident is not available. In order for the H-1B visa…
USCIS recently informed representatives of the American Immigration Lawyers Association that about 40,000 asylum cases are currently pending at its asylum offices throughout the US An estimated 28,000 of those 40,000 were filed last year alone. Asylum applicants are frustrated, and sometimes perplexed – some applicants are called in for an interview within one month…
ARE you having trouble paying your bills every month? Are you being harassed by bill collectors who will not leave you alone no matter how many times you tell them that you have no money to pay? Are you worried about being sued by a creditor, losing your home or your car? Are you afraid…
PARENTS that are going through divorce and legal separation sometimes have to make a decision to move out of state for various reasons. It may be because their family network is in another state. This decision often have a significant impact on the visitation of the other parent because it would be more difficult for…
EVEN as the Obama Administration has espoused some more lenient policies toward persons who have violated their immigration status in the US, such as prosecutorial discretion, USCIS over the past several years seems to have increased the rate of denial of applications for adjustment of status. With the denial of these applications, particularly employment-based adjustment…
Dear Atty. Gurfinkel: Years ago, I entered the US under a different name but have been law-abiding and paying my taxes since then. My child, who was born in the US, will be celebrating his 21st birthday soon. I would like my child to petition me so I can finally get a green card. …
LOS ANGELES – Another Filipino has been elected to a key city council position for a quaint suburban city in Southern California. 60-year-old Sonny R. Santa Ines, was recently elected by his fellow members in the Bellflower City Council to become the city’s next chief executive. He was elected to the city council in March…
For Christians, Easter is the celebration of the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and the fulfillment of God’s promise for deliverance of man. But what precedes God’s rising again is his agony and death, which to me is also a poignant manifestation in His own life, the message delivered in John 12:24:…
“Humility provides everyone, even him who despairs in solitude, with the strongest relationship to his fellow man, and this immediately, though, of course, only in the case of complete and permanent humility.” – Franz Kafka (1883-1924) The Holy Week and Easter Sunday are very spiritual and significant times for the Christian faith. In observance of…
I ALWAYS remember what my spiritual mentor, Nim Gonzales, once said: “At times, the unpleasant things that we reject in our lives, such as our struggles, our pains or our crosses, become our cornerstone.” He made this remark in reference to Jesus’ words that “the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” Nim…
DESPITE opposition from the mighty Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines, key provisions in the controversial Reproductive Health(RH) Bill have been upheld by the Philippine Supreme Court (SC) as constitutional on Tuesday, April 8. The long and bumpy road to the SC’s decision started almost 14 years ago. After several presidencies, senate and house representation…
IT was a hard-fought battle, but on April 8 success gleamed when the Philippine Supreme Court (SC) deemed the basic principles of the controversial Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health (RH) law as constitutional. Parts of Section 7 (Access to Family Planning) and Section 23 (prohibited acts) of the law were struck down by the High…
The capacity to be skilled in the many facets of parenting remains to this day a gargantuan challenge for Singer-supermom Maureen Javier-Varco. Now that her kids are in the adolescent and young adult stages, she needs to assess their independence preferences, explore their limits, analyze their capabilities, and attend to their individual needs that they…
IN 2003, Vicente Salas started work for Sierra Chemical in its production line filling containers with chemicals used for water treatment. The company hires seasonal workers because demand for its products rises during spring and summer. During fall and winter, the seasonal workers are laid off. They are rehired the following year when product demands…
A CRIMINAL conviction for domestic violence might affect an alien’s eligibility for immigration relief or benefit. This conviction might qualify as a ground for inadmissibility under crime involving moral turpitude (CIMT). It might also qualify as a ground for deportability under aggravated felony or domestic violence. Grounds for inadmissibility disqualify an alien who is trying…
