Flores de Mayo/Santacruzan: The Queen of Filipino festivities
If there’s but a single Philippine festival touted as the ultimate in grandiosity, magnificent in its scope, profligate in its opulence, and glamorous in its style, easily, that would be…
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Defining ‘Substantial’ for E-2 investment visa applicants
The E-2 Treaty Investment Visa is the visa of choice for many business owners setting up shop in the US. The visa is highly desired as there is no limit…
Consequences of failing to disclose material assets, income, facts and information in a divorce case
There is a natural tendency among divorcing parties to hide their assets from their spouse and understate income. This is a common problem that I have observed from practicing law…
PCG participates at the 10th Santacruzan in the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels
LOS ANGELES – The officers and staff of the Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles attended the 10th Archdiocesan Filipino Marian Celebration of “Santacruzan” held on May 11 at the…
SCE and LA Fire Dept. highlight metallic balloon safety
LOS ANGELES – Southern California Edison (SCE) and the Los Angeles County Fire Department held a metallic balloon safety demonstration on Friday, May 9, at the Southern California Flower Market…
ABA hosts kickoff event for Summer Seminar Series in LA
ON MAY 14, the Asian Business Association (ABA) hosted its kickoff event for the ABA Summer Seminar Series at the Miyako Hotel, in Los Angeles. This first event in the…
Filipino Dental Practitioners of California, Inc., for Announcement 40th Anniversary
The Filipino Dental Practitioners of California, Inc. is celebrating its 40th Anniversary. We request the pleasure of your company at our Inaugural Dinner Ball and Silent Auction Fundraiser scheduled for Saturday,…
The June 2014 Priority Dates: F-2A retrogresses to May 1, 2012!
The June 2014 Visa Bulletin indicates that the priority dates for the F-2A category (spouse\minor children of immigrant) will retrogress (move backwards) from September 8, 2013 to May 1, 2012….
The Barretto family feud reignites
BEFORE starting on the latest buzz about the continuing feud amongst the Barretto sisters Claudine, Marjorie and Gretchen; I would like to inform all my friends and colleagues that my…
Vegetables Versus Lymphoma
Since man roamed the earth, vegetables have been hailed as a great health food. And even before modern science came out with the medical data proving their value, parents, especially…
SOS: Mother Nature in critical condition
(Part 2) RELEASED last week, The National Climate Assessment presented the most comprehensive scientific evidences of global warming. The findings were ominous, because rising temperatures are affecting the food chain,…
H-4 status holders to be issued work authorization
ON May 6, 2014, the Obama Administration announced two new measures to attract and retain the highly-skilled workers the US requires to sustain the economic recovery. The first will allow…
San Isidro Pahiyas Festival: Of beauty and bounty
It is no doubt that thanksgiving celebrations in the Philippines are always in its grandest. In fact, Filipinos even go beyond ‘colorful and creative’ and a best example would be…
SCE reminds customers to conserve electricity during extended heat wave
Round-the-clock use of electricity puts strain on electrical grid ROSEMEAD, Calif.— With a week-long heat wave peaking between today and Friday and triple-digit temperatures in many areas, Southern California Edison…
A question of choice
It is said that choice is destiny’s soulmate. You have a choice to accept or refuse, to take one turning down the crossroads to the future or another. By not…
Monterey Park pledges its commitment to electrical safety awareness as a ‘powerful city’
ROSEMEAD, Calif. — City leaders and community groups gathered at Monterey Park City Hall last week as the city pledged its commitment to electrical safety awareness during National Electrical Safety Month. Marissa Castro-Salvati,…
The City of Cerritos, At a Glance
A model for families, public services and local economy Twenty miles (or roughly thirty minutes of travel) to southeast of Los Angeles is Cerritos — an upper-middle class city which…
Free citizenship information at local public libraries in Southern California
USCIS Will Showcase Civics, Citizenship and Other Products and Services LOS ANGELES – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will present nine naturalization information sessions at public libraries from May 12,…
Motherhood
DESPITE economic improvements, the Philippines’ ranking in the 15th global “State of the World’s Mothers” report (released by Save The Children, a non-government organization) has slipped four notches — placing…
A special milestone on Mothers’ Day
MOTHERS’ DAY this year is extra special for me. It is a milestone because this 2014, I have also became a grandmother with the birth of my first apo — Azshara…
Section 1031 exchanges defer capital gains
UNDER Section 1031 of the United States Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. §1031, the exchange of properties used for investment or trade or business, but not for personal use, may…
Means test misstatement may be proof of fraudulent intent
THE means test is the IRS based form of calculating disposable income in bankruptcy to determine if the case should be a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13; and if a…
How IRS scores your income tax returns for audit Part 2
(Part 2 – Master Files) LAST week we discussed how tax returns are received, verified, and reviewed for completeness. Let’s now discuss the second of a three-part series on how…
Working beyond your regular duties: Should you be paid?
Q: I WORK at a retail company and every employee is required to “pitch in” when it becomes busy. Stocking shelves, cleaning, and putting away merchandise are not part of…
Are you sinking deeper into debt every month?
TOUGH financial times are pushing strapped consumers over the edge. Delinquencies and balances on delinquent credit cards are on the rise with no signs of slowing down. Faced with layoffs…
New relief available for aliens previously removed/deported, but are now in same-sex marriage
Many in the LGBT community (in the pre-Windsor era) were placed in removal/deportation proceedings and were ordered removed/deported. This is because they had no “form of relief” available for them…
Songs that my mother taught me
On this big production called Mother’s Day, a whole nation of sons and daughters will pause to remember their mothers. My first knowledge of the world and about life came…
Musing in Valyermo
WHILE enjoying a quiet dinner with the monks of St. Andrew’s Abbey in Valyermo, California during my day-off last Thursday, Fr. Francis, the former abbot, was on the microphone reading…
A Mother’s Day retrospective: Vignettes, anecdotes & canticles for ‘Inang’
THERE is something strange about the gravitational and magnetic forces that attract a child towards his mother than how intensely it is with the father. The reason could obviously be…