Anaheim White House restaurant is hosting its annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony on Sunday, Nov. 24 and will kick off the start of the holiday season with a toy drive that benefits the homeless children who live with their families in motels in Orange County. This is the 26th year the Italian steakhouse restaurant located…
On November 15, 2013, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services issued a Policy Memorandum (“PM”) concerning “parole in place” for people who entered the US without inspection and are the spouse, child, and/or parent of those who are on active duty, reservists, or veterans (Armed Forces personnel). In other words, certain relatives of Armed Forces…
Typhoon Yolanda has dominated the world’s news, with shocking images of the devastation and destruction of this horrible typhoon. Even now, people are still homeless, without adequate food, water, shelter, medical supplies or care. Some are forced to sleep next to the bloated bodies of those killed during the typhoon. Newscasters and world leaders have…
THE onslaught of Typhoon Yolanda has united our kababayans back home. Using their popularity to gain the public’s attention to help the typhoon victims, numerous Filipino artists have not only just donated money and relief goods, but also their time. One of these artists is Kapamilya actress Angel Locsin. Aside from her financial donation to…
OXYGEN bars are sprouting all over, especially at airports and some shopping malls, duping people into believing that extra oxygen is healthier for them. Of course, as you inhale their “colored oxygen,” they inhale your money. Medically speaking, extra oxygen is harmful to our lungs, unless we have pulmonary insufficiency where our breathing system is…
Honorary co-hosts include Congresswoman Anna Eshoo, Congresswoman Jackie Speier, Senator Leland Yee, Assemblymember Rob Bonta, Assemblymember Phil Ting, Honorable David Chiu, and nearly 100 community leaders and organizations SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (November 20, 2013) – A broad coalition of community leaders and organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area have teamed up to help raise…
Leaves over 30 years of distinguished public service SAN FRANCISCO—Former Civil Service Commission Executive Officer Anita Sanchez passed away last Nov. 19 after her long battle with cancer. She leaves with her a lasting legacy of distinguished public service to the people of San Francisco and leadership in the Filipino-American community. Sanchez immigrated to San Francisco…
SAN FRANCISCO A team of five people from RN Response Network (RNRN) four RNs and a staff person flew to Manila last Nov. 14 to help in the ongoing relief efforts in the calamity areas in Eastern and Central Visayas after Typhoon Yolanda (international name: Haiyan) tore through the region with storm surges, rain and…
SAN FRANCISCO—Filipino workers in Arizona, California, Guam, Hawaii, Nevada, American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands are set to benefit under a new alliance forged between the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Wage and Hour Division (WHD). The partnership, which was finalized with the signing of…
More than a week after super typhoon Haiyan (locally coded Yolanda) severely ravaged Eastern Visayas, typhoon victims remain helpless despite ongoing relief operations courtesy of the different countries, concerned citizens, and local government. Still in shock, aimless, and hardly struggling to survive , affected residents just don’t know where to start to reconstruct lost properties…
District Cites “Financial Risk” in Decision to Settle Voting Rights Suit Cerritos – The ABC Unified School District Board of Education voted during Tuesday’s meeting to settle a California Voting Rights Act suit, citing risk of exorbitant lawsuit expenses and the need to ensure the District remains focused on student achievement. As part of the…
This great holiday of thanks and giving is not a date on a calendar, but a state of mind. It is about our capacity to realize things that we can, sometimes, only imagine. No matter how difficult the recession is for each of us, there are always others who are going through more severe hardships….
WHEN there is despair, it is easy to dwell on the bad news. But from the rubble of tragedy, the best of humanity finds ways to bring back hope–especially for the people in need. On behalf of every Filipino, President Benigno S. Aquino III expresses his gratitude to every individual, organization and country who rallied…
THE US government has gone far and beyond relief efforts to help the Philippines recover and rebuild after being ravaged by super typhoon Yolanda. It has extended visa relief to kababayans in the Philippines and those in the United States with valid immigration papers. However, with the crisis the Philippines now faces in the aftermath…
I KNOW that Tacloban will rise, like the Phoenix, from its utter devastation. My beloved hometown and the province of Leyte have been through worse. It was in Palo, a few kilometers from Tacloban, where General Douglas MacArthur and the allied forces landed on October 20, 1944, on the way to the liberation of the…
ON December 16, 2010, USCIS issued an official Memorandum to implement the provisions of INA §204(l), or the Surviving Relatives Law. The memo amends the USCIS’ Adjudicators’ Field Manual (AFM) to provide consistency in adjudications under the Surviving Relatives Law at USCIS offices throughout the Country. The memo should allow for immediate USCIS’ action on…
Typhoon Haiyan, the world’s strongest typhoon ever recorded, lashed the Philippines and has caused massive destruction and a large number of fatalities. It has wiped out towns, destroyed homes, infrastructures and roads leaving thousands homeless and wounded. Survivors now face the aftermath of the typhoon’s wrath as they struggle to hold on for their own lives….
Air pollution ‘chokes’ young boys and girls – Sen. De Leon LOS ANGELES – On Thursday, November 14, a diverse coalition of community-based, public health science and conservation groups launched, a campaign that looks to put one million light, medium and heavy duty electric vehicles on California roads within the next 10 years. In a…
Los Angeles, 14 November 2013 – The officers and staff of the Philippine Consulate General participated in the 5K Walk spearheaded by the Philippine Disaster Relief Organization (PeDRO) together with Renew our Minds and Heart Foundation (ROHMA) on 10 November 2013 at Woodley and Balboa Park in Van Nuys, California. This fundraising event was participated…
SAN DIEGO (CBS 8) – As Filipinos here in San Diego wait to hear from their loved ones, many are helping to gather supplies to send to their devastated homeland. Danny Short is passionate about two things — his work and his family. Danny, who grew up in the Philippines, tried to reach is wife’s…
I know that Tacloban will rise, like the Phoenix, from its utter devastation. My beloved hometown and the province of Leyte have been through worse. It was in Palo, a few kilometers from Tacloban, where General Douglas MacArthur and the allied forces landed on October 20, 1944, on the way to the liberation of the…
We have covered in previous articles the different ways of acquiring U.S. citizenship at birth. Aside from birth, the other means of acquiring U.S. citizenship is through naturalization. Under INA 101(a)(23), naturalization refers to the act of conferring nationality on a person after birth. Naturalization includes: (1) naturalization of an individual adult; (2) collective naturalization…
Walnut Mayor Tony Cartagena, Filipino- American and long time resident of Walnut, appeals for Disaster Relief Aids from various organizations, companies, and community members in the San Gabriel Valley to benefit the victims of Typhoon Haiyan (named Super Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines). A joint and collaborative efforts have been established by St. Lorenzo Ruiz…
Oftentimes, I get a feverish desire to go back to Tacloban — not the Tacloban in the face of total destruction, whose roads are strewn with corpses laying on the sodden grounds, with piles of debris, downed power lines and tin roofs blown away. Hungry orphaned children with their hands outstretched ask for help; battered…
IN THE aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan, the profound human toll and humanitarian crisis in and around Leyte is only beginning to come into full view. From an immigration perspective, some of those affected have turned to the US for help beyond the herculean relief efforts of the State Department, USAID and Department of Defense, and…
WHILE the typhoon victims are fighting the elements and struggling to survive, netizens are engaging in a “word war” on a bevy of topics related to Typhoon Haiyan (aka Yolanda) in social media. From rants about the Philippine government’s inefficiency in implementing rescue and relief operations, to Korina Sanchez criticizing Anderson Cooper’s CNN coverage of…
AMID the chaos and desperation in the Philippines in the aftermath of Super Typhoon Yolanda (International name: Haiyan), Filipinos in North America had the opportunity to reach out and lend a helping hand to our kababayans in the Visayas, whose communities have been ravaged by the strongest typhoon ever to make landfall. From November 13-14,…
GIVEN the devastation in the Philippines, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released an article on November 15, 2013, to remind Filipino nationals impacted by typhoon Haiyan of possible immigration relief measures. Natural disasters and other extreme conditions can happen which are beyond anyone’s control. These unpredicted events may affect one’s USCIS application, petition or…
THE Bible has a strange story about a man being swallowed up by a whale. This man is Jonah. God, my God, the God of Moses and Israel, who sent His only and beloved Son, Jesus Christ to us, and who became man through the Blessed Virgin Mary, and who willingly suffered and died on…
IN A landmark case, the Supreme Court has held that a conviction for willfully filing a false tax return is a deportable offense under our immigration laws. It reached the same conclusion with respect to a conviction for aiding and assisting in the preparation of a false return. Background – Tax evasion is a felony…
