In the essence of camaraderie and reaffirmation of alliances, military exercises between the Philippines and the United States have begun once again through the annual Balikatan (shoulder-to-shoulder) exercises. The 12-day event, which formally opened last April 16, is in pursuant to the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty which strengthens the pact between the Philippines and the…
ACCORDING to The International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Philippines would be the laggard in economic growth from 2012-2013 among its counterparts in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations-5 (ASEAN-5). The IMF’s latest World Economic Outlook (WEO) showed that the Philippines’ gross domestic product (GDP) “would grow 4.2 percent this year and 4.7 percent in 2013…
QUESTION: I’m 17 and my mother died and my father abandoned me. What can I do? Is there any help for me? Answer: Yes, There is what is known as a Special Immigrant Juvenile Petition A special provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act allows certain qualifying minors to petition for immigrant status as a…
In this more health-conscious era, eggs, a very popular item in most any breakfast menus around the world, have been a controversial food item because of its high cholesterol content. Clinical reviews in various medical journals around the world the past five decades have pointed out the danger of dietary cholesterol for those at risk…
The lyrics to the old song, Dem Bones don’t connect the hipbone directly to your mouth, but a surgeon might, by canceling hip surgery if the patient is suffering from acute gum disease. The reason for the cancellation would be for what is commonly referred to as the “mouth-body connection,” where infections in the mouth…
INTERNATIONAL law signifies the essence of the progress of civilization towards a world ruled by principle and not by force. It took millions of lives, thousands of years and hundreds of wars to achieve such discipline, which deals with global order. The principles representing international law are based upon universally accepted values and moral standards….
THE Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) has restored its prior ruling that “admission” for the purposes of a later adjustment of status means a procedurally regular admission, and not an admission in a particular status. Last year, the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in Orozco v. Mukasey. 521 F.3d 1068 (9th. Cir…
THE Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) has restored its prior ruling that “admission” for the purposes of a later adjustment of status means a procedurally regular admission, and not an admission in a particular status. Last year, the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in Orozco v. Mukasey. 521 F.3d 1068 (9th. Cir…
USCIS has partnered with business experts to improve the way we approach the employment-based and high-skilled visa categories used by immigrant entrepreneurs. Director Alejandro Mayorkas kicked-off this innovative program, called the Entrepreneurs in Residence (EIR) initiative, with an Information Summit in Silicon Valley in February. Now, USCIS has entered a new phase of the initiative…
YOU might be wondering how a foreign-sounding “group of islands and reefs in an atoll shape” can be found in Philippine waters. According to a dead-linked source from Wikipedia (Diary of Colonel Bayly: 12th regiment. 1796-1830. Army and Navy Co-operative Society, 1896, pg. 108), Scarborough Shoal (Philippine name: Panatag Shoal; Chinese name: Huangyan Island) “was…
LOAN Modification Scams are growing like wild fire and its consider white collar crime. In my opinion these types of crime are hard to prosecute and if prosecuted it gets minimum time in a Federal prison and sometime just a slap on the wrist by the court system. Therefore, you should know the warning signs…
EVERY two years, from around the world, the European Society of Biomechanics (ESB) gives its most prestigious award, the S.M. Perren Research Award, to the first author of the best scientific paper submitted to the Chairman of the Award Committee. The largest Biomechanics society in Europe with almost 500 members from different countries in the…
“UNLESS I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nail marks and put may hand into his side, I will not believe.” These were the famous words of Thomas, one of the Twelve Apostles, who we nicknamed “The Doubting Thomas.” When I appropriate these words to the…
USCIS has published a very important proposed change in processing petitions for certain alien relatives called “Provisional Unlawful Presence Waivers of Inadmissibility for Certain Immediate Relatives.” How does this proposed change affect you? Current Rule. A United States citizen who wants to sponsor his alien spouse, parent or minor child (under 21 years old and…
The cultures of corruption and of violence in society are close cousins, if not twins. They are intertwined. Where there is corruption, there is violence, and vice versa. Violence is a symptom of a corrupt mind, and corruption is violence against fellow human beings and society. On August 23, 2010, the whole world was watching…
No in-laws! THIS is the first of 10 unwritten commandments which John Gokongwei, founder of the Gokongwei group of companies, followed in running the family business “the Gokongwei way.” (I will discuss the remaining 9 commandments in succeeding issues.) In the article written by Mary Ann Ll. Reyes for The Philippine Star, Lance Gokongwei, president…
TAXPAYERS who have filed income tax returns using Schedule C, Profit or Loss from Business, usually get surprised when they receive a notice from the Los Angeles City requiring them to apply for Business Tax Registration Certificate (BTRC). It is a common perception that only businesses should get a tax registration. So why would then…
WE HAVE been getting a lot of calls in regards to the new Obama Refinancing Programs and the supposedly more aggressive “Loan Modification Programs” that is geared more towards “Responsible Homeowners.” I went thru websites after websites and seems to find lesser issues about loan modification specially involving Loan Balance Reductions. I noticed a huge…
Dealing with rebellious children amidst a drug epidemic in the 1980s, Corazon “Cora” Basa Cortes Tomalinas knew she had to do something or lose her children for good. She lived in a seedy part of San Jose where drugs and gangs were prevalent. Her daughter fell victim to the surroundings, and began using drugs. Rather…
THE H-1B visa category opened again recently. As usual, we are seeing much interest by individuals and employers seeking obtain the H-1B nonimmigrant visa. In the last two years, the H1-B visa quota did not reach until much later in the year. However, prior to that, the H-1B cap has been reached within days of…
DURING the Chrism Mass last Monday at the Cathedral of Los Angeles, Archbishop Jose H. Gomez told us, the priests of the archdiocese, to value our priesthood — for God has given us the power to transform ordinary bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. “People are hungry for God,” he…
Society is becoming more individually oriented. More and more single occupancy homes are being sold. People are marrying less and later in life. They are also divorcing more. Single parent families are on the rise while birth rates are on the decline. Some couples opt not to have children. There is less social interaction between…
If senator-judge and presiding officer Juan Ponce Enrile will not allow Corona’s defense lawyers to present the SALN of legislators and cabinet secretaries, as well as that of President Noynoy Aquino, I would suggest that they feed all the information they can mine into social media. And let it all hang out. Since their client…
Question: I have been married for 12 years to a US citizen, but have always been afraid to file anything. I heard that I will have to file the Waiver of the 3/10 year bar, but did not want to chance leaving the US. What is the current status of the new Waiver regulations? Answer:…
When the marital relationship sours to the point where one or both spouses believe that the marriage cannot be salvaged, three remedies are available to terminate or alter the marital status: dissolution, nullity, and legal separation. Under Family Code Sec. 2300, dissolution of marriage can be attained and the “single” status of spouses restored by…
There is public uproar and protests from the medical community against the US Health and Human Services Department about the recent guidelines issued by the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), an outside consultant “group of experts who make health recommendations based on best available evidence,” which call for women “to start mammogram every-other-year screening…
THE H-1B visa quota for FY 2013 officially opened up on Sunday, April 1, 2012, making 65,000 new H-1B regular visa numbers available for new employment beginning on October 1, 2012, as well as an additional 20,000 H-1Bs for persons who have attained a Master’s Degree or higher in the US. Since the H-1B quota…
AS WE go to press, the whole nation is in a lottery frenzy, awaiting the nerve-wracking results of the Mega Millions jackpot, which is now estimated at $640-million – an unprecedented amount in the history of US lottery. A latest report from Good Morning America says that the “cash lump sum payment is now worth $462 million,…
EFFECTIVE June, 2012: Fees for refinancing will fall sharply, as the upfront mortgage insurance decreases to 0.01 percent of the base loan amount, from 1 percent, starting on June 11. For buyers, the upfront mortgage insurance premium will increase to 1.7 percent of the loan amount, from 1 percent, effective April 9, and annual insurance…
HERE is a highly elite group of intelligent and gifted scientists, whose breakthrough achievements have made an impact on the lives of people — both at present, and for future generations. Filipino-American professor and scientist Dr. Rigoberto C. Advincula, Ph.D belongs to this select few. Advincula is an internationally known world-class scientist, who is acknowledged…
