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…
ON JAN. 6, 2012, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) posted a notice of intent in the Federal Register outlining its plan to reduce the time that US citizens are separated from their spouses and children under certain circumstances while those family members go through the process of becoming legal immigrants to the United States….
AS WE celebrate Palm Sunday this year, to commemorate the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem before his Passion, Death, and Resurrection, I invite you to reflect on the words of the Holy Father, Benedict XVI, to the people of Cuba as he entered their county, a truly impressive and historic visit: “I carry in my…
Alarmed by the report of the International Labor Organization (ILO) that approximately 2.4 million minors aged nine to 17 are already working in the country, the Philippine government has recently expressed interest in focusing on one of poverty’s alarming repercussions-child labor. Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano recently called upon concerned government agencies to come…
ONE of the easiest to catch infectious diseases is pulmonary tuberculosis. And most often than not, people get infected without even knowing they have it and who and where they got it from. The so-called open lesion and infectious tuberculosisA recent WHO report on the regular form of tuberculosis states that this infectious airborne illness…
WITH all the ballyhoo surrounding the North Korean rocket launch (expected to take place between April 12 and 16), the safety and security of the 50,000 Filipinos living in South Korea remains to be the Philippine government’s foremost priority. Last week, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) issued a statement, calling North Korea’s planned satellite…
WASHINGTON — US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently announced that it will begin accepting H-1B petitions subject to the Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 cap on Monday April 2, 2012. Cases will be considered accepted on the date that USCIS takes possession of a properly filed petition with the correct fee. USCIS will not rely…
ON A typical Tuesday during this tax season, I’ve had three new tax clients (who were previously with other preparers) – all of them have just recently been audited on two or three prior year tax returns. Due to the rigidity and stress that these tax audits brought to them, all of whom now don’t…
IT would be dishonest for us to say that we wouldn’t want an easy life. Who wants to be poor? Who wants to struggle all the time? Who does not want to enjoy some pleasures of life? Even the poor nun who ministers to people living in squatter areas desires comfort and release from seeing…
THE Philippine government has recently expressed optimism that growth is finally within reach, citing the recent improvements in the Philippine economy. In a recent interview with the press after the Foreign Loan Approval and Registration System (FLAReS), Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. expressed elation over the fact that the Philippines has…
