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October 30 - November 5, 2010 www.filipinopress.com

Few Fil-Ams seeking elective office

By Bill Ramsey
Filipino Press Staff Wrier
E L E C T I O N District School Board. and unassertive as a hindrance

2010
Elsewhere in California, Fili- “I think we still have a to participating in political dis-

A
rlie Ricasa is a
trustee and imme-
diate past-president
of the Sweetwater Union High
School District Board of Trust-
ees. She was first elected to the
school board in 1998 by defeat-
ing a seven-term incumbent. In
2006, Ricasa was re-elected to
serve a third term for SUHSD,
the largest secondary school
system in California. Ricasa is
a policy-maker for a school dis-
trict with over 74,000 students,
5,400 employees and a $325
million budget.
Ricasa also holds the distinc-
tion of being perhaps the only
Filipino-American in San Di-
ego holding elective office and
is a candidate for Seat 5 of the
Sweetwater Union High School
pinio-American Dorie Cachuela
Paniza is seeking a council seat
in Daly City. Another, Cecilia
Rosales, would be the first open-
ly gay city council member if she
prevails in Berkeley.
Around the country, a hand-
ful of Filipino-Americans are
running for office, but the list is
pathetically small. And, report-
edly, fewer even bother to vote.
Why?
“I think we still have a lit-
tle bit of the Spanish colonial
mentality in us, where we just
little bit of the Spanish
colonial mentality in
us, where we just
don't care.”
don’t care,” Marie O’Connor, a
Filipino-American who is an
active member of the political
action group MoveOn.org, told
the Asian Journal. She also cit-
ed Filipino traits of being shy
cussions and the electoral pro-
cess in the U.S.
As the fastest-growing seg-
ment of Asian-Americans in
the U.S., the lack of political
participation is particularly
disturbing, say many experts.
And several I spoke with say
Filipinos in the U.S. are more
interested in Philippine poli-
tics than what's happening in
their own backyards.
“It’s amazing how easily Fil- Val Abelgas
ipinos in America can organize
and raise funds in support of See POLITICS on 14

‘Radical Rich Guy’

Legendary leader, activist was at
forefront of end of Marcos’ martial
law in volatile era of Philippines

M any today remem-

ber Cory Aqui-
no as the iconic
leader who brought democrat-
ic change to the Philippines.
But it was her husband, Be-
nigno Simeon "Ninoy" Aquino
Jr., whose zealous opposition
to the Marcos regime, tireless
campaign for a free Philippines
and, ultimately, his assassina-
tion which catapulted his wid- "Ninoy Aquino & The Rise of Peo-
ow to political fame. ple Power" was one of four Filipino
films featured during this year's
“If it’s my fate to die by San Diego Asian Film Festival.
Copies of the video are available
an assassin's bullet, so for sale at http://foundasian.org/
be it. But I cannot be promo/ninoydvd.

petrified by inaction or he called himself a “radical rich

fear of assassination.”
By turns a famed journalist,
political adviser to presidents
and populist politician thought
destined to become president,
Aquino — father of current
Philippine President Benig-
no "P-Noy" Aquino III — Aqui-
no spent much of his life and ca-
reer in a fearless fight against
oppression, poverty and corrup-
tion that dominated his nation
throughout the most volatile era
the Philippines had ever known.
Born Nov. 27, 1932, Aquino
was born in Concepcion, Tar-
lac, to a prosperous family —
guy.” His grandfather, Servilla-
no Aquino, was a general in the
revolutionary army of Emilio
Aguinaldo, while his father, Be-
nigno S. Aquino Sr., was a prom-
inent member of the World War
II Japanese collaborationist gov-
ernment of José P. Laurel.
At age 17, Aquino — who
referred to himself an average
student — became the young-
est war correspondent to cov-
er the Korean War. Because of
his journalistic prowess, he re-
ceived the Philippine Legion of
Honor award from President
Elpidio Quirino at age 18. At
21, he became a close advis-
See ninoy on 14

MANNY 'S DAY IN SAN DIEGO

Photo: Victor Muniz/FP Staff

Famed Filipino fighter Manny Pacquiao poses with National City
Mayor Ron Morrison during his appearance in San Diego for an
exhibition basketball game at Mira Mesa High School on Oct. 24.
2 THE FILIPINO PRESS
Aquino says Vietnam to remain
important partner of RP
President Benigno S. Aqui-
no III vowed that bilateral re-
lations between the Philippines
and Vietnam will continue to
prosper during his presidency.
“As the Philippines takes the
first steps toward a more trans-
parent, responsive, and econom-
ically competitive government,
be assured, Excellency, that
Vietnam remains an important
partner of the Philippines,” the
Chief Executive said in his re-
marks at the State Banquet
hosted in his honor by Socialist
Republic of Vietnam President
Nguyen Minh Triet at the Gov-
ernment Guest House.
The President stressed that
the friendship between the
Philippines and Vietnam is vi-
brant and strong as cooperation
in diverse areas, particularly
in trade, fisheries, meteorology
and hydrography, sports, and fi-
nance have been in place.
He pointed out that the seal-
ing of four more agreements
during his state visit to Viet-
nam, cooperation between the
two countries in higher educa-
tion, defense and maritime af-
fairs was further strengthened.
The President also said
that his state visit to Vietnam,
his first ever state visit to an
ASEAN member country since
he assumed office in June, is
also a testament to the mutual
commitment of both countries
BI looking to
change system
for arrival and
departure cards
MANILA, Philippines –
With the cancellation of arriv-
al/departure card for having
questionable advertisements,
the Bureau of Immigration
(BI) is looking to tap a new
system that will capture and
store information from the
cards being filled up by inter-
national travelers in all air-
ports in the country.
With this, Immigration offi-
cer-in-charge Ronaldo Ledes-
ma has directed Jollybert
Galleon, BI computer section
chief, to conduct a study on
the matter and submit recom-
mendation as soon as possible.
“The bureau needs to come
up with a more economical
and efficient mode of retriev-
ing and encoding the data in
the cards without entering
into contracts with private
companies that causes contro-
versies and problems for the
bureau,” he said.
For his part, Galleon said
he is looking to use the bu-
r e a u ’s e x i s t i n g p a s s p o r t
reading machines in the air-
ports in lieu of the equip-
ment provided by e.Xtend,
the company that produc-
es the infamous cards being
distributed by the bureau
to travelers who enter and
leave the country.
He said the passport read-
ers can be re-configured to scan
not only machine-readable
passports but also the cards.
The Department of Justice
(DOJ) recently ordered the
cancellation of the contract
due to the controversies gener-
ated by advertisements print-
ed on the cards.
Under its contract with the
BI, e.Xtend, Inc. also provides
the equipment that scans and
retrieves information written
in the cards. (MNS)
President Benigno S. Aquino III addresses the members of the Filipino community at the Grand Plaza Hotel in Hanoi.
The President discussed the governmentís projects and programs for Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs).
to find additional areas of coop-
eration that will benefit the Fil-
ipino and Vietnamese peoples.
He also noted that the warm
welcome accorded him and his
delegation by the Vietnamese
people and government, which
he said, is a clear sign of the
close relations between the
Philippines and Vietnam.
“It is a pleasure to be here,
tonight, to express our best
Poll violence leaves
39 persons dead
By William B. Depasupil
Thirty-nine persons died in
78 election-related incidents
(ERIs) across the country dur-
ing Mondays’ synchronized ba-
rangay (village) and Sanggu-
niang Kabataan (SK or Youth
Council) polls, the chief of the
Philippine National Police
(PNP) said. Despite the death
toll, PNP Director General Raul
Bacalzo described the elections
as “peaceful and orderly.”
Orderly the barangay and SK
polls were not, according to re-
ports, which said that delays in
deliveries of voting parapherna-
lia by the Commission on Elec-
tions (Comelec) cost holding of
the balloting in at least 1,599
villages across the country.
The poor preparations by the
Comelec and the violence that
attended the elections could
New law gives senior
citizens more prime goods
MANILA, Philippines – The
Expanded Senior Citizens Act of
2010 has added more prime com-
modities that older people can
buy at a discount, the depart-
ments of Agriculture and Trade
and Industry said recently.
The law, also known as Repub-
lic Act 9994, added “prime com-
modities” such as fresh fruits,
flour, dairy products, onions, gar-
lic, geriatric diapers, herbicides,
poultry, swine, and cattle feed, vet-
erinary products for poultry, swine
and cattle, construction materi-
als such as nipa shingle, plyboard,
nails, steel wires, electrical sup-
plies, light bulbs, and batteries, ac-
cording to the statement.
wishes to the government of
Vietnam and the Vietnam-
ese people as you chair the
ASEAN. In regional unity, we
have the means to sustain eco-
nomic growth, advance our
shared development agenda,
and promote regional peace
and stability,” he said.
According to the President,
the Philippines and Vietnam
will celebrate next year the
have been avoided if the polls
were postponed, Sen. Juan
Miguel Zubiri said.
He added that he had fore-
seen problems in preparing for
the October 25 elections so close
to the national elections (May
10) when he filed a bill seeking
to delay them by 18 months.
“The [Comelec] was not really
prepared. That is why I appealed
to [President Benigno Aquino
3rd] to postpone the barangay
and SK elections,” Zubiri said.
President Aquino had said
that he was dissatisfied with the
Comelec’s handling of the polls.
Zubiri cited reports that al-
most 2,000 villages failed to con-
duct voting and that almost 100
died in election-related violence.
“We rushed the elections. Had
they been [set for] next year,
there would have been smooth
sailing. It [holding of the polls]
“More than 20 items were
added in the original list under
the old law (RA 9257 of 2003),
which previously covered basic
items like rice, corn, fresh and
dried fish, fresh eggs, fresh veg-
etables, root crops, salt, firewood,
charcoal, and candles,” the de-
partment said.
Agriculture Secretary Proceso
Alcala and Trade Secretary Greg-
ory Domingo on Oct. 15 signed a
joint administrative order enforc-
ing provisions of the new law, the
Agriculture Department said.
The implication of RA 994 is that
senior citizens can now buy more
food and basic items at a 5 percent
discount, the statement said.
Photo: MNS
35th anniversary of the estab-
lishment of diplomatic rela-
tions. Saying that it will be an
excellent occasion for cultural
exchanges and people-to-people
activities to commemorate RP-
Vietnam relations.
For his part, the Vietnam-
ese President thanked the Phil-
ippines for its support to Viet-
nam’s ASEAN chairmanship
this year. (MNS)
already happened, and we could
do nothing but point fingers at
each other,” he said.
According to the senator, the
executive department was as
much to blame as the Comelec
for the lack of preparations for
Monday’s elections.
It is time to let go of the
Sangguniang Kabataan (SK),
Sen. Edgardo Angara said, be-
cause it has outlived its useful-
ness and it also is time to give
it a second look.
Angara said that youth par-
ticipation could be encouraged
without holding SK elections.
He expressed concern over
putting young adults and teen-
agers as young as 15 years old
in the middle of a “dirty politi-
cal arena.”
“We have to consider the fact
that we’re exposing the youth
to politics, Philippine style,
which we all know is a no-holds-
barred avenue. I am concerned
because we are accelerating
the entrance of such malleable,
impressionable minds into Phil-
ippine politics and all its less-
than honorable practices,” Ang-
ara said. (manilatimes.net)
Still, the new commodity items
are not exempted from the 12 per-
cent value added tax. “Each senior
citizen can enjoy the 5 percent dis-
count on said food and prime com-
modities, which however are not
exempted from the VAT.”
The amount each senior cit-
izen could buy has also been
capped at P1,300 a week.
Retailers exempted from the 5
percent discount under RA 9994
are stalls in food courts, food
carts, food vendors, and sari-sa-
ri stores with a capital of less
than P100,000, as well as public
and private wet markets, talipa-
pa and cooperative stores, the de-
partments said. (MNS)
October 30 - November 5, 2010
BOP surplus posts 5-fold hike in September
MANILA, Philippines – The country’s balance of payments (BOP)
surplus posted a five-fold increase, hitting a new monthly record high
of $3.062 billion in September as capital inflows continued to flood
emerging markets, including the Philippines, the Bangko Sentral ng
Pilipinas (BSP) reported recently.
BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. said the BOP surplus reached
$3.062 billion in September, a dramatic 401 percent, or $2.45-billion in-
crease from the $611-million surplus recorded in the same month last year.
Tetangco explained that the September’s BOP surplus was a record
high monthly surplus since the BSP shifted to the new BOP compila-
tion methodology in 1999.
“The robust external position for the month was due mainly from BSP’s
foreign exchange operations, proceeds from the National Govern-
ment’s bond issuances as well as official development assistance loans.
This development was partly a reflection of the global shift of capital
flows into emerging markets, including the Philippines,” Tetangco said.
The BOP refers to the difference of foreign exchange inflows and out-
flows on a particular period and represents the country’s transactions
with the rest of the world.
In all, Tetangco said the country’s robust external position in Sep-
tember brought the BOP surplus in the first nine months of the year
to $6.54 billion or about 49 percent or $2.137 billion higher than the
$4.403-billion surplus booked in the same period last year.
The surplus from January to September already surpassed the revised BOP
surplus target of $3.7 billion. Originally, the BSP expected the BOP surplus
to stabilize at $3.2 billion this year from the revised $6.421 billion in 2009.
As early as June, the original BOP surplus target of $3.2-billion set by
the BSP for 2010 was already breached.
The country’s BOP surplus plunged to $89 million in 2008 from $8.67 bil-
lion in 2007 due to the full impact of the global financial crisis. The BOP
position recovered last year with a revised surplus of $6.421 billion.
Monetary authorities attribute the country’s strong external payments
position to the robust foreign exchange inflows from the higher investment
inflows, disbursement of official development assistance (ODA) loans from
multilateral lending agencies, and the money sent home by Filipinos abroad.
Latest data showed that money sent home by overseas Filipino work-
ers (OFWs) went up by 7.4 percent to $12.181 billion in the first eight
months of the year from $11.342 billion in the same period last year. The
BSP has already upgraded its growth forecast for the amount of money
sent home by overseas Filipinos to eight percent instead of six percent
due to the strong demand for Filipino skilled workers. (philstar.com)
August imports rise 22% to $4.4-B
MANILA, Philippines – Merchandise imports in August climbed 22% to
$4.41 billion from a year earlier, the National Statistics Office said recently.
The August import growth was a reversal of the 28.3% contraction in the
same month last year, and faster than the 16.2% growth in July. However,
the import bill in August was 5.7% lower than July's $4.68 billion.
Imports of electronic parts, which accounted for 37.3% of the total import
bill, were up an annual 27.2% in August after a 2.4% rise in July. These are
inputs used by the semiconductor and electronics industry, the country's
biggest export sector and a major contributor to the economy.
The government expects imports to climb 20% this year and exports to
increase 15%, with estimated growth for both revised upwards earlier this year.
Merchandise exports climbed 36.6% in August from a year ago after a
35.9% jump in July.
Apart from electronic parts and fuel, the Philippines' other top imports
are cereals such as rice, electrical and industrial machinery, transport
equipment, iron, steel and metal scraps. (MNS)
Government sells P8 billion worth of 7-year Treasury bonds
MANILA, Philippines – The government recently sold P8 billion worth
of seven-year Treasury bonds (T-bonds) as investors tendered a total of
P9.955 billion for the paper.
While the volume of bids was higher than the P8 billion that was of-
fered, this was unusually low compared to previous auctions.
National Treasurer Robert Tan said market investors are probably test-
ing the waters as far as bids are concerned.
“I supposed they’re testing what we will be accepting. They’re trying to see
whether we will accept higher bids,” Tan told reporters after the auction.
Tan said market investors probably considered the latest fiscal position
of the government.
Last week, the Department of Finance (DOF) reported that the budget
deficit has widened to P259.8 billion in the first nine months of the
year, a growth of 9.4 percent over the P237.5 billion-deficit recorded in
the same period last year.
In September alone, the budget gap also increased to P31.7 billion or 15.2
percent higher than the P27.5 billion-deficit recorded in September 2009.
With the end-September deficit at P259.8 billion, the government
needs to contain the budget gap in the remaining three months of the
year at P65.2 billion to meet the ceiling of P325 billion set for 2010.
The National Statistics Office (NSO) has reported that year-on-year
inflation settled at 3.5 percent in September, slower than the four
percent recorded in August. The latest inflation figure is also below the
forecast of 3.6 percent to 4.5 percent made by the Bangko Sentral ng
Pilipinas (BSP) for September.
The seven-year T-bond fetched a coupon rate of 5.375 percent or 34.5 ba-
sis points lower than the average rate of a similar paper of 5.720 percent.
The recent auction is part of the government’s fourth quarter borrow-
ing program of P75 billion.
The government has programmed to borrow P75 billion from the lo-
cal debt market in the fourth quarter of the year, lower than the third
quarter borrowing program of P107.5 billion.
Of the amount, the government plans to issue P35 billion worth
of Treasury bills, P13 billion lower than the previous quarter’s P48
billion T-bill offering.
The Treasury, meanwhile, plans to sell P40 billion worth of T-bonds, also
lower than the P59.5 billion programmed T-bond offering last quarter.
The issue size of T-bills per auction has been reduced to P7 billion from
P8 billion the previous quarter while the issue size of T-bonds per auc-
tion has also been lowered to P8 billion from P8.5 billion previously.
The government borrows from the local debt market through the issu-
ance of T-bills and bonds to plug a widening budget gap. (philstar.com)
 October 30 - November 5, 2010 THE FILIPINO PRESS 3

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4 THE FILIPINO PRESS October 30 - November 5, 2010

Lender exceeds 7 myths

$100 million in
private loans
Since its inception in Oc-
tober 2009, Presidio Residen-
tial Capital, a private real es-
tate construction lender, has
recorded multiple loans that
bring its total outstanding
commitments to more than
$110 million. The most re-
cent loan is to an affiliate of
McMillin Communities that
recorded on September 22
and will provide funds for
the land acquisition, develop-
ment and home construction
of 77 single-family homes in
Rolling Hills Ranch, a mas-
ter-planned community in
southern San Diego County.   happen in poor areas
“While we have been very
successful in capturing busi-
ness in Southern California,
our goal is to work with those
residential builders and de-
velopers in the major metro
areas in the Western Unit-
ed States and Texas,” said
Don Faye, principal of Presi-
Pardee Homes about
earns 20 Finalist foreclosures
Honors in 2010
SoCal Awards
By Jim Saccacio
Because the foreclosure
market has been relative-
ly dormant in recent years,
many people don’t fully un-
derstand how foreclosures
work. This lack of under-
standing can foster foreclo-
sure myths that are danger-
ous both for homeowners who
want to avoid foreclosure and
buyers interested in purchas-
ing a foreclosure.
Here are seven of the
most common myths about
foreclosures:
Myth 1: Foreclosures only
Foreclosures come in all
shapes and sizes and occur
in all neighborhoods. From
low-income to million-dol-
lar properties, you will see
Photo: Courtesy photo the full spectrum of homes
entering into the foreclo-
Upscale and low-maintenance, the Highlands Village townhome community features Pardee’s LivingSmart® features, which boost energy efficiency, save
water and improve indoor air quality. sure process.
Economic forces such as

dio Residential Capital. “I be-
lieve there continues to be a
great need for providing new
homes in these regions in-
cluding San Diego, which will
also create short- and long-
term opportunities and other
economic activity.”     communities. The annual SoCal
Its most recent loan is for
a collection of 77 lots in the
Verona neighborhood, sit-
uated at the highest eleva-
See lender on 5
P
ardee Homes has earned
20 finalist honors in the
2010 SoCal Awards pro-
gram, including the coveted
Community of the Year and Con-
sumer Choice designations for
four of the company’s new home
Awards competition is sponsored
by Sales and Marketing Councils
throughout Southern California.
“Our finalists represent the
choices new home buyers have
in two of our principal markets,
new homes that serve young
singles and starter families
through move-up households
and empty nesters,” said Bob
Clauser, senior vice president
of marketing for Pardee Homes.
“We’re delighted and gratified
with this recognition.”
“Pardee Homes again dem-
onstrates its commitment to
excellence in new homes and
in marketing those new homes
successfully,” said Lisa Parrish,
judging chairman. “As Pardee’s
honors demonstrate, both new
home shoppers and SoCal judg-
es were impressed with this
company’s fine work!”
Highlands Village at Carm-
el Country Highlands in San
Diego—this upscale townhome
community is a finalist as Com-
munity of the Year, and a Con-
sumer Choice finalist. The best-
selling attached project in San
Diego, it was also honored for
overall architectural design, for
the design of Plan 4, for its sales
center and for print advertising.
Terramar in Torrey High-
lands in San Diego—another
best seller, Terramar’s upscale
neighborhood of detached homes
earned Community of the Year
and Consumer Choice designa-
tions. Plan 1A was a finalist for
its architectural design.
LivingSmart®Homes at
Tournament Hills in Beau-
mont—these affordable, green-
See pardee on 5
rising interest rates and de-
creasing home values affect
homeowners from all types
of neighborhoods.
Myth 2: Financial irresponsibil-
ity causes most foreclosures
While there are always
those cases of financial ne-
glect, most homeowners
have shown some high level
of financial responsibility in
order to qualify to purchase
See myths on 5
October 30 - November 5, 2010 THE FILIPINO PRESS
myths
Continued from p­­­­­age 4
a property in the first place.
Unforeseen events such as
job loss or a catastrophic ac-
cident can cause sudden and
unpredictable financial hav-
oc for homeowners.
In addition, foreclosures
also tend to increase when in-
terest rates are up and prop-
erty values begin to decrease.
When this occurs, homeowners
may find themselves paying
higher monthly mortgage pay-
ments for a property that is no
longer worth what they origi-
nally bought it for.
Myth 3: All foreclosures
are in disrepair
While some foreclosures
can be in less than ideal shape,
many are in great condition.
The myth that all foreclo-
sures are in disrepair seems
to be driven by the other myth
that foreclosures are usually
caused by financial irresponsi-
bility. Many homeowners who
find themselves in a default
situation encounter circum-
stances that are out of their
control. Even so, this usually
does not negatively affect the
condition of the property.
However, if you are not an
expert in buying foreclosure
properties, it is highly recom-
mended that you seek the ad-
vice of a professional who is ex-
perienced with these types of
sales to avoid common pitfalls.
Myth 4: Lenders want to
foreclose on homeowners
The foreclosure process is
costly and time consuming,
and is a last resort for lend-
ers to recover their invest-
lender
Continued from p­­­­­age 4
tion within the Rolling Hills
master-planned communi-
ty, nestled in the San Miguel
Mountains of Chula Vista, Ca-
lif.  The lot size and view pre-
miums will cater to the sec-
ond- and third-time move-up
buyers with flexible floor plans
that range in size from 3,500
to 4,800 square feet.  Verona at
Rolling Hills Ranch will repre-
sent some of the largest homes
ever to be built within the com-
munity. Construction is an-
ticipated to begin in January
with model completion and
viewing in spring 2011.
Faye formed Presidio Res-
idential Capital to meet the
critical need for construction
lending alternatives for home
builders. With the downturn
in the economy and the im-
pact of the financial crisis,
the availability of non-re-
course residential construc-
tion financing is virtually
nonexistent to private build-
ers.  Faye, with a 30-year
track record in real estate and
a particular emphasis on the
capital side of residential real
estate, teamed with a long-
term investment partner to
fill this void.
Presidio’s goal over the next
24 months is to record addi-
tional loan commitments that
exceed $500 million.  Faye be-
lieves that as economic con-
ditions improve, tradition-
al lenders will return to the
construction lending mar-
ment. When a homeowner
defaults on a mortgage agree-
ment, the lender must first
file a public default notice af-
ter which the homeowner is
given a grace period known
as a pre-foreclosure period.
During this time, the home-
owner can pay off the debt or
choose to sell the property.
The minimum timeframe for
a pre-foreclosure period varies
by state and can range from 27
days (Texas) to 290 days (Wis-
consin). Only at the end of the
pre-foreclosure period can the
lender auction the property off
to a third-party buyer or repos-
sess the property and sell it on
the regular market.
“This lack of understanding can foster
foreclosure myths that are dangerous both for
homeowners who want to avoid foreclosure and
buyers interested in purchasing a foreclosure.”
Myth 5: Foreclosures
are often bought for
pennies on the dollar
While it is true that foreclo-
sures are often purchased be-
low market value, one should
be leery of anyone claiming
that one can consistently find
discounts of less than 10 per-
cent of market value.
Myth 6: Foreclosure
buyers usually take advantage
of the homeowner
While homeowners in de-
fault should be wary of unscru-
pulous buyers and investors
who try to take unfair advan-
tage of the situation, most
ket.  Until that occurs, howev-
er, Presidio is available to fill
that liquidity gap for projects
located in the Western United
States and Texas.
Although Presidio Residen-
tial Capital targets for-sale
single-family projects, town-
home projects will be consid-
ered on a case-by-case basis.
Loans with a minimum loan
commitment of $10 million
are being considered and are
based on the project and build-
foreclosure buyers can actual-
ly help an owner to walk away
with something to show for eq-
uity in the property and avoid
a bad mark on his or her credit
history. During the pre-foreclo-
sure period, a potential buyer
may approach the homeowner
in default and arrange to buy
the property before the foreclo-
sure actually takes place.
This pre-foreclosure sale
also benefits buyers, allowing
them to often purchase proper-
ties below full market price.
Myth 7: Foreclosure buying is
only for professional investors
Perhaps at one time this
may have been the case, but
with all of the tools available
to today’s buyers, more people
than ever before have the op-
portunity to purchase foreclo-
sure properties.
Using online resources such
as RealtyTrac's online foreclo-
sure database, potential buyers
can search nationwide for prop-
erties in pre-foreclosure, up for
auction or banked-owned, as
well as find extensive reports
on each property listed.
Buyers can also get fi-
nancing and find real estate
agents familiar with ins and
outs of the foreclosure mar-
ket to help create a smoother
transaction. (realestate.com)
er meeting specific standards,
including the project having a
strong feasibility and a good
product that is located in a
primary or secondary market.
While the loans are made on a
non-recourse basis to the bor-
rower, the borrower must have
the relevant experience and
track record for the product
type and particular market.
For more information on Pre-
sidio Residential Capital, visit
presidioresidentialcapital.com.  www.pardeehomes.com.
5
pardee
Continued from p­­­­­age 4
Get Results
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homes are Consumer Choice
publication that serves the 150,000
and Community of the Year
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the Special Promotion category.
The company earned addition-
al honors for its corporate ad for
all communities and for its Liv-
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“We thank the judges, and
we thank the many new home
shoppers who cast ballots in
this competitive awards pro-
gram,” said Joyce Mason,
vice president of market-
ing for Pardee Homes. “We
also thank our project teams;
their dedication to excel-
lence in creating new homes
and communities can only be
called exceptional.”
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honors superior achievement
in sales, marketing and mer-
chandising excellence and the
Sales & Marketing Councils
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Building Industry Association
of Southern California, Inc.
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tion of home building’s profes-
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all eligible communities. Fi-
nalists and grand winners
will be celebrated October 23
at The Grove in Anaheim.
Pardee Homes is recog-
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new home development. Visit
6 THE FILIPINO PRESS
Performance measures
S
ome people feel conscious
when someone is looking
as they perform. There are
others who love the attention they
get and feel motivated to perform
even more. Which type are you?
In the field of show-business
or entertainment, you have to
be completely all out when you
perform- giving your best in
terms of costume, performance,
attitude and the way you carry
yourself. Especially if you are
being paid for your performance
or you are vying for a title or
competing. You actually have to
sell yourself to the audience and
make yourself believable so they
will say yes to you in terms of
co m m e n ta r y
Red flag for
P-Noy
By Perry Diaz
L
ast October 16, 2010, the
Social Weather Stations
(SWS) published the
results of the its survey on
the performance of President
Benigno “P-Noy” Aquino III’s
“national administration.” The
survey drew mixed reactions.
An OFW’s
tragic journey
E
xcept for his closest
friends and relatives, no
one will ever know for sure
why Marlon Cueva, a 36-year-old
power plant technician returning
after a three-month deployment
in Dubai, hanged himself in the
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STEPHEN CHAN
AURORA S. CUDAL
Danny hernaez
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those of the publisher, management and staff of The Filipino Press.
contract or voting for you to win.
I happen to be an avid fan
of “Dancing With the Stars.” I
relish the sight of the amateur
dancers becoming semi-profes-
sional, almost professional in
terms of their performance, as
time goes by and as they put
in hours and hours of practice,
putting their best foot, face
and performance forward. As
stars and professional danc-
ers perform over time, they
all look like professionals. You
just can't tell the difference.
In a competition, it is impor-
tant to know the performance
measures so that way you can
base your goals and results ac-
However, a large percentage
of the respondents were
dissatisfied with his “national
administration,” specifically
on the issue of “Resolving
the hostage-taking of Senior
Inspector Rolando Mendoza.”
The SWS survey conducted
from September 24-27, 2010,
showed that 41% of the
lavatory of Gulf Air Flight GF
154 last week, just an hour away
from being reunited with his wife
and children.
  Neither shall we know why
he had to go back home just three
months after his deployment as
The
FRANCINE MAIGUE • Valerie Farnal
Community Outreach: Ruby Chiong • Lorna delos Santos
ARMI GUZMAN BRANDI PEREZ/JASON AGUIRRE
Cartoonists
Columnists/Contributors
JUN GUZMAN SOLY PARAISO
GREG B. MACABENTA JESSE T. REYES
JANICE MARTINELLI DOMINGO VARGAS
CORA PASTRANA ALFONSO VILLAMORA
cordingly. No matter how good
you are, if what you are doing is
not considered a priority to the
project or competition on hand, it
loses its essence or does not cre-
ate much of an impact. It's like
making sure you dance to the
beat and rhythm of the music. Or
if you are dancing with a partner
or group, that you pretty much
follow the sequence, motion and
movements of every one to make
sure you are in harmony with the
group or your partner so you can
win the competition together.
In terms of a singing competi-
tion, it is not only important that
we have a good voice but it helps to
have a good selection of song, stage
performance and audience im-
pact. You will realize that is pretty
much a common thread -whether
you are competing in small or big
singing competitions, in semi- or
professional set up. In the end, you
will realize that there will always
be one who will naturally stands
out as he or she applies and satis-
fies the performance measures im-
posed by the judges- and you just
might be one of them.
For comments or sugges-
tions, email me at susands4@
yahoo.com. Visit us at www.fil-
ipinopress.com.
respondents were “dissatisfied”
with the performance of P-Noy’s
“national administration” while
36% were “satisfied” and 21%
were “undecided.”
This survey was actually the
third that SWS conducted during
the same period from September
24-27, 2010.  Makes one wonder
why they were published
piecemeal one week apart.
The previous two surveys are
the following:
The first SWS survey was
about P-Noy’s “satisfaction
rating.” The results were
published on October 5, 2010,
to wit: 71% of the respondents
were “satisfied” with P-Noy’s
performance while 11% were
“not satisfied.”  That places his
a power plant technician, which
surely must have paid a hand-
some income. We won’t speculate
on what transpired between his
deployment on July 5 and his re-
turn flight and death on Oct. 21,
but we can surmise that whatev-
er it was, it placed a very heavy
burden that his heart and mind
could no longer carry.
The tragic journey of Marlon
Cueva is symptomatic of what ails
the Philippines’ practice of send-
ing Filipino workers overseas.
The tragedy that ended his brief
stint as an overseas Filipino work-
er (OFW) was certainly not the
first, nor will it be the last to be-
fall OFWs. There had been many
more tragic incidents involving
OFWs, some publicized and some
not even meriting a single line in
Philippine newspapers nor in gov-
ernment reports, but none could
be worse than the fate of Cueva.
 Why did he decide to end it all
when in just one hour he would
be back in the loving arms of his
family and friends?
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Webmaster:
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“net satisfaction rating” at 60%.
The second SWS survey
conducted during the same
period was published on October
11, 2010. The respondents
were asked: “In your opinion,
how many of the promises of
Pres. Noynoy Aquino can be
fulfilled?” The results were: 9%
said “all or nearly all”; 35% said
“most”; 50% said “a few”; and
4% said “almost none.”
Analysis
While the first survey —
P-Noy’s “satisfaction rating”
— was deemed by SWS a “very
good” start for P-Noy, it doesn’t
look “very good” when compared
to his “trust rating” conducted
from June 25-28, 2010 just before
he took office on June 30, 2010.
“His so far is the saddest of all
the OFWs’ struggles of life and
death, aside from those who have
been victims of abuses," John
Leonard Monterona, Migrante-
Middle East regional coordina-
tor, said in a statement.
Monterona said Cueva's case
is another face of a struggling
OFW, "like many others whose
pure intent is to work to give a
decent living for their children."
He noted that Cueva’s sui-
cide followed an earlier incident
where another returning OFW,
Alma Estrellas, gave birth and
threw the baby in the trash bin of
the lavatory of the same Gulf Air
Flight GF 154 and on the same
aircraft Sept. 12. The baby sur-
vived and latest reports said Es-
trellas, who said she was raped
by her Dubai employer, would
soon be given custody of the child.
“These two cases, aside from
the seven to 10 cases of abuses,
maltreatment, and labor mal-
practices we have been receiving
daily in the Middle East, which
we have been consistently re-
porting to concerned government
agencies and to the public, are
serious concerns that need spe-
cial attention," Monterona said.
In 2008, the Commission on
Filipinos Overseas estimated that
some 9 million Filipinos, or about
10 percent of the Philippine pop-
ulation, work overseas as tempo-
rary workers at any given time.
That year alone, 1.3 million
Filipinos were deployed overseas
October 30 - November 5, 2010
The results of that survey were:
88% of the respondents had
“much trust” in him compared to
only 4% who had “little trust” in
him; thus, giving him a “net trust
rating” of 84%.
Now, if P-Noy’s “satisfaction
rating” is measured against his
“trust rating” when he was still
president-elect, his “positive
rating” dropped by 17% and
his “negative rating” increased
almost three times to 11%;
thus giving him a “net positive
rating” of 60%. That’s a 24%
drop in three months!
Compared with previous
presidents’ “satisfaction ratings”
during their first 100 days in
office, P-Noy’s “satisfaction
rating” is higher than his late
as domestic workers, medical
professionals, construction work-
ers, maritime workers and IT ex-
perts, among others, according
to the Philippine Overseas Em-
ployment Administration. They
were sent to countries across the
world, including those in Europe,
the Middle East, East Asia, Aus-
tralia and North America. An
average of one million Filipinos
leave every year for jobs abroad.
In 2008, $16.4 billion was sent
to the Philippines as remittanc-
es, making up 11.4 percent of the
country’s GDP, according to data
from the Bangko Sentral ng Pili-
pinas and the National Statistics
Office. In 2009, $17 billion were
remitted, and as of end of August
this year, some $12 billion have
already been remitted by over-
seas Filipinos and is expected to
top the $19 billion mark by the
end of the year.
Government records reveal
that most of the money remit-
ted by these workers are spent
by their families for food, home
improvement and the children’s
education, with nothing left as
savings. As a result, OFWs are
“trapped” overseas as their fami-
lies become completely dependent
on these monthly remittances.
It is not uncommon for a Fil-
ipino family to have a father,
mother or a child who have been
working abroad for more than 20
years. Many of them tried stay-
ing in the Philippines for good,
only to discover once again that
mother Cory Aquino’s 53%;
lower than Fidel V. Ramos’
66%; tied with Joseph “Erap”
Estrada; and much higher than
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s 24%. 
However, except for Ramos
whose “satisfaction rating” was
pretty stable during his first two
years in office, the “satisfaction
ratings” of Cory, Estrada, and
Arroyo plunged during their
first year in office.
The question is: Which way
would P-Noy’s “satisfaction
rating” go during his first year in
office? Up or down?
While a majority of the
people would still be confident
that P-Noy is honest and
See diaz on 7
their income there would never
be enough, and so had to go back
to Saudi Arabia or some Middle
East country to work again.
Because the Philippine gov-
ernment, like the OFWs’ fami-
lies, has become dependent on
the remittances of these work-
ers, it tends to overlook the fact
that both the Filipino work-
er abroad and their families in
the homeland are suffering from
this labor phenomenon.
Tens of thousands of Filipi-
no workers, especially those de-
ployed as domestic helpers and
factory workers are exploited, and
physically and sexually abused.
Those that are not abused or ex-
ploited have to overcome loneli-
ness and other problems brought
about by their prolonged separa-
tion from their families.
Similarly, the spouse and chil-
dren left behind are also saddled
with emotional and psychological
issues spawned by the long sepa-
ration. It is not uncommon in the
Philippines to see children grow-
ing up without their father or
mother, or sometimes both.
The overseas Filipino work-
ers program was initiated by
former Labor Secretary Blas F.
Ople in the 1970s as a tempo-
rary remedy to the unemploy-
ment problem. Most countries
transitioning from an agricul-
tural-based economy to an in-
dustrialized one had to deploy
See abelgas on 7
October 30 - November 5, 2010 THE FILIPINO PRESS
Born on Halloween
is a birthday boon
B
oo! This Sunday, October
31st, you will likely see
witches, ghosts, goblins,
skeletons, demons and other evil
characters knocking at your door
and hollering "trick or treat," and
they will expect a treat or you will
be tricked. There will be parties
where kids (and even adults, for
that matter) bob for apples, tell
fortunes, or go through haunt-
ed houses. There will be decora-
tions of jack-o-lanterns, witch-
es on brooms, and black cats. It
is the only day of the year when
we give free food to strangers
and display carved vegetables on
our front porch. When you really
think about it, October 31st is a
very strange day.
Yes, indeed!
Halloween is a favorite fam-
ily celebration - a time for tra-
ditions such as dressing in cos-
tumes, trick-or-treating around
the neighborhood, visiting
haunted houses or theme parks,
watching scary movies, trekking
through pumpkin patches, tak-
Dare to go to jail
“P
hilippines Supreme
Court Threatens
Law Faculty With
Contempt After Allegations of
Judicial Plagiarism.”
Lest I be accused of plagiariz-
ing this headline, I am hurried-
ly and clearly attributing this to
Julian Ku in Opinio Juris, which
I, in turn, found in Google.
So, there.
If I missed any other neces-
sary attribution, let it be known
that it is without malice and,
more likely, caused by a mistake
of my computer (not mine).
So, there.
Ku quotes an appeal issued on
Oct. 22 by Prof. Diane Desierto of
the UP College of Law, a law re-
form specialist, Institute of Inter-
national Legal Studies, Universi-
ty of the Philippines, and a JSD
candidate (2014), LLM (2009),
Yale Law School.
abelgas
Continued from p­­­­­age 6
workers abroad at one time or
another. Taiwan and South Ko-
rea, for example, used to be two of
the biggest exporters of labor. But
with industrialization, their citi-
zens now stay at home and travel
only as tourists or businessmen.
But while China and India, the
two biggest labor exporters, are
slowly transitioning to becoming
two of the strongest economies in
the world, the Philippines, which
is the third biggest labor exporter,
remains poor and unable to pro-
vide jobs to its population.
Unlad Kabayan, a non-prof-
it based in the Philippines, said
“There is a definite cycle of mi-
gration: Filipino workers go
abroad, earn a little, return to
the Philippines, use up the sav-
ings, and then work abroad
again. The challenge is to break
this cycle, and provide an alter-
native to migration.”
Indeed, the government has to
ing hay rides and of course, carv-
ing pumpkins. It has also become
one of the top reasons for Ameri-
cans to throw a party – as a mat-
ter of fact, it's the third largest
party day in the U.S. right be-
hind New Year's Eve and Super
Bowl Sunday. Halloween is also
the biggest holiday of the year
when it comes to candy sales -
estimated at almost $2 billion.
One quarter of all the candy sold
each year is purchased between
September 15 and November 10.
And by some assessment, Hal-
loween is No. 2 in holiday home
decor after Christmas itself.
Halloween in this country is a
colorful festival to say the least,
but the holiday is also an occa-
sion to recognize a special day for
those actually born on Hallow-
een - and which particular cel-
ebration also happens to be the
natal day of my one-and-only
grandson. Yup, born on Hallow-
een... that's my boy... my grand-
son Jacob! Everybody has them
each and every year and it just
Desierto’s note, which, she
stressed, “In NO WAY represents
the views of the Internation-
al Court of Justice or any of its
staff” and was “written in (her)
private capacity, solely as a mem-
ber of the UP Law Faculty, is en-
titled, “An Open Appeal to fellow
International Legal Scholars.”
Desierto’s introduction tells us
that she is mighty worried about
the Sword of Damocles that the
Supreme Court has poised her
head and that of 36 other UP Col-
lege of Law faculty members and,
quite likely, all of the 81 members
of that illustrious faculty.
Wrote Desierto: “Several
hours ago, a majority at the Phil-
ippine Supreme Court issued an
unprecedented contempt order
for the ‘Statement of the Faculty
of the UP College of Law’, nam-
ing 37 out of 81 faculty members
(including five present and for-
start refocusing its priorities to
stop this “culture of migration”
and keep its workers home, so
that they don’t have to suffer the
indignities of working for foreign-
ers and their children don’t have
to grow up without their parents.
But lulled into complacency by
the sweet scent of the dollar, our
leaders would rather keep the
status quo, never mind what ills
it would bring in the future.
During his campaign for the
presidency, candidate Noynoy
Aquino said of his vision on the
issue of the OFWs: “From a gov-
ernment that treats its people
as an export commodity and a
means to earn foreign currency
to a government that creates jobs
at home so that working abroad
will be a choice rather than a ne-
cessity; and when its citizens do
choose to become OFWs, their
welfare and protection will still
be the government’s priority.”
We’ll hold President Aquino to
that promise. (valabelgas@aol.com)
happens that my grandson Jacob
has it on Halloween. Considering
the other alternative, having a
birthday on Halloween is a pret-
ty good thing. So, I say whether
it's your birthday, too, or some-
one else you know or love, enjoy
it and commemorate it. Life's too
short to have it any other way!
I say being born on Halloween
is a great day to have a birthday!
It's the best day of the year for
any kid anyway, but to have it on
a date when everybody's dress-
ing funny, you can go around and
get candy at strangers' houses,
well, that's just the icing on the
birthday cake, so to speak.
Isn't it great to see every-
body, I mean each and every
one, having a grand time on
your birthday? People you don't
even know. And everyone's got
a smile on his or her face, even
when it's hidden behind a mask.
Fortunately, it took a while
before my grandson found out
that the parade they held ev-
ery year on his birthday was
not for him. So my grandson's
birthday always did have cards,
a party, presents, cake, trick-or-
treating, and perhaps, even a
parade ever since. And wasn't
that wonderful that so many
other people took part in it, too.
Folks he didn't even know. That
was the beauty of it, wasn't it?
Luckily, too - some kid of his
age from nowhere did not set
him straight on the cavalcade.
Kids can be cruel, sometimes,
you know. "Hey, kiddo, we were
having this parade before you
moved here, okay? Haven't you
heard of Halloween?"
"Well, yeah, but... Oh."
No matter what... I still say
birthdays are the most impor-
mer deans, a retired justice of
the Supreme Court now back in
the faculty, among other senior
academics and junior faculty
members) whose physical signa-
tures appeared in the statement.  mire them less for having called
Many faculty members  support
this statement, but, as is cus-
tomary, did not need to physi-
cally sign the statement so long
as we signified our support over
e-mail.  For this reason, many
of us understand the contempt
order to eventually extend to
all 81 members of the UP Col-
lege of Law. All our bar licenses,
without which we cannot teach,
work, or practice as lawyers,
are now at stake.”
Isn’t that terrible?
I’m trying to imagine Dr.
Jose Rizal being threatened
by the Spanish authorities
with imprisonment and, worse,
death by musketry for writing
“Noli Mi Tangere” and “El Fil-
ibusterismo” and for exposing
the friars to ridicule.
Would Rizal have issued the
same frantic appeal for support
from the Katipunan and from
his fellow Filipino scholars in
Spain? Would he have expressed
concern that, due to his writ-
ings, his life was at stake?
I don’t think he did. As a mat-
ter of fact, there is an account
about an offer from the Katipu-
nan to spring Rizal from Fort
Santiago before the day of his
execution. But he declined, not
diaz
Continued from p­­­­­age 6
incorruptible — thus
deserving of a high personal
“satisfaction rating” — it
might not hold true with his
“performance rating” which
was manifested poorly in
the second and third surveys
published last October 11
and October 16.
With 41% of the respondents
“dissatisfied” of his performance
and 50% believing that he
can only fulfill “a few” of the
promises he made in his SONA,
that is definitely a big “red flag”
and P-Noy should strive hard
to improve his performance
and program of government.
Indeed, P-Noy needs to
shift from “campaign mode”
to “governance mode.” It’s
time for him to digress from
demagoguery and start laying
the groundwork for the delivery
of his campaign promise,
“Kung walang corrupt, walang
tant holidays of all. And so, I
encourage you all to celebrate
birthdays even if it falls on Hal-
loween. By the way... did you
know the White House will
send your newborn a birthday
card? Just send the following
information: Baby's name, ad-
dress and date of birth to: White
House Greetings Office, Room
39 Washington, D.C. 20500.
Here is another fact: "At least
fifteen million people are having
a birthday today." Yes, even on
Halloween night, itself.
OK, now before we get to it,
I believe you can not talk about
Halloween without discussing its
history - so, shall we?
Halloween is a secular celebra-
tion based on ancient Druid cus-
toms, dating back to 700 B.C. The
Druids, a Celtic religious order
in ancient Britain, Ireland and
France, deemed that the souls
of the dead returned to mingle
with the living on "hallowed eve,"
October 31st. People originally
dressed in costumes to disguise
themselves from these spirits.
Halloween was first celebrat-
ed in the United States in the
1840s, when Irish Catholics,
fleeing from the potato famine,
brought Halloween customs with
them to America. The tradition
of carving pumpkins into jack-
o'-lanterns originated with Irish
children who first carved out the
centers of rutabagas, turnips and
potatoes and placed candles in-
side. So, along with St. Patrick's
Day, we also got Halloween from
the good folks of Ireland.
The first Halloween cards in
the U.S. were produced in 1908.
Hallmark fashioned its first Hal-
loween cards in the 1920s.
Statistics show that more
wanting other people to suffer
the wrath of the colonizers.
Lest I be misunderstood by
Prof. Desierto and her UP col-
leagues, I do not, in any way, ad-
for the resignation of Justice
Justice Mariano del Castillo for
having, allegedly, plagiarized le-
gal luminaries and, worse yet,
distorted their views.
But I would admire them
even more if they were to tell
the Supreme Bullies in the Su-
preme Court to just go ahead
and cite them for contempt and,
subsequently, throw them in jail
for daring to tell the truth. And,
oh yes, strip them of the right to
practice or teach law.
That’s exactly what Jose Rizal
did. He faced his persecutors, did
not ask for mercy, did not retract,
did not explain why he did what
he did, but stood by his convic-
tions and dared the Spanish au-
thorities to do their worst.
They did their worst at Ba-
gumbayan. Which is why we
honor Rizal as a national hero.
Did Ninoy Aquino plead with
the rest of the country to help
him reason with Marcos and his
military, after he had been sen-
tenced to die?  I don’t think he
did. In fact, he refused to digni-
fy the kangaroo court with any
kind of defense.
That left Marcos flatfoot-
ed. While he and the military
made loud noises about putting
mahirap” (No corruption, no
poverty). His first 100 days in
office are over; he should now be
cranking out results.
A lesson from history
During the reign of the late
Chinese leader Mao Zedong,
Mao managed to stay in
power by keeping the “spirit of
revolution” alive.  He reasoned
that as long as China was in a
perpetual state of revolution,
the Chinese people would
make sacrifices in the belief
that once the revolution had
ended, it would usher in an
era of peace and prosperity.
That’s the farthest from the
truth: the revolution ended
when Chiang Kai Shek fled
the mainland in 1949 and the
communists took full control
of the government.  However,
by constantly reminding
the people of revolutionary
“changes,” the people remained
hopeful that things were going
to get better. But nothing
changed much.  The Chinese
than 50 million Americans
(about 90 percent of families
with children up to age 12) par-
ticipate in Halloween. Adults
are joining in the fun as well.
Total Halloween spending is
highest among 25-34 year olds.
The average consumer is ex-
pected to spend more than $40
on costumes, candy, decorations
and greeting cards this year.
Traditionally, Halloween has
always been one of the holidays
that Americans genuinely love.
It's the one day where you can be
anything that you want and no
one will question you for it. It is
the one time where you can tru-
ly be the "princess" or the "foot-
ball pro." Most folks will never
forget what it was like to dress
up and go out with friends that
one night a year and just be what
they wanted. For most of them,
it was great to be "free" for at
least one night. I guess it is also
all part and parcel of growing up
here in good, old U.S. of A.
And unfortunately, too - ev-
ery year there are also some kids
who use Halloween as an ex-
cuse to vandalize public and pri-
vate property. This is absolute-
ly wrong! Halloween is not a
24-hour reprieve from the laws. I
do say let's all respect others no
matter what the day or holiday is!
But I digress... so let's go back
to my original topic... Born on
Halloween?
For those who are actually
born on October 31st, the folk-
lore says that you will have the
ability to read dreams. A catego-
ry Halloween superstition also
says a person born on Hallow-
een can see and talk to spirits... I
guess kind of like the lovely lady/
boutique owner on that hit TV
Ninoy to death, they really didn’t
want to. They were bluffing. And
Ninoy called their bluff.
The day after Ninoy left for
the United States, I happened to
be in Malacañang with my elder
brother, Eddie, my cousin, Yen,
the late Ben Peñaranda and
Paquing Javines, a Leyte poet,
on the invitation of then First
Lady Imelda Marcos. Bongbong
Marcos had been made Herma-
no Mayor of the Tacloban fiesta
and Imelda wanted the affair to
be, well, Imeldific. As Leyteños,
we were asked to help her with
the spectacular.
It was then that she in-
formed us that Ninoy had been
allowed to leave for the U.S.
According to her, Ninoy had a
bad heart and was liable to die
in prison. The Marcoses didn’t
want that to happen.
“Nobody would believe that
we did not cause his death,”
said Imelda. “That’s why we
let him go.”
At any rate, when it became
clear that Marcos was termi-
nal, Ninoy resolved to return to
the Philippines. He had a pre-
monition of death. According to
him, if he was shot in the head,
he was a goner.
But he went home anyway.
Which is why we honor Ninoy
Aquino as a martyr.
The point I’m making is that
the Bullies of the Supreme
Court are exactly that. Hid-
people remained powerless and
poor under Mao’s oppressive
“revolutionary” regime.
When Mao passed away
in 1976, the visionary Deng
Xiaoping became the de-facto
leader. Deng started instituting
drastic and ambitious economic
reforms. His instituted
“revisionist” policies – anathema
to Communist dogma — that
eventually freed China from the
yoke of poverty. Today, after three
decades of industrialization
and blending capitalism with
its socialist economic system,
China is now the second biggest
economy in the world, after the
United States.
I am not espousing that P-Noy
should embrace the Chinese
brand of social-capitalism.
However, he should break
away from a feudalistic – and
anachronistic — agricultural
system and push the country on
the road to industrialization. In
my opinion, industrialization
is the only way to bring about
7
show - the "Ghost Whisperer." "I
see dead people," remember that
other famous movie quote? OK,
I'm not quite eager to embrace
that last one, myself.
Trivia is anything but. (Trivi-
al, that is.) So, you ask how about
famous people born on Hallow-
een? CBS Evening News anchor
Dan Rather (1931) was born on
Halloween, as was Today news-
caster Jane Pauley (1950). Well...
there's also Frank Shorter (1947)
who won an Olympic gold medal
for marathon running and Bar-
bara Geddes (1922) who played
Miss Ellie on the television pro-
gram “Dallas”. President of Na-
tionalist China Chiang Kai-shek
(1887) and English romantic poet
John Keats (1795) are in the same
league. Filipino-American Holly-
wood actor Rob Schneider (1963)
is a Halloween baby, too. October
31 birthdays in history is truly a
gallery of famous folks. My grand-
son is certainly in good company.
Well... I just about covered
everything else for this Hal-
loween weekend's edition. So -
Halloween or not, let's just cel-
ebrate! Come on.
Happy Birthday, Jacob! We
love you.
Hope your birthday is loaded
with fun and surprises - a real
scream at seven!
But what is it that we mean
when we conjure up being born
on Halloween? I say it's prob-
ably not what you think. I be-
lieve the scariest part of having
a Halloween birthday really is
that you become a year older!
And that is all there is to it.
Enjoy your day, Jacob.
And to all, have a Happy
Halloween.
Boo!
ing behind what they consider
the cloak of infallibility and in-
vincibility, they have taken of-
fense at the truth being flung
at them by the entire faculty of
the UP College of Law.
And not just the UP profes-
sors. The law scholars that Del
Castillo plagiarized have also
flung the truth at the Supreme
Bullies. But the Bullies are not
threatening the scholars. They
wouldn’t dare. They’re threaten-
ing the UP professors in the be-
lief that these academics will
wither under their judicial stare.
As I said, earlier, the profes-
sors should dare the Supreme
Bullies to throw them in jail. As a
matter of fact, everyone who sym-
pathizes with them and thinks
that Del Castillo is a plagiarist
and the members of the Supreme
Court are Bullies should also vol-
unteer to go to jail with them.
I would.
Let’s see if there are enough
jail cells to accommodate an
irate nation.
I don’t know the law enough.
But maybe, at that point,
Noynoy Aquino, who has no
love lost for the Arroyo-appoint-
ed members of the Supreme
Court, can simply grant a par-
don to everyone and expose the
Supreme Bullies as toothless.
Noynoy’s father would be
mighty proud of him if he
were to do that. (gregmaca-
benta@hotmail.com)
real and meaningful economic
progress in the Philippines.
Political will
But first things first. P-Noy
has to have the political will
to implement the changes he
promised the people.  He needs
to go beyond the “wang-wang”
politics that awed the people
during his inauguration. He
needs to demonstrate leadership
skills and do away with “hotdog-
eating” gimmickry. While
it might endear him to the
“common tao” in the short run,
the real challenge for him is to
assert his primacy as the nation’s
leader and impose his supremacy
when dealing with recalcitrant
and troublesome subordinates.
He can be caring yet resolute.
He can be fair yet astute.  He
can be a benevolent yet stern
disciplinarian. And he can be
loved by the people yet feared
by his enemies. These traits
are the mark of a true leader.
That’s the P-Noy we’d like to see.
(PerryDiaz@gmail.com)
8 THE FILIPINO PRESS
Alzheimer’s
and its
impact on
women
By Kathleen Doheny
It's been a year since Maria
Shriver, California's first lady
and perhaps its best-known
women's advocate, released The
Shriver Report: A Woman's Na-
tion Changes Everything. The
landmark study examined how
Americans live and work now
that mothers are the primary
or co-breadwinners in nearly
two-thirds of U.S. families, and
the far-reaching effects of these
shifting roles.
The sequel is finally here:
The Shriver Report: A Woman's
Nation Takes on Alzheimer's. It
focuses on the impact of the Al-
zheimer's epidemic, talks about
cutting-edge research, includes
personal essays by celebrities,
patients, and caregivers, and re-
veals the results of a large-scale
poll on Alzheimer's.
The puzzling, frustrating
brain disorder now affects 5.3
million Americans and may af-
fect 16 million by 2050. Sixty-
five percent of those with Al-
zheimer's are women, and
women are also more likely
than men to be caregivers for
someone with the disease.
“'This is a nationwide epi-
demic, and women are at the
See alzheimer's on 9
By Elain Magee
C
hips, cookies, ice cream,
candy bars, crackers,
and microwave pop-
corn are some of America’s
most popular snack foods. But
they're often packed with fats
and carbs, with little nutri-
tional value.
What are your options if
you are looking for a smart
low-carb snack?  stick and repeat with the re-
You could choose foods that
are higher in fiber and/or im-
portant nutrients, feature car-
bohydrates with lower glyce-
mic indexes, are balanced with
some protein, and contain some
of the more heart-healthy fats.
That’s exactly what the fol-
lowing 10 low-carb snacks are
all about.
1. Turkey and cheese roll-ups
Cut one part-skim moz-
zarella cheese stick in half
lengthwise. Roll about 1
ounce of sliced roasted tur-
key breast around half of a
part skim mozzarella cheese
maining cheese and turkey to
make a total of two roll-ups.
Each serving contains: 3.5
grams carbohydrate, 0.3 gram
fiber, 144 calories, 17 grams
10 best
low-carb
snacks
protein, 6.6 grams fat, 3.8
grams saturated fat
2. Side salad topped with a
hard-boiled egg or avocado
Top a typical side salad
with a hard-boiled egg or 1/4
chopped avocado, drizzle with a
teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil
and 1-2 teaspoons of balsamic
vinegar or 1 tablespoon of bal-
samic vinaigrette.
Each serving (with egg) con-
tains: 3 grams carbohydrate,
1 gram fiber, 146 calories, 11
grams protein, 10 grams fat, 3
grams saturated fat
Each serving (with avoca-
do) contains: 6 grams carbohy-
October 30 - November 5, 2010
drate, 4.4 grams fiber, 120 cal-
ories, 4 grams protein, 9 grams
fat, 2 grams saturated fat
3. Large artichoke
Cut artichoke in half (from
the stem to the tip) and cut out
the inedible thistle part of the
center of the artichoke. Place
in microwave-safe, covered
container with 1/2 cup water
and cook on high until tender
throughout (about 6 minutes
for one artichoke or 10 minutes
for two). Enjoy with lemon juice
or 2 teaspoons of canola oil or
olive oil mayonnaise.
See snacks on 9
New CPR
guidelines:
Chest first
New guidelines released
today by the American Heart
Association recommend that
the three steps of cardiopul-
monary resuscitation (CPR)
be rearranged.
The new first step is doing
chest compressions instead
of first establishing the air-
way and then doing mouth to
mouth. The new guidelines
apply to adults, children, and
infants but exclude newborns.
The old way was A-B-C
-- for airway, breathing and
compressions.
The new way is C-A-B --
for compressions, airway,
and breathing.
"By starting with chest
compressions, that's easy to
remember, and for many vic-
tims that alone will be life-
saving," said Michael R.
Sayre, MD, chair of the emer-
gency cardiovascular care
committee for the American
Heart Association and co-au-
thor of the executive summa-
ry of the 2010 AHA guide-
lines for CPR and emergency
cardiovascular care.
The old approach, he
said, was causing delays in
chest compressions, which
are crucial for keeping the
blood circulating.
The new guidelines may
inspire more people to per-
form CPR, said Sayre, an
associate professor of emer-
gency medicine at Ohio
State University, Colum-
bus. "Mouth to mouth is
hard if you're not trained,"
he said. ''Anybody can do
chest compressions, wheth-
er they have had a class or
not. Good chest compres-
sions really help save lives.
In many cases, there is a re-
serve of oxygen left in the
patient's blood and lungs,
from the last breath, and
we can take advantage of
that oxygen reserve and
just do chest compressions."
How to do the new CPR
Here is a step-by-step
guide for the new CPR:
1. Call 911 or ask someone
else to do so.
2. Try to get the person to
respond; if he doesn't, roll
the person on his or her back.
3. Start chest compres-
sions. Place the heel of your
hand on the center of the vic-
tim's chest. Put your other
hand on top of the first with
your fingers interlaced.
See cpr on 9
October 30 - November 5, 2010 THE FILIPINO PRESS
Tylenol recalled... again
By Daniel J. DeNoon
Johnson & Johnson has re-
called a Tylenol product be-
cause of a musty odor, the sixth
in a string of product recall an-
nouncements dating back to
November 2009.
The odor is thought to be
caused by a chemical -- 2,4,6-tri-
bromoanisole or TBA -- leached
into product packaging by
wooden storage palettes. TBA is
a pesticide and flame retardant.
"The risk of adverse medical
events is remote," states a news
release by J&J's McNeil Con-
sumer Healthcare division.
The recalled product is Ty-
Baking soda boosts
athletic performance
By Bill Hendrick
A dose of baking soda may
add a little fizz to the perfor-
mance of tennis players, a new
study says.
Scientists at the Nation-
al Taiwan College of Physical
Education conducted a small
study to test whether a tiny
amount of sodium bicarbon-
ate -- more commonly known
as baking soda -- helped tennis
players do more than just take
the smell out of their shoes.
It seemed to help perfor-
mance, researchers say in the
study, published in the Journal
of the International Society of
cpr
Continued from p­­­­­age 8
4. Press down so you com-
press the chest at least 2 inch-
es in adults and children and
1.5 inches in infants. ''One hun-
dred times a minute or even a
little faster is optimal," Sayre
said. (That's about the same
rhythm as the beat of the Bee
Gee's song "Stayin' Alive.")
5.  If you're been trained
in CPR, you can now open
lenol 8 Hour Caplet 50 Count.
The recalled product carries
these codes:
• Lot number BCM155
• NDC Code 50580-297-50
• UPC # 3 0045-0297-51 8
People who bought this prod-
uct should stop using it and con-
tact McNeil Consumer Health-
care for a refund or product
coupon. Adverse events related
to the product should be report-
ed to the FDA's Medwatch Ad-
verse Event Reporting Program
at 800-FDA-0178.
Last January, the FDA is-
sued a warning letter to Mc-
Neil, complaining that the
firm violated Good Manufac-
Sports Nutrition.
“We found that sodium bi-
carbonate supplementation can
prevent the fatigue-induced
decline in skilled tennis per-
formance seen during match-
es,” Chen-Kang Chang, head of
the Taiwanese research team,
said. “The service and forehand
ground stroke consistency was
maintained” after a simulated
match in a trial in which sodi-
um bicarbonate was used.
The study involved nine
players, randomly assigned to
receive a drink containing bak-
ing soda or a placebo drink be-
fore a simulated tennis match.
Their tennis skills were
the airway with a head tilt
and chin lift.
6. Pinch closed the nose
of the victim. Take a nor-
mal breath, cover the vic-
tim's mouth with yours to
create an airtight seal, and
then give two, one-second
breaths as you watch for the
chest to rise.
7. Continue compressions
and breaths -- 30 compres-
sions, two breaths -- until
help arrives. (webmd.com)
turing Practices by failing to
fully investigate consumer
complaints of a musty odor in
its products. The FDA said the
company began receiving com-
plaints in 2008.
Last July, J&J/McNeil re-
called 21 lots of products be-
cause of the musty odor linked
to TBA. The July recall includ-
ed children's Tylenol, Motrin
brand ibuprofen, and Benadryl
allergy tablets.
Previous recalls of McNeil
products because of the musty
odor were issued in November
and December 2009, and in
January, June, and July 2010.
(webmd.com)
tested when they faced off
with a ball-serving machine
that hurled balls at them.
Their heart rates were moni-
tored, and so was the accuracy
of their shots.
All factors considered, in-
cluding results from blood
tests, suggest that sodium bi-
carbonate seems to fight fa-
tigue, the researchers say, thus
increasing accuracy and veloc-
ity of certain tennis shots.
Chang said future research
is needed to find out more
about possible benefits of sodi-
um bicarbonate on fatigue and
performance in vigorous activ-
ities. (webmd.com)
alzheimer's
Continued from p­­­­­age 8
epicenter of it,” said Shriver,
who was an executive produc-
er for The Alzheimer's Project
documentaries that aired last
year on HBO.
According to the poll,
which gathered information
from 3,118 adults nationwide,
including more than 500 Al-
zheimer caregivers:
• 60% of Alzheimer's care-
givers are women.
• Of those women, 68%
report they have emotional
stress from caregiving.
• Nearly half of these 68%
rate their stress as a ''5'' on a
scale of "1" to "5."
• 57% of all caregivers, in-
cluding 2/3 of the women, admit
they fear getting Alzheimer's.
• 4 in 10 caregivers say
they had no choice about their
new role.
For Shriver, 54, fighting the
epidemic is intensely person-
al. Her father, politician Sar-
gent Shriver, the first leader
of the Peace Corps who was
also active in his late wife Eu-
nice Kennedy Shriver's Spe-
cial Olympics, was diagnosed
with Alzheimer’s in 2003. He
is now 94. (webmd.com)
snacks
Continued from p­­­­­age 8
Each serving (with lemon
juice) contains: 17 grams car-
bohydrate, 9 grams fiber, 76
calories, 5.5 grams protein,
.2 gram fat, .01 gram satu-
rated fat
Each serving (with may-
onnaise) contains: 17 grams
carbohydrate, 9 grams fiber,
106 calories, 5.5 grams pro-
tein, 3 grams fat, 0.1 gram
saturated fat
4. Avocado and
shrimp cocktail
Toss 2 ounces of cooked
thawed shrimp with 1/4 av-
ocado (chopped) and a table-
spoon of cocktail sauce.
Each serving contains:
8.5 grams carbohydrate, 3.4
grams fiber, 161 calories, 13
grams protein, 7.6 grams fat,
1.2 grams saturated fat
5. Typical fast-food Caesar
salad with grilled chicken
(no dressing)
Each serving contains: 12
grams carbohydrate, 3 grams
fiber, 220 calories, 30 grams
protein, 6 grams fat, 3 grams
saturated fat
6. Peanut butter
and celery sticks
Serve 3 celery stalks with
2 tablespoons of natural pea-
nut butter.
Each serving contains:
8.5 grams carbohydrate, 3
grams fiber, 208 calories, 7
grams protein, 16 grams fat,
2 grams saturated fat
7. A handful of nuts
A handful, depending on
the size of the hand, can be
the ideal snack portion: a
quarter cup. You can keep
roasted, unsalted mixed nuts
on hand or choose any varia-
tion of nuts.
9
Each serving (1/4 cup roasted
almonds) contains: 6.7 grams
carbohydrate, 4 grams fiber,
205 calories, 9.5 grams protein,
18 grams fat, 1.4 grams satu-
rated fat
8. Edamame bowl
A super-convenient way to
enjoy high protein soybeans as
a snack is to put 3/4 cup of fro-
zen, shelled edamame into a
microwave-safe bowl and mi-
cro-cook them for a few minutes
or until nice and hot. Sprinkle
with pepper and 1/2 teaspoon
extra virgin olive oil, if desired.
Each serving contains: 8
grams carbohydrate, 4.3 grams
fiber, 97 calories, 9 grams pro-
tein, 4 grams fat, 0 grams sat-
urated fat
9. Carrot sticks and hummus
Cut one large carrot into
sticks or coins and serve with
1/4-cup hummus.
Each serving contains: 15.8
grams carbohydrate, 5.8 grams
fiber, 133 calories, 6 grams pro-
tein, 6 grams fat, 0.9 grams
saturated fat
10. Soy latte (iced or hot)
Blend a cup of light soy milk
with a shot or two (1/8 to 1/4 cup)
of espresso or triple-strength
coffee (decaf if you're sensitive
to caffeine). Serve over or blend
with 3/4 cup crushed ice for an
iced soy latte.
Each serving contains: 8.5
grams carbohydrate, 1 gram fi-
ber, 73 calories, 6 grams pro-
tein, 1.9 grams fat, 0 gram sat-
urated fat. (webmd.com)
10 THE FILIPINO PRESS
AURORA SORIANO-CUDAL
My Personal
Testimony
Getting rid
of religious
intolerance
W
hen I was growing
up, I used to pass
by a small, colorful
church every time my par-
ents took me along to visit
our farm in Paitan, a barrio
in my hometown of San Car-
los, (now a city), Pangasinan.
Many of our tenants are mem-
bers of the Iglesia Ni Cristo
(Church of Christ). I did not
ask nor did they share their
beliefs with me. But I found
them to be humble, patient
and kind. There never was a
problem in their relationship
with my family or with the
community at large.
My father, the late Judge
Lauro P. Soriano, was one of
the first converts to Method-
ism, the only one from a large
clan of devout Roman Catho-
lics. To him, religion was a way
of life not a topic for discus-
Chapel of Roses
Nature Garden
sion. He respected the beliefs
of others while he tenacious-
ly lived by the tenets of his
Christian faith. The relation-
ship between my father and
his tenants was very warm.
There was mutual respect and
regard for each other’s rights
and responsibilities.
In a community of predom-
inantly Roman Catholics,
the Iglesias and the Protes-
tants are considered by big-
ots in the community as Sa-
tan’s children since they
don’t pray the rosary, they
don’t pray to the saints and
they have no icons of saints
in their churches. Their re-
ligious practices are differ-
ent and there is not much
symbolism in our sanctu-
ary, except for a small cross,
a bible and fresh flowers to
adorn the altar.
Glen Abbey Memorial
Park & Mortuary
619-498-4600
The Iglesias and the Prot-
estants went their separate
ways in winning members,
but I personally did not
bother to learn their faith or
values. Even at my late age,
I do not really know the te-
nets of the Iglesia Ni Cris-
to. I just know that they are
a force to be reckoned with,
especially during elections
in the Philippines. They are
the most powerful voting
bloc in the country.
It was only recently here
in San Diego when I was first
invited to attend a mission
gathering of the Iglesia ni
Cristo by my friends Rema-
rie and Ronald Dinogan, new
arrivals from the Midwest. I
was hesitant to accept the in-
vitation fearing that I might
stick out as a sore thumb in
a group of well-behaved, dis-
ciplined tithers. I had the no-
tion they were an exclusive
group whose belief system is
totally different from mine.
But Remarie and Ronald
are so friendly and sincere
in their ways, I relented and
entered for the first time in
my life an Iglesia Ni Cris-
to church in National City.
Then, last Friday evening
(Oct. 22), my friends again
invited me to attend their
Grand Evangelical Mission at
the Scottish Rite Event Cen-
ter. It was a huge gathering
of more than 600 people from
five local congregations — El
Cajon, National City. Chu-
la Vista, Mira Mesa and Vis-
ta. The choir was impressive.
The hymns were inspiring.
See cudal on 18
DANNY HERNAEZ
From Whom All
Blessings Flow
God and
authority
“P
ut these staffs in
the Tabernacle in
front of the Ark of
the Covenant, where I meet
with you. Buds will sprout on
the staff belonging to the man
I choose. Then I will finally
put an end to this murmuring
and complaining against you.”
(Numbers 17:4-5)
We love to grumble about
the government, but there is
one thing worse than govern-
ment - having no government
at all. A state of anarchy has
existed from time to time in
many countries where law and
order collapsed and fear, vio-
lence, carnage, and destruction
took over. Although we may not
like those in authority, we need
them to keep the peace.
There came a time in Isra-
el’s history when there was such
a breakdown in law and or-
der that “the people did what-
ever seemed right in their own
eyes” (Judges 21:25). Those who
resented being told what they
October 30 - November 5, 2010
could or could not do no doubt
enjoyed the freedom to live with-
out restrictions and enthusiasti-
cally indulge themselves in un-
restrained living. This was not a
new state of affairs. The Israel-
ites had, throughout their histo-
ry, shown a marked preference
for the freedom to do what they
wanted and a definite distaste
for authority in any form.
Even in the early days, af-
ter their remarkable deliver-
ance from slavery of Egypt,
when one would have thought
they would be ecstatic about di-
vine leadership and direction,
they showed a constitution-
al aversion to God’s leadership
through Moses and Aaron.
The issue was of such mag-
nitude to God that he ex-
plained to Moses how to put
an end to their complaints
against me and prevent any
further deaths, It is important
to note that the people’s com-
plaints against Moses and Aar-
on were, in God’s view, com-
plaints against him. Moses and
Aaron were not self-appointed
or democratically elected; they
were divinely ordained. So to
question them was to ques-
tion God, and to rebel against
them was to rebel against the
Holy One of Israel. The Isra-
elites were reluctant to accept
God’s authority through Mo-
ses and Aaron, so God deter-
mined that a showdown was
necessary. He instructed Mo-
ses to collect “wooden staffs,
one from each of Israel’s ances-
tral tribes” (17:2). These staffs
represented the leader of each
tribe. Then Moses stored them
in the tabernacle, per the Lord’s
instructions. On returning the
next morning, the staff belong-
ing to Aaron and the tribe of
Levi “had sprouted, blossomed,
and produced almonds!” (17:8)
Of all the leaders of Israel, when
it came down to the priesthood,
Aaron was God’s man - the main
man. It wasn’t that Aaron’s rod
was special. Aaron was spe-
cial because God had appoint-
ed him and the miraculous rod
was God’s way of showing it to
the people beyond doubt.
In our times, we still re-
sent authority and much pre-
fer the absence of restrictions.
We fondly imagine that this
leads to freedom and fullness of
life. Granted, authority can be
abused, and oppression can re-
sult. But rightly understood and
appropriately applied, authority
is divinely delegated for man’s
good. Man may not like it - but
God insists on it. We may think
that doing what seems right in
our own eyes is the way to go.
Sadly, we don’t see it is the way
to go downhill - rapidly!
October 30 - November 5, 2010 THE FILIPINO PRESS 11

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12 THE FILIPINO PRESS
Palomar College opens
Veterans’ Support Center
P
(L-R) Palomar College’s Governing Board Trustees Dr. Rose Marie Dishman
and Mark Evilsizer, Governing Board President Dr. Michele Nelson, and
Palomar College Superintendent/President Robert P. Deegan.
Secretary Napolitano visits San Diego
SAN DIEGO, Calif. – De-
partment of Homeland Secu-
rity (DHS) Secretary Janet
Napolitano recently visited
San Diego to meet with feder-
al, state and local law enforce-
ment leaders, visit National
Guard troops helping to secure
the Southwest border and high-
light the ongoing efforts of U.S.
Customs and Border Protec-
tion (CBP) and U.S. Immigra-
tion and Customs Enforcement
(ICE) to bolster border security
while expediting the flow of le-
gal travel and trade.
“We have devoted unprece-
dented amounts of manpower,
infrastructure and technology
to the Southwest border under
this administration,” said Sec-
retary Napolitano. “Over the
past two years, our seizures
Photo: Melinda Finn
of illegal drugs, currency and
weapons have increased signif-
icantly—helping to make the
Southwest border more secure
than ever before.”  several results of the Obama ad-
While in San Diego, Secre-
tary Napolitano visited Nation-
al Guard troops stationed at the
Imperial Beach Border Patrol
Station who are providing di-
rect support to federal law en-
forcement personnel in high-
risk areas to disrupt criminal
organizations seeking to smug-
gle people and goods illegally
across the Southwest border. In
May, President Obama autho-
rized the deployment of an ad-
ditional 1,200 National Guard
troops along the Southwest bor-
der as part of the administra-
tion’s unprecedented efforts to
crack down on transnational
alomar College, which
has one of the largest
numbers of enrolled vet-
erans of any higher education-
al institution in California, cel-
ebrated the opening of a new
Veterans' Support Center on
the College’s San Marcos cam-
pus on Friday, Oct. 22.
The event included speak-
ers, a ribbon-cutting ceremony
and refreshments. The Center,
located in the Student Union
complex (room SU 22), hous-
es a veteran student lounge
smuggling and cartel violence.
She also joined CBP Commis-
sioner Alan Bersin at the San
Ysidro Port of Entry to highlight
ministration’s deployment of un-
precedented levels of personnel,
technology, and resources to the
Southwest border.   ly 463,000 in fiscal year 2010—
In fiscal years 2009 and
2010, CBP seized more than
$104 million in southbound il-
legal currency—an increase
of approximately $28 million
compared to 2007-2008. CBP
and ICE also seized more than
$282 million in illegal curren-
cy, more than 7 million pounds
of drugs, and more than 6,800
weapons in fiscal years 2009
and 2010 along the southwest
border—increases of more than
$73 million, more than 1 mil-
where students can gather,
study and relax, as well as an
office for personalized services.
“I am very proud of this Cen-
ter and what it means for our
veteran students, who repre-
sent a large and important seg-
ment of our student popula-
tion, “stated Robert P. Deegan,
Palomar College Superinten-
dent/President. “This Center
opening is a long-time coming
and we are excited to provide
this much-needed space for our
veteran students to better ac-
cess specialized services and to
just have a designated place to
meet on campus.”
For more information on
Palomar College Veterans Stu-
dent Services, visit the Palo-
mar College website at http://
www.palomar.edu/veterans/.
lion pounds of drugs and more
than 1,500 weapons compared
to 2007-2008.
Secretary Napolitano also
highlighted the 36 percent de-
crease in Border Patrol appre-
hensions from nearly 724,000 in
fiscal year 2008 to approximate-
indicating that fewer people are
attempting to cross the border.
She also met with federal,
state and local law enforce-
ment leaders at the San Di-
ego Maritime Unified Com-
mand, a unified federal, state
and local maritime law en-
forcement operation in the
San Diego and Orange Coun-
ty maritime region, to discuss
the integral role of the Uni-
fied Command in securing our
ports and maritime borders. 
SDJT presents
Roald Dahl's
Willy Wonka
SAN DIEGO, Calif. – San
Diego Junior Theatre kicks
off their 63rd season in Bal-
boa Park with Roald Dahl’s
Willy Wonka. In this fun-
filled, world-premiere stage
musical based on Roald
Dahl's beloved children's
novel, a sweet-natured boy
named Charlie and four other
winners get the tour of a life-
time in a mysterious candy-
maker's fantastical factory.
Featuring many mem-
orable songs - including
"The Candy Man," "I Want
It Now!", and "Pure Imagi-
nation" - Roald Dahl's Wil-
ly Wonka is a scrumptious
musical theater treat for
the entire family. Alumnus
Matthew Novotny is the
lighting designer and the
show features an ensem-
ble cast of 54 students.
Directed by SDJT's Artistic
Director, Desha Crownover,
Roald Dahl’s Willy Won-
ka runs through Sunday,
Nov. 14 at the Casa del Pra-
do Theatre in Balboa Park.
Performances are at 7:00
p.m. on Fridays, and at 2:00
p.m. on Saturdays and Sun-
days. Tickets are $8 - $14.
For ticket purchase and
information, call (619) 239-
8355 or visit Juniortheatre.
com. This production is rec-
ommended for all ages.
SDJT embarked on its
63rd season with nine pro-
ductions at their sites in
Balboa Park and La Jolla. A
private, non-profit organiza-
tion, Junior Theatre is dedi-
cated to providing all youth,
ages 3 – 18, an opportunity
to experience theatre arts
through innovative classes,
camps, performances and
outreach programs. Contri-
butions to San Diego Junior
Theatre are tax-deductible.
October 30 - November 5, 2010
GET LISTED: To have your event listed in Save the Date, e-mail your
information (include date, time, location, cost, and phone) to filpress@
aol.com. Keep in mind we publish on Saturdays, so ensure your event
happens on the day of publication or during the following week.
November 3
Celebrate Filipino Pride with 2009 CNN Hero,
Efren Penaflorida
Dinner Musicale featuring Bernardo Bernardo, singer, actor, comedian
extraordinaire to be held on Wednesday, Nov. 3 from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00
p.m. at Jasmine Seafood Restaurant, 4609 Convoy Street, San Diego,
CA 92111. There will also be a fundraiser for Children's Education Pro-
gram. Donation is $35 per person. Call (619) 755-3930 for reservation.
November 6
Early San Diego Regional History Conference
The Early San Diego Regional History Conference will take place
on Saturday, November 6 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at Old Town
Cultural and Historical Program Campus, 3939 Conde Street, San
Diego. CA 92110.
The event is brought to you by the Early San Diego Regional History
Collaborative, the SDUSD Old Town Program, and local historical parks.
Come discover San Diego’s lost history & local gems. This year’s
conference theme is El Pueblo Perdido: The Lost Heritage of Early
San Diego, Focusing on 1769-1848 and beyond.
For more information call Angela at (619) 423-7248 or email Karla at
kshiminski@sandi.net.
November 7
9th Annual Interfaith Candlelight Vigil
The 9th Annual Interfaith Candle Vigil will take place on Sunday, No-
vember 7, with the procession starting at San Diego Rescue Mission
(120 Elm Street, San Diego, 92101).
A procession to the vigil will depart from the San Diego Rescue Mission
at 3:15 p.m. and walk approximately a mile stopping at four points in
the procession to the County Building. Each person in the procession
will carry a pair of shoes which represents homeless individuals who
died in the last year. The candlelight vigil program at the County Build-
ing begins at 4:00 p.m. The interfaith event is designed to create aware-
ness for the 10,000 men, women and children living each day homeless
in San Diego that should not have to die on the streets.
November 9
Hire a Hero Hire a Veteran Career and Resource Fair
The Hire a Hero Hire a Veteran Career and Resource Fair will take place
on November 9, 2010 at the Double Tree Hotel located at 7450 Hazard
Center Drive, San Diego 92108.
Our returning Veterans are facing a 20% unemployment rate far greater
than the national norm.
The hotel offers free parking and the event is open to the public. For
more information, visit http://www.sdvec.org.
November 14
Celebration of 125th Anniversary of the First
United Methodist Church of National City
Worship Service at 10:00 a.m. with Pastor J.T. Kim and featuring a
special message from Bishop Mary Ann Swenson. A luncheon and
entertainment program will follow after the worship service.
November 14
Miracle Babies 5k Walk/Run
The second annual Miracle Babies 5K Family Walk/Run will take place
10:00 a.m. on Sunday, November 14, 2010 at Mariner’s Point in Mis-
sion Bay Park. After the walk, participants and spectators will enjoy live
music, kids’ activities, food, drinks and more! Strollers are welcomed and
encouraged. Participants may register through www.active.com or on
location the day of the event. 
Join with Miracle Babies, an organization that aims to lift the financial
burdens of families, so families can focus on one thing – the health of their
newborn. For more information, please visit www.miraclebabies.org.
November 15
FACC round table trade conference
On Monday, November 15, the FACC will hold a round table trade confer-
ence with numerous Philippine business owners, in conjunction with the
Philippine Trade Representative and the Consul General.
The conference will be held at the DoubleTree Hotel Mission Valley from
3:30 p.m. – 7:30 pm.
November 15
Expanding Trade & Investment Opportunities
with the Philippines
Co-organized with the Philippine Consulate General, Los Angeles, the
Philippine Trade & Investment Center, and a group of community leaders,
the event will give members an opportunity to explore opportunities to
do business with other Philippine business owners, here and overseas!
There will be executives and business owners visiting from the Philippines,
speaking at the event, including representatives from: AgriNurture, Inc.,
Prople, Philippine Franchise Association (PFA), Max’s Restaurant, ATHAG,
and DAILA Herbal enterprises Community, Inc.
Guests of honor will include Hon. Mary Jo Bernardo-Aragon, Consulate
General of the Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles, Mr. Archime-
ndes C. Gomez, Philippine Trade Representative, and Mr. Matt Anderson,
Director, Foreign Commercial Service, U.S. Department of Commerce.
The event will take place on Monday, November 15 from 4:00 to 7:30
p.m. at the Doubletree Hotel, 7450 Hazard Center Drive, San Diego,
CA 92108. The cost is $25.00 for members and $35.00 for non-mem-
bers (appetizers includes). Please RSVP by November 10. For more
information, please contact Audie de Castro (619) 702-8690 or Cath-
erine Soriano (619) 793-7443 (sorsi.soriano@gmail.com).
November 21
Alternative Christmas Market
Simple, yet powerful gifts that change the world await shoppers at the
Solana Beach Presbyterian Church Alternative Christmas Market. Buy school
books for Ethiopia, an acre of rain forest in Peru or help feed homeless fami-
lies in San Diego. Shoppers can also choose from an extensive array of crafts
from around the world. Hours are 8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. and 5:45 p.m. – 6:45
p.m. on Sunday, November 21 at 120 Stevens Ave., Solana Beach. (858-509-
2580). Shop online at www.alternativechristmasmarket.org.
October 30 - November 5, 2010 THE FILIPINO PRESS
Chula Vista budget reduction
cuts deep into youth and
seniors recreation program
By Aurora S. Cudal
Filipino Press Contributing Writer
CHULA VISTA, Calif. –
Proposed budget cuts for Ch-
ula Vista’s Recreation De-
partment for fiscal year 2011
reflect the elimination of pro-
grams for youth and seniors.
With a proposed budget re-
duction of almost $4.6 million,
there would be a 34 percent
decrease in overall expendi-
tures, a 22 percent decrease
in the full-time workforce and
a 40 percent decrease in the
part-time workforce.  petition with more than 500 sig-
Pacquiao, Margarito WBC
Title fight live at Pala Casino
PALA, Calif. – Southern
California boxing fans can view
the Manny Pacquiao versus
Antonio Margarito 12-round
title fight for the vacant WBC
light middleweight champion-
ship live starting at 6:00 p.m.,
Saturday, Nov. 13, at Pala Ca-
sino Spa & Resort.
Pacquiao (51-3-2), ranked
the world's number one pound-
for-pound fighter, will meet
Margarito (38-6-0), the "Ti-
juana Tornado," at Dallas Sta-
dium in Arlington, TX. Three
undercard bouts, including the
WBA Junior Featherweight
Championship title fight be-
tween Guillermo Rigondeaux
and Ricardo Cardoba, also will
be shown in the live telecast.
Among those programs slat-
ed to be eliminated are the Chu-
la Vista Community Youth Cen-
ter, the Holiday Festival, Life
Options, Spring and Fall Recre-
ational Swimming hours and In-
formation and Referral Services.  the center’s closure.
Seniors, especially those us-
ing the Norman Park Senior
Center at F Street, are working
with City Manager Jim Sando-
val and City Councilman Rudy
Ramirez to seek alternatives to
keep the senior center open.
Led by the Chula Vista Se-
niors Club Executive Board, a
Due to the fight telecast, the
Saturday night Grand Caba-
ret band, Colour My World, A
Tribute to Chicago, will start
at 9:00 p.m. instead of the pre-
viously announced 8:00 p.m.
Pala is located in Northern
San Diego County; from San
Diego/Riverside, take I-15 to
Highway 76 east five miles;
from Los Angeles County and
Orange County, take I-5 south
to Highway 76 east, then trav-
el 23 miles. Pala is 15 miles
north of Escondido, 12 miles
south of Temecula.
The recently expanded
Pala Casino Spa & Resort in-
cludes a Las Vegas-style casi-
no with 2,000 slot machines,
15 poker tables and 87 ta-
13
natures were gathered to pro-
test the closure of Norman Park
Center. The club also plans to
form a human chain around the
Norman Park Senior Center to
dramatize their protest against
 
The Norman Park Senior Cen-
ter has provided a wide range of
education and recreational activ-
ities for seniors for the past 15
years. Its closure, said members
of the Seniors Club, would have
a great impact on the health and
wellness programs that provides
seniors with a better quality of
life in their twilight years. 
ble games; a 507-room hotel; a
10,000-square-foot, full-service
spa and salon that features 14
treatment rooms; a state-of-the-
art fitness center; swimming
pool with 12 private poolside
cabanas, and dual-temperature
outdoor Jacuzzi.   Pala also of-
fers 10 restaurants and 40,000
square feet of meeting and con-
vention space.  Pala Casino Spa
& Resort is a AAA Four-Dia-
mond Award winner for six con-
secutive years. Its state-of-the-
art Pala Spa was named the
2009 Best Casino Spa by Spas
of America and the 2009 Best
Casino Spa by the Southern
California Gaming Guide. For
more information, visit http://
www.palacasino.com.
14 THE FILIPINO PRESS
Francine Maigue
The Pampered
Pinay
Halloween
party playlist
Y
a got the tricks. Ya got the
treats… Ya got the tunes?
Sure, The Monster
Mash is a given, but what else
is on your playlist for your Hal-
loween Bash? Here are my Top
10 favorites that will keep your
party guests and trick or treat-
ers jammin’ all ghoulish night
long! Mwahahahaha!!!
1. Grim Grinning Ghosts
Disney’s Haunted Mansion
theme, also known as “The
Screaming Song,” starts off
creepy but develops into a tune
you can really twist to. The light
beat juxtaposes the frightful
lyrics so well that you can’t help
but want to dance with, not run
from, the spooky spirits!
2. The Phantom of the Opera
Musical theater fans and
those that only know the more
recent film (tsk, tsk) alike will
enjoy doing their bad, er, best
opera impressions to the title
song of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s
masterpiece that made an old,
black and white horror movie’s
concept a phenomenon and Sar-
ah Brightman a bona fide star.
3. Ghostbusters
Who ya gonna call? Ghost-
busters! Ray Parker, Jr. cap-
tured the serious fun of the
film by the same name. The
song was so well-received, in
fact, that is was nominated for
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an Academy Award in the ear-
ly 80s… but, alas, lost to “I Just
Called to Say I Love You” by
Stevie Wonder. Tough break.
4. Little Shop of Horrors
Alan Menken and Howard
Ashman’s rock musical, “Lit-
tle Shop of Horrors,” is a pow-
erhouse of tunes, like its main
theme, that are so danceable
and charming, the duo’s Dis-
ney masterpieces hold a can-
dle to them.
5. Mean Green Mother
from Outer Space
Little Shop of Horrors is so
good you knew at least one oth-
er of its songs would show up on
here. Never has a blood-sucking
plant ever been so rockin’ its al-
most endearing!
6. Addams Groove
In the golden age (read: the
90s) of baggy pants, blinding
neon, and remakes of kooky
classics, MC Hammer brought
us an infectious song and dance
that were as catchy as the mov-
ie that inspired them, “The Ad-
dams Family.”
7. The Time Warp
Tim Curry and Susan Sa-
randon starred in the “so bad,
it’s good” 1975 musical extrav-
aganza brought from stage to
screen, “The Rocky Horror Pic-
ture Show.” This ups the ante
so high as cult-classics are con-
Party trays to go
cerned that you’ll want to do the
Time Warp again…and again…
8. Purple People Eater
Fifty-two years later, the leg-
end of this “one-eyed” creature
continues to uphold the leg-
end of actor/singer Sheb Wool-
ey. This is a kid-friendly classic
with a chorus that packs a pur-
ple punch with some tongue-
twisting fun for everyone!
9. The Devil Went Down
to Georgia
Whether fans of country or
not, this rousing Charlie Daniels
tune will get folks burning up
the floor and “Yee-hawing” from
its first drumbeats! Forget air-
guitars! This song is all about
rocking your best air-fiddle!
10. Thriller
For this song/video/concept
alone, we could thank Michael
Jackson for sharing his musical
genius with the world. Throw
those zombie hands up, and
rock side to side on that dance
floor with this all-time favorite!
Michael Jackson and the legendary
dancers from "Thriller."
Have fun, but forget to be
safe this weekend, my pampered
friends! Let’s be able to remem-
ber Halloween 2010 fondly, not
be haunted by any regrets. As
this is also my birthday week-
end, I want to take this opportu-
nity to thank all of you who have
emailed and posted such sweet
greetings on Facebook. I’m your
fan! Special shout out to my sup-
portive buddies of “Team Cavite
& Friends” and *Mystic Dance
San Diego! XOXO, *Francine,
The Pampered Pinay
Wanna keep in touch and join
in on fun weekly chats with oth-
er Pampered Pinay fans? Sim-
ply check out www.Facebook.
com or www.Twitter.com, and
search "Francine Maigue."
See you online!
Check back every week for
ways to pamper yourself and
those you love. Why? The an-
swer is simple: You deserve it!
Got a business or event I
should know about? Wish to
agree or disagree with me?
Want to send me a love note?
(I love those.) Email me at the-
pamperedpinay@yahoo.com.
politics
Continued from p­­­­­age 1
their candidate for the presi-
dent of the Philippines,” said
Val Abelgas, a Los Angeles-
based journalist and Filipino
Press columnist.
It is commendable, of course,
said Abelgas that although they
are 10,000 miles away from
their homeland, these Filipinos
continue to show their concern
for the Philippines.
“We have, after all, left be-
hind friends and relatives who
must get the right leadership to
steer them through crises and
into the path of economic recov-
ery. Some of us will, after all,
retire into a quiet, happy life in
the homeland, and we, there-
fore, have the right and the duty
to make sure that the right per-
son is elected to the presidency
of our native country” he said,
adding, “The Philippines, after
all, is our native land, and just
because we left it to seek green-
er pastures, doesn't mean we no
longer care about its future.”
However, Abelgas laments
the same level of enthusiasm
Filipino-Americans show for lo-
cal, regional or national politics
in the U.S. — whether they run
for office or even vote.
“What saddens me is that
we cannot gather the same en-
thusiasm and the same concern
to support Filipino-Americans
who seek public office in vari-
ous cities in America; or to sup-
port other Filipino causes, such
as those of Filipino veterans, or
ninoy
Continued from p­­­­­age 1
er to then defense secretary
Ramón Magsaysay.
No stranger to politics, Aqui-
no became governor of Tarlac
province in 1961 at age 29, then
secretary-general of the Liberal
Party in 1966. In 1967 he made
history by becoming the young-
est senator in the country's his-
tory at age 34. He was the only
"survivor" of the Liberal Par-
ty who made it to the senate,
where he was inevitably singled
out by Marcos and his allies as
their greatest threat.
In 1968, during his first
year as senator, Aquino
warned that Marcos was on
the road to establishing “a
garrison state” by “ballooning
the armed forces budget,” sad-
dling the defense establish-
ment with “overstaying gen-
erals” and “militarizing our
October 30 - November 5, 2010
“What saddens me is that we cannot gather
the same enthusiasm and the same concern
to support Filipino-Americans who seek
public office.”
even such patriotic causes as
celebrating the Philippine In-
dependence,” he said.
Abelgas said the efforts of
the scores of organizations
supporting presidential can-
didates in the Philippines do
not alter even a bit the result
of the presidential elections
in the Philippines.
“And yet, with the same effort,
these organizations can help a lot
in electing the first Filipino voice
in the U.S. Congress, or making
sure that the Filipino Veterans
Equity Bill gets the nod of the
U.S. Congress, or further boost-
ing the campaign for Filipino po-
litical and economic empower-
ment in America,” he said.
Abelgas said he hoped that
these groups would use the
same energy and enthusiasm
to support Filipino-Americans
seeking public office in the
United States.
“It would be to the great in-
terest of both Filipinos here in
America and Filipinos in the
Philippines if Filipino-Ameri-
cans would look beyond their
home country and set their
sights on electing Filipinos
to the highest levels of power
in America to serve both as a
voice of the hundreds of thou-
civilian government offices” —
all these caveats were uttered
barely four years before mar-
tial law. Aquino was correct.
Marcos declared martial law
on Sept. 21, 1972. Aquino was
one of the first to be arrested
and imprisoned on trumped-up
charges of murder, illegal pos-
session of firearms and sub-
version. He would spend more
than seven years in prison.
After suffering a heart at-
tack in 1980, Imelda Marcos of-
fered Aquino exile in the United
States, where he spent the next
three years in a suburb of Bos-
ton. Teaching at Harvard and
MIT, Aquino wrote manuscripts
and gave numerous speeches
critical of the Marcos regime.
In 1983, sensing a deter-
oration of the Marcos govern-
ment and Marcos’ declining
health, Aquino decided to re-
turn to the Philippines, ful-
ly aware of the dangers that
sands of Filipinos living in
America and to promote the
interests of the Philippines
and its people,” he said.
“We have lost many chances
to have representatives in the
U.S. Congress,” Abelgas contin-
ued, and other policy-making
bodies in several states because
Filipinos were just not willing
to help in the campaign, nor
even cared to register or to vote.
In the end, he says: “Isn’t it
time we took care of our own
backyard?”
“Filipinos who do not have
common issues and causes to
unify them such as the Japa-
nese-Americans and other mi-
norities must be over more
diligent in their effort to par-
ticipate in community activism
lest they fade into powerless ob-
scurity,” said Nestor Palugod
Enriquez in an online essay en-
titled “Filipino-American Politi-
cal Participation.”
But as former Hawaii Gov.
Benjamin Jerome “Ben” Cay-
etano, the first Filipino-Amer-
ican to serve as a state gover-
nor in the United States, noted:
“Filipinos are real neophytes in
American politics. Organiza-
tion has never been one of our
strong suits.”
awaited him. Warned that he
would either be imprisoned or
killed, Aquino answered, “If
it’s my fate to die by an assas-
sin's bullet, so be it. But I can-
not be petrified by inaction, or
fear of assassination...”
Aquino was indeed assassi-
nated on Aug. 21, 1983, shot
in the head after returning to
the country.
Aquino has been recog-
nized as the most prominent
and most dynamic opposition
leader of his generation. While
some may question the prom-
inence given Aquino in Philip-
pine history, it was his assas-
sination that was pivotal to
the downfall of a despotic ruler
and the eventual restoration of
democracy in the Philippines.
— By Bill Ramsey of the Fili-
pino Press with background in-
formation from Wikipedia and
other sources.
October 30 - November 5, 2010 THE FILIPINO PRESS
Redistricting: Path to
political empowerment?
By Aurora S. Cudal
Filipino Press Contributing Writer
O
nce every 10 years, the
federal government
counts how many peo-
ple reside in the United States.
This year, the Bureau of Census
conducted an intensive Census
2010 campaign to ensure an ac-
curate count. The result of Cen-
sus 2010 is important for two
reasons: distribution of feder-
al funds at the local level and
distribution of political power
at all levels of government. Re-
districting is based on the pop-
ulation data collected by the
decennial census. During redis-
tricting, political lines are re-
drawn so that each district is
equal in representation.
Public interest in the redis-
tricting issue has increased in
the Asian and Pacific Ameri-
can community. Some commu-
nity leaders believe that re-
districting is a sure path to
political empowerment. Con-
gresswoman Judy Chu point-
ed this out in a recent commu-
nity forum here in San Diego.
However, some people are
confused, since there are two
groups advocating for commu-
nity involvement in the redis-
tricting process: the Asian
Pacific American Coalition,
led by Dr. Allen Chan, a prom-
inent Chinese restaurateur;
Mitz Lee, president of the Fil-
ipino American Community
Empowerment; and the Co-
alition of Asian Pacific Amer-
icans for Fair Redistricting,
spearheaded by Pam Hoop-
er, executive director of the
Southwest Center for Asian
Pacific American Law, a mem-
ber of the coalition.
To clarify, APAC is a broad
coalition of Asians and Pacific
American organizations con-
cerned with the Redistrict-
ing Commission for the City of
San Diego while CAPAFR is a
statewide network of region-
al coalitions trying to work
together to develop State As-
sembly and Senate maps that
keep Asian and Pacific Island-
er communities together. Al-
though working on separate
redistricting issues, the two
organizations depend upon
the results of Census 2010.
In the redistricting process,
the census data is used to re-
draw the lines and boundar-
ies of electoral districts with-
in a state. This process affects
districts at all levels of gov-
ernment — from local school
boards and city councils to
state legislatures and the
House of Representatives.
Vince Vasquez, senior poli-
cy analyst of the Institute for
Policy Research and APAC
“Public interest in the redistricting issue
has increased in the Asian and Pacific
American community. Some community
leaders believe that redistricting is a
sure path to political empowerment.”
consultant, said, “This year,
San Diego city residents will
have a rare and historic oppor-
tunity to help shape the future
of representative government
at city hall. As ethnic politics
evolve in our region, it is crit-
ical that every San Diegan
learns the importance of the
Redistricting Commission.”
The Redistricting Commis-
sion for the City of San Di-
ego was recently organized
with Anisha Dalal, a school
principal, as the commission
chair. She is one of seven cit-
izen participants selected by
a panel of judges to serve on
the Redistricting Commis-
sion. With new population
data from the 2010 U.S. Cen-
sus canvass, they are expect-
ed to redraw district lines in
a balanced and equitable way
in adherence with federal vot-
ing rights regulations.
Vasquez cited the follow-
ing information: According to
SANDAG, the county's plan-
ning agency, the City of San
Diego's population increased
10.7 percent over the last de-
cade, with nearly all of the
growth deriving exclusively
from ethnic minorities. Of the
130,593 new residents that
have arrived (or been born)
since 2000, more than half
(66,747) are Latinos, 34 per-
cent (44,511) are Asians and
Pacific Islanders, and only 4
percent (5,303) are Caucasian.
Recently, San Diego vot-
ers overwhelmingly passed
Proposition D, a local bal-
15
lot measure that made the Asian neighborhoods flanked It is for this reason that the
"strong mayor" form of gov- by I-15 and I-5 — Mira Mesa, Asian and Pacific American
ernment permanent. Aside Rancho Penasquitos and Coalition in San Diego came
from creating more checks possibly Carmel Valley and into being. There is a great
and balances at city hall, UTC. These neighborhoods need to advocate for the forma-
Proposition D required the are currently separated be- tion of a ninth district that re-
expansion of the eight cur- tween Districts 1 and 5, a de- spects our community’s inter-
rent council districts, adding plorable decision by the 2000 est. The best action one would
a new ninth district that will Redistricting Commission take is to advocate for Mira
be drawn up during the up- that has arguably disenfran- Mesa and Rancho Penasquitos
coming redistricting process. chised Asian voters. A broad to be together as one city coun-
The guidelines for drawing coalition of Asian commu- cil district, just as they are in
this district are clear: gen- nity leaders proposed unit- one State Assembly District.
erally, district boundaries ing these neighborhoods un- In a related development,
must be contiguous, sepa- der one city council district CAPAFR convened a meet-
rated by natural boundar- to the 2000 commission, but ing on Saturday, Oct. 23, to
ies and, most importantly, their efforts were ultimate- create public interest and
they must preserve identifi- ly rejected. However, since awareness on the State Re-
able “communities of inter- 2001, Mira Mesa and Rancho districting Commission’s pro-
est” and not dilute the voting Penasquitos have grown in cess. It was emphasized that
strength of protected class- not only population but also participating in redistrict-
es. Where to place it, howev- diversity. SANDAG's popu- ing will give our community a
er, is a different question. lation projections also show voice, which is critical to en-
Based on growth and demo- that council districts 1 and suring that it has equal ac-
graphic trends, the most logi- 5 have ballooned in size and cess to the political process.
cal place to create a ninth dis- have since become the larg- CAPAFR’s next meeting will
trict would be in the northern est among all eight districts. be in January 2011.
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16 THE FILIPINO PRESS
Stories from the Other Side:
San Diego ghost stories
Pioneer Park in Mission Hills. Nice cemetery — but bodies never moved.
By Alicia DeLeon-Torres
Filipino Press Contributing Writer
S
tories of a haunted San Di-
ego often surface as Hal-
loween approaches. The
Whaley House, Old Town, the
Hotel del Coronado, the U.S.
Grant Hotel and the USS Mid-
way are famous for the ghosts
that still allegedly wander these
locations. However, there are
many other lesser known plac-
es that are known by locals for
paranormal activity.
The community of Mira Mesa,
though relatively new (created in
1969), is reported to have sever-
al haunted sites. The neighbor-
hood is partially built over what
was thought to be ancient Amer-
ican Indian grounds. When sev-
eral tracts were razed in the ear-
ly 1980s, builders found arrow
heads and other tools of daily liv-
ing. Residents of the those tracts
experienced television and ra-
dio stations changing by them-
selves, hearing voices when no
one was near and cabinet doors
opened by the unseen.
Sadly, Mira Mesa has also
been home to several violent
crimes. It’s rumored that a house
located in the old Encore hous-
ing, in the northeastern area of
the neighborhood, is haunted by
victims of a brutal murder from
a drug deal gone bad. For sever-
al years after the murder, there
was a revolving door of home-
owners and renters because no
one could live there long before
experiencing paranormal activ-
ity, such as seeing shadowy fig-
ures — even at night when no
lights were on. They also felt
as if they were being constantly
watched, yet when they looked
around, no one was there. Some
have felt an overwhelming sense
of fear in certain rooms of the
house, but they could not ex-
plain the cause.
North Park and South Park
have not only shared the well-
known tragedy of the 1978 crash
of PSA Flight 182 — they also
shared ghosts. On Mississippi
Street, near Morley Field, resi-
dents reported seeing a young
red-haired woman going from
house to house as if she lived
there. Upon further investiga-
tion, they found the young wom-
an disappeared into thin air as
she reached the door. It’s ru-
mored that the same houses
had ghostly presence with items
moving by themselves and pets
that seem to be interacting with
someone — or something — that
SPECIAL HALLOWEEN EDITION
couldn’t be seen.
Further down the neighbor-
hood, where Juniper Street binds
the two communities, the can-
yons seem to attract the para-
normal. Drivers and residents
have seen the ghost of a young
girl wandering the area between
Boundary Street and Common-
wealth Avenue. And bordering
the canyon, lies a house that be-
came a portal for spirits either
lost or intent on distracting the
family living in the home. The
family and their guests have
seen eyes that weren’t theirs
looking back at them from bath-
room mirrors. They’ve seen the
ghosts of soldiers, a boy who
seemed lost and others dressed
in early 1900s clothing. At one
point a hostile spirit entered the
daughter’s room and physically
tried to pull her out of bed. In-
stead of being frightened, the
mother — a devout Catholic,
took pity on the lost souls and
prayed that they be guided to
the “light.” For extra measure,
she made sure to always have
Holy Water on hand. Most dis-
appeared after prayer, but a
few stubborn spirits decided to
hang around. Eventually, the
family got used to the activity
and lived with it as if it was a
normal occurrence.
Just east of North Park is
the ethnically diverse neighbor-
hood of City Heights. In the mid
1990s, the Union of Pan Asian
Communities received reports
from Southeast Asian commu-
nity members that there were
continued sightings of a bodi-
less ghost. Some said it was the
conjuring of a witch while oth-
ers claimed it was the spirit of
a young girl from their commu-
nity who had recently commit-
ted suicide. Staff listened to re-
ports, but believed the hysteria
would eventually subside — un-
til they received a call from the
San Diego Police Department.
They were getting numerous
calls about the ghost, as well.
In one of the strangest partner-
ship, UPAC and SDPD advised
community members to request
the help of Buddhist monks and
Catholic priests in order to ban-
ish the spirit and bless the area.
It worked. No ghost was seen af-
ter the blessing.
National City also has its
share of paranormal activity.
Operation Samahan Medical
Clinic on Highland Avenue had
several former dedicated staff
members die and then return to
work the next day. The most re-
The gravestones and plaque is to commemorate those still interred in
the park.
cent activity was in 2009, after
the death of longtime employee
Gloria McFadzen.
McFadzen had taken the
bus to work early one morning,
as she had done almost every
day for the past 15 years. Upon
reaching her stop in front of the
clinic, she felt ill and asked a
young man for help.
“She said, ‘help me, help me,
help me,’ then lost conscious-
ness on the shoulder of Cecelia
— one of our co-workers,” recalls
Amelia Tenchavez, a longtime
employee of Operation Samah-
an. “We found out that she had
probably died while still holding
onto Cecilia at our front office.”
McFadzen had indeed died
before paramedics could trans-
port her to the hospital. The
next morning, staffers reported
unusually cold temperatures at
her desk, as well as documents
that lay unprocessed the night
before (it was her job to process
them) now processed and laying
next to her phone. A staff mem-
ber picked up the documents
and noticed that McFadzen’s ex-
Photos: Alicia DeLeon-Torres
tension light was on and it was
dialing the extensions of others
in the fiscal department, where
she was assigned.
“It was as if Gloria was try-
ing to communicate with her co-
workers,” explains Tenchavez.
The employee ran to the oth-
er staff and found they were
not on the phone. No one could
explain the processed docu-
ments (no one claimed to have
completed it), the McFadzen’s
extension calling others, the
unusually cold office (the air
conditioning unit was checked)
and the noise of someone tin-
kering around in the office
kitchen later that morning.
“I don’t think she knew she
was dead. She just kept coming
to work,” Tenchavez explains.
“The activity kept happening.
So we asked Mr. San Juan, our
CEO for help. He said to get the
place blessed to ease our mind.”
Operation Samahan staff
and McFadzen’s family prayed
for her to rest in peace. Soon
after the prayers, the activi-
ties stopped.
GET LISTED: To have your concert, club or event listed in What's
Happening, e-mail your information (include date, time, location,
cost and phone) to filpress@aol.com. Keep in mind we publish on
Saturdays, so ensure your event happens on the day of publication
or during the following week.
CLUBS
CAFE LA MAZE STEAKHOUSE
Julius Obregon and Friends
Show
When: 7 p.m. Sundays
Where: 1441 Highland Ave.,
National City, (619) 474-3222
LUCKY STAR
Wednesdays: Filipino Night with
Eric de Leon
Thursdays: Moonlight Serenade
Orchestra Big Band
Fridays: Ballroom dancing/Karoke
Where: 3893 54th St., San Diego,
Phone: (619) 229-8228
MCDINI'S DINER & EVENTS
Filipino food every Saturday
with live Filipino Bands
Where: 105 E. 8th St., National City,
Phone: (619) 474-6771
TROPHY LOUNGE
Rising Star
When: 8 p.m. Thursdays
Where: 999 National City Blvd.,
National City,
Phone: (619) 477-9862
KARAOKE
EL JUAN RESTAURANT
Eric de Leon one-man band
Manny vs. Margarito on DIRECTV
DIRECTV, the world’s most
popular video service, will turn
couches into ring-side seats for
the highly anticipated boxing
event, Pacquiao vs. Margarito,
on Nov. 13.
DIRECTV will offer boxing
fans the chance to experience
sweat-soaked history as Filipi-
no boxing superstar and world
sensation, Manny “Pac Man”
Pacquiao, fights for an unprec-
edented eighth division world
championship title at Cow-
boys Stadium in Dallas. The ti-
tle at stake is the World Boxing
Council (WBC) Super Welter-
weight Championship.
DIRECTV customers will
have access to additional content
for a unique experience leading
up to the big event, including:
On DIRECTV’s The 101 Net-
work (channel 101):
• Live weigh-in on Friday,
Nov. 12.
• Pacquiao vs. Margarito Pre-
view Show.
• HBO’s Classic Boxing:
• Manny Pacquiao vs. Miguel
Cotto.
• Miguel Cotto vs. Antonio
Margarito.
On directv.com/boxing:
• DIRECTV-exclusive fight
previews; interviews with Pac-
quiao and Margarito; and in-
terviews with promoters and
trainers.
Recently named “Fighter of
the Decade” by the Boxing Writ-
ers Association of America, the
fighting congressman from the
Philippines will be battling, not
for pride, but — according to the
“People’s Champ” himself — for
the “glory of the Philippines.”
Pacquiao is ranked the No. 1
fighter “pound-for-pound” by
ESPN.com and “The Ring.”
In the other corner of the
ring, and bent on changing his-
tory himself, is Mexican Antonio
October 30 - November 5, 2010
When: 6-9 p.m. Thursdays
Where: 2316 Highland Ave.,
National City
Phone: (619) 477-6262
GAPORESTO & KARAOKE
When: 7 p.m.-midnight,
Tuesdays to Sundays
Where: 933 S. Harbison Ave.,
National City
Phone: (619) 267-3746
JASMINE
When: 7 p.m -1 a.m. Wednesdays
Where: 4609 Convoy St., San Diego
Phone: (858) 268-0888
DJ Kristina at Jasmine
SIZZLER JULIUS OBREGON
SHOW ROOM
When: 7 p.m. Fridays
Where: 1325 E. Plaza Blvd.,
National City
Phone: (619) 477-2590
“Tony” Margarito, known as the
“Tijuana Tornado.” A veteran of
14 world championship fights,
the hard-hitting Margarito is a
former three-time Welterweight
World Champion.
“Pacquiao has stopped some
of the best Mexican fighters
in the world, but he won't be
able to stop this Mexican,"
said Margarito.
HBO Pay-Per-View® will
present "Manny Pacquiao vs. An-
tonio Margarito", on Saturday,
Nov. 13, live on Pay Per View.
The event is available in jaw-
dropping high definition for DI-
RECTV customers who receive
HD. Witness every punch, every
shuffle and every countdown to
victory, starting at $54.95, avail-
able on DIRECTV channels 123
(SD) and 124 (HD).
DIRECTV offers the best in
Filipino programming, right at
your fingertips.
• PINOYDIRECT™ is only
$24.99 and offers three of the
most popular Filipino channels:
TFC, GMA Pinoy TV and MYX.
• TFCDIRECT™ offers
eight channels including TFC,
Kapamilya Channel and Cin-
ema One, among others, for
only $25.99.
• FILIPINODIRECT™,
with the most varied and ro-
bust selection of Filipino chan-
nels currently available on the
market, is only $34.99 and of-
fers the latest local and global
news, Filipino hit movies, and
showbiz happenings with DI-
RECTV’s exclusive offering of
10 Filipino channels.
New customers can call
1-866-772-3168 to order Filipi-
no programming and be a part
of the heart-pounding action for
this historical boxing event. Ex-
isting customers can call 1-800-
378-3309 to order this highly an-
ticipated match.
October 30 - November 5, 2010 THE FILIPINO PRESS 17

FARSOC monthly meeting

discusses upcoming events

Photo: SGT. at Arms Renato Macahilas

Top from Left: Cesar Adan, FARSOC Chairman of the Board; Rick Yaneza, Veteran; Henry Dumo, FARSOC Interim
President and President of Naguilian, LA Union Association of San Diego County; Honorio Caballa, Board of
Director; Emilio Damasco, Auditor; Benjamen Gapuz, Board of Director and Sual Asoociation President; Alicia
Macahilas, FARSOC Veteran of the year; Dominga Damasco, Vice Chairman of the Board and VP of Tarlac West
Association, USA. 2nd Front Left Setting: Queen Welma Dumo, Mrs. FARSOC 2009-2011 and PRO; Lolita Caballa,
Vice President; Zenaida Macaoay, Longtime Member and Former Mrs. FARSOC, a Past President of Lingayen
Assoc. and strong unlimited potential FARSOC Secretary; Rosita Adan Board of Director; Lodovico Adan; and
Marcilina Espanol. Not pictured: Board of Director Romy Crena and Former Veteran of the year; PRO Ruby Crena;
Exec. Vice Pres. Romy Macaoay, Past President of Urdanita Assoc.; and Sgt. At Arms Renato Macahilas.

ESCONDIDO, Calif. – The Filipino American Retirees of Southern California (FARSOC) is

actively preparing for the staging of its annual Christmas spirit Party to be held at the Senior
Citizen Recreational Center, Mira Mesa on Dec 18, 2010, casino trips to Golden Acorn Casino
on Nov. 13, 2010, FARSOC election of officers on June 2011 and Mrs. FARSOC 2011-2013 nom-
ination for Star Search Candidates.
The FARSOC recent meeting and luncheon was held at the Ranch Residence of Emilio and
Dominga Damasco, loyal longtime members of FARSOC and proud parents of Dr. Daisy C.
Damasco-Gutierrez and Atty. John Damasco.
For more information, contact FARSOC Interim President Henry Dumo at (858) 538-9910
or Secretary Zenaida Macaoay at (619) 934-2022.
Lastly, FARSOC is moving forward with integrity, dignity, and taking great pride involve-
ment in the community with “Great Leaders for a Great FARSOC!”

AED donated
in memory of
Dr. “Eddie” Manaig

Photo: Courtesy photo

Pablo Velez CEO (center) presents an Automated External
Defibrillator, otherwise known as AED, to (L-R): JoAnn Fields,
Consultant, Filipino-American Caucus of San Diego County; Debbie
Discar-Espe, Board Member, Sharp Hospital; Pablo Velez, CEO,
Sharp Hospital Chula Vista; Dr. Ben Camacho, Cardiologist and Lead
Organizer Paradise Valley International Medical Mission, Inc.; Dr. Gil
Ungab, Cardiologist, Ungab Medical. 

CHULA VISTA, Calif. – The shock delivered by an

Automated External Defibrillator (AED) is the only me-
chanical way for a Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) victim to
survive. And to be effective, that first shock should be de-
livered within the first 3-5 minutes. The AED donated by
Pablo Velez, CEO, Sharp Hospital Chula Vista will be de-
livered to a town in the Philippines in memory of Dr. "Ed-
die" Manaig and his 14 years of organizing medical mis-
sions to third world countries that include Kenya, India,
Vietnam and the Philippines. 
Dr. Ben Camacho is leading this year's medical mis-
sion to a number of provinces in the Philippines that in-
clude Pangasinan and Cavite. A community presentation
of this medical mission will be provided by the Paradise
Valley Internal Medical Mission Inc. upon their return.
For more information, please contact JoAnn Fields, Con-
sultant, Filipino American Caucus of San Diego County
via email at joann.fields@gmail.com.
18 THE FILIPINO PRESS
Largest bond sale in San Diego
International Airport’s history
SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The
largest bond sale in the histo-
ry of San Diego International
Airport (SDIA) was recently an-
nounced by the San Diego Coun-
ty Regional Airport Authority.
Proceeds will provide continued
funding for The Green Build
Terminal 2 expansion program
and a variety of programs in the
Capital Improvement Program
(CIP) for SDIA.
The Airport Authority was
able to secure an interest rate
of 4.38 percent for the bonds –
one of the lowest rates to date
in the nation for an airport-re-
lated long-term bond sale. It is
estimated that the low interest
rate will save the Airport Au-
thority more than $40 million
dollars over the 30-year term of
the bonds. In addition, the Air-
port Authority projects that no
additional bond issuances for
The Green Build/CIP will be
necessary until 2012.
“We are pleased to have
achieved such favorable terms
for this bond sale,” said Thella
F. Bowens, President and CEO
of the Airport Authority. “The
sale under these terms signif-
icantly strengthens our finan-
cial plan for The Green Build
project, which benefits the en-
tire region during construction,
with jobs in the community…
and state-of-the-art facilities
upon completion in 2013.”
In all, the sale amount-
ed to $572,565,000 in Subordi-
nate Airport Revenue Bonds.
This includes $313,150,000 in
non-AMT Series 2010A bonds;
$44,055,000 in non-AMT Series
2010B bonds; and $215,360,000
in Series 2010C Build Ameri-
ca Bonds. Build America Bonds
are special taxable bonds creat-
ed under the federal American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act
signed into law on February 17,
2009. The Act provided a 35 per-
cent interest subsidy for issuers.
“There was such a demand
for the Authority’s bonds that
they were over-subscribed by
an average of 3.5 times the
amount of bonds available,”
said Vernon Evans, Airport Au-
thority CFO. Such favorable
circumstances for the bond
sale were possible due to sev-
eral factors, including Airport
Authority staff spending sever-
al years positioning the agen-
cy for the sale, pricing during
a time rates were more attrac-
tive, and positive ratings for
Airport Authority bonds from
the nation’s top three rat-
ings agencies: Fitch Ratings,
Moody’s Investor Services and
Standard & Poor’s.
The Green Build will help
meet the region’s current and
future demand for air travel,
with 10 new gates, expanded
passenger waiting areas, a du-
al-level roadway with curbside
check-in, additional security
lanes, expanded concessions,
and airfield improvements.
October 30 - November 5, 2010
cudal
Continued from p­­­­­age 10
The speaker, Brother Jessie
del Rosario, resident minis-
ter of National City, was an
eloquent speaker.
In his message, del Ro-
sario answered some of the
lingering questions I’ve
been asking myself: Who
are the Iglesia Ni Cristo?
What are their beliefs? How
do they differ in their wor-
ship of God? Are we wor-
shipping the same God?
It was pointed out that an-
swers to these questions are
all in the Holy Bible. “We
will let the Bible speak,” said
the speaker as he cited sev-
eral verses as well as other
resources to underscore the
basis of the Iglesia Ni Cris-
to’s faith and practices. The
event ended with an invita-
tion that it is time to re-ex-
amine our belief and know,
“Who is the True God?”
For me, there is but one
True God, the creator of all
things. He sent His only Son,
our Lord Jesus Christ, who
said, “I am the way, the truth,
and the life. No one comes to
the Father except through
me.” What counts is my per-
sonal relationship with God
and to follow his greatest
commandment: Love God
with all your heart, with all
your mind and with all your
soul. And love your neighbors
as you love yourself.
I am open to knowledge
and perhaps will find the
time to know the 28 State-
ments of Faith of the Igle-
sia ni Cristo, just as I study
other religions in this plu-
ralistic society.
Thank you Remarie and
Ronald for removing some of
the cobwebs of intolerance in
my mind, making me a bet-
ter-informed Christian.
October 30 - November 5, 2010 THE FILIPINO PRESS 19

Seafood City 18th Annual Fiesta Filipiniana Mexicana Karaoke Competition • Saturday, Oct. 23, 2010
Grand Finals Winners

Adult Champion, from left, Lou Ward, Bryan Wright (First runner-up) and David Dean (Second runner-up).

Emcee Tyrone Posada with Senior Champion Art Gramata, Edgar Casil (Second runner-up) Teen Champion Daniel Orina (left), Joseph Kabiling (First runner-up)
and Armand Rasing (First runner-up) with emcee Rowie Messina. and Emily Talampas (Second runner-up).

Hollywood Music Dancers perform. Kids' Champion Katriz Trinidad with her trophy. First runner-up is Young contestants having a good time at the show.
Shaliyah Ruelos and the second runner-up was Shela Perez.

The Afro Mestizo Band performed at the event. Fans packed Seafood City in National City for the 18th Annual Filipiniana Mexicana Karaoke Competition on Saturday, Oct. 23.
20 THE FILIPINO PRESS
BergHOFF a key player
in the international
kitchen scene
BergHOFF, a designer and
manufacturer of kitchen and ta-
bleware, celebrated in 60 plus
countries around the world,
with a yearly turnover of over
$250 million. The company has
become one of the most impor-
tant players on the internation-
al kitchen and tableware scene.
BergHOFF offers a complete
spectrum of products in 9 catego-
ries: cookware, flatware, knives,
porcelain, hotel, electrical devic-
es, barbecue items, lifestyle and
accessories, all uniquely designed
and desired across the conti-
nents. Started in Europe, the
brand became an instant success
in Germany. The rest of the world
would follow in no time. A fair in
Moscow initiated the penetration
of the Russian market years ago.
Now a leading kitchenware chain
in the Ukraine and Poland Berg-
HOFF has over 3,000 points of
sales dotting the globe.
Every year (for the past many
years), BergHOFF has held spe-
cial event shows in various U.S.
locations, for the sole purpose of
moving the excess factory runs,
overstocked dealer buys and ex-
cess inventory from retailers.
Sometimes the packaging is not
so perfect but the product still is,
and unused new in the box. This
also allows us to clear valuable
space in our many warehouses as
well as provide the fuel to contin-
uously expand our fast growing,
ever changing product line. These
sales are only held in the United
States, and offer a tremendous op-
portunity to enjoy top of the line
products at affordable prices.
In the year 2000, a new chap-
ter was written when the com-
pany’s first in-house designed
products were produced and
marketed. The choice to solely of-
October 30 - November 5, 2010
fer in-house designs and to work
with a company-based design de-
partment has earned several de-
sign awards from Red Dot Design
Awards, the IF Design Award and
Designpreis Deutschland Award,
Good Design Award 2008, as well
as environmental awards for the
EarthChef line. By starting the
EarthChef project for example,
we support local sustainability
projects worldwide and renew our
commitment to use natural re-
sources in a responsible way.
The most interesting out-
come from our design team is
that we are able to fill a num-
ber of private label orders for
very exclusive companies that
sell waterless cookware direct
to the consumer. These buyers
have high demands for some-
thing better and we are able to
please them indirectly with our
high standards of production.
The high functional and aes-
thetic value has charmed cooking
fanatics all over the world as well
as international design experts.
Continue to look for only the best
from this stellar company. Peo-
ple in the USA that have attend-
ed one of the clearance events
near them have become true fol-
lowers of the brand. They have
demonstrated a customer loyal-
ty as no other since all products
at these shows are backed by full
customer service and warrantees,
even at the inventory clearance
events, where many products are
liquidated for as low as... or below
manufacturing costs!
Look them up when they are
in the area and be amazed of
the opportunity buys.
Cook healthy, live healthy, be
healthy... on our one Earth! We
look forward to keep on serving
you in the future!
October 30 - November 5, 2010 THE FILIPINO PRESS 21

Jim Cartmill vows to continue success ents and community as we

During my service as a Gov-
erning Board Member for the
Sweetwater Union High School
District -- the largest high
school district in the nation --
we have focused on maximiz-
ing student achievement.
I am running for re-elec-
tion to the Sweetwater School
Board because I would like
to continue the success and
progress described below. I
am the only candidate for Seat
#1 who has a child attending
our Sweetwater Schools. This
allows me to see the district
through the eyes of our stu-
dents to better meet their ac-
ademic needs.
This past year, Newsweek
Magazine named four Sweet-
water District high schools
among the best in the na-
tion. Bonita Vista High, East-
lake High, Otay Ranch High
and Sweetwater High earned
the recognition because of
the high number of Advanced
Placement and International
Baccalaureate tests adminis-
tered. The Newsweek list rep-
resents the top six percent of
schools in the United States.
The groundbreaking Com-
pact for Success has prepared
more students than ever for
success in college. Entering
its 11th year of guaranteed
admission to San Diego State
University, the Compact has
increased the number of stu-
dents eligible for university by
130%. This month, Sweetwa-
ter Superintendent Dr. Jesus
M. Gandara and San Diego
State University President Dr.
Stephen Weber signed a new
memorandum to extend the
Compact to the Class of 2016
(this year’s 7th graders).
Our student preparation
begins in the 7th grade with
rigorous courses and ample
support to keep students on
track. Our teachers are work-
ing hard every day to give
students a world-class edu-
cation, with outstanding re-
sults. Student achievement
has increased in every sub-
ject at every school, as mea-
s u r e d b y t h e s t a t e ’s s t a n -
dardized tests. Five schools
have passed the 800 mark
on the Academic Perfor-
m a n c e I n d e x — t h e s t a t e ’s
ranking scale—and anoth-
er four schools are very close
to 800. Language learners
and students with disabili-
ties are outperforming their
peers in districts throughout
San Diego County, thanks to
the added focus our teachers
have made for these special
student populations.
Leading the way have
been outstanding teachers—
many of whom have received
county and state recogni-
tion. Three district teachers
recently were among the top
10 in San Diego County in
the annual Salute to Teach-
ers recognition. Kristina
Campbell, from Sweetwater
High, Sofia Sandoval from
Southwest High and Aida
Barraza Jarrett from Hill-
top Middle were recognized
by their peers for the impact
they have had on students.
The Sweetwater District—
with the outstanding support
of our community—has also
continue improving opportuni-
ties available to our students.
jim@jimcartmill.com.
It has truly been an honor
to serve as your representa-
invested $1 Billion in construc- If you have questions or you tive on the Sweetwater School
tion to improve classrooms and need assistance with a school Board and I would humbly ask
schools. Dozens of classrooms, related issue, I am available you to consider voting to re-
science labs, physical edu- to help. You can reach me at: elect me this November 2nd to
cation facilities, performing (619) 957-0696 or via email at: continue our progress.
arts buildings, libraries and
cafeterias are being mod-
ernized to provide optimum
learning environments.
While the state bud-
get crisis continues to im-
pact the funding avail-
able for school programs,
the Sweetwater District
continues its commitment
to athletics and class-
es in the visual and per-
forming arts. Often on the
chopping block for other
school districts, these pro-
grams continue to thrive
in Sweetwater because we
know these are the pro -
grams that keep students
connected to school. The
Sweetwater District offers
a music library, costume
collection, theater props
and equipment—including
musical instruments and
art display panels. Ful-
ly certified coaches spend
countless hours with our
student athletes teaching
the value of teamwork and
good sportsmanship.
As we complete this first
semester of classes, I appre-
ciate the support of our par-

sweetwater school board

reCord of distriCt aChievements:
n Increased test scores in every Sweetwater District school
n Compact for Success–the nationally recognized guaranteed San Diego
State admission program–Increased by 120% Sweetwater District
graduates qualified for San Diego State University
n Voted to require a balanced budget–cut administrative overhead
by $3.5 million in the last four years
n Established over $1 Billion in construction projects to
renovate and rebuild our schools—providing much
needed jobs in our community
n Received national certification
for the largest LEED
Gold certified school
construction program
in all of California

e V ote
as da”ter
“Plemy Da
o r
f lythe Cart dle Schoo
m i l l
eetw
—Sw l Stude
nt

B id
rict M
Dist
Jim Cartmill, his wife Cin
dy Ledesma Cartmill and
daughter Blythe.

Jim Cartmill
Sweetwater Union High School
District School Board – Seat #1
cartmill2010.com
twitter.com/cartmill2010
cartmill2010.com/facebook
Paid for by Friends of Jim Cartmill
Committee ID #1245974
Dave Ruch-Treasurer

Cart Ad_Filipino Press.indd 1 10/26/10 3:33 PM

22 THE FILIPINO PRESS
Dr. Jorge Dominguez - The best
choice for Southwestern College
My Filipino friends, allow
me to introduce myself, my
name is Dr. Jorge Dominguez
and I am running for a second
term for the Southwestern Col-
lege Governing Board. Four
years have flown by since you
last granted me the privilege
of serving on the board. Now I
am asking that you grant me
another term in order to com-
plete several important proj-
ects for which I have taken a
leadership role. So why allow
me to continue? Let’s look at
the facts for Southwestern Col-
lege. Southwestern College is
fully Accredited: The present
situation with Accreditation
was created by the same peo-
ple that are trying to unseat
me. In 2003 the WASC com-
mittee put Southwestern Col-
lege on “Warning” with six of
the exact same issues that we
are dealing with today. A plan
was put in place back in 2003
and the college was taking off
of “Warning” status but unfor-
tunately, the plans were never
carried out; which is why we
have the situation we have to-
day. The good news is that un-
der my watch we are under-
way to successfully dealing
with these issues and we will
continue to be fully accredited.
Check us out: The
www.
FilipinoPress 13x10.5:Layout 1 10/17/10 2:49 PM Page 1
Sa Nobyembre 2,
Bumoto ng Oo sa Proposisyon 24
Pipigilin ng PROP 24 ang pagbawas ng $1.3 bilyon sa pondo ng mga paaralan,
at sasagipin nito ang libu-libong hanapbuhay na talagang kinakailangan ngayon.
BABALIKWASIN NITO ANG ISANG baluktot na kasunduan ng mga pulitiko sa Sacramento na bigyan ang
pinakamayamang korporasyon ng isang malaking diskwento sa buwis na dapat nilang bayaran.
ANG PROP 24 AY SUPORTADO NG California Teachers Association, League of Women Voters of California,
California Taxpayers Association at California Coalition for Civil Rights.
(Samahan ng mga Guro ng California, Liga ng Bumobotong Kababaihan ng California, Samahan ng
mga Nagbabayad ng Buwis ng California, Koalisyon sa California para sa Karapatang Sibil.)
BUMOTO NG OO SA PROP 24 – dahil panahon na upang bigyan ng malaking tulong ang ating mga paaralan
at komunidad, hindi ang malalaking korporasyon.
Paid for by Yes on 24, the Tax Fairness Act, sponsored by taxpayers and public employee groups. Major funding by the California Teachers Association Issues PAC and America’s Families First, Inc.
October 30 - November 5, 2010
Secondly, Southwestern est construction project for
College is in great fiscal con- Southwestern since it was
dition as compared to all the built back in 1961...the de-
other community colleges in velopment of the Corner Lot.
the San Diego area. Under my This project will not only be
watch we have been able to: of- the crown jewel of the college
fer additional classes, help our but it will also provide hun-
faculty pay they medical ben- dreds of jobs for local work-
efits, give our teachers their ers. A win-win for everyone!
yearly raise and offset bud- Please allow me to continue
get shortfalls in several stu- serving you and our students!
dent programs. But most im- Cast your vote for another
portantly...we have NOT cut four years of effective, prov-
classes! The fact is that we are en leadership. Please re-elect
offering MORE classes than Dr. Jorge Dominguez for Seat
the State gives us money for! 5 – Southwestern Community
This is only possible because College.
of great fiscal management
and is truly a fantastic feat
in today’s economy. I am very
proud of this!
And finally, as a member of
this board I am proud to say
that we have taken great care
of your tax payer dollars.
We have used our bond mon-
ies effectively and wisely on
Prop. AA which has helped
build three new facilities in
National City, San Ysidro,
and Otay Mesa. Your tax dol-
lars have helped Southwesten
College to expand their ser-
vices to more students in the
South Bay. Also, thanks to you
and your approval of Prop. R
we have started on the great-
.com
www.YesProp24.org
October 30 - November 5, 2010 THE FILIPINO PRESS
Poll workers still needed for
some neighborhoods
Get an inside look at how the
election process works by becom-
ing a poll worker on Election Day.
Poll Workers are still need-
ed in several neighborhoods
for the Gubernatorial General
Election on November 2, espe-
cially those who are bilingual in
Spanish, Filipino and Vietnam-
ese. Neighborhoods and lan-
guages include:
* Encinitas, Solana Beach
(English)
Brown increases lead over Whitman
California Attorney Gener-
al Jerry Brown, a Democrat,
continues to increase his lead
over Republican opponent Meg
Whitman, according to an Oct.
28 Associated Press report.
The wire service cited a
Field Poll released less than
a week before Election Day
that claims Brown holds a
double-digit lead over Whit-
man, the former eBay CEO
who has spent millions in her
quest to succeed Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger.
The AP report said the sur-
vey found former two-term
governor Brown leading Whit-
man 49 percent to 39 percent
among likely voters. In a race
considered too close to call less
Get Results
* Clairemont, Mira Mesa,
Rancho Penasquitos, Del Dios
(Vietnamese)
* Encanto, La Mesa, Lakeside,
Spring Valley, Chollas Park, City
Heights, Middletown, Normal
Heights (Vietnamese, Spanish)
Poll workers receive a sti-
pend ranging from $75 to $150,
depending on the assignment,
and may be asked to standby
to fill positions as they open in
the days approaching the elec-
than a month ago, the poll is
the third in the past week giv-
ing Brown a significant edge in
the hard-fought race.
Brown spent little and
made few appearances over
the summer, while Whitman
spent millions on TV ads and
traversed the state making
numerous campaign stops
across the state.
Brown’s resurgence ap-
pears to be something of a re-
demption for California Dem-
ocrats, who hold a 13-point
registration advantage. State
voters previously recalled for-
mer Democratic Gov. Gray
Davis in favor of Republican
Schwarzenegger in a 2003
special election.
The
23
tion. Poll workers must be
U.S. Citizens, registered vot-
ers and have transportation
to their assigned polling lo-
cation. They also need access
to the internet to complete an
online training.
Apply to become a poll
worker using the Registrar’s
online application. For more
information, call (858) 565-
5800 or e-mail pollworker@
sdcounty.ca.gov.
While Whitman has spent
some $142 million in her bid
for the state’s top office, it is
the low-key, low-spending
Brown who seems to be gain-
ing traction among undecided
voters, who make up about a
fifth of likely voters, accord-
ing to poll.
The general election cam-
paign for governor has be-
come the most expensive in
the state's history, according
to the California Fair Politi-
cal Practices Commission, the
AP report said.
The poll surveyed 1,092
likely voters by telephone from
Oct. 14-26. It has a sampling
error margin of plus or minus
3.2 percentage points.
A free weekly
publication that serves
the 150,000 plus
Filipino-Americans of
San Diego County.
Call (619) 477-0940
or check us on-line
filipinopress.com
24 THE FILIPINO PRESS
The Best choice….For a Quality Education for all students!
Health care reform could
★★RE-ELECT★★ shape midterm elections
TERRI VALLADOLID
By Dan Diamond
California Healthline
After months of debate over
how health reform would in-
SOUTHWESTERN COMMUNITY fluence the midterm elections,
those elections are finally loom-
COLLEGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES-SEAT 2 ing and the law’s effects on vot-
er preferences are unclear.
Some seniors say they'll vote
against Democrats who backed
reform; other likely voters say
that the law does not go far
enough. Meanwhile, just one
of the eight Democrats who op-
posed the reform law before fi-
nally voting for it in March is
expected to retain a seat.
While a full repeal of re-
form is unlikely given Presi-
dent Obama’s veto power in
the absence of congressional
supermajorities, Republican
victories at the national lev-
el could alter reform’s scope,
while GOP wins on a state lev-
el might shape implementa-
tion and perception of the law.
Congressional Republicans'
strategy has coalesced around
two goals: to strike down the
individual mandate and de-
fund the bill. That approach
Proven & Tested Leadership may be shaped further if Re-
publicans win the lower cham-
Team Player with Integrity & Courage
Respectful and Dignified
Voters making choices early by mail
California voters are in-
Determined to continue Improving SWC creasingly making their elec-
tion choices well ahead of the
traditional Nov. 2 election day.
For Info or a Yard Sign, Call or E-Mail: According to news reports, al-
most half of the state’s registered
Ph: 619. 779.2383 e-mail: teresav1@sbcglobal.net voters — some 44 percent —
have made their political choices.
Website: valladolid4swc.com Oct. 18 was the deadline for
voter registration and Oct. 26
marked the last day California
Paid for by Friends of Terri Valladolid for School Board 2010 ID #983051 voters could apply for voter-by-
Bilbray on Filipino Nurses…
“We shouldn’t be shipping in
workers for teachers or nurses.
*
We import a lot of nurses.”
– Congressman Brian Bilbray, 9/16/09 Interview with Lars Larson –
* The Federation of American Immigration Reform (FAIR), which has been identified by
the civil rights law firm, Southern Poverty Law Center as a Hate Group, paid Brian Bilbray
$300,000 to lobby for them. Today he continues to work for them by promoting their anti-immigrant
legislation as the Chairman of the conservative Immigration Reform Caucus in Congress.
On November 2nd VOTE
Francine Busby for Congress
a friend of the Filipino Community
For more information about Francine Busby go to:
W W W. B U S B Y F O R C O N G R E S S . C O M
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 712, Cardiff, CA 92007 • 760.681.4108 • Campaign Office: 2121 Newcastle Ave., Suite B, Cardiff, CA 92007
Pa i d f o r a n d a u t h o r i z e d by B u s by f o r C o n g r e s s 2 0 1 0 F E C # C 0 0 4 6 0 3 8 6
October 30 - November 5, 2010
ber of Congress but Democrats
retain the upper chamber.
The New York Times'
FiveThirtyEight.com synthe-
sis of polls suggests that Dem-
ocrats are likely to lose 50-plus
seats in the House and at least
a half-dozen seats in the Senate.
As of Wednesday morning, pre-
diction service InTrade.com pro-
jected that the Republicans have
a nearly 89 percent probability of
winning the House, though just
a 15 percent chance of gaining
control of the Senate.
What would Republicans do if
they retook only the House? Re-
viewing the party’s motions to
recommit during the reform de-
bate offers clues to their top pri-
orities, a senior GOP staffer told
the Hill. Those motions included:
* Replacing rules govern-
ing coverage for abortion care
services;
* Repealing the Independent
Payment Advisory Board; and
* Striking comparative effec-
tiveness research.
Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) —
who could resume his chairman-
ship of the Energy and Com-
merce Committee, which has a
pivotal role in overseeing health
care market changes — told CQ
mail status, one of two ways
voters can cast ballots.
According to one report, about
1.5 million of the state’s 7.5 million
registered early voters have al-
ready cast their ballots. California
law allows any registered voter to
vote by mail instead of showing up
at a polling station on Nov. 2.
The website NeonTommy.com
said that although California
does not offer a breakdown by
Today that he would immediate-
ly try to repeal “everything after
the enacting clause” of reform
and ready replacement legisla-
tion. He also would form a Med-
icaid task force with governors
and push for new rules on medi-
cal malpractice.
The elections’ effect on health
reform in the Senate is less pre-
dictable. While some Demo-
crats running for Senate have
said they’d work to change the
reform law, Republicans inten-
tions are not quite clear. For in-
stance, Republican Carly Fio-
rina has said that, if elected as
senator representing Califor-
nia, she would work to repeal
the federal health reform law
and push for a different health
care model that would foster
greater competition among in-
surers and drugmakers.  
However, Sen. Bob Corker (R-
Tenn.) this month reportedly told
top donors that most Senate Re-
publicans don’t plan to support a
full repeal and retiring Sen. Judd
Gregg (R-N.H.) said the party
should focus on retooling the law.
Republicans also have signaled
that they would like to preserve
certain measures of the overhaul,
like the insurance exchanges.
party of the early votes, Repub-
licans are not expected to have
any sort of edge in California. 
The site reported that in the
2008 election, 42 percent of all
ballots cast were those of ear-
ly voters. However, because the
presidential election was one with
a high turn out, the absentee vote
had less of an impact. In low-turn-
out elections, the early vote plays
a significant role in the outcome. 
October 30 - November 5, 2010 THE FILIPINO PRESS 25
26 THE FILIPINO PRESS
Pigging out on barrels of pork
By Perry Diaz
“‘P
ork’ in budget
doubled,” head-
lines a newspa-
per. It says that on top of
each of the 278 congressmen’s
P70-million “pork barrel”
from the Priority Develop-
ment Assistance Fund, they
will each be given an extra
P75 million to be used for in-
frastructure projects in their
districts. The extra pork bar-
rel for each congressman con-
sists of P50 million from the
budget of the Department of
Public Work and Highways
and another P25 million from
the Road User’s Tax.
The decision to provide ad-
ditional pork barrel to the con-
gressmen was seemingly made
to placate a number of them
who threatened to block the
passage of the national budget
on grounds of “unequal bud-
getary allocations,” due main-
ly to former president and
now Rep. Gloria Macapagal
Arroyo’s humongous DPWH 
“pork barrel.”
“Don’t ask, don’t tell”
However, Bayan Muna
Rep. Teddy Casiño comment-
ed that the guaranteed P50-
million pork barrel for each
of the 278 congressmen was
“meant to make the lawmak-
ers shut up about the P500
billion in lump sum pork bar-
rel of President Aquino.” He
said that Malacañang re-
fused to disclose the line-item
funding of Aquino’s P500 bil-
lion worth of projects. He was
quoted in the news as say-
ing: “We have been demand-
ing lists of projects to be fund-
ed by these lump sums to no
avail. Instead of a clear and
concrete line item presenta-
tion of such projects, the exec-
co m m e n ta r y
utive promised a guaranteed
pork barrel of P50 million per
congressman from the [Public
Works] lump sums to make us
shut up. With such gargantu-
an lump sum funds, there is
no transparency and account-
ability in this budget.”
In addition to the presi-
dent’s questionable P500-
billion “pork barrel,” anoth-
er allocation that is being
scrutinized is the Confiden-
tial Funds of the Office of
the President which was in-
creased to P1 billion, P200
million more than Gloria’s
last budget for confidential
funds.  Aquino also decid-
ed to keep his Intelligence
Fund of P500 million, which
he promised to eliminate
earlier to help lower govern-
ment spending.   ation that Gloria would have dental owned by Aquino’s un-
“The extra pork barrel
for each congressman
consists of P50 million
from the budget of the
Department of Public
Work and Highways
and another P25
million from the Road
User’s Tax.”
Dole-out for the
“poorest of the poor”
Another controversial
lump-sum allocation is the
P21-billion budget for the
C o n d i t i o n a l C a s h Tr a n s -
fer program. First started
October 30 - November 5, 2010
ect that is “very vague and some mysterious reason is go- tion Fund,” Bello said.
susceptible to corruption.” ing to get a P2.2-billion lump “Reform budget”
“It appears that the alloca- sum pork barrel from the The P1.645-trillion national
by Gloria during her pres- tions for the PPPs are intend- DPWH budget. This is in addi- budget for 2011 — which Aqui-
idency, CCT provides cash ed ‘for the boys,’” Colmenares tion to her P70-million PDAF no calls “Reform Budget” — is
grants to the “poorest of the said. “As long as this provi- pork, the P50-million extra 6.8 percent higher than the
poor.”  During the final year sion is not deleted in the pro- infrastructure pork, another 2010 budget of P1.540 trillion.
of Gloria’s regime, the CCT posed budget, these PPPs are P28 million on top of that, and The deficit for 2011 is estimat-
allocation was only P10 bil- nothing but pork, pork and the P25-million windfall from ed to be P290 billion.
lion doled out to 700,000 poor more pork.” the Road User’s Tax. The question is: Could the
families. Malacañang justi- The other two departments The “mystery” was solved budget have been trimmed
fied the sharp increase based that are getting P5-billion when Akbayan Rep. Walden down to eliminate some, if
on the estimated 2.3 million PPP allocation each are Sci- Bello revealed that Gloria not all, of the deficit? In my
poor families. ence and Technology and Pub-
While nobody questioned lic Works and Highways.
the purpose of CCT, the big- Pork Barrel for Big Landlords
gest concern was its poten- Another controversial pork “The decision to provide additional pork
tial for massive corruption. barrel — called “agrarian re- barrel to the congressmen was seemingly
In objecting to the increased form subsidy” — is the P4-
CCT allocation, Gloria was billion allocation to the ad- made to placate a number of them who
c o n c e r n e d a b o u t t h e g o v - ministration’s ally, Akbayan threatened to block the passage of the
e r n m e n t ’s “ l a c k o f r e a d i - party-list. Akbayan would
ness.”  Indeed, without an ef- dole out the money to big national budget on grounds of 'unequal
fective control mechanism, it farmer groups like Hacienda
would be so easy to lose track Luisita in Tarlac and the 11
budgetary allocations,' due mainly to former
of the flow of money, a situ- huge estates in Negros Occi- president and now Rep. Gloria Macapagal
been aware of. cle, Eduardo “Danding” Co- Arroyo’s humongous DPWH 'pork barrel.'”
President’s pork barrel juangco Jr.
Another questionable “pork But Akbayan insisted that
barrel” was the P15-billion al- the pork barrel was intended
location inserted in various to “provide support to inf r a - used her influence when she opinion, yes, it could have
departments as Public-Pri- s t r u c t u r e s , a g r i c u l t u r a l was president to make sure been trimmed down or com-
vate Partnership Fund (PPP).  support and credit to agrar- that her district would get pletely eliminated. The
Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Col- ian reform communities, and a lot of projects funded by Aquino administration could
menares commented: “These new farmer beneficiaries of “multilateral lending agen- have removed pork barrel al-
huge amounts for such a the extended land reform cies” from Japan and South locations that weren’t need-
vague general item as ‘public- program.” However, peasant Korea.  “What we discovered ed at this time.  The country
private partnerships’ is dan- leaders said that “only big is while she was president, needs to get back on its feet
gerous because it is a lump landlords and foreign agri- she [Arroyo] had contract- and recover from the havoc
sum amount and we do not business groups engaged in ed with foreign aid agencies wreaked by the corrupt Ar-
know where this will go. As a production of export crops to be able to funnel over the royo government.
general rule budgets should and who control and dictate next few years billions of pe- With pork-barrel spending
not have lump sum amounts the operations of ARCs will sos into the 2nd district of reaching record high num-
as these are not only un- benefit.” They believed that Pampanga. Sinabi ni [Pub- bers in 2011, our elected offi-
transparent but also sources the P4-billion fund for Ak- lic Works Secretary Rogelio] cials would be pigging out on
of corruption.” bayan was in exchange for Singson kahapon, he’s help- barrels of pork for the entire
Anakpawis Rep. Rafael Akbayan’s support of the less kasi his hands are tied, year while the “poorest of the
Mariano piggybacked on Col- P21-billion funding for CCT. kasi these were committed by poor” are suffering from hun-
menares’ comment saying Mother of all pork foreign aid agencies like the ger and poverty.
that the Department of Agri- But the biggest recipient Japan International Cooper- That is not reform. That,
culture has a P5-billion lump of pork barrel in Congress is ation Agency and the Korea sadly, is status quo of a cor-
sum allocation for a PPP proj- no other than Gloria, who for Development and Coopera- rupt government.
October 30 - November 5, 2010 THE FILIPINO PRESS 27

AsiAn AmericAns & PAcific islAnders

S T a n d w i T h
president obama
and
S T a n d w i T h
d e m o c r at s
who are fighting to grow the american economy,
extend middle-class tax cuts, support small
businesses, and boost creation of jobs and
expansion of new industries.

vote democrat
november 2nd
S o w e c a n c o n T i n u e To
move america forward

2 0 1 0 . d e m o c r at s . o r g
T e x T 2 0 1 0 To 6 2 2 6 2

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THIs COMMUNICATION Is NOT AUTHORIZED BY ANY CANDIDATE OR CANDIDATE’s COMMITTEE.
28 THE FILIPINO PRESS October 30 - November 5, 2010

Create and support Neighborhood Councils that will bring needed

city services to solve problems unique to your community; pot holes,
speeders, abandoned cars, drug dealing or graffiti.
Establish an economic development plan that creates livable wage
paying jobs for National City residents and also invites people from
throughout the county to visit and spend in National City.
Develop and implement a comprehensive crime prevention
plan that promotes neighbor-policing strategies, after school activities that
include recreation activities, homework centers, and anti-drug and crime
If you want to know what programs for our youth.
Louie has done for the Filipino
community, ask anybody from Bumuo at suportahan ang pangkomunidad na konseho na
the Filipino-American Senior magbibigay ng kinakailangang serbisyo na tutugon sa mga problema sa
Association. inyong komunidad tulad ng; mga butas sa kalsada, mabibilis na mga
sasakyan, mga bawal na gamut at iba pa.
Bumuo ng planong pangkabuhayan na magbibigay ng hanap buhay
na may sapat na sweldo para sa mga naninirahan sa Lungsod ng National City
at anyayahan ang ibang mamamayan na bumisita sa Lungsod.

Bumuo at ipatupad ang malawakang plano ukol sa pagsugpo

ng krimen na nagtataguyod ng pagbabantay-komunidad, mga gawain
pagkatapos ng eskwela kabilang na ang iba pang mapaglilibangang Gawain,
sentro para sa mga takdang aralin at pagsugpo ng krimen na nauugnay sa
bawal na gamut para sa mga kabataan.

Committee to Elect Natividad for City Council 2010

(619) 434-6633 • natividad4citycouncil@gmail.com
Campaign ID #1329154