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(Story on page 2)

Volume 2, No.12 Published twice in a month May 16-31, 2011

Fil-Am kills wife, her pal, then himself

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It’s a case of murder-suicide,say San Jose (California) cops

(continued on page 12)

ASIAN HERITAGE MONTH CELEBRATION. The Filipino Isang Binhi Choir sings ‘God Bless the US’ to kick off a program highlighting the celebra-tion of the Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. The event was held last May 18 in the Capitol building in Lansing. Governor Rick Snyder was the guest speaker. Related story on 0. (Photo by Tack-Yong Kim)

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CHICAGO -- Three people, two of them believed to be Filipino Americans, were shot and killed last May 10 in a parking garage of the San Jose State University in Northern California, university officials said.

The victims were identified as Marcory Tarlit Caliguiran, 25, student; her husband, Napoleon Lavarias Caliguiran, 54; and her classmate, Thomas “Kyle” Williams, 26.

Pat Lopes Harris, spokesperson of the university, said Marcory Caliguiran and Thomas Kyle Williams were honor students, who were about to graduate with accounting

Doctor-reporterairs concern over

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Filipino Star News Michigan May 16-31, 2011

Pacquiao-Lagman verbal fight entertains other solons, Pinoys

In a sense, Filipinos are lucky for having a Congress that occasionally provides free, top-quality entertainment to the public. And this bonus benefit the people derive from their legislators seems to have been enhanced with the election of world’s boxing icon Manny Pacquiao as congressman of Sarangani Province in Mindanao.

Last week in the supposedly august halls of the House of Representatives,

MANILA — Despite the threat of being charged with sedition, Roman Catholic prelates have challenged President Benigno S. Aquino III to put them all in jail.

“He can put us all in jail. We are willing to pay the price to save the un-born from modern Herods and save the executioners from the grasp of the evil one,” Lipa Archbishop Ramon Cabre-ra Arguelles said in an article posted on the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

LAS VEGAS SUMMIT. New Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Cuisia Jr. (2nd from right) poses for a souvenir photo with some delegates to the NaFFAA (National Federation of Filipino-American Associations) Summit held in Las Vegas, Nevada on May 13-15, 2011. Among the delegates in photo are NaFFAA-Michigan Chair-person Willie Dechavez (right), Emraida Kiram (2nd from left) and Jerry Clarito.

Pacquiao, whose exciting boxing bouts are first-class, pay-per-view entertain-ment all over the world, stood to clash with Rep. Edcel Lagman of Albay in what was supposed to be a heated de-bate on the controversial reproductive health (RH) bill.

Lagman, author of the RH bill, is a veteran legislator who is noted for his excellent skills and acerbic tongue as a

Bishops challenge PresidentAquino to put them all in jail

The former military ordinary said President Aquino sounded like former President Ferdinand E. Marcos when his mother Corazon C. Aquino called for civil disobedience.

“What happened to his mother’s terrorist and his father’s tormentor?” said Arguelles.

Sorsogon Bishop Arturo Bastes is also willing to be put behind bars for his opposition to the RH bill.

“Let him charge all of us bishops,

SC Justice Morales acceptsnomination as Ombudsman

MANILA — Supreme Court (SC) Justice Conchita Carpio Morales, who is set to retire next month, has accept-edy her nomination as the Philippine Ombudsman.

Justice Morales, who administered the oath to President Aquino, wrote the SC decision that gave the House of Representatives the go-signal to proceed with the impeachment of Om-budsman Merceditas Gutierrez.

But the impeachment proceedings failed to start at the Senate when Guti-errez resigned last May 6.

With her resignation, the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) opened the ap-

plication and nomination for the post of Ombudsman which has a fixed term of seven years under the Constitution.

Justice Morales was nominated by Beda Fajardo, president of the Uni-versity of the Philippines Law Alumni Association Class 1968; retired Judge Dolores Español, chairperson of the Transparency International Philip-pines; and retired Judge Leticia Sablan, president of the Women Lawyers’ As-sociation of the Philippines (WLAP) Inc.

Aside from Morales, other appli-cants and nominees for the Ombuds-man post are former Solicitor General Frank Chavez, Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) national chair and La Salle University-College of Law Dean Jose Manuel Diokno, Court of Appeals Associate Justice Portia Aliño Horma-chuelos, Deputy Ombudsman Apostol Pelagio, Judge Amelia Infante, Judge Divinagracia Ongkeko, former Justice Secretary Artemio Tuquero, former Ambassador Roy Señeres, Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Chief Kim Ja-



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Friday the 13th is a lucky dayMANILA — Friday the 13th is not

an unlucky day after all. A 68-year-old man, a resident of

Quezon City (QC), got a most pleasant surprise when Friday the 13th and his dream aligned perfectly on Saturday (May 13), resulting in a P28,773,365.40 jackpot bonanza for him from the Lotto 6/42 of the Philippine Charity Sweep-stakes Office (PCSO).

PCSO General Manager Jose Ferdi-

nand M. Rojas II said it was the second time a bad omen turned out instead to be a “lucky charm” for lotto bettors.

He was referring to the Ormoc City (Leyte) winner of P43,017,157.80 from Mega Lotto on May 13, a Friday, and the senior citizen of Quezon City, who dreamt on the evening of that day of six numbers which he bet on for P10 for the Saturday draw of 6/42 and won the


May 16-31, 2011 Filipino Star News Michigan

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The Filipino-American Commu-nity Council (FILAMCCO), the um-brella organization of Filipino-Amer-ican associations in Michigan, is now preparing for the holding of the an-nual Kalayaan (freedom) Festival on June 11 at Helmich Park on 13 Mile Road, Warren.

FILAMCCO President Van Ong said at least 30 organizations have al-ready registered to participate in the festival which will mark the celebra-tion of the Philippine Independence Day.

A committee was created to handle the holding of the festival, a tradition that was started in the 1980s. Busi-nessman Robert Dionisio was ap-pointed by the FILAMCCO board as chairman of the committee.

Ong said that this year’s edition of the Kalayaan Festival will be high-lighted by the traditional parade of organizations under FILAMCCO,

parade and presentation of the candi-dates for Mrs. Philippine-Michigan, march by Knights of Rizal members from Windsor, cultural numbers and speeches.

Ong said the focus of this year’s Kalayaan Festival is the 150th birth anniversary of Philippine National Hero Jose P. Rizal.

Ong said he expects more people to join this year’s festivities, announcing that even non-FILAMCCO groups or non-Filipinos are welcomed to attend the event.

Dionisio said there will be a lot of food during the festival which will formally start at 11 a.m. He said that so far, groups have committed to do-nate eight “lechons.”

Each of the 30 groups that have signed up for festival will have their own table.

He said that before the program,

Kalayaan Festival set June 11;30 Fil-Am groups to participateThe 2011 Health and Wellness

Fair held last May 21 at the Philip-pine-American Community Center of Michigan (PACCM) on Northland Park Court, Southfield benefitted at least 200 people, it was reported.

Most of the beneficiaries belong to low-income families and have no health insurance. Many of them are se-nior citizens and new immigrants.

(See related photos on page 8.)The 2011 Health and Wellness Fair,

a yearly project, was conducted by PACCM in collaboration with DMC Huron Valley-Sinai Hospital, DMC Si-nai-Grace Hospital, Wayne State Uni-versity, Pediatric Consultants of Troy, Filipino-American Community Coun-cil, Philippine Nurses Association of Michigan, Far Eastern and American Nurses Association of Great Lakes, Michigan chapter of the National Fed-eration of Filipino American Associa-tions, State Farm and other health-care

groups.The fair benefitted not only Filipi-

no-Americans but also Chinese folk who trooped to the PACCM. Many of them arrived as early as 8 a.m. or one hour before the start of the free clinic.

At 10 a.m., PACCM was a packed house as the beneficiaries waited for their turn to be attended to by the vol-unteer doctors, nurses and other health personnel.

The volunteers included nurses, students, FILAMCCO officers, execu-tives and businessmen who assisted the patients and helped in the regis-tration and recording. Tess Tchou and Becky Tungol coordinated the work of the volunteers.

Dr. Ernestina Mac, PACCM chair-person, was elated to see the big turn-out of patients who availed themselves of the free medical services. She thanked the volunteers and the doc-

PACCM’s Health and WellnessFair 2011 benefits 200 people



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Fil-Am student graduates cum laudeFilipino-American

Danmar Domingo graduated cum laude during commence-ment ceremonies held last May 7 in the Ford Community and Per-forming Arts Center in Dearborn.

He finished his as-sociate degree in nurs-ing at the Henry Ford Community College.

Danmar has been a consistent honor student since he enrolled in In-

ternational Philippine School in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Always belonging to the top of his class, he had gar-nered trophies, medals and merits in different academic contests such as the spelling and sci-ence “quiz bees.”

He graduated sa-lutatorian from grade school at the Loren-

zo Ruiz de Manila School in Cainta, (continued on page 13)

Danmar Domingo


His Excellency Jose L. Cuisia Jr., Philippine Ambassador to the US, was the luncheon speaker at the National Federation of Filipino-American Asso-ciations (NaFFAA) Summit at Bally’s Las Vegas Hotel and Casino in Nevada on May 13-15, 2011.

The newly appointed ambassador thanked the NaFFAA members for their advocacy that benefits many Fili-pino Americans.

He urged the attendees to support the SAVE Act. He admired Filipino community leaders who are working hard for national empowerment and recognition.

He urged the participants to be aware of government issues and to have active involvement and participa-tion in the discussion of these issues.

It was a nice gesture on the part of the ambassador to grace the national gathering of Filipino American com-munity leaders. This made us feel that he fully supports projects and advoca-cies benefiting the Filipino community

National NaFFAA Chairperson Ed Navarra presided over the three-day conference with the goal of politi-

Willie D. Dechavez, Ed. S.

A clearer visionfor NaFFAA

BUILDING BRIDGES cally educat-ing NaFFAA members and coming up with an stra-tegic plan on how to go about it.

The key officers and

members of the board of directors tried to formulate programs, strategies, short- and long-term goals and a clear-er vision of NaFFAA’s mission.

In my capacity as NaFFAA’s na-tional director for development, I reit-erated the need to identify a project that would be undertaken on the national level, sources of funding for projects and ways on how to tap local funding sources and grants.

Several topics were also discussed during the summit. These included strengthening state and regional chap-ters, fund-raising initiatives, youth ini-tiative and proposed amendments to NaFFAA’s constitution and by-laws.

Ryan Rosario, one of NaFFAA Michigan’s delegates, invited the at-tendees to join the National Empower-ment Conference set in Detroit, Michi-gan during the Filipino Heritage Month in October, 2012.

Rosario presented a video of the proposed national conference venue, which is the Marriott Hotel in down-town Detroit.

He also cited many tourist attrac-

Doctor-reporter raises concernsover Michigan’s aging population

Dr. Frank McGeorge, medical re-porter of WDIV TV and senior staff physician of the Henry Ford Hospital’s Emergency Medicine, raised concerns over Michigan’s aging population and asked business people to come up with more facilities, products and services to cater to the needs of the elderly.

Doctor McGeorge, a Chinese-American, was the guest speaker at an affair marking the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Asian Pa-cific American Chamber of Commerce (APACC). The well attended event was held last May 21 at the Royal Park Hotel in Rochester Hills.

McGeorge said that the aging-population phenomenon has come as a result of “the incredible strides in medicine” that have enabled people to live much longer. “This is not just an

American phenomenon as it is happen-ing across the globe,” he said.

He recalled that in the 1960s when one had a heart attack, “there was noth-ing that you could do” to save the guy. Today, he noted, “we can really make people live longer and better.”

And because of the incredible medi-cal progress in the last few years, he said, age is now “a relative thing.” Peo-ple’s life span, he noted, has become much longer since the 1900s.

For example, he said, the average life span in 1900 was 47 years, and in 1950, 57 years. “If you are now 65 years old, you are expected to live up to 77 years old.”

There’s a need to do something about the “aging society,” he said, and this means we will have to build more


Filipino diaspora is an integralpart of God’s plan, pastor says

Almost all pastors are eloquent and can preach for hours before spell-bound audiences. They are blessed with the gift of tongue that enables them to spread effectively the words of God.

But among all the pastors we’ve met here in Michigan, Pastor Jeffrey Staples of the Harvest Christian Inter-national Church seems to stand out due to his unique way of endearing him-self to people. And he has endeared himself particularly to the Filipino-Americans in the Metro Detroit area. In fact, he has the distinction of having established (in 1997) a new church in Michigan with 90 percent of its initial membership composed of Filipinos.

Pastor Jeffrey, who grew up in up-state New York, is well loved by Mich-igan Pinoys not only because he’s mar-ried to a Filipina but also because he knows a lot about the Philippines and its people. Hearing him talk about the Philippines, we get the impression that he’s more Filipino than many Filipi-nos.

We cannot help but be amazed by his deep knowledge of and observa-tions about the country of 7,100 is-lands, which he visits every year. He likes the Filipinos and is impressed by their innate capability to get along well with all almost kinds of people.

He says that if a national survey (continued on page 13)

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Daphne Kwok, chairperson of Presi-dent Obama’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (ACAAPI), said APIA Vote’s efforts aimed at empowering Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are paying off.

She foresees that Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders “will be the mar-gin of difference in elections throughout the nation.”

Kwok reported on the activities of APIA Vote when she spoke at an Asian-American leaders’ gathering held last May 17 at Centaur on Park Ave., Detroit. She was introduced by Sook Wilkinson, chairperson of the Michigan Asian Pa-cific American Affairs Commission.

Hosted by APIA Vote-Michigan headed by Stephanie Chang, the event

APIA Vote’s mission is now paying offhonored Kwok for her appointment as ACAAPI chairperson.

Kwok, a Chinese American, was one of the leaders who organized APIA Vote in 1996.

In a brief interview, Kwok told the Filipina Star News that since 1996, APIA Vote has already covered a lot of grounds in its efforts to give Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders a strong political voice. She also noted that more and more Asian-American leaders are being elected or appointed to key positions in the government.

On the possibility of making Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders as a potent voting bloc, she said that in the last presidential elections, this group of

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The first Fil-Am newspaper in Michigan!Michigan’s only bi-monthly Asian newspaper in English!

Fil-Am Bi-Monthly distributed FREE every 10th and 25th of every month in Michigan.

Editor-- TONY A. ANTONIOAdvertising/Business Manager -- PERCY ANTONIO

Circulation Manager -- ROMMEL PANISAds Solicitors -- TADEO HUBAHIB, WILLIE DECHAVEZ, ED NAVARRA, ED GUEVARRA and ROMMEL PANIS

RP Correspondents -- BENJIE MURILLO, MARVYN BENANING, CHANDO MORALLOS and CESAR PERANTE

Contributing Artist -- JOSEPH ALVIN TIBUDANContributing Photographers -- RICHARD TALABAN, REY DE LOS REYES and JOSEPH ALVIN TIBUDAN

Editorial Consultant -- FABIAN OCAMPO

[email protected](734) 624-2349/(734) 968-1893

Editorial

Filipino Star News accepts contributions from anyone who may want to share their opinions, stories and news articles. All articles submitted to Fili-pino Star News are those of the authors’ opinions and do not constitute our endorsement nor reflect the views of the editorial staff. Filipino Star News does not warrant or assume any legal liability or responsibility for the content and opinions expressed therein by the authors/writers. All articles are subject to editing to comply with the editorial policies of the paper.

Merciditas resortsto ‘sayonatsi’

Tony Antonio

In the street-corner Tagalog jargon, there’s a word to describe the action of people running away from a fight. It’s “sayonatsi” – which is the acronym for “sa iyo na ang tsinelas ko (my slippers are yours).”

The guy retreating from a fight takes off his pair of slippers, drops them, tells hastily his foe “my slippers are yours” and runs away. He has to get rid of his slippers because with his bare feet, he can run faster.

“Sayonatsi” describes aptly the scheme adopted by Philippine Om-budsman Merciditas Gutierrez who resigned from her post shortly before an impeachment trial against her was about to begin in the Senate. It was a scheme to avoid the impeachment hearings.

I was disappointed with Merciditas because I was hoping to watch a to-to-toe battle. Earlier, she appeared defiant and unfazed. She had announced her intention to fight to the finish. But in the end, she turned around and did a “sayonatsi.”

The impeachment hearings could have subjected her and her family to endless embarrassment and ridicule. But she has avoided it by resigning, and

now she is think-ing that she can have a peaceful, quiet life away from the madding crowd.

But she is terri-bly wrong. Many people will not let her have peace

of mind until she answers for her rank malfeasance in office and other sins that resulted in unwarranted delay in the disposition of hundreds of graft cases filed with the Office of the Om-budsman during her term.

Merciditas should not be allowed to get away until she is punished. Presi-dent Noynoy Aquino should put her behind bars to warn other government officials that he means business in his campaign against graft and corruption. People still remember his election-campaign slogan, “Kung walang cor-rupt, walang mahirap.”

He should have no mercy on Mercid-itas. She should be jailed for making a mockery of the judicial system and for ignoring the maxim that “a public of-fice is a public trust.”

She is widely perceived as an ally, if not an “atsay”(lackey), of former Pres-ident Gloria Macapagal Arroyo who appointed her as Ombudsman despite the fact that she is a lawyer with a lack-luster record.

Many people – like Riza Hontiveros and Frank Chavez -- dislike Mercidi-tas not because she is closely associ-


Cartoon by Joseph Alvin Tibudan

Multiculturalism: It’s easier said than doneThe state government of Michigan has declared this month (May) as

Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. The declaration was done through Senate Resolution No. 49 authored by State Senator Hoon-Yung Hopgood.

Meanwhile, the Michigan Asian Pacific American Affairs Commission (MAPAAC) and other groups have come up with programs marking the ob-servance of the Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

MAPAAC headed by Chairperson Sook Wilkinson presented last May 18 in Lansing a program that featured cultural numbers and speeches advocat-ing cultural diversity or multiculturalism as part of American society.

The performance presented by the Filipino group showcased Philippine and Hawaiian cultures, highlighted by the singing by the Isang Binhi Choir of the “Star Spangled Banner” and “God Bless the US.”

Last May 6, also in celebration of the Asian American and Pacific Is-lander Heritage Month, the Council of Asian Pacific Americans staged the “Splendor of the East 2011,” a show that paid tribute to the different cultures of Asia.

The purpose of all these activities is to develop appreciation of the Asian American heritage. These are also intended to promote multiculturalism with the end in view of making all Americans embrace all cultures in their midst.

The celebration should also compel us to assess our efforts aimed at multiculturalism. And in evaluating our efforts, we may pause to ponder on the following questions:

How far are we from the goal of establishing a society that wholeheart-edly accepts multiculturalism? Have we discarded our prejudices and conde-scending attitude towards people with cultures and traditions different from ours? Or are we now comfortable living or working with people belonging to other ethnic groups?

The truth of the matter is that achieving multiculturalism or cultural di-versity, despite the many pledges of commitment, is easier said than done.

American history is replete with stories about cultural clashes and racial discriminations. In his book entitled “A Different Mirror: A History of Multi-cultural America,” Ronald Takaki noted the struggles of the immigrants who landed in Hawaii and California in the late 1880s and early 1990s.

The Asian immigrants, particularly Japanese, Filipinos and Chinese, were treated in ways different from those of other nationalities, Takaki noted. They belonged to the least priority group in terms of welfare and privileges. The discriminations triggered labor strikes in the Hawaiian sugar cane fields and ugly incidents in California.

These lessons of history should point to the urgency of change in our mind sets on culture and race. An open mind is needed to enable us to discard our prejudices and intolerance to ways other than ours.

But accepting the cultures of others is a highly personalized matter. This means that the changes should start from the individual. So if we are not yet comfortable with people around us, we should now begin the adjustment pro-cess.

BITS AND PIECESLinda Ibarreta

I would like to thank Nor-ma, mother of Malou, who was busy serv-ing and en-tertaining all the mothers and the other

guests.Classic quotations

about mothersFollowing are timeless quotations

taken from Quote Garden:A mother is a person who seeing

there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie. -- Tenneva Jor-dan

Being a full-time mother is one of the highest salaried jobs in my field, since the payment is pure love. -- Mildred B. Vermont

The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new. -- Rajneesh

I remember my mother’s prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life. -- Abraham Lincoln

Some mothers are kissing mothers and some are scolding mothers, but it is love just the same, and most moth-ers kiss and scold together. -- Pearl S. Buck

last May 16, the smug-gling of ex-pensive SUVs (sports util-ity vehicles), c a r n a p p e d vehicles and motorcycles and firearms

through the balikbayan program that has the backing of some Filipino politi-cians had largely been unnoticed.

I hope the House subcommittee on customs chaired by Ilocos Norte (1st district) Rep. Rodolfo Farinas will continue to investigate the smuggling activities “in aid of legislation” to find out if there is a need to review the ba-likbayan program that had been revised several times. Yet there were no safe-guards, and as a result, there have bla-tant abuses and violations of this tour-ism initiative.

In a column I wrote early this year, I stated that some corrupt Philippine Customs officials have been cashing in on the balikbayan program.

Because balikbayan boxes are tax free, the Customs officials have been demanding “grease money” from Fili-pino forwarding businessmen if the forwarders do not want their boxes “in-spected piece by piece.”

The problem is that when the inter-national economy went into a tailspin a

TechnotronicsJ.G.L. EYEMay 16-31, 2011 Filipino Star News Michigan

Joseph G. Lariosa

Balikbayan boxescontain contrabands

CHICAGO -- What started as a tour-ism come-on to lure overseas Filipinos to visit their homeland has grown into a full-blown commercial enterprise that could jeopardize not only the tour-ism and overseas banking industries but also defense industry.

The “balikbayan” (returning Fili-pino) program started by former Presi-dent Marcos in the late 1960s pro-vides overseas Filipinos a chance to keep their ties with their relatives and friends in the Philippines. With the use of the balikbayan boxes, they can send their “padala” (gifts) to the Philippines – that is if they could not visit their homeland.

Some enterprising Filipinos have turned the program into a thriving travel, cargo business, banking (re-mittance) center industries. Because balikbayan boxes are tax-free in the Philippines, the program has spawned profitable cargo-forwarding and mon-ey-transmitting businesses.

But unscrupulous people have also taken advantage of the program. Until the revelation in Philippine Congress

Percy Antonio

Bill Gates’ failedtech predictions

In the past 10 years, there were so much innovations from companies Ap-ple and Google that it seemed like Mi-crosoft is now a just bleep in history.

There’s no denying though Win-dows’ almost omnipresence in the personal computing space. Microsoft came out with DOS in the in 1980s and later with Windows to dominate the personal computer world.

And according to a June 2010 post-ing in the official Microsoft blog site, the software giant sold 150 million Window 7 software licenses in the past eight months, making it by far the fast-est growing operating system.

But the computer technology is quickly shifting to mobile computing. And Microsoft has not dominated this field.

Instead, Microsoft founder Bill Gates issued recently statements that somehow discredit any new technolo-gy invented by any of its competitors.

In 2003, Bill Gates made an antago-nistic statement about Google. He said, “These Google guys, they want to be billionaires and rock stars and go to

c o n f e r e n c e s and all that. Let us see if they still want to run the busi-ness in two to three years.”

I think the visionary Bill Gates lost

his glasses when he made this state-ment. Although Google started out as a search-engine company, it eventually branched out to mobile technology.

Worldwide smart phone sales in 2010 showed that Google has a domi-nating 22.7 percent market share over iPhone, which has 15.7 percent, and Microsoft phones, 4.2 percent.

In 2005, Microsoft founder Bill Gates also made a statement published in a German newspaper. He said, “I don’t think the success of the iPod can continue in the long term, however good Apple maybe. I think you can draw parallels here with the computer — and here, too, Apple was once ex-tremely strong with its Macintosh and graphic user interface, like with iPod today, then lost its position.’

Since iPod’s introduction in 2002, Apple has sold over 300 million units. However, there was a four-million drop in its 2010 sales compared to that in 2009.

So in a way, I can see why Bill Gates (continued on page 12) (continued on page 15)

system is facing possible financial problems as the cost of providing its service to US citizens is rising.

In 2005, Medi-care spent $6,000 per year per ben-eficiary. By 2010,

this rose to $12,000 per year per benefi-ciary, Lachica noted.

“We’re trying to find ways to help solve this,” he said, adding that

the proposal be considered as medi-cal care in the Philippines is less expen-sive.

This is expected to also help Filipino veterans of World War II as well as the estimated 100 Filipino-Americans who retire every day.

“Some of them want to retire in the Philippines. But the Medicare

benefit that they will receive cannot be used there,” Lachica said.

Lachica urged Filipino-Americans to contact their state representatives in the US Congress and ask them to look into the proposal.

Lachica met with Filipino-American Rep. Steve Austria (Ohio) who said he was “very interested in the proposal because of the cost savings.” The con-gressman said he will discuss thepro-posal with the chairman of the House committee that has jurisdiction over the

Eduardo NavarraKEYBOARD BLUES

NaFFAA supports‘portable US Medicare’

Leaders of the National Federation of Filipino-American Associations (NaF-FAA) who participated in the May 13-14, 2011 Summit on political education and strategic planning in Las Vegas, Ne-vada unanimously passed a resolution supporting the campaign for a proposal that would allow the use by Filipino-Americans of US Medicare benefits in the Philippines.

The Summit’s guest speaker, newly appointed Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Cuisia Jr., requested full sup-port for the initiative, which is called “Portable US Medicare.”

The proposal calls for the use of the US government-administered Medicare in the Philippines by eligible Filipino-Americans who are considering medi-cal treatment there, said Eric Lachica, executive director of US Medicare Philippines Inc.

Medicare provides health insurance coverage to US citizens 65 years old or older and others with certain medical conditions. The program covers hos-pital and other medical costs and drug prescriptions by firms within the US.

It was pointed out that the Medicare (continued on page 12)

Mothers’ Day is celebrated every year to honor all moms in the whole world for their hard work and sacrifices to their children.

This is the day that every son and daughter prepare for their moms some-thing special which, they think, makes them happy. The question is: Do the things they receive from their kids make them feel they are loved and cared for?

To us moms who are now in our sun-set years, we do not need so much these material things given to us although we appreciate the gesture. We love so much the hugs and kisses, but what we need more is the kind of love we can feel deeply in our hearts as well as the warmth and respect – both in words and in action.

At this time, all we ask is to feel as if Mothers’ Day is being celebrated every minute of our life. This will certainly make us happy in the last few years of our life.

Before I forget, I would to thank Neil and Malou Postrado for hosting the Mothers’ Day dinner last May 7 in their house. And last but not the least,

Mothers need theirkids’ love, respect


MAPAAC’s Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

Michigan Capitol, LansingMay 18, 2011

Photos by Tack Yong Kim, publisher of Michigan Korean Weekly

PAACM’s Health and Wellness FairPhilippine American Community Center, Southfield

May 21, 2011Photos by Rey De los Reyes

The Isang Binhi Choir sings the US National Anthem. Among those in the audi-ence are Dr. Ernestina Mac and Fe San Agustin..

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder speaks at the cel-ebration.

Comerica executive Rob Carino address the audi-ence

ACAAPI Chairperson Daphne Kwok is the guest speaker.

PACCM’s Hula Dance Troupe dances the ‘Drums of the Island.’

(From left) Iqbal Singh of DTE Energy, State Senator Hoon Yung-Hopgood, MAPAAC Chairperson Sook Wilkinson and NaFFAA-Mich-igan Chairman Willie Dechavez pose for a souvenir photo.

Sook Wilkinson gives a certificate of appreciation to Master of Ceremonies Roop Raj.

MCDR Director Daniel Krichbaum addresses the audience.

Members of the Far Eastern and American Nurses Association of Great Lakes man the skin-cancer screening booth. They are (from left, seated) Dr. Peter Aronson, Van Ong, Luz Cunanan, Angie Bedia and Natie Tuliao. Standing (from left) are Emma Casquego, Dr. Ernie Bedia, Cecilia Espino, Gary Butler, Nora Ong and Len-len Madiclum.

Volunteers Rob Dionisio and Al Thompson pose for a photo outside of the PACC building.

A volunteer masseuse gives a free massage to a patient.

Volunteer doctors and health-care personnel attend to patients taking screening for hemoglobin, cholesterol and blood sugar.


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Philippine American Community Center of Michigan (PACCM)

Requests the honor of your presence

at a Recognition Dinner for 2011 High School and College Graduates

When: Friday, June 24, 2011 Time: 7:00 pm sharp

Place: PACCM Building 17355 Northland Park Court Southfield, MI. 48075 (248) 443-7037

RSVP: Please complete those that apply to you: Name of High School graduating from ______________________________ Name of College /University graduating from ________________________ Degree _______________________________________________________ Date of Graduation: ____________________________________________ Name: _______________________________________________________ Address: _____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ Telephone #: ( ) _________ E-Mail: _____________________________ Parent(s) Name(s)/Guardian: _____________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ Number of guests attending: _______ (limit 4, extra guests $5.00 each) Please provide a short paragraph of 4-5 sentences describing achievements and honors you received as a student: ______________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ Please return this form no later than June 1, 2011 to PACCM or mail to: Billie Go Belen - Chairman 10814 Duprey St. Detroit, MI 48224 313 690 3009 or email :[email protected] For more information, contact: Arcie Gemino (586) 954-9711 [email protected] Rebecca Tungol (248) 755-6119 [email protected] Flor Penner (586) 506-7352 [email protected]

MARRIAGE ENCOUNTER. Members of the Bukas Loob sa Dios (BLD) Marriage Encounter (ME) Class No. 20, members of sponsoring ME Class No. 19 (in white shirts) and BLD leaders pose for a souvenir photo in the compound of the St. Paul’s Passion of the Cross in Detroit, where the ME weekend was held on May 1, 2011. Also in photo is Msgr. John Vargas (center), spiritual director.

CUM LAUDE GRADUATE. Members of the Domingo family and relatives pose for a photo shortly after cum laude graduate Danmar Domingo (5th from right) at-tended the commencement ceremonies held last May 7 in the Henry Ford Commu-nity and Performing Arts Center in Dearborn. From left: Charmaine Baluyot, Kim Baluyot, Dinky Baluyot, Mildred Baluyot, Mary Grace Baluyot (who also gradu-ated), Danmar’s Grandpa Agustin, Mom Mary Jane, Sisters Danica and Djohana and Dad Danny (seated).


Business SectionEntrepreneurship can propelMichigan to progress -- Snyder

LANSING -- Gov. Rick Snyder said the entrepre-neurship spirit can propel Michigan to higher heights of progress.

Speaking at a program marking the celebration of the Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Snyder said entre-preneurship can generate a lot of economic opportuni-ties which can attract more people to Michigan.

The program, which was held last May 18 in the Capitol building here, was jointly hosted by the Michigan Asian Pa-cific American Affairs Commission (MA-PAAC), Michigan Department of Civil Rights and Senator Hoon Yung Hopgood.

At the start of the program, Senator Hopgood presented to MAPAAC Senate Resolution No. 49 declaring May as Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

In his speech, Governor Snyder said that while he was busy these days as he was wrapping up the state budget, he saw to it that he attended the program because there is a need to promote cultural diver-sity.

“We need to continue our dialogue on

culture,” he said, noting that Ann Arbor where he lives is like the UN (United Nations) in the Midwest because of the many nationalities there. “We have to step up to the plate” to address issues like inequity caused by cultural diversity, he said.

Snyder was introduced by Sook Wilkinson, MAPAAC chairperson, who noted ster-ling educational credentials of

the governor. At age 23, Wilkinson said, Snyder had already completed three de-grees – a BA, an MBA and a JD.

In her speech, Wilkinson said the mis-sion of MAPAAC is “to help build Michi-gan into a greater state. To that process, we’re fully committed to promote the full participation of all Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders living in this great state.”

“There has been no other time, more critical than now, when the state needs our contribution of knowledge, talents, exper-tise and network to the effort to build a greater Michigan,” she said.

Daphne Kwok, chairperson of Presi-dent Obama’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders,

Philippine gov’t blacklists 8‘balikbayan box’ companies

The Philippine government, through the Philippine Shippers Bureau (PSB), has warned overseas Filipinos against tapping the services of certain “balik-bayan box” companies which it has blacklisted.

PSB, an agency under the Depart-ment of Trade and Industry (DTI), stat-ed in its website that these companies were found liable for delayed deliv-eries or non-deliveries of balikbayan boxes coming from the US and Middle Eastern and European countries.

These companies were also found to have committed violations of the shipping contracts such as lost freight, overcharging and damaged cargoes. Likewise, these companies were sub-jects of complaints that some valuable items placed in the balikbayan boxes were stolen.

PSB has blacklisted the following cargo companies:

Ace Cargo of Northern and South-ern California and Parañaque City, Philippines; NACA Logistics of Cali-fornia and Illinois; Shipping Express of Chicago; Dagupan Cargo Packag-ing Services of United Arab Emirates; Link Cargo Services of United Arab Emirates; Smooth Express of Dubai; Express SCRL Cargo of Ireland; and Ford Cargo International of Hong

Kong.ACE Cargo is reportedly facing law-

suits filed by customers and agents.Shipping Express located in Chicago

is now out of business. Its office phone has been disconnected, and the office has been vacated by the owner after the building’s leasing manager evicted the company for non-payment of rent.

PSB advises consumers to visit www.dti.gov.ph for a list of accredited cargo companies.

To overseas Filipinos who would like to avail themselves of freight-for-warding services, the PSB urges them to prepare a packing list for balikbayan boxes. It issued the following tips:

• List all items to be included in the box. Indicate the cost of the items, if possible, specially for valuable ones. Make at least three copies of the pack-ing list -- for the shipper, the consoli-dator and the consignee.

• Money and jewelry should never be put in the box or inserted anywhere in the box.

• Have the items in the balikbayan box checked and verified by the con-solidator against your prepared pack-ing list.

• When the box is received by the consignee, check first if there are any

MAPAAC marks Asian American Heritage Month in Lansing

Gov. Rick Snyder


Urges senders to prepare list of items placed in box


be hurt and emo-tionally affected. The two perhaps have an arrange-ment that they can do what please them with-out objection by

both parties.”The latest we heard is that their chil-

dren have knowledge of the plight of their parents so much so they’re ready for whatever circumstances that may come. Talks have it that the couple would eventually announce their sepa-ration. Will the actor disclose his new love?

Singer in staffof VP Binay

Remenber veteran singer-comedian Ric Arellano? He was in the initial group of Filipinos who made a big splash in Last Vegas shows in the early ‘60s. The group included Pilita Cor-rales, Eddie Mesa and Elizabeth Ram-sey. Ric opted to stay for a couple of years in Vegas to work as an employee, a member of the choir of the famous Mandalay Beach Resort and Casino.

Later, Ric who’s known there as Richie became the hotel’s entertain-ment supervisor. Every now and then, he would enplane to the Philippines to campaign for Jojo Binay, his childhood pal.

When he learned that Ric had retired from his job in Las Vegas, the vice president convinced him to be a mem-ber of his office staff.

Years ago, Ric related to us stories about his close friend, the late Rudy Fernandez, and Lani Misalucha. On vacation in Las Vegas then, Rudy felt dizzy while watching a show. Ric and others rushed him to a hospital. For sometime, he was bed-ridden and de-pressed. Lorna Tolentino, Rudy’s wife, prodded Ric to cheer him up.

Ric did his best show antics which held Rudy in stitches. A grateful Lorna hugged Ric for it.

While Ric is with the Makati Tour-ism Office, he recorded an album in Guam where he’s popular too as singer and radio broadcaster for decades. Ric plans to run for councilor in Makati next election.

AJ Perez’slast appearance

As anticipated, the last appearance of the late AJ Perez in the recent epi-sode of “Maalaala Mo Kaya” broke records in the ratings chart.

His performance was A1-act-ing that could give him a best ac-tor award. Viewers, especially the young, cried unabashedly while watching AJ’s scenes.

By the way, his close pals swore they had chilly moments. “Nag-paramdam sa kanila” si AJ. This usually occurs if one suddenly dies, some old folks say.


HOT SHOTSNap Alip

Sharon ignorescriticisms vs KC

Just like in the past, Me-gastar Sharon Cuneta doesn’t give a hoot to what so-called critics of KC C o n c e p c i o n dish out against her daughter.

For Shawie, it’s impossible to please ev-erybody, and some by nature resent others’ glory.

It started when KC unexpectedly appeared in a popular US TV show. Though she was a mere part of the au-dience, KC was called onstage by the host who was probably informed that she’s a celebrity in the Philippines. She was interviewed briefly.

KC impressed the Americans in the audience who applauded her. But some Pinoys were irked by what KC did, criti-cizing her for “trying hard,” “papansin” and

“maarte.” It’s a case of crab mentality.

But both KC and her mom took the comments in stride.

“I’ve always reminded KC to be unmindful of criticisms hurled against her. That’s part and parcel of being in the limelight. So she’s not perturbed at all. At least, she did something to plug our country in that program,” Sharon said.

Showbiz couplefinally split up?

For quite a time, the talks that a showbiz couple are on the brink of separation lingered. But the two have proven the gossip mongers wrong. They are still together under one roof, displaying no discord to each other. In fact, often they are seen together in so-cial functions.

Why then the rumors snowball up to this date? Well, it could be attributed to the fact that some of members of their households relayed to others inside in-formation such as the actress doesn’t mind the actor’s womanizing ways. In turn, he allegedly feels not a bit jealous to his wife’s painting the town red with male friends.

To quote one guy close to them, “parang pakitang tao na lang ang pasasama nila. So that their kids won’t

Tuluyan na ngang nawa-la sa ere ang show ni Wil-lie Revillame na “Willing Willie” sa TV5 dahil sa kinasangku-tang “child

abuse” issue ng programa.Pero mga ka-chika, huwag kay-

ong malumbay sapagkat mayroong bagong programa na ipapalit rito, at ito ang “Wil Time, Bigtime.” Upang maiwasan na mangyari muli ang isyung child abuse ay gumawa na ng mga patakaran ang TV5 ukol sa “child rights’ protection.”

Syempre bongga ang ginawang launching ng show noong May 14, at ang time slot nito ay 6:30 ng gabi. Maraming bago at mas masasaya ang mga games na napapanood, at dahil dito kinalabog nito ang game shows ng ibang TV network. At bagong teknolohiya na ang ginagamit nila sa kanilang studio, kaya’t mas nakakaa-liw panoorin.

Kasama pa rin sa bagong programa bilang main host ang pilit na inuugnay ng mga tsismosa kay Willie na si Kon-sehal Shalani Soledad ng Valenzuela.

Maraming mga kababayan natin ang natuwa sa muling pagbabalik ni Willie sa television dahil ang buong akala nila ay hindi na ito makakabalik. At dahil dito muling nabigyan naman ng pag-asa ang mga kababayan natin sumusubaybay sa kanya, lalo ang mga taong hirap na hirap sa buhay at um-aasa na minsan ay mabiyayaan sila ng swerte sa programa na hatid ni Kuya Wil.

Kaya’t congratulations sa iyo, Kuya Wil!

Jennylyn and Luisexclusively dating!

Heto ang isa sa mga showbiz up-dates na nakakagulat dahil napakabi-lis ang mga pangyayari. A few weeks ago, nabalitaan natin ang paghihi-

walay ng mga Kapuso talent couple na si Dennis Trillo at Jennylyn Mercado.

Namuo ang pagmamahalan

ng dalawa dahil sa pinagsamahan nilang teleserye sa Kapuso Network na remake ng “Gumapang ka sa Lu-sak.”

Ang latest update ay ikinagulat ito ng mga tsismosa dahil parang nahuli sila sa tsismis. Wala naman kasi na-ririnig sa umpokan sa kanto ukol sa nagkakalabuang relasyon ng dalawa. At biglang nabalitaan na nagkahiwa-lay na nga sila.

At ngay-on may na-ririnig tay-ong ulat na ang anak ng “Star for All Season” (Vilma San-tos) na si Luis Manza-no na isang Kapami lya talent ay madalas na-kikitang kasama ni Jennylyn Merca-do na isang Kapuso talent.

Noong una, walang gustong mani-wala sapagkat parang imposible na isang Kapuso talent at Kapamilya talent ay magkaroon ng ganitong ug-nayan. At isa pa, wala naman silang ginagawang show or project.

Kaya deadma ang mga tao sa tsis-mis, pero ng aminin ng bonggang bonggang TV host na si Luis na “they are dating exclusively” ni Jennylyn, na-shock ang madlang people, lalo na ang mga tsismosang nahuli sa balita.

Paano daw nangyari? Well, heto ang kwento: Magkasama pala sila sa isang taekwondo training at doon naging close ang dalawa. At umigting ito nang magkahiwalay si Jennylyn at Dennis.

And take note, naipakilala na ni Luis si Jennylyn sa kanyang nanay na si Batangas Governor Vilma Santos. Oh, di ba? Bongga at ang bilis ang pangyayari!

Well, ang importante dito ay masa-ya ang dalawa maski magkaiba sila ng network. Walang kokontra!

Chikahan tayoChristina Antonio

‘Willing Willie’ out,‘Wil Time Bigtime’ in

Willie Revillame

Sharon Cuneta

Jennylyn Mercado

3866 E. 13 Mile Rd.Warren, MI 48092(Corner of Ryan & 13)

(586) 558-8550(586) 219-6183fi [email protected] lipinasoriental.com

Money RemittanceBalikbayan Box Drop OffGroceries

Filipinas Oriental FoodFilipino Food Carry-out & Dine in

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KC Concepcion


J.G.L. Eye...few years ago, some cargo forwarders can no longer come up with the grease money for the Customs officials. Also, the forwarders can no longer apply for loans from banks to cover their over-head and come up with the stash money pool demanded by Customs officials.

And a Chicago-area cargo forwarder got a pleasant surprise when he ran out of money to “bail out” his container of balikbayan boxes kept by Philippine Customs authorities. One of its custom-ers pressed the forwarder into releasing his boxes from the Philippine Customs because they are loaded with “US gov-ernment military-issue equipment or items” destined for Mindanao.

The forwarder asked a list of the contents from the sender “as we would need to present it to the Philippine Cus-toms for proper declaration.” He made the request on April 25, 2011 but has not heard from the sender as of this writing.

I asked the balikbayan box sender, who appears to be a U.S. enforcement officer, if these “US government mil-itary-issue equipment or items” were cleared with the US government be-fore these were loaded in balikbayan boxes.

He told me the “US military equip-ment” are actually “my flight uniforms, manuals, books, military awards and achievements, and so there is no need for special forms or permissions/decla-rations.”

I told him transporting US military equipment should be a government-to-government transaction. He should get first clearance “through channel” with

officials of the Visiting Forces Agree-ment or US and Philippine Customs.

If military equipment can be freely packed in balikbayan boxes like the “disassembled cars” and firearms, loading “disassembled” nuclear weap-on and illegal drugs into these boxes would not be far behind.

The US enforcement officer told the Chicago forwarder that he had sent 39 balikbayan boxes shipped from Palos Hills, Illinois to the Philippines on Nov. 27, 2010 and paid $1,965 cash and the “personal belongings” inside the balikbayan boxes have been “sit-ting in Manila Customs/Port since Jan. 31, 2011.”

The forwarder involved has stopped receiving new balikbayan boxes from customers as he struggles to raise mon-ey to pay for the Philippine Customs “dues” that will let him take the balik-bayan boxes out of the Customs ware-house before these are sold at public auction.

As a consequence of the anomalies, changes in the program are expected. If there are changes, chances are that the senders would no longer be paying fees of from $45 to $85 per balikbayan box. They would be paying the same fees as those charged by the US Post-al Service, Federal Express or UPS. These could come up to about $700 per balikbayan box.

And there would be a longer deliv-ery time as each content of the balik-bayan boxes would be inspected piece by piece to screen firearms, chopped-up car parts and other expensive car-goes.

Fil-Am kills wife...degrees from the San Jose State Uni-versity.

It was reported that Marcory Cali-guiran and Thomas Williams were sitting in a car at about 8:37 p.m. on May 10 when Caliguiran fired several at them from outside the car.

Then Caliguiran turned the gun on himself, police said.

Two of the victims died on the spot, while the third was taken to the Santa Clara County Valley Medical Center but was declared dead on arrival.

At about 8:37 p.m. on May 10, the police office of the San Jose State University and the San Jose Police Department received reports about gunshots heard on the fifth floor of the 10th Street Parking Garage.

When the SJSUPD and the SJPD of-ficers arrived at the scene, they found three people with bullet wounds.

Because it did not appear to be a random shooting or gang-related, po-lice investigators were considering the

incident as a murder-suicide case.A gun was found at the scene, and

there was no suspect arrested.The investigators were trying to de-

termine the motive behind the shoot-ing. They were looking into the pos-sibility that it was a case of domestic violence.

Marcory Caliguiran, known as “Cindy,” might have given Williams a ride home, said a professor and fac-ulty adviser of an honors organization whose members included Cindy and Williams.

It was reported that there was no romantic relationship between the two as Williams was reportedly devoted to his wife, Katie.

Harris said, “There was a great feel-ing of sadness” when she announced the identities of the victims.

She said school officials were working closely with family members, including those of Marcory Caliguiran in the Philippines.

Bishops challenge...priests, religious, all the faithful with sedition,” he said

“It is better to obey God rather than men and immoral laws,” Bastes added.

Cotabato Auxiliary Bishop Jose Collin Bagaforo and Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo agreed with Bastes. “We obey God rather than man,” Baga-foro said.

“In the end, we must obey God and not man,” Lagdameo said, stressing the need for both sides to be calm, reason-able and “consider the moral aspect of the issue.”

Last Friday, President Aquino said inciting to sedition charges may be filed against anti-reproductive health activists who threatened not to pay their taxes if the RH bill is enacted into law. (Manila Bulletin)

cinto Henares, Assistant Solicitor Gen-eral Renan Ramos, lawyers Alfredo Agawa, Ernesto Francisco, Raymundo Francisco, Harry Roque, Marlon Man-uel, Howard Calleja, Felix Carao Jr., Francis Jardeleza, Abdullah Mama-O, Gerard Mosquera, Rodolfo Robles, and Florencio Villarin. (Rey Panaligan, Manila Bulletin)

SC Justice Morales...

debater. Pacquiao, on the other hand, is a neophyte solon who has little expe-rience in how to argue and explain his views. Nevertheless, he was not intimi-dated by his much older, experienced opponent.

To the credit of Lagman, he did not go all-out to knock out Pacquiao in the debate for he was aware of the lack of the latter’s debating skills. He just used kids’ gloves, so to speak. What was re-markable about Lagman was his sense of humor which he nonchalantly em-ployed in the verbal tussle.

Stepping to the lectern to debate with Pacquiao, Lagman said, “I am now ready to rumble…” He said this in a baritone voice, which is reminiscent of Michael Buffer.

“I promise you that I will not keep running away like Shane Mosley,” he said, drawing laughter from the other

Pacquiao-Lagman verbal fight...solons and the people in the gallery. Even Pacquiao himself could not help but had a good laugh.

But the entertainment did not end there. This time, the comic relief was courtesy of Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago and Pacquiao’s mother, the in-creasingly popular Mommy Dionisia.

Earlier, Miriam had criticized Pac-quiao for supporting the Catholic Church’s opposition to the RH bill. She urged the world’s best boxer not to in-volve himself in the issue and asking him to concentrate on what he does best – boxing.

Probably thinking that Pacquiao was being dealt rudely by the irrepressible lady senator, Mommy Dionisia ran to the rescue of his famous son. In a tele-vision interview, Mommy Dionisia hit back at Miriam and challenged her to a fight.

But Miriam, who is noted for her many ugly feuds with other lawmakers, uncharacteristically backed out. Asked to react to Mommy Dionisia’s chal-lenge, she told a TV reporter, “magha-hanap na lang ako ng ibang kaaway (I may just well look for another foe).”

It was a wasted opportunity. The tooth-and-nail fight would have pitted a “palengkera” against another “palengk-era.” Sayang!

matter.Another legislator he met was Rep.

Jim McDermott, who is a member of the House ways and means health sub-committee. McDermott’s Seattle dis-trict has a high percentage of Filipinos, Lachica noted.

Lachica said the two-year campaign which formally started with the group’s formal incorporation last April will re-quire a feasibility study and extensive coordination with hospitals in the Phil-ippines.

Keyboard blues...

was the guest speaker. She cited success of the efforts to empower politically Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, noting that more and more Asian American lead-ers are being elected and appointed to key positions in various government levels. (See related story on Page 4.)

Other VIPs who delivered brief remarks were Iqbal Singh of DTE Energy, Rob Ca-rino of Comerica and Dr. Ernestina Mac, chairperson of the Philippine American Community Center of Michigan (PAC-CM) and MAPAAC commissioner.

In her remark, Mac said, “I am honored to celebrate with you Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month and com-mitting my support for ‘Global Michi-gan.’” Quoting Lee Greenwood’s song “God Bless America,” she said, “I am proud to be an American, at least I know I am free.”

During the program emceed by Fox 2 News reporter Roop Raj, the Filipino contingent presented entertainment num-bers. The Filipino group was led by Willie Dechavez, MAPAAC commissioner and chairperson of MAPAAC’s event com-mittee.

The Isang Binhi Choir sang the US Na-tional Anthem and “God Bless the US.” The choir members are Gemma Goodrid, Jennie Mae-Sanson and Jeanne Borro-meo, sopranos; Edna Encabo, Nida Jara-millo and Rose Drum, altos; Rodel En-cabo and Alex Jaramillo, tenors; and Aler Suan, Yul Solon, Ray Bugante and Carlito Carriaga, bass.

The PACCM’s Hula Dance Troupe led by Flor Penner and Minnie Morey danced the “Drums of the Island.

Entrepreneurship can propel...


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June 6, 2011

tors who “wholeheartedly helped the patients.”

The services included choles-terol, sugar-level and blood-pressure checkup, carotid Doppler examination, glaucoma screening, back pain test (chiropractic), skin cancer test, elec-trocardiograph (EKG), bone-density measurement, dental checkup, physical therapy, massage therapy and doctor’s consultations.

Among the doctors who extended their free services to the patients were Doctors Efren Platon, Isidro Almeda, Roberto Barretto, Rosemarie Aquiller-Angeles, Rudyard Dimsum, Peter Aronson and Orlando Sison.

Interviewed by the Filipino Star News, Doctors Barretto and Almeda, who provided free consultation servic-es, said the most common illnesses of the patients were high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high blood sugar level and diabetes.

They advised the elderly patients with high blood pressure, high choles-terol and high blood sugar to exercise

PACCM’s Health and Wellness...

there will be four-against-four volley-ball competitions to be participated in by at least 12 teams.

Dionisio said there will be vendors’ fair booths which will be rented out at $50 each. He also said that souvenir T-shirts will be on sale at $10 each.

The co-chairman of the Kalayaan

festival committee is Al Thompson, while the chairman of the entertain-ment committee is Willie Dechavez. In charge of allocating the vendors’ booths is Ryan Rosario.

The selling and drinking of beer and other alcoholic products are banned during the festival.

Doctor-reporter raises concerns...

or walk at least 30 minutes every day. They also told the patients to take no-cholesterol meals and have their medi-cal checkup every month.

They noted that elderly Asian people are predisposed to have these illnesses “because of the food we eat.” They likewise noted that most of the time “we are not in the preventive mode, and we act only when we are already suffering from a disease.”

On their commitment to provide free professional services in the yearly PACCM’s health fair, the two doctors said that what they are doing is “a great, fulfilling experience.” Most of the Fil-ipino-American doctors, they said, are supportive of PACCM’s health-care programs.

Volunteers and patients alike were treated to a free lunch by PACCM.

Some of the patients were thankful to PACCM and the volunteers, saying they really benefitted from the wide range of medical services. “This is a great help to me and my wife,” said Roman Ibarreta of Rochester Hills.

Kalayaan Festival set...

nursing homes and assisted-living fa-cilities for the elderly.

As people grow old, they have weak bones, and some facilities and pro-grams are needed to prevent accidents involving old folks, he said.

He even suggested to the automo-bile industry to redesign cars to ease the difficulty encountered by old peo-ple when they get in and out of vehi-cles. Perhaps, car seats may have to be titled out a bit, he said.

McGeorge also talked about how he grew up in Chicago in the care of his Chinese mother. (His American fa-ther died he was still very young). Like other Chinese mothers, he said, his mom was so strict when it came to his

schooling.He said that he belonged to a class of

gifted students and that he had to study very hard. The secret of his success, he said, is that he had outworked anyone else. There are many things “you can-not control but you can control how your work hard,” he said.

After his speech, McGeorge was given a certificate of appreciation by APACC Chairman Peter Wong.

Another highlight of the program which was emceed by R. J. King was the presentation by State Senator Hoon-Yung Hopgood of a Michigan state resolution commending APACC for being at “the center of the reinven-tion of Michigan in the last 10 years.”

P28.77-million windfall at stake.The senior citizen, a retired em-

ployee, told PCSO officials he dreamt of the numbers 05-07-12-15-26-35 on May 13th and bet on it the next day, the PCSO official said.

And the numbers came out in the draw for 6/42 last May 14.

Rojas said earlier that Friday the 13 being unlucky is a mere superstition. “To some, it is a lucky day,” he said.

The PCSO official said the 6/42 winner and the winner of May 10 Super Lotto 6/49 jackpot of P17,260,099.20 (plus an additional P57,000 for getting also the prize for five correct numbers), claimed their prizes last May 16.

Rojas, concurrent PCSO media manager, said the agency’s manage-

ment led by Chairperson Margarita P. Juico is equally happy for the 54-year-old Nueva Ecija farmer, who has been betting on birth dates and anniversaries for a long time and finally hit the jack-pot in the May 10 draw with one of his three bets for P60 as he got the combi-nation 01-13-18-22-26-46.

Lawyer Lauro A. Patiag, manager of Internal Audit Department (PCSO-IAD), stated in his report that the senior citizen plans to buy a house-and-lot, a passenger jeepney, invest in a business and save some.

Patiag said that understandably, the Nueva Ecija farmer has in his mind buying his own farm and continue be-ing a worker of the soil. (Edd Usman, Manila Bulletin)

Friday the 13th is...Rizal, Philippines.

He also excelled in high school and had been at the top of his class from first to third year. In his senior year, he was fully recognized by his instructors, classmates and peers as a good role model and an effective leader. He was elected president of his class and the student government.

He graduated cum laude from high

school at Woodhaven High School, Michigan in 2007. He received HFCC and MEAP scholarship grants for his hard work.

His parents are Danny and Mary Jane Domingo. His siblings are Djoha-na, Danica, Dayanarra and Diana Jane. Danica is Miss PBA-Michigan 2010. The family lives in Wayne County.

Fil-Am student graduates...

tions in Detroit that the delegates may enjoy and may visit nearby Windsor, Canada after the three-day conference.

The Las Vegas conference ended with a clearer NaFFAA vision, reener-gized participation in its programs and projects and a more committed mem-bership. These would help us a lot as we go forward in meeting the goals and objectives of NaFFAA.

Building bridges...

in the US is to be conducted on who among the various nationals Americans feel most comfortable with, he is bet-ting the Filipinos would top the polls.

Pastor Jeffrey observes that Filipino workers are all over the world, saying that one reason for this is that “they can easily acculturate to any place.” And he believes that the Filipino diaspora is an integral part of God’s grand design. He says that in the realm of the spiritual, “there are no accidents and coincidenc-es.”

He says that his marriage to his wife, Nena Staples (nee Rivera), a nurse who hails from Binalbagan, Negros Occi-dental, is in God’s scheme of things. He relates a love story very different from the usual courtship-wedding sequence, believing that Nena is God’s gift to him and vice versa.

Pastor Jeffrey, who took his theo-logical training in Rochester, New York, also loves to help the less fortunate. He is very much aware of the problems of poor children in the Philippines, and he is visibly excited while talking about his plan to help street kids in Davao City.

His plan calls for him and his wife Nena, who is also a pastor, to build in 2015 a large house in Davao City in which he will shelter the street urchins and teach them Christian values. He will bring the bright ones to the US where they will attend school.

On the reason why he picks Davao City as the place of his mission for chil-dren, he says the city is beautiful and is blessed with a lot of sea food, fresh meat, fruits and flowers. (The only thing

he doesn’t like about Davao is the smell of durian.)

The pastor, who was born to a well-to-do family in New York, seems to have all the dough he needs for his charitable activities. And he subscribes to the maxim that the more you give, the more you receive. He is confident that when the time comes, God will provide the money.

On money, he says: “Make money not your god, but your servant.” Al-though he admires Filipinos with three or more jobs that enable them to make a pile of money, he cautions them against overdoing it.

He says the reason for this work at-titude is that they had experienced hard-ship due to poverty and they don’t want to undergo again the same suffering. The trouble, he says, is that they are overdo-ing it at the expense of many things, in-cluding their health and the welfare of their children.

Pastor Jeffrey, who is a fast talker, recalls that once he delivered a sermon that lasted for 12 hours. He is capable of being a marathon preacher because he does not run out of nuggets of wisdom and inspirational messages to share with his audience.

A bibliophile and keen observer of human affairs, he has given us interest-ing information more than we can chow. And it was difficult to part with Pastor Jeffrey because he has an endearing, charismatic personality.

Yes, in several ways, this American pastor is more Filipino than many Fili-pinos. (Tony Antonio)

Filipino diaspora is an integral...


SportsArum on Pacquiao-Marquezfight: It’s almost a done deal

LOS ANGELES — Aided by a law-yer, Juan Manuel Marquez looked over the fine print of the documents presented by Top Rank at the Beverly Hills Hotel last May 17 and liked what he saw.

Apart from the guaranteed purse of $5 million and a share in pay-per-view sales, Marquez had probably thought the opportunity to face Manny Pac-quiao on Nov. 12 for the third time is enough reason to sign his name above the dotted line.

Hall-of-Fame promoter Bob Arum said Marquez had met with his step-son Todd DuBoef, Top Rank presi-dent, and that as far as Marquez is concerned, all signs point to a rubber match that will take place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas later this year.

“Marquez is here and going over the contract,” said Arum.

Marquez travelled all the way from Mexico City to this city after learning that his promoter Golden Boy Promo-tions (GBP) was unable to match Top Rank’s mouth-watering offer for him to fight Pacquiao.

Under the contract presented to the 37-year-old Marquez, he will receive a $10-million paycheck and a generous cut in the pay-per-view in the event a fourth fight is made between the bitter rivals.

While Pacquiao has also figured in a rivalry with two other Mexican greats – Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera – the 32-year-old Filipino and Marquez have a business to settle.

Pacquiao and Marquez fought to a disputable draw the first time they met in 2004, and the outcome of their re-match in 2008 ended in another con-troversy even though Pacquiao was awarded a split decision.

With the business end of Marquez already taken care of, Pacquiao has yet to formally accept the proposal of Arum, said the fighter’s business man-ager and adviser Mike Koncz.

Arum said he will not issue an of-ficial announcement anytime soon “because Michael (Koncz) has to bring over the documents to the Phil-ippines.”

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Rubber match to be held on Nov. 11 in Las Vegas

MANILA — The possibility that Filipino telecommunications ty-coon Manny V. Pangili-nan would invest in NBA team Sacramento Kings in the future gained positive feedback after his group met some offi-cials of the city the other day in Sacramento.

The meeting was not actually in the schedule of Pangilinan’s group, which included top executives Ricky Vargas, Al Panlilio and Patrick Gregorio, Talk ‘N Text coach Chot Reyes and Meralco mentor Ryan Gregorio.

In a statement, Pangilinan said that “upon the encouragement of the city of Sacramento,” they met the city of-ficials.

The mayor of Sacramento is former NBA superstar Kevin Johnson.

Pangilinan explores possibilityof investing in Sacramento Kings

“The purpose was to explore the possibility of forming an investors’ group which may be in-terested in investing in SK,” said Pangilinan, who owns several busi-nesses in the country as well as in Hong Kong.

The meeting took place last week. Pang-

ilinan’s group was ac-companied by former

Sacramento King Chris Webber, who recently visited the country as part of a group that played against PBA players in an exhibition game.

The Maloof family, led by brothers Joe and Gavin, owns 80 percent of the shares of stocks of Sacramento King. It had agreed to stay in Sacramento for one more season, delaying the plan to transfer to Anaheim, California. (Way-lon Galvez, Manila Bulletin)

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Last Filipino pool hope faltersMANILA — Carlo Biado’s amazing

run came to an end last May 16 when he suffered a 9-5 loss to China’s Fu Jianbo in the semifinals of the World 10-Ball Championships at the World Trade Center in Pasay City.

Playing in the semis for the first time in a high-level tournament, Biado suc-cumbed to extreme pressure, missing several easy shots early, thus allowing his Chinese rival to take the initiative that saw him surge to a commanding 8-1 lead.

But Biado, who barged into the semis with a 9-4 win over the world No. 2 Dennis Orcollo the night be-fore, made things interesting when he won four straight racks to pull within 8-5. But it proved to be his last gallant stand.

Fu lost, however, to little-known Heidji See of The Netherlands in the

finals, 11-8.With his win, See, who idolizes

Efren “Bata” Reyes, pocketed the top prize of $60,000 – his birthday gift for himself. He will turn 30 on May 30.

See, born to Chinese parents, leaned on a strong start then fended off a late surge by Fu, who pulled to within 8-7 after the 15th rack. (Jonas Terrado, Manila Bulletin)

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ated with Gloria but because she had sat on many graft cases. The inaction on the cases caused the wheel of jus-tice to grind to a halt, thereby allowing many corrupt officials to stay in office and continued to abuse the powers of their positions. She had grown insen-sitive to the plight of many aggrieved parties who were clamoring for justice to be served.

One case in point was that of dis-missed Manila police captain Rolando Mendoza who held Hong Kong tour-ists hostage in a bus at the Luneta in 2010. The hostage-taking resulted in the killing of several tourists and the hostage taker. It also tarnished the im-age of the Philippines as a tourist desti-nation and incurred the ire of the Hong Kong people.

During the negotiations for the re-lease of the hostages, Mendoza de-manded that Merciditas act immedi-ately on a motion he had filed with her office in connection with the case that caused his dismissal from the service. He claimed he had filed the motion a

few months back, but the Ombudsman had not acted on it despite his letters appealing for prompt action. He re-sorted to the hostage-taking to draw the attention of the authorities to the long delayed disposition of his mo-tion.

Despite the literal life-and-death situation, Merciditas appeared uncon-cerned. She told Mendoza over the phone that she was not aware of the motion he had filed with her office. This statement prompted a panel that investigated the hostage-taking to in-clude her in the list of people whom it recommended to be charged in court.

This particular incident demon-strated the ineptness, callousness and malfeasance of Merciditas. And for this reason alone, the House of Repre-sentatives did the right move when it impeached her.

After she was impeached, she ap-peared defiant and vowed to fight to the finish. But in the end, she took off her slippers and ran away.

She can run… but she cannot hide.

Plain Rice...

Technotronics...made the statement after looking at the new smart phones and tablets PC that came out in the past two years.

MP3 players are now incorporated into the newer mobile devices, and the demand for these that play only music (and video) is declining fast.

But Apple and Google also foresaw this. That’s why Apple came out with the iPod touch (and now the iPad), and Google with the Android phones and tablets.

And as far as I know, Microsoft came out with nothing to compete with

these products. Instead of making these almost

comical statements, I think Bill Gates should just put on his thinking cap and face squarely his competitors. I think this 55-year-old multi-billionaire has still gas left in his tank to outwit the competition.

Otherwise, as the consumers move to mobile computing, we can see Win-dows sales start to dwindle quickly. And it’s not far-fetched to say that eventually, Microsoft may just be a thing of the past.

US citizens supported many candidates of the Democrats.

In her speech, she commended APIA Vote-Michigan for its excellent work, saying “we have used APIA Vote-Michigan as our model partner.” She announced that APIA Vote-National’s goal is to replicate the APIA Vote-Mich-igan’s program in the other 49 states.

“We are so pleased that Stephanie Chang has joined as an APIA Vote (Na-tional) board member,” Kwok said.

Kwok recounted how APIA Vote came into being. She said it was estab-lished in 1996 when she was with OCA (Organization of Chinese Americans). “In that year, we realized the elections were upon us,” she said, and OCA noted there was no government effort to con-duct registration of voters nationwide.

“OCA and our colleagues, primarily (members of) the Asian Pacific Ameri-can Labor Alliance, scrambled to pull a national effort with barely any fund-ing,” she said. After the elections, the group realized that “we can’t be mobi-lizing our community once every four years during presidential elections,” she recalled.

She said it was decided that “we need to be doing this critical voters education work every day of the year.” Later, APIA Vote was formed.

Kwok reported that a convention was held recently in Washington, DC and participated in by APIA Vote’s partners from Oregon, Hawaii, Texas, Nevada, Ohio and Michigan. In that meeting, it was agreed that in 2011-2012, APIA Vote will continue “the grassroots train-ing, to be the clearing house of infor-mation and work to clean up the AAPI voters database.”

She likewise talked about ACAAPI which she chairs. “The commission is comprised of 20 AAPI community leaders from all over the US and its ter-ritories,” she said.

The commission is part of a White House initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders which is led by Executive Director Kiran Ahuja and her team based in the US Department of Ed-ucation, she also said. “Our counterpart is a federal agency working group – 23 agencies. Leading the overall initiative are co-chairs Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.”

At present, the commission’s priori-ties are focused on jobs/economy, edu-cation and xenophobia.

“Bullying in schools,” she added, “is of great concern as AAPI students from Sikhs to Southeast Asian students have been the targets of harassment.”

APIA Vote’s mission...

indication of pilfering. Open the box in the presence of the person who deliv-ered it and check if the items are com-plete as indicated in the packing list.

• Immediately inform the consolida-tor of any missing or broken items.

• Make sure that the forwarder/con-solidator’s delivery agent in the Phil-ippines is duly accredited with the PSB. You may call the PSB at (+632) 751.3304 / 751.0384 locals 2512 and 2513.

Philippine gov’t...Koncz said he was told by Pacquiao

to remain here (LA) until he gets the lowdown on the contract for the Mar-quez fight from Arum himself.

Koncz said Pacquiao had given him “the parameters” before the boxer left for the Philippines last week.

Still, ringsiders believe that a deal is already in place and that Arum will make an announcement as soon as he gets the go-signal from the Philippines by next week.

Pacquiao is amenable to facing Marquez for the third time, having told the media before he beat Shane Mosley last May 7 that Marquez is an attractive opponent.

“About eighty percent,” answered Pacquiao when asked what is the like-lihood of a third tussle with the Mexi-can counter-puncher.(MB)

Arum on Pacquiao...

Sandigan acquits ex-mayor Joey MarquezMANILA — The Sandiganbayan Sec-

ond Division acquitted Wednesday actor-comedian and former Parañaque Mayor Joselito “Joey” Marquez of graft charges over alleged overpriced brooms (walis-tingting).

Associate Justice Samuel Martirez penned the 27-page decision that also dismissed the same cases against against Marilou Taneal, former city accountant; Flocerfida Babida, city budget officer; Ofe-lia Caunan, OIC General Services office;

Ailyn Romea, headstaff of the Office of the mayor; and Realina Ty, a private individual and owner/proprietor of REAL Trading, a business firm registered with the Bureau of Domestic Trade and Industry.

Second Division justices acquitted the former Paranaque mayor after the Su-preme Court (SC) reversed the September 2009 ruling by the Sandiganbayan Fourth Division, which found him guilty in several criminal cases involving the purchases by the City of Parañaque of “walis tingting.’’


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