Maniolas

Photo above shows former President Fidel V. Ramos with Consul General Leo Herrera-Lim and members of the Board of Directors of the Filipino Veterans Foundation at the Bob Hope Patriotic Hall. Los Angeles – Former President Fidel V. Ramos meets with Filipino-American World War II Veterans at the Bob Hope Patriotic Hall in downtown Los Angeles on U.S. Memorial Day, 26 May 2014. Former President Ramos is also Chairman of the Honorary Advisory Board of the Filipino Veterans Foundation in Los Angeles. The event started with a program where he delivered his keynote address.  This was followed by a Q&A with the veterans and a photo opportunity session where refreshments were served. In the WWII Veterans meeting with former President Ramos they raised their difficulties in claiming their pension benefits from the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO) due to the process of confirming yearly that they are alive.  They also voiced their concerns over denied lump sums in the US and problems with Philippine pensions. Former President Ramos concluded a meeting with the US Veterans Affairs over inefficiency in serving veterans.  He strongly urged Filipino-American WWII veterans and their advocates to continue lobbying to include Medical Portability Act that would allow US medical recipients to use their government-subsidized health benefits in the Philippines.

The series of disasters that shook the county in 2013 were described as “successive and overlapping” and left billions of dollars in damages and thousands of families  grieving because of the loss of loved ones. Typhoon Yolanda, easily the most disastrous calamity of the year, may go down in history as the worst natural disaster and the strongest typhoon in history to make a landfall has left devastations that will take years to recover from and billions of pesos to return victims to normalcy, if it were ever possible. The losses left deep emotional wounds that would take years to heal. Typhoon Santi might have already escaped the memories of many ranks second which “tore into the country’s northeast east in the last quarter of last years and left its mark”. It was not as widely reported as Typhoon Yolanda because the earthquake that hit the province of Bohol, the number 5 on the list, overshadowed it. Then came Labuyo, which was overshadowed by Typhoon Maring , the fourth on the list, which wreaked havoc on the country’s already devastated agriculture and infrastructure sectors. Earthquakes are nothing new in the Philippines and certainly the Bohol earthquake was the most devastating in living memory to have damaged dozens of ancient heritage structures and not sparing even the famous Chocolate Hills. Then there was Typhoons Odette, the second most devastating next to Yolanda and Typhoon Vinta which battered Northern Luzon “just as the Filipinos everywhere were preparing for all Soul’s Day.” Despite Read More …

By Atty. Henry Moyal MOYAL & MOYAL Canadian Immigration Lawyers (screenshot courtesy of www.moyal.com) Q. I live in New York and I have visited Canada several times. I am in the process of applying for my USA greencard but I am worried that it may take too long leaving me with nothing at the end. Can I apply for Canadian permanent residence at the same time as my pending greencard application? A. Yes, there is nothing in the law that stipulates that you cannot apply for permanent residence in Canada if you have a pending immigration case in another country. Regarding the timing, it is something you will need to decide for yourself. Meaning, on average a permanent resident application takes approximately 12 months. I do not have the specifics of your greencard case. If you obtain Canadian residence and the greencard application is still pending you will need to find out from the USA immigration authorities what will happen to the application. Q. I arrived in Canada a few weeks ago. I consider myself to be highly educated and an asset to any company. I am planning to relocate to Canada and I have been in contact with some companies who are interested in hiring me. They have stated that they will employ me but only if I have a work permit or if I am a permanent resident of Canada. On the other hand, my elderly aunt requires a full time caregiver and some people have told me Read More …

MANILA, Philippines – Unilab has a gift for all Filipino moms: Hey Mom!, an online portal specifically designed to be a resource for moms to access and exchange relevant information that will help in their everyday parenting tasks. The online community also wishes to foster a sisterhood among mothers. Hey Mom! provides mothers with knowledge on a wide variety of topics: pregnancy, childbirth, nutrition, raising kids, taking care of themselves, and more. It contains stories from friends — Filipino moms who speak from experience and are sincerely there to help. It is a community so diverse that moms are bound to find a friend who they can share different parenting techniques with, parenting statuses, and many other parenting stories. Articles for all types of moms — expecting, new, and experienced — will be available in the portal. Moms are free to express their own opinions on the topics and share their experiences in the website through the comment boxes.  “Mothers are naturally hungry for information when it comes to parenting and their children but because information is readily available on the Internet, it can get confusing for moms. We also want to acknowledge that there is no single rule when it comes to parenting. What worked for one mom may not necessarily work for another and this where Hey Mom! can help,” says Mildred Manansala, Unilab assistant media manager for Hey Mom. Adding to the uniqueness of Hey Mom! are the mom personalities who contribute to the website: former model/VJ Read More …