Maniolas

Teresa P. Magno LOS ANGELES – A female deputy district attorney prosecuting the most violent gang-related crimes in Los Angeles County – and whose father was an anti-Marcos activist – has become the first elected Filipino-American judge in the LA Superior Court. Teresa P. Magno, 43, was officially declared as judge-elect of the LA Superior Court – the largest trial court in the United States – after the Registrar’s Office certified the election results on Monday (Tuesday in Manila). She will begin her term in January 2015. The first Fil-Am judge in the US, LA Superior Court Judge Mel Recana, gained a Los Angeles Municipal Court seat in 1981 by appointment. Magno is the court’s first elected Fil-Am judge. “There is no doubt in my mind that Ms. Magno could hit the ground running, said Judge David Milton, Magno’s predecessor. “She has the experience, intellect, temperament, sense of responsibility and perspective to set aside the prosecutor’s hat and don the black robe.” Milton retired February this year and endorsed Magno, who ran last month against Songhai Armstead for LA Superior Court Office No. 97, the seat vacated by Milton. Student leader Born and raised in the Philippines, Magno migrated to the US in 1987 when she was 16 years old. Magno became a student leader at the University of California Los Angeles, where she pursued her undergraduate and law degrees. She was president of her graduating class in law school. Magno’s fellow student leader at UCLA, Cerritos Mayor Mark Pulido, congratulated the incoming Read More …

MATTHEW Lee Guthmiller, 19, waves to welcomers after landing in the country. Heaims to set a world record and raise funds for computer students. RICHARD A. REYES MANILA, Philippines–Surely it takes guts to fly a plane solo across the globe—and at only 19 years of age. The American teenage pilot who is attempting to make it to the Guinness World Records as the youngest person to circumnavigate the world alone, Matthew Lee Guthmiller, reached the Philippines on Tuesday afternoon, making a three-day stop here before flying on to Australia. Guthmiller, a student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), was given a warm welcome by officials and employees of aviation products supplier Varace Air Corp. and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) as soon as he landed his Beechcraft Bonanza A36 in Pasay City. The American pilot arrived at 5 p.m., an hour later than expected as he had to go around a thunderstorm on his way from Kuala Lumpur to the Philippines. As soon as he got out of his aircraft, the bespectacled Guthmiller flashed a smile and waved to waiting photographers and television crew. “This is the best reception I’ve gotten so far. It’s quite amazing. I did not expect this much,” he said. MIT freshman A freshman at MIT majoring in electrical engineering and computer science, Guthmiller got his private pilot’s license on his 17th birthday. He embarked on his record-breaking journey on May 31, with San Diego, California, as the start-off point. He flew Read More …