Pinoy WW II vets allowed to reunite with children in America

 News
Aug 032015
 
Pinoy WW II vets allowed to reunite with children in America

Arturo Caleda, A Filipino WWII veteran, showing a picture of him with his family [via NBC News] Filipino World War II veterans can now reunite with their children when a new Obama administration immigration policy takes effect. The policy will allow Filipino World War II Veterans to bring their family members to work and live in the United States. In the Final Visa Modernization Report publicized by the White House, the new plan called “parole policy” will permit children of the Filipino WWII veterans who are currently in the visa backlogs to come to the U.S under a parole status by requesting a parole- an immigration tool that “allows individuals to come to the U.S. for a temporary period of time on a case-by-case basis based upon urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit.” This new parole policy, which will be headed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with the cooperation of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the Department of State, is a product of Visa Modernization Task Force, an interagency group created by President Obama last November as a part of his executive actions in improving the U.S. immigration system. Asia Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC), a non- profit organization also contributed in the attainment of the reunification program by submitting a report last month of detailed recommendation on modernizing the legal immigration system including the granting of parole to the children of Filipino WWII veterans. 91-year-old Arturo Caleda, a Filipino WWII veteran residing in Read More …

Former energy chief credits Aquino for cutting down corruption in gov’t

 Entertainment
Aug 022015
 
Former energy chief credits Aquino for cutting down corruption in gov’t

By Abner Galino Part of the administration anti-corruption drive, according to the energy secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla, was President Aquino’s efforts to put the right people on key government posts. Petilla said this during a news conference with the members of the Fil-Am media in Los Angeles. An hour or two before President Benigno Aquino III could deliver his sixth and last State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday (Philippine time), his former energy secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla spoke to the media here in Los Angeles and credited his former boss for cutting down corruption in the government. “I could vouch for (him) on that,” Petilla said, adding that the proof of the success of President Aquino’s anti-corruption drive can be seen in the budget that the government was able to generate. “The numbers that we have is 3 trillion and then you have money for armaments. Yan ang mahirap badyetan eh, defense. Without sacrificing DepEd (Department of Education). Baka naman wala nang matira for DepEd. And of course, debt servicing,” Petilla explained. Part of the administration anti-corruption drive, according to the energy secretary, was President Aquino’s efforts to put the right people on key government posts. Although, he clarified that while not every choice of the president was perfect, they were generally well thought of. These appointees, Petilla said, were mostly drawn from the private sector and were people “who do not need jobs” and instead “sacrificed” to join the government and serve the people. “We don’t need Read More …

The Olympic golds we never had

 Entertainment
Aug 022015
 
The Olympic golds we never had

By Abner Galino Special Olympics Philippine gymnasts Tanya, Althea, Jovelyn and Sheila were hugging and shedding tears of joy with their coaches and I was clicking away, capturing the moments with my camera. The emotions passed on from the lens and travelled deep inside me and I suddenly found myself genuinely celebrating with them – even if I just met them at that very moment. I guess the emotions were there because they were fellow Filipinos, or perhaps because I am a parent and I could have felt the pride and joy of the mothers and fathers of these kids. Weird, but a scene from Two and a Half Men popped out of my head shortly after waving goodbye to them. Remember? When Charlie came to Jake’s soccer game and asked his brother about the game’s score? And Alan said they were not keeping score, which of course, horrified Charlie and minced no words in declaring how ridiculous an idea it was. Charlie’s point: You take out the scoring part in a game and you take out the fun part of it. Or, you take out the scoring part of the game and you take out the competition part of it. I can’t remember the actual line. But Charlie must have blurted: Are you out of your freaking minds? Humor, of course, cannot be expected to be philosophically perfect. My take on it: You play the game for whatever little cause it was worth to you. For Tanya, Althea, Jovelyn Read More …

Another look at trust corporations

 Economy
Aug 022015
 

(Second of two parts) In our July 13, 2015 column, we looked at some of the general features of a trust corporation, as well as some of the recent changes that were introduced by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on the requirements under BSP Circular No. 710. We now continue with other considerations relating to the establishment of trust corporations.

 Older Entries  Newer Entries