Same sex US fiancée visa petitions now OK – but beware of scammers

 News
Aug 012013
 
Same sex US fiancée visa petitions now OK – but beware of scammers

No Limitation By Ted Laguatan 12:06 am | Friday, August 2nd, 2013 Last month, the US Supreme Court decided that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is unconstitutional. Essentially, DOMA was a federal law that defines a legal marriage as that between a man and a woman. By striking it down as being unconstitutional, this meant that laws in various states allowing same sex marriages are now considered legal. This major US Supreme Court decision has far-reaching ramifications. For all practical and theoretical purposes, same sex spouses will now be treated legally as similar to opposite sex spouses. They will have the same legal benefits and liabilities as opposite sex spouses. For example: Real or personal property, acquired during marriage, generally becomes community property (unless the source of the acquisition funds is identified and recognized as separate property belonging to only one of the spouses). The debt of one party generally also becomes community debt with some exceptions. Issues re social security benefits, pension rights, insurance coverage, widow or widower benefits, estate inheritance, etc. – are all affected. Shortly after the US Supreme Court decision, US Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano issued a directive that henceforth, same sex spouses will have the same benefits under the US immigration laws as opposite sex spouses. For example: Immigrant visas can now be filed by US citizens for their same sex spouses; Those entering the US on nonimmigrant working visas or investors’ visas can  also now include their same sex spouses as their Read More …

Were Filipinos ‘aliens’ in the US?

 News
Jul 312013
 
Were Filipinos ‘aliens’ in the US?

Global Networking By Rodel Rodis 2:31 pm | Wednesday, July 31st, 2013 Joe Alfafara The last time I spoke with Joe Alfafara was at the funeral of the mother of his life partner, Anita. I had known Joe for more than 20 years but that lunch conversation, which turned out to be our last, was our most expansive in years. We talked about his life, and about his father, Isidro, and about his uncle, Celestino, both of whom immigrated to the US in 1929. Joe died quite suddenly of a heart attack on June 23, one month shy of his 66th birthday, and we never did get to finish our discussion about his Uncle Cel whom he greatly admired. He was going to search for photos of his uncle who died in 1989 at the age of 90. I promised him I would one day write about his uncle’s historical achievement. So here it is, Joe. Celestino Alfafara is celebrated in Filipino American history lore as the man who won “the California Supreme Court decision allowing aliens the right to own real property.” In the most recent conference of the Filipino American National Historical Society in Albuquerque, New Mexico in June 2012, “The Legacy of Celestino T. Alfafara” was the focus of the plenary on “Fighting Anti-Alien Property Laws”. Before Alfafara, the only way Filipinos could own property in California was if they collectively purchased it in the name of their fraternal organizations like the Caballeros de Dimasalang the Gran Read More …

Pals raising fund to repatriate Pampanga nurse slain in US

 News
Jul 242013
 
Pals raising fund to repatriate Pampanga nurse slain in US

By Tonette OrejasInquirer Central Luzon 6:32 pm | Wednesday, July 24th, 2013 MANILA, Philippines–The friends of a Filipino nurse who was shot and killed Saturday as he rode his car to work in Memphis, Tennessee, began raising money to bring his remains back to the Philippines, his aunt in Angeles City said on Wednesday. Angelina Geronimo said the body of her nephew, Eraño Catap Santos, 33, could not yet be brought home because the investigation has yet to be completed. “There are no suspects yet,” Geronimo said of the probe in the United States. A report from ABC News Radio (http://abcnewsradioonline.com/memphis-news/) cited witnesses as telling investigators that Santos “was shot during a physical altercation” in the parking lot of the Stonebridge Crossing Apartments. The report said Santos’ vehicle was seized. Geronimo said Santos’ friends are raising $10,000 (P432,200) to bring him home for a burial in Angeles City. Santos, a bachelor and the youngest of four siblings who were orphaned at an early age, started working in Tennessee in May last year. “He was kind, quiet and had many friends,” Geronimo said. RELATED STORIES OFW remittances up by 6% to $2B in April 3 OFWs come forward to complain of abuse  Solon wants PH, Taiwan to make up for OFWs’ sake Follow Us Recent Stories: Complete stories on our Digital Edition newsstand for tablets, netbooks and mobile phones; 14-issue free trial. About to step out? Get breaking alerts on your mobile.phone. Text ON INQ BREAKING to 4467, for Globe, Smart Read More …

Trayvon through Filipino eyes (Zimmerman could have been us)

 News
Jul 232013
 
Trayvon through Filipino eyes (Zimmerman could have been us)

Kuwento By Boying Pimentel 1:28 am | Wednesday, July 24th, 2013 SAN FRANCISCO – I got mugged by a black teenager 10 years ago. I was walking down a street when a young man came up to me and pulled out a gun. PHOTO/RIC ROCAMORA I gave him my wallet, and he walked away. I wasn’t hurt, but it was a scary experience. But looking back, I was glad it happened when it did. That’s because by then, I was just a tad better informed, a tiny bit wiser. By then, I had been working for more than a decade as a reporter for a big city newspaper in the US, covering crime and court cases, some of them involving African Americans. But by then, I also had learned about US history, had read books and watched documentaries about the struggles against racism and prejudice, for social justice and civil rights, had listened to the stories and insights of friends and acquaintances who took part in those battles. In other words, by then, I knew, more or less, the context of what happened to me. In many ways, it was the same context President Obama talked about when he finally spoke publicly about the verdict in the Trayvon Martin case. “I did want to just talk a little bit about context and how people have responded to it and how people are feeling,” he said. When Trayvon Martin was shot, Obama had said the young man “could have been my Read More …

US military officers in PH for series of talks

 News
Jul 232013
 
US military officers in PH for series of talks

By Frances MangosingINQUIRER.net 6:01 pm | Tuesday, July 23rd, 2013 MANILA, Philippines – Ranking United States military officers are in the country for a series of Mutual Defense Board-Security Engagement Board (MDB-SEB) talks. The contingent from the US is led by Major General Gregg Sturdevant, chief of Strategic Planning Policy (J5) of US Pacific Command. “Dumating sila dito para makipag-meeting execom [executive committee] para planuhin yung mga activities na gagawin next year,” Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin told reporters at Camp Aguinaldo, when asked to confirm about the visit of the US officials. (“They arrived here for execom meeting to plan out next year’s activities,” Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin told reporters at Camp Aguinaldo, when asked to confirm about the visit of the US officials.) Gazmin said the talks will tackle humanitarian activities and military drills between US and Philippines including Balikatan, which is usually planned one year ahead. Both the delegates of the PH-US will participate in the talks at Camp Aguinaldo from Wednesday until Friday. RELATED STORIES:   US Secretary of the Navy meets with PH defense, military officials   ‘Rebalancing’ of US forces in PH tackled by Gazmin, US defense official     Bigger US military role in Philippines sought   Follow Us Recent Stories: Complete stories on our Digital Edition newsstand for tablets, netbooks and mobile phones; 14-issue free trial. About to step out? Get breaking alerts on your mobile.phone. Text ON INQ BREAKING to 4467, for Globe, Smart and Sun subscribers in the Philippines. Tags: Defense Read More …

PH expects to be lifted from US air blacklist

 News
Jul 182013
 
PH expects to be lifted from US air blacklist

Agence France-Presse 7:52 pm | Thursday, July 18th, 2013 FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines expects to be removed from a US air safety blacklist this year, opening a lucrative market for its carriers, an aviation regulator said Thursday. John Andrews, deputy director-general of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), said he was very confident the upgrade would occur following a similar decision by the European Union last week. “We’re going to make it. (It’s) as simple as that,” Andrews told AFP in an interview. The US Federal Aviation Administration said in 2008 that the Philippines was failing to comply with international safety standards, and banned its airlines from expanding services to the United States. The European Union banned all Philippine carriers from flying to Europe in 2010 for similar reasons. Reforms put in place since then, including a law creating a new aviation regulator, the CAAP, allowed the Philippines to satisfy the concerns of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in February. This led to the EU’s decision last week to allow Philippine Airlines to begin flying into its airspace. The EU said it was reviewing the case of other Filipino carriers. Andrews said he expected US aviation regulators to make similar findings when it carried out an audit before the end of the year. He said Filipino regulators had addressed safety concerns by physically tracking down every aircraft registered in the Philippines and getting their owners to submit documentation. This was to make sure the Read More …

Phl stocks bounce back to 6,600 level on US market gains

 Economy
Jul 182013
 
Phl stocks bounce back to 6,600 level on US market gains

MANILA, Philippine (Xinhua) – Investors repositioned themselves in the local equities today sending the local index rallying back to the 6,600 level. The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index jumped by 1.12 percent or 73.63 points to 6,648.35. The broader all-share index rose by 1.11 percent or 44.47 points to 4,051.34.Trading volume reached 2.35 billion shares worth P7.43 billion ($170.96 million) with 109 stocks advancing, 35 declining, and 46 unchanged. All six counters were up. Online brokerage 2TradeAsia.com said the lack of leads locally and overseas might have motivated some investors to seek guidance to the performance of the Dow Jones industrial average index on Wednesday. Dow Jones was up by 18.67 points ahead of US Federal Reserve Ben Bernake’s statement. The US Fed’s statement is among the most awaited development as it would give investors hint on the next move of the US “The spotlight might revert to institutional fund managers’ reaction to Fed chief Bernanke’s statement before the US Congress, specifically on indications as to when they would slow on their earlier planned $80 billion per month bond purchase plan,” 2TradeAsia.com said. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Analyst Justino Calaycay of Accord Capital Equities Corp. said in his daily stock market comment that since the local index hit the low of 5,789.06, it has drawn a “higher high, higher low pattern in the succeeding 15 sessions.” The narrowing gap between the resistance line and support line, he said, indicates that investors are quick to withdraw Read More …

BSP to study US impact on local economy ahead of policy meeting

 Economy
Jul 182013
 
BSP to study US impact on local economy ahead of policy meeting

MANILA, Philippines – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) will consider how the dovish statements from the United States Federal Reserve will impact on local growth and inflation outlooks as it sets policy next week, its top official said on Thursday. “We will consider the impact of the Fed guidance, market sentiment and actual flow of funds on global and domestic growth and inflation dynamics,” BSP Governor Amando Tetangco, Jr. said in a text message to reporters. On Wednesday night, US Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke told American congressmen that the $85-billion bond buying program, initially thought to be coming to an end, is “not on a preset course,” suggesting it could keep policy accommodative. Over the past month, Asian financial markets, including those from the Philippines, suffered huge losses after the world’s superpower indicated it could taper off cheap money from its quantitative easing “later this year” on signs of recovery. With the latest statement, Tetangco said the US Fed is trying to help investors digest its next move and “hopefully markets will be more circumspect this time around” before making any bets.  Thus, investors, he said, are expected “not to place or extend large one way bets” which “often create their own stages for panic by overshooting before and after the fact.” Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Last month, the Philippine Stock Exchange index dropped by as large as 6.5 percent, while the peso weakened toward the 44-peso mark versus the dollar. They have since Read More …

Court won’t honor US ruling vs Marcoses

 News
Jul 142013
 
Court won’t honor US ruling vs Marcoses

By Norman BordadoraPhilippine Daily Inquirer 6:55 am | Monday, July 15th, 2013 The Makati Regional Trial Court (RTC) has dismissed Priscilla Mijares et al.’s petition to enforce in the Philippines an 18-year-old United States District Court decision awarding some $2 billion from the Marcos estate to victims of human rights violations during the late dictator’s administration. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—The Makati Regional Trial Court (RTC) has dismissed Priscilla Mijares et al.’s petition to enforce in the Philippines an 18-year-old United States District Court decision awarding some $2 billion from the Marcos estate to victims of human rights violations during the late dictator’s administration. A PDF copy of the 11-page decision rendered by Judge Bonifacio Pascua of Makati RTC Branch 56 was furnished the Inquirer by the staff of Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who expressed the family’s feeling of vindication on the heels of the June 25 ruling. “Even if we were to espouse fear or threat as reasons for plaintiffs not to file the same in the Philippines, MDL No. 840 was filed in 1991, or five years after Ferdinand E. Marcos was deposed,” the Makati court said in dismissing the plaintiffs’ petition for enforcing the Hawaii court’s award of billions of dollars in damages. “Moreover, the case was filed on foreign soil nearly two years after the death of Ferdinand E. Marcos. A thought along the line of fear or threat on the plaintiffs that could have precluded their filing of a case in the Philippines is obviously imaginary,” Read More …

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