(Continued on page 20)(Continued on page 13)

Bible Baptist Church

be-gan as a dream in the heart of Pastor Fred Null, a seasonedmissionary to the Philippines,to whom God gave a visionfor an independent, funda-

Bible Baptist Church 25 Yearsof striving together for the Faith

mental Bible believing Bap-tist Church to minister to theFilipino people in San Diegoarea. For a few months, Pastor Fred Null conducted a home

(Continued on page 19)(Continued on page 4)(Continued on page 4)(Continued on page 19)(Continued on page 9)

See story on page 8

March 28 - April 3, 2008

Riz A. OadesSim SilverioEntertainment

While others slept,

he plowed the feld...

Kris drops everything (well,almost!) to be with mom A Navy Brat Speaks Out:

My dad, the Master Chief, my hero

Cory stricken with cancer

By Christina Mendez PhilStar, 03/25/08

Corazon Aquino, icon of Philippine democracy, is suf-fering from colon cancer.The former president’sillness was announced onnational TV yesterday byher only son, Sen. Benigno“Noynoy” Aquino III, and

34.5 C inMetro hottestthis year

By Helen Flores PhilStar, 03/27/08

Get ready for a sizzlingsummer.Temperatures in MetroManila will likely hit 37 de-grees Celsius by April or May,according to senior weather youngest daughter Kris.Senator Aquino appealedfor privacy and prayers astheir family copes with hismother’s illness. The familydeclined to disclose the stageof the cancer. Chemotherapysessions start today with aspecialist Robert Sawi of the Philippine Atmospheric,Geophysical and Astronomi-cal Services Administration(Pagasa).

Corazon Aquino

Winning from Singing. Shirleen Velasquez, center left, senior market-ing manager of The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU) and Jessa Zaragoza, center, Filipina pop singer, presented a thousand dollar check to Juliette Rose, center right, the grand prize winner of the “Sing-A- Long” karaoke contest on March 1st in Eagle Rock, California. (Air Supply Photo/ Candise Cheung )Seasoned broadcaster Gel Santos-Relosanchors Balitang America, the first and only locally produced Filipino newscast aired globally now available weeknights on KTSF.

First and onlylocally producedFilipino newscastaired globallynow availableweeknights onKTSF

REDWOODCITY, CA, March 20,2007 – The reliablenews source of Fili- pinos in North

By Conrad I. Reloj, Jr.Senior Writer The San Diego Asian Journal

Amparo’s Foreign Ex-

change, the rst Filipino-

owned Express Money Trans-fer Company to be licensed bythe State Banking Departmentof California is making prepa-rations for its 30th anniversaryof service to its loyal custom-ers and the community early

next year. The business rst

opened in San Francisco in1979 and in 2002, with thesupport of her family, Gerry,her husband, and Mica, her daughter, Alaine Martin Gal-

lanosa added its branch ofce

in San Marcos.

Family owned

Licensed in 1971 bythe Government of Guam,Amparo D. Martin started this

Photo shows from left to right: Edna J. Trimble, Grace A. Unna, Alaine M. Gallanosa & Angie A. Manrique. Protesters, mostly youths and students, carry wooden crosses and placards calling for the ouster of President Arroyo while marching toward Liwasang Bonifacio in Manila recently. Photo by ERNIE PE- ÑAREDONDO

Balitang America now on KTSF

(L-R) Yuri Batche, Maria Barraza, Claudia Chavarin(educator), Ayaan Khalif and Ann Fulcher (UCSD Doulatrainer)

Project Concern InternationalImproving Health of PregnantWomen in San Diego

Amparo’s Foreign Exchange & Filipino Depot:

A one-stop shopping destinationfor San Marcos residents

Lim nixes visits, help forson to beatdrug raps

PhilStar, 03/18/08

The tough-talking mayor of Manila who earned thenickname “Dirty Harry” for his anti-crime crusades saidyesterday he will not lift a

nger to help his son who was

nabbed in a drug bust.Mayor Alfredo Lim saidhis 44-year-old son, Manuel,should pay for his actions.“Whatever trouble hegot himself into, he has to bear it,” Lim said during a

ag-raising ceremony at the

Manila Police District head-quarters.Radio dzBB reported thatLim refused to visit his sonin jail after he and two otherswere arrested in a hotel roomSaturday, allegedly with 100grams of methamphetaminefamily-owned enterprise to

ll the need of the contract

workers to send money totheir families in the Philip- pines quickly and safely;thus paving the way for theother Filipinos to start their own remittance business inCalifornia and the U.S. Thistype of family business of-fers economic independence,and promotes family unityas it grows. Family members prefer to work for themselvesrather than for large corpora-

Filipina American Arlie Ricasato run for the State Assembly

Filipina American ArlieRicasa recently announcedher candidacy for the Cali-fornia State Assembly, 78

District.A lifelong resident,she said that she share theresidents common concernsfor quality and accessiblehealthcare, safer neighbor-hoods, a cleaner environ-

Arlie

Ricasa (center, infront of a child) with her supporters.

The Montgomery High School Masquerade Theater recently presented the musical “Grease”featuring some of the school’s outstand-ing students, among them Filipina American Rio Villa (center, front)who played the role of “Sandy”. Rio is the daughter of the school’sCounselor Dario Villa.

ment, quality education, social justice and economic oppor-tunity.“I have dedicated mylife to public service - as an

elected ofcial, an educator

and a community volunteer. Icare about this district wheremy family lives, where mychildren go to school, where I

Bible Baptist Church Pastor Obrero BBC Pastor, Guest Speaker Dr. Dave Hardy Evengelist & Guest Speaker Pastor W. Hardy Eastland Baptist Tulsa, Oaklahoma.

ProjectConcernInternational,with its part-ners UCSDHearts and theHands Vol-unteer Doula program,successfullytrained child- birth assis-tants, or Dou-las, as part of the Califor-nia Border Healthy Start(CBHS) program.

Page 2March 28 - April 3, 2008 Asian Journal - (619) 474-0588 Visit our website at http://www.asianjournalusa.com

ADVERTISEASIAN JOURNAL(619) 474-0588

Slap

FIRST PERSON By Alex Magno Philstar, March 27, 2008

That was such a refreshing slap on theSenate’s face.By a vote of 9-6, the Supreme Courtupheld Romulo Neri’s claim that intru-sive questions being asked of him bythe senators violated the constitutional principle of executive privilege. Neri’slawyer put it more succinctly: the rulingestablishes that the congressional powersof inquiry are not absolute.By a vote of 10-5, the Court alsoadmonished the Senate about its pro- pensity to cite people in contempt andwhimsically order arrests of privateindividuals. Such penalties ought to be based on published rules. The Senate hadno published rules.On that second issue, the Court appearsto be telling the Senate to remain withinthe standard practices of the rule of law. No person may be penalized for violatinga rule that has not been made known.

That more denitive ruling should curb

the imperiousness and arrogance withwhich some of the senators have actedlately. They behaved without the checksof civility, fairness and proper conduct.They have treated people oppressively

as they went about their merry shing

expeditions.The Senate President announced the

chamber would le a motion for recon

TAKIN’ CARE OF BUSINESS By Babe Romualdez Philstar, March 4, 2008

As voices get louder and louder,with people demanding for the truth,the options for President GloriaMacapagal-Arroyo are one of two,especially with her credibility at an

all-time low as reected in the latest

Pulse Asia survey that 76 percent

nd her untrustworthy. First, she

has to lift Executive Order 464 and

allow her Cabinet ofcials, most

especially Romulo Neri, to showthat the administration has nothingto hide and that she really wants thetruth to come out. Her minions alsohave to be more credible than spin-ning a yarn that they gave P500,000to Jun Lozada “out of pity,” sincethis is a ridiculous kind of story that people will simply not buy.It’s now a matter of convincingthe people – majority of whom donot agree with forcing GMA outof Malacañang at this point – thatshe is intent on curbing corruption,especially since the ZTE-NBN dealdid not push through and moneydidn’t change hands. But all thesecan only be proven by launchingan honest-to-goodness investigationthat people will believe.On the other hand, heads mustroll, and the axe must fall on thosewho are guilty. Unfortunately for

him, First Gentleman Mike Arroyo

has to be as low key as possible for the next two years. Mike is like alightning rod that seems to attractwhat the Chinese call “bad chi,”and perhaps it would do him goodto stay out of sight to help diffusethe situation.Justice dictates that the clamor

for truth must be satised by rst

proving a person to be guilty beyondreasonable doubt. But a lot of peopleare beyond reason and have closedtheir minds – obsessed with onlyone thing: ousting GMA. There arethose who are clamoring for GMA’sresignation because they have a per-sonal axe to grind. Maybe for somereason or another they were not ap- pointed to a position, they lost outon a deal or they were eased out of agovernment position or something.Whatever the case may be, a lot of these people are not motivated by pure love of country or patriotism.It’s all personal.Unless of course another major scandal is uncovered, GMA willmost likely survive this onslaught

The country’s only option

if the truth is acceptable to many, because there are still a lot whodon’t believe that resignation is theanswer – as pointed out by some businessmen who are convinced theeconomy is doing well as it is right

now, and if a process is done to nd

out the truth which will be believ-able and acceptable to many.However, if those voices getlouder and her credibility continuesto fall, then there is only one choiceleft for both the country and GMA – and that is to turn over the reins of government to Noli de Castro – theduly constituted successor.The United States will not rec-ognize anyone who assumes the presidency through a military take-over or any other unconstitutionalaccession. If anything, EDSA IIhas taught them that unless theysee a written piece of paper clearlysaying GMA has resigned, theywill not consider any successor aslegitimate. And we all know thatwhatever the US does, most other countries will follow. Diplomatsfrom major countries have alreadyindicated that just like the UnitedStates, their governments will notrecognize anyone who takes over unconstitutionally.Even a snap election would not bean acceptable option unless there isa vacancy with both the presidentand the vice president resigning. Butwhy should Noli de Castro resignwhen he said he is “ready”?Whatever the case may be, peoplehave no choice but to accept Noli deCastro and realize that he would bestaying in Malacañang for the nexteight years. He is a sure winner inthe 2010 presidential elections notonly because he is popular and hasa following with the masa, but hewill obviously have the power of the incumbent.As everyone knows, Noli deCastro owes his fame and glory toABS-CBN, in particular Gabby Lo- pez who nurtured his career when hestarted as a radio broadcaster manyyears ago. I’m sure Noli will turn toGabby for advice, and as one of thecountry’s top businessmen as wellas being a media mogul, he will be a good adviser. I have no doubt

Gabby’s inuence will make Noli a

good president.And so, at the end of the day, thecountry’s only option outside of believing the truth is Noli de Castro – and that is the truth.

sideration on the Court’s ruling. That, inall likelihood, is nothing more than a vainmaneuver to save some face. But the slaphas already been resounding.I am not a lawyer. I am therefore not

trained to appreciate the ne nuances of

judicial wisdom contained in the longdecision handed down by the Court last

Tuesday. Nor am I expertly t to com

- pose a legal dissertation on the implica-tions of that ruling.But as an ordinary citizen forced to en-dure the brutality with which the senatorshave dealt their “resource persons”, thestupidity with which some of them have pursued their quest for some gossipy“truth” and the recklessness with whichthey have impugned our institutions andslandered other citizens, I am relieved bythe Court’s ruling.That circus at the Senate has been hor-rid. It has been a tabloid version of whatshould be sacrosanct powers of inquiryand oversight.Through course of that circus, somesenators behaved with utter banality.They made craven plays for soundbitesthat the media might echo. They attackeda co-equal branch of government withinsinuations and innuendo.At times, when they felt they were get-ting less television face-time than theydeserved, they attacked each other withequal ferocity. They traded insults withwild abandon.These sessions were not edifying for our people.They did not provide us valuable les-sons about the responsible use of power,the proper conduct of statesmen and thecomplexity of the issues that moderngovernance must deal with. Instead,senators who did not at all prepare for thesessions by educating themselves prop-erly walked casually into the session halland tried to bait witnesses into mouthingsome crude and malicious script they

wanted to inict on the public.

They behaved like Caligula at thearena who, depending on what fanciedhim at the moment, decided on whether a fallen gladiator would live or die.In the previous sessions, a so-called“star witness” confessed to seriouswrongdoing. But the sympathetic sena-tors who wanted to elevate him to thestatus of a martyr did not make himaccount for those violations of the law.It seems they wanted to tell us that if we play according their script, we will enjoyimmunity from suit and instant forgive-ness for our sins.In the last of these torture sessions,a “surprise witness” staggered into thehearing room expressing surprise that he

was the surprise witness. For 12 hours,senators took turns guratively beating

up the poor man in a desperate effort tosave the circus from collapse. The crud-est tactics employed by the senators wereto no avail.Perhaps all of us deserve part of the blame for the abusive version of what passes off as democracy in these parts.We elected caricatures to the Senate. Weget a poor facsimile of what this institu-tion ought to be.In the face of boorish, irresponsible andvicious attacks from a co-equal branch of government, the executive branch triedto protect itself by raising the shield of executive privilege. Some thought theshield was too broadly interpreted. TheSupreme Court thought so too in a previ-ous ruling involving EO 464.

By judicial at, the excessive provi

-sions of EO 464 were overruled. Butthe castrated EO continued to be nursedas an issue against the presidency until

the whole thing was nally rescinded.

That did not mean that the principle of executive privilege dissipated.When the Senate, in what the Courteventually described as grave abuse of discretion, arrogantly decided to issue awarrant of arrest for Romulo Neri, the

embattled ofcial sought judicial relief.

That set the stage for last Tuesday’sdecision.Although tarred and feathered byhalf-blinded partisans of “the truth” for refusing to appear at the Senate and spill-ing the beans, we may now appreciatethe value of Neri’s courageous stand on behalf of principle. Without the protec-tion granted by executive privilege, theexecutive branch cannot function ef-fectively and the whole nation will lose because of that.Especially in the face of an irrespon-sible Senate that, at times, seems likeit understands its role as being that of overthrowing governments.Whining senators now say the Court’sdecision reduced their powers. That isnot true.They had arrogantly and wrongly as-sumed powers that were not rightfullytheirs. That Court merely reminds themof that, by slapping them back to their senses.

Page 3 Asian Journal - (619) 474-0588 Visit our website at http://www.asianjournalusa.comMarch 28 - April 3, 2008

(Continued on page 13)

Boxing champion Manny Pacquiao and his wife Jinky attend Mass at Quiapochurch shortly upon their return to Manila from the United States . Photo by EDD GUMBAN FIRST PERSON By Alex Magno Philstar, March 15, 2008

That loud thud you heard was notfrom a dead cat bouncing. That wasthe sound of the mighty dollar fall-ing.This week was hell.The dollar fell massively against allthe major currencies. Stock exchangesacross the globe bled horrendously.The price of oil climbed past $110 per barrel. Gold, the last sanctuary against

ination, has hit $1,000 per ounce.

It is as if the global economy hasentered into a dark tunnel with no ideaof when we will see the light.Just a few weeks ago, there wasthis lively debate about whether theUS economy will enter a recession or merely experience a slowdown. Therewas some hope that the countercycli-cal measures taken by US monetaryauthorities would reverse the drift.That the emergency stimulus pack-age would somehow revive a faintingdomestic economy. Now that debate is over.The latest employment data inthe US show unmistakable signs of a recession in progress. Consumer

condence is falling through the oor.

The mortgage crisis continues to takeits heavy toll, with horrible stories of homeowners simply mailing bankstheir house keys because their homesare now worth much less than themortgage they have to pay.

Haywire

The US Fed is now torn between pushing down interest rates to stimu-late economic activity or raising those

rates to control an inationary surge.The major nancial houses are writing

down billions in bad debts. Investorsare dumping the dollar for other cur-rencies.The scene resembles theatergoers

tripping over each other after a re

breaks out, trampling some and gen-erally clogging every passageway tosafety.As a consequence, the problem becomes compounded. The more thedollar falls, the greater the risk of in-

ation. The higher ination is, the less

consumer demand will be. The lessconsumer demand, the more likely the prospects of higher unemployment.Analysts are now talking aboutthings that seemed unthinkable onlya few weeks ago. Oil, for instance,could reach $120 a barrel very soon.The reason for that is no longer thedynamics of supply and demand. Oilfutures are now under great specula-tive pressure. As a hedge against thefalling dollar, the large institutionalfunds are putting their money in com-modities futures — oil being onemajor commodity.Hedging in commodities are push-ing prices across the board. It is notonly oil that is rising. Grains pricesare rising too.That hits us as well.Unusual weather the past fewmonths have cut into global grains productions. China, hard hit by ex-treme cold weather and excessive