Notebook

By: Elsie Sy-Niebar

 

*Nominations now open for the 24th Chicago Filipino Asian American Hall of Fame; to be honored at a ‘fanta-bulous’ gala reception on Satuday, Nov. 10, at Hyatt Regency Hotel O’Hare

*Gov. Bruce Rauner signs bills to increase Illinois seniors’ access to high-speed internet and ‘at risk families’ with children and seniors

*World News in-capsule: President Duterte’s extra-judicial killing of drug users

*Watch for the Fabulous Musical Show by Chaz Patron on Sept. 29th

*Atty. Al Bascos and wife Thelma share their fabulous vacation in Dumaguete City, proclaimed as the “best place to retire in the Philippines”

Now on its 24th year, the annual Chicago Filipino Asian American Hall of Fame 2018 stands out as a very prestigious award recognition in the Filipino American community of Chicago and the Midwest. It honors high-achieving Filipinos and Filipino Americans, Asians and Friends, focusing on their achievements in their own fields of interest or profession, and in their abilities and capabilities to promote the positive image of ASIAN AMERICANS not only in Chicago, but also in the entire United States of America, the Philippines, and throughout the world.

The Chicago Filipino Asian American Hall of Fame is an inspiring project that highlights the best in the Filipino, Filipino-Asian-Americans and Friends — is a joint effort of the now 35-year-old Filipino Asian media institutions in Chicago, the Chicago Philippine Reports TV and VIA Times Newsmagazine, which benefit several community and humanitarian causes. It is an outstanding annual community event which supports the only locallyproduced television show in Chicago, the CPRTV, airing every Sunday from 3:00 to 4:00 PM on Chicago Cable 25 (Comcast, RCN & WOW Cables) and other days (except Monday) in different time slots during the weekdays. This prestigious gala event salute the recipients’ accomplishments at a formal attire of black-tie/barong for gents and formal gowns for ladies at a formal dinner-dance event to be held on Saturday, November 10, 2018 at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare Rosemont, 9300 Bryn Mawr Ave., Rosemont, IL. 60018. For more information or if you have someone in mind deserving of this honor, please call our VT publisher/CPRTV executive producer, Ms. Veronica Leighton at 1-773-866-0811, ASAP.

Don’t be left out. Governor Rauner signs bills to increase convenience for Illinois seniors and families with ‘at risk’ children: SPRINGFIELD — Gov. Bruce Rauner signed bills recently, to increase Illinois seniors’ access to high-speed internet and provide more convenience with permanent identification cards. House Bill 5752 creates the Broadband Advisory Council to explore ways to expand broadband access, often called high-speed internet, throughout the state, including in unserved and underserved areas.

“This is the continuation of our initiative to ensure our senior citizens have better access to affordable high-speed internet so they may benefit from the resources and support online platforms offer,” Rauner said. The bill, initiated by AARP, provides specifics on the council’s membership, powers and duties. The council will be administered by the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO). Just under 4-in-10 people aged 65 and older have high-speed internet access in their homes, compared to 77 percent of the 30- to 49-year-old demographic, according to AARP Illinois’ most recent data. “We applaud Gov. Rauner for signing this important, bipartisan legislation into law,” said Ryan Gruenenfelder, director of Advocacy & Outreach at AARP Illinois. “It’s time to ensure every Illinoisan has access to broadband. By signing this legislation, you are moving our state toward the widespread adoption of technology to help all Illinoisans live healthier, longer and happier lives. ”Many seniors need broadband access to benefit from web-based technologies that support aging in place, such as telehealth and “smart home” systems. Other uses include self-management of chronic diseases that can help prevent or postpone functional decline, such as home-based smart medical services. “Today’s signing is a positive step forward for those rural communities in Illinois that have had limited internet connectivity, they have been underserved and held back,” said Senator Jil Tracy (R-Quincy). “In today’s world this is a basic utility. I’m grateful we’re broadening our horizons and recognizing that everyone needs reliable access to this vital tool.” “It’s imperative that we eliminate barriers to broadband access and provide fair and equitable access to 21st-century technology,” said Jean Bohnhoff, director of the Illinois Department on Aging (IDOA). “I’m happy the Department on Aging will have a voice on the Broadband Advisory Council. We look forward to working toward solutions that keep our seniors and those in unserved areas connected to the worldwide web.”The bill was supported by AARP of Illinois, AT&T, Illinois Farm Bureau, Illinois Municipal League, Illinois Telecommunications Association, IDOA and DCEO.The bill also provides that Illinois Person with a Disability ID cards will expire after 10 years. The initiative was supported by the Secretary of State and the AARP. Personally, I encouraged Asian American Social Services organizations to make this website services available to seniors, especially to retired professionals.

A GLIMPSE OF GOVERNANCE IN THE PHILIPPINES UNDER PRESIDENT DUTERTE: A caption of a picture of a coffin of a 17-year old Kian Loyd de los Santos reads: : “Protesters and residents hold lighted candles and placards at the wake of Kian Loyd delos Santos, a 17-yearold high school student, who was among the people shot dead in an escalation of President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs in Caloocan city, Metro Manila, Philippines on August 25, 2017”. My friends from the Bisayan region, Philippiine President Rodrigo Duterte’s home-province, tell me that: one very good reason why the Filipinos have elected him president was because “he is a very a down-to-earth-person with a “maki-masa” (man for ordinary folks) personality. However, today, world news (Reuter) says President Duterte “has plunged the Philippines into its worst human rights crisis since the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos in the 1970s and 1980s. His ‘war on drugs’ launched after he took office in June 2016, using “extra judicial power” has claimed an estimated 12,000 lives of primarily poor urban dwellers, including children. President Digong (Duterte’s nickname) vowed to continue such abusive anti-drug war to the end of his term in 2022. Throughout 2017, he made himself famous by engaging in harassment and intimidation of individuals and agencies tasked with accountability, including the officials of the United Nations.”“Extra judicial killing” has become a common expression used by President Duterte’s punishment to Drug users, but some people do not really comprehend what this legal parlance meant. “Extra judicial power” according to the internet means an act “not legally authorized; a settlement, statement, or confession not made in court; out of court.”

The dictionary.com defines Extrajudicial as an “adjective, outside of judicial proceedings; beyond the action or authority of a court, beyond, outside, or against the usual procedure of justice; legally unwarranted: an extrajudicial penalty.” “Duterte’s most prominent and strong-willed Duterte critic, Senator Leila de Lima, remains in jail to these days due to politically motivated drug charges. Violation of children’s rights, attacks on journalists and media, and government policy failures, reports said, contributes to the country’s worsening HIV epidemic which persisted in 2017. Philippine police are falsifying evidence to justify unlawful killings in a “war on drugs” that has caused more than 7,000 deaths” (12,000 latest, the reports said). Extra Judicial Killings: Last August 2017, the official Commission on Human Rights stated that the ’actual number [of drug war killings] is certainly higher than what is suggested, by police.” “A Human Rights Watch investigation found that the Philippine National Police and its agents have repeatedly carried out extrajudicial killings of drug suspects, and then falsely claimed self-defense. Police have planted guns, spent ammunition, and drug packets on victims’ bodies to implicate them in drug activities. Masked gunmen taking part in killings appeared to be working closely with police, casting doubt on government claims that most killings have been committed by vigilantes or rival drug gangs.”“No one has been meaningfully investigated, let alone prosecuted, for any of the drug war killings”, reports said. Instead, Duterte has pledged to pardon policemen implicated in killings. In October, responding to a public outcry against killings notably committed against children, Duterte removed police from anti-drug operations, assigning the PDEA as the main agency to carry out the drug war.”

“However, journalists who closely cover the anti-drug campaign say that although the killings by uniformed police personnel have declined since that time, summary killings by “vigilantes” have continued uninterrupted. On November 22, Duterte warned of an imminent lifting of the suspension of police anti-drug operations, raising the likelihood of more extrajudicial executions by police and their agents.” “Attacks on Journalists: An unidentified gunmen killed newspaper columnist Joaquin Briones in Masbate; an unidentified gunman killed radio journalists Rudy Alicaway and Leo Diaz, on the southern island of Mindanao. The National Union of Journalists estimates that 177 Filipino reporters and media workers have been killed since 1986.Duterte has publicly vilified media outlets whose reporters have exposed police culpability in extrajudicial killings. In April, he threatened to block the renewal of the broadcasting franchise of ABS-CBN network. In July, Duterte publicly threatened the Philippine Daily Inquirer with tax evasion charges and falsely accused the media platform Rappler of being US-owned in an apparent effort to undermine its credibility. Journalists who report critically on the Duterte administration are also subjected to harassment and threats online. In December 2016, the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines issued a statement denouncing such attacks.” (Reuter) President Duerte’s unbelievable feat did not exclude God from his wrath, calling God “stupid.”

Unbelievable. To President Duterte: We, your Kababayans (fellow countrymen) in America pray that your “reforms” would eventually bring in “Good News” to the Philippines and to our Kababayans there. GOD BLESS YOU, MR. PRESIDENT. Amen.

Watch the Grand Musical Duo of EDIZON DAYAO and CHAZ PATRON next month, September 29 (Saturday) at Club Royal in East Dundee, IL. For more information, please call (224) 595- 8324.

MAKING THE BEST OF RETIREMENT are Atty. Al Bascos and his wife, Thelma, a retired teacher and US postal employee. All they do since their retirement is travel all over the world in spite of Al’s intermittent health problems. However, their most favorite place is Dumaguete City in Southern Philippines, home of SILLIMAN UNIVERSITY, a university founded by the American Protestant missionary in 1901, then, known as “the Harvard of the Philippines.’ Al finished his Doctorate of Law last year. Dumaguete, “the City of Gentle People,” is rated as “the best place to retire in the Philippines.

The Bascoses vacation in Dumaguete almost twice a year. Below is Al’s open letter he is sharing with our VT readers: August 14, 2018 / Dateline Dumaguete City: “Hi, friends. Thelma and I arrived in Manila last August 3 to visit with friends and for retirees’-life pampering. Day One, we visited our favorite parlor for a haircut, facial treatment, and full body massage of our knotted muscles and a dinner of exquisite santol salad and creamy beef lengua at Mangan’s resto at Robinson Mall. The next day we dined with Atty Robiso and friends at Mr. Poon, a Chinese resto for specialty steamed Lapu-Lapu with a one-of-a-kind unique sauce. We flew to Dumaguete City last August 7 and we are billeted at our favorite Bethel Guest House. Friends, if you happened to spend some time in this city, I strongly recommend Bethel. It is beautifully located by the sea, clean and has a cafeteria with delicious fare. Along the sea is a walkers’ or joggers’ path where hundreds of people enjoy stretching their bodies to stay fit and burn unwanted calories and try trimming ugly body fat. (And the price is very very right!) Since our arrival Thelma and have walked daily by the sea at five in the morning. We have three sessions of acupuncture at our hotel room and a Swedish deep full-body massage. Oh, at various times, the food of steamed veggies with bagoong, fresh ubod lumpia, tanguige kinilaw, sinigang of Lapu- Lapu head. At Hugad, a resto by Dumaguete Robinson Mall we had grilled scallops, beef kare-kare; in Lab-as a resto by the sea north of the city we enjoyed spicy crab, grilled tendersquid, grilled maya-maya and prawns with our hosts friends Dr. and Mrs. Ike Oracion. We enjoyed fellowship hours with our friends from Silliman U: Dr. and Mrs.Sol Apalon, Dean Atty. Tabitha Tinagan, Vice President for Financial Affairs Dr. Jenny Chiu, Dr. Betsy Joy and Judge Tan, Dr. Rey Rivera, Dr. Roslyn Tambago, Monie Gutierrez and Lyn Santilian. We are flying back to Manila in the morning. Thelma will proceed to Vintar, Ilocos to visit with her folks. I will stay in Manila to participate in the Diamond Jubilee of the UP College of Law. Attached are some photos about the walking path by the sea. We’ll be back to Chicago on August 21. Regards, Al”

What a life! I’ll visit Dumaguete in December to do our annual “Pakaon sa Pasko” (Christmas Lunch) for a throng of over 500 mountain folks who look forward to this lunch, from the Dennis Niebar Memorial Fund, which I have closed in 2017. It is not easy to compete with several other fundraisers in our community. And, most importantly, I am not a “spring chicken” anymore. I even have a caregiver attending to some of my needs. God willing, this coming December, I will visit Dumaguete City, home of my alma mater: SILLIMAN UNIVERSITY. Enjoy the summer, folks. Enjoy the outdoors on the small patch around your home. Play with the squirrels that feast on the fruits of your organic garden.

PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES: HIS EXCELLENCY PRESIDENT RODRIGO DUTERTE. What’s he up to, now? Or is he praying to his God?

Drug users killed by police

With my two lovey “children in my heart” very affectionate Lindy Tan and stageperformer Songstress Chazzy Patron who will have her show this coming September. Find announcement in Notebook. (Photo by Jhun Patron)

Lydia Tayco wearing a beautiful gown created by Chicago designer Mar Lapena during her 5th wedding celebration celebration.

Lovely “Bride of Five Years,” our VT cover story, Fifth Wedding Anniversary of MRS. LYDIA ALBERTO TAYCO, donned in Mar Lapena’s “Serpentina” or Mermaid Bridal gown, enhanced with ruffles, when they exchanged “I Do” the second time around after five years, last May 27, 2018. (Rosie Reed photo)

Maid of Honor Yoly Zoleta (2nd from left with husband Ben Zoleta),and the newlyweds second time around after five years: Lydia Alberto Tayco and Pastor Pascual Tayco. (R.Reed photo)