“Your prayers for the eternal repose of his soul would be much appreciated. We thank you all for the happy memories you have shared with our beloved Dad. Iyon po ang mga baon niya sa langit.” -Dindin, daughter of Charter Member Ardy.

Brod Ardy was a Charter Member of the UP Los Baños Alpha Sigma Fraternity and its first Lord Chancellor. A jet fighter pilot was Ardy’s dream, fulfilled by his only son Jog , now a US Navy pilot-officer.

Rest in peace, Brother.

Brod Lawrence Irving Calderon Bernardo 2001-F, Medicine – Cum Laude
Brod Alaric Emmanuel Mendoza 2003-C, Medicine
Brod Jayson Salvador Santiago 2004-E
Brod Alvin Jorge Holt 2005-D
Brod Heinrich Victor Valery Alavanza Palongpalong 2006-A, Masters
Brod Karl Joseph Tolentino Directo 2006-D
Brod Robert John Fernandez Cuyugan 2007-D
Brod Martin Alfredo Benjamin Tomelden Lagmay 2007-D
Brod Iro Niel Doble Roxas 2007-F
Brod Antonio Bonifacio Cristobal Reynes 2008-C
Brod Amado Degollado Eustaquio III 2008-D, Cum Laude
Brod Vincent Paolo Kagaoan Segovia 2008-D
Brod Mark Laurens delos Santos Sanchez 2008-D
Brod Raphael Aguiling Pangalangan 2008-E, Cum Laude
Brod Mark Lorenzo Martelino Reyes 2008-E
Brod Vicente Laurel Fernandez III 2009-A
Brod James Clarence Magbatoc Manalo 2009-A
Brod John Cristopher Felecildas Lopez 2009-F
Brod Paul Brian Bolivar Soriano 2009-G
Brod Kevin Tabora 2010-C

Congratulations Brothers!
“In all Endeavors, the Mark of Excellence.“

Filipino security guard wins $425,000 in overtime case in LA
by: Cynthia de Castro, Asian Journal

LOS ANGELES – Eight years is a long time for a worker to be exploited, working 24/7, with no overtime pay. But the patience of Filipino security guard Ernesto Salamante finally paid off recently, when he won $425,000 in a lawsuit he filed against his employer.

More than eight years ago, Salamante was hired by a jewelry distributor in Los Angeles to provide security to its premises.

In an apparent attempt to make Salamante work way beyond his eight-hour shift without paying him overtime, the employer provided him a trailer for his living accommodations inside the compound and prodded the Filipino elderly to accept a monthly salary, instead of wages based on an hourly basis.

Unaware of his rights as a worker and worried that he would have difficulty finding another job, the 73-year-old security guard worked every day in the compound, seven days and nights a week.

In addition, he was made to clean the compound’s yard before the employees arrived in the morning and after they have left in the evening, his lawyers said in his lawsuit.

The employer refused to pay Salamante overtime and argued that the security guard position only paid minimum wage.

Salamante sought the assistance of the Division of Labor Standards and Enforcement, which recommended that he hire a private attorney.

He was represented by prominent Glendale–based Filipino attorney Joe Sayas.

Sayas invoked California’s Elder Abuse Act because of Salamante’s age, and thereby sought additional damages. What started as a claim for wages became a more serious case of elderly abuse. In addition to wages owed, the legal strategy opened the way for claims of emotional distress.

The case was aggressively defended by the employer, with the defense attorneys filing petitions before the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court. However, the employer lost all legal issues it raised before the appellate courts.

Just before Christmas last year, Salamante obtained a settlement of $425,000 – an unprecedented amount for a blue-collar position. The case quickly caught the attention of the legal community.

Having grown up in the Philippines, Mr. Salamante was concerned about how he could express the facts of his case well. He felt that he could better testify about the details of his employment in his native language, Tagalog.

“It helped that being a Filipino myself, I understood why a Filipino would agree to work under such difficult circumstances and for an abusive employer, and that was because of the Filipino’s boundless desire to help his extended family back home. It also helped that I understood the language and was thus able to communicate better with the client,” said Atty. Sayas.

Salamante can now consider happily retiring in the Philippines and spending the rest of his life with his grandchildren, his longtime wish.

Prof. Rolando S. Dela Cruz is an excellent global citizen. Having studied in UP Diliman (Class Valedictorian, Magna Cum Laude and UP’s Most Outstanding Graduate in 1986) and in famous universities abroad like Osaka University (Monbusho Scholar), University of Cambridge (Cambridge Trust and Tootal Scholar, and High Second Honours), and the University of Leiden (UP CIDS and European Commission grantee), he is now one of the most active Educational Reformers in the country. He is founder and President of Darwin International School System with four campuses in Bulacan. His school is the Number 1 School in Bulacan and one of the top in the whole Region 3. A former Professor at UP Diliman, he is a nationally-awarded literary writer. He is a three-time Palanca awardee and recipient of two Cultural Center of the Philippines awards for playwriting. He has numerous awards from other literary organizations and educational institutions. He is an essayist, columnist, and author of various scholarly works and textbooks.

Full article can be read here.

Congratulations to the Better, Greater, Truer Men who passed the recent Bar Exams!

Brod Benedicto Castillo Villar 1976-A
Brod Philip Malaque Lina 1985-D
Brod Felix Robert Moraleda 1991-J
Brod Vlademir Esta Villacorta 1999-E
Brod Simoun Antonio Montelibano Salinas 2002-H

Monday, January 9, 2012. New NHMFC Head, Bustos is a seasoned finance professional, a bank executive and an academician.

A NEW President and CEO for the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) has assumed office Monday.

Eduardo P. Banzon, M.D., MSc., former PhilHealth Vice President for Health Finance Policy Services, was formally welcomed into office by Health Secretary Enrique T. Ona, PhilHealth Executive Vice President and COO Atty Alexander A. Padilla and the rest of the PhilHealth community in Monday’s flag ceremony at the Ynares Sports Center in Pasig City.

Shortly before his return stint to PhilHealth, Banzon was a Senior Health Specialist of the World Bank, providing assistance to the Philippines and other East Asian countries on health financing, health service delivery, and health regulations.

He is a graduate of the University of the Philippines College of Medicine and took his MSc in Health Policy, Planning and Financing from the London School of Economics and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He was a Clinical Associate Professor in the UP College of Medicine and a faculty member of the Ateneo Graduate School of Business.

In his message, Banzon emphasized the need to ensure that all Filipinos are provided with social health insurance coverage, ensure that members are aware of their benefits and are educated on how these may be availed of. He also stressed that PhilHealth should continue to treat hospitals and doctors as partners, and that this partnership should be coupled with “tamang pagpo-proseso ng claims.”

Noting that in most countries the fee-for-service payment for claims is no longer used, Banzon expressed his desire to pursue the case payment mechanism. “Halos wala nang social health insurance na nagbabayad ng fee-for service. Bibilisan natin ang case payment, kakausapin natin ang Board na kung puede, lahat na pagbayad ng sakit ay naka-case payment na.” He also put emphasis on the ‘walang dagdag bayad’ or the no balance billing policy that comes with the new case rates as a critical step towards attaining the goals of universal health care.

He was also optimistic that the PhilHealth Corporate Center will be completed “sa pinakamabilis na panahon,” even as he called for increased investments in information technology systems to make transactions faster and more reliable, and on building up the capacity and capability of PhilHealth’s human resources.

Banzon is the sixth President and CEO of PhilHealth. He was preceded by Atty. Jose A. Fabia, now Director-General of the Philippine InformationAgency (PIA), actuary Enrique M. Zalamea, Dr. Francisco T. Duque III, now Chairman of the Civil Service Commission (CSC), Lorna O. Fajardo, now consultant to the PhilHealth Board Chairman, and Dr. Rey B. Aquino, former Mayor of the City of San Fernando in Pampanga and Congressman.

The primary objective of the Virtual Tambayan is to consolidate, find, and connect those who are lost and cut to the present and existing fraternity circulation. As we near the fraternity’s golden year, we need to be consolidated and united more than ever. This is an age of golden opportunities for us to be prime movers of industry and to be even greater leaders of society.

Like the fraternity’s conviction for TRUTH-REASON-JUSTICE, genuine Humanitarian Service and the rich tradition laid before by our Charter Members – let this Virtual Tambayan be a testament to the greater and never ending glory of the UP Alpha Sigma Fraternity. Let us continue the legacy…

May-i Guia Padilla 1999-E
Web Chancellor