Former students, friends and relatives are mourning the death of Henry Abalayan Acejo, a Filipino-American language professor who was stabbed to death in his apartment in Tijuana, Mexico a week before Christmas.
Acejo, 45, a United States’ citizen of Filipino descent, was found sprawled dead on December 18 in the dining area of his apartment in Tijuana’s Rio Zone, which he had been renting for over a year, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported on December 29.
Tijuana is a Mexican city near the Mexican-United States border, about 17 miles (27.35 kilometers), or an hour’s drive away from San Diego, California.
According to the report, a watchman had seen Acejo enter his apartment with two other men on the night he was killed.
A little past 9 p.m., a neighbor called the police after hearing Acejo shout and pound on his window. By the time authorities arrived at around 11 p.m., however, the two men were gone and Acejo’s body, bearing numerous stab wounds lay lifeless in the dining area.
Acejo taught Filipino language and English as a second language at Southwestern College and the San Diego State University, and English as a second language at Mid-City Community College, all in California.
A Facebook page set up by his former students also stated that Acejo was an instructor at the University of California-San Diego under its Filipino Heritage Program.
The Baja California Attorney General’s Office has yet to determine the motive for the crime and has not released the results of the autopsy on Acejo’s body.
In a statement, the US Consulate in Tijuana said it is saddened by Acejo’s death, and that it is assisting the victim’s family.
“The U.S. Department of State is deeply saddened by the death of U.S. citizen Henry Acejo and (we) extend our condolences to his family. We remain in contact with his family and are providing all appropriate consular assistance," the San Diego Union-Tribune quoted the statement as saying in its report.
"Popular" but “too trusting"
Students and colleagues described Acejo as a “popular" and “well-loved" professor.
Ondine Massot, a close friend and fellow Mid-City teacher, was quoted in a separate report as saying that Acejo was planning to return for Christmas to the Philippines, where his 85-year-old mother and other relatives live.
Massot added Acejo’s sister was also supposed to send him $1,500 for his airfare, which she suspects might have been the motive for the crime.
She added Acejo was “too kind" and “too trusting," and that he had been robbed in his previous apartment also in Tijuana.
“He worked so hard, going from school to school. He had a great sense of humor, a great love of life, and he loved his work and loved people," said Massot.
“He did everything for everybody. He was an angel on Earth," she added.
Massot said Acejo decided to live in Tijuana, where he rented an apartment for $500, which was cheaper than apartments in San Diego, where he worked.
Students and colleagues likewise expressed shock over news of Acejo’s death as they flooded his Facebook fanpage with praises and stories of working and studying with him.
“I knew Prof. Acejo for one year through his classes. He was a good professor and a great man. Truly, he will be missed," said a former student.
“Henry was one of my dearest friends and colleague at Mid-City Center. I'm going to miss him like crazy. He created powerful and beautiful energy there," said another colleague at Mid-City.
“He was a very popular instructor whose creativity, knowledge, hard work and dedication to his students were deeply striking, and whose upbeat personality, ubiquitous smile, sense of humor and care for others as a person were extraordinary," said Dr. Ghada Osman, head of the department of linguistics and Asian/Middle Eastern languages at San Diego State University, in a separate article on Los Angeles Times.
A wake in Acejo’s honor was held on December 28, where mourners sang karaoke in memory of the professor’s hobby.
His remains will be flown to the Philippines for burial.
Acejo’s own Facebook page states he studied at the University of Sto. Tomas, University of the Philippines-Diliman and Alliant International University in San Diego. — DM/KBK, GMANews.TV
Sunday, January 2, 2011
ABL: Patriots bow to Slammers in 2 OTs
BANGKOK – Defending champion AirAsia-Philippine Patriots bowed to the Chang Thailand Slammers in a thrilling double overtime game Sunday night, 76-83, in a crucial setback that thwarted their bid for the top spot come the playoffs of the Air-Asia ASEAN Basketball League.
The Slammers uncorked eight unanswered points to kick off the second extra period, highlighted by a booming trey from Attaporn Lertmalaipron and a completed three-point play by Piyapong Piroon.
By the time the league’s No. 1 team was through with its run, the Slammers had already zoomed ahead, 82-74, sparking a wild celebration inside the Nimibutr National Stadium here.
Egay Billones finally scored on a drive to break the silence for the Patriots, but a split from the foul line at the other end by Sopon Pinitpatcharalert made it a seven-point game for the Slammers.
The hard-earned win allowed the host to keep the No. 1 spot in the standings with a 10-3 record. The Slammers now also own a 2-1 edge over the Patriots in their head-to-head duel in the eliminations. Chang Thailand also scored a 69-68 win here over the Patriots last Nov. 20.
It was a heartbreaking loss for the reigning champions, who fell to 8-5 overall for second place, just a notch ahead of the idle Kuala Lumpur Dragons (7-5).
The Patriots, who led by as many as 10 in the early going, 12-2, also saw their two-game winning streak snapped.
Billones led the Patriots with 28 points and single-handedly rallied the team from five points down in regulation play.
Steve Thomas’ basket with 20 seconds left sent the game into overtime, 64-64, as Chris Daniel Cuete missed on the Slammers’ final play at the buzzer.
Thomas and Billones connived in the absence of the fouled-out Gabe Freeman to give the Patriots a 74-72 lead.
But Pinitpatcharalert scored on a banked shot for the game’s second overtime, 74-74. -KY, RCJ, GMANews.TV
The Slammers uncorked eight unanswered points to kick off the second extra period, highlighted by a booming trey from Attaporn Lertmalaipron and a completed three-point play by Piyapong Piroon.
By the time the league’s No. 1 team was through with its run, the Slammers had already zoomed ahead, 82-74, sparking a wild celebration inside the Nimibutr National Stadium here.
Egay Billones finally scored on a drive to break the silence for the Patriots, but a split from the foul line at the other end by Sopon Pinitpatcharalert made it a seven-point game for the Slammers.
The hard-earned win allowed the host to keep the No. 1 spot in the standings with a 10-3 record. The Slammers now also own a 2-1 edge over the Patriots in their head-to-head duel in the eliminations. Chang Thailand also scored a 69-68 win here over the Patriots last Nov. 20.
It was a heartbreaking loss for the reigning champions, who fell to 8-5 overall for second place, just a notch ahead of the idle Kuala Lumpur Dragons (7-5).
The Patriots, who led by as many as 10 in the early going, 12-2, also saw their two-game winning streak snapped.
Billones led the Patriots with 28 points and single-handedly rallied the team from five points down in regulation play.
Steve Thomas’ basket with 20 seconds left sent the game into overtime, 64-64, as Chris Daniel Cuete missed on the Slammers’ final play at the buzzer.
Thomas and Billones connived in the absence of the fouled-out Gabe Freeman to give the Patriots a 74-72 lead.
But Pinitpatcharalert scored on a banked shot for the game’s second overtime, 74-74. -KY, RCJ, GMANews.TV
Pinoy grad student in US freed, granted 1-year deportation reprieve
A Filipino graduate student in the United States, earlier arrested for being an illegal alien, was released last week and granted a one-year reprieve from deportation.
According to a report by the Los Angeles Times, Farrales was released following the intercession of Rep. Brad Sherman, who urged the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to defer action on Farrales’ case and to wait for a review by the Board of Immigration Appeals.
Farrales, 31 years old, was arrested in November last year at his residence in Reseda, Los Angeles by ICE agents, who said that immigration courts had “consistently held that Mr. Farrales does not have any legal basis to remain in the US."
He was detained at the Mira Loma Detention Center in Lancaster, Los Angeles.
In a statement, ICE said it is granting Farrales a one-year reprieve to give him more time to work on the legalization of his status.
“Deferred action is used in cases that involve compelling and humanitarian issues to allow the individual additional time to pursue legal actions," ICE said in the statement as quoted by the LA Times.
Farrales was a valedictorian at Los Angeles’ Belmont High School. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University, with a degree in government, and earned a master's degree at the University of California (UC) in San Diego where he is also finishing his doctorates.
He arrived in the US with his parents in 1990, when he was 10 years old. At that time, his family was seeking asylum, after his father, a prominent lawyer and crusader against government corruption, was shot outside their home in Quezon City.
However, his father’s application for legal status was repeatedly denied.
Two of the younger Farrales’ sisters have legalized their status by marrying US citizens, while another sister is also about to marry a citizen.
His father’s death in 2006, however, dashed the family’s hopes of legalizing their status.
Farrales would have been a beneficiary of the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, a law that — had it been passed — would have granted a path to citizenship to students who are illegal aliens, and thus deportable.
The bill seeks to grant citizenship to foreign students who graduate from US high schools, who are of good moral character, who arrived in the US as minors, and who have been in the country continuously for at least five years prior to the bill's enactment.
Under the bill, qualified alien students may earn conditional permanent residency if they complete two years in the military or two years of a four-year program in an institution of higher learning.
But the bill, first introduced in 2001 and then re-introduced in the US Senate since then, was subjected to a vote last December 18 and fell five votes short of the required vote of 60 (55 to 41).
Earlier, the measure passed the House by a vote of 216 to 198.
Farrales is one of the more than 1.7 million young alien students who would have benefited from DREAM Act’s passage. —DM/KBK, GMANews.TV
According to a report by the Los Angeles Times, Farrales was released following the intercession of Rep. Brad Sherman, who urged the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to defer action on Farrales’ case and to wait for a review by the Board of Immigration Appeals.
Farrales, 31 years old, was arrested in November last year at his residence in Reseda, Los Angeles by ICE agents, who said that immigration courts had “consistently held that Mr. Farrales does not have any legal basis to remain in the US."
He was detained at the Mira Loma Detention Center in Lancaster, Los Angeles.
In a statement, ICE said it is granting Farrales a one-year reprieve to give him more time to work on the legalization of his status.
“Deferred action is used in cases that involve compelling and humanitarian issues to allow the individual additional time to pursue legal actions," ICE said in the statement as quoted by the LA Times.
Farrales was a valedictorian at Los Angeles’ Belmont High School. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University, with a degree in government, and earned a master's degree at the University of California (UC) in San Diego where he is also finishing his doctorates.
He arrived in the US with his parents in 1990, when he was 10 years old. At that time, his family was seeking asylum, after his father, a prominent lawyer and crusader against government corruption, was shot outside their home in Quezon City.
However, his father’s application for legal status was repeatedly denied.
Two of the younger Farrales’ sisters have legalized their status by marrying US citizens, while another sister is also about to marry a citizen.
His father’s death in 2006, however, dashed the family’s hopes of legalizing their status.
Farrales would have been a beneficiary of the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, a law that — had it been passed — would have granted a path to citizenship to students who are illegal aliens, and thus deportable.
The bill seeks to grant citizenship to foreign students who graduate from US high schools, who are of good moral character, who arrived in the US as minors, and who have been in the country continuously for at least five years prior to the bill's enactment.
Under the bill, qualified alien students may earn conditional permanent residency if they complete two years in the military or two years of a four-year program in an institution of higher learning.
But the bill, first introduced in 2001 and then re-introduced in the US Senate since then, was subjected to a vote last December 18 and fell five votes short of the required vote of 60 (55 to 41).
Earlier, the measure passed the House by a vote of 216 to 198.
Farrales is one of the more than 1.7 million young alien students who would have benefited from DREAM Act’s passage. —DM/KBK, GMANews.TV
6 killed in Batangas road accident — police
Six people were killed while five others were hurt Sunday when the passenger jeepney they were riding crashed head-on with a bus near the STAR Tollway in Batangas province, a police official said.
Superintendent Arcadio Ronquillo, spokesman for the Batangas provincial police, said initial investigation showed the bus was at fault for the incident.
“Nag-overtake yung bus sa isang kotse tapos habang overtake ay may nakasalubong na jeep sa kabilang linya kaya nagkabanggaan (The bus was overtaking a car when it crashed into the jeep on the opposite lane)," he said in a phone interview.
He said investigation was ongoing as of posting time. – KBK, GMANews.TV
Superintendent Arcadio Ronquillo, spokesman for the Batangas provincial police, said initial investigation showed the bus was at fault for the incident.
“Nag-overtake yung bus sa isang kotse tapos habang overtake ay may nakasalubong na jeep sa kabilang linya kaya nagkabanggaan (The bus was overtaking a car when it crashed into the jeep on the opposite lane)," he said in a phone interview.
He said investigation was ongoing as of posting time. – KBK, GMANews.TV
Oprah Winfrey launches her OWN cable network
NEW YORK — Oprah Winfrey's network has begun not with a bang but with re-declared purpose by the Queen of Daytime TV for her new round-the-clock cable channel venture.
After years in the planning and months of hype, the moment of launch on Saturday at 12 noon EST (1700 GMT) was rather quiet.
Buried in the middle of a holiday weekend (though boasting the numerically catchy date 1-1-11), The Oprah Winfrey Network, or OWN for short, arrived free of glitz with a one-hour preview special hosted by Winfrey, host of the syndicated "The Oprah Winfrey Show." She offered a hearty overview of the live-your-best-life fare she will curate across the network's schedule in the days ahead and further down the line.
The strategy seemed that of a soft opening, aimed at whetting viewers' appetites so they regularly come back and sample the network's expanding menu of new shows as they roll out.
"I wanted to take the ideals of great television that we've established on the 'Oprah' show and bring them to you through a variety of new shows 24/7," Winfrey said. "Every minute of this network has been hand-selected by me for you, the viewers."
This spring, Winfrey ends her wildly successful weekday syndicated daytime TV talk show after 25 years. But premiering Saturday night on OWN, "Behind the Scenes: The Oprah Show Final Season" is a 25-episode reality series that will give viewers an intimate look at "Oprah" as it draws to a close.
In her OWN preview special, Winfrey also touted "Master Class," a series that will spotlight prominent people who include Diane Sawyer, Simon Cowell, Jay-Z and Condoleezza Rice. The show airs Sunday.
"In the Bedroom with Dr. Laura Berman" provides counseling to couples to help them repair their sex lives. It airs Monday.
On "Your OWN Show: Oprah's Search for the Next TV Star," 10 contestants will compete to win a hosting job on an OWN show of his or her own creation. The finalists were chosen from more than 9,500 online audition videos and thousands more hopefuls at open casting calls. "Your OWN Show" premieres Friday.
Other shows, including reality series with Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, who says, "I am broken," and with troubled father-and-daughter actors Ryan and Tatum O'Neal, are among the programs promised for later.
Initially, the schedule is heavy with sneak previews of series yet to come and multiple repeats of current shows, including Winfrey's special, for those who missed them the first time.
"There are so many things happening here at OWN, and we're just getting started," Winfrey, 56, said as her preview drew to an end. "Every day, here's what I'm hoping — that you will find something here to inspire you."
OWN initially will be available in more than 80 million homes. Originally announced three years ago, the venture's start date had twice been delayed while its cost ballooned to a reported $189 million.
The Los Angeles-based OWN, a joint venture between Winfrey's company Harpo Inc. and Discovery Communication, is replacing the Discovery Health network, which folded as a network on New Year's Eve with the reality show "Dr. G: Medical Examiner."
At the stroke of midnight, OWN then began a 12-hour heavy rotation of a 30-minute "Countdown to OWN" promo that led up to Winfrey's special and her gleeful proclamation that she's "kicking off the next chapter of my life with all of you: Yes, the Oprah Winfrey Network is finally on the air!" — AP
After years in the planning and months of hype, the moment of launch on Saturday at 12 noon EST (1700 GMT) was rather quiet.
Buried in the middle of a holiday weekend (though boasting the numerically catchy date 1-1-11), The Oprah Winfrey Network, or OWN for short, arrived free of glitz with a one-hour preview special hosted by Winfrey, host of the syndicated "The Oprah Winfrey Show." She offered a hearty overview of the live-your-best-life fare she will curate across the network's schedule in the days ahead and further down the line.
The strategy seemed that of a soft opening, aimed at whetting viewers' appetites so they regularly come back and sample the network's expanding menu of new shows as they roll out.
"I wanted to take the ideals of great television that we've established on the 'Oprah' show and bring them to you through a variety of new shows 24/7," Winfrey said. "Every minute of this network has been hand-selected by me for you, the viewers."
This spring, Winfrey ends her wildly successful weekday syndicated daytime TV talk show after 25 years. But premiering Saturday night on OWN, "Behind the Scenes: The Oprah Show Final Season" is a 25-episode reality series that will give viewers an intimate look at "Oprah" as it draws to a close.
In her OWN preview special, Winfrey also touted "Master Class," a series that will spotlight prominent people who include Diane Sawyer, Simon Cowell, Jay-Z and Condoleezza Rice. The show airs Sunday.
"In the Bedroom with Dr. Laura Berman" provides counseling to couples to help them repair their sex lives. It airs Monday.
On "Your OWN Show: Oprah's Search for the Next TV Star," 10 contestants will compete to win a hosting job on an OWN show of his or her own creation. The finalists were chosen from more than 9,500 online audition videos and thousands more hopefuls at open casting calls. "Your OWN Show" premieres Friday.
Other shows, including reality series with Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, who says, "I am broken," and with troubled father-and-daughter actors Ryan and Tatum O'Neal, are among the programs promised for later.
Initially, the schedule is heavy with sneak previews of series yet to come and multiple repeats of current shows, including Winfrey's special, for those who missed them the first time.
"There are so many things happening here at OWN, and we're just getting started," Winfrey, 56, said as her preview drew to an end. "Every day, here's what I'm hoping — that you will find something here to inspire you."
OWN initially will be available in more than 80 million homes. Originally announced three years ago, the venture's start date had twice been delayed while its cost ballooned to a reported $189 million.
The Los Angeles-based OWN, a joint venture between Winfrey's company Harpo Inc. and Discovery Communication, is replacing the Discovery Health network, which folded as a network on New Year's Eve with the reality show "Dr. G: Medical Examiner."
At the stroke of midnight, OWN then began a 12-hour heavy rotation of a 30-minute "Countdown to OWN" promo that led up to Winfrey's special and her gleeful proclamation that she's "kicking off the next chapter of my life with all of you: Yes, the Oprah Winfrey Network is finally on the air!" — AP
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