Feng Shui expert Lani Ortega and Leung’s White Crane Dance Troupe of San Francisco join us in our studio to celebrate the last of the Chinese New Year celebration and to tell us what kind of luck the year the Water Dragon will bring us.

Legaci started by performing cover songs and original pieces at parties, talent shows, and cultural events over a decade ago, and now they, are the opening act for teen superstar Justin Beiber.

The group stopped by our studio to talk about their rise to fame

A Mother’s Story, The Filipino Channel’s (TFC) first movie offering for Kapamilyas worldwide, focuses on the everyday sacrifices that millions of Filipino parents make as they leave their homes to find jobs overseas.

John-D Lazatin, the movie’s creator and director, and chief of TFC’s Media Production and Entertainment Group joined us in our studio to talk about TFC’s first full-length feature film.

TFC marks debut into international film production with the U.S. premiere of “A Mother’s Story”
Film’s lead Pokwang to grace first public screening on November 6 in Los Angeles

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., November 2, 2011 – Filipinos worldwide will once again witness another first in Philippine cinema as TFC unveils its very first foray into movie production with A Mother’s Story.

Headlined by Pokwang, one the country’s leading comedy sensations in her first dramatic role, A Mother’s Story will have its premiere showing at the Alex Theatre in Glendale on November 6 with two screenings at 1 pm and 6 pm.

Some 100 TFC subscribers, who were selected randomly, will get a chance to have their pictures taken with the film’s lead star, Pokwang, at the premiere’s venue.

Filipino movie enthusiasts around the world will also get their chance to witness Pokwang’s transformation from a comic host to a dramatic actress when A Mother’s Story is shown starting November 11 in major cities worldwide including Calgary, London, Madrid and Milan.

“We at TFC are overseas Filipinos ourselves so we live and breathe in the world our kababayans abroad are in. Thus, it’s not enough to tell stories of Filipinos that come from the homeland through TV programs and movies, but also share those that come from us who have lived outside of it,” said Kerwin Du, TFC North America’s head of theatricals.

Du continued: “Film is one of the essential purveyors of narratives. The journey of the overseas Filipino is among the finest and richest sources of compelling stories that need to be told to the world. Hence, TFC’s foray into film production is a natural and relevant progression of our mission to serve Filipinos wherever they may be.”

A Mother’s Story gives life to the story of Medy, played by Pokwang, a make-up artist who dares to make a life in the United States as an illegal immigrant in exchange for saving the life of her infant daughter.

The film focuses on the everyday sacrifices that millions of Filipino parents make as they leave their homes to find jobs overseas.

“For TFC’s initial offering, we dedicate A Mother’s Story to all the Filipino parents and children who continue to live and love apart,” explained John-D J. Lazatin, the director of A Mother’s Story.

Lazatin embarked on the journey of helming TFC’s very first production as a way to honor his own mother.  “She was a widow who also came to America and sought the American Dream to secure the future of her kids,” shared Lazatin as he added that the film, “is very personal to me, having lost my mother during the post-production stages of the movie.”

Beyond the universal themes of a parent’s love and sacrifice, A Mother’s Story also showcases both the travails and triumphs of illegal immigrant Filipinos.

Juxtaposed with their humiliation as they suffer from physical and emotional abuse from employers as well as the betrayal they experience from fellow kababayans are the kindness of strangers and the value of treating every human being with decency.

In returning to the Philippines, Medy is also forced to deal with the resentment of her oldest son King, who felt that his mother abandoned him seven years ago, while her seven-year old daughter Queenie treats her with innocent wonder.

TFC chose host and comedienne Pokwang to play Medy because her own personal life epitomizes the struggles of an overseas Filipino worker (OFW).  “She does not just know it, she has lived it.  She has a full grasp of what sacrifice means to the overseas Pinoy,” Lazatin pointed out.

Lazatin praises Pokwang for her “authentic” portrayal of Medy.  “Her performance in the film is a reflection of an honest and pure heart. Watching her, what is left is a thin layer between the reel Medy and the real Pokwang,” Lazatin further shared.

Joining Pokwang are Nonie Buencamino, Daria Ramirez, Rayver Cruz, Ana Capri, Beth Tamayo and child sensation Xyriel Manabat. Screenplay is by Senedy Que, who also wrote the award-winning film, “In My Life”.

For more information on the film’s US and Canada screenings, please visit http://www.abs-cbnglobalmovies.com.

-By Reuters

In January, the Waterloo, Iowa, company rolled out a wellness program and voluntary screenings. It also gave workers a mandate — quit smoking, curb obesity or you’ll be paying higher health-care costs in 2013. It doesn’t yet know by how much but one thing’s for certain, the unhealthy will pay more.

The credit union, which has more than 500 employees, is not alone. In recent years, a growing number of companies have been encouraging workers to voluntarily improve their health to control escalating insurance costs.

While workers mostly like to see an employer offer smoking cessation classes and weight loss programs, too few are signing up or showing signs of improvement.

So now more employers are trying a different strategy — replacing the carrot with a stick and raising costs for workers who can’t seem to lower their cholesterol or tackle obesity. They’re also coming down hard on smokers.

For example, discount store giant Wal-Mart said that starting in 2012 it will charge tobacco users higher premiums but also offer free smoking cessation programs.

Tobacco users consume about 25 percent more health-care services than non-tobacco users, said Greg Rossiter, a spokesman for Wal-Mart which insures more than one million people, including family members.

“The decisions aren’t easy, but we need to balance costs and provide quality coverage.” For decades, workers — especially with large employers — have taken many health benefits for granted and until the past few years hardly noticed the price increases.
But the new policies could not only badly dent their take-home pay and benefits but also reduce their freedom to behave as they want outside of work and make them resentful towards their employers.

There are also fears the trend will hurt the lower-paid hardest as health costs can eat up a bigger slice of their disposable income, and because they may not have much access to gyms and fresh food in their neighborhoods.

“It’s not inherently wrong to hold people responsible,” said Lewis Maltby, president of the National Workrights Institute, a research and advocacy organization on employment issues based in Princeton, N.J.

“But it’s a dangerous precedent,” he said. “Everything you do in your personal private life affects your health.”
Overall, the use of penalties is expected to climb in 2012 to almost 40 percent of large and mid-sized companies, up from 19 percent this year and only 8 percent in 2009, according to an October survey by consulting firm Towers Watson and the National Business Group on Health.

The penalties include higher premiums and deductibles for individuals who failed to participate in health management activities as well as those who engaged in risky health behaviors such as smoking. “Nothing else has worked to control health trends,” said LuAnn Heinen, vice president of the National Business Group on Health, which represents large employers on health and benefits issues. “A financial incentive reduces that procrastination.”

Lack of Jobs
The weak economy is contributing to the change. Employers face higher health care costs, in part, because they’re hiring fewer younger, healthy workers and losing fewer more sickly, senior employees.

The poor job market also means employers don’t have to be as generous with these benefits to compete. They now expect workers to contribute to the solution just as they would to a 401(k) retirement plan, said Jim Winkler, a managing principal at consulting firm Aon Hewitt’s health and benefits practice. “You’re going to face consequences based on whether you’ve achieved or not,” he said.
Those that don’t are more likely to be punished. An Aon Hewitt survey released in June found that almost half of employers expect by 2016 to have programs that penalize workers “for not achieving specific health outcomes” such as lowering their weight, up from 10 percent in 2011 The programs have until now met little resistance in the courts.

The 1996 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act prevents workers from being discriminated against on the basis of health if they’re in a group health insurance plan. But HIPAA also allows employers to offer wellness programs and to offer incentives of up to 20 percent of the cost for participation.

President Barack Obama’s big health-care reform, the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, will enable employers beginning in 2014 to bump that difference in premiums to 30 percent and potentially up to 50 percent.

Employers do, however, also need to provide an alternative for workers who can’t meet the goals. That could include producing a doctor’s note to say it is medically very difficult, or even impossible, to achieve certain goals, said Timothy Jost, a professor at the Washington and Lee School of Law.

For example, a worker with asthma may not be able to participate in a company exercise program. These wellness programs typically include a health risk assessment completed online, and on-site free medical screenings for things such as blood pressure, body mass index and cholesterol.

The programs, while voluntary, often typically offer financial benefits including lower insurance premiums, gift cards and employer contributions to health savings accounts.

For example, workers at the railroad company Union Pacific get $100 in their health savings account for completing the health assessment, $100 if they don’t use tobacco and $100 if they get an annual physical. Ttobacco users also can get the $100 if they participate in a tobacco cessation program.

Marieton Pacheco brings us the latest news on this week’s BALITANG CANADA.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Health care staffing agency Jackson Therapy Partners, based in Orlando, has paid $134,073 in back wages to 40 nonimmigrant employees hired under the H-1B program to work as physical and occupational therapists in 15 states, following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division.

Investigators found that the employer failed to pay the H-1B workers the required wage rate for the period of time between arrival from their home country, the Philippines, and reporting to their temporary work sites. Under the H-1B program, workers must be paid for all nonproductive time caused by their employers.

The employees worked in the following locations: Fayette and Northport, Ala.; Fresno, Calif.; Smyrna, Del.; Altoona, Boca Raton, Crystal River, Debary, Deland, Eustis, Lady Lake, Lake Mary, Melbourne, Ocala, Sanford, Starke and Stuart, Fla.; Chicago, Deerfield, Lincoln, Piper City, Quincy and Streator, Ill.; Monticello and South Bend, Ind.; Hopkinsville, Ky.; Baltimore and Prince Frederick, Md.; Ludington, Mich.; Whiting, N.J.; Fayetteville, Morehead City and New Bern, N.C.; Cincinnati, Ohio; Narvon, Philadelphia and Sinking Spring, Pa.; Brownsville, La Joya, McAllen, Rockport, Texarkana and Weslaco, Texas; and Rainelle, W.Va.

“The U.S. Department of Labor is responsible for enforcing some of our nation’s most comprehensive federal labor laws, including provisions in certain temporary worker programs such as H-1B,” said Michael Young, director of the Wage and Hour Division’s Jacksonville District Office. “The Wage and Hour Division vigorously enforces H-1B visa rules to protect both the rights of U.S. citizens and the temporary employees in this program. Employers should not unduly benefit from hiring H-1B workers to fill jobs as opposed to hiring U.S. workers.”

As established under the Immigration and Nationality Act, the H-1B program applies to employers that hire non-U.S. workers in specialty occupations. The program helps employers that cannot obtain needed business skills and abilities from the U.S. workforce by authorizing the temporary employment of qualified individuals who are not otherwise authorized to work in the U.S. The H-1B regulations establish standards to protect the H-1B workers as well as similarly employed U.S. workers from being adversely affected by the employment of nonimmigrant workers. Employers must attest to the Labor Department that they will pay wages to the H-1B workers at least equal to the wages paid by the employer to other workers with similar experience and qualifications for the job in question, or the prevailing wage for the occupation in the area of intended employment – whichever is greater.

This case was investigated by the Wage and Hour Division’s Jacksonville District Office, located at 400 W. Bay St., Suite 956, Jacksonville, Fla. 32202; telephone 904-359-9292.

For more information about the laws enforced by the Wage and Hour Division, call its national toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information is also available on the Internet at http://www.dol.gov/whd.

PBA legends Abe King Jr., former power forward of the Toyota Tamaraws, and Ponky Alolor, former Great Taste forward, joined us in our studio to talk about their lives as professional basketball players and their efforts to help the typhoon victims in the Philippines.