All tax revenue, according to the American humorist P.J. O’Rourke, is the result of holding a gun to the taxpayer’s head. “Not paying taxes is against the law. If you don't pay your taxes, you'll be fined. If you don't pay the fine, you'll be jailed. If you try to escape from jail, you'll be shot.” So pay, we do. In many cases, we overpay. Thus we raise our eyebrows when Adelup boasts about itself each time it releases our tax refunds— our own money. On top of the income tax

Saipan — During the centennial celebration of Philippine independence, a stateside professor on Guam, a.k.a. party-pooper, wrote an op-ed which reminded everyone that the Philippines actually became independent on July 4, 1946 not on June 12, 1898. He’s right. Or wrong. If you read early-to mid-20th century U.S. books that mentioned Philippine history, and compare them to the history written by Filipinos beginning in the 1970s, you’d think that two or even three Philippines

After spending most of my morning preparing for a marketing workshop I will be conducting this week, I decided to stretch my legs and visit some of our SBDC clients in Hagatna. I wanted to get back out in to the small business trenches and see how the owners and their staff were doing. It was lunch time, so I first stopped at the Chamorro Village food court and wandered by all of the food booths. I was happy to see a new Filipino food business open near the stage, but also no

"Even with the tinge of awe, the expressions on the women's faces were a bit sad. I felt sad too although there was nothing that day that made me sad. At this point, I remembered what one passage of the book The Little Prince said: “One day," you said to me, "I saw the sunset forty-four times!" Manila — I have a new work engagement that requires me to take Metro Manila's metropolitan railway transit, the fastest mode of transport but is known notoriously for its coaches that

Senator Fernando Esteves on Wednesday introduced a groundbreaking bill that would make it easier for transgender people on Guam to change their legal sex designation on their birth certificates without the surgical requirement. If Bill 291 becomes law, Guam would join other states such as California, Hawaii, District of Columbia, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts and Minnesota, where the surgical requirement for gender change has been waived. "It is time that transgender people i

In recent years, the legalization of marijuana in America has been moving at a whirlwind pace. As of 2016, medical marijuana became legal in 29 states and Washington D.C., while recreational use is now legal in nine states and Washington D.C. In 2014, Guam became the first U.S. territory to legalize medical marijuana. Despite the enactment of rules and regulations, however, the medical marijuana program remains at a standstill due to the lack of an independent testing lab. Ju