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For the past 17 years, The Filipino Express has provided the Filipino American community the best news, arts and entertainment coverage from around the United States and the Philippines.
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This website includes selected articles from this week's edition of the Filipino Express. Not all the stories published in the printed version appear on this site.
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NEW YORK --- When this mayoral vote count in Jersey City is over, what’s next for Filipino-Americans? Are they ready for the city council elections in May 2005?
Less than four days before the special election to fill out the remaining term of the late Mayor Glenn Cunningham, I asked some people from Jersey City how they felt about fielding a single candidate for the city council. I reasoned that perhaps after so many attempts this strategy would make our community successful.
Someone who was obviously against the idea, responded that it will never happen since the major players will not allow it. And he primly suggested that his wife who has been in politics for more than a decade should instead be the front runner.
Another one said that a community meeting should be held at once to discuss this issue and decide what’s best. “After all,” he said, “it is our community and whatever happens the reflection is on us.”
I would have jumped on it but I was concerned it may only push away the other guy that he and his wife may decide not to involve themselves in any discussion. On the other hand, I was thinking that if they felt very strongly at the possibility of his wife winning without the backing of the community, why didn’t this happen during the run-off four years ago?
One thing that some leaders in Jersey City have not learned is the power of compromise. For more than a decade, no potential candidate has considered withdrawing for someone else. Each one believes that he or she could have the same chance as the other person and fight it out tooth and nail without regard at the ultimate result.
It is this mindset that caused our community to fall short of our goal time and again. And sadly, this weakness is what the major players pry upon and exploit. It is that old ploy of divide and rule.
One other reason that was pointed out was the absence of an organization that could unite everyone to pursue a political agenda. Every organization seems to excel at organizing beauty pageants, cultural, social and fund-raising activities.
I am not particularly against all of these functions; these are also important. However, we also need to have a voice in government. That is where our community would matter most. If we want to be at par with other minority groups, we have to look at ways to develop our political agenda, not for someone else’s, but as a united community action.
Why can’t there be a meeting of the minds and a gentleman’s agreement about this whole thing?
A year ago I raised the importance of getting organized early if we were to field a candidate in 2005. It is now about five months away from D-Day and yet there seems to be no movement to start the process.
If we want to be successful this time around, we need to begin now and take bold steps to make it happen. Someone has to organize a meeting to discuss our options and prepare a plan. We keep saying we’ve learned from the past and yet, we keep committing the same mistakes, over and over.
It is a better bragging right to win an election than to accept an appointment to someone else’s administration. Our community would be more respected and served.
We seriously need to set our sights for 2005. We have a much better chance now and if we blew this again, we’ll never make it.
Are we ready for 2005?
Send comments to rickyxpres@aol.com or visit Website at PinoyOnBoard.com.
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From Washington DC to California, in book fairs and panel discussions, writers, editors and publishers have pondered the statement –“Filipinos don’t read.” For indeed how else can you explain the absence of the great Filipino novel, the global success of a Filipino writer in English, or the lack of books authored and published by Filipinos? And that’s where it gets tricky, because it is one thing to say that Filipinos don’t BUY books and quite another to generalize and say, we don’t read at all.
Hey, the Philippines is the third largest English-speaking country in the world! In Manila alone there are words, signs and giant billboards with more words everywhere. And what about all those txt msgs (much to the detriment of proper grammar and spelling!), the blogs, the friendster bulletins? Ah but of course, all this means nothing. I must say that having lived in Manila most of my life, I can say I’ve never observed a culture of reading – books. Sure, Filipinos read – tabloids, komiks, chismis magazines, and yes, text messages. But even the books at National Bookstore and Powerbooks are too expensive, and what’s worse is that there are no public libraries where regular folks (who do not have access to their college libraries) can borrow books. So if there were public libraries, say on the barangay level, and if books were more affordable, maybe just maybe Filipinos will read.
The next question of course is WHAT will we read? Right now, the Pinoys that do read are sadly into whatever’s hot in the U.S. whether it’s the latest from John Grisham or the South Beach Diet Cookbook. You can blame it on colonial mentality but could it also be because books by Filipino authors are not properly promoted? They are usually relegated to that pathetic corner called the Filipiniana section – weird if you ask me, seeing as how, it is a bookstore in the Philippines – and shouldn’t the whole place be filled with Filipiniana?
When I was growing up, my mom read art books while my dad read business books. I don’t recall seeing them ever reading literature for pleasure but they did ingrain in me and my siblings a love for the written word, for books. They read with us and bought us books as presents. In high school, we read the Rizal novels, and Dekada 70. Other than that, Filipino authors were not required reading, it was on my own that I discovered the works of F. Sionil Jose, Bienvenido Santos and Nick Joaquin. At the Heritage Fest in DC, after author Bino Realuyo made his case that Filipinos do read, they just don’t read us (meaning Filipino authors), a textbook writer stepped up to the microphone to say that few Philippine-authored stories made it into school textbooks which is probably another part of the problem.
I also think there are other factors that contribute to why it would seem Filipinos don’t read (Filipinos) – first, there are few books by Filipinos out there; second, those that are out there are too expensive for the common tao (even a paperback “chick lit” novel from Summit Media costs Php 150, while Jessica Hagedorn’s Dogeaters is Php 645); third, there are no quiet places conducive to a relaxing read – no parks or open spaces, cafes (where you can hang around and not have to buy too much for fear of being booted away) or public libraries – even through Manila traffic, reading in a jeepney or while riding in an F/X can give you a headache. It is much easier to turn on the TV and watch the latest teleserye or PBA game, it is much easier to watch the latest movie from Mother Lily.
There ought to be a national campaign to promote reading – make that, reading Filipino literature. Perhaps Mother Lily and the other movie producers could get the ball rolling by making movies based on Filipino novels and short stories. Or maybe Kris Aquino can start a Book Club just like Oprah.
When the late great Wilfrido Nolledo was asked “Where is the great Philippine novel?” he replied, “Where is the great Philippine reader?”
We’re here, sir, waiting and hungry. Yes, Filipinos do read.
END
Any ideas? E-mail. manilagirl01[at] hotmail.com, www.missingmangoes.com , www.manila-girl.com
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