|
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.
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
To tell us what you think about Filipino Express Online or to comment on the stories published here, E-mail us at Filexpress@aol.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Logan shows a placard during a rally to fight poverty in North Korea
|
|
|
|
Washington, D.C., November 24, 2004 --- A Filipino-American had worked extensively in the the passage of a human rights legislation calling for the U.S. government to be actively involved in a regional dialogue on North Korean human rights issue and protect North Korea defectors.
Edward Logan, a human rights advocate for the Jubilee Campaign, USA and a founding member of the North Korea Freedom coalition, felt victorious after H.R. 4011 or the North Korean Human Rights Act (NHRA) was passed on Monday by both houses of the US Congress.
“Monday was a victorious day for the North Korean people and for human rights activists, it is a historic human rights action on taking stand for the oppressed, fighting for justice, and spreading democracy worldwide,” he said.
Logan was the youngest Filipino-American human rights advocate ever attended the international human rights conference in Warsaw, Poland last March. He was also instrumental in bringing together various international NGOs to successful lobbied for the appointment of a UN Special Rapportuer to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva, Switzerland during their general meeting in Mid-March.
The NHRA Act is intended to help promote human rights and freedom in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. It also purports to direct negotiations with foreign governments and international organizations.
The law calls for yearly totals of US$24 million – including US $2 million for activities improving human rights in North Korea, US $ 2 million to promoting freedom of information in North Korea and US $20 million to refugee assistance – to be given in aid between fiscal year 2005 and fiscal year.
According to the U.S. Congressional Budget Office official said, “The 2005 budget has already been allocated, so in fact, the provision could begin execution from 2006.”
The law reaffirmed the articles in U.S. Immigration law that stipulate that the fact the defectors have a right to apply for South Korean citizenship doesn’t prevent them from applying for refugee status in the United States and avail certain immigration benefits if persecuted by the North Korean regime.
“This law sends a hopeful message to the North Korean people that we deeply care about their suffering under the Kim Jong-il totalitarian regime,” Logan added. “This year highly charged election campaign, the U.S. Congress has set aside their partisan differences in the name of humanity to declare major victory for human rights movement and the promotion of democracy worldwide especially for the people of North Korea.”
Jubilee Campaign, an international non-governmental organization that promotes the human rights and religious freedom of ethnic and religious minorities in countries that imprison, terrorize or otherwise oppress them.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Social and development programs discussed
|
|
|
|
NEW YORK, November 25, 2004 --- The Philippine Consulate General in New York hosted on Nov. 12 a meeting between representatives of Ayala Foundation, Inc. (AFI) and members of the Filipino community at the Philippine Center here.
The meeting was held to brief the community on the various social and development programs of the Foundation as it responds to the complex needs of the Filipinos in recent times. Fernando Zobel de Ayala, chairman of the Foundation, conducted the briefing. He was assisted by Victoria P. Garchitorena, president of the Foundation.
During the briefing, Ayala explained that “AFI is a non-stock, non-profit organization which serves as the socio-cultural development of the Ayala Group of Companies.”
He also said that “through various social development and cultural projects, AFI hopes to extend the benefits of recent technological developments to the cultivation of Filipino ingenuity and talent as well the preservation of our rich culture, history and traditions.” One of these projects is the Youth Tech Project, which Garchitorena explained as AFI’s means of providing public secondary schools in the Philippines with computers, software, local area networks, internet connection and teacher training.
“By increasing the global competitiveness of our public high school students, they will have a bigger chance to obtain employment and contribute to the economic development of the country,” Garchitorena added.
The Foundation has also embarked on a brain-gain program.
Garchitorena said the program aims to reverse the negative effects of the emigration of Filipino professionals and skilled workers to industrialized countries, commonly referred to as brain drain.
“Through the program, the Foundation identifies and invites Filipinos abroad who are willing to come back to the Philippines for short– or long-term projects to help accelerate the country’s socio-economic development,” Garchitorena explained.
She added that “particular targets are communities and organizations with existing knowledge-transfer programs, and individual professionals as volunteers or semi-volunteers, whose skills and experience can be used to assist non-government organizations, government agencies or start-up projects in the Philippines.”
Also during the meeting, Ayala and Garchitorena spoke about the Ayala Foundation-USA (AF-USA).
Ayala Foundation USA was established in 2000 “to provide Filipinos in the US with an effective mechanismfor philanthropic giving to support social development initiatives in the Philippines.”
Registered with the US Internal Revenue Service as a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, AF-USA was launched at the 2000 National Congress of the National Federation of Filipino-American Associations (NaFFAA) in Las Vegas, Nevada. Donations through AF-USA are deductible from income taxes in the U.S.
True to form, AF-USA has served as the conduit of many a Filipino organization and individuals for their donations to the Philippines since its establishment in 2000. AF-USA ensures that the donations of these organizations and individuals are utilized for the right purpose and are handled by the right groups, and that the donors are properly given feedback on how their resources are used and what impact and effects are created by such donations.
Consul General Rebong, who hosted the meeting, thanked Ayala for choosing to meet with the Filipino community in Northeast USA. She said the meeting provided the community with a deeper understanding of how Ayala Foundation operates.
“Often, many individuals and groups in the Filipino community are hesitant to donate, or continue donating, to the Philippines out of fear that their contributions will just go to the wrong people or that they will not be able to avail themselves of tax exemption in the United States,” she said.
The Consul General said the meeting assured the community that their donations are safe and will reach their intended beneficiaries.
“We were also properly informed that donations to the Philippines can be coursed through Ayala Foundation-USA, which enjoys a 501 (c)(3) privilege in the U.S.” Rebong said.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
NEW YORK, November 25, 2004 --- Mayor Michael Bloomberg hosted on Oct. 22 an immigrant community leaders’ breakfast at Gracie Mansion on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.
Sherry Lynn Peralta, FAHSI executive director, joined Bloomberg along with 15 other immigrant community leaders from countries such as Haiti, Bangladesh, and the Dominican Republic to discuss major concerns facing their respective communities.
“The most pressing needs of our community include access to health care services, particularly for undocumented immigrants, and the problems of human trafficking (or mail-order bride industry) and domestic violence experienced by many Filipina women,” said Peralta.
“Filipinos are law-abiding, tax-paying citizens who are entitled to a fair share of the city’s social services,” she said. “We serve hundreds of clients each month—with wide-ranging issues from immigration, employment, and health needs—while the City of New York can certainly do more to provide funding for services to the most vulnerable segments of our community,” said Peralta.
Bloomberg introduced the new Commissioner for the NYC Office of Immigrant Affairs, Guillermo Linares, who replaced Commissioner Sayu Bhojwani last July 2004. Mr. Linares in 1991 became the first Dominican-American to hold public office in the United States when he was elected to the New York City Council.
Currently, FAHSI participates in the Mayor’s Volunteer Center in partnership with the United Way of New York City (www.volunteernyc.org), and the Mayor’s Immigrant History Week celebration held in April.
FAHSI is a 501(c)3 non-profit agency established in 1993 to help meet the social service needs of the Filipino community of New York.
For more information or to volunteer, call (718) 883-1295 or visit www.fahsi.org.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
