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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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San Francisco, CALIFORNIA, March 31, 2005 --- When Ronaldo Labindao came up to the bank officer’s desk on Monday, he looked like any other person here applying for a credit card He signed up a few papers and couldn’t wait to buy a new computer.
But among those people applying for a bank credit card, Labindao is neither a U.S. citizen nor legal resident. He came to this country from the Philippines in 1995 and illegally overstayed his visa.
Labindao is one of the beneficiaries of a new program by California’s Wells Fargo Bank, giving loan opportunities on individuals without a Social Security Number.
“You don’t need to have a credit history to get approved. Not many people are aware of our program,” said Stephanie Wong, a Filipina desk officer at Wells Fargo, in San Francisco.
Wong said that Wells Fargo normally offers clients without a Social Security Number a $300 credit card limit. After a year, if the credit card holder maintains a good record, the bank will increase the credit limit.
In a CNN report last week, a Wells Fargo spokes woman said that the bank offers its programs to clients and that the bank doesn’t deal with their clients’ immigration concerns.
Nationwide, increasing numbers of financial institutions offer such programs, including mortgage loans.
According to the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals, among the nation’s roughly 6 million undocumented Latinos alone is a potential $44 billion market for homes.
The number of people using taxpayer identification number (TIN) has increased over the last decade, an Associated Press report said. The IRS accepts their tax payments, and financial institutions seem them out as customers, despite having no legal right to work or remain in the US.
“These are our best-performing assets,” James Maloney, chairman of the Milwaukee-based Mitchell Bank, told the AP. “These are folks who are appreciative of the fact that we’re willing to take a chance on them.”
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NEW YORK --- In what is developing into a continuing dispute, a group of Filipino American community leaders has released a paid advertisement of letter from the provincial governor of Surigao del Sur. The governor’s letter alerts the community here “to refrain from giving any donation Mrs. Nena Lozada Kaufman because we believe that she is using the money for personal purposes.”
Through her Philippine Hearts and Hope Foundation, Kaufman initiated a fund-raising event last year to help her hometown, San Agustin, her hometown in Surigao del Sur, acquire an ambulance of its own among other charitable causes.
However, Governor Vicente T. Pimentel, Jr. wrote that after coordinating with Mayor Manuel Alameda of San Agustin, they found that the supposed vehicle is “an ordinary van without any special equipment.” The vehicle, the letter continued, was “always parked at the house of her (Kaufman) relative” and “used for personal purposes.”
When asked to comment on the governor’s letter, Kaufman said: “I don’t worry about it. They can say and print whatever they want. The truth will always come out.”
Recently, Kaufman filed a lawsuit against three of her former friends in the Philippine Independence Day Council, Inc. (PIDCI), namely: Philip Carreon, Lolita Gillberg and Nanette Sering-Wright on charges of defamation of character. They were given to respond within 20 days from receipt of the summons.
Having been identified as one of the community leaders behind the paid advertisement, Wright was asked to comment on her participation and other queries pertaining to Kaufman’s lawsuit. Her general response was: “This is a matter of importance to the Filipino American community and we thought it was essential for this information to be made public.”
The Filipino Express tried to reach Mayor Alameda but due to time difference it was unable to get his comments.
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Washington, D.C., March 31, 2005 --- Sixty-three years after the fall of Bataan, Filipino American World War ll veterans are still fighting to realize their need to get pensions from the U.S. government.
To bolster support, Filipino-American veterans have appealed to Republican California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to persuade President Bush to back their pension bills in Congress.
Seven officers of the Sacramento-based Filipino American War Veterans Association (FAWVA) met for thirty minutes with Tom Johnson, secretary of the California Department of Veterans Affairs, in his downtown office on March 7.
FAWVA president, Jose Nuega, 79, presented their request to Johnson, a Vietnam War veteran. “We hope you could help us talk to the governor,” said Nuega who fought in Mindanao in WWII.
The Filipino-American veterans stressed the state of California would save about $9 Million dollars per year if their federal legislation is passed in Congress. Their House bills HR 170 or HR 302 and Senate bill S. 146 would fully restore their recognition of their honorable military service during World War II.
There are about 4,000 Filipino WWII veterans residing in the California, according to Eric Lachica, the executive director of the Washington-based advocacy group, the American Coalition for Filipino Veterans (ACFV). He said that California would save about $200 monthly per veteran in the State Supplemental Security Income benefit when the veteran qualifies for the higher federal VA non-service disability monthly pension of $847 if the bills are passed into law.
The Filipino-American veterans delegation also voiced their concern that Schwarzenegger had been misinformed last year when he vetoed AB 2512, a bipartisan Assembly bill passed by the legislature, without any cost to the state, which would allow public school teachers to provide instruction on role of Filipinos soldiers during WWII.
A similar bill, AB 15, was recently introduced in January. It has garnered the support of major community organizations to recognize in the classrooms the contributions of Filipinos to democracy and the state.
Johnson instructed his deputy to have the state’s Finance Department to assess their veterans’ proposal and the savings that would accrue. Later, the coalition and FAWVA sent a letter to the governor’s office requesting a formal meeting to discuss their request.
“Politically, without Schwarzenegger’s crucial support, our chances in persuading Bush and the Republican Congress will be zero this year,” Lachica said.
He discussed his plans with ACFV leaders during their meetings in San Francisco, San Jose, Sacramento, Los Angeles and San Diego. Lachica urged them to visit the governor’s local offices to build relationships with governor’s staff to complement their congressional campaign. Schwarzenegger is courting Filipino American votes as he geared for reelection in 2006. There are more than one million Filipinos residing in the Golden State.
Mostly frail and sick, about eight Filipino WWII veterans die per day based on 2004 mortality statistics from the US Department of Veterans Affairs. The report was recently obtained by the ACFV, a registered lobby on Capitol Hill and a veterans service organization (VSO) listed with the US Department of Veterans Affairs.
To emphasize the urgency of their campaign, the coalition will launch their Spring campaign with four days of actions in Washington in time for the commemoration of the Fall of Bataan.
On April 7, the ACFV vets will begin arriving for congressional visits and to preview the award-winning documentary, “Untold Triumph” in the Philippine Embassy. The documentary will later be broadcast nationwide on PBS on Memorial Day. Then the following day, they plan to visit the Senate and House to lobby for their bills. They plan to meet with the new US VA
Secretary Jim Nicholson and his key staff. They will later hold a sunset wreath laying ceremony at the Bataan marker in the national World War II Memorial on Independence and 17th Streets across from the White House.
US Army Maj. General Antonio Taguba, the highest ranking Filipino American officer in military and Philippine Ambassador Albert Del Rosario were invited to honor the 120,000 US and Filipino soldiers who fought in defense of the US territory of the Philippines in 1942.
The Filipino-American veterans will witness, on April 9, the world renowned Cherry Blossom Parade and visit the “Americans at War” exhibits in the Smithsonian National Museum of American History that features the role of the Philippines and their soldiers. The next day, a busload of community supporters from the Philadelphia and New Jersey area will be given a tour of the WWII Memorial and Iwo Jima monuments.
Meantime, CA Congressmen Bob Filner (D-San Diego) and Randy Duke Cunningham (R-San Diego), in partnership with the National Network for Veterans Equity (NNVE), are hosting a national videoconference on April 9, 2005. Passage of the Filipino Veterans Equity Act of 2005, H.R. 302 and S. 146, is the focus of the video conference.
“We are thrilled that Representatives Filner and Cunningham are giving us the resources to be able to strategize our advocacy on this issue,” said Alma Kern, chair of the Pacific Northwest Region of NAFFAA. “We will certainly capitalize on this opportunity to bring together the various supporters from around the country.”
NAFFAA is in the forefront to push for the rights of Filipino American veterans. The House bill, introduced on January 25, 2005 by Representative Cunningham, has been sent to the Veterans Affairs Committee. It currently has 31 co-sponsors. Introduced on the same day by Senator Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), the Senate bill is likewise in the Veterans Affairs Committee.
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