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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 --- It’s not a big surprise to anyone that Ludy de Asis-Hughes and Gani Puertollano would be pitted against each other in the upcoming presidential elections of the Philippine Independence Day Council, Inc. (PIDCI). I saw the writings on the wall even before their campaign started.
With board members Wilson Versoza withdrawing his candidacy and Dr. “Boy” Pangan confirming his decision not to run this coming year, the Hughes-Puertollano face-off was expected. Already, we see each camp positioning its candidates as a better choice than the other. And the usual political campaign gimmickry is on a roll.
As everyone knows, Hughes is relying heavily on the backing of her Friends Indeed’s group which is composed of the “elite” of the community as one of its members considers themselves.
On the other hand, Puertollano is said to draw his support from the “masa” – the grassroots organizations.
The difference between the two camps was drawn early on when Friends Indeed hosted a black-tie event on Feb. 11 at Marriott Glen Point.
The other event, chaired by Puertollano himself on Feb. 13, was held at the Yankee Buffet Restaurant. Folks were dressed in their casual outfit.
What really matters? Is it the ostentatious display of moneyed people that cater to photo-ops to show the world they are a big donor or the collective hard-working effort of everyone to accomplish a successful project sans pomposity? Is it whose group you choose to belong to or is it where we could harness unity and bring the best of every individual’s talents?
People have a tendency to tap the “crème-de la-crème” of our community but forget to think that the crème rises from the bottom. When people forget or ignore such a reality, that’s when in-fighting begins and a breakdown occurs. The project may proceed but end with hurt feelings.
Isn’t that the case we’ve seen these past two years? It’s hard to change what’s ingrained in us as Filipinos born in our homeland, some people say. It’s a lot easier to work and deal with those who were born or raised here, others say.
Don’t you notice that the children of these supposedly community leaders aren’t involved at all except to become a beauty queen of this or that pageant? Or when it comes to males, a member of this or that band group?
Even those who excel supposedly in academics aren’t interested in community events; they have their own circle of friends to go to. Why? I remember a friend suggesting an answer for such observation: It’s either due to a culture-gap or a generation gap, or a combination of both.
What really matters for our community is to get united behind a cause that we feel so strongly about. There is strength and unity in our regional diversity.
If we continue harping on our regional differences as a reason for disunity, we will not overcome that. If we continue to dwell on our social classes, we will not achieve our ends. If we fail to plan for our future as an empowered community, we are planning to fail.
What really matters is for us to get started and embark on a mission of unity, which seems to have escaped our attention many, many years ago. Some may have considered this as a foregone conclusion. But until we change from within, we cannot bring out the best.
That’s what really matters.
Send comments to rickyxpres@aol.com or visit Website at PinoyOnBoard.com.
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The thermometer reads 107 degrees. The AC is blasting louder than the radio, and I’m thinking -- if this were a fever, it would be dengue. “It was never this hot in Manila, was it?” we ask fanning ourselves with pamaypays from the PI. It was never this humid, we complain remembering the artificially cooled halls of Megamall where we spent many warm days cooling off. Mall rats. That’s how most Pinoys cool off. Movie theaters. And halo-halo.
My friends are chilling out at my backyard where our Aqua Leisure pool sits – the water has been heated up by the sun. Too hot. My little boy suggests the hose and boy what fun we have with that. Q wants a hose head like we have to send to Bicol – it’s got different settings: shower, cone, flat, jet and mist. We wonder if the water pressure in the Philippines will ever be strong enough to blast through the hose. Plus there are always those Water Conservation warnings. I remember we had a booster-pump at home, and even then two people couldn’t turn a faucet on at the same time. We would yell, “TUBIIIIIGGGG!” (Water!) to let other people in the house know that we were about to step into the shower. No baths back home. It would take too long to fill a tub. Besides, most houses just had showers, where there would be buckets of water for when there would be no water which was often. You needed a tabo. (water scoop?) We took tabo-baths.
D thinks he’d like a trailer trash pool like this one for their house in Manila. But then he realizes it would take forever to fill. You’d think there’d be more water parks in the Philippines but I can only think of Splash Island. Oh and we went to a rundown one in Clark, Pampanga when we visited last year. But then we do have 7100 islands surrounded by water, and we have beautiful water falls and many hot springs. The ironic thing is that many Filipinos do not know how to swim.
During our last trip to Manila, my then 3-year old son would lay down on the cold tiled floor of my dad’s house pretending to be a dinosaur. He said, “I’m extinct.” And we thought it was so cute until we realized he meant that he was so hot he was going to pass out. My dad laughed – Tisoy! – and quickly carried off his over-heating apo to the air-conditioned room in the house. This past summer my family told me the heat was “nakakapaso.” (Scorching) But isn’t it always?
Summer is a welcome treat here in North America; all winter we look forward to it. We anxiously buy the lastest swimwear and flip flops and plan trips to the Shore. But once we’ve hit three days of 95 degree weather we wish it were spring again or even fall.
The pool has cooled off now. And we all jump in Pinoy-style with t-shirts and shorts. The water is refreshing.
I think we take our warm weather for granted in the Philippines. We ought to be more productive as a nation – what’s that saying about making hay while the sun shines? But too often the heat causes us to be lazy – nakakatamad – it slows down work until nothing gets done at all. Or the president decides to declare a three day holiday so people can take off for the beach. So even less work is accomplished. And then there are those who downright ignore the tropical climate and dress in turtlenecks and trench coats to keep in fashion.
Ah well, people do crazy things in the heat of the moment.
END
What are your summer memories? E-mail me. manilagirl01@hotmail.com, http://www.missingmangoes.com
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A series worth a Pulitzer
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Chicago, ILLINOIS --- The Arlington Heights, Illinois-based Daily Herald’s public service feature on the Philippines and its people that connected them to Filipino expatriates in the US Midwest is not only yielding dividends for this once “invisible minority” but it is also breaking new ground for this state’s third largest newspaper in the field of journalism.
Although, the advent of Internet had downsized the world into a virtual miniature village, the Herald sent a tandem of a reporter and a photographer to travel to the Philippines for 20 days to find out for themselves first-hand the living condition of the people, from the poorest of the poor to the manpower-driven business activities that keep the country afloat.
Award-winning reporter Michael Sean Comerford and photographer Mark Welsh could not believe the heart-breaking poverty they witnessed. Their effort to inform the expatriate Filipinos of these untold sufferings had turned their newspaper into a virtual advocate for change as some Chicago Filipino suburbanites were moved to help out fight off such human deprivation.
Sold Own Homes To Give Away to Homeless
In launching what the Herald calls an excellent example of “glocal” journalism, when global and local information are lumped into a news story, its five-part series, entitled, “Philippines: The Arc of the Islanders (http://www.dailyherald.com/special/philippines/index.asp),” found out that several Filipino Americans living in Chicago suburbs have already been paying their dues to their ill-starred compatriots.
Two couples even sold their homes and sent their equities to some of the poorest of the poor so these can help build homes these poor can call their own and lead new lives.
On the other hand, others have been doing medical missions that brought medical teams closer to the indigent families living in the hinterlands.
Filipinos Blend Beautifully
It is part a “Suburban Mosaic” series that has looked for links to India, Mexico and Poland after these ethnic groups had gentrified in the Chicago suburbia.
“In the Filipino community,” Comerford said, “it was important to shed light on the ‘invisible minority.’” He observed, unlike other ethnic groups, “Filipinos don’t group together in Chinatown-like neighborhoods. Filipinos arrive speaking English and are already familiar with American culture so they blend beautifully. But the Filipino experience is different from the mainstream culture and bears taking a long hard look.”
This kind of series should be replicated by other mainstream publications. Unlike foreign news correspondents posted overseas by such mainstream publications as the New York Times or The Wall Street Journal, who specialize only on their respective foreign assignments, Herald’s “glocal” journalists are composed of the same set of reporters and photographers, covering one subject matter from both sides of the Pacific or Atlantic for that matter. That gives the Herald’s “glocal” journalists a well-rounded knowledge of the topic.
Gone Out On A Limb
For this reason, I am pulling for this series to win the Pulitzer Prize this year if only to give credit to the Herald’s effort to blaze new trail in journalism.
What “glocal” journalist Comerford, did was to tell the stories of suburban immigrants, by interviewing hundreds of Chicago-area Filipinos before telling the stories of about a dozen immigrants and their connections to their home country.
Comerford and Welsh even went out on a limb when they strayed into Zamboanga City, where even Associated Press won’t send reporters and photographers there right now. They ventured into Fiesta Pilar which the Abu Sayyaf has bombed in the past.
They took chances because terrorism happens “during an average day.” He said their escort, Lt. Col. Ken Comer, had body guards and stayed at the Garden Orchid hotel with them, sleeping in the room between Mark and him. Comer suggested they put a chair against the door and be prepared to jump off the back balcony. “We knew we were in danger but Zamboanga is so beautiful, it didn’t feel like it.” Comerford said.
(lariosa_jos@sbcglobal.net)
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Recently, a woman came to my office, wanting to petition her minor, unmarried child. She is a green card holder, and her child is in the Philippines. If she were to petition her child as a green card holder, it would take about 4-6 years before she could join her in America.
In discussing her case, she mentioned that she is married to a U.S. citizen, and that they have been happily married for several years. However, she wanted to wait until she becomes a U.S. citizen, and then petition her child.
I then suggested, “Why don’t you have your husband petition your daughter?” She looked at me with shock and surprise. “But my husband never adopted my child, so how could he petition her?” I then explained to her that a stepparent is able to petition a stepchild, without having to adopt the child.
In this case, the woman's American citizen husband could have petitioned her daughter (his stepchild) years ago. There was no need for her to either wait to become a U.S. citizen or to petition her own child while she is a green card holder, thus avoiding the several years wait before the child could join her in U.S.
The basic requirement or eligibility for an immediate relative petition by a U.S. citizen stepparent are:- The step-relationship must have been created before the child was 18 years old.
- The child is still single, and under 21 years of age.
In other words, if a person marries a U.S. citizen before his or her child is 18 years of age, that U.S. citizen spouse could petition the stepchild as an “immediate relative”. There is no need for the stepparent to adopt the child, or for the natural parent to be the petitioner.
As shown above, this could have very important consequences in family petitions. For example, if the natural mother or father is a green card holder, but the stepparent is a U.S. citizen, the stepparent can petition the child as an immediate relative. Thus, the child can avoid the backlog or long waiting time he/she would encounter if petitioned by the green card holder parent (approximately 4-6 years), and come to the U.S. much faster. This is especially important if the child is near 21 years of age. (Once a child reaches 21, the wait for a green card is much longer, if the family is from the Philippines.)
So, if you are a green card holder, and married to a U.S. citizen, the U.S. citizen step-parent could petition the child as an immediate relative, so long as you married the citizen before your child was 18 years old, the child is still single and under 21 years of age.
You should seek the advice of a reputable attorney, who can analyze your situation and determine whether you can bypass the long waiting time involved in a petition by a green card holder, and, instead, take advantage of a petition by a U.S. citizen.
Michael J. Gurfinkel has been an attorney for over 24 years, and is an active member of the State Bar of California and New York, as well as the American Immigration Lawyers Association and the Immigration Section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association. He has always excelled in school: Valedictorian in High School; Cum Laude at UCLA; and Law Degree Honors and academic scholar at Loyola Law School, which is one of the top law schools in California.
WEBSITE: www.gurfinkel.com
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