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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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Much ado about the great raid
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NEW YORK --- It seems the movie The Great Raid is bringing hype to some Filipinos. It is not even about Filipino veterans but about war and the rescue of 500 American prisoners-of-war (POWs) in Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija.
It's not even about the role of our very own Captain Juan Pajota (played by Filipino actor Cesar Montano) in the raid and his men who gallantly fought the Japanese Imperial Army -- holding them back to defend the besieged prisoner's camp. But it's about the heroism of American Lieutenant Colonel Henry Mucci (Benjamin Bratt) and Captain Robert Prince (James Franco) in planning and executing a daring rescue mission.
The movie wasn't even filmed in the Philippines but in Australia and China. So what's all this jazz that is carried on by some national leaders based in Washington, D.C. and elsewhere in the nation promoting it as a must-see movie?
Is it because the movie featured the Philippines as a battleground during World War II? Or is it because some are pleased to see Montano as an international actor? What value does The Great Raid give us besides entertainment, which reminds us only of the cruelty of war and the wounds it created into the hearts of many?
According to Seth Mydans of the International Herald Tribune, "about 24 million died of war-related causes from 1941 to 1945 in Japanese-occupied Asia, which saw mass killings, mass rape and forced labor on a huge scale. Three million Japanese died and 3.5 million more people died in India through war-related famine."
These war statistics are gruesome and the lingering effects of it can be felt not only by those who have lived through the conflict but even by those who have been told of many war stories which depict its atrocities and barbaric nature. I myself have heard of such tales from kith and kin.
War is about life and death, love and hate, conquest and defeat, courage and fear, treachery and trickery, freedom and restriction and many more countless portrayal, which war survivors and veterans can aptly describe and attest to.
I'm no war veteran nor have I experienced being in any war zone. I've only read about war and watched war-movies and the experience is far from entertainment alone; it makes my blood pressure boil reacting to images of inhumanity and injustice. And The Great Raid is no exception.
To use the movie as a tool to advance the cause of Filipino veterans is an adventurous effort and makes no sense. It is an insult to the heroic exploits of Filipino veterans who have been left behind claiming for their rights and continue to plead to the U.S. Congress for their just cause. Why should there be much ado about the movie instead of stressing to the American public the basic need of our veterans for fairness and equality?
Perhaps the showing of the film documentary An Untold Triumph produced by Filipino Noel Izon which featured Filipino American actor Lou Diamond Phillips was given more emphasis. The same people who seem to prefer The Great Raid should have promoted the documentary with the same intensity if not better than the movie itself.
While the movie may have been based on historical accounts by William Breuer's The Great Raid and Hampton Sides' Ghost Soldiers, whose side is presented here? Obviously, it wasn't the Filipino guerilla's deeds but the heroic acts of the American soldiers.
Consider for instance the tactical planning of Captain Pajota which was nearly rejected by the Americans. If they had not surveyed the camp for months and came up with concrete analysis of the situation, would have they rescued the prisoners successfully? If they had not provided the water buffalos to carry the rescued and wounded soldiers, what would have they used? This just shows the depth of planning and execution the Filipino guerillas went through even before the Americans came.
Just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, this episode in U.S. war history -- whether accurately depicted or not in the movie -- is written to fit America's interest. And understandably, when shown to the American public complete with images and sound bites, the mission is the greatest untold triumph of the Americans.
This now poses a challenge to Filipino historians to undertake a project of their own and provide a Filipino perspective of this great raid.
Overall, if I were to ignore the effective promotion being pushed by the film's PR people to Fil-Am national leaders as well as to some Philippine government functionaries, The Great Raid accomplishes what any other war-movie has done. Only this time, it is fair to say that the film is exceptional in some aspects.
Other than that, Filipinos shouldn't have much ado about the great raid. We can sit, relax and watch the movie without all the promotion and fanfare that's been insulting our veterans. We'd rather come up with our own conclusions and perhaps say proudly: our veterans deserve better.
Send comments to rickyxpres@aol.com or visit Website at PinoyOnBoard.com.
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This Bataan redux makes Filipinos great
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Chicago, ILLINOIS --- Unlike the 1943 Hollywood wartime war movie, “Bataan” and its progeny, the 1945 war movie, “Back to Bataan,” the current Hollywood offering, “The Great Raid,” may not be loaded with such marquee names as Robert Taylor, John Wayne and Anthony Quinn. But the redeeming aspect of this latest Bataan war genre, which is actually a redux of the spectacular rescue of 500 Americans from the Japanese atrocities inside a Cabanatuan prisoner-of-war camp, has finally paid tribute to the talents of Filipino actors who gave justice to the heroic roles of Filipinos during World War II.
In “Back to Bataan,” the meaty role of Filipino war hero named Captain Andres Bonifacio was played by Mexican-American actor Anthony Quinn. Captain Bonifacio’s role should have been played by Manila-born, Los Angeles, California-based promising actor Alex Havier who played the role of Sgt. Bernessa. Havier earlier played a forgettable minor role as Private Yankee Salazar of the US-financed Old Philippine Scouts in the Robert Taylor starrer, “Bataan.”
In the “The Great Raid,” the significant role of Filipino Captain Juan Pajota can no longer be assigned to American actors like James Franco who played the strategic role of Capt. Bob Prince because Mr. Franco would be very American-looking to be a Filipino. That will be another insult to the Filipino people.
Black-and-White Movies
There’s nothing wrong with actors playing forgettable bit role or as movie extra, which is usually the stepping stone of most of Hollywood actors who are now superstars in their own right. Because in the early days of Hollywood, there was no school for actors, movie business has always been an equal opportunity profession.
No wonder, the old Filipino cliché, “pinabili lang ng suka sa tindahan, pagbalik artista na” (someone, who was asked to buy vinegar from a corner convenience store, when he came back to his house, had become a movie actor), still persists to this day.
But when the black-and-white “Back to Bataan” movie was made and its director Edward Dmytryk asked Anthony Quinn to play Captain Bonifacio, instead of Mr. Havier, who already had a number of Hollywood movies to his credit although it pales in comparison to Mr. Montano who had three dozen Filipino movies mostly in starring roles to his name, it, in effect, denied the heroism of Filipino soldiers and guerillas during World War II. The US Congress might have taken a hint from that movie when it withheld the “back pay” promised the Filipino soldiers and the guerillas by Gen. Douglas MacArthur as it passed the notorious Recession Act of 1946.
Only the Old Philippine Scouts
Even the movie preceding it, “Bataan,” starring Robert Taylor, which also had Havier in the cast merely acknowledged the role of the Old Philippine Scouts that was the affiliation of Pvt. Havier in the movie. Nothing more. The Scouts were members of regular US Army organized in the Philippines at the start of the US Occupation of the Philippines after the Philippine-American War between 1899 and 1902.
“Bataan,” also a black-and-white movie, did not even mention either the roles played by the Philippine Commonwealth Army soldiers, the guerillas and the New Philippine Scouts, which formed part of the peace-keeping effort after the war. They all responded to the call of President Roosevelt, mobilizing the entire Philippine Army and all the able-bodied men and women to assist the small numbers of American soldiers defend the Philippines from the Japanese Invasion in 1941.
In Living Color
With the portrayal of Philippine soldiers and guerillas led by Captains Pajota (Montano) and Joson played by his grandson, Ebong Joson, as having played key roles in the rescue of 500 American POW’s in “The Great Raid,” I hope the US Congress, some of them, including Sen. Hilary Rodham Clinton, who viewed its premiere in Washington, D.C. two weeks ago, would now re-consider its stand on the Recession Act of 1946 and would now push forward the pending Filipino World War II Veterans Equity Act, which would finally recognize these Filipino veterans and grant them full benefits provided under the pending bills HR 302 and S 146.
Unlike the two “Bataan” Hollywood movies, I think, members of the US Congress will not be missing the message this time as “The Great Raid” was filmed in living color!
lariosa_jos@sbcglobal.net
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Petitioning Illegitimate Children
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As every parent knows, their children are their most precious natural resource. Parents are willing to sacrifice and endure years of separation from their children, to come to America and give a better life and future for their children.
The same love and dream apply to those children born out of wedlock (or illegitimate). These children’s natural parents tearfully long for the day when parent and child are united.
Including Illegitimate Children As Derivatives
Often, when people seek immigration benefits, they hide from the USCIS and/or the Embassy, that they have illegitimate children. They think that if they have an illegitimate child, they could be refused a visa. For example, a person with an illegitimate child was petitioned by his parent, as a single child of a U.S. citizen or green card holder. When that person is about to be interviewed for his visa at the Embassy, he is advised by friends that if he discloses the existence of an illegitimate child, he could be denied the visa. This is not true. The mere fact that the applicant or beneficiary has an illegitimate child, does not disqualify him from obtaining a visa. In fact, in many cases, the illegitimate child could be included for a green card, as a “derivative beneficiary” of the person’s petition.
For example, if a parent is either a U.S. citizen or green card holder, and he petitions his adult, unmarried child, and if that adult, unmarried child has an illegitimate child, the illegitimate child is considered a derivative beneficiary of the grandparent's petition. In that case, the illegitimate grandchild could be entitled to receive a visa, along with his or her parent, when the priority date is finally current.
However, if the adult unmarried child does not disclose the existence of his or her illegitimate child, obviously the illegitimate child would not be included as a derivative beneficiary.
Petitioning An Illegitimate Child
Also, if a parent is already a citizen or immigrant, he can petition his own illegitimate child. The fact that the petitioning parent was not married, does not destroy the fact that the child is still his own flesh and blood. Either a mother or a father can petition an illegitimate child. However, in the case of a father, he must also show that there was a bona fide parent/child relationship between himself and his child, while the child was still under 21 years of age and unmarried.
A “bona fide parent/child relationship” means that the father needs to prove that he maintained some form of ongoing contact and relationship with his child. The law does not want a situation where a man had a one night stand with a lady, had a child with her he didn’t know of, then disappears for many, many years, with no contact with his child. The law wants to make sure that the father maintains contact with the child through the years, and that the father demonstrates emotional or financial ties, or some form of active concern for the child’s support, education, and welfare.
The bottom line is that a person can include or petition his illegitimate child. Also, having an illegitimate child would not automatically disqualify the parent from receiving a green card himself.
If you have an illegitimate child whom you left back home, and want to bring the child here, I would suggest that you seek the advice of a reputable attorney who can analyze your situation and assist you in connection with petitioning your illegitimate child.
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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