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For the past 20 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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MANILA - The weather was the reason for the postponement of the ASEAN Summit in Cebu province, Malacańang and organizers of the summit have reiterated, despite claims by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and Japanese economic minister Akira Amari that terrorist threats had influenced the decision to call off the event.
However, a wire report, quoting unnamed security officials, said security forces had tried to disrupt plots by Al-Qaeda-linked militants to stage attacks but failed to track them, setting off an alarm that influenced a decision to postpone the ASEAN and East Asian summits.
The plots may have included a possible car bomb attack in a key city to embarrass the Philippine government, a security official told the AP.
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said the postponement of the ASEAN Summit and the East Asia Summit, which the Philippines was supposed to host, was for the “common and collective interest.”
“We respect the views of other officials in the region, but the Philippines did the right thing in taking no chances with the safety of the leaders,” Bunye said.
With the “fickle nature” of typhoons, Bunye said “there was no sense at all to act in a reckless and wanton manner.”
“It was really the weather disturbance. Anywhere else there will always be threats. But I can you straight that it was really the weather disturbance,” Domingo Lucenario, a member of the Philippine national organizing committee for the summit, said.
“In the discussions prior to the decision, as far as I know there were no discussions whatsoever of political or se
curity issues, the discussions were centered on the impact of the weather disturbance on the whole summit, particularly the safety of the participants. We took the side of caution. We took the side of prudence,” Lucenario said.
But Philippine intelligence agents carried out about 10 covert operations, including raids on suspected safe houses, in Zamboanga City last month but failed to find the militants, said three security officials, who had knowledge of the operations and spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
Some Abu Sayyaf rebels, along with Indonesian members of the Jemaah Islamiyah group, were believed to have traveled from their strongholds on the islands of Jolo and Basilan to carry out the attacks, transiting Zamboanga City, where they could not be located, the officials said.
The attacks allegedly were ordered by Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khaddafy Janjalani and top Indonesian terror suspect Dulmatin, who have been targeted by a months-long US-backed offensive on Jolo, they said.
In the absence of concrete evidence, Filipino security officials have given conflicting assessments of the threats.
The three security officials separately said the terror threats were a factor in the government’s decision to postpone the high-profile meetings.
But National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales said he was not consulted by Arroyo regarding the postponement, indicating security was not a factor in her decision.
Gonzales acknowledged there was “raw information” about plots by Al-Qaeda-linked militants against the meetings but said they were not substantiated and security officials doubted the militants’ capability to stage a major attack.
The postponement also came amid fresh rumors of another coup plot against Arroyo that might have been linked with planned anti-government protests in Manila at about the same time as the summits.
Hun Sen said Tuesday that “a typhoon on one hand and the threat of attack on the other” prompted the postponement.
“The terrorists threatened to launch an attack” in the Philippines, he said.
In comments posted on his blog on Tuesday, Amari said Manila’s explanation wasn’t convincing enough.
“Considering the size of the typhoon and the fact that it would have passed by Sunday morning, the reason for the postponement is extremely puzzling,” Amari wrote, mentioning news reports that the move was triggered by terrorism concerns.
Amari added that the postponement “ruined the credibility of the Philippine government,” saying the whole idea of hosting the meetings at the resort island was ill-conceived.
“Just the idea of gathering the leaders of 16 countries on tourist-infested Cebu island poses an extreme security risk,” Amari wrote.
Lucenario said the decision to postpone the summit to January “was a collective recommendation, not a spur-of-the-moment decision.The timing of the typhoon arriving in Cebu at the same time that the leaders were arriving is fantastic...It was a natural disaster beyond the control of man.”
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NEW YORK CITY -- Members of the Philippine team that scaled Mt. Everest will blow into town for the holiday season, hoping to drum up support from Filipino Americans in the Northeast Coast for their next project.
The team plans to send an all-Filipina team to conquer Mt. Everest, the world’s highest peak.
Members of the First Philippine Mt. Everest Expedition Team (FPMEE), composed of Leo Oracion, Erwin “Pastor” Emata, Art Valdez, Noelle Wenceslao and Karina Dayondon, have been on a US tour to generate support from the Filipino American community. They will have stops in California, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. before proceeding to the NY-NJ region.
Oracion and Emata were the first and second Filipinos to have reached the summit of Mt. Everest. Valdez is the team leader. Wenceslao and Dayondon, will be part of the three-women team that will attempt to summit Mt. Everest.
The team, led by Valdez, a former transportation undersecretary during President Ramos’ administration, will be the featured speaker at the “Pulong Bayan Sa Embassy” on December 19, Tuesday at 6:30 pm at the Philippine Center on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.
The team will also present a seven-minute video documentary of the team’s rigorous training and actual climb of Mt. Everest. Some souvenir items from the FPMEE will also be on sale as part of its fund-raising drive.
The FPMEE is an all-Filipino project conceived as far back as 1982 when Valdez organized the first Pinoy foreign expedition which successfully hoisted the Philippine flag at the highest mountain in Southeast Asia – the 14,000 Mt. Kinabalu in Sabah.
The team is on presently on track for its “Unity Climb “ in 2007 involving two Philippine teams going up to the summit coming from Nepal (south) and Tibet (north) side of Everest. What will make this climb extra significant is the fact that the lead climbers will be Pinays.
While this year’s climb is dubbed “Kaya ng Pinoy,” next year’s theme will be “Kaya ng Pinay.” The team’s all- women-climbers had already led two successful expeditions this year, specifically to Mt. McKinley and Mt. Cho Oyu – the world’s eighth highest peak which is in Tibet – last October 7.
That achievement gave them the distinction as the first Filipinas and even the first ASEAN women, to have reached the 27,000-foot high peak of Cho Oyu.
The women climbers are in a race to earn the distinction of being the first ASEAN women to reach Everest’s peak.
Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore have also organized their respective women’s team to in a bid to outrace the Philippines in reaching Everest’s summit with an all-women team. - Robert de Tagle
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MANILA -- A group of Filipino nurses in the US expressed apprehension over the chances of the nurses who passed the controversial June licensure examination to get jobs in American hospitals.
Rosario May Mayor, president of the Philippine Nursing Association of America (PNAA), said reports of cheating in the board examination might jeopardize the chances of the June batch for employment in the US.
“The possibility of a blanket denial during Visa Screening is there,” Mayor said.
The Visa Screen certification is issued by the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) to nurses as part of the requirement of the US Homeland Security program.
CGFNS announced last Oct. 26 that the commission is studying if the June batch of nursing board passers in the Philippines will be eligible to take the CGFNS test so that they can qualify for employment in the US.
The CGFNS website showed that last Oct. 22 and 23, its Board of Trustees met and “considered whether the Filipino nurses who have passed the Professional Regulation Commission’s (PRC) June 2006 nursing licensure
examination are eligible for Visa Screen Certification.”
The commission wanted to know “whether the licensure process was followed in the light of the challenged results of the June 2006 test that is comparable with the requirement for nurses licensed in America.”
The Philadelphia-based CGFNS is an “immigration-neutral, non-profit organization and it is the internationally-recognized authority on credentials evaluation pertaining to the education, registration and licensure of nurses and other health care professionals worldwide.”
CGFNS accepts applications coming from the June batch but final decision on the Filipino nurses had been deferred.
Mayor said while the nurses could take the National Council Licensure Examination, they will not get immigrant visas “due to the failure to comply with the visa screen requirements.”
She said the PNAA supported the retake of the controversial board exam to minimize the damage done by the leakage controversy in the June examination.
Mayor said that if she were an examinee, she would have taken the licensure test given by the PRC this month instead.
“I am saddened by the fact that it has to come to this. The decision made for them (June batch) is destabilizing,” she said.
She started working as nurse in the US in 1971 but in 1986, she become involved in hospital management.
At present, she is the director for Performance Improvement at the Department of Veterans Affairs in The Bronx, New York and also a member of the New York State Nurses Association.
She said the Philippines is still a primary source of nurses for the US but if the country’s nursing education would not shape up, India would soon take the edge.
Mayor said they have “anecdotal records” in the US that many nursing students in the Philippines are not getting good training and experience primarily because of the lack of hospitals where they could practice nursing.
“Nursing schools in the Philippines have become a ‘money-making’ venture of certain owners,” she added.
The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) clarified that only local recruitment agencies are authorized to recruit and deploy Filipino health workers to Spain.
POEA Administrator Rosalinda Baldoz said that under an agreement with Spain, only Philippine-based and licensed agencies are allowed to deploy Filipino workers in Spain.
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WASHINGTON, D.C. -- They call themselves “old warriors for freedom,” most of them graying in their 90s, their hats decorated with fading gold and bronze medals.
They looked frail but their spirits are high as they trooped to the Capitol to shake hands with U.S. senators and congressmen, hoping that in the coming Democrat-controlled Congress, they could obtain benefits they’ve been fighting for 63 years.
Recognizing the urgent need to obtain full equity and justice for the Filipino World War II Veterans, more than 60 leaders of Filipino Veterans organizations and Filipino advocacy groups trooped to the nation’s capital to ask legislators to pass the Filipino Veterans Equity Act in the 110th US Congress.
In a two-day event, hundreds of delegates also pushed or an immigration bill pending in Congress that would benefit the sons and daughters of Filipino veterans.
“This is a historic victory --- a united action to obtain full equity for our veterans”, said National Federation of Filipino Americans Association (NAffaa) National Chair Alma Kern.
The veterans also visited the office of Senator Pat Murray of Seattle who gave a ringing encouragement to the Filipino American veterans. “Hopefully, we will make progress this year . I appreciate what you’ve done for our freedom. I will work with the veterans’ committee to pass this bill, “ said Murray.
Hosted by the Philippine Embassy and the National Federation of Filipino American Associations, the National Planning Conference held on December 6-7, 2006 resulted in a formal statement, “Declaration of Unity to win Full Equity and Justice for Filipino World War II Veterans in the 110th Congress”.
Ambassador Willy C. Gaa exspressed satisfaction during the conference. “Our veterans and community advocates can now move decisively in securing what they’ve been fighting for. We owe it to our veterans and to our children to regain the honor of our heroes who sacrificed their lives for freedom.”
Immediately after the workshop on December 6, a steering committee was formed to draft an action plan of lobbying and grassroots education campaign.
US Senator Daniel Akaka. Chair of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee and US Congressman Bob Filner, the Ranking Member of the House Veterans Affairs, Committee, joined the Filipino community in the 2-day workshop in expressing support for the the Filipino World War II veterans’ cause.
“I will continue to do everything within my power to help Filipino World War II Veterans gain the equity that they so richly deserve”, said Senator Akaka.
In his address to the assembly on December 7, Congressman Bob Filner said that “we’re closer than we’ve ever been to success, but we still have lots of work to do”.
Of the 250,000 Filipino veterans who fought during the war, only 22, 000 remain. About 5,000 of these live in the U.S, the American Coalition of Filipino Veterans said. In reality, these aging former soldiers, with no veteran’s pension live in destitute.
“I hope my sons and daughters could come to the U.S before I pass away. Allowing our children to live here could reduce our burden as they will take care of us. It’s been years since we’ve been clamoring for this bill,” said Ador Montero, 89 of Seattle, Wa.
He was an army combat officer during World War ll in the Philippines. He has seven children in the Philippines. He filed a petition for his children right after becoming a US citizen 14 years ago. Right now, all he can do is wait.
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