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For the past 21 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 -- After three days and two nights of “extended negotiations,” the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) allowed more than 20 government peace negotiators, including an undersecretary and a general, to leave their camp in Sulu province.
But that was only after the government party paid P450,000 for the nine high-powered firearms seized from the MNLF group of Ustadz Habier Malik during a January 18 clash with government troops in Patikul, Sulu.
Retired general Ramon Santos, an undersecretary with the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Peace Process (OPAPP); National Capital Region Command (NCRCOM) head, Maj. Gen. Benjamin Dolorfino; Task Force Comet deputy commander, Col. Demetrio Ramon; and their companions arrived in Camp Bautista, headquarters of the 104th Army Brigade in Busbos, Jolo, about 4:30 p.m.
The MNLF had agreed to release their party before noon.
But when two military choppers arrived to fetch the “guests” around 2 p.m., the “hosts,” led by Ustadz Haber Malik, stalled until the government officials signed and agreement to push through with tripartite talks on the progress of autonomy in Muslim Mindanao.
The government group left Camp Jabal Uhold in Barangay Bitan-ag, Panamao, Jolo, Sulu, only after formal turnover ceremonies that included a “buy-back” of P50,000 for each of the nine firearms seized on January 18.
The Armed Forces initially said 10 Abu Sayyaf militants and three Marines died in the encounter that occurred two days after Army soldiers killed Jainal Antel Sali Jr., alias Abu Solaiman, one of the most feared and important leaders of the ASG.
The MNLF later said the slain militants came from its ranks.
Dolorfino insisted they were not held hostage by the MNLF faction loyal to former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) governor Nur Misuari.
But he also admitted his party had no choice but to accept the MNLF’s invitation to extend their stay.
Radio station DZBB said some 1,000 armed men surrounded the MNLF camp shortly after the arrival of the government party.
“They are now happy. They have received an assurance from the OIC that a tripartite meeting [involving the MNLF, the OIC and the government] would be held in March,” Dolorfino said.
Dolorfino quoted Malik as saying, “Mawawalan na ako ng mukha sa aking mga tao [I would lose face with my people].” He added, “Napakalaking issue sa kanya na matuloy ang tripartite [meeting] [The conduct of the tripartite was really a big issue for him].”
Radio station DZBB said the MNLF group served roasted calf for the government men for their noontime meal.
Dolorfino told DZBB he is raring to go back to work and expects to be in Manila, to head the national capital region command.
Dolorfino told DZBB that he believed local politicians to provided “goodwill money” for Misuari’s men.
The government also ple dged to return some 23 families displaced from Patikul town and who sought refuge in Panamao town.
Malacañang, meanwhile vowed to the implement the provisions of the peace agreement forged between the government and the MNLF in 1996.
Palace Spokeman Ignacio Bunye said ongoing peace negotiations between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) are actually a manifestation of the government’s commitment to have peace in Mindanao.
“The government is committed to the full implementation of the 1996 GRP-MNLF peace agreement, dovetailed closely with the ongoing GRP-MILF peace negotiations, with the strong support of all stakeholders, domestically and internationally,” Bunye said in his weekly “View from the Palace” column.
“President Arroyo is monitoring the situation in Sulu closely,” he said.
“There are no quick-fixes to the age-old Mindanao conflict,” Bunye said, but vowed that, “this government will see through this incident systematically and with sensitivity,” he promised.
“We acknowledge that there are outstanding issues with the MNLF that have to be resolved under the principles of continuity and comprehensiveness of the peace process,” he conceded.
He said the President has given her orders and assured that, “all departments and agencies are prepared to do their share to make peace work for the greater interest of the nation.”
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LAS VEGAS -- Former Philippine Basketball Association star Rudy Distrito is asking basketball fans to write letters in his behalf so he can be given probation.
Already, his former coach at Ginebra, former Senator Robert Jaworski, and the PBA have already expressed willingness to write letters attesting to his good moral character.
Distrito, known as “The Destroyer” during his playing days, is detained at the Clark County Detention Center in Las Vegas, where he is awaiting sentence on March 16 after pleading guilty to a charge of manslaughter in the death of 24-year-old Mexican Juan Amaya on Nov. 24, 2004.
His lawyer Dan Silverstein, said Distrito is eligible for probation, but would need people to “write a letter on his behalf to help Rudy get probation.”
He said letters from fans and people who used to know him will be of help in his plea.
Silverstein also requested a copy of the tape of Distrito’s title-winning shot and any other PBA features on Distrito, which provided an insight into his good and decent family life, which he planned to play in court.
Silverstein was referring to Distrito’s unforgettable, off-balanced buzzer-beater to give popular Ginebra San Miguel an epic come-from-behind victory in Game 7 of their All-Filipino Conference championships against Shell in 1991 after being down 1-3 in the series, needs your help.
The letters could be sent to lawyer Dan Silverstein, 309 South 3rd Street, Room 226, Las Vegas, Nevada 89155, USA.
“Please thank them for everything, especially Commissioner Jun [Bernardino] and Commissioner [Noli] Eala,” said Distrito.
Both Bernardino and Eala had both agreed to testify about his kind and gentle off-court character when Silverstein was preparing to take depositions from league officials, players and fans who knew Distrito.
For his part, Jaworski said he visited Distrito some time and spent some 30 minutes with him and said it was heart-rending.
He said he would also prepare a statement attesting to the character of Distrito.
A native of Bacolod City, Distrito Distrito was visiting his family in Las Vegas, when the stabbing took place. His wife Joceyln, from whom he has been separated for nearly five years, was reportedly living with her mother, Illuminada Villadolid in Long Beach, California along with their four children.
Prosecutors claimed the stabbing was a deliberate act of revenge while Distrito’s defense lawyers said it was an act of self-defense.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Bill Berrett told Clark County District Judge David Wall during Distrito’s first appearance in the state court, that the ex-pro basketball player started the fight, although defense lawyers argued that there was a considerable amount of contradictory evidence and said they believed it was self-defense. Unable to post bail of $500,000, Distrito was held at the Clark County Detention Center in Las Vegas.
Distrito’s lawyer Dan Silverstein said that Distrito, who was charged with murder, pleaded guilty to “the lesser offense.”
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WASHINGTON D.C. - After over 60 years, the stage is now set for rectifying what many see as a terrible injustice done on thousands of Filipinos who fought in the Pacific War.
“They have to act now,” says Virginia-based Filipino veterans activist Eric Lachica. “The best time to do it is right now,” he told ABS-CBN News.
Lachica heads the American Coalition for Filipino Veterans in Arlington, Virginia. He and other Fil-Am leaders are trying to mobilize support from the Fil-Am communities all over the United States for two bills that would restore the rights of a dwindling number of Filipino World War II veterans.
They are kicking off a “door-to-door” campaign on February 13 on Capitol Hill to drum up support for the veterans’ bills. They intend to visit key leaders of the Senate and House. The Fil-Am lobby will be led by retired US Army Major-General Antonio Taguba, San Francisco-based lawyer Rodel Rodis, businesswoman Josie Otto of Contra Costa (California) and Thelma Sevilla of Seattle, among others.
Hawaii Sen. Daniel Inouye re-filed last January 4 the Veterans Equity Bill that aims to amend Section 38 of the United States Code – a product of the 1946 Rescission Act – that stripped Filipinos who served with the US Armed Forces in World War II the same benefits accorded to American veterans.
California Rep. Bob Filner, who also chairs the House veterans affairs committee, filed last January 31 a counterpart bill in the House of Representatives.
Filner and another Hawaii legislator, Sen. Daniel Akaka (who chairs the Senate veterans committee) have been staunch supporters of the bill when Democrats were still the minority in the US Congress. They had promised full support if Democrats wrestle control of the legislature – which they did during the last midterm elections.
Perhaps a sign of Filner’s resolve, he has scheduled the first hearing on the Equity Bill on February 15.
The proposed measure, if approved, will benefit both the estimated 6,000 surviving World War II veterans now living in the US (about 4,000 of them in California) and the 18,000 living in the Philippines.
The benefits will include free healthcare, disability pensions, dependent indemnity and death and burial benefits. The bill will have immediate impact on veterans in the US, most forced to live off on the few hundred dollars they get from social security. For instance, 89-year-old veteran Celestino Almeda complains he can’t even afford taxi fare going to a doctor’s appointment.
Filner wants Congress to act swiftly on the bill and figure out the dollar costs later when they prepare the national budget.
However, the more emotional measure is the Family Reunification Bill that comprises the second leg of the veterans package. If approved, it would grant immigrant visas to sons and daughters of Filipino World War II veterans in the US.
“There is no problem with that (Equity Bill) because it doesn’t include funding, no money is involved. It’s just a matter of policy. We veterans who are in our twilight years need somebody who could take care of us,” Almeda told ABS-CBN News.
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CHICAGO – Civil case defendant Ben Menor turned the tables on the plaintiff, the City of San Jose, California, by telling the court that the case against him and 100 other “Does” is “barred by its failure to take reasonable steps to assure the protection of their purported property and similarly related rights.”
In filing the answer on behalf of Menor, his defense lawyer Lawrence P. Ramirez, said the city also failed to “properly monitor the use of said funds by defendant Filipino American Senior Opportunities Development Council (FASODC) and Menor and when purportedly monitoring and/or reviewing said use of funds by FASODC and Menor, City employees and agents approved of said use, and had done so for a period of years.”
Menor asked the court to dismiss the case filed by the San Jose city government against him.
Menor faulted the city for failing to “employ consistent policies and procedures regarding the use of funds by non-profit agencies like Defendant Filipino American Senior Opportunities Development Council (FASODC)” which Menor used to run.
Reached for comment, Deputy City Attorney Daisy M. Nishigaya of the San Jose City Attorney Richard Doyle’s office said what Menor filed was a “legal response to the complaint. I would not characterize it as (an answer). In an answer, a defendant in a civil case sets forth all of his or her denials of the allegations and legal affirmative defenses. “
Although, Menor was not present when his civil case was up for hearing last Jan. 16, a source of this reporter who witnessed the court hearing said Menor’s lawyer also informed Judge Kevin Murphy that he has also been indicted in a separate criminal case.
Fernando M. Estrada of San Jose told this reporter that Judge Murphy had reset the next hearing of the civil case on March 13, 2007 at 10 a.m. at Department 22.
Meanwhile at the status hearing of the criminal case on Jan. 17, District Attorney Steve Lowney said the trial date has been set on Feb. 14, 2007 at 1:30 p.m. before Judge Ray Cuningham. Menor was present and was accompanied by his public defender, Charlie Hendrickson.
A witness at the hearing, Tito Cortez, said the Lowney told the court he was “turning over 39,000 pages of documents to the defense attorney.”
In the civil case, the City of San Jose City asked the Superior Court of California in Santa Clara County, monetary damage of at least “$219,414, plus interest” from the defendants and asked them to pay “treble damages,” “civil penalties of up to $10,000 for each false claim,” “legally recoverable interest,” “punitive and exemplary damages,” “damages for time and money properly expended in pursuit of the converted property,” other costs, including “attorney’s fees” from Menor and company.
In the criminal case, Mr. Menor, chair of the Fifth National Federation of Filipino American Association National Empowerment Conference in San Jose in 2002, is facing two counts of grand thefts and one count of violation of California Corporation Code or making false financial statement by Santa Clara Grand Jury.
Lowney said conviction of one of these three felonies ranges from probation to four years and four months imprisonment and restitution is approximately $45,000.
Menor, nephew of his namesake, Hawaii State Chief Justice Ben Menor, used to be a rising star among the Filipino American community in San Jose until his former brother-in-law, Tito Cortez, formed a pressure group called “CRABS” (Citizens Rebelling Against Bogus Spending), and supplied authorities initial evidence that led to the filing of the separate civil and criminal cases against Mr. Menor.
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