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Founded in 1986
Founding Publisher/Editor:
Lito A. Gajilan
Columnists:
Atty. Michael J. Gurfinkel
Joseph G. Lariosa
Gani P. Tolentino
Ted L. Reyes
Atty. Reuben S. Seguritan
Photographers:
Butch Gata
Sheryl Garcia
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not reflect the opinion of the paper nor that of the publisher
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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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To tell us what you think about Filipino Express Online or to comment on the stories published here, E-mail us at Filexpress@aol.com
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THERE’S only one thing for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her government to do with regards to the unabated political killings in the Philippines. And that is to listen to the findings sincerely and heed the advice.
Her government can perhaps get away with one damning report about her government’s poor record in terms of upholding basic human rights, the most basic of which is the right to live. But something is terribly wrong when three or more succeeding reports say the same thing -- that the military or the police has something to do with the extra-judicial killings, that the audacity of the killers and the government’s failure to pinish the guilty has contributed to “a culture of impunity”; and that by failing to address the brutality, the President herself as commander in chief could be held responsible.
The most recent of these series of reports on the unsolved political killings in the Philippines is the one to be released by the National Council of Churches in the Philippines, the ecumenical council of major Protestant denominations in the country.
The 86-page report, “Let the Stones Cry Out”: An Ecumenical Report on Human Rights in the Philippines and a Call to Action”, will be presented to US senators and congressmen on Wednesday, March 14.
The report that the unbridled political killings is linked to the Arroyo government’s counter-insurgency program. “The manner by which the victims were executed or abducted was done professionally and systematically, establishing a connection between the national security strategy and the incidents of violations,” the NCCP said in the report.
Earlier, on February 21, Prof. Philip Alston, Special Rapporteur of the United Nations Human Rights Council on extra-judicial, summary or arbitrary executions, asked the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to “acknowledge” its involvement in the extra-judicial killings and conduct a “genuine” investigation.
On Tuesday, March 6, the US State Department, in its Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2006, said that during the year, a number of unexplained killings in the Philippines were committed “apparently by elements of the security forces.”
The human rights situation in the Philippines has gone so bad that even the commission formed by President Arroyo herself to investigate the political killings came out with a report naming a retired Philippine Army general – Gen. Jovito Palparan, along with other generals – as the “prime suspect behind the extra-judicial killings” in the country. The commission, headed by retired Supreme Court JusticeJose Melo, called on President Arroyo to punish those who were responsible for the killings.
Likewise, both the Amnesty International and the US-based Human Rights Watch conducted their respective investigation into these killings earlier than the three reports mentioned earlier. They, too, concluded that Philippine security forces are the perpetrators of these heinous crimes.
Despite all these reports, the knee-jerk reactions of Mrs. Arroyo and her underlings was to simply dismiss these reports as misguided, or worse, the work of communists.
The UN’s Professor Alston was right when he said that the Philippine government and military were “in denial”.
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Now or never for Filipino Veterans Equity
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Editor’s Note: REUBEN S. SEGURITAN has been practicing law for over 30 years. For further information, you may call him at 212 695 5281 or log on to his website at www.seguritan.com
WE have a lot going for us in terms of pushing forward the agenda for Filipino veterans equity.
We have not had stronger alliances in Congress in a long time. Notable links in Congress we can count on regarding the Filipino veterans equity issue are Senator Inouye (HI) and Senator Akaka (HI), who heads the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee and Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA) his counterpart in the House of Representatives who actually sponsored H.R. 760, known as the Filipino Veterans Equity Act of 2007.
We also know that Rep. Issa (CA) head of the US-Philippines Friendship Caucus and Rep. Honda (CA) of the Congressional Asia-Pacific American Caucus stand by our side in this long struggle to rectify a monumental injustice to our aging Filipino veterans. The leadership in the Senate (Sen. Harry Reid) and the House (Rep. Nancy Pelosi) are both sympathetic to the veterans’ cause.
On the other hand, Filipino organizations who, at times, have gone their separate ways in pursuit of divergent views on this issue, have finally closed their ranks to form the National Alliance for Filipino Veterans Equity (NAFVE) after Philippine Ambassador Willy Gaa and National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA) headed by Alma Kern co-hosted a summit in Washington, D.C. in December 2006.
A House hearing on the equity bill was held on February 15 and Rep. Filner has promised a House vote by April 9. Sen. Akaka reportedly said the Senate vote will eventually follow.
The situation of Filipino veterans has been an issue for a long time and many Filipino organizations, community leaders and the veterans themselves have brought this issue up before.
With respect to the immigration of the spouses and children of Filipino veterans, special immigrant status had been provided for them in the comprehensive immigration reform bill passed by the Senate in the 109th Congress. Hopefully, the same provision will be included in the draft bills being prepared by the Senate on comprehensive immigration reform which will reportedly be introduced next week.
For my part, I have started advocating for the immigration rights of the Filipino veterans’ spouses and children as early as 1978 through the publication of a law journal article and by raising the issue with the naturalization commissioner then. Some of my advocacy activities and articles are found on my website.
With regard to the campaign for Filipino veteran equity, I have written several columns and articles, including one that criticized the then-INS for its rigid interpretation of the Filipino veterans’ naturalization law which in turn, led to arbitrary denials of naturalization benefits to Filipino veterans. I said then that it was “disgraceful for anyone, America in the least, to fail its brothers in war in their last hours by formally and finally reneging on a clear promise.”
Now is our defining moment, for while the ultimate goal will be realized if and when Congress passes the Filipino Veteran Equity Act of 2007, the responsibility to make that happen belongs to us.
Our efforts must be as effective as they are earnest.
We need to view and project the Filipino veteran equity issue as something more than a Filipino concern. America, not just the Filipino community, must see and work for the Filipino Veteran Equity bill to correct a historical injustice.
Though frequently considered a sectoral issue, Filipino veteran equity must now be embraced by the public as America’s moral imperative—one that cuts through ethnicity or politics.
For over 61 years, Filipino WW II veterans have been embroiled in their own lonely struggle for recognition and equality after the Recission Act stripped them of US veteran status. The ranks of the estimated 20,000 Filipino WW II veterans today, most of whom are in their `80s and 90s, are rapidly thinning. Many may not even see the day when their courage and sacrifice will be acknowledged alongside their American counterparts.
We need to ask Congress to act on the concerns of Filipino veterans, by contacting our representatives and senators in writing, by phone calls, via email, among others. We must also raise public awareness.
Filipino veterans equity is long overdue. Filipino veterans have been taken advantage of, and worse, taken for granted for a long time. It is our duty not just as Filipino Americans, but as decent human beings, to ensure that our heroes are not forgotten.
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Challenges facing a press club
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CHICAGO, Illinois -- The inaugural of the National Press Club of the Philippines in the United States last March 3rd at Drury Lane, Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois was to last for five hours or less. But it was too short for our selected guest speakers.
When the new NPC-Phil. U.S.A. President Yoly T. Tubalinal of the Fil-Am Weekly Megascene brought up the idea of holding the event in far-off Oakbrook Terrace suburb, our NPC-Phil. U.S.A. Secretary, Marlon L. Pecson, was cool to the idea, saying, “sino naman ang pupunta riyan kalayo-layo at meron pang kalaban na event?” (who will dare go there for its off location and it has a competing event (an Asian American event later that night).”
But when the invited guest speakers confirmed their attendance, Marlon warmed up to the idea.
All our featured guests, including Atty. Alma Luna-Reyes, from Los Angeles, California, who was initially invited by my friend, Bobby M. Reyes of the Los Angeles’ Media Breakfast Club, made it to our event with her daughter, Francesca, who had to miss school, in tow, despite the unfriendly Chicago weather.
Put up or shut up
Executive publisher of Forum Asia Magazine, Attorney Reyes’ advice to journalists if they want to avoid libel or expensive damage suit is to print the truth, which is an absolute defense in damage suits. Her parting shots to writers: “Put Up or Shut up.”
She regaled the audience with the fable about the eagle and the rat. As the eagle said that the Pyramid had four corners, the rat insisted the Pyramid had three. While the eagle and the rat were both right from their points of view, the fact is, there are really five corners.
With the theme, “Building Bridges with Our Media Brethren,” the speakers presented various perspectives that revolved around it.
When I welcomed the guests at the event as the club’s outgoing president, I pointed out that Bart SG. Tubalinal’s initial term laid down the foundation of the mission of the press club to professionalize and educate its ranks and act as a support group. My term paved the foundation and the road, by initially affiliating our club with the NPC in the Philippines and in turn arranging the reciprocity agreement between the NPC-Philippines and NPC-Washington, D.C.
I laid the ground work for Yoly to build the bridge by signing the reciprocity agreement with Chicago Journalists Association headed by President Allen Rafalson and to sign similar agreements with the Asian American Journalists Association and the NPC-Washington, D.C.
Patching differences
When Mr. Larry Wert, President and General Manager of NBC 5 Chicago, accepted our invitation as guest of honor and speaker, it was a sign of his sincerity that he was ready to patch up differences with the Filipino community that was riled by the insensitive use of the Filipino word by one of his reporters. His contriteness was manifested when he acknowledged that “the word choice” should have been handled “better.”
He suggested that before he entertains an “agenda,” a “relationship” should first be forged. He even took a step further by inviting Filipinos to join the NBC workforce. He added he would be glad to appear at the club if re-invited.
Miss Lily Kim, AAN News anchor and president of Asian American Media Coalition, spoke of her belief that “a citizen can make a change if he introduces a positive impact in...
More in HardCopy Edition
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IS THE raucous 2007 election campaign drowning out the reporting of issues that matter for the lives of ordinary people?
Reports on “Genuine Opposition” producing smear “doggie-in-the-window jingles to Kris Aquino’s marital troubles jammed recent headlines and programs.
“Scandals are not like bread,” the Nigerian proverb says. “There is never a shortage.” Sad but true. But are these accounts the outer limits of our debate on national issues?
The inside pages, sometimes, provide a stark contrast to this penury.
Read this brief story, buried below the fold, under a one column head: Post-harvest losses on rice – from shoddy milling, decrepit storage to rats and pests – came to 4.9 million metric tons. The waste could have fed 13 million people for a year, Senator Ralph Recto said.
That’s roughly the population of Metro Manila, with two regions tossed in. Who was trying to save the rice? Nobody? Or was there simply no space or airtime for such accounts?
Bacolod, Davao and Cebu, meanwhile, hosted “Operations Smile”. From Brazil, Australia and the US, 24 doctors, nurses, anesthesiologists flew in, paying for their fares. Alongside 35 Filipino counterparts, they operated, for free, on harelip deformities afflicting hundreds of kids who came from the poorest of families. Citizens provided lodgings for the team.
“You gave back to these children their smile – and their lives”, Cardinal Ricardo Vidal told the team after they lifted up, from the operating table, the 253rd kid in three days. Indeed, “an act of kindness will keep you warm for three winters.” Was a “tithe of time”?
Tithing is the age-old practice of setting aside 10 percent of one’s goods for the Lord. Today, many associate it exclusively with trimming pay packets, by a tenth, for what the French call clochards : life’s beaten.
Former Science Secretary Filemon “Jun” Uriarte and his wife Jean dub tithing as “experimental generosity.” It is anchored in a Divine dare, they claim:
“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse that there may be food in my house, and try me in this, says the Lord of hosts. Shall I not open for you the floodgates of heaven, to pour down blessings upon you without measure?” ( Malachai 3 /10 )
“Try me”. This is a gentle gauntlet, Secretary Uriarte says. Share. Give. And then see for yourselves : Who will outdo who in generosity? “Full measure, pressed down, and spilling over,” was the standard offered by the Teacher for even those who dip tentatively into “experimental generosity.”
In his article “The Tithe of Time”, a friend of many years writes : time is a gift “but it cannot be all mine.” We must examine our lives to see if our time…enhanced the integrity of creation... Did we refuse to see the largeness of life and the interconnectedness of things? Did our hearts shut out the poor and deprived? ‘The unexamined life’, as Socrates said, ‘is not worth living.’
“The tithe of time is symbolically 10 percent of the year,” Francisco Albano adds. Both the poor and the rich can pay this tithe. We offer that to God to remind us that all time is his”.
The tithe of time can be subtle. Clearly, the medical teams gave that tithe when, dropping cash-paying patients, they made time heal the poor. Not too obvious but just valid were volunteers: from those who kept records to those who consoled mothers whose ill-fed kids were too weak for surgery.
Writing in the International Herald Tribune, Columnist Stephen Klaidman asks in column “ Nagging Questions On Giving” : “Is it a rejection of humanity every time we avert our eyes from a beggar? Even if we give him something, why can’t we meet his gaze and accept his ‘thank you’ without embarrassment?
This is not to say that those of us who are better off are a nasty and venal lot, he adds. “It just means we all have the capacity to share more than we do. It’s not just only money, but time and simple human warmth.”
That’s my friend Pacoy’s “tithe of time.”
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Extra-judicial killings – GMA’s big worry
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IF there’s one big concern that’s roiling the mind of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, it’s the United Nations’ intervention in the mounting number of extra judicial killings in the Philippines. The military has been accused of committing these blatant violations of human rights, and by virtue of the chain of command, the accusation lands on the very lap of its commander in chief. Unless one assumes the military is out of control.
Except for token attention, GMA and her government on the whole have treated the problem of EJK nonchalantly. The accusations allege that members of media and militant groups are the targets of the EJK. The obvious objective is to sow fear among the, and diminish, the critics of government.
One particular general who has since recently retired is being identified as the mastermind of the EJK. As a matter of fact. he has been known to voice sentiments reportedly favoring any move to decimate the ranks of critics of the government. But since his retirement, no action has been taken against him. Instead, he was immediately given a civilian post. It was not only a reward. In effect, it has given him a mantle of continued protection as a government functionary. He was even reported to have announced he may run for congressman in the elections next May.
But GMA’s main worry is the UN intervention. Before this, American and European executives with businesses in the Philippines, through their respective chambers of commerce, have officially protested the lack of real serious action on the part of the government to solve the EJK.
This was followed by the decision of the United Nations to formally intervene by assigning and sending to the Philippines Philip Alston as official UN rapporteur to investigate the human rights violations and submit a report to his organization in New York City.
Earlier, GMA’s mouthpieces, tokenwise apparently, declared the Philippines would welcome outsiders to visit the country and check the veracity of the complaints against the EJK.
When Alston arrived, however, he was greeted by government spokesmen not with cooperation but with criticism. He was accused of opening his ears only to government critics from the militant groups. He was accused of prejudging the investigation. He was accused of allowing himself to become a tool of the critics of government.
In effect, GMA appears as accusing the United Nations, accredited union of countries all over the world, of lacking credibility.
And hear this. Earlier, GMA had created the Melo Commission, led by retired Supreme Court Justice Melo, to investigate the EJK. The Melo Commission completed its task and submitted its report to GMA.
GMA has not released the report to the public. Instead, before the report is made public, government spinmasters criticized the Commission as being infiltrated by Communists. Presumably, because the report, which by the way apparently has leaked out, basically confirms there are extra judicial killings.
Alston has reportedly obtained a copy of the Melo Commission for his evaluation.
What really is GMA’s big concern? After Alston submits his report to the UN and the UN accepts its veracity, the world is expected to condemn the Philippines, nay GMA, as a human rights violator. Possible total of lives terminated is estimated at over 700.
Then what comes next? A world court trial in the fashion of Saddam Hussein?
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Michael J. Gurfinkel has been an attorney for over 26 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
Four offices to serve you:
LOS ANGELES:
219 North Brand Boulevard, Glendale, California 91203
Telephone: (818) 543-5800
SAN FRANCISCO:
966 Mission Street, San Francisco, California 94103 Telephone: (415) 538-7800
NEW YORK:
60 East 42nd Street, Suite 2101, New York, NY 10165 Telephone: (212) 808-0300
PHILIPPINES:
Heart Tower, Unit 701, 108 Valero Street, Salcedo Village, Makati, Philippines 1227
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