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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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WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A bipartisan group of senators reached a delicate compromise on Thursday, May 17, on what could be the biggest overhaul of immigration law in more than 40 years. It would offer the nation’s 12 million undocumented workers a route to legal status.
The measure, which senators hope to bring to the floor for debate and a vote before they leave for Memorial Day, was announced at a press conference later Thursday afternoon by senators from both parties.
Under the deal, undocumented workers who crossed into the country before Jan. 1 would be offered a temporary-residency permit while they await a new “Z Visa” that would allow them to live and work lawfully here.
The head of an illegal-immigrant household would have eight years to return to his or her home country to apply for permanent legal residence for members of the household, but each Z Visa itself would be renewable indefinitely, as long as the holder passes a criminal background check, remains fully employed and pays a $5,000 fine, plus a paperwork-processing fee.
A separate, temporary-worker program would be established for 400,000 migrants a year. Each temporary work visa would be good for two years and could be renewed up to three times, as long as the worker leaves the country for a year between renewals.
To satisfy Republicans, those provisions would come in force only after the federal government implements tough new border controls and a crackdown on employers that hire illegal immigrants. Republicans are demanding 18,000 new Border Patrol agents, 370 miles of additional border fencing and an effective, electronic employee-verification system for the workplace.
“This is not the architecture of an immigration bill that I would have initially liked to see,” conceded Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (Mass.), the Democrats’ chief negotiator when news of a tentative deal became known, “but we’re not dealing with that. This is a legislative process.”
The agreement would effectively bring an immigration overhaul to the Senate floor next week, but its passage is far from assured. The framework has the support of the White House and the chief negotiators, Kennedy and Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.). But immigration rights groups and some key Senate Democrats remain leery, especially of changing a preference system that has favored family members for more than 40 years.
“When they say, ‘We’re all in agreement, we have a deal,’ certainly I don’t feel that way,” said Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.).
Since 1965, migrants have needed a sponsor in the United States, meaning that virtually all immigrants have had family members or employers already here.
The new proposal would augment that system with a merit-based program that would award points based on education levels, work experience and English proficiency, as well as family ties. Automatic family unifications would remain but would be limited to spouses and children under 21. The adult children and siblings of U.S. residents would probably need other credentials, such as skills and education, to qualify for an immigrant visa. A number of unskilled parents would be allowed in, but that flow would be capped.
To Republicans, the new system would make the nation more economically competitive while opening access to a wider array of migrants. “I think you’ll find the point system to be pretty well balanced,” said Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.).
But to immigration groups, the proposal is a radical break from existing U.S. law, and without changes, they could withhold their support from the final bill.
“We want to see an immigration reform debate on the Senate floor. We want to see this move forward. But we are wildly uncomfortable with a lot of what we’re hearing,” said Cecilia Muńoz, chief lobbyist for the National Council of La Raza.
The other hurdle will come from the temporary-worker program. The immigration bill that passed the Senate last year with bipartisan support would have allowed laborers entering the country as temporary workers to stay and work toward citizenship. But Republicans said this year that they could support such a program only if the workers would be truly temporary.
Immigration groups say such a program would only spur a new wave of illegal migration, as temporary workers go underground once their work permits expire. Perhaps more importantly, two powerful service unions -- the Service Employees International Union and Unite Here -- have threatened to pull their support from any immigration bill that would not give temporary workers a way to remain in the country, fearing that a truly temporary program would drive down wages for low-skill work.
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NEW YORK CITY -- Philippine Consul General to New York Cecilia Rebong announced that the counting of overseas absentee voting ballots will be held on May 14, Monday, and invited the public to witness the counting.
The counting will be open to the public, election watchers, and members of the media, the Consulate said in a press statement.
“We will hold the counting of votes at the Philippine Center Kalayaan Hall, and Kalayaan Hall Annex if the total number of ballots received by the Consulate General exceeds
five-hundred,” Rebong added.
May 14 is the end of the voting period for senators and party-list representatives.
Rebong said that the counting of votes will commence right after the close of the voting period on May 14, at 3:00 a.m., New York time, or May 14, 3:00 p.m., Manila time.
“There is no limit as to how many from the public can watch the counting. However, due to the limited space at the Philippine Center, we may have to regulate the number of spectators at a certain point,” Rebong clarified.
Kalayaan Hall can only accommodate up to 150 seated, and 190 standing, persons at a time, the Consulate said in the statement.
“Election watchers are also expected at the Consulate on May 14 as each candidate, political party, and parties, associations or organizations participating in the party-list system of elections, accredited citizens’ arms and accredited OFW organizations is entitled to one watcher during the voting and counting of votes,” Rebong also said.
A Special Board of Election Inspectors (SBEI), composed of the Consul General, as chairman, and two consular assistants as oll clerk and member-secretary, respectively, will count the ballots publicly and without interruption. The Philippine Consulate General is located at 556 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10036, between 45th and 46th Streets. Subway stations that are closest to it are the 7 and F trains.
Immediately upon completion of the counting and announcement of election results by the chairman, the SBEI shall transmit via facsimile and/or electronic mail the results of the election to the Commission on Elections in Manila, and the accredited major political parties at their respective addresses as supplied by the Commission.
After the announcement of results, the Consul General, in her capacity as chairman of the SBEI, shall deliver official copies of the results to the Philippine Embassy in Washington, D.C., which acts as the Special Board of Canvassers (SBOC). SBOC will, in turn, submit the final tally of votes from all the posts in the United States to the Philippine Congress and the Comelec.
Rebong advised local, Philippine-based media, and foreign media intending to cover the counting of ballots to apply for accreditation at the Philippine Consulate General in New York.
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SHELBY, Michigan -- A distraught member of the Filipino community in Michigan killed his 58-year-old wife in her sleep and then took his own life on Monday, May 7.
Rolando Santa Ana, 63, is a pediatrician and retired US Army colonel with three children living in California.
Police in Macomb County in Michigan said Santa Ana called 911 at 7:45 a.m. and gave his home address and said he had a gun and was going to commit suicide, the county’s online newspaper reported Tuesday. The dispatcher then heard a gunshot and the conversation ended.
When police arrived they found Santa Ana and his wife Eden lying dead in bed at their home in Ravens Pointe Subdivision off Schoenherr, near 21 Mile.
The police also found a handgun on the bed and a suicide note in the bedroom, Macomb Daily said. Police said they both have gunshot wounds in the head.
Santa Ana works as doctor at Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Harrison township after he received an honorable discharge from the US Army five years ago.
Detroit News quoted investigators saying that Santa Ana was apparently distraught over possibly losing his job as government cutbacks at the township clinic.
“The (suicide) note indicated (Rolando) is doing this because of financial reasons and possible job cutbacks,” said Shelby Township Police Detective Terry Hogan. “There is no indication of any type of struggle.”
Neighbors on Greenville Drive were shocked by the shooting. They said the couple were heavily involved in the Filipino community, and often held parties at their brown brick two-story split-level home.
Monica Shamami said the couple was friendly, and Eden could often be found tending to the flowers and other landscaping in the front yard.
“They always had lots of people over. It looked like they got along,” said Shamami, 34, who works for an automotive supplier.
“They were wonderful people and very friendly,” according to Shamami, who lived next door to the couple for the past two years.
Mrs. Santa Ana used to send food and clothing to the Philippines every month. She said they were a member of a Filipino organization and had parties at their house several times during the summer.
“Their kids came here from out of state last year for a large family party,” said Shamami.
“It’s very sad. I didn’t know what happened until I spoke to a neighbor.”
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NEW YORK -- The Filipino woman who owns a Long Beach boardinghouse had her court case adjourned Friday, May 4, after it became clear she would have to accept a jail sentence as part of a plea deal.
Nassau County Tax Assessor Harvey Levinson has called for “a brief sentence of imprisonment” for the woman, Mona Liza Daos, 36.
The owner’s attorney, Maria Aramanda, said in a statement after the court session that a jail term would be “clearly inappropriate and excessive ... “
Levinson noted that Daos had been cited by the city in February for cramming 29 tenants into 16 living units with two communal bathrooms and two communal kitchens in what was zoned a two-family home at 265 E. Chester St. He said the average monthly rent was $500 per room, and the rent roll topped $100,000 a year.
Daos said nothing at her first court appearance in February, but her attorney, Maria Aramanda, said in a statement at the time that her client was not a profiteer and suggested that she was just trying to help find housing for fellow members of the Filipino community.
“I am well aware that a jail sentence is rarely imposed upon a zoning violation, but if any case calls for a sentence of imprisonment, this is the case,” Levinson wrote in an April 12 letter to Judge Robert Bogle of Long Beach City Court.
Aramanda called Levinson’s comment “premature” and said her client was a first-time homeowner getting her first violation and was “an upstanding member of the community with no prior brushes with the law .”
City Corporation Counsel Corey Klein said that “jail time is definitely an option.”
The case was adjourned until Friday, May 11.
“Unscrupulous profiteers like Mona Liza A. Daos who convert their one- or two-family homes into illegal boardinghouses not only destroy the quality of life in these quiet residential areas, but create dangerous living conditions for the tenants who live in these make-shift hotels,” Levinson wrote.
Levinson said it appeared that the maximum fine Daos could face under Long Beach city codes was $4,750, “clearly an insufficient amount.”
While not calling for a specific sentence, Levinson said the judge could send Daos to jail for up to 15 days under the city’s Code of Ordinances.
The case initially had been handled by Judge Stanley Smolkin, who was recently moved up to a Nassau County Family Court judgeship, and Bogle was re-assigned from Valley Stream, where he had been a village justice.
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