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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 - Hundreds of protesters belonging to the umbrella group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) staged a “lightning protest” at the closing day of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum in Pasay City August 2.
Carrying various placards, signs and streamers, the militants under BAYAN engaged the anti-riot cops from the Manila Police District in a push-and-shove match that lasted for more than five minutes in their attempt to reach the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) where members of the ASEAN are holding the meet.
“The biggest threat to regional peace is the US-led war on terror. The US government is guilty of continuing military intervention and military aid to fascist governments such as the Philippines? Arroyo regime. In the guise of so-called regional security, the US is trying to outdo other nations in the race for regional supremacy,” said Bayan secretary general Renato M. Reyes, Jr.“United States Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte is not sincere at all when he calls on the Philippine government to stop the killings. The fact that the US continues to fund and train the Armed Forces of the Philippines means that the Bush government condones the gross human rights record of the Philippine military,” Reyes added.
The Philippines is the biggest recipient of US foreign military financing and military training. American funding of the AFP has been questioned by human rights advocates in the light of recorded abuses by the Philippine military against unarmed activists.
Reyes said that the US-led war on terror has imposed on ASEAN member countries such agreements as the ASEAN convention on counter-terrorism which calls on member nations to enact anti-terror legislation.
“The US government continues to pressure the ASEAN and their puppet governments into supporting the discredited “war on terror.” In the Philippines, the puppet government of Gloria Arroyo has implemented the anti-terror law, a measure that will escalate repression and human rights abuses,” Reyes said.
“We want to tell the US government that Southeast Asia is not its military playground. We don’t need the US war on terror. We don’t need US military aid,” Reyes added.
Reyes also criticized the Bush government and the Philippine government for their “feigned concern” over the human rights situation in the Philippines and in the region.
“The ASEAN and the ARF are regional conduits of the Bush government’s war on terror. It only sees Myanmar but turns a blind eye to the gross human rights record of the Arroyo government,” Reyes said.
The militants started the protest by marching from the Ninoy Aquino stadium towards Vito Cruz Street in Malate until they were confronted by by the cops when they approached Century Park Hotel. The cops have been deployed in various areas within the vicinity of the PICC building as early as 6 a.m.
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NEW YORK ---- The days of New York City as an artist’s haven are numbered.
New regulations drafted by the Mayor’s Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting would require a permit for any type of filming or photography that involved “an interaction among two or more people at a single site for 30 or more minutes.”
These new rules are threateninga lot of amateur Filipino-American artists who make New York City their backdrop of choice.
“This is a travesty. New York is one of the most photographed and filmed cities on earth. And to have struggling artists get a permit and insurance to use the beauty of the city in their work is unacceptable. ”, says Lel G., a Filipino-American photographer and filmmaker.
Civil liberties groups are already planning to sue the city government if these rules are approved.
This rules are nothing new to professional filmmakers and photograpkers, who have always been required by the city to get special permits.
But in this age of Youtube, regulations like such can greatly affect amateur artists, who post their works exclusively online sans any financial gain.
Budding Fil Am filmmaker Jonze Saguirre called the proposal a ‘blow to the spirit of New York City’.
“New York is known to be a great nurturer of potential talent. But rules like these not only curtail artistic freedom and civil liberties, it destroys the image of New York as an artist’s haven.”
City officials insist the rules aren’t an attempt to quash free speech.
People unable to afford liability insurance, which could cost between $500 and $1,000 for even the smallest of photo shoots, could apply to the city for a waiver.
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BAYONNE, NJ - A Vietnam War veteran is expecting the arrival of a young Filipina orphan Meraly Garcia Mariano, 9 who is suffering from “Tettology of Fallout” a rare heart ailment where her heart has two holes that can only be repaired through surgery according to the Bayonne Community News.
Jude Tiner adopted Meraly after he had heard about orphans in the Philippines through his church City Chapel.
In 2006, Tiner went to the Philippines to “see for himself”. Tiner said that it reminded him of the orphans he saw in Vietnam while he was serving in the military.
Meraly, whom Tiner described as “very outgoing” immediately caught his attention. Upon learning about the girl’s heart condition, Tiner made it a mission to get her the much needed surgery.
Upon returning to the United States where Tiner work as a longshoremen at the New Jersey docks, he immediately started fundraising for Meraly’s operation who is expected to arrive in New York on August 10 and is scheduled to receive treatment on the 20th at the St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital.
According to the doctors, if Meraly does not get the needed heart surgery, she may not “survive to see the age of 16.”
Meraly has indeed saw doctors in the Philippines but it wasn’t until she was examined by a private doctor that the diagnosis was revealed. Also, Meraly was said to be running out of time because of her immune system and her lack of growth.
With the assistance of Bayonne City Council President Vincent Lo Re, Tiner got in contact with Harold Kawalek who made some arrangements. The bayonne VFW 226 is helping Tiner raise funds locally.
Gift of Life Foundation, a project of the Rotary Clubs of District 7490 managed to get the St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital to perform the surgery for free as well as provide housing and meals for the child and her guardian while at the hospital.
Also helping Tiner kick off the fundraising is a fellow war veteran Dr. Jack Smith who just returned from Iraq. Rotary Club and City Chapel in Bayonne are accepting donations for the cause.
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CHICAGO, Illinois (JGL) – A 64-year-old alleged undocumented female Filipino caregiver died Monday, July 23, of aneurism two days after complaining of headache while her eyes were moving in circles followed by vomiting on board a van driven by her former landlord, Modesto Fetero.
Fetero said he rushed Lucia Salcedo Imbaldone to nearby Thorek Hospital and Medical Center at Chicago’s northside. Because Thorek did not have the facilities to treat aneurism patient, Imbaldone was transferred to trauma Illinois Masonic Hospital also in the northside, where she died after being in coma since Sunday.
A native of San Miguel, Iloilo, Imbaldone died without a relative in Chicagoland. Her only relatives are her five children all living in the Philippines and her husband who was also said to have suffered a stroke.
It was reported that Ms. Imbaldone had no health and life insurance coverages.Her roommate Hediliza Pendleton, also a caregiver, was quoted as saying that when Lucia was alive, she was joking that if she died she wanted her remains be brought to the Philippines so her grandchildren can see her.
Ms. Pendleton and Mr. Fetero are mobilizing Lucia’s friends to attend the wake of Lucia, which is still pending.
Transporting the remains from Chicago to the Philippines will cost about $7,500.
Prospective donors who would like to help may get in touch with her employer, New Beginning, a Chicago care giver employment agency located to 4801 North Cicero with telephone No. 773.418.1033 and ask for Mr. Vic Sarmiento.
Imbaldone came to the U.S. as a tourist (?) from eight to nine years ago after attending a ‘seaman’ course. When she arrived in Chicago, she studied and obtained a certified nursing assistant course.
Survivors are her children Christian Anthony, 27; Liberty, 22; Emmanuel, 18; Paul John, 16; and Kathleen, 14; all of Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro.
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