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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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THE rice crisis gripping the whole world is unimaginable in the Philippines.
While others sit comfortably with their baked potatoes and boiled corn, we are restless.
We are rice people. You take rice from the Filipino table and you take away their lives.
We work for rice. We live for it.
We believe rice is our only hope. Due to extreme poverty, we resort to just eating rice and soup, or worse, rice with salt.
Now, rice supplies are dangerously low, and most of us never saw oursselves having just salt until now. “Magdildil ng asin” was just an idiom for most of us – now it is reality.
It is a sorry state, really. Rice is our staple food. It is irreplaceable. No potato, corn or bread can ever replace rice in our table.
What does our government do about it– Nothing.
These government officials are busy saving their faces and may have forgotten to save rice for the rainy day. And now, we are suffering.
We are clueless where to get our next sack of rice. Gloria is no Moses and she cannot make the heavens spew ‘Milagrosa.’
Her cabinet is despicable. Especially her justice secretary.
DoJ Secretary Gonzalez is busy threatening rice hoarders with the full force of the law, what does he know? How naïve can he be? Riots will be inevitable once the full effect of such massive shortage takes place and we are sure that Gonzales will take comfort in his own hoards of mash potatoes and imported rice, while we kill for a cup of the white grain.
The country is in dangerous times now. If Lozada and politics cannot bring Gloria down, rice will tear her government apart. This food we are talking about now. It ain’t fun anymore. Gloria should do something or else her hungry constituents will eat her.
Quit the political show and concentrate on this major crisis. We can’t live with bread alone, but we can with just a fair amount of rice. Take our money,our homes , our liberties and our pride, but never take away that bowl of rice
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Students Get 17-Month OPT Extension
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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
APPROXIMATELY 26,000 F-1 students may benefit from a new interim rule that took effect on April 8, 2008 extending their allowable employment period from 12 to 29 months. Additionally, an estimated 10,000 students petitioned for H-1B non-immigrant work visas will get an automatic “cap gap” extension.
Prior Rule
Prior to this rule, F-1 students were authorized to work in the U.S. for a limited period of 12 months after having been enrolled in their academic program for one full academic year under the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program. The authorized training had to be directly related to the student’s course of study.
F-1 students were allowed to work before graduation (pre-completion OPT) or after completion of the study (post-completion OPT). The total allowable work period cumulatively included both the pre-completion and the post-completion OPT. This period was non-extendible.
After post-completion OPT, F-1 students were given a 60-day grace period to depart the U.S. or to renew their F-1 by enrolling in a new degree program or changing to another visa category in order to maintain legal status in the U.S.
Requirements Under New Rule
Under this new interim rule, students will qualify for the additional 17 months of OPT time if they meet certain requirements.
First, he/she must be currently engaged in the 12-month period of approved post-completion OPT.
Second, the F-1 student’s degree must be in the fields of science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM).
Third, the student must be employed in a business enrolled in the E-verify program. E-Verify is a free and voluntary internet-based system operated by the Department of Homeland Security in partnership with the Social Security Administration that allows participating employers to electronically verify the employment eligibility of their newly hired employees and the validity of their Social Security Numbers.
Lastly, the student must be maintaining F-1 status, which means that he/she has not violated any conditions of the F-1 by engaging in unauthorized employment or not reporting to school or taking less than the required credits without permission or without having been reinstated into status.
How to Apply
The student needs to file Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization Document (EAD) with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) along with Form I-20 endorsed by the Designated School Official, a copy of the STEM degree and filing fee of $380.00.
F-1 students who timely file their STEM extension applications with the USCIS may continue working while their applications are pending.
Work Pending H-1B Petition
F-1 students may change to H-1B status.Under the previous regulation, the F-1 student with pending H-1B petition was authorized to stay in the U.S. beyond the 60-day grace period but was not authorized to work. The new rule automatically extends both the student’s period of stay and work authorization while the H-1B petition is pending.
Welcome News
This new interim rule extending the OPT period is welcome news to F-1 students, particularly in the STEM field, who are usually pressed for time after completion of studies to look for jobs in their particular fields. It also allows them more time to gain more skills and experience in on-the-job settings.
The extended OPT time also enables employers to hire highly skilled foreign workers and gives them time to test and oversee their work prior to deciding whether they would want to sponsor them for an H-1B non-immigrant worker visa.
This development is aimed at keeping the U.S. competitive in the world market. According to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, “This rule will enable businesses to attract and retain highly skilled foreign workers, giving U.S. companies a competitive advantage in the world economy.”
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“WHEN we went to war to respond to the call of colors, Mr. Congressman, we did not expect any remuneration at all for anything. But when everyday the “Voice of Freedom” was telling us along the frontlines, the message of President Roosevelt, that they would pay for every bamboo, for every caribou (sic) and every soldier would be given his pay, we did not see for that in the beginning.
“But when you started to give us pay, we injected into us the feeling that we would not like to be discriminated against. If no payment was ever made from the very beginning, the Filipinos would be just satisfied and could suffer anything for the sake of our freedom. That point I would like to make, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for giving me the privilege.”
This impassioned plea by Filipino World War II veteran Gen. Eulogio Balao was delivered 41 summers ago before the U.S. Committee on Veterans' Affairs in the U.S. House of Representatives in the Capitol Hill. It still rings true this week at the 66th Bataan Death March commemoration around the world, where aging Filipino veterans are still pinning their faint hope that they can still get the remuneration they heard over the “Voice of Freedom” broadcast.
General Balao, chairman of the Philippine panel of the US-RP Joint commission that lobbied for the passage of the Filipino Veterans Bills at that time among them H.R. 16330 and H.R. 16367, had nothing but only the admiration from Pennsylvania Rep. John P. Saylor, member of U.S. House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, who said:
“I have been delighted with the testimony that you have given us, because I am sure that it has shown us that you are here only trying to see to it that those people that you have described, General, are given fair treatment. … I commend you and your entire group for your fine approach in this whole matter.”
STICKY ISSUE
The joint commission is one of the more in-depth looks into the sticky Filipino Veterans issue that came at a time when the United States was trying to egg Marcos into extending the lease of the U.S. Military Bases. The late President Marcos had conveniently used the extension of the U.S. military bases to leverage concession from the American government. It was like a goose that lays the golden egg.
The H.R. 16330 was to “provide extension and expansion of the program of grants-in-aid to the Philippines for hospitalization of certain veterans and other persons.”
While H.R. 16367 was to “extend benefits to the war orphans’ educational assistance program to the children of those veterans of the Philippine Commonwealth Army, who died or have become permanently and totally disabled by reason of their service during World War II and for other purposes.”
According to transcripts of the committee hearing provided me by a son of a Filipino veteran, Fr. Prisco E. Entines, who is seeking his late father’s benefit by going thru the U.S. Federal Courts, despite the exchange of visits by the two commissions to each other’s country, a bill that was to consider a dollar-to-dollar compensation for the Filipino war vets struggled to go over the hump.
A panel appointed by U.S. President Johnson chaired by Rep. Olin E. Teague of Texas, U.S. House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs chairman, was composed of Congressmen E. Ross Adair, Albert, Zablocki, Sen. Russell Long, Bob McCurdy of the American Legion, General Decker and others, who went to the Philippines in July of 1966.
PHILIPPINE PANEL
Its Philippine counterpart headed by General Balao returned its visit on Aug. 2, 1966. Among those in the Philippine panel were General Balao, Amb. Eduardo Quintero, Sen. Jose J. Roy, Congressman Simeon Valdez, Under secretary Manuel B. Syquio of National Defense, Minister Caesar Lanuza, Mr. Manuel L. Gacad of the Veterans Administration and Capt. Carlos J. Albert.
The dollar-to-dollar compensation for service-connected Filipino veterans fell thru the cracks after it was established that since the Philippine government was already paying the Filipino veterans in the Philippines 100 pesos a month, it was argued that if the U.S. Congress passes the Filipino Veterans bill, it will put the Filipino veterans “ahead of the American veterans insofar as compensation is concerned,” according to North Carolina Rep. Horace R. Kornegay.
But Mr. Lanuza insisted “this might appear to be so on the surface, but considering that the (Rescission Act) act divested Filipinos of all benefits (from the G.I. Bill) except under that of the national life benefits(, where Filipino veterans will be entitled to $10,000 insurance coverage) and the service-connected disability, I think, it would be more favorable.”
But as it turned out, however, the Filipino veterans, who were supposed to be paid two pesos for every dollar for their war services, ended up holding the empty bag since the Philippine peso that was equivalent to half U.S. dollar when the Rescission Act was passed in 1946 was further devalued to 4 pesos to a dollar in 1962. The peso would further shrink to 40 pesos to a dollar in today’s currency exchange rate.
CONSCRIPTED SOLDIERS
When discussions turned into no service disability, Congressman Saylor referred the panels to some Polish and Servian veterans in World War I, who tried to get their claims, “but we haven’t paid them anything.”
Congressman Robert T. Secrest of Ohio, member of the Hospitals subcommittee, added, “All the Americans in the Canadian Air Force, if there is service disability, we pay it. But, all those that have no service disability get nothing.”
This could be true among volunteers. But when you are conscripted to go to war – meaning you have no choice but to go to war under pain of Article War death penalty in case of desertion – the Filipino veterans deserved to be compensated even if they had no service disability because they were told by the “Voice of Freedom” that they would get compensation that they never asked for. This compensation should be enclosed with a letter of apology. (lariosa_jos@sbcglobal.net)
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PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s “raze-everything” drive to stay in power has eroded Philippine democratic institutions which are among Asia’s oldest. And these weakened structures could crumble, if reforms don’t scrub historical flaws and break shackles clamped on by greedy elites.
University of Wisconsin Madison’s Paul Hutchcroft presents this conclusion in the analysis : “The Arroyo Imbroglio in the Philippines”. He authored “Booty Capitalism’. This 1998 book examined the politics of Philippine banking. And his new book will examine patronage structures and territorial politics here. .
“No country in Asia has had more experience with democratic institutions than the Philippines,” he notes. It “now has a longer stretch of life after Marcos than life under Marcos Exclude martial law tenure. No president has stayed longer in Malacanang than Ms. Arroyo.
Despite “this longevity, the Arroyo administration found political legitimacy to be elusive… High hopes for democracy, voiced in the mid-1980s, have given way to disillusionment with the country's low quality of governance.”
Ms. Arroyo effectively wields the presidency’s substantial powers to keep herself in office, Hutchcroft observes. “She exhibits no qualms about further undermining the country's already weak political institutions. As the Philippines suffers one political crisis after another, its longstanding democratic structures have become increasingly imperiled”.
U.S.-colonial era policies impact today’s governance. Governor-General Howard Taft’s “policy of attraction” wooed landlords away from insurgents. “The economic elite of the Spanish-colonial era was transformed into a political-economic elite that wields power today”.
Representative institutions emerged before bureaucratic institutions could take root. Patronage-hungry politicos overwhelmed fledgling state agencies. Citizen franchise expanded later. By then, it was too late.
“Dominance of the national oligarchy was so well-entrenched that challenges from below faced monumental odds”, Hutchcroft writes. “Taft liked to evoke images of New England style deliberative democracy. But the end result (was) a Philippine version of Tammany Hall.”
In this setting, political parties became shells. They.are "convenient vehicles of patronage that can be set up, merged with others, split, reconstituted, regurgitated, resurrected, renamed, repackaged, recycled, refurbished, buffed up or flushed down the toilet anytime,” political scientist Nathan Quimpo observed.
Where institutions are brittle, leadership styles impact political outcomes. Joseph Estrada was a populist self-aggrandizer. He “redistributed wealth in favor of his family and friends” – until outsted. Ms Arroyo is “the great compromiser, willing to accommodate anyone able to help her retain the presidency”.
Several factors weighed in Ms Arroyo’s scramble to prevail. The 2004 death of Fernando Poe, Jr., deprived the opposition of a rallying figure. She exploited the pork barrel. Questions on Vice-President Noli de Castro capabilities persisted. People didn’t see hope of change in intra-elite squabbles and refused to hit the streets.. And the president did “a masterful job of cultivating the loyalty of key generals --. despite significant discontent in the lower ranks”.
"Our political system has degenerated to such an extent that it's very difficult to live within the system with hands totally untainted." the President admitted in her 2005 “State of the Nation” address. She emphasizes systemic, not personal accountability That flak jacket is used from the Garci tape election scandals to graft charges linking family members.
Whether it will relieve strain on democracy hinges on effecting reforms, starting with key agencies, like the Commission on Elections.
“The Philippine ballot is probably one of the most archaic in the world”, Hutchcroft says. The manual count leaves Comelec “with t he gargantuan task of counting almost a billion preferences.” It is susceptible to fraud:
Given disillusionment and conflicting ideas, Hutchcroft thinks overall reforms won’t fly. The administration’s “patent political opportunism”, in 2007, to foist charter change for advantage, “turned much of the public against constitutional revision.” Incremental reforms, targeted to spur meaningful social change, hold greater promise for success.
Start with modest electoral reforms, he argues.. This could include: preprinted ballots, a consolidated ticket for election of presidents and vice-presidents. An option for straight-party voting could be provided..
To promote stronger parties, nationwide election of senators should be made regional. The present system “forces each candidate to cut his or her own deals with local power holders throughout the archipelago”.
Hutchcroft suggests the Lower House’s party-list system be overhauled. At present, no single party may have more than three seats. This undermines the goal of aggregating interests under one party. The Philippines could lift a page from Japan and South Korea. They have single-member- district seats, plus elements of proportional- representation.
“It is important to build a democracy that can overcome its historical shortcomings,” the study stresses. Filipinos must ensure their institutions “demonstrate responsiveness, not just to the privileged few, but to the citizenry as a whole.” Tell that to Ms. Arroyo and cronies.
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From San Mig To Red Horse
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OVER the past quarter, a kilo of rice in Manila has gone up about 35% to almost 40 pesos. Rice is a staple in most Asian countries and this is a regional phenomenon. But its economic impact to Filipinos is unusually intense because of the chronic poverty problem in the country.
Since the price of rice is a benchmark, it has pushed up the cost of practically everything including vegetables and the cheap "tuyo" or dried fish, also a staple in the poor man's dining table. Pork and fish is pushed up further into the realm of the luxury.
We remember some years back when we were discussing the cost of living with some friends back in Manila. One remarked that life would still be bearable as long as we could afford a bottle or two of beer with friends at weekend. Maybe this is no longer true at this time for most. We are told the price of San Miguel beer, the Filipino's top selling brew, is now hitting close to 40 pesos per bottle, up 35% in the past three months.
As a substitute, many are reported to have switched to Red Horse, cheaper but with a more formidable kick. San Mig taken at the corner store goes for 20 pesos. At a cheap bar, it could go up to 50 pesos. At Mercks, a classier pace in Makati, a bottle may set you back over 100 pesos. But you enjoy the brew in better ambiance. You drink while listening to a sleek siren crooning romantic ballads. You run over to a 5-star hotel bar and awww! Forget it! Unless your outing is underwritten by an expense account.
The fastest growing population sector is the youth. The Philippines is still fortunate because the strong generation of jobs abroad is providing an important release to relieve the otherwise dangerous social pressure that a massive unemployment problem would cause.
The government must never let up in its effort to guard against the build up of this social pressure. The alternative is difficult to contemplate. With millions of unemployed, massive joblessness would cause massive destabilization.
Without the job opportunities from foreign employment, the country will be saddled with a huge social problem. The national economy at present cannot produce enough jobs to meet the demand of the population explosion. Social discontent will surely spread. Fired by widespread poverty, the Philippines could turn quickly into an economic basket case.
We have seen signs that those who had migrated to other countries may already be heading back. A repeat of the problems that drove these human assets away will be difficult to survive.
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