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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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The Launching of a National Fil-Am Youth Alliance WOODSIDE – From May 30th to June 1st, 2008, Filipino- American youths from all over the United States met at a conference to officially launch Sandiwa, The National Alliance of Filipino-American Youths. The delegates have come together with the mission, vision, and sole unity to educate, advocate, and celebrate the rich history of the Philippines. The theme of the conference was "In Honor of the Struggle."
The delegates aim to further understand their history and connect it to their present lives here in the United States. Most of the delegates, whose ages ranged from their late-teens to their late-twenties, are already members of several youth organizations. Two of these organizations, Lakas Diwa and Katarungan, held workshops for the delegates that focused discussions around the importance of collective action and the effectiveness of organized community efforts as opposed to individual efforts.
"The vibrant history of the Filipino people has shown that youth united are a powerful force to advance social change," asserted Katie Joaquin, Anakbayan East Bay Secretary-General and newly elected organization representative for Sandiwa. "As we are faced with growing youth violence, attacks on immigrant rights, and increased difficulty finding jobs, it is ever more important to unite to expose injustice and take collective action towards the freedom of our families and our community."
After the Sandiwa Conference on Saturday, May 30th, the youths gathered to enjoy a collaborative concert at BarYo Restaurant in Woodside that was dedicated to Crispin "Ka Bel" Beltran, who passed away on May 20th, 2008. Ka Bel was a beloved Philippine congressman and mass leader of the Filipino People and workers all over the world. Sandiwa honors him by strengthening the youth to continue to move the struggle forward.
The conference culminated at the Philippine Independence Day Parade in Manhattan on Sunday, June 1st. Two members of the Philippine Forum and National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON) contingent, Wilfred "Pewee" Recaido, the newly appointed Regional Director of New York for Sandiwa, and Rusty Fabunan, the youth director of Philippine Forum, were nearly arrested for merely playing drums at the PIDC fair. The other contingent members, including several Sandiwa youths, posed a mass protest chanting "Just music! What's wrong with it?" at the New York Police Department (NYPD). The two were fortunately let go with a summons. If it had not been for the immediate, powerful, and collective reaction from the PF and NAFCON contingent and Sandiwa youths to their attempted arrest, the two could have fared much worse. The whole experience was a live action lesson for the delegates about the ideals that Sandiwa holds dear.
This is the first year that Sandiwa has been introduced to the East Coast in New York. Sandiwa is a project of the Philippine Forum that has now become the youth arm of a broader mass alliance, NAFCON. Julia Camagong, vice president of NAFCON, co founder of Sandiwa and now acts as an advisor to Sandiwa.
"Sandiwa has made history," describes Camagong. "It has come a long way from being just an organization of alumni of the Philippine Studies Program to becoming a national alliance of the Filipino and Filipino-American youth spanning the different regions of the US."
In Tagalog, "sandiwa" means "one spirit." As an alliance, the youths of Sandiwa look forward to making even more positive changes in their respective communities.
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NEW YORK—A Philippine Army officer who died while serving in Sudan last year was among 90 peacekeepers from all over the world who were honored by the United Nations last week.
Lt. Col. Renerio Batalla was awarded the Dag Hammarskjold Medal in the Service of Peace during solemn ceremonies that coincided with activities at the UN Headquarters marking the 60th anniversary of UN peacekeeping.
Ambasssador Hilario G. Davide, Philippine Permanent Representative to the United Nations, received the medal on behalf of the Philippine Government from Undersecretary General for Peacekeeping Jean-Marie Guehenno. Batalla, a graduate of the Philippine Military Academy, succumbed to malaria on 23 October 2008 while serving as a military observer with the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS). He is the 16th Filipino peacekeeper to die while serving in a UN mission.
"Serving far from home in challenging and dangerous environments, these men and women represent the best the international community has to offer; we pay tribute to their sacrifice and dedication in pursuit of the noble goals of the United Nations," Under- Secretary General Guehenno said.
"But even as we mourn those we have lost, we pay tribute to the professionalism, dedication and courage of those who continue the work of their departed comrades whom we honor here today," he said.
The Philippines is among the top 30 UN memberstates that have contributed police and military personnel to support UN peace operations. As of the end of April 2008, the Philippines had 627 peacekeepers deployed in various UN missions in Afghanistan, Cote d' Ivoire, Darfur, Georgia, Haiti, Kosovo, Liberia, Nepal, Sudan and Timor Leste.
The number of Filipino peacekeepers is expected to increase in the coming months with the request of the UN for the deployment of additional police and military personnel to support the requirements of new UN peacekeeping missions in Darfur, Chad and the Central African Republic.
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NEW YORK— The Philippines is expected to again make its presence felt in the United Nations following the election today of two Filipino diplomats to important positions in the 63rd Session of the General Assembly, the Philippine Mission to the United Nations announced today.
In his report to Foreign Affairs Secretry Alberto G. Romulo, Ambassador Hilario G. Davide, Jr., Philippine Permanent Representative to the United Nations, said Second Secretary Elmer G. Cato and Second Secretary Patrick Chuasoto were elected this morning to positions in two of the six main committees of the General Assembly.
Ambassador Davide said Cato was elected Vice Chairman of the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) while Chuasoto was elected Rapporteur of the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary). He said the two diplomats were elected by acclamation by the General Assembly based on the endorsement of their nominations by the Asian Group in the United Nations.
The General Assembly also elected former Minister Miguel d' Escoto Brockmann of Nicaragua as President of the 63rd Session as well as the Vice Presidents of the General Assembly as well as the Chairmen, Vice Chairmen, and Rapporteurs of the six main committees.
The Fourth Committee is in charge of issues related to decolonization, peacekeeping, information, outer space and Palestine while the Fifth Committee considers and approves the UN budget as well as those of specialized agencies. The two Filipino diplomats will serve as members of the bureau of the Fourth and Fifth Committees and will help steer the committee meetings when the 63rd Session of the General Assembly opens in September. The last time the Philippines was a member of the bureau of any of the main committees of the General Assembly was in 2003 when it was elected chair of the Sixth Committee (Legal).
Cato and Chuasoto joined the Department of Foreign Affairs in 1998 and 1999 respectively and were assigned to the Philippine Mission in New York in 2003. Both served as Alternate Representatives to the Security Council during the Philippine membership in that body from 2004 to 2005.
Aside from representing the Philippines in the Fourth Committee, Cato oversees Philippine participation in UN peacekeeping operations. Chuasoto, on the other hand, represents the Philippines in the Fifth Committee and also handles issues in the Security Council as well as ASEAN concerns in the United Nations.
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WASHINGTON DC– 18 Filipino-American kids took part in The Scripps National Spelling Bee last Friday on ESPN.
Eight-grader Austin Pineda of Perris, CA placed 12 in the competiton. Four other Fil-Am spellers also made it to Friday’s semifinals. They were Nicolas de Leon, Orange Park, FL, Vincent Medina, Coral Springs, FL, Anna dela Merced, Cincinatti, OH, and Corinne Yap, Sedalia, MO.
Two of the children were repeating previous attempts at the Bee --- Raymond Avery Soriano of Laredo, TX, and Anna Beatrice Garcia Grimaldo of Orofino, ID.
Aside from Pineda, Mylieneth Mymy Guiang of Salinas and Peter Jared Caballes of Visalia represented California. Andrea Mae G. Mirasol of Vernon was Texas’ other representative while Missouri’s other speller was David Rudie Bippes of Anutt.
Sole Filipino spellers from their states included Serene R. Macaraig of Fort Wayne, IN, Joshua Derek Mack Ursua of Shreveport, LA, Michelle-Ann R. Tan of Jersey City, NJ, Anna Cusi de la Merced of Cincinnati, OH, and Marie Janice Mach of Triangle, VA.
Numerous Filipino-American students have competed in previous National Bees, with Joseph Henares of Avon, CT, garnering the highest rank thus far, finishing in the top five of last year's Bee, co-sharing 3rd place with two other youths. This year, 18 children of Filipino descent competed for the title of Spelling Bee Champion, the largest number in recent memory, comprising over 6% of the top 288 spellers from the sponsors' districts.
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