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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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Dispute over the first -ever full-length Filipino animated feature film rouses NJ–based Pinoy animation pioneer
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JERSEY CITY– To the many Filipino animators, the name Gerry Garcia is legendary. A pioneering artist who single handedly created the Filipino animation industry. It was him, according to Filipino animators, who made Filipino animation possible. For those who can remember, back in the 80’s the first ever Philippine- made cartoon for television was ‘Panday.’ And it was the creation of Gerry Garcia himself.
Likewise, in 1997, Garcia cemented his legacy as he made the first ever-Filipino full-length animated feature
film– ‘Adarna.’ His work in ‘Adarna’ got him awards from many sectors, including, an award from the first lady of the Philippines herself– Ming Ramos. Now, almost 11 years after he made Philippine animation history, Gerry Garcia, who now lives in New Jersey , is fighting for his legacy.
In a recent episode of Rated K, hosted by Korina Sanchez, a group of animators are claiming that their upcoming animated film, ‘Urduja,‘ is actually the first digital and traditional full-length animated feature film in Philippine history. It may have been a case of oversight on the part of the animators, directors and producers of ‘Urduja,” or even Ms. Sanchez herself, but Gerry Garcia, has raised a red flag over the whole thing. He was shocked.
“Sana mag research man lang sila, bago sila magbitaw ng salita,” said Garcia in an exclusive interview with the Express. “Si Korina Sanchez pa mismo ang nag present ng award sa akin nung 1995 for Adarna!”
Whatever prompted the people involved in the production of ‘Urduja’ to claim that it is the first ever remains unclear, however, Garcia has his own speculations.
“It’s all for publicity,” Garcia continued. “Sinasabi nila na sila ang una para sumigaw ako. Para magkaron ng publicity ang movie nila.”
When asked how he felt when he saw the Rated K segment. He said he was shocked: “Nabigla ako sa mga kini claim nila at ano ang ebidensiya na nagpapatunay na sila ang unang animated movie?”
“Ang aking paniniwala ay ang ADARNA po ang unang una animated movie ng Philippine Cinema,sa dahilan po na nabigyan po ng award ng Special Award ng Metro Manila Film Festival nuong December 27, 1997 na nakasaad sa tropeo na "ADARNA Kaunaunahang animated Movie sa Philippine Cinema"at ganoon din po sa FAMAS at sa ibang bansa sa Japan,na tinangkilik sa 7th Hiroshima Animation Festival as "Asian collection "nuong 1998”
Garcia does not intend to file any charges because of the alleged disinformation by the producers of ‘Urduja.’ For him, he simply wants the truth to be told.
“Gusto ko ipaalam ang totoo. Kailangan manalo ang katotohanan. Sana tanggapin nila na may nauna sa kanila,” Garcia concluded.
Adarna was released in 1997 as part of the Metro Manila Film Festival. It featured the voices of big-named Filipino stars like Jolina Magdangal, Regine Velasquez, and Martin Nievera. Garcia wrote and directed the animated flick. It was under FLT Productions and Guiding Light Productions. The film is still considered the first full-length animated feature film in Philippine movie history until the recent challenge by the makers of “Urduja.” Surprisingly, Regine Velasquez also rendered the main character’s voice in ‘Urduja.’
In an excerpt of one of ‘Urduja’s’ press releases, producer, Tony Tuviera of TAPE, the same outfit that brings Eat Bulaga to millions of Filipino homes, said that he strongly believes that he made the first of its kind: “I wanted to give our animators a chance to be recognized," he declares. "They are actually doing a lot of animation abroad—some of them are in Pixar, Disney...ang dami. They are doing animation but never silang nakakuha ng credit. Yung mga Biker Mice...so sabi ko, bakit hindi sila bigyan ng recognition dito? As a result, Urduja is a product of traditional and digital animation that is hailed as the first of its kind in the Philippines.”
It was hard enough for Garcia to create his legacy when he did all his landmark works, but it seems that it is even harder to fight for that legacy in this age diminutive attention span. Gerry Garcia is fighting to be remembered. And he has the evidence to prove it. Hence, he believes that he will have no trouble winning the fight. For him, history is on his side.
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CHICAGO– A holder of a tourist visa, whose visa is revoked before arrival at the port entry and detained on arrival, has no right to be released.
This was the holding of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit based in Chicago, Illinois when it denied bail for former Philippine Agriculture Undersecretary Jocelyn “Joc-Joc” I. Bolante.
Invoking the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Shaughnessy v. United States ex rel. Mezei (1953), the majority of the three-judge panel said, “a lawfully admitted alien who had left the country and had been detained by the immigration authorities at Ellis Island when he tried to return had no right to be released.”
In the case of Bolante, Circuit Judge Richard A. Posner, writing for the majority, said, Bolante “had a U.S. tourist visa when he left the Philippines for the United States, but our embassy in Manila revoked the visa before he arrived at Los Angeles International Airport, and on arrival, like Mezei, or for that matter Elkimy (in Elkimya v. Department of Homeland Security, 2007), he was not lawfully admitted to the United States and so had no right to be released.”
The panel issued an opinion, following Bolante’s petition to grant him bail while he awaits the Appeals Court’s ruling on his petition to review the “denial by the Board of Immigration Appeals of his application for asylum and the Board’s resulting order of removal.” Bolante, 56, will be two years in custody on July 2 next month.
The panel said the Eight Amendment of the U.S. Constitution “does not say that a person detained by the government is entitled to release on bail, only that he may not be subjected to excessive bail as a condition of release.” It added, “the Court has never held that persons detained in civil proceedings, such as deportation (now called removal) are entitled to release on bail.” It added, “due process of law presumptively entitles an alien ordered removed to be released from detention after six months if no other country is willing to admit him, it said nothing about bail or the bail clause.”
While “this court and other courts of appeals have held that federal courts have inherent authority to allow petitioners for federal habeas corpus to be released on bail, this power is to be exercised sparingly in that a petitioner for habeas corpus, unlike pretrial detainee, has already been convicted of a crime rather than having merely been charged.”
But when the “petitioner, who is an alien – in this case an illegal would-be immigrant, as we shall see, seeking to alter his status by obtaining asylum – asking for bail outside the habeas corpus setting, the claim of an inherent authority to grant bail is more questionable.”
Last October 2006, U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman of the Eastern District of Wisconsin in Milwaukee ruled in an eight-page decision and order that Bolante’s “petition for a writ of habeas corpus is dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.”
Bolante, who alternatively asked to be released on bond, alleged that the U.S. government was “detaining him without due process of law while seeking to remove him from the country.” The government, however, contended that Bolante “does not possess ‘a valid immigrant visa.’”
With the dismissal of his petition for political asylum by the Board of Immigration Appeals on June 25, 2007 after reviewing the order of Chicago, Illinois Immigration Judge George P. Kastivalis, who denied Bolante’s petition for political asylum on Feb. 9, 2007, Bolante’s lawyer filed an appeal before the Seventh Circuit on July 3, 2007.
The Circuit will be ruling on the following issues:
1. Whether the BIA erred in finding that the Petitioner was not eligible for asylum because he did not establish a well founded fear of persecution based upon his political opinion or status as a member of a protected social group?
2. Whether the BIA erred in finding that Petitioner was not eligible for withholding of removal because he did not establish a well founded fear of persecution based upon his political opinion or status as a member of a protected social group?
In seeking political asylum, Bolante claimed that he fears for his life when returned to the Philippines because he “learned from friends and relatives that a bounty had been set for his arrest” by Senator Ramon Magsaysay, Jr. who contributed 20,000 pesos for his “capture. Other Senators contributed to the bounty increasing the amount to approximately 200,000 pesos.
This method of exerting political power is commonly used by opposition parties in the Philippine Government in order to amass great economic and political power, often ending in violence and death of those targeted.”
According to Philippine Senate reports, Bolante fled his homeland after he failed to liquidate 728-M pesos (US$16-M) fertilizer fund that bankrolled the election of President Arroyo last May 2004. (lariosa_jos@sbcglobal.net)
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JERSEY CITY– On Wednesday, June 11, the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Advisory Panel on Immigrant Policy will hold its third and final public hearing at New Jersey City University’s Margaret Williams Theatre, from 6pm-10pm. NJCU is located at 2039 Kennedy Boulevard. The panel urges the public to register to speak by calling 609-826-5081.
The Panel is calling on the public to testify on issues confronting New Jersey’s immigrant population, including the implementation of in-state tuition rates for undocumented students; education fairness and quality; access to health care; driving privileges; concerns with the enforcement of federal immigration laws by local governments; economic concerns and workforce issues.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2006 American Community Survey, there are 115,185 Filipinos or Filipinos of mixed race living in New Jersey, out of which 82,135 are foreign-born, or over 70%.
On August 6, 2007, Governor Jon Corzine signed Executive Order No. 78 establishing the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Advisory Panel on Immigrant Policy. The Panel's mission is to develop recommendations for a comprehensive and strategic statewide approach to successfully integrate immigrants into New Jersey’s population. It has 15 months to complete its charge and report its findings and recommendations to the Governor.
The Advisory Panel consists of 34 members; 7 state department representatives, 25 public members from various arenas, and 2 legislators – Senator Ronald Rice and Assemblyman Joseph Vas. Public Advocate Ronald K. Chen is the Panel Chair.
According to a representative from the New Jersey Public Advocate’s office, the community is urged to speak about their experiences and how to improve their lives as immigrants living in New Jersey, especially issues related to state and local governments. The representative distinguished immigration vs. immigrant policy, and provided a statement from the Public Advocate to further clarify.
"Immigration policy, a policy by which people are lawfully admitted to enter the United States and the conditions upon which they can remain, is exclusively a federal matter,” said Public Advocate Chen. “For better or worse, that is clearly the case and has been so for many years. Policies concerning immigrants, people who are immigrants, however, very often by default are matters which state government must deal with. Therefore, this is an issue that does require, coordination between immigration policy and immigrant policy."
The public also can submit written comments anytime by sending them to: immigrantpolicypanel@advocate.state.nj.us; fax to (609) 984-4747 or mail to: Department of the Public Advocate, Attn. Clarisa Romero-Cruz, P.O Box 851, Trenton, NJ 08625-0851.
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