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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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NEW YORK– President Gloria Macapagal–Arroyo concluded her state visit to the United States with a trip to New York, where she visited the NYSE, addressed dignitaries at the United Nations headquarters and then meeting with the East Coast Filipino- American community at the Hilton Hotel.
In her speech at the United Nations, Arroyo spoke about the rice situation in the Philippines:
"We have been able to keep our situation from becoming a crisis through swift intervention to ensure our supply of rice," said president Arroyo.
She then added that "effective distribution and enforcement against hoarders have also helped to appease the situation. We have been doing double duty in the region to coordinate our efforts with many of the country's represented here who are our neighbors, but we need strong, global leadership and cooperation if we are to avert this from becoming a perpetual problem."
The rice shortage is a global phenomenon that affects many nations and president Arroyo called on the UN to help ensure supply, promote research and continue to provide vital humanitarian supplies through agencies to the truly needy in the nations.
President Arroyo also stressed the need for cultural and religious understanding in Mindanao, where the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and other rebel groups continue their decades long conflict for a separate Islamic state within the mainly Catholic Philippines.
The rebel groups and Philippine government have yet to reach a peace agreement, but Arroyo insists that her initiative on interfaith dialogue is proving to be successful.
"The success we are having in Mindanao, in Southern Philippines is inspiring. We urge you all to visit and see for yourself the paradigm for peace we have built in the Philippines," she said.
President Arroyo also took this opportunity to publicly endorse senator Miriam Defensor Santiago as her nominee for a seat in the International Court of Justice.
"Senator Santiago is independent, tough-minded and well-qualified. She would serve as an example of effective gender mainstreaming, because with your support if she¡¦s elected, she¡¦ll become the first woman from Asia in the International Court of Justice," said Arroyo.
After the UN affair, She made her way to The Hilton where she addressed members of the Filipino-American community in an effort to encourage future investments.
Arroyo also assured the community that the government is doing its best to address the rice issue. Her optimism instilled hope in many members of the audience:
"Her speech was very promising and we hope it will happen,” said Mark Leviste, Vice Governor of Batangas.
“The rice problem is a global phenomenon, even in the states. For her (Arroyo) to make a bold statement that in five years the Philippines can sustain their own rice production is a bold and proud statement.”
However, despite her promises on the rice crisis some attendees think she focused too much on her governance that she failed to connect personally to the community.
“I thought she’d say more than rice and investments,” said Jocelyn R. Bernal, budget manager of Carat USA. “She should have tried to make it more personal. She addressed the Filipino-American community but I wanted her to connect why we’re here.”
Others stressed the importance of unity in the fight to make the Philippines great again.
Leo Areval, a Filipino- American veteran of Operation Desert Storm said, “Right now we’re focused on economics, but it can’t be done if it’s only one or two Filipinos.”
“Filipinos don’t unite, but if we do we will be able to succeed.”
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NEW YORK– President Gloria Macapagal- Arroyo’s New York visit last Thursday, June 26, was marred by protests by activists questioning her state visit while the nation is still reeling from the catastrophe wrought by killer typhoon Frank.
Tensions culminated in front of The Hilton in New York City as Filipino-American groups: BAYAN USA, the New York Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (NYCHRP), Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment (FiRE), Anak Bayan NJ/NY, and the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON), awaited President Arroyo’s arrival with signs of disapproval and chants of “Oust Gloria.”
“At a time of disaster and devastation for those hit hard by Typhoon Frank in the Philippines, this very lavish US tour is the most expensive junket yet for the Arroyo administration,” said Bernadette Ellorin, Secretary General of BAYAN USA.
“Eighty percent of all Filipinos live below in poverty and underemployment, and the economic situation is growing worse,” added Ellorin.
Other people, however, believe that Arroyo’s decision to push through with the state visit was the right move.
“There are 80 million Filipinos and majority rules. A lot of Filipinos need money, they need investors,” said Raul S. Estrellado, President of the Philippines Independence Day Council. Estrellado was in the audience during Arroyo’s speech and acknowledged the tragic 800-plus fatalities caused by Typhoon Frank but ultimately sided with the President’s decision to stay.
“It’s hard that she doesn’t go home, but the 80 million who need the investors need her to be here so I forgive her for not going home,” he said.
Gary Labao, a community organizer for the New York Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (NYCHRP) disagrees. "As Head of State she has a responsibility to the people, even if it's less than 100 victims, her duty as President, as Head of State, as an so-called elected official is to quickly and immediately respond, give assistance, and to be present in times of disasters and calamities," said Labao.
As of July 2nd, Typhoon Frank has caused 540 casualties, 175 have been injured, and 41 people are still missing. This does not include the 800 passengers of the M/V Princess of the Stars that sank off Sibuyan Island in Romblon at the height of the typhoon.
When President Arroyo addressed members of the East Coast Filipino-American community at the Hilton, she congratulated them on their success as Americans of Philippine descent. She then spoke about the rice shortage occurring in the Philippines and encouraged the community to invest in the Philippine economy. She said that in five years the Philippines could sustain its own rice production with the help of foreign investments.
As expected, the protesters disagree: "Her plan won't work precisely because it relies on rice importation and foreign investments," said Ellorin.
"The root of the rice problem is not in the availability of foreign rice or economic intervention, but in the internal structural inefficiency of the agricultural sector in the Philippines."
On June 30th, the Philippine government "committed to import 2.7 million tons of rice this year, making the Philippines the world's top rice importer," according to Agence France-Presse , a global news network.
"As long as the Philippine economy remains export-oriented and import-dependent, the Philippine economy will remain in a permanent crisis," said Labao.
Ed Toloza, Jersey City's Tax Assessor, was invited as a member of the community to hear Arroyo's speech. While at the reception he said: "Until the Philippines begins to export products, not people, is when the Philippines will be a self sufficient country."
During the reception several members of the Filipino- American community expressed mixed emotions about the protesters outside.
"There are always perennial protesters," said Ambassador Harry C. Angping, former Congressmen and Head of the Special Envoy of the President to China for Tourism and Investments.
"They [protesters] are never satisfied, you have to be proactive. Protesting is not a solution to the problem."
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Filipina with deformed feet takes her first steps after succesful operation in the Bronx
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NEW YORK– For 15-year old Filipina Jingle Luis, planting one’s feet on the ground never felt so well. On Wednesday, Luis, who suffered from clubbed feet, made her first unassisted walk at the Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx after a successful operation that cost her and her family nothing.
Jingle was never able to walk on her own due to an inborn defect that caused her feet to twisted backward and upside down. For 15-years, her feet were the crutches that she used to aid her in moving around.
Now, she is free to walk wherever she wants.
“I am very happy. It was exciting,” Jingle said.
The operation performed by her surgeon Dr. Terry Amaral corrected her deformed feet though the use of screws. Later, her feet were put on a cast to keep the feet from returning to its old form. Now, she is wearing feet braces that would aid her in her walking. Dr. Amaral expects Jingle to wear the braces for a year.
"This is a miracle. I am very thankful to God," said Jingle's mother, Jasmine Luis.
Jingle’s condition was discovered when a Montefiore physician visited the Philippines in 2003 along with a delegation of Christian missionaries. She was then put on the list of potential beneficiaries of a free operation. Soon after, Jingle’s number was called by the hospital and she arrived in New York dreaming that one day she could plant her feet on the ground.
Jingle’s condition, however, is not limited to her inborn deformity. She is also suffering from spina bifida, a birth defect that prevents the spinal cord from fully developing. Dr. Amaral, however, said that Jingle’s spina bifida is not a cause for worry. He said her case is relatively mild.
It would have been impossible for Jingle’s parents to have her condition treated if not for the operation sponsored by Montefiore– Jingle’s father works as a corn farmer, while her mother makes a living selling fish.
Jingle’s parents are very happy for their daughter. They find comfort in the thought that Jingle will from now on lead a normal life and chase her dreams with new feet. With reports from AP
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