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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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CHICAGO – “Next year again.” This tired slogan of the dying veterans living in the Philippines will again be creeping back to their senses as the benefits that were dangled before their very eyes by the U.S. Senate last April are slowly slipping away.
Chris Walker, press spokesman of Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC), told this reporter in a terse email that, “It doesn’t look likely that a conference committee will be convened.”
A formation of a conference committee is the first step needed to pass the Senate Bill 1315, the Veterans Benefits Enhancement Act of 2007, now that it already hurdled both chambers with veto-proof votes before it is returned to both chambers for final approval. Afterwards, it is sent to the President for his signature.
Senator Burr was instrumental in blocking the motion of Sen. Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI) on the Senate floor last Sept. 23 for the Senate and House to form a conference committee on S. 1315. This bill that provides grants for benefits to Filipino veterans living in the Philippines has stalled and is pending ever since.
In his exchange with Mr. Burr on the Senate floor, Mr. Akaka said, “I am disappointed and somewhat surprised that objection has been raised on this motion. … The intent of this motion is to create a mechanism by which there might be further action on this very important veterans legislation before the Congress goes into recess.”
Akaka added, “If we are not able to do so, I intend to renew my efforts in the next Congress.”
Congress was due to adjourn last Friday, Sept. 26, but the financial crisis forced it to extend its session for another week to pass a rescue plan. Members of Congress are raring to go home to their respective districts as they campaign for their own re-election on Nov. 4th.
The crisis was the reason Senator Burr was opposing passage of the benefits for the Filipino veterans, saying, “It disturbs me that we are on the floor of the Senate once again talking about the benefit at a time when we are talking about a financial crisis.
“It is also my understanding that the House continuing resolution will have $200-million that goes to the benefits of Filipino veterans with money that has been pulled from somewhere yet unknown.”
Earlier, a delegation of the American Coalition of Filipino Veterans got assurance from the staff of Senator Burr that Mr. Burr will no longer oppose the benefits for the Filipino veterans. The email sent to this reporter by Mr. Burr’s press spokesman, however, contradicted Burr’s staff assurance not to block S. 1315.
When the Senate passed S. 1315 last April, it included an annual flat rate of $ 3,600 annual nonservice disability pension for a single Filipino veteran; $ 4,500 for a married veteran, and $2,400 for a surviving spouse, and who are all living in the Philippines. When this bill was passed by the House, the benefits for the Filipino veterans were eliminated and were included in a separate stand-alone H.R. 6897 under a reduced lump sum $9,000 for those veterans who are not U.S. citizens and $15,000 for those who are U.S. citizens, which was passed on a veto-proof 392-23 vote.
If H.R. 6897, the Filipino Veterans Equity Act 2008, cannot be reconciled with S. 1315 or if it will not be passed by the Senate this year, the bill dies. There are an estimated 18,000 veterans living in the Philippines while about 7,000 are living in the United States who could benefit from this measure.
Every year since the last 15 years, supporters of the Filipino veterans have been campaigning for the passage of the Filipino Veterans Equity bill.
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Thousands of illegals captured in three-week
nationwide sweep by immigration agents
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JERSEY CITY– Ninety Five Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) fugitive operations teams from all over the Unites States have arrested and detained a total of 1,311 illegal immigrants, mostly with criminal records, in what is called the biggest concerted effort yet to enforce immigration laws to violators.
The majority of the arrests were made in California with a total of 1,157, while raids conducted in Pennsylvania and Delaware turned in 78 immigration fugitives. In New Jersey, a total of 76 arrests were reported by the local Newark immigration office.
"Individuals who defy immigration court orders to leave the country need to understand there are consequences for willfully disregarding the law. ICE is committed to enforcing these outstanding deportation orders and strengthening the integrity of our nation's immigration system," said Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Julie L. Myers, who oversees ICE, in a news release.
The nationwide effort came in the wake of a turbulent US economy brought about by the crash of several financial institutions, which also caused major drops in stock market points. It also came in the final stretch of an intense presidential campaign by senators McCain and Obama, whose programs of government include comprehensive immigration reform similar to the futile immigration reform bill proposed in the Senate last year, which both senators supported.
In the Delaware/Pennsylvania raids, of the 78 illegal aliens arrested, 26 are with criminal histories. In New Jersey, 60 of the 76 arrested have criminal records. However, the biggest number of illegals with criminal links were in California, where almost a third of the total number of apprehended aliens were either convicted or charged with felonies, including child abuse, and gang-related violence. Among those arrested by the Fugitive Operations Teams was a Mexican national whose criminal history includes prior convictions for lewd acts involving a child as well as battery. Also arrested during the special enforcement operation was a previously deported 47-year-old Mexican national with a prior conviction for selling heroin.
The Fugitive Operations Program was established in 2003 to eliminate the nation's backlog of immigration fugitives.
“The deployment of more Fugitive Operations Teams, together with enhancements in our ability to track leads in these cases, have resulted in the arrest of record numbers of immigration fugitives this year and we expect that trend to continue,” said Secretary Myers.
Estimates now place the number of immigration fugitives in the United States at slightly under 560,000, a decrease of more than 34,000 since October 2007. Despite the large-scale operations, however, there were no immediate reports of Filipinos that were arrested.
While the Department of Homeland Security and ICE are celebrating, several pro-immigrant groups, including those headed by Fil-Ams denounced the government tactics and called it ‘scare’ tactics that does more harm than good.
“Families are getting broken up every day because of this. There is a more humane way to handle this problem than barraging through a family’s door and picking up people at gun point,” said Manny Cabrera of Delaware.
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A fight that will make us forget our financial woes?
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NEW YORK– Boxing superstar Oscar Dela Hoya hoped that his coming mega fight with Filipino ring icon, Manny Pacquiao on December 6 will do more than spill blood and generate millions of dollars for him and Pacquiao. He wants everyone to forget, at least for a while, the grips of the ongoing financial crisis that has debilitated most Americans. He wants us to enjoy and be transported to a place where roses bloom while they bust their faces and work hard to knock each other out.
Dela Hoya made this wish during the first leg of their promotional tour for the fight Wednesday, October 1 on Liberty Island, New York. Dela Hoya’s optimism is not unfounded. He knows how boxing became a balm to soothe aching pockets back in the 1930’s when the Great Depression was ravaging the country.
As depicted in the Ron Howard movie, Cinderella Man starring Russell Crowe, James Broddock, the ultimate underdog from New Jersey beat the heavily favored Max Baer in a title fight that supposedly made hungry and jobless Americans feel good. S u p p o s e d l y , Braddock’s unexpected win made Americans forget about the Depression and injected much needed hope to their broken spirits. After all, Braddock was ‘one of them.’ He was a downtrodden, struggling American like everyone else, and he fought a rich and excessive champion in German Max Baer.
Will the Dela Hoya-Pacquiao fight take us to a better plane in the middle of this Wall Street disaster? I hope so, but probably not.
Though I am optimistic that it will indeed be a match that will resonate all the way to the boxing hall of fame and entertain fans, I doubt that it will have the same effect as the fight fought on June 13, 1935 at Madison Square Garden. Dela Hoya and Pacquaio are anything but Cinderella Men.
If Dela Hoya fought the Pacquiao that was still a hungry General Santos kid living below the poverty line and knocking opponents out in every Blow-by-Blow boxing tournaments, it would have been a possibility. But given the stature of these two fighters now, who both command millions of dollars just to be seen throwing combinations, it is quite a stretch.
Pacquiao entered the Liberty Island press conference exuding the aura of a rich fighter–designer clothes and designer shades, plus the swagger of a million –dollar man. Dela Hoya on the other hand, looks just like the consummate businessman that he is– suave, confident and glowing like gold. Both fighters have statures that no ordinary man depending on daily wages can relate to. They are not one of us anymore. They used to be, however.
Braddock’s story is about the man, more than the fight. Americans identified with Braddock because he was as poor as they all were back then. This is not true with Dela Hoya and Pacquiao, however, given their life stories, with both of them coming from humble immigrant families, it is inspiring how they rose to where they are now. But again, it’s about the men, not the fight. Pacquiao has inspired millions of Filipino kids to pick up the gloves and left hook their ways to fortune, so has Dela Hoya.
However, if anything, the December 6 fight will be a blockbuster. Dela Hoya can be sure that millions of Filipinos all over the world, as well as Latinos and boxing fans in general will forget other TV programs that night. They will all tune in to the Pay-Per-View spectacle despite the $50 price tag. It will be such a big night as evidenced by the quick sellout of MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
It is not wrong for Dela Hoya to hope for a shelter in the middle of a credit storm. In fact, it is very thoughtful of him. He just wants us to have fun and not think of anything else while he and Pacquiao hurt each other. I guess, I will heed his advice, even though I know for sure it would not make me forget the problematic economy. I will try, still. Hard.
While, Dela Hoya wants us to forget our hurting bank accounts when we see him fight Pacquiao, he also needs to make sure he doesn’t forget to put up a great fight, otherwise, this highly-buzzed fight will be forgotten, and he and Pacquiao might be as well.
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