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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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GREATLY DEPRESSING, BUT PINOYS
WILL OVERCOME
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WHO would have thought that the US would tumble like this?
Perhaps the Commies were right after all– capitalism will eventually crumble on its own heavy greed.
Is it indeed the end of the free market? Are we fulfilling Lenin’s prophecies?
Anywhere you go people are angry and depressed. They all have these anger and depression that anger management sessions nor Prozac could alleviate. Nope. People are mad. It is not even funny anymore. They have lost homes, jobs, filed for bankruptcy, and got deeper in debt without concrete plans how to pay. They have considered falling in line for bread and soup just to fill their growling tummies. It is greatly depressing. All of a sudden, it is 1932 once again.
History tells us that the Great Depression in the Jazz Age caused the greatest war ever. Given the current world conditions today, it is not too grim to predict that war could be imminent. Wait, there is war already. Indeed we’re suddenly back in the Jazz age, minus the revolutionary music. What we have instead are some songs about bling-blings and living large. Very inappropriate.
For Filipino-Americans, though, despite hard financial times, They still manage to smile. They are so attuned to the meaning of poverty and sacrifice that they can withstand any financial crunch with a laugh. Perhaps it is their religious upbringing that sees them through hard times.
It has been said that Filipinos can withstand poverty and hunger, but not injustice. “Gutumin mo na ang Pinoy wag mo lang lokohin ,”
Filipinos can have an exciting and sumptuous meal with just rice, Shrimp paste and broth. But cheat him and sell him bad Bagoong and you will see the heavens fall. He will be very angry not because he will be hungry, but because you lied and cheated him.
Hence, in this crucial time in the US, Filipinos who were born and raised in the Philippines are relaxed. They are worried, yes, but they are cool. They have seen worse. They all take this new Great Depression with a smile.
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UNDOCUMENTED WORKERS HAVE RIGHTS
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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
The current economic crisis has resulted in a rising unemployment rate in the U.S. A huge number of workers have been laid-off even by big U.S. companies.
The huge job loss of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents has led to an increase in the crackdowns and raids on companies hiring undocumented aliens. Presumably, these draconian policies are intended to discourage illegal immigration to the U.S. so that jobs could be made available for the displaced U.S. citizens and permanent resident workers.
Under the current situation, many have asked if undocumented workers have rights.
Under the Fair Labor and Standards Act (FLSA) which guarantees fair treatment in regards to compensation and time worked for covered employees, undocumented workers are entitled to the same pay as legal workers for time worked and pay-outs for accrued vacation on termination. They are entitled to minimum wage, overtime pay and work breaks.
Workers' compensation laws provide financial assistance for employees who are disabled as a result of illness or injuries incurred in the course of, and as a result of, their employment. They provide wage loss relief, medical care, rehabilitation and survivors’ benefits. While workers compensation plans vary from state to state, compensation is granted even to undocumented workers, as a general rule, provided they prove that the disability was the result of work-related injury or occurrence.
They also have health and safety rights. They can refuse to perform unsafe works which may pose a real danger to them or their co-workers.
Labor relations laws also allow them to organize or join labor unions in order to improve their working conditions.
Regarding unemployment benefits, undocumented workers may not be eligible to receive them since most states require individuals to have valid social security numbers. In addition, undocumented workers are considered not “able to work” and “available to work.”
As to social security benefits, undocumented workers are not eligible to receive these until they have achieved legal status, even though they made tax contributions during their unauthorized employment. Social security benefits include retirement, disability, supplemental security income, medicare and survivor benefits. Once they have obtained legal status, the computation of credits and benefits will retroact to the time of their contribution.
Do the antidiscrimination laws protect them? Yes. This means that their employers cannot fire them, refuse to hire them, harass them or take any action because of their national origin, race, color, sex, age and religion.
Employers cannot use their undocumented status to fire them for complaining about not paying them wages. Employers are prohibited from retaliating against workers who assert their rights under the law.
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“The angel of death has many eyes.” This Hebrew proverb came to mind on reading the news report: Cebu City mayor Tomas Osmena flew abruptly to New York Wednesday. He’ll seek a second medical opinion on a “egg-size” growth in his bladder.
He ignored speculation of prostate cancer. With admirable candor, he told a pre-departure press conference. “Yeah, it’s serious…,It’s like a grenade in me.” He threatened his foes against derailing a possible first sale in the 296-hectare South Properties That’d ease the crippling debt burden on his city.
“They won’t miss me”, Osmena said of his political foes. They multiplied under his no-dissent governance. “I’ve no plans of dying…But , the final decision is up to Santo Nino”— Cebu’s ancient patron.
In March 2002, Osmena first stared into the Angel of Death’s “many eyes” He collapsed from a hypertensivc bout. As he was trundled into the emergency room , a team of doctors stood by --- for another patient. “Happenstance”, said some. “Providence”, others insisted. Whatever, he survived that episode.
“The mayor looked into those eyes, as we all must one day, and walked away,” we wrote on his return to City Hall. . “We welcome his renewed lease on life...Has the long look into those eyes…endowed the mayor with a new sense of reality? Albert Camus after all stressed : “The threat of mortality, which hangs over all of us, sterilizes everything,..
It should. Street cleaner, mayor or President return to dust.: “A man is here today. And tomorrow, he is gone,” Thomas a’ Kempis wrote. “And when he is taken out of sight, he is also quickly out of mind.””
Governance, however, is a “7/24” job. It’s demands don’t halt when illness strikes. Mortality and responsibility clamp a special burden, specially on officials: to “think the unthinkable” They must prepare the just-in-case team.
Historical Footnotes: In March 1957, acting foreign secretary Raul Manglapus cabled Vice-President Carlos P. Garcia, then inCanberra.. President Ramon Magsaysay’s plane had smashed into Mount Mannungal in Cebu, He should return to Manila immediately.
“The vice-presidency is as useful as the fifth teat in a cow,” Harry Truman once said. And Lyndon Johnson concurred that : the vice presidency was just a “pitcher of warm spit.” Both Truman and Johnson became presidents.
Historical Lesson: In life, Numero Dos can suddenly be thrust in the number one job So, they must be selected with equal care.
In “thinking the unthinkable” chief executives, whether national or local, must train those who could come after them, not just brush them off. Is Vice-President Noli de Castro’s main job limited to just asking after morning coffee: “How is the President’s health today?”
This lesson explains the deep unease roiling American voters today over a vice-presidential candidate : the patently-unqualified Alaska governor Sarah Palin. Sure, she’s good at shooting moose. But would you entrust to her the “football” – the presidential briefcase containing nuclear war codes?.
Someone please put Sarah Palin out of her agony,”asked Newsweek’s Fareed Zakaria, adding:. “Is it too much ask that she come to realize what she wants…,‘to spend more time with my family”
Mayor Osmena and wife handled his latest illness with relative candor. He is a public official. And the settled rule is people have a right to information about those entrusted with official duties.
Corazon Aquino has stepped down from office. But she remains a respected public figure. She broke the news about her colon cancer. Her family requested that privacy be respected in her illness. The press respected that request scrupulously.
Ordinary citizens can be dragged willy-nilly into headlines by tragedy, crime or some other event. Journalists must balance competing demands: for critical information, on one hand and personal privacy on the other. Reporting must be full yet sensitive. .This separates the men from the boys..
Inquirer’s “Manual of Editorial Policies” devotes a whole section ( 1.6) to privacy. Sun Star’s Code of Standards & Ethics bans masquerading to gain access to private information. But media here hasn’t developed seminal guidelines more fully than, say Australia or theUK
Supreme Court Chief Justice Louis Brandeiz first raised the privacy issue in Harvard Law Review ( December 1890 ). This is now 2008. Internet meanwhile has evolved “citizen journalism” And Kapisanan Ng Mga Brodkasters struggles with mayhem inflicted by non-journalists : block-time commentators who never read KBP’s code of ethics. .
Media ought to revisit the rule book – before mortality or tragedy stoke invasion of privacy controversies. Practical checklists must cover : need to know, vulnerability of persons reported on like children,; means of intrusion, public records, etc. “News organizations should be encouraged to explain their ethical decision-making to their ( audiences) , Poynter Institute recommends.
“The cemetery is full of indispensable men,” Charles de Gaulle once said. Sadly the more powerful the official, the less they see this truth. And journalists are often saddled with the unsought and thankless job of stripping away those blinders.
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Dear Mr. Mercado,
I read your commentary on the Filipino Express Online and I was hoping you would be kind enough to comment on my recent experience for your readers.
I am a native-born U.S. citizen and U.S. passport holder.
I traveled to Hong Kong from the U.S. on October 5th 2008 to meet my Filipino girlfriend.
She was detained by Hong Kong immigration agents even though she has no criminal record and has a valid Philippine Passport and she was meeting me, a native-born U.S. citizen with a U.S. Passport.
I found out later (too late) from Chinese airline ground agents that Filipinos, especially young women, are routinely singled out by immigration agents and detained for fear that these women want to stay illegally in Hong Kong.
Furthermore, it was clear that the airline agents and security guards I spoke were afraid of criticizing the immigration agents for fear of losing their jobs or worse.
My girlfriend later told me that she and three other Filipino women were detained that night and another Filipino woman that had been held for three days! My girlfriend was interrogated like she was a criminal. Her crime? Being Filipino in Hong Kong.
Her phone was taken from her. She was not allowed to call anyone. She was held for approximately 16 hours with nothing to eat. She and the other women were also subjected to a humiliating strip search for drugs. The only good thing was the search was conducted by female agents. Like the other women that were detained, my girlfriend has no criminal record and has a valid Philippine passport. After this 16 hours ordeal she was allowed to leave on the airline that brought her there.
I later traveled to Manila to meet my girlfriend. I was at the Aquino airport in Manila and I saw many young Chinese women from Hong Kong who werevisiting Manila for the shopping and to have a vacation.
How would the Chinese Government react if their citizens were treated the way my girlfriend and these other Filipino women were treated? Held without cause, denied food, isolated and then stripped searched?
Philippine citizens need to be made aware of the type of abuse that is happening in Hong Kong.
Thank you,
Andrew Lee, Esq.
(650) 630-3281
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