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For the past 17 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 reported rape of a 22 year old Filipina woman committed by six soldiers of the US Marines while doing war exercises in the Philippines brought into light the one-sidedness of the Visiting Forces Agreement between the two countries.
The Visiting Forces Agreement between the United States and the Philippines allows US forces to enter and roam around the Philippines. And while there on official military business, US troops are not covered by Philippine laws. Under the VFA, American soldiers in the Philippines are subject to US jurisdiction, and as such, are immune from Philippine laws.
The celebrated rape case is now widely considered as an acid test for the VFA, as it poses serious questions: Can the Philippines try these soldiers? What if the US insists on having these soldiers tried under US laws? Can the Philippines take custody of the suspects while under investigation or trial?
This provision of the VFA is akin to having a guest in your home who is exempted from your own house rules. A serious problem arises when the supposed guest misbehaves: What if he rapes your daughter? What if he kills your son? Is there anything you could do except tell your guest’s parents or guardian to pick him up and punish him?
This has been the point raised by critics of RP-US military relations. Ever since the RP-US Military Bases Agreement (MBA) was rammed down our collective throat in 1947, the Philippines has always been on the short end of the so-called alliance between the two countries. And the VFA is just the recent manifestation of this unequal friendship.
The Philippines, badly ravaged by the Second World War, was forced to accept the Military Bases Agreement which gives the US 99 years to maintain military bases in the Philippines. The young republic then had no choice. The US said it will not give war reparations money to the Philippines if it will not allow the US to keep its military installations in the archipelago.
By agreeing to the MBA, the Philippines surrendered its national sovereignty. Inside these bases, Philippine laws do not operate. Geographically, these bases are in the Philippines. But for all intents and purposes, the former military bases were extensions of the United States.
There is nothing wrong with hosting foreign military bases, as long as the agreement was on equal terms. There is nothing wrong with entering into military relations with other nations, just as long as it is beneficial to both parties.
Sadly, though, such is not the case with our military ties with the US.
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SOS for Filipino journalists
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Chicago, ILLINOIS --- When National Press Club of the Philippines Director Roy Mabasa told me more than a month ago about the plan of NPC President Tony Antonio to visit Chicago at the end of October, I did not realize that the visit will be falling around the time of All Saints Day (Nov. 1) and All Souls Day (Nov. 2).
And so when Tony delivered his keynote address -- his piece on the slain Filipino journalists – it could not have come at a more fitting time.
It finally sank in my mind when the Rev. Telesforo Yague paid tribute to the slain journalists and prayed for their souls as well as for those who are living.
Entitled, “Guns Try to Still the Pen,” Tony’s speech details some of the more gruesome tales of how fate cut short the career of our Filipino brother journalists.
67 Filipino Journalists Killed Since 1986
As one who nearly would have suffered the same fate of 67 slain Filipino journalists since 1986, I felt chills down my spines as Tony started to describe some of the more celebrated cases.
The case of Marlene Esperat, which was earlier described by Allen Rafalson, president of the Chicago Journalists Association, in his inspirational remarks, was very telling.
Esperat, a hard-hitting provincial broadcast and print journalist in Tacurong City in Sultan Kudarat, was killed right in her home, in front of her horrified children at the dinner table last March this year. She was felled by a bullet that entered near her eyebrow.
Prosecutor Had an Ax to Grind
The killers of Esperat already confessed to the crime although they have professed innocence that their victim was a member of the media. And yet a prosecutor tried to allow the accused to secure bail for their release.
What made it worse was that the prosecutor even tried to clear the suspected masterminds of any links to the murder. It looked like the prosecutor had earlier crossed path with Esperat.
Another celebrated case was that of Jun Porras Pala, a well-known broadcast journalist of DXGO, Aksyon Radyo, in Davao City, who was killed on Sept. 6, 2003.
Because Pala’s relatives and friends would not pursue the case, the suspects in the killing are roaming free. Among the suspects are the top officials of Davao City, who appear to sanction extra-judicial execution called “salvage” operation.
Third Time Not a Charm
Pala had survived two previous ambushes. But the third time did not prove to be a charm for him. Although, Pala was carrying a machine pistol at the time that he was killed, his ambushers surprised him under cover of darkness.
“Pala was at the wrong place at the wrong time. Not one of the hundreds of summary executions in Davao City has been solved, and the motorcycle-riding murderers continue to act with impunity in murdering women and men suspected to be drug addicts, robbers or plain enemies of the powers-that-be. The Davao City of Mayor Rodrigo Duterte has become a peaceful place, but its silence mimics that of a cemetery.” Antonio observed.
Journalism In Peril
“Journalism’ is in peril in the Philippines,” Antonio added, “not because newsmen have become an abusive lot or that they have not understood the law on libel, slander and oral defamation.
“It is in peril because the so-called democratic restoration has not restored professionalism and efficiency of the law enforcers who continue to work in a turtle pace, on the killings of journalists.”
Tony is asking the help of his colleagues in Chicago and the mainstream American media to level the playing field. He is asking help to fund a universal insurance to cover journalists working in danger zones. So in case, something happens to these journalists, their relatives will not be begging for alms to bury them.
Tony is also asking to help finance the scholarship of the orphans of the slain journalists.
Mr. Rafalson had pledge to endorse to the CJA board a proposal to sponsor scholarship for an orphan of these journalists. While Dr. Linda G. Barranda, a photo-journalist from Ohio, also stepped forward to extend help. Let’s hear from the rest.
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What happens to my H-1B visa?
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DEAR Atty. Gurfinkel:
I have an H-1B visa through my company, which is valid until May, 2007. Unfortunately, because of downsizing and reorganization, my company has advised me that they will be terminating my employment in three months. Because my visa is valid until May 2007, would I continue to be “in status” up until 2007, even if my company goes out of business or terminates my employment?
Sincerely,
M.C.
Dear M.C.:
An H-1B visa is a non-immigrant working visa, available to college graduates who are petitioned by U.S. employers who have job openings related to the person’s college degree (i.e. a person with a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting could be petitioned as an Accountant by a U.S. employer).
An H-1B visa is typically valid for an initial period of three years, and may be extended up to a total of six years. Not only is the alien worker entitled to an H-1B visa, but the alien’s spouse and children under 21 years old would also be entitled to H-4 visas, allowing the spouse and children to accompany the worker to the U.S. during the period of employment.
In your situation, according to USCIS, once an H-1B non-immigrant alien’s services for the petitioning U.S. employer are terminated, the alien is no longer in a valid non-immigrant status, even if the alien’s H-1B visa is valid for a period beyond the termination date. Therefore, once your employer terminates your services, you would no longer be in valid, non-immigrant H-1B status, regardless that the visa itself may be valid beyond the termination date.
Per USCIS regulations, in such a situation, the H-1B visa holder would be faced with several different options: departing the U.S.; having a new employer petition them for an H-1B visa; or seeking a change of immigration status for which they may be eligible (i.e. possibly visitor or student, if they later intend to go back to the Philippines, etc.).
However, the H-1B visa is not “transferable” (i.e. you cannot use the H-1B visa with your present employer to work for a different employer. The second employer must petition you for a new H-1B visa).
However, you would need to act fast, to make sure you do not go “out of status” and become “TNT”, and, therefore, subject to deportation/removal, and/or losing the potential ability to later adjust status in the U.S. (be interviewed for green card in the U.S.
H-1B visa holders can aim for a more “permanent” solution, and avoid the above situation by applying for a green card through Labor Certification (or PERM). Labor Certification is the process by which an alien can obtain a green card through an employer’s petition. Not only would the alien get a green card, but also the alien’s spouse and minor children.
Unlike an H-1B visa (which is temporary and valid only for up to six years, or until such time that your employment is terminated), Labor Certification results in a green card. With a green card, you won’t have to worry about your employer eventually going out of business, selling his business, or cutbacks or layoffs, or your H-1B visa expiring!
The basic requirements for Labor Certification are similar to those for H-1B:- The alien will work in a job related to their education or experience. Labor Certification is available not only to college graduates, but also to “skilled workers”, meaning they work at a type of job that requires at least two years of training or experience to perform, or unskilled workers like caregivers.
- There is an employer in the U.S. who has a future job position, related to the alien’s education or experience, and is willing to pay the “prevailing wage”.
There are several additional requirements, steps, and procedures in connection with the above items. That is why it is important that if you have any questions, or want to take action on your immigration situation, to achieve a “permanent” solution, you should seek the advice, guidance, and assistance of a reputable attorney so that you can, hopefully, achieve your “American Dream”.
Michael J. Gurfinkel has been an attorney for over 24 years, and is an active member of the State Bar of California and New York, as well as the American Immigration Lawyers Association and the Immigration Section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association. He has always excelled in school: Valedictorian in High School; Cum Laude at UCLA; and Law Degree Honors and academic scholar at Loyola Law School, which is one of the top law schools in California.
WEBSITE: www.gurfinkel.com
Four offices to serve you:
LOS ANGELES:
219 North Brand Boulevard, Glendale, California, 91203
Telephone: (818) 543-5800
SAN FRANCISCO:
601 Gateway Boulevard, Suite 460, South San Francisco, CA 94080
Telephone: (650) 827-7888
NEW YORK:
60 East 42nd Street, Suite 2101, New York, NY 10165
Telephone: (212) 808-0300
PHILIPPINES:
Heart Tower, Unit 701, 108 Valero Street, Salcedo Village, Makati, Philippines 1227
Telephone: 894-0258 or 894-0239
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