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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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“Unhappy the land that has no heroes . . . No, unhappy the land that needs heroes.”
-- Bertolt Brecht
German poet and playwright
WE DO not want to take anything from Filipino prize fighter Manny Pacquiao’s scintillating boxing victory last week. Indeed, we joined and continue to be one with the whole Filipino nation in rejoicing his masterful demolition of Mexican ring legend Erik ‘El Terible’ Morales.
But when Filipino television networks venerate the man they call PacMan to the point of almost deifying him, that’s when we get off the bandwagon and raise the alarm.
Pacquiao is the latest ‘hero’ foisted by the Philippine media on the public. Indeed, the Philippine press is a veritable hero mill, churning out ‘people’s champions’ by the sackful every so often.
This explains why in the Philippines, we elect to the Senate, the House of Representatives, the provincial and local governments a comedian who specializes in toilet humor, an actor who portrays gangsters with “anting-antings”, a basketball player known for physical plays, and a slew of movie, TV and basketball personalities.
The problem with this is that not only does the media distort the meaning of what real heroes are, but worse, it perpetuates the notion that we need a hero, or heroes, to lead us to the promised land.
This also explains why Philippine politics is personality-oriented and leader-centric. We are always waiting for an Erap, an FPJ, or even a GMA to save us.
But rather than hitch our hope for a better life to a champion, why not build our dreams around a vision for a better society?
We do not need heroes. What we need are ideas. Rather than popular characters, what we need is a clear program of action that will help us realize our aspiration for a just, humane and prosperous society.
Rather than follow leaders, we should follow our dreams, we should pursue our ideas of a kinder world.
There can never be genuine change without ideas, there can never be progress without dreams of a better future.
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A new direction: the proposed PIDCI by-laws
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(Conclusion)
NEW YORK --- Reacting to last week’s first installment of this column regarding proposed amendments to the by-laws of the Philippine Independence Day Council, Inc. (PIDCI), Edy Garcia wrote to express her thoughts about the importance of amending the by-laws.
She says: “What good is it if nobody abides by its provisions, anyway?”
Perhaps upset with what has been going on, she adds that “laws are better left unwritten and leave it to the personal conviction and integrity of its leaders.”
This way, she said, if their conscious act of violating or ignoring the organization’s laws does not bother them, there’s nothing we could do about that since “it has gotten into their skin.”
And as a parting shot to PIDCI, she proposes that it be abolished.
I respect her opinion; I will not say whether she is right or wrong. And if she has been following how PIDCI operated in the past until now, I can understand her sentiments.
I must say, however, that the institution has gone through a lot of changes and growing pains. While it may not always work, a re-engineering process can help weed out its organizational weaknesses.
What is important is for its leaders to reacquaint themselves with PIDCI’s mission. If they do not share the same vision of what PIDCI ought to be and do not have the commitment to create a positive change in themselves and in the community they serve, you and I know can conclude what their motivation could be. Laws that prescribe the way a group of people should do its business are not only important; they also have to be written, observed and enforced. Even Moses had to have the Ten Commandments written in stone and made known to the Israelites.
Perhaps it may help to remind Ms. Garcia that governments should be of laws rather than of men. Speaking of which, let me go back to the proposed amendments.
According to a PIDCI insider, the By-Laws Committee has had five meetings since the first draft was issued. On February 1, the committee was supposed to meet again but was cancelled due to a scheduling conflict of some members. Once the committee has fully deliberated on the proposals, these will be presented to board members for approval; finally, to the general membership for ratification.
However, it’s still up in the air when the approval and ratification will happen. It depends when the general membership meeting would be and I doubt if the ratification would be included in the agenda when it meets.
Perhaps the board may want to call for a special membership meeting for this purpose.
An old section in the by-laws, which is being retained in the proposal, stipulates that “business organizations shall not be eligible for membership but shall be encouraged to and become benefactors or sponsors of PIDCI.”
This is unnecessary and should be deleted. Keep it simple. If businesses are not eligible, why even put the provision in the by-laws?
Instead, include that in a policy manual.
According to a proposal, membership in PIDCI shall be deemed terminated “upon its/his/her expulsion by the Board, by three-fourth (3/4) votes of all its members, for any other reason(s).”
Not only is the language vague; it is also arbitrary and its use could be abused by board members. The grounds for expulsion including its appeals process should be clearly stipulated.
I don’t understand why proxy votes should be allowed; its use should be discontinued. As a member, it is my organization’s sole right and privilege to vote at all meetings of PIDCI. Why should I allow a representative of another organization to vote for me? Proxy vote is tantamount to vote-buying.
Watch out for those who favor its use; they are savvy in devising schemes for their purpose.
Another proposal I was hoping to see was about resolving instances when candidates receive the same number of votes as others. For instance, if there were six open seats for election and on the sixth spot, the votes of two or three candidates were tied, who would assume office? Will there be a run-off?
The creation of another layer of office such as the President-elect is unnecessary; it has no purpose but to replace the president when he is unable to perform his duties and responsibilities.
Why not the vice president?
Although it is not mentioned in the proposals, I favor the selection of a grand marshal by the president subject to approval of the board. The president has to have that executive power to choose who he could tap to make his year successful. So why not give him that privilege? Previously, on two occasions, we’ve seen how a chairman and a grand marshal that do not like each other can create some problems.
These are the salient points that the committee may want to look at and consider in their deliberations.
Hopefully, this new direction of PIDCI may provide the stability that it needs in the years to come.
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RP TV TKOs Filipino viewers
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Chicago, ILLINOIS --- After watching last week’s rematch of Filipino Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao against Mexican Erik “El Terible” Morales over pay-per-view HBO in their quest to be the number one challenger to reigning WBC and IBF champion Marco Antonio Barrera of Mexico in the super featherweight division, I realized that majority of Filipinos who watched the boxing bout on Philippine television had been had by the TV station.
Thanks to the invitation of my friend, Joe Balmadrid, I had that rare opportunity to watch the abbreviated Pacquiao-Morales rematch at PPV HBO last Jan. 21 when Pacman avenged his unanimous decision loss to El Terible last March.
Pacquiao knocked down Morales twice before referee Kenny Bayless stopped the fight at two minutes and 33 second of the 10th round. It took Pacquiao a mere one hour to finish the scheduled 12-rounder.
Saw bouts in Manila and in Chicago
It thus gave me that rare opportunity to watch the two boxing matches on television between Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao and Erik “El Terrible” Morales in a span of 10 months from both sides of the Pacific. I mean I was in the Philippines last March when “El Terrible” beat the bloodied Pacman to a unanimous decision. I started watching it on Philippine television at about 10 a.m. Manila time (which was 8 p.m. Chicago, Illinois time). I thought the starting time was just right. But I never realized that it was only 6 p.m. in Las Vegas, Nevada, the venue of the fight.
At first, I did not mind the commercials that rolled for two hours because my focus was on the main event. I could not even remember if the broadcast was featuring an undercard of that night’s main event or the reruns of previous Pacquiao bouts. But what I can remember is the round-by-round bout between “Pacman” and “El Terible.”
It was about past noon in Manila (which was about 8 p.m. Las Vegas time) when Pacquiao and Morales touched gloves for the opening bell of the first round of the main event. After the first round, which was supposed to last for only three minutes, it was followed by about dozen commercials that lasted for more than five minutes.
Dozens of Commercials
Then, the second round had come and gone and it was again followed by more than five minutes of commercials.
It was about the eighth round when my niece, Jell, got a call from her cell phone that Pacquiao already lost. At first, I dismissed the information as a crank call. But I only learned that the caller of my niece was telling the truth when Pacquiao lost in the 12th and final round. And it was already 4 p.m. Manila time. I was glued on TV for almost six hours!
It just occurred to me that when I watched the Jan. 21 rematch, the fight was over in one hour, with only one minute intermission separating each three-minute round. If you add up the real time for the 12 rounds, the fight should only last for 48 minutes (4 minutes x 12 rounds) since the HBO does not show any commercial in between rounds.
I just realized that the television station in the Philippines was not very forthcoming with its viewers. It should have provided audio announcements or crawlers, saying that the telecast is being delayed by at least four hours!
I can just imagine if people were betting while watching television and some of those bettors have access to the Internet, I’m sure the Internet-savvy bettors would have known the result long before the boxing bout on television was over.
I believe it behooves on the Philippine government agency regulating television industry to tell TV stations to inform viewers that what they are watching is delayed by four hours as the case maybe!
Match to Match
If the TV station showing the bout last March were a movie house, I’m sure someone in the audience would be screaming “posporo” (match), suggesting the movie house should be torched! And if this Philippine television station would keep on fooling the Filipino viewers, I am not going to be surprised if these fed up Filipino viewers would actually resort to using the posporo against this television station that is making a fool of its viewers.
Send comments to lariosa_jos@sbcglobal.net
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WHEN the opposition parades the old tired faces as it’s leaders, columnist Armando Doronila says it reminds one of reshuffling a used deck of cards.
But did you know that each king, in a deck of playing cards, represents a great monarch from history? Spades - King David; Hearts – Charlemagne; Clubs - Alexander, the Great; and Diamonds - Julius Caesar. Many years ago in Scotland, a new game was invented. The rule was: ”Gentlemen Only ... Ladies Forbidden” And thus the word “golf” entered into the English language.
The game, of course, spawned more jokes than lost balls. After playing golf with President Eisenhower, Bob Hope cracked : “It’s hard to play with a guy who rattles his medals when you tee off.” And “you never had to ask President Ford what his score was,” Hope recalled. “You just counted the victims.” Did your math teacher ever tell you that 111,111,111 times 111,111,111 equals 12,345,678,987,654,321? Put away your calculator. Do those sums manually.
My grandchildren stare blankly when I tell them of a machine called the typewriter. As cub reporters, we banged away on those machines. But our grandkids are growing up in the age of the laptop. To see a typewriter today, you need to drop by at police stations in fifth class towns.
But do you know what the first novel ever written on a typewriter was? “Tom Sawyer”, painstakingly punched out by Mark Twain ( a.k.a Samuel Clemens).
Did anyone tell you that in Shakespeare’s time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes?. When you pulled on the ropes, the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. Hence the phrase : “Good night, sleep tight.”
Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked in the rim, or handle, of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they whistled to hustle some service. From this practice came the phrase : “Wet your whistle”.
What is the only food that doesn’t spoil? Honey. And it was the practice in, Babylon 4,000 years ago, that for a month after the wedding, the bride’s father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead -- honey beer -- he could drink. Their calendar was lunar-based, like the Chinese. This period was called the honey month. Today, our phrase is : ”honeymoon”.
Did any lawyer tell you that, in the 1400s, a law set forth that a man was not allowed to beat his wife with a stick no thicker than his thumb. Hence we have “the rule of thumb”.
What do bulletproof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers, and laser printers all have in common? All were invented by women. And did you know that men can read smaller print than women can; women can hear better?
These led a doctor in Boracay to email this item on an international conference on women’s liberation – and the speaker from the Philippines. She spoke on “being more assertive with our husbands” after the ladies from England and Russia.
The British lady stood up and said: “Cook for yourself, I told my husband.” After seeing nothing for two days, the husband “cooked and served a wonderful roast lamb” on the third day. The crowd cheered. “Ivan, do your own laundry, ” the Russian lady said she told her husband. After seeing nothing for two days, Ivan did his own washing – and mine as well” on the third day. Again, the crowd cheered. .
The third speaker came from the Visayas: “Aftir lass year’s comprince, I wint hum and told dat lazy husband op mines, Pidro, dat I was tru getting his slippers, kuking his meals, washing his underwir and dat he was guing to hab to do dem himsilf. “ The crowd gave her a five minute standing ovation. “Aftir da first day, I see nating,” she continued. “Aftir da secun day, agin I see nating. But aftir da tird day, I could see a little bit out of my leff eye.”
But back to items of “underwhelming irrelevance : Do you know on which day are there more collect calls than any other day of the year? Father’s Day. ( As the father tells the mother, reading aloud a letter from their son in college: “Never mind. Just get to the part that says: By the way Dad....”) Kung hei fat choi!
(E-mail:juan_mercado@paci-fic.net.ph )
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The February priority dates
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The priority dates for petitions by US citizens did not move, but those filed by immigrant parents moved forward by at least nine days, as shown in the February 2006 monthly Visa Bulletin.
The priority dates for employment-based petitions for unskilled workers moved forward by another six months.
Petitions by Citizens:
The priority date for the First Preference Category, F-1 (unmarried sons and daughters of U.S. citizens, over 21 years of age) did not move at all, and remained at
August 22, 1991.
The Third Preference Category F-3 (married sons and daughters of United States citizens ) also did not move, and remained at February 8, 1991 (Note: There is now a difference of 6-1/2 months in priority dates between unmarried and married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens.).
The Fourth Preference, F-4 (brothers and sisters of United States citizens) also did not move, and remained at
October 1, 1983.
Petitions by Green Card Holders:
The Second Preference, F-2A (spouse and minor children below 21 years of age, of green card holders ) of Family-Based Petitions moved forward by 24 days, from January 15, 2002, to February 8, 2002 .
The Second Preference, F-2B (unmarried sons and daughters, over 21 years of age, of green card holders), moved forward by nine days, from June 22, 1996 to July 1, 1996.
Petitions by Employers:
The Third Preference (professionals and skilled workers) of Employment-Based Petitions (Labor Certification), moved forward by three weeks, from April 1, 2001 to April 22, 2001. The Third Preference (non-skilled workers) , moved forward by another six months, from April 1, 2001 to October 1, 2001.
Each month, the Visa Office of the State Department publishes the priority dates for that particular month. This means that visas would now be available for persons whose priority date is earlier than the cut-off date listed below .
The February 2006 priority dates for the Philippines are as follows:
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FAMILY CATEGORY: |
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Priority Date: |
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First Preference |
Unmarried sons and daughters of U.S. citizens
(over 21 years of age)
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August 22, 1991
(In
January 2006, the priority date was the same.)
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Second Preference |
2A. Spouse and minor children
(below 21 years old) of green card holder
2B. Unmarried sons and daughters (over 21
years old) of green card holder
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February 8, 2002
(In January 2006, the priority date was January 15, 2002.)
July 1, 1996
(In January 2006, the priority date was June 22, 1996)
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Third Preference |
Married sons and daughters of
U.S. Citizens |
February 8, 1991
(In January 2006, the priority date was the same.)
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Fourth Preference
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Brothers and sisters of U.S. Citizens
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October 1, 1983
(In January 2006, the priority date was the same.)
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LABOR CERTIFICATION: |
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Third Preference |
Professional/Skilled Workers |
April 22, 2001
(In January 2006, the priority date was April 1, 2001.) |
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Other Workers |
Non-Skilled workers |
October 1, 2001
(In
January 2006, the priority was April 1, 2001.) |
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WEBSITE: www.gurfinkel.com
LOS ANGELES:
219 North Brand Boulevard
Glendale, California 91203
Telephone: (818) 543-5800
SAN FRANCISCO:
966 Mission Street
San Francisco, California 94103
Telephone: (415) 538-7800
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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