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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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PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo justified her declaration of state of emergency on February 24 by saying that military adventurists have entered into a tactical alliance with the political opposition and the Left to bring down her government.
But subsequent punitive actions by the Arroyo government appeared to be trained only against the political opposition, those perceived to have Leftist ties and the media. Mrs. Arroyo appeared to be sparing those from the military, whose failed coup attempt was what triggered the state of emergency, from any harsh consequence of their adventurism.
What has been done to the military officers said to have been involved in the plot? Where are the two alleged coup plotters — Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim, commander of the First Scout Ranger Regiment, and Col. Ariel Querubin, commander of the First Marine Battalion — now?
What is obvious is that the two got off lightly with a mere slap in the wrist. They were relieved of their commands, sure, and confined to quarters. But we haven’t heard from any government functionary whether there is a plan to court-martial and send Lim and Querubin to a military prison.
In the first place, why were the two not arrested right there when they informed their military superiors about their plans to withdraw their support from the commander in chief?
And what about the 25 military officers and men who were accused of involvement in the crushed coup? Shouldn’t they be charged with violations of the Articles of War?
Meanwhile, five congressmen belonging to party-list groups were either arrested or were forced to seek protective custody from the House of Representatives to avoid being arrested. More than 40 others were included in the government’s wanted list.
Meanwhile, the office of a newspaper was raided, TV and radio networks were told not to air “seditious materials”, one media group was threatened with a court suit for sedition and the police said it will issue guidelines as to what the press can report.
The President and his men appeared to be practicing selective justice here. These developments only give credence to the observation that the failed coup was just an excuse by Arroyo to crack down on her critics and muzzle legitimate dissent.
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“Beware the Ides of March”
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NEW YORK --- The other night, as I was driving home, up in the dark sky was the view of a full moon, radiantly beaming its ray of light on earth.
It was quite a thing of beauty to see the moon in its roundness at a time when spring isn’t about to arrive yet.
It was cold, no doubt, and the wind was gusting that it made the night feel like it was in its mid-20s. I remembered that ominous warning, “Beware the Ides of March,” which originated with Julius Caesar, the Roman ruler.
For ancient Romans living before Caesar’death, ides was merely one of several common calendar terms used to mark monthly lunar events. The ides marked the appearance of the full moon.
According to ancient Roman calendar, each of the 12 months of the year had an ides. In March, May, July and October, the ides fell on the 15th day. In every other month, the ides fell on the 13th. The word ides was derived from the Latin phrase meaning “to divide.”
Caesar was assassinated on the Ides of March -- March 15, 44 B.C. at the foot of a statue of Pompey where the Roman Senate was meeting in the temple of Venus.
It was believed that when Caesar met his death, he probably got the dates of the warning mixed up. He may have thought that the Ides of March fell on the 13th, when he probably decided to stay home.
However, on the 15th of March, he let his guard down and met his death, a day Romans refer to as a day of infamy -- a fateful day of abrupt change that set off a ripple of repercussions throughout Roman society and beyond.
The warning itself was made famous in Shakespeare’s play on Julius Caesar, when an unidentified soothsayer tells Caesar, who is on his way to the senate (and his death), “Beware the Ides of March.”
Caesar replied, “He is a dreamer -- let us leave him. Pass.”
Similarly, this early, we need to be warned of the implications of HR 4437, a bill that was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in December 2005 and is poised to move quickly through the Senate. The bill proposes to criminalize undocumented immigrants as well as anyone who assists them.
If passed into law, even citizens who are relatives, friends, co-employees, counselors or social workers who assist undocumented immigrants will be considered felons and punished accordingly. In simple terms, they would be guilty of “alien smuggling” and could face federal prison time.
Under current law, being an undocumented worker is a civil crime. HR 4437 would bar all undocumented persons -- “including about 1.6 million children “ -- from the United States. It would lead to separation of families.
Of all the advocacy groups that abound in our area, it was only the Philippine Forum that took this proposal to task and held a community town hall meeting to explain its ramifications.
I was wondering what umbrella groups such as the National Federation of Filipino American Associations, Inc. (NaFFAA), the Federation of Filipino American Chamber of Commerce and other so-called national organizations have in mind about the proposal.
Have these national organizations issued their positions on this particular issue? Would silence mean as no stand? Would their silence mean that they do not support the cause of the undocumented immigrants?
This is a time when we need to act as a community and join the Mexicans, Chinese, Koreans, Irish, Polish and other immigrant communities to voice our concerns. Although we don’t know when the bill becomes a law, the Ides of March is a clear warning on what awaits our community if that happens.
At the moment, an “Open Letter to President George W. Bush” is in circulation, which is intended to be signed by leaders of Filipino American organizations. It is an urgent appeal for the president’s leadership in “rebuilding an immigration system that is faithful to American values and consistent with our nation’s [U.S.] objectives.”
The letter mentions that our community is celebrating the centennial of Filipino American immigration and that “we have embraced the American way of life and made America’s aspirations our own.”
The letter emphasizes our belief to keep America “as strong and as vibrant as it has ever been” and therefore, a comprehensive immigration reform is needed.
A comprehensive immigration reform, the letter states, should have: “provisions for earned adjustment of status for undocumented immigrants. It must allow essential foreign workers to take jobs American workers won’t. It must ease processing backlogs to make legal immigration orderly and efficient. It must have a rational border security program that does not rely totally on brute force.”
While the letter recognizes the difficulty of “rebuilding our immigration system to make it efficient, orderly and responsive to our nation’s needs,” it states that it can be done with changes that are long overdue.
Undocumented workers, students and refugees must be protected and allowed to continue to contribute to our society and given the opportunity to fully participate in the social and economic fabric of our communities.
It is up to leaders of our community and we, the people, they serve, to act against HR 4437. We should treat this proposed legislation like what that soothsayer had warned Caesar about the Ides of March. For HR 4437 can be a turning point, just like what the Ides of March did for the Romans, which changed everything.
Beware the Ides of March or more appropriately, HR 4437!
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Go, Filipino Dodgers Baseball Night, Go!
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Chicago, ILLINOIS --- It is no brainer to figure out why basketball is more popular in the Philippines than baseball.
If there are two boys in a family, they can hang a basket in their front or back lawn, bore a hole thru the basket and presto, they can play a one-on-one basketball.
But for the same two boys, they can only play catch, not baseball, which is played between two teams of nine players each on a baseball field.
Both games – basketball and baseball – were introduced in the Philippines, Japan and South Korea by the Americans. But many are wondering why both ballgames are flourishing in Japan and South Korea while in the Philippines basketball seems to be the only game in town.
Like Japanese and South Koreans, Filipinos are vertically challenged, but why is it that the Philippines seems to appreciate only basketball? This is 64-million dollar question that bothers me especially at this time that at the inaugural World Baseball Classic, playing this week in Anaheim, California, only Japan and South Korea are representing Asia.
Scouting native players?
I like to look forward to the day when Filipino natives are being scouted in the Philippines by Major League Baseball to play professional baseball, like Japanese, South Korean and Taiwan natives do. For once though, there has been a Filipino American baseball player in the MLB -- Benny Agbayani.
Another obvious advantage of the popularity of basketball over baseball is that it is more economical to construct two basketball goals and the space it takes to build a basketball gym.
In baseball, players need a much bigger piece of real estate and bigger baseball stadiums. As far as I can remember, only the Rizal Coliseum complex in Manila has the facility to provide a baseball diamond and spectator’s stands.
Aside from the stadiums built during provincial, national or regional athletic meets, there are not much baseball stadiums to speak of on a permanent basis in the Philippines.
Little League World Series debacle
In 1992, the Philippines was about to get noticed by the baseball world when its Zamboanga Little League team won the World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. But this honor was junked when it was discovered that players were not playing by the rules – some players were overaged while others lacked residency since they did not really come from the district they were supposed to represent.
Unless, the Philippine Little League plays by the rules, there is no way baseball can displace or be at par in popularity with basketball in the Philippines.
And this reminds me of an effort by Los Angeles, California community leader Bobby M. Reyes to get the Filipino Americans get interested in baseball.
Reyes, this year’s Los Angeles Philippine Kalayaan chairman, proposed to the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team’s Trey Magnuson, Dodgers’ Representative for Group Sales, to host a “Filipino American Dodgers Night” ( Filipino-Multi-ethnic Family Day) at the Dodgers stadium for tentative dates on May 22 in the Dodgers’ game against Colorado Rockies or July 24th Dodgers’ game vs. San Diego Padres.
Reyes told the Dodgers management that he will ask his group to sell tickets during the Dodgers game as a fund-raiser for some of the Filipino American projects.
Filipino American Dodgers Night
“Perhaps, this will re-ignite the interest of Filipinos in the game of baseball,” Reyes explained. He said at the “Filipino American Dodgers Night,” baseball fans will be treated to Filipino cultural shows before the game starts, like the playing of Filipino Rondalla to serenade the fans; displaying of photos and promotional banners and/or historical posters of relevant aspects of the more than 100 years of Filipino American relations on corridors or lobbies of Dodgers stadium; or raffle of 10 to 20 round trip tickets from the Philippine Airlines.
Dodgers will donate 50 percent of the admission ticket prices that will be sold by the Filipino American group. Money raised could be used to support worthwhile charitable causes and concerns in the Philippines and in the US.
The event could revive baseball in the Philippines and its players can eventually become part of the Dodgers’ and of the MLB’s farm systems.
And playing baseball in the Philippines is a better alternative to carrying Armalites or AK47s in the mountains or protest placards on the streets.
I contacted the director of publications of Dodgers, Mr. Jorge Martin, about Reyes’s overtures. And true enough, Martin emailed back, confirming the Filipino American Night Event.
Viva LOs Dodgers
Martin said the Dodgers has been hosting “Viva Los Dodgers” event for Hispanic audience. And the “Filipino American Night” can get Filipino Americans interested to watching baseball games and hopefully, it will cultivate baseball fans in the Philippines.
Martin said at the moment, three Asian players are on the 40-man roster of the Dodgers team. This means that they will either be on the active roster of the Major League or the minor league. These players are Hong Chih-Kuo (Pitcher-Taiwan), Jae Weong Seo (Pitcher-South Korea) and Hee-Seop Choi (lst base, South Korea). The fourth invitee to spring training without being on the roster is Takashi Saito (Pitcher-Japan).
This year, the Dodgers. Next year, the White Sox, the Cubs, Yankees, Mets, etc?
Let’s drink to this Filipino American Dodgers Night project.
lariosa_jos@sbcglobal
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FILIPINOS joke about everything, even our flaws, like short attention spans and truncated memories.
“Political jokes are a way of coping ... and reflect a certain level of collective anxiety about public affairs,” Steven Lukes of Balliol College, Oxford and Itzhak Galnoor of Hebrew University assert in their book: “No Laughing Matter.”
“In a society where the level of political joking is usually high, it may be time to worry when the joking stops,” they say.
But wisecracks in an open society and in a dictatorship differ. Anyone can text a joke about Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and others. But few remember that a wisecrack against Ferdinand Marcos and his “Rolex 12” military officers courted a beating, a detention -- or both.
We hurt so much, and then we laughed. Could coup-titillated generals learn something from the jokes whispered then?
Under Proclamation 1081, journalists like Chino Roces, Amando Doronila and Napoleon Rama were arrested at dawn. This led to the “Happiness Is” joke: Happiness is when soldiers bang your doors at two a.m., you open, and tell them: “Wrong address. The person you’re looking for lives next door.”
The late Gen. Fabian Ver arrested a man for anti-Marcos jokes. The detainee gazed at Marcos’ plush room with admiration. “Mmmmm,” he said. “You don’t live too badly.”
“Well, what of it?” Marcos snapped. “After 25 years of the ‘New Society,’ everybody will live like this.”
“Aha!” the prisoner said. “A new joke.”
Recall the question that Ver asked 57 colonels angling for a general’s star: “Colonel, how much is two plus two?” All 57 answered: “four.” All were told: “Wrong.” Finally, the 58th interviewee -- a major -- enters. “Major, how much is two plus two?” asked Ver. “Two for you, sir and two for me,” he replied. “Correct, colonel. Now, the President will see you.”
Marcos asked the same question: “How much is two plus two?”
The brand new colonel replied: “Simple, Mr. President. Two plus two equals four -- and all for you, sir.”
“Raise your right hand, general,” Marcos ordered.
We were attending a Tagaytay City seminar on economic indicators, shortly after our detention in the Camp Crame national police headquarters. The amiable Gen. J. Campos presided. Martial law was new and people were cautious. Still, I couldn’t resist cracking this joke:
A crowded bus bound for Baguio City enters the North Expressway from Quezon City. A passenger taps another and politely asks: “Are you in the Army?” The man says no.
In Hagonoy, Bulacan, the former asks another question: “You’re in the Navy then?” Same answer, no. In Angeles, Pampanga, another question: “Then you’re with the Marines?” No, the second man replies. Nearing Tarlac, the first man asks: “You’re with the Air Force?” “No,” was once more the emphatic reply. “In that case, get off my bloody foot,” he explodes.
As the academics broke out in uncertain laughter, I added: “Be careful, my wife cautioned when I drove over. So, general, sir, I was just kidding.”
Today’s reports say the plotters claim they’d “rescue the people.” Two mothers were chatting.
First mother: “We are lucky.”
Second mother: “Are you crazy?”
First mother: “They are coming as our rescuers. Think what they’d have done if they came as enemies.”
Depending on who told it, it was either Imelda Marcos or a Filipino general in the joke on visiting a corrupt Asian general’s penthouse.
“Let’s be frank,” he whispers into the ear of his host.” “I know your Army salary. So, how can you afford all this?” he asks, pointing to the luxurious appointments.
The host leads the general to the terrace and, pointing to the horizon, asks: “Do you see those two mountains?” He nods. “Do you see that bridge between them?” He nods again. “Twenty percent,” is the reply.
In a courtesy return visit, the Filipino is host at his residence. “Let’s be frank,” the visitor whispers into the ear of his host. “Given your salary, how can you afford all this?” At the terrace, the general points to the horizon and asks: “See those two mountains?” The man nods. “Do you see that bridge between them?”
The puzzled man protests: “But there’s no bridge!”
And the reply is: “One hundred percent.”
E-mail: juan_mercado@paci-fic.net.ph
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Admitting drug use could result in lifetime ban
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MANY Filipinos consulted with me regarding the same problem: their visa was denied by the U.S. Embassy because they admitted to the doctors at St. Luke’s that they had, years ago, smoked marijuana or used some other drug.
At their visa interview, they are shocked to find that their visa is being refused, with the annotation “you have admitted to committing acts which constitute a controlled substance violation - no waiver.”
In one case, a 29-year-old nurse had been recruited for a job in a U.S. hospital. During visa processing, she was asked a very routine question: “Have you smoked marijuana or taken any controlled substance?”
The nurse said that she had “tasted” marijuana once during a party when she was 18 years old. It was just a harmless “try”, done out of curiosity. Her visa was denied, and she was banned for life.
Another person was a middle-aged man, said he tried marijuana two or three times when he was a teenager. His visa application was likewise denied. This man, who was petitioned by his U.S. citizen parents, had waited for more than 10 years for his priority date to be current. But now he was being told he would never go to the U.S.
None of these people had ever been charged with, or convicted of, any drug-related crime. They merely admitted that they tried or tasted marijuana or other drug during their younger days.
Under U.S. immigration laws, a person is inadmissible (not eligible for a visa) if they have ever been convicted of, or admitted having violated any law of any country relating to a controlled substance.
As the law states, “[A]ny alien convicted of, or who admits having committed, or who admits committing acts which constitute the essential elements of . . . a violation of . . . any law or regulation of a State, the United States, or a foreign country relating to a controlled substance . . . is inadmissible.”
Marijuana is considered a “controlled substance.” Therefore, if you smoked (or “used”) Marijuana, you may have violated a law relating to a controlled substance.
It may seem that U.S. immigration laws were harsh in the case of the nurse and middle-aged man, who had merely tried marijuana out of curiosity many years ago. But, the use of Marijuana in the Philippines is against the law, and admitting marijuana use was enough for the Embassy to refuse the visas under Section 212(a)(2)(A)(i)(II).
This was the case even though they never used marijuana again, and blood tests would never reveal the use of drugs or Marijuana. But they admitted to having smoked Marijuana, which could be a violation of a law relating to a controlled substance. And now they had to suffer the consequences.
(The Embassy was only following and enforcing the law, in refusing the visas.)
Therefore, it is my strong advice to anyone who is under petition that you do not take any drugs, or you could jeopardize your coming to America. The U.S. Government is taking a very tough stance against people who use drugs or violate drug laws.
Michael J. Gurfinkel has been an attorney for over 25 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:
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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