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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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New York City, NEW YORK --- Filipinos took an active role in immigrant rallies all over the United States, joining hundreds of thousands of people from other immigrant groups on Monday, April 10, to demand the scrapping of a bill that aims to prosecute undocumented aliens as criminals and to call for a bill that would provide them a path to legalization.
In New York, more than 100 Filipinos and immigrant allies joined an estimated 250,000 more who trooped to City Hall to express opposition to the HR 4437 which aims to criminalize illegal immigrants and to demand for a more comprehensive and humane immigration reform.
The Justice 4 Immigrants Filipino Coalition (J4I), a broad formation comprised of Filipino organizations and individuals from New York and New Jersey, led the Filipino contingent to the broad multinational demonstration in front of Manhattan’s City Hall.
The Justice 4 Immigrants Filipino Coalition was among the leading members of the steering committee of the April 10 Coalition.
Filipinos are the third largest immigrant group and second largest Asian population in the US. Over 60,000 Filipinos migrate to the US every year.
“We Filipinos must assert our basic human right to live in dignity and with the opportunity for economic prosperity. We will not tolerate an immigration system that treats immigrants as modern-day slaves,” said Berna Ellorin of the NY Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines, a member of the Justice 4 Immigrants Filipino Coalition.
Ellorin was the only Filipino who addressed the huge crowd of immigrants during the April 10 demonstration.
Among the speakers were New York Senators Hillary Clinton and Charles Schumer and Rev. Al Sharpton.
Similar rallies were held in 14 other cities.
In Washington, D.C, Filipinos and Filipino Americans from various labor unions and community organizations joined thousands of immigrants Monday as they marched past the White House towards the National Mall for a four-hour afternoon rally.
“Latinos are not the only ones affected by these immigration reform proposals,” said Filipina Kathleen Topacio Flores, 30, of College Park, Maryland. “Asians, especially Filipinos, have a stake in these bills as well,” added Flores, whose Filipina mother used to be undocumented.
“These undocumented immigrants work hard, they pay their taxes, they are law-abiding citizens and they help build and strengthen communities. Rather than penalize them, they should be rewarded by legalizing them so they can fully participate in U.S. society,” Flores said.
In Philadelphia, one of the prime movers of the immigrants’ campaign for reforms is a Filipino American.
“This is a very important day for all immigrants and all Americans,” said Brad Baldia, a Filipino American, before he read a proclamation at the Philadelphia rally.
In the New York rally, Filipinos under the J4I Filipino Coalition banner convened and marched from Wall Street in downtown Manhattan and eventually joined the broader Queens-based Immigrant Communities in Action contingent that marched to the main rally site in front of the NY City Hall.
A large Philippine flag marked the contingent alongside the flags of J4I member groups Philippine Forum, Anakbayan, Migrante International,and Bayan USA.
Several Filipinos passing by and working in the Wall Street area noticed the Philippine flag flying high within the massive crowd and joined the J4I contingent.
Filipinos who marched under the J4I Filipino Coalition banner came from member organizations like the Filipino American Human Services Inc (FAHSI), Sandiwa National Filipino-American Youth, Sumisibol, Anakbayan, Philippine Forum, NY Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines, Migrante International, Bayan USA, Movement for a Free Philippines, Kinding Sindaw, and the Critical Filipino/Filipina Studies Collective.
The J4I Filipino Coalition was formed in January 2006 to campaign against HR 4437 and to push for a more humane and practical immigration reform.
Among the coalition’s concrete demands are legalization for undocumented persons, swift family reunification, no to the criminalization of immigrants and their supporters, and full worker protection and rights for immigrants.
To further educate the Filipino comunity about these immigration proposals, NaFFAA is sponsoring a series of forums throughout the year. It will be held at the Philippine Embassy on April 13. Billed as “Pulong Bayan “ (Townhall Meeting), it will present a panel of immigration lawyers, legal experts, and civil rights advocates.
In Washington, D.C., NaFFAA Chairperson Loida Nicolas-Lewis urged Filipinos to continue to press for immigration reforms.
“We must ensure that a truly comprehensive immigration reform bill is passed, the one that recognizes our rich contributions in America,” Nicolas-Lewis said.
The J4I in New York will hold a Filipino community vigil for immigration reform on Sunday, April 23rd, 1:30-3:30pm in at the Philippine Forum Office at 54-05 Seabury Street in Elmhurst, Queens. (With reports from Merpu Roa and Rita Villadiego)
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Jona Riza |
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New York City, NEW YORK --- For Monina Rivera, a native of Pines, Oroquieta City in Mindanao, the past two years seemed like a Semana Santa (Holy Week). Her daughter, Jona Riza, now 13, was diagnosed to have a congenital heart defect.
For two years, Rivera has tried all means possible and has knocked on countless doors hoping to seek help in getting medical attention for her daughter.
She learned she can have Jona Riza admitted to the Philippine Heart Center or any reputable hospital in Manila, but that would mean coughing up at least P500,000.00 which her family doesn’t have.
The only way she can have Jona Riza admitted to a Manila hospital was to have her listed as indigent. But that, too, proved futile.
After a month of waiting, Rivera says she was told that Jona Riza was listed at the bottom in terms of priority.
Yet on April 5, mother and daughter found themselves feeling the cold spring morning of New York as they landed at the JFK airport.
Without money to cover the cost of surgery in Manila, the two ended up here instead, on an all-expense trip, to get medical procedure for Jona Riza in one of New York’s finest hospitals.
Rivera could not contain her emotions upon arrival at the airport. “This is like a resurrection of my hopes for Jona Riza,” she said.
Rivera learned of her daughter’s atrial septal defect way back when Jona Riza was still five years old. She made every effort to have her hospitalized, but the high cost of surgery made things very difficult.
Until she heard of Cecilia Sarigumba Carroll in nearby Tudela town in the same province of Misamis Occidental.
Working as a nurse since 1982 in New York, Carroll regularly comes home to do charity work, being an officer of the Northern Mindanao Association in America (NORMINDA). She is now president of the association.
Two years ago, Rivera finally met Carroll where the latter agreed to do what she can in having Jona Riza treated in the United States instead.
She enlisted Jona Riza in the “Gift of Life” program of the Rotary International in Long Island, New York.
Every year, the Rotary Club sponsors indigent children needing medical attention.
Carroll said she helped fill up and submit the the documents needed for Jona Riza’s application. And then the long wait.
Carroll said all the while, she kept in touch with the Rotary International. Jona Riza’s mother was also doing the same thing. She maintained communication with the sponsoring organization through text messages.
Their hard work and persistence paid off, Carroll said she received a call from the Rotary International informing her Jona Riza was chosen to be a recipient of their program.
Through diligence and persistence, Carroll was able to solicit a ticket to Los Angeles from the Philippine Air Lines Foundation. She was also able to get tickets for Rivera and Jona Riza for the Los Angeles to New York, courtesy of the American Air Lines.
What made it more a blessing is that Jona Riza will be admitted at the Stony Brook University Hospital, the same hospital where she works as a nurse. The two are also staying at Carroll’s house.
On Monday, Jona Riza underwent initial tests to decide whether a non-surgical procedure is enough to adress her health problem.
Otherwise the doctors have no choice but to perfrom a surgery.
“I really thank God for sending Mrs. Carroll to us,” a teary-eyed Rivera said, adding that she couldn’t imagine how everything turned out to be alright after such a long wait. That there was a rebirth, a new hope for her daughter, after those years of agony and uncertainty.
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New York City, NEW YORK --- The Philippine Consulate here in New York expressed support for the 27 Filipino nurses and one physical therapist who filed a class suit against their recruiter who did not allow them to work for the companies who petitioned them, and against their employers who refuse to pay them what’s due them.
“We have a situation here,” Consul General Cecile Rebong said after meeting with the complainants on Wednesday, April 12, at the Philippine Consulate office in Manhattan.
Rebong said she was surprised to learn about the Filipino nurses’ plight. “How could this happened?” she asked, saying that the general belief is that due to the acute shortage of nurses not only in New York, but in the U.S., nurses are generally well paid.
She asked the medical workers to return to the consular office on Monday, saying that she will arrange a meeting betwene the beleaguered nurses and officers and members of the Philippine Nurses Association in New York.
Last week, The Filipino Express wrote a story about the nurses’ decision to file a class suit.
The nurses said they were recruited to work as immigrant workers, while the physical therapist said he was recruited to work as H-1B non-immigrant workers by Sentosa Recruitment Agency.
In their complaint, they said that Philipson and the companies he represented promised the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to pay them the prevailing wage rates and other employment benefits.
Upon arriving in the United States, the complainant said they were not made to work for the employers who petitioned for them. Instead they were made to work for the companies controlled by Philipson.
This, they said, is “a violation of the undertakings, attestations, promises, as well as documents submitted by Philipson to the USCIS, the Department of Labor, and the United States Consulate in Manila.”
The complainants claimed that they are not being paid the prevailing wage rates and are not being given the sufficient number of working hours per week as agreed upon.
In their complaint, they accuse Philipson and his companies of not paying them the proper overtime pay, night shift differentials, and holiday pay.
They said their employers have not been providing with promised employment benefits, such as dental and medical health insurance coverage, proper orientation and training, and professional malpractice insurance coverage, among others.
They also said Philipson and his companies have prohibited them from working for any other employer, even though all of them, except the H-1B worker, are green card holders and are allowed by law to work for other employers, even on a part-time or per diem basis.
Attorney Felix Vinluan, lead counsel of the complainants, said they have a very strong case against the respondents.
He, however, acknowledged they’re up for a tough fight, knowing that Philipson is well connected politically and is a known fund contributor to the Democratic party.
“I know we will ultimately prevail,” he told The Filipino Express.
One of the nurses, Fe Cinco, said she was a bit reluctant to join the class suit. She arrived in New York last November along with the other hired medical workers.
What she thought to be a lucrative job turned out to be stressful and emotionally draining.
She said it is high time to go out in the open and fight for her rights, especially now that she has a 17-day old baby boy named Matthew.
She came to New York already pregnant, and had to endure work-related stress for several months before taking a maternity leave.
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Washington, D.C. --- The two top Republicans in Congress, confronted with a strong public demonstration as well as internal party divisions, said Tuesday, April 11, they intend to pass immigration legislation that does not subject illegal immigrants to prosecution as felons.
A written statement by House Speaker Dennis Hastert of Illinois and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee, did not say whether they would seek legislation subjecting illegal immigrants to misdemeanor prosecution or possibly a civil penalty such as a fine.
“It remains our intent to produce a strong border security bill that will not make unlawful presence in the United States a felony,” the two men said. An estimated 11 million men, women and children are in the United States illegally.
The Republican-controlled House passed legislation late last year that is generally limited to border security measures. It makes illegal immigrants subject to criminal prosecution.
Senate efforts to write a broader bill — covering border security, a guest worker program and a path to citizenship for many of the 11 million in the country illegally — are gridlocked with lawmakers on a two-week vacation.
Frist has said he intends to bring the issue back to the Senate floor, although he stopped short of a flat commitment and the prospects for passage of an election-year immigration bill are uncertain.
The late-afternoon statement by the top GOP leaders in both Houses came after days of large street demonstrations by protesters opposed to criminal penalties for illegal immigrants.
Additionally, in a Washington Post-ABC News poll published during the day, only 20 percent of those questioned said they favored declaring illegal immigrants to be felons and barring them from work.
More than 60 percent indicated support for the general approach envisioned in the leading Senate proposal. It includes a requirement that illegal immigrants be required to pay a fine and back taxes as part of a process of qualifying for eventual citizenship.
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D- Mass.), dismissed the proposal by the GOP leadership, saying: “Actions speak louder than words, and there’s no running away from the fact that the Republican House passed a bill, and Senator Frist offered one, that criminalizes immigrants.”
“This debate shouldn’t be about making criminals out of hardworking families ... but rather about strengthening our national security and enacting a law that reflects our best values and our humanity,” Kennedy said.
The question of a penalty has dogged the debate for months and been the subject of intense political maneuvering.
GOP aides pointed out that Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, had tried during debate on the House floor to reduce the penalty to a misdemeanor.
The attempt failed on a vote of 257-164, with 65 Republicans and 191 Democrats opposed. Many of the Democrats, including members of the Hispanic Congressional Caucus, indicated at the time they favored no criminal penalties, and opposed the suggested change.
The GOP leadership has been struggling with internal divisions.
Several House Republican conservatives have vociferously denounce Senate proposals as amnesty for lawbreakers.
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