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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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LAST weekend, the Filipino-American community here in New York and New Jersey witnessed two competing events: The event in Jersey City and the one in Secaucus.
Based on reports gathered by the Express, the volume of people present in the two events was almost the same. However, it does not mean that the attendance was dense. In fact, it is quite the contrary– both events suffered.
What would have become if the organizers of these two events joined forces? We suppose that the outcome would have been best for the whole community. But it did not turn out that way. Becasue of that, we are forced to compare. Which event was more organized and more entertaining?
We have heard comments from attendees that the event in Jersey City was disorganized.
The sound system alone, according to one attendee, sounded like a tin can engulfed by tons of reverb and echo. It was inaudible. Very poor.
More so, the Jersey City event lacked logistical suave. It was mentioned that the food stalls weren’t readily visible. It was located in the basement of the venue where the sanitation is a little doubtful. It was also said that the hotdog stand in front of the venue sold more items than the registered food vendors in the event. In addition, it was reported that artists that open for the main stars didn’t even get water or any form of refreshment. Artists were allegedly expected to sell tickets to get money for food.
On the other hand, we heard that the sound system in Secaucus was of professional quality and that the flow of the whole event was impeccable. Food was available from all corners of the venue, and the general atmosphere was smooth. It was also mentioned by some artists who played in Secaucus that they were treated well. In the first round of the battle between these two organizations, it appears that the Secaucus event won. Although, it is doubtful that the Secaucus group gained profits from their event. The split cost them dearly. Now, there is talk that there will be a round two in August.
If this is true, they should by now learn from their mistakes to improve their events. However, they should also bear in mind that most FilAms want unity.
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ADJUSTMENT DENIED DUE TO FAKE DOCUMENTS
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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
If an alien enters the U.S. with fraudulent documents and later gets married to a U.S. citizen, is he/she eligible for adjustment of status?
A recent decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals said no.
The case, Orozco v. Musakey, involved Mr. Orozco who entered the U.S. in 1996 using another person’s green card. He was inspected and allowed entry into the U.S. He later met and married a U.S. citizen who filed an I-130 petition for alien relative on his behalf. Mr. Orozco applied for adjustment of status at the same time.
The I-130 was approved by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) but the adjustment application was denied.
He was later placed in removal proceedings on the ground of his prior use of a counterfeit document to gain admission into the U.S.
During the removal proceedings, he filed another adjustment of status application. He also filed a waiver of his misrepresentation under Section 212 (i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) on account of extreme hardship on his U.S. citizen spouse should he be deported.
He argued that because he had presented himself for inspection and was allowed to enter, he was “inspected and admitted” and was therefore eligible for adjustment under Section 245 (a) of INA.
The immigration judge found Orozco not eligible to adjust his status because although he was inspected and allowed entry into the U.S., he was not “admitted” in the U.S. as required by law.
The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) affirmed the immigration judge’s decision.
The Ninth Circuit Court, on review, upheld the administrative court’s decision stating that admission into the U.S. requires “lawful entry into the U.S. after inspection and authorization”. The court ruled that mere admission into the U.S. by the use of a fraudulent document is not the “lawful admission” to the U.S. contemplated by law.
A previous BIA case, In the Matter of Areguillin, cited by Orozco in support of his application was not applicable, according to the court. In that case, the alien was considered to have been inspected and admitted when he presented himself for inspection and did not knowingly claim to be a U.S. citizen. The court held that the passage of the new law, Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, which clearly required lawful admission already superseded the case.
The court also ruled that while Mr. Orozco can qualify for a Section 212 (i) waiver of his misrepresentation, it would not cure his unlawful admission into the U.S.
It should be noted that Mr. Orozco could not claim the benefit of another section of the law Section 245 (i) that would have allowed him to adjust his status despite fraudulent entry into the U.S. because his I-130 petition for alien relative was filed only after the deadline for filing of petitions under that law on April 30, 2001.
The Orozco case is currently the binding law in states where the Ninth Circuit court has jurisdiction: Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Guam and the Northern Marianas Islands. It is not binding in other jurisdictions.
There is no indication that the immigration judges or the Board of Immigration Appeals will follow this decision. Aliens with similar cases should consult an attorney.
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CHICAGO, Illinois (JGLi) – I once asked my teacher in journalism that if a journalist notices that a protestor is about to commit suicide by burning himself, should the journalist stop the attempt. My teacher, a black American, stopped for a moment and told me, “I don’t think so.”
It just occurred to me that if you stop the guy from going forward with his protest by dousing the fire engulfing the protestor with water, he will not be able to send the message of his protest and I will become an “advocate journalist” or something, instead of being an objective journalist, who is supposed to be detached from ones surroundings when covering a news event.
But after the self-immolation, what does the journalist do? Call 9-1-1 so the firemen can douse the fire completely and the police can conduct an autopsy? Or just wait and observe until somebody else makes the call and act as a Good Samaritan?
One school of thought says that the journalist should just say a prayer for this man and his family instead of rejoicing this man’s demise.
On the other hand, one journalist would say that the community should rejoice because the self-immolation sent a message to the community that cannot be ignored.
It seems that it is very hard to take a position on this polar question. This kind of scenario came to mind following the case of Mr. Ben Menor, a Filipino American who pleaded “no-contest” to Count 1 – a felony –filing false financial statements that could earn him three years of jail time.
One observer, Mr. Rey Villar, Jr., of Chicago, in our online discussion said that the better part of discretion is for the community to say a “prayer for this (fallen) man and his family.”
On the other hand, a journalist, Mr. Romy R. Marquez, out of San Diego, California, said that the community should “celebrate” because “justice has been served. … the community has been rescued from this fallen man and his cohorts. … the bigger tragedy of a community suffering from the abuses of a few, this fallen man included, would hopefully come to a halt. I rejoice for the lessons we all could derive from this big triumph of a few courageous Filipinos who stood against what might be a well-entrenched league of cheaters. I may say a prayer for this fallen man but I have no sympathy for him. He deserves some time in jail if only to tell him how much we despise his acts and of those who collaborated with him. My sympathy, whatever its worth, goes to his family.”
Between these two positions, I am inclined to celebrate the lessons learned from this tragedy because keeping it to ourselves in prayer and not talking about it is like sweeping the dirt under the rug.
And this reminded me of the old school journalism, a colleague Jesse Jose, had brought up. Mr. Jose said that a community activist in the person of Mr. Bobby Reyes, who has been running the Ben Menor stories, using “slogans” and “polemics” might be guilty of “attack journalism” instead of “advocacy journalism” but Mr. Jose finds nothing wrong with Reyes’ style of journalism for as long as he is able to get his “message across” to the community.
This prompted Mr. Villar to post criteria of “Advocacy Journalism” as enumerated by Advocacy Journalist Sue Careless (no pun intended) in an address to the Canadian Association of Journalists in April 2000. The Advocacy Journalists, Ms. Careless said, should follow these rules:
• Acknowledge your perspective up front.
• Be truthful, accurate, and credible. Don't spread propaganda, don't take quotes or facts out of context, "don't fabricate or falsify", and "don't judge or suppress vital facts or present half-truths"
• Don't give your opponents equal time, but don't ignore them, either.
• Explore arguments that challenge your perspective, and report embarrassing facts that support the opposition. Ask critical questions of people who agree with you.
• Avoid slogans, ranting, and polemics. Instead, "articulate complex issues clearly and carefully."
• Be fair and thorough.
• Make use of neutral sources to establish facts.
Ms. Careless’ criteria, indeed, may be worth emulating. But I still believe in telling whatever I can gather and live by the mantra of one of my role models, a Chicago journalist, Finley Peter Dunne, who says, "it is the role of a newspaperman to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable." (lariosa_jos@sbcglobal.net)
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Senator Juan Ponce Enrile turns 84, come Valentine’s Day. “Seventy is the sum of our years,” the Psalmist writes. “Eighty, if we are strong.” Enrile is hale and spry today. So, don’t fault failing memory for his claim that Manila Electric Company was “legally” sold to government.
No kidding? When? During martial law, Enrile replies. All laws then consisted of the dictator’s nod. Thus, Eugenio Lopez Sr. “sold” the multi-billion peso Meralco for a down payment of P10,000. Balance was “payable when able” This “fire sale” is the stuff of Guinnness.
Under the “New Society”, the number of government corporations “imploded” from 32 to 93, Albert Celoza notes in his book :“Ferdinand Marcos and the Philippines -- The Political Economy of Authoritarianism”. Dictatorial fiat created 62.
This bloating “resulted from take-over of so-called ‘oligarch companies’, meaning business owned by Marcos opponents,” Celoza wrote Among these was Meralco. But this “was for enrichment of ( Marcos) friends, rather than efficient and fair use of resources”.
Enrile’s view on Meralco’s “sale” rehashes his Kapihan sa Sulo statement ( 21 Sept 2002 ) He asserted then, as now, that he could document this claim. We believe him.
He was a “Rolex 12” member. Marcos honored 12 men for clamping on martial law. Enrile knew the dictatorship’s key transactions, including Meralco.
Enrile’s troops, in fact, padlocked Eugenio Lopez Jr into a Fort Bonfacio cell. Did he throw away the key? It took Lopez Jr and co-prisoner Sergio Osmena Jr five years to burrow their way free. . On Oct. 1, 1977, they scrambled aboard a plane on a Lingayen airstrip They then hopscotched their way to Hong Kong, Tokyo, and political asylum in the US.
Gen Gatmaitan and troops, earlier, took over Meralco. Benjamin “Kokoy” Romualdez’s “technocrats” pressured the Lopezes to give up the firm. The late Antonio Ayala badgered Lopez Sr. to sign papers, drawn up by the dictatorship. They ranged from “begging to be saved from creditors” to a “desire to assist in ‘New Society’ reforms.
Kokoy invariably dangled release of Geny Lopez, writes Raul Rodrigo in the book: “The Power and the Glory.” One such session took place during his December 1972 call on Eugenio Sr, then in San Francisco exile.
Ultimately, the Lopez patriarch “agreed to turn over everything Marcos wanted…in exchange for the safety of my son and family”: Meralco and MSC were handed over to Kokoy’s men in November 1973. Roberto Benedicto took over ABS-CBN in June 1973.
But even after the Meralco ransom, the dictatorship didn’t release Geny. Eugenio Sr’s July 1974 bid to visit his son, in prison, floundered. “The Meralco sale was a give away to save the life of my son,” Lopez Sr told Philippine News reporter Nick Benosa in a New Year’s Eve interview.
In June 1975, Lopez Sr was rushed to California’s French Hospital, for prostate cancer recurrence. Marcos ignored his deathbed message : Allow Geny to visit him under heavy guard. He died July 6 -- two years before his son broke free.
“Duress” was how Senator Joker Arroyo described this “sale”. Duress is the polite version for a word imported from Scotland of 1555 : “blackmail”. Free-booting warlords then exacted tirbute in exchange for immunity from pillage.
Enrile believes this shotgun sale was “legal”. His UP and Harvard law school bona-fides serve as buttresses. Indeed, “there is much law at the end of a bayonet.” Ask Housewife Corazon Aquino. She learned that from bitter experience.
After people elevated her to the presidency, Aquino returned Meralco to the Lopezes. Duress didn’t legalize theft , she explained. Nor has the Seventh Commandment – “Thou shall not steal” – been repealed. “All that is noble is summoned forth by contrast,” Goethe taught.
Revisiting the dictatorship’s history in gobbling Meralco is relevant. . “History is the sum total of things that could have been avoided,” Konrad Adenaeur warned.. Now, “predatory birds” circle as the “President pulled all stops for her war to crush economic power of the Lopez family,” Inquirer’s Amando Doronila wrote.
In this drill .the most raucous bird is GSIS Winston Garcia. He’s the “Kokoy” of this regime. Sure, Garcia doesn’t stutter. And he can string a grammatical sentence But they’re soulmates in subservience: Kokoy to Marcos and Garcia to Arroyo ( both the lady and her consort ).
Malacanang’s diktat. pegged Kokoy’s P10,000 down payment for Meralco. It anchors Garcia’s brass-knuckle threat : to “take full control”, then carve Meralco into two or more sub-franchises” .And who believes the Joint Congressional Power Commission and inept Energy Regulatory Commission will reach independent conclusions?. “The voice is Jacob’s. But the hands are those of Esau.”
It's unclear if a Boracay meeting, between the President and Meralco’s chair will go through. Discussions won’t be about lower electric bills or energy policy, muddled by threats of government take-over.. “( It ) comes with a price”, Inquirer reports. .“The meeting will be in exchange for ABS-CBN’s cooperation”. An administration that careened from one scam to another has been skewered by media, including The Lopez-owned TV network.
Meralco is all about political hardball -- and Ms. Arroyo clinging to power beyond 2010. Unpalatable options face this President, if rendered powerless then. These include exile like Marcos or a plunder trial like Estrada. “Where the body is,” scriptures tell us, “there the vultures will gather.”
(E-mail: juanlmercado@gmail.com)
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AS US JOB MARKET WORSENS,
WHERE TO MIGRATE NEXT?
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The New York Times reported 3 weeks ago that more than 3 million Hispanic immigrants from Latin American countries have stopped sending money to their families. The numbers were culled from US banks which were conduits for the remittances.
Worse, many Latino immigrants who were interviewed complained of a slowdown in the number of US job openings and are considering going back to their home countries, especially with the added problems caused by the crackdown on illegal immigration by American immigration authorities.
The reports said only 50% of the nearly 20 million Hispanic immigrants are now able to help their families with money remittances from the US. Such remittances have remained flat over the last 2 years. In 2006, these immigrants sent $500 million. This dropped to
$45 million in 2008.
These immigrants complained that it has become harder to find good paying jobs. Others said they were earning less this year than last year. However, majority said they were not yet decided to leave the US. They were still giving priority to work for lesser pay or work at two jobs to maintain their former income.
For Latino immigrants, those deciding to leave the US could consider going to other Hispanic countries. Filipino immigrants, however, have no such choice. There are no jobs awaiting them back in the Philippines. Rather than consider such a hopeless choice, they would rather suffer a harsher job market in America first.
With the looming recession in the US, these Filipinos are prepared to face a more difficult life in America. At least here, they could still explore the second level jobs that would open up as the economy worsens. They would rather do the menial jobs that uneducated and unskilled workers from other countries less developed than the Philippines take up.
The Filipino immigrants would be forced to lower their expectations a few notches lower just to be able to maintain their standard of living. This would certainly be a much better choice than facing the poorer prospects back in Manila.
In the past, Filipino workers have not been migrating exclusively to America. So with the lesser job prospects in the US, we would witness these workers trying their luck in other countries which would otherwise be their second choice. If they try Europe, they would have an advantage because other Filipinos have already blazed a trail job hunting in that continent.
What about language problem? Most European countries are not English-speaking. No worry. Filipinos have proven equal to this communication challenge. They have been traipsing all over the world in search of jobs for many years.
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CELEBRITIES WHO MAKE A DIFFERENCE
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Time magazine recently (May 12 edition) came out with its annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. And among them were celebrities including talk show host Oprah Winfrey, Mia Farrow, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie and George Clooney. I'd like to focus on Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, the star couple who have been in front page news ever since they teamed up in the movie "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" and from then on became inseparable. Though their romance started off as most controversial as it caused the break-up of Pitt' s seemingly idyllic marriage to Jennifer Aniston, the offscreen partnership has proved to be noteworthy and beneficial to people in parts of the world that are in badly need of assistance. George Clooney, a Hollywood icon on his own who also stands out for noteworthy causes, is most impressed with the pair's global humanitarian work. Both have jointly raised the awareness of the injustices that exist in the world not just with talk but with action. In 2005, when Pakistan was devastated by an earthquake -- killing tens of thousands ... living millions without shelter. They extended financial assistance. Brad and Angelina also contributed $1 million dollars of their own money to victims of atrocities in Darfur. And, when Hurricane Katrina visited New Orleans, both moved there temporarily and Pitt established a project to finance and build 150 homes for the homeless. Jolie on the other hand, worked through the United Nations on behalf of refugees worldwide -- touring border camps in Africa, Asia and Latin America and lobbying the U.S. Congress on their behalf.
There are the three children they adopted from Ethiopia, Vietnam and Cambodia, third world countries, manifestations of their commitment to parenting along with their own and one more on the way. What they do is share the bounty -- being highly paid actors - with those who are in need. Getting back to Mr. Clooney who is described as a "passionate, sensible and authentic" by Roseanne Barr. She writes that he breathes believability into his screen roles simply because he is real in reality. He uses his fame to call the attention of world leaders about the Darfur genocide, the responsibilities of a free press and the writers' strike. His stature is such that people listen when he discusses the world with such passion and good sense. And, here's one actor who could run for president and win.
Now in the Homeland, there is the neophyte actress KC Concepcion, who is blazing a trail on her own, not just because of her striking beauty and persona but her noble endeavors as well. Named as the UN World Food Program (WFP) National Ambassador Against Hunger last February, the model and recently-turned actress has taken her role quite seriously. Early on, she has affiliated herself with foundations, giving out sacks of rice to the Marco Polo Children's Center and is thinking of involving the companies she's been endorsing in her humanitarian work. KC who is the daughter of megastar Sharon Cuneta and comebacking movie actor, Gabby Concepcion, is particularly concerned about the needy children particularly those in Mindanao. Careerwise, she is a most-sought after product endorser and fired her opening salvo in a four-week TV special with ABS-CBN. Her first film will pair her with GMA Films/Network's Richard Gutierrez, son of Eddie Gutierrez and Annabel Rama, who is possibly the hottest young star of GMA Films/Network.
Richard by the way, is an advocate for the environment. He is active with the Greenpeace movement and is conscious about Mother Earth. He took time out to host Signos, a TV special about global warming which aired on last month.
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