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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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U.S. to deport 300,000 Filipinos as act of retaliation, RP daily reports
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NEW YORK, July 29, 2004 --- Following the deportation of 89 Filipinos on Friday, several reports have been circulating in the Philippines that the United States is expected to deport 300,000 Filipinos who are under the U.S. absconders' list.
The Daily Tribune, a newspaper based in Manila, reported without naming its source on Wednesday that “more Filipinos will be deported” despite the claims of American officials of a continuing strong relationship with the Philippines.
“The US immigration officers have already informed Philippine officials they will be deporting Filipino absconders every three or four months,” the Tribune report said, quoting an undisclosed ranking Foreign Affairs official.
Like any other immigrants, Filipinos could be sent back home for various offenses, including over-staying, assault, car theft, fraud, extortion and drug-related cases.
The report added that the DFA source hinted the recent crackdown on Filipinos could be the US government's act of retaliation against the Philippine pullout in Iraq -- a move that has been criticized by the US and international allies.
The DFA source also questioned the timing of the deportation of 89 Filipinos, which was done after a few days Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo administration withdrew its troops to save the life of Filipino hostage Angelo de la Cruz.
In addition, the Manila-based BusinessWorld reported that a US commodity loan, in the amount of $20 million, may not also be given to the Philippines. Despite the claims of some Philippine officials that the country can do without the loan, analysts believe that its absence could bring a serious loss for Philippine funding for agricultural projects.
The same diplomatic sources said that there would also be US visa restrictions on Filipinos, and “that even personalities closely identified with the Arroyo administration, including police and military generals and their families may be denied visas.”
It was not clear how the US Embassy can deny Arroyo officials visas, especially if they travel with a red passport, on official mission, or a blue diplomatic passport.
The Tribune sources said that even the helicopters that US government promised to give to the Philippine Air Force may also not be realized.
But in New York, several Filipinos have denied the veracity of the Tribune reports, saying that those are mere speculations of the paper's sources.
“The Tribune is a liberal, left-wing newspaper. Most of its stories are against the Arroyo administration,” said Grace Malik, a member of a Filipino advocacy group based in Manhattan. “With un-named sources, the credibility of the Tribune reports on deportation is questionable.”
Earlier, in a previous interview, Filipino-American immigration lawyer Rio Guerrero expressed a more optimistic view of some of Filipinos' concerns that divergence between U.S. and the Philippines may also affect U.S. immigration policy.
“Specifically, there is a growing concern that the U.S. government may implement immigration policies that adversely impact Filipinos,” Guerrero said. “The U.S. immigration policy is shaped by a multitude of political, social and economic forces. It is unlikely that these events (Philippine pullout in Iraq) alone will substantially alter the already restrictive U.S. immigration policy against Filipinos.”
Hands off
The Philippine government will not meddle on the ongoing crackdown on undocumented Filipinos because it says it is “a process” and not “a consequence of the troop pullout from Iraq,” Malacañang official said Thursday.
“Sa ating pananaw, ito ay proseso na nasimulan bago pa man nangyari itong ating insidente sa Iraq. Nauunawaan natin na mayroong proseso na dapat sundin ang Estados Unidos (In our view, this was a process that started even before the incident in Iraq happened. We acknowledge that there is a process that the United States has to follow),” Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said in a radio interview.
But Bunye assured that the Philippine embassy and consulates in the US would protect those who are properly documented.
However, some Philippine senators, like Sen. Manuel Villar, agree that the recent deportation of Filipinos is an aftermath of the hostage crisis that resulted in the Philippine pullout in Iraq.
The US expressed sharp rebukes to the Philippines, saying that the latter’s wihdrawal “gives wrong signals to terrorists.”
Days after the pullout, the U.S. said it will review its relations with the Philippines. Then the U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Francis Ricciardone went back to Washington, D.C. for “consultations” with US officials on the matter.
Last week, Australia slammed the Philippines for being “weak” as it bowed to terrorists. The Australian government also blamed the Philippines and Spain for the latest terrorist threats against Australia.
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Burnham breaks down as she identifies her kidnappers
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MANILA --- A US missionary who was abducted by al-Qaeda-linked gunmen in the Philippines three years ago, and whose husband was killed in the operation that freed her, broke down in court as she identified four of her kidnappers.
Gracia Burnham, 45, wept as she described her ordeal and the killing of her husband Martin, who was shot dead in a fight between her captors and security forces in June 2002, 376 days after she was captured with 18 other people.
Burnham returned to the Philippines this week for the court case in her first known visit to the country since she was freed.
She was escorted by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents into a heavily-secured special court inside a police camp in Bicutan and immediately took the witness stand, court officials said.
She identified four of eight men, all suspected of being members of the Islamic Abu Sayyaf group, as among her kidnappers, defense lawyer Oliver Lozano told reporters outside the compound, which was closed off to the media.
“She could not identify three others,” Lozano said. He gave no details about the eighth defendant.
“She cried when she recounted her feelings over the death of her husband,” Lozano said.
Burnham and her husband Martin, also a Christian missionary, were celebrating their 18th wedding anniversary on a small resort island in Palawan when they were abducted in May 2001.
The militants also seized 17 others — tourists and workers — and took them by boat to Basilan.
The Filipinos were either ransomed off or escaped in batches; a third American, Peru-born Guillermo Sobero, was beheaded.
The Philippines military mounted a rescue operation soon after the kidnappers fled with their hostages to Mindanao, using electronic surveillance to track their movements.
They struck on June 6, 2002, when the militants had only three captives left. Martin Burnham and a Filipina nurse, abducted from a Basilan hospital, were shot dead.
One of those identified by Gracia Burnham was Alhamser Manatad Limbong, whom government prosecutors allege beheaded Sobero.
In a book about her ordeal, Burnham said Limbong, alias Kosovo, had been her guard while she was in captivity. Limbong’s lawyer said his client was innocent and it was a case of “mistaken identity.”
Justice Secretary Merceditas Gutierrez said Burnham’s testimony would boost the case against the Abu Sayyaf, a small group of self-styled Islamic militants the United States and Philippine governments consider as terrorists.
Philippine authorities allege the group was set up in the early 1990s with seed funds from al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
“We are happy with the arrival of Mrs. Burnham,” Gutierrez said. “If she agrees to stay longer, she might also want to take the opportunity to meet with some of the former hostages.”
“Definitely the testimony of Gracia Burnham will strengthen our case against those Abu Sayyaf members who were involved,” said military spokesman Lt. Col. Daniel Lucero.
He said though he hoped she would clear the name of the Philippine military, which she accused in her book of colluding with the rebels and giving them food.
Burnham wrote that an Army general was “wheeling and dealing” with the rebels in the hope of getting a share of the ransom. The military has denied the allegation. (MNS)
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MANILA --- Applicants for student visas to the United States will now be required to pay $100, the US Embassy in Manila said.
This is aside from the $100 that those applying for US visas pay, the embassy said.
The additional fee, to cover the costs of administering and maintaining the Student Exchange and Visitor Information System (SEVIS), would take effect on Sept. 1. The law creating SEVIS was passed in 1996.
But Ruth Urry, assistant information officer at the US Embassy, clarified that collection of the additional fee would not affect those going to study in the US this September. She said the new fee would be collected only from those applying for visas in the same month.
The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) within the Department of Homeland Security also said: “The fee applies to F, J, and M non-immigrant classifications. However, participants in certain J-1 exchange visitor programs will pay a reduced fee of $35 or be exempted.”
In most cases, though, it’s $100. Payment may be made with a credit card via the Internet, by check through mail, or by third parties like sponsoring schools or persons, the US Embassy said.
SEVIS, administered by ICE, is an Internet-based system that maintains information on foreign students and exchange visitors to the United States and helps facilitate their entry.
Jilly Drury, director of the Student Exchange Visitors Program, said: “The new fee payment procedure is a continuation of our commitment to manage a system that enhances the integrity of America’s immigration system while facilitating the legal entry of legitimate international students and scholars into the US.”
Some 730,000 students at over 8,700 schools and programs in the US are registered with SEVIS.
Urry, however, did not say how many Filipinos apply for student visas to the US every year. (MNS)
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Final surgery for Filipino conjoined twins set for Aug. 4
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NEW YORK --- Carl and Clarence Aguirre, the Filipino twins joined at the top of their heads, are ready for their final surgery on August 4 at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore (CHAM).
Surgeons who gave an update on the twins said the boys have recuperated nicely from their previous surgeries and they are now prepared for the most complicated procedure --- and their fourth surgery that would finally separate them.
According to lead surgeons James Goodrich, MD, chief of pediatric neurosurgery, and David Staffenberg, chief of pediatric plastic surgery at CHAM, if all goes according to plans, they will be able to separate the boys, to live normal lives.
“The upcoming surgery will be the most complex for the twins,” said Goodrich. “The separation will have to be carefully monitored for any significant brain swelling and insufficient brain blood circulation. While we are confident that Carl and Clarence are ready for the final stage, we are also prepared to hold back if it should become apparent during the surgery that they are not able to tolerate a complete separation at this time,” he said.
The CHAM surgeons planned the separation procedure in a series of staged operations so as to build up a very weak system of veins in Carl’s brain. As for Clarence, he already had a fully developed venous system.
The surgeons said one major vein remains to be separated along with several minor ones.
“We’ve been setting the stage very carefully for their separation over the past months. While some very important work has been done to maximize Carl and Clarence’s health and brain circulation, their separation remains complicated and the risks are tremendous,” said Dr. Staffenberg. “We must remember that our team, and the boy’s mother, Arlene, accepted these risks at the outset, knowing that the pay-off can be two independent, neurologically intact baby boy.”
The twins and their mother arrived in the United State in September 2003. The boys have undergone three major operations at CHAM in the staged series of surgeries and have had tissue expanders inserted under the skin above their left ears to increase the volume of skin to cover their skulls once they are separated.
The boys have been staying at Blythedale Children’s Hospital in Valhalla, Westchester County, for therapy in between their surgeries.
Since they arrived in Westchester the boys have gained 10 pounds and now weigh 39 pounds and have grown by seven inches to 61 inches toe to toe. They have been described as bright, alert and love to play with each other and their mother.
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