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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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LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- A United States court has ordered the extradition to the Philippines of Charlie “Atong” Ang to face plunder charges against him.
The US District Court in Nevada ruled on Monday, September 18, that Ang should be extradited to the Philippines.
Ang, a Filipino Chinese businessman, is a co-accused in the plunder and perjury trial of former President Joseph Ejercito Estrada in the Sandiganbayan. Ang is Estrada’s close associate.
Judge Lawrence Leavitt ruled that plunder is an extraditable offense and that there was probable cause that Ang was guilty of it.
Leavitt ordered that Ang be committed to the custody of the US marshal until his extradition. He said Ang’s surrender should not be later than September 13.
Ang filed an emergency motion for a 10-day extension for his surrender.
Ang’s lawyer, Karen C. Winckler, said Ang has remained out of custody for about four years and has cooperated with the court and is thus not a flight risk.
The court agreed to hear his motion at a hearing set on Saturday, September 23.
In Manila, Justice Secretary Raul M. Gonzalez said on Friday that agents from the National Bureau of Investigation will fetch Ang from the US.
Regional Director Reynaldo Esmeralda, chief of the Special Task Force (STF) of the National of Bureau of Investigation, said Ang’s extradition order is already in place. A hearing, slated for October 2, will determine the date of Ang’s removal when he will be turned over from the custody of the US marshals and into the custody of the NBI.
Gonzales could not give the exact date when Ang’s appeal was denied but he had known about it for the past two weeks.
The Filipino Chinese businessman left the country at the height of Estrada’s impeachment trial and was arrested in Las Vegas in November 2001 by US marshals and Federal Bureau of Investigation agents. Gonzalez said Ang could no longer qualify as a state witness.
“The presentation of evidence before the Sandiganbayan is already finished so it’s too late for [Ang] to become a state witness,” he said.
A guilty verdict for plunder carries the death sentence.
Gonzalez said that once Ang returns, other cases against Estrada could be reopened, particularly the disappearance of Edgardo Bentain, an employee of the Grand Boulevard Casino Filipino.
Bentain disappeared in 1999 after he smuggled out video footage purportedly showing Estrada playing in high stakes gambling table at the casino.
On Friday, September 22, Malacañang assured adequate security for Charlie Ang when he arrives in Manila.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita gave the assurance in the wake of fears there are people who may try to harm and silence Ang, who is believed to be the “key” to resolving former President Joseph Estrada’s alleged links with jueteng syndicates.
Ang was the “gambling genius” hired by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. to launch the “Bingo-2 Ball” which was designed to replace and eliminate jueteng, an illegal numbers game.
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WASHINGTON, D.C. -- There is still hope for veterans.
The U.S. House Representatives voted unanimously on Wednesday, September 13, to pass House Resolution 622 recognizing and honoring Filipino World War II veterans for “their defense of American democracy and their important contribution to the victorious outcome of World War II.” The final vote was 402-0.
“These men fought bravely to defend their homeland and our nation,” said Rep. Darrell Issa, the resolution’s sponsor, in a statement for the Congressional Record.
“It is my hope that this resolution will further affirm the deep friendship between the American and Philippine peoples. I am pleased that we are able to recognize the Filipino World War II veterans for their defense of democracy and contribution to the victorious outcome of World War II.”
Issa also urged Congress to act on H.R. 4574, the Filipino Veterans Equity Act of 2006, which seeks to honor the service of Filipino veterans by granting them the benefits made available to other WWII veterans. “Filipino veterans fought as American soldiers under General MacArthur in World War II and their service for our country deserves recognition. The time to honor these heroes while they are still with us, however, is running short.
For more than 60 years, Filipino Americans veterans have been marching in key U.S. cities to press Congress to legislate bills recognizing their rights and benefits.
“Congress needs to address the inequity in benefits for these veterans by passing the Filipino Veterans Equity Act of 2006 before the opportunity passes,” said Issa.
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HONOLULU -- Police are looking into whether a Filipino arrested for stealing a missing Kaua’i man’s identity has information about a Honolulu man who disappeared more than a decade ago under similar circumstances.
Henry Ponce Jacinto Calucag Jr., also known as Hank Jacinto, is being held without bail at the O’ahu Community Correctional Center on charges of first-degree identity theft, first-degree theft, and second-degree forgery in connection with the alleged theft of $200,000, a parcel of land, credit cards and a half-dozen polo horses from Kaua’i resident John Elwin.
The Honolulu Advertiser reported that Elwin transferred $200,000 into Calucag’s escrow account before leaving for the Philippines, according to documents filed in O’ahu circuit court.
Elwin has been missing since May, when he flew to the Philippines with Calucag to examine the $200,000 apartment he bought from Calucag. His family filed a missing persons report with Kaua’i police on May 15 after Elwin failed to call his 15-year-old daughter in Texas on her birthday.
City Deputy Prosecutor Chris Van Marter said police are working with law enforcement officers in the Philippines to find Elwin. The Philippine government has requested a copy of Elwin’s dental records, according to court documents.
“His disappearance appears to be highly suspicious and we are extremely concerned about his well-being,” Van Marter said.
On Thursday, September 14, Calucag’s attorneys described Elwin and Calucag as polo partners and the “best of friends.”
Robert F. Miller, one of Calucag’s lawyers, testified Thursday that Calucag has legitimate business interests here and in the Philippines, and said Elwin was known to have female friends in the Philippines.
Miller said Elwin notified him and others in March or April that he was going to leave the country to pursue business interests and personal pleasure in Southeast Asia.
On Monday, Honolulu police detectives, backed by the department’s Specialized Services Division, raided the Peter Street home of Debbie Anagaran, Calucag’s girlfriend. The warrant to search the home arose out of the investigation into Elwin’s disappearance after police learned that Anagaran’s apartment once belonged to Arthur Young, a Honolulu man who disappeared on a business trip to the Philippines more than 10 years ago, according to police and the city prosecutor’s office.
Anagaran has not been arrested.
Young allegedly entered into a business deal with either Calucag or Anagaran, and after he disappeared in the Philippines, Young allegedly signed over his apartment to Anagaran, according to the prosecutor’s office and Gordon Piianaia, Young’s friend and Peter Street neighbor.
“His (Young’s) disappearance was a shock; it was something that nobody expected,” Piianaia said.
On Thursday, Van Marter asked that Calucag be held without bail, maintaining that he lacks credibility and might flee.
Van Marter cited Calucag’s previous 1995 federal bank fraud conviction stemming from an elaborate check kiting scheme involving several O’ahu banks. While on supervised release, Calucag admitted to using a fake Virginia driver’s license and forged loan documents to buy a $23,000 Land Rover from Theo Davies Euromotors, Van Marter said.
Calucag also admitted to forging lease documents to obtain $16,000 worth of equipment from Dell Computers. He made no payments on either account and was sentenced to 16 months in prison for violating the terms of his supervised release.
Calucag told Elwin’s friends and family that Elwin got a Filipino girl pregnant and was staying in the country to look after her, according to court records, a charge Elwin’s friends vehemently deny. Elwin’s friends describe a man who lived with the same woman for the past four years and who frequently kept in touch with those closest to him.
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WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The House and the Senate moved on Thursday toward a piecemeal crackdown on illegal immigration, pushing forward separate bills to require photo identification to vote, build vast fences on the U.S.-Mexico border and speed the deportation of undocumented workers. The measures would take the place of President Bush’s far broader rewrite of the nation’s immigration laws.
Voting almost completely along party lines, the House voted 228 to 196 for a bill that would require all who register to vote in federal elections to show photo identification that proves they are U.S. citizens. The Senate, meanwhile, voted 94 to 0 to take up a measure passed by the House last week to build 700 miles of double-layered fencing on the U.S.-Mexico border, with a final vote to come as early as Monday, September 25.
On Thursday, September 21, the House was scheduled to take up bills to speed the deportation of undocumented workers, ratchet up penalties for immigrant gang members and human smugglers, end an exemption for Salvadoran illegal immigrants from rapid deportation, criminalize tunneling under the border, and overtly deputize state and local police officers to enforce federal immigration laws.
In an interview on CNN, President Bush said he would sign the measures, even though they do not embrace a more comprehensive approach -- including a guest-worker program -- that he has backed.
“Yes, I’ll sign it into law,” Bush said. “I would view this as an interim step. I don’t view this as a final product.”
Passage of the measures would permit leaders of the Republican-controlled Congress to claim they have taken steps to deal with the flood of illegal immigrants. It is an issue that has rent the party, spawned huge demonstrations in many cities last spring, and called into question the Republicans’ ability to face tough issues. GOP leaders also believe that the hardening of legislative lines on illegal immigration and border security will bolster the party’s conservative political support ahead of the midterm elections.
The sudden rush of activity startled immigrant and civil rights groups, which had largely thought a legislative response on immigration was dead for the year. The National Immigration Law Center sent out an “urgent” notice to allies to prod them into action, noting: “In recent days, there has been a serious deterioration of the position of pro-immigrant forces in Congress.”
The lawmakers’ embrace of a piecemeal approach came as members of a private task force on immigration reiterated their belief that a comprehensive solution is necessary to solve the nation’s immigration problems. The task force’s plan includes strong border enforcement and a program that allows undocumented workers currently in the country to remain by paying a stiff fine.
Cecilia Muñoz, vice president of the National Council of La Raza, warned that Republicans “are politically playing with fire” with Latino voters, who gave 40 percent of their vote to Bush in 2004.
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