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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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Choking on Steak and Caviar
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WHOEVER is managing the PR crisis that President Arroyo is facing these days due to her ill-advised expensive meals in the US must be sitting on a hot grill. Because it is nearly impossible to remove the heat
from this latest episode that screams incompetence and extravagance. Imagine the president of a 3rd world country where majority of its citizens live below the poverty line merry-making with pals, drowning it expensive bottles of champagne and stuffing themselves up with steak, lobsters, and caviar.
As if Arroyo’s attempt to elevate “Massacre King” Carlo J. Caparas to the ranks to Levi Celerio, Fernando Amorsolo, Vicente Manansala, and Botong Francisco is bad enough, now comes the meals that might topple her down. What was she thinking?
Even if she and the First Gentleman were invited to join the dinners, right judgement calls for her to decline.
Why? First, the Filipinos were in deep mourning due to the death of their beloved mother of democracy Cory Aquino. Second, the Filipinos are plunging deeper into poverty. When Arroyo ate at the uber-expensive Le Cirque in New York City and allegedly spent $20,000 worth of booze and fish eggs, Cory was already dead. Cory died on August 1 and her much-talked about dinner was on August 2. She even put up a sad face on TV the day Cory died expressing her deep sorrow that ‘the mother of Philippine democracy” passed on – of course, her sorrows must have been washed away completely by the $500 per bottle wine that they ordered by the case, and the slippery-salty magnificence of fine caviar the day after.
Arroyo must have waited for her tenure as president to end to avoid being caught in such lavish receptions while her people struggle to find edibles to sustain their lives. She could do whatever she wanted once she becomes a regular citizen. But while she is representing the Filipino people, it is mind boggling how she would succumb to such foolish display of extravagance knowing it does not in anyway show the conditions of her people.
When Gandhi went to England to negotiate for Indian independence, he wore clothes that he himself spun. India then was suffering and was a very poor nation, The world saw through Gandhi that they really were. Well, history called Gandhi “The Great Soul” for a reason. History might brand Arroyo something else instead. “The Caviar Lover?”
If Arroyo cannot give prosperity to her people, at least be decent enough to be one with them or identify with them in their time of strife even for just the duration of her term.
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Visas for Seasonal Workers Still Available
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On August 6, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it was reopening the filing period for H-2B petition for the 2009 fiscal year that ends on September 30, 2009.
H-2B visas are reserved for non-agricultural workers who enter the U.S. to perform temporary services for an employer on a seasonal, peak load or intermittent basis.
These workers are usually needed in industries that have shortage of U.S. workers such as resort/hospitality, landscaping, construction, health care, food services/ processing, manufacturing and education. Most of these workers are recruited from the Philippines, Mexico, India, China and Korea.
While the USCIS reported last January 7 that it had already accepted and approved a sufficient number of H-2B petitions for the current fiscal year, its latest announcement clarified that it had actually received far fewer petitions than expected.
Out of the 66,000 yearly allocation, only 40,640 H-2B visas has been issued to date, according to the USCIS. This leaves approximately 25,000 H-2B visas still available for issuance in fiscal year 2009.
To qualify for the H-2B visa for the fiscal year 2009, the employer must indicate an employment start date of September 30, 2009 or earlier. If the start date is October 1, it will be counted against the cap for the 2010 fiscal year. 8,974 H-2B petitions have already been received for the first half of fiscal year 2010, of which 8,183 have been approved and 791 still pending adjudication.
To obtain an H-2B visa, a Form I-129 Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker must be submitted to the USCIS with the required documents including an approved alien employment certification issued by the U.S. Department of Labor that is valid for the employment period indicated on the petition.
The USCIS normally adjudicates H-2B petitions within 60 days from application unless the applicant files for premium processing. Since the H-2B petitions must be received, evaluated and adjudicated on or before September 30, employers are encouraged to file their petitions as soon as possible and request for premium processing by filing Form I-907 along with the premium processing fee of $1,000 to expedite the process and beat the deadline. The premium processing will shorten the processing time to 15 calendar days.
An H-2B petition with a start date of September 30, 2009 or earlier, but is received on or after October 1, 2009 will not be counted towards the fiscal year 2009 H-2B cap.
The H-2B worker is usually issued for a year. In extraordinary cases, two one-year extensions may be allowed.
Unlike in H-1B (specialty occupation) cases, dual intent is not allowed in H-2B, which means that the filing of an immigrant petition or permanent labor certification is not allowed for H-2B workers.
(Editor’s Note: REUBEN S. SEGURITAN has been practicing law for over 30 years and is included in the Marquis Who’s Who in American Law. A former law editor, he previously taught law and international politics and is the author of “We Didn’t Pass Through the Golden Door.” He frequently writes and speaks on immigration and other legal topics. He has received numerous awards in the U.S. and abroad, including several outstanding professional awards and Philippine Presidential awards. For more information, you may log on to his website at www.seguritan.com or call (212) 695-5281.)
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Filipino Oldtimer in Chicago Dies
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MARIANO G. Hermosa, a Filipino old timer who came to the United States at the young age of “16 with 85 cents in his pockets" in 1927 at the cusp of the Great Depression, died August 8, a week short of his 98th birthday. Hermosa succumbed to “metastasized bone cancer" at a nursing home in Chicago’s suburban Park Ridge, Illinois.
His grieving spouse, the former Fe Lagrosa of Cuyo in the western Philippine island province of Palawan, said: “I am very sad that he was gone. But because of the pain of his metastasized bone cancer, it was better for him to go."
Her brother, Rufu “RG" Lagrosa Jr., a native of El Nido, Palawan, said his brother-inlaw came to America “when he was in his teens, persevered and succeeded."
In an interview with the Daily Herald in 2005, Hermosa said that he arrived in “San Francisco, California with 85 cents in his pockets. Living on just bread and water, he went door-to-door asking for odd jobs. Eventually, he landed one as a house servant and stayed with the family nine years."
“He worked during the day and went to school by night," a family friend, Ting Joven, said.
Hermosa finished his studies in International Relations at University of California in San Francisco and went to Graduate School at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.
60 degrees below zero
Hermosa was 29 when World War II broke out. He was sent to the Arctic Circle north of Greenland with a US construction battalion. “I was happy to serve, but it was 60 degrees Fahrenheit below zero and I’m from the Philippines," he told the Herald, referring to his native homeland’s tropical climate.
After the war, he started working as a waiter in a Chicago restaurant before he became the manager of the then famous Blue Angel Night Club in Chicago for 20 years.
A frugal man, Hermosa was able to buy his first building with his elder brother, Vitalino, and he went on to own 17 buildings at one time. He started helping relatives and friends immigrate to America, housing them in his buildings and teaching them “survival skills" to find their first jobs.
Hermosa also put up a travel agency bearing his name. It is co-operated by his wife, Fe, who retired as manager of the Laboratory Department of the Ravenswood Hospital in Chicago’s north side, according to his niece-in-law, Cecilia Pacis. Together, the Hermosa couple established the first Filipino Dance Troupe in Chicago that was active in Philippine Independence Day festivities.
The Hermosas became the guardians of their orphaned niece, Rita Hermosa, when Rita’s parents, Vitalino Hermosa and Alodia Alejandro, were killed in a vehicular accident in Sullivan, Indiana in 1960. Another
couple, Fermin and Luz Nieves, the victims’ neighbors, also died in that accident. Only Rita (now Mrs. Shaw), who was 11 years old at that time and the Nieves’ son, Raymond, survived in that accident.
They call him ‘Don A native of Sta. Lucia, Ilocus Sur, Hermosa was active in the Ilocos Sur Club and the Alliance of Filipino Americans, Inc. A philanthropist, he co-founded the Palawan Medical Mission Group (Palmed) together with his wife and doctors Henry and Nila Cordero. Palmed conducts medical missions to Palawan every two years. He is also big contributor to their church – Our Lady of Ransom.
His parents were Fabian Hermosa and Susana de Guzman and his siblings were Ceferina, Vitalino, Emerita, Mamerto, Natividad, Salvacion and Tristan.
Ever since a Chicago community publisher, Veronica Leighton, called Hermosa “Don" in an article in Via Times, others in the community followed suit in addressing him “Don," which delighted him.
Another friend, Yoly Tubalinal, co-publisher of the Fil- Am Weekly Megascene, said Hermosa deserves to be called “Don" because he was a “man of privilege and means having acquired wealth thru his real estate holdings."
“Manong Mariano was a self-made man who lived a full life, traveled the world and hoped to live to be a century old but unfortunately fell two years short. They would have celebrated their 50th (Golden)Anniversary next year in May," Tubalinal said.
“He had so many plans for a grand celebration - filet mignon for entree, music to be played, program and program host (he wanted Ernest 'Bong' Punzalan to do the hosting) and dress code of guests (only tux, no exception). His funeral guests had filet mignon, alright, but sorry, no tux for them. We will always remember Manong for his gift of wisdom and kindness in time of our greatest need," she added.
Hermosa is survived by his wife of 50 years, Fe Lagrosa Hermosa, sister Natividad Velasco (Philippines) and nieces and nephews.
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“For one brief shining moment / There was Camelot.” The Broadway song lyric came to mind as kids twirled yellow ribbons at former president Corazon Aquino funeral. “Will (she) become another of Asia’s political-widow syndrome, as in Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka.” wondered the Economist.
No, Columbia University’s Shiela Coronel wrote in Wall Street Journal “Her ultimate political legacy will continue to be discussed… Even in death, it is likely Cory Aquino will remain the symbol of Filipinos' hopes.””
Many who slammed Aquino, then and now, tucked tail before the dictator. “Filipinos expected miracles to happen during her presidency,” Sociologist Randy David recalled “The poor expected instant relief from… poverty. The middle classes expected a renewed and functioning government...overnight. After 21 years of oppression, Filipinos wanted freedom without the attendant responsibilities of citizenship.”
So, where do we go from here?
Don’t ask President Arroyo. She found herself diminished at private funeral rites for her towering predecessor. She’s still deciphering what messages, if any, did those waves of people send in their fervent† turnout for Cory.’
"The world embraced Edsa 1 in 1986,” the President cautioned at Libingan Ng Mga Bayani on February 22. “The world tolerated Edsa 2 in 2001. The world will not forgive an Edsa 3. Instead, (it’d) condemn the Philippines as a country whose political system is hopelessly unstable.”
The torrent of gratitude and affection for Cory was not Edsa 3. Perhaps, an unplanned but nonetheless telling “referendum”, Inquirer Columnist Rina Jimenez David suggested...
People Power is not just about dispatching dictators It includes securing reforms peacefully. Mahatma Ghandi’s 1930 march to the sea saw the oppressive salt tax scrubbed. People Power can celebrate a life poured out for others that “fragrance filled the whole house.”
“How lucky we were it was a Cory who led the first post Marcos government ( with ) near-absolute governmental power,” recalls UP professor Raul Pangalangan. She prevailed in Philippine politics without being deformed. “In her we saw a glimpse of our nobler selves and learned there are rare times, in our sad history, when the good guys finished first.”
The Palace, meanwhile, struck a business-as-usual posture In Pampanga, the President handed out P500 million for school repairs. She may bid for an elective post there, some say. If the constitution is keel-hauled before 2010, why she could become the Philippines’ Indira Ghandi.
From the grave, Cory may have slammed that option shut. Aquino opposed tinkering with the Constitution – and possible extension of terms – before 2010. So do 63 percent or Filipinos, surveys show. “The popular sentiment is not to go against her wishes,” noted Cavite Representative Elpidio Barzaga
In †the Lower House, Arroyo’s sons rode shotgun over House Resolution 1109. That would have three-fourths of the House propose changes to the Charter, without the Senate. “Nobody wants to touch it anymore,” Quezon City Rep. Matias Defensor said.
The human wave in yellow identified with Cory’s legacy, Inquirer’s Amando Doronila wrote.. That includes regular and honest elections and limits to term of office, Read the crowds’ lips, Doronila suggested.: Tampering with the rules incurs the risk of people hitting the streets again, as in 1986.
Cory provided the example for the transfer of power according to constitutional rules. Indeed, mankind refuses to learn from any other school but example, Edmund Burke once said.
In the snap election, Aquino hammered on a simple theme: She’d be the exact opposite of Ferdinand Marcos. Even her plain dresses, the Economist noted , contrasted with “the stylish Imelda, who was still stuffing the boudoirs of the presidential palace with frocks and furs and shoes, shoes, shoes”.
Like it or not, today’s “presidentiables” sense that Filipinos take their measure against standards Cory set. Among them, do any feel threatened being the “exact opposite of Aquino?
“Why should we feel threatened?”, deputy presidential spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo scoffed. The massive turn out showed “people’s love for the nation.” Can motherhood statements tamp down fear?
“Those who feel threatened by the legacies of causes (Cory) left will try to minimize the meaning of her role in history,” Columnist Randy David† predicted. “In death, Cory will continue to be underestimated.”
Aquino embodied “values that endure even after the sun burns out.” “These gave her an enduring strength of character which Marcos, rebel colonels, and even at times the Filipino people underestimated”, Coronel adds.. “
The paint on Aquino’s headstone is still wet. Already, politicians bicker over what those “recurrent, widespread and deep” aspirations boiling from the streets mean. An answer may be found in “Theology on Signs of the Times”, written by a young Jesuit in 1972.
“By searching out the great desires of men, we find out what is the movement of God’s plan made manifest to us,” wrote Fr. Catalino Arevalo who gave the homily at Cory’s funeral. “It is through the aspirations of man that we come into living contact with the plan of God… (He ) calls us, not only by instruction or command but by event, by what happens in history.”
“You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky,” the Master from Galilee once said …”Hypocrites. Why can you not interpret signs of the times.”
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