Letter from Washington

By Jonathan Melegrito

jonmele@aol.com

It hurts. Getting laid off can be very stressful, especially if you have mouths to feed and bills to pay.  I’m sure you know of friends or loved ones who are out of work through no fault of their own.

And then there’s the case of Filipino teachers at Prince George ’s County Public Schools who lost their jobs because the school system bungled its recruitment process. They had to uproot their families once again after selling their possessions in the Philippines just to fulfill a promise that they thought would not be broken. Picking up the remnants of shattered dreams, many have relocated to Arizona where, thankfully, their special skills are still appreciated.

But what of the individual who has worked hard not only to keep her job but tried her best to excel in everything required of her, only to be dismissed by a supervisor with an axe to grind, who sorely lacks any skills in cross-cultural communication, treats subordinates like chattel and rules with a heavy hand?
Such was the case of Eva Balino of Arlington, Virginia.

Eva Balino was terminated last Dec. but defended her actions. She claims she was allegedly “singled out and harassed.”

A 45-year-old patient care assistant at the Virginia Hospital Center for nine years, she was terminated in December last year for “poor performance and insubordination.” Knowing that her firing was grossly unfair, having consistently received superior evaluations from two previous supervisors, Eva chose to fight. “I love my job,” she says. “But I was set up to fail because my supervisor singled me out for harassment.”

Cross cultural communication break down
It all started when her father died a year ago and she had to take an extended leave to go home for the funeral. “She held it against me, taking time off from work,” Eva recalls. The next time she requested a one-week vacation to be with family during the Christmas holiday, the supervisor promptly denied it, claiming inadequate coverage. Granted, that’s a supervisor’s call. But when Eva found out that there was, in fact, enough personnel to cover for her absence, she tried to seek her supervisor’s reconsideration. That’s when cross-cultural communication broke down. The supervisor wrongly assumed that Eva defied an order and promptly wrote her up, citing her intent (including purchase of plane tickets) as sufficient grounds for insubordination. “How could that be, when I complied, cancelled my tickets and never took my vacation?” Eva was baffled, angry and frustrated. Shortly thereafter, she received a letter of dismissal.

She appealed, but the deck was already stacked against her. The termination was upheld. Her designated representative at the review hearing – chosen by the Human Resources director – acted not as Eva’s advocate but management’s tool to legitimize the process. The “poor performance” issues were questionable at best because, according to Eva, “the supervisor was already biased against me. She expected me to do my hourly rounding and if I don’t finish on time, she’d write me up. But I am also expected to attend to the needs of patients and some require more time and attention than others.” In other cases, there were extenuating circumstances that the supervisor chose to ignore, even when patients themselves said it wasn’t Eva’s fault. In a couple of instances, the charge nurse was partly responsible.

During Eva’s interview for unemployment compensation, the hospital’s Human Resources director tried to justify Eva’s firing. I personally intervened by writing the Virginia Employment Commission (VEC) that the Virginia Hospital Center erred in terminating Eva, who served commendably for many years. The VEC agreed, decided there was no “misconduct” on Eva’s part and approved her claims.
Vowing to fight further, if only to bring attention to egregious management practices at the hospital, Eva plans to file a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. “I know of co-workers who are being mistreated but are afraid to speak out,” she says. “I don’t want to see anyone harassed and intimated on the job.”

Back-breaking chore
Born in Abra, Eva was barely 20 years old when she, like thousands of overseas workers, went to Saudi Arabia to work as a care giver for a diplomat’s family. Another diplomat brought her to the United States several years later where she worked as a nanny for the family’s children. Meanwhile Eva’s sponsors got her a green card so she could find other employment. The Virginia Hospital Center hired her as a nurse aide and also paid half of her tuition fees while taking courses to become a licensed practical nurse (LPN).

Care giving is a back-breaking chore. “My patients have been very happy with my work and have even written good commendations about me, which are in my file,” Eva wrote to the hospital’s Human Resource Director in September, three months before she was fired. Her letter basically disagreed with her supervisor’s oral evaluation that “I do not belong in her unit, I am better off working in a nursing home, I never learned to work well with others.” Apparently, the supervisor found Eva’s defiant spirit too much to handle and singled her out from then on, suspending her for petty reasons, even warning her “to leave if you don’t like it here.”

Eva may be out of a job for now but she is determined to find employment at another hospital, preferably one where her skills and work ethic are appreciated, where she is treated with dignity and respect.
She’s come a long way from Abra, via Saudi Arabia , to America and she’s not about to let a temporary setback stop her now. •

Letter from Washington

jonmele@aol.com

Filipino Americans in this very political city known for its monuments and memorials reacted with dismay last month upon hearing the news that real estate magnate Donald Trump was awarded the rights to transform the historic Old Post Office Pavillion on Pennsylvania Avenue into a luxury hotel.

“Can you believe it?” exclaims journalist Rita Gerona Adkins. “This can’t be happening on America ’s main street, in the very heart of the nation’s capital. It’s going to be like his other hotels, gaudy and ghastly.”
She expands: “A piece of our history is connected to this iconic property, where the American and Filipino people celebrated the return of freedom and democracy in the Philippines .”

My mind reels back to 1986. The Filipino people just won the People Power Revolution and there was dancing in the streets not only in Manila and Washington but all over the world. To celebrate this victory, a once-divided Filipino community came together for a thanksgiving mass and program one February evening 26 years ago. Hundreds came. Maybe more. They were no longer afraid to come out and show their smiling faces. Fear was replaced by jubilation. Marcos was out. Cory was in. We proudly donned our yellow t-shirts, unabashedly waved yellow banners and chanted the widow’s name.

The Old Post Pavillion where we all gathered to pray and to party stands part way between the White House and the Capitol. That’s symbolic enough. Inside, the speeches that night were somber, the songs subdued, the spirit less raucous than the one displayed a few days earlier. It was a time of quiet reflection by a thankful community, humbled by the challenges ahead. Perhaps it was the sense that the revolution was never really over. Even forebodings of serious threats to a fragile democracy were in the subtext of hopeful affirmations.

Other than its historic significance to jubilant Filipinos, the Old Post Office has become “the people’s house” over the years, a sanctuary from our common struggles, where people from all walks of life can go to for a snack, a place to rest their tired feet after or while touring the Capital’s corridors of power and political history.

And now they are going to tear it down, change it to a playground for the rich and turn this historic building into a profitable enterprise. The place would cease to be conveniently accessible to the less financially endowed.
“So it’s not just for my sentimental view of the building’s significance to the historic return of the democratic process in the Philippines — which we also jubilantly celebrated in the U.S. — but for an appreciation of the pavilion as a people’s house accessible to the masses,” Rita points out.

Although we held only one event at the Old Post Office Pavillion, its towering presence on Pennsylvania Avenue – where we used to hold our Philippine Festivals – is a constant reminder of our historic and sentimental connection to that place.
And now it’s being desecrated, defamed, defiled, debased.

Community leaders are considering some action to stop The Donald, but it might be too late to do anything. A cash-strapped city struggling to fill its coffers has already sold its soul. That sounds like a stretch but it certainly feels that way to those whose memories of People Power are still fresh.

Doing the Right Thing. Generating more firestorm than Trump’s takeover of the Old Post Office Pavillion was the Obama administration’s announcement last month requiring religiously-affiliated hospitals, colleges and social services to provide health insurance coverage to its employees, which includes contraceptives. Although the provision exempts churches and other houses of worship, Catholic bishops promptly condemned the policy as an infringement on religious freedom. Because the Catholic Church opposes artificial means of birth control, it views the mandate as essentially forcing the church and its flock to violate their core beliefs.

“That may well be true,” says one Filipino American catholic parishioner who prefers to remain anonymous. “But the fact is, most catholic women practice birth control. The bishops represent only one percent.”

In response to the controversy, the administration issued a new rule that exempts religiously-affiliated organizations from providing this coverage as well. Instead, the rule now requires the insurer to reach out to employees of these institutions and make the coverage available to them without charge. While the US Conference of Catholic Bishops rejected this accommodation, the Catholic Health Association, Catholic Charities and the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities supported the new rule.

The White House did the right thing by accommodating religious concerns while also ensuring that women will have access to contraception services.

Saving the SAVE Act. The Old Post Office Pavillion may well be lost beyond redemption but the SAVE Act is not. That is, it is expected to make it. There are indications that the US Congress may approve the Save Our Industries Act before the end of the current legislative session.

Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose L. Cuisa Jr. has been on a “charm offensive” to win more sponsors, notably Republicans, and make it a truly bipartisan bill to ensure its passage. His message, that the measure would be a win-win for both countries generating much-needed jobs and revenue, seems to be resonating with key lawmakers. Ever optimistic, the Ambassador has been tirelessly making the rounds, pulling all stops so to speak to make it happen.•

Letter from Washington

jonmele@aol.com

During one of my visits to the Occupy DC encampment at McPherson Square , I saw a woman sitting alone by herself near one of the tents. Her Asian face caught my attention, provoking my interest to engage her in conversation. She was smoking a cigarette and reading a crime novel, “No More Dying Then.” When she told me she’s Filipino, I became even more curious.

As it turned out, she’s one of the homeless people in the District of Columbia who has been “residing” in McPherson Square long before the occupiers pitched camp last September. Fely Ybanez, 56, has quite a story. When she was 12, her parents moved from their barrio in Samar to Manila . “We were very poor,” she recalls. “My father wanted his eight children to go to school, but his job as a mechanic wasn’t enough to support us. I dropped out and started working as a maid. I was 17 when I met a U.S. Navy man walking down the street in Quiapo. I asked him for a cigarette. He took an interest in me and we started going out. A few months later, he took me with him to California where we got married. I went to vocational school to study computers. He was always away. We divorced four years later.”

Fely Ybanez feels welcomed at the Occupy DC camp site but she’d rather have a regular job and a permanent place to live. (Photo by Jon Melegrito)

Fely moved to the DC area with a friend but she can’t remember when and how. Not having any skills, she worked for downtown hotels as a cleaning woman, providing her with enough income to maintain an efficiency apartment. When she got laid off, she could no longer keep up with the $200/month rent. She lost her apartment. For the last three years, she has been in and out of homeless shelters, preferring to sleep in the park unless the weather is really bad.

When Occupy DC set up its encampment, she started hanging around the place, taking advantage of free food. Like the more than 6,000 homeless persons in the city, Fely has learned how to scrape together meals, keep warm at night, ward off predators and somehow manage to survive.

She says she’s welcomed by the occupiers. “They’re very nice to me,” she says. “I don’t know what they talk about but I like listening to their guitars at night. Their music makes me feel good.”

Fely would rather she was back in the workforce so she can have a decent roof above her head. She wants to resume her computer classes, learn new skills and increases her chances of getting a job. “I don’t want to be homeless for the rest of my life,” she says.

Returning to the Philippines , however, is out of the question. “There’s nothing to go back to there,” she explains. “Yes, I miss my family, but life is very hard over there. Here, I just take it one day at a time. I don’t dream anymore because it’s hard to dream if you don’t have a job. I guess it’s gotten hard here too.”

I am struck at the parallels in Fely’s life with that of an occupy protestor who ran out of college money after one semester and is just hoping Starbucks will not think she is too unkempt to be given a job. They both know they need to take a shower before going on a job interview.
The protestors also know that the homeless who are hanging around McPherson Square have run into all the injustices and inequities in life that the Occupy movement has sprung up in reaction to.

It’s true what these young protestors are saying. The American Dream is a reality only for those at the top. Many of the occupiers themselves are struggling with unemployment, student debt and unaffordable mortgage payments. They are now engaging us in an urgent conversation about social inequity. And with the growing number of homeless people at the Occupy encampments, it’s now impossible to separate homelessness from the movement’s struggle for economic justice. As author and sociologist Barbara Ehrenreich puts it, “Homelessness is not a side issue unconnected to plutocracy and greed. It’s where we’re all eventually headed … every debt-loaded college grad, out-of-work school teacher, and impoverished senior … unless the revolution succeeds.

As the American people prepare to elect their leaders, the economically depressed and distressed nation already has revealed a definitive issue of the 2012 presidential campaign: How can government best serve as the government for and by the people, considering the millions of jobless and homeless, not to mention the struggling middle class – the 99 percent.
What should happen to Fely Ybanez?

President Obama’s vision is one where those who are needy and vulnerable are entitled to government help during a time of extreme hardship, no matter the cost.

The Republican vision, on the other hand, is harsh. GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, while expressing concern for the poor, has touted a tax plan that would continue the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and provide extra tax breaks that would primarily help the rich. At the same time, he’s all for cutting Medicaid spending, reducing food stamps and doing away with safety-net programs that would help low-income families.

We have serious and critical choices to make come November. And it’s all about a vision of government that will ensure the interest of the 99 percent of this country. •

Letter from Washington

So, what is it that will move Filipino Americans out of their comfort zones and become actively engaged in the U.S. political process?

Will this be the year when we’ll no longer thrive in a culture of self-imposed disempowerment?

Community leaders harp on this theme every chance they get: We’re Americans now. The White House in Washington DC is where our President lives, not Malacanang Palace in Manila. And we have more at stake with our U.S. Representative than a congressman from our hometown in Pangasinan.

Even Philippine Ambassador Jose Cuisa has gone to the hustings reminding Filipino Americans to vote. Here, in the U.S., not in the Philippines.

Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Cuisia (3rd from L) visited the Chicago Philippine Consulate General’s office on Nov. 27. From L-R is DOT director Vernie Morales, Ed Ortiz, Vicky Cuisia, Fedis Lim & Consul General Leo Lim.

Ironically, to his credit, he seems to be getting through. There’s something about a Philippine Ambassador that makes Filipinos in America listen. Maybe it’s the sentimental attachment to the homeland. Or national loyalty to the land of our birth. You have the numbers, Cuisa would say at Filipino gatherings. But what purpose do these numbers serve if you don’t vote? He’s absolutely right of course. He wants Filipinos in America to have political power so they can be more effective influencing public policies that affect them, including of course those issues related to the Philippines.

The first thing a U.S. Congressman checks when you ask him to do something, like support a bill, is to find out if you’ve voted in his district. They call it constituent services. If you’re not in their radar screen, you don’t exist. Your number doesn’t count.

That’s how Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid became a champion of Filipino issues, like the equity bill for Filipino World War II veterans. Filipino voters in Nevada have learned to leverage their numbers to their advantage. And the 2010 Census has confirmed that they can flex their political muscle and achieve desirable results.

With a 141 percent increase in ten years, Nevada is easily the state with the fastest growth rate of Filipinos. This significant development was highlighted by a recent directive to Nevada officials to include a Tagalog option in electoral ballots for the 2012 presidential election, given the area’s large Filipino population.

Just to illustrate one dramatic example: Enterprise, a suburb of Las Vegas, only had 524 Filipinos in 2000. Today there’s more than 14,000. In another suburb called Paradise, the number increased from 6,700 to nearly 14,000. In Clark County where Las Vegas is located, there are now 41,854 Filipino residents who moved there to retire. That’s quite a jump from 17,000 ten years ago. Given these numbers, Filipino voters in this state can easily swing an election and make their presence felt. Now, that’s political power. It will be recalled that Senator Reid won a close election last year because the community was mobilized to vote for him, due in large part to his consistent record of supporting the cause of Filipino World War II veterans. In return, Reid has championed our issues, such as the SAVE Act.  Reid and other politicians know who can deliver the votes the next time around.

Our total population in the U.S. increased by 38 percent within a decade, from 1.8 million to 2.5 million. The increase is even larger, up 45 percent to 3,416,840, when you add the count for “Mixed-Race Filipinos.” This means that the population of multiracial Filipinos is increasing faster than those of single-race Filipinos. In a positive sense, it also means that we are well on our way to transitioning from a racial minority to an ethnic community.

The top growth states include California and Nevada in the west, Texas and Florida in the south, New Jersey, Virginia and New York in the east and Illinois in the Midwest, which has the third largest Filipino population, at 114,724 – next only to California and Hawaii.

In Illinois, Chicago’s Filipino population increased from 32,266 to 35,188. Outside the city, Skokie has the largest concentration, with 4,896.

Not surprisingly, Filipino candidates running for local elective offices have had successes in the past few years. It’s a credit to community leaders here that a culture of civic participation has been cultivated and nourished.

Filipinos are known to be generally prompt in completing their US citizenship applications, but once they become citizens, only a few actually exercise their newly acquired right to vote. One reason cited: they don’t want to serve on jury duty. Seriously?

Hispanics know this. Once they naturalize, they vote right away. That’s why politicians court the Hispanic vote assiduously. Politicians understand that the minority vote will be the majority in the next two election cycles. And Hispanic leaders know how to leverage their numbers.

The challenge to community leaders now is to marshal these numbers and map out a get-out-the-vote plan. There are enough issues to engage our community’s interests and mobilize them to political action: health care, housing, jobs, education and immigration – just to mention a few.

To bring it down to a personal level, these issues can best be summed up in one word: family. Let’s vote to strengthen families, to make sure our loved ones have good jobs, affordable housing, a decent education for our children, and health insurance coverage that’s both accessible and within our means. Regardless of party affiliation, let’s vote on the issues that matter for our family, our community and our future.

Let’s make 2012 a truly profitable and productive year for Filipinos in America – because we made our numbers count. Simply put, that’s what it means to make a difference. •

Philippine Ambassador Jose L. Cuisa Jr. is pulling all stops to save a very important bill from dying in committee before Congress ends its business this year. He’s hoping Sen. Daniel Inouye, the bill’s principal sponsor, will come up with a quick, legislative solution. Like attaching it as a rider to an omnibus trade bill. Similar to what he did with the Filipino World War II Veterans compensation measure, which was attached to President Obama’s economic stimulus package in 2009.

There’s always next year, of course. But the Ambassador also knows how tough it is to get anything done in an election year. Which explains why he’s met with 67 US senators and representatives since arriving in the nation’s capital in April. So far, more than a third – a good mix of Democrats  and Republicans – has said yes. After all, this is a bipartisan bill, the first bilateral trade arrangement between the two countries in nearly four decades.

Always energetic and eager to move things forward, the Ambassador has been relentless and indefatigable in his efforts to get the “Save Our Industries” Act, or SAVE Act, enacted.  In all his speaking engagements before American and Filipino audiences, he tells them why this bill is a “win-win” for both countries. For the US, he says the SAVE Act “would expand US exports of fabrics to the Philippines, from $11 million to $500 million annually within three to five years, and create some 3,000 jobs in the US textile industry.”For the Philippines, it would “restore hundreds of thousands of apparel manufacturing jobs, and over $1 billion of Philippine apparel exports to the US lost since the lifting of the US apparel import quotas and the resulting dominance of China of the US market.”

In the last few months, the Ambassador has been barnstorming the country, from Georgia to Nevada, imploring anyone – seated or standing – to write or call their representatives in Congress. He has enlisted all the consular offices, including those on wheels (COW), to set up literature tables at public events and drum up support.

The response from Filipino American communities across the country has been largely positive. Hundreds of petitions are collected during gala balls and community events. It’s a good bet that many folks actually lobbied their representatives to get on board, as evidenced by the bill’s co-sponsors from California, Hawaii, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington.

There was an opportunity for legislative action in October when Congress passed free trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama. President Obama certified the three bills as urgent. Apparently, he wasn’t as gung-ho about a trade deal with the Philippines. As a rider to one of the FTAs, SAVE Act might have had a good chance. But that didn’t happen. My sources tell me it has something to do with the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, an Asia-Pacific regional trade agreement currently being negotiated among the US, Vietnam, Singapore and six other partners. Reportedly, Aquino hasn’t shown an openness to become a partner. I’m guessing the US administration may have good reason to drag its feet on SAVE. Or not.

Meanwhile, the bill’s in limbo, sitting in the House Subcommittee on Trade and the Senate Committee on Finance.

It hasn’t been smooth sailing for the SAVE Act. And it’s not all for lack of trying. There have been barriers from the start. And it begins with the Philippine government itself. After President Gloria Arroyo stepped down from office, President Aquino’s Secretary of Trade was apparently not into garments, but more into mining and electronics. For its part, the American Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines made their support contingent on loosening up the restrictive economic provisions of the 1987 Philippine Constitution, by removing the 60-40 percent equity limitations on foreign investors. But that would require a cha-cha, or charter change.

Still, the Aquino administration overcame its initial passivity, got its act together and gave the green light to push SAVE. It sent Manny Pacquiao to America to lobby fellow boxer, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and instructed Ambassador Cuisa to apply all the skills he learned from the Wharton School of Business when he goes knocking in Congress. Business Tycoon Loida Nicolas Lewis pitched in with $10K to supplement the meager resources allotted to the lobby effort.

But here in the US, the Congressional Budget Office apparently doesn’t think SAVE is a win-win. After scoring the bill, the CBO figured a loss in US tax revenue of half a billion dollars over 10 years. With Congress trying to find a way to solve the nation’s economic ills, the CBO figure does not help get more SAVE sponsors on board. And US labor unions aren’t weighing in until they are assured of worker protections, especially in the Philippines.

So, it’s all about carrots and sticks. My quid for your quo and vice versa.

Sometimes, or maybe more often than not, it’s these inside deals that could make or break you.

Some may think SAVE is a lost cause this year. But for the Filipino American community, it’s a worthwhile cause to rally around, especially in the build up to next year’s national elections. It’s an excellent issue for Filipino American empowerment, for getting out the vote and making our voices heard. •

Letter from Washington

Proud grandparents Elvie & Jon Melegrito welcome Baby Delilah.

We get a call from our daughter around six o’clock Tuesday evening. The baby she’s been carrying for nine months is raring to come out, four days ahead of schedule. And come she does four hours later.

From our Kensington home, we drive to the Princeton University Medical Center in New Jersey soon as we can, stopping by Costco’s to grab a three-month supply of wipes and diapers. We know the drill now. It’s been almost five years since the first grandchild came.
This time daughter Desiree does not labor long. But still she endures the pain. “I want to experience motherhood,” she once said.

Maya, the first-born, took more than 30 hours. It was a harsh winter when she came one January morning. That day, Hillary Clinton declared she was running for President. “I’m in,” she said to her cheering supporters.

For her part, Maya simply cried “I’m out” to her cheering paternal and maternal grandparents. She hasn’t stopped running since. I can’t keep up with her anymore.

Maya kept us waiting the day she was born that cold January morning.

Kept us waiting for hours while the winds outside howled, while the wars raged on in Afghanistan and Iraq.

But the second one does not wait. By the time we get there, she’s already out, a tiny person with long fingers and black hair and chubby cheeks and pink feet and sleepy eyes. Cradled in her mother’s arms, the little one slumbers. She wakes up a few minutes later and cries.

There’s something about a newborn baby’s cry.

Meanwhile, the world she’s born into does not bode well for her future. People are hurting. The figures are grim: poverty is up while incomes are down. Nearly one in six Americans lives in poverty. Among the hardest hit are children.

Key findings released recently by the Census Bureau which compared annual data on income, poverty and health insurance coverage between 2009 and 2010, include: The number of Americans who lived below the poverty line rose from 43.6 million to 46.2 million last year, the largest on record in more than five decades. This means that nearly one in six Americans was poor.  Median household incomes, on the other hand, declined by 2.3 percent to an annual $49,445. The number of Americans with no health insurance increased from 49 million to 49.9 million, which means that nearly one of every six Americans was uninsured.

The recession and the severe deterioration in the country’s overall economic health, which are combining to drive unusually high unemployment, are among the factors cited for the surge in poverty to its highest level since 1993.

Children and women represent especially disturbing increases in the nation’s poverty rates. The number of poor children rose from 20.7 percent to 22 percent. More than 17 million women lived in poverty, including more than 7.5 million in extreme poverty.

Occupy Wall Street. People are clearly frustrated. In the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression, people have lost homes and jobs. Meanwhile, the rich and the super-rich – the 1 percent who owns 40 percent of the country’s wealth – continue to rake in more profits while the working middle class in this country suffer. The hopes of ordinary people for a chance at a decent future are getting dimmer.

No wonder there’s sound and fury in the streets. Perhaps, as one observer puts it, the most important political happening in the United States since the uprisings in 1968. Inspired by the Arab Spring, this “American Autumn” has ignited a fire and it’s spreading like wildfire across the nation. It’s a convergence of outraged citizens, students, out-of-work laborers and so many others. Occupy Wall Street may indeed prove the opening act in an unfolding drama of renewed resistance and rebellion against “the system.”

This is the world that Delilah is born into. “Those who think the answer to poverty is an insistence on self-reliance should recognize that children are one-segment of the population that is utterly helpless when it comes to material support,” says The Washington Post. “It’s not right for a child to pay the price for parental shortfalls or societal breakdowns. It’s also not the way to build a better future.”

Delilah’s grandparents are taking note. I am grinning in a wince. But I’m also hopeful for her sake. There’s something fresh about this movement against unfettered greed and concentrated wealth. “It’s about people picking a fight with the most powerful economic and political forces on the planet,” says syndicated columnist Naomi Klein. “The task of our time is to insist that we can afford to build a decent society.”

For Maya’s and Delilah’s sake, and for all the children of the world – we couldn’t agree more. •

E-mail your comments to jonmele@aol.com

By Jon Melegrito

Letter from Washington

Perhaps it was just a coincidence. but on September 21, on the 39th anniversary of martial law in the Philippines , President Benigno Aquino was in Washington DC . It was not an official visit, let alone a state visit. He was in town to confer with business groups, World Bank executives and Washington Post editors. Two days earlier, he was in New York – upon President Obama’s invitation – for the Partnership for Open Governance Forum. Before returning to Manila, he also met with Filipino American community leaders at The Fairfax Hotel in downtown Washington.

While waiting for the President’s grand entrance, Reme Grefalda, a curator at the Library of Congress, reminded me about the martial law anniversary. Which got me ruminating in my backrow seat: Noynoy was only 11 years old when Ferdinand Marcos assumed dictatorial powers in 1972. He was 22 when the elder Aquino – who challenged Marcos – was shot dead. At 25, his mother – the much-revered Cory Aquino – became President. And now, at 50, the son of Benigno and Cory himself has ascended to the highest office of the land as the country’s 15th.

President Benigno Aquino III speaking before Washington DC's Filipino American community Sept. 21. (PINOY photo by Jon Melegrito)

The elder Aquino once said that it would take seven presidents after Marcos to repair the damage martial law inflicted on the Philippines . If he’s right, that means the Filipino people will have to wait 12 years for salvation.

There’s much speculation that after the young Aquino completes his six-year term of office, Bongbong Marcos – the son of Ferdinand and Imelda – will become President himself. At 44, he will be the same age as Aquino when that happens.

It’s said that with the youthful Aquino’s election, a new era is beginning in the Philippines. Others prefer to call it the continuation of a political dynasty.

Perhaps because he provides a contrast to the unpopular Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, whom he succeeded, people seem to take Aquino more seriously when he vows to fight corruption, improve education, promote good governance and provide the country’s teeming millions with opportunities for a better life.

I had to stop ruminating when the President finally walked on stage. The more than 200 invited guests cheerfully greeted him and listened attentively to his 30-minute speech, delivered extemporaneously. Among the highlights: the government has a budget surplus and unemployment fell from 8 percent to 7.2 percent. It’s something worth bragging about, he said.

After all, the U.S. can’t say the same given the dismaying unemployment figures.

He wants to restore power to the people, he continued, and address the needs of public service workers by giving them decent wages and better benefits. That’s one way to stop corruption, he explained, in addition to scrutinizing the budget to make sure no funds are being misused or stolen.

Finally, “to all of you in distant shores,” he acknowledged that many Filipinos are abroad to seek better job opportunities. He suggested that if life were better in the Philippines , people would go abroad only because they want to go, not because they have to.

The audience liked what they heard. His demeanor confirmed his reputation for quiet modesty.

“Don’t let me start out having an inflated sense of my own worth or my ego, not having my feet planted firmly on the ground,” he said in April, “because I might succumb to the same temptations that those who are criticizing me have done.”

For the sake of the country, we hope he doesn’t succumb. And for as long as he is standing up to the Catholic Church, remaining firm and erect on family planning, he can have his fast cars and beautiful women and all the accoutrements of a bachelor’s life.

Autumn is here. But the chill in the air we felt on the 21st day of September had less to do with the change in weather. It’s the thought that after two Aquinos, a second Marcos could very well become the next president.

But that will partly depend on how Aquino performs in the next six years. Perhaps, by achieving results that matter, the people’s hope and faith in good governance will sustain the move towards progress.•

By Jon Melegrito

Letter from Washington

jonmele@aol.com

Immigrant rights groups are applauding the Obama Administration’s sensible re-assessment of its deportation priorities. As a result, tens of thousands of undocumented immigrants – many of whom are law-abiding residents – can breathe a sigh of relief.

They include the so-called DREAMers – young people who were brought here as children, who have graduated from U.S. high schools and have earned or are pursuing college degrees. Among Asians, approximately 40 percent are Filipinos.

Millet De Vera Panga of the Pilipino Educators Network (PEN), center, exhorts her fellow teachers to keep on fighting for justice. (Photo by Jon Melegrito)

Pulitzer Prize winner Jose Antonio Vargas is one of them. When he was 12, his mother put him on a plane from the Philipines to the U.S. where he lived with his grandparents in California . Despite his success as a reporter for national newspapers like the Washington Post, one thing he didn’t have was legal status as an American citizen. After living with his secret for more than 20 years, he finally decided to “out” himself. By disclosing his secret, he hopes to start a conversation about a controversial topic that has polarized this country for years.

According to the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO), there are 9 million Filipinos living and working outside the Philippines as of 2009. Of that number, 47 percent are permanent residents, 45 percent overseas Filipino workers and 8 percent undocumented migrants, or 720,000. Reportedly, 500,000 are in the U.S.

Filipino teachers in the Washington DC area also welcome this change of policy. About 200 are in immediate danger of facing deportation because of the US Department of Labor’s (DOL) decision penalizing the Prince George ’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) for violating HI-B visa rules on the hiring of foreign teachers.

In the past two months, the teachers have been demonstrating almost every week, three times in front of the DOL, once in front of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and most recently in front of the White House. Leading the protest action was Millet De Vera Panga of the Pilipino Educators Network (PEN). “We’re here to appeal to President Obama to provide some sort of relief,” said Panga who teaches English as a Second Language at James McHenry Elementary School in Lanham , Maryland . “DOL’s action actually punishes the teachers who won’t be able to renew their visas and must leave the country or face deportation.”

As reported by the Washington Post, over the next few months, the administration will review 300,000 or so cases in the deportation pipeline. In a letter to Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-ILL.) a longtime proponent of immigration reform, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano detailed the changes: “Together with the Department of Justice, we have initiated an interagency working group to execute a case-by-case review of all individuals currently in removal proceedings. From a law enforcement and public safety perspective, DHS enforcement resources must continue to be focused on our highest priorities. Doing otherwise hinders our public safety mission – clogging immigration court dockets and diverting DHS enforcement resources away from the individuals who pose a threat to public safety.”

In effect, the new policy will consider how long someone has been in the United States, whether that person’s spouse or children are U.S. citizens and whether that person has a criminal record; allow them to apply for a work permit, which is basically a taxpayer ID card; and give authorities the chance to keep some cases from even reaching the court system.
The message to agents in the field, according to DHS officials, is simply this: “You do not need to put everyone you come across in the system.”

Filipino teachers rally in front of the White House on August 9 to appeal to President Obama.

The decision was welcome news for people who have already been ordered out of the country but are fighting to stay.
In hailing Napolitano’s move, Sen. Durbin said that if fully implemented, “the new process should stop virtually all DREAM Act deportations.” In an e-mail to his constituents, Durbin called the students “the future doctors, lawyers, teachers and, maybe, senators, who will make America stronger. We need to be doing all we can to keep these talented, dedicated, American students here, not wasting increasingly precious resources sending them away to countries they barely remember.”

The Asian American Pacific Alliance (APALA) also praised the Obama administration for focusing deportation efforts on violent criminals and allow DREAM Act eligible youth to apply for work permits.

“Despite numerous promises in the past to deliver on comprehensive immigration reform, the Administration has been repeatedly called out for their record high number of deportations,” says APALA DC President Katrina Dizon. “Obama’s term alone has seen to the deportation of over 1 million undocumented immigrants, many of whom had no criminal records. We believe that the re-direction in the Administration’s priorities to target those that are truly dangerous, will contribute to a more efficient and effective system of enforcement.”

Unfortunately, there is still so much work to do. “Although this is a step in the right direction, it is by no means a permanent solution to the long standing broken immigration system our country has had to live with,” Dizon adds. “It may relieve deserving immigrants of their fears and burdens of deportation, but it’s still not a path to legalization.”

The Obama White House has taken a lawful and sensible step. It’s now up to Congress to set partisan differences aside and pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill. Republican leaders, in particular, cannot continue to engage in scare tactics about “border insecurity” and distract Americans from the problem of 11 million undocumented immigrants.•

By Jonathan Melegrito

Special to PINOY

It was the hottest day of the year – more than 100 degrees  – but the scorching heat did not deter about a hundred Filipino teachers and community supporters from demonstrating in front of the Department of Labor building July 22. “We vowed to be here, come hell, heat, or hotwater,” declared one of the teachers carrying a hand-made banner which read, “Hear Our Cry!” Although she did not want to be identified, she was not intimidated at all by the menacing presence of Homeland Security police cruisers lined up on Constitution Avenue near the U.S. Capitol, where the protest action took place.

That was their second in front of the DOL, followed by another in front of the White House on July 26.

Filipino teachers gather in front of the Department of Labor building in Washington DC to appeal their case to the U.S. Secretary of Labor. (Photos by Jon Melegrito, special to PINOY Newsmagazine.

During the two-hour rally, two armed agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), briefly got out of their air-conditioned SUVS to survey the scene. Another was spotted taking pictures.

It was supposed to be a “Silent Picket,” but their bright red t-shirts and messages on the placards were loud and clear: “We Want Justice for International Teachers,” “Department of Labor: Protect Our Rights,” “Compassion for the Teachers,” “Education, Not Deportation.”

Organized by the Pilipino Educators Network (PEN), the picketers are among 1,000 international teachers (mostly Filipino) recruited by Maryland’s Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) between 2004-2009. To comply with the federal “No Child Left Behind” law, the school district brought in these highly-qualified men and women to be part of the local teaching workforce.

Their presence in America’s classrooms has paid tremendous dividends.  As acknowledged by PGCPS itself, their students have made remarkable progress for five years in a row, vastly improving the school district’s compliance rate with the mandate. This positive result is due, in no small measure, to the hard work and commitment of these teachers.

Pamela Kasayan’s family includes (from L) husband Maynard, daughter Julienne and son John.

“We made extreme personal sacrifices, including selling our homes and exhausting our savings, in order to fulfill an urgent need to serve American students,” says Pamela Kasayan, a math teacher from Cebu City. She brought along husband, Maynard, and her two children, John, 13 and Julienne, 9, to the rally. “But we are being unfairly treated, that’s why we are here asking to be heard.”

On April 2011, an administrator for the Dept. of Labor issued a ruling against the school district that was devastating to the teachers. PGCPS was apparently making illegal deductions to the teachers’ wages to cover for various visa processing and placement fees that should have been shouldered by the county. As a result, DOL ordered PGCPS to pay back wages to the teachers, averaging about $4,000 each.

That was the good news. But here’s the bad news: DOL penalized PGCPS by banning the school district from hiring any more foreign teachers for the next two years. This means that more than 1,000 teachers will be terminated and possibly deported – starting July 2011.

In June, many of the teachers were informed individually that their visas would not be renewed.  PGCPS also stopped processing petitions for green cards.

“We’ve worked hard to serve the students,” Kasayan adds. “But we didn’t expect that the axe would fall on us. We are being victimized twice – first, by the Prince George’s County Public Schools for violating labor laws, and now the Department of Labor for abruptly terminating the H1-B program. This is not our fault. We came here legally at the invitation of the school district. And now we are being sent back with only a few week’s notice?”

At DOL, the teachers are appealing to the US Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis for an exception – especially for those who are beneficiaries of approved labor condition applications and permanent labor certification. They also want DOL to allow PGCPS to continue processing the immigration papers of these teachers to ensure their lawful presence.

In support of the teachers, the Philippine Embassy, labor and community organizations, like NaFFAA, are coordinating efforts to provide political, legal and humanitarian assistance.  The Filipino American Legal Defense and Education Fund (FALDEF), a NaFFAA affiliate, is providing free legal aid in pursuing a class action suit against PGCPS. NaFFAA members have been participating in rallies and educational forums to explain the issue to the community.

NaFFAA is also working with the Asian American Labor Alliance (APALA) and the National Education Association (NEA) to put public pressure on DOL to reconsider its decision.

“This is a very urgent issue for our community,” says NaFFAA Chairman Ed Navarra. “What’s happening in Prince George’s County is not an isolated cases. We have similar problems facing Filipino teachers elsewhere in the U.S., more recently in Louisiana. I’m calling on all Filipino Americans to rally behind our teachers and give them our full support.”

“We have had positive impact on the children and the communities we serve,” says Charisse Cabrera, a pre-K teacher. “Some of us have received awards, and many pursued degree advancement with the sole desire of serving the school district and the children even better. It is lamentable that we would bear the brunt of the resolution of the case between DOL and the school district. We shouldn’t be forced to live shattered lives and significant hardships because of mistakes that are not of our making.”

America has always championed what is right. Our teachers need our support now to champion their cause.•

By Jon Melegrito

Letter from Washington

After more than five years as Philippine Ambassador to the U.S., Willy Gaa bade farewell to the Filipino American community at a May 22 despedida hosted by the Philippine American Foundation for Charities (PAFC). Less than a month later, the community welcomed the new ambassador – Jose L. Cuisa Jr. – at a June 19 Gala Dinner commemorating the 150th birthday of Dr. Jose Rizal.

Already, the buzz around town is how the two diplomats differ in demeanor and style. Gaa, of course, is known for his shy, soft-spoken and self-deprecating manner.  It was during his watch (January 2009) that the U.S. Congress finally passed a bill officially recognizing Filipino World War II soldiers as American veterans and providing each of the 12,000 survivors a monetary award.  Observers recall how Amb. Gaa quietly sat in the Senate Gallery late through the night to personally witness the historic vote. He’s definitely a hard worker who made sure the embassy did its part. He also recognized the potential clout of Filipino Americans to influence U.S. government policies.

Philippine Ambassador to the United States, Jose L. Cuisa, (2nd from left) and his wife Vicky, congratulate Gloria T. Caoile (right), a national Filipino American community leader who received the "Dr. Jose Rizal" lifetime award for community service at the June 12 Gala Ball in Washington DC. Also in photo is Bing Cardenas Branigin (left), a NaFFAA national leader. (Photo by Jon Melegrito)

Amb. Cuisa also gets it, but with a more assertive style. He didn’t waste time, for instance, enlisting Filipino Americans to roll up their sleeves and call their U.S. representatives to support the SAVE Act  – a bill which would allow apparel products from the Philippines to enter the U.S. duty-free. In his first official appearance, he told leaders of the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA) meeting in Las Vegas last May: “The Philippine government understands how important this legislation is to our workers and our relationship with the U.S. The SAVE Act would provide tens of millions of dollars in new exports for U.S. businesses and save hundreds of thousands of jobs in the Philippines.” The main sponsor in the U.S. Senate is Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), the same senator who championed the cause of Filipino World War II veterans.

Filipino American community leaders (standing from left to right) Maurese Owens and Vellie Detrich-Hall, and White House Executive Chef Cristeta Comerford were among the well-wishers at the Despedida for retiring Philippine Ambassador Willy C. Gaa and his wife Linda. (Photo by Jon Melegrito)

Even the ambassador’s wife, Mrs. Vicky Cuisa, is actively involved.  At a June 12 Philippine Embassy reception,  Mrs. Cuisa went around meeting leaders from the community, as well as movers and shakers in the nation’s capital. She implored them to act.  “We have until August to do this,” she said. “And we need our young people to be engaged.  Because this bill will create jobs in the Philippines and also here in the U.S. Our young people need to know this.” I like her spunky  “Yes We Can” spirit.

To underscore the significance of the FilAm vote, Amb. Cuisa said some uncomfortable truths during his keynote address at the June 19 Gala Dinner. First, he pumped up the audience with this:  “It’s ironic that those away from the Philippines seem to have a burning desire to celebrate Philippine Independence the most.” Then this  zinger: “Despite your large numbers here in the U.S., 97 percent of Filipino Americans don’t vote.” Ouch! Given this state of affairs, “Filipino concerns don’t get as much support as they should.” Imagine, he added, if “we convert that 97 percent to make a stand. And it doesn’t matter if you’re a Democrat, Republican or Independent.”

Someone asked me after the speech if the ambassador’s comments were embarrassing. Of course, I said. If we don’t vote, then we deserve to be embarrassed. So let’s go out and prove him wrong.  We have a chance in the coming national elections. Hopefully after four years, he won’t need to go around saying those things anymore.

By the way, it’s good to know that our ambassadors have a good sense of humor.  Sensing that people are probably wondering about his very light-skinned complexion, he’s found a way to pre-empt any further speculation by recalling an incident where he introduced himself before a group of foreign dignitaries. “Are you sure you’re a Filipino,” one of them asked. “You don’t look like one.” Cuisa good-naturedly answered. “Oh, yes, I am definitely a Filipino all right. I just don’t stay out under the sun that often.”  Of course that could mean many things.  Like spending too much time inside banks. Not sure if he’s an avid golfer like Amb. Gaa, who is also an accomplished karaoke singing.

Curiosity about Amb. Cuisa’s skin-color reminds me of Carlos P. Romulo whose height provoked  curious queries as well. My favorite is the one about the dimunitive diplomat, when he was President of the United Nations. At one reception, he was surrounded by towering heads of state all looking down on him. “Are all Filipinos small like you?” one of them had the temerity to ask. Not a bit flustered, Romulo proudly look them all in the eye and, without batting an eyelash, said: “I feel like a dime among nickels.”

Gaa may not have Romulo’s wit but he’d do very well in the comedy circuit, if he wants to. At his despedida, everyone knew that the ailing ambassador was battling with cancer.  Out of respect, none of the roasters or toasters brought it up. But Gaa did. In his closing remarks, he joked about his doctor assuring him that some patients actually survive chemo therapy, that he may actually get six more months to live. That brought the house down.

And he relished every moment when a Lady Gaga impersonator danced and pranced and called him “Tito Willy.”•